#apparently it’s some system thing but ik the it guys and they make sure everyone knows when system main fence is happening a solid week out

[shatteredsnail]

my father texted me yesterday at 5am telling me he needs me to do work in his department tomorrow

so tell me why at 6 this morning i walk downstairs completely ready for a grueling day of accounting he looks at me and goes oh where are you going

[serenanymph]

writeblr positivity tag

tagged by the lovely @macabremoons! gently tagging @lyssa-ink, @reneesbooks, @scroll-of-aves, @space-writes, and anyone else who wants to hop in! this is gonna be a long one so I'm gonna leave it under the cut.

1. What motivates you to write?

All the lovely comments I get!! I honestly just love seeing how people react to my writing. Also just thinking about my characters in general. They're just a bunch of silly little guys <3 (they are unbelievably traumatized). And thinking about those specific few scenes I'll get to write later in the book too!!!

2. A line/short snippet of your writing that you are most proud/happy of. If not maybe share a line of someone else's work you love (just please credit them)

Uhh honestly I have mostly forgotten and all the good lines really only make sense with context, but I guess I am?? Mildly proud of this bit??

The air smells of sweet perfume. It’s a sharp, potent scent, thick and cloying, overly concentrated and enough for Beatriz to choke on. That’s the first thing she notices. The second things she notices is everything buried beneath it – dust, the faint, lingering tang of chemicals stinging her nose. Decay and rot. The air smells like death.

3. Which OC makes you smile every time you think/talk about them and what are they like?

Wait is this your own OC or someone else's. Okay I can't really pick between my children BUT I do really love @reneesbooks Birdie!! Smol chaotic magic child, absolutely adorable. I want to give her all the pastries she could ever desire

4. What process of writing do you enjoy the most?

On one hand, creating the first draft from scratch is really fun, but on the other, working on later drafts with the knowledge you're refining something and making it better is also so satisfying. Hrm. I'd say first draft wins but only by a small margin (because nothing in the latter stages will exist without it).

5. What part of writing do you think you are the best at? (Yes stroke your own ego it's okay)

Uh. I have no idea but apparently a lot of people have said I'm really good at descriptions?? So. Descriptions. I guess

6. What is something in the writeblr community is most enjoyable?

Honestly I think everyone's answers are gonna be about the same but, y'know. It's the community. Everyone here is genuinely so friendly and talented, and all the games are really fun!!

7. A writing tool/device you use that helps you with writing? (It could be speech to text, a writing program etc)

I use microsoft word which is like. About all I use. Really boring ik but I'm used to it and for whatever reason I think it came with the laptop?? So yeah

8. A piece of worldbuilding that you like in your own story? (It could be the magic system, a particular place in the story, a law etc)

I really like exploring the magic system!! Magic for Beasts is largely emotion-based, and can be affected by a variety of factors (everything from target to affinity to environmental conditions) so it's been really fun figuring it out, but still making sure it doesn't become overpowered or a deus ex machina. There's also magic for mages which is a lot more precise and restrained. You can kind of think of it as Beasts having powers while mages have spells.

9. What piece of advice would you say to encourage others to write if they are having a rough patch?

Honestly most people would probably say something along these lines as well - even though I don't know what's causing your rough patch exactly, the only way to solve this not-writing problem in the end is to write. If you write, you can make it better. If you write, someone out there is bound to find it and love it. So, y'know. Just write. It can only go up from here.

10. Tag some people whose works you love/have been your biggest supporters

Okay so first off, @allianaavelinjackson (though she isn't really part of writeblr), for always putting up with my insane ramblings about the little people in my head, losing it when reading about the little people in my head, and just being a really great cheerleader. Love ya. Also @lyssa-ink for being one of my first mutuals and having really interesting story ideas!! And @reneesbooks for her continued support and just being a super talented writer (seriously, lacuna lives rent free in my head). Plus @squarebracket-trick, @e-klair and @space-writes for all the STS questions giving me a chance to yell about Beast at someone, and lastly tagging back @macabremoons for all her support!! I could really go on and on and on but then this post would never end but to all my mutuals!!! Know that I love and appreciate every single one of you and y'all are awesome people!!

BLANK QUESTIONS

1. What motivates you to write?

2. A line/short snippet of your writing that you are most proud/happy of. If not maybe share a line of someone else's work you love (just please credit them)

3. Which OC makes you smile every time you think/talk about them and what are they like?

4. What process of writing do you enjoy the most?

5. What part of writing do you think you are the best at? (Yes stroke your own ego it's okay)

6. What is something in the writeblr community is most enjoyable?

7. A writing tool/device you use that helps you with writing? (It could be speech to text, a writing program etc)

8. A piece of worldbuilding that you like in your own story? (It could be the magic system, a particular place in the story, a law etc)

9. What piece of advice would you say to encourage others to write if they are having a rough patch?

10. Tag some people whose works you love/have been your biggest supporters

[bxoken-heartss]

@tu-sonrisaaa-te-amooo asked: Could you do the 8 and 17 fluff with Joel? tht would be cute (ik u hate him lol u could do zabdi if u want)

Lmao I don't hate him Bby..he can just be a bit dramatic sometimes...that's all 🙆‍♀️

Prompts: (I did a bit of alterations in it so excuse me)

“I want to dance through an army of fireflies with you.” (Prompt 8)

“My hand was made to fit into yours. That’s all there is to it.” (Prompt 17)

So Y/N is your name

~ ~ ~ means change of scenario.

