#magvel meta

[randomnameless]

Fomorsweep ?

[lunatenais]

fight like a girl

an eirika meta

Throughout the main plot of FE8 there is a prevalent theme of weakness (and to overcome it). I cannot speak for every character in the game*, obviously, but I would love to share my thoughts on how this theme relates to Eirika and her character as a whole.

Below the cut will feature major FE8 (Sacred Stones) spoilers, support conversation spoilers, and a very minor trigger warning for inc*st (relating to the story of Sieglinde/Signy, NOT Eirika herself). Overall it is very quote heavy.

*All characters mentioned I do not hold authority over besides Eirika herself. Any mentions of their motivations or thoughts will be backed up using canon sources/text, but I disclaim that any muns (present or future) may have added more context to these canon quotes.

Act I: Weakness.

First I feel as if it’s important to establish some context about Magvel as a whole. Before the events of Sacred Stones (which for my sanity I will be shortening to SacStones), Magvel had lived in relative peace for around 800 years. Though not 100% canonical, it can be assumed that because of this Renais did not even have a proper, full scale army ready for any sort of war. There are mentions in the opening that because of the suddenness, Renais had been unable to “mount any resistance”— obviously we know there are knights in Renais, but war was far from everyone’s minds.

With this in mind, it’s safe to say that Eirika would also have no reason to suspect that the peaceful land of Magvel would ever be home to any sort of unrest, nevermind a full scale war between Renais and Grado, their greatest ally. Even in flashback sequences with Eirika she states that her purpose for training is not because she expects any sort of fight to break out, but rather because she felt burdened by the fact that she relied so heavily on Ephraim to protect her (and Ephraim should he ever need it).

Eirika: “I do not like uncivilized behavior. I think one can solve one’s problems without fighting. And yet…” Ephraim: “And yet what?” Eirika: “I’ve always relied on you to protect me, Brother. I would rather not be such a burden to you in the future. So, I thought maybe I should learn to protect myself…”

But even despite this training (and from Lyon we learn that Eirika is potentially on par with Ephraim in terms of their strength in battle), none of this prepares Eirika for the true horrors of war. A spar between siblings or friends could never show her the true depravities of war.

Eirika: “I’m fine… Fine. …This is war, isn’t it? It’s not at all like the games I used to play with my brother or Lyon. I never thought– I didn’t know it would be this…savage. Are words useless? Is strength all that matters? It’s so sad… Why would the Grado Empire do this? To what end would they start a war?”

(With Saleh) Eirika: “No, no… When Grado invaded Renais, I was paralyzed. I couldn’t do anything. It is only because of the sacrifices of others that I could even escape.”

To conclude this section, we have established that Eirika has a belief that her own sacrifices cannot be weighed on the same scale as those who fight alongside her. She has lost her home, her family, and those who live on Renais soil are meant to look to her for guidance— and yet, she is just a young woman trying to take in all of the changes and responsibilities that have been thrusted upon her so suddenly. Never had she prepared for war, nor was she ever meant to be a leader, and still she looks down on herself for her own perceived failure at a role she should never have had to be placed in.

Act II: Innocence.

This was touched upon slightly in the last section, but there is an innocence about Eirika that plays a hand in this weakness of hers. When speaking with Ephraim and Lyon in a flashback, it is stated that Ephraim is considered to have the strength of a future ruler, while Lyon holds the compassion needed to rule. Where does this leave Eirika, exactly? She holds a strength on par with Ephraim, while still wishing to solve this war with words— because of this, I believe that Eirika is meant to be directly in the middle of them both. In a way she could be considered a perfect ruler— strong yet compassionate— even if she is to never take the throne herself.

The importance comes more so from her loss of innocence. I believe that this is the first point where she begins to accept her own weaknesses, which is the first step to overcoming it. In CH6, ‘Victims of War’, Eirika is given a choice by the villain Novala: surrender one of the keys to the sacred stones (though she is, at the time, unaware of its exact importance) or a young child will be sacrificed to a monster. Without hesitation she offers up her bracelet, only for Novala to throw the child and her family to the monsters regardless. With this in place, we get one of my absolutely favourite pieces of Eirika dialogue.

Eirika: “Why…why would you… How can you do such a thing?” Novala: “This is WAR! There are no rules here! In war, you can do anything! Anything! You curs of Renais have lost! Your idiotic ravings mean nothing…” Eirika: “Enough. Hold your tongue.” Novala: “Wha…what?!” Eirika: “I… We, the people of Renais, have long honored our allegiance with the Grado Empire. And you invaded without warning. You ravaged our land. You killed my father… Even then, I told myself, I must not hate Grado or her people. If I gave in to my hate, the bond between our lands would be lost forever. I refused to hate. Instead, I lived for the day our nations would know peace again. But… If this is Grado’s true face… If you could extinguish Renais without pity, without remorse… If this is the case, then there is no room in my heart for forgiveness.”

Before this moment, there was still hope in Eirika’s heart for a resolution with words, that this war could be ended simply by talk— but now she has realized the tactics of Grado are vicious and underhanded, that they do not care for the lives of innocent civilians. Finally she learns that this is no longer the Grado she has known since childhood. Eirika learns what war is really about.

This is not the complete end of her innocence, seeing as she still has hope in saving Lyon from his possession to the point where she gives him a sacred stone— Eirika’s hope does not die, but the ugliness of the world is now something she is well aware of and willing to see.

ACT III: Womanhood.

This section will (hopefully) not be too long, but it is something that we really can't avoid when speaking about a female character: Eirika, like many others, experiences misogyny, both outright and in themes used throughout the game. This section does go over the story of Sieglinde, and though none of the actual inc*st will be brought up, I will warn for it regardless.

We begin with some small pieces of in game text that could be used to argue that Eirika was never expected to be the saviour of Magvel in any capacity. Once Eirika rescues a village from bandits, a villager says this:

Man: “Oh, Renais is finished, mark my words. The Grado Empire’s stolen our future. Our only hope against them was that Prince Ephraim would prevail, but… Rumor has it that he’s on the verge of being crushed by Grado’s vast numbers. These are dark days. Travel with care.”

