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carewyncromwell · 2 years

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The Circle of Khanna VS Merula Snyde (as penned by Carewyn Cromwell)

Well, this isn’t exactly the Wizengamot courtroom I envisioned. Oh well...all I can do is my best.

“...Good day, esteemed members of the court.”

Of public opinion, I suppose.

“...My name is Carewyn Cromwell. I’m one of five founding members of a student organization that was called the Circle of Khanna.”

And still is. Even with R gone...those bonds are forever.

“The Circle of Khanna was instrumental in the Auror Department taking down the criminal organization R, after winning a decisive battle against its core leadership in the Sunken Vault during my sixth year. It’s also thanks to the Circle helping the Auror Department deal with R that several of the Circle’s members are now in line to take jobs at the Department of Magical Law Enforcement next year, when we graduate.”

Like me.

“...In an...alternate universe, however...one that my Mundane calls the ‘canon plotline’ of a game called Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery...one of that Circle of Khanna’s three founding members -- Merula Snyde -- recently had to face a vote by the other members regarding her continued membership within the organization.”

Merlin, if the Merula I knew had regressed that badly...

“...Given that this set-up has echoes of a trial -- though perhaps without a proper Chief Prosecutor or Witness for the Defense -- my Mundane assigned me the task of examining this case with the scrutiny I would give it as an aspiring lawyer. I’ll attempt to play the role of both Prosecutor and Witness to a degree, weighing out both sides of the issue to the best of my abilities...and trust me when I say that I’ll do my very best to treat the ‘Merula Snyde’ addressed in this case as completely different to the one I’m familiar with.”

It shouldn’t be too hard -- Merula has always been selfish, but she was never stupid.

“I’ll use screenshots my Mundane has provided me of game playthroughs by a ‘Youtube user’ she calls ‘I-GGames’ -- ”

I know this must be something Muggle, but damned if I’ve ever heard of it...

“ -- to support my case, in the place of witness testimony or collected Pensieve memories.”

“Now then...let’s start with the charges. What has Merula Snyde done that now violates her membership, in the eyes of the other members of the Circle of Khanna?”

Ugh, to think there could be any reality where Merula would join the likes of R...

“...Yes. As stated, the point of contention against Merula Snyde is this -- that she’s currently part of a secret student organization that was specifically formed to protect themselves and the rest of Hogwarts from the likes of the secret criminal organization known as R -- ”

“ -- while being an active member of said criminal organization herself. Not for the sake of espionage or sabotaging R from the inside...but actually helping them, by carrying out their dirty work and orders...even against one of the Circle of Khanna’s own members.”

Corey Hayden actually being part of the Circle is kind of strange...I mean, he’s perfectly amiable, but he had no clue about R, that whole time. But I suppose this isn’t the Corey I know, just like this isn’t the Merula or the Circle I know...

“Arguably even two, since the whole reason R even ordered the defendant to kidnap Corey Hayden in the first place was supposedly so that ‘MC’ and ‘R’s Leader’ could meet and the second could start trying to coerce the first into joining R too.”

This is R’s Leader, in this reality? ...This is officially weird.

“...So...now that we have our charges, how does our defendant plead?”

“...She...guilt-trips the person delivering the charges to her for not trusting her with the Circle’s activities after thoroughly abusing both that person and the Circle’s trust...and then proceeds to get offended when the group she betrayed tries to hold her responsible for her actions.”

Typical.

“...All right. Let’s try to be fair here. Clearly this response is more motivated out of shock and pain than anything, and the defendant is just the type to bite back with anger when hurt, rather than actually reflect and try to address past mistakes.”

So this Merula Snyde is like Merula back when she was still a bratty eleven-year-old. Good to know.

“And yet the defendant has, as of yet, made no attempt to accept responsibility or make amends for the abuse of trust she made against the Circle of Khanna. When challenged on kidnapping Corey, she instead diverted the conversation, trying to paint MC as ‘the same as her’ simply because they likewise withheld information from the Circle -- in this case, about them being related to R’s Leader.”

“And yes, although I will grant that information is something the Circle deserved to know and MC really had no good reason to withhold it from them...particularly considering that R’s Leader has hardly been any sort of parent to them and was directly responsible for the organization threatening their and their friends’ lives and actually taking both Duncan and Rowan’s lives...that truly is irrelevant to the case at hand. Because Merula Snyde is not having her membership revoked because of her lying -- it’s because of her active membership with R and complicity in their activities. Even while knowing full well of their involvement in Rowan’s death and in sending the white-robed wizard to hurt both her and MC. Even while knowing of Patricia Rakepick’s criminal involvement with them. Even after claiming, when confronted earlier that year about her supposed membership and given the chance to play double agent, that she was done helping R.”

“So the question must be asked -- why would Merula even want to remain with the Circle, if she’s made her true allegiance clear?”

Oh, for goodness’ sake...

“...So. We come to the crux of the defense case in favor of Merula Snyde --

“‘The defendant is not evil -- she's just a complete and total idiot.’

“Putting aside the fact that a witch raised with knowledge of Dark magic would know full well how dangerous Unbreakable Vows are...as well as that Verucca Buckthorn-Snyde was a relative who would only ever ‘pop in’ to see the defendant now and again and therefore hadn’t developed any particularly strong bond with her that would merit such trust...not to mention that it would be easy to try Verucca Buckthorn-Snyde for attempted murder, considering she forced a minor to make a magical contract that could result in her death... I have three very important questions, regarding this Unbreakable Vow.

“One, when did the defendant make this Vow? Was it before or after she knew R was responsible for Rowan’s death?”

“So if I have this correct, Merula Snyde made an Unbreakable Vow to her aunt without knowing she was in R, a year before Rowan died. There’s a problem with this testimony, which we’ll get to in a minute, but for now, we’ll take it at face value. What’s not clear from this account is when Merula Snyde figured out Verucca was part of R...but we know at the very least she knew at the end of her sixth year, as MC overheard Merula say this -- ”

“So by Merula Snyde’s own timeline, she knew that she was serving the criminal organization that was responsible for Rowan’s death and that the Circle of Khanna was formed specifically to oppose for an entire year. Keep that in your head for the rest of this discussion. Merula Snyde had full awareness of all of this -- her aunt’s manipulation of her, the full terms of the Unbreakable Vow and its connotations, her forced alignment with the criminal organization that sent Rakepick to kill Rowan -- for an entire year.

“But moving onto our next question.

“Two -- what are the exact terms of this Unbreakable Vow?”

‘True family?’ Who even talks like that?

“Now I hope I’m not being too presumptuous...and truly, I don’t say this to be too demeaning toward either Ms. Buckthorn-Snyde or the defendant...but I’m seeing loopholes galore in this particular statement without any effort, and I’m frankly shocked that a Slytherin like Merula Snyde would be oblivious to them.

“The first and most glaringly obvious is the phrase ‘true family.’ Anyone who knows what family truly is knows that its core tenant is selfless love -- and most assuredly, Verucca Buckthorn-Snyde knows nothing of that. Even the defendant herself stated that the Circle of Khanna is all she really has, since they would never treat her the way her aunt did. They’ve protected, supported, and encouraged her, the way Ms. Buckthorn-Snyde never has. Therefore, it’s not hard to see that the ‘true family’ in Merula’s life is the Circle of Khanna, or more specifically, the friends she’s made among their ranks, not Verucca. Even the defendant herself seems to be somewhat aware of this loophole, because she uses very similar wording when talking to someone she thinks is a random R member -- ”

“But even if someone doesn’t want to follow that logic -- because truly, if that were the case, wouldn’t the defendant have died, once she’d betrayed the Circle’s trust? -- Ms. Buckthorn-Snyde is not Merula Snyde’s only family. Her parents are still alive, even if they’re in Azkaban. Hell, if Merula got married and/or had or adopted any children, they would also be her family. Even if someone else adopted her into their family, those people would also fulfill the Vow’s instructions. She could truly be loyal to whichever family was her ‘true family.’

“This is not the only loophole I can see in this wording, however. Another big one involves the concept of loyalty. Loyalty is about one’s relationship to another person -- one’s feelings, in support of another person. It can be partnered with, but is not identical to, obedience, which involves doing what you’re told. So just because Merula is loyal to her aunt should not have to mean doing whatever R says...because, one could argue, as long as R exists, the Ministry will hunt Ms. Buckthorn-Snyde down for being one of its members. The defendant could just as easily work to stop R while still protecting and caring for her aunt. There are plenty of occasions where you sometimes have to work against what someone wants you to do for their own benefit -- for instance, if someone you love is drunk, you may choose to not buy them another drink.”

“So yes, within the span of perhaps a few minutes, I’ve already found multiple ways to circumvent this particular Vow in a way that could help the affected party sabotage R. When the defendant herself -- as a reminder -- had at least a year to do so, but did not act out on any of them. Which brings us to my final question...

“Three -- why didn’t the defendant tell anyone any of this?

“Clearly since Merula Snyde is telling MC this information now, there’s nothing preventing her from sharing the terms of her Unbreakable Vow. She does claim that she couldn’t tell MC ‘the truth’ until they met R’s Leader -- ”

“-- but entire days have passed since then. Why didn’t Merula Snyde tell MC the very first moment she could? Or better yet, if you want to play around with loopholes some more, why not tell someone besides MC? Why not tell another member of the Circle of Khanna? Or what ‘truth’ is the defendant not allowed to tell, exactly? The truth about MC’s relation to R? Merula’s membership? It’s never specified. As another loophole, you could tell MC one lie for every truth and make it glaringly obvious what’s true and what’s not -- the terms never required that you lie convincingly. ‘I was forced to make an Unbreakable Vow by my aunt and I’ve watched every episode of Star Trek in existence.’

“Because here’s the big problem with the defendant’s timeline that I mentioned earlier -- she had the perfect opportunity to tell us about her Vow before, when she was supposedly coming clean about her membership with R. MC even challenges Merula Snyde on this point -- ”

“So let’s look back on that confrontation, shall we? MC asked Merula about her involvement with R -- they even explicitly said this -- ”

“And yet the testimony the defendant gave then is nothing like the account she’s given here.”

‘Slipping information’ -- right -- information besides anything that would actually be useful to stopping R or bringing them to justice...

“...In this meeting, Merula Snyde had a golden opportunity to give MC and by extension her other friends in the Circle of Khanna some inkling of the trouble she was in and how unwilling of a participant she was in R’s activities...and instead, she told a story justifying her joining R, as if it was something she chose for herself. That cannot be something outlined in the terms of the Unbreakable Vow set down by her aunt. Truly, even now, I struggle to understand the logic behind such a lie. I don’t see how much of anyone would sympathize with the thought process outlined by the defendant -- namely, ‘I felt weak, so I joined the criminal organization that made me feel weak and scared in the first place, even if my enemy worked for them and killed one of my classmates on their orders’...but if the defendant truly had come to the...belated conclusion that her friends’ safety was more important than obeying R, why did she obey R in kidnapping Corey so as to lure MC? Why did she make no further effort after coming to this conclusion to actually take down R? Why did she not try harder to help the Circle of Khanna learn the whole truth, rather than actively try to dissuade MC from trusting Corey Hayden and only relying on Merula Snyde herself for support?”

Pot calling the kettle black.

“After all, as the defendant herself said at one point -- ”

“So why is it that Merula Snyde didn’t find a way to share her secrets with MC, Corey, and the rest of the Circle, rather than only keeping more and more of them and yet expecting universal trust from others? Perhaps it’s the same reason she got so offended at the idea that the Circle of Khanna doubted whether she should remain a member -- the defendant expects to be forgiven for her actions without having to put in any of the legwork to earn that forgiveness. Even just expressing any remorse for her actions didn’t even occur to her until she was put in a position where she’d lose her place in the Circle of Khanna.”

“In other words, she’s sorry now that she’s facing consequences and blow-back for her behavior. She’s not sorry for the behavior itself. And this is ultimately the biggest problem with the argument that the defendant is only guilty of being criminally stupid. Because if she was actually sorry for having done anything she’d done, she wouldn’t have acted like this when she was kidnapping Corey Hayden.”

“The defendant was forced to join the bad guys? Well, here, she played the part to a tee. No one can argue that this kind of talk was required by Verucca Buckthorn-Snyde’s Unbreakable Vow. If all that was required was kidnapping Corey and making MC follow, the defendant signaling she was doing it under duress would’ve brought MC running. Instead, there is flat-out satisfaction here. And even after the whole thing went down, the defendant still expresses no remorse. Even when asked to explain herself, both before MC and before the Circle of Khanna, she merely does that -- explain her actions. In other words, justify and excuse them. She does not apologize. She does not say she was wrong. She does not say she’ll try to make things right. She doesn’t even take enough responsibility to say there was more she could’ve and should’ve done, to stand by the people she said herself were ‘all she had.’

“Merula Snyde trusted her aunt Verucca -- a woman who she had no reason to trust at all, given their history -- to make her powerful enough to defeat Patricia Rakepick. And yet she never, not for a single instant, all the way up until she was in the position to lose something she wanted -- namely, her place in the Circle of Khanna --...ever trusted her friends. Even though she knew full well they would help her, if she went to them. Even if she knew full well they’d understand her rationale, if she came clean sooner. Even though she knew that however dangerous R was, she had a better chance of fighting back against them with the Circle’s help, rather than alone, or just with MC and Corey.”

I know I shut everyone else out after what happened in the Portrait Vault, but...but Rowan’s death proved to me how wrong that was. Rowan’s death proved none of us could face this threat alone...nor should we...

“...I myself...have always had trouble trusting others to help...but even I can’t understand that thought process. To trust someone who clearly has never loved you enough to make an Unbreakable Vow with them -- particularly after you were so cruelly betrayed by a mentor you truly respected and trusted...that alone is staggering. But to then express no shame or remorse for not trusting those people who do care about you and your safety...especially after that lack of trust on your part resulted in you kidnapping somebody, just to try to force someone else to join the organization you were forced to join...it baffles me.”

“...In the end...I have to reiterate Talbott’s argument from earlier on. The Circle of Khanna was founded to stop R. Merula is part of R, and she made no substantial effort to try to halt their dealings in the entire year she knowingly worked as one of their pawns. In that year, she never sought out loopholes to the Vow’s wording. She never sought out legal help from the Ministry. She never leaked any information useful enough that they led to any consequential arrests of R members. She had plenty of opportunity, both before and especially after being enlisted as a double agent for the Circle of Khanna. And even upon being confronted with her betrayal of her friends’ trust, she expressed no remorse or shame for any of her actions until such words could earn her enough sympathy that she’d keep the position in the Circle of Khanna that she places such value in. But truly, why does she even value it at all? Because it’s been made very clear she no longer places value in the Circle of Khanna’s purpose, nor its members, since she wouldn’t even try to use her cunning to circumvent R enough to protect them. What Merula Snyde values, apparently, is the safety of her friends within the Circle. She said herself that the reason she didn’t like working for R was because her friends were getting hurt -- most relevantly, Ismelda Murk, who got stuck in the crossfire of one of R’s less-thought-out missions.”

