#who could all get overwhelmed with numbers even if they're good fighters

[soulsxng]

"...Baphomet, go find Niesal. If they went ahead of us, I have a bad feeling that they might be in some trouble, about now...I know you're thinking the same. I can more than handle this, and Darrow and Zahine will be helping as well. We'll be along in no time at all."

"Yeah, alright. At least you get that fight you've been waiting for, huh? Once I find Nesa, I'll bring them outside and help back the others up. I'm sure they're probably getting overwhelmed out there, if we've got the big boss here with us. I'll see you soon."

The woman lifts a hand, and Enoch does the same. Energy passing between the two with their brief contact, before Baphomet disappears completely.

Once she does, Enoch hums softly. Unfastening the bracelet around his wrist and taking it in his hand instead, to summon his scythe. He doubted he would need it, but just in case.

"If it even turns into a fight, I doubt it would end up being anything close to entertaining, let alone actually satisfy me. Baet's probably going to end up having more fun...oh, well. At least I found a few interesting things, so far."

[fatesdeepdive]

Entry 118: Trust in the Face of Betrayal

As I’ve mentioned, I write the chapter recaps in advance. Although I began posting the Revelation entries in September of 2022, I actually played through the game in June of that year. I played the first 25 chapters, all of the Paralogues, and then put the game down for more than a year. During the recent Labor Day weekend, I finally picked up the game again, so I could play through the final three maps.

Revelation gives you a quite honestly absurd number of units, despite the fact that Chapters 26 and 27 only give you 16 deployment slots, one of which must be Corrin. For these final maps, I decided, rather than going with the game’s best units, to go with the ones I actually cared about. 

Jakob. Felicia. Setsuna. Orochi. Saizo. Takumi. Kagero. Effie. Arthur. Niles. Nyx. Beruka. Benny. Xander. And, of course, Kenshi.

I trained Kenshi in all of the free DLC classes and maxed out all of his stats but magic. Behold, my Level 60 Dread Fighter with Death Blow, Ignis, Aggressor, Galeforce, and Rally Spectrum. I also decided, because Jakob was Corrin’s husband in this run, to see how broken I could make him with reclassing. He ended up with Luna, Lethality, Shurikenfaire, Replicate, and Quick Draw. He’s almost as good as Kenshi or any of the royals.

Revelation Chapter 26

Team Corrin arrives in Anankos's throne room, only to find it empty, containing only a giant stone Buddha Head. Random fireballs come out of nowhere to hit all of the royals but Corrin and Azura. Leo, Takumi, and Ryoma immediately begin questioning why Corrin and Azura were spared. Gunter, who also wasn't hit, concludes that they were spared because they're both Vallite royalty.

Gunter then accuses Corrin of being a traitor and Scarlet's murder. Xander is the one person to call this ridiculous. It's unclear if the other characters believe Corrin is sus, but the scene is framed as if they believe Gunter. Because every character in this game is an idiot. Gunter accuses Corrin of leading the royals to Valla so they could all be killed. And, presumably, he is arguing that Corrin saved the lives of the other royals in battle constantly, for some reason. This is the most stupid ridiculous overcomplicated plan possible, so to be fair it does make sense that Corrin could have come up with it.

Corrin says No U, accusing Gunter of being the real traitor, then Columbos proof that Gunter is sus because he knew about the flower on Scarlet's chest, something only the killer would have known about.

Gunter laughs and sits on the throne, surrounded by a purple aura. Gunter monologues that he's always been evil and murdered Scarlet to tear away Corrin's innocence. Corrin says this is unbelievable and that they still believe in Gunter. Gunter asks if Corrin is naive or just stupid. To editorialize, both. The answer is both. Corrin says they need to be able to trust their friends and that Gunter is just being manipulated by Anankos, like Mikoto and Sumeragi. Corrin says they can still save Gunter.

Gunter laughs, saying that he is stronger than the reanimated corpses and that his body belongs to Anankos. He says that he is Anankos and Anaknos is him. Corrin refuses to give up. They fight to get Gunter back and end the war, with the help of their friends.

I mock Corrin a lot on this blog. Corrin is really really stupid and annoying a lot of the time. But, occasionally, the game gives me a scene that makes me really like Corrin.

Corrin is naive. That is their core character trait. And sometimes they act dumb. Sometimes they act frustratingly stupid and commit a bunch of war crimes. But, Corrin works the best, when they are naively hopeful in the face of overwhelming adversary. When they try to save everyone, when they try to end the war through kindness. When they see their father figure controlled by a dark god and decide to save him, even as he insults them. Corrin is a kind person put into a dark world, who brings light through their relentless hope and kindness. That’s why, in the good paths, Corrin is the one who ends the war. Because they stubbornly refuse to give up on their hope of a better world.

