#SS is the Billy route

[randomnameless]

I feel bad for CF!Billy and the Eagles. Being a pawn with a low sense of self sound like a very sad and meaningless life.

If they don't realise it then it's not bad, ignorance is a bliss after all!

That's why I'm pretty sure Linhardt will have an "accident" further on in Tru Piss's future - because he asks himself questions, and if that stunt with Indech was any indication, he's not above disobeying his Lord and doesn't believe in her IdEaLs at all, to sate his own curiosity (which also means he let an enemy go, and if this game had the realism of FE4's 2nd gen, in 20 years Indech and Macuil will return to Fodlan with an army and lay waste to Supreme Leader's Empire, if only to recover their siblings).

And this is why the playable epilogue in SS is slept upon, but ultimately very important - for sure the player might want their avatar to open a bakery and bake banana pies but Billy's character is one who wants to teach and help people, so they are asked if they want to be the new leader of Fodlan.

Of course events happen, but they cement Billy's choice, they will become the leader of Fodlan because it is something they accepted. Of course Hresvelg Tea means we can't have the same cutscene Alear has at the end of their game, but imo, it's more or less the same situation (with more lands to look over), Billy takes over their mentor's role.

idk if you've watched it, but if you want an anime/light novel about someone who thought he was a weapon then learns to be a human and ultimately reverts to being a souless/mindless weapon I suggest Katanagatari, it's a bit long (12 episodes of around 1h each!) but it's really nice!

[raxistaicho]

"God's gonna get Edelgard for this!"

Yup, we sure have gone there!

So a while, RandomNameless got an anon ask:

Insane that Sothis can watch Billy slaughter her children and subjugate Fodlan in twu piss, and still say she adores him. The devs were drinking the El Grey that day.

You know it's RN because the stupid nicknames.

So yeah, Anon's just angrily ranting that Sothis doesn't care about her daughter which established a false religion, made people suffer for a millennia, and tried to violate the laws of life and death, which, when Ashera did it in Radiant Dawn, was treated by Caineghis as an utter betrayal of her supposed core attribute of order.

“A blasphemy, you mean! How could the goddess of order violate the most fundamental natural law?”

Stay salty, anon.

RN herself weighs in on it next. I'm gonna let her go on a bit because the actual argument she's making needs to be stated in full.

That's what baffled me in Tru Piss lol, and first route bias etc etc meant Sothis was unsalvageable given how it became painfully obvious, even for someone who didn't complete the other routes, that the goddess Rhea calls "mother" is Sothis herself ! Bear in mind Hresvelg Grey meant Sothis couldn't interact with the cast bar Billy, will never talk to her relatives and will never have any influence on the plot. It's as if Elbert only talk to Mark, while Eliwood is still frantically looking for him, and Mark never tells Eli where his dad is.

So here, RN is misunderstanding the point of Sothis in the broader narrative. Yes, Sothis happens to be Rhea's mother, but "being Rhea's mom" isn't her role in the story. RN, because she's a huge fan of the Nabateans, wants the story to be more about the Nabateans, but it really isn't.

See, there's a reason the Agarthans are dispatched in one chapter in all routes and are never the final bosses or the true villains of the story: the story isn't about them. They're important to its background, but they're important for what they represent and what they do, not who they are. The Nabateans are the same.

Ultimately, the story of Three Houses is a tale of the conflicts between mortals and the divine, and the differing ideologies espoused by those who represent those sides. Edelgard firmly represents the will of mortal humans. Rhea, her antithesis, represents the desire of the divine to watch over mortals. Rhea, unlike her species is important because she is Edelgard's opposite. Thales, who might have been Rhea's opposite, is not as important because he isn't: Edelgard already serves that role. Dimitri leans more toward the necessity of the divine in human affairs, while Claude leans more toward the self-governance of humans while using the divine when necessary. There's a reason Claude sides with the Empire when he must, and the church only when he can control it for the purposes of promoting humanism.

Byleth is smack in the middle, fitting their dual-nature as both human and god, but they must choose a side in the end. In CF, they fully embrace the human, while in SS they fully embrace the god. VW and AM are something more in the middle.

Sothis is similar in a way, as a being who was once a god, died, came back as something less than a god, and chooses to sacrifice her powers to Byleth, thus remaining something less than a god. Sothis willingly chooses not to resume her role as the goddess (in Zahras when she decides to give her powers to Byleth rather than taking Byleth's body as her own in order to escape), and so her role in the story is not to be the goddess or Rhea's mother, but to be Byleth's guide, setting them at the start of their path and then departing so they might make the rest of the way.

But Rhea BaD BaD BaD,

And now we dip into the anti-Rhea conspiracy theory...

so her mother cannot take over Billy (something she canonically does in Nopes) to save her,

Here's another fact RN can't accept - and she calls Sothis a horrible mother for it - but Sothis doesn't approve of Rhea. Furthermore, Rhea's downfall in CF is almost entirely of her own making. She set the groundwork for Fodlan's oppressive social system, she refuses to allow it to be reformed, and she never questions why anyone would disagree with her. Because, for Rhea, reforming the church and Fodlan means resurrecting Sothis and submitting Fodlan to her divine rule, which becomes impossible without her church (it's already impossible because Sothis knows her time as the goddess is over and she's respecting the laws of life and death, but still).

and to erase Supreme Leader who hilariously tells everyone she doesn't exist.

It's not even that "hilarious". Edelgard's right in that the goddess worshipped by the Church of Seiros no longer exists: she's dead, and when she had the chance to come back, she chose not to. The Church of Seiros might worship a being with the same name as the gremlin in Byleth's head, but Sothis the head-gremlin and Sothis the goddess are a whole life apart from one another, and the Sothis we know chooses to remain the former.

But now we get to the real meat of this post.

Fantasy Invader.

Oh yeah!

I think this is a translation issue as Japanese Sothis doesn't say that "the stone in your chest is gone," she says "the stone in your chest...shattered."

Teaspoon Translations has it as "crumbled away" and has no ellipse, but who am I to question Fantasy Invader trying to make things look as sad as possible?

It broke, which would mean something considering it's supposedly her heart.

We bwoke Sothis's heart by killing poor baby Whea T_T

What's more, the game changed Byleth's Nirvana class to Enlightened One, and part of achieving Nirvana is purging oneself of attachments that might cloud your judgement.

But only if it's Edelgard. If it's Dimitri or Rhea, attach yourself as hard as possible in the hope they come around.

Also, in the context of Three Houses, detachment is a bad thing. Byleth grows out of being the Ashen Demon through attachment to others. Edelgard, Dimitri, and Claude become their best selves when they open up and allow others in. Attachment is a good thing in Three Houses.

Ergo, by playing Safflower (the route being named after a type of thistle, a path of thorns if you will)

Ah, yes, I remember that one. It wasn't very good.

the player breaks Sothis's heart,

Oh he actually just said, "you break her heart :("

the thing that holds her essence,

No, because by then Byleth held her essence. Not the crude, physical matter Rhea shoved into their chest.

You'd think the person who goes all-in on religious symbolism would value the eternal soul over the ephemeral body.

causing it to seemingly disappear,

Except it doesn't? Her essence, I mean, not the Crest Stone. That's what the S support is for.

But sadly, Fantasy Invader has a way to explain that away.

It's a really bad way, but a bad way is still a way!

yet she leaves behind the Sothis you knew.

I'm sorry, what. Nothing indicates the Sothis from her S support is some... bizarre cast-off shadow of her.

Sothis, the real Sothis, abandons Byleth at the end of Safflower, leaving behind any attachment she once held as Byleth walked down the path of the Beast as per Dimitri's comment.

I'm sorry, what. Is it too much to ask that FI provide some evidence for this claim? I mean actual evidence, not his headcanon derived from his poor attempts at analyzing Buddhist symbolism.

Wouldn't leaving behind a part of herself to remain with Byleth go against this whole no attachments thing? That's a pretty big attachment! And if Sothis rejected Byleth, why would she do that? She can't just make a clean break from Byleth, she has to literally detach the parts of her... soul... personality, that care for them? Wouldn't that make her an incomplete being? It was a bad thing in the Tellius games when Ashunera split her soul into parts!

Combine this with the implications Sothis can come back if she recreates her body,

You know, that thing she demonstrates no ability to do! If Sothis could just make herself another meat puppet to incarnate into, Rhea wouldn't have had to spend a millennia trying and failing to do that for her.

and why Nemesis needed to kill her when she was asleep,

Because she would have defended herself and killed him if she wasn't? He didn't have a Relic or a Crest back then, he was just a bandit trying to kill the most powerful Nabatean in the world.

What, is FI trying to imply Sothis's soul just got stuck asleep because she died asleep and that's why she never bothered to come back the first time she died?

and you get an idea what's going to happen when that occurs as well as another piece of evidence Edelgard is an Agarthan in all but name.

And there we go, "God's gonna get Edelgard for this!" Sothis will totally self-restore herself at some unknown period of time in the future, kill Bad Red Lady, and make everything right.

Well if that's the case, why do you bother getting upset at anything Byleth does, FI? Just be like those Christians who are sure Jesus is coming back any day now and he'll fix everything on Earth when he does.