For the sake of clarity, it is important to know that this man may not be aware that Eirika is the Princess of Renais— but I want to stress the line of “our only hope against them was that Prince Ephraim would prevail,” there is no mention that the Princess offers any sort of hope for her people. Again, we could argue that maybe the people of Renais are under the assumption that their Princess has died, but we have no text that I’m aware of to prove or disprove this. To hear this from your people, after just protecting them, I personally think would cause me to feel lesser to my brother. This paired with Fire Emblem taking place in a more medieval setting can lead to the belief that because she is a Princess she is not seen by the public as being as strong as a Prince (which we have established is not true in Eirika’s case).

With this we also need to go over how a lot of the men in Eirika’s life have essentially let her down, causing a lot of these issues that have plagued her. As mentioned at the start I am not speaking for these characters and why they did or said these things, I am just explaining how they are seen by my portrayal of Eirika.

First we begin with Ephraim. At the beginning of the game, Ephraim has left on his own to fight on the front lines of Grado, and though it was to help Renais as a whole, he left behind his sister and father during a great time of need. It is here that Eirika’s ability to protect herself comes into play— her brother, who once said it is his duty to protect his sister has gone, and no longer can she rely on him. This is obviously a point of growth for Eirika, but she is also left to deal with the grief of their father all on her own.

And then we have Lyon. There is a lot to say about Lyon, really! He is very important for the analysis of Eirika’s growth and how, despite everything, she believes in his kindness and compassion above all. However, part of his distorted desires towards Eirika are reason why the majority of her pain has begun. Obviously his love for Eirika is not the only reason he toyed with the stones, and the quote below is Formortiis speaking so these words could be very well bent to not represent his true feelings, but they are still what Eirika hears.

Evil Lyon: "Rejoice, Lyon. The time has come… Ephraim, the man you envy… Eirika, the woman you desire… I will now grant you all of your darkest wishes!"

To her, it sounds as if she is seen not as a friend, nor an equal, but instead as a prize to be won. Even if she knows Lyon has seen her as strong in the past, these words still pierce her heart. Her father and countrymen have died over a lot that she would have likely returned, all things considered— but instead she was not given this choice.

Finally I will touch upon her personal weapon Sieglinde. This is where the trigger warning comes in. Though this section isn’t long skip ahead to Act IV if uncomfortable.

The story of Sieglinde and Siegmund come from the of ‘Die Walküre’, or ‘The Valkyrie’. In this tale, Sieglinde was taken away from her family and forced to wed a man by the name of Hunding. When Siegmund arrives to their home for one reason or another, she is a damsel in distress— the man who can draw the sword Nothung is to be her saviour, which guess what! That’s Siegmund. Throughout this opera Sieglinde does very little to save herself, relying on Siegmund’s help and later Brünnhilde (feminism win?). Even when Siegmund dies she claims that she cannot continue living on without him, and only finds a reason to live when she learns his child is inside of her (WE DO NOT HAVE TIME TO UNPACK THIS).

Tldr; WHY DID WE NAME HER WEAPON THIS.

ACT IV: Strength.

We have finally arrived to our final section: strength. Here we will talk about the very ending of the game, and how this has changed Eirika’s perception of her weaknesses…kinda

At the end of the game Eirika faces Lyon just as the resurrection of Formortiis is complete, leaving this with:

Lyon: "Yes… But I’m… I’m almost completely gone. Before I’m lost entirely, I want to apologize. I’m sorry, Eirika. This is all my fault. I was too weak…" Eirika: "You’re not to blame, Lyon. It was the Demon King. He was controlling you…" Lyon: "No, that’s not true, Eirika. When the Demon King reached into me from inside the Dark Stone… When he whispered he would see all my dreams and desires made true… I�� I did not reject him. In the shadows of my heart, he saw jealousy… vanity… It was my weakness that put these emotions there, allowed them to thrive." Eirika: "Everyone has weaknesses, Lyon. You’re not the only one. I do. I’m sure my brother does… Don’t hate yourself for having these feelings, please."

We can see there is an acknowledgement of not only that she has these weaknesses, but that there is no shame in having them. No, this does not mean that Eirika has entirely conquered everyone that she feels makes her weak, but just as she says to Lyon, there is no shame in being weak and falling victim to your feelings. In the epilogue with Ephraim she even mentions having similar feelings about grief and sorrow, having thoughts of resurrection.

Eirika: “That would be nice… But first we must seal this away… This stone banished the Demon King. With such power… Do you suppose we could bring back Father and Lyon… That everyone who died in this dreadful war could be–“ Ephraim: “Eirika.” Eirika: “I know, I know. Such things would be– I cannot wish for such things. No matter how it hurts, or rather because it hurts, we must learn to accept sorrow. We must take it into our hearts and tame our grief…”

Yes, in the end she still is weak, she still has these feelings, but in the end she has found the strength to rationalize them. No longer is she a run by these feelings, but they still exist. Overcoming weakness does not always mean eliminating these weaknesses in their entirety, but instead how to control them.

Some of these don’t fit the point but I wanted to talk about Eirika so for making it to the end I give you a kiss.

[markoftheasphodel]

I gotta say, Forging Bonds have made it clear that Natasha and Seth would indeed be a well-matched couple in a super-downer way. 

[fe8meta]

While looking through screenshots of a recent FE8 stream of Ephraim’s route, I noticed something about Knoll. In Father and Son, he claims he’ll tell Ephraim everything, but he omits the vision of the earthquake from his retelling, a very important thing. That would mean he lied by omission. I initially thought that it could have been because of limitations, but then I noticed that he repeats it in his Support with Natasha. 1/2

She points out that she’s not sure he really told her everything before he spills the beans, and even then, he seems reluctant. In his support with Duessel, he says that it’s something Ephraim doesn’t know (excluding the typo). The question is why? It seems pretty ironic of him to speak about truth and honouring Lyon’s ideals, only to lie about the impending earthquake, and it seems like Ephraim didn’t know about it until Seth tells him in his route’s epilogue after it happens. (2/2)

I'm not sure if you read my Knoll-centric post Knowledge, Faith, and Lyon, but I pointed out Knoll's hypocrisy as well, albeit in his interactions with Natasha and Duessel. To quote myself:

He points out the lack of a hard truth earlier in the C support… which creates a rather curious contrast with his rather self-assured idea of what Natasha’s mentor (implied to be Father MacGregor) was like.

