Mercakete

Gave Elena her 2nd vote from me this year! I hope I don't miss any days. I wonder where she'll place this year...

I don't know why but half the time I expected the likes of Hraesvelgr and Nidhoggr to be added, and half the time I thought that wouldn't happen until next year. Anyway, I'd like Njordr to exist as a unit, but not for this theme/not enough to vote for him. I'll just keep hoping that he gets a summer alt or something, like what happened to Freyr. It would be fun to see Alfonse win someday. Thinking about it, he's the main lord and this is his home game. But beyond that, I'm curious about what IS would do design-wise and theme-wise. Would this be the way to introduce King Alfonse? If we can summon from other timelines and eras, I don't see why we couldn't get a King of Askr Alfonse this way. Giving him an aged-up voice would make sense there, too, if that's really very much of a factor. Of course, that said, it makes me curious about Sharena, too. I still want Dead Sharena from Book 3's key art, but I don't think that would fit into the designs for brave heroes. However, I could see a "what if Sharena drank the nectar?" fairy Sharena from Book 4, or (again) an aged-up, more mature Sharena who's less naive (though I don't think IS would actually want to make a version of Sharena who's more of an archetype and less of an actual person with depth.) Between the two of them, Alfonse would be my personal preference for CYL specifically, but I do wish that IS would do more with Sharena too. There's too much potential left untapped there. Again, though, all my votes are going to Elena at least until she makes it into Heroes (though Brave is my preference.) I'm glad I'm not alone there! I know you voted for her because you wanted to, but I still want to thank you for giving her a vote! ^_^ And thanks for the encouragement. Getting nothing but her theme in Resort and a staff for base Mist called "Elena's Staff" (especially with new female characters from Engage and FEH being added, to whom I'm guessing most of the votes will go on the fem side) after voting for her for all these years was discouraging me a little. So, I really appreciate the bit of hope you imparted by what you said! ^_^ I really hope she gets added at all, but I'd be especially happy if she actually won CYL!

As with every year, my votes are going to Elena! (Ike and Mist's mom.) I made a thread an appreciation thread for her a while back, too. She's a very important character in her games (Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn) but only appears in background stuff, like FE9's opening cutscene, or just being talked about by other characters. I'd love to reunite her with her family and get to know her better through FEH! It would be so fun, especially if her Brave outfit was based on Ike's ranger outfit!

