#valentia top 10

[airlock]

CYL8 Nerding - Internal Top 20 (Akaneia - Tellius)

I think I usually count to the top 25 but I forgot about that until the last moment this year, whops

anyway, here's this year's best voted within their own continuities -- for Akaneia, Valentia, Jugdral, Elibe, Magvel and Tellius. the remainder will be up on another post soon!

AKANEIA (previous winners: Marth) #1: Caeda (1542 votes) #2: Catria (979 votes) #3: akaneia!Tiki (752 votes; 1658 with TMS #FE!Tiki) #4: Minerva (585 votes) #5: Katarina (503 votes) #6: Palla (441 votes) #7: Navarre (421 votes) #8: Ogma (383 votes) #9: Merric (324 votes) #10: Linde (288 votes) #11: Clarisse (281 votes) #12: m!Kris (277 votes; 476 with f!Kris) #13: Camus (270 votes; 418 with Zeke, Sirius) #14: Gordin (252 votes) #15: Wrys (236 votes) #16: Jeorge (232 votes) #17: Xane (225 votes) #18: Aran (222 votes) #19: f!Kris (199 votes) #20: Michalis (192 votes)

VALENTIA (previous winners: Celica, Alm) #1: Berkut (1342 votes) #2: Catria (979 votes) #3: Delthea (508 votes) #4: Mae (472 votes) #5: Palla (441 votes) #6: Rinea (355 votes) #7: Faye (345 votes) #8: Clair (257 votes) #9: Kliff (251 votes) #10: Lukas (230 votes) #11: Genny (223 votes) #12: Python (216 votes) #13: Saber (199 votes) #14: Sonya (174 votes) #15: Jesse (167 votes) #16: Conrad (141 votes) #17: Leon (128 votes) #18: Mathilda (122 votes) #19: Gray (119 votes) #20: Silque (118 votes)

=JUGDRAL (previous winners: Seliph) #1: Sigurd (8058 votes) #2: Leif (5855 votes) #3: Finn (1245 votes) #4: Reinhardt (1242 votes) #5: Ayra (902 votes) #6: Julia (780 votes) #7: Ishtar (689 votes) #8: Arvis (583 votes) #9: Larcei (429 votes) #10: Eldigan (428 votes) #11: Mareeta (331 votes) #12: Linoan (323 votes) #13: Lachesis (295 votes) #14: Lewyn (293 votes) #15: Deirdre (275 votes) #16: Oifey (256 votes) #17: Homer (239 votes) #18: Ced (232 votes) #19: Olwen (230 votes) #20: Julius (222 votes)

ELIBE (previous winners: Lyn, Roy, Hector, Eliwood) #1: Lilina (2519 votes) #2: Sonia (2272 votes) #3: Nino (1769 votes) (nice) #4: Ninian (1218 votes) #5: Athos (630 votes) #6: Lloyd (558 votes) #7: Idunn (462 votes) #8: Fae (441 votes) #9: Sophia (380 votes) #10: Fir (371 votes) #11: Wolt (364 votes) #12: Florina (357 votes) #13: Lucius (326 votes) #14: Rutger, also Igrene (322 votes) #15: Matthew (307 votes) #16: Raven (262 votes) #17: Shanna (261 votes) #18: Nergal (255 votes) #19: Serra (244 votes) #20: Canas (243 votes)

MAGVEL (previous winners: Ephraim, Eirika) #1: Lyon (3475 votes) #2: L'Arachel (793 votes) #3: Seth (700 votes) #4: Marisa (611 votes) #5: Myrrh (597 votes) #6: Lute (567 votes) #7: Joshua (428 votes) #8: Garcia (356 votes) #9: Amelia (326 votes) #10: Franz (323 votes) #11: Tana (276 votes) #12: we die like Glen (246 votes) #13: we also die like Ismaire (234 votes) #14: Cormag (201 votes) #15: Forde (195 votes) #16: Innes (194 votes) #17: Moulder (177 votes) #18: Knoll (148 votes) #19: Ross (127 votes) #20: Valter (122 votes)

TELLIUS (previous winners: Ike, Micaiah, Soren) #1: Black Knight (5084 votes; 5831 with Zelgius) #2: Elincia (3533 votes) #3: Mia (2637 votes) #4: Nephenee (1548 votes) #5: Stefan (913 votes) #6: Altina (773 votes) #7: Zelgius (747 votes) #8: Tormod (739 votes) #9: Ranulf (709 votes) #10: Edward (660 votes) #11: Mist (621 votes) #12: Titania (530 votes) #13: Volug (482 votes) #14: Tibarn (469 votes) (nice) #15: Boyd (418 votes) #16: Shinon (411 votes) #17: Sothe (392 votes) #18: Ilyana (369 votes) (nice) #19: Sanaki (353 votes) #20: Leonardo (350 votes)

[strea-ultimea]

Top 10 Roles of Kenji Nojima: INPO

10. Fox McCloud - Super Smash Brothers

9. Seung-Gil Lee - Yuri On Ice

8. Lu Xun - Dynasty Warriors

7. Eiji Okumura - Banana Fish

6. Kongwai Tao - Tales of Innocence

5. Natsuya Kirishima - Free

4. Hikaru Ichijo - Super Robot Wars

3. Fernand - Fire Emblem: Shadows of Valentia

2. Tuxedo Mask - Sailor Moon Crystal

1. Albedo - Genshin Impact

[patricia-von-arundel]

The more I think about it, the more I wish that there was a completely independent FE game like Engage, but not Engage - one that isn't relying on nostalgia and recognition of past characters. Or if it does, have it be something fun where you can just pick whatever older characters appeal to you and put them on a team together, regardless of how ridiculous it would be to throw Tiki, Robin, Corrin, Ninian, Rhea, and Alear together (because they're all dragons, but very, very different types of dragons).

Before Engage came out, they literally made a video introducing the gameplay like you might have a "My First Book of Numbers" for a 3-year-old. But... Engage isn't that. It relies quite heavily on the player knowing the Emblem characters, and that comes at the expense of the new characters (who are tropier than a Disney princess movie).

But a similarly simple plot and solid gameplay (rather than social micromanaging) with either all original characters (who are well developed over the course of the game) or all nostalgia characters (as mentioned above) would be perfect to gently guide those who've never tried an SRPG into the genre. (Especially since until FE took off with Awakening, the genre had been all but dead in the water for quite some time. The only somewhat similar games I can think of from around the same time are XCom - which was M-rated sci-fi - Valkyria Chronicles, and Disgaea. Other games of the same ilk - FF Tactics, Tactics Ogre, and the Shining Force games come to mind - had not been dusted off for a decade or longer, but with FE's success, we got Triangle Strategy and Tactics Ogre Reborn, we're [theoretically 😭] getting a polished up version of Advance Wars, and I suspect Square Enix is watching sales of Tactics Ogre carefully before potentially announcing a new FF Tactics.)

What I'm trying to say is: as amazing as Fates and Three Houses (and to a lesser extent Awakening and Shadows of Valentia) are, they're a lot to deal with on top of the strategy if you aren't comfortable with the genre. Fates and Three Houses' route choices, Awakening's lean on nostalgia and uneven difficulty, and Shadows of Valentia's throwing in dungeons and retaining some really, really tedious maps that hinder progress (either because of terrain or because of the fucking witches) are a lot to take on if you're still trying to figure out the weapons triangle and permadeath and recruiting. Engage is much closer to old-school FE (games before New Mystery of the Emblem, FE12).

