Genuinely, they have such a close relationship that just isn’t shown often. But from the little bits you see, they are quite friendly with each other. Often making bets against each other, going out to eat, and lots of teasing. It’s really such a subtle but close relationship between the two when looking deeper. Makes me curious and excited to see more~
With the recent collaboration Honkai: Star Rail is having with Fate/Stay Night, there has been some interesting descriptions of each competitors’ wishes when it comes to the Holy Grail. Particularly, I believe that Topaz’s and Aventurine’s wish says a lot regarding their personality and even outlook on life. And it all starts with their background and history.
First, Topaz’s history is kind of a mystery still. Even though she has told us about her planet being taken by the IPC with a deal that made her and all people on her planet lifelong employees, there is still so much detail missing. The most we know is her planet’s environment was in such poor condition that the people had to live off of respirators. On top of that, the leaders of her planet were not very strong and did nothing to help the situation or find a solution. This led to her planet ultimately taking the IPC’s deal in order to survive.
This has heavily skewed Topaz’s perspective, even if she believes it was for the better. After joining the IPC, she has stated and mention she’s done research on the Stellarons to see if there was truly another way to save other planets without the IPC’s help. With no result found, I believe this also led Topaz to come to terms with her lifetime employment status with the belief that there was no other way to survive, and she simply took the opportunity given to her based on pros and cons of that situation. Despite receiving help, that doesn’t lead her to where she wants to be. This is where she worked her way up the ladder of the IPC for whatever goal it is she had in mind, handling business with the same idea of trying to give opportunities to others for the better in their own situations. While she still brings her kindness to the table by trying to provide the most benefits she can for all parties, she will do her very best to remain extremely rational and logical as she weights the pros and cons to provide the best success possible. This is also probably why she denied Belobog’s initial plans to help themselves as they provided absolutely no proof on how to execute said idea, even less evidence on its success. With many people’s lives on the line, Topaz truly believes even sacrificing some freedom logically and rationally is better than dying out completely.
But, even in the IPC, we see Topaz does work and yearn for that freedom as well subtly in some ways. From her character stories to her lines in Wardance, she often speaks about being able to take care of oneself just to have a chance at happiness. From someone who came from a background of very limited choices, she tries to make do with what she can to give herself more choices down the road. She also doesn’t want to rely on another if possible, even saying she rather not take charity forever. This is her thoughts even towards the IPC as she states they ultimately just care about gaining benefits. If one can continue to succeed in that task, they open the way for opportunities and paths to handle things the way she chooses. With this ideology, it makes sense why she doesn’t want to just “wish” for things to be a certain way. She is fearful of the idea that if it can come true, it can be taken away as well just as receiving help does not mean it cannot be taken back or proved to be unsustainable in the future. Therefore, wishing for something practical that can help reach her goal is the safest choice in her mind. If it were to be taken away, it will not hinder her at all and she can simply continue as she is without it.
For Aventurine, life has not been easy for him since the start. Already from the day he was born, he was forced into a constant fight against life just to survive. From making deals to survive with his sister, to scheming his way around as a slave, and ultimately making a huge gamble to gain Diamond’s attention, Aventurine has always been making deals. He bets his entirety into every high stake, taking the win for himself in each of his gambles. However, for all the wins he has, there is also a sacrifice to be made with each gain.
While he finally has all the money and power he could ever have dreamed of, what did he have to lose for that? Every win of his, was it ever truly a win if he had to lose something in return? And in that sense, what is it like to gain something without sacrifice? While he does love the thrill and gamble he takes as he claims, there must come a time even he feels like he needs rest. According to his talk with Topaz regarding their work ethics, he already tries not to take a lot of missions. As he states himself, Aventurine takes on only really high-staked missions which would probably be extremely time consuming but also take a lot of planning. To have achieved so much, gain so much, but no time to actually enjoy it, that is a big thing for Aventurine considering how much he risked for it.
There is also the fact he is absolutely terrified of losing it all, as we learned in 2.1 with the fact he hides his shaking hands behind his back as he clenches a chip with all his might. The more he wins despite the sacrifices, the higher he climbs. Therefore, when he falls, the more that he will lose as well. This is something he strongly fears, yet cannot step away from his need to take risks and win more. On top of that, he has grown to learn that his gambles are what makes him useful as that’s all he can offer. Therefore, he finds himself in a dilemma of constantly putting all of himself into his gambles in an attempting to win everything. This is all hidden behind his grand bravado and daring way. In actuality, he still has a faint yet determined heart deep down inside that simply feels the need to put on an act. So despite how silly the wish may seem and with how he behaves with all his grand schemes, having a small break while still winning is one of the greatest rest he can get. Not only does it allow him to have time to himself to not need to act or scheme, but it gives him some time to win without loss.
A small thought about Topaz with some of the recent announcements regarding the new playable path, Remembrance. I’ve always had thoughts about how a path plays into a character’s kit and find some inklings into the character personality themselves. An example of this would be Aventurine. He is a Preservation character with inklings of Elation and Nihility. Not only is this a part of his gameplay and kit, it also shows in parts of his personality and character story. With that idea in mind, I am wondering if this will play into Topaz as well with some connections she has to Remembrance.
First, Topaz falls under the Hunt path for gameplay. However, this also fits quite a bit with her ambitious attitude when aiming for her goals. She strives to continue her “Hunt” in a way she deems necessary and sticks to her methods on how to achieve it. Despite the ambition to help others and continue to work her way to whatever goal she has in mind, she does still yearn for happiness or Elation.
Topaz genuinely does seem to enjoy her work, or at least the fact she can find ways to help people. However, just like everyone else, she yearns for a chance to have a shot at happiness as well and takes the opportunity given to her in order to achieve this. She has to work her way around the system to get this done, helping others along the way in trying to give them opportunities to open the doors for them.
However, and this is where some links to Remembrance comes in, she does seem to find certain situations as “hopeless”. This is seen when she speaks in Jarilo VI in how she has tried finding other ways to provide help (hinting at it being a way without the IPC’s intervention), but every planet that has interacted with a Stellaron ends up dying in the end. But she doesn’t fall into Nihility, thinking all is lost and there’s no point in anything. Instead, she would suggest the only other way to provide help with a high success rate which would be to sign with the IPC where she can at least campaign for their survival. This comes from her own experience of being left on a planet that was dying, her only hope and opportunity to live and strive being with the IPC that her whole planet signed with. This mentality resembles that of Remembrance.
Remembrance believes memories are the way to live even after one perishes and therefore should be treasured. In this way, even if Destruction comes and wipes all life, everything will continue to “live” through memories. This is why Memokeepers work to preserve and share memories as a way to prove the existence of people. To them, this is the only solution to the hopeless, inevitable end with Destruction. In other words, they do not have any hopes to actually be able to save humanity from the end and finds that saving memories is the best and most successful solution.
