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Ashsaber posted:I feel like Arie's secret could also be something stupid like a room full of plushies, or a indoor pet cat. You know, something normal and cute that many girls would like a good bit, but that she might find inappropriate to indulge in because she is a woman of the faith. Something that shouldn't even be embarrassing in the first place. Taura has bull ears with an earring, Reone has a scorpion tattoo, Femiruna has cat ears, Ruka has red claw ribbons, Farun has tiny horns and elf ears, and Yuzuha just looks fish-like. Arie is totally hiding tiny ram horns under that hat.
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Jan 2, 2020 17:47
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That's not a fur coat and hat. That's actual fur
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Jan 2, 2020 17:52
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Psycho Knight posted:It’s the first week of August, there shouldn’t be a full moon, so what the hell has gotten into Farun? Booze. It's booze. Booze has gotten into Farun. She's "in customer mode" at the tavern with "permission from the owner", I think you can take that as a pretty explicit confirmation.
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Jan 3, 2020 01:54
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Update VII: I find it hard to tell you, I find it hard to take (Dungeon Portion) Song Title Reference: Mad World by Tears for Fears Time to make some plot progress. I think everyone’s had their fill of Bonding Updates for a while.  Tis the season, so we’re heading to the Winter Labyrinth.  Ah, nice and crisp. That’ll put some hair on Itsuki’s chest. I know I’m feeling right at home. Floors 1-5 of the Winter Labyrinth are largely the same as the Spring Labyrinth that we previously explored. The enemies are mostly Bootes or Bootes variants, so you can run around and snag a little bit of EXP as you explore. There are a few of the Apu (bird enemies) roaming the later floors though, so keep an eye out for them as they put up more of a fight. Other than that, there’s not really anything of note. Section 1 of each Dungeon seems to be fairly standardized, but you’re required to work your way through them anyway (at least for the first time). So I’ll cut out the garbage and just take us right to the first boss.   Move to the back, Mana. It’s much fiercer than the bears on the surface! Itsuki! Watch out for its burly arms! Let’s go, everyone! As usual, the Floor 6 boss is really just a preview of enemy types to come. The Ursula type enemies have absolutely no magic, but they make up for that with their solid physical stats. Their standard physical attack is also able to strike 2 zones instead of one. Not especially fast, but built like brick shithouses.   Magic Attacks are the way to go, although I am currently lacking in that department. Team Psycho Knight is the only team that has any form of attack magic, but the recent changes made to the team have shifted it more heavily towards physical. The other option for dealing with Ursula types is to Chain them. Both Team Couscous and Team Psycho Knight have skills that can aid this. Team Couscous has Blitz Blow, which gives a small increase to the CG, while Team Psycho Knight picked up a skill called Grief Chain that grants a huge increase to the CG. Chaining will slow the enemy down and allow you to get a bunch of easy hits in, or take the opportunity to heal up. Whichever you’d prefer.  Just be careful about HP. Those of you who followed the CII LP will recall how brutally effective it can be for the enemy to just spam its basic attack (when it is able to strike more than 1 zone at a time). Basic physical attacks have a shorter cooldown than skills or magic, so Ursula can take repeated swings at you while you more than likely slow yourself down by throwing out big attacks with high turn delay.  Yeah. The bears out in the forest suddenly don’t seem so threatening anymore. Itsuki! Up ahead is the Hoarfrost Labyrinth. The enemies are even stronger there, so don’t let your guard down. I’ll keep that in mind. We should really head back, though. The Star Children are worn out.Like I said, the dungeons are cookie cutter outside of the Star Sign sections. Outside of Mana mentioning the name of the dungeon, the dialogue is meant to work regardless of which one you enter or how many other dungeons have been completed. Anyway, there’s no scenes or anything upon returning to the world map, so back in we go.  Floors 6-10 are the same thing as Spring. Lower-tier Ursula are scattered throughout, along with mid-tier Bootes. Unless you have strong magic-based teams, then fighting the bears is probably more trouble than its worth. No new traps or enemy types in this section. We do start picking up some sweet loot, though.  Itsuki picked up Full Cross armour and then about a minute later picked up this one. Great Spirit gives a huge boost to DEF, but more importantly it absolutely cranks Itsuki’s SPD. The other good things that happened in this section of dungeon are Ratoslov and D’Angelo picking up new skills. Ratoslov of Team A(wful) hits Level 20 and snags Recovery, which heals status ailments (this will be very important later in the dungeon). Meanwhile…  D’Angelo of Team Couscous also hits Level 20 and picks up his special skill: Trap Cancel. Trap Cancel is an Auto skill which blocks traps from Treasure Chests. That means no more exploding treasure chests for us (at least until the next Team Vote happens and I wind up with no thieves. Just watch. That’s what will happen).  Something I haven’t had the chance to point out yet are these Jukebox looking things. They appear in connecting hallways and act as pop-up shops. You can buy all the same items and equipment as you can from the shop in Granvania. These were mostly worthless in CII because you could steamroll everything in your path without burning too much HP or MP. CP has a slightly higher difficulty curve, though. You can always escape from the labyrinth, stock up, then jump back in at the floor you left off on, but there are times when you’d rather keep pushing forward to try and find the next floor gate. These shops can be a welcome sight if you ran out of status items, or need Potions/Mana Stones in order to top everyone off, or if some of your Star Children were accidentally sent out without proper equipment (Note: There is no particular reason why I mention that last one. None at all).  I also fiddle around with MECUNITE a bit in this part of the dungeon. In the process, Team Psycho Knight shows off a form we haven’t seen.    The Fist type MECUNITE has a Rocket Punch attack as its special. As far as I’m aware, the different MECUNITE types are just cosmetic (the weapons anyway. Stats and element actually do make a difference), so the attack you see above is no different than the laser cannon thing that our first MECUNITE team pulled. Looks cool, though.  We also pick up a ton of swords in this dungeon, not just this section. This was the first new sword to be found. Chopper is a Star Child weapon for sword users. I slap this one on Cmdr. K, but everyone else quickly finds one of their own to equip. Chopper will also be replaced by another new sword fairly soon. The downside to this lucky break is that we only find new swords in this dungeon. Other than new armour for Itsuki, I don’t pick up any new weapons for any of the non-sword wielding Star Children. I’m not sure if there are simply none in this dungeon’s drop table, or if it was purely a matter of RNG.  Here’s the new trap type. Poison tiles. Once again, there is no indication of a trap being here. You just get unlucky and walk over them from time to time. These traps can cause Poison to one or more of your teams. In this case, Itsuki and Teams A(wful) and Psycho Knight get hit. Thankfully, Ratoslov of Team A(wful) recently picked up a skill that can fix this for us. Just so we’re clear, I do have a small stock of cure items for every status. Unfortunately, this Poison Trap is pretty common, so I wind up burning through all of them fast. The Recovery skill is much more useful, as I can just throw a cheap Mana Stone on the Star Child that used it to replenish the MP they used. Oh, also Wind element Fornax start appearing (Fornax are the floating spine monsters). That’s a thing that happens.  Floor 11’s gatekeeper is this weird looking dude. Everything else stays still, but his hands keep rotating back and forth at the wrist. Don’t worry about it, Mana. I’m sure it has a weakness. Everything does. I guess so… Even I have imperfections. So that thing should have a weakness too! Maybe it’s worried about its weight! Looks more like he skipped some exercises at the gym. Gotta work on those shoulders bro. Don’t forget the rotator cuffs, that’s what will gently caress you over when you try and ego press on the bench. Biceps could use some work too. How did you even manage to get forearms like that with no bicep action? Right. I’m dragging it out too much, sorry. Anyway, like Ursula, Scutum here loves his physical attacks and not much else. This particular one is accompanied by two Wind Fornax-type enemies. The best way to go about this is to immediately split up everyone and deal with the side enemies. Because Scutum has no magical abilities, leaving him without a target will force him to chase after someone. As long as you keep an eye on his battlefield position and move your teams out of the way whenever he tries to attack you from behind, he’s mostly harmless. You should be able to safely deal with the two support enemies before turning your attention on him. By the time that happens, you will likely have built up a decent amount of the Chain Gauge. This will let you take quick advantage of it against Scutum and get in some solid hits while he’s chained. In other words, this is still basically the same as the Ursula fight, even with the extra enemies in play.  From here, you can go to the Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces Labyrinths. The Impurities will be stronger than before. How about returning to the surface so you can regroup? I see a dimensional rift over there.~Stardust Lab. Entrance~ Hm… Speaking of the Winter Labyrinth…Yeah, we’re introducing another seasonal event. Seems like there’s one for every season. I heard from Mahiru that on Sora, you celebrate a thing called Christmas. As far as I can tell, it’s similar to our Star Conception Festival.  It’s a ceremony celebrating the birth of the Star God.Star God has a birthday? On that day, the people of Granvania gather around a big tree to decorate it. They even bring their own food and presents to exchange with each other. I heard Christmas does something similar. Pretty much. Christmas means different things to different people, though. Me and Mahiru don’t celebrate the birth of a god or anything, but we do decorate a Christmas tree and give gifts. There are so many similarities between Sora and Granvania… Even our 12-month cycle is the same. Is that a coincidence? I think not!Alright, betting is open. Who thinks that this is actually just a coincidence and who thinks the game is going to pull some crap later where Granvania has some secret access to earth that lets them swipe cultural and technological advances. Hey, I’ve got an idea. How about you join us for the Star Conception Festival? Naturally, I know you wanna hurry up with your mission so you can return home. But there are so many trials and tribulations ahead of you.  Just consider how much our worlds have in common. Maybe celebrating the Star Conception Festival will give you some sorta divine protection.HA! That requires Star God to get off his rear end and do stuff. This Star God seems like more of a hands off kind of guy. The Star Maidens will get the hots for you if you celebrate with them. You don’t have to sell me on it, you know. I don’t mind taking part. Awesome! People have been said to become couples on the night of the Star Conception Festival. Why not take that opportunity to make your moves on the Star Maidens? Couples that spend the night of the Star Conception Festival together get all riled up.Spoiler-Alert: Itsuki will be spending Starmas alone. It’s highly unlikely that he’s going to have a high enough Bond Level by the time Starmas rolls around. We’ve got a summer event coming up soon and he’s going it alone for that, too. Anyway, I’m excited you’ll be celebrating with us, Itsuki! Let’s report this to the king right away!Is this really something that we need to report to Shang? It’s still August for god’s sake. ~Palace Throne Room~ *sigh* loving Christmas, man… People start getting ready for it earlier every year.  I heard from Mana.  Narcisstes, I trust you will arrange for Itsuki to participate with no issues. Of course, Your Majesty.Was this part of their contract or something? Like, Shang didn’t feel like he was getting enough screen time, so he demanded that they slap random scenes in to give him an excuse to show up? I will prepare the Great Star Tree so Itsuki and the Star Maidens can celebrate happily. And you can all look forward to that! Four months from now when it’s actually December! Itsuki, you better get with a Star Maiden by the Star Conception Festival.We’ll get right on that. First, we’re going to worry about slotting in that second Star Offering.  We’ve got some choice in where we go this time, since it’s not a tutorial. The winter months are Capricorn, Pisces, and Aquarius. It was January 1st when I recorded this, so I figured we may as well go for the Capricorn labyrinth. It’s as good a reasoning as any.  Right away, we get upgraded swords for the Star Children. Exbuster is the next tier of the Chopper weapon type (each weapon has a ‘+’ variant with slightly better stats, as well. Exbuster is better than Chopper+). Exbuster won’t be seeing much use, because there’s yet another sword upgrade coming within the next few floors.  I think I may have forgotten to mention it, although I’m sure the tutorial cards did at some point. If you hit Y/Triangle/whatever the corresponding key is, the game will show you which Star Children (or Itsuki) is able to use the equipment you just picked up. As far as I know, you can only see this screen when you pick up the equipment.  Monsters in the Capricorn labyrinth (which is very… colour coded for Farun) now include low tier Scutum type enemies. The bears are also still here, so this labyrinth is sort of a pain in the rear end for Physical teams (of which I currently have 3… awesome).  Itsuki gets another armor upgrade, but this one has a trade-off of no SPD buff in exchange for much higher DEF. I’d prefer to keep the SPD buff, honestly. SPD is pretty crucial in these games and 800 is nothing to sneeze at right now.  Also fun to learn: Traps only stop the player from moving when they trigger. So on top of having all teams and Itsuki inflicted with Poison, this Ursula type enemy is able to catch up and snag an advantage.  Kiss my rear end, Conception Plus. Friendly tip: Make sure you always have Star Bombs. No, not the comedy band. Star Bombs are sold in the shop and allow for 100% escape rate from regular battles. It says in the description that it doesn’t allow escape from big enemies (bosses), but it should also be noted that it won’t let you escape from Chest Monsters either (monsters sometimes jump out of Treasure Chests and lock you into a battle. The Thief skill Trap Cancel doesn’t stop these for some reason).  By the way, Poison is no joke in this game. The HP you see in the screenshot above is like 4 steps away from the Poison trap that inflicted the status. If you don’t have a way to heal it and Itsuki gets hit, just leave the dungeon because you are straight hosed. The Star Children can always be allowed to faint and then you can revive them (which will clear Poison), but if Itsuki goes down then you are kicked back to Granvania with a chunk of your wallet missing. Just to really drive it home: If Itsuki’s HP was full in this screenshot, Poison would have him dead before reaching the door at the end of the hall to the right.  Here’s the other new sword upgrade for the Star Children.  And here’s another one. Sword swingers are having a drat field day in the winter dungeon. That’s 4 sword tier upgrades in this one dungeon (Chopper, Exbuster, Demon Blade, Calamity), 3 of which were just in the Capricorn section. Good lord. Every SC with a sword has seen their ATK jump from 350-500 to 900-1100.  I also pick up… whatever the hell this thing is. It has a star icon, which I’ve never seen before. I can’t use it from battle or the dungeon menu. I’m going to assume that it’s an item to create a new Star Child class, but it didn’t open any new ones when I went back to Granvania (for… reasons. Reasons that will be apparent soon). Hell if I know. Maybe we need more of them to unlock a new class.  In the item bag it goes, I guess. It’s boss time!  Oh… That’s a bit of a problem… So, yeah. This boss has a charge attack that can one-shot Itsuki at near full HP while he’s defending. The other Star Children were also sort of getting ripped apart.  Upon doing a little post rear end-kicking review, I notice that I apparently somehow neglected to upgrade everyone’s armour. That may have had something to do with things (as well as the fact that we’re currently underleveled and also Itsuki got one-shot which is instant failure that I couldn’t possibly forsee). So I blow roughly 50k on upgrading everyone’s armour and some of the non-sword weapons.  Don’t worry. I won’t let it destroy the offering that Farun made for us. Let’s do this! This is Malefici of Capricorn. It’s a Wind element Impurity God. It’s regular defense is high, but it’s weak to Fire!   Round 2, here we go. Different strategy in mind this time as well. Well, not different exactly, but better. By better I mean literally the exact same thing I did for the Pseudothei fight. As Mana mentioned, Fire would be super helpful here. Unfortunately the thread aren’t magic kind of people. They’re more the “hit things really hard” kind of people. That is not going to help in this fight because Malefici is no slouch in DEF, despite how thin and not strong it looks. But whatever, I brought this on myself by allowing the thread to choose the Star Children (and also RNG to decide the one team I did have control over). In addition, Malefici is rocking two helpers. They don’t have the Heal spells that Pseudothei’s helpers had, but they do take a more active role in beating you senseless. One of them is also Water element, specifically meant to counter your attempts at bringing Fire element teams into the battle. I have to say, the enemy synergy is a lot better in this game than CII.  During the first attempt, I kept Itsuki in the middle against Malefici because I figured he would be the best tank as long as he defended (he has better DEF and HP than the Star Children teams). However, the threat of that charge attack means I have to leave the boss once more in Team A(wful)’s hands. Team Psycho Knight and Team Couscous split up to help whittle away at the Bits with Itsuki.  