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After basically an eternity, I have finally gotten back into the mood for TWST character analysis and classpect. Therefore, I am briefly emerging from my swamp to slap this on the internet before retreating back to my hermit hut.
For everyone who wasn’t here years ago for my previous classpect posts, please check the classpect tag on my blog for more info on what the hell this is. Spoilers for chapter 1, chapter 5, and some personal stories. No knowledge of Homestuck required to read. This post will be using quotes from Kanade Musing’s translation of the original Japanese version of the game.
[Image description: A banner containing a picture of Riddle, the symbol for the rage aspect, and the words “Riddle Rosehearts: Maid of Rage”]
Right off the bat, I can’t think of any 2 aspects that could fit Riddle better than rage or doom, which both have to do with limits/rules. Rage focuses on stubbornness and “no,” while doom focuses on systems and caution. To me, the distinction between the two seems to be like personal vs universal. Anyway, Riddle’s strict self-discipline and adherence to the rules obviously relates to one of those aspects.
How exactly does the concept of limits/rules factor into his personal growth? The conflict in chapter 1 revolves around Riddle going ridiculously far with enforcing the rules in his dorm. From Trey and the post-overblot flashback, we learn that Riddle’s behavior stems from his mother being extremely controlling and teaching her son to value the rules & success over his desires & happiness. At the end of the chapter, Riddle apologizes to the dorm and becomes more lenient with enforcing the rules.
Ah yes, the good old days of less than 30 episodes a chapter. This is a refreshingly straightforward story compared to basically everyone else, which means that I’ve already narrowed it down to 2 classpects: maid of rage or maid of doom.
Maids, the active creation class, make their aspect, as shown by Riddle enforcing the rules amongst his dorm. In terms of their personal journey, a maid is first controlled by and reliant on their aspect. Their moment of development comes when they rebel against their aspect and finally claim it for themself. For Riddle, he is first controlled by the rules, like when he has to throw away the tart Ace made when he actually wanted to eat it. However, in the end, he rebels against his mother’s teachings and starts thinking about how he can work towards his own goals rather than blindly upholding the rules.
The question now is whether Riddle’s aspect is rage or doom. After some thought, I believe that rage suits him better. First of all, rage deals with negative emotions like hate and fear. Those emotions characterize the interactions we see between Riddle and his mother, from her vehemently declaring that sweets are poison, to her outrage at Riddle hanging out with Trey and Chenya. You can also see it in Riddle in his destructive anger and his despair at not having friends.
Secondly, rage deals with refusal and denial. It is the opposite of hope, the aspect of belief. Prior to and during his overblot, Riddle stubbornly denies that he is wrong. Just look at these lines from episodes 1-23 and 1-24:
Riddle: Are you saying that I’m wrong, too? Even after I did my best to protect all those strict rules?! Even after I’ve endured so, so, so many things! I won’t… I will never… I will never believe it!!!!!
Riddle: HAHAHAHAHAHA!! I do not need anyone who defies me in my world. I am my world’s absolute ruler. My world itself submits to me! I will not tolerate any answer aside from, “Yes, Lord Riddle.”!! It’s off with the heads of everyone who defies me! AHAHAHAHAHAHA!!
Riddle: I’m the only one who’s always right!! If not, then all that I’ve worked for was…!!
Doom, which deals with caution, death, and acceptance, does not seem nearly as relevant to Riddle’s personality and struggles as rage is. Therefore, Riddle is most likely a maid of rage.
[Image description: A banner containing a picture of Trey, the symbol for the mind aspect, and the words “Trey Clover: Heir of Mind”]
I’m gonna start out with some pieces of dialogue from episode 1-17
Cater: Are you really okay with this…?
Trey: ……….. There’s nothing I can really do…
and episode 1-19
Trey: … I understand why you’d think of him as a tyrant, and I understand that the way he does things is a little wrong, too. But, I… I still can’t find it in myself to go against him at all.
Ace: ………. Now that I know more, I understand completely now. The reason why Prefect Riddle is like that… It’s all your fault…
Ace: If you think that the Prefect’s making the same mistakes as his parents, then tell him directly. Fix your mistakes. What’s gonna happen to him if you just feel sorry and spoil him? So you’re just gonna watch everyone hate him and alienate him from a distance?
I feel like these lines encapsulate Trey’s problem in this chapter. He knows why Riddle acts the way he does and he knows that what Riddle is doing is wrong, but Trey hasn’t done anything to fix it. Therefore, in terms of Trey’s classpect, I currently believe that the class that fits him best is seer.
Seers, the passive knowledge class, invite understanding of their aspect and through their aspect. For Trey, in chapter 1 he provides the 1st years with knowledge on apologizing to Riddle and Riddle’s upbringing. Also, a seer’s main problem is their struggle to understand and use the information that they have. In Trey’s case, he doesn’t know how to handle the situation with Riddle, so he ends up just giving advice to the rule breakers instead of actually confronting Riddle.
Now, we need to do some more investigation to figure out what aspect he is.
Trey has a obsession with dental care because his parents, who work as bakers, did not want all the sugary treats he grew up with to negatively impact his health.
Trey has many younger siblings and he often treats his dormmates like younger siblings too.
Despite how Trey’s brotherly behavior suggests a romantic and selfless outlook on things, he can actually adopt a rather practical and self-serving attitude as shown in his lab coat and dorm outfit personal stories.
Also in his dorm outfit personal story, Trey lets the other students try and utterly fail at making cakes to teach them how difficult baking really is instead of just telling them that their cake requests are unreasonable.
Trey is perceptive and was able to figure out that Cater dislikes sweets by observing him.
Trey’s unique magic, “Doodle Suit,” overwrites qualities (ex. taste, unique magic, color) of things or people with something else.
Going back to Trey being a seer, what exactly does he know and invite understanding of? Trey holds knowledge about Riddle, baking, dental care, Cater’s dislikes, and dealing with siblings. How the hell do all these things relate to each other?
Actually, hold on. Is he a seer? Cause I’m realizing now that he could also be a sylph, the passive creation class. Sylphs are typically known for getting involved in others’ business and fixing what they think needs to be fixed. For Trey, he offers advice to the 1st years, he tries to calm Riddle when he’s angry, he makes sure Unbirthday Party preparations stay on track, and he tries to enforce good brushing habits in the rest of his dorm. Giving up on fixing the Riddle situation might just be him failing as a sylph.
I’m kind of stuck there now, let’s consider aspect for a bit. Though his unique magic does relate to space, I don’t think his aspect is space, time, light, or void. Whatever his class is, it seems to mostly relate to concepts like harmony and healthiness. Therefore, the 2 main aspects I’m considering are heart and life,
Life would relate to his nurturing nature, his concern for dental health, and his relationship with food/baked goods. Heart would relate to his management of others’ emotions, his unique magic which basically alters the identity of something, and his turmoil with the Riddle situation relating to their relationship with each other. Now that I’ve listed these out, I’m gonna say that his aspect fits closer with heart due to that relating better to important things as well as the pun there with Riddle’s name being Rosehearts.
However, it is also important to consider the opposite aspect of mind. The thing is, about half of this post was written more than 2 years ago. Back then, I ended up putting Trey as seer of heart. However, looking back, I really don’t feel like that fits with my current understanding of his character. So, I am going to argue against my past self’s reasoning now.
Trey’s relationship with Riddle is indeed a big part of his character, and the events of the main story did induce some character development in Trey. However, Trey is his own person who is not defined by Riddle and who has his own problems and areas for personal improvement outside of Riddle.
What his own problems are can be seen in his personal stories and his appearances in event stories. A recurring theme with Trey is how he stubbornly denies that he is anything more than average. In his gym uniform story, he deliberately tries to get average grades in flying class, then proceeds to pull off maneuvers in an emergency that has Vargas praising him. In the port fest event, he makes an excellent chowder for the class’s booth, and then brushes off the others’ praise for it. In the 2nd Vargas Camp event, he comes up with a successful strategy for defeating the monster (Vargas) and then, again, brushes off the others’ praise for it.
So many of his efforts go towards blending in and hiding his true capabilities. Going back to chapter 1 of the main story, his main problem is that he hides what he is truly thinking about Riddle. Together with stuff from the bullet points up there like his “practical and self serving attitude”, I don’t think this behavior is something to do with what his class is like my past self did, but I think this is a symptom of his aspect being mind.
Now, after looking at the possible classes to pair with that, I believe that Trey’s classpect is heir of mind. Heir, the passive manipulation class, really seems to fit Trey. Trey seems to naturally default to putting up a mask, since he is often misinterpreted by other characters to be more caring about others than he actually is. He has a goal of not standing out and getting into trouble, and he does stuff like aim for average grades and shy away from going against Riddle as an extension of this goal. These two things seem to be examples of him being embroiled in or manipulated by “mind”, as an heir of it.
Then, as shown in his Starsending Robes personal story where he convinces Riddle to get the dorm a food processor that it doesn’t really need or his ceremony robes story where he successfully stalls Riddle while Cater fixes the roses at the dorm, he is great at getting what he wants through manipulation, but it is not very focused/deliberate like active manipulation would be. He did not make a premeditated plan to talk Riddle into getting a food processor for the dorm, but he happened to stumble on Cater and other students struggling in the kitchen and took the opportunity to bring up a food processor in conversation. In fact, Cater and the other students join in the conversation to back Trey’s sales pitch up without even knowing Trey’s true thoughts on the matter, which seems like a obvious example of inviting manipulation of mind. Therefore, I’m pretty sure that Trey is a heir of mind.
[Image description: A banner containing a picture of Cater, the symbol for the heart aspect, and the words “Cater Diamond: Bard of Heart”]
First, here’s a link to my Cater analysis, which contains my evidence and reasoning for my interpretation of Cater. You only need to read it if you’re curious about how I came up with this summary of him:
Cater’s puts up a constant happy façade to hide his inner sadness. He blends in with the crowd by following the latest trends and acting like a peppy cheerleader towards others. Because of family issues and constantly having to move, he has built up a strong resistance towards trusting others or forming close bonds with others.
