since this “latinx or latine” discussion is getting attention again, i’d like to point out that it’s important to know how disabled people feel about it, and why you should consider using “e” instead of “x” for making gendered words neutral.
basically, a blind brazilian and anti-ableism blogger first spoke about this issue in january 2015, claiming that words such as “latinx” and “bonitx” are actually anything but inclusive, since visually impaired people can’t understand what you’re saying, because their reading-out-loud softwares can’t pronounce these words. she then suggests that using “e” as a neutral term can be way more inclusive both to nonbinary and visually impaired people (ex.: latine, bonite). she also states that you can be neutral without using “ela” or “ele” by using instead “a pessoa/that person” or simply using the person’s name.
she stills talks about this issue on her page to this day, as well as many of other anti-ableism activists on facebook, and they ask us to spread the word by sharing their posts – so as a non-disabled person, that’s what i’m doing. i hope this helps!
I just want to add, before anyone asks, that for spanish/portuguese speakers the “x” is really hard to use because %99 of the time it doesn’t come out natural at all. We literally don’t know how to say it, like the softwares. If we use it, it usually interrumps our speech all the time because we have to think how we say it. The “x”/the sound that it makes is not usual in our languages. The “e” not only helps disabled people but also it helps us because its easier and more natural in our tongues.
On top of the aforementioned reasons to shift from latinx to latine for gender neutrality, doing so will not be difficult in oral speech even for native English speakers (instead of saying
/ˈlætɪnɛks/ = Lah-teen-ex
you say
/ˈlætɪnɛ/ = Lah-teen-eh).
If we’re thriving for inclusive language, we should thrive for an inclusive language that effectively includes everyone. The use of Latine (and -e suffixes for gender neutrality in Portuguese and Spanish), unlike that of Latinx (and -x suffixes for gender neutrality in Portuguese and Spanish), does not have ableist consequences, and does not exclude visually impaired people.
As a French person – and one belonging to a French culture in the Americas moreover – I would like to point out that “latine” as a gender-neutral term is a bit awkward from the perspective of our language, as it’s already the feminine form of that same adjective (and would be pronounced “la-teen” to contrast the nasal “la-tihn” of the masculine). As far as I’ve ever seen expressing gender neutrality in French is usually only a matter of uses parentheses or slashes to include both the masculine and feminine forms of a word, ex. le/la Français(e), un(e) Acadien(ne). Of course, as French doesn’t rely on variation in final vowels to denote gender like other Romance languages I find it’s a less notable problem.
I’m comfortable using Latin as an identifier for myself, and I’ve also sometimes used the expression “Latin, but not Latino” as a way to verbalize the unusual middle space the French (and Italians, and I imagine Spaniards and Portuguese in Europe) occupy between various northern European ethnicities (mainly WASPs, but also the Irish, Germans, etc.) and non-white people in the Americas influenced by Latin colonialism. It may be more of a wry observation than anything else that the Francophone and/or culturally French territoires of the Americas – the Francophone Caribbean, Guyane Française, and of course Québec and parts of other Canadian provinces as well as Louisiana – should technically be considered part of Latin America, but I personally don’t think it’s one that’s entirely without merit at least in terms of cultural common ground and certainly in terms of common language patterns. “Latine” is clearly easier to say than “Latinx” in any language, but it’s hard for me not to think of it as a feminine descriptor.
Blog activity may be temporarily suspended on account of tropical activity. We have now entered the last segment of Louisiana summer, the one where there’s a threat of imminent death by inundation almost every other week.
Chapters 6-11, in which Hoshido’s military is extremely disorganized and only regroups because the mere idea of Ryoma is just that awesome.
Chapter 6
Not much to say here. Corrin tells Xander they’re siding with Hoshido against Garon and implores him to do the same, Xander accuses them of being brainwashed and, after repeated refusals, tries to kill Corrin. Following this is a chapter that will probably be finished during the first enemy phase unless Ryoma gets really unlucky. I suppose it makes sense that this is the shortest of the three versions of Chapter 6 as Corrin went to the border already with the Hoshidans. While it’s kind of neat that all the Hoshidan royals are playable on this map as a bit of a preview, note that this is the fourth of just seven chapters in which Ryoma has appeared as a unit prior to his formal recruitment. We get it already, the guy’s an OP powerhouse and a clear favorite of the writers.
