#I’ve recently started replaying fire emblem so there might

[northernember]

Alright, its time for the annual tradition of making new year’s resolution that might or might not be held;

mine is i want to create at least one fully rendered illustration each month, whether just a simple portrait or something elaborate, but not necessarily rq related (although it most likely will be 9/10 times, because i am very mentally unwell about tiberias calore numero siete), on top of getting back to practicing my fundamentals, which ive really let slack. aka just making more time for art in general.

plus a few other personal resolutions of course but anyways

Happy New Years everyone! Heres to many more years of being brain rotted by this book series.

[i-write-boop-spoops]

what pokemon games have you played? (Emerald and Platinum are best imo.)

Yall better buckle up, this is basically the history of me and Pokemon istg

In order, here are the games I’ve played: Platinum, X, Alpha Sapphire, Sun, Let’s Go Eevee, Shield and Brilliant Diamond.

As you can see, I totally skipped the GB/GBA generation, even if we did have an advance spinning about at home. I was probably a bit too young then for Pokemon anyways, so the DS was my first proper taste of Pokemon. I spent a lot of time in Platinum, even if my brother completed the story for me. Much nostalgia.

Noticeably, I haven’t played any Gen 2 (original or remakes) or Gen 5, because I was a dumb kid and never got them/borrowed my brother’s copies of them. I am highkey considering playing them someday though, since they’re both highly regarded.

How do I write for Silver or N since I haven’t played their games? I’ve absorbed a lot of N through other people, breakdowns, and his anime appearances, and for Silver, I basically write him as Felix from fire emblem because they are THE SAME GUY basically and his generations episode is so good.

Why do I write for them? 12 y/o me stumbled on fanart and fanfic of them on Deviantart and I’ve never been the same.

X was what really got me into Pokemon. I remember giving money to my older cousin to buy me a 2DS and X with an employee discount at the shop he worked at. I loved it so much! Even if my team was shit, I had such a good time. I had such a huge crush on Calem, but obviously my tastes have matured and I’m a full on Sycamore stan now.

I wanna say I got Alpha Sapphire in 2015, and then I think I got stuck in Meteor Falls looking for the Dreamboat during the delta episode, and I didn’t finish it until either 2018/2019, and it was so good that I immediately replayed it. Steven might be my favourite Pokemon character, I swear it was love at first sight. Ugh, I wanna play it again, and I wanna give Steven a kiss.

SU/MO were the first Pokemon games I was actively hyped for. I watched every trailer, and I was big into a lot of Poketubers at the time (specifically Birdkeeper Toby). I got Sun for Christmas 2016, and played it for an hour and didn’t pick it up until 2019.

Some context is, my eyesight is extremely bad, reading small font is super hard for me and doing it for a long time really hurts. It’s a progressive condition, so I was able to fairly easily play Pokemon on the DS/3DS when I was a kid, but by that time, my sight could not handle Sun’s tiny text.

When I got my switch I got it with Let’s go Eeevee, and it was just wholesome and fun. I did not like the Go-style catching mechanic BUT my Eeevee was a dote and it was nice to see where it all started. Also I could play it on the TV, with the switch’s zoom if I needed, so it was much nicer on my peepers

Luckily, in 2019, I got my hands on a 3DS XL and with a 4x magnifying glass, I finally was able to play Sun and I loved it. First off, it has Togedemaru, the best Pokémon, and secondly the region is so FUCKING GORGEOUS! And I’m a 2015 tumblr bitch, I love galaxy/space shit (another reason why I love ORAS actually). And the characters were just great (stan Lillie for clear skin) and obviously we got big bug daddy Guzma who I owe most of my notes too lol

So yeah I got Shield at the end of that year, loved it (specifically Leon, I am so horny for that man oml). I didn’t care about the national dex really, but yeah that game has some story problems, and the areas aren’t super flushed out. I love the Isle of Armour and the Crown tundra though. I will also protect all the chatacters with my life.

Most recently I played Brilliant Diamond, and by most recently I mean literally today. I love revisiting Sinnoh but this game… is a choice…

Anyways anon, thank you for this question, sorry for all this info lol.

[jacksope-lives]

Top 5 videogames?

5. Stardew Valley: It’s just a lovely and relaxing time that I come back to often just to kick back and take in the atmosphere. It sucks me in big time and it’s my favorite sim game, thanks to its cute art style, romance options, and good atmosphere.

4. Fire Emblem Three House: You don’t sink hundreds of hours into a game for no reason, and you certainly don’t replay it four times IN A ROW for no reason. The characters are all amazing and I think about them all of the time, the different routes all offer unique situations, and allow for lore to come about naturally. That said GOLDEN DEER FOREVER!

3. Persona 5: An absolute banger of a game where you grow to love your party members like a real friend group, with great music and some really fun mechanics. While parts of it are…questionable at best, the core of the game is a solid JRPG where you and some friends use your cool powers to make the world a better place, and that rules.

2. Undertale: Maybe the most important game I’ve ever played. The game that got me into games; the one that kick started it all, and the one who changed me the most deeply. I still tear up at the end of the true pacifist run; and I still adore the soundtrack, the characters, and the story. Over the years it’s been evaluated and reevaluated, but when I here Hopes And Dreams start playing all I can think of is the characters and the player’s journey with them, and that means something.

1. Breath Of The Wild: What can I say about Breath Of The Wild? It is the game that owned my life not just for a few months but for years. It’s too this day my most played Switch game, and every time I jump back into the world it’s like discovering a lost kingdom all over again. The story might be a bit clunky; and the final boss may have needed a few more tweaks, but there has never before (and maybe never again) been a game where I wanted to see everything, and do everything. A game where I wanted to comb the edges of the world to the boundaries where the Devs didn’t want you, a game where it feels like there’s a secret behind every corner, a game where the world itself feels like a character. It will always be my number one and the only reason I haven’t gone back to it recently is that I want to forget the finer details, so I can discover it all over again.