Based on his deception, his blending in, and his unique magic “Split Card” which basically allows him to fragment himself, Cater’s aspect is most likely mind or heart. Mind deals with apathy, conformity, and masks, while heart deals with emotion, showing off, and identity.
For classes, I’m going to eliminate page, sylph, and the theft classes cause those don’t seem relevant. I don’t think he really rebels against anything so witch is also out, and the way his personality was shaped by nurture instead of nature doesn’t make heir seem likely either. Finally, though he puts up a mask, it’s more of a way to avoid attachment than hide insecurities so he’s probably not a knight. The remaining options are mage, seer, prince, bard, and maid.
Pairing those up with aspects (and also throwing out seer in the process) leaves us with mage of mind, prince of heart, bard of heart, and maid of mind.
I think the best way to decide between these 4 classpects is to focus on what Cater’s biggest problems are and how he as a person would change when those are resolved.
First, I feel like one of his biggest problems is how he pushes others away. He hides the depressed mandrakes he made in his lab coat personal story, and it is Trey who has to deduce that Cater doesn’t like sweet food rather than Cater telling him that. Second, the other big problem he has is how he not only refuses to acknowledge his problems to others, but also to himself. Even when he is completely alone, like at the end of his ceremony robes story, he still insists on maintaining his happy, life of the party persona.
The natural resolution to these problems would for him to be more truthful with others and to himself, revealing his “heart” and reducing his reliance on his masks, his “mind”. The resolution to his personal journey is really not a change in his relationship to “mind” but a distancing from “mind” and towards “heart”.
Therefore, I think that his true aspect is heart, and his specific classpect is bard of heart. I feel like the way that he lies to himself about his feelings and his overall laid-back nature aligns more with the passive destruction that a bard brings about than the active, focused destruction of a prince. With no other options remaining, I’m locking in my final answer for Cater as bard of heart.
[Image description: A banner containing a picture of Deuce, the symbol for the hope aspect, and the words “Deuce Spade: Heir of Hope”]
Deuce is a very earnest and “act first, think later” kind of guy. Though he is hard working, his enthusiasm and naivety can lead to him go about things in not very thought out ways, which makes me think of him as having an opposite attitude to the lazy but calculating Leona.
An issue he is very conscious of is how he is quick to anger and get into fights, which is what led to him being a delinquent in the past. Now in high school, he is trying his best to change his ways and be an honors student out of a desire to help instead of hurt his mother.
He is pretty hard on himself about this, but in chapter 5, Rook and Kalim help him see that his approach to things isn’t necessarily bad, leading to him accepting himself and developing his unique magic during the overblot fight.
Overall, his personal journey and character development seem to really revolve around the concept of going with your instinct versus strategizing. However, it doesn’t seem to be in the heart/mind way which is focused on rationality and expressing or hiding one’s true self. Instead, Deuce’s behavior comes more from an drive to get things done and push forward towards his goals regardless of what stands in his way and what others may consider unrealistic odds. His unique magic, “Bet the Limit”, is all about taking a bad situation where facing down someone who is stronger than him and is winning and flipping it on it’s head by retaliating with an even stronger version of the magic they’ve used against him.
Therefore, I believe he is strongly involved with the hope and rage aspects, with the hope aspect being the most likely of the two, so I am going to proceed with the hope aspect for now
So, for classes, the main thing we have to consider is how Deuce interacts with Hope. His personal journey is basically first he rejects hope because it caused him anguish because of his mother, then he realizes how he can use hope in a good way and accepts it. However, I do not think his relationship with hope was really destructive. Unlike someone like Cater who buries his “heart” as far down as he can, Deuce still does things based on hope. He acts according to his ideals and instincts, he’s just ashamed of it afterwards. Therefore, I don’t think Deuce is a prince or bard.
Therefore, I think one good possibility is heir. Like an heir would, Deuce naturally connects with core parts of the hope aspect such as trust and “doing” rather than “stopping”. His unique magic is based so much on his intuition that after he uses it he isn’t even sure how to do it again, which seems quite heir-like. Connecting his class to his personal journey, his challenge was to redefine his relationship with hope into a more healthy one instead of letting it pull him down bad roads like his delinquency, which kind of seems to fit with heir based on what tiny bits of memory I still have left of John Egbert’s character development in Homestuck.
I’m not 100% sure about that though, so another possibility is seer. As the passive knowledge class, the challenge of the seer is to reach a better understanding of what their aspect is and figure out what the right path to follow. This looks somewhat similar to Deuce’s case, but after some thought I don’t think seer fits. After figuring out the course of action to take, a seer tells others about it instead of taking action themselves, and Deuce is the only one here doing stuff with his hope. I don’t think Deuce is a seer or even a mage, because understanding/comprehension doesn’t seem to be a major thing with him.
Deuce could be a page. However, the problem is that he didn’t try to be better at hope or anything like that, he avoided hope. His behavior just doesn’t mesh with a page’s. Deuce could also be a rogue. He does struggle with owning his spontaneity/hope, but he never does any giving of it to others. Finally, going over the rage aspect and possible class pairs with that, nothing seems to really match up given how hope-based Deuce’s final character development and unique magic is.
So, in the end, the best fit I can think of for Deuce is heir of hope.
[Image description: A banner containing a picture of Ace, the symbol for the breath aspect, and the words “Ace Trappola: Sylph of Breath”]
In contrast to Deuce’s honesty, sense of duty, and occasional naivety, Ace is shrewd, independent, and has a talent for deception.
Ace often looks for the most efficient, corner cutting way to do things, such as in the 2nd part of his dorm uniform personal story where he decides to focus his rose painting efforts on the ones that are most in view.
One of his hobbies is doing magic/card tricks.
Though Ace puts himself first a lot, that doesn’t mean he doesn’t care about others at all.
Ace is not afraid to call people out if he thinks they’re being unfair or doing something harmful, such as in the dialogue I quoted in Trey’s section in this post.
Though Ace insists they he just hangs out with Deuce, Grim, and the player character out of pity, he shows a lot of care for them, such as in chapter 4 when he makes the long trip back to NRC because of the distress call the player sends when they’re held captive in Scarabia. Ace’s Halloween costume personal story is specifically about Lilia and Malleus commenting on how much Ace cares about his friends, complete with flashback scenes of stuff like Ace giving up his omelette at lunch to stop Deuce and Grim fighting over Deuce’s omelette.
Another cute example of how Ace acts aloof is in his dorm uniform story, when the hedgehogs go missing. At first Ace just tries to find the hedgehogs quick so Riddle won’t punish him for forgetting to lock the cages. However, once he actually starts to worry about if he can get the hedgehogs back, his mind automatically goes to how distressed Riddle was about the hedgehogs. He starts begging the hedgehogs to come back with him because Riddle will be really worried otherwise, even though Ace had previously made fun of another student for talking to the hedgehogs since they can’t understand human language.
According to the wiki.gg Twisted Wonderland wiki, throughout the main story, Ace apparently shows a talent for wind magic.
Given these facts, the first thing I want to consider for him is the breath aspect. Though his occasional contrarian attitude could look like witch-like behavior, given other parts of his character, I feel like it is more a manifestation of his aspect rather than his class. He insults people and expresses unpopular opinions as an assertion of his freedom and lack of attachment to others. Therefore, compared to other aspects, breath (and its opposite, blood) seems like the most relevant one here.
Now, to figure out what his relationship to breath might be. I’m just gonna copy paste this dialogue down here too cause I think it’s a good example of how Ace operates.
Trey: … I understand why you’d think of him as a tyrant, and I understand that the way he does things is a little wrong, too. But, I… I still can’t find it in myself to go against him at all.
Ace: ………. Now that I know more, I understand completely now. The reason why Prefect Riddle is like that… It’s all your fault…
Ace: If you think that the Prefect’s making the same mistakes as his parents, then tell him directly. Fix your mistakes. What’s gonna happen to him if you just feel sorry and spoil him? So you’re just gonna watch everyone hate him and alienate him from a distance?
After hearing about Trey and Riddle’s situation, Ace is able to quickly figure out what the essence of the problem with Trey and Riddle’s relationship may be, figure out what should be done to solve the problem, and succinctly communicate that to Trey. This ability immediately makes me think of the knowledge classes (mage & seer) or sylph.
What’s also interesting about this is the exact advice Ace is giving. Looking at this while thinking of the breath and blood aspects, what Ace is saying can be interpreted as him telling Trey that he is too restricted by his feelings for Riddle, (aka blood) to tell Riddle what he needs to know, so Trey needs to make the hard decision to step back (aka move towards breath) and confront Riddle.
Based on this, I think that Ace’s tendency to call people out for stuff is a result of him being a sylph. As the passive creation class, sylphs are known for meddling in other people’s matters and “healing” any lack of their aspect. For example, this advice that Ace gives Trey can be seen as an example of Ace “healing breath” by trying to introduce more objectivity to Trey and Riddle’s relationship, which in this context means more breath.
His feigned apathy towards his friends and the feelings of others ties into how a sylph can have a very fixed interpretation of their aspect, which can lead to problems when others challenge that interpretation. Ace seems to view attachments to others in general as something negative. Not just concrete relationships like friendships and romance, but also simple empathy and care, like that which the random student in Ace’s dorm uniform personal story shows to the hedgehogs when he babytalks to them. In the story, Ace pointedly notes that the hedgehogs can’t understand them, discouraging the guy from talking to the hedgehogs. This is an example of Ace going too far as a sylph and micromanaging breath here to an unnecessary extent. Therefore, Ace’s challenge is to learn when to limit his pursuit of freedom and recognize that some personal connections are alright to have.
The idea of Ace being a sylph of breath really felt right to me, so there is a decent probability that something else that I didn’t notice fits him better, but I’m gonna go with the ~vibes~ and settle on sylph of breath.
It was close, but basketball club didn’t end up as blood club. It’s just blood-and-breath club now I guess. Freshman breath player gets bullied by a pair of sophomore blood players. Hah.
Preliminary thoughts on Leona’s advice for Jamil, his perception on Kalim, and the Scarabia development implied in Chapter 6′s ending. (AKA "A Pathetic Attempt at a Scarabia Essay”)
I think I am speaking for all of us when I say that Chapter 6 has, by far, been the most interesting and satisfactory Twst arc. Ever. I don’t know where to begin in describing it, honestly, but I think you would understand once you get to read it for yourself.
