screenshot lp The League shall fall if I'm in control - A bad tactician plays Berwick Saga, Ironman mode!

[Saint Rubenio]

36 minutes ago, BrightBow said:

That's not Ruby. It's Saphira. The tiara and the braided hair leave no ambiguity about that.

That's... even worse. C'mon, she's... she's like, 15...!

36 minutes ago, BrightBow said:

Oh, there is the kitty. Glad it's doing okay.

I didn't even notice. That's the cutest thing ever.

......

No but seriously, why does Christine's thing just say "ass"? Why? I need answers!

[BrightBow]

23 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

That's... even worse. C'mon, she's... she's like, 15...!

Hey, I wasn't the one who posted it.

I'm surprised that Aethin of all people got the two of them mixed up.

Edited December 30, 2020 by BrightBow

[Saint Rubenio]

27 minutes ago, BrightBow said:

Hey, I wasn't the one who posted it.

Yeah, I wasn't directing that at you, it was more of a broad statement.

27 minutes ago, BrightBow said:

I'm surprised that Aethin of all people got the two of them mixed up.

Wishful thinking, perhaps?

[Pengaius]

On 12/29/2020 at 5:26 PM, Saint Rubenio said:

I won't lie, a couple of times I was tempted to PM you and tell you to post in an update without deaths, just to throw the others off. Glad that you had the same idea eventually.

I would have done so earlier but i still don't understand how this game works. 

As much as I'd like to let you revel in the good times, I do have an obligation to attend to no point in hiding it anymore. 

On 12/29/2020 at 5:28 PM, Saint Rubenio said:

Christine
Esteban
Czene
Clifford
Elbert
Leon
Marcel
Arthur
Alvina
Larentia
Sylvis

Faye x 4

Christine? More like Christoute. 

Esteban? More like Estebanned. 

Czene? More like Penne (they both have a big hole in the middle) 

Clifford? More like Cliffailed

Elbert? More like Elburied

Leon? More like Le-gone

Marcel? More like Parcel (of guts, entrails and the like)

Arthur? More like Arthurt (this one had me stumped as I couldn't think of a hood one so here) 

Alvina? More like Alvinada

Larentia? More like Lamentia

Sylvis? More like Spillvis (on account of all the blood and guts that spilled out of her)

Spoiler

Honestly, the B-plot you wrote felt kinda weak. Sorry. 

It probably had to do with so few of the characters tying into the main plot. Elaine, Harriet and Ruebhen weren't very interesting as they were completely new to the plot and I felt a little bit lost when they were loredumping their backstories. 

The removal of Ruben from the plot was in my opinion a poor choice as he was previously the lynchpin that tied the A and B plots together. Thankfully it seems that this will be rectified next season. 

The standout character was of course Valery. Who juggled various plot threads exceptionally well. Of course some of his spoylight was stolen by Clara in the grand finale. It is likely that the two will retain an influence in the coming seasons. 

8.5/10 IGN too much water

 

[This boi uses Nino]

Spoiler

On 12/29/2020 at 11:26 AM, Saint Rubenio said:

Go right ahead. I'm replaying the Dishonored series, myself. Everyone likes 1 better, but 2 is so much more fun to play that I just cannot agree.

My same thoughts on the Megaman X games. 2>1

On 12/29/2020 at 11:26 AM, Saint Rubenio said:

Uh, yeah... Game's over.

Lel. Time to spoil myself on the ending.

On 12/29/2020 at 11:26 AM, Saint Rubenio said:

I must say, Sienna looks a lot more natural at the throne than Volcyboy ever did.

So it was what I thought (mostly) we rebelled against the Berwick League... or I guess we sorta did? eh i'm not keen on the details.

On 12/29/2020 at 11:26 AM, Saint Rubenio said:

His Late Imperial Majesty never wished for anything more than to make peace with you, but after his body was racked by illness, he was left a shell of himself, unable to control his subjects as he wished.

Hmm... ok, this helps put things better into perspective.

On 12/29/2020 at 11:26 AM, Saint Rubenio said:

Shirou, knight of Selba.

Yes, Lord Lionheart!

...Sorry, I couldn't resist.

Hehehehehehe....

On 12/29/2020 at 11:26 AM, Saint Rubenio said:

Holy shit, Lynette...! If he's an emotionless sociopath, she's a raging psychopath! Heh, maybe [hanes fucked up the text here]

HEheHAHAHA it sure seems like it...

On 12/29/2020 at 11:26 AM, Saint Rubenio said:

Ahhh, Best Grandpa! I'm fond of Roswick. He's a simple character, but he's a much needed voice of reason in the throne room for most of the game. I appreciate his existence.

He's really based.

On 12/29/2020 at 11:26 AM, Saint Rubenio said:

Is it this woman's thing that she likes making dramatic entrances? She's always coming out of the most unexpected corners, I swear... Is there even supposed to be a door there?

She just fucking popped into existence hahahahahah!

On 12/29/2020 at 11:26 AM, Saint Rubenio said:

Please look after Saphira for me.

Always, Lord Reese.

Lady Lynette... Have a safe journey home.

the sprites got messed up and other people probably already mentioned it lel.

On 12/29/2020 at 11:26 AM, Saint Rubenio said:

Forgive you? Forgive you for what? Not being real so I can be too socially awkward to ask you out? I guess I can forgive you for that...

...E-Ergh... Look, a distraction!

Paramythis. The Dommy Mommy. You'll be taking a dump and she'll just appear out of nowhere from the walls as one does.

On 12/29/2020 at 11:26 AM, Saint Rubenio said:

DOES. NOT. COMPUTE. DOES. NOT. COMPUTE.

compyuta error... ha eh hah. compyoota errohr. turn off compeeuyoota now.

On 12/29/2020 at 11:26 AM, Saint Rubenio said:

Kaga did the Three Houses meme first.

...Yes, I've been waiting the entire game to say that.

Oh cool. Also going around th eentire town will take so long... I'll just go up to axes man...

On 12/29/2020 at 11:26 AM, Saint Rubenio said:

I want you to have it.

O-Oh... my... AAAXEEE! PEJJ, LOOK! LOOK! WHAT AN AXE! OMIGOSHOHMIGOSHOHMIGOSH! THIS IS THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE!

...Heh, well... Guess I'm happy for you, man.

I love this interaction, as I did all axe-man interactions.

Hey

Hanes: Oh yeah heya. Axes

AXES! Did you lose you rmotivation?

Hanes: heck no I didn't. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAZXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

Hehe that's the spirit...




Now to give Ruben a stroke with the inconsistent... oops CTRL+I with the inconsistent formatting mwahahaha

 

[Awoken Dayni]

Spoiler

49 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

I mean, yeah, it's really difficult to get soft-locked. To be honest, I always found the memes about it to exaggerate.

  It could be still be easy to be softlocked in fairness.

Quote

What do you know, that's exactly how I felt when I played Three Houses.

...So yeah, I can understand how you feel. I probably have gotten too carried away on too many occasions. I'm passionate about this game, sorry.

What do you know, I don't think I've said that about 3H ever.

I've gotten plenty carried away as well, apologies.

49 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

There's not that many doors in the game, and being able to open them without having to get through 100 HP is one of Thaddy/Czene's niches.

...Come to think about it, I don't really understand why the final chapter's doors can't be broken, like every other door in the game. It'd lower the risk of having to reset due to an unfortunate mistake with the two keys.

True, though door keys being only here still feels odd to me despite that.

And that is weird only these doors can take infinite damage, Maybe Reese is too worried about damaging Navaronese craftsmanship despite everything.

49 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Dimitri? It was easier when I played the game with him. Then again, that was hard mode.

Yeah, trust me when I say I would not look forward to reaching that map in AM Maddening.

And I mean that, I may have played my first playthroughs with Casual (while trying to avoid needing it), but this was the first case where I ended up having to deal with it, AND IT WAS DIMITRI'S FAULT. I know, I just outed myself as the most casual of fucks, but I don't want to imagine how I'd feel reaching that map in Classic when I was still learning about the systems and trying to minimise looking around for hints.

49 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Hahahahaha... It's okay. One of these days, one of these days.

Worse, I was paraphrasing from the same old man for that quote.

49 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Raze doesn't act godly, though, does he? Not my interpretation of Raze, anyway.

Also, Oviedo? As in, the Spanish city...?

I wanted a Spanish place to rhyme with duo and it was the closest I could find with how slow everything was writing my previous response.

49 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Volcens gave Sienna a lot of crap, but never once did he seem to actively harbor a violent grudge against her, like he did against Bernard or Reese. He never harmed him, even when she directly defied him. As much of a dick as he was to her, I doubt he could've been convinced to hurt her under any circumstances.

With how he acted though, the idea he could have exists, which says it all.

49 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Well, okay. It was false advertisement. You happy now?

....no. He's supposed to be Endgame beard.

49 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

...Let's not dwell on the fact that Anastasia, who I'm pretty sure isn't even 30 years old, was married to that. Despite everything, it seemed like they truly cared for each other.

That's rather worrisome with the age gap.

Also I could see him being able to have that pull, he looks older than Mordias yet probably was better able to pull off "Daddy" than Mordias in his prime.

49 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

The girl who can't even tell the difference between a million denarii and ten denarii is supposed to handle the aftermath of a centuries-long crisis. Now that's going to be great.

She probably won't have to deal with the finances in fairness.

49 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

She could've given Pallas Serenia to Perceval...

But he can't use it right?

49 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

So what you're saying me is, Lebough is a filthy cheater.

...To be honest, seeing the RNG with Paramythis, I wouldn't be surprised if he gave her godmode or something.

Veria has been playing favourites this whole time and you didn't get to use her until Chapter 12-1

49 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Kinda, yeah! Dodging those copyright infringement lawsuits like a pro.

Imagine Kaga having a copy of the notes he left with IS just figuring out how he'll use them while not getting sued this time.

49 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Poor Arcturus. Whatever has he done to warrant your hate, aside from all the things he's done?

Be too dang perfect for this game for me to feel like it makes sense.

49 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

I like how she didn't even put on the glasses. She'd just been wanting to say that for the longest time.

That wasn't her being sassy, that's her anger being unleashed all at once after this long, shit year.

49 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Hahahahahahah... I can't blame him, I love Dolharken too.

He would name his kid after an object.

49 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

I waited for the game to say it.

Actually, Julian is apparently blessed by Veria as well, because if you murder him, he returns a few maps later like nothing happened. According to Brightbow, anyway. I've never seen it happen. Chapter 6 is the best point to capture him, so I've always done it there.

I meant the game not you.

And Julian, holy crap the guy doesn't get to catch a break.

49 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Let's Play Mario Golf. They arrive on the boat and just play some chill golf.

...Until a very original menace - by which I mean, an evil golf sorcerer wearing dark green robes - comes by and murders Morgan for the billionth time, and then there's a lot of melodrama as the girls hurry to recover the Super Golf Club of Destiny to defeat the evil person. The spirit of... I don't know, Frost, for example, will come from the afterworld to guide them.

Oh, and I'll somehow find a way to kill myself again over golf.

People have died over stupider things.

That's a very low bar to get under though.

49 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

...Uhhh... I mean, Mordias had most of the church killed, with Lebough, Quescria and Saphira as the sole survivors among the higher-ups, and we know well what became of Mordias and his son. Not many people left to punish.

That seems odd. I didn't remember him killing all the priests as well as the Apostle and the Shining Kinghts.

Says a lot that both churches are quite limited in their viewpoints and how they can express them, just differing in the amount of power they have and the flexibility they'll allow to be expressed.

49 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Hahahahahah... And no doubt they'd believe there's some sort of holy plan for their existence. Nope, the gods are just idiots.

Greek Heroic epics in a nutshell.

49 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

I don't know, does the Derrick reveal count as an explosion?

He's not so much crossing story streams as writing it up, so no.

49 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Let's assume it doesn't. In fact, there: It's LP canon that everything goes well and Thaddy and Lena live happily ever after.

I guess that'll suffice.

49 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

I don't think so, no.

Way to bury a track I particularly like's lead Berwick.

49 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

I don't know, I think it's enough, personally. Much more might feel like too much.

I WANT TO BE BAWLING MY EYES OUT WITH THE MELODRAMATIC CATHARSIS.

49 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Yeah... Well, at least there's something. Honestly, Sherlock's arc goes in ways that you wouldn't expect. From his first scene you'd assume he's your usual hotheaded idiot kinda character, but that... really never factors into anything.

Sherlock for best Sinonian?

49 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Imagine Enid accidentally discovered that she could use Pallas Leia. And then Mordias caught wind of this. Roswick's entire family would've been screwed. Ferianne probably figured it'd be more trouble than anything. Besides, she needed it more.

No way that Roswick would allow that to happen though, he'd be sure of that much.

Too important to keep his word to Ferianne.

49 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Being Perceval is suffering.

I'd say being Perceval is missing.

Family, holdings, the enemy.......

49 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

I'm not gonna lie, I should probably agree, but I find the ending to be so hilarious and appropriate for that shitstain Faisal that I just can't help but like it.

Yes, I think you might be a tiny bit biased here.

Faisal hasn't had that much time to be pathetic either, he could have been something else, but no.

Also, tiny? We both know my frustration at Zephyrus's role in the plot's not tiny.

49 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Just... tons of soldiers piled up inside the cathedral.

And according to the head writer Arcturus killed every last one of them.

49 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

How dare you call Derrick a dastard, I'll kill you!

...That being said - is nobody going to talk about how this schmuck wrote himself beheading the enemy mastermind? Talk about a power fantasy! Except it happened. It's LP canon that it happened.

Well he was trying to be accurate and according to this LP it's historical fact that a black knight beheaded Jacharam.............

49 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

I've never actually seen it, but I've heard about it. Aethin can correct me if I'm wrong about anything.

If Derrick dies, there's a scene at the abbey, where the near-dead Derrick is saved by Luciana. Luciana comes close to figuring out his identity. Derrick then claims that, in order to preserve his knowledge, he'll be returning to his homeland, and thus he leaves.

So yeah. The joke unit has plot armor. It's amazing.

So he's still able to write the book.

The joke unit has plot armour thicker than his actual armour.

49 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

He got distracted by Three Houses. Grrr...!

I'm pretty sure he had some issues with the save file he was using and lost his progress.

Alas life as always finds a way to limit things.

49 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Honestly? Not that much, I don't think. Remember back in TRS, when I said I'd ran out of Berwick to play? Aethin's usual playtesters were a bit sick of playing Berwick on-and-off for so long, and he noticed that I was really eager to get more of the game, so he offered to send me the patches in advance so I could playtest. Of course, I wasn't about to refuse. I got to play Berwick ahead of everyone else, so it was a win-win situation for me, all in all.

Aethin: You want to get in on this patch?

You:

49 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

...Too difficult, seeing how Nintendo made it really annoying to move images from the switch to different devices.

To be fair, it's easier now as of more recent patches.

Of course I'm not interested in LP'ing it either, but that's for other reasons.

49 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

This will lead to the next chapter in the series of my involvement in my fanfic plots being extremely weird. Somehow we've gone full circle: it started with plot!me being the same as real!me in FE12, then I separated the two into different entities for 6 and TRS, then I made a couple of meta jokes in this one and it grew into a whole new schism between plot!me and real!me.

What I'm trying to say is, I'm Voldemort. I split my soul into pieces to achieve immortality. Hah!

But he kept splitting his own soul and we followed the shattered piece in him- oh forget it.

It turns out Berwick!Rubenio is behind a set of fourth walls both to the game and to IRL, leaving him trapped in both dimensions. Maybe that explains the higher power talk earlier.

On the one hand, you didn't label it Part 96 so I could make a joke.

On the other hand, I'm just going to put in the edit from the finale here so people can find it easier.

Also @Pengaiussure the rating should be 7.8 if you're using that meme.

[Spara]

Just... gonna leave this here. Because apparently this dude's channel is just making Derrick do crazy shit.

 

 

[The Roger The Paladin]

 

Spoiler

1 hour ago, Saint Rubenio said:

And here I thought the guy sucked in FE11... Sheesh, at least there he doubled everyone to compensate for the fact that he had like 11 magic.

Also... he literally stands in one place over by the chests if you don't disturb him in Khadein... so waiting for him to get lost is really easy as long as you get the thief before he gets to the chests. But to his credit, challenging him in Khadein is a death sentence... especially with him guarding the first of the game's two Talismans.... and even in Thabes, he has the good sense to have the fake Gharnefs armed with swarm around him.... and even 7 res isn't going to stop swarm doing a ton of damage. Then there's the fact that... as I said, anyone who hasn't used a Talisman, or at least taken a barrier/pure water on the same turn is going to take at least 14 damage if he hits... and a whopping 42 damage if they have the misfortune to take a crit. Seriously, the only unit I had that wouldn't have died from that was Marth... and only because of a Seraph robe. Not that it matters... because Merric had taken the Talisman.

On the subject of FE11... I realized the Hardin I had in my playthrough actually ended the game with stats that were, in every way that mattered, almost identical to base Arran when you remove the power ring I gave Hardin to try and keep him going. 10 strength... 10 skill... 11 speed.... 5 luck.... 10 defense.... 24 hp?  That's the same speed, defense and HP, plus an extra two points of strength,  two points of skill,  and 1 point of luck. He also had an extra 6 weapon level on base Arran.... though only 4 points even matter, because Gradivus only requires 14 weapon level.. and so Hardin's 16 was superflous.The saddest part being as promotion in this game, instead of giving set bonuses takes you up to the class bases of the class you're promoting to. Ergo, Hardin just ended the game with the base speed for a Paladin (3 points above his starting 8, though I think two were from the promotion).... 2 points of HP on the base HP for a paladin (and 4 on his own), 1strength level on his own (the paladin base strength is lower, at 8.), 3 points of skill on either base, 6 points of weapon level on the paladin's base 10 (and 7 on his base 9, which shows what most of his levels were), 2 points of luck off his base (promotions don't affect luck), and two points of defense off his base, (only one off the Paladin base).

Ergo, I knew my Hardin turned out bad, but realizing Arran could replace him without even leveling once? Why did I drag him through the whole game again?

2 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

 

That sounds so stupid... Why must they do these things in western superhero tales? I know it's kind of an exaggeration, but things like this really do make it feel like nobody ever dies to an outsider like me. Death loses its weight when everyone and their mom just resurrects whenever they feel like it.

I mean, the reason the Green Goblin was brought after being dead for 290 issues is easy. There'd been a story-line in Spider-man called the "Clone Saga". It's rather infamous. It was originally penned as an inoffensive short storyline. Except then the first so many parts sold well. So editorial demanded it be stretched out for a year. See, way back in Spiderman 150, there was a clone of Spider-man that had seemingly died. In the clone saga it turned out the clone had survived (yeah I know), only for it to be revealed that the Spider-man that won the fight was in fact the clone all along. Except, this was meant to be revealed false at the end of the six parts.... but extending the story meant a  good year of "the Spider-man you've followed for two decades is a fake, this is the real Spider-man". Thing is, while it was a decent hook for a short story... expanding it for as long as Marvel could milk it meant it just ended up pissing people off as it felt more and more like it was becoming permanent. So about a year in, the arc was brought to an end abruptly... by revealing the clone's return and the DNA test that made us think Spider-man was the clone was all the Green Goblin's doing and he was alive the whole time. A controversial move to say the least. Some were just glad it was over with for good (when the Goblin killed the clone, in the revelation, the clone melted into protoplasm proving it was the clone all along).
Others were pissed they capped off a storyline that had over-stayed it's welcome by such a margin... by ruining a perfectly good death. Others were just glad to have the original Goblin back after two decades of imitators and wanna-be's.

Ironically, years later the writer who started off the whole mess of a story was allowed to do a six-issue limited showing the story as he originally wrote it. It was surprisingly decent without half a dozen writers contributing their own ten-cents in an uncoordinated fashion (there were literally that many Spider-man books at the time... and editorial thought it would be a good idea not to tell anyone who was and wasn't the clone, meaning the clues laid across the books actually contradict each other).

That said... bringing back characters is kind of a necessary evil, when you consider that most characters created after the seventies tend to amount to nothing. Hence every-time someone kills off a character from before then to be dramatic... or to spite the creator.. or because they literally felt like killing 40 classic characters in the first issue of a series to try and make it sell (case from the other year)..... but does a botch-job of it (let's face it, that happens more often than not), someone has to clean up the mess. Also, there's a general rule in comics... a villain's not dead unless you literally have an expert analyze the body and pronounce them dead. Though the rule was blatantly broken for the Goblin. Which brings us to the other point. Popularity breeds immunity to death. A character like Thunderbird from the X-men dies... and actually stays dead, because his death was literally his third appearance... and most fans of Thunderbird are fans because of his death. It's not stopped him from being used in flashback stories. The Swordsman, the first member of the Avengers to die in the line of duty? He'd been a member less than 20 issues... and one of their villains for 90 before his heel-face turn. His run on the team was filled with failure, and his greatest achievement was the fact that Kang the Conqueror literally deemed him irrelevant because he got wrecked and didn't bother to imprison him with everyone else... so he could royally screw Kang's plan by being successful for the first time in his life. Thus, he died saving the woman he loved from Kang's parting shot. No one ever brought him back either. Captain Marvel? I mean... there's some argument they could bring him back. But the one time they looked like they would, it was just a fakeout. Gwen Stacy... the Green Goblin's victim? She stayed dead. Very dead.

