#one of the most fun parts of fire emblem is like... how many new characters u get to meet and recruit imo

[hulloitsdani]

PLS go on another rant about Kiran Fire Emblem I’m begging you 🙏

I love to read you yapping💞💞💞 I like your TedTalks

:D

Aw thank you stranger! I’m happy to provide!

So recently I feel that I have been putting Kiran Fire Emblem through the wringer. Which is all well and good, but I believe it’s time for them to have good things. As a treat. This oddly takes the form of book 5.

In case it’s your first time witnessing my monologues or are in need of a refresher, let me provide a little context. Kiran had a life before being summoned to Askr and a major part of their arc is suppressing just how deeply that loss affects them. Like it or not, it bleeds into everything they do. This all culminates into book 4, which was an all time low for their character. A lot of issues all started blowing up in their face all at once, last but not least being the grief they hold from losing their entire world. It very nearly kills them. It was an extremely bad time.

However, lessons were learned. Since then, Kiran has been trying to vocalize their discomforts more. It’s a bit weird though, considering Anna and Sharena witnessed firsthand their little meltdown in the realm of dreams. It’s… damnit it’s just weird! Really weird! Most of their cards are on the table now and it’s weird! It’s not like their friends heard about this stuff by talking to them, they SAW it nearly KILL THEM. The dynamic is, understandably, different than it would otherwise be.

If they weren’t willing trying, Anna would pry their issues from their mouth with crowbar. Hell, sometimes she does anyway if she gets, in her own words, “a hunch.” Sharena meanwhile has been very pampering. They didn’t know she could be more pampering than she already was, but oh boy were they wrong. Three homemade meals a day guaranteed under her watch. And if they’re being honest, it does feel very nice, which ultimately makes them feel awful because the realm of dreams was rough for her too. She should also… they don’t know. They feel bad. She has reassured them many times that it’s all good and that this helps her too. And how even if it didn’t, she loves them and would do this stuff anyway. They don’t doubt that anymore but… they still feel bad. They feel bad about feeling good. It’s all a complicated mess. They are telling Alfonse about this though, which makes it feel less overwhelming. His insights help. He provides a bit of a sanity check.

It is within this state of recovery that book 5 occurs. Considering the weaponry of their enemy, Kiran ends up talking a lot more openly about their world. Delving into the literal and metaphorical mechanics of it. And it’s oddly fun! Alfonse has a leg up since he’s the only one who has been curious enough to ask prior to this. So there’s many scenarios where a.) something Kiran previous told him finally clicks now that he has a better visual for what they mean, which leads to b.) Alfonse and Kiran trying their best to explain to Anna and Sharena. It’s an absolutely ridiculous sight to behold— Sharena catches on a bit quicker since she’s pretty good at visualizing things, but Anna has no such boon and is STRUGGLING. Kiran and Alfonse aren’t exactly teachers either, so it’s a fun time.

Then they meet Reginn.

It feels obvious, in hindsight, that they were bound to click with each other. At first though, it seems like it’s going to be the same dynamic Kiran always has with the new stray the Order picks up. Polite friendliness alongside genuine empathy with a side of reassuring presence. The group agrees to help and Kiran gets cracking on how to make that a reality. But then something interesting happens. As Reginn speaks in further vulnerable detail about her plight to them, Kiran begins… talking. Like actually talking. Talking about their family and their life prior to Askr.

It starts small. The both of them are fixing up Reginn’s metal horse (the Order broke it in their initial fight with her) and she asks how they know so much about her country’s technology. She knows they’re from an alien world and, well, they aren’t proficient at this by any means— but they know enough to be helpful. And for once, Kiran is honest. “…My mom was a mechanic.” They say, not turning to face her. “She, uh, knew how to fix this kind of stuff. Taught us a little bit.”

It’s a small snippet of information that has taken five seasons to wring out of Kiran, and Reginn of all people is the first one to hear it. It’s way easier to tell her, for a multitude of reasons. One of them being exactly that— there’s no build up. Reginn didn’t see their book 4 meltdown. She doesn’t know how big of deal this is for them. That’s good. It takes the pressure off and makes it easier. For Reginn, this is information they offered casually and willingly from the beginning. And in doing this, they keep talking and both end up relating to each other rather deeply. It quickly becomes obvious that Kiran isn’t simply helping her out of the goodness of their heart, but because they personally relate to her plight. Kiran was extremely close with their siblings, and now they may never seen them again. They don’t want the same thing to happen to other people. This recontextualizes a lot of their actions, but it importantly builds trust. Kiran is immediately knocked off this pedestal as some morally pious figure and into a human person in her eyes. Someone who gets it and wants to help.

This creates a delightful dynamic between them. She is immediately more than friend, as that’s pretty explicitly what the Askr trio are to them. This is different. It’s familial. Reginn is working with information and a cultural context pretty perfectly equipped to understand them in this way. And, considering the losses they’ve both experienced, they crave this placement in each other’s lives. It’s healing. Kiran lost their family and Reginn’s family hasn’t been a family since Fafnir took the throne. It’s far from a replacement, but it’s definitely filling a void. They both needed this.

Gods, they both needed this.

They needed someone to respond to playful quips with a laugh and a clap back. They needed someone to triple dog dare to sling a spit ball into the back of a god’s head. They needed someone to people watch with as a late night to early morning watch shift wrapped up. They needed a shoulder to lean on after Otr finally said all the quiet parts out loud. They needed someone to understand some parts about them a bit more inherently than either are used to, for better or worse.

Without this, neither of them get better. Not anytime soon, anyway. But luckily, Reginn and Kiran entered each other’s lives at just the right time.

[somethingwittyandweird]

It's that time again! What's your favorite game you played this year?

Hope you're ready for a response to rival last year's post. There are so many good games that I have so much yapping to do about. And, if I may say so, this year was an accomplished one: I made some notable progress putting long-standing backlog titles to rest, as well as some new games that won me instantly. So, let's dive in...

We started off VERY strong with converting one of last year's “I watched this game and it was cool” to “I played this game and it was cool”: Hi-Fi Rush. It absolutely captivated me throughout. It has everything- charm, style, writing and characters that are heartfelt, hilarious, and over the top all at once- and most of all it has an incredibly natural evolution of the high-style high-precision action genre into a rhythm-based brawler where the world moves to the beat. Do I even need to mention it has, not one, but two banger soundtracks? It's a game I look forward to replaying (a rare praise from me), and one I know I'll be in love with for a long time.

Around the same time I was working my way through Sea of Stars- I've talked more about that here but it also really had me engaged as a modern love letter back to the SNES JRPG era. Visually stunning, musically lovely, satisfying gameplay, and a story that I felt gave its well written characters the space they deserved.

Once those were out of the way, I had my mission for the rest of the year: get this backlog CLEARED. Throughout the year, I knocked out:

Pokemon Ranger: Shadows of Almia: a game beloved by many growing up that had passed me by. Experiencing it for myself years later, I could tell that I would have poured endless hours into this DS title as a kid, and even today I loved it enough to 100% its quests and Pokedex. Absolutely killer writing and fun gameplay that still holds up today. I am glad I played it as an older adult though for one reason: at this age I know how not to harm my DS’ screen when drawing endless loops.

NEO TWEWY: A sequel to a cult classic I never thought I'd see but I was so, so happy to see it come back. The new game massively shook up the gameplay (it had to, TWEWY for DS is very literally inimitable) but fully kept the spirit and updated it. As the OG wore its 2000s teen culture loud, this game carried the torch forward and gave us the same charm with modern Internet culture. It brought back old characters in excellent ways, added great new ones, had some of my favorite kind of time travel writing moments, and did it all with style, flair, and a rocking OST. In every way a worthy successor to the OG.

Indivisible: Another game I wrote about elsewhere, Lab Zero's sadly ill-fated entry into action platforming. As I said there, I'm glad I could give myself closure on it and I was glad to appreciate the parts of it that did clearly shine- the delicious visuals and combat gameplay. Hopeful to see where those devs end up and what they'll contribute their talent to now.

Triangle Strategy: In terms of strategy games this was a foray outside my usual Fire Emblem interest zone, but it is my friend’s favorite game of all time, so I had to give it a go. The differences took some adjusting, but I ended up enjoying my time with the game. Combat was engaging, visuals had me oohing and ahhing in places, I liked the characters (Julio and Jens my MVPs). But the standout was the story- as deep and politically thrilling as I was promised it would be. The narrative voting/negotiation system offered me some cool moments of choosing my path (or one time having it chosen for me) which culminated in a really really well set up three-way ending split; it wasn't just choosing a side but choosing an ideology, and the characters who wouldn't abide that choice felt completely justified in their refusal to follow you. I didn't get the golden route, but I may go back someday. Without a doubt my best narrative game of the year. (Plus, the final boss of the route I chose was really really tactically engaging and I loved it as much as i feared it.)

Along the way, a few non-backlog titles did sneak their way onto the list…

Case of the Golden Idol: a visually quirky detective narrative puzzle game that scratched the same deductive itch as Obra Dinn, I had a lot of fun deciphering its ersatz mystery. Each chapter is a death tableau and you use clues and logic to piece together who is who, what is what, and what has happened, with each scene leading to a bizarre overarching narrative that makes you want to keep going just to see how wild it gets.

Death’s Door: A little soulslite adventure title about a reaper crow working for Death and trying to straighten up some loose ends. The environments are really well modeled (though a map wouldn't have gone amiss) and the combat system had a satisfying loop with some unique twists. Its final boss impressed me by being a spectacle fight through multiple zones that showed off the boss’ powers thematically, let you learn what the boss was doing in each phase, and wasn't a drag to retry (the usual danger with set piece fights that keep shifting areas). 

