Wacky Inflatable Flailing Arm Tube Lyn

Elusia - Ivy and Hortensia

I drew this a while back for a Secret Santa exchange

Celica

One thing I found I do really like about Engage compared to Three Houses...feels like Engage really lets you sink your teeth into the meat of the game much faster than Three Houses does. Though maybe it's just a difference of pacing?

Oh, hard agreement on preferring that on my part. I have a great memory for stories, down to being able to remember dialogue lines and being able to quote them with ease… so the fact that Three Houses made you do the same long story pieces over and over and over again made it a little maddening to me lol

Definitely prefer Engage’s approach, although I can see how it would be harder to do on Three Houses just because of the different branching paths. In that case, I guess we could say maybe the Fates approach is preferable? A few chapters are the same across all paths, but you have the option to skip right to your choice if you’ve already played the game before? Still could be a bit troublesome with the Crimson Flower/Silver Snow distinction, but surely there’s gotta be another way other than having to play each one every time.

Little Princess

Happy Birthday Lucina!

A lovely art commission i got from @ArayaEjiri on twitter

Today, A little bundle of joy is born to the ylissian royal family,

May the family's joy permeate the hall of the castle.🥰

Lucina's Day

🔥for Fates? (Hard mode: nothing involving all the bad faith criticism)

🔥 The Xander and Camilla relationship is probably the most interesting relationship between any of the Nohrian royal siblings, but because it interferes with the notion that the Nohrian royal family is always super close-knit and found family-vibed, it goes underexplored.

I mean, in fairness, I get it — lots of FE fans all have their different family situations. There isn’t anything wrong with indulging in the fluffy, soft parts of a family dynamic, particularly if you don’t have a family that does what a family is supposed to do. However, I do think that when you’re looking at the family members as characters, it’s good to acknowledge all parts of their dynamics, because that’s what makes them versatile and fun and honestly, more human. Xander and Camilla’s relationship has a lot of intrigue beyond being just the stand-in parents, and I think that can get overlooked sometimes. Even if their pasts are acknowledged, their connections to each other beyond those roles goes unthought of.

In my opinion, it’s honestly really crucial to their relationship that Camilla thinks Xander isn’t that invested. Not because he actually doesn’t care, but because it speaks to Camilla’s perception of the entire family dynamic, as well as their childhood. I mean, think about it: all of these kids were set against each other in the Concubine Wars. Camilla is implied to have been one of the more brutal ones, because her mother was a fucking bitch especially concerned with being queen, and she would only dole out affection to Camilla if she were to kill her way to the top. We know that Camilla is not a truly vicious, nasty person — but what would Xander be to her, at that time? He’s the firstborn child, the one who holds the position that all of the other children want. He would be a point of envy for his effortlessness at being the “ideal”, but at the same time, he would have to be ruthless enough on his own as well to survive having a target on his back. Did that never build any sort of resentment in Camilla or the other children like her, who couldn’t get a sliver of love from their mothers? Is that what influences their relationship to this day? Xander is distant, yes, but how far does this measure of not caring go? In the core story, we see much of Xander proving himself to be caring. So what about her relationship to Xander speaks of this?

It’s also worth considering that one thing that gets erased from the English version a lot is that Xander and Camilla aren’t just loving older siblings with vaguely more-adult-than-you roles — they’re parentified. The concubines were awful mothers, Katerina died young, Arete died young and distant from them, and Garon’s been forcibly overtaken by a dragon god. This last little remaining sliver of siblings has no one else, and with how young and/or naïve Corrin, Elise, and Leo all come out to be, it’s natural that they would want to pick up on what they didn’t have in hopes that their siblings would come out better for it on the other side. But again, that influences Xander and Camilla’s relationship because they’re not just brother and sister, they’re actively parenting the other kids together. It’s extraordinarily unfair, and while Camilla is doing it out of a desire for no one to feel alone as she did, she might not understand that Xander, too, is hiding a lot of himself and understands the depths of her and everyone else’s pain. She thinks he’s being distant for the kingdom, something she doesn’t care about because she doesn’t want to rule, because that’s the greatest middle finger she can give to her mother — to not care. She might even think of him as being somewhat like Garon, loving them but not really knowing them, and being okay with that despite how damaging it is. There is no doubt in my mind that Xander and Camilla love each other, but I think what’s interesting is that this support shows they may not get each other entirely yet. There’s a lot from their respective childhoods that could still be kicking around, even with that love, and I feel like it could be so interesting to dismantle.

Is it all rosy and joyful like these poor people deserve? No, but it’s worthy of confronting for their power as characters and for the sake of their healing.

Hey, guess what? I made a collection on AO3 for Rhea positive fics! Feel free to contribute with your or someone else's fics if you want ^_^ (and if you can't, you can always add a bookmark to it!)

Be patient with him, Eliwood... he's not used to being so high up on a tier list.