This mentality is very similar to Topaz’s when handling certain situations as well. As a person who is risk-averse and always weighs the success rates of her plans, she generally leans towards the plans she deems as most likely to succeed and be able to have the most rewards to it. In many cases, this leads to making sacrifices in order to achieve this goal much like how she had to sacrifice her freedom to survive. It was the “best” solution. She will try to work around it, finding ways to try and let all parties win in some sense. However, she does seem to find some situations “hopeless” in having another way around and will offer the “best” solution to that situation she can think of that offers the most success. This way, she can still “preserve” what is left.
There is still not much known currently regarding how Remembrance is as a new playable path besides summonings as hinted from Sunday’s kit and with the announcements of Aglaea and Remembrance Trailblazer. Nonetheless, it’s an interesting thought to see how Topaz might link a bit to Remembrance. She already does a bit via gameplay as Numby seems to count as a summoning of its own. Interesting enough, there’s also next to no information on how exactly Topaz found Numby and much less why Numby is quite different in appearance to other Warp Trotters.
What’s more interesting and probably coincidental too is that Remembrance Trailblazer’s summoning seems to share a few things to Topaz and Numby. For Topaz, they seem to share the same eye color/pattern. For Numby, the wing-like ears with purple galaxy design is shared.
I hope to see what this new path has in store, and if there truly is a link between Topaz and Remembrance. Especially considering she is like an honorary summoning-archetype. I really hope to see more for her character and background.
Jade has influenced both Aventurine and Topaz during her time with them to some degree, molding them as they worked their way up to being Stonehearts. Ultimately, they both have taken different aspects of her while maintaining their own stance towards the different situations they face. In a sense, they have gain a few things from her, but also seems to be trying to work higher to eventually emulate her in the end.
First, I’ll start with Aventurine. Jade’s influence on Aventurine hasn’t been as much as most people think. From the start when Jade was discussing with Aventurine on what the IPC should do with him (after letting himself get captured by them), he openly seems to challenge her in eventually striving further than her. Just like his usual mantra, “high-risk, high-reward” was always his mentality and this scene helps further the idea.
He already took a risk of allowing himself to be caught by the IPC to try and gain an audience with Diamond, and he takes another by openly being daring and even sarcastic towards Jade. Of course, this doesn’t deter or stop Jade from ultimately investing in him to join the IPC and continuing to interact with him as we see her in his character stories. After all, he has high potential for gains and benefits that she was willing to work with for her own benefit and the IPC’s.
Aventurine most likely learned how to handle business or conduct himself from his time with his previous master or even during his time as a child rather than from Jade. This is shown already through the way he spoke to his previous master and acted as a child. However, most of these behaviors he already exhibited were only further enhanced or encouraged by Jade. As a result, Aventurine as he is now is a mixture of things he grew with. For example, some of his fashion is a mixture of Jade’s fashion, but also from his previous master. He dresses himself up with extravagance as a means to show off his power and wealth, something his previous master does and is shown with the way Aventurine purposely wears his rings and watch much like the master he killed. As for Jade’s influence, his style of clothing such as the hat and sunglasses to help hide distinctive features most likely derived from her.
He also already had grown to have a silver tongue, talking his way through situations and trying to make deals like he did with his previous master or as a child to the Katicans. This was only further strengthened from his time around Jade. Aventurine essentially took what he needed from Jade in order to help progress further in his endeavors, such as helping himself to continue building the skills he already has. He also has no problems exploiting opportunities that arises for his benefit, making sure his gambles succeed in the end. He is highly meticulous, ensuring that things work in his favor or will adapt to the situation and keeping an eye on others to see if he could utilize them for his plans.
Despite his risky plans and behavior, he seems more keen on playing fairly and winning his deals without force as he is opposed to how Opal would have handled Penacony. He also has this discussion with his future self, refusing to cheat his way to winning as it takes out the thrill of risk. Ultimately, Aventurine is still a strategist and is not above of exploiting others in his plans to increase his success rate but will not use unfair methods to guarantee a win. After all, in his line of work, to use or be used is merely just the tools of the trade for him.
For Topaz, the influence of Jade is an interesting subtle mixture compared to Aventurine’s outright daring nature to immediately challenge the older Stoneheart in striving to be better. Topaz was recommended to Jade by her previous mentor, Dvorski, to have Jade look out for her. Even without Dvorski’s recommendation, Topaz seemed to have gained Jade’s eyes on her due to her fast pace on jumping the ranks. As a result, she seemed to have fallen under a mentorship of sorts with the older Stoneheart.
To some degree, it looks like she is following Jade without question when learning and trying to impress the lady. But in reality, there is a lot of extremely subtle distancing/avoiding Topaz has when around Jade (which I talk about in prior threads/posts). Topaz also does not seem to truly care to impress others, more than willing to sacrifice her ranking and simply does what she thinks is best. Topaz seems to be far more compliant and meek compared to how she had handled herself in other situations (eg. Jarilo VI and Wardance), making it seem rather off-putting in how she behaves to Jade as she seems unwilling to talk more than needed at times. Comparing to her behavior towards Dvorski and Jade, she does keep this professionalism between the two and merely extracts knowledge she believes will help her (added: this also goes against how casual she tends to act towards Dvorski and also her dislike towards formality/etiquette as shown in her character story). Knowing that she is aware of the possible result of defiance towards the lady shown through her multiple warnings to others regarding Jade, she chooses to be cooperative to receive full benefits that she can get. Truly a “low-risk, high-reward” solution.
At the same time, the influence is still there but also strikes differently in having Topaz continue down her opposition due to her difference in mindset on her intentions in business. Topaz seems to mirror some of Jade’s methods and thinking to optimize for efficiency when handling business. Although Topaz is far more merciful and considerate in conducting her projects (added: as she is simply trying to optimize her methods to have it be effective and gear towards the result she hopes for even if it’s not as efficient), she is not opposed to using the negotiation methods Jade has taught her. On top of that, she also has a mentality of “there is no room for error” in her work, something Jade later says towards her in Penacony.
However, despite this line of thinking, Topaz is far more open in her perspective as she’s more than willing to hear out and seek other solutions if possible. Even though her work may not seem to be the most efficient solution (added: but hoping to make her method the most effective solution), forcing her to work harder to find an equilibrium between all parties, Topaz continues to use this ideology in how she handles business and even confidently justify her ways through her experience. Topaz is more than willing to hear out and learn from multiple sources, allowing her arsenal of tools and means to grow in order to handle multiple situations. Jade’s teachings only are added in to Topaz’s toolkit where she proceeds to utilize it according to what she deems is necessary or the best solution. She will always be prepared with plans in order to invest and play the long game for victory.
