#he's much more interesting in FE8

[randomnameless]

As much as I love the tragedy of Lyon and his unrequited love for both Renais twins, I agree that the banner should've had other characters. Keep Myhrr, add Morva, change the duo to Joshua/Natasha, add Ismaire and then, idk, Caellach or Gerik as the TT reward. But seeing the cyl results and Lyon still doing great even after daddy Fomortiis I'm not surprised they're milking this dry and probably will make Lyon more of a tragic bisexual disaster rather than someone with a hurt ego in an hypothetically remake of Sacred Stones. But the thing I don't agree with is that the trend of dead dads stopped in this banner, I think it stopped with the fates banner as we did not get Valentines Garon (we were ROBBED) and Valentines Mikoto/Sumeragi; and even before the fates banner we can argue if the awakening banner also broke the trend (depends if you count the robins' and chrom as dead parents when they're only dead in a timeline we only get to experience in dlc). And tbh I think breaking trends is kind of nice, wish they did the same with other banners (tired already of the harem jokes on bridal and the playboy/playgirl suits in easter).

CAELLACH ALT

Sing it with me anon!

TBF about Lyon's popularity in CYL... Fomortiis couldn't be voted for!

And FEH feeds itself - by bringing more light to old characters through their own depiction, CYL voters will vote for Lyon based as the version they see in CYL, not the Lyon we got in FE8.

So yeah, I guess people will now remember him as a "tragic bisexual disaster" of a character, and not the egomaniac who thought he could go toe to toe against Satan to "win" the love of the twins and his people.

(heck, FE13's depiction of Lyon was closer to the character than FEH's!)

You're right about the previous Valentine's banner, but it completely escaped me lol, since it was a Fates seasonal and I don't really have a lot of feelings for Fates' cast.

Chrom at least was in his "father" role, because Lucina was there - ditto for Lissa.

I'd say breaking the trend bring more freshness... but those trends are the only occasions to have some characters added in, sure Vigarde was brought in his zombie form last year - but without the "dead parents" Valentine, would FEH really had an occasion to bring Vigarde? Fado? Morva? Ismaire??

That's why I was so pissed at dragonween ending (i know flayn is a lizard) - Dragonween was the only (because I don't have faith in FEH) opportunity to get less known dragons released (the Goldoans!), or even alts for the most serious ones (Duo!Duma lol), but now it was just... a seasonal banner with popular character and maybe one oddball like any other.

I agree on the harem jokes for the bridal banners though, but it's in general tiredness for the bridal banners in themselves, even if I liked bridal Louise and bridal Pent - it's a tiresome banner only to sell characters in white and poofy dresses with, sometimes, a breast modifier and the less is said about the easter banners, the better we are lol

(unless they go full bara for this year's easter banner, with Izuka Daizuke's league of vilains, Bunny!Ashnard, Bunny!Medeus, Bunny!Hardin, Bunny!Fomortiis...)

A trend I would like to see disappear though is the Fodlan summer - I'd love swimsuit!Seteth as much as Mythic!Willy - but this grows really stale. They even joked about it last year in the TT, but damn, let it go IS, please.

[real-fire-emblem-takes]

I don't get why people hate on different fire emblem games. I've had a lovely time with every game I've played, even fates, which people for some reason insist sucks? It's so good. Here's my favorite things about each game I've played just cause. I am very sick so no one can criticize me btw.

Binding: obviously goes for all gba games but the battle animations are so!!!!! Lovely and charming. Roy's just a silly guy, Lilina :], the cast is excellent, everyone from the most insignificant playable characters to the nastiest of villains like Narcian and Jahn is just so fun and nicely written.

Blazing: I LOVE THE ELIBEAN LORDS SO MUCH THEY HAVE MY ENTIRE HEART AND SOUL. I think fe7 has my favorite cast. Everyone is awesome like in fe6 but cranked up a notch. And I quite like how this game isn't about war!!! Lyn's just trying to save her grandpa and Eliwood is searching for his dad. There's some hints of civil war here and there but ultimately less war than usual which is quite fun and interesting.

Sacred stones: I adore how the game is like. almost horror. In my ideal fe8 remake they would lean into the horror aspect a more and maybe have a higher age rating. I really love how it starts out like any other fe game then you start to see monsters and then there's the necromancy and characters like Riev who worship this vile demonic thing. And the art director for this game was Wada Sachiko! She was such an excellent choice for the art director because her style leans into the darker feel than fe6 and 7. Also I'm a Christian so I do really enjoy L'Arachel's character where she's obviously inspired by Christianity but not in an offensive way. She's a nice god(s) (?) honoring teenage girl full of whimsy and optimism!!! Also I love Eirika. Did a cosplay of her once and gotta say, I felt drop dead gorgeous in it lol.

Path of radiance: I have yet to finish this one but oh MAN do I love the artstyle and combat and character design. Not a single bad character, they're all nicely written. Except Devdan but he's not real if we ignore him. I love how believable Ike and Mist are as siblings and I got say I actually find the bad voice acting to be charming, especially in that opening cutscene where Mist says something like "you're finally awake! 'bout time!" like she's so silly and cute I would die for her. I also really love how Ike is not royalty, he's just some guy!!! With autism!!! Like for a while my view of Ike was kinda skewed by looking at super smash bros content of him so then playing the game and discovering he's such a kind, reasonable and autistic dude was a very pleasant surprise. Seriously though this dude NEEDS to get assessed. Anyway I quite like the laguz too. Reyson, Tibarn and Caineghis are my favorites and I'm excited to see more of Kurthnaga because he's got such a pleasant design. Also just. Caineghis is probably one of my top favorite character designs ever, like top 20. It goes so unbelievably hard.

Awakening: THE TRAGEDY. THE TRAGEDY OF EMMERYN'S DEATH. UWAAAGHHHHH. I love LOVE how Emmeryn is written, how you can't save her despite Lucina being able to time travel, how you're given the options "save Emmeryn? Yes or no?" and it doesn't matter if you pick yes cause she dies anyway. The cast is not quite on the same tier as fe7 or 8 and there's certainly some characters I do not like but my favorites really are just so wonderful and lovely. I'd kill and die for Henry, Maribelle, Libra, Gregor and like 5 other people. The child unit mechanic is also very fun! It's such a clever idea for a time travel game and it gives you so much control over how your units end up. The self sacrifice ending also makes me feel sick. /pos "there's better places to take a nap than on the ground, you know. Here, give me your hand" and then Robin reaches out to Chrom and the symbol of Grima is gone and when he pulls them in closer, he says "it's finally over." just. Ahdhdjsjsjsj!!!!!!!

Fates: now, I've only played birthright but it was a very nice experience. I went in expecting nothing and had my socks blown off. Combat is fun, characters are so silly billy and it's got such a nicely done representation of a broken families. It's nice. The characters and supports are nice, even if I do feel like we could've had a few less support chains. And idc if I doesn't make sense story wise, bringing back child units was fun!! Again with the unit customization but also it's so fun to give your favorite character a teenage/preteen kid that they have to deal with. Azama and Mitama's supports are peak silly. I think people would enjoy birthright more if they took it a little less seriously. It's full of whimsy and people ignore that in favor of comparing it to more serious games which I think is kinda unfair.

Shadows of Valentia: oh MAN. I LOVE THE TWO ARMIES MECHANIC!!!! And bangin' cast! Absolutely adore almost every single one of those gay bitches!!! The artstyle is so gorgeous and I hated the combat at first but grew a soft spot for it, it's so strange and I like it!!! Also the game is less hefty so my computer had an easier time running it than POR, awakening and fates which is quite nice too. I love Berkut's character (I won't defend him, he's a son of a bitch) and MAN Ian Sinclair really went HAM on that voice acting!!! Also Zeke and Tatiana feel handcrafted for me specifically. Angsty married couple? Where one has amnesia?? And the other is worried he'll leave her if he remembers another woman he was dating??? And they're voiced by Patrick Seitz and Cristina Vee, two of my favorite voice actors ever??????? SIGN ME UP!!!! I'm excited to eventually play the Marth games and see what else is up with Zeke :] also adore Celica, Silque, Jesse and Boey! Very nice, solid characters.

Three houses: different routes! DIFFERENT ROUTES!!!! You get to see all sides of a war and it's so fun piecing together the history of Fodlan and nature of Rhea's character as you play each route. And again, excellent voice acting!! And it was fun being in the 3h fandom when it first came out and seeing all the silly things the VAs did together. I've got like 400 hours on this game and it holds a special place in my heart cause it was the very first game I finished without help from siblings and it was my first fe game. Also banging soundtrack, fun and unique combat (LOVE battalions) and amazing characters.

