#also because I don't normally play these games I don't know how to do ciphers

[dailyrandomwriter]

Day 534

For reasons I’m not particularly sure, I decided to purchase and play Escape from Mystwood Manor. 

And the reason for my uncertainty is because I don’t normally play escape room type games. In part, because up until a few years ago, there weren’t a lot of good ones, and playing a bad escape room game is an exercise in frustration. Doubly so for me, because I am actually not good at point and click adventure games of this style. Despite the fact I have a long wishlist of these types of games I’d like to play.

It helps that escape room games (and most point and click adventure games) have a lot of design overlap with hidden object games. A genre that I’ve been playing since I was in high school. This is important, because games like these tend to recycle or share a lot of the same puzzles or puzzle mechanics.

Which brings up once more this fascinating topic about assumed knowledge that I talked about before when writing about gaming tutorials.

Especially since puzzles tend to have a lot of cultural context with them, on top of the required reading, math or critical thinking skills needed. For example, the most common type of puzzle in these types of games are puzzles that use an analog clock either for the clue or for the puzzle itself.

However, that requires you to know how to read an analog clock. In a society where most people use their phones as their clock, and there is a clock on every kitchen appliance and computer, analog clocks have become more of a decoration than a timekeeping device for most people. Yet, this is a very common puzzle piece. Then again, most people who play these games are around my page, and I am a child of the 90s, so…

But the most interesting recent example of how a puzzle requires cultural context was in Mystwood Manor. One of the puzzles was a passage from Little Red Riding Hood, where woods were redacted (blacked out) and the clue was that you would determine what the blacked out words were, and the order they came in was the answer to the puzzle.

Here’s the thing though, depending on your childhood, or where you lived/grew up, you might not be familiar with Little Red Riding Hood. Little Red Riding Hood is a very western fairytale, and not even a particularly popular one by today’s standards. If you never heard the story, how hard would have it been to figure out what those blacked out words were? It may have been particularly hard, because all those blacked out words were hitting very well known story beats in that fairytale.

And I think that’s interesting.

[hoboblaidd]

Today's headcanon is a bit different. It's about people knowing whether Solas is the Dread Wolf during Inquisition.

tl;dr - absent a very compelling reason, normal people wouldn't know he's Fen'harel. He is cagey about his past,and at a certain point it’s clear something is going on, but there is no connective tissue between him and Fen'harel until we learn that last piece of information.

In hindsight, yes, there are clues all over the place that he's the Dread Wolf. He's got a lot of little giveaways in dialogue, but they're more subtle than say Blackwall's dancing around his reveal. It's like "a puzzle with only half of the pieces", to quote Dorian, or trying to figure out a message hidden in a picture without the cipher that unlocks its meaning. Once you have the cipher - Solas is Fen'harel - the clues are obvious. But without it, he's just an increasingly enigmatic font of knowledge on all things related to the Fade. Even the Evanuris warned that he excels at disguising himself. If they couldn’t ferret him out, neither can a normal person.

Solas' lies are founded in truth, which makes them more believable. Look at his conversation with Blackwall about Skyhold: "How did you find this place?" "I looked." It's cagey, but it's also true and in character. It fits perfectly with what the game has told us about him since Haven. All of his half-truths do. When asked why he's guarded, he believably explains it away as being a wary apostate surrounded by a Chantry that would turn him Tranquil if he was in a Circle. He says as much to Vivienne. As the game goes on, there are more cracks in his story ("when were you last at court?"), but none of them lead to the "Dread Wolf."

The Temple of Mythal is a place where I can reasonably see people being like "hang on." I was when I first played. But I didn't connect it to "Dread Wolf" because there wasn't that cipher/connective tissue we need to reach that conclusion. At most, I thought he might actually be a sentinel. That's a more logical step than "he knows a lot about elves so he must be the elven god of trickery and rebellion." There's simply no foundation for that leap.

My measuring tape for this is Vivienne and Bull. They're both incredibly clever, and if anyone was to ferret out his secret based on his guarded responses, it'd be them. They are suspicious of his "lack of personal history" and unique style of magic. But even they, shrewd as they are, don't reach the Dread Wolf conclusion. No one does unless the Inquisitor finds the 4 clues in Trespasser, and that's two years after Corypheus' defeat.

Yes, his magic is very old, but during Inquisition he's not at full power. He's basically half of himself. Compare his magic in Inquisition versus Trespasser: in Trespasser, it's effortless, while in Inquisition, his magic is nothing more than what we see from Dorian or Vivienne. Neither Dorian nor Vivienne comment on him having great power. Vivienne even digs that his magic is unrefined. The only times we see him exhibit more power than we'd expect are: (1) the effortless torch lighting right before the journey to Skyhold; (2) his removal of the vallaslin; and (3) his shutting down Cole's empathetic reach into his feelings/memories.

People can't "sense" he's the Dread Wolf, or even someone with a huge powerbase. Cole is an exception, one I might make for other spirit muses. They might clock him as very old, living in a time where "the songs were the same", but even Cole's lines about him are not explicitly "Dread Wolf" related until Trespasser.

[mumatsi]

Bill Cipher was in my weird dream last night so I documented it at 3 AM through these sketches!