For all of Knoll’s verbal self-flagellation during his recruitment in Chapter 14B and in his supports with Natasha and Duessel, it is Knoll himself who is trying to run from the truth of what has occurred. He talks in riddles and diverts the question whenever he is questioned on the events that occurred.

I think Knoll's contradictions are basically a form of denial. Denial that another way to handle the earthquake exists, which would confirm that his and Lyon's actions leading up to it were well and truly pointless.

Knoll is so afraid of the idea that he and Lyon were well and truly wrong, he's practically bending backwards to give himself any reason to believe they had a justification, even when his conversation partners aren't faulting them for the situation. He vilifies Natasha's mentor for basically no reason, dodges Duessel's questions, and omits information when he promised to tell Ephraim the whole story.

That said, I think Knoll's contradictory nature is meant to be part of his mystique, leaving readers to guess at what lies underneath his self-deprecating exterior, unspoken and undiscovered even to the end of the game. He and Lyon are ultimately meant to be an enigma left for people, both in-universe and out, to debate.

[historyoftheemblem]

I just today found out about the FE8 Instruction Booklet while looking for more detailed maps of Magvel (if you look it up, Nintendo has a PDF of it that’s free to download). This seems to be an illustration that was used to model the in-game map, as all the locations are tiny compared to how they appear in-game.

One major difference from the final version is how Rausten Court is distinct from Frelia Castle; in the final game, they use the same sprite. Caer Pelyn, Renvall, and the Black Temple aren’t illustrated here but they received unique sprites in the final game. The boats obviously aren’t in the final map proper, but appear in the overworld map when traveling in the two locations they’re seen in above.

The lines crossing over the map are to indicate where some key characters are met. They list Eirika, Seth, Myrrh, Ephraim, Joshua, Tethys, and L’Arachel. Interestingly enough, even though everyone else uses their finalized portraits, Ephraim’s uses his prototype version’s instead.

[royaltyjunk]

Analysis of Ephraim’s Heroes Quotes

2/2 of the requests from @mahnati​. Fun fun fun-

Part 1 is here.

"You know, I like you, and I feel I can trust you completely.”

More avatar praising.

"Here's some advice: Let the fools spread gossip. The rest of us have work to do."

Based a bit off of his dialogue in the “Family Bonds” paralogue.

Ephraim: Here you are at last. We've been waiting for you. It seems that your sibling bond is strong indeed. But it cannot be as strong as the one that binds Eirika and me. Ours is so strong that some fools dare spread lies about us. Disgusting.

Other than that, I’m not sure what else he could be referring to.

"Trust me, I don't pick fights I can't win."

Ah, the iconic quote most people associate with Ephraim, aside from “Disgusting”. It originates from Chapter 5x in FE8.

Valter: Fool… Have you gone mad? Do you truly believe you can fight your way past my wyvern knights?

Ephraim: Watch and see. I don’t pick fights I can’t win. Kyle, Forde. Are you ready?

"I will protect you. Just believe in me and follow my lead." / "You can rely on me for anything you require."

They’re both here because they basically have the same justification. They’re both most likely original lines, but probably based on his desire to protect Eirika, imminent through Sacred Stones.

Eirika: I’ve always relied on you to protect me, Brother. I would rather not be such a burden to you in the future. So, I thought maybe I should learn to protect myself…

Ephraim: I’m your brother. Brothers are supposed to protect their sisters. It’s nothing for you to worry about. It’s no cause for concern.

Evil Lyon: …Tell me, Prince Ephraim of Renais. Why do you fight on? Do you think you accomplish your sad desire? Can you restore your homeland from the grave? Overthrow “evil”? Or protect your sister?

"Oh? Don't startle me! You almost met with the tip of my lance."

Surprised line again.

"I must protect Eirika, as a brother ought to do for his sister."

A quote that comes from Chapter 2, in the same flashback where Eirika starts her sword training.

Eirika: I’ve always relied on you to protect me, Brother. I would rather not be such a burden to you in the future. So, I thought maybe I should learn to protect myself…

Ephraim: I’m your brother. Brothers are supposed to protect their sisters. It’s nothing for you to worry about. It’s no cause for concern.

*laughs*

Ephraim laugh. Hooray.

[gascon-en-exil]

I know you don't ship m/f but if you had to choose the most interesting/entertaining one for each FE installment, what would you pick?

Archanea: Are there even options here? The whole Camus/Nyna/Hardin disaster is easily the most developed overall and also the most narratively impactful.

Valentia: Alm/Celica carries the emotional core of the game, and there's still not much competition. Faye -> Alm and Conrad/Celica incest subtext are good for a few laughs though. They only added two playable characters to the remake, and those were who we got?

Jugdral: Poor Lachesis. I don't ship her with Finn and am fine with Beowolf being Diarmuid's father and possibly Nanna's as well, but no matter how you slice it FE's original brother-loving teenage girl has it rough. Her/Eldigan then, since even after his death his shadow still looms large over all her subsequent romantic entanglements - and then in Gen 2 they get eulogized as star-crossed lovers.

Elibe: Similar to the Archanea example, Hellene/Desmond/his mistress eventually sets up the plot of an entire game and leads to some entertainingly awful family dynamics all around (to say nothing of one of FE7's most difficult chapters).

Magvel: Bi, twincestuous OT3 of Eirika/Ephraim/Lyon. But seriously, L'Arachel/anyone is funny enough to count. Let's go with her/Innes, even though her Ephraim and Joshua supports are even funnier (because they've both got more gay stuff going on than Innes does).

