“Are you really offering a little girl a cigarette?”
“NOW you’re a little girl?”
It’s fetish apologia, you can’t really expect it to be consistent.
“I always am. Innocence, however, is another matter entirely.”
Ew.
“But anyway. Thanks, no. Smoking seriously messes with my air filters and they’re a hassle to replace.”
“Don’t mind me though. Smoke to your heart’s content.”
“So, why don’t you tell me about this guardian of yours? I wanna know what kind of woman she is.”
“Sure!”
Is it tragic backstory time? I hope it’s tragic backstory time.
“Well, her name is Sophia Graem.”
(“G-Graem?!”)
This will end up being relevant later. Like, ‘end of the game’ later.
“She’s a retired P.E. teacher. Nowadays she works at a gym during the morning shift.”
“She’s pretty fit, if I do say so myself.”
“She had a daughter. Apparently she suffered from Nanomachine Rejection all of her life…”
Well, it’s not exactly her tragic backstory, but it’s close enough.
“…and when she finally healed, she was hit by a truck.”
Oh that’s just overkill.
“Um…what was her daughter’s name?”
“I don’t know, I never asked really.”
“Are you okay? I’m reading fear…or is that surprise? It’s hard to tell.”
With Dorothy I think it’s both.
“I’m fine yea-…wait, ‘read’?”
“Well, I don’t ‘see’ emotions like you do.”
“I have to make do with a combination of body heat readings, face recognition and context.”
Body heat readings? Is Dorothy secretly a Predator? I would…much prefer that.
“I’m still a bit confused about some, but I’ve gotten better with time.”
“Anyway, you sure you’re fine?”
Is anyone in her presence ever truly ‘fine’?
“Yeah, yeah.”
(“Scared or surprised…she’s not wrong though.”)
“Wait, does that mean your last name isn’t really Haze?”
“Haze is just my artistic name. Sounds more exotic and that’s what people usually look for in this business.”
“I tried other names though.”
“Dolores Haze, Genesis Graem…”
Dolores Haze also happens to be the name of the girl from Lolita. So…take that as you will.
“I tried Dorothy Warrior once, but a legal team came out of nowhere and stopped me cold.”
So it’s a Disney IP then?
“So, what’s your legal name, then?”
“Rebecca Dorothy Willow Graem. A bit of a mouthful, if you ask me.”
“So Dorothy’s actually your second name?”
“Should I call you something like Becky then?”
The name Becky just makes me think of this old-ass tumblr meme. http://i45.tinypic.com/2pqubya.png
“People have always called me Dorothy rather than Rebecca for some reason. That’s why I chose it.”
“It’s useful too. People have tried to falsify stuff using my name and they always get caught.”
“Because they use ‘Dorothy Haze’ as their name?”
“Yup.”
“Only my mom…err…guardian calls me Rebecca, so it’s weird to hear it from others.”
“What about Willow?”
“Willow’s my first surname, actually.”
“When I got registered, my guardian was married to a guy who had ‘Willow’ as a last name.”
“Shortly after I joined their household, they separated, so I was left with his family name first.”
“Hold on, so your real name in short would be ‘Rebecca Willow’?”
“Doesn’t have the same pizzaz to it if you ask me.”
Unfortunately, I have to agree. Rebecca Willow really does not roll off the tongue.
“Whatever you say, Becky.”
“Stop it!”
“It’d be like if I called you Julianne all of a sudden.”
“NGH!”
“ahem”
“Whoa, that was anger I read just now. Lots of anger.”
“I think it’s weird enough already if you call me Jill instead of ‘honey’.”
“Weird, huh? How you can end up feeling associated with a name that’s not yours?”
Or if you’re like me, you have to come up with a new name from scratch!
“I have an uncle that always called me Tina. He kept calling my cousin Tina ‘Jill,’ for some reason.”
“Neither of us mind it, though. Because he’s calling us what he thinks we’re called instead of mixing us up.”
