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aubins · 3 months ago

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⧼ ＊ ⧽　on aubin, his crest, and the fetters of dromi.

this post is mostly my personal masterlist on my meta and headcanons for any aubin, crest, and relic related lore. some of it i pull from evidence in canon, others i pull out of my ass. i do discuss some of the other apostles while talking about aubin, but any future ashen wolves musers are more than welcome to disagree with me. additionally, it's been a while since i've properly played through the fódlan games myself, so if there's lore i've misremembered here, do feel free to correct me on it!

three houses & hopes lore spoilers to follow under the cut.

*　who is aubin?

i've been working on this on and off for about four years now, so the old version of this section quite obviously dated this post with all its long-winded arguments about why aubin was the elder that saved yuri as a child because some people were quite adamant that he wasn't. now, it is comically short in comparison.

in case you didn't know, this silly little game called fire emblem warriors: three hopes has come out since then and made my life much easier. as seteth and yuri's support chain confirms:

Seteth: You always cursed the blood that flowed through you. But in the end, it saved that child's life. Seteth: It brings me great relief to know that you found salvation in your last moments. Aubin, my friend… Be at peace. 　— Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes, Seteth & Yuri A-Support

the elder who saved yuri as a child was, in fact, aubin himself. he passes shortly after this from natural causes, which i'll touch on in more detail a bit later. the basic rundown of his character is this: aubin was one of the four apostles who participated in the rite of rising in an attempt to resurrect the goddess. after the ritual failed, he and his fellow apostles went into seclusion and their names were all but erased from history. their crests were similarly believed to have died with them; however, the four ashen wolves are later discovered to bear one of each of the apostles' crests. for yuri's part, he bears the crest of aubin.

*　the apostles' nabatean heritage.

another point of contention is whether or not the apostles are nabatean or human. the fandom wiki has them listed as human for some reason, even though this is not confirmed anywhere in the game as far as i am aware, and i know many believe that the apostles are first generation crest-bearers like the ten elites. personally, i am of the mind that they are nabateans, not humans.

the game refers to the four apostles as saints several times (in the opening narration of cindered shadows and in constance and edelgard's support chain), a title we've only really seen bestowed upon nabateans such as the four saints—cichol, cethleann, indech, and macuil—as well as seiros herself, of course.

(there is also a saint luca mentioned in a readable in three hopes; however, it is, to my knowledge, the only mention of them.)

additionally, we see for ourselves that aubin, at least, is able to transfuse his blood and crest into a human. as far as we know, this is something that can only be done by nabateans.

but there are two points i tend to see brought up as arguments for the apostles being human, so i wanted to quickly touch on them here.

　　›　THE FETTERS OF DROMI EXISTED DURING THE WAR OF HEROES.

this notion, i believe, comes from something that duke gerth says during constance and yuri's paralogue:

Duke Gerth: It's a priceless treasure that ended up in Dagda. After the truce, they sent it to us in friendship. 　> Why did Dagda have a Hero's Relic? Duke Gerth: One story holds that Saint Seiros subjugated the 10 Elites and the clans who followed them. Duke Gerth: There may have been a few clan elders who fled across the sea to escape suppression. 　— Fire Emblem: Three Houses, A Cursed Relic: After Battle

if we take this at face value, it means that the fetters of dromi existed during the time of the war of heroes (32-98). thus, the original nabatean bearing aubin blood would have to already be dead by this point. if this is true, it completely negates the idea of aubin being said original nabatean because he is very much still alive in 185 for the rite of rising.

i'm not exactly jumping to believe this story is actually true, though. the way duke gerth puts it, it's only one of several stories about how the relic arrived in dagda and not entirely reliable. if the fetters of dromi existed during the war of heroes, then it would have had a wielder: a human bearer of the crest that we're assuming is aubin. supposing the clan elder who followed aubin fled to dagda with the relic as duke gerth's story says, surely they would have known the value of the relic? never mind how they even took the relic from aubin to begin with. these were significant and powerful weapons and accessories used by the ten elites��if they managed to run away with one, surely they would have done their best to keep it for themselves, and then within their families after they passed.

but let's just say this important message got lost amongst the clan elder's descendants somewhere, so they see the fetters of dromi and decide it's a piece of junk they can get rid of. did the agarthans not know that the fetters of dromi were in dagda by this point? like surely there would have been some word that a group ran off with one of the relics when it first happened? it couldn't have been that hard for the agarthans to get it back if they knew it was there. they wouldn't have even had to contend with the church of seiros, because they didn't seem to know where the relic was either until it ended up in duke gerth's hands. so, word of the “marvelous, but benign treasure” in dagda just somehow didn't reach either parties' notice when they were well-aware of the missing relic?

suffice to say, i don't really buy duke gerth's story, and certainly not as hard evidence disproving the apostles being nabatean. for a relic to have been missing for so long with neither the agarthans nor the church seeming desperate to find it doesn't seem super realistic to me. to me, it seems more likely that the fetters of dromi were only newly created, and thus their disappearance only a recent concern.

　　›　AUBIN'S ELDERLY APPEARANCE & PASSING.

with the nabateans being a long-life species and the ones we see in canon still appearing quite youthful, i can understand where this sentiment comes from. unless aubin is just incredibly old in comparison to the likes of rhea, seteth, and flayn, he probably shouldn't be looking anywhere near old enough for yuri to be describing him as an elder when they meet.

for me to explain my take on this, let's talk about the rite of rising first.

In the Imperial year 185, the construction of Garreg Mach was completed. Saint Seiros held a sacred ritual to honor the occasion. Four saints, known as the Four Apostles, were led to a tranquil place to perform the ritual. They poured their holy essences into the Chalice of Beginnings—a gift from the goddess herself—in hopes of bringing about her second coming. Alas, the Rite of Rising failed… 　— Fire Emblem: Three Houses, Cindered Shadows: The Fourth House

the opening narration of cindered shadows describes the rite of rising as the four apostles “pouring their holy essences into the chalice.” while this is likely just a fancy way of saying they gave it their blood, i'm choosing to instead interpret this as the apostles having literally given up some of their essence or life force for the ritual. the sacrifice they made was more than just some blood, and whether the rite succeeded or failed, it was always going to take its toll. the fact that it did failed only exacerbated the consequences.

when the chalice absorbs both sitri and aelfric to create an umbral beast, rhea says that the same thing happened last time the rite of rising was performed. as the ritual was said to have been performed in a tranquil place, presumably away from any bystanders, the only people around to actually become the umbral beast would have been seiros herself, alongside the four apostles.

what mostly makes me hesitate to say this for certain is that the description of the final battle in cindered shadows describes aelfric as “forever lost, transformed into an umbral beast.” the four apostles were, obviously, not forever lost, considering the existence of all four ashen wolves bearing their crests.

perhaps the beast was subdued and the apostles were somehow reverted to their regular forms. or the chalice only absorbed the body they were using for the ritual to create the umbral beast, and that was what was forever lost upon its defeat. since i can't say either way with a hundred percent confidence, i'm just going to elect to put a pin in this particular idea for now.

whatever the case, the rite of rising took a significant and long lasting toll on the apostles well-being. as such, after the failure of the rite, all of them chose to vanish from the world. despite how important you would think an attempt to revive the goddess would be, what is remembered of them is that they journeyed to obscure corners of fódlan where they settled and all but disappeared from history.

you could say that this was them adhering to the fact that they were not meant to pass down their crests, and thus decided to find a place where they could simply fade into obscurity for the rest of their days. however, considering all of them end up passing down their crests anyway, i don't think this was their biggest point of consideration.

for aubin's case, this is what i attribute his older appearance to. the rite of rising quite literally stole his life and aged him significantly more than what would have been natural for nabateans. he goes into seclusion because he doesn't have the energy to do much else, having lost most of his strength. similarly, this i believe this lack of strength is also the reason that he dies shortly after saving yuri's life.

aubin is in awful shape when yuri and his mother take him in. i imagine he never truly recovered from the toll the rite of rising took on his body, leaving him quite worse for wear. saving yuri required expending a kind of power that he simply didn't have much left of, and was the final straw that ultimately led to his passing.

*　the crest of aubin.

honestly, i think the way i've described the crest of aubin's effects in narrative previously changed whenever it was convenient to me HAHA but in the interest of staying consistent from this point forward, let's refer to its in-game effects first.

A Crest long lost to history. Occasionally prevents enemy counterattacks when using a weapon. 　— Fire Emblem: Three Houses, Crest of Aubin Ability Description

30% chance chance to land a critical hit with strong attacks. 　— Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes, Crest of Aubin Ability Description

three houses and three hopes are very different games when it comes to gameplay, so the crest's ability obviously changes between them. i'll pull from both versions for my purposes.

preventing enemy counterattacks doesn't really translate all that nicely into writing. i generally interpret this as increased agility. passively, yuri is already relatively light-footed and quick on his feet; when his crest activates this is increased to a superhuman degree. think dramatic cinematic shots of characters with super speed where the world slows around them. something like that for short periods of time.

crit chance is much easier to translate: his crest gives him increased strength. unlike his agility, this isn't also a passive thing. the strength only really activates when his crest does, otherwise he's just as strong as anyone else who works out on a relatively regular basis would be.

as aubin is the ice dragon, yuri has some level of resistance to cold. nothing that would really save his life if you threw him into a blizzard, but if the weather's a bit chilly, he'll still be able to walk out under-dressed for it and be fine. yuri doesn't think this is a crest thing, though, he just thinks he's more used to the cold as someone that grew up in faerghus.

unnaturally quick healing. this has no canon basis, it's just an idea that i like. yuri is very particular about his appearance and potential scarring considering his line of work, but considering all the trouble he gets into, saying that he's only ever gotten one scar in his whole life isn't all that realistic. magic blood making you heal fast isn't all that realistic either, but the two can just cancel each other out or something.

in a similar vein, he requires less rest than most people. considering the nature of his work, yuri is running around basically 24/7. if he rests, it's probably only for a few hours at most. guy's a control freak and incredibly restless—i don't know if he could ever really settle down comfortably for long enough to get a decent night's sleep, but he has to be able to be everywhere all at once without collapsing from exhaustion somehow.

　　›　YURI'S PROLONGED LIFESPAN.

i didn't realize this was a point of contention to some people until i started poking around more online, but i'm always happy to talk about yuri so let's dissect it. why not.

in non-crimson flower routes, yuri's ending with m!byleth says that the pair lives a very long life together:

[ ... ] Constantly at his side during that time was his husband, Yuri, whose policy proposals led, time and again, to better education and opportunities for the less fortunate. After working to ensure a bright and prosperous future for Fódlan, the couple stepped back from the public eye and vanished from official record. Curiously, informal notes and letters from friends suggest that the pair was extraordinarily long-lived and that their youth was untouched by the passage of time. 　— Fire Emblem: Three Houses, Byleth (Male) & Yuri Ending Card

i've seen people argue this is a byleth thing (as in byleth gave yuri a blood transfusion and that's why he's long-lived) which i personally doubt is true. mainly because f!byleth's ending doesn't mention a word of this and i don't see why it wouldn't if it truly was a byleth thing as opposed to a yuri thing.

i've also seen people argue that this can't be true because he is specifically mentioned to pass away in his ending with constance:

After the war, Constance devoted herself to her magical research. Her unorthodox methods allowed her to make great strides, which earned her acclaim and eventually enabled her to restore her noble house. Afterward, almost as if to spite her detractors, she married Yuri. The pair made a happy, if unconventional, couple, as the husband frequently ventured away for months on end. In the long years of their marriage, however, Constance laughed off any concerns—she was known to say that Yuri always knew how to find his way home. Many decades later, he passed away in bed alongside his beloved wife. 　— Fire Emblem: Three Houses, Constance & Yuri Ending Card

maybe they just lived their very long lives together? who knows how long ‘many decades’ really means, after all. except constance will likely just live a very normal crest-bearer lifespan. unlike yuri, she doesn't actually get her crest via blood transfusion. saint noa left to live the rest of her days in what would later become nuvelle territory and had children. constance's crest is inherited, passed down to her by bloodline.

Constance: Close to a thousand years ago, Saint Noa parted ways with Saint Seiros. She lived out her days in seclusion on what would become Nuvelle territory. Constance: Her children obscured their origins before serving the Empire. It wasn't long before they were ennobled. [...] Edelgard: Hmm… House Nuvelle was known for producing as few heirs as possible. Edelgard: It was also known for keeping its offspring "pure," mostly by disallowing marriage with other houses. 　— Fire Emblem: Three Houses, Constance & Edelgard B-Support

so if yuri's so long-lived, why do these two ending contradict each other? well, i don't really think they do. he dies in his ending with constance, yes, but we don't know what actually causes his death. i guess old age is the natural assumption for most people, but it never actually states that and we've already been given a different instance of him living for much longer than is natural for a human.

in the japanese version of their ending, the last sentence reads, “数十年後、その言葉を証明するかのように、ユーリスは寝台の上、愛した妻の傍らで��没したとされる。” to be clear, i don't speak a lick of japanese, so if any japanese speakers would like to tell me what this really says, i would forever be in your debt. but, you know, i squint at it anyway and see the character “病” and go :index_pointing_at_the_viewer: hey. hold on a second.

anyway, i checked the chinese text instead because it's the only other language the game's localized in that i can somewhat comprehend and what do you know? it says yuri dies of illness. so, you know. not old age.

at the same time, we know it's confirmed in lore that recipients of blood transfusions live longer lives.