Especially considering how difficult it is now to track down the games before Awakening, a Switch (or next console) game that is battle-focused and possible to win without micromanagement and supports seems like it would be a perfect game to recommend to those interested in the genre but a little reluctant to try because of the possibility of multiple routes, rough difficulty curves, same-turn reinforcements, etc.

Just a thought. I usually recommend Awakening of the more recent games to total newbies, but it's over 10 years old (in Japan) and will likely get increasingly difficult to find (not to mention the option to buy it digitally will be gone by the end of March). Shadow Dragon might be even better, since it's absolutely barebones story and 99% battlefield, but it's already hard to find. Someone unfamiliar with the series would likely enjoy the gameplay and be able to handle Engage, but much of the fun of seeing older characters brought together would be lost on them, and the otherwise silly plot/new characters might be enough to see them dismiss the game quickly, and potentially then any future games. (I mean, look at how many people who came in with Three Houses are whining about Engage...).

Then again, Nintendo could just do what Square Enix has done, and make the older games available on Switch. 🙄 FE7's Lyn chapters, Sacred Stones' relatively easier difficulty, Shadow Dragon's straightforward "the plot is just there to justify maps," or Awakening's ability to grind would all make decent intros to someone who just wants to get the hang of the gameplay.

Plus, then, y'know, ALL THOSE PEOPLE WHO FOUND THE SERIES THROUGH AWAKENING OR THREE HOUSES COULD ACTUALLY PLAY ALL THE GAMES THAT ARE ALL BUT IMPOSSIBLE TO FIND, AND NINTENDO, YOU WOULD MAKE MONEY, NOT SCALPERS AND SECONDHAND SELLERS.

But... it's Nintendo. Not holding my breath on that one. 😕

[octo-l95]

I posted 127 times in 2022

That's 94 more posts than 2021!

60 posts created (47%)

67 posts reblogged (53%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@keylime-cat

@vidramon

@zessdeluxe

@eriquin

@roachleakage

I tagged 123 of my posts in 2022

Only 3% of my posts had no tags

#lreblog - 60 posts

#my art - 50 posts

#dragon - 19 posts

#dragon quest - 12 posts

#fire emblem - 11 posts

#dqb2 - 11 posts

#misc - 11 posts

#malroth - 10 posts

#dragon quest builders 2 - 10 posts

#pixel art - 10 posts

Longest Tag: 138 characters

#some of these are doodles that really shouldn't be on here but i was either going to post it with all the boxes filled or not at all soooo

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Someone's grumpy... (Twitter)

147 notes - Posted January 11, 2022

#4

Some Malroths (Twitter)

213 notes - Posted April 26, 2022

#3

A poorly formatted how-to on how I sprite low resolution arms

454 notes - Posted October 11, 2022

#2

Please check out the death animation I did for Duma! (With collaborative help/edits by Nuramon!) This is for Sacred Echoes, a Shadows of Valentia demake made in Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones (Twitter)

469 notes - Posted May 27, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Dragon animations (battle and overworld, respectively) I did for the indie game Dark Deity (Twitter)

1,005 notes - Posted August 2, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[whatdoesshedotothem]

Wednesday 6 August 1834

7 35

1 5

no kiss not with her at all fine morning - F68° in my back room at 10 10 - breakfast at 9 – A- still poorly – her bowls not better - had our host, M. Pernard – he fancied the 11 minerals I had left out of the box = 20/. so I took only 4 for 6fr.§  - he calls set-e-ra what our cocher called Stèré [Stère]- a Setĕra = 900 toises carrés; but they commonly go here by the journal (plural journaux) = 2/3 of a Setĕra, or 600 toises carrés - terre à chauve is worth 3,000fr. a Setĕra - terre with vines and bled = from. 2000/ to 2,4000fr. a Setĕra - terre de vigne = from 1800 to 2000fr. a Setĕra - the vine-hills (at his own campagne) are what they call mi-côtes (i.e. demi côtes) - M. Perrier has no land that he (M. Pérend [Pernard]) knows of but at Vizille and none there but what belongs the chateau and may have from 60 to 80 Setĕra - but it is the chateau which makes the land valuable - in buying land one has to consider where it is terre battue, or not; that is, terre with a good house on it, or not - where there is a very large quantity of land, the house is generally given in - where there is not much land, of the house is a consideration - the chateau at Vizille is valuable as being a large manufactory - filature de cotton employing now 200 to 400 ouvriers - wheat is sold by the boisseau weighing 42 lbs. or + or - according to the goodness of what - it is now 4/50 per boisseau should be 6/. to enable the farmer to pay his way comfortable - Mr. Pérard [Pernard] have 22000 fr. for his campagne has 17  Setĕra, and has laid out from 36,000 to 40,000fr. - wants 10,000fr. for all the trouble he has had the 28 month since he bought it, and asks 70,000fr. but his wife does not wish him to sell - he will assure the estate producing 100 louis (=2,400/.) per annum without making anything of the house - it is situate in what is called the Beauplan -

§quartz up chaux carbonté [carbonate] 3/.

Cristaux de quartz 1/.

Spath pésante (baryte) d’Annonay 1/.

Pierre ollaire. 1/.

took a boy guide and out (left A- at home) at 11 50 to the chateau fort or Bastille, on a high compact limestone rock north of the town – had got a considerable way above the engineer’s house when he  himself came and I was obliged to turn back and ask leave of the Commandant – vexed enough – but could not help it – went back the engineer with me – shewed my passport – made my story good – the commandant very civil and ask me to take beer or Eau sucré which I declined and  the engineer went a good way up with me – gave me note to the lieutenant in command at the top, and asked me to stop at his and take something on my return and I promised I promised to call – I counted above 350 steps and forgot to count those perhaps 20 or 30 to the very top and others lower down - besides all the traversing I certainly mounted 400 steps - very fine views of the town

