#oh well at least Hector & Soren are in there

[rubywolf0201]

Raise your hands if you think that the Engage Expansion Pass should’ve included Alm, Eliwood, Azura, Ryoma and/Or Xander in one of the 3rd-4th Wave DLC ✋🏻

[queenlua]

8, 18, 27, 30!

8. Least favorite lord/protagonist?

haha, this feels like a bit of a cheap answer, but: eliwood's such a nothingburger of a character. the writing in FE7 was generally weaker than the games in the series i care more deeply about, so like, the dude has a serious disadvantage there, but lyn & hector were both reliably more interesting, whereas eliwood is just. bland wonderbread

18. How do you tend to play Fire Emblem? (es. casually, doing Ironman runs, playing it like a visual novel)

i like the strategy & story aspects of the games equally, and i like them in a can't-put-it-down, can't-wait-to-see-what-happens-next, can't-wait-to-try-the-next-map kinda way. ergo, i tend to play: on hard mode (but generally not maddening, because if it's too hard that kills my forward momentum), strategy nerding pretty hard but not exhaustively so (i.e. i'm not gonna spend ages on forums trying to figure out the Objectively Correct Build; that takes away time from PLAYING THE GAME), bolting straight for the ending (e.g. ignoring skirmishes in games that have those), as fast as humanly possible. (it's dangerous for me to open an FE game if i have other important obligations going on in my life lol)

i'm also definitely influenced a bit by who else is playing around me. when Awakening came out, me + my most strategy-nerd FE friend were on an absolute tear to see who could out-hardcore the other, so i was doing EXHAUSTIVE spreadsheets for all the genetics stuff haha.

i also was doing a weekly slowplay of the Tellius games with some friends a few years ago and that was REALLY fun. we'd all played the games before and liked them, so we'd switch who was piloting the map each week and the rest of us would heckle, share opinions about characters/story/tactics/etc. good times <3

27. Any fanfics/fan content you’d recommend? (You can plug your own stuff it’s fine)

oh boy DO I EVER, here's a bunch

MAGVEL

* sleep of the just. occasionally i get to be the person to send this fic to someone who JUST finished Sacred Stones for the FIRST time, and then they send me a capslock WHAT THE FUCK message an hour later and i'm just like :DDDDDDDDDDDD

* l'arachel/rennac silliness! and yet more l'arachel/rennac silliness!

* this one's technically a crossover with Awakening but. L'ARACHEL. MY GIRL. jonphaedrus writes her so well sighs into hands

* we all love creepy ephraim/lyon, yes? yes.

TELLIUS

* i'm completely feral for myaru's naesala/sanaki stuff. here's one, here's another

* here's naesala being a messy disaster for 20k words and i love it so much

* actually the correct soren pairing is: soren/kurthnaga

* i think about the final scene in this sothe/micaiah/pelleas disaster like once a week

* this sothe & tormod friendship thing is so perfect that i've been checking it every day since i got it as a gift & thinkin GOD MORE PEOPLE NEED TO APPRECIATE HOW GOOD THIS SHIT IS

* shinon is my favorite asshole

* bastian & renning. god i can't believe more people haven't fic'd them, but, at least there is this one and it's a great time

THREE HOUSES

* the blue lions defect to the empire & everyone's miserable in the most delicious way. also there's some serious edelgard/ingrid vibes and they're immaculate

* this ashen wolves casefic is just so satisfying and cute and self-contained and fun

* this claude and flayn bodyswap fic is really goofy and fun and pitch-perfect. and if you dig it, there's more where that came from; the author excels at having so much FUN with every fic they touch

* cough there's a certain dimitri/yuri fic that's, uh, very iddy and has every trigger warning imaginable but also rules. i ain't linkin it here, but it's not hard to find, if that sounds compelling lol

and yeah i also write fic! Silent World is probably my personal fave ("Naesala being a bastard for 15k words, what's not to love"), but i've written plenty of other stuff, mostly featuring golden deer & laguz characters~

30. Since horse abuse is currently popular on Tumblr, beat up a dead horse with your take on an oversaturated topic🐴

"is edelgard literally hitler" the people ask. "is edelgard the great liberator of our time" the people ask. and yet nary a soul asks: "woah that body horror stuff with Edelgard at the end of the Blue Lions route was kinda blink-and-you'll-miss-it but also weirdly hot, can we get some bad ending stuff with that—"

[danceintheskies]

every fire emblem boxart, rated

shadow dragon and the blade of light

pantsless marth… phenomenal. cool composition w mars’s lads in the shadow of his cape. vaguely racist hardin makes me feel some kinda way tho. also check out this guy who’s dabbing

5/10: where’s cain bro…

gaiden

celica is pretty. dong armour alm calls out to the poem of my soul. beautifully rendered bg. valbar is there but it’s ok he’s chaperoning their date

4.5/10 duma looks a little like thanos here and it’s setting off alarm bells

mystery of the emblem

YEAHHHHHH the composition’s a little less inspired than the others and the horses look kind of janky but who CARES we have CAEDA and MERRIC and LINDE and BLONDE BASTARD and CAEDA’S HUSBAND and MEDEUS and A MYSTERIOUS DRAGON I WONDER WHO THAT MIGHT BE HUEHUEHUE

YEAAAAHHHH/10: YEEEEAAAAAHHHHH!!!!

genealogy of the holy war

you will see people take the piss on fe4′s art style. i will be one of them. but i will say this does a good job of representing a story passing from one generation to the next. my boy seliph is front and center and all is right with the world-- wait, what do you mean im playing as his bimbo dad for the first twelve hours of this game

5.5/10 i can respect that sigurd is using his canon weapon, Silver Sword

thracia 776

this is so. chefs kiss. youve got all your major players. my boy leif looks radiant. the sepia tone works well for the serious tone of the game. the only gripe i have is that kempf looks way too serious for someone whose defining character trait is that he has a constant envy boner for reinhar

7/10 wait what do you mean reinhardt isn’t the lord of this game

binding blade

AAAAUUUUHHGH i dont even LIKE binding blade but this artwork is just so sexy . they really nailed the more painterly watercolour style starting with the gba games yall. roy and lilina contrasted with murdock and -mysterious hooded girl huehue- in the shadows is so artfully done i can’t even make jokes about it

10/10 roy’s my boy now

blazing blade

this used to be one of my least favourite fe boxarts UNTIL i learned the english ver dulled down the colours quite a bit. hector looks like he came 10 minutes late to the photoshoot and doesn’t know what’s happening, and i’m into it.

8/10 lyn i love you but please tell me you’re wearing underwear

sacred stones

oh FUck Yes

Fuck Yes/10: thank you for my life sachiko wada

path of radiance

i could literally wax poetic about this picture for years, and not just because this is my favourite fe. you’ve got all your major players. you’ve got cool vfx and generally beautiful painted style courtesy of legend on earth kita senri. you’ve got soren about to beat up his darwinist homophobe of a dad. I’ve got the full res version of this pic saved to my desktop so i can look at ike’s muscly forearms in hd at any time what’s not to love

10000000/10 thank you ike for defeating racism

radiant dawn

fire emblem radiant dawn was an ambitious game, especially with its overarching villain and final boss, Unnamed Wyvern Rider

7/10 did you know they had a whole team of people dedicated to making the characters in these games as pretty as possible. you can put more of them on the boxart guys it’s ok

shadow dragon

Where’s Marth

Where’s Marth/10: where is he

new mystery of the emblem

i can dig it. the filmstrip/hanging scroll style is very reminiscent of the original famicom games with a new spin. daisuke izuka’s marth is center stage, looking handsome :)

8/10 hardin isn’t vaguely racist anymore

awakening

literally iconic. sexy symbolism with everyone’s weapons parallel to each other as they dive into the future while masked marth dives into the past. more clean and bare-bones than a lot of the other covers, but in the best way-- it really feels like a timeless game.

