#AND GARON INCLUDED IN THIS BUNCH

[lululeighsworld]

default kiran into older men with facial hair.............

[dirtyoldmanhole]

reconnecting with a buuunch of the 2015 era tumblr FE folks while slowly digging up every inch of gunter/nohr meta I possibly can for a few upcoming fics

and holy shit i am on my hands and knees thanking the fates treehouse didn't "de problematicize" gunter and specifically the femui S-support to basically the degree that everything else in fates was. there's been a number of mentions how fates' seedy side was allowed to be subtext in the EN script but anything explicit was yanked out.

cuz i could totally see them stripping out all of the explicit "you're like a father to me" femui references (and there's multiple ones both in the JP/EN script, i am deffo hoarding every inch of the JP script with my life) - and replacing it with the much tamer "instructor, mentor, etc"

the (psuedo)-incest with the ship IS the appeal! given how ruthless and f-'d up cutthroat-like court life was in nohr, it makes perfect sense you'd get a bunch of these characters imprinting on each other in deeply skewed ways, especially with the monster that garon was, and that was if he was ever present. gunter stepping in as that parental figure (being of garon's generation) cements how emotionally desperate all of them were, him included.

(which makes his confession that much more tasty ime)

[kdnss77]

Oldboy/Oldeuboi (2003)

basic info: directed and co-written by Park Chan-Wook ("Sympathy for mr. Vengeance", "I'm a cyborg, but that's OK", "Thirst"). the story itself is loosely based on a manga by Garon Tsuchiya and Nobuaki Minegishi, having inherited the original title too. it's considered a component of a three-piece trilogy, also referred to as "The vengeance trilogy", and therefore tackles the themes of desperate pursuits after retribution for the foregone detriments, along with several unexpected, although equally coherent plot twists.

overall ratings: imdb: 8,3/10 rotten tomatoes: 82% letterboxd: 4.4/5

plot summary: the production features a miserable figure of a middle-aged man, Dae-su Oh, who is continuously drowning his sorrows in alcohol and for which reason remains an upsetting burden to those around him, including his closest relatives. on one memorable night he is kidnapped by an unknown individual and subsequently imprisoned in a sweepingly obscure, hotel-suite-like room, in which he is certainly not expecting to spend a period of 15 years. in the meantime of becoming gradually absorbed by the enforced seclusion, apart from unsuccessful attempts on ending his life or rescuing himself out of captivity, he begins to lose himself in slight frenzy, due to unawareness of his fault at this tragic adversity. however, after being finally released, he only becomes involved in a further series of conscientiously planned events, which eventually lead him to uncovering the truth about his tormentor (and, incidentally, about himself, too). 

my thoughts: it would be suitable to start with the graphic and scenographic values of the movie. what has caught my eye to the greatest extent in this case was the arrangement of several frames throughout it. the appropriateness of the smallest details, such as the sort of tapestry covering the walls at this or that particular moment, the way its color palette managed to fit with the overall feelings accompanying the scene or even how thoughtfully were the characters guided within it, so that all of it would make perfect sense (and while typing this, i am having in mind the scene, in which Mi-do is sitting on the bed of her father's former prison of over a decade, having been decorated with those flappy angel wings). take the famous and nowadays rather widely recognizable corridor fighting scene: taking into account it has been filmed wholly just in one take, its quite astonishing and equally (and literally) breathtaking to observe it all in approximately one glance too. what i especially like about it, was that it was long - event though the circumstances of Oh Dae-su tackling a larger bunch of guys seems pretty unrealistic or cliche in a long run, acklnowledging details such as his training or the corricor's poor width, it suddenly grows into a believeable depiction of the protagonist's determination and general hatred. again, the separate elements, having been put together, result in an idealistic impression made on a potential viewer. excluding the philosophical surface of the film or its tone in general, i find it the most absorbing compound of its brilliance. it's extremely captivating to experience such definite harmony on screen. 

another matter worth mentioning is the aforesaid kind of universality the plot itself holds. apart from being exceptionally unexpected at times (that is, only towards the end of the movie the mystery behind the imprisonment of Dea-su entirely unfolds, disclosing that it was a well crafted retaliation for ruining Lee Woo-jin's adolescent and incestutous relationship he shared with his sister back in the school days, due to spreading a gossip about her being pregnant and subsequently, prompting her to commit suicide), it represents a great "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth" philosophy, just like any other contribution of "The Vengeance Trilogy". nothing manages to pass unnoticed or unpunished, the magnificent example of this mindset being the vicious intrigue of the mastermind behind Dae-su's sorrow. having been deprived of his pathological infatuation, Woo-jin decides to have the culprit covered with a reprisal not only akin in its character, but also utterly depressing in its outcome. with the help of specific hypnosis, he, so to say, programmes both Dae-su and his daughter (about paternity to which the father was unaware of, having been held in captivity especially for this reason and his child allegedly adopted by a family abroad) to tie a romantic bond between each other in order to cause them the same mixture of disgust and loss he experienced himself once. his mischievous pursuit for vengeance had been satisfied, nevertheless the pain after the passing of his beloved has invincibly remained. the same issue applies to Dae-su, him having achieved his reprisal of retaliating against his long-term captor, although at the same time becoming familiarized with the disturbing notion behind his suffering. doesn't it make both protagonists paradoxically humane in their doings, albeit their fates come down to a tragic-like ending? 

that allows me to move onto the last aspect, which i would like to include in this composition. that is, the portrayal of penance - in case of this movie, it being equally prevalent, yet terse in its convention. is it possible to unambiguously determine, whether any of the main characters could be found guilty or innocent in face of their past? to me personally, it is more of a complex issue and this ambivalence in particular has caused me to doubt the righteousness of their actions in general. what if Dae-su truly deserved what had been brought upon him? and might it be that Woo-jin and his sibling were just meant to be together and their affection should have been hushed up? and what if we thought of it the other way round? regardless of the perspective, the revenge they both seek in their own twisted ways leads only to an incomparably larger amount of pain. one of the actual quotes from the movie depicts this concept quite well - "Revenge is good for your health, but pain will find you again." that said, how could an individual be hindered from such a convenient opportunity of unleashing one's inner frustration and desperation and therefore letting it convert into severe abhorrence? where is this thin line between being a factual redemption-seeker and a monster in all its glory?

that is more or less how the ending of the film could be grasped, where Dae-Su had supposedly gotten rid of his second, "monster-self" with the usage of hypnosis, and who incidentally holds the truth about his wrongdoings towards his daughter. to me alone, even though the noticeable traces on the snow could point to him having been freed from his indecent secret, the facial expression he evinces towards the very end of the motion picture, hugging Mi-do, is rather unsettling. "I love you... Oh-Daesu", words mouthed just then by his daughter seem to cause him to realise, that he is now forever convicted to this burden of brutal awareness and that the price he was made to pay not only for a trifle back in his youth, but also replenishing his personal retaliation, was in fact tremendous.

my rating (on a scale from 1 to 5): 4.5/5

favourite quote: "Even though I'm no more than a monster - don't I, too, have the right to live?"

the images were found by me on the internet, credits to their original uploaders.

[emblemxeno]

Edelgard’s Weird Family History

It’s honestly exasperating talking about Edelgard’s Brady Bunch family but like... let me explain in detail why it irritates me with a comparison to a similar situation in FE Fates. Here’s a small thesis on Garon’s concubines in Fates.

Fates Concubines

“Garon had lots of concubines who were vying for power and his favor. There were many children sired by Garon who lost their lives in various ways, the most notable of which being involved in concubine feuds and murdering one another. Along with this, Xander’s mother Queen Katerina was well loved and respected. Because of this, the second queen, Arete, and her daughter Azura were treated badly by the other concubines and Nohrian aristocracy. All of this was relatively unknown among the Nohrian common folk. The Nohrian siblings’ dynamic and way of life was shaped by these experiences.”

Supporting the Thesis

How do we know the concubines existed? They are confirmed by all of the Nohr siblings. 

How do we know they were vying for power? Many of the Nohrian siblings’ supports confirm this, among which are Camilla/Niles and Leo/Elise. 

How do we know there were once more siblings and that they lost their lives in various ways? The JP version of Leo/Elise confirms the concubines had their children kill each other, while the Fates drama CDs confirm that other siblings were lost by execution, falling in battle or getting captured by Hoshido. 

How do we know that Arete and Azura were mistreated? Azura and the Nohr siblings confirm this, and Azura’s entire personality is a result of people treating her badly during her childhood. 