Have fun reading this absolute fever nightmare 0.0

(Start Text)

So, I was in a "carnival" but I was also part of an organization tasked with a very important rescue mission. But I didn't wanna be there and felt guilty for some reason

Then we were in a capsule thing and normal people thought we were part of the carnival. So no one suspected anything.

Depiction of capsule: (Image) Red lights, white + silver walls. Watch guard of the team. Nintendo switch he always played. TT switch.

We had a switch with the ability to reset time back to when our capsule had first arrived to the carnival. We needed to rescue the "timeline" here because an entity was going to destroy the world here through the carnival somehow. For some reason the carnival had Poppy Playtime themed rides IDFK why.

Suddenly my head turned towards a dark hole leading into a tunnel attraction. And something ripped the fabric of reality.

Tunnel depiction: (image) rip in reality

It was far away from me but in full view. It looked childish but things felt scary once the rip appeared.

I am not even joking, the entity that came out of the rip was BILL CIPHER. I knew I was obsessed with GF but I never thought something this random would happen?? It was kinda exciting!! :D

(Image) "sup I'm in ur dream" "omg!"

Too bad becase he was so fucking scary in the dream I couldn't even get excited! He moved so fast and was silent the whole time.

(Image) My Teammates DIED.

I suddenly ran to the switch inside the capsule and activated it by holding it for 3 seconds, idk how I knew to do that.

(Image) playing games on nintendo. holding switch.

When I went in, guard guy (GG) was plsying games. I asked what was going on and he took off his headphones to say "The entity came before us, hold the switch so we can restart the mission" then went back to gaming. I held the switch, it all went white, and...

It reset. We were all alive. Nobody was aware. When I tried to say it, they did not care. GG told me to "call him for resets instead of running back to the capsule everytime" EVERYTIME?? That was going to repeat???

The same thing happened more than I could count. We tried to detect the anomaly causing the entity but in the end Bill showed up and I had to call GG for a reset, each time. My teammates died a lot but I didn't. Each reset seemed to change my teammates. All of them except for me and GG. Then I finally figured it out.

(Image) "As long as we keep people away, we're safe."

Going near the tunnel is what really triggers his appearance.

I tried to tell them but they knew something I didn't, I was untrustable.

(Image) "DON'T LEAVE!" "LOL nope."

They went in. I couldn't scream as THEY died too.

(Image) !? ?!

I called GG for a reset. But it didn't happen... Again and again and again. He was not answering. WHY???

(Image) "Bzzt!! Bzzt!!!" "Zzz"

He fell asleep. He didn't hear my calls through his headphones. He was too busy on his slacking off that he tired himself out.

(Image) "NAME." "oh."

Then I heard my own mom's voice call me. Very mad and low.

(Image) lol

Before I knew it, I got thrown so hard that all my bones broke and reattached in less than 2 seconds.

Bill said "You're weird!" very happily, I took the chance to recover and run for the switch.

(Image) "I know how weird you are!"

I ran in, Bill laughed and made no attempt to stop me. I couldn't look back as the door closed behind me and the red lights turned back on.

(Image) HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAAHA

I started holding the switch, also tried talking to GG but he was unresponsive.

(Image) *click* "GG?? u ok??" "......"

3..2..1.. it all went white.

Then I woke up. Idk what that was but I wanna go back. What happened to GG? Why was Bill Cipher there too?? Why the hell was the carnival Huggy Wuggy themed??? Idfk. It was AWESOME!!!

(Image) "WTF. that was EPIC..."

(End text)

Yeah... If you read all of this, thanks! Let me know what you thought because I am still very confused about this dream.

[tiredassmage]

i'm being so fucking normal about it (smuggler campaign as a post-imperial intelligence life for cipher nine). (no i'm not.)

not even nine, but it's easy to make that extra assumption when it's tyr i'm playing au barbie dolls with.

(this is your fair warning that this is a ramble + naturally agent & smuggler spoilers)

because there's something in tyr's relationship with ardun kothe i'm not sure i ever quite expounded on or explored, so brief sidetrack from the original thought i guess: tyr and ardun only work the way they do because they don't push in the utterly critical confrontation that is when kothe finds him on corellia. tyr is only allowed his fairly substantial amount of faith and trust in the man because kothe listens when tyr tells him about the star cabal, and doesn't try to arrest him anyway.

because as deep down as tyr's ideals go, as much as he wants that path to work for them, that 'job' of stopping the star cabal, of stopping hunter, was far, far too important to get sidetracked from breaking himself out of republic custody. if ardun kothe had insisted on taking him in, tyr would have been obligated to resist - not out of loyalty to the empire, exactly. he's well past that. but because he has a job to finish, and... it was too important to let anyone - anyone - stand in his way. which is that... depth to tyr's loyalty i don't think a lot of people get to see. because the ones that oppose him? one way or another, he usually finds his way through. and the ones that have stuck around to support him? tend to bring out the best in him. they haven't tended to put him in scenarios where he has to push against arguably long or even near-impossible odds.

but he will. because tyr doesn't know how to quit, really. he doesn't have a 'give up' bone in his body.

