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randomnameless · 22 days

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It's crazy how SoV preluded 3H by making one of the protags have a tremendously contradictory mindset of humanity being better off without gods, while also relying on those same gods to fulfill their goals, the hypocrisy of which goes completely unadressed throughout the game; truly masterful foreshadowing

Who directed FE15?

lol

I've recently tried to think about this "gods BaD" shift in more doylist terms - especially since I've finally played a Squenix game recently and...

FE13 was the FE series last ditch effort, it will either work or end up as the F-Zero series, FE13 worked and FE14 followed suit.

Lolcalisation aside, FE14 had a nice plot and I engaging characters - to some people but not me, different tastes and all - but FE14 and FE13 were still FE games, as in part of the old FE series, aka a niche series. Adding dating sim/interpersonal relationship through avatars might have helped a bit, and yet, imo, it was still the "niche" FE series.

Comes FE15 where we basically have a remake, and can't add the interpersonal thing because Alm isn't an avatar (even if the game spends a lot of time praising his oranges) - how to make the game work? Sure, some weirdo fans of the FE series will buy it, and it was never supposed to sell as much as FE13/14, but if it was a 1:1 remake or just with minor adjustments? It might bomb like the Archanea remakes, and good luck coming after that - will they need another "FE13" to reignite the sales or??

And here I thought about it : FE15 was retconned with the "GoDs BaD" spiel, to make this game more in-tune with what I'd call "traditional" JRPGs where the protagonists often defy a corrupt church and "divine" being.

("Traditional" imo being the Squenix way, because while I didn't play all entries of this series, the Tales series never striked me as being particularly as, uh, vindicative against organised religion, maybe save for Symphonia 1 - Abyss' Church really wishes to help the people even if it is corrupted from within by some dude who doesn't want to let the world die and played by the big bad, Xillia has no church, ditto for Zestiria and Phantasia had Mint and... that's it? - compare this to Squenix's Triangle Strategy and Hyzante being comically EvIl and without any redeeming traits/points when all of the other major parties of the conflict have "token good NPCs" as forced as they are in the game, to make it very clear that they might have done questionnable things like invading and slaughtering civilians from a foreign nation who welcomed them at their wedding, but at least they have "MoRaLs" unlike those bozos in their desert...)

And this "let's make FE mainstream by kicking gods" mentality completely runs at odds with the rest of the FE franchise, and while I know RD basically ends like this bcs "uwu Ike defeated a GoD with the help of another who used the lead of that game as a soul jar and granted him exclusive powers to put her sister to sleep" the morale of RD's story - as seen in the perfect ending but in Ike's speech to Yune itself - is that everyone can and should try to live together, asking Gods not the fuck out to let Humanity alone, but to believe in them just like humans believe in gods.

So FE15 ends as this big, uh, mismatched clash of narrative directions - being a remake it cannot stray too far from the source material and Archanea verse : Dragons and Humans can live together (even if it means dragons must sacrifice part of themselves to do so because fuck them I guess) and dragons can help humans just like humans can, uh, not be asses and not target them because their ears are pointy or when they are weakened...

And we had the new Squenix direction where GoDs BaD and HuMaNiTy fuck yeah, which leads to FE15's hypocrisy : please trust and rely on us Gods/dragons and kindly help us when we're in deep shit, and at the same time "HuMaNiTy FuCk YeAh".

Interestingly, the Squenix direction loses in the post game campaign (the one where we discover Thabes) but is reintroduced in the official (tm) timeline, depicting basically how BaD Duma is and how much of a chad Rudy was, before his very tragic (bring the onions!) death.

But yeah, I agree anon, FE15 was crazy foreshadowing and I guess is part of the reason why Tru Piss has this message "Humanity doesn't need Gods" targeted at... Rhea, aka a Nabatean (while Supreme Leader got there thanks to Sothis' powers!!) because the "Humanity Fuck Yeah" narrative is a staple of Squenix JRPGS, and if FE has to become mainstream, I guess to some devs, it has to copy what sells.

That would also explain why FE16 went so off the rails and forgot the tradition FE series message about coexistence, because what the fuck do you mean by "Humanity doesn't need Nabateans", after parroting for the entire game "Nabateans are to blame for the irrational world we live in" and blame "Nabatean blood" for everything wrong in Fodlan, without ever acknowledging the "evilness that lurks in the heart of men" (who aren't called Dimitri) ?

In a series that, albeit hazaphardly at times (FE8's manaketes feel forced in the lore! and the less is said about Nowi/Panne in FE13 the better we are), tried to push the "coexistence between all inhabitants of the land is the key to peace!" card - this Squenix direction feels all kind of wrong, especially when friendship with the divine beings (dragons) have been a staple of the franchise (Y!Tiki's number of alts, imo, is telling : for better or worse, Y!Tiki is, along with Marth, the figure of the franchise. She is a dragon, and she's a kid who wants to make friends. Sure it brings the loli crowd, but all those dragon children in the different games? They are a direct throwback to Y!Tiki!).

In a nutshell, I'd say the first crack was FE10's writing that made things seem like the Hero defeated a goddess and its subsequent wanking.

But I agree with you anon, FE15's change in direction and retcons were absolutely gunning for that Squenix "GoDs BaD" while keeping the "traditional" FE message which resulted in hypocrisy that showed in the writing but I guess no one really paid attention because FE15 has other issues too (I didn't before happening on FE16... even if I remember wondering why the fuck the game kept on hammering how BaD Duma was when we had people being asses right and left on their own).

FE Fodlan completely ignored the "we can coexist" message - save for subtext you can have where the optional lords who win the war and aren't Supreme Leader can have half/quarter-nabatean heirs through Flayn but her heritage is never ever mentionned in the ending cards - by completely shitting/ignoring the local dragons, they're blamed for everything wrong and don't get their voice to the chapter.

Masterful writing lol

I can't wait for the next game, let it be a remake (pls not Jugdral!!) or a new entry (Engage was developped alongside Fodlan, not after!) to see if IS will continue with the Squenix developments or return to their roots, even if they seem milquetoast, of "humans and lizards can hold hands".

---

NGL anon, during 2020/2021 and the daily "Supreme Leader was right though" threads in SF, I kind of realised that what I took for granted, aka "coexistence between humans and dragons!" being the message of FE in general, wasn't, even in what used to be the most serious board/thing.

FE as a series came to the West through FE7 where Dragons and Humans were at war, but ultimately the cast learns that dragons aren't evil incarnate and the best ending reveals that the big bad went mad because his dragon wife was killed and he tried to reunite with their dragon-human children he hid away for their safety.

So it was kind of surprising to see long-time, or at least not "Fodlan introduced" members of SF parroting the "well they can't live together" by buying the most ludicrous headcanon/fanon arguments you'd find in other series like "different lifespans" - this argument is pretty much non existent in the FE series, and I've never seen it opposed to Miccy's rule in Daien when, as a Heron Branded, she will outlive her citizens, or what, are we supposed to believe that Myrrh shouldn't interact with humans and remain in her forest because she will outlive humans, or is too "different" from them thus wouldn't have the same considerations?

FE13/14 brought the fandom wars of "new fans" vs "old fans", but FE Fodlan? Brought "casual JRPG gamer" vs "FE gamer" which usually boils down to "Supreme Leader fans" vs "everyone else".

Sure, we had the religion hate boner because the dragons in Fodlan verse made a "Church" with catholic imagery which is a deadly sin to some - but the "dragon blood is indeed the reason why everything sucks in the world" being parroted? "Dragons cannot have power over humans because of the sheer inbalance"? What, are you implying Nergal was forced by Aenir to mate with her twice or what? Ninian was oppressing Pherae in the endings where she marries Eliwood, and humans were finally liberated when she died?

Kana is, by nature, someone who will oppress humans because they're part dragon and their blood will bring strife to the world?

So unless IS doesn't fully commit to one narrative - because yes, for all of its flak, FE Fodlan still takes time, when it remembers, to portray Nabateans in a relative positive light when it comes to them as characters and in the general background, it's just that, they're never given a voice when it comes to discussing about the plot - we're bound to have this hypocrisy :

Dragons BaD bcs Humanity Fuck Yeah

and

Dragons and Humanity can coexist and make babies for scalies/monsterfuckers out there because acceptance/diversity is a way for peace.

#anon #replies #sorry i ranted #FE series #FE15 stuff #rant #watch as the whitewings never bring up Tiki the kid they met 3 years ago #when Alm goes humanity fuck yeah #when the devs could have pulled out something like Ike for Alm or rather return to their roots #they pulled this squenix shit #that imo doesn't have its place in the FE series #sure the series is evolving and maybe that's the direction it will take #if it really does I'll to reconsider my engagement with FE in general #and be stuck ranting about old games lol

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arkus-rhapsode · 8 months

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I guess this is still a controversial opinion in 2023, but… I think Micaiah is a good character. Like yeah I understand there are a lot of newer FE fans who are getting introduced to her through stuff like Engage and Heroes, but if you’ve been around as long as me you know that Micaiah probably was the “love or hate her” character of FE pre Edelgard/Rhea discourse.

I’m probably not gonna sway anyone who has already picked what side they fall on. I’m just gonna give you my opinion as one guy on the internet who has lived through a lot of discourse and what he thinks.

I think there are three primary complaints that people still pull out with her: She’s a Mary Sue, she’s dumb, and she’s a bad unit.

Now look, I’ll give you the bad unit. She’s a lord character that doesn’t have a lord build. She’s a light mage. Now Radiant Dawn is infamous for its difficulty and stat variation, so pairing an interesting idea of a lord who’s not a combative unit is an interesting idea on paper. But in execution it’s just really hard to play. So I get why people don’t like her as a unit.

The Mary Sue argument I’ve never been a fan of however. Yes, she has special healing powers, future sight, and all the apostle powers. But like… That’s kinda just what a lot of FE lord characters get? They get a special weapon only they can use, they have a magic blood that gives them power, they are secretly the descendant of some ultra important person or god and they’re destined for something. Like it’s kinda always just been there with FE lord characters. Hell, even non lord avatar characters like Robin and Byleth are just secretly reincarnations of gods. I think with Micaiah the issue comes in that she’s in the same game as Ike. Who was bucking the trend as a playable character that wasn’t a lord, wasn’t magically destined for anything, and isn’t secretly a child of some Uber royal. So Micaiah does feel like an oddity, but I’d argue this does create an interesting conflict of a traditional MC vs a non traditional one.

