Kori

Julius has been dead for years. She's just performing a mercy kill on what's left of him that's being used by Loptous. That's why Julia doesn't hesitate to kill Julius-the-final-boss in the game either, while telling you in FEH that her brother was a really sweet person. I have no orbs but I'm glad to see Deirdre, especially with good art (though it's funny that they now have to go for made-up tomes from the spirit forest because they used Naga too soon). Now we wait to see if the next Jugdral one will be Forseti, or if they want to put an Ullr on Fjalar.

A mix of Awakening's, Fates' and 3H's styles. Awakening: two reclassing options attached to every character, for personality/flavor (only one like in Fates is too little imo) Fates: plus one (or 2, but that would depend on in-game S-supports coming back and implementing the 'S by another name except you can have one plus a S' A+ levels again, which i found somewhat disappointing in Fates) obtained by supporting another character, for customization 3H: free reclassing between unlocked classes, but to unlock one you have to do some preparation that results in the character getting some level of proficiency in their chosen new path. (Having some sort of base betwen chapters is probably here to stay, so it could be done there by assigning them some task that will get them to at least D; for support-unlocked classes, their buddy would have to be assigned to it too but it would progress faster, like in the 3Hopes training grounds.)

Someone must really like Kagero indeed, but not enough to save her duo alt for her best friend instead of giving it to a child unit she has little chance to even meet. 😔 Nina makes sense for this banner, but I wish she had a different backpack that doesn't destroy Orochi's pretty much only chance to be featured in a seasonal. ...wait no, Kagero is the backpack, I can still hope. Maybe. Surprised not to see the pirates banner this year (I had hope for pirate herons, it could have been hilarious), but this is a fun theme, most of the outfits and art are stylish (Cath I love the cat theme but please find yourself a different artist and put on some pants, you're what, 15 at best), Kita Senri knocks it out of the park again and Sothe gets a solo alt (even if he still appears to have one and only one thing in mind), Rickard looks cute and I don't mind him for a free unit. It's just a shame that Leila is here without Matthew, indeed. I'd have taken them as a duo over the featured one (or, if they really wanted a Nina duo, at least do Nina and Niles, it's not like he's swimming in alts either and it would have made more sense).

I'm saying that genes (real world biology) matter little in how FEH characters (fictional constructs) look, if she were Embla's daughter the writers would telegraph it by giving her the Embla hair and eye colors that Veronica, Bruno and Letizia all share, because that's how they work. The general concept of genetic heritage is floating around somewhere as an element of the FEH world, and gestured to vaguely when they want to use family abilities as a plot point, but ultimately, what part of that "genetic material" is expressed is the one they want for the story they want to tell. (By that logic, if Henriette's heritage proves significant in any way, there's an interesting possibility that Sharena would inherit it but not Alfonse, but of course that would require them to do something with Sharena, and I'm not holding my breath for that.) Or any weirder than if they could simply wave their hands and rewrite an human's abilities, like gods, when they're explicitly not. 🤷‍♀️ Blood carrying part of a being's essence, powers, and even in some cases memories, is an relatively well established concept in fantasy, and this not being biologically possible is just something you shrug and ignore as part of the genre conventions.

She would have white hair and red eyes in that case. This game's writing is not that (or at all) subtle. Giving blood has been the way dragons bestow power to humans before in the series, for example in Jugdral.

True, true. It made me wary of what they were going to do with Ash before we knew what her personality was like. At least Askr avoids that. (Ah, yes, that certainly is a design that cares about the character's, hm, milk production. Glad to know she is fun regardless!) Iirc that's indeed ルネサンス/runesansu. (Meanwhile, I'm sitting on the opposite side of the Guy reveal, as french is my native tongue so I read it as Gi and expected to be corrected by the trailer.)

Lyn's wife, clearly- I didn't expect Florina to get an ascended at all, but this is a welcome surprise~ (and right after i'm done +10ing her resplendent, heh.) Glad to see Kent&Sain too, but yes, it's a pity they didn't take the opportunity to complete Lyndis's Legion while they were at it. It wouldn't even matter that Wil shares color with Florina if he'd taken Guy's spot. A little disappointing that Limstella doen't really fit with this choice of characters either, since as a GHB, their chances to get screentime are pretty much limited to being relevant enough to pop up in a Forging Bonds. Embla meh but at least she's got bat wings, Askr very meh, if the local god looked like some jock and a bovine i'd move to a different country, r.i.p. Alfonse and Ash. The 3hopes promotional summons including seasonals is interesting, I'm not going to pull beyond the free summons but i appreciate it.

...oh. Well, better a silly meme than a serious association. 😅

...how- how are these TERF bangs, what did these guys do now, to add hair to the list of everything they've tainted by association?

