#those being lyn mode

[silent-partner-412]

Realizing that the reason nobody talks about how shit Elibe is as a world is bc FE7 is FE7 and it seems like most FE fans who’ve played it have nostalgic bias for it

[jaredxenoengage]

Have you ever noticed that Alear and the Four Royals acts as a Five Man Band? The story may not show that well, but their gameplay, nations and represented Emblems demonstrate that they are this trope perfectly. Veyle acts as the Sixth Ranger (actually 11th Hour Ranger). They best represent this trope as well because Alear, the Royals and Veyle are the only playable characters that can’t die on Classic Mode (oh and Vander too, but he’s just a mentor kind of guy).

The Five Man Band is among one my favorite tropes in media. Why? IDK why, it just is. I used to be a Power Rangers fan, five is usually among the highest these teams get to. In which case it becomes a Three plus two scenario where a Power Trio becomes a Five Man Band (Ninja Storm, Dino Thunder, and Jungle Fury come to mind).

I bring up this trope to talk about Fire Emblem Engage specifically, Alear, and the Four Primary Royals fit this trope. And it’s not just in team composition, IMO, the Emblems they are best known for (specifically in the Prologue cutscene) best give idea on why they fit the role in the team.

Alear the The Hero/Leader of the team; because obviously they are the Fire Emblem Lord, they are the Divine Dragon: the only one who can summon the Emblems who can save the world from the Fell Dragon. And just like any other Fire Emblem Lord in the franchise, if they are defeated, it’s a game over. Pretty typical Fire Emblem knowledge.

Alear’s most common Emblem is Marth. Marth is the first ever Fire Emblem Lord in the franchise, the idealistic leader that his loved ones trust and follows. Marth is the first of many sword wielding heroes in the franchise. Swords are a very common weapon type for heroes (Micaiah is the only Emblem in the main game that canonically never uses swords).

Alfred is the Lancer. Who usually acts a foil to the Hero/Leader, usually is their first/best friend/companion, and/or is the first to question any decision the leader/hero makes. Not every character of the archetype has to be a rival or a jerk (or in most cases both), Alfred is one of those examples. Alfred is the first Royal to join. Firene has the closest ties with Lumera, and Alfred appears in more cutscenes than any other Royal in the game. (Double points for having Lances as his primary weapon type).

The Emblem he uses in the Prologue is Lucina. Lucina is the not the central protagonist of Awakening, Chrom is. Even still, Lucina is a character who acts as an emotional foil to Chrom. More importantly, Lucina is the descendant of Marth, who happens to be Alear’s most associated Emblem.

Diamant is the big guy/muscle of Alear’s team. Brodia is the Kingdom of Might after all. Diamant is the most physically imposing with his main stats being his HP, Strength and Defense. Diamant is also the tallest and oldest member of the team (age being 25, Alfred is 21, Ivy is 20, Timerra is 18 and Alear is physically 17).

Diamant’s national Emblem is Roy, who gives Sword Power as an inheritance skill that allows Diamant to hit harder with a sword, but at the cost of avoid. Rise Above (Emblem Roy’s Engage skill) increases his level and stats along with them. Ironically, Roy was 15 years old in his games, Diamant is the oldest Royal, yet Roy is one of the younger FE lords next to Leif.

Next is Ivy, befitting of Elusia’s title of the Kingdom of Knowledge, she is the smart girl. Ivy has gone to school and was at the top of her class. (Studying is also one of her hobbies and likes items regarding them) Ivy is the most level headed of the Royals. Ivy is the only member of this main team that uses magic, and her ability to fly and heal is invaluable in a Fire Emblem game.

Ivy is associated with two Emblems rather than one. Lyn (the Emblem entrusted to Elusia) has the ability to summon doubles that can be used to distract the enemy. While Leif is an Emblem that switches between your current weapons it best suit the situation (often for the worst, unfortunately). It’s also worth noting that Soren is the DLC Emblem entrusted to Alt. Elusia. Soren is the Tactician of the Greil Mercenaries.

Finally, Timerra acts the emotional core to the team as the heart. Despite being far more politically savvy than what her peppy personality might suggest, she still is a genuine mood-maker in her supports where she attempts to get Ivy to open up and give perspective to Diamant on their ways of leading their countries. Her Queendom represents Freedom and is a very accepting person.

Her Emblem is Ike, and even if people mainly see him as a snarky guy, Ike is a very compassionate person. I mean, Ike would have to be a nice guy if he is the only person Soren is unfailingly kind to and is devoted to above everyone else. Ike’s Resolve (pun intended) is the thing that keeps the Greil Mercenaries from falling apart after his father’s death. Gameplay wise, Timerra with Ike act as a Critical Hit fighter with Wrath and Sandstorm. It takes a lot of effort and a bit of luck to make the most of her.

And finally, Veyle rounds out the team as the Sixth Ranger (doubles as 11th Hour Ranger, she is the last recruit in the main game). Sixth Rangers often comes joining in the team after a rivalry dispute and or brainwashing (Tommy Oliver (trope namer) and Zuko from Avatar comes to mind), Veyle is no exception. Veyle is the only other Non DLC Dragon units in the game. Most Sixth Rangers often (like the Red Ranger) have a power no other Ranger does.

Veyle doesn’t have a designated Emblem outside of Marth (who her evil self used, and she has boss dialogue with Emblem Marth in his Paralogue), but I consider Emblem Alear to be the closest thing Veyle will get to a designated Emblem. Her evil self also wears Alear’s Ring in the bad ending.

The major difference between Alear’s team, and the Four Hounds led by EVeyle is that the Hounds were already formed long before the story began. Alear and the Four Royals don’t officially form until more than halfway through Engage’s main story chapters. And yet these guys became a real team where the Hounds failed.

[cardboardluigi64]

Random observation regarding Smash Bros. trophies: Originally, it was planned for there to be more Fire Emblem trophies in Super Smash Bros. Melee, but it was reportedly too complex for the development team (what with the game's infamously short, rushed, and crunched development cycle), so they ultimately scaled it back to just Marth and Roy, the two FE fighters that were in the game.

(The classic mode trophies for the two characters)

This hesitation to create full new models for additional characters persisted, even in the Brawl and Smash 4, games that took a bit longer to make than 13 months.

Beyond the assets they had to make for the games (i.e.: the fighters, Lyn as an Assist Trophy, and Chrom because he's a part of Robin's Final Smash), Fire Emblem's trophies in those games only consisted of imported models from Ike's games (don't ask me which one. I've never played either), Awakening (specifically for Smash 3DS), and, in the case of the Xander and Ryoma trophies you get from buying the Corrin DLC for Smash 3DS, Fates.

(sorry for the use of a very low resolution image of the Xander trophy, nobody actually thought to rip the model and upload it to The Models Resource, which is where I got the higher resolution images of the Gaius and Inigo trophies. I don't feel like ripping the model myself or booting up the game in an emulator just to take a picture of it that's bigger than 144p.)

Some of the models did get tweaked a little beyond being pre-posed. All of the Awakening models were updated to have actual feet instead of the usual Wind Waker stubs, and a few were even given reworked faces with comparatively-higher resolution faces.

Of course, in fairness, Brawl and especially Smash 4 had scaled back on creating wholly new models specifically just to be used as trophies compared to Melee (where only a handful of trophies were imported from other games such as Luigi (Luigi's Mansion) or the Animal Crossing characters). It's just the fact that the way that these games handled the Fire Emblem trophies just so happened to line up with each other.

And of course, when Smash Ultimate rolls along and decides that trophies were too cool and informative and replaced them with pngs they got off of Google spirits, the floodgates were opened for Fire Emblem, and they threw in way more characters in as spirits than they ever would've had they just stuck to trophies.

If there's something to take away from this. Let me know. I'm trying to figure that out myself.

[ntrlily]

I want to play some of the Fire Emblem games from before Awakening. Do you have any recommendations? (I know how to use emulation)

So my top two recommendations to start off with would be Sacred Stones (FE8) and Path of Radiance (FE9)

Path of Radiance is all around a solid game, some of the best writing in Fire Emblem, good map design, and fairly well-balanced. Its big two issues are being hard to emulate on a potato, and having super slow enemy phases. If you have a decent PC and don't mind sitting through long enemy phases (or have enough power to run it at double or triple speed when enemy phase hits) this one is a solid pick, and it's very approachable both for beginners and for fans used to newer games.

Sacred Stones is a much faster game, both in the sense of "how fast your computer can run it" and "how fast combat and turns go". It's GBA Emblem which has some of the most gorgeous animation in the series if you're the kind of person who toggles those on, and the writing is solid— not the most unique plot but it does a good execution of a fairly standard FE setup. It does have infinite grinding, which I recommend trying to not use since most older FEs lack this. Overall a very good game to break into FE generally, or classic FE specifically with.