Enage: now I'm only 8 chapters in, I think? Haven't been able to play it recently. But it's so fun! Before getting it, I hated the bright artstyle and character designs but they've grown on me and I have been enlightened so I now know that f!Alear is a cutie patootie and I love her. I love the mechanic of adopting animals. Like I am quite happy recent fe games have, in some aspects, become more a little more lighthearted and silly. I love variation in game series' and when the devs aren't way too formulaic!!! That being said I also love the archetypes!!! I just really love fire emblem :]

I'm excited to finish engage and POR and play more of the games :]

Sorry about the long ass ask, I'm full of love and I want people to know it because I wish other people could learn to be a little more positive and focus on the aspects of fe games that they like instead of being hardcore haters. Okay now everyone say thank you Senri Kita (fe9 art director) and Wada Sachiko

.

[39472034658449305249465224devils]

the main 5's inspirations

I didn't do it on purpose, but the main 4's inspiration does pull a lot from fire emblem 6 and 7.

Euan is a very basic "Bright eye'd boy" fantasy protagonist. He's mostly based off that idea in general. He is supposed to bear resemblance to Naru and an orange. He is probably somewhat inspired by Guys from Enzai, and Ewan who shares his name from fe8. Generally, he is inspired by a "boyish fighter with lots of hope." I gave him more armor than the rest to help illustrate that he is a swordfighter. But not much, he's not a knight and he's still a lightweight sort of character. A simple, likable uke.

Sleuth is inspired heavily off of Lucius (fe7) and Towa (Slow Damage), He is also generally inspired by light in darkness, swamps, and moss and mold. I wanted a feminine, maternal healer type, but I wanted to subvert the comfort and composure of this type of character. So he is a healer who likes it when people are hurt, and comes from a dark religious background, and he's generally unbothered and a pervert. With a cast that is very expressive and noisy, I wanted to make a character who is very neutral, but every time he speaks it flattens everything else around him. He's rather extreme in difference in order to balance everyone else. Sleuth is not stupid like much of the cast is., but gets in the same troubles because he does not care about things as much as them, or enjoys the danger too much to warn about it. Despite this, or maybe because of it, he's very self-sacrificing and doesn't mind doing uncomfortable things for the comfort of his party. Of course, he would much rather it be everyone who is uncomfortable because he's a pervert. Sleuth is the most sexually charged character because he is off putting. I can afford to put him in restrictive clothes because he is a healer.

Jin is generally inspired by RPG mages with pointy hats, especially Merric (FE1) but he is also inspired by Asvel (FE5). He's a fake prodigy character with a dark energy to him who likes to act dramatic like that to strangers to appear more powerful than he is. In reality he's a stubborn tsundere who complains a lot. His animal form is based off a rabbit due to his hairstyle. Originally on first concept, he was supposed to look more mature. But i wanted to offset his intimidating nature and wanted a boyish mage. Euan is very boyish so I wanted to balance the cast's age look. It also makes him look like less of an adult failure and more of a learning and insecure person. His hat helps make him look taller so he compares better to the other love interests, but his unavoidable cuteness still makes him a target for Sleuth.

Saul is probably the most general of all of them. He's based off of thief type characters and 'likeable' characters, he's a childhood best friend big brother type. He's not very inspired by, but comparable to Colm (fe8) and Keisuke (TNC). He's the most mature and masculine in design. He's a young man who used to live at the orphanage Euan lives at, so he helps out there now. He and Euan knew eachother before Saul 'graduated' out of orphan age. He's positioned to be higher health than Euan but outputting less damage. He's not very defended, but he's more knowledgeable in skills needed to live roughly. Most of all he is just supposed to be "likable" and "trustworthy" because the others are such extreme characters which are hard to find likable to Euan.

Naru is very easily understood to be based on most "pretty boy villains". He fits easily into the "Griffith" type so it would be easy to call him that, however he is not directly inspired by him, but by characters who are similar to him as a general concept. Narcissus is his namesake for a reason. He is also supposed to be a subversion of his trope, as a cute chibi beast companion, who's actually a person and evil, and not very cute at all. He is also generally designed to be a suffocatingly bright light. He's a nudist because he is too self absorbed to wear clothes, as they'll never be good enough for him. He's also used to not wearing any in his beast form. His beast form has small ears and large sharp horns to contrast with Euan's which has no horns and large ears. Of course, his bandages covering his other eye makes his design communicate he is hiding something, and his asymmetrical eyes make his human form feel unpredictable.

[ulircursed]

♡

from this picrew

name: isabel (please don't ask me for the reason there is one and u will hit me when you hear it)

gender: female (she/her)

class: fe4 style dark mage (dark + staff) > fe8 summoner (dark + staff + summon littol creatures)

ullr blood give bonuses to luck growth! she is weirdly Immune to Consequences as a result, and has developed a recklessness with her dark magic bc of an overconfidence that may or may not be justified

unfortunately (to andrei) not interested in physical weaponry at all. they have a good relationship regardless though! since this would be post-toa andrei he's not as hung up on that kind of stuff, though he's definitely still tried (and failed) to inspire her interest in it before!

despite fitting the general mad dark mage stereotype on the battlefield, she has a very caring side and actually trained in healing magic first! andrei taught her the basics, but she quickly got much better at it than him, and then moved onto status staves and dark magic. there is nothing more important than her family and friends to her and she will strive to keep everyone in her immediate vicinity safe and sound before turning around and unleashing devastating soul-eating magic at her enemies

knows about the plot of fe8 and also andrei's patricide, whether through legit means or gathering information on her own, depending on how forthcoming her parents were about the stories (andrei would've told knoll at some point about the patricide, but might not have told their child directly)

as a direct result of the above, has made it a life goal (shhh this is a secret) to perfect the art of necromancy so that she can bring back grandpa ring's Real Actual soul, even if only temporarily, for dad andrei to apologize or get some closure or whatever he wants to do. offer also open to dad knoll if desired (schrodinger's toa cast and everything)!

really good at sorting things and remembering numbers. has the ability to Maximize Logic for logistics in the most messed up of armories, and enjoys it as well! it is a soothing hobby of hers to reorganize her stuff (+ her family's stuff, + the stuff of whomever allows her to do this) based on different parameters to see which one is the most efficient in terms of usage and retrieval

[blazerwyvernmaster]

Rating FE4 Maps P2

Girl of The Spirit Forest

YAY, I'm talking about FE4 again!

BTW, if yall just want to rate maps from other games too,

I've played through FE4,FE5,FE7,FE8,Echoes,Three Houses, and I'm playing Engage.

Though it may warrant a new series. ANYWAY!

Story

Unfortunately, in the last chapter, our princess was in another castle. Gandolf took her to Verdane. So that's where our next stop happens to be.

It's probably good to mention that pretty much all the battles in this game are full on wars. And I love it.

Anyway, Eldigan takes a visit to be cool and says he'll protect you from any possible invaders, as that's what buds do. Later on, he will uses his actual fucking demon blade on a regular ass man. And doesn't kill him. God he's cool. It would be a shame if I had to Insert spoiler here.

After that, we learn that Edain is OK! The youngest prince of Verdane, Jamke, saved her behind the back of his two, more evil brothers. And also freed an actual thief. Be tells them to run away, but can't go with them because he has to deal with his father.

In the meantime, you learn about Ayra. She's working for one of the princes of Verdane in order to protect Shannan, her nephew, who is a child. She doesn't seem evil. I wonder what would if you lured her away from the castle and killed that stupid dickbag prince?

Oh, she joins! Which is weird because your kingdom and hers are at war?? But it's fine. I'm sure deciding to have the prince of a warring country in your custody will lead to no problems whatsoever.

Then you kill Gandalf. Fun times.

Manfroy and Sandima talk about the backstory of the Loptyr Cult over the kings dead body. They also talk about finding a lady with the best holy blood.

Edain talks Jamke out of murdering you! Yay! And then Sigurd makes some unwise decisions regarding a mysterious forest lady named Deirdre.

That will not come back to bite him. I'm positive.

Aaaand THATS BASICALLY IT!

Never expect me to make a good story synopsis.

I like the story of this chapter. It gets a lot more interesting since you can already see how things have already started to unfold and change for future events.

Gameplay

While I did wish the game once again explained how castles worked,it's really not hard.

I like how you can figure out how to stack the weapon triangle, terrain, and authority stars with the first few enemies.

I also love the Dew pitfall. It gets Dew some levels... but thieves aren't very useful in this game, so it doesn't matter. It does by Edain some time to escape.

Ayra's recruitment is very stressful and difficult. Not to say that it's a bad thing, but thr safest solution I had was just having Finn hide in the forest and pray she didn't reach him.

The worst part of this chapter is near the end. I know the game wants you to get Deirdre by having Sigurd more through the forest, but there was definitely a way to do it without forcing your entire army to slow down to a crawl. And you have to deal with Jamke too! For me, that meant killing some of his squad, then retreating and praying Edain didn't die while I tried to talk to him. The recruitment on this chapter can be downright frustrating at times.

