#real Sampo is dead

[kuijoon]

AU where everything is the same except Sampo is one of those cryptids from the back alley. The ones who mimic people living there (and probably kill them)

[vampkomori]

love that penacony is just a whole entire game of cluedo. we even have:

sparkle as miss scarlet

misha as mrs white (the maid/butler)

aventurine as mrs peacock

dr. ratio as prof plum

sunday as mr green (reverend/priest)

acheron as colonel mustard (military fighty..esque)

and lesser known roles i had to look up:

black swan as madame rose (fortune teller)

robin as miss peach (a "southern belle")

firefly as monsieur brunette (con artist posing as someone else)

gallagher as inspector grey (officer=bodyguard)

[omegapheromone]

I would do anything to get Star Railed by the fine men of this stupid money scam game

[luvrbug]

can i request sleep over hcs with any hsr characters?

i tweaked this request into a more "sleeping together" instead of a sleepover. I hope that's okay! (they also kinda turned into cuddling headcanons... oops!)

«────────«⋅ʚ♡ɞ⋅»────────»

GEPARD

He sleeps on his back arms to his side, completely straight and stiff. Puts a whole new meaning to "sleeping like the dead"

He really loves cuddling, but he's so nervous the first few times you guys cuddle. Sweaty palms, heart beating fast, etc. But he gets used to it after the first few (16) times you guys sleep together!

Lay on top of him!!! it doesn't matter how heavy/light you are, gepard Loves when you just sprawl on top of him and he can just wrap his arms around you <33

you can also just snuggle into his side or just hold hands. Gepard likes to know that you're there throughout the night.

He's a super heavy sleeper but will bolt up once he realizes you're not there 😭 literally gets up and starts searching for u half awake while you're in the bathroom.

He's sooooo warm. His body temperature HAS to be abnormal because he's just so warm!!! Belobog gets absolutely freezing during the night, but you dont even notice when Gepard is keeping you warm :]

His alarm goes off at 4:30 am Every Morning.

«────────«⋅ʚ♡ɞ⋅»────────»

Sampo

Sampo somehow wormed his way into sleeping in your bed before you even started dating. He loves to get to sleep in his favorite person customer's bed! After all, you do owe him a favor for that one time...

Without a doubt, Sampo is a cuddler. He will lay his entire body on top of you, curl himself into a fetal position with YOU in the middle, he will be the little spoon, the big spoon, he will fall asleep just leaning on you.

And the worst part is his hands and feet are So. Fucking. Cold. His body is warm, but his hands and feet are FREEZING, and he insists on using you to warm them up. No matter how loud you squeal or how many times you scentence him to the couch, Sampo will be using you as his personal space heater.

Sampo is also incredibly loving when you sleep together. Quiet, secluded nights when you're half asleep and sampo has just slipped under the covers is when he shows you his entire heart and soul. His childhood, the friends and family he's lost, his deep rooted fear that one day you'll leave too...

Sampo either wakes up at 1 a.m., and you dont see him again for two days, or he sleeps until 5 p.m., and you absolutely can not get alone time. He's like a stray cat in that aspect.

«────────«⋅ʚ♡ɞ⋅»────────»

Dan Heng

Insists that he only likes you as a friend for 3 months while you actively sleep in the same bed and cuddle every night.

Dan Heng absolutely loves to snuggle up to you, BUT he has issues with being seen as weak or getting close to you in general. However, your very soft bed and even softer hugs eventually win him over.

He sleeps with his arms wrapped around you and his head on your chest, over your heart. The fact that you're real and alive, and he can keep you safe, soothes his soul on such a deep level. He gets the best sleep of his life when hes with you.

He can't sleep if you're off on a trailblaze mission alone or if he's not there to protect you. He chugs down Himeko's coffee in the morning to deal with it.

Once you're back, Dan Heng is latching onto you !! you are both taking a nap now. No, he doesn't care that you're covered in dust and dirt. You're coming to the archives and sleeping.

[q-theeccentric]

Sampo Koski Lore Notes

Because we love our HSR conman, Trailblazers all over the internet have begun to form many theories surrounding our beloved scammer. There are a lot of details about this man that are peculiar, and for those like me who love to overanalyze their favorite characters and how they contribute to the lore, I have created a list of notes about Sampo that point to him being downright suspicious.

Warning: Very, very long post ahead.

He is has a lot of intel apparently... where does he get them from?

Knowledge Voiceline: "Come on, how did you guys end up in the middle of the Snow Plains? UFO? Let me guess, you took a train, haha. Seriously though."

About Natasha Voiceline: He's not from the Underworld.

He loves money; money is considered to be a form of pleasure; does this refer to the Masked Fools being hedonists?

Turn Begins 1: "We're just having fun." Elation??

Hit by Heavy Attack: "Hey! W-watch the face!" Sampo is not really the type to be narcissistic��� unless this is a pleasure-related matter…

Ultimate: Unleash: "Betraying the king" is often seen in literary works and other similar fictional media, and these types of things are often used for pleasure and entertainment

Return to Battle, Health Recovery, Natasha's About Sampo Voicelines: He's also… altruistic?

Hook's About Sampo Voiceline: He can be everywhere

Character Story: Part I: He slips away easily

Character Story: He is good at disguises, as if he's an actor… as if he were wearing a mask… because actors and masks and roles… Masked Fools foreshadowing?

Character Story: Why did they choose this specific story to be the one in his profile? The tale seems so random… or is it?

Character Story: Everything is purely dialogue… almost as if it were a script. If we compare it to the others, they have character stories that match them well, such as Bailu, whose character story is in the format of a prescription because she is a doctor.

Light Cone - Eyes of the Prey: "In reality most prety don't realize when danger is encroaching. This one's no exception." After reading the description, it may seem weird since Sampo noticed the sniper BUT what if the sniper is the REAL prey?

Light Cone - Eyes of the Prey: "So that's what greed looks like. That amount is equal to several of my contracts already… No wonder someone wants him dead." Another reference to money being a form of pleasure.

Light Cone - Eyes of the Prey: "As if these thoughts were broadcasted out loud, the an in the scope turns his head, looking straight into the eyes of the sniper. 'I've been waiting for you. Would this much be enough for you to hear me out?'" The EYES of the PREY refers to the SCOPE of the SNIPER. The light cone depicts Sampo from the EYES of the PREY.

