History VisualNovel / LongLiveTheQueen

* TheLastOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers: The options for confronting Sirin.
-->Shame her with silent scorn\\
Insult her with false flattery\\
Trip her as she passes

''Long Live The Queen'' is a viciously evil UsefulNotes/RenPy-based game where you, as a woefully-unprepared princess, must manage Elodie's weekly schooling to teach her the skills she needs while [[EverythingTryingToKillYou everything is trying to kill her]]. Will you nurture her into a [[EvilOverlord cruel warlord]] who [[OffWithHisHead executes anyone and anything]] that could pose a threat? Or a {{Guile Hero}}ine wielding an extensive intelligence network in one hand and a web of alliances and funding accounts in the other? Or maybe even a badass MagicalGirlWarrior with a ''personal attack falcon''?

You can buy this game on Creator/HanakoGames' website, UsefulNotes/{{Steam}} and Website/GOGDotCom. In 2022 a slightly-updated version of the game was released for UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch, Xbox, and Playstation with translations into multiple languages.

* NintendoHard: Unless you're using a walkthrough, Elodie ''will'' die. Repeatedly.

* DarkIsEvil: Should Elodie be evil enough to [[spoiler:join Togami as his enforcer]], the ending slide shows her in a [[EvilIsSexy completely age-inappropriate skin-tight black get-up]].

* EvilIsSexy: InUniverse example. Get the "To Serve Evil"/"Become An Evil Minion" achievement and Elodie will [[http://longlivethequeen.wikia.com/wiki/File:16_Evil_Elodie.png dress the part in the epilogue]]. The narration explicitly says her EvilMentor's wife was ''very'' suspicious of Elodie and that "an attractive, unmarried, and morally-suspect teenager" wasn't welcome in her presence.

* NightmareFetishist: Alice can fall in love with an Elodie who hasn't laid a hand on her (besides dancing with her), usually by way of starting a civil war.
** It's not clear whether she is actually in love with Elodie, or simply [[DirtyCoward sucking up to her out of fear]].

As per TheWikiRule, there is an [[http://longlivethequeen.wikia.com/wiki/Long_Live_the_Queen_Wiki extensive Wiki]] that doubles as a comprehensive walkthrough.

''Long Live The Queen'' is a viciously evil UsefulNotes/RenPy-based game where you, as a woefully-unprepared princess, must manage Elodie's weekly schooling to teach her the skills she needs while [[EverythingTryingToKillYou everything is trying to kill her]]. Will you nurture her into a [[EvilOverlord cruel warlord]] who [[OffWithHisHead executes anyone and anything]] that could pose a threat? Or a Queen wielding an extensive intelligence network in one hand and a web of alliances and funding accounts in the other? Or maybe even a badass MagicalGirlWarrior with a ''personal attack falcon''?

''Long Live The Queen'' is a viciously evil UsefulNotes/RenPy-based game where you, as a woefully-unprepared princess, must manage Elodie's weekly schooling to teach her the skills she needs while [[EverythingTryingToKillYou everything is trying to kill her]]. Will you nurture her into a [[EvilOverlord cruel warlord]] who [[OffWithHisHead executes anyone and anything]] that could pose a threat? Or a MagnificentBitch wielding an extensive intelligence network in one hand and a web of alliances and funding accounts in the other? Or maybe even a badass MagicalGirlWarrior with a ''personal attack falcon''?

*** If you get the "recruited an advisor" achievement, your advisor is actually not bad at giving advice. [[spoiler:Arisse is a bit of a hard-ass, but she's the most effective defense against Lucille that doesn't involve killing her or putting her in a position of great power; she never accuses Lucille directly, but Arisse will divert her out of Elodie's way as much as possible and may even drive her out of the castle altogether.]]

* YouAreWhatYouHate: [[spoiler:Elodie's father blames magic and Lumen for her mother's death, but if Elodie lacks her Lumen crystal, it's revealed that he also possesses a Lumen crystal when he duels Togami in his daughter's place.]]
** This is however a partial subversion: [[spoiler:Elodie's father is NOT a Lumen throughout most of the game, only a potential one. He doesn't actually activate the crystal and become a Lumen until Togami expresses interest in a Lumen battle, becoming what he hates only to save his daughter.]]