[furry-emblem]

You know what, after talking about how biases and stuff mess with 3H discourse, I'm going to go over my biases and personal experiences with each major faction leader because I feel like it. I don’t really want people arguing with me on these, but I would like to hear other people describing their experiences with these characters because that’s always interesting to read about. I'm listing the characters in order of how much I liked them.

Byleth

Also known as erotica, keyboard smash, Sothis, another keyboard smash, BoobBoob, and Boobama. I really dislike them. I’ve never been particularly fond of silent or self-insert protagonists. At best, they signal to me that the game isn’t going to bother with its story or character writing (and that’s fine when that’s the case), while at worst, it’s the writers taking the most important character in the story and then throwing their hands up and saying “we don’t need to write this one.” Byleth feels like the ladder and it’s to the detriment of pretty much everyone around them. Like, even considering that silent protagonists are supposed to be characters that the player projects onto, Byleth doesn’t do a good job at this because there’s enough canonical descriptions of them that you can’t really roleplay, but there’s so little going on that they don’t stand on their own two feet. So it’s like having a piece of cardboard dictate the fate of the country. They also primarily function as a wall for characters to exposition dump their backstories onto, which isn’t very interesting to watch. Like, 3H would have been better off without Byleth in it. 0/10.

Rhea

I just haven't had the chance to see a lot of her stuff, so I think I'm missing some of the stuff that makes people like her (and I'd prefer to not have that spoiled for me). Haven't seen her supports or the Church Route, but she just hasn't left me with a good impression. I don't like how possessive she gets of Byleth. Like, it creeps me out a little. I'm also a bit disappointed that you never get to play as her. I want the pope to bitch slap people (except not my people). I remember her being an antagonist in CF felt kind of forced to me when I first played because her reactions felt a bit silly. The problem wasn't whether they were justified or not, the problem was lack of context given and the fact that she was saying stuff like "You will BURN in the PITS OF HELL" while standing perfectly still and making this face >:(. And I just couldn't take that seriously for whatever reason because it felt cheesy and I didn't really understand what was going on. It also soured any endearment Rhea showed towards Byleth to me on future routes because her actions in CF gave me the impression of her being obsessive and controlling of Byleth. Like, she acted entitled to their loyalty, expected them to be something they never asked for, and flipped the fuck out when they rejected. It reminded me a lot of some abuse I've gone through and it made me dislike the character. Now that I have more context on the character, I get why she reacted so suddenly and violently because CF kinda threw all of her triggers at her. It feels like she dug her grave in that route, but she dug it in a way that resembles a Greek Tragedy more than anything else. My second route was Claude's route, which thoroughly disappointed me in terms of its writing. When Rhea was exposition dumping her backstory, I was like "I'm boooored," so that really didn't help my opinion of the character. I also don't really like how she gets damsels in three out of four routes. I still don't actively like the character very much because she left a really sour taste in my mouth, but I understand that I'm missing information and that there are reasons to like her. I'm open to learning more about her, but she just really rubs me the wrong way.

Yuri

I never finished Cindered Shadows and I have no real opinion on Yuri. I thought he was a girl when I first saw him and I think he's fun to play as in gameplay, so I guess there's that. I don't really see myself replaying Cindered Shadows if I even finish it because it lacks a lot of the major things I liked from 3H.

Seteth

Does he even get to count? Like, he's not in charge and Rhea should've probably been the leader of Silver Snow. Haven't played that route yet. I like Seteth. He's got good dad energy and also he's my wife (specifically in Verdent Wind). He's got good vibes. Also, if you kill Flayn in Crimson Flower, his English voice acting when he's like "Flayn Noooo" gets to me. I still really like Seteth. A solid 8/10 for me.

Dmitri

I wasn't following Three Houses advertising at all, so I didn't know anything about anyone going in. I was originally just going to skip him entirely because he looked boring and had shitty hair. So I did his route last. Partially out if curiosity for the character, partially because I might as well do every major route since I'd already done Claude and Edelgard, partially to get to know some of the Blue Lions, and partially because some of Edelgard's backstory is only revealed in this route and I was curious about that. Dmitri's route definitely has the best writing out of any of the routes. I really like how personal the route is and how much it focuses on how one specific event impacted all of the characters in it. There are some big problems I have with the route and Dmitri, like how the game uses psychosis to represent Dmitri being murdery and how him changing his mind felt more like Byleth's decision than his own due to their conversation being pretty bad. But overall, he has the best writing. I'd strongly recommend playing through his route if you haven't just because the writing's rather good there. The reason why he's ranked below Claude and Edelgard, however, is pretty simple: I just don't vibe with him. Like, the hero archetype bores the hell out of me, even when it is subverted like it is here. I also just didn't relate to the character on really any level while I did with Claude and Edelgard. The amount of Edelgard slander in his name also annoys me, but I don't think it really impacts how much I like Dmitri. He's a well written character that I just don't vibe with. I also remember his death in Verdant Wind and being like “wtf was that??” Like, the writers killed him offscreen.. twice. In the same route.