Splash Art: The city in the background is likely NOT on Jarilo VI

Splash Art: It looks like he's jumping off a ledge or something similar

Design: @littlekiara96 noticed that his design refers to death a little too much due to the amount of skeleton imagery on him…

Kit: His technique is to blind enemies, which may call back to the fact that he slips away easily without anyone noticing

Kit: Why are his weapons blades that turn into boomerangs and not anything related to his obvious line of work?

Kit: His basic attack is called "Dazzling Blades"; I might be overthinking but the word "dazzling" is something I would hear when one describes an actor…

Kit: His skill is called "Ricochet Love"; "ricochet" often refers to projectiles bouncing more than once off of a surface (verb) or a shot that bounces more than once off of a surface (noun)---so where does the "love" come into all this? Love is another form of pleasure; I don't know but this skill reminds me of the Masked Fools again just because of all the bouncing more than once off of a surface and the love thing..

Kit: His ultimate is called "Surprise Present"; Sampo can be called a master of the element of surprise as he often appears suddenly without anyone suspecting him to---the present can also be something unexpected and weird (like a RICKROLL) which gives off MAJOR Masked Fools vibes…

Kit: Why is his element Wind?

Kit: Why is his path Nihility? @gachagen pointed out that Nihility characters hide secrets (Welt, Pela, Silver Wolf, Kafka). For my own observation, Nihility states that the universe is meaningless while Elation states that the universe is one big joke; both paths seem to infer that the universe has little meaning…

Kit: Half his Eidolons are about his scamming business and the other half are about… love and enthusiasm; both aforementioned concepts seem to call back to the Masked Fools and Aha the Elation…

Achievements: Versatile Joker is a hidden achievement until it is unlocked… does this fact and the achievement itself indirectly infer to Sampo's secret connection to the Masked Fools and Aha the Elation?

Missions: Besides Pela, Sampo is the only other 4-star character from Jarilo VI who does not have a companion mission yet

Character Traits: He BOWS like an actor (as seen in the Jarilo VI Trailblaze Mission), as if he is bowing for his PERFORMANCE

Character Traits: If I had a penny for every time Sampo was aware that he was being watched like how Aha did in the Simulated Universe (Jarilo VI quest conclusion, Eyes of the Prey light cone), I'd have two pennies… which isn't much but it's weird that it happened twice…

And that's pretty much it! Feel free to add more observations in the replies, or reblog too.

[lovelynim]

The One That Got Away

Honkai: Star Rail - Sampo x Gepard

A/N: HAPPY BIRTHDAY @fresh-thomato!!!! I couldn't refuse such a request from my biggest supporter, huehuehue. You are one of the best people I met in this site and I really hope you like this!

It's already june 15th in Brazil, so I don't want to waste a single second before giving you your gift hehehe

Happy birthday, my dear, hope you have lots of good moments and may all yours dreams come true!

Summary: Gepard needs to catch some sly mercenary, but things go completely out of hand.

Word count: 1865 words

Gepard massaged the side of his head with two fingers while he listened to his soldiers’ report about their current mission. He needed to remain calm, focused and, above all that, come up with a proper plan to catch that damned mercenary that has been causing all kinds of trouble to the silvermane guards lately.

“That’s all, sir,” the soldier said out loud before taking a step back to align with the rest of the group’s formation. Gepard nodded, crossing his arms in front of his chest as he took a deep breath.

“Based on the reports, we know the target is somewhere inside the Administrative District. We need to act fast to cover the largest area as fast as possible,” the captain started, looking to his men as he continued to explain the plan he had just come up with, “splitting up seems like the best course of action under these conditions. Let’s divide our group into pairs and start searching.”

“B-but captain, sir,” one of his soldiers interrupted, “we are in 7, someone will end up alone.”

“And that will be me,” Gepard said, with a serious look on his face, “I’m more than enough to deal with some mercenary, so don’t worry about me.”

The rest of his men nodded, paying attention to their captain’s commands as he designated each pair to a different region while taking a different part of the city for himself. With the unit dispatched, Gepard started his patrolling.

Sampo Koski could play the fool as much as he wanted, but Gepard knew what the mercenary was capable of. After all, he wouldn’t have made this far if he didn’t. Truth to be told, the captain couldn’t help but to recognize how… good he was at this.

Crossing both the upper and the underworld, going through all kinds of security measures for his services… Sampo was a real headache. And that was exactly why Gepard felt like he should take the matter into his own hands.

Inspecting one alley after the other, the silvermane guard kept walking towards the edges of the city, already starting to wonder if his men had any more luck than him in finding the criminal.

 Empty… empty… empty… where was he? This whole search was starting to feel more and more like a total waste of time. Were the reports wrong all this time?

But just when Gepard was about to turn around and walk back to the center of the district, a feeling of being watched made the captain stop. As he checked the end of the alley, he could spot someone - with blue-ish hair - peeking their head to look at him.

And just as they were caught, the figure hid itself. Gepard gritted his teeth, clenching his hand into a tight fist as he started running. “Hey, you! Stop right there!” He shouted, getting to that alley as fast as he could.

As he turned around the corner, however, the captain was met with a dead end. An empty dead end, to be more precise.

“What..?” He muttered, walking inside it as he looked around, searching for any clue of where that figure might have gone. They couldn’t have simply vanished out of thin air, could they? He placed his hand on the nearby wall, dragging it along as he walked, trying to find any secret device.

“Looking for someone, captain?” Sampo muttered close to the bottom of Gepard’s ear, his warm breath sending shivers down his neck. The captain widened his eyes, completely caught off guard.

With a swift move, Gepard turned around, trying to slam his clenched hand against the mercenary’s head. Yet, thanks to his previous unawareness of Sampo’s presence, the other man could avoid the strike with ease, quickly pinning Gepard’s hand against the wall where it landed.

“You!” Gepard groaned, about to move his other hand, but freezing in the middle of his action as Sampo thrusted his blade just inches away from his head, probably as a threat, the captain supposed.

“Oh, were you looking for me?” The mercenary grinned gently, standing in front of Gepard while keeping his hand pinned. “I’m flattered, captain, you know how much I love the attention.”

A faint blush spread across the blonde’s face at the comment. It would probably have gone unnoticed if it wasn’t for how close Sampo’s face was to his. “Unhand me this instant, Sampo Koski,” the blonde roared, gritting his teeth as he tried to intimidate the other and free his hand from his grip.

