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#let's play fire emblem IV

ostianshadow · 9 months

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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: vicky (aka key or wkey)

Pronouns: she/her

Birthday (no year): jan 6

Where are you from? What is your time zone? french canadian. west coast best coast. pst.

Roleplay experience: idk since i was like 7? running around the neighbourhood w the boyz and gming our own little world of makebelieve… writing/online-wise, since around the age of 10-11 when we got a puter in the living room.

Got any pets? black kitty called cabbage i fostered and then adopted. she's no thoughts head empty and that's why she won over my other 16 foster cats. /hj

Favorite time of year: autumn-ish or spring. don't do well in the heat but sad makes winter bad.

Some interests and things you like: comics&webtoons, puzzle games (picross, sudoku, etc), ultimate frisbee, tennis, hiking, traveling

Some funfacts & trivia about you:

-prefer crepes to pancakes

-don't leave me alone with a box of ice cream sandwiches for the love of-

-past key has cumulatively drawn 500+ comic pages over the years (and misses it dearly)

-used to play ice hockey, played for bout 12 years. stopped due to injuries.

What non-Fire Emblem games do you play? ffxiv, zelda, tales of, undertale

Favorite Pokemon type & Pokemon: ghost, haunter

How did you get into Fire Emblem? smash bros /j i think my bro acquired a copy of fe7 and the rest is history

What Fire Emblem games have you played? 6 through current

First Fire Emblem game: 7

Favorite Fire Emblem game: hrkkk probably 7 but super fond of sacred stones n path of radiance too

Any Fire Emblem crushes? 😳

lmao

If you’ve played the following games, who was your first S support? Who would you S support nowadays?

- Awakening: mightve been chrom by accident n woulda been pissed about it. henry & gaius beloveds

- Fates: conquest- niles, birthright- azama, revelations- kaze

- Three Houses: was it claude or felix? idk but claude is def why i started w deer haha

- Engage: louis and lapis i married both that's my story and im sticking to it

Favorite Fire Emblem class: thief or mage

If you were a Fire Emblem character, what would be your class? probably an archer, or mage. miss me w close combat

If you were a Three Houses character, what would be your affiliation? hmm… i wanna say deer but probably beagles

If you were an Engage character, which Emblem would you Engage with? lyn. long distance pew pew goes brrrrr

How did you find TOA? kept seeing it on twitter from ol ferp mutuals and eventually caved

Current TOA muses: hector, matthew, azama

Who was your first TOA muse? If you don’t have them anymore, could you see yourself picking them up again? ewan. some days i think i could.

Have you had any other TOA muses? florina, henry

Do you think you have a type of character you gravitate towards? prickly, maybe. in general muses that allow me to explore… ewan is more outgoing than i will ever be, but lets himself feel petty or jealous. hector is brash, but struggling with an uncomfortable and unexpected weight on his shoulders. azama invites conflict like he needs it to breathe, while ive typically been averse to conflict. florina is timid but trying to grow stronger for her friends (and herself, she comes to realize). henry is… an oddball, idk how to describe what draws me to writing him. change of pace maybe? requires thinking outside the box with his unique worldview. i dont tend toward angst but matthew is a good output for it if im feelin it haha.

What do you believe you enjoy writing the most? i think i like. when threads start to come together. yknow in stories when you can start referring to things that have happened? and you're like "woah wait i know what that's referring to!!"

when you manage to reach a shared history ig? i know im p slow re. writing but i cherish the bonds and overarching/intertwined stories my muses wind up with. people you meet touch your life in ways you might not immediately fathom…

Favorite TOA-related memory: lots of lock & key justice shenanigans… bunker … enjoyed unscripted a whole heck of a lot as well

How do you pronounce TOA? 🤔 T-O-A. sounds fancier to spell it out haha

Got any delusions that didn’t see the light of day that you’d like to share? 😉 felix, ike, kaze, serra, sain, naesala, ingrid, eldigan, bramimond, lethe, shinon, kliff… not so much delusions as "might be fun to explore…" – and i wouldn't trade our current reps of the above for the world ✌️

#munday #arrives a day late w starbucks #the formatting is so scuffed *shakes moblr*#thanks neffi for the meme

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cute-girls-from-vns-anime-manga · 10 months

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What video games do you like to play?

Honestly Im a grab bag of a gamer!

I used to be massively into the souls games but after I played them too much I just cant seem to go back to them.

I absolutely love a good chill vibing game like Stardew Valley, Story of Seasons and Rune Factory, have frankly logged far far too many hours into Stardew as it is.

Then recently Ive been feeling the urge for some fast paced action so Ive been going through some older fps's like I just beat Blood on well done a few months back working my way through Amid Evil now, absolutely adore Ultrakill even though I am god awful at it and am not even good enough to beat the first Gabriel fight much less unlock the entire second act.

Of course if you want to count them and I most certainly do I am a visual novel addict, and if you dont think VN's are games go find a copy of Kamidori Alchemy Meister and get as addicted to that games tactical combat as I am! (Its a fire-emblem like only more high fantasy)

But the Majikoi series stands out above all the visual novels, hell Majikoi is so important and amazing to me Id put it in my top three favorite experiences Ive ever had from a piece of art!

Occasionally when the mood strikes me Ill boot up a good ole RPG obviously you have your OG classics like Chrono Trigger (Which I happen to have a SNES cart of) but newer classics that forgo the turn based combat systems as well like Ni no kuni!

As with all things however I have a pair of games that I play for comfort and never bore me or get stale, the first is Diablo 2, I began playing Diablo 2 when I was just six years old something about the game drew me in and has never let go the moment I first laid eyes on the rouge encampment an obsession was formed. During a move my dad lost his copy of Diablo 2 and I begged him to get me a new one, when my asshole abusive brother destroyed that copy I scrounged every penny I found on the street to buy it again, due to complicated circumstances ive lost or had my copy of Diablo 2 ruined I think about 6-8 times but when the Itch to play it comes from deep inside my skull I cannot refuse so Ive had to re-buy the damn thing that many times! I dont know how long Ive spent playing Diablo 2 but just a gut feeling says that it would have to be measured in YEARS.