Getting into the story now. Huh, that's interesting that their dad anticipated that the Askrans would try to get Ratatoskr to work with them. Hraesvelgr also mentions a "true mission." I wonder what that could be, if it's not actually to kill Alfonse and Veronica. Maybe it has to do with Henriette...but why the diversion? Are they trying to prompt Henriette into acting, or trying to get Alfonse and Veronica's people to focus elsewhere so that they won't pick up on signs toward their true goal? "It's like Prince Alfonse said... They're keeping things from me." Interesting how Rat picked up on that just from that conversation. Yup; perceptive. Aw. And she feels so bad about lying to Hraesvelgr. Yup; honest. So far, things are consistent, despite the character trait qualities ramming up against one another. Also, I wonder if Hraesvelgr suspects that Ratatoskr isn't just playing at working with Askr. She seemed to suspect more than she was saying directly, anyway. Ah, and yes, they're finally reaching out to Embla for assistance...though I don't know why they're not suspecting that Veronica's also going to be targeted since they already guessed (correctly) that the peace talks are being disrupted intentionally by this third party. Heck, they already mentioned that they suspect that the same sort of stuff is going on in Embla. Well, at least they're finally going to talk with Veronica...but the reasoning is cringe... "We're friends now, after all!" Oh, Sharena...you're, like, 3 years old. But seriously, Alfonse wasn't acting like he was concerned. I feel like, given all that's already been discussed, he would be taking this more seriously and cautiously, with more urgency. Like, "We'd better get in touch with Veronica. If efforts were expended to frame the Emblians for the attacks on Askr in order to disrupt the peace talks, then the same thing is likely going on there. Let's proceed with caution, and keep an eye out for more assassination attempts along the way." Instead, it's just "Veronica should be open to speaking with us. We don't know who else may be targeted, so let's be careful." Also, they seem to be going themselves. Has this country never heard of an envoy? If you're royalty and you know that assassins are actively out to get you, you find a way to throw them off and get somewhere safe. You don't go visit a neighboring kingdom with predictable travel routes along which you could be ambushed (unless you're actually trying to be a target, which could be the case, I suppose. Heck, this chapter is called "bait.") Oh heck I just noticed the tools on Hraesvelgr's belt. Creepy. Regarding Hraesvelgr's target being Alfonse here... "This was always Father's plan. You are not at fault." That should clue you in a bit there, Rat, that they're onto you being a triple agent. Also, it really looked like Hraesvelgr wasn't going to tell Rat who her target was. But then her drunk sister spilled the beans, so she rolled with it. I wonder if Hraesvelgr telling Rat what false info to give was a test, even if it was just to confirm that Rat betrayed them. She knows how the Askrans would move if they had this or that info, so it would be easy to tell what information they're acting on based on their movements. "For now, we should keep Alfonse safe inside the castle. As long as he's within those walls, he'll be safe!" Because that worked SO WELL last time... Sharena, they know how to break into the castle and how he moves within it. It's better to proceed with that plan using a body double while you move the real one to a safe location. Maybe set up an ambush or two to cover the bases of where they might strike. Hmm I guess Alfonse is planning on prioritizing hiding Rat's involvement. I'd say that, rather than not using this info at all, it would be better to make some hidden contingency plans. "Not reacting to this information in any way" isn't good. "Not reacting to this information in an overt way" is much better. Ah, I see. Sure, the info could be fake, but are you really going to run that risk? At least have a few escape routes planned. Yup, a test is in play. And this is where the chapter title comes from, eh? "This is the game of intelligence and counterintelligence that we are forced to play in war." I'm really liking this book. It has the intellectual focus and serious tone that the circumstances really do demand for realism. ^_^ Oh good! Looks like they sent an envoy or a letter to Veronica instead of going to talk to her personally. Thank you. x_x "She will ally with us again. And she wants to meet to discuss some other matters as well." Uhhh that sounds vague and suspicious. Are you sure this isn't a forgery? "She hopes that those discussions can happen privately, somewhere along our shared border." Not even a specific meeting place? "It would be best to take a small group in secret, but...with the foe we face now, that has its own risks." If it's best, then why not do it? "We will meet at a location not too far from here - a location reachable within a few hours." Okay, not bad... Still, better to keep a hidden, larger or highly-mobile force relatively close to the meeting spot. "I will make the journey alone." ARE YOU STUPID? Okay, just...what? You're the next in line to become king, your mom's just being regent for now, you KNOW you're a target for assassination, and you want to go ALONE? Okay, this has "bad idea" written all over it. What the heck, Alfonse? I know it's one of those "it'll all work out in the end" things, but he's the sort to be rational hand have sound reasoning about this stuff. Like, come on. Maybe if he has a decoy taking another route, but come on. "Now wait just a minute! Alone?!" Yeah, I'm with Anna on this one. Explain yourself. "Covert actions taken by the lone individual have the highest chance of success." No they don't! And you're, again, the crown prince! You need to be more careful with your life! "It's something I learned from you a long time