Suikupdate, and prompt-claiming shenanigans.
Luca Blight, man. Just.
Luca Blight, man.
Yes, I took him down. Yes, it is remarkably unfair that he gets like four attacks a turn. Yes, I had to restart the strategy battle when his unit would not fucking take damage and Gilbert died, because Gilbert's unit always dies. Yes, his death is positively Rasputinian in the best way possible. I think I started giggling helplessly when he'd been ambushed by archers, beaten down by Viktor's AND Flik's AND Riou's parties (and nobody actually died, to my surprise, though Valeria and Miklotov came close), shot full of arrows AGAIN, and was still on his feet enough to duel Riou. And then he didn't keel over until he'd gotten his last speechifying out of the way.
I don't know, I just loved how his sprite kept marching right along even though arrows were sticking out of him (it?) all over the place. Say what you will about the dude, but he deserves a spot in the JRPG villain pantheon alone for not having to transform into a dragon/giant snake/eldritch ultimate form. He's just a dude who's that fucking hard to kill. And then he keeps on getting great lines like "fear is a stupid emotion," and maybe I've been writing too much Jowyfic, but I enjoy the shit out of him. (It helps that I found and read a translation of the story that talks about what happens with his mother, which was fascinating and heartbreaking and creepy. Children in a Suikoden game should just plain never be happy, because they will inevitably have that happiness ripped away from them. And stomped on. Repeatedly.)
And after taking some time to luxuriate in my victory, I did the Tir-recruitment sidequest, and AAAAAH.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH.
Yes, I was in fact literally squealing when Gremio popped up again, and when Riou walked up to Tir (and darnit, why do they both have to be silent protagonists, I want that conversation), and I didn't stop the entire way through. A rough breakdown of what I was screaming at the TV:
Tir collapsing on the floor from the pain of the Soul Eater: "OH TIR SWEETIE PRECIOUS BABY OH GOD GREMIO WHY ARE YOU SO PERFECT QUICK HOLD HIM AND MAKE IT BETTER and hey, Mith, I feel like all my headcanon for Tir is completely validated now AAAH OH GOD LOOK AT HOW HE'S TOUCHING RIOU'S SHOULDER AND RIOU IS BLUSHING AND STAMMERING ALL OVER THE PLACE SOMEONE HAS A ~CRUUUUUSH~"
Fighting the poison moth: "MITH MITH MITH THEY HAVE A COMBO ATTACK HOLY SHIT LOOK AT WHAT THE BRIGHT SHIELD AND THE SOUL EATER CAN DO TOGETHER MITH IT LEGITIMATELY FEELS LIKE I AM PLAYING THROUGH THE FANFICTION IN MY SOUL RIGHT NOW AND IT IS THE BEST THING EVER."
Arriving at the presidential palace in Gregminster: "HE'S STEPPING AWAY AAAAH HE CREATED THE REPUBLIC AND THERE'S NO PLACE FOR HIM IN IT AND HE KNOWS hey let's take him to the room memorializing him that will be so amazingly awkward."
At the McDohl household: "CLEO AND PAHN OH MY GOD IT'S CLEO AND PAHN AND GREMIO'S COOKING AND THEY'RE ALL HAVING DINNER AND THEY ARE ALL MY PRECIOUS BABIES."
Walking back to Banner Village: "Riou, you have a big stupid crush on Tir, don't you. Even though you are too awkward around him to hit on him successfully." [At this point, Mith interjects "Tiru-samaaaaaaaaa~" and we spend about five minutes composing Riou's passive-aggressive "hey Jowy congratulations on getting married you BIG TRAITOROUS CHEATING WHORE well guess what TIR MCDOHL IS IN MY PARTY NOW. THE PARTY IN MY PANTS" letter.]
...in all fairness to myself, I was about as bad the first time Riou visited Gregminster. Hell, I've been about as bad through the entire game. Suikoden II got me bad, what can I say? And I continue to get way too many fic ideas about Jowy. And gloat like hell when I babble enough at Mith about the Highlander Villain Party to get her to write Luca and Jowy fic.
:D
In other news: I mentioned
areyougame in my last post, and claims just opened today, and people not Mith and me left some damn good Suikoden prompts, and I probably picked up too many of them for my own good. ...at least some of them can be short? And I've started some of them already? ...:D? Whatever, it's great to feel fired up about writing again -- and to have that fired-uppedness be internally motivated, not about whether or not other people will like it.
Here are the prompts I claimed:
March 4 - Suikoden II, Luca/Jowy: emulation - what power truly is
Okay, first things first: LUCA BLIGHT DOES NOT GET TO HAVE SEX. PERIOD. (To be honest, I don't think he's terribly interested, given his backstory.) That being said, I have, uh, kind of already started this fic. It begins at Jowy's defection and ends with Luca's death, and it's going to be a beast. But a good beast. I think.
