#alears outfit who

[leowifefang]

i dont think alear would know how to pick up a chicken

[marcell-arts]

late night chats with zelkov

[yusuke-of-valla]

Ok so the Tempest Trials introduced Hero Types are

- Ascended Heroes: Post-Canon, potentially glow ups, living their best lives

- Rearmed: Upgraded gear (except when it's given to a base hero)

- Attuned: Has a bond so strong they cosplay as someone (except when it's given to a base hero)

- Aided: Has a little buddy for support and boosted stats (no clue how this will translate to literally anyone else but ok)

[oh-cool-a-burning-sword]

it's May and about a week away from the next story banner, you know what that means!

Who do y'all hope'll get a Fallen Alt this year?

[amtrashlmao]

finally playing fe: engage months after i bought it and i'm feeling a little silly

[astrxealis]

looking forward to this wednesday nov 23 a LOT for so many reasons oh my god. so seniors in business strand are all having their lil shops and stuff and so i pre-ordered some cute jewelry (matching bracelets w my besties !! and then crystal jewelry, rose quartz aaa) and there's gna be more that'll be there then ofc, some are not anymore tho bcs only pre-orders </3 ANYWAYS. FUTA 2ND TRIAL MV. NEW SONG PREVIEW SOUNDS SO COOL and SALAMANDER COVER !!! futa my fav (real) and his va is amazing at singing fr. also it's uhh hannah montana the character's birthday and one of my best friends is super into that and got us into it too so i'm into it (again & properly now! was kinda into it as a kid ofc) so we're going to watch a lot of stuff then methinks <33

[septiseph]

pov: you're corrupted who just attacked alear in last turn

---

this is a doodle I drew inside an unrelated art file. I realized later that I should've drawn him in his tireur d'elite outfit instead because of luna, but whatever, I was lazy lol just take it

[5iyoomi]

Hello! Thanks again for the FE3H request! Loved it!

I had the idea of asking if you could do a request with M!Alear, Alfred, Diamant, Alcryst, Fogado, with a male! reader? Nsfw too, if possible?

For the plot/context, the reader is a mage who promoted into a Sage! The boys are reacting to seeing the sage outfit, which they never saw before, on the reader and being all flustered about it.

Thank you!

They React to Your New Outfit ━ Part 1

characters: M!Alear, Alfred, Diamant, Alcryst, Fogado warnings: handjob, oral, penetrative sex, fingering (all reader receiving), dry humping, making out, me drifting from the prompt like 20 times lmao, not proofread/might be ooc A/N: hii I'm glad you liked the fe3h request! I wasn't sure if it was any good or not when I wrote it tbh.. sorry this one took me so long but I hope it was worth the wait :) I did sfw and nsfw for this but it kinda leans more towards nsfw in general

Part 2 | Word Count: 2,574

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Alear

Honestly I feel like he'd be the most flustered apart from Alcryst. He thinks you look good no matter what you're wearing, that you could absolutely pull off anything you wanted to and he'd be right there to tell you exactly that

But he's at a loss for words once he sees your new sage outfit, entirely different from the purples and browns of your old one. Your cape flows down to your feet, intricate designs adorning the piece of fabric that's draped over your broad shoulders

His eyes catch how your stomach and chest is almost entirely exposed to him, and he thinks his first thought would have surely gotten him weird looks if people could read his mind

He stutters out something that sounds suspiciously like 'pretty', but when you ask him if he said something he gets nervous and pretends like he didn't

He knows getting distracted in the middle of a battle wouldn't do anyone any good, so he tries not to think about it until you have a moment to yourselves

Heterochromatic eyes gaze lovingly into yours, bright hues of blue and red bright underneath the lights in his room. Alear has you laying beneath him with a loose grip on your waist to keep you steady, gently tugging your pants down just enough to free your already half-hard length.

"You look nice, you know that?" He breathes, thin fingers wrapping around your sensitive cock and thumbing at the leaking slit. He can't take his eyes off of you, entranced by how your clothes hug you in all the right places. His lips ghost over your jawline, and you tremble. "It suits you."

He insisted on you keeping your clothes on, everything except for your cape that was somewhere on the floor now; you couldn't be bothered to care. All that mattered was the pleasure that surrounded you like a cloud and his hand that worked you with practiced ease.

You run your fingers through his hair, your legs kept spread by his body in between them. "You- ah, think so?" You murmur, having to bite your lip when he silently nods, sucking a light hickey onto your neck. He knows it'll be covered up, that he won't have to worry about people asking you or him what happened, even though it's obvious.

You're his, after all. While a part of him wants to show you off, stake his claim in the only way he knows how, he doesn't need to. You're almost never not with him, anyway, fighting every battle by his side and staying glued to his hip outside of it. Not that he'd have it any other way.

Slowly but surely neither of you could be found without the other. People would constantly ask you where the Divine One was if you showed up without him, and people would wonder if he'd seen you around. It was a little embarrassing at first, but he couldn't say he minded.

So he'll take care of you tonight, take his time and bring you over the edge the same way he always does. Even if it's more for himself than anything else, to watch you fall apart in his arms with his name on your lips, but you weren't exactly complaining.

Alfred

Seeing as he's dating you, he wouldn't at all be afraid of saying how he feels about your outfit. He always wants you to come to him about anything, serious or not, so it stands to reason that he'd do the same with you

He's a little more forward with his compliments, admiring how your muscles bulge in your sleeves and whispering that he thinks you look even stronger like this, making heat warm your cheeks

Seeing you in something that revealing does more to him than he'd like to admit, though nothing has to be said about it when he asks, in the politest way possible, if he can suck you off right then and there (if no one was around two)

Your choked out sound of surprise makes him laugh as he watches you think about his question. You're just so gorgeous, can you blame him for wanting you?

Are we all in agreement that Alfred would 100% be a service dom? Yes? Okay anyways

"You don't have to-" you start to protest, but he cuts you off from where he's propped up on his knees, giving you a small smile and shaking his head.

"No, no, it's alright. Just let me make you feel good, okay?" Alfred traces gentle circles into your thighs, waiting for you to give him the okay to keep going. "Besides, I'm enjoying the view," he adds, so naturally and soft that you almost miss it.

So cheesy, you think, rolling your eyes. But you nod anyway, reaching down to fix one of the flowers that he keeps fixed in his hair. He leans into the touch, pressing a chaste kiss to the back of your hand. "Okay, fine, but once you're done, then-"

"You don't need to repay the favor, really," the blonde says, lacing your fingers together and squeezing. "This outfit was payment enough."

