#i love shez so much there so fucking dumb

[greenb0i]

The main difference between Byleth and Shez is one is an over powerd protagonist but doesn't realise it and one think there a over powerd protagonist who is willing to fucking jump off cliffs to prove how strong they are

[veemo4]

2023 Media Thread (Re-do to add a Read More Link)

Spark The Electric Jester 3:

Man I was holding off on spoilers for MONTHS until the holidays when I could get this game, and I only beat it in the beginning of the year and well…HOLY SHIT I didn’t know I needed existentialism in my funny little platformer- Gameplay is INSANELY solid, like honestly some of my favorite platforming controls I have ever used! Music is top notch as well!

Nier Automata: The End of YoRHa Edition:

Holy fuck how did I manage to avoid spoilers for this game for YEARS??? That ending was beautiful~ (Yes I did do all the main endings)

Chrono Trigger: I should preface this by saying I did modify this game a tiiiiny bit to have PS4 button prompts and fixing the Classic filter. Other than that, I can see why it’s a lot of people’s favorite RPG! Short enough in case you wanna replay it, and the foundation of the NG+ system definitely helps incentivize replays! Can’t wait to play Chrono Cross!

Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII:

I binged both FFXIII and FFXIII-2 during October and November of last year, but took a short break to avoid burnout. And well, yeah this game was neat! I will admit though that since there’s no way to REWIND time like in Majora’s Mask that I got INSANELY stressed out but that didn’t take away from the sweet release of seeing these characters I love finally get their well-deserved happy ending :)

Mega Man Zero:

I put this one off and on throughout like 2 years because I just wasn’t good at it, but it taught me a VERY good lesson in perseverance! Really excited to play Zero 2!

Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion: ZAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK ;w; Story was pretty…alright for the most part, but I couldn’t feel attached to any of the original characters :/ Honestly my eyes were on Zack just…being real with what’s going on. I may not feel bad for when people he cares about dies, but I can EASILY emphasize with him because I know that HE knows them. Knows them more than we ever will know. Also the gameplay and music are fucking stellar.

Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes:

I should preface all of this by saying I don’t remember what order I beat all of these in lmao. Anyways my route was Golden Wildfire and the story for it is such an improvement over its equivalent in Three Houses!!! I love Shez so much as a protagonist even if his outfit is a tiny bit dumb.

Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker

Man I really wanted to like this. And like, music and area wise I loved it! But the story feels…It just doesn’t feel like the finality for all we’ve done so far. I could not care at all for Meteion because they spend approximately like 20 or 30 minutes making us meet them and then throwing us IMMEDIATELY into the angst like, no. This isn’t even a case of “Well I don’t care but I can understand why others do” NO THE GAME MAKES YOUR WOL FEEL BAD AS WELL, MEANING YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO CARE! NO! I DON’T! I was able to at least pretend a little bit to roleplay as needed but man. At least Footfalls and the post-endwalker dungeon themes kick ass though. (Warrior of Light’s name for me is M’bahlon Tia)

Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe

SO CUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUTE I love kirby games sm and this is no exception. REALLY loved how hard the Magolor Epilogue got at certain points though that was great.

Fire Emblem Awakening

I CAN SEE WHY THIS SAVED THE FRANCHISE WHEN IT CAME OUT!! It’s a REALLY good game! I went with the default male Robin settings since that’s what’s in Smash Bros. And man just, everything about this game is AMAZING!!! Sadly cannot see myself replaying it anytime. I could just load my endgame save and grind out support conversations with other characters or do that…new game plus thing I think it was?

Another Eden: The Cat Beyond Time and Space: Bound Wills and the Hollow Puppeteer

I did this event initially back when it came out (and in fact is the main reason why I played the game in the first place) But I got horrible units and died super often, and revived every chance I got. But losing my save data and getting a better unit HEAVILY boosted my chances of getting through the event and man, it was a lot of fun! I love seeing tiny mona :3 JUST LOOK AT HOW SMOL HE IS AAAAAAAAA

Mighty Gunvolt Burst:

I had a lot of fun with this one! I used one of the DLC characters (I think they’re the Zero character from Mighty Number 9 but) it’s a great romp!

