Content Respecter

Completely slipped my mind, but english-language Fates does have completely different supports for a few characters based on Corrin's gender, which makes it stranger that the Rhajat variant wasn't preserved. Leaves me with no idea why that decision was made or if it'd be repeated.

Leaving dialogue unchanged comes off as a gesture at consumer choice rather than a representation of queerness. It's more like hitting a switch than approaching an idea. I know that New Mystery had pretty significant gendered differences in most of its supports, but that the localized versions of Awakening and Fates had nearly identical ones. I'm not sure how the original versions of those two handled it, as far as C-A goes.

I hadn't looked at the Japanese M!Corrin/Rhajat support until today and it's a strange, bad angle. Fates was in such an odd position of being written to appeal to an audience brought in by niche fanservice that was localized out of Awakening, while being translated to appeal to the fans of that localization. I tend to agree, I'd like a work with more character even if it's a mess.

In the unlocalized version of their S-Support, Rhajat expresses hopelessness at loving a female Corrin, and a desire to be reborn as male offset by the immediacy of her feelings. This apprehension is absent in her support with a male Corrin. Along the same lines, a male Corrin will point out to Niles that they're both men, though the bulk of their support is unchanged. The localized release erases these differences; the former case replaces something odd and sentimental with a joke and was generally unpopular, while the latter was unremarked on. Equivalent male and female instances of these supports nod at equality and assimilation, and we can't pretend that the original variations were rooted in lived experience rather than genre convention. They also unmoor homosexuality from history and social context, which is particularly hollow given how obscure it is in Fates. It's unclear exactly how Three Houses will represent relationships between Byleth and their same-sex love interests, and I'm curious what everyone's hopes and expectations for this are. We can generally agree on a desire to see same-sex romantic supports, but are we asking for a copy-pasted variation of their heterosexual equivalents or a potentially awkward acknowledgement of their peculiarity? And are we motivated by a desire for gratification, for socially responsible representation, or to better understand these authors' perspectives on homosexuality?

If Edelgard is actually an option for F!Byleth, I can't resist blithely gay variants of major cutscenes. Otherwise like, this guy.

Thani did claim that the fourth route wouldn't be a true ending akin to Revelations. The notion that there's a novel ending that isn't just neat conflict resolution makes me want to believe there's something interesting going on with the plot.

Interested in buying B14-029R+ (not B14-029R) Severa. Would appreciate any offers.

The original timeline ought to be the one the game's about, I'd honestly like them to completely ditch the time travel plot. All it serves to do is remove tension and stakes from the narrative, preventing it from having any emotional weight after the first third of the game. Awakening's plot is by no means great, but I'd like to see it executed with some sincerity and pathos. I also think that your cool myUnit becoming the last boss would be genuinely clever. Speaking of Robin, they occupy a space between empty vessel and full character. They have the foundations of a character worth exploring, we get hints of their all-consuming sense of duty and fear of intimacy, and I'd like to see this fleshed out better. This is probably common, but I'd like the number of supports to be limited. Understanding who these characters have the potential to get along with humanizes them. Puritanically refusing to let supports get romantic before the S also creates terrible pacing that I'd like to see discarded. Obviously, gay S-Supports should be a thing.

Everything here is entirely sincere.

Okay, I hate every plot in this series about evil nobles conspiring against a noble blood-monarch. This is really ever-present and undercuts the hints of anti-monarchist sentiment that crops up in a few games. Can't help but imagine IntSys' writers collectively seething about the Magna Carta. Echoes completely drops the ball on Alm and Celica's character development towards the end. Instead of a thesis-antithesis-synthesis structure to their conflicting perspectives, Alm is made to be right about everything and Celica's made to be wrong. This would be fine if everything about the ending didn't suggest the former happened, which is awkward and unearned. A lot happens to throw Celica's relationship with her party into question, but we never see interaction between her and any of them after this. Libra is the only acceptable boy to ship Lissa with because their supports allow her to express desire in a really genuine way. Lissa is probably gay but should not date Maribelle. Corrin and Xander shouldn't have sex. Micaiah is the pettiest and thirstiest lord and I love her.

Any gay characters?

Kind of a weird one, but Nowi and Vaike's relationship in Awakening is really well done, and their S-Support reads as strictly platonic. Vaike gives her a ring that's explicitly a symbol of his own legacy, to help resolve their mutual anxiety about death. I think it's neat and really sweet. Also Ike/Elincia, knight/liege dynamics are the richest when they're not rooted in formal constructs or in romance.