#there's a lot more FE characters than I initially expected

[project-sekai-facts]

What are your predictions for the lineups of the next event(s)? Cause at first we were thinking tsukasa5 lim but then VBS got it,and now we have the Toya mixed event with a Toya, Kanade, and An 4 stars as the event starting tomorrow , when a lot of people were expecting kamiyama2 with Mizuki, so now what do you think?

yeah sorry i didn't do an event prediction post this month. i already made predictions for a lim mixed event and my though process was "i'll read lead to shine more and then do a prediction post in the morning". and then it was the morning and mmj hakolim 4 existed. anyway.

the lim event for this month is. kinda hard to predict despite the lack of options. obviously we have to consider the 4th anniversary banner at this point in time, which has six rateups and takes a lot of options out for this month's event.

so i'll start with my 4th anniversary predictions

emu banner. unless she's august, it's her. it can't be rui or tsukasa, and she's gone longer without a lim than nene. while that doesn't really mean anything, the fact she's getting incredibly close to 4 years without a mixed event it makes sense and lines up pretty well for this to be emu mix 2

haruka 3*. the only mmj characters eligible for the banner are haruka and airi. ideal idol just happened and capped haruka at 7 lims and while airi isn't capped, haruka's gone longest in the game without a 3* card.

the rateups i'm less sure about. i think the vbs rateup will be toya, if only because he has less lims than an. niigo will most likely be ena. mizuki5 is likely gonna be either 1 or 2 events away from this so. yeah. leoneed i'm less sure about. there's a leoneed event in september definitely, but i'm not sure who it will be. i initially predicted ichika but considering something shiho said in leoneed wle i wouldn't be surprised if it was her. if it's a shiho event, saki's on 4th anni. if it's an ichika or honami event, shiho is on 4th anni (probably unless they make saki reward card AGAIN).

yeah so emu/toya/ena/saki or shiho 4* + haruka 3*

oh yeah rin is almost definitely fes that'll be explained in like 2 seconds (watch me be wrong)

anyway now that that's out the way

rui basically controls everything here. he has to get a lim this month or he's fes. unless clpl decides to keep him waiting even longer than the gap between kanade fes 1 and spojoy. i've seen some spec over rui/honami/mafuyu but imo...nah. actually this is less for it being darkfes again and more for the mafuyu/rui kizuna that just dropped.

not sure how many people have picked up on this, but the game tends to hold off on giving kizuna until they're "done" with a pair. it explains why groups like the rainbow canvas trio got kizuna immediately but groups like thrilling white day trio took ages to get kizuna. the latter 3 attend the same school and interact quite a lot, so they held off so they had more fleshed out dynamics to pick title names from, but ena doesn't really have a huge window of opportunity for further interaction with emu and honami, so they're about as fleshed out as those dynamics will get after one event.

obviously the stories are only written so far ahead, so things do change, like shizuku and tsukasa interacting again in pandemonium ages after their kizuna title released (though their titles probably would be the same had the kizuna released later). this would also explain the delay on emu + bad dogs kizuna and the mafuyu/rui one, maybe they planned something more but the opportunity never came so they gave in. like seriously if mafuyu and rui are gonna have an event together soon why would they add their kizuna just before it? like maybe hypothetical honami/mafuyu/rui event provides nothing for their dynamic but i dunno it feels like an odd choice.

ANYWAY maybe i'm wrong. for some other possible lineups, there's ichika/honami/rui who all have some level of interest in gardening, ichika/nene who aren't on first-name basis even after that one 4koma where they accidentally slipped up, mafuyu and nene have no proper interactions yet so that's an interesting dynamic you could explore, or you could do an an/ichika broadcasting club event (this is the least likely option). i mean maybe they will just eliminate almost everyone who's still on 5 lims in one fair sweep by doing honami/rui/mafuyu august event into saki/toya/emu/ena anni + honami/rin fes, but seriously when has the game been that nice with distribution meta, especially with whatever is going on right now.

oh yeah for normal september events it'll be leoneed and niigo. saki basically has to be rateup whatever way you do it. maybe ichika/saki/honami or ichika/saki/vsinger. mizuki5 is where things get interesting because although people have speculated mizuki/ena/meiko, there's the possibility of this backing onto the anniversary event where one of them has to be limited. you could always do n25->ln->anniv tho and that solves the problem. or mizuki5 could be mizuki/mafuyu/meiko if the game decides it hates the concept of plot relevant 4*s.

i think i've contradicted myself like 5 times now. here's a rough mockup of some of my thoughts (ignore where it says EN name i just write my notes in the ensekai column)

[henry-fox-biggest-stan]

Honestly the biggest byler proof shouldn’t be the eyewitness parallel, or the little women parallel, or whatever, but just like, the fact than Will canonically is in love with mike

There’s no reason for him to have a crush on Mike if they’re not endgame. Lots of queer people (myself, for example) figured out they were queer before feeling romantic attraction for anyone for the first time. My first crush came after I discovered my queerness. Will has always felt different, always been different, always has been called homophobic slurs by both bullies and his own father.

The duffers could have easily said “Will realized he was gay when all of his friends began dating girls while he found no appeal for it, when the idea of mike kissing el and the fact than it was expected for him to eventually kiss a girl felt gross to him, when all his friends were growing up and becoming teenagers with hormones who liked girls while he just didn’t, when he realized he always liked looking at men more than women, when he thought a man was a hundred times more attractive than a woman, when he found himself not looking away from the men in bathing suits at the pool or the hot actors in tv,” but they didn’t.

There’s no need for him to have a crush in his straight best friend, specially because Will is one of the main characters, if not the main character. Specially because they said than he would have a happy ending in s5.

“Oh he doesn’t need a boyfriend for a happy ending, crushes aren’t forever, he can get over mike during the s5 time jump.” True, absolutely true, genuinely, so true. But what’s the point in having him have a crush on mike just to get over him in s5?

“Oh but they made the same thing with Dustin and Max.” It’s nowhere near comparable. Dustin didn’t know Max, max was new, the only thing he knew is than she was from California and really good at videogames, she even beat his record. He found her attractive and most importantly, interesting (a new girl from California, who played videogames and was even better than him??). Mike and Will had known each other for most part of their lives, they were best friends, they probably knew each other better than Dustin and Lucas knew them. It has been shown since the start than their relationship is different, Will doesn’t lie to Mike, Mike is able to tell when Will is quieter than usual, he’s always the one closest to him when he’s having an episode, he slept at the hospital while Will stayed there (we didn’t see Dustin or Lucas do that). And, did Dustin have a whole confession? Was Dustin’s crush built up for 4 seasons?

Plus, I think it really served a purpose. Both Dustin and Lucas being attracted to Max meant than half of the party wanted her to join. Will didn’t care, and Mike was against her joining. Majority won, Max hung out with them. If it was just Lucas who was interested, while Dustin and Will genuinely didn’t care, Mike probably would have won and she wouldn’t have spent big part of the season with them. Sure, Lucas still would have hung out with her because he is his own person, but she wouldn’t have joined the group, at least, initially.

There is no reason to have Will have a crush on mike, a crush building up for four seasons, just for it to get nowhere and for him to get over him during the time jump.

“Oh well, the painting helped mike and el’s relationship.” Debatable (the way they ended s4 was, well, something), but my own opinions aside, sure, yeah. Will used the painting to confess his own feelings which he disguised as El’s to help Mike become more confident in his relationship, and it kinda worked.

However let me ask you this, in what world is using a gay character’s (a gay character than has suffered probably more than everyone else in the story [except El], a gay character who is in love with his best friend, who has suffered homophobic bullying, who feels like a mistake for being different, like he will never be happy or find anyone like him because it is the 80s) feelings as a plot device to further a straight relationship than has supposedly been building up since season 1 (so they shouldn’t need anything else to further it) just to have this gay character’s feeling disappear once they have served their purpose, which is to further and help a straight relationship, something normal or okay to do?? What kind of representation is that?? That’s actually homophobic, and I mean it. Will ending up single isn’t homophobic of course not, but the way than the duffers have used his feelings as a plot device for a straight couple, specially if they are going to disappear after, is. And we know they’ll either disappear or Will will get a boyfriend (whether it’s Mike or some new guy, and we know there are no new male characters Will’s age) since I don’t know what kind of happy ending unrequited love is (and they have promised us a happy ending for Will).

[randomfoggytiger]

How to "Type" Personality Types: An Ultimate Resource

I decided to throw together a mini guide for those interested in figuring out the Typing system for themselves.

Unfortunately, my knowledge is very slight and the information very vast; and yet, I did my best.

First step: Information. Next step: How to Type.

HOW TO TYPE

Very, very simply:

We tackle either the 8 Functions--

An Ni user sees their path forward. 

An Ne user sees the path of those around them. 

An Si user sees their own past and duty. 

An Se user sees others’ experiences, both past and present. 

A Ti user processes information in a logical sequence. 

A Te user gathers reference points and compares them. 

An Fi user weighs to determine value. 

An Fe user absorbs what other people feel and value. 

 --or, if we're stuck, work at it from the other angles of Direct vs. Informative, Initiating vs. Responding, Outcome vs. Movement, Pragmatic or Affiliative, or Systematic vs. Interest.

DECODING QUESTIONS

Sensing or Introverted: Is the focus of the person or character talking Concrete (Si/Se) or Abstract (Ni/Ne)? If concrete, they talk about things and experiences, tangibilities of the physical world or their experiences and observations of it: the five sense and "What is?". If abstract, they focus on intangibles, implications, concepts, hidden meanings, or visualizations: the theoretical, hypothetical, idealistic, and "What if?" If they're concrete, is that concrete focused on personal sensations or comfort or "have-to"s or loyalties or traditions of those around them? If so, Si. Or is that concrete focused on the present, how they and others make their mark as they move through the world, a next obstacle to overcome? If so, Se. If they're abstract, are they focused on their own future hypotheticals, their path forward, what they want to achieve? If so, Ni. Or are they aware of the future humanity is heading toward or remember clearly the string of past and repeatable mistakes they and others make? If so, Ne.

Concrete: “Yeah, it is that simple.” 

Abstract: “I think x/y/z/ comes and goes in cycles-- it’s popular for some time before it isn’t again.”/”The more you feel, then the more…”/"x/y/z is strictly a sociological basis..." 

Ni/Se or Ne/Si: Once a Sensing or Intuition has been picked, it is automatically paired with an opposite Sensing or Intuition Function: e.g., Ni pairs with Se and Si pairs with Ne. This eases the process of elimination: Ni/Se Types are focused on their own personal future as well as having short-term memories and great manipulatable physical awareness. Ne/Si Types are focused on everyone's collective future and how that will impact their personal comfort, preferring to "predict" rather than be surprised with the future.

Ti/Fe or Fe/Ti: The same goes for the Thinking and Feeling Functions. Ti is logos, personalized thought (and can result in outdated thinking if they don't bother to fact check their assumptions) combined with Fe bonding, emotional outreach, and interpersonal connections (and can be exploited.) Te is gathered thought and data from other, credited sources (and can result in "group think" if they don't fact check the collective thought) and Fi is morals divorced from the expectations or pressures of others around them (and can seem or become selfish.)

Now, the communication questions:

Direct or Informative: is the person or character communicating precisely and concisely to the question being asked? If so, they are Direct. Or are they either adding extra details to flesh out their response or indirectly responding without a definitive answer? If so, they are Informative.

Direct: “If it doesn’t work out, check out."/"That's my point exactly."/"We're starting right where we left off."

Informative: “When a lot of times I/you are…”

Pragmatic or Affiliative: Is the focus of the person or character bent on saying or doing what they intend to say or do to achieve their own goals, regardless of other people's differing or halting opinions? If so, they are Pragmatic. Or is the focus of the person or character focused on the group's benefit over possibly their own, willing to wait and move as one rather than individually charge forward? If so, Affiliative.

Pragmatic: “my OWN”, creative individuality..."/“I think artist should have complete freedom to express themselves however they want.”/[sarcastically] “You have to be a politician or an assassin to really be a super star.” 

Affiliative: “They stop people trying to get to jobs/get their kids to school…”/“I think there is a certain responsibility to [fame]…”/"...to be hurt is to be human."

Outcome or Movement: Is the focus of the person or character focused on an end goal, a magnum opus, that they are willing to take methodical steps towards if they achieve a perfect end result? If so, Outcome. Or is the person more likely to start out with a goal in mind but change it while working towards it, preferring to finish rather than to possibly wait and stagnate? If so, Movement.

Outcome: “Not according to plan...”/“we know planet is warming because of increase x/y/z/ gases… and that leads to more extreme weather in the future but we don’t know what that means in terms of human suffering in the long run.”/"One might be able to do x/y/z/. One should be able to do…" (also an Ne statement.) 

Movement: “[After leaving] I didn’t make a conscious decision to leave necessarily, but I did make a decision to pause...”/“It’s been a journey…” “...up for grabs.”/ “I had this problem, and I did these steps, and it turned into this thing, and that didn’t work out, and--” /"Saw other folks doing it so thought 'might as well give it a go'...”

Initiating or Responding: Are the actions of this person or character comfortable seeking out information from others, moving from one topic to the next while fluidly guiding conversations to and away areas of interest? If so, Initiating. Or are their actions more laidback, preferring others to relay information and steer conversations into new topics or interests? If so, Responding.

Systematic or Interest: Does this person or character automatically refer back to objective rules and methods for settling conflicts or striking deals? If so, Systematic. Or do they subjectively hammer out the best personal or individual deal that will benefit them first and then the other person? If so, Interest.

Systematic: "Trust the process"/"Going through procedures..."

Interest: “I believe we shouldn’t sell a false hope to people, should tell it like it bleakly is.”/"..." let's talk about x politician and this policy they are trying to push and why that might be bad/good..."/"What's your angle?"

RESULTS

There are Sixteen Types; and if we apply the above steps, it'll be easy to quickly whittle down (most) options.

Structure Types (Direct, Initiating, Outcome): ESTJ, ESTP, ENTJ, ENFJ

Starter Types (Informative, Initiating, Progression): ESFJ, ESFP, ENTP, ENFP

Finisher Types (Direct, Responding, Progression): ISTJ, ISTP, INTJ, INFJ

Background Types: (Informative, Responding, Outcome): ISFJ, ISFP, INTP, INFP

AN EXAMPLE

Example: Dana Scully-- post here-- very firmly stands on what is proven to be true, raising an eyebrow at unsourced theories or quacks that toss aside traditional answers to bark about their own theories. We know Mulder won her respect because his speculations were based on established facts or were easily conceded when debunked by current data. We also know she respects and upholds vocations of service, choosing one for herself; and often takes a "Starbuck" role with the male figures in her life (to her chagrin.) From those facts, we can deduce Te and Si-- reliance on provable methods and data, and an upholder of traditions, duty, and responsibility-- but in what order do they fall; and what other Functions can we apply?