EDIT: ALSO SHOULD MENTION IT FUCKING OWO’D ME

Final Fantasy XV

“Walk tall…my friends.” I got this game YEARS ago but haven’t truly delved into it recently. And well… That ending got to me. It really did. The gameplay took me so long to get used to (especially since I had been more used to the more refined gameplay of Final Fantasy 7 Remake 3 years prior) Music is amazing, love the characters! I just wish the other episodes were finished and weren’t just put in a novel :/

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door

HOLY FUCK THIS GAME WAS SO COOL. I always heard like, right, about how good this game was but I figured it was just nostalgia talking for people. NOPE. As someone who’s first paper mario game was super (never beat it, I was a really stupid child) and then played Sticker Star (Again, very stupid child but also that game is bullshit because everything is so obtuse and it sucks) But this? This was a big breath of fresh air. I am so excited to go back and play 64 and Super!!!

The Super Mario Bros. Movie

Honestly? Way better than I was expecting. You can FEEL nintendo had a strangle-hold on the movie’s production though from how Chris Pratt in the final movie actually fucking voice acts somewhat (it’s a start), there’s no bad Illumination tropes, Peach is a dragoon, Toad and Bowser easily steal the show, and just, ALL THE REFERENCES WOW. EVEN THE NEWER THINGS. I didn’t see any Paper Mario or Mario & Luigi references though which makes me sad. I hope that if there’s a sequel it’s actually better and doesn’t fall into any traps movie sequels usually do, maybe even say if the other kingdoms from Mario Odyssey are in this universe (and maybe Isle Defino) The movie definitely could have used an extra 20 minutes spread throughout to add more to the main group dynamic.

Mega Man Zero 2

OH MY GOD THIS WAS SO MUCH BETTER BALANCE-WISE HOLY SHIT Cyber-elves requirements to be leveled up were MASSIVELY lowered and the enemy AI isn’t as overly aggressive! Loved the music too, especially Departure and the ending theme which was adapted for the song Clover! Can’t wait to do Zero 3!

WARE WA MESSIAH NARI! HAHAHA!

Mega Man Zero 3 was really good, but either I am getting way too good at these games or they are getting easier haha. Loved the music and gameplay though, and how Cyber Elves were handled here is absolutely the best they have ever been! If there’s any game in this series I am gonna replay, it’s Zero 3 without a doubt! On to Mega Man Zero 4, the last of the GBA era.

Mega Man Zero 4

I finally did it. I beat the entire Mega Man Zero series. While I do not agree with how the parts and cyber elf system were handled, It was not a bad experience by any means! It felt nice following Zero’s character arc throughout these games. I’m maybe gonna take a break before I tackle Mega Man ZX, but hey, I feel like that game’s gonna be fun! It’s the only one I actually OWN on its original hardware after all! :D

Sonic and the Black Knight

This was a fun distraction for a few hours! I had a lot of fun with this! Granted the second King Arthur fight took me an hour but besides that it was a quick and good romp! Probably has one of the best final boss themes in a sonic game I’ve ever heard! :D

The Legend Of Zelda: A Link To The Past

Pretty fun game all things considered, but I didn’t like how punishing some of the design philosophies were in the end parts of the game. Music’s great though! Maybe I’ll revisit it one day, but not anytime soon. Still, can’t say I disliked my experience.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.

Where…do I even begin with this?…It was…genuinely amazing. I was waiting for a sequel to Breath of the Wild for years, and during my high school years I was wondering how they would even follow it up! Doing a sequel to an open-world game is harder than a lot of other genres.      But yet….they did it. They somehow did it. Those 6 years of development time more than paid off. It felt…amazing to run around a changed Hyrule from the last game. The mechanics were amazing, and the character development was really cool! The new rune abilities are dope!!!    BUT THE MUSIC MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM THE MUSIC OH THE MUSIC IS SO GOOD THE ENDING MUSIC MADE ME ACTUALLY CRY AHHHHHHHH PLAY THIS GAME PLAY IT NOW

Kirby and the Forgotten Land

And here we are! Finally got around to this! It was a really dope game! Loved the combat and music! I even did most of the bonus content and the Ultimate Cup Z, but I kept dying at the final phase of the final boss of that so I just gave up lol, it’s purely bonus content anyways lol. But honestly I loved this game! Can’t wait for the next mainline kirby game!

