#╰ * character : honored . knighted . / camus .

[xbuster]

I think characters like Minerva, Ogma, and Camus would have had sick designs. And then from 13 maybe like, Libra or Severa would have been really cool. Outside of those two I think a Black Knight mirage would go crazy, or like all 3 lords from Blazing Blade. Elincia is my favorite character period though so honorable mention for her too ^.^

I was also thinking of Minerva because it would be cool to have a Wyvern Rider. They could even maybe incorporate the Whitewings in her design or something. Or have Est be a character that’s an amalgamation of the Whitewings with a special Triangle Attack skill.

[honraire]

tag dump !!

╰ * character : honored . knighted . / camus . ╰ * character : o’ his beloved . / tatiana . ╰ * character : t’was once upon a time . / nyna . ╰ * verse : main . ╰ * verse : heroes . ╰ * verse : echoes . ╰ * verse : shadow dragon . ╰ * doc : headcanons .  ╰ * doc : ask prompts . ╰ * doc : aesthetics . ╰ * doc : musings . ╰ * doc : queue . ╰ * post : out of character . ╰ * post : in character .

[distort-opia]

2 & 15?

2. top 5 books of all time?

Answered this prior, so I'll copy over my list (in no particular order):

The Trial, by Franz Kafka

Blindness, by Jose Saramago

The Gospel according to Jesus Christ, by Jose Saramago

Doctor Faustus, by Thomas Mann

Steppenwolf, by Herman Hesse

Honorable mentions are also The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon (this one's a personal favorite of mine), The Stranger by Albert Camus, The Aleph and Other Stories by Jorge Luis Borges, A Thousand Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, The Palace of Dreams by Ismail Kadare, The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann, Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami, and Perfume: The story of a Murderer by Patrick Süskind. Really liked Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn too.

15. recommend and review a book.

*chanting* Gideon the Ninth! Gideon the Ninth! :))

I mean, I could recommend a more "serious" book, but all the above are pretty much that already. And by God, did I freaking enjoy Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir. Firstly, there's such fascinating worldbuilding. The setting of the book is one of a galactic empire, held in power by necromancy. Within this empire there are Nine houses, and each one has its own planet and specializes in a particular type of death magic. The Houses are ruled by the Emperor, also knows as the immortal Necrolord Prime, and his Lyctors (or Necrosaints, which are... super-powerful necromancers). But, Lyctors are apparently dying out (heh) and the Emperor needs new ones. Thus, he organizes a mysterious competition, inviting each House to send their heir apparent and their cavalier (basically knights) in order to fight for Lyctorhood, which is pretty much immortality and power almost equal to that of the Emperor's.

Secondly, the main characters are Harrowhark Nonagesimus and Gideon Nav, and their dynamic is just... delicious. The first is the Reverend Daughter and leader of the death cult that is the Ninth House, while the latter is a child the Ninth House randomly found and fostered, but who's constantly trying to escape the horribly old and depressing Ninth House. These two grew up together, constantly fighting and hurting each other; but when the invitation to the Lyctor trials comes, Harrow manipulates Gideon into coming with her and becoming her Cavalier, because Gideon is an unbelievably good swordswoman.

It's all about the love/hate. The devotion despite all the pain. The ways in which they're obsessed and entangled with one another, the ties that are impossible to sever. And I know this sounds dark (and it certainly is when it has to be), but this book is freaking funny. Tamsyn Muir somehow manages to incorporates memes into the story in a way that's not cringe or takes you out of it, and the banter between Gideon and Harrow is absolutely top notch. Gideon herself is goddamn hilarious and so good, I would die for her. And Harrow... ugh, I want to put Harrow in a Pringles can and shake it endlessly, but also I want to cover her with a blanket and give her some hot tea, this horrible skeleton gremlin [affectionate].

The plot and the action are all very engaging, too. However, I guess one could feel it's too hard to get into because of how detailed the setting is. I've seen this criticism thrown around, but if you're into cool worldbuilding, complex narratives and enemies-to-lovers, this is a story you'd enjoy.

[fatesdeepdive]

Entry 7: The Hardest Choice

Chapter 6: The Path Is Yours

We rush into the battlefield from the future vision prologue and find Xander and Ryoma dueling. Xander, after making sure Corrin is okay, announces that Nohr is invading Hoshido to show off their strength. He points out that ending things quickly will prevent unnecessary bloodshed, which is a fair point. But, you know what else would prevent unnecessary bloodshed? Not invading Hoshido.

The two families argue over ownership of Corrin and she is forced to choose a side. Stand with her genetic family and fight to defend Hoshido from violent invaders, or stand with her adoptive family and invade a neighboring country, slaughtering countless civilians in the process. Or play the DLC route. Or go play Super Smash Bros.

And I mean, is this even a choice? Nohr is evil. Like, insanely evil. Ten minutes ago they blew up a marketplace and killed dozens of children. They’re invading Hoshido for shits and giggles and we’re supposed to side with them? Corrin’s supposed to be a good person, why the fuck would she ever join Nohr’s army?

And it’s not like Corrin has any love for Nohr as a country. She spent fifteen years in prison, she doesn’t know the people. Hell, she hates how Nohr looks and feels. Garon murdered her parents, kidnapped her, held her captive, and tried to murder her. Twice.

There is only one reason to join Nohr: love for Xander, Camila, Leo, and Elise. And that’s a relatable reason, standing by your family even if they’re evil. But, it feels cowardly to kill innocent people just because you don’t want to fight your family.

No, not cowardly. Evil. This is a choice between good and evil, with both sides holding up signs saying which they are. And that’s part of the problem with this game. Nohr is so ridiculously evil and Hoshido is so ridiculously good. At this point, we have seen no justification for any evil Nohr does. They’re evil for the point of evil. And even when Hoshido does shady things, like kidnapping Azura or having a mind control barrier, the game glosses over it to avoid having the good guys be morally grey. And let’s be honest, it’s kinda infuriating that Intelligent Systems, a Japanese company, made a game where the most explicitly Japanese kingdom in the franchise is pure good and the European kingdom is cartoonishly evil.

This game tries to paint this as a choice between two families, and that doesn’t work. Painting it as a choice between two families lessens the impact of siding with Nohr to protect your family. Plus, again, the Hoshidans are strangers. Hoshido is not Corrin’s home and the Hoshidan royals are not her family. The only one who was given enough screen time to feel like family was Mikoto, and she’s dead. Maybe it’s a cultural thing, but I really don’t give a shit about Corrin’s blood. I’m not choosing Birthright because I want Corrin to claim her Birthright, I’m choosing it because Nohr is cartoonishly evil.

And here’s the kicker, the ultimate reason to choose Hoshido: Garon tried to murder Corrin. Twice. First with Hans at the bridge, then again with the bomb at the plaza. Choosing Nohr is suicidally stupid. I know Corrin’s naive, but this is just idiotic.

And Corrin doesn’t even bring this up. She doesn’t shout to Xander, “Hans attempted to murder me as we were fleeing the Bottomless Canyon, apparently working under orders from King Garon. I do not feel safe returning to Nohr.”

No, she doesn’t explain jack shit. She lets Xander think she’s betraying him, when in reality she’s just doing the right thing. Corrin is an imbecile and it makes this game painfully dumb.

Birthright Chapter 6: In The White Light

We chose Hoshido. Right away, the chapter title screen changes, going from the mix of white lilies and black roses from earlier chapters to just white lilies. The text boxes also get a new blueish tint. Corrin tells Xander to withdraw his troops and that she’s siding with Hoshido.