The Bits are thankfully not super strong in terms of HP/DEF. However, because of the raw offence that Malefici has, as well as the fact that we are underleveled for this fight and incapable of changing that (Almost every Star Child is capped out right now at Levels 20-22), this fight needs to be ended as quickly as possible.  I have Team PK MECUNITE so they can spam their MAT CODE N skill, which hits every enemy on the field. They transform into a Void type, which isn’t ideal, but I don’t have time to be picky.  It still does an acceptable job. Team A(wful) ends up attracting the attention of the Water Bit, but Malefici decides to switch to magic attacks, which allows Team A(wful) to somehow survive the double teaming. The Wind Bit is almost dead, so Team Couscous rushes to Team A(wful)’s aid and takes a chunk out of the Water Bit’s HP. Team PK’s next turn then comes around just in time to fire another MAT CODE N and wipe out both Bits at the same time. Solid teamwork, guys.  With both Bits out of the way, Team A(wful) is able to heal themselves just in time to survive another hit from Malefici. I send a fully healed Itsuki over to try and draw aggro, but Malefici isn’t having any of that and takes a second swing at Team A(wful), who manage to survive through what can only be the sheer willpower of Cmdr. K (there’s no way that they should have survived 2 physical hits from Malefici considering that he shaves off about 70% of their HP each time).  Unfortunately, Malefici is dead set on seeing Team A(wful) fall. Despite Team Couscous joining the fight, Malefici ignores both them and Itsuki and gives another two shots to Team A(wful) to finally knock the whole team out. Itsuki uses a full revive on them to get them back up, which leaves me in a much better position than Attempt 1. At this point, everyone is fully healed, the Bits are dead, and the concentrated assault on Malefici has begun.  Team Psycho Knight uses their last MECUNITE turn to swing at Malefici for roughly 3000 damage. Malefici then immediately counters with an attack of his own, but because MECUNITE wears off at the start of a turn, not the end, Team PK is given a saving throw that keeps them standing (if MECUNITE's HP is reduced to 0, the form breaks and leaves all the Star Children on that team with 1HP each). After that, nothing much else of note happens. Malefici stays focused on Team PK and manages to take them out, but Itsuki immediately revives them as Team A(wful) builds the Chain Gauge.  Once Malefici is chained, the battle is over. Everyone dumps on him with their best skills and Itsuki deals the killing blow just before Malefici can break free. We get 1400 EXP, which is great for Itsuki but mostly a waste for the Star Children as 10 out of the 12 have already hit their Level Cap. We also get 3 Heavenly Fruit, which I believe are permanent stat increasing items. Those are going exclusively on Itsuki. Well done, Itsuki! Now you can enshrine the Capricorn Star Offering!*Itsuki rolls up and pops that sucker in. The sealing cutscene is identical to Aries, so I won’t bother screenshotting it a second time* With this, the number of Impurities in the Capricorn Labyrinth will decrease. Come on, Itsuki. Let’s go back to the surface.Actually, I have a feeling that these cutscenes will always be identical, except for Mana swapping in whatever Sign we are currently handling. I may just skip these in the future, unless something unique happens. Psycho Knight fucked around with this message at 12:58 on Apr 19, 2020 |
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Jan 3, 2020 01:58
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Update VII: I find it hard to tell you, I find it hard to take (Story Portion) Back on the surface, the shaking and roaring that happened last time is repeating. drat… it’s happening again. Doesn’t it sound louder than last time? We’d better check in with Narcisstes and see if he’s made some progress on figuring out what’s going on. Sounds good. Let’s return to the castle, Itsuki. Holy poo poo! Students! Also, that girl on the far right looks like she has some serious junk inside that trunk. Could just be artist laziness I suppose. Hm? All the Star Maidens are here. Mahiru’s in the center. Seems like she’s doing well as the class rep. Rukie, Furry, and Tar-Tar are with her.Right, I forgot about your stupid nicknames for them. My stupid nicknames are better (Ruk, Femi, and Tar… okay, so not really nicknames, more like image codes). Let’s see what’s going on. We kind of have more important things to do right now, Mana. Narcisstes? Remember? C’mooon, it’s only for a little. Aren’t you curious if Mahiru is getting along with the Star Maidens?  C’mon, c’mon, let’s go closer. But make sure they don’t see you. Hey! Would you wait for a second? Mana! drat it…*Shifting over to Star Maiden vision*  Augh… Narcisstes got mad at me again today. It is your fault for brazenly sleeping in class. Tarua, it happens because of work, right? I know how much you love your job. Augh… I do! The boss is strict when it comes to work, but he’s a good guy! Tarua sums up literally her whole character arc at the moment. That’s kind of pathetic.  Mahiru, on the other hand, is always so serious about class. Right. That class is so boring, I am surprised at how you can stay focused. It’s not boring at all. Everything about this world is new to me. Are you sure it is not because you find Mr. Narcisstes so handsome? Huh? Really? You’re in love with the teacher, Mahiru? You did accept that troublesome role of class rep after all. Now I understand why. You are blushing. You’re lying. You can’t trick me!*Back to Itsuki vision* They seem to be having fun. She’s so different when she’s with you. That’s just how she is. Mahiru’s always been like that. Hey, it’s Itsuki and Mana!Oh, poo poo. They really can smell protagonist. That’s unsettling. It’s Ellie all over again. Ack, they found us… Tarua’s nose is as good as a bloodhound’s. What are you two doing hiding in the bushes? The answer is obvious. Mana made me do it. Hey, don’t blame me. I will blame you, because it’s true. You’re the one that suggested it and then flew off. The fact still remains that you were spying on us, Itsuki. Well, I can’t really argue with that. I understand why you wouldn’t want to get too close… But if you are a real man, you should just admit it. I apologize for peeping on you… but I still blame Mana. Now you’re just blowing it out of proportion… How rude. There is a fairy here who is not sorry at all. What is she, an attack dog or something? …Aw, who cares? Do it! Do it! Do it! I’m sorry! Really, I am now.*After some hilarious… something. There was a fade to black, hell if I know. Probably Tarua chasing Mana around. Either that or the developers had to exorcise the spirit of 2012 Mahiru again* So have you learned anything after spying on us? Well, I’m glad to see that you’re all getting along with each other. That’s what you were worried about? You’re so stupid… Worrying isn’t stupid! Never mind that, Mana. We still need to go and check in with Narcisstes. You’re going to see the teacher? Can you tell him that the secret plan is in motion? Wh-What are you talking about? Wait, what about a secret plan? I think I will excuse myself now! Tarua! You are coming with me! Augh… I need to go as well.*Femiruna and Ruka book it, while Tarua is dragged along* Maybe I should go too.. Wait, Mahiru. What’s this secret plan all about? Ugh… Why are you asking me? Because you totally know something. Never mind that. Don’t you need to go see Mr. Narcisstes? Does it have to do with the ground shaking earlier? You felt it too, huh? It’s the second time this has happened. It was also worse this time. Something may be going on. You should let Mr. Narcisstes know. Well, I’ll see you later.*Mahiru then finds her own opportunity to escape* She dodged the question about the secret plan. Yeah, yeah. Let’s just get back to what’s important. We need to get to the castle.~Palace Laboratory~ After researching the ancient texts some more… It appears the “Star Chaos” also occurred 1,200 years ago. What?! Way back then too?! I’m surprised a record that old still exists. I turned the library upside down just to find it. It’s over 1,000 years old. Does it say anything about the Star Offerings? Did all 12 fail at the same time back then, too?Wait, so if this happened once before, how did the Star Offerings manage to get back on their normal cycle? I guess they must have started failing again after 10 years and just knew which order to go in.  Ugh… I’m not sure I wanna hear it. Same… There is one other labyrinth besides the 12 we currently know of. The text calls it the Ophiuchus Labyrinth.I don’t want to interrupt Narc talking about important plot stuff, so I’ll review what the hell Ophiuchus is at the end of the update for anyone that’s curious. But there are only 12 constellations, one for each Star Maiden. What does it mean? The text is written in ancient writing, so I haven’t deciphered all of it yet. I’m sorry, but I will need more time. Then what about me and Mahiru going home? I thought that would happen once I replaced the 12 Star Offerings? Well… Hm… Mirei… There is something we must apologize to you for, Itsuki. No… Tell me you’re not doing this… You are not about to tell me that we can’t go home! Do you remember the conversation we held with the king, Itsuki? It was when I reluctantly said "Yes". After defeating your first Impurity God.Before Flashback Time happens, I'm making an executive decision to rewrite Mirei's line. User Polsy pointed out that Mirei's dialogue (just the stuff in italics) is roughly what Mirei actually says in the original game. In CP (at least the English translation) she says this: "It was when you responded so nonchalantly." That doesn't make any loving sense and is a horribly mangled translation, so I'm putting my fist down and making this change, accuracy to the original be damned.  *Flashback time! This is actually kind of helpful, because I legitimately drew a blank on what Mirei was talking about at first* The new Star Offering is absorbing the Impurities just fine. Isn’t that right, Mirei? …Yes. At this rate, all the Star Offerings will be enshrined in no time.*End of flashback* Yeah. What about it? It’s true that Impurities are being absorbed. But the number of them has not decreased. God’s Gift is the one shouldering our fate. I don’t want to cover up the facts. Hiding the truth is the same in principle as lying. I don’t give a rat’s rear end about “His Majesty’s” permission! I’m God’s Gift! I have a right to know! Now tell me what she’s talking about! Very well… Even though we have forbidden intimacy, Impurities still appear.I’m pretty sure this is a hosed up translation. Based on their relation and the following line from Narc, this should read: “Even though we forbade intimacy, Impurities still appear.” They’re also growing at an unprecedented speed. Even if we calculate the amount of those breaking the law, this is unheard of. Wh-What?! What does that mean? It likely has something to do with this Ophiuchus Labyrinth. So then where is it?! We don’t know. So then everything I’ve done has just been a giant waste of time? It’s all pointless? Itsuki, that’s not true. Impurities are absorbed when you enshrine the Star Offering. Our predicament is that more Impurities are appearing than can be absorbed. Sooner or later, the Impurities will overflow from the labyrinths. Not to take any sides… But gates appear every time a Star Offering is enshrined. Maybe this time… Maybe once all the Star Offerings are enshrined, Sora’s gate will appear.This is a little confusing and I don’t know if it’s because of translation or wording. Official Itsuki really does get upset because he thinks Mirei and Narc are telling him that he and Mahiru can’t go home, but what follows is a discussion on Impurities, not the Gate of Light. Mana then mentions that gates appear each time a Star Offering is enshrined, but what I think she means is that that is how it worked in the past and that it hasn’t been happening this time. If a Gate of Light really has been opening each time Itsuki replaced a Star Offering, then you’d think he would have had some comment about it (also, he and Mahiru wouldn’t be chasing after those school rumors in the hopes of finding an alternative. That subplot hasn’t stopped by the way). So what this scene boils down to is: Mirei/Narcisstes originally told Itsuki and Mahiru that they could go home after the Star Offerings were in place, but now they are admitting that they honestly have no idea if that’s true, and Mana is just now revealing that Gates always used to appear after a Star Offering was enshrined but they haven’t been this time. Now that I lay it out like that, I think the problem is that Itsuki’s “You mean I can’t go home?!” outburst was a little bit too early in the conversation. …But even if that’s the case… won’t this world wind up getting overrun anyway? Only after you return home. Right, Mirei? It will happen when it happens.So  , basically. Even Reone doesn’t know. I don’t want to give them cause for concern. …Right… Yeah. I know. Mirei, you too. Of course. But only until we locate the Ophiuchus Labyrinth.~Palace Hallway~ You all right, Itsuki? No… No I’m not… …You really do have a caring side… you know that? What? Is it that obvious? Anyway, thanks for worrying. I know how to get up after taking a bruising though. It’s just a little overwhelming right now. That’s all. Wanna go back to the inn? I can comfort you there. Going back to the inn sounds good. I’m… I’m feeling really tired right now.~Inn: Itsuki’s Room~ Augh augh! Congrats, Itsuki! Huh…? What are you doing here? Goodness, Tarua! You were too early! Okay, ready and… Excuse me…? Oh, come on, you’re supposed to look happier.User Polsy noticed that Old Mahiru has a line here in the 2012 version where she gets mad at Itsuki for not being sufficiently excited or something. The reason I point this out is because it was cut from this scene, yet the developers didn't use the fade-to-black cut that they've been using for Old Mahiru in other instances. Mahiru's whole personality change thing just keeps getting weirder and more nonsensical. What? Today’s your birthday?! No, it’s not.This wouldn’t have changed if I triggered this in November, by the way. The time system works on weeks, not days. So there’s no way to time it exactly. I would be incredibly shocked if they programmed in a dialogue change for this scene happening during the week of Itsuki’s birthday.  Oh… Thought so… If it’s not his birthday, does that mean we can’t celebrate it? That is what a real celebration is! A birthday party… In Sora, they have a custom to celebrate birthdays. I heard that from Mahiru. I thought, with Itsuki… It sounded like so much fun! That’s right. It’s not like we’re doing this for you. …Right. …Itsuki, her, you okay? You look kind of pale. D-Do I? He’s just tired today. Can you let him rest? Then we’ll have the birthday party some other time… Hold on. I want to celebrate with Itsuki right here, right now. If Itsuki is tried, we can perk him up with presents. Do you not agree? Augh! We prepared presents for God’s Gift today. The world… It’s in terrible peril. Hey, everyone. Let’s just continue this another day. No… No. It’s fine. I’m fine. Let’s keep celebrating. But… Are you really sure? If you’re not feeling well, then… It’s fine, really! I’m just a little out of it, that’s all. So, what did everyone get me? I’m curious. All right… Let’s start this over then. U-Um… Some of us couldn’t come because of work… But we all pitched in to pick three gifts. Though they were all pretty much decided by Femiruna, Ruka, and Sue. Come, Itsuki. Take our presents. Sue picked the first one. My gorgeous gift is fit to be given last. Here you go… Aww…   Uhh… He’s usually mild-mannered, but gets pretty fierce when he’s hungry. But it’s okay. Feed him, and he probably won’t eat you. Cute like a teddy bear, right? And he stays still… like a teddy bear. But he’s not a teddy bear, so he will succumb to hunger… And then he goes chomp. Wait, this thing is real?! I thought you were being silly!And like a real bear, he will be spending his time outside in the trees. Safely away from Itsuki’s bedroom. Itsuki, happy birthday. I hope you like my present too. It’s not going to kill me, is it? All right. I’m next. Here’s something from me. You don’t have to force yourself to like it. Oh… But please water it.I’m not leaving anything out by the way. Mahiru doesn’t actually hand over a gift. I think this is another translation error where she’s trying to say that she pitched in for this next gift.   It’s called a manena plant. When you talk to it, it will repeat what you say. Oh, it’s like a parrot. I knew Ruka would pick something like this. She loves plants. That sounds fun! Hey, let’s make it talk! Okay. “I’m home.”[Present B]: I’m home. I’m home. ”Morning.”[Present B]: Morning. Morning. Hm… What else do I say?[Present B]: Ruka is cute. Ruka is cute. Ruka is smart. Ruka is smart. Huh? W-Wait, hold on! G-Give that back! When you brought it home, you must have made it learn those on accident. You’re so careless… Well then. Here is mine to wrap things up. Itsuki, take my present! This gift is actually a usable item. It restores 70% HP/MP. Not bad. Also, it appears to have been made by Mirei. That part is a little suspect. Wait, Femiruna. Didn’t you get him some jewel-encrusted armor?What?! That would have been way cooler! I want jewel-encrusted armor… That was my intention at first… But seeing Itsuki so tired, I thought he might like this better. Well, I am really tired right now. That armor sounds cool, but I can’t argue with practicality. It seems like he likes my gift best. Isn’t that right, Itsuki?It’s not a competition Femiruna. Um… Well… I mean… Right at this exact moment, I’d say I like the energy drink the best. Ohoho! How could you not?Come on, Femiruna. You were doing so well with not laughing like a dumbass. Don’t ruin the goodwill I currently have towards you from your bonding events. Hmph… …Never. NEVER, ask someone which gift they like best. That’s a major dick move with no possible out for the person being asked. But why do you even have that? I got it from Mirei. She said if you drink it before Classmating, stronger Star Children are born. But it will all be for naught if Itsuki is tired in the first place. It is better for Itsuki to drink it right now. What of it? Itsuki, do not drink that. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. Anything Mirei makes never ends well. Mana, what are you whispering about? *gulp* *gulp*Oh man. I needed that. …What are we talking about? Ohohoho! Naturally!Dammit, Femiruna. I want to vote for you now. Stop making me reconsider. Who cares about who’s gift was liked best. It’s the thought that counts. And since it’s a birthday party like on Sora…*There are sounds of a commotion outside* What’s that? I hear some noise outside. What?! Augh?! Impurities? What’s going on? How are there Impurities in town? Dammit! Which of you townspeople was organizing the illegal orgies?