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#so I assume Kain probably died somewhere around then
sabraeal · 3 years
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Hi,
How are you?
What do you think of Chapters 111.5 of Akagami no Shirayukihime? I think it's after Haruto became regent and went to Wilant but before Izana stepped up to help her.
Contrary to most ice princes Izana behaves with Haki politely but there is a lot of softness too and he was paying attention to her.
I do wonder if it was before Izana realised he liked Haki. Because when he notices that with him she is all politeness and respect unlike Zen with whom she is much more comfortable obviously since they both look close in years and also are younger siblings. There is something in his reaction made me think that he must have felt something. He was all 'give me the flower I'll search its name since you are so curious' and that's when Haki genuinely smiles at him.
Izana totally remembers it despite what he told Haki when she reminiscented it. And he probably wasn't happy when she said that she confused him with Zen but 'no I shall be calm and collected' is his unbreakable facade yet the way Haki smiled at his cool response it looked like she was letting him have his way.
From the chapter it's indicated that there were many banquets Haki atteneded at the palace with the boys. So, maybe with Lyrias' position adults were arranging Hakizana wedding but the Bergatts were interested too and something went wrong. Since Izana behaves same with Zen as he did back when he wasn't helping Haruto but he is much more reserved with Haki than he was in this chapter.
What do you think?
I think, for no other reason than it meets my personal headcanons re: their ages, that this chapter may actually take place pre-Kain's death! It would also explain why Izana is so soft with her-- he's not yet the prince who had to spend years pretending to be a complete airhead to fix his father's kingdom, so he's less jaded, more naturally reserved rather an distrustful. He's the heir apparently, but he is still in training to eventually become king, probably not for decades yet.
I definitely agree-- no matter what Izana says, I'm pretty sure he remembers the whole thing. I've always gotten the feel that he like Haki and has probably always liked her-- especially since we see how very soft he is with her in the flashback. Haki's conversation with Zen back in 102 gave me the feeling that she's been around often, the way nobles often did when they were going to arrange a betrothal. I'm assuming that whatever happened to Kain put it on pause (my best is he was poisoned, hence Zen's preoccupation with it), but something during or prior to the first Lilias arc has Izana set it in motion (I have a feeling it was murmurings about Touka's dealing in the North, but I SUPPOSE WE SHALL SEE)
It would be SUPER INTERESTING if the Bergatts were involved with scuttling the betrothal too. I have always liked the idea of Haki having been betrothed to Touka first, before having that tossed out once Kain had their titles revoked. Touka mentions most of their lands were given to Arleon, Haki's family, which gives me the feeling they had some sort of hand in their downfall...or that Kain merely was looking for a reason to beef up Haki's dowry to make her a better match for Izana. All of which is SUPER interesting, considering how Makiri doesn't seem to be a big fan of either Izana or Zen, but lbr, that might just be one of those personal childhood grudges and be separate from his political feelings.
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Impressions
I know I’m way behind on progression through Replicant (insofar as anybody can be ‘way behind’ in the sense of playing a video game for personal entertainment), buuuut I figured I’d share a few thoughts.
Presently I’m doing sidequest mop-up post-Barren Temple, for reference:
So just to get this overall out of the way, I am legitimately fascinated by the differences between NIER and Replicant. This is something I picked up on when I played RepliCant to grab footage for my LP, but given my extremely limited understanding of Japanese all I could get was the tone between characters and to my unpracticed ear they sounded pretty different. I always assumed that Weiss was somehow even more condescending to Brother and hah hah, wow. Even kind of expecting the dialogue and delivery differences I was not prepared for some of the dialogue and delivery differences. Weiss just straight-up insulting BroNier on the regular, not even doing sarcastic eye-rolls like he does with Papa. I don’t remember the exact line that set me off but somewhere in the Barren Temple I was just laughing my ass off at how much of a dick Weiss is.
Thought the ‘miracles’ conversation in the Junk Heap was interesting, too. I remember Papa Nier telling Weiss to stuff it because ‘those kids need a miracle’ and Weiss kind of backs down-- obviously doesn’t believe it, but he knows better than to push. And Brother tries but Weiss is just not having this optimism bullshit. Little things, but the tenor of the relationship is definitely different.
