#loregoddess asks

[nowis-scales]

🔥 for whatever's been bugging you lately

🔥 For FE-related things, I think for sure one thing that’s been getting under my skin is the notion that Timerra is the least popular Engage royal because she’s “just not that interesting” and is one-note because honestly? I don’t really see it. She’s honestly probably my second favourite of them all. I think for some people, they have this misapprehension that her default state is just perky-happy all the time, which is… not that accurate, I would say.

For me, the big thing that stuck out to me about Timerra right off the bat when meeting her in game was that while she was charming and funny, she was also clearly clever and had her own sense of morality that was a bit different than what you would usually see in a leading Fire Emblem character.

The Solmic way of thinking really interests me, particularly in the way it manifests in Timerra. I think there’s a lot to be said about how the country has a sort of carefree approach, but when push comes to shove, they know how to knit themselves together to keep themselves safe. They’ll lend help to one of their own if they’re in a bind, as they’re still people and they care about the world around them… but they also know when to say when and when they need to look out for themselves. Their morality is very much about choosing when to care, and who they will care about. While Albert’s first instinct as prince of Firene was to run off to try and help other people and connect with others, Timerra and Seforia agreed that Solm’s resources would best be spent trying to deal with the problem themselves, and not worry about anyone else because… well, their hands were full already. They had to look out for their own first.

I think that says a lot about Timerra because it’s not a demonstration of a lack of kindness, but rather a dedication to her OWN people. They are her priority first and foremost. The fact that she, Seforia, and Fogado all knew about Sombron but made no indication, instead focusing on protecting themselves and being certain that they could get help from the Divine Dragon, says a lot. It speaks to the degree of thought that Timerra puts into the way she conducts her life, and how she may come across as a silly, cheery girl — but she’s actually much more clever and has a stronger sense of duty than anyone seems to give her credit for. Hell, she doesn’t even react in fear when Hortensia threatens to kill her mother.

I guess to some people that’s not terribly hypnotic, but I personally find it quite compelling that Timerra, as Solm’s princess, is able to strike that balance between being warm and caring, but also thinking with a focus most immediate to herself and her people and what they need. She’s not the type of girl who wouldn’t help a friend in need, but at the same time, she recognizes that politically it’s never that simple. She sticks to her guns, regardless of whether or not it’s comfortable — and she’s never particularly ashamed of the way she thinks, either. I think that creates a neat duality in her character, because yes she is kind and often wants to help, but won’t always do so if she thinks it will cause her and her people an undue amount of trouble. It sounds relatively minor to some I think, but we so often see characters who try to help even at the expense of themselves, so it was refreshing for Timerra to still be a nice girl and know when to say when. Granted, that doesn’t mean she would have been right to decide not to help the others with Sombron, just that she would have had her own set of priorities that weren’t as easy to sway as some others. When it benefits the people of Solm to have the allyship, that’s when she’ll go forward with it.

Even outside of this, though, Timerra is still allowed complex feelings outside of the main storyline. Her support with Fogado is really charming for this, because she makes it clear that she loves her little brother, but she also feels a bit quietly resentful of him at times because of how often his escapades left her lonely. We as players know that Fogado has dedicated so much of his life to supporting Timerra in his eventual reign as queen, but at the same time, we get to see the effect that this distance had on Timerra, too… and realistically, I think Timerra is aware of how much effort Fogado is putting in to support her as queen, but she tries to express to him that she wants her little brother around, too. There’s not an animosity there, but she still has clear and concrete feelings about it, and is open to expressing them to Fogado. It shows a tendency to not shy away from difficult conversations, and to take the opportunity to handle things as they come up.

The more I play Timerra’s supports, the more I feel like just lots of new and interesting stuff comes up, which makes it a bit tiring to me that she’s so frequently dismissed as one-note. Yeah, a lot of her character IS about being cheerful, but there’s more there than what meets the eye. I think a lot of people have trouble understanding that with FE characters it’s about actively looking for things, rather than just having them fall in your lap. The cast will always be simply too big for everyone to get a big piece of the story, so if you want to know more about a character, you tend to have to make a more conscious effort to look.

[fayesdiary]

reverse unpopular opinion for....aw heck, go ahead with Rhea for this one as well

This might as well be a part 2 to the previous Rhea ask so :D

I find Rhea to be so compelling for several reasons, one of the biggest being the inherent contradiction that she is very much capable of caring, loving and trusting others, sometimes with some insane gestures when you realize their meaning behind them (ie. Saving Jeralt's life by giving him her blood thus risking outing herself because of it, letting Catherine keep Thunderbrand despite the fact it's the one Relic she could safely recover- implicitly trusting her with one of her family's remains without any obligation to do so, risk angering a noble house to give Cyril a better life and treating him like her son in all but name)... And yet she cannot, for the life of her, bring herself to be honest with them.