The Legend Of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD

FINALLY GOT AROUND TO PLAYING THIS ONE! I owned this on real hardware since its release date but never got far. I finally got around to it with the motivation of beating Tears of the Kingdom, and I gotta say, it’s pretty good! Not exactly like, absolutely top tier game that everyone MUST play but, it’s decent! Bosses are a big sour point though. Music was pretty decent, though the final dungeon theme is a bore. Only other current Zelda games I gotta beat are the 2D/Top-Down ones, so maybe I’ll do one of those next! Possibly either Phantom Hourglass or Spirit Tracks.

Pokémon Scarlet

HOLY SHIT THAT ENDING SEQUENCE WAS ACTUALLY COOL AS HELL!!! Like yeah, the game has its decent chunk of technical issues but, holy shit….those last two hours of the main story are phenomenal. TOBY FOX CONTINUES TO BE THE GOAT THE MUSIC HE COMPOSED IS AMAZING! I love how easier it is to capture pokemon compared to Sword and Shield as well. I do like Dynamax raids more as a multiplayer component, but I much prefer the Tera mechanic in terms of PVP. I stlll need to do the post game before the dlc comes out later this year, but all I really got is just the refights against the gym leaders and all that jazz. There’s also the Needle thingies I gotta pull out and the wall things I gotta investigate in order to get the other legendaries, but all I really care about is finishing the core of the main story, I got other games to get to lol. Probably thinking of either Paper Mario or Chrono Cross next haha.

Kamen Rider Heisei Generations Final: Build & Ex-Aid with Legend Riders

Okay so context: my friend @arcadiusdragoneyes​ is showing me and @darkspine576​ Kamen Rider Build since it’s one of his favorites and he wanted to indoctrinate introduce us into Kamen Rider AND IT’S FUCKING WORKING. I only know one part of this crossover, but I think it did a good job of giving across the feel of the other Kamen Rider series very well! Kamen Rider Build is so extra I love it. Can’t wait to finish Kamen Rider Build!

[raxistaicho]

Dorothea: The Diet Coke of nobility

You know, for a character who doesn’t do anything that could be called bad and isn’t even forced to be on Edelgard’s side like Hubert is, Edelgard Critical sure does focus inordinately upon Dorothea (when they aren’t focusing on Edelgard). Curious how they have such an issue with an assertive woman who knows what she wants and is willing to use her sexual power to get ahead in a world that would otherwise close its doors to her, isn’t it?

I mean really, what does Dorothea do that offends them so much aside from disliking the status quo of Fodlan? She’s not even that fond of Edelgard’s methods to getting her reforms through, just the ends.

So, when Three Hopes came along and started ripping anti-Edelgard talking points to shreds, her detractors picked up a line from Hubert and Shez’s C support (remember that? The Analyzer is involved in this one, surprise surprise) where Hubert remarks,

Hubert: Dorothea is a famed former songstress, well esteemed in the upper echelons of society. Your situation is vastly different.

This is taken as evidence that Dorothea is “quasi-noble" and thus not a commoner anymore. We’ll ignore that a big to-do is made about her being the only true commoner (Petra only counts by Fodlan standards) in the Black Eagles.

The purpose behind this attack is twofold, although usually it’s just an excuse for Edelgard Critical to engage in their favorite pastime: talking about how female characters who don’t like the state of things in Fodlan are dumb stupid girls who are dumb and wrong and misinformed and ignorant.

More sinisterly, this “quasi-noble” point is weaponized to take Dorothea’s status as the voice of the peasantry among the Black Eagles away from her;

So first off, saying that Raphael or Ignatz are more a commoner than Dorothea just exposes a load of ignorance. They’re both merchant class. Ignatz’s parents pay his way into the academy no problem, while Raphael gets in through selling off his parents’ old business assets. Dorothea was implied to have been forced to provide sexual favors to aristocrats to enter the academy.

