Serenes Forest's Teehee Thread

[Acacia Sgt]

You know, the title of the track could perhaps not be too out of place as an Atelier subtitle. Atelier Alfimi, the crossover you weren't expecting.

Edited January 11, 2023 by Acacia Sgt

[Interdimensional Observer]

1 hour ago, Armagon said:

Because given how much power imagination holds, making it so that representation is only for strictly human (as in Homo Sapien) characters is a bit....restrictive. 

The issue of this is why I hadn't brought up a certain someone earlier. 

The issue of this is why I hadn't brought up a certain someone earlier.

Being a magic android of a kind does limit the extent to which Guillo can feel real and relatable to people IRL, since they aren’t human and have no biological sex.

Nonetheless, I think we can agree that Guillo’s design is very unusually queer for an automaton (things could've been DIFF-RENT). And we do concur that Guillo is one of Monolith Soft's finest characters.😄

As for alien/nonhuman species as queer rep, they are potentially one degree less unrelatable than intelligent robots I would say.

• Potentially, because humans are organic, other species are also organic, robots (setting aside things like Realians) are not organic.
• However, other intelligent species could significantly deviate from human in...:
  • Reproduction methods
  • Life cycles
  • Physical differences caused by one's biological sex
  • General external appearances apart from sexual dimorphism (deviating more from humans than androids might)

...and as result could be in various circumstances considered no more relatable than androids.

[GuardianSing]

Ace Attorney Spoilers just in case.

Spoiler

This says it all for me really.

This entire sequence was just incredible.

"I...I love you"

And thus...my time with the first Ace Attorney ends here. I loved it, S tier Fire Emblem gam-

WHAT?!!?

 

[Acacia Sgt]

6 minutes ago, Edelguardiansing said:

Ace Attorney Spoilers just in case.

  Hide contents

This says it all for me really.

This entire sequence was just incredible.

"I...I love you"

And thus...my time with the first Ace Attorney ends here. I loved it, S tier Fire Emblem gam-

WHAT?!!?

 

Spoiler

The parrot sequence was certainly the icing of the cake. XD

Yep, added to the DS version, the fifth case. I believe it was in part done like a preview/tease to Apollo Justice... and for now that's all I'll say on the matter. Although, it's mostly game mechanics wise, not so much its story... still, I won't say more for now.

 

Edited January 11, 2023 by Acacia Sgt

[GuardianSing]

27 minutes ago, Acacia Sgt said:

  Reveal hidden contents

The parrot sequence was certainly the icing of the cake. XD

Yep, added to the DS version, the fifth case. I believe it was in part done like a preview/tease to Apollo Justice... and for now that's all I'll say on the matter. Although, it's mostly game mechanics wise, not so much its story... still, I won't say more for now.

 

Spoiler

Apollo Justice? But isn't there still the rest of the trilogy?

 

[Acacia Sgt]

14 minutes ago, Edelguardiansing said:

  Hide contents

Apollo Justice? But isn't there still the rest of the trilogy?

 

Well, when they decided to add new content to the DS ports, they choose the first game for it. An interview reveals they wanted to bridge the first two games better in certain aspects. Which ones? I won't say, since it'd be spoilers. Then, since the games were originally for the GBA, the DS ports didn't changed a whole lot mechanics wise, but did had a couple of additions. Some whole trilogy wise, but others unique to the fifth case of the first game. Another interview reveals those additions were mostly for the Western Audiences to enjoy. Apollo Justice, being a DS game right off the bat, would also include those features. So I guess it was also a test course for how could they use the DS when making AA games? Could be.

Edited January 11, 2023 by Acacia Sgt

[Acacia Sgt]

 

[Acacia Sgt]

Ah, over a thousand written words in one sitting. What can I say, I felt inspired. Got to take advantage of the drive while it lasts. But well, it's now late at night, so gotta stop for now...

