#archanea series

[warrenwaskilledbyadeer]

Alright this is my biggest unanswered question in Fire Emblem lore that I've been thinking about for like 8 years

Things that we know:

• Chrom and Lucina are Marth's descendants

• Priam is Ike's descendant

• Panne and Yarne are basically laguz

• They're all on Ylisse, previously Archanea

• Priam can't learn Aether

• Chrom and Lucina can learn Aether

• Ike can only S support with males

What does it mean?!?!?! What exactly are they implying with all this? Priam looks like Ike, acts fairly similar to Ike, has Ragnell for crying out loud, yet can't inherit his ancestor's trademark skill, yet Chrom and Lucina can!!

At the end of Tellius Series Ike disappears never to be seen again, it can easily be assumed that he went to Archanea considering all the evidence that we have, but how did laguz species end up there? And how does Ike even have descendants in the first place? Mist and Boyd could be an explanation, but if he never saw them again, how would their descendant get to Archanea??

After Awakening, Fates and Heroes, I'm assuming some sort of gateway exists between Tellius and Archanea that Ike discovered and then their worlds continued to use it to be in contact with each other (?) It makes a fair amount of sense, but I still don't know about the whole Aether business... I do believe Priam comes from Mist and Boyd's line which is why he can't inherit it, but why can Chrom and Lucina?!?! What.. what are the implications....

[randomnameless]

easy explaination of why most if not all the characters have ended up flanderized in FEH: it started as a gacha game for FE fans and now is a FE game for gacha fans. That's why Alphonse won over Sigurd or why Gullveig won last year's cyl with only 2 lines of dialogue too.

This is why I don't want the jugdral remakes to happen, bc look at engage, using FEH's mechanic and FEH using its ring mechanic in order to sell more lyn, camilla and marth alts. I don't want jugdral to end up with another silly gimmick that isn't necessary on the game or the story but can be sold as another gatcha powercreep thingy. As long as FEH is on service, the main franchise is going to be directyl affected by it.

2 lines of dialogue? You're charitable anon!

But... yeah, with time, FEH became its own thing and is apparently even considered a main FE Title given how Vero was added, albeit through a DLC, to Engage and I mean -

If Vero's writing is supposed to represent FEH, I have to inform you I found my new least liked FE game lol - which brings the main question : what is an FE game?

TBH, to me, FEH OCs are barely characters (Vero needed heavy retcons and ignoring elephants in the room which were there since book 1 to become remotely close to one) which makes me completely baffled at how they can even be "picked" for events like CYL, but if we are talking about popularity contests, then people will vote for their faves... aka the most recent characters they like or have seen - sure it doesn't help that Siggy'n'Leif are from jp only games, but CYL1 saw Roy being picked, even when his Smash Bros popularity dwindled. Can you imagine, in 2024 if Roy wasn't picked for CYL1, him competing with the non-entity that is Alfonse as "the most beloved FE characters voted in by the fans?".

I mean, I can get liking OCs in gacha/crossover games (I'm not pointing at someone in particular about Crestoria lol even if i prefered kanana to vicious) but I can bet you 2 kebabs that if a Tales gacha organised the equivalent of CYL, Leon and Yuri would be picked before any Male OC, and I'd bet 1 kebab about Alicia or even Milla being added before the Kanonos.

In FEH, Book 2 Vero (or was it 3?) was picked over... Elincia. Recency bias is a thing but... yep, it has been a long time now since FEH stopped being a gacha game for fans of FE, but became its own thing with sometimes FE characters being referenced.

I agree with your last remark though, as long as FEH exists, evil will - I mean, as long as FEH exists, it will have some sort of influence in the main games - even if I reiterate, FE15 managed to dodge its influence, only to fall in some other pitfalls.

Jugdral remakes can play like SoV, "additional" characters will be in a DLC and not have any relevance to the story, I mean, even if you can roll for Sharena on a NG+, she might not even have one line.

But, tbh, it's not the gacha aspects that worry me the most about Jugdral remakes, it's the state of the franchise/fandom post FE15 and especially post FE16, but I'll make a separate post about it.

[real-fire-emblem-takes]

The person who said that Awakening should have bene disconnected from the other series missed some things or got some things wrong: it's been 3000 years since Marth. Of course he's not going to be mentioned much. Of course Tiki is going to be very different from when she was a child. Also, it was Nowi, not Nah. But the devs thought it would make much more sense for Tiki, Naga's own daughter, to be able to "speak" to her, not some random other dragon who ~mysteriously~ heard Naga's voice. Walhart is almost certainly descended from Alm and Celica, and is a commentary when you know their story about how our legacies get twisted by history. No one knows Alm of the Deliverance, they know Alm the Uniter of Valentia. Also, the game was a swan song. It was supposed to be the end of the series. The writers just wanted to make a game full of references and connections as a love letter to the series. So of course they'd connect it to the biggest parts of the series. It's why Priam's supposed connection to Ike even exists!

So forgive me for not thinking you're correct, fellow anon, when you both can't get basic facts correct, but also seem to misrecall events around the time. Everywhere I looked when it came out, old fans mostly ADORED Awakening for going back to Archanea! It wasn't confusing or anything of the sort, it was recognized as a loving celebration of the series and we weren't sure if there'd even BE a Fire Emblem game after it! The references in the game flew over the heads of newbies, so they were ALSO not confused. But the ones that got them largely loved it, because they knew that the devs were paying homage--unlike a lot of younger people who came in with Fates and onward and never knew Awakening was the last game the Fire Emblem people thought they'd get to make! Heck, even the complaints about an easier mode were largely shot down by people who grumpily admitted after a bit that the choice wasn't bad, they could just play on Classic, because at least we were even GETTING a Fire Emblem at all.