Basically tip-of-the iceberg. If a character fills a unique role and is popular... they tend to come back. If they're less popular, or died a particularly well received death, then they don't.
Mind the claim it's "Western comics" that do this is debatable. If you go through Rebellion's 2000 AD or it's spin-off "Judge Dredd Megazine", the amount of "deaths" that were reversed can be counted on one hand in 42 years of the former and 30 years of the latter. Then again, the super-hero aspect may be the distinction there. Point is, the only ones I can think of to be revived in that whole time are Johnny Alpha, the protagonist of Strontium Dog... whose death was neither written by the writer who created the character, nor drawn by the artist who created the character (indeed, it is one of the only Strontium Dog stories Carlos Ezquerra did not draw in his lifetime, and even counting the ones since you wouldn't need go past 5), and Claw Carver, one of the villains from the Flesh feature... who isn't technically back. It's a time travel feature. The version we have presently is a version from before he meets his end... currently in the same point of time as those after it. Even the popular Rogue Trooper was left dead despite him being killed off to give the much less popular "Friday" version of the character the feature. When Friday's adventures were cancelled due to lack of interest (left on an eternal cliff-hanger at that), instead of bringing the original back to life, they simply told occasional untold tales
from his early days. Or series related to him by focusing on other characters in the same setting... some even after his death. Point is, death in 2000AD is more or less permanent.

Meanwhile if I were to think of an Eastern feature which treats death as a revolving door... well look at the Dragon Ball franchise. Long as anyone can be wished back by the Dragon Balls.... death is a minor setback more of the time than not. Obvious exceptions being the high points, such as the King Piccolo story where the dragon balls were inert because the Dragon was killed by King Piccolo. Or the Saiyan saga... where the rule was still that anyone who died prior couldn't be brought back a second time, and Piccolo dying would instantly take the Dragon Balls with him so no one comes back. The anti-thesis of this being the Buu Saga... where the whole damn planet was blown up and brought back.

Point is, death is what you make of it.  It's just easier to revive old characters that worked than come up with new ones who do. Naturally, this gets abused. Really, it even happened in FE a couple times... Camus, Michalis, Gharnef, Medeus, Oliver, arguably the Black Knight, who died in the classic comic villain off-screen manner, implicating they may not be dead and will probably be back.

I apologize for the length of the rant... but it was an attempt to answer the question as best as I can.... with only a few examples.

3 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Conquest was not made easier for Urbanus.

I should hope not, considering that you definitely did use "skills" to win. But you know what else? Jacharam definitely ended up in over his head. Mostly because everything's over your head when it's rolling on the floor.

3 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

I didn't even mean to.

Guess the joke I made way back about wondering how you'd top the edgy shop-keep for humiliation was yet another prophecy. Because this definitely was more humiliating.
You ruined the edgelord's life by doing absolutely nothing. You're like Luigi.

3 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Well, if nothing else, I doubt either Sarah or Owen would be too upset about getting all touchy with one another. Heck, only reason they didn't was that Owen started going berserk in the middle of flirting with her. Remember that scene?

If anything, it's Veria that would be angry when she discovered Raze was hiding underneath Owen's face.

I'm just thinking if the possession was done wrong, it could totally be misinterpreted as date-rape if one woke up naked next to someone with no memory of what happened.
After all, unless they knew they were possessed, then they'd obviously use Occam's razor and just assume they got a spiked drink. Though Owen might just assume his curse was acting up again somehow due to lost time. Point is... it's not just about if they'd do it... it's also if they'd agree to bodily possession, if they'd agree knowing it's someone else's mind in the body, how they'd react assuming the deities involved were careless about the mortals (I've read enough Greek mythology to assume the worst given Zeus used to like appearing to women in the form of their husband).

3 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO00000000000000000000000!!!

This made me laugh more than I should have.

3 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

So yeah. The joke unit has plot armor. It's amazing.

You know, the funny thing is, now if I do a gag I had planned for if I ever did a New Mystery LP to explain any inconsistencies with the game and the previous LP where I was going to jokingly suggest that the avatar character hadn't read about the Gaiden Chapter characters in their book on the War of Shadows because the book they had read on said events had been penned by Roger of Grust in protest of the fact that some accounts of the war omit him entirely, to slyly reference FE3 omitting him... and more shamelessly my username. Essentially the gag would have been my way of explaining inconsistencies between any events in the LP and the natural order of events in FE12... with some exceptions.
Now if I do it, it'll look like I was low-key referencing Berwick. Which I suppose isn't the worst fate.

 

[Saint Rubenio]

Once more.

Spoiler

 

16 hours ago, Pengaius said:

I would have done so earlier but i still don't understand how this game works.

Haha, you smol brain Butterman.

As much as I'd like to let you revel in the good times, I do have an obligation to attend to no point in hiding it anymore. 

No...! Butterman, don't--!

Christine? More like Christoute. 

Why you...!

Esteban? More like Estebanned. 

He came back, though.

Czene? More like Penne (they both have a big hole in the middle) 

Pene, in Spanish, means dick. Congratulations, Butterman. You called Czene a dick.

Clifford? More like Cliffailed

I did fail, to be honest. Clifford's death was downright embarrassing. But you wouldn't know that, because you don't understand the game. Hahah, so much for college student.

Elbert? More like Elburied

All of his quips were better than this poor attempt.

Leon? More like Le-gone

Since when is Leon Barth? Let's see if you get this one

Marcel? More like Parcel (of guts, entrails and the like)

Ahahahahaha... This one's just way out there.

Arthur? More like Arthurt (this one had me stumped as I couldn't think of a hood one so here) 

That doesn't even work, Butterman. You're bad, Butterman, baaaaad!

Alvina? More like Alvinada

Now you're just taking advantage of the knowledge that I share with you, aren't you?

Larentia? More like Lamentia

Can you at least spare Sylvis?

Sylvis? More like Spillvis (on account of all the blood and guts that spilled out of her)

Son of a-- Wasn't last time enough!? C'mon, more! More death puns for Sylvis! I haven't suffered enough, it seems!

I am very upset at you, Butterman. You better not give me any more reasons to be upset at you in the spoiler, such as completely fair criticism.

  Hide contents

Honestly, the B-plot you wrote felt kinda weak. Sorry. 

What?! Everything I write is perfect, and you are wrong and a horseman! Y'hear me, Butterman?! A HORSEMAN!!

It probably had to do with so few of the characters tying into the main plot. Elaine, Harriet and Ruebhen weren't very interesting as they were completely new to the plot and I felt a little bit lost when they were loredumping their backstories.

It's okay, I understand. I wanted a fresh start, and... to be honest, I needed a way out of juggling 10 characters for the fanfic. Hence why there are only 5 at the start of this, and half of them died.

The removal of Ruben from the plot was in my opinion a poor choice as he was previously the lynchpin that tied the A and B plots together. Thankfully it seems that this will be rectified next season. 

At this point Morgan's more of a lynchpin than Ruben

The standout character was of course Valery. Who juggled various plot threads exceptionally well. Of course some of his spoylight was stolen by Clara in the grand finale. It is likely that the two will retain an influence in the coming seasons.

Hahahahahah... I like how you're speaking as if it's a real anime.

Well, shoot. Perhaps it'll be worth considering.

8.5/10 IGN too much water

Too much... wat... what? I mean I know the meme, but where'd the water come from?

 

 

 

15 hours ago, This boi uses Nino said:

  Hide contents

My same thoughts on the Megaman X games. 2>1

Isn't Megaman X where this came from?

Lel. Time to spoil myself on the ending.

If you want...

So it was what I thought (mostly) we rebelled against the Berwick League... or I guess we sorta did? eh i'm not keen on the details.

You'd only have to read the two previous updates to get context on that, actually.

Hmm... ok, this helps put things better into perspective.

The Hanes method to reading Berwick Saga: Deductive reasoning.

Hehehehehehe....

Do you even know what I'm referencing...?

HEheHAHAHA it sure seems like it...

Like The Roger said, one's emotionless, the other's yandere... So if you average 'em out, it kinda works maybe?

He's really based.

Pffft... Yeah, I guess he is, at that.

She just fucking popped into existence hahahahahah!

That she did.

the sprites got messed up and other people probably already mentioned it lel.

Nobody mentioned it, actually. Dang it...!

Paramythis. The Dommy Mommy.

Please...

You'll be taking a dump and she'll just appear out of nowhere from the walls as one does.

Ahahahahahahah...! Okay, that's hilarious.

compyuta error... ha eh hah. compyoota errohr. turn off compeeuyoota now.

Then Reese explodes.

Oh cool. Also going around th eentire town will take so long... I'll just go up to axes man...

Sure, go ahead.

I love this interaction, as I did all axe-man interactions.

Thanks!
Hey

Hanes: Oh yeah heya. Axes

AXES! Did you lose you rmotivation?

Hanes: heck no I didn't. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAZXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

Hehe that's the spirit...

One final axing.


Now to give Ruben a stroke with the inconsistent... oops CTRL+I with the inconsistent formatting mwahahaha

Oh dear...

 

 

14 hours ago, Dayni said:

  Hide contents

  It could be still be easy to be softlocked in fairness.

Yeah, but less easy than the memes would imply.

What do you know, I don't think I've said that about 3H ever.

I wasn't talking about you, but rather the general reception of the game from the community. Y'know, the whole "BEST STORY BEST GAMEPLAY BEST GRAPHICS BEST MUSIC BEST CHARACTERS GAME OF THE YEAR" trend?

I've gotten plenty carried away as well, apologies.

It's okay.

True, though door keys being only here still feels odd to me despite that.

It is rather odd. I don't really understand why they didn't just let you break the doors like everywhere else. Oh, well.

And that is weird only these doors can take infinite damage, Maybe Reese is too worried about damaging Navaronese craftsmanship despite everything.

Hahahah... I mean, it is Roswick's palace, after all. Would you trash Roswick's home? The poor guy.

Yeah, trust me when I say I would not look forward to reaching that map in AM Maddening.

And I mean that, I may have played my first playthroughs with Casual (while trying to avoid needing it), but this was the first case where I ended up having to deal with it, AND IT WAS DIMITRI'S FAULT. I know, I just outed myself as the most casual of fucks, but I don't want to imagine how I'd feel reaching that map in Classic when I was still learning about the systems and trying to minimise looking around for hints.

I wouldn't blame you for playing Maddening on casual mode. I played it on classic mode and I was forced to quit! If I'd had casual mode, I could've at least tried to beat chapter 13 after letting Ignatz and Lorenz bite the dust.

Worse, I was paraphrasing from the same old man for that quote.

Oh...

I wanted a Spanish place to rhyme with duo and it was the closest I could find with how slow everything was writing my previous response.

Ahh, I understand. Well, that's fine.

With how he acted though, the idea he could have exists, which says it all.

True enough. I defend Volcens too much.

....no. He's supposed to be Endgame beard.

I never said he was the Final Boss Beard, did I? He tanked the entire Endgame. Kaga realized he trivialized the game, so he made it so that Jacharam one-shots him, fixing the game's balance.

That's rather worrisome with the age gap.

Also I could see him being able to have that pull, he looks older than Mordias yet probably was better able to pull off "Daddy" than Mordias in his prime.

Hahahahahahahah... I like the contrast between these two lines.

She probably won't have to deal with the finances in fairness.

True enough. But it's just an example.

But he can't use it right?

Still, they could've given him a chance...!

Veria has been playing favourites this whole time and you didn't get to use her until Chapter 12-1

Oof...

Imagine Kaga having a copy of the notes he left with IS just figuring out how he'll use them while not getting sued this time.

Hahahah... I can see this. It's totally canon!

Be too dang perfect for this game for me to feel like it makes sense.

Okay, fair enough.

That wasn't her being sassy, that's her anger being unleashed all at once after this long, shit year.

2020's gotten even to Tianna. Is anybody safe?

He would name his kid after an object.

Wrong. His kid is the object. He just keeps the Dolharken around and calls it his dearest son.

I meant the game not you.

Oh okay.

And Julian, holy crap the guy doesn't get to catch a break.

Not at all.

People have died over stupider things.

That's a very low bar to get under though.

I suppose it is.

That seems odd. I didn't remember him killing all the priests as well as the Apostle and the Shining Kinghts.

The church was still recovering at the start of the game. Pretty sure that's implied to be the reason Volcens doesn't listen to the churchies. He doesn't have a reason to, the church is in tatters.

Says a lot that both churches are quite limited in their viewpoints and how they can express them, just differing in the amount of power they have and the flexibility they'll allow to be expressed.

Fuck the churches, let's worship Derrick instead.

Greek Heroic epics in a nutshell.

Hah!

He's not so much crossing story streams as writing it up, so no.

Oh, well.

I guess that'll suffice.

It will have to do.

Way to bury a track I particularly like's lead Berwick.

Berwick likes to do that, doesn't it?

I WANT TO BE BAWLING MY EYES OUT WITH THE MELODRAMATIC CATHARSIS.

Sorry.

Sherlock for best Sinonian?

Ehh I don't know. Elbert and Christine's shared arc that we missed is pretty awesome, even if she doesn't get an ending for some undiscernible reason.

No way that Roswick would allow that to happen though, he'd be sure of that much.

Too important to keep his word to Ferianne.

True, I suppose, but best avoid any risks. And, again, Ferianne was a fugitive on the run. She needed it more than Enid ever would. Until she decided to become a child soldier, of course.

I'd say being Perceval is missing.

Family, holdings, the enemy.......

Oh, Jesus, the poor guy... Getting bullied to the very end.

Faisal hasn't had that much time to be pathetic either, he could have been something else, but no.

He was purple Volcens. That says it all.

Also, tiny? We both know my frustration at Zephyrus's role in the plot's not tiny.

Okay, biggy then.

And according to the head writer Arcturus killed every last one of them.

I am become death, the destroyer of worlds.

- Arcturus probably.

Well he was trying to be accurate and according to this LP it's historical fact that a black knight beheaded Jacharam.............

"Historical fact" is the most hilarious way to describe that.

So he's still able to write the book.

The joke unit has plot armour thicker than his actual armour.

Yes. It's wonderful, isn't it?

I'm pretty sure he had some issues with the save file he was using and lost his progress.

Alas life as always finds a way to limit things.

Oh. A shame.

Aethin: You want to get in on this patch?

You:

Yes, this was more or less it.

To be fair, it's easier now as of more recent patches.

Yeah, now you can upload images to Facebook, one-by-one. Woo. Good job, Nintendo.

Of course I'm not interested in LP'ing it either, but that's for other reasons.

Like the fact that the game sucks?

But he kept splitting his own soul and we followed the shattered piece in him- oh forget it.

It's best not to question it.

It turns out Berwick!Rubenio is behind a set of fourth walls both to the game and to IRL, leaving him trapped in both dimensions. Maybe that explains the higher power talk earlier.

It always fascinates me the time-and-space shenanigans that I pull off by complete accident.

On the one hand, you didn't label it Part 96 so I could make a joke.

Sorry.

On the other hand, I'm just going to put in the edit from the finale here so people can find it easier.

I still love it.

Also @Pengaiussure the rating should be 7.8 if you're using that meme.

Don't give me more reason to be angery at him.

 

14 hours ago, Spara said:

Just... gonna leave this here. Because apparently this dude's channel is just making Derrick do crazy shit.

Ah yes, I've seen that channel before. I like how part of their channel's "Derrick." This person knows what they like!

 

 

13 hours ago, The Roger The Paladin said:

 

  Hide contents

Also... he literally stands in one place over by the chests if you don't disturb him in Khadein... so waiting for him to get lost is really easy as long as you get the thief before he gets to the chests. But to his credit, challenging him in Khadein is a death sentence... especially with him guarding the first of the game's two Talismans.... and even in Thabes, he has the good sense to have the fake Gharnefs armed with swarm around him.... and even 7 res isn't going to stop swarm doing a ton of damage. Then there's the fact that... as I said, anyone who hasn't used a Talisman, or at least taken a barrier/pure water on the same turn is going to take at least 14 damage if he hits... and a whopping 42 damage if they have the misfortune to take a crit. Seriously, the only unit I had that wouldn't have died from that was Marth... and only because of a Seraph robe. Not that it matters... because Merric had taken the Talisman.

I wonder what's worse. A powerful Gharnef that stays put, or a Gharnef that pursues you but can be countered by Wrys and a pure water...

On the subject of FE11... I realized the Hardin I had in my playthrough actually ended the game with stats that were, in every way that mattered, almost identical to base Arran when you remove the power ring I gave Hardin to try and keep him going. 10 strength... 10 skill... 11 speed.... 5 luck.... 10 defense.... 24 hp?  That's the same speed, defense and HP, plus an extra two points of strength,  two points of skill,  and 1 point of luck. He also had an extra 6 weapon level on base Arran.... though only 4 points even matter, because Gradivus only requires 14 weapon level.. and so Hardin's 16 was superflous.The saddest part being as promotion in this game, instead of giving set bonuses takes you up to the class bases of the class you're promoting to. Ergo, Hardin just ended the game with the base speed for a Paladin (3 points above his starting 8, though I think two were from the promotion).... 2 points of HP on the base HP for a paladin (and 4 on his own), 1strength level on his own (the paladin base strength is lower, at 8.), 3 points of skill on either base, 6 points of weapon level on the paladin's base 10 (and 7 on his base 9, which shows what most of his levels were), 2 points of luck off his base (promotions don't affect luck), and two points of defense off his base, (only one off the Paladin base).

Ergo, I knew my Hardin turned out bad, but realizing Arran could replace him without even leveling once? Why did I drag him through the whole game again?

You should've used Arran and his really weird NES portrait that makes him look like his head is too big.

I mean, the reason the Green Goblin was brought after being dead for 290 issues is easy. There'd been a story-line in Spider-man called the "Clone Saga". It's rather infamous. It was originally penned as an inoffensive short storyline. Except then the first so many parts sold well. So editorial demanded it be stretched out for a year. See, way back in Spiderman 150, there was a clone of Spider-man that had seemingly died. In the clone saga it turned out the clone had survived (yeah I know), only for it to be revealed that the Spider-man that won the fight was in fact the clone all along. Except, this was meant to be revealed false at the end of the six parts.... but extending the story meant a  good year of "the Spider-man you've followed for two decades is a fake, this is the real Spider-man". Thing is, while it was a decent hook for a short story... expanding it for as long as Marvel could milk it meant it just ended up pissing people off as it felt more and more like it was becoming permanent. So about a year in, the arc was brought to an end abruptly... by revealing the clone's return and the DNA test that made us think Spider-man was the clone was all the Green Goblin's doing and he was alive the whole time. A controversial move to say the least. Some were just glad it was over with for good (when the Goblin killed the clone, in the revelation, the clone melted into protoplasm proving it was the clone all along).
Others were pissed they capped off a storyline that had over-stayed it's welcome by such a margin... by ruining a perfectly good death. Others were just glad to have the original Goblin back after two decades of imitators and wanna-be's.

Right, I understand.

Ironically, years later the writer who started off the whole mess of a story was allowed to do a six-issue limited showing the story as he originally wrote it. It was surprisingly decent without half a dozen writers contributing their own ten-cents in an uncoordinated fashion (there were literally that many Spider-man books at the time... and editorial thought it would be a good idea not to tell anyone who was and wasn't the clone, meaning the clues laid across the books actually contradict each other).

That's amazing.

That said... bringing back characters is kind of a necessary evil, when you consider that most characters created after the seventies tend to amount to nothing. Hence every-time someone kills off a character from before then to be dramatic... or to spite the creator.. or because they literally felt like killing 40 classic characters in the first issue of a series to try and make it sell (case from the other year)..... but does a botch-job of it (let's face it, that happens more often than not), someone has to clean up the mess. Also, there's a general rule in comics... a villain's not dead unless you literally have an expert analyze the body and pronounce them dead. Though the rule was blatantly broken for the Goblin. Which brings us to the other point. Popularity breeds immunity to death. A character like Thunderbird from the X-men dies... and actually stays dead, because his death was literally his third appearance... and most fans of Thunderbird are fans because of his death. It's not stopped him from being used in flashback stories. The Swordsman, the first member of the Avengers to die in the line of duty? He'd been a member less than 20 issues... and one of their villains for 90 before his heel-face turn. His run on the team was filled with failure, and his greatest achievement was the fact that Kang the Conqueror literally deemed him irrelevant because he got wrecked and didn't bother to imprison him with everyone else... so he could royally screw Kang's plan by being successful for the first time in his life. Thus, he died saving the woman he loved from Kang's parting shot. No one ever brought him back either. Captain Marvel? I mean... there's some argument they could bring him back. But the one time they looked like they would, it was just a fakeout. Gwen Stacy... the Green Goblin's victim? She stayed dead. Very dead.

I see... Well, good to know you're allowed to die if people don't care about you.

...Wow, that's... so cruel...

Basically tip-of-the iceberg. If a character fills a unique role and is popular... they tend to come back. If they're less popular, or died a particularly well received death, then they don't.
Mind the claim it's "Western comics" that do this is debatable.

It's the vibe I always got from the big two (Marvel and DC), but I'll be the first to admit I'm quite ignorant when it comes to this sort of thing.