“Easy there,” Sampo insisted, chuckling nervously as he looked over his shoulder, “I just need you to wait… a few minutes before my client is done, you can do that for me, right, captain?”

“You are bold to ask me to cooperate with your schemes.”

“I will take that as a compliment,” Sampo continued, checking his back every now and then, waiting for his client’s sign and looking out for any other silvermane guard.

Gepard sighed, taking his eyes up to his restrained wrist, trying to find an opening to turn the tables and arrest the mercenary once for all. Clenching his other hand, the captain waited for the right second to strike, just looking for an opening in the mercenary’s guard…

“This guy is sure taking his tim-”

As Sampo turned his head back to the silvermane guard he captured, he could catch a glimpse of an incoming punch towards his face. In the brief seconds he had to plan his reaction, all the mercenary could do was grab the first thing inside his reach and prepare for the incoming impact. 

With his eyes closed shut and shoulders slightly scrunched up, he tightened his grip around Gepard’s pinned wrist and tried to block, or at least hold down, his other arm. However, he missed and ended up landing his hand against the captain’s side instead of the incoming punch, but at the very moment he touched Gepard’s body, an unexpected sound caught Sampo’s attention.

“GYAH-”

“H-huh?” Sampo opened his eyes, blinked in confusion as he looked back to Gepard, finding the captain with cheeks tainted by a pink tone from embarrassment and a crooked smile on his lips. His hand, that once was inches away from delivering a strong blow, was now tugging at his arm, trying to pry it off his body.

Looking down to his hand at the other man’s side, the mercenary squeezed the spot again, curious about that reaction.

“W-whahat are you- hnng!” Gepard choked on a giggle, trying his best to hold his reactions and push Sampo’s hand away from his body.

“Ohh…” Sampo hummed at his discovery, continuing to massage the captain’s side with enough pressure for him to feel through his thick clothing. Connecting the dots, the mercenary could only smile amused. “Who could think that tickling would protect me from captain Gepard himself?”

“S-shuhut up, you- ahAHa, s-stop this ahahalready!’ The blonde said, throwing his head back as a strangled fit of giggles left his lips, which were already cracking up into a bright, adorable smile. 

“Oh, captain, I’d love to,” Sampo hummed pleased, tickling Gepard’s torso with ease, even through his attempts to block him, “but you didn’t want to collaborate when I asked you before, so it seems I need to make my request more… appealing to you, general, sir ~” 

Gepard’s cheeks were getting redder and redder and laughter was managing to slip out of his mouth like a fountain. It was so… ridiculous! He tried to push the mercenary already, break free from his hold, but each stroke against his sides seemed to make him go weaker and weaker.

“AhaHAhah, enohohough!! S-Sahahampo!” Gepard giggled, unable to hold back the fit of laughter any further when the other man lowered his hand and started pinching his waist, holding it firmly while his thumb rubbed deep ticklish circles in a horrible slow motion.

Amused with the guard’s reaction, Sampo started to lower his guard as well, stopping the constant checking on how his client was doing and focusing all his attention on the giggly captain he had at his hands. “Oh, captain, sir, what a lovely way to use my name,” he teased, moving his hand around as he poked Gepard’s stomach, “it’s so different from the tone you use when you are chasing me ~”

The captain stomped his foot, trying to turn his body away from the devious hand that kept the ticklish onslaught going. Sampo definitely was crossing all the boundaries of their relationship - that shameless bastard… if only Gepard could get his hands on him.

“Y-yohohou will pahAHhay fohohor this!” He roared, but his angry facade crumbled in a matter of seconds, turning into an adorable, harmless smile. 

“Oh, please, I’m not even going that hard on you, captain,” the mercenary said, leaning his face a little closer, nuzzling against Gepard’s cheeks despite the captain’s attempts to avoid him. “You are not even trying to escape anymore… Do you enjoy this kind of attention, sir? ~”

Those words made Gepard’s heart race, beating so fast that it could be heard even through the metal plates on his clothes. He gritted his teeth, turning his face away as it burned bright with embarrassment, not answering the mercenary. Of course, that also didn’t go unnoticed.

“My my, is this one of the secrets you hide behind your armors, captain?” Sampo whispered, hearing the blonde whine as he still refused to answer his questions, revealing an adorable stubbornness.

As Gepard’s laughter continued to flow freely, Sampo insisted on the topic, one question after the other, trying to get that confession from the captain. Still, he was answered with nothing but silence - well, not exactly silence since Gepard couldn’t stop giggling all the time, but - ah, you get it, right?

“Cat got your tongue, captain, sir?” Sampo mused, nuzzling the tip of his nose against Gepard’s trembling jaw line, making the guard try to scrunch up his shoulders to protect himself. “Guess I’ll have to tick-”

“Sampo!” A distant voice called for them - or, perhaps, was finally heard through the captain’s laughter. “I got it, let’s go!”

“What a shame… since timing is not on our side today, captain…” The mercenary said, kissing Gepard’s cheek before pushing himself away, letting the captain fall on his butt. “Until next time, sir.” Sampo said with a clear hint of affection in his voice, bowing as if it was some kind of curtain call.

“A-ah, stop… right there!” Gepard said, getting on his knees as he tried to get back up, “I-I’m not done with y-you!”

His empty threats, however, fell on deaf ears as the mercenary smiled, walking away before disappearing from his sight. With his heart still beating fast and cheeks tainted in red, Gepard stood up, patting his clothes to get rid of the dust and fix them. “That bastard…,” he muttered to himself, looking to the direction Sampo just went, but deciding to not follow it this time, “I guess… I could just say he got away,” he continued, slowly making his way back to the Administrative District while trying to process what in the name of Qlipoth just happened…

[feroluce]

Thinking tonight about Caelus, and the nature of his loss and his grief after the Everything that went down in Penacony during 2.0.

Because Acheron, Black Swan, and Misha kind of knew of Firefly, they at least met her, but they didn't like really know her, and Caelus never even got the chance to introduce her to the rest of the Astral Express Crew. The only person who would have talked to her much was Sparkle, who is. Probably not really someone Caelus is interested in grieving with skznmsks

Anyway, all this to say, I like thinking about how alone poor Caelus is in his grief, because he was the only one who knew Firefly. He's the only one really mourning her. There's no one to talk about her with. There's no stories to trade or memories to reminisce with anyone over. It's not as though he knew her for long, but still. No one else knew her at all.