The rewriting of history around this game is because people don't want to admit that the old model of the games wasn't selling and are bitter it became accessible and they're no longer some exclusive club of dying games. They're gatekeepers, end of. And it's all I can think of when I see people complaining that Awakening, a game designed to pay honor to as many other games in the series as possible, shouldn't have taken place in the world a majority of the games took place in.

.

[four-loose-screws]

FE2 Novelization Translation - Cover and Book Intro Pages

If you would like to start from the beginning, read a missed part, etc., click here!

FE Game Script Translations - FE Novel Translations - Original FE Support Conversations

If you are interested in donating to support my work, please check out my Ko-fi here. Thank you!

———————————

New year, time for another new FE novelization translation!

2024's novel of focus is that of FE2, the original game Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia was a remake of. Enjoy reading this take on the same exact plot, ~25 years prior!

Cover

Fire Emblem Gaiden

The Zofian Liberation War

Book 1

STORY

The continent of Valentia is divided between the north and the south, as well as their beliefs in War Father Duma and Earth Mother Mila. While the Kingdom of Zofia is ruled with kindness and compassion, the Rigelian Empire believes in raising its citizens to be prepared for war. Their hostility towards each other has finally pulled them into a vicious war. Units from both sides spill each other’s blood, fighting for their god and loyalty to their homeland each and every day, with no end in sight…

The protagonists of this tale are Alm, Celica, and countless other young units. They all wish for Valentia to be unified, but differ in how they want that outcome to be reached. And so, a grand tale of love and hate is about to unfold!

-

Written by Katsuyuki Ozaki

Cover Illustration by Ichiro ?*

Cover Design by Kazuo Hiroi (WIDE)**

*T/N: I cannot find the Kanji character in this person’s last name anywhere to confirm its reading.

**T/N: First name could also be ‘Ichio’ or ‘Itsuo.’ I cannot find any record of this person online, so I cannot confirm the correct reading of their name. Their nickname is ‘WIDE’ because their last name, ‘hiroi,’ is the Japanese word for wide.

Published by Futabasha

Author’s Profile

Katsuyuki Ozaki

An up-and-coming author also working as a copywriter. His major works include “Valkyrie no Densetsu,” “F-Zero,” “Zelda II: The Adventure of Link,” and many more, all published by Futabasha. He has also written for other strategy guide series. His hobbies include golf, cars, and computer games. He is of course also passionate about Fire Emblem, and has completed all of the games so far. He poured all of his love for the series into writing these two books without rest!

Front:

Alm and Celica each set out on their own journey to forge!

This is the epic adventure of this young man and woman!!

The stage unfolds on a Valentia in chaos in this epic tale of love, blood, and war!

-

Back:

Ad for Book 2.

Ad for a Shin Megami Tensei novelization.

Color Art

A necrodragon was here. In Zofia. When she realized exactly what that meant, Celica was petrified in horror. Earth Mother Mila had lost all power over Zofia.

Title Page

Table of Contents

Prologue

Chapter 1: The Deliverance

The Six Resurrection Pills

Alm’s Awakening

The Mysterious Girl Silque

Chapter 2: Mila’s Restoration Army

Celica Embarks on Her Journey

The Ruffian Saber

The Necrodragon’s Trial

Chapter 3: To Zofia Castle

Rescuing Clair

The Night Before Storming Zofia Castle

Cliff’s Gambit

Chapter 4: The Red Haired Woman

The Port Town Tavern

Differing Paths

Chapter 5: To Mila’s Shrine

The Sisters from Archanea

Blake, Wielder of the Shadow Sword

Royal Bloodline

Desert Army

Princess Anthiese

Chapter 6: The Newly Reborn Kingdom of Zofia

His name is Zeke

Cross-Shaped Birthmark

Collapse and Liberation

The Throne Bathed in Light

Epilogue

-

Illustrations: Ichiro ?* & Kazuo Hiroi (WIDE)**

*T/N: I cannot find the Kanji character in this person’s last name anywhere to confirm its reading.

**T/N: First name could also be ‘Ichio’ or ‘Itsuo.’ I cannot find any record of this person online, so I cannot confirm the correct reading of their name. Their nickname is ‘WIDE’ because their last name, ‘hiroi,’ is the Japanese word for wide.

Book design: Yusuke Matsuoka (NEXT)

Editing & printing: Rekkasha

Character Introductions

Alm’s Army

Robin: A Villager who grew up with Alm in Ram Village. He later transcends to become an Archer.

Silque / Shilk: A Cleric in service to the goddess Mila. She specializes in healing magic.

Cliff / Klihs: A Villager from Ram Village. He later transcends to become a Mage, specializing in long range combat magic.

Delthea: A female Mage who has fallen into Rigel’s hands by Tatarrah’s magic. She wields the Aura tome.

Luthier: He decides to join forces with Alm to lead his younger sister Delthea’s fate down a righteous path. A mage with a tragic past.

Mycen: A former unit of the Knights of Zofia, transcended to one of the highest level classes, Gold Knight.

Python: An Archer prodigy whose short-temper is as great as his skills with a bow.

Clair: A Pegasus Knight who was granted the ability to fly a pegasus by the two gods. Clive’s younger sister.

Forsyth: A soldier who’s greatest skill is his ability to calmly make decisions in the heat of battle.

Mathilda: An exceptionally talented female Cavalier. She possesses both a brave soul and bewitching beauty.

Tatiana: A Saint captured by Nuibaba. Zeke’s beloved.

Clive: A Cavalier and the leader of the young surviving units of the Knights of Zofia.

Zeke: A mysterious Gold Knight who has lost his memory. He serves Alm under Emperor Rudolf’s orders.

Lukas: A hot-blooded soldier who wields his lance like lightning.

Alm: A fighter raised by Zofia’s hero Mycen, and the protagonist of this story. He is a boy with a grand fate!

Gray: A Villager from Ram Village. He later transcends into a Cavalier.

