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yanderefairyangel · 1 year

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What Fire Emblem Fates did better then 3H

I know it's going to be shocking, but after finishing 3H I decided to go and compare it to a game it can actually compete, none other then its predecessor Fire Emblem Fates

So disclaimer, I am not doing this to say "if you like [insert game] you are wrong" or anything, just that after thinking about it, I felt the need to point out what Fates does good and better then a game simingly very much loved against one that is simingly largely seen as bad

1/At the crossroads

Both games have this peculiarity of being a multiple path game with each of them having it's own story while Fates was divided into 3 games, 3H was 4 path in one game.

However, Fates did this part much better.

Fates only has 5 chapter to replay compared to the 12 Three Houses forces you to go through and those 5 chapter are doing a better job at seeling the premise. White Clouds keeps dragging everything and makes you run in circles solving mysteries and mission until you finally get to the point where Jeralt dies. To put it simply, White Clouds is the 3H equivalent of the Awakening Valmian arc... it's a filler. I know, I know, it's supposed to "foreshadow and prepare everything" but how come Fates managed to do this with less then half of the chapter 3H needed to do this ?? Because White Clouds is literaly half of the game. HALF. And seeing how the routes lenght varries, with CF being the shortest, it's sometimes takes the bigger half of the game. This part of the plot might be to prepare the Agartans and yadi yada, no changing that it doesn' t gives the impression that you are moving foward, but rather that the plot stopped while Byleth is running in circle.

Fates has 5 chapter, but they are no filler. It doesn't feel like the plot is taking a break, instead it always gives the impression it is moving foward. This moves pretty well going from Corrin training at night with Xander, to them having to prove themselves to Garon, to the Canyon accident, to them ending up with Rikkah and Kaze, to them reuniting with Mikoto to them having to choose whom to side with.

Compared that to 3H where you have to choose very early on the House you side with all for it to have you end up having to replay the same freaking 12 chapters. Where in Fates the story was the same for 5 chapter, meaning the stakes were the same and that you could just save by that point and make your choice without having to replay the 5 chapters, 3H ask you to make a choice way too early and forced you to go through the same 12 chapters were the only difference are the line and some events depending on your Houses, meaning you have no way to escape it, with the only compensation being the NG+.

2/The stakes of the choice

I also appreciate the fact that Corrin knows what they are getting themselves into when they are making the big decision. Because I know some people tried to defend 3H by saying "foreshadowing, foreshadowing" and I don't care about this foreshadowing because there is no changing that Byleth had no idea they would go to war with their students when they choose a class, the only way for them to know what they are getting themselves into is in the Black Eagles route and when they followed Edelgard to Enbar. Only there can you say that, when the plot twist is revealed and that Byleth has to chose on whether they protect Edie or kill her. And the fact they can choose to "protect her" still meand at the end of the day, they didn't knew they were going to end up in a war !! Say what you want about Fates, but at least, it does this simple thing well and also, the fact that when you make a choice, there is no stakes !

You are told to choose in like chapter 1, you barely got to knew the students and why you should care about a house over another one. In Fates, at least there is stakes : Corrin has a reason to join Hoshido, wanting to discover the truth about Mikoto and defeating Garon, or to join Nohr, the people who raised them even if they know it means choosing the darkness. And finally, the fact that they can't choose between the two because they have those 2 stakes. This for instance makes the betrayal aspects and the tragedy aspects much more efficient because you don't even need to play any of the route first to get emotionally invested since Corrin loves both the Nohrian and the Hoshidan Royals. The Nohrian are people whom they love and who love them as family whereas the Hoshidan is the family that kept on waiting for them to return one day while they wished they could have got to known more about their birth country. In 3H can you really say it's the same ? Of course not. Byleth only gets to bond with the students they choose, not the two other houses leader so when they fight Eddie in VW and that she says "I wanted to walk with you" it makes no contextual sense since neither did she and Byleth intereacted enough for them to have such a relationship, it's entirely relying on the possibility that you may have finished CF before playing VW. And that's not counting the fact that none of the students between the different houses can bond without having you recruit them ! So the whole "I have to kill my classmate booooho" falls flat in every way because they aren't suppose to be friends. And even then, must I remind you that in your own classe they might not be friends ? Some of them have known each other for less then a year ! Other can sometimes not even stand each other !! There is a lot of supports that starts out like this and only in the A support that is to say AFTER the timeskip that they are friend. So... how the heck am I suppose to believe it ? How is that not emotional gaslighting from the narrative ? Take Dorothea for example, when she goes "Professor we kill Ferdie : (" how does it makes sense when her support with Ferdinand begun with her telling Ferdie she hates him and only in her A support can this be solved. So why would she feel sad ? Just because she knew him ? Nonsense.

This reduces the stakes in making the decision. And I get that choosing an House to teach is an easier decision then choosing whom to side with a war involving both of your families... do we see the problem here ? Do we see which choice as an actual stake and feel like an actual decision with pressure and tension ?

And that's not all. Now let's dig into

3/ Your choice don't really matter in 3H

Here is the thing. Aside from the story, there is nothing different in 3H. The monastery remains the same. The quest remains the same.

I already touched on it when comparing the Somniel to the monastery but the lack of diversity in the different path that 3H offers makes the choice even less interesting and with even less consequences. And for a game that braggs about politics, when you decision have little consequences, you know there is a problem.

3H has this big continent with 3 big countries and beyond. And in Garrech March you have people comming from all those different backgrounds. Choosing one Houses is like choosing one country, especially with the timeskip. However.

Things such as the outfits, the meals, the animals and other elements originating from those different regions of the world are all linked to the monastery. It doesn't matter which faction you choose, the same items will be avalaible. The same classes, the same outfit, the same meals, the same material etc. It's not : I choosed Blue Lions therefore I can only have outfits/meal/animals originating from Faerghus avaliable in the monastery. No. This doesn't exist. Even if you join the Golden Deer, you can access to pretty much everything originating from Faerghus via the monastery.

In Fates, that is simply not the case. My Castle is affected by Corrin's choice : the meal avalaible, the classes avalaible, the clothing, the ressources, the building you can create though the use of Dragon veins. Your choice matters, so it makes the My Castle phase fun. Monastery being the same no matter which route ? No fun. No fun at all, especially when the monastery phase during the Part 1 of 3H is literaly the same with only the story for a change. Same request, same missions, same tasks, same side dialogue from the NPC and the units. This is not possible. And even after the timeskip, the monastery phase remains pretty similar between the routes. The same can't be said about My Castle at all.

And then

4/ Art direction in the diversity

So, when Fates came out, there was a clear distinction between the 2 factions. Nohr being inspired by Westernian settings and Hoshido by Asian, especially medieval Japan. This can be felt in the weapon, the name of the character, their outfits, the music etc.

Can the same be said about 3h ?

For half of the game, everyone is dressed the same way. Now sure, their uniform is personalised to fit their personality and makes them stands out as character, but none of them stands out as a member of their Houses. Aside from the House leader, if I showed you one picture of one student and ask you out of context to which house they belong, would you immediately notice ? Of course not. Why would you ? I could make you believe that Lysithea is part of the Black Eagles and you could easily believe it. And while the countries in 3H do have distinct design after the timeskip... they are still close enough for the character to seems like they belong to the same faction. I could still take Post timeskip Hilda and make you believe she is from the Empire... speaking of the students looking interchangeable

5/ Recruiting students was a bad move

Alright, keeping up with what I said in point 3, recruiting all your students regardless of which House you choose is such a bad idea. Now granted, there are some character than you can't recruit or won't join you, but the majority of them will still be avalaible. This makes the stakes in choosing even lower. Because again, you can save your favorite character, you won't need to kill them. And the NG+ makes it even easier to recruit them all. This is pratically the only way to obtain a somewhat emotional tone when Ingrid, Sylvain or Felix when in CF they have to face Dima since you can't have that between character that have known each other for a year or less and sometimes barely get along... in fact, you need to recruit them for them to get to bond with the students of another class !!!

Fates ? There is indeed a neutral party, but the great majority of the character are linked to the country Corrin choose. You won't have Oboro joining you because Corrin made her some tea or bought her some gift or whatever of the sort. So you have character locked in those routes which gives you another reason then the story to choose the route. And the fact that Revelation allows all parties to join Corrin including supports to unlock gives you a reason to play Revelation, especially with the child units to unlock.

And this doesn't hurt the characterization.

In Fates, the fact that some character will literaly die to remain faithful to their faction is a great service done to their character showing their loyalty and their faith in their own cause.

The same can't be said about 3H especially when some of them just wanted to join Byleth's class and ended up trapped in a war that they didn't knew they were getting themselves into, so such a thing as Felix betraying his father doesn't exist in reality and this hurts the story as a whole.

6/ My castle is better then the monastery

What I said about Engage is truth for Fates as well, my Castle gives a stronger wordbuilding to Fates then 3H has. Cause here is the thing.

Kusakihara said for 3H's worldbuilding they wanted to create the atmosphere of world giving in its own history and has seducing as this idea is... it feels like an history book. Are history book fun to read ? I do not think so. In general they are tedious and boring, so imagine having to do that 4 times with no possibility to escape the expostion dumb with at least 12 chapter of common worldbuilding... torture. That's how it feels like. And I must also point out that the devs said about the worldbuilding in 3H that they made searches and a work worth 1000 year of worlbuilding but that no one kept up with what they came up with and such not only is it that everyone in the staff had a different understanding of it leading to no one knowing the whole story ...Let that sink for a moment. Cause when I did, it explained so much about the final product.

This right here explain why 3H's worldbuilding is much weaker then it should be. Because history is something that is supposed to be precise so when I hear that no one was keeping in check but that they kept adding bones to the skeleton without proper care.... yeah, that's not a good look at all. This makes 3H's world feel bland and liveless.

Fates at least bring it world alive and while not to the extent of Engage, the fact that My Castle can offer so many different features depending on the kingdom you choosed ... says a LOT about how much it makes the experience dynamic. And considering the JPN name of each game is based on the country (Fire emblem if : Kingdom of White night, Kingdom of Black Night and Invisible kingdom) it is pretty obvious that the focus was always on the word of Fates and creating a dynamic relationship with the player as he explores each side of those country while seeing what makes each of them unique. Now it must be noted that the English localization of Fates took a lot of liberties and erased most of those worldbuilding informations, but the point still stand.

And it should be noted that My Castle hurts much less the pacing of Fates then the monastery and it's mainly due to the fact that it is skippable.

Unlike for 3H were you have to host tea party or fish to gain teacher pet points, in Fates, you aren't required to skinship with any of your units, this thing's removal didn't affected much in fact. And it should be noted that in an interview for Hopes, the dev said that tea time was removed (replace with picknic)because "it was tacktless that you could have tea parties in the mist of a bitter war".... gotta saluate the self awareness

7/ Commiting

You know, for a game that gives you so much dialogue option as 3H, this is crazy how the game refuse to let you suffer any grave consequence right ?

Now, some nuance... watch this video

youtube

In this video the OP explains why choices don't really matter in the context of self inserting.

However, it's not Persona, but Fire Emblem and a game about war, and politics. Things in which your choices must have a consequence. What's the point of having Byleth being able to choose the destiny of Fodlan if they are left in such a passive position were only one of their choice freaking matter.

All that I said about the only choice mattering was concerning the main story is that it results in the game not having any real stakes. Really the game simply refuses to let you feel bad. The so called "grey morality" of 3H's story is actually nothing but a disguise for the narrative to never commit to anything in order to avoid the player feeling bad.

Don't wanna kill the students with whom you befriend in another route ? Easy, recruit them.

Don't wanna go through the same lenght as in your first playthrough ? Easy, Ng+.

Don't wanna lose some ressources that are originating from only one of the country you choose ? Easy, they are all linked to the monastery so they are all available.

Don't wanna feel guilty about your choice ? Don't worry, there is no bad side, everything is relative and even the real side of history is doubtful. Why do you think people are still thinking the Nabateans actually enslaved the Agarthans despite the fact the devs answered to that question in their interview ? Because 3H creates more question then it answers and not in a good way. Cause it's not creating a dialogue, it's more that this game is afraid of commitment and thus hide behind "mysteries" or "ambiguities". 3H doesn't want to invalidate any of the route to make the player feels validated in any way but does Byleth have the opportunity to reflect on their choice ? No. Never. Why would they considering they don't really make a choice ?

However, Fates for all its flaw is not that kind on Corrin. While gone with the localization, the JPN version has a lot of instance of Corrin questioning their choice after experiencing a failure or a loss. Regreting their days at Nohr or thinking they should have sided with Hoshido after all. And you will suffer the consequence of your choice. Doesn't matter which one you played first, all the character you befriend will die or suffer if you choose the opposite faction. And you won't have the same ressources nor the same gameplay experience. So Fates is clearly not afraid of commitment.

3H never tries to make you feel bad and the fact that you are asked to choose at the very begining of the story to choose a House when you couldn't bond with other students and therefore think you lost something, especially when you get to bond with them AFTER your choice, you end up with a very losy experience

As a consequence this makes 3H feels bland and empty when we finally reach to what is supposed to be the interesting point, the war phase. And this is mainly due to the refusal of the game to let you face consequence. 3H will try to play the sensitive cord to make you feel nostaligic about the academy, but when most of the people Byleth bonded with have joined their class and therefore fight with them in the war, does it really matter ?

8/ The story is not as repetitive

I wish I was kidding. But even as someone who liked neither of the game's story, I have to admit that Fates does a better job then 3H at... well, being a story. And that is mainly due to the fact that Fates recycle much less then 3H does.

