The Casual Romantic

@voltageslbp Obviously I’m just one person and you have many fans who do like what you’re doing, but the plots this year just ground me down. I want to have FUN in a dating sim, not constantly reading stories about assault, fake divorce, murder, lovers suicides, and assorted other not-pleasant topics. When I started playing, the game was fun! I’m sad that got lost somewhere along the way.

Hideyoshi: Still not a fan. Too tricksy for me.

Mitsunari: Fabulous as always. Loved seeing him with the little kids.

Hanbei: Seems alright.

Masanori: Sadly not appearing in this film MS. :(

Inuchiyo: Holy hell MC, get away from that man now. He punches something (or someone) every time he shows up, absolutely radiates violence, has no self-control, and is prone to dramatic gestures that make you feel like you can’t be with the man you really love because you owe him. Get away. Get far, far away. Fake your own death if you have to. Ask Mitsunari for a plan; he’ll help you out.

MC: Stop thinking Hideyoshi and Inuchiyo are friends! What part of “they constantly argue” looks like friends to you?!

Plot: Alternates between “yay, war!” and “boo, war” which is rather confusing.

What kind of data do you need help gathering? Im not so good w group chats but i really like your project.

We keep track of several stats and try to log them four times a day (around 2 am, 8 am, 2 pm, 8 pm, all PDT). This battle is a six-way, so that means how many items have been served to each team total, how many times each character has been served enough to get their chibi, and T300 and such for the overall ranking.

The Role of Intermittent Reinforcement in Trauma Bonding

Intermittent reinforcement (in the context of psychological abuse) is a pattern of cruel, callous treatment mixed in with random bursts of affection. The abuser hands out “rewards” such as affection, a compliment, or gifts sporadically and unpredictably throughout the abuse cycle. Think of the violent husband who gives his wife flowers after assaulting her, or the kind words an abusive mother gives to her child after a particularly harsh silent treatment.

Intermittent reinforcement causes the victim to perpetually seek the abuser’s approval while settling for the crumbs of their occasional positive behavior, in the hopes that the abuser will return to the honeymoon phase of the relationship. Like a gambler at a slot machine, victims are unwittingly “hooked” to play the game for a potential win, despite the massive losses.

This manipulation tactic also causes us to perceive their rare positive behaviors in an amplified manner. Dr. Carver describes this as the “small kindness perception.” As he notes in his article, “Love and Stockholm Syndrome”:

“In threatening and survival situations, we look for evidence of hope – a small sign that the situation may improve. When an abuser/controller shows the victim some small kindness, even though it is to the abusers benefit as well, the victim interprets that small kindness as a positive trait of the captor…In relationships with abusers, a birthday card, a gift (usually provided after a period of abuse), or a special treat are interpreted as not only positive, but evidence that the abuser is not “all bad” and may at some time correct his/her behavior. Abusers and controllers are often given positive credit for not abusing their partner, when the partner would have normally been subjected to verbal or physical abuse in a certain situation.”

Mitsuhide is a character many find boring, but I absolutely adore him. He’s so dedicated to his MC, to honor, and to faith. He doesn’t take the easiest path but rather the right path, no matter how hard it is. But he (almost) never forgets to make time for the people he loves. How can you not love a man like that? A man who gets excited about buying a matching set of family bowls? Who rides home after dark even though it’s super-late just to sleep with his wife for a few hours and then ride right back to work? Who tries every avenue he can to preserve the lives of not just his retainers but everyone? Why Nobunaga didn’t show him more attention I have no idea. Why SLBP fans don’t show him more love, I really have no idea, but I appreciate his prizes being easier to get.

That said, I didn’t like that there was such an air of foreboding hanging over the whole thing. When Mitsuhide comes to his decision, it’s moving, but it’s also “Oh. This is it, isn’t it?” I just want everyone to be happy! So I enjoyed the second epilogue very much (and was pleased to find it saved to my album), but couldn’t stand the idea of starting another Act 2 anytime soon. I play games to escape the daily grind of bad news and sadness, not add to it.

...Actually, to be honest, I kind of hate that that seems to be my “lane.” I’d much rather always be so excited about the game that all my opinions are popular because my opinions are always “this route was the best! Romantic/funny/well-written/etc!” But I’ve been playing for very nearly a year now and have long since read all the main stories that appealed to me, so what’s left? Replaying favorites and getting around to the leftovers.

ANYWAY, this time I’m playing Hideyoshi’s MS. I previously discussed being surprised to find myself “on Inuchiyo’s side.” Two chapters had me wondering if I should try Inuchiyo’s route after all, but a timely intervention from @otome-reviews and reading the rest of the opening convinced me I was better off staying away from that particular can of (angry, assaulting) worms.

About the rest of that opening: holy hell. I’ve talked before about Ieyasu being a classic abuser and Saizo being emotionally abusive, but Inuchiyo is a different kind of scary. Ieyasu mostly sticks to words and the occasional strangling; he has other people to do his dirty work. Saizo’s problem is that he doesn’t want to touch you at all. But Inuchiyo radiates violent energy and it’s honestly scary for me.

