ping

In a way, the odd phrasing ("I crave your pardon") makes it worse - if it was more generic, I would've been more likely to pass over that they're the same word for word. Turns out that Brian wasn't the messiah. Just a very naughty boy. I didn't even tamper with that one! I'm waiting for the inevitable "was Zephiel right, actually?" discourse if/when Binding Blade gets remade. Petition to rename Genealogy LTC runs into FAS (Forever Alone Seliph) runs. Seems like it's at least a bit of a challenge to achieve. It needs a lot of force of persuasion to be as obviously cackling evil as Manfroy and still convince people to go along with your plans. Earned by suffering Lewyn's presence for this entire campaign, I assume, since it's not like Seliph did anything else. Specifically to unveil the grand secrets of the Twelve Crusaders, that is. That is a neat little detail. It'd be Elffin - prince, posing as a bard, exposition bot for a while (though not as long as Lewyn), fleeing his homeland, associated with the annoyingly immature dancer girl. Elffin's just far less of a prick about all this. Not to mention chances are that Lewyn left behind two children of his own. Fuck 'em, I suppose. Hurray...? Well, at least it's also an army that is very easy to ignore almost entirely. Interesting. I haven't continued playing yet, so I was just going by what FEWoD and the wiki.org say. We'll see, maybe I'll be forced to see for myself, considering just how mobile they are. Not in Project Naga, though. Ich glaube, das hätte ich sonst gemerkt. ...Honestly, yeah. Every sword user could've done this, I think. Even Oifey still would've had the necessary stats, I think. Although Hannibal (-26 avoid, compared to Dermott if using the same weapon and stat rings) would've needed a little more support to do this safely. Ah, that would work. Hannibal was in that state for a turn or three, although in his case, it's much easier to set up because you can just plonk somebody on his castle without seizing.

FE4 Endgame: The Final Holy War Edda --> Dozel --> Freege

I think I'd give Tellius the nod. Character designs and portraits are the best in the series, in my opinion. Although GBAFE is great, too. The battle animations are as fun as they go, and I actually like the map visuals a lot, too. Later games might have more "realistic" visuals, but GBAFE maps look good while also being very easy to read. In some of the later games, i sometimes struggle to see at a glance what terrain a specific tile is.

You don't ask the stream not to flow down the mountain You don't ask the rock not to fall to the ground You don't ask Shouzou Kaga not to include a 13th creepy abduction scene in his newest videogame, available on the SNES. "Bye, Felicia" actually has a wikipedia page, which I think is funny. Welp, I was going to give her the benefit of the doubt and assume that she got together with normal Julius, but... guess not. And here I was hoping that Larcei could go out and channel her inner Sheeda once more. Wales is secretly the wealthiest place in the world. Well, that or a case for Forseti go brrr. Not to congratulate myself too much over my Ch.10 relocation idea - but if that penultimate chapter took place around Evans Castle, you would be able to integrate that into gameplay, too. Manfroy/Julius give orders for the local garrisons from Agustria, Verdane, and Silesse (they're pegasi, so that still works) to move to Grannvale even though these rebellions have broken out. Or maybe it's even Arvis giving the order, seemingly to crush Seliph, but really to make sure that those rebellions don't get brutally subdued, and because he gauges that Seliph's army has a better shot at handling those troops even if they're combined. Or maybe he trusts that they don't all arrive at the same time. I've seen people say that Lex isn't all that hot even with the Brave Axe, but I have to say that he held his own even in the later stages of the game. Even in Silessia, with all its wind mages, he could still one-round those (although +hit auras do help), and against physical enemies, he's just straight up the tankiest character in Gen 1. Except for Bridget, who in my final stat overview is listed with 81 Def because of a typo

FE4 Endgame: The Final Holy War Chalphy --> Edda You are a crazy man, Ruben. Godspeed. Hannibalspeed, even. : "Evil child-murdering cults are like seeds. You must plant and nurture them until they grow into full genocidal bloom."

