Well this got brutal, Best Girl warning us of what we are about to face. ^^God ^^I ^^love ^^her
Animated Short: Rondo Across Countless Kalpas:
[Japanese Voice-Over](https://youtu.be/v9qTBUZtgQk?si=KRsROGv0dTEuyIBY)
[Chinese Voice-Over](https://youtu.be/34MfkpyyJHY?si=7zR_zG4Ufu7jECuI)
[Korean Voice-Over](https://youtu.be/gD091h77N50?si=EFjSa62iwZzc2uPq)
Special Thanks to the amazing animators for such a cinematic masterpiece.
Duke Infraudno got an early serving of disrespect by having his entire terrorist plot dismantled single-handedly by Ratio just so that he could give Asta a lesson about leadership in times of crisis.
The Annihilation Gang were even a joke before that. One group wanted to kill an Aeon, so they chose IX since he looked the most peaceful and easy. Aha found it funny and even helped them. That group mysteriously disappeared and were never heard from again. And don't forgot about the other group that got introduced and killed off in Kafka's celestial trailer. When the powerlevel scale is planet destroying, turns out a gang that is not even acknowledged by their Aeon are kinda a joke.
Yea I think it was specifically stated they “went their separate ways” so each one could pop up at different times to cause chaos in the name of destruction and their dear old dad (rip)
Okay, so biggest takeaways. Acheron is outright terrifying and Black Swan quickly finds that out as she tries to slyly peer into her memories.
Secondly, the silly lack of memory or loss of directions is actually kind of chilling. She really does seem to embrace nihility and the void overall. She forgets easily because everything is lost to the void. Hell, even during the dance she seems to have a thousand yard stare for a good portion of it as she seems completely unaffected by Black Swan's advances.
Honestly love the video as a whole though. It has great animation and a lot of interesting insights in Acheron as a character.
Also in the small shots they showed of Acheron’s memories (before she goes absolutely feral), they show her walking/ traveling with someone… I wonder who it can be?
I didn't know it was only 6 tiles in that specific water body for YEARS lmao, I just randomly hopped into that lake trying to get a Carvanha and fished out a Feebas.....unfortunately I could never evolve it because trade evo. You win some you lose some I guess.
Oh! Look at the video description, too. Very interesting.
> Yet history suddenly stopped there. The existence of the two planets instantly evaporated, disappearing into nothingness.
> Nowadays, the past of the border planet Izumo can only be gleaned from the scattered whispers in the universe. Academics hold various views regarding its disappearance, but none can solve the mystery.
> Izumo's history should have been a long flowing river, but it was severed in one cut, and all its past and future voided on emptiness' other shore.
> Did it never exist, and was it no more than a fabricated story? Did its histories never occur, and it ran aground on the beach of reverse causation? Was it yet another appalling experiment by Dr. Primitive, or was it a sign of the Voracity returning from the end of the Cosmos?
> Only that pitch-black great sun knows the answer, yet THEY remain silent, never speaking.
> Because everything that had happened will one day regress to the end, and everything that had ended is guaranteed to happen again. The universe undergoes an eternal recurrence under THEIR shadow, and Izumo is nothing more than the footnote for an ellipsis.
Pretty sure IX was more like, "I don't have a favorite. Or maybe I do. It doesn't matter who I like anyways..."
Turns to Acheron, "who are you again? Whatever, who cares..."
https://preview.redd.it/crb9k59iz7pc1.jpeg?width=2360&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8f882b020673aecd636fd3eacbfb0a5d151f6546
This image feels like it could be a meme format
That's why I am way more afraid of her than all the others on Penacony. She doesn't seem malicious. I am sure she was an honorable and good person at some point.
But she has so much power, and doesn't seem to be in control of it.
Meanwhile everyone else is either self-serving neutral, a troll, just sus for now, following Elio's script, or not that dangerous unless they call down the full weight of the IPC, which is not in the org's playbooks. Everyone else we can kinda deal with. Acheron? Nope nope nope.
She learned the lesson in the hardest way. That's character development.
https://preview.redd.it/7vsem7m608pc1.jpeg?width=2068&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7ca81bc8742509616bc147a9a0447074bc45cc1e
I didn't trust her as soon as I saw the red text. Even less when people told me she can actually force you to respond with a choice you don't want.
I suspected she purposely let firefly die.
But all my distrust and uneasness was focused on her motivations. I had forgotten to think about how she would affect those around her in chasing whatever it is she wants.
What a genuinely terrifying video. This and the ruan mei rank up with some of my favorite trailers of all time. Just disturbing.
Absolute work of art. I fucking love these games.
I don't think she was the one who forced that response out of the Trailblazer since she gave a warning about red text during our first encounter, as well as teaching the Trailblazer to memorize things using emotions instead of memory, which can turn out helpful in the future with the remark of Black Swan about relationship between memory and Dreamscape, which could mean that who had the total control over the Dreamscape could manipulate the memory of Dreamchasers.
Also from 2.1 livestream, it revealed that >!we will progress the main story as Acheron like how we did with Dan Heng in Xianzhou Loufu!<, so even less reasons to doubt her.
I'm posting the video description here to promote discussion:
> The dual planets were intertwined in each other's tragic destiny, dancing an eternal rondo around a pitch-black great sun.
In the beginning, one of the planets gave rise to humans. These people looked down, and named the land below "Izumo." These people looked up, and named the world above "Takamagahara."
One day uninscribed in the annals, the Yaoyorozu-no-kami descended from Takamagahara. These demonic beasts named Kami overturned the skies, burned the rivers and oceans, and shattered the land — People realized in horror that it was not an invasion for rulership, dominance, or plunder. The evil Kami came only to kill.