And finally the “she’s dumb” argument. So I understand that games are an interactive medium. And people value being able to make their own choices. But in the intersection of narrative and gameplay focused games, there are characters and events we don’t have control of. Micaiah makes a choice to liberate her homeland but doesn’t want to be its ruler. When Pelleas the son of Ashnard comes along and seems like a good guy, she gives it to him. This makes sense from Micaiah’s perspective-despite loving her country she doesn’t want to rule it. So when a seemingly good individual with recognized lineage comes in, she’s willing to give it up. But we the audience can see this is flawed, Sothe in game mentions this. And ultimately Micaiah’s choice is what brings Daein under Begnion. Where now she has to do things she doesn’t like in a desperate war.

I feel like in media there’s a criticism of “why don’t these characters do the logical thing that I would’ve done in this situation.” And I think games as an interactive medium enhance that as they want to make their own choices. But in a narrative a character doesn’t always need to make logical sense. A character can exist independent of what the player wants and takes actions that the viewer may disagree with. But an action a character takes that they may disagree with isn’t inherently a sign of bad writing. I personally believe that if it makes sense for the character within the context of the story, they are capable of making mistakes. And often times these flaws are what facilitates character development/introspection.

So when Micaiah makes her choice to not be ruler, it makes sense from the perspective of someone not interested in ruling. However, her choice has consequences, ultimately forcing her to do more of the things she was trying to avoid. And even if Pelleas lives or dies, Micaiah by the end of the story is now queen out of obligation rather than personal interest. The game at least seems self aware of audience would react to a flawed decision by having Sothe be the voice of obvious concern. But let’s for a moment think if she did the logical thing. Had Micaiah just held onto power at first and did nothing, there really wouldn’t be a plot for Daein or a journey for Micaiah. And it probably be a much more dull story.

Characters are allowed to be flawed and make mistakes. Make choices we don’t personally agree with. But the important thing is that flawed actions have actual consequences to them. And basically all of Daein suffering from someone who made a bad choice and is now living through it and ultimately has to rise to the position that she denied in the first place is a suitable consequence.

I think actual bad choices in narratives tend to be actions that have no real conflict as the plot needs to bend to make that choice make sense or justify a bad choice. Rather than an action having a tangible consequence that needs to be dealt with internally or externally.

So yes, Micaiah made a dumb call in Radiant Dawn. And it led to an interesting story and character development.

Now I do have issues with Micaiah: I don’t like that Yune ultimately takes over for most of part 4. I don’t like that there are no supports in RD so I had to wait till Engage to see how she may feel about certain characters. Yes, I think that she is ultimately eclipsed by the true MC of the game Ike. And yes, I don’t like her future sight. I have never liked precognition as a storytelling concept. I’m just not a fan of its inclusion.

That said, I don’t dislike Micaiah. I do actually find her an interesting character who was allowed to be flawed and not fall into the newer FE game trap of trying make her more likeable/actually secretly in the right the whole time. And maybe it’s weird that something like this discourse is still kinda around. But with stuff like Engage and talks FE4 reboot and just a general Tellius conversation still existing I felt like I might as well say where I stand on who used to be the most controversial FE character.

#fire emblem #fire emblem radiant dawn #micaiah #fe micaiah #fe sothe #ike #fe ike #pelleas

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fireemblems24 · 8 months

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Azure Gleam Ch 10

Onto AG Ch 10. Slowly making my way through all the Hopes routes.

MAIN STORY

Guys, I finally made AG Ch 10. Between wisdom teeth and a concert and FE Engage and other stuff I haven't had a lot of time to actually play much.

Aegir is not leading Adrestia well. It's so funny to me that so many dads got white-washed but they still left him an idiot.

So we're starting part 2. And Adrestia has gone to shit. I guess the nobles went full maniac the second Edelgard's gone. It's really a nation of sociopaths.

Rhea just said "knaves." I love that word.

Ohhh, Rhea brought up that lack of donations that Dimitri noticed in Houses, cool call out.

And they're putting it all together. Thomas, Cornelia, Thales - I love this, you guys. Dimitri and co getting to go after the people who did Duscur. Don't get me wrong, Edelgard is the far superior villain to TWSITD. And if I had to pick between the two, I'd pick her. But given that Dimitri gets two stories, I'm glad one of them gets this.

Claude is here!??? Does this mean he's not siding with Edelgard in AG? It'll be funny if he's the smartest in Dimitri's route - again.

Oh, we get a Claude and Dimitri team up? That's pretty cool. I doubt we get to use him though.

So it's cannon now that all three (church, Kingdom, and Alliance) are all weaker put together than Adrestia as one.

I also just noticed since Adrestia went full evil, that Dimitri is morally right in invading them to rescue the citizens lamo. He's really the "good boy" in Hopes. Though, he always was if you just removed the massive trauma events.

We're going to reclaim Garreg Mach! Cool.

Pretty cool seeing Rhea, Dimitri, and Claude all talking strategy.

Claude seems like he still wants to get rid of the church. But Dimitri's too realistic about it haha. The only one not living in an anime power fantasy.

Oh, cool, got some Golden Deer members playable now. And Lorenz uses his few lines to drag Claude lol.

If Rodrigue is in the West, does that mean no Rodrigue this chapter? Big sad.

MAP/SIDE QUESTS

Haha, some random merchant just said Dimitri lifted a whole ass cart out of the mud (she only later found out Dimitri did it).

This is the only route that lets Catherine and Shamir be girlfriends. By default it's the most superior.

Ingrid's alive again 😭

Interesting fact, Sylvain's mom actually really cared about Miklain.

Dedue is worrying about Dimitri and his overly enthusiastic work ethic.

I love how Edelgard is like we must have war to end nobility and promote commoners, meanwhile Dimitri is knighting and promoting commoners left and right and no one gives a shit. Meanwhile, Edelgard can't promote willy nilly because the Empire nobles will throw a fit. I wonder if she actually bothered to learn anything about Faerghus she'd realize how different it is and how they'll solve their own issues on their own terms.

SHEZ & ASHE A SUPPORT

Shez didn't get any answers about her mother.

Shez makes peace with it by saying she still loved her mother as a good mother regardless of what past she might has had.

They make some guesses what the mom's past is.

They were happy with the journey even if the destination was a disappointment (or never happened at all)

OH! Ashe got a letter at the end! But that's their A Support. So what's in the letter?????

SYLVAIN & ASHE A SUPPORT

They're learning strategies from Loog's past battles and learning more about Loog (who's pretty mysterious).

Sylvain is impressed with how smart Ashe is.

He's also jealous that Dimitri gets a knight like Ashe and offers to "steal" Ashe, but he shoots that down saying "only Dimitri." That just makes out of AG Ashe hurt worse.

Oh! Dimitri offered for Ashe to take over the land Lonato used to rule rather than always be a knight. Ashe likes that.

Ashe fawns over Sylvain's intelligence too.

I love seeing this mentor, teacher, more mature Sylvain.

ANNETTE & MERCEDES A SUPPORT

It's their only support, but at least it's A!

Since they're both nervous about the battle, they decide to chat.

Awww, I love that we're getting some details about their time at the sorcery school together. Apparently they'd chat together till dawn.

They talk about how they've stuck together through everything. Which makes outside SB Mercedes depressing.

Haha, Annette saved Mercedes from a bandit trap, but was in such a panic that SHE fell into the trap and needed Mercedes to heal her lol.

"Everything's better with you." Annette to Mercedes.

They plan to make lists of things they want to do after the war and then will do them once it ends. (if they had this discussion and then Mercedes defects, that hurts)

That was so wholesome.

MERCEDES & INGRID A SUPPORT

Ingrid is kicking ass in training, so Mercedes brings snacks to reenergize everyone.

Oh course, it tastes amazing, because it's Mercedes.

Ingrid wishes they were as relaxed around her as Mercedes, but Mercedes says that Ingrid is kind to them in a different way (mother Mercedes is here again!)

Mercedes bring up Ingrid's brothers and how it's probably like that.

Hahaha, Ingrid says she's going to show Mercedes her affection. And Mercedes is like "where is this going?!" Poor girl probably got excited lol.

You know what I also just realized? With Dimitri in charge, Ingrid doesn't feel pressured to marry. She's just a knight and living her best life and I love that for her (and we stan a king who stans women)

DIMITRI & BERNADETTA B SUPPORT

Is it petty that I feel a bit smug about Dimitri getting an Empire support but Edelgard didn't get a Kingdom one? lol

She's sneaking about and Dimitri finds her and she freaks out. So typical Bernie support lol. Poor thing trips over crates.

OMG. Bernie is like "this is the worst" and Dimitri naturally assumes HE's the worst lamo. OMG, Dimitri, baby, no. Thankfully she clears that up.

I kinda wondered why these two got a support and it actually makes a lot of sense. Dimitri doesn't sleep and Bernie sneaks out at night, so yeah they'd run into each other.

Dimitri's not offended because her being from the Empire means she's afraid of the Kingdom's king. Fair.

Bernie thinks he's going to execute her and he calls her a valuable ally instead. That's a bit sweet, not going to lie.

Dimitri then swears by his father's name, and Bernie's like "ok, I'll tell you." It's pretty funny how sincere they both are in very different ways.

Bernie exhausts Dimitri lol.

SYLVAIN & YURI C SUPPORT

Starts with the classic "..."

They're talking about Miklain. Yuri's like the rumors about his violence seem exaggerated. Sylvain's like "naw." You have no idea how much I love that Sylvain is like captain of the "stop making excuses for Miklain club"

Yuri makes it sound like Dimitri preyed on Miklain's inferiority complex to recruit him (saying uncrested people could get a chance to prove themselves).

Sylvain's impressed with Yuri's cunning.

Man, Yuri thinks Sylvain is just waiting to kill him for some reason and has a murderous smile. But this impresses Yuri. Sylvain is like "mixed messages, dude."