How is this unknown among the common folk? Both Niles (Niles/Camilla) and Laslow (Drama CDs) reveal they never knew that such a thing occurred and react with shock when they learn. Not only that, but the common people and the Nohrian nobility are basically cut off from each other, the former living in an underground city/shutting themselves away and just trying to survive, while the latter lives above ground. 

How do we know that these experiences shaped the dynamic of the Nohrian siblings? Many supports and story moments show this. Xander’s denial and inability to question things in fear of risking his family is because of his relationship with Garon and his regret of losing his other siblings. Camilla’s desire for love resulting in her unconditionally giving love to Corrin and her retainers is a result of her mom only loving her as a tool. Leo’s need for affection and validation from the family he has left (specifically from Camilla) is a result of being aware from a young age that he wasn’t loved by his mother. Elise’s pure and innocent outlook contrasts this because her mom was the least involved in the concubine feuds.

There are multiple sources and dialogue in Fates that you can use to support the initial analysis. Let’s try to do the same with Edelgard’s family.

Edelgard’s Family History

“Ionius had many consorts but had married for political reasons. He sired eleven children, his 9th child being Edelgard. Edelgard’s mother was Anselma, who Ionius had met at the officer’s academy on a romantic evening at the Goddess Tower. They fell in love, but Anselma was content with remaining a consort. Then Ionius tried to consolidate power to throne by taking power away from the Seven Noble Houses and consort kin such as Arundel. In the ensuing power struggle, House Hrym was destroyed, leading the other houses as well as Arundel to start an insurrection. During this time, Arundel took Anselma and Edelgard to Faerghus to escape political strife. Edelgard then returns to the Empire and is then experimented on by order of Those Who Slither in the Dark and the Nobles of Adrestia. All of Edelgard’s siblings were crippled by disease, went insane or died. Ionius could do nothing but watch in horror as all of this happened. As a result, Edelgard bore a second Crest and swore to create a world where such meaningless sacrifice is never again sanctioned, for the sake of her family.”

Supporting the Thesis.

Who exactly did Ionius marry for political reasons? Beats me. Why would he have to marry for political reasons as the emperor? Was Ionius unpopular and needed to do something to fix that? I don’t know. Nothing ever clarifies that.

Why does Edelgard say that her father and mother met at the officer’s academy, when it’s noted that Edelgard is the first Hresvelg in ages to attend? Is the word ages being exaggerated here? I don’t know.

Why is Ionius taking power away from consort kin including Arundel when it would no doubt negatively affect the one that he loves, Anselma? I don’t know. Maybe love wasn’t as big of a deal for him as political power was?

Why is only Edelgard noted to be taken away from the Empire’s political problems, and nothing is said of her siblings during this time, even by her? Who knows. Where does Ionius’ wife, the empress, go during all this? Who knows.

Why are the Adrestian nobles ordering experiments to make a stronger emperor when they just took away power from the throne? The best answer that I could give is that they want a powerful emperor they can control, but nothing really supports that part of the theory because Edelgard and the nobles mutually hate each other. Couldn’t the nobles just do what they want to do if the emperor was made that politically impotent? Probably! Then if what Edelgard said was true, why didn’t they do it already? I don’t know!

Why does no one but Edelgard and Hubert acknowledge the existence of the other imperial royal kids? Wouldn’t her noble classmates like Ferdinand at least be aware of them, especially if there were that many siblings older than Edelgard? No fucking clue.

If Edelgard swore she would change the world where such things wouldn’t happen again, why is she working with the perpetrators? Because she needs their power to topple the church. But why would she need to topple the church when the church preaches against abusing power blessed by the goddess i.e. Crests and tries its best to treat everyone equally? No fucking idea. 

Conclusion

See what I mean? Edelgard’s family history is so damn sloppy. Some important aspects go unexplained and other important aspects are contradicted. In contrast, with the Nohrian royal family’s internal politics and power feuds, where everything noted to be important is supported by the text with no major contradictions in sight.

But the worst part is, that even if you go with my approach and say “Edelgard is a known fucking liar and information that solely comes from her mouth shouldn’t be taken at face value” well... then you’re left with ‘well if Edelgard did lie then what’s the real truth’ and you don’t get answers because the game doesn’t care despite those things being integral to the main cast of two routes. 

Plus you have to suspend your disbelief that Edelgard is such a genius that she’s able to construct an entire false history regarding Adrestia’s hit sitcom “How I Met Your Consort Mother”. And Edelgard has her moments yes, but I don’t think she’s really that smart. Or maybe she is and I just can’t wrap my head around it.

So, yeah. Pick your poison. Suspend disbelief that Edelgard is such a fucking genius and/or liar or resign to the fact that the game’s writing can be really sloppy. Or pick both.

Or pick none, and believe that Edelgard is actually telling the truth about everything in regards to her family and what happened to them, with explanations that would make even a hardcore Watsonian like me dizzy with confusion.

[fatesdeepdive]

Entry 99: Character Arcn’t

Revelation Chapter 10: Voice of a God

Corrin’s team heads to Izumo and meets Izana, who is his normal weirdo self. Which means he’s actually Zola, judging by the past two routes. They ask about the Seal of Flames, which he doesn’t know anything about, which means he’s actually Zola. Shocking. Zola uses ice magic to create a bunch of snow that Corrin can shovel for allowance money.

Yeah not gonna lie this chapter sucks. It’s filled with snow you have to break to reveal enemies. It’s slow, it’s tedious, and it’s only a challenge if you care about your time and try to rush through. After the battle, Corrin just stands there and lets Zola take Sakura hostage. Then Leo shows up out of nowhere and kills him, because fuck Zola having an arc during any Route but Birthright.

Corrin tells Leo that Garon is being manipulated, but Corrin can’t say anything about the manipulator because this game’s plot is dumb and contrived. Leo gets mad and leaves. The gang unties Zola’s hostages, including Takumi and the real Izana. Takumi doesn’t want to join, so Izana tells him that him joining is prophesied. Takumi says he doesn’t trust Corrin, so Izana does some special prophesying about how there’s a real enemy below the water’s surface. Izana calls upon the gods to learn about the Seal of Flames and tells Corrin to go meet a dragon.

Then he fucking dies. Screw this being the everyone lives route, I guess. I genuinely don’t understand what Izana dying adds to the story, besides the most bland generic attempts at drama. Izana’s death convinces Takumi to trust Corrin, somehow, causing him to join the team. Add him to the list of characters without arcs. Also we got Oboro and Hinata, who get five and three lines respectively in this entire Route. Plus one each in the finale if they reuse the everyone says a line bit.

So, uh, you know how Izana died? Well, the thing is, when you complete a playthrough of Fates, the game lets you save five units as Einherjar that can be bought in later playthroughs. So anyway I bought an Izana. It’s weird that a clone of Izana from an alternate timeline is walking around, but hey who cares about gameplay and story integration?

Support: Felicia/Laslow

C: Felicia asks Laslow to help her talk to strangers.

B: Laslow tells Felicia to flirt with random men. Felicia runs away.

A: Laslow and Felicia have tea together. Felicia spills the tea.

S: Felicia nervously asks Laslow out.

Review: Not bad. Laslow's suave bullshit and Felicia's nerves make them a fun pair.

Support: Mozu/Nyx

C: Mozu sees Nyx reading heavy books and is impressed. She asks Nyx to let her read her books.

B: Mozu tries to read a history book and falls asleep. Nyx gives her a cookbook.

A: Mozu loves the cookbook and is inspired to try tougher material.

Review: Kinda shallow.

Support: Azura/Xander

C: Xander invites Azura to a war strategy meeting, because her familiarity with both kingdoms makes her a good mediator. Azura is worried about going, because she fears the Nohrian nobles will act mean to her.

B: The meeting goes well and Azura says profound things that will change the course of the war. The game does not say what these things are. Azura also pigs out at the meeting, which is a character trait that definitely showed up before. Xander invites Azura to another meeting, this one discussing Garon.

A: Azura realizes Xander's inviting her to these meetings to keep her from dwelling on her sad past. Xander says he's doing it because he trusts her wisdom and wants what's best for both kingdoms. Azura doesn't believe him and sings a song of gratitude to thank him for looking out for her.

S: Xander asks Azura to return to Nohr with him, as his wife. Azura asks about King Garon and Xander ignores this concern. The duo decide to make new memories, happy ones.

Review: This game uses the same Supports for all three routes (with one exception), and sometimes it's weird. Like, this one can't decide if it takes place in the Revelation timeline or the Conquest one. Setting that aside, this one is mediocre. Azura acting as a mediator is a good idea, but it happens off screen. Xander looking out for Azura is good, but I would have liked some acknowledgment of Arete and their past together. 

