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unwiltingblossom · 5 years ago

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Code: Realize Route Review - SHIRLEY EXTRA ROUTE

We INTERRUPT YOUR REGULARLY SCHEDULED ROUTES WITH A SHIRLEY GORDON ROUTE REVIEW. Note, I’ve since done Finis’ route and much of Sholmes, but Shirley...Shirley can’t wait her turn.

Spoiler alert: There’s three good things about this route, unless you’re saving it for the last blast of nostalgia (don’t do that); Victor Frankenstein is present, Saint Germain is wonderful, and the boys all wear different clothing that, while more plain, makes them pretty hot.

Every single part of this route other than that is awful, terrible, and should feel terrible.

Oh, Delly and Passy are cute, I guess. But they’re too good for this route. Spoilers for it, I guess, but I’m doing you a favor if you don’t read it. There’s also spoilers for some of the main routes, chiefly Germain’s and Victor’s. Mostly Saint Germain’s.

This one is more in-depth than usual routes, because...well...I hate all of it, so it’s not just jumping around to different points that I either love or hate or find frustrating.

If other reviews feel more like reactions to you, this one is more than thorough enough to be a review.

First thing’s first: Yes, Sholmes is in this route, but he’s not in it long enough to be able to pull it out of the muck and garbage that is this route.

Second: Yes, the boys all get cool BDH moments, but again, not even that can save this travesty of a route

I could have included those as small concessions at the start, but that wouldn’t fit the rule of three, and frankly those three things are the only stuff that’s present consistently enough to matter.

So the route opens with an amusing little scene where Lupin disguises himself as Sholmes (weirdly, Lupin flexes a skill that Sherlock Holmes would normally possess, but whatevs. Code Realize struggles a little to keep up with Sherlock. It happens.) and steals a statue, presumably sticking this story around the point where Lupin stole all the vamp treasures back for Delly. (It’s not, because later they establish it’s definitely after Victor’s chapter, and I think the airship race is referenced once as well, placing it in an alternate universe where Finis doesn’t ambush them at the lab and Lupin is like ‘whoops, I said I got everything but I forgot the most important treasure of all’)

He runs into some mafia who try to kill him to get the statue back, but if Lupin is anything, he’s bullet proof. You might expect this mafia stuff to loop back to the festival place that Lupin inadvertently wrecked, the sky pirates that he pissed off, or the black race they participated in. You’d be wrong. Those stuff are barely mentioned, and the only purpose they solve is a brief scene where The Demon flexes her skills.

So the Twilight are super hard looking for Cardia at this point and they may possibly even have narrowly escaped a Twilight raid at that lab without killing Finis (we know he’s not dead, because Cardia would never miss an opportunity to remind us of how scary Germain was when he killed Finis had it happened), and this naturally means that Impey decides to go ahead and send her off all on her own for a drive through Lowtown with just Sisi to defend her, because testing the automobile can’t wait and Van Helsing is about to create a bioweapon in the kitchen. Why doesn’t he send Delly with her? Because Delly doesn’t want to be in this story, don’t force him.

While on that test drive, where Cardia would be unable to fix the car if it broke down, making the test drive totally pointless except to needlessly endanger her and open up Finis’ route, The Demon appears. The Demon being the girl in the photo, and who the route is about, Shirley Gordon. Shirley. She’s the 13 year old daughter of a mafia boss who simultaneously just wants to be normal and wants to go on a murder spree.

Shirley makes a habit of running away from her ‘crime’ family. There’s no reason for her to do this, actually, because they dote on her, never make her do anything bad, and are really better considered vigilantes than mafia. They’re so virtuous that the Lawful Neutral Sholmes that explicitly states he only cares about what the law says, not about the morals behind those laws, thinks they’re a-okay and will help them without hesitation.

Anyway. Shirley runs away to do...something. It’s never clear where she thinks she’s running to, other than maybe hoping to find a different crime boss and murder the heck out of him. Along the way, she spots a random woman driving in an automobile and is like “Yes! That one! I’m going to drag her into this escape, knowing full well that it’s not just endangering her but everyone around when I make her SPEED through the streets running away from my family, even after she says ‘I can’t control the car any faster than this, I’ll hit civilians’!” She also tries to get her father killed by flinging him off of a car at high speed into a street full of other cars and horses. But it’s okay, cuz he’s sturdy.

Impey planned ahead for some danger that would inevitably befall Cardia, the most danger-attracted person in the kingdom (and I mean ‘attracted to danger’, because this is the woman who at one point is warned about a mass murderer and immediately decides she should go ahead and wander in the sewers until she gets lost because it’s raining) - he made a button that activates a transmitter that warns him if she’s in danger. And that’s it. He doesn’t even tell her what it is, so by the time she tries to use it, it’s too late to do anything effective. Imagine if instead of a band of vigilantes cornering her, it was Twilight. “Oh, gee, but I put a transmitter on her car! Where could Cardia-chan have GONE? She turned it on, but this is just an empty alleyway with the car, no Cardia.”

Everyone scolds Impey about it, but that’s mostly because of a sudden uptick in mafia stuff (which to be fair would also be bad, because had it been actual mafia they’d have gotten there in time to find Cardia’s bullet-ridden corpse instead) and not because he let Cardia go unsupervised while Twilight is still looking for her.

Okay, that’s a lot of words harping on one thing, but it’s the vital starting point of this entire story. It’s important, and it is ridiculous. Anyway, moving on. Stuff happens that isn’t important except as a plot framing device. Cardia talks with Shirley and her dad, and immediately accidentally reveals her poison. As one does. Because the mafia looks at a living weapon and doesn’t immediately recoil in horror, Cardia instantly latches on to them to the point that she almost forgets Lupin’s crew exists for a few seconds. (Elaine and Etty, too)

She remembers that ‘oh, you kidnapped me and you kept me in London and not in a super obvious landmark like St. Paul’s Cathedral or some apartment in Baker’s Street, you screwed up!’ just in time for the rescue party to make their explosive entrance. The crew sans Saint Germain (because Germain would be murdering people and that would be unfortunate under the circumstances) arrive in a blaze of glory that is, frankly, pretty fun and has a cool CGI. It’s a bright spot that’s only slightly dragged down by Cardia koalaing the first second third (fourth counting Sholmes just being surprised on the train and then discounting it) group of people who don’t see her as a monster (in a timeline where she never saw her 665 past versions) immediately upon seeing her alien acid--I mean poison.

Saint Germain arrives home just in time to feel a bit awkward for missing Cardia’s monthly kidnapping and hints at plot stuff. Delly is also there and is cute enough that Saint Germain can’t help teasing him a little. Some time later, no one seems particularly hurried, confirming this is either right after Victor’s chapter or an AU where Finis didn’t show up in the lab and everyone ended up at a dead end related to Isaac. Sholmes shows up at the mansion because for some reason a case that has his name practically written on it is too much for him to handle on his own and he feels he needs Arsene’s thief-y mind to help him with it (maybe he’s suspects it’s a trap and is looking into the Certain Person he’s hunting?) - For no reason in particular, he goes ahead and leads the Gordons to Germain’s mansion as well.

Because Germain is there, it’s a pretty okay scene despite that. Sholmes and Germain are very alike and understand each other extremely well, and it sucks how little they get to interact.

Alas, the good scene can’t last, because while there’s a bunch of adults in a room talking, they unfortunately dragged dead weight into it, and it’s just a count down before Shirley blows her top. THIS HERE IS THE FIRST INSTANCE OF SOMETHING THAT REALLY BOTHERS ME.

Everyone, Cardia included, keeps crowing about how Shirley is Cardia’s first/only friend that is “Her age and gender”. Shirley is 13. At the end of this route, they will make a point to show that she’s about Delly’s age - Delly who is like a little brother/son and who never gets a route even two fandiscs in, because he’s too young. Cardia (although actually like 6) is in the body of someone who’s 17-18 years old. She’s a ‘young lady’, but not a child. She’s old enough that it’s not weird for thousands of years old Germain to be in love with her, nor is it creepy that Impey wants to sex her like a day after meeting her, and anywhere from 6 months to a year from the end of the plot each route she gets married. She’s old enough that Jack the Ripper considers her a legitimate target. She is NOT 13. Shirley isn’t her age, Shirley doesn’t act like her age. She’s basically a kid Cardia constantly has to babysit and who drags Cardia into trouble with her childish antics. It’s annoying that the game conflates a prepubescent child with an adult just because they’re both teenagers.

Anyway.

Shirley, in all her infinite wisdom, throws a temper tantrum because REASONS, and decides to drag Cardia out of an important meeting to go ‘have fun’ around town. And not only that, but she demands to do it without a single guard. While there are drug crazed killers wandering around town, and more importantly Twilight soldiers still looking for Cardia. Lupin gang comes to the absolutely deranged conclusion that Cardia will be fine ‘if she only runs into one or two Twilight’ as if that has ever been the case.

Remember how they all berated Impey for letting Cardia go on her own because dangerous mafia was out in the town? And then Cardia IMMEDIATELY GOT KIDNAPPED? Well, they don’t, because they all come to the same conclusion that Impey did and completely forget there’s still a group of killer mafia out there who probably are all the more likely to target Cardia when the daughter of a rival family is with her. If they wanted Shirley to shut up/Cardia to have some girl time, but they weren’t willing to send any adults out after her because it would be a bummer to catch that guy up on what he missed later, they could have sent Delly off to secretly tail her. But, again...Delly has his statue and now wants NOTHING to do with this route. As well he should.

Obviously, Cardia gets kidnapped immediately.

But first:

Shirley drags Cardia all over the place like an over-excited puppy, until she makes it to the mafia controlled festival place. Evidently it’s not her mafia, because while people are polite to her she still has to pay and play the games to get prizes. The cliche ‘she’s so good at shooting that an intentionally broken gun at a carnival game is no match for her’ thing plays out, complete with the ‘begging her to stop or they’ll go broke’ thing. What happens if you win too much is that the owner just says ‘mmkay you’re done for today’, that’s all. Also, even if you won the whole inventory from him, chances are he’s already made so much from failed attempts that it’d just be an annoyance.

At their last stop before they go home, Shirley finally realizes they’re being tailed (great reflexes, Shirley), and naturally her 13 year old, no-gun, no backup self immediately sprints after the person she’s sure killed her mother. Cardia, instead of picking up the girl with her superior strength and speed and carrying her home, foolishly decides to go off into the alleyways - which she KNOWS she shouldn’t do - after her.

Shock. Shirley runs into a blatant trap, because she is a child. She barks and yaps at the mafioso because she could do literally nothing else when she’s not even armed, and then Cardia is kidnapped alongside Shirley. Good job, Shirley! Your father was part of a three-part collaboration to take down Avido, but you bravely marched yourself into his arms and gave him ultimate leverage against not one but two of those groups!

Instead of instantly being killed to send a message, or even immediately used as effective leverage, they’re fortunate enough to just get stuck on a ship. It’s a good thing Avido has no connections to Twilight, because it sure would suck if he kept Shirley for leverage and then sent Cardia off to Finis. Fortunately, Impey learned from his previous mistake and this time put the tracker ON Cardia. So they can find her dead body more easily, if she ran into literally anyone who didn’t decide to just keep her safely locked up somewhere instead of killing her.

Shirley tells her sob story, it pales in comparison to even Lupin’s past, but Cardia feels terrible for her anyway because she hasn’t heard any of those stories yet on this route. Shirley, who wouldn’t sound out of place as Leon’s daughter, screams and tantrums about how she’s definitely gonna kill Avido while trapped in a cell who-knows-where with no actual way to kill him. She nearly just kills herself instead, slamming uselessly into the door like a rabid dog. Cardia has to jump in the way just to stop her.

Because, despite her rampant kidnapping, Cardia is actually competent most of the time, once Shirley stops causing a ruckus Cardia manages to spring them from the cell. The escape doesn’t last, because Avido uses ‘infinite footsteps’ jutsu, and Cardia and Shirley are surrounded. Remember in the Train Robbery chapter where Cardia remarks that Van Helsing taught her it’s really hard to get overwhelmed in an enclosed space like a tight hallway?