This is also where I should probably bring up My Castle, but I don’t have much to say here as it was never a feature I particularly enjoyed. Other FEs have addressed the concept of a base for your army integrated into gameplay far better than this. Genealogy and the Tellius games and others may not let you perv on your units taking a bath or disgust them with your horrendous cooking, but what does that really add to the experience? I know, I know, a bunch of small and scattered stat boosts….
Chapter 7
Oh, silly banter in the middle of an attack while surrounded by wounded and dying soldiers. Never change, FE. But seriously, even if he’s just Cordelia with a dick whose semen produces more Cordelias let’s take the time to appreciate that Subaki is the series’s first playable male pegasus knight. Fates’s take on classes is actually very egalitarian, a fact that often gets lost in its sea of fanservice and subtle story-enforced misogyny and everything about <insert character whose gender/sexuality-related presentation offends you most>. Moving on.
I’m still not entirely clear what happens to the Hoshidan army between this chapter and the preceding one. They really appear to just break ranks and scatter: Corrin and co. go fool around in the astral plane with Lilith, Ryoma and Takumi lead some of their forces toward Izumo (why?), no one cares about Hinoka, and Sakura retreats here to Fort Jinya to tend to the wounded at a makeshift military hospital. It makes sense that the Hoshidan army wouldn’t have the strictest organization thanks to their years of protection under Mikoto’s barrier, but the problem is the game never tells us that and we’re left to infer these things based on the events of the next few chapters.
The Nohrians meanwhile are still on the offensive, but they screwed up by sending Silas’s unit to attack the fort. Silas has an unhealthy attachment to Corrin that frankly rivals Camilla’s, and his abrupt defection here because he wants to hang out with his partially amnesiac BFF undoubtedly bodes ill for anyone associated with him when news of it reaches Nohr. I guess it’s cute in my case that Silas’s obsession with Corrin knows no gender, but the guy probably steals underwear to sniff. Saizo is entirely justified in being suspicious of him.
Paralogue 1
Oh yeah, I forgot all about this chapter. Mozu’s just not as memorably meme-worthy as Donnel, and recruiting her is less frustrating since you’re not forced to make her poke things in her joining chapter. It does make the Faceless seem like more of a threat to Hoshido, although as a consequence playing through this paralogue in Conquest always feels a little weird. This plus the first Castle Invasion were mostly for EXP and support farming. For anyone wondering, I’m going to be keeping most of my characters in their default class sets since I don’t feel like grinding skills or anything elaborate like that. Also, I’m playing on Normal, so I’ve got a lot of latitude in how I play which is how I prefer FE anyway.
Chapter 8
Hinoka sums up my feelings on her and her retainers. Azama’s got some amusing lines and if I knew more about Buddhism his…interesting take on philosophy would probably be even funnier, but that’s about it. And yeah, Hinoka really just does pop onto the scene with no explanation except that she’s also trailing her brothers and I guess everyone really did forget about her. Sucks to be a late development addition.
Iago tosses the conflict ball to ensure the party’s trip to the Wind Tribe village is a rough one, though since Fuga was set on testing Corrin’s worth by sending a bunch of his tribesmen to get slaughtered by their army anyway I wonder why he even bothered. This isa rare case of a desert map that isn’t a frustrating pain in the ass, because it’s small and there are Dragon Veins to reduce the amount of sand. I also like how even on the lowest difficulty of the easiest route the game is already throwing a boss at you with some annoying skills. Fuga’s motivations may be silly, but at least he leaves us with the memory of a good chapter, some cryptic foreshadowing for the Yato, and a shota wind mage who unfortunately continues in the tradition of Ricken stepping away from their archetypical dynamic after Tellius made it just a little too close to explicitly gay.
Chapter 9
Izana, huh…Izana is…
Let’s talk about Zola!