Ultimately, Aventurine merely continues to enhance his skills much like Topaz only continues to expand her means under the IPC. For Aventurine, he continues to add his own “fairness” to his dealings. Instead of forcing a guaranteed win, he continues to work and strategize towards increasing his odds on his own and playing around others. For Topaz, she continues to add her own “kindness” to her dealings. She would always take other’s needs, wants, and possible motives into careful consideration to choose the best plan possible. Both are willing to seek and gain knowledge to further their goals and actions, twisting it to fit their mindsets and beliefs while still accomplishing their goals. They both continue to stubbornly cling to their ways (Aventurine with Fairness, Topaz with Kindness) to work their way up the ranks despite the challenges. Even though they could be more efficient or gain more if they followed Jade’s way, they continue to prove themselves as they finish the job by sticking to their own ways.
Aventurine and Topaz, despite seemingly very opposite of each other, actually seem to get along with each other far more than they have shown with Jade. It’s rather ironic considering we don’t get to see them together really, yet there’s so many bits and hints they work together often.
Despite the way Topaz seems to openly admit to disagreeing with Aventurine, even sometimes sounding rather begrudgingly working with him, she always seems to be willing to back Aventurine up when he needs her. And vice versa, Aventurine has shown to be there for her when she needs it as well.
Throughout the Penacony quest, despite not making an appearance until the end, Topaz has been supporting him from the sidelines. Just making some assumptions due to her being in constant communications with him, she was probably the one trying to help contact allies for him while being in reality and Aventurine in the dreamscape.
She even asked Trailblazer to help Aventurine out when the time comes, so it’s not too far off to assume that it is possible she might have been the one contacting others with/for him. For example, such as the Knights of Beauty since she has connections to them with her probably knowing Wilder from the Aetherium Wars, the younger twin of Velite who was part of Argenti’s quest.
Overall, she is stuck in the reality hotel in Penacony. Instead of doing nothing, she was most likely helping Aventurine in any way she can since she is his project manager and he was in the dream world alone. This may also mean she might have been the one who ordered a doctor of chaos for him after being slashed by Acheron’s blade, sending him to the Nihility and affecting him a bit after escaping (Thanks to Mr. Knight of Beauty as well).
Handling the negotiations, which was most likely her main duty in the project, she only had to work with Jade for this bit since Aventurine overplayed in giving them the opportunity and chance by getting the Emanator of Nihility involved to cause a scene. This means if things went as planned without extra complications, it would have just been the two of them working on the project while Jade only included her stone as part of the deal made prior to Penacony.
But even after that, during the meeting with the other Stonehearts, Topaz has continued her support towards him. Specifically, she was the first person to vote for Aventurine to have him stay in the Stonehearts during the debate on whether he should be kicked out or not. When Sugilite probes Aventurine that his “death” and ruining the Cornerstone was unnecessary, hinting that he probably did it out of his own selfishness of wanting to give his life away, Topaz was the one to shut down that line-of-thought by immediately voting to counter him. She specifically states to not ignore the facts, most likely pertaining to the results that Aventurine did complete the project and won Penacony for the IPC. On top of that, she never fully stated her reason for voting for Aventurine, only defending him against Sugilite’s accusation.
Ironically, this was a similar case to Aventurine staying on call after Topaz’s demotion. After the 1.4 quest with Topaz on Jarilo VI, Aventurine was the only one to stay on call with her when she clearly did not seem happy by being demoted. Right after taking his voice changer off, Topaz seems visibly more happy compared to how she looked during the discussion of her demotion and Aventurine immediately seems to tease her (similarly to how the two bickered or poked at each other during the Checking Out quest after 2.3).
On top of that, Aventurine did two things during this conversation. First, he warned her about her kind heart when he didn’t need to. According to his words, he already warned her ahead of time that the project was more risky than beneficial but still continued to warn her of the potential harm that it may cause to her. Why is that? On top of this, the second thing he did after this was immediately recruit her to his Penacony project even though she just “failed” her project. His words in the CN text was:
“No one but you” instead of “what do you say”
What makes this conversation interesting is how he seems to continue to worry for her, hinting that he keeps warning her to be careful on the kind of projects she takes and even advise against it. Since in this particular case she ended up “failing”, he immediately seems to try to cheer her up by staying in call with her to try and tease her like he usually would. But, he also even tries to offer her an opportunity to help her rank back up. Now do recall, Topaz does not care about ranks. But also, she has mentioned in Penacony that she is only there just because of Aventurine. The project was not something she cared for, but merely joined because Aventurine seemed to have personally asked for her help and specifically her out of all people despite her just being demoted when he asked.
This silent acceptance to help one another and continually support each other has always been an interesting trend between the two. Despite bickering and poking at each other, almost as if they are rivals or sorts, they have shown to be far kinder and closer to each other so far than the other Stonehearts that they have had interactions with in the main story, character stories, or myriad trailers.
Inspired by this great analysis video of Jade regarding a few points this op made towards ways to counter her business of desires. Interestingly, I noticed that some of those counters seem to naturally align with the way Topaz operates and thinks.
First, we know that Topaz seems to look up to Jade in some way. Now, I think this is purely from a business perspective as she seems keen to learning overall to help her goal. Since Jade is her mentor, Topaz knows she can offer a lot of info to her that she can utilize in her work. (Added: One can argue that what Topaz desires that Jade takes advantage of is her want to learn and build more skills under her belt. This is why she really admires people with a lot of achievements under their name, in hopes of learning from them for herself.)
However, she is also keenly aware of Jade’s manipulation and seems to steer clear of it or even warn others of it. Topaz openly tells her workers to not call Jade “big boss” to avoid trouble, also hinting to Trailblazer about the cornerstone abilities or even how Jade probes for desires.
Despite her “kind” voice line about Jade and hinted at knowing each other for a while now, Topaz seems rather distant to her when working. This could be her trying to remain professional, but even when Jade tries to be more personal or casual, she doesn’t seem to reciprocate.
This is especially shown when Jade brings up Aventurine to Topaz, seemingly trying to probe around in search of weakness, desire or simply information for future use. Topaz tries to navigate through it using her “business excuses” and simply try to keep things professional.
From the analysis video and knowing Jade’s business, we can see this as Jade testing and probing Topaz for a weakness of sorts or trying to see if she can find a desire to use to entice her. She does this in a few ways with a specific manipulation tactic.
This tactic is one which many doesn’t seem to recognize as another type and form of manipulation as the way she tries to gain Topaz’s trust, have a more casual conversation with her, or even touching her. This doesn’t help as well with their mentor-mentee status and power dynamic. (Added: Please note that this also includes other forms such as building up for a job/role and so on.)
(Added: Another great article to read further about this which fits this dynamic well is this link if there’s any curiosity. Not all dynamics like this has the victim being “naive” or “blinded”, but rather there is a sense of obligation or even fear of rejecting the one with more power.)
Understand how grooming operates in adult, faith, and professional settings. A faith-sensitive psychologist explains the psychology of groom
We see this when Jade first arrives. Note that Topaz switches to calling her “Madam Jade” compared to earlier with her grunt, referring her as “Miss Jade”. This is her sense of showing formality. When Jade insists they are equals now, Topaz reminds Jade of her seniority over her.