Yeah, forget that.

Anyway, in a charming semi-callback moment, the wall explodes nearby, letting Van Helsing and Germain into the hallway, chattering pleasantly with each other. Germain looks dapper AF while walking through the wreckage of the wall, as usual. It’s a nice moment. And, you know, if you get rescued by Van and Germain you’re pretty much set. Not much is gonna overwhelm that.

EXCEPT WHEN IT DOES, HAH. Avido pulls the ol’ “I have your friends and if you don’t want them to die, you’d best come with me peacefully” and so naturally the noted war hero whose family died because he went along with such a demand and the hostage taker killed them anyway, and the multi-thousands of year old assassin who has not just seen every trick in the book but probably written the book, immediately fall for it and go along with Avido.

Everyone, including the trickster thief and the other mafioso, also fell for the trick and so everyone ends up gathered in one place at the ballroom as Avido wants. Fortunately, Avido didn’t bring them all together to easily execute them, because their total lack of trust for each other’s skills really would have bitten them all in the butt then (except Germain, who would have egg on his face shortly before he killed all the mafia on board in revenge, I’m sure). Instead, he just wants them to...be there.

No, he doesn’t have any specific purpose for them. He just wants them there. He also wants Cardia dressed up for no particular reason. Fortunately, the Gordons gave Cardia a fancy dress right before she got kidnapped, and Victor has the poison proofing down so well now that he can just go ahead and treat a complex ensemble like that while riding in a car speeding its way to Liverpool. Because...well, there’s no actual reason why he’d feel it was an emergency to treat that clothing, nor why he’d even have brought it, but it’s a good thing Victor really wanted to see Cardia in that dress.

I guess you can argue that Lupin decided it was a part of his plan to make Cardia strip down and swap clothes when they found her so she could sneak out, but...that’s a stretch and a half. Especially when they were exploding walls to get in and find her. Stealth is gone when you use explosions, boys.

Anyway, the outfits Lupin made for the boys are great. Yes, they’re a little plain and not nearly as quirky as their normal ones...but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Some annoying things like Impey’s always half-off sleeve are gone, and both Victor’s questionable color scheme and Lupin’s atrocity are replaced with a suit meant to make them look good. Still the pointless top hats though. Always the top hats.

Unfortunately, though Shirley’s also meant to change, the plot and game itself instantaneously forgets this and it’s never mentioned or shown. Even more unfortunate: you might see Cardia in a beautiful new outfit and hope for the boys to give some kind of impressed, breathtaken, or blushy response.

They won’t. No one even comments on how she looks beyond maybe Shirley. Not even Impey, noted horndog, makes a comment. Lupin who presumably is the reason they brought the dress at all makes no comment, In short, Cardia looking pretty is just for you, the player. It won’t make any difference except that she gets a CG or two dressed up in it.

Avido flexes that all the sketchy mafia and questionable nobility who attend a black market cruise are in danger if Lupin or Gordon makes a move. Fortunately for his plans, everyone except Shirley actually cares about that, and so their hands are tied. Again, not really sure why Avido would threaten his customers so that people who want to take him down and provide him zero benefit won’t do anything when he even says later he could gun them down in full view and none of his customers would find it weird.

When the gang and mafia are all put into an extravagant room that Saint Germain had previously booked for himself (because he’s a bit of a cad that loves his antiques, dammit, the fact that it’s illegally acquired is really not that important!) Shirley realizes it’s been practically a whole half hour since she’s made a nuisance of herself, and so she starts screaming and tantrumming because her father didn’t shoot Avido dead back when there were countless bystanders around and each one of her allies - herself included - had guns pointed at them.

No. She literally throws a shrieking tantrum that involves flinging things across the room when he sends her off essentially ‘to her room’, and then spends the rest of the night sobbing into Passy’s arms. This, the person who keeps whining and complaining that no one will treat her like an adult, that people keep sheltering, that Cardia bafflingly keeps trying to compare herself to. She has a childish meltdown when she’s told ‘no, we can’t just kill Avido right now’.

Amazing.

Her dad, Darius, tells his sob story. It’s basically the same as Shirley’s, nothing really to write home about. Honestly, I kept expecting some kind of twist where Shirley’s mother actually betrayed them and he’d been forced to kill her to save Shirley, or her mother was actually on the cruise ship working with Avido. That’s how boring and unimportant the backstory is. You think Impey and Lupin’s stories are limp? Shirley’s story is just a big old ‘so?’. Even the last detail Darius later adds is like ‘and? You got angry and wanted to kill someone for murdering your wife. But you didn’t.’

Imagine for a moment if Germain’s story was that he got to know that little boy, got attached, and then even though he desperately didn’t want to do it, he killed him like he was supposed to. And then nothing happened after that, he just went on continuing to Idea Apostle

YEAH! THAT’S RIGHT! EVEN THAT WOULD BE MUCH WORSE THAN DARIUS’ STORY.

I’m getting sidetracked here, but this is a brutal part of the story that’s hard to get through, because Shirley is so beyond obnoxious, screaming and throwing a literal fit because no one listens to her, while they play the sad music that means you’re supposed to care.

Anyway, because Avido was too dumb to kill the people who are determined to stop him, Lupin and the others immediately start plotting to stop him. There’s a drug plot that’s designed to make the statue Lupin steals matter and give Victor something to do. Cardia is a competent nurse and Victor looks hot while he saves someone’s life, but man did I think it was a trap when someone ran in saying Victor was calling for her. That would be giving this route WAY too much credit.

For reasons that aren’t clear, there’s a room that has a bunch of counterfeit treasures of everything that’s up for sale. They bad counterfeits, though, and couldn’t possibly be mistaken for the same item, so it’s not like it’s an art theft swap or something. It just serves to show where a small part of the drugs are hidden. Not all of them, mind, because that would give the room a reason to exist. Just some of it.

The crew split up. Impey and Van Helsing both go to the engine room so they can seize it and turn the ship around before it can go to international waters. Because for some reason crimes committed there would cause a war or something. Cardia probably could have mentioned to them that she took out the whole engine crew on her own, so using up the vampire AND the living weapon on that assignment isn’t likely to be necessary, but that’d require some kind of sense, which this route doesn’t have.

Victor, Lupin, and Germain do...stuff. I think Germain goes off to seize the drugs in the food, Victor goes off somewhere nondescript to make an antidote, and Lupin farts around for a while to waste some time. What’s important is that even though Cardia’s there to see all the assignments go out, Lupin secretly also told Germain to find all the valuables in the ship and set charges on them. Probably because it would take .5 seconds for Germain to overpower some cooks and mafia boys and everyone knows it.

Cardia, bereft of plot, goes back to the room to wait to be important, and finds out that Shirley realized she slept through her half hour and forced her way through a window...I guess to the outside of the ship? And scaled up the outside of the hull like the demon beast she is, to escape confinement in her room. So she can run off and be a waste of space and oxygen not in her room, but somewhere actively detrimental to all the plans everyone’s made without her.

Presumably because everyone is as sick of Shirley as I am at this point, no one even tries to look for her this time. Maybe they all hoped she fell off overboard, I dunno. You’d think they’d all know she’d make a beeline to Avido and go collect her there, banking on the fact that Avido doesn’t know they’re planning anything (effective) and is determined to make them play the part of innocent passengers right now. But nah. She’d just screw up any plan they made anyway.

Lupin showboats around and disseminates the antidote to all the passengers during the auction via a fancy champagne tower. Then, long before all of them could actually have drank their cups, he goes ahead and tells Avido exactly what he’s done, forcing them to move onto the next step. The step that definitely involves most of the passengers dropping their glasses in a blind panic.

Avido, by the way, is a human traficker. The reason he keeps Cardia alive and kidnaps her instead of leaving her be or killing her is because he thinks she’d sell for a high price. It’s not a secret that he does this. Mafia apparently do it all the time, to the point where the no-crime Gordon family casually discuss the possibility of selling Cardia until another person has to remind the first that ‘yo we don’t do that’. Avido also traffics drugs. Drugs which inevitably either kill the user or turns the user into a violent zombie akin to a Hidden Strength victim, meaning that he’s causing a lot of deaths. Avido has personally killed a whole lot of people. He murdered one of his henchmen just because they failed to get a statue he doesn’t even care that much about.

Got that? Avido’s a bad boy. Objectively, Avido is worse than just about anyone else in the game other than Victoria - who at least has her ‘greater good’ reasons - Isaac - who is insane with grief - and Azoth. Hidden Strength victims are out of their mind, and while Nemo is callous toward human life in the face of science, he doesn’t go out of his way to murder for kicks and giggles. He’s also insane. Omnibus, also, is a question of personal morality vs greater good. Avido? Stone-cold sane, no greater good involved, he just wants power because he thinks it sounds fun.

Now that we’ve established that, does anyone in the room just kill Avido?

No. No they do not. Instead, they waffle about it and ramble about philosophy until he’s able to wrench back the upper hand via sheer numbers (because Van and Germain are otherwise engaged), and backs everyone up onto the surface of the boat.

Sadly, Shirley didn’t fall off the boat, she just jumped into Avido’s arms so she could become his hostage. AGAIN. He doesn’t reveal this at first, even when they’re outside and he has the upper hand. He takes his time before he brings out the unconscious Shirley. Supposedly she got so far as to point a gun at Avido this time, but I don’t think I believe him, because her strategy up until this point has been ‘angrily yap at him hoping he’ll just off himself’. Plus she’s supposed to actually have some skill with a gun and is psychotically enraged at him. She’d definitely have shot him if she ever thought to bring a gun.

Fortunately, there’s still some competent people on board the ship, and Impey + Van Helsing bust through the top of the ship in Impey’s automobile to help turn the tide of the battle. Sisi is there too. Which makes one ask ‘where is Delly, then?’

The answer is ‘not in this route, screw you, he doesn’t want to be here’.

Where’s Germain? He’s busy. It’ll be obvious why in a bit. That said, they have Avido dead to rights once Van Helsing and Impey get there (it’s mostly Van. Impey’s great and all, but Van doesn’t need back up) What do they do? Do they kill this murdering scumbag who wants to rule the entire world just so he can kill people when he feels like it? Who’s sold girls off into slavery? Who’s killed people just because he felt annoyed?

NO. FOR IF YOU KILL ME, BATMAN, YOU WILL BECOME ME.

Now, Impey and Lupin don’t kill. Even when Lupin was like ‘Hey, I love this girl and if you say that again I’ll literally kill you’, he didn’t actually kill the guy when the person immediately said it again. Victor can do it, but it’s pretty deeply traumatizing to him, and he’s pretty firmly in the ‘might doesn’t make right’ camp. But Van Helsing does. Sure, he’s deeply traumatized from the war and he won’t kill unless necessary - pretty much it’s a hard sell to kill anyone not Finis shaped....but he does it. Between ‘crime family compromising its ideals for revenge and becoming criminals’ and ‘man under the protection of the crown killing a violent and horrible criminal he was sent to deal with who has directly endangered his friends’, Van’s gonna just step up and do it.

Instead though, it seems Lupin had told everyone on the team except Cardia about his actual plan, which was to blow all the treasures to hell instead, and let Shirley pull the trigger. because revenge, I guess.

Since the ship is now SINKING, Impey and everyone but Germain (hold pls, he’s busy) drive off of the ship onto the dock in a way that would definitely do damage to the car and the dock, and into the night with the assumption that the Yard will do clean up from there.

In the biggest plot twist of the entire route, when treated the exact same way he was last time he got caught and had his plans blow up in his face, Avido again doesn’t learn his lesson. Instead, he manages to get a mother heckin tank off of his sinking ship and chases the Impeymobile through the streets.

