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Just finished the common route and it's been GREAT fun!
Content notes: Child abuse, slavery, violence, suicide, emotional abuse, narrative fatphobia (though this section was mostly just violent, hooray)
A young man called Hugo Spencer congratulates Anastasia for successfully shooting a deer??
Anastasia: I'm going to drain its blood. Hand me a knife.
So. I guess we're not starting 8 years ago when she was a pampered little girl...
Hugo: Wow. You're practically ready to be a fully fledged knight.
Anastasia: No woman has ever risen to that rank.
Hugo: True. We've known each other for three years yet you're such a mystery. Why did you join the knights of Garuda? What are you going to do when you hit eighteen?
Anastasia: We have to go to training >:/
She thinks Hugo is decent enough but meddlesome. He bugs her so much about her past that she gives him a summary: she told her father she wanted to join a nunnery, and then bribed the church to let her become a knight instead, because she wanted to become strong. She lies and says her family is too poor to ask questions about the unwanted extra mouth to feed.
Clever!
Hugo: Is that also true about the pretty woman you live with? Maya?
Anastasia: Don't talk about Maya or-
Other cadets: PLEASE TALK ABOUT MAYA <3
We meet chubby but loveable commoner Landon, and weedy money-focused merchant's son Mitchell.
They comment that she used to get hurt and ill more often, causing Maya to come visit, but has always been curt and unfriendly. Now Anastasia never lets Maya visit.
I was so busy being worried about weird age gap boywife-husbandry het I was sideswiped by weird age gap wife-husbandwifery yuri!
Hugo is cute I wonder if he's going to turn evil or die. Or I guess marry Maya.
Landon: Apparently there's a rumour that you were kidnapped from a noble family and sold to the Wings. But this violently stubborn girl, a noble?
Everyone straightens and salutes when Vice-Commander Crius shows up. Landon says something dumb so Hugo stomps on his foot.
Hugo: How many laps should I do while I reflect on my actions?
Crius: I keep being told I'm too hard on your recruits, we had twenty and only you four are left... so let's say 50 :)
Everyone else makes sad faces but Anastasia just runs off to do it. And then she just... keeps going? So Hugo keeps her company, trying to get her to stop, and gives an earnest speech about respecting her comrades before collapsing.
Anastasia...
When she gets back Maya berates her for being unladylike haha.
Anastasia: I'm not a lady I'm a knight.
Maya: Oh my. Awfully hasty when you're just a cadet :)
Anastasia: Do you hate who I am now?
Maya: You are the next head of the Lynzel family. I am sure they would be put at ease to see that you've grown into such a wonderful young woman. And you are that woman because you left at the age of ten and joined the Wings of Garuda.
Anastasia: I'm strong, right?
Maya: Yes, but more importantly, you're happy. Those three stooges aren't bad people, and while I can't trust your suspicious superior Castlerock, no harm has come to you yet. But... shouldn't you spare some time for rest?
Anastasia: (if I look happy I've become too complacent ...right?)
The next day she tries resting when she's supposed to, and considers the possibility of a life not centered entirely around revenge.
And then someone starts up a bonfire. She is overcome by memories of the cruelty she experienced and she thinks "What's a few years of happiness? So what if I have friends and people who care about me?!" awww I like this arc for an otome heroine, and it's a lot more interesting than the straightforwardly happy badass wish fulfilment of a lot of these kinds of rebirth stories. I hope we get to stay with this timeline for the rest of the game, or at least don't get too many more resets.
She collapses and wakes in Crius's office. She asks what she needs to do to become a knight and he says he has no intention of recruiting her to the Wings Of Garuda, not because she's a woman or lacking in skill, but because he can see the hatred in her eyes, and can tell she views them as a stepping stone towards some other purpose.
Maya arrives, worried and assuming this is all Crius's fault for overworking her. Which... is not unreasonable, from the sounds of things, no wonder she hates him!
Crius offers Anastasia the chance to become a knight if she can win any category (bow, guns, sword) of the upcoming War Games tournament. That's how he became a knight himself, 12 years ago, when he was 14. That's an amusingly implausible way to try and cut down on the age gap but sure.
Anastasia leaves, overjoyed, and Crius mutters to himself that he didn't know she could make such a cute smile.