How unfortunate it is that the R I had to deal with had my grandfather calling the shots, rather than someone as incompetent as this. Then again, it seems the Auror Department is likewise much more incompetent, if they couldn’t take him down a lot sooner...

“But here’s the rub -- Merula’s friendships are not at risk here. She still has plenty of support among the Circle’s membership.”

“The defendant has what she wanted anyway. There are still people who care about and support her, even despite everything. There are just other people she’s hurt who won’t forgive what she’s done so easily -- and even then, any decent person would see that as a chance to try to make amends and make up for one’s past mistakes, not a flat-out rejection. Forgiveness doesn’t always come easy, but it’s not impossible. And even if that person were to never forgive you, it still behooves you to try to make things right. It’s particularly justified since these are people you claim to care about, want to protect, and see more like family than your actual blood aunt. And at present, Merula Snyde has not properly contradicted the charges laid at her feet -- namely, that she no longer stands for what the Circle of Khanna was founded upon. She has not shown her commitment to defeating R, rather doubled down on fulfilling their orders without any remorse or attempt to re-earn the Circle’s trust.”

For all of her many...many faults...the Merula I know wouldn’t do this. She would never just mindlessly obey someone without question...especially anyone aligned with the likes of R...

“...Therefore...there is only one choice that, in my opinion, seems just, in regards to Merula Snyde’s place in the Circle of Khanna...

“Merula Snyde should be removed from the Circle of Khanna’s membership.

“She should no longer be privy to any more of its intelligence regarding R, nor should she have any further say in the Circle’s activities. Should she require help in protecting herself against R, perhaps one of her remaining friends in the Circle’s ranks will speak out on her behalf, just as they could anyone else R’s threatened...but Merula Snyde has forgotten that the Circle of Khanna was formed in the memory of Rowan Khanna -- to stop R from hurting anyone else -- not for her own sake. It can more than function without her, or any of its founding members, if push came to shove. Even MC themselves isn’t necessary for the Circle to live on. MC’s blindness regarding R’s Leader and almost purposeful ignorance regarding his true intentions for them certainly make them a bit more than a liability.”

Even the Circle I know...they didn’t need me, or Bill, or Charlie, Ben, and Merula. I’m glad they fought with me -- I’m grateful they did...

“...The cause the Circle of Khanna was built on...and the lives of the people who chose to fight for it...are far more important than the membership of a single person.”

#hphm #hogwarts mystery #carewyn cromwell #roleplaying #opinion #hphm spoilers #spoilers #now you see why i have the tag 'oh boy here i go' on my home blog #anti-merula snyde #tagging just in case #because truly I don't hate merula but game!merula deserves some rational criticism #she's just been done so dirty by the writing team #merula snyde #verucca buckthorn snyde #verucca #mc's father #peregrine

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ahwait-no-yes · 4 years

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Let’s talk about if Saihara hated Ouma

So lately I’ve actually seen a bit more comments on how Saihara doesn’t actually like Ouma and people have gone as far as saying he hates him and idk why people genuinely believe it so here I am about to refute that (I’ve been waiting ages to make this post just so you know so this came out as a horribly unstructured ramble more than anything oops)

some notes beforehand:

I have an obvious bias as I do ship saiouma. although i’ll try to be neutral on what I say here, I can’t hide my bias. I have tried to include what people that hate this ship believe to counter them though, also if you ship other things that’s totally fine?? don’t think of any of this as an attack at your ship and I’m not saying Saihara loved Ouma, I’m just tired of people saying Saihara hated him.

You’re allowed to respectfully disagree as long as you don’t berate me or say I don’t know the game when the majority of the screenshots in this are from my own gameplay, lmao.

and massive whole-game spoilers! Don’t read this if you’ve not finished DRV3!

Glad to know you made it under the cut! now I can begin with where I think people got this idea that Saihara hates him from- the infamous “You’re alone Kokichi and you always will be” line.

I admit this was very cold and still breaks my fragile saiou heart, but to base Saihara’s entire perspective of Ouma on this one line he said while he wasn’t thinking straight is just.. no.. It’s unrealistic. we’ve seen how Saihara is able to adapt his views and grow (I’ll come back to this later), he’s not stubborn in this regard like Momota or even Ouma is, so even if he did mean it 100% (which I doubt because when *anybody* is angry they will say or do things they may regret had they been calmer), it’s not like his view on Ouma from chapter 4 was his final view on him. And that’s what people fail to realise.

So, how does Saihara view Ouma then?

well, I’d say he’s been interested in Ouma as a detective from the moment he met him with his curiosity piqued at Ouma’s claims of leading a secret organisation.

and he remains curious about Ouma throughout, always questioning why Ouma says certain things, what Ouma is lying for, he just wants to figure him out- and this doesn’t just apply to free time events either

I think you get my point there, now, I think if I didn’t ship saiou and read this, I’d argue these are all pre-chapter 5 and before the breaking line so he may have been curious before but not after- that then brings me to my next point

Saihara was confident- dare I say believed- in Ouma, especially after Chapter 5.

how bold of me to say ikr, but this ties in to Saihara’s ability to adapt his views. He’s sort of like a mixture of both Kaito and Ouma honestly, because naturally as a detective he has to be suspicious and think logically as Ouma does, while at the same time Kaito taught him to believe in his friends which has also helped him to advance in trials. I think he might have extended this belief to Ouma, because he trusts that Ouma is doing what he does for a reason.

In fact, I’d argue he’s the only one of the remaining group who wouldn’t readily accept pinning Ouma down as a villain. If anything, it’s the opposite- Saihara fought to clear Ouma’s name, and never stopped trying to understand whether or not his intentions were true or false

i’ll just drop this screenshot here (that i named THIS MAKES ME SO HAPPY.png in case you were wondering)

this is what I mean when I say he wouldn’t accept it as fast as the others and would second-guess it, bear in mind this is the moment Ouma “admitted” to being the mastermind. and it’s not like this doubt was sudden or anything, cause I can recall this moment (that I actually didn’t catch on to on my first playthrough)

which gives me the idea that hadn’t Ouma purposefully messed with everyone and built up his bad reputation, it would’ve been so much easier for Saihara to disprove him being the mastermind at the point he said it.

Anyway, going back to my point- excluding Kaito (cause Ouma directly told him), Saihara is the first to bring up Ouma’s innocence, and this is what I mean when I say Saihara believed in Ouma

note that I say believed in. believing Ouma and believing in Ouma are different, it’s like how loving someone and being in love with someone are two different things, so don’t argue that by saying “he didn’t trust him” because ik that and that’s not what I’m trying to say.

but he did believe that Ouma had his reasons, and he tried to discover and understand them. I mean, take this for example

he’s already on board lool look at him go, but no really look at the confidence

he’s both confident in himself and in Ouma not lying here, then goes back to being curious about his intentions

oh and let’s not forget who it was that searched Ouma’s lab to find clues to prove he is a remnant of despair. Why do you need to search for evidence for something you (and the others even more) think is irrefutably true? the answer is obvious- he was doubtful of it from the start, and needed evidence to convince himself it was true, but then as he found nothing to prove it (and even evidence against it), he had to convince the others of it too- and prove Ouma’s innocence

(the last screenshot was from Hikkie’s playthrough on Youtube)

But as you can see, he’s clearing Ouma’s name as the leader of the Remnants of Despair.

Now, I bet someone would argue that this only proves Saihara was determined to find the truth in general, because he’s mister detective, so I’ll raise you the fact that Saihara didn’t need to try figuring why Ouma does the things he does- he could leave it at just knowing the truth and if he really didn’t like Ouma like people say then there’s not much merit to it.

“So what if I know this now? I didn’t care about him, it’s pointless” he could’ve thought something like that, but no

(I also think the “you’re lying again kokichi, there’s a method to your madness” moment fits here too)

Not only this, but there’s also how Saihara learnt from him.

honestly im still kinda mindblown from this ever since I first realised it, but when you think about it, Ouma hinted to Saihara in his FTEs how to win the game.

(those 3 screenshots are from justonegamr’s kokichi’s FTE video; random fun fact this was the playthrough that i watched while first getting into drv3)

But if you think about it, Ouma tried this again in his own trial in his attempt at ending the killing game and then Saihara also used this to actually end it

Not only that (which personally i think is pretty powerful in itself), but Saihara also tries to take Ouma seriously and picks up hints he leaves and uses them later

as well as

(and generally just)

generally, Ouma will hint and then Saihara will pick it up. it’s been like that for the whole game- why should Saihara give any extra thought to what Ouma hints if he dislikes him?? really, he could’ve just ignored him the same way he did at the end of chapter 4- but again, he didn’t “”hate”” Ouma enough to keep ignoring him, he considered him a friend in the end anyway.

and the end is what I’ll talk about now, too.

first- can we just acknowledge this?

he doesn’t ignore Ouma at all here. even though he didn’t trust him, he was sad to have lost him.

Not to mention the way he thinks about lying at the end of Chapter 6. (like, please this is just- *chefs kiss*)

IMAGINE Ouma was alive to hear him say that omg but Saihara could (and probably would) extend what he says here to Ouma himself- y’know, the ‘embodiment of lies’

by thinking about lies in a different angle instead of at face value like this, he gets a more neutral view on them rather than just thinking “they’re bad!!”, why wouldn’t he be able to do the same for Ouma? especially now that he knows Ouma was innocent and actually hated the game as much as they all did. I mean hey, even after chapter 5′s trial he sort of already thinks about lies differently

and throughout this post, I’ve tried to avoid talking about his free time events or his salmon mode ending because people always say “well they’re not canon” and to that I say not canon to the plot, yes, but still canon to the characters. so yeah, I don’t disregard any of them.

from this point onwards these all technically happen before chapter 5, so it’s not entirely relevant to my point that saihara still liked ouma even after the end of chapter 4, but it’s still something that shows he liked him beforehand at least. I mainly just wanna ramble though haha

one thing I’ve always thought was interesting was how Saihara easily lashed out at Kaito in his own free time event

and Kaito is undeniably Saihara’s best friend who he holds in high regard. If Saihara having backbone means he doesn’t like someone then damn bye bye momota have a nice trip in space

in terms of ouma and saihara though

how about the fact that Saihara willingly sat there and played rock paper scissors (janken pon!) with Ouma 100 times?? bruh I got bored playing that with my brother after 8 rounds yesterday how would Saihara manage 100?? would you really have the patience for that when you don’t even like the person you’re playing with?

how about his third free time event too?

(from justonegamr’s kokichi fte video)

Saihara wanted to spend some time with Ouma, that’s- its literally written there I don’t know what you want from me the guy wanted a nice time with someone he supposedly doesnt like

what I love about this is how “reaching out” could be taken both literally and figuratively. Wanting to understand someone and trying to find a way to but them being too unwilling to trust anyone.. damn 😔👊 also shuuichi either wanted to handshake or hold hands, what else do you do when you reach for someone’s hand come on

oh yes and how about that he’s content with the refusal because it allowed him to figure out a small thing about Ouma? understanding that Ouma has a different way of being reached out to? mhm please think about that for a bit

that parallel in the salmon ending too...

he considered how it’ll be like with him after they get out and how he’ll learn about him, then ultimately decided when ouma reached out to him that he does want this, and even comments on the warmth of his hand... afhskfdlj

his blush when ouma mentions how his lies didn’t bore saihara was also a very cute moment

ooh and what about the love hotel???

there’s that one line “I know i’m meant to be Kokichi’s ideal in this fantasy but when he tells me he loves me I feel like he means the opposite” or something like that- i’d argue it’s because he’s cautious of Ouma for one but also am I getting something wrong here or is he talking about how he, Shuuichi, thinks Ouma doesn’t like him? because I see people argue this is proof saihara doesn’t like ouma but all he’s really doing is just doubting ouma loves him

well in any case

WHY would he want him to stay in a love hotel of all places if he disliked him?! I know I’m just a broken record at this point but I can’t think of anything logical for it. they didnt even need to include that line in the scene at all but they did like they could’ve easily said something to do with realising where he was instead but nah. even after the event’s over, he says to himself

doesn’t he sound disappointed by it? and the fact that he even questions if it was a dream- okay

ooh, something i’ve realised while writing this as well: it kind of seems like Saihara might not want to like him but does anyway; he quickly ‘smothered the thought’ of staying with Kokichi, didn’t want to admit that Ouma’s lies never bored him, and I also thought about how in one of Kaito’s free time events he says to himself “I shouldn’t be talking about another boy like that”- well, maybe it’s similar for how he thinks of ouma? it’s not like Saihara didn’t care for the others’ opinion on him (probably the opposite ngl if you mess up in class trials he says something along the lines of“Ah I screwed up! They probably think I’m a fraud”) and considering nobody else liked ouma (except for maybe gonta) I wouldn’t be surprised if he felt shame for liking him, thus repressing that feeling (especially around the others, there’s that part in trial 4 where he’s trying to convince kaito he isn’t siding with ouma cause he knows by doing that could damage his friendship with his bro)

I mean this is something I only thought of just now, but it could be plausible (i hope?)

One last thing- I find it incredibly funny how in chapter 2 when ouma is literally on top of saihara he doesn’t freak out or scream and everyone else in the room is also completely chill with it and unquestioning. no really they’re just standing there.. and how long was ouma even in that position for??

Now, I think that’s all. So to finish off, I’ll just say

People get the idea that saiouma is bad because some don’t realise Saihara can still like a person without idolising or putting them on a pedestal. Idk if this is gonna sound controversial or not, but I honestly do think he did exactly that to Kaito and Kaede- which doesn’t make what they have with him toxic or bad at all, I just think his view on Ouma is a lot more realistic and less clouded. Heck, if Saihara canonically liked Ouma as much as he does with the other two I don’t know if I’d ship saiouma as hard as I do (it is fun to imagine though).

If you actually read through this then.. wow? I’m surprised you got through this unstructured mess? I hope you can agree with me for some of my points at least but I’m not here to convince you or anything, this has just been on my mind for weeks now I needed to get it out somehow.

I said it at the start and i’ll say it again now too- i didn’t intend on attacking or comparing saiou to any other ships so I do apologise if I seem like it, i’m just terrible with my wording (lmk if something genuinely offended you, i’ll probably change it) but you’re free to ship whatever you like cause at the end of the day it’s just a bit of fun. that being said, I don’t want to actually argue on this so please don’t haha, i’ve contemplated just deleting this but I’ve put a lot of effort into this post even though i cant analyse for 💩

I hope you can enjoy the rest of your day!

have the kokichi gaygun as a farewell present

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durotoswrites · 3 years

Note

For the color asks: sea green, coral, porcelain, and cherry!

Thank you for the asks! <3

sea green: can you fold a fitted sheet?