Something fascinating I noticed about Rhea is that she ironically seems to prefer people who are blunt with her, because look at the people she's closest to - Seteth spends all of Part 1 openly questioning her, Flayn is constantly on the verge of accidentally outing herself, Cyril is so direct and honest he sometimes accidentally comes off as rude (Shamir too even if she's not as close to Rhea) and Catherine wears her heart on her sleeve.

Heck, all of them are either not that religious or outright non-believers, which ironically I believe helps reassure Rhea they love her because of who she is as a person and not because she's the archbishop, especially given how much she implies to find the position incredibly alienating.

And isn't that just so fascinating? That she is more than capable than loving others and caring for them risking her own personal safety, she appreciates people being honest with her.... But cannot, will not be entirely honest with them in turn.

Because make no mistake, that right there is Rhea's true fatal flaw: her compulsive need to keep everything a secret.

From the big but understandable stuff that would get her and her family scrapped for parts if it became public to downright pointless shit to hide like not liking hot drinks, and it's the one trait that screws her over the most, between being the reason Jeralt left (since she didn't tell him ANYTHING about what happened with Byleth so he assumed the worst and fled) and the thing preventing her from making connections as deep as she actually wants (like even just telling her loved ones how much they mean to her), as well as getting the support she actually needs. And because she feels she has to bear everything on her shoulders, she crumbles under the weight because no matter how hard she tries, she will never be good enough.

In that sense the role of archbishop is a sort of mask to her. It's definitely a part of her, but also something she has sort of burrowed into like a safety net preventing her from being true to herself. Because that'd mean making herself vulnerable, in more ways than one. To say nothing about putting her surviving family and remnants of her dead kin to jeopardy.

If she were to open up she'd be... More lively, I think. Definitely sillier if Heroes is any indication, and arguably more willing to take a direct approach in helping people. And definitely more loved and happier.

And perhaps, one day she'd realize she doesn't need to bring her mom back to fix Fódlan. She's not doing it alone anymore, after all.

[fayessketchbook]

Yunaka in D3, for the expression art meme

i tried

[beantothemax]

6, 12, 22, and 23 for the video game ask!

6: A series you’ve enjoyed since your early days of gaming and still enjoy to this day whether it still has games coming out or is one you return to

I don’t think I’ve played a Kirby game that I didn’t enjoy. The 3DS games in particular stuck with me when I was young and I’ve been enjoying them since!

12: A character you particularly like in the game you’re currently playing

Akihiko Sanada is actually my favoritest boy ever and I adore him with my whole heart. he punches stuff good, he wears red, and he’s a little stupid sometimes. what’s not to love

22: A game ending that’s really stuck with you

Not a day goes by where I don’t think and almost cry about Persona 5’s ending. ESPECIALLY including Royal’s third semester. the protag forging this whole new life for himself and having to leave it all behind…. but his friends support his decision and assure him that they’ll never forget him… waahh….

23: A “Wow” moment of awe

I was in AWE of Crosscode: A New Home’s final boss against the Gods Of Shape. The music is incredible, and while it took me multiple tries to get through it, genuinely felt like I was learning more about the boss and was getting better about evading their attack patterns. I felt really proud of myself when I finally beat it

[bobthebobking]

"lore recruited me to the granté gang"

alafkjsldkfj this is the most flattering tag I've ever read, I'm glad my unrelenting love for Granté spread the love for him a bit, thank you for making my entire day and I hope you have a wonderful day as well

LITERALLY after u answered my ask n talked about jerrin I went n talked to her and read all of robbie's notebook found granté and like. he is just this odd little guy hiding in tarrey town just VIBING. I started his dialogue n I was just like :0 wow... I love him.... DJFKFN he has big dork energy and I want to see more of him so bad! 🥺

[saruofthemarsh]

Claydol for the pokemon ask game

Rating: 6/10 solid design but not my poke-aesthetic

Favorite part of design: it’s based on dogu!! and floaty arms

Favorite sprite: BW/B2W2

[kelseymichikoart]

happy late birthday @loregoddess ! all u asked for was someone from legend of dragoon so i decided to save meru from her god awful outfit lmao 

[midorilied]

Sidon

[nowis-scales]

I haven't been following your blog long enough to know your favorites, but whichever FE character is your top favorite character for the comfort character ask meme!