To face this evil force, the goddess created a new well of power. She gifted certain chosen individuals with sacred blood, allowing them to wield mystical weapons, that they may prevail against the darkness. These souls, buoyed by their divine gifts, conquered the evil ones and drove them back to the north. They came to be known as Heroes. The Heroes experienced unnaturally long lives, persisting for hundreds of years. 　— Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes, Book of Seiros II

if you want proof that isn't just a readable in a spin-off game, jeralt is also right there and at least three hundred years old to show for it. we know through several sources that first generation crest-bearers live very long lives—there's no reason to believe that the same wouldn't apply to yuri.

*　the fetters of dromi.

ah, hero's relic lore. how i adore you, horrifying as you are and all.

before we talk about it somehow ending up in dagda, let's just talk about the relic itself. in case you haven't seen it, the fetters of dromi are effectively hand, finger, and wrist bones bound together by what looks like some cloth, chains, and rings.

once again, i'll pull up its in-game effects for reference:

Grants +1 Movement and Canto when equipped. Grants Pavise and Aegis to units with the Crest of Aubin when equipped. 　— Fire Emblem: Three Houses, Fetters of Dromi Description

+6 Speed. Grants Earthshrinker to user. Grants Pavise and Aegis to units with the Crest of Aubin when equipped. 　— Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes, Fetters of Dromi (Unleashed) Description

Enables 【Canto (２)】. At start of turn, unit can move 1 extra space (that turn only; does not stack). After start-of-turn skills trigger, if 【Stall】 is active on unit, neutralizes the "unit can move 1 extra space" effect of this skill. Inflicts Atk/Spd/Def/Res-4 on foes within 2 spaces of unit during combat. 　— Fire Emblem Heroes, Fetters of Dromi Description

unlike the crest of aubin, the fetters of dromi's effects are relatively consistent across its different iterations. it gives the user canto, increased movement, and pavise and aegis.

the fetters of dromi's purpose is primarily to amplify the crest of aubin's effects.

increased movement and canto similarly just translate into increased agility again, improved from its passive effect when yuri isn't actively using the fetters. it will take a lot for him to feel exhausted while wearing the fetters of dromi, but if he overextends himself, it'll still hit him the moment he takes the relic off.

similarly related to the crest allowing yuri to persist on less rest, the fetters of dromi allows him to take more hits and sustain more damage. he still gets hurt, of course, but he feels it less than he would without the relic. as with the previous point, when he takes them off, the weight of his injuries will still hit him as they normally would unless he had them healed beforehand.

　　›　HOW DID IT END UP IN DAGDA?

let's establish a timeline for its creation first.

the illness yuri contracts as a child is specifically the plague that was going around faerghus. according to sylvain, this plague happened almost 20 years ago, and according to yuri, he caught it when he was really young. excellent measures of time, the both of you.

i tend to place yuri as having been four when he caught it. since aubin passed shortly after curing him, he would have died vaguely around 1164-1165. the fetters of dromi would have made it to dagda by 1175 at the latest, since that's when the dagda and brigid war took place, and they would've had to have it by then to send it over after the truce. the fetters of dromi were likely made sometime between 1165-1175, then.

but how did the agarthans find out that aubin was dead? yuri ends up in adrestia sometime during this ten year period when the fetters of dromi could have been made. considering the agarthan presence in the empire, i suppose the most likely scenario is that they somehow discovered this random kid with the crest of aubin and decided to investigate further. this eventually led them to yuri's hometown, from which it wouldn't have been difficult to learn from the townsfolk of the story of a strange man who came by a few years ago, saved a child's life with some red liquid, then passed shortly after.

from there, they dig up the body, take the bones and crest stone, then craft the fetters of dromi. as for how it ended up in dagda...um. you know, i'd love to find this out myself HAHA but i can't even conceive a situation for what happened here. i guess they lost it somehow? a bit silly but it had to get there in some way.

　　›　MISCELLANEOUS.

a relic like the fetters of dromi is too new and obscure to have any heavy history or mythology behind it. but there are still some tales—tall and false ones, certainly—like the story of the fetters that reached duke gerth's ears.

some say it is the hand of a master swordsman, cut off in battle and preserved afterward. whoever has the courage to wear it upon the back of their own will find their sword always strikes true. others believe that the relic is a sign that the heroes of history still walk among them, waiting for the day they must once again take up arms to fight for fódlan.

and some still believe that it is both a warning and a curse. that should you hear tell of it, you'll have to lock your home up tight and light a blazing fire, for merciless winter storms are sure to follow.

yuri doesn't believe any of the stories. but what he does know is that sometimes, when he finds himself so lost in his own head that the real world vanishes, bone so often cold to the touch will warm without him calling upon its power, reminding him to return to earth.

sometimes, when he overexerts himself in the midst of battle, the activated relic's steady warmth instead turns searing like a scolding to mind himself. it tightens faintly over the back of his hand like the one that had gently guided him when he first learned his letters, now guiding the swing of a blade rather than the stroke of a pen.

but it is, in the end, just a hero's relic. so it must be his mind playing tricks.

#.𖥔 ݁ ˖　﹙　life goes more smoothly without a heart .　—meta & hc.　﹚#IT'S FINISHED I'M FREE #there might be typos in this please do not perceive them if so #this has literally been in my drafts for years it's not even funny #finally clocking it in at roughly 4k ish words though...jesus christ #the power of ‘i don't want to look at this paper i'm writing for uni anymore’ that fuels me to write far more for fire emblem meta LMFAO #i have a few other miscellaneous thoughts on the rite of rising & aubin's life after it failed #but those are mostly headcanons so i didn't feel like they fit here #if i've mistaken some lore here please don't tell me i'll actually cry #(/j please do actually tell me i will want to rethink and correct it)#anyway yeagh :crunchy: if someone reads all this i'm so sorry but thanks for sticking around HAHA

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amitieos · 4 months ago

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toa anniversary munday!

Celebrating TOA and the people who contribute to make our group what it is.

Repost, don't reblog. Only fill in what you feel comfortable sharing!

Happy anniversary, TOA! Here's to many more years spent together.

Name: Nic

Pronouns: they/them

Birthday (no year): 14th July

Where are you from? What is your time zone? UK, GMT (or BST but don't get me started on daylight savings I'll explode)

How long is your roleplay experience? Does playing A Bug's Life on the playground when I was 5 count? If not, I started with rping HP characters with my friends when I was like 11-12 over MSN after school and whilst there have been breaks it's something I've always found myself coming back to.

How were you introduced to roleplaying as a whole? As above, I made a couple of friends on (unrelated) forums and we all just thought it'd be fun.

How were you introduced to TOA? I thought I missed rp and looked for an FE based rp.

Do you have any pets? Yes, all hail Catcat the Great.

What is your favorite time of year and why? (Season, holiday, general period) Summer. I hate the heat and humiditiy but once there's no daylight the seasonal affective disorder bass boosts my chronic mental health issues and it's just a bad time really.

What is your IRL occupation? I've gone back to uni to study Law :)

Some interests and things you like/enjoy? I love reading, I'm fascinated by linguistics and astrophysics, enjoy DnD and playing video games in my spare time. I'm a particular sucker for the Sims franchise.

What non-Fire Emblem games do you play? Recently I've been playing BG3, Stardew Valley, The Sims & Fields of Mistria but I'm a big fan of the Persona series and really, really excited about Dragon Age The Veilguard

Favorite Pokemon type & Pokemon: I don't really play Pokemon much anymore but I'll just say Sylveon I guess

Tell us some funfacts and trivia about yourself! I met the fourth Doctor when I was 11 and he complemented my vocabulary lmao. I once got published in a poetry anthology with a poem about Shadow the Hedgehog and my parents we so proud of me.

How did you get into Fire Emblem? I think I saw a review on TV

What Fire Emblem games have you played? I've attempted to play every game except 1/2/3/5/11, although I've really wanted to play Thracia I just *need* some QoL updates and controls. I haven't finished every single one because of lost/deleted saves and stuff but I've watched playthroughs and read up on scripts on everything I haven't actually played myself.

First & Favorite Fire Emblem games: My first was Fates but Jugdral, Magvel and 3 Houses are my favourite

List your 5 favorite Fire Emblem characters across the series! Elincia, Mercedes, Franz, Myrrh and ughhhh I can't choose between Chole/Yunaka/Sylvain so I'm cheating

Who was the first character ever to make you go “ooh I like this one in particular” and why? Can be any context and reason! I saw Ryoma in all that red armour and it grabbed my attention.

Any Fire Emblem crushes? 😳 Miss Mercedes if you're free Thursday night

If you’ve played (or are familiar with) the following games, who was your first S support? Who would you S support nowadays? - Awakening: Chrom, originally be accident but now on purpose :D - Fates: My first was Takumi and I didn't know what an S support was and was very confused. Nowadays usually Kaze or Laslow if playing F!Corrin and Orochi, Nyx or Charlotte if playing M!Corrin. Niles for either. - Three Houses: Mercedes. She's still my go to ofc but I'm also fond of Dorothea, Dimitri and Sylvain. If I'm playing M!Byleth Yuri or Ingrid - Engage: Yunaka was my first and now it's either Yunaka, Diamant or Chloe. Or Mauvier maybe hahfsdgfsd

Favorite Fire Emblem class? I love Pegasus Knights!!!!!!!

If you were a Fire Emblem character, what would be your class and stats? Would you be playable? Probably a reluctant recruit who accidentally gets involved. Weirdly magic based armoured character.

If you were a Three Houses character, what would be your affiliation? (Black Eagles, Blue Lions, Golden Deer, Church of Seiros, Those Who Slither in the Dark, unaffiliated civilian, other - for example Almyran) Either unaffiliated civilian or Blue Lions probably

If you were an Officers Academy student, what would be your boons, banes and potential budding talent? Boons: Lance, Reason, Heavy Armour Banes: Bow, Faith Budding Talent: idk Axes or Flying?

If you were an Engage character, which nation would you originate from? (Firene, the Kingdom of Abundance; Brodia, the Kingdom of Might; Elusia, the Kingdom of Knowledge; Solm, the Queendom of Freedom; Lythos, the holy land of the Divine Dragon; Gradlon, the desolate land of the Fell Dragon) No idea! Probably Elusia or Firene. The Solm heat would literally kill me.

How do you pronounce TOA? 🤔(separate letters, to-ah, other?) TOA ;) (like Noah)

Current TOA muses: Elincia & Mercedes

Past TOA muses? A lot but most memorable to me are Sylvain and Julia, though I'm so excited to see Sylvain in good hands <3

Who was your first TOA muse? If you no longer have them, can you see yourself picking them up again? Elincia and I still have her.

Do you believe you have a type of character you gravitate towards writing? White magic girlies though I'm trying to change things up.

Do you have characters or types of characters you don’t think you can handle writing, but wish you could? Hm, I wish I felt I could write more of the male characters I enjoy effectively. In most other fandoms I've written in most of my muses have been men but it's just not so in FE. I'd also love to write a villain okay I once genuinely considered Hilda FE4 lmao

What kind of scenes, situations etc do you believe you enjoy writing the most? (If you filled this out last year, has this changed in any way?) I like writing dialogue and characters bonding but I'm starting to like more action oriented scenes too.

Do you have any scenario in mind for your muse(s) that gets you thinking “man I hope I get to write this one day”? For Mercedes in particular I get excited to write her steel and strength, especially when it's combined with her gentleness rather than opposed to it.

Favorite TOA-related memories? Every thread I've writen with Elincia and Rua's Byleth <3

Present or past tense? I tend to default to present in TOA but usually past tense. I'm flexible though and will try and match my partner.

Normal size text, small text, no preference? I actually find small text easier to focus in on and read (I can find normal a bit too cluttered and it can send my eyes wandering lmao) but I'm perfectly happy to use normal text, it just takes me a bit longer to comb through.

