Cosmic_Dragon

It was even more prime of a chance cause, even though she killed her people's slaughterer, it was clear that it wasn't "it" for her; like, she won the battle but the chapter didn't close, it wasn't the end of her story (and to be honest, her victory over Nemesis kinda has a sort of pyrrhic-like feel based on the cutscene cause there's no inherent sense of finality or joy to it, just a "this isn't over" kinda theme) she's still very much haunted by his memory and that of her past before him, and that would've made for a very good and unique FE plot. But no, let's just sideline her and not do much with her or her remaining family members, they get to be only one more unit in your army. Come on now...

Being fair though, Rhea can be saved if you have Byleth A or S-support her, and her S-support does give a bit of pretty valuable insight into her character...However, I agree that the Nabateans really, REALLY, needed to be explored more, and Rhea also needed more time to shine. As it is, everything about them is too vague and left up to interpretation to make any concrete conclusions, other than what the game tells us. It was especially disappointing that Byleth getting the powers of a deity of light amounted to...a hair and eye color change and being a bit better at magic (which I personally never cared for cause I always made Byleth a physical-oriented unit; War Cleric Byleth ftw). But honestly, after Three Houses, and especially Three Hopes, I'm kinda tired of IS always treating whatever the resident dragon tribe is as an afterthought and never elaborating much of anything on them for the sake of keeping them "mysterious". Like, what's the point of giving that kind of nature to a character if you ain't gonna do anything with it other than them getting some special power-up?

Word of advice, never get hung up on or listen seriously to the things you see people say on Gamefaqs or 4chan (especially 4chan). Actually, just don't get too invested in most arguing on the internet, period.

Does anyone know if there's some way to see the game's paralogues at the moment? Or has that not been leaked?

Honestly, same. I know some folks are all about the morality and different outcomes and what have you, but after 3H, I've seen more than enough anime politics discourse to last me a lifetime. Absolutely nothing wrong with something more campy and straightforward that simply wants to be a fun and clear-cut good vs evil tale (especially nowadays).

Sorry, I said daughter cause she's coming in the same banner as female Alear, so I thought that this Lumera "canonically" had a daughter. Probably still should've said "child" though.

It's definitely weird. Especially when Engage itself doesn't hesitate to have her acknowledge Alear as her daughter. Something's definitely fishy here. I mean, it could also make sense if Lumera having a child was supposed to be some kind of secret affair in-universe (except to a few select people), and this is simply alluding to that, but, I don't know, it's still rather odd...

Can we really count Ephraim as precedent though? Like, one of his duos was a normal hero while the other was child-themed (basically different types of duos). In this case both duos would be seasonal, and has there ever been a hero with two seasonal duos? (Unless that's what Alfonse and Veronica's other duos were cause I only remember them having one each). Also, I'm not sure we can say that Grima counts as actually being Robin (who's the actual avatar of Awakening).

Personally, I don't see why one should be discouraged by that. I mean, even if something is made by Japanese nerds for other Japanese nerds, I don't think that's any reason for why someone out of that audience wouldn't find something they enjoy from that. Like you said, there's always the possibility of things having a deeper meaning, and whether someone finds that deeper meaning on something that seems to be made solely to "pander to otakus", well that's entirely up to people. Everyone can have their own perspective on things they like and things they don't, and whether someone else finds that agreeable or not it doesn't really have to take away validity from your own opinion. I mean, another apparently unpopular opinion from me (or maybe it's not, really don't know how to gauge these things), I like the Byleth/Rhea pair and think it's one of the best endings in Three Houses. That doesn't change the fact that some people find it rather distasteful or think it's just a kink, and well, I can't really go around telling people what to think, I just don't agree with that and have my reasons for liking the pairing (and while I personally think it's one of the best endings, I won't say it should be that for everyone else), but if someone wants to think like that, they're welcome to it. My point is, there's many opinions out there, but something being made "for otakus" by other Japanese nerds doesn't mean someone who isn't that can't find some deeper meaning in said tropes, or that it's wrong to like them even if they don't find anything of the sort. I mean, I don't really ship Corrin/Camilla, but I won't say that it's wrong for someone else to ship them either. Yeah, their interactions were clearly meant to invoke the "mommy kink" trope, but I mean, someone else who does like that pair could also be seeing something that I (or other people) are missing, and that's pretty cool really (at least, I think it is).

Thanks for clearing that up. It's just that it's kinda hard to tell (for me at least) who's joking and who's being serious on the internet nowadays, especially with how sensitive some people in the FE fandom can be when it comes to shipping.