Raphael manages to run a successful inn despite not... being the brightest guy around... (Sorry Raphael, I love you T_T). Ignatz’s family has a private military force and directly does business with House Riegan (as did Raphael’s before his parents died). In reality, the only character lower in class than Dorothea would be Leonie, who is the purest example of a peasant among the 24 students.

Anyways, let’s review Dorothea’s history;

So she was 9-10 years old when she was found by Manuela, 12-13 when she became a well-known diva, and 18 when the game began. The 3 years she spent before becoming famous, while almost certainly more comfortable than her time as an urchin, were most likely still a very meager existence filled with a lot of work and training.

Then, she finally becomes a songstress for the last 5 years of her life before coming to Garreg Mach, and the entire point of the Dorothea/Manuela support is to demonstrate that life as an opera star isn’t all sunshine and rainbows, and it’s heavily implied both were required to sell themselves sexually as part of their careers. I’m not at all anti-sex work, but Dorothea clearly doesn’t look back fondly on that part of it.

In summation, Dorothea is NOT a noble.

She was not granted opportunities just by the virtue of her birth. Over half her life was spent in abject poverty and misery, and the rest was spent in grueling work, including selling her own body.

Aside from her extreme fortune of having crossed paths with Manuela, everything Dorothea gained in life, she worked for. She wasn’t given the same opportunities to stand above the rest that Ferdinand, Linhardt, or Caspar did, but she pulled herself up there regardless. Disregarding her as a “quasi-noble” who doesn’t know hunger anymore and thus is out of touch with the peasant class due to having spent 5/18′s of her life in moderate comfort is a fucking insult.

No shade to Linhardt, but someone like him (IE, lazy) could only be at Garreg Mach because he’s a nobleman. Dorothea and Leonie are portrayed as extremely hard-working because it's inconceivable they would be there if they weren't.

Anyways, now for this nonsense that she’s a “quasi-noble” because the nobility have accepted her. That’s not her being a noblewoman herself, that’s being One of the Good Ones.

And coincidentally, Dorothea addresses this in two of her Houses supports, and she hates it.

Kudos to Allegra Clark for her incredible voice-acting in this support in particular. The contempt, bitterness, and anger are raw and palpable.

All the “acceptance” and “esteem” from the nobility is due to her beauty and voice. Much as she loves singing, being a songstress is not who Dorothea truly is. It’s all fake, all meaningless, and once she grows old the nobility will prove just how empty their acceptance really is.

Make no mistake, Dorothea is a peasant girl who was given the incredible good fortune to have the chance to work to rise above the station of her birth, but she never forgot where she came from, and she fights in a bloody war despite hating the bloodshed to help make a better world, where Dorotheas not lucky enough to meet their own Manuela aren’t forsaken.

[inkyquince]

alright inky you like fire emblem and i generally trust your opinion on video games, so ill ask you.

im considering making the plunge into the series. i have absolutely no prior experience with it and have no idea what i would be getting myself into. what game should i start with?

HI THIS IS SO LATE

sO, i got into the fire emblem games in a really out of timeline way, WHICH IS FINE. YOU CAN LEGIT PICK UP ANY FIRE EMBLEM GAME AND START FROM THERE.

bUT,

I started with Three Houses. Its fun, its got fluid combat and does help you out with getting used to using the weapons and tactics. I love it so much, i cant lie.

i dont wanna try three hopes at all, really, shez looks fun, but my friend tried it and was really disappointed so im not gonna try. hubert is looking snaccy tho.

now, fire emblem conquest and birthright fuck so hard. i think they're honestly my favourite games? its so clever and GOD, i love it. the angst is real and legitmately, i could gush forever about these two. SAME STORY, DIFFERENT SIDES.

Im on awakening rn... Tea yelled at me because they asked me how far i was in it AND THEN I REALISED THAT I PUT MY 3DS DOWN TO CHARGE AND FORGOT TO KEEP PLAYING FOR MONTHS. IM BACK IN IT NOW, BUT JESUS. im really liking it, chrom is fun to lewd along with several others, and its just? fun? its a bit different from the others, because it counts as having duo protagonists.

i have yet to play engage, i dont really wanna, Fire Emblem Heroes already has the roster of old heroes coming in to help you and that is a free mobile game. also the protagonists looks... Less dumb? than the promotional stuff but eh, i dont have a big urge to play it.

shadow of valentia is up next on my list! after awakening! so ill let u guys know if it gets me feral.

