2773: 109th Star and i hate my life – oneshots

Posted: March 24, 2021 | Author: | Filed under: 109th Star, i hate my life, Suikoden | Tags: , , , , , | 25 Comments

Title: 109th Star
Author: 13th Alice
Media: Video Game
Topic: Suikoden
Genre: Adventure / Romance
URL: 109th Star
Critiqued by TacoMagic

Heyo, patrons!  Welcome to the start of another one-shot breather between projects!  This week I’m digging up a canon that we haven’t featured for quite a while in the Library: Suikoden.

As a quick refresher, Suikoden is a JRPG video game series featured on the Playstation and Playstation2 which spanned five mainline games and a handful of spinoffs (and is being spiritually succeeded by the currently in-development Eiyuden Chronicle).  The basic premise of the games usually revolves around some kind of political upheaval and the formation of a resistance army, which includes recruiting a large cast of characters both playable and supporting.

A few of the recurring themes revolve around the numbers 108 and 27, which are sacred in many of the the Dharmic religions, as well as the existence of the Soul Eater run, which is there as a dualist expression of life and death as well as the inevitability of great power to consume the one who wields it.  Most of the games are really good if you enjoy JRPGs, though the earlier games aged a bit poorly due to the forced orthogonal movement where it really didn’t need to exist.  Of the entire series, I highly recommend S2, S3, and S5 as the ones most worth playing if you can get your hands on them. The first game is definitely being good, but definitely rudimentary and “first game” compared to later installments, and S4 being generic and lackluster compared to other entries in the series.

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1450: When You Cry – One Shot

Posted: June 20, 2016 | Author: | Filed under: Suikoden, When You Cry | Tags: , , , | 63 Comments

Title: When You Cry
Author: Tiana
Media:  Video Game
Topic: Suikoden I / Suikoden II
Genre:  Drama
URL: When You Cry
Critiqued by Lyle

*walks into her office, mug of tea clutched in her hands*

G’mornin’, everyone.

*yawns widely and plops down into her chair*

Lesse what we got today… *taps a few buttons on the keyboard*

Oh, good!  Tensei II did not update so we’re going to do a brief one shot riff instead.  Cue the SC-Style Infodump!

Today’s fic is called “When You Cry” and it hails from the Suikoden section of ff.net.  Suikoden is a video game series (and a manga, but we’re ignoring that because it’s not important for this riff) that is comprised of 5 games set at different points in the history of the same world.  I’ve played the first 3 games, the 3rd of which is my favorite.  Typically, you’re at war with [people] because [reason] and, ultimately, you either dispose the government (SI), prevent mass genocide (SII), or save the world (SIII).  I am not familiar with the overall happenings of IV or V, but that won’t matter for this fic as this fic takes place at some point after SII has started.  I’m not sure when as it never really specifies. The only reason I know an approximate “when” is because of a name-drop that happens.

Anyway, Suikoden is a great game if you, like me, have Pokémon Syndrome.  In the games, you have a variety of shit you can collect.  For instance, in SIII, you can collect  recipes, spices, old books, medal sets, dog houses, bath toys/beads/sake sets, plays, stones, hammers, and people.  The last of which is the most important because the Suikoden games all revolve around the concept of the 108 Stars of Destiny.  There are 108 characters (not all playable, but many important to your growing town/castle/stronghold such as shop keepers, appraisers, builders, and the all important Man Who Can Fix the Mothing Fucking Broken Elevator) and, while you can beat the game without collecting all these people, why the hell wouldn’t you collect them all and get the best ending?  Yes, the ending can change depending on how many lackeys you gather, and what choices you make throughout the game.

Moving right along, this particular fic is about Flik.  Flik is a swordsman from SI and SII.  I totally want to ship him with Viktor because I think they’d work together (Flik lost the love of his life in the first game and probably swore never to love another woman again because twajek), and they spend the rest of their lives traveling together – Legolas and Gimli style – after SII, so why not let love develop?

I’m getting distracted.  Let’s just get to the fic.

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