Claude 

I really enjoyed Claude as a character. He left a good first impression on me and I almost picked him for my first playthrough because he’s hot and sassy. Two good traits for any character. I ended up picking Edelgard, though, and he left a good impression on me during CF. I like that he held the alliance together and had a contingency plan for if he lost that battle. When I played his route, I ended up going Hard Mode NG+ Casual and I stuck everyone on a dragon. I did find it funny that throughout the school phase, Claude learns bow stuff repeatedly, then in one of the last months, he went up to me and was like “hey, can you start teaching me in axe and flying?” Which he had nothing in either. Then timeskip happens and he comes waltzing in on a dragon. Claude is where all the good memes in the fandom go. That said, I really disliked his route because Claude felt like an afterthought in it (because he literally was). I don’t like that I got out of the route and it felt like I didn’t know as much more about the character going out than I did going in. Some of that is because I didn’t see a ton of his supports, which is where pretty much all of the character work is. I like how Claude is open minded and actively tries to seek out the truth. So, overall, I found his route a bit disappoint but I still really like him because he’s a fun character.

Edelgard

I fucking love Edelgard. She was my first pick and therefore the character that introduced me to the game, and by extension, the series of Fire Emblem. I picked her because she’s pretty, she looked ready to fistfight god from the word go, and she seemed like the mascot of the game so I figured the writers might put a bit extra effort into her route (they didn’t, rip). My very first playthrough was actually a Normal/Classic run, but I had to abandon the run because literally everyone died four hours into the save (I swapped to Normal/Casual). Edelgard ended up carrying me through my first playthrough. I stuck her on a dragon and she killed literally everyone and everything. In my most recent playthrough of the game, I did CF and made her an archer mage dancer for the memes and that was also a ton of fun to play with. Her gameplay feel had a role in me liking her (like, Dmitri is also very powerful, but it was my third playthrough and I knew what I was doing better by then, so him being just as OP as Edelgard didn’t really influence my opinion on him as much as it did her). 

Besides the gameplay, Edelgard’s probably the major character that I relate to the most. Every character on this list (except maybe Byleth or Yuri, I know literally nothing about Yuri tho) has experience with trauma and is coping with it in some way. Edelgard copes by villainizing herself and shutting off her emotions, but despite that, she’s still a low-empathy person who’s still very compassionate person who cares about others and is trying to do the right thing. She also generally tries to express some amount of compassion to her enemies, even if it’s little more than saying “it sucks that Dmitri had to die.” She’s not as open-minded or as truth-seeking as Claude is, but she still tries to keep herself open to other viewpoints and will readily accept any she deems as valid at a moment’s notice. I just really like that about her because I share a lot of those traits in common with her. I also like the idea of her being someone who’s willing to do evil things to bring good to the world. That’s not something you normally get in a protagonist and I think that’s a cool idea. 

I still found her route to be very awkward, especially with no context. Like, I missed the line where Edelgard’s like “yeah, btw, I’m the Flame Emperor,” so I was just wondering what happened there. It’s an anticlimactic way to end the main plot of the first half of the game. I also didn’t really get Rhea’s angle at all. So the route just felt a lot like “I guess I’m doing this now??” In other routes, I found her deaths to be very hard hitting. The death in Verdant Wind only really got me because I really liked Edelgard and she was my original student and I could feel how much she wanted to make her future a reality and how her failing meant all of those sacrifices she made and the evils she’d done would now all be for nothing. I get that impression with Azure Moon’s ending too. 

Most of my appreciation for the character does come from her support conversations. I like how her chain with Bernie has her trying to learn how to not scare her off. Her interactions with Dorothea in their support chain are kind of sad because Dorothea is trying to show her admiration and love for Edelgard in a way that makes sense to her but then Edelgard’s low view of herself causes her to reject the offer. I really liked her Manuela support too (haven’t seen Hanneman’s but I’ve heard that it’s good). I like how with Manuela, Edelgard learns why people are religious and she that being religious doesn’t make you weak. I like her Linhart support where he calls her out for trying to dictate his life and she responds by trying to overhaul some of her own systems and assumptions about him, which leads to her giving him a role to the empire that also properly accommodates for his needs. I like how with Ferdinand’s supports, he has to learn to let go of their rivalry, but once that does happen, Edelgard takes into account his ideas and roles with them. I think it’s funny that she and Hubert flirt with each other by sending each other credible death threats. Edelgard just has a lot of very good supports. Don’t get me wrong, Claude and Dmitri also have supports that are good (I thought Claude’s support chain with Petra was cute and I really like Dmitri’s support chain with Flayn), but Edelgard’s supports go a long way to paint her as someone who is flawed but still really admirable.

Edelgard is definitely one of my favorite fictional characters, and I’d love to see more characters like her in the future.

[ymiwritesstuff]

Decaying Promise

So I replayed Three Houses and fell in love with Dimitri once again so I wanted to write this piece. I haven’t been feeling well lately and the lack of sleep may affect this scenario, apologies for that, but I hope you enjoy.

Fire Emblem Three Houses

Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd x Fem!Reader

Summary: A promise made years ago keeps Dimitri somewhat hopeful, despite the screams of his loved ones tormenting him internally.

Notes: Angst, SPOILERS FOR THE BLUE LIONS ROUTE!!

The greenhouse of the monastery bathed in the afternoon sun, the plants and flowers enjoying the blessing they received while surrounded by the light. You found yourself enjoying the warmth the sun provided as you kneeled in front of a certain flower, having just arrived in the greenhouse. Your (E/C) eyes lit up in sheer amazement as you notice that the beautiful white flower in front of you is blooming, having completed its growing process. 

You bring your fingers to the petals, desiring to feel the velvety surface and take in the flower’s delicacy. It practically glittered under the light of the sun and just like you had read, it had a stunning iridescent glow that made it look as if someone had put a spell on it.

“That’s quite beautiful.”

The voice beside you belonged to a person you didn’t even hear or notice coming, which caused you to quickly turn your head towards them, only to notice the Prince himself, carefully looking at the flower you had picked up.

