Book VI Discussion Thread

[Mercakete]

Hmm that was smart. Looks like Letizia sent the Askrans along the route she did so that they would be forced to take a long way back to Askr, giving her time to deal with them after Veronica. I have to admit, that was a good strategy, and quite well-executed. Looking forward to when Elm re-materializes, too, and has a conversation with the lady.

As for Latizia's motives, intents, and actions... Well, it's nice to see my guesses confirmed.

Seeing Bruno show up with a little update on his progress and reminding the player of his mission was a pleasant surprise, too! Doubtless, his mission will finally come to a close at the end of (or towards the end of) this book. He talked about "if something happened to him," which may be hint that he's going to die during this book, but eh. It could just as easily be trying to get the player to think he's going to die. So, as before, it just remains a possibility. We'll have to wait and see. On a similar note, it was nice to see Xander reenter the story, too.

Regarding this tome Latizia stole, it's obviously the big bad green magic she was using in the cutscene. I'm guessing she can either summon Elm with it or commune directly with Embla with it. Either way, I'm sure she's trying to make a deal with her matron deity, as I said before.

Anyway, not a bad chapter! It really set up for the coming book, explaining why the Askrans are stuck in Embla and how Latizia will have the ability to get at them while they're in her home country. I'm betting, however, that in part 2 (or maybe sooner), we'll see a scenery change. Maybe we'll even go to whatever world Embla herself is in/go into those dark blobs that ate the villages/sent them to Embla so she wouldn't be so lonely/whatever.

[Lemmy]

I'm glad they aren't dwelling too long on the more obvious plot twists and are letting Shareena and Anna participate in the plot again.

[Tybrosion]

I liked how they made possessed Veronica a new unit (complete with a different character title and description, unlike dragon Fafnir), but then still had her use the same horribly outdated stat spread (41/35/22/29/21/148) of her original version.

Like, I get that her stats don’t matter since they brought back an old friend (Embla’s Ward) but I still find this amusing and puzzling.

[Diovani Bressan]

1 hour ago, Tybrosion said:

I liked how they made possessed Veronica a new unit (complete with a different character title and description, unlike dragon Fafnir), but then still had her use the same horribly outdated stat spread (41/35/22/29/21/148) of her original version.

Like, I get that her stats don’t matter since they brought back an old friend (Embla’s Ward) but I still find this amusing and puzzling.

Yeah... Which is kinda funny how, in the Lunatic difficulty, they gave her Life and Death 4 and Lull Spd/Res... but she only reaches 32 Spd effectively.

Edited January 7, 2022 by Diovani Bressan

[Tybrosion]

51 minutes ago, Diovani Bressan said:

Yeah... Which is kinda funny how, in the Lunatic difficulty, they gave her Life and Death 4 and Lull Spd/Res... but she only reaches 32 Spd effectively.

Meanwhile in the last map, you got Riev over in the top right with a visible Atk/Spd of 57/28 and he doesn't have any skills that boost his visible stats either (only ones that give in combat boosts). In combat, his Atk becomes 68 if the stat boosts from both Argent Aura and Atk/Res Ideal are in play.

Veronica, with Life and Death 4, only makes it to 59/31 (34 with Lull Spd/Res) visible Atk/Spd.

[Xenomata]

Hm... Veronica's skills kinda makes me wonder if she's going to be "awakened" somehow in this book?
She has NEVER used a Spd-based set until now, and if she's going to be awakened that would open her up to being able to officially ally with Askr.

[ARMADS!!!]

15 hours ago, Mercakete said:

Hmm that was smart. Looks like Letizia sent the Askrans along the route she did so that they would be forced to take a long way back to Askr, giving her time to deal with them after Veronica. I have to admit, that was a good strategy, and quite well-executed. Looking forward to when Elm re-materializes, too, and has a conversation with the lady.

Regarding this tome Latizia stole, it's obviously the big bad green magic she was using in the cutscene. I'm guessing she can either summon Elm with it or commune directly with Embla with it. Either way, I'm sure she's trying to make a deal with her matron deity, as I said before.

 I'm betting, however, that in part 2 (or maybe sooner), we'll see a scenery change. Maybe we'll even go to whatever world Embla herself is in/go into those dark blobs that ate the villages/sent them to Embla so she wouldn't be só lonely/whatever

 Yeah, it was a rather smart move (pretty obvious for us, the players, but the askrans really didnt have any way to know, specially since Veronica told them that Letizia was a trusted friend).

 I found it pretty funny that Letizia was talking about the stolen tome while her sprite has been holding it the whole time (obviously is as if she wasnt, but in the second she said "someone stole a forbbiden tome" I was like "Oh... so thats her own tome, right? is she revealing herself as evil that soon?" and Im glad she did, Letizia was so obviously evil that there was really no reason to hold the facade any longer). 

 Yeah! I think that we'll go into the dark blobs too, eventually and probably Embla Will be there waiting for us.

 I really hope that this book isnt resolved with another random MacGuffin cause it got old a a LONG time ago (it probably will be thought, maybe a MacGuffin that can undo the Embla blood curse for good?) 