SYLVAIN & INGRID A SUPPORT

Ingrid's overwhelmed by noble work, which makes her appreciate Sylvain, Felix, and Dimitri more.

Sylvain responds by . . . asking her out (well, to dinner)

Sylvain said that they're "basically family" and said Felix and Dimitri feel the same way 😭😭😭😭 I can't.

Sylvain says we appreciate the things that stay the same because we can't stay in the past (or shouldn't) which is actually kinda deep for an FE support convo at least

Of course it devolves into Ingrid and Sylvain bickering about him gawking at her eating lol

Hearing them talking about how much they love their friendships and how they'll always be dear to each other makes recruiting any of trio to CF just criminal. I personally find it way more cruel to recruit them away from their homes and families than to kill them (i.e. the true way to play CF in "evil mode" is to recruit most of the Blue Lions and I will stand by that)

SYLVAIN & SHEZ A SUPPORT

Sylvain feels bad that they dragged Shez into the war, and that they only reason they're even fighting it is to keep their homes from getting destroyed.

"If we fail, we'll lose everything. Our houses, our families, the places we grew up." - see this is why recruiting them to CF is actually the evil thing to do. Then they gotta deal with that guilt.

Shez, of course, has nothing at stake unlike the Faerghus people

Poor Shez doesn't know what it's like to have a home.

I had Shez deny that it's just money she's in it for. And then calls Faerghus her home. 😭😭😭😭

Sylvain is inventing weapons. We stan a genius.

This support was seriously so sweet. It made my soft spot for both characters even bigger.

DEDUE & CATHERINE C SUPPORT

I have no idea what these two will have to talk about, but I'm still excited to see it. Maybe Dedue will try to recruit her back.

Dedue is suspicious of her because she shows up to a city where only people of Duscur are living. It's sad that he's got to be that way, but I'm excited if this support gives us more Duscur crumbs.

Neither Rhea nor Dimitri let him know what she's doing there lol, she's just helping after a big fire.

Catherine points out that the church is always helping people out, plus they feel a debt to Faerghus for giving them a home after Edelgard did her usual.

Apparently Rhea "jumped" at the chance to help. No one in the church cares that the people of Duscur don't worship the same religion, they just want to help/pay their debt.

SHEZ & INGRID A SUPPORT

I feel like I unlocked a million supports, but I'm not mad about it

Dedue put Shez on ingredient shopping duty.

Ingrid is flustered getting spotted by Shez in the market though. She looks like a deer in the headlights lol.

She's fangirling over the market since it's more lively and prosperous than Galatea.

Shez asks Ingrid to go on a shopping/eating date, but Ingrid feels she shouldn't be meandering markets as a future count.

Ingrid wants to help and protect Dimitri so bad as a knight. She also brings up her farming endings too.

I had Shez offer to help Ingrid out. She even offers to be Ingrid's personal mercenary. It's kinda cute.

Shez got Ingrid to blush a bit too. Happy Ingrid is a good Ingrid (and Shez too)

DIMITRI & INGRID B SUPPORT

It's sad that they only go to B, especially since we know how badly Ingrid want to be his knight (and has a crush on him, but like, girl, I get it, no one is immune to Dimitri)

Dimitri was planning with Duscur forces - how to use their unique fighting styles and avoid in-fighting with regular Faerghus forces

Dimitri asks her about Duscur, but Ingrid's moved on, and understands that it wasn't just Duscur.

She feels ashamed for putting it all on Duscur, and is not afraid to interact with them.

Dimitri of course blames himself for not insisting harder to Ingrid, but they were both dealing with shit. Dimitri's still upset with himself for not having the right priorities.

But like, Dimitri, even Ingrid herself says they weren't allowed to see each other (fuck Rufus).

Ingrid said she wouldn't have even listened to him. But like Dimitri just wanted to blame someone, so did Ingrid. Which, never really thought about how they dealt with it in a similar way before.

Dimitri takes her to a Duscur run Inn so help bridge the gap. She thinks she can do it with Dimitri there to help her out.

The character growth. Man, this is another missing discussion from AM that AG blessed us with. I swear AG doesn't have a single bad or boring or unnecessary or repeat support (no I'm not biased, why did you ask?)

INGRID & FELIX A SUPPORT

Felix is handing out compliments. Sound the alarm.

Aww, Ingrid has a rough battle, and Felix is worried about her.

Ingrid had Glenn's spur with her. 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 She says that helped her through the battle 😭😭😭😭.

Felix is obviously confused and worried that Ingrid is relying too much on remembering the dead, but Ingrid argues it can be a strength too. And Felix . . . AGREES.

GUYS 😭😭😭😭 Felix is growing up. 😭😭😭😭 He's understanding that his views aren't the only ways to exist. 😭😭😭😭

He tells her to visit Glenn 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 OMG, guys, he's encouraging her to keep using Glenn's memory as a source of strength and hoping she'll visit his grave and give him flowers.

Guys, he's not only understanding and accepting that people feel differently, he's ENCOURAGING them to continue using that opposite way because it works for them. Guys, he needs a cookie or something.

Ingrid is just that powerful.

Ingrid wants Felix and Dimitri - Rodrigue, Sylvain, and Gustave - and everyone to come visit and just have a festive time near his gravestone. Haha, Felix gives in too.

SHEZ & DEDUE A SUPPORT

Dedue commanding soldiers. We love to see it.

The people of Faerghus are warming up to Dedue 😭😭😭😭, the wounds of the past are healing (the soldier's mom died in Duscur)

GUYS. DEDUE ARGUED BACK. The soldier gave Dedue shit, and Dedue stood up for himself. OMG. He gets a cookie too!

Both Felix and Dedue showing real growth back-to-back supports, I can't . . . 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

Shez called Dedue her friend. 😭😭😭😭 Says that's why she's happy for him, because they're friends. 😭😭😭😭

Shez is determined to prove herself. Dedue says she doesn't have prove herself, that he trusts her.

Shez asks if Dedue really does despite her powers. Dedue doesn't deny that he's concerned about the powers, but it doesn't define Shez.

Haha, Dedue still adds in that if Shez ever did turn on Dimitri, he'd cut her down. Which, yeah, that tracks, which Shez agrees.

DEDUE/INGRID/FELIX PARALOGUE

3 of my favorites in one paralogue about the tragedy of Duscur. Yes please (they're also fully leveled up so I'm not broke!)

Everyone is down in the dumps because they're near where the attack took place. Probably a bit awkward with that trio.

Guys, we're in Duscur, it's exciting.

Aww, Dedue is telling Ingrid she doesn't have to fake being happy while their (because he knows about Glenn).

They're fighting Duscur :( having to put down a rebellion. Not everyone wants peace with Dimitri.

Dimitri keeps coming back in attempt to continue to make peace.

Oh, so the leader of the insurrection lead the group who killed Lambert and Glenn. This is intense.

They aren't allowed to kill him because they need information, but Ingrid wants to kill him, but won't.

Haha, that's why they didn't take Dimitri, well why he didn't go. Dimitri trusted them to handle it.

Felix said king, not boar everyone.

I can't wait to see the end of this paralogue.

Oh, we're rescuing Duscur soldiers? Glad Ingrid is a pegasus knight. She can zip around fast.

We're not killing, just subduing.

Ingrid requested this assignment to help her move on from the past.

Ingrid and Dedue put their faith in Dimitri to figure out the motivation.

Dedue wants to stop by a childhood spot that got trampled and he's wanting to see if it recovered. Ingrid asks to join him and he does. Shez also wants to come. Felix accepts grudgingly lol.

Ingrid has shown such growth in this game. I love it so much.

It's recovered 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 Dedue used to come there with his sister.

Dedue invites Ingrid to come back and keep checking on the field. Felix is just hanging back though. Typical Felix.

Felix says he's focusing on his duty to protect the same things Glenn did and Shez can say the lands or . . . well you know who and you KNOW which one I have to pick.

Felix says protecting Dimitri is the same as protecting Faerghus, and makes Shez swear not to tell Dimitri (well the boar but you know). I had Shez tease Felix big time by claiming she was going to run around and telling everyone lamo.

The Dimilix is real in this game.

MAIN MAP

So the Empire's going full scorched earth tactics.

Annnnd of course Dimitri's blaming himself for other's actions. He's getting all worked up too.

Oh, geeze, they killed all the citizens too. Shez says the Empire was always rough, but not this bad.

I still can't get over the fact they wrote themselves into a corner with Edelgard - either team up with TWSITD again or Dimitri and Rhea, so instead they just zapped her lamo.

Oh, that's cool, the map battle zone flipped spaces because the Western Church attacked.

Arval hoping to strike down TWSITD is rich since you know he's (she's, they're?) connected.

Poor Shez is worrying about her power again. I swear she's much better integrated in AG, then SB, and GW it's like why is Shez even there? They have no plotline.

I think my Dimitri is too strong guys. He just. Kills everything.

Myson escaped. Ohhh, now he's confronting Shez. And asking about Avral I'm assuming.

Arval makes a good point, that the power Shez has keeps saving lives. And brings up Dimitri's point that power isn't evil or good, it's how it's used.

Ashen Demon brought back up again. Arval really wants us to kill Byleth, hunh. Except this time I'm determined to recruit Byleth.

I wonder if Arval will eventually turn on us, esp once I don't kill Byleth. Because he really wants us to kill Byleth.

Rodrigue is back! My beloved.

Oh, hi Claude. Not sure where he stands with me right now. I vastly prefer the Claude who has two braincells.

Judith being alive again is good though.

I do like hearing about how Claude and Dimitri are making plans together to trick the Empire.

So our goal is to retake the Monastery. Makes sense.

xxxxx

#azure gleam #fire emblem #fire emblem three hopes #three hopes #three hopes spoilers #azure gleam spoilers

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arcstral · 10 months

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ooc; TOA Anniversary Munday!

Celebrating TOA and the people who contribute to make our group what it is. Repost, don't reblog. Only fill in what you feel comfortable sharing! Happy anniversary, TOA! Here's to many more years spent together.

