#I personally prefer Dimitri as a character for a lot of reasons but when I began shipping them I didn't love Claude /as/ much as now

[dimiclaudeblaigan]

Poked my head into some of @mysticdragon3md3′s thoughts regarding popularity with DimiClaude fanon and am happy to say I’m here to Talk (tee em).

I also saw the post from the user saying why they were falling out of love for the ship, and... yeah. The people they’re talking about, the generalized group of people who do certain things, definitely bother me as well.

I love that you pointed out Claude is not flirty and is just playful. It’s not the DimiClaude fandom alone unfortunately with that though - it’s the entire fanbase that views him as a flirt. And, according to Twitter, a slut. Yeah. Yeah. I know what they... “mean”... but it is still not him.

Them being annoyed with each other is also fanon and a very strange one. Never in Houses did Dimitri come across as being annoyed or bothered by him. In fact, they have friendly banter! Dimitri doesn’t get specifically exasperated at Claude, but that’s just more so how he is as a person and he sometimes doesn’t understand playfulness. That said, he does not berate Claude the way he berates others. There’s one instance I can think of where he berated Claude and that was in the DLC when they were talking to Aelfric for the first time.

In Hopes, same deal in AG. In fact, he’s quite fond of Claude in AG. GW itself was a well discussed mess in a lot of ways, and even then as a ship they didn’t have a lot of negativity. If nothing else it was an odd opposite, because even as enemies when Claude admitted he couldn’t defeat Dimitri alone, Dimitri just basically laughed, smirked and walked away. That’s like... the worst of their relationship in GW and it’s extremely mellow.

I think part of the problem some dmcl fans are facing are the fanon version of the ship rather than what they’re like in canon. It is definitely true that part of the dmcl fandom has absolutely warped the ship into being something it really isn’t and never was in canon. There’s also this whole thing about Dimitri being the dominant, feisty one with Claude being the uwu blushy one and it’s just... not them. Not as a pair canonically, and not individually. When Dimitri gets “dominant”, he’s, uh, not in a good mental state. It’s a mental illness that makes him like that and personally I’ve never appreciated seeing people use it for a kink for a ship. Normally I’d say people can like what they want, but I get the feeling a lot of dmcl fans have absolutely pushed their views onto others and driven fans away.

I will also say have absolutely, 150% come across those kinds of fans. The ones who refuse to listen to anyone else, but if your headcanons don't vibe with them then you’re just completely “wrong”. Not only do they portray the canon characterization poorly if portraying it at all, but they tend to also bring it down a racist route, which is... beyond ironic considering they should be the last ship that deals with that based on their characters and stories.

Engage kinda went wonky with a good few things regarding the previous lords, so I don’t see Dimitri being like that as some kind of definite canon. Actually, even in Heroes their interactions are friendly and calm. The “worst” banter they had was their swim alts, while on the opposite end we have the brave alts who apparently hang out together outside of the castlegrounds, and for so long that they can’t be of any help in a search for someone (which like lol how long you gotta be gone to have no idea and can’t help at all lmao).

I think people see outside-Houses canon scenes like those and just... decide it’s their actual canon. Dimitri is not, in any way, actually mean to Claude in canon. That is unfortunately a very popular fanon. In Houses especially, when Dimitri doesn’t know Claude well in the mock battle he’s more like ummm hey Claude your defenses are open what are you even doing, more than being like ugh Claude you’re so annoying. In the real version of that mock battle though, a good few months had passed and their battle quotes are significantly more approachable and they clearly have respect for each other. Dimitri knows Claude likes to fuck around and be goofy sometimes, and he picked up on that and played along with it in the JP version (in the English version he simply picks up on it, but there’s no anger whatsoever and it’s just more oh okay I get it).

As far as Engage goes, ultimately I just see it more as an extremely condensed version of their mannerisms, and yes, they for some reason, especially in the localized versions, try to keep up the whole rival shtick when Dimitri never even felt that way about Claude, and he never gets truly annoyed at Claude. Ffs, in canon Dimitri literally drops everything after retaking his home from the Empire/TWS, and runs to go save Claude. Literally. The next day. While Claude is a little tsun about it (!), Dimitri is just “come on let’s go hurry hurry no slowing down pick up the pace we are saving Claude”, and that’s basically him the entire chapter except with the Arundel specific stuff. When he talks to Claude one on one, there is literally not a single shred whatsoever in any plausible way or in any damn universe any tension from Dimitri to Claude. He just wants to know he’s okay and relaxes once he knows Claude isn’t hurt. I mean literally, no, like... that’s them, in canon, in their Natural Habitat together and I have no fucking clue how the portrayal of them in fanon got so insanely warped beyond recognition.

Also, Engage kinda dropped the ball with a lot of stuff with the other lords. Hell, they’ve been unable to keep Ike’s character consistent throughout all of his non-canon appearances (Awakening didn’t seem too bad, but Fates was pretty awful for example. They can’t seem to really understand the character they’re writing anymore, and idk if it’s just because the writers have changed and such/aren’t the same as Tellius’ games had, or they just don’t care to keep him consistent).

They also try to make Sigurd sound wise and super helpful in every single solitary iteration of him outside of FE4 which is honestly just obnoxious as fuck lmao. Sigurd was naive, foolish, overly trusting, and far too kind and gentle for his own good. It ultimately was what led to him following orders blindly, having blind faith that his king was righteous and would give him the right orders (without realizing the court was very much in disarray during his absence and with several other prominent court figures away because of the war). Sigurd was too quick to believe in the good in humanity and that things would work out, and it led to him not realizing how wrong he was until it was way too late and he had to take shelter in a foreign country to avoid having to fight the same people’s armies who had the court’s ear.

Basically Sigurd is nothing like they write him to be in every. single. solitary. iteration. outside of FE4. 

(SPOILER here just in case you care lol. Or anyone who is reading this. Or if you’re someone who somehow does not know about the biggest known spoiler in the whole game) He has one little section of potential dialogue (i.e. it’s triggered by a very specific condition) that shows somehow ghosty Sigurd has grown more wise and understanding ??? while being dead ??? and somehow learned while being dead that the world do be full of grief and Stuff. (END SPOILER)

So they pretty much took like, two lines of dialogue from FE4 and made it Sigurd’s entire fucking character forever in every single game he’s been in since. If nothing else, let that be your insight on never to trust content you see outside of a character’s original game. At that point it’s simply fanservice because they don’t even know their own characters. If they wanted to write even a semblance of Actual In Game Sigurd’s Personality And Not Two Lines Of Dialogue That Are Completely Optional And Quite Honestly HIDDEN, it would be very easy and reasonable to do so. They choose not to, and then we get what they did with Houses’ lords.

Another portrayal I see too often is that Dimitri and Claude... argue??? I won’t lie, their Heroes summer alts was the very first time they even seemed to “argue”, and it was mostly just goofy nonsense that means nothing because they’re literally alts in swimsuits, and it wasn’t really them being vicious at each other. Meanwhile in canon, they’re always very calm and able to talk through their problems - even in fucking Hopes in the GW route. Even in the worst possible circumstances for them to be in, that is, as enemies, they were still able to talk it through. Barring Claude’s written in idiocy so he could be a mouthpiece for Edelgard and do her bidding by invading the Kingdom (which was literally nothing but plot convenience because Actual Claude would’ve reasoned his way out of doing that), even in the worst possible situation, they still called a truce and still worked things out verbally, calmly and peacefully.

Point being, this whole cat fight dmcl portrayal isn’t even remotely close to their canon selves, and normally I’d say, you know, like what you want and enjoy your ships how you want... but it’s pretty much almost entirely the people who view the ship that way that uh, attack people who don’t agree with them or insult them/laugh at them for seeing the ship differently. These are the people who make you feel bad, for enjoying a fictional ship of two pixelated characters kissing, because you don’t like the concepts in their head more than the way you’ve interpreted the canonical characters.

To be totally frank, I have a visceral hatred for the fanon portrayal of dmcl because it makes Dimitri out to be terrible and makes Claude some kind of punching bag for Dimitri in various forms. There comes a point where it’s like, you ship something and then there’s the point where you ship two characters you made up in your head, who aren’t the same characters you first started to ship, because you’ve warped them so extensively that they became nothing but a person’s OCs with their faces and some similar backstory elements at best.

[easily-distracted-ivashkov]

Honestly I think a lot of us who became fans of Adrian in VA was due to the fact of what age we read VA. Me personally I was 17/18 when I read VA and was already so over the moody, never wants to open up emotionally distant Male leads in books by that point. That when Adrian came in, it was a breath of fresh air. He made jokes, never pretended to be something he wasn't, was honest about what Spirit was doing to him, and called out people when he had to. He was the most crystal clear character I had read to that point. And Richelle did a great job of transitioning him to the Bloodlines series, and even though Bloodlines is considered YA. It felt like the book was more college age than anything else. I really love VA, but Rose really had these rose color glasses on for Dimitri. She didn't want to see anything and held him up to such a high standard. That I truly preferred the moments in the series where her mind wasn't so Dimitri focused. Blood Promise is my Favorite book in VA and even though it was about Rose going to find Dimitri. It was such a nice break getting away from the constant Dimitri/Lissa cycle she was on.

Hello there!! I absolutely agree. I think the reason why so many people hate or dislike Adrian is because they all saw him from Rose's point of view and let's be honest, she never painted him in a good light nor ever truly gave him a chance. Not even as a friend. Even as a friend she treated him so poorly like he was just a nuisance and it annoyed me so much. Even after Tatiana was murdered and he fell into drinking to cope, she labeled him a coward and she was dating him, that was what made me dislike Rose so much. She saw him as lesser and weak when he was in a very vulnerable position and yet, he still helped her and no one ever gives him credit for helping her even when his heart was broken when he had every right to not help. She used him, plain and simple. There's no arguing with that.

Adrian is dare I say, the most in depth character Richelle created in that series. He is interesting and he is so much more than what we see and I'm so glad that Bloodlines gave him chapters from his own perspective. He got the redemption he deserved in those books. I can go on and on about how wonderful of a character he is. I love Adrian with all of my heart.