Support: Kaze/Peri

C: Peri makes candy and shares it with Kaze. It is surprisingly good.

B: Peri makes pastries.

A: Kaze asks if Peri preferes killing or baking. She prefers killing. Kaze says cooking is more difficult and more rewarding than killing. Peri says both are easy, but decides to cook more.

S: Peri bakes a cake because she loves Kaze. The feeling is mutual.

Review: Not a good Support, but at least Peri didn't kill anyone.

[iturbide]

distractions huh? SO [chinhands] tell me your most and least favorite aspects of the fe16 lords and fe13 main character (which i’m saying Lissa counts for this because she deserves it)

Lissa is absolutely a main character and to imply otherwise is a travesty

but oh we're gonna go deep huh

okay so starting with the 3H Lords (I'm sticking to the House Leaders because I can't really count Byleth as a Lord)

Most Favorite

Claude: I mean. I love everything about Claude, you know? If I had to pick one favorite thing, though, it's how kind he is. He had a rough past of his own, and he could very easily have decided to take that out on others -- but instead, he sets his sights on changing the world so that no one else will ever have to suffer the way he did. He might be secretive and keep his cards close to the vest, but strip away the mystery and he's an incredibly good person.

Dimitri: The fact that his mental health is taken seriously. Dimitri has some pretty extreme trauma in his past, and it's implied that even after he's able to face some of that, his mental health struggles will continue for the rest of his life. And that's amazing, given how mental health problems are usually just hand-waved away in media as "cured" by something when that's not how it works in reality. It's just really nice to see.

Edelgard: I actually really like how driven she is. She is a woman who has the will to change the world and she refuses to stop until she does that, even if it means getting her hands dirty in the process. That is a gripping trait and one that can be fascinating in a well-nuanced character but IntSys dropped the ball on that.

Least Favorite

Claude: I have to scrape the bottom of the barrel to find anything I don't like about Claude at all. I do roll my eyes at IntSys' implied history for him in some magazine or something: having lots of half-siblings and getting pushed around by the family, which doesn't exactly reflect well on his dad in my view, similar to the whole Concubine Wars thing that Garon could have addressed but didn't which led to lots of child murder. But thankfully that's not canon as far as I'm concerned so I can safely complain about it and then re-write it to be better.

Dimitri: The effective 180 turn in Dimitri's mindset after Rodrigue's death. I love the actual arc of Dimitri's story, the generally positive approach to mental health issues and managing them, but having his sudden improvement be linked to Rodrigue's death...if not counter-intuitive, then questionable, given how well he knew the man and how deeply traumatized he's been by similar deaths in his presence (including Rodrigue's elder son).

Edelgard: The gross obsession with Byleth that IntSys wrote into Crimson Flower. I hate that so much. It makes sense to me that the war gets deadlocked in other routes (the Alliance is laying low while the Kingdom and Empire go at it in Verdant Wind, the Empire is struggling against terrain and weather conditions while trying to root out Kingdom holdouts in Azure Moon), but the heavy implication in Crimson Flower is that Edelgard's effort stagnated because she was so focused on finding Byleth rather than actually doing anything. That's an absolute travesty to me, given how interesting her character could be.

And as for my Awakening mains (Lucina's technically the tritagonist right? so she's in here too):

Most Favorite

Chrom: I love how open he is to people. This man has made so many ill-advised recruitment decisions including: A) an amnesiac Plegian, B) a thief that infiltrated Ylisstol Castle as part of an assassination mission, C) an enemy Plegian mage who didn't throw a fireball at him, and D) a second Plegian mage that just showed up out of nowhere with a bunch of birds. He doesn't cast aspersions, he doesn't judge based on past or occupation or heritage, he's just "welcome aboard, please don't stab me in the back." Also his unshakeable faith in Robin even after Validar forces them to steal the Fire Emblem from him gets me every damn time.

Robin: I love that Robin and Grima are linked. I love this so much, because while there are tons of different interpretations for what that link is, one hard fact is that Robin is an incredibly kind person who cares deeply about people and wants to keep them safe. No matter how evil Grima might be, the irrefutable fact is that Robin -- who is directly linked to the fell dragon -- is a kind and caring person, meaning Grima's direct presence is not corrupting or a sign that someone is evil.

Lissa: I love the dichotomy between her bright, cheerful personality and her deep-seated insecurities about her absent Brand. She's so energetic and so fun, a bit of a prankster and insistent that she's not delicate and therefore doesn't need to be coddled -- but deep down, she's clearly worried about her place in the family because she doesn't have the Brand her brother and sister do. The fact that Owain's Brand surfacing led her to cry for an hour speaks volumes about how that issue affects her, and I just love how both of these things exist in the same character.

Lucina: I love how strong she is. This is a young woman who has lost most of her family, whose world has fallen to ruin, and who now struggles to survive -- and rather than give into despair in the face of all these horrors and losses, she instead leads those able to fight against an undead threat and protect those who cannot defend themselves from that same danger. I have no doubt that she relies heavily on her closest allies (much as her father did before her), but she has shouldered this role without flinching, and it speaks volumes about her personal strength.

Least Favorite

Chrom: I've mentioned this before, but I'm really disappointed that we don't get full follow-through on his character when it comes to absorbing Emmeryn's lessons. We got to see him reach out and try to talk Walhart down! That was a great moment, even though it failed! But we never get to see him do the same with Grima -- and I have a feeling Emmeryn would still have tried to speak with the fell dragon, just as she tried to speak with Gangrel at the Border Pass early in the game. It just feels like they dropped the ball at the end, and that's a shame to me.

Robin: This is petty and minor and technically a wider issue than just Robin, but I kind of hate that Robin in canon is so pale-skinned. Robin is Plegian, they were born in a desert nation, their father is very dark-skinned, and then here's Robin, pale as a ghost. This affects Henry and Tharja, too (Gangrel could use further work, too, though I tend to think he's actually part Feroxi), and carries with it some really uncomfortable implications given that our evil Plegians are dark-skinned (Gangrel's a weird case again, given that he's kind of grey-looking for some reason???), but all our recruitable ones are pale. Seriously, IntSys, what the fuck.

Lissa: This is a personal thing but I'm disappointed in her Supports with Robin. Like, sure, the whole pranking thing is entertaining, but especially given the fact that they can have an S support, that's really shaky ground. I wish they could have had something more poignant, something with more meaning -- my first preference is, as always, a discussion of Brands, even if Robin's didn't come up -- rather than it just being a prank war ending in a stalemate. That doesn't even feel like a recipe for friendship.

Lucina: I really wish we'd seen her grow more. I know we only get her halfway through the game, but that's more than enough time for her to see how Chrom and Robin act and interact, how they trust each other, and how much they mean to each other, regardless of marital status. The only way that Lucina will falter in her judgment is if Robin is her other parent or if she's married to Robin, which makes it feel like she's missed a lot of her father's best lessons. I really wish she'd faltered even in the normal version, been unable to bring herself to take a life even believing that it was the way to save her father.

[macuilsung]

Headcanon: A Bard and His Craft ♪

Be it through nighttime lullabies from his mother before she absconded, expectations in early education thrust upon aristocratic youth such as himself, or opera house performances he had witnessed from the likes of Manuela Casagranda and later Dorothea Arnault in Enbarr, music had been many things to Wyndell von Gerth. It was a constant, a source of comfort, an outlet, and arguably his first love.

As the son of His Grace The Duke of Gerth, with Foreign Affairs Minister Roland von Gerth and Prime Minister Ludwig von Aegir sharing the same high status in social hierarchy just shy of the Imperial Hresvelg family, Wyndell’s education was almost without peer, as he was to be trained in several disciplines with the goal of one day succeeding his father – and that is without taking his future enrolment into the Officers Academy at Garreg Mach Monastery into account. Though these were not as high priority given he was to become a ruling Duke, being trained in court manners was nonetheless paramount, including knowing how to dance and perform musically. Learning how to sing and play an instrument (piano and lute, in his case) were the only parts of his at-home education he found any real enjoyment in, even going so far as to writing down arrangements of songs he only heard, but there was always a set pattern in place. Even in music, he was forced to follow certain expectations at home.

When he fled House Gerth and took on a new name to cover his tracks, Forwin joined a moving playing company as an extra hired man. It was through this group of actors and performers that he began to find his calling as a bard, all while his once rigid and structured style of play loosened up with constant exposure to folk music in their travels. Between his formal musical upbringing, watching performances at the opera, hanging around a bunch of commoners for a few years with their own eclectic tastes in song, and even the monastery choir when he joined the Academy under false pretences, there was no shortage of influences being incorporated into his own style as a lutist.