Name: Soji

Pronouns: She/her

Birthday (no year): October 14

Where are you from? What is your time zone? United States. Both my parents are from South Korea. East coast resident (EST)

Roleplay experience: A little over 13 years of roleplay experience

Got any pets? One chinchilla affectionately dubbed Souji Man and a 'Shavanese' dog (short-haired Havanese) named Happy

Favorite time of year: Autumn

Some interests and things you like: The holy trinity of cosplaying, writing, and drawing

Some fun facts & trivia about you:

— I joined TOA during the peak of Covid quarantining in 2020 when there was a huge convention dry spell. The indie roleplay scene for Fire Emblem during this time was uneventful too. Having no productive outlet for cosplaying or writing, it lead me to join my first RP group which was (jazz hands) TOA

— My zodiac animal is a rabbit

— I have hundreds upon hundreds of hours clocked on Super Smash Bros from Brawl to Ultimate. You'll never guess who I main.

What non-Fire Emblem games do you play? Final Fantasy XIV, Project Zomboid, Phasmophobia, Touken Ranbu, and Stardew Valley in order of frequency.

Favorite Pokemon type & Pokemon: I like bug types; my favorite Pokemon is Scizor. While not Pokemon my favorite Digimon, Kabuterimon, is also a bug. Honorable mention goes to Greninja.

How did you get into Fire Emblem? Saw Shadow Dragon in my local Gamestop one day and didn't buy it even though it stuck out to me with its somber and less colorful boxart. Next time I saw a Fire Emblem game in the store, i.e., Awakening, I bought and played it. The rest is history.

What Fire Emblem games have you played? If we're talking start-to-end I've played and finished FE1, FE3, FE7, FE9, FE11, FE12, Awakening, SOV, 3H, and Engage. The remaining games in the series I've played to either early or mid game.

First Fire Emblem game: Awakening

Favorite Fire Emblem game: FE11 Shadow Dragon

Any Fire Emblem crushes? FE7 Rath was my first and only concrete FE crush. Marth was initially more of an aesthetic source of admiration though knowing his character better he likely exemplifies the ideal partner. Similar to Marth he's not really a crush, but right now I think a lot about Rafal, ironically less in the realm of looks or perfection and more at his attractive hot-and-cold personality.

If you’ve played the following games, who was your first S support? - Awakening: Chrom - Fates: Kaden was my forecast - Three Houses: Dimitri - Engage: Alfred

Favorite Fire Emblem class: Dracoknight

If you were a Fire Emblem character, what would be your class? Archer. My first class in FFXIV was an archer and my FE tastes will reflect that too.

If you were a Three Houses character, what would be your affiliation? Blue Lions

If you were an Engage character, which Emblem would you Engage with? Marth. Need me a princely ghost boyfriend I mean advisor with a good head on his shoulders.

How did you find TOA? Through Fire Emblem roleplay related tags

Current TOA muses: Marth and Rafal

Who was your first TOA muse? If you don’t have them anymore, could you see yourself picking them up again? Marth is my ride or die Fire Emblem character and that extends to him as a muse.

Have you had any other TOA muses? Besides Marth and Rafal I've also written Xane. Though there isn't a lot of data, my second muse slot historically (and presently) being reserved for dragons tickles me a lot.

Do you think you have a type of character you gravitate towards? Not really. My tastes are unexplainably versatile. I can favor the sweet and friendly golden boy type characters, or the less pristine and morally ambiguous "bad boy" types, and everything in-between. This isn't just true for TOA but also for characters from different series. My friends have a lot of trouble forecasting possible favorites for me because of it.

What do you believe you enjoy writing the most? Emotions. Conflict with those emotions. Mwahahahaha

Favorite TOA-related memory: The first few months into my TOA debut when everything was bright, fresh, and new. Meeting new friends and forging bonds with other characters was super fun and I still remember who was around me during that time. Farina (written by Maxie) is the closest muse to Marth in terms of when they joined TOA and who has stayed to this day.

Got any delusions that didn’t see the light of day in TOA that you’d like to share? I tend to be very stable, loyal, and proactive in my delusions. If they're strong enough I pursue them, like Xane and Rafal. Rath would be among them if I ever replayed FE7 and if I determined having three muses wouldn't make my performance suffer over all.

#◜ ╰ ♕ ◦ › battlefield command ‹ MEME. ◞#marth (and my) toa anniversary is tomorrow so it might have been timelier to save this for tuesday :thinking:#but mun monday was too good to pass up

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totallynotthecrystalskull · 1 year

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(Kinda Late) Nintendo Direct thoughts (2/8/23)

Teensy bit late on this one due to being at work all day, but I wanted to capture my thoughts on the latest nintendo direct (since we hadn’t had one in months and who knows when the next one is). Go over the highlights, the cool, the meh, and everything that I thought was interesting. Not gonna cover absolutely EVERYTHING, just the things that caught my attention (sorry Samba de Amigo and Fashion Dreamer, I’m sure you’re fun games and all, I just have other things I wanna talk about)Pikmin 4: Looks neat, that’s kinda all I’ve got on it. Visually it’s beautiful for a Switch game, but it’s not a franchise I’ve really cared about, so I’m pretty indifferent on it. Pretty happy for the Pikmin fans though, I know you guys have REAAAALLY been waiting on this one, so good to see it’s finally getting shown off. The dog thing Oatchi feels a little... weird though. Kinda like Pikmin’s version of Poochy or some other example of added dog-like companion getting added to a series, they always feel a little funky when added in my opinion. I dunno though, maybe it fits right in with the rest of Pikmin, I’m not exactly super knowledgeable on the series anyways. Xenoblade Chronicles 3 DLC: That’s neat for Xenoblade fans. I only ever played X on the Wii U, so I don’t have much of a connection to the series, but hope fans of the game are hyped (also, was that Shulk and an older Rex? That was kind of a surprise to see). Who knows though, maybe I’ll try the series out again sometime in the future (probs not though, they seem too big for me) Dead Cells DLC: Ok, with every update this game seems to get, the more tempted I am to get into the game. Actually, why haven’t I gotten it yet?! It looks fun as hell, and it’s got a ton of fun crossovers with Shovel Knight, Katana Zero, Castlevania, and so so so many more games. I Really gotta give it a go at this point. Ghost Trick port: oh HELL yeah, I’ve been wanting to play this one for ages now! The Ace Attorney Trilogy has been a fun way for me to get into those original DS games, and I’m hoping this Ghost Trick port will accomplish the same thing! Bayonetta Origins: It looks ok. That’s about all I’ve got for it. It’s style is pretty different from the other Bayo games which I really like, but this one’s just not really speaking to me as much. Splatoon 3 DLC: Ok, first we’re gonna get Inkopolis as a DLC... Hub? Ok, that’s a bit odd in my opinion. Like, it’ll be nice to revisit Inkopolis after ALL these years, but at the same time it’s like... it’s just a hub... DLC just for an different hub area? Feels kinda... underwhelming I guess? I dunno, just feels like a weird thing to add. As for the Side Order DLC, now THAT ONE’S catching my eyes! More Pearl and Marina, and Splat 2′s hub being completely white and covered in Coral is so mysterious, I love this!! Fire Emblem Engage DLC: I don’t care who you add, I’m not playing this FE Game! Omega Strikers: Honestly, I’ll probs forget about this game in a bit, but I do like the character designs. I dunno, looks fun enough, a neat take on Air Hockey. Might pick it up as a Multiplayer game when I have friends over (ya know, if that ever happens). Etrian Odyssey Collection: Oooooooo, ok, I’m down for this. Only ever played a bit of EOU2: The Fafnir Knight, but the mechanics of it’s dungeon crawling and custom map making was a lot of fun!! Might pick this collection up! Advance Wars 1+2 ReBoot Camp: Hell yeah! I’ve been looking forward to this one ever since it was announced!! It’s also a series I haven’t played before, but it looks so charming and fun, happy it finally has a release date! NSO GameBoy Advanced: Didn’t care much about the GB additions, but the GBA being added?! YEAAAAAH!!! I mean I wish it wasn’t a part of the Expansion pass, but also, YEAAAAAAH!!! I love the sprite work on so many GBA games, and plenty of them I’ve wanted to play myself, so I’m really happy they’re being added (especially both Superstar Saga and The Minish Cap, I fucking love the sprite work in those games so god damn much, AAAAAHHHHH!!!) Metroid Prime Remake: Hell yeah (again)! I’ve always wanted to try the Prime games, so this should be a fun way to get into the series! And available today too?!?! Mario Kart DLC: I’m liking the look of this new course, and getting Birdo in any Mario game is always awesome!! Hoping they’ll add more characters now too since we know that’s not off the table anymore. I’d love Fawful or Starlow to appear in a MK game, but let’s be realistic, that’s not happening Extras: Magalor mode in Kirby seems alright I guess, looks a little forgettable though. That Detective Danganronpa game looks weird. New Fantasy life is neat, first game was enjoyable enough, but I’ll probs pass on this new one. Neat that there’s gonna be a new Professor Layton game. The DecaPolice game looks like it could be fun, but at this point I’m hesitant on any game where you play as cops (though at the same time, it looks to be more Detective than Police, and it’s probs based more on the Japanese police rather than western police. Still hesitant though) And last, but ABSOLUTELY not least

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom: This section’s probably going to get pretty long since I am a huge Zelda fan, but first, let me just say, HOLY SHIT WAS THAT MATTHEW MERCER IN ZELDA!?!?!! FUUUCK YEAAAAH!!! Ok, all of my hype aside though, I am actually a little mixed on him being in it. Not cause there’s anything wrong with Matt’s performance (dude always kills it in his roles!), but because now when I’m playing the game, I’ll just hearing him as Matthew Mercer instead of whoever he’s playing (though, that’s not bad either. Hearing Mercer playing any role is always a very enjoyable experience, dude’s got a magic voice and I love every bit of it). And better yet, was he playing mother-fuckin’ GANONDORF?!?! I mean, he’s not immediately who I would’ve imagined for Ganondorf’s voice, but god damn am I always down for some more wonderful Matthew Mercer villain dialogue, especially for my favorite Villain!! But that said though... there’s also the possibility that the trailer mislead us and he’s NOT going to be Ganondorf, but instead playing the role of a new hidden villain instead (another Zant, Ghirahim, Astor, ect., an evil minion type character). I thought it was a little odd that there weren’t any shots of Ganondorf actually speaking, and Mercer’s voice feels a little mismatched for the (currently) dried up and mummified corpse of the Gerudo King, so that makes me wonder if we’re actually hearing dialogue from an unrevealed new villain (though alternatively it could just be dialogue from a... *ahem*,Rehydrated Ganondorf, but we don’t know if that’s going to actually happen or not). I’m not entirely sold on this theory myself (as I could very easily just be looking too far into some small details), but it is a theory I did want to bring up. The Dialogue and framing certainly point to him possibly being the King of all Evil, but those little things... it just feels... a little suspicious is all. As for everything else in the trailer though, OH MY GOD AM I HYPED!!! More Zonai stuff, plenty more enemy varieties, it looks like we’re getting both some sky islands AND underground stuff, there looks to be a ton of interesting changes to hyrule itself, and I CAN’T TELL IF THAT WAS A REDEAD OR A STALFOS BUT OH MY GOD AM I HAPPY THEY’RE BACK!! Looks like we’re getting some new Shiekah stuff, lots of new Zonai stuff, and Link’s new arm looks so interesting!! God am I hyped for this SO GOD DAMN MUCH!!! May can’t come soon enough!!