BUT YES, i HOPE YOU HAVE FUN!

[faroreswinds]

Anon asks! My fingers don’t hurt anymore so let’s goooooo!

I’ve seen people saying Claude’s ruthless actions in the later part of his route make sense because killing his brother broke him/had a heavy effect on him or something, what do you think of that?

Hmmmm. Maybe. But I don’t think so. 

Claude seems ruthless even in other routes too. He just wants Rhea fucking dead. He’s willing to commit a lot of heinous crimes just so his people don’t suffer. I don’t think this Claude was “broken” by any act other than feeling guilty about sacrificing Caspar’s uncle. 

But I am going through the routes slowly now. I’m on SB and I’m editing my recordings as I go for a large super-cut. Then, I’ll have a single giant story to watch and observe carefully. 

Might make a video on my thoughts if I don’t burn out first. 

I’m actually really mad now seeing all the supports because it made me realize byleth didn’t NEED to be silent or an exposition dump since their background is already interesting enough, hell, the s supports can be kept but I was so mad at intsys for wasting zach aguilar and jeannie tirado’s talents, I really like hearing them in character! Quite soothing and soft actually. I think intsys drank the persona koolaid (i don’t like persona characters being silent either but you don’t see people hating on them as much) and wanted to copy that intsead of letting their protagonists’s background that they gave them shine! Shez is fun but wasted on nopes too

I’m loving Byleth here and yeah, it bums me out they are such a non-character in Houses. They have no sense of humor (in a cute, clueless way), are considerate, thoughtful, and quiet. I like them a lot. 

What a waste. 

Shez is alright. I find them a nothing-burger than just so happens to talk.

It feels like 3 hopes like 3 houses before it, wants to have its cake and eat it too. It kinda wants to be in the anti 3 houses in the sense of reducing/getting rid of the academy phase and downplay Byleth's presence but it also doesn't want to invalidate Byleth. It's nice fanservice, but I feel like this game ultimately proves that you shouldn't always listen to fan feedback if it's going to compromise/contradict your original vision.

The devs listening to feedback is both a blessing and curse.

We finally get Ashe and Yuri supports! But who is this Claude?! 

I was really pissed at first but I’ve calmed down a lot. For a few reasons.

I knew it was going to be fan service but ALSO try not to invalidate Houses from the moment it was announced. I just... I knew. I’m old enough to catch these patterns. The reason I was pissed wasn’t because of these things but because I didn’t except the blatant character assassination we are seeing. But when I just view it as a fun game to play, I feel a lot better. 

That’s why I ultimately still bought the game. It’s still fun!

Dumb, but fun.

Also, I don’t think this is the same writing team entirely, which is why things probably feel WAY off. 

The writing is so odd (have seen some people play SB and GE but but not finished.). Seems like overall character interactions are poignant, but story is obtuse? Sometimes I can’t follow the flow of lines in story. Compare Edelgard’s war declaration in the 2 games. It was coherent in the original. Had to reread it 3 times to make sense of it in Hopes. Thoughts?

Like I said in the last answer, I don’t think this is entirely the same writing team. 

But so far, in some ways the writing is REALLY good and solid, but taken as a whole is a disaster. 

I’ve already reached a point in SB where I’m scratching my head. Like, girl, you installed your phony pope, and now we are... rescuing Lonato? Ok.... This is kinda boring, ngl. Why do you want Rhea alive so damn badly? Why are you pretending you just want the Church gone when in reality you want everyone united?

Be honest for 5 seconds, Edelgard. 

It’s these little things that make the story fall apart. But the little stuff like rescuing Dimitri in AG is solid af. 

I know a lot of people don’t like Byleth but I really liked their supports with Jeralt and Shez plus how Zach Aguilar and Jeannie Tirado voiced them plus their voicelines with Sothis and then I got mad and I think devs shafted their own protagonist in Houses! Their story could’ve been so much more interesting! Like they’re already mysterious and weird from the beginning but it sounds like devs had too little time and too much on their plate.