The other Game is Terraria I bought Terraria on Steam day one, I remember watching the developers lets play back on youtube at the same time I was playing the game, Terraria does not have as much of a story in my life as Diablo 2 but since I bough it day one on steam 12 fucking years ago I actually do have my total collective play time

That's 3,204.4 hours thats more than double my next most played game on steam (Titan Quest at 1,417.8 hours CAN YA TELL I LOVE ARPG's?) that equates by the way to 133.5 days straight of just playing Terraria. No I do not have all the Achievements in Terraria I play games to have fun and escapism doing a checklist of things in a game isnt fun!

There are so many more games I adore but this is already too long!

#Ask #Anon #long post #I have an obsessive personality #I DIDNT EVEN HAVE ROOM FOR MONSTER HUNTER

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darkx-the-dragon-kn1ght · 4 months

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Chapter 9- Part 14

I do apologize for this being a less-than-ideal first impression for Popplio, but Xera’s got pride to uphold, especially against a rival.

Let’s start by putting the Nidorino to sleep with Sing. Luckily, Sing hits, but Nidorino gets a lucky crit with Poison Tail beforehand in return.

But now that it’s asleep, we can start Zen Headbutting! We get one, and- what do you mean it woke up this time?? And what do you mean Zen Headbutt missed?????

Well, this isn’t good at all! But it’s not impossible to get out of this- first, we heal Whiskers with a Potion-

And then we attempt to put it to sleep again with Sing! Whiskers will live Poison Tail as long as it doesn’t crit again- we just need Sing to land…

And it does! But…we’ve run into a different problem now. Whiskers could go back to spamming Zen Headbutt, but if Nidorino wakes up early again…well, that’d be really bad. No- the safer play is to switch in to someone else.

It’s your turn, Prong!

You guys know what time it is, right? Start with Charge…

And with the power of Charge and STAB…FIRE THAT LASER, GIRL!! FINISH THE-

…You all can see that, right?

youtube

(Future edit: I don't know if I should "thank" Tumblr or YouTube for the random age-restriction and messing up this video addition, but whatever, go off I guess, heavens forbid we have swears on this website-)

I think I’m losing it, I think I am actually starting to go insane- how does this keep happening!? How, seriously!? It can’t be because I keep getting unlucky with damage rolls, right? Once or twice maybe, but- look at how many times this has happened throughout this playthrough so far! In this chapter! In this battle alone! Are you serious!?

Never in all the years I’ve been playing Pokémon has something like this happened, where enemy Pokémon survive on actual slivers of HP without Endure, Sturdy, Focus Bands/Sashes, or the like. Just…in general, and in multiple different battles in the same game! Not in the mainline games, not the spinoffs, not even when I played Insurgence, I don’t even think this has happened as often when I play on Showdown! So what’s happening here?? Why now, when I’m playing through Reborn, is this happening so often?

It can’t just be luck with the damage rolls and ranges, even I wouldn’t get that unlucky this often! Is it my Pokémon’s EVs and IVs? The enemy Pokémon’s EVs and IVs? Is the RNG programmed to be biased towards the player’s lower-damage rolls no matter what? That third one is a bit conspiratorial (though not unfounded- look up how the fifth Fire Emblem game, Thracia 776, handles the survival of one of its vital characters, Eyvel, it’s very interesting), but at this point I don’t have many ideas for what it could be!

Oh and of course, Nidorino wakes up on the next turn and hits Prong with Poison Tail- it’s not a crit or anything, but it’s still adding insult to injury!

THAT’S IT, FIRE THAT LASER AGAIN!!

Was using a +2 and STAB boosted Charge Beam a bit overkill here, considering Nidorino was probably at 1 HP? Yeah, probably. Would Mud-Slap or Bug Bite have finished the job just as easily? Certainly. Do I care at this point? No, not really- besides, Cain could have used, like, a Super Potion or something, and at that point the Charge Beam would have been even more justified!

Hah- he says that and he doesn’t even know about Xera’s vigilante arc or the stuff with Team Meteor…

…That stuff with enemy Pokémon surviving on slivers of health is going to cost me a battle one day, I’m calling it right now. One day, during a tough/tense battle, an opposing Pokémon is going to survive an otherwise lethal attack with one or two pixels of health left, and it’s going to ultimately lead to Xera losing the battle and forcing me to reset.

That’s…certainly one way to describe the battle that just happened, and Xera herself.

The Wasteland? Why would he have business there? What, is he from there or something? From what that old man said, it doesn’t sound like the kind of place anyone would live in or want to live in…

Well, the horrors of numbers aside, I am glad we got to see and battle Cain again- which is something I did not think I would be saying several chapters ago.

Yeah, the lake looked pretty big on the map, so the fact that it’s all polluted and grimy…yeesh.

Oh, right- the sidequest from Florinia that we went through all of this for! The TMX! If we don’t get that Cut thing as soon as possible after all of this, I will actually lose it-

#pokemon reborn #pokemon reborn spoilers #pokemon fan game #pokemon reborn screenshot let's play

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anime-scarves · 1 year

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Lately I've been deeep into Fire Emblem Engage. I haven't figured my thoughts out on it for a review, but Ive got some non spoilers tips for anyone playing.

Fill your farm in Somniel with dogs. For whatever reason they give you ingots and have a pretty high change to get silver ingots. This dramatically improves your ingot economy with essentially no trade off.

Anna is actually a mage in disguise. She has the highest magic growth in the game and weak strength and def growths. She can be functional as a warrior with a radiant bow, but she does better in magic classes.

You should immediately promote units when you can. This gives them a bump of stats for promoting and access to better growths. In previous fire emblem games you often didn't want to do this since you would cap at level 20 in the promoted class early and not be able to gain more levels. Engage has plentiful, infinite actually, second seals and when a unit caps out in their advanced class you can send them back to level 1 in it while retaining all stats.

Speaking of promotions.. Once your unit is promoted to an advanced class they can second seal into any other advanced class was long as they have the weapon proficiency to do so. Let's look at Anna here. In previous games you'd have to level her to 10 as an axe fighter, then second seal her to a level 1 mage, then level her to 10 as a mage before promoting her to be a sage. This is 20 levels as a beginner class and is not ideal. In Engage you could just promote her to warrior/zerker at level 10 axe fighter and then second seal her to sage from there. It uses the same amount of seals but takes 10 less levels as a beginner class.

