NJ7009

For the first part of your question, I defer to everyone else in this thread. He just couldn't speak a word of modern tongue although he understood it fine. However, as for how he learned to talk, Soren actually says how in that special base conversation he has with Ike. He says:

Ike leaving is not abandonment. I'm sure Ike did not make the decision to leave lightly. However, Tellius was no longer at war and his job was done. Ike cared deeply for the people he knew - I'm not doubting that - but I do think that his decision to leave was one he had to make for his own happiness. Furthermore, while he was never 'seen' again, that doesn't mean he completely cut off contact with the people of Tellius. His situation reminds me a lot of the modern day issue of immigrating to a new country. Just because he was not around doesn't mean he had entirely left Tellius behind and ceased to care for everyone he knew. However, Ike (as presented in the games) could not endure the status and be happy. To expect him to endure it for his entire lifetime - after he had sacrificed so much to the wars - is unfair. The reason Elincia renouncing is considered 'out of character' is because the underlying plotline of PoR for Elincia is regain the throne and and lead the Crimean people. That is what PoR spends the entire game working toward. If she renounced, after all that, all that work is lost. If she renounced, all that development where she learned to accept her lot in life goes down the drain. You might argue that she never truly accepted her duty but I would disagree. Whether she WANTED her duty is something else. However, Elincia is very much a character who would put aside her own wants for the betterment of her country. Hence, why she chose to let Lucia die. But that brings us back to whether she or Renning would be a better ruler. Honestly, I don't think there would be much of a difference in skill between them. I actually think Elincia might be the better of the two (since she actually has experience as a ruler and is younger - granting her time to grow). But even if they were simply of equal skill, Elincia abandoning the throne would only confuse and scare the Crimean people, which is something she would definitely want to avoid. I don't think she would renounce unless if she felt she was truly awful at her job. Which, while she does think this at the beginning of Part 2, her arc was basically her growing out of that thinking. But, I suppose we will just have to agree to disagree.

Elincia abandoning Crimea and Ike abandoning Crimea are two very different things. Elincia had a much larger duty to Crimea than Ike did. He may have been a general, but he was a mercenary first. Ike had no obligation or duty to Crimea whatsoever. Elincia did. Furthermore, to say Ike abandoned Crimea isn't exactly true. Ike never wanted to be the general/hero in the first place and was pretty much forced into the position. You can see this when Sanaki names him general and when Elincia grants him a lordship. However, when the wars came, he DID fight. He DID lead. Ike NEVER abandoned Crimea in her time of need. However, that was not what HE wanted. It was also established that Ike never wanted the reputation or the high position that came with playing pivotal roles in the wars. And by the end of RD, he no doubt had both. I have always felt that he left in order to escape that. It should also be noted that his paired endings (Soren and Ranulf) are two people who care relatively little for status. They never raise Ike onto a pedestal for his achievements, like Elincia and the laguz royals. That is rather telling. If Elincia were to renounce her throne at the end of RD, it would completely destroy her entire development in part 2. What would be the point in her learning to accept her duty (and all that comes with it) if she just up and renounces at the end of the game?

The thing is, Soren is often grouped alongside other young characters in the game. Take Devdan. He can only be recruited by child units (Tormod - I think he's 13, Mist - 14, Sothe - 13/14, Rolf - 12 and Soren). So, in verse, Soren looks young enough to be grouped with a bunch of 13 year olds. This also fits what he says in his support with Stefan. Tibarn also calls both him and Mist children, even though (if the book is correct) he has the appearance of a sixteen year old, only a year younger than Ike. I think he looks sixteen in his art too but characters in game seem to think he looks younger than that. (But we are getting off topic. Great work so far Kirokan! Thanks for taking the time to translate everything!)

Actually, Soren is sixteen at the time of Path of Radiance. We know this from what he says in his and Ike's B support: Soren : When I was about four, a nearby sage came by and asked to take me in. Soren: : When the sage died two years later, I had acquired much magical skill. This shows he was about six years old when he met Ike. We also know that the day after he and Ike met, Greil went on his berserk rampage, causing him to leave Gallia. Caineghis mentions that Greil left ten years ago. Thus, Soren is sixteen. This artbook is a little weird, I think, in regards to ages. I would take them with a pinch of salt.

Why does Lyre have a weird strap attached to her collar? It looks like a dog lead o.o

I wouldn't be surprised if they added Casual mode but I really doubt they will put in all those features. They would need to completely rebalance the game depending on which one you chose (providing they are actually going to rebalance this game...) So, my thoughts are no, the shouldn't. EDIT: They might add the weapon triangle too. Basically, the core mechanics may be put in but newer features (like marriage and children) are unlikely.

Astrid!! I loved her in PoR before the afro man in the last post. Nice work as always!