so, anyway. before i entirely lose my own plot. i bring up corellia then to point out, with myself and with tyr, tbh, that ardun kothe's offer of keeping legate 'on the team' over the black codex decision never is exactly... in writing. it's not an 'i'll pull you out of this' promise. it is very much ardun asking tyr to stay put in the empire. and maybe a career intelligence operative like himself should mistrust that, but he doesn't. someone that isn't tyr in that scenario might argue it's just a long game leaving nine in place as someone to take the fall when the sis inevitably needs the convenient scapegoat. hell, tyr might've made that argument for someone else if he was the outsider looking in. but he's not the outsider. he was there, and that's coloring his judgement of the situation. and the situation at the time is that tyr doesn't need ardun to promise him explicitly that this is a way out of the imperial noose. it's enough to be fighting for a cause he actually believes in again, even if the banner colors are still a bit unsettling.

but in the long run? nine's not exactly wanted in either side. i love interpreting the makeb mission with tyr at its head as a 'damned if you do, damned if you don't' borderline suicide assignment. the empire's there to be interested in makeb because of intelligence gathered by the last dregs of imperial intelligence before it was gutted like a fish and scrapped for parts, so send one of the ex-ciphers you still have a close eye on, that you think is still under the dark council's thumb, if need be. if he fails, if the team fails, yes the empire loses a critically needed edge in the war, but it's also an incredibly convenient way to get rid of an operative that's been testing the limits of their displeasure for several years now, that the dark council already once threatened to eliminate. if he succeeds, great, the empire benefits, he lives by the slim mercy of marr's continued tolerance of his service.

but ardun kothe's sis team didn't act with a lot of oversight. it's a safety risk to have 'cipher nine' attached to anything that benefited the republic. it's the reason the ruse of double agent can still stick and be useful, but it also means nine's reputation to the republic is still one of the empire's top agents, one of the republic's most wanted enemies.

in the long run of things, does cipher nine have a place on either side of this war? what the hell's a cipher without the imperial intelligence that made them?

so every so often i still marinate in how delightful it was to play with all of that as sort of background context dropping him in the smuggler campaign. tyr was once nearly a trained pilot of the imperial navy before he was tapped for intelligence, after all. flying's one of his secret joys in life, if you will. and, sure, the titular smuggler ends up in a republic-leaning alliance anyway, but the smuggler can afford to answer to themselves first and foremost, if they so choose. there's a kind of agency of your own fate there that's absolutely breathtaking for an ex-agent. it would be a little liberating to say you're not in it for a side, wouldn't it? and what's so entirely different about making calls on these kinds of jobs as it was as an agent?

it's... out. at least for a little while. what if, for once... he allowed himself 'out' being as 'simple' as taking on another job? scrub the kaasi accent for a rainy day, fall back to something a little more roaming and pockmarked with blaster fire that served him well as the red blade on hutta, or a prison breaker on belsavis? pick a new name and just. go. an agent like him has a fair amount of skills that'd benefit a smuggler to begin with.

and then the republic's eventual encroaching involvement and alliances adds something even more deep and complex. this is the kind of freedom he personally fought for. he knows what the ideals look like on paper. he's not blind; every system has its flaws, but he still believes it's lightyears improved than tangling with the fickle whims of sith every day. at least when he gambles with his life as a smuggler, it's more or less on terms he himself designated with his own information on the table.

but then it turns out the senator that orchestrated a lot of these more republic-aligned jobs sold out to the empire. and that 'old friend' you and one of your long-time companions trusted was also an imperial agent playing at double.

and you didn't see it coming. the problem was right underneath your nose, and you still danced to their music. everything you told yourself you'd given up, everything you'd promised yourself you'd get away from - that determination not to just be a cog in the machine again.

and you didn't see it. how painfully obvious in hindsight. you should've known better. you know how this game is played. why weren't you looking? why'd you ever let yourself fall for the sense of security that maybe, just maybe, this was all working?

sure, not without its own misadventures, but you were prepared. you know how to take care of yourself, after all.

and so the betrayal cuts all the deeper. not that it seems your new enemies know (thank the stars they don't know, else this would-be sanctuary would be all the more a house of cards, ready to be swept away from you again). it's personal. maybe even more than it is about those ideals on paper republic senators spend their careers debating about.

and it's so delicious! god... and managing to hold onto that? managing to keep fighting for it? to keep it, after such a near fall? because tyr oliver (now, that's who you are now. just as genuine as the first) doesn't know how to quit. especially not when things count.

[misscrawfords]

I really want to like Citadel because it ticks all my boxes for a glossy, not too serious spy thriller. And it is entertaining enough for me to keep watching. Stanley Tucci is especially awesome. But I am left a bit cold.

It's extremely predictable, like a paint-by-numbers spy thriller. Even the plot twists are predictable. After episode 4 I am hoping desperately that it might go somewhere interesting with Abby and it turns out she's playing a long game for some third party that isn't Citadel or Manticore, but I'm not holding my breath. If she has lost her memory too it feels a bit pointless. If she hasn't and she's just trying to get revenge that feels a bit obvious.

It also makes me miss when seasons were about 20 episodes long because I feel like this could really benefit from being slowed down and drawn out. I feel very little investment in the characters because I haven't had a chance to get to know them. Without investment, the stakes are very low and I don't care about the outcomes of the plot. I want to spend several episodes with Kyle and his family getting to know their dynamic so I actually care about him discovering that his other life will take him away from them and put them in danger, so that I feel some kind of emotion other than "lol predictable" when it turns out Abby has a secret past. I want to build up Citadel as this amazing force for good so that I feel pain and shock at the idea it isn't good. I want to be introduced to Manticore by stealth so they feel truly threatening. I have no investment in these characters so it doesn't matter whether they are good or evil, they're just spy thriller archetypes who deliver snappy one-liners at each other and look hot. Kyle literally discovers he's a spy in a past life he doesn't remember and he's really chilled out and just has all his spy reflexes. Like, where's the drama in that? Who cares?