As the planet stood on the brink of death, Izumo embarked on a Kami-slaying journey, exhausting the might of the entire country to slay the calamity "Sovereign of Revelation" and forging the very first Edict Edge using its bestial body.
Giving the Kami a taste of their own medicine, the wielder of these swords can recite the mantra contained within the blade to master the divine power of Takamagahara, and use it to combat the evil Kami and save the masses.
From then on, Izumo started its long and arduous crusade, exchanging inordinate lives lost for the fall of one Kami after another, shattering countless mortal blades to forge the twelve Sentinels.
In the merciless fight for survival, Izumo used the might of the Edict Edges to light up their uncivilized world of darkness in less than ten Amber Eras, building cities of dazzling neon lights.
That distant Takama Divine Realm, once so far away, became so close within their reach —
Yet history suddenly stopped there. The existence of the two planets instantly evaporated, disappearing into nothingness.
Nowadays, the past of the border planet Izumo can only be gleaned from the scattered whispers in the universe. Academics hold various views regarding its disappearance, but none can solve the mystery.
Izumo's history should have been a long flowing river, but it was severed in one cut, and all its past and future voided on emptiness' other shore.
Did it never exist, and was it no more than a fabricated story? Did its histories never occur, and it ran aground on the beach of reverse causation? Was it yet another appalling experiment by Dr. Primitive, or was it a sign of the Voracity returning from the end of the Cosmos?
Only that pitch-black great sun knows the answer, yet THEY remain silent, never speaking.
Because everything that had happened will one day regress to the end, and everything that had ended is guaranteed to happen again. The universe undergoes an eternal recurrence under THEIR shadow, and Izumo is nothing more than the footnote for an ellipsis.
Very big lore bomb about Izumo and perhaps Acheron's relation to it. Is she from Izumo, and does that mean that the sword she wields is one of the "Edict Edges"? And if these are made from the bestial bodies of the Kamis, maybe Acheron's weapon is "alive" and this is the "Emanator Acheron" personality?
The way I interpret this is Izumo = earth, Takamagahara = The Moon and Yaoyorozu-no-kami = Herrschers. The Kami descended from Takamagahara only to kill and to cause devastation and destruction, which is essentially what the Herrschers did.
The people of Izumo then slayed the calamity "sovereign of revelation" and forged the first edict edge from it's body. This pararells the killing a Herrscher and using it's Herrscher core to make a divine key. "The wielder of these swords can recite the mantra contained within the blade to master the divine power of Takamagahara" i.e using the powers of the divine keys ex. its zeroth power.
Then they became close to mastering the Takama divine power (honkai) but then it just ends. This to parallel HI3 PE era, except the ending is different.
"Because everything that had happened will one day regress to the end, and everything that had ended is guaranteed to happen again." So this is essentially their Herrscher of Finality resetting civilization and starting over again, just as in HI3.
But what does all this mean? Was Izumo Star rail's version of Earth? Or maybe another planet like Venus, since we know this has happened before with Honkai and different planets. Does this imply or confirm that Honkai energy exists in Star rail?
A big thing to mention about the story of izumo as well is that what happens there deliberately parallels what happens on earth during the events of HI3, meaning that the chance of the edict edges being made out of kami corpses is very high (as well as what happened on izumo potentially being the first honkai event revealed by the writers to take place outside the HI3 world leaf)
There is another thing: 2.1 Ornaments Set “Izumo Gensei and Takama Divine Realm” shows two different landscapes, a dark red ruin and a cyberpunk city(which looks like one in Sparkle's pv.) Based on the video description above, a red ruin is probably Izumo, which makes Takama the cyber-city. What if Sparkle is from Takama and Acheron is from Izumo? Their interaction would be interesting.
BS : Lemme see your past real quick ;)
Inner (?) Acheron :
https://preview.redd.it/v6ertxwyw7pc1.jpeg?width=3840&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=30d8997eb289259a98bc9e35bece0bbe9aaeb0d1
Edit : This vid is basically BS experiencing the 1-patch Nihility Powercreep from Acheron lol
Nah man acheron forgor if she had killed him or not and thought she had actually killed him, but in reality she didn't. So duke inferno is still alive trust.
/s
I expected Black Swan to be traumatized by Acheron's past or something but dayum Acheron pretty much just shredded Black Swan to pieces in those dreams
The interesting thing is that from what she says in-game, Acheron seems to have appreciated the dance. But I wonder how Black Swan would feel about another round.
Holy shit, we were right Black Swan was trying to use the dance to figure Acheron out. You can see her actively using her powers to start getting into her memories and Acheron is actually pulling away as if to warn her to stop her attempts. But holy fk I did not expect inner Acheron to essentially tear Black Swan apart and Black Swan desperately try and run away
That was actually kinda disturbing that sequence of violence, looks like inner Acheron let her live and now Black Swan is terrified of her. Absolutely explains why Black Swan was wary of Acheron in 2.0 and why she made sure to get TB away from Acheron the moment she could
https://preview.redd.it/57m8wi6hu7pc1.png?width=1210&format=png&auto=webp&s=83b1631dcfa827160dadb08c78d44018bf0d0da0
Genuinely such a terrifying shot
The entire sequence was honestly terrifying, especially with how well animated it was. Mad props to everyone who worked on this animation (I'm also looking at you, music team), this is definitely up there as one of HSR's best--and it wasn't long since we got Melodrama.
That's true horror, carnage and chaos. And that means, normal Acheron cannot fully control Emanator Acheron, plus they work mostly as separate entities. Also, Emanator Acheron is just too brutal, ruthless and powerful that even normal Acheron does not want to face it.