Tellius: Micaiah/Sothe, which is both a solid relationship and a source of frustration for antis because "I married my surrogate son/brother" isn't a good look for a duology that they otherwise seem to love (likely without having played - these games' final word on race and racial politics aren't exactly the most progressive ever).

Ylisse: Ugh, I have no idea. 90% of this game bores me to tears, and the remaining 10% is pretty much just Apotheosis meta. Let's go with m!Robin/Lucina for being gutsy enough to go as hard in canon as other Avatar/lord pairings despite the obvious generation gap.

Nohrshido: Subaki/Selena, solely for the entertainment value of Severa giving birth to a clone of her own mother.

Fódlan: I appreciate Claude and Hilda in CF as nods to Quan and Ethlyn's deaths in FE4, but there's nothing indicating they're actually together there. Claudeleth, I suppose, because of how blatantly he uses the self-insert and how this is followed through on by making this Claude's best ending, politically speaking.

[azebraslife]

The different forms of sibling honorifics in JP FE8

They’re not all onii-chan! (Not that it’s gonna change @jehanna‘s mind.)

(For those who don’t know Japanese, younger siblings are expected to call their older siblings with the proper terms and honorifics, but older siblings will just call younger siblings by name.)

Eirika uses 兄上 (aniue) to refer to Ephraim. It’s an archaic word, not used in everday language now, and has extremely formal undertones.

Franz uses 兄さん (nii-san) with Forde.

Cormag uses 兄貴 (aniki) with Glen, which is an informal/casual form of the word. (On Glen’s part, there is one time that he uses 弟, ototo/little brother, to talk to Cormag.)

Vanessa calls Syrene 姉さん (nee-san) for the most part, though sometimes she’ll call Syrene “Captain Syrene.”

Tana calls Innes お兄さま (onii-sama).

Ewan uses お姉ちゃん (onee-chan) when talking to Tethys.

Interestingly, Myrrh uses おにいちゃん (a phonetic spelling of onii-chan) when she asks Ephraim if she can call him “brother.” I guess it’s to denote that she’s trying to imitate other people’s terms, considering that Eirika says “aniue” and not “onii-chan.”

[sireneia-a]

5!

+*. multimuse ask game. 

5: what are your criteria for adding new muses?

WHAT INDEED…. 

i had a friend who gave me the advice “only add muses after you’ve written a meta/fic for them” and i was like “oh shit that’s a good policy” and then… you’ve seen how i’ve been……….

i think for real tho it’s probably something like:

be personally invested in them to some degree. they don’t have to be my favorite, but they should be someone i at least mildly care about. if i don’t care, why should someone else?

feel like i have potential interactions for them. it’s why i held off on magvel but why i’m so quick to add jugdral muses; i know i’ll get threads for the latter but not the former.

don’t be a character who’s overrepresented by the community. if i’m going to add someone, there should be some reason why i should that sets me apart from the rest. if not, i’m just showering attention to an already loved character. besides, i would rather let someone new to the community get to write a character! 

[eldritchlittleblackdragon]

A Sort-Of Meta-y Post on Possession and Manakete Degeneration in Fire Emblem

Cross-posted from Pillowfort

My roommate @curiousobsession101 and I have been talking about Manaketes/Dragons in Fire Emblem and while there are a lot of inconsistencies, there are some threads that show up again throughout the various games. (Even if they don't take place in the same world/continent setting.)

And I've found certain threads make more sense if you're familiar with elements of earlier games. There is one in particular though that's been on my mind and that's manakete degeneration in the setting that Archanea/Ylisse, Valentia/Valm, and Jugdral all take place in (and my understanding is that they're all in the same world, just on different continents, as opposed to Elibe, Magvel, Tellius, and the Fates Setting).

In Awakening, you're told about how Grima basically selectively bred a line of human to create the perfect human vessel to posses (Robin/the MU for Awakening). Now, for the longest time my roommate didn't understand why this was even necessary. Once he gets resurrected and has a physical form, why does he need a human vessel?