He justifies himself to Maya by saying it's clear something is driving Anastasia and this will help her work towards it. He knows she's the daughter of a Marquis, but tends to forget. When Maya says that her father must surely still be her ally even if he did become stricter after marrying Evelina, he points out that in 8 years her father has not once reached out to her, and Maya has no reply.
I feel like Maya must be a little older than Anastasia, she looks it, and it feels too sad for a ten year old maid to be dragged off to live alone with another (apparent) ten year old with no explanation. I shipped them in the old timeline but idk about this one, they're cute but it doesn't feel as shippy.
Crius looks SO much older than the 17 year old guys. I guess being 26 isn't that bad especially with the 8 year timeskip, timeloops and amnesia really mess with effective age. But there's regardless an Adult Commander/young recruit vibe between him and Anastasia that I am Not Into. Maybe once he's no longer her commander AND teacher I'll ship it more. Like, rn I ship Maya/Crius more.
In the market Anastasia is ruthless but fair when bartering with a greengrocer.
Hugo: I felt sure I saw someone who looked like her at the castle with a prince when I was a child... but you're right, there's no way she's noble.
A bunch of older knights hassle her for joining the War Games, and her comrades staunchly defend her skill... but it turns out the knights are just affectionately teasing her, having known her since she was 10.
Anastasia is entering the bow category. The knights warn her that the Royal Knights will make things dangerous if they think she's a threat.
Sure enough, some royal knights appear and are dicks, gloating that they are going to win EVERY category of the games AND steal Crius away, leaving the Garuda Wings nothing but a sad zoo of petkeepers.
The boys comment that the Royal Knights are popular with women, as is Crius, since he's a knight and a marquis, and of course Prince Conrad. But Prince Lucien is popular in the city.
Anastasia remembers him being universally despised and wonders what changed.
We see Lucien tell a friendly court painter that he's been unsuccessfully looking for a woman called Anastasia for years, since she is the 'key'. Did he keep his memories too?? The court painter mutters creepily that he's looking for her too D:
Crius orders Anastasia to bring him some mead to a pub at night, an obvious ploy to get her to stop training. A drunk guy persistently hits on her, I had to choice to ignore him or tell him to go away.
I picked go away, and so they both got kicked out. Just as she's got her fists up ready to fight him if he keeps harassing her... he collapses in a shower of blood???
A weird clown puppet thing appears and paralyses her with fear and then claws her open and starts PLAYING WITH HER INSIDES, not even actively trying to kill her though that is the result.
I just sat there making an irl D: face
Rune: Long time no see :)
Anastasia: WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT???
Rune: No idea, I was too scared to watch. Want to try again? :)
Anastasia: Yeah just send me a few minutes earlier, I'll just make the right decisions to avoid getting kicked out of the bar.
*A few minutes later*
Rune: ...that was quick.
Have I mentioned that Rune has little puppet strings trailing down from his fingers and clown-ish details to his clothes?
Anyway. When Anastasia is reborn, a tarot card of her as the Chariot appears, and is torn in half. It floats between other cards (I think representing the LIs and I guess secret routes, since there's several only showing their backs) then burns into ash to be created anew and whole.
This time she sucks it up and apologises to the drunkard. She's not sure how to get out of him pressing her to drink with him, but then Zenn walks in, looking so roughly dresed that she doesn't recognise him. He stares at her, stares the drunkard into silence, then turns and leaves again.
She meets up with Crius, who introduces her to Tyril. It takes a second for her eight year old memories to resurface, but he's exactly the same, except drunk and threatening to set anyone who bugs him on fire. Any time he insults Crius Anastasia earnestly praises him as a role model and Tyril mocks her for being brainwashed.
Crius says that since Anastasia clearly has things she want to achieve but feels unable to ask him or her friends for help, she might be willing to engage in a more mercenary favours for favours deal with Tyril. Tyril has a taste for a discontinued series of cheap drinks called the Arcana Set. Crius has bought up almost every available bottle and is happy to give them to Anastasia.
It's only after agreeing that she realises this is just an indirect way for Crius to help her. She realises that the third friend they wanted to introduce her to is Zenn, and that he's the guy she met before. But for some reason in this timeline he's a detective, "like his father".
Anastasia thinks "Wasn't his father a viscount?" and decides to go track Zenn down to find out what's up.
Tyril: So she's your new favourite, huh?