Got any potential muse delusions to share? 😉 I can't see a shake up happening soon but... Zephia or Chloe are probably forerunners. I've thought about Palla and Astrid too but I'm not sure if I can see the longevity. Also Neimi, Myrrh and Rodrigue have sparked.... ideas. For muses I've written before, Julia is the most likely but I think she's having a nice break right now :)

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twistedisciple · 4 months ago

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TOA Anniversary Munday

Celebrating TOA and the people who contribute to make our group what it is. Repost, don't reblog. Only fill in what you feel comfortable sharing! Happy anniversary, TOA! Here's to many more years spent together. Shared by Neffi | Template

Name: Ree

Pronouns: any

Birthday (no year): 4/23

Where are you from? What is your time zone? Currently in CST, US

How long is your roleplay experience? I grew up LARPing with the neighborhood kids so I want to say it's been a lifetime

How were you introduced to roleplaying as a whole? I don't actually remember, but the earliest formative memory was an AtLA fansite with a live chat and RP forum. I wrote Suki

How were you introduced to TOA? I made it

Do you have any pets? Two calicoes, and one of them is older than some members here

What is your favorite time of year and why? (Season, holiday, general period) Spring is so hopeful after the dreary winter

What is your IRL occupation? For simplicity's sake, data administrator

Some interests and things you like/enjoy? Languages, psychology, dreams, religion and myth, music, learning in general, the horror genre

What non-Fire Emblem games do you play? SMT, Pokemon, Monster Hunter, Genshin Impact, Honkai Star Rail, Wuthering Waves, Onmyoji, various indie horror games

Favorite Pokemon type & Pokemon: Dark: Scrafty

Tell us some funfacts and trivia about yourself! I have a good sense of hearing

How did you get into Fire Emblem? SSB

What Fire Emblem games have you played? All

First & Favorite Fire Emblem games: Awakening was the first, favorite is Shadows of Valentia

List your 5 favorite Fire Emblem characters across the series! In no particular order: Hubert, Griss, Marni, Libra, Salem

Who was the first character ever to make you go “ooh I like this one in particular” and why? Can be any context and reason! Tharja during my first Awakening playthrough. Love me a freaky goth girl

Any Fire Emblem crushes? 😳 Nope

If you’ve played (or are familiar with) the following games, who was your first S support? Who would you S support nowadays? - Awakening: Chrom > Now: Libra - Fates: Hinata > Now: probably also Hinata - Three Houses: Edelgard > Now: Hubert - Engage: none

Favorite Fire Emblem class? Summoners

If you were a Fire Emblem character, what would be your class and stats? Would you be playable? Some sort of pre-promoted res tank, recruited late and 100% missable without meeting the right requirements

If you were a Three Houses character, what would be your affiliation? Black Eagles all the way

If you were an Officers Academy student, what would be your boons, banes and potential budding talent? Boons: Reason, Bow Banes: Heavy Armor Budding Talent: Faith

If you were an Engage character, which nation would you originate from? Solm for the vibes

How do you pronounce TOA? 🤔 Toh-ah

Current TOA muses: Just Griss

Past TOA muses? Julius, Hubert, Aelfric, Pelleas, Berkut, Salem, Fáfnir, Limstella, Jeritza, Shinon

Who was your first TOA muse? If you no longer have them, can you see yourself picking them up again? Hubert. Picking him up again would depend on whether or not I replayed 3H

Do you believe you have a type of character you gravitate towards writing? It's hard to say these days. I like dynamic characters because I've hit too many walls over the years where threads stagnate because neither me nor my partner are able to move the scene in a meaningful way. I'm here to have fun, not slog through threads just to get the point at the end, so writing lively, aggressive, or bratty characters has allowed me to always have an emergency button on hand. Outside of that, I enjoy the concept of leadership in a guardian sense. What it means to protect a community, etc. I don't like writing kings and queens, so I prefer characters who have this on a smaller scale. Perne, for example, who leads the Dandelion Gang. I've also joked with Rai that I tend to pick up men who are subservient to some sort of powerful woman. With that said, lately I've been feeling the itch to return to my roots as a melancholy knight writer.

Do you have characters or types of characters you don’t think you can handle writing, but wish you could? I think I could give anything a good run if I tried

What kind of scenes, situations etc do you believe you enjoy writing the most? Sceeeeenes. I love describing vistas. I love placing characters in a fleshed out world. No one exists in a vacuum, and how characters arrange themselves and interact with the environment around them is just as important as what they're doing and thinking.

Do you have any scenario in mind for your muse(s) that gets you thinking “man I hope I get to write this one day”? Not at the moment. For Griss, I always take scenarios as they come, and that usually evolves into new and unexpected things

Favorite TOA-related memories? You!

Present or past tense? Past tense. But I'll match my partner

Normal size text, small text, no preference? No preference

Got any potential muse delusions to share? 😉 I don't think anything will come of it anytime soon, but lately Jeritza and Zeke have been stirring in the mind palace

#out of character #// I love time capsule stuff #// thanks for bringing this up again!

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ragecndybars · 10 months ago

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AO3 tag game :3

thanks so much for the tag @mvshortcut !!!!! much appreciated, this was a blast to fill out :D

How many works do you have on AO3?

86! Damn, that's more than I remember 🙀 I have been writing pretty fervently since I was pretty young, though, and I transferred all my old fics from fanfiction dot net to AO3, so it's a long stretch of time. All my old wattpad fics are still rotting somewhere though lmaooo I can't even access them anymore bc I forgot my password and I can't reset it bc I used a school email 😔

What's your total AO3 word count?

443,734! When I get to half a million I'm gonna have to throw myself a party. With boba and everything

How many fandoms have you written for, and what are they?

Oof, okay, here we go. A lot of the fandoms I have tagged on AO3 don't really "count" because they're just aggregate tags for the same fandom, so even though AO3 says the number is 48, I'm gonna count the TRUE number as 17. (It got cut down so much because of how many video game series have different games with different fandom tags on AO3, lmao)

Here's the breakdown of the list:

Persona (Mostly Persona 3)

Fire Emblem (Mostly Shadow Dragon and Blazing Sword)

Legend of Zelda

Pokemon

Professor Layton

RWBY

Kid Icarus: Uprising

Earthbound/MOTHER

Red vs. Blue

Voltron Legendary Defender

Naruto

Final Fantasy XV

Harvest Moon

The Mysterious Benedict Society

The Avengers

Animal Crossing

Care Bears (despite having never actually consumed any Care Bears media to my knowledge)

The worst part is that this stupid list would be much, much, MUCH longer if I finished even a quarter of my WIPs 😭 Hell, even just my "Video Games" subfolder in my "Fanfiction" subfolder has more than 17 subfolders in it...

Y'all don't understand how many random fics my ADHD spares you from ever seeing I have no focus

Top five fics by kudos:

Ash and Emotion (Zelda) - Not surprising, I knew this was my most popular fic. It was for a ZeLink zine full of beautiful work :)

Resemblance (Naruto) - bro I always forget people really liked this one. Literally an unedited drabble I did in an hour for a "pride month drabble challenge" which I immediately abandoned. Trans rights I guess

Always Wanna Play (But You Never Wanna Lose) (Persona 3) - This one isn't surprising either, and I'm very proud of this fic so I'm quite chuffed to see it get so much attention... thanks everyone :')

The Beat of Your Heart (Zelda) - Now this one surprised me a lot. This was just a little piece for ZeLink week... Another unedited one, I literally was writing it on the toilet in church so I could get it out in time 😭

Comfort (Zelda) - Another ZeLink week piece, but I knew this one was popular. Also unedited, lmao. I was writing it on the day of my AP Calc finals and I rushed through the exam so I could have more time to work on the fic 😭 I made some Choices that year

Do you respond to comments?

I try to! But I get very anxious about it and tend to work myself into a tizzy, so I often put it off for later and then forget, haha. Then I'll go and respond to all my comments from the last few months and feel even weirder about it... T_T

What's the fic with the angstiest ending you've ever written?

Oof. That's... a hard one, haha. I've written a couple of fics without happy endings, though I typically don't. At least three fics which end on a canonical character death, for instance. But I'd say the ending which made me the most emo writing was Butter, a Mother 3 fic. It ends with Lucas, who's like 9, recently lost his mother, then lost his twin brother (and thinks it's his fault), and is now being neglected by his father, crawling into bed and crying. So yeah, pretty bleak, lmao... but at least he doesn't die I guess?

Do you write crossovers?

I do, but I haven't posted many yet. I'm not always huge on writing them, but I do think about them a lot. I was working on this one Persona 3 x Fire Emblem Awakening crossover but I lost steam on it, and now there's a really lovely crossover on AO3 with a similar premise that I was SO delighted to come across!!! Hope y'all don't mind me taking a break from linking my own work to shill for this one, hehe

Have you ever gotten hate on a fic?

Unfortunately, yes, about six times, I'd say. Even more unfortunately, most of those times happened earlier on in my fanfic writing career, and I was pretty sensitive to hate back then, so I deleted many of the relevant fics, and some of them I don't even have access to myself anymore.

Not gonna talk about the ones that are still upsetting, but I will talk about the funny examples: on a (since deleted) RWBY fic, I said in the author's note that I "wrote them as platonic, but the fic can be read as WhiteRose", and then I got a glowing comment gushing about how good the story was which ended with "but then you had to ruin it by shitting all over WhiteRose, how about you [long suicide bait]". Third most baffling comment I've ever received.

The two most baffling were on different fics, but both were making the same weird accusation??? One was on a ZeLink fic (actually, on Comfort, my fifth most kudos'ed fic of all time now), and y'know I think I'm just gonna show you the comment in question:

The other one was on a long-since deleted fic which focused on both a romantic ship, as well as a fatherly relationship between one member of the ship and the other member's father. I guess having a fatherly relationship with your father-in-law makes your boyfriend actually your brother (and therefore you can't date him anymore). IDK man people are crazy. (tbf the commenter in question thought I was setting it up so that he'd get adopted by his boyfriend's parents, which would give them more of a case, but like... that didn't happen in the fic and wasn't going to. they just guessed at a future plot development and got angry about their guess)

Do you write smut?

I do, but I've never posted any. I've posted one fic that was very suggestive, I'd even call it "NSFW" in a sense, but never anything explicit. Maybe I will in the future? We'll see if I can ever finish anything smutty, lmao.

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Yep, I had Ultimatum, my longest chapter-fic (and by far my most popular fic in the ff.n days) stolen and posted on another site by somebody. I reported it but never checked back up to see if it got taken down.

I also feel that I've had my work plagiarized pretty damn blatantly in another fandom (I was browsing a certain AU tag and read one which contained all the exact events and sometimes word-for-word dialogue from a fic of mine, just very very slightly rewritten) but the poster had no other works and their writing was definitely extremely juvenile, so... I figured they were a dumb kid and just decided not to raise a fuss. Checked back later and they deleted it, hopefully because they realized they shouldn't do that, so I figure there's no need to start shit over it. Honestly, if that person used that experience as a jumping-off point to write their own fics, then I'm glad it happened, imitation being the highest form of flattery and all.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

No, though I had someone reach out to me on fanfiction dot net a long time ago and ask permission to translate An Unheard Goodbye, which was super exciting! I agreed, but I don't believe they ever got around to it, or if they did, they never posted it. Still very flattering, and I think about that a lot, hehe.

What’s your all-time favorite ship?

HOW COULD I POSSIBLY ANSWER THIS. UM. UM UH. UHHH UM UH I. UM.

I'm.... gonna say Zelda/Link? I haven't written it in FOREVER but it was such a huge part of me coming into my own as a fanfic author, so I have to give it credit for that.

What’s a WIP that you want to finish, but don’t think you ever will?

.......all of them 😭 god I have so many of these damn things. But for the prime example, I'd point to Ultimatum, an old Pokemon fic that I started in middle school. I got all the way to the climax and I feel bad leaving my readers hanging, but... at this point, if I did continue it, I would honestly have to rewrite the whole fic first just to be in line with my current understanding of the characters.

What are your writing strengths?

Y'know, I think I get character voices down extremely well in a way which elevates my dialogue and narration. That's probably the thing I'm most proud of in my own writing, at least.

What are your writing weaknesses?

BREVITY. Or the utter, glaring lack of it. I have also been known to muddy up my writing with an overabundance of A) adverbs, B) unneeded clauses tacked onto perfectly good sentences, and C) em-dashes 😭

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fics?

I think it's dope as fuck, but I currently can't really accomplish it because I'm monolingual (NOT FOR LONG IF I HAVE ANYTHING TO SAY ABOUT IT, I'M COMING FOR YOU, JAPANESE FLUENCY!!!!). I will also say that I don't like when authors will write characters having a story-important conversation in another language, then put the translations in the end notes or something, requiring you to either read the chapter confused or else keep scrolling back down and back up.... I think even that's totally fine to do if what's being said isn't plot-relevant, though.

What was the first fandom you ever wrote for?

Naruto. I hadn't read or watched Naruto btw, I had only read other Naruto fanfics. I have spoken on this topic many times, but it remains hilarious to me. Also, so many of my old Naruto fics are lost to the Wattpad times, but I will take this opportunity to once again share a quote which I recently managed to unearth from my long-lost unsung magnum opus:

Never ever will I intentionally attain the level of comedy gold that I managed while writing completely dead serious Naruto fanfiction on Wattpad in 2012.

What’s your favorite fic you’ve written so far?

See above. How could I ever top that fic.

In all seriousness, this question always makes me sweat, but I think I'm gonna say Oil, a slightly older fic from my EliHec days which I absolutely obsessed over for months before finally managing to finish. And, unlike most of the fics that I obsess over, I think the obsession actually made it come out better rather than worse, haha.

thanks again for the tag!!!! as for me, I'll tag uhh, hm, @wizard-finix @dreamedge @misty-wisp @flyfish1999 and any other AO3 writers who see this!!! (idk how many of you use AO3 and most of the MBS authors I know have probably already been tagged hehe but anybody who wants to should absolutely feel free!!!!!!!)

#Lee Speaks #tag game #god this is long. i love ranting about my writing thank you again for the tag

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mathcat7 · 1 year ago

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The Great Games I Played* this Year

*to completion or near completion. Sorry TWEWY, Signalis, etc.

2023 was a very divisive year for gaming, full of really incredible titles while also showing some of the industry and culture's lowest lows in overhyped deliveries, mass layoffs, and an award show doing its damnedest to spite the developers who made the show what it was in the first place.

For me personally, I did enjoy the games that released this year that I had the chance to play, but the majority of my time gaming this year was spent catching up on backlogged titles, or diving into recommendations my friends had for me. I'm just not a hype person, generally speaking. However, I've been wanting to discuss what I've played at length—so many incredible experiences and unique mechanics. Even putting together this list I'm in awe of how many new games I've gotten to play. So, let's get started, in order of when I first played them.

Path of the Midnight Sun Studio Daimon

Now, this game sits in a very interesting place in my mental landscape. Just 6 months before it's early January release, Path of the Midnight Sun was only a romhack of a GBA Fire Emblem title in my head. Sure, one of the greats of the early FE romhacking scenes, but nothing more. It was quite the surprise to me to hear in late fall 2022 that it was a standalone title, with full voice acting and an RPG battle system without the prefixed S- it had originally started with.