People don’t like Byleth because they are messy and boring in Houses. But here, they are actually kinda interesting. I think some people are going to see Byleth in a new light.

I never hated Byleth, but I was always disappointed in how they were handled and how they ruined the story. So seeing them here is actually really nice like this. 

At least they used this chance to (somewhat) make them something worth caring about. 

Warning: long rant about GW Claude

I guess the problem with GW Claude’s characterisation is that the idea of his negative development in an alternate world is only good on paper. It would have been a compelling story if the writing team had successfully pulled off “an alternate Claude letting his own biases get to him,  leading to him unknowingly becoming the villain” while keeping true to Houses Claude’s core personality. Something like “Houses Claude spending a year working closely with Rhea opened his eyes” and “Flame Emperor’s actions made him realise that Edelgard is impossible to work with and there really IS a line that you should not cross”, but Nopes Claude doesn’t experience these events and remains unaware of his own flaws and prejudices.

Claude’s most important traits are his curiosity and open-mindedness, but it seems these traits have been completely ignored in 3Nopes. Nopes Claude obviously doesn’t really understand how Fodlan works and what kind of people his enemies/possible allies are. It’s clear based on how he established the Federation with him being the King, completely disregarding the problem that pretty much every Alliance lord except his hard core stan (Holst and Judith) would be against it. It would be one thing if Claude does try to learn the truth about Fodlan but gets manipulated by Edelgard/TWSITD and ends up being the unwilling villain, but Nopes Claude makes zero effort to do that!

Oh, and the fact that the story-telling of Claude’s route in Houses was not very good certainly didn’t help either. I am happy with all the little bits of history lore they have added in Nopes, but Claude and Edelgard’s character assassination just irritates me to no end. Imma gonna pretend GW is only 8 chapters long and stick with AG for dimidue content.

Nothing to add at this time, anon. Just love the rant. XD 

There is still stuff to enjoy so I hope you like Dimidue!

[sheikahwarriork]

Even though Hopes was actually not very good compared to Houses; we gotta appreciate how it mixed up a lot of things and brought a breath of new life to the fandom and I am forever thankful for it even if the rest was not the best for many charcters, what do you think about it?

hi anon, thank you for the ask! oh boy where do i start-

first of all, you should know i LOVE musou games. i love smashing those buttons and defeating hundreds of eniemies. so, when they announced three hopes, i was THRILLED.

but maybe my expectations were a bit too high.

(spoilers about all the routes and endings)

i think the story is fine, but it could have been much better. i like shez, no, i love shez as a character: theyre silly but strong, determinated and yet loving. i like that theyre dubbed, i like their quirky and yet silly comments, i like how they flirt with some characters and yet are completely clueless, and the female VA did a WONDERFUL job. also, i simply ADORE arval. theyre so sassy i always laugh when arval says anything. the dynamic between shez and arval is written better than the one between byleth and sothis imo. (i love sothis too, but i feel her relationship with byleth needed more screentime)

but shez has a problem. (well, actually two.) the first problem is that shez isnt byleth. shez works well with the majority of the cast, but not with the three lords (a bit better with edelgard but still meh). shez's presence in the war doesnt make much sense as byleth's one did in three houses: the fucking school closed like two WEEKS after the lords met shez, they didnt have the time to bond and to know each others as byleth did (cuz, yk, byleth was their fucking teacher for a year). so, even if i like shez A LOT, their presence in fódlan war seems a bit off to me. i wish shez was in a different game overall.

the second, big problem of shez, is that we get to know almost nothing about their past. but this is a writing problem, not of the character themselves. i wanted to know who their mother was, why they are arval's vessel. RIP dlc i guess

about the three routes:

azure gleam: oh boy. OH BOY. the most disappointing of all. i LOVED the first part, for it explores much better all the kingdom's issues and we get more informations about the tragedy of duscur. but, "and then?". i'm gonna be honest dear anon: i dont remember much about the second part of azure gleam, just this big sense of disappointment. i'm actually re-playing it right now, so maybe i'll be back here in a few weeks. anyway, i do remember liking the fact you can save jeritza here tho, mercie deserves her little brother back!