Now that we know Scully is a Te and Si, we have to scout for Types with Te/Fi and Si/Ne Functions. That nixes all but three options: ES(i)T(e)J, IS(i)T(e)J, and EN(e)F(i)P.

You can tackle this a few different ways: there's only one Intuitive (ENFP) and two Concretes (ESTJ, ISTJ), two Initiatives (ESTJ, ENFP) and one Responding (ISTJ), one Outcome (ESTJ) and two Movements (ENFP, ISTJ), two Directs (ESTJ, ISTJ) and one Informative (ENFP), etc.

Scully is most definitely Concrete, so that leaves us with ESTJ or ISTJ. Initiating/Outcome or Responding/Movement? It could be so easy to point either way depending on one's mood or the day or any other fluctuating factor; but how do you know if it's what she truly is, or just your perception of her?

Well, we know she's an ISTJ because her primary function is Si, not Te (like an ESTJ)-- meaning, she chooses to do her duty by protecting others with loyalty and perseverance primarily over the pursuit of advancement and public recognition for her achievements (unlike her father, an ESTJ, did--post here.) And how else do we know this? By cross-referencing an ISTJ's and ESTJ's Functions: how the different positions of the Functions change their perspectives, strengths, and insecurities.

This is where my handy dandy, never-leave-home-without-it Typing writeup comes into play.

TYPES AND THEIR FUNCTIONS: The End-All-Be-All for Double-Checking

Each Type slots a Function into one of 8 positions-- Hero, Parent, Child, Inferior, Nemesis, Critic, Trickster, and Demon-- and the degree of its strength is either amplified or suppressed in each of these positions.

I've decided to order this writeup grouped by Function position-- Hero, Parent, etc.-- instead of by Type-- ESTJ Functions, then ESFJ Functions, etc. It was how I wrote down my notes; but may, I own, be very confusing to anyone else but myself. (Oh well, can't change that now without a massive headache.)

1st, Heroic Function-- Heroic energy, optimistic, always lead with this function, most capable/confident/comfortable, hardest to challenge (especially with introverted function heroes); introverted functions have power to choose from extroverted functions choices/obligations; has pride, for the glory of it. Hero Functions are what people expect UP FRONT from others: Se Hero expects up front attention, Ne Hero expects up front desirability, Ni Hero expects up front freedom, etc. Their axis secondary is their backup squad.  Si: ISTJ/ISFJ-- long term memory-- conviction, discipline, duty, honor, loyalty, willing to subsist/wait for years, has choice to be loyal (when Se heroes try to carve loyalty out of them); Ne inferior is afraid of other’s intentions, needs them to be stated; SEEK experiences Se: ESTP/ESFP-- short-term memory access-- physical awareness, mechanical prowess, SHARE experiences Ni: INTJ/INFJ-- future for individual-- ability to choose best path forward for SELF, unaware of others’ future, individual wants/future, master of one’s fate, always has a choice (when Ne tries to change their future) Ne: ENFP/ENTP-- future for all -- prescience, metaphysics, aware of all possible futures/realities, master of fate, changes fate Fi: ISFP/INFP-- morals-- personal beliefs, principals, self-worth Fe: ENFJ/ESFJ-- ethics-- collective beliefs, relies heavily on interpersonal relationships for self-worth Ti: ISTP/INTP-- actual truth-- what I think/or know to be true, not about belief Te: ESTJ/ENTJ-- rational/beliefs-- I believe I can fly if proven statistically, all about beliefs. Feel accomplished through achievements; climb the ladder.

2nd, Parent Function-- personal responsibility, to fulfill duty; has hard time developing because it’s attached to maturity, skeptical, pessimistic, require a lot of mental energy/adversity to use/develop; protects self from Child Function; grounds the hero Si: ESTJ/ESFJ--duty, long term memory, responsible with duty/faith/should do’s; hard to motivate without feedback on how to help others; responsibly loyal (not loyal to not just anyone) Se: ISTP/ISFP-- responsible with mechanics/physics/experiences (can be negative with feedback to help others improve/get out of ruts); get others out of comfort zone; mastery of physical environment, and others internally (through “forced” experiences); pull Si parents out of ruts the most Ni: ENTJ/ENFJ-- responsibly wanting things; can be impulsive (Se child), but tempered; responsible passions/desires/intentions Ne: INTP/INFP-- aware of other’s intentions/fates/end results; provide warnings to others; aware others are irresponsible with their futures; LISTEN to their warnings because they are always right Fi: ESFP/ENFP-- responsible with morality; must feel good about themselves/must feel that they are a good person/people think highly of them Fe: INFJ/ISFJ--forceful in social ways (good and bad), forces people to behave socially/ethically, “you’d better follow rules/ethics/etc. In MY home”; caring/nurturing, but responsible with it (will not nurture those deemed unworthy) Ti: ESTP/ENTP-- responsible with logos (if this/then that), skeptical over true/false as stated by others, always verifies more so then Ti Hero; can be close minded, ESTP more so because they require tangible options to make decisions, ENTP can have mind opened with metaphysical possibilities, but writes off tangible options Te: ISTJ/INTJ-- has to find beliefs/reference points, proper routine to find information; if there isn’t a process to find verifiable information, they create one. ISTJ uses common sense as framework to figure out why people don’t behave rationally/to fix issues; INTJ trying to figure out the system/process to identify the systemic issue to fix or abandon at will; core belief systems; Ti critic forces them to verify beliefs, then take beliefs to their graves

3rd, Child Function-- innocence/miracles/ joy, optimistic; second to develop after hero; can loop with Hero to breed immaturity/”insanity”; don’t commit child abuse, guide the child function, soul crushing; can team up with any cognitive functions Si: INTP/INFP-- abuse=they are the most disloyal ever; miracle of steadfastness/ discipline/conviction/endurance/faith Se: ENTJ/ENFJ-- abuse=never letting them show you something, become their audience (humble yourself to listen/learn from them); miracle of giving an artful/crafted experience unrivalled Ni: ISTP/ISFP-- abuse=not letting them do what they want, must have choices; “lady luck”, things always work out (won’t crack head open when motorcycle crashes, lands on soft grass); miracle of will power and freedom Ne: ESTJ/ESFJ-- abuse=never your telling intent/wants; miracle of making anything possible (meta) Fi: INTJ/ISTJ-- abuse=telling them they’re bad people/soulless/lacking in humanity; miracle of sympathy; “I think you’re fantastic because of x/y/z I noticed about you”; demon combo INTJ becomes insanely selfish, burns down the town to get what they want; demon combo ISTJ will get what they want regardless of what you think, screams in the store to get the toy Fe: ESTP/ENTP-- abuse=telling them that they’re uncaring, most innocently caring/always wants to give balloons and candy but is misunderstood to be jerks because they tell bald truths; the miracle of empathy; “wow, you’re really caring” Ti: ISFJ/INFJ-- abuse=telling them that they are stupid, “you’re illogical” ; miracle of truth Te: ESFP/ENFP-- abuse=telling them that they are not smart, “you’re not believable, you haven’t done the research/work”; miracle of knowledge

4th, Inferior Function-- MOST IMPORTANT, where fear/insecurity/vanity exists, most painful pressure point; gateway to HAPPINESS; socially engineer; needs to be maintained/nurtured; if ignored, gateway to Demon Function/Superego activation; can be vengeful (negative) or avenger (positive) fear can be turned into aspiration; can outperform Hero in bursts Si: ENTP/ENFP-- afraid of having a bad experience/not enough faith/duty/endurance/honor; must be forced to try new things; accused of being babies when they’re young; aspirational loyalty/honor, no one can beat their endurance and fortitude Se: INTJ/INFJ-- afraid of giving bad experiences-- vain/insecure over five senses, serious performance anxiety, any new experience (with people) causes them to spiral without reassurance, need performance feedback; aspirational performance, no one can outperform Ni: ESTP/ESFP-- afraid of wanting the wrong thing/don’t know what they want; try to find themselves, have a hard time committing because they might make the wrong choice; aspirational will, no one can conquer/beat down their will power, can plow through any obstacle Ne: ISTJ/ISFJ-- afraid of the “what if”; need common sense/concreteness; must have tangibility; aspirational metaphysics, cannot be out done in “what if”s Fi: ESTJ/ENTJ-- afraid they are not moral enough/that they are bad/lack principals; aspirational altruism, cannot be out moraled Fe: ISTP/INTP-- afraid of making others feel bad (prone to guilt) ISTP will fight over being told they are uncaring, INTP will be apathetic and you will be dead to them; aspirational giving, no one can out beat their support/teaching/giving/caring for others Ti: ESFJ/ENFJ-- afraid they are incorrect/unintelligent/they don’t know what is true or false (dumb blond stereotypes); very smart actually, but wilt over accusations of being stupid because they take time to reach conclusions; aspirational thinking, no one can out think Te: ISFP/INFP-- afraid what others think of them/reputation is everything/needs others to believe good things about themselves (doesn’t matter if it’s true as long as others believe it); aspirational references/academics/popularity, cannot be out populared/academic-ed

5th, Nemesis Function-- gateway to Unconscious, worry/concern, confrontational, in Unconscious 5th and 1st trade places, polarity relationship. Nemesis forces Hero growth, so they hit 4th function (weak spot.) Maturity recognizes attributes of Nemesis and causes it to work together w/ Hero. Ni nemesis confronts Ni parent/hero. Introverted Situations: person’s self; 5th forces 1st to take action for self (if 1st stagnates) Extroverted Situations: 5th and 1st team up to take down outside threats, a.k.a. people Si (the past, duty, honor, obligation, self-discipline): ESTP/ESFP-- takes experiences for self to survive: worried that they lack in discipline/honor/not dutiful enough; force yourself to add obligations to yourself/help others’ with their obligations, even if you don’t want to; nostalgic, fearful tomorrow won’t be as good as today, prone to inaction, failure to launch syndrome; force ESPs to have experiences even if they hate it; Si pulls from experiences to prove wisdom of advice for Se hero to listen to them; ESTP uses 5th to take down weakness, ESFP uses 5th to help others perform correctly. Se (physics): ISTJ/ISFJ-- wants loyalty, will discipline self to give good experiences: worried they will push someone away/ that they’ll be too weird/giving others’ bad experiences; smell good/good manners/physical presentation; don’t push others away; develop self discipline to give good experiences Ni (willpower): ENTP/ENFP-- will help others’ futures so they can help ENPs’ futures: worried about their own future, which causes them to create movement (to their detriment or not), intertwines others’ future with their own; save their futures by helping others’ futures Ne (metaphysics/others’ fates+futures, what happens before will happen again): INTJ/INFJ-- wants to know others’ intentions, will “shine the light” to find out: jump to conclusions about others’ intentions; worried about how others’ fates(lives) get in the way of their own; make decisions based on false perceptions; paranoid; Si demon remembers all the bad and none of the good of others; validate that INJs are important to you/give them good experiences so they remember the present more than the past; talk about your fears of betrayal with others’ before cutting them off; do healthy loyalty check, but never too hard; Ni hero is confused w/ different paths to take, Ne brake checks them before they do anything rash/check for problems before jumping in Fi (morals): ESFJ/ENFJ--prove self is good by helping human beings: worried about self worth-- that they aren’t good/moral/enough, etc. Give validation and support; they need to volunteer to show themselves their “goodness”, be sympathetic with others Fe (ethics): ISFP/INFP-- will force self to be caring for others: they worry they are selfish; put their own needs first above others’; volunteer, be empathetic and serve others, donate art to charity, philanthropic Ti (logic): ESTJ/ENTJ--will force self to research to prove their own intelligence: worried they don’t know what they’re talking about; need facts and data, good to go; do research Te (rationale/beliefs): ISTP/INTP-- instead of worrying if others’ are factually correct, they will verify others’ are correct: te verifies w/ ti hero; requires verification, takes statements with grain of salt, prove yourself as credible and they will defend your ideas to the grave; will mentor/teach others if they see faulty logic

6th, Critic Function-- critical attitude; hypocritical at worst, wise at best; “grandparent”, wise beyond years if developed; manipulated through this function; criticism can snap others out of wrong usages Si: ISTP/ ISFP-- have a hard time committing, but expect others to commit (often labeled by others as psychopaths/narcissists), need to develop self-discipline to reign in commitment; super forgetful-- “memory of an elephant” but then “only remember important stuff” and still forget/justify by saying “well, it wasn’t important then”; call them out by recording with dates something they will forget then call them out on it later (which will make them rage) Se: ESTJ/ESFJ-- elitist hypocrites; have to look presentable, if others aren’t “you are an idiot and I’m better and you’re beneath me”; terrible fashion while criticizing others’ terrible fashion sense; “I can do this better” but they can’t and flop, jump to conclusions about their presentation; wise if they utilize their presentation skills in helping others (“your shoe’s untied, you’ll look foolish if you x/y/z”) Ni: INTP/INFP-- choose to not want anything, avoid risk with inaction; “everyone’s irresponsible with what they want, so I won’t give in to what I want and will have failure to launch syndrome”; if you’re stuck in inaction, you don’t have the right to criticize others for wanting something else; need to prove self and intentions through failure, otherwise failure to launch or get stuck with abusive/manipulative people Ne: ENTJ/ENFJ-- assume others will betray them, jumping to conclusions of others intentions; (casual adult interactions because they don’t believe anyone will really commit to them, distrust others loyal intentions); feel abandonment more than others and are always afraid they’ll be abandoned; need to recognize that not everyone will backstab; won’t allow OTHERS to commit to THEM Fi: ISFJ/INFJ-- feel meaningless/ashamed/worthless/not good enough by default, impossibly high moral standards; can hold others to impossible standards (that they can’t meet either); help others to gain recognition/value to feel good about themselves; checkmate impossible morals standards for self and others Fe: ESFP/ENFP-- super selfish, “I’m such a good person and should be rewarded, but you might be a bad person” at worst, need to prove they’re good by example at best and not assuming others are bad; ENFPS immune to manipulation, but they manipulate others (can be good or bad) Ti: ISTJ/INTJ-- assumes they’re always correct/smartest person in the room; must be used to verify beliefs, “It’s likely you did it, because I perceived it’s possible you did it, and since I’m the smartest you’re wrong and I’m right”; INTJ assumes actions through “patterns”, ISTJ assumes what may happen; wise critic verifies and gives benefit of the doubt Te: ESTP/ENTP-- assume others are stupid, and that graphs/sources/religions are wrong at worst, and must be individually tested/verified at best; lights on fire the garbage while salvaging the gold which it shares with others; hypocritical of judging others as dumb without fact checking

