SLBP Nobunaga route through chapter 5
Dec. 17th, 2019 09:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
waterscrollSo far I'm mostly getting myself through this route by enjoying the moments with Mitsuhide and reminding myself that MC gets to live happily ever after with him in a different route. Because so far Nobunaga is kind of a horror.
Not going to summarize the route, but one comment:
What the FUCK is this Hades/Persephone nonsense, her pledging herself to the Lord of Hell in exchange for one piece of candy.
First of all, why is there a Hades/Persephone reference in a Japanese historical dating sim?
Second...why did she go along with it? It feels very under-explained in the moment. She'd just been though something which gave her reason not to trust him. It feels like the scene was missing a line. Something like, "She thought to herself, she is already trapped in his service and will not be permitted to leave, she might as well take whatever sweetness and hope for healing is offered." Or, "She knew it was a seduction, but in that moment she couldn't help but be compelled by this strange and fascinating man." As it is, she just looks silly.
ETA: I do have strong feelings about Hades/Persephone imagery in general. Which are: I am in favor, but only when they are both actual deities, since if they're not it always feels to me like it's sort of missing the point. (The dubcon in the myth makes sense when it is about seasons, life and death and such inevitabilities. I generally DO NOT CONSENT to winter happening, and yet here it is.) But, as established in Mitsuhide's act 2, Nobunaga thinks he's a god. Is MC going to become a goddess? Are they Lord and Lady of Hell? Of generative destruction? Is this game going to live up to the over-the-top WTF symbolism that it just threw at me, or is Nobunaga just a creepy arrogant dude?
And then he says she's been trying to seduce him and has wanted him all along, and I'm not sure what to think. Because yes, she/I did want him, I guess, from the beginning of the route, because I voluntarily chose this route. But in-game she isn't acting like she wants him. But I know she does, or will, because I know what route I'm on. I really do not want to admit that he's right here, but I sort of have to.
I'm just gonna remind myself, I'm just here for the history. And if I hate this route I can replay Mitsuhide's when I'm done to make myself feel better.
ETA: And this is such mood whiplash coming right after Nobunaga's Caged in Desire ES, in which it is completely 10,000% clear that she wants him and is just nervous and inexperienced, and by the time he pressures her for sex she has said explicitly and in words that yes she wants it very much, she's just too nervous to say so in the moment. It's quite sweet actually, he's being all domineering but only in order to give her what she has said she wants. He also shows a lot of care and affection for her. That's not at all how things are going down in the MS and it is disconcerting me.
Not going to summarize the route, but one comment:
What the FUCK is this Hades/Persephone nonsense, her pledging herself to the Lord of Hell in exchange for one piece of candy.
First of all, why is there a Hades/Persephone reference in a Japanese historical dating sim?
Second...why did she go along with it? It feels very under-explained in the moment. She'd just been though something which gave her reason not to trust him. It feels like the scene was missing a line. Something like, "She thought to herself, she is already trapped in his service and will not be permitted to leave, she might as well take whatever sweetness and hope for healing is offered." Or, "She knew it was a seduction, but in that moment she couldn't help but be compelled by this strange and fascinating man." As it is, she just looks silly.
ETA: I do have strong feelings about Hades/Persephone imagery in general. Which are: I am in favor, but only when they are both actual deities, since if they're not it always feels to me like it's sort of missing the point. (The dubcon in the myth makes sense when it is about seasons, life and death and such inevitabilities. I generally DO NOT CONSENT to winter happening, and yet here it is.) But, as established in Mitsuhide's act 2, Nobunaga thinks he's a god. Is MC going to become a goddess? Are they Lord and Lady of Hell? Of generative destruction? Is this game going to live up to the over-the-top WTF symbolism that it just threw at me, or is Nobunaga just a creepy arrogant dude?
And then he says she's been trying to seduce him and has wanted him all along, and I'm not sure what to think. Because yes, she/I did want him, I guess, from the beginning of the route, because I voluntarily chose this route. But in-game she isn't acting like she wants him. But I know she does, or will, because I know what route I'm on. I really do not want to admit that he's right here, but I sort of have to.
I'm just gonna remind myself, I'm just here for the history. And if I hate this route I can replay Mitsuhide's when I'm done to make myself feel better.
ETA: And this is such mood whiplash coming right after Nobunaga's Caged in Desire ES, in which it is completely 10,000% clear that she wants him and is just nervous and inexperienced, and by the time he pressures her for sex she has said explicitly and in words that yes she wants it very much, she's just too nervous to say so in the moment. It's quite sweet actually, he's being all domineering but only in order to give her what she has said she wants. He also shows a lot of care and affection for her. That's not at all how things are going down in the MS and it is disconcerting me.
no subject
Date: 2019-12-20 07:43 pm (UTC)Oh damn, you're right.
I think there was a scene where he asks Mitsuhide what Mitsuhide did to get MC to accept, and Mitsuhide mentions that it was Katsuie and Hideyoshi? I remember the scene very vividly and my own sense of betrayal, so I think I'm not imagining this.
Yeah I remember that too, I had just interpreted it differently, that Mitsuhide and Nobunaga thought it was Hideyoshi's persuading when it was really the kompetio that Nobunaga had sent. And that it didn't occur to Nobunaga that his kompetio had made the difference since she had so definitively rejected him last time he tried seducing her with kompetio, so when he sent it ir was less a seduction and more a surrender. (Like, here, have the whole jar, I'm going to stop pretending it's magic and won't ask anything in exchange.) But your interpretation is pretty convincing, especially if Mitsuhide sent the kimonos.
It does make me ship MC/Hideyoshi in that scene even more, especially if in their honest and frank conversation about using sex as a tool he admits what he did. And yeah, he'd be an excellent teacher. She might have to stop by for refresher lessons, even when she's already sleeping with Nobunaga. It's not like he's going to stop sleeping with Ramnaru so he's got no right to object.
What exchange? I could use a push to write fanfic in this fandom.
I'm burning through chapter tickets this week so I'll see you in hell...with the actual lord of hell...very soon!
no subject
Date: 2019-12-20 07:57 pm (UTC):D
Even if Nobunaga did, I feel like Hideyoshi is manipulative enough to talk him out of it. He's really just banging her for the good of her relationship with Nobunaga. He's kind that way.
What exchange? I could use a push to write fanfic in this fandom.
I requested SLBP (and Hakuouki!) in the New Years flash exchange (since I'm going to be staying home for the holidays) - https://archiveofourown.org/collections/nysfe
I've never tried nominating SLBP for exchanges before, so I have no idea if there are writers around, but I think there's at least one other Hakuouki fan in the flash exchange circuit!
I'll nominate SLBP and Hakuouki for Chocolate Box too. (I know I've seen someone request Hakuouki in the past, which may be relevant to your interests!)
ETA: Please keep me updated on your progress and thoughts! :D It's very fun to talk to you about the routes, and I really cannot get enough of hearing about people complaining about Nobunaga.
no subject
Date: 2019-12-24 05:06 pm (UTC)