#sovereign of elegant

[pinkseas]

my dealer: got some straight gas, this strain is called "sovereign of elegance" you'll be zonked out of your gourd

me: yeah whatever. i dont feel shit.

15 minutes later

me: the previous sovereign of elegance, glorier, had fiery red hair and won her title while wearing a black gown. she vanished 15 years ago, her last known location in the wishing woods. the same time frame that the other missing stylists were kidnapped by the paladins and locked up underground in the wishing woods. in the diary pages of an unknown stylist, the writer refers to the wish master as nothing more than a "puppet" of the dark, and remarks that they've been cruelly experimented on, their body tortured. "even bathing in this moonlight is a rare luxury." the banshee is only ever out at night, under the moonlight, but nobody save for you has actually encountered her clearly. those who might recognize her as glorier haven't ever seen the banshee themselves. the banshee refers to those she enthralls as her puppets, and there are multiple places where her body looks cracked and damaged, more like a porcelain doll than human skin. that same diary remarks that the writer has a daughter waiting at home, and that "even in this dire situation, i will never submit. the unyielding elegance within my resolute and noble soul is my last ace." a torn note found in the room where the humans were imprisoned states that the strongest were tortured and perished or disappeared, expressing a want to go home, written in a very similar manner to the way the banshee herself speaks at the end of your duel with her. if you fail, the banshee tells you to become her puppet and suffer alongside her. an imperfect victory mentions that memories are not enough. a brilliant stylist is rumored to have opened a realm that no one else has entered before, and some say that the most exceptional stylists might even create their own personal realms. cantore's poem states that should one be a fool, their soul will fall into "that bewildering realm" to become another puppet, ensnared for all eternity. "the bitter end awaits with no return, leading you into the heart of the night's abyss, where even the stars fade away." underground, those imprisoned stylists couldn't even see the stars. the reason they were locked up was to attempt to recreate the power of the aureum vase for chigda, who had made a deal with The Dark for eternal life. from him the power of the mutated vines returned, but he was not their original source, nor did they vanish when he was defeated without need for giroda's sacred power. those mutated vines bear great resemblance to the vines, thorns, and roses surrounding the banshee within the visuals of cantore's poem. the banshee wants her puppets to suffer with her, implying that she herself is already suffering. is she, too, a puppet of the dark? back then, could creating a realm have allowed her to escape? did something go wrong? did she, like giovanni, attempt to make a deal with the paladins or chigda, only for it to backfire? did she attempt to defeat chigda herself, only to become corrupt by the vines? if she was captured and held in the wishing woods and hails from florawish, why is it that the banshee now haunts the breezy meadow and shimmer pond specifically? igrainne forbade nonoy from investigating more about her past. the banshee chants a bewildering melody, not dissimilar to that melody of the wishing one from nonoy's music box, the one left with her by her birth mother. how much does igrainne know? was she worried for nonoy solely because of the nature of glorier's disappearance, or is there more to it? could the direct power of the wishful aurosa be enough to save the banshee? how much of her past life does the banshee remember? what am i missing?

my friend nikki pacing: how do i tell nonoy i need to fuck her mom

[raviollies]

Stay....become my puppet...suffer with me....

[my-past-disgusts-me]

THEY MADE NIKKI A LESBIAN IN THIS ONE TOO OH THE WORLD IS JUST AND KIND

[unowneyenon]

presenting my very queer coded styling battle with the banshee😌😌

[littlekiara96]

Infinity Nikki: Banshee's Song wallpapers without UID

(spoilers for the Banshee's appearance undercut, duh)

I hope I did a good enough job getting rid of my UID :'D

[stylistmack]

Will you have this dance?

[mint-mumbles]

I was trying to take a screenshot of this picture but I waited too long and it ended up fading out when I took it 😅

I think it still looks cool though

[deathpoke1qa]

So I have been playing Infinity Nikki...

[nedr4]

[hugscakeanddragons]

Banshee this banshee that; her NAME is GLORIER! Put some respect on it smh

[catalpa14]

While I'm on the topic of Infinity Nikki, am I the only one who sees the Sovereign of Elegant and thinks of ZombieCleo? Like HELLO look at them!!!!

[pinkseas]

thinking about. the sovereign of elegance battle.

how initially nikki seems pretty caught off guard by being puppeted around, and almost like she's in a trance? she definitely doesn't feel fully there, her movements are a lot more limp and being VERY distinctly controlled. she feels more distant, more hazy.

but then there's the point about halfway into the battle where the banshee has her hand over nikki's face, like she's still trying to control her, and nikki looks away. meets the banshee's eyes instead.

and the banshee's own expression shifts, there, too. nikki looks almost defiant, and the banshee isn't quite taken aback or surprised by that, but she doesnt seem to have anticipated it? it seems like she's curious, intrigued. seeing nikki look at her so fearlessly, even after being puppeted by her. almost like a challenge of her own.

and after that, nikki's movements shift. they feel more fluid, graceful, more like nikki is the one in control. matching the banshee's motions and her energy, no longer enthralled but choosing herself to continue the dance. they circle each other and nikki is smiling, like she's genuinely enjoying herself.

if you fail the battle, the banshee and nikki reach out to each other, but the banshee pushes forward as nikki pulls her own hand away, looking more hesitant, almost afraid again. and if you perfect it, nikki pulls away, but not out of fear. she spins again, smiling, taking a bow. enjoying herself, still. regarding the banshee as an equal, even though the banshee had been trying to subdue her.

after that perfect score, nikki, recognizing the melody. upset that the banshee is leaving. wanting to at least know her name. reaching out to her even as she disappears.

[the-backwards-eel]

How do you get her to be there in the day?!

[clicksonawhim]

The Banshee

(The Sovereign of Elegance)

SPOILERS FOR CHAPTER 7

@wereah once told me as she was watching me wrap up the quest line to get the sovereign of elegance medal that it was odd that she was called the Banshee. This is because in Western culture, the banshee is associated with Celtic and Irish folklore where she is the ghost of a woman who wails so horribly to foretell the death of another. They're often horrifying spirits, but the Banshee is not, if anything she is sad and her mournful song is beautiful.

It wasn't until much later it occurred to me, the name Banshee was probably just the closest localization for English's version of a weeping ghost woman, a very common type of ghost found across a lot of cultures actually. Though why they exist varies from culture to culture.

In the case of the Sovereign of Elegance, there is a great implication during the battle against the Wish Master that she died. She died trapped, alone, far from home and giving the most bitter of wishes, for a home she cannot return to, and a mother's comforting soup she cannot have. In many ghost story traditions in the East, she is a person who probably became a weeping woman ghost.

Despite what Dada and Nikki believe, it wasn't that the Banshee picked up the sovereign's medal, she was that sovereign and that was all that was left of her.

This isn't the first time the game has introduced lore that the characters of the world do not understand, but the player with enough information does. And often when this happens, is very bittersweet, because the we know the answer, but the characters of this world may never know.

[maemil]

In honour of femslash February and the last day of the return of the sovereigns: Nikki, how come your devs let you have two evil girlfriends?

[cranberryletters]

Banshee