[dmclemblems]

Y'know, from Edel.gard always getting praise from the other two sides (that she's conqurring and killing the people of) and with her route ending in a high-five of all things (after Rhea and Thales kill each other so she doesn't have to), Clyde getting supported by others in his bid conquer Fodlan (even if other characters are doubtful - kinda moot when they still decide to help him... save Ashe who seems genuinely forced to), and Dimitri/Rhea and the Kingdom/Church as a whole getting EXTREMELY victim-blamed in 2/3's of the game, it... kinda sends a really worrying message about imperialism and conquering? Because the game kinda... makes a pretty clear stance that it thinks conquering (for "good intentions") = good, those who fight back the ("good intended") conquering = bad.

Like, I think it's more "oh shit didn't mean to say that" more than it was intentional (kinda like of all the racist shit surrounding Claude's/Almyra's writing as a whole), but damn if I can't not see it now :/

I feel like that was a big problem going on in Houses in CF too, but it's definitely worse in Hopes. It really could be just an oversight by the writers, but it just... really leaves a nasty feeling. Even though there's no definite "Edelgard did conquer Fodlan in SB" going on, I think a lot of SB fans probably assume that's just what happened? Personally I prefer to just think the war stopped after that last battle and she let things go unrelated to Rhea and Thales because she's "happy and fulfilled" in this route, but... who knows, the devs seem to like unification.

The way Hopes writes it is that if you're conquering people for a "good" reason, it's bad of them fight back because they're fighting back against the "good" cause, but... anyone can claim their reason is something good and that the people being invaded should just accept it. It's just worse in Hopes because it's in two routes and they try to write it off as both Claude and Edelgard doing it for good reasons.

Even if they managed to unify the continent in their respective routes, they still will have other lands to deal with. Sreng won't just stop invading because Faerghus isn't a main power if that were to happen. It would just put Claude or Edelgard in a situation where they now have to deal with that. Also, Almyra wouldn't just stop fighting because they lost one member of the royal family. From what they were letting on, the siblings seemed to be in a battle of succession, so... it wouldn't be all that surprising if later on another one started attacking Fodlan. Even if they didn't, other people from Almyra would.

Something I find interesting though about SB in contrast to CF is that it seems like the concept of conquering is more of a burden to Edelgard than if she didn't bother. Also, Shez is the main avatar character here instead of Byleth. When Byleth is there for Edelgard in CF, it goes down, well, you know; but apparently when Byleth isn't there but Shez is instead, Edelgard is "happy and fulfilled" and defeats both her real enemies. If she actually feels that way, is there even a need to continue the war in her route? In GW I could definitely see her continuing, but it seems like SB implies that having Byleth around was a bad thing for Edelgard. It pushed her and made her feel powerful, enough to conquer, but apparently she wasn't truly happy in CF if they're saying she's happy in SB?

It just makes me think Byleth's presence in her life, and as her teacher, wasn't good for her. As in like, her life would be better and happier without Byleth being a key part of it or being in it at all (since you can kill Byleth and all in Hopes). In SB you could get around the conquering thing imo, whereas in CF it's everything.

At least in VW the unification happened because there was no other option. Faerghus had no heir left and the Empire had also lost its leader. Since Rhea also died, there was literally nobody left to take over things. Claude probably would have if he hadn't left, but since he had to go back to Almyra it fell to Byleth, but if Claude had been the leader of Fodlan after VW I wouldn't have minded. The circumstances weren't so horrible there. GW is just like... Shez is part of the problem and plants these ideas in Claude's head, and in that route he wants to actually conquer even if he doesn't say it as openly/directly as Edelgard and Hubert do.

Unifying Fodlan doesn't need to mean conquering it, and AM was proof of that. Not only did Claude completely peacefully allow Leicester and Faerghus to become one again, but Rhea also doesn't die in that route and just leaves to let Byleth take over. There's no fight over who should be the archbishop or anything. Claude and Rhea both willingly step down from power. In Claude's case, again, he had to tend to Almyra, but he also didn't worry that "oh no if they find Rhea, what if she's back in power". Even if he didn't want that, he seems to have felt that Byleth and Dimitri would be able to work things out.

Dimitri only arrived to aid Leicester's forces and he planned to leave once they were safe, so the whole unification thing wasn't even his intention or desire. Also, he's not really the type to want to conquer or anything like that, and notably after the army integration, the Leicester soldiers... still tend to refer to themselves as Alliance soldiers. Dimitri obviously has no issue with letting them still be the Alliance. Honestly, I always imagined Fodlan being "unified" in AM was just an official way of explaining it, but that the other nations were still just Leicester and Adrestia. In AM I feel like "unification" is just the territories all being allied/at peace with each other with a leader at the top to regulate everything and whatnot, but with their own governing, etc. In something like CF, Edelgard wants to remove any existing power from the other territories and make it just "Fodlan"/Adrestia.

So basically unification doesn't have to be violent and it doesn't have to mean being conquered, but... it seems like a big thing in this universe where unification = conquered/being conquered. :(

[gascon-en-exil]

Very late but genuine question about subtext because of that one r.post; as an asexual with zero interest in shipping whatsoever, isn't people picking up on subtext mostly related to their preferences/fetishes? Because I've seen a lot of (presumably) straight men try to downplay any and all m/m subtext in 3h/3hw with comments about how they dont 'see it', but wouldn't it be perfectly normal for someone with no interest in m/m relationships to not pick up on/look for for that type of subtext?

It's true that subtext is subjective, and people are naturally inclined to see what personally appeals to them in media. However, as is the case with many subjects how you frame subtext when discussing it can be nearly as important as the points you're making.

For example, because I'm neither a woman nor am I attracted to women it can often be harder for me to pick up on F/F subtext, and as I have no personal interest in F/F content it's not something I'll go out of my way to explore unless I'm asked to or if it's relevant to something else I'm talking about. Even so, I'm not going to deny that those readings exist and that other people may enjoy them and would be able to say more about them than I can. You may have no interest in shipping, but you can understand that other people do and that their enthusiasm doesn't diminish your own feelings on the manner. It's entirely possible for people to consume media differently and still be civil about it.

Where it becomes an issue though is when people use their different tastes to vilify others via their favorite characters or ships, especially when it's framed in unnecessarily moral (or political) terms as so much of current fandom culture often is. This has taken a number of forms in Three Houses/Hopes discourse coming from those presumably straight men on Reddit, in addition to a handful of trans lesbians here on Tumblr, including

the blanket generalization that Edelgard, the Eagles, and CF are more progressive than their counterparts (especially the Lions/AM) and naturally appeal to queer people,

relatedly, the refusal to even acknowledge that queer readings of Dimitri exist despite their being numerous and reasonably popular in fandom, or that these readings are only the wishful thinking of "fujoshi",

the erasure of Edelgard's ability to S rank m!Byleth or her romantic endings with other men, along with the dismissal of the role that the (straight) male gaze plays in her presentation in Houses and - as I'm thinking I may have to bring up in my next video - Hopes as well

With statements like these it's no longer a matter of different tastes, but part of a larger and unending war to prove that one's preferred house/route/leader is the most progressive and therefore "best." M/M subtext just happens to be a particular sore point on that front, as the Faerghus boys enjoy the lion's share (pun intended) of that sort of content. Similar to Dimitri's struggles with mental illness, if you so much as acknowledge that Dimitri and AM have queer fans who've picked up on the abundance of subtext among the Lions, then the fan wank soap box falls apart...leaving only the reality that some people like different characters and ships for different reasons.

And then there'd be nothing left to argue over - and that would be terrible.

[burr-ell]

As someone who's favorite route is AM, yeah, there seems to be some weird hate boner for Byleth from a lot of people. I mean I get it, they don't speak (save for battle moments) so it's very easy to think that they are a self insert (when they're really not) but I think people forget that they are the MAIN CHARACTER. Of course they are going to get the spotlight in a couple of scenes along with the aforementioned permadeath. Like what are they supposed to do? Sit there like a wet blanket.

Exactly, and I say this as someone who loves AM! My ideal route is a VW-AM mashup and one of these days I WILL write a fic for it and it WILL be insufferably full of lore.

As I've said before, there are definitely criticisms to be had with respect to Byleth's character and I think making her silent was the wrong move, but there are perfectly reasonable explanations for some of the complaints people have had if you look at it even a little bit charitably.

I know recruiting is a big issue; many AM fans in particular don't like that you can recruit some of the Lions out of house because it means that the Lions are fighting against their country because of a really nice teacher, but I think it makes at least some degree of sense. For one thing, on two out of three routes where you can do this, it's completely believable that in the wake of Dimitri's supposed death and the kingdom falling apart, the Lions would take up arms with the side that they think has the best chance of destroying the empire. For another, Byleth has VISIBLY been blessed by the goddess, wields a holy relic that should be impossible to use, and in the case of recruitment, took the time to get to know students who weren't in her house and/or educate herself on subjects she's not proficient in that other students might like. I know people joke about "I'm god, your argument is invalid", but if I had a really nice teacher who had visible signs of being blessed by Jesus; who could use a divine sword no one else on earth can wield; and who took time to get to know me personally when they didn't have to, I'd at least consider jumping ship to whatever cause they're fighting for.

Really, the only route where my suspension of disbelief is stretched is Crimson Flower—but even then, I chalk it up to a) students from devout backgrounds might reasonably start thinking the Church of Seiros is in the wrong if someone blessed by the goddess is fighting against them and b) Crimson Flower is just badly written and slapdash and every character is their worst self on it anyway; what's one more hunk of garbage to add to the pile?

Honestly, I get the sense that some of the kneejerk reaction to Byleth on AM is based on both the dislike for self-insert avatars and the fact that a lot of people don't like Byleth getting in the way of their preferred ship. It's like some fans think that AM would be better if Dedue or Felix was Dimitri's emotional support lover instead of Byleth. And I mean hey, if that's your thing, more power to you, but also...it's an RPG; you don't HAVE to have Byleth marry Dimitri if you don't want to. And if, after the success of Robin and Corrin and now Byleth, you're still determined to hate on avatar characters as if Intsys is going to suddenly give up on something that clearly works for them...you're allowed to like or dislike whatever you want, but if you're expecting anything different and refuse to even try for a charitable view on things, that kinda sounds like a you problem. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[mysticdragon3md3]

With my family's Japan trip approaching, I realize it's possible, I might find Nendoroid Dolls in a store, without much time to shop, so I should decide beforehand which Nendoroid Dolls I need to prioritize.