“…that and it’s completely useless to try and correct him.”
“But you know, maybe that effect is true for your clients too.”
Well that came out of nowhere.
“How so?”
“Well, you’re worried about your clients not hiring you because you’re…you, right?”
“But think about what happens when it’s announced that a character will be played by a different actor.”
A bunch of nerds complain on the internet?
“Sure, it’s a character, but people are also going for the actor playing the character.”
“So you’re saying they go for MY roleplay instead of just mere roleplay?”
“Sounds too far-fetched?”
Jill don’t encourage her please.
“Sounds plausible, actually.”
“Okay honey! I’ll take my leave now. Don’t wanna take up all of your break.”
“Thanks for the chat. See you at the party tomorrow!”
“Bye.”
“Back! Did I miss something?”
“Alright.”
“Going out?”
“I’ll have a word with Gogo outside. He was so hyped for that match. He must be devastated.”
Some people I follow on Twitter talk about wrestling and every time it’s like trying to decipher an alien language.
“Welcome to Valhalla.”
“Oh, hi Sei.”
“How are you doing?”
“The nightmares have stopped, so I’m sleeping better.”
Unfortunately we are all trapped in this waking nightmare.
“…”
“ahem”
“Um…how about your injuries?”
“My bones are healing nicely. My wounds finally closed…the scars itch a bit, though.”
“Well, that’s good to hear.”
“Are you by yourself today?”
“Yeah, I’m running a couple of errands for myself today, but I wanted to come here for a while.”
“I also notice the big guy from last time is outside.”
“Buster? Stella doesn’t want me being alone while I’m still healing, so she suggested taking him with me.”
“Ah, I see.”
I get that they need some way to end conversations, but seeing ‘I see’ so many times just gets infuriating. It’s like I’m watching a terrible fansub.
“What can I get you?”
“Something cold.”
Sounds like another opportunity to rip off a customer!
“Sure.”
“Yeah! This is the one.”
“Why drink something cold when the weather outside is so cold too?”
Same reason one would eat hot spicy food in the summer. Feels good.
“It’s not that cold, actually.”
“But I’ve always had a decent tolerance for the cold, so I’m not a good reference.”
“So, Stella isn’t with you today?”
“She’s throwing a Mega Christmas party tomorrow and is having a meeting today.”
“I’m just helping her by checking on some of the things she ordered.”
A fuckton of booze, I’m assuming.
“And here I was, all ready to invite you to the party we’re throwing tomorrow.”
Unfortunately the powers that be demanded that Dorothy replace any halfway decent characters.
“You’re throwing a party too? Sorry about that! Can’t really say no to Stella.”
“Maybe next time?”
(“If there’s a next time at all.”)
“Don’t worry about it. It’s not a big deal.”
“I-I want you to know that I want you to have a good time.”
“Have fun! Drink a couple of Beers in our honor!”
“Heh. I will, then.”
That heh makes Jill sound like she’s Solid Snake or something…which would be an improvement.
“What are Stella’s Christmas parties like?”
“They’re really big. There’s lots of food and drinks and music…”
“Sometimes there’s too much food, though.”
No such thing.
“So at the end of the party, she lets the staff take home whatever’s left.”
“She also buys toys for all the children of her staff members.”
“Really?”
“She says something about taxes or whatever, but during the whole thing, she just…shines.”
Stella keeps all her money in tax havens confirmed.
“She carries a beaming smile that I don’t see any other day of the year.”
“Many of the kids have even started calling her ‘Auntie Ella’.”
“Heh…”
“Stella always does her best to put up a tough girl facade, but she’s very much in touch with her inner child.”
“Christmas, Easter, Halloween. Name a party and she most likely celebrates it big.”
How do people in other countries even celebrate Easter? ‘Cause over here it’s more like a family thing if anything.
“Interesting.”
“Do you like parties, Jill?”
“I don’t mind them. They’re a good place to see people.”
Jill is the type of person that stands in the corner during parties isn’t she.