ago, Commander Anna." Anna, this is your fault for teaching him wrong. At LEAST explain some nuance there! Individuals trained for covert missions are NOT THE SAME as any ol' person going about something alone. "With the proper training, someone moving by themselves can evade detection for several days." Much longer than that, actually, but again, "proper training" is a key phrase here! And the surrounding situation directly affects the success rate! It's not just a case of using a key in a lock (metaphorically speaking)! "That's not my only reasoning. But I can't say any more about that at the moment..." Hmm... Well, okay. If you really do have a sound plan, then alright. I understand how keeping things under wraps is wise here. Oh heck the battlefield for this chapter looks just like where Alfonse was fighting Hraesvelgr in the book's opening movie. "It was not originally pert of the plan that you would die, but...if I kill you, the future is less complicated." Oh. Interesting. So, they never actually intended to kill Alfonse (despite fielding 2 assassins to do so...? I think this book may have forgotten a little factor in war called "resource management.") And she's even letting is slip that this wasn't actually pert of the original plan. Hm. And Alfonse had a signal fire but...yeah, he may have overestimated himself. What was that intro, though? "So you actually came alone." It was like Hreasvelgr had threatened Alfonse or something to get him to come alone. She may have. Okay, so Alfonse really did just survive for long enough that his allies could make it to him. Dang, that must have been hard. Still, I wish there was some way for us to have actually viewed the fight. This would have been nice as a full cutscene or even just written in paragraphs. What would fit best, though, is a dialogue scene somewhat depicting the battle, if a full cutscene wasn't an option. "Had I one more moment alone..." Sure, you can say that, but it's not as impactful as delivering the scene to the player. HOLY CRAP Okay, so, Hraesvelgr turns into an awesome harpy thing. Dang. That's cool. And shoot, those talons extend?! Well. Fun thing for my playthrough personally: I killed her with Rearmed Lif. So, she was trying to kill Alfonse, and was killed by Dead Alfonse. It just feels kind of ironic in a pleasant way. "It's...it's because I told them where Alfonse would be." Yeah, I figured Alfonse would use himself as bait. This might help Rat be trusted more, too...except that she showed up with the Askrans, so maybe that's moot? Anyway, that was WAY too reckless. I get what he was trying to do and I'm glad he succeeded, but seriously. Askr needs you as its next king. Don't take that lightly. "I can't believe you'd do such a thing, Alfonse." I agree with Sharena, but probably for more intellectual reasons than she's coming at this with. Still, I'm glad she's addressing the topic seriously. "I am sorry. Truly." Not if you'd do it again, and it seems to me that you would. Again, I get your perspective. That's why I'm saying you need to consider more than just what you were thinking of when you made that choice. Also, though, Anna was all "they shouldn't have been able to find you" and I was all "was he really put through that kind of training to the point of being that effective at it?" Seems a bit unrealistic to me, given all the other stuff he'd have to have learned up till now (such as statesmanship.) It's just a matter of not having enough time to learn it to that level, even if he's a genius at it. There's also swordplay. All of these things take a lot of time and effort to learn. It's unrealistic to throw something as complicated as a whole espionage skill set on top of it. Anyway, that's a wrap for this chapter! I liked it, but I feel like there were some things stuck in there for convenience's sake, and I could really feel the writers' limitations on how much they could say per chapter. Would've loved to actually see the fight between Alfonse and Hraesvelgr. And while it's a realistic step back, Alfonse did take a step back in the growth he'd managed after Book 3. His poor dad must be turning in his grave after trying to hard to impress upon Alfonse how he needs to treat his own life with more care and not be so reckless. Actually, it would've been nice if Sharena had brought that up. Like, "But what about what Dad said?" I guess Henriette could still give her son a talking-to the next time they meet up, but I feel like the plot would have already moved on by then and they wouldn't want to circle back on it (even if it's realistic. They just don't have the time/space, given the restrictions they've put on themselves as writers.) Edit: Oh heck does this (Hraesvelgr being a harpy) mean that Nidhoggr is going to be some sort of awesome naga (snake person. Not Naga as in the divine dragon) thing? Edit again: So, Alfonse survived this time...but then, why is he missing from the journey towards the end of the trailer? It could just be a misdirection, but I wonder if, when Veronica gets poisoned, the Order of Heroes bursts into the room (not shown in the trailer) to save her and Alfonse gets kidnapped at that time or something, along with Veronica. Or, maybe, he agrees to go quietly with Nidhoggr in exchange for Veronica receiving the antidote, even though they'd both be captured after that. I may just be hoping for fun, tense scenes, but this would explain Alfonse and Veronica's absence at the end of the trailer, and Veronica seeming to have actually ingested poison. Plus, it's in alignment with what he said in this chapter about doing anything -- even risking himself -- for the sake of this peace between Askr and Embla, and safeguarding Veronica is a part if that. Plus, they're friends, but that seems more like a secondary reason for him. Rationale first, with that one (and there's nothing wrong with that; it's actually kind of refreshing since so many FE lords are all "friendship is everything!")