Blasphemous: One of those “classics” of the modern indie metroidvania space, and one of the first to get overtly Soulsy with it, I finally got the chance to try it and it showed me just why it deserves its "classic" status. The writing was very Souls and the platforming very vania, both excelling in their own way. I really loved the sheer variety of collectibles, that's a strong point in my heart for any metroidvania. I absolutely adored the music, a masterwork of Spanish guitar tracks I still listen to. And visually the game’s strong Spanish Roman Catholic aesthetic absolutely oozed artistic passion, and it was clear that so much work went into its visuals… including the surprising amount of (well-animated) gore. Which leads me to…

Nine Sols: if I had a nickel for every soulslike metroidvania I played this year that turned out to be quite unexpectedly graphic, these would be my two nickels. But content warning aside, I can't sing Nine Sols’ praise enough. Its gameplay was thoroughly polished and at every turn designed to help you feel like a kickbutt martial artist warrior, running up walls and surviving lethal enemies with perfect parrying and a unique attack to give that iconic ‘dash past enemy, beat, they explode’ rhythm to the fights. Then it sells that mastery by making enemies increasingly lethal, requiring more and more skill, but the floor never ramped hard enough that I was frustrated (though the last two bosses had me baffled for a while). Exploration felt rewarding with a lot of cool and useful items to find, and seeing this game’s beautiful blend of "Taopunk" futuristic + traditional Oriental environmental designs was a treat unto itself. And lastly, there's a gripping story that unfolds as you get to know its characters- Yi, your mysterious protagonist, the friends he makes, and the enemies he ruthlessly cuts down.

Are we done yet? Almost, I promise. 

As of writing I'm in the middle of Echoes of Wisdom and Ghost Trick, so those, while both great titles, will I think be their own posts. All that's left then is to acknowledge the games I played that I didn't, or couldn't, “beat:” the multiplayer ones.

I played a bunch of MtG with my friends, and I played a lot of Civilization VI with other friends, and those both took up many happy hours. If this wasn't too long already I'd tell you about unstoppable bunnies and definitely not werewolves, or my friends and I allying to conquer the world. But I knew when I got my switch recap today that there's a clear standout in hour count alone: It's not a surprise to you or to me, it's Splatoon freshwater-freaking 3. 

How could I not give it the most love for this year where I fell harder into it than ever before? Where my elite Salmon Runner friend helped me climb to dizzying new heights of EVP rank 999? Where I appeared on so many friend’s multiplayer streams for Splatfests and Big Runs? Where I took it upon myself to fill out my weapon collection 100%? Where I did Side Order runs until I knew every floor by name? Every one of those things has given me a cherished memory… but none more cherished than attending an honest-to-goodness music festival in this game, with my friends, reminiscing on past triumphs, on the importance of living in the present, and with the thrill of looking to the future. I loved Splatoon 3, and with the Grand Festival, it felt like the game, the devs, and the community gave me that love right back. 

That, among all of these games’ memories and experiences, is the one I think I'll treasure longest.

Video games are cool. I'm so, so glad they're real.

[josnhoes]

I've been playing a lot of Fire Emblem Engage and had a brain worm set in the Fire Emblem Heros verse. So have a small drabble

Pragamtic!Reader, isekai, angst, talks of war, reader is bitter and angry, open ended

Being the summoner was hard, not the summoning part but the war planning part. You were no tactician, even when you had played the game it had been a case of over leveling and auto battling. Another thing was the game, or rather being in it. Fire Emblem Heros had been a fun pass time where you got to look at attractive anime people and coo over the kid units. They were never real and failure in battle had no consequences. Here though they did; and you could tell no one the truth of your origins.

It was isolating but you tried your best to push past it, to do your best for them all and the characters you'd loved so dearly. But despite the many daydreams of meeting them, and showing them your kindness they didn't see you the way they did in the game. You suppose it was your fault, maybe suggesting biological warfare wasn't a good idea. You hadn't even mentioned anything deadly just spreading a flu through the enemy ranks to get an upper hand.

That had not been the right call, nor had been the idea of various traps or the use of carefully placed explosives to funnel the enemy while on the battlefield. To you the ideas felt pragmatic, it was war and lives were on the line on all sides. But the group was the order of Heros not the order of fight dirty to win. Though you didn't see it as winning so much as surviving.

You weren't completely alone in the ideas you had. The 'darker' units had agreed with you, war wasn't won by playing fair; time and time again the enemy had shown the ideals as well. But Alfonse and his sister never caved. At this point all you were was a way to bring bodies to the battle. You didn't get a say on the battlefield, instead you just summoned heros and watched from the sidelines alone.

It had been anyway, until one day when out of desperation you were brought in because of Hel's undying army. You had been reluctant and snippy thanks to how you'd been viewed in the war room before but this time they listened. Despite their discomfort at the less then savory tactics they tried your plan. It worked too. The fight went from kill the enemy to disable the enemy. From fight fairly and with honor to survive. This shift in attitude kept everyone alive.

When Hel was defeated you were praised as a hero. Suddenly everyone had always agreed with your ideas. It should have made you happy. Finally they were accepting you like your daydreams, but instead all you felt was bitter. You realized you couldn't do this anymore. You couldn't be their hero summoner, you'd gone from loving the characters to hating them.

You left that night leaving the summoner's coat and Breidablik on the table of the room you had called your own. You didn't bother with a note, you doubted they would notice you gone until they needed new people to fill their ranks. You had expected the journey to be one of solitude and you didn't know where you were going either. But as you slipped out of the castle you were stopped. A few of the darker heros whom you'd managed to become friendly with, who had supported you stopped you and told you they were coming with.

Solitude was hard and you knew without someone to fight for you you'd be dead, so you welcomed them and your journey deviating from the plot of the game began.

Unbeknownst to you and your group your absence was noticed rather quickly. Alfonse and Anna had come to your room to talk to you, apologize for their behavior and most importantly try to make things right. Finding your things there and no sign of you sent them into a rush to find you. By the time they realized you were gone the consequences of their behavior hit them. Yes they had lost the key to their victory, but they had been so callous they'd driven away someone they had summoned and used. They had thought you wrong with your underhanded plans but it was war and you had been *right*. They just hoped they could find you alive and make things right.

[gascon-en-exil]

Could you do 2 and 3 for the ask meme? What about 37?

2. Is there a trope you’ve yet to try your hand at, but really want to?

Not exactly a trope, but I'd like to branch out from the semi-canon-compliant work I've been mostly sticking to in my first fic. I feel like the later chapters, which are mostly set after the story canon has all wrapped up, are where I got to be among the most creative in terms of ideas and with what I actually wanted to see from these characters.

That's a big reason that I think that I might actually be able to follow up on this and turn it into a series, now that I've laid the groundwork for where and how this continuity does and does not adhere to canon. That's been fun on a meta level, as a (hopefully subtle?) way of working through issues I have with Octopath Traveler II's story aside from just writing meta about it like I would with Fire Emblem or most other properties, but eventually those issues run out and one is left looking at these characters and wondering where they should go next.

3. Is there a trope you wouldn’t touch with a ten foot pole?

Omegaverse springs to mind. I can understand the appeal of it intellectually, in part thanks to @theeeveetamer who writes Omegaverse and talks about it regularly, but I've determined that it's not really for me. If you know anything about some of my other interests you'd think it might be...but nope. It might be a bit distasteful to pull my - as someone once derisively described it, specifically referencing me - "man in fandom" card, but I think a big part of my indifference to Omegaverse is that I do have an unfair advantage over many readers and writers in M/M erotic fic spaces. I'm actually gay and have quite a lot of sexual experience to draw on because of my offline work, which happens to align closely with the standard profile of (cis) gay smut in transformative fandom. As such I always look at Omegaverse and find myself thinking about comparatively more mundane kinks that accomplish the same goals, kinks that can fit more readily into a variety of fictional contexts and don't require a hyper-specific AU to function.

That said, I do find many of the common arguments against Omegaverse - that it replicates heteronormative dynamics, that it's adjacent to bestiality - to be quite dumb and not worth entertaining. Even when kinks aren't to my taste, I don't see much point in judging them.

37. Talk about your current wips.

I appreciate that you separated this one, anon, because it's one of those that's pretty awkward for me to answer at the moment. The fic I'm working on is only a WIP publicly at this point; I finished it around the time I posted the first chapter, and have only been making edits intermittently since then because I've been told that staggering chapters is better for engagement. Still, it's what I've got - so let's go with that.

Putting this story together and publishing it have certainly been interesting experiences, and I've gotten some positive feedback from the approximately ten other people who ship Osvald/Partitio. Part of me is annoyed that I chose to start writing for a rare pair in such a small fandom as OT2, and that I didn't start out with something like Dimidue or Ferdibert instead...but FE's settings just don't speak to me in the same way. (Also, back when Houses was the hot new thing I was writing meta and fending off fan wank, and later getting a feel for YouTube, so I was quite busy elsewhere.)

I discovered pretty quickly that I have two preferred modes when writing fic. The first is the same sort of meandering, almost fairytale-esque disassociated narrator voice like what you'd find in my ship meta that actually verge on short fics themselves, ex. my attempt at building the crack ship Diarmuid/Tristan. The second is dialogue, to the point that for several scenes, particularly later in the fic, I sometimes felt as though I were writing a play. I'm not great with action scenes, which is one reason I skipped over most of the ones that had to be worked around in canon. I did come up with a rather cheeky way to nod toward that in the epilogue...though whether anyone else finds it funny remains to be seen.

But yes - it's been educational, and I am now firmly in rare pair hell. There's an entertaining spitefulness to it: that while YouTube's algorithm has pushed me into being a dedicated FETuber with only the occasional vanity project on the side, over on Archive Of Our Own I'm becoming known for my work in a completely different fandom.

[aubins]

TOA Anniversary Munday!