And I love the thought of all of this coming bubbling up, hot and acidic and bitter, during a conversation with Sampo, who Caelus just so happens to run into in the Golden Hour. Poor Sampo is kinda blindsided, he knew shit was going down in Penacony, but yeesh. And he just. Isn't quite sure what to say about it all, because he's never really encountered this before. His feelings about the Masked Fools are...a mixed bag, but he's been a part of them for a very long time, and when you're with a close organization like that, it's hard to feel alone, in grief or otherwise.

So Sampo sits there on their little bench that the two of them have occupied, and he thinks of his old friend April, how she'd died in his arms cackling and spitting her own blood after a heist gone wrong, and how after he'd dragged himself back to the World's End Tavern they'd all held a Fool's Funeral- which is basically just a big party where everyone gets really really drunk and reminisces and toasts the dead and celebrates their life.

He still thinks about her a lot, and he remembers how the time he'd most keenly felt her absence was on Jarilo-VI, the one place where he couldn't talk about her because he couldn't say anything to give himself away as an alien. The Fools still tell stories about her every time he goes back to the Tavern. His first toast of the night is always in her name. Even now, all these years after she'd died, Sampo is still learning new things about her. He's never had to grieve her alone.

Caelus doesn't have any of that.

He might never have that. As they speak, Caelus has no proof that Firefly was even her real name, or if she dreamt with her true appearance. He might not ever find out who she even was.

And just imagining that kind of loneliness hollows out a strange little pit, right behind his sternum, deep between his ribs.

So Sampo claps Caelus' shoulder and offers him a deal. Come find him outside of the dream. He knows a guy who can get them a lot of beer for really cheap-

("Is that guy you and your five finger discounts?" "Whatever do you mean, dear friend, I don't even know the meaning of the phrase, hehee.")

-and they can hole up in a bar or a hotel room or something, and get completely shitcanned. Tell him all about Firefly, tell him everything, and he'll tell Caelus about April and everyone else he's ever lost. Sampo will carry Caelus' memories of Firefly with him, and at least this way, Caelus will be a little less alone in remembering her. And the next time they cross paths, Sampo will be the one to bring her up, and to tell her stories, and Caelus can get to be the one listening. He won't have to be the only person to talk about her anymore.

Caelus rolls his eyes when Sampo avoids another remark about sticky fingers, but...ok, yeah. That sounds good. Nice, even. Thank you. Caelus bumps his shoulder against Sampo's. Sampo bumps back.

(They find each other again the next day, and true to their word, get themselves completely and utterly shitcanned. Caelus talks more than Sampo has ever heard him; every minute detail, every word choice, Firefly's every odd little mannerism and habit. Because Caelus wants to make sure this will outlive him, that even if the Stellaron dwelling within him finally burns him to a crisp and he really does up and kick the bucket, or even, godforbid, if he forgets, he wants to make sure someone remembers her. She deserved that.)

((And it takes quite a while, after that. Caelus doesn't see Sampo again until after everything has settled down. On his last day in Penacony, he finds the guy slinking out of a seedy back alley and all but runs right into him. Sampo happily leads him to some dive bar in an even seedier back alley that Caelus has never even heard of, and Sampo raises his glass. "To Firefly! Who sounds like she probably would have hated me at first, but I would have liked to have met her anyway."

And Caelus stares at him, almost looking startled, long enough that Sampo worries that he's read him wrong and brought this up too soon. He's halfway into planning how to talk himself out of this situation when Caelus finally throws back his head back and laughs, tells him that yeah, Firefly would have politely called him out on every lie he told, and all their conversations would take twice as long with the way Sampo is so full of shit.

And he can see it, the same way he watches and sees through everyone, that Caelus' eyes have a tightness to them, his knuckles are nearly white around the handle of his mug. But he smiles. He hits his glass against Sampo's far too hard and throws it back and gets foam everywhere like he does every time they drink because the guy's about as elegant as a raging bull, but those things don't lessen the genuineness of his smile.

The grief is there, but so is the elation, and those emotions aren't a sliding scale between one or the other. It is all of both and both at once, and that's what contents Sampo enough to throw his own mug back when Caelus makes a toast of his own, "to April!!".))

[ashen-sky]

The Penacony brainrot is so real, here are some thoughts:

this place is Alice in Wonderland meets Las Vegas, like I always got Vegas vibes (and a bit of early micky mouse honestly) but actually playing the story gave such Alice in Wonderland vibes. The meme? The Jabberwocky. Misha? That boy gives such white rabbit vibes. Is Black Swan the Cheshire cat? Now that i think about it, ya.

Sunday, the bird man, he may be surrounded in holy imagery but ohhhh boy are the thoughts he gives me anything but holy (this is a half joke, but i seriously can't wait to see more of him)

I DON'T THINK FIREFLY AND ROBIN ARE DEAD! There, I said it finally. This theory has been eating at me. The meme has an attack that puts your characters in a "dead" state that allows revival, and the exact same animation for that attack plays during Firefly's death. Also it doesn't make sense to kill a character before running their banner, so I think those girls are coming back.

Sam. I like Sam. And Aventurine. Aventurine's design reminds me a lot of Luka from the company that shall not be named. Honestly all of the Penacony characters bring something I adore in characters, that glitzy overconfidence of a gambler who knows his stuff, that twisted salvation, ect.

Also, I don't think people really sleep in Penacony, none of the guest rooms have beds. I think maybe Penacony natives might have a real bed, because the idea that their options are dream world or napping in weird spots seems odd, but they might not. (It did give me a fun idea for a fanfic of a character that forces themselves to nap outside of the dreamscape because they suffer from chronic nightmares and don't want to become dependent on the dreamscape)

I have two thought on Sampo, the first is what the hell was that dream and why do those damn trash cans hit so hard.

Next, everyone was sure he was a masked fool, and lo and behold they were right. However, I would like to turn your attention to Black Swan's character quest. Firstly, something is coming to Jarilo VI, something so big it is cause SAMPO to take action. Sampo, who is known for skirting AROUND conflict, is putting himself in someone else's hands (someone he explicitly states he isn't too fond of) to take action. I don't doubt he'll stay behind the scenes, he isn't the kind of person to work in the spotlight, but whatever is coming has concerned him enough to ACT. This isn't a testament to how he feels about the planet, this is a testament to the oncoming danger. EDIT TO ADD- the reason i don't say this is a testament to how much Sampo cares about the people of Jarilo VI is because of how much he trusts them to handle themselves. He cares about them yes, but by taking action he's saying he doesn't think they can handle whatever's coming on their own even with the recent reconnection with the IPC and working to recover their old technology.