Hmm... Maybe I shouldn't have burned almost all my orbs trying (and failing yet again) to get New Years Gunnthra. (I like the ice katana and ice roses.) At least I finally got New Years Fjorm (and 2 more copies of New Years Hrid) though. I'm nervous that the next Special Heroes lineup might have someone I really want, though, seeing as it's closer than I realized... (It's only a week away or something like that.) Well, I guess I'll just have to cross that bridge when I come to it.

OKAY I was surprised to see in Reinhardt's FB! I didn't think they'd ever write for that guy again. o_0 I'm still getting over my surprise, but dang is it refreshing to see him come back. I thought it would just be the freebie ladies forever. It's nice to see IS tapping other resources.

Ah, right! The tradition! Let's see... Last year... Huh. It wound up being 20 categories for me (since I combined and split various games, such as by generation or world.) Anyway, 3 of my picks made it in, and so did 3 runner-ups. Not bad, I suppose. 🙂 This year... Hmm I may want to think about it some more, but I'll go ahead and list ones I know I'd like. There are plenty, but it's hard for me to tell which ones I want the most right now (except for a few.) 1. Elena (FE9/10) 2. Almedha (FE10) 3. Shura (Fates) 4. Njordr (Heroes) 5. Franz (FE8) 6. Forde (FE8) 7. Kyle (FE8) 8. Kieran (FE9) 9. Raijaion (or however you spell it - FE9/10 - a certain incarnation doesn't count!) 10. Vaida (FE7) 11. Volug (FE10) 12. Tormod (FE9) (I think it may be his FE10 version, but he's in! And on a desert banner. Since I associate him with deserts so much, I'm pretty happy about it. ^_^) 13. Clanne (Engage) 14. Jean (Engage - I especially want to see him interact with this book's characters, so maybe next year would be better) 15. Fogato (Engage) 16. Percy (Fates) 17. Asugi (Fates) 18. Alois (3H) 19. Hanneman (3H) 20. Rodrigue (3H) And many, many more, honestly. Especially characters with deeper backgrounds that don't get as much attention (such as parents of more story-active characters.)

I'm sure I've made something like this in the past, but I have enough harmonic/duo unit pairs in my head that I think would be cool that I decided to make a thread on it. Basically, list characters you think would be fun duo/harmonic units. This thread has nothing to do with game mechanics, but you can include those (weapon, movement type, etc) if you'd like. I'll go first. Jean (Engage) + any of the Healing Hands from Heroes. Ratatoskr is an obvious good fit, but I think that any of them would make for interesting interactions/teamwork with Jean. He's not just a healer in the traditional JRPG sense - he's actually an aspiring doctor, which fits the theme of almost all of the Book 8 native Heroes characters. So, I'd like to see them working together, and Jean learning everything he can from the Healing Hands member. The one character I'm iffy about, though, is Nidhoggr (not sure if I spelled her name right) since, well... I'd hope that was obvious. She's constantly drunk, and is, um... Yeah, let's not let her supervise the child. Reyson (FE9/10) + Alfred (Engage) Both desire to be strong, both deal with inherent frailty which gets in the way. I feel like Alfred would try to cheer Reyson on into overcoming his weakness, but then later learn that the struggles he, himself, dealt with are different from the struggles of the Heron Laguz. There could be some bonding and unique insights into their circumstances here. Plus, I feel like Reyson would appreciate someone believing that he could become strong one day, even if it's not actually possible, while Alfred would be happy to have someone to cheer on and work out with. I feel like a summer version would be best here. (I described in the past a Muscle Beach banner, featuring these two guys and a bunch of buff women. I still feel like that would be fun, but it's not necessary for this duo to still be a thing.) Alear (Engage) + Idunn (FE6) I'd hope this one speaks for itself. They both have heterochromia! Also the whole "divine vs fell dragons" themes going on. Volug (FE9/10) + Pandreo (Engage) This is one I hope shows up for the upcoming (if they stick to that theme) desert banner, and I hope it takes place in Solm's desert this time. I just want Pandreo to start howling and confuse the heck out of Volug. Like, "What the heck are you saying? That's all gibberish! ... Oh! You didn't have to shout an insult like that." Or something along those lines. XD Kana (Fates) + Morgan (Awakening) It would be fun to see these kids interact more. They're always just hanging out with their other selves or their parents. Hmm I'm sure I had more, but I can't remember them right now. Anyway, what about you guys? Any fun ideas?

I think the big issue is audience vs genre. Like, you expect something with more depth and rationale in a Fire Emblem game, but as has been mentioned, a few of the characters are acting like this is a dating sim. I get that FE has had dating sim elements in previous titles, but that's never been the main focus/genre. So Book 7 was just SO "dating sim" in its style of writing (without even making the mechanics match it) isn't really appealing to most of the established fanbase (from what I've observed.) All that said, there is one thing I liked about this. Nerpuz bleats for one of her attack lines. That was hilarious. I feel better about considering summoning her.

