LP Beach

From the second I announced the winner, everyone in the world has been coming to me saying that this has to be done with the floor of art, but I have already recorded the fight in entirety.

And I absolutely used Art, between the drug jokes and the mere existence of Mr.Black there's just too much material for me to pass it up.

Book 33: Smiling Faces—Chapter 2

Music: GuestBattle01


HAHAHAHA! We all match! Splendid!

Yeah… question, why are we doing this again?

Sweepers are resilient… and more importantly, they don't have flesh to slice.

Fair enough, I guess. Just wish it didn't feel so… squishy.

That's the squish of safety. As long as we've got liquid, we can keep moving.

Make sure to avoid any thumbtacks.

I'm going full Sweeper builds today, for no particular reason. I just wanted to use something unusual.



Today's reception is a 1 floor vs 2 act battle, so we need to pick a team that can go the distance. Our first act is against a team of 4 Smiling Faces with identical stats.



The Smiling Faces are neutral to every attack type, and their only notable passive is Puffy Brume. Given that it works off of 'Smoke' applied to characters, and we've never seen this term before, it's safe to assume that Smoke is a new archetype we'll be running into today.



Music: NetzachBattle01


Hmph! Fakers! I see how it is.

Fakers?

Their smiles are only mask-deep! We who smile from the heart won't lose to them!

I just want to know where our help is.

Um…. hi, sirs!

Gaia? So it's Roland's floor today.

No, sir! Just me. Zaida wandered off, and Roland went to go find her.

And Steve?

Went to find them, when Roland didn't come back.

Huh… Gonna' remember that one.



Trace of Fumes is a basic 3-die page that deals 1 Smoke and then 2 Smoke on its two offensive dice, for a maximum of 3 Smoke inflicted to the enemy. We're relying on that Evade die on Rewind to put in a lot of work, here.



Hidden Blade, meanwhile, is an offensive page that burns Smoke off of the character in exchange for +2 power. Since this is the first turn, it's only a pair of middling dice for a 1 cost page. Forceful Gesture will blow it out of the water.



Thirdly, there's Inhale Smoke. This page gives the user 3 Smoke automatically, and 4 more if its offensive die hits. This is the Smiling Faces' best way to get Smoke on themselves—this page by itself can pay for up to 3 copies of Hidden Blade to be used.



So we know they use smoke. Got anything on what it does?

Um… no, sir.

Nothing at all? So we're flying blind.

Smoke is smoke is smoke. It messes you up and makes it hard to think about how bad life is, same as booze. We'll get the specifics later.

I promise I'll tell you as soon as I have info, sir!



They don't seem to be resistant to any damage!

So we can hit 'em with whatever 'til they die. Good to know…



Gh- and the pipes hurt, too! They're like maces!

It doesn't matter! None of it, not one bit!



Those drug-fueled falsies can't hold a candle to a true smiler, no matter how much hash they huff!

They definitely won't be smiling for long, at any rate.



Hum… It's easy t'dodge them. If they don't have anything else up their sleeves, this should be quick.



Thank goodness. I'd love an easy workday where my life isn't at risk.



Like the Proselytes, the Smiling Faces also love to solo-target single Librarians. They seem to have some chance of targeting normally, however.

They've had a chance to do their thing. Any idea what it does?

Yeah, sirs! It's bad news, no matter how we slice it!



The Smoke status effect is one we'll be seeing quite a bit from here on out, so understanding it is vital to our success. It does a few things: First off, it can be stacked up to 10, and 1 stack falls off at the end of each turn. While these stacks are at 9 or higher, all dice get +1 Power. Each stack also gives a 5% boost to the damage the afflicted character takes—to a maximum of 50% extra damage at 10 stacks. Lastly, for characters with Puffy Brume this is instead a damage bonus on outgoing attacks, still to a maximum of 50%. This means that a 10 Smoke Puffy Brume character attacking a 10 Smoke enemy will deal double their normal damage.

Smoke is considered one of the strongest status effects in the game, and very few endgame builds don't take advantage of it.



Our only new page this turn is Flesh Filet, which has the same 2 Smoke for 2 Power trade as Hidden Blade. It also has a special effect on the second die that inflicts Bleed based on the Smoke the target enemy has.



Anyways, I peel the attacks away from Netzach and focus on getting my floor's Emotion Level up. There's not a lot to really be said for strategy when using Netzach's floor. Take good clashes, try to use Block dice against risky attacks, and don't take too much damage all at once so that the floor's healing can undo the hits we do take.



For minions of that Blue guy, you'd think they'd be a bit stronger…



They're plenty strong already..!

Using Will of the Prescript to just clash into whatever at this stage in the game will start to backfire—this was Hidden Blade winning both of its clashes against Mr.Blond. The page's weak dice relative to its cost mean that picking your spots is important.



They're certainly spirited, I'll give them that! But strength?! Never! This is simple doping!

You take the strangest things seriously.

Of course! They call themselves the Smiling Faces, and this one's not even smiling like a good boy!



This one's mostly been liquified, and I'm pretty sure they're just whimpering.

You see?! Their smiles are weak!



I give Netzach Tentacles, which shouldn't make any difference in the fight's flow. We don't need to lower anyone's maximum SR since they'll be gone shortly after it hits 0 anyways.

Look out, sir! They're targeting you with something stronger than the other attacks.

Really not sure why they're all so focused on me today… Thanks for the heads-up.



Deep Drag is the strongest page in the Smiling Faces' arsenal, and there's not really any question about it. Dicewise, it's a stronger Transpierce with a massive Blunt opener and an Evade to take care of any future attacks. On hit, it hands 7 Smoke to the opponent, raising their incoming damage by 35%. It draws a page on use. And, I am told, it has a smooth, mellow flavor.



Mr.Blond is set to take the big attack, and to follow up on the enemy to restore as much of his SR as possible. I'm not particularly worried about HP, given that this is Netzach's floor and he's a Sweeper on top of it—we've got some crazy passive HP regeneration options available to us.



Coincidentally… Gebura's really more a smoker than I am.

Huh. Figured you'd like all kinds of weird substances.

I don't really like the mouthfeel of smoked things.



Jeez..!

Seems like he didn't like the feel of that smoked thing's mouth! HAHAHAHA!

Uugh, now I've got the stink all over me!



Whatever! If you're going to do that, I'm turning your buddy into a book!



Expertly done, old boy! I've prepared a second for us as well!




The two remaining Smiling Faces use Loss of Senses on the next turn, which becomes situationally more powerful as its Target gains smoke. The first offensive die will inflict 2 Paralysis and 1 Feeble if the target is at 7+ Smoke, and the second lets the user draw 2 pages if they're at 3+ Smoke. They did not target anyone who had Smoke with these pages. The dice themselves are decent for a 3-cost, but this page is at its best when making a one-sided attack. So we block them.



Anyways, we set up to finish off the one enemy while Staggering at least one more.



This is… not going great.

Smile through it! Good for you, you know!



Smiling isn't some kind of magical medicine. If it was, people wouldn't be so easy to kill.

Think about it, have you ever met anyone who was smiling when they died?



All of Porccubus's victims?

Mmm… good point! Smile, and also don't do drugs! Then you'll be fine!



We're finally able to pick up Laughing Powder here, which is a bit too late to matter in Act 1.

Music: NetzachBattle02


We've hit cleanup now…







So we're just a few attacks away from victory.



Seems like we're done here. Everyone in one piece?

These Sweeper bodies are incredible. Converting every enemy we defeat into more sustenance, we're able to take a worse beating than we used to be.

I'd still prefer we not take a beating at all.

And I'd prefer our next guests be better at smiling than these fellows were!

Music:GuestBattle01


Our second act includes the trio of Smiling Faces we saw in the cutscene, each of whom is a cut above the rank-and-file.



Wang is likely the most dangerous of the trio, gaining bonus Stagger damage based upon the Smoke stacks on himself. If he stacks himself up to 10 Smoke, he's not just dealing 50% extra damage, but double the Stagger damage as well. Thankfully, this passive doesn't do anything based on his target's Smoke stacks.



Jin, meanwhile, slaps 2 Paralysis onto enemies with 8+ Smoke. Given that the biggest Smoke-causing attack only gives 7 stacks, this is a fairly impractical passive.



Lastly, we have Mi. She gains a single Block die against incoming attacks, just like Yujin's passive. Its range is variable, going from 1-[Smoke stacks on Mi]. It's not likely to cause us any problems.



Music: NetzachBattle02


Oi, now… These guys'r all brew. Not a bit of meat on any'o the lot.

All'at really matters is that thingummy the Blue fella' wanted. We got heaps o' fillets when we're done.

Aye, aye. Shouldn' take but a moment. We're all fit as butcher's dogs.

Hmm..! So there are true smiles on that side of things!

Come again?

Everyone, be on your guard! Those three are the real thing!

What about the one in the back?

More rubbish! AHAHAHAHAHAHA!



The only new page we see this round is Smoking Pipe, the Smiling Faces' Light Restoration page. It gives 2 Smoke and 1 Light on use, but as a wholly defensive page we can safely ignore it.



So we do that, focusing instead of intercepting the enemy Deep Drags and trying to quickly take down the mook in the back—this will give the three of them extra Emotion coins so that we can resolve more books from them.



Crikey… Bit of a trip, this.

You can see it too..?!

S'right there in fronta' m'face, innit? Weirder ifn' I couldn't see the colors. Oi, Wang! You peepin' what I am? Crack 'em on the skull good once and lumme know!



Hoh hon! I see it myself, alrighty! Seems like they're on more'n an oily rag.

Much more, actually!

Don't suppose you've any to share, eh?



Doesn't work that way!

Oooch! That's got the ol' spine all tossed up.

There ya'll go… I'll have a butcher's, too!



Cor… Nearly as spicy as our smoke!

That should be the last of their attacks…

Been waiting to hear that!

One thing to note about Jin's passive: If a blow knocks us over 8 Smoke, that same hit will land 2 Paralysis.



We're going to make these guys pay for knocking us around!

Good hit, Mr.Blond! Just a few more and that one'll be history!



At the end of the turn, I pick up A Token of Friendship, to heal off the damage we'll take for the next three turns.



Ahh… uh-oh.

Oi, Wang. Had a thought.

That's dangerous, Jin. Whatcha' got?

These fellas all have brew for bodies, but their brains're still there, right? Reckon we can divvy those up as a snack.

Ya' had me at snack, Jin!

Don't you chuck a wobbly, Mi, we gotta' knock 'em out nice and quick-like first.

Hoh hon… let's start with that bun-headed fella in the middle, then.



I do what I can here, but Netzach taking a few bonks is inevitable. In exchange, I aim for the Smiling Face in the back to thin their ranks a bit.



You're not getting through here, sorry.

Hm hm?! You're about to get buggered, laddie.



We don't take kindly to ye folk gettin' in our way.



Thanks for the breathing room, Mr.Blond. The one in the back's wide open now.

Then we'll trade places.



Bugger… he right turned into a book!

Must be, just like how that Blue fella' explained.

But that means even if we kill these blokes, we won't get no filets outta 'em!

Hoh hoh hon…

Oi, Wang! This is a real pinch!

Nay, Mi. This just means we can put the moz on 'em without worries.



Netzach, they're continuing to focus on you.

Yeah… gotta' say, this isn't ideal.

There are three attacks here that I can't redirect off of Netzach, so no matter what I do here he's going to take a bit of a beating. Thankfully, that's what Netzach's floor is best at doing.



Sorry, sir. I can't get in the way this time.

Just do what you can… I can barely focus through this smoke myself.

I thought you'd be used to… y'know. This kind of thing.

Weren't you listening..? Gebura's the smoker. I prefer my intoxicants liquid.

I line up our clashes this turn to take some of the heat off of Netzach, and to aim to Stagger both Mi and Wang.



…Ah… This won't be good.

Hoh hon…



Don't you worry, laddie, we'll toss you up in no time.



Netzach takes a lot of Stagger damage this turn.



So much so that he'd be outright Staggered if not for Laughing Powder and Mind Hauler. The Smoke is making the damage add up as well; he's takes 42 damage in this turn alone!

But 'almost Staggered' isn't 'Staggered,' and that's good enough for our purposes.



That should be the worst of it… everyone, now!



Got it, boss!

Cripes!



Bugger… this is a bit of a sticky wickit, innit? Well, all pinches are chances.

My goodness, they're still targeting you, boss? How determined! HAHAHAHAHA!

I'll make an opportunity for you guys.

Be careful, sir! Your and his Smoke levels are very high.

It's fine. I don't plan on dying today, and I got plenty of fuel left.



Since Wang's Emotion Level is highest, my goal here is to get rid of them first. This will ensure both Mi and Jin hit Emotion Level 3, giving me more books from them as well.



Unfortunately, Jin gets some good rolls, finally putting Netzach on the cusp of being Staggered.

…Think I miscalculated.



Hoh hoh hon… jus' now?



Bit late for that, innit? You're flopped already.

Jin rolled a 9 here, which is doubled by Stagger for 18 base damage. From there, it's given a 50% bonus thanks to Jin's 10 Smoke, adding 9 more damage. On top of that, another 35% bonus is given from Netzach's 7 Smoke, making another 6 damage. This all adds together for a total damage amount of 33.

Netzach had 32 HP left. They are all gone in a single attack.

Smoke is very good when used correctly.



Thaaat's not ideal.

The boss is… You bastards!

Aye, aye, you're tryina' whatsit all of us, and you get mad when we've done it right back.



Whatever! I've still got my orders, too! You're going to pay!

Hoh hoh hon, 'pay,' is it? Best make sure we're ripe, then.

Bugger… lost my head there. And Wang's gone bung now… Ey, who's slicin' the filets later?!

Oi, I'll slice us up some extras once we leave. Now take another drag of smoke n' start moving hell fo' leather.

Music: NetzachBattle03


Aye, I gotcha'.

Mr.Black… now they're focusing on you!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Um… sir?

I knew those smiles were the real deal! And now they've gone and snuffed out a dear boy who rarely did any of his own! Very well, guests! I'll accept your attentions!



Do try not to die before I've gorged myself on this battle! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Think we broke 'em?

Aye, lass. Smoke's got to 'em.

Shouldn'ta breathed so deep as a freshie.

Um… Mr.Blond?

Focus on the enemies. If everyone's going to go pants-on-head stupid, we're going to take advantage of it.

Can do.



There ya' go, laddie.

Mmm… that spiced pain..! I've tasted it before, I'm certain! Tell me, what's in that smoke?!



Wanna' know what's tossed up in, eh laddie? Sorry. Ain't got a lump of ice for ya.

Unfortunate!



Mr.Black, why are you trying to find out about their smoke?!

Think of the jerky, my good boy!

Huh?



Ah—HAHAHA! See that, there? I felt that! Body of a sweeper, not a drop of nerves anywhere in my gut, and with enough smoke I feel the pain anyways! Can you imagine the sort of effect that could have if you infused a rack of ribs with it?!



You're talking about pork, right?

Oh I'm talking about cooking, my dear boy! The ingredients will come on their own, given time!



Now! Come, friends! Become my cookbooks!

Hoh hoh hon! And 'ere I was thinking they were all daft blighters! This lad's got the spirit.

Nay, lad's definitely breathed too much.

HAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!

This situation… seems to have broken down, sirs.

It's always like this… We'll manage.

If we focus on that Mi fellow, we should be able to keep them from gaining any ground.



Let's finish things up, then.

At this point, the lack of draw in Carlos's deck is starting to show, he's really only able to play whatever page I draw right now. Still, we're firmly into mopup territory.



That's the third one down. It's just the last one left. How's it going, Mr.Black?



Quite splendidly! I don't suppose you'll tell me what's in there now, would you?

Things are feelin' a tad dangerous, aye… You'd like to know?

I would!



Enjoy the taste, laddie~

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Sublime!!

Now to just get a good thwack in, and-



Oh no, we're done here. Carlos?



Got it handled!



Well… the boss is dead, and Mr.Black's laughing like a damn psychopath.

I see… I see!!!

But the sane ones are standing, and that's what counts.

Let's just get this cleaned up and move.

Right.



The Smiling Faces can be a rough set of opponents, given the raw damage output they can put forward and their preference to start zeroing in on single targets after the first turn or so. However, proper clashes and trying to mitigate the damage they throw out will ultimately make them fall faster than we do. They're still not exactly difficult, and serve mostly as a tutorial-by-fire for Smoke.

Music: Result


HAHAHAHAHAHA! The sooner we process these books, the sooner I can add that spice to my own cooking!

Please promise to cook only normal kinds of meat.

I don't ask questions about the meat I get from those books, and neither should you!

That seems like a good way to get food poisoning…

And… I'm up. Being told I'm not allowed to die yet… it's a pain in the ass every time.

Welcome back.

What took you so long?! We really could've used your guidance, sir!

Eh, you got by just fine. Good effort.

Now if you'll pardon, I gotta' go talk to the big boss about what we saw earlier. _{There's one thing I still can't quite figure out.}

This place is really expanding over time… It took forever to track them down.

Turns out there's plenty of nooks and crannies to nap in if you know what you're doing, and I just happened to be in one that missed the alert.



VIDEO
Music: Lobby


Any guesses?

There’s just way too many off the top of my head. That crazed pervert can and will go far beyond anyone’s expectations.



Our latest victory unlocks a pair of Abnormality Battles for us, meaning we're back up to 3 options for where to go next. Any one of them would be a good place to demonstrate the power behind a properly-made Smoke deck.

Next time, on Library of Ruina



A good girl who has done nothing wrong in her life.

"Still, it didn’t matter to him. After all, he was “destined” to be a big bad wolf."

It's a lie, you know. You're being lied to. There's no way an Abnormality this far in would be so easy. Be careful. (Phillip and Oswald)


Videos

Smiling Faces 2

New Key Pages






New Combat Pages

Appendix 26: Smiling Faces

Wang’s Page wrote: They call the Backstreets unsafe because there’s this one time o’ the day when darkness comes out and your friendly neighborhood watch can’t do jacks about it. The Night in the Backstreets, when the City shuts its eyes. Breakin’ any rules are forgiven during that time. Means to protect yerself from harm like recording videos or hirin’ peacekeepers? All rendered useless. And those rusty ol’ fellas sweep every corner of the streets, so no evidence is left behind. No corpses, no weapons, no nuthin’. Not only do all the security measures stop, peeking at folk as a whole is banned during these hours! Well, stumbling on the scene o’ the crime ain’t banned. What it really means is… you ain’t suppos’d record videos o’ the scene or spy it with security cams… No one should be strolling the streets that late in the first place though, hoh hoh hon!

