#the cocona quest. The lesley dean quest. The chadwick quest...

[minnieposting]

i really love penacony so much

[finisnihil]

I finished exploration and collected all readable material as of 2.0 and I noticed something interesting.

So we have an association with the alchemy processes but I think it’s related more so to Jungian psychology.

When you look at the Fate’s Atlas there’s only four Adventure Missions listed.

They’re the missions where you relive the person’s memories using an item of significance to them. These four missions fit the stages.

Nigredo-The Trees At Peace

Chadwick confesses to himself and us that he actually created the super weapon to prove himself, not for some kind of “greater good”

Albedo-Goodness is Rare

The Emperor goes through her suppressed memories to stitch together her unconscious past with her conscious present and she asks if her good deeds in her new life make up for the sins in her old one.

Citrinitas-Cosmic Star

When we go through Lesley Dean’s "memories" it's actually the memories of outside individuals who are unhealthily dependent on his existence and he teaches them how to live without circulating their lives around him

Rubedo-Envision a Rose Forthcoming

Cocona's memories consist of her expressing a desire to die over her lack of agency and individuality, with her quest concluding by her finally reclaiming it and fulfilling her dream of singing.

We also see the colors red and yellow used in the weird tape we find

The yellow text mentions "opening your mind" and in my original post I mention the experience and emotion expressed in red.

Red used to express finality is more noticable with this in mind.

Acheron displays this. Death is associated with waking up and when she "wakes" us in her cutscene the hall and door are red. She also mentions fleeting red will appear to us once more when we have a choice to make.

The core four Adventure Missions follow this structure as well. We deconstruct the memories in the pivotal item of the person in the stage of Nigredo, relive and "purify" the memories in Albedo, experience a moment of understanding of the events and discuss them in Citrinitas, and then end the sequence with some sort of "Death" in Rubedo, ending the replay of the Stone Tape item. Chadwick is taken to finally rest, the Gray Knight dies and the Emperor is taken away to stand trial and presumably be executed for her crimes, Cocona tries to jump her death and the Trailblazer talks her down from it, and Lesley Dean comes to term with the fact he's dead and there's nothing supporting his memory anymore.

It seems to be most heavily implied that Acheron is an Emanator of the Finality and i've discussed her psychopomp role at length. When she speaks in red the emotional memory she recalls is the final impression of the event her mind remembers. She is a personification of Rubedo, she steps in to end the Stone Tape's "replay" as an agent of Finality and "Death".

So. I think. I may have figured out the significance of the red text in Penacony’s quest line and it’s relation to Acheron. Spoilers ahead for Penacony

First, let’s establish the connections and contexts in which red text is used in Penacony. The first time we experience it is when we meet Acheron.

During this initial conversation, Acheron tells us something extremely important.

Acheron easily forgets things UNLESS they are tied to emotional response.

When we see the red text used going forward it’s typically through emotional recollection.

Acheron asks if we have met before because it feels like we have. When she talks about her interactions Black Swan and her old friend she never recalls details like their facial features, their names, nothing like that, she only remembers the atmosphere of the interaction and how it made her feel.

When we see the red text pop up again it’s during exploration of the Dreamscape Reverie

In both these instances the red text is denoting emotion, experience.

This tape we find, it's extremely important.

When you turn it in to a member of the Bloodhound Family he informs you that the tapes are associated withe the assault of Sweet Dreams Troupe and a corruption of their "consciousness". He then gives an interesting description of their effect

.

The use of the term "tapes" is not a coincidence and I think I have the anwser.

It's the Stone Tapes Theory.

For those unaware, the Stone Tapes Theory is the belief that "ghosts" as we know them are actually recorded memories. During traumatic or emotional events, the mental impression seeps into objects like the stones of a house and the memories of the events get "recorded" in the object like a tape, and it's believed it can be "replayed" if interacted with in a certain way (it's the premise of a movie called Last Night in Soho which is an excellent watch if you want to look into the concept more).

The objects attacked were ones typically in a state of being inanimate and the attacks disrupted the impressions they already carried. They disrupt the mental state and emotions of the living because the living get sucked into the "replay" of the event. The term "phantasmagoria" in relation to the Dreamscape is used in the letter with the tape, which is a term for dream-like visions or illusions, typically seen in a half-concious or sleeping state.

How does Acheron connect to all of this?

In a previous analysis of mine, I talk about Acheron's connections to death and her possible role as a psychopomp. Death and Sleep are connected in many folklores across many cultures as Sleep is seen as a temporary stae of Death.

The Dreamscape has many allusions to being an afterlife or place of death beyond having the "Death" nightmare creature.

Souls are gathered in the Dreamscape and when you talk to many NPCs it's a shock to realize they're actually dead and their memory is being stored in the Dreamscape like the Stone Tape Theory. Chadwick, Lesley Dean, etc. And these are the quests that are shown in the Fate's Atlas. They're important. We access their memories connected to their fate using an inanimate object that holds significance to their specific situation.

Sparkle is used to reiterate that death isn't permanent in the Dreamscape but I don't think it's just because you can wake up, it's also because the "tape" can be rewound and replayed from the start.

Acheron was picked out from the start by Black Swan as interesting. She was her first dance. Acheron also shows to be able to navigate the Dreamscape very well on her own. The mingling of memory and death is significant because I think Acheron is serving as a psychopomp leading souls out of their Stone Tapes. Stopping them from being rewound. Her sword has a red eye and she sees the world in black, white, and red. The living, the dead, and Stone Tapes. This comes into conflict with Black Swan, who as a Memokeeper, would be striving to preserve those Stone Tapes. Sam burning entities in the Stone Tapes could be bad because he's destroying the tapes with those still inside them while Acheron is trying to guide the souls out.

Penacony has a big clock theme with an area of the Reverie even commenting that the clock doesn't work because time stands still in a dream. The different areas of the Dreamscape are called Moments. These "Moments" are just Stone Tapes.

Do you know what witness marks are? They've been symbolic in horror media like Mike Flanagan's adaptation of The Haunting of Hill House. They're scratches or dents in antique clocks left behind where pieces may have moved or been stationed and are used by clockmakers to help restore or wind antique clocks. The founder of Penacony as it is now is the Watchmaker. Acheron is a witness mark. All the special guests are. The Watchmaker's legacy is whoever can use the witness marks to fix the big clock of the Reverie and smooth out the disruptions in the harmony of life and death, these Stone Tapes.

Feel free to add your thoughts, mwah!