#not to mention zelestia too

[saeraas]

rosado mage cannoneer is fun as a debuffer with divine pulse+ and dragonic hex w/poison :) I just need to figure out who to go enchanter (besides alear this run) since framme is still like lvl 5 base class

[elysianstars]

Looking back on patterns of past banners for FEH, May is when we usually get Fallen Heroes, right? And I've mentioned before, I think Engage is the strongest contender for this year. Red Alear? Evil Veyle? Corrupted Lumera? Great Fell 'Nil'? We've got enough mentally unstable dragons for a full set right there!

I guess you could throw Sombron in, whatever, I'd rather see him as something like a Grand Hero Battle the way Zephia was though. I know other final boss types have made it onto Fallen banners before (Anankos, Rhea, Edelgard), but I respect all of them more than him. Don't steal the spotlight from your kids, you've done enough already.

Alear gets protagonist points to make their appearance more likely, and f!Alear also gets 'hot girl' points (because we know what FEH's priorities are). Veyle and Lumera get points for being female, but Mythic Lumera wasn't released that long ago, so maybe it's too soon for her to get another alt?

Rafal gets points deducted for being a male DLC character, but I can still hope and pray (if he has one fan left then it's me, if he has zero fans then I'm dead, etc.). I'd be happier to see him and Nel appear on a banner together, so she's not left out, and I suppose they could make up a Fallen version of her too. I like that she's the only one of the Fell Four we never see crushed under Sombron's influence though, and she deserves to keep that status. Maybe she could have a Mythic/Ascended/some other fancy version released near the same time? She could lead a banner, and have the Winds (Zelestia, Gregory, Madeline) as the other characters on it?

I was down to 200 orbs after pulling for Legendary m!Alear, and now I'm back up to 700+ in anticipation. Please don't disappoint me FEH. I deserve a little treat at this time of year.

[yanderefairyangel]

Maybe it's just me but I noticed that people who tended to like 3H were sometimes trying to find some of the topic it dealt with in Engage thinking it's the only way a story can be deep rather then focusing on the topic Engage does tackle and try to see the full depth of it.

I think the example I think of is the banditry in Engage. People assume the bandits are doing it because of economic struggles inherent to society because it's how it was tackled in 3H rather then going by what the text says about it, that's to say that banditry in Firene is implied to be born because of the laxism of the governement created cause by the over-pacificist side of Firene (dialogue of post battle in chapter 6) rather then by economical struggles, which story wise make more sense as Firene is presented as a country who is the complete opposite of one that would favorise the birth of banditry due to poverty. We do know however it's a country whose military aid is more defensive then offensive, that it doesn't have guard border to protect it and that the banditry activity mainly takes place at the border of Firene/Brodia. The support and the main story and Anna's paralogue dealing with banditry made it rather clear that each time, those bandits were operating near the border or Firene and attacking merchants, the one exception being Teranada who slaughtered an entire village near that border. In the original version of her A support with Alear, Céline never mentionned the nationality of the thieves she excuted. Teranda possibly comes from Brodia whose economical struggle due to war are actually knonw, as for Mitan... well, we don't really know either but seeing how Anna from from Elusia, she could be from somewhere else too and decided to settle near the Brodia/Firene border to do her mischief, taking the ruins as a base. After all, even if a character comes from another country, he can still beneficiate from the nationality. Take Mauvier for example. He is a Firenese native yet his name is based on a color, like all the member of the Gradlon faction. He also wear the priest clothing of Lythos, which all people linked to Gradlon such as Zelestia, Veyle and Nel. Rafal wears the Brodian outfit. So even if she came from another place, Mittan could still wear the Firenese color and theme simply because she moved to live there. Teranda however, we know settled in the montain only for a moment since it's rather recently he killed all the villagers. So it makes more sense for them to be bandits who took advantage of the weakness of Firene's defense and their laxist approach to the matter then it being poverty or economical hardship... since we never learn if there is any economical hardship to begin with.