 Also, it seems like we have an answer/conclusion for last months' speculation, Veronica's mother really is the one rulling Embla, so I think that Letizia's next step will be trying to take her down too now that Veronica is out of her way (Oh Boy, now I want to see Veronica's Mother... She will probably be one of those OCs that only get seasonals if we actually get to see her though...)

3 hours ago, Diovani Bressan said:

Yeah... Which is kinda funny how, in the Lunatic difficulty, they gave her Life and Death 4 and Lull Spd/Res... but she only reaches 32 Spd effectively.

 RIGHT???? I Saw that she had 31 spd  w/ Life n Death 4 and I could just think "why?!" She could give some use to that extra 5 Def/Res, actually She could have even more with Fury 4, at the cost of only 3 atk and useless spd. She could have a (41/39/26/33/25) stat spread, that is a little more respectable, for me it seems like Veronica needs her defenses more than her crappy spd nowadays (maybe her spd was considered average back when the game launched, idk, but now ir sure isnt)

[Mercakete]

1 hour ago, ARMADS!!! said:

 Yeah, it was a rather smart move (pretty obvious for us, the players, but the askrans really didnt have any way to know, specially since Veronica told them that Letizia was a trusted friend).

 I found it pretty funny that Letizia was talking about the stolen tome while her sprite has been holding it the whole time (obviously is as if she wasnt, but in the second she said "someone stole a forbbiden tome" I was like "Oh... so thats her own tome, right? is she revealing herself as evil that soon?" and Im glad she did, Letizia was so obviously evil that there was really no reason to hold the facade any longer). 

 Yeah! I think that we'll go into the dark blobs too, eventually and probably Embla Will be there waiting for us.

 I really hope that this book isnt resolved with another random MacGuffin cause it got old a a LONG time ago (it probably will be thought, maybe a MacGuffin that can undo the Embla blood curse for good?) 

 Also, it seems like we have an answer/conclusion for last months' speculation, Veronica's mother really is the one rulling Embla, so I think that Letizia's next step will be trying to take her down too now that Veronica is out of her way (Oh Boy, now I want to see Veronica's Mother... She will probably be one of those OCs that only get seasonals if we actually get to see her though...)

 RIGHT???? I Saw that she had 31 spd  w/ Life n Death 4 and I could just think "why?!" She could give some use to that extra 5 Def/Res, actually She could have even more with Fury 4, at the cost of only 3 atk and useless spd. She could have a (41/39/26/33/25) stat spread, that is a little more respectable, for me it seems like Veronica needs her defenses more than her crappy spd nowadays (maybe her spd was considered average back when the game launched, idk, but now ir sure isnt)

Regarding the topic of Veronica's stats, I'm glad they're the same since it kind of tells the story that this is the same Veronica as the one we fought in Book 4. She'll probably get an upgraded version somewhere down the line in this book, especially if she transforms even further than just having glowing red eyes. I just hope we don't get another Fallen Edelgard situation...

I forgot to mention it earlier, but the bit about Veronica's mom is interesting, too. Currently, she's only been referenced, so she may wind up being a "hidden enemy" later (remember, this whole blood curse conquest thing started with the pervious emperor: Veronica and Bruno's father. Then, it continued with Veronica and Bruno. And who do they all have in common? A wife, a stepmom, and a mother... She could be the one who awakened the blood curse in her husband and his kids), or she may be a poor hapless normie the emperor decided to marry and just wants out of this nightmare. (I'm still waiting on more info about Robin's mom, IS.)

Whatever the case, the big bad seems like it's going to be either Latizia, Embla herself, or Veronica's mom. Actually, (especially if said mom wound up being the big bad) I'd really like to see Bruno confront her. He seems a bit cowed by her to me, so that would be something. Maybe standing up for Veronica before being either consumed by the blood curse, or killed by his wicked stepmother. Anyway, it would be really cool. Clearly, he knows a lot about the blood curse, so maybe she told him and was all "there's nothing you can do about it" or something like "go ahead and search this world, but you'll never find a cure." And so he began looking for a cure. Whatever the case, she's clearly not a very good mother since even Veronica seems apprehensive about her, and was obviously never a very involved mother since Veronica suffers from some extreme loneliness (which she tried to fill with her half-brother, her "sissy" and the heroes she put under contract.) We're definitely going to see some mommy issues crop up in this book.

[ARMADS!!!]

2 hours ago, Mercakete said:

Whatever the case, the big bad seems like it's going to be either Latizia, Embla herself, or Veronica's mom. Actually, (especially if said mom wound up being the big bad) I'd really like to see Bruno confront her. He seems a bit cowed by her to me, so that would be something. Maybe standing up for Veronica before being either consumed by the blood curse, or killed by his wicked stepmother. Anyway, it would be really cool. Clearly, he knows a lot about the blood curse, so maybe she told him and was all "there's nothing you can do about it" or something like "go ahead and search this world, but you'll never find a cure." And so he began looking for a cure. Whatever the case, she's clearly not a very good mother since even Veronica seems apprehensive about her, and was obviously never a very involved mother since Veronica suffers from some extreme loneliness (which she tried to fill with her half-brother, her "sissy" and the heroes she put under contract.) We're definitely going to see some mommy issues crop up in this book.