So yeah, yet more salty desperate self-assurance that Edelgard's totally gonna lose the minute the credits start, trust me bro.

I mean seriously, if her detractors are so certain she'll fail, why bother getting upset when she wins? It really makes you think.

[amandachristine92]

One Game Below .500

With the Atlanta Braves sweeping the New York Yankees in this recent series, all hope is lost in the Yankees making the postseason, even in a wild-card spot.

Game one of this series started as promising with the Yankees scoring first in the first inning. That inning began with 3B Isiah Kiner-Falefa in the leadoff spot getting a base hit. IKF would score on CF Harrison Bader's groundout to SS Orlando Arcia to 1B Matt Olson.

Usually when the Yankees score first in a game, they go on to win it. This game would end differently. In the bottom of the first inning, 3B Austin Riley hit a solo home run off of RHP Clarke Schmidt to tie the game 1-1.

Schmidt was born and raised in Georgia and grew up a Braves fan. He had over 50 family members and friends in attendance that night. You would think that would motivate him to pitch well, but the Baseball Gods would have other plans.

In the top of the second inning, IFK hit an RBI single, giving the lead back to the Yankees 2-1. In trying to stretch a single into a double, IFK overslid on second base and was tagged out for the third out.

At the bottom of the second inning, 2B Nicky Lopez hit a two-run RBI single, making it 3-2 Braves. After that, CF Michael Harris II drove in Lopez with a single of his own, making it 4-2 Braves.

Fast forward to the bottom of the third inning, LF Eddie Rosario hit a two-run single, driving in C Travis d'Arnaud and DH Marcell Ozuna. It was 6-2 Braves.

The implosion of Schmidt continued when Arcia and Lopez both hit RBI singles, making it 8-2 Braves.

When the bottom of the sixth inning rolled around, relief pitcher Albert Abreu threw a wild pitch in the dirt, causing Riley to score. It was 9-2 Braves.

In the bottom of the eighth inning, Rosario hit a two-run home run, making it 11-2 Braves.

In the top of the ninth inning, SS Anthony Volpe hit an RBI triple, scoring PH for 1B DJ LeMahieu, Billy McKinney. This would be the last time not only in this game, but in this series that the Yankees would score any runs. It was a 11-3 final in game one.

The Yankees would be shut out and held to one hit in game two by RHP Bryce Elder. LeMahieu was the player with the one hit and the Yankees lost 5-0.

RHP Luis Severino found his groove in between giving up two home runs to Ozuna (three-run home run in the bottom of the first inning) and RF Ronald Acuña, Jr. (two-run home run in the bottom of the fourth inning), respectively.

Severino wasn’t as horrible as he has been for most of this season, but he wasn’t good enough to win this game. The lack of offensive by the Yankees didn’t help, either.

In game three, the Yankees would be shut out once again, but RHP Charlie Morton this time. The Yankees elected to use youngster Randy Vásquez to start/open this game.

Vásquez pitched well, making only one mistake to Rosario, who hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the second inning. That was the only time the Braves would score in this game, so the final score was 2-0 Braves.

A side not of game three was that relief pitcher Michael King ate up some innings after Vásquez went 3.1 innings. King went nearly four innings at 3.2 innings.

There have been talks of King being used as a starter due to the injuries and ineffectiveness of the starting rotation. Maybe this last game was a good test for King just in case the Yankees decide to go that route.

I don’t think that the Yankees should go through with this because of what happened to former pitcher Joba Chamberlain during his time with the Yankees.

The Yankees had Chamberlain go back and forth being used out of the bullpen and as a starter. These Joba rules messed with Chamberlain’s game and pitching ability.

He was never the same pitcher during the rest of his time with Yankees and even when he departed from the organization.

Fingers crossed that the Yankees come up with something else in lieu of using King as a starter.

[dmclemblems]

#but then when it can't justify her her retorts devolve into no u and while it's basically a meme it's also totally spot on?

Hahaha i laughed because it's totally that. During the "parley" with Dimitri? She doesn't know how to answer so she talks about something else.

I think her silver medal is with Rhea though, in the same "no u" map. Earlier she told Billy Rhea manipulated humans to put dragons on top, and then in their battle quote Rhea is all "your ancestor saved and protected me. I'm so sad I have to fight his descendant" but Edel, instead of reconsidering all of her "sekrit" knowledge and how maybe if Wilhelm had just be a pawn Rhea wouldn't be so sad, answers with "lol i'm not going to die to you".

CF is the beast route because it's peak comedy.

Localization/translation discussion... 👀

Yeah, I noticed that as well in AM. The only times she directly responded to him, he always had a comeback and she didn't really justify herself so much as explain what she was doing. When she tried, like I said, he had a proper comeback and it got to the point that he gave up because she just wasn't listening.

The thing that frustrates me most about that conversation is precisely that though - she doesn't listen when faced with the truth. She can't accept that what she's doing isn't good and that she's hurting people. She could easily admit she messed up and made mistakes but that it's too late to go back now, yadda yadda, but when she's cornered in a conversation she changes the topic or talks about something else that sounds similar.

A way of telling if someone is like this and the true villain of a story (not to say TWS aren't also the true villains, hence why I also wish CF had you working with them as playable characters and whatnot) is the way they never admit their wrongs. All the lords (again, including Yuri bc I do count him as one) and Rhea admit when they fucked up and apologize for it. Claude's wrongs are on a lesser scale, but he does admit to using and manipulating people for his own ends. It IS for a better world but of course he isn't using that as an excuse when it comes to admitting he's been pulling some strings. Sometimes he's pushy and rude (very much mainly pre-ts), but he isn't blind to or refusing to see that he's doing that. Dimitri is a more obvious one via his arc and same with Rhea in SS/VW, and Yuri admits he does what he does to protect his own people and he has no shame in that. He's willing to get his hands dirty, he knows he's doing that, and he doesn't shy away from it, and I appreciate that he's up front about it and that he knows he can use questionable tactics (same with Claude - he knows he's questionable sometimes).

I think for me at least personally, it's frustrating that people argue morals when they technically weren't supposed to be there. As you know, as someone who has been involved in translation/manga scanlation for a long time now, it hits heavy for me when context is lost or warped. That's part of why I don't like Edelgard even as a character (versus liking her as a person, because while I don't, I also find that her writing - mainly her localization - is a contradictory issue). When working on the projects I do, my aim is to keep context as close as possible and not lose the original meaning even if we have to alter text to make it sound right in English or because something had to be changed due to it being that it just wouldn't make sense in translation.

Things like this, all the confusion surrounding her character and real intentions, is exactly why I don't like translation alterations. It also pulls me out of the game when a character can't really back themselves up due to the writing being confusing and just... bad. Not to say the entire localization is bad, because sometimes it's really good, but for CF I found that a lot of the time I didn't like the route because something about it always felt off to me... come to find out later that it was a translation issue.

Tbh I'd love to play the game in JP and I really should honestly. The voice acting in English is what's kept from doing that because the voice acting is so good. I much prefer it over the JP for this game, and of course it helps that the voice actors (many of them, honestly) interact with the fandom and do streams of various games and are so welcoming.

I'm not sure if you're familiar with the Tales franchise, but Tales of Hearts R had a similar issue with localization, though the fans actually recognized the slip ups and problems with it because the audio is JP only and there's no English audio and only English text. Hearing the audio and seeing the text was... something else, ngl lol. The localization is pretty infamous for being too much of an attempt at being quirky and goofy, and it came out sounding really dumb most of the time. There were instances where they'd have entire lines of dialogue for a very small comment or vice versa. I LOVE Hearts R no question, but dealing with the localized text is pretty painful. I'm at least grateful I can hear the real story through audio, though of course I'm not fluent in JP and I can always stand to learn more so sometimes there are instances where I can't make out a whole piece of dialogue and have to rely on the awkward goofy localization.

There were definitely some instances where I found Rhea's localization to be okay, like the part you mention here. Sometimes her actual character does shine through, but then of course Edelgard's responses are off topic. I'm not sure how many times that was the localization doing that and how many times it was actually like that since I haven't looked particularly deeply into CF's localization (mainly because as we're discussing, it just doesn't sit right with me), but it's still causing a lot to be desired. I don't really have that issue with other routes in terms of context.

Tl;dr translation is very important to how a story is consumed by people who aren't playing in the original language and it can completely change perceptions and opinions. Me no likey bad changes. Me likey understandable, reasonable changes that don't try to glorify characters that were not glorified in the original context.

Imagine if we glorified Ashnard. Oh wait, we did... through Edelgard. Because they're basically the same person LUL. Except Ashnard is a way cooler villain and he owns it like a boss.

Like no, literally, Edelgard is just female Ashnard written really badly and that's all there is to it. Ashnard out here like no dragons in power pls, just want to use their power for myself (re: Edelgard hates Crests but has no problem using Aymr) and make an empire where the strong dominate the weak and the strong rule everything, gaining power and climbing the ranks for being strong.