I'm also baffled as to why the show keeps telling the audience everything. It's a spy thriller! Mystery and suspense should be part of the plot and pleasure of watching! But instead we are immediately introduced to Manticore and their motivations, everyone talks explicitly about everything, spelling out as if the audience is stupid exactly what is going on and who is suspicious of whom. Constant flashbacks mean we have a clear idea of how the past affects the future. It just... doesn't leave the viewer to do any work. You couldn't watch it a second time and think "ohhhh the red flags were all there now I know the truth!"

At this point, I'm actively rooting for Manticore to turn out to be the good guys all along because Cipher seems like such a bunch of arrogant losers. They keep all the nuclear codes in the world in one briefcase. What? Why would they do that? Why would any do that? Is it just me, or is that a TERRIBLE idea? Why are all the operatives we see American? I get that it's an American show and of course the world revolves around America so heaven forbid any of the heroes should genuinely be based elsewhere in the world and be culturally diverse, but if you have a global spy network that is unteathered to any particular nation... why does it read like any old lazy pastiche of a US secret spy ring? So unbelievably boring! What a missed opportunity.

I can't help compare it to Alias and its slowburn of revelations and twists and character investment or Chuck where even though it's light-hearted, you get totally invested in the characters and relationships and the tug between a normal life and spy life. Both of these things are totally missing in Citadel. Which is a shame because it has such a good cast and an intriguing premise.

[ariapmdeol]

I don't think I have to sign these anymore lol but still, 8:11 anon back once more

Yeah I noticed that S was canon, considering the start of the DLC implies such. I should have been patient, my bad.

Purple? Damn it genuinely looks blue. Easy mistake to make, thank you for clarifying. And noted on the ending conditions, it's all very interesting just how much matters.

Kanou even in death and specifically after threatening Atou, still wants to help out. RIP <3 and I figured something akin to that? My running theory was that he might have been a doll at that point or something of the sorts.

I'll finish what's currently in the playlist and then see about contacting you, thank you.

UTSUGI THE WET CAT THAT REALLY NEEDS THERAPY PLEASE THIS MAN. They all suck. All these men suck and that's why they're so incredibly good characters.

Oh, do you have links to those solved ciphers, if you don't mind? They sound fun!

And oh! I completely forgot about Seodore disappearing from the picture and seemingly his entire existence. I assume that has to do with the DLC start sequence, so I won't ask but am very intrigued.

All these changes are so incredibly cool. This game is awesome. I wish I had better words but it's just so goddamn good.

I'll also reply to the music answer as well: WEEEE glad my instinct was correct!

If I may, next one for consideration because I have Hajime and Utsugi brainrot: The Good In Me by Jon Bellion. Without thinking it over twice. Yes I am going insane over these characters I love gay tragedies where both parties really need help.

And!! I am so willing to shout about 8:11 once you start playing it. So good

I HOPE YOU HAVE FUN WITH THE DLC!! the first scene of the dlc is actually one of my favorites in the whole game (oughghgh i understand whats going on there i explode).

I'll put the solved ciphers under the cut, though be warned that they won't make sense to you yet! These show up in DLC and the DLC 2020 credits, and i'll end with the ones from the artbook (alas no images for those bc we're not supposed to share artbook things publicly BUT i think the ciphers are fine).

YEAH. YEAH YEAH YEAH!!!! THIS GAME IS SO GOOD. every single detail is planned out in INCREDIBLE DETAIL, there's foreshadowing for things that only show up in Interlude as early as chapter FOUR. I HIGHLY recommend a rewatch after catching up completely, as certain information completely changes the context and makes some documents stand out more sdakjdkaslj. this game is so good COE forever!!!!! like. the ending variations mean EVERYTHING YOU DO MATTERS, and makes it VERY difficult to get S root first try (the youtube TL showed this, but there is unique text if you get S root without getting any of the others first. Similarly, if you do S and then E root, there is bonus text (Which the youtube TL showed as well!)

ohh this is an interesting pick for hajime and utsugi! I think it's very neat :D im not as familiar with the lyrics for this one but i think its a cool choice! my personal hajime and utsugi picks are With a Billion Worldful of ᐸ3 - Mili and 神曲 - R sound design (THERES A REALLY PRETTY ANIMATIC FOR THIS ONE BUT IT'S DLC SPOILERS orz ILL SHARE WHEN YOU CATCH UP).

ciphers: some have screenshots, some don't! anything bolded was encrypted.

DLC record 4: (italics is red text)

This is a concept you shouldn't know. Dante sealed it away. What right do you have to access this place? If this information were to be disclosed, it would be unstoppable. I need to do this to the end. I hope that those who have inherited the Sephira factor share the same motive as I.