I mean, 3H recycle so many location between the support and the main story it feels like you aren't moving at all and while Fates is a 3DS game with less performant graphics, at least there is a change in the scenery with the background matching the location. At least, you can see the snow in Fates.

And I know that some of it is mainly due to wanting to create emotion such as the parralel established between the Battle of the Lion and the Eagle ... that don't exist for some reason in CF ... *sigh*

And the fact that Fates has little common plot points between the different routes or that the common one plays out at different times and differently (for instance Takumi's sickness in Birthright being parralleled by Elise's sickness in Conquest; in Birthright it occurs much later, while in Conquest in occures in the early chapter, right after Odin and Niles joined you)

So that was all the elements I think Fates did better then 3H. However there is one thing 3H does better then Fates and for that matter, then the other game...

it's selling its lore and characters. And by that, I mean that the writers absolutely wants you to notice their work so it's like the game is begging you to notice the worldbuidling and characters by having the character speaks 99% of the time about it, or their trauma or how war is tragic etc, etc. So this would of course strike a player on first playthrough.

And I am going to sound harsh but what Fates did isn't even extraordinary ! It's what any game with a branching story can do ! Makes you wonder what happened right here

#fire emblem #fire emblem three houses #fire emblem fates #fe fates

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airlock · 2 years

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SO, for the first and fastest bit of CYL nerdery for me to do this year, there’s something new!

this year’s poll came with a fucking hilarious novelty, y’see. we had our midterm results as usual, except... they were unranked, in alphabetical order, betraying not a trace of who was actually winning

at that time, just for the love of guesswork, I made predictions as to what was most likely going to be shape our top 20s would actually be taking. so... how close to the mark was I?

let’s find out.

first things first, I estimated that Soren, m!Byleth and Felix were the top contenders on the male side. I probably meant to count m!Robin among the top contenders as well but I seem to have forgotten to jot his name down anywhere in my predictions, whops. anyway, that blunder aside, the remainder of those predictions all composed the actual top 4 on the male side, so! we can scratch that as a win.

(that aside, though, I was not expecting that, if only one of Soren or Felix would get a foot in the door, it’d be Soren. I sure wasn’t expecting him to be just 500-odd votes shy of even putting a dude between himself and Felix, at that. color me impressed, ye stans of old)

Sigurd, Leif and m!Shez were the ones I admitted I couldn’t really predict on the male side. in the end, they’ve landed, respectively, #5, #9 and #12. moderate results all around. pity that Thracia 776 remains nowhere near breaking out of its rut, although at least this isn’t one of those years when fucking Reinhardt is the game’s top contender--

but speaking of my unknown quantities, hey, guess, what? one of them won the female side. by almost 3000 votes over the runner-up. which is to say -- either the last couple months in FEH have been real interesting, or some of yall need a date--

my other non-predictions on the female side were Sharena, who finised at #7, and f!Shez, who finished at #14. seems like, most of the time, those unknown quantities landed themselves firmly in the middle of the pack.

(speaking of which -- f!Shez was more popular than m!Shez, but by a margin of only 39 votes, probably the smallest differential we’ve EVER seen between two differently gendered versions of the same character. certainly the smallest to happen to a character who gets thousands and votes and not, y’know, Kana)

speaking of Kana, their mum is our other winner this year, so -- Gullveig aside, how well did I do at anticipating the female top placements? well, I guessed that our top contenders were f!Robin, Anna, f!Corrin, Azura, Bernadetta and Hilda. these guesses were mostly correct; these characters occupy the rankings spanning #2 to #6... except for Anna, who only earned herself a #9 ranking. we’ve fallen far off the year when she almost won, that’s for sure. but who knows what Lady Anna might pull off next year?

top contention and unknown quantities aside, I also had guesses as to which of our remaining characters were unlikely to win, but likely to make it to the top 10. these were Dorothea and Tharja (#12, #9), then Lyon, Black Knight, Takumi, Leo and Yuri (#13, #7, #16, #18, #8). close enough on the female side (much as I hate that Tharja being top 10 is such a safe guess), but whoops, that wasn’t a very good guesswork all in all on the male side. I suppose the leokumis of the world were too busy this year either stanning Corrin, stanning Azura, or arguing over Soren and Felix--

anyway, here’s to Elincia, Alfonse and Sylvain blindsiding me and making it to the top 10. one of these is a very happy surprise, another a just kinda mid one, and the final of them I’m going to guess is the reason why Felix couldn’t stay competitive with the other winners-- (look, I’m just saying, both Soren’s and m!Robin’s most popular dates were inelligible this year.)

lastly, an interesting question: did anyone outright fall off from the midterm top 20s? it doesn’t seem to be the case, unless the two characters on each side that I didn’t put in a guess for were not just the ones I forgot about in the midterm, but instead, the ones who unseated whoever else was there. so... it’s just a matter of whether Petra and Ferdinand have been on this list this whole time or not, I guess

anyway, the TMS#FE gang has put on a stronger showing than ever this year, but it doesn’t look like Fódlan’s vise grip on the overall rankings has lessened at all, so... I guess the most interesting things that will remain to be observed are how well the new characters from Three Hopes fared, and how much shit is imminently going to be eaten by each of the characters who finally made it to FEH last year. in any case, it’s time for me to start chewing the top 100, without gender divisions!

#Fire Emblem is tagged in this post #Fire Emblem Heroes is tagged in this post #CYL nerding

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cornytheclown · 1 year

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Part 2/3 of my Fates Villains Character Analysis series at 1am.

Up next is Hans

Hans

Much like Iago, he is also a major asshole. Unlike Iago, he is a very different breed of ass. Hans is much Much more of a sadist and brute, practically reveling in the bloodshed that he brings.

He started from the bottom as a lowly crook. A horrible criminal apprehended by Prince Xander of Nohr himself…but released and promoted to Commander of the Army by King Garon (who at this point is possessed by Anankos and is off his rocker). He Swears that he’s rehabilitated though! He’s learned his lesson, he’s not gonna be a violent man anymore!

Right off the bat, he’s sent to follow Corrin and the crew off on a mission to check on the old fort. And Right off the bat, Hans screws over everyone involved by killing a Hoshidan guard on standby, for seemingly no reason. And ends up starting problems - he causes problems On Purpose. Though, they do find out not too long after (in Conquest) that this was part of Garon’s plan in the first place, so Hans isn’t as meat-headed as you’d think. He’s just following orders!

Throughout the game in his appearances, you can see just how much Hans loves to kill. If you thought Iago had disregard for human life, Hans straight up mows down people for fun! He takes so much pleasure in the pain and murder of others, the more gruesome, the better! The way he killed Scarlet says it best - off with her head in Revelations, and off screen in Conquest (you could only imagine what he had done to her there).

I think it’s fair to argue that, no Garon, Hans is not a rehabilitated, changed man who found Jesus in prison.

But he’s not Just a killing machine who loves to murder and kill and maim. He actually has some pretty strong ambitions, and follows his orders well enough as a surprisingly well suited commander.

Granted, his method of training his men is having them kill each other. Despite an unorthodox and probably detrimental method, he’s able to command an army pretty well for a man straight out of jail.

And it’s more than being a commander that he wants - Hans is looking to go All The Way to the Top! Much like Caellach of Sacred Stones, his goal is that of Rags to Riches - clawing his way up from being a crooked brute to a corrupted king of his own kingdom.

This was something mentioned in his appearance in Heroes so I don’t know if it’s mentioned in game as well in Fates, but you can tell that he’s more than willing to follow Garon’s orders and command his troop. For such a barbaric man, he has a strong loyalty towards Garon. Though, I suppose if the King bailed you out of the slammer and hired you to be his commander in the army in return, you probably wouldn’t bite the hand that fed you.

And given Hans’ strong ambitions in mind, sticking loyal to the King seems like the best way to go. Garon seems pretty open minded about the slaughter of innocents these days anyhow, so that’s something that he can get behind.

He’s not above throwing other people under the bus to get to where he wants to be either. He threw Corrin under the bus after Cheves, claiming all of that slaughter and such was mostly Corrin’s doing.

Okay seriously, every other chapter he’s in in the games, he’s killing someone. Civilians and War Prisoners - even ones that weren’t supposed to be killed, It’s mentioned that many of his crimes include Robbery and Murder, but this man would be a serial killer if given the chance, if he hadn’t been already! The fact that it’s war is a good enough excuse for him to throw his hands up and be like “Welp, might as well kill them all!”

There’s art that Kozaki made of a very well dressed Hans with two ladies, each on one of his arms, and I wanna say that’s canon too. Hans absolutely gets bitches when he’s not killing it on the battlefield.

The fact that he’s more than capable of turning on the charm and scoring outside of battle makes the theory of him being a serial killer even more likely. There are a lot of serial killers who are notoriously charismatic, and it’s often how they’re able to mask their true nature so well and avoid being caught. I might be thinking too deep into this art piece but I dunno. I don’t think it would matter to Garon though, or Iago. Just means that he’s perfect for the position.

I don’t think Hans is that deep of a guy overall. He’s a simple man with simple desires: Murder and Power. He was once a lowly Brigand sentenced off to jail, but now he’s a free man and given the power to command an army. All without any sort of remorse for his previous actions.

The only thing he truly wants is to go even higher beyond his own station, and to kill as many people along the way. A true sadist at heart. He will kill anyone whose Not even in the way, if he so wants to. As long as he can get ahead in his goals regardless, then it’s alright! He’s loyal to Garon both for the opportunity he gave him and also to get him higher up on the ladder and closer to becoming king himself!

That’s all he wants - to become King and to kill people. All while getting tail on the side probably. I think that simplicity is what makes him such an entertaining character to me. He’s 2 dimensional for a reason, there’s no tragic backstory or any justifiable reasoning for what he does. He’s just a horrible man. It would’ve been nice to maybe see more of him expressing his ambitions, maybe expanding on that but personally, Hans is perfect the way he is!

As a character.

Seriously I think almost everyone would be dead if Garon didn’t have a hold on Hans like he does after freeing him. The pursuit of his personal goals is the only reason why he hasn’t just tried to outright murder everyone both on the opposite side and his.

I don’t have a lot of Misc HCs for Hans tonight, other than him frequenting the pubs and being a surprisingly successful ladies man. And also having some kind of affair with Iago on the side.

Hans is like 90% straight, but I think he and Iago have smth going on between them. You can’t tell me those two hadn’t hooked up once or twice while on missions or between.

Ain’t no way.

#fire emblem #fire emblem fates #Hans fire emblem #fe fates #character analysis

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heartswayed-a-blog · 5 years

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until we know for sure what’s up with fallen ( feral??? ) corrin i’m going to be running this as a separate celi from main... heroes celi... that’s from a doomed revelation run--

anankos wins by slowly taking over his daughter upon the armies reaching valla, forcing her to degenerate to become his loyal puppet. the celi we’d see in heroes isn’t fully gone yet, but is succumbing to anankos’ grip and in a lot of pain from it,,,

#◈┊ ❛ your local chii. ◜ooc◞#◈┊ ❛ level up. ◜headcanon◞#i'll... need a tag for this #also i might go with this even if corrin ends up being different #because honestly? fuck canon corrin

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emblemxeno · 3 years

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JP vs. Localization in Fire Emblem Fates: Revelation

(Okay, for real this time lol)

Again, here’s a link to my sources post.

Fortunately, this route follows suit in terms of good localization quality after Conquest. It’s the shortest out of all the posts, since I don’t really have a lot to talk about. Mostly subtle line changes, references and a few key points of information that were cut out. I also went through Hidden Truths and Heirs of Fate to see if I could add stuff from those on here, but there were no big problems that I found.

Once again, the main part of this post will all be put under the cut. If a chapter isn’t covered, it means I didn’t think there were any differences worth talking about.

I’ll use localized names for characters and locations, unless I feel the need to do otherwise.

I’ll be using she/her when referring to Corrin in this post. (I flipped a coin to decide the gender lol)

Also, note that after Chapter 14, the translation of this route on Fateswartable ends, so I mostly relied on the English patch done by Serenes at that point forward. (I also used PegasusKnight.com as a reference to fall back on if I needed it)

Chapter 7

-A minor gripe I have with localization. The JP version compares Touma (Valla) to hell constantly. To jump ahead a bit, I believe in the JP versions of the End of All Sky/Land/Below tracks are even called The End of All Roads Heaven/Earth/Hell. The Vallites are also often called demons in the JP version, and Anankos himself is known as the ‘Invisible Demon Dragon’.

Another cool thing I just thought of too, is a connection to a popular Japanese short story. Zelda fans might be familiar with the story, “The Spider’s Thread”, which inspired the Ancient Cistern dungeon in Skyward Sword.

The beginning of the story has Buddha walking through paradise (heaven), before coming across a pond. The pond is filled with crystal clear water, and covered with water lilies/lotuses. As Buddha gazes further into the pond, he begins to see the depths of hell.

Sound familiar? “Azura is walking through Hoshido, before coming across a lake. The lake is filled with crystal clear water, and when she gazes into the lake she sees the fallen kingdom of her birth. Valla, the kingdom associated with water lilies/lotuses in the game, has been turned into hell itself.”

This association loses its meaning a bit when the comparisons to hell are a bit toned down, as well as when the Buddhist inspirations were kind of supplanted in favor of Greek renames. It’s not supremely important to the plot as a whole, but it’s something interesting I wanted to bring up.

-In the JP version, while explaining what happened in Valla, Azura eventually says “Using the art of manipulating people’s souls, he (Hydra/Anankos) made the people kill each other.” This bit of the people killing each other was cut in localization.