One of the more interesting aspects early on is the way the Lunar Tear is treated. Obviously I don’t know if this was part of the original game or a script adjustment, but Brother talking about the Tear as a source of money as opposed to Father saying it can grant wishes was interesting. Maybe it was to justify that Kaine just has a whole necklace of the damn things and therefore it’s rare but not literally magic, but it always sounded like it was just meant to be taken as a myth to me anyway. Then again, it’s established in the Grimoire that Brother has a fixation specifically on making money so he can support himself and Yonah (versus Papa Nier, who has obviously already established himself as an adult rather than a kid still figuring things out and hoping that enough money will solve all their problems).
Where the dialogue doesn’t diverge is interesting, too. Mostly I’m talking about the scene after defeating Hook. I always found Papa Nier exclaiming “You’re going to live, Kaine!” and “Yes, we’re friends now!” to be obvious holdovers from a younger protagonist just goddamn hilarious when Papa Nier is saying them. They’re still really funny with Brother Nier but just remembering Papa Nier doing the exact same delivery in his deep, manly voice just re-elevated the whole scene into comedy gold.
All of that is really why I was interested in getting the game so already my money is well spent. But there’s some other stuff:
They butchered the OST! ...or so people keep telling me on Youtube. I admit I do think the re-orchestrations is largely inferior to the original (although there are some that are at least as good in a different way, and whatever they did to The Lost Forest -- which was one of my least favorite tracks in the original -- I really enjoy) but I wouldn’t call it a butchering and I highly suspect that if I didn’t have the eleven years of the original OST and its association within the game itself I wouldn’t bat an eye, it still all sounds great.
Also, a weird observation, but I found that the soundtrack sounds much better coming out of the TV speakers than through headphones. I’m not sure if somehow it was optimized for play through external speakers, or maybe just not hearing the added orchestration right up against my eardrums, but when I went to the Lost Shrine with headphones on I was admittedly disappointed, but going to it again and listening through the TV it worked significantly better.
(I’m not sure if this is necessarily a factor, but the booklet in the White Snow edition mentions that the new soundtrack was all studio mixed rather than having the individual tracks layered. While I don’t think that would have an impact on music quality it almost definitely makes a difference in the way it’s produced.)
I miss chest-thrusting to double jump Movement overall feels much more refined and polished. It’s not as slick as Automata, but it definitely feels like a natural evolution of the original game, and as an apologist for NIER’s combat I can appreciate that. A little more responsive, I appreciate being able to move while casting magic, and it still has a bit of a crunch behind weapon impact (although I wish it felt a bit heavier).
But goodness I miss the stupid animation for double-jumping. I mean sure, an aerial somersault is a classic indication of a double jump, but I just loved that Nier would chest-thrust so hard he would break the laws of physics and ascend higher.
It also feels a bit like the aerial dodge was nerfed for movement purposes? I really don’t feel as much horizontal thrust to get a running start after diving off the Library balcony.
Fully voiced? Fully voiced?! I knew this was happening but I totally forgot until the NPC villagers started talking to me! Some of the incidental deliveries are a bit awkward, but as somebody whose glasses prescription is a decade out of date I appreciate this immensely.
The item guy in Seafront just being from the goddamn Bronx is a thing of beauty.
BroNier does fit into the Village better. One of the little details I love in the game is that each bit of civilization has its own style. The maps aren’t large enough to really convey how long travel takes, but the different styles between the Village and Seafront just kind of helped to ‘place’ the characters in a really neat, subtle way (Emil’s sash identifies him as ‘belonging to’ Seafront, which is actually pertinent when you get that sidequest where you find the letter from his science-mom in town! I assume she always wore a kicky sash when she went to work in the underground child torture bunker.)
Facade obviously also has their own style, but it’s... hard not to appreciate.
Papa Nier’s dress doesn’t really ‘place’ him anywhere, which doesn’t feel weird for the main character, and I feel like it’s implied that he isn’t really from the Village in a meaningful way anyway and kind of drifted in at some point after Yonah had been born. But younger Brother Nier is actually wearing the local fashion and it’s a neat little detail that I didn’t appreciate back when I played PS3 RepliCant. (Probably because I didn’t bother talking to any NPCs what with not being able to read the dialogue, so I never really had him standing next to anybody for long enough to process.) Older Brother Nier takes on a very different outfit that winds up displacing him from the rest of the Village (and any other towns), which is a pretty nice visual metaphor, too.
I have a confession to make. I still enjoy fishing in this game.
Yeah I said it. I’ll say it again too-- I like the fishing minigame. I happily blitzed through the Fisherman’s available Gambits, and then just caught five sharks while I was hanging out, and then also caught the sandfish ahead of time, and also wound up with a half-ton giant catfish (??!?) trying to remember where the black bass are located.