Tout d'accord, et merci pour la question! Si ce n'est pas un problème, j'aimerais répondre a trois questions au sujet de Felicia de Fates, car elle est mon personnage préféré de tout Fire Emblem.

5. What about their backstory makes me emotional?

Felicia ne sait rien à propos quelque chose de vraiment importante à sa vie. C'est implique dans Fates qu'elle ne sait pas qu'elle et Flora sont des otages de Nohr. L'impression totale de sa vie dans la Fortresse du Nord pourrait changer dans un instant si elle savait. Si Flora dirait à Felicia la vérité de leur temps là-bas, aurait-elle la même perspective de sa vie? Sur Gunter, Corrin, ou Jakob? Aurait-elle la même perspective sur sa soeur et son père, qui ont gardé ce secret? Ceci est capable de bouleverser son point de vue, et ça c'est seulement Felicia comme une femme. Felicia comme une fille? C'est probable qu'elle était vraiment peur, de ne pas bien savoir pourquoi son père l'a envoyé à un endroit où tout le monde la hait, d'avoir seulement sa soeur, une autre petite fille, comme protection contre une vie qui était nouvelle et effrayante. Elle dit dans sa conversation avec Niles qu'elle n'a pas beaucoup souffert, mais son anxiété suggère qu'il y a des effets qui vont duré.

Entre les deux jumelles, je dirais que c'était le pire pour Flora, mais... ça semble être effrayant d'être Felicia aussi.

13. What I don't like about the way fandom portrays them?

Ce n'est pas souvent, mais je n'aime pas quand les personnes blâment Felicia pour les actions de Kilma. L'acte de favoriser une fille avant une autre est terrible, et je me sente tellement mal pour Flora pour avoir dû faire l'image de l'enfant fort entre les deux juste pour avoir un peu d'attention, mais quelques personnes agissent comme c'est quelque chose que Felicia a choisi aussi. Les deux filles ont été vraiment petite quand ceci a commencé, alors ce n'est pas juste de dire que Felicia n'aime pas sa soeur simplement parce qu'elle n'a pas remarqué que Kilma n'a pas partagé l'éloge également entre les deux. Elle était petite, et de plus, on sait que Flora est mieux que Felicia a le sujet qu'elle veut faire le plus. Selon Felicia, vraiment, Flora est mieux qu'elle de chaque façon, donc ce n'est pas étrange à dire qu'elle n'a peut-être même pas reconnu que Flora avait ses propres défauts. Elle était si enveloppée dans son envie pour sa soeur qu'elle n'a pas remarquée le vrai problème.

En sommaire: n'oublie pas qui est le vrai scélérat ici -- ce n'est pas Felicia ni Flora, car elles étaient seulement les petites filles dans une situation étrange! C'est Kilma et ses médiocres compétences de parentage!

14. What I liked about the way canon portrayed them?

Je sais que j'ai déjà dit ça dans un autre ask, mais j'aime beaucoup qu'elle est peur la majorité du temps, mais que les autres disent qu'elle est courageuse. Ça c'est vraiment important parce que c'est souvent que les personnes courageuses sont décrit plus comme Hinoka ou Xander, mais Felicia est le courageux classique. On peut-être dire qu'elle est le style de personnage courageux la plus humaine, parce que chacun de nous avons dû faire quelque chose effrayante, et ça prend du courage à faire ces choses. C'est une raison d'être fier. Donc, j'aime beaucoup que cette détail est mis en Fates, parce que ça renforce à tout le monde que le courage vient dans plusieurs uniques formes.

[nowis-scales]

002 for your favorite character from Engage, for the ask game!

This ask is in relation to this post.

Apologies for taking eons to answer this ask! In a hilarious turn of events from my previous FOMO, I am pathetically behind on playing Engage right now (to make a long story short, I stopped playing for a bit as I got Celica way sooner than I expected to, and then had to get a friend of a friend to confirm that Celica wouldn’t spoil her own story for me), so if you don't mind... I'd love to do Alear! They're shaping up to be a neat protagonist so far, and they're the one I know the most about, so I feel like it makes the most sense rn! :)

(Although otherwise, if you’re curious, I would say that I like Timerra and Yunaka!)

How I Feel About this Character:

I guess the best way I can describe the way I feel about Alear is that they’re very refreshing. They are in some way supposed to be a self-insert, but they don't quite have the same problem that Byleth had where the personality was there some moments and had to be pushed out the next. As a result, this allows the audience a much clearer picture of Alear, and in a way, I would say that one of the reasons I like them is that they're almost... Corrin-like?