Weapon proficiency can be acquired by gaining bond with your emblems. The easiest way to do this is train with the emblem in the arena. It's very cheap and once a character gains weapon proficiency they permanently have it whether they have the emblem equipped or not.

Kagetsu is a monster. I don't know why he got shipped as he did, but he's just straight up better than most of your units. Reclassing him into hero, wyvern knight, or warrior is very strong.

Miciah's Great Sacrifice is absurdly broken for gaining exp and sp. It heals everyone on the map to full and 1 point of healing is 1 point of exp and sp. You can gain full levels off this skill and you should aim to use it at least once a map. This helps tremendously for leveling Jean or Anna in the early game when they would otherwise be pitiful and struggle to gain meaningful exp.

That's enough for now. I will return later with more fire emblem tips.

#text #fire emblem #fire emblem engage #this is a sweet game #i cleared once on hard and im on chapter 15 on maddening #easily the best fire emblem in a long time as far as gameplay goes #now the story and characters #thats a whole different can of worms #and also something for another post

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the-grove · 5 months

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It is funny on how much nostalgia can affect things.

Super smash brothers has to be one of my favorite game series. And its like for 3 reasons

1) i've always been terrible at fighting games, ive never had the finger dexterity to do what felt like to me, esoteric controls to do the cool stuff. And i never had imagine reflexes, so typical fighting games for me is putting so much effort in trying to do what feels like should be basic abilities that I can't even focus on my oppenent. In smash bros i if i want to make the fireball happen i just press B, which lets me attempt to get better reflexes and pay attention to my oppenent.

2) at my heart, i'm a nintendo fangirl. Not enough to dismiss controversies or criticisms of their games or practices. But since I was little, I always enjoyed the games and asthethics.

3) that commercia for the original game of people in the mascot costumes beating each other up to "happy together" drilled itself into my brain

But Smassh Bros is kind of at the end of the day Nintendo flexing and creating a game all about self refrence. And ive come to groan at that kind of thing, the Disney Movie Wish. Fire Emblem Engage, (and to a lesser extent Awakeing and Fates), and more that make their core conceipt a refrence to the media/franchise it is apart of, with no leg to stand on its own. Smash Bros is kind of that, but.. I like it because i spent hours as a kid playing it and it did.

And whaats funny is I don't even like smash bros the way most people like it. The biggestbcommunitys around it are competitive games, no items stuff like that. And i just independently loved those games, playing them with my siblings outside of any scene or anything like that. Perfering items and the like. Idk

Also im sorry for my phase where I called anything simillar to it a smash clone and dismissed them as cash grabs... some of them still feel that way but tbh kind of in the smae way that smash bros itself kind of is.

That being said if there are any smash bros esque games with original characters I would be interested in that.( idk if they have a genre name, platform fighters maybe?)

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imustbenuts · 1 year

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Fire Emblem Heroes - the quiet Buddhist cosmology beneath the Norse Facade

OKAY i've compiled my thoughts on what Kiran is and the whole buddhist lens ive been yammering on about, if you have the time and love Fire Emblem Heroes please give this a read!

let me know what you think, or not. If that link stinks, click the read more to unfurl the article here on tumblr.

In this post: what Kiran is, what they represent, and what some of the other Heroes characters mean in contrast (possibly)

Fire Emblem Heroes — the quiet Buddhist cosmology beneath the Norse facade.

Fire Emblem Heroes. It’s a gacha game dressed in a thick layer of Norse Mythology. Each year the game drip feeds its audience with a story building up to how an inevitable Ragnarok might occur as an excuse to have people direct its heroes to battle, gain experience, and strengthen the Order of Heroes in a manner akin to Valhalla and how it is depicted in Norse Mythology.

But I’m here to argue that this is not entirely the case today.

Before I begin, I’d like to stress a few things. I am not Buddhist and neither am I really interested in pushing or debate religion. I am merely here to point out my observation, analysis and thoughts I’ve compiled over time about Fire Emblem Heroes when seen through the lens of Buddhist cosmology.

With that said, here I go.

I’ll begin with our avatar this round in Fire Emblem Heroes. Kiran.

At first glance, this empty slate of a character doesn’t seem that interesting. They function as a avatar for the player and doesn’t have any spoken lines. Though it is clear that they do speak, by and large they lack any sort of tangible personality or motivation. Their ability to summon heroes is what helps Alfonse, the protagonist of Heroes, defend his Kingdom of Askr.

The only other character in the Fire Emblem series which is similar is Mark from The Blazing Blade, but even there they have an excuse to help the protagonists in the beginning: they are a traveling tactician interested in improving their skills.

Kiran, however, has no such motivation specified. They were summoned, and they’ve been fighting in this gacha game since 2017.

In fact, Kiran is a major anomaly. For one, they are a (initially) faceless, hooded entity who directs the heroes in battle, whom the game refers to as us, the player. This seems rather odd considering contemporary Fire Emblem’s avatars are given their own personality and goals, even if they are as quiet as Byleth or as chatty as Robin and Corrin.

But if we were to play this description straight, Kiran would then be any one of us with knowledge of the Fire Emblem universe, ranging from little to obsessively extensive. Also, more importantly, perhaps overly invasive to certain characters and their lives, as knowing would mean that we are keenly aware of how characters suffer in their arcs and go through their own respective journeys.

If we also assume that such a person, upon arrival in Askr, were to see a new set of faces, one of whom is a prince with blue hair with a sister and a kingdom facing a crisis — what’s to say that such a person wouldn’t immediately assume they were in a Fire Emblem universe? What’s to say they wouldn’t immediately be aware of cliches such as masked characters being suspiciously important, and how parents of FE lords would die? What’s to say they wouldn’t, like all Fire Emblem players, recognize that without their intervention, this Blue Haired protagonist would stand no chance?

Would they immediately recognize the need to follow Alfonse, the protagonist of this Fire Emblem, and see through his story, despite being a complete stranger to him? That this person would aid his Kingdom, which would be doomed otherwise without intervention?