I’ll mostly be focusing on the topics I stated above, but this post will still be laden with spoilers for Chapters 4, 5, and 6, so if you aren’t up for Scarabia-centric spoilers, please skip this post!
Chapter 6 part 4 liveblog and summary (episodes 80-89)
The end is finally in sight!
Warning for spoilers and possible mistranslations.
oooooo nice sunrise. I don’t really think about it a lot since it is the background, but I gotta say that I love the art style that twst uses for backgrounds.
After leaving the Isle, Rook and Vil also praise the beauty of the sunrise, and then... Vil bursts into tears. Alright great way to start the day. Okay wow so he isn’t as okay with being an old man as he said before lol. Understandable though.
Spurred on by Vil’s loud wailing, they quickly arrive back at the NRC sports field. Everyone laments their poor ears for a bit before Ruggie and Jack run up to them. Ruggie welcomes Leona back while Jack checks over the whole group. He notes that Vil doesn’t seem to be here, and asks who the old guy in the Pomefiore robes is. Oh no hfdfdlkghldskhg time for more Vil crying. Jack & Ruggie realize what’s going on and express their shock before asking what the hell happened to the group. Instead of answering their questions, Leona says he just wants some food, a shower, and some sleep.
Then Kalim runs in, somehow makes Jamil’s name sound like a pterodactyl screech, and knocks Jamil over while at the same time asking if he’s alright. Jamil tells him to get off of him already, but Kalim continue rambling about how worried he’s been since he heard Jade wondering if the kidnapped students were even still alive. Jade and Floyd then make their entrance, with Jade saying he was just pointing out the possibility and didn’t intend to make anyone worry more. They welcome Azul back, who in turn asks how Mostro Lounge has been doing in his absence. They report that they’ve kept it open, but due to the chaos they’ve had zero customers. Azul is distressed and wants to go there asap. Priorities lmao
Riddle reminds Azul that he should go to the infirmary first and Floyd promptly freaks out at Riddle’s white hair. “Goldfishy’s becoming a white killifish!” fhgsjgsdfhdfl
OKAY BUT THEN AFTER FLOYD’S DONE BEING SURPRSED JADE’S STILL JUST STARING AT HIM WITHOUT SAYIGN A WORD FJSGKKGDSKLJF I WANT TO KNOW WHAT HE’S THINKING SO BADLY
And then Trey and Cater run in and join the freak out party. Cater says that Riddle looked like an old man at first glance, and Riddle thanks Azul for his quick judgement keeping him from becoming an old man “too”. Trey and Cater catch the “too”, look around, see the still crying VIl, and freak out even more.
The next members of the welcome committee are Lilia and Malleus who teleport in and congratulate them on coming back safely before Vil’s appearance shocks them. Malleus doubts himself for a moment on how much time has passed since they were kidnapped. Lilia realizes that stepping into the underworld is what caused this, and Rook explains what happened with the underworld. Lilia says that if the monsters of the underworld were set free on the world, even the Briar Valley would have been in trouble, so it’s only right that they should reward these people for their hard work, right Malleus? Malleus sees what Lilia is saying and approaches Vil. He says that he can’t turn back time, but he can share a little magic with him.
Malleus: Schoenheit, blessing to you.
Malleus: ... Now, return to your perfect world!
And with that, old man Vil is gone. He cries out in relief so loudly that it spooks Rook and Epel. As they recover and start laughing together with Vil, Malleus comes to welcome back the player. Ace and Deuce also finally run in for them and Grim. They immediately gets mad at them for being idiots and making Ace & Deuce worry. Grim then teases them for being lonely without him, and Deuce is about to retaliate before noticing Grim is starting to cry. AAAAAAAA YES COME ON GROUP HUG TIME.
Lilia watches them with a smile, but Malleus starts talking to him about how fragile humans seem, since they become old like Vil was after less than a 100 years of life. Lilia replies that it is because their lives end so easily that they can form such strong bonds and history with each other. Malleus ponders what Lilia said before we get a scene change back to Styx.
Idia is tinkering with something. As he inserts something into it, we get a flashback back to him looking at whatever it is that Grim coughed up, which turns out to be a memory card from robot Ortho’s body which contains all of the AI’s memory and program data. Idia worries that Ortho might go on another rampage if he uses the memory card. However, he still decides to put the memory card into an Ortho body. It switches on and begins a start up sequence as Idia watches and anxiously hopes that it’ll work. It finishes successfully and Ortho opens his eyes and asks what happened after Ortho and “him” were sucked into the Underworld together and Idia explains Grim swallowing the memory card.
Ortho realizes what must have happened to “him”, but says he feels some warm sensation around where his memory card and core parts are. Idia worries if something’s wrong, but Ortho says nothing wrong, it just feels like Ortho is “here”. Idia then asks what he should call him from now on, since he doesn’t want the robot to have to pretend to be Ortho anymore. Ortho is confused and asks if Idia doesn’t want a little brother anymore, but Idia explains that as a result of the blot and the Thunder Spear’s attacks, Ortho’s magic circuits have been altered. They’re now immune to any outside interference and so his memory and programming can’t be changed anymore. The only way for them to change is through Ortho’s own heart. Ortho can do whatever he wants now, he’s free.
Ortho thinks about this for a bit, and says that what he wants is to become Idia’s “real little brother”. Even if the neither the blood nor the curse of the Shroud family runs through his body, he still has all of Ortho’s memories and thoughts.
Ortho: I am Ortho, and Ortho is me. Therefore, this is my will, Idia.
Ortho asks if he can still stay with Idia, and Idia replies that Ortho is already his “real little brother.” Then they hug. AWWWWWWWW HGHGLDKFLDSFGDLK AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA Then Ortho says that even if they weren’t able to change stuff such as the curse, they were still able to play games with friends and take that first important step to change more.
Ortho: Let’s go back together. To Night Raven College.
Ortho: There’s people waiting for you, big bro.
Then Ortho says there’s something he wants to do back at NRC and he whispers his request to Idia. Once he’s finished, Idia snickers and says to leave it to him. Awwwwww this chapter’s ending is so sweet so far I love it
Then we time skip to a few weeks later, oh okay. The front of Ramshackle Dorm is now really cleaned up. Apparently the player and Grim have been staying at Pomefiore while renovations have been going on and Vil was pretty strict on them there, so now Grim’s excited to come back home. Before they can go inside, the Scarabia and Pomefiore boys come to check out Ramshackle with them.
The door area looks... okay? I guess? I don’t remember how it looked before well enough to notice what’s changed lol. The ghosts show up now too and come with them to the lounge. Also I just realized that Malleus didn’t do anything for Riddle, like he was much better off than Vil but still, didn’t he lose some magic/life power too? Eh whatever, if nothing happened I guess he’s fine.
Alright now this looks a lot different! Vil and Jamil talk about how STYX really came through on their promise to fix everything up after it got wrecked in the invasion. Kalim says he would’ve put a fancier chandelier here though fkdslfsdkfsk just rich kid things.
ooooo the room looks a lot fancier now too! However, Vil says that with all the changes to the other rooms, they didn’t actually have time to get to the bedroom, and with the flick of a switch it reverts back to what it was like before. The fancy appearance was just an illusion made by a magical device. Bruh.
Someone rings the doorbell then, so the group goes down to the foyer. It turns out to be Deuce and Ace, who’ve come to congratulate us on the renovations and bring a celebratory tart from Trey + snacks from the school store. Grim goes to dig in, but Crowley suddenly shows up and asks for some. Uh dude WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN
He explains the stuff with STYX was resolved yesterday and then Idia also comes in. The group all move to the lounge, where Crowley complains about what a rough time he’s had. He was called to the national congress building in the Land of Dawning, and along with STYX, important people from the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Magic also questioned him about why so many overblots were happening at his school. He starts ranting about how he doesn’t know and why he deserves this when he’s been managing this school so diligently. Oh hold up the Ministry of Education is stationing a counselor and a doctor at NRC? Please tell me I’m reading this right and they weren’t already stationed here please give these boys some therapy and competent adults to watch over them.
Anyway, Crowley announces that Idia will be coming back to school. There’s also a new student, and Ortho comes in.
OMG SCHOOL UNIFORM GEAR LET’S GOOOOOO
Ortho is transferring into class 1-C! Everyone immediately descends into loud confusion and shock. Crowley says that Ortho has been allowed to enroll here as the first magic humanoid holding “self-consciousness” in the entire world. AKA, he now has a will and human feelings and stuff.
Also Idia what are you doing other there gdkhglkfsdhlds
Rook congratulates Ortho on this and changes his nickname for him to “Monsieur Wonder (Miracle)”. Crowley talks about how Ortho will serve as great inspiration for those interested in magical engineering in Ignihyde, but right after he starts grumbling about all the trouble STYX has caused for him. Crowley stop complaining and do your job lmao.
Ortho is excited to make friends with the other 1st years, but Idia just begs for them to ignore him. Then, Ortho reminds Idia to give “that” to the player. “That
turns out to be a “Wonder Link,” a popular new game console. They also give the player enough points in the download store to buy 10 games as well as some already downloaded games that they recommend. As Ortho and Idia go to set it up, Crowley asks Grim how he’s been since he came back here. Grim says that he feels fine and nothing was found to be wrong with him at the hospital. Then,
Crowley: I’m truly glad that you... no, that you all returned to school safely.
CROWLEY. CROWLEY WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT. WHY WERE YOU ABOUT TO ONLY SAY “YOU”. Alright this man just became like twice as sus, what the fuck do you know about Grim that we don’t
The fucker makes his escape soon after that so we’re gonna have to wait for chapter 7 to solve that mystery I guess. Instead, it’s video game time. Idia brags about clearing all the hidden stages and secret bosses on hard mode on the games that the gang played back at STYX, so everyone makes him play while they watch him.
awwwwww and we get chibis! this is so cute!!!
I like that it’s a rhythmic instead of an actual gameplay sequence, makes sense since it’s Idia playing this time and it also fits the mood better I think.