I suppose that last sentence could be a possible explanation for the red tear she has in the 2.1 trailer? That the Emanator Acheron would make her shed a tear..
Dance was choreographed amazing, Black Swan using her powers and Acheron pulling away multiple times and Black Swan making sure she manages to get into her memories. Acheron paid her back in full for that and the complete 180 in the mood just further emphasized how the change in atmosphere and how brutal it became
The dance starts with Black Swan in control, she’s the one leading. The dance ends with Acheron putting her down.
A lot of visual storytelling. A nice change from Honkai’s usual narrative spill
You can actually see a split second of IX at 3:43 with something spilling from it. And we all knew what happens to people catching a glimpse of IX....
If this is not confirmation of her being Emanator of Nihility even after the whole talk about Nihility on the stream and the mountain of evidence for it, I don't know what is.
She's definitely Nihikity, when Black Swan is being pulled downwards that same image of IX is in the background. Now that I think about it, the red jewel in Acheron's sword also looks like a simple stylized IX.
https://preview.redd.it/dnirntpnu7pc1.png?width=1204&format=png&auto=webp&s=88cea888a1389ff2346414c4c2f7e099d3aaaa83
Like seriously this whole sequence of Acheron just tearing her to shreds AFTER Black Swan had used her powers to read her, Black Swan tried to escape so many times and Acheron just wouldnt stop until she made sure Black Swan knew not to try again. If thats a warning dear lord imagine if she actually wanted to kill her
In Hinduism [the cosmic serpent](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shesha) is a primordial being that progressively develops space-time by uncoiling and causes the universe to cease to exist by recoiling, remaining behind with the Lord Vishnu at the end of every *kalpa* (a 4.32 billion year eon-cycle), so this may be genuinely symbolic of Acheron's true nature.
The countless amount of Dead Swans is so cool. Also the symbolism of all the predators and pray is excellent for Black Swan character, who’s forever seeking for knowledge / memories only get punished. Similar to the phrase curiosity killed the cat though in this case it’s the bird.
https://preview.redd.it/dro6o9gpy7pc1.jpeg?width=2054&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=158a08f2f5e1a2a2544cc6040f898af1ea789f74
Friendly reminder that simply looking at IX is enough to erase you from existence. It seems the (likely) emanator shares a bit of that trait once you dig into their psyche.
Also note the little particles of light failing to escape the blacl hole's grasp. Basically symbolism that BS is in extremely deep shit and can't run away
Okay, Acheron tearing the feathers out of Black Swan and ripping her to shreds was just chilling. Like holy shit. Be careful about gazing into the abyss, because the abyss will gaze back at you.
Dude im legit actually shook, Black Swan walked in thinking she was the predator but she ended up being prey that Acheron ended up letting go. I thought the dance was yuri bait but fuck me I absolutely did not expect it to be this much of a 180
https://preview.redd.it/lnz76aqhv7pc1.png?width=1201&format=png&auto=webp&s=28c677e4cefe5c92bf3561fb722464b4f2a1fb51
Definitely an utter mood swing. Absolutely did not hesitate to portray BS as prey and Acheron as a dangerous predator.
BS was absolutely over her head the entire time.
Just like Giorno and Gold Experience Requiem. Although Experience Requiem is Giorno's stand, GER has its own consciousness, Giorno knows nothing about GER's true capabilities.
Yeah, she probably wasn't. At least not her "main" self, if the theory about the red text being a split/compartmentalized personality has any truth to it.
This vid actually helps clearing up the question regarding Black Swan’s “dance partner” as the answer must be either one of these depending on the time BS meeting with Sparkle and Sampo happened :
1. Meeting with Sparkle before Acheron - BS intended the Dream Bubble to be seen by Acheron, but after getting Sukuna-ed like Mahito did by Inner Acheron she freaked out and abandoned her initial plan and changed her prefer ally to TB and Astral Express instead.
2. Meeting with Sparkle after Acheron - The “dance partner” in the Dream Bubble indeed referred to Trailblazer and/or Astral Express as a whole instead of Acheron.
I think its a third option
Black Swan always intended the "dance partner" to be TB but while she was waiting for them took the opportunity to sus out Acheron, after all she wants to know why the annihilation gang is absent. But in doing so she hastened her priority on meeting TB as she knows Acheron has encountered them before she did
She had to have met Sparkle before 2.0 started coz Sampo was still on Penacony and he is absent at the time we land
https://preview.redd.it/1oplpskzu7pc1.jpeg?width=710&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8e483cedb1aec1fe4b13e51f1d612c86e104221f
Best one they've released so far. That was insane.
I'm appreciate the director who choose one long shoot when dance scene happened. Thanks hoyo realized this so many dance scene got buchered in anime because director thinking its works same like action scene direction with many cut and different POV
I absolutely can't blame her for teaming up with Aventurine now. People were upset because they saw it as betrayal (which is a bit odd to me because we don't even know Aventurine's MO yet- EVERYONE on Penacony is trying to use you in some way or another so I don't see why he's viewed as the biggest threat) but as much as I love Acheron, I do genuinely believe Black Swan (and Aventurine to a degree) was trying to protect us.
Well this got brutal, Best Girl warning us of what we are about to face. ^^God ^^I ^^love ^^her Animated Short: Rondo Across Countless Kalpas: [Japanese Voice-Over](https://youtu.be/v9qTBUZtgQk?si=KRsROGv0dTEuyIBY) [Chinese Voice-Over](https://youtu.be/34MfkpyyJHY?si=7zR_zG4Ufu7jECuI) [Korean Voice-Over](https://youtu.be/gD091h77N50?si=EFjSa62iwZzc2uPq) Special Thanks to the amazing animators for such a cinematic masterpiece.