Like damn, at least ya boi knows he ain't righteous (and look, he's not a hot woman so he's not as popular!). also he's racist to laguz and edelgard is the same way with dragons so uh. yeah.

also yes the tags devolve into me hollering about zelgius so that's where we at

[emblemxeno]

SS is the one were I recommend the full recruitment, as it's the closest thing to a neutral route. Despite what the devs say of it being the true BE route, the army in part 2 is called the Resistance Army. And the description is stated to be comprised of former students and staff of Garreg Mach. Plus, Gronder is completely skipped. I'd argue you did with Gronder 1, Edel's last stand, and the cherry of stopping Rhea's berserk, you've already fought the main leads of 3h already. It's Billy's run.

I actually do the same! I recruit everyone on Silver Snow, since there's like... really no point not too? You have all the Black Eagles with you, and you're not fighting any of the Golden Deer or Blue Lions since Claude works with you and you never go to Gronder or really interact with the Kingdom.

Ashe and Lorenz are the only characters you're guaranteed to see again as enemies, and... you can recruit them back to your side anyway soooo... If you wanna go a pure game mechanics argument, Silver Snow is the route where it's possible you directly fight/kill the least amount of playable characters. So if any route is the "golden route" it'd be Snow way before Flower tbh. (Though I myself would still probably choose Moon lol)

[bi-leth-eisner]

Sylvain Lorenz and Ferdinand

Lorenz, Sylvain, Ferdinand

looking back, i didn’t really enjoy VW. Lorenz was one the few characters that kept me interested enough to finish the route, and he’s not only one of my favourite Deer, but just characters in general. he also made me like magic units. Sylvain is Sylvain (lovingly). Ferdie i would always recruit to AM for his special dialogue with Hubert at Enbarr, but after my SS and CF playthroughs i sorta stopped caring about the dialogue, so he remains an Imperial general on the Great Bridge. (rip Billy, nobody deserves leaving like that, let alone this early...)

[popsixsquishcicerolipschitz]

Beat The Devil (1953) [Action] [Adventure] [Comedy]

Timeless Classic Movies

Beat the Devil is a 1953 British film directed by John Huston, starring Humphrey Bogart, Jennifer Jones and Gina Lollobrigida, and featuring Robert Morley, Peter Lorre and Bernard Lee. 

Huston and Truman Capote wrote the screenplay, loosely based upon a novel of the same name by British journalist Claud Cockburn, writing under the pseudonym James Helvick. 

Houston made the film as a parody of a genre of film. Although often described as a parody of The Maltese Falcon, which Huston directed and in which Bogart and Lorre appeared, this is not the case.

The script, written on a day-to-day basis as the film was shot, concerns the adventures of a motley crew of swindlers and ne'er-do-wells trying to claim land rich in uranium deposits in Kenya as they wait in a small Italian port to travel aboard a tramp steamer en route to Mombasa.

 --- 

Plot: Billy Dannreuther (Humphrey Bogart) is a formerly-wealthy American who has fallen on hard times. He is reluctantly working with four crooks: Peterson (Robert Morley), ex-Nazi Julius O'Hara (Peter Lorre), Major Jack Ross (Ivor Barnard) and Ravello, who are trying to acquire uranium-rich land in British East Africa. Billy suspects that Major Ross murdered a British Colonial officer, who threatened to expose their plan. While waiting in Italy for passage to Africa, Billy and his wife Maria (Gina Lollobrigida) meet a British couple: Harry (Edward Underdown) and Gwendolen Chelm (Jennifer Jones), who plan to travel on the same ship. Harry is a very proper and traditional Englishman, while Gwendolen is flighty and fanciful and a compulsive liar. Billy and Gwendolen have an affair, while Maria flirts with Harry. Peterson becomes suspicious that the Chelms may be attempting to acquire the uranium themselves. His suspicions are unfounded, but they seem to him to be confirmed by Gwendolen, who lies about her husband and exaggerates his importance. 

Billy and Peterson are in a car accident and wrongly reported to have been killed. In order to replace Peterson's lost capital, Ravello approaches Harry Chelm and explains their scheme. Just then, to everyone's surprise, Billy and Peterson return to the hotel alive and unharmed. The purser announces that the ship is at last ready to sail. On board, Harry reveals that he knows about Peterson's scheme and intends to inform the authorities. Peterson orders Major Ross to kill Harry, but Billy thwarts the murder attempt. Harry's outraged accusations alienate the ship's drunken captain, who locks Harry in the brig, where he is uncomfortable, but safe from Major Ross. 

The ship's engine malfunctions and the ship sinks. When Billy goes to free Harry he finds that Harry has escaped and left the ship, intending to swim ashore. The passengers abandon the sinking ship in a lifeboat and land on an African beach, where they are arrested by Arab soldiers. They are interrogated by Ahmed, an Arab official who suspects that they may be spies or revolutionaries. Billy befriends Ahmed by talking with him about Rita Hayworth, upon whom Ahmed has a crush. Billy persuades him to send the party back to Italy. When they land, they are met and questioned by a Scotland Yard detective (Bernard Lee), who is investigating the murder of the Colonial officer. Gwendolen reveals Peterson's scheme, and his involvement in the murder, and his attempt to murder Harry, to the detective, who promptly arrests Peterson, O'Hara, Major Ross and Ravello. As the four crooks are led away in handcuffs, Gwendolen receives a telegram from British East Africa saying that Harry has acquired the land Peterson and the others meant to steal, and is now extremely rich and willing to forgive Gwendolen, Billy and Maria. Billy laughs happily, saying "This is the end, the end!". 

 --- 

Directed and produced by John Huston, screenplay by John Huston and Truman Capote, based on the novel Beat the Devil (1951) by Claud Cockburn (as James Helvick), starring Humphrey Bogart as Billy Dannreuther, Jennifer Jones as Mrs. Gwendolen Chelm, Gina Lollobrigida as Maria Dannreuther, Robert Morley as Peterson, Peter Lorre as Julius O'Hara, Edward Underdown as Harry Chelm, Ivor Barnard as Maj. Jack Ross, Marco Tulli as Ravello, Bernard Lee as Insp. Jack Clayton, Mario Perrone as Purser on SS Nyanga, Giulio Donnini as Administrator, Saro Urzì as Captain of SS Nyanga, Aldo Silvani as Charles, restaurant owner and Juan de Landa as Hispano-Suiza Driver --- Source: "Beat the Devil (film)" Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc..  27 November 2016. Web. 29December 2016. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beat_th...) If you like this movie and our channel, please subscribe: https://goo.gl/0qDmXeCategoryFilm and AnimationSHOW LESS

[nastasyafilippovnas]

Why would they think it's good storytelling to have Billy fuck his therapist? What kind of trope is this and why can't it die? Only Lucifer had a good excuse for it. Are they trying to do some Joker x Harley imitation here? Because nobody wants that. They already have a fucked-up, complex relationship for Billy with Dinah, that has backstory, angst, endless possibilities, and chemistry that's off the charts. The thing with the therapist offers nothing new. What kind of waste of screentime. 😑

YOU SAID IT BEST, DEAR ANON. It was a completely waste of screentime! I’m still on episode 7 (the struggle is real), but I can’t for the life of me understand why they decided to go down this route. 

I think our small corner of the fandom (and actually the TP fandom at large) expected one of two things to happen to billydinah: either they would drop the storyline completely, brush it under the rug as if nothing happened, or they would go all out with a big confrontation. And when the trailer dropped, even though we already knew about FL as Billy’s therapist, there was a big yes and a sigh of relief because it seemed the show would go for that confrontation we wanted and didn’t expect to ever get. 

I guess this serves as a lesson to always expect the worse, huh? Dinah is a lot like I would’ve pictured, Amber is amazing at portraying all her grief, anger and guilt over what happened. But all the emotion and depth we get from Dinah is completely lost on Billy and his storyline. First, with the memory loss. I wasn’t against it at first, but now it’s obvious that it hinders the plot. We don’t get to see Billy struggling with what he has done, the consequences, how it affected Dinah (among others), because he doesn’t remember anything! He doesn’t even remember meeting her, or even meeting Agent Orange and turning dirty. *sighs* It just takes off a lot of the emotional weight of everything that happened in the last season on any confront between the characters now (whether it’s Billy and Dinah, or Billy and Frank). But you know, I thought, “okay, this could still work”. Who doesn’t love some amnesia AU, right? When I saw that scene between Billy and Dinah in the hospital on episode 2, I immediately thought Billy would become obsessed with her, trying to figure out who she is and why she hates him so much. It wouldn’t be the same as if he remembered, but it would be another interesting way of exploring their relationship. But no, sir! Instead he completely drops it as if he doesn’t care why she hates him, and instead we get to see him and his doctor hook up. 

And boy, what a clusterfuck. I’m already completely against therapists/clients storylines because it’s hardly done right, but it was even worse than I expected. The dialogues felt forced, constrained, the use of mask didn’t help because we couldn’t connect to Billy on their scenes, and FL is not at all believable as a therapist. Seriously, she is probably the worst therapist I’ve seen on tv. And her connection to Billy, her desire to make him better, none of that made sense. They wanted her to be at the same time professional and good at her job and still fall for the broken man she was trying to heal. It didn’t work. You mentioned Joker x Harley on your post, and my mind went there too while I watched their scenes. And believe it or not, even though I don’t ship it, I think j*rley was done better in SS than Billy and KD. At least there they made a point of showing how naive Harley was, how he seduced and used her. It made sense, there was purpose. On the other hand, Billy and KD serve no purpose to the story. On the contrary, it only serves as a roadblock to him finally meeting Frank and Dinah. Actually, I guess that’s the only reason they put this relationship on, they need something to fill the episodes with.