The answer I’ve come to is absolutely, yes. A person who has played even a few Fire Emblem entries, no matter their actual name, would jump at the call.

Indeed, transplanting a person like this into the Fire Emblem universe immediately makes them supernatural, as these sort of awareness is only reserved for higher beings such as Angels and Heavenly Beings.

Which, interestingly, Kiran might be.

There are a myriad of deities in Buddhist cosmology, but I’ll be focusing on the Eight Legions for now. The above chart is pulled from this Wikipedia page, and I’d like to talk about the first two. First being the Tenbu/Devas, and also ask that you keep two, Ryu/Naga in the back of your mind for the time being.

I’ll also be referring to everything from this point by their Sanskrit names and come back to Japanese later. Also as a disclaimer, Buddhism has spread so far throughout Asia that there are bound to be nuances and different school of thoughts and interpretations. To talk about each variation in depth would be a whole other topic about geography and history, so please forgive me if I seem to touch and go at points. For those who wish to learn about Buddhism, here’s a 18 minute detour to Religion For Breakfast’s introductory video on the subject.

Deva

Source: https://www.onmarkproductions.com/html/hachi-bushu.shtml

Note that this depiction has a lens of Japanese Buddhism, which may differ from Buddhism found elsewhere outside of Japan. (Ie some regions do not actually worship Devas or even Buddhas.)

Devas are a class of beings which are born after accumulating an immense amount of good merit/karma in their previous life, and they reside in the heavenly realms, living immeasurably long yet comfortable lives. They are still on the path to break out of the cycle of death and rebirth, or samsara, and so therefore are not revered or worshiped as much as one would a Buddha. Devas can be further divided up into higher and lower groups, where the middle to lower ones may be able to look into the realms below out of interest, and communicate with each other in their same group. Devas almost never interact with the lower worlds, though they are said to maybe offer counsel indirectly.

Notably, however, Devas are mortal, and the lower ones even eat or drink as well. They are able to fall into vices, and in this sense, Devas of the lower group are no different from an average human.

In fact, there is a theory in Buddhism which postulates that all humans here on earth are Devas as well, but lost the supernatural abilities to glow and fly across the skies.

Applying this to Kiran, they curiously fit this to an astonishing degree if we assume they are indeed any one of us transported into the world of Heroes. It all fits — they would be a bit supernatural, yet killable as evidenced by Lif — an alternate Alfonse— ’s dead summoner. They would also be watching down from the heavens in any Fire Emblem games across different worlds and time. Our visual feedback of the battlefield is precisely that of being viewed from the skies.

Additionally, Devas also are said to shine, and Kiran’s name which also happens to be rooted in the same Sanskirt language, means to shine. On top of that, Kiran has been depicted in this official April Fools video, titled Fire Emblem Heroes — Lonely Puppeteer (Spring Remix), to be on top a lotus, which carries strong implications in Buddhism.

Lotuses signifies enlightenment, among many other good things such as fortune, purity, and the like. More importantly however, Buddhas are often depicted to be seated on their lotus thrones in Buddhist religious art. This depiction can be seen all over Asia, and it’s by no means an insignificant symbology.

While Lonely Puppeteer, the music video, is a visually fun treat, it raises the question of why the director specifically chose to have Kiran ripping on their tambourine on a floating lotus of all things. But, ah, those funny Japanese devs, right? ...Yes.

If at this point any of this sounds of crazy fan theory, I want to stress this again: Fire Emblem is a game made by Japanese people.

Fire Emblem has been a series of games telling a western story, made by Japanese people. Further examining FEH with this lens has merit, and the crack I’ve opened with Kiran will hopefully help illuminate the many other themes scattered throughout Heroes’ visual and textual design that ties into reinforcing this possible Buddhism cosmology. I hope everything still makes sense thus far.

Onward to the visual concepts.

So far I have spoken of Kiran in their faceless portrayal, but that was no longer the case as of patch 5.2. They now have 4 feminine and 4 masculine portraits, and adding their faceless version it totals 9 possible choices for the player to select. But out of all these, there are two darker skinned versions, one masculine and one feminine.

On a surface level these might seem like a move to welcome diversity, but personally I couldn’t help but feel their skin color and the the golden circlet reminds me more of India in a soft sense. It is not uncommon to find Indian brides dressed in traditional garments with lots of gold incorporated into their outfit. In fact, I’ve often seen Indian women dressed even casually wearing gold. Specifically, gold circlets, or head pieces, and gold bracelets are an especially common sight.

India is the birthplace of Buddhism and Hinduism. To sidetrack a bit as this will be important: these two religion share many similar Gods, but are actually very different. For one, Buddhist do not worship Gods, whereas Hindus do. Buddhist do not have rituals, but Hindus do.*

This may seem a bit confusing, because it may seem Buddhists worship Buddha, but in truth Buddhist venerate Buddha’s teachings. In fact, Buddha is a title for those who have broken out of samsara rather than a name of a specific deity. The depiction of Buddhas are therefore a reminder to practitioners to accumulate good karma for their next life.*

*Side note: As said before, current day Buddhism is varied and mixed into local culture and religion, resulting in rituals or worship in some parts. It’s a widespread religion with varied practices, interpretations and understanding.

Back on the topic of Kiran’s depiction: These two specific artwork helps tie them deeper to two characters who later appear in Book 6. For those wary of spoilers, this is your chance to turn back now.

In Heroes, there are two nations at war, one named Askr, the other Embla. These two nations are named after their patron deities who share the same name. Said deities also have their respective retainers, named Ash and Elm.

Askr and Ash

On the left is Askr and on the right is Ash. Sourced from https://fireemblem.fandom.com/wiki/

Askr and Ash both are somewhat dark skinned and have cow like attributes in their visual design. Going back once more to Kiran’s darker skinned variations, the visual theming is striking. They are all dressed in white and have golden accents decorating their entire body. On closer inspection, both Askr and Ash are accessorized in gold as well — both of them wear gold earrings, and Ash has golden armbands.

However, Askr and Ash oddly buckles the common trend of Gods being dragons in Fire Emblem. Their transformed forms are cows, which is a very odd design choice for those who are not familiar with eastern religion and mythologies.