Everyone is super amazed by how good at video games Idia is, and Vil specifically is amazed at how fast Idia’s fingers are on the controller. Alright if I ever get isekai’d into twst the first thing I’m doing is forcing Vil to watch me play Project Diva so I can see if I can make him faint, cause if he’s amazed at this chill shooting game then rhythm games are probably gonna blow his fucking mind.
Before the group moves on to playing a racing game together, the brain cell trio get hungry so Jamil offers to get the snacks. Kalim offers to help and Jamil instinctively starts to refuse him, but then he asks Kalim to get the plates and forks. HELL YEAH SCARABIA CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT IN ACTION LET’S GOOOOOOO
Everyone is having a blast, and Ortho talks to Idia about this being a “going to a friend’s house to play video games together” experience. idia says that this is totally different, since these people aren’t his friends and this isn’t really the player’s house. Ortho challenges him to a racing game to decide who is right. So now it’s racing game time with Idia, Ortho, Epel, Ace, Deuce, and Grim. While they play, Vil talks to Rook about how him rescuing Grim and then Ortho’s memory card being in Grim’s throat feels like a miracle. However, Rook says that its not a miracle. He explains how the diligent Lord of the Underworld surely couldn’t have let living souls into his realm, so Ortho’s memory card, which is basically his soul, couldn’t have stayed down there.
We then cut to night, where Grim is sleeping in the bedroom and the player is reflecting on the fun day they had. They decide to talk to Mickey. Oh yeah oh god this weird side plot. What’s up Mr. Michael Mouse.
Mickey: Ah, Yuu! I can finally see you!
Mickey: We haven’t met up since that night that you went to search for your roommate, so I’ve been worried.
Mickey: Did you find your friend?
*nods head*
Mickey: That’s good~.
Alright great chat, time to go right back to sleep I guess. Oh, nope, we’ve woken Grim up. We try to show him Mickey cause he’s still in the mirror, but it seems like Grim can’t see him.
Mickey: Yuu? Is there anyone beside you in that room?
Mickey: Perhaps, your roommate?
*nods head*
Mickey: It’s always really foggy, so I can’t see anything besides you, but...
Mickey: Perhaps, you can’t see anything besides me either?
Mickey: There’s a moving sofa here, a dog-like ottoman... and a table with a nutcracker on it. Can you see?
*shakes head*
Mickey: Hmm, that’s mysterious. And also too bad.
Mickey: I thought it would be nice if the number of friends I can meet in my dreams went up.
Mickey: ... Ah, that’s right! Speaking of friends...
Mickey: While you were away, I saw someone I didn’t recognize in this dream room.
Mickey: A man with silver hair and strangely colored eyes.
Mickey: He went away already, so I couldn’t get his name...
SILVER???????????? HOLD UP WAIT HOLD ON ALRIGHT I WAS EXPECTING THE MICKEY STUFF TO ONLY HAVE BIG SIGNIFICANCE IN LIKE THE END GAME BUT WHAT IF THE MICKEY STUFF COESM IN IN CHAPTER 7 WITH SILVER. Okay and ev en if it doesn’t still WHAT THE FUCK HOW PLOT RELEVANT IS SILVER GOING OT BE???? I”M. OH MY GOD.
Mickey: That was the first time someone else had come to this room, so I was surprised.
Mickey: You as well, it’d be nice if you could come to this side of the mirror to play.
*ring ring*
Mickey: Ah! This sound... It looks like I have to wake up.
Mickey: Let’s meet... again later... Yuu...
> The other side of the mirror is, a dream world...?
And then it scene changes to Diasomnia. If Silver shows up now and mentions seeing Mickey I’m legit gonna scream. Oh god yeah it’s Lilia and Silver here, don’t do it boy I swear to god.
They discuss the recovery of the campus and Riddle, and Sebek is also here. And Malleus too, and Malleus seems distracted. Lilia asks him what’s going on, but before Malleus can say much Lilia gets a message from his online friend (Idia). Lilia was worried that he had to stop gaming with him because of real life stuff, so he’s relieved Idia’s back and ready to dungeon dive. Lilia, Silver, and Sebek, start talking about Lilia staying up all night, but Malleus stays silent and flashes back to that time in Ramshackle when Lilia said that this might be last time he sees these stars as well as that time when the gang returned from STYX and Lilia talked about the fragility of human life.
Malleus: ... Easily broken like silk thread spun by a spinning wheel...
Lilia: Hm? Malleus, did you say something?
Malleus: ... No.
...
Malleus: It’s nothing.
And on that ominous note I am finally free to delve in all the new fan theories and memes and whatever that I had to avoid due to spoilers. Bye!
Chapter 6 part 4 liveblog and summary (Tower 3 part 2 + episodes 68-79)
I have no idea what to put here, let’s just get going.
Warning for spoilers and possible mistranslations
Azul and Riddle prepare to set out from the hanger, with Azul offering to carry the Thunder Spear as Riddle’s underling, so as to leave Riddle free to protect him. Riddle is annoyed at Azul’s misunderstanding; what Riddle’s trying to protect is not Azul, but the rules. The transformation potion that Azul uses has to be specially prescribed and can be only dispensed by those with a certain license. Because of how drastically it alters the body, a lot of care must be taken in regards to treating injuries, so much so that medical treatment by unqualified people is forbidden. Therefore, if Azul got injured here, Riddle would have to violate the rules to help him.
Azul bursts out laughing at Riddle’s absurd reasoning for his behavior towards Azul this whole time. Then, after a phantom appears and is quickly taken care of, Riddle asks Azul if the potion’s effects can ever suddenly cut out. Azul says no. In the past, the time limit for this type of potion was 3 days, but thanks to advances in technology it has increased to 7-10 days. Floyd sometimes forgets to take the potion, so his fins and webbing will start appearing. AZUL IMITATING FLOYD IS SO CUTE FDHFHDFLHDSF-
Anyway, Riddle says that having to take the potion seems inconvenient. Azul agrees, but continues on to say that they’ve received support from an large organization dedicated to supporting merpeople who want to live on land, from stuff like teaching them how to live on land to footing the bill for the expensive transformation potions. When Azul first heard of this organization he was suspicious, but once he concluded that they don’t have anything shady going on he gladly submitted an application for them once he decided to go to NRC. Azul says that the organization’s goal seems to be to spread the wish of their founder, a mermaid princess who came to the Sunshine Lands long ago, for more merpeople to venture onto land. After a bit more conversation about history and that country relationship with merpeople, the duo reach the next asylum.
In the asylum, they find a researcher whose ID card was stolen by a small, beast-like phantom. Riddle wonders if it might be Grim, and the duo go to search for the ID card. While going through cages, Riddle proposes opening a package of food to see if it will lure Grim to them, but it just lures a phantom. So, once that’s taken care of, Azul eats the food instead.
why does he look so sad while munching on it shglhsglghgff
When they find a cage where the creature inside sounds like a cat sharpening its claws, Riddle says that there was one time that Grim sharpened his claws on a sofa in the Heartslabyul lounge, so Riddle offed his head. Once the cage is opened, it turns out that it is a phantom that stole the ID card.
After the duo continues on their way, Azul becomes exhausted from all the stairs so Riddle takes over carrying the spear. When Azul asks if he can handle both the spear and fights, Riddle reminds him of all the time he’s spent improving his own magic. Azul asks when he started honing his magic, and Riddle says at age 3. BRUH WHAT THE HELL I”M GONNA FIGHT RIDDLE’S MOM. Before entering NRC, Riddle attended a private school. In response to Azul asking if Riddle ever skipped a grade, Riddle said it wasn’t possible at that school, and his parents didn’t see a point in it anyway since the minimum age for becoming a doctor in the Queendom of Roses is age 24. However, Riddle is uncertain if he wants to become a doctor, since he has gained an interest in a pursuing a career related to the law.
Azul then advises him to just be greedy and get all the certifications he’s interested in, since it’d be a waste to just get one when he’s so talented. He also says that it’s convenient... no, reassuring for him to have qualified friends that he can rely on in emergencies. Riddle asks if they’re friends, since he isn’t very knowledgeable on the rules of friendship, but... And then a phantom ambushes them from above and Azul fucking yeets both himself and Riddle to the side of the screen to avoid it dsfllhgdlsfsd
After the fight, Riddle gets mad at Azul surprising him, and Azul apologizes for his octopus survival instincts kicking in and making him do something undignified. Riddle is puzzled by how used Azul seems to life-and-death situations and asks him how dangerous daily life under the sea is. Azul says that it is more dangerous than life on land, but with magic and knowledge of how to properly deal with the various threats down there it’s not that bad.
Azul started learning magic at age 8. His grandmother and mother, who are mages, taught him the basics, but just enough that he could finish homework. Azul’s further self-study of magic actually didn’t start until middle school. After explaining that, Azul frantically asks Riddle to keep it a secret and he’s aware that he grew up spoiled. Riddle is just confused, but Azul plows on regretting the years he spent doing nothing useful with himself. However, Riddle says that if Azul had studied from a very young age like Riddle did, he likely wouldn’t have the ambition or vitality that he does now. They have some light banter about who will end up as top of the class by the time they graduate before arriving at the final asylum. AAAAAAAAA I love the character interactions in this update SO MUCH.
When they enter, it’s pitch black. Riddle goes to cast some magic to light up their vicinity, but Azul stops him since it might give away their location to enemies. Instead, they start searching for the security box in the dark, but Riddle cries out when he steps in some slippery liquid. Riddle decides to use magic to make his cape bigger and use it as a tent so he can cast light magic without lighting up the whole room. Once they can see, they identify the liquid as blot. There is also a belt on the floor, one used by STYX staff to hold their ID card. This one doesn’t have an ID card though. Riddle says they should search for the light switch, but Azul proposes that they search for the phantom who stole the ID card in the dark, since he’s used to the dark and they can more easily ambush enemies like this. Cue another 10 minutes of phantom fighting.