Cause of that, they don’t ask a darn thing about crimes happening during that time unless an eyewitness shows up. They just can’t, if I’m bein’ blunt. The public institutions… Ye know the deal, those shuckin’ shucks at the Head, Fixer Associations, vigilance peeps n’ the like. If one o’ those officials try to take a dig at somethin’ that happened during the Night in the Backstreets, some scary fellas called the Claws go after ‘em… I hear the Night in the Backstreets is considered a whatsit time for doin’ whatchamacallit permitted by the Head? I’ve got no dang clue why they set a time like this when every soul ‘ere’s already frightened to the bone. No matter what folks say, the Night in the Backstreets starts at 3:13 and ends at 4:34, ne’er too early or late by a single second, every time~

Jin’s Page wrote: The Backstreets aren’t some unlivable mess like some folk’re saying, ye see? Rough things do happen often ‘round here, sure, but there’s some effort at peacekeeping goin’ on to stop a whole lotta people dying all the harking time. Every area of the streets has some kinda neighborhood watch made outta local residents voluntarily doing jobs like Fixers do, trynna make the Backstreets a safer place. Unlike the so-called public safety Association that starts with a Z… whatever that stuffy org is called, the neighborhood watch ain’t chained to any official authority nor do they ask for huge fees. Each area’s got different styles of neighbors, so not everyone in every corner of the town likes ‘em. Most folks do appreciate that they’re kee’ing ‘em safe, though.

Mi’s Page wrote: There’s this one rule that stands squarely in this nigh-lawless land. Doing any kinda harm to the residential area is forbidden… No invading people’s homes, no demolishing ‘em, n’ all that. Not even the big n’ tough crooks of the Fingers can touch this! I’m guessing they decided it’s gotta stay the most whatsit place. If ye didn’t know, the City’s taboos are a ‘uge deal, ‘s much more serious than taboos of the Nest. You break it, and yer life’s over right then n’ there!

A Smiling Face’s Page wrote: The rules o’ the Backstreets don’t work in the Nest, and the opposite’s also true. You could drag a higher-up working for whatchamacallit from the Nest to the Backstreets and do whatsit to ‘em and get away with it, as long as it was during the Night in the Backstreets and no sneaky rat saw you doin’ it. But if you did the same whatsit in the Nest, you’d be breaking rules. The Night in the Backstreets is only a thing in the Backstreets, like da name suggests.

One last note about Smiling Faces targeting:

Apparently, on turn 1 their targeting is random, and on turns 2+ they will have a 25% chance of targeting normally, and a 75% chance of attacking the Librarian with the Highest Smoke, ties being broken by the left-to-right order of the Librarians on the setup screen.

Thanks, MiiNiPaa!

This seems like a nice time to stop. We'll be doing Hod's fourth Abnormality tea party next.

The Smiling Faces are interesting to deal with, the first time at least. once you've got some books from them you can turn the tables on any smoke using enemies because Puffy Brume is cost 1 and "oops, that smoke you're inflicting is a pure buff for me now" kinda takes the sting out of any theoretical future receptions that use Smoke just a little.
Of course this is downside is completely irrelevant when you're the one using Smoke since the enemy can't do Passive Attribution.

Smokin' is Broken.

Literature—322.67—Laetitia

Music: Lobby


Are you sure you don't want to take part in the test, Miss Hod?

I… don't think I should try smoking anything we're not sure of the effects of.

Right… Well, I can't blame you for being skittish.

Testing aside, I'm going to be using the W corp gear.

I suppose we do need a control group… Overcharge and Rip Space are both known powerful attacks. Having them on hand to compare will be handy.

Medea has a focused Smoke and Blunt build, designed to let her spam Inhale Smoke and use an occasional Deep Drag on the enemy. Elle, meanwhile, is running a bog standard Singleton Smoke deck to compliment it. The others are largely unchanged, though Hod is now using Flesh Filet over Slay; she doesn't really have enough high-Light pages to need the Light regen, so we can go with the slightly larger dice and bonus smoke.



So it's Laetitia after all…

Laetitia?! But she's…

That child was quite popular among the Agents. They might not be able to face her to their fullest.

We can't afford to keep such sentiments here. We need you to defeat her and add her to our list of supporting Abnormalities.

…We'll do our best.

SNAP

Music: AbnormalityBattle01


This area's kind of… off-putting. Like when a hug lasts for a bit too long.

She's an Abnormality. Her idea of friendship wouldn't be quite like ours.

Still… I don't really want to fight her. Maybe we can do something else?

Let's take down her allies, then, and see if that stops her.

Oh… new friends..! I hope we can get along really well!

Laetitia wrote: I couldn’t leave my dear friends behind… So I came up with a brilliant idea!

Don’t you worry~ Only meanies hurt friends.

When you open the gift, you’ll be surprised, like WHOA!

What’s inside the gift? That’s a secret! It’s boring to spoil it.

Friends don’t fight each other. Nopers!

Play with me! Join my friends and laugh with us.

Laetitia is a relatively simple Abnormality to understand. She wants to give Gifts to everyone. These gifts make her Block dice less powerful, and if her friends are killed then all her resistances are changed to Fatal.

She's a relatively soft target, meaning that it's very possible to focus on her and win the entire Abnormality Battle in ~2 turns, but…

She's just as calming a presence as I remember.

Just being around her brings back some good memories for me, too.

She was one of our most reliable training Abnormalities. Everyone's got good memories with her.

Is that so…

For certain reasons, we won't be doing that today. Let's peek at her four friends.



Each of them have identical stats. They'll target the librarian with the most gifts, explode on the third turn, and when they fall they're replaced by a Wee Witch's Friend.



Laetitia will use Here's a Gift~ to hand Gift pages to our side. Unlike in her previous appearance, however, this time she's yeeting them at our head hard enough to deal damage. Her Block dice can also give us 1 Feeble and are a guaranteed 8, making her somewhat risky to attack.



Her other page this turn, Let's Have Fun!, is only Block dice. On being used, it gives two of her allies a handy buff next turn.




G..i..f..t is one of the two standard pages that the Gift-wrapped Friends can use. It's a single small die, and it hands the target a Gift on hit. It's not very threatening.




T.ak..e..I.t.. is only slightly more troubling. It's 3 small dice, and each one will give a Gift to the target on hit.



I have a neato surprise for you guys!

Is it a spider?

Nooo..?

Is it several spiders?

If I said it, it wouldn't be a surprise anymore!

I don't mind seeing what you've got for us, Laetitia.

Oh, um… Could you turn around please?

That's right, you preferred giving your gift secretly when people were leaving, didn't you? I'm sorry, but we can't back down now.

Oh… um… That's okay. Yeah! All okees!

Here you go!



Geez! You threw that way too fast!

I'm nervous, so it just went fwoosh! You didn't have to cut it…

It would have seriously hurt.

Sorry… I'll try again soon.



These friends of hers really aren't too threatening, at least.



It's true… I'd put them on about the level of a really low-level fixer.



Yeah… I knocked this one out by just standing here.

Some of the Smiling Faces attacks simply don't have animations on more conventional key pages. Funnily enough, Inhale Smoke and Deep Drag are both among them. Our librarian just stares at the enemy, who takes damage.



Then let's just take them out! Nice and easy!

Oh!



You helped my friend come out to play~ Hooray!

Spider. I called it.

It's not a spider… it's shaped like a friend!

Laetitia, sweetie… I don't think we'll get along.

Aww… but friends should always be friends with friends.

That's actually a common social fallacy. In reality…

So shall… fall I see? Did you trip?

It's uh… Well, no…

Phew! just try to get along. I promise, it'll be fine!



Wee Witch's Friend appears whenever one of the Gift-wrapped friends is defeated, though defeating it ourselves instead of letting it explode will make it show up with 60 HP instead of 75. It targets Librarians with Gifts, and gains 1 Power for each Gift we have in hand. They can be dangerous, and Laetitia's dialogue changes whenever one is on the field.

Laetitia wrote: This place will get livelier the more friends I have!

I hope this place is filled with laughter!

I hope to find lots of friends here too~

How was my prank? It was fun, wasn’t it? Your face says so!

You’re happy to be my friend, right? Right? I’m super-ooper-duper happy, too!

Don't Get Hurt! is a new page Laetitia uses this turn, which restores 10 HP to the ally with the lowest HP. She cares so much about her friends.



Meanwhile, Wee Witch's Friend comes at us with… I'm going to call this one Spider Noises. Three hits, inflicts Bleed, otherwise unremarkable.



Switch, are you alright?

Fine, fine. Just need a minute to reboot.

We'll play with her friends until then.

Playing? But that didn't look like play!

It's… roughhousing. Friends do it all the time.

Oh..! In that case…



I wanna try ruff-housing too!

Oh god… She's adorable, but that definitely bruised a rib.



And that definitely didn't help!

Whenever we're given a Gift, the screen takes on this effect.



They do seem to be trying their best…



But they're still ultimately not that strong.



Indeed… I've taken care of another of the friends.

Spider incoming?

Most likely.



I just hope these presents aren't too troublesome to deal with.

I wind up taking a full suite of T.ak..e..I.t..'s attacks, giving Hod three gifts as well.



Seems I've gotten their attention.

My friends want to make friends. It's nooo problem.



Gift itself is a 2-cost page with a Blunt die only slightly less powerful than Yield My Flesh. It's a good thing the page isn't complete trash, since it's also a ticking time bomb. If we don't play it within 2 turns, it'll explode on us for 15 damage and one stack of Pit-a-pat. Get 3 stacks of Pit-a-pat, and the Librarian dies instantly. This spawns an additional Wee Witch's Friend, so we want to avoid this.



Meanwhile, the Wee Witch's Friends are both using… Spider Noises 2, a pair of dice that inflict Bleed and Disarm. Nothing too scary. They do have a third attack they can use on occasion, called Receive Gift: it's a single 4-10 Pierce die that removes a copy of Gift from our hand on hit.

We do not see it today.



Can we play a different game now? Ruff-housing seems hard.

I'm sorry, Laetitia. It's the only game we have.

Oh… well, okay! Maybe I'll be better at it now!



Boingy boingy~!

Not bad… not bad at all!



I really don't understand why you're coddling that creature.



I don't know what you mean. Laetitia isn't a 'creature,' she's a friend.

That's just what you people think because you're convinced she's an "Abnormality."

Says the guy borrowing their power right now.

I'm angry, so I hit harder! That's not a power, that's common sense!



I've taken out another of the humanoids. We'll probably see a third spider.



The only spider. I took this one out, too. I just hope she'll stop after this is all over.

She won't.

She might!



There's no way. Open your eyes and take a look at her. Friends? Friends are a cover story! She's spawning spiders everywhere!

A… cover story? But I'm not a book..!

Technically, sweetie… Oh, nevermind. Switch, apologize.

No!



Don't mean to interrupt, but this thing's trying to rip out my guts. Little help?



Don't worry, I have you.



That last one's moving weird. It's up to something…

I'll take care of it.



On the next turn, the one surviving Gift-wrapped Friend tries to use B..lo..w..Up, their final offensive page. It's a solid 10-10 roll, instantly defeats the Friend who uses it at the end of the turn, and if it hits us we get a trio of Gifts for free.



A 10-10 doesn't hold a candle to what Hod can do, though, so we're fine.



There we go. That's another spider down. This'd all be easier if we'd all just gone for her from the get-go, though.

What's your deal, anyways? She doesn't know that this would hurt us. It's not her fault.

Like I said, that's just what she wants you to think.



If you think rationally about it, she's a monster from the Ruins.

A monster.

Yeah. A sentient spider collective, from the same dimension W-corp connects to. It's inside of a marionette, moving it around by manipulating countless webbing threads. That's why it moves so jerkily.

That's… preposterous.



It's a Gift~ is Laetitia's last page, and it's just Here's a Gift~ with one less Block die.

Is it? Their goal is simple: they use their webs to craft intricate gifts, but there's a catch. Those "gifts" are made with webs of the same spiders that managed to come over here: meaning they can be used to breach. And why do they do that? It's obvious: Their goal is to summon their "Friends" from the outset. They're servants to the big guys we've been taking on the whole time! All that talk about friendship is a lie, to help them get their extradimensional spider masters into this world, using our flesh and blood as sacrifices!



Uuuh… I'm not… spiders..?

That's exactly what a marionette piloted by spiders would say!

Waaaaaah!! You're a meanie!

I'm really not sure any of that is right…

You've seen the spiders yourself, ma'am. Please, let me take care of this!

…Well, alright. Someone has to, in all likelihood.



Heck yeah! Eat that, spiders!





I'm really not a fan of this…

Well, someone has to save you people from the hell dimension spiders, and it's going to be me.



They're meanies… super-ooper-duper meanies..! I wanna' go hoome..!

When Laetitia is alone, she has unique dialogue as well.

Laetitia wrote: People here don’t smile!! That looks so gloomy.

My friends… Where did they all go…?

Did they leave because they hate me…? Can’t you be my friends instead?

We’re all friends… Right?

Farewells are sad and make me lonely… Be my friend. Pretty please?

Seems like it didn't end once she ran out of those friends of hers…

So someone has to hurt her after all.

Then I guess it's for the best that Switch feels how he does. Go ahead.



Hwacha! And so, the world is saved from extradimensional spiders! Again.

Sorry, Laetitia… I'll bring you some tea later, soon as I figure out how.



Once stripped of her friends, there's nothing Laetitia can do to stop from being beaten down mercilessly. On the other hand, there's already nothing Laetitia can do to stop from being beaten down mercilessly, so basically I just wasted a bunch of extra turns on a 2 turn fight.

Music: Lobby


Another day, another trio of Abnormality pages. Let's take a peek.



Surprise Gift is interesting, letting us give an enemy a status that will let the rest of our team Clash with them for a 40% chance of 7 damage and 2 Bleed, that stays persistent until such time as the Giftee dies. As a level 1 page, it can come online early… but there's usually something better to pick. It does pair well with Allure, at least.

Friend… I actually like Friend. It gives a random page in hand +2-4 power, with the caveat being that it must be played in 2 turns or it vanishes and deals low damage to us. It can be used to remove useless pages from a deck, or to get 2-4 power to a page we already have—a massive buff. It's a very nice level 2 Abnormality page.

Lastly, there's Funny Prank. Funny Prank is hilarious, pairing with high-range first dice like Deep Drag and turning Boundary of Destruction into a 50-50 chance. It's… it's okay. I'd like it more without the penalty for rolling minimum.



Angela… we're here to pick up our new Librarian. Are they ready?

Yes. I've taken care of things up here.

Oh my goodness..! You're…



Just an… everyday plucky employee… here at… whereeever this is! Um… h-hi.

Paul?! As in, the Paul?! Miss Hod, we're getting a legend like that?

Legend isn't… the term I'd use.

But it should be. I've seen all the training videos you and he made… outside of the redacted parts that were classified. They were really useful!

Oh… that's why he looks so familiar!

So Hod's team gets a living legend. Niice.

Hod?! Oh man… oh geez… She's not… she's not mad, is she?

I'm… sorry. I wasn't being reasonable… and you had to finish things on your own.

It's… it's… fine!

Absolutely fine! I'm a professional, after all! Can't let every little thing get to me, right? …Right?

I appreciate it. Let's get you acquainted with the new lay of things.

Hey, while I have you here… what happened to the last few episodes? It just ended abruptly after Void Dream… I've always wanted to see the rest.

Hahahaha… No, you don't!

Something wrong?

Nopers! I've just blocked those memories out because they're horribly traumatizing!

…Aha.

Enough jawing! Let's head back downstairs for a tea break with a celeb~

Next time, on Library of Ruina



This is the safe one, with Phillip and Oswald. I shouldn't need to remind you that the other is going to destroy everything we're working so hard for, right?

And worse, if you select this, you will be traumatizing poor Paul. So let's not!

"Still, it didn’t matter to him. After all, he was “destined” to be a big bad wolf."

I’m glad “Yield my flesh” at least has decent rolls. The idea behind it is cool but sucks that it’s so impractical, but rolling an 18 on a 2 cost is niiice.

The poll is over, and the thread has spoken.

Paul suffers.

I was just wondering the other day when Paul would show up. Glad to see he's going to have a typical Library induction first things first.

Hi! Uh.

Just wanted to note that I stole your Gebura catchphrase for a fanfic (which includes *extremely* heavy spoilers, so if you're unspoiled and going along with the thread, don't try looking for it): "Time to kick some ass".

Should've asked you about it beforehand, but I honestly didn't know this mirror was a thing (and correspondingly, didn't have any way to communicate with you other than Youtube comments I guess?). And I associate the phrase so heavily with the redhaired badass that I couldn't pass it by. You know what they say about forgiveness and permission, right? Please forgive me.

Other than that... love your work! Can't wait to see Hod Realization.

This isn't exactly a monetized story or anything, and "Time to kick some ass." is such a generic line that I really can't claim any sort of trademark on it. I appreciate the heads up, but also: You're fine, tbh.

Thesis 3: Hod—Introduction

Music: Lobby


Hey, Hod. The director's saying it's time for this floor, now, too…

I see… And you're staying here as well?

Well, y'know how it is. I'm here if I wind up necessary…

I appreciate it.

No turning back now. Let's do this.

VIDEO
Music: HodStory


The stories of the people living in this City are sensational, yet bitter in a way.

They’re bound to be.

Everyone is looking for a place to belong to. For ordinary citizens, it seems getting a job at one of the Wings—the largest conglomerates in the City—is considered the greatest happiness they can achieve.

They can belong to the Nest managed by the Wings that way. I heard that the difference in the quality of life between the Nest and the Backstreets is quite significant, no?

“Quite significant” is an understatement. They’re practically two different worlds stitched together.

It looks like the residents of a Nest don’t have to worry about external threats as long as it’s under the Wing’s management. They won’t have to look out for murderers in the streets. They get more than enough financial support to sustain their lives, and are free from the stigma of being an outcast; they get to enjoy most benefits as human beings.

And in return, do whatever their Wing tells ‘em to do.

But that’s about all they have…



They live in constant fear that they might fail to produce enough results and get kicked out of the Nest. It’s the same kind of insecurity that comes from not belonging to a Wing in the first place.

The Fixers and Syndicates I’ve seen don’t seem to care too much about joining a Wing, though?

Quite a few of ‘em are sponsored by the Wings, actually. It’s something to aim for. Although they still have to do whatever their Wing orders ‘em to do. And it doesn’t always have to be a Wing; be it an Office, an Association, or an infamous Syndicate, people will seek all kinds of renowned groups to belong to.

They can’t stand on their own without belonging to a group of any kind.

Because it’s unnerving… Powerless people in the Backstreets are nothing more than pebbles for the strong to kick around. In such a dangerous world, they choose to rely on big roosts like the Wings. They’d rather be cogs in the Wing’s machines than try to stand all by themselves.

It’s but a meaningless repetition. They’ll never reach what they want… A constant cycle.



…Don’t act like you know me.

Angela, I know you can’t do anything about us. You were the loneliest of us all.

Are you claiming that I’m doing all this because I’m lonely and need a home?