When that “closeness” doesn’t seem to put Topaz’s guard down, Jade tries to poke at Topaz’s recent failure. Despite claiming Topaz made the right choice earlier when she was harassed on call, she seems to question her actions nonetheless in which Topaz confidently goes around it.
This is also to say that besides trying to probe her for weakness and ambitions to possibly exploit in her trades of desires, she also is trying to mold Topaz to be more ruthless in negotiations, which therefore allows more gains in the deals for the IPC.
On top of already being aware of Jade’s ways much like how Aventurine also mentions knowing this in his own voice lines, Topaz’s mentality towards business naturally counters Jade’s. What I mean is, Topaz works off of compassion and kindness rather than just results and profit.
Ultimately, Topaz will always need to make sure the IPC gains something in their deals or else she wouldn’t be able to help. However, she often times tries to assess the situation to find further value. This isn’t to try and gain more for the IPC, but rather help the other party.
How does this help? Well, by knowing and leveraging what they have to offer of value, they can gain a better deal. This will allow the other party to have some power in the negotiation to be able to bargain for their needs, wants or the conditions put out before signing.
Topaz looks for this specifically in a sense to help them out. Of course, this does help the IPC too in gaining more, but she brings it up in a sense to allow the IPC to invest more, which means more resources and fundings to help the planet out with whatever challenge they face.
We also know from the recent event that Topaz much rather have people learn to accept help and then learn to grow on their own after than to be stuck in an endless cycle of “charity”. This shows that she looks out for the other party’s future benefit far more than most think.
This level of compassion in business despite some of the methods she use shows her inherent ambition to help others. This directly counters Jade’s mentality, which is exploit the desires of others to continually gain in the endless cycle. Topaz rather break that for independence.
Topaz does not believe there is anything wrong with getting help, especially if needed to survive. So even if it means making some sacrifices, that is an opportunity one should take to help themselves in order to ultimately strive forward and be able to stand on their own later.
With the recent event, she takes multiple risks to be able to provide Belobog opportunities to take and even helped Luka out, not needing to get involved when all she needed to focus on was the IPC’s profit. Nonetheless, she helped Luka out far more than gained anything.
Because of this, Topaz is more than willing to work and go around the system as we have seen her effortlessly do through her business reasons. She is also more than willing to use different methods with an open mind, some even lining up to how Jade operates with better intentions.
It’s interesting to see these current dynamic considering Jade is the mentor of both Aventurine and Topaz. Aventurine, who followed Jade in her footsteps, uses her “help” and exploits it in his own way. Topaz, who is the opposite of Jade, goes around it and uses her method in her own way.
Ironically too, Aventurine and Topaz both seem to trust each other despite their difference, putting aside their disagreement in approaches to help each other for mutual benefits. With that difference, they both are able to cover the other’s back quite well and respect each other.
Aventurine ultimately requested specifically for Topaz to help him in the Penacony quest, even after her “failure” with Belobog. His voice lines of her has also been very positive, speaking well of Topaz’s fairness and ability to keep things equal despite not fully agreeing to it.
While they both can work very well together professionally, the two seem to lower their guards behind the scenes towards each other just to bicker and be playful towards the other, a clear sign of their closeness they share that they don’t seem to show towards Jade.
It makes me excited to further see what other methods Topaz has up her sleeves in handling the multitude of business she encounters, and to see where her goals lead her in this balancing act of hers. I also can’t wait to see her interactions with the other Stoneheart members as well.
Ah, I just love the Wardance quest so much. It really had so much content for Topaz that really talks more about how she thinks and functions around the IPC system, using excuses to help others. It starts to make more sense too on how she was working in Jarilo VI for the sake of Belobog.
First, her approach to Jarilo VI was a lot more assertive and this comes with her mindset. Not much of her mindset has changed as she always has wanted to provide a chance to help others. However, she never thought there was many options that are successful in helping planets.
This is shown with her conversation with Svarog regarding planets that came into contact with Stellarons. With this belief in mind, and note that she did outside research on her own to double check, all the results led to the death of the planet. She did not want this for any.
This is where a lot of her survival vs freedom mentality comes from. With her own experience, she had to suffer a similar situation where many people could die from such a choice. This is what led her planet to signing with the IPC, thus becoming lifelong employees without choice.
The only reason she ends up allowing Belobog to try their own way in saving their planet was because of a two main reasons. One, they had hope and determination, which is something she claimed her planet didn’t have to strive for other solutions. But that’s not enough.
The final push was because they had proof of that hope and determination. This was from the Engine of Creation Bronya found, which was made by past Architects. Although this doesn’t prove that their hopes will work, it showed the level of determination to work for a solution.
Especially when even the past leaders had future plans to try and help save their planet, Topaz respects this and allowed them to not sign with the IPC at her own expense. This is huge because she had a duty to make profit for the IPC.
She has always tried to make sure all parties benefit in some way, as we have seen and even mentioned in Aventurine’s voice line of her. However, this is the first time we even meet her yet she was willing to let herself take a demotion and choosing to help Belobog before profit.
This really showcases and sets the tone to any of her future actions later. It also makes more sense reading her character stories and lines in other interactions. She has always shown some rebellious attitudes toward the IPC, not following the rules exactly.
What Topaz does, however, is find a reason to why she should be allowed to do what she does. This reason is backed with evidence and logic, showing how it’s profitable. Therefore, with the IPC mentality of just wanting profits, there’s no reason to reject her method or suggestion.
She states it upfront, the IPC doesn’t care as long as they gain profits. People who work for the IPC don’t necessarily agree with the company, but merely are just trying to survive. However, to survive with the IPC, they have to be useful and generate profit for them in any way.
This is heavily shown through the Wardance where she did not need to help Belobog at all to profit, especially since they never signed with her. After all, they basically signed a “waiver” to accept whatever result their planet leads to, whether it is surviving or destruction.
Despite this, Topaz has openly and repeatedly reached out in trying to give them opportunities and chances to further their efforts. None of this was forced as she only placed the option for them to take or not. This was all unnecessary, inefficient and even risky for her.
Nonetheless, she does it anyways under the disguise of its benefit for the IPC. But her intentions has been obvious from the start with the fact she continues to reach out to Belobog and make chances for them in a sense to test their determination in trying to help themselves.
After all, she already stated that even when accepting charity, one shouldn’t rely on it solely and work for a change themselves. This is exactly what she does with being in the IPC, even if it wasn’t her choice to begin with. And now, she makes her own choices how to operate.
On the outside, it always looks like she is another IPC employee, simply making profit for the company. While it is true to a degree, it’s not because she necessarily agrees but has to due to her position. As the saying goes, you cannot help others if you cannot help yourself.