[emblemxeno]

This ask is going to be kind of long, but your platform is really the only platform where I feel comfortable having this conversation. You don’t have to post this if you don’t want to, I won’t feel any sort of ways about it, but I’ve got to get this feeling out of my system. The way the fandom treats Fates compared to the other games in the franchise, makes them completely unbearable. I don’t think I can forgive the fandom for it even if they did somehow start giving Fates its overdue credit. Treating its fans like shit for almost a decade is unacceptable. I don’t know how so many people can justify their behavior in regards to this game. The fans of this game have literally done nothing to the fandom other than love it unapologetically, and we still get condescended to about it. You dare offer your opinion about a take in the series and it’s like, “You’re a Corrin fan, you have no right to talk about anything.” I have never seen a group of fans that have to literally HIDE the fact that they cherish a game in order to appease its larger community, it’s so disgusting. I don’t care if I’m being harsh with this ask because I have witnessed and dealt with this condescension for years. I don’t care to spare any feelings at this point, and I think the fandom certainly doesn’t deserve any of our grace either. Calling out the elitism, cliquish behavior, and hypocrisy is the right thing to do no matter how much some people soften/normalize these issues.

Hope you don't mind me posting this anon.

It's certainly an unfortunate situation. While Fates has its problems--I say this as a diehard fan--I agree in that it's in a singular situation where it's just met with derision initially and only given praise in backhanded manners. Think "Fates sucks but it does have great X and Y" and including an obligatory compliment towards Conquest. Which, don't get me wrong, Conquest is fucking amazing in the gameplay department, but half the time I'm just like... all right, I think you're just pretending to like anything of Fates just because you feel obligated to like one of the most acclaimed gameplay centered entries in the series.

There was just the perfect storm of controversy and unmet expectations that people had towards the game: the woefully inaccurate conversion therapy accusations, the romance options, the sales model of having multiple versions, the story not being liked, Corrin not being liked, the cast being seen as tropey, the fanservice hatred, etc. Its reputation from pre-release to nearly a decade after release is just a swamp of negativity.

And, in risk of sounding defensive and deflective, Awakening did most of this first. Awakening used being gay as a constant punchline especially in DLC (but people are reclaiming that now as something to be praised cuz of course), Awakening had problematic romance options (Nowi, any of the children but especially Nah, Donnel, Ricken, and Lissa are still underage, Aversa is technically your sister and she's written in the M!Robin support to tease that aspect, Tharja in her entirety), Awakening's cast was the de facto tropey cast before Fates, its story was criticized for the same things Fates was (poorly explained lore and world, pacing issues, convenient plot devices, pandering to a previous game, and had its exclusive issue of being inconsistent with Archanea's lore), Robin was criticized for being an all loved player insert with too many powers/importance, it started the oddly designed armor designs for fanservice reasons, and while it didn't have multiple versions, it was the first game with a ton of paid DLC.

Don't get me wrong, I love Awakening to pieces. But that game started pretty much everything Fates gets shit for. Yet it gets retrospective love or at the very least a pass cuz... Fates does it worse/more and because it was gonna be the last game in the series? Wouldn't it be fair then, to give slack to Fates for following in the footsteps of the most well received and successful game in the series by replicating it while trying to improve on what some felt were lacking? But I guess at that point, people think it utterly failed in improving on the story and characters so :/

I think you have a point regarding Fates fans as well. We're pretty much the only FE fans that get unironic negative labels, at least by casual aduiences. Apparetnly we're "coomer, porn brain freaks who don't know what good games are." Though, that's about it in terms of the elitism thing, otherwise I think it's just fans of older games being out off by the direction newer games have gone, and most make no distinction and criticize all of Awakening, Fates, 3H, and Engage. Still, Fates fans are the ones getting the most accepted flak.

To end this off, let's be honest: If Fates is the example most people give of the worst game in the series, FE fans have it pretty fucking good lmao.

[fevotinggauntletreal]

Introducing: Year of the Dragon FE Tournament

it's a new year -- now in more than one calendary! it is, in fact, a year of the dragon, an auspicious moment which is celebrated with all sorts of things ranging from massive dragon dancing festivals to widespread creation of sick fanart of fictional dragons.

the Fire Emblem series famously loves its dragons -- Problem or otherwise -- and has been accordingly blessed in these past couple of weeks. and now, I'll be adding to the festivities with a little showdown!

specifically, this will be about the various dragon forms we've seen across the series. more of a species thing than a specific character thing; there won't be a Tiki vs Sombron match, but there might be a Divine Dragon (Archanea) vs Fell Dragon (Elyos) one. (this also means that the poll is only taking in things with actual dragonic forms, so, rip to that handful of characters who are only "dragons" in as much of a capacity as those dudes from Supernatural)

here's how it's going to roll:

this will be a straightforward elimination bracket poll tournament

no submissions or qualifiers this time around; I've already picked out the participants. (and incidentally, I've kept this to main series titles only; the preparation process has been insane enough without having to also care about the problem dragon from Warriors or whoever the fuck's been transforming in Heroes)

the opening round will pit against each other various quantities of dragons of a similar type; a single winner will emerge from each one, and from there, 1v1 polls will follow

all polls will be week-long

we'll be starting this weekend, on February 24th. may the worthiest dragon ascend!

[aurheatum]

toa anniversary mun day

under cut

Name: 

Nel, i mean it’s Sarah technically, but once you start getting multiple notes in the mail with Nel on them I think it counts. Nelfes works too. I respond to most anything tbh

Pronouns:

she/her or they/them

Birthday (no year):

Dec 6th Saint Nicholas Day : )

Where are you from? What is your time zone?

Chicago. CST [GMT-5].

Roleplay experience:

Over ten years, started on Neopets and other forums. Moved to Gaia Online and then Tumblr indie space some time in 2011.

Got any pets?