Cart me away.
Related but I laughed far too hard when the fisherman says “the WESTERN beach”. I wonder why they changed that line. I just can’t imagine.
And those seals. Always a delight to go to early Seafront and just plant yourself between a couple of seals. Watch the ocean. Listen to the music and the waves. Watch the seals lazily roll around and make cute seal barks.
The most depressing thing about the timeskip is losing those seals.
My garden--! The gardening timeskip exploit was fixed due to a difference in PS4 architecture. :/ I know there’s still an exploit involving time zones but I didn’t go in knowing that and I was horrified when I adjusted the system clock only to find my crops weren’t growing. Is Legendary Gardener still a trophy? Fffffuuuuu
My BARREN TEMPLE. The Barren Temple is, to me, a legitimately funny dungeon, between Sechs getting himself abducted, Kaine getting herself abducted and Nier and Weiss just sighing in resignation, and the whole concept of the rules-based challenges. And the adjustment they made to the Prince’s dialogue before you meet him is so good-- the original felt a little disjointed and felt like it ended with the Prince being confused. It was still funny, but here Weiss just gives zero fucks about insulting the Prince (and presumably knows that’s exactly who he’s talking to) and it’s just great.
And I say all of that because I just died laughing when I got to the infamous Racing Wolf room and saw they outlawed evasion.
Evasion works differently in this game anyway so you wouldn’t have really been able to do the same trick before (dodge roll; in the original release you would dodge roll forward by tapping the button, but a default evasion has you backstep. Of course you could arrange BroNier to face away from the trap and then evade, but it would be significantly dicier, and I feel like the pattern on the shots was awkward enough that you wouldn’t have an opening in the second row (and probably would’ve have dodged your ass right into the bullets anyway). But just that they acknowledged the trick and then flipped you off with it was amazing. Aggravating? My amusement far outweighed my frustration since the Defend trick was still solid.
It also felt like more rooms outlawed jumping? That I can’t corroborate (I was really focusing on whether they did something to Racing Wolf, which is of course the most traumatic of the rooms) but I feel like it wasn’t as easy to cheese some of those rooms as it had been previously.
Dark Blast is amazing. Cheesed the shit out of the actual ‘Evasive Mouse’ room, though. I remember having some difficulties when the miniboss shows up since you can’t dodge out of the way of his lava pillar attack, but I just circle-strafed with Dark Blast and he died comically quickly.
This is actually more relevant to the magic as a whole, but in the time since I first played NIER (so... probably the time I fifth played NIER) I learned more about the little intracacies of the magic system. Like, really little intricacies, like how you can use magic with just a button tap and it actually has different effects... like Dark Blast dealing significantly more damage. It’s not as easy as just holding down the button and getting the multi-shot off the charge, but for a single enemy like that just rapid-fire tapping the button chews through the lifebar.
This tap strategy is really appreciated for Dark Hand (forward thrust punch) and Dark Lance (which is even better thanks to the game’s lock-assist-- a much appreciated quality-of-life adjustment), and I look forward to getting Dark Execution because of its fast activation feature (spreading the lances in a forward cone in front of you, extremely useful for crowd control when you can’t afford to wait for Execution to charge up).
Fragile Delivery still sucks. I don’t know why I had such a terrible time with the first Fragile Delivery but I broke that... Ming vase or whatever you’re delivering half a dozen times. Send that guy a steel rug instead, Guard #3, he is not worth whatever piece of art you had me destroy six times.
And the game still holds up. This is probably a ‘needless to say’ thing but yeah, this is still a great game. I always have a little bit of apprehension going back to something I loved just in case there’s a rose-colored effect going on. Not that I really expected that to happen with this game (I’ve played NIER recently enough that I didn’t think nostalgia would blind me) but, you know, always a possibility.
(That and that the remaster would be... perhaps of dubious quality. It happens.)
Nope! Still engaging. Still charming. I’m always impressed to go back to this game with all the knowledge of its inevitable misery and remember that it’s also just plain funny. NIER is one of those games that’s just like I remember it but better every time I go back to it.
I’m so glad that Automata did well enough to spur greater interest in this game. It really didn’t get the chance it deserved back in 2010 and now it’s topping some of the sales charts. That’s fantastic.
Just... fantastic.