10/10 why’d they have to do my mans kellam like that tho

fates

stunning. what sexy duality. thank you for going this hard kozaki yusuke

9/10 raised the bar way too high for this game

echoes

hidari was such a good choice for this game, his style is always so... wistful? i can forgive only having alm and celica on the cover since it focuses on fewer main characters than, say, radiant dawn. the sorta-parallel lines of troops into the clouds as alm and celica stand back to back really sets the tone for this game. why are there wyverns in the sky when you never see any tho ajhsdjfsa

9.5/10 i kind of miss valbar. i hope he’s okay

three houses

all three of these house leaders are going to collapse on top of each other after the photo is taken.

makes you think/10: claude is the only person in this game who has any braincells and he’s using the tip of his bow as an honest to god weapon . guys .

in conclusion

fire emblem is a game that exists

[rosekin]

FIRE EMBLEM REVIEWS

Fire Emblem 1, or “The Marth Game”: My advice to everyone everywhere is to never play an RPG thats released on the NES. 0/10

FE2, Gaiden: I really wish this one wasn’t an NES RPG because it’s honestly really promising. Here’s hoping it gets a remake one day haha 2/10

FE3, Mystery of the Emblem, or “Marth 2″: NES RPG 0/10

FE4, Genealogy of the Holy War: Ah, a SNES RPG! Those are often good. Too bad this one has atrocious map design, boring characters, poorly balanced gameplay, inherent genetic superiority built into its royal units, and incest. c’est la vie, 0/10

FE5, Thracia 776: It’s not a BAD game exactly, but it is a game that was designed with the kind of “difficulty” that exists purely to sell strategy guides. 3/10

FE6, Binding Blade: Entering into the GBA Era, we have a game that is incredibly dull and has a lot of poor design decisions reminiscent of FE4. It gets points for including Roy from Super Smash Bros Melee, however. Bold choice, Intelligent Systems. 2/10

FE7, Blazing Blade: The prequel to Binding Blade, Blazing Blade is better than Binding Blade in every regard except instead of Roy, Binding Blade has 3 main protagonists and the only good one is the one with the least screentime. Lyn is a cool and interesting character, but Eliwood is too milquetoast and Hector is a dick. 6/10

FE8, Sacred Stones: It has good maps, good characters, an actual postgame, and introduces a feature that makes it far more replayable than previous games, Class Trees. No longer does every Mage become a Sage, for they could also become a Mage Knight. For certain base classes, this opens up a range of up to 4 possible options for their final class! Some people might complain that Sacred Stones is too easy, but I’ll take a game easy enough that I can use whatever party I want over something like Genealogy where units who aren’t mounted are absolutely worthless any day. No, the only complaint I have about Sacred Stones is the unfortunate misogyny in the writing surrounding Eirika. I highly recommend that if you play the game, you use the Restoration Queen fan hack(it also adds gay marriage which is cool.) 9/10, 10/10 with Restoration Queen

FE9, Path of Radiance: Ike game, baby. This is the Fire Emblem I’d recommend the most for sure. The first game in the series that’s not largely from the perspective of nobility who are in charge of armies, The central players to this plot is a small mercenary company. It’s a very refreshing change of pace. The only problem I have with it is in regards to the Fantasy Racism aspect. I’m the kind of person who would rather have, like, Racism With Furries in a game like this than Actual Racism being portrayed, and PoR honestly handles it rather well, but it always grinds my gears when they’re like “oh yeah mixed people are the most oppressed because the humans and the furries both shun them” like god thats not how it works. Aside from that, wonderful game. 9.5/10

FE10, Radiant Dawn: Ike 2, this time with co-protagonist Micaiah, the first female lord to not be a naive, softhearted damsel, who hails from the “evil” country from the last game. It’s hard to talk about without spoilers, but Radiant Dawn is very pro-proletariat. Also the “Ike gay” subtext becomes closer to being just regular text, and new character Heather is definitively a lesbian. This is, very unfortunately, the best Fire Emblem will ever do for gay rights. 10/10

FE11, Shadow Dragon: A remake of FE1 that doesn’t manage to throw off its shackles of being based off of an NES RPG, which limits its gameplay and story. 3/10

FE12, New Mystery of the Emblem: A remake of FE3 that is arguably worse than its original in some ways, and started the trend of having player avatar characters that ruin the plot by being overly significant. 0/10

FE13, Awakening: Very boring. Makes a lot of gameplay changes that absolutely trivialize the gameplay aspect, as if the bland map design didn’t do that enough already. Had to introduce difficulty modes that made all of the enemies insanely strong with busted skills because that’s the only way this game could be remotely challenging. The characters are bland, the plot is borderline nonsensical, and Robin ruins it all as well.This game also introduces new series mainstays such as homophobia, pedophilia, and rampant oversexualization of women. 0/10

FE14, Fates(Birthright, Conquest, and Revelations): A game so nice you buy it thrice! Fates manages to take a lot of things from Awakenings gameplay and improve them enough that they’d be worth maybe a 3.5/10, if it wasn’t for the fact that Fates continues, and actually increases, the homophobia, pedophilia, and rampant oversexualization of women, as well as adding our fourth horseman of the anime apocalypse, our long lost friend Incest who hasn’t been seen since Genealogy. It’s okay, though, because you just grew up thinking you were siblings, you’re not actually related(except for Azura, who is your actual cousin so that excuse wouldn’t even work). On the bright side, Corrin is actually the avatar character who fits reasonably in the plot so far, if only because the plot of Fates is so laughably bad even compared to Awakening. I could rant about so many things about this terrible terrible game, but it’s already taking up too much of my review post as it is. 0/10.

FE15, Shadows of Valentia: Finally, a remake of FE2, I can’t wait to see what they’ve done with it. It’s got really cool kinda choppy animation in the CGI cutscenes I like that. Wow, they managed to capture the innovative gameplay of the original while updating it to be far less frustrating... And they managed to update the already surprisingly interesting plot by... adding unnecessary characters and making it way more classist and sexist. Great. 3.5/10

FE16, Three Houses: The gameplay, quite honestly? Worse than Fates. The story... I like the characters, and it’s not really as problematic as Fates(hardly any incest to speak of, the sexualization of women isn’t quite as bad, the homophobia is less “depicting gay people in gross ways” and more “the only options for dudes are a base gametwink, a free DLC twink, and a paid DLC twink”). Really the biggest stumbling block is they took the pitfall of doing Actual Racism instead of Fantasy Racism, and then they really fucked up by portraying it far worse than Path of Radiance did Furry Racism. In Path of Radiance, the racist people who join you consist of Soren, who has a Distrusting Furries pass on account of being mixed(I already complained about this) and Jill, who is from Daein(the Bad People country) and has had her brain poisoned by propaganda. Ike doesn’t coddle her on this, however, and tells her to shape up or get the boot. In Three Houses, characters are allowed to be racist with no repercussions. Pretty much any and all character growth connected to Stopping Being Racist is carried out through completely optional support conversations. This? Sucks! It sucks! uhhh 3.5/10 as well

[lastnightatrfa]

Hellooooo~ Quick question: I don’t have a lot of time to spend on series, and I’ve seen some pretty interesting things, so: Can I watch Fire Emblem: 3 Houses without any context? If not, what do I need to watch/know? (And no, I’m broke, I’m not gonna buy these as much as I’d want to ;-;)

MESSAGE HAS BROKE DOWN THE FUCKING DOOR AT LIGHT SPEED TO ANSWER THIS!!!!

First, welcome to Fire Emblem! We have dragons and permadeath.