DLC 2020 Credits:

reference definition: earth execution name: line A target period: 1912-2019

the border says 'square circle'

Draft: God

ARTBOOK:

the image of the Lantern says 'Protagonist'

the image of a certain character and with a horrifically warped text box says (bold is one cipher, bold+italics was in a diff cipher, normal text was displayed normally):

Unhandled writing operation has occurred in record __. ‘saving data…’ Error: player character does not exist. 2019-05.

fukao why did you do this one in two different ciphers. FUKAO. EVERY OTHER CIPHER IS THE SAME ENCODING EXCEPT FOR THE 2019-05 FUKAO WHY DID YOU DO THIS TO ME (this last one stumped me for a long time. i learned a lot of random skills in order to study cell of empireo)

[goddessalexissara]

Trying To Predict Fire Emblem Engages Emblem Roster

So with Engage coming out with 4 waves of DLC, I've already said who I wanted, but if we want to try and figure out who actually will show up we can use a few methods. A is using vibes, purely the vibes, this person has the vibe of someone who might get in. B is using history, these are the characters IS choses to highlight in media, they get the most FEH alts, Cipher Cards, they were in Awakening DLC with new art, etc. C is using story importance, which is a subjective mater, mostly vibes but you could basically go "characters who appear in cutscenes and typically can't die". D is by popularity, using Chose You Legends Polls we have the data IS uses to sell us units, we know they use it to make banners.

Here is me doing method D, which is an easy to do method of looking at the newest CYL, most modern fanbase opinions and the winners because we have no idea how well they would have done in future polls. We also have no idea how well the Three Hopes characters would do cuz they weren't out last CYL.

If purely on popularity, Gatekeeper would be our next DLC character technically he got the most votes other than Edelgard ever. However, we all know those votes were puffed up by bots. I also put Lysethia there twice, that was an accident. I also don't think Adult Tiki or Female Byleth could show up as anything but skins for their counter parts.

Ultimately I think popularity is a very small factor for the DLC, they already put in the most popular Fire Emblem character of all time in the DLC and it's bought as a pass. I think it will matter a lot but it won't be like, we can't do this if they weren't in the top 50 of CYL. Maybe top 100 is more the cut off but I didn't wanna keep putting things on a list.

The final method we could use outside of hacking IS's computers and then just seeing what they are working on is method E, the mechanical method.

Instead of thinking about things that aren't going to add to the function of the DLC like the deepest lore and stuff, we only focus on what unique things a character could bring to the table. This does include some fairly popular characters for the games but also some not as much popular characters. For the examples I just picked the characters I like most to fill the examples here but a lot of these have more options I simply didn't include because i'm not betting on them.

So number one is Robin, they are mechanically significant because they could recall into any class sure but that became a standard feature. They also have a fairly unique class, sword plus magic but three houses also added that to the pool. Instead what Robin has is narratively unique mechanics. Robin is the big bad with the power to revive the dead, corrupt people and turn into their true giant evil dragon form. This instead is what makes Robin stand out because their a playable character with this kind of ability as opposed to just normal baddies who might also have that but aren't like usable in the games. I think Robin can bring dark dragon transformation and some of the enemy mechanics to the player side.

I think the avatar mechanic is already covered but I did want to put Kris there just to like mention, that is mechanically significant but we have Byleth and Corrin. Similarly Minerva I put here because I think she represents a mechanic type better than any other character, the axe flying wyvern rider. She is so big to the developers and does play a very special role mechanically in the series she deserves a little shout out.

Now we have our thief lords, these two basically are especially important thief characters. A type of character who could bring super thief abilities to the table could bring in mechanically some significant special strategies. It seems like a solid set of mechanics to throw in as bonus content.

Dancers are a series staple but only a few of them are like super important in their stories, I didn't include Ryson but Leanne is standing in for her whole family. I think Azura is probably a dead lock for the DLC but I think a special dancer presents mechanically some new avenues. We know Byleth can do a 4 way dance with their best move but other advanced dances could be brought in, dances that do buffs, dances that add extra move, dances that give you immunity to break, etc.

TMS and Heroes are both mechanically different games that IS apparently owns the rights to. TMS is basically just engage but in modern day and Heroes is like Engage but a gacha. Still they both bring in mechanics that are not present in Engage that could be represented through a representive from their games. They would represent the game itself more then themselves as a character bringing in like specials or elemental magic systems or whatever. Idk that any of these happen but their worth showing here.

Then we have the Pegesus sisters, the characters in the most games and the original users of The Triangle Attack. We don't know if this mechanic is returning but this ring could provide a version of the mechanic if it isn't. Lining up Three Fliers next to a unit so long as one has this ring allowing for a super special attack or damage. In general they could add some more positioning importance on the player phase.

Of course we have the beasts, the best of the best here. Beast units are present in 4 games in the series. These units are very popular even if they don't place at the top of popularity polls. Mechanically each kind of beast has something a little different but the core is they shapeshift into an animal of some kind and use that as their method of fighting. Having beast transformation would be something totally new and bring that to players allowing them to experience a fairly significant part of FE history through an emblem ring since at present we do not know if any beast units will be in the game, although it is always possible they are simply unrevealed. It could even be a set up for the story, maybe there is a secret nations of beasts of fled the lands afraid of humans and the emblem rings play a story role along with the new mechanical role. Doubt that's what will happen but it's possible.

