Interdimensional Observer

Awww how nice of you! (So Raigh and Tomas got your other votes? Will Lugh and Asbel? Okay, Asbel is very bluish-green.) I decided to actually go back and read over Knoll's supports and Ephraim route introduction dialogue. Since he is the character we're supposed to be lamenting here, and I should for all I've said against Gleipnir!Eirika. Here is my, hopefully decent, breakdown/character analysis:

In gameplay and tone and a whole lot of other things. But i got the sense you were referring specifically to the world here. And contrary to Chrom's little blurb, there is very little reason to believe Fates exists in the same dimension as Awakening. And there is very little connecting the two world-wise outside of some supposedly reincarnations and three literal dimension travelers. It isn't like connecting the two worlds means much since the plots don't connect at all.

The reason that must have happened is that they quoted my quoting of you. Quoting a quoting makes the quoting person the originator of the quoted quote. Always go back to the original unquoted source if you want to hit up the quote maker on that quote. Hm? Fates moved passed the world of Ylisse and Valm. The series can and has moved on from the world of Awakening. Unless you consider SoV a sign of reverting back to it, which I find debatable. And hopefully FE Switch will move on and give us a totally new continent in an completely unrelated world. If IS wants to begin connecting a bunch of continents in a grand, centuries spanning tale- I'd rather they do this on a blank slate. Still, write your fanfict if it is fun for you. I take myself too seriously when writing fanficts and rarely complete an idea. I have a notion of what to do for a Magvel prequel- but I honestly lack the skill to flesh it out. One thing I'd like to do is make five "Sacred Relationships", each of a different sort, so I'll permit one lover-lover, but no more, others could be: sibling-sibling (or just close relatives in general), parent-child, friend-friend, teacher-student, liege-servant, rival-rival, two individuals in opposite situations, two individuals in similar situations. The idea isn't anything to do with magic here, rather it'd be the history behind the Sacred Twins weapons being twins. One weapon of each Twin would have been created by one individual in the relationship, although only one of the two individuals would emerge one of the Five Heroes. The other might fight with them to the end, or they'd die along the way. The other issue I'd have to deal with in writing a Magvel prequel, would be how to deal with the full power Demon King effectively ruling the world. I'd like an apocalyptic-ish setting, but not grimdark or anything. And I don't want to make the Demon King originally human, or dragon, or get summoned partway into the game. I want them at the top of their game right away.

Fair enough. Soren being rather apathetic to most things (like he'd care whether the Senate or LA won?) and being a mercenary probably doesn't help him. Since he has to serve his employer and do as they ask. He fits himself into whatever ridiculous situation they want rather than do the other thing. -Then again, does he always? He did have this exchange back in 3-1: Soren: “The Flaguerre survivors will have warned Mugill of our advance. That’s so obvious, even you must have anticipated it. You don’t have a plan?” Skrimir: “Do not mock me, beorc boy. Why should I bother with plans? No soldier would cower behind stone walls after being challenged to a battle! We will issue a challenge, and they will meet it. We have no need for plans!” Soren: “Do you realize how completely absurd you sound? The enemy did not build the fortress so they could stand outside of it. They will not come out of their own accord.” Skrimir: “But– Those beorc cowards! They will hide from us?! What do we do? I do not know how to fight cowards!” Ranulf: “Don’t you get it? That’s what we’re trying to decide! Think, Skrimir. Just try.” Skrimir: “No! That’s your job, Ranulf! You’re my second in command. Think of a way for me to use my strength! Anything else is a waste of time. I’ll be training outside. Tell me when you have a plan.” Although here, Soren did have Ranulf's backing on cooling down Skrimir. Come 3-4, Ranulf and Tibarn side with Skrimir (Why Tibarn?! you having to punch every one of your lackies into submission would be no problem Mr. Laguz Broken Royal), and Ike the passive guy is willing to go along with them too. So it was Soren vs. the 3 leading Laguz in the Alliance and his passive liege. Ranulf and Tibarn deserve a little blame here for shutting out Soren's good idea (although we all know the Senate would have rejected it), but your point still stands I think. The silver lining, Soren does have capacity to grow and improve. As this old favorite bit of script mentions: Strategist (*) Tibarn: Your strategist is something else. Does he have some kind of magic hat that he pulls all his crazy ideas out of? Ike: Well, I do pay him plenty for them. Titania: Soren said this mission would fail without help from the Phoenicis Army. We’re asking you to take a very big risk, King Tibarn. Tibarn: We can handle it. We can do anything if it involves teaching those vermin in Begnion a thing or two. Ranulf: Soren has even answered some of Skrimir’s more insane requests. He doesn’t listen to a word I say, but when Soren talks strategy, he’s all ears. Ike: Is that why he hasn’t been complaining during the briefings? Ranulf: He says he looks forward to what the little strategist will say next. It looks to me like Soren’s charmed his way into the most powerful position in this army. Titania: I’m glad to hear it. He’s changed, hasn’t he? Ranulf: Yeah, I think so. He still doesn’t say much, but he’s a lot more at ease these days. He used to be completely closed off, rejecting anyone who tried to get close. Like he’d lock himself away, all alone in his own little world. Ike: We all lost and gained something during the Mad King’s War. Maybe it wasn’t a complete waste, after all. Ranulf: Do you think we’ll feel the same way about this war when it’s over? Ike: Who knows? We’ll have to survive it first. Ranulf: Fair enough.