Second, pretty much every Fire Emblem is stand-alone. There’s some references you might miss, but the only ones that need any sort of context are Binding Blade (Roy’s game) Thracia 776 (play at own risk to health, safety and sanity this game will break you it can smell fear) and Radiant Dawn (Ike Part 2) because they’re sequels. The rest you can more or less play with 0 knowledge of the series and come out fine. (and some, I would argue, are even better watched than played. i’m sorry radiant dawn but playing the dawn brigade was just not fun)

So yes, you can watch an LP of 3H blind and you’ll be aces. (bluelionsbesthouse,) (dimitriisthere.) (husbandhouse.)

SUPER SPECIAL BONUS SECTION: Which Fire Emblem Is Right For You?

If you want a classic story of fighting evil and protecting your people, check out Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon - this is the very first game and sets out the rules for the series. Also, Marth!

If you want a bunch of great characters, a pretty art style and a fairly forgiving difficulty? Shadows of Valentia is yours to check into! I believe the characters here are some of the most sweet and earnest you’ll get. Also, Berkut’s there! And he’s awful! But great! But awful!

If you want to experience a generations-spanning story of love n’ revenge, look no further than the Jugdral games - Genealogy of the Holy War (my favorite!) and Thracia 776 (my second favorite, which can and will kill you several times and in several unique ways is known for it’s brutal but fair difficulty!) are absolutely wonderful stories. They’re Japan-only, though, so pick up an emulator and a translation patch! (or an LP. love yourself and find an LP using the modern translation patch for Thracia it trusts you too much)

If you want to see the Fire Emblem that first hit the US and got most people into it, check out Fire Emblem (or, Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade) and get ready to have a total blast. This game is balanced well and the characters, again, are fantastic. (Lyn is great, but Hector best lord. Hector for Smash!) And once you clear it, find an LP of The Binding Blade to continue the story with Elibe’s gen 2! (yes. find an lp, Roy I’m sorry you’re a good boy BUT YOU AND LEIF’S LITTLE STORY LOCKED PROMOTIONS MAKE YOU WORST LORDS GAMEPLAY WISE WHICH UPSETS ME!!)

Enjoyed the art n’ gameplay of Binding & Blazing Blade, but want more female lords? Look no further and check out The Sacred Stones! Ephraim is a fun character and his sister, Eirika, is one of the first female Lords in the series. There’s lots of good supports to be found and (if you are a shipper type) this game will get you good. Trust me. Also did I mention it has Ephraim. Because it has Ephraim. And sad hot Lyon.

So you like your games more 3D? I respect you. Wanna see a story of friendship, revenge, and furries? (and gays idgaf what canon says ike and soren are canon) Give yourself the gift of Path of Radiance/Radiant Dawn! (3-13 ARCHER BEST UNIT-- ahem) The supports in this game are phenomenal and the worldbuilding is just incredible. I will say it is personally my least favorite FE but I also have terrible taste. It’s absolutely worth watching - esp Radiant Dawn solely for the line “Right. Lord Ike, Leader of the Greil Mercenaries, General of the Crimean Rebellion, and father of Sothe’s children.”

Want an easy way into FE with a build-your-main-character? Awakening is fun, easy, and has Chrom. Really that’s all that need be said. But seriously, Awakening brought me back to Fire Emblem and then decided to keep me. (chrom best husband.) This is honestly THE entry game of the series, if this can’t get you into FE... idk if anything can. (chrom forever husband.) This is one to play over watching, though! (CHROM!!!)

Also on the 3DS is the Fates Trilogy of Birthright, Conquest and Revelation - 3 separate stories, 3 separate routes! I honestly love Fates (it beats 3H for me) but I will also be the first to admit storywise it is the weakest overall. The characters and the potential are stellar, but... it knows you are the player and it loves you so it babies you and your feelings a LOT until the end oh god ryoma i’m so sorry this is also the game with the Hyperbolic Baby Chamber so uh, definitely play it if you can get it cheap. (xanderhusband.)

Last is the most recent option,Three Houses! Three Houses has a lot going for it - the story is tightly paced and well-written, pulls no punches at all. IT LETS YOU BE GAY! ...okay lady byleth gets a bunch of good gay options and notlady Byleth gets the shaft more or less but STILL! LESBIANS! IN MY FIRE EMBLEM!! I CAN MARRY EDELGARD!! It’s absolutely worth a run through.

And just saying, you can have some fun arguments about it c; saeran i know where you sleep

[fire-emblem-heroes-supports]

Hector/Ike C-A Support

Written by  unfo11owmep1z

C SUPPORT

Hector: Bah! Eliwood is spending way too much time with Roy nowadays…So does Lillina! What am I to do with them…I might aswell be dead to them, right?!

Hector: …I’ve had it. I need to get my mind off of things…Enough of this! Tell me….is there anyone in this castle willing to fight me?!

Hector: …..

Hector: Grr, of course this isn’t going to work. I should probably take a calmer approach…

Ike: (…I heard shouting. Is there some kind of commotion going on..? No…I probably shouldn’t interfere. I’m sure the veterans around here could quell it. I can’t afford to dawdle around if I am to meet with the others…)

Hector: …Hm? Hey you—! uh, I mean…Hello. Care for a good one-on-one figh—…I mean, uh….chat?

Ike: …? Oh. I’m sorry, but I must be elsewhere. I have people waiting for me.

Hector: Well if it isn’t just my luck—Fine!! It’s not like I needed anyone to….Huh? Hey, wait—! let me just take a look at you for a second…!

[Hector lunged at Ike who was walking away, tugging at the back of his collar.]

Ike: Ack–!? Wh..Wha…?

Hector: Y…You…! You look familiar…Aren’t you…That legendary guy that commander Anna once told us about….? 

Ike: …Don’t grab onto me like that. I frankly have no idea what you’re talking about, and I don’t really have the time right now either. So if you’ll excuse me, I must take my le—

Hector: Hey! not so fast! 

Ike: Argh—!!

Hector: There’s no need to be humble you know!! I think I remember. You’re a rather recent recruit aren’t you? If you’re from one of the newer worlds we’ve been to, then you must be from the World of Radiance. I should welcome you! The name’s Hector.

Ike: …You have quite a grip don’t you..? I’m Ike. Commander of the Greil Mercenaries. And this very “commander” is about to meet with his mercenaries, so I must hurry…Until then.

Hector: Geez….this guy wants to play a cold game with me, eh? But I’m not really in the mood for that. There’s one last thing I still need!

[Hector grabs onto Ike’s cape this time around, and pulls him with even greater force.]

Ike: Whoa—! What the—?!

Hector: …Hey. I know you’re busy and all, but Anna said something about you being the Radiant hero, the strongest from all worlds, and I’m intrigued. You’re kind of smaller than expected, but intriguing nonetheless! You could at least let me know when you are—-

Ike: …Alright. You have dragged me back for about three times now…

Hector: ….Eh?

Ike: Look. If you are so insistent on keeping me here, then I think I should oblige. I can’t afford to get pushed around like this. Let’s get this over with. Draw your weapon…or run while you can.

Hector: Hey….from the look on your face, it seems to me like you’re up for more than just a spar…

Hector: …Heh! That’s more like it! This is just what I needed. A little bit too much is just enough for me. Now…Bring it on!!

[Hector and Ike have reached support rank C.]

B SUPPORT

Hector: …Hey, Ike! Over here!!

[Hector frantically waves at Ike.]

Ike: …You called for me?

Hector: Yeah! it’s me, Hector, remember? Uh…listen…I…should apologize for my behavior from last time…I might’ve gotten carried away, so, uh…Sorry for being so pushy.