We see this with the fact she got demoted after letting Belobog go. That was the “best” case possible to her not profiting in that project, and she had to get assistance to ensure the punishment wasn’t worse. Because of that incident, she has to tread even more carefully now.
This is where she sets up her elaborate plan to help Luka clear his name, advertise Belobog further, gain profits for the IPC and even punish Shuojin for his underhand tactics. She knew that Shuojin would not reject her offer, playing on his greed and even taunting him to accept.
This was more like a test to see if he would reject the deal to give him a chance to follow his words he claims, which he ultimately failed anyways. Topaz already figured he would fail the test, even giving him old equipment that really didn’t need advertising anymore.
Instead, she was betting on Luka this entire time. She was testing him to see if he would take the opportunity presented to him to clear his name. And in return, not only does he accomplish that, but he also helps further campaign for Belobog. This was all due to his own choice.
Luka was the one who ultimately decided to take it and she gave him the chance to earn it. Her goal was always to promote Luka, further helping Belobog in advertising themselves to other planets and establish connections. She even had billboards ready for him if or when he won.
In the off case he doesn’t or didn’t take the chance she created, Topaz needed a safety net though to ensure she doesn’t have issues again with the IPC of not gaining profit. This is where it appears she bets on both sides to make sure she doesn’t get in trouble again.
Ultimately, her plan helped her secure profits for the IPC which then allows her the authority to operate the way she chooses to and continue to help others without much resistance.
Topaz navigates her business extremely well, coming up with reasons for her actions to be able to help all parties benefit and continue to offer opportunities to help others. On top of that, after helping, she ensures that the party can be self-efficient without further help.
It’s truly shows how kind-hearted and dedicated Topaz is in wanting to make a good change despite being an IPC. She feels lucky to be where she’s at, even knowing it’s not the most ideal. But she tries to make the best of it, even making it work to her benefit and others.
Ahhhh, more Topaz content that confirms some past thoughts! In this side quest of the event, it really shows off her level of analyzing, assessing the situation, and cleverly turning the tide to not just her favor but in the favor to benefit another.
Interestingly, it even showcases how well verse she is in negotiation and different tactics, utilizing her own and even the ones Jade has taught her in situations she deems fit to use such a method. It also shows how far she goes to help another while making it work for the IPC.
Topaz offers a collaborative event to Luka in hopes that not only does it benefit the IPC for marketing products, but helps him gain more attention for Belobog. It’s interesting to note that she continues to invest her time in the planet despite them not being her project anymore.
Despite that, she treats them as though they signed the deal and continues to offer opportunities and chances for them to receive the attention they need to help sustain their planet. Ultimately, she doesn’t need to do this as she can profit without them for the IPC.
But, she still chooses to reach out and give them chances to help themselves in mutual collaboration that would not just complete her task, but to benefit them. So despite already being rejected or knowing Luka’s views on the IPC, she continues to leave the offer there.
When she approaches Luka in trying to help him out after he’s under fire with Shuojin who plays dirty, she claims she isn’t doing it just for Luka’s benefit but it’s because the opponent smeared the IPC’s name as well.
But it begs the question considering most people already look at the IPC poorly anyways, despite prior marketing or business done with the Xianzhou. Though, she could mean it literally as because she’s aware of the bad reputation, she might try to change that when she can.
At the same time, she could actually be using the IPC name as a means. What I mean is she is claiming she is doing this for the IPC when in reality, she’s doing it because she wants to and using the IPC as an excuse so others cannot question why she’s doing this.
She has done this as well for other cases, such as claiming to join Penacony to ensuring Aventurine’s plan works with using Jade’s cornerstone as a decoy. Or she also used a business excuse to be able to keep Numby with her, going around the “no pet” rule in the IPC.
She creates a sound and logical reason for her actions, showing the benefits to the IPC so they do not question her actions. But in reality, she is actually using it as merely an excuse to work around the system. In this case, it’s to help support Belobog as much as possible.
Even when her help is rejected, she still tries to work around and subtly help or offer some advice, as shown to the fact she’s still trying to help Belobog even when they are no longer her project since they rejected the deal or when Luka declines her help.
This is also shown by her deliberately working around by now offering the “deal” to the opponent rather and telling Luka to visit the campaign. She sets it up to prove that he was not working with the IPC, but even having it reveal Shuojin’s true nature to the audience.
When Luka and Trailblazer tries to question Topaz her reasoning to helping, she was quite straightforward with stating that she admires those that cannot be bought. She also mentions this in a conversation with Trailblazer on the Astral, stating it was better that the group declines the IPC offer.
But, if they didn’t believe that was her intent, she continues to state that Belobog was her project in which she is still working on. It’s interesting to state considering they never signed the deal with her. But, it shows her dedication to her projects in ensuring its success.
With the marketing campaign set, Luka and Trailblazer starts to realize that Topaz’s solution to handling the problem was by presenting them an opportunity and chance to clear Luka’s name, fighting Shuojin again with his IPC ambassador status despite claiming being against the IPC.
From the beginning, she set the campaign to be basically a trap to Shuojin. In business standards, it’s a win for the IPC no matter what. Whether Shuojin or Luka win wouldn’t matter, it would still sell and market a product to the audience under the IPC.
However, it was an opportunity she created for Luka to clear his name. She entices Shuojin to agree to work with the IPC, reading him on the fact that he wasn’t actually against the IPC, but rather he wants fame and attention. She even pretends to be understanding of his desires. (Added: Keynote, pretends. Meaning she understands what he wants but does not necessarily agree with it. Just uses it against him.)
To further or sweeten the deal, she then even taunts him with the fact he lost to Luka in his previous match, stating he can use this chance to get back at him. Thus, this becomes a win-win. IPC gets to market a product, Shuojin gains more fame and a chance for revenge on Luka.
This is a similar tactic Jade has taught her, which is to listen, test, and strike. Interestingly here, she uses this knowingly to a person she knows is greedy and self-serving, someone who’s willing to harm others for their own benefit. (Added: Instead of using this tactic to gain more from their desires, she uses their desires against them to help another.)
Shuojin was always greedy, willing to throw others under the bus to be successful. Topaz gives him a chance to opt-out, standing by to the ideals he claims to follow. Of course, she knew that he wouldn’t and thus falling into the deal.
It’s interesting to see considering she made a fair deal, still giving Shuojin a way out if he looked closer. However, she knew that was not the case and used his own greed against him and rather gave that chance and fairness to Luka who was the true victim.
Without ever forcing Luka to act, she merely present options and chances to Luka to be successful and giving Shuojin a taste of his own medicine. Topaz even creates this plan with the IPC in mind, making sure they still profit at the end of the day.
This level of awareness and planning truly showcases how well-thought out the campaign was, and even how well she can read how others would act. It also showcases her actions to certain types of people and her methods in handling business accordingly.
With this level of potential, it’s no wonder Jade considers her a WIP since she could gain more profit but chooses not to by being kind and fair in her deals. It also makes sense why Aventurine probably wanted her in his plans considering how well verse she is in maneuvering in deals.
