God Save the Queen, Indeed: Let's Play Long Live the Queen!

[Lycan 01]

Attend Court, I suppose.

[Eldariel]

Originally Posted by Deme

That's also cute. Also, there's apparently a fast-foward function I discovered by randomly pressing keys. That's a thing.
Lucky for you guys, I just re-loaded my save and made the choice again so we can actually get screenshots.

You can actually scroll the text back with mouse scroll and even remake choices if you haven't went to the next week's decisions yet.

[Deme]

I did not know this! Probably because my laptop lacks a mouse-scroll.

Chapter 22: Week 17: Mood: Willfull
Or
Best Night Ever?

Spoiler

Dad loves it when we don't have fun.


Here's our frilly magical girl outfit!


With the outfit, our score is actually higher than shown. This is relevant.

And we're now at a hefty 70 points of Sense Magic, pre-outfit. Let's see if it's enough...


Hopefully. I mean, all my dreams may come true at the gala.
"All the nobles in the domain are here to see you -- to see their queen."
All those jerks. No pressure.

"(Gulp!)"

You finish dressing and descend the stairs to make a grand entrance.

An area with a new background! Le gasp!

We do not appear to have made a good showing on the Royal Demeanor front.
So far, we're not a very impressive queen.


They sense weakness. Noblemen are like dogs -- they smell your fear.


Your father waits for you at the bottom of the stairs and offers you his arm.
"The first dance is for us."
He guides you gently around the dance floor, never rushing you. It's fun to dance with your father, but the look in his eyes is so sad.

I bet he misses the late queen. Or maybe he knows, having lost his wife, he'll soon see his daughter out of his care as she grows up.


"The Duke of Kigal alone has brought three eligible sons all near your age."


Speaking of which...Why didn't he attend? No outsiders, huh?
"That does not bar you from dancing."


Well, we have a choice, but we can't tell which one is the correct one. Or maybe Court Manners would give us another option -- I don't recall.

And to save time, I'll add our next choice here if we decide to dance:
If you want us to dance, do we dance with...

Somone about our age
Someone younger than us
Somone older than us
Someone already married
or Somone Scandalous
?

If we don't dance, you don't need to pick who we'd dance with.

[Terraoblivion]

Jumping in to vote just this once. Dance with someone scandalous! I have no idea if it has any longterm effects, but do it anyway.

[TengYt]

Scandalous!

[smuchmuch]

Oh god that magical girl outfit it's just... just... so.... *snicker*. Even by the already generous standart of magical girl fashion.

"The Duke of Kigal alone has brought three eligible sons all near your age."
"That does not bar you from dancing."

Translation from political speak to normal father speak:
"You go dancing right now young lady and get back until you are politicaly bethroted with someone else than that smug foreigner snake !"

Dance with someone your age or even younger, chances are they won't know how to dance either so our complete lack of elegance will not be a problem.

[Deme]

Originally Posted by smuchmuch

Translation from political speak to normal father speak:
"You go dancing right now young lady and get back until you are politicaly bethroted with someone else than that smug foreigner snake who's nearly twice your age!"

Fixed this for you.

[Mirrinus]

To the best of my knowledge (and I've played this game more times than I'd probably care to admit), out of all the potential husbands this game offers, that smug foreigner Talarist is the least smug or psychotic looking out of all of the ones with visible portraits. So we didn't really make off as bad as we could have, really.

There's only two choices for husbands in this game that don't make me either yawn or want to throw up, and Talarist is one of them, so you have my blessings. But if we were serious about the whole Bat-Magical Girl thing, then there's a certain candidate who would be just the perfect Robin for us. And because of that...I vote to dance with someone younger.

(Although I think it might be too late to go with that option if we've already accepted the engagement...but we can always try, I guess?)

[Starbuck_II]

I vote someone younger, it is the safer choice I think.

[Deme]

Originally Posted by Mirrinus

To the best of my knowledge (and I've played this game more times than I'd probably care to admit), out of all the potential husbands this game offers, that smug foreigner Talarist is the least smug or psychotic looking out of all of the ones with visible portraits. So we didn't really make off as bad as we could have, really.

There's only two choices for husbands in this game that don't make me either yawn or want to throw up, and Talarist is one of them, so you have my blessings. But if we were serious about the whole Bat-Magical Girl thing, then there's a certain candidate who would be just the perfect Robin for us. And because of that...I vote to dance with someone younger.