And, honestly, it’s stupid because they could’ve done all that and better by exploring Billy and Dinah. Let them argue on the hospital. Let Billy taunt her sometimes and then ask for forgiveness. Let them engage in a cat and mouse play once he got out of the hospital. Give us all the hate and love they have for each other. I think even people that don’t ship them can agree it would have been a much more interesting and engaging storyline. 

[safitheartist]

Reboot season 2 episodes rated part 1

Here is my verdict for the episodes so far,

of the episodes aired I only haven't seen 'Can I keep it'. I'm spliting this into several parts because this is getting too lengthy.

Anyway:

Out to launch: 9/10

The Tennyson family observes the launch of a experimental space plane, however as Vilgax takes control over it Ben has to team up with his idol pilot McCabe as Gwen and Max try to help him by hacking into the ships controls.

This episode is action packed, funny and gives us more clues to Max's mysterious past. The character of McCabe is enjoyable if not as memorable as other newly introduced characters.

Battle at Biggie Box: 8/10

Ben drags his family to a giant sale at store chain called Biggie Box, hoping to obtain the super rare Sumo Slamer play set. However, Billy Billions is also after the playset. Ben, being desperate to beat Billy, ends up hurting the feelings of his friend Simon.

This episode doesn't give us subtle plot development like the last one but it gives Ben some more character development, has some very funny visual gags and slapstick and references every former retail employe would appreciate. I didn't come to care about Simon and his brother all that much when they appeared in season 1 and every reference to Gwen's stupid crushes in season 1 makes me want to punch someone. It's a fun episode but not a must watch.

Bon Voyage: 8/10

As the Tennyson family boards a brand new ship made to replace the old SS Pettigrew Ben finds himself fight both Steam Smythe and sea sickness as our steam punk enthusiast just can't seem to let go of the past.

This episode is a bit of a mixed bag. The humor is really great and I find it admirable that a show doesn't go the "technology is evil and progress is bad" route, however I think they kind of used the wrong example. Most people nowadays board steam boats because it's something gimicky or out of curiousity so there is infact still a valid market for those kind of boats despite their short commings. I would like to see a show for once awknowledge that the past and the future aren't necessarly rivals to one another. However with it's well paced humor, neat action scenes and intruigent hints twoards Steam Smythe's potential origin this episodes elevates itself from it's short commings.

Mayhem in Mascot: 7/10

As Ben and Gwen attempt to get a picture with every storefront Mascot failed yet again, due to Ben's staling. Ben helps Gwen take a picture with the last woden mascot, Yawk the bear. However as the mascots come to live Ben amd Gwen soon realize things are more complicated then they seem.

...this episode is strange. I mean I liked the song, it's a neat parody and it's nice to see them make fun of the randomly breaking into song trope.... Lenny is a neat character(he was the guy who kinda looked like Kevin in the leaks)....and Ben being the skeptical for once instead of Gwen was a nice idea. But the twist was predictable, Gwen's behaviour was a bit too naive, there isn't really any explanation for the other Mascots and this whole episode is a bit too random for my taste.

Screamcatcher: 8/10

A visit to the dentist goes south when Hex shows up and kidnaps Ben into a world made out of Ben's fears.

The premise is creative. Using a dentist of all people to show there are more people with interesting advantures was a really neat idea. The way Ben solves his predicament is a bit on the nose but it's subverted enough to be interesting. Hex's eternal hell would be a booring dead end desk job and honestly mood.

Vote Zambozo: 9.5/10

Team Ten all have to contribute their individual skills as Zambozo hypnotizes a town with a fake election campaine so Acid Breath, Toe Nail and Fright Wig can rob the local bank. As Gwen and Max take care of Zambozo, Ben takes on the circus freak trio.

I already made a indepth post about this episode. There are a lot of things one can like about this episode from it's dense world building to the character progression. It's also really neat to see the contrast this Gwen has to season 1 Gwen, they are doing her justice at last.

Animorphosis: 9.5/10:

As Ben sets out to find a real fosile to out shine his cousin he gets ambushed by Animo and VILGAX! However as the later betrays Animo and takes over his mutant animals Ben and Animo have to close a uneasy aliance.

Okay this episode is MAJOR! I honestly was shocked and would suggest you watch it for yourself. The only thing holding is back was a lack of Gwen in my opinion...I am biased okay!

The 11th alien part 1 and 2: 9.8/10

As Ben discovers a new alien in his watch Vilgax shows up to warn our heros about this particular alien's powers. Ben after innitially rejecting Vilgax's "help" starts to notice strange happenings whenever he uses said alien. Was he telling the truth? Could Ben cause serious harm with his omnitrix? Ben is put into a difficult possition as he has to decide weather it is better to potentially destroy the earth or surrender the omnitrix to Vilgax.

These episodes are really neat. It again shows Vilgax as the manipulative villan he always has been. It gives Ben serious character struggles and puts his relationship with Gwen and the significants of their friendship into the foreground. The twist at the end wasn't that hard to guess but still fun seen executed and you can see in later episodes that this had a longlasting effect on Ben's character. The only thing holding it back is one or two awkwardly cut scenes.

[randomnameless]

Disengage and Billy anon!

Good then, given how SS is the "Billy route", it'd make sense if any Billy in a crossover game treats it as "canon", even if the lack of Rhea is glaring, but I guess you can't have Rhea and Supreme Leader on the same level, else things will become nonsensical.

(even if the crossover game tries to retcon Supreme Leader!)

Usually, I'd be okay with the message, just like FE16 and FE in general isn't a story about how nobles came to be or how they should be born, but how they should use their power, and in general, the true'n'tried "it's what you do that defines you, and not who you were born as".

But...

Given Supreme Leader's inclusion and general, uh, aversion to Nabateans, Billy's going all "it doesn't matter how I got this power" kinds of suck, for reasons the devs clearly said they dgaf about, re:Nabateans.

Billy was born as half-human, got magic blood from his papa and mama, and a magic rock standing for his heart from Citrus's own wishes. In a way, Billy not caring about how he got his powers would ignore how he actually got them, i.e. Citrus deciding to save her child!

But giving spotlight to Citrus would give spotlight to the Rez Sothis plan, which would, uh, actually means giving some spotlight to Rhea and we can't have that - as we saw, no bond ring, relics were retconned, etc etc etc. Indeed, Billy still sad to fight people he used to know, Supreme Leader (Flamey who?) etc etc.

However, as you pointed out, it completely destroys the general Fodlan scapegoat of "crusts bad and the reason why people are evil" and finally poor Billy got his game follow the "traditional" but imo only acceptable narrative of "power not inherently bad, it's what you do with it that counts".

[thechasefiles]

The Chase Files Daily Newscap 2/10/2019

Good MORNING #realdreamchasers! Here is The Chase Files Daily News Cap for Sunday 10th February 2019. Remember you can read full articles for FREE via Barbados Today (BT) or Barbados Government Information Services (BGIS) OR by purchasing by purchasing a Sunday Sun Nation Newspaper (SS).

HARD START –The 2019 sugar harvest might have a bitter start if private farmers are not paid the $7 million owed to them from last year’s harvest. Barbados Sugar Industry Limited (BSIL) chairman Mark Sealy told THE NATION that the lack of payment had some farmers in a financial bind, which if not corrected, would significantly impact the harvesting of this year’s crop. “We received payments for 2017’s crop but not last year’s. We have not gotten support – Enhanced Cane Replanting Incentive Scheme [ECRIS] or the final payment from the Barbados Agricultural Management Company [BAMC], which is outstanding. We were supposed to get those payments in September last year and it is now 2019. “We have a crop coming up to start and it is going to be very difficult for us because the farmers have no money left. Some of them could not afford fertiliser for the plants [cane] and there are a lot of farmers whose cash flow has been completely depleted,” the BSIL chairman said. (SS)