Let me take a moment to say: the insane scientist he got this from had BETTER be Nemo, or else all of Victoria’s dreams of the UK having superior military force to the rest of the world just went up in smoke. Because, fun fact, Germany wasn’t so hard to handle in WW2 because of mustard gas. It was their tanks. (and as another aside: Germany got beaten up in WW1, only to come back dominant in WW2, so Victoria’s entire ‘spark a world war now to ensure dominance forever’ plan wouldn’t work no matter what)

Anyway, back to the subject at hand: I’m not mad that they don’t know how to fight a tank. That’s understandable. Tanks are a big deal. My problem is that the tank is able to plow right through solid brick buildings lengthwise. Not one or two, but just...constantly plowing through the alleyways at a speed so high that an automobile can’t escape. That is not how it works. Another problem is that neither Impey nor Lupin ever realize that the tank can’t turn for heck, and the automobile could spin circles around it if necessary.

But most of all, Avido pops his stupid head out of the tank at one point during the chase, and somehow it continues to be piloted. There’s never any mention or indication that anyone is in that tank besides him, he’s just Mr. Fantastic, and can stretch out and bend his legs infinitely, allowing him to pilot a tank full speed while standing more than halfway out of the thing. Worse than that super power, we have an impenetrable literal tank chasing the Lupin group around, destroying Liverpool, backing them into a corner. Soon they’re going to run out of a place to run, or they’re going to get hit and die.

Why, then, does Van Helsing see Avido pop his stupid head out, and proceed to do literally nothing? Obviously at this point he should just kill Avido, because nothing else will stop him, but just a few minutes before it’s mentioned that Van Helsing is so quick to switch from shrapnel to rock salt that it looks like some kind of a super power, which means he has ZERO reason he can’t just shoot Avido in the face with rock salt and knock the fool out.

Instead...they do nothing and just listen to him babble for a bit until his head pops back in again. Then they discuss jumping over to the tank and probably intend to get in there to get at him. You know, like they could have just done if he popped his head out.

Faced with all possible choices, Lupin decides the smart thing to do is to ram full speed into a renovating hotel and hope Avido is stupid enough to follow in. And, you know, that the falling debris will do anything to a tank that rammed right through an entire alleyway worth of buildings without slowing down or looking at all damaged.

Van Helsing is Van Helsing, and he protects the automobile from excessive damage, and lo - the plan works. It incapacitates the tank.

Avido, who could now safely play dead and wait for them to leave, instead climbs out of the tank (uninjured) and comes at them again. At this point although he was initially intimidated by Van Helsing he seems to be aware that no one is ever going to kill him, because he charges Van Helsing again.

Cue long boring monologue involving Avido’s slightly more interesting sob story and Darius absolutely refusing to ever kill Avido because IDEALS.

Currently they looped back around to the port and are near the boat, which may make you say ‘oh wait, where is Saint Germain anyway?’ The answer to that question is ‘not there, because we can’t have a literal time assassin who massacres entire villages of innocent people for the sake of the timeline be here while we pretend that good people don’t kill’. Sholmes also sat this out, because he would have been given permission to kill Avido legally, and we can’t have that.

But yes.

Germain’s busy on the boat threatening to kill people for some sweet art, while everyone is passionately preaching at Avido that they’d never kill him, not ever. Which is good for Avido, because if Germain weren’t busy getting filthier rich, the conversation would have been cut very short.

Y’know.

When Germain just stabbed him through the heart from behind.

As he does.

Also, we’d have to answer the question of ‘if this man is endangering the entire world with his plan, or even all of London, isn’t this a serious concern for the proper path of humanity? Ie; shouldn’t Germain be killing this man?’ if he were there.

Darius is like ‘well, you’re family, so even though you’re a murderous psychopath who purposefully got people nonconsensually addicted to a deadly drug and sold who knows how many innocents into slavery, I’m gonna look out for you’ just in time for Leonhart to show up and flail angrily at Arsene.

He immediately blames Lupin and the gang for the mass destruction of Liverpool, and instead of anyone saying “Well, actually it’s that tank there, It kept shelling the place and mowing through buildings because Avido is a psychopath”, Victor goes “Well, we have no excuse”

yes

yes you do

you didn’t do the destruction. (Except the hotel, but at that point it was ‘damage a rebuilding hotel or die’, so really...)

There’s a vaguely humorous bit where the mafioso realizes that the royal guard isn’t interested in arresting the mafia, just the random band of thieves, and then, wonderfully...Saint Germain finally shows up.

Truly, he lights up everything when he’s around. Aside from the times when he’s obligated to turn his murder blades on Cardia. That’s just sad.

Anyway, left to his own devices, Germain extorted a bunch of mafia into overfilling his automobile full of priceless treasures and cash. He’s shameless about it. It’s adorable. Give that man your art. Do it. It’s not a request, he’s taking your art.

Anyway, since the Impeymobile is wrecked, they all hop into Germain’s getaway car, and zoom off in a pretty cute ending CG, benny hill music playing as Leon chases them and Victor - poor, precious baby - nearly falling out of the car like a dweeb.

Sadly, there’s an epilogue, because this route is bad and it won’t let Germain save it.

Oh yeah, there’s an irrelevant noble who dies right before Germain probably would have killed him anyway. It’s stated that no one really tries to stop Germain from keeping his treasures, because most of them were originally acquired illegally and some are even national treasures of other nations, so even acknowledging they exist would possibly spark a war that Victoria totally, definitely doesn’t actually want for realsies.

Victoria responds to them saving the country and the world by not really responding. Instead, she sends them an invoice for the damage to Liverpool that they didn’t cause. It’s just so knee-slappingly hilarious that the invoice somehow matches the cost of those aforementioned priceless treasures. Because that gag is ALWAYS FUNNY AND NEVER OLD! IT’S SO FUNNY! HAHA THEY MADE MONEY BUT THE COST TOOK UP ALL THE MONEY! HAHA

except you know...

how...

how does the cost match priceless artifacts? Germain isn’t selling them, and he can’t even if he wants to. There’s not even price tags on some of them. How is it they’re ‘in the red’? Just the cash that was in the car?

Yeah, no, it’s stupid.

And to just cap off that bowl of stupid, we get to see The Demon, who unfortunately survived her repeated kamekaze attempts. This time the Lupin gang remembered that Twilight exists, so Delly and Passy go with her and Cardia on the town.

Naturally, because Shirley’s a little shit, she harasses and disrespects Delly.

...Well, it’s supposed to just be ‘two kids playing’, but Shirley’s a miserable little cave troll without a single redeeming iota of her being, so it just comes off as her being unreasonably rude to Delly.

There’s another photographer moment like in the Airship picture, but instead of a cute picture, it’s cropped out Delly and Passy, and just focuses on Shirley and Cardia holding ice cream, while the little brat has five scoops on her cone, which is definitely going to end up mostly melted on the street.

The route ends with Cardia being happy that she’s ‘made a friend that’s her same gender and age’. After establishing RIGHT BEFORE that Shirley is about Delly’s age, and is playing like a child with him while Cardia and Passy watch them.

Also for some weird reason, everyone is convinced that Sisi is a guard dog in this route. Just because.

You might think ‘is there a pay off with that whole statue thing’? no

You might think ‘okay, so what’s the conclusion with Herlock Sholmes? Does he toss some part of his earning for the assignment to Lupin and the others who actually did 100% of the job while he sat back and did nothing?’ no, nothing happens

You may think ‘okay, at least maybe they clarify what happens with the Twilight, or where Shirley is during the epilogues?’ no

no they don’t.

you may even think ‘at least Avido is dead or in prison or something permanently punished for all the horrible-’

it’s a bad route

it’s an awful route

it’s bad, bro.

Just enjoy the boys - particularly Germain - being cute. That’s all you get.

But not Delly.

Delly didn’t want to be a part of this crappy route.

#code realize #code realize future blessings #code:realize-future blessings #code: realize-future blessings #shirley gordon #code realize review #ooc #spoilers #SHIRLEY GORDON IS A GOBLIN MADE OF NOTHING BUT SUFFERING EXCEPT ITS YOURS #SHE EXISTS TO MAKE YOU SUFFER AND WONDER WHY YOU BOUGHT THIS GAME #long post

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otomeverything · 6 years ago

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CODE REALIZE: WINTERTIDE MIRACLES

Release Date: February 14, 2019 (North America) Developers: Idea Factory, Otomate Publishers: Aksys Games Platforms: PS Vita, PS4

I literally took my time playing this FD, knowing it’s the last (physical) otome game that will ever grace localization in the PS Vita.

Code Realize: Wintertide Miracles (Shirogane no Kiseki) is the second fandisc of the series, Code Realize. This game contains varieties of alternate and after stories that happened after the events of the last fandisc, Future Blessings.

This fandisc contains the following stories:

Cantarella (Side Story) – Walkthrough available here.

Finis’s Epilogue

Sholme’s Epilogue

Love Triangle Stories (Short Stories)

Wintertide Miracles “First Christmas” (Alternate Stories)

Special Epilogues (Epilogues for White Rose’s stories in Future Blessings)

ART AND MUSIC I know this is probably redundant as I’ve gushed about it a few times in my reviews for Guardian of Rebirth and Future Blessings. But, the artist Miko has done it again! I could not for the life of me, describe how incredibly beautiful the CGs are for this fandisc. There were also new sprites available for all the main and side characters, wearing their cozy winter outfits. Even Queen Victoria gets a new sprite wearing her expensive royal fur faux garb!

What I also loved about this fandisc were the new BGMs added for the series, they were all unforgettable and were specially made for the game’s Yuletide theme. One song that really stood out to me was the second Ending theme (Finis’ and Sholmes’ ED) “Beside You” by the artist SHOJI. Listen to the full track below:

***I purchased the whole soundtrack for Code Realize: Wintertide Miracles in iTunes. Link here.

NEW CHARACTERS

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Cantarella (CV: Mamiko Noto) – Fuuka (Persona 4), Kotomi Ichinose (Clannad), Inia Sestina (MuV Luv), Felicita (Arcana Famiglia), Marvis Vermilion (Fairy Tale)

Miles Strand (CV: Keiji Fujiwara) – Kagura Mutsuki (Blazblue), Jiro Hyuuga (Binary Star), Reno (Final Fantasy), Kiriya (Senran Kagura), Sakuya Tougane (Psycho Pass)

Baron of Aiguille (CV: Sugiyama Noriaki) – Akito (Norn9), Thor (Kamigami no Asobi), Suou Hana (Ayakashi Gohan), Katsuragi Naomasa (Yunohana Spring), Kashika Galle (Cendrillon Palika)

SIDE STORIES AND AFTER STORIES I did Cantarella’s route first, followed by Finis and Sholme’s epilogues, then knocked out the love triangle dates before I played the main course, that is the “First Christmas” alternate stories for Wintertide Miracles. I myself, enjoyed this play order, though I would suggest playing whatever story you feel like playing first because that’s the whole point of a fandisc! lol

CANTARELLA (Another Story) This story happened somewhere in the middle of Guardian of Rebirth’s common route. On their way home, after watching a performance at the Royal Opera House, Cardia and the rest of Lupin’s gang witnessed an attempted kidnapping of the Opera House’s beloved songstress, Cantarella. They’ve managed to save her as well as send her perpetrator running for the hills. They then took Cantarella to her home for safety measures, which lead the gang to meet her so-called “father” Miles. In this story, Cardia finds a friend in Cantarella and later on, discovers her true identity as both their existence managed to connect each other’s fates.

Just like “Lupin’s Gang’s” (side) story in Future Blessings, Cantarella’s route offers new likable characters and an interesting new plot for us to follow. Although I’ve very much enjoyed this story (for what it is), I didn’t like how the writers threw in these important characters on the third game, since canonically they don’t matter anymore as the main plot officially ended in Future Blessings. I would rather have this as an alternate story than a side story because It felt kind of unfair for Cantarella, Miles, and Auguille to get dissed like that after this little episode. lol Unless they’re planning on a third fandisc! (laughs)

Although the choices you make in Cantarella’s route, will not change the whole outcome of her story. It will, however, change a few scenes and dialogues in the game depending on the guy (main characters) your choices are inclined to. You can view my walkthrough for this route here.