[Saint Rubenio]

8 hours ago, BrightBow said:

Long range magic in FE6 simply has no weight. That's all there is to it.

A strange decision for sure. In FE5 they all still had capped weight. Since Con in FE5 does not work for magic, this meant doubling with long range was impossible.

 

5 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Only 10 Wt for Bolting in Binding. Normal Mode 14x boss is... 12 AS. It wouldn't be impossible with a sufficiently heavy weapon and while ferrying someone for a peg to get doubled. An Iron Lance is 8 Wt, Shanna promoted has 5 Con. If she had 10 pre-AS loss as was stated, it'd be 7 afterwards if she was using one of those, so across the being-doubled threshold. Equipping a Slim Lance or Iron Sword could've saved her life.

Ah yes, I always forget about this. Still, even while rescuing, for a falcoknight to get doubled... That's pathetic.

8 hours ago, Edelguardiansing said:

Sometimes I wonder if I've ruined this thread with how many socio-political debates I've sparked.

Made it better you mean

Quote

But anyways about Rosado, I don't want to look into the conversation too much since I'm trying to enter Engage mostly blind but I am praying that Rosado will represent huge progress in LGBTQ representation in FE.

I would not be too hopeful.

7 hours ago, Shrimpy -Limited Edition- said:

something something hero something something villain

Only for a good cause.

Quote

+100.

I always hate the "Look how others have it worse you will be thankful"

Like bro, this just makes me hate the world more, as it's used as an aguement to stop trying making things better, for yourself and others.

I like the "how much better can we be" line of thought much more.

Yes, I agree with you there. That argument is just unhealthy.

5 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

*Checks game out of curiosity*

Heaven & Hell-themed. I see.

Well, Gabriel would be the most "sensical" archangel for defying gender norms. I'm not sure why, but Gabriel, despite usually being depicted as male over the history of the Abrahamic religions, in modern times has not infrequently in popular entertainment been depicted as female (ignoring that angels minus the fallen ones don't have sex and are technically sexless, genderless beings). The other well-known archangels- Michael, Raphael, and to a lesser extent Uriel, haven't been sometimes-feminized, only Gabriel.

Gabriel making people act unwise, I suppose.

4 hours ago, Sooks said:

I changed my mind, I don’t really care that much who wins CYL. The pity trophy is more interesting anyway, and I would assume my votes are somewhat more impactful there.

And I feel like being nice, so let’s go Frost.

 

Big McSpankies from McThankies!

4 hours ago, Sooks said:

My uncle from Nintendo called. Timerra is buff now.

I am not impressed.

Quote

So is her mom, who’s actually playable.

Impossible!

2 hours ago, Edelguardiansing said:

This says it all for me really.

No but friends

2 hours ago, Edelguardiansing said:

This entire sequence was just incredible.

It's one of the most infamous sequences in the series for a reason.

2 hours ago, Edelguardiansing said:

WHAT?!!?

That was my reaction as well, back in the day.

That's one of my favorite cases, by the way. It drags on a bit, but it's great, and it features one of my favorite characters in the series.

[Codename Shrimp]

7 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

I offer my sympathy

tyty!
I hope you can find something in the history field you so love!

7 hours ago, Eltosian Kadath said:

Want to become a teacher instead?

 

School teacher - hell no XD

University teacher - that was actually my original plan....

6 hours ago, Sooks said:

although it’s going to get worse after Thursday

rip.

Hang in there, and rememeber:

Engage almost there!

 

[Loliko]

8 hours ago, Armagon said:

I don't think the bolded factors have anything to do with it tbh.

On their own , they could be brushed off as something else , it's more so when everything piles up that it becomes a bit suspicious. It's even weirder since we got the Goldmary tweet today with a translation of the Rosado support , and he wants to learn how to cook so he would be even cuter than her , not because he's especially interested in cooking something special ; this kind of competitive and self conscious attitude is something that can be pretty common among trans people , being better at girlish stuff than the girls around them and vice versa for being better at boyish than the boys around them.