Come war being declared at Garreg Mach and his waking up worlds away in the kingdom of Nohr, a ragged Forwin was picked up from playing on the streets of Windmire for coin, and cleaned up to work as the royal family’s appointed court musician. Granted, this was a cover for King Garon’s intentions for him, all in the name of giving himself an edge over his own war with the neighbouring land of Hoshido; it is the same with his own children inheriting dragon power, his kidnapping of Corrin for their own unique abilities, his hiring of certain retainers of dubious origins, and now his hiring of a certain court musician for the boons of his Crest. Unknowing of Garon’s real motive at the time, Forwin was nonetheless put to work in constantly exercising his craft like he never had to before, which did help him grow as a performer and writer. It’s a weird thing to feel thankful for towards a villain at the end of the day...

Finally, after the defeat of the real enemy behind the Hoshido and Nohr conflict, Forwin would spend a few years in the coastal country of Nestra, found on the other side of Nohr’s southern border. It is here in the musical port city of Cyrkensia—an international resort known for its singers and dancers, as well as its very own opera house—where he would further hone his craft as a musician, going so far as to picking up a violin for a second instrument. As an aside, even his weapon of choice becomes musically-themed, being an enhanced version of the Violin Bow.

But, as time marches on closer towards the promised reunion at the monastery, someone might find himself starting to feel homesick. Perhaps he would wonder how old friends are faring, and what became of his homeland since the Adrestian Empire went to war against the Church of Seiros? Whatever the case, little by little, he would cave in to his growing heartache, and soon end up packing up and taking whatever he can carry.

Forwin would then venture north to try his luck with the Dragon’s Gate he first walked out from over four years ago, and so begins the wandering bard’s long journey home.

All that said? You better watch out and prepare yourself, Fódlan, for the new and improved Forwin Tyrell is not the wallflower he used to be!

And neither is he some kind of body double from those who slither in the dark like Tomas and Monica were. Yes, he’s alive and well, and he swears to Sothis on high that this isn’t another Solon and Kronya situation...

...so pLEASE PUT THOSE POINTY SWORDS DOWN WAIT STOP DON’T THAT’S HOW PEOPLE GET STABBED NO NO NO NO NO-!!!!!!!

[pangtasias-atelier]

Random questions but who's a character that you liked design wise but once their personality or their stats/usability in-game were revealed, you just hated them? Also, who's a character you hated design wise but ended up loving their personality or stats/ usability? (Characters can be from any game, not just FE)

THIS POST DOES INCLUDE CHARACTER HATE (AND LOTS OF IT LMAO)

Ooh, I love questions like these!!! This also turned out pretty long lmao

Characters I liked design wise but personality made me hate them:

Xander. (Fates) I can't stand him outside of a kink context. When the very first Fates trailer was shown (before we even knew it was the shitshow of different routes) he looked cute. But he's just so frustrating. I get that he's supposed to be the Camus archetype but he just falls so flat and doesn't work well. And that's cause there's absolutely no world building or any development at all to help give reasoning! It's just "I'm crown prince, and that's my father you're trying to kill," which like okay that's a fair reason. But the game doesn't do much more to justify it and Garon is so stupidly obviously evil that like, it makes Xander look so stupid. Plus the games keep trying to make him this badass warrior but Fates LOVES to tell not show so it's just informed attributes. Even in Conquest, he's not much better than he is in Birthright imo. If anything, Xander is worse in Conquest cause Conquest has the worst writing in the series by far. At the very least, he along with Camilla help make Lunatic conquest bearable. (Still haven't beaten it lol, but CQ Lunatic is just so unfair, and BS. Plus the last 2 chapters being back to back with no saves is the worst idea ever)

Sylvain. (Three Houses) His design was alright and I even manages to accidentally recruit him on my first playthrough while going for Ashe and Mercedes. But GOD his personality is just bleh. Womanizer types aren't inherently bad but the crests system being pushed as this unique thing makes Sylvain much more annoying since crest's aren't even unique or well done. Like, sure, people want him for his crest, but that's literally nobility in fucking general and also, Mercedes is right there with it being worse and she's so fucking sweet! Also, FE characters are lot deep, let's face it. Their interesting moments basically come from snippets of info about their past and intys makes it sad cause they know that catches people's attention. But most FE characters are pretty static. And that's fine! I love Grima and Corrin and they're pretty fucking godamn bland! But I'm not gonna act like they're these riveting 3 dimensional characters. Which people love to do for Sylvain and it just makes me hate him even more.

Felix. (Three Houses) I really enjoyed the Navarre archetypes. But Felix exaggerates it so much. And yeah, his scathing remarks and refusal to be anyway (I can't think of the word, FUCK) like willing to talk or come to an agreement is so just awful. Like, it makes sense since he's more like that with people he knows, but he's just such a fucking jackass. And the fandom praises it when he's really just a dick imo. Glad Seteth calls him out on it lmao. Also, sylvix is such a fucking straight ship, I cannot with it.

Characters I liked design wise but play style made me dislike them:

Regal Bryant. (Tales of Symphonia) Now, he's not a bad character or anyone I really hate at all! He's just so awful to actually play as in ToS. His attacks feel like they struggle to connect oftentimes and he has a much higher skill floor than other characters such as Lloyd, Kratos/Zelos, Sheena, and Presea. Genis and Raine should just never be used in the players hands cause magic casting times and the AI targeting the player lmao. Colette isn't too bad but like, honestly, just spam her paraball. Regal also gets shafted storywise but they at least fix it in the sequel. Also, he's a SPLENDID character. Regal being this buff man, yet he's just so calm and reserved while also having a playstyle usually reserved for women makes me love him even more. I just hate playing as him lol.

Assasin of Shinjuku/Yan Qing. (Fate/Grand Order) His part in Shinjuku was great, except for that wierd ending upon him fading away and all of sudden remembering, like it felt it was gonna make fun about the whole last limited rushed sympathy yet they play it so straight lmao. He's incredibly hot and he was so great in the Halloween Event. (The Mecha Eli and Osakabehime one. I forget the name) Yan Qing just literally offers no real meaningful team support and he also doesn't have any actual buffs to help boost his own damage. He has a use, it's just so pointless diverting crit stars when you can use a better servant with star generation to just make a bunch consistently. So, Yan Qing hits like a noodle and also dies to vasically any NP since he has no defensive skills. Even with his upgrade coming next year? he still just is so bad. I love him and he's lvl 90 but he's awful gameplay wise.

Byakuren Hijiri. (Touhou) I love Byakuren so much but she's just so unwieldy in the fighting games. I still tried to use her, but like, o was just so much better with Miko that I basically stayed Miko the entire time. Miko/Byakuren's story in Antinomy of Common Flowers.

Marisa Kirisame (Touhou) Marisa always gets the straightforward shot that does great damage. The problem with that is, she really really really REALLY struggles with stages and even some boss attacks. Plus Reimu has homing while unfocused and straightforward shot while focused PLUS smaller hitbox so Marisa is always at a disadvantage. Marisa being being the best shottype (to some, I prefer Youmu but Reimu is infact the worst shottype imo) in Wily Beast and Weakest Creature doesn't make up for Marisa being worse than Reimu in all other games besides maybe Embodiment of Scarlet Devil.

In general there's not many characters that I hate due to design so these were harder

Character I hated design wise but loved due to gameplay.

Zhuge Liang (Fate/Grand Order) Granted, I basically know nothing about the Fate Series outside of FGO so I don't really know about Waver. But I just wasn't crazy about his design. And how he gets younger as you ascend him. But MY FUCKING GOODNESS! 50%NP charge is just way too good to pass up and he fits on literally any team whatsoever. Team Attack up, team efense up, targetable crit damage up, and NP drain+ stun chance on his NP makes him so versatile. And he's charging up people's NPs!! I use him for everything at this point lmao.

Character I hated due to design but liked due to character:

Scáthach=Skaði (Fate/Grand Order) The fact that Skaði looks like Scáthach really has no purpose in any meaningful way imo. Like, it's not Scáthach at all. And while I honestly would've preferred a brand new design, Skaði was just so wonderful in LB2. Especially since Ivan was kinda meh in LB1, so it really makes me look forward to the other Lostbelt Kings (Qin Shi Huang and Arjuna Alter. Both who I already love lmao) But yeah! Skaði being this kinda benevolent ruler who's doing everything she can to suppress Surtr's flames while trying to keep humans and giants from growing extinct due to her mother/goddess complex makes her so compelling to me. Also, LB2 focusing on women and the general theme of love was so touching. I didn't even care for her amazing gameplay, I was still gonna try for Skaði cause she was so great in Gotterdamerung.