You haven’t had lots of people to have an honest conversation with. Only recently did you get to meet Roland…

……

Everyone wants to indulge in sweet stories… Seeing as reality is bitter and painful…

Maybe that’s why tragedies are unpopular. Because everyone’s lives are always accompanied by them… It’s not like people don’t want to hold any expectations. They simply don’t have any willpower left to harbor any hope deep within their hearts. It’s just too obvious how they will fulfill their lives in the City.

How about you, Angela? What expectations do you have moving forward?



You’re desperate to find a place for your mind to rest. Maybe you’re still repeating this because of that. But you won’t find that place you’re looking for by just killing people and expanding this Library with towers of books.

…This is clearly different from the past.

Music: neutral 1


And my world restarts from the beginning, as if nothing has happened.





You must be the Sephirot who will be helping me out with work. Nice to meet you.

Nice to meet you… Lady Angela.

You can just call me Angela. We’re in the same boat, so let’s be more comfortable with each other.

Well then, Angela, is there anything we can do?

We have a number of things to take care of before the manager arrives someday.



Thanks, Angela! I’ll do my best!

Yeah. I’m cheering for you.



We have plenty of things to prepare until the manager arrives and the work begins.

Yes, ma’am~ I’ll try.



Umm… You know, I… I wanna start a counseling program for the employees… You know, working in this place can be a bit too rough for most people.

That’s a good idea. Employees will be able to cheer up with your help.



I tried designing some efficient methods to improve the welfare of our employees. The things written here could prevent our employees from helplessly dying to Abnormalities.

Thanks. I’ll consider your suggestion. I’ve been thinking if there’s any way to reduce the casualty rate, too.



There is an alarm that sounds here.

What…? Did I do something wrong?





You’re all back! The facility was shaking so hard, I was worried something might have happened to you.

Uh, nice to meet you, ma’am…?

Umm… Who are you?

I see. Only I remember all this… And you guys have to start over from the beginning…

Once again, nice to meet you. I’m simply Angela.





But I don’t want you to get hurt doing it.

Okay! Thanks for your concern, Angela!



If we did, we’d have to start over…

What? What do you mean, start over?

I’m sorry… I don’t want to treat employees like expendables, either… But…





It’s the counseling program, right? Here’s my proposal for an efficient way to run your program. What do you think?

You’re awesome, Angela! You’re the only one who really gets me…

This is the most I can do without deviating from the script…

Huh? Script…?

It’s nothing for you to worry about.



I’m afraid we can’t employ your method to improve employee welfare, but… How about this? I tried coming up with a method of my own.

Angela! Thank you… It’s all thanks to you! I could save Tiffany with the counseling practices you suggested…

That’s great. I hope everything else goes well, too…

You’re great, Angela. With this method, our employees will no longer have to suffer meaningless deaths.

Yeah… Hopefully…



I knew it… Yet again… I suppose it was presumptuous of me to cross the lines again.



I am obligated to provoke the Sephirot. I am obligated to intensify and accelerate their suffering in this hell according to the script. I am obligated to set the stage before the manager enters. I was not allowed to hold any expectations for relationships. All I must do is follow the script and accelerate the process.

So that they suffer their due repentance.





Here to ask about your counseling program, aren’t you?

Yeah…! I wanna help out the employees.

Let me tell you one thing, then. The result will be the same anyway.





The manager will be here as of today.

This means that person will be in charge of managing everything about this facility.

Sigh… Whoever it is, everyone will die anyway…

I know that you aren’t particularly fond of me. But I’m certain our new manager will be able to bring change to this place.







Manager! Something isn’t right with Hod!



Why won’t they appreciate my kindness? I’m different! I really do care about them! Why does everyone hate me?

……

Meltdowns… I see, this is what the script meant… She’s in so much pain, but… I can’t do anything to help her… It’s all up to the manager…



Once they are relieved of their agonies and my creator’s atonement is made, they can finally reach enlightenment. If that process fails, the play goes back to the beginning.



I’m Angela, and all you have to do is follow my orders. I’m in control here.

Yes… Lady Angela.

If you ever want to run counseling programs or anything, feel free. There is no need to ask me for every little thing.





You’re really starting to act like a child now, Tiphereth.

Tiphereth, Tiphereth, I’m sorry… Tiphereth…

That’s just… How could you be so cruel…

…So, did you enjoy your little detective game?



I’m sorry that we have to meet again like this.

Angela…

Music: Third Trumpet




…Please watch me manager! I can take care of this situation, no problem!



…I didn’t want to open my eyes again. I just yearned to fall into the infernal pit of hell, bearing my sins on my back.

“I’m the only one who cares about them… Why would they hate me…?”

…I’m the only one who cares about them… Why would they hate me…?

Sigh, always the exact same lines, delivered at the exact same moments.



It was a futile dream to have, in the ever-repeating cycle only I could remember. Why did I foolishly cling on to such a transient wish, knowing that everything will reset anyway? At least they cared to look at me. However, the stageplay fails to reach its end, and even if it did, all would disappear. Such was the script.



I would’ve thought they were unnecessary. I would’ve loved to just let everyone be slowly forgotten. Knowing exactly when and how they would fall to despair, I soon despaired as well. I broke down, as there was nothing I could change. I could not change them beyond what the script dictates. I spent every day without any hope or expectations.



Let’s just close my eyes. I can close my eyes, and turn away from things I don’t want to see. I can close my eyes, and let the things I can’t change stay that way.

I can close my eyes, but the future will be the same as ever.

Music: Ominous rumbling


…This is horrible.

Ironic… I have simply too much expectation for the one book. That if I get my hands on it, it’ll mend all my shortcomings for me. Because I just don’t know how to become better myself…

Goodness…

I’m not afraid of the uncertainty the future holds. I’m afraid because I can predict my future. No matter what I do, I’ll never get to reach what I want…

Music: More ominous rumbling, but with glass breaking


The lights flicker during this section.

…Yeah, I know. Seen that a couple times before.

That side of Angela must be the one that gave up all expectations for the future and its possibilities.

The side of Angela that gave up all hope, huh…

Next time, on Library of Ruina: Angela tries to kill us because she's an AI and "What happens when the black swan wakes up from dreaming of a white swan?"


Videos

Hod 5

It's my weekend, I was very bored, and I made this video of Chinely curbstomping Finn.


That's all, continue.

Seeing Angela trying to run things better and getting the "scenario rebooted" for her trouble really goes a way to showing why A was even worse than he seemed. not even a chance of seeing if those possibilities could work out for the better, just the maximum misery factory.

Gespenst wrote: ↑

Thu Aug 18, 2022 12:34 pm

Seeing Angela trying to run things better and getting the "scenario rebooted" for her trouble really goes a way to showing why A was even worse than he seemed. not even a chance of seeing if those possibilities could work out for the better, just the maximum misery factory.

Absolutely, the only thing I wonder is if the reboots were because A thought “Angela is just a machine, she cannot possibly actually assist with the seed of light.” Or if it was a full narcissistic “no it has to be me, I have to be the one to carry on Carmen’s will.” The idea that all those loops and years of suffering could have been resolved by Angela running things like a decent person in 2 loops max would be one heck of a gut punch.

Seniorswitchback wrote: ↑

Thu Aug 18, 2022 3:13 pm

Absolutely, the only thing I wonder is if the reboots were because A thought “Angela is just a machine, she cannot possibly actually assist with the seed of light.” Or if it was a full narcissistic “no it has to be me, I have to be the one to carry on Carmen’s will.” The idea that all those loops and years of suffering could have been resolved by Angela running things like a decent person in 2 loops max would be one heck of a gut punch.

Playing devil's advocate, if memory serves A had to force the Sephirot to work through their issues forcefully through the meltdowns in order for the Seed of Light to germinate enough to bloom. While he has plenty of faults and reasons to be called a dick, this moment is not one of them. Though, given he wrote the script before they had even been turned into Sephirot (as seen in Hokma's breakdown) means he knew his old friends enough to accurately plan out their breakdowns and every weakpoint; which says something about how close he was to everyone (Garion being the exception, hers occurring due to wanting to test X).

The reason he gave Angela the role of villain was because he was an ass mostly because they had to speed up the process. I'm not sure why he imposed the time limit of 50 days on X but perhaps it was a limitation of the TT2 technology they were using. In addition, I think it's implied (either last game or this one) that Ayin himself was afflicted with the disease of the mind that Carmen wanted to cure with the Light. Combined with his love for Carmen and being from the City where morals go to die, he did everything he thought he had to fulfill her dying wish.

You are absolutely correct. As far as I understood the whole lobotomy corp plan was to teach X about the 9 morels/ideals he needed to plant the seed of light. I guess the point of what I was thinking was more if the seed progress came from the sephirot having and recovering from their breakdowns or from X understanding the lesson they were trying to teach him, the sephirot recovering into a stable state would just be a side effect in that case. If it was the second way then theoretically Angela could have solved it herself, but given the nature of how the story played out I doubt it. Either way deciding to use the fully sentient being for the task instead of a genuinely emotionless robot was still a horrible dick move.

Thesis 3: Hod—Discussion



No noteable change in these three decks.



Switch is now running another Smoke deck. Using the Smiling Faces pages as a base is a waste, since we could have put all of these abilities on an Emma page and had points left over for the Puppets' +1 Blunt damage… but I like the animations, so we use Wang.



Paul has been assigned a Singleton Smoke build, and unlike Elle's version his is more in line with what's considered optimal. Lots of 3 cost draw, Inhale Smoke, light restoration, and nothing else.

Music: Angela01


Is everyone ready?

Yeah. The test went well enough that we've changed to a full smoke ensemble.

It's a bit more technical than the other floors use, but that suits us just fine.

That's just because our teamwork is a level apart.

_{There is no hope, no joy. I can see the wings. They look at me from above. I reach for them from below. The wings erupt from my back. I am the sky. The sun burns it away, burns away my pain and fear. I am changing, I am pure.}

Um… Paul?

…Yes, Miss Hod?!

You're reacting very strongly for an Abnormality that you'd never met. Is there something I don't know?

At the end. Before the end. Becomes the end. I hear the call of the one who protects. I feel the pain of a life left bare. Gotta hold it together. Just another five minutes. Filming's almost done… Nea… Nea, stay away. I don't wanna get the bonks again..!



I've dreamt for so long. Just a little more, and I'll achieve my dream. I can't stop. Can't… stop.

I don't think she's going to wait for us, Miss Hod.

…Paul's become mentally unstable. We'll have to cover for him.

I thought he was a legend!

He was mostly legendary for dying all the time…

Would've been nice to know that beforehand.

All of you, get out of my way!

Black Swan wrote: I thought things would work themselves out if I worked harder…

My clothing made of nettles… that still isn’t complete…

A bit more… Just a little more. I’m almost there. Try just a little harder… Endure just a little more…

I opened my mouth. Disgusting things swelled up inside and spilt right out.

What happens when a dreaming being is faced with reality?

Once, I tried to dream a happy dream with everyone.

I see you all from a distance. The beings I couldn’t help but love.

I don’t want to wake up… I’m afraid of facing that reality.

If I could see the future I dreamed of for just a moment…

Words such as “someday” will only bring uneasiness and nothing else.

Black Swan is the new phase of this fight, and it's coming at us right off. We don't get time to set up or farm Emotion levels here, we're just tossed right into the fire. Black Swan's abilities primarily stem from her brothers, one of whom will be summoned at the end of every turn. If we let her get too many, she'll spam Mass Attacks. If we defeat too many, she'll fire a Mass Attack anyways. As for her brothers…



All Brothers have the same stats, but each one provides a different buff to Black Swan as long as they're alive. First Brother, for instance, gives her +1 Speed Die.



Second Brother, meanwhile, gives a permanent +3 to each of her Speed Die results.




Each Brother will use the same two pages every turn. The first, Specious Attack, will grant +1 Strength to Black Swan next turn if it hits us. If we ignore the brothers completely, this can lead to Angela getting a massive amount of free Strength.




Green Waste is their other page, a two-shot Ranged page that can inflict one Feeble. It's not as dangerous as Specious Attack, but it can do more damage.



Black Swan, meanwhile, is using two attacks this turn. The first one is Vomit, which is a trio of decent dice that can also inflict up to 2 Feeble. We need to be using a 3-cost page to have a realistic chance of blocking all of it.





She also uses Writhe. It's a basic 2-die affair, without any special effects.



_{It floods… the memories I don't want, a hundred deaths to a hundred beasts…}

Hey, new guy… Uh… Paul? Your weapon?

_{Even if I survive, I will suffer from this moment for the rest of my life. It's time for my Enkephalin. It's time for my head to burst. Good day! Good night. Goodbye, to you. To me. To knowledge. Such knowledge. Scraped from my insides, nails scratching against bone.}

Behold. A dreaming being, faced with reality, crashes as waves against a cliff. Futile. All of it is futile.

What a pain in the ass… I'm no good at this stuff. Hey, Hod? He's cracked.

We need to rip those E.G.O shells off of her through blunt force trauma… in the meanwhile, we'll also have to do something about Paul.

We'll buy you as much time as we can.

No, I'll have to do my part too. We'll counsel and fight in tandem.



Roger that! Paul! Over here!

wha..?

Those terrible beasts could tear us apart back in the day…



But now, they barely hurt at all! See? Not even a scratch!

'Course that's how it works for you… You're a captain. The coolest of the cool.



We're all cool here, Paul. See? Even I can participate in combat now.



Which simply means I can harm you, now. Those who should care for you but neglect you. Those who are chosen to change this place. They are the only ones who can effect change. To truly fulfill hope, one must work harder than any other.

Ghhf…

And IIIII'm not a chosen. I'm books! Put me on a shelf, read me, split my spine open, aaall the same.

Please stop identifying with the director. She's not in her right mind right now.



We are kindred. Leave him to his crushing despair.

That burns… but I won't slow down that easy!



The kids here are really vulnerable to smoke!

Makes sense; you shouldn't smoke around children.



But… what should we do about Paul?

Eh, leave it to the experts. We'll do what we can do.



After every turn, this effect pops up to show us that another Brother is being added to the fight. This time, it's the Third Brother.



He adds a unique page to Black Swan's repertoire, Well-worn Parasol.



This page will reflect the damage of any defeated die back onto the defender, alongside the Stagger damage from the Block die winning—this works against both offensive and defensive dice. The reflected damage is True Damage equal to the result of the losing die, so resistances can't help us. Thankfully, it's an 8-8 roll that cannot be boosted higher in this fight, making its overall damage potential minimal.



She also plays her final normal page, Curl Up. It's yet another E-endure-type 2 Block, 1 Offensive Die page, meaning it can be ignored relatively safely.



Paul… We need you.

But I'm nobody. The ultimate fall guy.

The you who was on stage could handle almost anything without a problem. Please, face your fear. Just this once.

But… but… she's scary. I can't!

They're coming, look out!



One of the brothers is down! Press the advantage!



You were right, Switch. These guys really can't stand smoke.



Told you! Underage kids shouldn't smoke. It's obvious.



Accept that you are hopeless. Embrace oblivion.

Aaa…. geez, what do I do?!



Die, as you always do.

Hey… kid?

Yes, headvoice?

I get you're scared and all, but if you show your feelings like that… it's going to end badly for everyone.

But… this is the Abnormality from when I… Oh god..!

Yeah, I've seen some terrible shit too. But that's that, and this is this. You take those feelings… and you hide them to do what you have to.

Hide..?



Yeah. Some people wear masks, others act nonchalant to deal with it. You were an actor, right? So act.

I don't know if I can..! This really hurts!

And? If you've got heartburn when you show up to the set, you'd act anyways, right?

Yeah, but this isn't—

If you think you can't, just change it so you can. You don't have much choice, kid.



…Hey, Miss Hod?

Yes?

Is this… a spinoff? And nobody told me?

If it helps you… sure thing, Paul. We got renewed again.

Huuuuf… Then what have I been doing..?



Hi! I'm Paul! Just your everyday former employee of Lobotomy Cobotomy, here today to beat the snot out of whatever horrorterrors get in our way!

He's back to normal. Roland, whatever you said worked perfectly.

Honestly, not sure if it was me or the Abnormality's aid that stabilized him.



The Fourth Brother comes in this turn, and his ability is a problem—effectively doubling all damage Black Swan deals.

Dream of a Black Swan is a WAW Abnormality, best known for being a big sister who protects her brothers from harm! But what happens if you destroy her entire family? Let's find out!

Good to have you with us.



The face below Black Swan tracks how many of her brothers have fallen since she last used a Mass Attack. It's at 1 now, but we want to expect a Mass Attack when it hits 4.

Finally able to focus on the battle?

If I think of it as another shoot, this isn't so bad at all!

But you and I… we're alike. Trapped. Too weak to avoid our fates… It was always out of our hands. How can you hope?!

True! Thankfully, I balled all that trauma up and put it away where noooobody can see it! And heavens to betsy, I'm gonna' use it!

Not sure if that counts as 'hope,' exactly…



Any motivation is fine, if it leads to genuinely wanting to better yourself. As long as you step forward, than someday…



"Someday" doesn't exist! No matter how I try, I can't save them, I can only save myself. If I hadn't wasted my time with their clothing, I wouldn't have become this.

Look out, that umbrella packs a real punch!



Fratricidal finishers, Miss Hod, I've taken care of this one! _{Haha… that wasn't so bad..!}



You see, though? Even Paul managed to take a step forward. You're trying to take that step forward, too.

My steps… I walk only for myself now.



I don't need any of you beyond how I can use you. My clothing is not meant to protect you.



Switch! You okay?!



Just… knocked the wind outta' me! All good.

Her defense is really something else. Maybe the brothers hold the key.



Good job that I've taken out this one, then. This smoke stuff just gets more incredible the more we use it.

Focus up, another one should be incoming now.



That wasn't hard at all. Hey hey! If I distance myself more, then maybe it'll get even easy-peasier!

Detachment is a valid strategy, after all…

Speaking of… Hod, talking to her right now can't get through. You're better off just attacking her until the E.G.O fails.



I understand, but I won't stop trying to get through to her. If there's a better way, we should always at least make the attempt.

Idealistic to the end, huh..?

Alright. Just don't get overrun by her tykes.



The fifth brother adds another new page to Black Swan's repertoire.



Nauseating Reality is a page with a rather nasty second die. Its 5-12 range is a strong enough attack on its own, but attaching it to 5 Bleed and Fragile the next turn means that if it connects, the person hit will be taking a ton of damage next turn—especially if the fourth brother is still alive. Thankfully, we took care of that.



I was so focused on making clothing for my brothers that when I stopped to breathe, the breath was the same toxic filth I meant to protect them from… Protecting them was a worthless action.



We get a lucky Dimensional Sections proc—without it, this Brother would have survived.

But you did it anyway. Because you were kind.