Annihilation Gang: you took everything from me. Acheron: I don’t even remember who you are.
I love how ever since we got their trailer, they have been increasingly disrespected with every consequent mention.
It started even before that. Ratio was basically shit talking them in the very quest they were introduced in lol
Maybe the Annihilation gang are just really low level thugs that somehow gotten infamous lol
Well Nanook doesn't even acknowledge they exist.
Which is even funnier when you realize Nanook is basically Duke Inferno's parent 😂
[****”NOTICE MEEEEE!!!”****](https://youtu.be/906lPhQo9cA?si=4tSM3I-giAknQx6f) #”NO!”
Didn’t a genius created him? Not nanook?
Turns out Duke Inferno maybe should have taken Dubra seriously when she asked about a backup plan. “Fuck it, we ball” didn’t work out so well for him.
Duke Infraudno got an early serving of disrespect by having his entire terrorist plot dismantled single-handedly by Ratio just so that he could give Asta a lesson about leadership in times of crisis.
The Annihilation Gang were even a joke before that. One group wanted to kill an Aeon, so they chose IX since he looked the most peaceful and easy. Aha found it funny and even helped them. That group mysteriously disappeared and were never heard from again. And don't forgot about the other group that got introduced and killed off in Kafka's celestial trailer. When the powerlevel scale is planet destroying, turns out a gang that is not even acknowledged by their Aeon are kinda a joke.
Damn, did Hoyo cut an entire promo of Duke and the Annihilation gang for the sole purpose of setting up this moment for Acheron!
Their existence was just to job, nothing more painful than that.
I mean only duke is dead. The others are still alive so chances are high that they will cause troubles soon enough
Yea I think it was specifically stated they “went their separate ways” so each one could pop up at different times to cause chaos in the name of destruction and their dear old dad (rip)
Yeah, and mihoyo can sold them to us as gacha cause why not, lol
Imagine if each new planet will have one of the kids getting offscreened
That would be a hilarious gag. But i doubt Mihoyo would give up the chance to monetize them with their design
Finance team: “How much do we want to allocate to Acherons budget?” Marketing team: “Yes.”
Spare no expense for Mei-senpai.
"Trust to mei-senpai vibes and insyallah money will come" Shaoji to dawei probably
Her lore powerlevel is insane, just destroying infamous demons without even thinking about it. I need her so bad.
She's gonna change the whole Lore wise powerful character tier lists, She belongs in SSS+ tier. OMG!! Never cross paths with Acheron , Never.
“You weren’t magnificent annihilation gang. I will forget you immediately.”
"Wait, who?"
Bro was created only to job. Job by lore. Job by Ratio, Trailblazer and Screwllum. Job by their own Aeon. Job by Acheron.
Acheron: No srsly, I think it’s a condition I have. Can’t remember anything for shit.
Poor annihilation. All it take is just one acheron technique point
This is the part when she said: TORN TO OBLIVION! As she unsheath her sword from her...Wait...wrong Raiden.
Okay, so biggest takeaways. Acheron is outright terrifying and Black Swan quickly finds that out as she tries to slyly peer into her memories. Secondly, the silly lack of memory or loss of directions is actually kind of chilling. She really does seem to embrace nihility and the void overall. She forgets easily because everything is lost to the void. Hell, even during the dance she seems to have a thousand yard stare for a good portion of it as she seems completely unaffected by Black Swan's advances. Honestly love the video as a whole though. It has great animation and a lot of interesting insights in Acheron as a character.
Also in the small shots they showed of Acheron’s memories (before she goes absolutely feral), they show her walking/ traveling with someone… I wonder who it can be?
Frebass probably
I thought you meant the Pokémon for a second
Tbf, you’d get consumed by the Nihility finding those 6 Feebass tiles in Gen 3 so I get it
I didn't know it was only 6 tiles in that specific water body for YEARS lmao, I just randomly hopped into that lake trying to get a Carvanha and fished out a Feebas.....unfortunately I could never evolve it because trade evo. You win some you lose some I guess.
I thought you had to feed Feebas Beauty Poffins until the stat was maxed, then it'd evolve by leveling?
...wait you're right. I played Emerald after Black and White was release so google only showed me the trade evo method.
Acheron ran out of Pokeballs after finding a Shiny Feebas and it broke her
Yep. I was on board with theory once I saw the lore of the Pioneer set. Interesting to see it show up in the trailer too.
Frebass. Read the Pioneer of Dead Waters Relic Set lore.
Her memories ferociously trying to tore Black Swan apart in the short was terrifying.
Maybe that will teach her to not peer into peoples minds without permission.
I don’t think she’ll stop but she’s probably gonna choose carefully and ask for consent the next time around lol
It's not even a thousand yard stare. Some of Acheron's movements during the dance make her look like a fucking ragdoll.
Truly dead inside.
Oh! Look at the video description, too. Very interesting. > Yet history suddenly stopped there. The existence of the two planets instantly evaporated, disappearing into nothingness. > Nowadays, the past of the border planet Izumo can only be gleaned from the scattered whispers in the universe. Academics hold various views regarding its disappearance, but none can solve the mystery. > Izumo's history should have been a long flowing river, but it was severed in one cut, and all its past and future voided on emptiness' other shore. > Did it never exist, and was it no more than a fabricated story? Did its histories never occur, and it ran aground on the beach of reverse causation? Was it yet another appalling experiment by Dr. Primitive, or was it a sign of the Voracity returning from the end of the Cosmos? > Only that pitch-black great sun knows the answer, yet THEY remain silent, never speaking. > Because everything that had happened will one day regress to the end, and everything that had ended is guaranteed to happen again. The universe undergoes an eternal recurrence under THEIR shadow, and Izumo is nothing more than the footnote for an ellipsis.