Favorite: Linhardt wins by a hair because I really like his. Petra is a close second. Dorothea is still good, but a bit "more of the same", so it wasn't as interesting to discover. (Not really complaining, though; all I wanted from this batch was for her design to be good, and it is.) Bernadetta looks silly, but it works for her. Least favorite: I was never particularly a fan of Caspar's design, but his timeskip look wasn't bad and pulled off the hedgehog hair much better. This one... can't say the same. Edelgard's isn't bad, but it's a downgrade from her timeskip look.

It's certainly not enough to mark him as least favorite (that dishonor goes to Sylvain for me, even though it could be argued to be the best design since it makes him look every bit like the fuckboy he is), but I'm not a fan of Ashe's new hair either, it looks too... I don't know, too put together? feels like they're trying to take his design in an almost "princely" direction, when boyish cuteness was more his thing. His freckles being less visible (it took me a rewatch to notice that they were still there) doesn't help. Still cute, of course, but a downgrade. Annette does look like a medieval baker, but the first thing that came to my mind at her kerchief and braids was a Heidi-like cosplay. Mercedes is the best, but I voted for second best Felix because i've heard too many praises of her paired with criticisms of her perfectly good timeskip haircut. I actually like Ingrid's hair.

Oh, I love this too. I'd be totally on board to play the adventures of Marth the Riolu (I don't know about assigning all the main lords Riolu, but it works here) and Caeda the Starly, and their allies Jagen the old Stoutland, Cain and Abel the Persian and Tauros, Lena the Chansey, Julian the Thievul, Linde the Espeon, Minerva the Druddigon (...TIL that Druddigon apparently can't fly, but shh, it's for the aesthetic), her Happiny sister and her three Pidgey (?)... and i'm blanking on a suitable dragon for little Tiki.

Thank you for linking that fanart! The fact that PokéFE could have existed and we missed that is truly a tragedy. (And the existing game being named Pokémon Conquest just adds an extra level of "oh come on!") Three Houses would probably work the best; most of your units being students that you can build more or less however you want would translate well in a pokémon setting (young trainers starting their journeys, catching whatever you choose for their teams). Tellius might be the hardest to translate, because if you're gonna have pokémon and laguz, you now have three categories of sentient creatures living on this continent, and that means needing to put a lot of thought into your worldbuilding. Yes, it was one of the themes of the games, but it already doesn't go deep enough, and that's with two races and without the added complexity of how diverse pokémons' relationships with humans can be in the pokémon universe. (Yes, most of them have human-level intelligence, if not more. Yes, some of them willingly live with humans as pets or take orders from them. Imagine the wrench this throws in the laguz emancipation efforts.) On the other hand, it is one of the themes of those games, so maybe that makes them more suited to it, if one is willing to put the worldbuilding in. And you could say that the characters combining Jugdral-like specialization (a specific branch of magic instead of just "uses magic", specialization in one weapon instead of just "a cavalier/paladin") and GBA-style elemental affinities gives us more material to speculate on pokémon teams. (Though of course those aren't the only things that should be considered, for example none of it points to Sanaki having a water-type but she should definitely have a Piplup.) Whether or no it works, I do want to see Soren as the reluctant trainer of an Absol that just showed up one day and wouldn't leave. Also, there's certainly something interesting to be done with Judgral and the 12 crusaders, each blessed by a legendary pokémon...

True. I thought of him when writing that, but then thought "and maybe Phila too", dismissed that last one as unlikely, and accidentaly threw Frederick out with her. But of course he needs to be there, can't miss the chance to have him babysitting Chrom and Lissa the one time they're actually babies. 😛

I'd like to see a 9-10 years old Emmeryn, newly crowned Exalt of an Ylisse ravaged by the war and promoted to single parent of her siblings. Unfortunately, that would put most of the gen I cast around the age of 3-4 (and even younger for the ones closer to Lissa's age than Chrom's), which is probably too young to be anything but a duo backpack, even on a children's banner. Maybe we could get cleric Cherche having just met Minerva-the-wyvern, but that's two staff units (unless Emmeryn gets a tome, but a staff fits more with her character at the time). Alternatively, an Awakening banner going for a more "a little of everywhere" approach, with Henry in his raised by wolves period, little kid Lon'qu or Say'ri, young Taguel Panne, maybe Olivia as the Feroxi representative, and young Maribelle as a pink bundle of ruffles and prissiness. (Unlikely, but this is for what we want, not what we expect.) When Valentia gets it, it will almost certainly be the prologue kids, of course, but I wouldn't protest if they threw a curveball and gave us the Novis children instead, with Celica having just got to the priory and still getting used to the change. Including Silque, since she seems close enough in age, that's five characters. (If a duo unit is really necessary and they insist on it being siblings, I suppose they could break canon and include Conrad, as long as the focus isn't on him.)