This is a defeat the boss chapter set in a throne room full of enemies. The map's gimmick is pools of water that endlessly spawn enemies, which can be plugged with dragon veins. Except, the respawns are slow, and the ice melts after a few turns, so I don't know what the point is. The map is filled with chests and Gunter holds a Bifrost staff, which can be used to revive one dead unit immediately after they died. Because of a blessing from Mikoto, Corrin and Azura heal nearby allies. This battle was actually kinda hard, because I didn’t account for marriages when I chose my endgame team. Still, Gunter went down easily.

Gunter's generic battle quote has him sentence people to death in the name of the King of Valla. If he fights Corrin, he calls Corrin's belief in him impressively foolish and says that they should hold onto their foolishness, as a comfort when they die.

After the battle, Azura sings the song, weakening Anankos's control. Gunter begs for Gunter to fight and remember all the time they've spent together. Gunter raises his sword and Corrin refuses to move. Gunter stabs himself in the stomach, causing a mass of darkness to fly out of his body. Gunter says he will atone for his betrayal with his life. Fortunately, Sakura and Elise can heal.

Gunter explains that years ago, when he declined Garon's gift of Dragon Blood, Garon got so pissed that he ordered the deaths of Gunter's wife, child, and entire village. Gunter says that commoners are pawns in the schemes of royals, weeds to be killed on a whim. Xander is surprised people think that of the royals, because he's an idiot. Ryoma says such an impression would easily breed resentment, and yeah no shit.

Gunter explains he vowed to get revenge on Garon and raised Corrin so they could be used as a pawn in this revenge scheme. Question: why did Garon put the man who obviously wants revenge on him in charge of Corrin? Is it because he's also stupid? Yeah probably.

Corrin says that they understand and that, regardless of Gunter's motivations, he stayed by their side and helped them. Gunter says that he killed Scarlet. Corrin says he was under Anankos's control and that, if he wants to atone, he must live. For Scarlet and for the family that was taken from him. Live to fight Anankos and protect all the people that he could still hurt.

This is a really good scene. Except, there’s something that bothers me about it. Corrin’s dialogue is slightly different depending on gender. If Corrin is Male, he says Gunter is his friend. If Corrin is female, she says that Gunter is important to her, and Gunter stares at her while saying dot dot dot. The only reason I can think of for them to make this change is to imply some sort of romantic feelings between Corrin and Gunter.

Goddamnit game! You were so close! You had a really good scene and then you fucked it up!

Support: Forrest/Ophelia

C: Forrest talks to a spice merchant and starts crying after getting some spice in his eye. Ophelia threatens to kill the merchant. Forrest says she went a little overboard, but Ophelia says it's the least she can do and pledges loyalty to Forrest.

B: Ophelia attacks a merchant for spraying Forrest with perfume. Forrest begs her to stop attacking merchants, but she says that merchants could maybe be assassins.

A: Forrest orders Ophelia to stop following him to the market. He explains that it would be dumb for an assassin to spend years working as a mechant, hoping a prince would randomly stop by. Ophelia says she'll stay back, so Forrest says she is allowed to come with him.

S: Forrest pledges himself to Ophelia because her devotion is overflowing. Ophelia decides to fill a lake with rose petals as a love ritual.

Review: I like the idea of Ophelia being Forrest's retainer. She's a bit too dumb, but her being extra to take care of a friend is better than her being extra just because.

Support: Fana/Nina

C: Kana asks Nina about her Robin Hood noble thief thing. He is confused, because his parents taught him stealing is wrong. Nina explains that stealing is wrong, but the world is complicated, and sometimes doing the wrong thing is the best way to help people.

B: Nina shows Kana letters from those she's helped by stealing from the rich to give to the poor. She says that sometimes doing nothing is worse than doing something wrong. Kana calls Nina amazing. Nina says that, even though Niles is a thief himself, he doesn't want her to steal. She says she doesn't respect him and that they fought over this.

A: Kana points out that Nina became a thief to be like Niles and that she must respect him, deep down, because if not, why would she want his approval?

S: Kana gives Nina a book on noble thieves so she can give it to Niles. Nina wonders if Kana will be as kind and honest when he grows uo. Kana promises he won't, because she's his best friend and he doesn't want to lose her.

Review: Pretty good! Nina is a noble thief instead of incredibly horny for once and the stuff about her relationship with Niles was solid.

Support: Forrest/Siegbert

C: Siegbert asks to accompany Forrest as he goes fabric shopping. Forrest deduces this is because Siegbert wants to protect him.

B: Siegbert saves Forrest from a pack of ruffians. Forrest says he doesn't want Siegbert protecting him again, because he can take care of himself. If Forrest is unpromoted, then no, he objectively cannot. Siegbert respects Forrest's suggestion.

A: Forrest apologizes for being too harsh. Siegbert apologizes for treating Forrest like a child Forrest asks to be treated as an ally, not an explanation.

Review: See, this is one of those Supports that gets messed up by gameplay and story segregation. Siegbert being too protecting of Forrest because Forrest is very feminine would be annoying, except within the context of the game, he's right! Forrest is incapable of protecting himself!