All this is to say WHEN IS THE NEXT UPDATE, please, god, feed me story.

[sunderingstars]

For your playlists, how about some/any that you feel fits Sampo the most? I'd love to hear your thoughts behind any of them!

ʚ 💌 ɞ hihi! thank you for giving me an excuse to yap :3

in terms of songs that i feel encapsulate sampo as a whole, my top three would have to be:

le monde (from talk to me) by richard carter

⟢ (vague spoilers for talk to me)

⟢ the scene this song is used in is genuinely one i can’t get out of my head when thinking about how elation works in hsr — the characters know what they’re doing is impulsive and eventually dangerous, but there’s this thick layer of adrenaline separating them from actually being able to make rational decisions; instead, no matter how terrified they are (and perhaps because of how terrified they are), they can’t seem to stop themselves from coming back for more and interacting with an object that is most definitely cursed because of the high it gives them.

⟢ the music reflects this, going round and round and round, unable to stop spinning until it abruptly cuts off, just like how the group’s “high” abruptly turns to “horror” once the dead get too violent and too real for them to ignore.

⟢ i very much feel like this could be sampo’s experience of elation, especially in his early days of being around the masked fools. he would be surrounded by a constant “high” of others spinning round and round and round in this cycle of adrenaline, until something so violent and so disturbing happens that he’s forced to pull himself out of whatever trance he’d been trapped in. i actually see him as potentially being like mia from talk to me, starting out cautious as a voice of reason but slowly being pulled into the “cycle” of elation until he’s too lost to truly understand the impact of what he’s doing. i also think there may have been a startling & disturbing “incident,” much like what happens to mia’s little brother, that snapped him out of it and caused him to second guess what he was really doing with the masked fools, causing disillusionment to set in.

⟢ even now in belobog, he likely still has to grapple with that incessant soundtrack of repeating elation, if not within his own mind then in the interactions he has with other masked fools like in the tv screen scene.

joke’s on you by charlotte lawrence

⟢ i connect this one with sampo’s feelings of hate and betrayal towards aha / the masked fools / the elation as a whole (and perhaps even himself) — the song is very focused on finding a way to break free of this sugary, toxic relationship that seems to infect the main character, focusing on an almost “fuck you” mentality of being so completely done with being used for another’s ulterior motives.

⟢ in this context, “joke’s on you” would have a double meaning, not only conveying the original message of the song but also being a direct, ironic twist on the elation’s hedonistic fixation on jokes.

⟢ additionally, the blending of emotions like sadness and crying and fear being associated with laughter adds to the idea that “elation” may warp sampo’s experience of emotion, as well as how he can convey it.

⟢ “and now i’m laughin’ through my tears / i’m cryin’ through my fears / but baby, if i had to choose / the joke’s on you.” — joke’s on you

in the dark & let me go by shaker, cobra

⟢ the perfect duology to capture sampo’s two sides: lighthearted and fun versus serious and just, this yawning cavern of wanting more for himself.

⟢ in the dark is a more upbeat song, talking about not needing love and being rich and leading people on (with hints of deeper emotion), while let me go uses the same beat from in the dark but slowed down and reworked to explore the feelings of emptiness, pain, and insecurity that lie beyond the more cheerful tone of the previous song.

⟢ let me go, as the title suggests, also implies wanting to get away from something or someone specific that is linked to these dark feelings.

⟢ for sampo, in the dark would illustrate how he appears to others — carefree and loose with his movements and words and actions (as well as a little bit of a playboy) — while let me go would illustrate the way he actually feels — trapped and lonely and tied to this painful thing that sucks away at his soul.

⟢ basically, both songs are two sides of the same coin, and i very much see the coin as being sampo!

⟢ these songs go hard thinking about emanator!sampo or a sampo otherwise “created” by aha / the elation (especially doll!sampo).

⟢ “i don’t, i don’t need love / i’m getting married to all these hundred mills / all of my exes can’t even pay their bills.” — in the dark

⟢ “now my only way out’s to die, on my own / let me go / need to go / don’t you know? / i’ve been lacking a soul on the floor.” — let me go

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

[biblicallyaccurateangeloncrack]

Genshin and hsr characters as pinned messages (out of context) from discord servers with my friends: a shitpost

(uhhh cw some nsfw jokes and cuss words)

wriothesley: "i do not want an alpha transformation happening rn "

march to danheng: "my coquette lungs are better than your emo lungs"

hu tao: *ghostly voice* "oooooogly boogly why'd you skadoodly me?"

xiao, learning how to spell: "i lvove elmo music"

childe: "he is in my feet"

klee: "yeah my grandma's actually kim kardashian"

bronya to cocolia when she got sick as a kid: "Mother please carry me outside before to see the sky one last time before the consumption takes hold of my body and soul"

hu tao: " "weenis", said eerily"

bennett: "THE SANDWHICH TOOK ME OUT"

blade: "that link is longer than my plans for the future"

serval: "i pledge allegiance to the american bra"

itto: "i am in heat growls the summer has come and i am in heat growls"

zhongli: "*old man voice* when i was your age i fought kids"

stelle/caelus: "when i was my age i eated drywall"

fu xuan: "JING YUAN ILL SNIPPERS YOU UP IF YOU DONT STOP WITH THIS GOOBEROUS SHIT"

diluc, about venti: "i like to prentend he was a fever dream i came with at 4am"

fréminet, trying to speak french: "they said Lyney tu dumbass"

sampo: "I think Luka would beat up Luka while Luka watches. and then Luka would join in and beat the living daylight out of Luka"

silver wolf, about blade: "ppl with lactose intolerance boutta have their 2nd period ongomg"

kayea and rosaria: "we're a match made in the deep dark depths of the abyssal caves in fuck knows where"

jingliu: "am i.........one of those queers........."

yanquing: "shout-out to my home dawg Charles aka history teacher for dropping this wisdom on me"

shinobu: "itto if you say anything penis related you are banned"

ayaka as a kid: ""please take me to the garden so that way i can see the shining sun for the last time before my frail body decomposes with the disease known as ligma""

lyney: "imagine Neuvillette seeing a bunch of orphans blow up infront of him"

yoimiya: "are you really friends if you dont have matching vagina bracelets ??"