Okay, not really sure if this counts as an "unpopular" opinion nowadays, but I don't really think that Robin/Lucina is "creepy" or "wrong" like some people say it is, and I say that as someone who doesn't ship them together (I prefer pairing Robin with Cherche). Now, I know that this is one of those cases where it comes mostly down to everyone's own perspectives, but I don't really see the arguments against the pairing. Or well, I guess it'd be more accurate to say that I do see them but don't really agree with them. I mean, for one, people say it "breaks the bro code" and I'm not really sure whether they're just joking when they say that, but in the case they're not, I... really don't see how? I mean, how is Robin sincerely falling in love with Lucina akin to betraying Chrom's trust in any way? I'd agree if Robin's interest in Lucina was purely sexual in nature, or if he was just using her to make some kind of ends meet (but that sounds more like Grima than anything), but the bond Robin and Lucina can form comes from a place of genuine affection and care for one another. Don't see why Chrom would be opposed to that. Another argument I see being thrown around in there is "he knew her as a baby!", but (and this might be REALLY controversial), I don't really understand why that apparently matters so much? I mean, yeah, he may have known her as a baby for a little while, but the Lucina he's falling in love with is one that is grown and is a young woman, it's not like she's a kid whom he personally raised and groomed with the intention of making her his girlfriend later on (hell, he didn't even see her growing up as a kid), or like he somehow fell in love with her baby self a la Jacob Black. Again, I understand this is all up to personal opinion, I'm not saying that my thoughts are Word of God or anything, (and granted, for all I know some people might just be joking with those takes), anyone's free to disagree with me, just putting the thought out there.