✓ ✓ ✓ means the end.

So...ahem...this went a bit more than I intended it to go...I swore I would just write drabbles but I guess old habits die hard? So this is it? I hope you like it Dia! 💕😅 (oh new nickname alert)

This song is beautiful and sorta inspired me! 💕

- - -

Y/N and Joel were friends ever since they were little kids...They had met when Joel had gotten lost wandering around in a series of pet shops staring at pets (especially various dog breeds and puppies). When his senses had hit him..he understood he had gotten lost..he began to feel nervous and uneasy and let out childish sobs as he began to run around looking for his mother.

He barely paid attention to anything around him as he only focused in searching for his mother that which eventually ends up with him bumping onto someone.

"Ouch! Why can't you watch where the hell they are going?!" A voice speaks

Joel falls down as he looks at the person speaking...a little girl who held a husky in her arms on the floor angrily glaring at him

"I'm so sorry...I didn't..." He begins as he stares at the husky...

"It's fine...Just watch where you're going at least the- -" She begins

"Is that the Siberian Husky?" Joel asks interrupting her as he stands up

"I'm kind of offended that you interrupted me...But yes...yes it is.." She replies as she possessively holds her husky

"Can...Can I pet it?" He asks as he looks at the husky eagerly

"Well sure I guess..." She says as Joel begins petting the husky.

A few minutes later, the duo had already begun talking about...dogs things in general..

"Y/N! There you are!!" I was looking all over for you!" A voice speaks, tone concerned

"Oh..Mumma..I was just on my way back but then this boy bumped into me and apparently loves Zachary a bit too much.." She says as she points at Joel

And that's when our oblivious little Joel realizes that he was lost and was supposedly supposed to find his mother..not stand here fanboying over a husky.

His eyes widen as he looks around, searching for his mother a.k.a his official/ main intention...Panic strikes his system as he realizes he was obviously potentially lost..

"Are you okay Joel?" Y/N asks

"I'm LOST!" Joel replies as he looks at her letting out childish sobs

"Oh god...Mumma...Help him!" Y/N says

"Listen lil boy...we'll find your mother...do you like know her number or anything.." Y/N mother asks

"Yes..." He replies as he tells her the number letting out soft sobs

The husky jumps onto Joel's arms as it began licking his face. Joel stopped crying slowly as he began smiling a bit.

"Oh my god...He is just so adorable..." Joel says as he pets the husky

"Yeah...he seemingly likes you..strange..he's not pretty comfortable with strangers.." Y/N comments

Soon Joel's mother comes in, her eyes scanning around, her eyes instantly gleaming with happiness as she finds Joel.

"Joel!!!" She says as she runs over and hugs him, Zachary jumping out of Joel's arms onto the ground.

"Mumma!!" Joel yells as he hugs her, sobbing quietly

Y/N stepped away a bit letting them have their moment.

"Thank you for finding him! He's always roaming around..pet stores...or just everywhere in general...I'm so sorry for his careless actions...and all the inconveniences he has caused you..." Joel's mother apologizes

"Oh not at all...He wasn't a bother at all.." Y/N's mother reassures

"Joel...at least next time don't go around without telling your mum! If you want a pet come over to my place...We can play with Zachary together..." Y/N says as she smiles at him, holding her mother's hand

"Okay..I will." Joel says smiling at her as he pets Zachary one last time...

"Bye Joel! See you...well...soon?" She says as she walks off..

That was how it all began...After that, one day he had turned up at her place surprisingly...They were next door neighbours...And eventually they spent a lot of time together..which lead to their everlasting friendship which began at the age of 6..

~ ~ ~

"Joel...when am I going to see you again?" Y/N asks as she lazily sat on his bed whilst she helped him with her luggage.

"Around 9 months...I'll be back soon.." Joel says as he puts in another shirt

"Oh come on...that's technically the entire year!" Y/N comments as she rolls her eyes

"I swear I would have taken you if it wasn't for your Fashion Designing Course..If that had been completed..then you could have joined.." Joel says as he stuffs in something else

"Yeah yeah..it's important right...I'm going to miss you Jo..." She says as she looks at him

"Me too..I wish there was something I could do.." Joel says as he walks over towards her.

"Just promise that you'll facetime me before all your performances..and just text me once at least every day...send me those lame audios of yours...I don't care.." Y/N says as she holds his hand...

He was still here...not gone..why did he have to leave?

"Hey...I'll text you and call you everyday.. You're my best friend...If I wouldn't call you.. who else would I?" He asks as he holds her hand and hugs her

~ ~ ~

"Wow! That was a spectacular show right boys?" Joel asks obviously excited as he walked behind the stage...

