Back at the Samurai Love Ballad Party

[alias_sqbr]

Masterlist and guide

So my phone finally gave up the ghost (pro-tip: do not run over your phone with a power wheelchair) and I got a cheap replacement, which turns out to be powerful enough to run SLBP, hooray!

Below: Lady Seek Not My Heart's Betrayal: Mitsunari, and Love's First Verse: Yukimura, Saizo, Mitsuhide

Content note: Transmisogyny

Alas I lost all my data, boo. And I can't play Kaede/Sogo's route until I've done one of the main Radiance guys.

So I'm replaying Saizo's route, letting it run while I do other things, since I do want to play his Act 2 one day. Saizo is such an ass haha.

I've also been doing these new beginner events they didn't have when I started playing the first time. They're pretty meh so far, so I'm only half paying attention.

Lady Seek Not My Heart's Betrayal: These are from the guy's POV which would be more appealing if the guys in question weren't Ieyasu, Inuchiyo, and Mitsunari (with Shingen, Kenshin, and Hideyoshi unlocking later)

I chose Mitsunari which is very surreal with the Nightshade version in my head. Unfortunately it turns out Mitsunari's head is not a very nice place to be, he kept see-sawing between irritation at everyone (including MC), self hatred, jealousy any time someone seemed to be closer to Hikari or Hideyoshi, and shmoopy thoughts about how great MC is. The desperate needy sex was kinda hot, I guess. And it was interesting seeing how messed up he is about Hideyoshi, if not exactly fun: it's not explicitly romantic/sexual, but otherwise pretty similar to how he feels about Hikari, minus the part where the object of his affection offers any sort of commitment or real comfort.

Love's First Verse: Various established relationship stories.

Yukimura: Very generic but cute enough.

Saizo: Kind of annoying, involves Inichiyo's Wacky Relative.

Mitsuhide: So this is what inspired me to actually write a post, because...I just...

Me: Oh no MC is jealous over Mitsuhide seeming to be into a flirty kabuki actress named Okuni, who is presumably amab. Is this going to go to a homophobic/transphobic place?
Okuni: I did hit on Mitsuhide but he said he was in love with you, so you can stop worrying.
MC: Aw, she's actually nice! And...weirdly hot? Maybe I'm into girls after all.
Me: Awww, ok then!
Okuni: SURPRISE, I AM SECRETLY...A NINJA ASSASSIN!! Also you're poisoned now >:) *does a bunch of evil stuff*
Me: UM.
Me: Wait, they keep saying her full name, maybe she's a real person. OH, THE INVENTOR OF KABUKI. WHO WAS A CIS WOMAN. Maybe she just happens to be tall and flat chested!
Nobunaga: Surprise, this pretty little thing is a man! *reveals chest* Which makes me feel better about murdering you ^_^
Mitsuhide: Yeah, I knew, he got pretty, uh, close when he hit on me.
Me: >:(
Mitsuhide: Cure MC and you can live!
Okuni: Ok! *breaks capsule in mouth and kisses MC with tongue to transfer the antidote* Hmm, not bad ;)
MC: I should dislike this guy but I find I can't.
Nobunaga: You work for that pathetic would-be priest Shingen don't you?
Okuni: HDU SAY ANYTHING BAD ABOUT SHINGEN HE IS PERFECT AND WE LOVE EACH OTHER AS MUCH AS MITSUHIDE AND MC *throws smoke bomb and escapes*
Mitsuhide: I must wash the taste of that man out of your mouth with many kisses.
MC: Ok :D

So, uh, yeah. That was not the best portrayal of feminine presenting amab people ever (albeit also not the worst), and makes me more nervous about the Kaede/Sogo path. Which I was already expecting to be patchy based on the existing stories. Ah well. There was some general sexism stuff scattered throughout, so I could put it down to one specific writer being gross, but it still got through the editing process.

I'm thinking I might just not bother with story events going forward unless they seem especially appealing. I was getting bored of them back before the game stopped working.

Comments

[scytale]

(Congrats on the replacement phone!)

Uhhh at the main point of the post. That sounds awful. :(

[alias_sqbr]

Yeah :/

[waterscroll]

And it was interesting seeing how messed up he is about Hideyoshi, if not exactly fun: it's not explicitly romantic/sexual, but otherwise pretty similar to how he feels about Hikari, minus the part where the object of his affection offers any sort of commitment or real comfort.

Yeah, it's one of my favorite relationships in the game, just because it is such a mess. I wish there were a route where instead of getting together with either of them I could shove them together.

I had very mixed feelings about the Kaede/Sogo route, there was a lot good about it but a lot that was kind of eeeh. Do you want spoilers?

[alias_sqbr]

Ha, meanwhile I wanted to get Mitsunari as far from Hideyoshi as possible, but I can see it the other way as well.

Please, spoil away! In this case, I'd much rather be spoiled than have a nasty surprise.

[waterscroll]

Ugh I just read the Mitsunari story and it's one of the worst I've seen for him. He's not a good fit for a jealousy plotline.

Anyway about Kaede/Sogo - A lot of the route is them having political negotiations for the villiage to stay independent, and I liked that part. Also a lot of the route is MC processing Kaede/Sogo's gender identity. MC assumes that if Kaede/Sogo is openly living as Kaede that they wouldn't be able to be openly together because of homophobia. So the major conflict is, MC can't marry them as Kaede b/c homophobia but can't be with them as Sogo b/c all the plot reasons that Sogo had to live as Kaede, so what to do? In the light end they end up taking over as villiage head and living openly as Sogo permanently, telling everyone that Sogo was just living in disguise as a woman all along. But they still are Kaede with the MC sometimes privately. Oh there's also a scene near the end where they decide to commit suicide together and then are stopped or change their minds, I'm not sure which because I was distracted by being aggravated at that point.

[alias_sqbr]

HMMM. Ok. Thanks, that's good to know!

(Am currently dealing with More Phone Drama so it's all theoretical for now anyway)

[waterscroll]

If your phone gets back up soon, the current event's Nobuyuki route has some sweet gender stuff. Do you want me to just tell you?

[alias_sqbr]

I played all of it except the very last part of the finale, what happens at the very end after they've bonded about sewing and Yukimura etc have returned? And yes, it was very sweet, thanks for suggesting I play it. Though didn't his route have everyone already know he does sewing for Yukimura? I guess this is a slight AU.

[waterscroll]

I really liked that he's part of a woman's sewing circle that makes things for the temple. And I thought even compared to his route he was more explicit about his sewing being gender nonconforming.

ETA: What happens at the very end is that they give the things he made to Yukimura and let him think MC made them and enjoy having a shared secret, which they both find kind of hot.

Glad you liked it!

[alias_sqbr]

Thank you! And yes, that was really nice.