SOUTH COAST RESTAURANTS WOO DINERS BACK – After putting with up with a less than desirable situation on the south coast for some time, a number of restaurants along the once sewage-plagued tourist belt came together in an effort to promote dining in that part of the island. Through a programme dubbed Dine South – Passport to the South, individuals were able to eat at eight different restaurants between October and December and win weekly prizes, with the opportunity to win big in a final draw. Under the programme, which was primarily designed to promote the south coast as the culinary capital of the island, individuals would travel to the participating restaurants with their “passport”, a booklet, in which they would receive a stamp from each location after dining. In the end they had the opportunity to enter for a grand prize draw, and on Friday three lucky diners walked away with the top prizes. Prior to presenting the winning diners with their awards at the Naru restaurant and lounge, Co-owner of that eatery Lisa Taylor, who is responsible for conceptualizing the idea, said getting the other restaurants and sponsors to participate was easy. In addition, the enthusiastic restaurateur said she was encouraged by the participation from Barbadians and was already thinking about a “bigger, better and better organized” south dining initiative for 2019. Minister of Energy and Water Resources Wilfred Abrahams lauded the private sector companies for their efforts in promoting dining on the south coast. Acknowledging that the last couple years had been very difficult for south coast businesses, Abrahams said he was aware some had to close and others had to “stretch themselves to keep going”. However, thanking the restaurants and other businesses in the area for their patience while Government tackled the issue, Abrahams, whose ministry was responsible for ridding the area of the raw sewage, said it was an issue he just had to fix in the shortest possible time. “We could not let any other businesses close,” he said. “I am glad that you took the initiative, once the problem had been abated, to put a programme out there and to publicize yourself and generate business for yourself,” said Abrahams. He said he believed the Dine South initiative could be a springboard for businesses on the south coast to generate business during the off-peak tourist season. “Barbadians have money in their pockets as well. Barbadians are valuable customers. Let us not just look to the people coming in to drive our business, we have to look as well to ways to get Barbadians into our business places and to spend money with us . . . your business should not suffer because the tourist season is low,” said Abrahams. After about two years of having to endure raw sewage often bubbling up in the streets, which was accompanied by a foul stench, Government was finally able to put a temporary fix in place at the start of this year. Also lauding the south coast restaurants for their efforts was Chief Executive Officer of the Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc. William Billy Griffith, who said the Dine South programme was a demonstration of “the power” of the private sector. “This is exactly what we are trying to encourage and I salute every one of you. I think the food element in Barbados is a significant one,” said Griffith, who promised an elevated Food and Rum Festival this year. President of the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA) Patricia Affonso Dass echoed similar sentiments, adding that the initiative spoke to the “power of partnerships”. “It is really what the south coast of Barbados is all about. I know we have, for a long time told the story that the west is best, but the south is where it is at,” said Affonso-Dass. “At the end of the day, the data is telling us that guests want a more real experience where they want to get out into the communities in which they visit and they want to experience the local environment and I think you guys are giving them the opportunity to do that by showcasing what local small business is all about,” she said. The eight restaurants taking part in the Dine South event were Naru Restaurant and Lounge, Salt Cafe, Ackee Tree restaurant, Tapas, Chutney’s, Champers, Blakey’s Bar and Restaurant and Bubba’s. There were several other partners and sponsors for the initiative. Walking away with the grand prize was Dean Douglin, with a cruise for two aboard the Carnival Fascination. Second prize went to Nicole Hustler, who got a South Beach staycation, while Mikeila Carrington captured the third place prize of a Dine South experience for two.  (BT)

GUAIDÓ VOWS TO OPEN AID ROUTES WITH VOLUNTEERS – Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó has vowed to open humanitarian aid routes into the country in defiance of the government. Guaidó, who has declared himself interim president, called on volunteers to help with distribution and said his plans would be ready next week. Footage shows soldiers blocking a key bridge at the border with Colombia. A government official called aid “a Trojan horse” and said the country had a duty to defend its borders. “According to our constitution, we have the right and the duty to defend our borders peacefully,” said Freddy Bernal. He accused US president Donald Trump, who has endorsed the opposition leader, of just wanting to exploit Venezuelan oil. WHY IS AID NEEDED? Millions of people have fled Venezuela as hyperinflation and other economic troubles render food and medicines scarce. Since the outbreak of the current political crisis, Washington has announced sanctions on the Venezuelan industry. President Nicolás Maduro, who has the support of the army, has rejected letting foreign aid into the country. Last week a tanker and cargo containers blocked the Simon Bolivar International Bridge, which links Venezuela to its more stable neighbour to the west. The blockages were still there on Friday, and many soldiers were seen standing guard. Guaidó does not control any territory in Venezuela so, instead, he is planning to set up collection centres in neighbouring countries to which Venezuelans have fled. He said he wanted to set up an international coalition to gather aid at three points, and press Venezuela’s army to let it into the country. Food and medicine organised by the US federal government’s USAID agency arrived on Thursday and have been stored at a warehouse on the Colombian side of the border. The agency has been bound up in international politics before – Russian expelled it in 2012,  citing “attempts to influence political processes through grants); and Bolivia expelled it the year after, accusing it of seeking to “conspire against” the Bolivian people and government. Both Russia and Bolivia are allies of President Maduro in the current crisis. HOW FAR WILL GUAIDÓ GO? Guaidó has warned many Venezuelans are in danger of dying without international aid. Speaking to AFP news agency, he said the groups he was putting together would “make a first entry attempt” at the blocked bridge when they had gathered enough supplies. He said he expected this to happen next week. It would be “almost miserable at this point of huge necessity” for the military to block any convoy entering, he said. A number of Venezuelan leaders have also appealed to the military to allow aid lorries to cross into the country. Asked whether he would authorise the intervention of foreign military forces, Guaidó said: “We will do everything possible. “This is obviously a very, very controversial subject, but making use of our sovereignty and, within our jurisdictions, we will do what is necessary.” WHAT’S THE BACKGROUND TO THE CRISIS? In January, Maduro was sworn in for a second term following disputed elections which many opposition leaders did not contest because they were in jail or boycotting them. Guaidó, who is head of Venezuela’s National Assembly, declared himself president on January 23. He says the constitution allows him to assume power temporarily when the president is deemed illegitimate. On Saturday he said protests would continue until his supporters had achieved “freedom”. (BT)

CALL FOR GUN CRIME CENTRE – A law enforcement advisor from United States has recommended that the Caribbean establish a Crime Gun Intelligence Centre to deal with gun smuggling and gun crimes. Jean-Marc Behar, who worked with four Caribbean countries, including Jamaica between 2013 and 2017, assisting with combating firearms trafficking and firearms violence, said there was a need for a regional approach to investigating the illicit firearm trade. Last year, he submitted a detailed report on the establishment of such an organisation to the Association of Caribbean Commissioners of Police for dissemination to commissioners, but has not received any response regarding his proposal. Behar said given the upsurge in firearm-related crimes across the Caribbean, the centre was absolutely necessary. (SS)

POLICE: BE VIGILANT WHEN USING ATMS – The Royal Barbados Police Force is asking members of the public to be vigilant when using ATMs. Not only should you consider your physical safety when approaching, attending or leaving ATMs, but we caution you to pay special attention to the transactions which you are preforming and to be observant of the receipts and account balances, police said in a statement. “If any unusual activity is noticed or suspected or you have used any ATMs recently and you suspect any unusual activity with your account, it is very important you contact your banking institution,” it continues. (BT)

ROMANIANS CHARGED WITH MONEY LAUNDERING –Two Romanian nationals charged with money laundering are scheduled to return to court this week. Thirty-five-year-old Gheorghe Dumitru Durdea and 30-year-old Sorin Ghiriti were also charged with going equipped, while Ghiriti had a separate count of theft. They appeared before Magistrate Kristie Cuffy-Sargeant in the District “A” Magistrates Court yesterday and were remanded to HMP Dodds. Ghiriti pleaded guilty to theft and was fined $1 000, payable by Friday, or four months in prison. He is scheduled to reappear at the District “A” Magistrates’ Court on Friday and the District “E” Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday. They were not required to plead to the indictable offence of money laundering. Ghiriti and Durdea are also scheduled to appear at Oistins, Magistrates Court on Wednesday.   (SS)

RETURN KILLER FOR RESENTENCING – The Court of Appeal of Barbados has ordered that a convicted murderer, Carlton Junior Hall, be taken back to the Supreme Court for resentencing at the earliest opportunity. The Appeal Court, led by Justice Andrew Burgess, and comprising Justice Kaye Goodridge and acting Appeal Justice Margaret Reifer, handed down the decision after dismissing an appeal by the killer, who had said his conviction was tainted by a less than satisfactory eyewitness’ identification during the crime. The Court last month dismissed Hall’s appeal against the conviction, saying the presiding judge had adequately instructed the jury in the two-week murder trial. The Court vacated the death sentence and ruled he be taken back to court, based on the recent decision by the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) that all persons convicted of murder and sentenced to death pursuant to Section 2 of Barbados’ Offences Against the Person Act, or who have had their mandatory death sentences commuted to life imprisonment, be put back with reasonable expedition before the Supreme Court for resentencing. (SS)

ENGLAND FORCED TO LABOUR AFTER PAUL STRIKES – West Indies found success hard to come by but England were forced to labour in the opening session of the third and final Test at the Darren Sammy Cricket Stadium here Saturday. At lunch, the visitors had reached 46 for one, after play was extended to 12:30 p.m. to compensate for a 25-minute rain-break. Left-hander Rory Burns was unbeaten on 27 and partnered by Joe Denly on four. West Indies’ only success was when seamer Keemo Paul, replacing the suspended skipper Jason Holder, struck with the first ball of his opening spell, getting left-hander Keaton Jennings to edge a drive to wicketkeeper Shane Dowrich for eight off the first delivery after drinks. Jennings had lived a charmed life in adding 30 with Burns, playing and missing on several occasions against the new-ball pair of Shannon Gabriel and Kemar Roach. He survived a chance on three when he was squared up by Roach only for Roston Chase at third slip to grass a regulation, chest-high opportunity. For his part, Burns has so far faced 82 deliveries and struck a single four – a streaky shot just past fourth slip. (SS)