Baby boy

Favorite time of year:

Springtime or Autumn

Some interests and things you like:

I’ve always been super into mythology, all of them. I used to think that Carl Jung was onto something with the collective unconscious but then Anthropology and the reality of multilineal evolution ruined that for me (college will teach you things); but that’s alright because humans their ability to create and interpret their surroundings with equal parts love and fear is still pretty cool.

Some funfacts & trivia about you:

-Agnostic but i work in an occult library (it’s pretty quiet; the new age bookshop across the street has all the events)

-One time on Gaia Online I was kicked out of an Okami RP bc I didn’t make my posts aesthetic enough, and I thought it was just the most heart wrenching thing -I’m not sure what people stand to gain back in Ye Old Runescape luring new players out into the wild and PKing them but I was gullible enough to follow some other players at like 7 yrs old and this would have happened to me if i wasnt SUPER good at clicking my mouse and running out of there. Surviving such a harrowing experience made me think i was truly invincible.

-I was supposed to write my final paper for my Japanese Buddhism class on… surprise, Japanese Buddhism but I really wanted to talk about Kenji Miyazawa’s writings instead so I spun it through a lens of his Nichiren conversion and its impact on his poetry. My prof saw right through me but I still got an A.

What non-Fire Emblem games do you play?

Tales of RPG series raised me as a person so u know. I like Persona 1-2 era SMT though I’ve played Nocturne and IV as well. What else? Okami, LOZ: Twilight Princess, farm sims and visual novels. Genshin, on and off.

Favorite Pokemon type & Pokemon:

Psychic; wooper family (clogsire im so glad u joined us)

How did you get into Fire Emblem?

My neighbor would bring over Path of Radiance so I could play it on my gamecube with my own save back in the day

What Fire Emblem games have you played?

Tellius duology. Sacred Stones, FE 13-16; currently doing Blazing Blade. Archanea one day.

First Fire Emblem game:

POR

Favorite Fire Emblem game:

Tie between 3 Houses and Radiant Dawn

Any Fire Emblem crushes? 😳 

It’s rhea okay. I wont lie and i wont pretend it isnt evidence of my spectacular taste either

If you’ve played the following games, who was your first S support? Who would you S support nowadays? - Awakening: Tiki (first S support was olivia bc i wanted a pink haired kid)  - Fates: honestly i’d have to revisit, i know i first married niles as m!corrin - Three Houses: I married each lord on their route tho it’s much funnier if you dont i think (First route was Crimson Flower but I saved at the split so I could marry Rhea first lmao) - Engage: Saphir 🥰

Favorite Fire Emblem class:

War Cleric or Qi Adept

If you were a Fire Emblem character, what would be your class?

I’d be the mage you have to drag around and treat with baby gloves only to learn like a single good spell I think

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

Leicester Alliance tbh

If you were an Engage character, which Emblem would you Engage with?

Based purely on mechanics bc i love them all prob Soren dlc, Sigurd, Celica, and Lyn.

How did you find TOA?

End of 2020/beginning of 2021 I was really trying to get back into rp but couldn’t get into the various systems on discord. One community that I was trying was affiliates with The Officer’s Academy and an active tumblr community rly caught my interest. The rest is history!

Current TOA muses:

Rhea 3H, Micaiah Radiant Dawn, and miss Hortensia engage

Who was your first TOA muse? If you don’t have them anymore, could you see yourself picking them up again?

This blog right here! I put her down for a bit and probably will again but. It’s not like she ever leaves, instead of brain there is Rhea u see (i bear this burden so u do not have to)

Have you had any other TOA muses?

I played Sephiran for a hot sec and Ingrid for around a yearish iirc. Both very fun

Do you think you have a type of character you gravitate towards?

Not really? I need to be able to connect with them on some level obviously, and I tend to prefer characters who have like a clear childhood or background for why they are That Way. Micaiah was actually p difficult for this reason but being able to really shape her based on what little we know also made me ever more fond. ♥️ I love to stare at pegasusknight and serenesforest supports pages late at night tehe

What do you believe you enjoy writing the most?

I don’t particularly plan ahead but I really love when threads reflect past character development whether in a thread with the same muse or different. TOA extended universe… I’d like to do that more I think but first I have to actually make a support page huh? Since Rhea’s back she’s made more bonds though and that makes me happy.

Favorite TOA-related memory: Definitely Unlocked 2021! It was my first event after really starting to warm to the TOA community and i was an awe of the scope of the events. The mods thought this far ahead?! We can do this?! Every event since has just been even more fun but the surprise and intrigue i felt then really stayed with him

*How do you pronounce TOA?

Toe-uh. Like Dee-En-Dee. you know.

Got any delusions that didn’t see the light of day that you’d like to share? 😉 

I think I mentioned I muse Hubert before, and also that I can't really seeing myself maintaining a blog for him? So other than that, no. I do think Nimh could be quite a bit of fun though *laughs*

[arcstral]

When all is said and done, Kris doesn’t linger long; quick to duck out of sight as shadows do—with an ulterior motive this time to boot. For all that not a single physical trace of one’s experiences follows them out of the arena, whether they be scars from minor and fatal wounds alike or residue from, say, an entire bog’s worth of noxious sludge, still he feels compelled to scrub himself down until the memories no longer grate as harshly. Until it is less jarring to see the lack of visible change to his appearance between entering the illusion and leaving it. Subjected to drowning, getting skewered, and needing to be rescued by an ally on not one but two different occasions, he’s not at all proud of this particular performance.

(Is he ever, though? His sole saving grace is that no one who matters had been watching. ...He hopes.)

Some time later, it's with azure hair still damp and a change of clothes thrown on—favoring his old tunic and trousers rather than the student uniform—that he approaches the staircase to the second floor dormitories. Ascending the steps and slipping down the hall towards a certain door while all is still relatively quiet in the day's aftermath, knuckles raised as if to knock but pausing before they can commit proper.