wriothesley: "My name is actually marlinus maximilianus Merlin guys"

caelus/stelle: " *bites your toes playfully* "

Pompom: "i eat gender for dinner"

xiao: "is life without endless pain and suffering only for it all to end leaving nothing but emptiness and all your suffering being just for the entertainment of the entity that we call god. an entity who is the real reason as to why we humans end up hurting others, for pain and suffereing is nothing but an endless spiral no matter how hard you try."

kafka, messing with blade: "do you like the gay foot"

yanfei: "YOU CANT LET IT GO LET IT GO YOUR WAY OUT OF A RESTRAINING ORDER"

kokomi: "DEMENTED DOLPHIN"

Furina: "they oui oui'd me"

shenhe: "the cld never bothered me anywa......."

kiara: "agressive meow"

ganyu: "are you a tree cause i wanna eat you"

dainsleif: "while youre kissing you bf or whatever ill be watching in the walls"

venti: "I FART ON PLANES"

scaramouche: "childe I will shave you bald"

itto: "perry plaptypussy"

seele, in response to hook's drawing: "10/10 Einstein could never"

razor, to bennett: "I WILL LICK YOU TO SLEEP"

sucrose, about to collect more bones: "*deranged loud breathing*"

kequing, to half of liyue: "SHUT UP COLOR WHEEL"

cyno: "genderfluid people's favorite song is liquid smooth"

kequing: "the feminine urge to beat up your coworkers with a stick"

dehya: "i piss on biphobes" kaveh: "but what if they have a piss kink..."

albedo: "he looks like a failed science project"

baizhu: "blowjob? nah, blownose"

silver wolf: "story time, honkai star rail made me leave my brother at a gas station and i do not regret SHIT"

blade: "if i end this year without killing myself its a miracle"

columbina: "btw dead bodies take less space if you bury them like theyre standing up"

zhongli: " *cracks back and walks away leaving a trail of dust behind"

@muachiro @geetkk @veimwah @etherific @zohakutenstan

[shoezuki]

tryna write next ch of doctor fic but i am FIGHTING for my LIFE. idk how i want sampo waking up and actually talkin to gepard to go like.

im strugglin w this shit i have multiple vague ideas in mind like a) sampo is still delirious and out of it, half in and out of sleep and gepard cant really get anything serious out of him rn or b) sampo delirious, but gepard is frustrated and has been stewing over sampo leaving him by the wall. gives sampo a piece of his mind but sampo fell asleep at some point. OR c) sampo is somewhat alright, almost delirious, but him and gepard can talk. gep is trying to understand wht the fuck happened, get sampo to talk esp about who wanted him dead, but sampo is brushing it off and acting like nothing happened. gep gets frustrated and tries to leave but sampo finally shows his real face and begs gepard to stay.

and EVEN THEN theres a lot of other things im stuck on like idk what i do n do not wanna focus on in this specific ch. do I want to bring bronya and pela into this? should natasha and gepard talk bout who sampo ran from? should I develop that aspect of who tried to kill him in the beginning, or save that for next thing? hell. too many thoughts

[another-goblin]

2.0 SPOILERS and random thoughts

So the hotel building was a prison, right? It sort of makes sense, hotels and prisons have similar layouts. But imagine, the place of concentrated suffering of hundreds of thousands of prisoners, or maybe more (look how big it is), now turned into a weird supernatural hotel - what could possibly go wrong? (what if they kept prisoners in dreams too, and the dreamworld is a former prison dreamworld. And they were fed Soulglad to keep them docile). These cells were quite spacious though.

The way Sunday talked to somebody in the end reminded me of Cocolia. Is it possible a stellaron is involved here too?

The dead characters - no way Robin and Firefly will stay dead. They look playable, and you don't kill characters before they become playable (unless it's Qiqi or Blade)

I have a theory based on nothing, that Robin is alive and is actually behind whatever is going on. (Maybe her plan is for all these disruptive guests to kill each other in the name of harmony) She's in cahoots with Sparkle who pretended to be the body.

Sparkle - with her ability to shapeshift, aren't we supposed to be constantly paranoid? Anybody can be Sparkle. But also, seeing how vicious and unhinged she is, she feels like she should be the main antagonist in her own story arc, not just an extra. I mean even Sampo seems apprehensive of her.

I understand people who were enamored with Firefly and saddened with her death, but I personally weren't, because for me her part has the outward appearance of a romantic story, but inside it's just two hours of lies and tutorials. I also saw theories about her different identity and If it's true I hope the writers know what they are doing. Also why is our character so sure she's dead? Don't people who die in a dream just wake up in real world?

If Duke Inferno is dead, and stays dead, and his cool gang is never mentioned again, it's going to be the funniest thing in this game yet.

BTW how did Acheron allegedly enter the hotel using Duke invitation? Aventurine knows that we know that it's very hard (he witnessed our problems with DH's invitation). Make it make sense.

Gallagher - either he's up to something or he's extremely incompetent. He let go an actual stawaway and the huy who fits the description he just provided (Caelus - a guy with grey hair). Also it was him personally who stole confiscated Aventurine's stuff.

Speaking of which. I think Aventurine mentioned "cornerstones", plural. So it's not just his aventurine, but others too? Ratio implied that these things are crucial for their success and that Aventurine might be in danger from IPC without his rock, I wonder what's that about, and why Aventurine is so dismissive about losing them.

Anyways I'm still curious why IPC sent these two. It looks like they decided to achieve their goals on Penacony in a more or less peaceful way (unlike their military invasion on Jario-6). So why did they send Dr. Ratio, notorious for having the social grace of a nuclear bomb, and Aventurine, who isn't doing that great either.

I wonder how the game expects us to see Aventurine. The game probably expects us to see him as slimy but charming and dangerous. And yeah, he somehow (conveniently behind the scenes) managed to come to some agreement with Black Swan, but otherwise he fails miserably in most of his interactions.

When we first meet him, he pretends that he has the power to help us with our invitation problem, awkwardly compliments Robin and Sunday, tries to buy our friendship with a ridiculously small sum (well it was probably all the money he had left). Then he tries to intimidate us but gets spooked by Acheron. Ratio leaves in the middle of their conversation, Sparkle catches him stalking her and roasts him, and so on.

So my current VERY subjective impression is that he's quite desperate at this point. He constantly fails but tries to save face. He lost his confidence after his stuff was confiscated, he can't count on buying people's loyalty with giant bribes as he probably used to.