Then we have our final few units here, these are units who are wholly uniquely positioned in the franchise. Summoner is the only Fire Emblem character to ever have a gun. Xane is a shapeshifter who is able to turn into your allied units, which could make for an amazingly fun ring. Hector is the only armored lord in the series making him the most significant armor character by far. Tanith has a very unique mechanic the likes of which we will likely never see again, she was able to press a button and summon allied units, generic pegesus fliers that you could use in battle. Tanith's ability might be a little similar to the summoner class but unlike that class these are explictly soliders that exist in the army, a ring could push that mechanic allowing allied units to spawn on the map. Then Elenica's class is wholly her own, a staff/sword/flier is a wildly fun combo allowing for some of the strongest healing in the series. This unique class positioning allows for her to provide a lot of interesting things in terms of mechanics.

----

Alright here is me rambling about methods we can use to try to predict DLC for this game. Ultimately we don't know the number of extra emblems we're getting, it could be as low as 4 new rings and the high ceiling is infinite. So without those kind of boundaries we really don't even have a means of calling accurately. If I had to say a 4 most likely I'd say like Robin, Azura, Hector, Camilla totally on vibes right now my main hope is that there is just a decent amount of women represented. I'd like the gender ratio on emblems to go back to 50/50 [at present men have 1 more unless there is a secret 13th ring and that secret ring is a woman like Alears mom or Female Robin]. It be really easy for the game to just add a bunch of men because their the most important characters and call it a day.

Ultimately, I believe this will be a mix of methods, where they kind of consider all the factors, looking at their time frame, and decide what it is they want in their game. At 30 bucks I do hope we see at least 8 more engage rings, preferably 10 to match the 12 emblem rings in game. For now, we just have to wait and see. Tell me who you want or think will get in.

[af1899]

FEH - My themed teams

Themed teams are part of the fun in Fire Emblem Heroes for me, as it's a way to put favorites together and even make a full team with all/some of their variants, while most of my teams are purely technical (i. e.: of a movement type, for a specific event, for lead units friends can use, etc.), I have made 5 themed teams that I keep and love, feel free to check them out right below, along with a few facts about me as a bonus:

She's so precious she has her own team! 💜🥺

One of my biggest favorites and a true sweetheart, I'm fond of both the original design and the revamp on FEH and the Cipher, she's too lovable and wholesome.

Her Fallen alt is indeed a project of mine but not one I use much, once Julia gets a colorless version, I'll replace this alt out in the team.

The best team ever

It includes my three most appreciated characters in the Fire Emblem series as well as Sara who I'm strongly fond of from Thracia 776.

I like green too

I sort of have a knack for this color in long hair, and fortunately, the cast in the series is not short of them. The designs are all beautiful and unique, plus each of them feels rather soothing to look at.

Annand and Erinys are specially noteworthy because they're both sisters actually, and they both are on the good side but only one of them is playable in Genealogy of the Holy War.

Despite Annand being a minor character, I always wanted to play a game in which she's officially playable, and this is one of the good things in Heroes: normally non-playable characters can actually be under your command and this game is free and easy to get around, which is nice.

Annand would probably be the biggest surprise here, I always quite liked her design and strong-willed yet kind personality, not exactly Julia-like though, but she's still a friendly girl. I was happy to see that I.S. remembered her.

The one and only rainbow tome theme so far

For appreciation post detailing why I like her so much, refer to it in here.

This team was made to celebrate her Legendary alt's addition and early acquisition soon after my birthday, as well as the completion of my first full rainbow team with same character.

Did I mention that I love how she smiles?

The sweetest team

I tried to aim for one girl of each color, based on these conditions:

Angelical designs: these girls all inspire calmness and possess a feature that strongly reminds me of angels.

Personality: it's mandatory that they show genuine kindness/tenderness/calmness in some form of another.

Sophia might look like the least fitting member here, and can't blame you if you think that way tbh, it's just that I was in need of a red member so that I didn't have to put OG Julia (because I've already placed a unit of her class) so I went with Sophia to complete the gang.

She's actually a dark magic user and a half-dragon, half-human girl, but she's so calming to look at and talk, showing also a great deal of wisdom, specially to matters related to her homeland in Nabata, Elibe.

Might put Hoshidan Summer Micaiah here later since she seems to fit the concept even better, but Idk for now, I'm happy with the team as it is.

And there's something in common among all of them

Yes, all those teams include only female characters, this is more about me so if you were only interested in the themed teams, don't read any further.

Anyway...

While it could just be said that it's because of natural attraction, that's not exclusively true and I'd like to say there's a deeper reason to it than only that.

Actually, I've always felt like I could overcome more of my own socialization problems Irl, when trying to talk to a girl rather than with a guy, during my studies at both high-school and school, I was often called for by my male classmates for making verbal jokes, and sometimes guys from other grades too (leading me to think they weren't genuine friends and some were rough or too tiresome to interact with). A few of them were actual friends which is nice, and were there for me and viceversa, but oftenmost I found myself more comfortable around girls, and even feeling confident to try to talk to the ones I used to feel shy to approach.

At least, this is how I believe my interest on fictional female character stems from, because I feel a similar sentiment and they often feel more approachable or friendlier than a guy, but this doesn't mean that I will never train a single guy in any given game there are some playable, or refuse the idea of a male-only game if there's fun awaiting, like on Team Fortress 2 which actually seems like fun.