A tactician should be successful very true, otherwise they aren't much of a tactician. And Robin did mess up with the Emm rescue. So they aren't perfect. I'd never use the Stu/Sue language by the way, I try not to deal in tropes. If I compare Soren to Robin, Soren gets praised too, and might actually have a more perfect record (which isn't good if it is 100% perfect- for the greater good I need him to make a few mistakes) than Robin, but not being an MU, and Soren being antisocial I'd say the praise is presented differently. Does anyone ever tell Soren he is amazing to him? Behind his back to Ike yes, but to him directly? Soren I don't think likes being praised (and honestly, this is somewhat like myself being an introvert and disliking praise), not that Robin gloats about it, they don't (if anything I vaguely recall deflecting praise to Chrom as Robin's usual reaction). I admit though that come Robin vs. Soren, Soren will lose. A popular MU vs. a lord's loyal servant, the MU will win. I'm okay with this. All I can hope is that it's a loss close to a draw so nobody is really offended by it. I think the keep casualties to a minimum line went back to 3-11, when the Senator inspector tells Micaiah to continue fighting and destroy the bridge and she disagrees, which would kill many Daein soldiers on the bridge. SF doesn't have the script for that chapter though. 3-12 says nothing of keeping casualties to a minimum though. The closest thing she says is: Micaiah:“The apostle’s army has incredible numbers. We wouldn’t stand a chance taking them head-on. They would march right through us. We need to give Pelleas more time, but if we hold back, the senate will know we’re up to something. For now…let’s just try to draw this out a bit and stop the apostle’s army.” 3-13 does have her admit she messed up when she broke down for Sothe though. Micaiah: “I can’t! I thought I made up my mind… I thought I’d do anything for Daein! But then I saw Sothe taken from me, and I saw him fall… I was powerless to do anything! I’d taken so many lives as a general, and yet, when I thought of Sothe dead…” Pelleas: “Even if it hadn’t been Sothe in front of you, you would have reacted the same way. That’s the kind of person you are.” Pelleas: “Individual lives taken before your eyes weigh more heavily than the many lives taken during the chaos of war. If that life is someone dear, the burden is even worse. It’s only human. Isn’t that true?” Pelleas: “Micaiah. It’s your caring soul that I admire. That’s why I want it to be you.” I also think part of the issue with Micaiah's fire attack, is that the player and even Micaiah herself knows who is on the right- Sanaki and the Laguz Alliance, the Senate obviously isn't and she hates them too. Her enemy is the Senate, but she has to kill the good guys. And Sanaki intentionally was trying to avoid battle with Daein while passing through, so she was acting neutral to Daein, her fight is only with the Senate, and you don't attack neutrals in warfare. Soren by the way set fire to the Begnion Central Army's supplies, and nobody had a problem with that, why it was his biggest success of Part 3. You are told not to kill the Senators, though Soren puts it in cold diplomatic and not humanitarian terms.

Well I don't know how many Chinese can afford video games, but the country is what? 1.1-1.2 Billion people? And even if the upper and middle classes able to afford video games are only 25% of the population, that is still about every individual in the US regardless of age. That seems like a large group of customers to appeal to just west of Japan. Chinese shouldn't be too hard to find VAs for, given the geographic proximity. And DW is based on classic Chinese history and literature, so I see the games at face value attracting some interest among the Chinese.

