Part 12: Cancer, Virgo, Scorpio, Capricorn, Libra, Aries and to a lesser degree the rest
Bonding Update V: Cancer, Virgo, Scorpio, Capricorn, Libra, Aries and to a lesser degree the restThat was a nice story break, wasnt it? We popped in the first fresh battery to the Labyrinths, some mysterious unseen monster was decidedly not pleased about that, there was a big celebration banquet, Reone got totally shitfaced, and then we followed Mahiru around as she led us on a stupid 7 Spooky Mysteries of the School! side quest that Japan seems enamored with. Good stuff.
I hope you all enjoyed that little bit of progress, because now we have to bring the plot to a screeching halt as we return to Bonding Updates. There was one bonding event left over from Level 1 of the gauge, so we need to have a look at that first. Then we need to get through a new Classmating Scene in order to start working our way through the Bond Level 2 events.
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Were going to be here a while is what Im saying. Thankfully, the thread has cast their judgement on the Star Maidens, so from this point on well only be dealing with 6 of them at a time in detail. The other 6 Maidens will have to settle for a Coles Notes version, or whatever name you may have for the websites/study guides that saved your ass from having to read that book you were supposed to read in order to write that essay that was due the next day and was worth like 25% of the fucking grade for the entire term so you stayed up until midnight to get it done.
I do my best work when under immense unrelenting pressure.
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Anyway, bonding time. Well go in reverse poll order for this one, because after reading over some of the recent updates I posted, I noticed that Arie has been getting more screen time than I intended.
~Star God Academy Hallway~
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Kids are assholes. Im talking about the barefoot girls snippy remark to Ruka, but also about the little shits who Im betting are bullying her and throwing her shoes away or something.
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Youre right. Thats what psychologists are for.
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Thats because you dont have any imagination.
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Hmm the fact that the game is jumping right to that conclusion makes me suspicious. They always do this thing where its not what the characters initially think it is. Im going to withdraw the bullying bet, but Ill need to think about this a little before making a new one.
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I was going to say that that sounds more like a Hall Monitor type of thing, but Student Councils/Prefects in places like the UK typically do have some involvement with keeping order and
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I think every one of those statements contradicted the one before it.
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Okay, Ruka is proving to be a lot less Tsundere than I initially feared. Also not quite as closed off as her introduction made her seem. At the very least she seems to be making an effort to connect more with people, even if it might not necessarily be a conscious effort.
Next up is our favourite mess of a personality: Mahiru.
~Star God Academy Classroom~
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That really sounds like something Itsuki should be learning. What purpose is there in teaching the Star Maidens about Impurities? They cant enter the Labyrinths and they cant fight the damn things.
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Im telling you, its a Childhood Marriage Promise. It has to be. What other promise could get an anime girl so fucking petulant?
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Thats a total lie and we all know it.
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~Star God Academy Hallway~
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~Star God Academy Cafeteria~
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Girls having an inability to cook, potentially to a lethal level, is a trope that will never die apparently. I want it to die. Its not funny. The one time I think Ive laughed at a terrible cook segment is in the The Algaes Always Green episode of Spongebob. Man, that was a great moment. Then Victory Screech comes shortly after that What were we doing again?
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Reone and Farun both tied for 3rd, but Reone was lower in the order so well check with her next.
~Star God Academy Clinic~
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So that is the picture she was talking about, except that there are not two people in that damn photo.
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Personally, I see one person in a yukata reaching out to something on a wooden table. The hair is short, but it still looks like it might be red. So the picture to me seems to be of a young Reone. Usually young women wear the kind of bright patterned yukata we see in the picture while men typically wear solid colours, but I guess it technically could be a slightly effeminate boy. Either way I do not see two people there. Maybe it's another translation error. Or laziness, it could be laziness.
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There are three options: Son, Brother, or Boyfriend. Based on age though, there are really only two possibilities: Brother or Boyfriend/close friend. Its obviously not going to be her son, because we were told that Star Maidens are virgins; a fact the game shoves in our face and I wish I didnt have to keep repeating but seems to repeatedly come up as relevant to the conversation.
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*And so Itsuki ate the apple, as indicated by a fade to black short time skip*
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So with this revelation being confirmed, I have become a tiny bit concerned with how Reone is acting. Shes the erotic character-
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Its actually a trait in her profile by the way, Im not just interpreting that.
Anyway, shes supposed to be the mature erotic type. However, we just learned that Itsuki apparently has a very close resemblance to her brother (at least in terms of personality and some characteristics. Were not sure how far physical resemblance goes). Im sort of a bit uncomfortable with how forward Reone is with Itsuki now. Im not sure if this will be a running theme in her character arc, but that last part of her event had her treating Itsuki almost like he was her brother. Her reaction to the sudden hit of nostalgia also involved the blushing animation instead of just the shocked animation.
