Post by Esdeath on Mar 21, 2017 23:16:25 GMT
Good evening, Ishtarian fam! After some delays and trying to format this post on my phone (it suuuuuuuuuuuucks), we are back with another chance to get to know more about your waifus. Thanks for all your patience and support!
By popular demand, this week's unit is Vodyanoy, the Watery Waifu!
Mythological Information
Vodyanoy (VodnĂk) is a malicious creature in the form of an old man using a log as a boat. He has frog qualities, such as webbed fingers. Some versions of his tales describe him as having the head of a frog. Others say he is coated in fish scales. He lives in rivers and punishes those who displease him by dragging them underwater to either drown them or enslave them. What provokes him to do this varies by region. The drownings are actually attributed to either the Vodyanoy or the Rusalkas, a form of water nymph (you'll need to know this later). Both creatures are water-based myths used to explain calamities that happen in or near the river, so they are both blamed for drownings.
In-Game Description
Normal:
Together with her best friend Gama, Vodyanoy left the Crystal Castle. Leaving behind her cushy lifestyle, she has zero regrets. For she knows that this is the only way to find the person she is looking for. That captive Beauty that is now tucked away in that dark, dank, and dreary forest.
Silicon Studios wanted to cram as many water-based legends as possible into this one unit. Gama is a reference to Gama Sennin, a character from Taoist legend who's only friend was his toad (Gama is Japanese for toad). Similar to Gama Sennin, Vodyanoy travels with nobody but Gama to keep her company.
Remember the Rusalkas? There is an Ishtarian unit named Rusalka: Captive Beauty, clearly referenced in Vodyanoy's description. The connection between these two in Ishtaria is either platonic or romantic (more likely the latter given the context of her quotes about Rusalka and the fact that this is an anime-esque game), and Vodyanoy is determined to find and free Rusalka from her captivity. Based on Rusalka's description, her captivity is possibly Vodyanoy's fault. Whatever the case, I would personally like to see a Tales of History about their backstory.
Swimsuit:
Twirling her parasol, she speaks of her memories of that Beauty. Sipping on a sweet tropical refreshment, she relaxes under the summer sun with buddy Gama. Daydreadming, Vodyanoy smiles... Will she ever have a chance to make new memories with that Captive Beauty?*
We find Vodyanoy at swimsuit season at the beach, just like all the other characters in this game. Gama plays the third wheel, but the second wheel isn't even there. Poor guy. Regardless, we find our heroine on the beach contemplating the day when she's reunited with her friend as she always is. Why she's not acting on her wish to see Rusalka again is unclear. We all need a break from time to time, but I'm not sure if taking a break while your friend languishes in chains is really considerate. What is beautiful about Swimsuit Vodyanoy's description is the poetic form it takes. Try reading it aloud in a smooth manner.
Christmas:
Walking through the city, you can feel the warmth of the Christmas lights. Trying to keep my distance from the waterfront, I can't help but think about her. What would she feel if she could see what I'm seeing? Would it help to warm her ice-cold spirits? Hmph... maybe a present would do some good? It is Christmas, after all...
Vodyanoy is steadfast (and highly inefficient) in her journey to free Rusalka. Her travels have taken her from Spring to Christmas, and she's nowhere closer to her goal. She's probably further away, actually, since she's in a town instead of the forest. The platonic/romantic relationship between the pair is the focus of Christmas Vodyanoy's description, not answering our questions but instead raising more, like "Is it really appropriate to be window shopping for your imprisoned friend when finding them is your goal?"
Skills of Note
I looked through each of Vodyanoy's skills and there's nothing really profound about any of them. The only one that would be close would be Sea Seduction, but that would be more the case if the skill belonged to Rusalka instead. I'll just list the skills here.
Rush Skill- Fear the Frogs
Passive Skill- Amphibious Aria
Multi Skill- Beachside Blaster
Passive Skill- Sea Seduction
Multi Skill- One Festive Frog!
Passive Skill- Christmas Croaking
Power Plays
There are 2 Power Plays attached to Vodyanoy.
Yellow: Quite the Party- Normal Vodyanoy and Valentine's Rusalka
Finally! Rusalka and Vodyanoy are reunited at last, and together they boost each other's skill chance. This also answers the question we already deduced the answer to; there's nothing platonic about this relationship. Sorry, gentlemen. She's not into guys.