Xander says that Corrin must be brainwashed. He reveals that he’s known all along that Garon kidnapped Corrin as a child. Something that he kept from Corrin, because he’s a great older brother. He tells Corrin that they are family, regardless of blood, and that Garon will forgive her. The first one of those is true, but the other is laughable. Has he ever met Garon?

Corrin tells Xander about Garon blowing up the plaza, killing dozens of innocent people, and endangering her life. Corrin calls Garon evil and Xander, apparently ignoring the whole mass murder thing, gets pissed. Corrin asks him to join her and Xander attacks her. Prick.

Side note, the music in this scene is fantastic. It reminds me of the Midmire theme from Awakening and really feels hopeless. Xander beats the shit out of Corrin and Ryoma runs in to save her. The two princes duel, and the battle begins. Also, Jakob shows up.

Ryoma, Hinoka, and Tamuki join Corrin as the two families battle. Interestingly, those three are listed as being part of a different army on the bottom screen, implying that they won’t be around after this battle.

Ryoma

The crown prince of Hoshido. A swordmaster with impeccable strength, skill, and speed. His personal skill, Bushido, makes him fight better when supported by low level units, fitting his honorable Samurai aesthetic. His armor looks cool, but he has crazy, Raditz length hair and this weird horned crown that I dislike. He carries this cool lightning katana called Ranjito. Personality wise, he seems a bit dull. He’s a loyal, protective prince, but at first glance there isn’t much more there.

Hinoka

Corrin’s older sister and a Sky Knight. Her personal skill buffs damage of nearby allies. I kinda like her tomboy haircut and lack of a ridiculously big bust, she looks more like a normal person than most Fates characters. She seems really protective of Corrin and her homeland. Also, I kinda hate her voice.

Takumi

Corrin’s brother, an archer. Who is a prick. A massive prick. He has a massive attack stat for an archer and wields a custom bow that shoots arrows made of light. His design isn’t too interesting, aside from the ponytail that looks weird because it’s cut off by the edge of the screen in his portrait. Personality wise, Takumi is a prick. He’s the best written character in the game, from what I remember. But he’s still a prick.

Also, I suppose I should discuss the Nohrian royals now, because by the time I play Fates my perception will be clouded by the events of Birthright.

Xander

The honorable prince of Nohr. Our protector turned enemy. A Paladin reminiscent of Camus, Selena, and Mustafa from past games, willing to stand by his country even if it is evil. Stat wise, Xander is an absolute tank. His personal skill is called Chivalry, a parallel to Ryoma’s Bushido. It boosts him when fighting enemies with full health. I love Xander’s design, the black and purple with an ascot that makes him look both intimidating and regal, the small black cwon, and that face. He looks like a man tormented by his own actions. I love Xander’s personality, this honorable man who, when forced to choose between his family and his morals, chose the former. He’s actually a good parallel to Corrin, now that I think about it. That said, he is a bit dumb, and trying to kill Corrin was a dick move.

Camila

Ugh. Camila. She’s a new class called Malig Knight, basically a Wyvern Rider with magic abilities. Her personal skill boosts the damage done by allies. Her design...sigh...her design is very, very, very fanservicey, with massive titties and exposed cleavage. Camila is a fanservice character, which is a trend in Fire Emblem that I’m not fond of. Personality wise she’s...creepily obsessed with Corrin, to the point of being kinda incestuous. Ugh. Camila was this game’s breakout character and that’s really disappointing, because she’s probably the worst of the royals in my opinion.

Leo

Leo’s a Dark Knight with a personal skill called Pragmatic that boosts damage against already injured foes. I like how his armor looks; the collar is a bit much, but it’s kinda charming. Also, he looks like he’s Xander’s brother, which is something that they forgot to do with the rest of the royals. Personality wise, he seems to be the only character in this family that isn’t a gigantic moron, which is refreshing. The trick with faking Kaze and Rinkah’s deaths was nefarious, but kind, which is a trait I like in a character.

Elise

The other moe healer little sister, now on horseback. Her personal skill reduces damage done to nearby allies. Design wise, she looks adorable. So adorable that she should not be a soldier and should not have children. I do like the pigtails, although it is weird that they’re both purple and blonde. She’s a bit more forceful in her personality than Sakura, which is good. She’s cute but not boring.

The battle, if you can even call it that, was basically just a quick fight between Ryoma and Xander. After the Nohrians retreat without saying anything, Corrin swears to stand with Hoshido, even though it's the hardest choice she’s ever made. Even though, as we’ve discussed, it isn’t a hard choice at all.

Also, the intro plays again. Nothing is different this time, but it does play again. After that pointless interruption, Lilith shows up again. Remember Lilith? She was important a few chapters ago. And then wasn’t mentioned again until this moment. Lilith takes us into the Astral Plane, introducing us to a new mechanic: My Castle. Which we will get into, next time.

[gascon-en-exil]

Jesus Christ. I just saw someone post the "genius" hot take that Dimitri and the childhood friends are just slightly greyer equivalents of the "evil king and his 4 generals." (ignoring how it's usually Emperor for a good reason) then listed all the EVIL flaws the childhood squad has so they can vaugely be defined as villain archetypes. Finished with praising the game for mixing it up by making them protagonists instead of antagonist "like usual". Received unanymous approval and a ton of likes.

That is such a gloriously bad take that after I read this ask I had to sit and ponder for a minute just how I was going to respond to it without veering wildly off in about four different directions. So have some bullet points instead:

The setup of a king and his three or four generals (and the exact number is significant, see the next point) is not a strongly crystallized one compared to many series archetypes for playable characters. Antagonist hierarchies in FE tend to be more varied than that, and even the games that make use of this trope play around with it very freely. Binding Blade has one of the generals outlive her king, Blazing Sword transfers this setup to an assassin guild and makes one of them a plant for the true Big Bad (and also recruitable), Sacred Stones doubles the initial imperial three, has one general kill another between chapters, and makes another one recruitable, Path of Radiance has one survive to be a major threat in the sequel and a second that I can guarantee no one remembers, and Fates makes facing down the opposing royals a messy and morally grey affair. No one is going to in good faith read the Lions characters this way when “edgy contrary swordsman,” “horny/lazy knight in either red or green,” and “dutiful pegasus knight plus dutiful knight in either red or green eternally tired of their colored counterpart’s horny/lazy antics” are far more readily identifiable, especially when their leader starts off as a send-up of the classic honorable lord.

I’m not going to try tracking down this argument, but I really hope they’re not including Dedue as a way of making four. It is significant to both plot and characterization that Dedue is not one of Dimitri’s childhood friends but is nonetheless the closest person to him for the length of the game and the person whose life he’s shown to the most across all routes. Dedue’s presence in the Lions represents the destabilizing effect that the Tragedy of Duscur had on Faerghus. Had it not happened he wouldn’t be at the monastery, and the Lions’ vassal would be Felix whose family has a longstanding tradition of being the homoerotic #2s of the kings of Faerghus. You can’t just slot him into Dimitri’s social circle for the sake of a weak argument without acknowledging that his position there is highly unusual and has negatively impacted the prince’s relationships with all his old friends.

And speaking of Dedue, is there anyone in Three Houses who better fits into the Camus role, i.e. the most clearly defined and most often recurring of the enemy general character types? He subverts the hell out of the archetype in multiple ways, but he’s able to hold that honor in the first place because of game mechanics. Felix, Sylvain, and Ingrid all can be recruited away from Dimitri, so when it comes to fighting them as enemies they can’t take on any significant roles. In Crimson Flower Felix fights alongside his father Arianrhod, Ingrid is just kind of there with them too, and Sylvain deploys at Tailtean ahead of Dimitri and Dedue. They don’t get any story scenes, there’s no cohesion among them, and it’s still Dedue who gets the big moment and potentially a poignant death scene with his king/lover because the game has to account for the other three possibly being in your army. None of the childhood friends ever gets the chance to be a Camus. (Side note, but I’d argue that the character who best fits the build and temperament of a classical Camus is in fact Ferdinand - except that if you don’t recruit him he dies at the Great Bridge long before the playable army marches on Enbarr. That distance from Edelgard when they’re on the same side as antagonists is perhaps notable, but a digression here.)

