Katawa Shoujo + Fire Emblem = ???

[Flying Gypsies]

Inspired by a post made on the Shimmie, this is a Katawa Shoujo/Fire Emblem hybrid. Hybrids are awesome. Most of the time. For those that have played Fire Emblem, you could think that this even more awesome. Awesome squared.

The first version had a good flow to it, but it was too archetype-y and I rewrote it to this (which was subsequently re-edited three more times before posting, had to press submit so I would finally stop). I hate it less now, and further installments will be posted sometime in the relatively distant future. I've still gotta flesh out the parts for all the students in 3-3; a couple are done. [Fun fact: You can easily guess who the rulers of 3 out of the 4 mentioned countries are, go ahead and try it yourself!]

Anyway, you can tear this apart and tell me how much of a huge faggot I am, as long as you give a nice list as to why that is so. Constructive criticisms are awesome, even if they involve dirty insults.

Hell I might even work on a game if it all pans out. Maybe make the gameplay a fusion of Sengoku Rance and Fire Emblem. A big maybe. Very big.
ON WITH THE FANCYFICTION

WAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA~ Katawa Emblem [Title Pending, this one sucks] WAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA~


We were somewhere around Afemia, on the edge of the forest, when the drugs began to wear off. Of course by 'we' I mean my horse and I. Had I been traveling with an actual person my life would definitely be a lot different. Definitely worse.

The drugs were for my heart. I have some condition that the physician called an “arrythmia.” The only thing I understood was that my heart beats irregularly at times when I'm stressed or suffer chest trauma. That's why my parents arranged for me to go to Maro—nobody would bother attacking it.
It isn't that it's a fortress of impregnable military might, it's just that no lord in a right state of mind wants to mess with a small country with no strategic value to anything. Makes no difference to me, honestly, I'd be getting paid to sit around and relax all day. I'm supposed to be completing my tactician's training there, but in Maro I think the definition of strategy training is “to play chess every day.” Plus the weather is nice.

I had blazed through Afemia on the way, crossing it nonstop in about a day, and my mild chest pain was proof. If it hadn't been the only country spanning the isthmus between Britana and Sanèr, I would have avoided the place altogether. There's nothing wrong with Afemia, it's just the king I don't want to take notice of me. Tacticians are usually hired in times of war, and I'd rather not stir up a controversy.
The king is by no means evil, just a bit batshit crazy. He keeps tabs on every woman in the country and has them escorted everywhere by armed guard. Not for their safety, though, for the men's. I have no idea why, I just nod and smile when it comes to these weird laws. He must not like women all that much to enact all of those laws against them.


So my chest was hurting from the rapid pace at which I'd gone through 'No Woman's Land.' It was about time for my medicine, but when I reached into the pouch...no medicine. The curse I uttered following this discovery may have woken up every bird within a kilometer.
The pain was getting worse, and fear of death wasn't helping to soothe it. In vain I reached into the pouch again, there was a hole at the bottom.
When the heck did that open up?! I scrambled around my belt searching my other two pouches with the hope that I'd kept at least at dose or two in each.

Nope. Increasing pain, no meds, fade to black, fall off horse, pain from fall. Great, I died. Just great. Wonderful. Astounding. Amazing. I'm out of adjectives.


Obviously whatever afterlife I was in was not the kind good people go to. There was pain everywhere and it was black. Oh, my eyes are closed. . .

I woke up in a large tent. The kind that an officer would sleep in during a battle. My things were slumped at the foot of the cot I lay in and I could see two shadows projected on the entrance to the tent from a fire outside. I tried to move but the sheer grunt-worthy soreness of my whole body made that impossible.

Okay, battlefield check:
Location: In cot.
Hindrances: Too sore to move.
Am I wearing clothes? Most of them. Good enough.
Environment Scan: My things at foot of cot. One more cot half-meter opposite of me, small trunk at foot of that cot. Two packs of unknown contents near entrance of tent about two meters away. Collapsible table with maps(?) diagonal at two meters from me.
Time of day: Unknown, possibly late afternoon due to fire
Battlefield check complete.
Assessment: Yup, I'm in a commander's tent. Luckily have not been raped, though soreness may be masking that.

One of the shadows stood up, growing smaller and more defined as it moved closer to the entrance/flap. What stepped in was a young woman with short, dark hair and glasses. She was attired in what once may have been very regal clothing, though plagued with burst seams and miscolored stitches holding together tears of various sizes and with varying degrees of success. She took a brief look at me and rushed back out before I could get a word in.
Her shadow grew bigger as it ran somewhere away from here. The other shadow—a bulky one that appeared as if it would hurt me—stood up and followed the woman I just met back to the tent I resided in.