Green: An Early Christmas- Petrushka (Christmas) + Yule + Vodyanoy (Christmas) + Noel
These units were all related to the same event, so they give each other a health boost. As for why Silicon decided to break it up into 2 sets of power plays instead of having all the Christmas units of 2016 sharing one, we'll never truly know.
Images
Normal:
Vodyanoy's cards don't tend to focus on lore very much. Gama does most of the work in the area of keeping to the source material. Vodyanoy herself is more of a personification of water than anything else. Notice how her hair is "shaped" in the same manner that flowing water is often shown in anime. Even her clothes follow a similar pattern to her hair. Speaking of clothes, her outfit is consistent with a jester wearing a one-piece swimsuit, which is appropriate for the level of intelligence she exhibits (we'll touch on that later). There are some details that are consistent with this character. In every instance that you see Vodyanoy (other than her evo'd Christmas form), she is wearing a beret. Berets are pretty much universal headwear, as they are worn across the world as a fashion statement. They are also worn by various military groups (not relevant, but just a little factoid). Back to the watery waifu, you'll always see her with a parasol, just like the other units that were released at the same time (such as Tishtrya and Martiel). A final detail is her jewelry. Vodyanoy accesorizes with pendants, such as the frog pendant in her hair. She uses other accessories for this purpose in her other iterations.
Swimsuit:
Vodyanoy carries on her theme with her parasol, Gama, and her beret. Of course, I know how you perverts are. You don't care about her base. All you want is the evo'd form. The only thing I'm going to say is that the evo'd form is... curvier than her other forms, and she uses sunflowers in her hair in place of a pendant in a similar fashion as Swimsuit Ampelus.
Christmas:
Christmas Vodyanoy puts a wintery spin on all her gimmicks. Gama is a rein-toad for starters. All her pendants have been replaced with snowflakes, and her beret resembles a Santa hat while still being a beret. Her parasol has become a Christmas tree while still being a parasol. Her evo'd form takes her features and makes them more seductive in nature, as is typical in Ishtaria. One thing that is drastically different from the base is that her beret is now a full-on Santa hat. Another is that the bell on her top has changed functions. Instead of holding her jacket together, it now holds her cape around her neck (since the jacket is gone altogether, this is a valid alternative).
Just for Funsies
Before we get going, I recommend opening this up in a new tab to set the tone as you read.
We have a little extra time, so let's take a look at Vodyanoy's journey. We'll have to operate under some assumptions since we aren't given all the details we need.
1. The title screen artwork is canon.
2. The area in front of the title screen artwork is open ocean.
3. The view of the title screen is facing North.
4. The different Vodyanoy cards show her only stops along the way.
Her quotes indicate that she started in the ocean, and her description says she came from the Crystal Castle. A Crystal Castle in the ocean. There isn't anything like that in the artwork at the title screen. Let's give our girl the benefit of the doubt here by assuming that the ocean she came from is the ocean closest to the only beach in Ishtaria (other than on islands). That minimizes her backtracking so that her time at the beach doesn't seem to be a total disregard for Rusalka's situation.
Starting from the beach, her next stop is a town with Dutch-style houses. There's only one spot on the map that looks like that, and it's in the west. Rusalka is deep in the forest, which means that Vodyanoy trekked the entire span of the forest from the beach then climbed the mountains to get to the town. By the time she reached the mountains, she should have known that she was heading in the wrong direction and turned back to the forest, but this girl's special. She kept going, climbed those mountains, then walked another several miles to the town, where she spent her time window-shopping. This is the last known location of Vodyanoy, so let's recap.
1. Leave Crystal Castle (Spring)
2. Relax on beach (Summer)
3. Walk straight through forest (Fall)
4. Reach end of forest (Fall)
5. Remember that friend is somewhere in forest (Fall)
6. Leave forest anyway (Fall)
7. Climb huge mountain range (Don't Fall)
8. Keep walking (Winter)
9. Find town (Winter)
10. Take a break for Christmas (Winter)
11. ?
TL;DR
At this rate, Rusalka will die of old age before Vodyanoy finds her. The power play is either a dream sequence or a hallucination.
