LogFAQs > #962379801

During this time, I forget what I look like. I forget my name. I have no idea who I am or where I've been. I take a brief walk in my lonely, cold, tiny apartment, because I realize this means I needed to get away from the screen. This mind-numbing shit is giving me a headache.

The following thoughts enter my head during the process:
1. Laphi wanted to give himself up. It all makes sense. Artorius told him "You have the 12-year sickness. The longest anyone who had that has lived past their 12th birthday is eight months." And, being 11 y/o, he took some time to accept that he was going to die anyway. So Artorius manipulated him into sacrificing himself "for the greater good" and the kid fell for it - he had no idea that Artorius had sacrificed Celica. He wanted to use the last months of his life to transcribe the Book of Innominat, picking that one because it was the most elaborate of Artorius's books and thus would fetch the highest price. His end goal was to sell it to get Velvet a new comb as a parting gift for her, a memento to tell her he'd always be watching over her. He became Laphicet #2, the malak with whom I've been traveling, in the process of the ritual.

2. The Abbey's plan was to stall. Melchior wanted to toy with us while he worked on the armatus. It wouldn't shock me if they knew we were at Titania the entire time, or figured out that became our base. Let me put it this way: It's where Velvet spent three years in a pit and Rokurou and Magilou wasted their lives away, too. Why would the three of them ever want to return there? It's an obvious place to check for that reason. There's gotta be something I am missing though.

3. Eleanor still boggles my mind. "They were a loving brother and sister - why did you have to kill them!?" makes it seem that she is still firmly on the Abbey's side. You kill your enemies before they kill you. Period. Bienfu... now he's one I don't quite trust based on that one little thing at the end of the skit that seemed so needless. The question is how he's managed to communicate with someone at the Abbey. He's tethered to Magilou, who doesn't really let him leave her sight. It's... hmmm. Magilou does need a villain to pair with her.

4. The emotional weight of the Villain Teresa/Oscar death sequence was thoroughly excellent. A necessary but brutal kill. I don't feel sorry for either of them, but the emotions were more on Velvet's end, with her thinking she's become just like Artorius. She hasn't. This wasn't a thoroughly planned scheme to dominate history. This was her acting in self-defense. Oscar becomes a dragon, she has to fear for her life. Did Teresa NOT her plans could go wrong? She fused with a therion to... do what, exactly? Was she seeking validation? Her motives were entirely selfish and the situation was her fault, but all the parallels here were so great. That scene was fantastic.

5. I want to punch whoever thought this weapon system was a good idea, because it's an utter disaster of the nuclear variety.

Please note the rest of this is gonna be LONG and be two posts' worth. It is THAT GOOD.

Anyway, I get back and finish weapons shit before heading back to Titania, stopping at Taliesin for weapons shopping and to see if that Katz can take me to Nam Cobanda Isle yet (nopers). The Van Eltia would've stopped there to reload anyway, so it's fine.

I get a scene in the ship where Bienfu sends a missive off via a Sylphjay... and Magilou catches him in the act. That little thing at the end of the skit was so incredibly obvious. Turns out someone put a hex on him to interfere with their pact (a... geas, she called it?). She dispells it, thinking Melchior must've planned everything from the moment Bienfu went to Eleanor. Bienfu is obviously terrified that she's going to kill him, but she doesn't care - Melchior was too strong. "I don't care about anything... and I don't care that I don't." HAHAHAHAHA. Man, she's something else. She proves this again when Velvet says she heard the whole thing and that Magilou should prove her loyalty by fighting with us... and Magilou is absolutely envious of this "cruelty-that's-also-compassion thing." HAHAHAHA.

This quickly turns serious when, after Velvet threatens to devour her if she wishes, Magilou asks what hate is, and why it's consuming Velvet. The conversation is interrupted by Benwick when he says there's an Abbey ship at the front docks. Instead of ordering sinking it, probably due to the lack of men, we go around back, and Magilou is vexed by how Velvet can keep crowing defiantly in the face of certain doom. She's still with us because Velvet fascinates her.

We get to the port to see Grim and the dogs backed up by two thugs. Thugs who think Velvet has ruined lives. Thugs who think she's sinful, simply by challenging the status quo. Thugs who stop thinking because they no longer exist... not that made a difference. Seriously, could these thugs even think for themselves? They thought they're some divine beings doing "good" for the world, when they were helping a villain destroy it. ARTORIUS is the Lord of Calamity and he is projecting it all onto Velvet. This is why he must die. Not because he sacrificed Laphi. Because he is evil itself masquerading as a savior. These goons died because of the armatus, not because of Velvet. Morons. I can't wait to tell Artoius "Prepare to face the weight of your sins - and pay for all the lives you've ruined!" Because he is the true root of it all. Velvet wouldn't be going around like this if not for him.

Also notable was that Phi almost gave himself up to save Velvet... and Eleanor actually had her back. Phi promises to protect her even in her emotional trainwreck state. She snapped at him because she dropped Laphi's comb and he wants her to know she can't do it alone. This... she sees her brother in him. This is redemption. Velvet refuses to believe it because of the past. Promises are worthless to her. She gives him an order - the first in ages - to worry about himself. She is losing her damn mind.

Bienfu abruptly apologizes to everyone for being a rat, but they don't blame him because Phi clarifies that it was one of Melchior's artes. Eizen calls the wizard a son of a bitch. Nice. And Bienfu admits telling the abbey that Velvet is actually waifu material. LOL. Both Eizen and Bienfu apologize for what they did to Eleanor, and everything's A-OK. Well... not the Abbey thugs giving their lives to "save the many." That isn't the logical choice there. They're not actually doing any "saving" - they're actually putting the populace more at risk because they're dumb. Velvet says we'll kill whoever gets in our way... makes me think we may have to kill someone we know. The party are aghast at how these goons and the malakhim are being used as tools... but that's pretty much any diabolical fiend like Artorius or Melchior for you. The goons are less a concern because they don't have brains of their own. The malakhim are being robbed of their will and now their bodies, which is horrifying. These pro-slavery dirtbags need to die.

I find Kurogane, Kamoana, and Medissa down by the cells and tell them to get on the ship and get the hell out of here. Kurogane gives Rokuoru an orichalcum sword, so he pulled it off! I still gotta find Prince Percy and Griffin. Three bucks says Shigure is holding them captive and Rokurou is gonna have to kill him here and now. The prince says that the bastard Artorius is here himself... WELL THEN. Velvet thinks he wants to fuse with Innominat to christen himself a god. That would make sense. He was after glory the entire time, as I figured.

(con't)