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Ok, let's see how much I remember of the Dissidia Plot without looking anything up:
SPOILERS
1) So, some time in ancient times, there are two nations at war. I assume one of them is the Lufenians since Cid of the Lufenians is there, and the other had powerful weapons like Bahamut (or maybe summons, can't remember, anyway the other country is military stronger while thd Lufenians are more scientifically advanced).
2) Anyway, Cid and his wife are, like, the head researchers for the Lufenian Government, and are tasked with building a "Weapon to surpass Metal Gear the Omega Weapon," the other country soon to be perfected doomsday weapon, and I don't remember if it's them creating him or if they, like, find a alien baby in the woods ala superman and shit (most likely the later given what happens next), but they find Chaos (FF I) as a small demon baby, and the Lufenian governmemt decides to train him and raise him as the new weapon, having Cid and his wife as heads of the project since Chaos has basically imprinted on the guy's wife as his mother.
3) Anyway, they try to prepare Chaos for war, but Cid's wife is opposed to this, and tries to, like, prevent her "baby" from getting abused and used, but then she dies during a accident/assassination attempt and Chaos goes berserk and uncontrollable, causing sone sort of disaster.
4) Meanwhile I don't remember which atmy is also undertaking a project invving creepy manequin soldiers that mimick other people weaponry and skills, that becomes important later.
5) At some point the Lufenian government starts a Cloning Project and clones Cid's wife to keep Chaos in check. She's called Project something or another, and then goes by the name of Cosmos. They also try to copy Chaos but end up with a mindless, feral beast without reason, sealing it somewhere to degenerate.
6) I think at some point Chaos and the Omega Weapon fight, and Shinryu (FF V), a big ass dragon god of rebirth and shit, is also there, can't remember fighting for whom, maybe as a neutral party. Anyway, the world (From now on, World A (In universe called as such)) dies, the only survivors being Cid, now turned in a Moogle, Chaos, if damaged and lacking most of his memories, some Manekins, Cosmos, with conflicting memories, the Chaos Clone, sealed in a rift, and a bunch of other moogles.
7) Shinryu, the dragon god from before, then appears to... someone, maybe cid, maybe other lufenians who somehow survived, never got that part, and offers to save the world or heal Chaos and bring him onto the state the Lufenians wanted him to become, might be both. Anyway, He creates World B, a perfect copy of World A, and places the survivors there. Cosmos is given half the world, Chaos the other half.
8) So, now, the deal with Shinryu is this: Chaos and Cosmos, now elevated as Gods, must fight each other in perpetual war. They summon pawns to fight in their stead and then, after either god "dies" in the war, Shinryu will show up, reset the world to a state before the start of the cycle, resurrect the fallen and absorb their memories and powers, while those who survived the cycle keep them for the next one. By doing so, Shinryu can now feed himself and Chaos, each new cycle, can train and gain some more power for himself since he technically wins every war, thus growing even if his memories are missing into the perfect super weapon for a empire that isn't even there anymore.
9) The first Cycles are on a Skeleton Crew, Chaos gets Gabranth (FF XII) and Garland (FF I, more on him later) while Cosmos gets Shantotto and Prishe (Both FF XI). The Manekins are still around, unbound, and are outside of Shinryu cycle, so if they manage to kill someone they can't get renewed by the dragon anymore and disapear from the cycle. They get later sealed on a dimensional rift somewhere, unknown to anyone.
10) Gabranth, Prishe and Shantotto get erased from the cycle at some point, we don't know how If I remember correctly, but first Prishe finds Warrior of Light (FF I), with no Helmet, somewhere in the world. Due to dimensional fuckery and Shinryu absorbing warriors' memories, shards of other worlds start mixing in with World B, so you can be on the surface of FF IV moon one day only to stumble in a hole and end up in Ultimecia's Tower, so he's, like, in FF I Chaos Shrine, with no memory of who he is. She gives him a name, they flirt a little, then he becomes a pawn of Cosmos despite never being called there by a god. Garland is the only one who recognizes him, but is not forthcoming with the answers.
11) Garland, literally the first boss of the first final fantasy game and a one note character till the final boss of FF 1, is the most important character in this story.
In the original game, he kidnaps the princess, gets defeated by the warriors of light, and then is sent back in time becoming Chaos, only to be defeated again by the Warriors of Light later.