Some I didn't include here and why:

FE7/Blazing Sword is also an approachable, fast-paced, and beautiful game. It also has the world's longest Fire Emblem tutorial (Lyn mode) unless you just start it in hard mode. FE8's tutorial is much shorter, less railroady, and if you don't want to play it, you don't have to go for hard mode, you can just select normal mode. However if you either feel up to a longer tutorial or up to playing hard mode, it would be a good pick to start as well! And if you don't feel either of those now, it's worth saving for when you feel like jumping into hard mode (or like doing the long tutorial XD)

FE4/Genealogy of the Holy War: It's hard for me to recommend since I haven't played it very far, but it is a beloved title among classic fans for a reason. The battle scale is unlike any other Fire Emblem, and works very well to establish the epic tale it's got going. Screwing up can be a bit more punishing here though since chapters are longer (although you *can* save mid-chapter, so if you have saved properly this isn't as much of an issue.) and the fan tl is kinda grating if you're very familiar with various European mythologies. It's another "very recommended, but maybe not as a first classic emblem!" title (and again, other people who have played it through can rec it better than me! This is partially from playing it myself, and partially from watching the girlthing play)

FE5 is a midquel and I haven't played it at all, and FE10 is a sequel to FE9.

DS Emblem is a mixed bag. It's lacking in QoL that GBA and Tellius Emblem have, it's not very pretty, and overall they're not the most impressive remakes. This isn't to say they're *bad*, they can still be pretty fun, but they're games to save for when you look at the Marth games and go "I wanna play Marth game remakes" That said, I do recommend them over the originals, so if you wanna play Marth games, play these.

Okay nobody would question why DS Emblem isn't there but I wanted to share my "Here is when you should consider trying them" thoughts since they're not discussed a lot >w<

[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—"

[pitchkart]

Fire Emblem Blazing Sword Primer

Fire Emblem: Blazing Sword is about to drop on NSO for Switch! Known simply as Fire Emblem here, this was the first game to be localized outside of Japan. Twenty years later, the series’s popularity has skyrocketed to heights I could not have ever dreamed of and it’s beautiful.

With all the new blood introduced by Awakening, Three Houses, and even Engage, you might be curious about this entry and want to check it out. This post will serve as a quick guide for getting started.

#1: The tutorial is LONG

I’m not kidding. It’s not like new games where it’s a blip on the screen and then it’s gone. Lyn’s going to be talking the most basic of basics. Remember this was the first game in the series to be released to a western audience, so the training wheels are going to be on for a while. Like, the next 10 chapters. It will drag if you know your shit, but for newbies, I would argue this is the one of the best ways to get acquainted with the series. It will beat the basics into you and help you establish good habits for executing your strategy. Bear with it for the time being, I promise it gets better! In future playthroughs you can disable the tutorial messaging.

#2: Permadeath is on, but NSO rewind is your Turnwheel, so it’s going to be okay.

This was made before Casual Mode or Mila’s Turnwheel Divine Pulse Draconic Time Crystal was a thing, so back in the day if you made an error, you’d either have to live with it or restart the chapter from the beginning. Fuck that, though, it’s 2023 and we have the technology. If you want to relive those days as a challenge, by all means go off, but I won’t be wagging my finger at you if you decide you don’t have time for that shit anymore. Do what you gotta to enjoy this game.

#3 Experience is limited in this game, so make sure you distribute it evenly among your team*

I mean it. For the love of God, don’t funnel it all into Rath. For all the characters you’ll be able to recruit, you’ll only be able to deploy 10-15 per map. Build a strong core, and you’ll be ready for anything the game throws at you.

#4 Pursuant to the above, Marcus is a great unit, but don’t rely on him too heavily.

Newer players might assume Marcus to be a trap unit like Vander at first blush, but he’s a surprisingly decent unit throughout. The issue is that he starts out promoted, meaning he won’t get nearly as much experience on killing an enemy unit as another unit lower in levels will. Efficiency is the word of the day, dear readers. Use Marcus when you need him, but not at the expense of your other characters’ growth. Give him a weaker weapon, bait out the enemies, soften ‘em up, then let the units you want to level finish ‘em off and you’ll have your army up and running like a well-oiled machine.

#5 Double-check enemy ranges

This was sadly before there was a handy dandy button you could push to see the Danger Zone, so be extra mindful when you play. Also, keep in mind that even though the range might display it, only a handful of bosses actually move from where they’re parked.

#6 Get in formation, soldier!

God dammit, stick together. You don’t have Emblem superpowers anymore and enemy reinforcements aren’t as loudly telegraphed in older games as they are now. Building a solid defensive line and being aware of how many enemies can approach a unit at any given time might save your life. Always have at least one buddy!

#7 Always have at least one unit guard Merlinus’s tent

Merlinus is your convoy in this game. If you want to be able to put items into an inventory during a map, you’ll have to deploy him. The caveat is he’s a stationary unit who can’t fight, and while it’s usually not a problem, sometimes IS is cheeky and puts reinforcements by him. This will become less of an issue as the game persists and he promotes, but until then, hang in there.

#8 When you play fog-of-war maps, have your thieves use torches

Thieves have the best vision in night/fog maps, and torches further enhance this, so this is the best bang for your buck.

#9 Weapon weight is tested against CON, similar to Build in Engage

The difference is a unit’s build isn’t something that can grow like in Engage. The only way for a character to get more build is to either promote or use a Body Ring, and those are pretty rare.

#10 As a result of the above, you’re going to be using Iron weapons most of the time.

It’s okay. Most of the time Iron will do the trick.

#11 Conserve Rapier/Wolf Beil/Mani Katti charges when you can, but don’t wait till it’s fucking Christmas to use them

Lyn will get her Mani Katti charges reset after chapter 10 and I think there’s one more of Eliwood’s Rapier or Hector’s Wolf Beil depending on which story you do. You can also get the Hammerne staff that repairs weapons, but it only has three charges.

#12 If possible, wait for a unit to hit level 20 before you promote them.

Since the levels you can get are finite, you’ll need to make the most of your units’ growth rates.

#13 Effective damage is only x2 in this game, not x3 like other games.

It’s still gonna hurt if you make a mistake, but it’s going to make your life harder half the time.

#14 The support system in this game is rough

If you think gathering supports in Engage was painful, you’re in for a rude awakening. The only way to gather support points in Blazing Sword is to have two units end their turn next to each other, and some of them take a lot of turns to trigger. What’s more, each unit can have five support conversations per playthrough (for example, an A support with one character and a B support with another character, or an A or two Cs). This means if you want to collect all the supports, you will need to replay the game several times. As always, hit up Serenes Forest if you want more information on the particulars.

Bonus* #15: Okay, I lied, there is a way to get more experience.

There are arenas on certain maps where units can fight for money, but it’s a risky proposition, considering they can die in there. NSO rewind/save states will mitigate this somewhat, however, and starting on chapter 20E/21H, Ninian will trivialize this.

Her ring, Ninis’ Grace, grants a defense buff for one turn when she dances for a unit. This buff does not go away if a unit is rescued before enemy phase starts. See where I’m going with this?

1) Buff unit with Ninis’ Grace

2) Have them fight in the arena

3) Rescue them once they’re done fighting

4) End turn

5) Have rescuer #2 take/drop unit

6) Heal as necessary

7) Have Ninian do a regular dance

8) Repeat steps 2-7

And there you have it. Blazing Sword is a lovely game and holds a special place in my heart. It’s very much a product of its time, but I still hope y’all enjoy—

Oh you’ve got to be kidding me.

You had one job, Nintendo.

[fantasyinvader]

Finished my first run of Engage. Did it on Normal/Classic, because I wanted to see how the new mechanics worked first, since I had an experience getting back into the series going from Echoes to Fates Conquest (kinda missed the explanation of pair ups, so...).

In terms of gameplay, I really enjoyed it. It felt like a natural evolution of Fates, which I've held up as having some of the best gameplay in the franchise. The thing I didn't really care for, though, was how skirmish difficulty scaled. I wanted to bring everyone along, see more supports for them, but I just found characters being left in the dust because their levels would put them in a lot of danger during a skirmish. Maybe I did something wrong, but yeah. I found I did grow attached to the units I was using though, like a good Fire Emblem game should make me, but unlocking supports through battle only works so much, especially with movement differences.

I liked how the Emblems worked. Much better than battalions and weapon arts, though some emblems are better than others. Diamant + Lyn = God Mode, same with Fogado + Sigurd. But that just makes experimenting fun, though the gacha rings were more tacked on. I don't have the DLC, so can't comment on those Emblems.

The story was solid enough, found family > abusive family though I do get how people can be upset on how the story handles the different races of dragons. Got close to characters I used, as stated, but no one really drove me up the wall.

The main hub is probably my second favorite after the My Castle. It doesn't make the game drag like Garreg Mach, and there's a lot of extra activities to farm Bond fragments or support points and the like. It gets more annoying if you return there after skirmishes, but that is just part of what I feel works about Engage. The more you engage with it, the more you'll benefit from it. Skirmishes, donations, meals, excercises, all of that is optional but the story and world still work if you don't do it.

Overall, I was really happy with the game. 8.5/10 from me. Will get the DLC for my next run

[xbuster]

I hate Fire Emblem, I played Shadow Dragon and Binding Blade and they both annoyed me so much that I never finished either. I'm willing to chalk it up to a skill issue tho. Is there a game that you recommend to someone like me who's been burned by the series? Perhaps a tip or recommend play style?

Well, Binding Blade has a pretty difficult early game when compared to other FEs, so it’s never recommended to start with that one (the units you start out with are not very good and they often won’t even be able to double enemy units). The best starting points in my opinion are FE7, Awakening, and Echoes. If it’s a skill issue, all three of these can remedy that.