BARBADOS PRIDE FACING A MOUNTAIN – Another lacklustre performance by Barbados Pride allowed the Trinidad and Tobago Red Force to dictate terms yesterday on the third day of the West Indies Four-Day Championship seventh-round match. However, a late evening declaration by visiting captain Denesh Ramdin has offered the home team a remote chance of snatching an unlikely come-from-behind win when play resumes today at Kensington. The Bajans, continuing their first innings from 238 for seven, still 120 runs in arrears, were dismissed after just over an hour for 282, giving up a lead of 76. Inspired by attacking half-centuries from opening batsman Joshua Da Silva and senior players Lendl Simmons and Ramdin, the Red Force, seeking revenge for the defeat inflicted by the Pride in the fifth round, coasted to 247 for six before declaring their second innings. (SS)

ST. GILES READY TO REPEAT – A whopping 82 schools will be contending for the NAPSAC crown this 17th edition which fires off on Monday, but defending girls’ champions St Giles are quietly confidentof making those schools battle for positions two to 82. That confidence did not just evolve from the staging of the 2019 edition’s launch on Thursday at St Giles, in a hall filled with eager athletes and supporters, sponsors and officials, but St Giles, who won the boys’ and girls’ titles in the James Wedderburn Zone, are gunning to repeat while cashing in on “preparation” to excelin the remaining stages. Coach Nikkisha Maynard pointed to good preparation that should place her athletes in a pivotal position to excel.  “We have prepared well and I believe that should see us repeating as zone champions, although a lot can occur between now and the 18th when our zone will be held. “I cannot speak about threats from other schools or athletes. As a coach, I have seen a number of the other athletes but as individuals and I have not seen themas a school unit.  (SS)

DRUG EDUCATION AND COUNSELLING SERVICE GETS $75,000 BOOST – The Sandy Lane Charitable Trust made a donation of $75 000 and 10 Lenovo laptops to the Drug Education and Counselling Service this morning at their Roebuck Street, St Michael office. Director of the Drug Education and Counselling Service, Roger Husbands welcomed surprise donation which was made by Pippa Challis and Julian Sacher of the Trust. Husbands said the funds would go towards the development of the organisation’s programmes, research and tracking of students who matured out of the organization. He said the Drug Education and Counselling Services hosted more than 300 participants from the ages nine to 21, who were recommended either from the judicial system, police and probation department, family or friends. He expressed alarm at the increasing numbers within recent years. “One of the things that I see happening immediately with the funds is for us to widen our counselling scope because recently we have been getting over seven referrals a day for youngsters, which means statistically something is happening in Barbados which needs dire attention,” he indicated. The Service has 12 counselors and eight volunteers who mentor the participants. Husbands notes that more social workers and counselors needed to be designated to address the issues facing today’s youth. He said a number of students who committed criminal or deviant acts and involved in drugs use suffered from a mental disorder. He expressed concern about the legalization of marijuana for medicinal purposes and its impact on the youth of the country. “For some drug lords, they are going to lose business because of this ….which can cause the drug lord to look at other drugs to bring in to make the money because drugs is a business,” Husbands said. (BT)

For daily or breaking news reports follow us on Instagram, Tumblr, Twitter & Facebook. That’s all for today folks. There are 324 days left in the year. Shalom! #thechasefilesdailynewscap #thechasefiles# dailynewscapsbythechasefiles

[randomnameless]

Imagine a world where Jeralt wasn't an idiot and he didn't kidnap Billy away from Rhea. Supreme Leader's war would have ended before it could begin because Billy would have known Eggy was spewing bs.

It's all his fault Fodlan didn't immediately improve. Great job, racist dumbass.

Anon,

in that AU, Billy would have told Rhea about the gremlin in their head, and the plot would have been radically different lol

More seriously,

Billy, despite being raised as a... well, how Jerry raised them, knows that this "crusts put a value on people's worth" spiel is shit, because Billy themselves have the rarest crust ever, and they're not immediately promoted to "ruler of the world", hell, they must still listen to people and can't do whatever they want.

The leader of the KoS is Jerry through Rhea's favoritism, but before that? Who had that role? Alois, a crestless random, was Catherine's superior.

When Hanneman discovers Billy has a crest? Well, they're still a teacher, just like Crestless!Manu.

"but the church promotes the crust system"

"wtf are you taking about"

But since we can't have that, or have Billy appreciate what they are supposed to appreciate as seen through Heroes/Engage aka some sort of peace, sense of belonging and guiding/teaching stuff to people instead of being a sword for hire, the plot happens.

Also, given how Billy'n'Jerry must have travelled around during their time as mercs, or were at least in Remire where people weren't that preoccupied about crusts and what not, but as randoms, about what they're going to eat tonight or if they weren't going to be attacked by bandits or mad scientists who will turn them in guinea pigs, the "Sacrifices must be made, I'm killing people for their sake" would fall hollow, especially given what happens to Remire which is located, again, in Arundel...

@fantasyinvader wrote recently a post about Billy's status as a character/avatar hybrid and how the focus on one status... neutralises the other, but that's what we have with this character (and everyone in Fodlan tbh, save for the Lions thanks to Nopes and the Nabateans) : Billy being the player's avatar must bend to the player's will, so they will be able to join Tru Piss and feel sad uwus about fighting the red Emperor, that's how the game was designed.

This fucks over Billy as a character, especially in Tru Piss, but also, partly in Winds - assuming they did the "help Seteth" quests, his paralogue or just talked to the various students/NPCs in the monastery - and yet, allows for the artificial "route split" or "pick your lord" choice.

TS' Serenor did the thing better with "have a character + let the player pick which character they want to follow", without scrubbing Serenor's personnality.

[randomnameless]

If 3H had a reworked recruitment system where you only got 2 or 3 possible defectors per-route, which characters do you think would best fit the role of turncoat for each route, narrative and/or gameplay-wise?

Oh!

Hm...

Tru Piss made Felix so miserable that I can see him joining, only for him to "disappear" at the end of the route.

For the lols and to fully embrace the dark humour aspect of the route, CF!Lys could also join - but only if Tru Piss is revamped and Lys discovers with horror that she is working for the people who morphed her siblings in meat balls (or whatever they became).

AM wise?

I could see Ferdie and ultimately Caspar join - Caspar will side with the Kingdom since they're the only forces opposing the Empire during the Post Time-skip (even if he knows he is not welcomed) and it would be fun to see Ferdie swallow his "Adrestian Pride" and ask the Kingdom to help him topple Supreme Leader, because he thinks Adrestia is worth more than what she is turning it into - even if he used to think that an unified Fodlan under Adrestia's banner wasn't such a bad thing.

Leonie might join too, because she still wants Supreme Leader's head for the Jerry pincushion thingie, and as an "aspiring merc" she has no attachment to the Alliance (especially since Claude is someone reasonable who won't throw the country in a war so her family and loved ones will be spared).

VW wise...

it's more complicated, because the Alliance doesn't offer anything plot/lore wise.

Maybe Annette, under the pretense of Gilbert wanting to send her away from the Kingdom because he is afraid she will be foddered by Cornelia as a "retaliation" for him still fighting with the Fraldarius/Gautier/Galatea side, and Annette uses this opportunity to try to find allies in the Alliance for the Kingdom.

Maybe Linhardt too, sort of "joined" the Alliance, officially to act as an imperial representative to watch over them, but he defected asap because staying in Adrestia means he has to work, joining the rebellion in the Kingdom also means he has to work, so staying with the State of Quo Alliance is preferable (until Claude makes his move).

[randomnameless]

I really wanted to see SB ferdinand as roland, he starts out as an idealisitci knight lord and ends up giving up on everything.

TS's Roland?

I think even in that, uh, clusterfuck of a golden ending, Roland says something like you need strength to support your vision of justice/your ideals?

SB!Ferdie could start as the Ferdie we all know, who really really thinks Supreme Leader wants to help everyone, random Adrestians and all and supported her coup - even if it meant putting his dad in jail "without a FaIr TrIaL" for reasons only known to her - but when she starts to Aymr - I mean Labrunda dissidents and to openly enforce her "bend the knee or die" vision, he wants to be the Prime Minister and steer her in the "right" way, like maybe stop warring because randoms are starving and all - but she dgaf.

Hubert (bcs reasons) tells him, in his Hubert way, to stop interfering with Supreme Leader's plans, and how she is aboslute and the only one able to reform the world. Poor Ferdie disagrees, what kind of world would they build out of this (Fodlan in ashes, wars right and left, information campaigns about people secretly being lizards and controlling the world, "oppose me and die", etc etc) and Hubert deals the final blow, whatever morals Ferdie has, it is not "Justice" because "Justice" is written by whoever ends up victorious, Supreme Leader is right because she is strong and is winning.

So either Ferdie tries to become "strong" himself to enforce his "Justice" and morals - like Supreme Leader, but in that case, Hubert will have to dispose of him himself, or Supreme Leader will, because there can only be one Supreme Leader - or he acknowledges Supreme Leader is right because of her might, and he follows her without asking questions.

