#this quest was so… deep

[peridouu]

“why do we slumber?” - post honkai star rail 2.2 story analysis

HELLO HI HI HI!! my name is aster, and i normally don’t make analysis posts, actually, but penacony’s 2.2 story was so interesting to me that i had to make a post, in particular about order vs. harmony and what we can take away from this message. this is a short analysis but if i ever have anything to add i’ll reblog it!

i’m an artist in many forms, and the music motifs in particular stood out to me during the boss fight, so that’s what i’ll be focusing on, as being an artist in these trying times can be very strenuous 😭 likes and reblogs always appreciated!

please take this whole analysis with ten cups of salt, i ended up skipping a lot of the dialogue in this quest b/c i spaced out really badly, so if i interpreted anything wrong, lmk please!

without further ado, let’s begin!

(spoilers for hsr 2.2 trailblaze quests below the cut)

i. Harmony vs. Order (wait, what’s the difference?)

just to make it clear, i wanted to talk about the differences between Xipe and Ena. i don’t remember if they talked about this in the quest! so i’m going to yap!

Harmony by definition is notes arranged to sound nice in chords. When applied as a path, the “notes” are people, and the “sound” is humanity creating connections and peace between one another. The harmonious interactions between people, if you will.

Order achieves mainly the same thing, and is why it was eventually assimilated into Harmony, but the biggest difference in my eyes is how the “harmony” is achieved. With Harmony, it’s organic connections. People getting along of their own will and agency. This is kind of reflected in how Robin previously did outreach to other planets, almost like a religious missionary - serving others and spreading the word of her own accord. 

The harmony achieved by order, however, feels more constricted. When you interact with the NPCs who are already in the order’s dreamscape, their state is always “Satisfied”, but they’re robotic and soulless, almost. The “Harmonious Choir” boss wields a baton, the tool conductors use to command music ensembles. Herta describes Ena as “a control freak.” The Order is all managed by one entity, and in Penacony’s case, Sunday. But even so, Sunday and Robin were raised by the Order. It’s a cycle. 

And even though both essentially achieve the same thing, one of them feels much more righteous and moral in our anime protagonist eyes, and spoiler alert: it’s not the Order. Why?

ii. Sunday’s Philosophy (and how it pertains to artists)

Sunday’s whole reasoning as to why he wants to trap the universe in a dream is b/c he believes it’s less painful than the real world. Robin and the trailblaze believe people should have the choice to live in reality. Their conflict is still an extension of Order vs. Harmony. Free will vs. One safe option. The bird in the cage.

Set the bird free, where it will inevitably die, or nurture it in a confined cage? If you’re like me, when I got asked this question during the gameshow, I was very very very conflicted. I asked March, Himeko, and Firefly for their opinions and still didn’t have a complete answer. I ended up picking “Set the bird free” because, well, Trailblazer is essentially an anime protagonist, and that’s what my idealist heart wanted to pick, but….

I still pondered that question for a long time after.

“Why does life slumber?” is the question that we are asked throughout the quest, but it is only at the end of the fight that we have an answer:

Sunday: Why does life slumber?

(Trailblazer): Because... someday...

(Trailblazer): We will wake from our dreams!

And aside from protagonist reasons, I’ve come up with an interpretation of this response that makes sense, at least in my mind. It’s still important to indulge in our fantasies and dream, but eventually we have to wake up and make the choice to get out of bed, make the choice to continue forward, and that holds more value than hiding from our problems in the Dreamscape. And this is also an extension of Order vs. Harmony, and the reason why Xipe triumphed over Ena. 

but taking it from an artist’s perspective: 

As someone who creates art, it’s always our goal to make art as perfect as possible. We want our works to be as good as they can be, perfect like the Dreamscape. Obviously, that’s not possible, and it’s always discouraging to not create at the caliber you want. But art is meant to be imperfect, and I’ll talk about that in the next segment. 

iii. Penacony’s First and Last Disharmony

When Robin brings her song and the Astral Express into the boss fight, Welt says this: “Penacony’s first, and last, disharmony.” (fun fact, this was the quote that basically prompted this whole analysis! thanks welt!!) Robin’s voice is absolutely beautiful, so why is it referred to as “disharmony”?!?!?!?!?

First, the goals of the Trailblazers (and everyone else on their side, whom i’m collectively calling trailblazers) is to destroy the Dreamscape and let everyone return to reality. This means that everyone who was blissfully ignoring their problems suddenly has to awake from their dreams and face their issues head-on instead of ignoring them, disrupting the “harmony” Sunday created.

Music will always be imperfect in the hands of humans, and it’s exactly why music is able to connect with people, because everyone can see parts of themselves and their humanity in the music. It’s something powerful that so many people can connect with, just like how Robin has so many fans across the universe, and just like the Harmony itself. 