[gascon-en-exil]

I Liked Fates Before It Was Cool!: Birthright Part 1

Prologue

Opening Chapters

Chapters 6-11, in which Hoshido’s military is extremely disorganized and only regroups because the mere idea of Ryoma is just that awesome.

Chapter 6

Not much to say here. Corrin tells Xander they’re siding with Hoshido against Garon and implores him to do the same, Xander accuses them of being brainwashed and, after repeated refusals, tries to kill Corrin. Following this is a chapter that will probably be finished during the first enemy phase unless Ryoma gets really unlucky. I suppose it makes sense that this is the shortest of the three versions of Chapter 6 as Corrin went to the border already with the Hoshidans. While it’s kind of neat that all the Hoshidan royals are playable on this map as a bit of a preview, note that this is the fourth of just seven chapters in which Ryoma has appeared as a unit prior to his formal recruitment. We get it already, the guy’s an OP powerhouse and a clear favorite of the writers.

This is also where I should probably bring up My Castle, but I don’t have much to say here as it was never a feature I particularly enjoyed. Other FEs have addressed the concept of a base for your army integrated into gameplay far better than this. Genealogy and the Tellius games and others may not let you perv on your units taking a bath or disgust them with your horrendous cooking, but what does that really add to the experience? I know, I know, a bunch of small and scattered stat boosts....

Chapter 7

Oh, silly banter in the middle of an attack while surrounded by wounded and dying soldiers. Never change, FE. But seriously, even if he’s just Cordelia with a dick whose semen produces more Cordelias let’s take the time to appreciate that Subaki is the series’s first playable male pegasus knight. Fates’s take on classes is actually very egalitarian, a fact that often gets lost in its sea of fanservice and subtle story-enforced misogyny and everything about <insert character whose gender/sexuality-related presentation offends you most>. Moving on.

I’m still not entirely clear what happens to the Hoshidan army between this chapter and the preceding one. They really appear to just break ranks and scatter: Corrin and co. go fool around in the astral plane with Lilith, Ryoma and Takumi lead some of their forces toward Izumo (why?), no one cares about Hinoka, and Sakura retreats here to Fort Jinya to tend to the wounded at a makeshift military hospital. It makes sense that the Hoshidan army wouldn’t have the strictest organization thanks to their years of protection under Mikoto’s barrier, but the problem is the game never tells us that and we’re left to infer these things based on the events of the next few chapters.

The Nohrians meanwhile are still on the offensive, but they screwed up by sending Silas’s unit to attack the fort. Silas has an unhealthy attachment to Corrin that frankly rivals Camilla’s, and his abrupt defection here because he wants to hang out with his partially amnesiac BFF undoubtedly bodes ill for anyone associated with him when news of it reaches Nohr. I guess it’s cute in my case that Silas’s obsession with Corrin knows no gender, but the guy probably steals underwear to sniff. Saizo is entirely justified in being suspicious of him.

Paralogue 1

Oh yeah, I forgot all about this chapter. Mozu’s just not as memorably meme-worthy as Donnel, and recruiting her is less frustrating since you’re not forced to make her poke things in her joining chapter. It does make the Faceless seem like more of a threat to Hoshido, although as a consequence playing through this paralogue in Conquest always feels a little weird. This plus the first Castle Invasion were mostly for EXP and support farming. For anyone wondering, I’m going to be keeping most of my characters in their default class sets since I don’t feel like grinding skills or anything elaborate like that. Also, I’m playing on Normal, so I’ve got a lot of latitude in how I play which is how I prefer FE anyway.

Chapter 8

Hinoka sums up my feelings on her and her retainers. Azama’s got some amusing lines and if I knew more about Buddhism his...interesting take on philosophy would probably be even funnier, but that’s about it. And yeah, Hinoka really just does pop onto the scene with no explanation except that she’s also trailing her brothers and I guess everyone really did forget about her. Sucks to be a late development addition.

Iago tosses the conflict ball to ensure the party’s trip to the Wind Tribe village is a rough one, though since Fuga was set on testing Corrin’s worth by sending a bunch of his tribesmen to get slaughtered by their army anyway I wonder why he even bothered. This is a rare case of a desert map that isn’t a frustrating pain in the ass, because it’s small and there are Dragon Veins to reduce the amount of sand. I also like how even on the lowest difficulty of the easiest route the game is already throwing a boss at you with some annoying skills. Fuga’s motivations may be silly, but at least he leaves us with the memory of a good chapter, some cryptic foreshadowing for the Yato, and a shota wind mage who unfortunately continues in the tradition of Ricken stepping away from their archetypical dynamic after Tellius made it just a little too close to explicitly gay.

Chapter 9

Izana, huh...Izana is...

Let’s talk about Zola!

Zola is one of the rare Fates villains who isn’t (always) exactly what he looks like. On first glance he’s just a typical simpering syncophant with a fitting talent for illusions, but he actually comes with a bit of a character arc in Birthright which I have to say I wasn’t expecting. It was almost as unexpected as Leo’s unexplained appearance at the end of this chapter to kick off said arc by leaving Zola exiled. One big problem I have with Fates is how characters have a tendency to teleport around off-screen as the plot demands it, distance between locations or basic geography be damned, but it’s marginally more forgivable here since Leo is shown later in this route to know how to perform literal teleportation.

I believe this is also one of the only times in Birthright where Hinoka gets to do something that affects the plot, so good on her for acting suspicious of fake!Izana. She’ll go right back to being overshadowed by her brothers - including being overshadowed at being overshadowed - soon enough.

Izumo’s role as the designated neutral nation is delved into more thoroughly in Conquest, weirdly enough. Here Corrin and co. get left only with a vague directive to head toward the Bottomless Canyon and some of Azura’s song lyrics. That’s kind of a good thing, because I’ve got nothing on Izana now. I get that he’s an amusing surprise the first time around, but...who wrote him like that?

Chapter 10

Allow me to divert for a moment from the Takumi angst to pick some very large nits with the geography of this game. In the previous chapter Corrin learned that Ryoma and Takumi had been pushed to the Bottomless Canyon, which is nowhere near their location - but hold onto that thought. The canyon is clearly northwest of Izumo, yet the party goes south to Mokushu allegedly in an effort to reach them there. Fates has a bad time in general with giving a good impression of where its events are taking place, partly because the scale of the map is odd and not helped by it being a topographic rather than a political map like in every other FE, partly because there are times like this where the information presented appears to be simply wrong. What’s worse, the major plot development surrounding Takumi’s possession in Birthright does not, at least so far as I recall, necessitate that he have been possessed by Anankos or anyone else connected to the Bottomless Canyon. I’ll certainly be revisiting this when the time comes.

But...whatever. In spite of everyone getting lost except Ryoma (because of course) this is actually a good chapter, with a cramped map filled with environmental hazards to add challenge. The treachery of Mokushu spans all three routes and is one of those set pieces that benefits from development in each of them. Kotaro’s connection to the, er, Christmas ninjas (and elsewhere, Shura) isn’t developed here unless you choose to have them engage him in combat, but that just saves stuff for the other routes. 

Chapter 11

Pictured: easily one of the most forgettable playable characters in this game. It’s a shame too, because she’s the only default kinshi knight and her bits of dialogue and few supports offer hints of an interesting backstory that would speak to gender roles in Hoshido. Alas, she’s merely a Corrinsexual.

This chapter itself is filler, but mechanically it’s good filler. Your new OP archer royal gets plenty of targets for his bow, there are some promoted generics to spice things up, and the Dragon Veins can either help or hinder you depending on how you use them. I don’t care for the antagonist fake-out between the opening and closing cutscenes and the chapter proper - where did possessed!Sumeragi the mysterious swordsman go while you were fighting the fliers? - but that’s a minor quibble. Corrin already beat that guy.

A larger problem is with Takumi’s development, or rather lack thereof. As I said last time the events of the opening chapters explain his initial hostility to Corrin (and Azura) quite well, and Mikoto’s death only reinforces that feeling. Why then does that hostility vanish so quickly in Birthright? Just one chapter after recruitment and he’s already turned his characteristic prickliness onto Zola instead, and I don’t recall it appearing much again except in the context of possession. It’s only the route the ends with Takumi as the final boss that allows him space for his feelings to develop organically (albeit in a negative direction), possibly because Conquest is the only one in which he’s not beholden to love Corrin like all playable characters in Avatar-centered games.

Next time: Birthright Chapter 12 - 18

[fire-emblem-supports]

Takumi & Scarlet: C - S Supports

C Support

Scarlet: Oh, hey, Prince Takumi!