Zola is one of the rare Fates villains who isn’t (always) exactly what he looks like. On first glance he’s just a typical simpering syncophant with a fitting talent for illusions, but he actually comes with a bit of a character arc in Birthright which I have to say I wasn’t expecting. It was almost as unexpected as Leo’s unexplained appearance at the end of this chapter to kick off said arc by leaving Zola exiled. One big problem I have with Fates is how characters have a tendency to teleport around off-screen as the plot demands it, distance between locations or basic geography be damned, but it’s marginally more forgivable here since Leo is shown later in this route to know how to perform literal teleportation.
I believe this is also one of the only times in Birthright where Hinoka gets to do something that affects the plot, so good on her for acting suspicious of fake!Izana. She’ll go right back to being overshadowed by her brothers – including being overshadowed at being overshadowed – soon enough.
Izumo’s role as the designated neutral nation is delved into more thoroughly in Conquest, weirdly enough. Here Corrin and co. get left only with a vague directive to head toward the Bottomless Canyon and some of Azura’s song lyrics. That’s kind of a good thing, because I’ve got nothing on Izana now. I get that he’s an amusing surprise the first time around, but…who wrote him like that?
Chapter 10
Allow me to divert for a moment from the Takumi angst to pick some very large nits with the geography of this game. In the previous chapter Corrin learned that Ryoma and Takumi had been pushed to the Bottomless Canyon, which is nowhere near their location – but hold onto that thought. The canyon is clearly northwest of Izumo, yet the party goes south to Mokushu allegedly in an effort to reach them there. Fates has a bad time in general with giving a good impression of where its events are taking place, partly because the scale of the map is odd and not helped by it being a topographic rather than a political map like in every other FE, partly because there are times like this where the information presented appears to be simply wrong. What’s worse, the major plot development surrounding Takumi’s possession in Birthright does not, at least so far as I recall, necessitate that he have been possessed by Anankos or anyone else connected to the Bottomless Canyon. I’ll certainly be revisiting this when the time comes.
But…whatever. In spite of everyone getting lost except Ryoma (because of course) this is actually a good chapter, with a cramped map filled with environmental hazards to add challenge. The treachery of Mokushu spans all three routes and is one of those set pieces that benefits from development in each of them. Kotaro’s connection to the, er, Christmas ninjas (and elsewhere, Shura) isn’t developed here unless you choose to have them engage him in combat, but that just saves stuff for the other routes.
Chapter 11
Pictured: easily one of the most forgettable playable characters in this game. It’s a shame too, because she’s the only default kinshi knight and her bits of dialogue and few supports offer hints of an interesting backstory that would speak to gender roles in Hoshido. Alas, she’s merely a Corrinsexual.
This chapter itself is filler, but mechanically it’s good filler. Your new OP archer royal gets plenty of targets for his bow, there are some promoted generics to spice things up, and the Dragon Veins can either help or hinder you depending on how you use them. I don’t care for the antagonist fake-out between the opening and closing cutscenes and the chapter proper – where did possessed!Sumeragi the mysterious swordsman go while you were fighting the fliers? – but that’s a minor quibble. Corrin already beat that guy.
A larger problem is with Takumi’s development, or rather lack thereof. As I said last time the events of the opening chapters explain his initial hostility to Corrin (and Azura) quite well, and Mikoto’s death only reinforces that feeling. Why then does that hostility vanish so quickly in Birthright? Just one chapter after recruitment and he’s already turned his characteristic prickliness onto Zola instead, and I don’t recall it appearing much again except in the context of possession. It’s only the route the ends with Takumi as the final boss that allows him space for his feelings to develop organically (albeit in a negative direction), possibly because Conquest is the only one in which he’s not beholden to love Corrin like all playable characters in Avatar-centered games.
No. I don’t know how to patch 3DS games and am not especially interested in learning. While I admire the creators I can enjoy the supports they’ve written just as well on YouTube. This replay is first and foremost intended as a critique of the main stories of FE14 rather than the supports, which I’m using purely as a gameplay function. I think I’m still worn out from filling up the support logs of both Awakening and Fates even years later… *crosses fingers that Three Houses will take an approach similar to Echoes*
damoselcastel said
LOL at your villain upbraiding, it’s all so true. Agreed that Hoshido’s cast are intro’d way to briefly to feel much for them going in blind. Oh cool, all male run! Breeding up more chapters for EXP (or Gold in Percy’s sake) only makes sense, especially in Conquest’s constraints. Although with that in mind does that mean you’ll likely not do Corrin/Niles just so you don’t lose those extra chapters?