Cue SB!Ferdie wondering if he could have trusted someone, enough, to support him if he ever chose to side against Supreme Leader and the Adrestia she wants to create - but without that someone, he can only follow her lead.

and then they share a cup of earl grey.

[randomnameless]

The zombie ask made me remember a thought I had for SS's final chapter where anyone who got blood directly from Rhea would have been resurrected to protect her (their vision is like that horror game blurry where they can see enough to spot you but can't see you from across the map). Jerry and Willy are mini-bosses near Rhea to make the area around her dangerous. Jerry and Billy having a talk where Jerry says anything he wished he could've said in life‚ and Willy having convos with empire (1/3)

(2/3) and nabatean units. Like Willy saying to Seteth‚ "Cichol! How long has it been? About the shield-" and Seteth wondering if the Willy talking to him is actually there or it's Rhea perception of Willy talking. Willy's empire convos would lean towards Willy himself is talking‚ with him saying to Ferdinand‚ "I never thought I'd see the day that anyone related to Aegir would join Nemesis." Him mistaking Bernie for Indech. And Billy's would be Willy thinking they're Nemesis (3/3) "Despite my vision‚ I know that's you Nemesis. I don't know how you're alive but this time you're staying dead!"‚ and anyone related to the elites as "After Seiros sparred you all‚ you dare turn your blade against her?! Do you even know what your 'relic' is made from?" TL;DR: I wanted more WoH content despite Nopes giving some‚ and thinking about how can I jam in as much as I can with the subtlety of a sledgehammer. Sorry for the long ask‚ wanted to get these thoughts out of my system.

No pbs anon!

I guess we all didn't like at all how the game bothered to bring back zombies but never wrote battle quotes against them (tfw Seteth'n'Flayn have no battle quote against Nemesis...)

I was going to hype zombie!Ionius, but he never got her blood directly, so he wouldn't have been resurrected :(

(let's be real, if zombie!Ionius was real and brought back in his prime, he would fold those Faerghian barbarians and those foreigners with his pinky, because he'd be that much of an awesome unit)

However, instead of them being "mistaken" because their resurrection failed about what's happening, I'd say let them get full awareness (as much as they can muster) about who they're fighting against!

I'd see a Jerry-Billy convo being a lot of apologies, especially since Billy accepted to take Rhea's mantle and was/is truly happy in the Monastery, something Jerry obviously wrote off when he ran away all those years, maybe we could have Jerry muse that it's weird how he was "brought back" to protect a Rhea who lost her mind know, and how ironic it is, when he should have stayed and maybe if he didn't ran away all those years ago, Billy would have led a happier life, and whatever Rhea's having right now wouldn't have happened. Billy ultimately putting his grievances to rest, saying that despite everything, they are still happy Jerry's their dad, and maybe ends with some "thank you Father" instead of calling them Jerry (in an AU where Billy is voiced, of course!).

Maybe a convo with Leonie too, where Jerry tries to goad her into killing him, saying she never got what it "takes" to be a merc, because she is a nice kid and isn't able to put her morals aside for a bag of money.

And with Alois, Jerry could encourage him, for the "first and last time", saying he'll make a fine Captain of the Knights, and to please not end up like him, mocking the wishes of his wife and not doing everything he could for the kid.

---

Emperor Willy himself wondering where the fuck he is, but if Seiros is in this form, then he has to protect her - and it this is the post Lycaon death AU* Willy isn't surprised at seeing Adrestia turn its blade against Seiros, because Adrestia is a failure and he lost faith in the world.

Against Cichol, Willy could open the convo with the shield, noticing how Cichol took "his" shield, Seteth tries to reply but it's useless, and asks him to stand aside, Willy says he cannot, even for him, his "brother" because Seiros is his priority, and if in that state she'll bring ruin to the world, then so be it, Seteth sighs, apologises (and rekts him).

I suppose Flayn would ask him to get the fuck out of the way, and Willy will refuse, but also apologise for what happened to her, and her mother too (and her cousin!), but crusts this world and its inhabitants are to blame.

Willy against Billy... well, Willy will think they're one of Nemesis's scion even if he thought the guy died childless- despite their hair color, he knows better after all! - and reveals he was on Macuil's side, and told Seiros mercy would be wasted on the likes of them (the Elites' families and, I suppose, Nemesis's potential fam?), but she didn't listen to him.

Willy against the Empire peeps would be hilarious though, because in the AU* Willy ditched it after Lycaon's death, so he'd be pretty pissed that the same Empire now tries to kill Seiros. Maybe he'd call Ferdie a scion of traitor, referring to Derrick, who pledged his loyalty to an usurper (Empress Hildegarde, who took the throne after Lycaon's death), raving about how he descends from a line of traitors, and he will put an end to this farce himself (with his stats? lol).

Willy'd also be pissed seeing Bernie, digusted at what Adrestia became if Bernie, as a noble, is what Adrestia's finest has to offer (maybe insert a fire joke or two) - Bernie could find the courage to fight back against this rando who insults her and tell him to shut up, because she wants to fight to protect people now.

Lin would maybe comment on Willy being, well, Willy, and wondering why the fuck is he fighting against the Empire, maybe with Willy telling him this is what he should have down instead, cutting off his own "blood"* for the sake of Fodlan, but he will correct this mistake right now.

Caspar would be interested in fighting this "strong warrior" from ancient times, if the fate of Fodlan wasn't at stake, Willy'd swore he came from an Elite family with a mindset like this, but only be digusted.

As for Petra, maybe we could get an ancient exemple of Adrestian assholery, like Willy saying he thought the people of "Eyvel" wouldn't be mindless allies of the Empire, and how mistaken he was, they're "savages" after all - only for Petra to reply with some "who are you? Get out of my way plz" (and she crits him and he dies).

And for Doro... I guess their convo would be the most important "lore wise", Doro immediately recognises him and wonder if he is here to avenge Edie - Willy immediately cuts her off, asking why he should even care about that person when no one avenged his son when he was murdered by his "bastard" siblings (confirming that Supreme Leader is not part lizard!).

*The AU I'm talking about is the AU I came up with, aka Lycaon being a half lizard, being named heir, murdered by his "human" half-siblings/nephews - Willy learns it and immediately bails out of Adrestia, having lost faith in Fodlan, humanity and well, most likely everything. After 80 years of chronic depression (while Rhea is now obsessed with bringing back Sothis, because she will make the world go round, and be safe anew for Nabateans living and the ones that would be brought back, humans, and even Lycaon who will obviously return - Willy doesn't believe it) he passes away after having found some sort of renewed faith in the world (seeing all those people coming to the Monastery and tending to their daily lives, looking after orphans, etc etc). So obviously, when he's brought back at the end of SS and sees Adrestia, targeting Seiros/Rhea, he loses it and becomes an extra kind of asshole (a tru hresvelg).

I agree with you though, maybe add a bit of "savages" and "ungrateful barbarians" here and there, but I don't think Willy is even going to listen to reason or even try to listen at all (like a tru hresvelg) anyone who descends from an Elite.

Maybe after those two mini-bosses, Seteth would say that those "persons" were not the ones they were in life, and how the Crest (crusts are to blame!) warped their personalities, only for Flayn to follow with a meaningful "..." - opening a lot redshit threads for fans to "give their own version" lol

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And for extra useless completionist stuff, like, if you picked the "Nabatean" option in the Sothis paralogue when Supreme Leader asks you who was lived in the Red Canyon, got a C+ support with Supreme Leader and went to her coronation, fought her using Billy and the Nabateans (with the famous "your ears are pointy you cannot rule over humans"), have both Billy and the Nabateans fight against Thales and Billy had a A support with all Nabateans, after Jerry and Willy's death, Berserk!Rhea would unleash a large scripted AoE on the map, empty husk!Lycaon could appear on the map, maybe as a white beast like creature on steroids, but who looks more like the IO than a regular White Beast (he has arms and wings?), who starts on the opposite side of the map and goes in your direction, but unlike the other white beasts, damaged dealt on Rhea won't be reflected on him.

Obviously, if the party kills him, Berserk!Rhea suddenly gains "Wrath" - but if you stall too much, empty!husk Lycaon has stats to ruin your party (unlike Willy!). Also if he dies then A support or no A support Rhea doesn't survive.

(And maybe if you accidently kill him, Billy gets "!" box popping up, with a new use of "Divine Pulse" coming out from nowhere, as it's Sothis' way to ask them to find a way not to kill him)

Billy will reveal what that unit is, idk, maybe they're closing their eyes and say that they are only a body animated by idk, the resonating power of the IO's Crest - but their true spirit has been long gone, now only remains a body and the rage it had before passing away. Then Billy opens their eyes, and says they would have wanted to meet him under other circumstances (but who is talking? Billy? or Sothis?)

Flayn despairs seeing her "cousin" (confirming her ties to Rhea!) in this situation, apologises for not having been able to be there for him, idk, like she promised too, but this time, she will.

Seteth too is saddened and while he wonders how many members of his family he will have to kill today, he tells Lycaon that this is final lesson, so he better remember it.

