Eiko in Alexandria
-Eiko’s now carrying the letter in her hand.
-She runs off to look for Zidane and literally crashes into Baku.
-lol and he starts laughing at seeing her stuck hanging from the rafter.
-He picks up the letter and walks off to look for Zidane. Just leaves her hanging.
---
Baku in Alexandria
-Baku’s looking for a boat, but none to be seen. Steiner finds him. Immediately tells his knights to leave Baku alone.
-Seems though that his feelings for Baku and Tantalus are limited. Won’t capture him, but asks him to leave.
-oh no! The boat arrives and Baku hops on, but in one of his flailing shouts at Steiner’s “self-righteousness” he drops the letter. Both of them leave.
---
Beatrix in Alexandria
-And Beatrix comes along.
-god I love her music SO MUCH
-omg and now she sees the letter that she thinks Steiner dropped and is reading it: “When the night sky wears the moon as its pendant, I shall await you at the dock.”
-DFJKLSHFHLKLDS
SHE THINKS STEINER WROTE THE LETTER FOR HER
-It’s hard to tell her reaction. She kind of sighs his name, either sorry for him because she’s already in love with Dagger (stop laughing at me, let my headcanon live) or because she may actually be open/interested.
---
Zidane in Alexandria
-Zidane is doing a dude thing that I know I’ve done before where I get pre-emptively sad/mad at someone he likes and hasn’t openly communicated.
-He really misses her, everything about her.
-Yay! The Tantalus plus Ruby (I don’t think she was in Tantalus, but could be wrong) come to encourage him.
-This is actually kind of really sweet. Not phrased the best way, but I get what he’s going for. Baku rejects Zidane’s request to rejoin Tantalus, saying that Zidane should make like a true Tantalus and pursue what he wants. The “canary.” Dagger.
Out of context, this doesn’t sound great because it’s not like she’s a prize to be won. She’s a person. But at the same time, she hasn’t rejected him, and I think Baku is just encouraging him to make an honest and open effort even in these new circumstances to go after her. Yay!
-Vivi enters the bar and the Tantalus members leave. He wants to go see Dagger.
-Zidane agrees. Happily enough, he does it to cheer her on before she becomes queen, not just as a plot to woo her. That’s probably part of it, but I honestly believe that Zidane would respect whatever Dagger wants in this regard and feel lucky to keep Dagger as a friend. Not for him any bullshit “friend zone” nonsense.
---
I Forgot!
-Baku ATE. He forgot the letter.
-Yup. He didn’t just forget to give the letter, he flat out is missing it.
---
Zidane and Vivi in Alexandria
-hee! This out of work tour guide duck person plays trumpet and blows it in our face.
-Maybe an optional superboss in the game is Ilia’s grandmother’s spinning wheel. She’s been taking forever with this dress.
-Walked outside of the city briefly to check for chocobo tracks (didn’t see any, but didn’t look that hard) and ran into another ragtime mouse encounter.
Whenever this guy pops up and says “Pop quiz!” I keep hearing Dennis Hopper’s voice in my head.
-The question this time: not all mus are hostile, true or false? Um. I
dunno. They’re cute little squirrels, but they’re enemies. I have
literally no idea. I’ll say false since I haven’t met a non-hostile one
yet as far as I can remember.
Or have I? I’m trying to remember the hunt. Screw it. I’ll say true and express some confident in the li’l squirrels…. YAY! Correct.
-Found a kitty in the streets, but can’t pick it up. Hoped I’d be able to return it to that kid.
Or have I? I’m trying to remember the hunt. Screw it. I’ll say true and express some confident in the li’l squirrels…. YAY! Correct.
-Found a kitty in the streets, but can’t pick it up. Hoped I’d be able to return it to that kid.
-Hippolady is training her son, Hippaul, to take over the inn.
-Something I miss from FFVIII was that when you stayed in an inn, you got to look around the inn room and see secret items there. That’d be cool if they brought that back. An incentive to try out every inn.
-Ruby runs her theater with a guy named Ashley.
-Stiltzkin left another letter, saying that he was moving on. As expected.
-I see that other cat still on the roof. I want to get to it, but am unsure how to get up there. Can’t go through the bell tower.
---
Freya in Alexandria
-It feels like it’s been so long since we’ve spent quality time with Freya. She’s annoyed that Zidane hasn’t stopped by to say hello to her. Rude!
-Amarant comes by. They don’t know each other, but lock eyes briefly – LOL AND EACH TAKES THAT AS A CHALLENGE
-Zidane and Vivi arrive before a real fight can start.
-Freya is mad at Zidane, mad at a lot of stuff (some quite reasonably). She wants him to make more progress on learning about Kuja, who was behind the destruction of Cleyra and Burmecia as much as Brahne. And she wants him to stop faffing about when Dagger’s about to be coronated. To be fair, this latter one he was correcting and the former issue he just didn’t have any luck with it sounds like.
-OH! She’s not just worried about Kuja as a matter of vengeance, but because she thinks he’ll come after the new Queen Dagger. I agree.
-Zidane’s mostly worried that he’ll be a fifth wheel. That he won’t fit at all in Dagger’s life, and that she’ll have all the protection she needs as queen.
Vivi brings up a great point: Dagger WANTS to see him. This reminds me a bit of the story Zidane told Dagger on the boat in Madain Sari. That kind of connection and desire doesn’t need a deeper reason. Connection can be its own reasons.
-The boat to the castle arrives. Freya joins, and Amarant does too because one day he wants to have a rematch with Zidane.
