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Solitair posted:All I recall about Seteth is that Danaru dunked on him a lot, I think because of the guy's beard. His beard is amazing, ok. Like, chinstraps don’t work for a lot of people but for him it does. Like a fuzzy coating of soft green moss.
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Sep 16, 2022 15:55
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MarmaladeSkies posted:His beard is amazing, ok. Like, chinstraps don’t work for a lot of people but for him it does. Like a fuzzy coating of soft green moss. I always like to remind people that it is very strongly implied that there is in-setting pornography of this man, and it gets passed around the monastery.
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Sep 16, 2022 15:57
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we actually get to read the 'in-universe pornography' in question in Three Hopes. it's not very interesting.
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Sep 16, 2022 16:19
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ungulateman posted:we actually get to read the 'in-universe pornography' in question in Three Hopes. it's not very interesting. Oh, I'm talking about non-written porn. Check the item description of the thing you give Manuela during the item trade sidequest. 
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Sep 16, 2022 16:32
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That particular sidequest is more than 10 updates in the future, but I'll try to get a description of the article in question. Lots to do in the meantime. Speaking of which, next update's on Saturday. 
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Sep 16, 2022 17:16
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LP seems promising so far, and I hope you avoid the aggro posting that ended the last 3H LP I followed.
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Sep 17, 2022 05:22
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Melomane Mallet posted:LP seems promising so far, and I hope you avoid the aggro posting that ended the last 3H LP I followed. Yeah there definitely needs to be a big, bold, NO DISCOURSE rule for the thread.
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Sep 17, 2022 17:58
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Bernie did nothing wrong
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Sep 17, 2022 18:36
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MarmaladeSkies posted:Yeah there definitely needs to be a big, bold, NO DISCOURSE rule for the thread. For a game whose biggest lasting value is the discourse? You'd just turn this thread into an identical copy of Danaru's LP thread, where people just use it to post Twitter fanart. Delphisage fucked around with this message at 18:47 on Sep 17, 2022 |
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Sep 17, 2022 18:44
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MarmaladeSkies posted:Yeah there definitely needs to be a big, bold, NO DISCOURSE rule for the thread. Delphisage posted:For a game whose biggest lasting value is the discourse? You'd just turn this thread into an identical copy of Danaru's LP thread, where people just use it to post Twitter fanart. My general feeling about "the discourse" is that while it's fine to discuss a character's actions and motivations, making judgments about whether a character was "right" or "wrong" is going to inevitably lead into people talking not about the game, but just about what their own moral codes say, and that's messy no matter what topic you're discussing. I tend to approach cases of in-universe values more on the question of, "Given what this character knew, and given what their goals were, and given the limitations of the world they live in, was there a way they could have achieved their goals in a better way than how it turned out?" Which I think is more productive than trying to attach one's own value system to a world in which it doesn't apply. What I feel is that as long as people can keep it civil, it'll be alright to discuss the matter once it comes up. But once again, no spoilers. There's plenty more about the game to talk about other than that particular thing.
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Sep 17, 2022 19:26
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Blastinus posted:I tend to approach cases of in-universe values more on the question of, "Given what this character knew, and given what their goals were, and given the limitations of the world they live in, was there a way they could have achieved their goals in a better way than how it turned out?" Which I think is more productive than trying to attach one's own value system to a world in which it doesn't apply. Does that mean I'm allowed to bring up moral precedent and setting detail from older FE games to judge these characters?
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Sep 17, 2022 19:32
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Delphisage posted:Does that mean I'm allowed to bring up moral precedent and setting detail from older FE games to judge these characters? I didn't say you were disallowed from doing it the other way, just that I thought it wasn't the best way to analyze fiction. As long as you don't get creepy with it, then knock yourself out.
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Sep 17, 2022 19:55
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If you are that eager to have the typical Three Houses chat, there's an entire thread devoted to that game. We'll be going through the routes in order from least informative to most informative. I personally think it's a great choice, to allow us to gradually gain more and more context to understand the characters and their motivations. It's also coincidentally a good idea to begin with Blue Lions due to a certain cinematic that the other routes lack, and that loses some of it's punch if you've seen the twist spelled out in the other routes. But in any case, When we've finished Blue Lions, we will lack a ton of info for why Edelgard and Claude acted the way they did, what they truly want, etc. I guess we'll end with Golden Deer, so Claude's motivations will be not entirely clear to us until the end. That should put certain limits on the discussions, namely that we can only talk about characters with the perspective of someone who only saw up to whatever playthrough we are at now, otherwise we'll violate the no spoilers policy. Which should limit the usual 3H discourse considerably.