Alear definitely seems to so far be someone who isn't keen on violence, but is willing to do what it takes to protect the people around them. They have a large sense of responsibility when it comes to protecting emblem rings, and they want to do everything they can to fulfill their mother's wishes... yet they're not overly possessive of the rings, nor do they seem all that judgmental when people have them for the wrong reasons. Even if Yunaka stole Micaiah's ring and seems to have a bit of an unsavoury past (I don't know what it is yet, I only have their C-support lol), Alear believes in the goodness of Yunaka's heart and wants to support them as a friend. They don't condone every bad deed, of course, but they believe in their capacity to do better now. It's a trait I really like about the character, because at times recruitment of different characters in past games felt a bit like glossing over some negative behaviours... so it's nice that Alear reflects on them in their personality. They really do just want to do right by people, even if they're in a hard position and don't know exactly what they're doing all the time.

I also find it really nice that Alear just like... isn't super crazy about violence? They're not quite as pacifistic as Corrin, but the fact that they decide to prioritize the lives of their stewards over fighting in one of the first scene really stuck out to me. Of course they will fight if it's necessary, but they don't have to. I find when it comes to Fire Emblem, I've always preferred characters who give thought to what they're doing when they're fighting, so to see Alear clearly framing it in their mind was really cool to me. I'm excited to see more!

All the people I ship romantically with this character:

Having few supports and all of these potential cool characters, I am just absolutely spoiled for choice here, and I think that's the problem. Plus, for some, I'm kind of just at the point for aesthetic-reasons because I haven't been able to observe their dynamic just yet.

I suppose if I had to offer something, I've seen some fan art of Alear and Diamant that's kind of cute? And I also really like their dynamic with Yunaka so far, so I might throw that one in there, too. I'll probably have to get back to you on this one.

My non-romantic OTP for this character:

I need Alear to become the ultimate older sibling to Clanne, Framme, and Anna. Maybe some of the other younger kids too, when I get them. Watching Clanne and Framme just be so dorky in their commitment to Alear is impossibly cute. I just got the support conversation the other day between Alear and Framme where she is just squealing in delight about how cool Alear is, and it made me smile to see how hard Alear tried to be chill about it. The way Alear worries for them after that first fight with the Corrupted really stands out to me too, and I would just love to see them get to become the protectors of the Divine Dragon like they always wanted. As for Alear's half of the relationship, well, it's like them getting to have a little brother and sister. What's not to like?

As for Anna... Well, if I want to talk about Anna in Engage, I want to say that making her into a child was a great decision. As a character she has always had the essence of a little shit, so the fact that they were able to encapsulate that further in a younger Anna is a delight. I only did Anna's paralogue recently, but already I'm excited to watch her relationship with Alear grow. I get the sense that Anna would be a bit of a troublemaker in their relationship with Alear, usually having some ulterior motives that she's trying to get at, but ultimately being someone who cares very much for them. As for Alear, I could see them being exasperated by Anna's antics, but wanting to support her and get her out of tough situations. After all, they know that even if she gets herself into these situations, Anna is well-intentioned at heart and really does love and care about them and the rest of their friends.

My unpopular opinion about this character:

I honestly don't think M Alear's design is all that much better than F Alear's design. While they've both grown on me a bit, they're both still quite gaudy for my tastes. I guess people like him more because he doesn't have the suction boobs problem (easy advantage to have when you have no boobs and a base game outfit that is not awkwardly designed around them), and for the size of his eyes. I can agree with the former, but honestly, I don't have a problem with the eye size. If they look alright and are not there for sexualization purposes, it's pretty whatever to me. Of course, that is not to say that I would not prefer that all of the female characters got varying styles of eyes in different sizes, but to me that's an art style criticism. It's the same as me saying that I would have liked more expression variance in 3H's portraits or that I like Echoes' colouring style. All of the girls and even Clanne have the big eyes in this particular artist's style, and that's something they should work on. It was more of a problem for me with F Byleth because there were entire scenes where she just looked bug-eyed, but Engage likes to make close-ups on Alear, and I haven't seen one that is genuinely awful.