Takumi: Hey.

Scarlet: ...Wait, what? I totally expected you to completely ignore me.

Takumi: Yeah? Why’s that?

Scarlet: Well... I’m a Nohrian. I know Hoshidans don’t take too kindly to us anyway. And you’ve always struck me as...

Scarlet: No offense, but like, really moody.

Takumi: So I can’t try to be nice?

Scarlet: No! No! That’s not what I meant. I appreciate it. Thanks. I’m just... not used to it.

Takumi: Is it that bad around here that you have to be so on edge?

Scarlet: I mean... yeah, pretty much. Lord/Lady Corrin’s great and your brother makes an effort to include me.

Scarlet: And not many people will say it to my face, but they’re all staring at me. Like they’re just waiting for me to mess up.

Takumi: ...Y-Yeah, that must be hard.

Scarlet: I don’t know. Maybe I’m making it all up in my head.

Scarlet: Oh, but why am I unloading all of this on you?

Scarlet: You’re the prince. I’m sure you have enough to worry about without all of my issues.

Scarlet: Hey, but thanks for listening. And for trying to be nice. I really do appreciate it.

Takumi: No problem.

B Support

Scarlet: Hey there, Prince Takumi. Out here training?

Takumi: ...Uh, yeah. I was just finishing, actually.

Scarlet: Um, did I interrupt?

Takumi: No, that’s fine.

Scarlet: If you say so...

Scarlet: Got something on your mind? You’re acting kind of weird.

Takumi: Actually... yeah. I was wondering... Why did you start your rebellion?

Scarlet: Oh, that. Well... lots of reasons. Life in Cheve has always been pretty rough. We don’t bring in much of a harvest with this Nohrian soil.

Scarlet: Used to be, we’d get supplies from all around the country whenever we’d hit a drought.

Scarlet: Recently, though, it seems like King Garon’s cared less and less.

Scarlet: The straw that really broke the camel’s back, though, was when my dad was executed for treason.

Takumi: Your dad? What did he do?

Scarlet: He and a bunch of other men went to the castle to complain to King Garon. Make him send us supplies.

Scarlet: They, uh... They were all brought back in a cart.

Takumi: That... I’m sorry.

Scarlet: Everyone was so mad... It wasn’t hard to find people who were willing to join the cause.

Scarlet: Just out of curiosity... Why do you ask?

Takumi: Oh. Well...

Takumi: To be honest, I... I wanted to see it from the other point of view.

Scarlet: Huh?

Takumi: You were surprised when I responded to you the other day. Well, the truth is, any other day, I would have ignored you.

Takumi: But I had just talked to Sakura and... she said I was too caught up in myself. That I had to see the war from the other point of view.

Takumi: I’ve always seen Nohr as the enemy. I guess I never considered that some Nohrians might be... people.

Scarlet: Well, I’m glad you do now. If our countries are ever going to find peace, you’ll have to.

Takumi: Yeah... you’re probably right.

Takumi: Hey, have things around camp been better for you?

Scarlet: Oh. Uh... not really. Thanks for asking, though.

Takumi: Sorry. I know how hard it is...

Scarlet: Huh? What was that?

Takumi: Nothing! I didn’t say anything. Uh, I have to get back to training.

Scarlet: I thought you said you were done...

Takumi: I was just taking a break. You’re in my way.

Scarlet: Okay! Sorry!

Scarlet: Geez, that was weird.

A Support

Scarlet: Hey, Prince Takumi. You busy?

Takumi: ...I guess not.

Scarlet: Try not to sound so excited. But I’ll take what I can get, I guess.

Scarlet: The other day... You said you understood what I was going through with the army.

Takumi: I don’t remember saying that.

Scarlet: There’s no sense in lying. I know what I heard.

Takumi: ...Fine. What about it?

Scarlet: Well... What were you talking about? You’re a prince, right? How could you possibly feel like everyone’s judging you?

Takumi: Seriously? Being a prince is exactly why I feel that way.

Takumi: You said it yourself. If Hoshido and Nohr are ever going to find peace, I have to be better than I am.

Scarlet: That’s not what I said.

Takumi: You said I had to learn how to understand everyone. What’s the difference?

Takumi: And it’s not just that. I have to be a better warrior. I have to be a better conversationalist. I have to dress myself correctly!

Takumi: Any tiny thing I screw up makes people think I'm a terrible leader and that I shouldn’t be a prince.

Scarlet: ...I guess you’re right. I never... Huh.

Takumi: What?

Scarlet: We’re actually a lot alike, Prince Takumi. Because... I guess I never thought of you as a real person, either.

Scarlet: I just thought you were a prince, so your life must be easier.

Takumi: Just like I thought about Nohrians.

Scarlet: Sorry.

Takumi: ...So am I.

Scarlet: Maybe... I don’t know. Maybe we can learn from each other.

Takumi: Huh?

Scarlet: I can’t help you with a bow. And I’m not the most fashionable.

Scarlet: But maybe I can help you... you know, understand Nohrians a little more.

Scarlet: And you can help me understand what it’s like to be royalty.

Takumi: You think so?

Scarlet: I mean, we pretty much already are doing that. Might as well make it official.

Takumi: Yeah, I guess you’re right. Alright, then.

Takumi: Does this mean we’re... friends?

Scarlet: I think so. Put ‘er there, buddy.

Takumi: ...Sure, alright.

S Support

Takumi: Scarlet!

Scarlet: Hey, Takumi! Something wrong? You’re out of breath.

Takumi: I had to do this before I lost my nerve. Here.

Scarlet: Uh... What’s this? A ring?

Takumi: You don’t have to accept it if you don’t want.

Scarlet: Wait... Does this mean...?

Takumi: Yeah. To be honest... Spending time with you has made me into a much better man.

Takumi: Not only have you made me more understanding, but you’ve made me more confident.

Takumi: Without you... well, I wouldn’t have the courage to do something like this.

Scarlet: Takumi, that’s... so sweet. I didn’t know you could be so sappy.

Takumi: What? I’m trying to be honest here! ...Look, do you accept or not?

Scarlet: Hee hee. Of course I accept, you doof.

Takumi: Really?

Scarlet: Yes. You’re a fantastic guy. I’d have to be an idiot not to.

Takumi: I’m... Wow. I’m so happy. I don’t even know what to say.

Scarlet: I’m happy, too. I love you, Takumi.

Takumi: I love you, too.

[the-backspin-alchemist]

Like, I still feel like Fates’ biggest failing was not knowing how it wanted to do things. It wanted to commit to being a Fire Emblem game, while also trying to be what was essentially a Visual Novel for most of the storytelling, and *also* fell prey to the Nintendo bean-counters wanting to turn it into Pokémon.

(It also tried to shoehorn in the kids in an attempt to bank off of Awakening’s success with the Future Kids, but refused to look into the series’ own reportoire in order to do that, y’know, well.)

Fates came at a time when story-based RPGs were what everyone was into, but there were eight different major players and Fates tried to play into all of them at once. Corrin ends up as this weirdly noncharacteristic, flat main character because Persona at the time was pushing the idea of the faceless protagonist that everyone could project on, but the last Fire Emblem had a main character (Robin) that was characterized, that had life on their own aside from being the player’s point-of-view character. And so Corrin ends up on this weird spot of being neither, which...isn’t helpful, given how emotionally charged the varying sides to the stories are supposed to be.

Which is the *second* thing Nintendo didn’t commit to: the separate storylines. They did decently well on Birthright, but left Anankos almost completely out of it until the very end, and Conquest felt like it was a drawn-out way of going “hey by the way Garon’s exactly as evil as you think because he’s not actually Garon anymore! He’s been replaced/consumed/corrupted by this evil creature person! Oh no!” and then...uses that as a way to fight through Hoshido I guess? And point out that maybe Hoshido has some odd shit going on, too? And Conquest also technically introduces Valla as well, but not in any sensible way that makes it seem less like a Deus Ex Machina until you play Revelations.

Aaaaaaand Revelations feels like they ran out of writing ideas, since the story for the last six or seven levels before you fight Anankos are all “Look! It’s this thought-to-be-dead person! Including the one that had no story presence at all beforehand! Oh nooooooooo better fight against them to get to Anankos!”

And that’s a shame because until then, Revelations was probably the most compelling of the paths.

Between that and hiding a bunch of frankly pretty necessary stuff inside the DLC, it feels like Nintendo started out trying to build a route where you were supposed to play Birthright first, then Conquest, then Revelations, and the end result was something where because the execs wanted to sell two games as separate versions for more money (and a third for another $20, plus DLC), they cut the story off at the knees in almost every instance.

