Engaging with Fire Emblem in Court

Alcryst's lack of self-esteem is also what makes him so vengeful

Alcryst struggles at valuing himself, but he has an easy time valuing everyone else. He values everyone else so much that he's fiercely protective of them

It's a weird correlation

I think Fire Emblem OSTs are just supernaturally destined to be good, so already I think believing any game so far has overall poor, bland or boring music is an extremely tough pill to swallow.

But the general absurdity of saying that the music is anything to give Engage shit for???

Not only do the five main countries all have corresponding themes, they also play into the plot progression like every other FE game. Faraway Holy Land is the introductory, wistful theme. Bloom in the Breeze is the beginnings of a journey. Royal Confidence raises the stakes with its booming military horns, strings and drums. Tear Streaked and Broken Bonds both represent reactions to loss, the vengeful and the desperate despondence. Bright Sandstorm is the free-wheeling recuperation period after the big midpoint. And they each have their own spinoff themes that remix their respective leitmotifs!

Falling Petals is disastrously beautiful. Determined Journey is rallying and adrenaline pumping. Distorted Flash of Light is hauntingly exhilarating. Salvation and Loss is creepy and foreign. Both Last Engage and Mirrored Engage are bombastic!

Or even the non battle themes, like gorgeous and melancholy Silver-White Heart, the creepy Fell Dragon's Hounds, the faintly wondrous title screen theme or Twelve Stars, the fun intro song and the beautiful credits song? The preparations themes? The support themes, like the heartwarming Sentimental Moment or Caring? The funny Hiya Papaya? Even An Everyday sort of Day is pretty delightful to listen to!

And that's all before getting into the series remixes!

Fandom Problem #12,632:

People claiming a relationship is "comphet" or "lavender marriage" even when they're societally looked down on in some way or otherwise risk more than they gain from this relationship, (an interracial relationship during segregation, for example, or a character choosing to pursue love even if it gets them disowned and disinherited from their family) because they're so self-centered and narrow-minded that no identity outside of "gay" matters to them.

Céline is my favorite character from Firene is my favorite character of that region. I do agree with the people that say of the Engage characters, the ones in Firene are the weaker written of the bunch. That said, Céline is not one of them for me.

Having Celica be her canon Emblem is one of the smartest choices Engage has made on an in game level and a meta level. And this is because of the truth behind Alfred and his condition. This alone does enough to make me realize why Céline is the way she is.

Her love for Tea is her coping mechanism knowing full well her brother will die of his illness. Which is expressed in her support with Alcryst. When that time comes, she has to be the one to take up the role as queen. And I feel this is the source behind the other defining aspect of her character: her ruthless towards her enemies.

This ruthlessness, as Alear puts it in her support, is because of her love towards what she wishes to protect; Firene. This is something I feel people miss about Céline’s character. Céline’s kindness is the source behind her actions; hence why, in her support Louis, when she learns that he got hurt securing special tea leaves for her, she refuses to drink it.

This is also the reason I love her battle dialogue against her alternate self. Our would never resort to war for Firene’s sake. Which makes it all the more fitting that her evil counterpart would use Emblem Edelgard in the final battle of the Fell Xenologue.

And that’s not to say that Céline can’t be ruthless; in the manga version of the story, she calmly expresses her rage towards Veyle (which hurts more because of the truth about her). Her supports with Alear show that she killed some bandits with a cunning plan. A beautiful rose has thorns, after all.

it's a great foundation for a beautiful friendship, but I truly don't believe that it deepening into romance cheapens it (esp as someone who believes strong friendships are the CORE of strong relationships)

especially when people are fine shipping other pairs for FAR less. which, obviously, is fine. have fun with it.

but diamant is ACTUALLY vulnerable with her, speaking of his deepest insecurities (his uncertainty towards being king). whereas even with his own brother, it's pulled out of him by circumstance (alcryst finding him in the middle of a panic attack), with alear being the only other person he opens up to willingly.

with ivy he does it without thinking, which speaks to a certain comfort

ivy herself has been raised to keep her suspicions up with the people around her, because of her harsh and treacherous upbringing. but it's specifically diamant's sincerity (and vulnerability) that helps to lower her walls, and allows her to see him for the kind and genuine person he is. the sort of people she needs in her life. it is a common theme in her supports: learning to open up to people, finding genuine friendship and connection; diamant's support is NO different

she explicitly points out his kindness in their JPN support, which is also the exact point where she's inspired to make the necklace, after hearing about his worries for the future of brodia and elusia, and his inability to find a path forward for them

she uses the gem he gave her in a moment of kindness, and SHOWS him a new path. brodia's resources, traded and used for elusian art. this is the way their countries can find peace. they literally give each other inspiration and courage to make the changes they've long wanted to see.

it's a touching moment of shared humanity and connection between two people dictated to be enemies by society and circumstance (and them rising above this feeds so well into engage's themes), bridging a gap that was once there - both personally, and professionally.

it's perfectly okay if it's not your cup of tea. but there's a lot to this relationship that compels and speaks to people (queer people included lmao since y'all love to paint this as a "straight" thing), and it's so exhausting to see folks act as if diamivy have No dynamic, barely like each other, are just smashed together for no reason when literally every other shipper of this pair I know love these two as characters DEEPLY

She's called Lapis, not Lazuli.

She is quite literally just a regular run-of-mill girl trying to seem less like a common villager and her name reflects that. She tricked you by making you think she was inspired by a precious rock but she's just an ordinary stone - just like how retainers of royalty are expected to come from well-off backgrounds but Lapis was a regular village girl.

Being blue would have taken away from that aspect of her character. The reds and pinks were a great choice to make her stand out to the players while also making her feel at home in Brodia because red is the main colour of Brodia. All 9 named brodia characters have red in their design, 8 if yunaka's hair isn't red enough in your opinion. The brodian symbol is red. Hell, even the plants themselves are red.

See how well she fits in? Lapis is designed to not stand out against the Brodian characters and by extention the entire country. Making her blue will make her stand out.

Fandom Problem #12,008:

The fandom: Cancels a innocent person who has made a genuine mistake with a callout post and chases them out of the fandom, ostracizing them in the process

I don't have enough patience to stress why the fandom is consistently the most disingenuous and hypocritical when it comes to Rhea.