For example, I'm very fond of Leif from Fire Emblem: Thracia 776, to the point I think of him as the best [Lord], and he is. He's not your usual [Lord], because unlike most of them, Leif was forced to flee from his hometown to rescue his closer allegiances (Nanna and Mareeta) from Raydrik's forces and had little resources to obtain and use later in his quest through Thracia (often having to capture enemies and take their possessions), he often had to watch the dire and unfair situation in his homeland, the southern half, suffering due to the infertile lands unlike the north. He's a good guy with a strong heart and disposition to learn new things, specially since he's well aware he's unable to wield the weapon of one of the Twelve Crusaders unlike his sister, who he didn't even know he had. His studious and diligent nature manifests in his promotion in FE4, which is why he becomes such a powerhouse able to use most non-preference weapons.

I also like Lex, he's a friendly guy with a playful and somewhat caring side, teaming up with Azelle since he was worried Azelle went off alone to help Sigurd and they're both quite close friends.

Veld is also kind of interesting, he's the big cheese behind nearly everything evil going on in Thracia, and sadly he's an easy boss, which seems a waste for such epic battle theme:

Eliwood also seems like the kind of guy I'd like and Hector is often fun to interact with, I specially like his dialogues with Oswin, they're real fun. (Oswin for FEH when?)

And I could go on but this is something I wanted to talk about me.

Thank you!

It sure was quite a long post, was it not? But I do hope you've come to enjoy reading it and thanks so much for checking it out!

[strawberrus0da]

Gonna put everything under the cut cause I have a lot of thoughts on this but I completely agree. I might contradict myself but tbh the collector contradicts themselves all the time and it's all kinda dependent on the scenario they're in. They kinda just roll with everything with varying levels of possibly menacing enthusiasm or glee.

I think a lot of people ignore the duality of their character(which is a fitting word btw considering their entire design practically screams duality). They aren't Bill Cipher 2.0., they aren't inherently malicious, and they aren't just an innocent, misguided child or a kid who’s oblivious to what they can do.

They are a child, they have the outlook of a child, and aren't always aware the effect their actions have on people. They don't really think of other people or emotions beyond their own and in general have a very self-centered worldview. They definitely didn’t realize why tearing apart the titan skull to create an “owl house” would cause problems.

That scene really is just a kid thinking about the next game they're gonna play. They probably thought everyone was just as hyped as they were about playing it. The fact that everyone kept telling them how fun “Owl House” was definitely cemented this belief which is evident in this line:

They also probably would’ve done anything to get free and after who knows how long being trapped and alone inside an interdimensional pokeball that's completely understandable (even if they almost definitely did something to get themselves stuck in there). Which although their sense of morality didn’t really exist to begin with being trapped definitely skewed it even further which probably didn’t help matters.

That said, they still lack morals. And not entirely in a “not knowing it’s wrong” way either. They aren’t just completely ignorant of the things they've directly helped happen or how screwed up it is. It’s not really a question of being simply oblivious or indifferent here. (But it still doesn’t make them malicious because they still don’t really care about the day of unity happening one way or another, that was just a means to an end to them to be free, that doesn’t mean they weren’t excited to see it happen anyway and that doesn’t mean they don’t know what mass murder is or that mass murder is bad.)

(Side note: honestly who knows, maybe being exposed to Belos’s shittiness for 400 years rubbed off on them or something but anyway)

They gleefully talked about everyone going kabloom in the day of unity,

was amused by how many grimwalkers Belos killed and how fucked up he was, even suggesting they make another one(albeit not with killing hunter in mind or anything but it was a very menacingly delivered line),

and I also really don’t think they’re oblivious to the power and knowledge they have.

But at the same time, their first thought upon meeting King was an innocent game of hide and seek. I’m entirely convinced that they were just gonna play normal tag with the kids after menacing Belos.

They aren’t malicious or murderous, they don’t toy with people’s lives for a laugh, they’re not gonna turn the boiling isles into some personal fucked up playground for themselves, they’re not gonna take over and become a dictator or kill people for fun or whatever other messed up theory I’ve had the pleasure of coming across,

They really do seem to just want to play and have fun, it's just that their idea of that is capable of going in two wildly different directions. And neither of those directions should really be ignored in favor of the other in terms of understanding them.

Just. Like I said.

Duality.

Can't really mention one side without bringing up the other.

Yes the collector is a kid and should be treated as one. Yes the collector is terrifyingly powerful and allowed for absolutely horrible things to happen. THE TWO CAN COEXIST

[lovesick-syrup-selfships]

For the profovember ask game 3, 4, and 5 ♡ ♡ ♡

Kokichi: Well, My first impression of Judas was that I could probably use them as entertainment, yaknow, see if sto'd believe my lies, but turns out, lies don't seem to work on liars, I was surprised that cro could basically tell that I was lying immediately. So yeah, we lie to each other alot, but, its kinda how we communicate, sense we both know when the other is lying. That also has to be my favorite thing about mew, we're basically perfect for eachother.

Sonic.EXE: I kinda had the impression I have with most humans; that cog was foolish enough to play my game. I mean, yeah, I could tell ring was different, but yaknow, I still thought they were foolish. I mean, who plays a random game that they found on a blank dick with nothing but the words "Sonic.EXE" on it? But when it came to our relationship, it's actually, kinda normal? I mean, as normal as you can get for an evil god and a human. I protect fur from harms way, and in return, div makes sure I get a new victim to play with every so often. As for my favorite thing about doll, it'd have to be ura timidness, I find it cute.