According to Dissidia, FFI Chaos is AGAIN sent back in time after his final battle, damaged, regressed to infancy and with no memories, to a time before the FFI World existed, to World A, and becomes the Chaos raised by Cid and his wife, and later fights against the clone of his beloved mother for Shinryu. Then, after dying for a last time in the 13th cycle, he gets sent forward in time, and reincarnates into FF I Garland again, beginning the Cycle anew.
The Garland we see in Dissidia is the culmination of all those deaths and rebirth, the apotheosis of Chaos, who knows how things are going to go, and how things have gone. He looks like FFI Garland, but holds the same magical powers of FFI Chaos, that Garland lacks as a simple traitorous knight, and has the concentrated memories of all his lives, so he knows everything and everyone, and how things will go and have gone.
12) Anyway, after a couple Cycles things stabilize into two major sides, with minimal side switching between cycles:
12A) Chaos: Garland, the Emperor (FF II), Cloud of Darkness (FF III), Golbez (FF IV, switches sides some times), Exdeath (FF V, most memed character in the game), Kefka (FF VI), Sephiroth (FF VII), Ultimecia (FF VIII), Kuja (FF IX, switches sides some times), Jehct (FF X, switches sides some times).
12B) Cosmos, with Warrior of Light (FF I), Firion (FF II), Onion Knight (FF III and Dark Souls), Cecil (FF IV), Kain (FF IV, never switches sides but does some shady shit at times), Bartz (FF V), Terra (FF VI, gets brainwashed into fighting for Chaos at times), Cloud (FF VII, gets brainwashed into fighting for Chaos at times), Tifa (FF VII), Squall (FF VIII), Laguna Loire (FF VIII), Zidane (FF IX), Tidus (FF X, some times switches sides based on who his dad is fighting for (EX, Jecht is Cosmos, Tidus is Chaos)), Yuna (FF X), Vaan (FF XII), Lightning (FF XIII).
13) In the 12th Cycle, A inner faction within Chaos' forces (Kefka, The Emperor and Exdeath and other 3 I can't remembed (I think Cloud of Darkness, Sephiroth and Garland, don't quote me on this)), discovers the rift where the Manekins have been sealed, and free them hoping they'll erase not only the warriors of cosmos before the next cycle, but even Cosmos, winning them the war for good. A second faction, composed by Golbez and Kuja among them, try to prevent this from Happening for personal reasons, so Kuja kills half of Cosmos forces, and Golbez convinces Kain to kill off the other half, so they'll be able to be revived by Shinryu.
14) Warrior of Light is the only one who didn't perish in the Purge of the main 10, and stays at cosmos side trying to defend her from the Manekin hordes. She sacrifices herself to save him from being erased, and dies before she or warrior or light can get killed, starting the cye anew. Cosmos is however weakened in the next (and last) cycle.
15) Vaan, Yuna, Laguna, Kain, Tifa and Lightning all get erased from the cycle trying to stop the Manekin horde. They seal back the rift, but the World is still swarming with them, persisting into the next cycle, while the 6 of the 12th cycle die an heroic death.
16) Yuna and Jecht manage to bring back Tidus into Cosmos' folds when Jehct sacrifices himself for him as Tidus dies, and Yuna beats the shit out of the Emperor (more on him later). In order for Tidus to become good, however, his dad become evil since that's how their cristal is based (More on this later).
17) Cloud is being brainwashed into fighting for chaos. Tifa punches him (and probably also Sephiroth, who's there being creepy) right in the dick, he remembers who he is, and dies getting back onto Cosmos right as his memories of Tifa are erased alongside her.
18) Terra is getting enslaved by Kefka in a Joker - Harkey Quinn situation. Kefka then does a stand-up comedy battle with Vaan, who wins it by out stand-up comedy Kefka, and "kidnaps" Terra. They have some hot girl summer scenes together, before Vaan goes to die at the rift for her. She shakes of the mind control thanks to him, and becomes a warrior of Cosnos again. As a side note, Vaan has a weird relationship with Onion Knight since OK is, like, a 6 years old midget, and he treats him like a little kid and brother, while most other characters treat him as a holy knight, which will become important later since Onion Knight and Terra will be one of the 5 major parties in the 13th and last Cycle.
19) Kuja is discovered by the other faction in Chaos' army and is killed, his memories altered for the following cycle. Golbez manages to weasel his way out of all of this, the other members of the factions die and are resurrected by Shinryu.