I used my old personal rating system, that I made to fit MyFigureCollection's star ratings. But I needed to add the 3.5 stars level. Because I'm more of a Nendoroid collector, all non-Nendoroids, including Nendoroid Dolls, are not really on my buying list. So a lot of the Nendoroid Dolls that I'm interested in, would have fit into my old 3 star rating. But even then, there are still some I prioritize over others, within that ranking. So I had to make my 3.5 stars rating. And honestly, I'm surprised I didn't already have a rating for "I don't feel obligated to get, though I am semi interested in getting, but more interested and slightly less indifferent than 3 star figures".

Truthfully, the only reason I feel obligated to buy Camus is because his hair is the closest for making a custom Nendoroid Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd. (I already decided on trying to use Tanjiro Kamado's hair for Claude von Riegan.) Honestly, I think on it's own, his hair is a little flat. If I had to get a vampire Nendoroid Doll, I'd prefer Milla. Her hair buns are so pretty.

I feel kind of bad that I had to bump down Bianca and the Halloween Red Riding Hood to 3 stars, but I had to be honest with myself.

I love pastel hair, but I've always had a problem with pink as a color in general. Too much gender in it for me. And though I have worked for years to become mostly fine with pink now, I do have to admit that some part of me still gets too reminded of gender restraints when pink is thrust upon me. ...And maybe that's okay. We all have weird reasons for our idiosyncratic tastes. My brother dislikes cheese, because one time the smell of the cheese aisle overwhelmed him when he was little. And as I understand it, most food dislikes originate from similar random anecdotal experiences. I dislike ketchup, mustard, relish, and pickles for reasons similar to my brother's experience. I've tried as hard as I can to change my dislike of pink, and I still can't completely. But maybe all the progress I've made to now enjoy most pink things---as long as it's not dominating my clothes---is enough. These days, I love cherry blossoms, pink flowers, Kirby, Madoka Kaname, pink desserts, and characters with pink hair. I even like the pink-hair character designs of characters I have no emotional attachment to! But when it comes to figure collecting and spending $70+, I have to take a harder stance. My only problem with pink Bianca is that she is one of the first 2 of a new series of Nendoroid Doll designs, the "Tea Time Series". That means there might be future, "Tea Time" Nendoroid Dolls with designs I'll like better. Maybe even designs in lavender, baby blue, mint, or periwinkle! ^o^ And when that happens, I will feel so bad about spending $70 on pink Bianca, just because she was one of the first "Tea Time Series" Nendoroid Dolls. I can't rush out to buy her, as if she'll be the only "Tea Time" Nendo Doll, when I could instead wait and possibly get "Tea Time" Nendoroid Dolls in lavender, mint, or periwinkle. O.o! Regardless, Bianca is still a 3 star figure to me, because her hair is still very cute and her pastel colors are still very soft and soothing. ^_____^ If I had the spare money, I would rush out to preorder her, enjoy her soft pink hair designs, AND buy any future lavender "Tea Time" Nendo Dolls. But I already have to limit my budget to just Nendoroids, while buying Nendoroid Dolls is mostly a hypothetical to me. Though, a hypothetical I still want to be prepared for, if I run into them in a store.

I really should prefer the Halloween version of Red Riding Hood, since Halloween is my favorite holiday. But I really like the hue interplay between the original Rose's hair and eye colors. I've been trying to convince myself for a long time, that I could just get Halloween Riding Hood and be fine. But her grey hair and gold eyes just seem flat against the original's brunette hair and green eyes. And now that I'm ranking the Nendoroid Dolls I'm interested in, I now realize that I've also ranked Wolf Ash pretty low. Maybe I'm just not that excited about gray hair??? I thought I'd like gray hair, since I love lavender hair Nendoroids/characters. Even some of my lavender haired Nendoroids have almost-gray hair. But maybe a true neutral gray just doesn't reach that level of pretty for me. So I've finally accepted that I would probably be happier with the original Red Riding Hood Nendo Doll, and maybe I should get just the Halloween outfit separately.

[faroreswinds]

Thank you for your patience, anons. I’ve been so busy. I’ve got a lot on my plate with work, not to mention that I will have to start moving soon, unfortunately. It’s kinda been a rough day.

I haven’t even gotten too much farther in my Hopes playthrough. I don’t know if anyone cares about my comments on the routes as I go, but if you do, thank you for your patience.

Now, for the asks.

Grand Duke of Itha the second highest position in the Kingdom is literally crestless how did Ferdinand forget about Rufus. The beagles in Hopes are so spineless and dumb. Recruited Dorothea whines how she doesn’t want to fight Edelgard. despite leaving her

To be fair, Rufus was granted that title because he is also royalty. And by the time Ferdinand said that, Rufus’ head had taken a permanent vacation from his body. 

Even so, it is silly. There are other nobles in the Kingdom who just don’t have Crests. Ferdinand’s comments come across as uninformed ,unbefitting a man who is meant to be a leader of the Empire. 

Dorothea is not a character I adore, and she has always been quite hypocritical. She cries about killing but takes part willingly. Frankly, I’m not surprised to hear she’s still a little whiney. 

You got to be fucking kidding me. If in "Kill Jeralt" version of SB, you can actually kill Clout. And he had a decent speech criticizing Egg, but still stupid about the Kingdom. Koei really looked at the garbage takes and said "Welp, if they say so". It's like they're making up for Claude living most of the time in houses, when in nopes Egg & Dee survive no matter what whilst dying in all routes but their own.

I find it quite funny that of the lords, only Claude can die this time. Personally, I think he deserves it. Edelgard is literally starting a war, and yet I have more respect for her at this time. Her reasoning is wonky, but his reasoning is downright idiotic. 

When I get to that part in the story, I plan to do both: kill Claude, and save Claude. I want to see the differences. 

Are TV tropes Fodlan fans at copuim? AoC has a Broken Base section, yet 3 nopes doesn't have such a thing yet. Despite pointing out Clout's character and GW's wasted potential about Almyra in favor for CF-lite.

I’m not sure. I do not peruse TV tropes in any way whatsoever so I have not looked. 

But a lot of people still haven’t quite caught up to Claude’s... new development. Give it time, we may see something soon enough.

A Question, since you also browse Japanese forums; something I’ve seen is that Byleth is actually quite popular in Asian fandoms and a big reason why many also don’t love the story in Hopes is because Byleth was sidelined, and many people are saying they feel cheated and that the marketing lied to them. By contrast, Westerners seem to revile Byleth and I’ve seen nothing but a steady stream of Byleth hate on English speaking social media. Do you know why that is? I’ve also noticed that especially with Korean and Chinese fans Edelgard is not so popular and in one message board with a streamer playing Scarlet Blaze the entire chat was spammed with memes and comments about Russia invading Ukraine (and a lot of 普京 comments). In contrast, English speakers seem to really like Edelgard and are very divided on Scarlet Blaze.

To be honest, I do not fully understand Japan’s fascination with self-inserts. It’s one of those cultural ticks that have alluded me, and one I have not taken the time to come to understand. I suppose I could guess but I don’t think it would be fair to. 

All I know is that Japan loves Byleth, and the West does not. The West has never really liked silent protagonists except for a few rare cases. They prefer the character to interact, be someone in the story. And Byleth does actively harm the story potential by being a rather blank slate. Just look at AG. The moments with Felix and Dedue are so much more elevated because Shez doesn’t really get in the way. Felix and Dedue are Dimitri’s rocks and his boyfriends.

But I can hazard a guess as to why Korean fans (not so Chinese ones unfortunately) as to why they spam comments about... The Thing. Korea has had a very rough history- and not all that ancient- of countries conquering them and doing... horrific things. China constantly claims their own cultural endeavors as their own (kimchi has been claimed to be Chinese, for one random instance off the top of my head). They are a tiny country trapped between a behemoth that is constantly side-eyeing other lands, and another country that still has yet to apologize for what they did in the World Wars, and a third country that is actively at war with them over who is the “true Korea”. 

It is no wonder that they would not look upon Edelgard’s conquest with favor. Japanese comments also often compare Edelgard to both Hilter and He-Who-Is-Currently-Being-The-World’s-Biggest-Dick. 

But many in English speaking countries do not quite suffer as recent of a history of being conquered, especially the US (Native Americans non-with-standing). It’s been a few hundred years now. Collective memories fade. And in the US in particular, there is a culture of violence to invoke change, especially lately. They do not see a conqueror, but a liberator, saving the world from religion. After all, the US of today was founded on those who sought freedom (of religion, ironically enough) and fought a bloody war for independence. 

I do not agree with these sentiments- I think they are twisted because of Girlboss can do not wrong, and since she is bi she ALSO cannot do any wrong. If she were a man, and straight, I would image the support would not be as strong. 

But then again, what do I know? My expertise is in Biology and Japanese culture. 

I saw one tweet also warning people Sothis gets ruined in 3 Hopes as well. Tragically being the same time she also ever shows concern about her children considering seeing her kids corpses makes her sad, while she reveled in killing Randolph and Judith for Jeralts death.

Sort of.

At first I was shocked by her behavior. But then, I thought about it. She is quite ruthless and we do not get a chance to see more of her kinder side. But... it makes sense? She was violently awoken to see an ancient enemy and the bodies of her dead children. 

What really ruins her is her insistence to not explain anything. She actively refuses to tell Byleth anything, yet she clearly knows something. It’s not really good character- it’s cheap writing to get away with explaining too much. They WANT to keep us in the dark. The WANT the past to be murky. So you can’t have an ancient goddess just TELLING you anything.

Still, I wish they would explore her thoughts more. How does she feel about seeing the corpses of those she loves? Of her daughter?

Meh.

Idk about you but all the jpn comments i’ve seen are how about everyone feels incredibly demoralised. Consensus is that they like the new lore and gameplay and supports, but feel as though warriors shits on houses and invalidates its existence. Fans are unsure of how to proceed because they acknowledge certain improvements in the game compared to houses but they dislike how they feel as though the game is overtly punishing them for liking houses, and they’re conscious of the care that went into warriors but not houses. No one is happy over claude and rhea’s arcs. Many miss dimitri’s narrative of sinking to rock bottom and then rising as saviour king. They like shez but miss byleth. More than a few have outright accused western fans of driving these new changes, which i don’t think have much basis in fact but i’ve seen repeated in twitter qrts over the famitsu and nintendo life interviews. Lots of unfavourable comparisons to persona strikers and saying stuff like “atlus values narrative integrity but not intelligent systems!”