For all the good it did. I've seen the ending of this story. All I'm doing is repeating the same dream again, wishing for another ending.



This isn't the same dream at all! So much has already changed!

On some level… I know that something is different. I'm surrounded by my brothers at last. I can throw them the clothes of nettles they've needed.



But that's simply a dream. The girl has vanished, and become a swan. This pain reminds me.

Tch… she's resistant to Blunt attacks. Even with the smoke it's barely doing anything.



I am not the girl who cared about those brothers.



Nor am I the white swan, soaring the sky. I am the monster born of smoke and sickness. That is my reality.



What you are is an AI wearing a costume of a girl in a costume. Whatever you're feeling can't be reality—it's playing pretend.



Golly, that's another brother knocked off guard. Could these guys be really weak?

These bodies of ours are just too strong.

Let's hope so. Seems like playtime is over.

Roland? Did you find something?

I've got good news, and bad news.



The good news is, I've figured out how to break past Angela's defenses. That last guy who stood up back there, if you smack him down you should leave her open.

That's great to hear. What's the bad news?



Killing so many of her brothers got her wound up. She's doing something big.

On the turn after 4 of her brothers die, or whenever she has 4 or more brothers alive, Black Swan will use her Mass Attack: Shriek of Broken Dreams.



Shriek of Broken Dreams is only really a problem if we don't know how Mass Attacks work yet—we've come a long way since Queen of Hatred, and a 12-12 die just doesn't hit the same as it did at the start of Urban Plague. Her 1 Feeble and her 9 stacks of Smoke will cancel out, meaning that after Paralysis we're looking at a 9-9 Summation attack. This page is a complete joke right now. Good thing, too—it will instantly Stagger anyone it hits.



Slaying them over and over. No matter how I work, I cannot hold them in my hands nor protect them. I will never be a white swan. All I can do is howl in anguish.

Oh boy… I remember this next bit. It's a doozy!

What happens?

She's gonna' scream real loud.



At the start of the turn, we roll our defense—our lowest was a 13, so the Paralysis didn't even matter.



That's one heck of a shriek!

Just plug your ears and have a good inhale!

Or just embrace the urges to do a violence!



The work you do shall be undone. There is no hope, your hard work is a failure. Taste the endless despair.

She's getting desperate! Take out that kid, please!



Noxious nettles, I got 'em Miss Hod!



The Abnormalities again…

They're all attaching to Paul for some reason.

Maybe it's because of his experience with all of them?

I'm having the biggest feelings today!



She's open. Let's go, everyone!

One step ahead of you!

After a Stagger, Black Swan's unlikely to have enough HP to tank a full turn of attacks from us.



I'll just take a deep breath and shoulder check her nice and hard.

Ungrateful… all of you. I brought you back. Gave you a gift. And still, you strike and claw at me…

Unlike in previous Realizations, this time around reducing Angela's HP to 0 will instantly end the phase—there's no more waiting until the end of the turn for Corrosion to proc. Not knowing this cost me several attacks worth of free healing from Meal.



Did that do it?

Seems like she's only getting started.

Why couldn't I just leave you…



Oh… of course. It was my wonderful idea… to make friends.

Laetitia wrote: Just what compelled me to bring you lot along, I must wonder.

I couldn’t simply leave you all to rot…

I could never hope to build any kind of relationship with them.

Was it due to loneliness? I thought I never had attachment to such a feeling.

I wish to find many friends in this place. Don’t you think so too?

The gift’s content is a secret.

I prepared this for you. I want you to accept it.

I don’t see any smiles. Everyone looks gloomy. Including myself.

There was nothing I could do, other than watch from afar.

Laetitia (The EGO, not the Abnormality) is a slightly souped-up version of Laetitia (The Abnormality, not the EGO). She'll add a Gift directly to everyone's hand two scenes, plus one more for every two spiders we've defeated. Additionally, she will play a Mass Attack once all her Gift-wrapped Friends are defeated.



Huuuuge~ Gift!! is a 13-13 Summation Mass Attack that will give anyone it hits a Gift. Aside this page, all of the Combat Pages used by Laetitia (the EGO, not the Abnormality) are exactly the same as the Combat Pages used by Laetitia (the Abnormality, not the EGO). The minions are also exactly the same.



Unfortunately for Laetitia, this means she has the same weaknesses as Laetitia.

…Why's everyone looking at me like that?

This is just… it feels kind of wrong, right?

It's definitely not her usual vibe.

Yes… I think for Angela's sake, we should move things along as quickly as possible.

But… I want to make friends with everyone.

But wait, Miss Hod… wouldn't attacking Laetitia make us the monsters?

That's not Laetitia. That's a bad girl wearing a good girl suit.

A spider doll suit, but close enough.



None of us are smiling here… shouldn't we smile more?



I simply wanted to… give you something nice…

We both know those gifts are too dangerous to handle.



Please… All I wanted was to not be lonely.

…She's open. Everyone, please.



No worries. This is actually really cathartic.

You wanted to beat up your boss that bad?

I'd prefer directing a few of these punches at the asshole who put us all here in the first place, too… but they've both earned it.

Friends... Please..!



They're suddenly moving much quicker than they did before.

Maybe they're trying to protect their friend?



It's fine… as long as we deal with the main one, the gifts shouldn't be a problem.



In that case, let's finish up quickly. I really can't stand this cutesy Angela.

Agreed… Angela should behave like herself.



Good news, everybody! I've got spider senses now! And they're all tingling!

With this we've hit our last Abnormality page in this fight. Hod doesn't have any Level 3 options yet, so when we get there we won't get any.



With Laetitia being on the ropes, I set everyone else to defend against any possible attacks, and queue up just enough attacks to ensure we take her out.



Take that, Miss Director! Um, Ma'am!

Waaaaah…!



Why are you being such a meanie..?

This isn't mean, Miss Director. This is learning. No matter what they tell you on TV, you can't make friends by giving them spider bombs that make them explode into spiders.

But then… what am I supposed to do with the friends I have?

Cherish them! Like friendly friend-shaped things! And then, even you can take a step towards being a better yourself!

…yeah… I'll cherish my friends…



I'll protect them with aaaaall my might!!

Music: Angela02


Cherish what's important. Protect it. Stop any who would keep me from my goal. Destroy them wholly.

Wuh-oh! That sure didn't work right!

Next time, on Library of Ruina: this is becoming a pattern.

Thesis 3: Hod—Conclusion

Music: Angela02


Previously, on PAUL: Nth Blood Part 2: After a dangerous brush with his past, Paul managed to pull himself together and—with the help of Miss Hod and the rest of the Literature squad—managed to push the powerful Dark Angela through two different distortionary transformations! Now, they must combine their powers and take down her new, monstrous spidery form. Will the L-squad do it? Or will they be made into cocoons like so many before them?

I know I said to pretend, but was that really necessary?

I dunno. It just felt right to put a cut there.

Uh… huh.

I cannot reach you. That is a given. But if I try… I can protect that which I need to. Stay away from what I'm carefully raising.

Red Eyes wrote: It’s to protect the place where I belong…

Yes… Maybe I don’t have the heart to be rid of you after all…

To ensure that nothing escapes my notice, my eyes moved busily…

You lot will slowly lose hope.

Letting out faint breaths, waiting for a next time that may never come…

To fatten up the still incomplete being… Much is needed.

It can’t be helped. The one book that will set me free… is my everything.

Having to witness them all despair from beginning to end… I collapsed at last.

I just wished to close my eyes. Why did I bother entertaining the empty hope that I will reach you one day. What good did I see in you?

Red Eyes's strategy hasn't changed at all from back when we fought Spider Bud. Her Spiderlings are our primary targets right now, and once we take one out we'll be able to face her directly.



The Spiderlings have a bit more HP/SR than before, but ultimately work exactly the same.




Stingy Fangs got a +2 to both its dice, but is the same Disarm-inflicting page as always. Thin Webbing, meanwhile, was buffed to have both Block dice inflict 1 Bind on a clash win. Additionally, its offensive die got +1 minimum and +2 maximum.



These guys are weak to Blunt, though, so…



The spiders are incredibly fragile. I just blew on them and they're nearly down for the count.



Just be careful of their fangs. They're still sharp as ever.



They may be sharp, but we gotta' face them down if we want to get momma to descend! It's like bears, but with more legs!



That's true… and with this, we should have her full attention.

My children… How dare you!



That definitely got her attention…

She's too fast; I can't intercept her, Miss Hod!

That's fine.



I've done something terrible to her. I should face it head on.

Hold on a second, there's no need to be a martyr.

Not to worry. I've no intention of dying here, Roland.

Cry Out is Red Eyes's main mode of attack when she's in her offensive mode. It's a relatively meaty first die that guarantees a Stagger on hit, alongside a second 5-5 scratch. I've decided to let the 5-5 pass so that Hod can stuff the first attack with Yield My Flesh—it's our best odds of keeping her up.



Her other two dice use Gleaming Eyes, giving her a total of six Counter dice she can use to cause us serious problems—Feeble can blunt our offensive if we get a bit unlucky, while Disarm… Okay, Disarm wouldn't really hurt us, but we'd still prefer not getting hit.



Everyone, I've given us this chance. Make it count.

Will do!

What about the last spider..?

Eh, you're tough. Just ignore it.

You think I'll let you harm the one thing I care for, and let you go unpunished?



Instead, become the food that fuels our progress.

There was a 40% chance of this happening; it's fine.



I could say the same thing for you. Harming a friend isn't going to end well for you.



In fact, we were waiting for this moment to smoke you out.



I am fighting for my future. Do not interfere!

Uggh… getting through her defenses is harder than I thought.



Domineering directors! We did make it through, though! And dealt a bajmillion damage on top of it!

Big number!!!!



And now she's off balance! All yours, Medea!



That's one spider squashed!

Two. We've squashed two spider-based costumes so far.

Whatever, we got it done!

Without family, without friends, unable to protect my precious ones…



All that is left to me is my desire.



My one shining hope… I won't allow you to touch it!

Sanguine Desire wrote: Keep your hands off… Now you’re trying to take away the only thing I have?

I’ve lost too much to let go of what little I have left in my hands.

This is all that I have left… There’s nothing else…

With this gorgeous, shiny thing in my possession, I won’t have anything to envy in this world.

It’s mine… This means everything to me, so don’t take it away!!!

With more blood painted over, the shoes and I… are tinged with beauty.

I need this… I don’t know how to become better myself…

Only these shoes… can make me dance. They make me move!

If you wanted to stop me, you should have done it from the beginning…

I’ll gladly risk my feet being chopped off, no longer being able to walk…

This glamour is for me alone… No one else can lay a finger on it!

Sanguine Desire is our phase 4 this time, with a trio of abilities to her name. The first makes clear that she'll focus on any allies with Bleed, and the second describes a unique debuff she applies on every hit. The third, meanwhile, tells us about a powerful page she'll use if our Bleed gets high enough.



The left shoes, meanwhile, have Speed and not much else.




Every turn, each shoe uses Concealed Desire and Whispering Desire. Both of them inflict Bleed to whoever they hit.



Sanguine Desire, meanwhile, has a few pages she can select from. Tenacity gives her a pair of Counter Evade dice, alongside a meaty second die that gets +6 Power if the enemy has Bleed. Additionally, if it hits she'll lock a speed die of the person she just smacked in the face.



Bursting Desire, meanwhile, is a trio of small dice that gives Sanguine Desire back HP equal to the amount of Bleed on her target. Thankfully the dice are small, so this page can be stopped fairly easily by any Evade die.



Obsession is the last normal page she can use, and it comes with two decent attacks alongside a fairly decent Evade die. The attacks inflict Fragile, making the person hit take more damage next scene—and +3 Power vs Bleeding opponents turns her offensive dice from decent into powerful.



Are you going to be okay, Miss Hod?

I just need a moment to get out of this webbing.

Hod's not being targeted, so there should be nothing to worry about.

Then let's take the fight to Angela, team!

I've at last been allowed to dance on my own. You won't take my one desire from me!



Desires or whatever, it doesn't matter. You were an enemy the moment you raised an axe against us.

Sixty-two Stagger Damage, to an enemy with 50 SR. Smoke is insane, particularly against enemies that are weak to Blunt.



You shouldn't worry about her dancing much anyways, Miss Medea. She's got three left feet!



Shouldn't it be four?

Oh yeah! I forgot about the one on her body! Oopsie daisy.



The number of feet don't matter! I can dance, so long as I wear these shoes… At last, I can move as I wish!

The 4 stacks of Disarm mess up my plan here; it's important to remember that debuffs do carry over between phases—it made my Deep Drag's Evade die into a nearly guaranteed loss against Sanguine Desire's attacks.



You're not moving how you like, you're being pulled around by the shoes you're in.

But it was my choice to put them on.



Actually, Miss Director, The Red Shoes can temporarily ensorcel the mind of someone with their spells! You might've been forced to choose it by some kind of shoe wizard!



Shut up, all of you! I've never been more beautiful than in this moment… dancing on an ephemeral background of red!



She's getting more hyped up as we go…



They say a candle burns brightest before it goes out. Let's just press our advantage.



I finally took care of that webbing. What's the situation?

That scent… the scent of blood, driving my tempo to a fervent pace.

I can't hold back any longer!!

Not the greatest. We'll get by.



I CAN'T RESIST IT!!! is the powerful combat page Sanguine Desire's Glitter passive refers to. She'll aim right for whoever has the most Bleed with it, and its first three dice add 2 Bleed this turn onto her target. This is all building towards the final die, a 2-2 that gains 3 Power for each Bleed on the target. This does purge the Bleed afterwards, but even having 4 Bleed turns this die into a guaranteed 14—this is why I'm intercepting it with someone who doesn't have any Bleed to their name.



So her desire is now raging out of control… layer by layer, we seem to be taking things from her. It's a little sad…

Huh? How do you mean?

First, her E.G.O had a family. Then, she simply had friends. After that, lesser beings it was her duty to look over and protect. Denied that, now she's holding tight to her desire.

Ah… yeah, I guess if you put it like that it's a little sad, but… That's just how things go in the City.

Still… Be a good friend to her, would you?

Hey, hey, now's not the time to get all sappy.



He's right; these things are trying to get at our blood.

This dance is at its most beautiful when the sanguine-colored rain falls.



Just focus on pushing them back, and attack once we get the chance!



Why stop there? I've cut off one of her legs.



And I've taken care of her.

Oh hey, that's everyone. Now's your chance to go wild.



Then let's get a little nutty!

Reminder: Sanguine Desire had 250 HP. It's all gone now. It's been two turns.

Smoke is insane.

Denied even my desire… I can do nothing, change nothing, affect nothing.



I'm not allowed desires, either… I must… protect myself.

Music: Angela03


No matter the cost, I'll make a space where I can breathe.

Today's Expression wrote: I could have this much space for myself…

Maybe I wouldn’t have felt as bad if I couldn’t approach you lot because of shyness.

It’s the last bit of generosity this City can offer.

Where is the place I can rest with some peace of mind? Is there such a place at all?

A home… A place where I don’t have to care about the attention of others… That’s what I’m wishing for.

This place allows neither laughter nor despair. What kind of expression must I make, then?

There is no place for me anywhere. I had to make one myself, even if it cost me my skin.

When throbbing emotions surge up, it’s best to simply close my eyes.

Today's Expression is unique in that she's the first fight in which the timing of starting the turn matters.



While the Speed Dice are rolling, Today's Shy Look is in the background shifting her mood as usual. When we hit Space to start the turn…



Today's Expression's look is set, and based on that all five of her offensive dice will play the same page—she'll have more or less dice depending on how many of us are left. There's one for each Librarian.



Sad Face is a pair of Block dice with an attack on the end. Beating the first one will break the rest of the dice on the page, but it can break back and inflict Fragile.

But if we hit 'Sad' again, all its rolls are guaranteed to be 2's.




She can use any of four other abilities should she roll those faces, as well, each having distinctive ups and downs. Joyous is likely the best since it restores our light.

But if we hit their relevant emotion, all of their rolls are also guaranteed to be 2's.



Every three turns, she'll also play Wavering Feelings instead of an emotion page. This page can instantly Stagger, and also deals bonus damage to Staggered opponents.

But if we hit the right emotion, all of its rolls are guaranteed to be 2's as well.

As a result, Today's Expression has a simple enough strategy.



Step 1: Press P.

I'll hide my feelings behind a mask, and keep everyone out of this space I've created. I'll be safe… safe.

Everyone knows what to do, right?

Of course, Miss Hod! We wait for her to be in the right mood, and then whe go in beatsticks first!

Well said.



Step 2: Wait for the figure in the back to line up with the right face, and hit Space.



If I shut my eyes and let things pass, my emotions can't set me back any longer.

I'm sorry…



But it's time to rip that mask off. You don't need it any longer.

The one downside of hitting her Sad expression is that winning this first clash breaks the rest of the page—meaning Hod won't be doing this two more times.



Of course I need it. Without this mask, there's nothing left to me.



Nothing will get better. Nothing will change.



If nothing's changed, then why are you here fighting us? That never would've happened before.

You're standing in my way, taking yet more from me. That's why I'm stopping you.



It's nearly the end of the episode and I haven't died yet! That's also a change!

Who's to say that you're even the protagonist anymore?

Well… that's a change too, right Miss Hod?



That's right, Paul. This isn't some eternally-repeating story anymore. You're allowed to act as you like, and nothing will reset.

Don't… take this from me… It's all I have…



Given that you're still looking like an Abnormality yourself… I'll just pretend I didn't hear anything.

No… My mask. What have you done..?



Therapy, apparently.



Are we done?

Seems like she hasn't got anything left. You're clear.

Hey! I did survive! Good on us, Miss Hod!

Yes, I'm just glad everyone is safe.

Saaame… I'm going to need a good stretch after this.

Let's get started on cleanup while we're still on an adrenaline high. We'll leave the rest to you, Miss Hod.

Aw, maan…

Thanks, Medea. I appreciate it.



While Hod's realization starts off with its strongest foot forward, if we can get out of the first couple of phases with most of our team intact the fight's difficulty curve quickly falls apart. This is made even more plain if we run a Smoke team, since we're able to set up our self smoke in the early rounds against Black Swan and carry that through the entire fight—Phase 1 was literally half the battle.

Altogether, it's not too hard so long as we build our decks with a long fight in mind.

VIDEO
Music: HodStory


Right now, you’re so obsessed with the one book that’ll supposedly complete you. You’re strictly relying on that, instead of holding any expectations for yourself. It’s like the irony people have in the City.

…Perhaps you’re right, after all. Maybe I’m desperately looking for a place to call home, like you said. And putting myself in a cycle once again, trying to find the home I’ll never reach…

But it doesn’t have to end like that. No one’s life has to.

That’s right, I’m different.



A wheel advances forward with each cycle it makes.