For example: Hideyoshi is sharing a room with MC. Hideyoshi has been sleeping elsewhere and generally being considerate of MC’s “secret” woman status (not that he tells her this, because Hideyoshi apparatenly hates honest communication in any form). Inuchiyo finds out and uses Nobunaga’s offer of a favor to get himself the room next door. He picks a fight with Hideyoshi about this and then punches a hole in the wall so he can watch Hideyoshi with MC.

In that one gesture, we have:

Violence

Anger

Control

Lack of trust

Spying

Destruction of property

Disregard of MC’s own ability to make choices/defend herself

Implication that he sees all men as rapists (which, projection much?)

And no one seems to think this is especially awful! Ha ha, that Inuchiyo. He and Hideyoshi sure are best friends who get along, huh? Inuchiyo’s so protective of his childhood friend.

?!?!?

Then comes MC getting assaulted by the Nobunaga’s ugly uncle (because rape is only bad when ugly people do it in this game), and Inuchiyo again goes crazy over the top to show how much he cares about MC. I can’t even term his effectively volunteering of himself for death as noble, because the way he does it is, again, disturbing in jumping straight to violence and himself as the only one who can protect MC.

Fortunately he “just” gets banished (though he turns up again just a few chapters later no worse for the wear), and the game makes you feel super guilty if you don’t run after your “protector.” And it will come as no shock that Inuchiyo’s solution to regaining favor is to head for the front lines. Violence again.

So that’s Inuchiyo. Every time he’s on screen I brace myself for one of his outbursts. But I’m reading Hideyoshi’s route, not his, so let’s talk about the monkey.

Hideyoshi is big on manipulation. Even when the best intentions are behind it, I hate manipulation, so I am not exactly having fun. Worse, the game decides to introduce us to how Hideyoshi works by showing him manipulating Mitsunari into helping MC regain favor with Nobunaga. Mitsunari.

Oh hell no.

First off, dude. Mitsunari thinks Hideyoshi walks on water. He shouldn’t need to be manipulated into doing anything for him. Second, Hideyoshi at no point during the process (which turns out to be MC making foreign sweets for Nobunaga) explains to anyone what his plan is. It’s not like this is the storming of Normandy, you know? I think he could have maybe told MC right from the start “I think if you bake something tasty for Nobunaga he’ll ease up.” But nope, that surprise comes for after she’s done baking!

This is the hallmark of a man who cannot and does not trust in anyone but himself. Maybe that’s supposed to be his character flaw, and we’ll get a whole thing about MC showing Hideyoshi that it’s okay to tell other people things. I don’t like MC once again having to perform all the emotional labor, but that might be an interesting character arc. Based on how this is presented as charming and Hideyoshi being oh-so-smart, though, I doubt it. I can’t imagine Hideyoshi treating his MC as an equal. He sure isn’t in the current event.

I want to yell at MC “You have more than two choices! You could run off with - just spitballing here - Mitsunari! Or go home to Kyoto and stay there for once. Hold out until Masanari shows up. Discover a love of women. Anything but act as if you must pick between violent dog and shady monkey and in the process utterly hurt the other.”

Between the two, my assumption was I’d like Hideyoshi better. After all, for the first few months of playing the game he was on my short list of lords to read (kept getting beaten out by the likes of Mitsunari and Yukimura, but I meant to get around to him!) and Inuchiyo has always been too overbearing for me and prone to assault. I’m never into his event stories. And Hideyoshi always seemed nice and fun, and I like nice and fun!

I’m just two chapters in, but imagine my surprise that every single choice I’ve made so far has put me firmly in Inuchiyo’s camp according to the SLBP love meter. Huh??? Basically, most of the choices so far have been things like “admit you did the thing/lie” and “be brave/be self-preserving.” I, being both a straightforward person and also used to lords like Mitsuhide, of course pick the honest choice every time - and of course each time I tell the truth, Hideyoshi gets just a little more disappointed in me. XD

It’s almost enough to make me read Inuchiyo’s route, but if I do it’ll be with one hand ready to click “change character” at all times. The second he assaults me under the guise of “not being able to help it” I’m outta there.

So I’m finishing up Mitsuhide’s Act 2 (no spoilers, but I have been loving it) and I have a new working theory!

Theory: Mitsuhide and Hideyoshi are SLBP opposites. I define this as “If you really like one character, you are unlikely to also really like their opposite character.” So if there’s, say, a battle event, you would be unlikely to get both Mitsuhide’s chibi and Hideyoshi’s chibi.

Why: Their values, upbringings, methods of achieving their goals, and general personality traits are all opposite each other or at lease dissimilar. A perfect example is [SPOILER]. A less perfect example is that Mitsuhide is serious where Hideyoshi is playful. Mitsuhide is devoted to Nobunaga, Hideyoshi has his own band of colorful followers who look to him. Mitsuhide tries to convince people to do the right thing via straightforward methods, Hideyoshi is very prone to manipulation. Etc.

Questions:

Am I wrong and there is someone who would put Mitsuhide and Hideyoshi in their top characters list?

Who else would be opposites? Perhaps Nobunaga and Genya?

In just the last week we have:

The wish-granting dragon repeated on victory road instead of the strawberries

Wrong costs for betrayal (again)

Incorrect odds on the new lottery after getting a story (only adds up to 95%)

Ieyasu’s ES forgot to require the second item checkpoint (not actually a problem, but indicative)

And that’s without getting into the usual typos, odd translation choices, and screen glitches.

WTH, Voltage?