Does lore heroes and lore events ever in video games later become the basis of prequels? They didn't do that with Anri, with the Crusaders, the Scouring, the original reign of the Demon King, the Three Heroes of Ashera. Lore stuff exists for lore and the present game, virtually never for prequels. (And if I had a choice, I'd take a Magvel prequel first.) Although there is one case of a JRPG series I can think of which partly did a prequel set in the ancient past of yore. The game was...

I'm not disagreeing with this. It was a valid tactic, and good that Robin used it from a strategic perspective. I admit my portrayal of it was flavored by a dislike of Robin and a tendency to view any tactical success of theirs as an "I'm special!" moment. Maybe if Robin wasn't an MU and hence didn't have to have any moments cast like that at all (because every time Robin is special, you the player are special; inspirational, but I could do without the self-help), it'd be less of a problem. Or so I guess. I'd need to replay Awakening to see if my criticism is justified. And having mentioned Dynasty Warriors before, well one of the biggest most epic and cherished battles of the Three Kingdoms period is the Battle of Red Cliffs/Chibi. Cao Cao (Walhart) the juggernaut who has reunified northern China into the Kingdom of Wei (Valm), is moving to invade the south using rivers. Sun Quan, with some support from Liu Bei (although Romance of the Three Kingdoms exaggerates the significance of Liu Bei and his tactician Zhuge Liang), doesn't want Cao Cao to reunite China, they each want to do it themselves. Cao Cao is inexperienced in naval affairs, but Sun Quan's Kingdom of Wu is, and between Huang Gai (I will call him Frederick here) and Zhou Yu (whom I shall call Robin), use some trickery and a major fire attack to destroy Cao Cao's fleet and send him packing in a hasty, bloody retreat north.

You know, this makes me want to replay Advance Wars: Days of Ruin a little. They had the humbleness in that game of naming the biggest villain IDS- Intelligent Defense Systems. I wonder how highly Tabitha would rank on the CYL poll. Caulder/Stolos (I'm more used to Caulder, but the European name is cooler) would probably do miserably, but it would be fun to see him in FEH throwing vials of his plant virus as a Dagger or Tome. I would turn the Bridal bunch into living bouquets.

Magic is a normal part of the FE world and FE combat. If the developers wanted to be consistent on fire use in warfare, they would have to either make magic a suspect thing. Or, make no one bat an eye at a fire attack- which is how Dynasty and Samurai Warriors handles it, a fire attack is a good strategy through and through. And while DW whitewashes some things (Liu Bei doesn't slam his baby against the ground), it does let its tacticians be individuals of mixed honorability and treats this as a sort of norm. Back to those two choices, the former would require a good world building effort to be exerted, one which would contradict what we know of PoR where no abhorrence for mages is found. The latter would make those of sensitive modern morality take issue with Micaiah's action, because FE is supposed to be a gentle idealism wins out world. I'll call gameplay-story segregation here as odd as it seems. In gameplay, using a fire attack is okay. In story, outside of magic in one vs. one combat, it is not. And the point of making the attack out to be immoral in the plot is to show Micaiah is- faced with an impossibly strong foe that she must use forbidden tactics against. That the Blood Pact is so evil and binding as to force her to do this. And that she is so selfless as to be willing to stain her reputation with such immorality for the sake of Daein's survival. It does also show she has talent as a tactician. And anyone in remotely heavy armor drowned, which is never a good way to die. The whole point of that tactic is make Robin out to be a genius, and to do something cool for the players to awe at. There is no questioning of the morality of this act, because Awakening doesn't care about that. It isn't trying to be realistic and a little gritty like DW, obviously Awakening is supposed to be gentle ideals win out (Robin-Virion Support).

Can a zombie degenerate any more than it already has? Grima is undead, or made from the dead, something like that. Grima's mind, with its overwhelming drive to consume, devour, conquer, and destroy, is already much of what a feral dragon's mind is. I'm not sure if I love the idea, but if IS says that, I'd be prepared for it. It adds some irony to the idea only Grima can truly kill Grima. Because Grima could be partly Naga, and hence the sacrifice of Robin (rendered meaningless to a degree (but not all the way since Robin didn't know they'd live in advance) already by the post credits survival), she could have possibly averted via different means (stepping herself temporarily in vileness and hijacking Grima with this "frequency matching" or something). Mind you, I haven't seen past the first floor of Thabes. Heard too much of the tedium of it all, and I find grinding a bore in SoV (I have no DLC). So I've relied on the word of others. The ship battles en route to Thabes were good though.