 Are Bruno and Veronica apprehensive about Embla's queen? Where is this said? I never noticed!(or dont remember, if ir was longo ago like in book I)

 For me it looked like the queen cared about Veronica because Letizia says that She ordered to arrest Veronica for now until they can prove her innocence or something like this (which made me think that She belived that her daughter wouldn't steal the tome and also cared to reassure her that she wasnt fucked up and that she would only be arrested temporarily until they prove that she didnt do anything, instead of just making Letizia arrest her and not saying that it was just for now or anything else, also Letizia didnt say that the queen was pissed/disapointed/anything even being such a grave situation so for me it sounded like she must have had compassion for Veronica at least, you know it seemed like she only ordered to arrest Veronica because She had to, so no one would think that She was conspiring with her daughter), sure I could be reading along the lines too much here, maybe she just doesnt HATE Veronica and is being sympathetic towards her situation now because she knows it happens in Embla (I mean... She was married to the dude that dos it), but is generally a cold and/or scary mother, who knows. Actually She really doesnt sound like an awesome mother at all, we know that she let Veronica lonely indeed, I always assumed that it was because she was a busy queen or something like this but now thinking about it, it wouldnt have cost anything to get Veronica some random retainers so she wouldnt be so alone (well, I suppose that Bruno had the power to do this too, maybe having FE7/FE Fates/etc like retainers isnt a thing in Embla... until Xander who is from Fates himself decided to do this by staying with Veronica?) but this just makes the Queen look like an ausent mother (which ok, is pretty bad already) not exactly a terrifying one, I dont recall Veronica or Bruno being afraid of her or anything. Im probably missing something important on this though.

[Mercakete]

2 hours ago, ARMADS!!! said:

 Are Bruno and Veronica apprehensive about Embla's queen? Where is this said? I never noticed!(or dont remember, if ir was longo ago like in book I)

 For me it looked like the queen cared about Veronica because Letizia says that She ordered to arrest Veronica for now until they can prove her innocence or something like this (which made me think that She belived that her daughter wouldn't steal the tome and also cared to reassure her that she wasnt fucked up and that she would only be arrested temporarily until they prove that she didnt do anything, instead of just making Letizia arrest her and not saying that it was just for now or anything else, also Letizia didnt say that the queen was pissed/disapointed/anything even being such a grave situation so for me it sounded like she must have had compassion for Veronica at least, you know it seemed like she only ordered to arrest Veronica because She had to, so no one would think that She was conspiring with her daughter), sure I could be reading along the lines too much here, maybe she just doesnt HATE Veronica and is being sympathetic towards her situation now because she knows it happens in Embla (I mean... She was married to the dude that dos it), but is generally a cold and/or scary mother, who knows. Actually She really doesnt sound like an awesome mother at all, we know that she let Veronica lonely indeed, I always assumed that it was because she was a busy queen or something like this but now thinking about it, it wouldnt have cost anything to get Veronica some random retainers so she wouldnt be so alone (well, I suppose that Bruno had the power to do this too, maybe having FE7/FE Fates/etc like retainers isnt a thing in Embla... until Xander who is from Fates himself decided to do this by staying with Veronica?) but this just makes the Queen look like an ausent mother (which ok, is pretty bad already) not exactly a terrifying one, I dont recall Veronica or Bruno being afraid of her or anything. Im probably missing something important on this though.

Bruno and Veronica are her kids, so it makes sense that there would be a bit of a natural intimidation there. (Most kids, even when grown, still have that "I want to please my parents/I should obey my parents" instinct. After all, even if you don't find other dads/moms scary when they're mad, it's probable that you find your own parents' anger terrifying and strongly desire approval and affection from your parents. This is, of course, speaking in generalities, but it is a common phenomenon.) Besides this, Bruno and Veronica seem to be the sorts to show respect to their parents, even when awkwardly admitting to the previous emperor's conquest. So, they're going to acknowledge what happened, but they're going to avoid talking down their dad, you know?

Anyway, all of that is just to explain why Bruno and Veronica seem a little apprehensive about their stepmom/mom (respectively.) It's from two general things: first, their relationship with her isn't good. Second, she's still their parent. When you have that mix, it can result in the children in question feeling awkward, uncomfortable, and even ashamed about the whole thing, making their behavior cowed and sheepish. If the parent is using the child for some reason (such as in the case of a narcissist), that makes the child easy to control.

Now, Veronica grew up alone, and Bruno was largely off doing his own thing as Zacharias. It could easily be that Veronica's mom only married the previous emperor in order to gain power for herself. I don't know if it was made obvious how he died, but she may have even killed him for his throne. She could have also alienated Veronica so that she would be easy to control, so in the event of Veronica gaining power, it would be the queen who would still get her way. That also means, however, that Bruno was in the way (since he didn't actually have succession ties to her.) We know his mom was accused and exiled in disgrace, but Bruno could still visit Veronica, apparently. Imagine how he may have felt about his stepmom being cold and scornful of him every time he visited. He's not hotheaded, so it's more likely he would have felt dejected and even ashamed. On the other hand, she could have been openly mocking or scathing, and pounded it into his head that there was nothing he could do, and that he didn't belong anymore. If she even talked about the blood curse, that could have encouraged him to go find a cure, but we already know that the main things that propelled him were Veronica suffering from the curse, and the danger the curse posed to his friends (Alfonse and Sharena.)