As soon as they find the ID card, the Titan starts banging on the entrance to the asylum. Like the other groups did, the duo hurriedly ready up the Thunder Spear and blast the Titan away. Afterwards, Riddle is exhausted from all the magical power he’s used so fa. They make their way to the next hanger, where they both immediately collapse in exhaustion. Azul reflects on how unbelievable it is that his board game club senpai would turn out to be like this. Riddle asks if it hurts Azul at all to have to fight against him, and Azul replies that sacrifices are necessary to achieve his dreams, so it doesn’t bother him much. He starts to explain his dreams, but he falls asleep on Riddle.
AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW ADORABLE
Like the other groups, this part ends with them getting woken up by a loud noise at 30% battery for the Thunder Spear and rushing off to investigate. And with that, time to finally reach the underworld!
For episode 68, we go back to the Pomefiore group, who are here:
Leona, Riddle, and a STYX employee from the control room call VIl over the transceiver. The employee reports that the gate to the underworld has started to open and the concentration of blot is rising. The staff have regained control of some chariots, and they’ve sent one to each of the groups to help them move faster.
After they start using the chariots, the group sees something coming out of the gate. It’s.... IDIA!!!
BRUH HOLY SHIT I saw some of it from spoilery thumbnails but seeing it all animated is something else. OMG I LOVE THE TALKING ANIMATION WITH THE MASK.
He quickly rambles on about how amazing and powerful he feels now that he’s overblotted, then...
Game, Set, Match... Gate To The Underworld
WTF IS THAT HIS UNIQUE MAGIC? WHAT THE HELL UNIQUE MAGIC IS THAT???
OKAY HERE WE GO
THAT’S ORTHO!?!?!?!? HOLY SHIT
Apparently Ortho is connected to Idia and is acting as his phantom, so yay my theory about the overblot was at least partially right. Ortho explains that his friends in the underworld helped nurture his “curse” into a “blessing” which let him become big and strong by burning blot. Then... uh holy shit are these phantoms talking a part of him? Is his body made out of OTHER PHANTOMS??? As Rook and Vil also express their shock, Epel points out Ortho’s shoulder, and
WHAT THE FUCK GRIM IS BEING ASSIMILATED INTO THE BODY? BRUH HOLY SHIT HOLY SHIT WHAT THE FUCK GIVE GRIM BACK
The staff trying to close the hatch start getting attacked by phantoms too alright let us fight!! Riddle commands Vil and Leona’s groups to go and help while he and Azul try and distract Idia and Ortho to buy them time.
We then scene change to Azul getting mad at Riddle for taking on the most dangerous job for themselves. Riddle tells Azul to take charge of steering the chariot since he doesn’t know how, and Azul gets even more upset cause he has no idea how either. It takes Ortho climbing up the walls of Tartarus for them to start acting.
Oh my god I love how freaky and alien-like the design looks. OH AND THE ANIMTIONS WITH ORTHO PUNCHING THEM OOOOOO AD THE CABLES CONNECTING IDIA AND ORTHO AND IDIA’S FALMES BRIEFLY TURNIGN ORANGE BEFORE SOME ATTACKS IT’S SO COOL
After the battle (gameplay wise) ends, Riddle and Azul use their Thunder Spear on Idia and Ortho. Ortho cries out in pain and woAH
oh my GOD THIS IS THE COOLEST FUCKING OVERBLOT DESIGN HANDS DOWN I LOVE THIS
WAIT RIDDLE WTF Did his hair all turn white from overexerting himself or something what the hell?!? And then he faints. Okay no, Idia explains that this is what happens when living humans come to close to the underworld... Which is now the kanji that Idia gives Ortho. Holy shit what does that mean, how powerful is Ortho now? Holy shit.
Azul quickly calls the other two groups to warn them about Ortho’s ability to suck your life energy and make you turn old before he takes Riddle and retreats on the chariot. The scene switches to Jamil and Leona, who have used their time to clear out the other phantoms. Ortho has now climbed up to them, so time for Jamil and Leona to have their go at the Shroud bros.
Okay thank god Leona’s not trying to use that thing by himself again lol
Ortho again cries out in pain. With their job done, Leona gets in touch with Vil and the control room to report in and banter with Vil a bit before he and Jamil retreat.
Next, we actually stay right there as Idia frantically checks to see if Ortho is okay. Ortho says he’s okay, but he can’t move as well as before. They’re frustrated about the Thunder Spears, but Ortho reassures Idia that they can’t lose as long as they’re together. The phantoms in Ortho’s body rejoice about being free soon and Grim moans about rocks before Idia and Ortho continue on their way.
Then we finally go back to the player and the Pomefiore trio. The staff have charged up their Thunder Spear to 80%. Rook tells them to make their way to a safe area, then Vil summarizes the situation and what they have to do. Rook asks the control room how progress on the Cerberos system is going, and the staff reports that all their attempts to get into it have been thwarted by Ortho. So the plan is for Vil’s group to beat the Shroud brothers and force Idia to do what they want.
Ortho then approaches, and Epel asks them to leave the handling of the chariot to him. Once they approach, Idia asks them if they’re trying to play hero, but Vil says that there are no heroes or villains here, just people on the same level trying to assert their will and achieve their dreams.
The one who will stand on the stage until the end... is me!
Then the battle starts and HOLY SHIT WHAT IS THAT FIRE ATTACK DAMNNNN I LOVE THAT!
At the end, warning screens pop up around Ortho and the Pomefiore trio launch the Thunder Spear while Ortho’s distracted. Then, I think Ortho falls down? And then Idia suddenly un-overblots okay yeah Ortho’s down for the count. His body starts falling apart, and the group quickly swoops down to rescue Grim. Grim also quickly breaks out of his weird blot trance. OUR BOY’S BACK YEAAAAAHHHHHH
Ortho laments not being able to become Idia’s hero before he finally starts falling for good. Wait oh shit Idia and Grim are still attach to Ortho so they’re falling too. VIl quickly goes to save them, leaving Rook and Epel behind to yell for him.
Before we can resolve that situation we gotta watch sad black and white Idia backstory dump. Okay I’m pretty sure someone’s translated this thing by now so I’m not gonna try. OH MY GOD BABY SHROUD BROS ACK mY HEART Wait “adventure” oh god I have a bad feeling about this OH NO OH NO OH GOD OH NO DID IDIA SEE ORTHO DIE??? OH GOD nOOOOO IDIA OH MY HEART also where the fuck are his parents why is it just employees here OH MY GOD THE ROBOT ORTHO AND IDIA GOING FORM LAUGHING AT HIS SUCCESS TO SOBBING I CAN’T HOLY SHIT
The flashback thing ends then and
hello what is this? twst. twst explain.
THIS IS LOOKING AWFULLY LIKE A FINAL GOODBYE AND I DO NOT LIKE IT. (cute toothy smile though)
ORTHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoo AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA NO DON’T FADE AWAY WHAT IS HAPPENING NO
Idia wakes up now I guess and uh. what the hell is that voice. uh. Okay yeah no I saw the thumbnails, I can’t pretend I don’t already know.
lmao hello Vil. Having fun there?
He had to jump into the underworld to save Idia and Grim and NOOOOOO HE COULDN’T SAVE ORTHO.
I am glad though that Vil still thinks he’s beautiful even if he got old, yay character development!
Anyway, Idia admits his defeat and closes the underworld again using his unique magic. AAAAAAAAAA THAT SOFT FAREWELL TO ORTHO
They back their way back to fix up the Cerberos system and meet up with the Tower 2 & 3 groups. Vil has a bit of trouble walking cause his boots don’t fit very well now. Azul advises Vil to go to a doctor asap, and Riddle wakes up. However, Grim is unconscious now. Rook checks Grim’s breathing and heart rate, but notices something hard around his throat. Something is stuck in his throat and they have to hit his chest to get it out. After a few hits, Grim coughs out some rocks and wakes up. NOOOO DON’T CRY GRIM IT WASN’T YOUR FAULT EVERYTHING’S FINE YOU CAN COME BACK TO RAMSHACKLE!!!
The control room staff call in. Apparently the Lethe River program has been deleted by Ortho. Ortho really did a number on their system. The group gets on some chariots to go back to school. Bruh if Vil still gonna be like this when they get back to the school? I really wanna see people’s reactions.
Vil says he’ll see Idia back there, and Idia mildly panics cause everyone will still have their memories of the kidnapping stuff and he doesn’t think he can go back. However, Epel yells at him to take responsibility and fix the mess he caused, and the others all agree and pile on more responsibilities for him. He seems to relent... but as soon as the others are gone he starts ranting about how he definitely can’t go back cause how are the other students going to react when they still have their memories? The thought of the memories makes him stop and think about how everything’s going to work out now that they can’t rely on the Lethe River. He thinks about Ortho again and gets sad, before shaking it off and preparing to head back to STYX. However, he notices the stuff that Grim coughed up and is startled by what it is, since with it, he can...!
And of course it cuts out there to go to the next episode lol. I think that’s a good a time as any to call it a day and finish up the remainder of the update tomorrow. Seriously, this update is over 6 hours worth of story what the hell. You couldn’t split it up a little? Alright anyway bye
Chapter 6 part 4 liveblog and summary (Tower 1 and Tower 2, part 2)
Another day, yet more story to read.
Warning for spoilers and possible mistranslations.
Now, we’re going back to the Pomefiore group. While they’re preparing to move on from the hanger, Epel offers to carry the Thunder Spear since he wasn’t much help in the battle against the titan compared to Rook and Vil. When the spear’s not turned on, it’s a lot less heavy and powerful so even Epel can handle it by himself. Rook says he understands the feeling of wanting to carry luggage for Vil.
Back when he and Vil entered school, even people from other dorms would offer to help Vil when Vil went shopping. However that wasn’t how Rook and Vil met. Instead, yet another phantom attack keeps Vil from telling us how he and Rook met. They continue as soon as it’s defeated though:
When Vil was sitting in the courtyard reading a script, Rook called out to him because Vil’s appearance in the afternoon light was very beautiful. Rook says he was nervous, but Vil imitates how Rook said he saw a recent performance that Vil was in... and he didn’t pay much attention to Vil. Instead, he gushes about the acting of the antagonist. Yikes. After that first meeting, Rook started giving Vil both critique and praise about the work he was involved in while Vil ignored him, but eventually Vil realized how insightful Rook’s opinions were and starting talking back to him. They also started talking about other movies, plays, etc. that they both had seen. Once, they kept talking to each other in the courtyard even while it was snowing and then they both got sick. Epel asks why they didn’t just talk in their dorm, and Rook replies that he was actually a Savanaclaw student at that time. Oh wow what
The conversation finally ends there when the group reaches the next asylum. Instead of Ortho appearing, a blindfolded and tied up staff member calls out to them. After Rook unties him, the staff and the group explain their situations to each other. The guy was captured by a Charon, brought here, and had his ID card stolen. The ID card was of course placed into a cage, so time to beat up some more phantoms. As they start making their way through phantoms, Vil praises Epel for being able to hit a fast moving target and Epel talks about how Magift club has helped him.