If you’ve ever played an instrument and you’ve taken lessons, your teacher will likely make you listen to the piece you’re playing. the more advanced the piece (concertos, etc) the more recordings there will probably be. Even when just comparing 2 performances, there are already so many differences, but they’re both the same piece, and both recordings are probably really good. Different interpretations, but both contribute to the piece you play. 

Especially as we live in a time of AI where computers are creating more and more “art” it’s important to know that humanity will always reign supreme over soulless works. Because AI art might look pretty and might sound passable, but it will never carry the soul and meaning of human work, and that is the most important thing. Because when people create music, they put parts of themselves into it.

TL;DR: Art is imperfect and human and that’s what makes it so valuable, and that’s why Harmony will always triumph. 

[imgayfordennys]

Are these freaks still popular on this site *crosses fingers and whispers ‘please’ under my breath*

[butchvamp]

other people have already said it but it’s really soooo lame how Flat elgar’nan and ghilan’nain are. especially when you compare them to solas and mythal. elgar’nan was literally mythal’s husband, they had children together, surely he wasn’t just pure evil the entire time? why don’t we get to see any of their regrets in the literal regret prison that was originally intended for them? (because theyre just evil, of course!) why couldn’t what happened with the titans have been an unintended tragedy born from them just desiring bodies, unknowing that it would hurt and anger the titans, with those consequences spiraling into a brutal and bloody war between them… and then we could have actually seen more of what happened during this war, the impact it had on the titans and dwarves, and the desperation to end it that led to the death of the titans and solas’s regret and the eventual twisting of the evanuris into godhood… but nah. they’re just pure evil.

[hemlock-dreams]

I love MJ. Peter must have really been devastated by her being affected when he was outed as Spider-Man. I have a few questions! You mentioned in the original universe she had a relapse — was it just the same universe changes that made Peter a criminal that caused there to be an MJ that was an addict? Would the venom have caused her to die in a while like most people, or no because Peter became her supplier and had presumably good control? Wouldn’t she have known the reasons he had hesitated to kiss long eventually, since he had to tell her everything to help with the venom thing? And does his venom just… come out automatically after a bit with anything, or is it possible for him to have situations where it’s not involved at all for a time? I’m sure he misses her and usually MJ and Peter are friends before they get together in many canons, so I’m really happy that he’s able to be her friend in the new universe and didn’t lose her entirely 🥺 even if he basically had to reform the relationship from scratch. (Also if Peter and Marko were such good friends, why was he willing to put him and his loved ones in danger by telling everyone?) all of this is very cool and fun ty for sharing.

So OG-MJ was an addict before she ever knew Peter(and before everything with the knock off venom.) She had been sober for two years at that point, and continued to stay sober for a few years after she and Peter officially got together.

However, Peter was always gone, flaking on all their special dates/anniversaries etc. He'd make plans and then never show up, or cancel at the last minute. And despite being super affectionate with his words, was always really physically distant. All of this left MJ feeling really alone and angry, as she was dealing with her own abandonment issues (foster care).

Eventually, everything was just a perfect storm of frustration (struggling with her boss, Peter flaking on another date, a new job opportunity not coming through) that she ended up reconnecting with some old friends who convinced her to try 'this sick new upper'.

The issue with manufactured venom (gonna call it Aurora) is that in it's impurity, it had extremely degenerative effects at lower doses. Peter's venom, while just as bad, was 'cleaner'. He can secrete it at will, but his body starts automatically pumping it when he gets excited (not to mention his fangs do not retract!!!) (They are very sharp!!!)

As for Marko, he'd been Sandman for a while before he revealed Spiderman's identity. Not only was he mentally very unstable, but he'd been very bitter over Peter going 'straight'. They were supposed to be ride or die, but Peter kept drifting away and eventually cut ties with him when it was obvious that Marko was never going to leave the lifestyle.

Then one day, during a fight with Spiderman Marko just...recognized the body language, the words, just...something clicked, then broke. Because not only did Peter leave Marko, the guy who had his back all those years in prison, his supposed 'ride or die' was also fucking Spiderman. The guy who had been actively fucking up Marko's life for years. The enemy.

Payback was an easy decision for a guy who held tight to grudges.

And for the kicker, he didn't even sell the information, just gave it to JJ for free-- that's how much he wanted to hurt Peter. Later, he would really regret it, but it would be too late at that point.

After Marko threw Peter's life into the fire, he and MJ had a blowout fight. At the height of it, MJ told Peter to 'prove he loved her' and used her own addiction as a way to control his time and attention after being starved for so long (kind of holding herself hostage).