SH:7/ML/E/17/0070

about ½ way and at the very top at 1 ½ magnificent view of the valleys of the Isére and Drac – the former winds near the town in large folds – very beautiful – stood 10 minutes under the boiling sun enchanted with the view - the Graissivaudan [Grésivaudan] valley at the apex of the angel stands Grenoble                         very fine and rich and beautiful deserving all its praises -  the fine high Savoy mountain snow-streaked ridge on the East rather hid by clouds range but the range hills of hills below beautifully thrown together with pointed rounded elongated all shaped tops - Everyone should go to the top of the chateau - from the higher mountain above it the town would be masked by the castle  - heated as I was, I was well repaid – down at the old tower, where lives the engineer and his wife at 2 ½ - very civil – hoped I should go and see them again – gave me a nice little nosegay from their flower pots on the top of the tower he lost his right arm in Spain at the taking of Valentia (Valence) - has 1500/. a year pay + 300/. gratification and lives, rent free, of course, in the tower - a taker of roads came in - said the new road of Marseilles by Claix Vizille etc would be finished in 4 or 5 years as also the new road to Italy by Bourg d’Oisans [Le Bourg-d'Oisans], Grave, Madeleine, Lauzet [Le Lauzet-Ubaye] to Oulx and Exilles and Susa would be done in 5 years -  10 leagues done - 30 more to do - the road is done to beyond Bourg d’Oysans [Le Bourg-d'Oisans] - ¼ hour at the engineer’s ‘Mr. de Matheis, Garde du Génie, chevalier de la legion d’honneur, à Rabot’ - born at Turin - he gave me his address written very well with his left hand - in returning went to the marbrier, near the good stone bridge ‘Bernard fils marbrier, rue du Quai, no. 12 près le pont de Pierre, à Grenoble’ - 1 chiefly piece very pretty dark coloured ground much veined with yellow - found in a ravine near Grenoble - no quarry of it - called brêche de tez - ‘la cheminée’ coute 150/. transport to Paris 12/. to 15/. to London perhaps 30/. would engage it at 50/. - but what would be the dirty? - could furnish 10 or 11 specimens of Grenoble marbles or marbres du pays of the Dauphin alps 3 ½ in. carrés and ¼ in. thick at 3/. each -  home at 3 ½ - paid all and off from l’hotel des ambassadors, Grenoble, at 4 35 - A-‘s bowels indisposed all the time – the town too low and near the river – so glad to be off – like the neighbouring hills exceeding for living on - not at all disappointed with town or country – the town a good provincial town tho’ not handsome – had no time to see the musée – beautiful drive along the river winding tolerably near for some distance -  at 5  35 having driven a roughish by-road alighted at the  campagne of our hoste in a vignoble about ¼ mile from the road (right) - formerly belonging to the Chartreux - shewed us the cave and the great 2 or 3 foutres (casks that 30 men could stand in at once) they left there, and the wine press - still perfectly good (of oak) tho’ a century or two old - rez de chaussée a good salon with cabinet for 2 beds at one end, and 2 other pieces (small) - an 1er même distribution with kitchen above, or below to be let - the fermier under the same roof, and a kitchen and 2 or 3 pieces reserved for his wife’s father and mother - I asked if the tenant could have a garden - no! but M. Pernard would give him ½ the product of the garden - this rez de chaussée and 1er will [be] furnished for 1000fr. a year, or for la belle saison May to October exclusive - everything really very nicely arranged - fine 7 ½ ft. parasol (in English umbrella) acacias planted last November looking beautiful - had them from Martin Burdin Chambéri [Chambery], at 24 sols per tree - and all sorts of rose-bushes at 12 to 16 sols each - fine large 7 ½ f. mulberry trees at 10 sols each - would he sell them to me at that price - M. Pernard will get and send me off to England as many as I please at the price he himself paid - the leaves of a fine young well-headed mulberry tree sell for 20 to 30/. for the season manure (Engrais) (horse manure) very dear - had put 6,000 fr.  worth into his land - but vines a hot thing themselves and did not do with a hot manure - wanted a cold one - la laiche banche the best - the coarse reedy grass (vid. line 6 p.18) - too much horse dung bad, too hot - shewed his pavilion great pleasure - prettily painted in fresco - an Italian from Turin did it and he and 2 men 2 ½ months doing it for 600fr. - A- sadly tired of so much talk she did not understand - but liked the place very well - off again at 7 and at Voreppe (fine beautiful drive as before) a shabby little town at 7 ½ - in the rough road coming  had lost the shaft’s bolt or staple – the blacksmith having waited for me ( I was bargaining with the woman of the Inn but she was trop exigeant) and 36 minutes were lost - off from Voreppe at 8 6 sorry not to have staid all night but A- thought we should have fleas in such looking auberge and I determined not to give the woman more than 21/. for the night and breakfast tomorrow as she had little to give us for dinner and wanted 25/. - a pity to have so fine a drive in the dark – fine rocks high and perpendicular we passed close under soon after leaving Voreppe, then fine shaped hills and wood were dimly seen - alighted à l’hotel du Cons, chez Bearne at Voiron at 9 40 – very large good room with 2 cabinets à un lit, at the end of them room – very comfortable – the master of the house very civil and reasonable – would object to nothing – would leave all to me-  and take my price – nice little supper very fine day till about 5 pm then a shower and afterwards a dew drops F70° at 12 10 tonight -  not with her tonight

[everygame]

Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia (Nintendo 3DS)

Developed/Published by: Intelligent Systems / Nintendo Released: 20/04/2017 Completed: 07/04/2022 Completion: Finished it (but not the post-game dungeon.) Trophies / Achievements: n/a

Well, colour me surprised, but I… loved this?

While it was admittedly, uh, eight years ago, I bounced off my last attempt at enjoying a Fire Emblem game, Shadow Dragon for Nintendo DS, and to this point it’s like… the only time I ever received hate mail over a write-up (for being totally wrong or whatever). I’m still pretty sure Shadow Dragon isn’t a particularly great remake (although I’ll admit that I wish I’d been able to cop the Switch re-release of the original version–Wario64 did his best, but I was never quite in time) but I’m exceedingly pleased that taking a yen for this after seeing Cory talk about this briefly on My Life in Gaming paid off. Especially considering that the 3DS is now in its twilight year and sooner than later getting a copy of this for a reasonable price will be as annoying as getting a copy of Shadow Dragon & The Blade of Light for Switch full stop.

I think what works in Fire Emblem Echoes favour is that it’s a remake of what is generally considered the red-headed step child of the series already. Whereas my experience of Fire Emblem previously has been to bemoan that it’s not a “pure” tactics game like its brother Advance Wars, here the game is much more of an RPG with frequent short battles in dungeons to grind, making the fuzzier “your tactics don’t need to be as rock solid as long as you are stronger than the enemies” style finally click.

It’s also, probably, that the game looks great. It’s nice to revisit the 3DS after a decently long break and remember just how well developers could use the hardware. There’s an odd dot-pitch to the screen as a result of the 3D, and while i know it doesn’t work for a lot of people, nostalgia has given it the feel of a visual style the same way PS1’s warpy textures are now celebrated. Sure, like any tactics game you’re going to fast-forward through the attacks, but there’s an intentionality to everything here that speaks to it as one of the last big games for the system.

The story is also… uh, well told? It’s unfortunately a big ol’ bag of cliché, but thanks to a translation from 8-4 that I’m pretty sure did most of the heavy lifting, I was never actively annoyed at it. I mean, I’m totally over ~destiny~ plots, and it’s a bit unfortunate that this one spends so much time in the early going yelling “it doesn’t matter how you were born! What matters is what you do!” only to basically undo all of that by the end, but the story at least doesn’t get bogged down with filler.

Actually, the structure probably helps. The game is split so that you play as two armies progressing at the same time, lead by the game’s dual protagonists Alm and Celica (impressive that her parents named her after one of Toyota’s best, and sadly defunct, car brands.) This helps with an issue I remember from Fire Emblem games (and probably what screwed me in Shadow Dragon): that you end up with so many units, and you’re trying to keep all the ones you like levelled up, and then you end up with everyone underlevelled. Here, you’re pretty evenly splitting your army, so you end up with 20 units that are all at a good level by the end of the game. 

Well, sort of. You still need to decide to more-or-less concentrate on 10 units a side from a pool of 30-odd total, and while I did piss a lot of experience up the wall on some sub-optimal units, there are enough grinding opportunities it was alright. In fact, I’ll use this opportunity to mention something about Echoes, and I believe the Fire Emblem series as a whole, that to me shouldn’t work but weirdly does. The games have a levelling-up system with high variability, meaning that a unit in your game can grow totally different from someone else’s, and if you just have bad luck, a supposedly top-tier unit can get a bunch of crappy level-ups and just be shite (it’s not common, but it could happen.) So you actually slightly benefit from leveling up more characters than you really need to see which way the wind is blowing, and you can also just ignore a character that is generally considered to be good if you don’t like their character and you’re having good luck with another one. Maybe I just liked a lot of the characters (they don’t all get much to do, but the in-battle conversations fill out their characters well enough) but watching their growth was actually exciting enough that I did do some grinding to choose between them and didn’t mind at all. 