Support: Percy/Soleil

C: Percy asks Soleil to help him get Ace laid.

B: Ace doesn't like other dragons. Soleil offers to teach Ace how the right way to treat a lady.

A: Soleil teaches a wyvern to listen to women. The female dragons don't care and fly away.

S: Percy asks Soleil out. Soleil tells him he should chase other girls instead of limiting himself to the three or four girls he already knows. Percy asks her to go on a practice date with him.

Review: This one is weird and the fact that Soleil somehow trained a dragon to be a polite boyfriend is weirder. Still, this one isn't awful.

[chaotictommy]

(long ramble ahead!) regarding your most recent post about your feelings towards tkk/ck and the characters:

how you feel is completely valid and understandable and i share almost identical sentiments! objectively speaking, cobra kai is a good show and throughout the 5 seasons, i have really enjoyed seeing the numerous twists and turns and cliffhangers that the writers have put in. i have a lot of respect for the cast and everyone involved in the making of it, and i 100% understand how and why so many people love it. however, with each season that comes out, i find myself feeling more and more disheartened with the direction that things are going in.

ever since i first got into tkk and learned about what ck was, i felt iffy about the show. this could just be a me-problem since i'm extremely sentimental and the idea of remaking/spinning off something classic oftentimes saddens me because you can never outdo the originals! they're unmatched! however, i've always felt some negativity towards the show and a lot of the questionable writing & characterization choices from the big 3. my biggest gripes are definitely related to daniel since he's my favorite character, but after spending some time on tumblr, i've been able to read a lot of other people's very valid critiques about other characters and aspects of the show.

as the show has continued to develop and increase in the number of seasons & characters, and as it's continued to amass more success, i've found myself becoming all the more saddened and missing the original films (especially the one from 1984 with the cobra boys! 🥺). i personally think the show has strayed so far from its source material and a lot of the original messages/morals of the films have been forgotten about in favor of the drama and conflict between the characters. it feels to me like the show has become more and more gimmicky, cash-grabby, and disingenuous as time has gone on. it seems like the hype for the show has taken the focus off of the original movies and all of the heartwarming moments and lessons that they produce. i've even seen some people say that the show is better than the films, which...you're entitled to your own opinions of course, but what??? the show wouldn't even exist without the absolute magic that is the karate kid trilogy.

i've reached a point in my personal journey with this fandom/franchise where i honestly don't consider cobra kai as canon half the time. in fact, sometimes i pretend it doesn't even exist. the show makes me feel so sad and lost at times that i have to detach myself from it on all levels and strictly focus my attention on the movies. the movies feel like home to me (though this could just be because of the sheer number of times that i've rewatched them, they're familiar). the show does not feel like home to me. cobra kai is full of tension, drama, conflict, flaws, etc. and it truly does get a little overwhelming to watch. the original films have their negative areas, but they're much more black-and-white, less stressful to watch, and they're full of good old 80s vibes that cobra kai lacks (in my humble opinion). though this could just be my anxiety brain speaking.

i've also seen lots of toxicity in the fandom, people fighting over who's the better fighter, who's the better sensei, who's in the wrong in this situation or that, which dojo is better..."oh, you like sam? don't talk to me. you're a miguel fan? gross. you're toxic, dni." like...what? it's just become riddled with negativity and i can't be bothered to subject myself to it.

i respect the show and how much it's developed over the years, and i totally understand why it's become so successful, but there are so many reasons why i don't (and never have) completely liked it. i'm certainly content on my own little island of the karate kid movies & my imagination to determine my own canon. so please, don't think you're alone in your despair towards the show. that couldn't be farther from the truth. take care <333

Oh my gosh, sorry it took me a while to reply, but life has just become pretty hectic once more.

I can’t agree with you more though on your points, parts of the fandom have become pretty toxic and I try to stay away from those parts of the fandom, but sadly they can be pretty vocal, as in what you said, though I’ve never really come across someone that goes after a Miguel fan XD but I’m not really a fan of Miguel, but that’s just my preference and I don’t think people who attack others for what they like, get that, and as long as it’s not hurting anybody I don’t have any qualms about it, it’s really not a big deal, but those types seem to make it theirs? That’s honestly why I got out of the Les Miserables and The Outsiders Fandoms, because people were getting attacked for what they liked :/

But honestly I’m with you on thinking that Cobra Kai is not part of the canon, I think it ruined the whole TKK world for me as far as it being canon, and I don’t relate the adult Johnny to teenage Johnny, since they really don’t feel like they could be the same person. Plus like you said, the show doesn’t have that feel good 80’s vibes :(

I think from now on I’ll be writing my own canon for the TKK universe and eliminating what the show creators wrote, since I agree that the show has become cash grabby and just looking for good ratings etc. it’s disheartening to know that you are going through a similar thing with the fandom :/ I’m also really sorry about how the writers are making Daniel, since he was a good character in the originals, very human and now he’s just kind of corporate and different :(

I hope you’re having a great day and thank you so much for writing me!!! <3