Fun Fact: In his initial appearance, Superman couldn't fly, only jump really high and far. ...which doesn't have that much to do with your comment, but I managed to amuse myself with the image of Seliph (or any other horse unit) imitating flight in a similar way. I remember barely anything about Saias's actual character, but in concept, I like this a lot. A nice, concrete plan instead of the vague "Arvis banished Julius, or tried to, didn't work" that we got. Honestly, I don't even like it in isolation. What Deirdre ("power of friendship, yay!") and Sigurd ("stay humble, son") have to offer aren't exactly fresh new concepts, nor are they really specific to Seliph's character or situation. For me, all it does is take a previously underlying theme ("despite being orphaned at a very young age, Seliph's life is still influenced by his parents's deeds") and turns it into a baseball bat to hit you over the head with by making Sigurd and Deirdre physically (or rather ectoplasmally) watch over Seliph's progress. "My mother's family has no pathetic members except you, Julius. But it does contain... the unstoppable Julia!" "Gah! Impossible!" (Sorry, I'm not actually familiar with actual Yugioh, outside of watching some of the early episodes disjointedly as a wee lad, and then the abridged version later. Pretty sure you're quoting Pegasus-man there, but I have no idea how that scene plays out.) Look at those Ameripoors. Can't even afford the printer ink to write every letter 😭 : "Evil child-murdering cults are like seeds." I think the second generation is an especially severe case of the usual FE problem that the powerlevel of a player's endgame team is extremely variable, so it's tough to create an endgame that is challenging for an optimised team, but still doable if the player didn't reset for the OP bosskiller, didn't focus XP on the good growth units, or, in Genealogy's case, didn't set up inheritance. Most games of the series, as far as I'm aware, tend to be somewhat frontloaded with their difficulty as a result.

FE4 Chapter 10: Light and Darkness Miletos --> Chalphy Cremation by pyre seems... appropriate.

I can't believe Ike's sexy catboy husbando is a nerd, too You can certainly explain Julius not taking the threat seriously, what with him (as you later say) being a spoiled brat that has never faced an actual threat to his power before. But I think it might cheapen the eventual victory a bit: Seliph doesn't win because he achieved something super special awesome - Seliph wins because his enemies handed him the necessary tools on a silver platter. Making your arch villain so imba that the heroes can't touch him, so the villain has to produce his downfall himself sounds like a beginner dungeon master's blunder - although I'm sure I exaggerate (at least a little) with this description of Julius and Manfroy. I went with the opposite approach. Shove everybody into the fight, so it doesn't matter if three guys get slept. Still enough offensive power to punch through. 'Tis what happens if you skip 17 years of a story, but I agree. I think it works better with Arvis because his transformation from smug badassery to humbled and broken is something of a "oh, damn" moment, but he shares with Travant the problem that their most intriguing stories happened off-screen. And that aspect is arguably worse for Arvis, since it basically happens twice for him, with his scheming in Belhalla while Sigurd is out a-conquerin'. I first thought that he's the guy who officially made Sigurd a Paladin after the prologue and later shared juicy court gossip with him, but... ...nah. Other Oldman. Either that or Arden/Erin. (first 30 seconds) It's a hard choice from the perspective of the children. On the one hand, you get incredible speed, solid +dmg skills, and maybe even Forseti... but on the other hand, your dad's going to be Lewyn. Very nice. Their dialogue afterwards is surprisingly appropriate (if you don't know what "game" Julius is referring to) - like they just had a little sparring match. It would require some more rewriting, since it's only Manfroy in that scene with Julia, but I agree that seeing Arvis at least trying to fight for Julia's sake would've been nice. Maybe if you made the First mate's suggestion (that Manfroy is threatening to kill Julia right there if Arvis doesn't co-operate) more explicit in the writing, that would work. (although that would still sell Julia, who's likely to be pretty competent at fighting magic users in particular, very short) Ah, but you didn't consider that information travels instantaneous across Jugdral. Loptyr HQ being an early target of Seliph's campaign would explain why Manfroy is so worried about this - although it's not like he really needed additional reason with Isaach and all of the Thracian peninsula being taken from Grannvale's control. He is sometimes, in some timelines, not completely a jerk. Lewyn: Heh... Bratty little thing, aren't you... Fee: EXCUSE ME?! Ohh, that does it! So, since T776 makes Lewyn/Erin canon, he's officially always completely a jerk. Well, Arvis made himself Emperor. As you say, Azmur was King Azmur. Probably a good helping of headcanon on my part, but it wouldn't be unrealistic if Arvis would've arranged the inheritance laws of that new political entity to be more to his liking, and maybe disconnected it from Azmur's bloodline. Come to think of it, it would've been an interesting touch if Julius would already have been King Julius of Grannvale - only that he'd still formally answer to Arvis's authority as Emperor.