Chapter 12

-In the JP version, when Corrin asks Flora if she knows anything about dragons, Flora says “Sorry, I don’t know…The ancestral dragon of the Ice Clan has already perished and isn’t part of the legend. I don’t know what role it plays, sorry…” Localization makes her response “I'm sorry, but I can't think of anything... They've been gone so long that we don't even have tales of dragons in the Ice Tribe. I'm sorry I couldn't be of more assistance...”

So, the JP version explicitly says the Ice Dragon is dead (I believe Fates’ second artbook mentioned this as well), whereas the localization only says the First Dragons have been gone for a long time.

Chapter 16

-There’s not really much of a problem that I have with what Ryoma says about Corrin “having leadership qualities at a young age” but I wanted to do comparisons regardless cuz the word choice might lead one to different conclusions. In localization, Ryoma says this:

Ryoma: Huh... So she told us the same thing... I don't think it's in Corrin's nature to lie. And there's a leadership quality about her that just attracts followers. I remember being jealous of her as a child, in fact. Even at such a young age, she displayed the characteristics of a ruler. Silly to be jealous of her, right?

In the JP version, Ryoma says this:

Ryoma: Oh... So, she told you the same thing. …Corrin isn’t one to tell lies. She’s been like that since childhood. She’s always genuine and honest... She has this mysterious appeal that draws people to her. Seeing my younger sister with the qualities of being a ruler... Honestly, it makes me feel envious. …What a ridiculous thing to say, right?

Again, I don’t necessarily have a problem with how it was localized, but some might. The localization version might have people think that Corrin somehow was a fantastic leader at such a young age, but JP is more clear that it was about the qualities she had at a young age that would be valuable as a leader.

Chapter 19

-A minor gripe. In the localization, Azura says that Anankos uses his magic to send Vallites to Nohr and Hoshido to stir up conflict. In the JP version, she says he uses magic, along with the help of a body of water. That’s why whenever you fight Vallites outside of Valla proper, there’s a body of water nearby; Hoshido’s lake (and the ponds shown in Hinoka’s CQ battle which are in the capital) for Chapter 5, the sea for BR chapter 11, the burning falls for BR chapter 21, and the city for Rev chapter 13. Similarly, the consequences of being a victim to the curse are described as “turning into sea foam” in the JP version. Localization as a whole kind of toned down how much water has an influence on the story.

Chapter 23

-Probably the pettiest gripe I have lol. As Arete is fading away from Azura’s arms, Azura has a different reaction in localization and Japanese. In localization, Azura says “Mother? Mother!” while a voice clip of her in-battle pain cries plays. In the JP, she says “*Sob... Sob*…! Mother... Mother...!”, while a voice clip of her crying plays. Her crying voice clip I don’t recall hearing anywhere else.

This is one of the few times in the you get to see Azura express a heavy and heartfelt emotion, since her rough childhood caused her to remain guarded and stoic around everyone. The equivalents to this scene in other routes is her death scene in Birthright, and her crying with Corrin over Ryoma’s death in Conquest; a normally unflinching and aloof character breaking down is a rarity, and indicates that the cause of it is something to take note of for the character as a whole. Localization softened this aspect, and I take issue with it, despite it probably seeming trivial to most other people.

Chapter 24

-When Corrin is questioning the phantom Mikoto, an exchange happens. In localization, part of it goes like this:

Corrin: But this can't be... Are you truly my mother?

Mikoto: I am. Even as a puppet of Anankos, my spirit at least remains my own.

Corrin: I... I believe you.

In the JP version, it goes like this:

Corrin: It can’t be... …Are you really my mother?

Mikoto: Yes... I became an Invisible servant, controlled by the Invisible King... Even so, I am your mother.

Corrin: …………

Again, a minor thing that I don’t personally have issue with, but replacing Corrin’s silence with an admittance of belief could make some believe she has “reverted” back to being too naïve.

Chapter 26

-While Gunter is relaying his past, an exchange happens. In localization, it goes like this:

Gunter: I ask myself that, every day. I cannot understand the minds of royals. To you all, we commoners are little more than pawns in your schemes... Or weeds to be killed on a whim.

Corrin: That's not true...

Xander: Is that how people view the royalty?

Ryoma: Such an impression would easily breed powerful resentment...

In the JP version, Corrin, Xander and Ryoma don’t say anything. They just remain silent.

Endgame

-Not a major problem so much as a general thing about the game, but I can think of like... at least three memes that Treehouse inserted into the localization. Now I like memes, but there is no better way to date your media nowadays. One of them was Kana’s “That’s dragon for I love you” which tbh, is kind of cute and isn’t the most well known meme so I guess I can let it slide. Another is Felicia saying “I had one job!” when she messes up in the dining hall, which isn’t that big of a deal since the dining hall is very optional.

The last one I can think of is why I put this specific grievance here, and it’s during Corrin’s speech before facing Anankos.

Corrin: We won't back down! This is my... This is our destiny! Ready your weapons! Fight for your friends! With the Seal of Flames... With the Fire Emblem on our side! We fight for our world!!

Yeah, she says “Fight for your friends” which is everyone’s favorite Ike line from Brawl. Now, this isn’t even a totally inaccurate translation either, but it kind of just... makes the moment funny for the player when it’s supposed to be commanding and serious I guess.

But yeah, not the most important issue by far, but something I’d thought to mention. Hell, it’s not even that bad compared to how they made Peri’s, Effie’s and Hisame’s quirks into exaggerated and tired jokes. And the Beruka-Saizo support. Never forget.

-When Azura and Corrin are by the lake and discuss the latter’s plans to rule, Corrin says this in localization:

Corrin: I'm going to make Valla a wonderful place! In honor of the true last king and for Queen Arete. And everyone who fought... I promise to make them all proud.

In the JP version, she says this:

Corrin: I’ll make the Invisible Kingdom (Valla) into a great land. For the previous monarch, Queen Shenmei (Arete)… And for all of my allies who fought beside me. I promise.

So, JP version only mentions Arete as the reigning monarch of Valla. Which makes sense, cuz unless there was some wild “keeping the bloodline pure” shenanigans in Valla, Arete being the Queen keeps in line with what we know about the rest of Valla’s history. Arete was royalty from birth, as was her sister Mikoto. Arete is the one who passed down Lost in Thoughts and the pendant to Azura.

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gascon-en-exil · 3 years

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@doridoripawaa said

IS didn’t make every character open to romance from both Byleths. Edelgard was a conscious choice. Maybe their intentions were just fanservice more than anything else, but maybe let queer women have a mainstream same sex couple in a video game “aimed at men.”

Yes, it was a conscious choice, one almost certainly made because it frees up the writing to develop Edeleth outside of the standard support system without needing to radically alter the script to account for Byleth's gender. It thus avoids the problem people have noted with Chrom/Robin in Awakening, Corrin/Azura in Fates, and Dimileth and Claudeleth from Three Houses itself where there's substantial relationship buildup between an Avatar and a major character but no follow-through S rank or ending for the same-sex option. Edeleth takes every advantage of that freedom too: "Edge of Dawn" is in part about Edelgard crushing on her teacher, there's the drawing scene in CF and its follow-ups in exploration dialogue, CF's ending cutscene is more physically intimate than the equivalent scenes in AM and VW (but about the same as SS's, because Rhea is also bi-for-Byleth), Edelgard's attraction to Byleth is apparent in scenes outside her own route, an element of Hubert's character is that he's in love with someone who's in love with someone else, etc.

The existence of F/F Edeleth seems more incidental than anything else, and I never much bought into the idea of needing to prop it up so that queer people can have something when Avatar same-sex S ranks are so insubstantial and, in a sense, artificial compared to the sort of queer subtext that FE has been doing for years and that is every bit as abundant in FE16. F/F may not be my thing personally but even I've noted its more prominent examples, some of which I mentioned in my previous post. Dorothea with Petra and Manuela, Catherine with Rhea and Shamir, Annette and Mercedes, Hilda and Marianne, even Edelgard and Manuela if you want to stick with Edelgard - my point is that all of these and more feel more substantial than Byleth/anyone could ever hope to be because they involve actual dialogues and sometimes queerness grounded in specifically gendered situations, or at least the knowledge that they don't share scripts with an identical M/F equivalent. Is projection onto a wooden silent protagonist really so valuable that it's worth propping up to the exclusion of all the rest?

Furthermore, it's only ever Edeleth where I see opposition to a Byleth pairing turned into a moral issue rather than the aesthetic one that it largely is. I barely see anything on Byleth's other F/F options outside places like kink memes (and also Heroes giving F/F Rhealeth a summer duo alt, of course), and even though I talk about M/M subtext in FE very often I can't recall ever hearing from shippers of Byleth's canon M/M pairings who are disappointed that there are at least half a dozen non-Byleth M/M ships that are substantially more discussed in fandom. At most I've gotten some flak from fans of the fanon-only M/M Dimileth, because they enjoy the self-insert aspect even though canon hands Dimitri two very different flavors of homoromantic dynamic - the basically already married (Dedue) and the work in progress (Felix) - to explore. My guess is that Edeleth gets this unique reaction is that the pairing built so much into Three Houses as a whole, and that Edelgard has very little substantial sapphic content elsewhere unlike Dorothea or Mercedes but what about Rhea and Sothis then?, but my concern remains as always the elevation of lackluster Avatar S ranks over actually meaningful subtext just because one involves a self-insert and is thus treated as more inclusive/progressive.

Arguably it might be, but pairings involving silent self-inserts are always going to be vastly less interesting than the alternative...and I care much more about being entertained than I do about seeing myself specifically represented in a video game.

#Fire Emblem #FE16 #Fire Emblem Three Houses #The counterpoint to Avatar same-sex S ranks #Is that as some have noted all the options for those in both FE14 and FE16 #Are some combination of fanservice-based (and not necessarily for queer demographics)#And safe/inoffensive choices #But I could do a video essay on how that applies to FE as a whole #...Maybe I should write that down as a project idea

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chubbyheroesworthyheroes · 3 years

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How about Silas (Fates) and Raphael (3H)? In Silas' supports with Kaze, Kaze is secretly giving him more food as thanks for saving him (like refilling Silas' soup bowl when Silas isn't looking). I thought this could continue unnoticed until Silas can't fit into his armor. For Raph, I figure he's the type of person whose solution to everything is MOAR GAINZ. So what if Balthus bests him in practice combat, so Raph ups his caloric intake but ends up putting on a layer of chonk (and a big gut)?

editing? dont know em--

After their conversation, Silas believed he had gotten through to Kaze about how he didn’t need to pay him back for helping him against that Faceless -- especially since the other man had similarly ended up saving the Nohrian knight not too long after. As far as Silas was aware, they were even and just helping each other out as comrades.

But, on Kaze’s end, wanting to repay the knight for his deeds was just one part of why he was sneakily adding on to the other’s meals. Yes, he was grateful for the rescue, and he took repaying that debt very seriously, but that had been paid back in full by now. No, there was something else that kept Kaze by the silver haired knight’s side, but it wasn’t quite something he knew how to explain, so he let everyone else simply assume that they’d bonded and become good friends.

Which wasn’t wrong, per se, Kaze did actually enjoy Silas’ company. He just...also greatly enjoyed watching the other man eat to the point of being perhaps a little too full.

In Hoshido, especially if one was in the military, such indulgement wasn’t something tolerated. A soldier must be primed for a fight at all times, so while meals were always nourishing and flavorful, there wasn’t often such excess given to those in their station. From what he knew of Nohr, food was not as bountiful as it was in Hoshido, though it was safe to assume that the higher class was given access to the best regardless. Perhaps that was what drove some part of the ninja to give Silas more. Was it not good to give more to those who had been lacking in the same boons as your country’s riches?

But, even that didn’t ring ultimately truthful. At least, not entirely. It, of course, made him feel good to make sure his companions were all taken care of, but there was something else that lurked behind those good intentions. Some morbid interest in watching -- either from close by or afar, both were simple enough to accomplish with his skills in stealth -- another eat and eat, unaware of how much they were stuffing into themselves until something in their brain finally clicked and told them to stop, only it was too late already and they had to stay where they were, bloated and groaning.

It made Kaze flustered and just a little pent up merely thinking about it.

So, he kept up his activities in secret, adding on extras to Silas’ meals and observing -- both going unnoticed..

---

It had been some weeks now since Kaze’s focus on Silas had started. As someone trained to be both extremely observant and incredibly stealthy at the same time, it was a little baffling to see that the knight...had not noticed anything different about his meals. Kaze knew exactly how much he had been adding -- never too much at once, so as to not raise any unnecessary suspicion, slowly giving more and more when it seemed like the other had unknowingly grown accustomed to the portions -- and he was always cautious not to overdo it, but it was still a bit of a surprise that the Nohrian was still so unawares. It wasn’t a bad thing -- certainly not for Kaze -- and it spoke to Silas’ trust and camaraderie with everyone else in Corrin’s army. If it were anything serious, Kaze would be concerned for the knight’s willingness to so easily trust, but it was endearing all the same, and made curiosity gnaw at the back of his mind at how far he could go and still get away with this unnoticed.

Silas’ obliviousness towards what and how much went into his mouth also seemed to extend towards himself. While diligent in his training and duties, he wasn’t very preoccupied with how he looked. He cared where it mattered, of course; he didn’t want to reflect poorly on his dear friend, Corrin, and always looked presentable. But he seemed to have no qualms about himself.

So, where Kaze noticed the way his riding trousers now clung to the curves of his fuller ass, or how his fine shirts pressed cozily against the slight roll of chub that had appeared at his lower belly, Silas seemed perfectly happy not registering that anything was different. And that knowledge only made the heat inside Kaze grow, knowing that this was something of a perfect storm for him. If he weren’t so naturally mild mannered and quiet, Kaze would almost say the thought of what this could turn into made him giddy.