Also, I like the Lex brave axe secret. It's funny and incredibly random, and it makes him become a god. It's the reason I promote him first.

Eldigan showing up to beat up Elliot with his actual fucking demon blade was cool as hell. And if you're good, you can probably use this opportunity to train Arden, who you definitely parked at the castle at this point.

Anyway, with that all said and done, I think this chapter deserves

7/10

Don't ask what the rating system is based on. Idk either.

[dimiclaudeblaigan]

I like Engage, but I’m so tired 3Hs being made out to be this unplayable mess for shit other games did before it. No weapon triangle? Gaiden. Big maps? FE4 Hub world between maps? That had been getting bigger with each game. Rewind? Echoes. Breaking the game open? Every fucking game has that one unit or skill and it’s a choice; no one put a gun to your head. You don’t have to LTC a map and actually play it as intended. If it ain’t about part 1 being tedious on replays and the graphics, stfu. Ugh

Oops, I forgot to add that Fates did the the route split and Echoes had combat arts first. The map reuse in 3Hs is pretty bad too even with the story reasons trying to justify it so that criticism is valid.

People are just looking for poor excuses to hate on Houses now because there's a new game out.

Did Awakening have a weapon triangle, or even Fates? I don't recall them having it.

FE8 also did the route split and nobody hated it for that so lol.

I'm probably the only person around who prefers weapon durability but I do (also something not new to Engage as far as not having it lol). I'd rather have the money I need for what I want/need rather than no durability on my weapons and suffering for money. FE4 had a perfect balance because all weapons have 50 uses and could be repaired, so even though weapon choice was limited, the amount of money you could get overall per unit wasn't even that bad and you also had plenty of use out of your weapons. Not all, but most staves also had fifty uses.

For some reason FE9 said lolzies at Armorslayers and gave it 18 uses instead of just rounding it off to 20 lmao. Still bugs me to this day.

Personally yeah I hate the graphics for Houses, but that's more on the team that worked on it and less regarding the actual game itself. The content within the game is still great and it doesn't make me want to play it less. Typically I can ignore the backgrounds easily enough - it's just the anti-aliasing not being present that makes the models look bad close up. Hopes had that problem very very mildly but they definitely fixed it quite a lot in comparison.

I also like Engage, it's just not a top favorite of mine. I do like the characters for the most part, but I way prefer Houses' cast. The gameplay is fine, but I find it... oddly tedious sometimes? If Houses had a problem with being tedious, Engage isn't any better lol. FE4's hub world was perfectly sized imo and made it extremely easy to navigate everything you wanted to do, and you could also return to it within the chapter and go back to the arena or buy different weapons as you pleased. Also, even though every character has their own money, you still get plenty more money in FE4 than in Engage lol. It's also crazy to me going from Engage to FE9/PoR because PoR pays you for being a mercenary which is a perfect tie in to the story, so you get paid per chapter.

I break the Tellius games open with Oscar. :) :') He's the best unit in all of FE history and I don't take criticism. :))) :DDD

Houses is nowhere near an unplayable mess and neither is Engage. If people really didn't enjoy it that much, they shouldn't have continued to play it and just dropped it. Personally I found Houses to be more interesting on the map because you could zoom in and see the map outside of a grid view. Engage's camera pisses me off lol.

If Houses is an unplayable mess, then my name is FE5 Escape Map Where You Only Escaped With the Main Character and Nobody Else, Thinking Your Army Would Be Right Behind You Like In FE9, Except You Were Wrong and Now You Only Have One Unit For the Next Map. My last name is Unfortunately the Game Gives You Zero Indication That You Have to Actually Escape the Map With All Your Units So Frankly If You Saved Over That File After Escaping Without the Rest of Your Units Before Realizing This Then You're Fucked and Have To Restart Your Entire Fucking Game.

All that only to have to restart the hardest game in the series. :) :')

[unmeiokaemasu]

😊✨💕 PoR second-ever normal mode clear results! Happy with this, thoughts below:

Black Knight: Not NEARLY as difficult a fight as it was hyped up to be, I know the first time I did it I saw the ratio of damage predicted between Ike vs. the dipshit knight and got so scared I just didn't even try, but my dude powers through it without much of a problem with just aether. ...ok and Mist healing him. On my first playthrough Ike had aether, but Mist didn't have a horse...although I have no idea if she had physic or not, which maybe would've resulted in the same thing? I guess her staff level would also have to be good. Anyway I've heard that there may be other ability combos that work better, but with aether and with Mist with a good staff level able to canto, it was a super simple fight on normal difficulty. So I saved Nasir! :D

MVPs 6-10: Absolutely scattered results, obvs Naesala's only available in the very last battle and he still murdered more people than like 90% of my army...the other four were all ones that I was like "...and I guess I'll add you as the last unit to fill out the roster" for most maps that they were on. Kieran's good cuz he's on a horse and he's frankly better than Oscar even though I was training Oscar, Stefan is UNHINGED and even tho he was never my top pick he's aboslutely worth the hassle of recruiting him, I definitely biased towards Ulki bcs of getting the support with Rhys but he's a good unit bcs like the birds are all good, and Haar is just. also very good like I'm a little salty I spent all that time training Marcia and then Haar was still way better. Also unfair that Reyson isn't an attack unit or he'd easily be in the top 5. >:(

Marcia: Wow, I did make an effort to train her up, but uh...honestly those other 4 MVPs tended to replace her? She was just my early-game trainee. I like early-game pegasus knights a lot more now, Florina and Vanessa respectively did a lot of work in my most recent FE7 and FE8 runs, but yeah, Marcia never quite got there...but she sure got a lot of exp I guess. ...nice.

Muarim: 💚💚💚

Titania: Honestly. She could carry the whole game. At least on this difficulty setting. Just use her and train up Ike and Mist for the knight fight and that's literally all you need.

Ike: Other FE protagonists hold different spots in my heart, Eliwood being the stereotypical-cinnamon-roll-protag and Byleth being the one I've personally connected with most...but PoR Ike defo gets my personal trophy for "most nuanced / most interesting / best written / also let's be real actually a cinnamon roll, just one who could kick your ass and is allowed to say fuck (or…fig.)” I like Ike.

Soren: ...so yeah my goals this time were 1) (as always) recruit all units and lose none, 2) defeat the black knight (technically ties in with the last one), and, reminded at the last minute that there's a unit ranking, 3) make Soren the MVP. ...so yeah, that's everything I wanted to do with this run! :D

now to see if I can get this stupid data transfer to work for Radiant Dawn. :P

[youngerfrankenstein]

I'm opening this large but since you talked about saying positive things about characters and all.......... who are your faves from FE8, and please gush about them ? :D

:D I’ll try and keep this somewhat short

L’Arachel, CHAMPION OF JUSTICE! I love how self-assured she is, how much she wants to make her parents proud, how happy she is to support other people (questionably sometimes). Also she’s just plain funny. She’s someone who leaps before she looks but is lucky enough it always ends well. And in the end she was one of the biggest reasons the day could be saved so hey! Maybe she wasn’t wrong about her mission from the gods!

Lyon! Talk about the road to hell being paved with good intentions. He really did just love his people and the twins so much, and while it got twisted horribly I don’t think that it means it was any less real. Also I think the implication is he’s doing his best to fight from the inside and ensure his own defeat (forgive me if I’m wrong). He’s a tragedy, I like tragedies.

Cormag! Sue me, I’m a sucker for grumps with a heart of gold. I also like that he’s at least smart enough to question Valter’s story (yeah it’s overly simplistic how you recruit him but what do you expect?) And holy heck if taking down Valter with him isn’t one of the most satisfying things you can do in the game. He’s also just, a good dude.

Eirika and Ephraim! Feels wrong not to put them together because they really are made better characters by their contrast. The way their arcs parallel through the game is really interesting! The different kinds of strength one has and the other has to learn. The way they support each other and everyone around them.

Really though, almost every character in the game has something neat about them. Sacred Stones has a smaller cast than most and I think that let a lot of them be more tightly written. It’s a really good cast!

I love FE8…

[fayesdiary]

10, 17, 21

10) A character you find underrated?

I really like Valbar! He's a really wholesome man despite his initial motivation being revenge, is absolutely busted if you reclass him, is definitely the second dad of Celica's Pligrimage along with Saber and the implication he might have been the third lord alongside Alm and Celica in some early draft of Gaiden makes me really curious about what his role would have been👀

17) How did you get into Fire Emblem?

Ok, this is a long story.

While the first time I saw an FE character was Marth and Ike in SSBB, I didn't pay much attention to them.

My first actual experience with Fire Emblem was watching this italian Let's Play of Path of Radiance by Letal, back when I was in middle school, and boy I had a blast.