Ike: …No, maybe I should be the one to apologize. I lost my patience, and…we….really got the scoldings of our lives from Titania and Soren….

Hector: Ha! I guess so. I must admit, that tactician of yours sure is something! He’s such an eerie looking guy. How and where did you even get to know a fella like that?

Ike: Uh…well. The war just costed him a bit. I knew him from when we were young. He can be a hardy one I’ll admit, but he’s been invaluable to the Greil mercenaries. Please, be easy on him.

Hector: Really? Huh…Friends at a young age…Was he a spooky creeper like that back then too I wonder…?

Ike: Hey. I heard that. I just told you the war costed him, didn’t I…?

Hector: Ha ha! Sorry, I’m just messing around. If anything, I’m impressed that you were able to befriend a guy like that! I wouldn’t have been able to crack open such a cold shell in a life time…

Ike: ….And that should be a compliment? Right. I think I’ll take my leave. Goodbye. 

Hector: W-Wait–Ike! Blast!! I’m sorry okay!? I just needed to apologize to you–I won’t say anything about him again, honest!

[Ike, just after turning around to walk away, stops to look Hector in the eye. Then calmly proceeds to speak the following words:]

Ike: …..Fooled ya’.

Hector: W-What!? Why you…!!

Ike: …Heh. Are you satisfied now..?

Hector: Hey…That’s a smile if I’ve ever seen one! It’s the first time I see you smile like that.

Ike: …I seem to hear that one a lot. It sure has been quite the eventful day, hasn’t it? We started on a rather rough note, but uh….Nice to meet you. Hector, was it? 

Hector: Yeah! Well met, Ike. 

Ike: Likewise. I’m glad we could meet under better circumstances. I also never knew you were a noble, actually. The way you were so eager to fight would make me think that you were a knight or even another mercenary….

Hector: Ha! Guilty as charged. I’ve always preferred swinging an axe over diplomacy. I’ve never been much of the sophisticated nor the refined type. 

Ike: I see…Well, that’s fine. I’ve never been good with fancy things or fancy people either way…Such is the life of a peasant sellsword like me, I guess. 

Hector: …You talk as if you’ve seen it all. But on the other hand, you’re on high demand and get challenged a lot by others, don’t you?   

Ike: I suppose. I can’t deny that I had a lot of soldiers come up to me. Sometimes for advice. Sometimes for a fight. Sometimes just to test me. 

Hector: Test you? in what way?

Ike: Yes, Well… I went through a long time where I was practically looked down upon. It took a while to gain some respect. I was told that I looked like a rookie. Well, can’t say I don’t agree with them. 

Hector: Huh. And yet, here in Askr they can only brag about you. So what’s the truth?

Ike: Well. I remember there being this woman once ago, who came bragging to me about her powers and skills, and how suited she would be for our army. She eventually asked to see the army commander, so she could be granted permission to join us. Not knowing that the army commander at that time…was actually me.

Hector: Oogh. That’s rough.

Ike: Ha, yeah. But it gives you an idea on how overlooked I was. Not that I mind, I’ve never been much for popularity. 

Hector: Oh? Is that so…?

Ike: Yeah. Although now, I suddenly walk around getting praised and requests from many who look up to me…It all just feels strange to me. Might also just be part why I prefer to train alone. I focus a lot better, but it also just feels more…natural.

Hector: You don’t say….Is that why you wanted to run away the first time we met? You could’ve just said something.

Ike: …I was preoccupied with duties, Hector. Anyway…even though we were both heated, I really enjoyed our fight. You have so much power…And I was rather surprised to see you handle an axe so well.

Hector: Hey, I taught myself by often sneaking out to fight in the ring, so I’d better be good at it! But I guess you don’t see many axe lords walking around here, huh.

Ike: I applaud it. The way you swing your axe about is making me nostalgic…My father used to wield an axe too, you know. Urvan. 

Hector: Really? Well, who would’ve thought!

Ike:..Ah, he wielded a sword before that however, before he s—…oh….nevermind.

Hector: What was that? It felt like you were really onto something, don’t shy away now! 

Ike: No, It’s nothing….

Hector: Why would you bring it up like that, then?! Hey…Don’t tell me… Do I per chance…resemble your father…?

Ike: W-what!? ….Uh….Well….That’s quite the claim….But that’s certainly not the case. You…couldn’t even compare to him.

Hector: Hey! What’s that supposed to mean!?

Ike: M-My bad, I’m just trying to say that the two of you look very different, that’s all. Though no matter how I look at it, no man could match to his caliber. He was stern, but ever so benevolent. He’s a great man.

Hector: Bah! I could act the part too! And I mean…don’t I look like you, though?

Ike: Uh, I’d say….you look more like…….

[Ike suddenly falls silent and closes his eyes for a moment.]

Ike: …..Mother…….. 

Hector: ………..

Ike: …….

Ike: …..Wait– no–! It was just–! your hair and—! I only meant by the eyes and hair color!! S-sorry, I’ve only just realized how weird it—! Ugh, it came out a lot worse than I thought it would….

Hector: ……Phhfff….heh…..Ahahahah!!!  

Ike: Don’t laugh! Stop…please forget what I just said…

Hector: Haha–! No no, it’s fine! If anything, I’m…just laughing because I’m…! I…I can’t help but picture a very muscular mother!!! Haha–!! Oh, I haven’t laughed so hard in a long time!!

Ike: W-what!?! You!! …And here I thought I ought to feel bad and apologize to you for blurting out something like that…! If you’re just going to keep on laughing then I’m just going….to go!

Hector: Ha-haa–W-wait..! Ike–! Come back!!

Hector: snrrk!…Well well… I don’t think I’ve ever seen Ike so red before…I can’t tell if he’s either angry or embarrassed! 

[Hector and Ike have reached support rank B.]

A SUPPORT

Hector: …Hey, Ike! Good job out there. You really held it down on the battlefield.

Ike: Ah…Thank you. You too. 

Hector: ((Oh. Finally decided to speak to me after pairing up so many times…))

Hector: Uh… say… are you still mad about last time…?

Ike: ….I was never really mad.

Hector: Really? You’re saying that with such a serious face though….

Ike: Oh, sorry. I’ve been told that I frown a lot. It’s a habit that never went away…But really, it’s fine. Don’t worry about it.

Hector: Then, if all is well…Tell me. Why did you…mention your mother like that?

Ike: ….I can’t even recall how we got to her in the first place since it’s been a while. Why? Do you suddenly feel insulted because of what I said?

Hector: No! It’s just…I couldn’t help but notice that when you spoke about your mother, you had this kind of…heavy look on you. It wasn’t until you decided to start a panicked frenzy, that I started laughing it off, thinking you were just embarrassed about loving her too much or something. 

Hector: But…There’s more to it, isn’t there.

Ike: …Huh. I didn’t think you were capable of paying that much attention to detail.

Hector: Hey, don’t change the subject!

Ike: …….I’m sorry.

Hector: Wha–? Don’t apologize! Although…I wouldn’t mind hearing more about this, you know?

Ike: …That’s why I’m apologizing. I can’t tell you.

Hector: What?! I practically came all this way to get an explanation though! 

Ike: …Well, I…even if you wanted one, I couldn’t tell you even if I tried. I…don’t really remember much of her either way, and…the things I know about her, I don’t want to believe.

Hector: Woah, what? Wh…What is that even supposed to mean?

Ike: …..

Hector: Hey….Did your mother….die…?

Ike: …..Yes. And it’s the way she died that I don’t want to believe…

Hector: What?…How did she die, then?

Ike: …It’s complicated. And truthfully, It…it hurts just thinking about it. Part of me refuses to look back on it. But perhaps it’s better that you don’t know. I…Out of respect for my parents, this is something I should keep as a trademark secret between the Greil Mercenaries….I’m sorry.