FE4 Chapter 10: Light and Darkness Rados --> Miletos What a nerd. We should give him a wedgie. As is my nature, I'm already contemplating interesting ways to replay Genealogy. "No Forseti Inheritance", even though I'm not really looking to do a full substitute run, is looking like a strong option, honestly. Well, not a strong option. You know what I mean.

Warrior Sharlow. Finally, a worthy successor for Yubello. Seliph's almost a character in that specific dialogue. Can't say about Ares, but Dermott is here to tickle you to death and take your money. Although the conquests of Verdane and Agustria might not have the same positive vibe with the people that it once had. The end result is that Sigurd handed these territories on a silver plate to Arvis, who, as far as the common man knows, may or may not be the antichrist. I do like the explaination that Jotari gave (or relayed), that it's Imperial propaganda backfiring, painting Sigurd as this powerful enemy of the state - but unfortunately, that angle isn't present in the actual game at all, at least thus far. Fire Emblem has the aesthetics of Medieval Europe, but outside of feudalism being the mode of production, its settings are very much modern in terms of social norms. That's not meant as a criticism (FE never pretents to be "historical"), but it means that "this is how it worked in 1200 AD" is basically a non-argument when talking about anything FE-related.

That would've been really interesting if it had ever come up in the game. A Kaga special, tbh. Well, in medieval Europe, cousin r-- Oof. (Disclaimer that Fire Emblem isn't really a medieval setting, specifically not when it comes to social standards and values, so "it happened in medieval Europe" isn't really much of a point, anyway)

FE4 Chapter 10: Light and Darkness Perlucos --> Chronos --> Rados That is a good point. I don't know if it was much of a point of criticism when it was released, but Book 2's reused maps (with the exception of the bridge) really weren't all that good, so I could understand if Kaga was reluctant to repeat it... even if I still think it would've been cooler than this entirely new country without any real relevance to the story outside of this one chapter. Since House Freege was supposed to get the Agustrian lands anyway, having Hilda appear in this area would make a lot of sense. Maybe not so much in the border fort of Evans, but she could appear together with reinforcements - maybe at the start of the fight, maybe when Evans is seized. Realistically, she'd reside in Agustry Castle, but rush to the scene when she hears of Seliph landing near the borders of her lands. You would have to put yet another Philip on guard duty in Evans, but it's not like Genealogy is shy about that kind of thing. Julius could appear similarly to how he does in the real Ch.10, in front of Jungby once you've seized Evans. Or maybe in front of Chalphy ("You sit back and see how Ishtar and I handle these upstart rebels, father. At your age, you shouldn't excert yourself too much.") I haven't read up the details, but I know that Arvis will send out some old man to deliver Tyrfing to Seliph. He could to the same here, just for that old man be intercepted by Scorpio and brought to Jungby. That would also address your (good) point that the path past Jungby to Chalphy is so open that ignoring Jungby would seem like a good move. And speedrunners / LTCers could figure out if it saves time or not to skip Tyrfing... although I suppose they have to do that in the original, too. Yeah, Arvis wouldn't really require any changes. ...I wrote that before reading your own thoughts, and I see mine didn't turn out too different. I remember that you alluded to this back in chapter 5 Nothing to add, she should've had a gen 2 appearance.