Please let me be reading too much into this, Conception Plus. Weve already got the weird cousin thing going on between Mahiru and Itsuki. Dont bring in some weird surrogate/replacement brother aspect to Reones potential romantic relationship on top of that.
~Tavern~
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Lets just move on to Farun and try to put that idea out of our heads for now.
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You know, I think it would be kind of a novel approach if this game had a situation where one of the Star Maidens actually does have a crush/boyfriend. I know it would be sort of a bummer story, because their arc would inevitably have to end with some dude being emotionally crushed since the heroine would have to ditch them to wind up with the protagonist (thats just part of the whole wish fulfillment aspect of dating sims), but theres potential for a complex and emotionally difficult story. I think having that guy in Reones arc actually be a past boyfriend that died would have been a better choice than making him her brother. Youd still get the emotional conflicts and confusion, but not have to tackle the idea of having the MC tear a relationship apart for his own gain.
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Sorry, I got off track. Were talking about Farun stuff now.
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Preaching to the choir, girl.
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How big is this world, exactly? Or is this a pre-Age of Discovery situation where Granvania thinks theyve charted the four corners of the world and theyll drop off the face of the planet if they travel too far out to sea? I mean, this looks like a fairly sizeable city, but I cant believe that this place is somehow the center of culture/trade/civilization of the entire planet, or that Shangri-La somehow manages to rule it all.
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Seems like weve struck some kind of mysterious nerve.
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Im at a loss for this one. Im sure theres some kind of traumatic event, possibly something that Farun blames on herself, which caused her to run away from home and become a traveler. As to what that event is, I have no theories right now.
~Mireis Laboratory~
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Cool your jets, Mirei. Lets save that for if you end up winning the Maiden Ending vote.
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*Itsuki fucking books it*
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Good call on that resistance to the restraints, Itsuki. That was about to get terrifying.
One more Focus Maiden left for this update. We saved the most popular for last, mainly because she had already gotten a lot of focus over the past two updates.
~Star God Academy Church~
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*Arie wanders off to continue her cleaning*
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*Itsuki decides to wander about like a lost tourist*
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*Itsuki decides to walk up to the door and try opening it for no discernible reason other than That door looks old*
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*Arie rushes in from outta nowhere*
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Hmm Curiouser and curiouser. I knew you were hiding something, Arie. Well find a way into that room someday.
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So weve discovered Aries big secret that all these characters seem to be required to have. Well, weve partially found it at least. Any theories on what could be in there? Actual sealed evil? Shady church experiment/ritual room? Aries secret kink dungeon? Or could it be something completely stupid or mundane?
Maybe well find out, maybe we wont. It could also be what kills Aries popularity in the polling. Ellie in Conception II also had some secret thing involving the church that kept her high in the polls, but then she dropped out of the top 3 basically as soon as the thread learned what the secret actually was.
~Bottom 6 Summaries~
As promised, here are short summaries of the events of the Star Maidens that placed in the bottom of the thread poll. Ill keep these brief and accompany them with a screenshot, but beyond that there wont be a full transcription of the whole scene.
#7.
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In Sues event she approaches Itsuki and asks if he has any bandages. Itsuki learns that Sue found an injured wolf out in the woods and wants to nurse it back to health back at her ranch. Itsuki offers to carry it back, but Sue gets caught up in wondering why he care so much about it or her or some self-depreciating shit like that.
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Anyway, Itsuki eventually convinces her to let him help and they bring the wolf back to the ranch. Sue thanks him and says she thought he looked cool before stating that shes trying to learn how to compliment people. The event just kind of peters out after that. Its actually a really short event compared to the others.
#8.
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In Yuzuhas event, Itsuki goes to visit her at her house and tackles the question that Im sure a lot of us want to know the answer to: Why the hell does she have a coffin in her room? Yuzuha asks if its strange and says she tried to make it look cute to fit in with the room, which prompts Itsuki to point out that that isnt really the problem. Itsuki asks Yuzuha to make sure that theres not a corpse in that thing and Yuzuha replies that its just her bed. She feels most at ease when she sleeps in it. She says that she gets to dream a lot when shes inside of it.
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So I guess its kind of like a sensory deprivation tank or something that acts as her muse of sorts. Yuzuha asks Itsuki to keep her coffin bed a secret because she doesnt want the others to think shes weird and Itsuki promises not to say a word. She also states that she has a lot of secrets and that this is the first one shes shared with someone. After that, she says that she wants proof that Itsuki will keep his promise, so they end up doing a pinky promise because Yuzuha is still all in on this Big Brother thing that Narc put in her head.
#9.
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Femirunas event is also a short one. It opens with her flipping her shit at one of her servants for screwing up something. Femiruna tries to fire the servant, but Itsuki intervenes and questions why she has to fire them over something stupid. Femiruna rightfully points out that someone incompetent at their job tends to, you know, lose said job. However, we then find out that the reason she wants them fired is because she found carrots on her plate despite how much she hates them. She calls the servants expendable and says that dogs could do a better job (which I think is a joke by the writers because shes some kind of cat lady?), which prompts Itsuki to call her out on her attitude. Femiruna is taken aback by Itsuki sticking up for the servants over her and telling her shes gone too far.