You don't get the chance to respond to that before he's mouthing at the outline of your length through your pants, watching to gauge your reaction. You suck in a small breath, resisting the urge to beg him to hurry up, because you know that'd only make him go impossibly slower.

But eventually, he hollows his cheeks, languidly taking you halfway into his mouth before drawing back. He does that a few times, tongue licking a long stripe from the base to the tip and circling the head of your cock.

"Please, d-don't tease," you whimper, feeling arousal pool in your stomach and settle there. He glances up at you, sliding down as much as he can without gagging and chuckling at how you slap a hand over your mouth.

It doesn't do much to stifle your noises, quiet moans slipping past your lips even with you trying to cover them. He pulls off with a loud pop after a moment, his hand snaking up the cut in the right side of your pants. "Only because you asked so nicely."

Diamant

Getting him to give you a reaction outside of his usual demeanor isn't a task, per se, but it's not easy either. He's almost always serious, trying to keep up appearances where he can

But then you tell him you've been promoted, that you've grown even stronger, and he's proud of you, he is, until his words falter when he sees how you look

What you're wearing is wildly different from your old mage outfit, the clothes allowing you to move around more freely as you take on more of a front-line position in battle. He knows that. It's supposed to be practical, in a way, and nothing else

Except telling himself that proves to be harder than he thinks. You ask him what he thinks about it, and he clears his throat, trying (and failing) to hide the blush that rises to his face and ears

He makes sure to let you know how he feels when he has the chance to, though. He can't leave your question unanswered now, can he?

Diamant tugs you onto his lap, not worried about being careful with most of his armor thrown off to the side on his bed. You go along with it, your legs resting on either side of him and arms coming up to wrap around his neck. His gloved fingers find your chin, pulling you closer until your faces are mere inches apart.

"You know, it's almost not fair that other people get to see you in this," he whispers, lips brushing yours and thumb stroking your cheek. You tuck a loose strand of red hair behind his ear, waiting for him continue. "But... it's fine, because only I know how you look when I kiss you."

As if on cue, he slowly bridges the small gap between you, tilting his head so that your lips easily slot together like it's second nature. You melt into it, letting him take the lead and grab you until your bodies are flush together. You can hear and feel all of him even through your clothes, from shaky breaths to the growing arousal in his pants.

You absentmindedly grind down against him, and the arm slung around your waist tightens. He takes your bottom lip between his teeth, nipping at it and reveling in how you shudder out his name.

His hands slip beneath the thin fabric covering the top of your toned chest, fingers flicking over your perk nipples and lightly tugging. You moan, tongue sliding into his mouth and melding with his own.

"How's that feel?" He pulls away to ask, meeting every roll of your hips with a thrust of his own. You pause to catch your breath, and to find the words that keep escaping you. He does the same, pressing a kiss to the corner of your mouth with a smile.

"Good," you finally manage to say in a whisper, the friction alone threatening to make you cum. He isn't holding up any better than you are, so he traces over your exposed skin, slowing your movements so that he could stretch this out.

"Gods, you drive me crazy."

Alcryst

He'd be so nervous about it that you'd probably end up having to get him to calm down. I feel like he'd either be the type to start rambling because he doesn't know what to say, or the type that trips over their words so much they have to take a deep breath before they continue

He just thinks you look absolutely handsome. You always do, even when you woke up with the worst bedhead in all of Elyos, but this is different

A part of him still doesn't know how you fell in love with somebody like him, someone that can't even properly speak sometimes, but he's happy when you reassure him it's not a big deal. That it's kind of cute how he reacts to you

He wants to show you everything that's swirling around in his head when he can't verbally get out how he's feeling <3

"It's okay if I do this, isn't it?..." He quietly asks, a soft flush painting his pale skin pink. He has your fingers intertwined just beside your head, his other hand holding one of your legs open in a position he knows you're the most comfortable in.

You nod, giving his hand a squeeze and pulling him in closer by the neat, white cravat tied around his neck. The cold wind from a crack in the window is a nice reprieve from the warmth burning hot and fiery in your stomach.

"Mhm, go ahead. You can do whatever you want to me." You tilt your head up to kiss him, and you can feel him freeze up at that, a small whimper falling off his tongue and his cock twitching where it teases at your hole.

"Y-you can't just- can't just say things like that," Alcryst pouts, sunken scarlet eyes darting from yours back to the spot between your legs. He'd always get flustered when it came down to doing this with you, so hung up on being perfect that he didn't get to fully enjoy himself.

You want him to let loose a little bit for once. Your sage outfit was the perfect way to start.

"But it's true," you lift your hips up to make it easier for him, shooting him a sly wink that has him subtly fidgeting. "Don't hold back this time, I can take it." And that seems to do it for him.

You both let out a choked out moan when he gently slides into you, wrapping a hand around you and stroking in time with each half thrust. He nestles himself deep inside you, hips slamming into yours and his lips trailing up and down your entire body.

He bites down on your shoulder so that he isn't being too loud. You were tight, warm and panting beneath him, and he swears you're the prettiest boy he's ever seen in his life.

"You feel good, so good."

Fogado

He's literally the Claude of engage I think the developers have a type.... (me too but that's a conversation for another day)

Anyway, he's the first person to notice when your outfit changes. He'd be the first one to catch something small, anyway, like if you trimmed the ends of your hair or got new frames for your glasses, and those observational skills and flirtatious nature of his don't go away when you start dating

He's not just saying it to say it, though, he means it when he sees you outside and tells you that you look cute. The colors compliment your eyes, the arm sleeves slid up to your elbows perfect on you, and he doesn't shy away from pointing that out

He'll ask you if you wanna get dinner with him after training, even though you always say yes. It's become something of a routine with you two, to unwind by talking about any and everything in each other's presence

Then he'll casually say how much better your clothes would look on the floor on your way out of the cafe terrace

"Fogado-" you squirm, hands clutching the sheets under you for dear life. Your face is pressed into the pillow, his, namely, drool leaving a small puddle in the middle of the linen case.

He leans over your back, humming in acknowledgement and curling two of his fingers inside you in search of that spot that would have you seeing stars. You're thankful that most of your moans are muffled and that he can't see your face twisting up in pleasure.

It's embarrassing enough that he has your ass up and back arched for him, your body bare except for your sleeves while he's still fully clothed. You're burning up, your heart beating loudly in your chest and legs trembling.

It doesn't help that he keeps purposefully avoiding you where you need him the most, your dick almost pathetically hard and leaking pre-cum between your thighs. He litters the nape of your neck with wet kisses, leaving a mark here and there that'll just barely be able to be covered up.