"Yes..exhausted but overwhelming..." Richard replies as they walk into the room backstage

Zabdiel immediately falls onto the couch, Erick cools off, Chris begins to fix his hair

"God..Why hasn't Y/N even seen my message! She didn't even facetime me today or even call me! Isn't that just mean?!?" Joel comments as he slumps onto the couch

"Yes...call her mean and every other negative word you could think of Ho-eL! She brought her arse from miles away, sat on a 13 hour flight just so she could surprise her best friend and yet you call her that?" A voice speaks from behind him

"Wait...a minute..." Joel trails as he instantly turns behind and sees Y/N

"Y/N- - !!!!" His tone surprised and shocked as he leaps off the couch and hugs her, a few years falling through his cheeks in the rush of excitement.

"Curls!!" She yells as she hugs him.

They hug on forever none of them every wanting to let go...Until an intentional cough from the guys pulls them away

"Ah...err...Guys! Meet my bestie Y/N!" Joel says as he grabs her hand heading towards the boys

"We talked Curls...I talked to everyone and they all helped me hide...You guys were amazing...The performance was just fantastic!" She comments as the boys yell out a chorus of thanks

"Okay so everyone except me knew that you were here?" Joel asks

"Duh curls...I couldn't sneak into backstage without their help..." Y/N says referring to the boys.

Joel grabbed her arm and pulled her into an empty room and pulls her into a hug again

"I'm so glad to have you here...Thank you for the support.." Joel says

"Wow wow...I never knew I'd see a sweet side of you Joel..." Y/N remarks

"Shut up and just hug me..." Joel says rolling his eyes

She returns the gesture as they kept hugging, an odd source of comfort filling both their veins.

~ ~ ~

"Joel...this is beautiful..." Y/N comments as she looks around the woods.

It was a small forest sort of place filled with thick green trees and a small river which gleamed with reflections of the littered stars that laid scattered in the skies.

"I know right..." Joel says as he looks at the river and at her..

They spent a lot of time making jokes and just talking about life...he had just returned from tour a few days before and thought he ought to spend some quality time with his best....friend...

He almost sighed at his own thoughts..he had begun to have feelings for her...but he didn't want to let them interplay..he didn't want to lose her...he needed her as a friend at least in his life..his feelings didn't have any part in this...but he couldn't help but wonder everytime she smiled..was she thinking about him? Did she think of him..as something more than a friend?

"Joel..Joel...HOEL!" Y/N yells.

Joel's eyes widen in shock as he falls off the log he sat on because of how loud she yelled and how distracted he was..

"Oh god...you are so clumsy sometimes Curls! Wait..actually all the damn time!" She says as she holds out her hand, Joel gratefully accepting her extended hand as she pulls him up.

"Look at that Y/N..My hand was made to fit into yours..” Joel comments as he sits up

Y/N face floods with a tint of pink as she nervously laughs it off..but never lets go off his hand..

"Of course you dummy...We are besties so god made sure it would work that way.." She replies uneasily

"Y/N I want to tell you something.." He says interrupting her from speaking further

An awkward moment of painful silence fills the air...

"What is it Joel?" She asks nervously

"It's.. it's..." Joel begins but his anxiety kicks in.

"If you don't tell her now...you'll never tell her or know if she felt the same.. you'll probably live in regret but you have to! " His inner voice encourages as he takes a deep breath

"I...I like you..." He breathes out

"I like you too Joel! You are my best fr- -" Y/N begins

"No Y/N...I like you more than a best friend.. you make me feel warm and mushy on the inside..I don't feel anything else around anyone else...You make me feel safe, happy. You understand me...We fight..but that's only because you care..but I like you in a different manner...You make me want to the cringy -est stuffs like taking couple pictures, share smoothies together, go on dates...and make me wanna dance with you in between an army of fireflies under the moonlight and what nots.. and to think that you make these cliché activities look normal...that's weird and definitely not something I feel one fine day.. I knew I always had these feelings..But I realized them...only recently...I understand if you don't feel the same..but just so you know I'll keep loving you..on and on..." He finishes off

"Who said I never had feelings for you Joel?" She asks "Every night... I'm just waiting and wondering if you have found someone that'll make you feel like that..Because why not? There are millions out there..prettier, hotter and just beautiful girls out there waiting for you so why would you choose me over them? Yeah... nothing.."

"Y/N I don't care...for you were..are the only girl I've had my eyes on...from the start.. today and forever..." Joel says as he holds both her palms. (I'm low-key swooning 🤧)

Before she could answer, Joel extends his free hand and pulls her up.

They walk over towards a place where the moonlight reflected brightly and the clear water flowing gently, causing small ripples as if it was singing a song.

"Well...can I have a dance with you?" Joel asks as he extends his hand out in a sorta gentleman style

Y/N nods softly as she takes his hand, his hand instantly softly interlocking with hers as she rests her free hand on his shoulder, his free hand holding a space above her waist securely..

As they began to softly dance in sync, an army of fireflies had encapsulated around them causing her to smile wide.

"Look Joel...True to your 'cliché' wishes..the fireflies are here..." Y/N jokes about it as Joel's face floods with a bright pink colour.