I was a bit wary about playing it, especially after being burned by a similar SRPG with romhacking roots, but once I got into the thick of things it was quite the charming little game. Biggest props goes to game's artistry, with a masterful use of Live2D. The designs of Studio Daimon's Nene Kantoku combined with Iron Vertex's animators are an incredible duo, making Ornieres and crew all the more pleasant to watch interact with one another.

For gameplay, PotMS seems pretty standard-fare for RPGs when you start out. Probably the best comparison I could give are the older SMTs, the ones with front-line/back-line parties. But then you unlock access to Ornieres' Manastone, and the game just opens the hell up. Battles become a management of mana and time, as the more mana you can accrue, the more you can grow your party's skillset, but you can't stall battles to farm because turns spent in battle burn the clock for chapters, and time wasted will bite you for objectives. It's also worth noting that every other character starts battle with no MP and will instead generate it over time. The ways this game experiments with such a normally taken for granted staple of the genre is really cool, and something I'd want to see happen elsewhere.

For writing, the game's biggest strength is in its characters. Between Ornieres' struggles with his sudden amnesia and visions of atrocities committed, and Faratras being alienated from her homeland and branded the second-coming of the Demon King, the game is really good at exploring their psyches: fears, wishes, hopes, even romantic inclinations. These are all characters I would enjoy sitting with for a dinner (or a bar brawl, in Cristoph's case).

Though speaking of supports, the game ditching the Fire Emblem pretense of "Character who will only be relevant for one chapter/section and becomes army fodder afterward" by turning said characters into passive bonuses with the occasional attack is somewhat a double-edged sword in my opinion. While this does mean that Ornieres, Faratras and their closest allies get the maximum attention they deserve, I find myself struggling to even remember the faces of anyone else that joined them, with like exceptions to the pervert grandpa/son combo and the male pegasus knight who did actually have a bit more plot relevance than most of the fodder if memory serves. Bit of a shame.

Beyond that, this game was a really strong start to my year. I'm a bit sad that the game's following seems to mostly be from its romhack days, because I do really think it stands well on its own merits now. A recommendation for anyone looking for a visual novel with a little extra going on.

Fire Emblem Engage Intelligent Systems

From one of the strangest pre-release cycles where the main character's design was leaked months in advance, to splitting a fandom now inflated with people who have only played the two prior releases, Fire Emblem Engage is nothing if not an iconic anniversary game. I was certainly excited in the prerelease cycle, tuning in regularly on the official Fire Emblem socials dripfeeding info on the . But did it live up to my expectations? Yes. Oh my gods.

Mechanically speaking, the game is sick. The twist on the standard FE gameplay this time around are the emblem rings, which when equipped give the wielder bonuses that are callback to previous titles' own gimmicks (well, when they're not forced to make stuff up in the case of Lyn for example.) And like, the sway of power this gives makes the strategy element of Engage just so, so fun. Chapters become this multi-level analysis of when it's good to utilize the power boosts of engages, who should get which ring/bracelet for which chapter... In my first time playing an FE's maddening mode (or series' equivalents), the juggling of these ideas and theorycrafting for builds really made me get into the game's guts.

Writing wise, it's probably the most emotionally resonant Fire Emblem I've ever played. Alear's character arc as she grows into the divine dragon they wanted and meant to be was so incredibly sweet, and combined with a lot of the chosen family elements woven into Alear's interactions with their allies, and those allies with each other, makes for probably the most thematically queer FE since the Tellius duology. It's a big reason they've risen to be one of my favorites if not the favorite lord in the series.

These two elements, among other goods, made Engage my Game of the Year for this year, and honestly really revitalized my love for the series. I started writing fanworks for FE Fates again. It made me want to shift my video focus away from FGC funnies to covering the series, and if not for the shackles of working full-time, I'd probably be doing some longform, Chuggaconroy-esque in-depth walkthrough of The Sacred Stones right now. That's how much it means to me. Alear Fireemblem you will always be famous.

(There should not be any more mentions of Fire Emblem from this point, I promise.)

Needy Streamer Overload xemono - WSS Playground

This management sim, if I can call it that, was quite the surprise to me. Playing it was just out of curiosity from one of my friends posting art of the main character Ame-chan. Her design is not particularly unique in of itself, but its a fun fashion fit that I'd maybe try someday, and the brooding red and blacks bear a striking contrast to the bright and pastel colors that make up her internet persona, OMGkawaiiAngel-chan (or Kangel, for short).

Your role as "P-chan" is to be Ame's manager as she becomes a professional content creator in the next month with (hopefully) a million subscribers, but the nature of your relationship with her is dangerously blurred from the start. You are also her confidant, her closest friend (with benefits), her one and only stream moderator, any many other "her"s. She's dependent on you to help her to an extreme, and there's little you can do to improve upon that.

I don't know what to say about the game itself, a lot of what I got from it feels too personal to share in these writings. What I can promise, however, is there's a lot Needy Streamer Overload has to say on the nature of being an online influencer, how the job warps relationships with other people, the way the job goads forgoing mental health and ignoring moral and ethical boundaries. Ame is an extremely driven and passionate creator, but also vulnerable, isolated, under-medicated. Doing consistent back-to-back streams grows her audience faster, but eventually Ame will either end up unloved, overstressed, or just plain out of unique content if you only dedicate her to the grind. Medication can help bridge the gaps sometimes, but often doing so gets in the way of her performing her best on streams, or even at all due to their soporific side effects. And seeking new ideas for streams can take you to some places: Jonesian conspiracism, chan boards, beach ball camgirl sponsorships. The road to a million followers is one of grays.

And while I am aware I haven't seen the game's true ending yet, I thought it was fascinating that the endings I did see always ended in disasters or tragedy, even in mundane circumstances. I won't get into detail here on account of the graphic nature of some of them, but I got the message from it that trying to center yourself in her woes is mortal folly. Try to be a good friend, don't try to be a savior.

You should probably be in the right headspace mentally to play this, but barring that this is a recommendation for anyone whose been terminally online, or just collectively likes mentally ill women.

Cassette Beasts Studio Bytten

Now this here would be my second pick for Game of the Year, and the top spot for Indie Game of the Year. A really well put together monster collector that does a lot more to distinguish itself from it's most popular contemporary in Pokémon.

I don't want to compare it too much to that series, this game stands very well without that, but I grew up with Pokémon and I think there's a Cassette Beasts does differently from it that I love. Take the game's typing chart for example: rather than a simple multiplicative power boost/drop interaction, this one is a lot more focused on the long-game, as striking different types generates chemical reactions that induce status buffs/debuffs/effects based on the reaction. Key battles can't just be simply brute forced or brick walled, you'll end up losing the ability to use AoEs or give the enemy a free substitute-like wall or just get plain frozen. Some interactions even change your type temporarily. I could also point to this game's takes on shinies, called bootlegs. Bootlegs are not simply palette changes, but also change the monser's typing and movepool. And a bootleg can be of any type in the game, even the same type as what is native to that monster. Granted, tying gameplay changes to what would normally just be a cosmetic nicety can be precarious, but for me it just adds to the fun of hunting bootlegs across New Wirral, seeing how a monster performs differently in battle when taken out of their natural state.

I'd also be remiss not to mention one big departure from most monster collectors: you don't collect the monsters themselves, but rather record copies of them with a peculiar cassette tape set, which also serves as the vectors for you and your party to take the form of those monsters. It's just a very conceptually cool idea, and I love that the game even toys around with the implications of it sometimes, like how party member Kayleigh will weigh about the sugar rush that becoming a Candevil gave her. The game's larger story is relatively small scale, but I like the push and pull the monsters and archangels of New Wirral have in relation to man-made concepts and humanity. (Much like another game on this list, more on that later.)

The game's music is also incredible. From the homely feelings of Wherever We are Now to the upbeat yet tense Like Chimeras, the game's soundtrack and score, done by Joel Baylis, is certainly punching above its weight. Dynamic music isn't particularly novel, but I love the impact Shelby Harvey's vocals give to the battle themes are whenever you and your active partner fuse (Yes, there's fusion! Every monster is capable of it!) Even if you're not out to play the game itself (and I wholeheartedly recommend you should), the soundtrack itself is worth it alone!

(Addendum: while the game has only had a couch co-op option at the time of writing, Studio Bytten has a true multiplayer function currently in the works, and planned for early next year, so another potential bonus insofar as a recommendation.)

Crosscode Radical Fish Games

I've never been able to get into MMOs. The grind and dedication to playing one over a long amount of time has never been for me, and even with MMO-lites, I would quickly grow tired/bored before the good stuff and move on. But it did intrigue me when one of my pals described this game as a single player MMO.

Crosscode is more akin to an action RPG that uses the MMO genre as its backdrop; it's a game about playing a video game in many aspects. We follow Lea, an amnesiac nonverbal player avatar, whose time in the MMO Crossworlds is supposed to serve as some form of therapy while she regains her memories. Note that I did say nonverbal rather than silent; Lea's ability to speak is greatly impaired, only able to say simple words that were hacked in for her by Sergey, the man watching over her therapy. The game goes to great lengths to show this limiting in communication; NPCs don't care but Lea often has to play charades or do careful usage of her few words to get her points across, and sometimes there are misunderstandings. This was really something neat to see for me, someone with poor communication skills at times. Lea's amnesia also plays an interesting role in this. Sergey explains to her at first that Lea's real life counterpart is in a coma, so her experiences and memories made from that point onward are just of CrossWorlds. Everyone she interacts with has another life to return to, even the people whose job is only to develop and manage the software, so her life is oftentimes dictated on whoever is online at that very moment, or otherwise in pure solitude. It's a very interesting lens to view the world in, one where you're online presence truly is the only thing other people can see you from. And once the game reveals the "truth" behind Lea's coma, I think it also has some very interesting philosophical openers as to meaning of such an existence.

Also the gameplay elements are really neat in this. At first, combat is pretty run-of-the-mill melee and ranged combat in a top-down perspective. But then you reach the first temple and gain access to using fire, and the games complexities start to open up! Then you have this mix of resource and threat management. And that feeling just amplifies as your get the other three damage types in the following dungeons. Element matching with your enemies are the best way to mitigate damage, but attacking opposite is oftentimes the best way to maximize damage. Or it can even be a puzzle at times!

Speaking of, I think one of the game's best elements is the puzzle design in the temples and related dungeons. They serve as a great primer for understanding the different types, and how they interact with parts of the world, and with enemies. They are as much tools as they are weaponry. I would complain a little bit that the time sensitive puzzles get a bit too complicated at times for me to perfectly follow, but the inclusion of speed sliders for those puzzles is a nice addition that I don't often see utilized elsewhere.

Some short props should also being given for the atmosphere, CrossWorlds feels particularly well lived-in by its players, especially in its quest design. A newbie player who managed to keep failing upwards by getting bailed out by endgame tier veterans? A glitch hunter leading you to cut content and a boss that flunked out of playtesting? Apollo, the sworn rival and nemesis to Lea who keeps reading her every action as a challenge? These feel analogous to people and personalities I've seen abroad during my many years gaming (and even I've ended up the former in one scenario or another), and I think speaks well to the writing team's own social experiences.

Really solid game all in-all. If you're not into anything turn based, or are just an enthusiast of MMOs, this should be up your alley.

Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga Atlus

"Big fan of x excited to play the game for the first time"

For the past few years, the DDS duology was something I admired from afar. From the really cool, sharp designs of the demonic Atma Avatars, to being the only press turn SMT with a traditional RPG party, to Jim Reaper's still unfinished low level run of the second game: there was a lot I was interested in about the game but was something I was weirdly reluctant to find out about playing for myself.

That was, until I found out that this game isn't one of the "beloved so much that physical copies are impossible to find." There are just resellers who have the duology still factory sealed, so I went and ordered one, and played them on my PS2 slim.

The games captivated me with the way they wrestle with the ideas of what it means to be human and the nature of that struggle. In DDS1, the Embryon going from cold and unfeeling individual to a group of passionate, thoughtful, eccentric, and even selfish personalities, the essence of humanity, juxtaposed with their very demonic forms in the atma avatars and their being driven to devour the other inhabitants of the junkyard, is incredibly compelling. And DDS2 drives this further when the Embryon's struggle for survival in the real world is placed at odds at humans who would devour each other for leisure and power. I gasped the first time I heard Hunting - Betrayal play in-game, having seen the full context surrounding the theme. Just on the story alone, these games quickly rose to one of my favorite games of all time. And this isn't even getting into the music, the designs, or the atmosphere either, I could keep going on!

If you want a retro suggestion, I cannot recommend this duology enough!

(As an aside, Cielo has got to be one of the characters of all time as well. Being the grandchild of Jamaican immigrants, I've really got to wonder what Atlus was cooking with this stereotypical Patois accent and dreadlocks on this pasty motherfucker. Made me laugh whenever he spoke in scenes, at least.)

Can't Live Without Electricity MELOVITY

I hate puzzle games. (affectionate)

I first found out about Can't Live Without Electricity through one of the YouTube channels I watch, Aliensrock. Puzzle gaming is his wheelhouse, and while it's not normally my genre of choice, the aesthetics of CLwoE combined with its concept were enough to win me over to try for myself.