---
Castle Alexandria
-Found a really cool statue that I don’t remember from before in the left tower. It’s a statue of Neptune (a woman in this case, which I like given the context of Alexandria and because it looks incredibly awesome). It’s the way we get back to the harbor.
-Found the Leo Stellazzio coin. This may be one of the first coins that doesn’t focus on Virgo. It’s about Leo fighting Cancer. I’ve changed my mind I think. I used to believe that the zodiac coins would play a bigger role in the game’s mythology, but I now think it’s just an isolated bonus thing.
-Found “Lapis Lazuli.” [Steven Universe spoilers: SSVK vf trggvat zr fb ulcrq sbe Znex ernpuvat guvf fubj va qbhoyr srngherf. V xrrc pbzvat npebff gurfr trzf naq guvaxvat, yvxr, "BZT V PNA'G JNVG SBE UVF ZVEEBE TRZ/BPRNA TRZ ERNPGVBA IVQF."]
-lololol we come across Steiner as he’s throwing a yelling Eiko out of the castle. Amarant agrees with Steiner that she’s a “loudmouth and a brat,” and if you thought she’d take those fighting words lying down, you haven’t met Eiko.
-We get a last name. She’s Eiko Carol.
-Steiner, you’re wonderful. He’s about to throw everyone out, but as soon as Vivi asks to meet Dagger, he relents. He can’t say no to Master Vivi.
---
Audience with the Princess
-Princess Dagger – or Garnet I should say, since that’s her official name in this capacity – emerges onto the balcony in full coronation dress, flanked by Beatrix and Steiner.
-Everyone says how beautiful she looks (true) except Zidane, who is at a loss for words.
-Eiko is panicked a bit that this might be the last time she sees Garnet, quite understandably.
-THIS IS SO SWEET
-They trade jewels as symbols of their bond.
-She leaves.
-Zidane is frustrated. He wants to keep this as a casual friendship now, to say “let me know if you ever want someone to talk to,” but he so clearly wants more than that. I can respect and understand that. Nothing wrong with it as long as you don’t make the other person feel like shit for not wanting the same thing at the same time, and he doesn’t go there. Just says nothing and deals with it.
---
Castle Harbor at Night
-Eiko alone by the water, finally is recognizing that Zidane is not for her.
This hurts to watch.
-She’s at the harbor. Hears someone coming, and afraid that it might be Zidane, she leaves.
-It’s the Tantalus crew. Blank and Marcus.
-wait a sec
Blank thinks someone wrote him a love letter? This is gonna get ridiculous fast. He caught the letter falling from above him at some point. How did it get from Beatrix to him?
-He hears someone coming and runs off, dropping the letter as he finds a spot to hide.
-It’s Steiner. Eiko’s hiding and watching, Blank and Marcus are too.
-good god now HE found the letter
-He thinks it’s for him. And Beatrix walks up behind him. She came to the meeting.
I want to cover my eyes. This is either gonna go REALLY WELL or REALLY BADLY. I get embarrassment squicked really easily.
-hahahahah everyone’s watching this cheering it on
-THEY’RE SO CLOSE JUST KISS DO IT
-NOOOO FUCKING BAKU WALKS BY RUINING IT
-ALL THE SPECTATORS AGREE WITH ME AND MARCUS IS GIVING AN EPIC FACEPALM
-that was amazing and I can’t stop laughing
---
Tavern in Alexandria
-Freya and Amarant and Vivi are here, worried about the absent Zidane. (Well, I’m not sure Amarant’s actively worried – he seems pretty chill.)
-Vivi goes off to look for him and crashes into Eiko. Poor Eiko and Vivi. They’re always crashing into people.
Horrible Prediction Time: I wouldn’t be surprised if Vivi and Eiko get li’l crushes on each other.
-Tot walks in, looking for Eiko. He comments on how energetic she always seems and she BREAKS MY HEART, STOP, WHO TOLD YOU THAT WAS LEGAL
-She wants to visit his home in Treno. Zidane wants to come for a card game tournament.
-Oh cool, everyone wants to go!
---
Gargan Roo
-The tone of this and the last session is so weird. Such a break from a main, world-ending threat. I know Kuja is still out there, but the party members are at such a natural break in the action that it feels nice. They don’t have an immediate next quest waiting for them.
-There’s still mist down in these tunnels. Strange – though as Tot says, not that strange. Mist permeated the tree’s roots, and we’re in the roots.
-Everyone hops aboard the Gargant Express.
---
Clowns on a Dark Knight
-ATE. Cinna? He’s sort of clownish.
-NO IT’S ZORN AND THORN. I COMPLETELY FORGOT ABOUT THEM
-They’re sneaking about Alexandria’s town.
-omg. Their plan is to ask Princess Garnet about returning to the castle.
[Buffy spoilers: guvf erzvaqf zr funecyl bs Naqerj naq Wbanguna ergheavat gb Fhaalqnyr va ubcrf bs wbvavat Ohssl'f tebhc. yvxr AB. AB AB AB. ERZRZORE JUNG LBH QVQ?? V'q or fubpxrq vs Mbea naq/be Gubea unir gur xvaq bs snpr ghea punenpgre qrirybczrag gung Naqerj tbg.]
-They hide as Marcus and Blank emerge to talk to each other. This who section has felt tremendously like a Shakespearean comedy, with misunderstandings and people hiding just off-stage as a tool to eavesdrop on each other. I love love love it. It’s so goofy and fits the tone so well here.
-Aw, yay! Marcus and Blank aren’t out here for anything nefarious. They just want to police the town a bit to help Zidane.
-Now that Zorn and Thorn know some people are patrolling, they give up. They leave Alexandria.
---
Next time: to Treno.
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