* DespairEventHorizon: While both Joslyn and Julianna start the game suffering from serious depression over Fidelia's death, making them much less useful than they ought to be, both are capable of coming out of it. The one who gets this worst is Elodie's Uncle Laurent [[spoiler: if Elodie publicly accuses him of trying to assassinate her, and Lucille promptly joins in the accusation to cover her own tracks. Between his sister's death and his wife's betrayal, Laurent simply ''gives up'' and allows himself to be led away to be executed, saying nothing more than "May the gods have mercy on all our souls."]]

*** ''Someone'' killed [[spoiler:the rest of Adair's family, but it couldn't have been the Duke of Sedna, who was only six years old at the time. This plot may have been going on for generations.]]

** [[spoiler:Defeating them in battle is an ''extremely'' difficult GuideDangIt; if successful, Nova is safe for the time being, but the Shanjians will certainly return for revenge one day. If you lose, you will be confronted by their king, Togami, face to face. Kill him in a magic duel, and his remaining troops loot the countryside and slaughter countless innocents - plus you gain very dangerous enemy in his now widowed and ''absolutely enraged'' queen. If your magic isn't strong enough, he kills you. If you have no magic at all because you refused your crystal, your father will fight instead, and will either die, or be left with permanent brain damage. There ''is'' one way to resolve the encounter peacefully and form an uneasy friendship with the Shanjians, but doing so is another GuideDangIt that requires you to pass a number of very difficult skill checks, and a good chunk of lives were still lost in the battle that preceded it.]]

-->'''Elodie:''' ''(thinking)'' Horses have been important in Lillah since even before it was part of Nova. [[CaptainObvious But this isn't a horse. It's just a pillow.]] ''(angry)'' Why couldn't she have sent me a horse?

* AndNowYouMustMarryMe: [[spoiler:Subverted in the endgame -- the BigBad is already married and has no interest in a fourteen-year-old.]] Earlier, this is a possible goal of [[spoiler:the Duke of Maree, if you surrender his lands to Ixion or punish his sister for her attempted power play]].
** You can also spin the circumstances around. [[spoiler:If your skills are high enough that you realize that Banion is trying to suggest you have a secret relationship, ''then play along with it anyway'', you have the option of informing him he fits your type, and you intend on marrying him.]] The epilogue details that Elodie takes special steps to ensure it's known that she has the power in the relationship.

** Among other things, you can [[spoiler:force a woman into marriage, abuse the servants, ramp up punishments in hopes of discouraging assassination attempts, order your uncle executed on highly circumstantial evidence, imprison Julianna for life on the assumption she had something to do with your mother's death and then start a massive manhunt for her, reduce the Duchess of Mead to tears by blaming her for her daughter's death ''after'' deliberately sending her daughter into a monster-ridden forest alone, immolate her brother with magic after he calls you out (in the case where he's ''right'' in assuming that you're responsible for Briony's death), have your father killed so you can abandon your kingdom and go on a gleeful murder spree through a foreign country, deliberately set up the last remaining heir of a bloodline in a dangerous situation after being told not to, brag to a young orphan and your ''future husband'' that you executed his stepmother for leading a rebellion, and feed your cousin to a kraken--or order your uncle, aunt, and ''all'' your young cousins executed for your aunt's treason.]] This is even integrated into the game: there's a hidden Cruelty stat that measures just how nasty Elodie has become.

* OnlySaneMan: Arisse, the Duchess of Lillah, is the only sane, non-juvenile member of the catastrophe that is the combined Mead-Lillah ducal family who we know much of anything about. If Elodie proves to be an incompetent ruler, she'll be the [[OnlySaneMan Only Sane Woman]] in the entire kingdom.

** Julianna just sort of hangs around the castle if Elodie doesn't send her away (or imprison her). She steps in to handle attacks by monsters such as the snake or the [[spoiler:creeping shade]] but refuses to divulge useful information about Lumens until after Elodie figures them out herself, and doesn't do anything to organise the resistance against Shanjia, even when she obviously could have. [[spoiler:Your own FATHER can do more than her in the endgame.]] Oh, and if you try to call her out on withholding information, she gives you a withering, threatening speech about how Lumens are beholden to Nova itself - ''not'' easily killable Queens. Ouch.