#nintendo direct #the legend of zelda #tears of the kingdom #splatoon 3 dlc #matt mercer #gameboy advance #thoughts #zelda hype #nintendo switch online #holy shit #i'm hyped

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childofaura · 11 months

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Any thoughts you have on Jennifer Losi? She plays Tethys and outside of it she’s known for Ganyu in Genshin Impact and Lillie in Pokèmon Masters.

I’m so sorry, I just realized I’d been sitting on this one for a few days.

Ok first off I DO like Tethys… but I just have NOT had the time to build her. I think once we get an Arcane Dagger, then I’ll finally take a crack at it. But I love her character and I think her backstory is so selfless and noble. Plus I think her and Gerik are a better pairing.

So Jennifer Losi only plays Tethys so far. I’m actually shocked she wasn’t cast to play anyone in Engage. Or any other FE character for that matter.

I think her performance as Tethys is done really well, she balances the mature, motherly tone with a youthful voice. All of her lines have a nice warm tone, but what’s interesting to me is her line about good things happening with hard work. The tone sounds… almost forced (not the delivery of the line), almost as if it’s more of Tethys saying that to convince herself rather than you. I could be reading into it too much but it fascinates me, especially since Tethys’ history is so full of hardships and pain. Plus her line about who was in love with Gerik is charming, she sounds like a housewife with some juicy gossip, lol. I’m actually very shocked that she hasn’t gotten an alt yet, but we know how it is: if you’re not a noble (or Myrrh) it’s slim to none… No but seriously, why does IS hate the rest of the Stones cast so much??? The only one who got an alt, who already had their base unit in game, and wasn’t a noble was Marisa, and they just stuffed her in a bunny suit. I guess there’s Selena too… but she’s not even normally playable and her first alt was a swimsuit. ANYWAYS, rant done.

I think Jennifer was a great pick for Tethys, and I like that we had someone with fewer roles picked for the character. She’s one of the Stones characters whose casting I’m happy with.

Skipping range because we can’t talk about that, lmao.

Can’t really give a decent proper score with the range issue, but personally I’ll put her at an 8/10. Hopefully we see a Tethys alt soon.

#Fire Emblem Heroes #FEH #ask game

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agoddamn · 1 year

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I sat down and pounded out several chapters of Engage to try and recruit Mauvier so I could see his birthday lines and missed the window by about two hours. </3

I really do not know how this dude is convincing himself he's helping Veyle through all this brainwashing. I had thought that maybe none of them ever really spoke to her (which seems to be the case with Marni) but Mauvier is supposed to be her actual knight who cares about her as a person and it's not until chapter 21 that he finally says, "I think the repeated brainmelting might be kind of bad for her"? With the mildest dissent possible, too. He is so mild about his dissent that he will even happily deliver another soldier back to the cause of brainmelting Veyle!

So far Mauvier seems like the kind of guy who's genuinely so stupid that you could convince him to suck your dick by telling him a bee stung you and you need his help getting the venom out.

As tired as waif mind-controlled to villainy is as a trope, Veyle's (JP) voice actor does an amazing job with the switching back and forth. I was enjoying just listening to her.

Got the DLC for my birthday and the way they present the 3H characters as having a "friendly rivalry" dynamic lmaooooo that's literally the name of the skill! I don't know what game these characters are from but it's not 3H

Lindon get! The average age of my army is slowly creeping up. Love that he's just...a guy. "Yeah idk I'm not vibing with this Fell Dragon thing any more, can I bounce with you?"

I can tell that the devs are having him constantly mention his wife in order to dissuade me personally, but that ain't gonna work

Got my very first A-rank support! Diamant and Alcryst. Definitely did not play naturally for it, took a lot of forcing them onto each other.

I had intended to use Rosado, but after his first map I realized how bad his shitty build score was crippling him. Bench juice.

I don't understand the economy in this game. It feels like there was supposed to be a money DLC grinding map like Fates--there's so many huge money sinks. The country donations? The gifts? The ingots showing up at the flea market? Weapon refining? Hell, the costumes? Absolutely fucking deranged of someone to make a dress cost a silver bar. And that's before getting into traditional FE money drains like staves and Master Seals! Makes me suspect a money grinding DLC might drop...

Me realizing the reinforcements on 21 aren't going to stop: I AM BEGGING YOU TO GET OFF MY DICK

Two break bars revival stones are stressful. Although... I'm this far in the game and I don't actually know what the "running wild" state does lmfao every time I see revival stones I set up my team to be able to end things in one round. At this point, enemies on the map are doing so much damage that it's a death sentence to try and tank hits.

Framme fell off and got benched :( this really is Fire Emblem: Bases

And with Saphir, the average age of my army climbs yet higher!

Weird, though--in English she's Saphir but the JP sounds a lot more like Zephaia, and Lady Badguy is Zephia in English but Sepia in Japanese.

"Why the fuck would you send ONE soldier as backup--oh. Her. Carry on."

She's afraid of heights...m-moe

She bullied the absolute shit out of Griss 😂 dance brave axe dance brave axe die

I gave her Lyn and much like Diamant, she's getting scary with an actual speed stat. I'm getting her to double with her brave axe on enemy phase.

Lindon...lends himself very well to the "dirty researcher" archetype, huh...

--Panette and Pandreo are siblings?? I guess they do have the same hair color...come to think of it, I think I remember hearing about this pre-release. I learned this from the ally notebook because Panette is another one who joined and went directly to the bench

So Lindon wants to do research with Mauvier, huh...

#boots plays fe17 #post is getting long we'll do plotty shit separately

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my-current-obsession · 1 year

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I have officially beaten FE Engage! Overall it’s a great game. I really enjoyed the gameplay this time, though a few chapters and paralogues were pretty frustrating. This was definitely the hardest FE game I’ve played (although ironically I found the final battle to be fairly easy), and mostly that’s a good thing. The extra challenge made it more satisfying when I came up with winning strategies. The story and characters were pretty good too! I definitely think this game has gotten unwarranted hate. Anyway, since I previously made a tier list showing my perception of the characters as units, here are some actual stats from the ending showing how right (or wrong) I was:

There was a 3-way tie for who made MVP the most between Alear, Yunaka, and somewhat to my surprise, Alcryst. They each were MVP 4 times. Clanne, Celine, and Alfred were right behind them, each being MVP 3 times.

Alear was unsurprisingly the fighter with the most battles (199) and wins (123). The benefits of being locked into EVERY story & paralogue chapter, I suppose. Her most used Emblem was Sigurd.

I talked at length about how good my Alfred was in the other post, and his stats back it up. He had the 2nd most battles (180) and tied for 3rd on wins (92). Most used emblem was Ike.

Similarly, Yunaka, who I thought might have the most battles and/or kills, had 166 battles and 92 wins. She was great, just not able to outdo Alear’s protag privilege or Alfred seeing a lot of action through Ike. She used Lyn most.

Alcryst had 150 battles and a whopping 107 wins. The boy killed. A lot. His most used emblem was Leif since I appreciated being able to switch weapons and fight back if attacked up close as well as potential Luna procs on Quadruple Hit.

I seriously undervalued how much use I got out of Clanne. He was 5th for both battles (127) and wins (89). Even though he’d fallen off by the end due to subpar magic attack, he did pretty well in early and mid game. His most used emblem was Micaiah.

As for other notable fighters, Citrinne, Diamant, Fogado, Rosado, and Kagetsu each had 100+ battles and 60+ kills. Everyone else either only achieved one of those feats, or neither. So these 5 finish out the “top ten” for my units, I guess.

I maintain that Hortensia is an MVP in her own right as a healer, but tragically the game doesn’t track that so her stats are poor since she didn’t fight much. Seadall was also essential to my team.

Finally one last fun statistic - the EMBLEM that achieved MVP the most was Sigurd. He contributed to 7 wins. I guess it’s not surprising considering he was the “most used” Emblem for 3 of my heavy hitters - Alear, Kagetsu, and Rosado.