In short, I’m shocked.

Lol, and the whole point of the story is to NOT invalidate Houses. Guess the devs were in a lose-lose situation.

I’ve seen these sentiments too, although not the ones blaming Westerners. Still, I’m not surprised. I recall when Rune Factory 5 announced the Western release would have same-sex marriage (to be patched into the Japanese version), there were comments about how the Westerners ruin everything. 

To truth is, is that Western fans are almost always secondary in consideration. These are Japanese companies- their Japanese audience comes first. I find Japanese fans often have a victim complex when it comes to their games - Westerners ruin everything. They don’t like what WE like so the devs pandered to THEM! But you will see the same sentiments from Western fans too - The Japanese get pandered to first. 

That may sound harsh but it’s just something ingrained in their culture at this time. 

Regardless, I knew the moment the game was announced that it was going to have bad blood. Call it... instinct. 

That said, the gameplay is actually REALLY fun. I’m serious, I’m enjoying it as a game. And there are story moments to really enjoy too, even if the whole package is... something else. 

[starlight-phantom]

Top 5 favorite 3 hopes or 3 house characters if you haven't done so already

I haven't been able to try Three Hopes yet so I'll just focus on Three Houses.

1 - Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd, my first house was the Blue Lions so of course I'm gonna love Dimitri. I've already explained why I love Dimitri before so I'll summarise: Love how he has development, reverse development, and then development again, it makes for a really interesting character arc. Plus, I love his S-Support scene, it's so sweet. And I mean, he's voiced by Chris Hackney and Kaito Ishikawa and that's always a plus.

2 - Ferdinand Von Aegir, the meme himself. All jokes aside, I thought I was gonna hate Ferdinand because he was always boasting about nobility and all that and it made me find him quite pompous. But then in my first route, I heard Dorothea's "We killed Ferdie" line and it made me feel so bad so I made sure to recruit Ferdie in my Golden Deer run... And oh my god I fell in love with him. He's such an adorable ray of sunshine and and all around sweetheart. Sure, he misunderstands things and that sometimes causes trouble but he always means well. And not to mention, Ferdinand has some of my favourite supports in the whole game like his supports with Hubert, Bernadetta, Mercedes, Dorothea and Byleth. They're just so good. And again, his S-Support scene is adorable. And yes, again, voice acting: Billy Kametz nailed it as Ferdie, his performance is perfect. I just really, really love Ferdinand Von Aegir, guys...

3 - Hubert Von Vestra, another character I initially didn't care for. Mostly because I started with Blue Lions so after Jeralt's death, all he said was "I'm not one for condolences."... Thanks, asshat. But then I played the Black Eagles route and again, I fell in love with him. He's genuinely one of the funniest characters to me just because he only has supports with other Black Eagles students who have some of the strongest personalities so seeing this creepy, goth, cryptid boy having to play the straight man is hilarious. I especially love his supports with Bernie and Ferdie. Also, I have the feeling that Robbie Daymond had a lot of fun playing Hubert because he really hams up the evil laughs and ominous speeches. It's fantastic.

4 - Byleth Eisner, I personally prefer the male version because of design and voice but they're pretty much the same. I just Byleth because they're such a genius take on the whole silent protagonist trope you see in so many RPGs. Like there's a story reason why they barely show any emotion and you can how that worries their father. And then throughout the story you start to see them experiencing more and more emotions, expressing them in stronger ways each time until it culminates in them crying for the first time when Jeralt dies before shutting down again for a month due to grief and then seeking revenge in their rage, it's all so genius. Not to mention, I just love seeing all the teacher memes about them.

5 - Marianne Von Edmund, it was really tough choosing between Marianne, Ashe, Bernadetta and Seteth for this last one but I think Marianne is the one. For one, her design: I love the colour scheme, I love the hairstyle, I love the dress, I love how in the Academy phase her hair's disheveled and she has bags under her eyes and then in the War phase her hair's perfect and the bags are gone to show she's grown from her problems. Second of all: I love her story and how you can see how much having that crest has affected her. Third of all: I love her relationships with the other characters, especially Hilda, Raphael and Dimitri.

[transneonneko]

Things from Archie Sonic that I would love to see return in the Mainline Games and/or IDW Sonic!!

Recently, I decided to read some of the Archie Sonic Comic, from like issue 186ish up until the first MegaMan crossover and the reboot, mainly because there were some gaps in my knowledge of those stories. Mainly Issues 198 till 235, which I never got to read as a kid and, I have to say, there were a lot of really interesting concepts during Ian's run of comics before the reboot that I really loved. There was a lot of really interesting concepts I love after the reboot too. I wanna celebrate that. A lot of these concepts and story idea I feel really deserve another chance.

So I wanna make this list of stuff I wanna see return in either for stories in the Mainline Games or the IDW Sonic comics. Before we start, I do wanna add somethings. This post isn't meant to be shitting on IDW and being like "IDW would be better if they did this". I really love the IDW comics and universe. I also know that some of these concepts likely can't be done due SEGA Mandates and I'm not gonna include stuff like "Bring back the Freedom Fighters" because I feel asking to bring back characters isn't gonna be very productive, as much as I would like to see their return. Anyways, let's begin.

The Fate of the ARK

One thing that really inspired this list was this scene right her. We'll talk more about Silver's Future later but for now, let's focus on the ARK. I'm gonna assume anyone reading this knows the story of the ARK from SA2 and Shadow. Sadly, the ARK hasn't really been revisited in the main canon since Shadow, despite how iconic of a set piece it is. In the Archie Comics, we get a look at Silver's future and one of things that may have been the cause of how bad things are is the ARK crashed. Sadly, Archie got rebooted before the writers could go more into it but, from SA2, we know that the ARK was set to crash into the planet if all 7 Chaos Emeralds are placed into it, wiping out all life on the planet. This could be an excellent premise of another Silver adventure, whether it be in the comics or games, where Sonic, Silver and some friends have to stop someone from making the ARK crash into the planet.

Expanding the Eggman Empire/Egg Bosses

Something I've always found a bit lacking in the game canon is how the Eggman Empire itself has been presented. In the games, the Eggman Empire is usually just made up of Eggman, Metal Sonic, Orbot, Cubot, a bunch of robots and (recently) Infinite. It's not really an Empire if it's just one guy and a bunch of robots. The main goal is the conquer the world but we hardly see Eggman actually see what happens when Eggman conquers a place, like what happens to the people who used to live there, besides like Colours and Forces, where the Wisps and Mobians are usually just seen being imprisoned. The Egg Bosses are the perfect solution to this and adds so much to Sonic's World.

The Egg Bosses are Mobians who, either willingly or unwillingly, aligned themselves up with Eggman for whatever reason, becoming commanders of the Eggman Empire. This usually comes about when Eggman has taken over a part of the region and the people living in that region have no choice but to join the Eggman Empire, for their own safety. Not only does this make the Eggman Empire feel more than just one person but it also makes Eggman more a villain himself. It able to portray Eggman as someone to be feared and, I mean, this is a dictator and genocider who is pretty much declaring war against the world.

It also brings up some interesting thoughts about the world. Characters like Maw, Thunderbolt and even Nephthys to a degree joined up with Eggman because they felt it was the right thing to do for the sake of the world, or in Nephthys case, to stop things getting worst later on, meanwhile characters like Grand Battle Kukku are plotting to usurp Eggman, with Clove and Beauregard only working for Eggman to protect family or close ones.

As I said before, having these Egg Bosses also makes Eggman look more threaten, both because he's able to look like a "bigger bad" next to these villains he has command of and, because almost all the Egg Bosses hate Eggman's guts, they are cyberized, a terrifying process in which those who work for Eggman are focus to have parts of their body replaced with cybernetics, with either bombs which will blow if they decide to leave or a locking mechanism that will paralyze their entire body, ready to be locked up.

If either in the game or the IDW comic, I would like to see the Egg Boss concept return. It doesn't even need to be the same characters or use the name "Egg Boss." It would help expand the army of the Eggman Empire, as well as provide some fun bosses for the games I think.

Mobians and Humans living together

This was always a weird hangup I felt the series had. In the case of games between Sonic Adventure & Unleashed, Sonic and friends were the only Mobians, humans made up the NPCs while Mobians were reserved for main characters. Then in Forces and IDW, Mobians made up the background characters, so then Eggman is the only human. I really prefer it when they have the two living together, it makes it seems more normal and, honestly, a better solution than the whole "Two Worlds" explanation.

Eggman Seemingly Defeated

Can I just that I love Issues 198-200? In these 3 issues, Sonic and friends Eggman's main base, the Egg Dome. This including fighting on the outside of the base, involving fighting hoards of the Dark Egg Legion soldiers and Eggman in the Egg Phoenix. After dealing with the outside, Sonic and friends raid the Egg Dome itself, taking different directions, with the Dark Egg Legion seemingly retreating, until they reach the center of the base, where they are blocked off by a barricade, which only Sonic can pass through, giving a "Point of No Return" vibe, Dark Egg Legion soldiers lining up and saluting Sonic. Then Sonic reaches the center and finds Eggman in the Egg Tarantula, starting their final battle which Sonic wins. This defeat is enough for Eggman to lose his sanity, seemingly ending the war Sonic and the Freedom Fighters have been fighting their entire life.

Of course Eggman returns but, god, it's just such a memorable couple of issues. There's a real sense of finality to it. I would a sequence like this in the games, something that feels like truly ending the Eggman Empire and defeating them once and for all. Of course, it wouldn't be the end, Sonic games are always needing to be made which would lead to...

The New Rulers of the Eggman Empire

In the comics after the defeat of Eggman, the Eggman Empire is taken over by some of it's Commanders, the Iron Queen and Iron King, who rules the Empire as their own until they are defeated and Eggman's return.

I love the idea that even if the Eggman, there will always be someone there to take his place. The games could do this by having Neo Metal or Infinite take his place. Hell, IDW did have Neo Metal take over but I think what made that less interesting was that Neo Metal wasn't doing it for himself, he was doing it for Eggman. I think this would work well if a concept like the Egg Boss was introduced in the games, maybe have one of the characters part of that group take over OR have a lot of the more ambitious Egg Bosses war against each other to take command, until eventually Eggman returns and puts them in line.

Silver's Future

Silver is one of the most recurring characters, who always joins the gang when his future is in trouble. The problem is that we never see his future besides 06. We have no idea what Silver's future is currently until it's in danger and, even then, we never see it.