* AgeGapRomance: Appears in the backstory between the Earl of Titan, who dies of old age during the story, and the late Duchess of Elath, who suffered DeathByChildbirth while not much older than Elodie in order to provide for the succession as soon as possible. In-game, Elodie's oldest marriage prospects are in their thirties, as is one GayOption--literally old enough to be her (thirty-three-year-old) father--or, for that matter, she can literally marry an appalled ''[[spoiler:Briony's]]'' father. On the flip side, Elodie's youngest marriage prospect is six years younger than her, resulting in her only marrying after almost a decade into her reign.

-->'''Elodie:''' ''(thinking)'' Horses have been important in Lillah since even before it was part of Nova. [[CaptainObvious But this isn't a horse. It's just a pillow]]. ''(angry)'' Why couldn't she have sent me a horse?

** In a variation, you can enact And Now You Must Marry Him regarding the Ixion crisis, forcing [[spoiler:Brin, Duchess of Hellas]] to be married off in order to resolve the conflict [[spoiler:which she started in the first place.]]

-->'''Elodie''': [[spoiler:When you've killed me and taken my crystal, what do you do then?]]... You ''have'' the world! But if you're not happy, ''what's the point?''

** A lesbian Elodie can choose to avoid marriage and shack up with a female companion instead, if she plays her cards right. Even more elusive is taking [[GuideDangIt painstaking steps]] that can involve you marrying Evrard, a commoner.

* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: Elodie's composure lessons include staying relaxed while getting her wrists and ankles whipped, walking correctly while wearing armor, staying calm after being smeared with jam and made to walk around in public, walking on hot coals without being burned and finally, bluffing at cards.

** A cruel Elodie can be one herself: such as [[spoiler:dying to the Earl of Io for sending Briony to her death or getting sucked dry by Charlotte's mom for sacrificing Charlotte to the kraken.]]

* BerserkButton: Being too blunt in asking the Earl of Io [[spoiler:if his late half-brother actually killed the brother of the woman who tried to poison his sister]] leads to him [[spoiler:''cutting the woman's throat in front of you'' and shouting that nobody hurts his family before storming off. This is despite the fact that passing a Court Manners check suggests that he was as glad to see his half-brother dead as most people.]] This isn't even getting into what he can do later.

** There are several. If you refuse to get a Lumen crystal and don't find another way of handling the endgame, [[spoiler:the King will die protecting Elodie from Togami, anyone suspected of being a Lumen will be severely persecuted for generations to come, Togami leads the Shanjian army to invade Borealis in the north, and is hinted to still be plotting against Nova. Elodie lives and Nova is relatively stable, however.]]

* BreadAndCircuses: During Week 38 if Elodie commoner approval is very low (which is more likely than not caused by her cruel actions) and directed her agents to watch for possible commoner uprising, she can arrange a free concert or medications for the poor to avoid the popular discontent from spiralling out of control.

* BrokeYourArmPunchingOutCthulhu: [[spoiler:If you fulfill a particularly difficult GuideDangIt, Joslyn ''can'' defeat Togami when he comes to challenge Elodie to a Wizard Duel, but it will come at a great cost for Joslyn: He will remain unconscious for weeks after the fight, and even after he wakes up his physical and mental integrity will be severely and permanently dwindled.]]
* BrotherSisterIncest: [[spoiler:Between the Earl of Io and his older sister the Duchess of Mead.]]

** A strongly-implied case of [[spoiler:stepsister and step-ParentalIncest can occur if you marry Banion at his sister Brin's urging. Brin will marry your father, but become your lover as well.]]

* DeliberateValuesDissonance: Since nearly all of the characters are nobility, there tends to be an according contempt for commoners as well as suspicion of those who rise above their original station -- such as the Duke-Consort of Lillah and the King of Shanjia. [[spoiler:Those two do turn out to be genuine pieces of work.]]