But, it was still early on in this little game, and there was still every chance that it would end when Silas took note of the changes.

---

“Whew, I must be coming down with something, because I just can’t seem to cool off!” Kaze overheard Silas one day, his attention immediately drawn away from his current task.

It was easy enough to fake taking inventory of their supplies to eavesdrop on the knight’s conversation.

“We do have warm summers here in Hoshido, perhaps you are simply not yet used to them, my friend,” came Ryoma’s sure and steady voice, his tone amused.

Kaze darted his gaze over to the two, who must have been finishing up some early morning sparring before the heat of the day got too bad. Prince Ryoma was, indeed, in good spirits; his expression mirthful as he exchanged some more words with Silas. Where there was some color to the prince’s face from the exertion of mock battle, it was clear he was fairing far better than his partner. Silas had at some point forgone his shirt due to the heat, giving Kaze a fantastic chance to get a good look at the effects his additions were having on the other man. The silver haired knight had never been particularly outstanding when it came to muscle mass, but he was at least a little above your average.

But now, where there had just been a small roll of flesh at his middle, there was a rather proper belly blossoming. That little bit of softness had risen like dough into a chubby midsection, still firm from his activities but clearly showing that he’d been getting well-fed lately. Where his belly curved out at the navel, it had the cutest bounce when he moved. It wasn’t anywhere near large enough to knock into his thighs yet, but it did create a nice rolling slab of chub that pinched in at his sides if he moved a certain way. But, Kaze was sure that when the man sat, that soft curve of his lower belly likely had started to brush the plushness of his thighs. His upper body was still fairly defined, though his pecs were rounding out nicely and there were some softer edges coming in on his upper arms and his face.

Well-fed.

That description sent a wave of heat down the back of the ninja’s neck, his unnoticed gaze burning hot as he took in every curve and rounded edge. Silas’ pale skin was flushed a delightful pink, both from the sun and the physical activity of getting in some training. Kaze wondered, vaguely, if he were to grab hold of that soft, pink belly, how would it feel? If he were to caress it gently, would the other even notice? Would he finally see, if he were to squeeze?

No, that would risk ruining the game when it was just picking up.

---

Kaze decided to add another layer to their little game, even if Silas was unaware that they were playing one. It had proven far too easy to keep adding food to the other man’s meals, so on top of constantly making those meals bigger, Kaze began coming up with excuses for giving Silas food in between the usual meal times.

It was easy enough to convince the other man to eat something after training sessions. After such physical strain, it was best to replenish the body with some food, was it not? Silas never seemed to notice that Kaze himself didn’t adhere to this supposed fact, or that the portions of food he was being given were far larger than needed to replace whatever his body had burned through while training. It was a little more difficult to get him to eat when he was out on patrols, as he stated that he wanted to be ready to fight at a moment’s notice if he needed to, but if he were on late night patrols, Kaze could more easily coax him into taking a small break to eat -- especially if he agreed to keep an eye out while the knight dug into his food.

More and more, any free time Silas had seemed to be taken up by food. He was a frequent face at the mess hall, and even when he wasn’t there at meal times, he always conveniently seemed to have food on hand -- and constantly stuffed in his chubby face.

And it was all because of Kaze. He was there, every step of the way, watching and providing and biding his time. As deliciously excruciating as the wait had been, Kaze was ready to claim his prize.

“Hey, Kaze…,” Silas hesitantly broached, his round cheeks flushed red -- from embarrassment, or from huffing and puffing his way through the camp, Kaze could only guess at. “I have a little bit of a problem. Well...Little is probably not the right word--”

Kaze inclined his head, to denote that he was still listening to the knight ramble on, but he would privately admit, he was more focused on accounting for all the new weight that had settled in so well on the Nohrian’s frame.

For the most part, Silas was very well rounded; it gave him a pleasant, overall plush sort of look. His face was cherubic, with round, red cheeks and a softened jawline that dipped into a double chin that looked all too natural on his kind face. It hadn’t taken too long after Kaze had ramped up his feedings for Silas’ upper body to sort of catch up to the rest of him; his upper arms still clung to a slight firmness, but that also might have simply been from how tightly they were squeezed into the sleeves of the shirt he was currently wearing, his now rather hefty looking moobs similarly looking quite confined in his struggling shirt. He hadn’t even bothered -- or couldn’t, a thought that delighted Kaze -- done up the laces at the front, which left some of that pale, fat titfflesh free to jostle for an escape attempt that was truly only hampered by whatever integrity was left of this formerly well-fitting piece of clothing.

Of course, as his eyes traveled lower, it was clear to see that the shirt was...much less of a shirt, and more of a crop top that was just adequate enough to contain his moobs. Because, really, gloriously, Silas’ gut could no longer be contained by something so trivial. His upper belly was round and almost taught -- likely from the large breakfast he’d spent a good two hours shoveling into his hoggish mouth -- becoming a perfect resting shelf for his squishy breasts. While his lower belly, separated from the upper by a swelling roll of fat, hung lower and softer on his expanded frame. It quite easily draped over the other man’s crotch, even while standing, and almost every heavy breath or lumbering movement made it wobble just so. Stretch mark covered love handles fought for room at his sides, perched precariously atop widened hips that had the most luscious curves to them thanks to plentiful food and all of the horse riding that had given him such a nice form to begin with.

His thighs were nothing short of powerfully built, even with the thick layer of lard that now encased them. And, my...his ass really was something to behold; a beautiful bubble butt, straining the ass of his trousers so dearly, Kaze felt like he could almost hear the seams splitting as they stood there.

“--So, do you...do you think you could help?”

The ninja blinked, coming out of his hungered staring to just catch the tail end of whatever Silas had been talking about.

“Yes, of course. I will do my best to aid you, my friend,” he responded swiftly, not even realizing what he was agreeing to until the other man dragged him over to the neatly organized set of his armor.

Oh. Oh, well now, this was better than he could have hoped, really. Silas had recruited him to do what he’d been desiring for months now.

“I’d do it myself, of course, but...uh, I’ve been having some recent trouble reaching around to some of the straps and buckles,” Silas chuckled nervously, his already flushed face seeming to go a deeper red at this admission.

Ah, so he’d finally noticed just how large his eating habits had made him? Fascinating that it had taken so long, but denial could be a powerful thing.

“It’s not a problem,” Kaze assured in a smooth tone of voice, waiting for Silas to start attempting to put on his armor. The breastplate and backplate came together via leather straps at the shoulders and sides, tightened and held in place by rather standard looking buckles. As Silas held the plate armor in place, Kaze tried to secure the straps. And, truly, he did try -- where was the fun if he didn’t get to see what an absolute mess the other man had made of himself with his lack of control, aided by his own pampering and spoiling with food and treats aplenty? He tugged on the straps as hard as he could, smiling softly to himself at the little noises Silas’ tried to stifle at the jostling and how the knuckles of his fingers couldn’t escape grazing or sinking into the warm flesh of the knight’s sides. If he pulled both sides tight enough, he could get the straps to touch, but nowhere near close enough to actually secure them with the buckle.

Kaze couldn’t resist pinching at the silver haired man’s love handles, apologizing and excusing it off as the metal from the buckle catching him by accident.

“It’s no use, is it…?” Silas sighed, cheeks puffing out just a little more from the simple act.

Kaze gave him a sympathetic look as he helped him remove the much outgrown piece of armor, his hand coming to pat the other on the back. “We can always get you refitted. It might have a slightly different style, but our blacksmiths are quite skilled; I’m sure they could replicate it to your tastes, if you so wish.”

The Nohrian seemed about to say something else, but Kaze chose now to make his kill, as it were. His tone and demeanor not shifting from gentle and comradely, he very brazenly brought a gloved hand to the other’s stomach, his thumb hooking easily into Silas’ navel as he grabbed a handful of chub and gave him an exploratory squeeze. It was just as soft as he’d imagined, but there was a firm layer to it too, if he dug his fingers in hard enough, that he found to be quite pleasant. A nice balance.

Humming softly to himself, Kaze continued his tactile exploration while urging them both forward in the direction of the mess hall. “I would greatly desire to see how long it would take you to outgrow a larger set of armor…”

If Silas could keep from giving in to Kaze’s offerings of food long enough to even have another set made before he ate his way out of it, that is.

Silas, sputtering and doing his best to keep up with the revelation, didn’t object to the idea nor did he fight against where Kaze was leading him.

#male weight gain #male wg #chubby!silas #kaze/silas #it was fun to kinda tap into that voyeuristic/secret feeding stuff #especially since kaze is such a bland good guy sort of character #i could totally see him having this habit of watching people #but hey i hope this is decent!#fates & the more recent games really arent in my wheelhouse #but i know fates better than 3h so i did the silas prompt over the raphael one

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fore-seer · 3 years

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25 and 36 for the fe asks! <3

25. Any general or specific headcanons you have?

my favorite right now is my hc that chrom hires gaius as a second retainer after the war with plegia, inspired by the fact that most of the fates royals have two retainers each and some of them weren't exactly qualified for the job beforehand (niles, azama, etc), and although chrom and frederick already have a similar trio dynamic because of lissa, i obviously really like gaius and i think adding him into that would spice things up. plus there's stuff in-game and in the drama CDs to support gaius ending up in chrom's inner circle; he's one of three newer shepherds to have supports with chrom, cordelia and libra both consider him one of chrom's staunchest allies, in volume 1 of the drama CDs chrom, frederick, and robin are relying on him quite a bit for intel gathering, and in volume 2 he saves chrom's life, so it's MUCH less of a stretch than you'd think at first. the basic idea is that after the war frederick, as much as he hates to admit it, is worried his protection alone might not be enough after what happened with emmeryn, and asks chrom to hire a second retainer. chrom isn't all that into the idea, but he knows how frederick can be about these things, so he agrees. gaius, weird as it might seem at first, is actually a great choice; he has a skillset completely different from frederick's that can deal with threats an honorable knight might not even notice until it's too late, chrom trusts him and he's proven his loyalty, and as an added bonus frederick would be FURIOUS but unable to do anything because chrom is still technically doing what he wanted. getting gaius to agree to this is the hard part, but eventually the promise of unlimited access to the castle kitchens wears him down. (as with all of gaius' decisions when it comes to chrom, he actually is perfectly willing to do it but needs the extra incentive as a cover so people don't think he's gone soft or something.) frederick, as expected, doesn't exactly approve, but there's nothing much he can do and eventually it becomes clear that gaius' loyalty to chrom is genuine, which is good enough for him. overall i just think the three of them would have a very fun dynamic and i wanted to mess around with it! (and now i'm in too deep and can't see it being any other way)

my other favorite is that takumi and sakura are actually mikoto's kids, and not ikona's, an opinion i know i share with a few other fates fans! it makes a lot of things make a bit more sense, especially regarding takumi; his inferiority complex with hinoka and ryoma kinda gains an extra layer if he has a different mother than them, and it adds support for him being the one to go really off the rails after mikoto's death. it also fits better with what we know of the timeline, since mikoto arrived in hoshido when corrin was just a baby so takumi and sakura probably wouldn't have been born yet, and sumeragi accepting corrin as his child basically right away would seem kinda weird if ikona was still alive. also, having none of the hoshido siblings be blood related to corrin when that was the whole point of birthright feels like SUCH a cop-out, and also casts ryoma in particular in a really bad light on that route since at that point the nohr siblings have more claim to being corrin's "real family" than the hoshidans do, since mikoto is dead now and they're the ones corrin actually grew up with, and the fact that ryoma knows corrin isn't related to the hoshido siblings either means he's lying to them the entire time. so all-around i think it just makes the story work better for everyone involved!

36. Share a funny FE-related story, either ingame or not!

so it was my sophomore year of college, which was my lowest point mental-health-wise, and i was up at like 2am scrolling through pinterest (as you do when you have crippling depression) and i’d been like. kinda out of fe for a while by then bc i didn’t have much time for gaming and conquest had discouraged me a bit bc it was too hard for me at the time. so i hadn’t gotten shadows of valentia when it came out because i was too busy obsessing over star wars instead, but i was scrolling through pinterest and i saw this meme

and because i had no context for it whatsoever, and was super sleep deprived and going insane from stress and whatever else, at that moment it was THE funniest fucking thing i had ever seen. so naturally as soon as i had time i went out and bought the game. whoever made this image, if you’re out there, i owe you my life

(fire emblem series ask game)

#thanks for the ask tea <3 sorry i proceeded to only talk about games you haven't played #inquiries #userpoe #ask games #awakening #fates #shadows of valentia

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mookie--jam · 2 years

Text

Chapter 14: Mom Jean Muse (Empty Canvas)

The steps squeak beneath my feet as I make my way up the stairs to Corrine’s apartment. Well, not really apartment. She lives in her art studio, which is an old ballet studio in what once was an old community center which the city closed about a decade ago. It wasn’t really located in the best part of town, but that made the rent cheap. The walls of the staircase were still covered in graffiti from squatters that had occupied the building some time ago. I reach the door of the apartment and knock. After a minute it opens, Corrine greeting me on the other side.

“Hey”, I say as she gives me a broad smile and pulls me in for a tight hug.

“Thank God you’re here. I thought you might not come”, she says as she lets me go and we both make our way into the studio. The wooden floor is splattered in paint, the floor to ceiling mirror on one wall reflecting the light that’s coming through the windows fills the room with brightness.

“What would make you think that?” I ask her as I take off my jacket and throw it onto one of her stuffy old armchairs, along with my bag. I’m quite sure a cloud of dust puffed out of the chair as iIdid that.