Fans in the “Edelgard did no wrong” camp appear to have a lot of trouble with the concept of a villain protagonist even though Edelgard plays that role to a tee in CF. How then are they seemingly able to understand it perfectly when applied to the core Lions, when nothing about Azure Moon frames it as a villain route? You can criticize AM for not dealing with the Agarthans (except they kind of are) or for restoring the status quo (which it actually doesn’t, at least for the Kingdom), but Edelgard is still the unprovoked aggressor of AM’s war and the overarching goal of the route is defeating her to stop said war. The biggest narrative “mixing up” of Three Houses is making the conquest-happy emperor decked out in red, the unambiguously evil sorcerer/chancellor, and the black-armored knight consumed with bloodlust playable for once - but it’s not like any of them stop being those things in CF.

Rather petty, but I love how this implies that any character with observable flaws can be read as a villain.

That was a lot of veering around wildly, but I think I made my point(s).

[airlock]

so, we’re in for another post about the results from the anniversary poll, but hem, haw...

I already did an entire text post series evaluating fire emblem villains! and this next post will be about the category “villains you just can’t hate”, so like, I might not have as much to say as critique this time, because I’ve already said the vast majority of what I’ve had

so let’s tally up those top 15, and in the meantime, I will just focus on this one simple question: can you hate these?

#1: LYON (4176 votes)

if we’re reducing this category to “best villain”, then hell yeah, Lyon is a worthy candidate; not the one I would’ve picked, but definitely a runner-up. validates my mawing about how he should be in smash,

but let’s talk about whether you can hate Lyon. can you? that’s the thing: sure you can! you don’t have to, but he’s such an incredibly mutlifaceted villain, anything from love to hate goes

#2: EDELGARD (4105 votes across all appearances)

oh man oh man, you sure can hate Edelgard. every other day I’m over there stuck reading the worst, most headache-inducing takes from folks who do. fortunately, I’m not like, on twitter or anything, so I don’t normally have to read the about equally horrible takes from people who love her a spot too much, but alas, doesn’t seem as if you can quite solve both problems

#3: BERKUT (3768 votes)

why

#4: BLACK KNIGHT (2598 votes, across all appearances, including his... other identity)

once again, he splits his vote all over the place and loses much of his ranking for it! as for whether you can hate him, though, well... just ask Ike about that, why don’tcha

#5: ARVIS (1803 votes)

where Lyon was the runner-up, this is 100% the one I would vote for, if this were just about being Best Villain. either him or Travant, anyway

and no, you can’t hate Arvis. sure, he did everything wrong, but he did with such panache!

#6: VERONICA (1802 votes)

at long, long last, the most voted FEH OC in a category isn’t the hentai fairty! you’ve saved us all once again, vero. your accolades are well-earned

y’know, FEH OCs had a good run in this category, even though they were otherwise eating dust so far. I guess it’s because most of the FEH OCs are antagonists, since Book II? and if you put that together with the fact that most of them don’t super make an impression,

#7: NARCIAN (1341 votes)

alas, as I’ve said in the villain grading series, the whole macking on prepubescent girls thing is a major splotch on what otherwise would’ve been a fun villain

#8: MUSTAFA (1260 votes)

just get over it, y’all

#9: GRIMA (1180 votes)

speaking of awakening villains I wish people would forget already

#10: IDUNN (1001 votes)

sure? I mean, she’s up there with Ishtar in the lineage of villains who are kinda just victims. I dunno if being a “villain you just can’t hate” means much when you don’t, like, potentially deserve to be hated

#11: LÍF (946 votes)

eh, I never finished Book III, so all I have to say on this matter is that this has got to be in some part a total hornyvote

#12: OLIVER (775 votes, possibly with uncounted change)

oh boy. not only can I perfectly well hate Oliver, I hated him less when he was a properly characterized villain with a specific story role than when he was an unfunny meme that has nothing to do with his former characterization

#13: PLUMERIA (771 votes)

speaking of unfunny memes

#14: AVERSA (758 votes)

gangrel got snubbed send tweet

#15: RUDOLF (744 votes)

eh, fair enough. he did have enough style to spawn an archetype all of his own, which can’t be said for a lot of valentians. alas, he had more style when he had a stache

HONORABLE MENTIONS (highest vote in their continuity, without reaching top 15)

Camus (602 votes across all appearances, possibly with uncounted change): I don’t know if we can’t hate him, but hoo boy, there are so many people in-universe who can’t, at all costs-

Zola (496 votes): yep, freaking Zola has the best performance here out of Fates villains. sit on that one

not a single TMS#FE character made the top 100 cut also

I’ve already prodded you guys to talk about villains enough times in the grading series, so uh... yell at me for ignoring mustafa, I guess? talk about veronica? complain about bad edelgard takes of any nature? do something,

[ace-sonofagun]

A very unrequested essay about Heath

So, one of my all time favorite fire emblem unit is Heath from fe7. Most people I know that have played the game have lukewarm opinions about him, that go from “he's an okay guy, I like him” to “he has shit joining stats” passing from “i forgot about him”. And I understand all of them, I really do, he joins late, he's underlevelled, he isn't important for the main story and doesn't really have any gimmick to him that makes him stand out (if we don't count his hair but... yeah... we are not going to count his hair).

Yet I can't help but adore him, despite him being a kind of character I usually don't really care about. So I asked myself why I keep him in such high regards.

What follows is a poorly written essay of my thoughts, so if you're not interested save the time because it's probably gonna be long, incoherent, and kind of useless.

What first draw me to the character was his class, wyvern riders are the coolest thing ever let's be honest here, but that really not enough to justify everything. So let's watch on a surface level what we know: in his joining chapter he starts as an enemy in Eubans' mercenary band, but if you talk to him with your lord he surrenders and joins your rank, stating that he wish no harm to women and children and, despite being a soldier, he is a human first. And that, I thinks, sums up pretty well his whole character.

During his supports we find out that he once served Bern, but deserted when his unit was given the order to kill innocent people just to boost a general's military career, that staged an uprising. That makes him twice a traitor, and yet he is still considered one of the most honorable character, and I agree with that. He is pretty much the polar opposite of the Camus archetype, he loves his land, but is not willing to go against his belief just to serve Bern, nor he cares about contracts when he feels like he is doing the morally wrong thing. Both time he betrayed his superiors he put himself in very dangerous situations, especially with Bern, he doesn't betray because it benefits him, he does it because it's the right thing to do, and, what's equally important, is that he doesn't think twice about it.

Fire emblem is a game filled with recruitable enemies, but most often then not you have to convince them, talk to them more than once, or simply they must be pushed over the edge again and again before they finally come to their senses. Heath on the other hand just surrenders, he makes the first move, the same with Bern, he doesn't give them a second or third chance, once they betray his code it's over, he won't stand by it. And it's really admirable to me, because I don't think I would be able to make a similar decision so quickly.

Moving on from that, I also love all his little contradictions. Like, he was part of one of the strongest knights in the land, in his support with both Priscilla and Vaida we see that he was trained to be ferocious and attack the enemy without mercy, without caring about his own wounds, he is the kind of guy that goes to work with a killer fever and just shrugs it off because it will pass eventually. And yet, outside the battlefield, he is this really sweet dude that doesn't want to bother people with his problems, worries way too much and tries to be a gentlemen with every woman not because he thinks them inferior, but because he genuinely believes it's his duty as a knight. He is extremely polite and respectful of hierarchy, again, not trait that you would think to find in a twice deserter.