This is even, honestly, a game where I could believe that going for the perma-death option might even… work? The game includes at least nine opportunities to resurrect dead units, and it might add a bit of spice to the game on normal considering I probably only lost about that many units in the game anyway. 

(That said, I’m the kind of person who will just restart a battle to avoid death, so I didn’t go for this. I wish I wasn’t, but I am. If you’re not this person, might be worth it.)

Anyway, even with a bit too much pissing about, Fire Emblem Echoes only just about managed to outstay its welcome, which felt a bit more related to the deflating ending of the game. No spoilers, but a lot of characters do things that don’t actually make a ton of sense, and the game annoyingly sidelines Celica and her party for the entire last dungeon. Considering a lot of my favourite characters were on her side (I put so much effort into crafting a Ladyblade Sonya!!!) this was a big time bummer (and I know they get their own end-dungeon, but it’s like… hours earlier???) 

I suppose there’s a post-game dungeon, but apparently it’s stupidly hard and feels unnecessary enough I wasn’t in the mood for it. Still. This is really good and you should probably pick it up if you like tactics RPGs that are heavy on the RPG before it’s stupidly overpriced, if it isn’t already by the time I post this.

Will I ever play it again? I won’t; by the time I’ll ever take a mood to play through the post-game dungeon I’m sure I’ll be like “how do I play this again?” and not bother. I’ve got a copy of Fire Emblem: Three Houses, though, so I’ve got that to look forward to/be disappointed by, idk.

Final Thought: I didn’t notice how aggressive Nintendo was with DLC on the 3DS (even though it’s a system where your “ownership” is awkwardly more attached to your specific 3DS rather than your account) until recently. There is a ton of DLC for this that (to be honest) you can definitely skip unless you really want to grind far beyond what you would ever need to in the main game that in total would cost you as much as buying the game as a second time. Wild!

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[markoftheasphodel]

Shadows of Valentia Top Ten -- #1 Lukas: The Messenger

Well, I am who I am. I imagine I should stop hoping for more.

Sometimes canon gives you a character so precisely attuned to your biases that you can't believe it's actually real.

Lukas. The name means "bringer of light" so it's fitting he's the one who sounds the Call to Arms for Alm's particular Hero's Journey. My assumption regarding Lukas headed into the remake was pretty simple-- he'd be, like, Alm's surrogate-brother guy. His death quote in OG Gaiden references Alm, he was in the Team Alm banner for FE Heroes along with Clair & Faye aka Alm's fangirl squad, so I figured he and Alm would be bros. Or, you know, "bros" with the usual wink-wink stuff.

Yeah, well, they're not bros like that. Everything about it is way more complicated, from the position Lukas holds as the younger son of a noble but not-very-illustrious house to what's going on inside of his head. On the surface, he's this incredibly pleasant and reasonable guy. Take the scene where he agrees to bring Alm & Friends back to the Deliverance and Lukas assures Tobin that it's fine to have a not-idealistic motivation like money for joining the army. What a cool guy! So open-minded and reassuring to the village kiddies! What a great Team Mom he is.

Three base conversations later, we find out Lukas himself had zero motivation to join the Deliverance or any other army and was in fact sent there by an elder half-brother who plainly didn't care whether Lukas lived or died and most likely would've been A-OK with his little brother coming home in a box. And Lukas relays this with a small smile and no emotional shading whatsoever, like he's discussing the weather. On the one hand, it comes out of left field, but on the other hand, this was set up from the moment he recruited Tobin: "It's OK not to have heroic motives for being here. I don't. :)"

This happens a great deal with Lukas, as pieces of characterization flow forward and backward across the main game script, the support conversations, and the Rise of the Deliverance DLC. That big confrontation he has with Fernand at Deliverance HQ turns out to have a massive and meaningful backstory. Any alarm bells that ring when he gives Alm advice on conducting a "good-hearted" invasion of Rigel that's bound to have casualties rise to a crescendo at the finale to Rise of the Deliverance when Lukas uses civilian hostages as a bargaining chip in dealing with Chancellor Desaix. He seems more than a little irreverent towards Valentia's gods and the “old children’s tale” of a prophesied hero even as he acts out a self-aware role in fulfilling said prophecy-- emphasis on the self-aware part as I don't think that can be overlooked. And that perpetually even-keeled niceness turns out not to be a front for something more troubling but a result of his central conflict as a character.

Lukas doesn't feel things like other people and he's not happy about it. Deep visceral emotions like rage, envy, and romantic passion are outside his experience. I'm not going to digress into the root cause of his state of being, whether he's good or bad representation of whatever it is he's representing... assuming the writers didn't get lucky when assembling him. We don't know if this is an organic disconnect or something that developed from how he was treated by his father and half-brother or a combination of both... or if someone on the writing staff wanted a character "like that" and didn't think too hard as to why and were just savvy enough not to use "magic" as a reason. But it's the through-line of his one in-game support with Clive and the big reveal of his DLC support with Python and it manifests in everything else from the glimpses he gives of his ungood family life to his final battle quote. Killing a god? That could potentially be exciting.

Setting aside the issue of whether or not it takes deicide for Lukas to get his rocks off, instead of being bros with Alm, reboot!Lukas has clearly imprinted on Clive (the only character whose death Lukas mourns post-chapter) and their dialogue at the end of Rise of the Deliverance is a wonderful scene that evoked memories of reading about historical generals dealing with the aftermath of real-life battles like Shiloh. Yet their support chain goes pear-shaped immediately as Clive praises Lukas for his cold and analytical nature aka the very thing Lukas doesn't especially like about himself. This is not your standard senior knight/junior knight mentoring here, as Clive steps in it during the C support, causing Lukas to stew and then unleash (by his standards) an outburst in the B support, and then Clive makes a transparent and clumsy attempt to make it all better in the A-support at the end of the war. Sounds like they haven't talked much about anything deep in the interim. And the way it wraps up, with Lukas saying "Why do you keep me around if not for my greatest virtue?" is probably self-deprecating humor, but who knows?

Then too there's a sense of containment in spite of his network his friends in the Deliverance (and both his Clive support and his Heroes dialogue show a clear-eyed and unsentimental take on said friends). Everyone thinks well of him but should he die, no one person takes a time-out to mourn him. His ending, though fitting and satisfying, is fixed and the loss of Clive or the others won't change it. Doesn't sound like he finds value in his background as a middle-tier noble, which he's basically repudiating by Act V anyway. Oh yeah, and even before the main game he's rejected his blood family, declaring he has no home with them anymore. One can only assume the lady he was courting (as referred to in the Python supports) never hears from him again.

Back to the prophecy. If Clive gets the Dorias role in this as the voice of flawed traditionalism and a certain strain of idealism that goes with it, Lukas takes on the role inhabited by August (and then Soren) as the pragmatist who gets shit done, the one willing to metaphorically and literally dirty his hands-- while both of them were in on the hostage plot, Clive’s the one affected by their actions. Lukas doesn’t appear to have any qualms. In another possible echo of the way August groomed Leif for his role, Lukas appears to grasp well before the Big Reveal that what they're all doing with Alm isn't giving a kid an army and turning him loose, but actually making a hero. Despite his skepticism of the whole “hero prophecy” thing, in trying to shape the narrative of the invasion of Rigel, in saying what he does and doesn't when Alm picks up the Royal Sword, possibly all the way back in Ram Village when he recruits five teenagers instead of the veteran leader he was sent to collect, there's an undercurrent of craft to what Lukas is doing. How curious that this deliberately literate character is the one speaking in terms of "taming myths" and of messaging while Clive (who also knows about the prophecy) is fretting over bloodlines and whether not he bet on the wrong colt. 