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Sep 17, 2022 19:56
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Chapter 1: Three Houses The Academy This is going to be another jumbo-size update, so bear with me on this. I promise that this won't be the norm.  But first! Coming at you right out the gate with a surprise cutscene. Cutscene - The Academy (Highly Recommended Viewing)   This cutscene is meant to introduce us to the kids we're going to be leading, hopefully not to their dooms. While I could just break this down into stills, there are a number of fun character vignettes that are better to see in motion.    In situations like these, it's natural to ask questions like, "Who are the popular kids? Who are the preps? The nerds? The jocks?"    The answer of course is that they're all dorks and I love them all minus two or three. Feel free to guess about which ones.  While all that is going on, it's time for Byleth's first day of work, and that means chatting with the boss.  How is that even when she's smiling, I still feel like I'm going to spontaneously burst into flames?  Nonetheless, welcome to Exploration Mode. Hope you enjoy your stay, because we'll be seeing this a lot. Music - Life at Garreg Mach Monastery Fans of this game have mixed opinions about Exploration. For folks who mostly enjoy the Strategy part of this Strategy RPG, it can feel a lot like you're just running around doing mundane, boring tasks for people in a map that's honestly got a lot of empty space. But if you like interacting with characters outside of battles and want to flesh out their personalities, Exploration can be really great for that. For example:   : To start, please speak with the three house leaders. You should also take a look around the academy and acquaint yourself with your new home. That is your first task here at the monastery. Please let me know if you accept it. Once you have finished, come and speak with me. Quests aren't really as involved as the name would imply, but they are a great source of extra cash and weapons. This one's also super handy because we'll get to know more about the student body. But before we leave, there's a couple of familiar faces just lollygagging in one corner of the audience chamber.   : Frankly, we had someone else in mind for the role, but they ran off during our dustup with the bandits. Can't entrust students to someone who's abandoned them once before, huh? : You saved the lives of the students you came across. That, at least, was admirable. Now, you should make the rounds. Go around the monastery and see that you greet everyone.Considering that teachers are expected to fight alongside their students, Byleth's at least qualified in that sense.  Before we get into the school proper, I wanted to point out that our guy Byleth here seems to not entirely know how a jacket works. They've got those long cloth tubes you put your arms in, you know. He's using it more like a cape and it's frankly a miracle that it stays on his shoulders. I guess it's meant to be a fashion statement, which is fine, because without it, he's just some guy wearing armor.  The minimap is going to be your best tool for locating questgivers or just people to talk to. And as they say, you can zoom it out to get a map view of the entire school.  Well, I say the entire school but as we can see there's a lot that's still closed off. Game doesn't want us wandering off and losing track of our main objective.  You might notice all these dots on the minimap implying that we're actually surrounded by people, but there's nobody here. Or is there?   There's a highlights video at the end of this update and you can see the exact moment that the game finishes loading in everything. Loading assets is a problem that this game has, and to be fair they are pushing fairly hard against what this console is capable of. No offense to the Switch. It's capable of pulling off some amazing stuff like playing Doom friggin' Eternal, but it's no powerhorse in terms of processing. Anyhow, our job is to chat with the house leaders, and wouldn't you know it, here's one now!   : I never properly introduced myself, did I? My name is Edelgard von Hresvelg. I am the princess and heir apparent to the Adrestian Empire. I wonder if you'll be tasked with leading the Black Eagles...Edelgard is voiced by Tara Platt, and if she sounds familiar, it's because she's basically doing her Mitsuru Kirijo voice from Persona 3, which should tell you how long she's been in the voice acting biz. You may also recognize her as Katarina from League of Legends, Zero from Drakengard 3, and Anna Williams from the Tekken series. Put simply, she's had a long and varied career, and her performance in this game is outstanding. But I'm more comfortable writing than talking, so we're doing this in screenshots instead.   Here's a weird thing the game does for this introductory bit. The way the dialogue's presented, you'd think the game would start you talking to the students first, but actually the house leaders are laid out so you'll be running into them long before you actually get to the house meeting rooms where the other students are. So for the sake of readability and to help me organize my thoughts about them, I'm going to bundle the student introductions and the house leader comments together.  : What else... Well, it seems to me that we may have similar personalities.I'm not sure what of herself she sees in Byleth, but Edelgard isn't exactly the best judge of her own character to begin with. Strengths and Weaknesses have to do with the game's new system for raising skill ranks, but they're also a good way to gauge a character's general class progression. As for her personal skill, well...that's nothing surprising. All three of the Lords start with a boosted experience gain in order to help them become the big stars of their respective houses. (Hubert, played by Robbie Daymond)  : You may think his blood runs a bit cold, but... Heh, actually, that's rather accurate. Still, if you can get past that, you'll see he's quite astute and reasonable.(Petra, played by Faye Mata)  : Brigid is a vassal state of the Empire, which is how she came to be enrolled here. She's incredibly smart and studious.  : I heard you came to the aid of Her Highness. You have my most sincere thanks. This is Petra. She has come all the way from Brigid to study in the Empire. Back on her archipelago, she is actually a princess. In Fódlan terms, she would be called heir to the throne. Hubert is played by Robbie Daymond, who you might also know as the voice of Goro Akechi from Persona 5. And much like Akechi, Daymond's portrayal of Hubert is going to be playing the sinister voice to the hilt. He is really a treat to listen to. Unfortunately, due to him being heavily tied to the Black Eagles route, we won't get to learn much about him on this time around. Petra's gimmick is that she's earnest and nice, but she keeps flubbing her words because she's only just learning the language. There's a bit more to her if you go into the supports, but what we'll mostly see of her in this route is the same mangled translation joke over and over. It's not my thing. (Ferdinard von Aegir, played by Billy Kametz)  : His house is that of Duke Aegir, which produces Adrestia's Prime Ministers. That family is...perhaps too pleased with its own status.(Bernadetta, played by Erica Mendez)  : I believe she's shut herself away in her quarters and doesn't care to leave, but...don't worry. I'll make sure she finds her way to class.   : I am Ferdinand von Aegir, legitimate son of the Aegir family, the Empire's foremost house. Are you going to join our class? I look forward to getting better acquainted with you.Ferdinand von Aegir is played by the late Billy Kametz, who died from colon cancer in June of this year. He voiced Josuke Higashikata, the main character of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Diamond is Unbreakable, as well as Takuro Maruki in Persona 5 Royal. Big roles, those, and it's a shame that his career was cut so short. Ferdinand himself is played as someone with a seemingly boisterous personality who actually needs validation and loses his bluster quickly when rattled, as reflected in his personal skill only working when he's at full health. Bernadetta, by contrast, is someone who is constantly afraid of people judging her, yet has a great deal of talent that manifests itself when she's under pressure, hence why her personal skill activates when she's not at full HP. Erica Mendez brings a very convincingly distressed performance here that makes a character archetype that would normally be obnoxious actually very compelling and often surprisingly amusing. (Casper, played by Benjamin Diskin)  : He's overly energetic and rushes headfirst into any battle. If he ends up in your care, be sure to keep a close eye on him.(Linhardt, played by Chris Patton)  : If he had any work ethic or sense of duty to speak of, I suppose he would be destined to become an official of the Empire.  : The name's Caspar, by the way. Pleased to meet ya! : Yeesh, Linhardt. How'd you get into the academy with those manners? So, are you a student here too? Maybe we'll be in the same class!Benjamin Diskin has a really interesting 30-year acting career, starting when he was just a 5-year old kid. As Caspar, he plays him almost as a stereotypical shonen protagonist: loud, brash, reckless, always eager to jump right in to things. Only problem is, Caspar is in a strategy game, where reckless behavior gets one killed very quickly, and as we'll see when we get to the Black Eagles route, he's probably the axe specialist least suited to being a tank. Linhardt, interestingly enough, has the opposite problem, where his LACK of commitment or enthusiasm for almost anything makes him really ineffective as anything but a mage. And yeah, like Edelgard said, if we find him around the monastery, he'll be either studying or napping. (Dorotha, played by Allegra Clark)  : She's a songstress from a famous opera company in the Empire. I'm not entirely sure what brought her to the Officers Academy.  : Oh, my name is Dorothea. Before I joined the academy, I was a member of an opera company in the Empire. You should hear me sing sometime.Rounding out the Black Eagles is Dorothea, and while it seems from the outside like her character is entirely related to her singing ability and flirtatious nature, there's a lot more to her that mostly only comes out in supports.  Before we move on to the next batch of kids, there's someone here by the front gate who I think we all need to meet.   : As for me, my job is to stand here at this glorious entrance and leisurely watch over the comings and goings of everyone. Make folks smile, you know? Er...and by that, I mean...to vigilantly guard this entrance with my very life! No levity whatsoever. As of now, nothing to report.This is the Gatekeeper, and he'll be a constant presence in monastery life, always ready to give people a happy hello. Everyone loves the Gatekeeper, at least as far as I'm aware. I'm sure someone doesn't like him somewhere, but I don't want to know them.   From the Gatekeeper, we enter into the area with the house meeting rooms. We've already seen the Black Eagles, eccentric bunch as they are, so now let's get acquainted with a more down-to-earth and generally (but not entirely) easygoing house.   : I guess that means I'd better introduce myself properly. I'm Claude von Riegan. I'm from the ruling house of the Leicester Alliance, but don't worry too much about all that madness. I'm guessing you don't know which class you'll be teaching yet, do you? I bet you'd like ours. We're not as...difficult as the other two.Spoken like someone who hasn't tried to beat the last chapter of your path.  Okay then, once more, from the top.  : But what's life without a bit of mystery? Let's just spend the next year or so learning about each other, little by little.I feel like listing the roles of voice actors would be a lot easier if I actually knew more of these shows, but Joe Zieja has been in the business of voice acting since 2008, and these days he's working on Veggietales stuff. Kind of an interesting direction. I'm noticing actually that a lot of these actors were in One Punch Man at some point or other, which is also quite the connection. Regardless, there's something else I want to point out with Claude. You might have noticed with Edelgard that the white tome, or Faith, was one of her weak points, and that's also the case with Claude. The two of them may be more alike than they think. (Lorenz, ALSO played by Benjamin Diskin)  : That said, deep down he's really devoted and honest... Though I wouldn't mind never hearing him talk about his noble obligations ever again.  : My name is Lorenz Hellman Gloucester. You will want to remember it.I think I'm more likely to remember that hair. When Claude pegged his character as "noble obligation", he pretty much hit it straight on. Lorenz is going to act as if being polite or gracious is just what's expected of a man of his status, which makes it all the more surprising when he comes out with genuine expressions of kindness or thoughtfulness. It's easy to dismiss him as a stereotypical snob, but he actually has action to back up that ego, which makes him oddly compelling. Too bad about his stats though, but I'm getting ahead of myself. (Raphael, played by Zachary T Rice)  : Despite all that, he's just about the most cheerful guy you'll ever meet. His passions are training, eating, and... Actually, that's about it.(Leonie, played by Ratana)  : She's pretty blunt and as stingy as they come. A habitual saver, too. I think she's hoping to repay her village for helping to send her here.   : Hi, I'm Leonie Pinelli. Captain Jeralt's first and greatest apprentice! I'm sure he's told you about me? : Nice to meet you! I'm Raphael Kirsten. Who are you again?Raphael is big, strong, dumb, likes to eat and work out and otherwise be a chill, friendly guy. When he's not in your class, he'll just be a fixture of the dining hall, constantly in line for another helping of food. He may be a stereotype, but it's one that's played as big fun and he's never mocked for his size. It also helps that punching weapons are in this game and Raphael is handmade to be a Brawler. Leonie is...eh...you ever have that friend who builds their entire personality around having once met a celebrity of some kind? She'll sometimes mention hunting instead, but she's otherwise really one-note and just kinda bland. When thinking about Three Houses characters, I have to struggle to remember that Leonie exists. (Ignatz, played by Christian La Monte)  : If you ask me, doesn't seem like he truly wants to be a knight... He's probably just doing it to please his parents...(Lysithea, played by Janice Kawaye)  : But watch out! She gets angry if you treat her like a child. As for me, I do it on purpose. You have to make your own fun in this place, you know?Claude, you realize that if you intentionally tweak people all the time, it might make it hard for people to trust you?    : Ignatz Victor. My parents are Alliance merchants. : And I am Lysithea von Ordelia. Please do not forget it.Both really sweet kids, though as Claude said, Lysithea's a bit sensitive about being called one. Ignatz and Lysithea have deeper insecurities that they have to explore in their support conversations, but if you just see them around, they'll usually have nice things to say. Gameplay-wise, Ignatz's personal skill makes him easily the most accurate archer around, though for sheer power, no one beats Claude. Not a fair comparison, admittedly. As for Lysithea, she's often considered to be one of the most powerful characters in the game, thanks to a combination of a very strong pool of learned spells and a personal skill that lets her master any class she steps into in the blink of an eye. Her secondary specialty in swords also gives her a very useful tool for if magic isn't effective, so it's not a bad idea to hop her into physical classes. After all, she won't have to stay long in order to become a pro at that too. I'll get more into that in a later playthrough, but seriously, she's an absolute terror. (Marianne, played by Xanthe Huynh)  : She doesn't interact much with other students, so I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of folks here have never even heard her speak.(Hilda, played by Salli Saffioti)  : If you look up "lazy" in the dictionary...her picture won't be there because she never got around to submitting it. Not too unusual for a noble, I guess.  : I'm Hilda Valentine Goneril. And her name is... : Are you joining the Knights of Seiros or something? Well, I look forward to seeing more of you!Hilda is the "advisor" character of the Golden Deer, but unlike the other two who become closed off and don't really chat much if you're not in their house, Hilda remains as sociable as ever and can even be recruited on certain routes. Despite being characterized as lazy, she's just as level-headed and dutiful as the other advisors and tends to also be a massive powerhouse. Marianne, due to being shy and often depressed, tends to fade into the background a lot, though she is friendly when spoken to. Her voice actress also played Haru from Persona 5, a character with very similar traits. She's a bit of a weird character to build around because all her various traits seem to be asking for different things, but that won't be a concern of ours until we reach Golden Deer.  Last but not least, though kinda yes, are the Blue Lions. Once we get to know them, you'll see why I want to get them out of the way first.   : I am Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd, crown prince of the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus. Of course, at the academy I am simply a student. And I've heard word that you are to become a professor here. Delightful news. I still have much to learn, but I'm confident I could benefit greatly from your guidance. In any case, welcome to the monastery.Don't worry about Dimitri's generic politeness. Without giving too much away, he gets less bland later. His voice actor, Chris Hackney, has been involved in a number of Gundam projects, Dragon Ball Super, and he's yet ANOTHER One Punch Man alumnus. Feels like just about everyone in this game voice acted on that show. I don't mind his performance as Dimitri, but he's got this pseudo-superhero voice that he's putting on for the Academy Phase that makes everything he says seem like he's putting on an act. Which is entirely the case.  