Just... he is not what you would expect from a elite knight that fights on top of a dragon and betrayed his superiors twice. He is so very human and ordinary in his everyday life, he's just very simple. And I think that's the point. His simplicity, or, quoting Vaida's support: Heath...you... ...are stupider than wyvern feed. Now, she says that with affect, but she is still right, he is dumbly honest, he doesn't make things complicated, and expects other people to do the same, here's why he is often called dumb by other characters, and yes, he is clearly not the smartest crayon in the box, he is not made for reading between the lines, when he is said something he just accepts that as the truth, but at the same time he is not stupid. Like, he knows that following Vaida after finishing the game will probably get him killed, but it's the right thing, so fuck it.

Another aspect that I find extremely reletable it that, despite his strong sense of justice, he doesn't have a cause to fight for. Every main lord in the series has an objective he fights with all his strength to achieve, but Heath doesn't have that, in his support with Kent we see that he is just looking for a just cause to serve, someone deserving of his loyalty, he is not this unapproachable figure, he just wants to find a place and a purpose.

… and I should probably stop here. There are still some things I haven't touched upon (like his support with Legault, but I tried to be professional and don't include any headcanon or ship), but i'm already over reading stuff and i'm not to happy with the way it turned out. Anyway, I don't think I will ever be able to explain how I want why I think Heath is an amazing, yet subtle, character and why I love him so much despite being so unimportant to the main plot. So if you managed to finish whatever that is congrats, and hope you enjoyed it at least a tiny bit.

[cavaliant]

Time to actually articulate my issues with the Fandom FE wiki’s Reinhardt page ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ This is like...obviously coloured by my own interpretation of the game so pls don’t kill me lmao. All bolding is mine.

(Also, disclaimer: since I don’t feel like deciphering the original script rn, this is based off Serenes, as well as this LP, with all the possible lost-in-translation things they may entail.)

“A paragon of professionalism and honor among Friege's knights, Reinhardt is an honorable leader who understands the horrors of war.”

Does he understand the horrors of ripping countless children away from their families to sacrifice to a dark god tho??? Like. It’s entirely possible that he was helping Ishtar free the children in secret since he was so close to her. But it’s also possible he was in the dark and/or turning a blind eye. We don’t know because it’s never confirmed either way onscreen; all we DO know is that when Olwen brings up the child hunts being deplorable all he does is say he doesn’t want to lose his only sister. He doesn’t endorse them, but he doesn’t condemn them in that convo either. It’s even lampshaded ingame:

Regardless of whether he endorses it or not, he isn’t really...confirmed to be doing much about it onscreen either, unlike other characters from Friege such as Ishtar, Olwen, Fred, Amalda, etc. So...not really sure on that honour bit for now ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

-----

“He holds immense respect and love for his sister Olwen, with his own doubt only serving to improve his impression of her despite her siding with the enemy, with him observing that she has chosen the path of good.”

OH YEAH SURE giving her a sword to kill you with and basically encouraging your YOUNGER SISTER to murder you (he doesn’t even fight back) but ALSO not bothering to tell anyone else on his side to like you know...maybe look out for his little sis out there...maybe like...don’t kill her...totally fine...much love, very respect, wow.

-----

“In spite of his common sense, Reinhardt, similarly to Camus, loves his motherland to the point where he will disregard what he may believe is the right path, in favor of continuing to serve his friend Ishtar, and his motherland of Friege, until his dying breath.”

1) What common sense. I dunno man he seemed pretty desperate to get his sister back to the side of the motherland despite his “common sense” telling him it ain’t right.

2) It’s possible to say he’s too loyal to Friege to join you but he never really...gives much indication that he’s doing this for his country specifically. I know it may be a product of not getting the time to give a massive speech about his undying love for his country or something but from the way he talks I always got the impression he was doing it more for Ishtar (who happens to be part of Friege) and, after she sends him away, because he didn’t know what to do next. 

Like if Ishtar defected from Friege, I’m 100% certain Reinhardt would have defected too instead of telling his sister to murder him (which isn’t at ALL helpful to his supposed goals of serving Ishtar and/or respecting his sis).

-----

“He even regrets fighting against Leif's army, requesting forgiveness when he enters combat against them.”

When you fight Reinhardt in Chapter 22 he says, “This was meant to be… Forgive me…”. His sword version in FEH also states, "Leif is the enemy. However, being here—another place, another time—may allow me to tread another path."

Since the quote from the wiki focuses on his Thracia lines, I’ll focus on those as well. It’s possible for his request for forgiveness to be made out of genuine regret. However...going “sorry please forgive me” and then killing people doesn’t!!! Excuse you!!! From what you did!!! Does he do anything afterwards to make up for it? No!!! Beyond the sword he gives to Olwen, he doesn’t do shit about his “fate” of fighting his sister and the Liberation Army.

Maybe he really felt sorry and caught between a rock and a hard place! But at the same time, it also seems like he’s dodging responsibility for his actions. “Meant to be”, my ass. Was it just the “whims of fate” that led him here? No! Ishtar made her choices, and Olwen did the same. And he chooses to remain as he is, unwilling to betray Ishtar but unwilling to stain his own hands with his sister’s blood (though he’s certainly willing to kill her comrades, guess it was just meant to be!).

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“He holds immense respect for Ishtar (out of appreciation for her skill with thunder magic) as well as Saias (for his tactical prowess), and it is revealed that he has seen the former as more than a friend. It is never known how he feels about Julius beyond the typical jealousy, due to his code of honor preventing him from objecting Julius's order to separate him from Ishtar.”

MAYBE he’s feeling a bit resentful of Julius for separating him from his mistress, but what he actually says is:

Rinehart: “Yes, she has, but I chose to stay because I’m worried about my sister. Besides…Lady Ishstar has no need for me any more.”

Cyas: “She told you that herself?”

Rinehart: “Yes. She said that since she is with Lord Yurius, there is no need for me to worry about her…”

And then the subject turns to Olwen. So sure! Maybe there’s some salt and jealousy simmering there under the surface. Maybe he hates Julius for sending him away from the side of the person he’s been serving faithfully ever since she was young. You could take these lines that way. You could also just as easily not. You could just as easily take it as him just being gloomy and lost now that he’s suddenly been tossed out of a position he’s presumably held for years now, unable to protect one of the people he cares about anymore.

As for the “more than a friend” bit...it is implied by an NPC soldier (who mutters about Reinhardt “running to the queen’s side in a time like this” and is then told off by his commanding officer) and by Julius himself that Reinhardt might have romantic feelings for Ishtar. However, I’d also like to point out that rumours about lady-and-knight relationships probably aren’t uncommon in Jugdral, and that Julius himself has a highly personal stake in the matter.

If anyone’s jealous, it’s Julius, forcing Ishtar to tell her male bodyguard not to hang around her anymore on the pain of death (Reinhardt’s death that is). Regardless of whether Reinhardt actually had feelings for her or not, you get the feeling that Julius just doesn’t want any men hanging around his fiancée, particularly Reinhardt who has been close to Ishtar for a long time. And again, Reinhardt never actually says anything explicit about how he feels about her. So while it’s possible he does love her romantically, I wouldn’t call it canon beyond a shadow of a doubt.

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Anyway yeah I don’t think Rein is an evil person but he sure as heck ain’t a poor bb paragon of virtue who just happened to be forced to stay on the wrong side ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I love him, but I also want y’all to know he’s a fucking trash man so please don’t baby him on this blog! Call him out! Judge him! I support u...