Pretty! Also my ironic fave Makalov finally makes an appearance. You have to love the pink afro!

Path of Radiance is my favourite game in the series. It also has my favourite plot... but honestly, it doesn't have much competition. There is a lot wrong with it. As others have pointed out, the plot is very by-the-numbers - Hero helps innocent princess regain her kingdom. The main antagonist is also one-note and dull (although his whole 'strong should rule' ideology is interesting). I think the plot would have worked a lot better if Ashnard had killed Greil as there isn't much reason for Ike to want to kill him, really, other than it being morally right. Elincia has more reason but she is shelved into being a damsel who does nothing but fawn over Ike... I wish we had gotten more of her Radiant Dawn self in this game. What I do like about this game's story, though, is that it has one of the better worlds in the series. Every place seems so interesting with its own politics and culture. Ike is my favourite lord in the series purely because he is so different from the standard Fire Emblem protagonist. I also liked that the story was more grounded with only a few supernatural (like the Medallion) elements sprinkled in. The characters in this one are also favourites of mine, although there are quite a few one-note characters (like Makalov and Illyana). With such a large cast, you kinda' have to expect them. PoR's plot works for what it is. A small plot to set up the characters and world for the larger conflict in Radiant Dawn. It is not 'the holy grail of storytelling' exactly but it is executed decently enough. The Jugdral games are far from that also as those games suffer from their fair share of issues, especially in Genealogy (The weird tone issues, Seliph having the personality of wet tissue paper, the constant time-skipping in part one; the weaker antagonist in Julius ect). Sometimes I wonder if people would even care for FE4 as much if it wasn't for that whole... ahem... incident in it before the second generation. Thracia fares a little better but even that game has issues like retcons. Overall, the plot is fine and non-offensive. Nothing absolutely major to hate about it but when compared to the plot of, say, Fates... yeah, it seems a lot better than what it is.

2016.... the year started badly. My dog developed a sting of illnesses which eventually resulted in her death early in the year. However, we greeted a new puppy into the world from that which was great! I finished my time in therapy as well as managing to get into university with decent grades. Although the first few months of university was a nightmare on my social anxiety, things are finally getting better so hopefully my time will keep looking up. New years resolution? Probably to really crack down on uni work and improve my writing since I also picked that back up again this year. Doubt either will actually happen though :P.

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Honestly, 'bland and lifeless' isn't all that rude. It's constructive criticism. They even provide images to show how you can improve. No offence to you Ana but you seem to have a slight tendency to take things the wrong way. Fair enough if they'd said 'This work is bland and lifeless, you suck' but 'bland' and 'lifeless' are completely valid forms of criticism. For example, if you were reviewing cakes and you called the cake 'bland' that's not rude. Not nice to hear, yes, but not rude at all. I think it would help you a lot Ana if you tried to be a lot more critical of your work in general. I know it may sound silly and I'm no way telling you not to be proud of your pieces but the ability to look at your work and go 'This looks odd' or 'this looks stiff' will help you improve massively in the long run, in any activity that you do. Look at that drawing of yours. What don't you like? What could you improve upon? Once you can acknowledge such flaws taking criticism is a lot easier.

Welcome to the forums, good sir! Hope you enjoy your time bumbling through the forest :)

Also, yay, Micaiah! I may be on the odd side of the fence but I actually like her. She could have been written better but she is still my favourite female lord. Also, mage lord! Yeah he does in the Endgame-3 base conversation :) Great work yet again on the translations!

Can we not argue on the thread please? It doesn't really matter that much, does it?

It may help you get more votes in the poll if you post the voting thread on the original post. I had quite a hard time trying to find this thing initially.

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I think that's quite an interesting theory :) I think the reason the game implies for him staying, though, is extreme loyalty to the crown. He is a Camus, after all. Why he is so loyal is interesting to theorise about, though. He doesn't seem loyal to the King as a person, but the kingly position. Maybe he's a bit like Micaiah and feels such extreme love for his country that he would do anything to protect it. That would make his death pretty tragic.

I find it so ironic that Ashnard disregards all strategy when his son is one of the greatest tacticians on Tellius. Also, Ashnard is such a stereotypical bad guy :P I love it! Is the stuff about how Maurim and Tormod became friends mentioned in PoR? I don't remember it, if so. Great work on these :) Well done on getting so near the end!

Bryce? The guy who was with Ashnard on the final level? PoR's Camus? Hmm... I can definitely see how Kent could mature in such a way. However, after experiencing a war... I don' t know. War changes people, and rarely for the better. He would have to recover from that and progress past his initial serious personality to become more laid back. I suppose that could feasibly happen in twelve years... but I don't know. I can't see him developing in such a way but if you can, then you go ahead. But I have to say I really dislike the slang. It doesn't fit FE7's cast at all (It could work if you were writing for FE13 but not 7). Kent would read better without it, too.