Those things that you mention however, are precisely things that Jeralt was trying to keep his distance from. Jeralt wanted to leave the church as well as anything concerning his life there behind, so of course he wouldn't tell Byleth about any of those things until right when he has no other choice, but that deosn't have to have any bearing on teaching Byleth about aspects completely separate from those. Not knowing about things like how the church works or things about history also doesn't have to line up with Jeralt teaching Byleth stuff about life in general. Also speaking from personal experience here, my dad was a politician and he made sure to teach me all there was to know about social interaction and, yes, matter of sexuality when he noticed I started taking an interest in that, but didn't really teach me much about history or politics himself until I was in my Senior year of High School. It's why I imagine that, even if Jeralt didn't really teach Byleth much about the church (which he was trying to keep his distance from) or aspects about history, he would still try to teach them about life in general; he just doesn't seem like the kind of guy who wouldn't make sure his son/daughter would know how to take care of themselves inside the battlefield as well as outside of it, especially given how much experience he has and the kind of lifestyle they lead. (Also, Jeralt's line is that he was worried that Byleth having to teach a bunch of "noble brats" might've been too much for them. He was more concerned about the fact that they were now surrounded by mostly people of noble descent, not by people in general. And the answer of not being used to the monastery yet netting you affinity points with him could also be taken as him not exactly being comfortable in the monastery himself at the moment, so Byleth not being either could've been to his liking. Although, that could also just be headcanon on my part. But either way, it's not like you lose affinity points with him if you pick the other option, or like he reacts negatively to it either; at best he only acts a bit surprised but quickly brushes it off; and tbh, him only asking Byleth about the matter after the fact could also be a sign of him having confidence that Byleth can handle themselves well around people, but still being a bit concerned because of those people being a bit different from the kind they were normally around; although, that could also just be up to personal interpretation). No they aren't, but I also don't see any reason why he'd avoid explaining both to them, it's not like it'd be anything bad or counter intuitive to they lives. There's also the fact that he gives them their mother's ring so they can give it to someone they themselves want to marry someday, and he does this without needing to explain to Byleth what exactly he means with his wording, meaning he did it knowing that Byleth was fully aware of what he meant. I wasn't talking about their understanding of intercourse in there though, I was referring to their overall knowledge of society and experience with it. Yes, Byleth may not teach subjects that aren't related to combat, but from my experience, to be as good a teacher as Byleth apparently is, it wouldn't be only about being good at the subject, but also about knowing how to deal and interact with people, otherwise students or other teachers might just raise complaints. My point was that everyone is always lauding Byleth as a great teacher and confidant, and you never once see anyone complaining about the way they teach or act in class, which I think wouldn't be possible if they truly had no real idea of how to interact with people. We don't really "learn about them" though, so much as we're told those are things that can be done in the monastery and so, we just go and try them. It's clearly just meant to be game mechanics being introduced rather than anything to do with Byleth themselves, but it's really no different than someone saying "hey, you know we like doing x activity around here?" rather than "this is a thing and you do it like this...", especially since Byleth is just told about it and immediately does it without issue or needing to be told in-depth about it (hell, in the case of the tea party mechanic no one's walking Byleth through it, the tutorial prompts just appear by themselves, which could mean that Byleth already knows full well how this kind of thing goes and how to make it entertaining, which they most likely wouldn't if they had no experience in social interaction; same thing for the meal invitations and advice box). Yes, they may not appear immediately, but that could simply be due to Byleth being new to the monastery and not really being aware of the costumes there rather than them just outright not knowing about any of that stuff. And yes, the player can get the answers in the tea time as well as in the advice box as right as they can get them wrong, but in the case of the tea parties, it's really not anything to do with Byleth's social skills so much as knowing the person they're interacting with enough, which of course is going to cause them (and by extension the players) some complications the first few times, you're not going to know much about people you just met. And I think I can say that Byleth certainly could be at least giving a lot of advice right in the box, since if they were really bad at it and only gave bad advice, then the box would probably get a bad reputation and people would just stop giving notes to it, but the fact that they keep on coming means that Byleth really wouldn't be doing half-bad in that; and yes, I know about the whole rewind time headcanon, but as much as that is entertained, like you said, it's still a headcanon; one that isn't really supported by the game itself either cause, well, we're just not given the ability to use Divine Pulse outside of battle, implying that Byleth either can't or just won't do it (not to mention Sothis probably wouldn't approve of her power being used in such a petty way). Thing is, Byleth's not just teaching their students dance moves, they're also outright raising their Charm, which I would think involves more than just teaching them to move; plus, I don't know if Byleth actually would know how to "refine" a fighting style to look more graceful (they were a mercenary, not necessarily a martial artist) or that they'd even know those kinds of arts (I certainly like to think they do, but Fodlan is not an occidental-themed country and doesn't really have any such lands adjacent to it). And yes, it can also be the case that the student fails, but honestly, you actually need to put in more effort to fail than to win, and that is the case even for students that have a low Charm stat. The easiest way of failing is if you completely neglect to train your student for the competition, which I don't think any player (and Byleth by extension) would've done. Yes, but to fully understand and be ready to propose to and marry someone would need a whole lot more time than just a year of social interaction for someone that would've had absolutely no concept of relationships, romance or intimacy prior to that one single year like you say Byleth would've. Otherwise, them proposing or accepting someone's proposal just feels pretty rushed and forced. Unless Byleth would truly still be ignorant enough do that while not really understanding what that entails, but that would just lead to a pretty rocky marriage that would most likely end in divorce (especially when they're also most likely dealing with the issue of running the church or the entire country). Byleth's arc (as much of an arc as they have anyway) is indeed about opening up more, but it's never said or shown that it also is about learning those kinds of things for the first time. No, it doesn't necessarily mean that, but with how much of a heavy drinker Jeralt apparently is, as well as the people around him and Byleth being a bunch of mercenaries, it's pretty hard to believe that Byleth really never would've accompanied them to a tavern or something like that, which is what you seemed to be implying when you said that "they were kept away from most places and people"; that might've been a misconception of my part and I apologize for it. Wouldn't that also go into headcanon territory though? We're never told exactly what kind of plans Jeralt had when he left the monastery; we're certainly not told or shown that he had an "unspoken agreement" with Rhea, especially when Rhea thought Byleth to be dead. It's one thing to start a rumored reputation about something you're good at, yes, but it's another to maintain that reputation for such a time that you're considered a "living legend" of sorts, which wouldn't really be possible if one is kept away from people or society; perhaps it isn't necessary to be personable to gain a reputation, but maintaining it and elevating it to such levels would be another matter. And again, they supposedly traveled all over Fodlan, I really can't imagine that it'd had been possible for them to be kept away from civilization, especially when the story begins with them living on a village with people for who knows how long now. Yes, they may not have been to the big cities all that often (and even that's something we can't be sure of), but they certainly would've been no strangers to small towns or settlements. Thing is though, Byleth isn't a kid, and never during the story or their supports do they behave or are portrayed like one. Yes, kids say swear words all the time cause they're immature and don't really understand the full concept of what they're saying, they just think it's cool or funny, but Byleth is an adult and by no means a kid, they have a lot more maturity than that, and after spending so much time as a mercenary and living among other mercs it's kinda hard to think they'd honestly still be that innocent (or innocent at all tbh), there's no way they wouldn't at least notice the subtext in the joke (especially when they make it in a pretty accurate situation to the joke's context that they're fully aware of, rather than just making it randomly at some point for no reason like many kids do). I don't think she/he'd be immune to "charms" and "tricks" though. They may not have been all that emotive, but that doesn't mean that they still weren't a perfectly healthy boy/girl with a perfectly functioning and developing body, and like anyone else, they would've had hormones that probably got wilder and wilder as they grew up. Again, they probably didn't emote much, but that doesn't mean they couldn't feel (which is basically what female Byleth herself says in one of her lines in her Forging Bonds event on FE Heroes; that she's aware that people think she lacks emotion, but in truth it just wasn't in her nature to show what she was feeling (but Jeralt and some of the mercs could pick up on it), meaning that they can feel, they just don't show it much), especially in cases where the feeling comes from natural human body/instinct reactions. Yes, perhaps the un-emotiveness might've creeped some people out, but again, with how good-looking and well-built they are, I honestly can imagine some people not really caring about that (and especially in the case of male Byleth since some girls do have a liking for super serious "bad boys", but that's more headcanon on my part than anything), and I honestly think that the reputation part would probably entice some people even more if anything (those who are the "I like the risk/challenge" type). (Tbf, why wouldn't Jeralt explain what he means by "not wanting any baby versions" of Byleth? Or why would Byleth not ask him what he means by that? Or if Jeralt's not willing to give info. on it, why wouldn't they try asking anyone else? But well, it's your headcanon, so don't listen to me if you don't want to). But you know what? You're right, at the end of the day it's all just made up headcanons, who knows what Byleth's and Jeralt's lives were actually like before getting to the monastery. Everyone's got their own opinion in the end, and honestly, at this point we're just nitpicking and wasting time, so how about we just agree to disagree and everyone believes whatever they want? (and tbf, it's not really about whether Byleth's had relations before, that's not really something of importance (I'm mostly just trying to argue that it is completely plausible for them to have experience in such things; whether they actually do or not is something that cannot be said for sure) It's more about them not being mentally stunted/oblivious to life and society like some people believe they are, but again, everyone can believe what they want; that's what avatars are for in the end).