FINIS’ EPILOGUE (After Story) This after story took place right after the end of Finis’s route in Future Blessings.

Six months have passed since Cardia managed to save his little brother, Finis from the unfortunate Nautilus incident in London. During this time, both twins return to their home in Wales and spend each day cleaning and repairing their old abandoned house while enhancing their bond as siblings. Suddenly, all hell breaks loose when one of Isaac Beckford’s invention called the “Knockers” have been spotted destroying a couple of buildings in London. It was made clear in the story, that these supposed-to-be-quarantined inventions of Isaac were “wrongly” activated by accident and it is now, up to the Beckford twins (Finis’ most especially, since he’s fully knowledgeable when it comes to their father’s inventions) to stop this heaving uproar that threatened London its peaceful days.

This was probably one of my favorite After Stories in the series. Not only we get to see Finis in his true nature, as Cardia’s adorable cinnamon roll lil’ brother. We also get to see Lupin’s Gang and the Gordon Family in action as they help out clear the disruption in the streets of London during the main incident. ***This epilogue was very heartwarming and I absolutely enjoyed seeing Finis’ soft side while he deliberately declares threats whenever one of the main bois flirts with his sister! *chuckles* (´ ω `♡)

HERLOCK SHOLME’S EPILOGUE (After Story) This after story took place right after the end of Sholme’s route in Future Blessings.

It’s been half a year since Sholmes defeated his arch nemesis, James Moriaty (in Code realize Future Blessings). During this story, Cardia becomes part of Sholmes’ Detective agency together with his partner John Watson. The three of them fight crimes for the cause of good, even to the extent of ‘trying‘ to stop Lupin, the gentleman thief’s planned diamond heist of the prized jewel called “Mermaid’s Tear”. Though try as they might, Lupin, as cunning as he is, still gets the upper hand and was able to escape with ease together with his genius engineer assistant, Impey. I know this was just a filler episode but it was kind of weird seeing Cardia as their enemy for once, but oh well…

Anyway, Sholmes actual main story revolved around finding a cure to Cardia’s poison. As the Horologium still present in Cardia’s body, this fact still poses a threat that one day it will activate again, killing her along with the demise of London and its people. With this complication at hand, Sholmes gathered his A-team geniuses in the field of science and medicine; Victor Frankenstein, Dr. John Watson, Impey Barbicane and even the deviant genius scientist Nemo, who apparently now lives in a tiny cardboard box located in sewers (laughs) 😂 Poor guy! As all of them try their hardest to conduct research on a formula that will counteract the horologium’s poison, more problems seep into the picture that eventually causes Sholmes and Cardia make one life-threatening decision.

I like how Sholmes’ epilogue was narrated in a fairytale-esque kind of way. I enjoyed the story’s fluff content though, to be honest, this is probably the weakest story in the game (imo) as there really wasn’t anything “new” going on. Nonetheless, if you’re a fan of Sholmes, I’m sure you’ll have an awesome time discovering a few surprising sides of our favorite hot daddy detective.

FIRST CHRISTMAS “Wintertide Miracles” (Alternate Stories) These are “after stories” that happened right after Finis’ route in Future Blessings. It’s merely an alternate story where our heroine Cardia finds love during the Yuletide season. We get one story for every five main characters. What’s really special about these stories is that Cardia falls in love with one of the guys while his brother is alive! …THIS couldn’t be any more perfect, ❤️ I almost wished this was headcanon!

Spoiler Warning: I will only be posting each story’s premise but I’m putting up my spoiler banner just in case.

Victor Frankenstein After Isaac Beckford’s Nautilus incident that wreaked havoc in the city of London six months ago. Victor ended up opening a clinic located in the downtown part of London in order to help as many people as possible at a cheaper cost.

Victor’s main story started when one day he receives a mail from his parents in Switzerland telling him to settle down. He, in reply, told them he has no plans in getting married anytime soon but then started talking about how he’s currently interested with this ‘one girl’ and went all out writing two whole pages regarding his feelings for Cardia. (´ ε ` )♡ Without thinking of any repercussions, he sends the letter back to his parents judging its only the right thing to do as he’s speaking honestly from his heart. uwu. The next few days, he receives a reply letter from his mom saying they’re coming to London for Christmas so they can meet their son, Vic’s girlfriend. 🤣

In result, a panicked Victor travels to Wales to ask Cardia to be his “pretend” girlfriend just for Christmas while his parents are in town. 😂

***This was by far the cutest, most endearing “First Christmas” story I’ve read among the selections and I absolutely enjoyed it to bits! Besides its overwhelming fluffy contents, we also get to see Victor introducing Cardia to his parents (in CG!).

Saint Germain Six months after the Nautilus Incident, Saint Germain, visits Idea’s leader Omnibus and reports that both Finis and Cardia, Isaac Beckford’s “problematic twins” are now living peacefully in Wales as normal human beings and are no longer a threat to humanity. As one of Idea’s faithful apostle, he awaits for Omnibus next order but was surprised to hear her tell him to take a long sweet vacation instead.

Still dumbfounded by their leader’s words, Saint Germain goes back to the mansion to find something to do with his newly acquired free time but since everyone in Lupin’s gang went about their own lives after London’s incident, he was left as the only resident in his house. This made him feel lonely and he admits to himself how much he misses the rowdy group clamoring inside the premise of his mansion. What’s more, is that he longs to see the face of his beloved, who he has not seen since his last visit in Wales.

This made him decide to write invitation letters to the group for a Christmas “Get-together” party. Though unsure if his anticipated guests would actually make it to the planned event. Saint Germain waits with hopeful eyes to see the faces of his precious friends again.

***The part where he waits for his friends actually made me tear 😭. Why are Saint Germain’s stories always melancholic? Why?! Thank goodness, this ended really REALLY happy. I would also like to gush on the fact that this is the only episode in the whole series where we get to see Guinevere outside her armor! Seriously, you absolutely can’t miss this!

Abraham Van Helsing After London’s Nautilus incident, Van decides to travel with Delly all over United Kingdom in search for survivors of the Vampire War.

During their travels, the duo hears about the upcoming Christmas festival in London and decides to come home for the occasion as well as attend the gang’s Christmas party at Saint Germain’s mansion. They haven’t seen everyone in a while, so this decision made Van and Delly both excited. While at it, Delly proposes to take a side trip to Wales before coming to London and see the Beckford twins. Van agrees with him with Cardia in mind. ( ´ ▽ ` )

A few days have passed and they both arrived at Cardia and Finis’ home in Wales only to be disheartened to see the twins not being around. But with optimism as their friend, Van and Delly decided to wait. Night falls, and finally, Cardia and Finis arrived in the most unfashionable way ever (their automobile almost came crashing towards the duo) 😂 Everyone says their greetings when Cardia noticed that Van and Delly have been waiting out in the cold for too long, so she insisted they stay for the night.

The supposed-to-be one night stay turned into days and the group eventually decided to go to London together. While still in Wales, Cardia wanted to make everyone Christmas presents in the form of knitting and Van insisted on helping her with it.

***I love this! (/▽＼*) This surprising side of Van Helsing is all I ever wanted. I’m so glad to see him happy, always smiling and in his positive beaming self. It’s so refreshing! I need more happy-ray-of-sunshine Van Helsing in my life!

Impey Barbicane Half a year has passed since the Nautilus incident in London and Impey visits the deviant scientist Nemo in prison from time to time as he plans to re-invent the gravity alleviator and is currently taking notes on Nemo’s advise while at it.

One day, In Saint Germain’s mansion, Saint tells Impey they received word from Van and Delly saying they’ll be back in London for Christmas. Since Lupin and Victor are already residing in the city, they decided to might as well invite Cardia and Finis in order for the gang to reunite once more this Yuletide season.

Meanwhile, in Wales, Cardia, (while fixing their automobile) thinks of how Impey’s constant declaration of love for her makes her heart feel woozy. She gets confused because she’s sure she loves Impey back but also “loves” the other members of Lupin’ s gang as well as her brother Finis. With this train of thought, she pesters her little bro and forced him to say the phrase “I love you” (to her), to which a blushing Finis, with all the effort, reluctantly did. 😂 But then yo girl was like “Oh but why does it feel different when Impey says it?” 😂 😂 😂 ROFL. This was adorably hilarious! I just can’t! 😂

Later that day, they received a package from London in the form of a miniature Impey doll with a recording of Impey, Saint Germain and Lupin’s voice telling the siblings to come home for Christmas.

***I really enjoyed reading this one! I love how Cardia was strongly forward of wanting to explore her own feelings as she tries to discover the different meanings of “love”. …and seeing Impey immensely blush time and again was such an awesome treat, I couldn’t help but smile from ear to ear! Another plus point was that we get to see Nemo give love advises to yo boi and that, to me was the icing on the cake in this story! (laughs)

Arsene Lupin After the Nautilus incident in London six months ago, Lupin is back doing his thievery schemes like the proud gentleman thief he is.

One day while on a mission to steal a prized necklace from a corrupt Duke’s estate, he ends up being chased by Leonhartd as usual and just when he was about to execute his dashing escape, he gets distracted (by thoughts of Cardia) and gets shot by a rubber bullet instead. This, not only surprised Lupin himself but his perpetrators, Leonhardt, and his men were also perplexed at how they were able to take out the famed gentleman thief in one easy shot. In the end, an injured Lupin still managed to get away as he limped his way back to safety.

Back at the mansion, Victor along with Impey confronts Lupin saying he’s not being his usual self lately and asks him to perhaps, take a rain check from work (theft missions). A week later, Saint Germain chimes in, telling him the same and suggests that perhaps he’s longing for “someone”. Taking in the Count’s advise to heart, Lupin begins to think of Cardia and how her absence is taking a toll on him. He then concedes with his true feelings and finally admits he misses her badly and the only way to cure this yearning is to see her face to face. So he starts writing the ‘perfect’ love letter for his beloved lady. 😂

***I must say, this after-story has the best CGs, as expected from the game’s headcanon boi. Just like Lupin’s uwu story in Future Blessings, it had its glorious romantic moments between the couple. As far as I see it, the game is clearly biased on Lupin’s story… the kabedon scene and that loooong kiss at the end, come on! I couldn’t ask for more!

TRIANGLE DATES (More CGs!) These are short stories which involve scenarios of Cardia spending her day with two main characters in the series. Although these are rather shorter stories compared to the ‘Wintertide Miracles’ selection, I was really impressed by how exceptionally good these little episodes were. You think you’ve had enough doki-dokis? Try this one on for size!

Here’s a list of all the Love Triangle episodes (you can play it in any order):

Lupin and Victor

Lupin and Impey

Lupin and Van

Lupin and Saint Germain

Van and Impey

Van and Victor

Van and Saint Germain

Impey and Victor

Impey and Saint Germain

Victor and Saint Germain

Secret Episodes:

Delly and Sisi

Aliester and Nemo

Hansel and John Watson

SPECIAL EPILOGUES These are short epilogue stories continuing the last events of Future Blessings (White Rose). These will unlock last, after finishing all of the above’s selections.

IMPEY It’s been a few days and Impey hasn’t returned home after going on a work-related project (fixing airships and submarine engines in London). Cardia was left alone in the mansion and although she knows Impey will come back soon, she thought of surprising him by gathering a lot of research documents related to their ‘moon-project’. She leaves for Wales to collect any information her father might have written in the past that can possibly help with the project. Not to ruin the surprise for her hardworking husband, she leaves a note that says “I’m going”.

Impey arrives at home, finds the note then begins to panic thinking Cardia has left him.😂 So he hurries and follows her to Wales to clear out this whole silly misunderstanding.