March 8 - Suikoden III, Chris/Lucia: sparring - is this what you meant by weakness?
Another short one. And really, it doesn't require much justification other than what the prompt already contains. I don't think I have to explain the appeal of lady military leaders beating the crap out of each other and letting that slip into makeouts, do I?
March 12 - Suikoden III, Jacques/Aila: The Matchmakers - Jacques is too shy to confess his love to Aila. The rest of the 12th unit decides to help him out.
Too cute to pass up. Too cute, and too funny, because Ace and Joker giving Jacques love advice just plain has to exist.
March 13 - Suikoden V, Frey/Lyon/Roy: reunions - "You started WHAT in Gregminster?"
...I've been looking for the right excuse to write this one. Roy goes to the northern continent after V and becomes an actor, and Mith and I joked about him accidentally-on-purpose starting a riot in Gregminster when he played the Prince and (in character) exhorted the audience to free the Queen from her poisonous court, and everything just kind of escalated from there.
March 16 - Suikoden I, Flik/Odessa: culture clash - married now! wait, what? (Joint claim with
mithrigil)
Another one we've already started. I love making Flik awkward, okay, I just do.
March 19 - Suikoden V, Roog/Rahal: in heat - what the hell kind of Pern is this?
I don't remember where this one started, either -- I think I was joking about dragon soulbonds and the Pern books, and said something about the Dragon Cavalry getting itchy when the females were in heat, and lo, the crack was formed. And hey, we know Lance is the father of Flail's egg...
March 23 - Suikoden III, Nash/Chris: secrecy and infidelity - an exceptionally bad idea (Joint claim with
mithrigil)
Already started. A prelude to a MUCH larger project. This one needs to exist first to give the other necessary context, though.
March 26 - Suikoden III, Thomas/Cecile: awkward crush - it's Budehuc's concern!
Short. I hope. Involves Thomas helping Cecile out of her breastplate and noticing, well. Breasts. God they are so cute.
March 29 - Suikoden I, Tir/Gremio: morning sex - on the road again
The one where Gremio discovers more effective methods of waking up Tir.
Have I just screwed myself over? Quite possibly. But I think I can pull this off. I have before! I just need to ready the weedwhacker if any of these story seeds start sprouting too much plot.
And here I never thought I'd complain about coming up with plot too easily.
.
Luca Blight, man.
Yes, I took him down. Yes, it is remarkably unfair that he gets like four attacks a turn. Yes, I had to restart the strategy battle when his unit would not fucking take damage and Gilbert died, because Gilbert's unit always dies. Yes, his death is positively Rasputinian in the best way possible. I think I started giggling helplessly when he'd been ambushed by archers, beaten down by Viktor's AND Flik's AND Riou's parties (and nobody actually died, to my surprise, though Valeria and Miklotov came close), shot full of arrows AGAIN, and was still on his feet enough to duel Riou. And then he didn't keel over until he'd gotten his last speechifying out of the way.
I don't know, I just loved how his sprite kept marching right along even though arrows were sticking out of him (it?) all over the place. Say what you will about the dude, but he deserves a spot in the JRPG villain pantheon alone for not having to transform into a dragon/giant snake/eldritch ultimate form. He's just a dude who's that fucking hard to kill. And then he keeps on getting great lines like "fear is a stupid emotion," and maybe I've been writing too much Jowyfic, but I enjoy the shit out of him. (It helps that I found and read a translation of the story that talks about what happens with his mother, which was fascinating and heartbreaking and creepy. Children in a Suikoden game should just plain never be happy, because they will inevitably have that happiness ripped away from them. And stomped on. Repeatedly.)
And after taking some time to luxuriate in my victory, I did the Tir-recruitment sidequest, and AAAAAH.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH.
Yes, I was in fact literally squealing when Gremio popped up again, and when Riou walked up to Tir (and darnit, why do they both have to be silent protagonists, I want that conversation), and I didn't stop the entire way through. A rough breakdown of what I was screaming at the TV:
Tir collapsing on the floor from the pain of the Soul Eater: "OH TIR SWEETIE PRECIOUS BABY OH GOD GREMIO WHY ARE YOU SO PERFECT QUICK HOLD HIM AND MAKE IT BETTER and hey, Mith, I feel like all my headcanon for Tir is completely validated now AAAH OH GOD LOOK AT HOW HE'S TOUCHING RIOU'S SHOULDER AND RIOU IS BLUSHING AND STAMMERING ALL OVER THE PLACE SOMEONE HAS A ~CRUUUUUSH~"
Fighting the poison moth: "MITH MITH MITH THEY HAVE A COMBO ATTACK HOLY SHIT LOOK AT WHAT THE BRIGHT SHIELD AND THE SOUL EATER CAN DO TOGETHER MITH IT LEGITIMATELY FEELS LIKE I AM PLAYING THROUGH THE FANFICTION IN MY SOUL RIGHT NOW AND IT IS THE BEST THING EVER."