After many more cages and bits of conversation I don’t care enough about to talk about, Vil wonders what his phantom would have looked like if he wasn’t snapped out of overblot. He believes that the old woman that appeared behind him when he overblotted may represent him associating youth with beauty and therefore fearing old age. After that, they find the ID card being held by a phantom talking about meat and being hungry. The staff member wonders about the group’s safety if they continue into Tartarus, but just wishes them safety when they make clear that they have to continue on.
Finally, Epel can satisfy our curiosity by asking about Rook being in Savanaclaw. Savanaclaw was the dorm the mirror placed him in, and he had a good time there. However, he choose to transfer to Pomefiore in search of greater understanding of beauty. Though Savanaclaw was beautiful in its own way, the dorm founded on the spirit of the beautiful queen would help him reach his goal faster. It would also let him be closer to Vil. Vil then says that after Rook transferred, he really stuck out in the dorm due to his unkempt hair, sun burnt skin, and choice of practical, worn out clothes. Epel is confused by how Rook searched for beauty but was careless about his appearance back then. VIl and Rook explain that Rook didn’t care about his own appearance much, but Vil gave him advice and helped him coordinate his clothes and such. There’s a bit more to it than that, but I’m kind of getting tired of this conversation so I’m just moving on lol.
The next conversation interrupter comes in the form of this zooming across the screen.
OH GOD IS OUR BOY HERE???
NOPE it’s just another phantom. bruh. After that little trick, the group enters the next asylum. After waiting for a bit in the eerily silent asylum for Ortho, he doesn’t appear and the group starts brainstorming how they can get out. Epel suggests the Thunder Spear but that idea’s shot down quick. Vil suggests trying to find the emergency exit card key in the security box talked about in the manual given to them by the staff, since it might not have been removed by Ortho. However, the security box turns out to be utterly destroyed, with splotches of ink surrounding it. They think a phantom might have stolen the key, and it may be hiding from them and waiting for the right moment to ambush them.
All of a sudden, the cages start rattling around. Epel points out the first cage to act up, they defeat the phantom inside, and everything goes silent again. After a while, they hear the sound of a cage door creaking open. Rook defeats the phantom whose cage opened. What the hell is going on with these phantoms? The group continues encountering and defeating phantoms to try and find the one who took the key. That is is all I’m going to say about most of the 15 minutes they spend in there lmao I’m not summarizing all the random side conversations. Finally, they hear the banging of the Titan comes from outside the door. They then use the Thunder Spear to blast through both the Titan and the door.
Everyone is exhausted, but there is a hanger nearby they can use to charge the Thunder Spear again and rest. They don’t have the time to fully charge it again, so they plan to just charge it halfway before continuing. AS they settle down, Vil reflects on how much has changed in the past few days, especially how his view of Idia and Ortho has changed, and also what the future will bring. Vil and Epel then go to sleep, but are woken up by a loud bang. Taking the only 30% charged Thunder Spear, they leave to investigate.
ANYWAY time to go back to best boys Leona and Jamil. Jamil offers to carry the Thunder Spear, but Leona refuses. Jamil still insists though, and Leona actually growls at him. Before it can become a full blown argument, they’re attacked by phantoms. While fighting, the phantoms target Jamil’s previous injury and Leona has to help. Afterwards, Jamil says that he’ll think of plan to make himself useful, but Leona tells him that he’s being intrusive and too cocky. Leona thinks that Jamil looks down on others and Jamil says the same to him, but Leona says that it’s okay for him since he actually power and ability that warrants his attitude. On the other hand, Jamil can’t even match up to his peers Azul and Riddle, let alone his upperclassmen Leona and Vil. Leona gives some brief analyses of Riddle and Azul’s strengths before he cuts off the conversation to enter the next asylum. Bruh, I kinda feel bad for Jamil now.
Instead of Ortho, the duo are greeted by a researcher on top of a cage. Like the guy the Pomefiore group met, this one was captured and brought here by a Charon, but this one was just instructed to “enjoy a game of tag.” Suddenly,
omg I am so torn on whether or not I wish this is a fake again, on one hand I wanna know what’s going on with our boy, on the other I don’t want to see him feral again.
The researcher then exclaims that whatever that shadow zooming around was, it has his ID card. It zooms into a cage, so yet again it’s search the cages time. Blah blah blah, the creature with the ID card turns out to be a shadow, and the duo leave the asylum without much in the way of interesting conversation taking place.
Afterwards, Leona belittles Jamil until Jamil finally snaps and explodes at him.
Jamil: ... You...
Jamil: What do you know about me?
Jamil: About what I’ve felt my whole life!? About what pain I’ve gone through!?
Jamil: There’s no way you understand! No way anyone does! You and I are different!!!
Leona: You say that no one understands you, and like that you sulk, fret, and make excuses?
Leona: I know a little about your situation. After all, you think that you’re underappreciated because of Kalim, right?
Jamil: ... I am the vice dorm leader, and that Kalim is the dorm leader. These results show everything.
Leona: Yes, that’s how it is now. His magic and his brains are both bad. He can’t compare to you.
Leona: However, he has a unifying power that you don’t have.
Jamil: Unifying power? Ha!
Jamil: He’s just a good-natured person, isn’t he. He’ll just be used and taken advantage of.
Leona: Who said that this was a conversation about character? Look, the best unifying power is...
Leona: Money.
Jamil: Money!?
Jamil: It... The Asim family definitely has tremendous wealth and power, that I can admit.
Leona: Money is a strong power that is more certain and has less variables than magic.
Leona: The knowledge of that has made a deeper impression on you than it has me, hasn’t it?
Jamil: That is...
Leona: Thus, Kalim is currently in the process of learning how to command that enormous power.
Jamil: Command...
*flashback to Kalim offering to use his money to fix up Ramshackle dorm*
Jamil: ...
Leona: Those who act without thinking of the consequences are foolish. However, those who only think about the consequences are even more foolish.
Leona: Those who leap based on their intuition like Kalim does, you don’t know how they’ll turn out. For better or worse.
Leona: There’s nothing more unsightly than making excuses when you let your prey escape because you spent too long timing your pounce. Hahaha.
Jamil: I...
Phantom: GYAOOOO!!
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa this conversation!!!!!!! this is the good stuff right here!!! oh my god!!!! Then, after the phantom is dealt with, Jamil says that he should leave. Leona calls him extreme and tells him to use his head already and think about what his capabilities really are. AAAAAAAAA I wanna translate this part too but I’ve already spent so much time on this. Leona proceeds to use the other Savanaclaw boys and himself as examples. He tells Jamil to stop making excuses for himself and really think about what he should do, and Jamil proceeds to actually take it to heart and think about his past spent being angry about others being placed above him. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA OK YES THIS GROUP IS MY FAVORITE THIS IS SUCH A GOOD INTERACITON I LOVE THSI. wait Leona what was that at the end. Why did you say “you and I are different” in small font. No, bad lion. Stop being ominous. >:(
Okay anyway, the duo move on to the next asylum. When they walk in it’s so dark they can’t see, so Jamil casts some magic to light up the room. The sight of a bunch of cages smashed into pieces startles them both. Jamil notices ice mixed in with the bits, so Leona guesses this is the work of the Titan they fought before. Since they don’t want to get into a fight with both the Titan and other phantoms at the same time, they decide to try and find the key to lock the door and trap the phantoms in the asylum. However, it’s gone, so they have to find the phantom who has it. Welcome to another 10 minutes of going through cages and beating phantoms up. LMAOOO LEONA STOP ALMOST HITTING JAMIL WITH YOUR ATTACKS, LEAVE YOUR KOUHAI IN PEACE
They finally retrieve the key and leave the asylum, but are instantly confronted by the titan. Jamil’s about to do his usual protective commanding thing before he awkwardly catches himself and simply entrusts the beating of the Titan to Leona. Leona blasts the Titan into the pit with the Thunder Spear again, but afterwards he collapses. OH SHIT LEONA BRUH This is why the others didn’t use the spear by themselves!!! What are you doing!!!
He still has enough strength to get to the hanger, where he calls Jamil a snake bastard and makes him stick the Thunder Spear in the charging station. Jamil then thanks Leona for before, and he also admits that he was being too arrogant and he still has a ways to go.
2 hit smile combo!
After a brief comedy moment with Leona being picky about food and drink, they rest in the hanger for a bit. However, like the Pomefiore group, a loud sound disturbs them when the Thunder Spear is only 30% charged, and they rush off to the Underworld
I think it’ll be best to pace myself with this update since it’s so long, so I’m going to save Tower 3 part 2 and whatever lies after that for tomorrow. See y’all then!
Chapter 6 part 4 liveblog and summary (Tower 3 part 1)
Continuing on to Riddle and Azul!
Obligatory warning for spoilers and possible mistranslations.
We begin with Azul monologuing about how dark and cold Tartarus is before he notices Riddle isn’t next to him and he panics before seeing that Riddle is already descending down the stairs. Excellent start hfdshfgsdlhkgsdlk
After a bit of arguing they try the elevator. Ortho appears and presents them with their first trial, the game that Riddle struggled with before. Both Azul and Ortho tease him about it, and Riddle quickly gets angry and threatens to blow open the door with magic.
Very excellent start.
Azul offers to play the game instead. He suffers the instant game over, Ortho lowers the difficulty for him, same deal as the other two elevator game sessions.
