Lia's BK tweets archive - 2021-08-25: Nunki Valley, Cebalrai

Lia @liareplaysbk · 10:54 PM · Aug 24, 2021 Permalink

Off to Nunki Valley! No idea how long it’ll run, hopefully I’ll be making it to Cebalrai in one go.

Lia @liareplaysbk · 11:47 PM · Aug 24, 2021 Permalink

Markedly greener than it is in EW, as emphasized repeatedly by people in Pherkad.
Apparently Imperials and Rodolfo have a... less subtle take on how to get past the stingy clouds of shiny bugs. We just get to grab a quest magnus from the sparkly trees and push them out.

A waterfall in a rocky clearing, lots of deep green trees to the left. Title card: “Nunki Valley”

Person standing by the entrance: “Them lowlifes set the poor lightbugs ablaze and just marched right in over their ashes!”

Riverbank, the path blocked by a cloud of shiny yellow bugs.

Sagi, as the bugs turn red: “Augh! Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!!”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 11:50 PM · Aug 24, 2021 Permalink

There really isn’t much to it. The monsters come in annoyingly large groups, the road is at times blocked by it being Pollywhale mating season...
And I’ve got questions for Sagi but maybe it’s better not to ask

Combat screen, showing the party facing no less than five Blood Leafs.

Sagi standing next to two Pollywhales staring at each other with hearts over their heads.

Sagi, observing a Pollywhale observing two other Pollywhales: “This little guy’s really staring...”

Sagi: “Let’s go, before I start to feel jealous, too.”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 11:51 PM · Aug 24, 2021 Permalink

Our good friend the intermittent waterfall is back but Sagi’s reaction isn’t even remotely fun. Boooooo bring back the asshole protagonist

Sagi: “Aww, I’m soaked. If we don’t jump across when the water has died down, we’ll get washed away again.”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 11:53 PM · Aug 24, 2021 Permalink

Getting through unlocks both Cebalrai and Moonguile Forest. There isn’t much in the forest, except for a screen I wished EW had. It’d have made it faster to get all the Greythorne colors!

A stretch of river in the forest, with seven Greythornes in different colors.

Lia @liareplaysbk · 11:56 PM · Aug 24, 2021 Permalink

Entering Cebalrai sends us right into a cutscene eavesdropping on Rodolfo and Heughes.
Rodolfo’s VO has, er. What I’d call “an American accent”, US people can probably pinpoint it better but it’s A THING. What an intro to the man.

A lovely village with flowers growing over wooden houses. Title card: “The Farming Hamlet of Cebalrai”.

Rodolfo: “Fascinating! We could all be living the good life. And all we’ve got to do is pro, uh... masticate.”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 11:59 PM · Aug 24, 2021 Permalink

Oh I hate him already. English doesn’t really have an equivalent to the sheer contempt of “collabo” - short for collaborator, primarily in a French WW2 occupation context - but huh yeah that. Plus bonus country bumpkin points.

Rodolfo: “I’ll tell you, Master Heughes, Sadal Suud hasn’t seen progress since somebody thought up the two-fisted [...]”

Rodolfo: “If you Empire gents could get promachination goin’ for us—why, we’d be much obliged.”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 12:03 AM · Aug 25, 2021 Permalink

What an interesting parallel to Wiseman’s push for using wings a lot, I’m sure this won’t end up plot-critical.
The contrast between Heughes’s Serious JRPG Dark Voice and Rodolfo’s Pretending To Be The Smart But Ordinary Man (in both writing and VO) is brutal.

Heughes: “I see people here still use their wings of the heart.”

Heughes: “The heart-wings have to go. No one will miss them anyway, once the Empire issues winglets.”

Rodolfo: “Winglets! Well, listen to that. I’ll just have to see what I can do.”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 12:06 AM · Aug 25, 2021 Permalink

It takes some work to make Mr “Literally our first interaction with the guy is him having kidnapped Xelha” even more unpleasant but here we are. Heughes could almost seem sympathetic by comparison...

Rodolfo: “Things would move all the faster if I had just a little... you know...”

Rodolfo: “Eh heh heh... You do have a way with words. Yes, money would do just fine.”

Heughes: “... Vulture. Here’s your money. Buy yourself a vocabulary while you’re at it.”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 12:07 AM · Aug 25, 2021 Permalink

Except no, still very evil.
What does that machine even do? Make apple compote? Guess we’ll see?

Heughes: “Hehehehe... And in return, you can let us promachinate Sadal Suud and place it under Empire rule.”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 12:11 AM · Aug 25, 2021 Permalink

Flavor text time! Opinions on the Empire’s shenanigans seem split.
Automating laundry was actually a really big deal, it reshaped society: it’s an incredibly astute choice to mention it.

Old villager: “Here we tell ‘em not to bring their contraptions into the village, and they ignore us!”

Villager: “I hear that if we promachinate, the laundry does itself!”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 12:12 AM · Aug 25, 2021 Permalink

... I guess it makes sense that a Pow (mixing a pig and a cow) would make a sound mixing Moo and Oink.

Lia @liareplaysbk · 12:15 AM · Aug 25, 2021 Permalink

We got mail from Tik again. He’s making so much progress!
... I wonder how this looks in Japanese, hah

Letter: “HeLLo Sagi Tik WacHu Gena MiLLy GuiLLo gUIllO GuiLLogUIllogUillo”

Letter: “Tik has learned to write quite a bit of the alphabet now. He seems to like Guillo’s name best.”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 12:19 AM · Aug 25, 2021 Permalink

Again the Imperials are markedly more human here. It’s interesting.

Imperial soldier: “I like this village.”

Imperial Soldier: “Uh, I-I mean, I’d like to fill it with machina! I won’t fall for its purity and simple charms, or its—“

Imperial Soldier: “No, no, no! Aaack, I’m doing it again!”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 12:22 AM · Aug 25, 2021 Permalink

In-universe terribad adventure novels, yes please.
And here’s an overthinking direction for you: if books are broadly available but every “WANTED” poster is drawn by hand, what does that tell us about printing technology in this universe?

Inspection text: “”Anuenue Wilderness Adventurers!!” Just them, the professor’s magic compass started shining!”

Inspection text: “Scott’s body was shrouded in a flood of blinding light. “Ahhh!!””

Lia @liareplaysbk · 12:24 AM · Aug 25, 2021 Permalink

HMMMMMM. Either that’s a jab about EW not having forest there anymore, or something very bad’s about to happen. Are the Imperials going to set more than the lightbugs on fire?

Child: “Grampy, you promised! The next clear day, we’re going on a picnic to Nunki Valley!”

Grampy: “All right, all right, I’ll take you.”

Grampy: “There’s no need to hurry, the forest isn’t going anywhere.”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 12:25 AM · Aug 25, 2021 Permalink

Sagi is again being a very weird JRPG protagonist

Sagi: “This is somebody’s private collection, so we should probably leave it alone.”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 12:27 AM · Aug 25, 2021 Permalink

And on a final note that ALL CLOTHING IS HANDMADE even IRL today, and that in this world anything else would mean Alfard imports, we close off for now.
Next time: go talk to Rodolfo and probably have to prevent Guillo and Milly from killing him on the spot, wouldn’t blame them.

Inspection text: “Most of this clothing looks handmade, from the shirts down to the socks.”