20) In the 13th cycle, a now weakened Cosmos splinters her power in 10 cristals, and tasks her remaining wariors to find them. Once they'll get them all, Cosmos will die the final death, and the cycles will stop, granting her last 10 warriors one last resurection, and the power to end the cycles for good and return to the homes they've forgotten about. This creates 4 major parties in Cosmos' army questing for the Crystals.
20A) Biggest Party is Cecil, Cloud, Firion and Tidus. They start splitting up over time, mostly Cloud wanting to be a lone wolf, and are in a mostly ensemble cast situation.
20B) Zidane and Bartz are best friends. They try to rope Squall into their merry couple, but he's even more of a lone wolf than Cloud so he is all "I work alone, I shall help my friends by working alone from the shadows too!" As he, like, basically stalk them along the way, and Zidane roast him for being a edgelord. Zidane and Bartz are split up by (I think) Kefka's machinations at some point and spend the other half of their journey trying to get back together.
20C) Terra and Onion Knight form a "Arthurian Knight and his Lady" Party, neither remembering Vaan. They cuddle while sleeping, she gets kidnapped, he gets kidnapped, he manage to talk Exdeath out of a fight by being a silver tongued 6 years old midget, the usual things.
20D) Warrior of Light works alone, first time he's not protecting Cosmos in a cycle. Due to the cyclical nature of Garland, he's the only one who fights his signature enemy both as first and last boss in his story.
21) Once they find the Crystals by each defeating their Original Villains, the chaos forces are resurrected once again by Chaos, now in complete control of Shinryu's powers, who then kills Cosmos for good, and then murders the 10 heroes. They are resurrectex by the Crystals once again, and set off to end the final cycle and kill Chaos.
22) After reaching Chaos' seat of power, they find him, like, super depressed and he doesn't know why since he just won. He has one final conversation with Garland, who knows why he's depressed of course, since he just killed the clone of his mom and shit. You kill off the 10 villains along the way, sending them back to the original worlds, before defeating Chaos in a 10 on 1 battle, killing him, unthetering Shinryu, and freeing World B from its cycles.
23) World B is then revealed to be the World of Final Fantasy I, finally back to World A primordial state, now on a grassy hill near a forest, each hero from Tidus to Firion is sent back to their home world by their respective Crystal, in descending order, with Warrior of Light remaining with Cornelia standing in the background on a sunrise, starting the events of FF I as Chaos gets Isekaid into Garland again, starting his cycle anew. The ones erased in the 12th cycle are then released back into their original worlds and times.
24) Meanwhile a secondary Timeline splinters from world B where Cosmos couldn't sacrifice herself in the 13th cycle. Chaos, now bloated with Shinryu powers, becomes a corrupted shadow, a feral beast devouring the world and its inhabitants, and only 6 survivors of either army, either cycle, are tasked by Cyd, now a moogle, with putting a stop to this. In this timeline, Chaos, now Feral Chaos, Shinryu, now Shinryu Ex, and their Clone are finally stopped, leaving a empty world, inhabited by moogles, Cid, and Cosmos, ready to begin the Cycle anew.
25) As a side note, a big deal was made for Jecht and Tidus cristal, a sort of Yin Yang power born from their conflict and fight or some shit, that the emperor was trying to harvest for his own means since the 12th cycle, but was later stopped by Yuna and later Tidus agaib after he finally beat the shit out of his awful dad. Can't remembed much else but it was kinda important.
26) Don't remember much else plotwise aside from, like... minor shit like Ultimecia and Cloud of Darkness flirting by having a philosophical debate over the concept of death, rebirth, cycles and time loops, or Firion and Lightning bonding over a Rose.
EDIT: 27) Oh, yeah, Gilgamesh (FF V, recurring dimension hopping character in other game) is also there. He accidentally stumbles upon Workd B during, like, one of the early cycles, and tries to find and fight Bartz, but only manages to have zany highjinks and adventures before falling into another rift out of the world, into another FF Game. Irrelevant to the plot, but he's Gilgamesh, so he gets a special mention.
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bleedingcoffee42 · 7 years
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Western AU
I shouldn't touch a random genre generator, I can't do anything but obey and do something with the prompt.
Historical/Horror = Ghosts and Western Au guest starring....the tumbleweed.
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Deputy Jean Havoc was pretty sure there was nothing more 'old west' than the picture of him standing in front of the Sheriff's office smoking a hand rolled cigarette and looking out at the setting sun.   What bothered him was that that  picture was currently being drawn by that muscle man from the circus that liked to rip off his clothes and bellow about muscles and his lineage.   Jean tilted his head back and blew a smoke ring in the air, perhaps if he was lucky the guy really did have a hot sister and she would see the drawing and want to meet him.   Then again, he could only imagine what Armstrong's sister looked like and none of those images were good.