I'd expect more of you than this. Though I myself have made a point of even those who enjoy complexity, myself included, also sometimes having shallower tastes some times and that being perfectly fine. Do you appreciate his character development in RD whatsoever? When he does get in, after Lyre and Lethe get their third editions, I want him to keep that deep voice of his from RD (if not the same VA). It is quite distinctive. I remember I was joking last week, and lo, I may have been slightly clairvoyant: "Anyone can use Dark Magic in FE8, if Tethys gets it, then I demand a Demon Surge Eirika. And a Demon Light Amelia." My deepest apologies to all. I'm only hoping the latter does not come true in any way. People get over things. Be it Gleipika, or the establishment of a military dictatorship. Only the few gripe in the long term, the rest become apathetic. And on this note, this is a first world problem, so everyone, keep that in perspective. You like color schemes that make me wanna scream? Sage Ewan is the best Ewan. (Ignore the lingering sprite issue.)

Why would they not give her an exclusive weapon? Is it not rare nowadays that somebody actually gets an inheritable? We still lack a Poleax/Halberd, you'd think they'd have added that eons ago as an minor anti-Reinhardt measure or something. I don't think exclusives in themselves are a bad idea, it maintains a niche for a character in a way instead of them just being yet another -bot. Yet there should be a balance here, and is there? Or maybe, if exclusives are to be the norm for the most part now, why are they special any longer and stuck being 5 Star much of the time? Why is the boosted BST special anymore? What IS special anymore? If they forget, they have this little thin excuse:

In one direction- a crowd of people charging at you wanting to huge you. These are your diehard fans. In another direction- a crowd of people charging at you wanting you for purely for combat. These are the pragmatic exploiters. In a third direction- a crowd of people charging at you with pitchforks sharp and torches warm wanting you hanged, drawn, and quartered for what you are a harbinger of. In a fourth di- the crowds are fanning out to surround you, there is no escape. You will be trampled to death. The question is whose feet shall it be?

Some choices: "Valentian Parthia" Luna Radiant Bow Mila's Bow Blessed Bow Retroized please. I wouldn't care if his artwork was totally unfitting for the rest of the game. If Nintendo can make retro Mario or Zelda pop up in a ton of games without issue, FEH can do pure retro FE the same.

Does this game even like shotas? How many are in compared to how many aren't? Compared to the loli situation, where it feels like they've been burning through the supply, shotas sit on the same bench as the old, the male, the nerdy, and the ugly. Can Knoll file a lawsuit on the grounds of sexism? Is there a better word for looksism?

Nope, he's the person in the tower who took the blame for the murder Eirika actually did from said grassy location. Summoner! We have Sum-! *Is swarmed by Soldier, Peg. Knight, and Dread Fighter Illusions*

Now we to identify all glitches and figure out who would benefit from them. Eternally-stuck-in-a-corner-dismounted-Seliph? I think I heard of a Bantu FE1 glitch that gives him sky high impenetrable Defense (but could Tiki use it too?). And of course, the Mine glitch. Who is getting that Uber Spear? Larcei will get the Balmung, even though Shanan is perfectly handsome too and yet he has to settle with an Iron Sword. Ulster? Who is that? Larcei is an only child. Disembodied Fire Dragon Head Fae? Mia with a Crit forge glitch Slim Sword? Rather her than Ephraim. Since if Ephraim was horseified, he really couldn't lose any fights.

Whywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhy? The Sin of dismay and chagrin shall hereby be tossed aside an a Calm shall prevail. Until I the half-Guado welcomes their return two or weeks or so from now. But then I the half-al-Bhed shall bring forth the Calm yet again. 342

Ewan. Selena Flurospar (they're making Zelgius a pullable unit- she at least has the excuse of being playable in Creature Campaign, he is never).

I think this is an issue with Seasonals. Why must it almost always be Awakening and Fates that gets exclusively in? What difference would it really make if it was Chrom in bunny costume or Ike?