If you go through Rebellion's 2000 AD or it's spin-off "Judge Dredd Megazine", the amount of "deaths" that were reversed can be counted on one hand in 42 years of the former and 30 years of the latter. Then again, the super-hero aspect may be the distinction there. Point is, the only ones I can think of to be revived in that whole time are Johnny Alpha, the protagonist of Strontium Dog... whose death was neither written by the writer who created the character, nor drawn by the artist who created the character (indeed, it is one of the only Strontium Dog stories Carlos Ezquerra did not draw in his lifetime, and even counting the ones since you wouldn't need go past 5), and Claw Carver, one of the villains from the Flesh feature... who isn't technically back. It's a time travel feature. The version we have presently is a version from before he meets his end... currently in the same point of time as those after it. Even the popular Rogue Trooper was left dead despite him being killed off to give the much less popular "Friday" version of the character the feature. When Friday's adventures were cancelled due to lack of interest (left on an eternal cliff-hanger at that), instead of bringing the original back to life, they simply told occasional untold tales
from his early days. Or series related to him by focusing on other characters in the same setting... some even after his death. Point is, death in 2000AD is more or less permanent.

Ahh, that's interesting.

Meanwhile if I were to think of an Eastern feature which treats death as a revolving door... well look at the Dragon Ball franchise. Long as anyone can be wished back by the Dragon Balls.... death is a minor setback more of the time than not. Obvious exceptions being the high points, such as the King Piccolo story where the dragon balls were inert because the Dragon was killed by King Piccolo. Or the Saiyan saga... where the rule was still that anyone who died prior couldn't be brought back a second time, and Piccolo dying would instantly take the Dragon Balls with him so no one comes back. The anti-thesis of this being the Buu Saga... where the whole damn planet was blown up and brought back.

Oh yeah, Dragon Ball always fascinated me with its treatment of death. Again, maybe I'm exaggerating due to my lack of knowledge, but it always seemed like dying mattered absolutely nothing in Dragon Ball. Like, doesn't Goku die once and the only thing that happens is that he gets an aureola and continues to do stuff?

Point is, death is what you make of it.  It's just easier to revive old characters that worked than come up with new ones who do. Naturally, this gets abused. Really, it even happened in FE a couple times... Camus, Michalis, Gharnef, Medeus, Oliver, arguably the Black Knight, who died in the classic comic villain off-screen manner, implicating they may not be dead and will probably be back.

Oliver being brought back was clearly a joke.

Otherwise, yeah. These people should've died. Like, I can take Gharnef coming back as a red lens flare ghost, but literally everyone being alive was... Ehhh.

I apologize for the length of the rant... but it was an attempt to answer the question as best as I can.... with only a few examples.

That's okay.

I should hope not, considering that you definitely did use "skills" to win.

That is true.

But you know what else? Jacharam definitely ended up in over his head. Mostly because everything's over your head when it's rolling on the floor.

Ahahahahahahahah... Good, we've done all the titles now.

Guess the joke I made way back about wondering how you'd top the edgy shop-keep for humiliation was yet another prophecy. Because this definitely was more humiliating.
You ruined the edgelord's life by doing absolutely nothing.

However am I going to one-up myself in the future...? Will it be even possible?

You're like Luigi.

Yes! I'm like Luigi! I've finally accomplished my life's goals.

I'm just thinking if the possession was done wrong, it could totally be misinterpreted as date-rape if one woke up naked next to someone with no memory of what happened.

Oh, yeah... That would be... less than adequate.

After all, unless they knew they were possessed, then they'd obviously use Occam's razor and just assume they got a spiked drink. Though Owen might just assume his curse was acting up again somehow due to lost time. Point is... it's not just about if they'd do it... it's also if they'd agree to bodily possession, if they'd agree knowing it's someone else's mind in the body, how they'd react assuming the deities involved were careless about the mortals (I've read enough Greek mythology to assume the worst given Zeus used to like appearing to women in the form of their husband).

LP canon is they're conscious and aware while it's happening, and they just roll with it.

This made me laugh more than I should have.

Hahaha, well, I'm glad it did.

You know, the funny thing is, now if I do a gag I had planned for if I ever did a New Mystery LP to explain any inconsistencies with the game and the previous LP where I was going to jokingly suggest that the avatar character hadn't read about the Gaiden Chapter characters in their book on the War of Shadows because the book they had read on said events had been penned by Roger of Grust in protest of the fact that some accounts of the war omit him entirely, to slyly reference FE3 omitting him... and more shamelessly my username. Essentially the gag would have been my way of explaining inconsistencies between any events in the LP and the natural order of events in FE12... with some exceptions.

Interesting idea!

Now if I do it, it'll look like I was low-key referencing Berwick. Which I suppose isn't the worst fate.

Referencing Berwick is the best fate.

 

 

 

[Awoken Dayni]

1 minute ago, Saint Rubenio said:

I never said he was the Final Boss Beard, did I? He tanked the entire Endgame. Kaga realized he trivialized the game, so he made it so that Jacharam one-shots him, fixing the game's balance.

That would be fitting from the same soul who said "Balance is my passion" and gave us many, many broken things over the years.

2 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Wrong. His kid is the object. He just keeps the Dolharken around and calls it his dearest son.

Dolharken was taken for the war effort and the guy who took it had just returned.

I am dissapointed in myself for forgetting to mention the end of this this beat the end of the year. At the very least we can leave this as a footnote on the list for "2020: Things that weren't shit."

Although I have another issue now that we're in lockdown again: trying to find things I know I can't get locally and which aren't food, ESPECIALLY with Brexit complicating options for ordering online and all that. Wouldn't you know it, the one thing that is noteworthy at present is a capacitive stylus nub. Because the one I was using has been run ragged.

I've stated the reason I might have abused it here and elsewhere.

[Saint Rubenio]

6 hours ago, Dayni said:

That would be fitting from the same soul who said "Balance is my passion" and gave us many, many broken things over the years.

Don't forget he made a character who can contribute in the final map with his base stats (even if he can't tank the final boss) that's available from the start and he somehow doesn't break the game. I'm still rather impressed by that.

6 hours ago, Dayni said:

Dolharken was taken for the war effort and the guy who took it had just returned.

Exactly. It's really in-character for him, honestly.

6 hours ago, Dayni said:

I am dissapointed in myself for forgetting to mention the end of this this beat the end of the year. At the very least we can leave this as a footnote on the list for "2020: Things that weren't shit."

Aww... Well, I'm glad I did a thing that you can put in the list. In that... nearly empty list.

6 hours ago, Dayni said:

Although I have another issue now that we're in lockdown again: trying to find things I know I can't get locally and which aren't food, ESPECIALLY with Brexit complicating options for ordering online and all that. Wouldn't you know it, the one thing that is noteworthy at present is a capacitive stylus nub. Because the one I was using has been run ragged.

I've stated the reason I might have abused it here and elsewhere.

Sheesh... Hope things look up in this new year.

[Awoken Dayni]

40 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Sheesh... Hope things look up in this new year.

There's a lockdown for the next month.

Well that's a way to start the year.

[The Roger The Paladin]

 

Spoiler

9 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

 

I wonder what's worse. A powerful Gharnef that stays put, or a Gharnef that pursues you but can be countered by Wrys and a pure water...

I think the worst part is Gharnef's plan to betray Medeus using the Falchion. Sure, his speed, defense and HP are all definitely adequate for it... but with his strength he'll need at least one power ring to boost him. Maybe two. It's not like Imhullu can help either... because if I'm not mistaken, it was never programmed to negate Medeus attacks (though that could just be in FE11, as one can apparently find out by using one of those codes that make enemies drop their items). Not to mention FE1 Medeus is immune to magic (and for that matter, levin swords), full-stop. But perhaps the biggest flaw in Gharnef's ignorance of the fact that Falchion's a Marth exclusive weapon... so even if he can wield swords, and get the extra points of strength (both being plausible)... the plan falls apart when you consider I'm 99% certain that he hasn't the ability to wield it.
 

9 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

You should've used Arran and his really weird NES portrait that makes him look like his head is too big.

If I realized how bad Hardin would turn out, I would've. Maybe when I try to get Hardin to actually work out next. This run I'm trying to use Roshea and Vyland... the former of which capped strength as a level 19 cav. Though he had like 7 speed still... and his luck's almost all from the Goddess Icon at Pyrathi.... but he's got 11 defense.... is one point short of Hardin's 24 HP and on promoting he instantly got to 11 speed and 10 Weapon Level which while not excellent keeps him from being doubled as much and lets him use anything short of the Gradivus... so he's pretty good. Vyland on the other hand is pure crap. He's got less HP than my healers, and with 8 defense is less durable than base Wendell on account of the HP difference. With 6 speed, he's literally matched by the average general. His only redeeming features are his weapon level being high enough he can use the gradivus... which I don't have yet, and his decent, though hardly world-shattering 12 strength. Which for the record is tied with Ogma for the lowest of my non-magic units... barring Jeorge. But Jeorge is kind of the guy I drop when deployment's low... so he's only level 4. So, naturally... I'm going to feed Vyland whatever damn stat-boosters I can and try to kill Medeus with him. For the memes. Then I might reload the save and kill him with Roshea. Because he's certainly got the strength.... even if he's barely levelled anything else.
 

9 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

That's amazing.

Honestly, the word "clone" is a dirty word in the Spider-man fanbase because of that story. But yeah, the six issue version's a nice fun read that isn't a convoluted mess. Incidentally, two notable things that came of the clone saga were Aunt May dying of old age (which by the end of things, was revealed to have been faked by the Green Goblin... and she was literally buried alive), and Spider-man and Mary Jane having a stillborn daughter... which old Norman (you know, the Green Goblin's real name) was revealed to have faked being stillborn and abducted. That sub-plot was forgotten about after a writer change.... in the main continuity. That said... a couple years later, the former writer wrote a What If? issue (What If? being a series where you'd look at a classic story, and some key event would happen just a little differently. Someone would say something they thought about instead of letting the moment pass. Or someone would follow up on something they didn't. Or someone would hesitate at a vital moment and get killed), where they did get back the child... named her "May" after a certain Aunt, and she'd grow up to be Spider-girl.

The What If proved so popular it spun off into it's own series. Various editorials tried to cancel the series out of spite, only for fan outrage to force them to shelve the idea. So between the Spider-girl series, and it's own spin-offs, there were over 200 issues of an alternate future based off this scenario... before an editor who didn't listen came along and cancelled the book to introduce a completely unrelated Spider-girl in the main timeline in her own book to replace it. Where he snarkily said it'd be better because it was in the main continuity. The book didn't endear itself to the readers... and lasted a mere 7 issues. One of the most notable aspects of this "MC2" universe, was a super-hero named "The Buzz", who was, besides being May's love interest at points... the grandson of J. Jonah Jameson. In irony, Jameson had no idea of the dual identity, and was still publishing articles about The Buzz being a menace.

9 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

I see... Well, good to know you're allowed to die if people don't care about you.

...Wow, that's... so cruel...

Ironically, my examples are personal favourites who I might not have given a second glance if they hadn't died and stayed dead. Gwen Stacy, despite being perfectly likeable, was mostly just a comics girlfriend. Albeit she hated Spider-man because she blamed him for the death of her father... who was another character who died and stayed dead. The irony being that the dying Captain Stacy knew about the dual identity and had two requests. One being that Parker look after Gwen, and the other being that he keep being Spider-man. But the rule of Spider-man is he can't be left happy. So it wasn't working out that way.

Thunderbird... ironically when he died did receive a few letters asking them to kill of that Wolverine guy instead, because he hadn't caught on yet. So he'll always have that. He'll also always have the boasting point that his death officially marks the moment where X-men went from being that book that got cancelled after 66 issues and revived with the expectation it wouldn't last a year... was permanently cemented as a best-seller. It was the second time any X-man died... and the first that it mattered. (The previous being the time Professor X seemingly died, but it turned out to be their former villain the Changeling... who had reformed after finding out he had cancer, and secretly replaced Professor X while he worked on another project. Given the Changeling had been introduced in 35, turned good in 39 and died in 42, it was a short life. He did get two much more popular and long-lived alternate reality counterparts who went by the moniker "Morph" instead... who were popular because they were shapeshifting funnymen, whereas Changeling was very straight-laced). Thunderbird's other legacy being his more successful brother Warpath... who first appeared as  a second"Thunderbird" with the intent of killing the X-men in revenge.

The Swordsman was initially introduced as an international crook who wanted to join the Avengers to allow him security clearances... but the catch is Hawkeye knew him as having almost murdered him once as a kid (hence we get the first telling of Hawkeye's origin, where he was trained as a circus archer to assist in the Swordsman's act, though there were questions raised on how a Swordsman trained the world's greatest archer that were later answered by the revelation that the Swordsman directed him to an archer by the name of trickshot).. and his record already was in the Avengers database. However, after that first unsuccessful attempt, Ironman's nemesis the Mandarin had a scheme. He gave the Swordsman updated equipment (including a button that allowed him to fire sword beams.... before Zelda was a thing), and sent him back. Then he used his technology to fake a video call from Iron-man (in 1965 yet) vouching for the Swordsman. The Avengers were naturally skeptical, but he joined the team for the first time under probation. He planted the bomb, but got cold feet. He'd come to legitimately like his team-mates... and went to remove it. Catch is, they caught him removing it, and misinterpreted it as him planting it. So he had to fight them to escape.... before it detonated so he could dispose of it. He'd then end up fighting them on occasion throughout the sixties. That said... when issue one-hundred rolled around, and everyone who'd been on the team was summoned... it turned out he still had his communicator. He showed up and helped save the world from the Greek God of War Ares. After this, he'd end up turning over a new leaf. 14 issues later he'd join the Avengers for real, and 15 issues on from that he'd die. Unfortunately, he spent most of that time feeling inadequate due to injuries and various failures... despite the fact the first issue he was an active member, he helped stop a God by trickery (Again. First Ares, now this Wakandan God), and during the Avengers/Defenders war he also defeated Valkyrie... before being shot in the back by a third party (specifically a leftover nazi hiding out in the country they were fighting in, because this was the 70s). In the Kang story, he'd fell an ancient vampire that Kang was using to guard his Pyramid lair, and utterly ruined the time-traveller's scheme. Only failing to kill him outright because a future version of Kang had came back to prevent him from using his sword's disintegrator on Kang's turned back.

(talk about a time paradox). So instead he set about freeing the other Avengers... ruining Kang's plan to become a God (why is it Swordman's record is so good against immortals/would be immortals but bad against anyone else?) and ended up dead from blocking Kang's attack on his love.

I don't even need to explain Captain Marvel, because surely you remember the Arran of space. Point is, back in 86, Marvel published a 26 volume handbook of the characters in their universe. Volumes 17 through 26 being the ones my childhood self would refer to as "The Books of the Dead". It's interesting to note, I went through them the other year to see what percent stayed dead. I believe I arrived at the conclusion roughly 2/3rds of them were still dead. My favourite case being the oddity that is Blackout, who due to the alphabetical order of the 16 volumes on living entities, was alive and consequently had an entry in volume 2, but also had an entry in volume 17 due to his death in the time between. One hell of a way to avoid spoilers. For the record, while there is still a Blackout at Marvel, the two are completely unrelated bar sharing the name (the former having the ability to construct things out of a dark energy, teleport, fly and the other being a vampire-like demon whose presence turns out lights). The original's still dead. The latter did get left out in the sun to die once, on the assumption it'd kill him. Apparently it just gave him a bad sunburn. Point is, I read the hell out of the volumes. A lot of my favourite characters came to be these utterly bizarre oddities. These heroes and villains who lived in a world where death seems like a revolving door... but have been dead longer than I've been alive.
The sad part being, because the volumes are from 86... they don't even contain anyone who died and stayed dead thereafter.

It's also notable that the books on the living included characters like the Hulk villain, the Abomination, who'd been seemingly killed last time he appeared. Foreshadowing the fact his death was... not what it appeared. Guess no one was expected to believe the Abomination would stay dead. Though... the Red Skull was in the books of the dead despite being Captain America's arch-foe. That being said... he actually did die (guy was a nazi in WWII, old age had to get him eventually). It's just he came back in a cloned body... and not just any clone. His new body was a clone of Cap. Whether the brain's the original, or a clone is up for debate. I counted him among the third that came back anyway... just on the grounds that... it's sort of him.

10 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

It's the vibe I always got from the big two (Marvel and DC), but I'll be the first to admit I'm quite ignorant when it comes to this sort of thing.

It's admittedly something that's got worse as time progressed. You know. More writers, more people to disagree with previous writer's decision. There's also types of death. There's the one where the hero assumes a villain's dead because "nobody could have survived that" as an excuse for the villain not having to break out of jail next time they appear. In the old days, when the villain returned, this would usually have a flashback revealing exactly how they survived that. (Ironically something the Goblin story kind of did right). An example of this is in Daredevil V2. #8, when Mysterio, the Master of Illusion, commits suicide by shotgun. Catch being... one look at his moniker, and you kind of know how he's coming back. Guy's whole gimmick is he tricks people with holograms, animatronics, special effects, etc. Then there's the first time the Hulk villain the Leader died. One has to understand.. the Hulk is a lot of things, but when it comes to intelligence... he's not there. Our knowledge the Leader died from the information overload is because an individual who couldn't spell his four letter name analyzed the body and came to the conclusion he was dead. With fingers far too large to effectively feel for a pulse. Naturally, when it turned out he was merely unconscious latter... it made sense. Basically, most villain "deaths" are a plot device for allowing the villain to get away.

This allows for a subversion, as Roy Thomas so masterfully did with his first work at Marvel. See, at the end of his fight with Iron-man, the early Marvel villain the Black Knight (who had previously fought Giant-man, and the Avengers, but Giant-man had retired for a short time... and so he targeted one of his team-mates instead), Iron-man had one of of his boot jets destroyed in their mid-air battle, so he grabbed onto the saddle of the Black Knight's winged horse (he was a geneticist, and inspired by pegasus he genetically engineered a flying horse named Aragorn, after the Lord of the Rings character). Iron-man weighs a lot with all that armor, and so the saddle snapped and the plumetted. Iron-man steered his fall into the Central park lake using his good boot jet, but couldn't find the knight in his search of the park. He assumed he must of gotten away, theorizing he probably got caught by his horse in mid-air. A while later, when next a Black Knight showed up in Avengers... it wasn't Nathan Garrett at all. Instead it was his nephew Dane Whitman... who was a hero.
Turns out that Garrett hit the ground hard, contrary to Iron Man's theory. Not hard enough to die... well at least not instantly. On his death bed, he revealed everything to his nephew, including the location of his equipment. His final wish being that Dane use it all to redeem the name of the Black Knight. The death was allowed to stand... because quite simply undoing it would ruin Dane Whitman, who actually was quite popular at points in his career. Indeed, he'd often win runner up in polls for "favourite Avenger without a solo book" in the 80s.

11 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Ahh, that's interesting.

Funny thing is, even Johnny Alpha's death being reversed required someone else to die permanently in his place. That being the character of Feral Jackson.... who more or less took over the feature after his death. Whether this is due to any animosity on the part of the creative team is unknown. But there sure were some fans glad to be rid of the guy. So, to say the death was without consequences would be a lie. A major character died and stayed dead to replace him. There were consequences from the years he was dead (yes years), such as not being there to prevent the British goverment from sterilizing most of the mutants. Which is kind of harsh. Strontium Dog is about mutants caused by a war in 2150 leaving radioactive fallout in the atmosphere. Though they're different from Marvel Mutants. Instead of being super-powered to hell and back, they're deformed. Kid Knee's name is because his face is on his kneecap. Middenface McNulty literally has lumps on his head instead of hair. Johnny himself has white eyes. Albeit, they can see things no human can see, so he kind of does have a power. Durham Red... has a mutation that imitates vampirism's need for blood, as well as the fangs. But with none of the super-strength or shape-shifting. Feral... well as you may guess he had extended canines, claw-like fingers, and was Albino. Point is... life as a mutant in Strontium Dog sucks. The only work is as a bounty-hunter. The british government actively tries to kill you off (though apparently other governments are more receptive, right down to the American government siding with Alpha).

As for old Carver... well, he's in the uncomfortable spot where one day he's going to go through the events of "Flesh II". He just doesn't know it yet. Ironically, while the others do, he's hated enough none of them are going to warn him or risk screwing up the time stream. Indeed, quite a few would have killed him themself if it weren't for the paradox it'd cause.

11 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Oh yeah, Dragon Ball always fascinated me with its treatment of death. Again, maybe I'm exaggerating due to my lack of knowledge, but it always seemed like dying mattered absolutely nothing in Dragon Ball. Like, doesn't Goku die once and the only thing that happens is that he gets an aureola and continues to do stuff?