It wouldn't surprise me if she was behind all of the accusations that were going around in the past (the accusations against Bruno and his mom which got them deposed, the accusations of Latizia's faction which ultimately failed, etc.) She could be the one ultimately manipulating the system, especially since she married the emperor and paid no attention to Veronica as she grew up. It would also explain why she convinced the noble families to arrest Veronica in order to seek to prove her innocence: Veronica is her tie to the throne, since she doesn't have royal blood, herself. Further, if Veronica got deposed like that, the queen's position would be in jeopardy since her reputation/standing is tied to her own. She's likely shrewd enough to know how these coups go, too. If Veronica falls, she's next. It all comes back to power.

Edit: I also would like to point out that Latizia is our only source for whether the queen actually stood up for Veronica or not and Latizia is a scheming, self-interested liar, so... Yeah, let's take that with a healthy helping of salt.

Edited January 8, 2022 by Mercakete

[Diovani Bressan]

10 hours ago, ARMADS!!! said:

RIGHT???? I Saw that she had 31 spd  w/ Life n Death 4 and I could just think "why?!" She could give some use to that extra 5 Def/Res, actually She could have even more with Fury 4, at the cost of only 3 atk and useless spd. She could have a (41/39/26/33/25) stat spread, that is a little more respectable, for me it seems like Veronica needs her defenses more than her crappy spd nowadays (maybe her spd was considered average back when the game launched, idk, but now ir sure isnt)

To be fair... Veronica has Embla Ward to nullify any damage she takes, so Life and Death 4 was not a bad pick for her. Since she takes no damage, no point in having Def or Res so better lower those stats to increase her offenses.

So I guess they went with LnD 4 to increase her Atk since she has crappy stats of a ranged unit from the game release. But then, they could have used an Ideal 4 Skill on her, like Atk/Spd Ideal 4. Since she doesnt take damage, she would have +7 all the time, and giving her a buffing skill like Rouse, or an ally with buffing abilities, would grant her the +9. The Spd wouldn't be useful again, but at least she could have more Atk than what LnD would grant her.

[Etrurian emperor]

Oh no, sissy turned out to be evil! Who would have thought!?

[Mercakete]

7 hours ago, Etrurian emperor said:

Oh no, sissy turned out to be evil! Who would have thought!?

Clearly, she's no sissy. 😛

Edited January 9, 2022 by Mercakete

[Diovani Bressan]

I wonder if its possible for Bruno to be the Mid-Book hero...

[DefyingFates]

On 1/7/2022 at 9:13 AM, Michelaar said:

Well well, Letizia revealed her true motives earlier than expected. 

Also nice to see they remember Xander and Bruno.

Yeah, the early reveal surprised me too. Maybe the writers figured it was too obvious, so there was no point trying to hide it?

On the other hand, you had people like me who thought it was so obvious that Letizia was evil that they'd do a fake out, but no. But as you said, it was nice to see Bruno again. Xander was the one who really surprised me, to be honest.

On 1/7/2022 at 8:22 PM, Tybrosion said:

I liked how they made possessed Veronica a new unit (complete with a different character title and description, unlike dragon Fafnir), but then still had her use the same horribly outdated stat spread (41/35/22/29/21/148) of her original version.

I didn't notice the bolded part! And yeah, the outdated weapon and stats were funny, but considering she had Embla's Ward and starting moving immediately I'm not complaining. While there was no F!Edelgard analogue on her map, Fafnir was a big part of why that map was so frustrating.

[Use the Falchion]

Oh no, Sissy was evil! How ever could we have guessed this? Sarcasm aside, no one is surprised by this, but I AM surprised they had Letizia openly reveal she did the things. I was sort of hoping that they'd treat her like Lif, in which we have a pretty good idea of who she is, or we're benefitted by Dramatic Irony, and the characters have to figure this out on their own. I would have even taken Bruno appearing in a dramatic fashion to save us from Letizia. But alas. At least we can move on with the plot now. 

 

On 1/9/2022 at 8:11 AM, Diovani Bressan said:

I wonder if its possible for Bruno to be the Mid-Book hero...

I would GLADLY spend more orbs than my stockpile is comfortable with in order to pull him if that was the case. 

[Some Jerk]

Quote

Bruno, to Xander: "Veronica's gotten so strong, she'll be fine alone for a while."

Meanwhile in Embla...

Quote

Elm: "Today I will cause problems on purpose."
Letizia: "I don't give a shit about Elm or know about this Embla bloodline business, I'm just going to stage a coup at the worst possible moment."

Veronica: *SCREAMING EXTERNALLY*

Edited January 11, 2022 by Some Jerk

[Michelaar]

10 hours ago, DefyingFates said:

Yeah, the early reveal surprised me too. Maybe the writers figured it was too obvious, so there was no point trying to hide it?

