Mercakete

Hahahahaaaa... I don't have orbs. Still trying to at least get Clanne. Kind of gave up on getting Summer Hrid to +1, and on getting Summer Nerpuz. Looks like my goat collection doesn't like to include summer fem goats (since I also didn't manage to get Summer Freyja.) Anyway, it's interesting how Heidrun is...I guess a sort of centaur? A goat-centaur. A very chubby one, but only in her goat bod. Also not a cav unit. Was NOT expecting all that. So, the Greek mythological monster people represented by Laeradr's children are a harpy, a naga/gorgon, a centaur, and a minotaur. Also a squirrel. Laeradr himself will probably be a dryad. Anyway, these guys just became more likely to survive the book. Obviously we won't know for sure until the book closes, but Eikpyrnir MIGHT be the second male character to not die! (The first was Hrid. Even Alfonse has died at least once.) Good for him. Speaking of stuff like that, I noticed that the only color on this banner with male focus units on it is colorless. Just struck me as interesting.

"Few" is sadly an overstatement. Not counting Kiran (who is up to the player, but I believe officially male, according to the physique of the stand-in version, and that one time during an early TT when he was referred to with masculine pronouns), Hrid is the only male character native to Heroes who hasn't died (apart from Eikpyrnir and Laeradr, whose fates haven't been fully revealed yet.) Even Alfonse died at least once (and became Lif, who is native to a parallel world set somewhat in the future, but is still Alfonse and now is in our reality, so he counts), and Elm died...3 times, I think? Before being revived once more by the last vestiges of Embla's power. Doesn't mean he didn't die, though. Multiple times. Ash confirmed this in Book 6. Anyway, though I'm pretty sure Laeradr will be dead by the end of the book (though it's possible he survives and just snaps to his old self, I think it's more likely that he'll become kind again, but then die), Eikpyrnir has a shot at living. This is exactly because he didn't die at this juncture, during this chapter. He and Heidrun just sort of phased out of the story a la "we'll be over here; good luck" and exited stage left. With their story prominence gone, it's likely that they'll get to quietly slip by and survive the book since IS likes tragic (or boss-slaying) deaths. That requires story prominence. So, I think he counts as "defeated" right now, without having died. No venison here. If this winds up being the case and IS' FEH division doesn't suddenly remember that they hate not killing men, then grats to Eikpyrnir for being the second official male character to not kick the bucket at some point during official FEH lore. It's an exclusive club. I almost feel like it deserves a minor celebration, it's such a rare thing.

Alright, we have a new chapter! So, basically, it began as I expected it would. Kiran was healed by Heidrun. And indeed, she's another of Ratatoskr's sisters. It's interesting that she was "tossed aside" by Laeradr because "all she can do" is extreme healing (via nectar. Also, her title is "the nectar," too. Though, with how she worded everything, it was a bit uncomfortable. "I am the nectar. Your organs were strained, so I gave you my nectar." It just feels... Like, they could've worded that better is what I'm saying), but when you decide the family business should be assassination and not healing, then that makes sense. Also, Eikpyrnir, as it turns out, was trying to obey Laeradr without thinking about it because it was easier to just handle things that way. I get it. This family's twisted and suffering, and it's manifesting in different ways in its members. I appreciate how that's being handled in the writing. But then Eikpyrnir has a tough time because half his sisters (Ratatoskr and Heidrun) have decided to oppose Laeradr, while the other half (Nidhoggr and Hraesvelgr) support him. (There's more to note timeline-wise, but I just want to say this here.) And then it gets dropped that Eikpyrnir only refers to Laeradr by name instead of calling him "Father" (even though he used to.) And when questioned about it, Eik got really short and closed off about it. You have to wonder if Laeradr did something to him or something... It's like Eikpyrnir only cares about his sisters anymore, and he's actually kind of hostile towards Laeradr. That was a surprise. Now, here's another thing. We've been seeing little family memory things since coming to the tree, especially from Laeradr's point of view. He used to have a big focus on healing, as people keep saying. That leads me to the next thing of note: Laeradr's motivation. There were people he cared about in the past, and he was separated from. But now he may have found a way to reconnect with them, and Heidrun/Eikpyrnir think that this may have caused his drastic change in character. (Reminds me a little of Otr being desperate to stay with Fafnir, and Eitri being desperate to reconnect somehow with Nidavellir.) I keep thinking that Askr (and maybe Embla) have something to do with this. It could be that they are the ones whom Laeradr wants to reconnect with so badly. But what means has he found in which to do so? Does the tyrant mentioned in the flashback have significance, or was he just there to prove a point of what Laeradr used to be like? (After all, Laeradr went alone and in person to the guy in the past. He could've had a negative influence on him or something.) And now we're going to the upper boughs of the world tree, where the air is so thin that Eikpyrnir and Heidrun wouldn't be able to breathe up there (but everyone else is okay?) and so are staying behind. Have to wonder what we'll find. I feel like Askr has something to do with this. Back in Book 6's key art, the area behind Ash looked like open sky. I don't know if that was a hint or if they're retroactively connecting it to the story here or if it has nothing to do with anything, but I felt it was worth noting.

Nah, you good. I've done much worse: wishing a unit was in the game when the unit was, in fact, in the game.