They enjoyed the overall aura, the silence suddenly turning comfortable...as they merely enjoyed each others' presence without any words being exchanged.

"So..Y/N..." Joel begins

"Hmm?" She asks as they continue dancing

"Will..will you be my girlfriend?" He asks nervously

Y/N stops dancing as she tries to catch Joel's gaze..but the boy would look at anyone or anything but her..

Y/N stood on her toes as she holds his face with both hands as she stares at his beautiful dark brown orbs, her eyes filled with nothing but love..that too only for him.

Joel looks at her nervously and before he could speak anything, she softly presses her lips against his. He instinctively bends down a bit to reach upto her height as his hands wrap around an area a bit above her waist.

She pulls away, Joel's arms still firmly fixated above her waist as he looks at her

"Did that answer your question Pimentel?" She asks, her tone filled with sassiness

"For real Y/N?" He asks in disbelief

"Yes Joel..For real...I promise you...I'll be there for you..." Y/N says as Joel smiles

"I love you Y/N.." He says

"I love you only..Joel Pimentel.." Y/N says as Joel pulls her in for another kiss.

✓ ✓ ✓

The Ending kinda sucked tbh...but anyways hehehe... I'll try to improve! 😅🙃

[callistochan87]

placement what’s placement i totally meant to jack this up so i can’t actually separate the pictures it’s ART DAMNIT

Inktober Day 29, Discordia: Discordia...confuses me, because I thought she was Malise Kalika. She always has been in the past, with Discordia being more a nom de plume than her actual name, at least in later versions of the story. And I can buy that maybe this version of Discordia is say, possessed (how else am I supposed to interpret this picture?) and it’s really Alpha piloting Malise’s meat suit--Malise in this version is apparently quite timid or at least suffers from self-esteem issues, so it’d be really easy for no one to see the connection, because Alpha’s very self-confident and probably the “grandiose, overwrought” style of evil.

Except...not? This picture makes it damn clear they’re separate, and considering Malise is or was in the Federation (not sure if that’s a treasonous act, but I can’t remember if the planet Nemesis is officially in any alliances besides whatever ones they forge themselves), it seems really unlikely or unable Alpha could have her do two things at once. She can’t literally be on two ships at once, after all.

It’s been literally years since I read Earthia so I can’t actually remember if they were separate in this version or not, but I’ve been so horribly underprepared and overwhelmed that it might have been and I forgot. At least @erinhime83 won’t be phoning in her NaNo. :P

Also, she’s...I don’t want to say Asian (I think the epicanthic fold isn’t unique to them, some African tribes have it also) but there’s definitely something there which I find interesting. Hard to tell since her skin is so dark but I think that’s what @erinhime83 was going for.

also lol remember this? turns out she’s FACING THE WRONG DIRECTION because I can’t even remember my own art, but ehh, I totally was trying to go for that, just a little a lot

Inktober Day 30, Dr. Stravos: me: shit there’s not enough room on the page for both of them...or IS THERE??

...

me: okay phew, he might be a little tinier, but it should work, let me just angle these ears a little more upright than i usually would and just barely

wait

the horns

FUCK

I mean, yes it’s hilarious that the bigwigs in authority (Aerona, not sure about her dad, etc.) all have tiny horns while some rando scientist has these huge ram-ike horns, but maybe the size of their horns is just genetic and doesn’t correspond to levels of authority, or maybe SIZE DOESN’T MATTER. That’s what everyone says to comfort themselves I’m sure because look at those things, it’s hard not to have Horn Inadequacy around that. It’s even worse because Dr. Stravos seems like a nice enough guy too, so it’s not like they can secretly hate him without feeling really bad about it.

not gonna lie, I was trying to make him look elongated and skinny, as I picture all the Helians, and things were looking okay until I added those horns. They throw off the size of the head, makes it look way too big compared to the shoulders. Which could be deliberate for all I know. Just to add to that awkward look. I’m also picturing him headbutting anyone who gets in his way; he could totes do it. I mean I don;t think Helian skulls are as tough as rams but you know, that’s what those horns are for, so it’s very tempting to picture him just headbutting anyone who slightly annoys him.

School (or government, whoever pays him) cuts off his funding? HEADBUTT

Gets into a disagreement with a colleague? HEADBUTT

Gets into a fenderbender because some asshole was riding his ass for miles straight and then didn’t stop in time because he had to slam on the brakes for whatever reason? don’t bother calling the cops hEADBUTT TIME

(lol jk I’m pretty sure Helios’ methods of transportation are less cars and more planet-wide mass transit, replace that with “some asshole holding up the line because he’s forgot his token or pay card or whatever but is trying to sneak past the autopay system anyway and the machine isn’t having that shit and now the whole bus is delayed because of machine error and everyone will be late I’m sure? HEADBUTT)

maybe that’s why he looks so happy. ain’t no one going to mess with him.

Also I thought he had a piercing in his right ear because that’s what the profile said but I...guess not??

He looks pretty good though, all things considered. Detailing those horns was a bit of a pain but they do look good.  Getting the curvature down was the tricky part.