Crius: All my subordinates are my favourite :)
Tyril: You always did take good care of your pawns. You carefully, preciously, used them all. But you haven't introduced me to any of them since Zenn. She must be different. What are you planning?
Crius: ... :)
Ok both of these guys are more interesting than I originally thought. Also I remembered that the whole reason I looked into this game was someone posting about their favourite otome tsunderes, including Tyril along with my faves Yamato from Psychdelica Of The Black Butterfly and Mitsuki from Jack Jeanne. So he's probably going to grow on me.
Aha, Maya is 26! Ok she was 18 when Anastasia dragged her away not 10 that fits their vibe way more.
Anastasia finds Zenn talking to the painter, who spots her, runs over and calls her... his adorable little sister???
He introduces himself as Mael, saying he was sent away to boarding school when she was young. She doesn't remember him until she says his name, at which point memories come flooding back. He says Prince Lucien wants to meet with her and she says she wants to wait until she can enter the castle under her own merits as a knight.
Mael: I see, now I understand the strength of your resolve. But why were you wandering around at night?
Anastasia: How strange, I don't remember...
Mael: Let me walk you home :)
/o\
She wins the tournament despite nobly risking her place to save an injured and previously douchey Royal Guard, who said he'd been ordered to make her lose. As a result she is fawned over by swooning knights and women, who continue to ignore her fellow cadets :D
But she is troubled by the fact that one reason she won is that a large wolf, worth many points, seemed to throw itself in front of her.
She ponders the fact that she's become famous enough now that her family may hear of her exploits. But she always had to face them eventually, as the eldest and heir.
Mael: Hi it's me, your big brother <3
Anastasia: Wait. I'm the eldest child of my house. Who are you?? Why are my memories so fuzzy? What have you done to me???
Mael laughs and transforms into a dark shadowy figure with a single glowing purple eye.
The Witch of Ruin: Such hatred! All I've done yet in this timeline is have a little fun playing house :D And if you don't want me to kill a random bystander, you'll keep having fun with me and play my game :)
I am offered two tarot cards: Strength, which looks like Crius, and Judgement, which looks like Tyril.
I guess that's the end of the common route! At least until I unlock the others.
I chose Tyril and it's been pretty wild and fun so far, but that'll have to wait for another post.
Just finished the common route and it's been GREAT fun!
Content notes: Child abuse, slavery, violence, suicide, emotional abuse, narrative fatphobia (though this section was mostly just violent, hooray)
A young man called Hugo Spencer congratulates Anastasia for successfully shooting a deer??
Anastasia: I'm going to drain its blood. Hand me a knife.
So. I guess we're not starting 8 years ago when she was a pampered little girl...
Hugo: Wow. You're practically ready to be a fully fledged knight.
Anastasia: No woman has ever risen to that rank.
Hugo: True. We've known each other for three years yet you're such a mystery. Why did you join the knights of Garuda? What are you going to do when you hit eighteen?
Anastasia: We have to go to training >:/
She thinks Hugo is decent enough but meddlesome. He bugs her so much about her past that she gives him a summary: she told her father she wanted to join a nunnery, and then bribed the church to let her become a knight instead, because she wanted to become strong. She lies and says her family is too poor to ask questions about the unwanted extra mouth to feed.
Clever!
Hugo: Is that also true about the pretty woman you live with? Maya?
Anastasia: Don't talk about Maya or-
Other cadets: PLEASE TALK ABOUT MAYA <3
We meet chubby but loveable commoner Landon, and weedy money-focused merchant's son Mitchell.
They comment that she used to get hurt and ill more often, causing Maya to come visit, but has always been curt and unfriendly. Now Anastasia never lets Maya visit.
I was so busy being worried about weird age gap boywife-husbandry het I was sideswiped by weird age gap wife-husbandwifery yuri!
Hugo is cute I wonder if he's going to turn evil or die. Or I guess marry Maya.
Landon: Apparently there's a rumour that you were kidnapped from a noble family and sold to the Wings. But this violently stubborn girl, a noble?
Everyone straightens and salutes when Vice-Commander Crius shows up. Landon says something dumb so Hugo stomps on his foot.
Hugo: How many laps should I do while I reflect on my actions?
Crius: I keep being told I'm too hard on your recruits, we had twenty and only you four are left... so let's say 50 :)
Everyone else makes sad faces but Anastasia just runs off to do it. And then she just... keeps going? So Hugo keeps her company, trying to get her to stop, and gives an earnest speech about respecting her comrades before collapsing.