LUPIN Cardia and Lupin go on a picnic at their secret place which has a great view of the industrial city of London and Lupin suggest that it’s about time to go on a honeymoon. Next few days, he takes Cardia to his birth city, Paris. There, they visit and the grave of his master, Theophraste and both of them said their prayers. They also ran into the head of the French police whom Lupin coined as someone equivalent to ossan Leonhartd. They had everyone (French police) chase them for fun and the couple gallantly escaped in style.

VAN Cardia and Van are finally getting married and Shirley helps Cardia put on her wedding dress. Cardia decided to step outside the church so she could practice walking in her high-heel shoes when a bunch of men in black suits kidnaps her and takes her to another wedding location. There she finds an impatient man wearing a groom’s outfit who urges her to walk down the aisle with him. Cardia remembers the combat techniques her husband taught her and throws the man to the floor. Meanwhile, a worried and upset Van bursts out through the church door and started taking down the men in suits Liam Neeson style! 😂 😂 😂 Before things get worse, the gang stops Van and explains this was all a misunderstanding as the kidnappers and groom were actually actors and the bride actress never showed up for rehearsals so they thought Cardia was her by mistake.

The Moral of the Story: Don’t mess with this couple… ever! 😂

VICTOR Cardia is now working as Victor’s assistant in the Royal Society and they spend their days doing research in Victor’s lab. Though they call themselves husband and wife, they realize that they never really had an actual wedding ceremony. So Victor asks Cardia if she wants to have a proper wedding and she says yes. A few days later, they began their search for a church in London but couldn’t find any since it’s peak season. Queen Victoria, along with Leonhardt notices Victor’s sullen expression and asks him what’s wrong, Victor tells them their circumstance and a snarky Victoria promises to help him only if he can prove to her how much he really wanted the wedding. After their deal, Victor comes home later than usual as he’s working extra hard to get her beloved wife that perfect wedding she deserves. Finally, the day has come for Victor to propose to Cardia and Victoria granted them permission to use the newly renovated St. Paul’s Cathedral. They got married in front of their friends and the Queen, and Cardia couldn’t be any happier.

SAINT GERMAIN Cardia is now free of her poison and she and Saint Germain return to London so they can hold their wedding ceremony. The Count buys the ship “Gloria” from their mafia adventures in Lupin’s Gang (Future Blessings) episode and tells her this will be their venue. A day before their promised wedding, Hansel takes Cardia to Omnibus cottage and there they meet with Saint Germain and the leader of Idea herself, Omnibus. The old lady gives them her blessing, saying they will no longer be in the watchful eye of Idea and Saint Germain is now finally, freeee! Both couples said their thanks to Omnibus. They got married in their luxurious ship the next day and all of their friends are with them happily celebrating the couple’s most special commemoration.

Will I be able to enjoy this game even if I haven’t played Future Blessings? There were a lot of characters and events in Future Blessings that were present and added to this game, so I don’t think it’s a good idea to skip Future Blessings in the series. In addition, the main “Wintertide Miracles” stories continue from the last events of Finis’s route in Future Blessings, so, all the more reason not to skip the first fandisc.

Localization There were a couple of typo mistakes that I couldn’t really overlook which makes me think that perhaps because of it’s promised released date on Valentines Day, the game was rather rushed and there wasn’t a lot of time spent dedicated solely on proofreading it. ┐(︶▽︶)┌

TRAILER

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FINAL THOUGHTS? ＼(＾▽＾)／ My overall play length for Code Realize Wintertide Miracles was a good 10-15 hours. Despite me trying to make the game last forever for about at least, two weeks, I finished it pretty quickly because I just couldn’t get enough of it.

Cantarella’s side story was way better than the gang’s Mafia adventures in Future Blessings and I sure did wish the ‘Cantarella-characters’ would’ve made a cameo in the special epilogues, because seriously, what a waste of good characters to be squeezed in, on the third game. ┐(‘～` )┌

Finis wins best boi in my book. This was one of the things I really appreciated most in this FD, and I’m sure most Code Realize hardcore fans would agree. Finis’ character finally gets justice! We get to see more of his adorable side as Cardia’s little brother while maintaining his hostile and dubious personality 😂. Who would’ve thought this boy is such a tsun-tsun! ❤

Do I recommend this game? YES (esp. to all Code Realize fans) Take note, this game is the series’ second fandisc. So literally, one cannot play it all willy-nilly without fully playing it’s first two predecessors. Personally, I’ve enjoyed this game a lot but that’s because I’m such a huge fan of the series. Perhaps to those who aren’t into Code Realize, you probably won’t enjoy this as much.

With the production of PS Vita consoles and games, completely shutting down worldwide this year, Code Realize Wintertide Miracles was such a special treat for us otome fans ~ esp. now, where there is scarcity of otoge releases in the West.

The game’s romantic Christmas theme really took this one up a notch and the newly added side stories are really something to look forward to. If you already like this series, loved the game’s main casts and wished for more adventures with them, this game is definitely worth the purchase.

CHLO’S RATING: 8/10

Code Realize: Wintertide Miracles Review CODE REALIZE: WINTERTIDE MIRACLES Release Date: February 14, 2019 (North America) Developers: Idea Factory, Otomate Publishers: 4,080 more words

#code realize #code realize wintertide miracles #Code Realize Wintertide Miracles Review #Otome game review #PS Vita #Shirogane no Kiseki #Wintertide Miracles Review

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kanon-mendi · 7 years ago

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AX-Perience 2017 (Full Story)

Hey guys so I came back from Anime Expo on Wednesday night and I gotta say, it was one of the craziest weekends of my life!!! It was all worth it though. The one thing I say now is that because of my timing, I did not meet Miyu Irino who I was also super excited for. However once you get through my story, you'll see what happened. I did expand this one since there are more details to this one than my first one. Enjoy!!

June 28th;

So I get up to work that day and just go through my normal routine as a stow at zulily but with the thoughts in my head that 'Yes!! My best friend is gonna come tonight!!' Luckily everything went well. The day before that I cleaned my room thoroughly and had everything prepared for my best friends arrival. That night when she already got to my place, we talked till about 2 am. She came around 11 pm.

June 29th (Day -1);

That day was our traveling day. We got up around 9 I think to start having everything prepared for our travels that day. Though we were a tad bit late for our scheduled departure time (we drove again) we made it safely to LA. It was mainly out packing. Luckily it wasn’t as bad as last year, but we like triple checked everything before closing the suitcases. XD Once in LA, we had some problems with the hotel that we originally planned to get so before checking in, we cancelled the stay and went to a better looking place. It took like 2 hours to cancel since Expedia didn’t clarify everything in English so we called in Spanish. What happened during that phone call is a while other story. Eventually we ended up at a different hotel for the night before getting something for the rest of the AX weekend.

July 30th (Day 0);

We get up the next morning, eat at this place that just tasted bad, and look for the official place where we'll stay for the whole convention. It took us a while since nothing was open and places were expensive. Then again, we were near LAX. Eventually we found a place about 20 minutes from the Convention Center on Figueroa. But since we only payed 3 nights, another hunt was to be done. It was all done before 1. Well, after reserving our room at this hotel, my mom took us to the convention center. We took a look around the place to see what was being prepared. Since my badge wasn't shipped, I had to go to the Premier Lounge to pick it up later that afternoon. So to kill time, we met up with a friend that Aria met on Twitter in Little Tokyo. We spent some time there, then went back to the convention center to pick up my badge and go to a few events here and there. I attended the Chilling With Voice Actors panel and it was really funny. I loved it a lot. We ended up going to the hotel around 10 that night since we went to the AX Dance. We also got to meet @atutsie which btw, is super fun to have around. She came in really late and didn’t know about the pre-show night so we had to meet up with her and her bro at the front on the building. We talked for a bit before leaving.

July 1st (Day1);

We got up around 4 am that day to make sure we get a spot in the autograph line and the premier line. We come to the surprise that the autograph line was really long. And the premier line wasn't even open. There was already a small line right by the staircase that goes up to that line. The group has been waiting there for hours before us and they didn't open till like 7:30. Luckily for me, we were the first people in line. I was desperate to get my things for Daisuke Hirakawa so I could get my autograph ticket. Once the doors were open for premier people, I ran over to the Anime Jungle booth so I could get my things. Aria was still stuck in the autograph line at this point. There were already a few people in line by the time I was there. Either way I was one of the first. Arianna was luckier since she had the autograph ticket for Garnidelia and hauled her ass over to Anime Jungle and got Hirarin’s autograph ticket. As she was waiting in line, we saw a couple of people that we thought were cool!! We became instant friends. We shared phone numbers and I created a group chat for us. Once they got their things, we walked around the exhibition hall for a bit then headed down to the artist alley. I wanted to attend the opening ceremony so I left behind the group since they didn’t wanna come and left for it. Aria obviously stayed in the Artist Alley since she had the signing to attend. The opening ceremony was hilariously fun since there were few tech errors but the emcee’s made it funny. After the opening ceremony ended, I met up with Ari and headed to the Yuri!!! On Ice panel. Which speaking of, when Aria was at the signing of Garnidelia, she saw Kubo and Yamamoto, got a picture with them, and got Viktuuri badges from Kubo. Lucky shit. Alright. The messed up part to this experience for the panel was that they didn’t clear the room for the YoI panel and had the premier fans sit IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FRICKIN ROOM!!!!!!!!!! Well either way, the panel was fun and entertaining. The first thing they did was wanting to bring out Kubo to the crowd and we were all chanting for her. She didn't come out until the Welcome To The Madness video was played. Y’all, I swear, I have never heard a group of fans scream so perfectly than that moment when the video started playing. The tech people couldn’t figure out how to play the music to the video so like half of it was all quiet and then when they got the sound to play, shrieks again. During the actual panel, I realized that Yamamoto is really shy. I could barely hear her. Kubo on the other hand was so energetic. At the panel, Kubo and Yamamoto said that the movie that they want to release may be coming out after the Olympics next year so let’s hope we get something good. :P At the end of the panel, Kubo stated throwing things to the crowd. I got close to see if I could get something but nay. Though the cool things were that I got to see Kubo up close and Yamamoto and someone gave Kubo a blue flower crown. After the panel, Aria went to the Super Live and I spent some time in the entertainment hall since my original plan of going to the Butler Cafe failed since they sold out. After that, I just waited for Aria around the area until we got picked up for the night. One thing I can’t remember when it happened was that there was this one girl who had the same shirt as me. I took my MIXING Tour shirt to see if anyone would notice. She literally came up to me and was all like “Cool shirt.” I turned around and saw that we had the same thing on and it made my whole day.

(Girl, where are you I can’t remember your URL... DX)

July 2nd (Day 2);

Aria and I left the hotel around 9:30 since I didn’t want to be late to see Hirakawa at his signing nor his panel. Luckily for me and her, we were some of the first people in line. While in line, we got our group together again and wrote our letters to him. Mine was brief since I didn’t know what else to tell him. Aria on the other hand spilled out everything since she has been a fan of his since forever. About 5 minutes before the signing, they had us stand up to be ready for the signing. I was really nervous cuz I know more of his work than I do with Toriumi. (I’m such a horrible fan…. TTATT) When Hirarin came to get our things signed, I let out the loudest scream possible and everyone started screaming for him. At this point I was trembling so much. This girl on the other side was having this major fangirl moment. In order to calm down, I went to hug her since she loves Hirarin. The line was moving before I knew it. When it came down to me, I gave him my letter while I was shaking. He accepted it so kindly and with the most generous smile. Bless my soul at this moment that I didn’t forget my Japanese. I gave him the small poster from the booth for him to sign. (I didn't want the book to be signed since I wanted it framed and couldn't do the large poster since there's not enough room in my room... XD) The staff made sure though that I had the photo book just in case. After leaving him, I started crying. Hirakawa left me with such a good vibe that afternoon that I will never forget it for as long as I live.