It didn't occur to me to mention until recently, but there is a reason for that, and the reason is given by older games. Specially, Echoes/Gaiden and Geneology of the Holy War. I think the latter has the example that's easier to explain though. In Geneology of the Holy War, one of the main antagonists is Julius, half-brother to the second gen protagonist, Seliph. Like Robin in Awakening, he possesses a brand likely as a result of a dragon pact made by his ancestors, and it's through this mark that the ultimate big bad, Loptyr, is able to possess him. The reason for needing a human vessel in Geneology is to stave off degeneration, a problem that has plagued dragonkind since the series inception and has been a common thread through the games (I think save the Elibe and Tellius games). The main problem with degeneration is insanity and an affected dragon losing access to their mental faculties. Most manaketes choose to seal their power away in dragonstones and take on humanoid forms for most (or all) of the remainder of their lives in order to prevent or at least slow degeneration. However, possessing a human with a dragon's brand who is best attuned to them is another method of retaining one's mind for longer as well. Given this information about why Loptyr needed a vessel such as Julius, I think it's safe to extrapolate that we have a similar situation with Robin in Awakening. As much as Grima hates humanity, he saw a method to stave off degeneration that didn't require sealing his power away and assuming a weaker physical form. While the human vessel is an anchor of sorts, from what I can tell through stats and such in their respective games, Loptyr and Grima are forces to be reckoned with (the latter more so on higher difficulties). He can stave off this terrible fate, and retain the power he wants to destroy humanity (and everything else. Good job Grima, you racist old fart). Unfortunately, as my roommate pointed out, because of the thread in Geneology of the Holy War, there could be some unsavory implications as to Robin's family history. In Geneology, in order to create Julius (Loptyr's perfect vessel), Seliph's mother Dierdre was kidnapped and her memory erased before she was placed in the path of Arvis by one of the other bads. The intent was for Arvis and Dierdre to wed (which they did) and have kids, as those two would be the necessary parents for this to happen. That being being because they descended from the same bloodline (in fact, the two are half-siblings, if memory serves). It's possible that a similar situation could be the case with Robin's parentage, but little to no information is given about Robin's mother save for the fact she tried to run away and keep her child out of Validar's (Robin's father's) reach. So it's completely possible she might not have been a genetic relative of Validar but still had the requirements that Grima desired in order to create his perfect vessel. The fact it's a completely reasonable conclusion to come to though is... a bit unsettling to say the least. Considering real-world examples of inbreeding among plants and animals in order to foster certain results though (and the fact this is something that's come up in Fire Emblem), it does seem like something that, again, seems like a real possibility. Now, I mentioned Echoes+Gaiden being a potential example. While I haven't finished the game, I am aware of certain spoilery things. So, hear me out. At one point in the game, it's mentioned that the Zofian Royal family is descended from Mila herself (and this is the same family Celica and her brother Conrad descend from via their biological father, King Lima). It's a bit of a throwaway line but, from the outset of the game it's mentioned that Alm and Celica both bear special brands marking them as being 'chosen'. Given that information and the fact Jedah tries to convince Celica to offer herself to Duma (as many witches and cantors of the Duma faithful have), my mind keeps tugging at a certain idea: The idea is that the brands in question are in fact pact marks the likes of which Julius and Robin had (or at least potentially so). Due to this and their royal bloodlines, they are probably better candidates for Duma (or potentially Mila) to possess and escape or at least slow down his degeneration. Now you would think Alm would be the ideal candidate because if the Zofian royal family is descended from Mila, it's reasonable to conclude the Rigelian royal family is descended from Duma. So it would make sense to go with the bearer of the mark are directly related to him, no? But it still is probably possible for him to possess Celica because Mila is his sister, and while the connection might not be as direct, it would still make her a good candidate, and Jedah probably thought her an easier/more important mark to go after. The whole possession to stave off degeneration could be part of the reason why Cantors and Witches exist as well, although instead of Duma trying to posses one person, he's in some way trying to make use of multiple people. Whatever issues I have with the story and characters in Echoes, I appreciate that there is enough evidence here to support this train of thought. It's possible by the time I reach the end of Echoes both me and my roommate could be proven wrong about this, but for now, this is what I strongly believe about what's happening. Now Fates has a similar situation but the way it's addressed is a little different in that most dragons gave up physical forms entirely, save for a small number. We do see a character get possessed by a dragon (Takumi), but it's for an entirely different purpose, and What all of this does leave me with are questions concerning the nature of manakete degeneration. Is it a disease? A genetic defect? A curse or some other malicious magical malady? I suppose for now this is something to be thought of and worked on in the domain of theory and fanfiction.

[caraidean]

meta for l'arachel + the reasons she wants to be famous throughout Magvel?

This stems mostly from three main points, each of which could honestly be a meta unto itself, but it's 1am and I'm being kept awake by thunderstorms so hey let's just do a brief skim over each of the points. Some of these have some pretty major leaps in logic and might also contradict parts of canon, to which I say, well, deal with it. 

1. Vanity

L'Arachel is...ludicrously self-obsessed at times. Like, it is played for comedy in the narrative, but I honestly wouldn't be surprised if she had some kind of narcisstic personality disorder (minus the lack of empathy it normally brings). She wants to be famous for the sake of being famous, at least on the surface levels of her motivation - and there's not really much else to this first reason beyond that. 

2. L'Arachel resents not being a 'direct' heir as she is only Mansel's niece, and wants to establish a reputation that would make her eventual ascension to the throne more acceptable in a skeptic's eyes

L'Arachel's parents both died young, and she was raised by her uncle Mansel and eventually named heir to Rausten's theocracy. However...being a niece is a fairly weak link to the throne, and she's likely aware that others would notice that and possibly resent her for it. She wants to become famous not just for her own vanity and the more tenuous third point, but because it would help cement her as a future ruler of Rausten - instead of being 'Mansel's niece', it would be 'that travelling hero of royal blood', or 'the famous healer'. She wants a reputation that she can build on over time, so that when the time comes for her to ascend to the throne she has a basis built on merit and reputation rather than just her fairly flimsy blood tie to the previous ruler. 

3. L'Arachel honestly considers herself the 'main character' of the plot of FE8 (and she might have a point)

Mild tangent, but consider L'Arachel within the context of FE8's narrative for a moment - she's mostly a gag character in the early half, but actually becomes significantly important in the back half of the game, getting help from Rausten and having the only remaining intact Sacred Stone. She is still presented as a background character, but that's because the driving force of FE8's narrative from our perspective is the dynamic between the twins and Lyon more than the conflict between the cast and the Demon King. This is from our perspective - within the setting, as time goes on, historians won't overly care about the personal dynamics and instead list the major events as the happen, at which point L'Arachel can become this kind of Third Act Savior figure in their eyes.

Not saying she's breaking the fourth wall in assuming this position, but that's the kind of role L'Arachel sees herself in, and she also thinks that she *has* to be that - look at how much importance she places on Latona, Rausten's founder, being the only one to resist the Demon King's posession (allegedly). I think L'Arachel has taken these parts of FE8's mythology and made them such a part of her lifestyle that she can't not think of herself as integral to the world in some way, like Latona once was - making her determined to become a famous hero as part of her 'rightful destiny'.

[cawfulkiller-blog]

Dark Magic & Curses Meta

Hey, it’s ya boy, here’s all my headcanons regarding dark magic and curses.  I have more headcanons as it applies to other games (specifically Tellius and Magvel) but in this post I’ll only be discussing it as far as Awakening and Plegia is concerned, as is applicable to dear Henry here :)

This got way longer than I was expecting, so here’s the order I talk about things broadly: 

Curses

Anima

Dark Magic

Dark Magic & Plegia/Grima

Curses.