Okay, then I will continue as I am now :) And yes, I did mean that. I actually saw that you updated one of your stories on the 5th, I think, when I was snooping around the Tellius archive. I take it CotH is contained in that compilation? I'm not saying he needs to be as serious as he was in the war but that is very much the core of his personality. Think of it this way. Kent is meant to be the parallel of Sain. In the same vein that Sain has moments where he is serious, Kent can have moments where he is carefree. However, that doesn't change that Kent is, as a person, very serious and responsible even outside of the war environment. If I were to write Kent, I would have him keep his seriousness in general conversation but have him crack the occasional dry humoured joke or something like that.

I don't know if this is something you will be interested in but I could Beta your new short story for you. I could correct your more blatant grammar errors and reword awkward phrasing so you can see exactly where the issues are coming from. I won't rewrite the entire thing though; more just correct errors in what is already written. Yeah... Kent and laid-back don't seem to really go in people's minds. Maybe have him be a bit less uptight while keeping his general seriousness intact? Like have him be less agitated whenever Sain does... well... anything.

One of the greatest thing about Fire Emblem is that, while certain events are giving more emphasis (e.g. Eliwood marrying Ninian, Roy marrying Lilina ect) no one chain of events is ever confirmed as 'canon'. Ike and Soren's support chain (and thus, their ending) is given emphasis in the plots of both games, but his solo ending is just as valid. In that vein, I doubt IS will confirm anything. They will probably just list the possible endings. I would certainly be very mad if they confirmed Astrid and Makalov *shudder*. Also, I have left a donation. Wish I could donate more but I am also strapped for cash. Looking forward to seeing you translate the book!

Quoting you because dead thread :P Okay, so I read the first chapter and I'm just going to give you my impressions, in a similar style to the other thread. I will return to DoD at some point but life is busy at the moment. Hopefully, this will do. Okay, so I will start off by saying this fic reads much better than DoD right from the get-go. I don't know if that's because this is a solo piece or you have just improved (or both) but the scenes flow better and seem less robotic. Your dialogue is decently well-executed too. The pacing is a ton better (which was a major complaint I had - well done) For a child OC, Nick is also pretty alright. Seems to fit in with the FE child archetype. You mentioned that detail isn't your thing and it shows. However, I think that is to your benefit in some sections. However, I mostly write these to offer critique so that will be my main focus here. However, know going ahead that I liked this much more than DoD (or of what I've read of DoD) so good job on your improvements. Bad -- Your chapter openings are not the best. This is an issue in DoD too. You have a tendency to tell the reader what is going on through exposition dumps at the start of chapters which are not all that engaging or interesting. If you rework these sections to make the exposition more subtle, it would read much better. You don't even have to change the content too much, necessarily. For your reference, I edited the first lines of chapter 1. The door slammed behind them as the boy and his father ventured into the snow. The winter season had arrived early it seemed, bringing with it crisp mornings, frozen fingers and sparkling snow which masked all in a white blanket. The boy wiped the tears from his emerald eyes, the wind proceeding to whip at his unruly hair. Even with their thick clothes, the cold still left the boy feeling numb. However, the boy was not deterred. Instead, he turned to his father and asked, "Can I wear a headband like you too, dad?" Practically every detail you mentioned in your opening is here. However, it is more subtle. Details and this sort of thing is usually your co-author's domain, I believe, but it would help a lot if you could try and learn tricks like this. -- Lack of expression You don't really mention facial expression much and if you do it's for brief moments. One section which stands out to me is this one: "Well, that's good, but let's start with the swords." "Aww, but Dad, you're the Green Lance! I wanna be great like you." If you show how Nick reacts to this in something other than dialogue, it would be easier to visualise. "Well, that's good, but let's start with the swords," the man said, gesturing to his bag. Nick couldn't help but pout. "Aww, but Dad, you're the Green Lance! I wanna be great like you." -- Kent You mentioned earlier in the thread that you feel Kent would be easier to handle away from war but... I think this is a little too OOC for him. The slang is especially jarring. I can't even picture Kent saying 'whatever' and 'hayy' considering he is supposed to be a prim-and-proper knight of the realm. You could write him as less stiff, that's fine, but he seems a little too relaxed from his letter. Honestly, the slang may fit with later Fire Emblem's but it doesn't really work in FE7's setting. And those are pretty much my only major notes. This chapter shows a lot of improvement, Ana :) Have you considered getting a beta-reader who isn't involved in your fic's writing process? I think a beta-reader would be of massive help to you and your co-author in the long-run. This fic shows you have improved but a beta-reader may help you to improve in a much faster timescale. You could even think of them like an editor in a publishing cooperation. A co-author would certainly help with the grammar issues, anyway.