* HasTwoMommies: A possible ending for [[spoiler:Briony, if Julianna and Selene marry and Julianna adopts Briony as her heir.]] Also, if Elodie takes Brin as a companion while marrying another, depending on the outcome, Brin's child may also be [[spoiler:[[ParentalIncest Elodie's brother]] ''[[TangledFamilyTree and]]'' [[BrotherSisterIncest her nephew]] as well]].

* PoorCommunicationKills: Julianna, despite being Elodie's mentor, never tells her anything. If you haven't discovered that [[spoiler:Selene is a Lumen]], she won't mention it, even when that fact is [[IdiotBall literally a matter of survival for Nova and the Queen]]. What's more, Julianna will threaten Elodie over it. Ouch.
** Also, Elodie apparently neglects to mention to her mentor that [[spoiler:her aunt tried to kill her in a Lumen battle]] for over a week, by which time the aftereffects have killed an innocent bystander. [[spoiler: And if that mentor is Julianna, she will have ''attended the ball'' and presumably be among the unsettled nobles.]]

* RebelliousPrincess: Depending on choices and how many points of Willfulness you accumulate:
-->'''Elodie''': I don't care what anyone thinks. I'm the princess and I want my jewelry.
** Briony is the heir to the duchy of Mead, and is sick and tired of her parents' bickering and over-protectiveness of her, asking for Elodie to help her run away from home and go on an adventure in the Old Capital. [[spoiler:It turns out that's all due to a skeleton in their family's closet that her mother is desperate to protect her from.]]

* CallBack: Early in the game, this exchange occurs:
-->'''Kevan, Earl of Io:''' Your Highness! This slattern dares to beg pardon, when she admits that she tried to poison my sister under her own roof!
-->'''Elodie:''' Which sister?
-->'''Kevan:''' Corisande, the Duchess of Mead.

-->'''Corisande, Duchess of Mead:''' Elodie! Where is my daughter?\\

* DeadpanSnarker: Your father can sometimes come off as this, especially with his usual reluctance to openly judge you.
-->'''Elodie:''' Throw her into the castle dungeons and let her rot!\\

-->'''Joslyn:''' There is a woman here to see you. She is a musician and wishes Crown patronage.\\
'''Elodie:''' (Which means money.)
-->'''Sabine:''' Your Royal Highness! If you accept me as a member of your court I will immortalise you in word and song. I have dabbled in musical styles from many countries, and can entertain your guests and lighten your evenings.
-->'''Elodie:''' (I wonder if she also writes naughty poetry?)

-->'''Agent:''' As far as I can tell, you are beloved among the common people. You are the young and innocent princess bearing up nobly under sorrow. A true heroine.
-->'''Elodie:''' Right.
-->'''Agent:''' The poisoned chocolates you received were not the tool of a revolutionary plot. I would wager that the motive is more... personal.
-->'''Elodie:''' (Personal? A romantic gift of death? Great.)

* DefeatMeansFriendship: One of the many ways you can deal with your enemies. [[spoiler:This is actually the ''most'' effective method, though also the hardest. The two most dangerous threats to Elodie can be dealt with in this manner: you can make Lucille your Lumen Minister (which "coincidentally" reduces the number of attempts on your life to near-zero), and befriending Togami not only saves your country from the leaderless remnants of his army, but is implied to save ''the entire world'' from Shanjia's warmongering. Befriending Briony (and therefore stopping her from dying in the Old Forest) also pre-empts Kevan's reason to seek revenge in Week 33, and forcing Brin to marry an Ixionite loses most of its consequences if Elodie understands Brin's [[DoesNotLikeMen outrage]] and shows her how to spin it in her favor.]]
** That said, there are several exceptions to the rule, [[spoiler:most of them involving marriage candidates with pre-existing problems. For example, even if you defeat and spare Kevan in a duel, this does ''not'' magically cure his sudden bouts of trauma-induced rage. Making her your Lumen minister will stop Lucille from trying to have you ''killed'', but the implication is that she still hasn't quite given up on taking the throne for her own daughter.]]

* DownerEnding: The nature of the game means there are a lot of them. Evening reaching coronation doesn't guarantee a cheerful ending, as any of the following can happen: [[spoiler:both of Elodie's parents are murdered, the murderer is a KarmaHoudini who's moving to conquer another country, Elodie has been poisoned by her "loving" aunt to keep her from having children and forcing her to relinquish power to her aunt's lineage, and her rejection of her Lumen crystal leads to a rise in violent prejudice against magic.]] A psychopathic Elodie may plunge Nova into an age of terror and strife, as well.