“Dimitri!” You exclaim, placing a hand on your chest and standing up, slightly startled at his sudden appearance. “You shouldn’t sneak up on people like this!” Despite your words being anything but rude in nature, the young Prince’s eyes still receive an apologetic glint as he humbly bows. Polite as always. “My apologies. It was not my intention. I simply saw you running here quite enthusiastically and curiosity got the best of me.”

You look at the flower in your and bring it up, desiring to show Dimitri its beauty. “Oh, I was just checking if this flower started to bloom. And as you can see,” You bring your hand closer to him, in order for him to witness the sight before him. “It’s blooming rather beautifully.” A gentle smile decorates your features and a sense of pride latches itself onto you. Usually, gardening was done by more capable people like Dedue and the Professor, and you didn’t have too much experience in the craft, so it was very rewarding to see this special flower bloom under the rays of the sun.

“I must agree, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a flower like this.” Dimitri’s blue eyes carefully examine the plant before him, intrigued by its abnormal appearance and seemingly otherworldly exterior qualities. Though he’d rather not hold flowers in his own hand, fearing they would just fall apart due to his inability to control his own strength, he appreciated their bloom and was more than happy to look at them.

“It’s called Sothis’s Lily. It is said that it was the first flower the Goddess created. Well, according to some legend I don’t know much about.” Stories about the Goddess didn’t grasp your interest too much, as to you they seemed quite silly at times. Still, you couldn’t deny the fact that the flower currently in your hand looked resplendent and special. 

“I see. Well, it certainly looks extraordinary. It wouldn’t surprise me too much if there was some divine power embedded in it,” He says, a slight hint of playfulness and rare sarcasm you didn’t often hear apparent in his pleasant voice. A small chuckle escapes your lips.

“Perhaps. All I can say for sure is that this particular flower is excruciatingly difficult to grow. It’s a miracle we’re even witnessing it in this state!” Having read about this rare flora, you knew the challenges of attempting to grow it the moment you placed the seeds beneath the dirt, and seeing it in front of you, in full bloom, made you happier than ever.

“However apparently, this flower can stay in this prime state for at least five years! Can you believe it?” Dimitri’s eyes widen slightly at your words, a mixture of shock and amazement hitting him. It was no surprise to anyone that flowers generally withered away in a matter of days, so if this supposed rumor was to be true, this lily was truly special.

“Is that so? That is quite impressive, (Name),” He states, gentle smile dancing across his lips. He found your enthusiasm quite amusing, yet oddly admirable. Due to the recent, some quite grim, events at the monastery, the atmosphere had been quite dull and colorless, so seeing someone with this much happiness in them was uplifting for the young Prince.

“Five years is a long time for a flower, but not so much for us. A lot of things can change in such a short amount of time.” With Dimitri’s words comes a breeze of uncertainty and mystery that hits both of you like the cold winds of Faerghus. It was true that no one but perhaps the Goddess herself knows what the future holds and admittedly the thought scared you. There were things that people assumed would happen naturally, like Dimitri becoming the King of the Holy Kingdom, but in the end, even those things weren’t certain.

“We might not see any of our classmates after we leave the Officer’s Academy.”

“You’re right.” Your gaze falls on the ground for a moment as the weight of the ambiguity slowly presses itself against you. You look at Dimitri, your dearest friend, and wonder what the flow of time brings and how it would affect your strong yet so easily breakable relationship. “However, we won’t change.” Dimitri blinks a couple of times, waiting for you to continue your words of determination.

“You know what?” You suddenly say and point at the flower still in your hand with your eyes. “I’m going to keep this flower. No matter what the future holds, we’ll see each other after we graduate. Think of this lily as me. So long as it blooms, I’ll be around and ready to meet you again. And remember, this beauty blooms for a very long time.” A reassuring smile widens the corners of your lips, a playful shimmer glistening in your eyes and fortunately, you notice Dimitri smiling as well.

Your words are rather silly, and you don’t expect him to take them to heart as you are more than certain you will see the man in front of you before the flower has time to even think about withering. However, by then, he is most likely the King of Faerghus and buried in royal duties.

“Sounds like you’re proposing we make a deal.” He chuckles briefly. “Very well then. Let’s promise to reunite after graduation.” Your smile widens at that and you nod, eyes brimming with determination and hope.

“It’s a deal.”

~

The aftermath of the battle was like any other. Enemy soldiers on the ground, laying on top of a pool of blood, the Kingdom troops exhausted but satisfied with the victory. Just like they had been told, (Surname) territory had been taken over by Imperial forces with no challenge. No one was defending the territory during the five years the war had been going on and with a fraction of the Imperial army vanished, the Kingdom Army had reclaimed yet another part of their nation. However, this victory meant little for the King.

When you weren’t present at the highly grim class reunion, Dimitri knew something was amiss. His already unhinged mental state sunk deeper into the dangerous abyss that was his mind and his new obsession, other than killing Edelgard, was finding the very person he had made a crucial deal with all those years ago. 

The (Surname) territory was undefended, empty, no signs of the members of the family anywhere; In the perfect state for an invasion and now that the Imperial soldiers had been disposed of, the atmosphere should have been better, but it wasn’t.

Dimitri searched and searched, looking for the one he cherished, desperately trying to find any evidence of your whereabouts, all the while the merciless demons within him screamed at him. He tried to ignore them, because finding you was the only thing that mattered in this very moment, however at the same time he was afraid. Afraid that he would suddenly hear your voice in his head.