We see Silver's Future in both continuities of the Archie Comic, with two different takes. Pre-SGW has a destroyed city vibe, like 06 but less lava. Post-SGW brought a whole new take where people are ruled by a corrupt council where people are put into class groups, and security robots will arrest if you are not at your job at the right time. They even re-contextualize Silver's bracelets as cuffs that the robots can activate. With Silver being my favourite character as a kid, I remember being obsessed with this new world and story, wanting to know more.

I'm not saying they would need to copy this world exactly but it would be nice if they gave us a concrete and consistence look for Silver's Future.

The Heroic Metal Sonic

Right before the SGW, we were introduce to Shard the Metal Sonic. His story is that he was the original Metal Sonic, the one that raced Sonic in Stardust Speedway. He appeared later in the comic, where Sonic made him realized there was more to life than just being Eggman's killing machine. He seemingly died, but was rebuilt to serve as a member the Secret Freedom Fighters.

This one would be tricky to be included. It worked in the Archie comic as they had been many Metal Sonics throughout the series, each one getting destroyed. Meanwhile, there's only officially been one Metal Sonic in the games made by Eggman (two if we count Classic and Modern). Admittedly, Gemerl fits Shard's personality and does need to be used more in the games but having it be Metal Sonic is just a cooler concept.

I think a solution to this is that we have Metal Sonic 1.0 made by Eggman and, in Rivals 2, we have Metal Sonic 3.0 by Eggman Nega from the future. But what about Metal Sonic 2.0? I think we could have a game where after Metal Sonic fails, Eggman builds a replacement, being 2.0, which would give reason to Metal Sonic wanting to revolt, which could lead to a redemption? While I am loving the IDW comics, I do really miss a lot of what both Archie continuities offered. I haven't mention the some other concepts and stories I liked that really focused on certain characters such as Naugus, Geoffrey St. John, Dimitri etc. Maybe I'll talk about that another day...

[agent-cupcake]

i’m interested to know your take on non-AM felix. ever since i read “epitaph,” it’s kind of made me fall down a rabbit hole of reading his character analyses from different routes, and i find it quite scary that i didn’t really consider how much of his characterization changes in such a negative way (to quote something i saw on reddit, he “failed to become a better person,” “was swallowed up by his own demons,” and “literally becomes a boar, mirroring dimitri” THAT AND i haven’t played anything besides azure moon LOL). also? it’s kind of even inspired me to possibly brainstorm something for a CF!felix/reader where the reader is with him every step of the way when byleth recruits both felix and you, and it turns into some “i can save him” type shit as you watch him spiral downwards because i’m still a sucker for cliche stuff like that!!!! thx

Non-Azure Moon Felix is a tragedy. The comment, “literally becomes a boar, mirroring Dimitri” is absolutely the sum of my opinion on what happens to him.

Hot take: Felix has a primary character personality and arc and should be integrated into the Azure Moon story but cannot be by the nature of the game which is a huge and tragic missed opportunity. Felix’s character and story importance to Azure Moon is not insignificant. He is the one who sets the tension about Dimitri initially and acts as the constant “moral” rebuff to Dimitri’s actions, the only one willing to call Dimitri out for his behavior. I’d say that his story role is far more worthwhile than Gustave’s in many ways. It’s a shame that he and Dimitri didn’t interact more after Rodrigue’s death. In general, I feel the story dropped off significantly at that point, and Felix clearly suffers for it. However, what is clear is that Dimitri’s recovery is similarly a turning point for Felix getting closure. Not because of Dimitri himself, not exclusively, but what his recovery represents for the team, for Faerghus, and the ideals that Felix has violently rejected for so long. Dimitri shaking off the ghosts, reclaiming the throne, and leading the team to victory is the validation of Felix’s actions and the patriotism he’s doubted so much. It allows him to come to terms with the dead himself. Not through rejection, but by accepting Glenn and Rodrigue’s legacy as his own. When he does that, he’s able to forge a path to a brighter future, find his own family, and, more importantly, something to live for other than the pursuit of strength. He accepts that people are more important than strength and that it’s okay to care. In Azure Moon, all of Felix’s endings have him staying with his paired partner and keeping a close and loving relationship with them.

In Azure Moon, we see the Felix who overcame his internal demons and accepted himself as he is, a caring and emotional person with an awful lot of baggage. This is a Felix who decided it was okay to love and be loved, who respects the sacrifices of the dead rather than scorning them for their foolishness. This is a Felix who is shown that he matters as an individual in his entirety. This is the Felix who no longer views ideals as inherently wrong, but is able to form a middle ground in order to understand the people he loves. He even accepts some of them, notably seen in how he stays and serves Dimitri while repairing Fraldarius territory in most of his endings, proving his loyalty. Not empty loyalty to the crown, but to a man he’s worked to understand. In summation, this is a Felix who overcame his trauma.  

If Felix chooses to leave the Kingdom, he is submitting himself to the painful path he put himself on after Glenn’s death. A path of rejecting his family, friends, and country. In short, rejecting himself as he is in favor of the man he believes he should be, a man who is strong and unyielding and does not compromise for the sake of ideals or allow himself to be unnecessarily sentimental. Felix abandoning the Kingdom is the ultimate showcase of his destructive dogma: strength above all. By taking part in the war against the Kingdom, Felix is proving to himself that unwavering and absolute might is more valuable than relationships, loyalty, and family. Not only is it more valuable, but it is also the only thing that is actually effective. By switching sides and figuratively killing the sensitive, childish side of himself, Felix is brought to understand that it’s all meaningless. Hopes and dreams and ideals and everything else is impotent in the face of military might, to feel those things in the first place was a display of weakness. Glenn truly died for nothing, there is no such thing as a true knight, no reason to waste your life for a cause which surely won’t reward you. Rodrigue believed in such foolish values, chivalry and loyalty, and he dies like the old fool Felix accused him of being. Everything Dimitri felt and thought and believed meant nothing because he died, too. As a beast, no less, validating everything Felix ever hated and was terrified of about a person he once adored. He never gets closure with Dimitri, never is able to come to terms with what happened to him.

And through all of this rejection of self, Felix proves to himself that he is not valuable as an individual. The only aspect of himself that is worth anything is his strength, that is his singular point of individuality. There is no reason to form strong emotional relationships, no reason to serve anybody or anything. He roams around without purpose, killing because that’s all he really knows. Some of his endings seem to portray him as happier, or at least give a more hopeful outlook about his life, but I think that’s more of a broken man making the most out of his life. Not because he’s actually moved on or dealt with his trauma, but because he’s got nothing else. Although, I have to point out that it’s also obviously because we have to have nice ship bait in the endings because God forbid a mostly serious game about war forgets to pander and not give the drooling masses a happy ending. Not to say that I’d prefer he suffer his entire life, but it definitely cheapens the experience when his potential happiness has no context other than a single line. That said, his non-Azure Moon solo ending as well as the ones with Dorothea and Sylvain are the ones I feel work the best.

To tie this all up, let’s jump back to something I mentioned above as well as an aspect of “Epitaph” I really tried to highlight, Felix’s lack of closure with Dimitri is what ultimately ruins him. Dimitri is the most important turning point of his recovery in Azure Moon, so it makes sense that his death would have the opposite effect by changing him into an isolated, bitter person who kills without remorse and represses his emotions, even running from them. Felix becomes haunted by his actions and betrayal and by the constant question of why it wound up like this, all the while hating himself for feeling this way because he knows such questions are pointless. It’s a feedback loop of self hatred and violence because he knows nothing else, because he has nothing else. No place to go, nowhere to belong. The fear he expressed about what would become of him when there were no longer any battles to be fought is validated and he’s left hollow.

So, those are my thoughts on Felix. With that fic… Are you proposing an angst-ridden tragedy of trying to save Felix from himself only to realize it’s like blowing into a hurricane and falling further and further into the despair of watching sweet, beloved Felix succumb to his worst self? Because… yum…. I’m on board.

[redeemedrevolver]

BOCW Characters and their MBTIs

Summary:

The characters of BOCW take the MBTI Personality Test and find out their personality types. They were a bit shocked. Some can't believe it while others believe it fully.

A/N:

The link to the MBTI test is above if you still don't know your personality type and want to find out. It's a long test, but worth answering. More information about the personality will be in the parenthesis beside the character.

It was a bit hard taking the test because I had to picture myself as them answering it in their character.

These aren't exactly their MBTIs, but this is a depiction based on their overall character from the events in the games (Black Ops Series)

I hope I did my best!

Russell Adler (INTJ-A — "Architect")

Information about the personality type:

These thoughtful tacticians love perfecting the details of life, applying creativity and rationality to everything they do. Their inner world is often a private, complex one.

comprises 2.1% of the total world population (rare personality type)

highly analytical, creative, and logical

introverted and prefer to work alone

greater emphasis on logic and objective information rather than subjective emotions

like their world to feel controlled and ordered

Strengths:

self-confident and hard-working - believe in Bell most of the time

takes criticism well

most independent

rational

good at listening - evident with the number of dialogue options you have

Weaknesses:

lack of empathy - apparent when reading the paper regarding Bell's brainwashing and his persistence

romantic relationships are their Achilles heel - it doesn't mean they don't feel, but they don't want to express it to anyone

sometimes callous or insensitive

highly analytical towards everything

perfectionistic

—————

Alex Mason (ISTJ-T — "Logistician")

Information about the personality type:

These people tend to be reserved yet willful, with a rational outlook on life. They compose their actions carefully and carry them out with methodical purpose.

male ISTJs comprises 16% of the total world population (common personality type)

enjoy taking responsibility for their actions

take pride in the work they do

reserved, practical, and quiet

value loyalty in themselves and others

Strengths:

detail-oriented

observant - can be applied to his "excellent sniper" trait

orderly and organized

calm and practical

jacks-of-all-trades

Weaknesses:

stubborn - shown in the interrogation scene in BO1 for a few moments

tends to blame others

judgemental

insensitive

works always by the book - reluctant to bend or change the rules

—————

Frank Woods (ESTP-A — "Entrepreneur")

Information about the personality type:

They tend to be energetic and action-oriented, deftly navigating whatever is in front of them. They love uncovering life’s opportunities, whether socializing with others or in more personal pursuits.