...The worst that can happen is no one being on the other side. One, two, three raps against the wood in quick succession; a beat passing before he calls out next. “It's me, sire. Can I... come in?”

As a commander the need for patience is undisputed; an overeager or self-serving tactic cannot hope to outwit the enemy, to turn the tide of battle, or even to weather the storm of reconstruction that follows in the footsteps of every difficult war. In Marth, fifth king of Altea and first king of the Archanea Alliance, so then must the quality of patience be ingrained and stamped.

Even if he is hard pressed to remember its necessity now.

A sigh leaves him. He cannot find comfort in a silence without the unsung shadow to arrange himself in it. The return of a knight to a king is as much a return to normalcy; to stability, to security, and to all the quiet, gentle things that span between the two of them in particular. With distance judged always too long whenever they should be set apart. In that way, he waits restlessly in his chambers, pristine on the outside looking in - to those none the wiser and at a distance - yet revealing his own mind by the anxious tap of his foot against the floorboards. The quill in his hand that scrawls heavily across the page without the regular lightness of a feather.

Once more, albeit not for the second or third or fourth time, another sigh pushes from him. It is a training exercise that reserves his royal guard, he reminds himself, only and just a simulation - the matter of too-real swords and too-real tomes. Not real deaths. His brows lower on the disturbance of his own worried making. And yet even so, even in consideration of all those things. . .is a battle still not a battle?

Then there it is; a series of knocks which rouses him to his feet, a movement between rising and jumping nearly able to be called flight:

"Yes, of course–one moment!"

In his scramble to answer, to meet Kris and to return one knight to the rightful place he should be - at Marth's side - the king is markedly disheveled upon opening the door. Tousled hair, eyes bright, collar askew; all deemed dim to the radiant smile of relief and welcome he wears. "Kris. Please come in and sit wherever you like. You've returned from the arena I take it? It would please me to hear of your stories if any. As you were occupied by that training, I too was—"

The chatter stops abruptly, on his sheepish look directed toward the cluttered state of his possessions and chambers. ". . .occupied."

[flotteurblog]

Xane from the Archanea series (Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light, Mystery of the Emblem, as well as their remakes c:)

I thought his design was very cute as well as having a unique class combat-wise. I like to imagine he's a bit of an older brother figure to Tiki. (Besides Marth lol)

[iturbide]

Awaknign timeline gets even more confusing given the added grima into the 3ds remake for fe echos. Granted I never played it. But I'm still confused why there is a small grima

I'll be the first to admit that I can and will ignore the Echoes addition to Grima's backstory if I need to (which I do for at least one fic in progress). But in all honesty, it doesn't actually make the Awakening timeline that much more confusing to me? It does make me question the "canon" timeline presented in the Echoes Accordion, but it's fairly easy easy to slot the general history of Shadows of Valentia into the overall continuity.

It's worth mentioning that, according to the Awakening artbook, Grima was supposed to be a mutated Earth Dragon. I get the feeling that, since Awakening was intended as the swan song of the series, this may have been intended as yet another nod to its predecessors -- specifically Genealogy of the Holy War, where we had Manfroy (Validar) scheming and orchestrating the creation of a suitable vessel for the disembodied Earth Dragon Loptyr (Grima) in the form of a human bearing the dragon's blood, Julius (Robin). Grima in general didn't have a story: the Fell Dragon was presented as the standard Evil Dragon that needed to be defeated to save the world, as was done a thousand years prior by Chrom's ancestor.

Echoes, which arrived several years later, included several ties to Marth's games -- most notably the pegasus knight sisters -- but also included an extra dungeon where we got a revamped history for Grima, therein dubbed "The Creation." According to Echoes lore, Grima was the product of an experiment by the alchemist Forneus, who mixed Divine Dragon and human blood and ended up with something entirely new and strange. He wrote about sensing violent thoughts from his newborn Creation and attempted to kill it -- but failed, whereupon it escaped deeper into the labyrinth. At some point the labyrinth was sealed by the Thabean Senate with Grima still inside, but time decayed the seal to the point where Alm and Celica were able to enter upon arriving in Archanea.

Echoes basically gives us an explanation for not only how Grima came to be, but how they arrived in Plegia two thousand years ago: Alm and Celica released the Fell Dragon from Thabes Labyrinth, thereby allowing Grima to escape and reach Plegia where the nascent nation embraced the strange dragon as their personal divine. A thousand years later, Naga and the First Exalt warred with and sealed Grima -- though clearly not before the Fell Dragon granted a blood boon to some followers, which led to the eventual birth of Robin another thousand years after that.

[etymology-of-the-emblem]

Jedah and Judah / ジュダ

Jedah is one of the principal antagonists of Fire Emblem Gaiden and its remake Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia, serving as the high priest of the Duma Faithful. This localized name seemingly comes from the character Jedah Dohma, a powerful demon seeking even greater power from the Darkstalkers series produced by Capcom. This connection is strengthened by both Duma and Dohma being written the same in Japanese, ドーマ (rōmaji: dōma).

Judah is a Loptrian bishop sent from the Grannvale Empire to the Thracian Peninsula that guards Grutia Castle in Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War. His name, similar to Fire Emblem Gaiden's Gharn referencing Archanea's Dark Pontifex, is a nod to Jedah. After all, in Japanese they are both named ジュダ (rōmaji: juda). This name is almost certainly in reference to the Biblical figure of Judas Iscariot, whose name is typically written ユダ (rōmaji: yuda), derived from the more Hebrew-oriented rendering of Judah. Judas was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ and served as their accountant. Of course, he is best known for his betrayal, selling out Jesus to the high priest Caiaphas for thirty pieces of silver. This leads to the crucifixion—something Judas either never intended or quickly felt guilty over. After his attempt to return the silver and release Jesus failed, he soon claimed his own life.