And this is discounting the fact that because there’s no time-travel involved, they had to make thing hyper-convoluted with the kids in order to get them to be units, instead of trying to do something like Genealogy of the Holy War and actually drag in a second generation into the story properly

And it’s not like they couldn’t fit all three games onto one gamecard, because I own the special edition. Which is physical proof that they could, in fact, fit all three routes on one gamecard.

There are so many ways the could do things better on a second pass at the same story, they just have to commit to a given structure in given ways and it’s be great, especially after their newfound experience with Three Houses

I would kill for Nintendo to redo Fire Emblem: Fates, and do the VN thing properly this time.

Fates had so many cool ideas, and such a lovely cast of characters, but *boy* were things executed *really poorly* at times

[theothervonkarmagirl]

OOC:

@stahl-konigin @of-invisible-ties

I feel like in the royal!AU, Maria met Leo at a ball

Yeah. Manfred was trying to bounce back from the falling-out with Takumi so he was like "ok this ball is going to be our last chance, Maria you better pick a man tonight and keep him"

And all the single princes from all over are invited, and that includes Xander and Leo(and m!Corrin, depending) so they go because why the hell not. Garon is kicking his heels because he has been waiting for a chance to talk to Manfred since the Hoshido thing collapsed.

Satsuki and Miles and Franziska are kind of annoyed because Maria keeps going on about how she's going to have a bunch of eligible young men drooling over her all night and she is so excited lol

So the party starts and eventually the Nohrians show up and Garon is like "brb talking to the king, you all better not screw this up I swear to Anankos"

As expected Maria is just basking in the attention and flirting her ass off, and the other princes are trying to sway her away from the Nohrians because they find them to be savage. Leo stands out because he seems like he would rather be anywhere else and eventually slips out to escape the noise for a bit. He is pretty sure that Xander will be chosen anyway, so he feels there's no reason to make a huge effort.

But alas. She followed him out there out of curiosity, and they have a nice conversation. He lightens up a little. On the way home he notices a little slip of paper in his pocket with the castle address on it and the words "Write to Me! --Maria"

AND THE REST IS HISTORY

[justmonicca]

FE: Fatesnalysis

My current opinion on Fates under the cut. It got very long when complaining about story/characters. Read if you want to. I don’t know enough about FE15 to argue about it yet, and I doubt that I ever will (I’m only going to play it once).

My FE14 opinion as of today

Gameplay- I genuinely liked the gameplay of FE14, and the addition of the Dual Guard system was good. Many units seemed very overpowered, though, which left me blazing through REV and BR with Ryoma and Xander, leaving most other units low-leveled and in the dust.

Map Design- The map design of most of Fates was very fun. CQ's map design is some of the best in the trilogy (I'm mostly referencing Port Town Dia) and BR's may be lacking, but it does its job. REV's map design has got to be some of the worst map design I have seen in the FE games I have played. Chapters 11 and 12 of Revelation can be especially tedious. Chapter 25 of REV was very, very tedious and very hard, even playing it for the first time through. Otherwise Fates' map design was good.

Story- The story was all over the place, with plotholes and overall just a bunch of kinda dumb moments from both Corrin and the rest of the cast. From a progression sense, due to the world map not being open, it felt very weird and static going from place to place. If you think about it in a sense of Awakening's map, the progression of the game makes little sense. It *felt* like I was progressing because of the chapters and difficulty, but in terms of map and story, I felt like I was going nowhere. In Fates' first six setup chapters, nothing really happens, to be honest. You go from place to place and only in ch. 6 does anything *meaningful* and truly plot important happen. Besides that, and I notice this in all three paths, you don't really do anything until the very end of the game. Even then, the final bosses cease to be truly meaningful in my opinion. In CQ's endgame, you fight Takumi, who reappears to finally get revenge. It felt like a meaningful boss fight when you think about it in terms of fighting Takumi one final time, but beyond that, you're not really doing anything *meaningful*. In BR's endgame, Garon's dragon form makes only a little sense, but I didn't like it very much. It felt like a really anticlimactic boss fight. In REV, you fight Anankos, but my qualms with his fight are that you only see him prominently in the last two/three chapters, and his connection with you is hidden behind a paywall. The other issue with REV is that you don't really do anything by killing Anankos. I don't think Hoshido and Nohr will completely stop fighting simply because the royal families have been united. Besides that, Garon is left unresolved, which made me quite mad considering he's more plot important than Mikoto and Sumeragi.

I have little to no issues with the chapters in which you fight the eldest Nohrian/Hoshidan brother. They could have been done better, especially in the case of Xander's chapter, but otherwise they were okay.

Onto the plotholes/general issues, Fates had plenty of them:

Why does Azura's pendant kill her when she sings Lost in Thoughts All Alone?

Why do her song's lyrics *DIRECTLY* correlate with Corrin? I'm talking LITERAL correlation here, and it may make sense because Corrin is the protagonist, but it's very literal correlation and not even foreshadowing at points.

Why is Cadros barely mentioned?

Why is Anankos' backstory barely mentioned in the main story?

The fact that Anankos is your father and Lillith your sister is hidden behind a paywall

General inconsistency between the characterization displayed in supports versus story (biggest example being how Xander acts in Birthright).

Corrin's general moral inconsistency

Azura's lack of plot involvement until the very end and a few other times

Elise's death in BR being straight-up ignored by Xander

The royal families are so underdeveloped for some reason, (maybe) barring Takumi and Elise. There was time for that in BR and CQ.

Why is Sumeragi barely mentioned?

Why was Garon ignored in Revelation, while Mikoto and Sumeragi weren’t?

Characters- The good characters in Fates are few and far in-between. In my opinion, the three best characters in Fates are Xander, Takumi, and Nyx. Keep in mind that Xander is ruined in both BR and CQ by Fates' bad writing, but I enjoy his support characterization. Takumi's development in CQ was good (could have used work), but overall I like him a lot because of his personality and plot involvement. Nyx is genuinely a good character, and being a side one, I feel that it is kind of cheating to include her in my best character list. However, she is one of the characters in Fates to not be ruined by its bad writing simply because she is a side character.

The royal families, as mentioned above, could have used a lot more development. There was time for that in basically all routes, but it feels like Takumi and Elise were the only people to get good character development/characterization in Fates. Elise's death was very noble, and it is one of my favorite Fates moments. However, it is ruined by Xander's uncharacteristic patriotism for Nohr and to please Garon, who he saw at the beginning of the game willing to kill innocent people.

Most of the other characters in Fates are one-offs, or at that note, a few traits in one character. Some one-offs include Setsuna (clumsy), Silas (your "best friend" and nothing else), Arete (Azura's mom, taught her Lost in Thoughts, evil due to Anankos), Anankos even (evil, only shown to be your father/a good person through a paywall), Lillith (plot cart, steps in for no reason in CQ and BR, for some reason has NO plot involvement in REV despite Anankos being her father). The list can continue, but I won't write all that.

One of my biggest qualms with Fates is its treatment of Mikoto. In ch.5, as we all know, she is killed by Sumeragi. Corrin transforms into a feral dragon out of anger (despite not knowing Mikoto that well, thus no emotional semblance for player or protagonist). Mikoto is then seen in ch.24 of REV. My problem with this situation is that she is killed in every route despite being undeserving of death, and frankly, not needing to die in any routes at all. Her development is barely there, if at all, and her death makes no sense and does nothing for the plot.

Corrin's role as the protagonist of Fates is questionable. I believe the reason why Robin worked as Awakening's protagonist is that they were not an "established" character. By this, I mean that they were an amnesiac for a reason, their amnesia is explained, and the player learns with Robin as they travel. Corrin does not work as a protagonist because they are completely established. They have been in the world of Fates for a while now, but they have amnesia anyway. The biggest example of Corrin's amnesia is not remembering their childhood in Hoshido, and not remembering Silas. They do, however, for some reason, remember their early days in the Northern Fortress (ex: Xander's training, Felicia helping them while sick). Corrin also does not work as a protagonist because of their generally gullibility/stupidity and reserved nature. Corrin is easily fooled by Zola in BR, and they try to help Takumi through his possession in CQ's endgame despite seeing that he's clearly out of this world and committed suicide a few chapters earlier. They copy Garon's speech about rebellions being seeds, and nobody is fooled by it. Corrin tends to be inconsistent in mood, as sometimes they are reserved and a generally softer character, and other times (such as ch.27 of CQ) they stand up against enemies with no fear at all.