There is one more detail I must mention. It's the most important detail about this character: her hair and eye color make her objectively one of the best units in the game. Everyone knows that blue-haired, blue-eyed ladies are the best ladies. That is all. I could go on, but I won't.
But I could.
By popular demand, this week's unit is Vodyanoy, the Watery Waifu!
Mythological Information
Vodyanoy (VodnĂk) is a malicious creature in the form of an old man using a log as a boat. He has frog qualities, such as webbed fingers. Some versions of his tales describe him as having the head of a frog. Others say he is coated in fish scales. He lives in rivers and punishes those who displease him by dragging them underwater to either drown them or enslave them. What provokes him to do this varies by region. The drownings are actually attributed to either the Vodyanoy or the Rusalkas, a form of water nymph (you'll need to know this later). Both creatures are water-based myths used to explain calamities that happen in or near the river, so they are both blamed for drownings.
In-Game Description
Normal:
Together with her best friend Gama, Vodyanoy left the Crystal Castle. Leaving behind her cushy lifestyle, she has zero regrets. For she knows that this is the only way to find the person she is looking for. That captive Beauty that is now tucked away in that dark, dank, and dreary forest.
Silicon Studios wanted to cram as many water-based legends as possible into this one unit. Gama is a reference to Gama Sennin, a character from Taoist legend who's only friend was his toad (Gama is Japanese for toad). Similar to Gama Sennin, Vodyanoy travels with nobody but Gama to keep her company.
Remember the Rusalkas? There is an Ishtarian unit named Rusalka: Captive Beauty, clearly referenced in Vodyanoy's description. The connection between these two in Ishtaria is either platonic or romantic (more likely the latter given the context of her quotes about Rusalka and the fact that this is an anime-esque game), and Vodyanoy is determined to find and free Rusalka from her captivity. Based on Rusalka's description, her captivity is possibly Vodyanoy's fault. Whatever the case, I would personally like to see a Tales of History about their backstory.
Swimsuit:
Twirling her parasol, she speaks of her memories of that Beauty. Sipping on a sweet tropical refreshment, she relaxes under the summer sun with buddy Gama. Daydreadming, Vodyanoy smiles... Will she ever have a chance to make new memories with that Captive Beauty?*
We find Vodyanoy at swimsuit season at the beach, just like all the other characters in this game. Gama plays the third wheel, but the second wheel isn't even there. Poor guy. Regardless, we find our heroine on the beach contemplating the day when she's reunited with her friend as she always is. Why she's not acting on her wish to see Rusalka again is unclear. We all need a break from time to time, but I'm not sure if taking a break while your friend languishes in chains is really considerate. What is beautiful about Swimsuit Vodyanoy's description is the poetic form it takes. Try reading it aloud in a smooth manner.
Christmas:
Walking through the city, you can feel the warmth of the Christmas lights. Trying to keep my distance from the waterfront, I can't help but think about her. What would she feel if she could see what I'm seeing? Would it help to warm her ice-cold spirits? Hmph... maybe a present would do some good? It is Christmas, after all...
Vodyanoy is steadfast (and highly inefficient) in her journey to free Rusalka. Her travels have taken her from Spring to Christmas, and she's nowhere closer to her goal. She's probably further away, actually, since she's in a town instead of the forest. The platonic/romantic relationship between the pair is the focus of Christmas Vodyanoy's description, not answering our questions but instead raising more, like "Is it really appropriate to be window shopping for your imprisoned friend when finding them is your goal?"
Skills of Note
I looked through each of Vodyanoy's skills and there's nothing really profound about any of them. The only one that would be close would be Sea Seduction, but that would be more the case if the skill belonged to Rusalka instead. I'll just list the skills here.
Rush Skill- Fear the Frogs
Passive Skill- Amphibious Aria
Multi Skill- Beachside Blaster
Passive Skill- Sea Seduction
Multi Skill- One Festive Frog!
Passive Skill- Christmas Croaking
Power Plays
There are 2 Power Plays attached to Vodyanoy.
Yellow: Quite the Party- Normal Vodyanoy and Valentine's Rusalka
Finally! Rusalka and Vodyanoy are reunited at last, and together they boost each other's skill chance. This also answers the question we already deduced the answer to; there's nothing platonic about this relationship. Sorry, gentlemen. She's not into guys.