FE7 has a tutorial throughout Lyn’s story that gets you familiar with the various game mechanics in time for Eliwood’s story. Eliwood’s story isn’t very hard though, so if you finish the game and really want to test your skills you can do Hector hard mode.

Awakening has a number of difficulty levels and starting out on normal is perfectly fine for a first playthrough. The game lets you grind out levels if you’re feeling particularly underleveled. You can also access the armory and shop whenever so you don’t have to worry about running out of weapons.

Echoes (Gaiden) is arguably the most different FE game. There’s no weapon triangle (this is a trait shared with classic FEs but even remakes of those games like Shadow Dragon introduced the weapon triangle, so Echoes is the only modern FE without the weapon triangle). Weapons are stat boosters and grant effects to units rather than tools that are required to fight. The weapons also don’t have durability and magic costs HP to cast. Some characters start of ass villagers and get to choose which class they want to be, and some classes also have three promotion tiers. It’s just a very different FE so I think it’s worth giving a shot if other more traditional FEs didn’t click.

The FEs from FE6 and onward have a lot of quality of life changes, but from the classic games I would say Mystery of the Emblem is a good starting point too. Mainly because it tells Marth’s story like FE1 and Shadow Dragon + New Mystery of the Emblem, but I think out of all the Marth games it has the best balance. Shadow Dragon introduced the weapon triangle into a game that wasn’t designed around it. This means most of the mid to late game enemies end up having lances while you’re given a lot of sword units and there are barely any axe units (all of which kind of suck) so the weapon triangle is really just an annoyance more than anything. Mystery of the Emblem doesn’t have that and actually fixed some of the balancing issues from FE1 (mounted units were overpowered and while they still are in Mystery, the many indoor maps heavily nerf them by forcing them to dismount). It’s also two games in one with book 1 retelling FE1’s story and book 2 being a sequel.

[abdanisnotonfire]

CHAPTER THREE

CW// Abuse

The next thing Brooklyn knew, she was taken to the hospital and given treatment. She had a broken rib, and major bruising that was expected to heal over the next few weeks, but besides that she was fine. The doctors told her that had she fainted because of the stress put on her body, and as a result of the attack, her new adoptive parents weren't allowed to see her for the first few days.

Something about "resting" and taking the prescribed medication.

'I remember what it was like', Brooklyn wrote in her journal, 'I remember the relief of realizing it wasn't a dream. That I was actually going to be adopted by these two wonderful, loving, people, even AFTER what Bella had said.'

She gripped the pencil harder, hot tears now piercing her cheeks, threatening to spill over. Remembering that day filled Brooklyn with an unspeakable amount of envy and rage. She was so close she could taste it, and yet it still wasn't hers.

'To be an inch away from freedom. An inch from being the furthest away from here that I could be, stolen away. And all because of that greedy little blonde bitch.' 

The letters grew darker as she wrote them, not even realizing how hard she had been pushing until her pencil lead snapped. She let out a frustrated sigh and ran her fingers through her hair and wiped her tears away.

She felt the pain in her ribs and back, but it wasn't anything she wasn't used to. Brooklyn had gathered her own storybook of scars and injuries up to this point in her life. 

From her feet, to her head.

She pulled out her damaged phone (which was covered in paint and glitter and truly needed to be replaced) and opened up her twitter app. Quickly, her adrenaline started rushing and she felt her heart go through her toes. 

It wasn't that her adoptive parents had followed her on twitter and could see everything she said, but that they had a collective 15 million followers together on twitter alone.

"W...hatt the fuuuuucck..." was all Brooklyn managed out while carefully standing up from her bunk bed as to not repeat history with a broken rib.

She quickly googled them, pulling up their videos and jogging over to Amber's room.

She knew she had to tell her best friend, she just didn't know how.

Amber was a red-headed petite ambitious teen with more freckles than you could even count, like the sun and the moon together.

With a knock on the door and an invitation into the room, Brooklyn was ready to go Detective Mode.

"Why didn't you say anything about those guys being the same Dan and Phil you watch on YouTube?!" she said, shoving her phone in Ambers face

"I assumed you had known? Exactly how many 6 foot British dudes named Dan and Phil who look exactly like them do you think exist in the world, Lyn?"

Lyn was the nickname that Brooklyn only allowed Amber to call her. A perk of being friends for five years.

Brooklyn threw herself onto Ambers bed, her phone on her chest. "I don't know! How many famous people have you seen just stroll through here?"

"I think I saw Angelina Jolie in here once--" Amber muttered out, a stifled smile on her face; proud of her own joke. Brooklyn shot Amber a glare.

"I just don't get it, Bambi" she finally spoke. "They followed me on twitter" 

Ambers body quickly shot around, full attention now on Brooklyn

"They did? When?" 

"Ten minutes ago" Brook responded, handing her phone to her counterpart 

"Lyn, holy shit! That's so cool! Whoever they adopted must be so fuckin' lucky. You think they followed you cause Bella was acting like a total crackhead?"

Brooklyn's posture changed. She was more stiff, visibly on edge.

"Woah, I'm sorry brook, I didn't mean to-"

Brooklyn quickly cut her off. "No! It's not that. It's just.. well.."

She fiddled with the rings on her right hand, unsure how to release the anxiety she felt in her stomach.

"They...adopted.. me."

Brooklyn met Ambers eyes, and her anxiety soon settled. She didn't seem angry. At all. It wasn't what Brooklyn was expecting. She scanned her best friends face and saw nothing but support, something Brooklyn wasn't used to.

"For real? Brooklyn, you are literally going to have the BEST life!" the other girl said, rushing to Brooklyn and holding her hands.

The two stood in silence for a moment before Amber brushed Brooks bangs out of her eyes and spoke. "Lyn, this is incredible for you." she had a smile across her face.

"I-I thought you might be upset or something..." Brooklyn finally said. "I didn't know how to tell you. I didn't want you to be mad at me."

"For something you cant control? For getting a better life? Hell no! When do you leave?"

The brunette girl shrugged, instantly regretting it and hissing out in pain. "Well, whenever THIS calms down.."  

She had a million thoughts swirling in her head. What was her life going to be like? She took her phone and looked at Dan's twitter page. 'my life is a joke.' the bio read. Well, same, Brook thought. 

She saw the direct message option, and her finger hovered over the button.

There was no harm in sending a message, but at the same time, her doctor DID tell her to rest.

She was unsure, and honestly, terrified for the future. As much as she hated her life now, its the only life she's known in her unstable-stability. Yes, she left, but she ALWAYS came back.

She always came back.

Bella's words from earlier rang in her head. 

Worthless. Unadoptable. Unlovable. 

Brooklyn's hands started to shake with anxiety and anger. She pressed the direct message button and quickly typed out a message.

'hey, sorry for how bad things were when we last talked.'

She stared at the send button. 

What the hell was she doing? She threw her phone across Ambers room, earning a stare from her.

"Um. You good?" Amber said, quickly walking over to Brooklyns phone and grabbing it.

"Wait, don't!" Brooklyn rang out, but it was too late. Amber had her phone, and was reading the message.

"Why not send it?" she said, frowning.

Brooklyn turned, feeling like the fool. "What if they've changed their minds?"

Amber walked over to Brook, tossing the phone on her bed and put her hands on Brooks shoulders. The window behind the brunette cast a white glow from the sun shining through the curtains. Amber couldn't quite make out her friends details, but she knew exactly what she was feeling.

She didnt need to see her to know.

"They aren't going to."

[littlemessyjessi]

One (some?) of my favorite tropes; friends to lovers with unintended kiss or confession by SKZ, possibly in protective mode or maybe jealous or tired/drunk. idk if that counts as thirst hours, but im thirsty for it so, pinch of salt i guess? Anyways, love that you're doing more thirst hours!!!

Hi bby!

Superb taste you got there!

And thank you! I'm hoping to do it on the regular!

So I'm gonna mix it up a bit here!

Here's who I think are most likely to find themselves in a friends to lovers situation and the shit would go down.

Felix. Bless him. He's just an angel and so loving. I could see a person just accepting that's how Felix is and not even catching on to the fact that he likes them. Poor baby chick accidentally put himself in the friend zone. I think eventually though he'd crack and just tell them that he likes them.

Minho is another I think would end up in that situation BUT I bet money he would end up confessing drunk. Y'all seen him drunk? Fucking hilarious and I just see how that could happen. Might have the desire to deny the next day out of embarrassment but listen, bunny, we done seent it. Just accept the love and move along, lol.

Chan would probably out himself in one of two ways. An accidental confession with tired late night talks cause he's a puppy. Or something happens and he's protective as hell and it's just kinda out there. Because while Chan is our our adorable puppy.... that mf is also a BEAST. So yeah.

I could see Hyunjin outing himself over being dramatic while jealous. Have you seen this man's facial expressions? He might could tell a lie but his face can not. So I feel like eventually he'd get confronted and then he might be sassy and .... bish it's just way too obvious.