Heheh... this feels like a trick question, as I ran a bed and breakfast for a couple of summers. I can... wash a fitted sheet, dry it, and return it right back to the bed. I can also very adeptly wad it up into a ball and chuck it in the back of the closet.

Can I fold it? Yes, albeit very messily.

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coral: an animal you wish hadn't gone extinct

When I was a kid, I had an alphabet book of extinct animals. I was always fascinated by the opabinia. It looks like some sort of Lovecraftian horror, but you gotta admit, it seems really cool! They likely lived on the sea floor, so it wouldn’t be something you’d see every day, but deepwater animals/fish are so neat!

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porcelain: a tv show you used to love

Confession time: when I was a kid, my brother would tease me about a lot of my hobbies. I read and wrote a lot. I’d try to use new words I learned from reading in my spoken sentences and I’d get ridiculed. I quickly decided to keep my hobbies private. I was VERY into Sailor Moon as a tween, right down to the point where my pulse would start pounding as Toonami started up their lineup. I watched it in private because I didn’t want to get teased for liking it. I ended up feeling really ashamed for liking it in the first place. In fact, I loved it so much that I faked being sick a few times so I could stay home and use the Internet (this was back in dial up days) to print off a few screenshots of the show I found online. I hid them, along with some poorly-drawn fanart in a folder hidden in my closet, like a teenager hiding a stash of dirty magazines or something, haha.

Sailor Venus was my favorite. She was so gentle with Sailor Moon, and she was also so independent and strong. I was delighted to find she was even more of a BAMF in the manga! I really owe my child self to go back and re-watch the entire series with no shame.

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cherry: YouTubers you enjoy watching?

I really enjoy watching emmymadeinjapan, cookingwithdog and Joshua Weissman for cooking tips, methods, and recipes. Emmy tries some unique fad recipes that are floating around the internet, and Japanese cuisine is my favorite. Cooking With Dog is downright adorable and has some great authentic Japanese recipes. Joshua is very informative, no-nonsense and still manages to be incredibly entertaining.

I also enjoy watching content on video games. I enjoy jacksepticeye’s enthusiasm and sense of humor. I’ve lately been enjoying watching manlybadasshero’s playthroughs of horror games (I watch the mildly scary/cutesy ones). I also enjoy caddicarus, although I’m a Nintendo girl at heart.

And, when I need to watch someone tear apart cringey animated content, I’m happy to tune into saberspark’s channel.

Admittedly, I’ve been using youtube for listening to music a lot anymore, curating playlists to suit my characters, or just listening to some chill lofi while writing or some upbeat electroswing when cleaning or getting motivated.

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Sorry, that was probably way more than you wanted to know, lol. Thanks again for the asks!

Ask me random questions about myself with these color prompts!

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lizzybeth1986 · 5 years

Text

Quick Thoughts on TRH Book 1 Chapter 9

• So in some ways this chapter is a refreshing change from the Walker Ranch, for the other...it does seem a little shoehorned-in and last minute to me. And...if the only chapter where Hana gets substantial content is one that sounds kinda last minute - that's usually not a good sign.

• Here is what you can block if you don't want to see this on your dash: #trh quick thoughts, #trh qts, #trh qt reblogs, #long post.

• TW: Discussions on controlling parenting, brief mention of infertility, rambles about my visits to my therapist and what I learned there - also connected to controlling parenting.

• Screenshot Credits:

Hana: The Abhirio YouTube channel and @youruinedmylifebynotbeingreal

Drake: The BizzysChoices YouTube channel

Maxwell: @itsbrindleybinch and @ladatheimpaler

Liam: @callmetippytumbles and me.

• I was happy to see Olivia but could the writers just...not make Hana sound so confused, to make Olivia's route look more appealing? Olivia may be more at home with some of these tactics but if Hana did as much research as her eloquent monologue on the Auvernese Hot Stones suggests she did, she wouldn't just be standing there going "me scared". I know logically Olivia's option needs to be the one having an edge, but there are ways you can work around that better.

• Title: Ladies' Night

Alternative Title: This is How Hana Does Her Research:

And This is How Isabella Does Her Research:

• "Just us girls", Isabella says. I'm going to get a headache from the number of times she says that while trying out new torture techniques on me.

�� Liam warns the MC that this might be a test, Hana offers to come with the MC, and whoever her LI is, seems reluctant to send her off (though I have yet to see the Maxwell version of this, since in his friend route he seems encouraging of it once Hana steps up to be with us).

• Let's be honest, Hana is coming because she knows that more often than not her advice has been the only thing that had saved our asses. She KNOWS.

• Hana is also the genius who found the loophole in that message.

• DRAKE is the one suggesting Olivia as backup for our trip (I see a pattern here. Drake is the only one who recognized Olivia when she pranked him, now Drake is the first one recommending her name for this trip. What gives?).

• So I've played this chapter both with Olivia's diamond option, and without. Her duchy takes pride in its warriors and in shows of military strength, so she is more than used to their rhetoric. There is also an interesting juxtaposition given between fire (Auvernal) and ice (Lythikos), as one can see in the hot stones scene. The chapter is clearly set up in the expectation that you will buy this scene.

• Hana is fascinated by the architecture and modern glam of the place, but it is Olivia who hints that Auvernal may be facing financial difficulties, wondering what may be "hiding behind the glitter and polish".

• We finally meet Queen Isabella, and for a royal who wants to prove that they can do diplomacy as well as they can do blustering shows of machoism (like her husband), she seems to be failing big time.

• For all the "research" Isabella seems to have been doing on the ladies in the court, all she knows about Hana is that she has a penchant for horseriding, had a failed engagement, and wasn't chosen by Liam.

• What? Practically everyone has seen how well Hana performs at court. In my playthrough, her fighting skills both at the boutique before the wedding, and her role in defeating Anton, have become legendary. She became a Guardian of the Realm. If you're married to the MC she is a freaking duchess and I'm pretty sure the woman who married her would know deep down that Hana deserved that title more. Hana is a freaking fashion icon (as you can tell by what Ana says at her engagement photoshoot and when little Valerie from Lythikos tells her in Chapter 3). Like...like...this stuff is common knowledge. Isabella doesn't HAVE any other excuse besides "I suck so bad at reading up that my term paper would end in a single paragraph and be marked 'F'. Same goes for my pathetic excuse of a research team."

• Also why is Hana the only person getting dragged for not getting chosen? Even Madeleine and Olivia don't face this as much, and one of them was dumped twice by two Princes!

•

(Top three screenshots are mine, the second row is from @callmetippytumbles playthrough, and the third is from @youruinedmylifebynotbeingreal Hana playthrough).

The first choice calmly has the MC list Hana's best qualities, while the other two clearly call out Isabella on her clear lack of respect for Hana, who is a guest in her home that she should have researched about properly. The last option not only speaks of her best traits but also of her being the MC's wife (and by extension, a prominent duchess).

• Isabella and her pathetic excuse for an "apology". "I'm sorry, I didn't realize that would be such a sore subject". That's a non-apology, a "sorry you're so thin-skinned" apology. She isn't even admitting she's clearly wrong and hasn't done her homework. She's still saying that Hana is merely all of the things she mentioned - just snidely placing the blame on them for being so sensitive instead. Like...fuck you Isabella.

•

I think Olivia should remember that she's lucky Hana "happens to be the forgiving sort" too, because that's how she got away with saying exactly the same thing last book. I like Olivia, but...hypocrisy much?

• LMAO @ Isabella when she says Olivia that she recognizes her because "might recognizes might", and Olivia is like "funny. I don't recognize you". THIS TEA IS SCALDING.

• "There's more to Auvernal than Bradshaw's blustering", she says...after she's left a less-than-favourable impression two minutes into our conversation. Even Theresa Sutton from D&D Book 1 would do this better than you did, and there was literally no filter between her mouth and her brain.

• Isabella presents an over-the-top, flashy silver gown for the MC to wear, stating that wearing a dress from an Auvernese designer, in a modern Auvernese style, would signal to people the beginning of their "alliance" (jumping the gun there a bit, aren't you, Isabella?)

• Gaww at the LI reactions!

(Screenshots: Drake's from BizzysChoices' Youtube channel, Maxwell's from @ladatheimpaler, and Hana's from Abhirio's YouTube channel)

• Olivia's best moment in the chapter comes when she has to complete the saying "when all you have is a hammer" ("smite them with the hammer!" Olivia offers enthusiastically). They're talking about Bradshaw, who Isabella's telling us would rather strong-arm people into doing his bidding. Babe you're not exactly very different in that respect 🙄

• Isabella lays two major tests to us - one is to have us give her military troops (who greet the guests with a parade) an impromptu rousing speech, and the second is to withstand the punishing heat of the famed Auvernese Hot Stones massage treatment. Of course, she hides her plans behind her "all shared between friends!" demeanor.

• What Olivia does throughout is draw upon her knowledge of warrior mentality, to explain what Isabella has in store for you. This meeting isn't just a message sent to the MC to remind her who she is dealing with - it's a way for Isabella to gauge whether the MC really will count as an ally in terms that they are familiar with. Remember - Auvernal who is perhaps in not as great a financial state as they lead us to believe - perhaps needs Cordonia more than Cordonia needs them - so in their eyes the alliance is falling through anyway, but Isabella is also going to figure out who she is dealing with.

Which is why Olivia - who lives and thrives in a similar type of community - is able to capture the pulse of what Isabella is doing to them.

(First four screenshots are from a playthrough where I chose Olivia's diamond option, and second from a playthrough where I didn't)

Hana's own mentality differs to a large extent from this. She is competitive, she has the ability to put up a good fight and defeat an opponent (esp one who underestimates her)...but her larger attitude doesn't exactly favour war. In a lot of ways both she and Liam operate on similar mindsets - yes war is necessary, yes when the situation calls for it we can put up a good fight...but at the end of the day both of their belief systems lie in a King Fabian outlook of "safety is important but a society thrives when there is space for art and culture to thrive".

In some of Olivia and Hana's exchanges you can see that Hana is the more artistic and whimsical of the two - which is why her ace move at the end involves both introducing Isabella into an aspect of their own culture, and on wine, which Hana is more than fairly familiar with. Her interests lie elsewhere and so she may not be able to get into their heads and suss out their motives as well as Olivia can, but I'm pretty sure if she's researched so much that she knows about their Hot Stone spa treatment, she would have at least a more generalized knowledge of this than the screenshots suggest.

• We're now at a plaza where Isabella has arranged for the Auvernese military troops to do a parade for the Cordonian guests. It's both a way of convincing the MC to pick them, and it's a veiled threat if she doesn't.

• My failplay of the speech brought up this gem:

Poor Hana, having to cheer for us even when we fail. She's the real MVP!

• So basically getting the speech right is simple, whatever is rabble-rousing and reminds the troops that the Cordonians also admire strength and valour and bravery, works for them. If you fail in this task, then Isabella takes over and rouses the troops on her own before dismissing them.

• Isabella FINALLY admitting that Hana's a skilled diplomat and does amazing research. LMAO bitch she even knows what your favourite fucking vintage is and all you know about her is her failed engagement? Admit it Izzy, you're a failure.

• The next is the traditional Auvernese Hot Stone spa treatment, which Hana tells us is tied to the geography of this country. There is a fair bit of natural volcanic activity in Auvernal itself (no wonder they're a people that operate in metaphors of heat and fire!) and the hot stones used in this therapeutic massage treatment come out from that. (they're most likely referring to basalt stones, which are used in hot stone therapy in a lot of different cultures. And it's true, the heat and the medicinal nature of heated basalt stones are supposed to relax muscles, help with pain management, stimulate the circulatory system, among other things. In Ayurveda, the treatment is called Shila Abhyanga and is done with circular stones of different sizes).

• There is nothing therapeutic about this trip, though, sadly. Very often this kind of treatment is used at particular spots on the body (most of the time I've seen these stones placed along the length of the back). It's not "grab someone's forearm and burn it with a stone". Isabella's attempt is clearly to expose us to pain and see how much of it we can take.

• Some of the MC's "stronger" responses are 🔥 🔥 🔥 lol, like "I've read Twitter takes hotter than this".

•

The MC and Olivia has come far enough in their relationship - either as friends or as people who grudgingly respect each other - that Olivia will stand up for her even when she shows weakness.

• Interestingly, if you do succeed in this "test", the narrative describes Isabella's face as lighting up with a "small smile...and she eyes you as if seeing you in a new light" (the fail option shows her looking smug). Which...given her behaviour in the wine scene, I think requires closer inspection!

• One of my favourite lines this chapter is when Olivia tells Isabella that she can endure hotter stones but chooses not to, because "Lythikos warriors prefer ice in their veins". I can of like the juxtaposition of geographies used in their language - Auvernal seems to have volcanic activity, so heat features more in their language, Lythikos is situated close to the Alps, so snow, ice and winter are their signs of endurance. Basically both communities operate based on the logic that endurance to pain is what heightens your strength. "If you can breathe you can stand, if you can stand you can fight".

• Hana struggles with the hot stones, in a scene that reminds me of Book 1 where she struggled with her first bite of a Cordonian apple. Hana tends to be quite open when she has a strong reaction to something, and is often not able to hide it even if she wants to. Which honestly I find quite refreshing about her.

• Isabella in a fail play can be a real asshole, making snide remarks and then flipping the blame onto the people who react to what she says. When she insults Hana and the MC reacts, she doesn't bother to admit she is wrong - instead flips the blame on them so that it seems more like they're the sensitive ones. If you don't succeed in the hot stones test, and Hana and Olivia respond to her jabs, she tells them "there's no need to get defensive. It's all in good humour, of course", and makes them seem like the thin-skinned ones. Honestly it's that part of her attitude that is a problem, rather than the actual snide remarks. That she will create a negative situation then act like you were the cause.

• Now apparently it's time for petit fours (and I'm a little sore they only describe the vanilla buttercream coz I would have totally loved to see descriptions of those Auvernese sweets in detail!) and casual chatting. Olivia cautions us to figure out what the catch is, and Isabella is mildly impressed by the MC's directness, but she tells us about her intentions (to make the alliance official - including the parts where our child must be promised to one of their twins) either way.

• Isabella eventually softens as the conversations go ahead, confiding in the group that before the twins were born, conceiving was difficult for her. The MC has the opportunity to share a secret of her own (either homesickness, or feeling pressured into becoming a parent, or tiring of the politics and the pretence). Hana - married or otherwise - isn't allowed to say much here, to the surprise of absolutely no one.

• Olivia distracts Isabella at some point with barbed compliments post this confession session, allowing Hana and the MC to plan their next move. Most of this day has gone into Isabella testing us, seeing if we measure up, her games. Hana now gives us an opportunity to turn the tables on her.

• This is where Hana has a clear advantage. Just as warrior communities, battle strategy and defence is Olivia's forte - culture, cuisine and the arts are clearly Hana's. She knows about the Hot Stones on a cultural and geographic level even though the mentality escapes her, she has even read up on Isabella's preference for wine and has observed her closely enough to understand Isabella's competitiveness, and suggest a tactic that could help us gain an edge over her.