Granted , I also think this could just be Rosado's sass speaking in general , he seems pretty confident in himself and has a lot of bravado , so perhaps it could just be his pride at stake lol. All of this at the end of the day is pre-release speculation , and we'll get a much cleaner picture in barely a week. I'm staying open minded to the possible outcomes.

8 hours ago, Eltosian Kadath said:

Oof, our boy isn't doing great in your game it seems.

Oh no , he's doing fantastic at weakening ennemy archers and priests for Sophia. Truly a gentleman 

[Codename Shrimp]

[Codename Shrimp]

Another "Gameplay Jooooooooooooooooo, Story Boo" preview

Nothing new honestly

[Saint Rubenio]

27 minutes ago, Loliko said:

On their own , they could be brushed off as something else , it's more so when everything piles up that it becomes a bit suspicious. It's even weirder since we got the Goldmary tweet today with a translation of the Rosado support , and he wants to learn how to cook so he would be even cuter than her , not because he's especially interested in cooking something special ; this kind of competitive and self conscious attitude is something that can be pretty common among trans people , being better at girlish stuff than the girls around them and vice versa for being better at boyish than the boys around them.

Granted , I also think this could just be Rosado's sass speaking in general , he seems pretty confident in himself and has a lot of bravado , so perhaps it could just be his pride at stake lol. All of this at the end of the day is pre-release speculation , and we'll get a much cleaner picture in barely a week. I'm staying open minded to the possible outcomes.

Honestly, regardless of what it turns out to be, I just wish they took the leap and actually did go for it and made him trans. It'd be an interesting new concept to explore, in a series that loved to rely on retreading ground. But like I said before, as long as they don't waste him on the lame gag, he'll be all right, in my opinion.

Quote

Oh no , he's doing fantastic at weakening ennemy archers and priests for Sophia. Truly a gentleman 

A true Jeigan to make Marcus proud!

3 minutes ago, Shrimpy -Limited Edition- said:

Another "Gameplay Jooooooooooooooooo, Story Boo" preview

Nothing new honestly

Pretty sure I recognize that footage. Isn't that just the friggin' GameSpot preview from a few weeks ago?

EDIT: No wait, I got confused. I think it's just trailer footage. Boooooring.

Edited January 11, 2023 by Saint Rubenio

[BrightBow]

I feel like on Normal Mode enemies just die to quickly to really take advantage of the combo options.
I started to only play on Nightmare Mode, just for the extra bulk on enemies.

[Lightchao42]

I thought Mecha was going to be the only new ability, so maybe there will be more new features than I thought? Hmm...

16 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Power of horny, huh.

That does not work on me.

Well it's pretty well drawn so that's not the only reason I like it.

12 hours ago, Armagon said:

The Doctor canonically has a doctorate in everything.

Literally, when people ask him, he tells them that he's a Doctor of everything. 

Doctor Who has been around for 60 years now, so I assumed the question of "is the Doctor actually a doctor" would be acknowledged somewhere.

11 hours ago, Sooks said:

My uncle from Nintendo called. Timerra is buff now.

Nice try, that'll only work on Armagon I think. Now, if you made Jade buff then maybe it would work...

[Loliko]

3 hours ago, Shrimpy -Limited Edition- said:

Another "Gameplay Jooooooooooooooooo, Story Boo" preview

Nothing new honestly

I think a lot of reviewers don't realize that 3H's cast got a lot more screen time because each route focused on 10 characters at a time , making everyone talk in pretty much every cutscene , and making everyone in the same house support with everyone. Not to count that 3H was designed by making permadeath as little attractive as possible to engage with , the game doesn't think you're gonna let anyone die. Engage has to cope with 30+ characters and only having a single route , not to count that all retainers and paralogues characters probably won't get additional scream time after getting recruited , and would probably see a definite death if fallen on the battlefield.