Later we headed to his panel and were the first ones in line. I never moved from my spot ever in the time we waited for him. We started talking to the people around us and also helping the 4-Day and One Day badge holders where to go in line. A little before his panel started, he came to the premier line as if lost. Though he was with his team of guides and translators. He turned to us and a few shrieks here and there, but everyone was behaved. He turned to us so I composed myself and waved at him. HE THEN SMILED BACK AND WAVED AT ME!!!!!! After he went inside to go over his panel, I rolled on the floor and had another fan girl cry moment. People were staring but I didn't care since I had the most blessed moment of my life at that moment. Alright. Panel then went really well, thank God for my Japanese since a lot of the things he said I could understand. Really fun. When the Q&A came by, questions were popping out fast. The thing that ticked me off the most was this one girl that was taking forever to explain her question. She took maybe like 5 minutes. I was getting worried that I wasn’t going to be able to ask my question. But God was great and this happened. So the guy in front of me had this question for Hirarin but it was already asked and he kept saying through the time I don’t know what to ask anymore!! and then the hostess said that he was the last one to ask him a question and God please bless his soul, he turned around and gave me the mic. I said thank you to this dude maybe like 5 times. I asked him about DiaLovers since pretty much thats where I got to know him. So yea. :P After the Hirakawa panel, we saw this amazing Code: Realize cosplay. We took a few pics with the two (dressed as Lupin and Saint Germain) before we left to the exhibition hall for a bit and then to eat. Ari was feeling sick so we went to the premier lounge. I was talking with a group of guys around us while she slept for a bit then went to the bathroom. Poor her... Mother Nature got her unexpectedly. She composed herself and before heading to the butler cafe, we met again with @atutsie and also found someone else whose URL I can’t remember, which was the same girl I was twinning with the day before. Btw, here’s a pic of us:

Okay. While the 4 of us were talking and all that, we started watching Generating. We were singing and laughing and having fun, then they had to go back and me and Ari went to the line for the Butler Cafe at 10:30. While waiting in line for the cafe, there were these girls that started singing and dancing to random music which I thought was a lot of fun and also joined them in the singing part. Then it was time to go in. Before going in, I shouted, “Who’s gonna need air after this?” And I got a few responses. ;-; I was excited cuz it was the second time going and maybe I would see the same butler that gave me the kabe-don the year before. I didn’t remember the name or anything so I couldn’t identify from looking at the butlers who it could be. We got really fun butlers that night and it was all fun until the mid games started.... hehe...... ;-; Me and Ari both got a “punishment” for knocking over the tower in Jenga. I was blessed enough to have distracted the butler long enough to not have to go through what it was...... .//////////////////////. I do not wanna say what happened to me or at least what almost did cuz it would be embarrassing. Well anyway, the rest of the night went really well. I got another kabe-don picture (which i dont have with me at the moment, it’s in a box... you’ll see why later in the post) and it came out perfect. I was really happy since I got it done by 2 butlers this time (hurhurhur and boi were they mighty fine. Now here’s where things get weird for me for a bit. Before taking the kabe-don picture, the butler that was at our table and i asked him to get a photo, he said to me “a picture with me again?” In my head, I thought, what does he mean by again...? I shook off the thought and went along with the picture, and once it was developed, I recognized that angle of the face. I was shocked. I didn’t say anything to anyone until after I left the room with Ari and asked my bro to check this little photo I had framed. Turns out, it was the same person that gave me the picture last year and I didn’t remember at all. I blame the hair. Last year it was white and this year he didn’t have it dyed. Well anyways, we went back to the hotel that night and I had a tough time sleeping since I was in actual shock. That there ended day 2.

July 3rd (Day 3);

{One thing, this day was just full of depression for me personally…} I told my family and I told Ari the night before that I wanted to go see Miyu Irino and wanted to get his autograph. I had planned to leave at 5 that morning. I had already showered and everything. However since absolutely no one woke up, we didn’t leave the hotel till about 9 that day as well. That morning I was pretty bummed out. When we got to the convention, we went up to the premier lounge since now we wanted to see the all ages butler cafe. After buying the tickets for that and the one later that night (to conclude the friggin hormones in me), we head to the exhibition hall to get a few things. As for the butler cafe that afternoon…………. So. Many. Regrets. Going. That. Afternoon. The whole thing was going well. We were playing games, talking about our favorite animes, all this fun stuff until something happened and I had a complete mental break down and could not feel better no matter what everyone tried. The worse part? It was in front of the person that was really fun the night before at our table. The rest of the cafe goes by with music and dances. Since I worried the whole cafe, there were offers for things to be done to make me feel better and I denied all of it. Once it all stopped is when I left. Ari had to run to get me since I left without saying anything. I started crying as I ran to the exhibition hall. I pretty much went back to the exhibition hall only to get one thing that I wanted to get day 2 which is a little cat-ear headband flower crown. The best part about it that made me feel better is that it’s in my 2 favorite colors and I love it so much. Aria tries to console me but I just needed to relax and to be left alone. But since she had to be with me and me with her, I couldn’t be alone. For the last 2 days Aria wanted to go to the open mic karaoke and I couldn’t go since we had a curfew to be picked up. So what we ended up doing after doing some shopping was go to a few karaoke events and it was a lot of fun. We sung Rage on for one and Aria had a little character to play for the other one. We had to go to the hotel across the street to attend these karaoke events. I was too affected and embarrassed from the earlier incident so every once in a while I would go to the bathroom and cry. I had so much anxiety for the 10:30 one that day since I didn’t know how I was gonna react during the event. I kept my feelings of embarrassment shut since I didn’t want to make another scene. I wanted to hide in line but since the second line started and me and Ari were put in the front, I couldn’t hide like I wanted. I kept taking deep breaths since I had no other way to calm myself. In the end, I sucked it all up and went inside. Worse of luck, it was the same person attending us as the night before and who I had the mental break down to. I felt so much more embarrassed than earlier but still had to go along with me. The intro happened and then he asked me if I were feeling better from what happened. I told him I was okay. In reality, I wasn’t. I only went for Aria. The night went like the one before and it was fun since it was the last night of the dark romance cafe. I just didn’t feel myself at all that day. I did what I could to be fine and to make people not worry about me but I was not okay nor will I be. Y’all, it was so hard for me to finish typing this part of day 3 without having the urge to cry again. After the butler cafe, Ari and another friend wanted to go to the AX Dance as it was the last one. I had to call my mom last minute and got in trouble for it since she was a few minutes away from picking us up. All I wanted to do was keep crying from the earlier events and just sleep to forget it all. We go to the AX Dance for about an hour then while Ari went to pick up her things, I go to the car and let it all out. All the tears I’ve been needing to let out, since I felt used that day. Bless my mom for calming me down since I didn’t know what would. Ari then comes to the car and we go to the new hotel we got.

July 4th (Day 4 final);

I wake up around 9 that day only to see that Miyu Irino was just in the premier lounge. Another missed shot at trying to meet him. We arrived around 10 that day. I ran to the lounge to see if there was a chance to catch him but no. Instead I go to the exhibition hall to buy the things that people ordered and go down to the entertainment hall. At the entertainment hall, Ari wanted to record a dance cover to this one song and so I decided to help out. It took us 12 shots to finally almost do something perfect until someone decided to walk right across the shot. We gave up and then they closed the entertainment hall. We wait in line for the closing ceremony which was really emotional. They had a memorial to all the ones who passed away over the last year that had an importance to the anime industry. They also put the winning AMVs (which I may link later if I find them.) After the ceremony ended and everyone was getting out, I screamed “WHO’S READY FOR 2018?!” I got the best response from the crowd, I felt proud. While outside, I called my mom to pick us up. She told us that it would be a few minutes before she arrived. While we were waiting for her, Aria took pictures of the cosplayers that day. The funny thing that happened while we were waiting is that I was playing ‘Independence’ by Miyano (Tokiya’s song) and every so and then, someone would call or text me and interrupt the song. Right as it was getting to the best part of the song, my mom called and said that she was already waiting for us. We leave the convention center and head to the hotel. That is it for my Anime Expo 2017 story!! Thank you all for reading and putting up with more of my shit. I am planning to attend next year since I will be living in Los Angeles as of August. :P

#anime expo 2017 #seiyuu #hirakawa daisuke #adventure

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labyrinthofleah · 7 years ago

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The Woman Makes the Armor | Code: Realize OC AU fic

[As usual, @josiesparklelove was like “Hey Leah, I had an idea for our Code: Realize AU” and then I just ran with it. X) Featuring CR!Leah and CR!Josie! Also I’m trying to get more comfortable with writing in 1st person, so I used this to help me practice, yay!]

Several months after Josie started living in the mansion with us, we were all seated around the table for breakfast. It was a beautiful morning outside, and the atmosphere as we ate was peaceful.

“Sooo?” Impey leaned forward, nearly dragging his braid through his plate. “How did Master Chef Impey do this time?”

“It’s satisfactory,” Van Helsing deadpanned.

Impey wilted. “Only ‘satisfactory’? I really worked hard on this one.”

I couldn’t help laughing at his overdramatically forlorn expression. “He’s just giving you a hard time. It tastes great.”

“Yes, spectacular as usual.” Victor took a sip from his glass of water and smiled.

Impey immediately brightened. “Well, if you really think so…”

Victor and I exchanged amused looks as he smugly tossed his braid back over his shoulder.

Van Helsing took a thoughtful bite and closed his eyes. “What did you put in the eggs? They taste different.”

“Oh, so you noticed! As expected of you, Van. If you’re dying to know that badly, then I guess I’ll tell you. First, I…”

He began rattling off a string of ingredients and cooking terms that weren’t familiar to me. Van Helsing kept nodding, though, and occasionally made an interjection of his own.

I eventually gave up on trying to follow along, and turned to Josie. “Are you busy with anything later?”

“Myh, twmnin,” she informed me through a mouthful of eggs.

I waited until she had chewed and swallowed, then asked again. “Are you busy with anything later?”

“Yeah, endurance training,” she said.

“What about after that?’

“Upper arm-strength training.”

I raised an eyebrow. “And… after that?”

“Thigh and calf muscle trai—“

“Are you just planning on training all day?”

“Of course. It’s my duty as a knight to be in top form at all times so I can serve Young Highness Delacroix to the best of my abilities.” She frowned. “And lately my abilities haven’t been quite up to snuff, so I need to double my regimen.”

I thought back to the other day when I’d seen Josie cleanly split a log for firewood… with only her armored hands. “Um, okay. Well, you know what they say! All work and no play makes Josie a dull Josie. So I thought—“

“Who are you calling dull?” Josie’s eyes glinted a bit menacingly, and I quickly backpedaled.

“I just meant that it’s all well and good to train regularly. But if you don’t rest from time to time, you’ll end up training yourself into an early grave.“

“Miss Leah is right,” Saint-Germain spoke up with his ever-present smile. “You will be doing your training a disservice if you do not allow your body to recover energy and adjust to its new strength.”

Josie finally nodded. “You’re... making sense.”

“Of course we are.” I grinned triumphantly. “So I was thinking that for today’s round of Mansion Detoxing, we could go out shopping together.”

Delly looked confused. “We’re not low on groceries, though. And Impey hasn’t been needing any new parts… Van Helsing should be fine with the ammunition he has, since he hasn’t been on a mission recently.”

Victor looked impressed. “I didn’t know you kept track of everything so meticulously, Delly.”

“It just goes to show how much he cares about us now.” Lupin grinned like a proud father.

“I-it’s not like that! As king, I just need to be aware of what my subjects are up to, that’s all. It’s basic common sense!” Delly stammered before shoving a forkful of food into his mouth.

Josie shrugged. “Well, if His Highness says so… What do you want to go shopping for, anyway?”

“Um…”

For some reason, I hesitated, glancing around at the menfolk seated around the table.

“It’s a surprise?”

Josie’s eyes narrowed.

“It’s not bad. Trust me, you’ll—“

“…love it!”