Ah, and in this revamped SS finale (since we're in AU land!), Relics work like Devil Weapon against Rhea and Lycaon - damage isn't dealt to the foe, but to your unit instead! And if your unit survives, the Relic insta-breaks (as a gameplay mechanic like 0 uses left).

End of the fight, Rhea survives (?), there is some ending blurb about every White Beast who wasn't defeated vanished "as if they were finally put to rest", that S support is revamped to have Rhea more or less say she has to move on now and cannot be stuck in the past, and has to let the past "rest in peace" to finally move forward - both for her and the one shes so dearly misses (ending line would be Billy in brackets musing how rare it is to see Sothis smile).

Ultimate bonus if this is the last route you play (or finished all the other routes), and if you got this ending, you'd have a special scene at the end, of Rhea and Billy waving hands at an assembly composed of all BE students (some of them waving back! even Bernie!), members of staff/knights, some randoms, but also, 11 randos with green hair and pointy ears, idk, wearing tunics with their emblems to know who they are, Willy (back to his bright and stupid self) carrying kid!Lycaon (with his pointy ears!) on his shoulders, some other random woman next to Flayn with a matching haircut, Manu pulling at Seteth's pointy ear (if they got their A+ support, else he frowns like usual), ghost!Jerry and ghost!Sitri waving too, and adult!Sothis (all the ghosts are transparent like, save for adult!Sothis - again, it would have been made on purpose by the devs who wondered if that would have created fanwank about Sothis' state, dead or alive?).

Not to say ghosts are real in Fodlan, but it would be some sort of representation that both dead and living people are happy to see a world where both humans and Nabateans can live together - even if they're dead, their dreams live on, or some stuff like that.

But of course, to get this ending, you'd have to get the most out of Supreme Leader's beliefs and the general intolerance that permeated Fodlan since, well, the Red Canyon, but even before (the first agarthan war?).

[randomnameless]

The quintessential problem with Claude and the deer is that they should not have been involved in the war at all, or at least not Claude. What does he have to gain participating on it? Nothing, and he makes it even more explicit in azure moon when he dissolves the alliance. He could've pretty easely given the power to Lorenz or Hilda and nope out of there (what he does in silver snow), as it is clear througouht white clouds that he doesn't have as much of an attachtment to Fodlan as he does Almyra. And it isn't like the devs couldn't take the deer studients out during post-TS, when Marianne unless recruited is pressumed dead, and Lorenz unless recruited joins the imperial forces and dies helping the empire.

Outside of the problems with racism and the bigoted tropes related to "savage cultures" the Fodlan games perpetuate, the devs did not know how to use one of their house leaders for the main plot of "church vs empire", and idk if that's because they bit more than they could chew, or if it was intentional taking into account who gets the short end of the stick in both games happens to be mixed and from one of those "savage cultures".

TBH...

It's on the devs for having wanted to add a third lord to their game, but failing to, well, link him to any of those plots.

Supreme Leader's war of unification?

Well, Nopes gave him a part this plot - and yet there's no third choice in this plot : you bend the knee or you die. Nopes' wise, Clout decided (in his route) to bend the knee with his "alliance" that is totally supposed to make Supreme Leader reconsider her desire to roll over Leicester and make it part of Adrestia again!

(Granted, Nopes don't tell us how his plea to stop the war after killing the evil lizard lady will play out and leaves an open ending...)

In Houses, well, he doesn't want Leicester to be flattened, and goes on the offensive (counter offensive?) when Billy pops up with basically what is the plot events of Silver Snow (down to using the same strategy with disguises) with the Gronder Map.

And that addition radically changes... well, everything regarding Claude's relevance : he cannot form an alliance with the Blue Lord or the Kingdom to get rid of the Empire because "plot convenient myopia" and apparently Dimitri BaD enough that he attacks Alliance troops for no reason.

Forget SS, GW (and AM, in a way) is just using plot contrived excuse to... not have an united from to face the Empire. Why? IDK. Each Lord must be the hero of his story, or the unification boner means only one of them can "win" an unified Fodlan i'd guess.

Nabateans and the plot ?

No one gives a fig about that "plot", so it's basically pursuing a side-quest for no payoff.

Now, as @fantasyinvader wrote, Claude's story and journey as one who is ignorant and gets to learn and clear his misconceptions + the background of the land we're living in could have been interesting, doubly so given how Billy is voiceless and cannot play the "protag discovers the world at the same time as the player does" role.

But it has... no payoff.

Much like Rhea's infodump about the World, Relics and Nabateans... Claude reacts to the mention that Billy has a rock for heart, and not about his crest, his shiny bow or the fact that Rhea also had a vested interest in, uh, getting rid of prejudice against people who are perceived as "different" because her family was genocided for that.

Hell, the entire "prejudice" angle from Supreme Leader's war is swept under the rug, so we can have the Deers say nonsense like wanting to rekt Thales for Supreme Leader's sake, while only Flayn and Seteth can hear her "nabateans shouldn't have power over the people"...

There's no parallel drawn in the game about Claude and Rhea's situation - since she's at the center of this subplot - about being perceived as "outsiders" and not being able to do various things from existing to "rule over the people" because of what they are, or even faking their identities and building metaphorical walls between them and the people they're living with because they are afraid of rejection.

Nah, we can't have that, Rhea must be irrelevant to the possible, while also being the biggest scapegoat/dragon of this saga at the same time as a nebulous red herring to sell pots of tea.

Ihthe "fight against prejudice and make people accept each other" angle was that relevant to his route, Claude would have most likely talked or interacted with Dimitri and learnt of his plan to cleanse Duscur's name in his Father's assassination, raised a brow at Petra being a hostage and done something else than give a surprised pikachu face at Rhea's infodumps.

He could have reacted at her reveal that if you might want to live in peace with some people, if those people don't want that and label you as nothing more than fodder or things to be looted, it's not going to work.

And of course, gave a reaction at your second in command (unofficially?)'s reveal that, uh, her house keeps identured Almyran children as war prisoners?

Some people already made some AUs or "what ifs" routes for a proper Claude route and not the nonsense that we got in FE16 where it's basically "I react to the same plot events that happen in the other routes but top it all with a zombie".

The Deers could have been "better introduced" in a plot about getting rid of prejudice, or learning the causes of this prejudice : Marianne was/is hunted because of her blood ties to Maurice - not because what she did, but because what Momo did back then! - Lysithea was treated as a guinea pig and her house rolled over by Adrestia who has a less than rosy views about the "offshoots" that are called Leicester and Faerghus, Lorenz could explain that prejudice, just like piety, are tools used by people whenever they're relevant, like, some people being pissed at foreigners and some who aren't because they make money through international trading like Margrave Edmund does, Hilda justifying her House's animosity towards Almyrans because they lost many people in those pointless skirmishes (maybe a closed ones? Her mom or Uncle or whatever?) which would make Claude realise that "ending prejudice" is a much more difficult quest than, idk, just killing one or two randoms.

The commoner trio might share Claude's views about prejudice and welcoming foreigners, but have more "mundane" worries like being able to have a roof and food to eat, which might be the case of some people in Leicester, or tell us more about Leicester and how it works (give us more insight about the different countries if Fodlan ffs).

Maybe we could have add a Claude who learns and discovers Fodlan, and along the way, starts to love the land as much, if not more, than Almyra and really wanting to protect this land from whatever Supreme Leader's cooking, or becoming an Almyra v.2.

I don't think making Claude the third wheel of the plot was maliciously intentional because of the, uh, implications with RL cultures and Almyra, but more like they didn't know where to put him.

I noticed you wrote the conflict as one that is "the church vs the empire", but I do not really agree - if that was the case, the war would have stopped in VW/AM/SS the second Rhea was caught.

The main conflict is Supreme Leader's war of conquest - with the twist that the devs were really banking on their brilliant idea of making the red emperor the titular waifu of the game that each person/lord/whatever Rhea is must find a way to excuse and/or justify her actions.

With this in mind, AM is basically Dimitri's fall (and rise!) because of his ties to Supreme Leader.

In VW? The game cannot explore too much outside of the Supreme Leader scope so we're left with.. well, what VW was.

Claude cannot go on a journey to discover Fodlan and get rid of his misconceptions... because part of those same misconceptions are used by Supreme Leader to start her war, or the sheer concept of a conquest, aka a nation being rolled over by another is anathema to his, supposed, ideal of wanting people to accept each other despite their differences.

I ranted about it since day 5, but the Nabatean subplot (and Fodlan in general) is accessory to Supreme Leader war, there is no point aka no payoff for learning all of that, because you cannot challenge the one who wants to unify the continent.

As such, Claude cannot deviate too far from this plot - while receiving infodumps about "the lore" - and we end up with third wheel of a bike and characters who, at first and second glance, appear to be irrelevant.

Fodlan ends up unified despite starting as three separate countries, we feel bad for Supreme Leader and mourn her unknown ideals, Rhea is gone and the Agarthans aren't a problem anymore.

the second the devs said leicester was a republic, claude was doomed. Merchant republics are always irrelevent or straight up useless in the FE series!