But to some extent , I do like having more limited screen time and support. A few good conversations can make a character sometimes , you don't need to go overboard : It's why I really like Cath and Trec from FE6 as an example. Even if a character is "simple" , interacting with the right person or adding the right twist can make them very memorable : it makes them more focused and avoid something repetitive... That and I am definitely guilty of the meme "What I made up about the character VS What's stated in game" 

3 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

A true Jeigan to make Marcus proud!

I do admit that before getting Sophia , I didn't realized how offense oriented my squad was , everyone just one round every ennemy but cannot take damage to save their lives beside my Trec (Noah as well , but he's unpromoted rn). And I fear that Sophia would just follow in their footstep and do the exact same--

To update on my playthrough , I went through chapter 15 without too many problems. I thought that bringing my two level 1 mages would prove problematic , but ultimately I used Lilina to set up like 4 kills for Sophia... And my Sophia kept landing those 50/60% hit rates so I was pretty happy overall. She's got pretty high magic and res but that 4 speed makes me sad , so I'll give her my body ring so she doesn't lose 2 extra speed points on top of that lol. In fact I wanted to give my speedwing to Wolt , but the more I attempt Chapter 16 , and the more Sophia gets ambushed by this same steel sword mercenary from the stairs , and the more I consider giving it to her.

But other than this incovenience that could be solved easily (why do I keep forgetting to block the stairs on the right side of the map) , my master plan for chapter 16 is working relatively well. Gonna share it once I'm done.

[Codename Shrimp]

5 minutes ago, Loliko said:

I think a lot of reviewers don't realize that 3H's cast got a lot more screen time because each route focused on 10 characters at a time , making everyone talk in pretty much every cutscene , and making everyone in the same house support with everyone.

Yup.

Not to mention even genre wide the 3H houses characters are pretty damn high quality, and will be very hard to be overdone by other FEs.

Well, FE4 Remake could do that if they characterize them more, maybe.

And since 3H has the most newcomers, Engage is probably a whiplash to them. But they also need to learn that FE is ever changing and doesn't stay the same Ü

[Codename Shrimp]

 

@Saint Rubenio

[Armagon]

Finished both the Squid Girl manga and anime.

It's peak.

12 hours ago, Acacia Sgt said:

You know, the title of the track could perhaps not be too out of place as an Atelier subtitle. Atelier Alfimi, the crossover you weren't expecting.

Bonus points if Alfimi is just a nickname and her real name is something much longer.

9 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Nonetheless, I think we can agree that Guillo’s design is very unusually queer for an automaton (things could've been DIFF-RENT). And we do concur that Guillo is one of Monolith Soft's finest characters.😄

TRUE

9 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

• However, other intelligent species could significantly deviate from human in...:
  • Reproduction methods
  • Life cycles
  • Physical differences caused by one's biological sex
  • General external appearances apart from sexual dimorphism (deviating more from humans than androids might)

...and as result could be in various circumstances considered no more relatable than androids.

That is true. I think the main two factors would be the bolded part, the first because aside from slapping tits, fictional race design doesn't really make a distinction from male and female. But this is connected to the second bolded point, in which is external appearances but depending on how different they look. Once again bringing them up because they are great

Juniper is non-binary. While everyone in Xenoblade 3 is referred to as "human" (other than Nopon for obvious reasons), Juniper does have non-human traits, mainly the Gormotti and Blade Eater traits. So they visually look enough like a human. You could say this about the Laguz as well.

To take another example, The Owl House is a show that's been pretty much unanimously praised, in part thanks to it's excellent handling of a lesbian romance between a human and an elf. I don't really know much about Owl House lore other than the magic world people do biologically have an organ that lets them do magic but aside from that, Amity is for all intents and purposes a human, even if not a biological one.