I gasped in delight as Josie stepped out of the fitting room in the tailor’s shop. Instead of her everyday armor, she was wearing a simple long skirt with a knee-length slit up the side, opaque stockings, and a flattering blouse. Her hair was loose, no longer drawn back in its customary severe ponytail, and fell so it framed her face.

“This is stupid,” she grumbled, looking at her reflection in a tall mirror by the wall.

“No, it’s not,” I protested. “You look so nice!”

She fidgeted visibly. “I feel vulnerable. I’m not used to being without my armor.”

“Everyone needs a change. And it’s not like you sleep in it… Er, right?”

She just leveled a stare at me. I quickly moved on.

“Anyway. Look, I didn’t just bring you here to play dress-up. A casual outfit actually has a lot of advantages.”

She crossed her arms dubiously. “Name three.”

I started ticking off on my fingers. “One, your armor stands out too much. With casual clothes, you’ll blend in with civilians in the city, making it easier for you to move around without raising suspicion. Two, your armor may have the advantage in defense, but its design restricts your movements somewhat in narrow streets and alleyways, which Steel London is full of. An outfit like this one is a lot easier to move in—notice the slit in the skirt, it’s not just for showing off your gams. And three, it still has plenty of room to conceal weapons in, and is actually easier to conceal weapons in because nobody will suspect you of hiding them in the first place.”

Her face fell. “You’re actually making sense.”

“I do that a lot, in case you didn’t notice. You need to get used to it.”

She snorted, turning back to the mirror and self-consciously shoving a lock of hair back over her shoulder.

“Oh, and—“ I dropped my voice to a more wheedling tone. “I bet it’ll give Impey the surprise of his life, seeing you dolled up like this.”

There was a moment of silence as she kept staring at her reflection.

Then her back straightened visibly and she whirled to face the tailor. “I’ll take three more outfits like this one. Also, where I can get durable matching boots?”

Laden with bags and shoe boxes, we didn’t get back to the mansion until later that evening. Josie stowed her armor in the garden shed where we’d first discovered her before we walked in through the front door.

“We’re back!” I called out cheerfully.

It was rather amusing how quickly the others just… appeared, as if they’d been waiting for us to return.

“Welcome home,” Saint-Germain greeted us warmly. “Did you get everything you needed?”

“Yes, we—“

Lupin cut me off, frowning.

“Where’s Josie?”

I stared at him. “What?”

“I was wondering that too, Leah,” Victor spoke up. “You went out with her, but you brought a strange woman back here instead…”

“Do something happen?” Van Helsing’s usually collected voice had an edge to it as he glared at the woman beside me.

“You mean, you can’t tell? It’s—“

Impey ran up to us with a huge grin, his eyes practically shining. “Leah, who’s your friend?! You didn’t tell me you knew other beautiful women in the city! I mean, you’ll always be my princess, but still… Come on, introduce me already! Hello, lovely lady, do you like a man with brains and brawn, because have I got good news for--”

“GUYS!” I yelled, trying to nip the ensuing pandemonium in the bud. “Just listen to me, will you? Actually, better idea: say something, Josie!”

I pushed her forward. She stumbled in her new high-heels, but quickly steadied herself.

“…Wait. Are you saying… that’s Josie?” Lupin asked incredulously.

She smirked, planting a hand on her hip and twirling a lock of hair around her finger. “In the flesh.”

Van Helsing’s eyes widened, and Victor’s mouth flapped soundlessly open and closed.

I heard a high-pitched squealing noise. It took me a moment to realize it was coming from Impey, who had turned white as a sheet.

“J-Jo-Josie? It can’t be… our Josie?! But she looks totally different!”

Her smirk grew at his flabbergasted expression. “I literally just put on a skirt and let my hair down. You look really funny right now, though, so maybe I should have done this sooner?”

All the while, Delly had looked like he didn’t know how to process this new version of his lady knight. Finally, he said, “Are you wearing lipstick?”

That was the last straw for Impey.

“Those eyes that could slay with a look, that long, soft hair! Josie really is a woman… How did I never see it before?!”

“Look, it’s okay,” I hastened to placate him. “Just calm—“

“I’m shamed forever! Impey Barbicane, you are a failure of a man!!”

Clutching his head, he let out an agonized howl and fled from the room.

We stared after him, then back at Josie, who had a hand over her face and was obviously trying not to laugh.

“Well, that was certainly exciting,” Saint-Germain said, amusement ringing clear in his own voice. “Shall we adjourn to the sitting room for some tea? I’m sure Impey will need some time to collect himself before he can start making dinner.”

“Sure,” Josie said, lowering her hand. “I’ll be there in a bit. That whole scene actually made the shopping thing worth it, but I need to get this stuff off my face now. And get my armor back on...”

Rubbing at her painted lips, she climbed the stairs and headed for her room.

I sighed loudly as I fell into step next to Saint-Germain. “I knew you’d all be surprised, but I wasn’t expecting everyone to react like that.”

“Ah, yes.” He nodded with a smile. “It was certainly unexpected to see Miss Josie looking so different, but it was a pleasant surprise nonetheless.”

I looked over at him. “Wait, did you know it was her from the start?”

“But of course. No matter what she may look like, she is still her uniquely strong-willed self.”

“And yet you didn’t say anything.” I shook my head, and his smile widened.

“It is as such sayings go: fine feathers make a fine bird, clothes make the woman, and so on. But in this case, I’d have to say that it is the opposite… Miss Josie is definitely the one who makes her own armor, no matter what she is wearing.”

I laughed. “That’s a weird way of putting it, but I think I know what you mean. She probably wouldn’t have it any other way.”

#josiesparklelove #fanfic #code realize au

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josiesparklelove · 7 years ago

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"I'm going to be a father?" Pick a ship, any ship. :D

@labyrinthofleah & @spyoflove

It took 12 years. But here…

——–

The Baby Caper

It all started out so innocently, one has to question how everything got so out of hand. Well, looking at the participants, one needed wonder too hard. The events all began one day when Victor had been working on some of his paperwork in the living room of the Saint Germain’s mansion where thanks to Leah, a rag-tag bunch of criminals, thieves, mad scientists, kings and knights had assembled. No, really… that’s not an exaggeration in titles for this mansion’s inhabitants, but that’s another story in itself.

This one begins when Victor Frankenstein wrote two simple words on a paper and left it out in the open for curious minds to find. Well, not to say it was poor Victor’s fault. He had been searching over his notes carefully and for quite a long while. When he had been summoned to dinner perhaps it had been the draft that let loose the offending piece of paper to slide itself under the lip of one of the ornate couches and to be forgotten when the doctor came back to clean up his workload.

That evening’s meal created by Impey, as usual, had been delicious and as had become quite commonplace a very loud and boisterous affair. Impey had called out to everyone in his loud voice when the meal had been prepared and everyone slowly began to trickle into the dining room. Van Helsing had been the first to arrive, as he usually was - he may grumble at Impey’s personality but he could not deny (even as much as he wanted to) how good he was at cooking. He took his seat and pulled out a newspaper he brought with him - he was usually early to this affair after all.

As Impey was bringing in more dishes from the kitchen, Lupin and Victor walked in together having met in the hallway outside of the dining room. Once inside Lupin quickly eyed his new target… well, Van Helsing, and flew to his side to pester. Victor offered Impey some help, who rejected his offer on the basis that he lived to serve! Leah and Saint Germain were the next attendees, of course arm in arm Impey noticed with a softness around his eyes… he wished he could do that too.

His stare must have been seen as Leah gently disentangled her arms from Saint Germain and bounced over to the red-head inquiring if he wanted any help with the plates. Impey flustered a bit wishing he hadn’t been caught staring, it wasn’t for improper reasons, he wanted to shout, but waved off the smaller girl and escaped to the kitchen for the final dishes. Leah shrugged her shoulders and went back to the seat next to Saint Germain who pulled it out and had remained standing until he could push the chair with her in it to the table.

The final guests appeared with a bit of an uproar as Delacroix II threw open the dining room door and stomped in with Josie flustered and rushing in behind him with the dog Sisi clamoring in her arms lapping at her face. Delly made it to his chair and sat in a huff arms folded as he glanced away from his trailing servant. Impey walked back into the dining room with the final platter in time to watch Josie try to pry the still licking pup from her arms and into his own designated pedestal which Delly requested to be made. Impey had to calm his own heart to not be jealous of a dog who was covering her face in smooches when he didn’t even get to.

Finally, Josie took a seat on the other side of Sisi away from Delly, seems her position as Knight had put her lower than the dog in the little master’s world, something he never failed to impress upon her. But she didn’t give up. After placing the final platter, Impey took his own seat between Josie and Lupin then Saint Germain led the table in a word of grace.

The dinner went off normally, well, sort of normally. Neither Josie nor Leah finished their meals claiming that they didn’t have much of an appetite. Which did alert some of the more wary members at the table. Impey fretted that maybe his meal didn’t turn out well. Josie assured him that it was really delicious but that she just… wasn’t hungry. Though the fact that she actively avoided his gaze with a guilty look was a bit curious. Luckily Leah was able to avoid too much explaining verbally at least. Saint Germain’s imploring stare spoke just as much worry as Impey with a gentle touch to Leah’s gloved hand.

Thankfully, the meal didn’t last too much longer and everyone went to retire. Josie escorted the grumpy Delly and Sisi back to his room. Victor volunteered to help clean the dishes and Leah joined along. Saint Germain went to join Leah, but she shooed him away saying that he was the host of the meal, he didn’t need to clean. Well, she was so cute when she said it, he acquiesced and retired to his study to wait for her. Van cleared his plate and wasn’t seen again - probably went to his own room. And Impey and Lupin went to sit down in the living room.

The two men commented on the pile of paperwork that Victor had stacked up on one of the tables, both careful not to disturb it. Lupin sat down in one of the large chairs and began to regale his most recent conquest. Impey listened as usual, but his attention was caught on the slip of paper that was underneath the couch he was walking towards. He bent down to pick it up, afraid it was something that Victor would need for his work. As he picked up the paper his eyes absently scanned the paper before he was frozen solid.

Lupin noticed Impey’s behaviour and paused his story to inquire as to his friend’s state. When he looked he saw the tall red-head as he stared at the paper in his hand and suddenly his hand began trembling. Lupin jumped in alarm worried about what was written on the paper but as he approached he noticed that not just Impey’s arm, but he was trembling all over. Lupin feared the contents of the offending paper until he glanced at Impey’s face which held a smile he could barely contain.

“No way.” Impey whispered, and then repeated. “NO WAY!” He said with a shout. He placed the paper down and grabbed at Lupin who was within arms reach and brought him into a hug.

Lupin’s surprise came out in a yelp as he was a little helpless against Impey’s superhuman strength. “W-What is it, Impey?”

“She’s pregnant!” He said with a gigantic grin.

“What? Who?” Lupin inquired.

“Who? Josie, of course! That’s what Victor wrote on the paper! He said she’s pregnant!” Impey said tightening his grip.

Lupin barely noticed as his mind was too busy swirling around the new information. “W-wow! Impey, we need to go ask who the father is!” He said matching Impey’s enthusiasm.

“Yeah, we need to- Hey! Lupin that’s not very nice!” He pouted, freeing Lupin from his grasp. “Of course it’s me-” He gasped. “It’s me?!”

Lupin couldn’t stop himself from laughing at Impey’s inner turmoil as he jumped from excited to nervous to worried in the span of a few seconds.

“I-I-I… I have to go see her!” The red-headed engineer finally declared and went to rush out of the room, thankfully Lupin had anticipated this reaction and firmly planted himself in the way causing Impey to stutter in his movements.

“Wait-wait!” Lupin exclaimed trying to reach out to stop his friend. “What if she’s trying to surprise you? You don’t want to ruin that for her, right?”

“Surprise me?” Impey asked.

“Of course. Maybe waiting for the right time to spring in on you? Surprises don’t exactly seem like her strong suit with the whole knight in shining armor thing, but she’s a little softer around you, right?”