The first magic that was widely used by people was curses.  Curses, as a method, uses a very primal source of energy and is derived from the earth itself to help make it work.  Other things are used to help direct and shape the curse, typically, because drawing in more outside product (reagents, sacrifices, etc) increases potency and puts less of a stress on the caster to compensate for.  Above all, it needs a very fine concentration, however, and it’s not without its draw-backs.

The caster first needs to have a direct link from the curse to the target.  Not having a link will cause the greatest stress on the caster to the point where most curses become nigh impossible.  This link, however, can be established with the target’s full, true name, or something of great value to the target.  Different objects will increase potency too.  For example, you would be able to easily curse some one with a beloved memento of theirs, because they’ve put so much emotional stock in it, but it wouldn’t work as well as something physically connected to them, like a bit of their blood or a lock of hair.  The physical connection increases the potency, because cursing is such a primal form of magic.  Having more than one focal point can also increase potency; having both the memento and a lock of hair will focus the curse better than one without the other.

The target, depending on how they were trained (ie: if they also know curses) can potentially overcome a hex through sheer willpower alone, and if they’re tenacious enough, can avoid being hexed without even knowing it.  The end-goal of a curse determines how hard it is to avoid, alongside the caster’s willpower.  (See: Henry & Sully’s supports)

Cursing becomes exponentially easier with the aid of reagents.  Different items hold different magical stock and influence different effects, but it becomes easier for the caster to focus their will through the objects than to just focus on their intended effect.  Sacrificing a life into the mix greatly reduces the energy the caster must put forth, so even difficult curses can be easier if something is killed in its preparation.  All cursing has some effect on the caster’s body itself, from fatigue to physical injury, but with an extra life thrown into the mix, the caster doesn’t have to do nearly as much work.

Deflecting curses is something any hexer knows how to do, to some extent.  Being able to throw one off requires only a combination of cursing knowledge and willpower.  Likewise, cursing some one who is also skilled in cursing is much more difficult than some one who isn’t, and requires more stress and concentration from the caster.

All cursing is based in concentration.  A curse cannot be cast without an intensely focused mind, even if it’s a simple curse to cast.  However, any one is capable of cursing, whether or not they have an aptitude for magic.  To this extent, it’s versatility and accessibility means it’s common in Plegia, to the point where slinging harmless curses at each other for fun is almost like a parlor game.

In the end, though, the wild nature of cursing often leaves the caster with physical evidence, and the harsher the curse, the harsher the toll on the curser’s body.  Henry says in the Future Past DLC to Brady that he’s got rashes from cursing, but implies that “measly” curses wouldn’t do such a thing.

Anima.

Anima magic (Wind, Fire, Thunder, etc) was the second magic to be derived from curses.  It’s a step refined past dark magic, and is more accessible because it’s typically easier to read.  The feelings and control required for anima magic are less extreme than dark magic, so people who are incapable of dark magic can still wield it.  This is why (at least in Awakening) all dark mages can use anima, but not all anima mages can use dark magic.  One might argue that in previous time periods dark magic was much more difficult to study (in that the information just wasn’t as readily available) so those that chose to study it, did so strictly, until they were confident enough with their command of dark magic to start using anima.

Obviously in Plegia, dark magic and anima magic are studied and taught together, because Plegia does not consider any taboo or stigma attached to dark magic.

Dark.

Dark magic is somewhere between anima and curses when it comes to being refined.  It uses the same primal energies that curses draw from, but uses a tome and writing to help focus intent and will into something far less reliant on the caster’s abilities.  Despite this, dark magic is capable without a tome, unlike anima magic, but it puts such a strain on the caster and requires such concentration and emotion put behind it that in most cases it isn’t worth bothering, and a tome is just logically the best recourse.  That’s why those versed in dark magic have an easier time cursing and vice versa, but those who were trained only in anima magic do not have as easy a time switching to dark magic.

The reason is this: just as cursing needs a specific intent to create whichever curse, and that curse is shaped by that intent, dark magic, as a weapon, requires the caster to be absolutely okay with hurting, maiming or killing.  It doesn’t matter how they’ve come to terms with it, but deep down, if the mage wishes there was a better option, the dark magic will not work for them.  This is why other characters (Libra, Miriel, Cordelia) have access to dark magic despite not starting/being trained in it, and why some magic users (Maribelle, Ricken) have no aptitude for it.

Coincidentally, the two units that do start with dark magic don’t have access to other magic classes.  Being trained mainly in dark magic, you could argue Henry and Tharja are most ‘comfortable’ with that dark intent out of every one and aren’t able to access other classes that are capable of healing magic.  From there, it makes sense that at least in Awakening’s world, the drive and power necessary to use a heal staff is at odds with dark magic, and while those who are innately capable of healing (Libra) can also access dark magic, it’s harder to go in the opposite way, and hold value for human life when you were raised thinking there isn’t any.

Because of the underlying intent behind dark magic, using dark magic either alters or makes the mage aware of things they weren’t before.  Ricken says as much when Henry tries to teach him -- that it makes him feel depressed.  With dark magic comes the sense that dealing death is natural, that every one is going to die sometime, and that every single person is as insignificant on this planet as an ant.  (This ties into Plegian religion.)

This sense of nihilism isn’t necessarily what makes dark mages go insane (though it’s a well spread story that those who study dark magic will), but the different coping mechanisms people take to deal with this in the face of a time that doesn’t actually know there’s more to the universe than this single planet, and that the sun is a place just as much as a celestial body, attributes to it.  Henry and Tharja cope in different ways, by far, but they were both raised with a nihilistic ideology that seems strange to Ylisseans who were not.

With Plegia & Grima.

This is where dark magic caters directly to the Grimleal faith.  The Grimleal believe that Grima will destroy the planet and every one they love and hold dear.  This is a fact -- there’s no “maybe” to it.  Different beliefs within the Grimleal hold that the world will be recreated afterwards, or that the people who are destroyed in the apocalypse will ascend to some kind of paradise-afterlife, but these vary in regions and none are specifically endorsed by the main Grimleal leaders.  In essence, the Grimleal perform rituals, sacrifices, and ritual-sacrifices to appease Grima not to hold off the detonation clock, but to gain favor.