This game centers around connecting homes to power plants with a steadily increasing limit of wires and other utility structures, and the goal is to connect enough homes as long as possible through the level, to the point the level doesn't have empty plots to use. Reorganizing and optimization are the name of the game here, as you're not always going to have plentiful wires, or run out of hammers to teraform the rougher terrain tiles scattered about. The game penalizes you on score for finishing a level using its two "cheat" tools in generators and jumpers, but there's no penalty for using them intermittently. So then the management also becomes strategic; setting a generator on a house while you try and fish for more resources to eventually connect it to the network naturally. Having to rework the entire grid because a house got placed in a very inopportune location can be quite frustrating, only for that feeling to be replaced with catharsis the moment everything comes together.

The game's square grid levels were a fun challenge, but I can't really say the same for the hex grids. The first level was an absolute filter to me; despite the big difference in the functionality of wiring ranges, the game leaves you with about the same strict economy of resources as the last square grid levels.

So yeah, my singular puzzle recommendation! And hey, while you're at it, did you know the game has Steam Workshop support, and that you can play a custom level I designed?

Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore Atlus - Intelligent Systems

HA I LIED! FE NUMERO UNO!

Jokes aside, the revitalization effect Engage had on me combined with some recommendations by friends eventually led me to playing TMS#FE, the unholy marriage of Atlus's Shin Megami Tensei's battle design with Fire Emblem's characters from Mystery of the Emblem and Awakening. It was time I finally learned something about this title that wasn't the infamous "vagina bones" tweet.

My thoughts on the game's writing can really be boiled down to "Tsubasa should've been the Point of View main character instead of Itsuki". TMS's story is a great coming-of-age story for her and the rest of Fortuna Entertainment's stars. The Mirage incidents serve more as a backdrop for the group to learn and grow as performers, individuals, and as a team. It's really good, a lot better than most people give it credit for.

So, why is Itsuki the one we have to follow throughout?

Despite him not being the bog standard blank-of-slate mute-of-voice "Atlus Protagonist™" on account of having actual voiced dialogue, Itsuki Aoi ends up reading just as blandly as the worst of them. The main deal about him is that he doesn't have any strong aspirations, unlike his friends. He's just a guy. This isn't a bad thing in of itself, but it becomes a problem when, as a character, Itsuki doesn't really meaningfully grow; he's the same character you started with at the beginning the game except he's made a few new friends and somehow managed to do the not-a-harem troupe in the meanwhile. Meanwhile Tsubasa over here manages to find and rescue her sister, surpass her legacy, stand on equal ground with her biggest inspiration and role model in Kiria Kurono, and by the end of the game become a multi-talented star idol. There's so much to her and the rest of Fortuna, so Itsuki ends up by comparison being quite the sore spot for me.

Moving over to the gameplay, TMS is a bit more of a standout to me compared to other Atlus rpgs I've played. Whereas modern SMT and Persona tend to have their weakness-exploit battle systems result in huge snowballs by granting extra actions, TMS instead opts for sessions, where allies will automatically follow-up with additional attacks when a weakness is struck. This in turn results in a much more standard action economy while also still granting decent rewards for playing well and optimizing who chains what attack. Heck, even if you're not in for the mechanically deep stuff, sometimes its just fun to see everyone wail on a guy upwards of 30 times. Much as I love stuff like press turns, I think TMS was a good sign that Atlus could be trying more things with their games' battle systems. The one thing I'd say SMT/Persona's turn systems are significantly better about is momentum when it comes to character deaths in battle. Since turn order in TMS is determined when the turn starts, if someone's dead when that turn starts, they'll be skipped even when revived, and given all fights only have 3 active party members at a time, it is incredibly easy for a fight to spiral out of control because of a critical hit or session. But that's just my one nitpick; everything else about the system is pretty solid.

Oh, and the music! The music in TMS is really good. Reincarnation is great, but everyone loves that—I even remember catching bits and pieces of it as openers to some YouTube videos. My personal favorite is Dream☆Catcher, the song is much more my vibe, and the accompanying animation and outfits for Tsubasa and Eleanora are probably my favorites of the bunch. But also who can forget getting full vocals for the Fire Emblem Theme?

Tokyo Mirage Sessions is pretty neat. Give it a go if you're looking for the more esoteric Fire Emblem stuff. But don't say I didn't warn you about Aoi.

Kirby Star Allies HAL Laboratory

I've been really slow to play the Kirby games released for the switch, and I really could not tell you why despite my love for the series. That being said, I had a chance to play this alongside my lovely (currently) long-distance partner during one of our visits together.

It was a very pleasant co-op experience, doubly so given that I'd not been able to play Kirby with someone since the days of SSU. Solving puzzles and tacking fights together in something low-stakes; it's simple pleasant fun. Plus, seeing as I was playing this in the aftermath of all the update content, playing with the dream friends was also quite nice, if just for that nostalgia factor of seeing old enemies and allies with their movesets and attacks adapted to a new title. Another carryover I was quite happy to see was imbuing abilities with elements from other abilities. This was a favorite of mine in Squeak Squad's ability scrolls, so it was really quite nice to not only have that return in some form, but it also be a key part of puzzle segments as well as some fights.

My one major gripe is that the game's main story is saddeningly short. In the collective 6 or so hours we played together we were already well into the final world. Granted, Kirby's modern story modes are typically a breeze, but one segment of the game only being dedicated to Popstar itself was just... weird. Also, the control scheme being centered around the friend systems really messed with my muscle memory. Among other things, I would've preferred something like the x button handling most friend mechanics instead, similar to how it would summon/delete the helper in SSU.

But hey, that's not too big a deal in my opinion. Like I said, I really enjoyed getting to play this with my partner, and I still think it's a solid co-op choice for the time. Really hoping to get to the rest of the switch Kirbys in time.

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon Rescue Team DX Spike Chunsoft

One last case of me being a big fan of a game/series without exploring a key piece of the media at first. Explorers of Time is the game I can thank for being one of the catalysts to me becoming a writer, and I've played every title in the Mystery Dungeon Series... except for Red and Blue Rescue Team. So in the midst of collecting the Xenoblade trilogy to play in the eventual future, I also went and picked this up to see how it would fare with past experiences.

While I don't have a lot to say for this game in general (writing wise, its certainly a lot more straightforward than the explorers' trio, and the world doesn't feel nearly as lived-in by comparison), the game mechanically was quite neat, if only to see the newer mechanics of the 3DS era mystery dungeons brought to an older title. This goes especially for the inclusion of auto-mode, taking out most of the mundanity of basic dungeon navigation. I am a little sad that 3-member parties seems to be what has stuck for the series going forward, but I guess its a small price to pay in comparison to revamping the recruit mechanics to be less brutal and unintuitive. I'd also argue that it was a step backwards to take away the usage of basic attack from the A button in favor of automatically choosing a best move to use, but its another small potatoes issue given how quickly the basic attack gets obsoleted in other titles.

It was also just nice to return to the general concepts of the mystery dungeon. I was a child when I was first introduced to this series, and while a lot has changed since then—the scale and nature of my writing, my gender, my furry tendencies—there's still a lot that's remained the same. Just like in 4th grade, this series has been a lovely testing grounds for creating and developing original characters. The environments of the dungeons, and the simple interactions between the party and the world allow me to make interpretations and conversions that I can carry with me into my own works.

I would still recommend people play the Explorer games first if they're new to this side of Pokémon if we're talking on the story side of things, but this isn't a bad way to start either.

Backpack Hero Jaspel

I'm not sure how to introduce this game. If I speak on pure genre, the closest thing it is, is a deckbuilding roguelike. But there is no deck, just a backpack that holds your weaponry, armor, potions, and managing your inventory is as much a game as the much more typical turn-based, 3-energy-for-actions combat the subgenre is built upon.

I don't think Backpack Hero would've hooked me as much as it did if not for the inventory management. For one, it's a lot harder to fall into the pitfall of bloating your build; your backpack space is limited, and while leveling up lets you expand the size, there's only so much armor and shivs you can carry. You will very often be reorganizing just to optimize your build, or to add a key piece of gear you just received. In a way it's as much of a puzzle game as it is rougelike, and that aspect fascinates me.

I also like how differently 4 of the 5 characters in this game play. Purse the mouse is your standard character, whose main strength is in the flexibility she can expand her backpack in, allowing for versatile builds with very unusually shaped weapons. Satchel the robin has much of his inventory separated into individual pockets, which limits the power of adjacency in exchange for specializing in builds that are distance or line based. He also has a special charm effect with his instruments that allows a more pacifist route of playing. Pochette the porcupine is beast summoner, and her pets even get sub-backpacks of their own! Incredibly cute. And Crate, the robo-mouse, pushes the mechanics to 11 with his unique gimmick of routing the energy into his backpack rather than directly using it, making item positioning especially important. Much as I enjoy the other four characters, I have no praise for the 5th character in the ensemble, Tote the frog. She handles a lot more like a traditional deckbuilder character, using a "deck" of carvings that she places into her backpack over the course of combat. This in my opinion is to her detriment, as it reintroduces draw luck and deck bloating and other less than stellar aspects of the genre (and her having a unique 80 HP compared to the cast's 40 feels particularly illuminating). I hope she sees a rework at some point.

Lastly, I think the game's usage of a story mode is very clever, if only for the fact that most of the quests given to you in the mode are more akin to runs with a pre-established build, or a primer on the more game-changing relics. This is a great way to get players invested in deeper mechanics of the game, or to let them try items they would otherwise have to luck into, and something I hadn't seen done in other deckbuilders I've played. Great addition.

This game is my recommendation for anyone feeling burned out on the deckbuilders and wanting something fresh from the subgenre.

Lethal Company Zeekerss

Last but not least, a game that has taken the multiplayer YouTube scene by storm, this little indie darling in Lethal Company. I'm realizing by typing that now that I haven't added any multiplayer games to this list. With good reason; my friends are usually satisfied playing not-so-new titles with me, your DRGs, your RoRs, even TF2 on a blue moon.

I haven't had enough time with this game, and I tend to get squeamish around playing horror games, but I will say it's been a blast with friends. I've seen uses of proximity chat enhance games before, but its implementation here as a core part of the game's multiplayer and interaction with the various creatures in the game is quite genius. You could be screaming your head off cause you saw a bracken and no one could be even the wiser just from being several rooms away.

Or, for a personal anecdote, one of my friends who is a lot more experienced with the game had rushed into the building immediately. I catch up to find a corpse in the beginning room and I freak out. What the hell happened? I spent the rest of the in-game day awash in paranoia while my other friend investigated. Only to find out in the aftermath that what had killed him was an incredibly unfortunate landmine at the entrance. Honestly, no notes, this game is as ridiculous as it is scary for me.

I hope going into the next year I can have a lot more fun with friends with this title in particular.

Wrap-Up

Gaming's shaped a large part of my life; I've made most of my friends through playing and talking about playing games. I wouldn't be who I am without many of the games I've played. But many of the discussions I have about games up to this point have been behind the closed gardens of Discord servers and DMs. In fact, a large part of most of my ideas and thoughts don't get to leave small places like those. And that discretion has its uses, sure, but it leaves a lot to be desired on the aspect of where I'm coming from as a person.

As I look to the new year, I'm still as determined as ever to make Royals of the Tempest something more than just a few scenes I gush about frequently. But writing a novel takes time, and practice, and reflection on why I write, why I do... anything really. When I play a game recommended to me from a friend, I play it to understand their world better. Likewise, when I'm writing something, I want people to have a look into my world. A fanwork to convey why I like these characters. A review to show you what I look for in a game, and what I took home from experiencing it. A novel as synthesis to everything in my world, and the fractions of worlds I've been able to visit.

I looked back to my 2022 retrospective, one not as focused on gaming, and saw that some my plans for this year had to fall to the wayside, even my writing to a degree. But plans need not be dedicated to one year and one year alone. I'm not finished, but I'm still on the trail. Happy 2024.

#2023

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lovelylotusf1 · 2 months ago

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Thank you for the tag @fueledbyremembering mwah!! :*

How many works do you have on AO3?

Since yesterday, 18. That’s a lot!!

What's your total AO3 word count?

AO3 says 96,173. Will I make it to 100k before the first year anniversary of my profile? I doubt it but anything can happen :D

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Love through the hook [751]

The Pet Name Challenge [721]

Open mouth, on my knees (for you) [674]

Sweet Kitten [585]

From crashes to kisses [465]

I really need to reread some of these, especially Pet Name Challenge because I do not remember much of what I wrote lmao. But thank you to everyone who likes my works, you’re the best <3

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I do! I love interacting with readers and also thanking them for taking the time to leave a nice comment. In the past, when I wasn’t yet a writer with my second account, I always got scared to comment if I saw authors didn’t reply, so now I am trying my best to answer! It sometimes takes some time for me to get around to them, but I love responding :D

What's the fic you've written with the angstiest ending?

I do like to write angst from time to time but a completely angsty ending? I guess the ending to Cut open your Heart counts? Carlos didn’t have a good time there.

And maybe the freshly released Drowning (with you, in you) could be read as angsty, but in my mind, the fic is the first step towards a better ending for Pierre and Este! So, I intended it to be a bit ambiguous but hopeful at the same time, might still come across as angsty though. Maybe.

What's the fic you've written with the happiest ending?

That’s really difficult to answer because most of them end quite happy! Probably Eterni Rivali, though. I gave lesbian lestappen their cottagecore retirement + marriage ending.

Do you write crossovers?

Crossovers not really, but I like writing fusions! I don’t like to write “characters from fandom A meeting characters from fandom B”, but I DO like shoving f1 drivers into AUs, and sometimes that AU is based on another type of media (mentioning Eterni Rivali here again, because it’s a Pokemon AU).

Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Thankfully no! I only ever got really lovely comments, and for that yet another big thank you for everyone <3

Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I do! I like writing smut that turns into a character study. Smut that says or shows something about the relationship of the characters I’m writing. Smut as a vehicle for characterisation, if you want to say it like that.

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I … hope not? At least I’m not aware of it.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

I did! The first chapter of Sweet Kitten has a Russian translation and it makes me so happy that someone would spend so much time and effort on translating my silly stuff.

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Technically no. But if you count RPing back in the days for a different fandom that ended up as an almost fully-fledged fic until my RP partner never responded back? Then yes.

What's your all-time favorite ship?

Very difficult question. For F1, probably Landoscar. They’re my silly little cats that I can put into SO many situations!!

For other fandoms, there are so many Fire Emblem ships that I fondly think of. I couldn’t list all of them. (that’s also where my obsession with rivals/enemies to lovers comes from!)

What's a WIP that you want to finish but don't think you ever will?

I have a rival bakery lestappen AU from … December last year??? I don’t think that’s ever seeing the light of day, but I don’t have it in my heart to move it into the Abandoned folder.

What are your writing strengths?

Oh no, not the being nice to myself question! :((((

Coming up with fun concepts? I once got the compliment that my writing has a certain whimsy to it and that was so nice, it almost made me cry.

What are your writing weaknesses?

I have certain word “friends” (which are filler and don’t do anything) that I need to search for every time I’m editing. I also know like two (2!!) rhetorical devices that I tend to overuse.

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

Only if the translation is easily accessible. Like creating footnote links (the links! part is especially important. I don’t like manually scrolling to the bottom) or having that cool AO3 work skin that lets you hover over a word with your mouse and it shows the translation.

What was the first fandom you wrote for?

I’ve been creating OCs and writing little self-insert things for Pokemon since forever. But properly writing? Fire Emblem Fates, if you count RPing as writing fics!

What's a fandom/ship you haven't written for yet but want to?

I want to write something for Strollonso someday! They intrigue me greatly. Also Oscarmark, maybe, because I enjoy the rancid vibes.

What's your favorite fic you've written?

Another really difficult question! Both my carcar fics are very dear to my heart. But “When the blood is dripping” was also so much fun to write!! I really can’t choose between the three.

Thank you for reading this long Q&A!

I’m tagging @wisteriagoesvroom @v3lnys and @1425fivefive if you have time and want to do it <3

#tag game #about me #the big fic q&a #<- tagging it like this so i can find it later

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bunny-hare · 4 months ago

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Silly Game Time: Who are some of your favorite magician characters? And what do you like about them?

They can be of any class or variety of magic-user (wizard, witch, sorcerer, warlock, healer, druid, etc.), of any race or species, so long as using magic is *primarily* their thing in the story. Not just something they do occasionally, but something that is a major element of their role and their identity.

OOOOOOH BOY-! THIS WILL BE LONG! (And possibly involve a lot of Final Fantasy).

First of all, possibly the best example-

VIVI! From Final Fantasy IX! He's just a little guy and I love him for it! Condemned to die young (as he's made basically from pure magic) but determined to live his best life! Vivi is nothing but a sweetie that always sees the best on everyone and everything, he must be protected at all costs. On that last note: his sibling relationship with the protagonist, Zidane, is DIVINE! I really have a soft spot for these.

Cereza/Bayonetta: She's such a fabulous Girlboss. She went through so much trials to be the person she is (or at least is during 1-2, since 3 is a different Bayo as far I'm concerned but- uhhhh I won't get in that can of worms since I haven't played 3 yet) and I honestly love her for going from timid, meek, helpless little girl to the most powerful Umbra Witch. She had good genes ofc, but all that would go to nothing if it hadn't been for her hard work.

Quina (again, from Final Fantasy IX): They're no thoughts, head empty, eating only... which is how they gain spells, so... are they hungry for food? Are they hungry for knowledge? Maybe both? We shall never know as Quina is a riddle and I love them for that, their frog hyperfixation, and their love language being giving food 👏 such a mood.

Soren from Fire Emblem: he's a prince, he's the dragon protecting the tower, he's a damsel on distress, he's an orphan, he's actually not an orphan, he's definitely gay yet pseudo-flirts with the merchant girl to get these sweet discounts and gets away with it bcs home girl likes being flattered, what is there to not love Soren? He has always been of my best units in my every Radiant saga playthrough, I'll forever remember when he killed a buffed up golden tank unit with a staff. Much like Bayonetta, I love how Soren grew from a miserable little lost kid barely surviving on the streets to the master mage/tactician that he's now, he fought hard to have his happy ending at the side of the man that gave him a will to live and he's such a Girlboss for it too.

The Wizards from Terry Pratchett's Discworld book series: they're batshit insane and wasted all their points in intellect completely forgetting they needed wisdom too. They're the Wizards in Arby's before it was even a meme.

And not to make this list much longer as my phone is starting to lag: my current hyperfixation along many, many, many other things:

Ace from Final Fantasy Type 0: I like that he's not such a typical mage even though his movesets are 100% around magic, you won't catch homeboy with a staff, he's got cards to channel that magic. My poor son was basically trained (not to say experimented on) from a young age to have a great magic potential and be the great soldier his mom wanted him to be. I honestly like him better from the complementary content (novelization, mobile game, opera omnia, yadayadayada) as there, there's a much more deeper focus on how much messed up it was, though IG that's also why I like Ace so much, despite it all, and despite trying to keep an stoic bravado, he's just a kid, he wanted to learn to sing and be happy with his chocobos.

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peerlessscowl · 1 year ago

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TOA Anniversary; Mun Day!

Celebrating TOA and the people who contribute to make our group what it is.

Repost, don't reblog. Only fill in what you feel comfortable sharing!

Happy anniversary, TOA! Here's to many more years spent together.

tagging: you! come closer

---

Name: tches

Pronouns: she/they

Birthday (no year): Dec 22

Where are you from? What is your time zone? I'm currently in Colorado, but I'm not American djfkld and I live in Mountain timezone (MST/MDT)

Roleplay experience: About five or six years? All LJ.

Got any pets? My beloved one-eared baby Coriander, whom you have all seen me posting. I also live with two GSDs, Ursa and Solo.

Favorite time of year: Winter!

Some interests and things you like: I have so many interests, so many hobbies. I like languages and history and writing most. Cooking also. I hope sometime in the next year to write my first novel finally. I try to be active and used to really enjoy it before The Bad Period - I used to rock climb and hike every day, and during the pandemic I was buff. Nowadays I'm a lot more sedate.

Some funfacts & trivia about you: Here's two truths and a lie: my spine is made of titanium, I'm directly related to Erik the Red, and I'm a licensed yoga instructor. Have fun!

What non-Fire Emblem games do you play? Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy, Octopath, Triangle Strategy, Pokemon. Some indie games.

Favorite Pokemon type & Pokemon: Fire, Gyarados (close tie with Delibird)

How did you get into Fire Emblem? :thinking: I was looking through the GBA games in the video game aisle of the PX, and saw Blazing was on sale. That was it. Not much fanfare.

What Fire Emblem games have you played? All except Archanea, Thracia, and Tellius.

First Fire Emblem game: Blazing Blade

Favorite Fire Emblem game: Blazing Blade

Any Fire Emblem crushes? Listen Jeralt can get it.

If you’ve played the following games, who was your first S support? - Awakening: Lon'Qu - Fates: Kaze - Three Houses: Claude (but I like Hubert best) - Engage: Pandreo

Favorite Fire Emblem class: Mercenary-Hero

If you were a Fire Emblem character, what would be your class? :thinking: Not to be biased, but probably Mercenary-Hero

If you were a Three Houses character, what would be your affiliation? Blue Lions

If you were an Engage character, which Emblem would you Engage with? Probably Sigurd. Dat Momentum.

How did you find TOA? I knew of it in the periphery because I thought I'd check the Raven tag to see who else creates Raven content on Tumblr. I saw the post where mirae dropped him. Then in February, Elf popped into a mutual server and posted, I checked the Wanted List and saw my boy. And here we are.

Current TOA muses: Raven, Igrene and Beowolf

Who was your first TOA muse? If you don’t have them anymore, could you see yourself picking them up again? Raven. My son with every disease, always and forever.

Have you had any other TOA muses? I've also written Sigurd and Saber. Fly high kings, legends in my heart always.

Do you think you have a type of character you gravitate towards? Sad Family TM. Joking aside, I like to think I have a pretty good range, and I still have more musetypes, simply waiting to be released from their enclosures.

What do you believe you enjoy writing the most? I love writing rage, and horror. On the flip side, I also genuinely love writing cheesy, healthy romantic fluff. Duality of man. And of course I froth at the mouth for Family. Reaches -

Favorite TOA-related memory: When I flipped from writing Sigurd re-proposing to Deirdre immediately to responding to a Hector interaction with Raven. Also, when Sigurd got accepted - my heart rate skyrocketed, I was so excited.

Got any delusions that didn’t see the light of day in TOA that you’d like to share? We'll see what the future (Halloween) holds.

How do you pronounce TOA? The acronym! T-O-A, but blended together. Teaoea

#out of character #dash games #the mortifying ordeal of being known (affectionate)

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lime-sketches114 · 1 year ago

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Introduction

Hello everyone! this is your resident artist and author here! my name is Kat/Lime! I hope we can get along and I hope to grow more on Tumblr like I have on Instagram...I don't have very many followers on either BUT I like very different things and I hope we can find a connection and possibly fan over art and other things?

I have an Instagram as well if you guys wanna follow me there (artsykidwolf_2000). I also post art there too and would love the appreciation there as well. (Before you ask NO I'm NOT taking Commissions at this time for I have NO way of actually doing them at this time and idk about Art Trades other than with mutuals/friends) (I've been getting DMs if I am and I listed specifically on my bio that I don't! I will update all of you when I'm confident in taking commissions!!!)

Here are some things I have made/are proud of:

My Original Story Series called Last Pegasus! It's a fantasy magical adventure type story based off a lot of things I'm interested in over the years (give or take) and I have SOME works and art based off the story itself or putting them in silly outfits of different fandoms or something hehe... I'm really hoping this series will be my pride and joy once I figure how to get my stuff organized and whatever else is needed comic or just a story otherwise...

Next is OC-TOBER, a OC appreciation type drawing/writing prompt challenge to where the weekly prompt helps you to share your original characters based on that prompt! I already have a few (as of writing this) and there's more to come (hopefully)

My art in general is what I do the best, sure I'm good at writing but I'm not the best best. I hope to grow as I go along and discover more and more tips n tricks and new art friends along the way! I have plenty to show but I'm taking my pace with it to not burn myself and y'all out lol.

My OCs are like Family to me, especially some I keep REALLY close to my heart, and I hope to share more about them

Here are some Fandoms I'm REALLY into/know very well (I have ADHD so it changes sometimes to my hyper-fixation lol):

(most of these are not rank per position on list, permanent hyperfixes are in this color. common ones in this color)

For Games/misc. I like:

Final fantasy

Zelda

Kingdom Hearts

Fire emblem

Monster hunter

God of war

Slime rancher

Pokemon

Dragon age

Sims

Splatoon

Dungeons and dragons

Subnautica

I also like some Vtubers

For anime/shows I like:

Fairytail

My Hero academia

RWBY (Like the concept don't like the company)

Ancient Magic Bride

One Piece

Dragon ball

Naruto

Little witch academia

Avatar the last airbender/Korra

Avatar (James Cameron)

Star Wars

Dinosaur (the movie)

Prehistoric Planet

Monster High (all gens)

My little pony (most G4 but G5 is alright too)

Ghibli movies

Lots of Disney movies (I can recite a lot of them "word for word")

Nature/Historical Documentaries (I'm a nerd, I also love OSP (Overly Sarcastic Productions) their podcasts and videos are hilarious)

Feel free to ask if I know more these are the ones I could name off the top of my head hehe

Thank you for coming and I hope we can all be friends and hopefully you like my art alot hehe. Thank you bye!

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derekscorner · 2 years ago

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Fiery Opinions: Engaging Dragons

One Ring to Marth them all

This is the second time since I started my Fire Emblem journey that I’ve got to use a brand new game as an entry as opposed to playing older titles. I was genuinely surprised by how refreshing this was both for that very reason and due to how decent the story was.

No joke, the story is actually good. It’s no flawless masterpiece, I’d worry if you went into a video game expecting such, but it does so much right by being so simple.

Hell, I’ll even start this by apologizing to poor ol toothpaste-chan which I’ll get to later. For now let me just ramble about how much I enjoyed the story.

Family is Key

At it’s core Fire Emblem Engage is about family. Not in the same sense as a special lineage a la Marth’s prodigious bloodline but it’s about found family. That made every story beat that would normally be cliche or what I call an “animeism” work because it’s not as simple as being there for blood ties.

Now blood relation is also certainly a factor for many characters but the story goes out of it’s way to make found family just as precious. Many characters lose someone that they thought of as family and others lose people that truly was their blood bound family.

They contrast it effectively against how the villain, Sombron, abuses his family. To him family is a tool and the story will list exactly how cruelly he’ll murder his own children a few times.

HIs actions also cause many others to lose family. Some die due to direct conflicts/schemes to aid Sombron (Morion) or you’ll have people who were good warped by his influence. (Hyacinth)

Sombron doesn’t just harm Elyos but he harms it’s people but breaking bonds. Usually in the cruelest way possible.