On the other hand, you had people like me who thought it was so obvious that Letizia was evil that they'd do a fake out, but no. But as you said, it was nice to see Bruno again. Xander was the one who really surprised me, to be honest.

I had thought they would perhaps just write Xander out of the story since they don't use other OC's in the story before but i'm pleasantly surprised he's here. I hope they actually use him here though and don't just have him show up once or twice.

[Mercakete]

10 hours ago, Use the Falchion said:

I was sort of hoping that they'd treat her like Lif, in which we have a pretty good idea of who she is, or we're benefitted by Dramatic Irony, and the characters have to figure this out on their own. I would have even taken Bruno appearing in a dramatic fashion to save us from Letizia. But alas. At least we can move on with the plot now. 

They still may. Just because the player knows and Veronica knows doesn't mean she can't still string along and manipulate other characters (such as the Askrans who think she's so nice.) I expect a lot of hair-pulling-out of things like "DON'T TRUST HER! SHE'S MISLEADING YOU!!" I can't see her letting Veronica tell the Askrans anyway. She may have only told Veronica because she thinks she's not going to cause a fuss, either being imprisoned or possessed (or dead, but that's unlikely to happen.)

40 minutes ago, Michelaar said:

I had thought they would perhaps just write Xander out of the story since they don't use other OC's in the story before but i'm pleasantly surprised he's here. I hope they actually use him here though and don't just have him show up once or twice.

Actually, I wonder if this is going to lead up to Xander getting an ascended version. Ryoma has a legendary version, so I could see them giving Xander and ascended version in order to balance that out. It would be especially interesting if Xander's ascended version wasn't him as king of Nohr, but as empowered by Embla or something. It would also make him summonable, as I believe he's a GHB unit at the moment. Then, it would make sense for him to be an enemy unit on a story map. IS could totally do it this way. And, you know, they may reference the Adrift stuff, too, since that banner had some hints to the main story (Loki talked to tiny Azura about dragons of various realms, if you recall.)

Man, wouldn't that just be something if Loki was actually Alfador in disguise? Like, he wanted to run around and have some fun, while also getting the inside scoop on how things were progressing. It would explain why we haven't gotten a version of Loki yet that shows her true power, too, and would also reference Norse Mythology Loki's wild shapeshifting.

@Some Jerk

I'm pretty sure Letizia knows about the curse.

[Use the Falchion]

4 hours ago, Mercakete said:

They still may. Just because the player knows and Veronica knows doesn't mean she can't still string along and manipulate other characters (such as the Askrans who think she's so nice.) I expect a lot of hair-pulling-out of things like "DON'T TRUST HER! SHE'S MISLEADING YOU!!" I can't see her letting Veronica tell the Askrans anyway. She may have only told Veronica because she thinks she's not going to cause a fuss, either being imprisoned or possessed (or dead, but that's unlikely to happen.)

Oh good points! 

[Mercakete]

23 hours ago, Use the Falchion said:

Oh good points! 

Thanks!

I may have said it before, but I'd really like it if Lif and Thrasir show up in this book (since, y'know, Thrasir is dead Veronica from another world.) Them showing up as surprise saviors in a dire pinch would be pretty cool, I think. I wonder if Thrasir is still affected by the blood curse since she's dead and doesn't actually have blood anymore. It doesn't look like it to me since she's been able to work with Lif for so long in her world and in Hel.

[Mercakete]

Okay, so I just finished part 1 of the new chapter and...goodness. First, it's not like the content is that surprising. It's what you'd expect, as far as generalities go (though it does feel like the Askrans find out about Letizia's true colors kind of early, even if it's not in its entirety.) However, the character development/showcasing here is good. Letizia maintains having airs about her of being in control (for the most part.) At the very least, she has poise, even when troubled at the disappearance of Veronica. How she handles even foes -- even when getting a little bit "evil rant-y" is with a sense of being in a position of power. She never really loses it (which may change later -- she's kind of Berkut-esque in several ways, though with some key differences I'm not going to get into right now.) She can look at the things in front of her relationally and objectively, being able to tell that Anna was telling the truth about not knowing where Veronica is. Like, the way it's portrayed, you can tell she looked at what was said and how it was said closely and carefully in order to determine that. All this is in alignment with her position as the leader of the Curse Directive (I think that's what it was called.) So, that's great; it's all staying consistent so far.

Another interesting thing is how quick Alfonse was to worry about Veronica. It seems like the red flag went up more quickly than it usually would, indicating a sense of protectiveness. It could be that his bond with her has indeed gotten deeper over time, and she may have a special place in his heart, whether he realizes it or not. (This could be of virtually any nature, from platonic and friendly to romantic attraction.) Whatever the case, he seems a little more quick to suspect people of being threats to her than to some others. And, being a rational puzzle-solver, of course he tests his theory and finds out that there really is strong evidence to support the theory that Letizia is a threat to Veronica.

One other thing. As much as I like a calm and calculating villain (and I love Letizia's design on top of that), she made me fight my sweet child Gonzalez. As a result, she got an angry Gurgurant to the face thrice. I hope she learned her lesson.