The Goku thing was a special occasion. Basically, there's a deal where an individual can be brought back to the realm of the living under special circumstances. In his case it was to participate in a world tournament and granted to him because of the fact he died saving the Earth from being blown up... not to mention everything else he did in life. When his twenty-four hours were up, he did do a few more things... but they were all in Otherworld. AKA, the realm of the dead. It was Kid Buu who kind of broke the rules by teleporting into other-world... but the catch is living individuals have been demonstrated to be able to enter Otherworld (Fortuneteller Baba does it to bring people back for their day and Kami did it to see Goku off when he died the first time. Likewise quite a lot of Otherworlds residents such as the Kais, King Yemma and the ogres, Princess Snake and her servants, are all alive and native to the plain)

The other thing one has to remember is that when Dragon Ball started off... it was written as a very light-hearted, even comedic series. More of a parody of anime and martial arts tropes than a serious story. Example. The first time Chi-Chi meets Master Roshi, she gets the notion he's an imposter, and there's no way this feeble old man is the legendary martial artist. To test her theory, she takes the blade off her helmet and throws it at his back. As per many Japanese demonstrations of mastery, we get the glint in his glasses (instead of his eyes), and a lightning quick turn and block with the cane. Only for the top of the cane to be severed and the blade to lodge itself in his forehead causing him to scream in agony and flail. Hence we see a parody of the commonly used instinctual block, ending with Roshi arguing that no one could have blocked that and wearing an oversided band-aid on his head for a bit, before it disappears because... well, this wasn't exactly serious. Point being, the initial direction, death being meaningful would have been pointless, when injuries like that didn't kill.

A second example... would be the entire episode with Monster Carrot... the giant Rabbit that turns people into carrots with a touch (ironically the episode where Yamcha heel-face-turned, saving Bulma, who was a carrot at the time, and consequently Goku, who was being beaten to death on the threat that if he resisted Monster Carrot would eat Bulma... I mean that in the literal sense). On beating him, to make sure he caused no trouble, Goku literally tied him and his henchmen up, grabbed the rope, extended his power-pole, and left him and his henchmen on the moon... to make "rabbit treats for Easter". I am not making this up.

This all kind of changed at the King Piccolo story, where Krillin's death had an impact because it was a very abrupt change of tone (the only deaths we'd seen thus far had been villains, and they were generally pretty comedic, from Goku mistakenly thinking that Commander Red was asleep after being shot, or the way Tao's eyes bulged when he saw his grenade kicked back.. not that he actually died. Turned out he survived that and came back as a cyborg) ... and then when Roshi and Chiaotzu died... only for King Piccolo to blast the Dragon into bits after wishing for his youth back. Seeing as Kami's existence was unrevealed at that point in the series, let alone Namek and it's Dragon Balls... it looked like not only were these deaths permanent, but so was any further deaths. Which is, why in my opinion the story arc was the pinnacle of the whole franchise. While there'd been deaths before, this was the first time it wasn't just relevant... but it looked irreversible.

The Piccolo Junior Saga (yes the main Piccolo is king Piccolo's son, not the original, who is still dead), revealed the Dragon Balls would disappear if Kami or Piccolo died (they hadn't when King Piccolo died because of Piccolo Junior being born with most of his power), so we then had the rule a Piccolo or Kami death would be permanent, and make all other deaths permanent... and the Saiyan saga added the rule the Dragon Balls couldn't bring back someone more than once. So when Chiaotzu died again... it looked pretty permanent. Then when Piccolo died... it looked like Yamcha, Tien, and Piccolo were permanent, as was anyone else. Hence the Saiyan saga arguably being the darkest.

Thing is, then came the revelation there were Dragon Balls on Namek... and they could wish back Piccolo (hence bringing back Earth's Dragon Balls).. and anyone wished back before by the Earth Dragon Balls (hence Chiaotzu). Catch being there was this whole multi-faction race for the Dragon Balls going on... including Frieza who was vastly stronger than everyone else at the time. Also, Guru, whose death would deactivate the Namekian Dragon Balls, was so damn old he could croak any time. He did indeed croak by stopping his own damn heart before Namek's three wishes (Kami apparently sucked at making Dragon Balls), were used up. So all they achieved was bringing back Piccolo and bringing him to Namek. But that meant the Earth Dragon Balls were back as long as Piccolo didn't die to Frieza... who quite honestly was a lot stronger than Piccolo. Also Krillin got killed by Frieza after this causing the Super Saiyan transformation for the first time, because it looked like Krillin, Goku's best friend, was perma-dead without the Namekian Dragon Balls.
Anyway, when the Earth Dragon Balls were used... they were able to restore everyone who died on Namek (barring Krillin for reasons), and bring them to Earth. This included Guru, because while a natural death would have prevented his resurrection (the Dragon Balls can't resurrect someone who dies from natural causes)... him stopping his own heart wasn't natural. So the Namekian Dragon Balls were back... and on Earth now. So they were able to bring the dead back. Guru then proceeded to die for real. But they got a new elder so they had Namekian Dragon Balls again.

The Cell Saga is where death truly became obsolete. After Piccolo and Kami merged into one, Earth needed a new protector. So Dende was brought back from Namek, and made new Dragon Balls. That could grant three wishes. Turns out you can wish back a large group of people with two wishes with this set... including people who died for the second or third time. With this, and a second set of Dragon Balls on New Namek... it became the case unless Dende and the Elder on New Namek are both dead at the same time, orthe Elder on New Namek is no longer able to be contacted, death no longer matters. More so in Super apparently, because Whis apparently has a "do-over" ability that causes time to flow backwards. So basically, he's a living turnwheel. Or divine pulse. So that, is a very lengthy explanation of how death danced between relevance and irrelevance over the years in the franchise... not even factoring in GT.
 

12 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

 

Oliver being brought back was clearly a joke.

Otherwise, yeah. These people should've died. Like, I can take Gharnef coming back as a red lens flare ghost, but literally everyone being alive was... Ehhh.

I mean, with Medeus there's the argument that he was dead from Anri BEFORE Shadow Dragon...  so he's kind of got a history of getting resurrected. I don't see a big problem there with consistency.

Camus return didn't really allow his believed demise to become irrelevant, even if it's questionable how he's alive. Nyna, after all still ended up exactly where she was before. Perhaps worse off.

Oliver... to be honest... I have a lot more hate for the guy than one might consider reasonable given he's supposed to be comedic. I do find his scenes funny, don't get me wrong. But he's the type of person I'd want to kill if I met them. In some ways I wish he stayed dead.

The Black Knight... honestly the fact Zelgius was alive and there were clues to his identity that allowed people to work it out before Radiant Dawn was released... well it's kind of got the evidence in the original game. Not explicit, but implicit.

Gharnef... well if he was able to mind control Hardin, it's entirely possible he's just taken over the body of some other schmuck, and is using his magic to illusion his form in the same way he illusioned those other sorcerors into being fake versions of Lena, Maria, Nyna, and Elice. Personally, that's my explanation for how he has a body again (perhaps a little inspired by that Red Skull mind in a cloned body thing I mentioned above, except based on events in the story). Michalis... I can't actually come up with any reason for him to be alive.

Michalis... I don't have an excuse. I just don't. I have one in mind for my LP, but I'd hardly think it'd ever happen in canon.
 

13 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

That's okay.

It's sad I'm still doing it. I should just write a damn book on this stuff. It'd be more concise.

13 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Ahahahahahahahah... Good, we've done all the titles now.

You can always Deep-end on me for a title related pun.

13 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

However am I going to one-up myself in the future...? Will it be even possible?

You could always edit them out of the LP entirely.

13 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

 

Yes! I'm like Luigi! I've finally accomplished my life's goals.

Wears green. Known for winning by using a strategy that sounds questionable. Gets desired results without doing anything to achieve them.
Checks out.

13 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

 

Oh, yeah... That would be... less than adequate.

I do believe I heard of a show where that happened once. Though I can't remember the title for the life of me.

13 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

LP canon is they're conscious and aware while it's happening, and they just roll with it.

Seems rather counter to what one usually thinks of as a possession. That's going to Raze a few eyebrows.

13 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Interesting idea!

Whole thing really stemmed from FE3's "Book 1/Book 2" thing, and the omission of characters from FE1. That and the addition of characters to FE11 and FE12, and the fact the Gaiden characters are recognized by Marth despite no one being dead in FE12. I kind of came up with the idea all of the variations between tellings of the tale could be explained in universe as books by different writers. Some of which would take certain liberties with the story, such as not mentioning individuals they deemed irrelevant, or events they thought not central to the war. Given the FE12 ending where it's claimed Kris deliberately asked to be omitted from the history books... I thought it'd be fun to play with the concept.

Speaking of inconsistencies... I can't help but notice Julian's ending in FE1 mentions him becoming a father. Likewise, Abel's supposed to be expecting a child. The former makes ideas form in my brain. The latter... just fills me with dread at the notion if you believe it, Est and Abel's endings in FE3 book 2/ FE12 only become more tragic.

I find it funny I'm still using spoiler tabs. I guess it's just less space consuming for anyone who doesn't want to read my walls of text.

[Saint Rubenio]

19 hours ago, Dayni said:

There's a lockdown for the next month.

Well that's a way to start the year.

Oof...

 

13 hours ago, The Roger The Paladin said:

 

  Hide contents

I think the worst part is Gharnef's plan to betray Medeus using the Falchion. Sure, his speed, defense and HP are all definitely adequate for it... but with his strength he'll need at least one power ring to boost him. Maybe two. It's not like Imhullu can help either... because if I'm not mistaken, it was never programmed to negate Medeus attacks (though that could just be in FE11, as one can apparently find out by using one of those codes that make enemies drop their items). Not to mention FE1 Medeus is immune to magic (and for that matter, levin swords), full-stop. But perhaps the biggest flaw in Gharnef's ignorance of the fact that Falchion's a Marth exclusive weapon... so even if he can wield swords, and get the extra points of strength (both being plausible)... the plan falls apart when you consider I'm 99% certain that he hasn't the ability to wield it.

Medeus couldn't hurt Gharnef with Imhullu, though. So they'd just sit there twiddling their thumbs for the rest of eternity. Unless Gharnef can still die of old age. Then Medeus wins by default.

If I realized how bad Hardin would turn out, I would've. Maybe when I try to get Hardin to actually work out next. This run I'm trying to use Roshea and Vyland... the former of which capped strength as a level 19 cav. Though he had like 7 speed still... and his luck's almost all from the Goddess Icon at Pyrathi.... but he's got 11 defense.... is one point short of Hardin's 24 HP and on promoting he instantly got to 11 speed and 10 Weapon Level which while not excellent keeps him from being doubled as much and lets him use anything short of the Gradivus... so he's pretty good. Vyland on the other hand is pure crap. He's got less HP than my healers, and with 8 defense is less durable than base Wendell on account of the HP difference. With 6 speed, he's literally matched by the average general. His only redeeming features are his weapon level being high enough he can use the gradivus... which I don't have yet, and his decent, though hardly world-shattering 12 strength. Which for the record is tied with Ogma for the lowest of my non-magic units... barring Jeorge. But Jeorge is kind of the guy I drop when deployment's low... so he's only level 4. So, naturally... I'm going to feed Vyland whatever damn stat-boosters I can and try to kill Medeus with him. For the memes. Then I might reload the save and kill him with Roshea. Because he's certainly got the strength.... even if he's barely levelled anything else.

Roshea: Knight on hooves. I always found it funny how Roshea's portrait in FE1 is, like, one of the best. Vyland, Wolf and Sedgar are all clones, but not him. For no reason. He's better looking than friggin' Abel and Cain!

Killing Medeus with Roshea would be amazing.

Honestly, the word "clone" is a dirty word in the Spider-man fanbase because of that story. But yeah, the six issue version's a nice fun read that isn't a convoluted mess. Incidentally, two notable things that came of the clone saga were Aunt May dying of old age (which by the end of things, was revealed to have been faked by the Green Goblin... and she was literally buried alive), and Spider-man and Mary Jane having a stillborn daughter... which old Norman (you know, the Green Goblin's real name) was revealed to have faked being stillborn and abducted. That sub-plot was forgotten about after a writer change.... in the main continuity. That said... a couple years later, the former writer wrote a What If? issue (What If? being a series where you'd look at a classic story, and some key event would happen just a little differently. Someone would say something they thought about instead of letting the moment pass. Or someone would follow up on something they didn't. Or someone would hesitate at a vital moment and get killed), where they did get back the child... named her "May" after a certain Aunt, and she'd grow up to be Spider-girl.

Why does "writer change" seem to be the common denominator in all of these anecdotes?

The What If proved so popular it spun off into it's own series. Various editorials tried to cancel the series out of spite, only for fan outrage to force them to shelve the idea. So between the Spider-girl series, and it's own spin-offs, there were over 200 issues of an alternate future based off this scenario... before an editor who didn't listen came along and cancelled the book to introduce a completely unrelated Spider-girl in the main timeline in her own book to replace it. Where he snarkily said it'd be better because it was in the main continuity. The book didn't endear itself to the readers... and lasted a mere 7 issues. One of the most notable aspects of this "MC2" universe, was a super-hero named "The Buzz", who was, besides being May's love interest at points... the grandson of J. Jonah Jameson. In irony, Jameson had no idea of the dual identity, and was still publishing articles about The Buzz being a menace.

Hahahahah... That sounds like JJJ, all right. I'm not Spiderman expert, but JJJ is absolutely hilarious in the movie trilogy.

Ironically, my examples are personal favourites who I might not have given a second glance if they hadn't died and stayed dead. Gwen Stacy, despite being perfectly likeable, was mostly just a comics girlfriend. Albeit she hated Spider-man because she blamed him for the death of her father... who was another character who died and stayed dead. The irony being that the dying Captain Stacy knew about the dual identity and had two requests. One being that Parker look after Gwen, and the other being that he keep being Spider-man. But the rule of Spider-man is he can't be left happy. So it wasn't working out that way.

I remember Gwen from this cartoon Spiderman series that I watched when I was a kid. Name's Spectacular Spiderman, and from what I recall it was cancelled right after the Goblin's death, leaving the show in a huge cliffhanger with Harry. Which is just wonderful, isn't it?

Thunderbird... ironically when he died did receive a few letters asking them to kill of that Wolverine guy instead, because he hadn't caught on yet. So he'll always have that. He'll also always have the boasting point that his death officially marks the moment where X-men went from being that book that got cancelled after 66 issues and revived with the expectation it wouldn't last a year... was permanently cemented as a best-seller. It was the second time any X-man died... and the first that it mattered. (The previous being the time Professor X seemingly died, but it turned out to be their former villain the Changeling... who had reformed after finding out he had cancer, and secretly replaced Professor X while he worked on another project. Given the Changeling had been introduced in 35, turned good in 39 and died in 42, it was a short life. He did get two much more popular and long-lived alternate reality counterparts who went by the moniker "Morph" instead... who were popular because they were shapeshifting funnymen, whereas Changeling was very straight-laced). Thunderbird's other legacy being his more successful brother Warpath... who first appeared as  a second"Thunderbird" with the intent of killing the X-men in revenge.

The Swordsman was initially introduced as an international crook who wanted to join the Avengers to allow him security clearances... but the catch is Hawkeye knew him as having almost murdered him once as a kid (hence we get the first telling of Hawkeye's origin, where he was trained as a circus archer to assist in the Swordsman's act, though there were questions raised on how a Swordsman trained the world's greatest archer that were later answered by the revelation that the Swordsman directed him to an archer by the name of trickshot).. and his record already was in the Avengers database. However, after that first unsuccessful attempt, Ironman's nemesis the Mandarin had a scheme. He gave the Swordsman updated equipment (including a button that allowed him to fire sword beams.... before Zelda was a thing), and sent him back. Then he used his technology to fake a video call from Iron-man (in 1965 yet) vouching for the Swordsman. The Avengers were naturally skeptical, but he joined the team for the first time under probation. He planted the bomb, but got cold feet. He'd come to legitimately like his team-mates... and went to remove it. Catch is, they caught him removing it, and misinterpreted it as him planting it. So he had to fight them to escape.... before it detonated so he could dispose of it. He'd then end up fighting them on occasion throughout the sixties. That said... when issue one-hundred rolled around, and everyone who'd been on the team was summoned... it turned out he still had his communicator. He showed up and helped save the world from the Greek God of War Ares. After this, he'd end up turning over a new leaf. 14 issues later he'd join the Avengers for real, and 15 issues on from that he'd die. Unfortunately, he spent most of that time feeling inadequate due to injuries and various failures... despite the fact the first issue he was an active member, he helped stop a God by trickery (Again. First Ares, now this Wakandan God), and during the Avengers/Defenders war he also defeated Valkyrie... before being shot in the back by a third party (specifically a leftover nazi hiding out in the country they were fighting in, because this was the 70s). In the Kang story, he'd fell an ancient vampire that Kang was using to guard his Pyramid lair, and utterly ruined the time-traveller's scheme. Only failing to kill him outright because a future version of Kang had came back to prevent him from using his sword's disintegrator on Kang's turned back.

(talk about a time paradox). So instead he set about freeing the other Avengers... ruining Kang's plan to become a God (why is it Swordman's record is so good against immortals/would be immortals but bad against anyone else?) and ended up dead from blocking Kang's attack on his love.

What's with all these people dying in no time after being redeemed? At least they lasted longer than Good Volcens...

I don't even need to explain Captain Marvel, because surely you remember the Arran of space. Point is, back in 86, Marvel published a 26 volume handbook of the characters in their universe. Volumes 17 through 26 being the ones my childhood self would refer to as "The Books of the Dead". It's interesting to note, I went through them the other year to see what percent stayed dead. I believe I arrived at the conclusion roughly 2/3rds of them were still dead. My favourite case being the oddity that is Blackout, who due to the alphabetical order of the 16 volumes on living entities, was alive and consequently had an entry in volume 2, but also had an entry in volume 17 due to his death in the time between. One hell of a way to avoid spoilers. For the record, while there is still a Blackout at Marvel, the two are completely unrelated bar sharing the name (the former having the ability to construct things out of a dark energy, teleport, fly and the other being a vampire-like demon whose presence turns out lights). The original's still dead. The latter did get left out in the sun to die once, on the assumption it'd kill him. Apparently it just gave him a bad sunburn. Point is, I read the hell out of the volumes. A lot of my favourite characters came to be these utterly bizarre oddities. These heroes and villains who lived in a world where death seems like a revolving door... but have been dead longer than I've been alive.

Well, I can tell you're quite passionate about them!

The sad part being, because the volumes are from 86... they don't even contain anyone who died and stayed dead thereafter.

Oof...

It's also notable that the books on the living included characters like the Hulk villain, the Abomination, who'd been seemingly killed last time he appeared. Foreshadowing the fact his death was... not what it appeared. Guess no one was expected to believe the Abomination would stay dead. Though... the Red Skull was in the books of the dead despite being Captain America's arch-foe. That being said... he actually did die (guy was a nazi in WWII, old age had to get him eventually). It's just he came back in a cloned body... and not just any clone. His new body was a clone of Cap. Whether the brain's the original, or a clone is up for debate. I counted him among the third that came back anyway... just on the grounds that... it's sort of him.

So he sort of died? Good enough, I suppose.

It's admittedly something that's got worse as time progressed. You know. More writers, more people to disagree with previous writer's decision. There's also types of death. There's the one where the hero assumes a villain's dead because "nobody could have survived that" as an excuse for the villain not having to break out of jail next time they appear. In the old days, when the villain returned, this would usually have a flashback revealing exactly how they survived that. (Ironically something the Goblin story kind of did right). An example of this is in Daredevil V2. #8, when Mysterio, the Master of Illusion, commits suicide by shotgun. Catch being... one look at his moniker, and you kind of know how he's coming back. Guy's whole gimmick is he tricks people with holograms, animatronics, special effects, etc. Then there's the first time the Hulk villain the Leader died. One has to understand.. the Hulk is a lot of things, but when it comes to intelligence... he's not there. Our knowledge the Leader died from the information overload is because an individual who couldn't spell his four letter name analyzed the body and came to the conclusion he was dead. With fingers far too large to effectively feel for a pulse. Naturally, when it turned out he was merely unconscious latter... it made sense. Basically, most villain "deaths" are a plot device for allowing the villain to get away.

Well, it would be difficult to keep stories going for decades without running out of ideas for opponents.

This allows for a subversion, as Roy Thomas so masterfully did with his first work at Marvel. See, at the end of his fight with Iron-man, the early Marvel villain the Black Knight (who had previously fought Giant-man, and the Avengers, but Giant-man had retired for a short time... and so he targeted one of his team-mates instead), Iron-man had one of of his boot jets destroyed in their mid-air battle, so he grabbed onto the saddle of the Black Knight's winged horse (he was a geneticist, and inspired by pegasus he genetically engineered a flying horse named Aragorn, after the Lord of the Rings character). Iron-man weighs a lot with all that armor, and so the saddle snapped and the plumetted. Iron-man steered his fall into the Central park lake using his good boot jet, but couldn't find the knight in his search of the park. He assumed he must of gotten away, theorizing he probably got caught by his horse in mid-air. A while later, when next a Black Knight showed up in Avengers... it wasn't Nathan Garrett at all. Instead it was his nephew Dane Whitman... who was a hero.
Turns out that Garrett hit the ground hard, contrary to Iron Man's theory. Not hard enough to die... well at least not instantly. On his death bed, he revealed everything to his nephew, including the location of his equipment. His final wish being that Dane use it all to redeem the name of the Black Knight. The death was allowed to stand... because quite simply undoing it would ruin Dane Whitman, who actually was quite popular at points in his career. Indeed, he'd often win runner up in polls for "favourite Avenger without a solo book" in the 80s.