I became obsessed with the game, the story, the world of Tellius, the charcters (especially because the let's play gave characters funny comments while they were in battle and other small funny edits, like Makalov having this theme from Punch-Out Wii whenever he entered a fight because he gave him a Russian accent)

Needless to say, I wanted more.

So eventually I got a totally legit copy of Radiant Dawn and played it on my definitely not modified Wii, and while it took a long time to finish I was even more hooked.

Some really fond memories I have are losing my shit over how much the battle animations had improved, internally screaming when the Greil Mercenaries showed up and getting torn apart in the latter half of Part 3!

Don't remember much of what happened after, but eventually I wound up on the Fire Emblem subreddit, some time after Fates was released.

I wouldn't play the 3DS games until last year, but I still lurked on the place, looked at the fanart and listened at what people had to say.

...which most of the time in hindsight was constant nitpicking, arguing over which era of FE is the best, and of course, the "Fates bad" circlejerk that never really stopped but was at its peak in this era. (And while I kinda passively joined the circlejerk at the time, at the same time the game and the world couldn't stop grabbing my curiosity and I'd constantly read and see more about it)

I did play FE8 and FE7(i think?) during this period though. Didn't hook me as much as the Tellius games did, though. In general, my interest in the series was fading a bit.

But then, Heroes came out and I started playing it, and that rekindled my love for the series, not to mention introduce me to a lot of characters I had no idea they existed! (and yes, I was on the FEH subreddit too, but 99% lurking)

It sparked my curiosity enough to even get me to play FE4, especially since it was one of the games most praised by the community!

Oh, and then a certain game came out on the 3DS. I actually wound up playing it some months after it released because my friend let me borrow her 3DS, and it became my biggest FE obsession surpassing even Tellius!

The game's title, of course, was Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia, and it's still my favorite FE game and one of my favorite games in general.

Eventually I'd quit Heroes forever, at first because I needed the time to prepare for my high school finals and that game was really starting to take too much of it and then permanently when I realized just how little fun the game was getting for me.

Likewise, I ended up quitting the FE subreddits too. At first it was just because Three Houses was coming out and I didn't want to get spoiled, but then eventually that too became a permanent leave, mostly because as I said before, the main FE subreddit was getting a bit too obnoxious for my taste and I hadn't played FEH in a long time.

Heck, eventually I wound up deleting my Reddit account outright because I realized I was going there just to deliberately get angry to avoid getting bored.

And then... there are the last few years.

While I already was on Tumblr for a few years on my main blog (again, passively), was following a few FE blogs and even contributed to one of them by writing some supports... one day, I had the idea for this blog. And eventually, I decided to go for it and it became a thing.

Originally it was just meant to be a place where I discussed FE and posted my theories, analysis and writings, but then it turned into.. whatever this is😅 Don't regret a thing, though. This is the best place I made for myself as an online community in general, let alone FE! It's like my own well-decorated corner of a wall!

In this past year, now that I had a 3DS I totally didn't modify as well, I finally played Awakening and Fates for myself!

...And Shadow Dragon too, I guess.

I still have a lot of games left I want to play (and that's just from the mainline series, don't even get me started on the Kaga emblemlikes, hacks or other fangames), so this story is far from over!

21) Any rarepairs/crack ships you have?

The main two involve Faye, and are Faye/Celica and Faye/Rinea!

I love both pairings a very normal amount *lying* Even wrote a fic for the latter!

[four-loose-screws]

FE8 Novelization Translation - Chapter 16, Section 1

If you would like to start from the beginning, read a missed part, etc., click here!

FE Game Script Translations - FE Novel Translations - Original FE Support Conversations

If you are interested in donating to support my work, please check out my Ko-fi here. Thank you!

———————————

I call this a “section” because it is not a separate part of the chapter in the book, but divided from the rest of the chapter by a scene break.

———————————

Chapter 16: Repatriation

Ephraim finished his long story. 

Eirika stared straight at her brother's face and did not move. “...That cannot be true.” The words escaped her lips before she could even realize it. “I… I cannot believe that Lyon would say such horrible things.”

“I can’t believe it either. But they are what I heard him say. That it was not the emperor who ordered the invasion of Renais, but he himself… that he was the one who killed the king of Renais… and that he got close to us just to get us to share information that would help him prepare to invade Renais.”

“That’s… It’s…” She couldn’t think of the news as anything other than one big joke, but Ephraim’s expression was entirely serious. “I met Lyon, too. It was several days ago, at Jehanna Palace. He hadn’t changed a bit. He said he couldn’t talk about what’s going on at that moment, but he will always be my ally, no matter what. I could see it in his eyes that he wasn’t lying.”

“I don’t know which one is his true personality. All I know for sure is that the Dark Stone affecting him. When I met Lyon, he clearly was not normal. He looked as if he was someone else… no, he looked as if he was not human.”

“That can’t be…”

“Maybe the kind Lyon you met appeared before you when the Dark Stone’s effect on him was weaker, and that was his true personality… that is what I want to believe.”

“Perhaps we’ll save him if we destroy the Dark Stone?” Eirika asked in desperation.

Ephraim kept his mouth shut. The expression on his face was very grim.

According to what Myrrh had said, the ominous energy changed a person from their very core, and that would be why he still couldn’t go back to being his normal self if they destroyed the Dark Stone.

But Eirika did not want to believe such a tragic story. If even a sliver of his kind personality was left within him, they should be able to save him for sure. That was what she thought.

Innes cut into their conversation by saying, “In any case, we know for sure that the Dark Stone is the source of all the various bad things happening. And Prince Lyon is the one who possesses it. We must pursue him.”

“There is something we should do before that.” L’Arachel said. “The Dark Stone is a stone we should fear that was made when the magical power of a Sacred Stone was extracted from within it, right? In that case, we cannot match it with our human strength alone.”

“That is true… but what should we do, then…?”

“Use the Sacred Stone!" L’Arachel said in a loud, majestic voice, and everyone looked at her. “The opposite of dark magic is light magic! It is a simple yet profound truth!"

“But L’Arachel, the Dark Stone is more powerful than a Sacred Stone…”

“That’s just what Prince Lyon said, is it not? We can’t trust him. Light magic cannot lose to dark magic!"

L'Arachel's words were a total assumption, which was very much like her to say, but shockingly, Innes agreed with her. “It makes logical sense. The fact that Prince Lyon is destroying each country's Sacred Stone is proof. If they were not powerful enough for him to fear them, then he shouldn't have any reason to destroy them."

"Now that you mention it… the Grado Army has attacked me several times in pursuit of my bracelet, so that they can destroy Renais' Sacred Stone. For them to be that determined, then the Sacred Stones must be that powerful, right?"

"Wait. Wasn't Renais' Sacred Stone destroyed already?" Innes questioned.

Eirika explained, "No, Renais' true Sacred Stone is kept safe in a place with a seal on it. The bracelets that Brother and I wear are the keys that break that seal. So long as they are safe, then there should be no one who has seen the Sacred Stone." 

"We must make sure of that." Ephraim said. The bracelet on his wrist, which closely matched Eirika's, glittered in the light.

"So that means, Brother, that we will…" Eirika looked at him.

He nodded. "Yes. The time has come… for us to return home."

☆

The army left Jehanna, and they began to follow the long road home.

Rumors of the Grado emperor's death and the end of the war were spreading quickly across the continent. Eirika's army was welcomed everywhere they went.

Even the Grado territories, which were supposed to be their enemy, were no exception. The people cheered for them with pure joy, and welcomed their entire army. Eirika felt all over again the pain that the war had forced the ordinary citizens to suffer through.

Of course, the people did not know that Prince Lyon had fled with the Dark Stone. Their faces shone with the feeling of relief that peace had finally been achieved. However, for Eirika and her army, they were at a critical point with many battles still ahead of them.

Compared to Grado, overflowing with joy over their return to peace, Renais’ territory had no such liveliness at all. What unfolded before their eyes was actually the absolute opposite. It was a sight that they could hardly believe they were seeing.

Renais was entirely devastated. The fields had been utterly destroyed, the villages were burned to ashes, and the remains of ruthless violence lay exposed out in the open.

It appeared that both bandits and monsters had run rampant across the land.

And as they neared the capital city, the damage only became worse. They could now see emaciated people squatting alongside the road.

Information slowly began to be delivered to Eirika and her army, piece by piece. Rule over Renais had been entrusted to Orson, the former knight who betrayed Ephraim at Renvall Castle. 

However, he gave not a single order to his retainers, and stayed locked up inside his room in the palace. He did not allow anyone inside, and rarely took meals. He had done nothing to combat the bandits and monsters laying waste to the land, and that was why all of Renais was in ruins.

When he heard the news, Innes shook his head at first. “I don’t understand. This man, Orson, betrayed Renais for his personal ambitions, did he not? If he was living as freely as he wished and making the people suffer, then I could understand, but… If he just stays locked up in his room, then I don’t understand at all why he betrayed his country to Grado.”