Anastasia...
When she gets back Maya berates her for being unladylike haha.
Anastasia: I'm not a lady I'm a knight.
Maya: Oh my. Awfully hasty when you're just a cadet :)
Anastasia: Do you hate who I am now?
Maya: You are the next head of the Lynzel family. I am sure they would be put at ease to see that you've grown into such a wonderful young woman. And you are that woman because you left at the age of ten and joined the Wings of Garuda.
Anastasia: I'm strong, right?
Maya: Yes, but more importantly, you're happy. Those three stooges aren't bad people, and while I can't trust your suspicious superior Castlerock, no harm has come to you yet. But... shouldn't you spare some time for rest?
Anastasia: (if I look happy I've become too complacent ...right?)
The next day she tries resting when she's supposed to, and considers the possibility of a life not centered entirely around revenge.
And then someone starts up a bonfire. She is overcome by memories of the cruelty she experienced and she thinks "What's a few years of happiness? So what if I have friends and people who care about me?!" awww I like this arc for an otome heroine, and it's a lot more interesting than the straightforwardly happy badass wish fulfilment of a lot of these kinds of rebirth stories. I hope we get to stay with this timeline for the rest of the game, or at least don't get too many more resets.
She collapses and wakes in Crius's office. She asks what she needs to do to become a knight and he says he has no intention of recruiting her to the Wings Of Garuda, not because she's a woman or lacking in skill, but because he can see the hatred in her eyes, and can tell she views them as a stepping stone towards some other purpose.
Maya arrives, worried and assuming this is all Crius's fault for overworking her. Which... is not unreasonable, from the sounds of things, no wonder she hates him!
Crius offers Anastasia the chance to become a knight if she can win any category (bow, guns, sword) of the upcoming War Games tournament. That's how he became a knight himself, 12 years ago, when he was 14. That's an amusingly implausible way to try and cut down on the age gap but sure.
Anastasia leaves, overjoyed, and Crius mutters to himself that he didn't know she could make such a cute smile.
He justifies himself to Maya by saying it's clear something is driving Anastasia and this will help her work towards it. He knows she's the daughter of a Marquis, but tends to forget. When Maya says that her father must surely still be her ally even if he did become stricter after marrying Evelina, he points out that in 8 years her father has not once reached out to her, and Maya has no reply.
I feel like Maya must be a little older than Anastasia, she looks it, and it feels too sad for a ten year old maid to be dragged off to live alone with another (apparent) ten year old with no explanation. I shipped them in the old timeline but idk about this one, they're cute but it doesn't feel as shippy.
Crius looks SO much older than the 17 year old guys. I guess being 26 isn't that bad especially with the 8 year timeskip, timeloops and amnesia really mess with effective age. But there's regardless an Adult Commander/young recruit vibe between him and Anastasia that I am Not Into. Maybe once he's no longer her commander AND teacher I'll ship it more. Like, rn I ship Maya/Crius more.
In the market Anastasia is ruthless but fair when bartering with a greengrocer.
Hugo: I felt sure I saw someone who looked like her at the castle with a prince when I was a child... but you're right, there's no way she's noble.
A bunch of older knights hassle her for joining the War Games, and her comrades staunchly defend her skill... but it turns out the knights are just affectionately teasing her, having known her since she was 10.
Anastasia is entering the bow category. The knights warn her that the Royal Knights will make things dangerous if they think she's a threat.
Sure enough, some royal knights appear and are dicks, gloating that they are going to win EVERY category of the games AND steal Crius away, leaving the Garuda Wings nothing but a sad zoo of petkeepers.
The boys comment that the Royal Knights are popular with women, as is Crius, since he's a knight and a marquis, and of course Prince Conrad. But Prince Lucien is popular in the city.
Anastasia remembers him being universally despised and wonders what changed.
We see Lucien tell a friendly court painter that he's been unsuccessfully looking for a woman called Anastasia for years, since she is the 'key'. Did he keep his memories too?? The court painter mutters creepily that he's looking for her too D:
Crius orders Anastasia to bring him some mead to a pub at night, an obvious ploy to get her to stop training. A drunk guy persistently hits on her, I had to choice to ignore him or tell him to go away.
I picked go away, and so they both got kicked out. Just as she's got her fists up ready to fight him if he keeps harassing her... he collapses in a shower of blood???