“Nothing…” Corrine says, stepping back on her words. I decide to let it go.

“Anyhow thanks so much for doing this”, she adds, giving me another one of her broad smiles.

“No problem, though I don’t see why you’re so damn excited about me being a model for some sketches”, I tell her as I look around the room. I can see she’s already set up her easel and other equipment, an array of pencils, charcoal and pens lying around on the tables along with all different kinds of paint.

“Because the only models I’ve had lately are Jeff and Johnny”, she explains to me with and exasperated sigh.

“And what’s the matter with that?” I question her as I sit down on the couch. From the way her easel is set up, I can deduct that that’s probably where I’ll be sitting for the next couple of hours.

“Well drawing Jeff is no problem at all, also because he’s very willing to pose in the buff, which is great…” she says, first with a smile on her face, but by the end of the sentence it has somehow disappeared as she’s pondering her words.

“But…” I nudge her to continue.

“If I have to stare at his naked body for hours and study and draw it… I don’t know, it kind of take the sexuality out of him”, she says sounding somewhat distraught. I know better than to laugh at this. Corrine is a highly sexual and passionate person, so I can see how this could be an issue for her.

“Which is something you don’t want”, I add in, attempting to finish off her thoughts.

“Which is something I can’t stand, because I enjoy fucking him a lot!” she says, probably a lot louder than she intended to. Thank God her neighbors are all stoners, who couldn’t give two shits about the noise.

“I see”, I say and nod, wanting to move on from the topic, because I really don’t feel like Corrine rubbing her wonderful sex life under my nose. Certainly not now.

“But what about Johnny? I ask, trying to change the topic.

“Don’t get me started on Johnny!” she lets out, sounding aggravated.

“You want some wine?” she quickly adds after that. The words haven’t even completely left her mouth yet and I’m already eagerly nodding. I need all the wine in the world after the complaints of Mrs. Moore in the President Suite all damn day. Sorry we got you Dom Perignon instead of Crystal, you stuck up piece of shit. She’s one of the three black widows that frequents the hotel I work at and they are all a nightmare.

“Do you even have to ask?” I say, letting out a little laugh as Corrine is making her way over to her kitchen.

“Gotcha”, she says with a smile as she takes a bottle of red wine from the cabinet and two glasses.

“But no what about Johnny?” I ask her again as she makes her way back over to me, uncorking the wine in the progress.

“He’s such a…” The frustration is evident in her voice as she pours us two glasses of wine.

“Diva?” I attempt to finish her sentence.

“Precisely”, she says, sounding somewhat relieved as she hands me one of the glasses of wine.

“I draw him with a skin roll and he thinks that I think that he is obese”, she clarifies herself after taking her first sip. I take out my packet of cigarettes and light one, figuring that I won’t be able to smoke for a while when she’s drawing me, as I have to sit still.

“Which is absurd”, I retort, blowing out the first drag.

“According to his words: ‘ladies feel insecure’”, she says rolling her eyes as she makes air quotes.

“Ladies? Oh God, please don’t tell me…” Before I can even finish my train of thought, Corrine is already completing it for me.

“That he insisted on me drawing him in drag?” she asks and I nod my head with a wide smile at the thought of it alone.

“Yes, that’s exactly what he did”, she confirms my suspicions and I let out a laugh.

“Oh my God, I need to see those drawings”, I tell her, taking another drag. I wonder which outfit he whose, and which pose. God, what I would give to have been a fly on the wall when this happened.

“Later”, she tells and takes another sip of her glass of wine.

“Because I need you in a calm mindset to model, and not frantically laughing at the exaggerations I made on his wig”, she explains and I nod, though I can’t contain my smile at the thought of it alone. I take another sip of wine.

“Then stop teasing me about it, because it’ll be the only thing I’ll be able to imagine”, I say as finish my cigarette and put the wine glass down on the coffee table in front of me.

“Deal”, she agrees with a big smile, rummaging through her pencils, glass of wine still in hand.

“So… What do you want me to do? Do you have a concept?” I ask her as I try to think of a position to pose in. I’ve never done this before. She’s asked me many times, but I’ve always declined, telling her that I don’t have the time. Most of the times my excuses were made up as I just didn’t feel comfortable with the thought of drawing me, analyzing every bit of my body. But now I had to agree. Mainly because I’ve been a social recluse for the past two weeks ever since stuff went down with Eddie. I’ve just been trying to come to terms with it on my own. Truth be told, it’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done and I feel utterly miserable. Every time I hear them rehearse I want to storm down to the basement and beg him to forgive me.

“Yes, but only if you’ll agree to it”, Corrine says and she has a somewhat mischievous smile on her face.

“Depends on what I need to agree on”, I say, watching my words.

“Well I’ve got this image of you on the couch wearing those high waisted mom jeans of yours -by the way, thanks for wearing those”, she says and I let out a sigh of relief. If that’s all I’ll be fine.

“No problem. And I can do that”, I tell her with a smile, but my smile drops when she tells me the following.

“But there’s a catch”, she adds her voice filled with mischief. What the hell is she planning on.

“What’s the catch?” I question her, pulling my guard up a bit. It’s probably not gonna be an outrageous request, but then again, with Corrine you never know. For all I know she wants me to hold a monkey.

“I want to draw you topless, with your mermaid hair just gorgeously flowing down. Would you do that for me? Please?” she tells me and I’m taken aback for a minute. Topless posing? Me? It’s not that I don’t trust her, or would feel uncomfortable wit her… But…

“Corrine… I don’t know…” I tell her honestly.

“Those drawings aren’t going anywhere and it’s just the two of us. And I’ve seen you naked before, so nothing new there”, she tries to reassure me and it’s somewhat working, but not completely yet.

“Yeah, I know but…” I say and I can’t get the words out of my mouth. What I want to say is that I’ll probably look ridiculous. That I’m not the kind of person she should be asking to do this. She should ask someone like Betty, who works behind the bar at OK Hotel, she’d be up for that. But me?

“But what?” she asks me, like I’m sounding ridiculous. I don’t think I sound ridiculous at all.

“I really don’t know if I would be able to pull that off”, I tell her honestly.

“Nonsense! You’re gorgeous”, she lets out in complaints as she’s sharpening on of her pencils.

“But…” I mumble, though I know that it’s no use, because she will find a way to convince me.

“Come on, you’d look so great”, she tells me with a pout.

“You see that’s the part I’m questioning”, I retort and I wrap my arms around myself, as if I’m trying to add another layer to the area she wants to see exposed.

“Well, I need to practice realistic drawing, so if I succeed the drawing will be a masterpiece, because you, my dear, are one of the most stunning creatures I’ve ever seen walk the earth”, she says and her words put a smile on my face. I don’t agree with what she’s telling me, but it still feels nice hearing somewhat say such a thing.

I’m reminded of something Eddie one said. I think it was somewhere during the night he got back from San Diego. I’d gotten up to put on another record -still naked, I don’t know what got into me, usually I’d drag along a sheet- and as a turned around he was looking at me with this smile playing across his lips. “What? I remember saying, feeling somewhat self conscious. “The way your body curves and your hair falls and your face…” he said and I sat back down on the side of the bed, pulling a cover up to my chest to cover myself back up again, as I prepared to hear something bad. “You’re so fucking beautiful, you’re like a piece of art”, he told me and those words put the most stupid smile on my face.

“Coco, I’m not Johnny. I don’t need as many sweet nothings”, I say, pulling myself away from my memories, because the after thought stings. That’s something I had, and have no longer.

“So you’ll do it?” Corrine asks me, getting giddy.

“Yes I’ll do it”, I confirm and she leans over to give me a quick hug.

“You’re the best. Now you strip down and make yourself comfortable on the couch, I’ll put on some music and get settled and then we can get going”, she tells me.

“Great”, I mumble as she walks away to her record player. I decide to do as told and take off my Zeppelin shirt and my bra. I feel exposed for a second, but try to shake it off. No one is gonna see the drawings, it doesn’t matter. I relax as soon as I hear the opening notes of Second Hand News by Fleetwood Mac rolling through the apartment. Stevie Nicks has a way of calming me down. Corrine knows me too well. I sit down on the couch and Corrine comes over and gives me some instructions for the pose. The pose we come up with feels comfortable. I’m leaning back against the couch, one leg on it, the other hanging off of on. My one hand is resting on my knee, the other is beside my body. She adjusts my hair, letting it cover most of my breasts, except for the underboob area, something I feel comfortable with. She tells me to look a little to the side, in something she calls a three quarter profile. When she’s satisfied she goes to stand at her easel and puts her pencil to the paper, beginning to sketch me.

“So, my dear, please talk to me”, she tells me, looking from behind the paper.

“It’s okay for me to move my lips?” I ask her, trying to move them as little as possible.

“Your lips and just your lips”, she tells me and lets out a little laugh.

“Okay, great. What do you want to talk about?” I say, moving my lips now.

“I don’t know, what have you been up to lately, because I’ve barely heard from you. Anyone for that matter”, she asks me. I knew something like this was gonna come up. She’s been smart about it though, making sure I’m trapped in a position, so I can’t run away and avoid talking about it.

“Not much really, just work”, I tell her, trying to brush off my recent loner behavior as nothing.

“Just work?” she questions me, raising her eyebrows as she peaks from behind her easel again.

“Just work”, I repeat, hoping she’ll let it go.

“And nothing else?” she further questions.

“Why is that so strange?” I retort. Sometimes attack is the best method of defense.

“No, not at all…” she tells me and for a second I think she has been able to let it go.

“Have you been hanging around with some people?” she pries for more and I have to refrain myself from letting out a sigh, because that would move my chest, and thus my hair and that would probably leave me exposed.

“What do you mean?” I ask her, trying not to frown as well. I know what she’s trying to get at, yet her methods seem somewhat unconventional.

“Like meeting up with certain people?” she asks me innocently.

“No”, I tell her quickly, hoping that the shortness of my answer will let her know to just let it go.

“So a solitary phase?” she asks me again. God, this interrogation is making me feel more uncomfortable than the fact that I’m half naked.

“I guess so”, I mutter, but then decide that we need to get to the point.

“Corrine I have a feeling you want to talk about something specific”, I tell her and normally I would give her a semi-death stare but I have to maintain the three quarter profile she’s put me in.

“No not at all”, she says quickly, scoffing the words.

“Coco, have I ever told you you’re a horrible, horrible liar?” I ask her, calling her out on her bullshit. She knows she doesn’t have to do that with me. She knows I’d rather have her be honest and get to the point, instead of insinuating stuff.

“What can I say? I’m a painter, not and actress”, she says in her defense and I can’t help but chuckle a little, though I try to hold it back to maintain my position.

“Good point, but what’s on your mind?” I ask her, wanting for her to just bite the bullet and get to it, because all of it is making me horribly nervous.

“I’ll say it, if you promise me to stay put, because that position is perfect”, she tells me, somewhere between panic and seriousness.

“Corrine you’re worrying me”, I say, because she actually is.

“Promise me”, she insists and I can’t help but let out a sigh. I’m relieved when I find out that my hair hasn’t shifted. Thank God.

“Fine, I promise. Now tell me”, I nearly command her, because the tension is starting to get to me.

“The other day I met up with Chris for some coffee”, she tells me as she peaks from behind the easel again. Would Chris know? I decide to act nonchalant for a bit.

“How is he? I haven’t seen him in a bit” I tell her, trying to stay on the subject of Chris for a bit, because I know there’s something else coming and I have a feeling that I know what it is. I feel the dread rise up in me.

“Since the camping trip you mean,” she dryly retorts.

“Yeah, how do you know?” I ask her, still trying to keep her away from the subject, even though I know she’s damn close.

“Because… Dear lord… How… I don’t know… I mean…?” she begins to stutter and I realize we’ve reached the subject I was trying to avoid.

“Corrine, please form some coherent sentences, because I do not want to be drawn with frown lines on my face”, I tell her, wanting to get it over with.

“He told me that you and Eddie broke up”, she answer matter-of-factly and I’m taken aback by her directness. I don’t know what to say, so I decide to stay silent. It can only benefit the posing. My mind however is filled with thoughts. So Chris knows. How does he know? Did Eddie tell him? Eddie probably told him. Does Chris hate my guts now? I wouldn’t be surprised if he did. How is Eddie? I want to ask Corrine these questions and yet at the same time a part of me doesn’t want to know the answers at all.

“So it’s true then? Because when Chris explained the whole thing to me I was completely caught of guard, because I didn’t even know you were officially a thing. Like sure, I had my suspicions… But it’s over?” she asks me, putting her pencil down for a second and looking at me with eyes filled with worry and pity. Oh please don’t.

“Yes”, I confirm her questions, hoping that that one word will suffice, even though I know it won’t.

“Like over over?” she asks again to make sure.

“I’m afraid so”, I tell her, preparing for the questions to come.

“What happened?” she asks and I know she’s expecting a big answer, but I don’t really feel like explaining it all. It has been hard enough as is, without having to say those things aloud. Saying them aloud makes them feel so much more real and it just hurts.

“I changed my mind”, I say and I try to crawl back into my method of using coldness, but somehow my mind is refusing me to let me do that. I feel more vulnerable than ever. The fact that I’m half naked has little to do with it.

“Come again, please?” she questions, toying with the pencil in her hand, before putting it back onto the paper.

“I changed my mind. Remember when you and Johnny told me to give it a shot and see how it would go?” I try to start explaining to her, even though it feels like ever single word just wants to stay in my throat and doesn’t ever want to come out.

“Yes, the night of a thousand margaritas. I remember that night surprisingly well, considering the amount I had to drink”, she tells me, sounding very sincere even though she just referenced a night of heavy drinking.