Oh look, more "Seidr/Kvasir are hitting on the summoner but Seidr's in denial and Kvasir may not realize she's into the summoner yet, but Heidr is still trying to ship Seidr with the summoner." Yay. Also, Nerpuz being all "Maybe I'll look for the summoner too, hehe." Ugh, it's so blatant... At least the Kanas were being cute, though kind of in a way where I had trouble connecting to the characters. Oh well. I got some orbs. I also did manage to summon M!Kana (at 5* even) so good. That's done. I noticed that there were tickets for the banner, but I don't know how to get them. If/when they become available, I'm undecided as to whether to go for Nerpuz (I started collecting goats and she's a goat), or Kvasir (her dark kimono is pretty.) Hmmm maybe Nerpuz, for the sake of the herd. Pretty sure I'm done spending orbs on this, though.

Well, I managed to join teams of characters I like, so yay! First Matthew, then Volke, then Julian. So, this feels like a win for me. ^_^

So then, I, who had saved up a number of orbs I was happy with, was all "what if I tried to get Say'ri on the Double Special banner?" I had 310 or so orbs. I now have 134, a Bride Flavia 4* manual, and a Teatime Sigurd, but nothing else to show for it. Struggling to give up the pursuit so I have a decent shot at getting New Years M!Kana. But the appearance rate for focus 5*'s is 8.5 right now... And then I summoned 1 more time and got her. Yay. Kind of feel like my luck was biting me, but I'm okay. Hopefully I'll pull New Years M!Kana quickly when the banner comes out so I can save orbs again.

Let's see... Red: Wind Tribe Dagr, New Years M!Kana (if I can't summon him on his debut banner) Blue: Desert Byleth, Child Mark (this might be the unit I want the most) Green: Summer Ivy Colorless: Halloween Flayn, maybe? So, looks like I'll be pulling on Blue again this year. I seem to do that with some regularity. This year, it has my most-wanted unit as well as the most units I'd like but don't have. (Just pulled Bride Say'ri on the Double Special banner, so now Blue is even with Red in this category (if I can't pull New Years M!Kana on his debut banner.)) Colorless is last on my priorities because the only unit I have any sort of pull towards is Halloween Flayn, and even then I don't care that much about getting her. So, I guess it's Blue > Red > Green > Colorless, and I really, really hope I don't get any units I actually dislike (again.) Looking at you, Zelgius. Please stay out of my barracks.

I'm not sure where else to put this, but I've been just running Nailah in the latest Hall of Formes (except for using Yune, Micaiah and Elincia as killbait - and sometimes they've done a bit of chip damage. I think Elincia killed 2 people or something on accidnet, too) and dang; she's soloing everything awesomely. I may use a soul on her.

The one thing Njordr has going for him is his connection to several other characters. He's (very likely) Freyr and Freyja's dad, he raised Seidr and Heidr (even if it was only for Gullveig's scheme), and he's Nerpuz's brother. He may even have more connections to other gods, but there's for sure those five. That's not an insignificant amount. Plus, some of these connections were only hinted at, and there's still a lot more they could do with it. (For example, if they want to do more with Freyja (which I find the most likely of his connections that IS would want to explore), they could bring Njordr in to explore her relationship with him, even if it's only in flashbacks, or via another banner (like how FEH explored Gustav and Henriette's relationship by using both Gustav's fallen version and the Day of Devotion banner.) After all, Freyja said that only her brother was kind to her. That would automatically exclude Njordr (unless that was unintentional implication) and I'm sure IS would love to use whatever they can to be all "look at poor Freyja; don't you guys feel sorry for her yet in spite of all the evil she's done and is?" Daddy issues for Freyja seem to fir their MO here.) Also, IS likes making their FEH characters playable (which I am happy about since this is their home game.) But, yeah, other than all that, I'm concerned that he may never make it as a playable character. Which is annoying. I want to know what he transforms into. (As I said before, he has 3 options, as I see it: a sea serpent, a goat, or a capricorn.)

Wow. ... Well, the Kanas are the demote and the TT+ prize respectively. They feel kind of like an afterthought, honestly... And it's a bit weird not to have NY!F!Corrin but have her son being so focused on her. At least F!Kana could have some new years interactions with her dad since he got a New Years version already. M!Kana is cute. I'll see if I can't pull him. Disappointed with the Book 7 character representation, but that's just personal opinion, not something objective. Man... And after I saved up orbs to try to get Njordr... Well. Guess I'll just hope he gets a summer version, being a sea god (and since his kids both already have summer versions.) I feel like the chances are a lot slimmer than they were for him to show up on this banner, though... At least the odds are good that I'll have more orbs to spend on other banners.