Except, if I go back to the point of India and Hinduism, there is one lens where this visual design makes sense.

See, cows are protected and venerated creatures in Hinduism. It is prohibited to cull cows in India, and consuming beef is a serious taboo. Outside, the consumption of beef is an explicit taboo for some Buddhist sects (who may not commit to the same degree of strict vegetarian diet), as it is rooted in a similar view in their text how how cows represents all living being.

The Hindus associate cows with Mother Earth due to the nourishment they provide. Additionally, their Gods are said to have sometimes taken the form of cows, and as such they became sacred, venerated, adored creatures. There are other more in depth reasons but explaining them would be a detour, so please excuse me as I link this article which may explain the specifics more in depth in place.

In fact, refer to this above image and contrast it with Askr and Ash’s transformed forms. The similarity is uncanny. They are all white cows with golden accessories and similar looking horns, which is unlike the breeds commonly kept in farms for eventual consumption.

One final thing to note before moving on: Askr’s forehead has a blue glowing design highlighted by gold which forms an eye, a Third Eye. Third Eyes are said to let the user perceive things beyond normal sight. They symbolize enlightenment/awakening, and in Hinduism (Ajna) specifically lets the user receive messages from past and future both. Outside, there is a belief in Asia that the Third Eye grants the user to see beyond one’s reality and the world.

If this means Askr knew of our reality, of if there is some power associated with that eye remains to be seen, but the choice for him to be designed with it has interesting implications both in-lore and meta.

Thus from this lens, the choice seem to make some sense. The next two, however, seem less straightforward with their visual inspiration.

Embla and Elm

On the left is Embla and on the right is Elm. Sourced from https://fireemblem.fandom.com/wiki/

Embla is the patron deity of her nation, Embla. Her retainer, Elm, shares with her similar bat design elements with their ears and cape. Their spear, pale skin and lean body types are a clear shout out to Dracula, and overall it is very western rooted.

While bats do not have a deity representation or are worshiped in either religion, they are seen as a harbinger of death in Norse Mythology. Yet, even in Norse, there exists no deities associated with bats. These two seem very out of place then, because aside from being associated with the darkness, the theming is off. This link is too weak in comparison.

Except, there is a connection to Buddhism, albeit loose. It’s caves.

See, in many parts of Asia, Buddhists have turned caves into refuges and shrines. Indeed, it is not uncommon to see various Buddhist artwork carved into the stones, and even have some of them be turned into shrines and monasteries high up in the mountains. Especially along the silk road, there lies many such caves spreading from India to China, which is how the religion spread into the rest of Asia. There’s an article on it here.

And it wasn’t just Buddhas which were depicted. The Buddhist hell, a place where one goes to after death to burn off their bad karma, have caves completely dedicated to showing the pain and torture methods employed for the process. It is… gruesome to say the least, but there is one such cave named the Am Phu Cave, located in Vietnam which you may watch, linked here below.

youtube

So again, this is a loose theory, but with this lens the theming makes sense.

Other small things lending to this lens: The Heroes bits

Interestingly, there are rare points where Kiran is given characteristics in game. Starting in Book 1, where Kiran directly stops Alfonse from killing Zacharias. If you remember my point about masked characters being suspicious, this actions makes total sense.

Book 4

In book 4, they become Alfonse in the dream realm. Two strange things happens in this book, which is dismissed by many for resembling a filler.

First, Peony remarks how the World of Steel, the world which they come from, has its denizens give up their dreams in order to live a comfortable life. One of the descriptions for a Deva is that they live incredibly long yet comfortable lives. This is true in the sense that many of our modern day comforts outmatches what that of even Kings and Queens may attain in medieval eras.

Second, after realizing that Kiran has been dreaming of themselves being Alfonse, Freya ramps up her taunts, daring Kiran on how cutting her down would mean for them to wake up in a reality where Alfonse has been slain by Alfador. Despite not knowing she was bluffing, Kiran in response wordlessly ends her in order to wake up to reality, to continue fighting for Askr/Alfonse again.

This jumps out to me as this is the first time Alfador/Odin of the Norse Mythology has been mentioned directly to Kiran, yet we players immediately understand the implications, especially after taking down Surtr and knowing of Loki and Thor’s existence, all important deities in Norse Mythology. Additionally, I could tie this back to following the Blue Haired Lord rule of Fire Emblem.

Then, there is Book 5.

Eitri seems interested in summoning otherworldly people, but not just any otherworldly people. She wants Kiran, and later kidnaps them in an attempt to conduct research on, implying that their existence is special. This, despite her successfully summoned multiple people including Fafnir, who lost his memories and ended up King of Niðavellir after helping to stage a revolution, after its dynasty has been rendered corrupted enough to make life for its people difficult.

This is a straight up echo of the Mandate of Heaven idea. Note that this idea isn’t strictly Buddhist, but rather Confucius, though it has to be mentioned for the next part to make sense.

Fafnir is an interesting foil, because in his ambition to take the crown, he ends up losing his mind and himself, and turns into a dragon to be put down by the Heroes. Kiran never does any coup d’etat and seems loyal to Alfonse in contrast, does not lose their memories and is seemingly absent of any throne taking ambition. In short, in this theory, they recognize Alfonse to be the protagonist and is committed to guiding him.

Plus, if Kiran is a heavenly being, then they represent the Mandate of Heaven, which Alfonse has. Lif by contrast, would have lost his.

Other small things lending to this lens: Zenith

Curiously, the world of Heroes as our protagonists reside in are rarely, if ever, referred to as Midgard, the realm of mortals in Norse Mythology. Instead, it is referred to as Zenith, or 至天(shiten) in Japanese. These two words are interesting choices. Zenith in astrology terms refers to the point in the sky or celestial sphere directly above an observer. Shiten 至天 is not a proper Japanese term as far as I can tell, but it seems to be a play on the word, Solstice 至点 (shiten), replacing the kanji for point点 with 天skies. Solstice referring to the minimum or maximum declination of the sun.

In short, both Zenith and Shiten 至天 can be interpreted here as the land closest towards the skies/heavens.