I’ve decided to only get the kids in Birthright and Conquest, since Revelation has entirely too many units anyway even with half of them arbitrarily cut out. Also, that means I only have to play through most of the child paralogues once. I may therefore do Corrin/Niles in Revelation, but since I’m not too fond of the pairing I don’t think it’ll be a big priority. I’ve been putting some thought in how I pair the guys who father sons, but as I find Fates breeding meta the least interesting of the three games that have it and as I don’t plan on doing a lot of grinding there’s only going to be so much planning involved.
Here begins my run of Fates, in which I react to things that I believe merit either praise or criticism and that hopefully haven’t been thoroughly picked over yet hundreds of times by everyone else in the fandom. I’ll be doing each route in the sequence I used last time, with gameplay details to follow as they come up. To answer @damoselcastel, I’ll be doing an all-male run, and it does indeed suck that the game screws this over a bit at the very beginning by forcing me to take Felicia over Jakob first. Breeding will come when I feel like it, more to have extra chapters to play through than anything.
Prologue
In what I assume will continue to be a series trend going forward, all of the 3DS FEs open somewhat in the abstract, including a flash forward to a future event. Fates’s particular take is both the most surreal and the least dependent on shock value, as the events it depicts are only several chapters away rather than near endgame. Azura picks up her Lady of the Lake associations right from the start, there’s a very early glimpse at what will be eventually revealed to be Valla, and Ryoma and Xander and Xander’s ludicrously acrobatic horse square off to set up this setting’s central conflict. The chapter proper is (fittingly) dreamlike, with surreal music and a high-energy scenario that begins in medias res and doesn’t entirely follow the normal rhythms of FE combat. I have absolutely no idea how this would come across to a newcomer to the series – I got my hand held through Lyn Normal Mode, cut me some slack – but I imagine it would be disorienting.
Chapter 1
That’s apparently official concept art of Nohr. Reasonable worldbuilding, what’s that?
The in-game presentation starts off rather less absurd. Hell, if it weren’t for the ominous castle rooftop setting of Xander’s training session one could almost find Corrin’s slice-of-life interactions with their servants and their Nohrian family quaint. Xander is just a drama queen like that. This fight calls back to Path of Radiance and New Mystery, which also start off with training sessions against significantly more powerful named characters. For Birthright it also forms a narrative bookend, but I’ll get to that in due time. I have Feelings about the presentation of Xander…and not just because he’s my husbando either.
I like that Corrin’s retainers are domestics first and combatants second unlike those of the other royals, because it stresses that they’ve been isolated in a non-combat role during their upbringing, their exposure to Nohr’s allegedly spartan military culture limited to sparring with Gunter and Xander. I have no idea how that would be enough for them to survive when they evidently live in Mordor, but then Nohr is the source of the most consistently sloppy worldbuilding in Fates so at least we get that established right away.
Oh, and Lilith is here. There’s never a point anywhere in this game where Lilith’s character is competently handled, so I have a tendency to forget she exists unless she’s on-screen. Here she’s just an unassuming stable girl with an unusual design, and Elise makes an incestuous insinuation in her direction that’s only funny if you played the appropriate DLC.
Chapter 2
Structural contrast with the towering Hoshidan royal palace aside, I don’t entirely get how Krakenberg works. A dragon did it?
Anyway, Corrin gets an under-explained and clearly evil magical sword from his shamelessly homicidal father only to balk at the thought of killing anyone with it. Leo salvaging this faux pas isn’t the silliest example of Corrin not understanding the basic concept of lying – it’s presumably easier to fake someone’s death with magic than with a giant sword – but it’s definitely up there. The Nohrian royals on the other hand have no trouble with such things based on their traumatic but mostly implied experiences at court. Important to note that everyone here up to and including the prisoners of war calls out Corrin for their sheltered worldview; their development from here on out really is dependent on the player’s choice of route. I vastly prefer this approach to Awakening’s for explaining why the Avatar is such a relatively blank slate – almost no amnesia necessary this time.