Like this is the comparison:

That being said, I can understand other people not liking the larger eyes. Certain associations can get made. For me, I usually just think of it as the character having a bit of a baby face, but I know others are quicker to jump to much stronger conclusions. I have a tendency to overextend the benefit of the doubt more than others do, I wholeheartedly recognize this! Otherwise, though, I completely understand that we all have a tendency for our brains to go "large eyes = youthfulness = sexually appealing to weirdos", so I can understand being bothered by them, especially since FE has shown no signs of stopping its beloved waifu/husbando marketing system. And I also know that for some people, it's probably a "looks too anime" thing too (although I am surprised that anyone who is of that opinion has survived in this series for this long).

I guess the point I'm trying to make here is that I guess I just feel like for the most part, M Alear having a "better" design feels like an empty comment, because it's something we've covered when talking about art style already, you know? Neither design is particularly strong as it is too visually busy, but an art style problem and a single poorly done outfit (considering her Somniel outfit does not have suction boobs) don't scream to me that the entire character design is worse.

Of course, I completely understand if other people feel differently than me! Like I said, I tend to be a bit more committed to Hanlon's Razor than most.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon:

I wish they would have had more time with Lumera and the people of Lythos. I feel like we didn't really get to know our people before we have to up and leave, and that kind of sucks. While Alear goes out to fulfill this quest, there are some things that are left up in the air while they're out, and I feel like having this worry about the people that were left behind would really help highlight the tremendous responsibility that has been placed upon Alear's shoulders. While I wouldn't say I'm one of the people who absolutely drools over the politicking in some FE games, I do like it, so I do think it would still be kinda cool if we got to see how this conflict with the rings is informing the people Alear is meant to be watching over.

My OTP:

Alear/A single hair colour

My crossover ship:

It's only a crossover between games, but screw it -- Alear and Corrin for the win! I feel like Corrin's natural charisma would pair well up against Alear's leadership, and they'd be the best damn rulers their countries had ever seen. They're both pretty accepting people who genuinely want the best for those around them, even if they are flawed, so I feel like they would get along easily and do a great job supporting each other. Plus they have a bit in common, being the children of dragon gods who have a special area only they and their friends can hang out in with a little mythical friend who lives there and several overenthusiastic guardians who would do anything for them.

A headcanon fact:

Alear mostly wears white, gold, and a bit of blue because they have the absolute worst time with fashion. How are you supposed to find anything that goes well with your eyes and hair when one side is bright red and the other is bright blue?! They drive themselves crazy trying to find outfits for formal events, usually having to commission something just to stay respectable looking. Sometimes they'll even try out new outfits to see how they look, but because they're the Divine Dragon, they tend to get buttered up. Only Piment, the accessory shop owner, is willing to be honest with them.

[fayesdiary]

Rhea for the "send me a character" w/ the "first impression, impression now, etc." ask game!

Cringefail pope my beloved💚

First impression

The days of 3H pre-release are long gone, but from what I remember I didn't think much of her beside her being another Mikoto archetype which I didn't have any interest in. (especially because this was back when I was still on Reddit and by extension the Fates Bad™ circlejerk)

Then I think I remember seeing a screenshot of an official tweet that went something like "fight/destroy the Church of Seiros in Fire Emblem Three Houses" (nevermind it happens in only one of the four routes and the most villainous one at that) so I was something like "welp. guess she's the villain of another Evil Religion™, whatever."

Impression now

fgdgdfgdfgdfgsdfgshfgifuhg

She's my favorite Fodlan character, something I never saw coming.

While I have my issues with how she's treated as a character (mainly being relegated to the red herring for Edelgard in Part 1 and the late Nabatean infodump only to then die in Part 2. You know, when she's not completely absent or treated as the scapedragon. In general she's treated with the "tell don't show" approach Fodlan writing loves) they are definitely mitigated by all the small details that make her so interesting. And while I find her lack of spotlight and moments where she shines at her best incredibly frustrating, I'll admit that digging beneath the surface and starting to see who she actually is as a person is quite fun in its own right.

She's a truly kindhearted, deeply flawed and quite cringe woman. Of course I love her.

Favorite moment

Funnily enough, her weed quest. Not just because the sheer concept of the pope indirectly giving weed to her students is hilarious, but because if you look closer you'll notice that every herb she gives seems to fit the specific students a bit too well to be a coincidence (for example Bernadetta's herb is said to give her the courage to strike a conversation, Marianne's gives her a more positive outlook on life and Ignatz's boosts his self-confidence).

This shows that while she feels unable to get close to the students on a deeper level, she's clearly paying enough attention to them to know the general things they struggle with and tries to secretly help them, and it's really sweet!