I think Binnie would probably just tell you honestly. It's probably late at night and there's movie playing in the background and he just decides to shoot his shot. He likes you and he's ready to take it a step further if you reciprocate. I think he's mature and secure enough in himself to continue friendhsipif you didn't but he's also intelligent and I'd bet money on it that he already knew you liked him as well before he ever started to even think about telling you. So you know. A whole angel.

Jisung is probably really nervous about the whole situation but I think he would actually confess to you. He wouldn't back down. He just has to calm down enough to tell you. Or he gets tired and giggly and blurts it out. Either way, a whole ass mess when you reciprocate. But such a babe about it.

Seungmin probably got protective and you clock him on the attitude. But you won't back down even when he tries to brush it off. Eventually, you're like, "Look if this is about the crush we both obviously have on each other, I'm not into that guy. I was just asking where the vending machine was. So I could go get YOU snacks, by the way." Shookmin.

Jeongin. Omfg. Sneaky little shit sabotages every date you have and has the AUDACITY to play the baby bread card with you. Eventually, I think his jealously gets the best of him but probably what puts him is he tries to drown those feelings in alcohol. You come home to find him at your place and he spills everything. He wakes up the next day ruth a hangover, aspirin and water beside him... and a new partner.

🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡

Hey loves! Thanks for checking out my work! For all kpop content check Masterlist 2.0 in my navi! Link in bio! Love, K 💋

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[azuregard]

FE7 -- Thoughts on Lyn’s Tale

Just finished Lyn’s tale, so I figured I’d share some thoughts. I’m really enjoying the game so far and can’t wait to continue.

Before starting the game, I lowkey shipped the following pairings: Eliwood/Ninian, Hector/Lyn, Lyn/Florina, Erk/Priscilla, Raven/Lucius, Kent/Fiora, Pent/Louise, Dart/Farina, Harken/Isadora, Jaffar/Nino, and Bartre/Karla. Since I haven’t gotten too far, I can’t say for sure how many will be full-fledged ships (or whether any others will join them), but I think Lyn/Florina’s hella cute so far (though I want to see their supports before I fully board the vessel).

As for ships not on my “lowkey” list, I’m keeping an open mind. I remember back while playing Sacred Stones, there were a few sleeper hits I came across, so I’m fully expecting the same to happen here. In terms of said sleeper hits, Ephraim/Innes was probably the biggest one, as I went in convinced I’d probably go for Innes/Eirika and Ephraim/Tana, but the fact that those supports were littered with such sweet subtext caused me to go a different route than expected.

I managed to unlock the first Gaiden chapter, and since I got Nils up to Level 7 before beating Chapter 10, I’ll hopefully be able to play that obscure chapter in Hector Mode once I get to it.

I almost started crying when Reminiscence came on for the first time (and if I play my cards right wrt supports, that melody’s gonna hurt a hell of a lot worse later on).

I loved that the final chapter allowed you to deploy all the units you’ve acquired. One of the things I struggled with most was deciding who to bench from Chapter 7 onwards (poor Wil got stuck warming said bench a lot).

I actually had to play through the final chapter twice because my dumb ass made the mistake of having Lyn attack Lundgren with an Armorslayer instead of the Lancereaver. While I was annoyed at the time, the fact that Lyn killed his racist ass with a crit pleased me immensely, so I’m not really mad anymore.

As of right now, Mark is my favorite FE avatar, as I find that they play that role better than the ones you see nowadays (not counting New Mystery in this group since I haven’t played it yet). When I think of player avatars, I find the most effective ones are those you can easily project yourself onto. Unfortunately, the modern day avatars tend to have very specific backstories -- Robin is an amnsesiac who was born into a doomsday cult; Corrin is a prince/princess who was taken away from their birth family and raised in a sheltered environment; and Byleth is a merc with a rock shoved into their heart that allows them to wield a legendary weapon; also all three have strong ties to their universe’s dragons. Unlike those three, Mark’s past is currently an open book outside of being a tactician (which, while specific, is relatable due to the player’s role while playing ultimately amounting to just that). That said, I haven’t played far enough to determine whether they’re connected to dragons yet.

Another thing I like about Mark is that they play a relatively minor role in the plot. One thing that bugs me about FE’s avatars nowadays is the need for them to play a major role in the narrative, often to the point of them taking attention away from other characters (or worse, derailing characters for the sake of pandering). In Lyn’s Tale (and hopefully the rest of the game), the focus is on the lord herself, and that’s where I think it should be.

Getting ready to start Eliwood Mode soon. I’ll post my thoughts once I make it far enough.

[basenji18]

Massive Headcannon That I Like, Because the Writers Gave Us Nothing:

Nicholas Powers is a dude on future Eternia. He gets sent out on a mission in space, for *some* reason. His ship accidentally goes through a rift in time and space.

He lands on Preternia, just on the edge of written history, but when the planet has still been around long enough that there are artifacts which are already considered ancient, and which have stopped working. When the starman lands, they suddenly start again. Nick finds himself imbued with powers as well, like Superman from the yellow sun.

The largest ruling body on this planet, the UN Council of Eternia, the Council of Elders, traces the phenomena back to the crash site, and bring him in. They make him one of their members, counting on him to be a powerful ally. (Would love to see Nick being more slightly built and slim like his daughter, then going through a kind of permanent He-Man transformation himself.) They flatter and build him up, and tell him he has landed with exactly the right people on Eternia; lucky for him he didn't fall in with some of the others.

But Nick is distraught. His spaceship is gone, and the technology to repair it doesn't even exist in this time, and he doesn't know how to build a new one even if it did. His home is gone, his family. He's a fish out of water and time.

Enter in a young queen (I saw one fanart call her "Mal-lyssa," which I get is another "evil" name joke, but I like Melissa, I think it's cute). Queen Melissa is ruler of Zalesia, a queendom of too much size and importance for the Council to ignore, but the queen is not a member of the Council, nor do Zalesia and the Council get along very well.

For one, most of the Council is made up of traditional patriarchies. The matriarchal nature of Zalesia doesn't always sit. For another, and much more dire, the Counsel sold Zalesia out to Hordak when he was around. When he split the planet into light and dark hemispheres, they left Zalesia out to dry. What was once lush forest land turned into permanight desert.

I imagine Zalesia survived under strong leaders with solid plans in place, because imagine if suddenly the world lost sunlight. That would affect every single life. What new crops are you going to grow? What food can your population live off of in the meantime? How will it affect travel and livestock and heating and and and and...?

Rulers who could pull a people through that would have major loyalty from their followers, and an understandably major chip on their shoulder at the people who let it happen.

So no, I don't think Zalesia has a great relationship with the Council to begin with. So I don't think Melissa takes too much notice of their rules when she comforts Nick. I believe the two genuinely fall in love and marry.

Enter fucking Hiss.

I still don't get why the Council is so willing to try and pacify every single would-be world dictator they come across. If there's a prophecy that a child of the Council will overthrow him, why are any of them using protection ever? Plus, I can kinda see this as being a bylaw they didn't tell Nick about until it was too late.

"Good news! I'm gonna be a daddy!"

"You WHAT?!?"

Again, I like the idea of a matriarchy which traces offspring through the mother. After all, in all those patriarchies, there's always going to be SOME question about the legitimacy of any heirs. If a woman has a kid, you know it's hers. So from the Zalesian standpoint, I think it would be a great cultural point if no one considered that Nick had broken the treaty, because under their laws, the child was the queen's.

(I also don't like her dying in childbirth, because it's overdone, and also how you gonna tell me this man controls gods and can't save his wife? That's a Queen Amadala-level copout. There's literal magic in this world, NO OTHER MotU character dies in childbirth, seriously. Try again.

What I really want to find a way to do is have Hiss set his sites on Zalesia, and instead of believing in the Council like her husband does, Melissa goes out to the desert to find help another way, and in some fashion or another becomes Shokoti. Anyhoo.)

The Faceless One transformation really pisses me off, and makes me discount the "good" guys of MotU. Because they could have killed him. They could have killed him, or let Hiss finish him off. Instead, the Council lets Zalesia be destroyed, LEAVES THE INFANT TO DIE IN A FIRE, but they don't kill Nick. Oh no. Because then their magical artifacts might stop working again, you see. So they make him immortal, and unable to ever leave. Trapped, and used as a not quite dead, not fully alive battery.

So what I wanna see is after Price of Deceit, Lyn joins up with He-Man, in full snarky and distrustful Lyn mode, they have to run from both Hiss and Skeletor, and He-Man's people who don't know what's going on. At some point He-Man as a personality is separated from Adam, which lets that go full enemies to lovers, and even though she doesn't do it like anybody else would have, Lyn does manage to fulfill the prophecy and bring down Hiss. She and He-Man go to the future, found New Zalesia, Adam is left to rule current Eternia, and Lyn goes Terminator and sends her own father back in time.

BAM. *mic drop*

[husbando-collector-sanctuary]

Adventures with Aerynne: HCs.

Now, in my crazy, young adult-like verse, Aerynne and Johan nurture a warm, sweet friendship that almost blossoms into an equally sweet relationship-but then, for different reasons, the two of them veer off into other love interests.

Right before Johan gathers up the courage to confess, Aerynne becomes infatuated with Rashad. Johan eventually becomes involved with someone else, through a series of emotional events and adventures. And it is in the Plaza Lyn finds a tearful Johan, shaken by Aerynne developing feelings for someone else.