"What's the matter, baby?" He whispers in your ear, biting down on it and feeling you tighten around him. You're about to respond, but your words end off on a high-pitched groan when he slides a third digit in beside the first two, and he all but laughs. He knows exactly what he's doing, what the problem is, but he's messing with you. Seeing how much it'd take for you to beg.

And it's starting to kill you.

"I need you-"

"What's the magic word?" You feel more than see him smirk against your skin, and you'd be mad if you weren't unbearably needy right now. So you humor him.

"Please."

Fogado grins, big, brown eyes scanning down your frame. He can tell you're close. "That's my good boy." He coos, murmuring praises when his fingers finally find your prostate with one hard thrust and you cum for him, shaky cries prompting him to finger you through your orgasm despite your weak protests.

He really thinks he should do this more often.

[shiny-jr]

oh my god i feel the same way about fem!byleth. there was no reason for her to be wearing that outfit. also, i don’t like her big bug eyes…

but she’s more tolerable than alear. male alear is slightly more bearable then fem!alear, but only because his hair is shorter, therefore i have to see less of it.

god that design is hideous

THIS. Literally, I feel like people always think I dislike Fem!Byleth for other reasons. I don't. She acts the same as Male!Byleth. Sure, their personality is a little bland, but that's beside the point. The point is, why is Male!Byleth the only one properly dressed as a professor and ready for battle? His clothes cover everything, it makes sense since he's the son of a mercenary and he fights all the time. But Fem!Byleth, the daughter of a mercenary who fights all the time too, is literally wearing short-shorts showing some of her tummy, the only thing covering her legs are tights, her arms are exposed unlike her male counterpart, and part of the vital area of her neck and collarbone which her male counterpart has covered.

I don't understand why they couldn't use Robin as an example. Both Male!Robin and Fem!Robin are dressed exactly the same! They act the same, they are the same. Who in the hell gave the green-light for Fem!Byleth's outfit?

I had to look up "Alear" since I haven't heard of them, but when I saw them, I knew exactly who you were talking about. They look like those characters that people make random concept art like "[Insert random item here] as an anime character" and in this case that random item was colgate toothpaste.

[fashiondisastertournament]

ROUND 3

Matchup #3.3: Cecil Gershwin Palmer (Welcome to Night Vale) vs Alear (Fire Emblem: Engage)

After two prior victories, which one gets to stay?

In the left corner, rises Cecil Gershwin Palmer. Crowned the Tumblr sexyman, is he also Disastrous enough to win here? He has been often nominated for (all canonically):

his first date outfit being described as "my best tunic and furry pants"

wearing capri pants and a cummerbund to work

wearing yellow sponge clogs, cat ears, and tights to the opera

wearing "a black tuxedo and white bow tie, open-toed polished black shoes, a burgundy velvet cape, earrings made from repurposed car keys, and a top hat with furry tassels hanging from the brim" to his wedding

going to sleep in "a honeycomb hat, a Hawaiian shirt, and leather pants"

On the right side, we're being attacked by the colors of Alear. They made so far here for Choices such as:

very intense toothpaste colors

the pants shape, the vest, the pointy boots, and the hair, taken all together

[felikatze]

thinks abt my many half baked ISAT FE AU stuff again....

siffrin is a manakete that is all good night

uhhh act 5 and twohats spoilers below

joking but. also yes. i was thinking a lot abt what FE classes the cast would have recently so.

Mirabelle is a lord. HOWEVER. she gets to be a fancy lord who also gets staff access. Like Hoshido Noble. could you imagine dragging around a scrublord who only gets good on promo but they had heal utility the whole time. isn't that a dream. imagine if Roy could heal and then still rips in endgame

Odile is very obviously a Sage. Like cmon. If i had to pick any specific sage outfit it would in fact be Awakening sages. But the thought of Odile in the outfit of Engage sages is enough to kill people I think. Though the banana mage gba era would be hilarious on her.

The trifecta of magic is also a nice reflection of her being able to use all types of craft :) esp tellius mechanics are dope for that (and integrated into my silly isat emblems stuff). It could also be very thematically appropriate to make her an Omnyoji instead.

Isabeau just has massive axe bro energy. Yknow how fighters are stereotyped as stupid but then Lot FE6, generic axe bro ever, plays chess and does philosophy? Yeah. From a gameplay standpoint it would also make sense to put him in armor knight cuz he will Protect His Friends. Also he has the highest hp in the cast anyways. He would also have rally skills.

If i had to pick one guy to make a beast unit, it would be him also. Tiger isabeau.

Bonnie is the Transporter. They cannot fight. They cannot die. Bonnie is Merlinus. We are not letting the child on the battlefield. Give Bonnie a caravan and convoy access, you know they gotta.

Sif is. hm.

Like the obvious call is Thief, right? In games that have em, daggers are exclusive to thieves (unless you're fates, and have butlers and ninjas). Dagger classes can also debuff (with engage thieves poisoning, and fates daggers inflicting debuffs) which would be a nice niche. However Siffrin isn't actually a criminal.

From a story standpoint mercenary would be the most appropriate since they're not really here for any particular reason but just bcuz he happened to be in the country when the curse struck.

HOWEVER.... engage has given us a very tantalizing third option. Wolf Knight. They're not associated with crime. They are speedy, dodgy, and use daggers.

Siffrin gets a pet wolf. Do you see it.

TO ELABORATE ON THE MANAKETES THING.... So, if you've seen me talk abt my fucking, fe6 isat au, i cast Idunn as Siffrin. And the idea of someone forgetting their own species is really funny, and also kinda terrifying. And the only other person like you is the guy you have to kill.

Also I think creechur siffrin AUs are great. And dragons in FE are associated heavily with two things. a) going insane. b) amnesia (just look at corrin, and grima, and alear).

Also also dragons love to take naps. WHO ELSE LOVES TO TAKE NAPS?? That's right. Siffrin.

Oh yeah also. Dragon Loop. Wouldn't that be epic. AND. act 5 boss fight siffrin turning into a full dragon.

And the development possibilites. As siffrin learns about the island, also uncovering myths about dragons. And the new strength siffrin is able to master more and more of each loop being bcuz. well. dragon. and growing aware of the ways he's different from the others not just in the growing chasm as they veiw the party more and more as actors, but also the paranoia in physically becoming a monster.

Do you see my fucking vision, here.

SPEAKING OF ENGAGE.... i forgot who. but SOMEBODY. suggested. Emblem Loop. wrgrhr.

and i've thought abt how this would work. And i think it does work, if like... the island (and the divine dragons) all got forgotten because of the emblem's miracle. That somebody thought it was too dangerous and wanted to seal it away forever and used the power of the emblems to make them forgotten. And so Wish Craft would be the emblems' power instead, which only dragons have access to - supposedly. Hey, if a whole country tries out a prayer incantation, would it work?