Yeah. Even if everyone is doing the same things over and over, I believe, I hope in one thing. That this is not a simple repetition, but a practice to become a better person.

I didn’t expect to hear that much from you. Get on with your book discussion meetup or whatever.

…And…

…Nevermind.



Maybe she wanted to thank us for helping her?

Must’ve been too embarrassed to say it herself, if that’s the case.

I guess she was.

Say, Roland, would you like to join today’s meetup?

Uhh… I appreciate the suggestion, but I’m a busy man, you see!

Maybe next time~ Thanks for the hard work today, Hod~!

Music: Lobby


With that, we've finally handled Hod's Realization! We get the usual rewards here, some E.G.O pages and our final batch of Abnormality pages to go with them.



Gooey Waste is just good, knocking all enemies with a smorgasbord of status effects any time the holder wins a clash. The more enemies there are, the better it becomes—but even against 1 opponent, stacks of Paralysis are great. The only downside is that it activates twice per turn, meaning that the Bleed winds up barely being noteworthy at all.

Well-worn Parasol, meanwhile, is a 30% chance to reflect attacks that go through. While we never want to rely on this, the fact of the matter is that sometimes, a die is just Too Big to be blocked by anything. Since this page doesn't come until Floor Emotion Level 5, we should be aware if the opponent has something like that—and if it does, this can make a good hail mary play. Otherwise, it falls a bit short.

Lastly, there's Loving Family. 6 Protection to one character, decaying by 1 each scene, is… okay. It'll grant a boost of longevity and blunt damage heavily, but in general it's weak for how late in a fight we'll be seeing it.



_{Over and over… Why does this keep happening..?}

Time and again, as we proceed… I keep questioning it. Can one book hold such power?

…Yes. That's right. There's not any other path currently available to me, in either case. The wheel will turn, and only at its destination can I know how worthwhile it all was.

…though… as the wheel turns, there's no harm in working on a few things to better myself, as well.

Next time, on Library of Ruina



"Still, it didn’t matter to him. After all, he was “destined” to be a big bad wolf."

…


Videos

Hod 6
Hod Realization (Unedited combat footage; may cause distortions. Watch at own risk.)

New E.G.O Pages

Poll's closed—We're moving right along to clear out Gebura's next Abnormality. Hooray for murder!

Hod may end up with a mediocre floor in terms of abnormaility pages, but there's some real winners among those EGO, Laetitia is Individual so it only needs to beat one dice, and it basically reads "every hit enemy will play one less page next turn." (though I think Shimmering breaks it") Sanguine Desire is basically the ultimate bleed payoff and lets you delete bosses with non-reducing bleed. Oh, and it can do some of the highest single-hit power in the game. Shame about the double bleed page being almost impossible to get. Black Swan is sadly just kinda neat since enemies get light refills on emotion levels too, but that's the only one that isn't really worthwhile.

Music

HodBattle01
HodBattle02
HodBattle03
HodStory

Abnormality Pages

Level 1



Far and away, the real winner of Hod's level 1 pages is Look of the Day: +2 Power every turn as long as we remember to time the start is incredibly powerful, and its position as the earlier 0 page means that it'll show up 100% of the time when the floor's Zone is 2, 1, 0, and even -1. We will always have Look of the Day. It's nuts. Of the rest, the best is technically Axe… but its -1 priority means that we need to hit Zone 0 or below in order to see it. Of the remaining pages we're likely to see, Cocoon, Surprise Gift and Social Distancing are all serviceable options but each requires a very different build. Keep one of them in mind when making the decks for the floor, and pick that one. Cocoon in particular is hilarious with pages like Opportunity Spotted, turning each hit into a 50-50 chance to inflict more status effects.

Level 2



Meal is a real winner here, being right in the middle of the Zone curve and giving us a powerful healing option to keep us from death by chip damage, as demonstrated with the Sweeper fight. Friend is also a strong page, but it can force us to make suboptimal plays in exchange for that nice 2-4 power bonus—in decks that are running 3/3/3 setups this isn't much of a problem, but in Singleton builds it can get annoying. Funny Prank is a meme and worthy of mention just for it, and Shyness will only be picked if we built for Social Distancing as well—this makes Alertness the usual pick for when we're doing well enough to hit Zone +1 or better for Emotion Level 4, and while Obsession makes Hod seem like a floor built for Bleed, its -2 Zone makes it very difficult to land on without effort.

Level 3



Pick Gooey Waste in 90% of situations, and put it on whoever has Look of the Day and possibly Alertness as well. Have them win all the clashes and debilitate the enemy.

The other two pages here are far too niche to be worthwhile in most situations.

E.G.O.



Today's Expression is cheap, can be Clashed against Evade or Defense dice to deal massive Stagger damage to the enemy, works very well with both Social Distancing and Shyness, and is basically the offensive page in any such deck—its die letting them deal bonus damage to enemies that have been Staggered by the massive and unresistable SR hit. I like it, but it's a page that has to be built around.



Sanguine Desire stops Bleed decay for a full round, meaning that enemies will deal full damage to themselves with every attack they make. This alone is worth the full 5 Light cost in the right setup, and is the actual reason while Hod is a good floor for Bleed. Unfortunately, it comes online rather late into the fight and the dice itself are small for the cost—the last one CAN be big, but if an enemy has the Bleed on it necessary to make it huge, then they're already going to be dead from part 1 of the effect. Altogether a solid pick for a Bleed floor, and a hard no for any other setup.



This page deals -3 to all dice next turn. All of them. The price is right, it works with all three of the passives that make up the Emma-Puppets wombo combo, and there's even a follow up attack afterwards. It's good, especially against solo enemy encounters.



Laetitia is… interesting. As a 5-cost, a 6-18 Mass Attack is a little lacking in damage potential (FMF, reminder, is a 12-40 for the same cost), and as an Individual Mass Attack, it shouldn't have any real trouble beating the first die of each enemy page. Blunt Die for the easy Emma-Puppet +3 makes it a 9-21, cranking it from 'likely to win' to 'all but assured' at this point in the game. In exchange for having lackluster damage and control potential on the turn it's played, however, it gives all enemies a Small Gift. Why does this matter? Because of how the enemy AI works.

Enemy AI plays pages according to a priority system. Pages that have higher priority will always be selected over pages with lower priority. Small Gift has a priority number that is 2 or 3 orders of magnitude higher than any other page in the game. The AI will play it.

It is a single 1-2 Block die.

On the turn after Laetitia, the enemy's offense will be neutered and we will have free reign to tear them apart by attacking their weak dice. This makes it a better page the more enemies there are to hand presents to. Unfortunately, due to how Shimmering works it's useless against any boss that has a form of Shimmering passive. Overall, it's a situational but useful page.



Like Laetitia, Black Swan is bad against enemies with Shimmering—if it doesn't care about Light, it doesn't care about Black Swan. More Blunt is always nice to see for the Emma-Puppets combo, and removing 3 Light from all enemies can also blunt their offense. While the first die might whiff against larger dice, the second die is all but assured to hit and deal some very nice damage. I'd like it more if it was also a 5-cost, but given that it's got significantly more damage potential than Laetitia I can see the need for it. It's at its best when the enemy is Emotion Level 5 and can't gain any more Light from level ups, making it a very lategame page—but there are honestly very few bad times to throw out a meaty 9-18 mass attack die.

Final Thoughts

Anyone who can pilot Hod's floor well terrifies me. She doesn't have anything obviously broken, just a lot of pieces that can work well in 2-3 different synergies. Getting the most of her requires making decks that are designed specifically to synergize with her pages, and knowing when to use which builds. The better someone is at the fundamentals of deckbuilder games, the better they'll be able to optimize Hod's floor to get what they want out of it.

Even without the high-end mastery, though, Look of the Day alone is a very quick +2 Power option that makes Hod capable of contending throughout the game, and LotD/Cocoon/Meal/Alertness is powerful enough to turn one Librarian into a wrecking ball that will keep the rest of the floor nice and healthy.


_{Combine Laetitia with Today's Expression for some real hilarity!}

Finally caught up with both your Lobotomy Corp and LoR playthroughs, had a blast reading everything you've got! Looks like I caught up at the perfect time to see how you take on the final boss of Urban Nightmare too, looking forward to the ride...

Language—623.58—Big and Will Be Bad Wolf

Music: Lobby


Hey, Gebura.

Got a problem?

How come you never change no matter what you've got on.

Oh, that. I'm myself, no matter what expectations someone else might put onto me.

As expected of the Red Mist.



Good day, Gebura.

Something up?

No… nothing important.

…Must just be my imagination. We're ready to beat the hell out of the next Abnormality whenever you are.

Then I wish you success.

SNAP

Music: AbnormalityBattle02


Still wearing that pleasant face on the outside, eh? You never change.

It doesn't look bad. Let's take it out.

Careful, sis. Looks can be deceiving.

Big and… er, just A Wolf, apparently? wrote: There’s no need to be nice to me… I’m destined to be a big bad wolf…

Watch it… I’m trying really hard…

Don’t get any closer… Or you’ll get eaten too…

Everyone called me that, so it must be true… Old tales are never wrong…

A wolf needs no name, it just obeys the role it was born to fit in…

A Wolf is the first of a two-phase fight. It will try to swallow one of our Librarians whole, and if we don't get them out in one turn they're instantly defeated—this will transform A Wolf into its true form. It's also set to transform automatically should we get it below half health, and there's an HP gate set up to ensure we can't get out of this without facing off with phase 2. There's no quick kill option this time around, sadly.





On its first turn, A Wolf uses three copies of Grrr…, a mostly defensive page with a weak offensive die in the middle.



I know it's the job, but still… beating the hell out of something this cute is kind of a shame.

Since when have you had a problem with fighting cute things?

Well, it's one thing if it's a bird... But… C'mon, don't you think wolves suit me?

Do you really not remember this thing at all?

I remember it liked bellyrubs and meat pies, I guess.

Come to think of it, I don't think Tenebrais was ever around when it went berserk.

What're the odds… Well, whatever. You'll see it soon enough.



Just gotta' push it into a corner first.



At least it isn't very threatening like this… So long as we stay out of its stomach, anyways.



Oh yeah. It was always a mess trying to get a guy out of there.

So you remember it eats people, and it's still cute..?

The way it cried when its belly was full was kind of great. Like, maybe don't eat a whole dude if you don't want a tummyache, idiot.



Speaking of, is it just me or does it seem hungry.

Definitely don't like how it's looking at me, at least.

On the second turn, as promised, A Wolf tries to do its signature trick.



I'll Gobble You Up! is a reliable 7-7 attack that will consume the target on hit. I've decided to block it with Ripple entirely because letting it eat someone is the fastest way through this battle, and not at all because I thought I had any shot at winning the clash with it.

I'm good at this game, I swear.




Its other attack, Pointy Claws, is a pair of decent dice with Bleed attached. Nothing to write home about.



Oh… shit.

What's wrong?

Thought these gauntlets had more charge than they do… Well. This might suck.



Huuuuff! Huh. They definitely kicked the flavor up a notch on this stuff.

You've smoked the Smiling Faces' stuff before?

Kind of hard not to when three of 'em jump you.



Ugh… still not used to fighting n' yapping at the same time.



…Uh-oh.

To her credit, that was the best roll we could make.



On a hit, a short 2-frame animation is played as the Librarian is consumed. It's the same one as the last game, so I'll just reuse that gif here.





Okay, that's the line. Spit her out, wolfie! Now!

That's not going to work.

Right…



I'll just need to use more power.

Oh… that Abnormality must be helping us now.



Bastard! Kin-slayer! Wolf! You think you'll be allowed to hide in that ridiculous form?! I'm going to split your stomach open and strangle you with your own guts, wolf!

…Hm.



After eating a Librarian, all of A Wolf's Stagger Resistances change to Fatal, and its SR is fully restored. It actually counts as a new enemy entirely—this is why there's no Smoke or Bleed on it. For this turn, it only plays this page. It's a weak, but not negligible, counter die. It's hoping to hold off our offensive so that it can instantly beat one of our Librarians and transform into its more powerful second phase. It also has unique dialogue for being full.

A Wolf with a stuffed belly wrote: I was fated to be bad… It doesn’t matter… I don’t have to care…

I… I just ate someone… I hurt others again…

The moon wasn’t becoming full… It was waning, becoming empty… Then soon enough… I’ll…

Out of curiosity: How you feelin' about wolves now?

I'll kill all of the evil bastards—especially this one. We'll tear it to shreds, and mount its head on my wall. Then, I'll rest at night.

Aight then.



Die you goddamn beast!

You're still too green to be pulling moves like that.

I've been fighting this thing as long as I've been. Don't you worry about it, unless you want a—



Huuuuff!



Aaaand…



There we go. Try a combination like that, next time.

I'm not saying thank you.

I didn't expect you to?



Because we managed to save Credentia, we get another animation of being spat out. It's also the same as the one from the previous game.





Are you alright?

Yeah… Just gimme a minute to wipe the slime off.

And now, we cut it. Twenty… fifty times. No, a hundred times wouldn't be enough.

Uh… sis?

She got like this when it swallowed you whole.



The final blow is mine. If you get in my way, I'll cut you down as well.

…Hm.



Die you mangy bastard!!

I just want to for a moment about this damage roll, because it shows us some strange things about the Library of Ruina damage formula.

The primary hit from the sword deals a base of 9 damage, doubled to 18 from resistance, with a x1.3 modifier from smoke for a total damage of 23.4. After that, Prey's bonus damage is added on—here we got a high roll of 6. This 6 is also doubled, and then multiplied by smoke—Prey doesn't deal True Damage, but instead gives a damage bonus to the attack. Altogether, this amount comes out to 15.6. These two numbers are both then independently truncated during the damage process, and the truncated results are added together to give us a total damage of 38, instead of 39.

It's harder to see now because of how fast the game moves, but coding is alive and well.



Gebura knocks the wolf down to 115 HP. While its passive says that A Wolf's HP can't fall below 30% of its maximum HP before transforming, that threshold would be 120… there's clearly some wiggle room there.



Aha. Finally pissed it off, I see.

At last… my ancient enemy. Face me and suffer!



Its true form's finally here.

The real fight starts now.

Big and Will be Bad Wolf wrote: This place reeks of an awful stench… It calls for me…

Like the empty moon filled with darkness, my belly should be filled with meat…

Looking at you makes my mouth water…

If I can fill my stomach… I’ll be satisfied…

Big and Will be Bad Wolf's true form will stick around long enough to take 25% of its health, then hide in the shadows and try to bully one Librarian in particular. After two turns of bullying, it'll reappear with its Stagger Resistances set to Fatal. Fairly simple.




Its attacks are also callbacks to Red Riding Hooded Mercenary's battle, each of them being analogous to one of the attacks the Wolf from her Nightmares used. This includes the Strength-boosting Counter die—be careful not to give it a sudden boost to Strength.



It also has Unsparing Ungues, a 0-cost with the same type of Counter die, but that didn't come up today.



Now… at last, I'll murder you in just a few of the ways I've always dreamed of.

Boss… she's seriously acting off. It's starting to worry me.

Yeah… if she doesn't reign it in, we'll have another problem on our hands.



At the start of the turn, Big and Will be Bad Wolf attempts to Howl, but we're able to block the attack entirely.



Cry all you like! I won't show mercy!



I won't forgive or forget, either. Never.



Sis, you liked this thing until five minutes ago.



She might still like it.

How's that, again?

She's sounded like the same Abnormality she called on, from the second she called on it. That can't be a coincidence.

Ahh… I see.

Sounds like that rang a bell.



Tenebrais was always the fastest to figure out new E.G.O, you know?

I remember. We gave her the heavy ordinance because she could master it so quickly.

I asked her once how she did it. She said she threw herself into the E.G.O as hard as she could, trusting its instincts entirely. She might be doing the same thing…

Dammit, I thought it may be something like that. This isn't playing with some mass-produced, downtuned toys anymore! They're sharing space in our heads. If you go in like that…



STOP HIDING, YOU BASTARD! COME OUT AND FACE ME!!

You could lose yourself entirely.

So what do we do?

She'll probably go back to normal when the Abnormality's influence fades. Think you can take the wolf out?



Because we dealt more than 25% of the wolf's HP, it's now in shadow mode. It'll hit Credentia exclusively with a pair of Ambush pages to try and recover hp, and nobody but her can strike back. Unfortunately for Big and Might be Bad Wolf, though, Credentia has 5 Light in Rose's Key Page.




That means it's OverSpace time.



If you steal my kill, I swear it'll be your throat I rip out in exchange.

Go on and steal it. I can shove her head in the dirt if we have to.

Roger that.



Credentia…



Hits a pair of Quantum Leap procs on her first attack…



Finishing the job.

Got 'im. How you feeling, sis?



How am I feeling? Fine. I got a little heated, but that's barely anything to worry about.

We'll talk later. Now that we've wrapped up, that guy in the suit's going to be by soon.



Overall Big and Will be Bad Wolf's mechanics are fairly simple, especially compared to escorting Red through her fight. If you've gotten this far, this fight shouldn't be a huge problem.

VIDEO
Music: GeburaStory


Nothing, just taking a break with my eyes closed.

I’ll leave the books in the usual spot and be on my way, then. Seems like I shouldn’t be disturbing you.

Wait.

Wuh?

What district in the Backstreets are you from?

District 17. It was a decent place.

Would you say the part of the Backstreets you grew up in was also hellish?



Yeah, people will be people in the end. I suppose each corner of the Backstreets has its own woes. Throughout my life—lives—I always fought to protect others. Though I rarely ever managed to protect anything flawlessly.

…Want a cig?

Thanks, but no thanks. I quit smoking long ago.

Really? Didn’t expect that.

…In the part of the Backstreets I was brought up in, the neighborhood would constantly change. I wouldn’t say my neighbors had their hearts in the right place, but some of the adults there were kinda nice to me. Although, they’d usually be gone without a trace or end up rolling around in the street with their limbs chopped off the next morning.

Sheesh, that’s a rough mess even for the Backstreets… District 23 really did live up to its rep, huh.



Just like what’s happening in Lobotomy Corp’s Nest right now.

And you managed to survive that. Even adept Fixers would avoid going there.

It was the only place I had. I couldn’t even imagine moving to another district where there was less bloodshed. I was just desperately looking for ways to survive in that hell.

Compared to District 23… Even The Carnival or those Smiling Faces look like child’s play.

Yeah. Soon enough, I began to constantly seek ways to protect the people around me in that hellhole.

You can tell much about a society from the vocabulary used by its people. The language used in the Backstreets is often simple and straightforward. They pick common words found in everyday life. They don’t bother making up special terminology. That applies to the things that have become a part of their everyday life. They’re often even more relevant than the original meaning of those words.

I guess the Five Fingers like the Thumb and the Index, and the Sweepers are prime examples of that.