Ah, so we're talking about silhouettes here? Well, I saw them and here was my immediate thought: The left is M!Kana, the right is Nerpuz. I wonder if the duo (I can't remember the term right now so I'll use this) is going to be F!Corrin+Kvasir, perhaps with the theme of "you can choose your fate." Could just as easily be Gullveig or Seidr filling that role, but Seidr doesn't really need convincing. Man, I hope we get Njordr... But M!Kana is nice! Looking forward to him. 🙂 Ah, I also wanted to mention something: even if we don't get New Years Njordr, I'd be okay with it as long as we got Summer Njordr, and here's why: he's the sea god. The summer banners are usually all about the beach/sea. We also already have Summer Freyr and Summer Freyja. It would be awesome if they added him trying to connect with his kids while also trying to get them to stop being so obsessed with humans (which he can't relate to) and more interested in fish (which, it seems to me, he can relate to.) It could turn into one of those funny "dad can only talk about fish and wants the kids to be just as into it as he is" things. The logic: Nerpuz likes humans BECAUSE she's the goddess of the land and humans are land-based creatures. Her brother is her opposite, disliking humans because they're, again, land creatures. So, logically, he must really like sea creatures. I can just see him being all "Could we stop talking about humans? They're not nearly as interesting as these fish. Just look at them!" And Freyr (in particular, since Freyja's obsession over humans is negative ("you took my brother from me you jerks")) being all "Yeah, sure, Dad. Deep-sea creatures have a great variety of appearances. ... But humans dream and that makes them WAY more interesting. It's what goes on in the unconscious mind that draws me to them." And Njordr just not being able to get it at all. (Freyr mentions in a castle conversation that he gets along well with his aunt (Nerpuz) because they both like humans.)

Honestly, Volke or Matthew. I know that, unit-wise, Matthew isn't very interesting, but the guy himself is nice.

Ah, let me clarify. It's more like "I don't expect much, but if we got this much then I'd be okay with it." I also don't like all the Freyja service (I think we only got regular Freyr so that IS could kind of get away with giving us Eitr as another Freyja without people complaining that much) but I want story/character relationship answers, and there are some commonalities (like Freyja and Seidr both having other versions of themselves living in their heads) that would be interesting to explore. That's about it, though. Of the units I listed, the only ones I actually want are Freyr and Njordr (and the dragons, depending on who they are.) I guess I'm thinking "This is likely. How do we turn this into the best-case scenario with what we're working with?" So, it's an opportunity to get answers and then not worry about these characters anymore (until everyone goes to war with Alfador, I suppose.) Really, I'm looking forward to next year. I feel like there could be some fun kimono designs for the characters we know about from Book 8. (Also, Rataroskr is my favorite "Book Guide" character we've gotten, I think. I really hope IS doesn't drop the ball partway through the story this time...) Things get a little bit off topic here so I'll put it in spoiler tags. It talks about Hel designs.

I agree with this. If nothing else, it's explaining a bit of what the heck happened after Lif recruited them, and is giving us more hints toward the events that'll probably occur during the Alfador Arc finale. That said, I'm still annoyed at IS treating Freyja as a redeemed protagonist when she very clearly is not one. It's like they thought that showing the players what she used to be like would garner sympathy toward her since, apparently, Freyr's word on what she was like wasn't enough. Plus more Dokkalfar-Freyja "I care about you" stuff. That, however, does NOT constitute as redemption and is NOT enough for me to cheer for Freyja to win against Lady Gagap, especially when the threat of Lady Gagap is to throw the world into nightmare which was actually Freyja's whole thing. Like, Dokkalfar people, you have no right to be treating it as such a bad thing when it was something you actively worked for in Book 4. They tried to give her cool, kick-butt moments but they hadn't resolved the issues of her having not actually been redeemed yet, which needs to be done first (or at least have the character be in the midst of a redemption arc) if you want the player to cheer for your protagonist. True, this is more a "how to write" general thing than a case-by-case, but IS is really skipping this step. At the very least make her stance clear again with something like "Now, I still intend to ruin all humans, so you light fairies may want to clear out. We have some planning to do." or something. But this "she's totally redeemed because you feel sorry for her" stuff is just frustrating.