[Townsperson A]: This is bad! Many have been injured already! Everyone, run away! I’m scared… Wh-What’s going to happen to us? I have to go!~Granvania Shopping Center~ I was going to ask where the Star Children are, but given that it’s apparently night, I would assume that it’s past their bed time.  [Townsperson A]: Gah! [Impurity B]: Brrrrriiiiii! [Townsperson B]: Ahhh! You get the idea. I don’t need to keep going with this. Three impurities! Why are they here? Does it matter?! Right! Excuse me? Agreed… I’ll fight. I’ll help too! No, everyone! You have to leave it to Itsuki! Why burden Itsuki so? It is three on three! Let’s go! Tarua! Sue! Roger that. Augh!*Despite knowing full well that they literally cannot dent the monsters, the three Star Maidens rush off anyway. Wake would be proud* Hey, wait! Leave this to Itsuki! What the hell are you all doing?! You can’t fight them! Dammit![Impurity A, B, & C]: Grooooowlll! We’re given a choice as to who to protect, although it doesn’t actually have any consequences. I choose Femiruna, although I realized afterward that Sue ranked higher and should have been picked. Whatever. It only changes a single line of dialogue and a name. Also, out of the three of them, my money would be on Femiruna biting it first. Femiruna! Ah! [Impurity A, B, & C]: Graaagh… [Townsperson A]: Amazing… He defeated three Impurities with a single strike. [Townsperson B]: He’s a God’s Gift after all… He can only be brought to this world by Star God Himself, of course he’s a God’s Gift you loving idiot. It’s not like there’s a bus service to Sora just outside the city that lets any old person wander over. Are you okay? I-I am fine… You did not have to save me… Well, he is the savior of the world after all. Right… I hope that really is the case… I’ve made a fool of myself. We are Star Maidens now. We must be more cautious. You may still be able to live your old lives, but we have responsibility now.Once again, I feel like that’s a grammar error. “You may” should be “We may”. I don’t have a way to prove it though, since it is technically sort of correct (depending on how Reone addressed it). Augh… Sorry… … The people are being attacked. How can we just stand by and watch? Star Maidens have no power to directly fight Impurities. If we die, who will protect the Star Offerings?That’s pretty hypocritical coming from you, Reone. Don’t forget that you prevented Itsuki from following you as you left a crowded bar to fight three punks at the same time out in the street because they were being douchey. The next Star Maiden, obviously.I mean… she has a point. Just saying. Femiruna, how dare you!*Mirei comes outta nowhere and lays into Femiruna with a slap* Wh-What are you doing…? You shouldn’t say things like that. It’s disheartening. I have no intention of dying in vain. I’m sorry… This is on me… It’s not your fault the Impurities have come to the surface. Besides… Tarua, Sue, Femiruna. You are the mainstays of Granvania. Never forget that. Understand? Augh… Yes… I know…”You are the mainstays of Granvania… but we can’t afford to guard you or anything, so… yeah.” Speaking of, where the gently caress is the Granvanian Army? No mention of any sort of law enforcement in this country so far. The tremors from before are caused by some abnormality beneath the surface. The tectonic movements are causing rifts between the labyrinths and the surface. That’s how the Impurities are appearing here.The ancients apparently didn’t have any knowledge of plate tectonics when they planned out their sex labyrinth.  You needn’t worry about that. But we must prepare for these disasters. They are likely to reoccur. We’ll have to raise the threat alert. Narcisstes, I’m going back to treat the wounded. I’m going with you. Yes, please.~Star God Academy Clinic~ Hey, over here. Oh, Itsuki. You guys are here, too?[Townsperson C]: Reone, will this happen again? Don’t worry. God’s Gift and the Star Maidens will protect you.[Townsperson C]: How did this happen? I almost died!  Oh, Christ. Here we go again. [Townsperson C]: This never happened with the previous God’s Gifts! I’m sorry. It’s because I’m inexperienced as a Star Maiden…[Townsperson C]: No, I will never blame the Star Maidens. The problem is this God’s Gift. He’s come, he’s seen, but he’s not conquered those Impurities! I’m doing everything I can…[Townsperson C]: You think that excuse will work? The fate of the world is hanging by a thread! Motherfucker, the fate of your world is hanging by a thread. If you have a problem with how the job’s being done, then maybe the people of this world should get off their fat asses and do something about it themselves. Seriously. gently caress all the NPCs in these games. The NPCs in CII were just as bad. These games could really benefit from an “Evil Route”. At this point I’m sort of hoping there’s an ending where a gate opens early and Itsuki is able to take the opportunity to bail on this place. God’s Gift is working diligently to fulfill his duty. [Townsperson C]: Gah… Don’t you ever let this happen again. I hope you’re the first to die. All right, I’ll treat your wound now. Can you go home by yourself?[Townsperson C]: Don’t treat me like a child. I’m leaving. What’s with that attitude? Itsuki, I’m sorry that happened. I apologize on behalf of all Granvania. It’s fine… I’m just not fit to be a hero… that’s all. Why so gloomy? I thought you could handle your beatdowns? This isn’t a beatdown, it’s more like a murder…So… that was fun, right? Good times in Granvania. I… didn’t really think that poo poo would be going south this quickly. This feels like more of a mid-game event. This is only Offering 2 out of 12. If things like this are happening now, then what kind of destruction is Offering 10 going to cause? Next time: The Secret of Mana. No, not the game. I wish we were playing that. I mean we'll learn about what the gently caress Mana actually is. ~Ophiuchus: The 13th Zodiac Sign~ I’m going to steal user AnAnonymousIdiot’s shtick for a moment because Ophiuchus is going to be plot relevant, so I want to make sure it’s explained within an update.  Ophiuchus is generally referred to as the 13th Constellation of the Zodiac. It’s commonly depicted as a man fighting with a snake or otherwise having a snake in his hands/coiling around him. In Greek, its name means “serpent-bearer” (Ophioukhos). I won’t get too far into history, but sticking with the Greeks and their interpretation of it, it represents Apollo handling a snake that guarded the Oracle of Delphi (also known as The Pythia, who stayed at the Temple of Apollo and delivered prophecies). That’s as far as we really need to get into that. We’re not focusing on the mythology aspect of this. The main question some people will have is “Why is it brought up in Zodiac/astrology discussions?”  Here’s the deal: The Zodiac is a group of 12 constellations out of the 88 currently recognized constellations. The reason why those 12 constellations make up the Zodiac is because the ecliptic passes through them over the course of a year (the ecliptic is basically the path that the sun appears to take through Earth’s sky). The star sign dates were determined based on when the sun passed through a certain constellation, but keep in mind that a Zodiac Sign and a Zodiac Constellation are different things. Constellations are different sizes, so obviously the sun doesn’t pass through each one for the same length of time. There’s also the fact that thousands of years have passed since the days of the Greeks/Babylonians and a thing called precession has caused the dates that the sun moves through each constellation to shift around a bit because of orbital blah blah blah. You get the general idea of how the Zodiac was conceived. In case you're curious, many people stick with the astrological dates as originally defined. So what your astrological sign is and what constellation the sun actually passes through on your birthday are different. For example, I was born in May and am a Taurus based on traditional dates. But as far as reality is concerned, the sun passes through Aries during my birthday at this point in time, not Taurus, which means I’m an Aries. Anyway, if the sun does indeed pass through Ophiuchus, then why isn’t it typically included in the Zodiac? It’s a little tricky. The Babylonians had a lunar calendar and operated on 12 months in a year, so they left Ophiuchus out to maintain a nice even division of the ecliptic into 12 corresponding sections that sort of line up with the months. Ophiuchus is also in a weird spot where the ecliptic does pass through a tiny part of it, but it overlaps with Scorpio and Sagittarius (Ophiuchus is usually associated with late November to mid-December, which is mostly Sagittarius’ date range), which is probably why the decision was made to cut it. So Ophiuchus is left as something of a forgotten sign when it comes to the Zodiac. It technically is part of it, but it's excluded by a lot of astrologists/horoscope writers because that's what was done in the ancient past. That's why you don't hear much about it when the Zodiac is talked about. That being said, it doesn’t have any negative connotations or anything. Apollo is a Greek god and one of the Olympians, after all. Well, you know… no negatives other than some of the hosed up poo poo that Greek gods tended to do. He was also not good at the “love” thing. One girl turned herself into a tree to escape him, one kept rejecting him, another was actually in love with someone else, a dude he loved fell into inconsolable grief, and he accidentally struck another dude he loved in the head with a discus and killed him. Mythology!   So there you have it. That’s the basic details on where this Ophiuchus thing is coming from. It’s not something that Conception just made up for the sake of a final dungeon/boss, it does have basis in history and the constellations. As for the actual characteristics of Ophiuchus as a Zodiac Sign, I’ll leave that to AnAnonymousIdiot. I’m only here for the mythology/history aspect. I’ll leave the horoscopes to someone that knows about it. The most I know about astrology is which sign I fall under. Psycho Knight fucked around with this message at 19:30 on Jan 4, 2020 |
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Jan 3, 2020 01:58
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Psycho Knight posted:*After some hilarious… something. There was a fade to black, hell if I know. Probably Tarua chasing Mana around. Either that or the developers had to exercise the spirit of 2012 Mahiru again* unless you mean they were giving the spirit a workout, you want 'exorcise'
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Jan 3, 2020 03:35
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GeekTheMage posted:Booze. It's booze. Booze has gotten into Farun. She's "in customer mode" at the tavern with "permission from the owner", I think you can take that as a pretty explicit confirmation. drat, why didn't that thought cross my mind? Yeah, drunk Farun is a possibility. Her speech is holding up pretty good though, so I'm not sure. She also hasn't shown herself to get wasted like Reone does. Slaan posted:That's not a fur coat and hat. That's actual fur CannonFodder posted:It's a room where she can take off her hat and nobody is around to see her tiny ram horns. As awesome as that would be, the swimsuit DLC debunks it as a possibility. Swimsuit Arie doesn't have her hat or furry dress on and she looks like a normal human. That's a great theory though. I wish it was true. NullBlack posted:unless you mean they were giving the spirit a workout, you want 'exorcise' Thanks, I missed that one. Ashsaber posted:I feel like Arie's secret could also be something stupid like a room full of plushies, or a indoor pet cat. You know, something normal and cute that many girls would like a good bit, but that she might find inappropriate to indulge in because she is a woman of the faith. Something that shouldn't even be embarrassing in the first place. Anything is possible, but I am starting to lean towards "silly thing that she's blowing out of proportion". The more I think about it, the less likely I think the developers would go for something weird or messed up. They probably think they would ruin her appeal or something if it was really something  "abnormal".
Psycho Knight fucked around with this message at 03:54 on Jan 3, 2020 |
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Jan 3, 2020 03:51
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So... Ophiuchus... Psycho Knight hit the nail on the head regarding Ophiuchus; it is the cognitive dissonance and doctrinal dispute of the zodiac, where the systems we've used start to break down and have no way of reevaluating the zodiac's premise. Not only does the timeslot for the Serpent Bearer seem particularly small, but the other issue for Astrologers is also that the discovery of its' existence is new. Ophiuchus itself was discovered in the dawn of the 17th century; and while it may have existed in another name in the Babylonian Zodiac, any source on the sign is going to be esoteric, even for the zodiac. Keep that in mind for below. Sources on Ophiuchus used the flimsy shorthand, "a hybrid of Scorpio and Sagittarius." That too is a stereotype within the zodiac, like Tauruses are stubbornly slothful, or Aquariuses are like Spock. Despite the vague description, people made a legitimate effort to pin down what qualities the sign itself had. Things like a passion, idealism, and a romanticist leanings. Sources also describe the sign as arrogant, temperamental, and have a predilection towards mystery. The best way to think about the Ophiuchus mindset is as Romance Novel Logic. If they're basing a Star Maiden off the Serpent Bearer, I'd predict the writers might make her so romantically left-field, it hits you like a dodgeball. AnAnonymousIdiot fucked around with this message at 06:05 on Jan 3, 2020 |
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Jan 3, 2020 06:02
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Considering the rest of the cast is so loaded with anime tropes, anything that didn't play an anime character archetype completely straight would probably be so out of left field that it'd hit like a bowling ball.
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Jan 3, 2020 07:27
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Commander Keene posted:Considering the rest of the cast is so loaded with anime tropes, anything that didn't play an anime character archetype completely straight would probably be so out of left field that it'd hit like a bowling ball. Okay, in that case, imagine someone leaping out of a Soap Opera.
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Jan 3, 2020 16:21
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Psycho Knight posted:*After some hilarious… something. There was a fade to black, hell if I know. Probably Tarua chasing Mana around. Either that or the developers had to exorcise the spirit of 2012 Mahiru again* This scene is pretty much untouched, though perhaps a bit stranger for still including 'look at Mahiru being happy, unlike when she's with you' Psycho Knight posted:
Doesn't help that you don't even "respond nonchalantly" in the flashback - this is a rather strange mistranslation of her saying "It was when I reluctantly said 'yes'" They also just call Ophiuchus "the 13th labyrinth", or at least, so far. Psycho Knight posted:
Yeah, Japanese Mahiru just says 'present' here, no ownership implied (and no 'too' either). She's probably meant to be talking about the bear still. (additionally, Conception Plus cut a line earlier in this scene, before Yuzuha says 'oh...thought so', where Mahiru yells at Itsuki for not being enthusiastic enough (yes, on top of the "you're supposed to look happier" earlier)) Also, item art:    (it is still a mimicking plant)
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Jan 3, 2020 22:46
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Star Child Team Vote Round 2 is now over. Thanks to everyone that voted.Polsy posted:Doesn't help that you don't even "respond nonchalantly" in the flashback - this is a rather strange mistranslation of her saying "It was when I reluctantly said 'yes'" I was wondering about that, but I didn't have any thoughts on what they could have meant. That makes a lot more sense. It really sounds weird to have Mirei basically chastising Itsuki considering that her and Narcisstes are the ones "on trial" during that conversation. As for Ophiuchus, they likely only bothered naming it in Plus because of the new character. They wouldn't have had a need for the Ophiuchus sign in the original since there were no Star Maidens that represented it, so they just lazily refer to it as the "13th labyrinth". It is still kind of weird, but as you said, it may simply not be named right away. It's possible the name of the 13th Labyrinth is brought up much earlier in this version because of the 13th Maiden. I guess we'll have to wait and see if Ophiuchus shows up at all in the original. Polsy posted:Yeah, Japanese Mahiru just says 'present' here, no ownership implied (and no 'too' either). She's probably meant to be talking about the bear still. That's what I thought, at least in regards to Mahiru's first line. They don't use the "fade-to-black" cut for that other line you mentioned. There's no break in the scene at all or any weird posture changes for Mahiru's sprite. That just makes things even weirder, because it clearly shows that the cut they keep doing is unnecessary. Polsy posted:Also, item art: Okay, I can sort of see why they changed the plant. They probably wanted to make the plant that can parrot what you say to it cute and sweet instead of absolutely horrifying. My only guess for the bear is that maybe they thought making it cuter and smaller would lend more weight to the gag of it being alive/capable of trying to eat Itsuki/Mana. Like a "looks can be deceiving" sort of deal. I'm at a loss for the energy drink. Maybe some drink released between 2012 and 2019 that had a similar design on the front and the developers wanted to avoid copyright issues? Psycho Knight fucked around with this message at 15:20 on Jan 7, 2020 |
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Jan 3, 2020 23:09
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I'm gonna put Team Give Psycho Some Goddamn Magic up for Team C. Magic Knight, Ranger, Sage, and Blacksmith. I also voted for a Magic Knight in the Strawpoll, because I'm a sucker for sword mages
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Jan 4, 2020 00:11
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Commander Keene posted:I'm gonna put Team Give Psycho Some Goddamn Magic up for Team C. Magic Knight, Ranger, Sage, and Blacksmith. I also voted for a Magic Knight in the Strawpoll, because I'm a sucker for sword mages Just you wait until next time, when PK gets all magic all the time and goes into the dungeon with magic wall type enemies.