(Although I think it might be too late to go with that option if we've already accepted the engagement...but we can always try, I guess?)

If you mean who I think you mean (I honestly don't recall if the younger guy you dace with at the ball is the one I have in mind) ...You're right. He would be the *perfect* Robin.

Also, yeah. I actually kind of like Talarist -- I don't know to what extent he can do right or wrong by you, but I've always felt like he's tried to help and not manipulate me too much. His smugness is in the acceptable limits of a glasses-guy (who run smug, in my opinion), he doesn't generally seem to try and kill the goose that's laying him a political golden egg, he's got both a name and a face...It's all good.

[Mobius Twist]

Go younger. Impress our dance partners with our worldly experience and total lack of knowledge.

[Forum Explorer]

Dance with someone younger or same age.

[Eldariel]

Originally Posted by Deme

Spoiler

Well, we have a choice, but we can't tell which one is the correct one. Or maybe Court Manners would give us another option -- I don't recall.

Spoiler

I recall it just tells you it's not correct to dance with others.

[Mewtarthio]

We've already made a terrible showing of ourselves so far. Thus, the only recourse is to completely overwhelm our first impression by dancing with someone scandalous!

[Kizor]

Originally Posted by smuchmuch

Oh god that magical girl outfit it's just... just... so.... *snicker*. Even by the already generous standart of magical girl fashion.

We're a pretty pretty princess.

Dance with someone younger, it seems like the best way to meet someone who doesn't want to show us his stabs. Elizabeth I we are not, it's probably best to avoid politicizing our hand further.

[Winthur]

Scandalous alllll the way. Will at least be good for a laugh.

[Tavar]

Someone Younger. Hopefully, that will make it clear we're not doing this for marriage stuff, but just to dance.

[Sanguine]

Someone Younger, seems the best option.

[Mirrinus]

Originally Posted by Deme

Also, yeah. I actually kind of like Talarist -- I don't know to what extent he can do right or wrong by you, but I've always felt like he's tried to help and not manipulate me too much. His smugness is in the acceptable limits of a glasses-guy (who run smug, in my opinion), he doesn't generally seem to try and kill the goose that's laying him a political golden egg, he's got both a name and a face...It's all good.

Spoiler

If you read between the lines of some of the seemingly tangential scenarios, there are implications that Talarist's country (and maybe even Talarist himself) might be responsible for certain unpleasant acts going on in the other provinces of Nova. However, even if true, these dealings are targeted at other nobles but never at Elodie. So while it's definitely possible that Talarist may be behind some of the intrigue going on in the world, he doesn't directly try to hurt Elodie herself, even if you reject his marriage proposal.

I have heard that there is a certain specific sequence of events that can get him sufficiently pissed off so as to invade Nova, but I've never managed to get it before. I think I might have an idea of how to do so if it actually exists, though. You'd have to be a pretty big jerk and piss off/kill off quite a few other characters to achieve it.

EDIT: Okay, just because I was curious, I decided to do a quick playthrough to see just how bad Talarist can be if I do everything in my power to piss him off. Do not read the following spoiler box if you don't want to see references to future events that may happen in Deme's playthrough.

Spoiler

Long story short...he's still not all that bad even if you make it your mission to piss him off as much as possible. He'll still never try to kill you, only make other things slightly more difficult for you.

If you just reject his marriage proposal for whatever reason, then later on in the game he'll raise tariffs which forces you to either spend money keeping your people fed or refuse and suffer a popularity decrease that can potentially lead to a peasant uprising once your popularity is low enough. If your conversation skills are high enough, though, you can turn down his proposal with tact and still maintain friendly relations with him, preventing him from raising the tariffs later. If you used his necklace to bluff Ixion, though, you won't be able to refuse without angering him even with high conversation skills.