But rather then going in this direction, people will try to bring Fodlan as a proof they are right and then will complain that Engage isn't following the direction that it never even tried to grasp to begin with but hum. My personal take on fiction when it comes to politics is that if a setting is fictional, then it's the rule of this setting that should be applied, independtly of irl events and the rules for other settings. In 3H, banditry is said to be caused by financial struggle, we notable see that in the war phase, as the merchant of the monastery reduced to banditry because of the poverty and misery war created upon civilian.

However, Firene doesn't at all fit the description. It's described as the wealthiest kingdom, called the Kingdom of Abundance. Its name pattern theme being fashion brands comes from that and they choosed spring as their season for crying out loud ! Spring. It's the season of wealth and peace. The symbolic is clear.

If a country doesn't fit the same economical situation/political situation/social situation as another this means the rules and stakes are different. You cannot judge Firene by using Fodlan, the rules established by 3H etc. You can only judge it by what the story says about this country, what it establishes etc.

It's a choice made by the writers. That's how it is. Take the writing as is and try to see how deep it can go from there rather then try to take a notion from another setting to apply it no matter what the actual text says about it and be disappointed it doesn't take things into account.

[randomnameless]

Doro and Edel sorta come off as "let me be evil" while also asking the audience to pity or validate their actions.

I actually disagree.

I think both of them genuinely think they are doing what they are doing "for the greater good" or "for the people" because they're convinced of the "goodness" of their goal - even if the means to reach that goal are a bit... more messy than breaking 6 eggs to make an omelette.

And for Supreme Leader, I never thought she was the one asking the audience to throw a pity party or to validate her actions - it's the games themselves that twist themselves in a pretzel to completely dodge - and by dodge I mean jump to another continent levels of avoiding - all the obvious implications her actions lead to -

Sure, Supreme Leader was written by those devs and put in those games, but imo, with the way she was written, the character never asks for forgiveness or uwu - it's the game that serves it on a platter, Crust system? You have to piece tidbits of backstory and hear it from a DLC character that Miklan wasn't kicked out bcs no crust, but bcs he tried to kill his younger brother and has been busy "seducing" women with his merry band of dudes. Ditto for foreign royalty that will never be mentionned in relation to the "crust = nobility, if no crusts no nobles anymore" paradigm.

Which leads to really interesting stuff when Supreme Leader is in a game where she can be challenged (not counting Engage bcs for some reason no one knows, it's Dimitri who talks to Zelestia about a place where people can live together regardless of their race), Supreme Leader doesn't make excuses or brings the pity party, she's too stubborn (or too determined) to reconsider her path.

(Supreme Leader inherited Poor Dumb Willy's fierce will?)

The only time she sorts of tug at the player's heart string, imo, is with the revelation she had siblings and her infodumping her backstory to Billy - iirc in the C+ support, just when Billy got the SoC - but as some people theorised, Supreme Leader's supports are unlocked at key moments, and I really like how - if following this theory - some characters try to fool/manipulate/"gaslight" as young people say nowadays/trick the player -

I've said it enough times regarding the Nabateans and Fodlan in general, but i don't think I've said it regarding Supreme Leader : the worst character hit by the uwu hammer and Hresvelg Grey is Supreme Leader herself - if Supreme Leader has been able to be a "traitor" character à la Tales of you can side with in CF for a vilain route, or like Togame in Katanagatari - her goal first her feelings second, and her feelings are a means to reach her goal but then she falls in her own trap - or even Baten Kaitos's Kalas, I think she would have been one of the best and most memorable characters in the franchise.

But the waifu and uwu hammer hit her, and all those opportunities fell on their faces because the devs wanted a waifu first and foremost, controversial maybe, but at the end of the day, a waifu to pander to a certain demographic and plays on the usual and tiresome "only u can defrost the ice queen" trope.

As for Doro...