Due to his betrayal, Judas's name became a commonplace insult for one who has committed a betrayal or is untrustworthy. This is reflected in the game with Jedah's promises to Celica to save Mila—empty lies made to get Celica to cooperate and become willing to give her soul to Duma. One could also interpret Jedah as betraying the wishes of his god, as the War Father's desire to save the Earth Mother from her inevitable degeneration would be corrupted into a desire for Mila to be slain.

Given his position within the Duma Faithful, Jedah may be intended to combine the roles of both Judas Iscariot and the high priest Caiaphas. Caiaphas was cooperative with the Roman Empire, much like the Duma Faithful supported the Rigelian Empire. The relation between Rudolf and Jedah as emperor and advisor may be loosely based on that of Pontius Pilate, the governor of Judaea at the time of the crucifixion, and Caiaphas, who seemed to be a boon asset to the governor in his rule. After Judas sold out his master to the Jewish community seeking to defame who they believed to be a false messiah, Caiaphas held Jesus in trial, ending in a charge of blasphemy. Caiaphas seeks out Pontius Pilate, who held the authority to judge; he saw no reason to bring punishment upon Jesus, but offered the gathered crowd the choice between releasing Jesus and the known criminal Barabbas. A near-unanimous call for Barabbas' freedom followed, and Jesus would be sentenced to death.

This parallel between fictional and biblical high priests is further bolstered by the role of Celica: though she is not sentenced to death, Jedah still seeks to sacrifice her, with her death being a means to save the gods, her friends, and her beloved Alm. In case the Christ imagery wasn't enough already, in the remake she is killed by Alm after becoming a witch sacrificed to Duma, only to be resurrected by Mila.

[randomnameless]

That is racist of Dheginsea. Othering the children who aren’t responsible for their parents choices and demonizing them so they have no place to go, and so those children end up with resentment to the Laguz for the way they’re othered and treat. Not to mention it wouldn’t stop Laguz from willingly being with a Beorc despite the consequences, which further leads to both sides hating the other. Of course the narrative of how both sides wrote history to say they alone are descended from the Zunanma rather than admit both are closely related sub species itself furthers the othering as well, as it means there’s no reason to view the other species as deserving to exist when they’re the Goddess chosen people.

I think Dheginsea at least meant well, but he never truly considered the idea that his actions to preserve his species at the cost of a new species(as that’s what the Branded are) caused the same problems he feared for an even smaller minority.

No pbs anon!

That's why I really really really hate the Tellius situation, it's a "divide by 0" equation where no matter what, some people will be screwed at the end.

And that's the issue!

Of course protecting a minority from being persecuted is an obvious step on a path to protect everyone - but it's the ultimate railroad dilemna where you have to choose who is going to be rolled over.

Sadly I've tried to find the chapter from which the Misaha quotes were ripped off on SF but it's not from the endgame?

It's those lines :

"Misaha: All of the apostles have borne this brand. It is our greatest secret. The senators must never know. Because of this brand, I thought that I had been born of some great sin. It plagued me always. Guilt tore at me every day as I hid my mark from my people, deceiving them constantly about my true nature. Lehran: Oh, child...how can I apologize to you? Misaha: And yet, now that I’ve met you, I understand. There is no shame in my heritage. None at all. I will not live in hiding. I will reveal to the world that I am one of the Branded. They must see there is no shame in who I am."

Misaha thinks she was born from a "great" sin because of her brand, most likely hearing the stories of Deghinsea about brandeds being "parentless" children and "sins against the goddess".

But why is Lehran apologising here?

Is he apologising because he participated in that lie, or more twisted- Lehran apologises because if Misaha has a brand and cannot pass as a beorc in Begnion, it's because of "him" for not being a beorc? Is Lehran actually apologising for being born a laguz?? For befriending Altina and getting their first kid?

Granted, when Lehran has his breakdown because of chaotic energies before making the decision to erase both Laguz and Beorcs, it goes like this :

Dheginsea: “You, who have lost your birthright?”

Misaha: “And yet, now that I’ve met you, I understand. There is no shame in my heritage. None at all.”

Ashera: “In deference to you, I will place my faith in your kind one last time.”

Altina: “You… are the gentlest soul of them all, my sweet Lehran…”

Lehran: “Why? Why did I lose my power? Why? Why was my tribe stolen? Why, why, why?”

More than 800 years later, Lehran is still "not over with" losing his powers. Lehran who is kind and gentle, but who wants to help - loses his birthright, he cannot fulfill his promise to Ashera anymore - thus cannot help - his descendant is proud to be, well, his descendant - but he cannot help/save her (as if he had the possibility anyways!) because he lost his powers - and Deghinsea who inadvertently (I think Deg had no malicious intent here) reminds him that he is powerless...

Imo, it encapsulates everything - there is nothing wrong about Laguz and Beorc accepting each other, but why the fuck Laguz lose their powers? ?

As for the lie in itself and crossbreeding...

What do you mean by "weren't taught properly"?

That's precisely the point of that lie, the truth, if taught to the world, would be unearable for both Laguz and, to a lesser extent, Beorcs. Like, telling the truth to Laguz? "Don't fuck Beorcs or you will end up losing your abilities forever" ? But for Beorcs it's just "you're free to fuck Laguz, you'll create another being with superpowers and cripple the laguz that way!"

(also, I think it is most likely taught around, there's the joke UST between Elincia and Tibarn, and Bastian cockblocks Tibarn because they remember this tale?)

Yes, each side think they are the ones who descend from the Zunama - instead of learning the truth of how they "both" descend from the Zunama, but if both sides try to return to, idk, Zunama roots and the original "we were both one" myth, well, one side loses all of its powers, while the other get away scot-free.

So, are they that "closely related" as sub-species as they are supposed to be, in one species "dies" when it breeds with the other? We know they are, as they both descend from the same "ancestor/species", but the result of the two breeding says the inverse.