#fire emblem #fire emblem engage #fe17 #i'm honestly not surprised sigurd is the big winner among the emblems in terms of MVP and who was used most #(technically a couple other emblems had 3 characters but only sigurd had 3 PROMINENT fighters for me)#i love to stick him on someone who can either dodge or tank a few hits and nyoom them into enemy territory #so whoever wears sigurd often ends up handling a good chunk of the map by themselves #my biggest complaint remains that there are no paired endings. i want to play matchmaker. :/#but aside from that i actually quite enjoyed the characters and story. and not all supports are great but some are AMAZING #easily on par with or even better than the best that previous entries had to offer #anyway i'll probably start a 2nd playthrough immediately. i'm antsy to put everything i've learned to use #reclass anna and clanne. save-scum the arena. take advantage of the new support options from the beginning #i'll probably play on hard again but classic this time since i have had a chance to try everyone and will know what's coming #hopefully i'll get at least a few different units in the endgame.#it's really hard to justify using lapis when kagetsu is SO GOOD (and also i love him). & etie basically NEEDS to reclass to stand a chance #but maybe (hopefully) the next run will be better for amber and framme and anna. and i'll give bunet a chance this time #you know a game is good when you beat it and IMMEDIATELY are thinking about and excited for the next run

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gloamvonhrym · 2 years

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I finally finished Awakening lol! here’s my overlong thoughts. a lot of which are comparing Fates & Awakening, which is kind of unavoidable because lot of Fates criticism hinges on comparing it unfavorably to Awakening and also because they’re two games in the same FE generation which reference each other stylistically and in story/cast

a major criticism I’ve heard is that Fates took everything that Awakening did well and tried to expand on it but ended up making it worse. having finally played them both, I don’t think that’s true at all and I think the issues of Fates are mostly unique

gameplay wise, granted I’m a filthy casual, but I thought Fates’ gameplay was overall more varied and fun, gimmicks notwithstanding. I’m just a silly boy who likes to run all over a map and dig up a bunch of stuff and flip a bunch of switches to make stuff happen. awakening had a couple standouts but mostly felt samey to me, and also I had to grind way more to make my cast usable.

Fates and Awakening both had big casts, but Awakening really had almost nothing to suggest existing interpersonal relationships or explain why any of these people were invested in the cause (beyond ”they’re a knight so it’s their job”, or ”there’s an existential threat to the realm so I guess they have to go to war”). I immediately responded to maribelle because the first thing she does is act overprotective towards lissa, which establishes a relationship and a motive. almost no one else had that and I had a hard time engaging with the cast overall, let alone trying to distinguish who I actually wanted to take with me, because I just didn’t care about most of them and most of them didn’t particularly seem to have reasons to care about each other.

I thought Fates improved on that massively tbh. its cast often gets accused of being one-note, but like, it offered the 4 royals + azura as a really nice grounding core cast with a preexisting relationship with the main character and a strong reason to care about them (not only are they family but corrin is a sheltered/neglected/abused child toward whom they all feel varying degrees of protectiveness and resentment); and then their 2 retainers each, plus jakob/felicia/kaze, almost all have very caring mutual relationships and histories with their charges, and also usually have endearing and/or funny relationships with each other as well. off the bat that’s a solid core of people who not only have histories and personal reasons to be invested in what happens, but also have a suggested story-importance hierarchy built in - I wanted to know more about leo because leo had complicated feelings toward corrin, and I wanted to know more about niles because niles had an interesting relationship with leo, etc. I found most of the cast of Awakening undifferentiated and boring, sorry about it. libra, maribelle, donnel, and lissa being the major exceptions, most of them just did not seem like they had a ton to say, and I was rarely pleasantly surprised

the most egregious thing Fates tried to do with its cast was ape the 2nd-gen character concepts with zero in-story rationale for them being present and mature. and that was extremely stupid and contrived. but also, in their defense, the child characters in Awakening were also almost entirely superfluous and optional except for lucina, and going around to collect them was mostly just kind of a chore. (I also felt like supports…. built slower? I don’t know if I just ran out of patience, but like, I didn’t get any of the kids to the highest tier of support with each other. they just didn’t seem to want to talk. maybe that’s just because I’m bad at this game.)

and in terms of plot: Awakening tried to do way less. and yet somehow I still found it…….. pretty frustrating. I spent 10 chapters fighting Valm and it didn’t matter at all. why was Walhart even there? someone on twitter posited that it was to be part of Chrom’s ”arc” of deciding what kind of leader he wanted to be, but…… where? I don’t remember him having any real internal conflict about that, it seemed like his mind was pretty made up? he struck me as a pretty static character, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, a lot of lord characters are, but if there was any doubt about what kind of leader he intended to be, I think that went out the window when Emmeryn ate it. the problems with Fates’ plot(s) were mostly that it tried to do too much, which resulted in a lot of really cool concepts (a traumatized kid with uncontrollable emotion-triggered dragon powers!) either not getting explored at all, or getting written in contrived or convoluted ways (to whose benefit was the vallite curse anyway, and why did that matter). however, I at least screamed laughing at Fates, which was not the intent, but at least I wasn’t like ”why did I just slog through 10 identical chapters of this plotline only to end up back in plegia fighting a 100% unrelated big bad”

the setup about robin being a vessel for grima was cool tho, and a better payoff than anything in Fates. as a whole I liked the END of Awakening better. although I do wish they hadn’t tried to pull the rug about robin killing chrom. that felt like an insult. robin was in control enough to ”hold back” when they impaled chrom so like ok you just impaled him through the chest…….. gently?? my brother in christ he should still be dead??? I’d have preferred a different deus ex machina where chrom gets revived by the power of love and friendship or whatever

#text #long post

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veebs-hates-video-games · 5 months

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I've finally been working my way through Shadows of Valentia over the past week or so, which is the last of the modern Fire Emblem games I hadn't played at all before (although I haven't finished all of the rest, which I may or may not go back to and give another shot at some point). It's both a lot of fun and terrible at the same time.

I do genuinely like a lot of the characters and the tone they took with the writing, and they've really fleshed them and the story out pretty effectively compared to what I know of the original version. That's the main thing keeping me going through the game up to act 4 so far.

The maps mostly range from mediocre to the worst I've ever played in a FE game though. Occasionally there are some decent ones, although usually not done anywhere near as well as similar concepts in newer games, but so many of them are so bland and featureless and just throw 6-10 identical units at you, like not a single point stat difference or weapons or anything. And a lot of the time the map elements that do break that up are annoying and slow the pace way down, like single square chokepoints or other severe movement restrictions like desert.

Don't worry though, when you do get enemy variety for a change it's the most annoying units in the entire series: witches with infinite range teleport and cantors who spam trash units at you while hiding at the back of the map. Neither one is particularly hard for me just playing on normal, but the cantors especially are annoying because they're yet another thing that slows the pace down without being interesting.

I think I need a break for a couple days at least because even though I want to see more of the story and more supports and stuff I get this feeling of (very mild) dread every time I look over at the 3DS and think of having to drag myself through more of those maps. They also keep taking longer and longer to complete the later I get into the game, which is fine in something like Engage where the maps are great and I'm having fun the whole time, but most of these haven't made it past the tolerable/fine I guess range.

I'll get through it eventually probably...hopefully. We'll just have to see how long my patience holds out and how often I need to take breaks.

#fire emblem echoes: shadows of valentia #fire emblem series

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rina7anir-blog · 9 months

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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.

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unmeiokaemasu · 1 year

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FE:E first playthrough: thoughts

so uhhh. I guess I should write down my feelings about Engage?

My feelings about it have been pretty bittersweet. In a vacuum, I enjoyed it a lot:

it’s a story that fits in perfectly with some of the lighter entries in the franchise

that said there were moments that I found genuinely moving in the story

I’m glad it was a lighter entry because I mean it when I say games cannot and should not keep one-upping themselves, the games industry is terrible to its employees and they deserve to be treated better, which means trimming down on things like graphics and branching paths and whatnot is good in between bigger entries

the gameplay was fun, I like a lot of the new or new-ish features like the stuff in the Somniel

even though I didn’t overall like the art style, aspects of it did grow on me, especially seeing it animated

the cast really grew on me

Alear may be my favorite player avatar right after Byleth (and Mark the tactician from FE7, the absolutely hilarious non-entity)

the music is great and I’ve been humming it constantly

as dumb and gimmicky as the emblems were I think they did their job of seeming cool enough that some folks may want to go back and play their games

I enjoyed the game enough that I immediately started another run to try some different things.

So then, the things that’re bothering me...

I saw someone say that they liked Seadall “even though he wasn’t a very good unit,” and that kinda...well it’s a good example of what I feel like we may be leaving behind. Of course, if you were used to Three Houses, and even Awakening and Fates, you’d be a used to a dancer who fights pretty much on par with your other units. But with the earlier games, where dancers don’t even have the option of fighting and are completely support units, they’re still some of the most valued units within the FE community, and I’m not alone in saying dancer units are my favorite overall type. Recruiting them always feels like “ah yes, now it’s over for the forces of evil, now I can really play the game.”

...but to get that effect, you do have to play the older games. I know because I started with three houses, and my first playstyle was absolutely just sending in all my most powerful units and having them tank damage until they broke through the enemy. And that’s fun too! But after playing some of the older games, I really got an appreciation of what makes this series so special. I’m bad at strategy games. I’m not just not one of the elite, it’s very challenging for me to think several steps ahead. But Fire Emblem games are beautifully designed in a way that teaches you what resources you have at your disposal, and helps get you to a point where you can be making much more complicated decisions. I’ve yet to win a Maddening Mode in any game, but it felt great when I was finally able to beat a hard mode run of 3H, and when I beat my beloved Blazing Blade and Path of Radiance without all of the modern amenities like a rewind button. Maybe some day I will beat a maddening mode, or even beat the next chapter of FE4 that I’ve been stuck on for months! :D (haha, as if, I’ll never beat FE4)

I’m not mad that people may not like the older games, or sad that people may never play them. I’m not sad that people prefer Three Houses to the earlier style of gameplay, even though those same people would probably be good at / get enjoyment out of the earlier games. ...except that, if enough people dislike features, like, for example, less-combat-capable dancers, then those features may fall away...and then all the FE games will be about building your units they way you want, and not about being given a puzzle and saying “your tools are limited, but there’re lots of solutions, get creative!” ...and that would be a loss. I don’t want to get Old Man Yells At Cloud about this, so I’ll say I hope to be surprised. I guess as long as FE keeps bringing joy into the world, that’s enough.

SO, the one thing that really stung about the game itself was...no paired endings for units!!? What the actual heck!?!? Did I miss how to get that to happen or is there seriously now way to hear that two characters in particular work together / live together / fall in love / etc. after the war depending on who you supported people with?? Paired endings have been a thing for a long time in this series; Genealogy introduced the thing where depending on who you pair up romantically, you get kid units in the next generation based on those pairings, and the GBA games all had a variety of romantic and non-romantic paired endings for characters. I’m not asking for extra voices S-rank scenes, just little blurbs of text at the end of the game! I know I can write my own but that’s missing the point. It seems like a petty thing to miss, but like, if I’m not invested in these characters’ relationships, why would I care about supports at all outside of gameplay mechanics?