Twitter

Lol funny randomizer

Sakura Birthday Headcanons

Let the record show that I did not forget Miss Sakura’s birthday headcanons, I’ve just been drowning in schoolwork lately. Nonetheless, they’re here now and I’m fairly happy with how they turned out this year, so I sincerely hope you enjoy them! :D

‣ In a critical healing situation, do yourself a favour and stay out of her way. Sakura’s not cruel by any means, but her personality can really change when someone is in critical enough condition. She may be teary-eyed and worried, but when it comes to getting this person what they need, she won’t hesitate to give orders and push people out of the way if they’re not helping. That doesn’t mean she never has compassion for a panicking family member or someone who doesn’t know what to do, but if you’re not someone who knows how to handle it, move along — this girl does and she’ll do it the best it can be done.

‣ It’s not an overwhelming anxiety on par with abandonment issues, but since Mikoto passed away, Sakura’s been… a bit nervous about death. Not so much herself — although that is something she occasionally thinks about — but the loss of her siblings and retainers. Before the events leading up to her mother’s death, death was a sort of weird, out of the picture thing. She knew her birth mother and her father died, and that was sad, but she can’t remember a time when they weren’t gone. Mikoto is the first time that death has touched something that Sakura loved so deeply, and knowing how to respond was difficult. I imagine she probably used to have dreams worrying about what would happen if one of her siblings or retainers was to get seriously hurt or injured, and what she would do if something happened to them. They were probably confused by the big hug they got the next day.

‣ Playing her koto is a calming activity for her. It sounds a bit cheesy, but she’s often able to lose herself in the music whenever she plays. She doesn’t need to worry about the troubles of the world, or think about all of the things that are running through her mind at any given moment. She can just focus on the music and plucking the strings, enjoying the familiarity of songs she’s played before and the sound of the notes as they reach her ears. Sometimes she’ll even try to make it part of her nightly routine for days on end, soothing herself with it until she feels ready to fall asleep.

‣ She knows it’s not good for her, but screw it, Sakura will eat dessert at any point in the day. If dessert is the question, then the answer is yes. Her favourite is mitarashi dango, but she’s also partial to mochi (any kind of filling is good, but she likes strawberries best), purin, and dorayaki. Though she’s a princess and is used to having these things made for her, she loves watching the castle staff and local bakers and confectioners make the desserts. For one birthday, Mikoto even made arrangements for her to get dango-making lessons with the rest of her siblings. Sakura was overjoyed and had a great time laughing and playing with her siblings. She secretly wants to try for another round after the war, this time learning to making purin (at least partially because she thinks watching Ryoma, Hinoka, and Takumi get increasingly confused by their inability to get the shape right would be amusing, though she’d never admit it), but she’s a bit shy to ask just yet.

‣ Unlike Takumi, Sakura has much less complex feelings about Mikoto’s longing for her lost child. Rather than feeling like she might be replaced by Corrin, Sakura more so found herself joined in Mikoto’s longing for Corrin’s return. Corrin was presented to her as such a dreamy concept, a long lost-sibling like in a fairy tale, so she didn’t think anything of it. She used to daydream a lot about what her lost sibling would be like, and what adventures they might have all together… and she definitely thought about how great it would be to see Mikoto overwhelmed with joy at the return of her child.

‣ As a princess, she tends to focus very much on the social and humanitarian aspects of her work. She’s technically expected to be a good hostess too, as well as a producers of heirs, she’s… not so into that first one due to her dislike of parties, and though she’s already gone through her coming-of-age ceremony, her family has no intention of marrying her off and getting her started on that… So she gets to do stuff that permits her to focus on improving life for people in Hoshido and caring for them when disaster strikes! She much prefers this to the other avenues she could take, although someday she hopes she’ll be at least half-decent at hosting parties — if only to make it less difficult to go to them.

‣ Sakura has the sweetest singing voice, and isn’t a bad dancer, either. She learned to sing from Azura when she was a little girl, and the two of them would often sing together as they did day-to-day tasks. Takumi, on the other hand, is the one who taught her to dance — he’s always been pretty good, so she got a real kick of dancing around with him then, too. She’s often too shy to showcase it, but she loves to do it in more private moments with friends and family. If you catch her singing by herself, though, she’ll probably turn bright pink and apologize.

‣ Sakura's dolls were apart of a family-wide birthday gift when she was about eight. It was a pretty cute gift, all things considered: it started out with just two dolls. One of her, and one of Corrin, from Mikoto. Then, as part of his gift, Ryoma gave the next. Then as part of hers, Hinoka gave the next. They all gave Sakura a doll as part of her gift so she had a collection of their entire little family, which she was absolutely delighted by. Everyone got big hugs and thank yous that year, and she’s treasured those dolls ever since.

‣ Sakura likes all animals, but she particularly likes bunnies. She loves how soft and fluffy they are, and likes their docile nature. She would love to have one as a pet, but there’s never really been a good time for her to get one. Instead she just feeds the wild rabbits that make their way onto the castle grounds, enjoying watching them munch their greens and twitch their sweet little noses.