Would this then add to the lens of Kiran being a heavenly being called down in the context of Fire Emblem Heroes? I think, yes, very heavily so.

And now let’s go back to a certain term that I’ve not explained yet. Let’s talk about the Eight Legions again, but now about Naga.

The outside of Heroes bits — Awakening.

Nagas are called Ryuu 龍 in Japanese, which are also known as dragons, an important mythical creature associated with Kings in China and Japan. Witnessing them means to have the Mandate of Heaven.

There is one specific character who appears multiple times in Fire Emblem named Naga as well. She is known as a Divine Dragon, is seen as a God and has been humanity’s benevolent guide, aiding the heroes over and over. She’s exclusive to the games taking place in Arcahnea, and there are other Divine Dragons of different names in other series.

As a bonus, all protagonist who are essentially blessed by her eventually become great rulers of their domain. Marth, Chrom, and probably a dozen other protagonist fit this.

Interestingly, she also shares similarity with Buddha, or rather, holding the title of Buddha. Naga is actually a title passed down, as seen in Fire Emblem Awakening’s Future Past DLC, where Tiki becomes the new Naga after she is slain.

She has beaten back the forces threatening the lives of mortals across 5000 years in Arcahnea time and time again. Naga bestows weapons to her chosen heroes, makes bloodline pacts and watches through their eyes. Unlike Kiran however, she is immensely powerful herself. It can also be argued that Kiran imbues weapons with additional power rather than grant them, and so the connection and comparison here is not as obvious at a glance.

Which then also ties into the next two Awakening characters I'd like to talk about.

Robin and Grima.

Or rather, Robin, Grima and Kiran.

In Awakening, Robin serves as our avatar. Robin is a blank slate initially, but as stated before, they speak and stick with the cast of that game as they have lost their memories and therefore has nowhere to go. In time, Grima appears and we learn that Robin has been bred into existence by the Grimleals, the cult worshiping Grima, to possess their body in order to plunge the world into despair.

At one point, Grima tries to take over Robin’s body, which if successful would mean that as the player, we would no longer be able to play as Robin. Therefore, I reasoned even back in 2013 that Grima seems to be an anti-player character, though as a fun thought.

But in this sense, Robin serves as an avatar for both the player — or rather — Kiran, and Grima.

To further connect this, in Japanese, their names are ルフレ(rufure), ギムレー(gimure), and エクラ(ekura). Translating these phonetically yields Reflet, Gimlé, and Eclat.

Reflet refers to metallic brilliance, such as on an object like metal or ceramics, i.e reflectivity of the surface. It means reflection in French.

Gimlé is said to be a place where the worthy survivors of Ragnarok are foretold to live, the most beautiful place in Asgard, a place more beautiful than the sun.

Eclat refers to luster, brilliance, glory etc. The clap of a thunder, something akin to a burst. It’s also a French word interestingly.

In a sense then, I could say when Grima is in control, the world teeters on the brink of annihilation due to how Grima in lore is seen by their cult to be the god of death and ruin. When we are in control instead, we beat Grima out of existence either temporarily or permanently, then leaving Robin to live their life.

This is fitting if you think of Eclat as something transient, and Gimlé as something more enduring.

If we approach this from the lens of Norse Mythology, there is also Breidablik, the name of Kiran’s divine weapon. Breidablik is a place said to belong to Baldr, and it is the cleanest hall in Asgard. By theme, it is barely linked to Gimlé unless we consider how the murder of Baldr is the trigger to Ragnarok.

The strength of this link really depends on how strongly one views the directness or indirectness of their theming, but this is interesting to note considering Awakening was conceived as a last hurrah, seemingly asking us, the audience, if the series was worth continuing and letting us decide both in-lore and meta. It is not too unreasonable to say that the concept of Kiran existed in some form during the development of Awakening.

Even on a visual level, it seems like Kiran’s design is an intentional copy of Robin/Grima’s outfit.

But connections run yet another a layer deeper between Grima and Kiran.

One is malevolent, the other benevolent. One is artificial (see: Shadows Of Valentia’s post game), the other natural. One is immortal, the other mortal. One watches (supposedly) with 6 eyes, the other watches with a myriad of eyes as there are a myriad of them. Both control a whole army of units which can be replenished and increased, only one is filled with the undead and the other is alive.

This aspect between them is too much of a coincidence to dismiss.

The hand of Gods

If I still haven’t convinced you, the reader, the validity of this silent Buddhist cosmology theory, then perhaps this will.

Enter Kouhei Maeda.

I unfortunately do not know too much about Kouhei Maeda and will probably need to read interviews to get a good grasp of what he has been doing specifically. But this guy has been with Intelligent Systems and the development of Fire Emblem since 2001. To be given the director role is to have the ultimate say in what goes and what doesn’t. He has been both(!) the director and (one of the many) writer of Fire Emblem: Awakening and Fire Emblem: Heroes, on top of being one of multiple scenario writers in other projects starting from The Binding Blade.

Kouhei Maeda has been a consistent presence throughout all these projects for this lens to work so well. At this point I find it difficult to shake off this feeling, with all my thoughts, that I’ve been played.

The non-Heroes entries I’ve mentioned here are The Blazing Blade and Awakening. From The Blazing Blade, Lyn often requests for Kiran to stay behind her, in the same fashion as she did with Mark, the avatar of that game. From Awakening, Robin mentions how Kiran feels familiar.

Lyn and Robin's voice lines respectively

There are also more lines from characters such as Kris, specifically the Plegian version, Thor, Loki, Naga herself, and many many more out there which calls into Kiran’s familiarity, uniqueness or peculiarity into question. Every units which are classified as Gods in their original games also treat Kiran as an equal, though many would play this off as a joke as it seems like shallow fan service on its own.

Outside of Heroes, there still remains many remnants that points towards this idea, such as Tharja/Rhajat's behavior towards the avatar of both Awakening and Fates, as if the writers have been coyly poking at the audience through this lens.

As of writing, the game has just only concluded Book 6. I suspect Kiran’s role is to mess with the prophecy of Ragnarok and kill Alfador/Odin, who is aware of this anomaly transplanted from Buddhism.