Hector: …Sheesh. A family secret? You mean to say it’s really that heavy…?

Ike: ….I’m sorry.

Hector: …Alright. Enough apologizing. If it really hurts that much, I won’t ask anymore. I just wanted to let you know….you’re not the only one. 

Hector: …My parents…they died too. Their illness took them before I got to grow up….

Ike: ….That’s just the thing. I always thought my mother died of illness while I was young, too. Until I learned about her real death through another source. From a hired assassin.

Hector: ?!?…She was assassinated?!

Ike: No… It’s not that simple. He only came to deliver the story. He was never behind it, in fact, it was only aft—- I…I’m sorry. I’ve…said way too much already…I’m so pathetic.

Hector: …Hey, no need to blame yourself. I don’t know what’s going on, but I guess I shouldn’t have asked. Although I also had to deal with shady assassins in my own continent and what not….

Ike: ….I suppose I’ve heard something about it. And…that you wield a curse….

Hector: …? Oh. You mean Armads, don’t you. Yeah…Guess It’s no secret by now…..

Ike: …..My father…….H-He……He’s……..

[Ike begins to tremble. He bows his head and exhales sharply.]

Hector: …..Ah, geez—-Stop it before you end up crying!!

Ike: ……

Hector: ….Blast. And here I thought I could make up with you…To think I’d be seeing you in such a sorry state…Kind of unlikely from the Radiant Hero, don’t you think?

Ike: …Of course I’m nothing like that. And If you’re uncomfortable, you can just leave. Unless you find it amusing to see me like this…. 

Hector: What are you saying!? Sure, I may look like a brute, but I’m not heartless! And as gruff as you are, I know that you are just as vulnerable as anyone else. That’s why I came to see you. 

Ike: ….I see….Sorry. Maybe…it’s best you’d leave me be for a bit….

Hector: Hey, come now. I just told you I came to see you, didn’t I? And then you’d want to chase me off?…No more of that. Lift your chin up. Please.

[Ike stood around silently. Then after letting out a deep sigh, he proceeds to face Hector.]

Ike: …You know…Most people would just let them be when someone asks that they want to be left alone…

Hector: …Well, I guess I ain’t like most people then. But the things we’ve been through are unlike most people either…Although mine’s probably not as bad as yours from the looks of it, but still.

Ike: …Are you really that concerned about me…? 

Hector: …Again, you’re acting like I’m some kind of monster! I mean…why wouldn’t I be…? I might not be the best at comforting, but there’s no way I could leave you alone after seeing you so pained.You need to be looked after. So I absolutely refuse to go away. 

Ike: ….Thanks. But there’s no need to worry. I can’t afford to let this wear me down. I’m still standing on my feet, so honestly…I’ll see it through. I’ll be fine.

Hector: ….Well, you’re the boss then. But listen, I only wanted to say…I’m sorry for what happened to your parents. I know how awful it feels without them, but you can depend on me when the going gets tough. I mean…I’d hate to see anything happen to you. When my parents died, I only really had my brother and Eliwood to talk to. I don’t know where I’d be without them. So…I want to be there for you, too. I get how you feel, but don’t push yourself. 

Ike: …I’m not…Though I can’t just be expected to stand still and keep on dwelling, can I? I’ve got responsibilities to hold, and for that I must be strong…Sure, looking after the Greil Mercenaries gets tough sometimes, but… There’s no place I’d rather be. Besides, I still have Mist, and the mercenaries treat each other like family, despite having no blood ties. It’s not so bad…But I appreciate it, Hector…Seriously, I’d say you’re doing too much for me.

Hector: …It’s nothing. If you ever decide to sulk, I’ll give you a shoulder to lean on. Hell, I’ll even let you cry in my arms if you need to. I’ll make sure nobody gets to see you break down. I’ll keep you safe.

Ike: ….Heh. Alright. I’ll keep your offer in mind. But I already feel a lot better after talking to you. I…It’s good that you decided to stay with me. Guess I owe you one, huh.

Hector: …Hey, It’s no trouble.

Ike: …Ha. I have a lot on my plate, it’s true. But if you know my appetite…you know I’ll finish it. 

Hector: …Heh. Good on you, Ike.

Ike: Either way…Let’s leave it at that. It’s been long enough don’t you think? I find that there’s no need in moping around any lon—-Woah! Hec—!?

[Hector is seen hugging Ike, burying his face into Ike’s shoulder.]

Hector: …Well, even if you don’t need it, I sure need it. You know…the time my parents died, I wanted to do nothing but cry. But I couldn’t cry in front of anyone. Even alone, I still couldn’t. I just couldn’t. So…just grant me this favor. In return, I’ll pretend nothing happened today. We’ll put all of this beside us, and fight along side by side like we usually do. How about it…?

Ike: Hector….

Ike: …Alright…If you insist, I trust that you can keep your word. Promise me you will.

Hector: …That goes without saying, Ike. This goes…for both you and me…and for both family we have lost and family we have left.

Ike: I….Thank you, Hector. You have my gratitude. 

Hector: ….Ha. I thought I’d never hear you say it.

[Hector and Ike have reached support rank A.] 

[wolf-in-a-suit]

Nursing care

Show: The Dragon Prince

Summary: General Amaya is a woman of action, not lying around idly while others do the work for her! Having fought many foes and endured torture, at the hands of quite a few of them, she also prides herself for her perseverance. However, throw into the mix: Ezran, a horse, an overbearing Harrow and a smug arch mage and you get a General at the end of her rope. Enjoy.

A/N: This is my very late contribution to @tdpweek with the prompt ‘car accident’. Seeing as this is a fantasy show I decided a horse accident is more befitting and resumed to torture our loved General Amaya.

My other two imagines for tdpweek are: The Pastry Assassination (featuring Viren x Amaya, Harrow, Claudia, Ezran and Callum) and Regret.(Claudia, Soren and Viren)

A stark breeze ruffled trees, fall had already painted them in various color schemes. Their falling leaves posed an invitation to get lost in the forest's tranquil embrace. Marking the retreat of summer, the last rays of a setting sun left warm traces on the approaching rider's faces. The clacker of hooves was muffled by thick earth and left the serene mood undisturbed.

Amaya closed her eyes and breathed it all in; the thick earthy scent and the oncoming crisp whisper of winter was carried as a promise by the wind. Here she felt complete: Horseback and on an uncharted trail only she knew. Her muscles uncoiled as she relaxed for the first time in weeks. No disturbances, mortal danger, or recruits clanking around in their heavy armor... just this.

"Hey, aunt Amaya look what I can do!"

Well, it had been relaxing as long as it lasted. The General turned around just to stare at her nephew Callum sitting on his horse grinning over both ears. Next to him Ezran's gelding was... showcasing a disturbing lack of Ezran. Her eyes widened in panic, while her hands began whipping through the air in hectic movements. Callum’s hands rose as well. "Don't worry, he's right there." Amaya shifted her weight in the saddle to peer to the mentioned side of Ezran's steed. Sure enough, the future ruler of the kingdom was clawed to the side of the saddle like a spider, his white teeth gleaming in triumph.

The reprimanding brisk moves of his aunt's hands did little to dampen his enthusiasm. "It's alright, Hector won’t let me fall. Right?" The small boy crawled further up the animal’s neck and peered lovingly into it's warm brown eyes. However, Hector seemingly wasn't prepared for the massive squirrel suddenly flashing onto the road.

Three seconds.

It took Hector about three seconds to determine that: Yes, he was in mortal danger and no: a Prince clawing at his neck did little to boost his confidence in being able to battle this outlandish fiend. So, he did the only sensible thing: Whickering and kicking, while he turned around galloping down the dirt road.