It's a bit more nuanced, I think Doro genuinely wants to help people, but Doro, due to her backstory (and maybe experiences in Mittelfrank?) wants to help herself most - securing a successful marriage to a wealthy "noble" (tfw Ignatz, who's from a super rich family, isn't on her list) and become the "friend" of the Emperor - who should represent - status wise - everything she hates about nobles, if Ferdie was so hated, then why isn't the Hresvelg Heir, the Imperial heir, isn't as hated? Because Supreme Leader didn't see her bath in a fountain? Did Supreme Leader tone down her "if the weak remain weak it's because they are too used to rely on the strong to survive" discourse around Doro, one of those "weak ones" who only managed to make a name for herself through bribes, heavily implied prostitution and countless hours of hard and gruesome work that will be ruined anyways when she gets "older" so that's why she tries to find a noble and rich husband asap?

I love messy characters, I hc Saias as someone who will see the world burn as long as he can serve his younger brother, and he has to reconsider everything when he learns 1/lil bro dgaf about him and would rather kill him himself + 2/lil sis is actually alive - but the Fodlan games refuse to do anything interesting with the BESF members, in FE8, Ephraim gets a wake-up slap by Seth about what is expected of him now, and what was expected of him then, so he has better polish his father's armor because playtime is over, there's work to do, and Ephraim realises how much of a fool he has been.

Doro will never reconsider (her support with Lorenz is very good in that sense - much like Supreme Leader, Doro is sure her pov and way are the only ones that work) her POV, her most ridiculous takes about "y church never helped people like me in Adrestia" or "military academy makes us fight real fights and kill bandits i thought we weren't in a fire emblem game :(" or even "why is the goddess making us fight like this sure i joined the imperial army who conquers the world and tried to kill you many times but if you attack us it's only bcs of the goddess :(" are never tackled, compare them to Lorenz thinking the church promotes isolationism and Claude correcting him by remembering Dedue and Petra exist(ed?) in Garreg Mach...

TL;Dr : I wouldn't say those characters spend their time going "sad uwus about my life" or ask the audience to validate their action - but that's what their games did, just count how many times (maybe only 1?) people vow to take down the mole people "for Supreme Leader bcs she was manipulated too :(" or the lol-tastic "can't we walk with her (and trample Fodlan)?" ; Supreme Leader doesn't even need to "pity" herself, the game does it itself by giving those "pity" lines to multiple other characters.

It can sound like it's the same thing, after all both Supreme Leader and Doro are characters designed to fit in that game, but it's a bit more nuanced, and it's that nuance - the game severing one of its limbs to prevent them from being seriously challenged about their opinions - that's actually really, imo, annoying. When characters like Dimitri or even to a point, Rhea herself, are dissected and held accountable/are challenged for the weather, the double standard really stings, and that's what pisses me off with these characters.

[theotherseapancakes]

OK but wrt that last joke poll post I'm taking this thought semi-seriously. I think the explanation is really pretty simple, a lot of her dialogue implies Zephia's oddly powerful and, if Sombron hadn't been declared the Fell Dragon (it's a title in Elyos, apparently) then she WOULD have. She's powerful enough that the idea of having a child with anyone less would probably have killed them, IIRC it was mentioned somewhere she blew up her village? (I note tiny Alear seemed to have a similar problem...) I'm too tired/busy today to gather/look thru supports etc. for screencaps i'll do it later but consider this me making a note to talk about Zephia/Zelestia at some point.

[yanderefairyangel]

Little theory time ! for Fell Xenologue so you know the rules

SPOILERS ALERT!!

Alright since the Fell Xenologue is a parallel dimension/mirror universe; a lot of player including myself have been wondering : did Nel and rafal had an analogue in this world too.

But before that, since I am gonna have to refer to them and that they have the same name, here is a little chart just to not lose you on my train

Alright here we go.

So if you recall Nel’s explanation, in her world Fell dragon are born as twins unlike in the MG world where fell dragons are just.. born. not necessarily as a pair of twins. 

When the twins fight Sombron, Nel’s dialogue with Sombron is this: 

Sombron : “You seem.. familiar”

Nel : “ If my face seems familiar you merely recall a child who is dead”

Basically, Nel deduced that her analogue existed since Sombron had a sensation of deja vu. 

Howvever, that is the localization’s work. The original jpn dub is a bit different.

Sombron, upon seeing Nel said this :

which translate into this :

the idea is almost the same although in here Sombron doesn’t outright states he recognize Nel in some ways. 