“There’s no sign of her, Your Highness.” A kingdom knight said to him, having searched the entire area and returning to his King with a sorrowful look upon his face

“Keep searching!” He said, voice filled with anger, impatience, and underlying sadness and hopelessness. With heavy steps, he headed towards the manor where the noble family would spend most of their days in, a place Dimitri himself had been in many times before. Before his mind hungered for revenge.

He had to find you, his mind let go of his desire to avenge his family for this brief moment as his vision was clouded. The last bits of his sanity he didn’t notice were hanging onto him, dependent on your reunion. The broken man stepped into the manor, heading straight for his beloved’s room and ignoring the concerned Professor most likely following him.

Despite saying to himself he wanted to see your face once more, in reality, the thought scared him. Should he find you in this mansion of yours, you would most likely be but a decaying corpse, and even more than not finding you, he was terrified of seeing you in front of him with no life left in you. He tried to push the thought away, but it was stabbing him, burying its knife into him deeper than any other. He was in pain, and the screams were getting louder the closer he got to your room.

The door opened with hesitation, an overwhelming anxiety rampaging all around Dimitri and inside him as he stepped in, expecting and also secretly hoping to find an empty, lifeless room that was nothing but a decaying memory of his childhood. His mind was a mess, much like it had been for the past five years but the desperate desire to see you and you wonderful smile with his now dull blue eyes kept him partially sane. It gave him hope. But that hope was reduced to dust and blown away the moment he looked around the room. Because what he saw, was far worse than the sight of your corpse. Because what lied in front of him, on the cold floor, wasn’t a corpse at all.

The thing that completely broke him, surrounded by the grueling silence that was only broken by his desperate, painful sobs,

Was a certain, white lily, withered away.

[radramblog]

Game of the Year 2020...?

Ive scrolled the list of games that came out this year to see what my GOTY ended up being, but turns out the only game I played in 2020 that released that year was, uh…….

Fucking good game but like I’m not gonna hand it GOTY by default (That goes to Hades, based solely impressions from other people). Actually, I’m not handing out any awards, really. So I guess I’m just gonna go over a bunch of the other games I did play last year, regardless of whether or not they came out then.

Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition

A mate got me this for my birthday in December 2019, and unlike the other games I got then (Kirby Star Allies which I burned through that month and Octopath which I still haven’t played) I spent a fair few hours playing it last year. This was before the sequel was announced, and also a little bit after the fact- figured I should try and finish one before playing the other. Unfortunately, I have yet to purchase Age of Calamity nor finish Definitive Edition, because the former is expensive and the latter is expansive. Holy shit there’s so much fucking content in this game. I don’t think I ever will finish it to be honest, though despite the repetitiveness it never really felt boring to me. It’s the only Warriors/Musou game I’ve played, and I’d be interested in trying others based on the experience.

(I’m not playing Fire Emblem Warriors though fuck that)

Pokemon Sword and Shield DLC: The Isle of Armor and the Crown Tundra

Sword and Shield felt somewhat lacking on release, and while the DLCs released this year did much to try and fix this its still a bit shit that it required an extra paycheck out of you to get the full game- outside of outsourced mobile games like Go and Shuffle, or services such as Bank or Home, Pokemon has never actually had DLC/microtransactions, so this was a little disappointing. I’d argue that it absolutely wasn’t worth it when Isle was released, as fun as the content was it was again, lacking. Crown Tundra I would argue exceeded my (admittedly low) expectations, however- the new and returning mons are cool and welcome (I despised Calyrex’s design on first reveal but their behaviour in story redeemed it more than enough), and the Max Lair Adventure offered a surprisingly replayable romp that has been great to just try and grind out with friends. I can’t say I’d recommend the DLC pack though- only if because you’ve probably made up your mind already as to whether or not you’re getting it, or this doesn’t apply to you at all. I could also put basically every main series Pokemon game on here, seeing as I’m pretty sure I nuzlocked every region at some point during the year, but I don’t want to make this *that* long. 

Super Smash Bros Ultimate Expansion Pass

Smash is still Smash. I don’t find myself playing it much on my own, and even in Perth get-togethers weren’t super common last year. As neat as the DLC characters released this year are for the franchise as a whole, none of them convinced me to play significantly more than usual, and I can’t wrap my head around half of them, so.

Also, I’m still salty about Byleth, and I actually really liked Three Houses, it was my first FE game. Why the fuck wasn’t it Claude????

Rivals of Aether

On the other hand, in the last few months I’ve found myself grinding match after match of Rivals with one of my best mates and the game is a fucking blast, holy shit. I still haven’t bought it for myself, but its basically 100% of the reason I have played 0 smash for the last few months since we’re too busy mashing Orcane vs Ranno over and over and not really getting tired of it. It requires a specific type of person to get into it, but if you’re in that group then its just an excellent game.

VA-11 Hall-A

I first played VA-11 Hall-A (Vallhalla, since typing that is a pain) by pirating it and playing it on my laptop in the dead of night.

It quickly became one of my favourite games of all time.

When the Switch port dropped, I felt obliged to actually pay for it this time around, since the developers had more than earned my money. And then I replayed it again, playing it on my switch in the dead of night (At least this time I had the excuse of being a nightshift worker). With the sequel unfortunately delayed into 2021, it might be time to run it back once more or drag more of my mates into Glitch City since I already forcibly exposed a few of em to it.

The post-credits title screen is still my phone background.

Fallout: New Vegas

I don’t really have much to say about FNV that hasn’t been said already, especially considering HBomberguy’s recently released video, but it is also on my top 5 list and I only got around to playing Lonesome Road and Dead Money this year. Also went out of my way to 100% achievement complete the game on Steam, which I believe is the first time I’ve done that for a game.