"Ezran!" Callum was frozen to the spot, all he was able to do was scream for his little brother who hung onto his steed's neck for dear life.

With each massive jump of the animal the thought of 'This is it!' whipped through Ezran's head with the speed of the trees blurring by. His hands ached and lost more and more of their death grip on Hector's mane. Surely, this was his end. He would be crushed under the heavy hooves and trampled, if not he would break his neck on impact. He closed his eyes while he felt the last of his strength slip and gravity’s inevitable pull take hold.

Suddenly, a new pair of trapping hooves led the boy to snap his eyes open again. Just in time to see his aunt launch like a tiger from her own horse, still running at break neck speed and snatch him out of the air. Her big frame engulfed his tiny figure in midflight and then-

They crashed, very hard. The scrapping of armor on stone and the horrifying breaking of bones was followed by an even more unsettling silence.

The next thing Amaya's fuzzy brain registered was pain. A lot of it. It was followed by the face of Viren looming over her prone form - as if the physical pain wasn't enough.

"Congratulations General, you managed to break your leg and quite a few of your ribs. Not counting the really impressive consortium of bruises and scrapes. I'd say this deserves at least a place under your top three injuries. Wouldn’t you agree?" Lord Viren's face was a mixture between smug and annoyed. Amaya's answer came in swift movements. "She's saying that-" Callum’s translation was briskly interrupted by the mage himself: "'If you're so ecstatic about treating my wounds, perhaps you should send in one of your other mages?' Yes, I know!" Now, the annoyed expression definitely took over his features.

"And miss prescribing the General Amaya bed rest and forbidding her from attending her duty for the next weeks? I think not." At the woman's horrified face a smirk stretched his thin lips. 'You're enjoying this far too much.' Amaya signed furiously. "You're quite mistaken, for I am but a humble servant." His mocking bow brought rise to the General's notorious scowl. However, Viren seemed immune to it’s effect. "Do enjoy your time with your family my dear." A mischievous and knowing gleam filled his eyes as he opened the door to her certain doom.

In stumbled a crying Ezran "Aunt Amaya, I am so sorry!”, a concerned Gren "How are you General? Is there anything I can do?" and worst of all: A very, very deeply worried brother in law: King Harrow. "I'll tell the servants to make your room better accessible at once and... and to carry you there. Wait! I'll carry you myself!" The former quiet room was filled by a jumble of voices: Apologies, suggestions and plans flew through the air and Amaya felt like she was caught in a Hurricane of epic proportions. The door, her only escape route, was blocked by a highly amused Lord Viren. Although, she supposed in her current state any escape attempt would be cut short by this pack of hungry wolves calling themselves family.

"Amaya is the cushion really comfortable enough?" Without waiting for a response Harrow dove into the next room like he was leading an army into battle. A few seconds later he emerged with about six new cushions in hand. An over eager Ezran lifted her feet in order to make room for the offending objects. Though, at the pained look on her face dropped her broken leg instantly, - which in turn led her to a silent howl. "I am so sorry! I'll get you something!"

There was simply no telling what the Prince would drag along this time. So far a tower of strawberry pastries, books- now sporting suspiciously red stains and a dagger was erected right next to her. Bait peering grumpily from the top at the commotion. It was just her luck that her brother in law had witnessed the scene unfold and was now franticly searching for a solution. By all the gods in this realm, what did she do to deserve this punishment!?

An unsuspecting Callum rounded the corner as he was suddenly seized and shaken by the King. "Callum, go get some more of the pain numbing potion from Viren. Be quick about it." And off was the last remaining sensible part of her family, oh joy.

With precise and swift moves Viren dropped the Corus fly’s wings into the cauldron and started a low incantation. "Naip feiler w..." Bam, bam. The rapping on his door let him to groan in frustration. No one informed you beforehand how much of a time consuming business being the father of a witch and a soldier could be.

However, when he opened the door there was no sign of an exasperated Soren or confused Claudia to be found, just the boy. With great effort he stopped his teeth from grinding. "Prince Callum, there is a reason why I am not to be disturbed while in my laboratory. Not even by the King himself!" The boy in turn just managed to drag the minimal amount of socially acceptable shame onto his pale face. "Yes, almost totally forgot... the big sign outside was just, eh... very hard to read?” He finished lamely. At Viren's raised eyebrow he continued: "I need a new potion for Aunt Amaya." "Ah" The mage made a knowing sound. "I take it, due to her family's loving care of her!?"

However, his skilled hands were quick to pour his recent potion into a flask and to press it into the boy’s hands. But instead of scuttling the annoyance eyes narrowed. "Wait, did you just brew this for her? I thought that was the job of the common mages downstairs!?"

"There are also other wounded people requiring my skills, not only the General. Brewing the potion just now was merely a coincidence." There was some light igniting in the Prince's green eyes as he leaned on the stone wall. "I'm curious, why exactly did you learn how to read sign language?" Lord Viren scoffed. „The arch mage and the General of the King’s guard not being able to understand each other in times of conflict? Well, that's certainly a sensible idea. However, as enjoyable as this discussion with you was - as always." the words where drenched in barely concealed annoyance, like one of Ezran's tarts in strawberry jam "I believe there is somewhere you need to be!"

The door banged shut right before Callum's nose, the sign reading ‘Do Not Disturb!’ in bold letters swinging hazardly from one side to the other.

Menacing shadows crept through the moonlit corridors while voices echoed on the cold stone walls, blending to a jumble of incoherent words: “She was just here..”, “Find her!”, “-always like this…”

Sweat shone on her forehead and Amaya needed to take deep breaths to calm herself, she was surrounded by the enemy. One wrong move could mean the end. Leaning heavily on the wooden crutches she tried to move as swiftly and silently across the corridor. The voices gained in volume, they were almost upon her now. Just around the corner. Her panicked gaze snapped back before her at the sound of a heavy door opening.

Out stepped Viren. The mage was astonished at the picture presenting itself. The runaway, searched by all of the court for the last hour, stood before him caught red-handed in escaping King Harrow and his guards. Amaya huffed in annoyance and defeat. Busted, back to the insanity that was Harrow’s understanding of loving care. Viren would never let her live this down. The voices drew even nearer.

A shift in the air made the fugitive look up. Viren had stepped aside, his robes billowing in the air, and mentioned with his raised arm to the open door behind him: Leading into his laboratory. Her brown eyes were torn open in equal amounts of astonishment and wariness. Lord Viren helping her? He always acted as if she was the bane of his existence. Arguing over every small decision or operation plan and more often than not sending her a smoldering glare behind Harrow’s back. This had to be a trick of his; the man did nothing without an ulterior motive in mind.

The man in question sighed, resignation coloring the tone. “Is it so hard to believe that I am capable of genuine sympathy?” Amaya’s hardened expression rendered every word unnecessary. Viren’s eyebrows shifted into his state of the art ‘I-am-not-amused’ mien. “Well then, let’s just wait for our King then. Shall we?”

With seconds to spare General Amaya grabbed her crutches and vanished into the open door.

When King Harrow rounded the corner all he saw was his trusted advisor calmly closing the door to his laboratory, the ‘Do not disturb!’ sign swinging and finally clattering to the ground.

[mon-qi]

We (meaning @konfuse and I) are playing FE 9 / Path of Radiance currently and it’s pretty good!

I like the political and dramatic setup and how it’s handled in this game, especially the racism and how things are viewed from several sides. For example, we just defeated Shiharam (?) and the resulting drama was… a lot (and good) but it felt better represented than usual bc it wasn’t AS on the nose as im used to from FE games. I also like that there’s so many base conversations! Characters are important to me so it always makes me a little sad when FE games with their huge casts can focus on only a few of them and you gotta scramble for the rest via support convos… which sucks when a game has limited supports like here, so many characters are STILL somewhat forgettable to me. I’m glad we get to see them again in FE10 at least.