And while they appear in most chapters, I want to praise Dragon Veins here for being a really cool concept that doesn’t get as much love as it should. Draconic or otherwise superhuman bloodlines in FE are usually expressed in gameplay with the ability to wield certain legendary weapons, and while that also makes an appearance in Fates Dragon Veins represent more dramatically visible utility. They really make a difference in some chapters, and I’d like to see them reuse the concept in future games where it would be a logical addition (which would be most of them since humans with dragon blood pop up all over this series).
Chapter 3
I chose this image because I want everyone to appreciate as I do that Hans dresses like the world’s most tasteless leatherman. A harness and straps that show off all the wrong bits, and it’s in purple. Not even the overall weirdly fetishistic look of this game’s berserkers can excuse that.
But aside from that, Hans sucks. Iago also sucks. Less characters than plot devices that pop up whenever there’s a need for someone to act completely despicable to move the conflict along, there’s no way to spin them in a way that sounds like they contribute anything positive to the narrative. Case in point: in this chapter Hans single-handedly reignites hostilities between Nohr and Hoshido by Leeroy Jenkins-ing his way through the chapter and later (possibly) killing Gunter, with the only interesting caveat that he claims to have done so at Garon’s behest. And sure, Garon is also flat over-the-top villainy incarnate, but he at least has gravitas and a master playing a long game that arguably succeeds in two of the routes. Hans and Iago are just two more in the line of FE villains with flat motivations and personalities who lack even the good grace to be attractive, but unlike Desaix and Darin and Chagall and others like them they stick around in the story long after they’ve worn out their welcome. Did Nohr really need not one but three flat antagonists in its ranks around for most of the game?
I haven’t even gotten into the first appearance of Camilla’s…issues surrounding Corrin or whatever the dimension-hopping hell Lilith pulls with her invocations to presumably deceased dragon “gods” now that she reveals her true form. This is really the first chapter to offer a hint of how disjointed and frequently contrived Fates’s stories are going to end up, saved only by the very end when Rinkah puts this game’s new blunt weapon category to its logical use. Not like that game wants us to feel bad for Corrin….
Chapter 4
…because Hoshido is paradise. And also Takumi.
Everyone knows the story, both as it’s explicitly told and as can be read through the lines. The writers weren’t afraid to let their biases show, the localizers and the Western fandom did a fair amount to mitigate that with some bias of our own, and the final product is one big mess that fails to make logical sense in-universe and teeters on the edge of real-world two-way racism. Here we’re introduced to Castle Shirasagi, glimmering and verdant and awash in cherry blossoms, as well as Azura, Corrin’s foil in Stockholm Syndrome. But it’s all good, because Mikoto is tranquil and peace-loving and enforces her tranquility through a plot contrivance magical barrier that is just one of many examples in Fates of magic not working the way it does in the rest of the series (or at least I can’t think of anything else like this, correct me if I’m wrong). We don’t learn just why Nohr is so hellbent on invading Hoshido that they’d resort to summoning soulless monsters to do so until much later (and only in Birthright of all routes!). For now they just sound like unprovoked aggressors, and the Hoshidan royals Corrin’s true and loving family.
However, what I really wanted to bring up for this chapter is how oddly it’s structured, such that it never fails to throw me off a bit. It opens in an unnamed Fire Tribe village in a snowy area of Hoshido, which might I mention is the only point in the game we see anything of the Fire Tribe other than Rinkah herself. Considering all the time we spend in multiple routes with the Wind and Ice Tribes, that lack of detail strikes me as peculiar. Kaze then brings Corrin to the Hoshidan palace where Ryoma and Mikoto reveal the truth, then it’s immediately back to the snowy north to rescue Hinoka and Sakura from Faceless before returning to the palace to meet Azura. Was there any reason the Faceless fight couldn’t have happened before Corrin left the village, and the reveal and trip to Shirasagi left for after the chapter map and partially in response to Hinoka’s OOC crying fit?
I also hate maps where high-powered NPCs go around stealing kills. Kaze barely got to see any action this chapter, poor guy.