Idea for a story

I've been entertaining the idea of a Silver Snow rewrite (AKA a scenario where getting an A support with her changes the entire route instead of just the ending) where Rhea is rescued early and becomes the de-facto lord. Featuring character development where she finally starts to actually talk to the students and her loved ones, Dimitri in a secondary role because I think the dynamic between her and early-timeskip Dimitri, not to metion in a context where Edie's already dead, has some insane potential (also makes for a nice foil to CF).

Also changing from her requirement to survive from being A Rank with Byleth to being A rank with all of her support partners. AKA overcoming her fatal flaw allows her to not only survive, but live.

Basically her learning to stop compulsively keeping secrets, openly talk and get close to others again and rely on other people on a deeper level. You know, the good stuff!

Don't count on it ever actually getting written beyond a few posts though. I know my limits :(

Favorite relationship

Romantically with Catherine, platonically with Cyril!

Unpopular opinion

I mean, this is Rhea we're talking about.

Liking her to begin with and not treating her like she's responsible for everything wrong in Fodlan is already unpopular to begin with.

Also people severely overestimate the political power she actually has.

Favorite headcanon

As a joke headcanon: Rhea has been every single archbishop in the past as well, so to keep humanity from finding out she's a dragon she faked her death every few decades... in increasingly ridiculous ways.

It got to the point where the Seiros faithful believe the position of Archbishop is cursed, and whenever people act concerned about her because of it Rhea is grateful for it but at the same time is internally laughing her ass off.

[fayesdiary]

001: for your ship of ships, Yunaka x Alear, and 002: for Timerra

Alear/Yunaka

when I started shipping it if I did:

I started genuinely shipping them when I played Engage for myself, because that's when I realized that oh. Oh this works so well.

my thoughts:

OHHHH THEY'RE SO GOOD. The parallels are immaculate, their dynamic is super silly in lighthearted moments and so heavy during more serious ones, they give hopelessly in love vibes and, you know. I adore them platonically too, obviously.

What makes me happy about them:

Yunaka finding love and support from her god of all people, someone who she always thought would judge her to be irredemable and instead adores her, and Alear trusting Yunaka despite her being expicitly sketchy being the first step in their self-forgiveness. When you think about it, Yunaka's background is basically an abridged version of Alear's.

Just, idk. They make me so happy!

What makes me sad about them:

Oh boy. Their pasts and their trauma. Yunaka's constant self-loathing and fear of her past coming to the surface and impostor syndrome and thinking Alear's too good for her. Alear's discomfort at being treated like a god and feeling alienated because of it. Past Alear. Just... Past Alear.

things done in fanfic that annoys me:

I don't think I've found anything that actually annoys me, to be honest. Which is good.

things I look for in fanfic:

Both the fluff with them being silly together (pre and post relationship) but also the angst of them dealing and opening up about their trauma.

That good hurt/comfort stuff 🥲

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other: 

For Yunaka I'd say Citrinne, since you know. "Enemies" to lovers is always fun

For Alear I don't have any other strong ships, so I'd say I'm fine with almost everyone. Except the kids and the rest of their family, obviously. And Lindon.

My happily ever after for them:

Them being happily married and obnoxiously in love while they watch over Elyos together 💕

who is the big spoon/little spoon:

They switch! I think they're very into cuddles, generally :3

what is their favorite non-sexual activity:

Yunaka infodumping about weapons with the detail of an MGS codec call while Alear listens to her with heart eyes ❤️

Timerra

How I feel about this character: 

Love her! She's such a good mix of silly and serious, she can be really goofy but also she's one of the smartest people of the cast and will not fuck around with people she deems a threat, but she's super chill with anyone else!

If I had to describe her in a word, it would be "Fun".

All the people I ship romantically with this character: 

Ivy's a fun one (thanks Koto), but her, Merrin and Panette are so polycule shaped. Oh, and Nel too!

My non-romantic OTP for this character: 

Veyle! The fact she goes from being among the most skeptical about her to one of the most supportive once she actually joins for good is so interesting, and also the contrast between someone so carefree (on the surface at least) and someone who feels ashamed to even be alive. Just, idk. I really like them.

I think she'd be besties with Alfred too, wish they had supports together.

My unpopular opinion about this character: 

She's smarter than she looks, her voice is great and she's a lot more interesting than people give her credit for.

Also the fact the Solm siblings are the most overlooked ones of the cast is... sus, to say the least. This fandom is not escaping the racism allegations.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon:

I wish she was more involved in the story. Compared to the other roylas she and Fogado don't go through much that directly involves them, you know?