Honestly, these folks aren't bad, per se, but they have the unfortunate fate of being tied to a plotline that's...eh, we'll see it soon enough. Why spoil the surprise?  : I'm afraid my story has not been a pleasant one... I do hope that doesn't color your view of me, but I understand if that can't be helped.As I mentioned, our blue boy here is going to be interested mostly in physical classes, just not anything having to do with axes for some reason. He could be a very decent cavalry unit though with that lance emphasis. We'll see what we can do with him. (Dedue, played by Ben Lepley)  : He's rather taciturn, but once you get to know him, you'll see he's a kind and good-natured young man.(Ashe, played by Shannon McKain)  : He has an extremely earnest personality, so I'm certain he will approach your lectures with great enthusiasm.  : This here is Dedue. He serves Prince Dimitri.  : Should you ever require my strength, please know that I will hasten to repay this debt.I suspect I'll be wanting your tanking ability instead, but yes, strength is also good. Too bad about everything in between though. I'll get more into that when we actually lay out Dedue's stats, but he's a brick wall that hits like a brick wall but doesn't hit twice and often doesn't hit at all. That said, despite his tendency to convey his thoughts in very short sentences, he's not a dumb muscle like Raphael and often can be philosophical and insightful. Ashe is a very eager guy and helpful guy, and while I feel like he's inoffensive and generally I don't dislike him, he's just not very interesting to me. He's certainly a very capable unit and his personal skill lets you go without needing someone to go into the Thief/Assassin class, but at the end of the day, he'll probably not be the headline show for a Blue Lions run. Depending on if he gets speed or not, his axe proficiency can be a good side path for him though. (Felix, played by Lucien Dodge)  : He gravitates towards people who are skilled. Perhaps you would enjoy a friendly competition with him sometime.(Ingrid, played by Brittany Cox)  : She is diligent, industrious, and principled. In truth, she is more knightly than most knights you will ever meet.   : I look forward to sparring with you and beating you. : Felix, must you always speak of fighting right away? Oh! And, uh...you may call me Ingrid. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance.While on the surface, Felix seems like a guy who does nothing but train and challenge people, he's not much more pleasant underneath either. His grumpy nature and tendency to speak his mind on things is going to result in him saying stuff that really, REALLY shouldn't be said. Dimitri insists that he's a nice guy, but you have to dig deep deep down to find that. Gameplay-wise though, he might be the best fighter that the Blue Lions have, highly capable in swordplay and able to output some serious numbers. Ingrid is, to me, the rare example of a character in this game whose gimmick I find to be intensely grating. She's meant to be uptight, practical, and knightly, but that ends up often coming across as her being standoffish with others or shutting them down when they try to get closer to her. That being said, she is the character most suited to being a pegasus knight, so that gives her a niche that other characters don't fill nearly as easily. (Sylvain, played by Joe Brogie)  : Well, he's always been a bit of a...ahem, skirt chaser, so to speak. Pardon my bluntness. I speak with him about it often, but it doesn't seem to help.Oh, that's not the half of it. It's what he does to women after the skirt chasing that's the problem.   : I'm Sylvain Jose Gautier. Feel free to say hi whenever you like.That's to male Byleth. Mostly respectful and friendly. Here's how he approaches a female Byleth. Female Byleth Path posted:
Sylvain is another phenomenal character stat-wise, with specialties that let him slot into a number of different roles, up to and including a backup mage if that's your thing. And on harder difficulties, recruiting him into your team (a trivial task with female Byleth) is often a very good idea to supplement whatever weaknesses your team might have. He's also, unfortunately, another character whose personality trait is one I cannot stand. He gets better if you really dive into his supports, but he first starts out really, REALLY bad. We'll see that soon enough. Alright, last two. If this seems really overwhelming, imagine being a first-time player who's trying to take in all of this. This is why most Fire Emblem games don't give you almost your entire roster in the first chapter. (Mercedes, played by Dorothy Elias-Fahn)  : She may seem carefree on the surface, but she's actually a kind soul who pays careful attention to everyone around her.(Annette, played by Abby Trott)  : She's cheerful and hardworking. Brilliant, really. Though she can be a bit oblivious at times. I hear she caused an explosion in the kitchen last night...Ah, mixed up the gunpowder for the pepper. Could happen to anyone.    : Now that I think about it, that does sound like something Dimitri may have said... I suppose you'll be enrolling at the Officers Academy too, then? Well, it's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Mercedes, and this is my best friend– : I'm Annette! It's nice to meet you.Mercedes is actually one of the oldest students at the Academy at the age of 22, and she tends to show that through her maturity and grace, though she does have a tendency for dark humor now and then. Given how the Blue Lions often act towards one another, having an adult in the house can be really handy, and I really enjoy the perspective that Mercedes brings. She's not my favorite white magic-themed character, but gameplay-wise she does very well and I have no complaints about the way she typically turns out. Annette, on the other hand, is kind of a questionable mage, but I guess that makes sense since her character is overeager, clumsy, and easily flustered. On the other hand, her personal skill and the techniques she gains from Leadership make her very effective for applying buffs to people, which only makes sense, since she's one of the more studied characters in a house that's mostly muscle. Thanks to her being a klutz, she gets a decent amount of comic relief supports, and thank goodness for that, because the alternative is stuff like Felix & Ingrid. Oh boy...I'm rubbing my temples already thinking about that.   