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

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

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

NAME. darcy, but i also go by elio in other places

PRONOUNS. they/them

BIRTHDAY (NO YEAR). january 9

WHERE ARE YOU FROM? WHAT IS YOUR TIMEZONE? sea & gmt+8

ROLEPLAY EXPERIENCE. i couldn't give you an exact timeline tbh i do it very on and off for the most part

GOT ANY PETS? not at the moment!

FAVORITE TIME OF YEAR. there aren't really seasons where i'm from, so more generally my favorite time of year is the start of it! something nice about seeing the year turn over i think

SOME INTERESTS AND THINGS YOU LIKE. my life is a constant cycle of consume new media > fixate on said media > repeat so my current interests really depend on what i've gotten into recently haha (rain code right now i fear) otherwise some things i always like to talk about regardless are atla, orv, ace attorney, and specifically venti from genshin & ryuki from somnium files. i'm sure there are other things that i can't remember rn tho haha. in general, i also like math, reading & writing (i mean. you know LOL), photography, and music (i play the piano)! i also just like to learn in general

SOME FUN FACTS & TRIVIA ABOUT YOU. i speak three languages, though i can only confidently say i'm fluent in two. my mandarin has unfortunately suffered from years of disuse

WHAT NON-FIRE EMBLEM GAMES DO YOU PLAY? ace attorney, somnium files, rain code…there is a pattern here lol but those aside, other games i like that come to mind are 13 sentinels: aegis rim, hades, pokemon, and honkai: star rail

FAVORITE POKEMON TYPE & POKEMON. fairy types & ditto :] i just think it's a silly little guy

HOW DID YOU GET INTO FIRE EMBLEM? my brother came home with fe3h one day and i decided to play it too because he seemed like he was having fun

WHAT FIRE EMBLEM GAMES HAVE YOU PLAYED? fe11, fe12, fe16 (+ hopes), & fe17! though i got a little bit through awakening before i stopped, and i've watched play throughs of the tellius games & sov

FIRST FIRE EMBLEM GAME. three houses

FAVORITE FIRE EMBLEM GAME. i don't know if i would say i have a specific favorite to be honest

ANY FIRE EMBLEM CRUSHES? hm, not really? if i had to say one, maybe yuri, but that's in part gender envy i think haha

IF YOU'VE PLAYED THE FOLLOWING GAMES, WHO WAS YOUR FIRST S SUPPORT? WHO WOULD YOU S SUPPORT NOWADAYS? — THREE HOUSES. claude…probably yuri these days though haha — ENGAGE. technically no one because i immediately reset it after, but i gave the pact ring to veyle before i did

FAVORITE FIRE EMBLEM CLASS. mages are fun! in general i just like magic conceptually

IF YOU WERE A FIRE EMBLEM CHARACTER, WHAT WOULD BE YOUR CLASS? i used to do archery so probably an archer!

IF YOU WERE A THREE HOUSES CHARACTER, WHAT WOULD BE YOUR AFFILIATION? i am heavily biased toward the golden deer because they were my first route haha but i'm an ashen wolves liker at heart so probably between those two

IF YOU WERE AN ENGAGE CHARACTER, WHICH EMBLEM WOULD YOU ENGAGE WITH? ooh…byleth? goddess dance is silly methinks

HOW DID YOU FIND TOA? i was struggling a lot with my writing at the time and stumbled upon the heart & soul ad on twitter! it was rather serendipitous timing i think

CURRENT TOA MUSES. one mister yuri leclerc

WHO WAS YOUR FIRST TOA MUSE? IF YOU DON'T HAVE THEM ANYMORE, COULD YOU SEE YOURSELF PICKING THEM UP AGAIN? my first muse was the lovely marianne von edmund :] she is very dear to my heart which unfortunately means i was very hard on myself when it came to writing her so probably not, but i think of her time in toa fondly

HAVE YOU HAD ANY OTHER TOA MUSES? caeda very briefly from when i first picked up the archanea games, and est whose app i wrote on the spot in the middle of the night after rereading her base conversations & supports

DO YOU THINK YOU HAVE A TYPE OF CHARACTER YOU GRAVITATE TOWARDS? i'm sure i probably do, but i wouldn't be able to put my finger on it myself. i think the process that happens for me when it comes to muses is that i find characters with certain aspects that i find interesting and would like to explore, then i learn to write them. and very rarely a character will just hit me over the head with a steel chair (yuri and est namely for muses i have/had in toa haha)

WHAT DO YOU BELIEVE YOU ENJOY WRITING THE MOST? i love exploring a variety of relationship dynamics, though antagonistic relationships and found family in particular are my favorites (paw against the glass for the ashen wolves..) and i like writing the disparity between what a character thinks internally versus what they would actually express externally. more generally, i really enjoy writing combat!

FAVORITE TOA-RELATED MEMORY. i think any silly rng moments with the dice. two that come to mind immediately are est & sirius whiffing their attacks against one another in arena and, far more recently, waking up to yuri immediately getting bodied in team zofia. those made me laugh a lot haha

HOW DO YOU PRONOUNCE TOA? by the letters! t-o-a

GOT ANY DELUSIONS THAT DIDN'T SEE THE LIGHT OF DAY THAT YOU'D LIKE TO SHARE? fun fact of the day is that edelgard was going to be my first muse before i got intimidated at the idea of writing a lord mfksldjflskd i unironically have delusions of writing sommie haha but otherwise i have half-written apps for clarisse, both solm royals, lysithea, and shez

[cursedbluebird]

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

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

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

tagging: you

---

Name: Rosie

Pronouns: she/her

Birthday (no year): March 24

Where are you from? What is your time zone? Nebraska, CST

Roleplay experience: since 2009

Got any pets? Freya and Bast the naughtiest kitties in the universe

Favorite time of year: Fall

Some interests and things you like: sewing, thinking way too much about clothes

Some funfacts & trivia about you: - I wrote my undergrad thesis on the progression fashion of the 20th c, but I am terrible about keeping up on modern fashion

What non-Fire Emblem games do you play? L E G E N D O F Z E L D A.... I love Majora's Mask... Hero of Time my beloved baby boy..... I also love Okami so much. I'm a sucker for fairy tales and mythology.

Favorite Pokemon type & Pokemon: I'm actually not a big pokemon person! I started with Y. Ghosts and Psychic are my faves, particularly Mimikyu, Meowstic, and Hoopa. Gengar is also shaped like a friend :)

How did you get into Fire Emblem? I had been interested in the series since the GBA days but it wasn't until I got my 3ds and awakening that I got the chance to play a game.

What Fire Emblem games have you played? Awakening, Conquest & Birthright, 3H, Shadows of Valentia

First Fire Emblem game: Awakening

Favorite Fire Emblem game: Fates or 3H

Any Fire Emblem crushes? Oh my God Niles hi tee-hee... Tho Seteth damage art did get me into playing feh... And uh... My husband does look like Xander ...and his name is.... Alexander........🥴 I've posted my questionable taste in fe characters you can find it in the chat if you search

If you’ve played the following games, who was your first S support? - Awakening: Chrom- Fates: oh good God idr.... Kaze? I know I did Niles in one run... Did I do Stahl in Birthright? Kaze in conquest and Stahl in Birthright sounds right- Three Houses: Dimitri - Engage: haven't played engage. Place your bets for fun

Favorite Fire Emblem class: I like the magic classes! Healing and attacking! Tho Camilla's malig knight does have a special place in my heart 💜

If you were a Fire Emblem character, what would be your class? Dark magic user...I do not escape the goth aesthetic.... Unfortunately I am too much of a noodle to be a malig knight 😞

If you were a Three Houses character, what would be your affiliation? Fear the Deer!!! (Side note, bless my luck bc when I ordered a leftover bundle from fodlans fables I got the deer. A cosplayer I look up to also offered me her deer pin from the fe3h preorder bonus which had me 🥹)

If you were an Engage character, which Emblem would you Engage with? I don't know what this means but I copied this from Erica and her answer was funny.

How did you find TOA? I track the Marianne tag on Tumblr and saw the previous Marianne drop. The old shit post emblem group I was in was falling apart and I thought it would be nice to join a new one.

Current TOA muses: Marianne, Camilla, Triandra

Who was your first TOA muse? If you don’t have them anymore, could you see yourself picking them up again? Marianne my cursed little blue bird 💙 I've thought about dropping her, thinking that maybe someone else would do a better job, but I just can't let her go.

Have you had any other TOA muses? Other than cami and Tria nope

Do you think you have a type of character you gravitate towards? Um??? I don't know? I got told that Tria was a Rosie muse when I reserved her so I guess y'all know better than me lol

What do you believe you enjoy writing the most? I like writing horror and setting the scene :) my favorite part about combat events is describing the creatures we're facing from my characters pov

Favorite TOA-related memory: What Kent told Mari in her first lore event about the importance of healers have lived rent free in my memory since it happened. Also Griss trying to blow himself up in the arena and despite his best efforts not succeeding.

Got any delusions that didn’t see the light of day in TOA that you’d like to share? Charlotte is one I've thought about and is the one most likely to send Triandra packing....there are an awful lot of men at the academy who would do a great job taking care of her and her family 😏

[kimium]

I know I already answered some asks about my fics for 2023, but I wrote a review for my fics last year, so I'm doing it again this year. Let's get started! All the data comes from my AO3 statistics. All the rest is under a cut because it's long!

My Fic Review for 2023

Statistic Stuff

My "Top Five" fics by hits:

Just a Normal Citizen (Not a Dimension Traveler) - Twisted Wonderland

Daydreams - Twisted Wonderland

Stay where you are - Twisted Wonderland

Setting the Scene - Twisted Wonderland

Broken Kitchen - Twisted Wonderland

My most bookmarked fic: Just a Normal Citizen (Not a Dimension Traveler)

How many words I wrote in 2023: 235,377

Question Stuff

What was the most surprising thing about writing in 2023?