• The scene begins with Hana charming Isabella into showing them her wine cellar and suggesting a drinking game. In a callback to the Madeleine drinking game scene in Book 3, Hana mentions Cordonia's Most (which was what they played with Madeleine), but zeroes in on "Two Truths and a Lie instead". Here is what you see from each of the women:

MC:

Two Truths -

Being in love with Liam even when he was engaged to Madeleine/Coming to Cordonia for Liam then falling for her LI.

Second truth is dialogue dependent (never regretted coming to Cordonia/fended off her kidnappers with her own hands/impressed by Isabella (no)

Lie -

Never been blackmailed. Isabella however believes this one is true and loses.

Olivia:

Two truths -

Greatest fear is failure to be perfect

Counted every exit before entering the cellar

Wanted to kill the MC when they first met (Isabella assumed this to be a lie)

Lie -

Came to Auvernal unarmed because she trusts Isabella (she clearly didn't do her research with Olivia either).

Hana:

Two truths -

Greatest fear is failure to be perfect (Isabella assumes this to be the lie).

Always envied the MC

Lie -

Dyed her hair pink as a teen.

Isabella has two rounds of this. This is what the first round is like:

Two truths 1.0 -

Never wanted children

Married Bradshaw for money

Lie 1.0 -

Dismissed a servant for over-steeping her tea (what did you do then, kill him? 😱)

Two Truths and a Lie 2.0

Now, we don't know for sure which one is the lie, since that game is never completed (I suspect it's the one about being born into the royal family?) but we do know now that Bradshaw never actually has seen or done combat firsthand, even though he can strategize and order troops and he's won several medals for "combat". This is the state secret that the scene promises, which will give us an advantage in the future chapters.

• Thoughts I had while reading this scene:

- The one from the MC about fighting her kidnappers is very much a callback to TCaTF. A major development for Kenna's character in Book 1 is to prove she is different from her ancestors - that she will fight alongside her people, not make them fight for her. The turning point of her story in Book 1 is when she tells Gabriel - her guard and guardian - that that instead of depending on him, she will fight the leader of the mercenaries herself.

- Also, LMAO @ Isabella believing our guards defeated Anton for us. Izzy my courtiers and I literally used scissors and shoes and clipboards to defeat assassins in a boutique. Mara and Bastien could never.

- As I mentioned before, the drinking game tradition is a callback to Madeleine's scene. But with less of forcing Hana to butter up to the woman who abused her for our convenience, and more space for her to actually talk.

- I'm going to take notes of those exits, thanks Olivia.

- There is a whole bunch you learn about Isabella here and there are hints that she feels stifled in this environment. Her first choices for the game revolve around truths about her married life: the fact that it was a political alliance and that she never actually wanted children (which adds another layer to the pain she speaks about when speaking of the struggle she had to conceive, because then it comes from a place of immense pressure and probably means that she felt extremely isolated and alone at the time). When Hana talks about how conflicted she is, it's Isabella who offers her ways to release that fury and energy (screaming, breaking glasses). Interestingly, she speaks of these things as what she does when she "feels the walls closing in".

- One thing to notice as well, is Isabella's reaction after she has realized she's spilled out the truth about Bradshaw's military merits. She shrewedly notes what our intentions must have been, and calls us out on them, but there is little to no anger involved in the moment. She only notes that "Cordonia gets more and more interesting", and while the game does not continue, Isabella does seem eerily calm in the aftermath. I don't have any concrete ideas yet what it must all mean, but there are a few ways it could go. She could either be pushing back in her own way against Bradshaw and the Auvernese royalty, or have another card up her sleeve that she knows we don't have a clue about yet.

- Hana gets to elaborate on her 'truths and lies' if the MC asks: she speaks about her envy for the MC emerging from the fact that the MC is confident, bold and questions her self-worth a lot less than Hana has learned to. The other two are tied to the aftermath of the controlling parenting she has grown up with. With the pink hair option, she speaks of her parents as if they are still there, still can control her choices, as if she cannot remove herself from the fear that she will disappoint them even if they are physically away from her.

Hana: Are you kidding? My parents will kill me!

MC: I think you're a little beyond their reach by now.

There's a lot said there in so little.

My favourite, though, is the one on 'perfection'.

I love the idea of perfection as being something to be frustrated by rather than something to aspire to. Hana speaks of this striving for perfection starting out as something she did to 'earn' Lorelai's love, and how that became something she kept doing over and over until it became her default - leading to the point where she can no longer be imperfect even though she has the opportunity and the support system (even if it's really not that great of a support system). And with a lot of kids who survive that kind of controlling, emotionally abusive parenting - that's normal. I guess I could simply sum it up as: You can take Hana out of Lorelai's home, but it won't be that easy to take Lorelai out of Hana.

I'll come back to this later, because there's some things I'd love to expand on with regards to this.

- Which Olivia opening up is promised if she is around, she doesn't really do that. Most of the stuff she says in this scene is pretty much standard for what she's shown so far. But I'm alright with that, because let's be honest the times when Hana is given even a scrap of space over Olivia, are rare. The writers will be only too happy to give her other opportunities.

- At the end of the scene, you get to address what Hana said earlier, while you are cleaning up the cellar. You either tell her you'd love to see an imperfect Hana (which is the lighter option, where they think of crazy things she can mess up, like burning toast, putting cutlery in reverse order, or playing every note on the piano wrong. Silly stuff. I know it's meant to be a joke...and maybe that's the root to why she doesn't get to actually be imperfect and affected and stuff. Because even in a scene about imperfections, it still feels like the writers won't take her actual conflicts and issues very seriously, and will not leave her the space to actually be a mess about things that would weigh down anyone).

The second option is more serious, and I really like it. The MC speaks about finding it harder to forgive Lorelai for everything Hana has gone through. Hana is still uncomfortable with the idea of resenting her mother, even though she's at the stage where she knows how wrong Lorelai is. She reasons it by speaking about how everything good came from Lorelai the same way everything bad came from the same mother. I'll be getting back to this bit soon as well.

- There is a tiny romantic scene following this if you're married to Hana, mostly kissing.

• Now that our work in Auvernal is over, it's time to get back to the ranch. BECAUSE MAXWELL BEAUMONT IS STRESS-DANCING AND THAT IS NEVER A GOOD SIGN.

(Screenshots: Drake's from BizzysChoices YouTube channel, Maxwell's from @itsbrindleybinch and Hana's from Abhirio YouTube channel)

- Alright so in Liam and Drake's playthroughs they talk to the MC directly. Maxwell's too, and he is panicking and speaking in capslock. In Hana's, Maxwell is still the one the MC is talking to, since he is the one in charge of this one thing.

- I love how Drake thinks Maxwell "stress dancing" means things must be better now but Liam knows it's a bad sign 😅

- BBBB. Maxwell could've just simplified things for himself and called it B-Quadrupled or B^4 or something. Be like Karan Johar, who saw three Ks and one G in his film title (Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham)...and said "yeah. Let's call this K3G".

• So now I'm guessing the aim for the next chapter is to keep it a secret until the time Bertrand is expected to be at his party. Or something. Idk.

• We're going...from deep conversations and political maneuverings...to this. Okay. Okay 😐

• General Thoughts:

- Okay...so the thing Hana says about perfection and wanting to please her mother. Phew. That dialogue hit me. Pretty hard.

(Please don't take anything I say right here as hard scientific fact, I am merely saying this as a client to a therapist who learned something from her, and am applying something I've learned into this sequence solely because it speaks to me on a personal level)

I've been going to a new therapist this year. A very accomplished hypnotherapist, fantastic in her field. We've been doing a mixture of talk therapy and hypnotherapy because I have a LOT of issues and they're all tangled together and it's all a big mess at this point.

One of the things we talked about was how centered my entire concept of "worth" was around smartness. Intelligence. Intelligence the way my parents perceived it, the way I saw it in school. At some point I said something...something related to smartness and worth and how you couldn't be anything if you weren't smart idk...and she stopped. Stopped and said, "that sounds like a parent tape" (wish I remembered what my exact words were).

Now, this conversation happened around a month ago, and I'm no professional in this field, so I'm paraphrasing what she explained, but she did talk about how some things get embedded in your subconscious as "tapes" or "files", and how at some points they become essential beliefs. It could be a simple moment that was nonetheless important to the child, that crystallized into a life truth for them, even into adulthood. And that would go for things that you picked up or learned from your parents as well. Learned behaviours and mindsets...that you grow up to believe as fact - and to remove yourself from them would be to remove yourself from everything you have ever believed to be true. It would be a destruction of a belief system, and building yourself back from out of that rubble would be scary.

- I wound up seeing Hana's inability to turn off "Perfect Hana" through that lens. I feel like she grew up with that "parent tape": I must be perfect to be considered worthy. I must be perfect to be loved. The only way I can gain my mother's love is by being her perfect daughter. And part of why she can't switch it off is because it became an entire belief system, the foundation on which her parents build this personality she has. If that is destroyed, the Parent Tape must be saying, then what will be left of her?

- This may explain why she continues to explain, justify, make excuses for Lorelai. Lorelai is a HUGE part of her life. Was a HUGE influence on who she was and what she became. Even when she is going in a direction completely opposite to what Lorelai initially intended, Hana does it by overcompensating, by stressing over whether she is being controlling merely for planning the perfect wedding, by worrying about what kind of parent she will be to her own child. While she acknowledges freely that her mother was wrong and pushes back when she is able to, she is not really at the stage where she can fully accept the sheer levels of damage Lorelai (and by enabling and encouraging this type of parenting, Xinghai) has wrecked on her self.

- In a lot of ways, Hana is still that child. The one who craved her mother's love. The one who grew up constantly questioning her own worth. And learning to validate that child and give her a peaceful ending is going to be a long, arduous, painful process.

- You can bet I have been thinking about this more than Hana's own writers have. By now I just know it.

- There was a part of me that CHEERED when I saw the MC (finally!) stand up for Hana. There's a part of me that...honestly...just shrugged and said "too little too late".

- I'm tired at this point. Really, really sick and tired of how people in the books are allowed to underestimate Hana and talk shit about her, and how little space the narrative gives to letting her either push back against that, or to allowing us to stand up for her. This chapter is one of the rare times that happened without the focus being on how wonderful the MC is. And I mean very rare.

- Married to Hana or not, the MC is the woman who let Madeleine get away with her bullying. Who didn't bother to look out for Hana, and continuously used her. Who didn't bother to find out how Hana was in NY after Hana had fought with her own father and left his house for her. Who (optionally) allowed Olivia to get away with talking shit about her, and who didn't ask Hana if she was comfortable before including her in a conversation with her bully. Who (optionally) can cry about not getting pregnant soon enough (today of course, that role was filled up by Isabella)

- Also isn't it ironic how Isabella, the same woman who speaks about not being perfect and allowing yourself the space to let out your emotions...is the same woman who chooses to talk ONLY about Hana's failures? Who sounds A LOT like Hana's own mother? So while those words about imperfection are true, the person speaking them is a truckload of trash.

- When it comes to a foreigner insulting Hana, then somehow it becomes magically appropriate for the MC and Olivia to pretend to be offended. But at home? In their own court? Hana rarely gets that kind of support. And she rarely gets the chance to push back either. An Olivia can call her a failure and claim "Hana hasn't so much as touched the ladder while I'm at the very top", and all Hana is allowed to do is glower in fury and then it's conveniently forgotten. By the MC.

Like sure it's nice that the MC gets to treat Hana with respect this time around, and pay her some attention. But where was this protectiveness when Hana needed it the most?

I'd have liked a moment like this earlier, or if the narrative actually was fair in terms of their treatment of Hana. But her issues, her feelings, her pain, has always been on the backseat. I'm not going to be grateful for scraps like these.

- That's the other thing. This chapter...feels a little last-minute. Not only is the gown in this chapter a very, very recent one (an anon pointed out it was added only a week or two ago), the chapter itself is all over the place. Isabella claims to want to show the group that there is more to Auvernal than Bradshaw's blustering...but in essence what she's showing us is pretty much the same thing. She is still issuing us veiled threats, and strong-arming us into becoming allies. Her tactics are still scare tactics and they are not as subtle as she or the writers believe they are.

- Even in this chapter where another person is allowed to feel pain over her years of not conceiving, Hana is hardly given space. Think about that for a second.

To me...if this chapter was a recent addition - that means the only chapter where Hana actually gets a tiny amount of space to herself...is a last minute choice. And that's not a good thing. In fact it reminds me of Book 2, where Hana was given an AWFUL scene in Chapter 8 (the fashion show scene, which focused more on Penelope than on Hana) and no appearances in the chapter after, and then given two good scenes (patisserie scene and library scene). Those two good scenes...came before they virtually ignored Hana and her background to focus on literally anyone else (after which Hana was not even seen in NY). Just because Hana gets a decent scene (a scene that isn't even hers, actually, a lot of it is about Isabella) once in 9 (NINE) chapters, doesn't mean that she's going to get good development from now on. For all you know this could be a carrot conveniently dangled to keep people satisfied for another 5-6 chapters of the same ol' focus on the male LIs instead.

- Wonder what Olivia is upto and what Liam might know.

- Also wonder why we didn't get a lot of info on Eleanor in her own home.

- Also for a country that is the maternal home of Cordonia's king, there's precious little shown about their interactions with him. In fact there's very little space Liam gets to actually operate as a King - either in this series or the previous one.

- This week, I will not be doing my usual QT for Book 1. There's an essay I've been itching to do, about Kiara and Penelope, and I'm going to devote my weekend to diving into that! Would anyone like to be tagged??

- Anyway! Until the next chapter, guys.

#the royal heir #trh quick thoughts #trh qts #long post #hana lee #olivia nevrakis #controlling parenting tw #infertility tw

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archonreviews · 7 years

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The Archon’s Review of Supreme Commander

Supreme Commander is a real-time strategy game by Gas Powered Games and published by THQ. In the far-flung future, humanity has colonized space with the help of space portals (which can apparently be hacked, which presents a massive security risk, I should think, but nevermind that). This led to an era of peace and prosperity unseen by humanity ever before. During this time, an old, enterprising scientist named Dr. Gustaf Brackman fuses an artificial intelligence with a human brain (again, this presents a massive security hazard, but nevermind). The new, half-computer, half-human people are called “Symbionts”. This development spooks the Earth Empire’s bigwigs who hack the Symbionts and enslave them. Disgusted and not at all aroused, Brackman takes a corps of his loyal Symbionts and forms his own Cybran Nation with blackjack and hookers. Meanwhile, on a far off world, a human colony finds religion via an alien race called the Seraphim (in a surprising twist, it’s the Seraphim who’re presented with a security risk, rather than the humans). The Seraphim teach the colonists the way of “The Way”, shortly before being obliterated by the millenia-in-the-future equivalent of a Neo-Nazi, who really just could not stand that the other humans were finding a peaceful religion brought to them by a benevolent green people. Jokes on that asshole though, as the destruction of the Seraphim brings about the Aeon Illuminate, a sort of Knights Templar in space. After these two factions finish tearing up ye olde Earth Empire, it reforms itself into the United Earth Federation, because it’s always a federation, isn’t it? Can’t be a cadre, or a union, or a confederation, it’s got to be a federation if it’s in space, doesn’t it? Anyway, the three factions develop a cool mecha called the Armored Command Unit, or ACU, which can pull entire military bases out of their “mass”, and command entire armies of automated(?) tanks, boats, and planes. With the ACU, war becomes easy-peasy, so the three factions decide to have one for a thousand years, just for kicks. That’s where you come in. You take command of one of the three factions, hoping to end the Infinite War once and for all.