Green: An Early Christmas- Petrushka (Christmas) + Yule + Vodyanoy (Christmas) + Noel
These units were all related to the same event, so they give each other a health boost. As for why Silicon decided to break it up into 2 sets of power plays instead of having all the Christmas units of 2016 sharing one, we'll never truly know.
Images
Normal:
Vodyanoy's cards don't tend to focus on lore very much. Gama does most of the work in the area of keeping to the source material. Vodyanoy herself is more of a personification of water than anything else. Notice how her hair is "shaped" in the same manner that flowing water is often shown in anime. Even her clothes follow a similar pattern to her hair. Speaking of clothes, her outfit is consistent with a jester wearing a one-piece swimsuit, which is appropriate for the level of intelligence she exhibits (we'll touch on that later). There are some details that are consistent with this character. In every instance that you see Vodyanoy (other than her evo'd Christmas form), she is wearing a beret. Berets are pretty much universal headwear, as they are worn across the world as a fashion statement. They are also worn by various military groups (not relevant, but just a little factoid). Back to the watery waifu, you'll always see her with a parasol, just like the other units that were released at the same time (such as Tishtrya and Martiel). A final detail is her jewelry. Vodyanoy accesorizes with pendants, such as the frog pendant in her hair. She uses other accessories for this purpose in her other iterations.
Swimsuit:
Vodyanoy carries on her theme with her parasol, Gama, and her beret. Of course, I know how you perverts are. You don't care about her base. All you want is the evo'd form. The only thing I'm going to say is that the evo'd form is... curvier than her other forms, and she uses sunflowers in her hair in place of a pendant in a similar fashion as Swimsuit Ampelus.
Christmas:
Christmas Vodyanoy puts a wintery spin on all her gimmicks. Gama is a rein-toad for starters. All her pendants have been replaced with snowflakes, and her beret resembles a Santa hat while still being a beret. Her parasol has become a Christmas tree while still being a parasol. Her evo'd form takes her features and makes them more seductive in nature, as is typical in Ishtaria. One thing that is drastically different from the base is that her beret is now a full-on Santa hat. Another is that the bell on her top has changed functions. Instead of holding her jacket together, it now holds her cape around her neck (since the jacket is gone altogether, this is a valid alternative).
Just for Funsies
Before we get going, I recommend opening this up in a new tab to set the tone as you read.
We have a little extra time, so let's take a look at Vodyanoy's journey. We'll have to operate under some assumptions since we aren't given all the details we need.
1. The title screen artwork is canon.
2. The area in front of the title screen artwork is open ocean.
3. The view of the title screen is facing North.
4. The different Vodyanoy cards show her only stops along the way.
Her quotes indicate that she started in the ocean, and her description says she came from the Crystal Castle. A Crystal Castle in the ocean. There isn't anything like that in the artwork at the title screen. Let's give our girl the benefit of the doubt here by assuming that the ocean she came from is the ocean closest to the only beach in Ishtaria (other than on islands). That minimizes her backtracking so that her time at the beach doesn't seem to be a total disregard for Rusalka's situation.
Starting from the beach, her next stop is a town with Dutch-style houses. There's only one spot on the map that looks like that, and it's in the west. Rusalka is deep in the forest, which means that Vodyanoy trekked the entire span of the forest from the beach then climbed the mountains to get to the town. By the time she reached the mountains, she should have known that she was heading in the wrong direction and turned back to the forest, but this girl's special. She kept going, climbed those mountains, then walked another several miles to the town, where she spent her time window-shopping. This is the last known location of Vodyanoy, so let's recap.
1. Leave Crystal Castle (Spring)
2. Relax on beach (Summer)
3. Walk straight through forest (Fall)
4. Reach end of forest (Fall)
5. Remember that friend is somewhere in forest (Fall)
6. Leave forest anyway (Fall)
7. Climb huge mountain range (Don't Fall)
8. Keep walking (Winter)
9. Find town (Winter)
10. Take a break for Christmas (Winter)
11. ?
TL;DR
At this rate, Rusalka will die of old age before Vodyanoy finds her. The power play is either a dream sequence or a hallucination.
There is one more detail I must mention. It's the most important detail about this character: her hair and eye color make her objectively one of the best units in the game. Everyone knows that blue-haired, blue-eyed ladies are the best ladies. That is all. I could go on, but I won't.
But I could.