Personally, I would've gone with "Unicorn Hunting". Sounds like it has just the right amount of subtlety and playfulness for a T-rated game. "Virgin Hunting" kinda sounds a bit more direct, which I think would've been more appropriate if the game had been rated M instead. Yeah, that's why I said "probably". We don't know exactly how long Flayn's been around, but sure enough, she's been around long enough to certainly be able to have knowledge about such things. But we also have to remember that she was sleep for many years (possibly centuries) and then spent most of her time after waking up in isolation along with Seteth. On the other hand, she was also an active participant in the War of Heroes and who knows exactly how long she was alive before that.

Hmm, couldn't really tell you tbh. There's only so much I've managed to get from the differences between the Japanese dub and the English one and also managed to corroborate (my Japanese is nice but it isn't the best). I imagine it'd still be there, but I also can't really remember which chapter exactly they said that. You know, now that you mention it, you're right, it does look an awful lot like that. Makes me wonder, what would be the equivalent of a Taser there (the Thunder spell perhaps?).

Eh, I imagine he'd most likely scold them, but not really in any severe way, more like he'd just give them a warning (unless Flayn was around to hear it. Then sh*t would hit the fan, even if Flayn probably wouldn't get the joke xD); I mean, the guy deals with worse (just look at his C-Support with Manuela, haha).

I think there's actually some other moments that were changed in localization. For example, the raunchy joke they make is in Edelgard's C-Support when she asks them what they are doing wandering around at night, and they can jokingly answer with "night crawling", which is an old Japanese term for men sneaking into women's rooms at night to have sex with them. I guess that localization changed that cause they either didn't find a way to properly translate it (the term doesn't have any equivalent to it in the English language), or they probably thought it'd make Byleth come across as creepy (even if they were just joking). There's another Byleth joke moment that didn't make it into localization in Azure Moon. It's at the end of Dimitri's paralogue where, in the Japanese dub, Byleth can jokingly call Dimitri a Hikikomori (japanese term for introverted nerd who barely ever goes out) and if you have Bernadetta alive and recruited, Dimitri will complain that he's nothing like her; pretty funny honestly. xD