[perceptiveknight-blog]

Belf, Grust, and Halloween

So I suppose the reason for me missing the anon is my anonymous asks were OFF this whole time... x) Anyways, here are my thoughts regarding everything in the title.

TENTATIVELY in canon, Rigel and Grust are similar in that they hold Dia de los Muertos-type holidays to remember the deceased. At least two days of celebrations occur, one for general deceased and one specifically for the military deceased. General Ordwin is honored on both days; as the founder of the country, he is arguably the ancestor of everyone, not just the military or the royal lineage. The capital holds a big celebration for each, with food and parties and some games, but villagers are free to hold their own small events too. Folks in the capital leave offerings (such as food and flowers or something more personal) around a large altar inside the central chamber of the town hall, whereas individual families tend to leave offerings around some personal item (e.g. a sword or wooden cavalier figurine for a deceased Sable Knight). Women villagers have been known to leave sleeves (medieval clothes have detachable ones since they need to be sewn on daily) and kerchiefs at the altars of deceased knights, though this practice is discouraged in the capital. Due to the scarcity of food outside the capital, village children are also allowed to “steal” food from the altar after it’s been there for one night (in fact, it is believed that sharing food with the military deceased passes on their fighting spirit)--in the capital, food is generally disposed of (if the homeless don’t get it first, that is).

Belf spends the holiday in the traditional sense, remembering relatives on Day 1 (never mind that I haven’t thought up any relatives beyond Albert and Helena) and fallen comrades on Day 2. This is one of the few times soldiers are required to return home, so Robert and Leiden come along with him too. After FE11, Belf adds Camus to his list of soldiers to remember; even after he discovers him alive in FE12, he continues to honor his general in accordance with his wishes.

In modern AU, if the latter two aren’t actively fighting somewhere, Belf, Robert, and Leiden frequently dress up as trio characters. Police officers, Three Musketeers, monsters, superheroes (Leiden would be Marvel's Iron Man and Belf would be DC's Cyborg - these two love petty feuding XD), Ghostbusters, Secret Service, you name it. They probably dressed up as Game of Thrones characters at some point, too, once Robert got them all into it.

If Belf is alone for Halloween, he tends to like uniform-based costumes, such as police, military (reused fatigues), and Secret Service. He hands out candy for the first 90 minutes or so and then leaves the bowl out so he can spend the rest of the night working (hospitals don’t sleep) or reading. If he's somehow roped into helping out with a haunted house (e.g. the whole hospital dresses up), he's totally going the mad scientist route. Blood may or may not be real... (tbh, it’s probably all ketchup.)

If everyone is “home”, the three of them would spend Halloween at a bar/restaurant, a movie theater, or at home catching up. They all avoid discussing the events surrounding Operation Orthros (when the Grustian and Dolhrian armies were mobilized to hunt down Camus and Nyna) though.

[lady-cuteness]

Here are my heroes I use frequently. There were also gonna be honorable mention (if they are).

Sword: Ike Ike is my main sword user ever since his banner came out. He is +atk -res, and equip him with attack seal+3 and s support, giving him a total of 59 attack even though he is not merge. Honorable Mention: Black Knight, Xander, Chrom, Olivia

Lance: Camus I will admit, I barely use lances now because I prefer to use tomes. Although Camus will always have a place in my heart being the second grand hero battle character promoted to 5 star. Honorable Mention: Valter, Bunny Xander

Axe: Amelia and PA!Azura This two don’t have a month in my squad and I been using them non stop. Azura is a great support and Amelia is my main armor unit since she gets all the boost from Hector and Black Knight. Honorable mention: Hector, Bunny Chrom, Frederick, Brave Ike

Bow: Bride Cordelia and Brave Lyn Ever since I manage to pull a Cordelia, she’s been one of my main infantry units. She has a +atk -hp ivs but I don’t care. She’s just there to OHOK everything with brave bow and death blow. Brave Lyn is my free pull choice so she has neutral ivs. I REALLY like her ability to not be counter by axe, lance and sword, so taking out some enemies has been extremely easy. Honorable Mention: Summer Gaius and Klein

Dagger: Kagero I’ll admit, daggers are the units I use the least. PA! Olivia would be here, but I still haven’t pull her yet (please come home with Inigo please :c)

Red Tome: Sanaki She was a surprise pull and has been recking every green she has been encountering. Thanks to her I have manage to survive the first tempest trial against Veronica. Definitely one of the MVPs of my units. Honorable Mention: Arvis

Blue Tome: Reinhart I have been extremely unlucky in pulling a good Reinhart. In fact the first one was a +hp -atk :c But now I have a decent one and he recks so much. Honorable Mention: Bunny Lucina, Shigure, Ursula, M!Robin

Green Tome: Sonya and Nino Both actually are +speed. But I use them for different purpose. Although Sonya does hit more and is bulkier, Nino is WAY speedier than Sonya (Nino is currently at 43 speed while Sonya is 38), so in case I need to double units I change the characters. Love my babies :3 Honorable Mention: Bunny Camilla, Boey

Dragon: Ninian She has been part of my main infantry unit team ever since I pull her with ok ivs (+attack -speed). Having a dragon dancer is always nice. Honorable mention: Young Tiki

Staff: Genny Genny can actually tank some magic users with her great resistance and since I pulled a +atk -hp genny she can also hit hard back. But why are you so slow? :c I love my Genny...but she’s not the greatest in defending XD Honorable mention: Lissa

[gamerprincess13]

Fire Emblem Heroes Unit Review: Henry (Trick or Defeat!)

“Nice work out there. You don't have to be such a goody-goody, though. You should play some tricks on people sometimes... Have a little fun! Nya ha ha!”

Available: 5-Star (only on the limited time Trick or Defeat Banner)

Neutral Stats: 36/33/34/26/36 (Best IV’s: +Attack; -HP is his best one to preserve his other stats if possible.)

Default Kit:

Spectral Tome+ (12 Might: After combat, bonuses becomes penalties on all foes within 2 spaces through foe’s next action)

Special: Reprisal (Grants bonus to damage dealt equal to 30% of damage suffered) Cooldown: 2 Turns

B-Slot: Live for Honor (If unit survives, get 1.5x normal badges from a Training Tower map. If similar skill effects also used, only highest multiplier applied)

C-Slot: Armor March 3 (If unit has an adjacent armored ally at the start of turn, unit and any such allies can move 1 extra space. That turn only, does not stack)

Pros:

Great attack

Great speed

Tied with Amelia and the Black Knight for the highest speed for an armored unit

Fantastic Resistance

Tied with Wrys at 36 with the highest Res in the game

Natural access to Armor March 3 allows Henry and his allies close to him gain two movement

Spectral Tome+ gives access to Panic status to foes after combat (both Player and Enemy Phase)

Very flexible with any tome

Creates Fang-tastic puns

Cons:

Low defense for an armor unit

Also low HP

Reprisal isn’t the best special for Henry

Reliant on allies to get extra movement

Limited time unit

Happy Halloween everyone! I hope you guys had a relaxing Halloween this year, and for all of you summoners out there, hope you got your desired spooky unit for this year. So in celebration of the Halloween season, it’s time for the most blood-thirsty yet cheery and pun master unit to take center stage: Henry! To differentiate this Henry from the regular Henry, I’ll refer to this Henry as Count Henry. There’s no pun to create for Henry as a vampire, so forgive me!