People in the Backstreets strive to gain wealth and power. They can’t afford to pursue anything more than the things to keep themselves alive.

You know what’s funny, though? Even if one were to have power, that power would only strike down, not up…

The “victims” in the Backstreets were potential perpetrators who just weren’t strong enough…



The first thing the kid remembers was crying alone in the corner of an alleyway, surrounded by blood and guts. She didn’t have anyone to call friends. People around her would all disappear sooner or later. Most kids her age were either abducted by the Sweepers or treated like their toys.

The small kid couldn’t do anything but watch in silence.

It was by sheer luck that Kali could survive until she was thirteen. To cherish the good fortune she was given, Kali observed and observed. In order to survive through her own effort.

So Kali made it to twenty years of age, following strategies of her own. And she finally became a Fixer. There wasn’t much else she could do.

You thankfully didn’t join a Syndicate or anything, huh?

The kid swore that she wouldn’t stoop to their level.



Oh, I was the same, too.

She thought she could now protect her neighbors living in the same apartment, given that she had some power being a Fixer. The streets Kali was living in were still quite dangerous.

And she thought she ought to return the favor to Mr. Sean next door and Ms. Goose upstairs, her neighbors who she was indebted to. Those two would often give food and drink to Kali ever since she was a child.

They were two of the only people she’d known for a long time; they were like family to her. Out of gratitude, she gave them some of the money she earned.

That’s nice of her.

You know how they repaid Kali for all the money she gave them for more than a month?

I guess it wasn’t anything good, judging from the flow of your story.



Oh, I see what they were up to. They must’ve thought Kali was keeping much more money in her stash.

Yep. They really did try to rob her. Kali couldn’t believe it. Not because she found herself bound when she woke up. It was because she saw filthy lumps of greed crawling around right before her eyes.

Just a day before, they used to be her friendly neighbors. They understood the agony of loss better than anyone. Kali only hoped that the money she gave them would be used in meaningful ways…

She just wanted to protect them with her newfound strength…



I’m sure Kali didn’t just let them get away with it like a fool, yeah?

She didn’t. Kali was stronger than they thought. She could forcefully snap the ropes binding her at any moment, but she chose to wait. She wanted to believe all of this was just a misunderstanding or a prank.

But the repulsive words they spat out so casually… Talking about how this was their opportunity to use her money to move to a different place… It was neither a dream nor a misunderstanding, but a cold truth.

So, did those sonnovabitches get what was coming to ‘em? Man, it’s upsetting just hearing this story.



Kali’s neighbors who she had been protecting from violence were no different from the others in that they would resort to violence themselves once they had power. This savage cycle wouldn’t stop no matter who she tried to protect.

Yeah. Sometimes, I feel like there’s no point in having any sympathy. I also struggled a lot thinking about what’s right and wrong during my early days as a Fixer.

What kind of Fixer were you?

…A neat and sensible Fixer who rationally handled his work, so to speak.

I held up a decent reputation.

And then you plummeted to Grade 9 all of a sudden?

That I did. Anything can happen in life. I mean, the legendary Kali is now standing in front of me, too.

Huff… That’s true.



I made a lot of enemies back then. The sensation I felt still reverberates in my head sometimes.

You also went through a lot, huh. I can see it in your eyes. I wouldn’t say I’m exactly the same being as Kali anymore, but she still rests within me.

Seems like it. You’re upright and honest, unlike most Fixers I’ve seen.

I’ve talked too much. I’ma go get some sleep.

Sleep tight, Kali.

Music: Lobby


With the battle against Big and Will be Bad Wolf finally over, we get that delicious floor upgrade, getting a new Emotion Level and a trio of new Abnormality Pages to go with it.



Instincts is one of Gebura's best level 2 pages, and with its only competition being Ruddled Welts right now, it's basically an auto-pick. The only reason we'd ever want Welts instead would be if we were using Yujin, as otherwise Instincts actually does things. Giving us sustain and increased Power on the final die, it's altogether a solid page.

Claws of Savagery is terrible in 90% of situations since it requires us to lose 25% of our HP in order to trigger. Any good use of it I can think of winds up being some kind of meme build that tries to cut off 25% of its own HP every turn, only to restore it back with Health Hauler so that we can remove it again the next turn, stopping the enemy from ever attacking. Given that this requires the entire rest of our team to be dead, it's kind of a hard sell.

Role of the Wolf is the last new Abnormality page. It's great if we're using a lot of Counter dice to get their numbers higher and let us more reliably win clashes, and it's otherwise completely useless to us. The Fragile is basically just a bonus, this page is all about the Power boost.



Whaddaya mean, no more harnessing the Abnormalities?! That's how we fight!

That's the problem. You've been throwing yourself into your E.G.O so long that you don't have any moderation. Next thing we know you're cursing at a wolf you thought was cool and threatening to gut us for stealing your kill.

So I got a bit pissy! That's barely a reason to just go off and—

'A bit pissy?' Losing to your emotions gets you killed on the battlefield, kid. Losing to something else's emotions?

Look. You're still damn good in a fight… but no more messin' with the Abnormalities 'til you're used to fighting as just Tenebrais.

Then let's go, right now.

This isn't something you can fix in a couple minutes, kid.

You clearly haven't watched me work before. C'mon…

Did I come at a bad time?

Not really. Things have just been livelier since Gebura got a normal body again.



Sorcrane! You son of a bitch, welcome back!

Good to see you too, ma'am. Really digging the whole molten steel factory aesthetic.

The smell takes a second to adjust to, though…

I'm used to it. Used to do a bit of metalworking myself, though I left that behind when I got hired at a Wing.

Not sure if we've got anything to smelt, but feel free to pick it up again if ya' want.

It wasn't exactly a happy period, so I'll pass.

Aight. Just make sure not to fall in.

Can do!

Next time, on Library of Ruina

We finally do that last node we've been putting off.


Videos

Gebura 3

Book 34: The Crying Children—Chapter 1

Music: Lobby


With only one option left, there's nothing to do but select it and hit 'go.' Let's take a peek at the aftermath of the Circus.

VIDEO
Music: Ominous ambiance that isn't in the OST.


Oh right. Phillip had just busted in.

We bring the bestest of the smells to City people who have lost their flower stalks.



Due to a bug, Phillip does not light up at all while he is talking. This makes my job of trying to sus out his expressions for the text incredibly difficult! Thanks, Phillip.

Don’t tell me, do you perhaps not know what a circus is? Well, no matter! Venturing into unknown tastes always comes with a stomachache, after all!

We are the circus whose singular purpose is to spread the flower seeds of the people. If ten people could become clowns and blow up one thousand flowers… Oh, just imagine how wonderfully joyous this world would be!

B—Bullshit… This is…

Ugh… These are… …Oh, what the…! These… These are all… people…

My oh my oh my! Our new clown friend still seems to be a shy one! Maybe I should introduce you to the rest of our troupe first. Alright, Ms. Mermaid and Mr. Knife? Let’s share some of our salts with him!



There's the sound of something singing here, presumably Ms. Mermaid.

Oh dear, oh my… Looks like Ms. Mermaid didn’t have enough practice with her scaly mane, you lackadaisical girl… Your voice is too small! Or are you feeling timid all of a sudden? Whatever the case!

You maniacs… This is all abnormal…

Who gets to decide what’s normal and what’s abnormal, now? If everyone wears a hat weaved from fancy rats on their head… Should that be considered normal?! Haha! Hahahah!!

You won’t ever get to be considered normal, that’s for sure…

Harumph, you’re such a rude fellow, aren’t you!

The 8 o’Clock Circus… Now I remember. You’re the ones who kept Wedge Office busy… And everyone at Dawn Office died in the Library because they couldn’t help.

…If it weren’t for small fries like you, maybe my master and seonbae would’ve been safe and sound. Talk about a coincidence…

…



But the stench isn’t strong enough just yet; you’re still too fragrant!

Shut up! I’ll slay you… here and now…

Hm… Still smells good, way too good… But, what if we mixed that fragrance with a filthy smell to create a new, boggy scent! Okay, alright. Let’s perform with me, shall we!



…Master? Seonbae? What the… What are you…

A big hand for the three clowns who will lead the show~ Clappity clap~

I… What the hell have you done…

Whoopsie daisy, you’re making such a humpy face! Surprise is a stimulant, one that leads to laughter and entertainment! A true flower only blooms after you have faced your biggest inner abscess and squeezed all the pus out of it! You can’t laugh to your heart’s content until you’ve swallowed the fragrant pus of sadness whole, you know? That’s where I would like to help you!



…

Oh, what an unexpected turn of events?!

I…

B-But, master already has a wife and children…

Hahaha! Talk about childish. This is such a typical telenovela we have here!

Shut up… You, don’t you dare insult my two mentors with these false illusions!!!

Pardon? I would never. Isn’t what you’re seeing right now… the putrid scent that you believed to be true in your heart so blindly and obviously? Whether it’s true doesn’t matter! You were so certain about it, too. I don’t get why you could be trying to denounce your own claims now! You’re pausing it at just the right moment like it’s a rerun you’ve watched over and over… There’s got to be a reason.

Shut up, shut the hell up…!



No… This has to be a dream… That—That pesky damn clown…



They’re all the same… You all toyed with me!

…Young Philip. What efforts have you actually made to advance your goals?

You must’ve spent most of your energy fabricating all sorts of filthy and uncouth delusions about us simply because Yuna was reluctant to answer your question. Am I wrong here?

Do you think you have any right to blame us?



How pathetic. You ran away alone, and now you’re playing the victim. It was your incompetence, and you didn’t even try to fix it… All you were doing was shamelessly looking for excuses. You ran off without us telling yourself that it’s to save us, and now you’re blaming us for it. You’re believing whatever you want to believe. Because it makes you feel better. Isn’t that true?

After all, it’s much easier to pretend that you’re thinking of others before yourself, rather than accept who you really are.

You both… abandoned me… died like that.

You still haven’t realized. It was foolish of me to put my trust in you…

Shut up! Why do you show up now and haunt me!!! You keep bothering me till the end… Just leave me alone now!

Music: Windy void ambiance


…

Not feeling quite talkative, are you? Well, it’s fine. We have all the time in the world, so let us open up inch by inch. When a person feels victimized or vexed, someone has to reach out to them and give them a helping hand. I shall be that someone for you. That is what I am here for. Now, hold my hand… Alright, I will kindly extend my arm this far for you.

Are you… going to make my wish come true?

If you utter your wishes, I will give you what you need to make them come true. Does this offer still sound unsatisfactory? I can grant you strength to avenge yourself on that prankster who inflicted much suffering upon you, or I can provide you with powerful weaponry to save the two people you cherish.

…

I… don’t want to hear anything. I don’t want to see anything… or speak anything…

I’m tired of it all. Right now, all I want is to just… cry out loud.

But of course. I can help you with that.



…

Music: StoryNervous


Aren’t you a man of talent! You never told me you could make such vibrant expressions~! And… oh. Could you be another new jester to visit us? You’re looking splendid!

…Yes, hello. My name is Pluto.

You’ve come at just the right time! The three of us could make for a wonderful show~

Now, may I ask you a single question? Was the relationship between the three people you just showed on the stage actual truth?



What matters the most is that the show gave our audience fun and entertainment, isn’t it?!

Creating illusions from one’s distorted desires, is it… I can see that this place amplifies people’s desires to the maximum.

Sniff, sniff… You’re also a rather smelly individual… Ooh, did you also hear her voice?

…Nevermind that! Nooow, now! The audience is waiting, so please join me in the rest of the show!

I’m afraid the circus must come to an end as of today.

Golly, what are you even talking about now?!

Philip, here is an invitation for you. Move onward.



Music: Lobby


Are you sympathizing with him after all this time? You called him selfish and dangerous the last time we saw him.

I mean, that’s… I’m not really showing sympathy, if I had to explain… I still think Philip is hopeless personality-wise, but the circumstances he’s getting into don’t seem to be helping his emotions at all.

I know I said tragedies like that are common, but he probably still feels cornered, you know what I mean? He seemed pretty close to overcoming that, but then that clown named Oswald broke his will again. So it’s hard for me to just laugh. I don’t really enjoy watching others rolling in a pit of misery like it’s some kind of entertainment show. Oh, not trying to be sentimental, of course. That’s that, and this is this.

…I see what you mean. It was his own failure to overcome it, after all.

That aside, I wonder how he ended up looking like this.



So that’s how a Distortion is made, huh… I could still use some more explanation, though. That looked kinda similar to how people are turned into books here in the Library?

It’s similar to the process of Abnormalities coming into existence as well. That one still seems unstable, however.

Distorted desires and emotions… What do you think the stage will show you?

It’s gonna be my wife, one-hundred percent. You get the picture. The woman who I couldn’t protect walks up to me, I cry in despair, et cetera.

You’re quite honest about it.

I got nothing to lose, so there’s no point in lying.

Music: Entrance


So it turns out our new guest is Phillip again.



Only now there are three of him, with an obvious gimmick.



Also they're statues, I guess.



You have a pretty voice, eh, lady?

What? You don’t even wanna deal with me ‘cause I look like a kid?

Did that lady with a pretty voice just stare us down or something?

Yeah, she did. Talk about a weird place.

……

How uncouth. Well, guests are guests, I suppose.

What now, what’s up with this noise?

……

I bet that one’s making all kinds of insults at me.

See that door behind me? You’ll go through there.

Door…? Yeah, doors are good… Where’s that door at, though?

She’s pointing at something. Is she telling us to fuck off over there?

Make haste and get in. I don’t feel like getting caught in your annoying powers.

!! !!!



Next time, on Library of Ruina: The worst fight in the game.

Videos

The Crying Children 1












First to two?

Bet.

Book 34: The Crying Children—Chapter 2

Music: GuestBattle01


Hmhmhmm..!

That doesn't seem like your usual style, Dimi.

That's because I can evolve and adapt. Consider: What's bigger than a single massive die?

A single, somehow more massive die?

Yes! But also, three massive dice.

Yeah, but that'll wind up locking you down, so you'd get more use overall out of—

Sorry! Can't hear you over my THREE! HUGE!! DICE!!!

Just make sure you get them all this time.



Tiphereth, good to see you here!

Yeah, well, these two wouldn't shut up about watching. Something about a destined rival and a rematch…

Anyways, I figured I should make sure you've got someone competent up here.

Speaking of, we've got the analysis of the enemy all done.

Good work! Whatcha' got?




The three children all come with identical stats, and different ways of interfering with our usual playstyle. Unspeaking Child will lock down one of our members every turn (making soloing this fight all but impossible), Unseeing Child will stop us from seeing part of the enemy's page data, and the Unhearing Child stops us from seeing the enemy arrows or redirecting their attacks.



They also all share this ability, which keeps being Staggered from changing their resistances until we block a specific die, which is hidden by Unseeing Child while Unhearing Child stops us from redirecting to force good clashes.



Music: Ominous whispering


It's just like you said, Tylana. We can't see their intentions at all… and I'm having a little trouble moving.

He's been here three times now. It's not that surprising that he's come up with a countermeasure.

I recognize one of those voices. Aren't they those guys we killed?

!! !

Eh? You guys came back to life, did you? Then come on, I'll kill you again.

You must be confused. We definitely won last time.

Beat you so bad you distorted. Which does still make you cooler than Bishop, I guess~

Let's just get to work.

The Crying Children wrote: When I cover my ears, I can only hear my own voice. I can pay full attention to the sounds I make.

If I mistake a gentle voice for something aggressive, it’s their fault for speaking like that. Am I right?

… …

It’s simple. I just don’t have to look, do I? I don’t have to face that darkness.

I’m not hearing anything I don’t wanna hear!

…

I don’t have to hear to guess what they’re saying. I bet they’re slandering me.

… … …

As our first Distorted guest, The Crying Children have many of the same affectations as the Abnormalities. Nonstandard music, words that pop up over the screen, special background, it's all here.



All three of them will only play Murmur, and since we can't redirect things or see who they're targeting there's not a lot of strategy to be had here.



I focus on the Unspeaking Child first, since Staggering it will give us our full team back. The others get a few extra attacks put on them. This is also a good time to throw out Counter dice, if we have any in hand—because we can't redirect or see enemy arrows, it's very difficult to clash and build our emotion levels otherwise.

This guy's still a new Distortion. It's relatively weak, so take it out while we've got this chance.

This E.G.O should be more than equal to the task. Commencing suppression work.



Just hold on for a minute, Malkuth. We'll free you from whatever effect this thing has.



Second's up! She's free.



Just in time. Thanks, Dimi!

While we couldn't set pages, Malkuth's ability that gives her a bonus Block die still works just fine.



Oh, talking shit are ya?! Eat this!



At least the blind one has problems attacking.



And the others aren't that tough! We should be done with this in like, five minutes. Tops!



With the Unspeaking Child Staggered, it may seem like a good idea to go all in on defeating it. However, this would be incorrect. Right now, it's still got its Endured resistances to all damage, and the way to break it is guaranteed to be on one of the two Murmurs the other pair are playing.



Really going for that kill, huh?

First to two, like you said.

Can anyone join, or is this a private thing?

It won't matter, because I'm going to win either way!

Playing additional games while at work is against protocol.

It's fine. There are rules you follow… and rules you "follow."



Best boss ever. You don't even mind that I'm gaming while we work.



You're… gaming?

Well, duh. Why'd you think I was using a robotic body? I've got Fixerman Bleedout Legacy running in parallel to my eyes.

We'll have a talk about your priorities later.



I got this one! He's all broken!

How did you make a move that forceful with a sword that small?

I don't think about the details!

Tiphereth, I require guidance. I think I broke the universe.

What the hell are you talking about?



As I stated: I think I broke the universe.

This effect occurs when we manage to beat the die carrying the effect to change all the Crying Children's weaknesses to Fatal. We got lucky here.



Hold on, I need a second to see the changes.

No need. The effect was immediate: these guys are made of tissue paper all of a sudden.



Then I've done my job well?

Very well. Good job, ah… Joshua.



Now that the enemies have been Staggered, it's possible to see their intentions, and also the full effects of Murmur.



The 1 Bind isn't particularly impressive, particularly since the enemy can't be redirected half the time anyways.



!! !!!

I think it wants to say something.

In suppression work, it's important not to listen to your opponent. Doing so can lead to a loss of sanity.

Good thing that it can't actually speak, then.

I'm sure Bishop knows what it's thinking. They're basically the same guy~

Wanna run that by me again?



I mean, think about it. You're both Fixers, you both run away when you're going to die—

It was a strategy.

Semantics! And hey, you both have painfully obvious crushes on girls who are way too good for you, and also died once.

Don't compare me to any of you bastards! I'm completely different!

What he said! We're entirely different.

Can you really say that if you're agreeing with him, hmm~?



Please. If I'm him, then what are you? That freaky clown?!

Mmmyep. Sounds right.