And. and. this would be really easy to do by. replacing the silver coin with a ring. Siffrin just has this random ring they've had forever. So when Loop wishes to get out, they become the emblem they've been using. You get recursive timeloop questions - who was the emblem that granted Loop's wish in the first place? Was it another Siffrin? Somebody else altogether? Who knows. But isn't the asking really fun.

And like, I mean, Emblem Byleth already exists, we all know what "rerolling missed attacks to hit instead" is. Emblem Byleth is still rewinding time you just can't see that he is.

Do you see my vision. ISAT fire emblem engage AU.

[emblemxeno]

Be honest. When you played Engage, did you set Mauvier's Somniel outfit as the swimsuit?

You wouldn't be the only one lol

I would've but the models in Engage are kinda jank and he loses a lot of... body size, let's say. He's a 31 year old, 6' 5" brick shithouse who even says that he can provide Alear shade or protection from the snow because he's that big.

In his swimsuit, he's obviously still bigger than most, but not tree trunk limbs big like one would think given his normal clothes lol

[yanderefairyangel]

*sight*

Alright so basically was again talking about Engage story and how I thought it did a better job then 3H with someone and at first it was very cordial, but when I said that in Engage, animals, clothing and dishes are linked to the area unlike in 3H where everything is linked to the monastery, I wake up to a condescending reply where I am told I have no reading skills and as much media literacy as a 3 year old and that I was straight up lying, before getting blocked with no chance to reply to this person... who managed to misunderstood something I said in less then 2 lines. So I decided that instead of just ranting I would actually use this to show how the Somniel is better then the monastery while explaining further this idea because I actually think it's a clever idea and shows why you should never rely only on conveying your worldbuiling through telling.

So what do I mean by linked ? In both Engage and 3H you have many things originating from all the continents, but in 3H everything is linked to the monastery whereas in Engage it's not, the only thing that is linked to the Somniel is what originates from Lythos in terms of dishes or clothing, and only because the Somniel is part of Lythos.

If you want something originating from Firene, you need to unlock said region from Firene first while keeping in mind that the animals or materials avalaible in let's say , the map of chapter 4 is not avaliable in chapter 5's map and slightly different then in map 6. Same can be said about Brodia, Elusia and Solm and even once you unlocked those areas, you still need to make donations to be able to unlocked some dishes in the Somniel, some outfits or to adopt some animals. Therefore, we understand that those are all linked to the different areas of the world it originates from, all the more so when Engage having no NG+ if you replay another file, you have to do this again giving a real meaning to the exploration phase. It's also giving you the sense that Alear is actually gaining knowledge on the world they live in and are getting used to it, fitting with their own character developpement of slowly stepping more and more into their role as the Divine dragon. Additionally it helps making the Somniel much more tolerable because it gives you a sense of progression, it doesn't feel monotone nor routine like. You get to visit different landscapes that are moreover beautifully designed with colorful graphics meaning you are less likely to feel bored and feel like you are repeting over and over again the same thing. The fact that the more you progress into the story, the more you unlock stuff even activites linked to one specific character (work out => Alfred, Wyrvern riding =>Ivy etc) so it makes the Somniel feel actually meanigful and gives the feeling that Alear is getting used to their world, as well as varying in the Somniel during the playthrough so that at no points it feels boring while still leaving the possiblity to skip the Somniel when you don't want to go back to it. The only cons of this strategy is that it's up to the player to actually seek for the world and do the exploration and donations but depending on what you want to see on your first playthrought, it actually leaves you the choice.

Now in 3H. The monastery is the place where you end up spending most of the game and oh boy does it hurts the story. So while 3H has this gigantic worldbuilding, the main problem is that it's conveyed through dialogue. And unlike Engage where you had only 2 chapters of Lumera and Alfred explaining the whole world to Alear and then lefting the rest to explore so that the story could focus on it's events and left the support dwell more into it as well, the characters will very, very , very often repeat the same wordlbuilding elements. So now, while 3H also let you cook specialty from Adestria, Faerghus or Leicester or let you pet animals from diverses regions... you never work for them. They aren't linked to the area of the world they originate from, they are all linked to the monastery as they are already there. All you need to do is to fufill the request that unlocked the cooking activity. It's not "Oh I went to Faerghus and now that I visited the place I can cook any dishes originating from there", no it's already there. And while I get it since Garrech March is the center of the world and that with these many students from all over the continent, they need to have a lot of recipes from all around the world, it kills the creativity because everything is handed to you, you just need to do some secondary quest rather then actually explore the world so as a result, the only thing you have to do is do monastery activities rather then visit the world to get them. Same thing for the animals, they aren't linked to their world, but to the monastery and thus everything is avalaible regardless of which route you choose. Even in Leicester you can have stuff from Faerghus in the monastery because it is linked to it rather then to the place it originates from, so it creates a very monotone thing in the monastery that contributes to its repetitveness and gives little variety to the route you choose. And when the game asks you to replay everytime the first 12 chapter, let's say that it's not good. And with NG+ it's worse because the necessity to gain activity point that gave the impression Byleth was becoming a better teacher is ruined by the sole fact that all the points you had can be re-acquired right at the begining despite you doing nothing to deserves it on this playthrough.

Moreover, it never feels like Byleth is learning about the world they live in because the characters will constantly acts as if they didn't knew about... everything. It doesn't matter how much time you can spend at the library reading about the family and the world, for reasons the character will always treat you as if you didn't read those. And this is because of being a route game. Since 3H can't know which routes you'll play first, it constantly treats every 12 chapters as if you never played the others while also taking into account that you might have played the others and trying to rely on that for a lot of things. It creates a paradox, but paradoxes never works and it actually hurts the story because one of the reasons why 3H feels so easy to burn out from is the repetiteveness and the monastery being that one place where all the worldbuiling is stocked into when it's not conveyed through dialogue or supports or the main story, it only makes the monastery more and more tedious. Compare that to the Somniel where you have the possiblity to skip those phase, where when you go to the donations maps, you can notice the difference between the different areas, to the world exploration phases after battle where the title screen will appear to tell you "that you don't know enough about said animal to adopt it", where you have to make donations to unlock all these regions linked items. There is more variety here.