Oh also while I'm not sure I would actually want it in canon, recruitable Fell Timerra would've been cool.

my OTP:

See above. I don't feel particularly strongly about any of them to declare them my OTP, so...

my cross over ship:

If FEH counts as a crossover, she and Sharena would hit it off really well. Azura too would be fun! OH, and Rinea too. Just thought of it👀

As for other stuff, hm...

BOTW Zelda would be interesting, she and Daisy would be cute and, hm. Her and Aqua would be the crackiest of crack pairs but, you know. It could work!

I dunno, I'm just throwing stuff around at this point.

a headcanon fact:

She absolutely brings Fauxgado with her during battles and on official business. Nobody's going to stop her from bringing her poorly done youngest brother along!

[fayesdiary]

has anything been on your mind about Engage recently? I keep thinking about the fact that while we don't learn a ton about any of the countries, we learn a bit and, for most of them, can talk with the regular citizens on some of the maps...but not Elusia bc most of the people were killed off in Sombron's zombie apocalypse, and it just makes me wonder about what Elusia's people would have been like if survivors of the corrupted had appeared in the Elusia post-battle areas. Like, we can get some idea of what the other three countries were like from random NPCs, but not Elusia, and it's been haunting me a bit

Engage hasn't been in my mind as much lately because I'm too busy suffering through 3H and there's still no end in sight for that one, but on one hand I get why (especially because Sombron literally ate the only Elusian town we get to visit) and it is unnerving... but it's also a shame we get pretty much nothing about the Elusian commonfolk's lives.

Anyway, as to what I keep thinking about - I belive I've already mentioned this, but the fact that when Lumera finds Alear in Gradlon, there is seemingly no one accompanying her. What was she doing in Gradlon all alone?

And that got me thinking- by this point all of Lumera's loved ones are dead, Sombron seems undefeatable and she is the only Divine Dragon who's still alive.

My point is, she has little to no reasons to live by that point, and while I don't think she was actively suicidal... again, she was in Gradlon entirely by herself.

That's why she got so attached to Alear, I think. Not just out of sympathy for their plight, but because she could deeply relate to them despite the fact that, well. There's no way they don't have Divine Dragon blood on their hands.

So she goes back home in Lythos and invites Alear there and, well, we know how it goes from there. Lumera mentions having Alear as a child was her greatest joy and I honestly believe that's an understatement.

Lumera may have spent a thousand years giving Alear her life force and the means to come back from the dead twice, but Alear unkowingly gave her a reason to live those thousand years to begin with.

Their relationship is a lot more reciprocated than you'd think at first, and I just. Love them so much😭

Lumera may not have won the Best FE Parent Tournament but she's still best mom to me

[fayesdiary]

🍄

🍄 - share a head canon for one of your favourite ships or pairings

Got two asks for this so you get two headcanons!

Alear/Yunaka: Contrary to what she herself believed, Yunaka actually makes for a good queen. Turns out, being great with gathering info, navigating her way around social situations, general deception and going undercover are pretty useful skills for a ruler as well as an assassin, who would've thought?

Faye/Rinea: This would be so funny but like. Imagine if they repeatedly met during the story with no idea who the each other is and they become besties without realizing they're respectively the friend of the enemy commander and the bethroned of the crowned prince of Rigel.

Of course when they find out, things are awkward. And when Faye finds out how Berkut has been treating Rinea Alm will be the least of his problems.

[fayesdiary]

🧡 💛 💚 💖 💕 for....FE, or KH if you really don't feel like talking about FE, for the unpopular opinion ask game!

🧡: What is a popular (serious) theory you disagree with?

I don't read/watch a lot of theories so I can't think of any one in particular.

💛: What is a popular ship you just can't get behind, and why?

Sylvain/Felix, mainly because I hate the both of them. Also any ship involving Byleth because I really don't like Byleth.

💚: What does everyone else get wrong about your favorite character?

Faye's not a yandere. Fite me.

💖: What is your biggest unpopular opinion about the series?

Engage is my fav game in the series and the writing and characters are a huge part of it!

💕: What is an unpopular ship that you like?

Do rarepairs count? I feel like they count, so good ol' Faye/Celica and Faye/Rinea!

[fayesdiary]

actually now that you've finished AM and re: Paired Endings, did you get the paired endings you wanted? I remember when I went in blind and didn't know how the hidden support points system worked in regards to paired endings, I ended up with exactly no paired endings I was expecting or hoping to get, and a few people I knew playing the game at the same time as me ran into the same "wait, how does this work" conundrum bc we all went and got everyone to A or A+ supports with everyone else and therefore had a roulette wheel of paired endings.

also just in general, how did you enjoy AM?