I've seen some speculation that Mycen tipped off Lukas to the grand plan during the failed "recruitment" and I don't think that's entirely true because the Royal Sword scene is the rare moment where Lukas sounds shocked, but even if Mycen didn't give him the crib notes I think Lukas pieces together enough that by the invasion of Rigel he is trying to make sure hero suitable to the prophecy shows up at Rigel Castle. Why else establish that he and Clive are actively thinking about the identity of the hero? For lulz and irony, maybe. Maybe, but there’s all the other stuff above to take into account..

So, Lukas. Coldly competent, sweetly fucked-up, calculating as hell, genuinely nice, turning a dry and unsparing eye and a polite smile upon the world. He uses my favorite FE weapon class and he really just wants to lose himself in a book. And hanging above him is that undefined and seemingly unattainable "more" that we never can know for sure if he actually finds, or at least finds peace in the lack thereof. And we never do find out what his "ambition" was referred to in his retreat quote even was before he apparently (?) let it go. Don’t pity him, though-- he’s not asking for pity, and he’s not allowing himself regret.

[siraranispleased]

Valentia Top 10 // 03 // Lukas Fernand: “I’ll rip that traitorous tongue from your throat!” Lukas: “Then you’ll finally have the truth in your grasp!” -Act 1, Deliverance Hideout

Like Sully from Awakening, it was love at first sight for this ginger stud. (Spoilers: Python’s not going to be on the list, but he does make Honourable Mention, in big part for giving us that nickname)

Some of the finer details about Lukas comes down to authorial intent. Was his lack of passion and general coldness written as Lukas being a sociopath? In that case, huge props to IntSys for delivering someone who is a sociopath but who is definitely NOT a psychopath. Was his lack of “fire” for his girlfriend back home and discomfort at the lovey dovey relationship of Clive and Mathilda written as Lukas being asexual? Again, if so, kudos. As someone who’s been questioning his own identity for years now, it’s so nice to see someone who has the same hang ups, and hang ups about those hang ups, that I do, and been shown, and have it spelt out, that he’s not “broken,” that there’s nothing “wrong” with him.

Again, those are speculation, and fine details. For the broad strokes, Lukas is still such a charming and affable character. I adore his gentlemanly demeanour, his unflappable kindness and understanding, combined with his nerves and backbone of steel, unable and unwilling to bend to injustice. That quoted moment gave me shivers, perhaps one of the best, most badass one liners in the game, if not the franchise.

What also gave me shivers? That darker moment at the end of the DLC campaign. Again, it’s behind a paywall, so, pbbt, but, without being at all out of character, Lukas makes use of his cold, unflappable demeanour to put on an absolutely terrifying and believable show to buy safe passage for the Deliverance in their darkest hour, and it was...astounding to see a character on the side of the good guys skirt so close to committing a war crime, something we haven’t seen since the Kaga led Jugdral timeline, but for that character to be, otherwise, undeniably one of the moral, upstanding good guys. Even August was a cynical, dark character. The closest we’ve seen before that was Micaiah threatening to immolate the Bengion Holy Guard, and, like Lukas, that was a moment of incredible emotional and moral duress.

Just...on paper, it is so at odds with the “Ram Village Baby Sitter” fandom Lukas, and, yet, neither the baby sitter, the officer and gentleman, nor the cold blooded tactician, come at odds in the complete package. Lukas is just...so terrifying, and yet, still so likable and honest, to the point where his ending, finding a home and comfort in the life of a teacher, was so heartwarming, I could forgive and forget everything else. It’s amazing.

[rainbowdonkee]

With 2019 coming to an end, I wanted to make a list of my personal top 10 video games that came out this decade. I was 12 in 2010, and now being 21 video games have always been important to me! Many of the games that are the most dearest to me sadly came out before 2010 (HG/SS barely made the cut with the NA release). I tried to not make recent releases be part of my bias (FE3H lol), plus there were many games such as Bioshock 2, Fallout New Vegas, DA2, ACNL, and many more that I love but this list would have been too long! 

1. Dark Souls (2011)

2. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (2017)

3. Pokemon HeartGold/SoulSilver (NA 2010)

4. NieR Automata (2017)

5. Final Fantasy XV (2016)

6. Bloodborne (2015)

7. Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia (2017)

8. Astral Chain (2019)

9. Granblue Fantasy (2014)

10. Deemo (2013)

Dark Souls: Although I haven’t really completed the game personally, I’ve seen many playthroughs and videos about the story and characters. Hidetaka Miyazaki is absolutely awesome in creating those fantasy worlds and characters, everything that Dark Souls ended up influencing was pretty groundbreaking. And the OST is always enjoyable to hear again.

Breath of the Wild: This game took quite a long time for Nintendo to release, and when it finally came out on the final year of the WiiU and the birth of the Switch... it was pretty emotional. Also to realize that Iwata-san never made it to see the rise of Nintendo’s success after the failure of the WiiU gets me everytime, but I hope he sees all the smiles and joy BOTW has brought since its release. The game changed not only what is a LOTZ game but what is an open world, I’ve played it twice and each time I picked it up was a new experience.

Pokemon HG/SS: This game was released around Fall 2009 in Japan, but for NA it was out in March 2010. I still remember the anticipation for Spring Break to arrive in order to spend all my week playing it! I never had the chance to play the original Gold/Silver, so everything was new to me. My 12 year old mind almost exploded when I ended up finishing the Johto League only to find out we were ALSO traveling to Kanto!!! I was shook! This game is amazing, and I’ll forever wait for them to somehow add our Pokemons following us around, that mechanic was so cute! And of course the OST is golden, and I can always listen to it and be brought back to those days.

NieR Automata: I never played any of the past NieR games (although I was aware of their existence). The first trailer I ever watched had the “Become as Gods” song so I was hooked from the start! And learning that PlatinumGames and Square Enix both developed the game made me hyped for its release. I love everything about it, the characters, story, music, themes. By the time I finished the game, it had brought me into a journey of questioning so many heavy topics about life...I really wasn’t expecting that about a game. Not going to lie it may or may not have brought me a mini existential crisis but with a game made my Yoko Taro can’t be too surprised.

Final Fantasy XV: The game I so often heard fabled tales since as back as 2009 and the hype was just building up for this game! I remember going to the movie theater when they were having special screenings for the Kingsglaive movie (I dragged my friend, little brother, and mom lol). The game went through so much, many cuts and changes were made but I personally ended up liking what we got. Still super sad that many unreleased DLC’s were cut off, but the love I have for the characters and music will always stay.

Bloodborne: Hey another Miyazaki game, what can you say...the man just makes brilliant games. He took everything I love about gothic, victorian era, and Lovecraftian esque and made this extraordinary game. I’m here hoping that maybe this 2020 we can hear a slither of news of Bloodborne 2, the theme for this game is too good for them to leave it as only one game.