Hah, I thought the F/GO intro was long. Sorry mates.

So, I like real-time strategy games. I’d go so far as to say it’s one of my top two favorite genres of video game. Which makes the fact that I’m only now reviewing an RTS a somewhat criminal act of neglect. I was first tuned in to the Supreme Commander series when I was a teenager, playing Supreme Commander 2. Incidentally, this is also when I would learn about Steam’s DRM, when I was so used to just installing stuff from a CD. In any event, I found SC2 a lot of fun, once I figured out how to play the game properly. So, SC being on sale a while back, I decided to see if it lived up to the fond memories of it’s descendant. The short answer is, “Eeeehhh... Kinda?”

The game’s primary objective for a standard game is to destroy all of the enemies’ ACUs. In fact, the ACU is the most important unit for any player, as it represents the player themselves. In addition, the ACU builds your base before you gain access to Engineers. As far as objectives go, “regicide” is pretty straightforward, and given that all the other units are possibly automated, it makes sense. Sadly, the story campaigns decide to complicate things significantly.

This objection may be subjective, but I have a feeling it’s less subjective than I suspect. See, I’m used to an RTS presenting me with an overarching objective in each mission, flowering with optional objectives or minor complications as the mission progresses. Supreme Commander, however, does something slightly different. In the beginning of a campaign mission, you will be presented with a very simple, deceptively easy objective. Something like, “Kill these dudes we’ve essentially tied to posts for you,” or “Hey, see that building over there? Yeah, send your ACU over there and grab it for us, ya?” But then, once you’ve completed it, the map will expand to reveal a new objective. At this point, things’ll be okay, with only minor adjustments in strategy required. But then, it’ll expand the map again, and you’ll be faced with your final enemy... and usually a massive wave of enemy units that you couldn’t have known were coming on your first go-through. To add insult to injury, they’ll usually give you the ability to produce a unit that would help a lot, but with the wave of enemy dudes bearing down on you, you’d best hope that you’ve got adequate base defenses while you build your new units, otherwise, to paraphrase Richard III (or maybe Game of Thrones), things will go very hard for you.

The best way I found to deal with the game stringing you along like this is to develop a super economy mid-mission, and put off your objectives as long as you can. This strategy, however, presents two challenges: first, some objectives are timed. Second, and perhaps more annoyingly, is that as you procrastinate, a comms officer or a superior will occasionally complain at you for not completing your objectives. It’s kinda funny at first, but after a while, it sounds like a middle manager reminding you of a minor job-related obligation that nobody performs anyway. Anyone who’s ever had to push a credit card will know exactly what I mean.

^(Large robot friend building up my super economy. Also, my apologies for the console box in the corner, I had to change the screenshot button to the ` button, as the F12 button brought up an even more obtrusive thingie.)^

Now, it might sound like I’m ragging on the game, and to an extent I am. The game doesn’t seem to have too much of a player-base to battle against and I imagine single-player skirmishes can only be exciting a few dozen times. Most RTSes base much of their content on their story campaign, and indeed, that’s where I began, but while I didn’t much like the way the individual missions were formatted, the mechanics of the game itself were actually pretty fun! Building up a base with your big robot friend and then later, your little robot friends, is generally gratifying. Churning out a massive army of gunships and raining hellfire on your foes is quite entertaining. Watching stuff explode is almost as primordially engaging as a Michael Bay movie without the casual racism, sexism, poor acting, and poor screenwriting. Watching boats explode is a particularly fun thing, and this is coming from someone who is usually uneasy about commanding naval forces in RTSes.

That said, there are a couple more nitpicks, but these are some pretty big nits. First off, the pathfinding for ground units may be best argument for self-driving cars ever, ironically. When in formation, they will move the front line first, then the lines behind, until they’re all moving, instead of everyone moving at once. This can create major problems when you’re trying to roll out an attack force into an enemy base and their turrets just shoot down all your bots as they come. Otherwise, they tend to just move however they want to, which may interfere with your strategies, and it gets worse when you realize that the only way to get rid of enemy shields is to march your land units inside the shield and shoot at the generator from there, more or less necessitating the insipid groundlings. In fact, if it weren’t for shields, I probably would’ve relied solely on air and naval power, as air units don’t need to pathfind, and naval units don’t have any obstacles to get tripped up on and their range is long enough that even if they did, they could still perform their essential function, i.e. total boat obliteration.

^(It’s difficult to see, but on the left is a fleet of my submarines demolishing an enemy fleet on the right. Note the lack of physical obstacles. Note pictured: My joy at the destruction of my enemies.)^

Also, the tutorial is absolute bollocks in cheese. It’s basically a bunch of videos detailing basic concepts, and then they let you loose in an empty map with an ACU from each faction, and that’s your lot. This game is actually fairly complex, and an actual tutorial wouldn’t have been remiss.

The aesthetics are nice. Environments are pretty, if a bit sparse in places, and all the robots look pretty cool. Each factions’ units are distinct enough that you can tell friend from foe immediately; the UEF has this sort of “basic Earth unit” look to them, all blocky with lots of things on wheels and conventional design, the Cybrans are all spikes and doom fortresses (only somewhat ironic, as their goal of freeing all enslaved Symbionts is actually the most morally justifiable), and the Aeon design is half cathedrals-on-legs and half Space Alien(TM) aesthetic. When the game is being all wiz-bang-kaboom, it is indeed rad A.F, but the flipside to that is that I frequently got the disquieting feeling that I was doing something wrong somehow. Like because I wasn’t wiz-bang-kabooming all the time, I wasn’t playing properly. Or maybe the game’s marketing was a big fat liar; who knows?

(^What I expected vs...

what I got. I mean, there were shades of the first image, but the vast majority of my time was spent constructing like a hyperactive Mincraft player.)^

The music isn’t much to write home about. It’s alright, I guess.

The reason I believe the player-base is sparse is because looking up walkthroughs for this game was excessively difficult. There were no Steam guides except for those telling you how to get the game to work; which wasn’t a problem for me. The only GameFAQs walkthrough I could find was very light on actual details, preferring instead to provide me with information I probably could have figured out on my own. I finally had to find a Youtube playthrough; and incidentally, Ser “SergiuHellDragoonHQ”, if you happen to be reading this, it is generally considered bad form to periodically pop in with obtrusive demands that I subscribe in the form of extremely distracting low-res graphics. I was only there for a walkthrough on that particular mission, we’re not that close bruh. That said, you have my gratitude for your walkthrough, which taught me the “super economy strategy”, mentioned above. All of that said, it may just be that the player-base are super leet haxorz and therefore don’t require any walkthroughs.

^(The notes I took on SergiuHellDragoonHQ’s walkthrough. Note the rushed handwriting and Gudetama in the bottom left.)^

Ten slotte, SC is fun at it’s core, but the lack of a good tutorial and the frustrating and drag-out campaign format kinda kills it in places for me. I would recommend it mostly on the basis that the person I’m recommending it to would play with me so we can, as wise men have written, “git gud”. I’m probably not going to keep playing it, unless I start playing SC2 again and a major plot point comes up that necessitates me playing through the campaign of the original. As for social commentary... well, it’s actually remarkably progressive in places. The while the Earth president is a dude, and the main character is also a dude, the high commander of Earth’s armies is a woman with a badass battle scar; you know she’s seen some shit. In addition, the Aeon Illuminate are ruled by a Princess, and most, if not all of their commanders are women. So apparently the Infinite War is much more gender-equal than today times. That said, everyone appears to be white, although the cockpits of the Aeon commanders are poorly lit, and it looks like maybe there’s a Latina commander somewhere. So the lack of racial diversity’s a bit of a problem. Also, the Symbiont slavery thing has some pretty obvious parallels, and while it often isn’t mentioned by UEF commanders, the Cybrans will talk about it constantly. Almost like their primary objective is freeing a marginalized group of people from government enforced bondage. Almost creates a parallel to a certain real-world tragedy that was enforced by the government and resulted in a certain war that itself resulted, ostensibly, in a certain marginalized group of people being granted their freedom. That said, the parallel isn’t too clear-cut, and I didn’t get far enough into the campaign to see where it goes.

All in all, if you’re looking for a sci-fi strategy game, you could do worse than Supreme Commander, but I remember the sequel being better, so go play that maybe.

^(Pictured: The prelude to Wagner’s “Ride of the Valkyries”.)^

#archon reviews #video game #sci-fi #rts #real-time strategy #supreme commander #review

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lizzybeth1986 · 5 years

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Quick Thoughts on TRH Book 1 Chapter 6

• It's YEEHAW time everyone!

• And also raise a middle finger to logic as we see the MC wear something that she should have probably lent to the Platinum MC for a country performance, rather than for farm work.

• There's also the bit where she randomly takes a pregnancy test coz she feels nauseous (yes I know. It's plot related and is probably done to show a false negative. But you need to time these things, MC! The best time to look for a double line is closer to the time you're supposed to be having your period, if your period is regular).

• Screenshot Credits:

Hana: @pixieferry

Drake: @thefirstcourtesan

Maxwell: The Abhirio YouTube channel.

• These are the tags you can block if you don't want to see these posts: #long post, #trh quick thoughts, #trh qts, #trh qt reblogs.

• Drake has an AUNT? Please don't give me any more family members, I'm done dealing with the ones he already has.

• I'm wondering if Leona exists so that PB can do some serious retconning on Bianca's behalf. After all, when she appeared in the Drake playthroughs of Book 3, there wasn't much of a positive reception for her - with some players even saying that the MC should have a few choice words to say to her - and for good reason.

• Title: Home, Home on the Range

So whatever little knowledge I do have about a place like Texas is from films and pop culture, so this might not be new information to you but it is to me! 😁 So I'm probably going to be a gazillion times more excited about sharing it than you guys might be to read it! Bear with me for a sec.

From what I'm reading, "Home, Home on the Range" seems to a western folk song that's so popular it's considered an unofficial anthem in that region. Its origin was from a poem called "My Western Home" from a Kansas native called Dr Brewster M Highly, in 1872 (it was even made Kansas' state song in 1945?). The lyrics are very...Drake:

Where the air is so pure, and the zephyrs so free,

The breezes so balmy and light,

That I would not exchange my home on the range,

For all of the cities so bright.

Mostly a very idyllic, glorified portrait of country life. You find similar sentiments in Drake's diamond scene this chapter.

• Alternative Title: We Just Needed An Excuse to Use the BSC Soundtrack Twice.

• So we meet Bianca, Drake's mother, this chapter. If you married him this is the second time you're seeing her, and if you married anyone else this is the first time and you have no clue who she is until Drake introduces her to you. She also mentions in the Drake playthrough that this is not the kind of welcome she was hoping to give her son and daughter-in-law.

• We also meet Leona, Bianca's older sister and Drake's aunt. She's extremely unimpressed with this group of nobles and largely seems to blame the nobility in general for whisking away her younger sister, leaving her alone to manage the ranch?

• She pretends not to listen much to Cordonian news while talking to Liam, but seems to have the time to keep up with Cordonian gossip while talking to us - and luckily you can call her out on it too.

• She seems the type that likes a rebellious Duchess/Queen, going by her responses to the more sarcastic options from the MC.

Hmm. This scene does two things: one, it establishes that the ranch is facing financial problems, in terms of money and staffing, and two, it possibly may build up to why Bianca had to return to the States. Both I think might become important points in the coming chapters.

• Bianca seems intent on not letting her children know anything about the fraught situation at her ranch, but Leona is having none of it. You either do your work and do it well, or she will put you through your paces. Which is exactly what is happening with Bertrand now.

• The whole theme of "we need to get pregnant, and fast" returns with the presence of Savannah, who greets us with a very excited, sociable Bartie in tow. You can choose to either pick him up and pay attention to him, ask Savannah to figure out what he wants, or ignore him completely. Whatever you choose, the topic of you becoming a mother will come up (either she comments on how you're a natural, or she will tell you that you'll eventually be able to read your own baby's signals). Savannah now joins a long, long line of people who will talk to us as if we're already pregnant (her fiancé will join this list in a couple minutes too, don't worry).

• Speaking of parents, the sole dad of the (extended) group - Bertrand - is nowhere to be found. Bianca is all praise, Leona is Unimpressed™, and Maxwell is shocked that the guy who swore never to touch fowl again after witnessing a flooded peacock enclosure is now chasing chickens. The group overall can't believe it.

• Bertrand is, in fact, chasing chickens.

• So here's the other issue that will come up. Having eventually convinced Savannah that he is serious about her and Bartie, he now wants to win the approval of the family. Bianca is more than ready to accept him, Leona is...Unimpressed™.

• This sets stage for Problem 3 of the Goings On at The Walker Ranch: Bertrand is desperate for approval and Leona seems pretty set on not giving him that. So I'm pretty sure getting her to realize that Savannah's fiancé means business and there is actually something for her to respect about him - if not love - is pretty much one of the loose ends we will have to tie up in the course of the Texas chapters.

• Savannah's laid out some clothes for everyone, so everyone gets a 'country' look and a cowboy hat.

• Like always, the outfit options come with different reactions based on the LI you're romancing:

Liam's looks nice I think, Hana is pretty (I haven't the foggiest idea of what would on a ranch so I wouldn't know how feasible - or not - these two outfits would be), Maxwell looks like he's dressed for the ranch AND for winter and Drake looks okay (like...there's a theme or something with his outfits, like he needs to have a LOT of a particular colour. Denim on denim, brown shirt brown hat).

• While Liam and Esther collectively swoon over each other, Savannah is all shocked and like "you both know we're still here, right?". Uh huh, you had no problem fangirling over Bertrand's "stern but sexy eyebrows" in public but suddenly me flirting a little with my husband is too much for you 😑

A little too much??? Listen, Esther has worn a hat that looked like it swallowed a hundred smaller hats on the way and cried in JOY at the sight. She has COMFORTED a widowed grieving Queen Mother and STARED DOWN Hana's awful parents, all with that honking big hat obscuring her face. How does a tiny puny cowboy hat with a bracelet thingy around it even compare??