7th, Trickster Function-- weakest function; subjectivity; blind spots; child function of the shadow set; unaware they’ll burn themselves while playing with fire; tries really hard to be aware, but stinks at it (unlike demon function, which doesn’t care) Si: ENTJ/ENFJ-- forget EVERYTHING, need Si users to remember for them or to take copious notes; only retain devastating memories because of their mind’s tiny hard drive; don’t have a sense of duty, “should” are subjective; don’t judge their memory, help them remember Se: INTP/INFP-- unaware of others experiences that they give to them; atrocious fashion sense (train Si child); when trained they implement and never forget the training; unaware of what is happening in the moment, must be made uncomfortable to snap them back into reality Ni: ESTJ/ESFJ-- they think they know what they want, they DON’T; do NOT let them make big decisions alone, they will destroy themselves and you; they need others to make decisions for them/to be dictated to because they think they know what they want, but they don’t (will get scammed or messed over if left to fly solo) Ne: ISTP/ISFP-- unaware of others intentions; weak to others plotting; “it’s not real because I can’t touch it/see it in front of my nose”, then a bus hits; can jump to conclusions about others Fi: ESTP/ENTP-- believe ANYTHING can be a good or bad thing; not sympathetic, but very empathetic; no moral principles; only cares if it means a good/bad thing to YOU; don’t care if others think highly of them, only care about if they feel good about them/value them Fe: ISTJ/INTJ-- zero social awareness, assume others are like them/will value what they do/if others don’t they’re wrong; social norms/rules are subjective and constantly change, so it isn’t a priority for them because anyone can like or dislike anything (very Japanese, no judgment if you do x/y/z/ even if it’s awful as long as you do it in x/y/z/ located spot); often told they’re heartless and terrible because of their unawareness or lack of norms, which punches their Fi Child which is all about sympathy Ti: ESFP/ENFP-- believe ANYTHING can be true or false and that there are no absolutes; cannot understand logic; belief=reality, incapable of logical thought (Ti); ESFP can be master strategist, ENFP become “librarian of Alexandria”; best input using Te child aggregated collective hearsay, have a hard time verifying, open to group think Te: ISFJ/INFJ-- not aware of others beliefs or others thoughts, telling others the basics that others have already thought of; true or false is all that matters (Ti child), and not belief systems of others; if they have the wrong Te input, they can be founded on lies without realizing it; alienating others with faulty data (breaking laws/etiquette/rules)

8th, Demon Function-- most powerful of all functions, most corrupting; source of man’s propensity for evil; when the self bends in on self (trying to replace hero function); the agent of chaos, the Faustian Deal; self gratification; inferior function has to have their needs met and the Unconscious/Subconscious have to be developed to keep the demon at bay Si: INTJ/INFJ-- destroying the world through justice seeking; seek loyal people; if no one is loyal after all of the experiences and cultivation and caring for those others, they say “why bother? I’m going to focus on giving ME a good experience”, and become loyal only to themselves-- ultimate selfishness, and say it’s their new duty to take out revenge on others disguised to themselves as justice, don’t care collateral damage and will gladly take on any cost without remorse (mutual self destruction through vengeance); desires vengeance more with Se inferior, willing to destroy everyone who has wronged them (and themselves to get revenge) because their meaning has been taken from them Se: ENTP/ENFP--reality being destroyed; most destructive of all, hatred of reality; others need to make them comfortable because of their need for comfort and they will provide options and freedom for others; but if their needs aren’t met they cause immediate, slow, and permanent damage; prefer to maim, not murder Ni: ISTJ/ISFJ-- pushing all desires/passions on themselves; afraid of others intent, and if not given reassurance they then focus desire solely on self, becomes debaucherous; the high-chair tyrant Ne: ESTP/ESFP-- destroy the fate of humanity; with no freedom of choice, “no one gets a choice”, and they’ll burn others futures to the ground because theirs is already ruined Fi: ISTP/INTP-- depraved debauchery; if no one recognizes the hoops they jump through to make others feel good/uses them/takes advantage of them, they throw themselves away and become debaucherous to make themselves feel good (almost willful self-destruction) Fe: ESTJ/ENTJ-- not caring what any human feels; if others say they’re selfish/greedy/terrible, they stop caring about anyone and say “no one gets to feel good until I feel good and even then MAYBE I’ll let you feel good” Ti: ISFP/INFP-- no one else’s opinion matters; if no one thinks highly of them or listens to their input/help that they want to provide or thinks they’re stupid, they will say “who cares, no one does, so what I think goes from now on” and will let others implode using the truth, ISFP will make a mega weapon to obliterate existence, INFP will make the ultimate trap to consume everyone Te: ESFJ/ENFJ-- destroys the voice of others; “if no one listens to me, then no one get their say”; must be listened to and given their day in court, and will feel loved/justified; heartless “I told you so” because they weren’t listened to and will rip the structure that they built out from under everyone and all will fall to their deaths

CONCLUSION

Now that we have those resources at our fingertips, you can all bounce off and have a merry time without reading the latter half of this post... because it gets in-depth, in-deep, in-over-our-heads.

IN-DEPTH INFORMATION FROM THE GROUND UP

THE BASICS

It's very easy to Type a character (a person is obviously more complex and requires greater skill.) The Typing goal is to nail down the 8 Functions, the main functions that a person is born with and develop with greater skill as they get older, and figure out how they express those to others in the world. Personally, I find it easiest to assess Worldview then double-check with Self-Expression; but the methods are interchangeable.

Worldview

Worldview breaks down how a person inputs and outputs information: their senses, intuitions, thinking processes, and emotional assessments.

There are four types of Cognitive Functions: Sensing, Intuition, Thinking, and Feeling; and each of those types have primary and secondary characteristics (Si, Se, Ni, Ne, Ti, Te, Fi, Fe.) Every Type will have all eight of those characteristics slotted differently in their 8 Cognitive stacks: first or Heroic Function, second or Parent Function, third or Child Function, fourth or Inferior Function, fifth or Nemesis Function, sixth or Critic Function, seventh or Trickster Function, and eighth or Demon Function. Thinking Functions work in tandem with Feeling Functions and Sensing Functions work in tandem with Intuition Functions; further, opposites attract with their secondary functions, meaning Ti works in tandem with Fe, Se works in tandem with Ni, Fi and Te, Ne and Si. If a Type has a dominant Si Function (E/Si/TJ, I/Si/FJ, etc.), then it will naturally pair with an Ne Function (E/Si/TJ has Te Hero, Si Parent, Ne Child, Fi Inferior; I/Si/FJ has Si Hero, Fe Parent, Ti Child, Ne Inferior; etc.) The same goes for Ti/Fe (INTP has Ti Hero, Ne Parent, Si Child, Fe Inferior), Fi/Te (again, ESTJ has Te Hero, Si parent, Ne Child, Fi Inferior), and Ni/Se (INFJ has Ni Hero, Fe Parent, Ti Child, Se Inferior.)

The goal is to strengthen each weakness and balance each strength, bringing a person into complete order: for instance, a Heroic Function is optimistic; but without the guiding pessimism of the Parent and Inferior Function it and its optimistic (and less refined) Child Function would create an unhealthy loop of chasing what feels good rather than what is healthy or balanced.

But Functions aren't the only aspect of a Type's Worldview.

Pragmatic or Affiliative illustrates what a Type chooses to act on: Pragmatic has an individualistic, "what gets result" lens that will, in extremes, ask forgiveness rather than seek permission. Affiliative has an interdependent, "what is the right or proper thing" lens that will seek permission first rather than forgiveness after. Pragmatic is likely to openly state what they think or do what they want rather than cater to what others expect them to do; whereas an Affiliative is likely to keep quiet and not act if they don't know the dominating opinion, molding their sensibilities to what has been deemed morally correct.

Systematic or Interest branch off as complementary components to both Pragmatics and Affiliatives (and, to a broader degree, Sensing and Intuitive Functions): in dealing with or making agreements with others, Systematic prefers objectivity and following procedure, having found the best possible method and stuck to it across the board; whereas Interest prefers subjectivity, finding the best solution for particular or individual scenarios that will benefit them as well as others. I.e. "Trust the process" versus "what's your angle?" personified.

Self-Expression

Self-expression decodes a person's approaches, conversational style, and methods for moving about in the world.

Direct or Informative illustrates how a Type engages with others: Direct prefers to answer questions concisely or plainly whereas Informative answers with extraneous details for a "fuller" picture. Informative is also less likely to directly state what they want others to do, preferring to say "Maybe we should go to the store sometime?" when the groceries are low rather than request "Could you go to the store today?" (like Direct prefers to do.)

Initiating or Responding illustrates how a Type seeks or engages with new information (and is a better way to tackle the often butchered Extroverted vs. Introverted question): Initiating finds and goes toward new information, actively keeping themselves in-the-loop, actively opening and closing or changing topics in conversations with others. Responding, meanwhile, prefers for others to fill them in on information or to change topics, feeling most comfortable staying on topic or when others take the helm of conversations. (It's often better used as two tiebreakers between Types rather than an initial deciding factor-- unless blatantly obvious, of course.)

Outcome or Movement illustrates how a Type works at reaching a goal: Outcome crafts a straight path to their end goal, working at it diligently until their final product is perfect. Movement works towards their end goal but switches paths or final decisions along the way. The cliched "the goal or the journal" quite literally applies to these two: Outcome focuses on the goal, Movement focuses on the journey.

THE TECHNICALITIES (NOT NECESSARY TO READ)

All of this is not necessary to know until after the Basics of a Type have been nailed down.

Technically, a personality Type points to four sides of the mind: its Ego (primary/"Heroic"), Subconscious (secondary/"Shadow"), Unconscious ("Aspirational"), and Superego ("Demonic"):

For example, an ISTJ has eight main Functions (Si Hero, Te Parent, Fi Child, Ne Inferior, Se Nemesis, Ti Critic, Fe Trickster, and Ni Demon, respectively.) The top four functions (Si/Te/Fi/Ne) are an ISTJ's Ego, the quadrant that an ISTJ uses the most primarily; the latter four are its Subconscious (its "Shadow), the quadrant an ISTJ uses secondarily for growth and maturity (usually kicks in after puberty, after the brain is flooded with hormones for the growing process-- and another reason why puberty is such a messy process.) If you notice, the Se/Ti/Fe/Ni of the Shadow form a "Type" of its own (ESTP); however, these Functions are only a fourth part of a fully formed ESTP, present only to aid or assist an ISTJ's Ego as extra, smaller tools rather than to dominate or override its primary Functions.

The Unconscious and Superego parts of the mind are tied to the fourth functions of the previous two quadrants: The Unconscious quadrant branches off from a Type's fourth or "aspirational" function-- where vanity or insecurity lies-- meaning an ISTJ is aware that their Ne Inferior is only strong in small bursts but aspires for the strength of an Ne Hero. In essence, it shoves that fourth Function into a new quadrant, putting it in first position and effectively flipping their other four primary functions into reverse order (Si/Te/Fi/Ne becomes Ne/Fe/Te/Si); this creates a "shortcut" version of an ENFP, and that means an ISTJ's fourth function can, in short bursts, perform as well as (or in some cases better than) the reverse-order Type's Heroic Function (ENFP.) The Superego quadrant is tied to the Subconscious (or "Shadow") fourth Function-- in this case the ISTJ's Ni Demon. Altogether, an ISTJ's Ne Inferior aspires to have the metaphysics and pattern recognition of an ENFP's Hero; and an ISTJ's Ni Demon transforms into the dark, tyrannical version of an INFJ's Ni Hero ("I WANT and I will not be deterred! NOW!")

Furthermore, some Functions in the "Shadow" are directly correlated to other Functions in the Ego, mirrors of each other, if you will: the Nemesis is the Hero's slight opposite (Se Nemesis to an ISTJ's Si Hero), serving to trip them up and keep them sharp; a Critic is the more opinionated pessimist to the Parent (Ti Critic to an ISTJ's Te Parent); a Trickster is the more damaging optimist to the Child (Fe Trickster to an ISTJ's Fi Child); and a Demon is the more corrosive and destructive side to the Inferior (Ni Demon to an ISTJ's Ne Inferior.) Why is this important? When a Hero Function is out of balance, the Nemesis Function rises up to smack it down: ex. an ISTJ's Si Hero is wired about duty and honor and loyalty, carrying out the traditions and meeting the expectations of those around them; however, an ISTJ can become prideful about what it endures-- taking on more than it can handle and letting others fall by the wayside in their efforts-- and that is when the Se Nemesis makes an ISTJ worried about their performance for others, causing them double back to check-in with and help those they might have neglected. This is the same for the other Functions and their tie-ins-- again, all part of that balancing act so a person is neither too much or too little in any area.

It seems complicated; but really, it still boils down to The Basics section: figure out a Type's Worldview and Self-Expression, and all the technicalities fall into place.

THE MBTI'S MISTAKE: "JUDGING" AND "PERCEIVING" (J vs. P)

Meyers-Briggs Personality Types have wide-range appeal; but, unfortunately, the two women behind this system completely misinterpreted Jung's definitions and original intent for Judging and Perceiving Functions.

MBTI places all Types ending in "P" in the Perceiving category and all Types ending in "J" in the Judging category. Unfortunately, Perceiving does not refer to the overall perception of a Type-- it refers to the input, or perceiving, Sensing and Intuition Functions, Si/Se and Ni/Ne. Sensing and Intuition absorb and assess new data (or input) from the world around them, either internally (Si and Ni) or externally (Se and Ne.) Judging, too, does not refer to an umbrella for judgment types-- it refers to Thinking and Feeling Functions, Te/Ti and Fe/Fi, which are used by a person to make the final decision, or judgment, with the perceiving input they've received. This means that, although ESFPs are "P" Types (because their First Function, Se, is a Perceiving Function) ISFPs, are actually "J" Types (because their first Function, Fi, is a Judging Function.) The same goes for ESTJs and ISTJs (ESTJ's Te "Judging" and ISTJ's Si "Perceiving"), as well as ENFPs and INFPs (ENFP's Ne "Perceiving" and INFP's Fi Judging) and the ten other Types.

That's only one small but incredibly significant mistake the MBTI system perpetuates.

Then why does the Typing system keep the "P" and "J"? Because it denotes what secondary Function the letter directly preceding it has: the "J" in ISTJ dictates that the "T" before it has a little "e" attached, e.g. I/S/Te/J; which further dictates that the "S" before the "T" has a little "i" attached (because the two middle letters have opposing secondary Functions.) Thus, an ISTJ and an ESTJ may have S/Te/J, but only one is a Judging Function.

HOW TO FIGURE OUT THE FUNCTIONS

Since we know that the Functions always pair off into groups of two (Ni/Se, Si/Ne, Ti/Fe, Fi/Te), decoding the type of Sensing a person has will automatically pair them up with an opposite Intuition (or vice versa)-- and that process can be replicated for the Thinking and Feeling Functions, as well.

So, how do we figure out Ni vs. Ne, or Si vs. Se, or Ti vs. Te, or Fi vs. Fe?

(Note: Any words in italics aren't my original notes. All credit goes to CSJoseph and his team and their efforts to build on top of Jung and Berens and Nardi's collective work. Their website-- and other information and disclaimers-- will be at the bottom of this post.)