In one verse, I have the duteous, chivalrous Krom coming to Johan's rescue, despite dealing with his own burdens. For whatever reason, a second verse now has Ricardo in Krom's place. I know close to nothing about him, other than he's a catboy in Isola that DOESN'T APPEAR UNTIL EXTREME MODE, APPARENTLY, but developing these headcanons is an urgently needed mental escape for me. And I thought Johan dating someone from a completely different world would be interesting (in addition to Ricardo simply being hot).

I know very little is known about Ricardo, but thanks to the current issue of Avillon Times, I envision him as someone playful, kind, open and adventurous. Someone that speaks his mind without reservation, but also without malice. So he constantly tells Johan things like 'you're really pretty' and 'you remind me of the sun', saying those things as though they're fact.

He's very warm, kind, open and understanding towards the Knight-while Aerynne's got two huge flaws against him. One: he's clearly infatuated with someone else, and two: he never opens up about anything that's bothering him. Ever.

I don't know how much this will change once I arrive at Extreme Mode. Since I'm still in Normal Mode, I honestly have zero idea as to who Johan's endgame will be, or even Aerynne's at this point, as we know absolutely NOTHING about Rashad. Next week, I may be shipping Johan with Mikhail.  I know I'm making LOH into some wacky version of 'Miraculous Ladybug', where there are eternal debates over four different ships, but-

Creating these headcanons helps me feel better. Being a part of 'Lord of Heroes' makes me feel better.

Thank you for joining me on Aerynne and Johan's journeys.

- Courtney

[cadcnce-archived]

          BIG ASS CHARACTER SHEET FOR                    FANTASY VERSE WYLAN

I found an image while going through my files for cursed pics to send @spiritmaiden​, they had the audacity to take it and fill it out for the fantasy verse of their sky-zel, so I of course have to match the effort for Wylan because I’m not about to be shown up. It’s hella involved, nobody’s getting tagged but damn if you want an exercise in hitting your character then give it a shot. Most is under the cut because of length.

Character’s Name: Zachary Reis (Born) Wylan Rechtur (Used) Character’s nicknames: Ze (by his sister) Wy (by his friends and preferred) Zephyr (mercenary name, also what you’d see on any wanted posters) Gender: Male Righty or Lefty: Righty Age: 25-26  Height: 6′-0″  Weight: ~180 lbs Eye Color: Emerald green, bright and wide filled with a mix of confidence and playfulness. Hair color: Dark brown, messy and falling to his ears. Unkempt may be a good descriptor, but he generally keeps it down flatter at the least.  Distinguishing marks: His body is pocked with marks and scars from fights and other disagreements, but the ones most easily discerned are knife scars on his hands, and a short arc above his left brow. Describe physical traits in one passage: A good way to view him is concealed strength and agility. He’s toned and in good shape but doesn’t often dress or carry himself in ways that would flaunt this. His posture and pose are loose, and his expressions can be lazy and playful. So the moment he flips that switch and uses the full brunt of his power? It’s a surprise. He’s also a bit on the lanky side, his body size doesn’t fully compliment the size of his limbs. 