“Now that I think about it, even since before Grado’s invasion, he had been acting a bit strangely.” Ephraim said. 

Seth stepped up and explained, “I did hear that his wife had passed away. They were known to be a very close couple, so it had a huge impact on him. He became depressed, and neglected his duties towards the knights. Considering how devastated he must have been, there was probably nothing anyone could have done, and we were forgiving of his behavior, but…”

When she heard that detail, it reminded Eirika of something.

It was when Orson had tried to take her bracelet. Seth saw through his plan, and he turned on them. At that moment, he had whispered something enigmatic to her.

‘That man returned my wife to my side.’

At the time, she thought that Orson had probably meant that the Grado Army was holding his wife hostage. But if she'd already passed away, what exactly did those words mean?

Eirika remembered her uneasiness that she could not put into words.

[valkyrieblogs]

continuing my second playthrough of 13 sentinels: aegis rim in an attempt to do more analysis and character study. slowly making progress... i desperately need to unlock takamiya since now a lot of characters are locked behind one of her endings. tried to play a little more than usual today because of that.

this time i’m covering:

shu amiguchi (14% - 28%) (in which i mostly talk about tetsuya ida and what his screenname means)

1st area ashitaba city 0007

keitaro miura (12% - 25%) (miura appreciation hours yet again)

1st area ashitaba city 0008

megumi yakushiji (28% - 42%)

1st area ashitaba city 0009

shu amiguchi (14% - 28%): those of us in a dream

god, amiguchi is so funny. he has miyuki inaba in his thought cloud, and i love how he just play-acts what it would be like trying to tell someone that yeah, he's just talking to this pop star through his TV.

i love how immediately unimpressed kisaragi is with amiguchi when he starts being a flirt in this conversation. also his comment briefly before this, where he talks about having dreams about her... obviously from those memories from tetsuya ida.

i'd forgotten about this interaction he has with miura. him asking if he's still on the run, and miura being open about the fact that he can't go home... i honestly really appreciate how respectful amiguchi is about it. the fact that he doesn't need to pry, but still offers that miura can stay with him if he needs to. i do always get this impression that amiguchi is a lonely person, even though he seems to have enough friends? that except with kurabe, it's still more surface-level conversation that we see from him. and i always think about the home life with the amiguchi family, where it doesn't necessarily sound like a happy one. he's clearly set up with more than enough resources, money... but his family is never home, and his father has some mistress. no wonder he has people over all the time, and readily offers that miura can come stay with him.

i also like that while amiguchi's had some crazy things happen to him, at least what happened with miyuki inaba seems undeniable. the dreams obviously register as strange, but he just sees them as dreams. but then this moment he shares with miura here, where miura takes them seriously for a moment, considering his 2188 self...

i actually really like this flashback with tetsuya ida and kisaragi (one loop ago). ida's appearance of calm in the face of the end of the world, and keeping kisaragi company... it's honestly a really good bonding moment between the two of them that i really like. also something about the fact that he changed his image to reflect her tastes? it's actually kind of interesting that after becoming invested in just throwing away the current loop to do what 426 suggested... he reverts to the way he used to present himself when he was younger.

for a little i didn't understand his screenname being F8 until i saw a japanese fan write it, where i learned that his screenname is actually FE8 in japanese. it's actually just another way for him to write tetsuya. tetsuya is written as 鉄也 in japanese. the first character ("鉄") is tetsu, which can mean iron. and as an element, iron is written as "fe". "也" is read as "ya", which is one of the readings for the number 8. so, FE8. when it was localized as just F8, i couldn't piece it together. it's no wonder that when kisaragi reacts to the reveal of him being FE8, he responds by saying that he wasn't really hiding it.

i also love the history between them that gets established once this reveal his made? that they've had this online friendship for so long but at least kisaragi didn't know who he was. it's a nice premise, and it makes this ship make sense to me. i struggle with it a bit after he tries to bring her back with her missing data and personality, just because then she's lost so much of what makes her... kisaragi. i wish that was something we got to see him with struggle in the story proper, because i think it would've been interesting.

1st area ashitaba city 0007:

chihiro!! i love how miura reacts to her showing up here. and how she is very much all business when she tells everyone what she's doing, so they don't have to keep worrying about the collateral damage and the people living here.

keitaro miura (12% - 25%): japan, 40 years later

there is something about the fact that miura is still!! keeping this journal, even once he's in sector 4.

i also like this flashback to him actually fighting in the sentinel in sector 5... after mostly engaging with the sentinels through destruction mode, outside of EP, i hadn't really considered the fact that they can run out of resources and power, even though it makes sense that they can when they have reactors built into them to help them run. also his comment about how he knows he has two minutes left until his operating limit, so i assume it must be something that's tracked by the sentinel.

man, this part after he's been force-shifted to sector 4... i can't remember if this is something that BJ initiates without his knowing or not. i really love miura trying to reason out the impossible here, and deciding he must be in the US... and yet, even with the sentinel at its limit, and him being stranded here alone, he still feels like he can't give up? he has to keep fighting? he's so determined, and that's something i appreciate about him.

oh, also interesting that he mentions that apparently the sentinels have a self-destruct option. although it makes sense when i consider one of his abilities for his sentinel—specifically the soldier, guardian, demon one that activates when his sentinel is destroyed.

god, even miura talking about how when he makes a decision to lay low for now... the fact that he justifies it, saying to himself that it's not because he's afraid, but because he has to be smart about it. he doesn't lose perspective, even when faced with something like this.

i also really like miura considering the possibility that this is brain damage incurred from the sentinel, too, when nothing looks right to him. and actually, even more interesting that he says he experienced this during the synch test? i know after he sees sentinel no. 19 for the first time that okino says they're making synch adjustments at that time, so not sure if it would be then or another time. i know that okino mentions the result from experimenting on miura in passing, and how miura managed to endure the pain from it, so that must have been the incident he was talking about. interesting that it also manifested for him as an illusion of some sort. now i just really wish we knew what he saw, back then.

god miura not being careful about what he's saying around people once he thinks that this just a side effect of using the sentinel, and therefore not real... poor miura just getting OHKO'd by ogata.

oh, i forgot about this little detail that miura mentions when he's investigating amiguchi's room... the comment that hijiyama used to collect (foreign) records... in english he mentions that hijiyama used to let him listen to his, but in japanese he talks about hijiyama letting him listen to them all the time with his record player. i'm mentioning this small detail just because it makes me imagine miura visiting him often for this reason. and that it also shows that it's something hijiyama was more passionate about? i feel like we see very little of his interests in this, outside of an off-hand comment about sci-fi novels, and the obvious obsession with yakisoba pan.

i really like this part with miura finding the history book, and immediately going to figure out what happened with the war...

1st area ashitaba city 0008:

this battle opening with miura wrapping his head around his little sister somehow having the ability to evacuate all these people. i can't get over how much of a difference there is from the chihiro he knew and then this.

megumi yakushiji (28% - 42%): it's not magic

once again, i love miura being so appreciative of yakushiji's meals. it's so cute. even the way he goes off running to wash up when she prompts him, saying he should do that while they wait. he cannot wait to eat this meal?? i love him?? yakushiji's also just so kind and gentle to him in this scene while she gives in and tells him that he can go ahead... and honestly seems happy to see him so appreciative.

i love miura being so polite. he's so good. him thanking her, offering to help out... even the way he's completely willing to wait despite starving.

and then there's him being perceptive, once again. catching yakushiji when she comments about the scar on his forehead being from surgery, when he hadn't explicitly said that's what it was from. or at least, doesn’t remember. i do like the fact that he prefers to keep it hidden for the comfort of others, though? i don't think he needs to, but i appreciate the thinking behind it, that it's another way that he wordlessly tries to be considerate of the people around him.

this flashback with miura watching the news, hearing about how the video store was destroyed when kurabe accidentally summoned the sentinel... i think it's so fascinating the way that universal control just smooths things over. i really wonder how that works, given that there's so much the characters in this do through shikishima involving the sentinels, and yet the staff seem to... retain that? but then there's stuff like this, which universal control smooths over. i just keep wondering what exactly is too much for the simulation before it feels the need to reset things, or cover things up. especially when i think about characters like professor douji working on sentinel no. 19 back in sector 5.

i honestly feel really bad for yakushiji here when she has to shoot miura, especially since her apology seems so genuine... even the way she tries to look after him after he gets knocked out by it. he's been nothing but good and kind to her, too. and he's someone that she has to continue to live with, even after all this.

man, i honestly really like the fact that amiguchi is friends with ogata. it feels so unexpected.

god this is such a good scene with the forced activation of amiguchi's sentinel. juro seeing it! getting upset with yakushiji! 426 being so irritated that he has to manipulate juro's memories again...