Yeah...it all kind of went to real shit after Lmaoo

Once again, thank you SO much for the support and all these amazing asks!! <3 <3

[witsserviceablesubstitute]

Nie Huaisang is my favorite Untamed character because he's the heir to the biggest baddest warrior sect of them all but his best weapons are his mind, his theatrics, and his sense of dramatic irony.

[blood-orange-juice]

There's already Fantasy Russia doomposting, let's have Fantasy Russia wishes too!

We have Balkan and Greek references in the game, so no need to restrict yourself to Russian Empire. Go ham. I'll start.

Name change. Please. It's so cringe currently.

A world quest chain based on Bazhov's tales (miners' folklore mixed with Ural and Slavic fae stories). Non-negotiable.

Trains and trams. Do I even need to say it?

TRDLO. Look at it. Look at it. We can have Western Slavs too and if there's no trdlo I'll riot:

(for the US people reading this: it's a sweet pastry cooked on metal rods over coals, popular street food in Prague, although it was originality Hungarian. eating it on a cold day is an Experience)

Frozen lake sounds, they sound a bit like whalesong.

Sami people. Finnish references in general.

Childe's family's side of his story.

A tired playwright bullied by censors.

Sirin and Alkonost birds! Half-birds half-humans who could put you to sleep or kill you with a song.

A black cat called Behemoth. iykyk.

Pulcinella as an Alexander II reference ("ruling Snezhnaya is not hard but it's pointless").

A giant bridge over a harbour.

Greenhouses. Just giant greenhouses.

Some steppes. A girl can hope.

Bog.

A springtime area near the sea with rhododendrons in bloom.

Space program. If Natlan can be modern then Snezhnaya can have space program. We are going to the moon to poke at a dead goddess (now where have I seen that... hm).

Cyberpunk and medical horror.

Pantalone's Ayn Rand era.

Atonal music.

Linguists.

An ice skating mechanic.

I'm assuming that Soviet adaptation of The Snow Queen (one of the things that inspired Miyazaki to draw) is a given, so here's an obligatory mention.

And, the last but not the least, 6 nations coalition army entering Snezhnaya for humanitarian help after the country falls apart on its own.

Hoyo, please. Allow us to have nice things at least sometimes.

[zhongrin]

between genshin, hsr, and zzz, i have to say i have a lot of enjoyment and high hopes for zzz.

the team working for zzz are just amazing in my eyes (which sounds crazy especially since they're all hyv games). for one, i think so far they follow through with almost everything that they've promised. making the game having a 'low floor, high ceiling' and therefore isn't just a pure powercreep gacha game (looking at you hsr). all the gameplay promises with timelines they would say in dev notes (like getting players to be able to use different characters in the map by 1.4). literally giving us options to enjoy the contents through two different modes because half of the player base dislikes a certain mode of the game (therefore doubling the effort of the dev team to work on, which is still so crazy to me that they're actually taking this approach)...

of course all of them has their pros and cons in my eyes. for example, i am very much not a fan of zzz's blatant gooner bait, among other peeves. but something about having the developers listening closely to our feedback since the very start of the game and visibly making changes to the actual game itself accordingly is just so nice.

anyway. i'm going to go view more rooms. have a good weekend, all of you!

[girlboyburger]

i'm alive btw i've just been, um,

[xxgalacticambitionsxx]

ily westley princessbride

[soy-bean-factory]

embarrassing for me but heres my pathologic oc, guy who is too lame to join the soul-and-a-halves and too offputting to join the dog heads

[princepestilence]

As of today, I am no longer working on a PhD, because it’s finished and also submitted.

[pupkinpumpkin]

Solas desperately trying to get out of the Regret Prison and I'm desperately trying to get in

[thegreatyin]

this nemesis ambition started out a little slow but I am getting closer to finding that bastard who killed my wife, and I’ll not rest a minute now that im far closer to on his trail

sorry got in character for a second

Anyways fun ambition so far very fucked up though

congratulations on joining the murder club anon!!!! depending on who you ask the name refers to either people who have murdered or people who have witnessed murder. usually both. actually extremely often both. it's a swell time you'll feel right at home (don't mind our collective skyglass knife collection in the back)

[enden-k]

btw if i make kaveh say "oh my god" pls imagine him say that EXACTLY the way his english VA does bc its always stuck in my head with how funny and perfect it is ajkcjkab

[viaphni]

A collab I did with my best friend about the recent events of Ore Quest: Prime.

I'm on the left, she's on the right!

[lavellane]

i dont like the idea of everything being linked to the fade or the elves and mages etc etc and i think ive said that several times atp. but yknow what i DO want linked to everything? the deep roads actually. and im being serious abt that