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She then gets very guilty or afraid or demure or something along those lines, because she thinks that Itsuki is really angry at her. She apologizes and takes responsibility for how she acted. Itsuki explains that hes doing it for her sake, because he doesnt want her to be going around hurting others (he wants to see her be, you know, a decent person). Femiruna mentions to herself that even her father has never raised his voice at her, although Itsuki says that he didnt really yell at her. Anyway, Femiruna gets caught up in the weird excitement shes feeling from having someone actually put her in her place, then runs off embarrassed when Itsuki asks her whats wrong.
#10.
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Collettes event opens with a bread pun.
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This ones for you inflatablefish!
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Moving on from that, Itsuki says that he is looking for some melon bread. Collette looks at him like hes a total weirdo and points out that melon and bread dont mix, which causes Itsuki to look at her like shes a total weirdo because, yeah, they fucking do mix. Collette takes interest in these new possible bread ideas, then reveals one that she came up with herself which is titled A mighty knead for orange. The conversation takes a strange turn at this point with Collette asking if Itsuki had spotted a strange woman hanging around the front of Collettes store. Itsuki says he hasnt seen anyone like that, but when he asks what this woman looks like Collette proceeds to brush it off and tells him not to worry about it. Collette runs off to go check on the bread shes making, so Itsuki keeps a lookout for customers. Collette yelps from the back and when she comes back she reveals that she tried to open up the oven without wearing oven mitts, so she lightly burned herself. Itsuki offers to help out around the bakery a little, but Collette rebuffs the idea because he has his own work that needs doing with the Labyrinths. She also spouts some nonsense about her believing that bread is a gift from Star God and that it is the bringer of joy to people, so if she was going to hire someone on part-time then theyd need to have that same level of devotion. She says shell leave the part-timer slot open for now, and if Itsuki can bring peace to the world then shell hire him on.
#11.
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Lillith/Lillies event opens with Lillith trying to clean graffiti off the walls of the Academy. Turns out that Lillie scrawled some graffiti of Narcisstes on the Academy walls after she was scolded by him in class. Lillith is trying to clean it up before anyone finds it so that Lillie doesnt wind up getting scolded even more. Itsuki offers to help her out. After the two of them manage to clean up the graffiti, Itsuki gets to talking about how Lillie is kind of a troublemaker and how it has to be tiring for Lillith to put up with her. Lillith basically just brushes it off as Lillie being a very active girl. You know, the kind of thing that overly lenient parents will say about their kid when they are being little shitbag brats. Lillith talks about all the stuff that Lillie does while Lillith is asleep (you know, other than the pranks), like making their hair flashier or moving furniture around or
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this. Lillith, you are literally wearing a belt around your chest and a pair of booty shorts. What the hell counts as shameful clothing in your mind?
Anyway, Lillith says that Lillie does things that she cant, so she enjoys all the surprises. She also says that Lillie is really kind deep down. Itsuki still rightfully points out that the pranks Lillie pulls must be a hassle for Lillith, but Lillith says that she doesnt mind them that much because she looks up to how outgoing Lillie is in comparison to Lilliths shyness. She says that she really does love Lillie and tries to convince Itsuki that she really is a nice girl. So she asks Itsuki to please be friends with her and Itsuki responds that hes sure trying his best. The event just kind of ends at that point, with Lillith doing her I must go now. Farewell thing.
#12.
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Taruas event is about how she spends her free time. She has the day off from her mail delivery duties, but shes not sure what to do. Itsuki stumbles on her at the Star God Academy field trying to sing as a way to pass the time because shes not sure what else to do on her day off. Tarua says that shes bored and asks Itsuki what he thinks she should do.
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Theres a few different choices here, but Tarua basically brushes all of them off. Tarua then realizes what she wants to do on her day off, which is to say that she wants to play with Itsuki. Itsuki says that hes busy today and cant, but he instantly caves the second she pulls out the puppy dog eyes look and starts guilt tripping him. Tarua asks what Itsuki wants to play and of course all of her suggestions are running related, such as tag, marathon, or racing. She convinces Itsuki to race her by stating that it would probably be beneficial to him because of how much he runs around the labyrinths. Then she fucking bolts and Itsuki has to give chase. Theres a brief time skip, after which we come back to Tarua slightly out of breath and Itsuki sounding like one of his lungs collapsed. Tarua says that she can keep going and after a very short break she once again darts off. After another short time skip, we come back to Tarua still raring to go and Itsuki seemingly passed out on the ground. Itsuki is completely gassed, so Tarua runs off to do something else because playing alone is no fun.
And there you have it. Thats it for this first bonding update. Next time, well have new Classmating Scenes and then theres at least two more major bonding events for everyone.