1st area ashitaba city 0009:

i really like this post-battle conversation where amiguchi mentions finding a motorcycle, and ogata brings up the fact that he used to steal them. i honestly like the idea of him being more of a punk when he was younger. in the last yakushiji section i played, there was also a conversation by some NPCs in the hall where they were talking about how ogata actually reformed some of the delinquents in their school, too. despite him being one, himself? but he's made them better, somehow. i wonder if that's maybe something he had a part in with amiguchi, too, since in this scene he's reminding him about how he said he was going to stop doing things like this.

[randomnameless]

Answering all those asks about Magvel made me realise :

In this game, with around (counting the two routes) 30ish maps, IS managed to tell two stories that nicely could fit in one with interesting themes :

Eirika’s route is all about good intentions does not matter when your path sucks - Carlyle really really really loved Ismaire, but brought ruin to her, and to her Kingdom. Lyon really really really wanted to save Grado and its people... by playing with the fate of the continent. Joshua really really really wanted to become a good King by learning everything he could by travelling as a commoner... but he wasn’t here when Jehanna needed him the most. Orson really really really loved his wife... and wanted her back, no matter the cost. Were they selfish? Maybe. Maybe not, but when everything goes wrong, they cannot repair what was done.

Ephraim’s route... is a complete deconstruction of the “ultimate chad” Lord, it doesn’t matter how much of a chad you are, if you never bother to understand the feelings of everyone around you. If Ephraim had been a better friend, if he knew him better, maybe the tragedy would have been avoided (maybe not). If Selena and Duessel realised Vigarde was not Vigarde anymore (dude was green guys!) they might not have continued to fight for a zombie, but instead for Grado and its people (Duessel realises it, Selena... doesn’t). Ephraim never understood Orson’s grief, and cannot, until he sees Monica.

Ephraim recevies the wake-up slap from Seth : he has to understand what his people want and expect of him, they are not cheering for the “chad” who managed to defeat zombie!Vigarde and, apparently, stop the war, they are cheering for the force that kicked Orson out.

And to think this game is 18 years old (damn i’m old), was released on a console with limited storage, limited supports, no voice acting...

FE8 is a gem, really. Yes it is “easier” than FE7 (and lol FE6), and maybe it has this status because it is the only game in its verse, but it’s a story with a beginning, and an end. There are no glaring WTF moments, the game is centered on characters and not so much on its world, and yet it does the job.

I think it’s nostalgia bias talking, especially comparing it to the latest game in the franchise - but 15 years later, even if the game is centered on the “can you kill that person you came to care about”, I am sadder to fight Lyon, with all of his weirdness (slightly lampshading in his FBs how he was willing to do anything to be worthy of the twins, or the necromancy lite) than Edel.

Should FE16 have added more flashbacks (or events with Mila’s turnwheel - renamed Sothis’s turnwheel or something), especially in AM, to make the player feel as bad as they did in FE8 when it was time to kill Lyon? Should the story have been tweaked here and there, with the Mole People assuming the role of Fomortiis?

I don’t know.

I only know I don’t talk a lot about FE8, and Jugdral is Jugdral, but it might be my second favourite game in the franchise.

[kiarou]

Fire Emblem Three Houses is, to date, the most successful Fire Emblem game- both commercially and critically. It took me a while to play and complete the routes, but after having done so, I can understand why. FE3H is a radical departure that really emphasizes the characters over the gameplay. The FE series is currently going through a rebirth process that mixes several genres, resulting in a massive game that has its ups and downs. When it’s good, it’s really good- better than FE4 and FE6. But when it’s bad- it’s worse than FE Fates.

As a FE veteran, I had many moments where I was questioning if what I was playing was actually an FE game. At times it felt like a dating sim and other it felt like a visual novel. Both of those aspects aren’t bad, but I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that some of the more interesting map designs and FE game mechanics got lost in the rebirth.

However, I pleasantly surprised by the main three lords. These three are some of the most interesting Lords to ever be in FE. I tend to have a penchant towards Dimitri since he is the most traditional FE lord with complexities and morally gray areas built into his character. The result is a character with massive amounts of depth and nuisance. The same goes for the Edelgard and Claude. I think all three complement each other as difference aspects of FE archetypes, highlighting the positive and negatives of those traits. Edelgard is the idea of empire- that only the strong would be able to rule. Dimitri is the idea of the king- that only the chosen should be able to rule. And Claude is the idea of the Machiavellian politic- that only the exploiters can rule.

The concepts of war, tragedy and perspective are the most interesting part of the game. However, the scope and breadth of those concepts lead directly to my biggest criticism. Most of which revolves around the writing and how the events unfold from point A to B. This problem is twofold- first from a game play perspective and second from the perspective of Byleth.

My first point is simple- the individual routes are simply too short. 21 chapters did not seem enough to wrap up each of the routes. I can’t help but get the feeling that the original story for the game was sliced up into subpar outlines to produce passable plots that end without a proper conclusion. I can’t play BE and gain closure on TWSITD, and same goes for BL. But both routes provide satisfaction for the larger geopolitical situation. Meanwhile GD rushes through the political conflicts with flippant ease only to fully delve into TWSITD as a true ending- while most of the characters have very little to do with the organization. Both Edelgard and Dimitri have more reason to seek the truth than Claude.

And even within the routes, I feel not enough time was given to the world, specifically in part II. How great would it have been to have a map showing Dimitri’s escape from execution, similar to FE7 Chapter 11 Hector Mode where you control only two units (Dimitri & Dedue) and have to make it from one end of the map to the other. Or to have a map where Edelgard storms the castle to reach her father so that she can become the new emperor. A lot of plot points in the game happen off screen and with very little explanation. As much as I love Dimitri’s exile and fall into madness, I never got to see it and it made it that much harder for me to understand him, which really hurt his eventual character arc. My point here is that each route would have benefited from 28-35 total chapters to flesh out the events of part II.

I understand that a lot of plot threads were split up and placed in other routes to provide incentive to play the other routes (so that one can see the full conclusions), but I would argue that part I makes the replay value excruciatingly painful and that the strength of the characters fully explored would be reason enough to replay (like FE8’s split route)

On a side note, was anyone else confused by how the time skip was handled? Byleth just fell asleep? Why do that when you have a perfectly good mechanic already introduced. The spell of Zahra would have worked as a perfect reason for a time skip. Byleth gets trapped, escapes but time has passed differently and it’s now 5 years later. This handling of the time skip had me completely flabbergasted.

On the note of Blyeth, that leads me to my second point. Byleth is a narrative road block. On one hand, I understand the reason for Byleth’s inclusion as a self-insert character. But on the other, many of the decisions in how he/she interacts with the world really hurt the story. The decision to make Byleth never speak or have a defined personality made every interaction awkward for me and difficult to take anything relating to him/her seriously. Another point of serious contention is how the story treats Byleth as the main character.

The three new lords of the series are so interesting yet they are treated as side-exhibits for the main attraction of Byleth. When I chose a route, I chose it to spend time and see one of the three Lords be the protagonist. Instead, in every route, the majority of the time and effort are spent on Byleth and his/her past and super-special-ness. In my opinion, the houses leaders should be the main driving force and the focus of that route, like any other Fire Emblem entry sans Fates.

Despites these negative points of a rushed story in all three routes and the annoying intrusion of Byleth, I greatly enjoyed the game and appreciate how many new fans it has brought to the series. I have high hopes that they can fix some of the writing issues and improve on their map designs for the next entry.

[gascon-en-exil]

Are there any other Fire Emblem characters you headcanon as gay or not straight?

Hmm...a lot? Given liberal interpretations of subtext there are quite a few characters one could plausibly read as not straight, more than I could list here or even really remember off the top of my head. I guess some highlights are in order:

Finn’s doomed love for his lord Quan drives the plot of FE5, and might have been reciprocal as a weird Sigurd substitute thing that Ethlyn was probably okay with.

Diarmuid and his substitute Tristan got overlooked by FE4′s love growth mechanic, so I’ll take that probable programming oversight to mean that they’re not into women.

Marty is notoriously the man Dagda loved, and they need to be a bear/cub couple in the FE5 remake.

Elffin and Perceval from FE6, as another knight who manages to get with his prince. There’s some interest in Dieck and Klein from the same game as well.

From FE7, Eliwood and Hector have a romantic friendship kind of deal, Legault is bi and might have Heath interested, Raven is masc4fem with Lucius, and everyone was big on Matthew/Guy back in the day although it’s not really to my taste.

From FE8, Ephraim is chummy with his Christmas knights when he’s not intimately touching his sister, and Joshua and Gerik have a paired ending and they’ve each got some stuff with other guys like Artur and Saleh.

Tellius has so much gay subtext that it can’t be reduced to even a few bullet points, as well as the first explicitly gay character Heather. Most of it is extremely understated, but there’s something for everyone here.