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Jan 4, 2020 00:40
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Ashsaber posted:Just you wait until next time, when PK gets all magic all the time and goes into the dungeon with magic wall type enemies. 
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Jan 4, 2020 01:19
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Ashsaber posted:Just you wait until next time, when PK gets all magic all the time and goes into the dungeon with magic wall type enemies.  I'll take that chance. Damned if I do and damned if I don’t.
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Jan 4, 2020 01:52
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This might be out of left field, but is this game gonna be about people coming to terms that there is a 13th zodiac?
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Jan 4, 2020 02:19
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AnAnonymousIdiot posted:This might be out of left field, but is this game gonna be about people coming to terms that there is a 13th zodiac? Very unlikely. To be perfectly frank, I have my doubts that Maiden 13 will even appear in the actual plot. Sure, she represents the Ophiuchus sign, but given what we've seen with Mahiru, I don't have faith that the devs wrote Maiden 13 into the story at all. She'll probably get an introduction scene and then all her other screentime will be bonding events. The level of effort we are seeing doesn't give me a lot of hope for her. Just a heads up. Although Bond Level 3 is open now and I have them maxed (I needed to for new classes), we're going to take a break from Bonding Updates. After the next story update, we'll move straight to Offering 3. There's a couple of reasons for this: -We've had a lot of Bonding Updates so far, so I figure people might be getting a little sick of them. -The next batch of Bonding Events are really pervy for some reasons, at least based on CGs that popped up -I was fast forwarding, but I'm fairly certain I saw Arie say that she's going to reveal the secret of "The Room", only for the event to end right at that moment. That’s a real lovely cliffhanger to pull, so I'm hoping that Bond Level 4 will open after the 3rd Offering so that we can get instant closure. -I'm once again hoping that clearing the next dungeon will introduce Maiden 13 and we can catch up with her before doing another Bonding Update. Psycho Knight fucked around with this message at 03:47 on Jan 4, 2020 |
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Jan 4, 2020 03:34
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Psycho Knight posted:I made the change and a note explaining the Original vs. Translation. I felt that this error was a bit more egregious than others. Yeah, most of the time you can say 'that's weird wording but you can still tell what they meant' but that was flat-out wrong. Very odd. Psycho Knight posted:I'm at a loss for the energy drink. Maybe some drink released between 2012 and 2019 that had a similar design on the front and the developers wanted to avoid copyright issues? It does have a more real-worldy design than the Conception Plus one so I could believe that.
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Jan 4, 2020 14:35
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Slight change of plans. Very very slight. I discovered how to unlock Maiden 13! By total accident! As far as I can tell, it's tied to Granvania's City Level (more accurately, the Day Camp level. You'll understand why soon). I started up the game to do a bit of house cleaning and also to put together Team PK since I don't need to wait on the thread for that. After giving Team A(wful) 1.0, Team PK 1.0, and Team Couscous their Independence, I went to the Star God Academy to farm BP and the game just stuck Maiden 13 into the available choices. No introduction scene for her in the story, you just go to the Star God Academy and she's there.  Way to go the extra mile, Spike Chunsoft.Edit: So I just discovered that Spike Chunsoft's laziness didn't end at Maiden 13's inclusion. She also has half as many bonding events as the other Star Maidens. Getting her caught up with the others will only require: Intro, First Classmating, Event 1, Second Classmating, Event 2. I might be able to fit this into the story update after all. I'll have to see once I've typed it up. Revised Post Schedule 1. Story - If I can find something to fill out the update, then I'll post this a little earlier. Otherwise, I'll have to wait until Wednesday or so (I planned to fill out the other half of the story update with the Star Child Vote results). 2. Maiden 13 Bonding Catch-up - I'll be working on this today as the story portion of the next update is already finished. If I get it wrapped up quickly, I may post this in advance of the story update to fill time. 3. Focus Maiden Vote Round 2 - This will happen after Maiden 13 gets caught up, so probably sometime next weekend. We are currently at Bond Level 3, so this seems like a good opportunity to try shaking up the order. After this one, the only vote left will be for which Ending we get (there aren't enough Bonding Events left to be able to hold a third Focus Vote). 4. Next Star Offering 5. Story 6. Bonding Updates Level 3 Psycho Knight fucked around with this message at 17:41 on Jan 5, 2020 |
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Jan 5, 2020 16:12
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Psycho Knight posted:I started up the game to do a bit of house cleaning and also to put together Team PK since I don't need to wait on the thread for that. After giving Team A(wful) 1.0, Team PK 1.0, and Team Couscous their Independence, I went to the Star God Academy to farm BP and the game just stuck Maiden 13 into the available choices. No introduction scene for her in the story, you just go to the Star God Academy and she's there. What. I mean, I knew who 13 was from when I checked the wiki to see if my guess as to the 13th's identity was correct, but that was all I checked. I assumed that she'd have, ya know, a plot role. I suppose I was thinking of the improved versions of the Persona games. Considering the minimal plot relevance of the other waifus, I probably shouldn't have been expecting social links equal to Aigis or Marie.
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Jan 5, 2020 17:45
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Vauron posted:What. I mean, I knew who 13 was from when I checked the wiki to see if my guess as to the 13th's identity was correct, but that was all I checked. I assumed that she'd have, ya know, a plot role. I suppose I was thinking of the improved versions of the Persona games. Considering the minimal plot relevance of the other waifus, I probably shouldn't have been expecting social links equal to Aigis or Marie. I can't say I'm surprised, because we've been mercilessly ragging on Spike Chunsoft's choices with this game and half-assing things is a running theme, but it still blows that this new character seems to exist in a separate dimension from the others. Mirei does seem to have a role in Maiden 13's bonding events, but it doesn't look like M13 herself will actually have any relevance to the main story. Judging by what I've seen, I'm guessing there is like a 5% chance that she even appears outside of bonding events. The worst part is that her story involvement is basically pre-written. All they had to do was jam her character sprite and a little dialogue in to a handful of story scenes and it would be done (the game already has the part about the 13th Labyrinth, that wasn't something added for Plus). The only excuse I can think of is that they couldn't get the original cast back to do unique lines for the added story. Except that excuse doesn't fly all the way because the game is only partially voiced. It's disappointing, because she seems fun. I think the thread will probably like her (at least more than the bottom 4 or 5 Maidens anyway). To be perfectly honest, if this game wasn't locked into an .exe, I'm almost positive that myself and the other goons in this thread could actually write M13 into the story ourselves and have it pass for something official. All of the assets already exist, after all. Psycho Knight fucked around with this message at 17:54 on Jan 5, 2020 |
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Jan 5, 2020 17:50
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Time to set up Team Canada 2.0, which will consist of a female Lancer (Alberta), female Sage (Nunavut), male Archer (Manitoba), and male Mystic Knight (PrEdward). I thought of the worst thing for the Ophiuchus maiden: Mana gets a human form and we need to have not!sex with her. Also, am I the only one who keeps misreading Tarua's name? I keep thinking it's T-A-U-R-A instead of T-A-R-U-A.
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Jan 5, 2020 23:33
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Alright.... I wonder if the writers had less care for Ophuichus than the portion of astrologers who acknowledge the Sign's existence. Either that or they're giving this maiden as much an opening as the Sign usually has. Is this new character going to be an impurity creature with sapience?
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Jan 6, 2020 00:48
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Special Bonding Update I (Part 1): I’m a goddess with a blade Song Title Reference: POP/STARS by K/DA The 13th Maiden has decided to appear out of nowhere, so now we need to put everything else on hold and get her caught up to the other Star Maidens. I had assumed that the trigger for this would have been plot related, but it turns out that all you need to do is raise the City Level to 6 or 7. I was a little disappointed to learn that, because I know what it means for Maiden 13’s role. Namely, I wouldn’t go getting too excited about her being seen outside of her Bonding Events. All signs point to her not having any role in the main plot at all, or at the very least, she won’t be named by anyone in the plot.  Oh well. All we can do is look ahead and make the best out of the situation. After setting our 1.0 teams free in order to do… whatever the hell it is Independent Star Children do in Granvania, the City Level reached 7 and a few additions were made to Granvania. There was a new quest at the Tavern and the Gift Shop got some new stock (we’ll check those another time).  There is no notification for the Star God Academy, but if we decide to pop in now that the city is Level 7…   We are introduced (if that’s what you can call it) to Alfie, the Ophiuchus Star Maiden! Alfie was originally introduced in Conception’s anime adaption. We’ll touch more on the anime later in the LP (unfortunately), but I want to highlight that although Alfie was technically introduced in that, she was probably conceived  for the game. I don’t know what kind of development time that CP had, but the anime was announced in May of 2018 and the PLUS remaster for PS4 was shown off in September of that same year (also, despite the announcement, the anime didn’t actually premiere until October).Anyway, that’s all speculation. Regardless when and for what purpose she was designed, she’s here now. So let’s get working on her bonding events. She needs to catch up.   Stop screwing around! Huh? Is that coming from inside the camp? You think you can defeat the Impurity God like that?! His minions will swarm you and you’ll be forced to turn tail and run! Do you really want that?! (Getting pretty intense in there. I didn’t think training camp was so harsh. I guess I kind of underestimate that Star Child because of how small and cute she is. Although… that doesn’t really sound like the trainer that I usually talk to.) All right! You get a five minute break! Rehydrate and we’ll resume training! (Oh, someone’s coming out.)*Alfie wanders onto the scene*  Uh… Hi. How’s it going? God’s Gift?! Hello! I-I mean, pleased to meet you! My name’s Alfie, and I train the Star Children here! Oh, nice to meet you too. Um! What brings you here today? I was just sort of passing by. I heard a commotion, so I was curious to see what was happening. Oh… I’m so sorry. I get so heated up whenever it comes to training… Could you hear me from outside the building…? Loud and clear. You were very… passionate about it. Oh… really? I’ll be honest, I wasn’t totally sure what kind of training the Star Children got here. It sounds like serious work, though. Good thing, too. I’d be dead without them helping me. I’ll be counting on you to help them stay in fighting shape. Yes! I’ll do my best! *Alfie poses again* Good to hear. I feel a little more relieved knowing that someone like you is raising them. Yes! I, Alfie… am at your service!*Alfie poses once more* …Right. Hey, can I ask you about something? Yes! Anything for you, God’s Gift! Why do you keep doing that pose? Oh, this? Well, yeah. I guess it has a certain charm to it. I know, right? Don’t you just feel better seeing this? It makes you feel happier, doesn’t it?! Why are you doing it so much though? Um… because… I was influenced by God’s Gift. I’m pretty sure that I’ve never done something like that before. No. I mean the God’s Gift who created me.Excuse me? Created… Wait, what? So you’re- Yep, I’m a Star Child. You might notice that Alfie has little stars in her irises. Someone in the CII thread threw out a theory at one point that Ellie was a Star Child (they guessed she was Wake’s from the future or something) that had grown up. Ellie also had stars in her eyes (her pupils were star shaped). Ellie turned out not to be a Star Child, but it seems that the developers used the idea for Alfie. I wonder if this is what Ellie’s backstory was meant to be, before it got switched to that church thing. H-Hold on, Star Children can grow up?! How? There’s a special reason in my case… Um… Would you like to know? I am pretty curious, but you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to. Well… I just wanted to help everyone out more. The God’s Gift from back then had said… “The idols of Sora are so earnest, pure, and transcendent”… Oh Christ, he was a Wota. Well, I guess that’s not much of a surprise. Star God seems to like swiping male Japanese teenagers for His regularly scheduled world saving. He’s bound to get a few… types. I thought that was amazing. So I wanted to be able to help in that way.That doesn’t really explain how you were able to grow up when other Star Children supposedly can’t. Ah, I get it. So you’re trying to become an idol yourself, then. N-No way! I just really admire the idols from Sora… I want to be someone who can give love to everyone. That’s all. I see. I don’t really recognize that pose, though. I haven’t seen any idols doing it, at least. I heard it’s the signature pose of God’s Gift’s favorite idol from back then. Back then… Right. I guess that would have been 30 years ago. I wouldn’t know about any of them then.*The bell or chime or something then goes off in the background. Not sure if it’s signalling the top of the hour or if the Star Child Training Camp operates like a school and this is the recess bell* Oh, it’s time… I need to get back to training. I’m honored to have met you, God’s Gift. Oh, sure. Same here. Oh! Before you go, would it be okay if I dropped in again some other time? I kind of want to see how you train them. Not at all! We’ll be ready for you any time! Great. Thanks. Sorry to keep you. Good day to you, God’s Gift. By the way, could you maybe not call me God’s Gift all the time? My name is Itsuki. *Alfie then heads back to the Star Children* All right! Your five minutes are up! You done rehydrating?! Training will now resume! Put your mind, body, and spirit into it! (Wow. She does a complete 180 when she gets into her training…)She really does. I’m not sure about the English performance, but Alfie is voiced by Ai Kakuma in Japanese (not sure on her anime roles, but I know she voiced Edelgard in FE: Three Houses and Setsuna in I Am Setsuna). Ai flips between “cute” voices and “mature/commanding” voices, which is what Alfie does. She sounds a lot like the other Star Maidens when talking to Itsuki, but her voices gets deeper and more forceful when she’s training the Star Children. Next event time. Let’s keep it rolling. ~Day Camp~ All right, all of you! Grit your teeth! Do as I say, or you’ll bite your tongue during battle!*There’s a pause. It seems it’s break time for the kiddos* Good, now take five! Be sure to hydrate yourselves!*Alfie wanders onto the screen* Oh… God’s Gift. You’re here. You seem just as pumped up as the last time I saw you. I can’t let my guard down for one second. I should be taking notes from you. That’s the kind of drive that I should have. I’m glad you’re the one training the Star Children. I appreciate everything you do for them. Hehe… I wish I could enter the labyrinths with you, God’s Gift. I’m guessing that you can’t, though. Right? Because of your training duty? Yes, I was given this mission by the king himself… That’s why I’ve decided. Decided on what? God’s Gift… do you remember what you asked me before? Uhh… You asked why I look like this, despite being a Star Child. Oh, right. That. I forgot that you didn’t answer. I… have the ability to give birth to Star Children. The hell does that work? Did Star God know that the Star Chaos was coming up again? I’m Alfie, a Star Child! …Wait, what? Phrasing. I want to be able to help the God’s Gift more! I want to help protect the people of Granvania I love so much! Wait, you’re the Ophiuchus Maiden? Nobody told me that there was a Star Maiden for that sign. Not even Mirei? No. She didn’t say a word about it when I was talking with her and Narcisstes. Are you sure that she knows? Among the Star Maidens, Mirei is the only one that does know. Why would she not tell me about that…The developers never gave her the updated script. Itsuki, you don’t want to do it with me? I didn’t say that. I think having you on board would be a huge help.Assuming that we need a Star Offering for the Ophiuchus Labyrinth in order to stop the world from being overrun by Impurities and everyone dying, I’d say Alfie’s help is pretty much required. Huh? Then… Itsuki… Thank you!