comprises 4-10% of the total world population (fairly common personality type)

live in the moment and dive into the action

unique skill in noticing small changes - shift in facial expression, new clothing style, or broken habit

full of passion and energy complemented with a rational mind

prefer the practical over the abstract

Strengths:

gregarious, funny, and energetic - shown in CW

adaptable and resourceful

rational and practical - apparent in BO1 for his overall character

makes decisions based on logic and reason

sociable

Weaknesses:

risk-prone - most likely the person one will be paired to operations where things can go wrong quickly

defiant

easily bored

impulsive - true to his personality

too competitive

—————

Jason Hudson (ENTJ-A — "Commander")

Information about the personality type:

They are decisive people who love momentum and accomplishment. They gather information to construct their creative visions but rarely hesitate for long before acting on them.

comprises 1.8% of the total world population (2nd rarest personality type)

gifted with charisma and confidence

quick to see inefficiency and conceptualize new solutions to them

love a big or small challenge and overcoming them

dominant at the negotiating table

Strengths:

strong leadership skills - the overseer in BOCW

well-organized

good decision maker

assertive and outspoken

strategic thinkers

Weaknesses:

stubborn and dominant - shown in the scene where he talks to Bell about Lubyanka

impatient

intolerant

cold and ruthless - true to his nickname "Ice Cube"

poor handling of emotions

—————

Helen Park (INFJ-T — "Advocate")

Information about the personality type:

They tend to approach life with deep thoughtfulness and imagination. Their inner vision, personal values, and a quiet, principled version of humanism guide them in all things.

female INFJs comprises 1.6% of the total world population (rarest personality type)

thinks about deep topics and contemplates the meaning of life

has a deep sense of idealism and integrity, but aren’t idle dreamers

speak with great passion and conviction

soft-spoken and understated

Strengths:

sensitive to the needs of others

insightful

altruistic - use their strengths for the greater good

passionate - eagerness to capture Volkov in E. Berlin

creative

Weaknesses:

sensitive to criticism - may be shown after joking about her scar

reluctant to open up - shown with the scar scene with Lazar

prone to burnouts

dislikes confrontation

stubborn

—————

Eleazar "Lazar" Azoulay (ENFP-A — "Campaigner")

Information about the personality type:

These people tend to embrace big ideas and actions that reflect their sense of hope and goodwill toward others. Their vibrant energy can flow in many directions.

comprises 8.1% of the total world population (common personality type)

reads between the lines with curiosity and energy

see life as a big, complex puzzle where everything is connected through emotion

do best in situations where they have the freedom to be creative and innovative

spend a lot of time exploring social relationships

Strengths:

empathetic and caring - apparent and true in the Duga ending and after being saved in Cuba

fun and spontaneous - evident when talking to him and Sims

warm and enthusiastic

curious

observant - can be applied after the Cuba briefing about the LMG he and Sims are talking about

Weaknesses:

can be overly emotional

tends to get stressed out easily - can be apparent when being loud in E. Berlin and talking about Lubyanka

struggles to follow rules

disorganized

poor practical skills

—————

Lawrence Sims (ESFJ-A — "Consul")

Information about the personality type:

They are attentive and people-focused, and they enjoy taking part in their social community. Their achievements are guided by decisive values, and they willingly offer guidance to others.

comprises 12.3% of the total world population (common personality type)

continue to enjoy supporting their friends and loved ones

gain energy from interacting with other people

encourages other people to be their best

have a hard time believing anything bad about the people to whom they are close

Strengths:

practical and dependable - true to his character being in charge of logistics; you can trust him with anything related to gear requests

organized - can be seen writing in a ledger and making phone calls to everyone about the lists of equipment needed for an operation

sensitive and warm

conscientious

very loyal

Weaknesses:

sensitive to criticism - can be triggered in certain dialogues about Vietnam

too selfless and doesn't look after themselves

dislike change

approval-seeking

controlling

—————

Perseus (ENFJ-A — "Protagonist")

Information about the personality type:

These warm, forthright types love helping others, and they tend to have strong ideas and values. They back their perspective with the creative energy to achieve their goals.

comprises 2.5% of the total world population (3rd rarest personality type)

strong extraverts and enjoy spending time with other people

interested in devoting their time to others

radiate authenticity, concern, and altruism

unlikely to be afraid to take the slings and arrows while standing up for the people and ideas they believe in

Strengths:

encouraging

persuasive - apparent in the meeting scene during Bell's remembrance of him

wide social circle - can be his list of agents, whom he may have close ties with personally

charismatic

natural-born leaders

Weaknesses:

self-sacrificing - may be related to sacrificing half of Europe for his plans to expand the Soviet Union

overprotective

manipulative

indecisive

overly idealistic - can be apparent in the meeting scene in Bell's remembrance

—————

Dimitri Belikov (INFJ-A — "Advocate")

Information about the personality type:

INFJs are deeply concerned about their relations with individuals as well as the state of humanity at large. They are, in fact, sometimes mistaken for extroverts because they appear so outgoing and are so genuinely interested in people -- a product of the Feeling function they most readily show to the world.

male INFJs comprises 0.5-1% of the total world population (rarest personality type)

emotionally intimate and fulfilled with a chosen few

have the clearest insights of all the types into the motivations of others, for good and for evil

usually reserved but highly sensitive to how others feel

capable of taking their values and using them to bring about positive and lasting change

Strengths:

focused on the future

values close, deep relationships - evident with Charkov being his best friend, despite the needed betrayal for the CIA

not materialistic

enjoy looking good and taking care of their appearance

very sensitive and emotional

Weaknesses:

difficult to get to know

incredibly stubborn

has a rebel attitude - true to him being the mole of the KGB and working for the CIA for a decade

dislikes confrontation - may be true to be called to the central committee and talking to Kravchenko

avoiding the ordinary

—————

Greta Keller (ISTJ-A — "Logistician")

Information about the personality type:

They like strengthening their current relationships rather than seeking out new ones. These people tend to “play the hits” in their lives. They find joy and comfort in the things they know they like and rely on what worked or didn’t work in the past when making big decisions.

female ISFJs comprises 8% of the total world population (common personality type)

have a keen sense of right and wrong

enjoy order and organization in all areas of their lives

carefully plan things out well in advance

place a great deal of emphasis on traditions and laws

Strengths:

self-sufficient - evident when letting Bell take lead and leaving herself behind

realistic

persistent

trustworthy

thorough - apparent in her dialogues in the bar

Weaknesses:

judgmental

gets involved in win-lose situations - evident when captured by Volkov and almost snapped by the neck to death

have tendencies to believe that they're always right

subjective

uncomfortable expressing emotion or affection towards others

[dimiclaudeblaigan]

I'm glad you're talking about the whole fandom perception of Dimitri and Claude’s relationship thing, because a lot of time people say stuff that's just... wrong? Like I don't understand where they get stuff from.

Claude being a flirt/"experienced". Dimitri being hostile towards Claude. Dimitri not trusting Claude (and vice versa). Claude using Dimitri for his own gains.

Literally none of this is anywhere in 3H??? But a lot of the fandom (either inside the dmcl circle or just the general fandom) seems to have just... made assumptions about their dynamic without actually LOOKING at how they act around each other (or even just as general characters). Like you might would think Dimitri wouldn't like/trust Claude becaudr of how Claude acts or that Claude uses Dimitri if you just looked at their bare bones characters.

Really saps the enthusiasm to read from authors I don't already know get their characters right, because I want to read dmcl for... Dimitri and Claude’s relationship, not Dmitri and Clawd know ehat I mean?

I don't either. I think it's more what they want him to be like versus what he's actually like. For their relationship, same thing.

I wouldn't be surprised if some of these people just didn't play both routes, some of them didn't like one of the two or some just wanted to slap on their kinks for them.

Normally I don't mind when people just have wild perceptions as long as they don't downplay other people's views, but a lot of them from what I've seen do downplay other people's views and treat their views are The Right View. In general that's a huge problem in Houses' fandom, but with dmcl it's especially tiring because I want to enjoy a ship I really love (probably more than any other ship out there at this point), but then I see people who treat the characters like they didn't even play the game.

If people mention in a fic they wrote like, this is ooc because I just want to write this, that's fine. I don't care what people want to see happen and write in their fics. Unfortunately it seems like the "my way or the highway" people got a bunch of other people to go along with their "this is how this ship actually is" ideas and now there's a bunch of people like that. It really doesn't help when some of them as seen as "fandom authority" in the respective ship, so whatever they like people go along with (and yeah, that's unfortunately a big problem in the dmcl fandom).

Personally I never write characters outside of their actual behavior. Like, sure, I personally hate EdeIgard, but when writing Dimitri I understand that he has mixed feelings because they're step siblings and he cared about her as kids. Even if he's my favorite character, I wouldn't want to write him as totally bonkers levels of ooc so he could do what I wish would happen and things like that.

Modern AUs and stuff it's mostly whatever and a free for all so I never really minded those. That's kind of a situation where you can just let your creative outlet do the writing and alter things as needed (I myself prefer changes as long as they can fit somehow into the character/their story and readers can be like oh hey yeah I could see that, so I do that for my own writing). It's when I see canon based concepts where for some reason they make the characters have this strained relationship that they never had, and it didn't come from canon so I guess somewhere along the way someone wanted to write their relationship their own way and it just... got picked up on?

My main annoyance is that the most popular idea of their relationship seems to be a very toxic, unhealthy relationship. That's just... not my idea of loving this ship lol. If I wanted that, they just wouldn't be the ship I would go for. Even in Dimitri's darkest moments, he wouldn't kill Claude just after announcing he wanted any enemies/anyone who stood in their way killed.

Other than one or two people having that as their determined writing/viewpoint of the ship and people taking to it and it becoming popular, I really don't know how else that general view of them got like it is.

I just wish people wouldn't shove it in other people's faces and laugh at other shippers who view the characters/relationship differently basing off what they see in canon (which yes, I have outright seen on Twitter), acting like it's/they're stupid. Mind you, it's always the people who have warped perceptions of the characters/their relationship who say things like that and push others away.

Kind of dryly ironic. Some of the people who enjoy the toxic relationship perception are in fact toxic people. Do I know this from experience? Why yes actually. Most unfortunately. 😒

[four-loose-screws]

An Interview with Mr. Toshiyuki Toyonaga about Fire Emblem (Claude‘s Japanese VA), Pg. 5

Creating Claude’s Image From The Games Leading Up To Three Houses

After you accepted the offer, what kind of character did you imagine your role to be?