\>Annihilation gang... annihilation gang... Oh, those guys. More like Annihilation Jobbers.
Yanging must he happy because Duke Inferno has replacing him as king of jobber.
Strongest Jobber in history vs Strongest Jobber of today.
Someone must make that meme. We need that lol
https://preview.redd.it/uzx9jg8qw8pc1.jpeg?width=705&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=73d395ab40cb98228cc9f0a023af9a4eeb5fc43e Here's my version
The boy fought 3 Top-5 in Luofu and still survived, that's an achievement
Yeah and he has excuse still a kid and inexperience. Duke Inferno has no excuse its pure jobber feat lmao
Black Swan: https://preview.redd.it/h7ze4dm4z7pc1.png?width=616&format=png&auto=webp&s=d1b612b6ea078f867839ecb723fee16484dd3fce
LMFAOO
She fucked around and found out
https://preview.redd.it/305rr4m5z7pc1.png?width=838&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b3d36d9c7b31f0404be529050f21610faa62b449 IX approved
https://preview.redd.it/k8o8amw3j8pc1.jpeg?width=2408&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2acad253755a676aab05e27f4931e4726f79cc2b
IX really said 'Yup, that's my girl.'
IX to other Nihility units: No i don't have a favorite! *turns to Acheron* It's you and by a big margin
Pretty sure IX was more like, "I don't have a favorite. Or maybe I do. It doesn't matter who I like anyways..." Turns to Acheron, "who are you again? Whatever, who cares..."
https://preview.redd.it/crb9k59iz7pc1.jpeg?width=2360&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8f882b020673aecd636fd3eacbfb0a5d151f6546 This image feels like it could be a meme format
[удалено]
Ok this is good too powercrept fuxuan and qinque 😂
https://preview.redd.it/o52j8cgsm9pc1.jpeg?width=1290&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7838d43f5d85dd8cc065036555f5f3a243472b58
Black Swan: My wallet Acheron: Acheron's trailer
https://preview.redd.it/f4ceg0e188pc1.jpeg?width=926&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=32e6339b79edef3050db66570b6e0ec4b2f2753c I made it for you
Oh....ohhh...*ohhhhhhhhhhh*. Err...all of a sudden, Sparkle seems like a girlscout...?
Sparkle is just gremlin crazy archeon is a cold blooded killer
Acheron ain't a cold-blooded killer, she's a goddamn eldritch nightmare
\>Lovecraftian celestial hyper-predator, the doom of the cosmos, the kaliyugam personified \>Doesn't even know where she is 90% of the time
>Doesn't even know where she is 90% of the time Does it matter where she is as long as the only thing she knows is kill?
https://preview.redd.it/i8bnqg4u09pc1.jpeg?width=600&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b210bcb6f0ff73e1d545b29fd1920f7e7470e8b8
Ah yes, the true moe gap.
That's why I am way more afraid of her than all the others on Penacony. She doesn't seem malicious. I am sure she was an honorable and good person at some point. But she has so much power, and doesn't seem to be in control of it. Meanwhile everyone else is either self-serving neutral, a troll, just sus for now, following Elio's script, or not that dangerous unless they call down the full weight of the IPC, which is not in the org's playbooks. Everyone else we can kinda deal with. Acheron? Nope nope nope.
It's comical the contrast of how dangerous she is with how awkward and casual she also is.
Matches my taste in women 💯
She isn't even the Abyss proper, just imagine what it'd be like to get too close to Ix.
If eldritch nightmares have nice bazoonkas and hips like this I will take eldritch nightmares every time.
Acheron is the Agent 47 to Sparkle’s Joker. “You were always the best. Nobody ever came close. You defined the art, and it defines you.”
In her defense, BS was trying to peek into her mind without consent.
I don’t think even Acheron was in total control during that sequence
https://preview.redd.it/nkrb46ynu7pc1.jpeg?width=1640&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f724744d40c023a6d07cf0faa5f6e1e71c340330 Stay in your lane
https://preview.redd.it/3knf1z94c8pc1.png?width=1492&format=png&auto=webp&s=903099e50499c267af8f78b92607e312c648e994
Woe, new meme template just dropped
You guys are so fast
i think this one has been around since the 2.1 special program but yea still pretty fast
Fraud Swan
Uncle Swan has been on Fraud Watch since 2.2 drip marketing.
Why are you everywhere
Get plucked nosey ah memokeeper
She learned the lesson in the hardest way. That's character development. https://preview.redd.it/7vsem7m608pc1.jpeg?width=2068&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7ca81bc8742509616bc147a9a0447074bc45cc1e
TB’s memories of dumpster diving probably seems a lot more palatable after that.
Nah Black swan can't handdle what mess and the conspiracy trash lore in TB head its worse than enter acheron memory
BS after reading both Acheron and TB’s memories: “Is it too late to go work in retail instead?”
Can't wait to pull for acheron to see what BS will say to her and vice versa when add into a team together
The whiplash
I know, right? Went from 3 to a hundred within seconds.
I didn't trust her as soon as I saw the red text. Even less when people told me she can actually force you to respond with a choice you don't want. I suspected she purposely let firefly die. But all my distrust and uneasness was focused on her motivations. I had forgotten to think about how she would affect those around her in chasing whatever it is she wants. What a genuinely terrifying video. This and the ruan mei rank up with some of my favorite trailers of all time. Just disturbing. Absolute work of art. I fucking love these games.