FORDE!!! FORDE'S FINALLY HERE! AND KYLE! HECK YEAH! (Where's Franz? Especially since his brother, brother's friend, princess, and girlfriend are all on this banner. Hope he shows up soon. His mother duck (Seth) has been in for a while.) Also, Nidavellir! I'm still surprised IS decided to make him into an actual character instead of just some historic figure. I'm glad! But ugh, I have too many units to summon on too many banners and I DO NOT have enough orbs. Ah well. I'll go for Nidavellir and pull reds if there aren't any colorless nodes. Blues (for Kyle) if not that. If it's all greens, well...guess I'll pull greens at that time. XD Also, it's funny how Eirika as Fem Ephraim 2.0 exists. It's so weird how she keeps being the favored/spotlighted twin, but in such a way as it's like she can't be strong on her own (Brave Eirika, Emblem Eirika (in Engage), this new Attuned Eirika... So, it's almost like both Ephraim and Eirika are getting snubbed for each other? (I still think that Emblem Ephraim should have inhabited Eirika's ring with just as much presence (and a VOICE) as his sister, like how the House Lords Bracelet worked.) Would've preferred Attuned Ephraim channeling Eirika's power. It'd feel like it balances out better. Edit: Oh shoot we get Glen too? I don't know who'll be happier: Cormag or Valter.

The Blue Lions Summer thing here was really sweet...until you realize they all drowned (except for Dimitri) immediately afterwards because they decided to perform rigorous swimming immediately after completely filling up on fish. (Stomach cramps, ocean currents, etc.) Kind of funny how not used to the beach these guys from the cold north of their homeworld are.

Uuuuugh I spent every orb I had and no Emblem Celica. I got all of 1 Caeda (as far as focus units go) and on the last wheel there were 3 blue nodes, of which I could only open 1 (because I was on my last 5 orbs. Got a 3* Ilyana.) I would've been fine with even getting Ivy, but no. I got the 1 unit I didn't want. Oh well. Now that I got those feelings expressed, I feel a little better. I'll just wait to try to get Celica again some other time and focus on trying to get more orbs (over time) to keep trying to get my Summer Hrid to +1, get the remaining missing summer goats (Freyja and Nerpuz), and get Summer Clanne. Those are my top priorities now (though I'm a bit sad that Warp Ragnarok Clanne will have to wait a while regardless of what I do now.)

Doctor appointments, too. And my gosh it must be awkward for married couples who are in separate duo pairings. Wasn't there one with Hawkeye's daughter and Louise? That particular Louise probably can't spend any intimate time with her Pent anymore without it being extremely awkward. I imagine Pent and Hawkeye had to come to some sort of agreement for the sake of that lady, because if they just tried to ignore her... Yikes. (I'm clearly thinking about this in more depth than IS intended, but they should have been a bit clearer with their canon/thought it through a bit more and included caveats.) However, this just makes a Sigurd/Arvis duo more interesting to me. (I suggested this one for a Valentine's banner with Diedre and her husbands/kids as the theme.) I wonder how they'd handle that/how long until one murdered the other. (Oh wait; it's canon that they can't kill a hero summoned by the same summoner as per the contract. Well.)

Untrue. There's also that one unnamed pegasus knight messenger girl from Frelia. (IS, you do realize that you are not required to keep releasing females, right? Actually, I think they're beginning to realize something like that, given the male presence on the Dawn Brigade banner (with Nolan just being an accessory from Edward's convoes.))

I guess it's canon that duo/harmonic heroes can't actually get very far from each other. Dang, man, how do they sleep/shower/use the restroom? I guess it's not so bad for ones like Dancing Sigurd/Diedre, or maybe even close friends like Ephraim/Lyon, but this has got to be an absolute nightmare for Bernie...

Okay, I didn't think we'd actually get to see King Nidavellir himself ever! Nice! I'm excited to summon him! I have to wonder when the dragon will show up, though. I can't imagine it not. Maybe it'll be introduced during this TT+ series, too? So, Dagr and Reginn are in the past. Neat! Looking forward to seeing them interact with the first Dvergr king! I wonder if we'll see Dagr's queenly ancestor too. And man, I'd love to see Eitri's first incarnation! I wonder what she looked like...

Okay, Bernie's towel is adorable. Also, "Let's show off!" "Let's not!" was so great. XD So, Dedue's the freebie and Clanne's the demote. Well, at least (hopefully) that'll make Clanne easier for me to get. That said, I'm a bit sad that his pickle quirk is being exemplified here instead of in a Farmer's Market banner alongside Hisame (the other pickle boy.) At least Clanne has a dagger here, so maybe a tome version of him will appear somewhere else. Also, "They also have Godlike Reflexes!" ... Wow. Good job, description. (Man this feels lazy. XD) Edit: Ugh, just noticed that Clanne's color sharing with Alear. I just want Clanne. He's one of my absolute favorites from Engage. Edit2: Also, you know that list of your top 20 characters you want in Heroes? With Clanne in, I now have 2! (Tormod was the other who made it in this year.) I wonder if I'll get any of my other hopes fulfilled this year! ^_^

Well, I know the new one's for July, but I figured I'd post it here. I saw the silhouettes and the one on the left might just be Clanne (in a hat. You can see his little braid on the right side of his head, our left.) As for the right, it looks like Petra to me. I can't think of anyone else off the top of my head who has a giant side braid ponytail like that. Man, if it's Clanne, then I'll need to summon him...and Celica. Because Warp Ragnarok Clanne was my absolute go-to for a while in Engage (then Soren's bracelet got fused to his wrist.) and I want to recreate that here in Heroes. Okay, so, first step: summon Celica. In progress on that front. (I also still need Valentine's Lyon+Eirika, another copy of Summer Hrid, and Summer Nerpuz. Ugh, my orb supply...)

Wound up joining Felix. He feels the most like a character and less like an archetype to me. That said, these characters are all of the same archetype, so it's a bit hard to feel that they're very distinct from one another.

Well darn. I'm still trying to get Summer Nerpuz (and, if I can, another copy of Summer Hrid) and Valentine's Lyon+Eirika, and now I need to get Emblem Celica (though I also wouldn't mind nabbing an Ivy while I'm at it. Gotoh would be nice too.) Ugh, I don't have the orbs for this. XD