This also shows why her demotion to allow Belobog to not sign with the IPC was very crucial and important, as it’s a time she purposely allowed herself to be “unsuccessful” in gaining profit for the IPC to allow them the chance to survive on their own at her own sacrifice.
Actually so happy that they added Topaz crumbs like this. Even if she didn’t get to talk as much, it really dug into a bit of her mindset and actually how she believes one should make a change for themselves. It even pokes a bit into her not fully agreeing with Jade’s approach.
First thing with this is it really does show her level of awareness on the IPC, knowing that they often prey on others’ circumstances to a degree for profit. But if you keep relying on it, you’re really no different than just a trapped animal in the system.
And Topaz seems to know this, mentioning one shouldn’t rely solely on the charity and help of others. In this sense, this reflects rather heavily on her situation. She is a lifelong employee to the IPC due to the “charity” they gave to her planet when in dire need of help.
But, she continued to climb the ranks to overcome hardships and seemingly gaining more freedom as she could on her own. Is this the reason she worked hard to join the Stonehearts? This goes a bit against Jade who provides charity and makes others’ desires come true with interest.
Jade believes by providing these acts of services, she can gain more in the long run by continuous business. Topaz, on the other hand, wants the other party to not have to rely on her help. Instead, she just wants to provide a chance for them to stand back up after falling.
This could be the reason she is very much stubborn on her methods, including her kindness and consideration into her negotiations. She works around the system as much as she can, still providing profit but also allowing a chance to the planets she works with to be independent.
She also openly states that not everyone in the IPC “sold their souls” to the organization, and that if anything, they are all nothing more than cogs in the machine… They are replaceable, expendable. In the end, they are only needed and useful if they can create profit.
This is something Topaz has been able to achieve while balancing out her help in ways she can. She has worked her way up the ranks with her unorthodox methods and still has been successful. This has been her way of surviving, while still following her morals as much as possible.
Topaz has always been big on survival, even if it means making sacrifices but still trying to make things work for the better. She takes the opportunity given to her to make a change, even wanting to pay it forward by giving others that chance as well in ways she believes is fit.
Ultimately, everyone is trying to survive. This job of hers is not only a means of survival, but a means to even have just a chance to touch happiness. In a way, it’s all or nothing for her.
But because it means that much to her to even have this chance when she didn’t before, she wants to have others to gain this chance as well which really speaks levels of how much thought she puts into her work to try and be kind and considerate to others even at her own sacrifice.
Some rambles about Topaz’s symbolism to a soldier, as it was shown in the latest video about the Stonehearts with her military-like outfit. I know some have already concluded her likeness to a soldier via her work for the IPC, but I’m also finding ties to her mentality too.
To my understanding from hearing it from a few, soldiers are trained to take orders. Which makes sense, they are in the military after all. But that also means to not question the commands and to follow any and all orders from your commanding officer.
Whether you agree with it or not, you still are supposed to listen and follow. There is only a few times when you’re allowed to include your input, usually when asked what are your thoughts and it usually has to be strategically a good reason to agree or disagree with a command.
Now, tying that to Topaz, we know she’s been in the IPC for a long time being a lifelong employee at a young age. A lot of people agree that she most likely was raised with their beliefs and ideals due to this. However, there’s a lot of signs that she doesn’t agree with it fully.
For example, rebelling on the exams, bringing Numby to work, etc. She does give reasons to not follow through with a command via benefits, which not many can argue with. That doesn’t seem to be the case though with Jade, as Topaz does act more behaved and respectful around her.
This could be since Jade is her mentor and someone with lots of power under her, making her someone you don’t want to mess with. On top of that, she is partially the reason Topaz even got into the Stonehearts it sounds like as Jade had her eyes on her potential.
So despite knowing the things the IPC does, and probably disagree with them considering her methods are quite the opposite intent even if the results end up the same, she seems to be trained to follow orders.
Now, this ties into a lot of her other mentalities I talked about before, such as her rational and survivalist mindset. Rationally, she has no reason to be against the IPC fully considering what they have done for her planet.
Although yes, they have done a lot of wrong too for other planets, they have potential to help many as well which is something she seems to take advantage of in her work. On top of that, she believes that people should make sacrifices if it means for survival.
This was mentioned during her time in Jarilo VI, encouraging Bronya to not make a wrong choice that could cost her people their lives. Tying it to the soldier mentality of not questioning orders, we can see that it gets portrayed a bit more in her line of work.
Especially when nothing appeals to her rational side of giving her other solutions or options with high success rates, making the IPC’s solution the best one there is. However, interestingly enough, she wouldn’t be the perfect soldier.
This is because she does question her orders to some degree. As mentioned before, this can be shown with her going out of her way looking into if planets can survive after a Stellaron which shows the idea that she is more aware than she pretends to be about the IPC.
And when she was able to find a good reasoning to not have Jarilo VI sign the deal with the IPC, she took that method instead and even sacrificed her ranking to help them. So it makes me wonder if the goal Jade has for Topaz is to make her the “perfect soldier”.
After all, to Jade, Topaz is a “work-in-progress” still. She finds that it’s good that Topaz is open to hearing out other ideas, but believes she should be more ruthless and keep pressing in negotiations. How I see it is basically to keep going and not stop to question.
For Topaz, she stops to question, stops to consider, stops to listen. That’s something that makes her considerate and kind, taking in other factors and even possibly changing her plan because of it when she can. She is aware of her work, and tries to make the best of it.
Ultimately, despite her very similar position of being like a soldier, it does seem like she isn’t quite there with her awareness and moral dilemmas. She does mostly push it aside as soldiers are meant to, but she seems to do her best to work despite it.
And surprisingly, she does a hell of a good job being able to balance her kindness with the need to follow orders. She remains rational, taking into considering the success of the plan, what others may want, and the survival of others into her thoughts, hoping to be able to help.
I’ve spoken a lot about how I believe Topaz navigates with Jade’s way, agreeing and disagreeing with certain aspects. But I’ve only slightly touched on her and Aventurine’s dynamic.
To start, I’ve mentioned how Topaz is very calculating and cautious with the way she does her work, taking into consideration many factors and planning accordingly. Aventurine is quite literally the opposite, creating a plan with an end goal, making details in the middle then adjusting.
His style is very much fitting his gamble mantra of “all or nothing” with high risk. Even if he has to make changes since not everything go accordingly, he seems to be very flexible and good at reading the situation to understand where to go next.
Topaz is similar with the idea she is good at analyzing. Though, it feels less adapting and more like she thought about it ahead of time. Sort of like a possibility tree, she plans for different end results. So, if her plan starts heading to one end, she already has a backup plan.
Having a sudden change that she didn’t expect at all does seem to leave her stump a bit, which is shown in Jarilo VI when Bronya first brings up the machine or in Penacony when Old Oti brings up his plan to be transparent. She is left rather quiet and seeming to assess the situation.