‣ She was inspired to become a healer after watching Mikoto heal one of Takumi’s scrapes when they were small. He’d been scraped up pretty badly after a fall — the two of them were probably playing somewhere they shouldn’t’ve been — and he was bawling his eyes out. Sakura sat there the whole time, holding his hand, and watching as Mikoto kindly and carefully patched him right up. Sakura was so mystified by and envious of her ability to fix all of his wounds and comfort him that she begged Mikoto to teach her how. Mikoto thought it was a great idea, and offered to teach her, as well as hire her a tutor for when she wasn’t available.

Final call to suggest prompts for Fates Week! The form will be closing on Saturday April 20th at midnight EST. If anyone has any they would like to send in, please do so as soon as you can!

I did not forget Sakura’s b-day headcanons for the record I am just very busy with school rn so they shall be late

Happy Birthday, Sakura! (Fire Emblem Fates)

🔥 for whatever's been bugging you lately

🔥 For FE-related things, I think for sure one thing that’s been getting under my skin is the notion that Timerra is the least popular Engage royal because she’s “just not that interesting” and is one-note because honestly? I don’t really see it. She’s honestly probably my second favourite of them all. I think for some people, they have this misapprehension that her default state is just perky-happy all the time, which is… not that accurate, I would say.

For me, the big thing that stuck out to me about Timerra right off the bat when meeting her in game was that while she was charming and funny, she was also clearly clever and had her own sense of morality that was a bit different than what you would usually see in a leading Fire Emblem character.

The Solmic way of thinking really interests me, particularly in the way it manifests in Timerra. I think there’s a lot to be said about how the country has a sort of carefree approach, but when push comes to shove, they know how to knit themselves together to keep themselves safe. They’ll lend help to one of their own if they’re in a bind, as they’re still people and they care about the world around them… but they also know when to say when and when they need to look out for themselves. Their morality is very much about choosing when to care, and who they will care about. While Albert’s first instinct as prince of Firene was to run off to try and help other people and connect with others, Timerra and Seforia agreed that Solm’s resources would best be spent trying to deal with the problem themselves, and not worry about anyone else because… well, their hands were full already. They had to look out for their own first.

I think that says a lot about Timerra because it’s not a demonstration of a lack of kindness, but rather a dedication to her OWN people. They are her priority first and foremost. The fact that she, Seforia, and Fogado all knew about Sombron but made no indication, instead focusing on protecting themselves and being certain that they could get help from the Divine Dragon, says a lot. It speaks to the degree of thought that Timerra puts into the way she conducts her life, and how she may come across as a silly, cheery girl — but she’s actually much more clever and has a stronger sense of duty than anyone seems to give her credit for. Hell, she doesn’t even react in fear when Hortensia threatens to kill her mother.

I guess to some people that’s not terribly hypnotic, but I personally find it quite compelling that Timerra, as Solm’s princess, is able to strike that balance between being warm and caring, but also thinking with a focus most immediate to herself and her people and what they need. She’s not the type of girl who wouldn’t help a friend in need, but at the same time, she recognizes that politically it’s never that simple. She sticks to her guns, regardless of whether or not it’s comfortable — and she’s never particularly ashamed of the way she thinks, either. I think that creates a neat duality in her character, because yes she is kind and often wants to help, but won’t always do so if she thinks it will cause her and her people an undue amount of trouble. It sounds relatively minor to some I think, but we so often see characters who try to help even at the expense of themselves, so it was refreshing for Timerra to still be a nice girl and know when to say when. Granted, that doesn’t mean she would have been right to decide not to help the others with Sombron, just that she would have had her own set of priorities that weren’t as easy to sway as some others. When it benefits the people of Solm to have the allyship, that’s when she’ll go forward with it.

Even outside of this, though, Timerra is still allowed complex feelings outside of the main storyline. Her support with Fogado is really charming for this, because she makes it clear that she loves her little brother, but she also feels a bit quietly resentful of him at times because of how often his escapades left her lonely. We as players know that Fogado has dedicated so much of his life to supporting Timerra in his eventual reign as queen, but at the same time, we get to see the effect that this distance had on Timerra, too… and realistically, I think Timerra is aware of how much effort Fogado is putting in to support her as queen, but she tries to express to him that she wants her little brother around, too. There’s not an animosity there, but she still has clear and concrete feelings about it, and is open to expressing them to Fogado. It shows a tendency to not shy away from difficult conversations, and to take the opportunity to handle things as they come up.

The more I play Timerra’s supports, the more I feel like just lots of new and interesting stuff comes up, which makes it a bit tiring to me that she’s so frequently dismissed as one-note. Yeah, a lot of her character IS about being cheerful, but there’s more there than what meets the eye. I think a lot of people have trouble understanding that with FE characters it’s about actively looking for things, rather than just having them fall in your lap. The cast will always be simply too big for everyone to get a big piece of the story, so if you want to know more about a character, you tend to have to make a more conscious effort to look.

Her plan worked!!!