Ni: Source of hope. Willpower: my choice, my future, my decisions, my wishes, my goals, my results, my objective, my options. ALL about hope. Tenacious (tenacity and its stubbornness and relentlessness is attached to Ni.) Where there’s a will there’s a way. Relentless and dauntless. Choice translates to ownership. Objective Function: what do I want?  Expects absolute freedom of choice. The asking function. 

Ne: Metaphysics, consequences, aware of what others want, gives choices and options. Potential energy. Always seeking desire. The “why?” Envious (whereas Se is jealous.) Ne is seeking hope and are drawn to Ni Types to alleviate their hopelessness. Subjective Function: what do others want? 

Si: Not tenacious; it’s long-suffering and endearing, perseverance. “Made my wounds my work.” Ni is relentless and dauntless by comparison. The sharing function. “I perceived/saw/etc.”

Se: Tenacious, short-term energy and memory, more in-tune with physical surrounds and others' movements than one's own internal sensations. Jealous (whereas Ne is envious.) “They doubted me…”, anything to do with doubt is an Se Statement. Treat objects or people like totems to store their memories "in" (“...there on the page for me”: treating book like totem.) “You this, you that…”

Put in the effort (Si) to create something (Se) possible (Ne) that they want to have (Ni) and experience (Si). A complete cycle.

Ti: Wants to know the actual truth, not what is believed to be true. "What I think or know to be true." Ti user must become hyper-aware of their thoughts, exploring how they impact their mind and outlook of themselves and the world. Thoughts are free to be released and watched as they pass by. One can manually inject thoughts into the stream of consciousness. This process can be used to build new patterns of thought.

Te: Believes in the tried-and-true. Tied closer to collective belief rather than distilled truth. "I believe I can fly if proven statistically." Seeks recognition. Drawn to Ti's unadulterated opinion and fact to extract and test its theories. “We can act if we understand the situation"/“The fact that you are listening to me now shows what technology can do.”

Fi: Personal beliefs and principals take precedent over collective ethics. Self-belief is tied to Te's status and recognition. Evaulates one's own emotional needs.

Fe: Collective beliefs, community ethics, inclusion. Self-worth is tied to reception or exclusion from the group. Evaluate others' emotions and meet their needs. “Beautiful cities, beautiful country, incredible places, etc.” [talking about place visited]/“Very much appreciated…” 

Difference between Ti and Fi

Ti User: They expect action→ “You heard what I said, but you didn’t do what I said to do”

Fi User: Wants to be heard, not listened to and obeyed. Fe/Fi both want validation. “Free to use it if he/she feels like it.”

The Workings of Each Extroverted Function

Your physical surroundings (Se), your desirous surroundings (Ne) your intellectual surroundings (Te), and your emotional and evaluative surroundings (Fe).  

FUNCTIONAL PAIRINGS

The Armaments: Sword and Mace, Spear and Bow

Sword and Mace, or Ti/Fe Types, bases its decisions on logical deduction and the broader ethics of the community: "if this, then that", then followed by external fact-checking. It is very aware of the feelings of others, coming to their aid quickly of their own freewill but also because Ti/Fe people can be easily guilted and exploited. Although an expert at spotting contradictions in the thinking of those around them, it's also at risk of being at fault if there is clouding personal bias or incomplete research (and is also prone to the bad habit of not listening to important Te/Fi data.)

ESTP, ENFJ, ESFJ, ENTP, ISTP, INFJ, ISFJ, INTP

“You know what?…”  [Ti giving personal thought.]

“In normal speeches, it is less than x/y/z. In the case of political speeches, the number is zero...” [Ti is aware of cause and effect.] 

"That was so stupid, x..." [Ti critiquing action, not person]

“I’m sorry this/that…” [Fe readily giving comfort.]

“However many people who can’t speak also have disabilities that don’t allow them to use a keyboard, like me” [Fe aware of the struggles of the community.]

“That’s a good question because…” [Ti is pleased with the logic, and Fe is praising.]

"That’s such an honor, thank you." [Fe gratitude.]

“[I] Didn’t care...” [Ti personal thoughts and Fe emotional outreach.]

"I can do this!" [Sword and Mace and Fire and Wind statement: overcoming a physical test.]

Spear and Bow, or Te/Fi Types, bases its decisions on statistics and data, running through aggregated, respectable sources before applying their own individual moral standard and crafting an applied principle. It's very aware of its own emotions and values. Curating rather than creating knowledge, it indispensably extracts a Ti idea then crunches it through a process until it can be replicated. It often defines behaviors or people by labels to better categorize them.

ESTJ, ENTJ, ESFP, ENFP, ISTJ, INTJ, ISFP, INFP

“Your arguments…” [Te acknowledging or debunking others' opinions.]

“The proof is in the pudding…” [Te statistics and data.]

“...not very disrespectful”/“... is very respectful to me” [Te awareness of acceptable behaviors.]  

“So you believe in it?” [Te outsourcing for others' opinions.]

"This book is a go to source...” [Te curating sources.]

“When you really value and love a person…”/“When these guys put so much into a woman…” [Fi personal investment.]

“x/y/z/ [other person/thing] has a positive view of Communism.” [Fi aware of the moral implications of that statement.]

“I represent [x] person/thing” [Te branding and Fi pride at being part of something great.]

“x person is stupid"/"She’s crazy/she’s fanatic” /“I’m too cool for that…” [Te label and Fi personal morals.]

“I might not have been awarded, but I was venerated for it” [Fi personal satisfaction and Te awareness of awards]

The Elements: Fire and Wind, Earth and Water

Extraverted sensing (Se) likes to give experiences to introverted sensing (Si), so it’s like the wind blowing upon the earth, basically. Introverted intuition (Ni) is kept in check by extraverted intuition (Ne) water and fire.

Fire and Wind, or Se/Ni Types, is the awareness of one's physical environment and how to exert willpower to affect an outcome or begin progress forward. They need freedom of choice; and look to others' actions and results to determine their own course. Giving instead of receiving sensorial experiences is preferable to them; and their short-term memory focuses fully on either the present or their own, personal future. More likely to reject before they're rejected.

ESTP, ENTJ, ENFJ, ESFP, ISTP, INTJ, INFJ, ISFP

“[x] is a movie star…” [Se aware of another's life choices]

“If there is more attention paid [to me] for whatever reason…”//“What I noticed about people…”  [Se awareness of others.]

“...didn’t want to mess up…” [focused on Ni's willpower and personal "I want"]

"The collaboration [between us]..." [an Se awareness of others and Ni focus of personal wants that have been achieved]

“...his mind was what I was after.” [Se awareness of others' capabilities and Ni focus on what one wants]

Earth and Water, or Si/Ne Types, is an awareness of all possibilities and probable outcomes, "predicting the future" by closely watching the actions of others around them. through the actions of others' desires and decisions. They change behaviors and routines only when necessary, preferring their habits and comforts (and, potentially, fear unpredictability); and warn others of past disastrous outcomes with their long-term memory and healthy concerns for safety.

ESTJ, ESFJ, ENTP, ENFP, ISTJ, ISFJ, INTP, INFP

“That’s why I did [x].../“I did this/that…” [focused on one's Si choices or motives]

"It could mean..."/"She didn't want him."/“They wanted x/y/z/…” [focused on that person's Ne wants]

"This is difficult to me." [Si focus on internal struggles]

“I was over here waiting…” [Ne wanting to be wanted]

"I have to tell you this, I have to share (my story)" [Si sharing long-term memory to bond]

“We will know what to do… people will want to take action”/You think… you have to be a part of this”... [Ne collective for future action.]

Bonus Ni/Se and Si/Ne Notes

If an Ni (/Se) User has a crush on an Ne (/Si) User, create an activity and invite them: automatic win because they want to be wanted/included. 

If an Si (/Ne) User has a crush on an Ni (/Se) User, schedule your own thing and invite them to come along if they want, leaving it up to their choice. 

If Ne Users aren't wanted, they despair and (can) become perpetually suicidal. They overcome this by realizing they can get through anything with hard work and self-improvement to achieve desirability. 

The strongest Ne User is one who can move through life despite despair. 

The strongest Ni User is one who can move through life despite paranoia. 

Bonus: Combining the Elements and the Armaments into Houses

The Four Houses are the Rubik's cube of the Armaments (Ti/Fe, Fi/Te) and the Elements (Ni/Se, Si/Ne, showing how each categorization clicks together to form a whole.

Crusader

Sword and Mace, Earth and Water: ESFJ, ENTP, ISFJ, INTP

Crusaders are the champions of fairness and protecting the innocent. They place their faith in truth and seek to bring about a just world. Crusaders seek to make others happy, yet have difficulty accepting happiness for themselves. They must have adversity in life lest they think something is wrong. Crusaders see hardship as ever-present and to be endured.

Templar

Sword and Mace, Fire and Wind: ESTP, ENFJ, ISTP, INFJ

Templars seek to make people better. They are interested in others' well-being and strengthening their character. Templars require freedom to make their own choices and find their own way in life. They teach, mentor, counsel. They forgive and help people heal, yet they can also ghost people who refuse to take responsibility for themselves or who betray them.

Philosopher

Spear and Bow, Earth and Water: ESTJ, ENFP, ISTJ, INFP

Philosophers are studious and academic. Faith, belief, ideas, and prestige are all important. They are drawn to civic duty, charity, and politics. Philosophers live their lives committed to doing the right thing. They also seek to create rules and guidelines for others to follow. They are focused on their own happiness and comfort over that of others.

Wayfarer

Spear and Bow, Fire and Wind: ENTJ, ESFP, INTJ, ISFP

Wayfarers are independent, realistic, and objective. They challenge rules and like to find better ways of doing things. Wayfarers need freedom to live life how they want. They are self-assured and competitive. They seek esteem and loyalty, but doubt others' ability to give it. They tend of be suspicious.

Another Bonus: The Temples

The Temples are another classification of four into groups of four... but this one's kind of cool.

Each Type has four sides to its mind, remember? The Ego, Subconscious (which are the 8 Functions), the Unconscious (what the Ego aspires to be), and Superego (what the Type transforms into when their needs aren't met.) The Temple takes those four sides of the mind and "houses" them in one place.

For instance: An ISTJ's Ego is (obviously) an ISTJ. Its Subconscious (or "Shadow") Functions are Se (Nemesis), Ti (Critic), Fe (Trickster), and Ni (Demon); and, as mentioned above, those form a watered-down version of an ESTP (ESeTiP.) Well, the Unconscious and Superego sides of an ISTJ's mind also have four separate Functions; and those Functions form an ENFP (Unconscious, Aspirational) and INFJ (Superego.) This means an ISTJ shares a Temple with an ESTP, an ENFP, and an INFJ; and those four Types all share a Temple with each other, too.

Soul Temple (ESTP, ENFJ, ISTJ, INFJ)

The defining characteristic of the Soul Temple is an overarching concern with character. 

Generally speaking, the Soul Temple is concerned with other people’s “Souls” or core identity. In specific terms, they are concerned with authenticity, and whether others are presenting themselves truthfully or not. Nothing enrages this Temple more than inauthenticity. 

The primary concern of this Temple is the character of themselves and others. Is their character deep or shallow? Strong or weak? Because this Temple is so focused on character, the types that inhabit this Temple often have extreme virtues and vices. They possess either very strong or very weak characters, with little in between. 

Whether you’re an ISTJ, ESTP, INFJ, or ENFP, you have a built-in focus on character, created by the “secret sauce” comprised of these four types swimming about in your psyche together.  

The focus of the Soul Temple is abstract.

Soul Temple: “I’m not in [x]’s body, I don’t know how they felt/thought…”/"[Depression is] just not wanting to wake up."

Heart Temple (ESFP, ENTP, INTJ, ISFJ):

The defining characteristic of the Heart Temple is passion.  

These types are all about passion and heart. They are drawn to human emotion, expression, and drama. ESFPs and INTJs are all about performance. The ESFPs want to embody the performance and INTJs want to guide the performance. ENTPs are about external passion. And ISFJs consistently facilitates drama around them if there is no drama for them to experience or be a part of. 

For these types, it’s not about the drama itself, but about the high emotional intensity that draws them into passion.  It is no surprise that many actors and stage performers belong to the Heart Temple.  

The focus of the Heart Temple is abstract. 

Heart Temple: “If you’re not a fan of yourself, who else will be?” 

Mind Temple (ESTJ, ENFJ, ISTP, INFP):

The defining characteristic of the Mind Temple is education.  

These types are all about teaching, education, and learning. ISTPs take something apart primarily because they want to figure out how it works, not just because they have mechanical awareness. It is no coincidence that the ENFJ is often referred to as “The Mentor” in personality circles. You will often find INFPs and ESTJs in the education system, or in some field where they are able to educate those around them in a professor-like role.   

This entire Temple is about exploring, developing, and understanding the mind. 

The focus of the Mind Temple is concrete. 

Mind Temple: “My father was my teacher… and when I got old, he gave me all the instruction, he used to teach me to encourage me. No doubt my father [was inspiration.]” 

Body Temple (ENTJ, ESFJ, ISFP, INTP):

The defining characteristic of the Body Temple is creation.  

The word “Body” is related to the sense of physical connection that these types have with the world, and their ability to manipulate it. This can be done by producing things, and sometimes “production” is refined through consumption. They need to consume in order to produce.

A piece of art, money, a new system, or an invention all have physical results. Even beginning a family, often started by ESFJs, is an act of physical creation. 

The Body Temple is all about the physical manifestations of creation.  

The focus of the Body Temple is concrete. 

Body Temple: "x was hugely generous..." often talk about generosity or legacy.

AND THAT'S ALL FOR NOW

What started as a "Type with Me" project turned into a massive undertaking from out of nowhere.

I dedicate this to those of you who were curious, wanted to learn more, but didn't have the time to comb through hours and hours of articles and transcripts and videos.

Now that I've dumped a few years' work into your laps-- with the hope that most of it was legible--

Thank you for reading~

Enjoy!

Disclaimers: This is a self-assessed analysis. This information is not based on the abominable MBTI system (which has been butchered from its original Jungian typology since ~WWII); instead, it’s a combination between the works of Jung’s type psychology, Dr. Linda Berens’ Communication styles, Dr. Dario Nardi’s EEG brain scans and compiled research, and others’ data and practices as accrued and simplified by CSJoseph. This system is based only on the Nature side of Nature/Nurture; and each “Type” is not a “box” to fit everyone into– simply a tool to help understand the basics of the human mind that science has only begun to fathom in its limited scope.

Second Disclaimer: While CSJoseph is indispensable for the information he provides, I must warn that his anecdotes separate from the science are not statements I always agree with (and can be down-right frustrating.) If you hop onto his website, take his opinions separate from the Types with a heaping grain of salt.

And lastly: here is the link to the Companion Guide I use.

[doodledstars]

This is ALL my opinions, so views are subjective! Also note there will be mature themes since this IS an adult/yaoi game and I'll be typing a LOT, so please read at your discretion!