[echoedfates-archive]

🔥

Fire Emblem Awakening is actually an excellent game and not the weakest in the series up until that point. Fight me.

Now obviously I have some bias with it being my entry point, but whilst it is obviously different to previous entries, that happens every time the series switches consoles. Does Awakening have its flaws? Of course. All of the games do. Does it fail to achieve what it set out to do? No. Not at all. Actually, it might be one of the best at completing its aims.

I am not saying Awakening is the best game in the series. An easy way to explain what I mean is this: Fates looked amazing pre-release, right? And most of the rp community has at least one Fates muse, so we obviously enjoyed something. But almost all of us can agree that it was a game with a tonne of potential, which it failed to live up to. In terms of ambitions, perhaps IS only wanted to make money, which they very much succeeded at. But I believe there was some ambition there for the story, and it fell flat, hence why so many of us flesh out the concepts and go canon divergent. Good base, but failed to live up to hype.

Awakening, however? The story was never meant to be so complicated and grand. Rather, the team honestly thought this was going to be the last game in the series, and turned it into a celebration of all that came before.

What do I mean? First of all, they used the original protagonist, Marth’s world for the game’s setting, yet kept his story in tact by setting it far in the future. Yet he still turns up in the spiritual sense, through Lucina. It may not be him, but this was a nod to the series’ origins, that veterans would appreciate. And of course, we have Falchion as the main’s lord weapon, and his daughter’s too. We also have the presence of a grown up Tiki, which I’m sure many were wondering what happened to her post FE3/12. They easily could have chosen not to acknowledge her, just as Xane is absent, but she was likely the most popular of the manakete.

Okay, so this stuff may seem obvious for a game set in Archanea, but actually, there’s influence from other games unrelated to Marth’s tale as well. Whilst admittedly still the same world, there is a very obvious aspect taken from Genealogy of the Holy War: babies. I somehow doubt that the almost final game suddenly having a second gen, which hasn’t been seen in a decade and a half, is a coincidence. That concept was unique to FE4 (as 6/7 does not contain an inheritance system between files) and thus was brought into Awakening’s story as a reference. Same with S-supports, though we get actual conversations this time.

The avatar did not originate in Awakening, despite what many claim: Robin was a concept taken from FE12′s Kris, who is also customisable as a player insert. Yes, they aren’t as prevalent in the story as Robin, but it’s the same initial idea. Really, Robin’s presence made the game more accessible to newcomers as we became more involved in the world.

Bouncing off of that, the dev team clearly wanted the experience to be enjoyable for old and new. I’ve not even finished listing off the past game references yet, but as somebody who had never even heard of Fire Emblem prior to 13, I did not feel I was missing out on anything due to not having played previous games. Not only that, we had casual mode. Now I know some people don’t like this. Personally, even on my first, I did not use casual. If classic was something unique to the franchise, why not try it? I ended up loving the permadeath concept. But to compare, I have a friend who also started with Awakening, and she was too scared to try classic. She actually wasn’t a big fan of the gameplay, and entered the series thanks to the characters appealing to her. Without casual, she may never have joined this hell, and that’s true for many. Also, casual is a creation from FE12. Like the avatar. Yeah.

Whilst some complain that Awakening was too easy, they probably played on normal. Yes, we’re missing things like Fog of War (imagine chapter 13 with it i.e. the one where you recruit Henry) and the goal is always rout or defeat the boss, but lunatic provides a genuine challenge. When I did my no reset lunatic run, everyone died. Everyone. Chrom and Robin pretty much had to defeat Grima on their own. 

The maps are simple to read, and that’s a good thing. Yes yes praise FE4 but let’s face it those massive things are not user friendly. Yes, I have played it - I’ve just started the final chapter. I started the game over three years ago so I think that should tell you how much I struggled to get invested thanks to the gameplay. So yes Awakening being simple was a good way to convince newcomers to try the franchise before it gets killed forever, whilst lunatic is there for those who want it.

My last point before I get back to Awakening being a celebration is the support system. It has heavy flaws, but the sheer number of supports (plus DLC conversations!!!) gives more characterisation compared to units from previous games (I forgot who Lex was before I googled him like why can I use the valkyrie staff on this stranger), more akin to what we’re used to from regular rpgs.

OKAY SO MORE PAST GAMES REFERENCES:

Priam. Ike. Yeah he made the continuity weird but hey he’s a 9/10 references and we know how obsessive people get over Ike. Also, his Japanese name is Paris which apparently was Ike’s almost-name? Then there’s the Einherjars who take almost EVERY MAJOR CHARACTER from previous games. There are free ones, and DLC ones. The DLC ones even get to interact with the Awakening cast. Do I really need to explain my point here?

Valm. Alm. I had no clue about that connection until Echoes came out, and actually that’s really cute? They could have kept it as Valentia if they wanted to but instead they directly referenced the ending of Gaiden by having the continent named by the guy who united the people! Okay Celica is there too but both of her names are harder to turn into a location.