My capacity to pay attention to Archanea is extremely limited, but it’s pretty obvious Julian and Rickard had a casual fling and Julian regrets it now.

Awakening is drowning in no homo, but Frederick is a little too into Chrom and some of the Gen 2 boys get a little closer than usual although that might just be their apocalyptic backstory deal. Oh yeah, and Victor and Vincent are from this game...eesh. I don’t mind the incest, but I still don’t get the joke if there even is one.

Everyone likes to slash the Fates royals with their counterparts, but aside from that there’s carryover from Awakening with Odin/Laslow, Leo and his retainers as an OT3, maybe Shigure and Forrest (the latter of whom reads pretty straight but this one feels like a mild exception), and possibly others I’m forgetting because I don’t have a great memory of most of FE14′s cast.

Echoes gives us explicitly gay character #2 in Leon plus a bevy of subtext in the Deliverance boys. I coined the phrase “Clive’s gay entourage” for a reason. There’s also Jesse’s mercenary kingdom of partially shirtless men if you squint.

And to finish off Three Houses has a lot going on between all the male Lions, Hubert and Ferdinand, Yuri and Balthus, Caspar and Linhardt although the implementation is lazy, and maybe Gilbert as another sad gay knight. Raphael would like to not be friendzoned, Lorenz just really wants to meet Holst, and Hanneman’s got some moments. The smaller cast makes all the subtext pop even more...not to mention how flat and uninteresting Byleth and their S ranks are by comparison.

That’s not even getting into the women, which I’m not as good at picking up on although I’m aware of some of the more obvious ones.

[emblemxeno]

(3H SPOILERS) Analysis of Main Characters in FE and the Western FE Community’s Perception of Them

In the midst of all the Three Houses hype, there’s a lot of contention with Edelgard as a character as well as her route in general with how it plays out.

With this, it’s given me some perspective on how the community feels about main characters and whether or not they are liked and/or well written. Since I am a Westerner myself, please always assume this is in the context of the western FE audience, as I don’t know enough about the JP audience to do comparisons or whatnot.

Now with this, there’s more or less a pattern with some main characters in how they’re received by western fans. (Sigurd, Seliph, Leif, Roy and Kris won’t be covered in this since I haven’t read enough of their games’ scripts to get a grasp on them)

The most contentious main characters by far are Eirika, Micaiah, Corrin and Celica (when I say contentious I don’t mean unpopular as they have many fans; however, though popular, they also have the most detractors). 

These characters all have very defined flaws that get them in trouble in their games, are peace seeking in general and look for peaceful ways unless there is no other choice, and all do questionable things in their stories that call for doubt, discussion, and criticism. Most of their development comes from making mistakes and learning from them. They are also all known for getting into situations where they either need rescue or because of something they fucked up.

The least contentious main characters (compared to the four above, I might add) are Hector, Ephraim, Ike, and Alm. 

They may or may not have noticeable flaws, but they hardly ever cause trouble for them. They may or may not seek peace at some opportunities, but are always willing, with no hesitation, to fight. They are all blunt and speak their mind, and though sometimes that poses situations where they could get into trouble, but they never really do. Most of their development comes from growth after bad things happening to them rather than something that they messed up.

In this, realize that main characters are the ones that people identify with the most, therefore, there’s a reason for certain characters to be less contentious than others. In particular, the reason for FE main characters?

It’s probably a little bitchy to say it like this, but it’s kind of power fantasy esque. 

Hector, Ephraim, Ike, and Alm all have great authority/renown within their groups or territories and are always seemingly in control of the situation. They are hardly questioned, and when they are they are almost always proven right. In short, the players like these characters because they are validated as strong, intelligent, and almost always in control of the moment. Since these are the characters players identify with, the players themselves feel validated.

In contrast, compare to them Eirika, Micaiah, Corrin and Celica. They hold little authority (compared to the other four), are questioned and not always proven right, doubted at some points, they question and doubt themselves, they’re not as notably strong in various fields like the other four so they don’t get validated as the other four. Being main characters, these are also characters that players are to identify with, but since they have unattractive/undesirable qualities to them, (and because FE players always believe they themselves have the perfect solutions to everything) they are instead cast aside as being badly written, stupid, incompetent, and the oh so misused moniker, Mary Sue. 

(Well, Celica doesn’t really get called that, but that’s because she wasn’t known by the audience that uses it frequently, and Echoes came out at a period when people stopped using it wrongly)

Again, I don’t wanna sound condescending, but power fantasy is really what I get from this.

Now there is sort of a problem with this theory, and that’s Ephraim, because he’s contentious in his own right because of the shit he pulls in FE8, but he gets less flack than his sister, Corrin, and Micaiah, so...

Anyway, besides the characters I intentionally left out because I didn’t know enough about them, there remains Marth, Lyn, Eliwood, Chrom, Robin, and the 3H Lords.

What’s notable about Mar-Mar is that his Shadow Dragon interpretation is very well received over here in the west. Marth in Shadow Dragon is written as being more blunt, and not really questioning himself, his actions, or anything that happens around him. Notice how this is very much unique to SD, as the original Dark Dragon script as well as Mystery and New Mystery portray softer, more idealistic Mar-Mars. Heroes also takes after those portrayals. Yet the audience here likes the SD portrayal the best; the one most similar to Hector, Ephraim, Ike, and Alm.

Lyn is in an interesting situation; she’s very much in control and she’s not as unimportant in the story as some say, but it’s still very much Eliwood’s story. Which makes it all the more weird that Hector shines over poor Eli. Had Lyn not been many players first Waifu FE lord, Hector would no doubt be the most popular one. Compared to Hec, Eli is peaceseeking and idealistic, though not to the point of the more contentious lords, so he gets passed on compared to his friends, but not to the point where people think he’s badly written.

Chrom and Robin are in an interesting situation as well, as the story is Chrom’s and then gradually become’s Robin’s story as it nears the end. (Some say they stole it from Chrom, but I would say it’s like the spotlight slowly drifted from him to them) 

Chrom doesn’t have a notable flaw that gets him into danger, and is in control/has authority throughout a good deal of the campaign, but also very emotional and starts looking for peaceful solutions more often than say Hector, Ephraim, Ike, and Alm. Chrom tries to reason with Walhart, even, and those other four would never. So he’s kind of at an in between. Robin... is kind of hard to discern. They are supposed to be the character the player identifies with more since they are the avatar. We do see that they are in control as well and never makes to many mistakes. But they’re also batshit crazy for setting fleets on fire and fighting in a volcano. Having the player suspend their disbelief like that isn’t the best thing for identifying with a character, but it seems people like them enough for other reasons so indirect validation isn’t as prominent a thing with them.

Then come the 3H lords, and oh my, they do not fit into any sort of mold whatsoever; not perfectly anyway.

Byleth being a complete blank slate means they are truly in the middle on things; despite being the least customizable in appearance, they are the most avatar like of the FE avatars. The player can feel true, direct validation from the 3H cast as you get to pick which dialogue choices you want, and do other things at your own pace. (Unless you care about support points) As a character they’re not anything too special, but since they are a true avatar, they’re not seen as bad as say, Corrin, because the player can literally be who they want through Byleth and be validated by the story at the same time.

Edelgard, (the most discussed of the lords) is also unique. Never has a main character been so extreme in how they accomplish things. From what I’ve gathered from FE4, she’s Arvis like. And yet, she’s a protagonist in one possible outcome. She has the attractive qualities of protagonists like Hector and Ike, (being in control/having authority, speaking her mind) yet she’s contentious because unlike them her morality is very grey. The very definition of the ends justify the means. There’s a reason her title in Heroes is ‘The Future’. Because her goal and ambition is for the future, with no limit on what she’ll do to get there.

Dimitri is unique because he starts off as model prince, honor loving, sweet boy with bad hair. Then you gradually notice strange things about him, then Remire happens, then you learn he’s at the academy for revenge, then he goes feral at the Holy Tomb, and descends even further for 5 years, until he’s a revenge obsessed beast. He then begins his ascent back to being a proper king for his people (he’s more deserving of the title Restoration King than Ephraim, but that’s just me). There’s never been a main character in FE that falls so low and then climbs back up like that.

Claude himself is unique as well. Besides being the most well adjusted of the three lords, he’s actually pretty idealistic compared to them. He has big dreams and ambitions for Fodlan, and his main concerns are with the world at large, and his story doesn’t end with the major war among the 3 factions. He’s intelligent enough to not be blinded by emotion like Dimitri but also keen enough enough to realize that pure brute force isn’t the only option unlike with Edelgard. He’s very much a middle ground, but a middle ground that’s like a bell curve instead of a straight line, since Edie and Dima both fall hard and do messed up things, but are still not completely terrible people, whereas Claude is nowhere as extreme as they are and feels like a true balance.