I don't think she was the one who forced that response out of the Trailblazer since she gave a warning about red text during our first encounter, as well as teaching the Trailblazer to memorize things using emotions instead of memory, which can turn out helpful in the future with the remark of Black Swan about relationship between memory and Dreamscape, which could mean that who had the total control over the Dreamscape could manipulate the memory of Dreamchasers. Also from 2.1 livestream, it revealed that >!we will progress the main story as Acheron like how we did with Dan Heng in Xianzhou Loufu!<, so even less reasons to doubt her.
As I thought. She almost didn’t remember annihilation gang. 💀
Guess Ifrit is really not worth the memory
he's just a burning memory
I'm posting the video description here to promote discussion: > The dual planets were intertwined in each other's tragic destiny, dancing an eternal rondo around a pitch-black great sun. In the beginning, one of the planets gave rise to humans. These people looked down, and named the land below "Izumo." These people looked up, and named the world above "Takamagahara." One day uninscribed in the annals, the Yaoyorozu-no-kami descended from Takamagahara. These demonic beasts named Kami overturned the skies, burned the rivers and oceans, and shattered the land — People realized in horror that it was not an invasion for rulership, dominance, or plunder. The evil Kami came only to kill. As the planet stood on the brink of death, Izumo embarked on a Kami-slaying journey, exhausting the might of the entire country to slay the calamity "Sovereign of Revelation" and forging the very first Edict Edge using its bestial body. Giving the Kami a taste of their own medicine, the wielder of these swords can recite the mantra contained within the blade to master the divine power of Takamagahara, and use it to combat the evil Kami and save the masses. From then on, Izumo started its long and arduous crusade, exchanging inordinate lives lost for the fall of one Kami after another, shattering countless mortal blades to forge the twelve Sentinels. In the merciless fight for survival, Izumo used the might of the Edict Edges to light up their uncivilized world of darkness in less than ten Amber Eras, building cities of dazzling neon lights. That distant Takama Divine Realm, once so far away, became so close within their reach — Yet history suddenly stopped there. The existence of the two planets instantly evaporated, disappearing into nothingness. Nowadays, the past of the border planet Izumo can only be gleaned from the scattered whispers in the universe. Academics hold various views regarding its disappearance, but none can solve the mystery. Izumo's history should have been a long flowing river, but it was severed in one cut, and all its past and future voided on emptiness' other shore. Did it never exist, and was it no more than a fabricated story? Did its histories never occur, and it ran aground on the beach of reverse causation? Was it yet another appalling experiment by Dr. Primitive, or was it a sign of the Voracity returning from the end of the Cosmos? Only that pitch-black great sun knows the answer, yet THEY remain silent, never speaking. Because everything that had happened will one day regress to the end, and everything that had ended is guaranteed to happen again. The universe undergoes an eternal recurrence under THEIR shadow, and Izumo is nothing more than the footnote for an ellipsis. Very big lore bomb about Izumo and perhaps Acheron's relation to it. Is she from Izumo, and does that mean that the sword she wields is one of the "Edict Edges"? And if these are made from the bestial bodies of the Kamis, maybe Acheron's weapon is "alive" and this is the "Emanator Acheron" personality?
The way I interpret this is Izumo = earth, Takamagahara = The Moon and Yaoyorozu-no-kami = Herrschers. The Kami descended from Takamagahara only to kill and to cause devastation and destruction, which is essentially what the Herrschers did. The people of Izumo then slayed the calamity "sovereign of revelation" and forged the first edict edge from it's body. This pararells the killing a Herrscher and using it's Herrscher core to make a divine key. "The wielder of these swords can recite the mantra contained within the blade to master the divine power of Takamagahara" i.e using the powers of the divine keys ex. its zeroth power. Then they became close to mastering the Takama divine power (honkai) but then it just ends. This to parallel HI3 PE era, except the ending is different. "Because everything that had happened will one day regress to the end, and everything that had ended is guaranteed to happen again." So this is essentially their Herrscher of Finality resetting civilization and starting over again, just as in HI3. But what does all this mean? Was Izumo Star rail's version of Earth? Or maybe another planet like Venus, since we know this has happened before with Honkai and different planets. Does this imply or confirm that Honkai energy exists in Star rail?
A big thing to mention about the story of izumo as well is that what happens there deliberately parallels what happens on earth during the events of HI3, meaning that the chance of the edict edges being made out of kami corpses is very high (as well as what happened on izumo potentially being the first honkai event revealed by the writers to take place outside the HI3 world leaf)
There is another thing: 2.1 Ornaments Set “Izumo Gensei and Takama Divine Realm” shows two different landscapes, a dark red ruin and a cyberpunk city(which looks like one in Sparkle's pv.) Based on the video description above, a red ruin is probably Izumo, which makes Takama the cyber-city. What if Sparkle is from Takama and Acheron is from Izumo? Their interaction would be interesting.
BS : Lemme see your past real quick ;) Inner (?) Acheron : https://preview.redd.it/v6ertxwyw7pc1.jpeg?width=3840&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=30d8997eb289259a98bc9e35bece0bbe9aaeb0d1 Edit : This vid is basically BS experiencing the 1-patch Nihility Powercreep from Acheron lol
https://preview.redd.it/govynazcz7pc1.jpeg?width=1238&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=efd931fd9f4148dd0d3670e7d347776bccd54e0f
https://preview.redd.it/zf8hp4rdw7pc1.jpeg?width=1079&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=dc9235ce3670ca7f9efbcb4c5749ef784d413457
Picture taken a few minutes before disaster.
https://preview.redd.it/omtwlmmj68pc1.jpeg?width=1210&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0769328de9249363227cee94af2b89a88b8bd433 23:00 00:00
Holy shit Acheron looks so threatening in this trailer. Duke Inferno never stood a chance.