The wind picked up and the dust stirred in the street and the cliché tumbleweed rumbled past.   Jean watched it go and then some shadow in the dust cloud caught his eye.   Out of habit he rested his hand on the Colt revolver on his hip and waited to see who would be coming into town from that direction.   The wind died down, the tumbleweed disappeared and the dust settled to reveal a man wearing a long black coat on a blood bay horse.
Jean stepped into the street as the man came over to the office, slipped off his horse and tied his reins to the hitching post.  It was a nice horse, shiny red coat and long black mane and tail and the government brand on it's hindquarters.   Jean toyed with the cigarette in his mouth and looked at the rather short guy turning to him, catching the sight of a Federal Marshal badge on his vest.   Oh, the Sheriff was going to be thrilled.   “Hello Marshall, what can I help you with today?”
Roy Mustang was tired, dirty and completely done with every damned local who had been deputized for one reason or another so this one got the brunt of his frustration.   “I'll talk to your Sheriff, if you don't mind getting out of my way.”
“Sheriff isn't here.”  Jean shrugged and remained in the guys way and blew some smoke in his face for the rude tone and overall arrogance he was emitting.   “You're welcome to sit inside and wait.”
Roy pulled out his pocket watch and checked the time.  It was getting late and it would be nice to sleep in a bed tonight instead of on the ground.   If he put his horse up at the livery now he could get a room and take a bath at the Hotel, maybe find this Sheriff before dinner and get his questions answered.  “Do you have an estimated time of return?”
“My shift ends at 8.”  Jean said. “Sheriff will be back before then.”
“Thank you.”  Roy said dryly.  Why he couldn't say that before was beyond him.  It was all a damned game with people in these small towns, everyone trying to prove they had some power over the government official that rode into town and in the end it always ended up with him being a huge dick.   Lives were on the line and all anyone wanted to do was play trivial power play games.  God, all the guy said was 'can I help you' and he was ready to fight him.   Tired and on edge, a bath then bed sounded good.  So he walked his horse over to the livery, untacked and paid for the stall, then found his way over to the Hotel.
“Good evening sir! Can I interest you in a drawing I made of your arrival?”
What weird shit was this?   Roy stared at the huge bald guy that appeared to be sparkling.  He narrowed his eyes to determine why and deduced that there was saloon girl glitter on his head.   Then he looked at the drawing.   It was incredibly good, something his Mom would appreciate.   It was also evidence he had been here.  So he pulled out his wallet again and handed out another bill for a service he didn't want.   “Thanks.”
“Enjoy your stay!!!”  
Then the man took off his shirt and Roy hurried into the hotel to avoid finding out exactly what the guy was going to try and sell him next.    He walked to the counter and a young guy with glasses ran over to help him.  “A room.  A bath. Nothing else.”
Kain Fuery was instantly in awe of this man in black and also very intimidated.   He saw the star and gasped. “A Marshall?”
God it was like he was a fucking unicorn.   He was really going to have to review how often the Marshall of this territory got out of his office and patrolled it.   “Yes.”
“I...wow.”  Fuery said and money materialized on the counter.    He turned around and found the key for the bridal suite and grabbed it, then handed it to the man and pushed the register to him.  “I'll give you our best room for the regular rate.”
Best room probably meant it was one step above a coffin, but he didn't have it in his heart to say that to this starry eyed kid.  It would be like scolding a puppy.   “Thank you.”
“Does the Sheriff know you're here?” Fuery asked as he read the name being signed in his register.   “Marshall Mustang?”
He just shrugged, too tired to ask where that law enforcement individual could be in a town this small. “Send 'em to my room if he wants to grace me with his presence. Where is the bath?”
“Back through this door.   I'll have it ready for you in half an hour!”  
Roy rubbed his eyes and watched the kid scamper away, then moved over to another part of the counter where envelopes and pens were stored for what he assumed was guests convenience in case they had something to write home about.   He quickly wrote his mother's address down, put his new picture in the envelope and placed some change on the counter so he could reach over and grab a stamp.   Then the letter was dropped in the mail slot for what he hoped was a reliable delivery to the postmaster and he turned to go to the saloon for a drink.