Anyway, Count Henry, alongside Fraken-Jakob (Trick or Defeat Jakob), is the first ranged armored unit in the game. Armor Emblem is strictly melee and had difficulties dealing with ranged units, especially Reinhardt and Brave Lyn. Thanks to the addition of two ranged units taking form as a mage and an archer, Armor Emblem is starting to form a challenge to unsuspecting players. In this Vampire’s case, Henry is a green armored mage with excellent resistance, great speed and attack. Oh gods, Count Henry is literally Reinhardt’s new Knight-Mare! Get it?

...I’m going to make a lot of puns in this review, aren’t I?

Moving on to the default set. Count Henry’s weapon of choice is the Spectral Tome+, where after combat, foes 2 spaces of Count Henry will have their bonuses turn into penalties, which can cripple some of the foes badly, especially if they’re a themed team *cough cough Horse Emblem*. This tome also fits Count Henry’s character as he casts curses, so him curing his foes by making their strength turn against them is great, and creates a caw-tastrophe!

His special is Reprisal, which doesn’t suit his stat-line very well as he has very low HP to take advantage to it, so switch it to something better. His B-Slot is Live for Honor, which should only be used for Training Tower and that’s it. His C-Slot is a fantastic skill: Armor March 3. This skill was locked to Amelia, and it allows Count Henry’s armored allies around him gain an extra movement, which is incredible! Also, the extra movement provided from Armor March 3 will allow them to pass by the forest tiles no problem!

Skill Inheritance provides Count Henry new tricks up his sleeve. His A-Slot can be something like Triangle Adept 3 to handle blue units better, or something like Distant Defense 3 to allow Count Henry to tank ranged hits much better, especially on the physical side. Fury can be a nice budget option if none of these skills are in your barracks, though be wary about the 6 HP cost on him. His B-Slot can be a -breaker skill, Vantage 3 to surprise his foes, or Quick Riposte 3 to retaliate to his foes, regardless if IV’s. Wary Fighter is a decent skill for him, but keep in mind that Count Henry can’t double if he has this skill. He can also run either Bold or Vengeful Fighter 3 depending on how you want to build Count Henry. C-Slot, if he’s on Armor Emblem or if he has one armor ally, Armor March 3 should stay. If he’s not, he can utilize ploy skills such as Attack/Resistance Ploy 3 due to his incredible Resistance stat, or even Threaten Resistance 3 since the ploy skills are difficult to obtain.

His special should be switched to something more safer and practical such as Iceberg (especially if he’s +Res) or Luna if you like. Hey, better than Reprisal, am I right? Count Henry’s assist can either be Swap or Pivot to give him more mobility regardless if he’s on an Armor Emblem team or not.

Yet this vampire has problems he can’t patch up with his own magic. Count Henry has the lowest Defense and HP stat for an armored unit, though his defense is not too shabby for a magic unit. While Count Henry has Armor March 3 to gain extra movement, he needs his allies to get the movement, so if he’s far away from his allies, he’ll only move like how every armor unit would. Also, his banner is only there for a limited amount of time, so unless you’re an extreme whale, merging Count Henry is tricky to do and you’ll miss your chance on obtaining a ranged armor unit.

Regardless, Count Henry is one hell of a unit that’s needed for Armor Emblem, alongside with his magic bringing mayhem when one least expects it. So pull for this blood thirsty vampire and watch him unleash a Knight-mare of spells on his foes!

Suggested Skills (Bolded means Highly Recommended):

Weapon:

Spectral Tome+ (default)

Gronnraven+

Gronnowl+

Gronnblade+

Special:

Iceberg

Glacies

Luna

Moonbow

Assist:

Swap

Pivot

A-Slot:

Triangle Adept 3

Distant Defense 3

Fury 3

B-Slot:

-Breaker skill

Quick Riposte 2/3

Vantage 3

Bold Fighter 3

Vengeful Fighter 3

Wings of Mercy 3

Renewal 3

C-Slot:

Armor March 3 (default)

-Ploy Skills (if outside Armor Emblem)

Threaten Resistance

Counters:

Distant Counter sword units like Ike, Black Knight, and Ryoma 

Triangle Adept 3 Red tome users like Sanaki

Brave Sword/Bow users

Teammates:

Armor units like Effie, Black Knight, and Fraken-Jakob to take advantage of Armor March 3

Also makes use of Hone/Fortify Armor

Red magic checks such as Delthea

Lance units such as Effie, Camus, Ephraim, Tsubaki, Oscar

A flier with Guidance like Tana

Summoner’s Words of Wisdom: “Ooh, scary! Armor Emblem now poses a challenge to the other Emblem teams. Most certainly, a certain blue mage is screaming that he now has to deal with another Knight-Marish green mage! Oh, and they’re closer than you think! The horror!”

Updated as of Version 2.4

[azebraslife]

hhhh Glen maybe? Or Selena (fe8) for the ask meme

Uhhh why not both

Glen

How I feel about this character: Bae. Glen deserved better. He’s my favorite of the Grado Generals because I think he had a lot of unexplored potential and subtleties.

All the people I ship romantically with this character: Me Honestly I have some....odd HCs about him and his romantic life. Partially stemmed from the discovery about a supposed effect of Sunstones...

My non-romantic OTP for this character: I mean....I guess Glen & Cormag is obvious because they’re siblings. But I think Natasha & Glen would be an interesting dynamic if he got recruited to Eirika’s side because he knows that he ordered her killed but she doesn’t.

My unpopular opinion about this character: Uhhhh I guess that he’s underrated compared to Selena? Like people will talk about Selena’s character/personality all day but I very rarely see that for Glen. Some people say that Glen is boring/just existed to die but I think there are some very interesting clues that his interactions give us.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: He fukken lived

Selena

How I feel about this character: Honestly, it’s...kinda complicated? And it’ll tie into my unpopular opinion but Selena honestly never meshed with me. I think it’s the combo of her “will die for my lord no matter what” Camus archetype personality + her backstory that just doesn’t sell her for me. I’m neutral on her, but I don’t see how she’s supposed to sympathetic.

All the people I ship romantically with this character: Nobody. Honestly, she and Glen are probably too married to their jobs for love lives.

My non-romantic OTP for this character: Would’ve loved to see Selena and Myrrh interactions had we been able to recruit her.

My unpopular opinion about this character: Continuing from the first point, I genuinely don’t think her backstory and her actions in-story mesh. She serves Vigarde for his compassion, for saving her village, so now that he displays absolutely none of that compassion and wages war on their long-time ally, she...follows his orders anyways because she shares his original vision? Huh? Her loyalty is one I’d expect of someone who from a long line of knights serving Vigarde and doesn’t want to break that honor. Not someone from the peasant class who joined for his ideals, which he completely turned his back on at the start of the war.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: She was recruitable, because that honestly makes more sense for her backstory than her in-game treatment. (Besides, the point that “this is war, people die” is kinda :/ when Myrrh and Ephraim never talk about her again in their supports.)

[cerastes]

Ryaaaargh POST LIMIT. Say, I am mighty curious, among other things, about what exactly the deal with Zeke/Camus is, could you illuminate me a bit?

Yes, I would be happy to!

Zeke, or Camus, is the noble yet tragic character from the very first Fire Emblem, the boss fight from one of the final levels, a very renowned and skilled Paladin under Grust who, despite knowing and regretting how much his empire had rotted, still followed orders due to his code of chivalry. Camus was the “good guy on the bad side” character that Marth regretfully had to fight. He wielded the legendary lance Gradivus, granted to him due to his immense skill in battle and honor in all matters martial, and he fell in combat to Marth.

Or so we thought.

The castle he defended was close to the shore. He fought with terrifying skill, yet he still fell to Marth and his army. The sea took his body, and thus they never found the corpse. Except, there was no corpse. He was gravely wounded and washed by the sea, yet he didn’t die. 