If nothing else, 3 Houses achieves something very different with all of its main characters for once.

Anway, that’s kind of all I have. Sorry for the long post, but Fire Emblem is my #1 game series for a reason, so I get big into these passion analyses sometimes.

[markoftheasphodel]

The Blue Lions and the Burden of Tradition

Note: spoilers related to multiple Fire Emblem games including FE1/11, FE2/15, FE3/12, FE5, and FE8 follow.

The classic Fire Emblem plot line is the one sketched out by its first installment, Dark Dragons and the Sword of Light, all the way back in ’90. Young Prince Marth loses homeland in surprise betrayal, mopes in exile, gathers allies, retakes homeland, unites continent, defeats dragon, settles down to become virtuous ruler with love interest at his side. Then Fire Emblem Gaiden offered a counterpoint narrative in which a scrappier hero, village boy Alm, unites half a continent through military prowess before he even finds out he’s the prince, whereupon he too can defeat a big bad monster and settle down with his childhood companion/love interest as his consort. Marth restores order to The Way Things Were, But Better. Alm sweeps away a corrupt order entirely and puts something else in its place. One can be viewed as fundamentally conservative, looking back to an idealized past and trying to recreate it without the old mistakes. The other is revolutionary, but the way the revolution plays out the New Boss has an awful lot in common with the Old Boss (kings, nobles, churches). Any way you slice it the best outcome is a Just Ruler with the blessings of heaven and democracy ain’t in the cards. These two basic narratives have shaped every single installment of Fire Emblem to date. Some lean more heavily on the Marth narrative (Binding Blade), some on the Alm narrative (Path of Radiance), and others combine elements of both— Thracia 776, Sacred Stones, and Awakening all take some of Column A and some of Column B and and achieve strikingly difference outcomes.

The Blue Lions route of Three Houses offers the latest iteration of that classic Marth narrative, and it proves the deepest, richest, most nuanced look at that storyline to date even if it’s ultimately constrained by its own tropes.

 Its protagonist, Prince Dimitri, is introduced as a polite and courtly young man, the image of a Fire Emblem princeling, and as Part I of Three Houses unfolds the viewer is let into just how much of a Fire Emblem Prince Dimitri is. He’s the last hope of his house and kingdom, an orphan who lost his family under traumatic circumstances, and he’s struggling to maintain his peaceful ideals in the face of his lingering trauma and suppressed rage. As Dimitri receives both character revelation and character development through Part I, he echoes not just Marth but Thracia 776’s Leif and Ephraim from Sacred Stones, and those echoes carry over strongly to Part II of this route.

Likewise, Dimitri’s fellow Blue Lions, initially just another lot of fresh-faced schoolchildren, reveal themselves to be the Three Houses iterations of some classic “archetypes” of Fire Emblem. We have the “steady” traditionalist knight in Ingrid, the more unruly “rowdy” knight in Sylvain, the sullen swordmaster in Felix, the bright-eyed archer in Ashe, the bright-eyed mage in Annette, the demure healer with the convoluted backstory in Mercedes, and the battered old retainer in Gilbert. If you expect your “Christmas Knights” and “Navarre” and “Lena” and whatnot out of a Fire Emblem game, Blue Lions offers the entire set; they’re just a little harder to detect thanks to the open class system and lack of convenient color-coding.

Where the Blue Lions breaks with three-decades-old expectations is in its handling of the resident heavy; Dedue fills a slot on the starting team usually given short shrift (see: Draug, Bors), but in terms of plot and character and— critically— personal value to Dimitri he transcends both the stale Armor Knight niche that his character design nudges him to be and the Devoted Retainer trope that’s gotten a bit weird in recent years. Some recent games presented “devotion” in ways that were kind of twisted yet the games didn’t seem to really acknowledge how off-key it all was; Three Houses takes a full dive into what Dedue’s devotion to Dimitri (and vice-versa!) can encompass, how it’s a double-edged blade that can uplift or utterly destroy. That Dedue manages this while also being saddled with the role of being The Stigmatized Other to the Blue Lions cast is nothing short of remarkable.

Your core Blue Lions party is essentially the conservative wing of the Officers’ Academy. Ingrid may be the most orthodox knight of your house, but ultimately the entire core party is royalist and traditionalist, even when the system they’re holding up has hurt them personally. Annette, Sylvain, and most especially Felix offer some degree of dissent, but ultimately all of them fall in line behind King Dimitri and his unified continent— and in supporting Dimitri, by default they support the Church of Seiros under its new archbishop. This unswerving support of the Church structure on the Blue Lions route is hardly happenstance, as the game is basically waving a flag at the audience to let them know yes, this is indeed the conservative Restorationist faction— un roi une loi une foi. Still, the inner tensions of these loyalists as they play out through supports and in-game chatter— Felix against Ingrid and Dedue and Dimitri, Annette against Gilbert, Sylvain in his asides to Byleth— provide a multifaceted critique of the very concepts of Knighthood and Faith that the franchise has been trying to pull off since at least Thracia 776, whose beats the Lions’ plot structure samples more than once.

The game takes some risks; New Mystery of the Emblem supplied Avatar Kris as a mechanism to keep Marth’s fingerless gloves from getting dirtied by the grunt work of conquering an continent; Three Houses lets Dimitri’s hands get so filthy that his knights and vassals are appalled by it. He regains his moral compass and everyone’s respect after a tragedy that is one of the clearest call-backs to Thracia 776, but in Leif’s case the shock he received was a spur for a naive youth to grow up and look at the larger picture instead of his narrow goals. In Dimitri’s case, he’s got about five years of atrocities to atone for. That said, Thracia 776 arguably had a more realistic resolution to the Lord’s character development, as endgame Leif STILL has some growing-up to do, whereas Dimitri gets markedly better after a couple of conversations despite spending five years in the abyss.

And then we get to the Childhood Friend, one of the moments of the Blue Lions route that strongly evokes Sacred Stones. On this route we learn that Dimitri and antagonist Edelgard shared a fleeting but precious bond in childhood— but whereas antagonist Lyon uses a similar bond to his repeated advantage against the Sacred Stones Lords Eirika and Ephraim, Edelgard doesn’t even make the connection between Dimitri and her own lost childhood friend until he confronts her with the memory. It’s a one-sided bond that fuels Dimitri’s rage and regrets but is essentially irrelevant to Edelgard’s ambitions. The final wordless confrontation between them finally has Edelgard use Dimitri’s nostalgia as a literal weapon against him… and he silently runs her through with his lance for it— far cry from Lyon whispering “C’mon Ephraim, smile like you used to” as he dies in Ephraim’s arms. For a series that has leaned heavily on the trope of “Friendship is Magic” in recent years, it’s interesting to have the idea of the sepia-tinted childhood memory rendered impotent— but then again, the developers were supposedly inspired by Genealogy of the Holy War and the way that events pitted sworn friends and allies against one another.

The grand scope of Genealogy may be more apparent on other routes of Three Houses, but the Blue Lions route is fundamentally more narrow in scope, with this Thracia-like focus on Dimitri’s traumas, Dimitri’s loves and losses, Dimitri’s redemption, Dimitri’s ability to spare enemies and kill former friends. This in turn hobbles the ending of the route, much as Thracia 776 was hobbled by its status as a midquel, a singular if vivid chapter in the overall saga of Jugdral. Alliance and Empire totter, everything falls into Dimitri’s lap, the church is bolstered without any significant onscreen reforms or even onscreen questions on what the hell was going on under Rhea, and everything becomes as it was, but better— one king, one law, one faith (or one major faith with ecumenical tolerance for the rest, per Seteth’s ending), and apparently some reforms for the sake of The People. Dimitri’s going to be fine, and we all just have to have faith in the rest of it.

All in all, it brings to mind that Marth’s most successful game (Mystery of the Emblem), and the GBA game that hewed most strongly to the Marth Narrative (Binding Blade) both had Bad Endings in which the real answers, the true resolution, was never achieved. The Blue Lions route feels at once like a beautiful love letter to the Marth plot-line in all its iterations, in which the elements of its predecessors are revisited to grand effect— and a Bad Ending, a dead-end, an eternity of the curtain abruptly coming down once Marth defeats Hardin or even the hollow “is that all there is” moment of Leif besting Veld. It almost feels like a rebuke to the player for choosing to spend eighty, ninety, one-hundred hours in the company of Dimitri and his traditionalists, for choosing to glory in the multi-layered nostalgia offered by the Blue Lions. Perhaps it’s simply a cue that this is the route to play first, that it’s best to be guided into Fodlan by a familiar set of faces before choosing to open the doors of perception that the Golden Deer or Black Eagles offer. Given how heavily the pre-game marketing hyped the Black Eagles, that seems a bit weird.

I suppose the only way to get answers is to play another 200+ hours of Three Houses….