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I remember her Scan being useful, especially because you only have to do it just once for each new enemy.
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# ? Jun 10, 2024 18:46 |
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Accordion Man posted:I remember her Scan being useful, especially because you only have to do it just once for each new enemy. Getting the scans for all the enemies you've already fought is the worst though
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Junpei posted:You know, I'm still not sure how the real Rasputin was such a lady-killer. Either he was a really good conversationalist or he secreted pheromones that made any woman within arm's reach wanna bang him. I was saving this for later, but to hell with it, now is a good time to reveal this. Dude was hung like a horse. There is a Museum in Russia that apparently has his severed, pickled phallus on display and it is 12 inches long from what I have heard, and am not sure it the pickling left if soft or hard. THAT is why he could likely get all the ladies.
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OminousEdge posted:I was saving this for later, but to hell with it, now is a good time to reveal this. Dude was hung like a horse. There is a Museum in Russia that apparently has his severed, pickled phallus on display and it is 12 inches long from what I have heard, and am not sure it the pickling left if soft or hard. THAT is why he could likely get all the ladies. Pretty sure that 12 inch pickled dick they have on display is actually not a human penis. Had to go do some unfortunate Google searches but there's one they had that was actually a dried out sea cucumber, and another that hasn't been tested but could have been from a horse or cattle. His daughter (uh... yikes) claims he had a 13 inch dick though.
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2 Updates until someone mentioned Rasputin's dick
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I love to take pictures of enemies and stuff
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This is a particularly funny time for the people to discuss booze with a Russian princess. Going into WWI the monarchy had a monopoly on booze production. One of the less popular war time policies of the Romanovs was prohibition.
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habituallyred posted:This is a particularly funny time for the people to discuss booze with a Russian princess. Going into WWI the monarchy had a monopoly on booze production. One of the less popular war time policies of the Romanovs was prohibition. given story goes when WWII ended, *Moscow ran out of alcohol* and the apocryphal story of why Christianity became the predominate religion, prohibition was a very poor move on the Romanovs' part.
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I love that this is a setting where summoning a flying demon to assassinate a princess in a city is less suspicious than just breaking her neck and dropping her in the river.
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Hey, it makes perfect sense! Why would a religious official summon a demon? That's the exact opposite of what they do!
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Even with everything Yuri's been through, he still runs directly toward screaming.
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Glazius posted:Even with everything Yuri's been through, he still runs directly toward screaming. One of the big reasons Yuri's a likeable protagonist is that no matter how much of a weirdo he is, he has always been a genuine hero.
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Night10194 posted:One of the big reasons Yuri's a likeable protagonist is that no matter how much of a weirdo he is, he has always been a genuine hero. In Shadow Hearts, a woman screaming in an alleyway could be literally anything from a mugger to an eldritch nightmare breaching its way into the mortal realm and the minds of all who gaze upon it to sup upon their sanity. Either way, Yuri's gonna have something fun to punch.
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Night10194 posted:One of the big reasons Yuri's a likeable protagonist is that no matter how much of a weirdo he is, he has always been a genuine hero. Rude as he may be, Yuri remains a Hero at heart.
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Episode XLVII: Dances With Wolves![]() ![]() Music: Vicious 1915 ~ Battle in Europe ![]() ...You'd think a creature that can literally fly would manage not to be surrounded. But I suppose it didn't anticipate being drawn into a combat pocket dimension that has warped the size of all space within and also allowed a scantily clad fencer and a wolf to instantly teleport to its flanks. This is Pendulum, a 333 HP Water class mid-boss. ![]() Calling it a mid-boss is probably being generous. It's a complete pushover with a few unimpressive attacks and the somewhat annoying ability to cause the Reverse Ring anomaly. But that's not much of a worry as the party can easily take it in a single round and will do just that. ![]() But this fight mostly serves as a chance to use Anastasia's special ability -- Snap Shot. Snap Shot only costs a single MP and unlike every other action in the game, it's an automatic ability with no Judgment Ring necessary. Let's give it a whirl. ![]() ![]() I'm not sure where Anastasia got the tripod from but then again she just did a Jojo pose and made a camera appear from thin air. So it's best not to question it. ![]() ![]() Snapshot flash! ![]() And so Anastasia gains a new ability from that snapshot of Pendulum. Only a handful of certain bosses will yield a new ability. And indeed, it's impossible to get all of them in a single run of the game since Carla's cat, Andre, and Veronica's dog, Oscar, both had SnapShot abilities long before Princess Romanov was available. There is a New Game + mode in Shadow Hearts: Covenant where all the party members are available in battle from the very start, so that's how you can be all completionist for Anastasia's abilities. If this was a more modern game or it ever got an HD Remaster, I have no doubt there would be an annoying achievement tied to this. Spoilers: I'm not THAT much