~Church Spirit Chamber~ This is the same event, by the way. You’ll be disappointed to learn that Alfie has half as many events as the other Star Maidens. The other Star Maidens have 2 full events and a Classmating event for each level of bond gauge. Alfie gets 1 full event and a hybrid event that is partially a bonding event and partially a Classmating event. They might be a tiny bit longer than the other Maiden events, but it’s still kind of a letdown that she has fewer. I don’t think I’ve ever had a Star Maiden ask me to do Classmating before. It’s nice. I’m not feeling as nervous. I’m not yet a Star Maiden. What? But you just- In order to release my powers as Star Maiden, I need your help. So please keep this a secret from everyone! Especially from Mirei… Will you help me?This is the likely excuse for the developers not writing Alfie into the plot, by the way. Remember, the status of the Ophiuchus labyrinth is currently top secret. Mirei is the only Star Maiden that knows there is a 13th Labyrinth. Introducing Alfie to the other Star Maidens would also reveal the existence of the 13th Star Sign/Labyrinth. It’s still lazy as gently caress and no excuse for excluding Alfie from the main plot. Not to mention, the game will later nullify this excuse in a different event. It sounds like you’ve got a reason for keeping it a secret. Well… Okay, I’ll help. It’s not like everyone else haven’t been keeping secrets of their own. Especially Mirei and Narcisstes. So then what do I need to do? My powers as a Star Maiden are still sealed… And to unlock that seal… I need… the God’s Gift’s kiss. …What? Yes… A kiss from the God’s Gift during the Mating ceremony. That kiss will be the key to unlock the seal. I wanted to include this screenshot because on top of the grammar error, you’ll also notice that Itsuki also called this the “Mating ceremony.” I’m not sure why this change was made just for Alfie’s event. It’s referred to as “Classmating”, “Classmating ritual”, and “Love ceremony” (in the Japanese version), but this is the first time it’s ever been called “Mating ceremony.” Did the writing team forget what it was called when they were writing Alfie’s scenes and just decided to come up with a new term instead of checking? I think she actually does call it Classmating later on, too. Weird. To be honest, I’m really resistant to the idea. Because kissing is… … Alfie…? Oh, I’m sorry. It’s nothing. So… Will you kiss me? I… Uh… I… I guess? I did say I would help you. …I just didn’t think I would have to do this. Sigh… Okay, I’m prepared now. Please do it! C-Calm down! I haven’t done this before. I’m really nervous… Could you maybe close your eyes or something? Staring at me like that is making this a lot harder. A-All right. I just need to close them?*After closing her eyes* Come on! Let it rain cats or dogs! Anything! I’m not even sure what you’re talking about anymore… But… here goes nothing… (Come on, Itsuki. Man up. You can do this. Just… blank your mind like usual…) Y-Yes… …*Alfie then backs off a little. Seems to have some tears in her eyes as well* Ugh… Wh-What’s wrong?! What did I do?! Ugh… I guess I can’t… Kissing is so… It’s too much… Whew… *sigh*… Does that mean you want to call this off? Ugh… I’m so sorry… I was the one who suggested it, but… No, it’s fine. I understand. We only just met. Kissing is taking it a little too far.*Mirei then arrives on the scene*  Mirei, why are you here? You weren’t back even after break was over, so the Star Children were worried. Why are you with the God’s Gift? Don’t tell me you’ve released your powers as Star Maiden… Mirei… I want to better help everyone. There are plenty of ways to do that. There’s no reason for you to take this path. Why are you putting me down? I know how you feel, but… You can’t do this, Alfie. If you did… You just don’t understand, Mirei! Y-Yes I can!I think this is another grammar/translation error. Either Alfie should have said “Y-Yes it can!” or Mirei should have said “You can’t break the seal that easily anyway.” This is easy for me! You can’t do it. Now back to the Day Camp you go, Alfie.I know she’s a Star Child and all, but Alfie is still your senior, Mirei. I’d say probably by 5-10 years. You shouldn’t be talking to her like that. Mirei, you’re such a jerk! I-In that case… Itsuki, I’m sorry! Wait, sorry for wh-*The screen goes white and we hear a little kissing sound* Oh, no… Wh-What just happened…? Mirei… I want to live for the sake of Granvania. That’s why I will become the Ophiuchus Star Maiden! How can you do this…? What’s wrong? Did I do something wrong? Once again, I feel like this should be rewritten: “No, all you did was release Alfie’s power and give her death.” Wait, death?! What are you talking about? You can ask her yourself.*Mirei then leaves* Hey! Don’t just walk away like that! …Alfie, what was she talking about? What did she mean? That… isn’t something you need to worry about as the God’s Gift. Never mind that! Now we can do the Mating ceremony! Come on, Itsuki. Let’s do the Mating ceremony and make Star Children. Wait, but-*Too late,  I’ll take this opportunity to introduce a new Star Child, since Alfie is the key to unlocking it. Astromancers can only be created after all Star Maidens have reached at least Bond Level 3. In the original Conception, that just meant the 12 original Star Maidens. However, the addition of Alfie means that you will need to unlock her and raise her Bond Level as well. Astromancers are very similar to Sages, except they have an amazing LUC stat. They have the same tier of elemental spells that Sages do, but their special skills differ a bit. They have a skill which can make you immune to traps for a brief time, a skill which (I think) prevents you from screwing up a Star Maiden scene when you answer a message from a different Star Maiden, and a skill which makes the Star Maidens more likely to send you messages/personal quests. They also have crazy hairdos. Astromancers will become an option in Team Votes once the three remaining classes are also unlocked. Huff… Huff… Huff… Looks like we made our Star Child… I really became a Star Maiden… Yeah… Right… I feel so light-headed… And I’ve never felt these kinds of emotions before… What do you mean? I don’t know how to explain it… It’s a mysterious feeling where my heart is beating so fast. Itsuki… So I hope we can continue to work together. Sure. I hope we can work together…Hmm… I wonder what Mirei meant when- Nah, we don’t have to wait to find out what she meant by the “gave her death” thing. The next event is just going to explain everything. ~Day Camp~ I don’t hear anything. Is Alfie not here today?*The screen then goes black* [***]: Guess who! Alfie, the Star Child! …Did I say that right? Technically you still are. Right. You turned into the Ophiuchus Maiden when you kissed me. E-Eek… P-Please don’t call it a k-kiss. Sorry. Why are you out here jumping all over me, though? Do you not have training today? Nope. That’s why I was hoping to deepen our bonds today. I thought touching you like this would help with that… But it looks like I caught you off guard instead. It’s fine. I think it worked a little bit. Really? How wonderful… How about we do the Classmating ritual? I bet we can make strong Star Children!And now we’re back to calling it by the proper name. Weird. Listen, Alfie. Something has been bothering me ever since we last met. … Does this have to do with what Mirei said previously? Mirei would never just tell me about it, at least not directly. That’s just how she is with that kind of stuff. So I felt it was easier to ask you. … Well… In order for us to deepen our bond, we do have to know each other better… All right. I’ll tell you. Thank you. It’s not something I can just forget about. It was 30 years ago today that I was born as a Star Child.That’s doubtful. I mean the part about it being to the day. There were no facilities like this Day Camp back then. That sort of sounds like something that should be a part of a Star Maiden’s duties. I mean, training them is still important, but you would think that the Star Maidens would bear some type of responsibility for the Star Children. And don’t start with any “why is childcare always the woman’s job?” stuff. God’s Gift is responsible for them as well, since he has to lead them through the Labyrinths and handle their equipment. I just bring up this point because we still haven’t been told what the gently caress the Star Maidens actually do. We keep hearing they have “duties” and “responsibilities”, but they’ve never expanded on that. The only ones we know of are: 1 Star Maiden class a week (or day, hard to tell), Classmating, and occasionally spending time with Itsuki. But one day…Oh, right. Alfie is telling us her backstory. Proceed. An Impurity suddenly appeared in town and attacked us. It had a body like white smoke, and it still gives me chills thinking about it. God’s Gift at the time managed to fend off the Impurity after a fierce battle… But because the Star Maiden jumped in to protect us, she was gravely injured…Apparently Femiruna’s reckless disregard for her own life is nothing new as far as Star Maidens are concerned. She was on her death bed for over a month. Though she did recover, the injury disabled her. I grew to hate the Impurities. Don’t ask me why Alfie is looking off in a different direction like this. She just occasionally does it. Maybe it’s because she doesn’t really have an “averting my eyes” animation? …I… um… After that incident… The kingdom reconsidered the risks that the Star Maidens face. Mirei’s grandfather proposed a plan to the king. He presented a plan to turn Star Children into Star Maidens.Meddling in Star God’s business huh? That had unfortunate results in CII. Wait, what? It’s exactly what it sounds like. It was a plan to modify Star Children… to obtain the same powers as Star Maidens. The God’s Gift and Star Maiden opposed it, but the king moved forward anyway.Of course they did, because it’s horribly unethical and incredibly blasphemous. And I was the one selected to be experimented on… At the time, I didn’t know what would be done to me.  Major surgery?! Jesus, Granvania. What the gently caress? That is not cool. But it worked, and I obtained a Star Maiden’s power and ended up like this. This hat is what I wore when I was still small. I treasure it to this day…That means Alfie was originally a “Hunter” Star Child. I didn’t know you had a past like that… I’m starting to regret forcing the issue… It was about 10 years ago… I told Mirei all this when she was still young. She said she couldn’t forgive what her family had done… Is that why she sealed your powers? No, she just hid away the “key” that would unseal them. At the same time I was given Star Maiden powers, a seal was placed on them. The seal was meant to be broken when my powers would become needed. Star Children don’t die of natural causes… So even when returning to the Matryoshka, we won’t die. But by unsealing my Star Maiden powers, I’d lose my powers as a Star Child. So I had to live with those powers sealed until needed as a Star Maiden. So what Mirei meant was… I made it so you could die? Oh… But there’s nothing to be sad about! I just became the same as everyone else. Star Children become one with the stars when they fulfill their duty. I was able to live like this longer than any of the other Star Children.Oh… well, that answers my question as to why there isn’t an army of Star Children deployed in Granvania. Still doesn’t explain why they aren’t using the Star Children that Itsuki has set free as a temporary peace keeping force, though. But Mirei… She told me there won’t ever be a need for me to become a Star Maiden. No Star Maiden has died, so that power will not be necessary.She was hilariously wrong about that considering the discovery of the Ophiuchus Labyrinth and the Star Chaos. So I’ve continued living on without using my powers as a Star Maiden… Wouldn’t you say… that’s cruler? [sic] Yeah, it’s very cruel. That isn’t something that someone else should be able to decide for you.Seriously, Mirei can shut right the gently caress up with trying to stop Alfie or making her feel bad about what she did. That is an incredibly personal decision for Alfie. If Mirei regrets what her family did to Alfie, then she should be encouraging Alfie to take her fate into her own hands. Then again, Mirei is the type that likely regrets what was done, but still thinks that Alfie’s powers are a useful tool to keep in reserve, regardless of what Alfie wants for herself. Thank you… But I do understand why Mirei thinks the way she does. She has a strong sense of justice… She’ll never forgive the king for ignoring her protests about the experiments. I do feel sorry for Mirei…Wait, what? How did Mirei protest the experiments? You said that the Star Maiden and the God’s Gift at the time were the ones that protested it. Oh poo poo, is Shang still carrying out those experiments? But I don’t regret what happened. Now that I am the Ophiuchus Star Maiden… I want to help God’s Gift stand up to the greatest threat in Granvanian history.Also, yeah. This seems like the exact moment that Alfie was meant for. How can you oppose that, Mirei? Thanks for telling me all of that, Alfie. What’s done is done. You’re a Star Maiden now whether Mirei likes it or not. So let’s just focus on working together to save this world. We’ll need to keep working on our bond. …as a means to help deepen bonds. There are many rules scattered throughout these romance dramas… And he said knowing them would be key to deepening bonds with the Star Maidens. That’s why I wanted to know those rules by rewatching those dramas. How do you watch romance dramas from Sora? There’s a magical tool that can project the memories of God’s Gifts. Mirei’s grandfather invented it at the request of that God’s Gift.I question the motives behind that God’s Gift’s request. But Star Children can’t understand what romance is. The act of making love is banned in Granvania… I’m still resistant to romantic acts and feelings, as those create Impurities.I’m a little confused by this. Getting freaky isn’t banned, at least not permanently. They only seem to do it when a Star Offering is offline. There’s no indication that Granvania even regulates the amount of sex the people are having. On the other hand, if the Star Children only appear when a God’s Gift does and then disappear once the Star Offering is replaced, then I suppose they wouldn’t get the chance to understand it because the temporary ban would be in place every time they were summoned. Honestly, I wasn’t expecting to learn anything… That is kind of a tough spot. You want to give love to everyone, but you don’t particularly like the idea of romance. This is what the God’s Gift at the time said: What lovely drama did he get that from? So I want to continue giving. Like the idol from Sora that I strive to become. I see… Oh… I’m sorry for getting off topic. I watched a romance drama yesterday for the first time in a long while. It was strange… I didn’t understand it 30 years ago, but I think I understood it more now. What do you mean? What are you understanding? The rules between a man and a woman in Sora. For example… Some unfortunate event will always interrupt an important meaning. When two people fall in love, a rival will appear to make a love triangle. When one is on a payphone confessing their love, the time will always run out! I think those are just tropes. Also, the hell is a “payphone”?Official Itsuki really does question what a payphone is. drat kids and their ignorance of past technology, despite having the accumulated knowledge of humanity at their fingertips. Also, the dramas portray multiple acts of romance between the protagonists. They kiss on dates… and kiss some more on dates… There were so many scenes that were unbearable to watch.Are you sure that God’s Gift wasn’t just showing you porn? Ironically, a man and a woman who do all that in a drama… They always cry and get angry, but they always laugh it off at the end too. Is this also a rule that the God’s Gift mentioned? Honestly, I think you’re asking the wrong guy. Video games are more my thing. I’m not really a romance drama kind of guy. The God’s Gift at the time always took the Star Maiden out. Now that I think about it, were those dates? I don’t know what to do… Um… well… do you want to try going on a date to see what they are like? Huh? We can try it to see if it deepens our bond. I went with Collette once, but that was more of a pretend thing to keep us undercover. … All right. This is for the sake of everyone in Granvania. Please! Let’s go on a date! Okay. I’ll try and think of things to do. Yes, please!Two more events to go, at which point we’ll be caught up. At least these should be a little more fun, now that the tragic backstory is out of the way. Continued in Part 2... Psycho Knight fucked around with this message at 13:09 on Apr 19, 2020 |
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Jan 7, 2020 02:39