Now if you take a character design like uh

and said they were LGBT or something then......yeah it could work but it could have less effect (unless all the characters in the story are this, as in there are no Homo Sapiens anywhere). But even then, it's not an absolute. Because as you mentioned earlier, Guillo's design is pretty queer for an android.

Tl;dr as with everything, execution matters. To go back to Doctor Who, Michelle Gomez was the first woman to play the role of The Master and it was handled well and received praise. Jodie Whittaker was the first woman to play The Doctor and it was handled.....less well and received *cough* criticism. Ncuti Gatwa is the first black actor to play The Doctor and while we have to wait and see, RTD is the showrunner again so Gatwa's likely in good hands.

4 hours ago, Loliko said:

All of this at the end of the day is pre-release speculation , and we'll get a much cleaner picture in barely a week.

God, it's really that close to release huh. 

Felt like yesterday that the game was announced.

38 minutes ago, Loliko said:

Engage has to cope with 30+ characters and only having a single route , not to count that all retainers and paralogues characters probably won't get additional scream time after getting recruited , and would probably see a definite death if fallen on the battlefield

Heck, even the secondary royals aren't safe. Celine can die, which means Alcryst, Hortensia and Fogado can all die as well.

If we're lucky, this could change some Support Convos ala PoR but i doubt it.

35 minutes ago, Shrimpy -Limited Edition- said:

 

@Saint Rubenio

In the follow up (quote) tweet, she said he's "definitely a good guy"

 

[Saint Rubenio]

Quote

Well it's pretty well drawn so that's not the only reason I like it.

"I read it for the pictures."

Quote

Nice try, that'll only work on Armagon I think. Now, if you made Jade buff then maybe it would work...

You underestimate my power.

...Though I definitely prefer Sfoglia.

1 hour ago, Loliko said:

But to some extent , I do like having more limited screen time and support. A few good conversations can make a character sometimes , you don't need to go overboard : It's why I really like Cath and Trec from FE6 as an example. Even if a character is "simple" , interacting with the right person or adding the right twist can make them very memorable : it makes them more focused and avoid something repetitive... That and I am definitely guilty of the meme "What I made up about the character VS What's stated in game" 

Hey, that's a nice point.

Though, in all fairness, I think FE6's cast is vastly underrated. Like, yeah, I agree, getting those supports is horrible, but people just write off these characters based on this completely unrelated technical failure. The supports themselves are of surprisingly high quality. There's quite a few gems hiding in this unassuming roster.

Quote

I do admit that before getting Sophia , I didn't realized how offense oriented my squad was , everyone just one round every ennemy but cannot take damage to save their lives beside my Trec (Noah as well , but he's unpromoted rn). And I fear that Sophia would just follow in their footstep and do the exact same--

To update on my playthrough , I went through chapter 15 without too many problems. I thought that bringing my two level 1 mages would prove problematic , but ultimately I used Lilina to set up like 4 kills for Sophia... And my Sophia kept landing those 50/60% hit rates so I was pretty happy overall. She's got pretty high magic and res but that 4 speed makes me sad , so I'll give her my body ring so she doesn't lose 2 extra speed points on top of that lol. In fact I wanted to give my speedwing to Wolt , but the more I attempt Chapter 16 , and the more Sophia gets ambushed by this same steel sword mercenary from the stairs , and the more I consider giving it to her.

But other than this incovenience that could be solved easily (why do I keep forgetting to block the stairs on the right side of the map) , my master plan for chapter 16 is working relatively well. Gonna share it once I'm done.

Noah, Treck, Sophia... at this point I'm tempted to just ask you to share your tema when you get to the end of the game. It sounds like a positively amazing selection of characters.

Anyway, I'm already looking forward to your grand scheme for Chapter Douglas! You know, that's always been one of my favorite maps, in this game and the series. I love how much is going on in it, between Hugh, Dougy, Zeiss, the two treasure rooms and all the enemies scattered about... One time I didn't have enough dough to pay Hugh, so I had to warp Astore ahead and have him open a chest with money in it before Hugh reached me!