As comparison, my much simpler suggestion of smushing ch.1 and the prologue together: So basically, Seliph arrives at Genoa by boat; from there, he captures the strategically important Evans; after that, the Grannvale reaction is to attempt a surround with collaborateurs from all over Jugdral: Verdanian axe bois and hunters from the southwest, Agustrian paladins from the northwest, Silessian pegasi from the southeast where there is just the ocean and definitely nothing else, and probably some dark mages stationed in Jungby. Could possibly make for the equivalent of Victory or Death in BlaBla, Murdock's map in BinBla, Clash! in PoR etc.pp. If Kaga absolutely wanted Miletos to exist on Jugdral's map, there could still be half of an island in the bottom right - with the castle just out of sight, similar to Nordion and Marpha on the other side of the map, so that Seliph doesn't have to go seize it. Plonk a village or two on there that only Fee or Altena can reach, and you can have a little bit of backstory fluff about Miletos, too. I agree that it makes sense for Seliph to first operate at the fringes of the Empire's control. However, I still think that you don't actually need Miletos to create that story structure, and that the story doesn't actually do anything with the new setting it introduced. Hilda could be stabbing children in Verdane (or Agustria, but that doesn't work geographically) just as well. Narratively, I think it would me much more interesting to return to Sigurd's old stomping ground - it's a cause to reminisce about Sigurd meeting Deirdre, or a little drama that Ares, Nanna and Dermott must fight their countrymen, or even the question if Sigurd is to blame for the desolation in Verdane (and/or Agustria) because he was always thinking with his seize button.

I would say, so, yes. There's a village in Ch.7 where we're told that she and Ishtore are "fine youths", for example, and later, after Julius warps Ishtar out of Ch.8, Tinni tells Seliph, "Ishtar was like a sister to me. She was one of the few who treated me well..." With what we're given at this point, I think it's a valid interpretation that Ishtar fell in love with Julius without seeing the pedocidal side of him (or maybe they met before Loptyr took Julius over, but I'm pretty sure we don't actually know about that just yet)... and now that Julius is off his rocker, she's too terrified of him to ever do or say anything that might upset him. It wouldn't make her a good person - she's still helping along the child murding machine - but it would make her a tragic villain. "Hegel remarks somewhere that all great world-historic facts and personages appear, so to speak, twice. He forgot to add: the first time as tragedy, the second time as farce." - Karl Marx I don't disagree with the overall point, but I don't think Lewyn is much of a Stu. He has special blood and bullshit powers, sure, but not beyond the degree of other characters with major holy blood. And while he's indeed gen 2's "smart guy", I think an important part of Sue/Stu-ness is that the narration assumes that everybody (both in-universe and the reader) loves the Stu, with the exception of the most irredeemable villain. And that's certainly not the case for Lewyn, who is a bad son, a bad husband, a bad father, a bad crown prince, and just an all-around bad person - and all quite deliberately written as such. Can confirm. I was at the market early this morning and said hi to another regular customer. The police immediately appeared and brought us to the closest registry office. Since "late 30s" is basically 70+ in anime age, I suppose I have to rescind my previous statement and say that Hilda looks really young for her age. Jokes aside, those numbers do seem more realistic, but I'd say my point about Hilda being allowed to look middle-aged still stands. Yeah, I like the @Interdimensional Observer's head canon, but I agree that Hilda would make a bigger deal about being brothers with the Emperor unless she doesn't want to direct Ishtar's attention to her and Julius being cousins. Just from her looks, I would've headcanoned Isaachian heritage for her. I'm sure there's black-haired characters explicitly stated to be from somewhere else, but that hair colour is still mostly associated with that country. All very much in line with the standards of European nobility. Gotta keep those bloodlines pure. Thing is, Miletos really is just on the Jugdral map for this one chapter. Outside of it, it appears in the Jugdral timeline (the first instance of child hunts) and as Seliph's shopping location. You could just move the "Sorrow of Miletos" to another location and have Seliph take another angle to flirt with Julia, and you could remove the island from the map without losing anything narratively. And no, we don't know any character from Miletos. Fee stocks at an all-time high. Sylvia tried to teach him how to dance.

Oh, I agree. But just saying "Oh, I agree." is boring. One thing that's remarkable about Hilda is that she looks like she's about 50 years old. I think she's the only woman in the game who is allowed to be and look middle-aged? Rahna is probably 40-50 years old, but has a generic "somewhere between 25 and 40" portrait. Other than that, there's only two of the generic village women - the one with the headscarf looks about as old as Hilda, and then there's the one portrait that's actually old. It wasn't necessary for me to make the obvious joke, but I was quite delighted when this Morrigan even talked in a way that absolutely could've been DA:O!Morrigan. Like, child mass murder is (probably) a step too far even for her, but she'd totally present an unpleasant order with a similar faux-polite schadenfreude.