Hahahah... That's a pretty wholesome way to subvert the trope, actually. Dying turns the guy good.

Funny thing is, even Johnny Alpha's death being reversed required someone else to die permanently in his place. That being the character of Feral Jackson.... who more or less took over the feature after his death. Whether this is due to any animosity on the part of the creative team is unknown. But there sure were some fans glad to be rid of the guy. So, to say the death was without consequences would be a lie. A major character died and stayed dead to replace him. There were consequences from the years he was dead (yes years), such as not being there to prevent the British goverment from sterilizing most of the mutants. Which is kind of harsh. Strontium Dog is about mutants caused by a war in 2150 leaving radioactive fallout in the atmosphere. Though they're different from Marvel Mutants. Instead of being super-powered to hell and back, they're deformed. Kid Knee's name is because his face is on his kneecap. Middenface McNulty literally has lumps on his head instead of hair. Johnny himself has white eyes. Albeit, they can see things no human can see, so he kind of does have a power. Durham Red... has a mutation that imitates vampirism's need for blood, as well as the fangs. But with none of the super-strength or shape-shifting. Feral... well as you may guess he had extended canines, claw-like fingers, and was Albino. Point is... life as a mutant in Strontium Dog sucks. The only work is as a bounty-hunter. The british government actively tries to kill you off (though apparently other governments are more receptive, right down to the American government siding with Alpha).

As for old Carver... well, he's in the uncomfortable spot where one day he's going to go through the events of "Flesh II". He just doesn't know it yet. Ironically, while the others do, he's hated enough none of them are going to warn him or risk screwing up the time stream. Indeed, quite a few would have killed him themself if it weren't for the paradox it'd cause.

Thank you for the thorough summary.

The Goku thing was a special occasion. Basically, there's a deal where an individual can be brought back to the realm of the living under special circumstances. In his case it was to participate in a world tournament and granted to him because of the fact he died saving the Earth from being blown up... not to mention everything else he did in life. When his twenty-four hours were up, he did do a few more things... but they were all in Otherworld. AKA, the realm of the dead. It was Kid Buu who kind of broke the rules by teleporting into other-world... but the catch is living individuals have been demonstrated to be able to enter Otherworld (Fortuneteller Baba does it to bring people back for their day and Kami did it to see Goku off when he died the first time. Likewise quite a lot of Otherworlds residents such as the Kais, King Yemma and the ogres, Princess Snake and her servants, are all alive and native to the plain)

Ahhhh... So he's just... Kind of in some other place.

The other thing one has to remember is that when Dragon Ball started off... it was written as a very light-hearted, even comedic series.

Oh, I didn't know that, actually.

More of a parody of anime and martial arts tropes than a serious story. Example. The first time Chi-Chi meets Master Roshi, she gets the notion he's an imposter, and there's no way this feeble old man is the legendary martial artist. To test her theory, she takes the blade off her helmet and throws it at his back. As per many Japanese demonstrations of mastery, we get the glint in his glasses (instead of his eyes), and a lightning quick turn and block with the cane. Only for the top of the cane to be severed and the blade to lodge itself in his forehead causing him to scream in agony and flail. Hence we see a parody of the commonly used instinctual block, ending with Roshi arguing that no one could have blocked that and wearing an oversided band-aid on his head for a bit, before it disappears because... well, this wasn't exactly serious. Point being, the initial direction, death being meaningful would have been pointless, when injuries like that didn't kill.

A second example... would be the entire episode with Monster Carrot... the giant Rabbit that turns people into carrots with a touch (ironically the episode where Yamcha heel-face-turned, saving Bulma, who was a carrot at the time, and consequently Goku, who was being beaten to death on the threat that if he resisted Monster Carrot would eat Bulma... I mean that in the literal sense). On beating him, to make sure he caused no trouble, Goku literally tied him and his henchmen up, grabbed the rope, extended his power-pole, and left him and his henchmen on the moon... to make "rabbit treats for Easter". I am not making this up.

This all kind of changed at the King Piccolo story, where Krillin's death had an impact because it was a very abrupt change of tone (the only deaths we'd seen thus far had been villains, and they were generally pretty comedic, from Goku mistakenly thinking that Commander Red was asleep after being shot, or the way Tao's eyes bulged when he saw his grenade kicked back.. not that he actually died. Turned out he survived that and came back as a cyborg) ... and then when Roshi and Chiaotzu died... only for King Piccolo to blast the Dragon into bits after wishing for his youth back. Seeing as Kami's existence was unrevealed at that point in the series, let alone Namek and it's Dragon Balls... it looked like not only were these deaths permanent, but so was any further deaths. Which is, why in my opinion the story arc was the pinnacle of the whole franchise. While there'd been deaths before, this was the first time it wasn't just relevant... but it looked irreversible.

Funny how the first impactful, apparently permanent death in the series was Krillin, the guy who's since been memed to death for dying all the time.

The Piccolo Junior Saga (yes the main Piccolo is king Piccolo's son, not the original, who is still dead), revealed the Dragon Balls would disappear if Kami or Piccolo died (they hadn't when King Piccolo died because of Piccolo Junior being born with most of his power), so we then had the rule a Piccolo or Kami death would be permanent, and make all other deaths permanent... and the Saiyan saga added the rule the Dragon Balls couldn't bring back someone more than once. So when Chiaotzu died again... it looked pretty permanent. Then when Piccolo died... it looked like Yamcha, Tien, and Piccolo were permanent, as was anyone else. Hence the Saiyan saga arguably being the darkest.

Thing is, then came the revelation there were Dragon Balls on Namek... and they could wish back Piccolo (hence bringing back Earth's Dragon Balls).. and anyone wished back before by the Earth Dragon Balls (hence Chiaotzu). Catch being there was this whole multi-faction race for the Dragon Balls going on... including Frieza who was vastly stronger than everyone else at the time. Also, Guru, whose death would deactivate the Namekian Dragon Balls, was so damn old he could croak any time. He did indeed croak by stopping his own damn heart before Namek's three wishes (Kami apparently sucked at making Dragon Balls), were used up. So all they achieved was bringing back Piccolo and bringing him to Namek. But that meant the Earth Dragon Balls were back as long as Piccolo didn't die to Frieza... who quite honestly was a lot stronger than Piccolo. Also Krillin got killed by Frieza after this causing the Super Saiyan transformation for the first time, because it looked like Krillin, Goku's best friend, was perma-dead without the Namekian Dragon Balls.
Anyway, when the Earth Dragon Balls were used... they were able to restore everyone who died on Namek (barring Krillin for reasons), and bring them to Earth. This included Guru, because while a natural death would have prevented his resurrection (the Dragon Balls can't resurrect someone who dies from natural causes)... him stopping his own heart wasn't natural. So the Namekian Dragon Balls were back... and on Earth now. So they were able to bring the dead back. Guru then proceeded to die for real. But they got a new elder so they had Namekian Dragon Balls again.

I like how this has evolved into kind of a summary of the series. Sure, that's okay. I know too little about it anyway.

The Cell Saga is where death truly became obsolete. After Piccolo and Kami merged into one, Earth needed a new protector. So Dende was brought back from Namek, and made new Dragon Balls. That could grant three wishes. Turns out you can wish back a large group of people with two wishes with this set... including people who died for the second or third time. With this, and a second set of Dragon Balls on New Namek... it became the case unless Dende and the Elder on New Namek are both dead at the same time, orthe Elder on New Namek is no longer able to be contacted, death no longer matters. More so in Super apparently, because Whis apparently has a "do-over" ability that causes time to flow backwards. So basically, he's a living turnwheel. Or divine pulse. So that, is a very lengthy explanation of how death danced between relevance and irrelevance over the years in the franchise... not even factoring in GT.

I still find it hilarious that Goku died and he got a funny little aureola on top of his head.

I mean, with Medeus there's the argument that he was dead from Anri BEFORE Shadow Dragon...  so he's kind of got a history of getting resurrected. I don't see a big problem there with consistency.

True enough.

Camus return didn't really allow his believed demise to become irrelevant, even if it's questionable how he's alive. Nyna, after all still ended up exactly where she was before. Perhaps worse off.

On the one hand, I kind of dig the things they did with him after his death... BUt on the other hand, his shitty-ass disguise (by "disguise" I mean "mask that covers half his face". Bastard didn't even bother changing his damned clothes)

Oliver... to be honest... I have a lot more hate for the guy than one might consider reasonable given he's supposed to be comedic. I do find his scenes funny, don't get me wrong. But he's the type of person I'd want to kill if I met them. In some ways I wish he stayed dead.

The thing I like about Oliver is that, if you don't like the joke, you can kill him and that's fine. The game doesn't force him on you or anything.

The Black Knight... honestly the fact Zelgius was alive and there were clues to his identity that allowed people to work it out before Radiant Dawn was released... well it's kind of got the evidence in the original game. Not explicit, but implicit.

I just don't think he should've returned for RD. He barely did anything there, aside from protecting Micaiah a couple of times with the sole purpose of appearing all mysterious.

Gharnef... well if he was able to mind control Hardin, it's entirely possible he's just taken over the body of some other schmuck, and is using his magic to illusion his form in the same way he illusioned those other sorcerors into being fake versions of Lena, Maria, Nyna, and Elice. Personally, that's my explanation for how he has a body again (perhaps a little inspired by that Red Skull mind in a cloned body thing I mentioned above, except based on events in the story).

But then... That would mean he survived FE12!

Michalis... I can't actually come up with any reason for him to be alive.

Michalis... I don't have an excuse. I just don't. I have one in mind for my LP, but I'd hardly think it'd ever happen in canon.

I like how you wrote your anger at Michalis twice. Which is fine, because he can potentially survive death twice. The dude's survival of FE11 was already highly questionable, but then in FE12 he goes and survives again? Meh... In all fairness, however, his recruitment in FE12 is so obscure and weird that I'm pretty sure it was intended as more of an easter egg than anything. I mean, having Minerva wait on top of the village? In DSFE? Unheard of!

It's sad I'm still doing it. I should just write a damn book on this stuff. It'd be more concise.

Hahahahaha... It's fine. Again, I can tell you're passionate about these things.

You can always Deep-end on me for a title related pun.

Bwahahahahahahah...

You could always edit them out of the LP entirely.

Hmmm... We'll see. Depends on the game.

Wears green. Known for winning by using a strategy that sounds questionable. Gets desired results without doing anything to achieve them.
Checks out.

So it does! I knew I liked him for a reason.

I do believe I heard of a show where that happened once. Though I can't remember the title for the life of me.

Well, if you remember, do tell me. I'm rather curious.

Seems rather counter to what one usually thinks of as a possession. That's going to Raze a few eyebrows.

Hah!

Whole thing really stemmed from FE3's "Book 1/Book 2" thing, and the omission of characters from FE1. That and the addition of characters to FE11 and FE12, and the fact the Gaiden characters are recognized by Marth despite no one being dead in FE12. I kind of came up with the idea all of the variations between tellings of the tale could be explained in universe as books by different writers. Some of which would take certain liberties with the story, such as not mentioning individuals they deemed irrelevant, or events they thought not central to the war. Given the FE12 ending where it's claimed Kris deliberately asked to be omitted from the history books... I thought it'd be fun to play with the concept.

I really don't understand why, of all characters, they decided to trash Wrys. Memes aside, the guy is the very first recruit, the only healer for a couple of maps and one of the most unique designs in FE1. Why him, and not... say Tomas? I mean, you know how much I love Tomas, but mostly because of FE11 giving him the most ridiculous hairdo and FE12 making him shoot Kris thrice. In FE1 he was literally just a Gordin clone. And yet he made it to FE3 nd Wrys didn't? What's up with that?

Speaking of inconsistencies... I can't help but notice Julian's ending in FE1 mentions him becoming a father. Likewise, Abel's supposed to be expecting a child. The former makes ideas form in my brain. The latter... just fills me with dread at the notion if you believe it, Est and Abel's endings in FE3 book 2/ FE12 only become more tragic.

A lot of the FE1 endings seemed a lot more conclusive than they did in 11. It feels like they hadn't planned book 2 yet. Hence why some of the endings were changed in Shadow Dragon to foreshadow New Mystery, such as Dolph, Macellan and Lorenz.

I find it funny I'm still using spoiler tabs. I guess it's just less space consuming for anyone who doesn't want to read my walls of text.

Force of habit, I suppose. It's okay.

 

[Goddess Serra]

Another adventure has finally come to an end. To be honest, I quite enjoyed it! Berwick Saga as a game was incredibly rare on YouTube (probably because Aethin’s translation is still relatively new) and if the Fire Emblem Wiki never deemed it necessary to add more than the basic information about TearRing Saga, I doubt they would do anything differently for Berwick. I just love how many relationships Kaga was able to fit into a game, even though I still prefer how hilariously interconnected TearRing Saga’s cast is. Still, Berwick’s characters are still pretty much all memorable, even the one that was meant to be no more than a joke. Not to mention how, in a world like Lazberia, your story’s darker tones actually fit rather well!

 

All in all, I look forward to seeing where the next LP (if there even will be another one) takes us. Admittedly, now you’ve covered pretty much all the main games you praised over the last few years (with Shadow Dragon and Thracia 776 making occasional appearances), so... I can’t help but wonder. Anyway, it’s been a pleasure following the latest installment in this series of admitted exhilarating trainwrecks. Godspeed, master tactician.

 

(As a side note, I waited until now to mention that you including a lesbian couple in your side-story was something I really appreciated. Not just because you treated it the same way as any other couple, as it should be, but because, being a member of the LGBTQ+ community myself, I grew a little more attached to El and Harriett. I write ideas about FE-based stories for my own entertainment every once in a while - even made a thread about it in Creative Works, but I’m honestly too lazy to write that much on a regular basis, and they’re more big lumps of concepts than actual stories  - and one of them happens to feature a mercenary and an archer, joining in the first chapter and potentially becoming a couple by the end of the game. El reminded me a lot of Cassandra (or Cass), the merc, while Harriett is similar to Senna, the archer, although their personalities are pretty much swapped (Senna and El being the aloof ones, Cass and Harriett the more... upbeat ones?). Anyway, thank you for that, as well.)

[Saint Rubenio]

1 hour ago, Goddess Serra said:

Another adventure has finally come to an end.

Oh it's you!

1 hour ago, Goddess Serra said:

To be honest, I quite enjoyed it! Berwick Saga as a game was incredibly rare on YouTube (probably because Aethin’s translation is still relatively new) and if the Fire Emblem Wiki never deemed it necessary to add more than the basic information about TearRing Saga, I doubt they would do anything differently for Berwick. I just love how many relationships Kaga was able to fit into a game, even though I still prefer how hilariously interconnected TearRing Saga’s cast is. Still, Berwick’s characters are still pretty much all memorable, even the one that was meant to be no more than a joke.

I honestly love that the joke character becomes a legit good character the moment the game ends. It's wonderful.

And yeah, I agree with you. TRS's cast did some insane things, but Berwick's cast is still wonderful.

1 hour ago, Goddess Serra said:

Not to mention how, in a world like Lazberia, your story’s darker tones actually fit rather well!

I'm happy you think so. I was a little worried. With each LP I get more and more carried away.

1 hour ago, Goddess Serra said:

All in all, I look forward to seeing where the next LP (if there even will be another one) takes us. Admittedly, now you’ve covered pretty much all the main games you praised over the last few years (with Shadow Dragon and Thracia 776 making occasional appearances), so... I can’t help but wonder. Anyway, it’s been a pleasure following the latest installment in this series of admitted exhilarating trainwrecks.

There'll probably be more. I haven't gotten tired of this just yet. As for which game it will be... Well, I've got a couple of ideas.

1 hour ago, Goddess Serra said:

Godspeed, master tactician.

Pfffft!

1 hour ago, Goddess Serra said:

(As a side note, I waited until now to mention that you including a lesbian couple in your side-story was something I really appreciated. Not just because you treated it the same way as any other couple, as it should be, but because, being a member of the LGBTQ+ community myself, I grew a little more attached to El and Harriett. I write ideas about FE-based stories for my own entertainment every once in a while - even made a thread about it in Creative Works, but I’m honestly too lazy to write that much on a regular basis, and they’re more big lumps of concepts than actual stories  - and one of them happens to feature a mercenary and an archer, joining in the first chapter and potentially becoming a couple by the end of the game. El reminded me a lot of Cassandra (or Cass), the merc, while Harriett is similar to Senna, the archer, although their personalities are pretty much swapped (Senna and El being the aloof ones, Cass and Harriett the more... upbeat ones?). Anyway, thank you for that, as well.)

Ayyyy, thanks! I really appreciate this. I wrote the two of them to the best of my ability as a straight male who does not know how to write. I'm glad the end result wasn't terrible!

[The Roger The Paladin]

 

Spoiler

5 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Medeus couldn't hurt Gharnef with Imhullu, though. So they'd just sit there twiddling their thumbs for the rest of eternity. Unless Gharnef can still die of old age. Then Medeus wins by default.

Ah, but as I said, if FE11 is any indication, Imhullu doesn't have any code to negate Medeus. Though this could be an FE11 oversight, because Medeus has a weapon that doesn't fit in a usual weapon classification. I heard about this because of the fact you can apparently use the "enemies always drop weapons" code to acquire Imhullu. Speaking of Linde's going to wreck him this run. Besides capping speed, luck and weapon level (expected, she's got huge growths in all three)... besides getting the 30hp, besides her 9 skill (which combined with her luck is 14 crit)... she's inexplicably tanky. 10 defense? As a Bishop? Oh sure, that's only two defense levels after promoting on a 20% growth. But point is she can now frontline better than Vyland. Or my last Hardin. I never thought I'd be using Linde, who I always thought of as a glass canon, as a frontline unit. But here we are. FE1 is a weird game.
 

6 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Why does "writer change" seem to be the common denominator in all of these anecdotes?

Because when a new writer takes over, it's a common factor they either feel they can't do the previous direction right (Pat Mills doesn't like traditional Super-hero fair, so when he took over Ravage 2099 from Stan Lee, he focused on the sci-fi elements instead), the previous direction wasn't going anywhere (Durham Red, when written by Peter Hogan, was really a bunch of short run stories of her hitting bounty hunting target after bounty hunting target. This made it a carbon copy of the Strontium Dog strip that it spun off from. So Dan Abnett wrote his much acclaimed run by doing a story set a few thousand years later, after the time of Strontium Dog, with the character having been awakened from a cryogenic stasis. Admittedly, with Johnny Alpha's return.. this has turned into an alternate timeline scenario seeing as Red's still around in the present and one of the reasons for her freezing herself was his death. Though then again, it's not specified how he died... so she might just outlive him), out of spite (Star-brand was written by Jim Shooter for the first  ten issues. John Byrne took over with 11, and had an axe to grind with his former boss for reasons that are too complex to get into. So to mess with Shooter, he basically killed off  almost the entire cast (not to mention the entire city of Pittsburgh) in three issues and took the book down a surprising road. The result was, ironically a better read than the first ten because of the anything goes attitude... as opposed to Jim Shooter simply wanting a character set in Pittsburgh. Then there's the fourth reason. The writer simply not caring and/or not having read anything previous. One such example where this turned out well was when Paul Jenkins (who is a cool guy from the time I met him), took over the Inhumans feature on request from Marvel. The catch being, he told them outright he'd never read anything about the Inhumans. He was only given four Jack Kirby stories (Amazing Adventures 1-4) to read to work out the characters. Despite this, he put out a very well-received tale. I'll admit, it's not flawless. It has a couple contradictions with previous Inhumans stories (Medusa's prehensile, harder than steel wire hair, being clipped by an ordinary pair of scissors being the most blatant). But I mean, that kind of thing's the ediitor's job to point out if the writer doesn't know it. Which leads us to why this scenario causes a problem

An editor's job is to know previous stories, read the stories to find contradictions. You know, that kind of thing. Unfortunately, the average editor doesn't have an extensive knowledge. A few don't actually give a damn at all. Then there's Mark Gruenwald... one of the best editors ever to edit. He wrote the handbook on Marvel, and I mean that in the sense he literally wrote the handbooks in 1986. He kept a list of where characters were when the last appeared so as to keep track of how villains seemingly died in their prior appearance, or where heroes should be in status for the sake of consistency. Basically, the guy went so far past what his job required to keep this kind of thing from happening on his watch it wasn't funny. Then came August 12 1996. Mark Gruenwald unexpectedly died, still young, due to a previously unknown congenital heart defect. Ironically, his wishes for his remains were the truly unusual part. In the 1980s, Gruenwald had created his personal favourite work (and one of mine) "The Squadron Supreme". See,  in the day the Squadron Supreme were a sixties era pseudo-Justice League for the Avengers to fight/team up with occasionally without inter-company approval. They'd have been rather easy to dismiss as lifeless parodies... if Gruenwald hadn't done a 12 issue limited series regarding them trying to fix the Earth by taking control of it after a villain left it a mess. So they were cheered when they announced they were going to control the Earth for a year to try and fix things... with only the Batman copy, Nighthawk refusing to be involved. Things went to hell really fast despite the fact they were trying to help. Though describing how is quite a story in itself. Regardless, Gruenwald requested that he be cremated... and his ashes mixed with the ink for the printing of a volume collecting the series. So the 1997 edition of the Squadron Supreme hardcover, unironically contains the ashes of it's writer through-out the print run.