Of course the lie wouldn't stop Laguz and Beorcs who like each other a lot to live together and get kids, but the Branded's sheer existence, regardless of Deghinsea's words and edicts, is something of an anathema to Laguz, as we see with Vika and Miccy's base convo :

Micaiah: You always run away from me… Did I do something to offend you? Vika: No, I’m so sorry. I can’t explain why this happens. I get so jumpy around you. There’s just… something about you. Micaiah: Oh… Vika: Oh, but please don’t be sad! It’s not you. It’s me. I get… confused… sometimes. I really admire you, and then I get a bizarre feeling, and… Micaiah: It’s all right. Sorry to bother you. Vika: …No. Wait. Micaiah: Hm? Vika: I want to overcome this. I don’t like that I feel I must avoid you for some inexplicable reason.

Why Laguz, in general, feel Branded are people "they must avoid"?

Is it because to Laguz, even subconsciously, a branded's existence means one of them "died"? Or in a more metaphysical sense, because Brandeds herald the end of the Laguz race (because if more brandeds are born, it means more laguz "die" ?)

Misaha didn't only want to end injustices and racism against the Branded, she wanted to stop racism in Begnion against Laguz (thus by proxy, against Brandeds).

In conclusion, Deginshea's lie created discriminations against Brandeds, but I think it's more nuanced than a general "to protect one race he put another under the bus".

When Soren goes :

Hate… That I could understand. This was denial. They made me feel like I wasn’t supposed to exist at all. That my simply being alive was an affront to the world.

It's painful to read, because no one should ever think they shouldn't have been born, or their mere existence is "an affront to the world".

Tibarn puts it this way, talking about "an old song" :

It is said that the goddesses forbid laguz and beorc to procreate. If a couple breaks the taboo, the punishment is dealt to the laguz parent. She or he loses the power of the laguz and becomes something that does not belong to either species.

Deghinsea created the "taboo" and the decree, but he wasn't the one who created the "punishment".

Heck, the punishment is the reason why the "taboo" was created, to reduce the number of "punished" people, but also, and maybe, to find a reason why those "punishments" are given?

The sitation becomes unbearable : we have people who are shunned hated and at times even killed for "existing", and we have people who "die"/lose their abilities/are "punished" automatically when the first people mentionned start to exist (iirc Almedha lost her powers when she became pregnant).

For what it's worth, per Nasir, both Beorcs and Laguz came to accept the concept of Deginshea's decree :

Nasir: Even so, the taboo was broken several times over the next few decades. Usually no child was conceived, but when there was, it was swiftly covered up. The parents soon learned what it meant to bear a child who possessed both laguz and beorc blood. After they learned of the consequences, none of these parents ever rejected the edict forbidding it.

Of course comes the obvious question of did anyone even thought about asking a Branded their opinion on that decree ? Miccy is part of that conversation too, and reacts when "honor killings" of brandeds are mentionned.

But afaik, we don't have Miccy's pov about that edict - after this conversation - and the game sure as hell doesn't want her to talk to Lehran (all of his convos are reserved for Sanaki!) - whose fault is it that Lehran lost his powers, thus direct line to the goddess, thus will to live? Hers because she was born (or her ancestor's)? His, for loving Altina? Whose fault is it that Brandeds are shunned? Deghinsea, who made that decree, or Laguz in general who can sense what they are and see through them the extinction of their race, or an unfair "punishment" from whoever ?

As always, with complicated questions, Ike is nowhere to be seen, but even without Ike, what would be the best solution?

Of course, stop persecuting and denying the existence of Brandeds would be a good start.

And then?

When Laguz and Beorcs will argue againt about something stupid, reject coexistence because, to Beorcs, Laguz are beings that "stop existing" as soon as they shag? And to Laguz, who will feel cosmically "cheated" because they are the only ones who receive "punishment" from miscegenation, to the point of thinking maybe Beorcs are really the superior race?

It's why Lehran's tale is so sad, he wanted coexistence but was punished for it by his very own world - why did he lose his powers?

What kind of solution can be found in a world that pushes for equality between races, but also reveals when they coexist, only one race is "punished"?

That's why I mentioned the divide by 0 equation -

The Tellius equation has no solutions.

[real-fire-emblem-takes]

Trying to connect Awakening to Archanea and Jugdral was a misguided mistake that only served to divide the Fire Emblem fandom; older fans were annoyed by the mistakes and newer fans were confused by them.

Nothing from Archanea, bar Tiki, was actually used and huge lore facts were blatantly disregarded like everything on Manaketes or even the Fire Emblem itself.

Even Tiki was just another Avatar-asexual that mostly talked about the First Exalt, disregarded her prior lore without explanation such as taking apart the Fire Emblem and otherwise acted like an entirely new character from the origianl character with some interviews indicating Nah was originally going to have Tiki's role in the Mila tree.

I feel not having Archanea/Jugdral or Marth also could've helped developed the First Exalt as their own character with an actual name, distinct history and even give time to develop other characters around that time period, similar to other legendary heroes in the series.

But all in all, I believe scrapping Awakening's connection to the NES-SNES era games would not only result in a better story, but also would've resulted in a less divided fandom for the Fire Emblem series.

.

[fioras-resolve]

hey, you ever design a tactics game? you ever want to? i've done it a few times, and i also think a lot about tactics games. i made a taxonomy a while ago of different types of unit functionality, and i actually forgot about it until today. lemme just copy-paste it

Fighter: Not particularly unique on any movement or range front, but comes with good stats in an RPG sense. The specifics of this can vary, but if most of your units are like this, you probably haven't made a good tactics game, but a normal RPG with a few extra steps.

Armored: Typically lower movement overall, but specifically has higher defenses in order to hold ground or survive an onslaught. classic tank stuff.

Ranged: Attacks reach from farther distance, allowing safer attacks from more places, but struggles up close, usually due to low defense and just not being able to win a damage war.