FAMILY/ RELIGION

Parents: Mother and father were disappeared/dead when he was just a bit over 6 years old and his sister was an infant. They were involved with the church but not royalty themselves. Wylan never spent much time figuring out what. They had a life left for him and his sister that he threw away as well. His father was a gentle soul while his mother was razor sharp and firm. Siblings: Younger sister, Katelynn Reis, but goes by Lyn with her friends. Wylan calls her Kat. She’s ~5 years younger than he, and remains with the church training and working as a healer. Whereas Wylan ran away from being a Paladin, she stayed strong to become a Cleric.  Significant Other: Verse dependent, Wylan typically is averse to romance and prefers casual encounters.  Children: None, nor is he open to them initially in his canon.  Other relatives: None remain living that he is aware of. He and his sister were raised by his grandmother on his father’s side, but she passed away shortly after he left the knight’s academy, when Wylan was roughly 16-17.  Pets: None. But he does enjoy talking to cats. Friends: Wylan is the type who ‘knows a guy’, he’s close with many tavernkeeps and makes nice with the adventurer’s guilds and their members as well. His work as an informant necessitates things like this. Wylan is also the type to consider most anyone he encounters and converses with a friend, whether they like it or not. His best friend though would easily be a wandering adherent by the name of Emke. I don’t care what the thread is about in some way she’s involved in his life. They’re platonic soulmates. Enemies: As a mercenary and hunter, some others in his craft would consider Wylan to be their rival, and in many cases he would view them just the same. It’s hard to say he has any enemies outside of pointedly evil factions however! Relationships (other): His relationship with his sister is an odd one. They’re still in touch via letters and the occasional visit, and he does what he can to support her with his money, but they’re not close like conventional siblings. There’s a strange codependence between them. Wylan depends on Lyn as a ‘rock’, and she depends on him as the ‘sea’. Ethnicity: Human! His origins are mostly a mix of Germanic/Portuguese if you wanted a comparison to Earth races/ethnicities. Religion: He recognizes the existence of higher powers but his relationship with them isn’t the best. As if being rebellious to his parents wasn’t bad enough he has to be tsundere towards The Light. This is noted when he uses holy magic such as wards and smiting spells and getting rebound into his own body upon use. Superstitions: He’s incredibly wary around the undead and spirits. So catch him spreading salt when he has to camp somewhere less than lively. Also give him a moment to sharpen his silver weaponry...  Diction, Accent, ETC.: His dialect is pretty clean, though this depends on who he’s speaking to, being the travelling sort he is he’s capable of lightly ‘faking’ various accents, or just being lazy with his own manner of speech. Traces back to proper speaking that was drilled into him as a child and then his own rebelliousness. SCHOOL/ WORK / HOME Education (Highest): He was well learned with the academy work that he actually accomplished. While he never finished and never put his all into his studies, it was clear to his teachers that he had a gift for learning but a problem with conviction.  Degrees: None! But just so I still have something here, one of his informal titles is ‘The Gale’s Fang’. Vocation/Occupation: Jack of several trades, wrapped up best as a mercenary informant, and a monster hunter. He’s good at tracking both people and monsters and taking them down- lethally or not so much. Employment History: Wylan was fully involved with the knight’s academy from the age of 6 to 16, so for those 10 years he had his hands full dealing with that and trying to figure out himself (poorly). Upon leaving the academy after the accident, he took up arms and was given tutelage by the thieves’ guild which taught him how to use his senses and move quietly through the shadows. Wylan didn’t make a good pickpocket, but he was good at reading other people and exceptional at duels. It wasn’t long before he took the advice of the guildmaster and made better uses of his talents. Not necessarily for good, but for more profit. By the age of 22 he was an accomplished and well connected informant, bartering information as well as putting his swordwork to use headhunting and slaying monsters that made issue outside the cities in which he frequented. This continues to current/canon start of interactions. Salary: He’s affluent enough not to worry too much about his state of living, but he can be prone to splurge spending that puts him in a bind for a few weeks at a time, at least until the next job puts money back on the table. Status and money: Continuing off the above, he’s decent enough with his funds (after sending money back to help out his sister) but wouldn’t be well off enough to be considered rich compared to his modern verse. Fortunately he has enough renown that jobs aren’t too hard to come by for him. And many barkeeps and friends are willing to open a tab for him. So he’s not too desperate.  Own or Rent: Wylan typically rents inn rooms when he stays in the cities, and camps when he’s out in the woods. Technically he also owns if you count helping his sister keep her own place running (thought it’s really about 30-70, with his sister funding most of it)  Living Space: Wylan never stays long at the room. It’s a place to go back to and sleep. Personal belongings? Very few. Most things he owns that he wouldn’t want to lose stay back with his sister kept in a basement or separate room that he uses on the rare times he’s back in the capital/holy city from which he originally hailed. As you can imagine, this isn’t very often.  Work Space: N/A! He doesn’t have one! Given his work is almost entirely in the field. Main Mode of Transportation: CATCH A RIIIIIDE. Though he’s apt to have a horse around for transport if he isn’t going too far. Long voyages for when he changes locales would probably be hitching a ride with a caravan. He also doesn’t mind voyages on foot too much. PSYCHOLOGY Fears: Externally he has an aversion to ghosts and spirits. The concept of the dead coming back to haunt you isn’t something he much cares for. Having access to light magic should mostly assuage this, and yet it can give him goosebumps anyhow. Ironically he has a fear of large mammals in his modern verse but that shit doesn’t apply here given he’s a monster hunter! Internally he fears being forgotten, not making a name for himself, and dying before he can truly feel alive.  Secrets: His birth name, Zachary Reis, isn’t something he will bring up with anyone. It’s not necessarily a ‘dead name’ for him, but it’s one he threw away the same time he decided he was going to toss away his ‘fate’ as a paladin. Taking the name of Wylan was another way he took his life for himself in his mind. Despite this being a path of self destruction. His sister is also something he doesn’t often bring up unless he very much trusts that person.  IQ: Surprisingly high. He picks up a lot of information doing the work he does, but you wouldn’t be blamed for not believing this. Eating Habits: They could be a lot better. He eats enough to get by, but his diet isn’t as varied as it could be. Wylan hunts small game when he can, but he isn’t an exciting cook so ALAS. This boy prefers hitting up taverns and getting basic meals like stews, jerky, sandwiches, etc etc. Sleeping Habits: Wylan is a very light sleeper. Typically if you so much as step into the room he’s sleeping in he’ll snap into awareness. It takes a loooong day of exertion to keep him sleeping deep otherwise. Frustrating is how he ‘fakes’ being asleep. So someone could come in and start rummaging and he would still breathe and move as if he were still sleeping. Up until he sits up and stares or cracks a joke. Dare you to kiss him when you think he’s asleep.   Book Preferences: History tomes every now and then. Wylan doesn’t read much fiction and prefers any time he spends reading to be somewhat productive! Make up for other education he missed as part a result of running on the academy. He also reads up on magic and sorcery to work on the wind affinity he also has.  Music Preferences: Wylan doesn’t play any instruments but he DOES love love love to dance and sing. He’s an entertainer at heart and loves to rally people however he may. Suffice to say he’s amusing to go drinking with. And not just because he starts bar fights to amuse himself. Groups or Alone: He’s primarily a lone fighter. Some hunts he will of course work with a team of other hunters, he’s not stupid enough to take on the larger beasts by himself, but there’s a preference for doing things on his own terms. He’s self aware enough to know that his ways and methods can be grating, but ah... how all of that clashes with his desire to show off and have an audience. Being Wylan is suffering. Leader or Follower: He’s both, but prefers to be a follower if he can help it. Let other people make the plans then nudge them this way and that to better fit your own methods. He’s a prankster and a good compliment to most parties after all, so you’d be wise to utilize him! Lest he utilize himself... but that said, he’s an anti-hero, so there’s possibility in there for him to be a leader as well and take charge. It just isn’t his default nature and he’d rather not. Planned Out or Spontaneous: Wylan is chaos incarnate. Most everything he does outside of necessity/work is spontaneous. All his mischief and plans are cobbled together and thrown out there. Sometimes he’ll do a bunch of things at once, like throwing a bundle of darts at the wall to see which ones stick. And oh my fucking god don’t get me started on being romantic he can’t plan for shit in that department. Journal Entries (Do they keep one?) Nope. Not a daily journal at least. He’ll keep notebooks and the like for jotting down intel and what have you for jobs he takes up. But most of the time he’ll just have little notes in his pocket, and not really chronicle his life. He may also make ‘fake’ entries to tease people or trick them. See what he did to Zelda the one time. Be careful what you believe... Hobbies, Recreation: Tricks!! Sleight of hand!! Cards and dice!! Part of growing up and learning with a thieves’ guild is getting involved in lots of things that make use of your hands and dexterity. He likes playing random games with folks and oh! People watching. Stalking. Not the cutest thing but Wylan makes a hobby out of ‘testing himself’ and exercising his talents. His hobby is unfortunately annoying people, to summarize. How Do They Relax: His hobbies help him to relax! Also, if you can believe it, sitting back in a group conversation and watching the conversation happen and move forward. Learning about other people is something he likes doing, which is hypocritical since he can make himself so difficult to learn by contrast. BUT THE REAL THING HE DOES.. is practice sword fighting. Slow rhythmic swings of his blade, almost like a dance. He focuses his thoughts and calms his soul when he practices. It’s like a mix of swordfighting, dancing, and yoga. Controlling himself. Feeling himself. It’s multiple things.    What Excites Them?: PEOPLE. Things! Happenings! The unknown and pushing himself to new limits. Honestly one of Wy’s biggest drives is doing something or becoming something that will make him ‘Feel Alive’. Because for all of his antics and frivolity he’s very much fighting an encroaching darkness in his soul. So he’ll search out bizarre things to get involved in. It’s one of the reasons he’s bugging Zelda, because her involvement in witchcraft and his own suspicions have him interested huehue. Pet Peeves: Being ignored. Like perfectly disregarding his existence and whatever he’s getting up to. If you’re not reacting to him being him then that means he’s not being effective and he’s losing. It’s his only real weakness...  Prejudices: None. He’s not the most respectful person so most everyone, royalty or important or otherwise gets subjected to similar treatment. If anything, the more important you are the more likely you are to get annoyed! Attitudes: He’s usually with a front, a mask if you will. His general attitude is curious and nosy, but that’s fronted with a playfulness and proclivity for being annoying. Don’t be fooled, he’s usually something more pensive and calculating underneath that exterior. Wylan actually quiets a fair bit once that mask is taken away, his mood swings down and his tone is a touch deeper. Stressors: Things going awry and his friends being put in danger. He absolutely does not do well with people he cares about being hurt. One of the worst things that can happen to him is his sister dying for example, and has lead to one of his most self destructive plots I’ve written, in this verse especially. Lovers? Don’t hurt them. Don’t endanger them. The idea of rivals or enemies going after people he cares about.. hoo. MAN. None of that please. He can be SO damn possessive. In relationships he’s very self conscious as well of fulfilling their needs. So if his partner remarks, regardless of how offhandedly, they’d like more of something he will TRY TO MAKE THAT HAPPEN.  Obsessions: Being an absolute pain in the ass. And in cases where someone has wronged him or someone close to him? Tracking them down and getting closure/revenge. That shit takes him to the brink of killing himself. Addictions: None to the point of being problematic, but he does love eating pickles.  Ambitions: To make a name for himself, to be renowned and respected. To feel alive and accomplished as a person. He’d also like to take down a dragon someday. Get some armor from its scales and a sword out of that shit. As Seen by Others: Capable and dangerous, but impossible to work with for long periods. Keep a tight lip around him lest he use that information against you and learn things you’d rather keep secret. A lecherous womanizer. As Seen by Self: A body of broken glass, encased in a shell, covered in masks. Who are you? What are you? Where are you even going? You’re lost. You’re aimless. You’re swimming and swimming and eventually you’re going to be tired, aren’t you? ASTROLOGY/PHISIOLOGY Birth Date: October 10. Time of Birth: Evening. Western Astrological Sign: Libra Traits Associated with Western Sign: Social, Clever, Unreliable, Diplomatic Traits Associated with Chinese Zodiac: N/A, seeing as I don’t age Wylan with the years this doesn’t really apply. Handwriting: Clean when he needs it to be, but otherwise a quick script with lots of pen strikes. He’s capable with drawing diagrams and the like as well! This boy can throw out monster diagrams with weak points and other ecological notes oh yes yes. Sexual History: Wylan was already exploring that sort of thing before he left the academy, so yes... as early as 16 he’d already lost the v-card. He doesn’t really do relationships and enjoys casual encounters. Many a maiden at the bar or elsewhere has taken him for a spin. Typically partners aren’t reoccurring in fantasy verse, however. He’s... well, very good in the performance category.   General Health: A+ healthy aside from the sleep and subpar diet bits. Strong and good stamina. Medical History: He’s nearly died one times too many. Been stabbed, cut, poisoned, bitten, but hey he’s still alive! And that’s what he’d argue matters with this business. Allergies: SHELLFISH. Chronic Illnesses: None to speak of. Handicaps: He’s somewhat of a type B tsundere. It’s awful.  OBJECTS Purse / Bag: He’s got a coin purse that he’ll carry spare gold around in for spending on what have you. Supposedly food but he’s weak to splurge purchases. Most everything else he keeps on him in his pockets and his belt. Wallet: Uhhh see above, coin purse!!! He’s got enough for the week or so!! Don’t try and pickpocket him because he will catch you and you will feel stupid. Fridge: He doesn’t keep food around. He more or less has to scavenge for everything he eats either through buying or hunting. That’s kind of the life for the vagrant he is, isn’t it? Medicine Cabinet: N/A, but he does keep bandages and salves at his room.  Glove Compartment: N/A!! Junk Drawer: NNNNNN/AAAAAAA Kitchen Cabinets: Wylan get a house so I can fill this out challenge. Bedroom Hiding Place: Behind a wall panel or somesuch if he can manage. Otherwise in the floor or outside the window. Closets: His wardrobe typically includes tunics, coats, leather armor and harnesses for his weaponry! He’s got a couple swords in fantasy verse, and he’s got throwing knives and a grappling hook!!  Backback: Yeah uh see above, what a question. Locker: None Desk: WYLAN KEEP ITEMS AROUND CHALLEEEEENGE.  Clothes pocket: Daggers, notes, maybe a writing implement and paper so he can jot things down. He’s also got little knick knacks like a gem or a monster tooth to show off. Isn’t it cool??? Also lint.