Not that she can’t adjust, but more like she just didn’t think it would happen since the likelihood was low, so she didn’t feel the need to have to plan for it fully. When it does occur, she does take it into consideration and analyze factors around them to see how to approach it
This is also probably due to her taking into consideration other factors she values such as benefits to all parties and being kind/considerate. She has to plan accordingly to try and appeal to majority in the party.
This leaves Aventurine and Topaz budding heads often in their work style, considering their approach is quite different. Topaz seems to find Aventurine’s style too inconsistent and risky, whereas Aventurine probably finds Topaz a bit inflexible and restrictive (added: or too safe which counters how he needs that flexibility to change plans if things go wrong considering his daring nature to do whatever it takes to finish his task).
However, despite the lack of agreement in method, they both seem to respect the other’s method since they always achieve positive results. Aventurine mentions her kind heart often and stating how she is somehow able to achieve results while keeping a balance of everyone being satisfied.
For Topaz, she also mentions how Aventurine’s luck seems to always push through and he succeeds even when it seemed like the odds were against him. Both do not believe they should be relying on such trait of themselves (Aventurine’s luck/success, Topaz’s kindness), yet it somehow works in their favor.
If anything, that very trait that seems to leave each other skeptical and curious is the very thing that makes them excel in their method. Because they both excel in what they do, they have earned each other’s trust and respect to know they will get the job done.
It’s even more interesting how they trust each other’s ability so much that they don’t fully question the other either… This can be shown in their banter after 2.3 where it was mentioned that both of them lost a lot of money in a bad investment.
Topaz points the fault to Aventurine, saying it was the lowest record in history. Aventurine simply rebuttals this by saying he hoped that everyone can make a little bit of money together by all investing in the market, claiming the source was Topaz’s “old friend”.
It’s interesting here with the little info we got about the situation, they both did not seem to question the other very much. Topaz didn’t question Aventurine’s “note” regarding the market, and Aventurine didn’t question Topaz’s connection.
In some sense, it’s almost as if they both have just come to learn to trust the other to not question much about the other’s decision or words. Which… Led them both to losing in that investment.
Ultimately, their different methods can be quite complementary, covering both sides for them. It makes me curious for future/past assignments to see how else the dynamic goes considering it’s quite hidden and vague.
For now, I think they work quite closely to each other to know the other so well, working around the other accordingly. Even to the point they banter more casually with each other even in public and poke at the trait they are puzzled with the most.
I was thinking about how her mindset is very much survival over anything else. She mentions it a lot during Jarilo VI, telling Bronya they need to prioritize their survival even if it means signing the deal with the IPC.
This also correlates a lot to her general style of being cautious and even taking low risks to ensure success and “survival”. It’s basically an act of self-preservation.
Now, I’m wondering if this translates to her interactions with Jade. She obviously is aware of Jade’s behavior, trying to warn her team to behave a certain way with her. Even when she confronts Jade, she acts rather compliant yet distant.
I’m assuming she doesn’t have much choice working under her, especially since her old mentor Dvorski (added: someone she seems to heavily trust since he’s in every character story of hers) recommended her to Jade, but also because Jade already had eyes on her beforehand. So, there was probably not much options from there (added: especially if she wanted to move up the ranks for whatever goal she had in mind).
At some point, she had to have seen how Jade could be… Or heard it at least if she warns her team how to behave in front of her. So in a sense, her behaviors could very much be the act of self-preservation…
At the same time, Topaz seems to be a very strategic thinker. She plans ahead and prepares for the long run. Even in Jarilo VI, when she saw Bronya still hasn’t signed the deal, she already asked for permission to attack the Astral Express ahead of time knowingly.
So, it makes me wonder if Topaz’s behavior of admiration yet distant is a strategic way to counter Jade. As Jade claims (added: in several official posts of hers such as on twt/x):
“The secret to success? Be greedy when others are fearful, and be fearful when others are greedy.”
How I interpret this… When the other is “fearful”, push for it. Push for your wants or offer, and the other will fold because they are willing to meet the demands out of fear…
Now if the other is “greedy”, one should be “fearful” as a way to trick the other into being overconfident and giving you space or time to work around them or even make them fall for a trap. It’s a game of push or pull.
For Topaz, she could be trying to play into this mentality by being in the middle. She shows off this confident attitude, speaking strictly professional and business, something she’s really good at. But acts respectful to keep herself distant and safe.
This theory could be her way of coping from further manipulation as she is confident enough for Jade to not push her, but respectful enough to make distance and not get taken advantage of from mistakes. It could be her way of maintaining control in the one-sided dynamic.
This way, she is still following along with Jade’s teachings without being too close, still learning the methods from a safe distance. This could also be her way of standing her ground without being confrontational.
It might work this way because Jade is being more patient and even seems to treat Topaz as a star student… Topaz acts obedient enough, so Jade lets her be for now and could be trying to break her for the long run. As for Aventurine, he was quite defiant from the start and even challenged her from the beginning.
At first, he seemed to be easier to read, coming from his character story where she seems to notice his shaking hands that he would now hide behind his back. But now, he could be too good… Making him more of a threat that she might not necessarily trust. Especially since he’s independent now.
In this way, Topaz could be playing it safe and for the long run of maintaining a good balance without coming off as threatening and still benefitting as much as possible. Well, at least what I’m thinking and interpreting.
Continuing from how aware Topaz is, it makes me wonder how much of this situation is Topaz trying to take advantage of… Ultimately, she is stuck with the IPC whether she likes it or not because of the lifelong contract.
With her mindset of “means to an end” as long as it’s rational/logical, has proof of success, and no alternative way, she will do it… Ultimately, she knows her way isn’t always going to work. But she tries her best to be kind and considerate to all parties despite results.
In a sense, she is simply trying to make the best of the situation for not just herself but for others that may end up in the same predicament as her. That’s why she wants to do this… She wants to help other people in any way she can, even if it’s not her first choice.
Now, this goes more into her dynamic with the IPC and Jade. For both cases, she does not agree wholeheartedly with them as I’ve stated why I believe that in my last thread. She does rebel against them in what seem like subtle and small ways.
But for her… It’s a big thing. She continues to follow her morals and beliefs as best as she could, even if it means self-sacrificing for the betterment of others. She also continues to still try to use the methods she learned in her own way, trying to let all parties win.
For her, “investing in the long game” might be her way of trying to make the best of the situation. Topaz cannot avoid working for the IPC, so she might as well do her best while doing what she can to help other planets.
This also applies to Jade. Topaz seems to be aware that she is manipulative and may know she’s trying to do so on her. However, she values skills, knowledge, and experience. We know this because she also seems to be interested in Himeko.
Topaz specifically says to Himeko, “I can learn a lot from you” since she has heard only good things about her. But also, Himeko has a reputation of having good experience and skills that people can appreciate. To Topaz, these things are highly valuable to her.