“Yeah! My Princess in Armor is both super strong and super adorable.” Impey boasted, his chest puffed out with pride.

“Great. So, you wouldn’t want to take her satisfaction of being able to surprise you away, right?”

“Well, then…. What can I do? Lupin, this is such big news!”

“Certainly a shock, anyway.” He mumbled then with a shout, “Ah! I’ve got it, Impey, maybe she’s nervous.”

“Nervous? My Josie? Nothing could scare her!”

“Well, nothing physical anyway, but Impey, we’re talking about delicate female emotions here. Have you two even discussed having children?”

“N-no, not that I can-”

“So how does she know that you’re okay with it?”

“But of course I’m okay! I’m going to be a father-”

“Right, but maybe she’s nervous about what you’d say since you’ve never exactly expressed interest.”

“So what should I do, Lupin? I can’t let my adorable little knight feel scared!”

“I have some thoughts on that actually…” As expertly as any one of his heists, Lupin whisked Impey away back to his bedroom to lay out his newly concocted plan to the engineer who readily accepted any help from the (who he regarded as) more experienced man.

Some time later Saint Germain felt as though he had not seen his cute little Leah in too long of time so he went off in his search. As he prowled around silently through the mansion he happened to pass by the kitchen where he quietly peeped through the slightly cracked door to see Victor hunched over with one hand placed ever so slightly Leah’s tummy. Initially, his jealousy peaked, even after intellectually telling himself that he should trust Leah and his friends, however he was still somewhat of a man. His jealousy rather quickly, however, turned to intense curiosity as he overheard the two in the kitchen.

“Leah, are you sure you’re okay?” Victor said worriedly

“I’m fine, Victor.” Leah assured him with a calm smile adjusting her glasses.

“You really must be careful, especially, in your condition.” The rest of Victor’s words seemed to fade out completely as Saint Germain’s brain was suddenly more than preoccupied. He slipped away just as quietly as he had arrived and walked the hallways back to his room so that he could think more on the scene which was now burned into his memory. In his journey, he very nearly ran into Van Helsing as he was leaving the living room.

“Ah, my apologies, Van Helsing. My my must have wandered away from me as I was walking.” Saint Germain said with the slightest bow of his head. Van Helsing merely huffed at his gesture. “What brings you to this side of the mansion? I rarely see you outside of the Dining Room unless it pertains to a mission.”

“Yeah, well who could relax with those two idiots running about being even more stupid than usual.” Van Helsing replied with a brief glance behind him lest he was suddenly surprised with an ambush from his aforementioned colleagues.

“Haha. Well, they are very lively, I would agree.”

“No. This is more so than usual. Giggling and carrying on.” The former vampire-hunter paused giving the count a quick sizing up before he continued. “Sure you don’t know what it’s about?”

The count shook his head, his normal smile plastered on his pristine face. “I’m afraid I do not-”

“No idea?” Van Helsing finished his sentence while thrusting a piece of paper towards the count, it’s words ‘My findings show that indeed she’s pregnant’ written in Victor’s handwriting. It was only for a quick second that the count’s eyes opened wide with surprise before they returned back to their normal position. “It seems you have more than a hand in the reason, right?”

“Ah. Well, as crude as that description may be, it would not be outside the realm of possibility I suppose.” He said with what could be described as his version of a smirk. “However, seeing as though we gained this piece of information prior to the woman in question telling us, I would hope for your secrecy. This is a very delicate time for a young lady, of course.”

“You’re very calm about finding this out, I would think you’d be more happy.” Van Helsing said as he folded his arms over his chest.

The count chuckled lightly. “Not at all, I am beyond thrilled at the news. Forgive me if I don’t act as giddy as the other two.”

“No. If you were acting as stupid as those guys, I’d have put a bullet in you.” Van Helsing huffed.

“Ah, so you do care about us, hm?” Saint Germain smiled wiley as Van Helsing huffed again and went back into the living room to put the paper back.

——————-

The following day went as normal as possible, Leah went out with a walk through the city with Saint Germain. As the couple walked arm in arm Saint Germain quizzed her on all the information he had taught her in the several months together. Nothing out of the ordinary as far as Leah was concerned, though she did note that he would stop to gaze towards walking couples with a pram. Maybe he was nostalgic, perhaps?

And suddenly, Saint Germain’s questions turned much more… strange, ranging from her taste in colors, her preferences of linens, Impey would know better about her food preferences, and finally what she thought of particular names. All this was such a startle, she could do little else than answer whatever came to the top of her head at the time. Though the names were a bit odd, she had to admit. She quickly dismissed the day as just another in a long line of his eccentric quirks and thought nothing more about it.

Back at the mansion, however, Josie had been dealing with a more than clingy Impey all day. Delacroix was outside in the mansion’s garden playing with Sisi, so naturally Josie was standing nearby on attention. Recently, Sisi had made a new friend from a neighbor’s dog so Delly had two pups to play with raising his spirits a great deal. Josie smiled fondly at her master’s mirth, though her smile dropped as she felt two arms snake around her.

“Impey.” Josie started. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“Josie~ I came to see you- wait!” He wailed and quickly began to pull at the straps holding her armor in place. “This is too tight! You can’t be wearing all this!”

“W-What! IMPEY STOP IT!” Josie clamored trying to pry his hands away - oh how the tables had turned.

“Hey!” Delacroix called out and both Josie and Impey stopped moving. “If you two gross lovebirds don’t stop making out in front of me I’ll have both your heads!” He firmly stated then picked up both dogs one under each arm to walk to the other side of the gardens.

“Y-Your highness! This isn’t making out-”

“She’s right! I’m just trying to get her out of her armor!”

“IMPEY! STOP IT!” She yelled as she finally wriggled out of his grasp and with a final exasperated and confused look she ran off towards Delacroix trying to explain what happened.

Lupin, who had witnessed the entire scene came up to Impey who was still seated on the ground. “Never thought I’d see her playing hard to get, especially after she was already got.”

“Lupinnn!” Impey whined. “Do you see how much armor she’s wearing! That’ can’t be good for the baby!”

“Impey she’s hardly-”

“Unless! It’s to PROTECT the baby!”

“Impey, I really -”

“That must be it!”

“It doesn’t look any different than her normal armor though.”

“You only say that because you’re not looking close enough, like me!”

“I’m not sure- oh well, anyways Saint Germain and Leah just came back and the count said he had some questions for you about meals.”

“Oh! Sainty G needs me, eh? Well, I’ll be right there.” He said assuredly then yelled out to Josie on the other side of the gardens. “I’ll be right back, Josie, wait for me!” He said with a wave and then jaunted back inside. Even from that distance Lupin could hear her exasperated sigh.

—————————-

A few weeks went by in much the same manner, but slowly, the girls realize the house was beginning to house a few rather strange items. Stuffed toys and rattles began appearing in boxes and piling up in rooms. Some boxes they were not allowed to see, but Leah thought she spied very teeny tiny socks one day before it was snatched up by Saint Germain who only responded with his usual grin. Each meal was more than carefully scrutinized to each tiny detail about being nutritious - much to Van Helsing’s grumbling. And both Impey and Saint Germain had become almost insuferable in their clingyness.

Even Leah, who quite enjoyed Saint Germain’s presence had become a little suspicous of his efforts. And while she realized that she did enjoy pampering her, sometimes she was barely able to lift her own finger for herself. She took all this in silent strides smiling back to Saint Germain’s eager face.

Impey on the other hand got quite a different reaction what with Josie nearly having to threaten him with her sword to keep him away. First the armor was too tight, then her sword was too sharp, and she didn’t need to be walking all that much, she needed to rest. Which just annoyed her even more - he was impeding on her royal duty causing her to eventually lock him out of her own room in retaliation.

Yes, the mansion had certainly become much more alive with emotions high on anticipation. Even Van Helsing joined in his own way. He had overheard someone in the city mention very soft blankets, and well, it’s just a coincidence that one just so happened to appear in the mansion the very next day. Victor on the other hand, was a little, no a lot suspicious of all the new traffic and garb around the mansion. Though before he was able to address the situation with any of the others, he would be hounded by Impey or Saint Germain with very random but specific questions which he answered quite succinctly.

It all came to a head one evening around the dinner table when Impey kept trying to spoon feed Josie all the while Leah had some difficulty trying to eat while one of her hands was being held hostage by Saint Germain. It just happened to be this time when the doorbell rang and Lupin ran to answer it. Just then, Sholmes came in through the door pushing a baby carriage with Lupin following behind him fussing at his insolence to just invade someone’s house.

“Settle down, Lupin. I only came here to take a quick peek around, besides. This lovely little pram was sitting outside the door. I figured I would do you the benefit to bring it inside.”

“Then why did you ring the door bell if you were just going to intrude anyway?”

“Intrude? No. I thought it would be rude if I just walked on in, but since you came and opened the door for me I took your invitation. And now I’m all finished since I have solved the case.”

“And which case might that be?”

“Indeed.” He said with a smirk and raised his hand as he waved his farewells taking him out of the room. Delly got up from his chair at one point and took a curious look at the pram.

“This is for a baby, right?” He asked quizzically. “Who’s pregnant?”

“Josie, of course/Miss Leah.” Impey and Saint Germain answered at the same time.

“Huh?/ What?!” The girls responded in kind.

“Wait. You’re both pregnant?” Delly asked.

“Both? Leah, you’re pregnant? You didnt tell me!” Josie shouted across the table.

“Me? What about you?” Leah asked almost hurt at the thought.

“I’m not pregnant.” Josie said and Impey’s arms went slack.

“You’re not?” Impey whimpered at the thought.

“Of course not, Impey we haven’t even… No nevermind. LEAH! How could you not say something to me?”

“About what? I’m not pregnant either!”

“Miss Leah, there is no need to hide such a momentous occasion.” Saint Germain said pulling her into his lap. “I am sure that a child of ours will be raised with love and-”

“B-But I’m not pregnant, I said!” Leah blushed hiding her face from the count.

“How is that so, I saw Victor’s paper in the living room which said-”

“A-Ha! I saw that paper too and it said that Josie was pregnant! So Josie it’s okay you don’t need to hide it from me I’m sure that- Ouch!” He grabbed his arms where Josie had just pinched him to get him to stop hugging her.

Finally amongst the clamor from the couples, Victor stumbled into a standing position and fished a slip of paper from his pocket producing the evidence to the table. “W-Was it this paper you were referring to?”

“YES! That’s the one, Josie! See it’s okay - OUCH! Stop pinching!”

“O-Oh. I… I’m very sorry. There seems to be a great misunderstanding.” Victor announced

“I fail to see this misunderstanding, as it says very clearly-” Saint Germain was cut off.

“Ah, no. You see. This was not for Saint Germain or Impey-”

“Josie, you cheated! Ow!”

“Shut up, Impey.” Josie huffed after popping her whining boyfriend on the head with a spoon.

“This was actually for Delly.”

“Delly?” The remainder of the voices at the table responded in unison.

“Y-yes. He had asked about little Miss Pearl from down the street. And after some observations and a few tests, I had discovered that she was pregnant. And our very own Sisi is the father.” Victor said happily with a pat on Sisi’s head. As if he could understand the conversation he let out a very triumphant bark.

And after a while, the house returned to it’s normal non-baby-stuff-explosion state as the men returned all their gifts. The only pitter patter of little feet that came around was when little Miss Pearl visited bringing along Sisi’s new little family of pups. Though Saint Germain did say he would certainly improve his and Leah’s chances of their own family causing Leah to blush as bright as Impey’s red hair. And Impey, once he learned the actual workings of making a baby, his skin matching his hair as well, also vowed to make an effort.

At least for now, the mansion with its long list of characters residing within would stay baby-free. But, not for long. ~

#labyrinthofleah #vampknight!josie x impey #cr!leah x saint germain #code: realize #josie writes #josie did a thing #maker bless.#the Baby caper #cr!leah #cr!au

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