Regardless, this is about as much as I have gathered to speak on the underlying cosmology and Kiran’s function in Fire Emblem Heroes. To go on more would be to really squeeze water from a rock at this point. While half of this seems like insane fan theory, the occasional weirdness from Fire Emblem Heroes exists, and I suspect it will pop up again for as long as the game continues its service.

Thank you for reaching the end point, and I hope this was an interesting read!

#fire emblem heroes #fire emblem heroes analysis #fire emblem heroes theory #summoner kiran #god im dying this took so long to write

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studentofetherium · 1 year

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As someone who's only ever played Three Houses and enjoyed themselves with it, is there a good explanation for why longtime fans of the franchise do not like its story?

@aokozaki already answered this question talking about the issues in the story, but i only played one of the routes in the game so i don' feel most equipped to talk about that aspect

really tho, the story was never the issue for me. it all lays with the social mechanics and hub space. it feels so much like time wasting that amounts to only surface level characterization but also enables the player to easily level their characters to make gameplay effortless, especially since you can go into free battles to farm xp (something ive always disliked even in better games like sacred stones or awakening). the hub area is neat in theory but ultimately it's big enough that running around it just becomes tiring by the end. the addition of sidequests didn't help at all. it's all just clutter that distracts from what fire emblem actually is. at launch my assessment is that 3H was not a real fire emblem game and over three years later i still hold to that

but that's all my issue with the new mechanics. unfortunately, the actual combat itself was trite. it never felt like there was a serious challenge to the levels and the focus on bigger enemies felt like a gimmick more than something that meaningfully mattered to gameplay. it was bad enough that i didn't want to play the game a second time just for that alone

and really one of the things i hate most about it— and this is extremely petty— is just how much it blew up in the fandom. i understand exactly why it did, like the easy excuse for people to argue and have discourse online which both drives people further into their respective sides while also promoting the game to other people. i think the school setting really did a lot because let's be real no matter how much they complain about anime, people like it when things are set in school because that makes it relatable. the shallow characterization that many complain about can also be a bonus for fandom because that gives people an outline to further develop on their own with headcanons and the like without straying too far from what's in the game (and the pairing of the school setting with the time skip gives it a tragic element, too) basically, the game was always going to develop the fandom it did and it's frustrating that it was so easy for it, that this game was so terrible at actually being a fire emblem game yet utterly succeeded at bringing new people in to the point that its mechanics are being pulled forward into engage. if the game hadn't blown up as much as it did i might not be so spiteful towards it but only a few months after release, i knew that 3H was going to be the future of the franchise, as Engage is proving

#fire emblem #long post

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daimaoryu · 1 year

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so i see you reblogged some things about resident evil... ive never played it before but ive been seeing an influx of things about leon and needless to say im already down bad... so are the games fun to play? and uhhh is it hard? cause im shit at games besides genshin 🤣 and do i have to play them all to understand or can i just like play the newest?

gonna be real w u i also have never played a resident evil game 😭 i only watch lets plays and like. it looks fun. probably hard but it has difficulty selection so it should be alright ! im also shit at fighting games that arent like fire emblem and arknights LMAO 😭 genshin truly the only fighting type of game i play fkfkdkdjdk

#its a third person shooter game which im not all that interested in playing #ive just been obsessed w it since re6 came out bc i thought ada and leon were hot and im bisexual. KFLDJSKD

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wooahaes · 2 years

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follow up to the fire emblem ask 😵‍💫 yes i found another blog who likes fire emblem and seventeen ! i won everyone !! ps sorry for the mini rant i got excited

anyways … let me tell you that the conquest route of fates was something! (i got sad) and then third dlc route revelation, writing was confusing but eh its dlc im not mad. i’m trying to find a way to get birthright soon so i can finally play that path.

ALSO TELL ME WHY I ALSO KEPT UNITS AWAY FROM OTHERS SO THEY COULDNT PAIR 😭. like i play as a f!unit so i kept her away from everyone but like one character so they had to be together. i personally did chrom and sumia just bc everyone said but i also chrom has funny supports and i heard his support with sully is sweet.

i actually talked to one of my moots abt someone making a video game based smau, they asked me to do it but im not at that level yet… but then fire emblem popped into my head. like the class system is so cool and usually connected to the type of person the characters are! i kept trying to see which members of seventeen + other idols would fit into each class role. sorry i got carried away 😅

hi lovely <3 no need to be sorry! i like talking abt stuff that makes ppl happy

god yeah i can imagine. i remember getting sad over birthright too :( i played through most of conquest and revelations tbh but its been like. at least a year or two so my memory's pretty foggy lmao i just remember not liking jakob

im always like "stay away until i get ppl married and then u can pair up however tbh" (still pairs married couples or parents w their kid bc i think them working together is cute).

god... i feel bad but im not a huge fan of sumia as a unit. some ppl say she's great but she always goes down so easily for me. i cannot imagine playing the game on classic. chroms support w sully is v sweet tho! if i wasnt trying to get lucina some specific skills from olivia, i probably would have pushed chrom with sully. they arent optimal according to a lot of ppl, but their supports would make up for it <3

ngl with this playthrough though ive had my f!unit like. sticking around multiple men to get the supports up to A so that i can figure out who i wanna romance......... homie i didnt expect for so many of them to have cute supports??? gaius's is cute (im p sure he calls the mc "bubbles" regardless of gender but i like his nicknames for ppl dsfkhdsf + his sweet tooth is endearing to me), stahl being the kind of person who looks out for people is sweet, lon'qu slowly growing more used to f!unit and being kind of endeared by her... and also henry just being the weirdo he is ksfdhdsf like ??? how am i supposed to pick. i mentioned it but i managed to get inigo (my favorite slutty man /hj) last night and his supports w f!unit are also kind of cute? just him going from a skirtchaser to trying to be more conscious of everyone else around him and taking care of ppl... ugh hes sweet <3

also last night i realized that olivia sparkles. like ??? girl straight up sparkles. i love that for her dskfhsdf also someone asked me if u have the option to be gay in awakening and im like NO bc god i love cherche and sully... and also lissa... and also maribelle... theres so many pretty women :(

ooo a video game based smau would be so fun... if i could do it, i would since theres like. so many games w so much potential there. i've had a vague idea for a life is strange-esque au (mc with powers dealing w that, basically) and since im already writing a one-shot w felix... idk, it just feels like a fun idea to play with. my go-to would be 3 because its the only game w a viable male love interest, sorry warren and whatever the guy from 2 was i love 3 the most and like ngl a smau would be an interesting way of doing it...