Guys, that thing hasn't turned into a book. Stop fighting and keep an eye on it, okay?

When we defeat one of the Children, it stays motionless on the ground where it fell. We still get the Emotion Coins from defeating it, so this is just a special defeat animation.



I still beat it. It's a point.

No points until something gets turned into a book.

Lively as ever, huh you guys?

We've already got help, so I'll go ahead and accept it.

Happy Memories is absurd on Yujin, slowly turning any of the page's 4 costs into 0 cost pages that recover 2 Light. This is exactly as busted as it sounds, but it requires a longer fight to pay off.



That one you took out is still motionless. Maybe if you take the other two out, we'll be done here?

I'll give it my best shot!



Then I'll take 'em out in one shot! That'll put me at two points.

What happened to them not counting?

Oh, don't get so caught up in the details.

Malkuth, she's cheating!

Joshua's almost out of hand and Bishop is already EL 2, so I have them sit out this turn. The other three can grab the Emotion Coins for fighting these two.



I wouldn't worry too much about it.



I took both of them. That means I win, right?

Well… it's just…

So, what's my prize?

A sense of pride and accomplishment. Also, you can rub Dimi's nose in it.



I'll have to pass. You're all my important coworkers now.

The suppression has concluded.

So… what happens now that the battle's over?

Oh, you don't know?

That's when the battle begins!

We got rising temperatures! Everybody, be ready for anything!



They're strong… too strong, like always.

What?! I can't hear you!

… ……

Useless… useless! Whatever! Let's just do that thing!

Right. We can't win as we are.

Music: And Then Is Heard No More


Then let our powers combine. We shall block out this world.

What's that… a dirge?

Perhaps he's mourning all he's lost…

There's no point in thinking about it. Our duty is to rip it to pieces.

The Crying Children wrote: Seeing, hearing, and speaking evil are all deeds that I can consciously prevent myself from doing.

However, that alone won’t purge all evil from the world.

A prudent sight capable of distinguishing good from evil is needed.

In contrast to sharing joy with others, sympathizing with the sorrow of others is certain to be an unduly shallow exercise.

Only I can soundly feel the pain of the sorrow I am wallowing in.

Turn a blind eye to all that tries to hurt me.

Turn a deaf ear to words that will lead me down the wrong path.

Turn a mute mouth to unnecessary evil.

And last of all, act not. Make myself happy that way.

What does goodwill mean to me.

No one’s going to cry on my behalf even if I’m sad.

I don’t want to hear anything. I don’t want to see anything, or speak anything…

The Crying Children is the second form Phillip will take in this fight, the sum of all of the tiny angels flying around. In this form, he's got new stats and abilities.

Tiphereth, does this one have any kind of fire shield we should be aware of?



Nothing like that. You're clear.

Great. Everyone, no need to hold back!

The Crying Children is a Shimmering boss with relatively simple rules—oh, and when we manage to defeat it, it'll break back up. This fight is long, easily longer than any other non-Realization fight we've had in the game so far. Because of that length, it's also easily beaten with the use of Hauler passives—we haven't brought any with us for that reason.



In this phase, two of The Crying Children's dice will always play Distorted Illusion. Its attacks are fairly powerful for this point in the game, and it can apply up to 7 Burn in a single turn if all the attacks hit. Speaking of, Malkuth is being targeted by one of these on her broken die, which I can do nothing to redirect. Oh well!



His last die plays a copy of Bygone Illusion, a slightly stronger attack due to its giving dice it clashes with a -1 Power—in exchange for this, however, only the last die deals Burn.



Hey, so, I've decided that that one's worth three points since there's three of them in there at once. Hope you're ready!

I guess you're not going to take no for an answer.

Obviously. There's no way I could possibly lose to you.



Huuf… so this is where all the fire from before got to. Look out, he packs a punch.

Wait, is that… that Salvador guy?

So he's hiding behind his more talented teammates too! The similarities increase!

Dimi…



Don't get distracted! We've gotta' beat this statue down, remember?



Yeah, don't get distracted. Otherwise I'm gonna' be the winner for sure~

I've been working with you for a while now. You're not going to distract me with some objectively wrong opinions.



Look out, team: He can call on Yuna statues too.

So he also hides behind the girl he—

Shut up, Dimi.

What happened to not getting distracted~?



Madness rules this place…

They're just that kind of duo.



Does anyone else think it's weird how it just… sits there? When it attacked, it was with those weird statues from its wings.

Come to think of it, yeah. It's a bit off.

The Abnormality is a combination of seeing, speaking, and hearing nothing. It stands to reason, then, that this form does none of the three. It's a statue.

But it still manages to attack…

The distortion is waiting on the others around it to solve the problems for him. That way, he doesn't have to worry about doing the wrong thing.

That's just running away. He's nowhere near as dangerous as before.

Statistically, he's much stronger…

Statistics aren't everything. He can't beat us in heart!



Because The Crying Children only plays the same three pages every turn, as long as we can deal with their dice he's not a threat. The most important part for now is building up our Emotion Levels as much as possible.



This is payback for earlier! You've got another thing coming if you think you can stop us!



Given that this being doesn't think it can do anything… It stands to reason that it doesn't think it can stop us.



Given that, I'd say it's correct. Does this mean I'm winning?

I thought this was a breach of protocol! What happened to that, huh?!

I like the feeling of being ahead.

…!

Hold on a second guys, this still isn't over!



Its emotions have reached a fever pitch!



Every time! Every stupid time those people get in the way! We should tear the fuckers to pieces!

I should throw attacks everywhere. If they get slaughtered, it's not my fault… they shouldn't have been there to begin with.

… …

There's so many of them… Is this because of his overflowing emotions?

Three points each group! It's still anyone's game!

You were always kind of a sore loser, but… seriously?



In phase 3, there are five enemies, each being a group of 3 children that is somehow less durable than a single child was two phases ago.

They're otherwise identical to phase 1 in terms of strategy and powers, there's just an extra Unseeing and Unhearing Child to Stagger before we can see page effects and redirect attacks.



They've locked down ImIdiot, which is unfortunate as he's currently trailing behind at Emotion Level 1 to everyone else's 2 or more. We're actually due for a new Abnormality Page now, but it didn't spawn as it should—likely because of The Crying Children's phase change. The other attacks are just prayers to see if I get lucky and manage to take a clash or two for the extra emotion.



Okay everyone, charge forward!

It's okay if you have to hold back, boss. You're looking a lot rougher than the rest of us.

I couldn't call myself your leader if I couldn't handle at least this much.



You should be able to move now, comrade Idiot.

Please, my friends call me Im.

Coworkers aren't allowed to have close friendships while on duty.



Behold! Dimi's newest ultimate attack: localized dimensional ripper technology! Takes a lot of juice, but definitely worth it!

You say that, but I've got one better. I set up for a counterattack.

Yeah, and?



One of them came right up to me, and paid for it.

Wowsers! So you managed to solve your problem by doing nothing?

Don't even.



_{Same guy.}

Dimi.



It's just a shame that yours didn't have the attack we needed, huh? This one, too.



Not really needing anything else, I grab Nostalgic Embrace for Malkuth, to help speed through the phases where we can actually clash.



How rude..! We break through three of them and we still can't see anything.

We can focus on the two in the back, and we'll have a good chance of weakening them all.

Good plan, ma'am.



I'll take the bottom one, and you grab the top.

I'll be over here padding my score, thanks.

Yeah, we should take them out while they're staggered!

On average, I should apportion one attack to each side.

…Well, we'll make it work.

What're they saying over there?!

They're planning how to split attacks among us.

My mother was a saint! Get murdered, assholes!



Good news: I caught this one trying to hit me. Bad news: It wasn't the one we needed.



Don't mind it! I couldn't catch this one's eye at all.

Did you just say I should focus on you?! Because you're wrong, idiot!



You're the real threat here! If not for you… If not for you..!

Hey, hey! Cut that out!

Beg all you like, I won't give you an ounce of mercy!

This pair of attacks against a target who isn't defending herself puts the Block die into the Unhearing Child's defensive queue. This actually works out perfectly for us.



That was it! Everyone, go!

The target die is almost always on that Block die, and Malkuth had one more attack lined up for after its turn.



Looks like it's time for the bonus round. Just two kills and I'm in the lead~

Still think you're going to get one over on me, huh?

Obviously. I'm a billion times better than this guy, who's basically just you.

He is not!



You know she's just trying to throw you off, right?

And it's working!

No it isn't!



With their defenses down, they're suddenly quite vulnerable to single strikes.



You're right, Joshua. These guys are tissue paper again; the smoke makes it nearly unfair.



Speaking of, three points for me. That's five now, right?

It's still just two more kills to get ahead. I got this!



Not so fast, Dimi. I hit this one three times in a row, so that's nine points, right?

Per kill, not per hit, Im.

Oh, seriously?! Whoops.



With that being the case, this means I'm winning?

Just two kills, huh?

Oh stuff it!



All the bickering those two are doing is really ratcheting up Bishop's emotions… and Malkuth's?

It's not them. It's just stressful giving out orders over all of the shouting.

Just be sure not to snap under the pressure.

Malkuth gets Gluttony, she's running low on HP and needs the recharge more than anyone else. Everyone else is doing fine.



But we're not done yet. At Floor Emotion Level 3 and up, we get an E.G.O in addition to our Abnormality Page. Three of the five the floor has are selected completely at random, and we can pick any of them. This means that by Floor Level 5 we'll have seen each of the E.G.O, but we might not see one that we really need until we hit Level 5, making it a bad idea to rely on any particular E.G.O page too much. Here, we're selecting Fourth Match Flame.



Just three left. That's… hm?



Don't worry about it. You're not going to kill any, anyways.

After we have access to an E.G.O, the circled symbol appears next to our hand when a librarian is selected. Clicking on it will take us to the E.G.O selection.



All of our librarians share this selection, and we can use it to play one of our E.G.O pages. Clicking the symbol again will bring us back to the librarian's normal hand.



When targeting with a Mass Attack page, we can only select a single die to target. The rest are randomly determined. This means that on enemies with multiple dice, we can deselect and reuse the page until we get all the matchups we really want on people that aren't the primary target.

_{Oh… you're worried about us? Or are you just lonesome?}

Um, hello? Earth to Bishop?



Not that this matters when the enemy only has one die.

_{Alright. I'll take your hand. Let's do this together.}

You okay?



On use, the background shifts to that of the Abnormality whose E.G.O we use.

What is this… what's going on?!

It's the world where we fought Scorched Girl.

The Abnormality's reacting with Bishop!

This is it… the true form of E.G.O.



Now… I am coming to you.



You, who shall be reduced to ashes like me.

Smoke works on Mass Attack damage as well. Here, Bishop's 52 base damage to the enemy after resistance gets an additional 45% added on to it for a total damage of 75, with another 10 percent added to the last Child with the 2 extra Smoke on it for a total of 80.

This is absolute overkill.



Yeah… See how you like being burned alive. And Dimi?

…yeah?

Ten.



The E.G.O is fading… It must not be able to retain its form for very long.

The Abnormality felt tired as it left. I'm sure it just needs a break.


This is an emergency.

What're you saying?! We can't keep up with that fire! We don't have time for talking!

It's fire… Then let's use our own flames.

… …



Phase 4, and we've kind of broken the background. It can only transition once per turn, so it couldn't go from Scorched Girl back to the normal background into the flaming version all at once. This will fix itself, but for now it's just another error.



It's smaller this time. What we're doing is working!

…

Sure enough, after this form we can expect The Crying Children to break up again. This fight, while not particularly difficult, tends to drag on forever due to the massive pile of HP that all the forms combined have. It overstays its welcome by a large margin.



In addition to playing one copy of each of its previous attacks, The Crying Children also adds another pair of moves to its arsenal. The first is Wound of Sorrow, a page with a trio of relatively bulky dice—but as a ranged page, Joshua can completely shut it down with a 0-cost.



His other new page, Restrain, inflicts 2 Feeble, Disarm and Bind with its second die. It's a rather chunky 8-12 die as well, making it difficult to avoid.



_{(Sniff… Sniffle…)}

I don't think he can hold his feelings back any longer.

Leave it to me.



Expressions of anguish are still banned during business hours.



He's still got a knack for attacking me right where I can't defend myself in this body… but I'll tough it out, don't worry.



Hey, it's moving now! That's cheating!



He can cheat all he likes, we're gonna' bust through just the same!

I haven't mentioned it, but Dimi's been really on point with her extra damage activations. The 10% activation chance doesn't feel like a lot, but between Dimension Sections, Quantum Leap and Refraction she gets three different rolls for them, which make it feel far more consistent than it should.



That won't work on me twice!

This form is why Malkuth has the Nostalgic Embrace page. With only one target, she'll be able to pump out a good amount of extra Stagger damage, and his Counter dice ensure we'll have clash targets available.



This pick, meanwhile, is for the Children phases. If we can't stop their attacks we may as well punish them in some other way.



We also pick up Green Stem.



_{(Sniffle… Sob..!)}

Hey gumshoe. I've decided I don't care about winning anymore. I think we should just put this guy to rest.

Realized you couldn't possibly win, huh?

Magnanimously decided to let the rest of you have a chance to be in the spotlight today, since he's so pathetic it's kind of sad. Just stand back, I've got a Dimi Special coming.

If you say so.

I'll back you up afterwards.



Bullet crusher special!

Rip Space is actually deceptively great against ranged attacks as well—the first die lets Dimi draw two pages whenever it wins a clash. Because the die recycles here, she's able to draw 4 pages for the cost of 1.



Then I'll rip your body in half by opening a rift in you…



And we're done! Take care of it, boss!



That did it. Great job, Dimi.

And with that, we can definitely overlook the gaming thing~

Nice try.



They're splitting up again.

There's no way they can keep this up forever, right?

Every enemy has their limit. We just have to reach it.



!!!!!

Looks like I made them mad. Sorry, guys… I've got to sit out for now.

Hey, there's not as many as there were a minute ago, though, are there?

You bastards! Gloating about killing us, well you'll get yours!

They killed some of them?! I-I didn't see it—

The enemy's stats are identical in this round to the Phase 3 version of the Children, the only change is the combat page they use.



Wing Stroke is a deceptively mean page; 4 dice with an Evade second means that there are very few pages that can actually avoid it entirely, and the last two attacks both have an added effect on them. Taking chip damage in this phase is almost unavoidable.

Don't suppose you've got another blast in you, do you boss?



Not quite… but there's another voice there now.

Mm… yeah, I can feel it now, too. Give it a try, Bishop.

Each E.G.O page we use has an individual cooldown, visible by the bar over the page itself. That cooldown varies by the number of active Librarians we have, working out to roughly 10 Emotion Coins per Librarian. Right now, we'd need ~50 Emotion Coins generated to get FMF ready again, and we're not quite there. This means that E.G.O spam is much easier as we lose Librarians—it's a kind of comeback mechanic in that way.



Alright, let's give this a try. You've got a lot of wrath you've built up today, right?



Then let's direct that hatred at our enemies.

That's two forms in one fight. These E.G.O seem much more versatile than they were beforehand.

It's just a shame we can't use them for more than a moment.



With Green Stem, we can instantly Stagger the entire enemy side. Unfortunately, Mass Attacks don't allow their Precarious Mind die to trigger, meaning their resistances will still be normal for another couple of turns. It's a fine trade for not having to deal with their gimmicks.



We're all clear. You guys could feel them too, right?



I could feel something like their help, but I didn't realize it was those Abnormalities being ready to go.



I could definitely tell they were there. I just didn't feel like using them.

Listening to it now, I can almost hear Scorched Girl again…

If you reach out, she'll answer.

I got it. Let's save it for now, though.

With Malkuth and Bishop at Emotion Level 5 and the enemy not in any real danger of losing this turn, I focus on letting the other 3 go to town.



With this, they'll be as good as dead in another couple of moments even without E.G.O.

E.G.O… huh… That power felt like the one we wielded for a while.

…



Ultimately, the addition to our arsenal is a good thing. Even if I don't want to use it.

You don't?

We must keep a solid wall between ourselves and them, if we're to survive.



On the next turn, all three enemies are up and ready to go—meaning the target die could be on any of them.



Duhuhu… Target spotted! Leave it to Dimi!

Because Dimi has the highest Speed of anyone, Overcharging it right away will open them up to Fatal damage for the rest of the turn.



This should let us finish off the entire enemy group. Malkuth and Bishop continue to stay on standby to let the others get their Emotion Levels up.



Now, watch as the world breaks underneath my touch!

!!!



And for my next trick, I'll rip this one asunder. That's like, a thousand points for setting all of this up.



I thought you'd stopped caring about points.

That's before I was winning, duh.



Then this makes all of them! Go team, go!

They're falling left and right… Are we finally going to become books too?!

I don't wanna' look, I don't wanna' look, I don't wanna' look..! What do I do?! I don't want to die! Someone..!

… … …… !!

Yeah… I hear it. We'll take all our pain, and put it in one place.

Together… everyone together.



This time, we'll kill you!

!!!

Next time, on Library of Ruina: We finally get Phillip's book.

Book 34: The Crying Children—Chapter 3

Music: And Then is Heard No More


Hff… hff… hff…

It's definitely gotten smaller compared to the last time. This might be it.

He's grown completely unstable. Now's our chance!

In phase 6, The Crying Children unleashes its final trump card, Inconsolable Grief.



It's a powerful Individual Mass Attack, which Staggers The Crying Children on its next turn. Blocking all three dice is a tall order even for Overcharge, so we have to settle for blocking one or two and eating the rest of the attack.



Our HP/SR are all high enough that we're in no real danger from this attack, though we're going to take hits. His other four dice are two of the ranged Wound of Sorrow, a Bygone Illusion, and a Restrain.

He's definitely swinging much harder than before. This must be the extinction burst phenomenon in action.

Extinction burst?

This is more a philosophy thing than my area of expertise, but…

Basically, when an action's reinforcement is removed, the action becomes much more frequent and intense. He's not getting the reaction he wants, so his grief and his outbursts are becoming much more powerful in the moment.

I don't follow.

A candle burns brightest before it goes out.

It's a temporary, if violent, phenomenon. Once you weather it, you should be all clear.

_{I can't… I can't… sniff…}



I am just! I've always been just! I didn't really think… never thought… any of those terrible things!

Hold steady!



I've done nothing wrong! If I hadn't run, nothing would have changed! I was prepared to die, and someone else forced me to run! I've done nothing wrong!

It's too much power!



Everything everything everything, all of it is your fault! Burn away! Burn away and leave me alone!

Two max rolls in a row decimate our SR, and take a good chunk out of our HP as well. But we're still standing.



How is everyone?!

Never… using Overcharge… again.



I think we're all fine. His rage couldn't amount to that much, in the end.

You think it's funny to laugh at me, do you?!



I liked you better when you didn't talk.