A weird clown puppet thing appears and paralyses her with fear and then claws her open and starts PLAYING WITH HER INSIDES, not even actively trying to kill her though that is the result.
I just sat there making an irl D: face
Rune: Long time no see :)
Anastasia: WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT???
Rune: No idea, I was too scared to watch. Want to try again? :)
Anastasia: Yeah just send me a few minutes earlier, I'll just make the right decisions to avoid getting kicked out of the bar.
*A few minutes later*
Rune: ...that was quick.
Have I mentioned that Rune has little puppet strings trailing down from his fingers and clown-ish details to his clothes?
Anyway. When Anastasia is reborn, a tarot card of her as the Chariot appears, and is torn in half. It floats between other cards (I think representing the LIs and I guess secret routes, since there's several only showing their backs) then burns into ash to be created anew and whole.
This time she sucks it up and apologises to the drunkard. She's not sure how to get out of him pressing her to drink with him, but then Zenn walks in, looking so roughly dresed that she doesn't recognise him. He stares at her, stares the drunkard into silence, then turns and leaves again.
She meets up with Crius, who introduces her to Tyril. It takes a second for her eight year old memories to resurface, but he's exactly the same, except drunk and threatening to set anyone who bugs him on fire. Any time he insults Crius Anastasia earnestly praises him as a role model and Tyril mocks her for being brainwashed.
Crius says that since Anastasia clearly has things she want to achieve but feels unable to ask him or her friends for help, she might be willing to engage in a more mercenary favours for favours deal with Tyril. Tyril has a taste for a discontinued series of cheap drinks called the Arcana Set. Crius has bought up almost every available bottle and is happy to give them to Anastasia.
It's only after agreeing that she realises this is just an indirect way for Crius to help her. She realises that the third friend they wanted to introduce her to is Zenn, and that he's the guy she met before. But for some reason in this timeline he's a detective, "like his father".
Anastasia thinks "Wasn't his father a viscount?" and decides to go track Zenn down to find out what's up.
Tyril: So she's your new favourite, huh?
Crius: All my subordinates are my favourite :)
Tyril: You always did take good care of your pawns. You carefully, preciously, used them all. But you haven't introduced me to any of them since Zenn. She must be different. What are you planning?
Crius: ... :)
Ok both of these guys are more interesting than I originally thought. Also I remembered that the whole reason I looked into this game was someone posting about their favourite otome tsunderes, including Tyril along with my faves Yamato from Psychdelica Of The Black Butterfly and Mitsuki from Jack Jeanne. So he's probably going to grow on me.
Aha, Maya is 26! Ok she was 18 when Anastasia dragged her away not 10 that fits their vibe way more.
Anastasia finds Zenn talking to the painter, who spots her, runs over and calls her... his adorable little sister???
He introduces himself as Mael, saying he was sent away to boarding school when she was young. She doesn't remember him until she says his name, at which point memories come flooding back. He says Prince Lucien wants to meet with her and she says she wants to wait until she can enter the castle under her own merits as a knight.
Mael: I see, now I understand the strength of your resolve. But why were you wandering around at night?
Anastasia: How strange, I don't remember...
Mael: Let me walk you home :)
/o\
She wins the tournament despite nobly risking her place to save an injured and previously douchey Royal Guard, who said he'd been ordered to make her lose. As a result she is fawned over by swooning knights and women, who continue to ignore her fellow cadets :D
But she is troubled by the fact that one reason she won is that a large wolf, worth many points, seemed to throw itself in front of her.
She ponders the fact that she's become famous enough now that her family may hear of her exploits. But she always had to face them eventually, as the eldest and heir.
Mael: Hi it's me, your big brother <3
Anastasia: Wait. I'm the eldest child of my house. Who are you?? Why are my memories so fuzzy? What have you done to me???
Mael laughs and transforms into a dark shadowy figure with a single glowing purple eye.
The Witch of Ruin: Such hatred! All I've done yet in this timeline is have a little fun playing house :D And if you don't want me to kill a random bystander, you'll keep having fun with me and play my game :)
I am offered two tarot cards: Strength, which looks like Crius, and Judgement, which looks like Tyril.
I guess that's the end of the common route! At least until I unlock the others.
I chose Tyril and it's been pretty wild and fun so far, but that'll have to wait for another post.