ooo do you have any thoughts on who would be in what role? i'd love to hear them! i talked with an anon about it a while back but i'd have to go find those asks bc i admittedly can't remember anything we picked out rn :(

#wooahaes.ask #strawberri-uyu #also nico do u want an emoji since ur here often :0 #unfortunately the strawberry emoji is reserved for a moot but i'm open to anything else if u want one!! <3

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tinybitofart · 8 months

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for the OC ask game:

🖊️🎻🎶🔱🔺🐷💘🖤😖🤩😞👨‍👩‍👧‍👦

(You don’t have to answer all of the if you don’t want)

oc ill be doing today is Van!Leg and totally not because ive been writing sbout him for the past two days

🖊️ BALLPOINT PEN — does your oc have any tattoos? do they want any (more) tattoos?

No, but if he ever has the coursge he wants to get a sleeve of roses on his roght arm

🎻 VIOLIN — does your oc play any instruments? what is their skill level (beginner/intermediate/advanced/virtuoso/etc)?

He plays ……. the recorder?

🎶 MUSICAL NOTES — what type of music does your oc like? do they listen to music very often?

All music, but mostly musicals or indie rock. He listens to music when he’s working, which is… a lot

🔱 TRIDENT EMBLEM — can your oc swim? do they enjoy swimming?

No and no, he’s terrified of water that goes above his waist

🔺 RED TRIANGLE POINTED UP — does your oc know how to use any weapons?

Yes! he built a scythe named Karma, and he’s been practicing with it :))

🐷 PIG FACE — what is your oc's favorite animal?

He doesnt really like any animals, but hedgehog would be on of the one he finds interesting

💘 HEART WITH ARROW — what and/or who do(es) your oc consider the most important to them?

erm well his name is Arm 👉👈 Canonically they’ve been dating since march or so, but i only revealed thag recently so it still feels fresh

🖤 BLACK HEART — has your oc killed or seriously wounded anyone before? have they broken someone's heart and/or broken someone's trust?

Yes! All of the above!! j may go into detail about it later!!

😖 CONFOUNDED FACE — is your oc an introvert, an extrovert, or an ambivert? do they let people in easily, or are they more reserved?

introvert. he hardly leaves his room, and when he does, he loses energy very fast

🤩 FACE WITH STARRY EYES — is your oc a planner, or are they more spontaneous in their actions?

both, depending on the day.

😞 DISAPPOINTED FACE — does your oc attract others, or do they tend to be left alone?

They are SUCH a loner

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 FAMILY WITH MOTHER, FATHER, SON AND DAUGHTER — how many people are in your oc's immediate family? how many people are in your oc's extended family? do they have aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, etc? who in their family are they closest with? are they close with their birth family, or do they have a found family?

Okayokay

His adoptive parents are Dexter, Frosty, Avery (?) and Lilith. He has aunts and uncles - Linguini, Branch, Duc, and Lucy - and grandparents, but they’re fairly dead. His siblings are Leaff, Noah, and KINDA Mouse. He has a son named Ross who’s 11 i think, and a niece (Cryptid’s daughter) named Crusty who’s in her teens. His partner is Arm, and they both are Ross’s parents

Thats all Inrmemember being canon

He’s closest to Dexter, Ross, and Arm. I would say Mouse, but he only Just Now got on the Van.

He is NOT close with his birth family or legal family. His birthfamily died in a house fire when he was small, tragic :(( and his adoptive father raised him up until he ran away to find the van. I love his adoptive father with all of my heart his name is Dr. Luis Welsh and hes so silly but also very foxic for Leg

also. id like to say that Leg and Arm are the only ones i control. the van kinda works like an rp, where everyone has fhei own characters. i jut reallt like talking about mine :))

#art speaks #oc #my oc #my oc stuff #my ocs <3 #my oc character #discord saga #van

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total-takes-island-takes · 10 months

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ive never played genshin or fire emblem so i had to look them up on youtube to hear their voices and lemme tell u i did not expect venti to sound like tails from sonic. also rosado sweep

fair enough, I am going to let the poll speak for itself

#mod fren #frencourse

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desde-los-cielos · 10 months

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So far liking the scaling of smt v. I am fighting every battle I can. I also do as many battles as it takes for me to recruit a new demon. Gotta fill out that compendium. This negotiating thing is tough. I’m just stumbling my way through.

Anyway, even with all the experience, I’m still feeling challenged in new areas. One bad enemy phase encounter, and I’m dead. I don’t let myself get too low in health/mp until I have a good strategy to deal with a current area’s demons.

Love the ease of teleporting back to a save point. The save points are spread pretty fairly too. I never feel like I have to make a huge trudge back to where I was.

Not really paying much attention to my choices. Just choosing whatever feels best for the occasion. So it will be a surprise what I’m signing up for.

I find myself thinking of smt iv. The fateful moment where I almost chose it over fire emblem awakening as my first 3ds game. Idk how I would have done back then. I hadn’t even played the persona games. Now I kinda want to play it?? I did watch a walkthrough of all the routes a long time ago.

Also maybe I’ll try to other games too.... I might be feeling overconfident but.

Anyway, the music is good. What I expected. The overworld music is good, but a little grim and creepy for long-term listening. I haven’t found a track I really love yet.

#video game things #ya mean demons aren't my fwends

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nat1vibes · 1 year

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Tierlist of fire emblem characters i remember across a lot of the games.

I ranked them in terms of personality. and Personal bias. Rankings in ''they good'' and ''nice'' could flactuate a lot.

if you dont see a character you like. I either thought i know them too little to rank, or didn't have any form of opinion on them. even less than ''they kinda meh''

i do debates or i can explain why i place who where. But do mind i have only played though Fe 6-8 and Fe 11

opinions on others are based on full lets plays ive seen or other internet info on them,.

#fire emblem #lute fire emblem

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