It’s also due to these themes of family that many character actions that would normally make no sense would. Such as the villain Zephia.

She is irredeemable. She does truly horrible things but her motivations for doing so make sense. That doesn’t excuse her actions but I at least understand why she would behave the way she does.

Namely, those moments that sharply contrast her usual cruelty. Such as when she randomly decides to help you once she’s defeated. In most modern stories they just treat this as a half-assed redemption. Zephia herself even gives that as a reason to the heroes.

Only for us to learn the real reason once the heroes leave her to die. She did it for spite. She wanted a child and Sombron promised to give her one. She doesn’t love the villain but she deeply seeks a family.

This desire manifests in her behavior toward evil Veyvle and the Hounds. She treats them like a family albeit in a warped perception of what she thinks it is. This caught my eye quickly because the story isn’t excusing her behavior but it is giving me a human motivation for that behavior.

I do not pity her but I, as the audience, understand her. Unlike Sombron, she truly wants a child but like Sombron she treats family cruelly as seen with Marni.

Sombron himself is very similar at the end of the day. He forwent any connections in Elyos because it wasn’t his world. His world had it’s own emblem war and he watched all his family die.

Being a child at the time, the victors cast him out into the Outrealms and he landed in Elyos with nothing but an Emblem Ring he managed to hide. That was his one true companion.

Everything he does is for reaching other worlds to find that emblem but the story doesn’t use this to make him tragic. The entire dialogue is called out by Alear and Veyle, Sombron’s two surviving children.

Sombron himself never tried to act sympathetic either. He merely gave his motivations when asked. The sins he’s done to get there mean nothing to him and when he says he no longer cares about their world the two siblings call him out.

Even if he says he’ll forget their faces and leave they know he’ll “just repeat the same mistake” and appear again in time. So rather than letting his evil reach other worlds they stop him.

This, to me, says that Sombron was either born evil or the war he witnessed made him so. Not once is his actions excused to downplayed. At most, his emblem leaving (which was likely it running out of power) was just the catalyst.

The excuse he needed to act on his evil nature. Something he began by slaughtering the village that had kindly took him in. He wanted to be alone and seek his own power and that’s the life he lead.

He’s not a redeemable being nor will the story act like he is.

The list only goes on from there. Family motivates this entire story in a simple but beautiful way.

The Hounds?

Mauvier swore to be Veyle’s knight. He’s the only one that has a genuine concern for her well being.

Zephia, as mentioned, wants a child.

Marni was abandoned by her mother and saw Zephia as that replacement to a sad end.

Griss also saw Zephia as the “closest thing” he’s had to a mother and chose to die fighting with her.

Princess Ivy? I found her the most intriguing royal by far. Her supports reveal that she did not like the political landscape or her mothers actions within it. However, she’s still a princess and loyal to her home.

Her forms of defiance were small as a result. She chose to worship the divine dragons instead of the fell dragon. She was loving to her sister when her mother and step-mother were in political turmoil.

She would die for her father despite knowing he’s warped. Her faith and loyalty conflict and thus her actions conflict. It’s nothing grand but that’s very believable. Especially due to her faith going form an initial defiance of authority to a legitimate belief and conflict of interest.

Thanks to this I can buy that she’d back down when confronted by the deity of her worship. You even see this in her first scenes at Brodia castle. Her odd behavior is due to that religion she holds.

The Brodian Royal Family Now these guys are endearing to watch. The playable units Diamant & Alcryst are great but the one that shocked me most was their father king Morion. In many stories you’d imagine the king of a kingdom focused on strength to be a hardass that is hard to please but no.

King Morion is a caring father. He relents to some of Diamants overbearing/worried demands and he’s more than supportive and positive to his second Alcryst. While Diamant is a more typical firstborn big brother good guy Alcryst is apologetically cowardly.

His brother and father go in guns blazing with swords but Alcryst wields the bow. A weapon of distance. He’s cautious and far too quick to knock himself down a peg. Despite that Morion is very proud of Alcryst and praises him nearly every second he’s on screen.

Diamant also thinks highly of Alcryst. They do not look down on him for his nature and I think that is because they see Alcryst for the truth hidden within his nature. Although cowardly, Alcryst will ignore his panic to be heroic. It’s not even a crippling fear, if it needs to be done he will do it.

This was most prominent to me when the corrupted Morion had to die. Alcryst hated the idea while Diamant knew it was more respectful to end his warped existence. However, Alcryst will have unique dialogue if he kills Morion. Saying that its better for him to take on such burdens over his older brother.

Morion and Diamant see Alcryst as strong and the player sees that when Alcryst will spare Diamant the pain of patricide.

The other cast aren’t quite as heavy but just as good. For example, the Firenese royalty is also very close as seen in their supports. Their family is as peaceful as the land they rule. Celine gets annoyed by her older brother and worries how Alfred will be as a king but she loves him anyway.

Alfred has some of the silliest but wholesome supports. He never takes an insult bad and will admit he’s more brawn that brain. He takes it all in stride because he’s happy to be alive due to a sickly childhood.

Then you have the retainers of the royals. Many of them have a close friendship, and at times family, closeness. Hell, even ones that do not like one another such as Ivy and Zelkov have a loyalty. They all have a simple but pure bond in my opinion. Some families are made of friends, or strangers even, rather than people with shared dna.

Of them all I rather like how lax Solm’s royal family is. That family is chill as fuck and I envy their freedom and overall disregard for decorum.

The Good & The Tragic

Now this is where I’ll say that I am absolutely sorry for any Alear slander I’ve made before. Sure, some jokes about the hair is okay, but the theme of family and the tragedy of it hit the hardest with this poor dragon child.

As silly as it appears at first, the hair color does have plot relevance. Everything from the blue hair, eye, and the somewhat-goofy white armor Alear wakes up in was actually plot relevant. It was so relevant that it’s almost sad to see upon a new file because I now have the context.

Alear, like Veyle, and so many of Sombron’s children, was an abused kid. Alear even lists, verbatim, the cause of death for many of their siblings;

“One older brother was drowned. One older sister was burned alive.”

“A little bother and a little sister -they were cute- torn apart by the corrupted.”

“Some siblings died in the war. Most were defects. Father disposed of them.”

Alear was old enough to see this, they watched them all die in these horrific ways. During the war Veyle was too young to be a soldier so in the one meeting they had Alear gave her his dragonstone (explaining why you can’t transform) with the intentions to return for her.

This did not happen. Alear was fatally wounded striking down Sombron and put to sleep to heal.

Found Family

This sad backstory and the encounter with the past Alear with their somber voice and sad face was one thing. A good one, a strong impression enough to make me like the character.

However, what fully sold the family theme was Alear & Lumera. I’m used to Fire Emblem or any RPG having parents die and other such cliches but once Alears past was revealed it hit different.

The “genshin look” let the animation of faces hit harder. I was already sad for Alear but now I was sad for Lumera.

She did not give birth to Alear. She found them. Lumera, like Alear, had lost everyone to that war and when she found them that shared sense of loss connected them.

Lumera was the parent Alear wasn’t given. She gave them love and that pure emotion made their tragic dynamic beautiful. Lumera waited one thousand years, slowly draining her life to convert Alear into a divine dragon, just in hopes of being a family once they woke.

A family is all either wanted and when they found it with each other it just hurtful to look back on her death.

Ya know Alear’s white armor? That’s there because Alear wanted to be a “good dragon” like her. One that wore shining armor and a sword.

Their blue eye and hair? That’s Lumera’s power making them divine.

Alear’s emblem ring? A present she spent centuries making.

Lumera did so many little and big things waiting for her adopted child to wake only for it to become a tragedy instead.

Veyle

This tragedy also affects Veyle because Alear was put to sleep before they could find her again. Veyle was forced to run terrified from all the enemies Sombron had made. The only people that showed her kindness for centuries was her mother and Alear and now both were gone.

She was found by some of Sombron’s worshipers eventually. They treated her nice enough but once Veyle went into her own slumber and awoke things had changed.

The poor girl only wanted to be praised by her father and was manipulated easily enough to help free him only to be treated like less than useful the entire way.

Veyle is such a kind soul that Sombron opted to have Zephia use magic to brainwash her resulting in the split personality. Even then Veyle lacks the power needed to use her dragon form nor any of the power Sombron seems to use.

Even Alear in the past seemed to have more of that power than Veyle. Although, it was this kind streak among Sombron’s children that leads me to believe that Sombron himself is the evil element.

Veyle and Alear are kind yes but seemingly most of Sombron’s children were. The “defects” he labeled useless weren’t just one or two but most of them. I’d imagine even the “useful” ones were kind but scared to act different as Alear was prior to meeting Lumera.

Veyle is easily the most pure and innocent of his children we get knowledge of but I would go as far as to say that Sombron may have been the real “defect”.

We have no context for his family in his original world but he’s the only one we see out of his children that is evil just because that is his nature. It makes me question what a “fell dragon” is within the context of Elyos.

Grima from Awakening was a science experiment gone awry. An artificial dragon made from stolen divine dragon blood.

The game does make a distinction between the power a fell dragon and divine dragon wield. There is a difference but I do wonder if “fell dragon” is the true name of their species.

Zephia claims that Veyles brainwashing brings out her draconic instincts but I find that hard to take at face value. If someone as pure as Veyle can use “fell dragon” power to raise the dead without evil in her heart then I suspect their real nature isn’t something as foul as what Sombron has made it out to be.

Either way Veyle made me question a lot about the fell dragons and her shared parentage made me grow to like her even if I saw the sibling twist a mile away. She had the post-game ending I enjoyed the most simply because she worked to be as kind as Lumera or Alear despite being a “fell dragon”.

The poor little girl deserves the world and I wish she could’ve been family with Lumera as Alear was.

Story Overall

Family themes aside I was pleasantly surprised by how tight the story could be at times. It’s a simpler story about evil dragons and heroes like older FE titles but it also does a lot of things that you’d only notice on a second playthrough.

I’ve already mentioned how the family aspect makes motivations believable, I’d even call it competent and worthy of higher praise, but there’s some things that happen that you only noticed once pointed out to you.

For example, the plot twist of Alear’s parentage. This is done by witnessing how Alear summons an emblem. Divine dragons pray to summon an emblem but fell dragons invoke them.

Alear, being now divine, mixes the two aspects but if you notice in chapter 2 Lumera summons Sigurd without uttering a word. She prays to the ring and he answers her call. That is an early hint to later plot developments and it’s so subtle.

Or the use of the corrupted as a concept to help Alear cheat death in a believable way. Something that’s fixed entirely with the “miracle” that the emblems themselves hint at half way through the story.

In essence, the story foreshadows well and keeps things tied back around in a way that I’m not used to in games today. It’s sad to say that it’s rare but it is still pleasant to see. I’m going through my second file just hoping to catch more stuff like this.

It’s not flawless mind you but it is worth noting.

Emblematic Emblems

Another thing I took notice of in the story was the emblems themselves. Even the DLC bracelets that I currently have access too. They all have an establishment personality as former heroes of the series.

Even Byleth or Corrin who were avatars have enough of a personality forged by spin-off titles to make them feel like people. Even down to mannerism such as Byleth maintaining a blank face and tone that rarely breaks.

They also have a larger story presence than I initially believed them to. All 12 have scenes to do or say something while emblems such as Sigurd, Lyn, Lucina and Marth especially have as much to say as a main cast member would.

Sigurd & Marth in particular are very talkative and present offering advice and commentary on story moments. In contrast their actual bond conversations (think of it as supports for the rings) are extremely brief compared to their lines in story chapters.

You will feel like they are characters even if it’s to varying degrees. I grew attached to Marth very fast despite never playing one of his titles. Then I was attached instantly to Lucina, Riki, and Byleth because I have played those titles.

3 Houses was my first game but Awakening is my favorite. I always had Tiki or Marth on my person at all times. I also often tried to keep their assigned units together because some emblems have unique attacks when paired with a friend.

The most famous one online right now is Byleth and the Emblem of Rivals. If you use the Emblem of Rivals special when Byleth’s emblem is nearby he’ll be added to their attack.

However my favorite was Tiki & Marth. Not only do they actually talk in the paralogue scenes, something I wished for Marth and adult Tiki in Awakening, but if you use Tiki’s special with Marth nearby he’ll boost it.

Tiki, alone, will grant you a rival stone to a unit of your choice but if Marth is next to her this is changed to “Blessings+”.

I also found myself attached to Tiki for how she engages with dragons. For everyone else Tiki turns them into a red dragon with a tail whip, claw move, and fire breath.

But when Tiki is engaged with Alear or Veyle they turn into a proper divine dragon and the fire breath is swapped for fog breath which I used often to give my units a boost to AVO.

I can say without a doubt I loved the emblems far more than I expected due to the small things like what I listed. there’s probably several others I haven’t seen because I’m biased to Marth and Tiki.

I hope they’ll add even more as the DLC releases giving us more emblems or scenes of these legacy characters.

A side note to all my praise; I found it fucking hilarious that Byleth’s special is to act as a dance unit. Byleth can be a dancer class in every game they’re in but their original one. lmao

Gameplaly

Normally I’d give a deeper look into the gameplay like I did with Echoes or others but this post is already novel length. I also have very little to complain about when it comes to the gameplay.

Some of the hardcore fans can do the math to maximize and tackle maddening mode but I suck at math. I do not want to play a game to do math. I do not find join in min-maxing.