But her response is, this : 

which translates into “The “me” of this world, is she... no, it would be naive to ask. It is obvious she is no longer alive”. 

Here the semantics logistic makes Nel’s reaction seems a bit less logical : how could she knew that there was another version of her alive when Sombron did not finish his sentence ? in the localization it made more sense, here it is a bit mistamatched. I can only deduce that Nel assumed there was : 1) an analogue of hers 2) that she assumed that this analogue of hers would be a daughter of Sombron like she, in her own world is.

After all Zelestia, Madeline and Gregory’s reaction to Mauvier’s declaration and to fighting their 4 hounds clone pretty much prouved that they assumed that things in the MG world would be similar to XenElyos. Same thing for how they were surprised to find out that Alear is the child of this world Sombron and not a pure divine dragon contrary to their Fell Xenologue version. 

Moreover, would Nel exist, rafal and Nil would too, however, when Rafal fight Sombron, Sombron says “Surely you are not my child, no more of them remains”.

In the jpn version, he says

which means

in short, Sombron doesn’t recognize Rafal as the analogue of his dead son, nor even have the sense of deja vu that could be seen within his meeting with Nel. He also doesn’t mistake him for this world’s Nil despite Rafal being clear as to how Nil and him looked similar. 

Moreover, rafal says this :

In this dialogue, he wonders if this world had a version of his brother. makes sense : how is he supposed to know whether there was one or not when he is not even born in this universe ?

In this dialogue however, he seems to think there was or is another version of him, but like I mentionned earlier he had no way of knowing this.

Hence, the twins both Nel and Rafal simply assumed that there were alt version of them in the MG. 

Moreover, comes the question of the age of the twins. They are like Alear and Veyle over 1000. By the end of the DLC, they are +2000 due to Nel being the sleeping beauty. However, their physical age is not mentionned in the datamine, though they do look a bit older than Alear who is 17 years old and their pact ring being uncensored mean they are at least over 17, so older physically than Alear.

When Past Alear meets Alear, they say this 

She mentions her dead siblings : one older brother, one older sis, two younger siblings and then is more vague about the others.

In the jpn version, Alear says “onisama and oneesama”  and the localization translated it to “a older brother and a older sister” to make it so that the audience understand Alear had more than 2 older siblings while the two young siblings mentionned are not precised to be twins but simply a cute “otoutou to imouto” the jpn word for younger brother and younger sister. Like I mentionned, Nel and Rafal and Nil would fit more the onee sama and oni sama but they could also fit the 2 younger siblings since we don’t really know their age however... nevertheless, Rafal mentionned that in his world, Nil died during the war of 1 000 years ago and at the time Nil, hence Nel and him, where still a child or at least did not reached adulthood yet. If you recall, in the MG world at this time, Alear was the only sibling Veyle still had around and according to Alear at the time we fight them in chapter 24, Veyle is still quite young, so younger than 16 years old physically and she was supposed to be the youngest out of Alear siblings, meaning that at the time, Nil and Nel would have been around the same age if they were effectively that young. But in Alear’s world, they did not die during the war since, I repeat, Alear was the only sibling remaining, while in Nel and Nil’s world, there were still many others siblings that survived this as shown through Nel’s recollection of killing some of them when she was an adult. Basically, the fact that the 2 war unfolded differently had the fell child died in different ways, meaning the some alternate version did not knew the same fate. Make sense, we are dealing with parallel universe, so a lot of differences would have happened. I can’t really compare those 2 events due to the profound separated nature of the 2 elyos but if it comes to little things like guessing the character’s age, i don’t see a problem. However, since XenElyos seems to have it’s own timeline that works differently as shown by the Rafal reviving session that took 1 000 years but was barely a week for Alear in their world, so by this token, this could mean that Nel and Rafal could end up being older in their own world then their analogue or that their analogue would have been older while they were younger. Regardless of this time distortion, would Nel and Nil have had analogue, and therfore rafal too, they were most likely kids at the time so younger than Alear and probably barely younger than Veyle.

BUT ...