of a completionist. Andre yields Cash Steal which lets Anastasia jack extra cash off enemies. Oscar provided Remove which nullifies an enemy's buff. Ho-hum. ![]() A second function is SnapShot that it will also display the targeted enemy's HP/MP and elemental class. These stats are permanently unlocked for the enemy type with the need to take another picture, assuming we see another one. However, the revealed numbers will only appear if Anastasia is in the active battle party. So that's a little annoying. ![]() A Snap Shot that unlocks a new ability will give Anastasia a free turn immediately which allows her to dig into a new menu option in the form of Album. From here, we can go ahead and use that stolen ability and throw it back at Pendulum. ![]() ![]() ![]() Piano sting! ![]() ![]() Oh yeah, Anastasia less stole their ability and more made summonable copy of their soul to launch their signature attack at the enemy. ![]() Aqua Raise is one of the cheaper Album summons at 36 MP and is obviously Water-based damage. Though it does have a spicy chance of causing Poison alongside that. But in the case of Pendulum, it just annihilated him outright. That works too! ![]() Music: Result ~ Victory ![]() ![]() ![]() Well, the first use of your special ability didn't get the entire party killed so you're already ahead of Lucia, I'd say. ![]() Music: Anastasia ~ Going Her Way ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() A short while later, back at Edgar's Shop. ![]() Music: Anastasia ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Anastasia strolls up to a nearby store counter and slams something down on the table. Yuri walks over to inspect it. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Yuri does not have time to listen to a self-important tween girl. He is far too occupied practicing his dance number with Blanca and happily hums to himself while doing so. Blanca seems significantly less enthused but he's a good boy and goes along with it. Music: ENDS ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Yuri has engaged in the conversation once more. Or finally stopped zoning out. It's difficult to say. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Anastasia turns around startled. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Anastasia runs up and hides behind Edgar. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Ana comes out from hiding. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Music: Anastasia ~ Going Her Way ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Yeah, sure let's just walk in with no cover story in the dead of night. I'm sure there will be no issues with that. No sir. ![]() ![]() ![]() Video: Episode 46 Highlight Reel (You should definitely watch this.) ![]() ![]() Pendulum Concept Art - Getting a real Eve from Parasite Eve vibe with that weird spikey talon substitute for legs. ![]() Edgar Concept Art - It's like Dr. Wily and Dr. Robotnik did a Fusion Dance. ![]() Yuri and Blanca Dancing Illustration - Macabre gothic horror.
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I honestly love that they went with “well people used to claim cameras stole your soul right?” when deciding how to justify a blue mage in the setting.
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Yuri remains the best protagonist. “Screw your backstory, I’m gonna dance with that dog until I’m pointed at something to punch.”
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Yuri dancing with Blanca is a delight![]() ![]()
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Why is claiming premature war victory and holding big celebrations still a thing over 100 years after World War 1? Have we learned nothing? [reads it was a big thing in Ancient Babylon too and groans]
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Yuri will always hold a special place in my heart just for playing with a big wolf instead of listening to Anastasia's fanciful speech. Still, this version of Princess Anastasia is quite entertaining. I feel like she'd be way into magical girl anime if they existed right now...which they might.
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quote:And so Anastasia gains a new ability from that snapshot of Pendulum. Only a handful of certain bosses will yield a new ability. And indeed, it's impossible to get all of them in a single run of the game since Carla's cat, Andre, and Veronica's dog, Oscar, both had SnapShot abilities long before Princess Romanov was available. There is a New Game + mode in Shadow Hearts: Covenant where all the party members are available in battle from the very start, so that's how you can be all completionist for Anastasia's abilities. If this was a more modern game or it ever got an HD Remaster, I have no doubt there would be an annoying achievement tied to this. This is actually incorrect, it's entirely possible to grab those abilities in a single playthrough; Those bosses pop up in Solomon's Trials and you can nab them there.
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I love that not only has Yuri decided to out of the blue start dancing with Blanca, but that no one else seems to notice or care.
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kw0134 posted:I love that not only has Yuri decided to out of the blue start dancing with Blanca, but that no one else seems to notice or care. You know they've all done it at some point.
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DukeofCA posted:You know they've all done it at some point. Let's not kid ourselves, any one of us would likely do the same, given the chance.
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Almost immediately
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The only way this scene could be improved if it turned out Blanca was secretly Poshul all this time.
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So what're the odds that Rasputin "healing" Alexei to get the Tsarina's trust is going to lead to Alexei transforming into some horrible monstrosity?
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Probably somewhere around 195%.
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Commander Keene posted:Probably somewhere around 195%. [Morbo]That's not how probability works.[/Morbo] You forgot a zero or two at the end.