I may have had more to say, but I think it's all pretty much summed up in what I've said before about Letizia trapping the Askrans in Embla intentionally by making the bridge impassable. Ah, and it was hinted that Elm's not the one causing all the black holes. As before (I think), my bet is that it's either Letizia or Embla herself. Or, Elm was only one person who was doing it, but that seems not to be his power. If he's like Ash, he's meant to assist Embla's children (Letizia, in this case) rather than be the one causing all the stuff. Plus, we know Letizia has recently stollen some ancient and forbidden tome, which lines up with when the black holes showed up. So, yeah.

Anyway, I do wonder if Letizia had some specific reason for trapping the Askrans. Like, maybe sacrificing a royal Askran in a specific ceremony (like perhaps the one we see in the opening movie, with all the green light?) will increase her power or something? Also, I just really like the level of decorum she has, even when talking about how she's going to murder people. Like, even reassuring the Askrans that they don't have to worry about a war breaking out and that no one will know how they died. It's like...kind of courteous? I'm finding that I really like this gal. Like, "Thank you; that's really nice of you. I mean, it's not ideal, but given the circumstances, it's actually not too bad."

Well, onto Part 2.

I forgot to mention it earlier, but another thing is that it's pretty clear what Letizia's weakness is. She's desperate to bring her plan to fruition, and any threat to that -- whether real or imagined -- gets her riled up and generally makes her reveal more about her position and goals than she otherwise would. When Alfonse bluffed about having Veronica with them, she bought right into it despite having just determined that, according to Anna's true testimony, they didn't actually know where she was. This lady is all about posturing when she feels threatened or insecure, usually with a few threats made good on in order to gain control of a situation.

Looks like Veronica really did jump off the cliff since she was found by the Askrans washed up on a river shore. And then, in Part 3, Letizia was back to her posturing. She's really good at coming up with reasonable arguments. Kudos to her and her writers. It was neat seeing her and Alfonse talking diplomatically. But, of course, having her plans threatened again caused her to, once again, say too much. She could've stopped at "those are Emblian internal affairs. It isn't prudent, given our countries' strained relationship, for me to share as delicate of information as the crimes of our nobility with you." She'd have a real position of strength there...but instead, she takes it a few steps too far because she wants everything to click into place and it's aggravating her that that's not how it's going. So, she uses force. Then, even when retreating with dignity, she says too much in her punishing of the Askrans for defying her. Dude, keep them guessing instead of basically saying "I'm using Embla's power to seal off villages in both Embla and Askr." The power play is backfiring. But, of course, as I said before, when she feels threatened, she postures, and barbs people with as much conceit, dignity, and spite as she can muster.

Not bad. The writing is solid, the characters are good... The only real issue here is that things are going way too fast for this style of story. Seriously, this story would make an awesome series, and what we've seen so far (in book 6) would be great for almost the completion of the first volume (as far as story progression goes.) Basically, it's the kind of thing that needs to unfold slowly, with a lot of development to get from plot point to plot point. It's just really rushed and bare-bones, but I guess it can't really be helped.

Well, time to go into Part 4.

Okay, that bit with Sharena and Veronica was just really sweet. Makes me want to see Sharena display her more nurturing, warm/gentle side more. She'd make a good mom, or a healer. Staff Sharena would be great, I think.

OH that's interesting. One of Letizia's crit quotes is "For Veronica." I wonder what that means. It's probably not part of her front (partially because she sounded really sincere when saying it, and partially because quotes like that transcend the timeline in the story, since it's part of the character even after they come summonable.) There's perhaps something much deeper at play here... Is she, perhaps, actually a double agent? Is she maybe actually on Veronica's side, but making it seem like she's not? Is Veronica's mom really the one behind this, or maybe someone close to Letizia whom we haven't met yet?

Huh. Okay, so, Alfonse understands the weight that comes with protecting Veronica, but he's still refusing to give her up, even though entire villages of his own people are in danger as a result. Yup. He's clearly got personal feelings interfering with rational judgement. Also, Letizia was all "I'll keep enclosing villages until you give me Veronica" and saying that they didn't have an alternative, but, like...the solution's heckin simple? Like, just evacuate the villages near to Embla and send in soldiers to attack because this is actually an act of war and Askr needs to protect its people. It's not actually that hard. The only issue is that the Askrans haven't been able to get back to Askr yet, but that just means that this is where their focus needs to be: getting back home so that they can tell Henriette about what's going on and she can pull a move like "I'm the ruler so I get to coordinate the people and the army and I guess we have Veronica here." So, there's that. And maybe there's an Askran relic back home that can undo the enclosures since Askr's whole shtick is openness and the sky (which makes sense in English but more sense in Japanese, given the kanji for "sky" can also mean "vacant.") I wonder if IS wrote themselves into a corner and just hoped that people wouldn't realize this...

"If she resists, break her legs." DANG. Well, okay then. Getting bold, I see, IS. And here I thought Fafnir's insane rant was a one-off...