* EpicFail: Some of Elodie's failed skill checks result in some spectacular failures.
-->'''Elodie:''' (I need to let him down gently.)\\

** Speaking of which:
-->'''Elodie:''' We have a Duke of Sedna?

-->'''Elodie:''' Good afternoon, Countess. What a lovely brooch you're wearing. It reminds me a bit of one my mother used to wear. I suppose you have an eye for valuable prizes, don't you? Ready to leap in and snatch them the instant they become available, to keep them out of anyone else's hands?

-->[[spoiler:There is a horrible scream, and the smell of burning flesh. [...] Kevan's sword falls to the ground beside his gauntlet. He won't be needing either anymore.]]
-->[[spoiler:You knew what the outcome would be, you knew it all along. Togami is a trained Lumen eager to demonstrate his powers, and your father... ''was'' your father.]]

* GuideDangIt: There are a ''lot'' of intricately connected events in the game and the relationships between them will not be apparent at first. Working out who is trying to kill you at which points and why requires serious note-taking. If you haven't been following all the subplots, angry relatives may suddenly show up and challenge Elodie to a duel to the death... for an offense she didn't even know she committed. In a case of GameplayAndStoryIntegration, many of the more important facts are only listed in the little blurbs that come up when you're leveling up Elodie's education, meaning that unless you're using an external guide, the first time you play, you will literally only know what Elodie already knows.
** Also, some of the bonus achievements are downright impossible to get unless you plan your route from day one. Notable examples are the 'save the day through the power of music' bonus (which requires ridiculously high stats in [[spoiler:Voice, Instrument, Foreign Intelligence, Public Speaking, AND Presence]]), as well as the 'Naval Victory' bonus [[spoiler:(which requires VERY high Naval Strategy, you not losing ANY soldiers at any point during the game, and accessing very specific events)]].
*** Seeing all the different epilogue windows might be tough, and maxing out the achievement list might be difficult, but at least the game gives you a checklist to fill out so you know what you're trying to do. Seeing all the different variations on the epilogue text is damn near ''impossible'' because the game doesn't track them! This goes double for Elodie's marriage options that ''aren't'' on the list at the end of the game because they depend heavily on Elodie's player-chosen proposal being rejected. Some of those options have to be unlocked through special events (which is ''already'' a GuideDangIt process), and then the player has to do something to ruin their relationship with Elodie in the endgame so that she'll have to find someone else. The cause-and-effect of these events is so mysterious that even the most comprehensive guide can only tell you what ''may'' happen as a result of any individual choice.

* HeelFaceTurn: Of a sort. [[spoiler:You can recruit Lucille as your Lumen Minister, after which she stops trying to kill you -- unless you kill her daughter, for obvious reasons.]]

* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler:If Elodie accepts the duel with Togami even though she isn't a Lumen, her father will become one on the spot to take her place.]]
-->[[spoiler:'''Joslyn:''' You want to fight the Lumen ruler of Nova? ''Illuminate''!]]

* HotBlooded: Brin, the Duchess of Hellas, conquered Ixionite territory without your mother's permission, nearly (and possibly, if you can't run damage control) starting a war.

* NeverMyFault: Or, more accurately, never ''anyone in my family's fault'', where Kevan is concerned: the woman who attempts to poison his sister is trying to get vigilante justice for her brother, and her claim is justified ([[spoiler:although she's blaming the wrong family member]], but Kevan will stab her himself if Elodie implies it might be true. If Briony dies, he blames Elodie and will challenge her to a duel in order to publicly kill her. [[spoiler:Briony only tries to get to the Old Capital because her parents have kept her stuck at boarding school for ''years'' because of Kevan, and she thinks coming back with treasure is the only way her parents will let her come home again.]] Even the Duchess of Lillah's second husband gets a break, as he is [[spoiler:referred to as having "seduced" Kevan and had a "relationship" with him, even though virtually everything about the situation indicates it was not consensual.]]