He obviously had a difficult childhood, he had to claw his way up, and IPC doesn't seem like a place that nurtures one's appreciation for genuine human connections. He probably learned to see genuine feelings as liability. As the result, he only sees people as assets, and "friends" as tools. He talks a lot about friends and trust, but never even pretends that he wants to achieve genuine trust or friendship with anybody. (I can continue but this post is long enough and it'll probably become obsolete with the next update anyway)

And I know it's probably too much to hope for, but maybe he'll get some character development, making him more open to the idea of genuine human interaction.

I already have seen a lot of interesting theories about what's going on, and I really hope the game won't just ignore all these hints and details it gave us, and all these things are actually important.

[no-one-in-teyvat]

Summary of some of my recent findings:

the sampo myth is probably only a surface level characteristic - it might be a key to Sampo's worldview, but it's just a tip of a really really big iceberg

I thought that the Belobog research would just contextualise Sampo's role on Jarilo-VI. I might have underestimated things.

Jarilo-VI and Belobog might have been affected by the Enigmata

the planet strongly bases on a reverted version of Slavic Perun-Veles battle, the shepherd of the dead won

there is a lot of serpent. I'm stumbling upon more serpents I can count and I do not know which one is the dead snake Sampo is carrying around. or why

or whether it has anything to do with the Voracity

the real sampo was the trivia I acquired on this journey

[cherrycrate]

Muted Desire - Dan Heng x Reader

Chapter 5!

“Sampo?” you asked. He clapped and a light emanated from his hands. If you hadn’t been completely overwhelmed with seeing him in front of you, you almost would have asked him what trick he had used to light the fire in his palm. “I thought-” you looked him up and down. It was Sampo. Good old Sampo. He hadn’t changed a bit, apart from growing taller and changing his style around. Messy hair, eyes you trusted and mistrusted at the same time - so welcoming, so vicious. Was your mind poisoned? Were you hallucinating beyond the point of help?

“I was dead?” he laughed, stepping forward with his arms extended to the sides. “Well, good news! I’m not!”

I couldn't help myself - I have been writing chapters like I have nothing else to do (I do. I am just terribly inefficient in real life affairs-)

Thank you so much for reading it as always!! Love ya!!

[aluckiicoin]

msg→ [Precious Jalokivi]: what do you mean by it?

msg→ [Precious Jalokivi]: this isn't funny Ven. Answer you beacon.

Missed call from Blue Rat

Missed call from Blue Rat

Missed call from Blue Rat

Missed call from Blue Rat

msg→ [Precious Jalokivi]: where are you?! I can help! Just say something! Anything!

msg→ [Precious Jalokivi]: Aventurine I'm begging you, don't be dead. Please dear Qlipoth don't be fucking dead

msg→ [Precious Jalokivi]: if you dare die, I won't ever forgive you

And more messages like that were blowing up his phone now that the Cornerstone had arrived back to the land of the living. Desperate text messages mixed with missed calls and erratic, panic sounding voice messages were left. Each one becoming more and more nonsensical as desperation and fear gripped the thief.

Sampo was afraid. He was worried for him. And for all the Fool knew, Aventurine was dead. Leaving him to cry and pick up the broken pieces.

It had been a while since he had been returned to reality. If it weren't for that armour-clad fella he probably would not have made it in time. Aventurine did, in fact, not remember how he made it out of the primordial dreamscape – everything was a terrible mess of jumbled parts, reality, dream and hallucinations mixed together. He had already been tripping a while before taking it up against the astral express crew. Whatever trick the Halovian had played on him in the name of the Harmony had truly been an excruciating ordeal.

It was a miracle he got his hands on proper information at all – despite the scandal and whatever his perceived death might have provided prior – before falling apart completely. And even now, somehow patched back together and signed of as 'fine' by a doctor of chaos, it still felt like he was coming asunder. Constantly, at any moment. Torn at the edges, fraying apart, tormented by nightmares worse than those he had grown used to. He had been spiralling within the chaos and nothingness, the hollowness of nihility for a good while.

It had taken a long while before his fingers had reached for his phone in search of distraction and comfort. Unsurprisingly it gave him nothing – hah! All business, people who hoped to beat him in a gamble or missed his endorsement. A ton of messages that had only been delivered the moment he joined back into reality a few days ago. It spoke to his connection to this world that most of the messages were mere spam, commercials or business and gambling related.

A total of two real living beings had reached out to him. A pathetic testament. One of them being the trailblazer who still had use of him, he supposed. The other one however, building up to an impressive number of missed called and unread messages, was his dearest blue rat.

In a moment of utter folly he had pressed on the messages, telling himself that maybe the man was in danger – surely he had to be if he kept spamming at him like that. In hindsight? With that much time passed what could he have possibly done to help the fool?

Surely if the other had been in danger he would have lost him already. The mere thought opened a familiar pit in his stomach he did not want to examine further.

And even though it hadn't happened the mere thought still sent ice through his veins. The words directed at him were nothing like that however.

They focused on his own survival, his own life, a screaming raving desire for him to still be there yet.

The gambler had no idea how to deal with how those words tore him apart inside out.

Help him?

Well it was a little late for that.

All those colourful heartfelt expressions directed at him kept grinding the remains inside of him to dust until the walls slammed back up in a desperate attempt to keep his worldview alive.

Ah, what a fabulous actor still.

His dear blue rat really gave his all in this role, didn't he.

Maybe the money he had sent him was too low? In hindsight – compared what he had spent on him before – it was barely a drop on a hot stone wasn't it?

Don't be dead. The way it was said sent shivers down his spine, the desperation in it yet - Ah, yes a dead man was a terrible tool in most cases. In hindsight he should've ignored those messages.

Left them to rot in the void and give his rat the promised chance on freedom. If Sampo thought of him as dead, he'd just forget about him. There was nothing more the get out of him then after all. The thought shouldn't hurt as much as it did.

But he was... what exactly? Too selfish and curious? Too arrogant? Too foolish to ignore the send messages? Whatever the case, he now had to witness the clear sign next to the messages that those had been sent and read.

Any chance to just disappear into the aether wordlessly was gone. So in the unlucky event his rat checked his phone, he would know him alive – and silent.