Eh tangent on Gruenwald aside... after he died... I daresay there's no replacing someone like that. I mean, he literally put everything into his work. In more ways than one. So comics were poorer for his loss.

6 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Ahhhh... So he's just... Kind of in some other place.

Sort of. Other World contains the "heaven" area dead people go to. Snake Way, which leads to King Kai's planet. The Supreme Kai's planet. Hell (or HFIL in censored versions), the Grand Kai's anime-only world. Princess Snake's equally anime only mansion on Snake Way. King Yemma's palace (basically where dead people are processed to be sent to heaven or hell). So, it's the Dragonball version of the after-life/the abode of the Kais, who are the "Gods of creation". Most people don't get to go hang around the Kais, but exceptions are made for great heroes. One should note... that Yamcha trained with King Kai during the first time he was dead, and he and Krillin were both on Grand Kai's planet in the Anime when they died in the Buu Saga. So another thing Yamcha has to his credit is that he ranked an exception as well.

7 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Oh, I didn't know that, actually.

Basically, the series went so long it changed tone. Then it did again in the Buu Saga. Seeing as death was no longer a big deal.... the Buu saga was Toriyama using Dragon Ball (noting the Z thing is an anime distinction, in the Manga you don't get a split until Super... which started in 2015) to parody the conventions of what Dragon Ball had become (hence the ridiculousness of Majin Buu, the Fusion dance, the over-the top levels of death). Basically,  Toriyama's final bit of Dragon Ball was a self-parody. Ironic as it is.

Speaking of, that reminds me of the early villain Ninja Murasaki (Dragon Ball Episodes 37-39 and 42). He's introduced with all this stereotypical edgelord ninja crap about how "If you happen to catch a glimpse of him, you're already dead". Then he proceeds to prove comically inept. Though he's actually the first foe Goku needs more than one episode to put down... if only because Goku literally thinks they're playing "silly games" (Goku was a weird kid, having grown up in the woods. This lead to a lot of out there lines).

7 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Funny how the first impactful, apparently permanent death in the series was Krillin, the guy who's since been memed to death for dying all the time.

Yeah. It kind of is. Then again, when his first death was the first seemingly permanent death (albeit retroactively, it took a while for the Dragon to be killed), and his second literally caused the iconic Super Saiyan form, and even his death in GT was handled extraordinarily well (it was impactful because he was killed in front of his wife and daughter... and when they tried to resurrect him the Dragon Balls turned into evil Dragons from over-use instead, meaning I didn't think he'd actually come back). That said... the Buu saga death where everyone on the Lookout died in under a minute... well, considering he and Yamcha were the ones who tried to hold Buu off so everyone could escape... no one expected them to live.

7 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

I like how this has evolved into kind of a summary of the series. Sure, that's okay. I know too little about it anyway.

I mean... I only really described the history of the significance of death. I left out most things pre-King Piccolo (the first 7 sagas), because the only death that meant anything was Bora that time, and only so Goku had an excuse to gather all the Dragon balls instead of stopping after getting the four star ball like he intended. (Bora was barely around before or after dying. Goku just felt bad for his kid). The Buu saga had no relevance to the Dragon balls effectiveness. GT may not even be canon anymore because Super is set before it and would make it not make sense. I know next to nothing about Super. But yeah. It did change a lot over the series.

7 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

I still find it hilarious that Goku died and he got a funny little aureola on top of his head.

I mean, that's first done with Goku's "Grampa" Gohan back when he shows up for a bit in the fortune-teller Baba Saga, when she brings him back for his day so he can fight Goku in disguise (this is where the one day rule came in, and the halo for dead people thing, both before the story got serious... ironically the former not returning until the series became a self-parody).

7 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

On the one hand, I kind of dig the things they did with him after his death... BUt on the other hand, his shitty-ass disguise (by "disguise" I mean "mask that covers half his face". Bastard didn't even bother changing his damned clothes)

Kind of how I feel about bringing the Green Goblin back in Spider-man. He did have some good moments after returning. But, replace the complaint about clothes with "killing Gwen Stacey is an impossible act to follow". I mean, in all the years since, no villain has done more to damage Spider-man's life. Even the burglar who shot Uncle Ben prior did it when he startled him, as opposed to out of full malice (ironically the burglar did show up again around issue 200, and died of a heart attack when Spider-man revealed his identity, because he believed he was going to be killed in vengeance).

7 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

I just don't think he should've returned for RD. He barely did anything there, aside from protecting Micaiah a couple of times with the sole purpose of appearing all mysterious.

Ironic when you consider he'd have been more mysterious if he was left dead. I mean, that'd mean he wasn't Zelgius. Which would mean we wouldn't know who he was.
Though... you know what would have been a funny subversion? If it turned out the real Black Knight died in the rubble and Zelgius took up the mantle because he was secretly his uncle.

7 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

But then... That would mean he survived FE12!

Is it truly surviving if you're a ghost possessing people through contact with the Darksphere and/or Imhullu? Actually... come to think of it... Validar had "Sable", the renamed Darksphere in Awakening. You know... the game's Gharnef. Not to mention, because it was in Plegia... that means Gangrel had it in the first arc of the game when he was the Mad King of Plegia. I never thought about it, but if my theory were correct... there'd be an argument that Gharnef's spirit was still influencing people in Awakening. Wouldn't that be something?
 

7 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

I like how you wrote your anger at Michalis twice. Which is fine, because he can potentially survive death twice. The dude's survival of FE11 was already highly questionable, but then in FE12 he goes and survives again? Meh... In all fairness, however, his recruitment in FE12 is so obscure and weird that I'm pretty sure it was intended as more of an easter egg than anything. I mean, having Minerva wait on top of the village? In DSFE? Unheard of!

I think that happened, because sometimes my computer freezes up... I enter something, see it hasn't responded... assume it's going to be dropped, then enter something again based off memory of what it was. Then it unfreezes and everything appears at once and like an idiot I don't notice the first thing I typed appeared as well.

7 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Hahahahaha... It's fine. Again, I can tell you're passionate about these things.

Also I literally have trouble determining when to stop when explaining something. My brother's ex accused me of being sexist because she assumed I always did it to her because she was female and I was assuming she was stupid based off her gender. The reality being I do it to literally anyone. Whether it's a bad habit or not... is another question.

8 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

 

I really don't understand why, of all characters, they decided to trash Wrys. Memes aside, the guy is the very first recruit, the only healer for a couple of maps and one of the most unique designs in FE1. Why him, and not... say Tomas? I mean, you know how much I love Tomas, but mostly because of FE11 giving him the most ridiculous hairdo and FE12 making him shoot Kris thrice. In FE1 he was literally just a Gordin clone. And yet he made it to FE3 nd Wrys didn't? What's up with that?

Ironically, I think Tomas might just be easier to use in FE1 than Gordin for the simple reason he only needs two levels to promote... and the first Orion Bolt is in the same chapter he debuts in. Promoting into a Sniper gives him an instant speed stat of 14. His 7 base strength is equal to Jeorge. As is his 4 base luck. Indeed, a Tomas who promotes on level 10, even in 0% growths will be identical to Jeorge bar a point of defense. The only difference being that Tomas has 10% more growths to skill and speed, while Jeorge has 10% more to HP. You don't even have the argument of the value of selling the Orion's bolt or using it on someone else. Gordin's the only other archer, and you can't sell items in FE1. So the investment on FE1 Tomas to make him a second Jeorge (considered the best bow-user in the game) is literally two levels. Jeorge's point of defense (a bigger deal when you have less HP growth and both characters only have a 10% defense growth) and slight availability advantage probably give him the edge, but it's so narrow it's not funny.

Also doesn't help Gordin's case he has literally got a lower HP growth again... though he does have a 30% advantage in luck, and a 10% skill and strength on Tomas (consequently 20% skill on Jeorge). That said... if you do get him to promotion, Gordin should also be the same bar 2 points of Jeorge's defense with 0 growths. Or 1 point of Tomas' defense. In my opinion though... the nine level-ups that would require is a lot of damn effort. Incidentally, how interesting is it that all three FE1 Archer/Snipers have unusual spellings of a common name?

8 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

A lot of the FE1 endings seemed a lot more conclusive than they did in 11. It feels like they hadn't planned book 2 yet. Hence why some of the endings were changed in Shadow Dragon to foreshadow New Mystery, such as Dolph, Macellan and Lorenz.

A lot of the endings were more cookie-cutter as well. I mean I swear I saw "helped to rebuild after the war" at least four times.

5 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Ayyyy, thanks! I really appreciate this. I wrote the two of them to the best of my ability as a straight male who does not know how to write. I'm glad the end result wasn't terrible!

I think you handled it better than that time Robert Kirkman got the letter in The Walking Dead that observed he'd never had a lesbian character in the series, and he proceeded to awkwardly introduce two by having them engaging in... certain activities to be polite out in the woods when they were supposed to be looking out for zombies. Resulting in zombies attacking the set of characters and them missing the fight because they were distracted. Which resulted in the complaints that Kirkman's idea of a lesbian character was literally a token couple entirely based on their sexual orientation as opposed to having any form of other personality/relation to the story whatsoever barring awkward sex scenes. Which resulted in a lot of Kirkman accusing anyone who disagreed with the portrayal basically being a bad porno as being bigoted (no seriously, he did a whole letters page that was nothing but calling people bigots in the responses). Need I add the was about a year and a half before the comic got cancelled because Kirkman admitted he used all his ideas around the 130 mark?
Point is, Kirkman's a professional writer who wrote nearly 200 issues of a hit series. Even if the fanbase generally agrees he jumped the shark pretty hard towards the end because he thought his plot would last him to 300, and it ran out of gas before the halfway mark, so he kind of winged it and just wrote whatever he could to stretch what ideas he did have.
That isn't me saying Kirkman's a bad writer. I'm just saying he flew a bit too close to the sun on his goals, and got burned. Also that he apparently doesn't take criticism well.
 

 

[Saint Rubenio]

16 hours ago, The Roger The Paladin said:

Ah, but as I said, if FE11 is any indication, Imhullu doesn't have any code to negate Medeus. Though this could be an FE11 oversight, because Medeus has a weapon that doesn't fit in a usual weapon classification. I heard about this because of the fact you can apparently use the "enemies always drop weapons" code to acquire Imhullu.

Sheesh, Gharnef... Your super duper plot to take over the world was about as flimsy as Jacharam's ploy to keep Chaos in check... And unfortunately for you, Medeus isn't a snivelling coward. Probably.

Quote

Speaking of Linde's going to wreck him this run. Besides capping speed, luck and weapon level (expected, she's got huge growths in all three)... besides getting the 30hp, besides her 9 skill (which combined with her luck is 14 crit)... she's inexplicably tanky. 10 defense? As a Bishop? Oh sure, that's only two defense levels after promoting on a 20% growth. But point is she can now frontline better than Vyland. Or my last Hardin. I never thought I'd be using Linde, who I always thought of as a glass canon, as a frontline unit. But here we are. FE1 is a weird game.

I might have to give it a try one of these days. Doubt I'll buy it, though. To be honest, the idea of emulating still sounds more attractive. Not only do I get to use turbo more easily, but I also get to use the old translation. Sure, it's worse, but hear me out - The official FE1 translation is just a worse version of FE11. The old FE1 fanslation, however, had charm of its own. Mostly because it was hilariously bad and all the lines were the most awkward shit.

16 hours ago, The Roger The Paladin said:

An editor's job is to know previous stories, read the stories to find contradictions. You know, that kind of thing. Unfortunately, the average editor doesn't have an extensive knowledge. A few don't actually give a damn at all. Then there's Mark Gruenwald... one of the best editors ever to edit. He wrote the handbook on Marvel, and I mean that in the sense he literally wrote the handbooks in 1986. He kept a list of where characters were when the last appeared so as to keep track of how villains seemingly died in their prior appearance, or where heroes should be in status for the sake of consistency. Basically, the guy went so far past what his job required to keep this kind of thing from happening on his watch it wasn't funny. Then came August 12 1996. Mark Gruenwald unexpectedly died, still young, due to a previously unknown congenital heart defect. Ironically, his wishes for his remains were the truly unusual part. In the 1980s, Gruenwald had created his personal favourite work (and one of mine) "The Squadron Supreme". See,  in the day the Squadron Supreme were a sixties era pseudo-Justice League for the Avengers to fight/team up with occasionally without inter-company approval. They'd have been rather easy to dismiss as lifeless parodies... if Gruenwald hadn't done a 12 issue limited series regarding them trying to fix the Earth by taking control of it after a villain left it a mess. So they were cheered when they announced they were going to control the Earth for a year to try and fix things... with only the Batman copy, Nighthawk refusing to be involved. Things went to hell really fast despite the fact they were trying to help. Though describing how is quite a story in itself. Regardless, Gruenwald requested that he be cremated... and his ashes mixed with the ink for the printing of a volume collecting the series. So the 1997 edition of the Squadron Supreme hardcover, unironically contains the ashes of it's writer through-out the print run.

Eh tangent on Gruenwald aside... after he died... I daresay there's no replacing someone like that. I mean, he literally put everything into his work. In more ways than one. So comics were poorer for his loss.

Oh wow... That's what you call commitment. A shame about his premature passing.

16 hours ago, The Roger The Paladin said:

So another thing Yamcha has to his credit is that he ranked an exception as well.

Woohoo Yamcha. He keeps this up and he may yet reach Derrick's levels of awesomeness.

16 hours ago, The Roger The Paladin said:

Speaking of, that reminds me of the early villain Ninja Murasaki (Dragon Ball Episodes 37-39 and 42). He's introduced with all this stereotypical edgelord ninja crap about how "If you happen to catch a glimpse of him, you're already dead". Then he proceeds to prove comically inept. Though he's actually the first foe Goku needs more than one episode to put down... if only because Goku literally thinks they're playing "silly games" (Goku was a weird kid, having grown up in the woods. This lead to a lot of out there lines).

Hahahahahahahahahah... You know, so much humilliation of edgelords might just begin to make me grow fond of them. I mean, I like Holmes in spite of all the crap I give him. If this keeps up, I might even go against my very principles!

16 hours ago, The Roger The Paladin said:

I mean... I only really described the history of the significance of death. I left out most things pre-King Piccolo (the first 7 sagas), because the only death that meant anything was Bora that time, and only so Goku had an excuse to gather all the Dragon balls instead of stopping after getting the four star ball like he intended. (Bora was barely around before or after dying. Goku just felt bad for his kid). The Buu saga had no relevance to the Dragon balls effectiveness. GT may not even be canon anymore because Super is set before it and would make it not make sense. I know next to nothing about Super. But yeah. It did change a lot over the series.

7 sagas, huh... Does that mean you could call Goku the Hero of the Sagas?

16 hours ago, The Roger The Paladin said:

Kind of how I feel about bringing the Green Goblin back in Spider-man. He did have some good moments after returning. But, replace the complaint about clothes with "killing Gwen Stacey is an impossible act to follow". I mean, in all the years since, no villain has done more to damage Spider-man's life. Even the burglar who shot Uncle Ben prior did it when he startled him, as opposed to out of full malice (ironically the burglar did show up again around issue 200, and died of a heart attack when Spider-man revealed his identity, because he believed he was going to be killed in vengeance).

I... cannot imagine that brought any satisfaction to ol' Parker.

16 hours ago, The Roger The Paladin said:

Ironic when you consider he'd have been more mysterious if he was left dead. I mean, that'd mean he wasn't Zelgius. Which would mean we wouldn't know who he was.
Though... you know what would have been a funny subversion? If it turned out the real Black Knight died in the rubble and Zelgius took up the mantle because he was secretly his uncle.

You know what? Better than what we got. As it is, BK in RD felt like they brought him back just because he was popular. Kinda like Ike taking over the story in part 3. Let the new characters enjoy the spotlight, damnit. They should've followed my example and murdered all of the old characters except the joke one.

16 hours ago, The Roger The Paladin said:

Is it truly surviving if you're a ghost possessing people through contact with the Darksphere and/or Imhullu? Actually... come to think of it... Validar had "Sable", the renamed Darksphere in Awakening. You know... the game's Gharnef. Not to mention, because it was in Plegia... that means Gangrel had it in the first arc of the game when he was the Mad King of Plegia. I never thought about it, but if my theory were correct... there'd be an argument that Gharnef's spirit was still influencing people in Awakening. Wouldn't that be something?

Man, Gharnef is in Awakening, Medeus is in Awakening, Marth is in Awakening... Shameless retread, gosh darn it! It's FE6 2!

16 hours ago, The Roger The Paladin said:

Also I literally have trouble determining when to stop when explaining something. My brother's ex accused me of being sexist because she assumed I always did it to her because she was female and I was assuming she was stupid based off her gender. The reality being I do it to literally anyone. Whether it's a bad habit or not... is another question.

Well, it's okay. I don't mind it that much, personally.

16 hours ago, The Roger The Paladin said:

Ironically, I think Tomas might just be easier to use in FE1 than Gordin for the simple reason he only needs two levels to promote... and the first Orion Bolt is in the same chapter he debuts in. Promoting into a Sniper gives him an instant speed stat of 14. His 7 base strength is equal to Jeorge. As is his 4 base luck. Indeed, a Tomas who promotes on level 10, even in 0% growths will be identical to Jeorge bar a point of defense. The only difference being that Tomas has 10% more growths to skill and speed, while Jeorge has 10% more to HP. You don't even have the argument of the value of selling the Orion's bolt or using it on someone else. Gordin's the only other archer, and you can't sell items in FE1. So the investment on FE1 Tomas to make him a second Jeorge (considered the best bow-user in the game) is literally two levels. Jeorge's point of defense (a bigger deal when you have less HP growth and both characters only have a 10% defense growth) and slight availability advantage probably give him the edge, but it's so narrow it's not funny.

Also doesn't help Gordin's case he has literally got a lower HP growth again... though he does have a 30% advantage in luck, and a 10% skill and strength on Tomas (consequently 20% skill on Jeorge). That said... if you do get him to promotion, Gordin should also be the same bar 2 points of Jeorge's defense with 0 growths. Or 1 point of Tomas' defense. In my opinion though... the nine level-ups that would require is a lot of damn effort. Incidentally, how interesting is it that all three FE1 Archer/Snipers have unusual spellings of a common name?

Tomas is awesome, yeah. Remove Gordin instead.

16 hours ago, The Roger The Paladin said:

I think you handled it better than that time Robert Kirkman got the letter in The Walking Dead that observed he'd never had a lesbian character in the series, and he proceeded to awkwardly introduce two by having them engaging in... certain activities to be polite out in the woods when they were supposed to be looking out for zombies. Resulting in zombies attacking the set of characters and them missing the fight because they were distracted. Which resulted in the complaints that Kirkman's idea of a lesbian character was literally a token couple entirely based on their sexual orientation as opposed to having any form of other personality/relation to the story whatsoever barring awkward sex scenes. Which resulted in a lot of Kirkman accusing anyone who disagreed with the portrayal basically being a bad porno as being bigoted (no seriously, he did a whole letters page that was nothing but calling people bigots in the responses). Need I add the was about a year and a half before the comic got cancelled because Kirkman admitted he used all his ideas around the 130 mark?
Point is, Kirkman's a professional writer who wrote nearly 200 issues of a hit series. Even if the fanbase generally agrees he jumped the shark pretty hard towards the end because he thought his plot would last him to 300, and it ran out of gas before the halfway mark, so he kind of winged it and just wrote whatever he could to stretch what ideas he did have.
That isn't me saying Kirkman's a bad writer. I'm just saying he flew a bit too close to the sun on his goals, and got burned. Also that he apparently doesn't take criticism well.

You know, when I started this LP, I wasn't expecting to be favorably compared to the writer of The Walking Dead. Thanks.

I don't know much about TWD either. I've heard good and bad things. The former mostly about the comic, the latter mostly about the TV show. Though, from what I've gathered, the comic did seem like it just... ended. Definitely sounds like the guy wrote himself into a corner.

Edited January 2, 2021 by Saint Rubenio

[This boi uses Nino]

Spoiler

On 12/31/2020 at 10:14 AM, Saint Rubenio said:

Isn't Megaman X where this came from?

The description even says Megaman 8..., see while they are made by the same company, MMX is another story (set roughly a 100 hears later) from Megaman.

On 12/31/2020 at 10:14 AM, Saint Rubenio said:

You'd only have to read the two previous updates to get context on that, actually.

oh ok.

On 12/31/2020 at 10:14 AM, Saint Rubenio said:

The Hanes method to reading Berwick Saga: Deductive reasoning.

exactly

On 12/31/2020 at 10:14 AM, Saint Rubenio said:

Do you even know what I'm referencing...?

deductive reasoning moment. yeah.

why am i still spoilering stuff lol ok bye

[Pengaius]

This thread really just turned into Ruben's Public DMs huh?

On 12/31/2020 at 4:14 PM, Saint Rubenio said:

No...! Butterman, don't--!

Do you really think that you could stop me? Every show needs a closing act and sadly for you, I am the curtain call. 

Why you...!

Why I? Last I checked all of the blood was on your hands, your hands a small array of battlefields that is. 

He came back, though.

Not to your army. 

Pene, in Spanish, means dick. Congratulations, Butterman. You called Czene a dick.