Zero Escape Series (Nine Hours Nine Persons Nine Doors, Virtue’s Last Reward, Zero Time Dilemma)

The Danganronpa series’ less colourful sibling, Zero Escape was a series I finally got around to finishing after having borrowed a friend’s copy of VLR back in high school and playing it wrong due to not deleting his save file (oops,). I think VLR remains my favourite, and I really hope the series continues at some point (unlikely as it seems now) considering how ZTD missed the mark pretty hard. The first 2 games are still excellent mystery games and a lot of fun, though you do need somewhat of a tolerance for words.

A Hat in Time

Oh god this game is so fucking cute. Also, just an excellent platformer. Is the DLC still on sale? I should buy that.

Fallout 4

Its just not New Vegas. It just isn’t. I really tried with this game, I really did. The gunplay is great, modding and building shit is fun, but its just not the same.

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past

A couple years ago I bought a SNES Mini, but until 2020 I didn’t really have a convenient way of playing it seeing as my monitor didn’t have an HDMI port. But now I do have one with one, so I got to start playing this classic! And then stopped because of uni. Should finish that, probably.

Pokemon Super Mystery Dungeon

Shit Keara I still have your copy sorry I’ll get back to it :<

Pokemon Stadium

I also managed to get my N64 up and running, and despite being the wrong region for most of the games available in local shops, I somehow managed to get Stadium for a great price. Got to dig out my old Red cartridge and anything. Fuck me though, this game is brutal. Seriously, Gen 1 battle mechanics are tough to deal with at the best of times, having to do battle after battle with said mechanics without losing is just nuts. I still haven’t managed to get Round 2 unlocked.

God, fuck you Blaine. Goddamn fire spin Rapidash motherfucker.

Super Mario 64 Speaking of, I managed to pick up a Japanese cartridge of SM64, complete with BLJ glitches and 3 entire save files. After much effort, I managed to actually get it working, and spent most of the night of Christmas getting smashed and trying to beat Bowser in the Fire Sea. I played a lot of the DS remake as a kid, and I feel like an idiot for struggling as much I did with the original.

This is all of course a buildup to the fact that I was lying about not assigning a GOTY. Because there is only one N64 game in my small collection deserving of Game of the Year, because its deserving of Game of the Year every year since its 1999 release.

BEETLE ADVENTURE RACING MOTHERFUCKEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEER

[awkwardbsd]

BLOG UPDATE! (Aug 3)

Here are a few quick updates to let everyone know where I’m heading and what I’m doing and why I’m honestly such a wreck.

Upcoming posts I’m making!

BSD: Season 3 vs Manga

I got a little bit done. Okay, I got the outline and one out of the nine episodes I’m covering (due to Fifteen being a light novel). The deep post is coming along, and I would rather put it all in one post rather than forcing one episode at a time.

More Seiyuu Stuff (because I want to and you can’t stop me)

Disney x BSD (Official Song Covers!)

Basically, in short, I’m going to go on about my bullshit.

I know I occasionally lump some BSD seiyuu stuff onto this blog but... I’m going to do even more until someone tries to stop me (and if you do, I might just get butthurt and do it anyway. I don’t know). I will be sharing some official covers made me members of the BSD cast. This might include Atsushi, Akutagawa, Fitzgerald, Ango, Odasaku, Karma, Ace, Ranpo, Ivan, Lovecraft, and more!

BSD Seiyuu Spotlight!

I might start highlighting specific seiyuu and facts and making masterposts or something so that you can get to know one of the important and influential people behind your favourite BSD characters.

More reblogs of fact posts!

I’m not going to be censoring as much “whether it’s awkward or not”. I’m going to try branching out a little more. I want to reblog posts that I think would find interesting. The purpose of this blog is to make people in this fandom happy and all of that. I just want people to enjoy this stuff.

Queue Update!

I have reduced the queue to 5 posts a day. This number is subject to change depending on the submissions, my personal time and devotion to this blog, and other factors. I do regularly update this number on the “About Blog” post on my page thing. I won’t be updating it here on this specific post.

Admin Update!

If you’re still reading, have this cookie. Honestly, I don’t know how many people read these posts anyway (judging by the notes, not many if at all).

You can find out more about me and all of that other stuff (my other interests and stuff) on @natsspammityspamspamham which is where I usually get tagged (sometimes by Awk Squad members)

Besides that? Uh... I’ve been trying hard to get my life back before the start of the new school year recently. It’s been a slow climb these past 3 years. I haven’t been to school in those years, and I have hit rock bottom so many times in terms of my health. We’ll have to see the true results in a few months time! I say this a lot because it’s part of me acknowledging how far I’ve come.

I’m playing Fire Emblem Three Houses. I will update that on my other blog later. I absolutely loved the game and went straight to replaying it.

[ahhhhwtv]

this isn’t a gaming review because i’m less than qualified to give one

Recently, I got my hands on Fire Emblem Three Houses on Nintendo Switch. And by recently I mean more than a month had passed since the game’s release and I’m only playing it now. Ever since then I have been playing it nonstop for days but I wouldn’t call myself a gamer though. The only “gaming system” I had before the Switch was the PSP and I didn’t play much games then either. I didn’t even play pokemon growing up; I’ve only started playing pokemon like a few months ago and I have yet to complete my pokedex in Fire Red. I still have a long, long, long, long way to go to catch up to the entire pokemon series.

Anyways, before I got FE3H, I watched tons of reviews and gameplay on Youtube. It’s basically a turn-based strategic RPG and as a professor, you get to choose which house out of 3 that you wanna teach. Every house has their own set of unique characters with different backgrounds which you get to know more about as the bond between you and the students deepen. I have never played a FE game in my life and I’m also horrible at strategy; I’ve never played chess in my life too. 