scarlet blaze: the exact opposite of my thoughts about AG: scarlet blaze is a GREAT black eagles route. dont get me wrong, i liked crimson flower (its actually my second fav route of three houses), but being it the shortest one i always felt it was missing something, aka the fight against TWSITD (since, yk, we dont fight them in CF, they just defeat them offscreen in the ending cards. wtf). and in scarlet blaze we got it!!! also edelgard is better written in SB: shes still resolute and yet willing to *not* kill almost everyone on fódlan (i have Opinions about the ending of CF but another time). i never liked how edelgard sides with TWSITD in three houses, and im glad she didnt in SB. i mean, lets kill those bastards gurl!!!!!

golden wildfire: LMAO. ok i must admit i have a big problem: i dont like the golden deers (as a house; i like some of them alone, like marianne and lysithea), and claude is my least favourite lord, and i think verdant wind is the worst route of all three houses. so, GW was the last one i played. aaaaand. it is better than VW! i liked how claude allied with edelgard to defeat the church! i liked how claude is a little bastard plotter in there! as for AG, i think the first part of the route is much better than the second part (if you dont recruit byleth, judith dies in a dumb way just like rodrigue..... claude-routes-dont-copy-other-route's-things challenge). overall, i think GW is much better than VW, bc i think VW i just a weak copy of silver snow (sorry claude)

about the supports overall: some are cute and i like how we get supports between characters that didnt have ones in three houses, like bernadetta and marianne, or bernadetta and dimitri, or ashe and flayn.

and at last we've come to the elephant in the room.... byleth. how did they treat byleth in my opinion? short answer: terrible. long answer: terrible, because byleth doesnt have supports (except for shez and jeralt ikik). like WTF!!!!! give me supports with the lords, at least! let me see the byleth in this timeline, where they arent a professor, where their father isnt dead!!!! and why did they make byleth the ENEMY?? and we can recruit them too late in the game! GIVE ME MY PROFESSOR BACK-

the (one sided) rivalry between shez and byleth doesnt make any sense. "ohh the ashen demon killed my merc company >:[" says shez, just to admit five minutes later that they didnt really care about that company. and yes, okay, shez wants to prove everyone (themselves included) theyre stronger than byleth. thats fine. but here too, shez lets the matter drops too fast. "i will be stronger i will kill youuuuu- oh wait the lord wants you to join our side of the war. guess we're bestie now!". most of the time (before we actually recruit byleth) i get the feeling shez doesnt really give a fuck about the ashen demon, and this could have been okay, IF THEIR RIVALRY WASNT THE POINT OF ALL THE TRAILERS???????? their relationship is not explored well. shez's initial resentment doesnt make any sense bc THEY THEMSELVES say they really didnt care about the company. SO, if even the new protagonist, who was supposed to hate byleth, doesnt actually hate byleth, why make byleth the antagonist in the first place? why do we have to fight byleth? just to have a different fódlan story?¿?¿?

and i'll shut up about how they treated my dimileth in the game. you dont want to open this pandora's box dear anon.

so, the summary is: the gameplay is great bc i love musou games. the additions to the lore are pretty cool. i like that claude has his own original route that makes sense, and that edelgard got a much better written route. byleth deserved better. SHEZ! is fantastic, and arval is one of my fav character of all fódlan games. also i think arval and sothis should kiss

thank you anon for the ask, i enjoyed writing my thoughts on three hopes! hope i didnt bore you to death lmao

[lizzythesilly]

🩷!Lizzy Headcanons!🩷

I love Lizzy so much shez my favorite

-Lizzy secretly loves to bake and make different desserts (Even though they r in a fucking winter wasteland…)

-She likes Doll a lot…she also likes V…and Rebecca…She’s Lesbian…

-She loves to hug her friends alot!

-She hates being alone as it’s not pleasant for her, she doesn’t feel comfortable or safe when she’s alone

-She had a cringy K-pop phase

-Her and Doll once had a sleepover and they both fell asleep on the floor together

-She screams super loud, like VERY loud!

-She’s very flexible as she does cheerleading!

-Her and Uzi were once friends over the years, Lizzy turned away from Uzi and started to hangout with other people who she thought were much more cooler

-Lizzy is kinda dumb

-Lizzy is kinda smart too

-Teacher is her dad and he’s a W father

-Her and her dad would play cards sometimes

-Even though Lizzy doesn’t show her love to her dad, she loves him a lot!