We’ve got the archetypes that appear in various games such as Yen’Fey as the Camus (or I’ve seen some mention Mustafa, which is also valid even if he is more minor), there’s Cordelia being a Catria. Frederick is an Oifey rather than a Jagen, and then there’s Stahl/Sully who DIRECTLY REFERENCE Cain and Abel. The list goes on

Owain’s attack names being previous game titles. The 2nd gens’ birthdays being release dates. Anna being recruitable for once!!! Minerva the wyvern being named after Archanea’s Minerva.

The list really does go on. Basically: Awakening is a fantastic ‘final’ game that is chock full of references and gameplay mechanics from previous titles whilst also containing new features (such as pair up). At the same time, it is incredibly welcoming towards newcomers and thus absolutely completes its goal of being a new fan friendly celebration of a two decade old series. It may not be everybody’s favourite, but for the game is supposed to be, it is a GOOD game.

[gascon-en-exil]

Ranking FE’s Lords

@paragonred asked for this, possibly as a follow-up to this ranking of the games themselves. I’ll use the same tier format so I don’t have to get so specific as to order everyone into a numbered list.

S Tier - interesting, narratively engaging, and (usually) fun to use

Micaiah - see this post.

Eliwood - ends up mediocre more than half the time, but he’s got a strong character arc with plenty of development and good moments even on Hector’s route. I very much like Eliwood/Hector as a traditional romantic friendship that could feasibly grow into something more between games depending on who they marry and what happens to their wives. Incidentally, I don’t have any very strong opinions on any of those ships, other than that Hector/Florina is rather nonsensical.

Celica - see this post

A Tier - fun unit and may have interesting character potential, but I’m less invested in exploring them

Ephraim - mostly up here because I like lances. His arc is similar to Hector’s with more urgency and the homoromanticism coming from different sources, but his contribution to that questionable legacy has largely been swallowed up by twincest. Or something like that anyway.

Hector - speaking of which, he’s a good unit apart from his promotion (both the class itself and the timing of it in his route) and as mentioned I ship him with Eliwood in a sense, but I don’t like the archetype he spawned. He also feels a bit superfluous to FE7′s main story, though not as much as Lyn does.

Lucina - will be incredibly broken unless you don’t pair Chrom or stick him with Sully. Severely under-served by her narrative despite being a uniquely tragic figure in an otherwise aggressively optimistic game, but she got a DLC campaign and a bunch of shilling outside the series proper so that sort of makes up for it?

Sigurd - the most OP lord ever. I like that he’s an idiot and that he faces real consequences for his mistakes, and I like how he looms large over Gen 2 in spite of his flaws. Even more so than with Hector, I don’t like how his fanbase sees his game performance and nothing else about him.

Alm - already a good unit in the original from what I understand, and he benefits considerably from the distinctive presentation elements of FE15. He certainly offers a more nuanced discussion of class than certain other lords. *ahem* It does suck a bit that it feels like some of his character beats have to compromise Celica’s to make them work, but that’s partially Gaiden’s fault too.

Leif - might move up if he’s relatably more of an impoverished aristocrat in the remakes, but then his particular circumstances don’t really speak to me the way that, say, Almedha’s do. I mostly hated using him in FE5 though he had his moments. Probably benefits from being surrounded by interesting people more than anyone else in this tier, but he really benefits there.

B Tier - either overwhelmingly average, or with both strong positive and strong negative aspects that balance each other out

Ike - yeah, you guys probably saw this one coming. On the one hand, he’s very likely gay; on the other, half the fandom still won’t shut up about the possibility that he might not be and/or that IS was wrong to do what they did with him. On the one hand, convention-defying peasant lord shaping his own destiny is interesting; on the other, he has terrible manners and a shameless insensitivity to foreign (beorc) cultures and yet we’re meant to be rooting for him. On the one hand, a strong unit who plays quite differently in his two games and so therefore doesn’t feel stale; on the other, he and his mercenaries edge out the light magic-wielding Micaiah and her army for screentime and EXP and it’s pretty obvious which unit type I prefer there. I can’t even get all that strongly into Ike/Soren for entirely personal reasons, but at least Ike/Ranulf is still there to pick up the slack.

Lyn - even though she’s the first lord with a same-sex paired ending that fact is largely forgotten. Much of her enduring popularity seems to be based on her sex appeal, and she’s irrelevant to Elibe as a whole. Still, her route is a nice little self-contained story that doesn’t feel too similar to anything else in FE, and she’s got a strong camaraderie with her fellow lords.

Corrin - it’s difficult to talk about Corrin as one entry since they develop differently depending on the route, but as with Fates as a whole I feel like the three iterations of the character average out somewhere just slightly below average. Birthright Corrin is a standard FE protagonist, except maybe a little angrier (Leif, Shadow Dragon Marth maybe?) and with entirely too many death scenes thrown at them. Conquest Corrin has the most missed potential, as with most things involving Conquest apart from gameplay, and one practically has to roll with the headcanon that they and the Nohr royals have been conditioned by years of abuse to make their characters sort of work. Revelation Corrin reminds me unpleasantly of Robin (see below) with the power of cross-cultural friendship stuff and the super special ending. I’m not too fond of the character as a unit either, since they take more work to get as flexibly broken as the other Avatars and their manakete form fails to impress except for tanking.