But I thought the game would be fun so I bought it and now I can’t stop playing it. Every time I felt like the game was a little bit draggy or I started to feel bored with all the fighting, the captivating cut scenes pulls me right back into the game. It’s like the perfect blend of gameplay and movie time. I fall in love with every character more and more as the story progresses and I get more confident with the battles as I learn from experience. 

That being said, I’m surprised that even a novice like me could grasp the concept of strategy in the game. And it’s not like the battles are easy; I’ve had to restart many times because (A) my students kept dying or (B) I kept dying. I just didn’t expect myself to enjoy it this much or be so invested in it. I’ve always wanted to be so absorbed in a game until it’s the only thing I’m thinking about. I wanted to know how it felt and thanks to this game, I have achieved it. Sometimes I think that I’m too emotionally invested in the game where when my students are sad, I actually feel sad and when they’re happy, I’m happy too. 

Another thing I love about the game is that it’s freakishly long. I think I’ve logged about 20-30 hours on the game before I completed part ONE. I only start part two yesterday and I think it’s been about a week since I started the game? More or less. Anyways it could be due to my incompetency and the relentless restarting of battles, but the average gamplay can be well over 100.  

AND something that’s been mentioned by several youtubers is that you can triple your average gameplay hours for this game by replaying with different houses!!! Like I mentioned before and in the game title, there are THREE houses. So, once you’ve completed your playthrough with one house, you can restart and play with one of the other two houses. Some might think and wonder, “Wouldn’t the game be roughly the same?” but no, it wouldn’t. 

Every character has their own unique backgrounds and how they’re related to the main plot differs. Therefore, your game could be drastically changed with a single decision. The game is truly a masterpiece and I can’t wait to complete my first playthrough and play it again. 

[alternis-dim]

For the general fire emblem ask meme, how did you get into the series? And for the prompts how about Aching Blood, Galeforce and Quick Burn.

for that first ask, I guess it was really Smash Bros that got me started? Lucina is one of my friend's mains on ssb4, and I found out that I'm pretty good at Robin not long after (he's been my main along with the more recent addition of Ike ever since!). I started getting curious about the series because I LOVE high fantasy stuff, and when I did a little reading and found out it was a tactics game I was very intrigued. after poking around to try figuring out the timeline and how to get into it, I started by emulating Blazing Blade on my phone. And, well, the rest is history! the only weird thing about that whole deal is that fe7 didn't end up being the first game I beat... after about 15 chapters, I figured I had a good enough taste to determine that I liked it, and I wanted to try out the game Robin and Lucina were from. the phone I was using for fe7 got water damaged soon after, so I lost all my progress when I had to replace it. I ended up finishing Awakening first because I was too bummed out to pick fe7 up again. I bought it on the eShop, but I might still just emulate it so that I can play it away from home. I have full plans to pick it up again once I finish either Sacred Stones or a Fates route (I'll probably finish SS first tbh).TL;DR: Smash is a great marketing strategy, don't listen to anyone who says otherwise.now for the ask prompts!Aching Blood – Did you name/forge any weapons? If so, what was your favorite name that you gave to a weapon?I haven't yet, but I'm replaying Awakening and have full intentions of naming some of the weapons this time. mainly, I want to give Owain's weapons silly names and make Inigo a big ole Princess Bride reference. Robin and Chrom will probably get some nonsense names too, given that I already named Robin "I'm gay" in this particular playthrough. I'm also going to give Falchion a stupid name in Echoes, but I haven't decided on what to call it yet. Galeforce – What was your most broken unit?I beat Grima in two turns once because I had a Chrom!Cynthia classed as a paladin with Galeforce. she flew across the map and took Grima down in one combat turn with a critical.god, she was a force to be reckoned with. Quick Burn – Do you try to get through the game quickly or do you take your time?I take my time, for sure. I have a hard time beating games sometimes, if we're being honest here, because I can get distracted. it's a miracle that I finished Awakening and it's even more of a miracle that I've somehow made it to the boss in Echoes within a month of its release. once I'm done with that, I plan on getting back to Sacred Stones, but I won't be going at a breakneck pace.thank you, this was a long but fun ask! I'm on mobile, I'll tag this later.

[historyoftheemblem]

How Mod Ree got into Fire Emblem

Having played Super Smash Bros. for almost all my life, I’ve been familiar with Marth since the late 90s. I never thought that his games were accessible though, and never really tried to learn about them until around the time SSB4 was announced. I was upset that Lucas wasn’t going to be on the starting roster, so I automatically clung to Robin as my new caster. Didn’t know a thing about his game though, but eventually looked it up sometime in January 2015. I remember the most appealing things to me were perma-death and units growing strong based on the supports they have with other units.

I eventually downloaded Awakening that following February, while I was living abroad in Denmark. I had no other access to video games at the time (and Awakening took up all of my memory), so Awakening was pretty much the only thing I played for a solid 5 months. The opening cutscene hooked me instantly, and the gameplay kept me up at night trying to think up new strategies. However, the social mechanics of it became particularly important to me because I grew rather isolated - the move itself had come at a bad time in my life, and I made no effort to go out and get involved in Danish life. In a way, I lived a little vicariously through the support conversations, and the gameplay itself was reminiscent of the tactical games I used to play as a child - Heroes of Might and Magic, Starcraft, etc. Although, Lucina and Chrom probably made my homesickness even worse, since I could see in them the relationship I had with my own father.