OTHER Halloween Costumes: Werewolf!!! Get him in either just a lazy one with gloves and ears or deck him out in the whole garb. Love that idea on him. In one verse Big Bad Wolf is his nickname, and in another he flat out IS a werewolf! So yeAH. Tricks: He’s very skilled at sleight of hand!! Card flourishes and dice rolls. Cup games. Illusions and dexterity... he’s a slippery one! He’s also likely to catch you in words, using things you say against you. He gets really meta and oh how annoying that can get... Talents: SWORDPLAY- He learned from a very early age at an esteemed academy where only the best knights get trained. He mixes that style with a more ‘street’ type that he picked up with the thieves’ guild and even further as a monster hunter and mercenary. Suffice to say that all mixes together into multiple stances he can switch between depending on what he’s up against. Strong sweeping strikes, vicious stabbing and leaping, poised dueling and parrying... he’s a TOUGH fight. MAGIC: Wylan is at odds with his use of holy magic that utilizes the light to bless and heal. Until he comes to terms with himself and the power he wants to channel it’ll have ‘blowbacks’ on himself. Fingers will burn, head will ache, and his stomach will flip. But it’s still undeniably effective for where it is! Aside from that he knows some wind magic to supplement himself. He’s not known as ‘Zephyr’ for nothing after all! Gusting steps, slashing winds, REALLY BIG JUMPS!!! If you throw him he’s a fantastic projectile! And lets see- DANCING! He learned it first as part of his etiquette as a knight, but it’s something that’s evolved with him and oh does he enjoy festivals for that reason. Ballroom styles are what he’s most familiar with. Dance with him. Please dance with him. Politics: Indifferent! Doesn’t care for authority figures to begin with so in any case or kingdom with a monarchy he’s very buh about it. He’s very self-accomplished and his beliefs would push him towards meritocracy over anythign else if you ask me!  Flaws: Suspicious, possessive, and very persistent. This could be a strength too but for the most part can be seen as a detriment because of how it ends up being applied. Which is in self-destructive tendencies WOO. He’s also very lustful, and can be distracted by a fine woman and let himself be swayed by his desires over time. Have I mentioned he isn’t the most reliable? He’s apt to lie to people and give intentionally wrong impressions just to make it easier for him to slip away. You gotta go up a few levels to unlock that... So yeah, sins are WRATH, LUST, and ENVY. Strengths: NONE. Okay if you earn a solid place as his friend there is almost NO limit to what he’ll do to protect you. Wylan has a ridiculous amount of determination and mental fortitude and he can and will strike down a GOD to keep those things that are precious to him. He’s also an amusing character to have around, if you are feeling bummed he is almost guaranteed to find a way to cheer you up and support you if only so he can not feel as guilty teasing as he usually does HUE. He’s got a very up beat personality! Sure, a lot of it is a mask but he WANTS it to be real and that’s what really matters if you ask me. His reckless optimism can be endearing. There’s a lot of other surprising mental qualities such as how clever and quick witted he can be. Part of that mental fortitude lets him think and fight on his feet regardless of how much pressure he’s under. It takes a LOT to dampen his thought processes. Drugs/Alcohol: He drinks frequently, but he wouldn’t be counted as a drunkard. Wylan rarely drinks to excess, and prefers to do so among friends and good company. Passwords: Uh, do ritual prayers count? Magical spells? Heh. Email Address, Home Page, Blogs, etc.: Oh if only this were for modern verse... Time and place: Medieval fantasy! Magic and creatures! I also love throwing Monster Hunter vibes in for the big monsters he goes up against. Special Places: For him? Cliffs overlooking the ocean. Abandoned temples he can just chill at. For all he enjoys being around people now and then he really appreciates quiet isolation. Special Memories: Lots of memories with his sister before they more or less split ways. There’s one in particular where he was trying to teach her swordplay when she was just a little girl, and she about stubbed his toe when the wooden practice sword fell right on it. Her panicked attempts to try and heal him were something that really stuck with him.

[preservationandruin]

Rhythm Of War Liveblog Part One, Part 1 (Chapters 1-2)

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On to Part One of Rhythm of War, after I finish screaming at the ghost of Gavilar Kholin. Actually, we can’t wait for that, I’m never going to be done screaming at the ghost of Gavilar Kholin. 

Our POVs are Kaladin, Shallan, Navani, Venli, and Lirin--so Kal’s family is coming back to prominence, I guess. It’s a short update, but I gotta go to work. 

Lirin talks about the ethics of continuing a hopeless fight, Syl lets loose an “I told you so” first thing, we see a new and terrifying variant of Fused, I come up with a new, more accurate name for the Sons of Honor; Veil finally gets kidnapped; I start getting philosophical about the ethics of continuing a hopeless fight; and Kaladin organizes an airlift. 

Epigraphs for this part seem to be a lecture that Navani gave on how to trap spren in fabrials, so that’s cool.

Alright, so our timing here is a year after the fall of Alethkar, and Herdaz has been next on the Voidbringers’ target list. They’ve been fighting the entire time, but the voidbringers have intensified their assault and now refugees are pouring into the villages in Alethkar; Lirin is insisting on examining everyone as they come in, making sure that he can find people who need treatment early. The leader of Hearthstone now is Brightness Abiajan--from the name, I’m assuming she’s one of the singers. 

Also, apparently someone is coming through this line today that Lirin is anxious about. Abiajan comes to talk to Lirin, wondering if he has no compassion because he’s so numb to others’ suffering--he explains that he has to numb it to survive as a surgeon. She mentions that he set her arm, once, when she was a child. Also, hilariously, Abiajan says that plaguespren cause plague and that the idea that it’s improper sanitation is superstition. 

Laral, Kaladin’s childhood friend, is helping out now, determined. Apparently the person that Lirin is worried about is a Herdazian general; Lirin does see him as responsible for much of the current strife for continuing to fight; however, he’s not going to turn him in, and instead has contacted Kaladin to come pick him up while Laral helps Roshone make a distraction. 

Lirin’s condemnation of continuing a hopeless war as something that just gets people killed and is stupid (”Heroism is a myth you tell idealistic young people. It got one of my sons killed and another taken from me”) makes sense and is deeply sad. It’s also a good second perspective on the fact that so much of Roshar’s narrative has been about being forced to choose between two bad options and having the resolve to find another path or stick with the honorable thing--Lirin here is a reminder that that’s not always an option and sometimes makes things worse. “I obey the person who holds the sword to my neck, General, same as I always have.” 

Heroism isn’t always an option. Heroism can get you killed and hurt the people around you. You have to be willing to take responsibility for that in order to try heroism, and that’s some of what Kaladin has had to struggle with, too--the fact that he can’t protect everyone and that his actions will lead to death sometimes.

Also, shoutout to Roshone for actually making a distraction here, good on you buddy. Anyway Lirin noticed that the parshmen always focus on what appears to be the person being seen to rather than, say, the people carrying the litter--probably because they’re used to the people doing those menial tasks being unnoticed and unspoken to, and have absorbed that norm of society? I don’t know, but Lirin is exploiting it. 

Oh man, someone has visited Hearthstone, someone who Abiajan refers to as having blessed them, and she demands that Lirin come with her and that nobody leave the town. It’s one of the Fused, and it’s interrogating people about Kaladin--and they noticed that Kaladin was there, and Lirin notes that he barely recognizes Kaladin anymore, referring to him as the “harsh man Kaladin had become.” 

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, just let Kaladin babysit people this book, let him rest, he deserves it. I mean, what’s happening is him having to fight again, but he deserves rest.  

Cut to Kaladin’s perspective, Syl is delivering an “I told you so” about them being spotted, which is so relentlessly on-brand. Kaladin notes that he’s not looking at Lirin to avoid giving Lirin away, and also because “he knew what he would see. disappointment. So, nothing new.” 

HEY. SOMEONE LOVE AND APPRECIATE KALADIN STORMBLESSED PLEASE HE’S DOING HIS BEST. 

Meanwhile,  Kaladin is learning the different “orders” of Fused; he’s mostly dealt with the shanay-im, “those of the heavens,” who share the flight of windrunners. Apparently Jasnah posited there would be ten orders, logically, and Dalinar--offering no explanation for how he knew--said it would only be nine. I mean, at this point if anyone knows Odium it’s Dalinar. 

Also, this Fused has learned not to do single combat, which is Kaladin’s normal mode of dealing with them. I wonder if the order they’re modelled after affects their behavior--honorspren create windrunners, and agreeing to a one-on-one duel is a very honorable thing to do. Maybe there’s more connection there than either side wants to realize. 

Ok, so what we know about this new Fused: 

Teleports via shooting their spren forward, then forming a new body of voidlight and stone where they end up. 

Probably elsecaller-linked (teleportation and then forming things out of energy) 

Favors exploiting teleportation to allow for a grappling fighting style and sneaking into blind spots extremely quickly (big rogue energy) 

Teleportation ability is extremely costly, can only be done three times before needing to recharge on Voidlight. 

Does not teleport instantaneously; the spren-travel can be outrun, as Kaladin does by lashing himself forward five times (so, approximately five times the speed of gravity on Roshar, which is not gravity’s speed on earth, is faster than them; they’re considerably slower than light, even though that’s what they look like)

Can’t transport objects/make them from voidlight; clothing is a hair wrap and weapons are fragments of their skin

He leaves but tells Kaladin to watch for him; it also seems like Kaladin’s depression is coming back. Syl shows up to talk to him, wearing a different style--she’s been taking fashion notes from Adolin, which is hilarious. 

Meanwhile, Veil is wandering around the Sadeas warcamps, irritated that she hasn’t been kidnapped yet, or even mugged. Also, Veil and Shallan are apparently teaching Radiant to appreciate humor, which is great. Adolin and his soldiers are apparently backing her up for this hopeful kidnapping, which is reassuring--I’m glad she’s not going it alone, although she’s very competent. She’s pretending to be a merchant who has a way in past Dalinar’s tariffs and is also implying he doesn’t have the authority to demand them. 