Arriving at the presidential palace in Gregminster: "HE'S STEPPING AWAY AAAAH HE CREATED THE REPUBLIC AND THERE'S NO PLACE FOR HIM IN IT AND HE KNOWS hey let's take him to the room memorializing him that will be so amazingly awkward."
At the McDohl household: "CLEO AND PAHN OH MY GOD IT'S CLEO AND PAHN AND GREMIO'S COOKING AND THEY'RE ALL HAVING DINNER AND THEY ARE ALL MY PRECIOUS BABIES."
Walking back to Banner Village: "Riou, you have a big stupid crush on Tir, don't you. Even though you are too awkward around him to hit on him successfully." [At this point, Mith interjects "Tiru-samaaaaaaaaa~" and we spend about five minutes composing Riou's passive-aggressive "hey Jowy congratulations on getting married you BIG TRAITOROUS CHEATING WHORE well guess what TIR MCDOHL IS IN MY PARTY NOW. THE PARTY IN MY PANTS" letter.]
...in all fairness to myself, I was about as bad the first time Riou visited Gregminster. Hell, I've been about as bad through the entire game. Suikoden II got me bad, what can I say? And I continue to get way too many fic ideas about Jowy. And gloat like hell when I babble enough at Mith about the Highlander Villain Party to get her to write Luca and Jowy fic.
:D
In other news: I mentioned
areyougame in my last post, and claims just opened today, and people not Mith and me left some damn good Suikoden prompts, and I probably picked up too many of them for my own good. ...at least some of them can be short? And I've started some of them already? ...:D? Whatever, it's great to feel fired up about writing again -- and to have that fired-uppedness be internally motivated, not about whether or not other people will like it.
Here are the prompts I claimed:
March 4 - Suikoden II, Luca/Jowy: emulation - what power truly is
Okay, first things first: LUCA BLIGHT DOES NOT GET TO HAVE SEX. PERIOD. (To be honest, I don't think he's terribly interested, given his backstory.) That being said, I have, uh, kind of already started this fic. It begins at Jowy's defection and ends with Luca's death, and it's going to be a beast. But a good beast. I think.
March 8 - Suikoden III, Chris/Lucia: sparring - is this what you meant by weakness?
Another short one. And really, it doesn't require much justification other than what the prompt already contains. I don't think I have to explain the appeal of lady military leaders beating the crap out of each other and letting that slip into makeouts, do I?
March 12 - Suikoden III, Jacques/Aila: The Matchmakers - Jacques is too shy to confess his love to Aila. The rest of the 12th unit decides to help him out.
Too cute to pass up. Too cute, and too funny, because Ace and Joker giving Jacques love advice just plain has to exist.
March 13 - Suikoden V, Frey/Lyon/Roy: reunions - "You started WHAT in Gregminster?"
...I've been looking for the right excuse to write this one. Roy goes to the northern continent after V and becomes an actor, and Mith and I joked about him accidentally-on-purpose starting a riot in Gregminster when he played the Prince and (in character) exhorted the audience to free the Queen from her poisonous court, and everything just kind of escalated from there.
March 16 - Suikoden I, Flik/Odessa: culture clash - married now! wait, what? (Joint claim with
mithrigil)
Another one we've already started. I love making Flik awkward, okay, I just do.
March 19 - Suikoden V, Roog/Rahal: in heat - what the hell kind of Pern is this?
I don't remember where this one started, either -- I think I was joking about dragon soulbonds and the Pern books, and said something about the Dragon Cavalry getting itchy when the females were in heat, and lo, the crack was formed. And hey, we know Lance is the father of Flail's egg...
March 23 - Suikoden III, Nash/Chris: secrecy and infidelity - an exceptionally bad idea (Joint claim with
mithrigil)
Already started. A prelude to a MUCH larger project. This one needs to exist first to give the other necessary context, though.
March 26 - Suikoden III, Thomas/Cecile: awkward crush - it's Budehuc's concern!
Short. I hope. Involves Thomas helping Cecile out of her breastplate and noticing, well. Breasts. God they are so cute.
March 29 - Suikoden I, Tir/Gremio: morning sex - on the road again
The one where Gremio discovers more effective methods of waking up Tir.
Have I just screwed myself over? Quite possibly. But I think I can pull this off. I have before! I just need to ready the weedwhacker if any of these story seeds start sprouting too much plot.
And here I never thought I'd complain about coming up with plot too easily.
.