Toyonaga      Before recording, I was shown script and character information, rough sketches, the other characters, the casting decisions, and other documents. The character that I was going to play was Claude von Riegan, head of the Golden Deer class. He was one of three class heads, meaning his main role was as a leader. From there, I imagined myself playing an FE game while reading the script, and thought that this seems like the type of game that will have you choose from one of the three class leaders.

So that was the result of your analysis through the lens of an FE fan?

Toyonaga      Yes, it was the result of my analysis. Laughs. I knew that he’d become a chosen one. My first impression of the academy phase was that Dimitri is a knight, has the airs of a prince, and fills the role of a righteous ruler,* Edelgard is the lone woman of the group, and very refined, and Claude is the most aloof of the three. They aren’t a perfect triangle, but I thought it was characteristic of FE.

They’re three rivals, aren’t they.

Toyonaga      In their initial battles, I thought Claude seemed like the life of the party, and the most easy-going one. But as the latter part of the academy phase developed, and his true motives and intentions became clear, he didn’t seem like that much of an easy-going character… so I thought it was best to strike a balance between his aloofness and the feeling that you don’t know what he is thinking.

That is a very good balance… But then five years passes, and the situation changes.

Toyonaga      About the time skip. As I was reading the script, I thought, ‘It’s getting dark! This is Fire Emblem!’ Laughs. The first time the game pulled at my heartstrings was at the beginning of part two, when all of the classmates reunite in Chapter 13. As each turn passed and everyone appeared one-by-one… That scene was so difficult to perform. Because I’ve played previous games in the series, I was able to picture it just by reading the script.

Did you imagine them joining the battle from off-screen...!? Laughs.

Toyonaga       Yes, I did! Because of that, it was easy to imagine the scene and perform it. The only thing I worried about was how much Claude had changed in five years since the Academy Phase. In the end, I accepted that his impression had changed a lot in many ways, but to be honest, I also feel that he didn’t change. I don’t think that I changed much in the five years between my late teens and early twenties, either.

Many don’t.

Toyonaga      But, because of both Lady Rhea’s and his teacher’s difficult situations, when you think of the war that ravaged all of Fodlan for five years, he probably had to fight a lot of difficult battles.

He also had a responsibility to bear as a leader of the Leicester Alliance.

Toyonaga      Yes. I thought that I needed to define his identity more. During the Academy Phase, he was sneaking around to investigate the Church of Seiros and Garreg Mach, but I questioned if he should be hiding so much. I decided to give off the sense that he had changed himself to have a secret life for a duty of his, and then implied that he revealed himself a bit during the five year skip.

We think your performance was full of expertly executed adjustments. And for long-time fans, who have a clear image of what FE characters are like, you were able to define Claude as a character who fits that image.

Toyonaga      I agree. As someone who was granted an opportunity to be a voice actor for FE, the one thing I wanted to portray to those who like the series is the sense that the game isn’t a performance, but a realistic battlefield. FE is of course fiction, but at its core, I wanted the game to feel like the events really happened in history, and the characters were real people.

Creating a Realistic Sense of War and the Complexities of the Tension During the Five Year Gap

The Similarities and Differences Between Claude and Toyōdo

In what ways do you think you are similar to Claude, and in what ways do you think you are different?

Toyonaga      I think we’re very similar in that we can both connect to others without any sense of favoritism or discrimation, and in his “ideal” that he expresses after fighting against Dimitri and Edelgard for five years: “To broaden Fodlan’s views, which currently knows nothing of the other nations, so anyone can freely travel to between each land without descriminaition, and obtain the true meaning of freedom.” Compared to Dimitri and Edelgard’s senses of duty, Claude’s feelings were able to resonate the best with me. When I first read them, I thought, “I think so too!”

The line where he says that he wants to break the barrier between Fodlan and the other nations really seems so full of emotion, doesn’t it?

Toyonaga       The only difference is that he likes parties, and he always wants to throw a party for any little reason. I really like staying at home, so I was always thinking... ‘You don’t have to party that much��’ Laughs.

He does say he wants to party a lot.

Toyonaga      He does. I’m the type of person who wants to go home right away. So that’s where we’re different. Laughs.

(above) As Claude grew between the ages of 17 to 23, he earned the nickname “The Master Tactician.”** Mr. Toyonaga, who prefers strategy games over action games, likely resonated with Claude over this fact as well. 

*T/N: The Japanese used here is “Oudou,” which you can find my detailed definition and explanation of here.

**T/N: Fun fact: a very literal translation of this nickname of Claude’s in the Japanese is “The Fierce Tabletop God.”

[dmclemblems]

Hi there! I never got the time/chance to send you a message; it's not really a question either it's just to say thank you for all your asks and Claude talks. I was feeling every lonely with all my feelings about how bad Hopes!Claude was written (as a writer myself) and like a bit bemused by how no one dared to say it was bad writing because they didn't want to hurt anyone - or be insulted or called racists? - but after I found your blog I felt less lonely.

Also my humble opinion about all this is that people would be less intense about it if they remember that it's NOT a FE game but a Warrior game and that they have never been good with plots (as a Hyrule warrior fan...I almost miss the first one; it was more obivous that it was not to be considered canon). People see very complex character dev when it's just...laziness. Anyway I admire your patience and dedication, keep the good job! don't lose faith. Have a great day.

Hi!

I'm glad the discussions on this blog have made you feel better about your feelings!

Personally I think there's a big line between criticizing writing for being poorly handled and hurting people when discussing those things. For instance, a big reason I started talking about it here is because whenever I saw people discussing it on Twitter, there were a lot of insults going around and passive aggressive comments in people's opinions who liked GW Claude about people who didn't. It's one thing to enjoy something that others didn't enjoy, but it's another to, instead of discussing it factually, putting other fans down for how they felt while playing that route. I never felt like trying to talk about my opinions regarding GW was safe there as far as how people would react to it.

I was actually taking a break from Tumblr prior to coming back and talking a lot about Three Hopes, but I started getting a lot of new followers when I came back who wanted to discuss it with me and it was really nice that I had people to talk about it with. Unfortunately the aforementioned Twitter users don't seem to be people who want to actually discuss and instead prefer to just say non-GW fans aren't real Claude fans, don't understand him, etc.

If people like GW Claude that's their deal, and I don't dislike people for that. What I dislike is people putting down their friends, followers, mutuals, other fans, what have you in passive aggressive posts and acting like anyone else who doesn't things their way is just stupid or doesn't understand the writing.

As for the racism aspect, thankfully most people have understood it's not the players but the writing that has very unfortunate racist undertones. Players criticize it for that too, so I'm at least glad that the majority of players noticed that were a very consistent pattern going on with Almyrans and that, regardless of whether or not people like this portrayal of Claude, saw the portrayal of Almyrans as a whole as one of GW's biggest issues.

One of the reasons a lot of people keep taking Hopes Claude as the true canon is because they refer to the old interview where the devs said they intended to make a little more shady, essentially. My problem with that is that in GW, he's a lot more than a little bit more underhanded, and he's definitely not just "morally ambiguous Claude". He's a total wreck of a character that didn't make sense even within the story's own universe, even if you don't include Houses Claude as a comparison. If you do compare him to Houses Claude, it's a whole other can of worms to add if you're going to say "that's how he was always meant to be", because no, it's not. It's "what he was meant to be" but five hundred times worse and dumber. The dumber part is a huge factor in disproving that Hopes Claude is what Houses Claude was originally going to be.

All around, the story was just very messy and as I've mentioned before, Claude was written to be dragged around for the sake of the plot, whereas Dimitri in AG was true to his character and the plot centered around him rather than him being a character that was dragged around by the whims of the plot.

You're right that it's a Warriors game and not meant to be viewed as canon, but unfortunately people are going to keep waving that old interview in our faces and insist that it proves Hopes Claude is canon. There was a different writing team for this game with iirc only a few of them from the original game, so of course things would come out a bit different, but since it was a Warriors game they could kind of just... do whatever for a story and not mean for it to have any impact on Houses.

Thankfully I found lots of nonnies (or well, they found me/my blog!) who wanted to talk about their feelings about GW too, and it's been nice to be able to talk about it and see that a lot of other people had the same issues with it that I did. I also don't mind if people disagree with me or if I disagree with some things from my nonnies, as long as people want to actually talk about it politely and have a critically thought out conversation. Not, you know, "my opinion is different from yours and therefore you're wrong". We've even discussed other things like AG and Ashe & Lonato throughout all the asks, so there's been a lot of conversation here! I hope to have more conversations about Houses and maybe Hopes in the future, or even Engage someday and maybe even some older games.

Sorry this is such a late reply! I am Snail.™

I hope you have had great days since sending this and will continue having great days!

[thegoldenlily]

The lack of accountability in the books has always been my problem with Adrian. Adrian tells Sydney he did things for the wrong reasons when he was with Rose, true, but he never owns up to being abusive to Rose. Rose did cheat on him, but the books highlighted that as a bad thing; Adrian acted entitled to her love then subsequently emotionally abused and manipulated her into thinking she wasn't fair to him so she would stay with him. And no one even confronted him about that in either series.

Honestly, that is more than fair. I love VA and BL and I do love Richelle, I could never have created the worlds she has, but I do find a lot of things with the books frustrating. The lack of accountability is definitely one of them!

Adrian was not a good guy in VA. I have a post explaining why I believe he acts the way he does in VA, what he's experienced to put him into the mindset he is in. It is not at all a justification for his actions, just something I think may give some more understanding to his character. This being said, it disappointed me that he and Rose rekindle a friendship by the end of TRC but we never get to see the apology and discussion that lead to that. I personally prefer to live in my Chaotic Duo AU where Rose and Adrian were only ever friends, but in the actual series I would have liked to see some accountability, like you mentioned.

I think it can be so difficult when dealing with characters who have suffered abuse (both Rose and Adrian). They both needed professional help and therapy to work through their respective PTSD and mental health challenges. I like to imagine that both Rose and Adrian did get the help they needed and are actively working on themselves, and this lead to a mutual discussion between them where Adrian apologized for his actions but also recognized Rose has every right not to forgive him and that she has done him a courtesy by hearing him out.