Ike is a good and relatable protagonist, I can now actually see the Hector influence. Titania and Mist I like too. Soren makes me roll my eyes petty hard but I’ll wait for more background to judge. Kieran is hilarious, I honestly really like Gatrie, Devdan is… idk but amazing, Ilyana and Nephenee are among my favorites too. I like the Laguz, like… ALL tigers (why are both Mordecai and Muarim giant cinnamon rolls I can’t deal) definitely, also Ranulf (though I expected him to be way more present and important??) and the young dragon prince, Nasir, the Hawks are, well, BIRDS and the Herons Tolkien elves? And Naesala is an amusing scumbag. Oh and not a laguz but Haar. I really love that sleepy guy I how we can recruit him later.

Bonus EXP is a nice feature that I’m surprised didn’t become a mainstay but I guess the forge came back which I love.

What I don’t like is that the maps seem pretty uneven - some are really annoying and somewhat difficult and the next ones are almost too easy. Also, stealing is so situational and Volke being hard to train doesn’t help at all. Not a flaw of the game but me being used to handheld controls is that I keep accidentally ending whole turns instead of making units wait. Ouch.

Mist being the destined slayer of the Black Knight and Gatrie being sort of our mascot have become running gags which I LOVE. In Gatrie’s case, literally running bc we couldn’t decide on who to give the boots to and gave them to him. We probably enjoy it even more than he does.

[gamerprincess13]

Fire Emblem Heroes Unit Review: Xander

“I'd like it if you would train with me from time to time. We don't need to spar—just do practice swings. You'd be surprised how simply that communicates as well as words could ever manage.”

Available: 3-4 Star (Complete his Grand Hero Battle Map)

Neutral Stats: 44/32/24/37/17 (Will always be Neutral nature.)

Default Kit:

Siegfried (16 Might: Enables counterattacks regardless of distance if this unit is attacked) Locked to Xander. Unlocked at 5-Star.

Special: Blazing Light (Before combat this unit initiates, foes in an area near target take damage equal to 1.5 x (unit’s Attack minus foe’s Defense/Resistance) Unlocked at 4-Star.

A-Slot: Armored Blow 3 (Grants Def+6 during combat if unit initiates the attack) Fully unlocked at 5-Star.

C-Slot: Spur Def 3 (Grants adjacent allies Def+4 during combat) Fully unlocked at 5-Star.

Pros:

Personal weapon has a built in Distant Counter

Fantastic Defense

Strong attack stat

Great HP to go along with his Defense

Cavalry Unit to take advantage of movement and Cavalry Boosts

Fantastic Enemy Phase Unit

Has two sexy variations of himself (one bunny and one hot summer stud)

Cons:

Low speed

Terrible Resistance

Not too good at Player Phase

Yes, I know Valter is the newest Grand Hero Battle unit as of now, but let’s just focus on the best one newer players really desire: Prince Xander of Nohr. When the game first came out, everyone wanted to play this badass prince with his amazing legendary weapon. He wasn’t playable until early May when he’s announced as a Grand Hero Battle unit, so anyone that managed to defeat Hard or Lunatic (or both) got their hands on Xander. Sure, he wasn’t a five-star to begin with, but he’s worth the 20,000 feathers!

Of course, his signature weapon, Siegfried, has a built in Distant Counter to it like Ike’s Ragnell and Ryoma’s Raijinto, working very well in Enemy Phase as he has fantastic defense when facing any archers or dagger users. It’s also pretty strong like all legendary swords, having a might of 16, working well with his great attack stat.

His default skills are very defense orientated for both himself and his allies. His special, Blazing Light, works before he initiate combat, dealing massive damage before finishing off the enemy. Unfortunately, it takes too long to charge up and by then, the battle is over; just like with other Area of Effect Skills. His default A-Skill is Armored Blow where he gains +6 to Defense whenever he initiates combat, while his C-Skill, Spur Defense, grants +4 to Defense to his allies if he’s near someone. Not too bad skills, but Xander can easily grab some new skills to his liking.

Also, neither his A or C Slot Skills are unlocked at 4-Star, which is very strange as at least one skill is unlocked at 4-Star for each character (sometimes two). I’m not too sure why that’s the case...

Oh, never mind about that.

Skill Inheritance opens up a lot of options for Xander, whether if he’s on a Horse Emblem Team or not. Since his sword already carries Distant Counter, his A-Slot is pretty much very open. Fury 3 is a popular option for him as it raises his stats more, but if the 6 points of damage after combat scares you, Attack +3 will work fine as a safer and a cheaper build. Distant Defense 3 works for Xander as well to boost his already high Defense stat, and help his low Resistance Stat. B-Slot can be a breaker skill he’s allowed to have, Vantage 3 to screw some people over (especially if his special is ready), and Quick Riposte 3 (2 is fine) to make Xander an Enemy Phase monster! C-Slot is very flexible as he can carry a Hone/Fortify Skill either outside of Horse Emblem or when he’s in said team. He can even run the Threaten Skills (minus Resistance because why?) to aid his teammates a bit more. His long special can be switched to Bonfire to work with his insane Defense Stat, or even Luna to cut down enemy defenses much better.

But this future King of Nohr has some problems. Firstly, he’s slow with a speed stat of 24, the same as Hector. So Xander will have trouble killing units compared to Reinhardt who can murder them at a blink of an eye. However, Xander can use Quick Riposte to double enemies during Enemy Phase and kill them; something that Reinhardt can not do due to his tome’s effect. Along with that, Horse Emblem boosts can make his speed go up to 30 if possible! ...His Resistance is pretty terrible, and has no means of survivng an attack from a blue mage unless he has the Horse Emblem boosts; especially if that blue mage is Reinhardt or Olwen as they can destroy him in two hits while taking no damage at all.

But despite these weaknesses, Xander is a fantastic unit for any team needing a strong and tanky sword unit. If you don’t have Ike or a lobster Ryoma on your team, but have Xander just lying around, try him and you won’t be disappointed. Especially if he’s on Horse Emblem.

Suggested Skills: (Bolded means Highly Recommended):

Specials:

Bonfire/Ignis

Luna

Moonbow

Assist:

Reposition

Swap

Draw Back

A-Slot:

Fury 3

Attack +3

Distant Defense 3

B-Slot:

-breaker Skill (Green Tome Breaker/Sword/Axe)

Quick Riposte 3 (2 works fine as well)

Vantage 3

C-Slot:

Any Hone/Fortify Skill

Hone/Fortify Cavalry

Threaten Attack/Defense

Counters:

Blue magic units such as Delthea, Reinhardt, and Olwen

Strong lance units like Effie, Sharena, Ephraim, Tsubaki, Camus

Nowi and Female Corrin/Kamui will cause Xander problems

Teammates:

Axe units such as Hector and Cherche

Titania for Horse Emblem

Green magic users such as Julia, Soren, Nino, and Cecilia (especially her in Horse Emblem)

Kagero for a magic check due to Poison Dagger

Should you promote Xander into a 5-Star? (Exclusive section for GHB Units):

Yes:

If you don’t have Ike or Ryoma

You want a strong red unit for Horse Emblem

Want a strong sword user not named fluffy prince Alfonse

High Mobility

Easy to train

Skill Inheritance is no problem for Xander

Best F2P Sword/Horse unit in the game

Want more options for Distant Counter Sword Units (Ryoma is fast and strong but frail, Xander is slow but defensive and a cavalry unit, Ike is stronger and defense is between Ryoma and Xander; all three have not so good Resistance though...