Introductions made. Quest over, and we have us a shiny new sword. The only ACTUAL requirement is that you speak to the three house leaders. You can step out of the conversation without asking about anyone and Rhea's still like "Yup, an effort was made."  Now we could just conclude this chapter, but we're still not through yet. We've got some staff to meet too, after all.  Over here, we have a rather colorful character.  Not much for talking though. The game doesn't really set flags for conversations you've had previously, so it assumes that in this Exploration segment, you ran around and met everybody. Not a very good assumption since a starting player would probably just talk to the students and be done with it. Worst part, if you don't make this introduction, the characters will later on be like "Hey, what about Professor Jeritza?" and you'll be like "Jeritza who?"   Fortunately for completionists, the game will note characters you haven't talked to yet. As we can see, there are folks to meet up on the second floor, right this way.  First off, this kid. What's his deal?   : OK now, what else did Lady Rhea need doing today?Well, that's just rude. This here's Cyril, and he's not going to be very open to us at first. That'll change though. Moving right along...   : That said, I'm merely here to assist. Apparently the current captain is getting on in years. I hear the captain has a hard time keeping up with the responsibilities of the job. (sighs) That's where I come in.I don't recall for certain, but I don't think we'll ever get to see the ACTUAL captain of the Knights of Seiros. Much like that teacher who ran away, I believe they're just going to be mentioned in passing. Next up, our Crest-obsessed wizard friend.   And by equipment, he mostly means this thingie on the floor.  I dunno, game, your text box is covering part of it up. But yes, if we check Byleth's character sheet, it tells us that he has a Mystery Crest. Whatever could it be, I'm pretending to wonder.  By the way, you can go into a 1st-person viewing mode with L2 if you want to get a better look at details like these. We'll familiarize ourselves with these myriad squiggles in due time. Right across the hall is Manuela, who I'm sure will be absolutely--   Uhhhh...  : Huh. That welcome didn't faze you at all, did it? What's the matter? Don't you like me? Or...are you just so innocent you don't understand me?UHHHHHHHH...  Y'know, this sure is an anatomy doll with a knife stuck in its forehead. How's about I chat with...literally anyone else.  This'll do.   : I am Tomas, the librarian. If you have need of me, do not hesitate to ask. I have worked here for...hm. I have lost track of the decades, it seems.Tomas the Librarian is the evil mastermind behind everything. You can tell by his sinister grandfatherly voice and that wicked smile. Mark my words, that man is up to no good. Naw, don't worry about him. He's just a background character and couldn't possibly harm anyone for at least seven chapters.  Right, that was a lot of work, but we're finally done. Don't say I don't go the extra mile for this. Music - Guardian of Starlight  : Hm. I suppose it is time for you to take charge of one of our three houses of students. I must note that I am personally against entrusting someone as lacking in trackable history as yourself with such a task, but it is as the archbishop desires.: The Black Eagles, the Blue Lions, and the Golden Deer… All so different. I hope you’ve made it a point to get to know each of them. : Since you are new here, we have decided to allow you first pick. Manuela and I will take charge of the remaining two houses. : (Which house will I choose...) : So, you have chosen the Blue Lions, led by Dimitri, correct?: Yes.And I hope I don't regret it. : Your heart has made its choice, then. All I ask is that you guide these open minds with virtue, care, and sincerity.: They are all promising youths who bear the weight of Fódlan’s future upon their shoulders. I hope you appreciate what an honor it is to lead them. : I am in the middle of something, Flayn. Is it urgent? : No, no, it’s nothing. More importantly... Who is this?: This is our newest professor at the academy. : I am Seteth’s little sister, Flayn. I am so happy to make your acquaintance.If you also count Sothis, this sure is a room full of people with green hair. You might think it's just a coincidence, but this is Fire Emblem. People having the same hair color is almost always significant. But how it's significant won't be apparent for a little while yet. : Let us focus on the topic at hand. There is something you should be aware of. : We will be using this battle as an opportunity to ascertain your own abilities as well. Please do not disappoint the archbishop. That is all.The mock battle will be a topic for next update. For now, we just have one last scene.  : Oh, I am so sorry, Professor; you just look the same age as the rest of us, and-- Oh, and I’m sorry I just said that too! I really must watch my tongue…: I don't mind if you treat me as a friend.: You say that, but...I just don't know about all of this.: I'll admit, it doesn't sit well with me either. After all, we wish to show you due respect. : After all, we’re already speaking this way to our future king, so we may as well relax our speech with our professor too, right?See, as casual as Sylvain is, sometimes that level of informality can help keep the Blue Lions on track. : Well, we’re not in the Kingdom, so it only goes to follow that we should all speak companionably. (sighs) I concede. If the professor says it’s fine, we ought to accept that kindness gratefully. : You don’t have to force yourself if it’s too difficult. You’re fine with that too, right, Professor?: (nods, faintly aware that in another timeline, a female version of himself is experiencing...)Female Byleth Path posted:
I take back anything nice I could ever say about Sylvain.  : Come to the training ground later. There, you will show me what you’re capable of.: You aren't wasting any time, are you, Felix? As it were, count me in for any such battle. This is a looooong pause right here. Doesn't take strong observational skills to know there's some tension in this house. : Pardon me, but I would also love to observe you in battle, for future reference. If that’s OK with you.: Ashe, I don’t have you speak of merely watching. You should join us as well.: (giggles) If you get injured, simply say the word, and I’ll patch you up straight away!: Your Highness, do take care not to go overboard.: You worry too much, Dedue. I'll be fine, I promise.Dimitri going overboard is a legitimate concern. Training lances don't grow on trees. : My companions, is there not something inherently wrong with crossing blades, as a way to bond with each other?: Huh, I never thought of it that way. Well, if that’s how you feel, I suppose you’ll just stay behind while the rest of us are at the training ground?: Ingrid, my dearest friend! You really are too hard on me.: Well then, Professor, what do you think? As you can see, the Blue Lion House is a lively bunch, but you’ll find none who work harder. As am I. Extras Highlights - Roll Call I'm not going to make a habit of doing video highlights for everything, but as an introduction to Exploration and to give you an idea of these kids' voices, I think it's a good idea. Pardon me for occasionally skipping people's dialogue. Bad force of habit.
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Sep 18, 2022 03:22
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Something I find very illuminating about this first part is paying attention to how each house leader describes the men and women (boys and girls, really) they're supposed to be leading. Edelgard is critical and incisive, constantly judging and evaluating what they're capable of from a remove. Hubert and Byleth are the only people she shows any concern for as people. Claude takes things seemingly casually, but shows a clear interest in analyzing his classmates' motives and goals. Dimitri personally knows his classmates better than his peers do theirs, and mainly discusses their history and character.
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Sep 18, 2022 03:35
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Let’s talk about that ridiculous jacket of Byleth’s! It’s based on a real piece of fashion called a Houppelande, which appeared in the 1300s in France and England. It was worn by professional classes, has an association with scholars, and even has a descendant in modern academic robes. It suits Byleth’s new duties as a teacher very well, but why he was wearing one as a feral mercenary boi is anyone’s guess. Also: Leonie. You do not have to go to school to become a mercenary. All you need to become a mercenary is a sword and some buddies willing to kill for gold with you. It’s not exactly an exclusive, high-class job.
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Sep 18, 2022 05:32
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The Three Houses/One Punch Man VA connection is because they both source voice actors from LA. Any dubs in certain areas (like LA or Texas) will have their own pool of VAs that tend to crop up. The larger the cast, the more actors they'll have to get and the higher chances of a crossover.
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Sep 18, 2022 10:48
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MarmaladeSkies posted:Let’s talk about that ridiculous jacket of Byleth’s! SoundwaveAU posted:The Three Houses/One Punch Man VA connection is because they both source voice actors from LA. Any dubs in certain areas (like LA or Texas) will have their own pool of VAs that tend to crop up. The larger the cast, the more actors they'll have to get and the higher chances of a crossover. Both really cool bits of information. Thanks, folks! By the way, just wanted to get this out of the way right off the bat.  For the Mock Battle, the game will be restricting us to 5 party members out of 9. Byleth and Dimitri are mandatory, so that leaves 3 party slots to our discretion. Normally you'd want to be careful about who you choose, but this is Normal/Casual, so I think we've got license to mess around a bit. Therefore, I made this poll here. Figure I'll leave that open for a few days and whoever's got the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd highest number of votes is our party for this engagement. First time trying this, so I don't know how it'll work out. Let me know if you run into problems casting votes. I'll also be adding character cards to the first page, which should help a little bit in casting votes. We haven't got a real chance to know any of these characters' skillsets, but that should give you a picture of their stats, at least.
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Sep 18, 2022 15:19
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Manuela  The delivery on that line was amazing.
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Sep 18, 2022 18:02
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There's been a bit of Gatekeeper backlash recently, especially after he was voted into Heroes, wherein his gimmick playstyle was basically invalidated within the year, but I'll always love that guy. The animals in his art are of Bladdyid, Hresvelg, and Riegan breeds, by the way, which is a nice touch.
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Sep 19, 2022 00:04
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So you're not recruiting Marianne for the Lions run? Support gods are mad at youtheshim posted:Manuela Byleth: I dont follow
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Sep 19, 2022 01:19
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Nissin Cup Nudist posted:So you're not recruiting Marianne for the Lions run? Support gods are mad at you Seriously. Marianne's supports with Dimitri are among my favorites in the entire game.