Wanted to do something fun before I do work! I received some questions especially for who's my faves for this game, so now that I played the game more, I can actually form my own opinions! Since this is going to be a long LONG text, they'll be under the "keep reading" tab!

Also Topper and Father are at the top tier cuz they're just cute small animals. Can't argue with that. :)

LOVE <3

1.) EDMOND

Not gonna lie, when I first saw him I HATED him. I REALLY don't like tsunderes (looking at you Takumi from FE: Fates) and it didn't help that Eiden immediately fell for at first sight. Like I was internally screaming at Eiden NOT to fall for the tsundere knight. :T

But to my biggest shock, he was WAY more than that. He's respected by all his people (with some stuck-up noble detractors), the knights adore him, and he's always looking out for the best for others. His duty, work, and especially others and Eiden come first before he does. His tsundere personality only comes out when Eiden teases/flirts with him, but otherwise, he's very sweet and cares for others, especially Eiden.

And I absolutely ship him with Eiden the most. Out of all the relationships, they feel the most "mutual" if that makes sense? One reason I'm iffy about adult and especially yaoi games/themes was there was a HUGE power imbalance. In this case tho, Eiden was already head over heels and loves everything Edmond does. Edmond on the other hand, attempts to open up more and Eiden falls in love more and more. They both respect each other and are on equal footing. They're the same, but opposite, and that's something I was not expecting from a BL/Yaoi game. :)

My favorite one is Tranquil Cloud. THAT was incredibly, oversaturating SUPER amazing. It really showed the development Edmond went through and how he wanted to be BETTER not for himself, but for Eiden and others. And when Eiden found that book, oh my lord, he ABSOLUTELY loved him. OH AND THE PRISON RIOT, when Edmond was worried about Eiden being a different person, how they made up when EDMOND was the one who initiated the roleplay LOL. It was SUPER SWEET!!!! ;V;

Overall, Edmond is my #1 spot. Never thought I'd be so obsessed with a tsundere.

2.) KUYA

Wow another tsundere on the top list lol. Same deal with Edmond, I wasn't feeling that great about him. I generally hate the tricky, fox-like characters.

But then I saw some of his coversations and... wow. I actually REALLY like him. What I love is despite him doing tricks and jests on others, he absolutely HATES talking about himself and letting his personal feelings get in the way. It's not even including how he feels about Eiden, but rather how vulnerable he hates being. In a way... he's uncaring but selfless, too. The fourth rooms in Kitsune Dream and Aromatic Exotica Kuya really showed more of his depression and how numb he was to everything.

This is my theory, but I think Kuya WAS abused by Huey considering how long they've been together. Everyone mentioned how Huey wasn't a good person despite his amazing power. And Huey doesn't like Kuya's yokai side, which is why Kuya doesn't think highly of his ears and tail. Even tho Kuya doesn't regard Eiden the same way, he also doesn't miss Huey if that makes sense?? I feel part of his depression was cuz he WASN'T used to being abused by Huey and considering how old he is, it took him such a long time to finally work and accept it.

I absolutely ship him with Quincy tho, mainly because they're also on mutual grounds if that makes sense??? The only thing that's holding me back from him and Eiden being together is how there's a HUGE power imbalance and honestly, he DOES go too far in some cases. Even in some events, he gets away from... a LOT, and that's really difficult considering how powerful he is honestly. But with Quincy, there's a silent respect for each other and they don't dare to mess each other up too far (like SUPER far if that makes sense). That and c'mon, they've HAD had to be together at some point. They're my favorite divorced grandpa ship ahaha.

---

Really Like!

3.) EIDEN

I never thought I would love Eiden honestly. I LOVE how he's not a self-insert character when he got isekai'd to NU: Carnival's world.

I love how he's not just a stupid character, but rather someone who is ACTUALLY mature (when he's not being a dum horny dude of course :b) and looks out for others. He DOES help everyone be better about themselves and wants the best for everyone. He's goofy, but when he's needed, he's needed. :)

I ship him the most with Edmond mainly cuz they're on mutual grounds and they're the same, but opposite. I can see how others are also just as romantic, but to me, I'm entirely an Eiden x Edmond shipper aha.

Eiden DOES take things too far sometimes or even during the worst times. I mainly wanted to play the game for the fluff conversations, but c'mon Eiden... now ain't the time OTL.

4.) QUINCY

Quincy's amazing.

I really REALLY like Quincy. He's just a genuinely nice hermit haha. I haven't seen his conversations with Eiden as much, but I appreciate how he's such a caring dude and their relationship must be super sweet. Also him and Topper are super cute and I love how dry his humor is ahaha.

If you don't include Eiden, Quincy's #3! I personally prefer Edmond and Kuya higher, but if we talk about shipping... Kuya and Quincy WOULD be #2 together hehe. I just REALLY like shipping them together!!

---

Like

5.) BLADE

He's just a silly li'l android! But what I like about him is he's just genuinely curious and silly! One reason he's pretty up there is cuz he has no malicious intent and wants to learn more about being "human." He really cares a lot for everyone and c'mon... his attack mode is REALLY cool. XD

Also I think his Crystal Awakening outfit is the BEST design in the game, no question! Absolutely loved his development and growth in that event.

6.) REI

I wasn't expecting myself to like Rei a lot! He honestly surprised me and I love the type who focuses solely on their research to the point of sacrificing. It leads to a lot of well good writing and character development, and Rei did not disappoint!

Maybe cuz I haven't seen all of his events, but personally he and Eiden gives "friends with benefits" vibes. I THINK he's slowly coming around for the romance with Eiden. But overall, I do like Rei as a character and how he can actually stand up against to Kuya in talking ahaha. Poor Quincy.

7.) OLIVINE

Tbh he's ONLY there just so I can tease a good friend of mine. :b

All jokes aside, I was expecting the depraved priest trope from Olivine, but thankfully it was well done! It really went super deep into his backstory and what he's going for now. The recent event gave me more points for him and Kuya haha. I loved how he even asked Kuya to join him for a prayer session with the kids... AND KUYA ACCEPTED IT HAHA.

...Though if I must be frank, he is kinda freaky in the bed OTL. I do appreciate Eiden's help and encouraging Olivine. I know I'm playing a yaoi game and I SHOULD have an open mind, but yeah wasn't really used to it ahaha. Props to those who enjoy it tho, please do so!!!

8.) ASTER (ONLY if he's in his other form)

If we're solely doing this on appearances, Aster would be much lower due to how young he looks. I'm sorry, but I don't really like having young characters ESPECIALLY in adult games, it doesn't give me a very good vibe. It doesn't help considering Aster's true age yet he still looks like 16-18 (according to official sources). BUT his other form is MUCH better and I HIGHLY prefer that.

Aster is really cool! He's such a greedy vampire ahaha. His story with Morvay was really sad too, he was waiting for such a long time for Huey to come back. You realized despite the good things Huey did, he was a cold person in real life.

---Gap here cuz I'm TRYING to like these characters---

Trying to Like

9.) YAKUMO

I'll blame this on the lack of exposure I have to him, but yeah... I just couldn't vibe with Yakumo. I don't really like crying characters and it didn't really help he felt... obsessive with Eiden if that makes sense?? I guess "worshipping" is the better word.

Honestly, I prefer his interactions with OTHER clan members. I felt the detective event really showed that. It just felt any time he was with Eiden, he just has to talk about him and Eiden isn't AS interested vice versa if that makes sense? But Eiden won't ignore him either, it just felt super one-sided. Hopefully I can change my mind, cuz I really do like his design and I don't outright dislike him.

10.) DANTE

Okay so remember how I mentioned I hated tsunderes lol. Despite putting two of them on the top list... Dante is the embodiment of an ACTUAL tsundere.

The problem I have with Dante is that he's a tsundere to EVERYONE. I can give it a pass if he was acting like that to Eiden only, but he does that to everyone, his own people, the other clan members, etc. And it sucks too cuz I ACTUALLY like his banter and conversations with Eiden, but overall as a character, I wished he would loosen up.

I can understand that he's the ruler of his kingdom, but it also didn't help I was given a negative impression of him. Also on Eiden's side, he was trying to tell him how to rule a kingdom and honestly both sides did NOT give me good vibes. :/

I know he doesn't have a lot of alts, but hopefully he'll get some more screen time to develop and all.

Ehhhhhh

11.) GARU

Garu unfortunately left a bad impression to me, but I'll blame it more on the writers for this. Him looking young and the split personality disorder not taken seriously was doing more harm than good to me sadly.

It's the same deal with Yakumo, I feel it's more one-sided on Garu's end. And man, Karu was actually a tsundere, too. I get they're going for the sweet/spicy side, but it just didn't work out well sadly. I just don't feel that comfy with how he looks honestly and how his disorder wasn't taken seriously.

12.) ASTER (Original form)

I already said why I like Aster, but for his original form, I don't like his appearance sadly. It's the same deal with Garu. I DO like Aster as a character, but just for the appearance, he's ranked down here.

13.) MORVAY

Uh yeah... he just likes balls. ^^;

Couldn't vibe with him honestly, so sorry!!! I do like his sad story tho, but otherwise I can't really get myself to like him sadly.

Thank you for reading this HUGE text. I'm super obsessed with this game and hoping to draw more in my free time! <3

[randoimago]

Hope it's not too late for any requests, if no, can I request general relationship headcanons for FE Fates' Kaze, Saizo, Azama and Orochi? Thank you! (Currently replaying the game, all three paths, I missed it so much TT_____TT)

General Relationship Headcanons

Fandom: Fire Emblem

Character(s): Kaze, Saizo, Azama and Orochi

Type of Request: Headcanons

Note(s): You're good!! It's still June 4th for me (as I'm writing this)

Kaze

Lots of soft gestures of affection. He's not the best with his words, so leaving little snacks you like or little notes of encouragement is one of his go-to's. Sometimes he does linger in your presence a bit longer. His hand brushing against yours. He won't initiate anything, but he'll be very happy if you do.

Honestly likes just sitting next to each other and doing nothing. You can be outside in some peaceful little area. Talking doesn't need to be involved. He just likes the quiet peace and being in your proximity.

Very supportive of you too. If there are any hobbies you want to get into or if you want to learn something new then he's happy to encourage and help you two. Depending on what it is, he might join you in learning so you have someone to practice with.

Saizo

Even if you two don't agree on things or want something different from the other, you always have his respect. Any opinions you have that differ from his, any time you want to be alone and have independence, and even any boundaries you want set. You always have his respect and he'll never once overstep.

Wants to train with you often. Not because he's worried about his own skills and abilities but because he wants to make sure you're able to take care of yourselves. He isn't expecting perfection from you, but he'd like to not worry so much about your safety.

It takes him a while to open up about his emotions and what he really wants. You're the one that takes the lead and he follows. But eventually he will begin being more open with if he wants to hold your hand or wants to kiss you. It just takes him time.

Azama

Expects you to take naps with him. When it's nap time, that means that you also join him. He doesn't really cuddle a whole lot, but he likes just having your body near him when he sleeps. Says it's so he can see your goofy-looking face in his dreams too.

He is very sarcastic and makes lots of teasing comments. Even when you're dating he'll make fun of you and expects to be made fun of back. It's no fun if you just take the comments. Really does like exchanging banter with you.

Kind of with nap time, he likes to just laze around and relax with you. Not really into going hiking or rock climbing or any of that. Is happy to just lounge around and talk to you about whatever.

Orochi

So much teasing from her. Just constantly teasing and trying to rile you up. Might end up pushing past your comfort zone with her teasing and you'll have to talk to her a bit about it. But teasing really is her go to in this relationship.

Very competitive too. Like she'll make up silly little "let's see who the better partner is" games where she'll pepper your face with kisses and try to fluster you more than you fluster her. It's kind of cute.

Gives you gifts based on moments in your relationship. Honestly, I can see her trying to get you two matching charm bracelets or something and adding a charm for each thing that's happened (a date you had, overcoming an argument, things like that).

[livlepretre]

Hi! I've been a big fan of FE for a while - you're an incredible writer & I've loved seeing the story grow and grow over the years :)

Something that I've noticed in this recent arc: a lot of readers seemed to have soured at Rebekah/Elena's relationship for various reasons. I've been curious about this b/c I feel like Klaus/Elena were equally as complicated and dark in those early chapters, and they don't seem to get as much vitriol. I wonder if it's b/c they are THE ship for most of the readers, and Rebekah/Elena is secondary to that, or if it's b/c Rebekah/Elena's relationship problems are more at the forefront of this current arc. Either way, I love every single messy relationship in FE to pieces, and I don't think the story would be the same without any one of them - but I was wondering if this is something you've noticed as well?

thank you! 💙 I really do consider it the highest praise when a reader tells me that despite this being a klaus x elena fic, they are invested in the other relationships in this story as well; there's the level where this exists as Elena's story first and foremost, and then right under that, it's an ensemble piece with all of the relationships between the other core characters (mainly the 4 still on page, we miss you Tyler) forming the heart of the fic

as for the Rebekah vitriol... YES I have noticed it. I was initially surprised by how much people seemed taken with the ship when it became clear during the mid-40s that the story was headed in that direction, and very happy with the support and excitement over it. I actually took that as a sign that people were mostly on board with the idea that this is Elena's story first, and that the klena ship is second to that. (although, also equally taken aback by how fiercely some readers wanted me to scrap the klaus ship altogether. like. guys. klena is my ship. if she burns and sinks to the bottom of the ocean, i am only going to dredge her back up and refurbish her)

as you mentioned, this is primarily a Klaus x Elena story, but I don't think the story as I have envisioned it all these years could work without Elena's other relationships, which inform so much of who she is as a person.

I think there are a few reasons why Rebekah gets so much hate now.

1- I assume most people who click onto this fic and get far enough in to decide to keep going are klaus x elena shippers; I've noticed that the people in this ship tend to prefer darker elements, and are game for most of the stuff that's come up in this story; it's almost expected, so perhaps people just don't bat an eyelash

2- well, there seems to be some deja vu regarding just how awful Rebekah was to Elena in the first half of the fic; she comes back when Elena is at a low point in her life, and is so fun and refreshing and empathetic, and for a while, Elena and Rebekah have for all appearances an extremely healthy relationship, and i think a lot of people were ready to accept the idea of the "fluff" of it, especially after Klaus abandoned Elena so horrifically and then was terrible to her in the reunion-- so somehow, people feel personally betrayed by Rebekah acting like herself in later chapters when the relationship starts to show some stress fractures

3- I wonder if some of it as just... accepting abusive behavior as sexy from a male romantic interest vs recognizing it more readily from a female romantic interest, because people are just more used to seeing that behavior from male love interests so it sort of goes more "under the radar"

It's also interesting because Elena has not been an angel to Rebekah herself. She's lying, withholding huge info (like that her mother is dead???) and is like, right on the line more than once of having an emotional affair with Klaus (that afternoon he shared all of those secrets with her after he'd engineered he eavesdropping on him and Elijah? that was wild; also, their plotting together is only one step removed from sex for them both)

Yet Rebekah gets called out with furious aplomb for things like not calling Elena over Christmas. Honestly, my bad, didn't occur to me when I was writing that this was going to ruffle so many feathers. Rebekah was pretty busy managing Klaus, and persuading him to bring Stefan and therefore Elena over to where they were. And she has her hands full with quite a few things right now beyond that!