“I’m not one to actively look for parties to attend, though. I just…don’t mind going to them.”
“Ah, I see.”
“I only go to parties that Stella is attending. Because otherwise, I’d just stand there without anything to say.”
“That and…I’m not one to wear dresses, you know?”
“You’re not?”
“I’m a tad too ripped. They don’t look cute on me.”
“Although, with all this healing I have to do, I won’t be as fit for a while.”
“They’re too…um…breezy too. I feel like I’m wearing nothing.”
”Feels like I’m wearing nothing at all…nothing at all…nothing at all…”
”Stupid sexy Sei.”
“But I bet you’d look good in a dress, Jill.”
“It’s been years since I last wore one. I wouldn’t know.”
“Last time I wore one, I remember worrying my arms were too thin or something like that.”
“We all have a complex, huh?”
“I mean, even Stella has her own.”
_I think it’s called ‘being rich’.”
“That’s…hard to imagine.”
“Oh, but she does have one. She distresses a lot about her bust size.”
Why oh why do so many of the female characters in this game talk about tits so much.
“Really? She’s not that small. I think I’m smaller than her, in fact.”
“Actually, it’s the opposite. The opposite kind of complex, I mean.”
“She’s a bit self-conscious about having a big chest.”
“Really?”
“…again, I’ve seen bigger chests than hers, to be honest.”
“Although I guess comparisons are useless here. They rarely help with complexes.”
“Well, she does go the extra mile to hide it.”
Oh sweet fuck they’re still talking about it.
“In fact, I have no idea how she does it.”
“I mean, I’ve seen her before and after she tucks them away, but…I guess I never cared enough to ask the specifics.”
And you shouldn’t ask because who the fuck cares.
“That’s also why when she goes out, she styles her hair in those…um…”
I was gonna compare them to Juri Arisugawa’s hair, but they’re way more elaborate than her curls.
“Drills?”
“They look a bit drill-y, don’t they?”
“She styles her hair like that to help divert attention away from her chest.”
“She seems affluent enough, why not go through a reduction surgery?”
“Because she also kinda likes having that size.”
I’m sure her back would disagree.
“She takes her bust size after her mom. And Miss Carmine is quite proud of her chest.”
A family lineage of big titties…god that’s so fucking dumb.
“‘Puffing out your chest is a sign of confidence! And a bigger chest means more confidence to show!’”
And what ecchi show did the writer steal that quote from I wonder.
“She says something along those lines a lot.”
“Stella has quite the admiration for her mom, so I guess breast reduction would feel like betraying her?”
”That and the artist wanted to draw some big titties.”
“Huh…”
“I’m making it sound like she’s hiding J cups or something like that.”
“I guess in a taller or thicker person, her size would be normal. She’s just a bit shorter or thinner than the norm.”
“Do you get self-conscious about your bust size, Jill?”
Is this really a conversation that needs to last this long?
“Not really. I’ve been more self-conscious about my height.”
“Although it usually comes up whenever not being average height hinders me somehow.”
Like having to reach for something that’s too high up at the grocery store? Relatable honestly.
“What about you?”
“Yes and…no?”
“It’s not my bust size, but rather that I look too manly sometimes.”
Hahahahahah do the devs actually think that this is what a masculine woman looks like because holy shit.
“And I can’t help but wonder if bigger boobs would help with that.”
“You’re fine, don’t worry.”
”This game’s never gonna have a female character that defies traditional beauty standards!”
“Thank you.”
“Can I get you anything else?”
“Hm…”
“Do you have something non-alcoholic?”
“I do. Gimme a sec.”
“Thanks!”
“You’re not one to drink that much alcohol, are you?”
“It makes me feel sleepy or, at the very least, makes my legs go numb.”
“It’s an annoying feeling, to be honest.”
“It makes me wonder what’s so good about getting drunk.”
From what I understand, it’s good for forgetting stuff.
“I mean, I’m not above it, but it’s not exactly a pleasant feeling.”