Also the ending I got for Alear’s ring support was extremely boring. I feel like they stripped a lot of the romance out of it because...idk cuz in the Japanese version they wanted it to be ok for you to ring-support the kid units or something. idk. And don’t give me any “Alear’s a dragon and will live longer than all of them,” Fire Emblem human characters have been marrying dragons all throughout the history of the game. What I’m saying is just because Ninian wasn’t in FE6 doesn’t mean she had to die early if you have her marry Eliwood instys you cowards--wait where was I. Oh right Engage pairings.

*sigh* so yeah, that was the biggest gripe I had with the game itself, and it seems like an easy thing to fix. My experience with it was highly personal, I mean FE’s been my hyperfixation for like two years now so I’m incapable of being Normal about it, and because of that I don’t want to really engage (...) in too much discussion about it, cuz I’ll either feel sad or say something I regret. Or let’s be real, both.

But overall I hope people like Engage, at least enough to keep the series going, and if the series does permanently change, I’ll just cherish the time I had learning about it and enjoying it.

#catfishchat

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roswellnmsource · 3 years

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Michael Trevino Talks The CW’s ‘Roswell, New Mexico’

So first off, what was your reaction to finding out you’d be doing that time jump this season? Michael Trevino: For Kyle, I think jumping — I mean yeah, time has passed, right? And I think whenever you start a new season, we always ask that. We’re like, “Well, how much time has passed? Where are we starting from? Has as my character been here, been there?” So this is one of those seasons where yes, time has passed, kind of a restart, reboot and it’s fresh. I think our first episodes were showing people in their different dynamics and kind of briefly alluded to what they’ve been up to, and that’s always nice.

I had the chance to see episode nine early and really enjoyed it. What can you preview for the fans about what this episode has in store for them? I feel that episode nine is a turning point for Kyle. Kyle, as we all know, is there for everybody, whenever he can be. He seems to be the one that they go to. He’s always putting out fires, I keep saying that but it’s true. Whenever there’s a problem, Kyle’s there for you. And I think this episode is kind of where — not that he’s reached a limit, but it’s taken a toll on him and we get a very frustrated, little angsty Kyle for good reason, I feel. I think that that frustration is a bit earned after everything, but we are going to find out in 3×09, as we’ve been finding out, a bit more about who Jim Valenti was, who was Kyle’s father, who is Eduardo, what is Deep Sky about, and it’s going to kind of jumpstart Kyle for the rest of the season. It’s a big episode for him because he finally makes a decision on, “Okay, enough is enough. This is how I feel about this and this is what we’re doing next.”

How was it for you to play with that sort of stroyline as an actor? As you said, it is such an important point for him. Well, I gotta be honest, I just saw the episode and I’m coming in hot! I’m coming in real hot and in the moment I didn’t think it was that hot, but damn, we’re there. And so I think it’s fine because I get a lot of feedback, which is great, that Kyle is such a good guy and “I like his character, he’s there for everybody.” That’s nice, right? So I feel like after three seasons of that, to see Kyle a bit over it with what’s going on and everything that he’s being told, new information, more new information, I think it works. For me, you try to find those moments of like, “Okay, can I keep being there for everybody,” or at some point I’m going to be like, “Okay, I’m done,” right? Or “I can only do this much.” He’s never going to turn his back on people, but in this episode we see him a little frustrated.

Fans love the show, what does it mean to you when you go on social media or meet fans in person and hear their response to your work? It’s great. It’s a beautiful feeling because we’re currently filming season four and that’s rare for a series to really last that long, to build these characters, and to still have these interesting storylines. So, to know that people are still engaged in these characters and the story that we’re telling, they’re still tuning in, it’s nice. What makes it even more special this season is because we’re watching season three right now, but we’re currently at the same time filming season four. Through the scheduling it just worked out that way, but it’s almost instant feedback and it’s also an instant reminder of “Okay, where have we been? What have we done?” So we feel closer to the story, which is great for us as actors, but sometimes it’s not that way. You’ll see something and be like, “Oh yeah, we shot that a year ago. Where am I coming from? Where are we headed,” and you want to track these stories but right now I’m just thankful for everybody that’s continuing to watch and who’s invested in these characters.

The show was picked up for a season four ahead of season three even premiering, which was so amazing to see. What was your reaction when you heard the news? I was genuinely surprised because usually you don’t get a pickup until at least the season has aired or the season is four or five episodes in, but I guess because in the year COVID and the delay, the network was able to see all these episodes and see the ones that we’ve done already. It’s great feedback. I think that we have something special happening here in Santa Fe, New Mexico with this crew, this cast, and our writers back in LA, who are back to visiting us on set per their episode. Everybody’s still invested. It’s a great feeling because we’re all here, we’re happy to be here, grateful to be telling these stories and working, and we’d like to continue.

What has been your favorite storyline of the season so far that fans have already seen? I think — okay, well, to answer that on what we’ve already seen, I did like and enjoy the scenes with Kyle and Michael. Those were fun to shoot. I get along great with Mr. Michael Vlamis and it’s always fun to be in scenes with him because, as we know, Michael Guerin is a bit of a wild card. With that, Mr. Michael Vlamis on the day is able to be a little bit unpredictable and I like that. I like performing with him and feeding off of what he’s bringing. He always keeps it fresh and new in each take. So, I like those scenes with him

I know you can’t tell me too much, but what can you tease about the rest of season three? The rest of season three, I feel now that Jones is really flexing on us, we have this bit of the Avengers assembling right in Roswell, like everybody having to come together, everybody has a job, and it’s to really take care of Jones and get him out of here. So I think that’s really what the rest of these episodes are going to be about.

I love that metaphor you did. It’s perfect. It really is because it’s like from season one to season three, we’re all separate. Now, it’s like, “Okay, we have to join forces to handle this guy.” And that’s what we’re gonna see.

You filmed season three with the COVID pandemic and now you’re filming season four with those safety precautions since the pandemic is still going on. What did it feel like for you to wrap season three with those circumstances, but then also come back for season four? Well, I have to give it to our producers, really, because everybody in the world had to pivot. We all had to make changes in our lives and I think the changes that have been made to keep everybody — crew, catering, casting, post production, accounting, whoever — safe on set, there’s been some different rules and it’s kept everybody safe. I’m proud to say we didn’t have to shut down once in season three. Unfortunately, there’s other productions that had to, but up here in Santa Fe, no. We were just lucky or we followed the rules, I don’t know but we were great and we were able to keep to our schedule, not have to shut down, and now we’re back for season four and we know what to expect. So things are running smoothly and there hasn’t been any problem. I’m just happy, glad, and grateful that we’re able to still tell the stories.

What is your personal favorite dynamic (friendship or relationship) when it comes to Kyle? I’m going to say that I want to see more Kyle and Isobel. I think that Isobel brings out a different side of Kyle whenever they’re in scenes or have interactions with one another. I’d like to lean more into that storyline for whatever it may be, I just want them to have more interaction because I think Kyle acts a different way around her. She’s just such a big ball of energy, so I think that would be fantastic and I would want to see more of that.

I know you’re probably not going to be able to give me too much on this, but I have to ask you, what was your reaction when you read the scripts for season four? Well, my reaction is a kind of going off of my last answer, Kyle ends up having more storyline with Isobel and it’s nice to see that play out. And so far, it’s been refreshing to see them in scenes together. I will tease this: so far in season four, the scenes that are with Kyle and Isobel have a comedic feeling to them. I feel like their scenes are fun and funny to shoot, but there’s a comedic element to it.

Is there any other show that you are personally a fan of and would like to see Roswell, New Mexico do a crossover with? Oh damn, that’s a great question. Off the top of my head, we’re gonna have a Roswell, New Mexico and The X-Files crossover event. This episode is going to air right after the Super Bowl and millions of people are going to watch it. It’s going to be Scully and Mulder pulling up to Roswell, New Mexico and Kyle will be there to greet them.

Is there a memory that sticks out to you as a memorable moment from filming season three? Oh gosh, it’s our season finale, it has to be our season finale. I can’t give away too much, but like I said about as far as Avengers assembling, it’s those scenes when we’re all on set together. It’s the season finale, we’re in Santa Fe in the middle of February and March, it’s freezing, it’s like 10 degrees outside, we’re getting the exterior night shoots that we need, and we’re all in. It’s not even just the cast, it’s the crew, it’s everybody. We’re just trying to get the final shot done of the season and we are working against all the elements. It’s a bit chaotic but it’s organized — organized chaos, that’s what it is. Those feelings are you got to get the job done and that’s what we do. I mean, we all know Jones is the big bad and everybody’s gonna have to get involved to take care of him and we see that in our last episode. Those scenes are really fun to shoot. They were challenging but I think it’s gonna come together well and it’ll be a strong finish for us.

If you could create a tagline or a phrase of your own to describe Kyle as a character, what would you pick? Kyle Valenti: I’m there if you need me.

#michael trevino #kyle valenti #roswell new mexico #press #3x09 #rnm spoilers

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gra-sonas · 3 years

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I had the chance to see episode nine early and really enjoyed it. What can you preview for the fans about what this episode has in store for them? Michael Trevino: I feel that episode nine is a turning point for Kyle. Kyle, as we all know, is there for everybody, whenever he can be. He seems to be the one that they go to. He’s always putting out fires, I keep saying that but it’s true. Whenever there’s a problem, Kyle’s there for you. And I think this episode is kind of where — not that he’s reached a limit, but it’s taken a toll on him and we get a very frustrated, little angsty Kyle for good reason, I feel. I think that that frustration is a bit earned after everything, but we are going to find out in 3×09, as we’ve been finding out, a bit more about who Jim Valenti was, who was Kyle’s father, who is Eduardo, what is Deep Sky about, and it’s going to kind of jumpstart Kyle for the rest of the season. It’s a big episode for him because he finally makes a decision on, “Okay, enough is enough. This is how I feel about this and this is what we’re doing next.”