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Special Bonding Update I (Part 2): I'm a goddess with a blade Song Title Reference: POP/STARS by K/DA ~Day Camp~ *From a distance* Hey! You’re not supposed to tackle there! Guard! Come on! Hey, you there! I told you to stop grinning during battle and clench your teeth! (She’s like a Drill Sergeant. Kind of scary, actually… Glad I’m not a Star Child right now. I wonder where Mirei is, though… I asked her to-)*Say her name and she appears!* Thanks for waiting, Itsuki. There you are. I’m sorry to call you out like this when you’re busy. It’s fine. This is what you asked for, right? What are you using it for anyway? Did you get homesick? Sort of.Even if he wasn’t homesick, why wouldn’t he want one of those? They sound awesome. He can magically watch his memories like they were a TV show. Given what Alfie has told us, it sounds like it’s accurate enough to replay movies or shows that the person has seen before. Like, gently caress Netflix at that point, am I right? Are you going to meet her now? Yeah… She… I had her tell me about what that whole ‘giving death’ thing was about. I see… It would be likely that she would be overwhelmed by it in the beginning. So I hope you will support her. It’s none other than you who is closest to her now. That’s the plan. Listen, thanks for helping with this. I appreciate it, Mirei. Geez… Well, I’m counting on you.*Mirei takes her leave* All right! That’s it for today!*Alfie wanders into frame* Oh, Itsuki! Hi there!*Alfie then does her idol pose* Are we going on that date you wanted? Uh-oh… So the day has finally come. Well, as long as your mind hasn’t changed. It hasn’t. Oh, but maybe it has. What do you mean? It’s mysterious… I was really worried when we first promised to go on a date. But as more time passed, I started to look forward to it. I thought I hated the acts surrounding love…  Yeah, you sure do look terrified. …Um… Oh, I’m sorry. We’re supposed to deepen our bond, and this would make things all gloomy. Oh, Itsuki! Where are you going to take me today? Well, I thought about that. You probably wouldn’t like going to places where couples typically go, so why don’t we head to my home? Game, could you please stop giving the heroines that look? I know you’re going for “surprise”, but it actually just looks like they’ve become psychotic and are about to rip the protagonist’s guts out through his mouth. Yeah, I managed to get one of those tools that let’s you watch things from Sora. Mirei let me borrow it.Now, Official Itsuki says basically the same thing here. He says that “It’s a magical tool where you can watch dramas from Sora”, but that’s not the description that Alfie gave us of this device. Either this is a different device that plays the recordings which Alfie’s God’s Gift had made, or Mirei has improved on the device to the point where it’s somehow able to intercept TV signals from across dimensions/the universe (or however this “other world” business works). Both of those possibilities are believable. And of course, it could also just be the result of translation fuckups. You met with Mirei? Mirei… Was she mad at me? Haven’t you talked to her since that Classmating ritual? No… Oh, well, don’t worry about it. She isn’t mad. That’s good… So? What do you say about my idea? We really need to stop using that metaphor. Sue’s going to hear it someday and it’ll turn into this big deal where she thinks we’re bird killers. Also, spelling error again. ~Inn: Itsuki’s Room~ So this is your room… Uh-oh! I’m starting to get nervous! Really? It’s not exactly an interesting room. I don’t really get things to decorate it or make it ‘mine’. I don’t even have a couch in here. I guess you’ll have to sit on the bed.Itsuki says this despite the fact that we can see at least three chairs. Although I guess it ruins the “date” feel if you’ve got armrests in the way. Gasp! C-C-C-Could this be…? I remember seeing this situation often in dramas… When a man and a woman sit side-by-side on the bed… it turns into a lovey-dovey event?! Uh-oh! He was just showing her porn! W-Wait! What illegal act?! N-N-No! We can’t, Itsuki! A-A-Anything but that! Alfie, I really think you- We’d be doing much more than just deepening our bond! Alfie, just… Drill Sergeant Alfie! I order you to calm down! *sigh*… (I’m surprised that actually worked…) Take a deep breath, okay? Right! *Breathe* Phew… Don’t let your imagination get carried away. I promise I’m not going to do anything to you. Right… I knew you wouldn’t, Itsuki. I’m sorry I lost my cool… We’re just going to watch some dramas. Are you okay with me sitting next to you? Oh, please do. I… think I’m fine now. I’ll sit a little farther away, just in case. I know it would ruin the theater mood, but would you rather leave the lights on? Yes…*And then they watched dramas from Sora… somehow. Still a little unclear on how that works* ~Church Spirit Chamber~ Hehe… I managed to stick it out to the end to watch the whole thing. I was so nervous that I don’t remember what I watched though. No, don’t blame yourself. I thought I had a good idea, but I guess I wasn’t thinking about how awkward it is for a guy to invite a girl into his room so soon after meeting. I don’t really look at it that way because I live with Mahiru and it’s not a big deal. Sorry for freaking you out. That’s all right… I’m just worried if our bond even deepened. Well… we could try Classmating and seeing if there’s a difference. Yes…*Classmating happens* No new classes this time. We only have three more left to unlock and the conditions for them won’t be met for a while. One requires us to clear six dungeons, another requires us to create the class that needs the dungeons cleared, and the last one requires us to collect nine different scrolls. Remember that “Book of the Sun” or whatever it is we picked up in the last Labyrinth? I found out that there are 8 more of those bastards somewhere in the dungeons. We’ll need to pray to RNGesus and hope he’s good to us. For those of you who followed the CII LP: Unfortunately, this game did not add in the special classes that CII introduced. No Dark Knight, Witch, Bulleteer, Ether Sniper, Gambler, Minstrel, Mercenary, Gun Saint, Diva, or Trickster for us. That’s a shame… I don’t really care about Mercenary, but I really liked the designs of all the others. Whew… Looks like the Star Child turned out really well. It sure went well… I think the date helped after all. Itsuki… Yeah? You can sit closer the next time we go on a date… Aw yeah, moving up to “Lifetime Original”. We’ll be at Cinemax in no time. ~Granvania Shopping Center~  Huh? Was that Alfie? …Looks like she’s got some Star Children with her.*Itsuki decides to follow* ~Day Camp~ Hello! Come on, everyone! God’s Gift is here! God’s Gift! In your face, Conception Plus! I’ve still got the Star Children sprites from the CII LP, so there’s no extra work for me this time. Suck it! They’re all looking pretty happy. You came all the way here, but I’m sorry that we have to get going. We need to do some outdoor training. I can’t spend any time with you today… That’s fine. Actually, I’m sort of wondering if I can tag along. I haven’t gotten the chance to see how you guys train yet. Plus, I could probably use a few lessons from you. What?! Me? Train you? Training together could also deepen our bond, you know. Hmm… Now that you mention it… All right! Then let’s go together!~Forest~ Over there! Your swing is too weak! Yes, ma’am! (She really doesn’t give any slack, does she?) All right! Enough with the practice swinging! Next, I’ll demonstrate by sparring with God’s Gift! Wait, what? Let’s spar to give the Star Children an example to follow! Oh. Okay. Try to go easy on me. I’m not exactly a veteran. Wh-What? What’s wrong? What do you mean easy?! How dare you! If I go easy, you think that’ll serve as a proper example to the Star Children?! Okay, okay! I take it back! Well said! That’s my God’s Gift for ya! All of you! You won’t get a chance like this again, so watch carefully!They’ll still get the chance to see God’s Gift fight, won’t they? These have to be Itsuki’s Star Children. Alfie told us that they disappear once their job is done, so the ones we are seeing here can’t be from previous God’s Gifts. Also, unlike Wake, other people can’t Classmate. The reason I mention this is because the Star Children in these events always call Itsuki “God’s Gift”, whereas outside of these events they typically refer to him as “Dad” or some variation thereof. All right then, Itsuki! Here I go!Oh well. Doesn’t matter either way. Let’s just watch Itsuki get his rear end handed to him. S-Sure. Right! Come on, Alfie! Raaaaaaaaaaagh!*The screen flashes white as Alfie goes after Itsuki like a wild animal* Whoa! Daaaaaaaaagh! Gah! drat, I didn’t think you’d attack me like this! Where are you getting that strength?!*The screen flashes white again and then Itsuki seems to lose his balance and eat dirt* I got you! You’re mine! Yield! I yield! Instructor Alfie is so strong! Instructor is so cool! I include the CG again because Alfie’s expression changes when she realizes what she did. I give, Alfie! Relax! I can’t believe I knocked down and mounted God’s Gift… Waah! What I did was so improper! God’s Gift made the instructor cry! Wait, what?! I’m the one that nearly got clubbed! Waaah! I… Okay, I’m sorry. Alfie, please calm down. Everyone is getting worried. Ugh… That’s right… I’m supposed to be their role model. I’m not allowed to cry… Let’s take a break, okay? I think you just need a minute. Yes… Yes, ma’am!*There’s a fade-to-black as everyone takes a minute to relax a bit and Itsuki is allowed to get up off the ground and stop cowering* *sigh*… I wasn’t expecting you to be that strong. I wasn’t even close… That’s not true. Your skills with the sword were great! It ignited my battle instincts as a Star Child. I guarantee it. You’ll surely surpass me in no time at all to defeat the Impurity God! I appreciate it… although I’m not sure I believe it. Anyway, that was intense. Here, I’ve got some water with me. Thank you! *glug*… *glug*… *glug*… Fwa! That’s so good! I live for this moment! Huh? Wait… is this your water bottle? Yeah. Why? U-Um… Oh, don’t worry about it. There’s lots in there. You don’t have to hold back. I guess? I-I knew it! Don’t get caught up in that. It’s not a big deal. Besides, aren’t you always telling everyone that they need to rehydrate? Yes… Then here you go, Itsuki…[Townsperson A]: Ahhh! An Impurity! What the hell are you doing out here? Is ‘Townsperson A’ the “my leg!” guy from Spongebob? Just showing up whenever an Impurity appears in order to scream about it? The cry came from over there! We better hurry! Yes! That’s new. Not as cute as the other Sagitta. drat it… Another Impurity managed to get to the surface.Official Itsuki says “Why is there an Impurity on the surface?”, but we’ve passed a point in the main story where that’s no longer unheard of. Is this…? What’s wrong? … No… You’re the one that attacked the Star Maiden 30 years ago… drat you… So you were still alive! A-Alfie! What are you doing?!*The screen flashes white as Alfie tries to attack it only to get her rear end kicked* Ah! [White Impurity]: Huuuuuurgh… *Anther flash to white as Alfie gets hit* Ahhhh! Everyone! Protect Instructor Alfie![White Impurity]: Huuurgh… *Another screen flash rear end kick* Ahhh! Ahhh!Welp, that didn’t work. drat… It beat Alfie and the Star Children in one hit.Yeah. Sagitta type enemies might be quick to run, but some of them can hit like trucks if they feel like it. Don’t forget that. God’s Gift… Please leave this to me and run away… So long as the Star Children are protected by the Matryoshka… They’ll be fine… I’m not leaving you, Alfie. But, at this rate… both of us will… I’m not leaving you and we’re not dying! Come on, you bastard! I’ll fight you![White Impurity]: Huuurgh… Raaaaaagh! It’s Team Couscous! (Actually it’s a generic monk, but it looks like Adele, so that’s what the LP canon is going to be).  Everyone! It’s time for MECUNITE!*The screen fades to white as the Impurity is given its just desserts… It’s a food joke… Couscous is a food… although it’s not a dessert… Shut up* [White Impurity]: Rahhhhhhh! I think… I think we managed to fend it off… Well done, God’s Gift… It appears you were the one who went easy on me… during our earlier spar… Are you kidding? If the Star Children hadn’t been there, there’s no way I could have fought it on my own. I… couldn’t do anything… Alfie… you’re a Star Maiden now. Star Maidens don’t have the power to fight the Impurities. I see… Well… Um… Hey, was that really the monster that attacked you 30 years ago? I’ve never forgotten even a hair of that white phantom… I see. Then I promise that I’ll defeat it in your place. I’ll put that nightmare to rest. And that’s all for Alfie. She’s all caught up with everyone and is ready for polling. That’s right, it’s time for another Focus Maiden vote. Alfie will be looking for a spot of her own, while the Top 6 Maidens try and hold on to theirs and the Bottom 6 look to make a comeback. Psycho Knight fucked around with this message at 20:14 on Jan 13, 2020 |
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Jan 7, 2020 02:44
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The big questions that jump out at me are, why didn't the Star God pick out a 13th Star Maiden for Ophiuchus? Was Alfie's surgery done with said God's blessings? Do Star Offerings in Ophiuchus simply take longer to fail? Then we have questions over what details Mirei knows about these experiments, whether or not said experiments are still ongoing, and where the hell the line for violating the natural order is if Alfie came out of this in okay-ish condition, and nobody got smote for this.
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Jan 7, 2020 03:45
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Huh. I had assumed that the Thirteenth maiden would be a sort of generic fill in character when you said that she isn't connected to the story (as in, a random person showing up and announcing they are the Ophiuchus star maiden), but I am really into Alfie's perspective as a former Star Child, who doesn't really get romance, since she only starts to feel romantic feelings once she becomes a Star Maiden. Plus she is 30, which makes her a lot less creepy than several of the other girls.
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Jan 7, 2020 03:56
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Yeah, she's way better than some of the other maidens
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Jan 7, 2020 04:00
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I'm very  about her but hey at least she doesn't treat us like a replacement for her brother or something
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Jan 7, 2020 04:08
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BlazeEmblem posted:Huh. I had assumed that the Thirteenth maiden would be a sort of generic fill in character when you said that she isn't connected to the story (as in, a random person showing up and announcing they are the Ophiuchus star maiden), but I am really into Alfie's perspective as a former Star Child, who doesn't really get romance, since she only starts to feel romantic feelings once she becomes a Star Maiden. This is mostly my thoughts as well. The dark part of whatever science went on here came straight out of nowhere, but her tie-in to the actual mechanics of the game is interesting. She's a lot more "fun", which I suppose is more than you could say for quite a few of the others. Her being 30 is a bit odd given that she acts a lot younger, but that also probably stems from the whole "once a star child" thing. Having someone who isn't uncomfortably young in appearance is nice, given the cast. This being said, I don't know where she stands presently. There's some stuff in there that manages to still be really off-putting to me, though she's most assuredly not Lillie. The Flying Twybil fucked around with this message at 04:16 on Jan 7, 2020 |
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Jan 7, 2020 04:12
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AnAnonymousIdiot posted:The big questions that jump out at me are, why didn't the Star God pick out a 13th Star Maiden for Ophiuchus? Was Alfie's surgery done with said God's blessings? Do Star Offerings in Ophiuchus simply take longer to fail? Even though we now know that the Star Chaos has happened before sometime in the ancient past, we still don't know why it happened back then or why it's happening now. So my current theory is that maybe the Star Chaos is the punishment that Star God delivers when humans cross the line, like they did with Alfie. It's a test to see if they can redeem themselves. As for the experiments, I don't know if we'll get an answer to that. If Alfie was weaved into the plot, then maybe. As it stands, though, I don't think we'll see an appearance by Shang in order to continue with that subplot. It seems like they only managed to get Mirei’s VA back for new lines. Slaan posted:Yeah, she's way better than some of the other maidens BlazeEmblem posted:Huh. I had assumed that the Thirteenth maiden would be a sort of generic fill in character when you said that she isn't connected to the story (as in, a random person showing up and announcing they are the Ophiuchus star maiden), but I am really into Alfie's perspective as a former Star Child, who doesn't really get romance, since she only starts to feel romantic feelings once she becomes a Star Maiden. Her exclusion from the plot is a bummer, but I agree that she seems to be a decent character on her own. The "Star Child that grew up" is a neat idea for a character, so I'm happy to see it. I'm also glad that she both looks and acts mostly her age, instead of being a child like Tarua. Alfie is niave and a bit too corrupted by romance dramas, but she has 30 years of life experience and it does show (she is dedicated, responsible, and understands the consequences of things like immortality). The only excuse for the developers not working her into the story that I would be willing to accept is that they felt it would make her the center of attention and completely overshadow the other Maidens. I'm willing to give her a vote, personally. Granted, the bar she had to clear for that has been falling recently. Reone is tanking hard and my interest in Mahiru has always been out of morbid curiosity in regards to her personality swap. I still like Arie the best, but she's currently walking on the edge of the cliff with that room secret. That could break her instantly depending on what it turns out to be. Psycho Knight fucked around with this message at 04:32 on Jan 7, 2020 |
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Jan 7, 2020 04:25
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Wait... If the Star Chaos is a tool at the God's disposal, wouldn't that imply the Star God has some degree of control over Impurities?
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Jan 7, 2020 17:54
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AnAnonymousIdiot posted:Wait... If the Star Chaos is a tool at the God's disposal, wouldn't that imply the Star God has some degree of control over Impurities? If so, it's neither a surprise nor a shift in our current running hypothesis: Star God is an rear end in a top hat.
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Jan 7, 2020 17:59
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AnAnonymousIdiot posted:Wait... If the Star Chaos is a tool at the God's disposal, wouldn't that imply the Star God has some degree of control over Impurities? It's possibly that He might. That doesn't mean he has any way of regulating it as He pleases, though. Impurities are created from people getting it on, so ultimately that's sort of humanity's responsibility. Also... Raitzeno posted:If so, it's neither a surprise nor a shift in our current running hypothesis: Star God is an rear end in a top hat. This. SSNeoman posted:I'm very Hey, that's still good enough for the Top 6... as sad as that is. The Flying Twybil posted:Her being 30 is a bit odd given that she acts a lot younger, but that also probably stems from the whole "once a star child" thing. Having someone who isn't uncomfortably young in appearance is nice, given the cast. The acting younger than 30 thing might be because she seems to spend a lot of her time with the Star Children. It would likely rub off on her after 30 years of dealing with them on and off. Her background is supposed to be secret, so she likely doesn't get to interact with many people "her age" outside of maybe Mirei. What kind of stuff is off-putting? Just curious. The only thing that still weirds me out a little bit is that, although she is technically 30, her change into a Star Maiden has apparently given her a bunch of emotions that she's never had to deal with before. She says it herself that she doesn't feel like she's the same person anymore and it's scaring her. Granted, it would be fairly easy to tackle that kind of thing if her route decides to focus its attention on it. I've closed Star Child Team Voting. I have the teams made now and they've been leveled to a decent amount, although I may decide to push them a bit higher (maybe into the late 30's/early 40's). Focus Maiden voting will come after the next story update, which might be done tomorrow or Thursday.