I barely knew paired endings were a thing so I wasn't aiming for any one in particular (although I'm upset by the Felix/Ingrid one. I'm sorry Ingrid, you deserved better).

That said, having paired endings almost hidden from the player if you don't know (I'm guessing it's a selection of the A/A+ support pairs, but if you have multiple it selects one based on which has the highest support points) is... really weird. Why not just have S supports at that point and give the player the active choice of which paired ending they want?

As for Azure Moon itself, I quite enjoyed it! Dimitri's journey is the good shit, his relationship with Edelgard is just tragic and overall it's a really nice personal narrative.

But for the larger narrative, well... I have questions. And they are not the good kind.

Let's start with the smaller things first - Sothis.

Why is she even in the game?

I'm saying this as a huge fan of her- I adore her, I think she's so much fun. That said, if she's barely going to have screentime in White Clouds and is completely absent in Part 2, why even pretend she's going to be a primary character if she barely features in it?

I enjoyed Ch9 and 10 with her because she finally had her time to shine, taking initiative, coaxing Byleth into investigating a bit more and being a little gremlin when she convinces them to eavesdrop on Rhea. She finally has the presence she should have always had, but then she merges with Byleth and... that's it.

Poor Rhea is in an even worse situation in Azure Moon, being completely absent in Part 2. They tell you she has been secretly been imprisoned in Enbarr all this time but they never tell you why (my guess is it has something to do with Edelgard's monster form?), and then when you beat the game... Nothing.

Just a small line telling you she has retired and moved to Zanado.

The poor woman feels like a complete afterthought in this route.

Speaking of things feeling like an afterthought in Azure Moon, the Dark Snakes (the personal name I'm going with for Those who slither in the dark because I hate that name so goddamn much).

In White Clouds? Hyped up as a major antagonist.

In Azure Moon Part 2? Nowhere to be seen properly.

You only get Cornelia and Volkhard who have been very blatantly replaced with members of the cult, and yet no one seems to notice.

Dimitri will say straight to your face Cordelia's whole demeanor changed around a decade prior but never think "hmm, this sounds familiar", despite him mentioning Kronya a few chapters prior.

They appear in the final chapter but only as an extra boss you can stomp to get rid of a bunch of soldiers, and again - barely acknowledged. The rest of them flee when you kill their leader so the Snakes are still around scheming, but this is never addressed in Azure Moon, not even in the endings.

And I am not accepting "it will be explained in the other routes" as an excuse, because if you're going to treat every route as its own game, then the narrative of every single route has to stand on its own.

As it stands, the Snakes in AM only exist to make Edelgard look better by comparison in White Clouds and are almost completely ignored in Part 2.

And speaking of Edelgard - we need to talk about the whole deal with Fòdlan's unification.

This game is... weirdly fascinated with the idea. I can understand why Edelgard views it as an ideal - of course the future Emperor of an Empire would have an imperialist mindset.

The problem is that several other characters and the narrative itself portrays it a good thing, when if you think of it for a few minutes... It's not. The mere existence of the Kingdom and Alliance as well as two of the major wars in Fòdlan being for their indipendence proves that.

And look - Fòdlan has many, many problems. Rampant racism and xenophobia, class inequality exacerbated by Crests, you name it. But it being united under a single banner, especially if by force, does nothing to solve any of the issues and arguably makes them worse.

Hell, as fucked as the status quo at the start of the game is, at least there was a clear harmony between the four powers, and Fòdlan had been at a state of relative peace for almost a millennia until Edie did her, um, thing.

Shamir has a line where she mentions Fòdlan will probably split again eventually, and she's right - it's increasingly clear that Fòdlan being governed by a single power does not work.

Also I know I barely know Claude at this point especially because he's deliberately written as hard to read but I'm sorry- him just giving the Alliance to Dimitri is bullshit. Both because of what it represents, both because I don't buy it at all he would just do this (especially with Verdant Wind existing), and especially because you really want me to believe every single noble would be ok with rejoining under the Kingdom they declared indipendence from two centuries ago?

So the narrative ends up saying "oh it's not that Edie's ideals of a unified Fòdlan are fundamentally wrong- no, it's her methods and the fact that she wants to destroy the Church". And the cynical side me is thinking that in the large scale of things, the main difference between the routes is choosing which war criminal gets to govern the whole continent.

So while overall I enjoyed Azure Moon, I can't help but notice so many warning signs for things to come.