But that also really illustrates how a lot of people seem to have fallen in love with Rebekah as a good girlfriend, and maybe have normalized her more than Klaus was normalized, and the expectations for her to fulfill mortal relationship standards seem to be higher. When she is very much not mortal, or normal, and she is out doing awful, awful stuff, but Elena is horrifyingly undisturbed most of the time.

[randomsquirrel]

Asks for a Fic Writer! 🔆

Well! I've been tagged by the very nifty @eemamminy-art, so how can I refuse? Thanks, mate! <3

1. how many works do you have on AO3? Only 41. It feels like more, but that's because I've got a couple of works that are obscenely long. Like, two series that are (so far) over half a million words, each

2. what's your total AO3 word count? ...1,524,864. That...is intimidating o_O

3. what fandoms do you write for? At the moment, just Stardew Valley and Final Fantasy XIV. I'd like to write for a couple more fandoms (like Baldur's Gate 3, as I am having a blast), but I just don't have the time as it is to work on the current series I have going D:

4. what are your top five fics by kudos? I don't have a lot of kudos on my fics because most of my works are long series with lots of chapters, so while they get quite a few hits and many return readers, only one kudos per visitor @_@ Friends With Benefics (FFXIV, NSFW), a spicy Thancred/Urianger one-shot that I really wanna revisit and turn into a mini-series :3c Sunshine on a Cloudy Day (SDV, SFW), a soft Sam/Sebastian work, one of my first ones, dealing with depression, and how it's hard to get people around you to understand that. Fortunately, Sam does :) Tales of Loss and Fire and...Love (FFXIV, SFW), a fluffy piece, just Thancred and Estinien being bros, having some drinks and bonding, before the Scions leave for Sharlayan. They have a lot in common, like shared trauma that they can finally talk about :( Formality and Debauchery (FFXIV, NSFW), the second of my Estimeric Week works, the prompt was "gala," so I decided that Aymeric had to figure out a way to get Estinien to join him at a high-society event, and did so creatively ;) Rose & Sunflower: The NSFW Chapters (SDV, NSFW), as my first Stardew fic series (Rose & Sunflower 1: The Music Within) was initially being posted to the SDV forums, before being cross-posted to AO3 several months later, I decided that any spicy scenes would have to have their own work so that I could keep posting on the forums. Thus, the NSFW Chapters are all of the naughty parts that couldn't make it into the "main" story. ...And gave me the chance to try a few "what if" ideas, too, that aren't "canon" to the rest of the story but are a lot of fun >:3c 5. do you respond to comments? Absolutely! Comments make my entire hecking day, and I love being able to interact with my readers, I'm just all, THANK YOU FOR EATING MY FOOD, I HOPE IT WAS DELICIOUS <3

6. what is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? An End to Hope (FFXIV, SFW), just for the challenge, for the second Estimeric Week event, I decided to see if I could actually do a "bad ending" fic. So this is what might have happened if Aymeric had been possessed by Nidhogg's eyes instead of Estinien >:D 7. what's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? I want to say the first book in my Rose & Sunflower series, since I was so chuffed to have completed a project I wasn't sure I could follow through on. But I had been going through a bad patch for a while when writing book 3 (A Different Perspective), and almost didn't finish it, as I lost the drive and physical ability to write for over half a year. So it was both a happy ending for both the characters and myself to see the entire trilogy completed ;_;

8. do you get hate on fics? Thankfully, no. So far I have been so fortunate to only have had positive and constructive feedback, and I treasure every person who has left those remarks :D

9. do you write smut? if so, what kind? Of my 41 works, *checks and does math*, 16 or 17 are smut/nsfw in some fashion, and is a lower number than I'd have expected. But again, I am prone to lengthy works, so while the number of dirty fics is relatively low, the lewd content per word is very high. All of it is m/m (so far), mostly 'cause the characters I'm working with just work that way. It's also diverse; some of it is normal pr0n, often there's poly/multiple partners, a bit of BDSM, and a few light kinks here and there. Heck, I forgot all I've done, 'cause now and then I go and backread things to check something and go "wait, I don't remember writing that! ...Hot" XD

10. do you write crossovers? what's the craziest one you've written? I enjoy writing crossovers, but don't do them that often. The best/craziest one is Ishguardians- The Factions of Coerthas, which, yeah, isn't so much a "crossover" as it is "Ghost in the Shell meets FFXIV," but it's more than just a futuristic AU. It was basically one lengthy excuse to flex with several of my personal knowledge sets, and was a heck of a challenge to get so many "moving parts" working smoothly, and I'm quite proud of it \o/

11. have you ever had a fic stolen? Not yet, to my knowledge, and I'm hoping it stays that way. Hooray, I'm too unimportant! :P

12. have you ever had a fic translated? I haven't had that, either. While my work is interesting, there's just not been enough interest in getting it translated/localized

13. have you ever co-written a fic before? Yet again, nope. I've got a few RPs with a couple of people, but as far as fics go, I've always been working on my own

14. what's your all-time favourite ship? OOF, that's a hard one. I've got a lot that make my brain go brrrr, but... Funny as it is, Elliott (SDV) and my OC (Lysander). I played Elliott's romance route the first time I played SDV because he looked like a sweetie (and an aspiring writer? Heck yes!), and was floored at how closely our respective stories/motivations/desires paralleled. I'd been wanting to pursue a writing career for ages as well, but never had the courage, so after completing his story and seeing him find success with his novel after we helped him get there, I smashed down my fear and gave writing fic a go, at the same time fully developing and fleshing out an OC I'd had a hard time properly giving life. And the success with that series gave me the confidence and experience to keep doing more fics, and eventually my own original works. I just got a second original short story accepted for publication last year, so yeah, those two will forever be precious to me <3

15. what's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? Probably "Rose and Sunflower 4." I've got a few ideas (technically, I have ideas for both a fourth AND a fifth book), but with work and life just being loopy, and lacking proper meds for ADHD and other things, I just don't have the spell slots at the moment. I'm also neck-deep in my FFXIV OC's lore, doing a crazy long series that follows his own version of the story, and that's taking up pretty much all of my writing time not devoted to specific projects for exchanges or events or the like :-\

16. what are your writing strengths? Action sequences, and character-driven dialogue. Again, "Ishguardians" was the opportunity to write an action film, more or less, and I have a surprising knack for not only snappy one-liners and comebacks, but also some deeply raw and heartfelt moments. I've got range :D

17. what are your writing weaknesses? I am shit at creating conflict. It's why I've not been able to get a writing career completely off the ground. I'm an engineer, a gamer, and a soldier; I solve problems on purpose! So deliberately creating situations that drive the plot and characters that doesn't feel contrived or "but this shouldn't actually be a problem/a thing" is genuinely difficult for me

18. thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? Done right, it can add to the work. I've done it myself, as while my OCs aren't necessarily multilingual, they have picked up a few phrases and the like, so now and then that gets used to convey something specific in a scene. My personal rule is that if I haven't taken at least Level 1 in a language myself, I don't use it. Because while I can use Google Translate or the like to get my result, I still want to check it myself to make sure it's got the right context/grammar/whatever, which can sometimes be lost with automatic translation. ...But, since I've done level 1 with about six or seven languages so far, I've got a decent range to work with ;P

19. first fandom you wrote for? Stardew Valley. I had tried to write for something else in the past, like, in the 90s, but I don't remember what it was, and I crumpled it all up/deleted it before I could post it anywhere, so it's all been (thankfully) memory holed and lost to time. SDV was my first true foray into fics and creative writing. Well, creative writing that I actually enjoyed >_>

20. favourite fic you've written? Again, oof, that's tough. It's a tie between R&S1 and "A Song of Memories," as both are my OC's stories in SDV and FFXIV respectively, but R&S was where I finally took the terrifying plunge into fics, and therefore started my career as an author. Conversely, ASoM is a goddamn epic, and all of my strengths as a writer, storyteller, and worldbuilder are on full display. The R&S series still holds up, and you can definitely see what the characters would "evolve" into in ASoM, as well as looking back and seeing just how much of R&S influenced them :)

Okay! Time to tag some d00ds so they can have their turn! @yaminohere, @burgiethewriter, @nateharmonica, and @nanasamantha, feel free to have at it! I had wanted to tag a few more people, but apparently I don't follow that many writers after all, and several of them haven't updated their blogs in a few years o_O

[sleprandomizer]

Awoooo

He is a priest but also a wolf. He is a priest who actually a priest not a secretly buffed wyvern lord.

Pandreo a character who I initially dislike because of his annoying howling gimmick but once i used him in my first maddening playthrough he become my favorite character in engage. Yes he beats Ivy, diamant, and kagetsu as my favorite character.

I ever made appreciation post for Pandreo how I like a character that i initialy dislike but once I learn more about them end up loving them. At first his howling just something that I found cringe (although now still tbh). Also not helping with how engage usually present support conversation playing with character gimmick over and over uncreatively at the point I fed up with their support conversation (celine).

Pandreo probably the one that engage succeed how to play around with character's gimmick nicely. They did a good job to give interesting back story for pandreo and his sister. His view about religion and how he wants to run the church present in his support conversation that turn out mostly good. I dare to say pandreo has the best support conversation set list. Also the howling part surpisingly not played as much as i expected. I thought he would howl for every sentence just like how amber talked about alpaca. Pandreo and vander A support probably one of the funniest support I have ever read in the entire FE i played.

Design wise i must say not that special or amazing. He comes with humble priest cloth and that's it. He rocks the weird sage clothes tho (which strange because most characters looks like clown in this outfit). Well as a priest kinda ironic he actually looks better with revealing outfit like sage than his unique outfit.

As unit he is the magic kagetsu. Comes with cracked bases. He has enough magic and speed + build to deal a lot of damage in maddening. He also has same issue like kagetsu, Great unit who comes with the bad class. Martial master in general just bad class due to how art/fist works in this game. He should be reclassed to sage or mage knight or you would waste his cracked bases as MM. I enjoyed him as sage+byleth ring and now in current playthrough mage knight+celica. He can double low-mid tier speed enemies so he has more dps than ivy or citrine without dire thunder. In the late game aside from cheese starts, I think he is more valuable than kagetsu due to how inflated enemies defense starting at chapter 20. Magic is much better than weapon like ridersbane and armor slayer. As sword griffin also quite good since he has staff proficiency therefore he can use warp and rescue staff as griffin.

Character: 9/10

Design: 7.5/10

Unit performance: 9.5/10

[arkus-rhapsode]

So Fire Emblem Engage is just around the corner

And as you all remember I was more than hyped for a brand new Fire Emblem after almost three years of waiting. Hell, I even defended it after a lot of the initial backlash for its design and use of legacy characters.

Now I still standby I think a lot of the backlash was overblown and showed more of a trend in theFE development to often pivot vastly after an entry going for a different tone or story element. The reason I am writing this down now is I want to talk about my expectations for it as well as maybe how it can be managed. It’s no secret that the FE community has certain camps of how they’d like the direction of the series to go, weather you have older Kaga era fans wanting to keep it the romantic high fantasy of Genealogy, fans who want FE to be more political and nuanced like Tellius era fans, or just to keep the robust dating sim like character interactions of 3DS era fans.

When it comes to Engage one would think the meter stick that should be used is Three Houses. Afterall, it is the predecessor. But given all the information we have on how Engage is moving away from some of the mechanical beats like the branching paths into separate routes or the handing of every character in a customizable state to the player early on, as well as how it was meant to be an anniversary title, I think the title I am personally using to measure it will be Awakening. And let me just say as FE Awakening has had a look back by some as being a mostly fine entry that’s ultimately just a highly archetypical story with the most supports in a cast, it can not be understated both important it was for the franchise while also homaging and respecting everything that came before it. To put in a streamlined way, Awakening is the greatest hits of Fire Emblem: reminding old fans of the stuff they like about the franchise while creating new fans to see why this is a franchise worth keeping around. I think that context is also why many FE reviewers still are very fond of Awakening even when trying to look critically over it, whereas it’s successor, Fates would try to recapture Awakening but without that same tributary element to it tended to be seen as more bloated and harsher judged entry. But with the context of Engage’s development and what it’s aiming to do for FE’s 30 year history, I believe it should aim to be a Awakening level of experience. Doesn’t need to reinvent the wheel of the franchise, but rather an experience that both older and newer fans can enjoy.

There’s also no doubt that the animation style has changed from the intentionally slower FPS cut scenes from Echoes and 3H, to a more smoother matching the engine style cut scene. And frankly I find it beautiful, this is some of the most fluid 3D animations FE has had and I’m excited for this going forward with other games. I understand some found the older style more… stylized and giving it an identity, but honestly the fact the animations improved this much from the lambasting 3H had for its animations is a real show of improvement in my opinion. Also fully voice acting returns and as well as allowing our avatar characters to speak freely even as we control them is a welcome return.

And lastly for this blog, I know if you’ve been following for awhile you know the FE live blogs and original FE content have been a staple of this blog. I do hope to continue that, though it might not be to the essay level as FE3H provided me with. But for followers who have felt I’ve mostly let this channel be inactive, I will be likely posting here more In the coming weeks.

[felikatze]

Your Grima analysis was stunning !! It does change a lot of things about him. However, since the FP timeline is different from the OG, do you think the events of the FP timeline made Robin in there different than the Robin that followed Lucina ?

Not really, i'd think!

The main differences in the FP timeline is that Grima killed Naga instead of destroying the Fire Emblem, instead of the other way around. I think either act is something Grima did early, in the peak of the "I gotta kill everyone because nothing matters anymore" phase. Both quote un-quote "prevent" Grima from being killed, but in the end we do know that only Grima could truly end himself (as Naga confirms in the main timeline).

(Which means that in the FP timeline Grima will still awaken again in a thousand years, just like awakening's main "let chrom deal the final blow" ending but shhhh)

Since the expected equation is Naga + Fire Emblem = Awakening, either works.

Both Grimas have like warring mental states? I know I characterize "Grima" as an act, but I also think Fire Emblem Brand Dragon Madness has a major hand in Grima's actions. He embodies destruction, so when he's in a degenerated state like that, he can't stop himself from destroying everything and everyone, which includes not destroying himself. So he's lucid enough to see he needs to die, but not lucid enough to do the act himself. Whenever he loses grip of himself, he runs on self-preservation just like any other of us feeble creatures, which is suboptimal for killing yourself, really.