The first thing I noticed was the pink hair. Then the smiling face attached to that hair, then the weather worn armor attached to that face.

“How are you feeling~?” the smiling pink-haired woman in very worn armor asked me. She was loud, and I couldn't answer her, my throat was too dry.

“Oh. You can't hear me?”
Well if I couldn't hear anything, why would you say that out loud, genius?' Why is the armor-clad woman moving her hands wildly each time she speaks? I say in my mind. The dark-haired woman is doing it too. . .Oh, must be conversational sign-language.
Too bad I only knew the kind for giving orders in war, even if I could move my arms I doubt I would come off as very polite.

I tried speaking again. All the correct movements were made, but no product would result. Work you stupid voice-box!

Pink-hair stared at me with a look on her face that one gets while watching someone you care about do something incredibly stupid. I kept moving my mouth, even going so far as to 'say' a prayer out loud in hopes that my voice would come back. Dark-hair must have picked up on this, she signed to Pink-hair.

“Did you just say 'God'?”
I nodded repeatedly with the last of my strength, and she signed back to Dark-hair, who responded with a flair that meant I wasn't going to like her answer.

“Wahaha~! From this day on, you can consider Shicchan to be on par with him!”

[SirMax]

Seems good so far, although I am now terrified that some kind of L'arachel/Rennac/Dolza dynamic is going to show up. Out of curiosity, which Fire Emblem is this one based on? I'd guess 7 by the lack of number and the acknowledged tactician, but nowadays people often mean 10 when they say Fire Emblem.

Also, old but relevant shop:

[Sgt_Frog]

The nation of Afemia seems pretty similar to the nation of Altara in the "Wheel of Time" series of books. In Altara, a woman murdering a man is legal, and all wives carry a small ceremonial dagger with which to stab (and often kill) their husbands should he ever step out of line. Unfortunately for the guys, the majority of outsiders see this as an odd custom, at worst.

[Flying Gypsies]

Seems good so far, although I am now terrified that some kind of L'arachel/Rennac/Dolza dynamic is going to show up. Out of curiosity, which Fire Emblem is this one based on? I'd guess 7 by the lack of number and the acknowledged tactician, but nowadays people often mean 10 when they say Fire Emblem.

I'm certain that the L'A/R/D dynamic is not gonna happen for the main characters, trying to be at least a little original here. Quell thine terror!
I've only played FE7 and Sacred Stones, so this will have a great foundation in those two, though 99% the former. At least one of the additional classes from SS will be going in there, that's that leftover 1%. No zombies and gargoyles and demon kings, I've set that in an adamantine slab.

On the shop: Hey, I forgot about that one! Thought it was on the shimmie but further investigation revealed the inverse to be true.

The nation of Afemia seems pretty similar to the nation of Altara in the "Wheel of Time" series of books. In Altara, a woman murdering a man is legal, and all wives carry a small ceremonial dagger with which to stab (and often kill) their husbands should he ever step out of line. Unfortunately for the guys, the majority of outsiders see this as an odd custom, at worst.

Interesting, I guess you could consider Afemia the exact opposite of that then. (Man, what else have I inadvertently ripped off...)
Someone suggested I read that series a while ago, I'd since forgotten about it until now, thanks for reminding me.

[Flying Gypsies]

Alrighty, time for the next installment. I'm afraid I may be jumping the shark already with the country Spathe (since it's sort of a pre-steampunk, magic blended with technology war state) but it seemed like a good idea at the time.
I also put the world map up a while ago, but took it off since it may cheapen something in some way. Dunno what it would cheapen yet and how much it would cheapen aforementioned thing, but I'd rather not find out.


WAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA~ Katawa Emblem [Installment 2] WAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA~

[2 Years Ago, Hospital 132, Spathe]

The rhythmic steps of a nurse echoed down a barren hallway of white tile, ultimately ending outside a room with a clipboard hanging on a nail next to the door. He removed the clipboard, and struggled to read the horrible calligraphy of the doctor who wrote the medical chart.

Cpl. Ibarazaki, E. WIA
VSS as of 10:30 AM
What the heck...is that a 'J'? Oh, 'S'...
...
Shrapnel extracted from abdomen & arms, distal to clavicle
Mult. superficial burns on superior torso & forearms
...
Mine induced BKA, prosthetics to be fitted Mon. (4/17)
...
Can't even read these meds...