“Well I gave it a shot”, I tell her and she perks up when she hears those words, but then reality hits her again, realizing that it didn’t work out.

“And?” she pries further, wanting me to continue.

“And it was great. It was wonderful. It was the best I’ve felt in a long time, maybe ever…” Goddammit, Lola, control yourself, is the only thing I can think of as I hear my voice cracking up. I cannot and will not cry. I’ve cried enough over the past weeks.

“Then how come it ended?” That question is one that will haunt me for eternity. How come it ended?

“Because I realized I was being selfish”, I simply say the answer I’ve been telling myself over and over again, trying to convince myself I made the right decision, even though I’m not so sure.

“Lola…” Corrine begins, but I can’t stand her bemotheringness right now.

“No, I was”, I tell, giving her the sternest look I can without ruining the profile.

“Eddie… He’s so sweet. He’s kind. He’s funny. He’s smart…” I want go on, but Corrine cuts me off.

“He’s gorgeous”, she adds, stating the obvious.

“Corrine”, I scold her, because this really is not the time to have this conversation. Again.

“Sorry”, she mumbles and gestures me to go as she disappears back behind the easel.

“He’s this perfect guy. And I realized that I don’t deserve him. I don’t deserve someone like him. And he certainly doesn’t deserve to be stuck to a mess like me. And I made him see that.” I made him see that the hard way and the thought of those last moments together haunts me once again. Those words have been repeating in my head over and over again. Get out. My pleasure.

“What do you mean with that?” Corrine says sounding more confused than ever.

“I made him realize what a fucking mess I am and I gave him a way out. Which he took.” He took it and ran with and who’s to blame him. No one. He did what he had to do. What I made him do.

“That’s not what Chris says”, Corrine states and her words take me out of those horrible memories.

“What does he say then? What did Eddie tell him? That I’m a complete nut case?” I fire questions at her, sounding angry and sad all at the same time.

“No, he told Chris that he was the one that fucked up”, she says and she gives me a confused look.

“What?” I ask her, my voice nothing more than a whisper. He blames himself? How the fuck can he blame himself? I’m the one that ruined everything and pushed him away.

“Lola, sit still”, Corrine commands me and I hadn’t noticed I’d been moving my arms up to my face to hide in them until she told me. I put them back in their original positions.

“Sorry… But what do you mean”, I mutter, still completely taken aback.

“Now what I need you to do, is not talk and sit completely still, I’m gonna draw your face. Can you do that?” she gives me my orders and I nod ever so slightly. She gives me a nod in return and focusses back on her paper.

“Great” she mutters. “It will also give me a chance to explain what I heard without you interrupting me with your self-denigrating monologues.” I wish I could scold her at this moment, but she’s got me in a place of complete obedience.

“From what I heard from Chris Eddie’s been a fucking mess”, she begins and those words feel like taking a bullet to the heart. I did that, is the only thing I can think as the guilt washes over me.

“He’s been cooped up in that apartment, fixing everything in sight. The cracks in the walls, the bathroom, the holes in Chris’ room. He even repainted it. And miraculously enough he managed to fix their oven. Now that my dear is an early Christmas miracle…” He fixed the cracks in the ceiling? He did that? Because of that picture?

“But I’m getting lost in my train of thought. Anyhow he’s been a wreck. So about a week ago Chris confronted him with it -and apparently nearly had to drag the words out of him- he said that you guys had talked about Andy and that it got rough. And Eddie thinks he overreacted and is blaming himself. I’ve called Chris every day for a check up, apparently he’s been hiding in his room for the past week, working on music. You can talk now”, she tells me and pears around her easel once again.

“I don’t know what to say”, I say honestly. He blames himself? Because he overreacted? He had ever right to act the way he did.

“How do you feel about the whole thing? And be honest. I don’t want the I’m fine bullshit or the I-saved-him-from-the-wreck-of-a-person-I-am bullshit. How do you feel?” Her bemothering character is really shining through today. But it’s maybe what I need at the moment.

“Awful… Horrible… Miserable”, I tell her, obeying her orders not to bullshit her, also because I can’t bring myself to do it. Part of me feels numb, numbed in shock by the fact that Eddie still cares, or seems to care.

“Why can’t you two just see that you need to be together? Sure there’s some hurdles to overcome, but let me tell you something. If love was easy, nobody would care about it, because it wouldn’t be special anymore”, Corrine says and I know she’s right. But I don’t want her to be right. Because he deserves better. He deserves so much better.

“Where the hell did you get that quote?” I ask her and let out a small chuckle.

“My heart”, she tells me dead serious and I can’t help but roll my eyes at it all.

“Jesus”, I mutter. Though I know she has a right to use such quotes. She and Jeff haven’t always had it easy, so she knows what she’s talking about.

“What I’m getting at is that you need to work things out”, she says getting to the point. However much I hate it when she mutters and mumbles, I hate it even more when she’s as direct as this.

“I don’t think we can”, I answer. I really don’t know if we can. I would want to, but I don’t know if I’m able to do it. And Eddie… He probably can’t bring himself to do.

“You think you’ve ruined your shot at being together?” she asks me, worry coming over her voice once more.

“Yes”, is all I manage to say with chocking up.

“I think you haven’t, but I know there’s no convincing you. So I’ll try to convince you of something else. Talk to him again, try and be friends” she tells me as if it’s the simplest, easiest thing to do.

“I don’t know, Corrine…” I mutter. How can I ask him to be my friend after I hurt him like that?

“And I know the perfect opportunity. Chris decided to hold Thanksgiving at his place this year, in celebration of the fact that the oven is working. The whole gang is coming. You need to come as well and then you guys can talk”, she says and something tells me she’s had this planned out all along. Corrine Neely, you smooth bastard.

“Corrine, I really don’t know”, I try and get myself out of it. I’m not a holiday person anyway. I just prefer to sit them out on my own. Though last year they did drag me along for Thanksgiving and we had a great time.

“Too bad for you, because I already told Chris you’re coming and that you’re bringing that great pumpkin pie of yours”, she tells me with a wide grin and part of me wants to strangle her.

“Corrine”, I let out and I’m getting up from the couch. It’s only midway through the movement that I realize that I’m moving.

“Fuck I need to sit still”, I mutter and try to reposition myself as accurately as possible.

“No you don’t I’m finished”, Corrine tells me and I let out a sigh of relief, because there was no way in hell I would’ve been able to get back into that exact position again. I’m ecstatic to be able to move again, my neck was getting really fucking sore.

“Really?” I ask her, even though it unnecessary. Corrine is nodding at me.

“Yeah, come and have a look”, she tells me and gestures with her hand for me to come closer. I obey and get off the couch and instinctively wrap my arms around my chest. When I look at the drawing I’m completely stunned. The likeness is uncanny, yet somehow my features are beautifully displayed on the piece of paper in front of me.

“Corrine, it’s…” I want to say that it’s absolutely fucking stunning, but she doesn’t let me finish.

“It’s horrendous isn’t it”, she interrupts me, sounding disappointed.

“No it’s absolutely beautiful”, I tell her and her face lights up. She knows I don’t lie about these things.

“That’s because you are”, she tells me with a cheeky smile.

“Don’t flatter me, I’m still not pleased with you dragging me along for Thanksgiving”, I tell her and finally give her the stare of doom that I’ve been wanting to give her for quite some time now.

“But you’re coming right?” she asks me hopefully, a sparkle in her eye, still happy about her success in her artistic endeavor.

“Yes, I will. But I won’t make any promises about talking to Eddie”, I give in. I want to talk to him. I need to talk to him. I need to apologize and I need to beg for his forgiveness. I need him, I realize now more than ever. Even though he doesn’t need me at all. Maybe us being friends would be a way to solve that. Only if he can find it in his heart to forgive me for my words. Part of me fears he can’t, though I hold out hope.

#pearl jam fanfic #pearl jam fanfiction #eddie vedder fanfic #eddie vedder fanfiction #grungefic #grunge fanfic #grunge fanfiction

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nowis-scales · 3 years

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Headcanons for Ryoma’s Birthday

I cannot finish fic on time to save my life, this we know. I considered writing some fic for his birthday but it just did not work out... So! I am going to do headcanons about Ryoma for his birthday, cause I just think he’s neat. Hopefully they’re to someone’s liking!

• This man cannot flirt to save his life. If he ever gets like, a good flirting line in, it is by chance more than anything. He’s really awkward about his feelings and struggles to convey his interest in someone. Pretty much his only solution is to just tell the person outright how he feels, which is a little forward for most people. He also is unlikely to notice if someone starts flirting back with him, for he doesn’t like to make assumptions. So basically, if you want Ryoma to know you’re interested, you’re going to have to make a big sign that says so and smack him with it repeatedly.

• Has a weird relationship with his appearance. On the one hand, he looks a lot like his father and he’s very proud of that fact. In fact, some people say that you can actually see his eyes light up when you tell him so — but even with this being the case, he would probably tell you that he is the least good-looking of his siblings. It seems to be not so much that he thinks that Sumeragi was unattractive, so much as it is that he thinks of himself as more average in terms of appearance than the others. This is perhaps just another element of his classic ever-hard on himself behaviour.

• In a light nap, Ryoma is perfectly pleasant. Quiet and all around alright to be around. Once he gets into a deep sleep, though? He snores obnoxiously loudly. He has done so since he was little, but it is much less cute now that he’s a grown man. Spending a night next to him is like spending a night sleeping next to a grizzly bear. Sometimes, the snoring gets so bad that he wakes himself up wondering what that awful sound is.

• A bit shameless when it comes to nudity. Not in like, a weird Niles sort of way, but just in the fact that he doesn’t make a big deal out of it. The difference between observations of nudity in Hoshido and Nohr is already vast, but even by Hoshidan standards he might not be characterized as super shy. He just doesn’t make a big deal out of it, approaches it with an “it is what it is” attitude. Sometimes the body is not clothed, it happens.

• Though the relationship between him and Saizo is largely professional, they were good friends as little kids. Since Saizo’s father worked for Ryoma’s father, they were often each other’s playmates when the adults were together. Being high prince and surprisingly good at playing people like fiddles, Ryoma roped Saizo into a lot of games as children. They especially liked going to ponds together to try and catch frogs.

• His favourite flower (after a cherry blossom, of course) is the orange osmanthus. They remind him of tiny orange suns blossoming from the earth. He has many memories of being in the gardens with Ikona and seeing them, so he ends up associating them with her in some way. Not that he minds. He likes to have reminders of people who are gone.

• If Orochi had to conjure up one “funny for everyone else, embarrassing for him” story out of her mind about him, it would be from when he first began to practice giving speeches. Mikoto had him practice a few in Shirasagi Castle Town, which many people happily attended. Many of them were great — the first one... not so much. There was nothing wrong with Ryoma’s speech in itself. The people simply failed to focus on it, due to the fact that his voice was going through some er... changes at the time. It was cracking and squeaking in all manner of different ways, and every time it happened, it seemed like the high prince’s face just kept getting pinker, and everybody was just trying not to sympathy-laugh at poor Ryoma. Even Mikoto nearly failed to keep it together. If anybody brings this incident up, Ryoma will sulk about it.

• One of those people who can crack like, every part of his body. He doesn’t do it often, because he knows some people are really bothered by it (Hinoka in particular hates it), but will usually do it when he’s by himself. Would potentially crack his knuckles as a threat, but usually refrains on the basis that it is a total cliché.

• Has an epigrammatic sense of humour. If you don’t know what that means, it’s like the Oscar Wilde style humour. However, it is notable that his humour changes once intoxicated. Rather than being dependent on his cleverness with words, it’s more self-deprecating. Usually it’s all in good fun, but every once in awhile, he says something a little out there and his loved ones have to ask if he’s okay. Biggest contender for that outcome he’s ever had was the response of “What are you going to do, tell my father?” to Xander during a playful ribbing session.

• I know the game wants us to think he’s straight, but this is one of those times where I reject canon in favour of my own interpretation. I think he’s bisexual, he just has a heavier lean toward women. Since per the Japanese Rhajat/F Corrin S-support, Hoshido seems to be implied to have some homophobia hanging about, he’s quiet about it for the most part. He knows it might colour the more traditional people’s opinions of him. He’d like to be more open about it some day, and would try to support LGBT+ people in his own reign.

• A lot of people think he is sensitive about being touched or doesn’t like to be. This is absolutely not true. People mostly just avoid it with him as they are under the impression that he is too important. He literally could not care less. He loves having his hair played with, his hands held... he loves hugs and he doesn’t mind if you want to hang onto his arms, and he likes pats on the shoulders and the ruffling of his hair... This poor man is terribly touch-starved. It’s okay to touch him. In fact, please do.

#fire emblem fates #fe ryoma #fire emblem

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fayesdiary · 3 years

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did Birthright's story have a particular strong suit to you, such as the pacing or character writing? i wasn't really able to enjoy it myself but i'm still curious about what others might like about it. aaand, any particular supports stand out to you?

Personally I didn’t find much noteworthy about Birthright. I mean it’s not bad nor I would call it bland like many other people do, but there is some credit to the fact that it’s kind of your average Fire Emblem experience, even if the Japanese aesthetic does give it a new coat of paint. And honestly, just this made me realize that we really need more varied aesthetics in FE than generic medieval fantasy, regardless of how well it’s executed.

I feel that Birthright has kind of a “Monster of the Week” aesthetic until the final chapters, where every chapter you go to new places and face different enemies, but the chapters don’t feel... connected? I don’t really know how to explain it, it’s just that I didn’t feel there was much tying them together. It wasn’t much of an issue to me since I tended to play one chapter a day, but I imagine it gets tiring fast if you play a bunch of them at once.