• In the kitchen, Bertrand continues his woeful attempts to make conversation with Leona by revealing just how little he knows about running a ranch. Leona is Unimpressed™ (Betrand: How are the crops? Leona: We have cattle 😑. Bertrand: Who...ate the crops? Leona: 😑😑😑)

• Leona's like the adult version of the Unimpressed Sikh Child in Bollywood Hogwarts:

• We get darkly roasted coffee to help us gear up for the day's work at the ranch, and it's quite...the mouthfull. If you succeed in drinking it, you get high on coffee, and if you react to the strong taste, Leona makes a smart-alec comment about how "her highness must have wanted a chilled latte" (I forget which drink she mentioned but something similar) or something. Wish there was an option to tell her "Bertrand didn't tell me about the stick up your ass" (callback! From which book? Guess!)

• You feel slightly nauseous on the way, which is a bit of a set up to the end of the chapter.

• We split up into teams. Liam and Maxwell help with getting the hay for the horses, Hana and Drake help with sorting the tack.

Liam is a quick learner (and learns stuff just by observing), Maxwell is confused between the interests of horses and dogs, Drake is even more confused at Hana's speed, and PB has forgotten that Hana has actually ridden actual horses and would actually have at least a working idea of what actual tack with an actual horse would look like. Sure she may not have MADE tack for those horses, but you can miss me with that "imaginary horse friends" bullshit.

• See Team TRR, this is what happens when you focus on nothing else but Hana's skills. Even you fail to keep track.

• We feed the chickens (and I can see what I think are shades of Hana's upbringing in the way she says "wait your turn! one at a time!"...with chickens).

• ...there was a "no royal pets" policy in the palace that Liam waived?? No wonder we could get a corgi and Penelope could bring her poodles to court as soon as Liam became King!

• Re: Liam talking about having stuffed animals rather than pets and stating that he and Hana were on the same boat. Et tu, Liam? HOW MANY TIMES DOES HANA HAVE TO TELL YOU GUYS SHE NEVER HAD TOYS.

• I'm imagining poor young Maxwell realizing that peacocks don't like hugs and now I'm sad ☹️

• So the set up to the group scene is that none of these characters have truly experienced the joy of cuddling cute pets. It's not much even by way of a group scene, just a cute scene where the MC can direct Tiny the little calf to cuddle all these sad sad people (pushed into embroidery lessons and diplomacy sessions as children!) and cure Bertrand of his cow-suspicion (cowspicion?). The more pets you have with you the cuter it is, coz the two corgis go about acquainting themselves with everyone - the cat, the cows, everybody.

• ROE REFERENCE! We see Jess and Blake spearheading a successful business as caterers and wedding planners (did Jess take coaching from Chaz's sister-in-law Carmen? 😁) and they leave it vague (as expected, since Jess' romantic relationship with Blake is determinant - as is the possibility that Liam and Jess could be related by marriage if the RoE MC chose Leo lol) whether they're romantically involved or not, but at least this way I know they're happy with their jobs!

• Apparently they'd catered at enough disaster weddings that they decided they could do a better job

• I have two questions:

1. Did Leo ever recommend Carmen? I'm guessing not since based on whether the RoE MC married him or not, he'd probably feel more comfortable recommending family/friends than someone who - in a different playthrough - probably never really met him.

2. Why is Liam helping Bertrand and Savannah with contacts for their wedding when we ended up doing most of the searching and finding ourselves?? 🧐

• BertVannah seem to want a mix of local and Cordonian traditions: Savannah wants to recapture her parents' wedding by riding a horse down the aisle, and Bertrand asks Liam to officiate, as a royal. Maxwell and Hana will be in charge of entertainment and decorations...and the MC should not move a muscle because Bertrand has already decreed us pregnant.

• Savannah's ex Chuck is a buff ginger, and an already insecure Bertrand is made even more insecure at the sight of him. Another on the list of things PB expects us to fix in the Walker Ranch. Drake owes me both in cash, fancy hats and a lifetime supply of free smoked BBQ ribs after all this. The kind of shit a pregnant royal is expected to do...

• Time for Drake diamond scene - which is a mostly fluffy scene that takes place close to a river nearby which has a great view of the sunrise and sunset, and a ride atop a kayak.

• Here's the important stuff you can get from this scene:

- Drake knows how to build stuff (we knew this already, but here Drake talks specifically about how he and Savannah would build rafts)

- Drake sucks at taking compliments, but Drake stans who saw their MC's intro to TRH already knew that 🤭

- You get to flex your paddling muscles. Drake is...Impressed™

- Lovely sunshine

- A cute story about how Drake and Savannah had a canonball contest at this river, and happy memories of his Dad being just their dad for once, not dad + King Guard

- Drake gets to talk about the mark his father left on him, and how carefree he used to be before Jackson's death

- You can revive the cannonball contest with Drake before you head back to the estate, and if you're married you share a passionate kiss. The writers went to great lengths to describe how passionate the kiss wasqqq

If you're married to Drake, this spot is described as 'romantic' and 'private', the MC makes a joke about being the "First Mate" of Drake's heart, the usual variations. Drake also mentions that he hopes to emulate his father's way of parenting once he himself becomes a father. I'm also guessing the story of how his father and mother used to visit this lake before they had children would have an implied added importance to a married Drake trying for a child.

Funny how the assassination attempt on Liam always ends up revolving more around what it did to Drake than what it did to Liam. Both in the original Book 2 Italian Restaurant Scene where it was first referenced, and here (Drake's restaurant scene is also the only scene that highlights how that particular attack affected Liam - if you don't buy this scene, the attacks are mentioned in a more offhand way by Constantine when we confront him, and Liam still doesn't have a word to say). Stop. What happened to Liam happened to him. Stop making it all about Drake.

• Also why does Drake keep insisting the MC helped him find Savannah? She didn't. He spotted the envelope. He saw the address. He deduced where in Paris it was and tried to check it out. The only help we could provide was convincing him to stay and listen to her, and even that was optional.

• The MC wakes up wondering if she's going to feel nauseous, which then leads to the realization that it could be morning sickness. That's the most random race to use a pregnancy test I've seen.

• The result is negative, and the LI wakes up to the MC telling them about the result of the pregnancy test. The reactions to the news are identical. They follow roughly this template:

I can headcanon that Hana is actually feeling and understanding the MC's pain when she says "that's not silly at all", but I won't. I refuse to do the heavy work for the writers.

• In any case, there are some guests, and only Hana seems to know who they are.

• My face as it goes from seeing Kiara, Olivia, Penelope and Madeleine (yes, in that order):

• Sooo it looks like this week we're going to have a clash of the country and the courtly. Uh oh. I don't see this ending very well...unless there's a deus ex machina coming our way.

• General Thoughts:

- This chapter is filler, as expected, but it's the kind of filler meant to set up the major problems in that place. And there's plenty hinted at in this chapter alone: solving the financial troubles of the ranch, the clash of cultures that will come with the court ladies being guests, winning over Leona, learning about Drake's and also Bianca's past, Bertrand's insecurities. It's going to take a couple chapters to untangle all that!

- My guess is that the MC is possibly pregnant, but got a false negative (esp if she's nowhere near her expected time for her period), and will probably find out during Bertrand and Savannah's wedding? IDK. Most people I know will wait to see if they get their periods first (I did that too, waited a couple days after the expected day just to be sure), because that's when your hCG levels are high enough to show in your urine sample. That was a waste of a perfectly good pregnancy test, MC!

- The variations are very few, besides the scene where they all get new outfits and references to the MC and her spouse by different people including Blake and Jess. Perhaps there may be an LI scene coming soon.

- I mentioned earlier that Leona may be there as a way for the writing team to retcon Bianca's departure, since in the original series all we are told us was that she "was...struggling" after Jackson's death and left for the States at some point, leaving her children behind. Not a lot of people were very happy about this and though she was portrayed as a positive character in Book 3 (Drake's playthrough), it wasn't convincing enough. Leona is possibly there as a way to soften the audience to Bianca, and perhaps to get us a plausible reason for her leaving without her children. I'm not sure what could justify not taking them along, but okay.

- So Drake in his scene tells us that they came to the ranch as kids, but there is that matter of Savannah having been there long enough at some point to have had a boyfriend. I'm wondering if she spent some time on the ranch while Drake had gone to college.

- Also...if that's what happened, why was France even an option for her to bring up Bartie if she'd been in touch with her mother. Why did France, a place where she had very few contacts or living experience, win out over a place she was familiar with and where she had family?

- Leona's very Drake-like...but with an actual job that she's probably good at.

- Leona's also going to be Unimpressed™ for the most of her time in this book, with her probably becoming a little more impressed towards the end. Told you she'd be The Unimpressed Sikh Child (if you still have trouble with this meme, it's a character from a Bollywood film about a magical school called Aabra Ka Dabra. Here's some additional context from desi comedians and former Pretentious Movie Reviewers Kanan Gill and Biswa Kalyan Rath to illustrate why Unimpressed Sikh Child is so awesome:)

"Stop trying to impress people. Impress people with how unimpressed you are." If that isn't what Leona is doing. One wry expression and that's all it takes for all of Cordonia's royalty and nobility to fall over each other to prove themselves to her.

- Leona is an ass but you've got to respect the way she plays that game.

- I hope the writers don't forget that Kiara and Savannah were...yknow...good friends. Given how badly she was treated in Book 3 (and the narrative treated her really, really badly. Like I'm pretty sure some of you might have no idea just how badly she's been treated), I have serious doubts.

- Will we get a Hana or Maxwell diamond scene next? A good one or mostly just fluff? Let's see.

- Will we get another flashback scene? Maybe. It's possible. Bianca would remember something.

- One thing I do know for sure is that there is going to be more of Perfect Angel Savannah and Bumbling Bertrand. I'm not looking forward to it.

• Next: I'll be doing TRR Book 1's QT for Chapter 6 as well! Hopefully it will be ready by Friday. As for this series...until next week, folks!

#long post #the royal heir #trh quick thoughts #trh qts #king liam #hana lee #maxwell beaumont #drake walker #texas walker ranch

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lizzybeth1986 · 6 years

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Quick Thoughts on TRR Book 3 Chapter 19

• It's our WEDDING DAY. But it looks like Anton wants to make it our Deathday first.

• For the kind of wait most of the stans have been keeping since this book has begun, seeing our MCs finally married to our favourite LIs is quite...satisfying. Well. For most of us at least.

• Title: You Are Cordially Invited. To see me get married or to see me die?

• Mara goes outside, vowing that to get through to us they'd have to get through to her first.

• Madeleine and Bertrand barricade the door with a couch and Bertrand warns everyone to have something in hand (Olivia is one step ahead, obviously, with her sharp-as-fuck stilettos).

• That girl is ready and prepared to commit maritricide, y'all! XD

• Hana picks a vase, Madeleine keeps her clipboard, Penelope is panicking at the back with Merlin and Morgana (this was the shit I was trying to avoid with court, Mom! I can almost hear her thinking), but if you really want to see a legend minus the legend points...I should point you all to Kiara:

I repeat. A legend I stan.

This is someone having a trigger attack, and steeling herself despite the trauma of two previous experiences before plunging herself into a possible third one. That takes serious guts.

• Madeleine isn't exactly prepared to fight (clearly being Queen never seemed to involve fighting assassins before for her, strangely enough), but Olivia sure is. She says "do you want to keep bleating like a defenseless lamb or do you want to get ready to fight?"

• Honestly though Olivia delivers some of my favourite lines this chapter.

• Ana is staying out if this - (in public) because she "does not have the equipment for this" and (in private) because she wants to capture the scoop of the century!

• THANK YOU MAXWELL for gifting me that sword!

•

(All the screenshots, except for the Maxwell one from the HIMEME channel, are mine)

I have better bodyguards inside this boutique than I do outside. Look at all of these people. Picking up clipboards, stilletoes, vases, mannequins, scissors, THEIR OWN BARE HANDS, and defeating these dudes. Like...like...they may have been incredibly sheltered and protected by their families but all of them know how to make the best of a situation where their lives are under threat. And mind you, at least two of those women openly struggle with issues related to their mental health and still manage to emerge from this doing what they can.

• I loved the sword scene! It was a nice look back at TCaTF (esp Book 3) and a nice way to celebrate the Choices anniversary. In TCaTF books 1 and 2, you had different point systems for Kenna and Dom: prestige for her and power for him, to show the rise of Kenna as a formidable leader and the gaining of Dom's fire powers. Because he possesses enough power to transform into a dragon by the end of Book 2, the focus then shifts to them gearing up for their biggest battle yet - the one with Empress Azura of Ducitora (though part of this book is spent with Dom trapped inside an airship fighting a particularly frightening form of mind control from Hex). The implication is that Kenna becoming a legend consolidates her position as the uniter of the Five Kingdoms, which is what she becomes by the end of the story. It's therefore fitting that the legend points feature here, just before the MC's wedding - for like Kenna, she has just returned from reuniting the nobility (or not) into supporting Liam's right to the throne through her wedding, and like Kenna she needs to fight a Nevrakis, while possibly having the support of other Nevrakises...well, just one in the case of TRR.

• If you're marrying Hana, she features nowhere in this scene, and Olivia stabs the assassin who attacks Madeleine with knives. If you're not, she is part of your entourage, and particularly is shown taking action when Madeleine's life is under threat. If they hadn't already been hinting at Madeleine's "feelings" for Hana, and the latter's convenient amnesia regarding the events of the engagement tour...I wouldn't have minded. But I do. Very much.

• Maxwell only features in this scene if you choose him as a bridesmaid, but I would highly recommend choosing him as one at least once (if he's not your LI that is) because he and Bertrand do so amazing fighting together here.

• Ana's motto will be "my life may leave me but never my desire to catch proof of a burning-hot scoop".

• Gee, Bastien, you took a while to get here. Like...8 chapters or something.

• Mara comes back with an injury and an attempt to say our code name, which...sure thanks Mara but you still suck at your job. If guarding us is really your job at all.

• Bastien and whoever is with him have managed to capture the remaining assassins but Anton managed to escape. If that doesn't come back to bite us in the ass later...

• Why is Madeleine so involved when it comes to MY dress? Her hand is literally trembling. Please don't tell me this design was intended for her wedding. That'll be a waste of 25 whole diamonds.

• Or perhaps she's just shook coz THERE IS FYDELIA LACE INVOLVED YOU PEASANTS.

• "I need to have security remove any guests wearing white," says the press sec who tried to sneak in a white dress to wear for my wedding.

(Yes. I plead guilty. I just needed an excuse to cram in a Brian May gif there. I can't help that this man is the Meme King of Queen).

• OF COURSE I'M WEARING DRAKE'S POCKET WATCH AND HANA'S SHOES.

• We've finally reached the cathedral! After threatening to either drive the carriage through the premises, cry or sue Cordonia if we don't get there soon enough.