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Now, to be fair, he might have legitimately helped Alexei in our timeline. Aspirin was considered a wonder drug at the time. Thing is, it would have acted as a blood thinner, which wouldn't be a good thing to give someone whose blood doesn't clot. Telling the Tsarina to not let the doctors bother the poor kid could have saved his life.
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The evidence is that "prayerful healing" would have been, with the state of medicine in the 1910s, the most helpful thing to do for a child with hereditary anemia. You can't transfuse platelets, any number of medicines are at best snake oils with no efficacy and the real medicines would be contraindicated. Having a creepy old monk put his hands on your head and mumble a few words and not letting the physicians try out whatever pharmaceutical nonsense they've whipped up in a lab that would make a meth cooker blanche would have been a healthy thing to do.
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amigolupus posted:So what're the odds that Rasputin "healing" Alexei to get the Tsarina's trust is going to lead to Alexei transforming into some horrible monstrosity? The odds should be on whether its simply just alexei or a amalgamated flesh abomination of all the royal family
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kw0134 posted:The evidence is that "prayerful healing" would have been, with the state of medicine in the 1910s, the most helpful thing to do for a child with hereditary anemia. You can't transfuse platelets, any number of medicines are at best snake oils with no efficacy and the real medicines would be contraindicated. Having a creepy old monk put his hands on your head and mumble a few words and not letting the physicians try out whatever pharmaceutical nonsense they've whipped up in a lab that would make a meth cooker blanche would have been a healthy thing to do. That and healing magic is an established fact in this universe.
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Eh, he's likely a black mage with no actual healing spells.
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Are we still in the stereotypical "leeches for everything" phase here? E: assuming it ever was a thing that happened of course But yeah, modern medicine is still in its infancy and a charlatan with the right idea could outperform court doctors with no clue. I'm also giving the Romanovs a lot of credit by assuming they hired actual doctors instead of charlatans pretending to be medics before Rasputin.
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As I understand it the main course of treatment was to try and bleed the hemophilia out of the kid so whatever old Raspie did would probably be an improvement.
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My impression is that whatever Rasputin was doing, the result of it was that the doctors were being stopped from giving their solutions to the kid and Rasputin gave the kid some quiet recovery time. Given that the solutions the doctors kept trying to do for the hemophiliac was shove Aspirin down his throat..... yeah.
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Omobono posted:Are we still in the stereotypical "leeches for everything" phase here? There was a very thin line between medicine and quackery.
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Episode XLVIII: A Royal Audience![]() Music: Anastasia ~ Going Her Way ![]() Our only objective now is to return to the Winter Palace Hermitage and introduce our crew of anime hooligans to the Czarina so we can umm... err... hang out in the palace and hope to catch Rasputin on his way back to his quarters to bang Veronica or something? I'm sure they'll figure it out. ![]() Before we go, Edgar has stashed a Lottery Ticket behind his clerk counter. Sorry, pal. I know you're helping us out but we are hoarding these things like a dragon with treasure. ![]() Nobody in town has anything new of note to say EXCEPT for Old Boris here standing just south of Edgar's shop. Speaking with him now that we have a full party result in... ![]() Another Nibelung Scene which buffs her Bullenfogel Sword Art. I don't know if I'd be comfortable having a Guardian Mime. That feels like it would get old fast. ![]() ![]() We could go do some shopping with the Magimel twins, but we're good for the moment and we'll have another opportunity before we get into any further battles. Plus the only thing really worth buying at the moment is a weapon upgrade for Blanca as we might get a freebie for Karin this very day. Meanwhile, in an undisclosed basement... ![]() Music: The Real Intentions ![]() ![]() Masaji Kato, what on earth are you doing browsing through the Émigré Manuscript, young man?! You take your hands off that no good book immediately! Also, a reminder that despite Kato looking like he's well into middle age and having the deep dadass voice of Papa Nier, he is only 29 at this point... ![]() AND you're hanging out with Nicolai?! What are you doing?! You were a nice boy up until your superior officer crush got murdered by government agents right in front of you and you started hitting the gym hard, climbing the political ladder and dressing up in an unusually villainous-looking cape. ... ...Aww crud. Kato closes the book and turns to Nicolai. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Nicolai stands up and starts pacing over toward the opposite wall. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Kato turns away and exit before stopping at the door. ![]() ![]() ![]() Meanwhile, back at the Winter Palace... ![]() Music: Anastasia ~ Going Her Way ![]() Now that we aren't sneaking out in the middle of the night (although given it is like early January in Russia at this point, the sun probably set around late afternoon given everything in Petrograd seems to be happening the same evening) we're free to explore the first floor of the Winter Palace. Or Hermitage. Oddly the game's save files and a handful of generic NPCs refer to it as the Hermitage while everyone else including spoken dialogue says Winter Palace. The (New) Hermitage is actually building next door (the one in the background when we're standing in front of the Alexander Column.) But it wouldn't be Shadow Hearts: Covenant if things dialogue stayed consistent. ![]() Well, by explore the first floor I mean there is only one empty connecting hall leading to another corridor identical to the ones upstairs. But there are some new folks to bother on the way. So let's get that taken care of, shall we? ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Let's just remember there's still one inaccessible hall down here. It may be necessary to come back here at a later date. ![]() Always remember to check all house plants for hidden international secret lottery tickets. Anastasia enters the first bedroom. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() It has got to be depressing being a woman and seeing your title is just "Of Marriageable Age." ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() On to the next room... ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() And on to the room after that... ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() By the way, if you'll notice in the upper right corner of the room there is an easy to overlook chest. If loot that we find... ![]() A free weapon upgrade for Karin. Espada provides +61 Physical and +59 Special Attack. Also, 352 bulls killed seems like a lot but apparently, by around this point in history, the matador fight record was 109 fights in a single year. I cannot find a number for the matador with the most kills but I'm sure it's unpleasantly high. ![]() That's all for the first floor. The western 2nd-floor corridor and rooms are completely empty so no need to go there. The eastern corridor still has the same NPCs wandering around. Most of them have nothing of interest to say. But now that all the warriors are here, a couple of new NPCs have appeared to further some sidequests. In the room with the portly war profiteer merchant, a new NPC -- Zuvious, Lover of Folkcraft, has appeared. Speaking with him will advance the Trading sidequest. Remember, we last traded the Underground Film to a filmmaker in Cannes for a Daruma Doll. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() And that's how Yuri helped inspire the invention of Matryoshka Dolls to Russia. Just ignore the first set of Matryoshka dolls was carved in 1890 by Vasily Zvyozdochkin and designed by Sergey Malyutin by commission of a rich industrialist. Although it is true they were inspired by Daruma and Honshu dolls. I don't think they got the idea from a wandering punch hobo. ![]() Anyway, Zuvious, Lover of Folkcraft just gave us his drat lunch. Piroshki are basically just a Russian fried/baked meat bun although it can be filled with veggies. That said, I like the idea that since Yuri traded for it he figured he'd have to trade it again for something else and just dumps the thing into is fanny pack in hopes of exchanging it for something else several weeks down the line. It's also worth noting that if we had traded with that upcoming Youtuber movie critic kid in Cannes and gotten the Limestone Block, we would instead have to go trade with Chagall, Who Stinks of Ink over by the twins' shop. He'd also give us a Super Piroshki so it doesn't matter and Yuri having accidentally helped invent Matryoshka Dolls is the funnier option. Zuvious will still appear regardless but now he just laments Russia is a poor country and a cultural dead-end that sucks instead. Moving on, in that room which holds Grand Duke Dmitri, now contains another new NPC -- Natalya, Always Serving People. If we chat with her... ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() This lottery ring's gimmick is... it's a reverse ring that spins counter-clockwise. That's it. It's very easy to score the top prize. But we're actually going to blow TWO of our increasing surplus of Lottery Tickets to claim the first and second prize. ![]() Big mood. ![]() That's a hell of a vague description but this actually a Joachim only accessory that boosts the frequency of him entering his Invisible Joachythm. Also a +2 to Physical and Special Attack as well as Physical and Special Defense. Too bad he's getting the boot this chapter in favor of Anastasia in the active party. ![]() ![]() There is nothing else to fart around within the palace. The door to the west in the central corridor that was once blocked by a guard is now accessible and that, in turn, leads to the throne room and plot progress. Music: ENDS ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() inside the castle. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Music: Suffocation ~ Grim Atmosphere The door to the throne room opens off-screen. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Rasputin starts walking toward the group. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Empress Alexandra and Alexi depart for their quarters. As soon as they're out of the room... ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Rasputin starts menacingly approaching Anastasia but Yuri is having none of that poo poo and blocks his path. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() The throne room doors burst open. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Yuri enters a fighting stance. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Rasputin walks to the door with Veronica and stops. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Rasputin and Veronica depart. A short while later... ![]() Music: Town of Twilight ~ European Town ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() So the Empress is convinced a group of strangers that her daughter met an hour ago are cool to hang out with her via Rasputin going "ehh, c'mon it's fine" and the first thing they do is all pile into her bedroom. I'm going to go on record, for the outside, that's not a great look, gang... ![]() ![]() ![]() Video: Episode 48 Highlight Reel (You should watch all scenes with Rasputin being extremely evil.) ![]() ![]() ![]() Empress Alexandra Concept Art - Every single photo and portrait of this woman has a complete look of "meh, over this poo poo" so I guess they got that right. The Dark Id fucked around with this message at 17:41 on Jan 2, 2020 |
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# ? Jun 10, 2024 18:46 |
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Beginning to think that the Empress is not a great judge of character.
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