What does favor get you?  Favor means that you die first.  

Grima is said to be a sadistic god, and when He comes in all his eldritch glory, he won’t just destroy the world right out, but rather plague the earth with drought and disease, poison the water supplies with pestilence, and laugh as the last of humanity’s few wither away in foxholes from starvation or wretched boils.

Favor means that Grima kills you first, and you don’t have to suffer through such atrocities the apocalypse brings.  By offering up yourself, you don’t have to watch your friends and family die around you, and your suffering ends long before the suffering ceases completely.  In that, the Grimleal believe that their Heirophant is Grima’s favorite, as that is the vessel given to Grima, and in a way Robin was killed by Grima first because they had all of his favor.

Because of the rest of the world’s disdain for dark magic, the depression and nihilism it forces on its practitioners, and the sheer power it allows them to command, it was easily placed high on a pedestal of being an aspect of Grima’s power itself, and readily adopted into the cult.  Over time this has translated to those trained in dark magic as being thought of as more valuable than those who can’t use it.

Because Plegia is a theocracy, and every citizen is automatically considered Grimleal, dark magic is so common that every one knows it, or knows some one who does.  There are spoken tales that say dark magic will make people go insane or die early deaths, even in Plegia (though they’re much more commonly told elsewhere, where dark magic is still considered evil in a sense), these are based in, as I said before, the nihilism it imposes on a caster, and that it’s much harder to control than anima, and deadlier in it’s effect than cursing.  Many dark mages have killed themselves accidentally through experiments, duels with others, or through the Grimleal faith, and such coincidence with dark magic has attached an early death to its side effects.

[for-grado]

the generals

hi okay i wanted to write a meta about how lyon feels towards each general or other headcanons about them so i’m gonna pop it under the cut ~~~~

The Obsidian - Duessel aimed to train Lyon in the art of combat from when he was younger, but Lyon hated his rigorous style of teaching and his own ineptitude with melee combat.  Until Ephraim trains under Duessel, and thereby trains Lyon, he absolutely despises Duessel in any interpersonal relationship.  He does, however, recognize his honorableness and loyalty to Grado, and respects that, but fears both things too, because Duessel will absolutely judge Lyon for not being a perfect prince.  Possessed, Fomortiis sees Duessel as useful because of such traits, which is why he delays in ordering his death.  Part of Lyon’s subtle hatred for Duessel means Fomortiis would have killed him off sooner if he didn’t think he could use his loyalty.

The Fluorspar - Selena is loyal and honorable like Duessel, but more loyal than honorable in the end.  Lyon did not have much interpersonal contact with her, except for maybe in his youth she tested his magical ability.  Since Lyon’s incapable of anima magic, it obviously went no where.  He always thought she was the most approachable of the three, but also couldn’t trust her when it came to his research, in fear she’d tell his father he was doing unsavory things in the name of progress.  Fomortiis finds her amusing because of her loyalty.  There’s no coincidence he paired her with Caellach.

The Sunstone - Lyon is afraid of Glen because he’s a large man with an angry mug.  If they’ve spoken, it was done in passing and with Lyon fleeing at the earliest opportunity.  Similarly, Fomortiis sees him as the biggest threat to his plans.  Since Lyon didn’t have as many memories to draw a conclusion from, he sees Glen as the most likely to turn “traitorous”.  Sticking him with Valter was literally just because Valter was most likely to kill who ever he was working with, as Lyon couldn’t get away with killing Glen himself and still maintain the other general’s loyalty.

The Tiger Eye - Caellach was an easy hire, and Fomortiis likes him because of how easy he can be controlled.  Lyon maintains the weakened prince act around Caellach to tempt him -- when he’s done with his next job, maybe you can kill the Prince and become King, Caellach!  I’m unsure how Lyon found him yet, but it had to be as easy as catching flies with honey.

The Blood Beryl - Riev I firmly headcanon worships Fomortiis.  As we know, in Magvel, light magic is always faith-based, and it clearly doesn’t matter what faith needs to be held.  In a way, he’s the safest General for Lyon to have, because his devotion to Fomortiis means that he even seems to care for the Demon King’s vessel.  In game he does seem closer to Lyon physically and in other ways, so it’s safe to say he’s the only general Fomortiis “trusts”.

The Moonstone - It’s hard to say when Valter was originally a part of the Imperial Three, so it was either before Lyon was even born, or when Lyon was very, very young.  In any case, I don’t think Lyon would remember or know about it, especially considering the kind of shameful reason he was fired in the first place.  Similarly, I don’t think it’s mentioned whether or not he held the same title of Moonstone before he was fired, but I like to think that he was given it the second time around to signify/foreshadow replacing Glen completely.

[markoftheasphodel]

for the fandom-fix-it meme: any fire emblem of your choosing! :D

FIRE EMBLEM 8 THE SACRED STONES

1) Recruitable Glen on EphRoute, recruitable Selena on EirRoute.

2) Eirika becomes Queen at the end of her route while Eph is like, her military governor down in Grado.

3) If we’re gonna make a decision to have some huge-ass events with continental implications (defeat of Vigarde in EirRoute, the Jehanna thing in EphRoute) be entirely offscreen, do MORE with the impact thereof.

Honorable mention: GBA mechanics suck azz. Support grinding, support limits, very few skills, one of the skills we do have is glitchy...

[fe8meta]

I would’ve preferred it if Lyon’s problems with Ephraim weren’t portrayed to stem exclusively from jealousy of his fighting skills but also because Ephraim is kind of really irresponsible and a bit of a jerk. Lyon is dedicated to being a thoughtful prince, and his father is ill. Ephraim just wants to do whatever he wants, and his thoughtless comments must’ve hurt Lyon in some way.

The final boss conversation Ephraim has with Lyon, I love the implication that even after everything, Lyon isn’t truly capable of violence. All he’s done is manipulate others into inflicting violence. He was never one for fighting.