After the two exit the elevator, Riddle charges on ahead, leaving Azul behind to chase after him. Azul tells him to proceed more cautiously, since they have no experience fighting phantoms yet, but Riddle say that Azul is being too cowardly and that the manual for emergency situations doesn’t say to be scared of the enemy. Azul is shocked by how overly stubborn and focused on the rules Riddle is, and he even wishes he went with Leona instead. Lmaoooooo maybe this really would have gone more smoothly if the pairs for groups 2 & 3 were Azul + Leona and Riddle + Jamil.
Anyway, soon after that they encounter phantoms and Riddle tells Azul to get down behind him before combat breaks out. Afterwards, Azul questions Riddle as to why he told him to get down when they’re both capable 2nd year dorm leaders. Riddle’s reasoning is that he is the stronger one and the “leader” of the group, so it’s reasonable for him to be in the front.
With that, they enter the first asylum. The game Ortho sets out for them is the same as for the Pomefiore group (get ID card from a phantom), so he probably intended to give the same challenges to each group but just changed it up for Leona & Jamil since Leona provoked him.
Before opening the 1st cage, Azul proposes he check the Phantom’s reaction by knocking on the door.
*knock knock*
* B A N G ! ! *
*instant fear and regret*
They fight the phantom anyway. Azul complains some more under his breath about Riddle’s aggressiveness, the two move on to the next cage, then Azul complains more loudly about Riddle’s explosive approach to opening the cages.
Blah blah blah more complaints, another cage, they find the key and leave.
Azul: ... As expected of a honors student who’s head of his class. Can you keep going forward while protecting an under performing student?
Azul: It’s quite considerate of you.
Riddle: Don’t be sarcastic. I never said that you were under performing.
Azul: It’s true. After all, I haven’t been able to beat you in any of my classes since we started school.
Riddle: ... Huh? You were trying to beat me?
Azul: ... Is that something I shouldn’t do?
Riddle: No. It’s just, I was a bit surprised since I didn’t expect it.
Azul: Well, well... You make me look quite foolish.
Azul: So I, hovering between 2nd and 10th place, could surely never be a rival?
Riddle: Yes. Because if you're going to compete with me for the top spot, you’re too busy.
Azul: Huh?
Riddle: You’re not just managing Mostro Lounge, you're engaged in other active investments as well, right?
Riddle: I also heard that you’re continuing your “consultations” on the down low...
Riddle: and on breaks you often go outside school grounds in the name of market research, according to Jade.
Riddle: Furthermore, I looked at your handmade “test prep notes” that I confiscated from a student from my dorm...
Riddle: Covering questions from other grade levels surely took a lot of time away from your own study time.
Riddle: If you only focused on your own studies, you would likely be able to get full points on tests.
Riddle: But in reality, much of that time and ability was spent on analysis and strategies for other people to be able to get high scores.
Riddle: However...
Riddle: You want to beat my grades, the grades of someone who has been spending my time studying and honing my own magic for as long as I can remember?
Riddle: “You make me look quite foolish,” don’t you.
Okay this translation took a while but. I had to. Just look at this conversation. As an Octavinelle fan I am legally required to love this conversation.
After a bit more talk that I’m not gonna translate cause I’ve done more than enough of that, they get attacked by a phantom. Afterwards, Azul gets angry at how Riddle keeps trying to protect him like he’s useless luggage. Here, outside of NRC, in an emergency situation, things like “dorm leaders” and “top of the class student” don’t matter, and he is DONE taking orders from Riddle when they are equals. Then he runs off to the next asylum. Jeez...
So, Azul surprises Ortho by showing up to the next asylum by himself. However, Riddle catches up quickly and hooo boy okay I’m translating again. These two got me in a real chokehold here.
Riddle: Azul!! Stop! If you don’t stop it’s off with your head!
Azul: Hm. If you can do it, do it!
Azul: Even if my magic was sealed away, unlike you I have confidence in my arm strength.
Riddle: Urk... Are you trying to say that I’m weak!?
Azul: It’s the truth, isn’t it.
Azul: Ah, but if you head butted me with that stone head of yours that’s packed so tightly that it’s harder than a diamond... (”stone head” refers to a stubborn person)
Azul: You might be able to K.O. me in one hit!
Riddle: UGIIIIIiii!!
Ortho interrupts their argument to introduce the 3rd challenge. Like with the Pomefiore group, there’s a female voice calling for help from inside a cage. However, this one seems more coherent and she’s speaking more quietly since there is apparently a sleeping phantom in the same cage.
Azul tries to think of a plan that’ll work quicker than just popping open cages at random and vanquishing phantoms, but Riddle just goes forward with the usual strategy. They continue with this strategy, arguing all the way, until they find the cage with the researcher. The researcher is an actual human, wow. it’s the phantom that was supposed to be in there too that isn’t a phantom, it’s a suit of powered armor like the Charon soldiers have.
After getting the ID card and leaving, the duo comment on how overly hot it is. It turns out to be the fault of this guy, the fire phantom “Phantom Titans Magma”
Not as cool as the ice one. This one’s attack animations are a pretty lame little shuffle forward.
They run to the hanger, where Azul uses ice magic to try and keep the door from melting while Riddle searches for the Thunder Spear. Riddle is shocked by the size and power of the spear once he finds it, and after he turns it on he feels like its strength is going to blow him away. He can’t handle by himself, so he has to call for Azul to lift it alongside him.
Leona seems to be the only one who wielded the spear by himself and had the other person directly distracting the Titan. Just how strong is he?
Anyway, the Titan is yeeted, and then the two lose their hats for some reason?
Did they get blown off or something? Okay anyway Riddle proceeds to be super happy and excited that they beat an Original Phantom, and he and Azul have a high five while laughing with relief. awwwww adorable. And then when the spear starts talking about the battery level they both awkwardly cough and pretend like nothing happened. AAAAAAA ADORABLE!!!!
Like the others, they have a rest in the hanger, meaning Riddle actually sleeps and Azul stays awake and just watches Riddle for 3 hours I guess lmao.
I intended to get to part 2 for one of the groups in this post, but I don’t have enough time today and I’d rather get what I have out now than wait for tomorrow. So this post is just entirely dedicated to what will hopefully be the catalyst for a Azul x Riddle Renaissance in the fandom. See y’all later!
Chapter 6 part 4 liveblog and summary (Tower 1 and 2, part 1)
Oh jeez I’ve been so focused on other stuff I didn’t realize the update dropped yesterday. Alright let’s get this show on the road.
Since this update is really long, I will be making multiple posts so please block the tag I use for liveblogs, #update screaming, if you don’t care about this stuff.
Obligatory warnings for spoilers and possible mistranslations.
Since no one in the fandom seems to know how to keep spoilers out of thumbnails, I already got a glance of the overblot, and I just gotta say hooooooooo boy. I love what’s going on with the face.
Okay onto the story. When we left off last time, the gang was about to split up into 3 groups to venture into each of the 3 towers of Tartarus. For this recent update, it looks like the story is split up so you can read the adventures of the 3 groups in any order? I’m watching this on youtube, so I have no idea how this is arranged in game. Anyway, I’m going to start off with the Pomefiore trio + Yuu group.
We start off with the group commenting on its cold and foreboding atmosphere. They try the elevator, and it doesn’t work at first, but then it suddenly turns on. Vil is apprehensive of it, but they enter and Ortho welcomes them to Tower 1 of Tartarus.
Ortho says some nonsense about Night Raven Quest, then pulls up a screen with Star Rogue and tells them to beat the game if they want to continue. The group sucks at video games and can’t beat it, so Ortho lowers the difficulty to beginner for them so their adventure isn’t over before it even begins. After they finally beat the game and Ortho rambles for a bit about character classes, Ortho says he’ll see them again at stage 2 and lets them out of the elevator. The gang proceeds to head down the stairs, deeper into Tartarus
As they walk, Vil starts up a conversation by berating Rook for leaving NRC and his duties as vice dorm leader in the midst of chaos, when the rest of Pomefiore would need him most. Epel is frustrated on Rook’s behalf, but Rook accepts Vil’s judgement. Vil moves on to Epel and Yuu going on this rescue mission despite how weak they are. However, with that said, Vil also admits that he was really happy when he heard that they had come here for him. And then hugs and kisses time.
I Am Uncomfortable.
Moving on, Rook and Epel explain Epel’s unique magic to Vil, then the conversation is interrupted by their first encounter with phantoms.
Alright. These designs are pretty cool. That one in the back looks kind of apple shaped and the other one has a bunch of gold stuff like a queen would, so I wonder if the phantoms each group encounters will be related to them in some way.
After taking care of the phantoms, the group discusses how dangerous it would be for these creatures to be let loose above ground. They then approach and enter the door to the asylum for phantoms.
While they’re looking at the boxes/cages the phantoms are kept in, Ortho announces his presence and locks the door behind them. This is “stage 2″. To complete the stage and leave, the group must find an ID card or password to open the door. The ID card they got from the staff won’t work; Ortho has erased the record of it from the system. This is a treasure hunting game. The ID card the group needs is held by one of the phantoms shut in the cages, so the group must search the cages to find the right one. However, since this is the beginning, Ortho gives them a hint by pointing out just 3 cages that they will need to search.
Ortho takes his leave, and the group begins the game. Of course, the first cage, which Rook opens, is a bust. Epel has a much harder time than Rook opening the second one, which is also a bust. We get another phantom design though.
I think this one is a seal? Okay no the things that look like fins are just ink blotches on the ground, so it’s more like a slug with stubby little arms. I think I’m gonna retract my previous theory lmao idk what this thing is.
And finally, the third cage has this. It’s kind of creepy how this one sounds kinda like a little girl, it makes me think that the phantoms reflect the characteristics of the mage that created them. This one has the ID card. The group is surprised that the hint was true and ponders about why the Shroud brothers are toying with them. After the awakening of a few phantoms prompts them to leave the asylum, VIl talks about how the Shroud bros can’t immediately unfreeze the phantoms despite having total control of the facility. He concludes that this whole “game” business is to make them waste time until the phantoms unfreeze.
They continue on, then the scene changes to the gate where Ortho and Idia are talking about the group’s progress and how fast the Titans are unfreezing. Pretty interesting conversation, not gonna translate it cause this update looks like it’s massive and if I do much translation it’ll take forever lol.