• I see the Applewood people! You get loads of options to greet the crowd. And of course I was going to try getting Esther to say " 'sup" once lol. I think depending on how you wave to them, the press will either see you as graceful or playful.

•

(Screenshots: Hana's is mine, Maxwell's from the HIMEME YouTube channel, Penelope's from @sgt-peppers-coffee-club , Olivia's from @i-dream-so-i-write , and Kiara's from @callmetippytumbles )

Here's all our Maids (plus one Man) of Honour! All of them speak about this day being a long time coming, but also reflect with the MC on what it took for them all to get to this point. I think Olivia (by virtue of being the Fighter of the lot) and Kiara (because of what she's faced at least thrice now) get some particularly meaty lines for their MOH scene.

• You get to choose whether Bertrand should accompany you down the aisle, since it's tradition to be done so by a member of your House, and the Beaumonts have been her sponsor from the beginning. Cue an emotional moment with Bertrand, who regards you as family now and is immensely proud of you. The Maxwell stans got a similar conversation in the vows diamond scene, but in more detail because it's his kid brother you're marrying, but now we get it as an honorary Beaumont as well. He gets super super emotional if you ask him to walk you down the aisle.

• Oooh pretty! And so many stained glass windows! Why was Leo complaining so much about this cathedral in RoE Book 3? I would have given an arm and a leg to get married there.

• NEW MUSIC!!! Lots of lovely flowery piano notes and trumpets. Very regal and very much a wedding march tune.

• So technically I'm guessing this is where we get to see the results of our tour, because in my playthrough everyone is here.

• If you're marrying Drake, you get to see his mother Bianca, and she speaks to you after the ceremony. I can kiiinda see where Savannah gets her "I only met you ten seconds ago but OMG WE'RE GOING TO BE BFFS" vibe comes from.

• WTF none of these people changed clothes it seems 😂 Everyone's else is wearing what they usually wear. Guys, this wedding is going to be freaking TELEVISED and these nobles are wearing their usual dusty outfits 😂😂

• The Best Men/Women, are depicted positively - whether they have feelings for the MC or not. Drake is said to be showing a "rare, unabashed grin", and Liam is "smiling proudly". Kiara is "smiling excitedly".

• So as you all know, you can choose between Liam (if you're marrying Hana or Maxwell), Leo or Regina for officiating your wedding. The speech is largely the same - they all mention the seed and apple tree analogy, the traditions of Cordonia and how important love is - but the opening lines vary.

(Regina's is from mine, Leo's is from the Bizzy's Choices channel, and Liam's is from @kennaxval )

Regina's is distant and formal, which suits her and suits the scale of the occasion. Leo's is humorous, and Liam's is flowery and poetic. This suits both of the men as we know them. Leo is known to not take himself very seriously, and Liam's language is very ornate by default.

• The vows (I'm talking about the LIs' ones here, since the MC's is customizable) are all beautiful. Every single one delves into their history with her and how their relationship with her grew from strength to strength. You can see why they decided to go off-script for their vows. Their story with her has always been personal and these vows are about acknowledging the long, hard journey that got them to this altar.

•

Liam's is about how the MC taught him to believe in possibility, to believe that he needn't be stuck in the rut of royal stoicism to be the king his people need. Hana's is about the freedom the MC gave her from a future carefully charted out for her, into a better, brighter one. Maxwell's is about how he has found a woman whose very presence represents adventure for him, someone who will raise him up rather than tie him down. Drake's is about embracing change, accepting the love the MC has for him and the love he tried to deny having for the MC. I love them all.

• In my mind this is the improved version of the wedding scene in TCaTF, as is the RoE wedding. I recall, way back when Kenna got married, fans (rightly) pointed out that while her LIs' vows sounded heartfelt and acknowledged their relationship with her, the few options given for Kenna's vows made her sound impersonal and not very involved in comparison (for instance, even though Diavolos appeared only by Book 3, Kenna still was made to sound like the relationship had been there for longer). In RoE, they attempted to correct that, by giving us the diamond option to personalize our vows (still using their choices, but we got more options here and went into more detail). In TRR they've gone a step further and have US type what we want with our wishes, because even when you have the same LI - no two people can view one character the same. There's space for shitposting haha, but it's also to ensure that we have enough say in the vows we want our MCs to repeat.

• If you don't choose either your corgi or Bartie, the Cordonian children become your ringbearers. In this case, they are Valerie and Marco, the little ones from Lythikos, which I think is a very interesting choice. Because it does show us that though the Nevrakis clan seem to want to destroy Liam and his line, Lythikos itself - represented by Olivia - is in support of him. If Liam doesn't marry you, it makes even more sense that the children meant to represent Cordonia come from Olivia's estate.

• Lol everyone got the same ring. At least it isn't the cheapass one Madeleine had us pick up for her in Book 2.

• Vows exchanged, tears shed, and we can be as thirsty as we want in public without anyone saying a thing (wink at the LI, tell them you wish you both were alone instead of at a cathedral, give them a steamy kiss after your vows are exchanged).

AAAAAAAND WE'RE MARRIED!!!!

(Screenshots: for Drake and Maxwell it's was @sgt-peppers-coffee-club and for Hana it was @kennaxval 😄)

Ngl I was super super emotional when I saw the wedding portrait it took us so LONG and it was so BEAUTIFUL 😭

• Esther wants to call the monarchy the "DuPont dynasty" right now haha. I think there are some playthroughs (for instance Maxwell's I think) where Hana speaks of creating the Lee dynasty which...well...is odd if you're not marrying her, yes. This chapter had a whole bunch of goof ups going on.

•

YES DONNIE KEEP SAYING IT. I'M QUEEN NOW. FINALLY.

• From rats in a dumpster to this...what a journey.

• We now have a reception to go to! There is a teaser about whether this reception will be the one we hoped for (which is shorthand either for "gear up for drama folks" or for "you didn't spend enough diamonds for this, sucks to be you" 😒).

General Thoughts:

• How many of you folks have seen Cold November Rain? That music video from Guns n Roses? In that one, there's a wedding and Slash, the band guitarist (cum best man who seems to be in love with the bride) drops the ring in the bridegroom's hands and then steps out into a...desert for this:

Would have been epic if either Drake or Liam left the ceremony midway to perform an epic guitar solo to the bustling crowd in Cordonia 😂 (you know the writers have friendzoned Hana and Maxwell hard enough that that will never happen for them).

• For the most part this chapter definitely did live up to the hype. This wedding was the culmination of everything we've been through since the book began so of course it was going to be big - and it was. I may have lost a lot of love I used to have for this book, but damn did I feel emotional when I read those vows, saw that wedding screenshot, heard the wedding music, fought alongside my girls.

• I think there may be two chapters left. Next chapter will be dedicated to the reception, and we'll see the following choices we made play out, most of which are certainly diamond-options:

1. The nobles (free, but it largely depends on whether you won them over or not)

2. The main course (from the food festival in Castelserraillian). Liam also showed us a chocolate souffle from there which he was suggesting for the wedding but IDK if that one will feature.

3. The wedding cake (Capitol cake scene) and the surprise dessert for the LI (baklava, cheetah cake, s'mores, hot chocolate).

4. The chocolates/macarons for guests

5. The gifts for the LIs (all of which open up a special scene).

6. The presence of Drake's mother (if you are marrying Drake).

That's a whole lot of stuff to code so get ready for a few goof-ups here and there, fam. As long as it's not as bad as the one they did at Hana's wedding that would be fairly okay.

• Now I know the "husband and wife" thing was a goof-up with the code, as is Liam not wearing the white uniform if you chose it for him and Hana's comment on the Lee dynasty with the MC (which somehow never showed up on my Liam playthrough). And technically, not many would actually be this angry about it if it weren't for the fact that Hana has been treated like crap by her writers before this, and on a smaller scale so has Maxwell. It's bad enough that she is the only option out there. It's even worse that while Drake gets extra development and extra scenes and extra characters (they worked hard enough to do the artwork for his mother for just that one playthrough), Hana is stuck with lazy writing and the person shown having a crush on her was her bully in the previous book. Having Liam announce that Hana and the MC are "husband and wife" even after different options had been given or chosen, would feel like a slap in the face.

Thankfully, PB has recognized how badly this could alienate fans, especially fans of characters like Hana and Maxwell who don't get the attention they deserve, and not only apologized but recognized how hurtful it was and tried to compensate.

I mean, how would you feel if the LI you liked was constantly being treated like they didn't matter? Wouldn't it frustrate you? Wouldn't a "glitch" like this one be the rotten cherry on a huge crapcake?

I'm saying this because I have seen at least a few say "this is a glitch lmao why are you guys complaining so much". This is why. It goes beyond just the glitch. It goes into why "husband" has to be the default here. It goes into chapters and chapters of shitty writing given only for certain LIs. That frustration is bound to boil over at some point.

• We'll also definitely be sneaking out and doing some post-matrimonial banging at some point. And if I don't get lingerie before that happens Ima be very very angry 😡

• I think it would be better to spread this out into two chapters.

• Is there a chance Anton might actually try something at the reception? Possibly.

• Will it be enough to warrant another full-length book? I don't know. I hope not.

• Alright, it's time for Chapter 20 now!

#the royal romance #long post #liam x mc #king liam #hana x mc #hana lee #maxwell x mc #maxwell beaumont #drake x mc #drake walker #bossina cathedral #wedding #olivia nevrakis #countess madeleine #trr penelope #trr kiara #cordonia #trr quick thoughts #quick thoughts

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lizzybeth1986 · 6 years

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Quick Thoughts on TRR Book 3 Chapter 20

• Note: Screenshots for Hana are from @kennaxval , HIMEME YouTube Channel for Drake and Vika Avey YouTube Channel for Maxwell. Alright. Looks like this book will take another two chapters, fam!

• I feel like one will be for the final showdown between Liam and Anton, and the eventual aftermath, and the last one will be an epilogue of sorts, where the MC either has her coronation or is honoured in a special ceremony for her bravery. But I could be wrong, so don't take me altogether on my word.

• Wanna know how to be friendzoned by your spouse at your own wedding reception? Be Hana.

• I'm serious. Even if she's fucking married to you she's still expected to play the part of Professional Best Friend™. She acts more the bridesmaid than the actual bride.

• Title: A Warm Reception. Well that reception is about to get scalding hot by the end of this chapter!

• The chapter begins with a lovely sweet scene with your husband/wife (it's so nice to finally say it!!) and what they're looking forward to at the reception. In the options you get to hint at the main course you picked (if you paid the diamonds) or the cake (if you paid the diamonds) + the toast (for which you will now pay diamonds).

• We meet Ana de Luca at the boutique and she shows us a dress that...still looks like it would be more suitable for a wedding instead.

Okay maybe a little risque for a wedding...but still. I guess I'm more used to the bride changing into a different colour for the reception (for us Malayali Christians, we usually change into saris of whatever colour - but mostly red - after the wedding and the mass is over).

Well of course I'm choosing this. The other option is the dreaded LBD (alright not that dreaded. It's a lot better than Bluebelle, after all).

• Madeleine is extra snippy and snarky compared to her usual, and is determined to change her job description from Press Sec to Professional ClamJammer/Cockblocker™.

• Look, you lucky sods who did the fling option. My MC has had no sex since Valtoria and SHE. IS. THIRSTY.

• So we enter the hall, congratulated and complimented like any regular wedded couple, our friends surrounding us with joy and promises of a good time. Court members like Kiara and Penelope confess to crying over your vows (I'm guessing this crops up only if you chose the vow diamond option in Chapter 18).

• Boy they really are laying it in thick with Liam's heartbreak if he's not marrying you aren't they. Like they HAVE to drill it in you that THIS MAN STILL LOVES YOU AND IS IN PAIIIIIN before this entire betrayal fiasco occurs. They're like a few lines short of literally writing it on the poor man's forehead.

• In each playthrough, once you're done getting felicitations from everyone, you then get to meet the rest of the groom/bride's families.

In Liam's playthrough Regina and Leo tell Liam how proud they are of him, and Leo is impressed at his wedding taking place in Bossina Cathedral (hinting at the fact that if you married him in RoE, he was one of the few royals who did not get married there). In Drake's playthrough, the MC meets Bianca, and we find out more about both her and Jackson (Jackson wasn't a big fan of big events with lots of people, and Bianca can't wrap her head around the gazillion spoons and their purpose on the dinner table. Don't let your future son-in-law Bertrand catch you saying that, Bianca!). In Hana's playthrough, Xinghai and Lorelai sound nostalgic, and Lorelai tells Hana that she wishes Hana had let her braid her hair. Hana tenses up at the comment, but given the speech Lorelai gives later on, it seems more like a sentimental moment she wanted to share with Hana before the wedding. In Maxwell's playthrough, the family members are Bertrand, Savannah and Bartie, and Savannah uses her time with the newlyweds to...make pointed remarks about "how hard it is to take the leap" and give Bertrand shade for taking their relationship further yet. Um. Okay Savannah.

• We then move on to the main course. Now if you didn't buy the group scene at the festival in Castelserraillian, you do have a main course - they just don't specify what it is. If you do, however, the main course you chose will unlock a scene with the LI that recommended it. The chicken tagine unlocks some playful dialogue between Liam and Leo about how much Liam disliked this dish and how much his tastes have changed since then. The ash-e reshteh unlocks a cute scene between Hana and her parents about their experience in Iran during the Persian New Year, including a sweet story about how Lorelei had lost her bag and ended up walking around in a t-shirt instead. The feijoada stew doesn't give us any extra stories, but it does unlock a funny scene where Bertrand looks suspiciously at the stew ("It smells like...Drake". Bertrand Bertrand Bertrand. If only you knew how much grovelling you'd have to do in front of Drake later), Drake encourages him to try it, and Bertrand is bowled over by the taste. I guess that's to be expected, considering Drake only specified that he liked the taste of the stew rather than assign any personal connection to it. Overall...nice touch having the food item connected to the LI that suggested it to you, and it makes me a little sadder about the fact that they didn't assign one to Maxwell at all.

• The LI you married gives their speech for free, each in their own unique style, each giving us an insight into their individual stories:

In their individual ways, each LI stresses on how their love story wasn't expected to work out, but did despite all the odds. Both Maxwell and Drake are self-deprecating: one speaks of how he - even now - cannot imagine that this beautiful feisty woman would choose a 'cynical bastard' like him, while the other highlights how fairytale-like her journey was expected to be and how he was the court jester who shouldn't have been getting the girl, but did. (Lol I also noticed that the married Drake now calls his spouse "Walker" 😄 Edit: Looks like this is by option. @i-dream-so-i-write tells me that in the carriage scene post the wedding, you get to choose what he should call you, which I missed. Nice touch!). Hana speaks of how her feelings towards the MC gradually developed over time, becoming stronger and more difficult to ignore even though she knew they were both supposed to be here on the same purpose (ie. vying for Liam's hand). Liam's highlights his constant fears that their relationship would be brought to an abrupt end several times, but above all, he speaks of her as Cordonia's Queen, reminds his subjects that she has proved her worth as a leader time and again. This is important, because it's a reminder that Liam will always belong to two: to his country, and to the woman who marries him.