That's definitely Soren, and yes, as much as I'd like the left silhouette to be kid Mist with a sword, it's more likely to be Mia. A little disappointed about that, since she doesn't really have ties to the rest of the probable cast beyond working with them years later, but eh, popularity. Ike&Mist would be my first guess for the duo and I'd be more than fine with that, it would be cute whether they go for a sword or a staff, but the brothers getting a whitewings-style trio unit would be interesting. Inb4 they surprise us and go for kitten laguz for the rest of the banner.

Yay Tiki!! Congrats to Chrom and Seliph too, and Byleth, well, that was always going to happen sooner or later, and at least it's the one I played. Here's to her hopefully getting a good outfit for the first time in her life. In addition to the projection avatar thing, and the fact that involvement in the narrative can carry a character pretty far regardless of how developped their personality is, Byleth (either gender) is something of a concept character. As in, it's the concept of someone who has been mostly emotionless/emotionally stunted for most of her life, to the point of barely speaking, and starts to change and form more of a personality and bond with people over the course of the story, who suddenly has a mysterious sassy little girl in her head for no reason she can see and slowly comes to the conclusion that this amnesiac ghost kid might just be the goddess everyone talks about, someone who has lived has a mercenary all her life and is pretty badass as a result, but has been kinda isolated from the rest of the world and is now thrust into the role of a teacher with no preparation, etc... that appeals to people, regardless of the execution or lack thereof in the game. When you look at the potential of what the game sets up and doesn't do much with, there's enough to catch people's interest. I didn't vote for her, and wouldn't list her as one of my favorite characters, but that stuff was compelling enough while i played the game.

Can't argue against personal taste 🤷‍♀️ But these characters are designed to be perceived as cool by the audience, and, in the first two cases, as attractive, and the names we know them by are part of that design. Japan thinks it's a cool name that would fit a classy-looking battle butler, that's all I'm saying. Anyway, go Soren and A!Tiki! I'd planned to go for Shiharam, Elena, and Soren again for my three remaining votes, but now I'm tempted to go all in for these two...

For the best, in some cases. I don't think I could have taken the christmas cavs Evening and Sort seriously. In fact, the french translation changes Cherche's name to Zelcher and Panne to Palne, precisely because "cherche" and "panne" are regular french words that don't work as names at all, and that would just sound weird. Kjelle is apparently pronounced Shelly, as a pun on her armor. Azura should be Ah-zu-rah or maybe Ah-zoo-rah (i'm not sure how to write that sound), probably with the accent on the zu. Joker is a cool name in animeland, though (see Persona 5 or Black Butler, for example). I'm sure that was the intention with him, considering his design. The localisation is kind of a downgrade on that level.

Oh, they're doing it this way? it's certainly going to get them more engagement, but I don't want to imagine what the FE side of twitter looks like right now. Glad to see Azura, Dorothea, F!Robin, A!Tiki and Soren placing, though, I hope it continues! but this means I'm tempted to stray from my planned votes of 6 Tellius and one Dorothea, hmmm...

He is there, so that's already good news (and though his presence is a little out of left field, it doesn't not make sense), he's got nice art that looks a little retro, he's a staff unit so getting a demote statline won't stop him from being useful, he's got good skills (Dazzling? on a 4* unit?), and he's the demote so theoretically easier to get. I for one am pretty happy with the news. 😁 Always happy to see Nailah as well, and though Leanne is a cheerleader, at least she got something (and it doesn't stop her from getting to be the lead unit one day, maybe). Bit of a shame they didn't take advantage of her presence to make the harmonic a flying unit, but i suppose Leanne just doesn't have the Con to carry someone. (And that the game needed more cavalry refreshers.) Karla... has good art. But I'd have traded her or Deen for a Rafiel in a desert outfit.

It's true that it's a big element of her character, but equally true that, since she carries it precisely because she is one of the few people it doesn't affect, she wouldn't chose to use it to fight. A skill sounds right, maybe not representing the medallion itself but something referencing her order alignment, that lets her ignore debuffs, and called Medallion Bearer or something of the sort? On topic, I'll vote for Soren, Nasir, Ena and Dorothea in that order, then adjust based on the midterm results. Not expecting to be very invested in who wins this time, though, unless F!Robin or Azura somehow get more support than the non-F!Byleth 3H units.

Oh, for sure, but usually they at least pretend to care about their original pitch for a little longer than the third one in the line-up. (Sure, Fjorm and Gunthra didn't really do anything legendary, but they released them when they wanted us to think they would, and we got believable mythical heroes before Lif and Thrasir.)

I see, thank you. The context in which we got the first two didn't exactly made that clear. Basically. To be honest, I found that idea more interesting than if there is simply no lore reason, but if that's how it is, then okay. At least it lets them surprise us.

So who or what "ascended" him, so to speak? Fjorm got a boost from Nifl, Laegjarn from Muspell, what did Joshua get to qualify? (Not that I would be surprised if at some point they started picking whoever they wanted with flimsy explanations for how they're ascended, but it'd be a shame to happen so soon. At least go through the easy options like Naga-boosted Tiki or something before.)