I think the most surprising thing about this year was the amount of Twisted Wonderland fics I wrote. While I got into the game in 2022, it wasn't until this year you can see it dominate my fanfics. Writing for a new fandom is always a gamble. Just because I get into a new fandom doesn't always mean I write fanfics for it, but Twisted Wonderland won the gamble ahaha.

2. What was the most enjoyable to write?

The most enjoyable thing to write this year was my Platonic Yandere AU. The idea of all the NRC cast deciding to silently keep Yuu from going home haunted my mind for months. Bringing it to life was fun and I'm so happy that others like this idea too.

3. Which fic is the most underrated?

I know I've already talked about my poor Fire Emblem fic Divine Intervention being underrated and I still stand by this answer. However, I'm adding another story to this answer. I also think that Energy Drinks (SDR2) is underrated and I'd love to see more love to that story.

4. Which fic(s) had something "cut" or had an idea that never happened?

-I had more violent scenes in mind for Just a Normal Citizen (Not a Dimension Traveler), particularly with Jade/Floyd as well as Leona, but those never happened. Mostly because all the cast decided to keep their illegal activities "secret" from Yuu. Those scenes may still happen later in the story.

-Yuu's reveal of coming from another dimension had other versions that just couldn't happen. All of them a little too dramatic so they were scrapped. I'm happy where it landed though.

-In Dorm Exchange I was also going to write some of the exchange part, but I never got around to it and focused on the deciding process.

-In Late Night Snack I originally wanted Yuu and Vil's conversation to be a little more confrontational. That didn't pan out and I'm happier for it.

5. Which fic did you want to write but didn't get around to?

-I wanted to write a fic where established Vil/Rook high key flirt with other characters that they're attracted to. The main candidate for this is Trey but other characters include: Jack, Cater, Deuce, Ace, and of course Yuu. Though I think I get enough Vil/Rook flirting with Yuu in other fics ahaha.

-For my Platonic Yandere AU I have ideas for where Grim falls on the scale of "Keep Yuu in Twisted Wonderland". I don't know if I'd write a full separate fic, but the idea could appear in another fic in Yuu's perspective. Also, I have more ideas for this AU so stay tuned.

-Said this in an ask before but I want to write another instalment in my Kitsune!Komaeda and Human Hajime fic series.

-Briefly thought about writing another Dr. Stone fic because of Season Three and rereading the manga.

-I still have a silly JJK/SK8 the Infinity fic sitting in my WIPs that I'd like to write for the laughs.

6. Any WIPs that never got published?

I have two main ones. First, I have a story about Malleus who normally eats lunch alone (if not accompanied by Lilia, Silver, or Sebek) and Kalim deciding that can't happen and Malleus needs to eat with him and his friends. I didn't finish this because at the time I was writing a LOT of food in my fics and felt it was very repetitive.

Next, I have a story of Lilia finding Silver and the process of raising Silver as his son. I didn't finish this mostly because that's when Book 7 dropped in Japan and my story would 100% contradict canon and I hate when I do that.

7. Share a snippet from a WIP fic?

Here is a snippet from Malleus eating lunch alone and Kalim deciding this cannot happen. Fic title in my WIPs is "Homemade Lunches".

"Deciding on his sandwich first, Malleus reached to pick it up when a blur of warm crème and red flashed towards him. A beat later and Kalim plopped down beside Malleus, angling himself so the trunk of the tree slightly hid him. Kalim warmly smiled before pressing a single finger to his lips, the universal sign of “be quiet”, and watched as a few Scarabia members ran past him, their footsteps frantic. When they passed and didn’t return Kalim exhaled audibly.

If Malleus were asked to describe Kalim, he’d say Kalim was like a desert breeze that morphed into human form so it could dance and sing with abandon. Wherever Kalim went warmth followed him, like the taste of chili powder, cinnamon, cloves, and other spices Malleus vaguely remembered from souvenirs Lilia had brought back. Kalim’s warmth always lingered on the tongue before dancing its way down into the heart."

8. Which fic was the one you were most "excited" to write?

I was most excited to write The smell of bleach for @m34gs as part of our Sort of Saw AU. At that point the story idea had only been scattered in ask answers, our DMs, and over phone calls. Bringing our conversations together into a single fic was so exciting! Honestly, this entire AU excites me so much!

Anyways, here is my little review. I hope you enjoyed reading it! And if you have anything you want me to expand on, feel free to send an ask!

[mayhem-ensues]

Non-Spoiler Engage Early Impressions

Just completed Chapter 5 of Engage, so here's my feelings on the game so far. No comments about the story or characters just yet because I'm still early into the plot and I haven't seen too many supports yet sadly.

While the story may very well end up being a disappointment compared to Three Houses like reviewers have suggested, if nothing else the presentation of the story has improved immensely. Obviously having a voiced protagonist is a big part of this but there's also other stuff like the fact that this game has actual cutscenes, instead of just having people stand in front of 2D backdrops and then fading to black when any action needs to happen.

The animations are a big, big improvement over every other 3D Fire Emblem. The only one that comes close really is Shadows of Valentia, but I'd say this game clears that one as well.

I've been playing on Hard Mode, and while the first couple of chapters are spent introducing the mechanics, the gameplay ramps up pretty quickly and I say Chapter 5 was really fun. If the rest of the game can maintain that level of quality, or improve upon it, then it will definitely been in the upper echelon of FE games in terms of the gameplay.

Related to the above, but one change to the combat that I think is really great here is that they've actually tried to give unique qualities to different types of units. So, for example, armored units are immune to the new break system, which gives them crazy value in terms of holding up a defensive position. Armor Knights have generally been a bit of a joke in most FE games, so it's cool to see them get some love.

The Home Base probably still has a few too many mechanics in it, and I can see it getting tedious later in the game, but everything I've seen so far is way more optional than the Monastery was in Three Houses. Like, I can easily see people finishing the game and having a good time without engaging with the stuff around Sommniel.

I haven't seen any sign of the DLC Emblems yet and it's annoying. Where are my House Leader blorbos game? Stop hiding them from me.

So yeah, mostly positives for me so far this early in the game, but we'll see how things develop.

[iturbide]

I know next to nothing about engage at the moment, but I would most definitely like to read your thoughts on your favourite or least favourite characters so far! Or anything you like/dislike about the make, really!

Also- I have no idea about anything about the Brodian family besides They’re Royalty but I would 100% die for Alcryst.

I'll be honest, Engage has really surprised me with just how much fun it is!!

(Spoilers below the cut!)

I actually love a lot of different characters. Alcryst is my boy, he keeps outleveling everyone but the healers because I have to take him everywhere. Also, please know that you will not die for Alcryst: Alcryst will die for you (he is 100% willing to throw himself into danger to protect other people because of a frankly massive inferiority complex that makes him believe he's worth less than the people around him; I honestly do not know where this comes from, given that his brother and father love and support him so much, but his brother being perfect in his eyes may contribute in part).

Also, Fogado. I was so afraid I was going to hate Fogado because the pre-release stuff gave the impression of a flirt along the lines of Virion or Inigo, one of my most beloathed character traits. Fogado is honestly more along the lines of Claude in how laid-back and easygoing he seems (while secretly getting shit done), and I love him so much.

(Also, both Alcryst and Fogado are the younger brothers and have an archer class specialty, so between them and Takumi and Claude depending on how canon you consider Three Hopes to be, I apparently have a Thing for the younger brother archers in Fire Emblem games.)

I also love Boucheron. Boucheron my beloved. Buff and kindhearted and everyone is obsessed with his muscles. It's hilarious. But he takes it in stride with incredible grace and also he's just so nice? His supports are all great and also I love setting him up with Lucina's ring because they synergize so well (her special move calls in all allies within two spaces to join in a chain attack, and his personal ability raises his strength when allies jump in to assist like that).

AND YUNAKA. I was so sure that Yunaka was going to backstab us but I was completely wrong and I honestly ended up so attached to her. She's so fun and honestly so silly, which is hilarious since she's literally an assassin or, well, former assassin. "Hiya, Papaya" is now ingrained in my lexicon, thank you Yunaka.

Oh and Zelkov and Kagetsu. They are both utterly delightful in completely different ways: Zelkov is very cool to the point of coming off as intimidating but he has no tolerance for boredom: he teaches himself new things and tries his hand at all manner of crafts and hobbies to keep himself engaged. Also, he has the most interesting inflections in his speech I have no idea what it's drawing from but I love his speech pattern. And Kagetsu is the exact opposite: he's bright and cheery and charming and friendly and so excited about so many things he's so endearing. Also, I don't think that the common langage of Elyos is his first one because he says "I could quiz you" instead of "I could kiss you" and I just. I love him. I love him so much.

I'm also really fond of Alcryst's older brother Diamant, Fogado's older sister Timerra, Rosado the adorable wyvern rider, Merrin the wolf knight who's obsessed with rare critters, Lapis the sword knight who loves a craft project, Jade the meditative knight who secretly writes novels in her free time, Etie the archer with her weighted teacups for getting buff during teatime, Saphira the axe-wielding badass old lady, Framme and Clanne the twin presidents of the Divine Dragon fanclub...honestly it's a shorter list of characters I don't like.

Funny enough, I'm not a big fan of Vander. He might be fine if not for how he comes down hard on Framme for forgetting things, and Framme gives off intense ADHD vibes. I got in a lot of trouble as a kid for forgetting things people told me, so it does not endear me to him when Vander chastises a girl with attention problems rather than trying to coach her and figure out a system that works for her.

I'm also not big on either Hortensia and Goldmary. Both of them are manipulative in different ways but it's extremely uncomfortable; Hortensia gives me Severa vibes with how she tries to leverage her cute looks and get people to fawn and fuss over her, while Goldmary is...almost like a lady Inigo, in a way? She's extremely flirty and kind of full of herself from what I've seen and I just haven't been endeared to her as of yet. I still have a lot of supports to unlock though so all of these might change!