By that logic Italians all eat dicks. 

I did fail, to be honest. Clifford's death was downright embarrassing. But you wouldn't know that, because you don't understand the game. Hahah, so much for college student.

I may have no grasp on Berwick, but I don't need to when your displays are that pathetic. 

All of his quips were better than this poor attempt.

Shame your tactics couldn't match them. 

Since when is Leon Barth? Let's see if you get this one

I don't. Care to explain? 

Ahahahahaha... This one's just way out there.

So are bits of him. 

That doesn't even work, Butterman. You're bad, Butterman, baaaaad!

Big talk for a murderer. 

Now you're just taking advantage of the knowledge that I share with you, aren't you?

I am what they call a scrounging wretch yes. 

Can you at least spare Sylvis?

Ruben you ought know by now that I am incapable of mercy. So grin and bear it snookums. 

Son of a-- Wasn't last time enough!? C'mon, more! More death puns for Sylvis! I haven't suffered enough, it seems!

My job you well know, is not to punish your failings, but to remind you of the prices that you pay for them. I am there so that your greatest final victory will be ever sweeter. A thankless job really. 

I am very upset at you, Butterman. You better not give me any more reasons to be upset at you in the spoiler, such as completely fair criticism.

Nyohoho. 

  Hide contents

What?! Everything I write is perfect, and you are wrong and a horseman! Y'hear me, Butterman?! A HORSEMAN!!

Rubie, as a matter of fact I delight in being a mounted bow unit thank you very much. 

It's okay, I understand. I wanted a fresh start, and... to be honest, I needed a way out of juggling 10 characters for the fanfic. Hence why there are only 5 at the start of this, and half of them died.

That's fair and obviously it makes sense that characters need to be removed considering the timeskip, but the fact that so few characters joined the B plot from the A (only really Esteban and he was only present in the last segment) that it almost felt like the stories were only loosely connected out of obligation. 

Honestly it's a shame that you didn't use any of the 1 time only NPCs especially since Elaine and Co. we're with raze at the start, maybe they could have met up with either of the princes or Not-levail.

At this point Morgan's more of a lynchpin than Ruben

Well not really. Morgan had zero presence in the A plot of the season, being solely a B plot character. The only effects that the A plot had on the B plot was that Reese's dudes kicked Arran and Albertus' asses that one time, and a few minor cameos. 

Hahahahahah... I like how you're speaking as if it's a real anime.

This season was so filler it was Yugioh 5Ds Season 3 tier of filler. 

Too much... wat... what? I mean I know the meme, but where'd the water come from?

Not a Rickroll

Shameless plug.

[BrightBow]

On 12/29/2020 at 6:26 PM, Saint Rubenio said:

I would love nothing more than to marry Lord Reese here and now.

Well, between Madam Quescira and Archbishop Lebough, I'm sure there is someone qualified to head a wedding ceremony right in this room.

Spoiler

On 12/29/2020 at 6:26 PM, Saint Rubenio said:

We barely know you.

Hey, Reed is back in his cutscene palette.

Generals are weird. They can be whatever color during cutscenes, but when they enter the battlefield they all become Roswick clones. Except in battle animations they still use the Purple + Red palette. And  it's not like the Roswick palette doesn't exist for battle sprites. If you had healed him, you could have seen it.
Well, Padolf actually got to keep the same palette in cutscenes, on the map and during battle. So good for him.
 

On 12/29/2020 at 6:26 PM, Saint Rubenio said:

Is it this woman's thing that she likes making dramatic entrances? She's always coming out of the most unexpected corners, I swear... Is there even supposed to be a door there?

I have chosen to believe that there is a window, just like at the opposite wall.
 

On 12/29/2020 at 6:26 PM, Saint Rubenio said:

Several months ago, when Sinon fell. The Archbishop told me to find Lady Lynette and awaken her power. I took the relics of St. Serenia and went searching through Mineva. Then, I happened upon her at a natural spring in the forest.

Where did you even get them from?
I suppose I have little trouble to believe you could have stolen them from Serenia. I mean, who could have stopped you? But... well, pretending to be a massager of god by handing out existing relics is kinda like pretending to be Santa and handing out presents with a price tag still on it. Kinda ruins the magic.
I guess Lynette thought those relics were new.
 

On 12/29/2020 at 6:26 PM, Saint Rubenio said:

I think so, too! I can feel it... Lady Lynette's blood is like mine. And that means you didn't lie to her at all, Paramythis. You were doing the Goddess's work!

Yeah, that's most certainly an interesting line considering their counterparts in Radiant Dawn. Heck, Resistor and Protector are even the physical and magical counterparts to each other.

Plus, the fact that this supposed divine intervention has a mundane explanation also hints that the same was probably true for the miracle that allowed the Berwick League to come into existence. Then there is Lebough's repeated insistence that Reese is special but refuses to elaborate on it... It all feels like it's setting up for stuff intended to have been revealed further down the line.

But with the epilogue narration wrapping things up nice and tightly, whatever plans there might have been for a sequel most certainly were canned before the end of development.
 

On 12/29/2020 at 6:26 PM, Saint Rubenio said:

I think now our job will be getting all these trinkets we took off prisoners back to their original owners...

Yeah. The empire was always nice enough to let their captives keep their stuff.
I suppose that's also why they charge more for their captives.
 

On 12/29/2020 at 6:26 PM, Saint Rubenio said:

You know, I wish Padolf was still here if he got captured.
 

On 12/29/2020 at 6:26 PM, Saint Rubenio said:

Ahhh, the best shopkeeps: Axes man and guy who doesn't exist!

Not that I could ever forget that face. I once experienced a memory overflow glitch of sorts, and his portrait overwrote the illustrations of all weapons and items until eventually everyone's name was AAAAAA and the game crashed.
So that was creepy.
 

On 12/29/2020 at 6:26 PM, Saint Rubenio said:

It'd be nice if I could go see them with Cecily...

I still ship it.
 

On 12/29/2020 at 6:26 PM, Saint Rubenio said:

Okay, time for the first ending! For this... character that we've never even used.

He killed the boss in chapter 6. And you tried to have him pull out a tree with his bare hands in chapter 8.
 

On 12/29/2020 at 6:26 PM, Saint Rubenio said:

That's right. he was only thirteen when they took him, though he never made a very good soldier, it seems.

Fittingly he is usually the lowest level soldier on the map. Even if he does gain a few levels and skill points between his first and last appearance.
 

On 12/29/2020 at 6:26 PM, Saint Rubenio said:

You were the first to ask what I wanted to make.

We did?
Shit, should have been insistent about him making more then one Rossweisse.
 

On 12/29/2020 at 6:26 PM, Saint Rubenio said:

I can ship it just about anywhere, even Sinon or Serenia!

Ah yes, because if your furniture needs one thing, it's extra costs for shipping.
 

On 12/29/2020 at 6:26 PM, Saint Rubenio said:

He's... still unhinged. Most of these lines are like that. Axel laments that he still hasn't the money he needs, Sylvis claims she'll remain in Navaron until he can hunt down Weiss, Clifford is still getting drunk off his ass at the bar, Thaddy gets a questionable job to raise the money he didn't get from us...

On the bright side, if Axel still needs money, then at least Ciel is still alive. Considering this would require you to skip his recruitment mission where her live was threatened.
 

On 12/29/2020 at 6:26 PM, Saint Rubenio said:

If I'd been able to best Krishna, you wouldn't have perished... Forgive me.

Or you had just put her anywhere else instead of having her block Krishna's escape point.
 

On 12/29/2020 at 6:28 PM, Saint Rubenio said:

He is probably behind that tree to the left. Not like Christine needs it this run.
 

On 12/29/2020 at 6:28 PM, Saint Rubenio said:

Is there even an exit over that way...?

Well, she can jump hella high.
 

On 12/29/2020 at 6:28 PM, Saint Rubenio said:

I've been looking for you, dummy. Here, you can have this back.

Fun fact: You can still check people's inventories using the unit list. And if you check Perceval's after this scene, you can see that the Pallas Leia has indeed been transferred to his inventory. As a blue item no less. Not like you could move it around anyway.
 

On 12/29/2020 at 6:28 PM, Saint Rubenio said:

She looks like Enid, all right. To the point where even her clothes look similar. I really like Ferianne's portrait. A shame she only appears here.

Well, her clothes are literally identical to Lynette's. Same collar, same cape, same broche.
 

On 12/29/2020 at 6:28 PM, Saint Rubenio said:

I'm sorry, Enid... I thought that if I told you, I'd hurt you and your family...

Pretty sure that ship sailed when you had her turn this cliff into an inferno.
 

On 12/29/2020 at 6:28 PM, Saint Rubenio said:

And hopefully the route won't take 6 months this time.
 

On 12/29/2020 at 6:28 PM, Saint Rubenio said:

It's kinda funny how Enid and Aegina are on this final screen despite only being minor character.
Of course it makes sense given that as inheritors of Leia and Riana, they are technically important but...

Anyway, I like to imagine that this chronicle contains several pages that's just Derrick swooning over Enid.
 

On 12/29/2020 at 6:28 PM, Saint Rubenio said:

 

The translation adds an extra portion. It's just Aethin, Lightgazer (whose accomplishments I all too often neglect to acknowledge), and a bunch of people who helped by playtesting and such stuff. These people helped with the development of Berwick Saga's translation, so I'm sure they're all epic.

I do hope Deltre gets back to his Berwick run one day.
 

On 12/29/2020 at 6:28 PM, Saint Rubenio said:

And with that, it is truly, finally over. Not only that, I think this is the very first LP that has gone without technical difficulties at any point! Hurraaaay! There have been difficulties of a different kind (cough cough cough Arknights cough cough), but I'd like to believe the LP has, overall, been a pleasant experience for everybody. I know it has been for me!

Ver. 2.0?

Spoiler

 

 

On 12/29/2020 at 6:28 PM, Saint Rubenio said:

And with that, it is truly, finally over. Not only that, I think this is the very first LP that has gone without technical difficulties at any point! Hurraaaay! There have been difficulties of a different kind (cough cough cough Arknights cough cough), but I'd like to believe the LP has, overall, been a pleasant experience for everybody. I know it has been for me!

I'm surprised you managed to get those updates out so consistently those past *checks notes* 9 months. Especially this year.

And yeah, it was such a fun run. It's nice to see other people's take on this game.

 

 

[The Roger The Paladin]

 

Spoiler

11 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Sheesh, Gharnef... Your super duper plot to take over the world was about as flimsy as Jacharam's ploy to keep Chaos in check... And unfortunately for you, Medeus isn't a snivelling coward. Probably.

I mean... in his defense, no one in universe realized... most likely not even Medeus. Speaking of Gharnef and Medeus, in the Fane of Raman, FE1 Gharnef speaks of having saved Tiki from being destroyed by Gharnef. While it could be argued this was part of his brainwashing... I do find the notion of him having Tiki brainwashed as a back up plan interesting. Though she'd need a different dragonstone, because the divinestone not only doesn't do effective damage to Medeus in FE1... but is just shy of damaging him even when strength is capped.

11 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

I might have to give it a try one of these days. Doubt I'll buy it, though. To be honest, the idea of emulating still sounds more attractive. Not only do I get to use turbo more easily, but I also get to use the old translation. Sure, it's worse, but hear me out - The official FE1 translation is just a worse version of FE11. The old FE1 fanslation, however, had charm of its own. Mostly because it was hilariously bad and all the lines were the most awkward shit.

Hard to argue with that, when a whole lot of dialogue was added to FE11. Bosses tend not to even have death quotes here. Which makes Grigas in the Wooden Cavalry pretty interesting... because of the fact his quote comes when you seize instead of when you defeat him... there's an implication you just destroy his ballista and capture him. Meaning Kaga not only did capturing first, but he did it before it became a mechanic.

11 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Hahahahahahahahahah... You know, so much humilliation of edgelords might just begin to make me grow fond of them. I mean, I like Holmes in spite of all the crap I give him. If this keeps up, I might even go against my very principles!

Murasaki, besides being notable for being the first villain (Master Roshi being the only character to put up a fight that lasted more than one episode at this point, and Goku lost that), Goku took more than one episode to defeat, also has the odd credit that his deaths are different in the manga and the anime. In the manga, he died off panel with the rest of the Red Ribbon army goons in Muscle Tower when it collapsed. In the anime, he was the sole survivor... and episode 42, which hadn't occurred in the manga occurred. Resulting in scenes... like this dubious attempt at disguise.

Spoiler

 

11 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

7 sagas, huh... Does that mean you could call Goku the Hero of the Sagas?

I mean.. the fact they generally break Dragon Ball, Z, GT, and Super up into sagas to distinguish story arcs.... I guess so. Now who's doing the puns?

11 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

I... cannot imagine that brought any satisfaction to ol' Parker.

Not really. You know the irony? It turned out that years ago, before the Parkers lived there, a gangster by the name of Dutch Mallone had been the occupant, and his a fortune on stolen bank-notes in the place. Dutch had been the Burglar's cell-mate at one point... and talked in his sleep. So on being freed, he broke into the home with the sole intent of finding the fortune... unaware that May and Ben had found it on moving in.... or rather what was left of it thanks to the interference of my mortal enemy, the silverfish. That said... the burglar may not have provided any satisfaction, and only grief to Parker himself... but his clone is another matter. The clone, while he was around dated a woman by the name of Jessica Carradine... who turned out to be the burglar's estranged daughter (this was the closest we ever got to finding out the burglar's real name in the comic, and requires the assumption Jessica isn't using her mother's maiden name). As for Jessica herself... she's long since disappeared into the aether. I mean, she'd be a reminder of the clone saga.

11 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

You know what? Better than what we got. As it is, BK in RD felt like they brought him back just because he was popular. Kinda like Ike taking over the story in part 3. Let the new characters enjoy the spotlight, damnit. They should've followed my example and murdered all of the old characters except the joke one.

I don't have so much of a problem with the old characters coming back. But I do feel like the Black Knight's return did more to damage his first appearance. Also, remember Largo? The one playable Berserker from FE9 who got totally screwed by being made an NPC in Radiant Dawn? I thought his return as a one armed man caring for his daughter was kind of neat. Actually kind of reminds me of Axel for some reason. Maybe the fact they're both axe users with a daughter and a new direction in life (even if one was done better than the other).

11 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Man, Gharnef is in Awakening, Medeus is in Awakening, Marth is in Awakening... Shameless retread, gosh darn it! It's FE6 2!

But Grima is explicitly not Medeus. He's something else entirely. That said... Gharnef being behind Validar would be an improvement on the story in my opinion. Because Validar is just a generic mustache twirling sorcerer with a resemblance to a recoloured Jaffar (the one from Disney's Aladdin, not the guy who speaks with ellipses) whose reasons for wanting to bring back a giant evil dragon are virtually non-existent.

11 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Tomas is awesome, yeah. Remove Gordin instead.

But then we don't get the five points meme... and the world is a poorer place.

11 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

You know, when I started this LP, I wasn't expecting to be favorably compared to the writer of The Walking Dead. Thanks.

I don't know much about TWD either. I've heard good and bad things. The former mostly about the comic, the latter mostly about the TV show. Though, from what I've gathered, the comic did seem like it just... ended. Definitely sounds like the guy wrote himself into a corner.

I have a complete run (wow how unlike me). Thing, going off Kirkman's actual explanation of what happened... he came up with a plot that'd last him to 300 (where he arbitrarily wanted to end the series). Then it hit him around 130 that he'd virtually run it out. So after that... the pacing got slow. You'd have issues and issues of nothing actually happening, and feeble attempts to disguise it. The Whisperer War Storyline? As someone who had complained about the Mutant Massacre  storyline billing itself too highly when all the deaths were Morlocks or the villains (I know I did the same rant, but Kirkman did it in the letters page of Walking Dead to explain why his War story around the 100 to 130 mark had so many characters unceremoniously killed off and outright said he'd never pull the same thing and not have major deaths in a war), Kirkman proved to be unable to keep with his own complaints. The Whisperer War itself had three notable characters die. One being the whisperer's leader. One being a side character who Kirkman hadn't actually used in a good 60 issues by then and brought back to have him fall down a ladder and get eaten by zombies to kick off the story. Then Andrea. The one death that mattered... who he admitted he got the idea to kill because they did it in the TV show. He was literally at the point of copying story beats from the TV show because he needed something. But that's the part where the story wasn't completely off the rails. That came later. One notable case, when to revive the series, he introduced the "uber cool everyone's new favourite character" Princess. Which was the only name she'd respond to. When letters came in comparing the heavily pushed character to Poochy from that one Simpsons episode (because lets face it, the surest way to give someone a bias against a character is to try and sell them as the most important creation since the wheel), he just that bit petty to any and all future criticism (hence a certain other incident). Towards the end I remember in this resulting in mild animosity (I recall a point where an issue, I think it was 178 but I'm not sure, had a wiki entry that almost entirely was snark about the plot, including listing the title, followed by "or how many ways you can jump the shark in a single issue"). Anyway going off Kirkman's final summary in the last volume of the comic... he opted that it was better to finish the stories off instead of trying to drag them out any further. Though it's notable... for whatever reason the final issue was almost identical to a skit from a Robot Chicken Walking Dead special (minus the nerd kid from Robot Chicken) from a couple years prior. Whether this was by planning... or just Kirkman liking the idea is a mystery. If I sound harsh... remember... I am literally focusing on the events that lead to the books cancellation. Focusing on the things it did right (and let's face it, there's quite a bit, or else it wouldn't have taken off) would sound a lot more positive. Hence, this is definitely only one side of the story.
 

 

[Saint Rubenio]

Ruben's public DMs, part 3.

Spoiler

 

 

14 hours ago, This boi uses Nino said:

  Hide contents

The description even says Megaman 8...

Oh.

Well it's still amazing.

see while they are made by the same company, MMX is another story (set roughly a 100 hears later) from Megaman.

Right, right.

oh ok.

Soo yeah.

exactly

Hahaha... Well, whatever rocks your boat, mate.

deductive reasoning moment. yeah.

Bwahahaha... All right, then.

why am i still spoilering stuff

Force of habit?

lol ok bye

Buh-bye.

 

 

9 hours ago, Pengaius said:

This thread really just turned into Ruben's Public DMs huh?

I mean, don't they always? We just talk about whatever until everyone collectively decides to leave.

9 hours ago, Pengaius said:

Do you really think that you could stop me? Every show needs a closing act and sadly for you, I am the curtain call. 

Hahaha your post isn't the last post of the thread. You're bad, Butterman. You suck! Bwahah!

Why I? Last I checked all of the blood was on your hands, your hands a small array of battlefields that is. 

But you're the one that's mean to me! That makes you worse than me by a longshot!

Not to your army. 

Details.

By that logic Italians all eat dicks. 

Ahahahahah... Yeah, I've always found that word to be pretty funny. Blame my immaturity.

I may have no grasp on Berwick, but I don't need to when your displays are that pathetic. 

Why, you...! I'll kill you for this!

Shame your tactics couldn't match them.

Sheeeesh, Butterman.

I don't. Care to explain? 

No.

......

...Okay, yeah.

See, Legone. Lego ne. Lego. Get it now?

So are bits of him. 

Ahah... hah... Aaaaahhhh, I wish I could tear you to bits.

Big talk for a murderer. 

Hey, now...

I am what they call a scrounging wretch yes. 

And proud of it, too...! Butterman!

Ruben you ought know by now that I am incapable of mercy. So grin and bear it snookums. 

You're worse than pond scum!

My job you well know, is not to punish your failings, but to remind you of the prices that you pay for them. I am there so that your greatest final victory will be ever sweeter. A thankless job really. 

Damn right it's thankless. You deserve no thanks!

Nyohoho. 

Grrr...!

  Hide contents

Rubie, as a matter of fact I delight in being a mounted bow unit thank you very much. 

Of course you do, you're despicable.

That's fair and obviously it makes sense that characters need to be removed considering the timeskip, but the fact that so few characters joined the B plot from the A (only really Esteban and he was only present in the last segment) that it almost felt like the stories were only loosely connected out of obligation. 

Honestly it's a shame that you didn't use any of the 1 time only NPCs especially since Elaine and Co. we're with raze at the start, maybe they could have met up with either of the princes or Not-levail.

This is a side-effect of me liking this game's story more than the other games, and the lack of alternative routes in need of justification. That's what I used the fanfic in past runs, but there was no need for it in this one. Really, I only wrote it for the heck of it.

Well not really. Morgan had zero presence in the A plot of the season, being solely a B plot character. The only effects that the A plot had on the B plot was that Reese's dudes kicked Arran and Albertus' asses that one time, and a few minor cameos. 

Well, get used to it. Morgan's going to gain more and more relevance as the LPs go on.

...Now's when I never do another LP. Hah! Poor, poor Morgan.

This season was so filler it was Yugioh 5Ds Season 3 tier of filler. 

I hate you.

Not a Rickroll

Ahhhh.

Shameless plug.

Nobody cares, Butterman. Your LP is terrible, it doesn't have Derrick.

 

7 hours ago, BrightBow said:

Well, between Madam Quescira and Archbishop Lebough, I'm sure there is someone qualified to head a wedding ceremony right in this room.

True enough.

  Hide contents

Hey, Reed is back in his cutscene palette.