Fire Emblem Echoes SoV: After the train wreck that was Fates, I literally was not expecting for us to get another FE title so soon! Japan waited 2 years for Echoes but thanks to localization giving us Fates in 2016, we got SoV a year later. I never heard of Fire Emblem Gaiden, before this game I never played any of the Japan only FE games, so when news was coming out about this title I tried 100% to AVOID it. Why? Because this was the first time I could start a FE game without personally knowing anything about it, and when I first played it, right from the start it felt so different, it didn’t felt like a Fire Emblem game (which isn’t bad at all). With the new art direction it also felt like a whole new world, I love Hidari and I hope we get to see them more in future FE games. The game had a simple plot which I didn’t held it against them, I knew this was a remake, and personally I’m glad they didn’t added things like an Avatar or S-Supports. They stayed true to its original source, and SoV will stay as my personal favorite FE game. Also Heritors of Arcadia will be the best vocal theme we got in FE series.

Astral Chain: Oh snap another PlatinumGames IP? This developers are just too good! Astral Chain came out of nowhere although I’ve heard it was worked on for a long time, supposedly even before NieR Automata was developed. I really enjoyed the game very much, from all the 2019 games that came out it caught my eye and I went in with not too many expectations but I had a good time. The story took a crazy turn and I could see some similar themes as NieR Automata but it held its own ground to become unique. The fighting mechanics were so much fun to play and the music was also awesome! I wish more people talked about this game since it is Nintendo’s new IP. I hope we can get the twins for Smash Ultimate!

Granblue Fantasy: I first new anything about Cygames back in 2016 when I saw the OP for Rage of Bahamut. After Seeing the OP for season 2, seeing Azazel in all his glory I knew I had to watch the anime! Luckilly Rage of Bahamut season 2 was continuing in 2017 so I was able to catch up just in time for its final 10 episodes. I LOVE Azazel and Kaisar and of course ROB Lucifer! Then to my surprise I found out about GBF, and I was dumb and thought the app was unavailable in the west which is technically true since you need a Japanese account to download the app which has an ENG text option. So it wasn’t until 2018 that I downloaded the game and started my journey through the sky. This gacha game literally changed what is a gacha game to me, the developers listen to fans, the community is fun, and just everything about this franchise is so great. I’m not a hardcore player so I’m not too worry about grids, I’m here for the cute husbands. (Lancelot, Sandalphon, Albert, Grimnir I lov u).

Deemo: I love this game, one of the best app games I’ve ever had. Back in the day I used to play TapTap Revenge and that was my first taste of rhythm games, Deemo brought me back to those types of apps. Whenever I was anxious I could always play this game and pass the time while keeping my mind busy. Plus without Deemo I would have never known artist’s such as Mili. The game is on the Switch which I’m so happy because I was able to just get all the songs without flooding my tablets storage space.

[kimium]

Bouncing off our convo on AO3, Top 10 FEH Units to use?

(From this ask HERE)

Thanks for the ask!!! I was having a lot of fun with our little AO3 discussion so it's lovely to bring it here!

1. Seliph

I don't think this is a surprise to anyone who sees my lead unit. I've +10 merged regular Seliph and I really love the DC and Null Follow Up build I'm running on him.

2. Valentia Palla

Originally I was very salty when she was released because I wanted more Actual Valentia Units, BUT... BUT I take all my criticism back. I adore Valentia Palla's play style. Canto is the singular best thing to ever happen to me in Heroes since my play style is Hit and Run. On my Valentia Palla I run Hit and Run as her slot B skill and Galeforce. Adding in Canto (and a Dancer) and I have a lot of mobility. She's also helped me occasionally take out Fallen Edelgard and anyone who can take out Fallen Edelgard is good in my books.

3. Legendary Leif

While I did pull the new Scion Leif (twice!) and I love using him, I haven't used him as much as Legendary Leif. I love his duo phrase brave bow and with Njörun's Zeal he has helped me clear a lot of in game content with the aid of three dancers/singers.

4. Duo Peony

Before Duo Peony I used Legendary Azura as my main dancer. I do still love L! Azura, but Duo Peony has a lot of extra perks I enjoy. Gentle Dream is a fantastic assist skill and adding the Order's buff plus her duo skill and Duo Peony is someone I think is invaluable as a dancer.

5. Legendary Claude

Look... Fallen Star is an Insane exclusive skill and with the added gravity effect, Legendary Claude helps with my Hit and Run strategy. I also really love that he can take a hit due to the insane 80% damage reduction (for the first hit only so I do have to be careful of his placement).

(Oh darn!! I just saw the Top Ten in your ask! :0 I'm putting it into the OG ask so this doesn't get too long of a chain.)

6. Lysithea

She's my favourite red mage nuke. Also, I like her over B! Lysithea just because I didn't pull B! Lysithea for a long time.

7. Legendary Sigurd

He's a Monster. Holy-Knight Aura??? That's an Insane special for support. He also hits hard and can work in both Player and Enemy phrase.

8. Pirate Tibarn

He has a strong Player Phrase style (which I love). I gave mine Galeforce and run him with Reyson and Leanne for maximum chaos

9. Brave Ephraim

An older unit, yes, but he was one of my first tank units I used a lot. While he's better at being a near save unit and thus running DC in slot A isn't ideal mine has DC (before Save Skills were a thing) and he has helped me out a lot over the years. He holds a very special place in my heart.

10. Yuri

Look, I've only had Yuri for a couple of weeks at most but his movement utility coupled with Foul Play are a lot of fun to mess with.

[airlock]

CYL7 nerding - Top 100 Representation

as usual, I’m compling the top 25 rankings within each continuity as we speak -- but, having tallied up the first 100 characters overall, I get one of our usual stats that’s normally interesting to look at: how many characters did each continuity get that far up?

let’s have a look!

Akaneia: 4

Valentia: 2

Jugdral: 7

Elibe: 4

Magvel: 5

Tellius: 10

Ylisse: 9

Hoshido & Nohr: 11

TMS#FE: 6

Zenith: 14

Fódlan: 29

there is precious little that changed at all here since last year, actually. we’re looking at differentials of at most 3 characters up or down, anywhere. Fódlan is acutally gobbling up more of the pie than back then, too -- although 3 of the characters who etched that top 100 (f!Shez, m!Shez, Arval) are new from Three Hopes (and Monica is up there as well, so it’s up to you if you count that), so we’re actually seeing just slightly less of last year’s suspects here.

still, where the numbers may not be all that interesting, the identities of these characters may actually be. after all, they include some faces we’ve never seen quite this high up before, such as Sonia, Tormod, and Desaix. so... look forward to the top 25s per continuity; there might be some actual surprises there!

[strea-ultimea]

Top 10 roles of Natsuki Hanae: INPO

10. Reinhard - Rune Factory 5

9. Alm - Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia

8. Yuna D. Kaito - Cardcaptor Sakura

7. Kosei Arima - Your Lie in April

6. Jaco - Dragon Ball Super

5. Gakuto Sogetsu - Yu-Gi-Oh Sevens

4. Sieg - Nasuverse

3. Inaho Kaizuka - Aldnoah.Zero

2. Taichi Yagami - Digimon Adventure tri.

1. Masamune Makabe - Masamune-kun’s Revenge

[calabria-mediterranea]

Typical Food Products from Southern Italy's Calabria

Found in the most southerly toe of Italy, is the region of Calabria, a coastal region flanked by highlands and rugged mountains, that boasts a bounty of local food products thanks to its unique geography.

From north of the Pollino massif, to the plateau of the Sila and the south by the Aspromonte, the geographical outlay of the region lends itself to a catalogue of typical Calabrian products as varied as the landscape.

While great emphasis is placed on cured meats from the popular 'Nduja to Sopressata, Calabria also offers up some other very good quality local food with strong flavors, often with the liberal use of chili in both meats and dairy products.