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Sep 19, 2022 01:23
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I'm laughing my rear end off at Sylvain's (lack of) poll numbers. Man, people really seem to like Mercedes. She always felt like such a nothing to me. I'm kind of surprised by the lack of ashe love in his profile. A thief with a mounted move range, wings, and canto is super powerful utility.
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Sep 19, 2022 03:05
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Nissin Cup Nudist posted:So you're not recruiting Marianne for the Lions run? Support gods are mad at you Cythereal posted:Seriously. Marianne's supports with Dimitri are among my favorites in the entire game. Well, I am planning on performing some recruiting anyhow due to Dimitri having supports with Alois and another member of the Knights of Seiros. So okay, I'll give it a shot. Don't say I don't do you folks any favors. Granted, that means training Byleth in a skill that's not very useful for him, but there's another way to alleviate that issue. Mostly involving showering Marianne in teddy bears. But we'll get to Recruitment pretty soon.
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Sep 19, 2022 03:11
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Faillen Angel posted:There's been a bit of Gatekeeper backlash recently, especially after he was voted into Heroes, wherein his gimmick playstyle was basically invalidated within the year, but I'll always love that guy. IIRC, the backlash was because his (and Marianne's) win in FEH was due to botting. Made me super sad because I love Marianne, and know she didn't win legitimately sucked. 
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Sep 19, 2022 04:27
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I don't think the botting for Gatekeeper was ever confirmed, but there were so many votes it's hard to tell. It's not like Jorge going from 72 votes to over four thousand, Gatekeeper received comparable numbers to Ike and whatnot.
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Sep 19, 2022 05:06
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Yeah, I saw the botting charges mostly from people that were pissed their preferred unit didn't get the top spot. Gatekeeper legitimately has a big following in the Three Houses fandom, so his win isn't unrealistic absent botting.
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Sep 19, 2022 06:53
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Blastinus posted:Worst part, if you don't make this introduction, the characters will later on be like "Hey, what about Professor Jeritza?" and you'll be like "Jeritza who?" Jeritza deez nuts
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Sep 19, 2022 09:49
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Jeritza, no! Hubert is deathly allergic to peanuts! Jeritza this pizza instead.
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Sep 19, 2022 11:36
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 So, clearly this poll is anyone's game (unless you're Sylvain). I'll let it run while I'm at work and then I'll close it so that I can get started on writing this update.
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Sep 19, 2022 13:00
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I admit it, I'm one of the three Sylvain votes. I simply voted for Felix, Ingrid and Sylvain on account of all three of them being childhood friends with Dimitri (and each other).
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Sep 19, 2022 13:11
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Torrannor posted:I admit it, I'm one of the three Sylvain votes. I simply voted for Felix, Ingrid and Sylvain on account of all three of them being childhood friends with Dimitri (and each other). Hey, no worries. All of the Blue Lions are viable units, some of them incredibly viable. Any vote is sensible to me in this bunch.
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Sep 19, 2022 13:45
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I think Sylvain is an interesting character and an abhorrent person until his character development kicks in fully. Although he's part of some amusing comedy skits with the Lions.
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Sep 19, 2022 13:59
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Cythereal posted:Something I find very illuminating about this first part is paying attention to how each house leader describes the men and women (boys and girls, really) they're supposed to be leading. It's worth noting that Edelgard cares very strongly for her housemates, but is keeping them at an emotional distance for backstory spoiler reasons. She's not heartless, she's just trying to harden herself.
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Sep 19, 2022 15:17
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Ryushikaze posted:It's worth noting that Edelgard cares very strongly for her housemates, but is keeping them at an emotional distance for backstory spoiler reasons. She's not heartless, she's just trying to harden herself. You mean... she's putting on an act to hide her true feelings? Just like Dimitri, Claude, and Rhea? Say it ain't so!
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Sep 19, 2022 15:18
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Usually I just dump Dedue on the bench for the lions immediately because he has absolutely no interactions outside of his house and unlike every other lion you're not screwing yourself if you dump him. That being said he is very good on the early maps, so no surprise that he's being recommended here.
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Sep 19, 2022 15:23
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Cythereal posted:You mean... she's putting on an act to hide her true feelings? Just like Dimitri, Claude, and Rhea? Say it ain't so! It ain't. Rhea isn't hiding her feelings at all, no matter how hard she tries to do so.
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Sep 19, 2022 18:11
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I always pick Dedue. He’s one of my favorite characters. I mean yeah, his Speed kinda strangles his attacking ability (it can be mediated by cramming stat enhancers down his throat, but you can say the same about anyone), but from a characterization standpoint…
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Sep 19, 2022 20:40
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The only discourse I'm invested in is Leonie discourse. She's actually really cool and down-to-earth! Her Byleth supports just suck.
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Sep 19, 2022 21:59
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Blue Labrador posted:Her Byleth supports just suck. In a game centered around a player proxy, failing to court the player is a death sentence.
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Sep 19, 2022 22:05
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