Oh man, okay, the twist about Letizia demanding the Askrans to surrender took me off guard. Nicely done, IS. (Also, again, notice how calm and collected she is when things are going her way. Indeed, how you unbalance this lady is to throw interruptions to her plans. This is a lady of order, not chaos, indeed.) And Alfonse was right in this. Obviously, they have to stop Letizia, not be cowed (ironically, since I forgot Ash was there until she spoke up) by threats. That'll only embolden her. IS guided this pretty well into one of those "Askrans need to take down the baddie to make things okay again" situations. Anna's also right -- they can't just be afraid of bad people doing bad things and give in to demands. The overall consequences would be too severe, especially since they're royals. Don't trade in long-term success for short-term success, if you can help it.

...Aaaand Ash only JUST NOW says she can reopen the enclosures once she figures out how to do it. Man, for a chatterbox, she sure took her sweet time telling everyone that. What, can she not say anything when Veronica's around? Because that seems to be the only time when she doesn't talk. (Also, why doesn't Letizia acknowledge the cow in the room?) Maybe they just didn't have the text space to include all this, but it is kind of like "why isn't this being talked about?"

Well, anyway, not a bad chapter. A lot happened. I wonder if Elm will come back in the next one. Maybe we'll get to see a baddie to battie conversation somewhere in there.

[ZanderColeman]

On 2/19/2022 at 2:42 PM, Mercakete said:

Okay, so I just finished part 1 of the new chapter and...goodness. First, it's not like the content is that surprising. It's what you'd expect, as far as generalities go (though it does feel like the Askrans find out about Letizia's true colors kind of early, even if it's not in its entirety.) However, the character development/showcasing here is good. Letizia maintains having airs about her of being in control (for the most part.) At the very least, she has poise, even when troubled at the disappearance of Veronica. How she handles even foes -- even when getting a little bit "evil rant-y" is with a sense of being in a position of power. She never really loses it (which may change later -- she's kind of Berkut-esque in several ways, though with some key differences I'm not going to get into right now.) She can look at the things in front of her relationally and objectively, being able to tell that Anna was telling the truth about not knowing where Veronica is. Like, the way it's portrayed, you can tell she looked at what was said and how it was said closely and carefully in order to determine that. All this is in alignment with her position as the leader of the Curse Directive (I think that's what it was called.) So, that's great; it's all staying consistent so far.

Another interesting thing is how quick Alfonse was to worry about Veronica. It seems like the red flag went up more quickly than it usually would, indicating a sense of protectiveness. It could be that his bond with her has indeed gotten deeper over time, and she may have a special place in his heart, whether he realizes it or not. (This could be of virtually any nature, from platonic and friendly to romantic attraction.) Whatever the case, he seems a little more quick to suspect people of being threats to her than to some others. And, being a rational puzzle-solver, of course he tests his theory and finds out that there really is strong evidence to support the theory that Letizia is a threat to Veronica.

One other thing. As much as I like a calm and calculating villain (and I love Letizia's design on top of that), she made me fight my sweet child Gonzalez. As a result, she got an angry Gurgurant to the face thrice. I hope she learned her lesson.

I may have had more to say, but I think it's all pretty much summed up in what I've said before about Letizia trapping the Askrans in Embla intentionally by making the bridge impassable. Ah, and it was hinted that Elm's not the one causing all the black holes. As before (I think), my bet is that it's either Letizia or Embla herself. Or, Elm was only one person who was doing it, but that seems not to be his power. If he's like Ash, he's meant to assist Embla's children (Letizia, in this case) rather than be the one causing all the stuff. Plus, we know Letizia has recently stollen some ancient and forbidden tome, which lines up with when the black holes showed up. So, yeah.

Anyway, I do wonder if Letizia had some specific reason for trapping the Askrans. Like, maybe sacrificing a royal Askran in a specific ceremony (like perhaps the one we see in the opening movie, with all the green light?) will increase her power or something? Also, I just really like the level of decorum she has, even when talking about how she's going to murder people. Like, even reassuring the Askrans that they don't have to worry about a war breaking out and that no one will know how they died. It's like...kind of courteous? I'm finding that I really like this gal. Like, "Thank you; that's really nice of you. I mean, it's not ideal, but given the circumstances, it's actually not too bad."

Well, onto Part 2.

I forgot to mention it earlier, but another thing is that it's pretty clear what Letizia's weakness is. She's desperate to bring her plan to fruition, and any threat to that -- whether real or imagined -- gets her riled up and generally makes her reveal more about her position and goals than she otherwise would. When Alfonse bluffed about having Veronica with them, she bought right into it despite having just determined that, according to Anna's true testimony, they didn't actually know where she was. This lady is all about posturing when she feels threatened or insecure, usually with a few threats made good on in order to gain control of a situation.

Looks like Veronica really did jump off the cliff since she was found by the Askrans washed up on a river shore. And then, in Part 3, Letizia was back to her posturing. She's really good at coming up with reasonable arguments. Kudos to her and her writers. It was neat seeing her and Alfonse talking diplomatically. But, of course, having her plans threatened again caused her to, once again, say too much. She could've stopped at "those are Emblian internal affairs. It isn't prudent, given our countries' strained relationship, for me to share as delicate of information as the crimes of our nobility with you." She'd have a real position of strength there...but instead, she takes it a few steps too far because she wants everything to click into place and it's aggravating her that that's not how it's going. So, she uses force. Then, even when retreating with dignity, she says too much in her punishing of the Askrans for defying her. Dude, keep them guessing instead of basically saying "I'm using Embla's power to seal off villages in both Embla and Askr." The power play is backfiring. But, of course, as I said before, when she feels threatened, she postures, and barbs people with as much conceit, dignity, and spite as she can muster.