Fighting with the DLC characters doesn’t trigger any conversation with Past Alear.  If the twins fitted one of those 2 descriptions, you bet Alear would have reacted as they are acknowledged to be part of the siblings Alear did meet and not some that for some reasons they did not meet. If the twins were the younger siblings, it is obvious that Alear would have know them since she said “kawai” meaning “my cute little brother and little sister”.

“Why would Alear not knew her siblings though” ? Veyle and Nel support. another evidence. This supports open up with Veyle asking Nel if she is Sombron’s daughter saying she has been wondering ever since learning she was a Fell dragon. Meaning Veyle never meet this version of Nel, and therefore of Nil and Rafal.  Nel on her side said she never met her version of Veyle and only heard of her through Mauvier. Meaning that some of Sombron children might never have gotten to meet. That seems a bit off, especially as in the DLC the recollection illustrations showed Nel interacting with her siblings, even killing some of them, so... yeah that’s a bit weird. 

While for Veyle it makes sense as by the time all her siblings died she was very young and that Alear was her only remaining sibling during the 1000 meaning that Alear meet all their siblings before they died... you get the point.

Either did Nel not had a clone and therefore Rafal and Nil did not existed, or second scenario, there was a Nel but she was so different no one recogniezd her BUT rafal and nil did not existed.

Here is how I explain it; it is unlikely for all of Sombron’s children to have all had an alt version, notably as at least one of his kid’s xenanalogue had 2 different parents. However, if they did, one thing I am sure of is that their twin did not had an alt version 

I think that in the fell twins world, each twin is a splitter version of one of MG Sombron’s child in the MG world. As you know, real twins are a split of one embryon, well it’s the same idea here. 

Let’s look at the twins design 

Nel has black hair and Nil and Rafal had white hair. 

Meanwhile, Veyle 

Her hair is a mixed of both. Hence I think that in the twins world, since Xenoveyle most likely did had a twin, her hair pattern was either fully black either fully white and that her twin has the complemenatry colour. 

Another proof of this is Alear’s concept design

As you can see, Alear originally was envisonned to have the same hair colour as Veyle, hence that Fell dragon were first thought as all having monochrom dual hair. 

Thefore, I think that In the OG world, Nel and Nil were actually one sibling and since Veyle could exist alone and as a dominant one when in the alt verse, she was most lilkely split into 2 existence, that means that the reason why Sombron is more familiar with Nel’s appearnce was that there was a monchromatic multihaired version of Nel who was Sombron’s child, therfore making her one of Alear’s many dead siblings 

Something like this 

I tried to draw her hair in the same tone as Veyle’s zebra hair, basically half her hair being black and the rest white. That would be the appearance of the Nel of the MG universe and in the alt verse she is splitted into Nel and Nil. Like I mentionned if this Nel were the same age as Nel when she was killed, this means she died a child, like Nil did during the war. 

Another reason that makes me think this is that Nel’s og japanese name is El  エル. While her half was Nil, Rafal’s name combined with it create a new name : 

ラファール +  エル : ラファエル

Rafal + El = Rafael 

Hence, that Nel was not quite exactly the same existence but that there was a fell child who beared the same characterist as the fell twins because the fell twins are a splitted version of this child;

This is just a theory so I might be wrong and maybe Intsys just want to tease us with the possiblity that the twins might have or not have analogue in thsi world, but I think it’s pretty cool

What do you think of it ? Do you have any theories about this too ? what are your opinons on this ? do you think the fell twins had alt version ? if they did do you think those were also Sombron’s children ? 

My ask box is open if you want to discuss about this so feel free to share your thoughts or some elements about this !

Edit : I also just thought about it but the twins’ rather complementary design as to how Nel is kind of tomboyish whereas Rafal/Nil are considered to be pretty bois make also sense as combined it gives them quite the androgynous features and Rafael is a name that can be unisex so open the possiblity. Not to mentions that their jpn names have the same pronociation as the french prounons for He/Il/Iru and She/Eru/Elle. Their complentary side in gender would quite confirm the idea. But hey, I have others theories for the twins’ alt self so...