Days later, he woke up, amnesiac, in a strange land. Valentia, the continent where Gaiden/Echoes takes place, was suddenly host to this vulnerable, wounded man. In the land of Rigel, the saint Tatiana found him, and brought him to safety, where he was fed and given a home, and where he used the talents he didn’t know he had to quickly rise in the ranks of the militant country, becoming a trusted agent of King Rudolf himself, who gave him the name “Ezekiel”, or Zeke, for short. His impressive skill in combat and chivalry as a knight impressed Rudolf, and trust was built between the two. He disagreed with waging war on Zofia, but once again, as he did with Grust, he had a code of chivalry to follow, and he did follow it, following orders once again, even if he had no memories of the previous time he was forced to do the same. 

When Jerome disobeyed Rudolf’s orders and raided villages, Camus/Zeke set out to stop him himself, but this only led to Nuibaba, Jerome’s friend and fellow traitor, having the chance to kidnap Tatiana. The thing is, Camus not only owed his current life to Tatiana after she found him, he had fallen in love with her. With no option other than obedience to the traitors, Camus followed orders and fought alongside the traitors, else Tatiana be executed. 

Tatiana is saved by Alm, and Camus learns that Alm also has the brand, which means he is of royal blood. This is not the important point, however: Rudolf had told Camus that whoever had that brand was going to be the one to save all of Valentia. Understanding this, Camus joins Alm. All that happens, happens, and after the war, Camus lives a lovey dovey cuddly cheesy life with his love Tatiana, never telling her that he, at some point, did recover his memories.

This happiness would not last long, however, as he soon heard that Prince Hardin ascended to the throne and subsequently went mad, becoming a tyrant. As he had recovered his memories, Camus had a duty to fulfill. Donning a mask and the fake name “Sirius” to conceal his identity, Camus returned to Archanea, joining his old foe Marth in restoring peace to the continent in the events of Fire Emblem 3: Mystery of the Emblem. He formally joins once he sees Ogma defending Grust’s royal children, Juliya and Jubelo, from the deadly vikings of Macedon. He goes on to save Nyna from Medeus’ mind control due to his old bond with her, and once Medeus is once more killed, he disappears from Archanea once more, returning to Valentia to live a long, peaceful life full of love with his wife Tatiana.

[pr1nc3-ed]

Tagged by @aileenaison​ thank you, that was really fun <3 Choose any three fandoms (in random order) and answer the questions. Then tag some friends.

You choose: fire emblem, fate series, tokyo ghoul

The first character you loved:

fire emblem: idk I think it was Ike lol

fate: Archer, because he is manly af

tokyo ghoul: Probably Touka

The character you never expected to love so much:

fire emblem: Lyn, aaaand i didnt expect to enjoy Hector that much at first lol (both FE7), aaaaaaand Lute (Sacred Stones) for being probably the most powerful mage lmao, although her personality is cute though, and bonus mention for Joshua (Sacred Stones) due to cool hat™

fate: TOHSAKA RIN

tokyo ghoul: Eto, and okay I guess Touka too, also i didnt really expect to like Kaneki’s character when i started the anime (ok HE IS STILL SHIT ON THE ANIME IMO) and manga

The character you relate to most:

fire emblem: couldnt think that well but ehh Artur (FE8 Sacred Stones), idk he is just a simple, humble, genuine nice guy who is usually calm and fell in love for his childhood friend... LIKE I DID ONCE TOO IRL (no longer the case tho) LOL, and I guess i can somewhat relate to Levin (FE4) since he ran away from his responsibilities at first like i do with adult life :p

fate: i have no idea of this one tbh

tokyo ghoul: Kaneki, idk i would see myself on Kuroneki very often due to the shy nature and wanting to help others or even “hurt” myself rather than others, y’know.

The character you’d slap: (this will include more than one character in some ones lmao)

fire emblem: even though he is an amazing mage, sometimes I’d slap Soren for being racist towards a race in Path of Radiance, Eltshan/Eldigan (FE4) for doing some really dumb shit to even put his life at risk for the sake of HONOR AND SOME ROYALTY/KNIGHT SHIT, and Lyon (Sacred Stones)... idk i just think he sucks as the tragic-like character and i cant take him seriously

fate: Shirou, for being a dumbass sometimes

tokyo ghoul: i would slap (almost) the whole CCG tbh, and kanou too, fuck them

A character you liked at first but not so much anymore:

fire emblem: at first I liked Eirika (Sacred Stones), but as the game went on... idk i couldnt agree with some of her decisions lol, I kinda prefer her brother Ephraim

fate: hmmmmm I guess that could go to... Saber? I dont hate/dislike her, its just that sooo much of her in the series just made her look “meh” to me, and some of her ideals like in Fate/Zero are just... lol no.

tokyo ghoul: that would be a tough one, but i guess Mutsuki is the closest one to that

A character you did not like at first, but they’ve grown on you:

fire emblem: Anna, yes the (usually, until awakening) npc girl LOL, ok its not that i didnt like her, i just didnt care much at first :p i guess Camus and Michalis (from Marth’s games) could be included too, same for Jaffar (FE7) due to his development

fate: Kotomine Kirei... YOROKOBE SHONEN

tokyo ghoul: Tsukiyama, Ayato and Urie

3 OTPs (ok i will add some couples that i think they are nice but i dont necessarily ship instead of a certain one):

fire emblem: marth x caeda, eliwood x ninian, artur x lute

fate: shirou x rin are okay on UBW/rin’s route :p saber x diarmuid for BROTP in fate/zero tokyo ghoul: TOUKEN, this is the only actual otp in this list to me :p oh and i do like ayato x hinami tbh tagging @kurome-in-wonderland @hakuniki @s-e-l-f-i-s-h-n-e-s-s @purrsxna @yetanotherfluffyotaku @myluchanblog @mut4ti0ns @meanimes @chitogebabe @kitsunebis @riftdoor its optional to do thar or not :3 and sorry if anyone didnt want to be tagged :(

[gascon-en-exil]

Mercilessly Judging the Camus Archetype

Per request by Markoftheasphodel, here’s a bonus round of the Mercilessly Judging series, in which I’ll be using my discriminating taste and considerable experience with hot (and not-so-hot) gay sex to grade that most curious of Fire Emblem character archetypes, the Camus. What was probably intended to be written as a figure out of classical tragedy has instead morphed into an only occasionally tragic sex symbol, because that’s what you get when your namesake is the male equivalent of Helen of Troy. Since I like my men like I like my roux - rich, seasoned, and thick in just the right places - I’m especially well-equipped for this undertaking.

The Arbitrary Requirements

Slotting characters into FE archetypes can be a slippery business, and so to get that part out of the way first I’ve settled on the criteria I’ll be using to determine who will end up on this list. These guys must possess at least three of the following traits:

Unrecruitable, at least in the main game or the game/route in which they fulfill the Camus role

Unwavering loyalty toward his country and/or a major antagonist

Blond

Black armor/clothing

A legendary weapon

A paladin or other horse-mounted class

They must also be male, both because I am absolutely not the person to ask when it comes to judging women and because the female Camus, a.k.a. the Ishtar, comes with traits of her own, such as a greater predisposition toward magic and a romantic inclination toward the antagonist to whom she’s loyal. The latter trait is obviously absent from their male counterparts, except in Tellius because of course.

Camus/Zeke/Sirius - Camus classic

This man’s dick has caused world wars. It’s that amazing. Has identity issues that are only worsened by his roleplaying and use of aliases. Long-term value is questionable as he has a tendency to outlive the countries he serves...but hey, at least he has a long term unlike half the guys here.

9/10 - The greatest sex you will ever have, but loses a point because when it comes time to settle down it’ll be pretty low-rent.