Chapter 5
Props to this manakete design, which is unlike anything else in the series and manages to work in elements of Anankos and Corrin’s weird outfit. No props to the scripting of the thing, as after this chapter Corrin may as well not even be a mankete except for gameplay purposes (which are minimal anyway unless you need them to tank something). You’d think learning that you can turn into a dragon would leave more of an impact on…anyone really, but nope. I guess it technically becomes relevant again in Kana’s paralogue, but that’s as tangential and ultimately irrelevant as everything else involving the kids.
There’s a lot else going on in this chapter, but I’m sorry to say that neither Mikoto’s death nor the obliteration of a large chunk of Hoshido’s capital lands as powerfully as they were meant to considering Corrin and the audience have spent all of 1.5 chapters with these people. This isn’t anything like Elbert or Greil’s death scene or even remake!Rudolf’s for that matter – at least that one came with a shocking twist that was responded to appropriately. It’s hard to even appreciate these events from the perspectives of the Hoshidan royals because they’re still pretty new characters in the player’s mind, though with the hindsight of Conquest I can maybe sympathize with Takumi here at the beginning of his downward spiral.
Corrin also picks up their legendary sword in a way that feels extremely random. I guess the Yato was inside the statue that got blown up? Weird place to keep a divine peace-bringing relic, that’s all I’m saying.
Branch of Fate
Despite some early warning signs and a few slight missteps, I’m happy to say that this story moment works. It’s a good thing that it does too, as this is the defining moment of FE14 in everything from its marketing to its game design to its core themes. The setup is rushed and tense and allows only Corrin, i.e. the intended player self-insert, full knowledge of the weight of the choice put before them, as none of the other royals are aware that they are all in a way family to the person they’re now abruptly forcing to pick a side. Familial connections (biological or otherwise) may not be a narrative hook that grabs me personally, but nonetheless this scene sticks with you. There is no easy choice, and the consequences of any of them immediately define the direction of the story.
This is not to say that all three of the iterations of Chapter 6 that follow succeed equally well, but that’s for other posts…including the next one, which will kick off Birthright.
Next time: Birthright Chapter 6 – 11
I think I’m late to this particular observation, but the latest Heroes update features Jamke and a new map of (western) Jugdral in a modern style.
So many updated assets for Genealogy in Heroes…could be useful for an upcoming project or two, you know.
Disclaimer: The title of this series is for humorous purposes only, mocking the tendency of some online gaming fandoms to heap vitriol on the latest (major) release in a series and raise up the formerly-maligned previously game in contrast. I fully intend to enjoy Three Houses on its own merits and am reserving all judgment on how I feel about it in comparison to all other FEs until I actually play it.
…But still. I did.
Hipster-esque posturing aside, I do sometimes feel like I’m in a minority of longtime fans of Fire Emblem who have been willing to give Fates – and in my case I mean the localized version, not the Japanese original which by all accounts is 90% more coherent and less cringeworthy – credit where credit is due beyond merely Conquest’s gameplay. In the two and a half years since its international release I haven’t had the opportunity or serious inclination to revisit it following my first playthroughs and reactions; there were other games to play (including one stellar remake that indeed went through exactly the cycle I described above but has since faded into comparative obscurity for the more vocal elements of the fandom), and the arduous task of filling up the support log thoroughly exhausted me on the title even as it shut up my completionist urges. What better time to give FE14 a fresh look than now, when the release of Three Houses is still many months away and the hype for that game is still in its earliest stages?
With that said, I do naturally have established notions of what I consider Fates to be based on my earlier playthroughs. In my ranking of FEs I wrote near the beginning of this year I placed FE14 just below the halfway mark, above Awakening, the DS remakes, and the antiquated entries much in need of love that are Thracia and Binding Blade. That’s substantially better than I feel many in the pre-Awakening fandom would be willing to allow it, but even so I don’t see it rising any higher in my estimation. As I recall them, these were my overall opinions of each route:
Birthright: The one where the plot makes sense and characterization is coherent even for the Nohrians, the story the writers most wanted to tell for reasons that probably have nothing to do with their own cultural biases. Ahem. Also the most formulaic route in every sense of the word, a classic FE plot with gameplay drawn straight out of Awakening up until the final chapters throw in a bit more creativity. For better or worse it’s the one I’d recommend to someone who only wanted to play one route and wanted to experience the best that Fates could offer.