But it does have its strong moments, like in the final chapters, the characters that sure, you can call them simple but they are also really endearing (also, simple does not equal bad) and most of them have room for more exploration even if the game doesn’t provide it. Or maybe it does, but no way I’m gonna read all of the supports. There’s a buttload of them and I imagine they get redundant fast. The death scenes were hit or miss, but when they hit they hit hard. Flora’s death scene was a bit silly in execution but Felicia and Corrin’s reactions... fuck. They sold the scene on their own. Elise and Azura’s too are really heartfelt imo! (I wish I could say the same about Xander but I got sick of his shit waaaay before he died, his CQ and Rev versions will have to pull a lot of weight for me to end up liking him) Speaking of Elise, I was pleased that you actually get to spend a few chapters with her before she... you know. I really liked Corrin too, I didn’t expect them to be this witty and... kinda self-aware at times? Like telling Flora Garon would have just burned her village down anyway and other stuff I can’t remember sadly? To me they were a really good example of someone being trusting but not stupid and the mainstream FE fandom can eat my ass on that one, but it was also kinda funny and cathartic to see how sick they got of the villains’ shit in the final chapters. And after playing BR, I can’t understand the complaint that Corrin is bloodthirsty in this route, because they always try diplomacy first, save for the laughably evil trio of Garon, Hans and Iago. And to be honest, I’m glad that’s not the case. Overall Birthright was kinda average but still fun and enjoyable to play! I haven’t gotten many supports (something that happened to me also in Awakening and i feel I’m doing something wrong, I wish you could gain support points for units within 3 spaces like in Echoes), but some of my faves that I got were Ryoma/Scarlet (I later found out it was actually added in the Gay Fates hack I installed, shame it wasn’t canon because it’s one of my faves and the two work so well together, I even ended up marrying them, here’s the video if you want to give it a look) and Kaze/Hinoka! (This one is actually about Hinoka’s relationship with Sakura, but the fact that Hinoka gives her sister space while talking to her in a way that makes her comfortable and only forcibly talking to her in person if she feels she’s distressed is incredibly caring and sweet and gosh I love this family so much)

#fire emblem #fire emblem fates #fire emblem fates birthright #fe14 #my rambles #i think this about sums it up my thoughts about birthright honestly #it's a good game but at the same time i don't have much to say about it #ask replies #parnasse

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wardencommanderrodimiss · 3 years

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If Fates' child mechanics could be improved, story wise, what would you do? Because I do genuinely love the kids as characters but they were done DIRTY by the excuse plot and reasons for them to be there.

That reminds me of something else I’ve meant to say about how the Fates child mechanics really really doesn’t work. Actually several things, one big one and a bunch of other little ones.

It’s obvious that the thought process was “well, people liked Awakening and Awakening had XYZ, so let’s add it in again!” without taking into account that Awakening built its story around time travel. Even if you didn’t get any S-supports, Lucina is still there. It’s a major plot point. Grima is still there, also having time-traveled. You can’t separate the time travel from the main plot, so from there it’s natural that Lucina would have some friends who came back with her, and thus you get the kids.

We’ve discussed how Fates’ baby dimension is silly. Yeah hang on let’s all just have kids during a war and throw them into an Outrealm pocket dimension where they’ll grow up real quick and we can have more soldiers for our army. If a tree falls in a forest and nobody’s around to hear it - if a situation so fantastical happens that it couldn’t have been written about in any human rights documentation, is it still a war crime? Several other issues I have with it before I get into the big one I wanted to talk about:

Even if we presume that the ladies are spending the duration of their pregnancy also in a pocket dimension where time passes differently in relation to the outside world, that’s still the equivalent of nine months that they are experiencing. That’s (equivalent to) several months that they’re not going to be able to train when the pregnancy is far along or when they’re recovering. Even if it seems like just a few days passed outside, they’re physically going to be lagging behind where they were when they entered the outrealm.

Azura and fCorrin would do that twice.

After they yeet the first of their female friends into a pocket dimension off the astral plane so that she can time-lapse her pregnancy, you would think that someone in the army would figure out some sort of birth control spell/concoction/herb/something so that they don’t have to worry about this again. That’s just good common sense, something we know Corrin lacks, but somebody else surely would suggest it. I feel like Camilla would have that under control - not to insinuate like that she’s a slut or something, but I mean that her older sister vibes tell me that she has the knowledge and supplies to dump on her three younger siblings to inform them how to have relationships safely without fear of unwanted children “and if anyone tries to pressure you otherwise, tell me and I’ll cut their head off” ;3c. She’s like that, I think.

And then the other big and uncomfortable problem with this setup is: some of the character ages.

Like, in Awakening, you’ve got Donnel, Ricken, and Lissa who seem the youngest. Depending on Robin’s gender and how the pairings fall, I think you could end up with two unmarried guys, so you could just have Donnel and Ricken not have children, but if you want to get every character you’ve got to have Lissa get married. I put her at 16/18 during the two parts of the game. Not a great age to have a kid at - but the thing about Awakening’s time travel is that she’s not having a kid at that age. Owain’s from the future, and the only child born during the events of the game is Lucina. It still felt a little weird to see those younger ones getting married, Lissa might be getting a ring now from someone just as young as she is (in the middle of a war) but kids are still years off. That...somewhat lessens the discomfort.

And then. sigh. then there’s Fates. Where no pocket dimensions and strange flow-of-time can get around the fact of character ages, because their children might be growing up fast but they are not from the future. Those kids are born during the course of the game. And like! Elise and Sakura! They’re my baby sisters! I don’t want my baby sisters to be teen moms during a war! That’s just weird and gross and uncomfortable! They’re my baby sisters. I want to find my siblings good partners but I’m not going to matchmake for my baby sisters if that’s the result.

So looping all the way back around to your question - I have no idea, honestly. Anything except time travel/coming from an entirely alternate timeline in the future has all of the above problems baked in, and then future-kids is just an Awakening rehash. Like I was about to suggest that it’d be interesting if for Birthright/Conquest, the kids came from an alternate timeline of the other path, where their side lost the war, but firstly that’s just Awakening rehashed again, secondly Corrin spares as many people as possible so we don’t have dead parents, and honestly it’s not even a dark dire future in Awakening. Like for Nohr in Birthright, Leo gets crowned king of Nohr, his kid is going to have no drive to come back and change the past because it’s fine, there’s holes in the family where Aunt Elise and Uncle Xander are missing, but this is not dire enough to need to find a way to change fate. And thirdly, for the few characters who do die - since we’re using Birthright as the example, Elise and Xander - that would mean that their kids were born before the end of the route, which runs into that same Elise problem! If you wanted “the kids as refugees from a dire timeline” it’d have to be one where Garon won and then again, just play Awakening for that plot.

Conceptually I think it’s interesting to draw the kids in from a different timeline where Corrin made the other choice - “Roddy what about Revelation?” I don’t fucking know man - and see how they react to Corrin being on that side, fighting for their country, with their parents, but... then that runs into the problem of spoiling the other route. Like if you played Conquest first and Xander’s kid says he died before they were born, well, that’s awkward. And again, Elise - in Conquest you could pair her with like, Kaze, who was with Corrin the whole time, always on Corrin’s side no matter what, and then that creates a plot hole of it having been literally impossible for that kid to have come from a Birthright-esque timeline because they couldn’t have existed then because Kaze could’ve even died before Corrin reunites with Elise. No, that concept can’t work. Too much potential for plot holes and stretching too weirdly to try and cover it.

I don’t know. I don’t know if you can fix it without becoming an Awakening rehash or turning Fates into something entirely different...which, it’s Fates. Might not be a bad thing to do that.

#fire emblem chatter tag #jakeun-kangajii

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this-is-such-a-bad-decision · 3 years

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TMA Epilogue X Critical Role Crossover (Good Cows Edition)

Want to write this fic, gonna make it a post instead because I will never make the time for it otherwise. Spoilers up to the most recent episode for both shows. (TMA Finale and Ep 131 Critical Role.)

We at the Blooming Grove with the Clay family.

Been like two hours since the Mighty Nein went to stop an evil city, little tense but Clays know how to chill, sipping tea around their little table

Clarabelle comes bursting into the house, “TWO DUDES JUST APPEARED OUT OF THIN AIR COVERED IN SHINY BLACK STUFF also they’re bleeding”

Rest of the family comes stampeding out, indeed there are two bleeding humans on the lawn (Martin got hit by debris when the Panopticon collapsed, Jon has been stabbed, y’know) tangled up in tape

Cornelius and Calliope go make sure the Grove isn’t under attack while Constance gives the boys some healing, tries to ask what’s going on but no one speaks the same language (Jon is no longer connected to the Eye so no cheat codes)

JMart pass out from inter-dimensional jet-lag, Clays clean them up and put them to bed

Martin wakes up in the middle of the night while Cornelius is keeping watch (Clays are welcoming but these guys are strangers) and is like “ah, so the giant cow people weren’t a hallucination.”

Language barrier is still there but tea is universal; Cornelius makes some for Martin, ends up holding Martin through some tears as everything that’s happened catches up at once

Good thing the Clays know how to help people in mourning

Martin goes back to sleep, Jon and Martin wake up in the morning and get to be happy and cry about being alive and safe together

Soon as that part’s over thing’s get heavy cause MAG 200 was A LOT and it’s gonna be a bit before either of them are okay with how everything went down

The Clays are very kind and gentle and it only makes Jon feel worse

“Martin. This is the good cow world. We brought evil to the good cows.”

Tbh Jmart were more expecting parallel universes instead of this, but alright

Eventually they start exploring the Grove. It’s a little unnerving when they realize this place is a graveyard, even more unnerving when they realize this place and the Clays are clearly magical (since the only magic in their world is evil), and super unnerving when they realize this place is surrounded by an evil enchanted forest that the Clays won’t let them walk into alone

But no one tries to hurt them or eat them so they settle in and try to figure out where they are going to go from here

Corrin and Colton get back after a couple days, Constance introduces them to the newcomers and then tells Corrin everything about The Mighty Nein and the evil floating city

The next day Corrin prepares the cleric spell Tongues, pulls Jon and Martin aside and casts it on herself so they can have a conversation

Jon ends up confessing everything for the sake of warning them about the evil he’s unleashed on their world (Martin thinks he should hold back A LITTLE BIT for the sake of avoiding an angry mob but Jon gets into his story-telling flow)

Corrin: “Is one of the Fears a giant screaming city floating in the void?” Jon: “What”

Corrin is exasperated by this new wave of bad news, Jon is bemused to learn that his world’s baggage only takes 2nd place for Impending Eldritch Threats

Corrin tells Jon that they’re going to wait for her nephew and his friends to get home, they’ll probably have a better idea how to deal with this problem than she does, in the meantime she’ll see what guidance the Wildmother can offer

Cue Jon and Martin having a million questions on the cosmology of this world, Corrin casts Tongues on him so he can go bother the rest of her family while she goes to meditate.

A week or two passes with Jon and Martin processing their trauma, talking through their differences, and slowly learning more about the world. The revelation that there are non-evil gods is a nice one.

The world doesn’t end, The Mighty Nein return, Jon and Martin realize this is not a world solely made up of cow people

The Nein are VERY grumpy to learn that a new problem has popped up while they were gone, but they agree to take Jmart with them to speak with their various high-powered connections about this threat

The Mighty Nein is a BIG culture shock for Jon and Martin after a couple weeks of chilling with the Clays (not to say the Clays aren’t weird, but their weird is easier to ignore if you can’t speak the language, and I think they are better behaved around guests)

Caduceus is now in charge of Tongues the same way Jester is in charge of Sending

The Nein are varying amounts of sympathetic to what has happened to Jon and Martin considering they now have to deal with the consequences, but I think they generally settle on a similar reaction that they had to Caleb, which is that it’s not your fault if you were manipulated into it; Jon has a hard time accepting this.

The Mighty Nein makes the rounds (Cobalt Soul, Yussa, etc.) (yes, Yussa is fine, no, he’s not going to help with this problem, he’s going to nap for a million years) before getting back to Allura

(At this point various institutions have started to notice an increase in monster sightings and strange new cults popping up worshiping unfamiliar gods)

Allura is ALSO very exasperated to learn about new gods trying to assert themselves, ends up calling in her people

Yup, enter Vox Machina

I’m going to skip a bunch of stuff now because I’m getting tired of typing (also spoilers for the Vox Machina arc going forward)

But basically they do some magic bullshit, follow a similar road map as their solution to Vecna, and they use Jon’s voice (which webbed the Fears up to be dragged into this world in the first place) to pin down the Fears and throw them beyond the divine gate

The Fears proceed to get their asses kicked by Sarenrae and the Wildmother and the Stormlord and all the rest

Not so tough now are ya bitches

Web didn’t even consider that other worlds might have things strong enough to kill it

Got used to a world that didn’t have any gods of love and hope and now you don’t know how to handle it

Anyway, Jon and Martin settle into their new world, get to learn whatever dope D&D magic they want, and live happily ever after.

Feel free to write this if anyone is inspired, the only requirement is that you let me know when it’s posted cause I would love to read it.

#jonathan sims #critical role #the magnus archives #the magnus archives finale #jonmartin #tma finale #martin blackwood #constance clay #corrin clay #cornelius clay #caduceus clay #tma fic #i just love the idea of the web's hubris getting it killed #and I love the idea of jon and martin getting tlc from large cow people #they deserve it after everything they've been through #My writing #my stuff

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fatesdeepdive · 3 years

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Entry 8: Rinkah’s Burning Loins

My Castle

After fully dedicating ourselves to Hoshido, the game finally really begins. We’re given access to a customizable castle in the Astral Plane where our army waits between battles. We can talk to our units, giving them minor stat boosts or new weapons. Right off the bat, we have a farm and spring to give us resources, rooms for Corrin and Lilith, and a Hall of Records.