I actually really like a lot of the mechanics in the game! Engaging is such a fun system and I love shuffling the rings around to different characters to see how they work together: giving Marth to an Archer with high speed will absolutely obliterate flying enemies (or just about anything else, honestly) with the extra shot of half damage for every attack they make. Right now I'm abusing Corrin's inheritable Quality Time skill for trying to build up supports because it increases the Support level of all nearby allies after a move (and heals a few points of damage too). Also, having weapon proficiency linked to the Engage rings means you have so much freedom with reclassing: right now I've gone to Advanced class just based on the original base class, but I plan on changing things around once I hit the max level just to see what happens! I think Yunaka would benefit from some time as a Wolf Rider for the Hobble class skill, but Thieves and Dancers are special classes that don't have a level cap at 20 so I'm still trying to find the max level for her. Also, I haven't seen a single normal Base Class that has a unique class skill: only Advanced Classes do, but once you've used a Master Seal once every other Advanced Class change just takes a Second Seal; combined with that freedom afforded by the weapon proficiency system, it's super easy to experiment.

Also I kind of love the skirmishes. Skirmishes level with you: at this point my skirmishes are asking for Advanced Class Level 11 and 12 while the main story is something like Advanced Level 4 or 5. I actually got forced into doing the story at one point because it needed Advanced Classes and I just didn't have enough Master Seals. On top of that, after battle you have an opportunity to run around, adopt animals, pick up items, and talk to your allies! It's really interesting to explore these maps in 3D that you'd just viewed from above or in brief flashes during combat sequences -- some of them are really beautiful, too, like the Solm Palace!

Overall the story isn't bad, either! It's been fun to play through, the cast is delightful, I'm honestly shocked and delighted that for once it's not the desert nation that's the site of the villains, and the dark-skinned characters are absolute gems with some remarkably keen strategizing in play when it comes to keeping their nation and its people safe. Full respect for Solm, I love it dearly (though I will confess that the number of lily white Solmese characters still grates on me: aside from the royal family, every recruitable Solmese character including the dancer is white, despite one of them making it pretty clear from her supports that she was desert born and raised).

That said, it definitely has some of the same flaws that I've seen in Fire Emblem games before it, which continues to be the most uncomfortable aspect to interact with. The villainous nation worships the evil dragon, the only good members of that nation are the ones who don't worship the evil dragon but instead worship the Divine Dragon, the warrior nation is justified in constantly encroaching on the evil nation's territory because they worship the evil dragon, the evil dragon in this case is quite literally devouring the inhabitants of the nation that worships it...there are several aspects that feel like they were lifted from Awakening, but this actually takes it a step further than Awakening ever did and has made Sombron directly and tangibly responsible for the death of a nation. In Awakening we know that Validar orchestrated events at the Dragon's Table in the doomed timeline, so it's not just Grima's influence that caused that disaster; I also don't think it's unreasonable to say that Validar's mind control over both Robin and the people of Plegia at large was only attributable to Grima's influence, since I've always been under the impression that Robin killed Chrom in the doomed timeline because of Validar's manipulation, not Grima's (that cackling at the end of the opening movie sounds like Validar to me, not Robin). My impression in Awakening was always that that Validar sacrificed Plegia to raise Grima, even in the doomed timeline; in Engage, Sombron sacrifices his own people because he's evil, I guess. It's just a bad look and does not lend itself well to crafting a nuanced villain.

I'm admittedly not done yet so hey, that may turn around, too, but my hopes aren't exactly high there.

Also Veyle is precious, I love her, I want to give her hugs and I want Mauvier to live even though I'm pretty sure he's not long for this world (preemptive RIP Mauvier).

Also, if you've made it this far, this is where I'll put the actual big spoilers:

I did not really feel anything when Lumera died. We knew her for a chapter at most, and while her affection for her child is heartwarming despite Alear's amnesia, her death didn't really have any punch because we barely knew her and it was telegraphed in the most obvious way ("we'll talk later and I'll tell you all these things" yeah right I've heard that from a Fire Emblem game before you're not making it out of Chapter 3 lady). Meanwhile, I was completely gutted by the death of Morion, King of Brodia and Diamant and Alcryst's dad. We didn't know him long, really, but we got to see him in action, got to see how he interacted with his kids, how much he loved his family, and how committed he was to the safety of his land and people. And when he was corrupted...you could bring his sons to the fight. And have them face their father. And the dialogues for the brothers when they faced their father just destroyed me. Diamant, worrying he's not ready for kingship, asking his father if he was a good son though Morion no longer answer; and Alcryst, insisting that he has to strike down his father because he knows the task would break the older brother he so loves, and telling Morion that he loves his father and always will. I was a wreck after that, they really pulled out all the stops with those conversations and I am still in pieces honestly.

[fictionaladoptionpolls]

Fae

Age: Unknown (three digits)

Home: Arcadia, Nabata (Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade)

Blood type: Dragon

Likes: New friends, playing outside, pretty things

Dislikes: Fighting, following orders, outliving her new friends

Affinity: Light

The last dragon of Arcadia, Fae had a pretty fun (though extremely long) childhood. Then, everything changed when the Bern nation attacked. For reasons that matter little to this bracket and less to Fae, General Randy attacked the village of Arcadia, only to be driven off by a prince (who looks like some guy who was looking for treasure in the desert a couple decades ago). One of Fae’s grown-up friends leaves with the prince, and Fae follows in secret (mostly because she’s tired of being stuck inside). She gets captured, one thing leads to another, and she ends up bringing the mean dragon back home. Then Fae drops fruit on her head.

Fae is one of those centuries-old little girl dragons that Fire Emblem is famous (notorious?) for. More than most of them, she really is just a kid who happens to outlive all of her playmates (and their descendants). She’s an exceptionally sheltered child, however; the (nominally) elders of Arcadia are worried about what could happen if the outside world learned of a small, relatively vulnerable divine dragon, so they kept her inside as much as possible. Fae really wants to see what the world outside Arcadia is like, though.

Fae gets along with most people, but doesn’t get particularly close to many. She only has support conversations with five characters (out of 54)—two from Arcadia, a nomad who feels sorry for how she rarely got to see the sky, an old lady who learns that dragons aren’t so bad, and a really pretty bard. Maybe that’s not surprising, considering that Fae’s a nigh-immortal child who doesn’t have much experience making friends (and is busy enjoying the outdoors and non-desert regions). It’s still sad that she takes so long to make friends, especially given how short their human lives are…

Also, her dragon form is fluffy.

What does Tumblr think of Fae?

Never realize that I need this legendary chicken so bad 🐓

dude (/genderneutral)'s supports are filled to the brim of her existential nightmare of living longer than pretty much the rest of the cast and. she doesn't know! (which is why i think she'd count even though she's part of the 'Is Actually Thousands of Years Old' crowd)

She wonders if she can keep up with her friends.

My baby is here! 💖💖💖💖💖

P.S. Don’t give her a Flame Stone.

[veebs-hates-video-games]

Recent attempts to find something my brain is willing to stick with for any significant amount of time at once aren't going super well.

The good news is I made a little more progress on history mode in Fire Emblem Warriors when I got burned out on Shadows of Valentia. Once every several months I go back to it and do a little bit more, and any year now I'll either run out of stuff to do in it or finally decide I've had enough. In the meantime it's nice to check off a few more things in my spreadsheet for it every now and then.

I did a few more runs of Little Noah: Scion of Paradise too after not having touched it in like a year and a half. It's always really fun at first for a little while, but then I feel like I'm not making much progress very quickly and lose motivation. I do still really like the Bravely Default-adjacent character designs and some of the gameplay mechanics, but something about it never quite clicks for long enough for me.

I finally gave in and started Project X Zone instead of waiting until I'm done with playing/replaying all the Xeno games like I'd planned (at least partly because the older ones are being emulated on my computer, and it's a lot harder for me to see that screen than one I can hold up close). I love how ridiculous a crossover it is between so many things, and the plot is completely nonsense, and there are fun interactions between characters who shouldn't even know each other, and the animations and stuff are really over the top.

On the other hand it's an extremely mid SRPG and getting really tedious really quickly. The tutorial barely exists and doesn't teach you about how like 90% of the things in the game work and expects you to dig through menus to read like 7000 separate info screens explaining it all instead. I still have no idea how a bunch of really basic/important stuff works because my brain decided reading that much at once was bad and I haven't made it through it all.

On the other hand none of that matters because the game seems trivially easy so far, and while the map layouts initially seem more interesting than SoV's they really aren't. It's terrible at presenting a lot of the relevant information, you have very few ways of interacting with the map or units on it, and so far like a dozen chapters in it doesn't even matter that it's a pain in the ass to check enemy attack ranges because nothing ever kills me anyway. We'll see how much longer I last.

And then after getting a little burned out on slogging through too many maps of that one over the past few days I decided to give Three Houses one more chance to see if it at least doesn't make me motion sick/give me migraines anymore. Jury's still out on that, and I don't think we're ever going to find out because I forgot how much I don't like running around the monastery even aside from that being the part that makes me sick. The UI also leaves something to be desired. I like the characters and the world and stuff, but when it comes to actually playing it as a game I definitely have bigger problems with it than I did with SoV, which I at least made it most of the way through before getting frustrated. Also call me a hater but Byleth is easily my least favorite avatar character out of the FE games I've played.

The quest continues for something I can actually play without my brain protesting.