Of course, Rose also did manipulative things back to Adrian. They were both very toxic for each other and towards each other. But when we think about the context, Rose is a freshly turned 18 year old woman who has suffered a major trauma and when she comes back from Russia, she has survived a long period of abuse at the hands of (a different version of) her former lover and mentor. That context is important. Rose was not in the headspace for a relationship, Adrian was gross for trying (gross is an understatement). I don't think it's ever directly said but I feel Rose kind of uses Adrian as a distraction, something to take her mind off of her traumas and try to refocus? Then when Dimitri comes back and rejects her, I think she keeps up with Adrian because of that trauma and distraction and also...it would feel nice to feel wanted.

LS came out in 2010, I think TRC came out in 2015. Honestly, there was not a lot of talk in mainstream media about therapy, mental health, or trauma at this time. I have noticed in recent years that the casual discussion of mental health, therapy, etc has astronomically increased. It's amazing to see. Popular media is now including these important things in story. It's normal for shows and books to discuss mental health nowadays, it wasn't even a few short years ago. I think in the books there is a very gaping need for further exploration of mental health. It's unsatisfying to not see it addressed, but I guess I can understand some of the context of the time when these books did come out.

I think if VA and BL were written today they would be very different books, which isn't a bad thing. I think there'd be more freedom to explore the mental health aspects.

All of this is boiling down to me essentially saying that Adrian, I truly believe, needed to receive professional mental health help and therapy. I think that would've helped him unpack his actions and finally take real responsibility for his decisions and his words.

I think he should've been confronted, but I'm not sure if he'd truly be able to digest anything until he received the help he needs.

[erinhime83]

Since APPARENTLY I did the designs all wrong (I won’t lie - doing  my own design of Evangelia was sort of a thinly veiled attempted to get @callistochan87 to redesign her herself.  >.>), I figured I’d make it my life mission this week to go through and, like, fix them.  Partially because in my fuming about finding out that two of the people were talking about this behind my back, I kept giving myself ideas.  >.<

I am pleasantly pleased with the design that @callistochan87 did for Evania/Evangelia, although I’m worried how much is actually influenced by my design and how much she actually decided to do on her own.  *shrug*  I just like the simplicity of it and how it does make her look like a goddess.  I kept forgetting to add in the pieces in front of her ears, lol.

Antigonus I did fiddle with a little bit.  Mostly, @callistochan87 mentioned that she thought it was funny having this super old guy traveling with a bunch of teenagers, and she wondered why I didn’t just...make someone new.  Well, mostly because I didn’t want to, and mostly because when she did create someone new when I decided the Guides were supposed to be younger, it felt...wrong. 

SO, I decided to age him down a little.  Which I suppose sort of defeats the purpose of @callistochan87 creating another character when I wanted to do the same, but ignore that.  He basically has the same backstory - he was the youngest Guide of the previous generation.  He’s the heir of the empire, being the Emperor’s nephew, and now that his Guide duties are over, he’s preparing to take over the Empire.  EXCEPT, the idiot new Guide managed to get himself killed, so Antigonus is temporarily taking over the duties as they try to find someone else to take over.  BUT THEN GUESS WHAT?  He’s about 35, so while he’s old, he’s not stupidly older than than, and is sort of more of a chaperone than anything else.

His outfit come from an old one @callistochan87 designed, and I figure it’s just, like, a traveling outfit?  idk

Freyja...omg, Freyja.  She caused most of my strife.  Like, I honestly didn’t change THAT MUCH of her design, just sort of little piddly stuff to make it look more visually appealing, but APPARENTLY, that was still bad.  I stewed and hemmed and hawed on this for quite a while, annoyed before it hit me - this is a a redesign.  Shizuka sort of went back to her roots.  Why couldn’t Freyja as well?

(And yes, I realize I was in the wrong, but like I said, I hadn’t changed her that much from her last design, and, well, these were done years ago so I sort of...forgot that she didn’t originally look like that.  >.<)

And I figured, ya know, since I had minorly changed Freyja and she didn’t like that, I had better change Desiree, too, because I drastically changed her.  I don’t care what @swankifiedcos says about this one, I am IN LOVE with her outfit.  <3  Her hair, though, was inspired by a recent picture of @swankifiedcos of her hair between dye jobs where it was pink at the tips and she looked SO PRETTY.  Sure, Desiree is brunette, not blond, but I like that look on her so much I wanted to recreate it somewhat, and she looks so nice! 

Frejya, well, I did sort of tweek her design slightly to what @callistochan87 did, mostly giving her cold shoulder sleeves as a sort of call back to her old sleeves.  I won’t lie - I did attempt to do them again and failed spectacularly.  Sorry.  But apparently she approves of this sleeve, so that’s...one less problem for me to deal with.  XD   Just so you know, I gave her hearts rather than flowers merely because I can’t draw flowers.  Consider it a style thing.  Like, in reality, she has flowers, but i just draw them as hearts.  I am SHOCKED that I was able to make the feathers as nice as I did, though!  This look makes SO MUCH more sense than the way we used to draw it.  Me likely. 

(Also, you might be thinking that she’s still wearing the pants.  I originally indended that, with the thought that she comes from a cold kindgom, but then decided they’re actually shorts that she ended up added to her outfit for modesty sake, much like Sethos did with his shirt.  :P)

I really wanted to redo Nannin’s outfit as well, but I’m sorry - I’m lazy, and her original outfit is both too detailed and too simple.  So I just made her top layer a darker pink, and I like it better.  Also made her a blond again with the idea that the people of Melohdia like like normal ass humans, and the Chosen have colored hair, and the Guides have unnatural colored eyes, which is how people can tell they’re Guides.

Geoffrey (I’m thinking of renaming him Geauffery, because that’s how I prenounce it in my head) over there gets a new design as well because I didn’t care for his other one.  >.<  Also, decided, as much as I like the name Dimitri Kaminiski, I;m going to go ahead and make him Owen again.  Mostly because he’s sort of shifted more into being Owen.  I was sort of going with this old look while making it look a little more medieval, and I like it.  I also decided he’s not a soothsayer, but rather a magician.mage.

Which is sort of similar to Evangelia’s power, but not quite.  She uses the power of miracles, whereas he uses actual magic.  Its sort of like how Shizuka and Freyja’s power is similar, but Frejya’s is a little weaker.  (Shizuka has mastery over all weapons, whereas Freyja just has mastery over bludgeoning people with a huge ass axe.  But she has the benefit of also having  magic, whereas Shizuka can just use some fire magic.)

The next design is where it get all long and involved.  Basically as I was stewing about having my feelings hurt and how I was going to hide everything in my annoyance, I THINK I was briefly reminded of the last time I screwed up and within that instance a brilliant idea came to me, mostly because I needed more villains.  

I remember I really like Astrid’s design, but looking back, I’m sort of confused as to why?  It doesn’t look at all better than Freyja’s.  >.<  Anyway, the thought is simple - when the Chosen are originally yanked into Melohdia, Nuncio replaces one of them with one of his own that would be easily manipulated.  Why Freyja, you ask?  Plot reasons, since it does help explain the whole Nannin thing a lot better.  The thing is, though, that Ariadne and Atalo sort of find out and drag Freyja in as well, except she ends up in Baldernan rather than Azibo with the rest of the Chosen.

So the Chosen are in Azibo thinking Astrid is one of them, except they don’t really vibe with her that well.  They just figure it’s because they can’t like everyone, and ignore it.  Astrid herself doesn’t really suspect anything.  But then they travel to Baldurnan and find Freyja there, who they do vibe with very well, and they find out that Astrid is a fake. 

Which would be all fine and well.  Even Freyja’s willing to give the girl a chance because, hey, it’s not her fault she was falsely brought into this world with no purpose.  Except Astrid is a spoiled bitch and takes it as an affront that they would even want to include Freyja at all.  So she just sort of runs off and Nuncio catches up to her, and convinces her that she’s the real one, and and she goes around antagonizing the group from time to time.  They think she’s in league with Atalo at first until they find out of the truth.

NEW IDEA.  I actually had this very vague idea while musing around, but @callistochan87 had another idea that was similar enough that I can change things to make it work WAY better.  So, the new idea is mostly that Nuncio pulls Astrid into Melohdia way before the others.  The people are rather confused, certainly, but it’s not 100% unheard of one Chosen being brought over.  So she’s treated like something of a god and spoiled further, and Nuncio pretty much convinces her that she’s the soul savior of Melohdia. He assigns Thor to be her Guide, although he’s just some Random Dude (because I decided that matching genders to the Chosen is sort of weird, so Nannin is a full Guide now).

BUT Ariadne and Atalo end up pulling the REAL Chosen a month or so later, which REALLY pull the people for a loop, and they realize that Astrid is a fake once they realize that Thor isn’t a real Guide and that Nannin claims Freyja.  The group attempts to assimilate Astrid in with them, because they realize it’s not HER fault all this happened, but since she’s a fake Chosen AND a narcissistic bitch, they end up not viving all that well, and she ends up running away in anger and embarrassment.

Nuncio sort of blames the whole thing on Atalo somehow, since the people forgot that Ariadne is the only one who can pull true Chosen into the world, mostly to save face.

Astrid and Thor do end up joining with Atalo for a little bit, because he’s trying to be sympathetic to her as well, but their goals aren’t really the same.  She does prove to be a major threat to the group because she DOES have the power of a Chosen, although they’re sort of weak.  

Her real name is Katelyn Davis, and she’s pretty much the opposite of the other Chosen.  She’s a complete social butterfly, the sort to think the world revolves around her.  She’s not happy unless she’s around people, whereas the other Chosen are pretty much introverted and would prefer to keep to themselves. 

Her Guide’s name is Thor (I keep calling him that in my head, I think because of Frejya being named after a god), and he is, in fact, a true Guide.  It’s just that he’s not a very good one, nor is he a good person.  He’s a bandit and delights in the misfortunes of others.  The other Guides avoided him at all costs, and wasn’t sure why he was chosen to be a Guide.  He goes off with Astrid after they kick him out of the group when Freyja chooses Nannin over him.  (The two of them became close in the month Frejya was stuck there on her own, so of course she’d want to have her stay with her.)

The last picture was just me giving them their original hair colors just for the hell of it, and now I’m torn.  >.<  Because I like these as well.  I mean, I like the idea of the colored hair being how you can tell they’re the Chosen, BUT I also, you know, like the original colors BECAUSE they are the original colors.  >.<