I’m not quite sure if I would have fallen so inexplicable in love with the game had I not been in that situation though, but I’m glad that I did, and from the moment I finished my first playthrough, I immediately went to replaying the entire series. So coming right off the most recent game, the original Shadow Dragon and Gaiden were my first and second forays into the series.

I was terrible, of course. But Gaiden in particular left a strong impression on me and I’ve adored it ever since. And the clunky NES UI didn’t deter me from eventually playing through the rest of the series. As of right now, the only games I haven’t played are FE11 and FE12.

Awakening still holds a special place in my heart, but outside of that, my favorite games are the ones with interesting and unique mechanics: Tellius, Jugdral, Gaiden, and Conquest.

- Mod Ree

[blueares]

Next Fire Emblem Discussion

So Fire Emblem Three Houses was a pretty massive success. Solid gameplay, great characters, compelling storyline, and of course, it even one Best Strategy Game for 2019. While I know it’s probably a bit early to start speculation on the next game already, I couldn’t help but wonder where the series might go from here, and while I’m not planning to like, write out the entire next entry for the series, I thought I’d just give my thoughts and opinions about what we can potentially expect going forward, and what I’d like to see.

Character Customization

At this point, I feel like character customization is something of a stable in the series. It started with Robin back in Awakening, and continued to Corrin in Fates. While Byleth isn’t as customizable as those two, you can still determine their gender, name, and birthday at the start, as well as their personality going forward (making them even more of a self-insert than the last two.) I think it might be safe to assume that player avatars as the protagonists might be here to stay for FE, which I’m personally fine with. I mean, I certainly don’t mind having a proper character as the protagonist; your Ikes, your Roys, Alms, etc... But the self-insert angle definitely makes sense if they plan on sticking with the next point:

Diverging Storylines

So the last two games have had a hard “choose your own adventure” feel to them; same basic premise, though one is unquestionably better-executed than the other. War is kind of a common theme in Fire Emblem games, but it’s not until recently that Intelligent Systems have really started to focus on letting players pick which side of the war they wanna fight on. I, personally, really like that idea, because it gives more credence to the idea that there is no black-or-white, true heroes or villains in war (even if they introduce a true villain with Anankos and the Agarthans) as well as providing greater replay value.

I also find it funny how there always seems to be one more route than advertised; Fates advertised the conflict between Nohr and Hoshido, but then added Valla and the Revelations, while Three Houses advertised... Well, three houses, but then gave you a fourth option with the church. The next game’s gonna have five story routes at this rate... But, in all seriousness, I do hope that if they decide to add multiple paths based on the faction you align with, they keep it to two or three. As much as I love the story of Three Houses, it does feel like some paths get a little more attention than others *cough*Verdant Wind*Cough* and others don’t get some of the same luxuries as others (Crimson Flower has no animated cutscenes until the very end.) I think cutting back focus to just a couple routes would help significantly; quality over quantity, as they say.

Mid-Fight Recruits

So this could be seen as either a positive or a negative. There’s little doubt that Three Houses significantly streamlined the recruiting process; you basically start the game with all your units, and anyone and everyone you wanna recruit can be gotten straight from the monastery. Sure, other students require you to build Byleth a certain way (unless you’re on new game plus and use renown to just get all the base stats and support levels needed to recruit early), but characters like Hanneman, Alois, Manuela and Shamir are all basically free at a certain point in the story, as are Flayn, Jeritza, Catherine, Cyril and Seteth depending on the route.

This is, needless to say, quite different from previous games, in which you would meet new characters that joined your party as you progressed, like Nowi in Awakening or Odin in Fates; characters you could encounter mid-level and talk to in order to have them join your team. I always found it a pleasant surprise when I could do that and build up my ranks as the story progressed, whereas in Three Houses, well... You more-or-less get everyone from the start. In a sense, I can see why that might be preferable, since you can start choosing a character’s build path much earlier (especially since this game’s progression system allows for way more freedom with each unit as opposed to other games) but I do the miss the surprise of encountering and recruiting friendly units as you progress.

Weapons Triangle

Alright, here’s the divisive one. Personally, I’m indifferent to the weapons triangle. I don’t love it or hate it, and I personally don’t mind if they choose to bring it back or leave it out forever. Some see it as another layer to the strategy of the game, and others view it as an arbitrary rock-paper-scissors mechanic that doesn’t really need to be there. Some see it as a staple to the series that should be maintained, and others a tired tradition that’s best left forgotten. In my opinion, the weapon triangle neither makes nor breaks the game, so I don’t mind wither way.

Shape-Shifters

While not exactly a hard staple of the FE franchise, I’ve always had a fondness for the transforming beast-people units; whether it’s the Laguz, Taguel, Manaketes, Wolfskin or Kitsune, I always enjoyed seeing what these races brought to the table both in terms of story and gameplay. Now, understandably they were left out of Three Houses because of the game’s focus on freedom for character progression, though I wouldn’t mind seeing them return in some capacity in the next game.

In-Universe Save-Scumming

And of course, we have the most recent reoccurring trend in the series: Mila’s Turnwheel, aka Divine Pulse, aka the “I made a bad move or an enemy got a lucky crit, so lemme just do that over” button. Honestly, I appreciate this. I know some super hardcore fans might dislike it for how it makes the game overall easier, but being able to turn back the clock and re-strategize your approach to something is a feature that I genuinely hope is here to stay. I mean, let’s be honest: IS knows that players are gonna save-scum when the RNG works against them, so I appreciate that they give us a means of doing so without needing to shut the game off. I also like how it further emphasizes dragons’ power in the lore, with how they can casually manipulate time.

Anyways, these were just some of my thoughts and opinions for the future of the FE franchise. Feel free to reply with your own, or state (in a respectable manner) what you agree or disagree with.