[runawayballista]

here is my elevator pitch: instead of a 45-chapter slog with 73 recruitable characters and no real support conversations, break radiant dawn into 3 much more manageable story routes a la 3h (dawn brigade, elincia & co, greil mercenaries). 3h's structure always felt to me like an attempt to Do Radiant Dawn But Better. unfortunately it didn't but i DO think this format could work for radiant dawn. here is why:

radiant dawn is an ambitious story that wants to show you all sides of a complicated conflict, because the point it's trying to make is War Is Complicated. unfortunately on a gameplay level this means rotating between multiple groups of characters at a rate that becomes whiplash inducing about two thirds of the way into the game

as a result of the aforementioned ambition they decided to bring back every single playable character from path of radiance except for largo PLUS a bunch of new guys. the result is a game with 73 recruitable characters and NO support conversations, presumably because designing support conversations for a cast that large would be insane. this is fine, i guess, for the returning cast whom you presumably already know & love but it means most of the new guys don’t get enough screen time to have as much depth as the returning cast. this is why half the dawn brigade has about as much character as a cardboard standee

one of the things that REALLY mucks this game up is the addition of the third tier of classes. i genuinely cannot think of a good reason to have done this except for "we brought all these characters back for a sequel and it would be weird if a bunch of them were now in base classes" but to me thats a terrible reason. very few characters actually start in a base class and most of them are in the dawn brigade who you have for the first 10 chapters, and then you switch to elincia's crew of prepromotes and laguz. and similarly when you get to the greil mercenaries they are almost all 1) in a 2nd tier class 2) fairly well leveled. this creates problems when the dawn brigade comes back in later because they're all horrendously underleveled and mostly useless in endgame without their designated special weapons

the only other base class recruit in this game is mist btw. mist has never done anything wrong

at the end of the game all 3 parties converge into one incredibly unwieldy crew whose levels AND classes are all over the fucking place, and because this is old school fire emblem, there is no extra-chapter leveling, there is no way to correct for the fact that the dawn brigade guys simply don't spend enough time in the game to really measure up to the rest of the cast who you as the player are more inclined to use anyway because they are characters u know and love

jesus christ this is getting long. putting the rest of this under a cut. anyway heres my extremely rough ideas for Execution

prefacing this with: obv radiant dawn was designed to be played linearly so some of the story writing would need to be adjusted but i also don't think it would take that much rearranging to work out. so just dont worry about how the timeline works for now and just hear me out

three playable routes led by micaiah, elincia, and ike! each comes with the default set of recruitable characters for those groups, plus a la 3h there are characters from the other two routes who are recruitable. not all of them bc that would be unwieldy but given how many characters need to be re-recruited in part 3 & 4, yk? i just think it would be fun. however unlike 3h there should still be late-game recruits with insane lore drops buried in their supports

SUPPORT CONVERSATIONS!!! real ones!!! radiant dawn tried to spoonfeed us more info conversations in their place but if im ever going to give a shit about leonardo i am going to need to see some humorous support conversations between him and edward involving some kind of baking misadventure or some shit

remove the 3rd class tier and put all the parties on the same footing from the start of their routes. i dont care if it doesnt make story sense for soren not to be a sage put him back in the little mage booties. also dividing sage classes by element as a way to really stretch things out into 3 tiers was a bad design choice! dislike

when all the parties join together for the final act of the story, the non-recruited units from other routes are either allied units or not actually on the final battle maps, they are simply there as a Story Presence. i think it makes sense if some or all of the units you get in part 4 specifically are recruitable in any route. particularly thinking about sanaki who has a very specific and different relevance to each of the other protagonists

the one thing i haven't pondered in depth yet is how to make the endings for each route meaningfully different when there's really only one intended ending to the game (reuniting ashera and yune). it's been wayyyy too long since i finished a sacred stones playthru but there's an example to be followed in there probably. obviously significant difference there bc the story in sacred stones only diverges for part of the game but!!! yk!!! i believe it can be done

additionally: lock some of the interesting endgame lore drops (special soren scenes im looking at u. also zelgius) behind specific routes! it's fire emblem so there can still be absurd conditions to unlock them sure whatever but give it that Replayability Factor.

honestly considering the sheer amount of information dropped and loose ends tied up in the epilogue to radiant dawn you could divide some of that between endings too probably. the one thing i'll say about radiant dawn's writing is that the ending is like. very long and packed with so much information even if you DONT get any of the special scenes

going to be honest. u could make a couple of character cuts. i really do not need duke oliver in my party

don't change anything about the laguz. they're perfect and good.

my only gameplay notes for a path of radiance remake: give the laguz radiant dawn's more flexible shifting mechanic and take knives away from sages. why would you make beautiful, special, wonderful callil fucking useless as a sage because she cant use staves and knives dont do any interesting shit in path of radiance

im thinking so much lately about how a radiant dawn remake could be done and done successfully and unfortunately i think this is going to lead to me replaying radiant dawn

[somethingwittyandweird]

What's your favorite game you played this year?

You've activated my “review of my year in gaming” trap card! I was already going to make this post in some form or another, you've just given me the perfect launching point. So, the first thing you should know about asking me for favorites: I never give just one. How could I, when it's been such a banger year of games? (Heads up, this one's going to go long.)

I loved Tears of the Kingdom to death, and it took home my most hours played on Switch. It is a shining example of what devs can do with an extra few months to polish a game. There were so many remarkable moments that testified to how much care and ideas the devs were able to put in. I loved how it used the time since the first game to develop familiar places and characters, adding depth (no pun intended) and also making sure every familiar location had some new twist. The story was a much stronger followup to BotW, and I think this overall has my new favorite ending sequence of anything in the series (I'd love to make a full post sometime about how the final Ganondorf battles just keep getting more spectacular with each new title). I am so, so, so, so normal about this incarnation of Princess Zelda. 

Also in my favorites this year is Fire Emblem Engage, which hit at just the right time to scratch my strategy itch. As a long time FE fan it’s not a surprise I enjoyed this one- though it lost the political intrigue of its predecessor in favor of a more traditional/tropey story, I still had a lot of fun with all its gimmicks and gameplay innovations. Also it is hands-down the most visually appealing game in the franchise, a title previously held by the series’ GBA entries which are masterworks from the peak era of beautiful sprite art. From the incredible crit animations to the spectacle of super attacks to the battle maps which are so beautifully detailed that the game lets you free roam around them after a battle just to appreciate them better. 

I finished the Link’s Awakening remake this year! It was a charming trip back to an older era of Zelda design philosophy and I found it fascinating to compare the ways where the classic puzzles and challenges differ from what the game would be like if it were made today, as well as the places where modern technology allowed for better QoL changes that weren’t in the original. I really enjoyed the music as well, which I find to be a standout among the series still.

Here at the end of the year, I have to give a shout out to Sea of Stars. It has everything you want in an indie darling- very pretty pixel art, very nice music, turn-based battles with timed hits I joke, but Sea of Stars does a great job balancing evoking/paying homage to icons like Chrono Trigger and bringing new gameplay to the JRPG formula. I like its pared-down take on JRPG combat which revamps skills/mana into a much more dynamic resource that’s constantly being spent and regenerated, and I’m a known sucker for character combo attacks which this game has in spades. The later parts of its story are told with a lot of heart, and again I am a known sucker for certain character archetypes. Surprisingly also, I think the movement and exploration is absolutely a standout- not something that’s typically emphasized in the genre. But this game constantly has you hopping across stepping stones, balancing on tightropes, climbing walls and ledges… the emphasis on interesting traversal and verticality is a strength few games like it can boast. 

Before my final pick, I’m including a special section for all the games I didn't play myself but watched my friends play and still want to praise: Hi-Fi Rush, Bomb Rush Cyberfunk, Mario Bros Wonder, Pizza Tower, the Minish Cap Switch rerelease, and more all came out this year and all of them have brought killer music, excellent gameplay, and stunning visuals that I’ve enjoyed to no end. Anyone considering to pick up any of them would find a quality product without a doubt.

With all that said: I think ultimately it has to be Tunic in the end. Underneath its premise of a Zelda/Souls-like adventure game there is a wealth of secrets that goes as far down as you have the courage to delve. It’s a game built to evoke nostalgia for games that you didn’t understand yet, posing as a game that you watched an older sibling play or a game you could only find a poorly-translated foreign copy of. It obscures everything and teaches you its secrets through context, exploration, and discovering in-game pages of the manual (remember manuals?). It’s a game made for lovers of secrets and puzzles, full of hidden paths and trophies that reward inquisitiveness and observation (and taking paper notes). It was when I saw that it not only has a conlang, but that it gives you the hints you need to fully translate it, that I knew I had to get it myself. It spurred me to screenshot every in-game piece of menu text, then spend evenings cross-referencing it to identify phonemes and construct a key.

The rush I got on completing that key is one of two moments I knew this game was absolutely special. The second standout moment is when the game teaches you its hugest secret, and then invites you to prove your mastery of it by presenting you a huge, multi-part puzzle. But, Tunic does the same thing that one of my other all-time favorites, Outer Wilds, does so well: powerups via knowledge, “unlocking” abilities that you always had, you just didn’t know that you did. The pieces to this puzzle are hidden in plain sight; it’s only when the game tells you what you’re looking for that your understanding shifts, everything clicks, and your eyes are opened to the path you have to follow. I don’t say it lightly, but I consider Tunic to be a one-of-a-kind title, and one that delivers completely on its unique vision. 

In case that brick of text doesn’t make it clear, I love this game. 

I love all of these games.

It's a fine time to be alive.

[backwaternoble]

i sure did disappear for a few days huh... sorry i’ve been playing fe8 haha

[carelesswispe]

heya! can I request how Dimitri, Edelgard, Claude, and Yuri would court their crush? headcannons and fluff please :") also if there a character limit? (if you can't do Yuri, please replace him with Ashe) ty in advance </3

- 🍙

thank you for requesting! i had a lot of fun writing this ask and sorry if this took a little longer than expected ;; nevertheless, i hope you enjoyed this, jelly filled donut anon!