In Lilith’s spring, we can feed her to make her level up. Different foods affect her stats in different ways. Note that, although Lilith now has stats, she isn’t usable in battle. Other players can invade our Castle through spotpass, which I’ll discuss in a later entry, and Lilith is only usable in those battles.

Lilith

Lilith is a weird squirrel dragon thing that floats around clutching a random ball. She used to be our stable girl and is now our pet. I think she has a crush on Corrin. Her design is unique and cute, I like it. Gameplay wise, she can only use a modified Physic staff. I don’t dislike her personality, but she feels like a throwaway character added at the last minute. She raises a ton of questions that I doubt will ever be answered.

In the Hall of Records, we can see descriptions of all the units we’ll ever recruit, rewatch cutscenes, read unreadable poems, and play around with a relationship tester. The relationship tester is randomized, by the way, which kinda makes it pointless. That said, it told me that Corrin expects betrayal from Rinkah, while Rinkah’s loins are set afire by Corrin. This is now canon, I have decided.

In Corrin’s room, we can change their hairstyle and invite an ally over to chill. I chose Kaze. He complimented Corrin’s piano skills, which she apparently has, then stared at us, blushing, while thanking us for saving him from Garon.

So, let’s talk about the elephant in the room. In the Japanese version you get to rub units while in close up mode. Like Pokemon Amie except...with people. This was removed in the English version. A lot of Fire Emblem fans were pissed, crying about censorship because Nintendo of America had the gall to remove the minigame where you rub Camila’s tiddies while she moans. And I’m going to say a hot take right now: they made the right call. That stuff was weird and indulgent. It was the living embodiment of the fanservice focussed design that plagues modern Fire Emblem games. Good riddance.

Inviting allies to Corrin’s cool sex treehouse boosts our support levels. I suppose it's time I mentioned that. In Fire Emblem games, units form bonds from fighting next to each other, unlocking short conversations that flesh them out as characters. Units also fight together better when they have high supports. Now, here’s the fun thing about supports:

There are more than 600 supports in this game. Not support conversations, support lines, each of which is made up of three or four conversations. And, because God has cursed me for my hubris and my work is never finished, I’m going to read all of them.

Admittedly, I’m not going to unlock all of them. S-Rank conversations result in marriages and each unit only gets one. It’d take a few dozen playthroughs to get all of Corrin’s S-Rank conversations and I don’t hate myself that much, so I’m reading the transcripts from the wiki. I think I’m going to do four supports per Entry; that’ll leave me with a few extra by the time we reach the end, but I’ll just do a support grab bag entry or something.

Before we do supports, let’s finish up improving the castle. I built a weapon shop and a statue of Corrin that boosts her max speed. We are limited on the number of buildings we can build, but that isn’t a big deal yet because the only other option was to build a stave shop.

Support: Corrin/Rinkah

C: Corrin attempts to discuss battle tactics with Rinkah, but Rinkah blows her off and tells her to stop trying to be friends. Rinkah does acknowledge that Corrin’s authority and that Corrin saved her life, but tells the princess leave her alone.

B: Corrin pesters Rinkah until she explains why she’s so aloof. Rinkah explains that, the Flame Tribe keeps a great flame burning in the center of the village to honor the God of Fire. In the past, outsiders have extinguished the fire. One such instance was followed by a volcanic eruption that decimated the tribe. As a rule, the people of the Flame Tribe are wary of outsiders. Rinkah also explains that she’s working for Hoshido because her father commanded her to, much to her chagrin.

A: Rinkah explains that she would have preferred to die an honorable warrior’s death than be captured and resents Corrin for sparing her. Corrin says that she’s glad Rinkah is still alive, because it means Rinkah and her can be friends. Corrin also says that, despite the chaos of war, she believes in fate and its ability to bring people together. Corrin encourages Rinkah to use this opportunity to learn more about the outside world and bring that knowledge home with her. Rinkah begrudgingly agrees.

This is how the conversation will end on my playthrough, but if Corrin has a penis, you can get an S-Rank proposal conversation. I’ll be listing all of these off along with the normal conversations.

S: Rinkah comes to Corrin, blushing, and tells him that he has been a constant reminder of her shame and regret over being captured. But, over time, these feelings were replaced with love. Love that she hated, because Corrin is an outsider. Corrin says that he’s loved Rinkah since the day they met and only told her to be friendly to other people as an excuse to spend time with her. Rinkah states that, from now on, she will remember her capture as the happiest day of her life and the two get married.

Review: I really like this support line. It expands Rinkah’s backstory and culture, ties it into Corrin’s own isolation and belief in fate, and deals with the tumultuous meeting they had in Chapter 2. The confession comes out of nowhere, admittedly, but I do like Rinkah grappling with her mixed feelings of hate and love. Solid support.

Support: Corrin/Jakob

C: Corrin comes to Jakob to ask for a favor. Jakob interrupts her by humorously listing off the things he would do for Corrin. Things like slay dragons for her, which is actually kinda offensive now that I think about it. Corrin begs Jakob to allow her to be independent and Jakob refuses. Corrin explains that she’s his boss and he tells her that servitude is his reason for living. Jakob explains that, when he started working for Corrin, he was incompetent, and her kindness towards him made him indebted to her. The two compromise on the agreement that Jakob will teach Corrin how to make tea. After Corrin leaves, Jakob mumbles to himself that things might get apocalyptic.

B: Corrin repeatedly tries and fails to make a decent cup of tea. Both of them get some funny lines in, with Corrin telling Jakob that she can’t hear him because she’s ignoring him and Jakob saying that, saying that they’ll run out of leaves before Corrin makes decent tea. They meaning the nation in this case. Corrin eventually makes a passable cup, after Jakob secretly adds in sugar.

A: Jakob admits to Corrin that he messed with her tea and she laughs it off, admitting that she knew all along. She apologizes for being stubborn and accepts that she still needs Jakob’s help sometimes. Jakob says that he falls apart without Corrin. Corrin says that the two of them are alike in that way and Jakob literally faints from joy.

S: Jakob is acting more distant than normal. When Corrin asks him about this, he admits that he’s fallen for her and resigns from his duties as butler, because it is improper for him to have feelings for his mistress. Corrin begs him to say because she needs him and admits that she loves him too. The two of them get embarrassed and Corrin fires Jakob, giving him the new job of husband.

Review: This was a hilarious support that really made me appreciate Jakob’s snarky yet loyal personality. He is the perfect butler. The conflict of Corrin wanting to be independent and Jakob wanting to take care of her is a good dynamic that made me appreciate the relationship between these two characters. I do like them more as a platonic couple than a romantic one, but Jakob quitting his job because falling in love with Corrin is improper is a nice character moment.

Support: Corrin/Kaze

C: A villager gives Kaze a bunch of radishes because he’s super hot. And I mean, he is. Kaze apparently doesn’t realize that he’s hot until Corrin explains it to him. Kaze mentions that he dislikes the attention because he isn’t a good person before running off.

B: Corrin asks Kaze to follow her around so she can figure out what’s bothering him. Kaze says no, so Corrin annoys him until he agrees to hang out with him. Then he runs away again.

A: Kaze admits to Corrin that it was his fault that Garon kidnapped her, because when he was a child, he noticed the Nohrian soldiers that killed Sumeragi were in the city but said nothing about it. I don’t know how that makes Corrin’s kidnapping his fault, you’d expect there to be soldiers guarding a king. And the fact that Kaze was there means that there were also Hoshido soldiers, which means there was no reason to be suspicious of the Nohrians. Also, Kaze was a teenager at the oldest, so he should probably get some leeway. Whatever. Kaze apologizes to Corrin and Corrin, in turn, apologizes for making him live with guilt for fifteen years. Corrin also points out that Kaze led her home, meaning that they’re even now. Kaze compares Corrin to Mikoto because of her kindness and pledges to serve Corrin as her loyal retainer.

S: Corrin and Kaze joke around about Corrin’s kidnapping. It’s cute. Corrin mentions that, now that she’s spent so much time offscreen with Kaze, she likes him even more. Kaze blurts out that he loves Corrin, despite being her bodyguard, and the two propose.

Review: I found this chain a bit lacking, to be honest. The first two conversations were filler and the origin for Kaze’s guilt complex is kinda dumb. Kaze’s relationship with Corrin defines him as a character. He is so guilt ridden over her kidnapping that he would betray his country and his family to protect her. Later parts of the game hinge on this relationship. But, three of their four conversations are dull. I do like Kaze’s guilt complex as a concept, and think becoming Corrin’s retainer alongside Jakob and/or Felicia and a way to repent, but it isn’t enough to save this support line.

Support: Kaze/Rinkah

C: Kaze gets a bunch of candy for being hot and shares it with Rinkah, who secretly loves candy.

B: Kaze continues to give Rinkah candy.

A: Kaze continues to give Rinkah candy.

S: Kaze reveals that he’s been giving Rinkah candy because he’s in love with her.

Review: This one was a big let down. The fact that Kaze and Rinkah are introduced together made me think it would be about their capture, but no. It’s just Kaze giving Rinkah candy for four conversations straight. And it’s cute fluff, but it’s nothing more than that. There is something interesting below the surface with Rinkah hiding her love of candy to protect her image, but it’s never really explored.

So, off to a mixed start with the support conversations.

Birthright Chapter 7: A Vow Upheld

Team Corrin heads to a Hoshidan fort where Sakura is tending to wounded soldiers. We are introduced to Sakura’s retainers, Subaki and Hana. Suddenly, the fort is attacked by Nohrian forces. Corrin and Azura point out the ridiculousness of them attacking immediately after they arrived. Sakura freaks out because the fort is being used as a hospital and has no military value. So apparently Nohr is now being evil just to be evil.

Subaki and Hana agree to help Corrin defend the fort and argue over who’s more important to Sakura, much to her annoyance. Subaki and Hana give me a good opportunity to discuss a few interesting things about classes in this game. First off, unlike in most Fire Emblem games, classes are NOT gender-specific, as demonstrated by Subaki being the first male Pegasus Knight in the series. Secondly, the classic Fire Emblem classes were divided between the two nations. Nohr got Mercenaries, Hoshido got Myrmidons. Nohr got Wyvern Riders, Hoshido got Pegasus Knights. Etc. I really like this, it gives the two countries different feels in combat both aesthetically and mechanically. Finally, a lot of Hoshidan classes were renamed to be more Eastern, shown by Hana being a Samurai instead of a Myrmidon, or by Sakura being a Shrine Maiden instead of a Cleric.

Subaki

Subaki is a Sky Knight, this game’s equivalent of a Pegasus Knight. He can fly over terrain and has good speed and resistance, but is decimated by arrows. His personal skill buffs his hit and avoid when he has full health. Design wise, I like how ridiculously smug he looks. Personality wise, he seems over-competitive yet fiercely loyal to Sakura.

Hana

Hana is a Samurai with high speed and skill. Her personal skill damaged nearby enemies when she scores a kill. Her design is fine, if a little bland. Personality wise, she seems over-competitive yet fiercely loyal to Sakura.

Starting with this chapter, we have a prep menu, where we can choose which units to use and rearrange them on the map. We can bring our whole team in with us, so it’s a little pointless, but it's nice. Worth noting that you can have units start in pair up via this menu, unlike in Awakening where you had to pair them up after the battle started.

At the start of the battle, the chapter’s boss, a Cavalier named Silas, shouts out to Corrin that he’s her childhood best friend. She does not remember him even slightly. Okie dokie.

This map is decent. It’s a bit short, but it features a lot of good bottlenecks. The Dragon Veins can be used to open heal tiles, which is a bit pointless because you have two healers. When Silas and Corrin fight, he reiterates that they used to be friends. Corrin says that she can’t remember her past. And that confuses me, because I was under the impression that she got amnesia when she was taken to Nohr, which would have been before she met Silas. Unless he’s lying.

After the battle, Corrin refuses to kill Silas. She interrogates him about why he was so hesitant to attack them and he explains that, when they were children, he helped Corrin sneak out of the walls to have a picnic. The guards tried to execute Silas for this, but Corrin stopped them, because apparently guards listen to small children. Because of this, Silas feels he owes a debt to Corrin.

Question. Why was this random child allowed to play with the super secret hostage princess? Whatever.

Corrin eventually recovers a vague memory of Silas and asks him to join the gang. She explains that Garon is crazy and evil and that’s enough to make him swap sides. Silas is now officially the most sane character in the game. I mean, he should have probably realized this stuff before being sent to destroy a hospital for shits and giggles, but still.

Also, Silas mentions that Corrin’s favorite food is surf and turf. Perhaps this symbolizes how Corrin is stuck between both kingdoms? Or maybe it’s a random throwaway line. You be the judge!

At the end of the chapter, Saizo and a new character named Orochi show up, wounded, and report that Takumi and Ryoma have gone missing. Uh oh.

Team Corrin decide to help search for the missing princes. Sakura decides to come along, despite Corrin and Kaze’s objections. Silas also decides to come along and Saizo points out that he totally could be a spy or traitor. He’s a dick, but he is infinitely smarter than Kaze.

#fire emblem fates #fire emblem birthright #fe14 #fire emblem #hoshido #nohr #corrin fe #kaze fe #corrin x kaze #corrin x rinkah #rinkah fe #rinkah x kaze #silas fe #jakob fe #corrin x jakob #hana fe #subaki fe

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