-She fell during cheer practice lmao

-She’s very sassy and kinda mean but she’s funny and fun af to hang out with

OK THAS ALL BYE BYE ILL DO MORE AND ILL DRAW SOME OF THEM!! 👋

[sorcieresque]

📝 👀

📝 (me):

i’m gonna admit that lizard eludes me a little bit because you really took the ‘tumblr shitposting’ aspect of the rp to a whole nother level (you even mentioned he shitposts on twitter), which never fails to make me laugh, but i do think that that sometimes can take away from lizard as a fully formed character. i really did fight for his app from the start because more than anything i love characters that are unapologetic and writers that aren’t afraid to make their characters be ridiculous for the laffs, and i think he has! so! much potential! as a character who brings a lot to the cast, so i’d love, looove to get to glance into his Complex Inner Life, which i’m sure he has because as far as i can tell he was a character you already had written before, right

lizard is like… our most Effortlessly Authentically Teen character, all the way up to dabbing and memeing and generally not having a pole up his ass like 99% of our cast lmao. this post reminds me of him, he’s just like, it’s chill, it’s whatever, so there’s monsters and eldritch beings and the walls move, who cares, i’m getting my heart broken/i feel dumb/i got a bad grade/my parents don’t get me, i’m gonna listen to kanye to deal with my feelings. like lizard’s priorities are very much in the coming of age space, which is jarring in a fun kind of way when his background is a fucking high-fantasy trip, like it’s such good comedic but also earnest contrast.

i can’t quite put my finger on whether he’s actually bothered or has delved in any way into what his heritage means for him or the effects his childhood and parentage and background has had on him, or if he’s bottling that shit up or just legitimately doesn’t find it pressing right now. i feel like i’m being very convoluted here lmao but it really is just very genuine of him and i really like that.

i also really do love that lizard is unapologetically black, coming from a black writer. i mean this in a very earnest way though i don’t know how to word it in a way that doesn’t seem sjw points suck-up-y, i’m sorry lmao, but it, like, makes me happy, it really shapes his personality, it’s really pushed me to explore the role race plays in misha’s character even if i feel kind of awkward/unauthentic but it’s a learning curb. all in all i just want to say i love lizard and i really want to see more of your writing because it seems like so much fun stuff is going on under the surface!!!

👀 (not me):

i’m gonna preface this by disclaiming that daisy is petty and i think that is legitimately really funny so please no flames but daisy just like… dislikes lizard immensely in a ridiculous, ‘no that’s MY best friend’ kinder-garden toddler kind of way. which. i think is cute but i’m really biased. i literally just said that daisy is like a peach in a spiked collar and i am so tickled by the fact that lizard, arguably one of the chillest characters in the rp, happened to get her in her most sore spot with less than five words, and he’s probably not even aware of it, BUT daisy is, which means that she more less tries not to be overtly hateful towards him. it’s the maturity level of about a ten year old, which is really so much progress for her. please clap, shez trying.

it also helps that lizard said he thinks she’s hot, and she is nothing but a sucker for boys thinking she’s hot because compulsory heterosexuality is one hell of a drug but also it’s fun and it gives her leverage. unfortunately lizard is bi so there’s not as much fun in trying to flip them gender norms on his head like she’d do with straight boys… i think lizard’s Impenetrable Shield against daisy is that he’s just Chill, not in a boring way but in a very teen, water sliding off duck ‘haha cool dude’ kind of way and daisy doesn’t know how to deal with that lmaoo.

in the end it’s a very superficial relationship but i definitely think there’s a lot of potential there for a kind of sitting on the hood of a car passing a blunt, probably mutually aware of the Aesthetic kind of friendship. plus daisy is fucking fascinated by anything weird, bizarre and/or grotesque, by which i mean she would probs want to hear the morbid details of lizard’s dad and mom’s sexscapades. Good Luck.

[faroreswinds]

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

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

Now, for the asks.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sort of.

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

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

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

Meh.

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

In short, I’m shocked.

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

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

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

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

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

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