Generals are weird. They can be whatever color during cutscenes, but when they enter the battlefield they all become Roswick clones. Except in battle animations they still use the Purple + Red palette. And  it's not like the Roswick palette doesn't exist for battle sprites. If you had healed him, you could have seen it.

I've noticed. Generals are weird indeed.

Well, Padolf actually got to keep the same palette in cutscenes, on the map and during battle. So good for him.

Hurray for Padolf, he's consistent.

I have chosen to believe that there is a window, just like at the opposite wall.

Hahahahah... Okay, that's a wonderful image.

Where did you even get them from?
I suppose I have little trouble to believe you could have stolen them from Serenia. I mean, who could have stopped you? But... well, pretending to be a massager of god by handing out existing relics is kinda like pretending to be Santa and handing out presents with a price tag still on it. Kinda ruins the magic.
I guess Lynette thought those relics were new.

I thought that was kind of the point. There's nothing supernatural about this at all. Just cunning and some luck. Which, as we know, Paramythis possesses in spades. Everything past that was just Lynette's own charisma and talent at play.

Yeah, that's most certainly an interesting line considering their counterparts in Radiant Dawn. Heck, Resistor and Protector are even the physical and magical counterparts to each other.

Plus, the fact that this supposed divine intervention has a mundane explanation also hints that the same was probably true for the miracle that allowed the Berwick League to come into existence. Then there is Lebough's repeated insistence that Reese is special but refuses to elaborate on it... It all feels like it's setting up for stuff intended to have been revealed further down the line.

But with the epilogue narration wrapping things up nice and tightly, whatever plans there might have been for a sequel most certainly were canned before the end of development.

Oh well, what can you do. You can always say that Lebough calls Reese special because he's not a dick like most other nobles, is all.

Yeah. The empire was always nice enough to let their captives keep their stuff.
I suppose that's also why they charge more for their captives.

Hah! Probably.

You know, I wish Padolf was still here if he got captured.

I was hoping for it myself the first time.

Not that I could ever forget that face. I once experienced a memory overflow glitch of sorts, and his portrait overwrote the illustrations of all weapons and items until eventually everyone's name was AAAAAA and the game crashed.
So that was creepy.

Pejj decided he really wanted to be relevant, so he took over everybody's souls.

I still ship it.

I mean, it's not like Cecily's taken anymore. But what do I know, my dense ass couldn't even realize the love triangle between Percy, Enid and Derrick until readers of the LP pointed it out. I seriously thought they were all just friends...

He killed the boss in chapter 6.

Oh right, Ortmann.

And you tried to have him pull out a tree with his bare hands in chapter 8.

Ahahahahahahaha...! Oh yeah, that blunder. That was funny.

Fittingly he is usually the lowest level soldier on the map. Even if he does gain a few levels and skill points between his first and last appearance.

Gameplay-story integration! Kaga's specialty.

We did?
Shit, should have been insistent about him making more then one Rossweisse.

Dang it!

Ah yes, because if your furniture needs one thing, it's extra costs for shipping.

I like to imagine Reese gave him a glare and then they never saw each other again.

On the bright side, if Axel still needs money, then at least Ciel is still alive. Considering this would require you to skip his recruitment mission where her live was threatened.

Ahh, yes... That guy. Sheesh...

Actually, I have an idea. Perhaps Axel fighting with the Sinon Knights (which he more or less has to, to reach the happiness threshold) granted him some notoriety. Gibry caught wind of the rumors and followed them to Axel's location. If Axel doesn't fight with the Sinon Knights, Gibry never finds out where he is.

Or you had just put her anywhere else instead of having her block Krishna's escape point.

I refuse to take blame for that. How was I supposed to know the guy would phase through a wall instead of leaving the way he came? Of course, if I'd killed him that would never have happened, so... meh.

Let's ignore the fact that that little crevice was otherwise completely useless and I probably should've guessed once he started running in that direction. Let's ignore it. Please.

He is probably behind that tree to the left. Not like Christine needs it this run.

Oof...

Well, she can jump hella high.

That's true, I suppose. Or maybe she'll just break down the wall with her sword. She's buff enough for it.

Fun fact: You can still check people's inventories using the unit list. And if you check Perceval's after this scene, you can see that the Pallas Leia has indeed been transferred to his inventory. As a blue item no less. Not like you could move it around anyway.

Really!?

Oh wow. That's an awesome detail. How are you even supposed to notice these things? Kaga, man!

Well, her clothes are literally identical to Lynette's. Same collar, same cape, same broche.

Yes, exactly.

Pretty sure that ship sailed when you had her turn this cliff into an inferno.

He really didn't think that one through, did he?

And hopefully the route won't take 6 months this time.

For the record, that line's still the same in the new version. To be honest, I think that was just an oddity in the original script. It wouldn't be the only one. Remember the one bar scene where civilians talk about Bernard and the Chosen One? One of them called Bernard "Prince Bernard", even though at that point he's still just a Duke. I reported it to Aethin, thinking it was a mistake on his part, but he told me it was actually like that in the original script. He still fixed it, but... yeah.

It's kinda funny how Enid and Aegina are on this final screen despite only being minor character.
Of course it makes sense given that as inheritors of Leia and Riana, they are technically important but...

They're important to the world.

Anyway, I like to imagine that this chronicle contains several pages that's just Derrick swooning over Enid.

Hahahahahah... That's what all the other 173 chapters are. Really long fanfiction where he ships himself with Enid.

I do hope Deltre gets back to his Berwick run one day.

It'd be cool, I enjoyed his run.

Ver. 2.0?

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Hahahah... Sorry, man. I would if I could, but it's up to Aethin.

I'm surprised you managed to get those updates out so consistently those past *checks notes* 9 months. Especially this year.

Actually, I'd say it was thanks to this year. I was originally going to start in April Fools, but then the crown happened and stuck at home with nothing to do, I decided to begin early. I had plenty of free time thanks to the lockdown, and then in September, I couldn't begin the course that I wanted to do due to, once again, the virus. This gave me exactly enough time to finish the LP before beginning another thing in January 11.

So yeah, in a few words, the virus was what provided me with the time to be so consistent and quick. I was actually a bit afraid of this LP. The TRS one took almost a year, and I feared that this one would be even longer. Funny how that turned out - I'm pretty sure this one was actually shorter by one month. Shorter in time, not in length. This one had over 10 more updates.

And yeah, it was such a fun run. It's nice to see other people's take on this game.

I'm glad you had fun in spite of my complete lack of tactical talent. It was nice having you around as well. I'm not sure if the next LP's game will interest you, but please, do consider giving it a quick look, if nothing else.

 

 

3 hours ago, The Roger The Paladin said:

 

  Hide contents

I mean... in his defense, no one in universe realized... most likely not even Medeus. Speaking of Gharnef and Medeus, in the Fane of Raman, FE1 Gharnef speaks of having saved Tiki from being destroyed by Gharnef.

Damn that Gharnef! He's always one step ahead of Gharnef! Gharnef should've gotten rid of Gharnef a long time ago. I like Gharnef a lot more than Gharnef. Gharnef's an asshole, but Gharnef's actually pretty decent.

While it could be argued this was part of his brainwashing... I do find the notion of him having Tiki brainwashed as a back up plan interesting. Though she'd need a different dragonstone, because the divinestone not only doesn't do effective damage to Medeus in FE1... but is just shy of damaging him even when strength is capped.

Oof... Gharnef's master plan, down the drain.

Hard to argue with that, when a whole lot of dialogue was added to FE11. Bosses tend not to even have death quotes here. Which makes Grigas in the Wooden Cavalry pretty interesting... because of the fact his quote comes when you seize instead of when you defeat him... there's an implication you just destroy his ballista and capture him. Meaning Kaga not only did capturing first, but he did it before it became a mechanic.

Hahahahaha... Amazing.

Murasaki, besides being notable for being the first villain (Master Roshi being the only character to put up a fight that lasted more than one episode at this point, and Goku lost that), Goku took more than one episode to defeat, also has the odd credit that his deaths are different in the manga and the anime. In the manga, he died off panel with the rest of the Red Ribbon army goons in Muscle Tower when it collapsed. In the anime, he was the sole survivor... and episode 42, which hadn't occurred in the manga occurred. Resulting in scenes... like this dubious attempt at disguise.

  Reveal hidden contents

 

I like how he doesn't miss a beat and immediately claims that he's just "a bear covered in snow."

Also, wow, that backfired worse than Martel's plan with Niime.

I mean.. the fact they generally break Dragon Ball, Z, GT, and Super up into sagas to distinguish story arcs.... I guess so. Now who's doing the puns?

Heh, guess it's me now.

Not really. You know the irony? It turned out that years ago, before the Parkers lived there, a gangster by the name of Dutch Mallone had been the occupant, and his a fortune on stolen bank-notes in the place. Dutch had been the Burglar's cell-mate at one point... and talked in his sleep. So on being freed, he broke into the home with the sole intent of finding the fortune... unaware that May and Ben had found it on moving in.... or rather what was left of it thanks to the interference of my mortal enemy, the silverfish. That said... the burglar may not have provided any satisfaction, and only grief to Parker himself... but his clone is another matter. The clone, while he was around dated a woman by the name of Jessica Carradine... who turned out to be the burglar's estranged daughter (this was the closest we ever got to finding out the burglar's real name in the comic, and requires the assumption Jessica isn't using her mother's maiden name). As for Jessica herself... she's long since disappeared into the aether. I mean, she'd be a reminder of the clone saga.

That got convoluted real fast.

I don't have so much of a problem with the old characters coming back. But I do feel like the Black Knight's return did more to damage his first appearance. Also, remember Largo? The one playable Berserker from FE9 who got totally screwed by being made an NPC in Radiant Dawn? I thought his return as a one armed man caring for his daughter was kind of neat. Actually kind of reminds me of Axel for some reason. Maybe the fact they're both axe users with a daughter and a new direction in life (even if one was done better than the other).

Largo's return was interesting, actually. It's something that perhaps should've been done more often, and not just out of necessity because the guy's class no longer existed.

But Grima is explicitly not Medeus. He's something else entirely. That said... Gharnef being behind Validar would be an improvement on the story in my opinion. Because Validar is just a generic mustache twirling sorcerer with a resemblance to a recoloured Jaffar (the one from Disney's Aladdin, not the guy who speaks with ellipses) whose reasons for wanting to bring back a giant evil dragon are virtually non-existent.

That's the mark of a great villain, right there. He does things 'cause.

But then we don't get the five points meme... and the world is a poorer place.

To be honest, I always have trouble coming up with characters to remove from these games. I tend to be too fond of the weird ones. A while ago a thread popped up asking which 10 characters you'd remove from FE6. I couldn't reach two.

I have a complete run (wow how unlike me). Thing, going off Kirkman's actual explanation of what happened... he came up with a plot that'd last him to 300 (where he arbitrarily wanted to end the series). Then it hit him around 130 that he'd virtually run it out. So after that... the pacing got slow. You'd have issues and issues of nothing actually happening, and feeble attempts to disguise it. The Whisperer War Storyline? As someone who had complained about the Mutant Massacre  storyline billing itself too highly when all the deaths were Morlocks or the villains (I know I did the same rant, but Kirkman did it in the letters page of Walking Dead to explain why his War story around the 100 to 130 mark had so many characters unceremoniously killed off and outright said he'd never pull the same thing and not have major deaths in a war), Kirkman proved to be unable to keep with his own complaints. The Whisperer War itself had three notable characters die. One being the whisperer's leader. One being a side character who Kirkman hadn't actually used in a good 60 issues by then and brought back to have him fall down a ladder and get eaten by zombies to kick off the story. Then Andrea. The one death that mattered... who he admitted he got the idea to kill because they did it in the TV show. He was literally at the point of copying story beats from the TV show because he needed something. But that's the part where the story wasn't completely off the rails. That came later. One notable case, when to revive the series, he introduced the "uber cool everyone's new favourite character" Princess. Which was the only name she'd respond to. When letters came in comparing the heavily pushed character to Poochy from that one Simpsons episode (because lets face it, the surest way to give someone a bias against a character is to try and sell them as the most important creation since the wheel), he just that bit petty to any and all future criticism (hence a certain other incident). Towards the end I remember in this resulting in mild animosity (I recall a point where an issue, I think it was 178 but I'm not sure, had a wiki entry that almost entirely was snark about the plot, including listing the title, followed by "or how many ways you can jump the shark in a single issue"). Anyway going off Kirkman's final summary in the last volume of the comic... he opted that it was better to finish the stories off instead of trying to drag them out any further. Though it's notable... for whatever reason the final issue was almost identical to a skit from a Robot Chicken Walking Dead special (minus the nerd kid from Robot Chicken) from a couple years prior. Whether this was by planning... or just Kirkman liking the idea is a mystery. If I sound harsh... remember... I am literally focusing on the events that lead to the books cancellation. Focusing on the things it did right (and let's face it, there's quite a bit, or else it wouldn't have taken off) would sound a lot more positive. Hence, this is definitely only one side of the story.

Well, I suppose all things have their ups and downs. This one's no exception, as it seems. The parallel with a Robot Chicken skit, of all things, is hilarious though.
 

 

 

 

 

[The Roger The Paladin]

Spoiler

Spoiler

  

7 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Damn that Gharnef! He's always one step ahead of Gharnef! Gharnef should've gotten rid of Gharnef a long time ago. I like Gharnef a lot more than Gharnef. Gharnef's an asshole, but Gharnef's actually pretty decent.

I did mean to say that he claimed to have saved Tiki from being destroyed by Medeus... but that typo is pretty damn hilarious.

7 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Oof... Gharnef's master plan, down the drain.

Until later. In FE11, it works pretty well on lower difficulties.

7 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

I like how he doesn't miss a beat and immediately claims that he's just "a bear covered in snow."

Also, wow, that backfired worse than Martel's plan with Niime.

I like how no one pays any mind to the fact this "bear" keeps saying how it's "just a bear". Murasaki was truly a master of disguise.

7 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Heh, guess it's me now.

You stole my gimmick! You bastard! I'll kill you!

7 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

That got convoluted real fast.

Not really. Burglar knew there was money hidden away in the house by a gangster who owned it prior, and thought he'd retrieve it. Except he ignored the fact in 40 years silverfish had plenty of time to ruin the stuff. Also the burglar was apparently a dead-beat dad. Either that or his daughter didn't really know him because he spent most of his life in jail.
Either's rather straight-forward if you take out the names. You know, funny thing is, not being a super-type... the burglar didn't rank a handbook entry in the books of the dead... despite being significant to Spider-man's history... and being dead since his second and final appearance (barring retellings). Which reminds me... the books of the dead did omit a lot of characters (mostly one off villains) who only had a handful of appearances and/or lacked a flashy name.
 

7 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Largo's return was interesting, actually. It's something that perhaps should've been done more often, and not just out of necessity because the guy's class no longer existed.

Because of his return, and the fact I played Radiant Dawn first due to being unable to find Path of Radiance for ages... it made me all the more intent to use him when I finally did. Maybe I wouldn't have objected so much to FE3 book 2 removing characters if more of the removed characters had screen-time in that manner. Kind of like... wait... JAGEN! JAGEN DID THE SAME THING! He couldn't fight anymore so he was now a supporting NPC.

8 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

To be honest, I always have trouble coming up with characters to remove from these games. I tend to be too fond of the weird ones. A while ago a thread popped up asking which 10 characters you'd remove from FE6. I couldn't reach two.

I remember. I never came up with an answer myself. Probably doesn't hurt I like obscure or forgotten characters myself... which might make me gravitate to your LPs a bit. I think one of the biggest reasons I was shitty when DC rebooted in 2011 was the fact they got rid of Metamorpho, the Element Man (who was able to transmute his body into any elements in the periodic table) in favour of replacing him with the more wifeable OC "Element Girl", who had the same powers, and same unusual complexion... but was a quirky happy-go-lucky girl instead of a man laughing on-the-outside, crying-on-the-inside because his entire life was a mess ever since he was transmuted into a "freak" by exposure to the Orb of Ra. The difference was staggering. Metamorpho didn't want to be a super-human. Indeed, his super-powers made his life hell. His firstborn son literally melts non-relatives on contact. His father in law does everything in his power to get rid of him, or at the very least exploit him for profit. His wife got cancer and died. Metamorpho was a character about suffering, and soldiering on in spite of it. Element Girl is literally generic happy "quirky" teenage girl 2011 edition. Apparently, they have since reintroduced Metamorpho in the reboot... but god damn it, a world where his history's gone and he came in second to a gender-swapped nuance absent version of him is an insult in and of itself.

9 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Well, I suppose all things have their ups and downs. This one's no exception, as it seems. The parallel with a Robot Chicken skit, of all things, is hilarious though.

You know, fact is I'm never going to be sure whether the episode had that ending knowing it was how the series was going to end (there's not much funny of a scenario with old Carl finding the last zombie on display in a museum decades after the rest of the series and shooting it when you remove the nerd from the scenario), or if Kirkman knocked off a parody.
I mean... it really doesn't make sense in context of the rest of the series. In The Walking Dead, you don't just turn into a zombie if bitten by a zombie. Literally everyone who dies for any reason becomes a zombie as long as their brain is not destroyed by the death. Unless they eliminate completely unexpected accidental deaths... getting rid of zombies should be theoretically impossible. It's not like this was a recent thing either... it was established in the first 15 issues.... of almost 200. So there is literally an argument for either case, and only Kirkman knows for sure.

 

 

[Saint Rubenio]

We have almost reached 40k views on the thread. I like round numbers. Let's not leave it at 39994. Please. Give me 6 more views, c'mon guys!

Spoiler

21 hours ago, The Roger The Paladin said:

I like how no one pays any mind to the fact this "bear" keeps saying how it's "just a bear". Murasaki was truly a master of disguise.

Plot-twist: he taught Robbie Rotten all he knows about the craft.

21 hours ago, The Roger The Paladin said:

You stole my gimmick! You bastard! I'll kill you!

How dare you poorly imitate my gimmick, I'll kill you! Don't forget the "how dare you" part next time!

21 hours ago, The Roger The Paladin said:

Not really. Burglar knew there was money hidden away in the house by a gangster who owned it prior, and thought he'd retrieve it. Except he ignored the fact in 40 years silverfish had plenty of time to ruin the stuff. Also the burglar was apparently a dead-beat dad. Either that or his daughter didn't really know him because he spent most of his life in jail.

Oh no, that part's quite simple.

I mean the part with the clones.

Quote

Either's rather straight-forward if you take out the names. You know, funny thing is, not being a super-type... the burglar didn't rank a handbook entry in the books of the dead... despite being significant to Spider-man's history... and being dead since his second and final appearance (barring retellings). Which reminds me... the books of the dead did omit a lot of characters (mostly one off villains) who only had a handful of appearances and/or lacked a flashy name.

They better not have omitted my man Dork.

21 hours ago, The Roger The Paladin said:

Maybe I wouldn't have objected so much to FE3 book 2 removing characters if more of the removed characters had screen-time in that manner. Kind of like... wait... JAGEN! JAGEN DID THE SAME THING! He couldn't fight anymore so he was now a supporting NPC.

Yeah, Jagen's book 2 role was perfectly fine. Except for the part where Malledus fell off the face of the Earth to let Jagen replace him. But Jagen is awesome and nobody cares about Malledus, so it's fine.

Trying to erase Wrys from history was a disgrace, however. One of those things that IntSys did unequivocably better than Kaga: They not only mantained the Wrys, they added him to book 2 and gave him the funniest scene in the entire game. Seriously, I still chuckle when I remember that scene. Poor, poor Luke...

21 hours ago, The Roger The Paladin said:

I remember. I never came up with an answer myself.

After a lot of struggling, I decided that Ogier would be a decent choice for removal... Then convinced myself otherwise in the middle of trying to justify my choice. Then I gave up.

21 hours ago, The Roger The Paladin said:

Metamorpho was a character about suffering, and soldiering on in spite of it. Element Girl is literally generic happy "quirky" teenage girl 2011 edition. Apparently, they have since reintroduced Metamorpho in the reboot... but god damn it, a world where his history's gone and he came in second to a gender-swapped nuance absent version of him is an insult in and of itself.

This kinda reminds me of Perceval and Enid. Perceval's character is also about suffering, and then his niche as a mage gets taken over by the girl with the 32 might orb.

Seriously though, that's a shame. #JusticeForMetamorpho

21 hours ago, The Roger The Paladin said:

I mean... it really doesn't make sense in context of the rest of the series. In The Walking Dead, you don't just turn into a zombie if bitten by a zombie. Literally everyone who dies for any reason becomes a zombie as long as their brain is not destroyed by the death. Unless they eliminate completely unexpected accidental deaths... getting rid of zombies should be theoretically impossible. It's not like this was a recent thing either... it was established in the first 15 issues.... of almost 200. So there is literally an argument for either case, and only Kirkman knows for sure.

You know, I actually hadn't thought of that. Yeah, without a cure, there's too much that could go wrong. Like, someone getting lost in the woods, or falling off a cliff where nobody can reach the body, or committing suicide by overdosing, or just having a heart attack alone in their room, and bam, that's the zombie apocalypse restarted.

EDIT: We did it folks. 40000 views. I am now content.

Edited January 4, 2021 by Saint Rubenio