No:

Already have Ike or Ryoma (or both)

Bias...? (Don’t like him as a character; it does effect who you want to use)

But overall: YES!

Summoner’s Words of Wisdom: “This disciplined prince of Nohr may not be fast, but sometimes slow and steady wins the match. Especially if they’re on a horse with a big sword that can slay enemies. And lobsters.”

[mariyekos]

@demoiselledefortune 6) Right now my main team is Hector, Ephraim, Brave Lyn, and Olivia, all 5 stars. Everyone but Olivia is level 40, and she’s level…36? Just checked, and it’s 34. Eh, close enough.

7) Most emotional summon is a tie. The first is when I summoned Hector and Ephraim, because not only was that the first time I summoned a 5* unit, but I summoned two in one go, and one of them was Hector who I really wanted to get. Neither of them were banner characters, but they both came home. The other one was the Brave Hero Banner. So first thing I did was chose Brave Ike, which was really amazing as Ike’s one of if not my favorite FE character. Then, when I clicked on my first Orb, Brave Lyn appeared and I was just over the moon. Then, two orbs later, I got Brave Lucina! In the same summon! I also had a red in the summon which didn’t have Roy to my slight disappointment (how cool would it have been to get all 4 summon units!), but that was the most amazing thing. Just thinking about it makes me happy.

9) Most annoying? The second 5 star Titania I got back during the first Tellius summon focus with her, Ike, Soren, and Mist. The first time I got her I was upset because when I clicked the green orb I was really hoping for a Soren. Maybe that orb didn’t have Soren, but I’d been saving orbs for a couple months so I still had 80 or 90 left. So I kept on summoning. The second time I was super annoyed and upset. What are the chances of getting the same 5 star green unit in a summon focus!? Why couldn’t it have been Soren!? I ended up getting a 4 star version of him a few weeks later, but that didn’t make up for it. At least now I have a 5+2 star Titania now. But I should give her a different weapon, since I don’t like the precious gem weapons (ruby, emerald, sapphire).

——– Thanks for the ask! I’m at the airport right now, eating before I have to hop on another plane and get home, so this was a fun way to pass the time! When I got your ask I was about to get on my first flight, so that’s why I didn’t respond until now, but here you go! My answers are pretty long. But that’s how it always is, so oh well.

[melonlordheroes]

Choosing Legends

-Morning, Askr! The clustering wishes of the people have summoned 4 new brave heroes... and the altar is ready to summon just one of them. Given that this same process brought Lucina here so long ago, almost all of the army is gathered to see what could be a pivotal moment in the army’s history.-

Hector: (nudges Ephraim) So, what do you think? Which of us is it gonna be?

Ephraim: (smirk) I'd say me, normally- but that Ostian Counter in your costume's skillset looks very useful.

Fae: (sitting on Hector's shoulder) Fae thinks the summoner will pick you, Ephraim! She tried real hard to get you here!

Hector: Not nearly as hard as she tried to get Leo, though.

Ephraim: I hear grumbles about that every so often. Was it that bad?

Hector: Well--

Chrom: Morning.

Ephraim: (grin) Prince Chrom, always a pleasure. Up for a spar?

Hector: Oho! A three way battle, perhaps?

Chrom: Maybe after the summon. Mystery's been putting a great deal of thought into this after hearing all our cases out... did you two suggest anything? You both have costumes available.

Hector: ...Actually, I did.

Chrom: (bemused) Should we expect to see the might of Ostia without Armads, then?

Hector: Ha! No, I said she should pick Ephraim. Armor March would be awful handy for an armor team.

Ephraim: (touched) Hector, really? I told her to pick yours. I thought it might be nice to spar lance-to-lance with you.

Chrom: (nod, nod) Both are certainly good choices--

-The gathered army suddenly begins to cheer as Mystery reappears in front of the altar, apparently having made her choice. Corrin hands Breidablik back to her with a nod and Robin takes a seat by Soren and Saias.-

Mystery: All right, everyone! I've decided which of the brave heroes will be joining us. It took some thinking, but I'm confident in my decision.

-She pauses, gesturing at the green and blue orbs.-

Mystery: Hector and Ephraim both are strong, there's no denying that. But they're already destructive enough, and I don't think the Order can afford to repair our castle much more than we already do after they get to sparring!

Hector: (snicker, whisper) She's got a point there. Might level the place if we got any stronger.

Ephraim: (chuckle, whisper) Maybe next time, then.

Mystery: (points to the red orb) ...And then we have Celica. By now, all of you know of her condition- which Alm has been doing a great job of keeping in check, and so my leading thought was if I brought her a different costume, we could clear her mind of Duma. ...But I simply /can't/ be certain of that. (frown) We can't be sure the god's taint wouldn't simply slip onto her... and given how powerful this costume is, it could lead to trouble.

-In the crowd, Alm looks to Celica and takes her hand. The possessed princess manages a strained smile and runs her thumb over his knuckles as a comforting gesture.-

Mystery: ...Which leaves just one choice. (points Breidablik at the colorless orb.) Up until now, I've not had the power to help Princess Veronica. Every time we've met on the battlefield, I've only seen a scared, lonely little girl in dire need of a friend. A guardian.

-She pauses and looks to Xander, who nods. She turns back to the altar, finger on Breidablik's trigger.-

Mystery: ...As a close ally to Xander, as someone committed to seeing peace between Askr and Embla, and above all else- as a MOTHER, there was never a choice to be made.

-Mystery fires, and once the smoke clears... Princess Veronica stands before the Order of Heroes! Sharena leaps up from her seat to run over and hug her former enemy, slightly squishing the poor princess in her arms.-

Sharena: Alfonse, isn't this great?! There might be peace for Askr and Embla after all!

Alfonse: Don't get ahead of yourself, Sharena- she's not OUR Veronica. We still have a long way to go before we can repair things between our kingdoms.

Veronica: (pops her head out from Sharena's arms, slightly struggling to get loose) Oof--! Sharena, you're squeezing me too tightly! Desist!

Sharena: O-Oh, sorry. (loosens her hold) Better?

Veronica: Significantly. (coughs a bit, then looks to Alfonse) You speak correctly about the matter- I am not your Veronica, and cannot truly mend the bond between your Askr and her Embla. Be that as it may, I can at least provide a perspective on Emblian diplomacy for you...

Sharena: And we can be friends, right Ronnie?

Veronica: Ronnie? ...Yes. Yes, I do believe we can be friends as long as I'm here.

Sharena: Great! I hope you're prepared to stick around, we have a whole bunch of people for you to meet-- SIGGY, OHMYGOSH YOU HAVE TO MEET SIGGY COME ON!

-Before Veronica can protest, Sharena drags her off to be welcomed into the Order of Heroes properly. Mystery folds her arms and stands by Alfonse, who gives her a look.-

Alfonse: Are you sure this is wise? It seems like you've made an awfully selfish choice.

Mystery: Selfish?

Alfonse: You chose Veronica because you can't help ours yet, so by bringing this one you can soothe your guilt over it. Correct?

Mystery: (sucks in a breath) Oof. You're as perceptive as Robin, aren't you? Sure you're not a tactician? ...That aside you're not WRONG, but not completely right either.

Alfonse: (raises an eyebrow)

Mystery: ...I just think Veronica must be going through a lot. Her brother's gone. We've no idea what Surtr is telling her. She has no parents to guide her. In a situation like that, it's very easy to lose hope and think maybe you deserve all the awful things that happen to you. I thought if she could see us treating our Veronica kindly, she might think "hey, maybe they'll treat ME kindly too" and eventually come to our side. Or at least, won't lose hope for things to get better.

Alfonse: ...

Mystery: My hands are tied right now, Alfonse. This is a small step- and maybe even not the best one- but it's a step.