And it doesn't stop there, with a choice of top fruit and vegetables taking equal glory. Among the obvious favourites being the famous 'Red Onion of Tropea', delicious eaten raw or used for making jams and the essential essence of  Bergamot.

Typical Meats from Calabria

'Nduja

'Nduja is a spreadable salami especially good enjoyed on a slice of bread. With a very smooth texture and spicy flavour, the unusual rusty-colour, texture and flavor make it quite unique in the wide selection of Italian cured meats. A local salami from Spilsby, a town in the province of Vibo Valentia, it's made with the pork fat and lots of chili with everything being smoked inside the intenstine. Today ' Nduja is commonly used as a pizza topping or to flavor sauces. 

Soppressata

Sopressata, this cured meat is made of lean meat and pork fat to which spicy chili and fennel are usually added, although there are varieties made without.

Capocollo

After Sopressata comes 'Capocollo' the "king" of Calabrian cold cuts. The typical product is prepared using the upper portion of pork loin.  The de-boned meat is salted, over 4 to 10 days, then washed with water and vinegar. With an ageing period of at least 100 days from salting.

Typical Cheeses from Calabria

Caciocavallo Silano

This ancient Calabrian cheese made ​​of spun paste, ​​from whole fresh milk, is The shape is oval or conical and each Caciotta weighs 1 kg to 2.5 kg.

Giuncata

A cream cheese produced in Sila and the Plain of Sybaris, the name comes from the practice of collecting the curd in cane containers, which give the cheese its unusual surface texture. Made from cow's or goat's milk, it has a smooth texture and an off-white colour and has a delicate yet slightly acidic taste.

CALABRIA FOOD AND BAKERY PRODUCTS

Bergamot

Bergamot is a round citrus, more or less flattened at the ends with a very intense aroma and fresh scent. It is produced in the municipalities of Reggino, and its yellow skin contains a very valuable essential oil, highly sought after within the cosmetic industry.

Cedro Liscio di Diamante

This is the ancient citrus fruit from which it seems other citrus derivatives arrived on the market today, such as grapefruit or tangerine. On this stretch of coast 98% of the national production of cedar is made. The taste is sour, but sweet, with a little juicy flesh.

Red Tropea Onion

One of the most popular Calabrian typical products in Italy the Onion of Tropea IGP is a sweeter and milder type of onion than other varieties: the particular flavor comes from particular climatic and geographic conditions: as the land faces the sea and has a mild winter.

Pane di Cerchiara 

One of the most popular breads from Calabria: Cerchiara bread comes from Pollino, and is produced and cooked in ancient furnaces in the province of Cosenza in nine furnaces, mostly or all managed by women, who work hard to supply the whole province and the region.

[af1899]

R E S P L E N D E N T · S O N Y A

It’d be not right if I’m not talking about best Valentia girl getting well-earned attention from I.S. after a long time, I’ll share my thoughts right below as well as a little plan.

Here’s her new artwork:

You can find more details and the rest of the pieces here: [initial announcement].

I woke up rather early to this sweet surprise, at 5 a.m., and was unable to sleep because I was really hyped for her, she’s my second favorite character in the series and a very lovable girl.

Anyway, this artwork is truly gorgeous, first of, it’s a fresh take on Múspell clothing, it reveals some more skin than what we’ve seen in previous Múspell skins but it’s not by all means bad and it looks like it has drawn a bit of inspiration from Emblian and Plegian designs, it results in a very attractive designs that blends perfectly with Sonya’s natural charms, the chest size is actually more in concordance with what we see in Shadows of Valentia and the skin changes some of the decorative things in her design like her pendant now being a ruby and her cape having changed colors to match that of intense flames and adding some coal black to top it off too.

Now, body language might not be what you can say makes most sense, but I think it’s actually on character and is specially flamboyant as is characteristic of her; the wind, burning feathers and that lovely expression as well as every single detail and the new drawing style has endeared me to PenekoR’s take on Sonya.

I rate it: 10/10

As for gameplay, she welcomes a boost on almost every stat, DEF being the dump one, she’s been always quite flexible to build even though not as much as some units out there like your average infantry swordie or Ninja Hana, but Sonya’s statline is excellently workable, my favorite pick is {area-of-effect} spamming, unlike Ophelia, Sonya is prone to [Vantage 3] counterattacks, but one doesn’t find that in PvP or even PvE that often, so I hardly see it as an issue nowadays, she also can easily charge any {area-of-effect} special skill on turn 1, only needing help from an [Infantry Pulse 3] user (and Ninian is perfect for the job, mine already has it and with 54HP at her current investment).

I can’t afford a subscription yet since I’ve yet to find a job and get my own credit card and all that, so I’ve requested help from a friend to get me one. Here’s her current build:

A Resplendent skin and [Summoner Support] grants her these boosts:

My [Summoner Support] without subscription is always set to Idoun, but Sonya and Legendary Julia will always get the other two slots.

Anyway, with the boosts, Sonya gets (with my build and investment):

50HP, 68ATT, 49SPD, 21DEF, 38RES

All of this at base before boosts take place.

That said, we’ll need a little “oomph!” To get her at tack stat to 69.

[puroresu-musings]

NJPW WRESTLE KINGDOM 15 in Tokyo Dome Night 1 Review (Jan 4th 2020)

New Japan Rambo  *1/2

BOSJ 27 vs. SJC 2020 IWGP Jr. Heavyweight No.1 Contenders Match: Hiromu Takahashi vs. El Phantasmo  ****

IWGP Heavyweight Tag Title Match: Taichi & Zack Sabre Jr. (c) vs. Guerrillas Of Destiny  ***1/2

IWGP U.S. Heavyweight Championship Right To Challenge Match: KENTA vs. Satoshi Kojima  ***1/2+

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Great-O-Khan  ***1/2

Kazuchika Okada vs. Will Ospreay  ****3/4

IWGP Heavyweight & Intercontinental Double Championship Match: Tetsuya Naito (c/c) vs. Kota Ibushi  ****1/2

Photos.

So the first night of WK15 is in the history books, held in front of a socially distanced crowd of 12,689, which is an amazing number given the state of the world at present (I’m in the UK and we can’t even have two people in the same room, so near 13,000 seems mind-blowing!). This is the biggest crowd to have seen a wrestling show in Japan since last years Dome shows, and the biggest major wrestling show held anywhere since March of last year, so it’s quite the achievement. In quick results from a very fun show:

Bad Luck Fale, Chase Owens, BUSHI and Toru Yano (who never even made it to the ring) were the “winners” of the annual Rambo and will face each other in a 4-way to determine the KOPW champion on tomorrows show. The Rambo was as it always is, which is very forgettable, very long, and not especially very good. After a Japanese Don King (who sings!) introduced Riki Choshu (a guy who, in this very building in 1998, squashed FOUR guys in a row in his “retirement” match), and his young grandson, to the masses for a nice opening, BOSJ winner Hiromu Takahashi pinned everyone’s favourite/most hated douchebag heel, the 2020 Super J Cup winner El Phanatsmo, in 17:46, when he turned CRII into a Frankensteiner and cradle. This was an excellent match that was a great way to start the show. Hiromu essentially played crash pad to ELP’s highflying moves, and seemed to be saving himself for the Ishimori match tomorrow, which he earned with this win.