And that’s why you should drink plenty of water as well.
“You feel like you’re sleepy even when you’re not…”
“Your legs go numb. Everything starts sounding funnier than it really is…”
I’m pretty sure that the latter is a side-effect of smoking weed.
“What’s so good about not being able to control yourself?”
“That’s…a good question, actually.”
“Usually people like feeling numb because that numbness helps them forget their problems.”
“Even if we don’t talk about alcohol, there’s a portion of people that can’t afford food…”
“Or who are suffering from some pain that only alleviates when drunk or high.”
“It doesn’t sound really logical on paper, but then again, humans are rarely, if ever, logical creatures.”
“Despair and pain cloud your judgement and make you do stupid things sometimes…”
“…”
“Yeah…I’ve seen that firsthand.”
“This world has an ugly side nobody deserves to be a part of.”
“…”
“ahem”
“There’s also a matter of addiction, you know?”
What Jill was talking about earlier wasn’t related to addiction, then?
“You start just liking the drink, but then you need more of it and before you know it, you’re hooked.”
“Oh yeah, that too.”
“So tell me, what kind of party are you guys throwing?”
“Nothing fancy. It’ll just be me, Boss, Gil and a couple of regulars.”
“They’ll bring food. We’ll chat for a while, and that’s it.”
One time I hosted a New Year’s party and this dude lit my hair on fire with his lighter. Fun times.
“Man, that sounds so good.”
“At least better than the whole planning madness Stella is throwing right now.:
“If you ever throw something like that again, you let me know, you hear?”
“Sure.”
“…”
“Hey, Sei…”
“Yeah?”
“What do you plan on doing now?”
“I’m gonna check one last errand before going home.”
“No, I mean…what do you plan on doing now, with the White Knights disbanded and all?”
“…”
“To be honest, I don’t know.”
“I never prepared for a Plan B because I figured, if you can go with a Plan B, why not just make it the Plan A?”
“I’m not the brightest person, so I never graduated from college or even high school.”
Let’s be real here, a lot of people who did finish college are complete idiots.
“I could go for a position with the police, but it wouldn’t be as thrilling…”
“…and I’m sick of blatant corruption. Sick of it.”
Corruption is a huge political talking point and I think that by this point it’s practically become meaningless.
“Oh…”
“But I’m alive.”
“Hm?”
“I learned something after that hell in Apollo Trust.”
”Fuck banks.”
“Life is not something that you can just throw away easily.”
“Clawing my way out of that place made me realize just how much I wanna be alive.”
“The body count left in the bank was ridiculous, but I’m still here.”
“I don’t know what I’ll do, but I’m alive. I’ll figure it out sooner or later.”
“That’s nice to know.”
“Well, I gotta go.”
“Please come again.”
“Welcome to Valhalla.”
“Oh. Hi, Mr. Detective.”
This bit is going to be shorter, because the devs really really love playing favorites.
“Give me a strong drink, won’t you?”
“Alright.”
“Yes, this’ll do.”
“So, what brought you here?”
“Nothing special. I was just working on a case and I happened to be in the area.”
“What kind of work?”
I mean, probably detective stuff. What else could it be?
“Tracking someone…a gun-for-hire.”
“What about the girl? Crimson something.”
“I am tracking that girl.”
“Didn’t you just get out of that job?”
“I did, but the guy offered a huge amount of money and…well…I just couldn’t refuse again.”
The plot thread that never ends.
“Well, it’s your life. Not mine.”
“I wonder, though. There has to be more to that whole thing than just acting as a middleman to look for some murderer.”
“Hm…”
“Say, how safe is this place?”
Considering how many fucking weirdos walk into this place, I’d say not very.
“We’re protected by the BTC property laws, the walls are soundproof…”
“…and I really couldn’t give less of a shit about selling info to anyone.”
“Okay, then…wait? Soundproof walls? Why?”
”So no one calls the cops on us.”
“Did you see those vending machines outside?”