If Engage was a route game where you can side with any of the 4 kingdoms, no doubt it would have a real advantage over 3H by the fact that these exploration phases and unlockable items linked to the regions they originate from with what's more, the possiblity to observes the landscape gives much more variety and diversity making the whole Somniel and fighting phases less monotone. In 3H, the only variety offered by choosing your path is your students, whom you can recruit anyway no matter what houses you choose, so it ends up that 3H's has little variety. Imagine if depending on whether you choose Black Eagles or Blue Lions, you end up with different stuff for each route : different pets to pet, different plants to plant, different dishes to cook and if you could unlock outfits linked to these regions rather then having only the outfits that are Garrech March made since you can only choose to dress your units between differents uniforms or a maid/butler outfit. Say whatever you want about Engage's design, but at least, it lets you dress your units as how people in the kingdoms traditionally dress up. But since the only NPC you can intereact with in 3H are people of the monastery, it once again kills that diversity. In Engage, you can talk to NPC living there in their environement. In 3H you can't. The only way you know how people of Faerghus dress is by looking at Dima and the other with their outfit that seems to fit more for a country where there is a cold climate but that's about it.

And worse : since 3H recylcles a lot of maps and place present in the support for the dialogue even in main story, it's even less varieted. It gives even more the impression that you don't move, that everything is static. And it's not even that all maps are the same, but the fact you have so little opportunity to appreciate going outside of the monastery makes it hard to project yourself. You can literaly go click on map yet it feels like you don't move at all and mainly due to the calendar system. Outside of battle and side mission, can you really say that 3H lets you explore the world ? And is it really that different between the routes ?

You wanna know a game that does exactly like Engage ? Fates. Freaking Fates.

Fates has its flaw, but diversity and variety was not one of them. When you choose Hoshido, you get special item originating from Hoshido in my Castle and since those aren't available if you choosed Nohr, so that means those ressources are linked to Hoshido and that gives more variety to the playthrough.You have to choose an entire route to get to have both ressources. It gives actual variety to the landscape and life to the world. 3H in comparision hands you everything it has no matter which route you choose : dishes ? all there in the monastery. Animals that can be found in variying regions of Fodlan ? They are all already in the monsatery, no need to visit any country to adopt them. Clothing ? All comming from the monastery, no way you can cosplay as some villager from Remire or any palce you are curious about.

What I am trying to say, it's that by showing its worldbuiling and letting you explore the world and do all these little stuff, Engage is able to make it's world more lively and creates an actual dynamic between Alear and Elyos rather then having them staying passive. In 3H, the worldbuilding is always presented to us but the fact that it is linked to the monastery and not avalaible in any other context ruins it and fails to give it life, if anything it gives everything to the player no matter the route making the experience feels shallow which is what I am sure player that feels like 3H has this enormous worldbuilding and does nothing with it comes from. It's great to have a big worldbuilding, but because everything is tied to the monastery rather then the region it is originating from, it ends up feeling like there is no substance in this worldbuilding and in 3H's case it hurts even more due to how it makes the replay experience so repetitive. You can play a different route, but the monastery phase will remain pretty much the same since it's the same story for 12 chapters, only some dialogue changes and different scene... doesn't help a lot does it ?

And you are pretty much forced to play the monastery phase just because you need to boost your teacher points to unlock every monastery feature but with NG+ it's only once you'd have to do that since you won't have to do it for the next playthrough making the whole thing even more tedious.

The Somniel in comparison is not only very easily skippable, but the fact that it gets more and more feature because of your progression in the story and the world rather then your Somniel activity does convey a progression rythm making the exploration phase worth it. Unlike for Garrech March were the feature depended only on how much you invested into monastery actvity, for the Somniel the feature rely on your progression into the world. And the lack of NG+ in Engage actually respect that every of these feature is linked to the world and that's up to the player to search for them, unlike the monastery where everything is handed to you, linked to the monastery and therefore making it that the world of Fodlan fails to come to life.

This tell don't show way of exposing the worldbuilding that 3H has is really a big flaw, especially for the gigantic world it created for itself. Engage has a simpler and smaller world, but the fact it lets you explore it and most importantly, interact with the world rather then being locked into the Somniel like Rapunzel in her tower helps it give it life, it breaks the possible monotony of the Somniel by giving variety to your moves.

If 3H had a world hub phase like Engage, you have no idea how this would improve it's wordbuilding by giving it actual substance. At first Engage's activity might seems like silly little fun, but it actually gives you a dynamic and active relationship to said world rather then staying at home and having everything handed to you over

Now that's not saying Engage has a perfect worldbuilding but I can say that if the devs had a library like for 3h, it's likely that to fill it you'd have to again unlock the kingdoms first to have them in the Somniel and it's possible they might have you have a mini games like a quizz with Vander since it's how it worked for all the Royals having a special activity to train Alear. And in the case of 3H, if the reading could actually pay off. That would be an improvement.

[alexissara]

Fire Emblem Engage: One Year Later An Anniversary Of Mid

Fire Emblem Engage is now a year old and as a massive Fire Emblem fan I want to talk about it. Engage is a game I don't like and I am nothing if not a hater so I want to talk about it more about a year out since I think being a hater that goes beyond a boring critique of hair or anime bad is more valuable.

First let's talk about where I place it in the overall series.

I am going to dive into things in a lot of detail down below. Obviously everything is subjective, blah, blah, your reading my opinions, I don't really care about being "objective" so take what you want out of this. The TLDR though is that Engage is a game that fails in every single way, there is not one thing that it is particular amazing at but it is not the worst at any particular thing either. It's a text book mid game but in some ways I like it less then things I think are worse because the squandering of some decent concepts.

Designs

Mika is an extremally talented artist with a wonderful sense of design but even she questioned why they were hiring her to do a Fire Emblem game. While I like some of the designs of the characters as general characters designs but their almost all bad character designs for story telling, for explaining a deeper sense of character, for fitting into a war setting, for fitting a diverse range of ages or bodies, etc. I don't mind Alear's hair, I think red and blue hair makes sense, that's the enemy phase and ally phase colors, it's not terrible but the outfit is a bit too white. The designs in general are simply great designs for a silly little person but not great for the wider depth of characters not creating characters you could see doing a war. If the tone was different I could see these working but it need to lean far more into comedy or cheese then it does. I really don't have a lot to say here but it kinda just had to be the first thing to address. I like them more than the average person but I still don't love them. Like Etie is supposed to like be buff and stuff but she is a twig. Saphir is supposed to be pretty old but she looks fairly young. Mika's style simply doesn't blend well with Fire Emblem despite me loving Mika's work prior to this.

Story

This is the most often critiqued part of the Fire Emblem Engage experience that even people who love it typically concede and for good reason. The story of this game is a fairly simple and basic story structure. Hero awakes and must do their fate, mother dies, protag cries, they go on a journey to collect the plot items, they collect plot items but OH NO THE ENEMY HAS PUT A WRENCH IN IT! Then they build themselves back up, collect the items and murder the big bad. Along the way you get some angsty zombie stuff but it's cheap emotions, kids complicated relationships to their parents, a theme which you'd think maybe is one of the grander themes but really isn't touched on with Sombron and Alear/Vayel despite Sombron being the main baddy.