I honestly don't think Jeralt would do that though. I mean, it's one thing to keep them in the dark about the church, but to not teach his son/daughter the most basic of things about life and forego the most basica parental responsibilities? That would just make him an awful parent; not to mention, Jeralt really doesn't seem like the kind of guy who would shy away from those things with how blunt and direct he is, especially knowing he'll have to tell them to his child sooner or later (especially when they grew up amongst mercenaries, who are normally rambunctious and something of party animals in these kinds of stories). Byleth "not knowing" about the Tragedy of Duscur is only one of the options in that line of dialogue, iirc they can also say "I've heard of it", meaning that even if they wouldn't exactly have a big picture of the conflict as a whole (which would be understandable, given that they had nothing to do with it and also aren't inherently connected to Faerghus), they are indeed aware of it and of Duscurians (just more on the level that any other normal civilian would be). And honestly, if Jeralt truly had kept Byleth as ignorant as you say, then not only would Jeralt be an even more awful parent, he'd also be a failure as a leader; he and Byleth are both mercenaries, and the lifestyle of a mercenary is a really rough one, one that one rquiers coming face-to-face with the real world on multiple occasions, which one needs more than brute strength to survive into, they also need to be savvy, and if Jeralt truly hadn't allowed Byleth to learn about taking care of themselves in life despite having them in his ranks as mercs, then it wouldn't make sense for someone who's supposedly such an amazing leader and has years upon years of experience under his belt. Not to mention it'd also make Byleth not make any sense in the story proper. If Byleth truly was this ignorant golem of a person who truly has no idea about life or society, then them being the amazing teacher and leader they supposedly are wouldn't make any sense; hell, it wouldn't make sense for them hold their teaching position for longer than a few weeks at best. I mean, the fact that they go around inviting people to have dinner with them, organizing tea parties, giving advice through an advice box and can outright train someone to win a dance competition (to the point that their trainee impresses even a retired songstress) would tell you that they do have at the very least more experience with society than just "knowing aspects of it"; hell, if they really were kept that ignorant, then it wouldn't make sense for them to outright propose to someone at the end of the story. That would also kinda go against things that the story itself says. Byleth and Jeralt are both famed mercenaries throughout Fodlan, and Byleth themselves even have an established reputation as the "Ashen Demon". That's not a resume that someone who was "kept away from most places and people" would have (not to mention, in Byleth's FE Heroes bio, it also says that they traveled all over Fodlan as a mercenary and fought in numerous battles). Also, Jeralt never says or shows that he was keeping Byleth away from society, Jeralt was only trying to keep both himself and Byleth away from the church; and there's also the fact that he wasn't even trying to hide from the church, he was simply trying to have as little contact with them as possible. There's also the fact that in the Japanese dub, at one point Byleth proposes celebrating with beer and booze, which is the way that mercenaries normally celebrate, which implies that, yes, they have indeed gone to taverns or even brothels with Jeralt and his mercenaries before. Also, it is indeed completely plausible that Byleth had a lay on the sack at some point or another in their lives. Again, I bring up the Japanese dub where it's shown that Byleth can make raunchy jokes, and they do so openly; implying that, at the very least, they are indeed knowledgeable about sex and probably have no shame or problem bringing up the subject (which is normally more likely in people who have experience in that sort of thing). And let's be honest, Byleth for all intents and purposes was a perfectly healthy human being, and like any other human, they would've had points where their hormones got out of control, and them being rough n' tumble wandering mercs like Jotari said who were contrantly moving into all sorts of towns with all sorts of girls/boys, well... Not to mention, with how good-looking and well-built they are, I honestly can't imagine that no one ever approached them to try taking them to the bed (especially in the case of the female Byleth).

Sure, if you want. Glad you like it!

The edit on the last entry also kinda ties into another headcanon I have about them explaining why they're able to play this sorta pseudo-therapist to their students and why people go to them for advice (didn't put this there cause that would've made the post way longer than it needed to be; heck, this one is already longer than I wanted it to be), I apologize in advance if it seems outlandish. Due to feeling emotions less than normal, but feeling them nonetheless, it in turn caused Byleth to gain a bigger interest than usual in understanding feelings and emotions, which is what they set out to do by studying the behaviors and conducts of the people/mercenaries around them throughout their tenure as a mercenary, as well as asking them (the people; their fellow mercenaries mostly) to tell them (Byleth) about their troubles/experiences as a means of better understanding their own emotions, which is how they learned to be so observant (as the game sometimes points out they are). And as Byleth gained a better understanding of feelings (and life) in general (of those around them as well as their own) they started trying to offer advice due to their surprisingly empathetic nature (something I imagine they get from their parents), even if some of the advice wasn't always sound (which is why they normally get three options that can range from good to bad when someone asks them something in the game), and eventually it inadvertedly became like second nature to them to lend a listening ear and a piece of advice if someone came up to them with a personal issue, which is why they answer questions in the confessionary or the issues their students sometimes come up to them with (and why they're apparently good enough at social interaction to invite people to eat or have tea parties with them).