Meaning both FP Grima and OG Grima are just pulling elaborate suicide stunts. This is evident in how FP bad end Grima lets Lucina go to try and gather the Fire Emblem again. For OG Grima, he probably followed her for several factors. She has the Falchion, the only weapon that could truly harm him, and the past will have Robin in it, who can end Grima for good. If Grima remained in the future, there'd be nothing he could do abt it.

Additionally FE operates on multiverse meta, so it's ambiguous whether Lucina travelled to the past of her own world or a different world altogether. In the latter case, Grima would just be left alone in an empty world forever. Not ideal!

Probably very rambly, but tldr: There's not really a difference character-wise, just in the initial choice whether to go for Naga or the Fire Emblem. Once he's more lucid, he had to adapt differently to the respective consequences.

[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.

[rina7anir-blog]

The thing is: when I started playing Three Houses I had wrong expectations thanks to its fandom.

Everyone said it's the best Fire Emblem game. And me, who got back into FE through Engage (and loved Engage for its gameplay, character design, story - basically everything!) was afraid that Three Houses would be even better than that. Yes, I was afraid of another game being better than my favorite. I was very narrow-minded and shortsighted back then but don't worry! I had my personal character development since then. XD

So naturally I was disappointed during my first run in FE3H. Especially, you guessed it, the gameplay and the grafical design.

I was so used to Engage's colorful design and the big letters inside the textboxes and the menu, that my eyes had issues reading the text in FE3H and my brain was overwhelmed because instead of just focusing on the units and important spots like ballista on the map, tried to register the details on the houses and walls. And that's just an example. If you know how the maps are designed in FE3H, and how everything looks the same color too, you can guess how much of an headache it was for me to play this game. And to make matters worse: the game uses battalions!

It wouldn't be an issue if I just don't use them, right?

If you know the game and consider what I just told: no, of course not. Because the enemy used battalions as well and every time you initiate a battle and the camera zooms in, several other npc are fighting in the back. Since you now know how my brain works, you probably can guess how annoying it is for me to watch that. There's too much going on on the screen and I feel like I can't breathe - let alone focusing what is happening between my unit and the enemy.

"But it's more realistic that way."

Well, sure, but I don't play games for realism. I got enough realism in real life.

Maybe I should add regarding the text / letters: I have a bad eyesight and I'm playing FE games on TV through my Nintendo Switch, so my fiancée is able to watch it. I can play games like Engage and Blazing Blade normally from our sofa. But Three Houses and Three Hopes (and the other FE Warriors game) I have to sit closer on a chair. You can imagine that's not comfortable. Especially since the screen itself isn't that small, so the characters are still huge, but the text is still very small, it's irritating...

Now onto my next point: the monastery.

The idea itself is really nice, I actually like it and enjoyed it during the first chapters. But the further the story progresses, the more it felt like a chore. The monastery became a hindrance between me and the plot. Until I finally just skipped everything during my second run.

Personally I don't need something like that to get closer to my allies. I feel closer to the characters in Shadow Dragon and they don't even have supports!

Blame my autistic brain, blame my wild imagination... but that's how it is.

Speaking of characters: let's talk about those in Three Houses and finally something I like about the game! :D

Where and how do I start...

Since I didn't knew much about the game, only knew the Blue Lions from my short playing of Three Hopes and the fact that the game has a time skip, I basically went blind into Three Houses. And although I felt drawn to go back to Dimitri's gang (since I knew them, as I just said, from Three Hopes), I decided to join the Golden Deers. In retrospect? That was a mistake. I should have went with my heart and join Blue Lions. Claude's route gives you a lot of lore and insights. And to me it felt like the contents were all over the place. I tried reading the books in the monastery's library, but got bored immediately. (Which is strange for a bookworm, don't you think?) I also barely remember any conversations and no special traits of the characters stuck with me. Aside from... uhh... that big guy, whom the game refused to give a proper, fitting shirt prior to time skip... I forgot his name. (It's Rafael. I needed to look him up, yes.) I know that he likes food and building up his muscles.

Alright, and I know Ignatz is an artist. And he's kind.

Hilda is lazy.

Marianne... had a "dark secret". She's also kind.

...who else do I remember?

Ah, yes! Lorenz! He's annoying. But also kind. At least I think his heart is on the right spot.

Funny enough I forgot Lysithea and Leonie. I needed to look them up despite them being two of my favorites from the game. Especially Lysithea. Leonie... I didn't like how crazy she was about my dad (Jeralt). And gave me the feeling I wouldn't appreciate him enough. Like, girl... He's my dad! I love and admire him more than you and know him better than you, so take a step back please!!

Dang it, seems like I don't have to say something nice about the characters either...

No, no! I swear, I'm not making things up!

I'm writing the text basically free-style and just go with its flow.

And I really do like the characters in Three Houses.

One thing I liked about the monastery is how it really felt as if you are a teacher. I really cared about my students. My children.

It was truly a fun time.

Until the time skip happened. And my feelings got messed up...

The moment I woke up, I knew I head to meet up with the kids. So I didn't care about that dude who've found me unconscious. So I went straight Garreg Mach. Or at least what was left from it.

Like I said: I played this game without much knowledge. Though I knew about the time skip, I did not know what awaited me after it. And thus I did not recognize the young man who suddenly stood before me until the moment he said "You overslept, teach!" And even then I needed a few more seconds to realize that it was indeed Claude von Riegan. One of my former students.

(Something else I realized, though many months later while contemplating why I started to hate Hilda: it was probably also the moment I fell for this guy. But that's a different story. One I don't want to talk more about than necessary.)

Anyway! One after another my (former) students arrived and joined us. Everyone looked stunning, grown up... it made me cry. I felt something like pride.

That's what I probably love the most about FE3H. You teach your students, (don't) watch them grow, how they deal with their struggles, anxieties, worries, but also hopes, dreams... You just want to support them, to help them, to be someone they can rely on.

That's... why I love this game despite the headaches it gives me.

Speaking of headaches...

The story of Verdant Wind left me unsatisfied. I had a lot of questions, none were answered.

When suddenly facing the ones who slither in the dark (I think that's what they were called) things got even more confusing and I did not understand how and why they revived Nemesis.

(Aside from that I was only able to beat the boss with a lot of luck because none of my units was able to land a hit or do damage at all.)

Jumping a bit back though: I had to kill Ashe at one point. One of my first favorite characters in this game but I didn't recruit him since it was my first time playing the game, and now he looked even more attractive after the time skip... I was heartbroken to say the least.

Let's leave it at that for now a continue to my second run where I joined the Blue Lions. As male Byleth this time because to my information, there apparently was no S Rank in this game anyway...

...

I see you have questions.

I, too, have questions.

Yes, my informations were wrong.

But also: why did nobody on Twitter responded on my question where to get the ring??

It's funny how people jump on you if you criticize something. But answering a genuine question? Hell no! Why should they!?

Yes, I am salty!

Why?

Ohhh, let me tell you...

This is my story about how I'm still unmarried in Three Houses...

So I was male Byleth. Back with my homies the Blue Lions.

I like Dimitri, he's your classic Fire Emblem Lord, I am on my knees for this man, I will serve and protect him. Say whatever you want. Azure Moon is my second favorite route, right after Crimson Flower.

I think it was after the time skip that I realized "marriage" is indeed possible in FE3H. And I was devastated when I learned the ring for this event is missable. I would have loved to give Ashe that ring...

But only female Byleth could and since I was playing as male this time, I searched up who else could be interesting to date.

And that, kids, is how I met- Linhardt!

First I just did it for funsies. I gave Linhardt presents, talked to him on every occasion, dragged him to events and later even on the battlefield... That poor boy was stuck with me, liking it or not. He was my experiment, I was his. We got it.

Still, I couldn't find the ring. And yes, I did google it. But it remained a mystery. It was also strange how everyone told different things on FE3H threads? Some tell you the ring is obtainable from Sitri's grave, others say it's in Jeralt's room...

I never found it to this day.

I still dated Linhardt during every route since then, as if it became an obsession.

In the end we never married but we're now best buds.

Someday though I finally found a video on YouTube where someone showed how and where to get that ring. So the next time I'm playing FE3H, I will definitely get it!

And give it to Ashe!

And Linhardt!

And Mercedes!

And Felix!

And Dorothea!

And Clau-

Oh, right.

And Flayne!

Why not Seteth?

Because my feelings for Seteth are those of a child towards their father.

It's funny that I was wondering about that myself. I knew Seteth from Fire Emblem Heroes and Three Hopes. And I really liked his character from there already. But not the way that I wanted to marry him. Later through playing Three Houses I learned that he is Flayne's father and that answered my question.

You know, I never knew my own father. I also only had a foster father until the age of 5. Even though I don't have many memories about him, they all are nice memories. After moving and thus leaving him behind, my mom had a few other men after that but none of them accepted me as their child. You could say I somehow have a complex about this...

Yeah yeah, I know that's personal. But I don't mind sharing it.

I have a weak spot for father figures in stories.

There are several fictional characters like that to me. (Like Zhongli from Genshin Impact.)

Anyway, that's why I can't S rank Seteth. Unless it would mean in a non-romantic way, of course. But I like Flayne! I remember panicking myself when she suddenly disappeared. I really wanted to find her, not just for Seteth' sake. (Though I admit it was one motivation, yes.)

I wonder if Seteth would agree with me marrying Flayne and accepting me as his son-in-law? 👀 But even if not, I would run away with her. 🤭

(also: I love their backstory!! I love dragons after all, haha!)

Now, I said Azure Moon is my second favorite route after Crimson Flower... Surprising?

Indeed did I enjoy Edelgard's route the most. Probably because it was different. Of course I was hurt fighting Dimitri and Seteth. (speaking of which: at one point you have to decide to kill or spare Claude. at that time my feelings for this character were so confusing, I thought I hated him and actually wanted to kill him... don't worry, I spared him. just wanted to mention that.)

But I never liked Rhea to begin with. I thought I could learn to understand her feelings and intentions but, no. I can't like her. In a different timeline I would follow her for Seteth and Flayne's sake. But only for them.

Also it was nice to see Edelgard's feelings during Crimson Flower. That although she did evil things, she cared about the people around her. And that cutscene after our final battle? It moved me to tears. Despite of how dark our path was, I wanted to make Edelgard happy no matter what.

I'm stuck between Dimitri and Edelgard since then. Plus Claude. And all I wish for is them being friends and allies forever. Even though I know that wish is impossible to fulfill.

I think I'm cutting this here. I hope my feelings for Fire Emblem Three Houses were conveyed properly?

I'm open to questions, though, if you want to know about something specifically!

Also sorry if it's a long, boring read. I admit I'm too lazy and short on time to style this properly.

[loregoddess]

Since it's still too soon for me to send Fòdlan asks... Alear, Veyle and Yunaka for the character ask game?

love that we sent each other the same characters...

cut for length and some spoilers for late- and end-game stuff

Alear

First impression: Like many, I thought the design was uh...interesting. Kinda silly. I didn't think the art was bad or anything, it's just, there was so much high saturation red and blue. Pepsiman to the max. Otherwise I had no strong interest or hopes for their characterization bc on average I am wildly neutral on protagonists even when they aren't avatar-esque characters.

Impression now: Hoo boy, do I love Alear something fierce and this hit me out of nowhere like a train bc I was not expecting Alear's writing to be so good, and just. Damn, Alear's one of the most characters of all time, love them lots and lots, probably my personal favorite FE protagonist honestly. Still can't believe the hair was plot relevant.

Favorite moment: Oooh, there's lots, but I really enjoyed the post-Ch10/11 scene where like, Alear looses everything they thought they needed to fight Sombron, but then Lucina gives them the pep talk and like, of course it's Lucina, the girl who has faced similar hardships, who knows what it's like to have to keep fighting against impossible odds, and like, Alear realizing that no wait yeah they have their friends and they might find help in Solm, and that initial burst of resolve to keep trying was just, I dunno, a really good midpoint both for the game's story arc, and for Alear's personal story arc... I ALSO really liked the scene post-reveal of Alear being a Fell Dragon where Alear literally just, sits and talks things out with the others instead of making some rash decision by themself, bc like, I know miscommunication or otherwise lack of healthy conversation makes for drama and all that, but it's actually so refreshing and interesting to have a character make the decision to talk things out instead and like, mmm, I absolutely loved that scene.

Idea for a story: I'm not much of an AU person, but a Lumera Lives AU might be interesting if only bc I'm not partial to the "self-sacrifice to save another" trope like, I know "I'd die for you" is a popular phrase right now for showing affection or love, but I find that willingness to die a bit concerning, and there's something really powerful about "I'd live for you" as a way of expressing love that I don't think gets explored enough. So maybe like, Lumera lives, but she has to go into a deep sleep to recover or something, and Sombron tries to mind-control her in Ch25, like how he did with Veyle with the crown, and after you free Lumera she's regained enough strength that she could be a last-minute recruit for the battle against Sombron, as it would be really cool to see her interactions with Alear after Alear's character development and growth (and Emblemification), as well as with Veyle and the other Lythos characters. A fic exploring that, as well as the post-game setting would be interesting. I'm probably not gonna write it bc I like coming up with ideas more than actually doing anything with them, but it's fun to think about.

Unpopular opinion: All positive opinions about Engage are unpopular opinions, but anyhow, Alear's writing is fantastic actually. Also I think Alear is the first and (so far) only time that FE has used an "avatar-esque" protagonist well, bc Alear has a firmly established personality and doesn't actually act as a true self-insert (since there's no customization outside of the name and gender appearance, neither of which are important to or affect the story), but still allows the player that sort of link into the game by letting them choose a gender appearance. Like, don't get me wrong I like the other avatar characters, but something about the execution didn't work either as an avatar or as a story protagonist for me for each.

Favorite relationship: Love, love, love Alear's familial relationships with Lumera and Veyle, and later Nel and Rafal, but I also love how much Alear kind of adopts everyone into their family in some way or another as well, like Alear turned the Somniel, this place of austere worship and divinity, into a place that's like a second home for basically the entire army plus the few random civilians who runs the stores.

Favorite headcanon: It's sorta implied in canon that Alear will literally just sleep all day if someone doesn't wake them up, but I think once Alear is awake they can also stay up for much longer than humans can without getting tired. However, Alear enjoys sleeping enough that they don't actually do the staying up thing that often and no one realizes it until some freak incident where Alear's awake for like a week solid, and then sleeps for a week afterwards.

Veyle

First impression: I came in knowing sort of vaguely what her arc was bc I spoiled myself on part of the Engage stuff, but I wasn't wildly interested or disinterested in her as a character.

Impression now: LOVE HER, she's so sweet, her story's actually way more tragic and hopeful than I was expecting it to be, and she's great, she's wonderful, I hope she gets all the nice things in life bc she deserves them.

Favorite moment: Oh, when she's able to break through the mind-control helmet, and forcefully take her own body back from Sombron's control so she could revive Alear, that was such a chilling scene to watch and it was so cool to see her finally take her own life back for herself. Like, she has this strength of heart that comes from how kind she is and then to see that strength manifest in literally being able to oppose even Sombron's most powerful magic, like damn I was so proud of her even as I was watching the lowkey horrific scene of Alear becoming a Corrupted play out.