Alear has a minor story arc, Alear is scared but then Alear isn't scared only Alear basically always stepped up so the gameplay and the story don't intgrate well here, if Alear even had one map of running away when she shoulda fought and that is why they lost emblem rings or something it would have more solidly locked in "oh Alears character flaw is that she runs away but now she knows to stay and fight" or it could have been a contrast and been like "it's a good thing that Alear knows when to run" and separate Alear from other lords in the series.

The games plot is deeply uncurious aiming for the most simple solutions down to the point where Vayel doesn't have an evil second personality [which I mean is ableist but they still make you think that] it's actually mind control evil second personality. It turns out Vayle and Alear is just goddy good Fell Dragons and all the other ones were totally naturally evil and okay to kill I guess. Vayel could have had an edge to her, there could have been redemption for the "evil" part of Vayel that would be a far more complicated set of emotions and more interesting then no one needs to forgive her because actually every bad thing she did to everyone was evil mind control and every good thing is the real her.

Then there is the DLCs plot which almost makes Engages main plot look good taking you to an everyone is dead AU where everyone is fucked up cuz their zombies I guess or they just are like this in this world but also it only is interested in exploring the lords and the "good" versions of the bad quad with an addition of two new characters. Theirs an obvious twist villain but they try and just red herring you to think it's the girl twin instead of the boy twin who is more clearly evil by showing Nel do some things that seem evil out of context. It's fairly boring, it doesn't engage what it wants to hard enough, it presents it in some fucking awful map designs and it's place in the plot being able to show up before you met the vast majority of the characters actual selves means it's possible you come in with both an army that isn't fun to do the maps with and without a good set of emblem rings but you also have no idea why it should be shocking to see a character like this. It mostly makes me wish that they had instead of making this all DLC worked some of the complicated relationships between characters into the actual plot of the game and had some more fell dragons that were a bit more complicated but redeemable potential party members.

Thematically and politically I am at a loss at what it wants to say, it doesn't even seem to want to say like war is bad or something basic like that. The only recurring theme is like parent dies and that's sad and that is like true for most people and their parents but it's not a particularly well done version of that theme. It's not really about the bounds of friendship and love because like idk there is so few scenes where people overcome things with the power of friendship of love. Like there is some tension between evil coded country and the others but like those are resolved by the future queen having a divine dragon kink and will be good because she worships the good god.

Characters

Fire Emblems cast is kind of like the cast of a Disegea game, which I typically enjoy only not over the top enough nor in a game with a tone consistently silly enough to justify the wild over the top energy of the characters. Characters all have bits and this is true of many fire emblem games but it is more rare for basically every single character to have a bit that is pretty definitive to them rather than a character trait. They are designed and written like a vtuber in a lot of ways, their meant to be cute, for you to find your fav and for you to hyper focus on that one. Only unlike a Vtuber you can't hop on and invested dozens of hours a week watching Yunaka shout Zappy as she murders someone in a video game and banters with chat.

There is a layer of depth to the characters that explain why a character is like this TM but these things typically come at the end of an A rank support which leaves you to assume "This girl sure does talk a lot about tea" if your not rushing to A with someone or if you RNG into one where ya she's mostly just talking about Tea. Again there are characters that are like this in other Fire Emblem games but few characters get the cool join situations, the cool moments in the story to really make you invest that deeply into them since the game is really focused on these lords and doesn't have a lot of interesting recruiting given every character is a lord or a servant of a lord. Not to mention that depth is usually not that deep like it's more like finding a foot bath in what you found thought was just someone spilling water rather then going into a hot tub of complex lore, character drama, and passion.

I did enjoy the characters for my time with them like a light hearted kids animated show where I go "aww these guys are fun" but like one of those I don't really think about the characters after. I enjoy when I see art of Yuanaka or the Racket of Solm fan art, I go "Oh I like those girls, their neat" but I never feel like "OMG Yes, let's fucking go!!!!!" like I do for many other characters in many other pieces of art.

Then in terms of the villains Sombron is paper then with a random new motive at the very end that is utterly uninteresting. The four hounds are fun enough characters since their allowed to be a little complicated but their also as an enemy on a map over staying their welcome for the amount of times you put swords into their bodies lealthy. The four hounds then feel under cut by the "good" versions of them that exist in the DLC which are basically what if they were boring, they are the good versions. Evil Vayel as mentioned earlier is boring because she's just mind control evil and not a real person. There is very few enemy of the map type enemies to think about and the ones that do exist are paper thin, your not going to get a stand off with a commander that you feel complicated feels about having to kill here.

Then we got to get into the endings, the lack of paired supports give everyone a static boring ending unless Alear wanted to give them a special friendship bracelet which totally doesn't mean romance HAHAHA alear doesn't want to date children or married men HAHAHA pay no attention to the man behind the mirror. It strips agency from the player, the translation no romos several romances with Alear that should be totally fine anyway, their just extremely poor at creating a sense of what you did to the world after you saved it because the world was perfect basically except Sombron was a dick. The characters don't feel like they grew in their little ending bits for the most part it's kidna like they went on to do what you'd expct them to do.

Then there is the emblem rings which are given fairly shallow interactions that range to them being pretty out of character to them saying a one line joke to them saying "remember that thing from my game." The shallow level of interaction with the rings is really unfortunate but also fortunate because it meant they didn't write a ton of these characters. They still feel like they should have beena bigger deal and been a bit more involved in the plot as well as having some deeper relationships with characters.

Also you get two fucking dragons on your team both of whom can't turn into dragons, there are these hot older women who are capable in battle but can't get recruited for the cause because I guess their not young and fuckable, there is so little interest in the world of this game outside of lords and their servants [which is a flaw in a lot of modern FE], why the literal child soldiers like Anna, there is a lot of frustrating character choices that could have been done better.

Presentation

I think the graphics are good, I think they look pretty, I like bright colors in my eyeballs and it works for me. I think graphically it's a clear step up from houses, the places look very beautiful. They make a fairly uninspired choice of diving the game into 5 themed regions with a kinda similar design principle across the maps Flower, Mountainy, Evily snow, Sand, really evil. This does take away from a kinda unquie feeling to each place you go but they don't look bad.