I was foreshadowing the future, and they have to start creeping it in somewhere so it feels normal by the time it is actually needed. Just like 3 character banners and banners where everyone is 5 Star forever. The sooner you start, the sooner everyone stops complaining and gets over it. You desensitize them to the issue. Erika wasn't necessary at all here, Myrrh and L'Arachel were good enough. IS doesn't know how to budget their popularity resources. Or rather don't need to now since they've discovered a way to fit variants of popular characters into normal banners. Now they can fix the issue of having burnt through every playable SoV female save Tatiana, and keep part of the male side of that game in the dark until a week before Heroes shuts down. And will this do anything to slow down the dreaded no new representation Seasonals?

....Oh dear..... I'm not going to criticize you for liking a character purely on looks, but this statement feeds directly into cynicism about character selection for this game. Namely the bold and the beautiful get everything, while the less superficially popular settle with scraps. Marisa, I don't hate you, but I loathe what you do to people.

Found it! Chapter 17 flashback: Ephraim: “How do you intend to use the Sacred Stone, Lyon? Do you really think you can tap into its power?” Lyon: “Mm… My research isn’t complete yet, but there’s no mistaking the power the Sacred Stones contain. And the Stone of Grado seems especially responsive to my dark magic. I suppose it’s because it contains both sacred and demonic properties. Regardless, if I can just press my studies a little harder… Well, I think I might be able to use it to heal my father’s illness. If that works, there’s no telling how many other people I can help as well.” Eirika: “Do you think this is wise? The power contained within the stones is beyond our understanding… My father tells me that the stones possess a power not to be trifled with.” Lyon: “Uh-huh… Father MacGregor is also against it. That’s why they still won’t give me direct access to the Stone of Grado. For the time being, I’ve made do with the radiant energies surrounding it. They’re nothing compared to the raw power of the stone itself, but… If I can show Father MacGregor some real progress, perhaps one day…” Ephraim: “Using the Sacred Stones to study magic…” Lyon: “Ephraim, Eirika, what do you two think? Using the divine power of the Sacred Stones in this way… You don’t think it’s a very good idea, do you?” Ephraim: “…It’s just that I know nothing at all of magic. I would that there were some way I could help you, but I simply can’t. But, Lyon, I’ve seen how hard you’ve worked to help others. I know how much you want the power to make others happy. I know these things, and because I know you, I trust your intentions.” Lyon: “Ephraim…” Ephraim: “If you hope to use the power of the Sacred Stone for good, I trust you can. I’m behind you all the way.” Eirika: “I agree with Ephraim entirely. You spend every night in the library, studying cures for your father’s illness. The power of the Sacred Stones is too powerful to be used for personal gain. But you, Lyon… I think you’ll be fine. You’re the kindest person I know.” Lyon: “Thanks, both of you. Hearing those words from you means a lot to me. Actually–and this hasn’t been made public yet–but… I’ve already saved someone using the knowledge I’ve gleaned so far.” Ephraim: “You have?” Lyon: “Uh-huh… A while back, a fire ravaged Serafew, and a little girl got trapped in the flames. Her burns were terrible:” not even healing staves were able to cure her injuries. But just a sliver of the stone’s power restored her life and healed her wounds. We saved that girl’s life, Ephraim! Oh, if you could have seen the tears of joy in her mother’s eyes! Ephraim: “You really did it, huh? You are special, Lyon. Congratulations!” Lyon: “Well… thanks. But there’s still so much more to be done. I am happy, though. To be honest, I just want to be able to help people. I want to put the ancient magics to use for the common good… That’s how I feel.” Eirika: “Lyon…” Lyon: “And as my research moves forward, I’ll be able to do much more, too. We have only the barest understanding of how dark magic operates. Maybe we can use it not only to heal wounds, but also to stop diseases… What if we can read the future, predict disasters, move mountains!?” Eirika: “Hold on, Lyon. You can’t take too much on yourself all at once. What good is helping people if you sacrifice yourself to do it?” Lyon: “Oh… Yes, of course. Sorry. I got carried away.” Ephraim: “You have a soft heart, Lyon. I bet you haven’t taken any real time off at all. So this is what we’re going to do. Today, we’re going into the city. And you’re going with us, Lyon.” EDIT: Trimmed off some irrelevant stuff at the end.

You forgot the part where she accidentally goes back in time during her experiments. Ending up in a savage world where monsters run free, she takes Ephraim's old advice and disguises herself as a man. With the help of four others, including L'Arachel who as her gal pal boldy went back in time following Eirika's mysterious disappearance. Together, they defeat the ultimate evil plaguing Magvel, and Eirika takes a new name befitting the leading savior of the world, Grado.