Would he be angry about the continued silence? Or would he accept it as it was? He could hardly imagine the later. He allowed himself to fantasize though. The vague chance that his rat still waited for a message. Took the unanswered but read messages as a sign of his survival. He should say something, anything if those two signs next to the message already sealed his fate.

He couldn't undo it after all. He might yet be sentenced to die but he could at least give something to the man that had been part of his dying thoughts.

That fact was also what kept him from it.

The way that his rat had appeared before him when he thought he would die. Right at the point where he should've met his family, finally remember their faces. Instead, he'd been met with thoughts about the masked fool instead.

It wasn't fair, neither to him nor to the fool. Yet, when he had to face death, he wondered if the other would miss him – he was the only one that could still miss him after all. It was such a foolish regret too – he had never properly said goodbye to him. Now it turned out the man had been thinking about him. And he still didn't know how to deal with it. Worst of it all, he wasn't even sure if he would survive the next weeks. Destroying a cornerstone was a crime unprecedented. He might still die yet. So, he didn't answer in the end. What good would it do to look alive and get his rat's hopes up if he still had to die after all.

[aoxizu]

day 81 of saving for jing yuan rerun: 326 wishes (this is the only jing yuan part of the post)

ok. so. somewhat long very rambly post beware, also spoilers probably

i have not yet completed the companion quest or any other side quests but i have done the main quest

i don't get firefly like i just do not care about her

we met her for 3 hours and i'm supposed to have developed a bond already? and i'm supposed to believe that she's dead? sure she's pretty and all but i just don't get it

i don't know maybe there's subtext i'm missing as a person who is pretty much allergic to romance i just don't understand why i'm supposed to care so much about her "death"

though i will say that sam's fight was pretty good. i liked that.

i also really want to trust aventurine and give him the benefit of the doubt but it seems like he's definitely a major driving force behind everything

why did you have a corpse in your bathtub, aventurine??

i really like aventurine and dr ratio's dynamic with dr ratio being one of the few people who can actually cut through aventurine and aventurine playing up the idiocy and mediocrity

i strongly believe as of right now that the dead people are not going to stay dead and some may even be killed again

i've never played honkai impact 3 but it appears that on the hsr subreddit there are memes of people starting to understand otto now that firefly is dead and i just still don't really get it

did we really manage to build that close of a relationship in those 3 hours of running around? personally i'd argue that i'm closer with black swan even though you were only a part of her contract

going on a different note here but i keep getting distracted whenever they bring up contracts and the fact that aventurine is a merchant

zhongli and liyue just float up from the recesses of my mind and i'm just there going "cOnTrAcT?? liyue reference???" in the middle of important dialogue

anyways image dump incoming

the architects just look like wizards and they just stand there with their arms outstretched

i like sam's boss fight but his animations feel a little off to me? somehow i don't know quite how to explain it and his model also feels a little weird

good music though

also there was the whole thing with robin's voice being off and after welt pointed it out i tried to listen for it and i couldn't tell the difference, but that seems to just be a me thing

the other question with robin is was she sparkle from the start? when you initially entered the dream and landed in a unique pose slightly reminiscent of other media and sunday and robin come up to you and robin helps you adjust to the dream, was she already sparkle then? if so then how did sparkle do that, isn't that like a xipe and fuli exclusive thing?

i've also seen people who play with the english dub talk about how sampo's voice is different now compared to his voice during belobog, though i don't know if that's a result of real life interfering or if it was specifically directed to sound that way by devs

i also don't play in en so i wouldn't know

i also feel like gallagher was not what i expected

he's the head of security and he just let firefly go because she was pretty? i don't know why gallagher would make that decision just based on appearances and i am growing increasingly concerned for the safety of penacony if the head of security can just let people go for looking like they're innocent

or am i just used to living in a part of the world where the police are almost never on your side? maybe elsewhere police do usually give people the benefit of the doubt, and i'm just used to police always being this force you have to be cautious of and the idea that in an encounter with them you need to be careful of the answers you give

anyways that was a plot point i didn't really like but who knows maybe his character will change in the future

i didn't expect that duke inferno would be playable but him dying is still a little sad. but i have seen so much of his relic set recently that it feels like i already have him (and his artifacts absolutely suck i got this really good hand piece with attack %, crit rate, and crit damage as the substats so there's no way it could go wrong right? no it went all into effect hit rate.)

my personal vendetta against duke inferno's artifact set aside, i still feel like firefly shouldn't have been killed this early

i feel like i had no chance to develop any sort of relationship with her and at most we were acquaintances when she died

and also the whole deal with acheron's red text is a little unsettling but i definitely felt safer with her around as she hasn't tried to kill me or use me yet while other characters have

i went into 2.0 thinking i wouldn't like black swan but i've come around to her and honestly she is nice when she doesn't have to be

i don't mind that she only brings you to aventurine to fulfill her part of a contract, though i wish literally all of the characters would explain their actions clearly for a person like me who has no ability to read subtext

and also her exploration mechanic is really nice

i don't like to play dot teams but i'm considering it now, though it will have to wait a while

what i really want is a character that works similar to the quake mechanic in the simulate universe and the captain dunn enemy kind of

like clara but preservation

basically i want a battle cleric but like a dps shielder

this guy might end up replacing gepard if i get him

i wish there was a way to rewatch cutscenes because there is probably so much foreshadowing hidden in the details that i couldn't catch the first time around

can galaxy rangers be emanators of the hunt? i think all the generals of the xianzhou ships are and so is the marshal, but i don't know if the galaxy rangers are also like officially endorsed by lan

they seem to be another group that also travels the path of the hunt but doesn't necessarily have lan's blessing in as much of a direct way as the xianzhou does, like how the luofu generals get lightning lord and stuff

i really hope we get to see more of the other xianzhou ships (i need more jing yuan content)

but personally i don't think acheron is an emanator of the hunt, far more likely to be destruction or finality

also i'm absolutely taking 仙舟旧纪 as canon despite the fact that it is entirely fanmade

it is my canon now

who killed the...

ominous title aside, i get the feeling that robin is more likely to stay dead than firefly

her death feels like something that the plot will revolve around at some point in the future, and it feels oddly fitting

so also fun fact there is a 10 images per post limit. sad

but i think that sums up most of my thoughts on the main quest so far, though there probably is more that i haven't touched on

at any rate, i am looking forward to 2.1 and aventurine's banner. i need to collect all the preservation characters or as many as i can with the welkin and not spending any additional money

there are 22 days left until jing yuan's rerun