Music wise, the opening theme is dumb, I like it but it's corny and clearly gonna be divisive but it suits the game that it is for. As music in the game goes though it's fine, it's a fine soundtrack of fine songs that are fine. Only a few songs are really bangers though and a lot of the music doesn't stand out to me a year later I can basically just think the opening theme and the engaging an emblem remix. I am actively trying to recall another song as I write this and I end up just getting the Three Houses Monastery music in my head instead.

The animations I will simply give full marks too, the animations after many years after the GBA finally don't look bad. Crits look cool, the engage attacks look cool, there is some coolness to be had there where the more real and grounded animations since Gamecube were never my favorite. Great job engage, I hope the series keeps it up.

Gameplay

People talk about Fire Emblem Engage's gameplay being the best in the series but it really isn't and it's not like stunning SRPG design in general. Perhaps if your looking for a challenge the maddening experience is some sort of revolution but the average player of any video game will be playing on the "normal" mode which is by default the intended mode. The game features mechanics that one might think is for grinding but utterly fail at that, the loading screens between managing things make the act of building characters tedious and annoying, the mini game gameplay that optimize maps is awful, the way you can spend resources for cosmetics that you can't use in battle is awful, the lack of little touches to the smithing system like being able to alter or name your weapons is bad. These are all gameplay, these aren't the maps but there part of playing the game and while you can in future runs maybe ignore most of these things you will likely experience some of these and some things were stream lined with patches but these patches will go away and eventually getting supports between characters will go back to being fairly annoying.

Then we can talk about the beloved maps and engaging. The gameplay using the skill system is utterly flawed with the SP being so poorly distributed makes building characters utterly prone to accidently wasting SP and not being able to get a build on that character that will feel good for the rest of the run. This effects gameplay in maps as does the fact you only have two slots for said skills making for fairly small amounts of build possibilities for the wide swath of options you get especially if you get the DLC. The map design doesn't present the fun diverse set of objectives an SRPG is capable of with most maps being kill the boss or kill all the things. They do present different little map gimmicks and they do make some of the maps good but the maps fail in the biggest way that a map can in an SRPG which is to be narratively uninteresting.

I could make a whole article about the sin to the world that is Xenologue 5 which is a top contender for worst map in all of Fire Emblem. In general the Xenolouge maps really are a perfect exercise and exposing the magic of the pretty lights of Engage and going "Oh this game is awful".

It's boring to fight the same 4 dudes. Your so rarely put up against someone new and neat and the characters you are fighting don't grow much until their about to actually die. The repeating four hounds fights creates a dissonance where your people permanently die if they lose in battle but you can't get the kill on these people your doing 1000 flashy attacks on. If you can enjoy a map in isolation perhaps these maps are good, great even but it doesn't fix the issues.

The Bonus Content TM

I talked about the stuff in gameplay but I want to reiterate that the bonus parts of the game are in fact a part of the gameplay.

First off we got costumes which are utterly frustrating even outside of being locked to the hub world. The clothes are gender locked where boys where boy clothes and girls where girl clothes expect Rosado who is a special femboy and in no way a dirty tranny we make fem boys not dirty transgenders in Fire Emblem [this is sarcasm, I am trans] who gets to wear girl clothes. Never mind Jade wearing more masculine clothes in her casual outfits if she had to chose between a butler or a maid outfit clearly she'd pick to be a kawaii maid. The only kind of gender deviation being allowed in the random costumes even for Alear being the femboy fetishist at IS's pet project is pretty pathetic. Also pathetic is the gender lock applying to the amiibo lord costumes which in addition are also even more limited only being wearable by lord characters and only lords of the right gender even if Lucina clothes are mens wear their only for women and very special bloodline women. Then all of this taking resources simply damages the game further.

The mini games include a Rhythm game with no Rhythm as if Fire Emblem has no amazing songs to be playing a work out mini game to. We have a flight sim on rails shooter thing but no enemies or added depth. A fishing game that is a fishing mini game. These are boring to passable but they all give you benefits from doing them so if you wanted to truly optimize you'd need to do them between every map.

Then there is the "interactive" bonus elements talking to people at Somnel and post map, inviting people to dinner, sending people to do an activity together. I've avoided comparing this game to Three Houses until this point but I have to here, Three Houses and Engage started development at roughly the same time so Engage had many more years in development but each and every one of these things are far less in depth then in Houses. There is no voice acting for these sections, unlike houses where every map you have new voiced interactions with every character some of which are dynamically tied to choices you made you get mostly rotating lines with a few people interjecting a text box of almost nothing of value. There is no special bonus conversations for sending people to work together who might have something to say to each other. The meals and creepy bed time interactions are voiced but the interaction between characters is very limited and the lines are pretty repetitive only working with an RNG system of if the food is shit or not which is only annoying. The bedtime interactions of someone waking you up are totally RNG based meaning a character you hate might come wake you up and you have to here about the Alpaca hero and they change when you raise up supports with them meaning each special voiced interaction with sleeping requires you to go out of your way to do something of no value to hope you RNG into the character you like saying a few words less you accidently support them and miss a piece of dialogue. It feels cheap, it feels bargain basement, it feels undercooked.

The grinding here kinda feels like it wishes it was Scared Stones but the pay off for climbing the grind in this game isn't exclusive post game characters, exciting special weapons but some orbs for an optional upgrade system randomly given to you so maybe you can upgrade the weapon you want but maybe not. The bound rings gacha is not an indepth system that is fun to play with. It's just another place where things feel super under cooked despite the long development cycle on this game.

Final Thoughts

Talking about the game I actually feel a lot more negative on it then when I put together the little list at the top or when I wrote an Anniversary of mid, I kinda just feel like actually it's just bad but like it's probably mid and not bad and I am just impassioned writing all my complaints. This is a game that had a ton of potential but I feel squandered it at every opportunity.

I wish I liked Engage, I Wish I liked Fates, but if this is the direction that IS is taking their games when their the primary devs of Fire Emblem I am just not gonna buy IS developed Fire Emblem games because ultimately I got way more physic damage playing these games then I got joy. Fire Emblem is my favorite game series, the one I would say I am actually part of the fandom of and I want to love every new entry, to be hype, to fall in love, to gamble on my phone for little jpegs but I'm just not here with this.

I think Engage presented cool new ideas like the Break System which I think is great and should return but in general I fear this direction. I'd love to see something akin to Engage skills with some flashy over powered stuff. I like how these these interact with the core mechanics and I think their fun additions to the formula.

I just hope this one year anniversary set of thoughts is enough to free me of my Engage demons and I can just never think about it again and go onto playing fan games, rom hacks and replaying older games I enjoy along with new Indie SRPGs leaving this behind to simply exist for the people who love it.