Seliph - saved from C Tier by the general messiness of Jugdral. His father’s legacy is a complicated one, and about 1/3rd of his campaign amounts to a blood feud with the aim of giving his first cousin a throne for somewhat dubious reasons. He takes some time to get as broken as SIgurd, but he’s all sorts of fun when he gets there. Couldn’t tell you if he’s got any interesting romantic prospects, endorsed by the pairing system or otherwise, because he’s still pretty dull in that department.

C Tier - bland, and usually bad as units

Marth - truly the Mario of FE, in that he’s everywhere with a different personality almost every time. His two remakes did surprisingly little to flesh him out in any consistent way, and by that point over half a dozen other protagonists had diverged from his archetypical lord model in almost as many different ways.

Roy - red-haired Marth with a harem and an obscenely late promotion instead of no promotion at all *yawns* I guess he gets points for having a living parent? Not sure why anyone is a particular fan of him unless they mained him in Melee. Maybe a remake will help him out?

Chrom - Marth with biceps and a time-traveling daughter who coincidentally cosplays as Marth. That’s marginally less yawn-worthy if only because of how strange it all is, and he also borrows from the Hector-type lord as well so he ends up as an unexpected fusion of the buff and the bishonen. Overshadowed in story and in gameplay by his daughter and some random amnesiac he found in a field who he may or may not decide to sleep with.

Eirika - only slightly a Marth clone, but as with Celica the story is unevenly stacked against her and in favor of her male counterpart, even on her own route. The fandom doesn’t like her because she’s naïve, but that could also be said of several other lords. Not really into her as a unit or any of her ships, so...yeah.

Kris - ...do they even count as a lord? Eh, whatever.

D Tier - OP unit, terrible character

Robin - would have been so much more tolerable if endgame didn’t abruptly swerve to becoming entirely about them, at the expense of Chrom and Lucina and everyone else. Somehow the special secret origin type of Avatar grates more than one whose importance to everyone and everything in the story is laid out right at the beginning. I can more or less buy everyone in Fates obsessing over Corrin because of who they are and what they represent for the various players, but not so much Robin whom everyone rallies around apparently for the sole reason that they’re a really friendly tactical genius. Compound that with the fact that they’re meant to be a self-insert in a game with enormous levels of explicit homoerotic denial and it should be easy to see why they’re at the bottom of this list.

[therewas-a-girl]

I was watching s1 of Arrow, bc it's on Netflix here (FINALLY) and... what happened to Laurel? She was so good in s1. WHAT WENT WRONG AFTER S1???????

Short answer - the writers think women are interchangeable, not really deserving to be treated as people and, really its easier to replace them (with the added bonus of the story they can squish out of their gruesome deaths), than say, spend brainpower to write them as humans, and allow the audience to built connections and empathy with them… and not just the whoever they are there to prop up. 

long answer… is longer, and a mess:

one of the ideas i have - one of them - is that, the whole idea behind the end of season one was that tommy’s death would affect both oliver and laurel. oliver by getting him not to kill anymore and laurel by being the ‘tragedy/loss/pain’ that would push her into becoming the Black Canary. 

(this is my intuition just from the way their journey was going, like, by following the narrative etc, and by knowing how these writers think, a little. like, what to them is the birth of a hero: death, loss tragedy. it bores me, generally, sure, but i know it when i see it.) 

i dont know what happened, but they seemed to change their minds - maybe halfway. or after s1 ended?… idk. and started casting calls for the Canary. tore laurel down to the freaking bone - and used her character to prop other characters, general at the expense of her development. or rather, her opportunities to bond the audience with her, build sympathy for her. because all those opportunities were used to build sympathy for whoever she was facing against.

(seriously, they gave laurel in s2 some emotional reactions to stuff that are so far from human emotions, i can hardly conceive of it. and im not talking about her cleaving at sara or oliver by the way. i think she had all the right in the world to feel all the rage in the world. im talking about how all her emotional reactions were framed as wrong/bad/over the top! as opportunities for oliver to act like a self righteous dick, his behavior framed by the story as ‘right’ and ‘just’. 

(i will never be over the fact that he said, to her face and utterly unironically, ‘i am still standing here, i have loved you half my life but im done running after you’ like it was an accusation, while she, and everyone else, had just found out - in laurels own home… at a dinner he was not invited to… - that he and sara were boning. like… “im fucking your sister, dropping you neck deep into the shit that is one of the most gruesome deja vu experiences in the history of ever, but how dare you be angry, you dont know whats happening in my life right now!!!! that’s obviously more important than YOUR feeling!!!”   meanwhile, im standing here o_O ???? is this walking dick foreal????), 

laurel framed as selfish? opportunity for her to apologize to sara instead of, idk, both of them forgiving each other for the fucked up things they did to each other???