Idea for a story: Ever since you mentioned a fic idea for Veyle rebuilding Gradlon I've wondered what that would look like, it's such a cool concept. Also, if there were potentially other dragon survivors who had gone into hiding who sought out Gradlon and Lythos after Sombron was defeated, how Veyle would interact with them, like, I dunno that would be interesting to explore. It'd also be cool to explore her potential relationship with Lumera (branching off from the Alear fic idea above).

Unpopular opinion: For all the criticism Engage gets, I haven't seen Veyle catch too much flack and that's nice honestly. I guess...I know a lot of people wanted to see Alear and Veyle turn into dragons, but I'm actually fine with them not being able to do that? Like it works for the narrative theme of questioning what it means to be a fell or divine dragon, and the idea that fell does not equal evil and the inability to transform does not make one a defective dragon feels relevant to both Veyle and Alear.

Favorite relationship: I love her familial relationship to Alear and how she's so excited to have Nel as a sister in their supports, and I'd like to imagine that excitement at having new siblings extends to Rafal as well. I think her relationship with Mavier (esp. her insisting they be friends bc she doesn't want a retainer or a worshipper) is nice too, and I love how invested she becomes in connecting with the various people in the army (I still want to know the results of her spicy food eating competition with Diamant).

Favorite headcanon: Like Alear, Veyle has a habit of giving people small gifts like pretty rocks or flowers that reminded her of whomever. Also, once she eases into a normal life routine a bit more, she likes to host parties or larger gatherings so she can be around a lot of friends in peaceful times and have lots of happy memories to cherish.

Yunaka

First impression: I thought her design was cute if a bit unusual for FE (esp. with the stars in her hair), but I wasn't sure what to think otherwise at first.

Impression now: Oooh, Yunaka's great, one of my top favorite characters for sure. I love the dichotomy between the peppy and lighthearted mask she puts up against how casually she drops these darker "definitely used to be an assassin" lines in battle. Plus she's such a mess, and I mean this in the best way, but like, where she's at in her life is a mess, she's trying to break away from being an assassin, she has no frame of reference for what is "normal", she doesn't quite know what she actually wants to do, she's terrified of people learning the truth about her but she also seems kind of relieved anytime they do, she's so incredibly complex while also being the fun girl who drops likes like "hiya papaya" and "zappy". She's just amazing, I love her so much as a character, we need more characters like her.

Favorite moment: Oh hmm, she has a lot of good supports, but I thought it was really incredible how she decides to open up to Alear in their supports about her past, but like, on her terms and because she chose to share this information. Like, I really enjoy her supports with Citrinne and Zelkov as well, but Citrinne sort of forces Yunaka to explain her past, whereas Zelkov's able to pick up on it bc he's also a former assassin, and in both cases Yunaka doesn't get to choose to reveal this thing about herself that she's trying to keep secret. I also really liked her supports with Alfred for this reason, bc while Yunaka thinks she's going to have to explain everything for them to be "actual, real friends", Alfred makes is very clear to her that he doesn't care at all about her past and is fine with only knowing the person she is now, on her terms, and he has no reason or need really to know more than who she is now, which was just like, really sweet (and very Alfred given that he's also keeping secrets).

Idea for a story: Hmm, maybe something exploring her life before joining Alear? Something post-game, following her travels and how she eventually figures out who she is and wants to be and becomes comfortable as that person (yes I'm ignoring the ominous ending card) and what she eventually settles into would be interesting as well.

Unpopular opinion: Something something about how people say Engage has less complex characters, and how Yunaka disproves that (well, there's plenty other characters I could cite, but I could literally write an essay on Yunaka she's got so much stuff going on). Also I think Yunaka is probably one of the most complex characters from the recent games, and she's also miles more interesting, complicated, and well-written than most of the women from 3H (no shade intended for the 3H ladies, they're great too, but some of them are pretty standard in terms of the FE women with one-key characterization).

Favorite relationship: Love her friendship with Alfred, and friendship or romance with Alear, and I think her relationship with Citrinne turns out really interesting too. Love that she and Zelkov just start hanging out as a way to sort of heal from the trauma of being assassins in their youth. Also her supports with Goldmary were incredibly good and I like to think the two remained friends. Basically Yunaka having friends who accept her for who she is and allow her to grow and become who she wants to be are Very Good, and I want her to have the best. Oh, and I know they don't interact in the game, but I think she'd get along really well with Veyle, especially since Yunaka didn't choose to be an assassin and her entire childhood was ruined bc of it, and she'd see Veyle who's also had a shitty childhood but still has some childhood left, and be like, "Yeah, I'm gonna make sure this girl's life is good from here on out."

Favorite headcanon: Her ending is unusually ominous and I like to Ignore It (inset meme image of Yunaka and Sonya shaking hands over a caption reading "FE woman with more than one personality trait ominously vanishing in their ending card"). I like to think that after her time as a street performer she travels the world doing random good deeds (helping out at Zelkov's orphanage, being that Really Strange Guest in Goldmary's classes, hanging out with Citrinne and helping her navigate how to better help the commoners, maybe even sometimes going and scaring a bunch of ruffians causing trouble to stop causing trouble bc while she's put the assassin life behind her, she can still be scary enough to get some troublemakers to reform their ways, so on and so forth). And I think she does eventually figure herself out and find a place she can call home and live out a happy, quit retirement.

[tsukai22]

New FE Engage thoughts:

(It’s all official pre-release material, but I’ll spoiler it anyway for people who are going in blind)

- Rosado being referred to using male pronouns is fine, although a little bit disappointing. It doesn’t change my opinion of him - still my favourite Engage character by far so far. I can see how a missed opportunity for transgender or non-binary representation can greatly disappoint other people though. EDIT: I wasn’t expecting a voice like that though. It’s still fine. - Jean looks like a male Midori. I'm on board with this. - Combine the above 2 points with Alcryst being a male Bernadetta, and this might be the fabled game where I have more male characters I really like than female ones. - Having a plethora of unique classes for characters is interesting - I wonder how this plays out in practice. My only concern is that their unique classes outclass (no pun intended) the non-unique classes, which might hurt replayability for me. - I've always liked the Griffin Rider design, so I'm glad it finally returned and wasn't completely forgotten. - I like Warrior returning as well - Axe and Bow is a unique combo. - I LOVE the fact that Wolf Knights exist. They're also a unique Dagger Cavalry class that looks much better than Mechanist and actually counts as Cavalry. Anyone can be a Beast unit now! (I know they aren't technically Beast classes and are actually Cavaliers but let me pretend) - The Martial Master looks fun as well - perfect for one of my OCs. - I wonder what determines which... uhh I find this point too difficult to put into words so just ignore it. - Are there no promoted Pegasus classes that remain Pegasi? Maybe Serenes Forest's list isn't complete. - The Wyvern Knight's signature skill seems situational (If unit initiates from a space foe cannot enter, grants Spd +5 during combat.), which is unfortunate for Rosado as this is his default class.

- A seeming Evil Alear in the past gives me Future Robin/Grima vibes. Along with other things, this makes me believe this game is taking a lot of inspiration from Awakening. - I forgot to mention that I really like Halberdier returning since it gives us an advanced Lance Infantry class, which is far rarer than it should be in the series.

[oh-cool-a-burning-sword]

so a few days ago I got bored and decided (for some unknown reason) to find out how many playable characters there are in all the 16 mainline FE games in order to guess/estimate how big Engage's roster might be, along with estimating how many characters per kingdom/land we might be getting.

And while that's still in the works, I just wanted to say that I went into this thinking that Fates had the most characters out of any FE game. I mean, you have two kingdoms worth of characters, the whole second generation, the amiibos, Anna who you get from DLC, there's apparently characters you could have gotten from Cypher cards AND the characters you could capture. In total (and not counting duplicates) there's about 80-ish characters.

Well while looking up the list of characters in different games I found that not only did some games have about 70 characters (One example being Radiant Dawn but that's because most of Path of Radiance's cast was there).

But Fates isn't actually the game with the most playable characters.

... Technically.

In fact, the FE game that potentially has the largest roster is Awakening.

But this is a 'technically' situation because of a certain streetpass/DLC feature known as Einherjar.

Einherjars are characters from previous games. Well, kinda? They look like their previous game counterparts but as the description states their not the same soul. They apparently take the form of cards and can be summoned into battle. You just need to recruit them via streetpass or DLC.

And how many Einherjar's are there?

Apparently, it's about 123/137 total.

Definitely not gonna count that while estimating Engage's roster size. I really think that the only returning characters'll be the 12 Emblems (at least until DLC comes out). Though that doesn't mean that they won't bring back old features/classes for the game.

But while I was aware that you could recruit old characters I had no clue that there were THIS many characters.

Though at the same time Awakening was meant to be the last FE game in the series. However it sold so well that the franchise was not only saved but it's still going fairly strong ten years later (it had some ups and downs but in general it's still pretty good). So It does make sense that they'd go all out, or at least as all out as they could have with the restraints of a 3ds game's space.

[fireemblems24]

Why I Never Really Talk About Claude

Because there's nothing to say. As much as I hate to say it.

NOTE: I love Claude, and this is in no way meant to say anything bad about him, but Verdant Wind and how it handles him. I didn't tag him, but I want Claude fans to give me their amazing meta analysis and help me indulge in his character. So if you see this - no hate. Please send love.

Gronder Field was obviously a huge turning point for AM and Dimitri - and trust me, I'll definitely get to that - but ironically it was also an eye-opener for VW.

This game is four routes, and at first I tried to give all four their dues, but lately I've talked almost exclusively about CF and AM. With CF on hold until the other routes are also at their final chapter(s), it's become more apparent how little I mention SS and VW.

SS is obvious. It lacks a strong central figure. Rhea is MIA. Edelgard has no presence. Claude and Dimitri weren't supposed to be big characters here, and they aren't. Byleth is too much of a non-character (by design) to pull the weight of a route on his own (my SS is M!Byleth).

But what about VW? What happened?

Initial Impressions of Claude

Claude's writing, before any other character, got my attention. Edelgard I was already biased towards before even opening the game, fueled by her stark difference in design/unit type than other FE leading ladies and knowledge that her route had a split. Hilariously, Dimitri's the one I paid little attention too. But once I actually started the game and heard the characters talk and such, it was Claude who stood out the most.

Claude was witty, promising, and mysterious in a natural way and not the "yeah, sure" way I felt towards Dimitri's "darkness." 😅Edelgard turned out exactly how I expected (and not in a bad way); it was Claude who proved unexpected. It was his prologue dialogue I enjoyed the best, his class introductions that made me laugh.

But sadly that interest burned out.

Edelgard continued to demand my attention throughout part 1. I didn't always agree with her, but I did stay invested in figuring out what her deal was, what she'd do next, etc . . . She surprised me, intrigued me, made me want to discuss her ideas.

Dimitri blindsided me. He tore at my heartstrings without even trying. Ever since the Lonato rebellion, Dimitri got my attention and never let it go. His empathy and stark contrast with his revenge, the truth about his darkness, and so, so much more took him from "there's a third guy" to hands down favorite.

But what did Claude have going for him? Looks? Sure. A fun personality? Definitely. But what about plot, conflict, growth? Throughout part 1, I wanted to know more about what Edelgard planned behind the scenes and her ideals. And during that time, my heart ached for Dimitri as I watched a battle he kept losing and felt so conflicted about his desire for revenge.

What did Claude feel? What did he want? I still kind of don't know. Lack of prejudice between borders? Me too! But what does that have to do at all with what's happening in the game? Nothing. Nothing at all.

Gronder Field

Gronder Field made it just how apparent Claude and VW feels like an awkward third wheel.

During the cut scene, Dimitri and Edelgard had parts that made me (or would've made me) desperate to know what on earth was going on with them. Why is Edelgard invading everyone and, once again, trying to kill her classmates? If she's sad about it, why did she start this war? WTF happened to Dimitri? WTF is going on in the Kingdom? If I wasn't in the middle of it, I'd plan to get to CF and AM asap.

Claude says nothing interesting. Nothing intriguing. It's a throwaway line any character could've said about how this is such a bad class reunion. Honestly, it feels like he got dumped with the lines they needed for advertising because the other two were too caught up in having an actual storyline.

Throughout the game, there's moments that would've made me desperate to play CF and AM, but Claude really hasn't gotten the same treatment.

Claude Deserves Better

The thing is, I like Claude. Writing this reminded me what a fantastic impression he made initially. I love his drive for knowledge, the almost idealistic world he lives to create despite his world-weary character, and how he seemed far more mysterious than the other two (and still is frankly), and didn't get used as a tool to pander to the player self-insert nearly as much either.

But he's been given nothing to work with. Rhea, Edelgard, and Dimitri all have desperate stakes in what happens. Claude doesn't. Or it feels like he doesn't. Even more of the students and faculty have more going on than poor Claude. Things are desperate, emotional, full of conflict, growth, and action. This is what makes someone connect to a story, but Claude feels so disconnected that it's hard to invest.

VW feels less like a cohesive story that could stand on its own and more like a series of battles strung together. Claude has neither Edelgard's strong motivations and active presence nor Dimitri's strong motivations and dynamic development.

It's in the details too. In CF, people are fighting for Edelgard and the Empire. In AM, people are fighting for Dimitri and the Kingdom. In SS, people are fighting for Byleth, Rhea, and the Church of Serios. In VW, people are fighting for . . . Byleth.

I mean, even in FEH Claude doesn't get special treatment. It seems Legendary Edelgard got a giant advertisement video for her release, and Legendary Dimitri got his own mini-foreging bonds with full voice acting. Legendary Claude got nothing. Maybe he's not as popular are the other two (I've stayed out of the fandom outside of my blog for obvious reasons - so I don't really know), but maybe the reason he's less popular (I'm assuming) is because there's a lack of emotional resonance compared to the others.

Honestly, it makes me irritated. Claude has so much potential as a lead character. There's so much to work with, but the game just doesn't play to his strengths, doesn't connect his desires and goals to the plot, ignores Almyra, and has him remain distant from everyone - including the plot. He deserves better.

Claude Fans, I Need Your Help

That said, I know, for fact, I am overlooking parts of his character. Claude fans, please help! Send me your analysis of his characters, what you admire, what his faults are etc . . . (please just no spoilers post Gronder, if you let me know I need to read it later, I'll like it go back to it).

I'm playing all 4 routes at the same time, which means I'm doing monastery weeks back-to-back-to-back-to-back - which means lots and lots of supports all at once. It's impossible for me to retain all that information. There are definitely Claude moments I've overlooked and forgotten.

I also know, for fact, that when you love a character, you can write an entire essay off of one line of dialogue/scene (yes, I've done it 😅). Please send me those essays. I want more Claude love on here, because I'm quickly remembering how much I loved Claude.