Next up, the GOD won the IWGP Tag Titles for what must be the 476th time. The match was very good (once it got going), but at 19:18, it felt very long, and the finish and result were lamentable; after a ref bump and prerequisite Jado interference spot, Tama nailed Taichi with his own Iron Fingers From Hell, which allowed Loa to hit Apeshit and win the belts. Honestly, I could have done without this title change. The Guerrillas with the belts just feels like I’ve been transported back in time three or four years, and the Dangerous Tekkers felt both fresh, and like they were just getting going as champions. Whatever. After a video taped Jon Moxley promo, KENTA defended the U.S. Title Right To Challenge Briefcase against the legend that is Satoshi Kojima, in a very good little match. Obviously, Koji was a late replacement for the broken orbital boned Juice Robinson, and honestly, with all due respect to Juice, this was a much better match for it. Even though no one feasibly bought him winning, Kojima was on fire here, showing the world that he does indeed “still have it”, and drove the action throughout. It wasn’t to be though as KENTA retained the briefcase after a Go 2 Sleep at the 14:12 mark. So KENTA will challenge Moxley in the U.S. at some point, which should be a fun match.

Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated the returned-from-excursion Great-O-Khan in my least favourite match of the show. This was far from bad, but realistically, this was the match where I started to lag, as it just wasn’t all that interesting at times. The former Tomoyuki Oka has a very weird gimmick, and his offence is like something from a 1970s regional promotion in the U.S. He isn’t a bad worker, he’s very solid, but this wacky Mongolian gimmick, which I first clapped eyes on at a Rev Pro show what must have been 7 years ago now (it was three, but time has no meaning anymore), is going to need some serious revamping. Tanahashi was his usual great self here, carrying this beyond what it should by all rights have been, and had the babyface fire of a thousand babyfaces. After surviving O-Khan’s Claw based offensive manoeuvres, The Ace scored the win at 17:13 after hitting a High Fly Flow to the back, followed by one to the front, to get the winning three count.

From here the show picked up considerably. Okada sought revenge on former protege Will Ospreay, in a fantastic, dramatic outing, that would most likely have been a Tokyo Dome all-time-classic under regular conditions. This went 35:41, which sounds long, but felt half of that whilst watching. It told a great story, and the work from both guys was exceptional. This was less the inventive spot fest of their 2019 G1 classic, and instead was a stiff strike war. It was also the final point of Ospreay eschewing the Junior mantle, and becoming a full fledged heavyweight. Like most Okada matches, this really turned into something special in the last 10 minutes, after Ospreay hit a nasty Brainbuster through the timekeepers table, and stomped the bejesus out of Okada’s face, the newly crowned “Commonwealth Kingpin” escaped a Money Clip, hit Okada with a Tombstone, and his own Rainmaker for a great near fall. Okada dropkicked Will out of the air on a Super Oscutter attempt, which looked great, then turned a Storm Breaker attempt into a Fire Thunder Driver, and hit a stiff Rainmaker, for the first time in A YEAR, to score the win and seemingly awaken the Okada of old. Tremendous stuff here.

And the Double Title Main Event that followed had a lot to live up to, but was another excellent outing. Obviously, with the last few times these guys have squared off being borderline public executions, my heart was proverbially in my mouth on some of the spots here. With the notable exceptions of Ibushi taking a German Suplex on the ramp, which he of course landed square on top of his head for, an insane Frankensteiner off the apron, which saw Naito land very hard on the floor, Ibushi taking a reverse rana off the second rope, and both guys taking signature spots onto their heads, this was, on the whole, the “tamest” match these two have had against one another in maybe 5 or 6 years now. Ibushi hit Kamigoye for a great near fall, but misses a Phoenix Splash. Naito hits Destino, but Ibushi gets the shoulder up. Naito kicks out of another Kamigoye, then drops Ibushi on his head with Valentia, and goes for another Destino. Ibushi escapes and hits a wrist clutch V-Trigger, followed by a third, knee padless Kamigoye to FINALLY win the two top prizes in New Japan after 31:18 of great action. There was a really wacky bit, that only Ibushi could do, after the match, where he seemed to sell being in a “fugue state”, tried to pin Naito again after the match, and sold disbelief when Red Shoes explained to him that he’d won. Naito presented The Golden Star with both belts, then Ibushi’s opponent tomorrow, Jay White, came out in the post match, and cut a promo, promising Ibushi’s reign would only last 24 hours. Ibushi informed Jay that he is mistaken, and that Ibushi will indeed become a God. This was a show built around happy ending babyface wins (in the major bouts), and was a dose of positivity the world needs right now. Bring on Night 2 already.

NDT

[markoftheasphodel]

Shadows of Valentia Top 10 – #8 Clive: Only Human

“I wish I could stand by my choices, unwavering. I have always done what I thought to be right, even when my heart disagreed. But now I must face cold reality.”

Honestly I could go full tl;dr over why Clive is the flawed hero FE narratives need– as glamorous senior knight guys of considerable renown go, he’s pretty much the Leif of the group, but just because he ain’t Seth doesn’t mean he’s not an excellent character. But in-game he’s mostly talked about the same way someone like Seth gets talked about, and Seth single-handedly saves the day at least three times before the FE8 route split and the most Clive can do is to muster a dignified retreat and then look for someone competent to lead the Deliverance, so I understand the reaction he gets. 

I felt that way too– why are Forsyth & crew putting this guy on a pedestal, why does he merit such a wide range of mourning quotes from the cast, why does his death change multiple endings? Why’s he so g-damn special when he’s… not special? Then you layer on his pre-war life of glittering privilege and the fact that his BFF is Fernand and it’s all rather nauseating. Doubly so if his gooey relationship with Mathilda does not float your particular boat. He’s indecisive! He’s too wrapped up by personal issues to run a damn war! His romance is self-indulgent! His handling of his lieutenants leaves much to be desired! His best friend is a horrible person!

He’s… human.

The thing about Clive is, he’s actually subjected to the narrative scrutiny that other characters filling his approximate niche of the glamorous senior knight guy evade. Seth’s strengths are so apparent and his (genuine) weaknesses so subtly lined out that a lot of FE8 fandom back in the day seemed to miss that he even had weaknesses. Frederick gets a layer of slapsticky humor to distract from the fact he (IMO) kinda sucks at his job but it’s so damn endearing that the effect is lovable whereas the humor around Clive is kind of queasy and just emphasizes his weak points. And then you have Finn who also fails at leading rebellions but has a deck so stacked against him that just being alive is a heroic accomplishment. Plus Finn never second-guesses himself over handing the reins of a g-damn war to a teenager, plus whatever role he had in the collective guilt of Leonster’s nobility get a) deflected by narrative sympathy for his personal suffering and b) dumped on Dorias, who serves as the scapegoat for everything wrong with the system.

Clive? He doesn’t catch that sort of break. He gets to be the Dorias and take the heat for Zofia’s sins as well as his own failings, with the apex of this being the demolition job Python does on him in their support chain. Despite that, Clive hangs on and keeps trying– even as he loses Fernand, even if he loses Mathilda in a blow that will ultimately kill him post-game. He keeps trying to be the person the people around him want him to be– seem to need him to be, really – even if he isn’t Valentia’s savior. At least he gets to keep both arms and gets a really hot wife out of the deal.

(As an aside, the Deliverance trio all definitely benefit from the way their support conversations with Clive cross-reference one another. Clive and Lukas laugh over the shortcomings of Python and Forsyth as advisors, Forsyth refers to a fight between him and Python that Lukas had to break up, and Python says that Lukas and Forsyth are being role models to Clive’s standards so he doesn’t have to be. Whenever one of the RGB Trio is in focus the other two are always at the edge of the frame. This helps them more than it helps Clive.)

I guess I went tl;dr anyway. It was worth it.