Eldigan - Camus père

An idiot, but not as much of an idiot as his two college buddies. His sister wants to sleep with him. Is the only guy on this list to have spawned a little Camus of his own (Shiro and Siegbert don’t count.).

5/10 - Suffers from a short amount of screentime and loyalty to a mere arc villain, and not even an interesting one at that. Saved only by brother kink.

Ares - Camus fils

The aforementioned little Camus. Wishes he was as cool as his dad, but at least he’s recruitable. Has no sister to get all hot and bothered, but he’s got a first cousin for that as well as an orphaned prostitute dancer. 

7/10 - Actually gets to be a king in the end, but Naga help Agustria if he doesn’t have competent people supporting him. Also...cousin kink, maybe?

Reinhardt - magic Camus

So threatening as a boss that the only safe strategy for his map is apparently warpskipping. Does not want to bone his sister even though this is Jugdral, and he gets cockblocked by the setting equivalent of the Antichrist possessing the body of a teenage boy. Harsh.

4/10 - Too waifish for the role. Is much better in Heroes, or so I’ve heard.

Perceval - gay Camus

The smartest man on this list since he sees the wisdom in joining up with the fifteen-year old ginger with the inexplicably gigantic harem on the word of his boyfriend - or a prostitute dancer who happens to know his boyfriend, close enough. Is what Elffin will be coming home to after he’d done traveling the world doing Bard Things.

10/10 - FE6 needs a remake just for him. Who wouldn’t want to come home to such a devoted retainer?

Galle - flying Camus

Has the honorable but doomed soldier and tragic unattainable love interest parts of the role down pat, but kind of an outlier otherwise. He’s more like Arion redux, who’s not on this list because I kind of forgot about him. Oops.

3/10 - He and Arion have the option to not die, I guess? Kind of takes the wind out of the whole loyalty thing. A real Camus puts his loyalty to his nation above the needs of his dick, guys.

Murdock - roadblock Camus

See, now here’s an FE6 anti-villain Camus done right. Not very interesting, mind you, but he gets the point. To think that the entire game wouldn’t have happened if he’d just been a better babysitter.

4/10 - Too bulky, too purple, and too dead. More than two decades of service to wind up as the least engaging Camus is a game piled full of them. That’s his real tragedy.

Linus - ‘roid rage Camus

Allergic to shirts and seriously needs to calm down. He might look like perfect one-night stand material, but that’s not the Camus way.

6/10 - Misses the mark, but I wouldn’t kick him out of bed. Is very...attached to his brother. Best enjoyed as a pair.

Lloyd - goatee Camus

The least Asian swordmaster boss ever. Embraces tranquility in the face of death befitting of the archetype much better than his brother.

6/10 - Equally as hot in his own way, even if it’s still non-standard. His Heroes artwork is a new degree of heinous, though.

Bryce - old Camus

The Rider of Daein no one cares about, least of all Ashnard. At least he’s packing a legendary lance, the confusingly-named Wishblade. 

3/10 - Is not too likely to die since his boss has a much bigger movement range, but is also not too likely to have any kind of resolution. Might have been better in his prime.

Levail - uke Camus

His loyalty to a man who’s never going to give him the D is beyond reproach, mostly because that man is also a Camus dealing with his own cocktease situation. That’s just how Sephiran likes to keep his underlings in line.

4/10 - Very definitely a bottom. Presumably commits suicide if you kill Zelgius before him since he knows he’ll never get laid now.

Zelgius - dramatic Camus

Is Ike’s foil down to his having to choose between a bishonen caster and his faithful lieutenant, but Zelgius chose poorly in the end. Props for pulling off the Black Knight schtick with far more gravity than any Camus before or since. It’s hard to beat a concealed identity and a dramatic reveal. Or cold-blooded murder.

7/10 - Gets a sexy shirtless scene and numerous guys who want his cock (including Valtome, to everyone’s displeasure), but he remains true to his archetype in the end by standing by the one man who’ll definitely get him killed.

Yen’fay - Asian Camus

Asian racial stereotyping in a Japanese-made game...so confusing. He fights you in an active volcano, which is pretty badass. Also, his Spotpass recruitment doesn’t cancel out his death thanks to alternate universe shenanigans. Imagine that.

2/10 - Has non-sexy sister angst and...not all that much else, really. Since he’s a stereotype he presumably has a tiny dick.

Xander - woobie Camus

A sensitive soul carrying around a lot of familial trauma who longs for a loving father and a fabulous pink ensemble. Not psychologically cut out to be a Camus and he knows it, but funny what accidentally murdering your own sister will do for your motivation. Likes to spout contradictory ideas about the nature of justice to disguise his own fatalism...or because the writers were sloppy.

8/10 - Has way too many issues to be all that stable, but he’s undeniably hot and plays his part to a tee. Would ride his giant carrot any day.

Ryoma - shonen Camus

Blew off Camus class because it was too Eurocentric for him, so all he knows is how to be arrogant and dickish and then commit ritual suicide at exactly the right time to make you cry over how good and honorable he was. Would have been significantly more palatable if the story ever acknowledged that he’s kind of an asshole.

5/10 - Actually is the head of state during his tenure as a Camus, but he’s clearly been cast in the wrong role. In the endgame boss gauntlet ranks below the Obviously Evil minor villain duo...fail.

Berkut - psychotic Camus

First fully-voiced Camus, and he’s doing a lot better there than Zeke. Goes off the deep end in a terrible way, killing both his fiancée and his gay hanger-on in the process. Still has undeniable style and gravitas for a remake addition.

7/10 - The explicit afterlife redemption leaves a bit of a sour note, but it’s easy to see why Fernand wants him so badly. Let’s hope that his obvious inadequacy issues aren’t stemming from anything below the belt.

[gradiivus]

✉ ✔ ☯

Munday Questions

✉ : On average, how long does it take you to write a reply that you’re pleased with?

Anywhere from 30 minutes to two hours. Although I’ve written replies in 15 minutes that I’ve been pretty happy with. At the same time, I’ve spent 2+ hours on posts that I’ve hated, too.

✔ : What drew you to the character you currently play? What types of characters are you generally drawn to?

I think I’ve mentioned it before, but Camus as a muse sort of came from a convoluted chain of muses. I tried to come back to canon RP (after 8-ish years) after the release of Fates by musing Xander, got some practice but ultimately chickened out of canon RP (not enough freedom, I thought), built up a new original character based on traits I liked from Xander + some new ones, spent some months developing him, got back into canon RP again, and then built a Camus muse off that original character.

With that said, you’d think the type of character I’d be drawn to would be honor-bound, serious knights/princes, but the characters I muse are so varied and so random that I really can’t peg who my next muse will be. I tend to be drawn to characters who have something in their eyes that I recognize, or have a backstory that I can play with. But other than that... who knows. I do seem to be very fond of Fire Emblem antagonists though.

Julius was a little bit of an anomaly though. I’ve always been intrigued by him as a character (more in the “what an awful human being” way), but the muse really started building when I replayed FE4 last September. I just really wanted to craft an asshole who could also be human, someone who recognizes and is trapped by their own vices, but with all the power in the world, doesn’t have the power to break free of them.

☯ : Greatest challenge to writing your character?

For Camus, now, it’s keeping him appropriately taciturn and respectful. He’s not a man who questions others, and in most cases, it would be rude for him to do so, so it’s been somewhat of a challenge keeping threads interesting when the muse doesn’t contribute much to the conversation.

For Julius, it’s definitely walking the fine line between brattiness and actual childishness. He’s a smart boy, with a good upbringing, but his behavior is a combination of pride, arrogance, inferiority/superiority complex, and self-defense, and not that he’s simply a child.