“How are you doing today, corporal?” he said going into the room. There was a young girl in the cot. She stiffened her lip and nodded in response. He interpreted that as an 'OK' and conducted the hourly checks of all the machines with their myriad graphs.
He caught something in the corner of his vision and instantly knew who it was lurking outside.
“You have a visitor today, would you like to see him now?”

She only stared at the foot of her bed, the nurse seemed to take that as a yes—or at least a lack of refusal—and waved at a uniformed man staring in through the window on the door. The hard-faced man steps cautiously into the room, giving it a subtle scan. His wandering gaze finally locked onto the girl on the bed.

“How soon can she be ready to go back into the field?”
The nurse paused his checks and frowned.

“It would all depend on how well the prosthetics fit.”
The man nods, eyes never moving from his subordinate.

“Then there's therapy, and that could take a while. Of course if she's motivated it won't take long at all.”
“Motivation won't be a problem for the corporal.”

Not for the corporal. The corporal is always motivated. The corporal always thinks of the glass half...
“It won't, sir.” her feeble voice cracked from her throat as she turned her slumped head to the window, looking at nothing in particular.
The military man nodded and looked her over now that she was recognizable. A white gown covered meters of bandages wrapped around her torso and arms, and the wool blanket did a poor job in concealing her most striking war wounds, the very reason she was a patient at the most advanced Spathan hospital ever built.

He remembered something, she was given an award.
“You've been awarded for severe injury in the line of duty.”
She bit her lip.
“I have the honor of giving it to you.”
“Thank you, sir.”

He held a small medal in the palm of his outstretched hand, though she kept her head fixed at the glowing window. He set it on the small table beside the bed.
“Congratulations, corporal.”
“Thank you, sir.”

He turned to leave the room, stopping just before the door frame.
“We need all the soldiers we can get right now, corporal.” He waited for the silence to be broken, but really didn't expect it to be.
“You and I both know that every last man, woman...and child are useful for The Cause.”
Tears welled up in her eyes.

"I need you to get better soon. We all need everyone."
"Yessir."
He left the room, satisfied enough with her answer.
She crushed her eyelids together, forcing the tears to run down so she could clear her vision and stare at what remained of her legs. The nurse said nothing while he finished his checking of the various intricate machines monitoring her physical condition.


[Afemia Stronghold, Afemia]

“Here's the report from the southern checkpoint, Brother Setou.” said the lone soldier in the throne room. He was leaning on his right leg, as his left had a large cut on the calf which peeked through his torn pant leg. The king accepted the report, frowning greatly when he saw the soldier's leg.

“You didn't avoid the traps.”
“Just the one, brother...” He began to sway and sweat a little.
“How do I know you aren't a spy?” the king said.
“I-I would have been hit by more than one trap if that was the c-case, brother sir.”
The king stopped frowning, and relaxed his face.
“Whatever. That poison won't kill you. I think. Thanks for the report, you can go.”
The soldier swayed too far and fell hard on the stone floor. The king simply sat back down and read the report.
"Good. No women in or out." he mumbled
Three-quarters of the way down the page, he frowned again.
"Why would Maro need a tactician?"

A long and complicated knocking rhythm on the large door at the front of the room disturbed the king's thoughts. Magically, the door opened on its own and another soldier stepped in, tensing up upon seeing the body of his comrade on the floor.
“B-brother, I have the report from the northern checkpoint.” he stuttered, unable to take his eyes off of the downed soldier.

“Huh? I didn't ask for-” the king stopped talking as he thought about it, finally taking his eyes off of the report, “Oh yeah. Damn I need to write these things down.”
The soldier stepped forward with great care, like the king would hurt him if he approached too quickly. The king impatiently grabbed it and looked it over, frowning even more, almost warping his entire face.

“Why does Maro need a tactician? Aren't they neutral or something?” the king said.
The soldier repeatedly looked from the king and back to the soldier as he spoke.
“No brother, they never declared neutrality. They have too small an army to be a threat to anyone.”

“But there's a tactician who, according to my calculations, got through this country in just over a day-wait—no—hang on...” he ran over to his desk on the left of the room and grabbed a nib pen, bringing his face very close to the report as he scribbled something onto it, “Yeah, a little over a day. What the hell?”
“Perhaps he was in a hurry.”
“That's what I'm worried about!” the king waved his hands above his head, “It doesn't feel right! Why would a tiny little country with a weak little army need a tactician so damn quick!”

The soldier thought about it for a while, weighing his options.
“Perhaps they expect something bad to happen.”

The king shivered.
“That must be it. They're gonna strike soon.” he angrily threw the report and the nib onto the desk, “Those damn feminists! Maro knows about them too! We should destroy them now! I'll destroy them all personally!”
He slammed his now closed fists against the table, making it shudder, and the room became quiet.