How was it for you to play with that sort of stroyline as an actor? As you said, it is such an important point for him. Michael Trevino: Well, I gotta be honest, I just saw the episode and I’m coming in hot! I’m coming in real hot and in the moment I didn’t think it was that hot, but damn, we’re there. And so I think it’s fine because I get a lot of feedback, which is great, that Kyle is such a good guy and “I like his character, he’s there for everybody.” That’s nice, right? So I feel like after three seasons of that, to see Kyle a bit over it with what’s going on and everything that he’s being told, new information, more new information, I think it works. For me, you try to find those moments of like, “Okay, can I keep being there for everybody,” or at some point I’m going to be like, “Okay, I’m done,” right? Or “I can only do this much.” He’s never going to turn his back on people, but in this episode we see him a little frustrated.

Fans love the show, what does it mean to you when you go on social media or meet fans in person and hear their response to your work? Michael Trevino: It’s great. It’s a beautiful feeling because we’re currently filming season four and that’s rare for a series to really last that long, to build these characters, and to still have these interesting storylines. So, to know that people are still engaged in these characters and the story that we’re telling, they’re still tuning in, it’s nice. What makes it even more special this season is because we’re watching season three right now, but we’re currently at the same time filming season four. Through the scheduling it just worked out that way, but it’s almost instant feedback and it’s also an instant reminder of “Okay, where have we been? What have we done?” So we feel closer to the story, which is great for us as actors, but sometimes it’s not that way. You’ll see something and be like, “Oh yeah, we shot that a year ago. Where am I coming from? Where are we headed,” and you want to track these stories but right now I’m just thankful for everybody that’s continuing to watch and who’s invested in these characters.

The show was picked up for a season four ahead of season three even premiering, which was so amazing to see. What was your reaction when you heard the news? Michael Trevino: I was genuinely surprised because usually you don’t get a pickup until at least the season has aired or the season is four or five episodes in, but I guess because in the year COVID and the delay, the network was able to see all these episodes and see the ones that we’ve done already. It’s great feedback. I think that we have something special happening here in Santa Fe, New Mexico with this crew, this cast, and our writers back in LA, who are back to visiting us on set per their episode. Everybody’s still invested. It’s a great feeling because we’re all here, we’re happy to be here, grateful to be telling these stories and working, and we’d like to continue.

What has been your favorite storyline of the season so far that fans have already seen? Michael Trevino: I think — okay, well, to answer that on what we’ve already seen, I did like and enjoy the scenes with Kyle and Michael. Those were fun to shoot. I get along great with Mr. Michael Vlamis and it’s always fun to be in scenes with him because, as we know, Michael Guerin is a bit of a wild card. With that, Mr. Michael Vlamis on the day is able to be a little bit unpredictable and I like that. I like performing with him and feeding off of what he’s bringing. He always keeps it fresh and new in each take. So, I like those scenes with him

I know you can’t tell me too much, but what can you tease about the rest of season three? Michael Trevino: The rest of season three, I feel now that Jones is really flexing on us, we have this bit of the Avengers assembling right in Roswell, like everybody having to come together, everybody has a job, and it’s to really take care of Jones and get him out of here. So I think that’s really what the rest of these episodes are going to be about.

I love that metaphor you did. It’s perfect. Michael Trevino: It really is because it’s like from season one to season three, we’re all separate. Now, it’s like, “Okay, we have to join forces to handle this guy.” And that’s what we’re gonna see.

You filmed season three with the COVID pandemic and now you’re filming season four with those safety precautions since the pandemic is still going on. What did it feel like for you to wrap season three with those circumstances, but then also come back for season four? Michael Trevino: Well, I have to give it to our producers, really, because everybody in the world had to pivot. We all had to make changes in our lives and I think the changes that have been made to keep everybody — crew, catering, casting, post production, accounting, whoever — safe on set, there’s been some different rules and it’s kept everybody safe. I’m proud to say we didn’t have to shut down once in season three. Unfortunately, there’s other productions that had to, but up here in Santa Fe, no. We were just lucky or we followed the rules, I don’t know but we were great and we were able to keep to our schedule, not have to shut down, and now we’re back for season four and we know what to expect. So things are running smoothly and there hasn’t been any problem. I’m just happy, glad, and grateful that we’re able to still tell the stories.

What is your personal favorite dynamic (friendship or relationship) when it comes to Kyle? Michael Trevino: I’m going to say that I want to see more Kyle and Isobel. I think that Isobel brings out a different side of Kyle whenever they’re in scenes or have interactions with one another. I’d like to lean more into that storyline for whatever it may be, I just want them to have more interaction because I think Kyle acts a different way around her. She’s just such a big ball of energy, so I think that would be fantastic and I would want to see more of that.

I know you’re probably not going to be able to give me too much on this, but I have to ask you, what was your reaction when you read the scripts for season four? Michael Trevino: Well, my reaction is a kind of going off of my last answer, Kyle ends up having more storyline with Isobel and it’s nice to see that play out. And so far, it’s been refreshing to see them in scenes together. I will tease this: so far in season four, the scenes that are with Kyle and Isobel have a comedic feeling to them. I feel like their scenes are fun and funny to shoot, but there’s a comedic element to it.

Is there any other show that you are personally a fan of and would like to see Roswell, New Mexico do a crossover with? Michael Trevino: Oh damn, that’s a great question. Off the top of my head, we’re gonna have a Roswell, New Mexico and The X-Files crossover event. This episode is going to air right after the Super Bowl and millions of people are going to watch it. It’s going to be Scully and Mulder pulling up to Roswell, New Mexico and Kyle will be there to greet them.

Is there a memory that sticks out to you as a memorable moment from filming season three? Michael Trevino: Oh gosh, it’s our season finale, it has to be our season finale. I can’t give away too much, but like I said about as far as Avengers assembling, it’s those scenes when we’re all on set together. It’s the season finale, we’re in Santa Fe in the middle of February and March, it’s freezing, it’s like 10 degrees outside, we’re getting the exterior night shoots that we need, and we’re all in. It’s not even just the cast, it’s the crew, it’s everybody. We’re just trying to get the final shot done of the season and we are working against all the elements. It’s a bit chaotic but it’s organized — organized chaos, that’s what it is. Those feelings are you got to get the job done and that’s what we do. I mean, we all know Jones is the big bad and everybody’s gonna have to get involved to take care of him and we see that in our last episode. Those scenes are really fun to shoot. They were challenging but I think it’s gonna come together well and it’ll be a strong finish for us.

If you could create a tagline or a phrase of your own to describe Kyle as a character, what would you pick? Michael Trevino: Kyle Valenti: I’m there if you need me.

#michael trevino #kyle valenti #rnm cast interviews #rnm spoilers #rnm 3x09 #roswell new mexico s3 #roswell new mexico #roswell new mexico s2

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carewyncromwell · 3 years

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“So that's what they call a family -- Mother, daughter, father, son... Guess that everything you heard about is true... So you ain't got any family -- Well, who said you needed one? Ain't you glad nobody's waiting up for you...? When I dream on my own, I'm alone, but I ain't lonely: For a dreamer, night's the only time of day...”

~“Santa Fe” from Newsies (1992)

x~x~x~x

Ahhh, okay -- so. As much as I love Orion Amari, one of my biggest hang-ups with him in the game is his design, which makes him look WAY too old to be anything younger than 17. I’ve taken on the challenge of trying to draw Orion looking younger in the past (as a fourth year, in this situation), but I decided today to take on the ultimate challenge and try to draw Orion as a first year, just about to start Hogwarts with his new brown dumbo rat familiar, Rigel! (Credit to @kc-needs-coffee for coming up with that brilliant idea! 🐭)

The background is an edit of a screenshot of Platform 9 3/4 from the movies put through Lunapic’s “drawing” filter, which I then layered underneath my drawing of Orion and Rigel. I decided to give Orion a slightly different style of poncho and some too-big cargo pants, but I just couldn’t deprive my little sunshine boy of his classic arm warmers or pendant necklace. 🌻 The song referenced above, which I played on repeat while drawing and editing this, is actually from my character playlist for Orion, which you can consult here!

For those of you who don’t know much about my personal version of Orion (who you can learn more about with this Carewyn/Orion masterpost, if you’d like!), I headcanon our precious Quidditch Captain as having anxiety. Panic and anxiety disorders are sadly common among those who grow up in orphanages, like Orion did; clasping one’s hands in front of them (which Orion frequently does in game) is a common visual cue for someone being anxious; and some known treatments for anxiety disorders include regular physical activity and meditation, both of which Orion engages in. I also have written my personal Orion as becoming the youngest Quidditch Captain in 100 years when Snape names him Quidditch Captain of the Slytherin team in his fourth year, just before Orion turns 15. (Orion’s birthday is in early October, so he’s the eldest of the Quidditch kids.) So prior to Hogwarts, my image of Orion was that of a very quiet, detached sort of kid constantly trying to hide how shy, anxious, and sensitive of a person he was, who preferred to just stay out of the way and watch rather than engage with the other kids at the orphanage, partly out of self-preservation and partly out of feeling both out-of-sync with and off-balance around the people around him. This doesn’t mean that he didn’t sometimes get in trouble at the orphanage when, upon being forced to give his opinion, Orion would respond with his trademark laidback kind of sass. (“You got something to say to me, you little rat? Come on then, let’s hear it! Come on -- or are you going to just float away on one of your little rainclouds, Or-Cry-on?” “‘Or-Cry-on?’ Hm, that’s a new one. I must applaud you on the time it must have taken you to come up with that.” 🤣) And naturally, just like all magical children, Orion’s untrained magic would get him in trouble too -- for whatever reason, things just always seemed to fly around Orion, including the boy himself. Even before he got on a broom, he could somehow jump very high without much effort and somehow land perfectly on the ground even after falling down stairs or out of trees. When he finally got his Hogwarts letter and learned the truth about his abilities, Orion resolved to use the abilities and chance the Fates had dealt him to obtain his freedom...and that freedom he eventually found through his friends Murphy McNully and Skye Parkin, the Slytherin Quidditch team, and chasing a dream of playing Quidditch professionally.

Hope you’re all having a magical day! Much love!! xoxo

#hphm #hogwarts mystery #orion amari #my art #rigel the rat

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