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Jan 7, 2020 19:02
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Psycho Knight posted:What kind of stuff is off-putting? Just curious. The only thing that still weirds me out a little bit is that, although she is technically 30, her change into a Star Maiden has apparently given her a bunch of emotions that she's never had to deal with before. She says it herself that she doesn't feel like she's the same person anymore and it's scaring her. Granted, it would be fairly easy to tackle that kind of thing if her route decides to focus its attention on it. Oddly enough, the emotions thing doesn't faze me. I've seen it before in the case of "Inanimate object becomes real person". But if you want to know, the stuff that bothers me is... Psycho Knight posted:
Psycho Knight posted:
...this, though I know it's a given for the genre, ...and that outfit design, which is also typical for the genre. (This, especially combined with the implications of the "surgery".) It mostly just proves I'm really in the wrong genre to be nitpicky. Then again, this is also a lot less things than some of the other maidens. *The cheerful character with a dark backstory seems to be especially common, and though realistic as it is, I'd prefer it when a story holds to a consistent tone. Edit: There's also some personal reasons as to why this bothers me. The Flying Twybil fucked around with this message at 21:23 on Jan 7, 2020 |
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Jan 7, 2020 20:56
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I hesitate to label the holes in her story as 'rushed' considering the others haven't exactly been flawless, though it doesn't seem like they gave her any additional time either. But still, yeah, there's enough to like. Regarding the device, the translation cut out that that it records as well as projects in the initial explanation, so it is presumably exactly the device from 30 years ago. It is kind of weird that Itsuki just calls it the device for viewing dramas but maybe the recording half only worked with that particular Gods Gift. I suspect it's had its time and they're not going to clarify, either way.
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Jan 7, 2020 22:29
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Polsy posted:Regarding the device, the translation cut out that that it records as well as projects in the initial explanation, so it is presumably exactly the device from 30 years ago. It is kind of weird that Itsuki just calls it the device for viewing dramas but maybe the recording half only worked with that particular Gods Gift. I suspect it's had its time and they're not going to clarify, either way. I figured as much. Still, kind of an important part to leave out. It is entirely possible that the recording aspect only works with that previous God's Gift. It was likely tuned to his God's Gift energy or some nonsense. Seems weird for Mirei not to talk about it, since she loves rambling about research things. Granted, I suppose it isn't her character route. The Flying Twybil posted:Reasons Okay, I get that. The backstory thing was a bit unsettling, but it doesn't bother me too much because the game thankfully doesn't linger on it. Alfie just mentions that it happened and then moves on. It would be a bit different if her character route focused in on it, but I'm pretty sure there's no intention of going back. Seems like the route is concerned with Alfie and her views on love/romance as opposed to the illegal experimentation and body modification on God's warriors stuff. Can't speak to the personal reasons, but everyone has their own reasons for disliking particular characters.
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Jan 7, 2020 23:13
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Psycho Knight posted:Okay, I get that. The backstory thing was a bit unsettling, but it doesn't bother me too much because the game thankfully doesn't linger on it. Alfie just mentions that it happened and then moves on. It would be a bit different if her character route focused in on it, but I'm pretty sure there's no intention of going back. Seems like the route is concerned with Alfie and her views on love/romance as opposed to the illegal experimentation and body modification on God's warriors stuff. I'd agree that they don't seem like they'll be bringing up the surgery thing again. I read through it again and it looks to me now as if that was just part of their "whatever we can do to make her relevant to the story" part. It's still unsettling to me given the connotations, but I can overlook it if it does stick to the views on love/romance skits. The personal reasons isn't particularly against her, but towards the "cheerful, but dark past" trope thing. She'd honestly be my favorite character so far if not for stuff I've mentioned.
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Jan 7, 2020 23:42
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Update VIII: Drink blood like a vampire without warning Song Title Reference: Who Do You Voodoo by Josef Lord (Sam B.) and Christopher Knight So… uh… things didn’t turn out so well in the last update. To put it simply: It hasn’t been a great day for Itsuki. Also not a great day for Granvania, but the people of Granvania are jackasses that blame Itsuki for everything, so gently caress them.  So what better way to follow that up than by entertaining Mahiru and her stupid school rumor crap for a third time. Uhnn…[***]: Wheeew… Mm… what?[***]: Wheeew!  Why were you blowing in my ear?! What? You’re the one who told me to find a gentler way to wake you up. When I said that, I meant that maybe you could try just nudging me or something… Why do you always have to be weird about it? Anyway, up and at ‘em! Time to hunt down some rumors! Hunt rumors…? What are you talking about? Oh… right... Don’t tell me you’re still planning to keep doing that? Of course! Do you want to miss a chance to go home? Home… Mahiru, I-- Never mind. You’re right. Just let me get up and get ready.~Star God Academy Hallway~ What rumor do you plan on investigating today? Not investigate! Hunt! Okay, okay. Calm down. What rumor are we “hunting” today? So, let’s take our time with the appetizers today. I want to hunt every lead to see if it’s related to the disappearances! Then what do we start with? The Classmating Potion one? Ah, the totally fake rumor where Star Maidens have illicit relationships, right? If you’re so interested in that rumor, we may as well begin our hunt with that. I never said I was interested in it. I’m just throwing out suggestions. Gotta start somewhere. Oh, here are some people we can interview. Femiruna, do you have a moment? We have something we wanted to ask you. Oh, is this for the academy newspaper? Ohoho, of course there would be interest in a talented Star Maiden like myself.Better watch it, Femiruna. Next vote isn't finished yet, so you still have a chance to blow it and end up at the bottom of my vote list. Charmed, I’m sure. Ask whatever you would like. You got it. We won’t hold back. We’d like to ask what you think about the Seven Academy Wonders. I have no interest in such things. Rumors are merely idle pleasures of the masses. What about the “Academy Disappearances” or Itsuki’s “Classmating Potion?” Wait, what? When did that become my rumor? What?! Itsuki, you truly believe in such idle gossip? Well, I guess such rumors are not wholly unrelated to me. I did have my servants look into this. The results they found…  However, that rumor was distorted… According to my intelligence division. So? Has my information helped at all?Do same sex couples doing the deed also cause Impurities? I really feel like the game should be expanding on the mechanics at work here. There’s gotta be a loophole somewhere where people can get their rocks off without creating big buff monster men. Yeah, I think we’ve heard enough about that one. Thanks, Femiruna. What? Finished already? Do you not have any more… personal questions? Sorry, Femiruna, we have to get going… So, is that all then? Thanks for the help! I’ll see you in class. *Femriuna wanders off* Looks like that one was a bust. Are you disappointed? Not really. No. At least it’s good to know it has nothing to do with the disappearances. Yeah. Hm? Is that Lillie running towards us?*It is… unfortunately*  You seem happy yourself, Lillie. I already heard. You’re doing interviews for the newspaper, right? In that case, interview me.What’s the angle, Lillie? Why are you so interested? It’s not for the newspaper. But you just interviewed Femiruna, right? Nope. But I gotta say, that info you got from Femiruna is pretty suspicious. You mean about the Classmating Potion? I’ve heard Maidens who have experienced Classmating tend to become couples...Uh, why? I could see the connection if two Maidens Classmated together, like in Tri-Mating, but Tri-Mating is supposed to have been nearly lost to time. That means you and I will be head over heels before too long. N-No way…Oh, god. There’s a pairing I don’t want to imagine…  Wh-What are you talking about? Itsuki, you’re interested in us getting it on, ain’t ya? Not really. It’s got nothing to do with me. You’re so boring. It was just a joke. A… j-joke…? Whatever. In any case, I’m ready whenever you are, Ma-hi-ru~ See ya! So… you and Lillie, huh? Knock it off. There is no way it’s true. Sorry, I couldn’t resist making fun. You would have totally done the same thing. Anyway, what do we do now? Wait here for a second. I’ll be right back. Why? You need to take a leak? Geez, you have no delicacy… Only with you.*Mahiru wanders off to go do whatever it is she needs to do* Looks like today was a waste, too. Oh well, at least there’s only a few more rumors that she can chase after. Sorry. Mahiru is dragging me around again. Are you here for your rumor investigation? Rumor “hunt.” You have to call it that or Mahiru gets all worked up. Now that you mention it, isn’t she with you? She ran off to the restroom. Speaking of “restroom”… Ah! Dammit, don’t sneak up like that… Don’t act so surprised! I’m the one who should be surprised here… Anyway, remember the “Toilet Fairy” rumor?  Like I would. How ridiculous. I greatly enjoyed that. Owww! Did I bump into something? That thing you bumped into flew pretty far away… It’s probably already up in the stars by now… Augh! Itsuki, Mahiru! Fancy meeting you in a place like this.You mean the school? What are you up to? Hehe, rumor hunting! We’re investigating the Seven Academy Wonders. Augh augh! I know about those!  Ah! We were just talking about that one. Mahiru, do you know where they say the toilet fairy pops out of?! You sound like you know. Augh! Of course! Aren’t I amazing, Itsuki? You sure are, Tarua. Hehe. I got a compliment! Feel free to give me head pats too, Itsuki. Here you go. Honestly, I don’t think you’re that far off the mark. You don’t know how to handle women… You say that, but… Augh augh! I really liked it though! Told you. Tarua, would you mind taking us to that bathroom? Augh! Sure! I wanted to use the restroom anyway. Is that why you were blasting through the hallways like that? Augh, augh, augh, augh… Remembering that is making it hard to hold it iin! Tarua, let’s hurry.*One bathroom break later*  How the hell did this thing manage to survive the ages? It looks like it predates the school by a couple of decades. These are the restrooms in the rumor. Well, see ya later!*Tarua runs off* These things are looking a little rough. They definitely look like something that could be haunted. Shall we split up and check the boys and girls sides?The hell do you mean? It’s an outhouse. It doesn’t have a girls side or a boys side. It’s a drat hole in the ground. That’s not necessary. Oh good, back from space already? Is it you? But you told us you didn’t know before. I can’t sit idly by and watch you drag Itsuki around for such nonsense. Mana, what do you know? Why hide it? The identity of the “Toilet Fairy”… is me.Oh, poo poo. I was joking. It really is Mana? For starters, I’m not even a fairy.  Whichever users in the thread threw out that theory: Congrats, you nailed it. What? How? But aren’t Impurities monsters? So then… you just look like a fairy.Okay, so she’s an impurity, but she’s one of the cute ones. Same as the Sagitta. A mage brought me out of one of the labyrinths 100 years ago. They were trying to give Impurities knowledge and find a way to coexist.  Pretty ballsy move, but it’s nice to know that at least someone out there was trying to be a problem solver instead of relying on kidnapping victims that their god kept bringing to their world. Because I was a failed experiment, they were going to dispose of me… But I escaped before anyone could do that. So, did you hold a grudge against humans and attack those students? Do you know what I love most? What the gently caress, Mana?! After I ran away from the lab, I lived in the academy. There were tons of prey there. However, the mage’s experiment granted me intellect that surpassed my instincts. So, even though I drank their blood, I didn’t kill them. I don’t hate humans. Also, I only drank blood… Until I realized I could live off other things.  Surprisingly, that God’s Gift didn’t kill me and ended up protecting me. Since then, I’ve been in service to this country. I wouldn’t say I’m completely reformed, but I am grateful to him. I’ll be honest. I wasn’t expecting a backstory like that. But, I still thirst. When I’m with you, I sometimes want to drink your blood. …I don’t think you’d like my blood. It’s probably full of poisonous Sora… cells, or something… Heehee, that was a joke. Anyway, enough reminiscing.So is that why Mana is such a skeevy pervert? Because she’s an Impurity, which are born from people sexing each other up? Huh… I mean, she’s still an annoying character. I’m just slightly impressed that the game came up with an explanation for it. Actually, impressed may be too strong a word. Maybe just “surprised.” Mahiru, I’m gonna release Itsuki from this insanity. No way. Wh-What? We still haven’t found out anything about the disappearances. Until we reach our goal, we will hunt down the truth. Please wait until then, Mana. Isn’t it standard in these situations to just quietly yield? I’ll make Itsuki promise he won’t try to exterminate you in the future. We’ll see what happens. So you promise too! Promise that you won’t drink our blood! Oh fine! Do whatever you want!*Mana storms off* Looks like she’s angry again. Irreconcilable differences. I’ll apologize to her after our rumor hunt. Right. So a few weeks from now, then. Anyway, I was thinking about this while I was in the restroom…  It does also seem suspicious. Fix that spelling, SC. We haven’t checked it out yet. I think it’s worth investigating. You mean where he disappears into the wall? The rumor says a student saw it through the window of the Headmaster’s room. In a movie, there’d be a secret door or something like that. Okay, not totally comfortable with Narcisstes’ little British surveillance setup here. Actually, hold up a minute. Why the gently caress does he have a CCTV camera monitoring some random countryside? And is that… is that Mirei’s laboratory? And the old toilets we were just investigating? You even have a camera monitoring the loving Doctor’s Office! That’s a massive breach of privacy. What the poo poo, Narc?! It’s supposed to be off-limits, but it was really easy to get in… I mean, we are way too important for him to punish us very much, but if we get caught we’re still going to be in a lot of trouble. You know that, right? So let’s not get caught and look for that secret door.Right, time for Metal G-  drat. That didn’t even last long enough for me to make a joke. Well… Mahiru, I thought I told you the Headmaster’s room was off limits. Right, but the door wasn’t locked, so… The door was locked by Star Energy.Oh come on. Is that really necessary? A simple deadbolt would do just as good a job you know. Which means, you two opened it using your powers as God’s Gifts. Well, we are God’s Gifts after all… This is no laughing matter.I agree, but not for the reason that Narcisstes is thinking of. I have a question. Why is the Headmaster’s room off limits anyway? That’s a national secret. So you won’t tell us? Mahiru, please don’t put me in this position. Itsuki, you either. I’m just along for the ride. In any event, do not come back here, you two. Understand? Right. Got it.*And then we get kicked out of the Headmaster’s Office. Boy, I can’t wait for Narcisstes to eventually betray us or otherwise reveal the secret that room is protecting after everything has gone to poo poo and the knowledge is no longer helpful. Christ, this is going to be Ruby all over again, isn’t it?* ~Star God Academy Field~  There is something there! Are neither of you going to bring up the fact that Narcisstes has cameras hidden everywhere? Mahiru, we promised we wouldn’t go back in there. I didn’t. Are you really going to push your luck like that? *And Mahiru takes her leave* *sigh*… Still not done with this, are we?Another ill-advised investigation is finished with. At least we got to learn about Mana’s origins, which includes the fact that I’m now fairly certain she will betray us or something some day and we’ll have to put her down because she went berserk. Those cuffs she has on are probably what’s keeping her in control and I wouldn’t be surprised if they get broken by the villains. I’ve got some space left in this update, so let’s have a look at some side stuff.   First of all, Tri-Mating is now unlocked. Tri-Mating costs more BP to do (150 instead of 100), but it allows you to select two Star Maidens to Classmate with instead of just one. This normally means that the stat spreads will be maxed out and you can create whatever Star Child you want with whatever Mother you want (in other words, you can give all the Star Child Classes any maiden hair color). In order to unlock a particular Maiden for Tri-Mating, you need to reach Bond Level 4 (or max out Level 3, in other words) and then exit the Stardust Labyrinth. Doing so will trigger a scene, such as the one below. We’ll have a look at Ruka, since she gets basically no screen time due to being at the bottom of the Focus Maiden rankings.  