If you enjoyed this look back at Fire Emblem Engage and you want to help me play more Fire Emblem or other SRPGs then Patreon and Ko-fi are a great way to support me so I can afford to talk about queer art and stuff.

[creativesplat]

Who I’m voting for in CYL, and why you should vote for them too! (Vote for whoever you want, but enjoy my little rambles anyway!)

Wet cat baby girl deserve all the votes and love. M!Alear fans have the manga - (you go M!Alear! Be the fail boi we know you are!), but F!Alear fans have… a different alt in heroes I guess? But aside from that, the girl needs more attention! 

Also, since she’s the more popular one (at least at the moment) it’s more likely to win/ get an engage sweep if you vote for her. 

Golden retriever boi never got a new outfit as the king of Firene, and he deserve one. Also he’s the cutest little guy with the goofiest little smile and love for life and the world and he deserves all the love. Also it could be a cute future with Alear and happy and health alt, or it could be in the throes of illness as king (potentially in a wheelchair or with a cane (disability rep in fe heroes?! We would LOVE IT)), or fell!Fred which would be cool. OR it could be completely different, but whatever happens, he would still be golden retriever boi and that’s why we love him. 

Alear’s No 1 fan (joint with Framme)! Clanne makes pickles and had a support where he discovered Kimchi with Veyle. Do I need to elaborate? Also we don’t want him to get the Ashe treatment of one summer alt and nothing else, and he doesn’t have a heroes alt yet, so go vote for the little guy!

[fayesdiary]

hmm hmmmmmm.......Rhea, Veyle, and Faye for the character ask game!

Rhea

1) how much I like their personality

WTEGDGFSFDYDGFFG

I adore her. She's my fav 3H character by far. Just this mix of sweet and awkward and kind but with a boatload of trauma and repressed rage... She's the bestest <3

2) how much I like their design/aesthetics

Her archbishop outfit is great (although what is up with those hips. She barely has enough space to fit her organs), and general design is super pretty!

Also her Seiros outfit is 😳

3) how interesting I think they are

GOD. I feel like I could talk about her for hours if you caught me in the right mood. I want to inspect her with a microscope.

4) how well-written I think they are

As a character? Wonderfully, but her treatment in the story leaves a LOT to be desiered, often shoved to the background and generally getting treated like crap by the narrative for an alleged main character.

Also fuck everything about the SS endgame.

5) (if applicable) how much I like their mechanics in-game

her CF fight is pain and her SS one is pure agony

6) if I think they are a Good Person(tm)

For the most part, yes! It's clear all her actions were done with good intent (albeit a bunch of them were questionable but still, never cruel), and I think it's important to note that her vicious side only comes in regards to the man who literally committed genocide towards her kin or when she's being violently having her trauma of said man triggered.

Hell, her burning of Firdhiad is pretty much her lowest point and even then it only comes after she's being violently triggered and blamed for everything over and over. She's pretty much gone insane by that point and for damn good reason. Also you know, it's all your fault.

Veyle

1) how much I like their personality

BABY. She's the cutest but also constantly wracked with guilt and shame about being a Fell Dragon.

2) how much I like their design/aesthetics

I love her Somniel outfit and her evil outfit absolutely slays, but while I really like her main outfit since it's fluffy I hate her collar and ankle chains.

3) how interesting I think they are

A whole lot! Her relationship with Alear is the best, in typical younger FE sister fashion she's a lot stronger than she seems (they literally had to brainwash her into compliancy and even then it didn't work all that well), her guilt over her evil self's action (on top of just being a Fell Dragon period). Also she has a knack for making (magical?) trinkets and she lived on her own wandering around Elyos for quite a while, so :D

4) how well-written I think they are

The brainwashing/evil personality part is a bit iffy as always in FE plots, but other than that? She's great!

Something that keeps suprising me about FE writing is that while they're not... the best at writing female characters somehow they keep hitting the spot with writing younger sisters.

5) (if applicable) how much I like their mechanics in-game

She's a lot of fun! Her personal tome and dagger are great and her personal skills are quite useful :D

6) if I think they are a Good Person(tm)

Definitely! She's an absolute sweetheart, but at the same time I love the hc that her evil self is actually a part of her albeit exaggerated and twisted by Zephia and not just a personality that came out of nowhere. Doesn't help I'm playing Persona 4 right now.

Faye

..fun fact, do you know she actually got on Top 200 of CYL8? I'm genuinely shocked.

1) how much I like their personality

I really like it, mainly in the sense her obsession is portrayed negatively for once. I've seen a bunch of fans trying to "fix" her by toning down and/or removing her obsession with Alm, but I always loved more the angle of keeping it while pointing out how toxic and self-destructive it is and having her slowly grow out of it.

2) how much I like their design/aesthetics

Peak. Perfection. Immaculate. Well except maybe the lack of freckles, but that's why I draw her with them ;)

3) how interesting I think they are

It may be mainly due to projecting and overanalizing, but god. Soo much. Her trauma and horrible coping mechanisms, her huge trouble making friends and socializing with strangers, her fondness for Celica, her clinginess and yearning for both a place to belong and to return to the good old days at Ram...

Also she's a bisaster. It's totally canon trust me

4) how well-written I think they are

Hahaha... oh, terribly.

I'm not gonna pretend the writers ever saw her as anything more "the girl with an unhealthy unrequited obsession towards the protagonist we're apparently contractually obligated to put in almost every game". Like, I'm pretty sure all of her small nuances you can find if you start digging were an accident, and considering how she gets flanderized outside of Echoes, I'm almost certain that's the case.

(speaking of, the sole fact they managed to flanderize her holy shit)

5) (if applicable) how much I like their mechanics in-game

GOD I LOVE THEM. All of the effort they didn't put into writing her they put into her gameplay mechanics because they portray her SO WELL.

The fact she loses avoid when supporting Alm, her higher then average growths hinting at the fact she's trying desperately hard, her unique spells as a Cleric being either a way to ignore distance (Physic to heal from afar, Rescue to get someone literally close to her) and Anew, the only form of a Dancer you get in Echoes, costing so much HP portraying her self-destructive behavior in an attempt to be useful.

Just... screams

6) if I think they are a Good Person(tm)

Yeah... I'd be lying if I said yes.

She's a lot better than people claim she is, but still, between the obsession towards Alm and general (albeit potentially accidental) rudeness towards strangers and... less-than-stable state of mind, she's far from the greatest person to be around.

Still, she can be pretty sweet when she wants to, she apologized to Silque and actually accepted Alm's rejection which oh my god why do people keep claiming she's a yandere when she's actually capable of hearing no as an answer, and also she's unflinchingly loyal to her loved ones!