I’m going to segue into an answer for the second ask, even if they were intended as two separate asks, so may as well combine them.

I’m guessing you may have read “Innes and Lyon as Mirror Characters”, which has gotten some renewed traction lately. If you didn’t (or need a refresher), I wrote this particular section:

[Ephraim] effectively says, right in front of Lyon’s face, that he’d rather dump all his responsibilities on Eirika and become a mercenary. To rub salt into the wound, he then jokes that King Fado would “likely outlive us all.” Lyon touches on his own father’s failing health caused by the pressure and duties of his station right afterwards, perhaps in response to the jest.Eirika gives him a touch of condolences, then tells Ephraim that he should be more like Lyon. Ephraim, for his part, doesn’t even seem to acknowledge Lyon’s small admission of plight* and dismisses Eirika’s comment as criticism before once again telling her that she should take his place as future king.

*I don’t think Ephraim did this on purpose or out of malicious intent; he could simply have been oblivious or wasn’t sure how to respond. But it doesn’t change his reaction.

One of the joys of analyzing FE8 is wondering “Am I reading too much into it, or was this done deliberately?” But I do think part of Lyon’s problems with Ephraim were his irresponsibility and (unintentionally) insensitive personality.

It’s just that Lyon, insecure as he is, doesn’t want to actually say that (it would betray a weakness of heart, after all—a weakness he claims no longer exists inside him). He instead puts on bravado and makes it all about fighting skills, or deflecting it as jealousy of Ephraim and Eirika’s skills.

And maybe Ephraim realizes this. His character arc was about coming to terms with the station he was born into, and how no amount of disregard for it will change the fact that his actions have consequences – not just for himself, but everyone around him and everyone who’s lower on the social chain, even if he might never meet them face-to-face.

This war matures all the other royals, too:

Joshua cleans up his act after he realizes that his disappearance had a hand in his mother’s death.

Innes gets over his intense one-sided rivalry with Ephraim for the sake of their combined victory, allowing Ephraim to act as the commander-in-chief of the Demon King expedition and even handing over Frelia’s Sacred Twins.

Tana grows from a sheltered princess always itching for action to someone who fearlessly confronts her enemies… with words, enough to convince Cormag to switch sides.

L’Arachel goes from a self-centered princess doing good works for fame and recognition (and because her parents did it too), to someone genuinely devoted to putting an end to the source of her childhood grief and providing emotional support to Eirika and Ephraim.

So then you get to Lyon, and he’s still talking about how he lost to Eirika that one time. Which is, by the time of the final battle, about two years after it happened and a year since the war began (see Time Elapsed).

When he took the Sacred Stone, he trapped Ephraim in a spell first. And even though he had a wide open opportunity to cut into the heart of his opposition’s core, to kill Ephraim right then and there and throw the forces against him into chaos and despair… does he do that? No.

Instead, he goads Ephraim into fighting him here, at this final battle. Tells him that in 10 days’ time, he’d finish the spell that would truly turn him into the Demon King (not completely wrong, at that), and implores Ephraim to stop him. Except, y’know, so many words of his are fed to him by the Demon King, that not even he knows himself anymore.

He’s still the same Lyon of two years ago. The war has not, in fact, changed him; and even during the war, as you said, it’s a lot of behind-the-scenes work. He hides behind the guise of his father and sullies his father’s name (the one he worked so hard to live up to), transforming him into a war-mongering conqueror who threw the continent into turmoil—not even for conquest, too; just to destroy their Sacred Stones, after which he let the countries to fall to ruin.

He has Selena go fetch Myrrh’s Dragonstone, perhaps fully aware that Ephraim would be confronting her there. It leads to her demise when she refuses to compromise her duty, and for what? Nothing, really, besides weakening Grado’s own forces and causing pointless bloodshed.

You see the Lyon of the twins’ memories, the Lyon who spoke so excitedly about how he’d saved the life of a burn victim and used the power of Time Shear to prevent a disaster before it could occur, but didn’t care if nobody credited him for his achievements.

Then you compare it to the Lyon that masterminded the war, who intends to change the world and stop a tragedy… by causing tragedy upon tragedy and turning the continent into a sea of red. The Lyon that hid behind wave after wave of soldiers, behind his father’s reanimated corpse, then created this mask of “The Demon King who devoured his soul” once Vigarde is gone.

When you compare him to the pacifistic Eirika, who took up arms because she needed to do something to stop this war even if it went against her nature, Lyon’s claims that he’s grown strong enough to defeat Ephraim becomes pathetic, really.

Ephraim wasn’t really wrong when he says in Chapter 18, “Lyon was… My friend was kind and caring… He was a good person… But you… You are not that person!”

In that respect, I would modify the statement “Lyon isn’t capable of violence.” He’s incapable of direct violence where he gets his hands dirty. But he is fully capable of instigating violence, which is still violence. He just doesn’t want to sully his pride and his name with this war. It’s not so much that “he was never one for fighting,” but rather that he was never one to accept the consequences of fighting—such as the possibility of losing, or the possibility that he’d spiral the continent into chaos.

I think one of the brilliant parts of FE8 is how, despite its short length, there are a lot of different interpretations to be made about its characters. There is just so much to get into with the topic of Lyon and how many of his actions are his, and how many are the Demon King’s. And, even if they’re the Demon King’s, that doesn’t fully relieve Lyon of responsibility, does it?

(I have a huge meta write-up about Fomortiis in the works… for like, two years now. There is just so much meat to delve into.)

[historyoftheemblem]

JP FE8‘s Chapter 14 Secret Shop

In the Japanese version of FE8, the Secret Shops in Chapter 14 don’t sell Physic staves. Instead, they have Bolting and Purge tomes.

(As you can see, they also sell statboosters. This is also in the final Secret Shop in Chapter 19, though there’s no Boots. They learned from FE6.)

At first, I was pretty annoyed that I couldn’t get Physic, since it’s useful for grinding stave users. But then, I realized something.

With this, I can Purge Valter and Caellach in Chapter 15.

So I did exactly that.