I did enjoy the game however. It returned to a two seal system with master & second seals but don’t let that fool you. The gameplay is more complex than you’d expect due to the nature of Emblem & Bond rings.

You can max a units bond with an emblem and inherit their skills. As mentioned, some emblems bounce off each other or even have unique changes on a specific unit.

They basically blow up the game to such a complex level that I can’t properly break it down. I enjoyed what I was doing and didn’t complain once. I liked that it only had two seals and I recognize the depth that I can’t fully see.

It’s like the best part of several fire emblem games were added in. The weapon wheel is back, weapon durability is mostly gone (sorry staves), and you have some new tweaks like how monks affect the returning daggers, bows, and tomes.

I ignored some of these at first but now I keep at least one chain-blocking monk and poisoned dagger thief with me at all times.

I have been trying to use things I didn’t on the first run to properly grasp more of the gameplay such as the new break weapons. Great swords, axes, and spears that are guaranteed to stagger an enemy and prevent counter.

At the cost of you being unable to hit first nor counter of course. They won’t give you that kind of tool for free. lol

I also adore the Somniel because it’s the kind of secretly hidden paradise home in the sky I always wanted. I don’t play the mini-games much despite the stat benefits but I do love to just wander the small island, change the outfits of characters, and take in the peaceful atmosphere of the place.

It’s the type of “my base” I prefer in Fire Emblem. A cross between what Awakening, Fates, and 3 Houses have.

I hope future FE titles use a similar hub world should they choose to continue the trend. It does not have to be a sky sanctuary but I do hope they maintain the laid back nature.

A good base to wander, do a few small things, and just take an overall break from the story grind.

Resolution

I think I’m rambled out. I do sense that I had far more to say but this is long enough already. What’s important is that I enjoyed this game much more than I expected too.

The story is simple and good. I am very glad they dropped the branching routes idea they used for Fates and 3 Houses. Both of those titles had so much potential lost due to the lack of focus.

Gameplay is shockingly deep and while the look is definitely “genshin impact” it works in the games favor. The maps and scenes are beautiful and it allows characters to be animated with great effect at times like the flashback of Alear striking down the villain. The sheer terror and sadness on Lumera’s face works because of it.

Some characters do not translate well into the look (poor Edelgard) but I got used to it. I even liked it when “blue Alear” appeared on screen. God I wish their hair stayed that solid blue...

Anyway, bye now~

================================

Editors Note: This is part seven of my trip through fire emblem. You’ll find the others here: Fiery Opinions <–(link)

#fe #fire emblem engage #fiery opinions #alear fire emblem

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phoenixkaptain · 2 years ago

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If you don't mind me asking, who are your favorite romantic relationship's couples in books/ manga/ anime/movies/tv series (can be canon or non-canon)? Why do you love them? Sorry if you've answered this question before......Thanks....

This is a bit difficult for me because I am very particular about my romances. It took me a long time to come to terms with the fact that I myself don’t really want romance, so I’ve always gravitated to two types of couples. The type who are best friends / old married couples, ie: they’re comfortable with each other and know each other well, or the type who are almost immediately rabidly obsessed with each other. Hannibal Lecter and Will Graham come to mind.

I like couples where the woman plays the masculine role and the man plays the feminine one. (Mouri Ran and Kudou Shinichi are my primary example for this, because Ran is a Karate champion who can punch throw concrete and commonly acts more as a guard for other characters than a damsel and Shinichi is melodramatic and fixates on details and has a real talent for saying rude things in a cutesy voice. They’re each other’s hero a lot, rhey save one another a lot, and I like that dynamic of theirs)

I don’t really understand attraction based on sexual interest. Like, I don’t understand wanting to date someone just for sex. I get why people want to have sex, don’t get me wrong, but I don’t understand why people would ask someone out just for sex? Like, if you just want sex, just ask for sex straight out. Why’ve you gotta date for a while? I don’t really get it.

All that being said, my favourite couples are either very boring or extremely bizarre. I admit as much.

Like, I very much enjoy Marth / Caeda from Fire Emblem. They know each other and Marth got his little circlet from her and they have some very cute interactions! On the other hand, I also ship Marth / Michalis because Michalis made an offhand comment all of once about finding Marth terrible but begrudingly respecting him and all I could think of was “slowburn, enemies-to-lovers, 250k words)

I ship a lot of things and I ship characters with multiple other characters and I ship polycules. It’s pretty rare that I find a ship I actively dislike, actually. I’m just a bit too easygoing about it all. Even if I’m uninterested in a ship, I can be convinced if there’s cute art or something.

Ah, I miss the days when people wrote essays on why they shipped characters. I know it was mostly for queer romances, but those always helped me interpret what others saw as romantic. So many of those posts were so detailed and fun to read. Even if two characters barely interacted, I loved reading someone’s essay on why they ship them. Even if characters have never interacted, I enjoyed reading essays on why they would make an interesting couple.

I know this didn’t really answer the question, but I honestly struggle with listing what ships I enjoy. There are too many of them, quite frankly, and some of them are couples that I just ship in a queerplatonic way that toes the line between platonic and romantic.

That being said, here are some of my favourite queerplatonic ships:

Obi-Wan Kenobi and Qui-Gon Jinn. My favourite dynamic for them was in the novel Cloak of Deception. It mentioned their size difference a lot, which I really enjoy (Obi-Wan is not tiny! They just kept putting Ewan Mcgregor next to giants! He is average height, honestly) But most importantly, it portrayed their relationship as Qui-Gon getting distracted by something for a few minutes only to whip around and look around for his Padawan wildly. This man has left Obi-Wan at a gas station before. They snark at each other and are just overall very comfortable with each other and the whole thing makes me very happy, I wish there were fics based on this dynamic (aside from my own)

Qui-Gon Jinn and Luke Skywalker. These two have never met. They do not know each other. Qui-Gon dies long before Luke was born and nobody ever mentions Qui-Gon to Luke. But, and I’ve said this before, they are oddly similar and I think it would be fun to watch them hang out. They are like two tuning forks ringing in perfect harmony. They are so similar, they are a mirror to each other, and I love the idea of them bonding over plants.

Furuya Rei and Kudou Shinichi. I don’t know how to describe their dynamic. They are suspicious of each other. They trust each other with their lives. Conan can tell that Amuro (Furuya) isn’t who he says he is. Furuya can tell that Conan isn’t who he says he is. They bond over stupid things. Furuya gets stalked for his ham sandwich recipe. Conan cannot believe that this man is this stupid. I don’t know, I like their dynamic. I like Furuya taking one look at Conan and saying “what a suspicious lil guy. I’m going to feed him in hopes that he returns like a stray cat.” It is very fun to read and to write.

I suppose you could say that my favourite ships, romantic or otherwise, are ones where they will sit across from each other in comfortable silence.

And I like ones that are mutually insane. Again, Hannibal and Will. Hannibal in the Red Dragon (novel) gets so upset that Will dared to not give him his phone number and home address that he figured out Will’s home address for the sole purpose to send a serial killer to his door out of petty revenge. When Will gets stabbed in the face at the end of the book and is in the hospital, Hannibal writes him a letter that ends with “I hope you aren’t ugly now.” In Silence of the Lambs, Hannibal Lecter meets the first woman he’s been able to have any contact with in literal years, and his first question is “Where’s Will Graham? If they’re going to send someone to pick my brain, they’re going to send Will Graham. Where is he?” (He is in Florida drinking beer and ignoring Crawford’s increasingly desperate phone calls)

Hope this is somewhat what you were looking for.

#ask #long post #anonymous #the inane ramblings of a madman #i never remember the characters i ship #i’m so bad with names #i forgot will’s name for a second #i have a problem

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aubins · 4 months ago

Text

TOA Anniversary Munday

Celebrating TOA and the people who contribute to make our group what it is.

Repost, don't reblog. Only fill in what you feel comfortable sharing!

Happy anniversary, TOA! Here's to many more years spent together.

Name: darcy, but i also go by qiu!

Pronouns: they/he

Birthday (no year): january 9th

Where are you from? What is your time zone? sea & gmt+8

How long is your roleplay experience? god who knows HAHA not me i fear

How were you introduced to roleplaying as a whole? .........kik..........and then amino when i really got into it a bit more lmfao

How were you introduced to TOA? through the heart & soul ad on twitter!

Do you have any pets? unfortunately not i must live vicariously through family & friends

What is your favorite time of year and why? i do love the -ber months generally. it's nice to have cooler weather as someone who lives in a tropical country though it's not by much these days i fear

What is your IRL occupation? i'm a full-time university student atm studying psychology!

Some interests and things you like/enjoy? writing of course but for less obvious answers: piano, photography, badminton, archery, history, mathematics, languages, etc etc i like learning basically haha

What non-Fire Emblem games do you play? 13 sentinels, somnium files, life is strange, genshin impact, honkai: star rail, zenless zone zero, pokemon. prosekai sometimes. and i love love the ace attorney series so much miles edgeworth among us is the funniest shit i've ever seen

Favorite Pokemon type & Pokemon: fairy type! and it's both mimikyu & ditto really i couldn't pick but i think i said ditto last year so i will say mimikyu this year haha

Tell us some funfacts and trivia about yourself! i used to do international math competitions when i was younger! haven't done since the pandemic but they were good fun i do love math & competition haha so put them together i'm bound to enjoy myself

How did you get into Fire Emblem? my brother bought fe3h & i decided to play it too. i simply never made my way out of that rabbit hole

What Fire Emblem games have you played? fe11, fe12, fe16 (+ hopes), & fe17 + i've watched playthroughs of tellius & sov! nothing much different from last year except i've since watched a playthrough of awakening as well. still haven't finished my actual awakening playthrough but one day...

First & Favorite Fire Emblem games: i said fe3h for my first last year but i think it might have actually been heroes now that i'm really thinking about it LOL not seriously in the slightest though i'm p sure i dropped it after the first few days until i properly got into fire emblem. don't have much of a favorite but i enjoy 3hopes purely because musou gameplay tickles a very specific part of my brain

List your 5 favorite Fire Emblem characters across the series! yuri, alear, est, shez, and lucina

Who was the first character ever to make you go “ooh I like this one in particular” and why? Can be any context and reason! yuri. to no one's suprise least of all my own but also the whole ashen wolves house really. you could say i really like those guys in particular

Any Fire Emblem crushes? 😳 nope

If you’ve played (or are familiar with) the following games, who was your first S support? Who would you S support nowadays? - Three Houses: claude & yuri- Engage: gave the pact ring to veyle my first playthrough then reset it after. honestly i don't know though maybe gregory or timerra

Favorite Fire Emblem class? i like mage cannoneer. funny guys

If you were a Fire Emblem character, what would be your class and stats? Would you be playable? dancer except i play you a silly tune on my keyboard. high speed & dexterity and ok magic stats then everything else is probably dogshit LMFAO

If you were a Three Houses character, what would be your affiliation? fear the deer!!!

If you were an Officers Academy student, what would be your boons, banes and potential budding talent? - Boons: sword, reason - Banes: axes, faith, heavy armor - Budding Talent: bow

If you were an Engage character, which nation would you originate from? solm is my favorite but i'd probably want to live in firene

How do you pronounce TOA? 🤔 separate letters

Current TOA muses: just this guy right here

Past TOA muses? marianne, caeda, est, kvasir, clarisse, & timerra! if there's been anyone else i'm very sorry to have forgotten you haha

Who was your first TOA muse? If you no longer have them, can you see yourself picking them up again? miss marianne von edmund :softsmile: anyway probably not & she's in good hands now besides

Do you believe you have a type of character you gravitate towards writing? i'm sure i do but i wouldn't be able to name it myself haha but i like to think i tend to have some kind of variety in character archetypes and tropes i enjoy writing

Do you have characters or types of characters you don’t think you can handle writing, but wish you could? if i like them enough to put in the effort i could write most anyone i think

What kind of scenes, situations etc do you believe you enjoy writing the most? anything that significantly alters the relationship between two characters. even better if it's for the worse really i do enjoy antagonistic relationships. but yeah i loooove developing relationships between muses. especially with a muse that barely trusts anyone besides themself. yuri never does what i want them anyway to do so it's great for me, really

Do you have any scenario in mind for your muse(s) that gets you thinking “man I hope I get to write this one day”? i would really love to write yuri during their time as a student at the officers academy. or an au where they are a student at the officers academy in present time. i'd like to explore their role as count rowe's “son” more in depth one day as one of if not their longest lasting identity (excluding their actual one obviously LOL). less specific but i just love aus in general i would love to do more aus

Favorite TOA-related memories? est & sirius getting their attacks redirected at one another and whiffing all of them always makes me laugh. the harmony lance phalanx strats were also funny i do think fondly of that arena. happyland was really fun though one of my favorite events so far for sure :] i blow a kiss to north island yuri's home away from home & east island week 4

Present or past tense? present tense is my general go to for roleplay but i don't mind either or

Normal size text, small text, no preference? small text is easier for me to parse personally but i don't have any preference from my partners

Got any potential muse delusions to share? 😉 not so much delusions as they are old muses but i do mourn that i never quite got kvasir & timerra off the ground as much as i'd have liked to. if i ever find the time i'd love to revisit both one day. shez is also a constant plague upon my mind i just love a purple guy what can i say

#.𖥔 ݁ ˖　﹙　clever as the devil & twice as pretty .　—ooc.　﹚#cute little time capsule :] looking back on last year's like damn don't remember writing any of this LMFAO #if i missed answering a question it's the middle of the night cut me some slack haha

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