Going back to the Pomefiore group, Rook notices something walking on the stairs. Based on its size, Epel thinks that it’s Grim and starts to call out before Rook stops him since it’s actually a phantom. After its stopped, Epel worries about Grim, but Vil and Rook assure him that Grim’s smart and probably just hiding somewhere. They think Grim was just kept separate since he had to really recover from blot and succumbing to his feral nature as a magical beast. Rook and Vil ramble on for a bit about claw/nail care, then Epel asks them about how the two met, and Vil says that he only met Rook months after they entered NRC. Bruh we’re facing the end of the world here what the hell is this casual conversation?
Okay they’ve gotten to the next asylum now. This one is much colder than the last, so the phantoms still must be frozen. Epel tries the card they found previously on the door and it doesn’t work, and Ortho’s appearance confirms that “stage 3″ is about to start. The game this time is “let’s help a person in distress”. There is a researcher slowly freezing to death in a cage in this asylum, and the group needs the ID card that she has to leave.
The group starts breaking open cages to try and find her. Epel is getting better at opening the cages, and using the sound of her cries for help they finally find the cage she’s in. However, she turns out to be a phantom who rejoices in her new freedom before attacking. After retrieving the ID card, the group discusses the phantom’s ability to talk like a human before they leave the asylum. Deeper down, Tartarus is even colder, and the player has the option to express worry about Grim. Vil reassures them, then the group hears a series of loud thuds as the stairs begin to shake. It turns out to be a chonky boy.
Look at the size of this lad. Absolute unit. I try to avoid screenshots which make it obvious who’s video I’m using, but I had to get the size comparison + Jade just throwing a pie at this thing in here cause it’s so funny to me.
Anyway, this thing is actually the “Phantom Titans Earth” kept in Tower 1 that we heard about from the old guy in the last update. The group runs away to the hanger with the Thunder Spear and they frantically search the room as the Titan pounds on the door behind them. Thankfully, they find it quite fast.
After Vil uses the activation key, it transforms into this:
Pretty cool. However, it’s really big, heavy, and powerful, so much so that Vil is struggling to handle it. They fight the Titan again, and then...
omg I love this, their little chibi forms are so cute
They blast the Titan into the massive pit and it falls down towards the bottom. However, the attack uses most of the Thunder Spear’s battery. Since they’ll be defenseless against the Titan without it, they decide to rest in the hanger and check in with the other groups while they wait for the Thunder Spear to recharge. Instead of continuing with the Tower 1 group, I’m going to switch over to Leona and Jamil in Tower 2 now.
The two start their journey by briefly pondering how many floors Tartarus has. Leona asks Jamil to give him one of his “useless, jangly hair ornaments”, and then he yeets it into the pit to try and gauge how deep it is.
oh yeah I can already tell that this group might be my favorite of the three.
Like the Pomefiore group, the two approach the elevator, it opens for them, and Jamil guesses that it’s a trap and tells Leona to stay back. However, Leona ignores Jamil and just strolls in. Ortho appears and is disappointed by how unphased the two are by his appearance, and Leona says it’s because it’s easy to predict what a robot’s thinking.
Ortho then announces that they will be facing their 1st test. Jamil is apprehensive and cautious, Leona ignores him again and complains about how annoying he is. Their challenge turns out to just be the hydra whack-a-mole game that Leona played before. Jamil is still worried about what Ortho could be planning with this, says he’ll be the one to play, and even worries that the controller might be rigged to electrocute them if its touched. Bruh why are you being so worried in general & concerned over Leona’s safety???
Anyway, Jamil goes first and gets an instant game over.
Someone save this man.
Ortho lowers the difficulty down for him and talks a bit about the monsters they’ll face in Tartarus before letting them out of the elevator.
While walking, they talk about the cold a bit and Jamil offers to let Leona borrow his clothes (Bruh???) if he’s cold before Leona tells him to cut the act already or he’s leaving him behind. Jamil then confesses that he’s worried about the students left behind at NRC who don’t have their leaders. The conversation cuts off when they notice a dark area ahead where enemies could be hiding, and Jamil yet again asks Leona to stay back while he checks ahead. BRO Leona is not your responsibility why are you being like this.
The video didn’t even show the fight with the phantom so I’m gonna assume it’s the same as phantoms the other group met. Awww.
Blah blah talk about blot and what dangers could lie ahead
Leona: Hah... what a scared herbivore.
Jamil: Wha!? I’m not scared. I’m just covering for your recklessness!
Leona: Ah, I see. Do as you like.
...
Jamil: I’ll do so.
Right after that, they enter the asylum and Ortho appears. He says he’s been thinking about what Leona said about a robot’s predictableness, so he’s tried to make this more interesting for them. He points them to a piece of paper on their right which just has “dour” written on it in English, and tells them that is half of the password needed to move forward. The other half is in one of the cages. Ortho doesn’t give them a hint before he leaves, I guess he doesn’t like them as much lol.
In the first cage they find “lion”, but “dour lion” doesn’t work as a password. The next one is “fin present”, and Leona guesses that the password could be “find our present”, putting “dour” in the middle of the fragment they just found, but that doesn’t work either. Jamil keeps the memo from the third cage from Leona and goes directly to the door to input the password. The door opens.
Leona: I thought that there was a possibility that that pipsqueak lied about everything, but it looks like that wasn’t so.
Leona: Well then, what was the password?
Jamil: ... I think it would better if you didn’t know. I’m in a very bad mood right now.
Leona: Just say it.
Jamil: ... *sigh*
Jamil: The memo had “best!” written on it.
Leona: Best? If you combine it with the first letters that we found...
Leona: “do ur best!”... Do your best?
Leona: Those guys... They’re making fun of us!!!
Jamil: Look, as I predicted you got mad. This is why I didn’t want to say anything.
I know I said I wouldn’t translate stuff but ghgklfsgsklsdlkf
As they continue down the stairs, they discuss how Ortho has seemed to change between now and back when everyone was playing games together. Back then, Ortho didn’t seem to have much in the way of actual emotions, but now Ortho seemed annoyed when Leona called him a robot and the surprise he had for them in the asylum seemed to have been created out of malice.
Then, a phantom crawling from below ambushes them.
Mr. President, get down!
Leona is predictably pissed by this. The girls are now fighting The two start butting heads again over Jamil’s behavior’s being a nuisance. Leona tells Jamil that even if he tries to hide it, he can tell that he got injured in the recent fight, and that makes him a liability. Leona: “I would’ve been better off with that lying octopus bastard” Jamil: “unlike Azul, I’m a trained bodyguard. I’m much more useful than that frail guy.”
Leona abruptly walks off into the next asylum. Jamil thinks to himself that Leona will soon regret his flippant attitude before following him.
Ortho welcomes them to the third trial, notices how serious they look, and worries how they’ll fare while being in such bad moods. I wonder why he’s using different words for the challenges each group faces.
Anyway, this trial is “he who controls water controls everything”. This trial has to do with the vats of cooling liquid embedded in the floor. The duo hear cries for help from a cage deeper in the room and spot an actual researcher there who’s stuck in the liquid due to his foot being caught by a rope attached to a sinking cage. Ortho reveals that the rope is actually a cable which, if cut, will open every cage in the room at once. To save the researcher before he drowns, they have to find a key which will let them unlock the guy’s leg from the cage. I’m not 100% clear on the details of what’s going on here so take this previous paragraph with an especially large grain of salt.
Jamil tries to think of a plan first, Leona just immediately starts busting open cages. After a few cages, one cage appears empty at first so Jamil approaches to investigate, but it turns out to be an ambush and Leona has to help him. Afterwards, Jamil thinks to himself that even though Leona is a pain, it’s best to endure it and stick with him. They argue a bit more about Leona’s recklessness until they finally find the key.
This whole time, the researcher has been panicking. However, once he’s free, Leona asks him to stand and it turns out he’s tall enough that he wasn’t actually in any danger of drowning. Bruh.
With that taken care, the duo get the guy’s ID card so they can continue on. They encounter the Titan of this tower, the ice phantom “Phantom Titans Crystal”.
I like the spinning halo of ink around its head and its smash attacks, very cool monster.
Leona holds off the Titan using his unique magic while Jamil searches the hanger for the Thunder Spear. Jamil finds it, but realizes that he doesn’t have the magical ability to handle it so he runs back to get Leona.
Using the Thunder Spear, Leona launches the Titan into the pit. With that, they settle down to wait the 3 hours it’ll take for the spear to charge. I thought we had to hurry??? Alright whatever I guess we didn’t have to hurry that much. Leona even takes a nap lmaoooooo.
I think I’ll end this post here and begin the next one with Riddle and Azul’s adventure. Stay tuned.
Oyaaa 👀 I finished this sprite edit of overblot! Floyd cause I just am a really big Floyd enjoyer
I would like to add that originally I was going to make him light up because I read somewhere that the tweels glow?? But my friend reminded me that they secret the mucus and then a lightbulb went off in my mind and I knew exactly what I wanted to do. Instead of adding shells and such like Azul I just wanted him to look more prickly and threatening, I recycled some elements from Azuls OB design like the pearls, shells, barnacles, and stars. As for the coral I just drew it in. Hope other Floyd kickers enjoy!!
Literally no one in the world cares about my Riddle/Kalim thoughts but it’s 1 AM so I’m posting them anyway.
Riddle and Kalim don’t interact that often, from what I’ve read so far (note I’m following the EN version primarily though I don’t really mind getting JP spoilers for cards/events). Their biggest interaction is probably Kalim’s uniform R card (Kalim really jumps at the chance to take people on romantic carpet rides huh?). But I’m mostly interested in this pairing because I think they have great potential, based on their personalities, and I think they could do a lot to make each other grow as people. It also ties a lot into my interpretation of the two, and some of my own personal headcanon, but we’ll get to that.
I ship them but if you want to read this post more in a gen lens you can. They would also make very good BFFs.
Just elaborating on me drawing Kalim sleeping like a fucking pretzel in my last drawing- you look me in the eyes and tell me he wouldn't sleep fucking weird, he's a jumble of limbs with no sense or spatial rhyme or reason and no one can tell me otherwise