1 hour ago, Shrimpy -Limited Edition- said:

 

@Saint Rubenio

Move over, Lumera and forgettable anime teens.

Vandad in da house!

27 minutes ago, Armagon said:

In the follow up (quote) tweet, she said he's "definitely a good guy"

Okay, actually? I believe I said it before, but... Vandad dying anticlimatically would disappoint me. Vandad turning traitor? Well... then it depends. Some of my favorite villains of all time are traitors. Vandad's treachery might only elevate him as a character, provided he's written and utilized well enough.

Of course, I expect this is more likely to just be a wonky translation than anything else, and she didn't actually mean anything by that.

 

Funnily enough, I just saw a comment in this video that's pretty interesting, in the context of this conversation.

"5:08 Vander: everything the light touches. Is your kingdom
Alear: but it's nighttime
Vander: exactly, it's all mine now gtfo"

Imagine if that's actually how it goes in the game, Vandad just declares himself King of Somniel and kicks everyone out singlehanded with his Vandad powers

Incidentally, this video continues to prove Sommie is the greatest character in games

Edited January 11, 2023 by Saint Rubenio

[Acacia Sgt]

28 minutes ago, Armagon said:

Bonus points if Alfimi is just a nickname and her real name is something much longer.

Haha, unfortunately, Alfimi is her actual name.

Though if we get technical, then it's more like Einst Alfimi in full, and if we double down on the technicality, she's essentially:

Spoiler

Einst Alfimi Browning

 

28 minutes ago, Armagon said:

The glowing eyes would've fit better here too. lol

28 minutes ago, Armagon said:

God, it's really that close to release huh. 

Felt like yesterday that the game was announced.

Ah, so true. Gonna eat through my SRW T time, but well, it's manageable.

 

[Dayni]

1 hour ago, Lightchao42 said:

I thought Mecha was going to be the only new ability, so maybe there will be more new features than I thought? Hmm...

So Kirby can beat Anakin now. Interesting.

9 minutes ago, Armagon said:

To take another example, The Owl House is a show that's been pretty much unanimously praised, in part thanks to it's excellent handling of a lesbian romance between a human and an elf. I don't really know much about Owl House lore other than the magic world people do biologically have an organ that lets them do magic but aside from that, Amity is for all intents and purposes a human, even if not a biological one.

There's also an NB character who's become praised in the second season, including their relationship with a separate main character, though both are witches (which are seemingly treated either as a species or a more broad collective of same) so not as relevant.

4 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Move over, Lumera and forgettable anime teens.

Vandad in da house!

It'll be Switch 4 before we get a Vander this good looking.

5 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Funnily enough, I just saw a comment in this video that's pretty interesting, in the context of this conversation.

"5:08 Vander: everything the light touches. Is your kingdom
Alear: but it's nighttime
Vander: exactly, it's all mine now gtfo"

Vandad no!

[Saint Rubenio]

Oh God wait. I just google translated the Japanese part of her twit.

It's actually WORSE. It's not just "he's definitely a good guy". It actually says something more along the lines of "ABSOLUTELY... DEFINITELY a nice old man."

Mika why, don't play with my heart like that

1 minute ago, Punished Dayni said:

It'll be Switch 4 before we get a Vander this good looking.

His monocle alone elevates the Switch's capabilities. Who needs sturdy tech when you can render the Vandercle?

1 minute ago, Punished Dayni said:

Vandad no!

How dare you! Even forgetting... who raised you! You... stupid deity!

- Vandad probably

[Armagon]

44 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Okay, actually? I believe I said it before, but... Vandad dying anticlimatically would disappoint me. Vandad turning traitor? Well... then it depends. Some of my favorite villains of all time are traitors. Vandad's treachery might only elevate him as a character, provided he's written and utilized well enough.

Inb4 Gunter 2.