Ooh, specifically Shallan is hunting the Hypocrite’s Association, which is what I’m calling the Sons of Honor for the moment I guess. For a moment, while they’re doing accounting, Shallan starts having a bit of a memory come back; Veil suggests it might be time to remember everything, but Shallan shuts that down. 

Apparently, in the grand tradition of Sadeases not knowing when they’re beaten, Ialai is plotting treason. Ialai, how did that go for the last two Brightlords Sadeas? I’m begging you, quit while you’re...behind, honestly. But still alive. Anyway, the wine was drugged--finally--so they have officially been kidnapped! 

Back to Kaladin,  Syl is trying to convince him that it’s easy to sleep, he just has to lie down and pretend to be dead for a few hours (oh, Syl, honey, you’re trying to help but that’s not...that’s not it) but Kaladin is noting that it feels like life is strangely disconnected for him, like it keeps going for everyone else and he’s in stasis. 

Chronic depression is a bitch. 

Syl cheers him up by doing a terrible Kaladin impression, though. I love her. Kaladin goes back to talk to the singers, telling them that there’s a shelter half an hour to the east and telling them not to fight if they don’t want to die. They, of course, fight, which Kaladin doesn’t like; it’s very Alethi of them, though, to throw themselves forward. 

Again, we’re back to whether or not there’s heroism in fighting a fight you can’t win. Even with Ialai, kind of--continuing to fight against Dalinar when she can’t win it. Hopeless fights are all well and good when your protagonists do them and it works, this part seems to be pointing out, but what if they fail? And how does it feel to be on the other side of them? 

Anyway, the others retreat, and Kaladin gets to meet with his mom and baby Oroden (who pronounces his name as “Gagadin;” i’m gonna CRY). Syl always appears to Kal’s family. Also, apparently Kaladin was dating Lyn, which is wild because I’m almost positive based on her appearance last book that she’s gay as fuck, and she broke up with him. Also, Syl and Hesina are ganging up on Kaladin and it’s great. 

"It’s demonstrably unfair that I have to deal with both of you at once,” Kaladin said. 

Meanwhile it also turns out that the Radiants haven’t been supporting Herdaz because they saw it falling as inevitable, but it’s continued fighting against all odds. Another perspective: is it alright to abandon others fighting a fight that you assume is impossible, when it could be winnable with your strength? 

Also, apparently the Mink likes to sneak away from his guards without letting them notice, and he’s done it again here. That’s pretty impressive, I’ve got to say, although Kaladin is aghast at the idea of leaving one’s men behind like that (of course). 

Also, Kaladin organized one of Navani’s platforms to essentially airlift out all of Hearthstone. Trying to save as many people as he can, even still. 

[crystalelemental]

“el-jarado: For what it's worth, she's my favorite because Lyn and Florina are both characters I really like, although I'm kinda bummed her existence is probably blocking Florina from a true alt...”

That’s honestly my biggest gripe with it too.  Florina’s really popular, it sucks that she doesn’t have a seasonal alt of her own yet.  Also this got really long so more under the cut.

I think the other thing is that, when it comes to these paired up units, I really want to see an interesting dynamic that makes it worth it.  One of these units may as well not even exist; the very name of the units should make that clear (Duo Lif, for instance, completely ignores the fact that Thrasir is part of it, which she may as well not be).  So they have to compensate in my mind.  And a lot of them...very do not.  Like Ephraim and Lyon.  Lyon’s pretty popular.  And he’s relegated to a backup, who will likely never be at the front of one of these powerhouse units.  Or the Mia and “Marth” tihng.  Yeah, it’s an unexpected partnership, but “Marth” being the backup could mean Lucina never gets anything as a frontliner, despite basically being a lord herself, and the dynamic doesn’t actually offer anything worthwhile.  Which is a problem.  If the backup is considered an “alt” despite not actually getting anything for themselves mechanically, then the alt has to offer a good dynamic that isn’t well-explored, or offers a fresh perspective on the characters.  And because they don’t often do that, there are only five I like.

The good:

Duo Hector and Lilina is a precious dynamic we can never see in the main games.  Hector and baby Lilina, going trick or treating, is unbelievably precious and wonderful, and exactly the kind of thing I expected of all Duo units when they were introduced.  Oh well.

Duo Idunn and Fae are similar, in that we only see their dynamic at the very end of Binding Blade.  This Duo feels like a continuation of their development, notably for Idunn who is starting to regain her lost soul, while expanding upon their sibling-like dynamic that’s implied but not explored in their home game.

Harmonic Tiki offers an interesting perspective on the experiences of these dragons who were, by and large, really isolated through most of their lives, and the difference between one who hesitates to trust humans and one who jumps right in.  It’s a cool dynamic for characters who have met from across games.  Still kinda upset Ninian isn’t the frontliner.

Harmonic Altina and Sanaki actually offers some great perspective into Sanaki.  We already knew a bit about her insecurities, but having her admit to them to her ancestor who seems to be a hero she looks up to is precious, and the reciprocation and just raw joy Altina has at meeting her descendant is precious, and a dynamic that was well worth the investment.

Harmonic Myrrh...honestly is just precious.  It’s another of those really cute dynamics between characters you’d never expect to see together.  I think she and Nah have fantastic synergy, and a great dynamic to explore that, prior to this, wasn’t even considered.  It’s great.  It just sucks that one of them had to be relegated to backline.

The Bad:

Duo Ephraim and Lyon.  Did you knew Ephraim was a frat boy?  Because that’s all this alt seems to offer.  Shit we already knew.  Glad we lost a Lyon alt over this.

Duo Marth and Elise.  We already know their dynamic, this doesn’t exactly add much.  Glad we don’t get Elise in the game over this.

Duo Alfonse and Sharena.  Nothing new is added, and Sharena is known to be the one who likes these festivals while Alfonse isn’t as invested, so why is he the frontliner?

Duo Alm and Celica.  Nothing new is added, and frankly their conversation bothers me.  I actually have this one, and for the first half it just feels like bickering nonsense, that they end by just kinda glossing over because Alm did get her a different present.  Celica comes off as a brat, and Alm as kind of a dumbass.  Which isn’t out of character, but reminds me why I don’t particularly love them as a couple.

Duo Palla, Catria, and Est.  That’s a trio, but sure, it still doesn’t add anything to them.  But they’re babies!

Duo Micaiah and Sothe.  It offers nothing, it makes things worse for me by trying to insist this is the “Correct” pairing, and I really, really do not like Sothe as it turns out.  Worst paired unit by dynamic by far.

Summer Mia and “Marth.”  They offer a fairly unique dynamic, but not enough of one that they stand out.  Also I, like many others, will never forgive them for putting Lucina as the backup, and potentially removing her ability to be a frontliner in another alt some day.

Duo Byleth and Rhea.  I haven’t gotten their alt, never will, but I’m convinced their conversation is meaningless, since there is no way to make Byleth compelling without cheating.  Also I will literally never forgive them for what this alt did to Rhea.  I’m so fucking pissed this is her only representation in the game.  No Seiros does not count.

Harmonic Veronica and Xander is cute, but Xander is still the dumb joke about not being able to swim, and their dynamic is well known, with this offering almost nothing to make them more interesting.

Duo Sigurd and Deirdre.  Oh look, they’re being cute as a couple, because...there was literally nothing else for them to do or go off of, because Genealogy doesn’t care about characters.

Duo Lynja and Florinja.  Does nothing interesting with their dynamic, and locked Florina out of an alt.  Good job.

Duo Peony and Triandra.  Actually does offer some insights to their dynamic, kinda?  Mostly from the story mode though, and that didn’t require a Duo.  All this did was lock Triandra out of an alt.

Harmonic Dorothea and Lene.  And now my least favorite of all the paired units!  I have no idea what this was doing!  Don’t get me wrong, I like the unique partnerships Harmonics can suggest, but their feels completely devoid of charm or purpose.  They just wanted to take two female characters and put them in awful revealing clothing for no reason other than hoping their titties would cause people to spend orbs before they dropped Seiros.  They didn’t think about why this pairing should exist, they just said “Fuck, we don’t know who else from Genealogy would make a good Harmonic because they barely have characters to work with (fair point), just throw one of the dancers in with Dorothea.”

Duo Lif and Thrasir.  I almost feel bad putting this one in the bad category, but hear me out.  We already know this dynamic.  While it’s kinda nice to have confirmation that they have feelings for each other, no one is surprised by this, and I almost preferred when it was a subtle implication and could’ve been taken as either camaraderie or love.  Also Thrasir as the backup means still no proper Thrasir alt, and that’s kinda bullshit.  It doesn’t offer enough to offset the loss of the backup getting an alt.

I don’t inherently hate the idea of Duos and Harmonics, but there is a massive cost to having a unit be just a backup, especially since it feels like IS considers that backup as “having an alt.”  Which it isn’t.  At all.  So the dynamic needs to really work for it to be worth it.  And it rarely is.  This is the Mega Evolution of FEH.  Fantastic idea that could really have done a lot for their character dynamics and development.  But ultimately they just decided to do stupid shit with it and hope powercreep and fanservice would sell better than a well-reasoned combination of interesting characters.