Now, in order to really get on Talarist's bad side, for this playthrough I had Elodie accept the necklace, use it to bluff Ixion, refuse to marry Talarist when he brings it up twice, let the newly-orphaned Duke of Elath get assassinated, refused to allow Talarist (who's next in line) take over as the new Duke of Elath, then gave the position to a random commoner. After all that, I am successful enough at pissing him off to make Talarist invade Nova. Except...the event really isn't that big of a deal. All he does is attack the province of Elath, but he still never threatens Elodie or the rest of Nova. Elodie is forced to send some soldiers to deal with the invasion, but you don't ever get personally involved with it, and I think all it does is decrease the nation's hidden army size stat. But I don't think it even decreases it by all that much, because with maxed out military stats on Elodie and making every skill check to recruit soldiers/build ships, I was still able to achieve a straight-up victory in the war that takes place in the end-game without even having to resort to magic.

The only other noteworthy change is that once you make it to your coronation, the ending states that Talasse and Ixion realize how much of a jerk Elodie has been towards them and decided to ally themselves against Nova. This is all in the epilogue, though, so it doesn't actually have an impact on the game itself.

So yeah, Talarist is pretty tame as far as suitors go. Considering how many of Elodie's suitors can potentially kill her or worse depending on the route, that's probably a complement.

[Lord Fullbladder, Master of Goblins]

Scandal! Definately scandalous. Maybe it'll make 'em think we're not worth the effort of assassinating.

[Lycan 01]

Scandelous! :D

[Deme]

Chapter 23
or
Having a Ball

Spoiler

Wow, everyone wanted us to dance! So millionaire-playgirl Elodie shall go forth and dance!


This is that list I asked you to pick between, to save us time.
And our victory goes to Youth! We didn't make the choices for the most interesting scandalous dance anyone.


He looks absolutely terrified at the prospect of having to dance with a girl, but the little lord is too well-bred to refuse you.
He knows we can kill him with but a word. Oh, and also, we're pretty, even if our outfit is silly.

Still, you'll have to be careful not to step on him.


Oh, dear! Will our dancing training be enough?

Survey says 'no.'

Between the dances, there is time for the guests to mingle, chat, and sample tiny bites of exquisite food
I could go for some tiny bites of exquisite food. Like, maybe they could have some bacon-wrapped figs or some shrimp they do a thing with or some marinated crab claws or some...
Goshdarnit, game! Stop suggesting bits of tasty things.


I love how it doesn't even need to tell us that no one is impressed.
Also, I think I hear a smug coming on.


SMUUUUUGG!
Funfact: I am trying to train myself to remember that this dude is called Banion, and not 'Lord McSmuggity,' or 'That annoyingly smug-looking guy' or the like. You'd think I'd remember eventually...
But nope. Duke of Smug it is. It's that little smirk and the tilt of his head. He thinks he's so hot, you can see it in his smug face.

"Her words of wisdom guide us through our difficulties."
Was this his font? It's late and I don't want to check when the Ixion thing was. Yeah, ok, it's his font now.
Also, our words are terrible Banion, Duke of Smug (maybe if I meet myself halfway?)

Everyone applauds politely
They know he is full of it, we've not impressed anyone.

As the gala continues, you take the opportunity to observe nobles you rarely see.
I bet it's because they mostly don't have portraits, to my recollection.

That said, they can be relevant for later.
Or Adele, the youngest daughter of the Duchess of Lillah and a fierce sportswoman. She was a few years ahead of you at school and the absolute terror of the ballfields.
No Briony - she had said her parents were leaving her stuck at school this season.
Her parents are here, dancing together - the Duke-Consort clutching his Duchess possessively tight.

Strange that there's no sign of your cousins, though. Shouldn't they be here?
[/b]

Yeah, funny that... After all...


And yet they only showed up after the funeral. Unless they came to the funeral, left before we arrived, and came back?
...That's dumb, Lucille. That is a dumb plan.


Aaaaand there's that check we've been working for.
Then it hits you. Aunt Lucille is a Lumen!
So we can call her a witch and it'll be literal fact! Excellent!


I dunno, guys, what should we...
Oh, what am I saying? We just spent all that time for this moment. Of course we'll talk to her!

"Aunt Lucille, may I speak with you privately?"
"Of course, dear."

You withdraw to a small side room.

"I can sense your powers. You're a Lumen."
Most lumens, it should be observed, are closeted -- the only ones who aren't are yourself (because all rulers of Nova are Lumen) and Julianna, who catches a lot of flack for it.
So we're sort of an X-man mixed with Batman: we're a Lumen, protecting a world which hates and fears us.

"What?!?
"I am, too. That's how I know. Can't you sense that?"