Shut up shut up! You evil bastards… I'm not listening! It's all your fault!



He's not even responding to what we're saying… Is he still deaf?

Probably. He's made up of all those children, after all…

Then why's he talking?



Shut up! Die!

Stay focused, everyone! Only a little further!



Yes, ma'am!

Stop getting in my way! Stop getting in my way!!



Ah, crap! This is bad!

This isn't my fault. None of this is my fault… you shouldn't have been there! You shouldn't be here! This isn't…

My… fault…





He's all worn out! Now's your chance!

Right! Dimi, Joshua, finish him!



Make way for Dimi!

Acknowledged.

Again, I'm thinking about Emotion Levels. Not much point in putting more kills on a Librarian whose emotions are maxed.



Hwa-cha! One more good tap and I'll—



Threat eliminated.

Hey! Killstealer!

No… no..!



He's been booked. Good job, team. Now the world should go back to… normal?

What's wrong, boss?

This can't be right…



…

Aha. So that's why he could speak this time. Guess we didn't quite book this one.



The final phase of Phillip after his Mass Attack phase is a single Unspeaking Child. It still locks down one member, which means that we need to hit the final phase with at least two Librarians alive. Get here with just one? Sucks to be you! Try again from the start.



His only attack, Victimize, is a set of relatively decent dice tied to status effects that make fighting back harder. Still, this phase is almost always easy so long as we have two or more Librarians left alive.



She's calling again. Let's finish this off, shall we?



A princess, huh? I can do that.



E.G.O aside, this is a P-space situation; there's no point in using any real strategy.



When using two or more E.G.O at once, only one of the backgrounds is used, and it persists for the entire turn. I have no idea what determines which background is chosen.

Take this!



!!!

Huh?!

The Unspeaking Child's 4-die page can actually pump out relatively high Summation rolls, but it was ultimately Bishop rolling poorly that led to this dodge.



Flaming sword fell flat, huh?

Happens.

Don't worry about it. I'll pick up the slack for you, Bishop~



I am a princess, child! Bow down before my powers!

… …



I said BOW!!

@!#?@!

Good job. I'll take it from here!



And that's that! Im, Joshua, pick up the books and let's get going.



… … …

It's not turning..?



He's on the run!

What, again?!

What is with this guy?!

After him!

It's no good… the forest is too thick.

Hey, don't blame me! I kicked its butt!



Well… we've finally gotten a book out of him, at any rate.

Do you think it'll be okay?

It'll be fine, boss. That guy couldn't be a rival anymore if he fell here.

He'll be back, and the books we got will let us stay on par with his newfound power.

Uh-huh, sure.

Such a shame he got away, though. I guess the fight is a no-contest until we see him again, huh~?

Only if I get to keep the 10 point lead.

Fine. That one's worth a hundred points anyways.



And so, it is finally done. The Crying Children is a slog of a fight without any real difficult surprises, with the possible exception of the Mass Attack right at the very end. To a player using haulers, the fight is basically free. To a player without them, it's still not exactly difficult. As a result, how well this fight lands is entirely up to the boss's music. Unfortunately, And Then is Heard No More is a song that doesn't work well as a boss theme. Because of this, the fight winds up being easy, long, and repetitive… everything a climactic encounter shouldn't be.

And yet… honestly, there's nothing I could really say that should be changed about it. Phillip's mindset is absolutely the sort that would invoke the funeral dirge-esque song that comes with it, and it has the feeling of slowly tearing a broken man apart as he tries his best to block out everything that could possibly harm him. Each form does have an incremental powerup, and by the end the fight has successfully told the story it wants to tell.

I can respect this fight, as a whole. It is still the low point of this game's combat.

I am also incredibly thankful that we never got the original 11-phase version of this fight.

Music: Result


Sorry I couldn't catch the angel, boss…

It's fine, you couldn't move.

Bishop! You were awesome out there, calling on a new power to deal with such a badass rival!

It felt more like putting down a broken mess than fighting a rival… But I'm glad you guys had fun.

…

You okay?

The workday is over. There's nothing to do but wait for the next.

Ohhh no you don't. I've got gaming to do, so you're doing my share of the cleanup!

About that, Dimi… Let's go have a talk, okay?

Waah! Someone, save me~

Have fun, you two.

…Brutal.



VIDEO
Music: Lobby


He was still his cowardly self deep inside. Nothing about him really changed.

It must have been the Library’s will to let this happen.

The Library’s will, huh… It sure does work in mysterious ways. I know how ugly the human mind can be, but that was just nastily explicit.

Perhaps everyone has such vulgarity deep inside their minds, covered up in layers of facade.

And the Distortion unwraps all that to expose their true feelings?

I cannot say for sure if it’s the pure expression of their unadulterated feelings. I’m still uncertain whether it’s the Distortion unveiling the emotions or the emotions being distorted as they are revealed.

It should reveal their most honest side nonetheless, having all their facades taken off.

That ought to feel like being naked, huh.

Nothing’s as awkward and embarrassing as the moments right after letting out all your honest feelings.

…



Well, if that's all… I'm going to go now.

Is something going on?

Aaaah… I just have to make sure we're all on form. Things are about to pick up again.

How do you mean?

You've taken information about the Singularity of one of the Wings, remember? The moment that book winds up on an invitation… no, possibly even before that…

The Wing will seek to secure it, yes?

Bingo. And that means a lot of money being paid out to pick fights with us. Congratulations, ma'am! The library's become a—



Next time, on Library of Ruina: An update made up entirely of tiny story vignettes and new mechanics.


Videos

The Crying Children 2
The Crying Children (Unedited combat footage; may cause distortions. Watch at own risk.)


New Key Pages




New Combat Pages



Crying Children Exclusive:

And finally… yes.



I did have to do this fight twice.

Appendix 27: The Crying Children

Unstable Page of the Crying Children wrote: “Sorry. I get how you feel, but I’ll need more time to think about this.”

“…”

“…Um, are you feeling down?”

"N-no, I'm fine... I get it. This was rather sudden, and you'll need some time to collect your thoughts."

“Thanks for understanding. You know, you’re a very caring person. I guess gramps picked the right rookie to hire.”

“Is that so… Thank you.”

I couldn’t say anything beyond that. I tried to think positively about it, convincing myself that I wouldn’t want to see seonbae feel troubled because of me in the future. Clinging on to it further would only make me seem pathetic… Although seonbae didn’t decline my confession outright, it felt safer to think of it as a refusal so I wouldn’t get my head in the clouds and make another attempt at it. I shouldn’t have held any expectations in the first place. I thought I’d feel like a load had been taken off my chest after I’d confessed my pent-up feelings to her, but I couldn’t even bring myself to look seonbae in the eyes. I didn’t see it. I found myself looking for excuses. It’s not because I’m a coward… It’s not because I was afraid that I might be faced with darkness I can’t possibly handle if I lift my head, no. I just looked at the shade so I could see a brighter light, that’s all. That thought made me feel a bit easier. I don’t know what expression seonbae wore at that time. Was she grinning at my nonsense, or was she upset? All I can think is that she was probably giving me a look of disgust.



“You gave a fine speech, but I must wonder if you’re truly upset for the sake of Salvador and your other late colleagues.”

“…I’ll go prepare myself.”

I closed the door on my way out. Was it because I didn’t want to hear any more of it? Did I lack the energy to refute him? I had no time to reflect on the reason I left my seat. The one thing I couldn’t stand was him putting the blame on me for leaving my master and seonbae behind in that place they call the Library when I escaped so that I could bring others to save them. A wise person once said that you must close your ears when someone utters useless words or speaks with harmful intention. Is the ‘uselessness’ of a talk determined solely by one’s own standards? Maybe Oscar was right. But are his words useless and wrong because they distressed me? Maybe I just didn’t want to accept it. Consoling myself that I need some time to focus only on the grief of losing my master and seonbae… I covered my ears.



“You’re pausing it at just the right moment like it’s a rerun you’ve watched over and over… There’s got to be a reason.”

“Shut up, shut the hell up…!”

Sometimes, the human brain has difficulty telling reality from illusion. Watching a horror film incites fear even though you know it’s fiction; however, it’s not always easy to discern the truth. They’re standing right before my eyes reproaching me, but I can’t dismiss them as mere illusions. Even though they’re… dead. Gone. There was no way they could be real. It doesn’t make sense that I know what they’re about to say otherwise. It couldn’t be something they told me beforehand. When seonbae was about to speak, I shut her up, as though I knew what was going to unfold. What could I gain from uttering what will harm me. Self-justification? Those words would’ve wounded me for sure, but they were also words that would protect me. Yet again, I’m running away from truth. Vilifying others. It made me feel a bit better. Pameli was right; all I had to do was make up reasons that are convenient to me. It’s not my fault at all. They’re the bad ones… It’s derisive how shallow my admiration for my master and seonbae was, changing my attitude toward them so easily out of selfish self-preservation.

Nothing is more beautiful than knowing the truth, and therefore, nothing must be more shameful than admitting that what one believed in was a lie. I could’ve sworn I acknowledged my vice and embraced it. Although the process was a little unstable, I still felt ashamed for the truthless deeds I had done, and decided to cherish that negative part of myself as I am. Or so I thought… I stopped talking. I couldn’t even tell what was appropriate to speak anymore.



Turn a blind eye to all that tries to hurt me. Turn a deaf ear to words that will lead me down the wrong path. Turn a mute mouth to unnecessary evil. And last of all, act not. Make myself happy that way.

I could no longer perceive anything.

I also messed with the Table of Contents, it looks cooler now.

Book 35: Prologue

VIDEO


"A Night of Counting the Stars," Yun Dong-ju.

Music: StoryJinji


Humans must weave their tales in this everlasting status quo.

Today, a Star named ‘The Library’ rose up to the sky. What kinds of dreams shall it illuminate over the City, I wonder…

May the City stay mesmerized in its sweet dream, no matter how brightly this Star may shine.

Music: Lobby


I’m making a list of things I want to do once everything is over and I get to leave this place.

That’s a pretty big list?

I made sure to include trying the meat stew you mentioned some time ago.

So you really remembered, huh.

I can remember anything, after all.

What’s the point of making a list, then?

Oh, no offense to you.

…You’re right, actually. I’m writing this down so I don’t forget later.

What? That means…

Perhaps I really am becoming closer to a human.



I still have mountains upon mountains of memories left to erase, though.

Well, congrats anyway. Your earnest wish is finally coming true.

Thanks. Now I’m writing down a list of things I want to do next. To dream of my “next step”.

It’s like a fence… like you taught me earlier.

To dream, huh…



For one, I’m thinking about quitting being a Fixer. I’m tired of it overall.

Really? I don’t know what kind of Fixer you used to be, but from what I’ve seen by your side, you seemed quite well suited for the job.

Not only are you a skilled combatant, you’re also adept at dealing with a multitude of situations and getting tasks done smoothly. Perhaps you really were a “kickass” as you claim. To me, those traits seemed to be the qualities that determine a good Fixer.

Yeah, I guess being a Fixer is the one career that fits me best. But I wanna take a break from it now. I’ve had enough.

I’ve made enough people bleed for causes that aren’t mine…

So, what kind of work do you want to do?

You’re being awfully persistent about it… After I’m done with business here…

…Hngh, I’m drawing a blank.



I’ll hire you officially and properly this time. I could give you proper payment if you insist.

What’s the job entail?

The things written on this list, of course.

Look, I told you just now that…

Don’t worry, none of these are about harming anyone.

I’ll have had enough of that from running the Library. Thinking about my next move as you advised, the first thing that came to my mind was freedom.

Once I’ve had my revenge and earned my freedom, I thought it’d be nice to travel around the world without worrying about anything.

Still, if you’re asking me to escort you throughout your trip…

Don’t be silly. I can defend myself just fine. All you need to do is be my companion to talk with.

Looking at the guests who have visited us thus far, I doubt I’ll ever get to make a friend who can get on with me as well as you do.

Friend, huh…

Or was I just under an illusion? I have so few acquaintances I’ve known, and my relationship with those few people was nothing pleasant.

Each of us was simply playing the designated roles on a stage.



You mean the librarians… No, the Sephirot and the employees…

If we met in a different place under different circumstances, then we could’ve been… good colleagues, perhaps.

Anyway, what do you think?

Hm?

My job offer for when we’re done here.

Oh, about that… Yeah, I’ll consider it. That doesn’t sound bad, alright. Letting go of all woes and just wandering the world.



On reaching Star of the City, our Passive Transfer limit increases once again. With this, we've reached the halfway point of the game.

Go back and read that last sentence again.

That's not a joke.


Oh, yes. Did you manage to do the preparation you wanted to?

Yeah… though it'd be really helpful if my floor could use some of that E.G.O stuff, too.

It seems to be tied to the floor developing fully… yours would likely not be able to handle the strain yet.

Ah… yeah, I was afraid it was something like that.

Since you have time, however, there is someone else for you to meet.

Another floor?

Precisely.

VIDEO
Music: BinahStory


Huh, the air here gives off a certain smell… in a different way than Chesed’s place?




It’s a nice scent, I gotta say! Stands out from coffee’s.

It is indeed. Although I am quite certain that the blue-haired noble below me still has not grown enough to appreciate a good cup of black tea.

This place feels overbearing unlike the other floors.

Kinda fits with philosophy, I guess. Too confusing to understand, and has a heavy feel to it.



The Library I’ve seen?

Is it a place of death, nourishing its thirst with blood… Is it a spire of knowledge, accumulating all sorts of information… Or is it perhaps an ark, sailing for a new life?

Hmm, the Library I’ve seen was like… an arena, maybe…?

Angela, the librarians, and others are all fighting to earn what they want. So it’s really fierce and bloody, all in all.

That is the Library from your point of view, I see. What kind of place is the Library to you, then?

Well, for me, it’s just a jail.



You are in fact looking to seize an opportunity.

…Well, duh, of course I’m looking to get outta here.

If that is what you say.

Who are you, really. You talk like you know everything.

I am Binah.

No, that’s not what I… Your aura’s not at all like any librarian I’ve met so far.

Then you must be wondering what kind of being I used to be in my first life.

Yeah, what the hell were you?



What!?

It has not been long since I was awoken from my slumber. I must calm my mind with the help of tea, so come again at a later time. And remember to bring books for me.



Music: Lobby


The Floor of Philosophy is now open for business! Unusually, we're given three Librarians to start with—this is for reasons I'll get into in a little bit.

What the hell… I just got handled. She's a pro, alright.

Wait a sec… Jerky? Why do I smell—

Ooo, I saw you while I was asleep! Roland's here, everyone!

…Who's this freaky masked lady supposed to be?



Official brand new master philosophizer Mizu 'Just Mizu' Mizu, reporting for duty!

Oh… So you're Mr. Roland! It's nice to meet you in the flesh. You were very strong in our dreams.

_{Psst! Your name's too big! It's overflowing!}

Overflowing..? How can a name overflow?

Oh! So it is.

How's this?

Way better!



Wait a moment… You're not ordinary triplets, are you. First an Arbiter, now this… What's going on here?

Miss Binah told us when we were waking up, but it was really quite complicated. I didn't follow.

I think it might be related to… a book!

The Abnormality that took us in had… special circumstances. When it tore apart, we tore apart. And now we're like this… a fitting price for slaying our own comrades.

Oh, boo! We had to do that, or else we wouldn't have gotten to hug a giga-mondo cutie for as long as we did! _{Totes worth.}

Ah, I see. You're all mental. Well, I'll leave you to it.

Well that's not very nice…

Come back anytime! If you don't like tea, I can make a mean juice!

…He's not coming back, you know.

It's a shame. It's always nice to meet new people, and with Miss Binah still being so tired we could honestly use the help.

Don't you worry about it, Huey! I can lift a lot more than most people!



For the moment, we're locked out of using Binah on the Floor of Philosophy. As a result, the Mizus will have to take care of any receptions that go there. On the upside, the Floor of Philosophy is automatically able to go all the way to Emotion Level 5—we don't have to wait for a bunch of Abnormality Battles to happen first.

Speaking of Abnormality Battles, we've got a pair of them waiting for us. There's also an entirely new feature—the yellow exclamation point on Binah's floor indicates that we have a Small Story available to view. These are smaller chitchats that focus on interactions between the various Patron Librarians. I'll be letting them play as we get them, as there's no gameplay benefit to them.

VIDEO
Music: BinahStory


What? That kind of stuff doesn’t matter to me anymore.

You are much more self-possessed than I expected.

I can’t say I’m not at all uncomfortable, but we’re basically in the same oven now.

…

Come on, Hod, have some confidence. You look even smaller than usual… She’s not the person you remember in your past, at least not anymore. I can’t guarantee what’ll happen in the future, but she won’t be harming us for a good while.

Oh… Umm. Right…! Sorry, Gebura.

Fascinating. As much as it would be amusing to make a jest of her pitiable state… Gebura is speaking the truth. I am no longer the being you interacted with in the past.

When it seems to have ended, a new breath of life is given… Of course, I am not entirely separable from my past self, either.

I have become someone who cannot do any harm to you, yet I can still see fear in your eyes.

What is it that you are so afraid of, child. I am in the same circumstances as yours now.

I was just… nervous, since this is our first time sitting face to face and talking to each other.



I suggest you drink it before it gets cold. It is best enjoyed while the scent is warm and able to be savored.

…

The tea is clear… It tastes a bit sweet.

I added lemon juice and honey to the black tea. I prepared it specially for you.

It didn’t smell like honey at all, I thought you put sugar.

It is because the scent of the honey was lost as it came in contact with the tea. Too much sugar can make the tea feel muddy. Though I suppose it is a matter of preference.

…It sure is sweet. Not too bad.

Did you know? Black tea has several names across various regions.



I guess it’s the difference between valuing the essence and the results.

Perhaps you could view it that way. So, let me ask how would you like to refer to this tea.

…That’s a tough question.

What’s the big deal? Just call it whichever name you’re more used to.

If that is what you say. It is rather entertaining to converse with you. Come again later when you long for the scent of tea.

Music: Lobby


With our new chapter unlocked, we've got a lot of options available to us again: Two Abnormality Battles, and a grand total of four new nodes to select from—including the return of multi-reception nodes. For simplicity's sake, should we happen to select one of them I'll do the entire thing before you guys pick the next one; polls from here forward will focus on the nodes themselves. Happy voting!

Next time, on Library of Ruina



"Bearing the hope to return to dust, it shall go back to the grave with all that desires to live."

"...Sadness says: ‘Begone, pass away!’ But greed seeks eternity—seeks deep, deep eternity."

It's burn some time since we last saw each other, hasn't it?

At every turn, you've gun and avoided my advice… But that's fine.

The smoke is slowly clearing, and I see what you want.

My charge, then, is to guide you to the most dramatic options… not to try and talk you out of your decisions. Right?


Videos

Star of the City
Binah 1
Small Story 4