Ah! Oh, hey Ruka. What are you- This is pissing me off! What’s got your panties in a bunch, Rukie? It’s all your fault! What are we talking about, exactly? I’m not doing anything! What the hell is the matter? Don’t play dumb! I already know all about you! You should spill the beans, I’m just as confused. Wh-Wh-Wha… Th-Then why did my Star Brand start shining?! Beats me. I don’t control those things. That shows your bond with Itsuki has deepened. What about it? You’re still trying to play dumb? Itsuki, you too?!I should remind everyone that Ruka is supposedly able to tell when people are lying. You could handwave Itsuki, but if Ruka’s powers are real then she should be able to tell whether or not Mana is lying. I. Don’t. Know. Why won’t you just tell us? Wh-What?! You want me to say it out loud?! You’re a monster! You’re the worst! If you don’t wanna say it, fine. I honestly don’t wanna hear your complaining. Itsuki, let’s just go. Yeah. Sorry, Ruka. But me and the Star Children are tired out from the Labyrinth. If you aren’t going anywhere with this then- W-Wait! O-Okay, you win! I’ll tell you! I’ll tell you everything, so don’t go! Finally talking, eh? So, what are you so mad about?  ”started shining”. Argh! I can’t say it! You need to practice your punchlines. Well, time to let the beast out of the cage. Your Star Brand lit up to prove that you’re ready for Tri-Mating. I understand you’re embarrassed to Tri-Mate with Itsuki. Oh… right. I forgot that was a thing… So it’s time, huh? You’ll have other Star Maidens join in the ritual, so just imagining it… I’m sure you can’t even sleep at night because you’re too excited! Fuehehehe… Rukie… It seems like Itsuki can’t wait to do the Tri-Mating Ritual with you. Wh-What…? I’ve had enough of this! I’m going home!*Ruka books it* She sure is fun to tease. You need to stop putting words in my mouth. And if you already knew what she was getting at, then why didn’t you just say so? You’re so dense… You need to learn how young girls think.And there you go. Each Maiden has one of those events which trigger after you exit the Labyrinths. Once you see a certain Maiden’s event, they can then Tri-Mate. I won’t show off every event here, because all of them follow the same general premise as what we just saw (i.e. Mana explains Tri-Mating). That said, there are a handful of little details blurted out during these scenes, so here are the summaries: Arie shows up outside the Labyrinths because she thought her Star Brand shining was a sign that something bad had happened to Itsuki, so she got concerned. Arie lets slip that she’ll be looking forward to Tri-Mating, but back peddles out of embarrassment when Itsuki questions what she said. Arie then starts to feel a little bad/guilty about enjoying Classmating, because she thinks it’ll bring divine punishment (Arie, I assure you that Star God is cool with it). Mana reveals that the last God’s Gift was kind of a shut-in. He also apparently had a huge crush on Mirei (who wasn’t a Star Maiden back then). He went to young Mirei’s room basically every day and of course Mirei thinks that it’s because he was super interested in Star Energy and the research she was doing. Mana points out that God’s Gift was definitely interested in something, but it wasn’t research. Reone is stoked for the Tri-Mating thing because she (in her own words) gets to “service you and another Star Maiden at the same time.” She then talks about Itsuki needing more stamina in order to be able to satisfy her plus another girl. She also whips out a stamina drinking that Mirei made that contains “Rainbow Viper”, which Mana says is a highly venomous snake. Reone and Mana get excited as they attempt to force Itsuki to test it to boost his stamina. Farun is weird about the Tri-Mating. She shows up being really twitchy and anxious. She says she is waiting for Itsuki to tell her what it means, although she definitely already knows because she’s too embarrassed to say it herself. That’s basically it. Mahiru reveals that she thinks she’s fallen in love with a girl. She asks if she should confess or just give up and Mana concedes that even she’s never asked another girl out before. As soon as Itsuki asks if it’s another Star Maiden, Mahiru comes clean and says it was a joke. Mana then gets disappointed because she wanted to hear about girl-on-girl action. Sue reveals that she has an eight meter long pet snake named Skywood. She sometimes wraps around Sue as the two of them sleep. As for Tri-Mating, Sue is uncertain about it because she doesn’t know what the hell it involves. She asks if they just play around like a clowder of cats… which I had to look up and was surprised to learn that that is actually what a group of cats is called. Huh… Anyway, there’s talk of Sue being a Starfish, which is a term that a previous God’s Gift came up with to describe a Maiden that doesn’t do anything during Classmating. Yuzuha isn’t waiting outside the Stardust Labyrinths like the others. She just bursts out of her house in Granvania as Itsuki and Mana are walking by. Yuzuha does her usual “I’m garbage” routine and says she doesn’t think she can Tri-Mate well, and then asks if she has to Tri-Mate because she’s not good enough on her own. You know the deal. She’s angry because she was meant to wait, even though Itsuki never made any agreement to meet her outside the Labyrinths. Mana teases her a bit about Tri-Mating and Femiruna fires back by questioning why she isn’t sufficient by herself. Collette loafs bread. That’s the basis of the first part of this event. As for Tri-Mating, Collette does her “Oh my, I can’t believe youthful little girl me has to take part in that” poo poo. Mana tells the “flat-chester” to shut up and Collette just repeats that it’s part of a Star Maidens duty and all that. She then gives Itsuki some bread (which is a usable item that restores 60% HP). Mana doesn’t get any though. Lillith says that Lillie apparently brought her out to the Labyrinths for some reason that she isn’t sure of. Mana then bashes Lillith in the head to force a switch. Lillie seems pumped for Tri-Mating because she thinks it will make things a lot more fun. Then she talks about bringing extra items to spice things up. Tarua likes to run. Also, she has to ask Mana what Tri-Mating is because she slept through Narc’s classes. Mana then takes the opportunity to whisper to Tarua what Tri-Mating is. We don’t know what she says, but Mana tells Tarua shortly after “You may be flat, but there are others [sic] ways to spice it up.” Tarua then faints shortly after.Maiden 13/Alfie: Mana is conspicuously absent for this scene. Itsuki says that there was a show she wanted to catch…so I guess Granvania also has cable. This is turning into a Naruto situation where the series starts and it seems like there’s a 70’s/80’s technology level and then you catch a clip of the series years later and suddenly all the ninja are using laptop computers and tablets and loving West City from Dragonball apparently moved in next door. Anyway, Alfie already knows what Tri-Mating is (even though Narcisstes told us that knowledge of it was almost lost to time) and wonders if the other Star Maidens will really accept her. Itsuki says he’ll explain everything to them, so I guess her existence isn’t going to be a secret anymore. That’s basically it for her event. There are no scenes for Tri-Mating where the different Star Maidens interact with each other, so this is supposed to be the handwave for why you are able to Tri-Mate with Alfie despite the fact that her existence exposes the existence of an Ophiuchus Labyrinth and Narcisstes told us not to tell any of the Star Maidens about that. Maiden 13’s role was not planned out very well for this game. Next up: Another seasonal event has arrived, so let’s have a look. This is the Summer Event and triggers at the start of August. I accidentally saved over the file I was using to view the intro events to these seasonal things, so I don’t have it anymore (the database doesn’t log those). They all follow the same formula anyway: Mana tells Itsuki about the event, Itsuki doesn’t know what it is, and then Mana explains it and says he has to take part. It’s the same as the Sports Festival we previously saw. The Summer Event is “Star Maiden Camp”, which is kind of a sleepover/summer camp kind of thing. It’s supposed to just be for the Star Maidens, but Mana thinks Itsuki should be going along as well. Narc is fine with that. ~Star God Academy Field~ Star Maiden Camp begins now! This time, Itsuki and Mana will be coming with us. In that case, shall we spend the night under the same roof as Itsuki? Camp would be much more fun if Itsuki stays with us! Looking forward to it, Itsuki! Haha. Let’s have a good time, Itsuki. I may be a little nervous with you with us, Itsuki. Why is a God’s Gift staying at Star Maiden Camp? Spoiler-alert: Nothing “stupid” happens, if you catch my and Ruka’s drift. Thankfully. Itsuki doesn’t bumble or get pulled into any cliché situations. Having a gentleman stay with us is certainly unexpected. However, I am looking forward to having you. This is perfect. I was just thinking how we needed someone to carry our luggage.She says this, but Star Maiden Camp happens at the Star God Academy. I don’t know what kind of luggage she plans on bringing along for a one-night event. This is a good chance to observe a different God’s Gift than usual. I welcome you. Let’s have some fun, Itsuki. You’ll be here with all the Star Maidens, but don’t do anything weird, all right? My animals won’t be here tonight, but… Itsuki, welcome to the lovely Star Maiden flower garden. Let’s deepen our bonds deep into the night. To think you would join this all-girls camp… Just how much do you hate being alone, I wonder. So, I’ll be with you all night… I might not get sleepy then… I’ll leave it up to Mana and Itsuki now. If you please. All right, I’m gonna explain the schedule for the Star Maiden Camp. I’m sure you’ve all heard from Nar… But first, we’ll be splitting a watermelon on the shore. At night, it’s a test of nerves. Now then, let’s all head to the shore. Beach time! We’ll start splitting that watermelon! Itsuki will put on a blindfold and split the watermelon with a stick. Ladies, use teamwork and your cheers to guide him to the watermelon. Are you ready, Itsuki? The Star Maidens will split into three groups of three and give you advice. You should listen to the Star Maiden you have the deepest bond with.  Got all that? Sure thing. Let’s do it. Time to blindfold Itsuki. Let’s begin! Bonding Watermelon Split, start!This one actually is incredibly easy. Unlike the Sports Festival, you can easily win this on your first run. Three Star Maidens will tell you a direction to move in (Forward, right, or left). All you need to do is follow the advice of whichever one you have the highest bond level with. Since I’m maxing out everyone for LP purposes, I’m pretty sure it’s impossible to fail this (everyone has the same Bond Level right now). Still, I wind up listening to the Maidens as ordered by the last Maiden Vote. Sue, Lillith, and Mahiru are first, so I listen to Mahiru and move left. Reone, Femiruna, and Tarua are next, so I listen to Reone and move forward. Then it’s Arie, Mirei, and Ruka (Arie tells us to go Forward).  This leads to success and scores us the Magic Melon item. 100% HP heal and status cure is pretty sweet. For those who are curious: Yuzuha, Farun, and Collette didn’t participate. I believe the game randomly selects 9 of the 12 Maidens. It’s time to head back to the academy. Everyone’s all sweaty now, right?  I included this screenshot for a particular reason. I’ll mention it at the end of this event. Just keep in mind that Mahiru is in it. Hey, Itsuki… How long are you gonna eat that watermelon? I’m savoring it, okay? It’ll be dark soon. Let’s head back to the academy now.~Star God Academy Classroom~ Is this where we’re all staying? I’ll be honest, that does sound really good right about now.~Star God Academy Hallway~ I think the men’s bath was here… Nope, no, it’s okay TCG! Despite all signs indicating otherwise, I don’t need you this time. Sorry. Check back during the next Bonding Update. I already know that I’ll need you for that, thanks to Sue. Good hustle, though.  Ahh, this is great. Can’t believe I have all of this to myself. Hm? …I think I can hear someone next door… At this point we’re given a choice of which Star Maiden to focus on. Arie is still top of the polling for now, so we start with her as always, although this event actually involves a few of the Maidens.  Whoa, Arie, you usually look so slim with your clothes on. Hm, do you think so? Um, does that mean I’m… fat? Oh, no, I didn’t mean that! I meant that your breasts are pretty big.Hey, I said I didn’t need TCG for this. I didn’t say it was going to be a non-pervy event. R-Really…? Collette says she’s jealous. I didn’t say that. I merely thought it! Um… I’ve heard that breasts grow larger if they’re massaged. Is that true? Arie, is that true?I shouldn’t have to clarify this as I’m hoping that people reading this LP know a little about human anatomy, but breasts don’t grow when massaged. Japanese media loves to use this trope a lot, but it’s a myth. Like dudes and their dicks, ladies are stuck with whatever the good (non-Star) Lord gave them… with the exception of plastic surgery I guess. Science ? I-I wonder…? She isn’t denying it…~Forest~ Is everyone here? It’s time for the test of nerves.  As I said before, some of us will be playing monsters that will switch out. Also, is there a Star Maiden who doesn’t mind pairing with Itsuki? Oh, is that so. Who will you pair up with, Itsuki? Choose wisely!We get another choice as to which Maiden to go along with for this event. If your bond level isn’t high enough with any of them, then Mana tells Itsuki that he has to go it alone. Nothing at all happens in this version of the event. Itsuki just finds the paper and the event ends. Since Arie just had an event, this will be Mirei’s time to shine. I’ll go with Mirei, I guess. She probably has nerves of steel. You’ll be pairing with her to challenge the test of nerves. All right, the rest of the Star Maidens also pair up. Remember to hold hands while you do this. That’s a rule. Now then, everyone, get ready!~Star God Academy Hallway~  Mana says that it’s a test of nerves. Walking through the woods holding hands… We’re like children on a picnic. This is such a waste of time it’s making my head hurt. Then why did you agree to pair up with me?Official Itsuki says “But wasn’t it you that wanted to pair up with me?”, except that’s not what happened at all. Mana clearly asked Itsuki to choose someone. I didn’t think I could stand being without a subject to examine. I wanted to monitor how you dealt with fear, but… You’re much more calm than I expected, so this was a bust. Sorry. Compared to the labyrinths, this is actually pretty relaxing. But if you don’t like it, then we don’t have to keep holding hands. Holy crap! Mirei actually has a blush animation! We agreed to them at the beginning, so we should at least follow through. You’re very ‘by the book’ when it comes to this stuff. That depends on the rule… Grah! I’m a monster! Be quiet. We’re having a conversation. I legitimately got a chuckle out of that. Not going to lie. *After grabbing the paper and heading back* ~Star God Academy Classroom~ All Star Maiden Camp activities have now finished. Just relax with some girls, talk, and fall asleep. I guess I’ll head back to my own room then. Aren’t you gonna stay too? No. I’d just get in the way of the girls talking to each other. It’s weird having me around for that kind of thing. Good night.*Itsuki leaves*  So here’s the thing I mentioned. Mahiru’s sprite was present for that scene, but she didn’t say or do anything. I’m not sure if one of her lines was cut, or if she’s just a weird placeholder to signify that the Star Maidens are in the area. The same thing happened at the end of the beach scene and I’m fairly certain it’s happened in other side “group” events as well. She just stands there… silently. That’s all for the events, but I’ve got a few more screenshots to show off. Some new gift items have shown up in the Gift Shop, so I’ll do a little showcase of some of the major ones.  Mirei has a Retro Hairpin.  Femiruna has Diamond Earrings, which she does attach to her cat ears (jury is still out as to whether or not she also has human ears. Her hair covers it up completely, so we can’t tell for sure).  Reone has some clear glasses.  Farun has a tame ribbon.  Collette gets some round glasses.  And Arie has the Embossed Brooch.  There’s a gift item called “World Map”, which lets us get a basic look at the world. The writing appears to be gibberish, so unfortunately we can’t tell where Granvania is located.  The other item is a photobook of the school idol, Seiya. Maybe this is one of the “Other” characters that is locked in the database? A “rival” of Itsuki seems like a give-in at some point or another. Also, that item above this one is called “Magic Transmission Guide”. Maybe I’m just being overly sensitive, but “Magic Trans. Guide” seems like a poor choice of abbreviation. Anyway, that’s it for this update. For those of you catching up in the thread or reading this on the archive sometime in the future, Maiden 13 is introduced next. We’ll catch up on her bonding events so that she can be part of the next Maiden vote. For those of you actively following the thread, the next Maiden vote is coming in a little bit. Time for a shake up (or very unlikely, no shake up at all). Psycho Knight fucked around with this message at 04:22 on Jan 10, 2020 |
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Jan 10, 2020 01:48
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