• You then get a diamond option to hear the toasts of all your friends (the remaining LIs + Olivia) + a family member of that particular LI. In each playthrough, there are discrepancies: ones that seemed odd and confusing to me at first but that clearly show a pattern. Each LI will have just one fellow LI who will speak about them as well, rather than just the MC, and a family member who will reflect on that person's growth. Out of all of them, Olivia addresses only one directly with substantial attention to the LI: and that is Liam (she has a line directed to Drake that is doubtless funny but actually doesn't add anything and could have been done without really). Each one ends with a final toast from Bertrand. So here's what the breakdown of the toasts in each playthrough:

Liam: Toasts given by Drake, Olivia, Maxwell, Hana and Bertrand. Family member: Leo.

Leo's speech is primarily about bringing us back to the roots of the TRR story (his abdication and the aftermath of it all is how this story begins, after all), and reminding us of how it all began. He acknowledges the toll his decision must have taken on Liam, but also makes it clear that the MC has helped Liam find the balance between his duties and his needs that he so clearly needed.

The LI who focuses on Liam is Drake. This is but natural, given their deep bond and personal history. He speaks of Liam's "heart of gold" that matches the literal gold he's got around, and considers him his brother.

Maxwell and Hana focus on the MC, and only cursorily mention Liam (Maxwell does cute finger guns though lol).

Olivia's toast is special to the MC because it's where she makes clear her respect for her, and confesses that though she hated her in the beginning it turned into respect. Liam is perhaps the only LI Olivia properly acknowledges:

In the rest of the playthroughs, Olivia may end up being Liam's eventual Queen, but in this one - she is affirming that whether he belongs to her or not, he remains her inspiration and she will always care for him. Kinda like a fitting goodbye to that dream I guess? Comparatively, she ignores the other LIs, except for Drake whom she baits and then declines to make a toast for.

Bertrand speaks of his personal journey with the MC, but does not make more than a cursory mention of Liam and the fact that the MC is now Queen.

Drake: Toasts given by Liam, Hana, Maxwell, Olivia and Bertrand. Family member: Savannah.

Savannah's toast is more centered around the MC than it is Drake, and possibly gives the MC more credit than is wise. Like yes, if the MC chooses she can convince Drake to actually reach out and talk to his sister, but she wasn't the one who - in Savannah's words - "found" Savannah. That was all on Drake. Drake was the one who found the address. He was the one who took initiative to check it out and see who stayed there. All the MC does is maybe give him the required push to stay, and even that is optional. In any case...when Savannah does talk about Drake it is to reaffirm his deep denial that there was anything between them up until he was able to get engaged to the MC.

The LI who focuses on Drake is Liam. He speaks of their long-standing friendship, how Drake deserves happiness, and hints at how much he has sacrificed for Cordonia without taking anything in return.

Again, Maxwell and Hana do not mention Drake except in passing, and their toasts are mostly dedicated to their friendship with the MC.

Olivia's toast is basically added here just because Olivia-roasting-Drake is popular, and I think it falls a little flat really.

Bertrand, being Drake's future brother-in-law, speaks briefly of his affection for the Walker family and therefore affirms his respect for Drake based on what he has heard of him from Savannah.

Hana: Toasts by Maxwell, Liam, Drake, Olivia and Bertrand. Family member: Lorelai.

Lorelai's toast ties in with what she tells Hana at the beginning of the reception. She brings up the way she used to braid Hana's hair as a reference point to her childhood, speaking at length of how close they were even if the relationship was a strained one. She speaks of how afraid she was of losing Hana, and how she is now coming to terms with the fact that by setting her free she is actually becoming closer to Hana than she ever imagined. Which is nice...but as with most things Hana related...it's a whitewashed pretty picture that really doesn't delve properly into this relationship as it has been depicted before.

The LI that focuses on Hana is Maxwell. It's clear that there is a tiny element of hero-worship there ("when I grow up I want to be like Hana Lee"). He acknowledges her particular manner of caring for people, her amazing dance skills and her kindness. It's quite sweet, even though frustrating because I've seen more of the LIs laud Hana's perfections in lieu of proper characterization. But that aside. It's sweet.

In this case, it is Liam and Drake who do not focus on Hana, instead stopping at their toast to the MC. Olivia does not directly address Hana either.

Bertrand, as with Liam's playthrough, doesn't have much to say about Hana the way he does about Drake and (understandably) Maxwell.

Maxwell: Maxwell's has only four options - the remaining LIs and Olivia. This is because Bertrand, Maxwell's brother and only surviving family, is also the MC's sponsor and speaks in that capacity as well. In the case of Maxwell's playthrough, he represents both the bride and the groom.

Bertrand's toast here is pretty much an extension of his toast in the other playthroughs, with him exploring his history with his brother. He recognizes Maxwell's gifts, acknowledges the childlike quality that is a part of him, confesses there is so much about Maxwell that he doesn't and may never really understand, and apologizes for making him feel like he deserves less than to know his brother is proud of him. It reflects on the journey the Beaumont brothers have taken, and how he finally realizes Maxwell's worth.

The LI that focuses on Maxwell is Hana. Like Maxwell she speaks of his excellent dancing skills, but then again she also speaks of his zest for life, his sense of humour, his playful spirit.

Liam and Drake focus on the MC instead of Maxwell, which feels a bit odd since they've known him for long enough as well, but I can appreciate that Liam and Drake are closer to each other than to anyone else in the group, and so are Hana and Maxwell.

Again, Olivia does not say anything about Maxwell either.

It looks like they decided to center the toasts around the MC for the most part, with a few insights on the LI from those closest to them. They spread that out by including a family member and an LI close to to them, and additionally in Liam's case, Olivia.

• Seeing Hakim try to say "WOO" and then ask if he's doing it right if you ask everyone to say make some noise, has to be the cutest thing about this chapter xD

•

Yes Esther. He picked the song. From the HSS soundtrack.

• Each LI then speaks about/alludes to their previous dances with you. Liam recalls the first dance at the Masquerade, Hana alludes to the many dances they have done over the course of the story (mostly because dancing with her is optional), Drake speaks about wanting to get things right especially on their special day and Maxwell speaks about having the right mood and music depending on the situation. Quite sweet.

• Once the wedding dance is done, the LIs dance in a group together. Liam twirls Hana, Hana performs ballet, Maxwell challenges Drake to do spin kicks, Drake does some killer spin kicks, crediting self-defense with teaching him those moves. Penelope (and Kiara, very cautiously once she realizes Maxwell is volunteering to coach because she clearly wants all her bones intact by the end of the night) is so impressed she asks to be coached. Maxwell does the coaching.

• Olivia is not here, and Maxwell assumes she's gone to check out the hors d'ouvres. Hmm. Hmm.

• Cake cutting time! Now technically, if you didn't buy this option, it still happens - you just don't get to see what they're cutting. Choosing your cake allows you to see it and (more importantly in my opinion) gives you some lovely food descriptions. You also get gag options for cake cutting and for either feeding the cake to your spouse or smearing it all over their faces.

• If you're getting married to Liam and bought the gastrodiplomacy scene in Castelserraillian, you get an extra chocolate souffle. I wasn't sure they would remember this one post hiatus, but looks like they did. Now if only they'd remember Hana was an actual character deserving of a good arc with that much accuracy...

• If you bought the cake scene, you also get to surprise your spouse with an extra dessert. Liam is willing to share his baklava with you after being outed by his brother as being a Joey (I DON'T SHARE FOOD), Hana loves the hot chocolate and wants to refine her recipe based on it, Maxwell calls it the "second best cake" he's had (the first being their wedding cake). Drake's is the s'mores, but the playthrough I saw shows him enjoying the Cordonian Ruby pie (which honestly looks more like its been filled with berries than apples) and speaking of how nice it is to have one down-to-earth dessert. I'm guessing he must have either a similar reaction to the s'mores, or there's some reminiscing of the time he prepared it for her back in Book 2.

• The scene now shifts to BertVannah, who are having an argument. Savannah looks pissed off about Bertrand not calling and informing her about the attack in the boutique (gee, I wonder how that conversation would've gone. "Hey honey. At the brink of death here. Toodles!"). But her real ire is because she wants to take things to the next level but is getting mixed signals from Bertrand. She tells him she will probably be joining her mother in Texas instead. The timing of all this is supposed to be terrible, because Bertrand was planning to propose. With that ruby ring from LoveHacks.

• What ensues is a diamond scene to help Bertrand give Savannah her fairytale proposal, one last exercise in teaching Bertrand words and this couple to hold hands. Whether you choose it or not, Bertrand proposes, Savannah says yes and we find out her middle name is Jane.

• The diamond scene itself is quite sweet. It begins with Bertrand buttering up to Drake to get his approval, the highlight of which is him imitating a chicken to prove to Drake that he would do anything for Savannah. It then moves ahead to the Cordonian barbershop quartet (Liam, Drake, Maxwell, Bertrand) agreeing to get together after their last appearance in Book 2 to help him with the proposal, which will be sung to Savannah during the bridal bouquet toss.

• Somehow, no matter what, the TRR writing team have to remind us that they don't consider Hana a bride at her own wedding:

They somehow forget that Hana is a bride in this part of the Hana playthrough, have her round up the bridesmaids when that should be done by someone else (Madeleine or Kiara or literally any other woman), and make her stand in her fucking wedding gown in the line with the other bridesmaids. It's bad enough that she remains the "professional best friend" even after you're engaged, has to wear black at her own bachelorette and a glitch in the game during the ceremony directly affects her fans more than anyone else. Like if I were Hana I would circle the photo album of this day and mark it WORST WEDDING EVER. Yes. In red 😠

The MC is really out there treating her bride like a wedding planner on their wedding day. So much for making this wedding Hana's dream wedding, MC. Such love much wow.

• Proposal done, it's now time to give the LIs their gifts. Very nice, very emotional, they all love what you got them and they're all adorable.

You get the usual with the remaining LIs, and some extra kissing with your spouses. Overall, quite nice.

That's a lie Hana and you know it.

• So Olivia is completely MIA post the toast, Gladys is walking around looking poker faced, Bastien is taking Mara's place while (I'm guessing) she recovers...and Madeleine is still being a colossal cockblocker/clam jam.

• You get a few last minute conversations with Kiara and Penelope, including a default acknowledgement of how much Kiara sacrificed to be here and how tough it was for her (nice try, PB, but I'm not forgiving you for Lythikos).

•

We get a lovely call-back to the first chapter of Book 1, by having Not Henney be part of our wedding.

• Regina then comes up to talk to you, admitting that she was wrong in thinking that the MC would be "dangerous for Cordonia", and is now happy you're here.

• Gladys then comes and asks us to accompany her because someone is "impatient" to be with us.

• Uh huh, uh huh, I thought. Time for a diamond sex scene?

• But nope. It's free. (Waiiiiitaminute. Something is not quite right about this. We can't be boinking with our fiancé/es for free. What's going on!)

• ...oh. OH.

• Shame on you Gladys!

• When I asked you to call me Lamb Shawarma I didn't mean for you to turn me into one!

General Thoughts:

• If you're marrying Hana, Drake or Maxwell, they are lured into the maze first, and used as bait to catch hold of the MC. If you're marrying Liam, however, you're the bait.

• Prior to this, Olivia is missing as well, possibly for Anton to establish his "rightful" claim over his wife (good luck with that, buddy. I'd love for this to end with one of her knives on your throat) in the next chapter.

• Which is probably why Liam having feelings for the MC keeps coming up so much in the final few chapters. It propells him into anger either way, and seeing Olivia in a danger as well allows Liam to finally wake up to his possible feelings for her in the other playthroughs (I hope?)

• I think there will be a duel. I think it will be a parallel to the Costume Gala duel between Drake and Neville, except here the stakes are much much higher. Which is why Neville is shown in the chapter, after a long time of not being shown at all even though it's clear he's still part of the tour. He's probably there as a way to foreshadow what is to come. Also, it works as a bit of an inverse.

In the Costume Gala duel, Drake was clearly the underdog, and Neville clearly the noble who needed to be taught a lesson. Drake has spoken about agreeing to the duel to prove that as a commoner he has his worth and dignity, and it doesn't need to be trampled on.

In this duel, Anton appears to be the underdog fighting valiantly against the king of a "tyrannical" dynasty, and this is a rhetoric that at least some people take seriously, as we saw in the riot in Chapter 17, and in a little of what Gladys says before the betrayal.

But here...the tables are turned. Anton is the power-hungry candidate for the throne who is willing to destroy the livelihood of Cordonia's farmers and throw the economy of the country into shambles (ironically, since his father was part of the Sons of Earth), to get access to the throne. Liam has been established over and over as someone who genuinely cares for his people and wants them to prosper with him, not have himself prosper at their expense. So in this case, the non-noble here is established as the one who would be absolutely wrong for the country, and Liam as the monarch Cordonia needs and deserves.

• I wonder how much of this chapter will the actual duel take. I'm guessing half of it, with the LI, Liam, Olivia and the MC then going through the aftermath, and then eventually moving into the Coronation/honouring ceremony of the finale in another chapter.

• There will (hopefully) be some focus on Liam's emotional state? That man has been through way too much shit minus any space to actually talk about what he's been through. It's high time he gets his space to really open up about his trauma and actually get to heal, because this book has been keeping his state of mind in limbo for way longer than it should. It's been poorly worked on and poorly built, his overall crisis arc, but I'm hoping this coming chapter will make up for that.

• I deserve TWO sex scenes for the kind of crap I have to put up with at my own fucking wedding. An attack the day before! An attack before I dress! An attack at my reception! What BRIDE goes through this shit!

I'd better get great lingerie and explosive sex for the kind of stress getting married in Cordonia takes out of me.

• So technically Gladys is supposed to be our surprise element this chapter, and I guess it makes sense, since she is a recently introduced character and you can push her forward as shady without making it very obvious because she only enters the story when the book is close to being done.

• One thing I did find interesting is that if you choose to thank her while she leads you to the hedge maze, she looks sad and speaks of how "the nobles are usually too busy thinking of themselves on a night like tonight", leading the MC to feel sorry she's had such a bad experience. Which kinda gives us a hint why she might be in cahoots with Anton in the first place. Anton is not a nobleman (though he is married into a noble family), and seems to be preying on commoner emotions to get support for overthrowing Liam's government. I'm sorry Gladys, but I think you've been fooled.

• That's it for this chapter, guys. On to Chapter 21!

#the royal romance #long post #liam x mc #king liam #drake x mc #drake walker #hana x mc #hana lee #maxwell x mc #maxwell beaumont #olivia nevrakis #bertrand beaumont #savannah walker #trr quick thoughts #quick thoughts

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