Conquest: The one that’s hard as hell but Phoenix Mode exists yay but usually in a way that’s clever and engaging by series standards. Also the one with all most of the plot holes, and all the Nohrians are either idiots or deeply traumatized abuse victims. All the Hoshidans are woefully miscast except Takumi. Corrin’s constant ineffectual attempts to be a pacifist make this kind of fail as a villain campaign. Azura is at her most cryptic and bizarrely utilized, which is really saying something, and Valla exists for all of one chapter which makes no sense except as a tease for Revelation. It’s the most headache-inducing route in more than one sense.
Revelation: The one that rehashes two of the worst elements of Radiant Dawn: the roster is massive and there’s no way you’ll be using even a third of the cast in the end, and the story beats in the final segment come hard and fast with no room to breathe or leave much impact for anyone beyond the core cast (and sometimes not even them). Also comes with a strong dash of Awakening’s power of friendship silliness, with an ending where the Avatar is even more super special than previously known and gets their own kingdom. Has the sloppiest worldbuilding, with plenty of evidence that the writers didn’t think this particular setting through very well. Difficulty is middling but relies more on tedious gimmicks than Conquest does, making it less laudable. Might have the “best” ending, but it doesn’t really satisfy on its own merits unless you’re grinding supports or just really hate it when playable characters die per the plot sucks for Izana and Scarlet though.
If I were approaching my ranking in the manner of a tier list I would have to argue Fates against the game right above it if I wanted to move it up, which doesn’t seem likely even with a new look. FE8 may not thrill me, but it’s never going to frustrate or disappoint me as much as this game has and I believe will continue to do so. Still, I think a fresh perspective on Fates will be worth making the effort. Besides, I’ve theorized for a while that a gay run (i.e. male characters and supports only) would be more mechanically viable in Fates than in most other games in the series thanks to A+ supports and such, so now that I don’t care about doing all the supports I’ve got full freedom to do exactly that.
Next time: the shared opening chapters
(And who knows, you guys might get another round of merciless judgment out of me before this is over….)
Link/Pipit from Skyward Sword. For the love letter sidequest I always go with the option to give the letter to the hand in the toilet so Pipit doesn’t hook up with Karane. Yes, I’m petty.
highkey notp
Hard to call it a ship really, but the scenario of a prepubescent Link abruptly becoming a father of seven via Mikau/Lulu is as subtly disturbing as…well, just about anything else in Majora’s Mask. But still.
[softly] don’t notp
Link/male!Sheik could in theory be done well, but the basic premise is so unusual that I’ve never really given it a shot. Nintendo strongly reinforcing that Sheik is female (even when she and Zelda are separate characters in Smash) in the years since OoT probably hasn’t helped its popularity, though.
highkey otp but i’m scared of saying it because it’s not a very popular choice
Ganlink in most iterations, more because it’s hot than because it makes sense as a thing that would ever happen except in the wildest of AUs.
highkey otp and anyone on my tumblr knows it
Sidlink I guess? I’m not writing shipping manifestos or anything but it can certainly be adorable. It’s also not entirely unfeasible in canon unlike a lot of M/M pairings in this series.
Kataang is pretty cute for a ship between preteens about 80% of the time, and made for some entertainingly screwed-up children. The remaining 20% is when Aang is being creepily possessive, which…weird. Has he even hit puberty yet?
highkey notp
Can’t really think of any. Maybe Kuei/Bosco if such a thing exists…even if it’s probably meant to be a pun on the type of bear relationship that doesn’t entail bestiality.
[softly] don’t notp
I won’t deny that there’s something to the subtext between Azula and Zuko, and that Azula deliberately plays it up to throw her brother off guard.
highkey otp but i’m scared of saying it because it’s not a very popular choice
Not really highkey even by my standards but Toph/Sokka has some cute moments.
highkey otp and anyone on my tumblr knows it
The only Avatar-verse ship that’s featured prominently on my blog is Wuko, and that’s from LoK. I’ll have to pass on this one.
Gascon-en-exil: Gallophilic Cultural Posturing 