As much as I'm kind of all "ugh, not Camilla again" it's kind of neat to see her show up now that the new thing is veins, especially given all her vein stuff in Engage. I like her shadow vein stuff. That's about it. So, simultaneously satisfied and begrudging?

Ah, that's a nice reason for it! Personally, though, I don't like thinking about this sort of thing since I feel the negativity so harshly when I do. That said, I think that how I work is more taking observable factors and creating a theory of most likely outcome based on that (which is what I more enjoy.) Sometimes this can be "I expect the worst" though, if it's a likely outcome. So, I guess that works? I hope you don't mind, but I'll riff a little on the theme. Here's what I kind of expect: Book 7 characters. (I've actually kind of been banking on this.) Also, a slight departure from the "beasts" (from other games) theme. (We have a LOT of them covered already.) Also, since they focused on the year of the rabbit last year, and I think the year of the dragon is next, we may get some dragons. What I'd like (based on what I expect): 1. New Years Njordr as a sea serpent (his shoulder guard thing looks like a serpent head, and he's the god of the sea), goat (his whole biological family is goats) or capricorn (basically a mer-goat.) (I especially want him since he got such little actual exploration in Book 7 with most of what we got being him putting on an act. I want to get to know him, himself, better.) 2. This isn't super high on my priorities list, but if all we get are FEH goats and if the story focused on them, then I'd be happy about that since it could answer some questions and establish better how they all relate to one another (like, relationships, not family tree. Though that could use some clarifying too.) 3. And while this follows my previous point, it's less a hope and more a guess on what the banner would be like if IS followed that theme: New Years Njordr, New Years Nepuz, New Years Freyja+Eitr (duo), New Years Freyr (TT+ unit), New Years Seidr (with outfit elements from Kvasir and Gullveig.) Alternatively, if they wanted to make things more centric on Book 7 and less on Book 7 + the Nihility and Nightmare/Goats theme, the banner could look like this: New Years Nepuz, New Years Njordr, New Years Seidr+Heidr (duo), New Years Kvasir, New Years Gullveig (TT+ unit.) Or, if they wanted to focus more on Freyja and Seidr both having other versions of themselves in their heads, we could have quite the crazy banner. New Years Seidr+Freyja (duo), New Years Gullveig, New Years Kvasir, New Years Eitr, and New Years Heidr (TT+ unit.) (And the only ones actually "there" would be Seidr and Freyja, but with Heidr, like, watching from afar and the others all as basically apparitions.) And finally, if they want to mix dragons from other games in here and still include Book 7 characters, I could see the banner looking like this: New Years Seidr+Heidr (duo), New Years Gullveig, New Years Kvasir, New Years (dragon), and New Years (dragon.) (Honestly, it could be any dragon from any game. It's a bit hard to pare it down more than that. Still, I feel like Laguz would be the most likely, as they're almost halfway between beast tribes and manaketes.) Of these, I'd dislike the last banner I listed the most, depending on which dragons they picked. I find the others' story concepts interesting, but as for actually wanting to pull, I just want Njordr. I guess the worst possible outcome I can think of for me personally is if IS just threw nothing but women onto the banner, had no exploration of relationships or character qualities, and if all the quotes from the characters were just trying for "cute moments" instead of giving us more information to work with since Book 7 was extremely sparse on that. I'm going to try to stay hopeful, though.

Exactly! (Sorry for the late reply, by the way.) To every craft there are methods which lead to either high or low quality products. Keeping your canon logical and consistent by being true to the characters (whether this leads to growth, a falling out, or little to no change at all) is an important aspect for making quality works in fiction-writing. On a separate note, I found the Blue Lions' little side continuation of the main holiday story to be very sweet. It was nice, but I do wish I knew what his house got for him, as well as what the Byleths did. (Watch it be that both sides got him a dagger.) It's hard to say whether or not Dimitri giving anyone anything other than daggers is in character, though. That said, he's written less gimmick-y and more seriously, so I could see him realistically learning how to give a variety of things. I guess he just gives daggers when he wants to convey the symbolism he received when he got his.

Maybe I'm remembering it wrong, but I thought that Summer Ivy made sense in the story, though. It was like she was trying to get away from it all and just have some downtime, while Yunaka's just kind of...there. While this really wholesome story involving everyone else is going on.

Okay, that was an extremely sweet story. I really liked it. 🙂 (Yunaka was random as heck, though.)