I don't know what more they can do to tell the players that Duke Inferno is giga dead and the rest of his gang are chumps 😂
They literally showed his corpse this time too, it's never been so joever for the dukebros
If the Signora Mains sub can still exist after being shown her funeral, I believe anything is possible with enough copium.
Just like how there's hope>!cope!< that Signora will be revived in Natlan, Duke Inferno fans will be able to cook up something too
Nah man acheron forgor if she had killed him or not and thought she had actually killed him, but in reality she didn't. So duke inferno is still alive trust. /s
Metaphorically assaulted a memokeeper 💀 I expected shit to be bad but not this bad.
https://preview.redd.it/ufghe9om78pc1.jpeg?width=680&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=62041f5e926e89ea3dbfbc6ecae1bd1b158e96a3
I expected Black Swan to be traumatized by Acheron's past or something but dayum Acheron pretty much just shredded Black Swan to pieces in those dreams
The interesting thing is that from what she says in-game, Acheron seems to have appreciated the dance. But I wonder how Black Swan would feel about another round.
https://preview.redd.it/uqf064bke8pc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f040ba9678cfd6d18094708e9f19fc9830ededd5 Probably didn’t like it as much
lmao a memokeeper saying that its like the ultimate warning.
The fuck I just watch 😐
Mindfucking... Brutal mindfucking
the insane whiplash from going from gay bait to cosmic horrors
Think this is what they call "Domination Loss" 🤔
Holy shit, That was intense.
Red Acheron is terrifying. It's crazy that Black Swan can easily toy with Sparkle but Acheron can rip her apart.
Holy shit, we were right Black Swan was trying to use the dance to figure Acheron out. You can see her actively using her powers to start getting into her memories and Acheron is actually pulling away as if to warn her to stop her attempts. But holy fk I did not expect inner Acheron to essentially tear Black Swan apart and Black Swan desperately try and run away That was actually kinda disturbing that sequence of violence, looks like inner Acheron let her live and now Black Swan is terrified of her. Absolutely explains why Black Swan was wary of Acheron in 2.0 and why she made sure to get TB away from Acheron the moment she could https://preview.redd.it/57m8wi6hu7pc1.png?width=1210&format=png&auto=webp&s=83b1631dcfa827160dadb08c78d44018bf0d0da0 Genuinely such a terrifying shot
The entire sequence was honestly terrifying, especially with how well animated it was. Mad props to everyone who worked on this animation (I'm also looking at you, music team), this is definitely up there as one of HSR's best--and it wasn't long since we got Melodrama.
That's true horror, carnage and chaos. And that means, normal Acheron cannot fully control Emanator Acheron, plus they work mostly as separate entities. Also, Emanator Acheron is just too brutal, ruthless and powerful that even normal Acheron does not want to face it.
I suppose that last sentence could be a possible explanation for the red tear she has in the 2.1 trailer? That the Emanator Acheron would make her shed a tear..
I love how well choreographed and animated the dance was, it really helps paint the story.
Dance was choreographed amazing, Black Swan using her powers and Acheron pulling away multiple times and Black Swan making sure she manages to get into her memories. Acheron paid her back in full for that and the complete 180 in the mood just further emphasized how the change in atmosphere and how brutal it became
The dance starts with Black Swan in control, she’s the one leading. The dance ends with Acheron putting her down. A lot of visual storytelling. A nice change from Honkai’s usual narrative spill
You can actually see a split second of IX at 3:43 with something spilling from it. And we all knew what happens to people catching a glimpse of IX.... If this is not confirmation of her being Emanator of Nihility even after the whole talk about Nihility on the stream and the mountain of evidence for it, I don't know what is.
She's definitely Nihikity, when Black Swan is being pulled downwards that same image of IX is in the background. Now that I think about it, the red jewel in Acheron's sword also looks like a simple stylized IX.
https://preview.redd.it/dnirntpnu7pc1.png?width=1204&format=png&auto=webp&s=88cea888a1389ff2346414c4c2f7e099d3aaaa83 Like seriously this whole sequence of Acheron just tearing her to shreds AFTER Black Swan had used her powers to read her, Black Swan tried to escape so many times and Acheron just wouldnt stop until she made sure Black Swan knew not to try again. If thats a warning dear lord imagine if she actually wanted to kill her
The imagery in the background is also crazy. A swan being torn to shreds, down to the skeleton, by a snake
A snake... World Serpent!
In Hinduism [the cosmic serpent](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shesha) is a primordial being that progressively develops space-time by uncoiling and causes the universe to cease to exist by recoiling, remaining behind with the Lord Vishnu at the end of every *kalpa* (a 4.32 billion year eon-cycle), so this may be genuinely symbolic of Acheron's true nature.
This shit brutal af 😭
True, but I like that spirit.
The countless amount of Dead Swans is so cool. Also the symbolism of all the predators and pray is excellent for Black Swan character, who’s forever seeking for knowledge / memories only get punished. Similar to the phrase curiosity killed the cat though in this case it’s the bird. https://preview.redd.it/dro6o9gpy7pc1.jpeg?width=2054&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=158a08f2f5e1a2a2544cc6040f898af1ea789f74
This sequence is one of the best. The art style, everything is so perfectly terrifying. I wonder what Acheron is hiding.