Then maybe you should have been doubling Sense Magic a bit more, huh?
She looks down, shaking her head.


"I can make the crystal appear and disappear block out sound with it. That's all."


That check asks for a *lot* of sense magic. Like, all of it.
Did you miss the part where it'd make a lady who likes power into an X-man? Being hated and feared sucks, Elodie.

"Magic is dangerous, everyone knows that. People might think I was an evil witch. They wouldn't trust me."
Lucille, honey...People think you're an evil witch already. Time to accept this.

"Look at how much the Duchess of Ursul has. Please, Your Highness, don't tell anyone."


And now we have a choice... I'll leave it to you voters to think out the pros and cons that might be at play here, since I think my arguing will influence it overmuch.

[Forum Explorer]

If we keep an evil witch around people will think we're being controlled and go after the witch first.

Therefore I say we offer her a position! Plus perhaps our cousin will reappear!

[Mewtarthio]

"I definitely don't have any magic powers, despite being a Lumen!"

SENSE MAGIC: FAILED!

"I totally believe you!"

...Yeah, this is going to work out swimmingly. Oh, well, keep your enemies closer and offer her a court position. Elodie might be too naive to keep tabs on her, but I bet Julianna isn't.

By the way, I actually liked the economist outfit. It made Elodie look exactly like a cheesy stage magician while she was busy learning real magic.

[Lycan 01]

Keep Her Secret. They say keep your enemies close, but I'd rather not have a liar with magical powers sleeping under the same roof as me. If she's not willing to be honest, then we have ZERO reason to trust her. Doing so could end badly...

[Mirrinus]

For those of you curious as to what happens if you have a high enough Sense Magic stat to make that second check:

Spoiler

You sure you want to know?

Spoiler

Elodie will sense that Lucille is hiding something, some sort of powerful ancient magic. She'll then have the option of calling Lucille out. If she does so, Lucille will use her magic to take control of Elodie's body and make her "have an unfortunate accident". This may actually be the worst possible death in the game, if Lucille's description of it is true. Elodie will suffer a mortal injury that will keep her alive but in critical condition for a long time, with Lucille's spell preventing her from talking or informing anyone of who was really responsible. And only once everyone has given up hope on Elodie will she finally be given permission to die.

Yes, this is one of the few times in the game where having a high stat can actually lead to your demise.

However, if you have a really high Resist Magic stat as well, Elodie can try to resist Lucille's spell, causing it to backfire and kill her instead. Do note that if you do this, Charlotte will hate your guts for the rest of the game. Which I find pretty jarring, because her portrait still has the same cheery smile, even when she's telling Elodie how much she despises her.

[Terraoblivion]

Awww, shame, we didn't get to dance with Julianna at the ball. Because that's what the scandalous option is.

And this is indeed a fun choice, you're facing. I look forward to see which way paranoia and curiosity falls for you guys.

[Mirrinus]

The Scandelous option actually has 3 different possibilities, depending on who else is present at the ball (certain characters may be missing depending on your earlier choices). Julianna is the default if she's available, but the 2nd choice is one of this game's two yuri endings, haha.

[Terraoblivion]

Only gotten Juliana and the Duchess of Hellas, myself. She sends you flowers if you dance with her, but nothing more ever came from it, sadly.

[Mirrinus]

If you danced with Brin (the Duchess of Hellas) and don't find yourself close to any other suitor by the game's end, she will send you a letter at the game's end that lets you go for the yuri option. Well, as much of a yuri option as it can be given the political climate and need to produce an heir.

Actually, I find it a bit squicky, to be honest.

Spoiler

Brin will suggest for Elodie to marry her brother Banion (aka Lord McSmuggity). If Elodie does, Brin herself will marry Elodie's father, and use that as an excuse to basically live with Elodie. The ending even states that the two "spent more time with each other than with their husbands." I believe one of the Intrigue-Internal Affairs lessons does confirm that Brin is indeed a lesbian.

It's also a somewhat unsettling ending because if Brin has a son, he will technically be Elodie's half-brother, nephew, and whatever else is applicable that I'm forgetting. Which the game itself will point out. Also, carrying on an affair with your stepmother is just...eh...

Yeah, this game can get pretty messed up when it comes to family ties. And it's totally self-aware of this fact. Let's just say there are some really messed up nobility houses in Nova.