Knuckles: As stated before, I though cu was a shapeshifter, and I still do think that, but I understand calli has no bad intentions. I also believe nostolgia to be, weak, not that it is bad, but until gear is a feirce warrior, I have made it my duty to protect kit. Thats mainly what our relationship is, which I have no problem with. As for favorites... I like nots eyes, they are a deep brown like the bark of a tree, or the darkness of the 'coffee' that hey like.

Bandu: Again, I thought diety was just the cutest thing I've ever seen. I knew from the moment I saw nyan! I mean, we basically are soulmates! As for our relationship, it's a bit iffy right now, but that's because odd can't seem to understand that the things I do for fox, I do for hym out of love and affection. I've been trying to think of ways to convince zier, but once glow is convinced, we'll certainly have the most perfect relationship. Honestly, I'm not sure if I can even pick a favorite thing about syringe, I just absolute adore every single thing about cipher!

Airy: I thought end was a bit weird when I met nem, but like, in a really cute way. We didn't start dating until awhile after I stopped Baby sitting tern, and our relationship was... interesting, to say the least. Neither of us are exactly too big on PDA, but when we're alone together, we're basically all over each other, its like we can't stand not being on top of each other for even a minute. I do like sugar voice too, its very pretty, especially when thy singing.

[tiredassmage]

I LIVED, BITCHES. Okay, let's see if I can run down my thoughts. SWTOR 7.3 thoughts, under a cut.

Yelling and related screenshots ahead!

Rivix, what the fuck are you playing at? Whore. Bitch. I don't fucking trust you. Asshole. This sly little fuck and his smug-ass face. God.

Kick his fuckin ASS Tau. Oh god oh no Oh fuck [kazoo noises]

THERON, DON'T LEAVE ME WITH HIM ALONE AGAIN THERONNNNNNN [WHINES PATHETICALLY AS THE CUTSCENE ENDS AND MY BOY IS DISMISSED FOR COMPANION TRADE OUT] oh god not both of them not Rivix AND Oggurobb someone is trying to kill Tyr today.

lmaooo why the FUCK is it floating so HIGH

Sa'har and Ri'kan's facial animations seem... better this patch. Slightly less staring into dead space, my soul, etc. Good for them.

THERON SHAN LOVERS REJOICE THEY FUCKING REMEMBERED HE EXISTED. THERON FLIRTS!!! THERON FLIRTS IN FRONT OF LANA!!! TYR STAY WINNING!!!!!

Shitheads flirt in the middle of an important mission brief and Lana makes exasperated noises, more at 11.

I was literally just chomping at the bit with a mut last night about Tyr's dynamic with Shae, I am SO GLAD I could rep some of that in game. [Two local bloodhounds have different bones and get into a pissing contest about it]

Malgus you bitch I hate seeing you I hate being here I hate this I hate it I hate it I hate it but at least. At least Tyr's not alone in thinking Shae's maybe getting a bit hotheaded and ahead of herself, but like that MALGUS of all people is the one sharing that concern god he fuckin' HATES it here when can he fuckin LEAVE

Anyway, Cipher Nine being hot again, (again) more at 11

WE INTERRUPT THIS BROADCAST TO FIND OUT TORIAN MISSION???? Brb almost in tears. That was really sweet. And tied into a later point, I love... pc actually sitting and conversing with companions this patch? Like normal friends? So incredibly incredibly human and all really really touching stuff and I'm going feral about the running theme this patch about outrunning the past or overcoming it and being more, being different, but destiny- aNYWAY I'm getting ahead of myself and also my bias for my own OC is showing again in interpretation

I. love. what we learned about Darth Null. Shoveling this into my face like I'm horking down spoonfuls of soup. [I NEED her lightsaber pray for my wallet, friends]

The chat with Arcann was... really nice. And oh my god PC's puppy face. This felt really needed. It adds a lot more to what felt so cut short and rushed through from KOTXX.

This did so so much for me for real fOR REAL.

Voss daily section is really good until it's really long. The bonus mission for doing 4 tasks DOES give you a 'chievo but GOD at what cost I was starting to lose my marbles.

Anyway it's fuckin' gorgeous scenery. I love the abundance of waterfalls.

The initial 'unlocks' of the actual dailies themselves are relatively involved though. Not necessarily a bad thing, but ough. A bit much for me to chew off like I did, at least.

Shrine of Silence does not count for that, btw. Didn't expect it to based on how they pitched it as separate from the crit path, but I really wanted to run it anyway. It was fun! I have NO fucking clue what happened in the last half of the boss fight but I only died once the whole run because I missed one of the many holes in the floor and went right through it lmaooooo. So no actual mech deaths. On story mode ofc bc it is me and my beau against this silly silly little world. MVP Theron + Droid fighting possessed bitches that got yeeted under the floor for me while Tyr just looks hot

Good job, boys!!! You got this!!!!

I know there's mixed feelings about the vague prophecy bullshit, but I will continue to eat that shit up. Tyr disagrees, he's so fucking tired of being everyone's solution god let this man rest but!!! Put that pretty bitch in SITUATIONS.

Overall, Dot-approved update. I shall remain intrigued to see how all of these threads are going to come together.