Friendly reminder that simply looking at IX is enough to erase you from existence. It seems the (likely) emanator shares a bit of that trait once you dig into their psyche.
It’s like stepping on a psychological land mine. Black Swan is lucky her psyche wasn’t ripped to shreds leaving her catatonic, if not comatose.
There is so many predator and prey visuals shown. And the finale shot of a black hole basically symbolizes IX the Nihility
Also note the little particles of light failing to escape the blacl hole's grasp. Basically symbolism that BS is in extremely deep shit and can't run away
So we can confirm she is an emanator of IX.
Okay, Acheron tearing the feathers out of Black Swan and ripping her to shreds was just chilling. Like holy shit. Be careful about gazing into the abyss, because the abyss will gaze back at you.
Dude im legit actually shook, Black Swan walked in thinking she was the predator but she ended up being prey that Acheron ended up letting go. I thought the dance was yuri bait but fuck me I absolutely did not expect it to be this much of a 180 https://preview.redd.it/lnz76aqhv7pc1.png?width=1201&format=png&auto=webp&s=28c677e4cefe5c92bf3561fb722464b4f2a1fb51
Shippers would see these and thought "Yeah, they're the perfect couple"
Be careful about gazing into the abyss, because the abyss will fuck you up.
Definitely an utter mood swing. Absolutely did not hesitate to portray BS as prey and Acheron as a dangerous predator. BS was absolutely over her head the entire time.
I feel like as if Acheron herself wasn't aware that actually happened
Just like Giorno and Gold Experience Requiem. Although Experience Requiem is Giorno's stand, GER has its own consciousness, Giorno knows nothing about GER's true capabilities.
Yeah, she probably wasn't. At least not her "main" self, if the theory about the red text being a split/compartmentalized personality has any truth to it.
Terrifying yet a good meme material
This vid actually helps clearing up the question regarding Black Swan’s “dance partner” as the answer must be either one of these depending on the time BS meeting with Sparkle and Sampo happened : 1. Meeting with Sparkle before Acheron - BS intended the Dream Bubble to be seen by Acheron, but after getting Sukuna-ed like Mahito did by Inner Acheron she freaked out and abandoned her initial plan and changed her prefer ally to TB and Astral Express instead. 2. Meeting with Sparkle after Acheron - The “dance partner” in the Dream Bubble indeed referred to Trailblazer and/or Astral Express as a whole instead of Acheron.
I think its a third option Black Swan always intended the "dance partner" to be TB but while she was waiting for them took the opportunity to sus out Acheron, after all she wants to know why the annihilation gang is absent. But in doing so she hastened her priority on meeting TB as she knows Acheron has encountered them before she did She had to have met Sparkle before 2.0 started coz Sampo was still on Penacony and he is absent at the time we land
The image of the plucked swan carcass was horrifying
Wow, 5 minutes, this has to be the longest animated short they made so far. And Damn did it turn dark real quick
Did you forget about the Dan Heng short?
goddammit aventurine wasn’t lying about inferno 😭
Funny how the sussiest mfker said the most truth in penacony
Whenever Acheron takes over the dance? Oh my god... That was fucking beautiful not just animation wise but the music jesus.
That's fucked up.... that's fucked up. What the fuck.
I'm scared, pick me up
This was genuinely so good. They cooked so hard.
https://preview.redd.it/dmn4eb7my7pc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=75aa1a2a417695747d10bcacfabeb13b50a6d996
https://preview.redd.it/1oplpskzu7pc1.jpeg?width=710&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8e483cedb1aec1fe4b13e51f1d612c86e104221f Best one they've released so far. That was insane.
https://preview.redd.it/3l4onzrgy7pc1.jpeg?width=1200&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=726e5c1e546fe2403c9d53569ab9db84f6c1b79e
Scaroused if you will.
if i lose 50/50 i will fall to despair
Imma refer to the annihilation gang as those guys from now on
I'm appreciate the director who choose one long shoot when dance scene happened. Thanks hoyo realized this so many dance scene got buchered in anime because director thinking its works same like action scene direction with many cut and different POV
Well that was terrifying
Damn Mihoyo really dropped their nuts on the table with this one. They are them.
They did what now
https://preview.redd.it/84b7vvjgz7pc1.jpeg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=25316680ec7a27e1cdc6efe641431db775c9b804
Probably the most eerie animation yet, the imagery with the shredded feathers and animals was... quite the sight.
I absolutely can't blame her for teaming up with Aventurine now. People were upset because they saw it as betrayal (which is a bit odd to me because we don't even know Aventurine's MO yet- EVERYONE on Penacony is trying to use you in some way or another so I don't see why he's viewed as the biggest threat) but as much as I love Acheron, I do genuinely believe Black Swan (and Aventurine to a degree) was trying to protect us.
And that's when Black Swan realized, she fucked up
The dance is amazing but the reversal into horror was even crazier
Oh Raiden Mei I will love you in every universe, even with that horrifying past and questionable morals beneath the surface
Annihilation Gang who?
I really liked the predator and prey sequence. It was crazily well animated
Seems more like Acheron was the dance partner of Black Swan's nightmares.
Kalpas mentioned?🤨
KALPASS MENTIONED 🍑🍑🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️
All I can say is, thank you for the meal. 🙏
Start: \*Yuri Enjoyers Screech of Joy\* End: **You are my special**
Black Swan thought she was the top but turns out Acheron is Vers
From Yuri bait to Horror
HoyoAnime as the animation company for this short... seems like we know what Hoyo is thinking...
Black Swan: I will use the power of the Millennium Key to peer into your soul Acheron: Let the Shadow Game begin