To learn such skills, knowledge, and experience, it can only help further her own goal and ambitions. So in a sense, even with Jade, Topaz could be seeing it more as an investment for her future. She doesn’t disagree with their methods, but she doesn’t agree with their reason.
So, why not learn the method and apply her own reason or other factors she believes is right? After all, it might be the only way she can help other planets successfully. She tries to balance her logic and rational decisions with a bit of empathy.
This is also probably why she probably does not approve of Aventurine’s methods. She, who values logic and proof (added: and is risk-averse), wants to ensure the highest chance of success in a consistent rate. Aventurine’s gambles are far too inconsistent with fluctuating successes.
For Aventurine, this is fine due to his scheming ways to raise up the success rate but also his undeniable luck to help in some sense. But this seems to make Topaz worried as she wants to ensure her projects succeed, hence sometimes doing what she needs to do to accomplish this.
Most of her projects handle planets that need help for recover. If she doesn’t succeed, those people’s lives are in her hands. Not literally since it’s the planet’s decision to sign the deal or not. But I’m sure it doesn’t feel any better knowing they denied and didn’t make it.
Nonetheless, if one can appeal to Topaz that there is another way, she doesn’t seem to be against it since she was willing to try and put hope in Jarilo VI after some proof they may succeed. Or Aventurine despite disliking his method.
This is more of my way of looking at it from how I view her due to her actions or behavior in game, so most of this is just my conclusion from what I know of her. She could have other reasons we don’t know, especially since she is a Stoneheart who has a “void” in her heart.
I feel like people don’t give Topaz enough credit on how aware she is about her surrounding… It is easy to think she just blindly believes the IPC is good, or that Jade means well based on what she states. But there’s some nuances that shows her thinking is far more complex than that.
For example, just in her character stories alone, she goes against IPC rules in what she doesn’t believe in. This is shown through her rebellious behavior of purposely failing the business formality exam, or going around the rule regarding pets.
She didn’t agree and found it won’t harm her if she didn’t listen exactly to those rules according to her contract. She also tries to beef up her reasoning by proving it won’t hinder her capabilities to get her job done, making it harder to question her “exclusion” to said rules.
In a way, despite being stuck in a lifelong contract, she seems to try and go around the system as much as possible to operate the way she believes instead of blindly following the rules set.
For someone who was molded at a young age, you would think she wouldn’t be this rebellious. Especially if she truly did think that the IPC is ultimately good (added: which she actually has never out rightly stated). It’s more like she believes you can do good in the company, and she tries to take advantage of it to try and do that.
There’s only so much she can do at the end of the day, as the IPC clearly has specific conditions and goals in mind she still has to follow. However, she tries her best to examine all parties involved and present a solution that tries to make majority happy or satisfied.
This showed quite a bit in her approach with Jarilo VI. She did start off rather roughly with her initially engagement. Though she backs off to be able to assess the planet, trying to find evidence and proof for the IPC to say they can get a better deal because they have more value.
During her talk with Svarog as well, she states that she went out of her way to do extra research on seeing if planets could recover on their own from a Stellaron, indicating the possibility of not needing the IPC’s help.
For someone who claims that the IPC can help, this little action of hers shows that she doesn’t necessarily agree with the company’s method and would rather them recover on their own without the deal as long as they have proof to backup the claim.
If the planet is able to recover on their own, why sign a deal with the IPC and possibly be put on a lifelong contract like her? Topaz goes out of her way to try and find proof that they can recover on their own. However, she states her results were all negative about that search.
Going into the end of the Jarilo VI’s case when Bronya reveals the Engine of Creation, Topaz genuinely takes into consideration that the planet has a chance to recover without the IPC, giving them her full support by even taking a demotion to her position to ensure they don’t sign a deal.
This only occurred though because the planet appealed to Topaz’s rational/logical (added: risk-averse) side with proof, something she seems to value when making decisions. Without proof, she can’t take the words at face value and treats it as a note to maybe consider with some skepticism.
Now, this leads to her dynamic with Jade. Her voice lines about her does hold her in high regards, but most of it talks about her business skills and support she can provide (with a hefty price). (Added: Note that this is only EN TL, which is inaccurate as in CN, she actually refers to Jade as a benefactor and not “nobility”.)
In a logical and business standpoint, Jade’s skills are widely known and similar to Topaz’s style of getting things done (added: better to say she prefers to optimize things as her methods aren’t always efficient, but rather she hopes for it to be effective) efficiently. Especially as her student of sorts, she takes her teachings of business but places her own twist to it by adding in her kindness as a factor.
However, despite seeming to “idolize” Jade’s achievements and skills, Topaz has made points to show that she is aware Jade is not exactly who she tries to present herself to be as. In 2.3, she reminds her team to not call Jade “big boss”, saying they would get punished if so.
It hints that she is aware that there’s more to Jade than what she shows, especially knowing that Jade didn’t want Topaz to see her negotiate with the Family after learning how greedy they were to try and push the IPC out.
It was further hinted as well that despite seemingly knowing Jade for a decent amount of time and even being mentored by her, Topaz creates this “distance” with Jade when interacting with her. She would stay very formal ironically to her, calling her “Madam Jade” instead of “Miss Jade” until told not to.
Even when Jade insists that they are equals and there’s no need for such titles, Topaz still mentions that Jade is her senior. Even during their other talks, Topaz seems to try and strictly keep their topics to business, seemingly a bit cautious when Jade brings up Aventurine.
This is really seen specifically when Jade mentions Topaz’s trust in him. She seems to divert the topic to her logical business reason to why she would bet her cornerstone in this mission. But the minute Jade seems to casually speak about Aventurine, Topaz tries to go back to business.
It shows that Topaz is mindful with how she should behave in front of Jade, not wanting to divulge more into personal topics and strictly staying professional. This hints that she is aware of Jade’s manipulation and tries to extract what she learns from her.
What I mean is, she takes Jade’s teaching with value in a business sense. She clearly remembers her lessons and how to approach negotiation well. However, she doesn’t follow all of it by heart, changing it according to what she believes in and how she adds kindness to it.
She does value what she can learn from Jade, as it helps her strive and excel in her goal of helping others. But she navigates cautiously and seems to keep her guard up when gaining knowledge. It’s similar to Aventurine where he knows about Jade, but values what he can gain from her.
This doesn’t even go into the Keeping Up with Star Rail trailer where Topaz was co-hosting. She has always been good at analyzing and assessing. But it’s interesting she mentions not to test Jade, even hinting she was close to being “swallowed” by the abyss while looking nervous…
Ultimately, I just think Topaz is far more complex than she presents herself to be. I really don’t think she is that blinded as her words make her out to be, and her actions do seem to be contradicting to that as well.
This is just how I’ve come to interpret her behavior as I found it really off despite her words. She makes for an interesting character to analyze.
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