[lmao i still laugh my ass off at how, in needing to frame sara less negatively for the whole ‘sleeping with her sister’s boyfriend’ thing - a gross device they used in s1 to to build sympathy for laurel; the writers did a whole ‘i saw oliver first’ thing with her, like that somehow means sara ‘planted the flag on him’ and that means something??? or gave her some sort of ‘get out of jail free card’ that essentially turned LAUREL in the boyfriend-thieving sister. LMFAO  how the tables turned!!! 

one of the most gross things arrow has done is the relationship between sara and laurel and the way they were pitted against each other - with oliver at the center. and im not saying that’s how i think of it - i like to think their issues went deeper and had fuckall to do with oliver’s dick, but that’s how the show framed it]. 

like, if there were scales, laurel would always be put on the lower one - you could tell they didnt respect her character much, because they always sacrificed it to make someone else look better. using laurel as the ‘bad guy’ to buy empathy/sympathy for some other character?) 

so, what went wrong? 

im fucked if i know. 

maybe nothing. plenty of people love laurel the way she is. including me: beautifully fucked up and flawed and, this is my idea, angry as fuck but still good. or trying to be. or maybe this is my version of laurel. as i have a version of all the characters i love - essentially everyone on the show, with the notable  exception of merlyn. 

maybe s2 was meant to be laurel’s ‘island’ - because according to arrow thats the only way to birth heroes. 

fake, that sounds. but okay. 

or maybe they thought nobody liked laurel and she wouldn’t work as the black canary anyway. so her replacement was premeditate, her journey, as some say, only a fulfillment of contractual obligations towards katie. 

or maybe the s2 journey/breakdown had been planned from the beginning?  

i don’t know. 

whatever the answer is, the result is still ??? and fucking stupid.

because the mantel was passed on from sara to laurel. sara gave laurel the proverbial jacket and went on her own way, without harm. having made up with her family, having gained her freedom (and then compromised it), having made up with her sister, redeemed herself in her own eyes and in the eyes of those she loved and who loved her. having started to see herself as a hero, and believe , finally , that she was one. or could be. 

regardless of the reason for sara’s existence, sara was and IS beautiful and so is her journey, because to me, hers is a journey of homecoming and hope.  

BUT - in s3 they killed sara regardless ??? 

even though the ‘hero mantel’ had been already passed…. and here is where i get utterly lost because, why? i dont know. i honest to god dont know.  these people put two canaries on our screen but couldn’t keep them there? neither one can live while the other one survives, apparently? there was absolutely no need for sara to die - and the shameful way she did die - NOW THAT’S WHERE I START GAINING INSIGHT - because it exposes the true nature of the writer’s hypocrisy and reasons: a woman who said the iconic line ‘no woman should suffer at the hands of men’ was murdered by a girl being controlled by a man to get TO another man, while sara was shoved into a trashcan and then a literal fridge.

this ^ is where it starts to get transparent.

like, maybe they didn’t try so hard with laurel because, they don’t try that hard with women in the arrowverse in general. 

maybe, they didn’t really know how to write laurel like a person, out of the archetype she was built to be. a woman written by and FOR the kind of people that think its important to give her stuffed bras to puff up her breasts does not bode well for her future.

i would however like to take a moment to point out the fucking hypocrisy of them reinforcing, in dinah, this whole ‘defender of women’ thing that they had going with sara AFTER WHAT THEY DID TO SARA ^^^ !!! they are trying so fucking hard to copy paste the traits of the ‘successful canary’ (whom they still killed) onto dinah, (perhaps even as a way to distance her from the ‘unsuccessful canary’) – but every time dinah says something like that, i cant help but be reminded of sara and what these same writers did to her AND HOW HYPOCRITICAL THAT MAKES HER LINES SOUND, KNOWING WHERE THEY COME FROM. like, generally the reaction i have is  -

WITH YOUR FUCKING VILLAIN MUSTACHE! 

I SEE YOU!

ps: i do not like the trend i notice that heroines are more easily accepted as heroines in arrow, when they mirror Oliver’s journey to heroism.  sara did; then her latest reincarnation - dinah - mirrored sara’s. (they tried to do it with Laurel, Felicity. in a kind of way even with diggle - though that might be a stretch)  it’s one of the reasons, i think, that sara and dinah are more successful with the fandom? they fit the mold more easily. easier to box in, pin down. their reasons, internal pushes, are easier to grasp - because they mirror the hero’s. and the hero gets plenty of exposition, and we are also basically programmed to empathize with him.

while its seems harder for people to accept that other kinds of journeys for women - not because it is harder, but because then they’d have to figure out the internal workings of these women who are DIFFERENT from the hero. people would have to really THINK about it, and generally, i find that’s not a natural inclination , when it comes to the internal worlds of people who are not the white male (presented as straight despite various queer!baiting flags) hero. 

There are other forms of journeys, motives - that would be just as brilliant as Oliver’s - or generally the ‘tragedy-born’ hero’s. And that would fit the personality of the characters better, individualize them more, make them stand out on their own. Like Laurel’s need to do good, her disappointment with the system and want to fix it, keeping a different moral code from the others. Felicity’s plain need to make an impact, do something with her life, just because. No need for ‘dark arcs’ cause that’s just how she was born as. 

But that’s a journey that would require energy to absorb, something one would have to figure out for themselves, whole watching, oftentimes even making it up, imagining it. and yeah, most ppl just dont bother.