His fit of rage ended as he supported himself against the desk. Head hung, a low laugh shook his shoulders.
“Brother?”
“...I've been preparing for this day for a long time.” his low laugh evolved into something maniacal, “They picked a good time to strike! These damn feminists! Let them come and get me! Ha ha ha ha!”

The soldier simply stood there, even more afraid and near fainting.
“W-w-what would you have me do, milord brother?”

The king ceased his laughing and furiously rubbed his chin.
“Send an ambassador to Maro and have him find out what they know, and why they hired a tactician.”
“Anything else, lord brother?”
“Hmm...nah, I'm good.”

The soldier eyed the man on the floor.
“Shall I bring in a team of healers?”
“Huh? Oh yeah, I forgot about him. Nah, he'll wake up in a while. Carry him outta here, though. It's kinda creepy, y'know?”
“Yes, lord brother.”

[Zahlman]

FWIW, I happen to have previously had the idea of actually hacking one of the handheld versions (i.e. 6 through 8; don't know much about the DS one) to put in KS characters. And I happen to know many of the things that are necessary to make it a reality. Of course, I'm sure that would get into ridiculous amounts of license violation. -.-

[SirMax]

FWIW, I happen to have previously had the idea of actually hacking one of the handheld versions (i.e. 6 through 8; don't know much about the DS one) to put in KS characters. And I happen to know many of the things that are necessary to make it a reality. Of course, I'm sure that would get into ridiculous amounts of license violation. -.-

I really doubt Nintendo would care. As long as you refrained from breaking KS's license you'd probably be fine.

Misha's hair transfers so bad to that resolution.

[Flying Gypsies]

Battle scenes are a bitch to write. An unforgiving, impatient, and glossy bitch who wants to get into a wrestling match with you atop an I-Beam hanging from a crane over a busy New York street at five o'clock.

Misha's hair transfers so bad to that resolution.

Doesn't look bad, just immeasurably different from the original.


ADDENDUM: Screw it, here's the world map since I wasted an hour on it. Don't want to let that go to waste.

[Smoku]

Oh, this story is pretty interesting. I have totally no idea about Fire Emblem, so I get surprised more.
It's nice.

[SirMax]

Misha's hair transfers so bad to that resolution.

Doesn't look bad, just immeasurably different from the original.

By bad I mean hard to recognize as being her hair, rather than not looking good. It might be easier to show in portrait sprites, but I'm totally incapable of doing those.

[Flying Gypsies]

Oh, this story is pretty interesting. I have totally no idea about Fire Emblem, so I get surprised more.
It's nice.

Thanks, though it all reads like shit now that I've stepped back...
Play the games. You won't be disappointed.

By bad I mean hard to recognize as being her hair, rather than not looking good. It might be easier to show in portrait sprites, but I'm totally incapable of doing those.

My bad. Portrait sprites don't look very easy to do anyway. (Can you trace over a regular headshot of her using the Paint pencil?)

[Zahlman]

FWIW, I happen to have previously had the idea of actually hacking one of the handheld versions (i.e. 6 through 8; don't know much about the DS one) to put in KS characters. And I happen to know many of the things that are necessary to make it a reality. Of course, I'm sure that would get into ridiculous amounts of license violation. -.-

I really doubt Nintendo would care. As long as you refrained from breaking KS's license you'd probably be fine.

Misha's hair transfers so bad to that resolution.

... Is it sad that I was thinking about the ND part of the KS license and didn't even think about Nintendo? :/

But yes, precedent indicates that they don't care about ROM hacks, if only because they lack the resources to track them down.

BTW I assume that's supposed to be a map sprite? If so it barely fits vertically (they're 32x32, but "idle" sprites for characters not currently selected are usually expected to fit in 16x32; this one uses a 19x32 image region, and the borders would have to be trimmed anyway). Also, please don't use .gif for anything non-animated ever again. <3

[SirMax]

BTW I assume that's supposed to be a map sprite? If so it barely fits vertically (they're 32x32, but "idle" sprites for characters not currently selected are usually expected to fit in 16x32; this one uses a 19x32 image region, and the borders would have to be trimmed anyway). Also, please don't use .gif for anything non-animated ever again. <3

No, it's a battle sprite. Some of us played with those animations on. And it's .gif because sprite sheets for it are in .gif and it uses indexed colours, so I didn't want to mess with it after editing.
For reference, here is the original

and how it would appear in the game

[Zahlman]

Ahh, right, right. x.x