>genre: fluff with some angst if you squint (mostly for dimitri and edelgard's part)

>warnings: slight mentions of fighting, slight spoilers for the events of fire emblem three houses, some angst

>pairings: dimitri x reader (gn), edelgard x reader (gn), claude x reader (gn), yuri x reader (gn)

Dimitri

Hh he's the loml

I feel like he would only start to court anyone after the five-year timeskip due to the guilt of the tragedy Duscur and the pent up emotions he’s kept bottled up. The fact that he hasn’t overcome his trauma would probably give him the need to distance himself from the one he has feelings with <\\3

Of course, no one’s able to resist the pull of love and despite his irrational thoughts that tell him to distance himself from you, the thoughts that tell him to stay with you were stronger, the feeling that you give him was like a breath of fresh air in the suffocating miasma of his guilt and trauma which gave him the strength to carry on.

But once the war is finally over and he’s sorted out his feelings for you, the first thing he would do is to see you; to finally let you know how he feels...and maybe even propose you to stay by his side forever--

As for courting you, after so many years of killing and brutal murder, I think that Dimitri would be quite awkward in expressing his feelings for you, after having bottled them up for so long.

He would get flustered easily from the little things you do or say to him but still deliver the smoothest compliments as if it was second nature. Just like he always has in the academy, if not, smoother.

If you were to bring this up to him, he would try to deny it with a flushed face, causing him to be hyper-aware of the little things that he used to say with a nonchalant attitude from then on...how adorable

Dimitri is probably not the most romantic man with having basically no experience with relationships and all and would resort to consulting, albeit after much pestering, Sylvain for relationship advice.

It was quite cute though, seeing this grown man trying to be romantic but failing, looking like a teen with his first crush. Although, that may not be far from the truth.

Of course, after failing to pull off any of the ridiculous date ideas Sylvain proposed to him for the umpteenth time, Dimitri decided to do things his own way, even if it meant stumbling around like a newborn deer.

Dimitri’s idea of a romantic date is probably a bit odd...after all, this is coming from the same man who thought that a dagger is a great parting gift. He would take you to shop around for things you might like, wanting to show you that he would grant you anything you desired. And...while he’s at it, he might buy you a weapon of your liking--

After shopping, he’d treat you to a meal while you’re at it. Although he may not care for the flavours of food, seeing you eat your favorite foods with a delighted expression is enough to make the food that much more appetizing.

Being a king, Dimitri would most likely be very busy, filling up paperwork and all and so going out often isn’t something he could afford to do. In order to make up for that, the free time that he does get is all spent with you. Even for a little while, being with you does take away some of the stress that comes with the amount of responsibility on his shoulders.

Whether it be sharing a cup of tea or simply enjoying yourselves in each other’s company, Dimitri is satisfied to spend any time with you

Edelgard

Similar to Dimitri, I feel like Edelgard wouldn’t want to think about feelings of love so soon as long as she hasn’t fulfilled her mission since she wouldn’t want to let her emotions to obstruct her conquest at all, as baseless as those worries might be

However, this doesn’t mean that she would be able to control these feelings of hers with perfect success. After all, try as she might, she’s still a human

Even though she can deny her feelings for you, she can’t deny the comfort your company gives her

Having tea together or even just spending any amount of time with you gives her the break she needs from her burdens she’s imposed upon herself and in times like these, it reminds her of the people she wants to be stronger to protect

Conversations with her mostly consist of her plans and motivations for her cause but outside of that, she also enjoys being able to indulge herself in some much needed rest and she feels like she could share anything with you.

Well, perhaps not her family history but she finds herself revealing the sides that she hid from the public.

Occasionally, she would vent out her feelings of frustration to you, perhaps impersonating and imitating the words of the person who had irritated her

Even if it’s for a little while, she finds herself being able to act like a child or to let loose without fear of being judged around you and it reminds her that she’s not alone in this conquest of hers. And that fact alone comforts her. If you’re by her side, even the rockiest of roads seem like a cake walk as long as you’re here for her.

After the war, she would subtly propose a future with the two of you where you and her could pave the way for the new future of the empire. And when you don’t get what she’s hinting at, she would just throw whatever inhibitions she had out of the window and just tell you in a more direct fashion

Although she fears rejection, she’d rather say out her feelings than to keep it trapped for any longer.

As the emperor, Edelgard is very busy. Despite this, for some reason, she finds herself sneaking away from Hubert’s unrelenting supervision from time to time just to spend time with you.

She finds herself giving the pettiest excuses to go on a date with you whenever her tight schedule has even the tiniest opening.

To her, spending time with you reminds her that she is not only Edelgard Von Hresvelg, the Emperor but El.

However, on occasions where she is unable to slip away from her aide’s watchful eye or whenever she has to go on a trip where she will be away from you for long periods of time, as soon as she is freed from her duties, she will immediately come see you, hopefully plan a vacation together away from all her responsibilities, even for a little while.

Speaking of vacations, this will be a regular occurrence between the two of you. Such vacations range from going out of the empire for some sightseeing to a simple staycation, relishing in each other’s company.

Claude

Unlike the previous two, I feel like Claude, although not necessarily looking for a relationship before the timeskip, he wouldn’t be too opposed to the idea if he falls in love.

But maybe if it's before the timeskip, the relationship between the two of you would be more casual than anything, just enjoying the moment rather than looking into the future. Of course, he would like to spend the rest of his days with you but it's more of a matter of whether that could be possible or not due to the uncertainty of the future.

Dates before the timeskip would consist of fun little lunch dates in the cafeteria, hanging out to the library afterwards.

Most of your dates together were spontaneous, Claude being the one to initiate it first.

Like you two could be chilling, minding your own business, being content in each others’ presence one minute and pranking the entirety of the monastery in another.

Every time the two of you got together, everyone started to go on full alert mode, fully expecting an explosion somewhere or something along the lines of that. After all, it wouldn’t be the first time…

After the timeskip, dates with him don’t really change much...on the surface. In reality, Claude puts more effort into each date, not that he hadn’t before.

It’s just that now, the more time he spends with you, the more certain he is that he wants you to stay by his side, forever.

These dates were comparatively tame as compared to before the timeskip, with him being more mature and responsible now, not wanting to take unnecessary risks now that he’s seen many of his followers come and go, he wouldn’t want you to be like them.

Expect calm candlelit dinners for most of the dates since he tries to reserve the evening for you, maybe going on a stroll around the kingdom, checking up on the state of his citizens with you.

Right, speaking of dinners, during dinner, he would tell the most interesting stories of times when he left the kingdom for important matters and you weren’t able to come along, often bringing home a trinket of sorts which reminded him of you.

I feel like on these trips, he would just pick up random stuff that caught his eye and thought you’d might like, looking forward to seeing your expression upon receiving his gift to you. He gets a little too excited sometimes and goes...overboard, buying WAY too much. On the bright side, now that you got him all fired up, he’ll do his best to rush home to you.

As much as possible, he invites you to go with him to the many many festivals in the kingdom just so that you wouldn’t get bored with just eating out with him. (not that you ever would) and plus, he enjoys seeing the different stalls and booths set up with you.

Yuri

Yuri is quite hard to get close to since he’s the leader of the underworld and all. And even if you do, he puts up a ridiculously high wall when he feels as if you take an interest in him in something other than a friend.

All these years of distrust had given him no choice but to surround himself with various walls. And should you try to break down these walls, he would panic and distance himself from you, anything to make you realise that he shouldn’t be the one to receive your affection. Classic romance novel moment

Of course, you persist and stay there for him anyway, maybe only just pushing it but not to the point where it gets uncomfortable for him. After the years, going through tough situations with you by his side especially when he needed it the most, without realising it, he had a spot for you on his previously cold heart. Maybe it had always been there, maybe not, he didn’t really know anymore.

When you two finally go out together, it comes out as something that was going to happen anyway to the other members of the Ashen Rats Wolves who, don’t even bother to act surprised, come on, even Constance saw it coming, Yuri, you didn’t fool anybody.

Dates with Yuri are always new and exciting, going out on undercover missions together, travelling across Fódlan. Yuri tries to discourage you from coming along because of the danger of each one of his missions but the more he refuses, the more you insist so after a while, he gets the hint that he won’t be able to stop you and eventually just invites you whenever he has to go on long missions without having you finding out about it on your own.

As much as he cares about each and every single one of his subjects in the underworld, being the lord of the underground isn’t exactly the most relaxing or safest job out there and sometimes he just needs a break from all that. Luckily, you’re there to give him some peace of mind. Just by having you by his side, he feels as if he’s transported into another world, a reverie away from all the dangers of his job. Even a protector needs someone to protect him, you know? And he trusts you. He trusts that you would always be there to protect him. Since you were there for him through thick and thin all this time.

You both got each other’s backs

(i wrote WAY too much for Yuri since man i had a wild Yuri phase and i still do and i am just RELIVING IT as i write this)

[scrawnydutchman]

Smash Bros. Ultimate DLC: A Recap and Review

Well gang . . . . the time has finally come. The final Smash Bros. Ultimate DLC has been confirmed and is coming soon. There will be no major updates for Smash Bros. after this beyond maybe some patches and bug fixes. Before I go into what this post is about, I want to take a quick moment to give respect to Mr. Sakurai for all the incredible work and dedication he has shown for this franchise. Regardless of how you feel about any of the entries, nobody can deny Sakurai’s love and commitment to his work and it was his drive that drove him to legendary status as a game director. His work is no small feat. He created the single largest and most ambitious crossover property ever conceived. He also created a video game loved by millions. A game that is not only a blast to play on it’s own, but introduced many franchises to gamers like myself whom may not have given those things a try if not for Sakurai educating us on them. So Sakurai, this one is for you sir. Enjoy your vacation.

So allow me to ask a controversial question . . . what makes a good DLC fighter for smash bros? Seems like every character no matter who it is sees SOME sort of backlash eventually. Anybody who’s been a part of the community is aware of the memes and the arguments. “too many sword characters” “too many fire emblem characters” “Banjo hasn’t been relevant in decades” “Who asked for Minecraft Steve?” “what the fuck is Xenoblade?”. It’s all been said before. Many might say that a good DLC fighter is purely subjective. After all, SOMEBODY out there is getting their favorite character in the game regardless of who you pick, so why be a spoil sport?