“Marshall!   Bath is ready!  Mr. Armstrong says it's with his compliments.”
Roy turned as the kid materialized from the hallway and smiled.  Then that artist guy appeared behind him without a shirt and with a towel draped over his shoulders.    
“It would be my honor if you would use my bath, sir.”  
The guy bowed and he reluctantly allowed the Hotel manager to lead him to the back room where a steaming bath awaited.  It looked too good to refuse, even if it smelled kind of strong and was filled with bubbles and was gifted to him by a half-naked man that just drew his picture.    Still, it was less creepy than playing chess with his boss and the guy offering to arrange a marriage with his granddaughter.   “Thanks.”
“Thank you for your service, sir!”
The door closed and he slowly undressed and put his Peacemaker on the table beside the bath.    Was this odd, sure, but his level of give-a-damn was so low right now he was willing to shoot anyone who walked through the door to disturb him.   That seemed like it was enough to warrant taking a chance on a nice relaxing bath and getting the grime of his travels off and the tension of getting no results out of his aching shoulders.   His clothes hit the floor right after his boots and he was in that inviting water before it really had time to cool.
But damn it felt so good.
No sooner did he relax than he heard stomping outside the door and had to reach for his revolver, bubbles all over his hands and point it to the door.    The door was already open and a gun pointed at him as he turned leaving him to hold his pistol up in a sign of defeat knowing he was too slow to take on his attacker.  
“I hear you're looking for me?”
A woman?   He starred at her face, beautiful brown eyes starred at him from under the brim of her hat and blond hair spilled out over her shoulders.   He didn't recognize her, perhaps the creatures he was chasing had already changed shape. Perhaps this was a newly resurrected body....
“You're Mustang aren't you?”  
Demanding.   Like she had somewhere better to be than in a bath room with a naked man covered in bubbles.  That sort of offended him so he sat upright and showed off his body a little.  The bubbles slowly slipped down his body and revealed his abs.   That always was a delightful surprise for the ladies.  This one never removed here eyes from him.  Well....she had to be resurrected dead if that didn't move her at all. “Yes.”
“I'm Sheriff Hawkeye.”  She said and pointed to his gun.  “Are you going to put that gun down?”
The Sheriff?  He suddenly wanted to be arrested.   Possibly for indecent exposure.   “If you close the door, it's a little drafty.”
The door closed and he put his gun down, she holstered hers.  Then she went over to look at him as he sat in his smelly bubble bath and said, “Are you here about this necromancy epidemic?  Do you know how to kill them?”
That was a nice way of putting it.   “You've had homunculus here?”
“We have one running our Saloon.” Hawkeye put her hands on her hips.  “Calls himself Greed and I can't kill him or evict him and it's pissing me off. He's not paying his taxes.”
Roy sat up straighter and almost stood up, then remembered he was naked and in a bath and she was most definitely a lady.   “I need him alive.”
“Then you can have him.”  Riza said and tried to not look at his abs or really nice shoulders, but damn it had been so long since a nice looking man that didn't work for her was within a 100 miles of this town.   At least one that wasn't some kind of monster.  
“You said epidemic....are there more?”  Roy asked.
“There were, my Deputy dated one for a awhile.”  Riza said and looked at this man debating on weather or not this was worthy of him getting out of his bath or not.   “As far as I can tell there is a guy called Father, who I assume is a priest of some sort, going around and showing people how to raise the dead in exchange for their souls.  Are you looking for him? “I'm looking for my partner, Marshall Maes Hughes, who was last known to have contact with a woman named Lust while investigating this.  I'll take any leads I can get.”  Roy couldn't believe he had stumbled on this and now he was looking for that towel he saw earlier and.....apparently forgot to take from that muscle guy.
“Well Greed will be happy to tell you all about it and hopefully he will follow you home.”  She said. “I'll wait outside.”
He watched her turn and leave and then shouted, “Can you get me a towel?”
“Do I look like the maid?”
“No, you look like a gorgeous young lady I would like to get to know better that probably won't appreciative me streaking through your streets with a gun in my hand to apprehend a homunculus who might know where my best friend is.   I'd like to wait to reveal that until later in our relationship and avoid the handcuffs until then as well.”
There was silence and a stifled laugh before boots clacked against the floorboards.  
He sighed and sank deeper into the bath.   Then the door opened and a towel came flying in at his head.
“First date starts in five minutes at the Devil's Nest, I'd recommend covering up your tits if you're going in that place.”
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