My other big qualm about Fates is its Corrinsexuals. Corrinsexuals are characters that have supports with Corrin ONLY. The worst examples of Corrinsexuals are Scarlet, Flora, and Reina. Scarlet led the Chevois rebellion with Ryoma, and they are shown to be friends in-game, yet she has no supports with him. Flora has supports with both Corrin and Felicia, and is implied to have a crush on Jakob, yet has no supports with him either. Reina should have a support with Orochi, seeing as they were both retainers of Mikoto, yet she doesn't. On the topic of supports, despite this being a game about choice, and its motif being choice (FE: *Fates* with an "s"), you are freely allowed to marry Azura (your blood cousin!) and your Nohrian/Hoshidan siblings.

Another issue with Fates is Lillith's plot convenience. She appears a few times in the first six setup chapters, and then once around chapter 25 of CQ and BR. She is only used for expository purposes, or a cheap "emotional" moment that means a lot to Corrin and the protagonists, yet means nothing to the player due to Lillith's small involvement.

Music- The OST of Fates could have been better. There are quite a few mediocre tracks, a handful of good ones, and two or three outstanding ones. It could have used some work, stealing part of Id (Sorrow) to use in Thorn in You, but otherwise it was okay.

Overall- 7/10. It was an enjoyable experience, and there are quite a few characters I like, but the story was what really kind of ruined it for me. I still play Fates to this day, mostly for its fun qualities and not for story analysis.

[thenohrianinquisition-blog2]

🙋 + Heroes (Aradia, Aila, Bella?)

Aradia:

As I’ve written before! Aradia has a bunch of heroes!

She tends to idolize those she’s particularly close to, and they wind up being a hero to her regardless.

Her FP, Hel, is the first person she tends to think of when she’s asked who her hero is, though.

She doesn’t think of herself as one at all. Being called one would fluster her and might even make her cry.

Aila:

Her heroes include her uncle, her mothers (Toriel and Mikoto), and Garon prior to his... change.

Aila understands her heroes are human and can make mistakes. She tolerated a lot from Garon before she began to view him as a different person.

If you told her to pick one person as her hero, she’d likely give a vague answer of the Inquisition as opposed to any one person in it.

Aila doesn’t think of herself as a hero either. But if someone called her a hero she’d be flattered and thank them.

Bella:

Bella... well, she doesn’t really have heroes. 

She considers having heroes to be a bit silly, since there’s little point in striving for a goal that’s impossible to attain- that’s how she views the topic. She would much rather hear she’s someone else’s hero. 

If you made her pick someone, though, she’d likely pick Cecil as a hero she admires. Someone who could still care for someone who caused so much pain, and become stronger through that pain- that’s something she finds to be absolutely incredible. 

Bella knows she’s more a villain than a hero. 

[lunartailsteffi]

Fire Emblem Cipher Sale

Hello all! I am trying to clear out my extra Fire Emblem Cipher cards to get ready for the next set coming out in March. Listed below are the prices for each card. 

Shipping from the US and willing to ship internationally. Shipping to the States will start at $3 and includes tracking. Shipping internationally starts at $5; however, tracking is NOT included. 

Send me an ask or message if you might be interested in any cards. Thanks a bunch for your time!

First Picture:

B06-031 R+ Raquesis - $20

B06-064 R+ Zero (Niles) (x3) - $15 (each)

B07-041 R+ Jaffar - $12

B07-060 R+ Saizo - $12

P04-011 PR Itsuki - $15

P03-014 PR Soren - $20

Second Picture:

B02-030 SR Felicia - $15

B04-005 SR Touma - $10

B05-048 SR Narcian - $15

B05-054 SR Sothe - $15

B07-054 SR Hinoka - $15

B07-056 SR Takumi - $15

B07-007 SR Lyn - $15 

B07-044 SR Lloyd - $12

Third Picture:

B01-035 R Linde (x2) - $2 (each)

B01-083 R Olivia - $1.50

B02-014 R Saizou - $1.50

B02-024 R Oboro (x2) - $2 (each)

B02-028 R Tsubaki (x2) - $2 (each)

B02-043 R Gurei - $2

B02-045 R Matoi - $1.50

B02-064 R Laslow - $1.50

B02-093 R Foleo - $2

Fourth Picture:

B02-095 R Soleil - $2

B03-025 R Marcia - $4

B03-063 R Shigure - $6

B04-013 R Yashiro - $1

B04-029 R Julian - $1.50

B04-031 R Sirius - $1.50

B04-059 R Eleanora - $2

B04-076 R Say'ri - $1.50

B05-007 R Alan - $1

Fifth Picture:

B05-017 R Dieck - $1.50

B05-022 R Shanni (x2) - $2 (each)

B05-038 R Tate (x2) - $2 (each)

B05-046 R Juno (x2) - $2 (each)

B05-077 R Nephenee - $2

B05-084 R Sigrun - $1.50

B05-098 R Kurthnaga - $2

B06-012 R Fin (x2) - $1.50 (each)

B06-062 R Beruka (x2) - $4 (each)

Sixth Picture:

B06-066 R Effie (x3) - $1.50 (each)

B06-072 R Flora - $2

B06-082 R Siegbert - $1.50

B06-092 R Garon - $1.50

B07-002 R Eliwood (x3) - $2.50 (each)

B07-015 R Florina (x3) - $3 (each)

B07-017 R Serra (x2) - $2 (each)

B07-032 R Raven (x2) - $1.50 (each)

Seventh Picture:

B07-060 R Saizo (x4) - $1.50 (each)

B07-064 R Setsuna - $2

B07-072 R Jakob - $2

B07-084 R Shiro (x3) - $1.50 (each)

B07-093 R Sumeragi (x3) - $1.50 (each)

[georgethorne-blog1]

Important Moments in Advertisement

Chris last week went through the most important things that happened within advertising to shed light on the industry as a whole.

AIDA is an acronym used in marketing and advertising that describes a common list of events that may occur when a consumer engages with an advertisement. 

A - attention (Awareness): attract the attention of the customer

I -  interest: raise consumer interest by focusing on and demonstrating advantages and benefits 

D - desire: convince customers that they want and desire the product or service and that it will satisfy their needs. 

A -  action: LEAD customers towards taking action and/or purchasing. Using a system like this gives one a general understanding of how to target a market effectively. Moving from step to step, one loses some percent of prospects. 

PPPP’s

The four ‘P’s’ of Marketing. Professor Jerome McCarthy of Michigan State University published a book titled the The Four P’s of Marketing” Product, Place, Price and Promotion. The book provided a clear structure to the oldest profession on earth and became the very definition of Marketing. *5 P’s should you include people.

In 1960 Doyle Dane Bernbach’s press ad for for Volkswagen ‘Think Small’ begins to set the tone for a new kind of advertising. The ad stood out from the rest before the cliche of trying to stand out from the crowd. Instead of placing he car front and centre trying to show it’s dominance compared to the competition. The beetle itself a small car making it a smaller car on the ad made it smarter to look at compared to others. 

In 1963 McDonald’s introduced the character of Ronald McDonald the clown to the brand

In 1971 the grail of abstract iconography of the Nike Swoosh was designed by a student for the cash some of $35. nike originally picked the swoosh on the idea of it being the best of a bad bunch but after placing the swoosh on the side of shoes and with help of Nikes’ Advertisement team it is what it is today. it changed the idea of how we look at Nike from merely Athletic Gear but the idea of athletic achievement itself.

Also in 1971 Saatchi & Saatchi birth-control poster featuring a pregnant man. The ad itself places the bloke into the shoes of a women with being careful of becoming pregnant.

In 1984 The Ridley Scott directed ‘1984’ for Apple Macintosh runs once during the Super Bowl, but has a lasting impact on advertising.

I believe this paved the way for the super expensive and incredible adverts we see for the superbowl up to this point.

Skipping forward to 1988 nike is back again but with a slogan which has become world famous and has maintained to e the most famed slogan of all time ‘Just do it’

in 1997 the rejuvenation of Apple with Steve Jobs back at the helm launched the Macintosh alongside the Think Differently campaign.

2000 Onwards

In 2000 America’s Super Bowl is dominated by small dot-com advertisers, who spend $2million per spot. Alongside that Golfer Tiger Woods signs an endorsement deal worth a reported $85 Million. Budweiser’s “Wassup?” ad campaign wins top international honours at Cannes ad festival.

In 2007 The Cadbury advert featuring a drum-playing gorilla which attracted instant cult status and a number of online imitations has been named the year's favourite TV advert in a poll. The 90-second advert for Dairy Milk chocolate starred actor Garon Michael as the giant ape bashing along to Phil Collins's In The Air Tonight.