“They’re quite talkative, the bastards. It’d be annoying without those walls.”
“Alright then.”
“Have you heard of Lord Lance Lavender?”
Sounds like someone’s tabletop character.
“Nope.”
“He’s some big name from Kanyevania. His blood apparently has some weird reaction to Glitch City’s nanomachines.”
Kanyevania? Really? Really?
“Once in contact with the air, it does nothing.”
“But if still fresh and touching someone’s blood, the nanomachines will initiate a reaction.”
“Essentially, they’ll just eat through the other person’s body until there’s nothing left.”
“They’re using him as a guinea pig to see what causes that reaction and if it could be used to fight Nanomachine Rejection.”
Genuinely don’t know if this game wants me to take Nanomachine Rejection seriously because I cannot.
“Uh-huh…”
“Well…turns out the Crimson Rose is his daughter.”
Wow, the plot thickens. I guess.
“She left years ago to earn her living here and he hasn’t seen her ever since.”
“He could be lying, you know?”
“Doubt it. I did my research. She really is his daughter.”
“Why didn’t you figure that out earlier?”
“I had no clue who was making the contract, and tracking all the messages to the source would’ve been too costly.”
“Knowing who the sender was made things easier.”
“I see.”
“Can I get you anything else?”
“Hm…what about a Cobalt Velvet?”
“Okay.”
“Oh…you actually did it.”
“Were you expecting me to mess up so you didn’t have to pay?”
“N-No…”
PSA: don’t be a dick to service workers. Ever.
“So what made you accept the contract, anyway? Keeping in mind all the risks you told me last time?”
“He told me he wanted to see her again one last time or, at the very least, deliver her a message.”
“He could’ve been lying.”
“Yes, people lie. You made your point.”
“Even then, I felt like I couldn’t say no.”
“I mean, I know what it’s like not being able to find your daughter…”
Even this game can’t escape the dreaded sad dad curse.
“What it’s like to be apart from her, not knowing what she’s doing or even if she’s alright.”
“You do?”
“I have a daughter. She’s about your age.”
“When she was a teen, we had a big fight and she ran away from home.”
“At first, I just waited for her to show up. But then I started getting worried and went out to find her.”
“I couldn’t find any trace of her. Nobody had seen her. Soon, I was worried if something might’ve happened to her.”
“I guess that’s how my tracking skills and list of contacts began to grow.”
“I finally found her, taking cover in some dumpster, unconscious from starvation.”
“So yeah, I just couldn’t say no to his request of finding his daughter.”
“But I don’t expect you to understand.”
I don’t care about even the most sympathetic sad dad stories, is my problem. It’s just so fucking overdone by this point.
“…”
“So, how’s the search going?”
“I’m very close to finding her…that girl’s pretty good at covering her tracks.”
“Compared to the her from before the bank incident, though, she seems slower, somehow.”
“Either she’s let her guard down or something else is happening.”
“What will you do when you find her?”
“I have this letter I’m supposed to deliver to her.”
“I don’t know what it says and I don’t want to find out.”
The big twist is that it’s just a drawing of dickbutt.
“What if she tries to kill you?”
“I might not look like it, but I can take care of myself, bartender.”
“You don’t stay so long in this business without picking up a couple of tricks.”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right.”
“Please come again.”
“Yeah.”
“Okay then! I want you here tomorrow at 8 P.M. No working beforehand. The bar will be closed tomorrow.”
“Come dressed in your absolute best! We’re having a party after all.”
Is formal wear a thing for Christmas parties anywhere?
“Alright.”
“Where’s Gil, by the way?”
I was going to put a snarky joke here but it turns out I already made the same joke a couple of updates earlier. Whoops.
“He stored all of our things in his home because of how close it was to the stores.”
“So I told him to go home already and bring the stuff tomorrow.”
“I see.”
“Well, see you tomorrow, Boss.”
“Hold on, wait a bit and I’ll go with you.”
“Oh, sure. Thanks.”