Well . . .  .what if I told you I can measure the quality of each smash DLC through an objective, impartial scale? I can feel some gawking at the assertion already, but I’m serious. What if I could give an evaluation of each fighter that has nothing to do with my personal attachment to their franchises or their playstyles?

Here are the ground rules. A smash DLC fighter gets 1 point for each of the following 4 criteria it meets:

1. It’s a yet-to-be represented or under represented IP. Smash is first and foremost a crossover game, so the more representation of franchises the better.

2. It’s an impressive get copyright wise. Some characters are more difficult to acquire for the game than others for legal reasons, so their inclusion at all is something to behold. A character meets this standard if it’s either a brand new company being represented or if it’s from a company that’s known for being stingy with it’s IP representation (looking at you Square Enix).

3. It’s a highly requested character. Pretty self explanatory.

4. It’s fun to play as. Now, this one is especially tricky because whether or not a character in a game is “fun” is as subjective as subjective gets, so I’m gonna tweak the definition a bit. Rather than whether or not I personally have fun with it, I’m gonna judge it based on how faithful their moveset is to their game and how innovative their kit is for Smash as a whole (whether it does unprecedented things and is ultra unique to that character). This way I can evaluate based on who would likely play that character the most (a fan of the franchise that character came from).

As a result of this criteria, every character will be evaluated on a scale of 0 to 4. 0 being it doesn’t meet any of these standards and therefore sucks and 4 meaning it hits ALL of them and is therefore as good as DLC gets. Okay? Okay. Let’s go.

1. Piranha Plant

The very first DLC of the game is also the only outlier to the criteria I just set up. I decided it cannot be evaluated on the same level as the rest of the DLC. For one simple reason . . . it’s free. It’s free DLC that was released just for the lulz and bares no consequence of any kind to anyone so . . . this one goes into it’s very own “meh” category.

2. Joker

Okay, now let’s get into the actual fighter passes. Joker is the very first paid DLC fighter of the roster this time around and he’s an immediately interesting choice. While I don’t believe he’s particularly highly requested, he’s certainly a welcome surprise. He’s representation for a yet to be rep’d franchise (+1 point) and he’s an impressive feat as NOBODY expected a character like this to appear in smash (+1 point). His moveset is faithful to his games and he has a meter that’s unique to him, so I suppose he breaks the mold enough to earn that last one (+1 point).

Joker’s score: 3 out of 4.

3. The Hero

Now, I have to admit that when I first saw this DLC announced I did not immediately understand the significance of him. I was not familiar with Dragon Quest up until this game. But now that i’ve been more educated, not only is this a major contribution for the Japanese player base, BUT Dragon Quest plays an instrumental role in gaming history as one of the original RPGS. So give him a point for unrepresented game (+1 point). I would also consider him an impressive grab since it’s a Square Enix IP and Square has been notably stingy about allowing others to use their IP in the past, ESPECIALLY Nintendo after a particularly rocky history between companies. So that’s another point (+1 point). Now, I don’t think he was particularly highly requested as I haven’t seen him in any lists (and haven’t heard of him at all up until this point) so for now i’m not gonna give him that point but i may come back and make an edit if someone can provide a citation. Gameplay wise the most dramatic things Hero brings are his magic meter and his RNG down B. Sort of fun in a fucking around type of way AND true to his character. Plus no other character has anything like that. So I’ll give him that point (+1 point).

The Hero’s score: 3 out of 4.

4. Banjo & Kazooie

Alright. Goes without saying that this is easily one of the most requested characters in the game’s history AND it’s a very impressive grab to boot. Making a deal like this with rare and microsoft is no small feat. points for both (+2 points). It’s also a not-yet-represented IP so point for that as well (+1 point). As for gameplay, while it’s true that Banjo’s moveset is VERY faithful to the games, it’s unfortunately widely known to not be that exciting for a DLC character. See, most DLC fighters have some sort of mind blowing gimmick to them like a meter or an extra ability or a way they interact with the world. The closest thing Banjo has is his limited use of Wonder Wing, which unfortunately is more of a handicap than anything. I’m afraid I can’t give him this point. Such a shame, too. This was SO CLOSE to a perfect DLC character.

Banjo & Kazooie’s score: 3 out of 4.

5. Terry Bogard

Now, in spite of not necessarily being a highly requested character, Terry has a lot going for him. Not yet represented IP (+1 point), Impressive grab since this is SNK’s first and only rep (+1 point) and most of all his fighting game moveset is IMPRESSIVELY mapped to the smash bros layout. The KoF inputs are there and the character really rewards you for being familiar with how that game is played. Kudos! (+1 point).

Terry’s score: 3 out of 4.

6. Byleth

Okay . . . I don’t have a lot of faith for this character. You already know where this is going. For one, DEFINITELY not an underrepresented franchise (this is the 8th Fire Emblem character to be featured). Certainly not an impressive feat copyright wise since it’s a Nintendo property (and, again, a very much represented one at that). Not a highly requested character by any means. It’s last chance for a point is it’s gameplay . . .which I would argue doesn’t deviate much from what plenty of characters in the game already do. This character is just more of the same.

Byleth’s score: 0 out of 4

7. Min Min

Min Min is a bit of a mixed bag. On one hand, it IS a yet to be represented franchise, so as per my criteria that deserves a point (+1 point). She’s also very innovative gameplay wise as her moves are more about mapping the two hit buttons to each of her arms(+1 point). Unfortunately that’s where the points end. She’s not a highly requested character and she’s not an impressive grab copyright wise as she’s a Nintendo IP.

Min Min’s rating: 2 out of 4.

8. Steve

Remember when Steve’s inclusion literally shut down Twitter? I sure do. Definitely one of the most befuddling entries in Smash history . . .but that does NOT make him a bad choice. Definitely a yet to be represented franchise (+1 point) and a VERY impressive get copyright wise (another retrieval from Microsoft). It also technically is a highly requested character . . . granted one might argue those requests were more just a meme than anything else, but i mean . . if he wasn’t requested he wouldn’t be here at all so . . (+1 point). As for gameplay? Well, Steve is definitely unique. So unique that for his patch EVERY STAGE IN THE GAME had to be restructured to match his mining gimmick. That . . . is crazy. so that’s another point (+1 point). Holy shit . . . I think Steve might be the perfect DLC pick.

Steve’s score: 4 out of 4.

9. Sephiroth

Sephiroth was an ENORMOUS shock to be sure. Not at all predictable, but VERY welcome. He may not be a highly requested character, but he’s one of those characters you didn’t know you needed. He definitely gets a point for increasing rep for an under represented franchise (+1 point) and thank you for introducing much more Final Fantasy music to the game. He’s also a VERY impressive get copyright wise. Final Fantasy representation is hard to get enough, but Sephiroth himself is a copyright nightmare as Sakurai laid out in his showcase. (+1 point). Gameplay wise Sephiroth is interesting. His gimmick is similar to Terry’s but distinct in the bonuses it gives him, and he officially breaks the record for sword character with longest reach. I’d say he deserves a point (+1 point).

Sephiroth’s score: 3 out of 4.

10. Pyra/Mythra

Now I must admit, I was disappointed by this entry and still kind of am. However, that’s my bias talking. If I’m to be fair I should evaluate her based on the criteria. For starters, Xenoblade has only one other rep besides her in the whole game. So she gets a point for increasing rep for an under represented IP (+1 point). She’s also pretty highly requested as I understand it (which surprises me because I literally did not know who these ladies were until this reveal but fair is fair) (+1 point). As for being an impressive grab copyright wise . . . not really? It’s another Nintendo IP. Gameplay wise she doesn’t really do anything new. Basic sword character stuff and a stance switch.

Pyra/Mythra’s score: 2 out of 4

11. Kazuya

In contrast to my personal bias against Pyra/Mythra, I had the complete opposite response to Kazuya. I was PUMPED to have him in the game because I love Tekken to death. But even I have to admit he wasn’t a highly requested character so no point for him on that front. It IS a yet to be repped franchise though (+1 point) AND I would consider it an impressive grab copyright wise as this is the only Namco rep besides Pac Man. It’s always super impressive to get a third party character. (+1 point). As for gameplay .  this dude is the ultimate example of how to map fighting game controls to smash’s layout. EVERYTHING Kazuya can do in the tekken series he can do in smash. he has direcitonal inputs and true combo potential . . it’s fucking awesome. defs deserves a point for that. (+1 point).

Kazuya’s score: 3 out of 4

12. Sora

At last, the final DLC fighter is here. May I say . . I can’t think of a better way to go out. This is the single most requested character ever. You know it. I know it. That’s a point (+1 point). It also goes without saying that this is an ULTRA impressive grab copyright wise. So impressive many touted it’s impossibility for over a decade (myself included). (+1 point). It’s a yet to be represented franchise (+1 point). Finally his gameplay . . .well, he hasn’t been released yet so whether or not I personally find him fun will remain to be seen. But I will say, in spite of being another sword character and subscribing to some of those conventions, they were VERY clever with how to map his projectiles as well as how to optimize his aerial combo potential in a way no other sword character can match. That deserves a point. (+1 point).

Sora’s score: 4 out of 4.

So there you have it. My rankings of each smash DLC based on the criteria set above. This isn’t to convince anyone that they’re wrong for playing who they play or liking who they like. I just thought it’d be a fun experiment to judge each entry based on the number one things people consider for every character. I can’t wait for Sora to come out and I can’t wait to continue enjoying this game in it’s completed form.

4 out of 4: Steve, Sora

3 out of 4: Joker, Hero, Banjo, Terry, Sephiroth, Kazuya

2 out of 4: Min Min, Pyra/Mythra

1 out of 4:

0 out of 4: Byleth

omitted for being free: Piranha Plant