Not bad. The writing is solid, the characters are good... The only real issue here is that things are going way too fast for this style of story. Seriously, this story would make an awesome series, and what we've seen so far (in book 6) would be great for almost the completion of the first volume (as far as story progression goes.) Basically, it's the kind of thing that needs to unfold slowly, with a lot of development to get from plot point to plot point. It's just really rushed and bare-bones, but I guess it can't really be helped.

Well, time to go into Part 4.

Okay, that bit with Sharena and Veronica was just really sweet. Makes me want to see Sharena display her more nurturing, warm/gentle side more. She'd make a good mom, or a healer. Staff Sharena would be great, I think.

OH that's interesting. One of Letizia's crit quotes is "For Veronica." I wonder what that means. It's probably not part of her front (partially because she sounded really sincere when saying it, and partially because quotes like that transcend the timeline in the story, since it's part of the character even after they come summonable.) There's perhaps something much deeper at play here... Is she, perhaps, actually a double agent? Is she maybe actually on Veronica's side, but making it seem like she's not? Is Veronica's mom really the one behind this, or maybe someone close to Letizia whom we haven't met yet?

Huh. Okay, so, Alfonse understands the weight that comes with protecting Veronica, but he's still refusing to give her up, even though entire villages of his own people are in danger as a result. Yup. He's clearly got personal feelings interfering with rational judgement. Also, Letizia was all "I'll keep enclosing villages until you give me Veronica" and saying that they didn't have an alternative, but, like...the solution's heckin simple? Like, just evacuate the villages near to Embla and send in soldiers to attack because this is actually an act of war and Askr needs to protect its people. It's not actually that hard. The only issue is that the Askrans haven't been able to get back to Askr yet, but that just means that this is where their focus needs to be: getting back home so that they can tell Henriette about what's going on and she can pull a move like "I'm the ruler so I get to coordinate the people and the army and I guess we have Veronica here." So, there's that. And maybe there's an Askran relic back home that can undo the enclosures since Askr's whole shtick is openness and the sky (which makes sense in English but more sense in Japanese, given the kanji for "sky" can also mean "vacant.") I wonder if IS wrote themselves into a corner and just hoped that people wouldn't realize this...

"If she resists, break her legs." DANG. Well, okay then. Getting bold, I see, IS. And here I thought Fafnir's insane rant was a one-off...

Oh man, okay, the twist about Letizia demanding the Askrans to surrender took me off guard. Nicely done, IS. (Also, again, notice how calm and collected she is when things are going her way. Indeed, how you unbalance this lady is to throw interruptions to her plans. This is a lady of order, not chaos, indeed.) And Alfonse was right in this. Obviously, they have to stop Letizia, not be cowed (ironically, since I forgot Ash was there until she spoke up) by threats. That'll only embolden her. IS guided this pretty well into one of those "Askrans need to take down the baddie to make things okay again" situations. Anna's also right -- they can't just be afraid of bad people doing bad things and give in to demands. The overall consequences would be too severe, especially since they're royals. Don't trade in long-term success for short-term success, if you can help it.

...Aaaand Ash only JUST NOW says she can reopen the enclosures once she figures out how to do it. Man, for a chatterbox, she sure took her sweet time telling everyone that. What, can she not say anything when Veronica's around? Because that seems to be the only time when she doesn't talk. (Also, why doesn't Letizia acknowledge the cow in the room?) Maybe they just didn't have the text space to include all this, but it is kind of like "why isn't this being talked about?"

Well, anyway, not a bad chapter. A lot happened. I wonder if Elm will come back in the next one. Maybe we'll get to see a baddie to battie conversation somewhere in there.

Great thoughts, thanks for sharing. It helped me.

[Mercakete]

40 minutes ago, ZanderColeman said:

Great thoughts, thanks for sharing. It helped me.

I'm glad! ^_^ Thanks for taking the time to read and comment on it!

[Etrurian emperor]

On 2/19/2022 at 1:42 PM, Mercakete said:

OH that's interesting. One of Letizia's crit quotes is "For Veronica." I wonder what that means. It's probably not part of her front (partially because she sounded really sincere when saying it, and partially because quotes like that transcend the timeline in the story, since it's part of the character even after they come summonable.) There's perhaps something much deeper at play here... Is she, perhaps, actually a double agent? Is she maybe actually on Veronica's side, but making it seem like she's not? Is Veronica's mom really the one behind this, or maybe someone close to Letizia whom we haven't met yet?

The Japanese version of that crit quote is apparently ''VERONICAAAA!'' as if she's lashing out at Veronica while she attacks. So I think her dub crit quite is either a mistranslation or in the vein off the attack being meant for Veronica. Not to help her....but to hit her. Preferably rather hard.