Cavalry: This one's more common in war games like Shining and FE, it's a unit with very high movement and generally average attributes otherwise? The high movement is the crucial part here, but what that movement is for (offense, support, defense, etc.) will vary by what the game is going for.

Flying: Ignores terrain (epic) but is either very vulnerable generally or is extremely vulnerable to specific types of attack (not epic).

Support: Not useful for attacking usually, supplying some other benefit to allied units. I'm leaving this pretty woolly because this is never ever consistent across games, and in something like Into The Breach basically every attack also has some supportive function, like pushing a unit.

Shooter: These are the ones with the really high range, like the Ballistae in the DS FE games, the Gunner classes in FFT, and that one cannon boss from Shining Force. This is also a pretty woolly archetype, because their downside can be anything from low damage to low mobility, but their role in the design of a tactics game is to supersede all other range battles.

Breaker: I was tempted to call this Caster earlier, but it also applies to the explosives users in Valkyria Chronicles. Essentially, these are ranged units with attacks that specifically break through the defenses of otherwise incredibly tough units. This is most often a mage in fantasy games, because they inherit RPGs' separation of physical and magical defense, but in something like classic FE or Shining Force the whole point is that everyone's magic defense is zero.

Terrain: These characters have moves that directly modify the terrain in some way, like setting a tile on fire, building a bridge over water, or placing a boulder in enemies' path. The cool thing about Into The Breach is that a lot of moves are exactly this, and a lot more are incidentally this, as damaging a tile can break ice, ignite forests, and destroy mountains

Summoning: These characters have the power to create other units! Awesome! With FE Echoes, this is a skill that some Clerics have, in ITB it's usually a weapon you have to unlock, and in a Wars-style game this is what barracks tiles are for.

Traveler: This is a very broad and situational category, but it refers to any non-flying unit who crosses specific terrain types much more easily than other units. Pirates in the Archanea Fire Emblem games, for instance, can cross Sea tiles, some units in Shining Force cross through Forest and Mountain at no additional cost, and the various Aquatic units in the Wars series travel through Water, but no other tile. Often this is paired with other archetypes: Mages in Fire Emblem are Breakers, but they also move freely in Sand.

Crux of Fate: Typically the protagonist(s) of a given game, these characters dying is a lose condition. The Lords in Fire Emblem, the Heroes in Wargroove, and the King in Chess all fall into this category.

[luminousrider]

Celebrating TOA and the people who contribute to make our group what it is.

Repost, don't reblog. Only fill in what you feel comfortable sharing!

Happy anniversary, TOA! Here's to many more years spent together.

tagging: you! come closer

---

Name: Erica

Pronouns: she/any/whatever

Birthday (no year): May 3

Where are you from? What is your time zone? Phildelphia ish, EST

Roleplay experience: oh jeeze oh gosh uh like idk 15+years off and on?

Got any pets? Winston the German Shepherd and Pipis the ragdoll pisscat

Favorite time of year: Winter

Some interests and things you like: taking naps

Some funfacts & trivia about you: - I'm the oldest in toa cringe, idk man I'm so tired rn

What non-Fire Emblem games do you play? nothing like consistently right now? I like rpgs and games with a good story.

Favorite Pokemon type & Pokemon: Ground and grass, Diglett and Dugtrio I've been their number one fan since the games came out

How did you get into Fire Emblem? I was at a Gamestop determined to buy a new game and Awakening looked interesting. 3H reignited my love of the series though.

What Fire Emblem games have you played? Uhh Radiant Dawn is the only one I don't have any experience with but I read the Jugdral games, the Archanea games, and Binding Blade.

First Fire Emblem game: Awakening

Favorite Fire Emblem game: Genealogy if it counts even if I never played it. Three Houses or Blazing Blade if we're talking about ones I like to actually play.

Any Fire Emblem crushes? Arvis baby call me back we could be clap in clap love clap

If you’ve played the following games, who was your first S support? - Awakening: Frederick I took one look at that freak and knew I was in love- Fates: I think it was Hinata but I honestly don't really remember- Three Houses: Claude and then I immediately felt bad because I stole him from Hilda - Engage: Saphir she's old like me

Favorite Fire Emblem class: I like an armored knight honestly idk why

If you were a Fire Emblem character, what would be your class? Some kind of cleric/healer

If you were a Three Houses character, what would be your affiliation? Golden Deer

If you were an Engage character, which Emblem would you Engage with? Sigurd probably it's baby girl time

How did you find TOA? I saw it in the tags when I was looking for Hilda content and went hmm. Kept watching until their Hilda fell through and then jumped on that.

Current TOA muses: Deirdre, Ethlyn, and Altena

Who was your first TOA muse? If you don’t have them anymore, could you see yourself picking them up again? Hilda (the good one) but her time is done

Have you had any other TOA muses? Hilda, Charlotte, Elise, Serra, Silvia, Tina, Ninian, is that it?

Do you think you have a type of character you gravitate towards? Tragic wives/moms, little sisters, pink. Love how Ethlyn combines all three of these.

What do you believe you enjoy writing the most? I love familial relationships whether they are biological or found. I also really love cross game relationships whetehr they are platonic or romantic. It's fun having the relationship develop from ground zero rather than with an extra boost from them knowing each other in canon. Plus it's just neat to get to explore. I also like a little (a lot) of drama and angst. Messy relationships are very fun.

Favorite TOA-related memory: It's gotta be all the friendships we've found along the way. The writing and stuff is great and wonderful but the community and sense of belonging is something I will always remember and cherish.

Got any delusions that didn’t see the light of day in TOA that you’d like to share? Louise is a matter of when not if honestly.

[sukimas]

i may castigate three houses often but it tried and failed to be a fire emblem game in the grand tradition of the past. awakening and its close successors were frankly embarrassed to be part of the series. just look at what it did to archanea.