Anything for Libra lmao

Friend code here

competitive Melee is a deeply inherently funny esport mostly because of Mang0. at his peak he would spend the days leading up to a tourney shit-talking on SmashBoards, then show up slam dunk drunk and win the entire bracket in the most disrespectful way possible. two specific disrespectful moments stand out:

Mang0 (Fox) vs SFAT (Marth) (skip to 3:25 if the timestamp doesn't work)

it's game 1 of a best of 3 set. Mang0 is at 4 stocks, while SFAT is already down to 2 and getting actively combo'd. someone in the audience, as a joke, shouts out "use the laser!". for context:

Falco's laser is one of the best projectiles in the game because it does hitstun, meaning it can interrupt enemies out of their attacks

however, Mang0 is playing Fox, not Falco. Fox's laser is mostly like Falco's, except instead of being good, it is not good. Fox's laser has absolutely 0 hitstun and takes a while to pull out and shoot. this means pretty much the only time it gets used in competitive play is to spam it during the neutral to hopefully rack up some damage without actually interrupting anything

not only is shooting SFAT with the laser while he's offstage a suboptimal choice, it gets even funnier when you realize that the obvious combo finisher anyone else would use there is Shine. Fox's shine comes out on literally frame 1, gives him intangibility, sends the enemy sideways in a way that's basically impossible to recover from offstage, and can be jump canceled on frame 2. Shine is not just the best move to use in this specific instance, it's not just Fox's best move, it's not just the best move in Melee, it is arguably the strongest move on any character in any fighting game ever made.

so of course Mang0 uses the laser instead of shining. the crowd goes apeshit, he finishes off SFAT's last remaining stocks in literally 15 seconds (demonstrating the actual power of Shine on the final stock). even though it's game 1 and he can theoretically make a comeback, SFAT is so humiliated by this that he literally just unplugs his controller and walks off stage. also this was during the era when Melee wasn't being streamed to a huge audience or sponsored or anything so the casters just said whatever the fuck they wanted, which gave us gems like "UNPLUG YOUR CONTROLLER, DAWG! FORFEIT!" and "WOMBO COMBO!!!!"

Mang0 (Jigglypuff with crown) vs HungryBox (Jigglypuff with headband) (relevant bit starts at 2:31)

for full context, Mang0 (along with most of the rest of the Smash community) and HungryBox had had a shitload of beef in the years leading up to this match. HBox famously used/still uses Jigglypuff, which pissed/pisses off other players because that playstyle is infuriating to face off against. you either get hit with rising aerial Pound 20 times in a row offstage or upthrown into a frametrap rest for instakills starting at 30%. because he is a deeply funny person, Mang0, of course, also chose Jigglypuff. he then proceeds to mop the fucking floor with HBox. the entire set is brutal but the bit i highlighted is the worst by far. HBox is down a stock and goes for a Hail Mary up-tilt into Rest combo. it might have worked if Mang0 was a bit more damaged and stayed in hitstun longer, but it misses. missing a Rest with Jigglypuff is an invitation for the opponent to use their strongest possible move/combo for free in any matchup, but it's probably the worst in the mirror match* because the other Jigglypuff can just Rest you right back for free. which is what Mang0 should have done here if he wanted to win.

instead, he just. jabs HBox. doing no damage or knockback and waking him up for free.

comparing the audience reaction from this match to the previous one is so fucking funny, because with the former, you could hear everyone laughing and losing their shit, but this is just... a collective gasp at Mang0's audacity. the commentators are struck dumb for a few seconds before saying "Mang0. that's disrespectful to everyone. to HungryBox. to me. to you..." before being interrupted by HungryBox killing himself to end the match and walk away

*yes, I know Roy can reverse his up-B on frame 1 to kill sleeping Jigglypuff from 0% on Pokemon Stadium. however, if you know this factoid, you also know that Roy is literally never used in competitive because he is Marth but with all the good traits replaced with bad ones, so stop being a smartass

The Engage Maddening Experience, Part 1: I have no stats and I must kill (ch. 1 to 11)

I’m making this series because people liked the 3H one and I think it can be useful if you want to try Maddening and are too afraid of it. I’m not a min-maxxer nor an expert at these games in any capacity. But you know what they say, if it works, it works!

Since you can roughly divide the game in three parts in terms of gameplay and roster, I think that’s what I’m going to do here.

Anyway, I wanted this run to be as “pure” as possible, so the rules were simple:

-no dlc

-no online features

-no update weapons

-no FEH stuff

-no RNG rigging to get good rings

I also wanted to use units I’ve ignored in my first run. But since this is Maddening mode and the jump in difficulty from Hard is like... Really high, I still wanted to use some units I was familiar with and I knew could carry me to some degree. These picks were Chloé, and Ivy (not pictured in this thread since she joins late chapter 11 and I cannot talk about her performances just yet).

Maddening mode, for those unaware, appart from the usual changes in enemy stats and variety, comes with some peculiarities:

no hard saves within a chapter

the AI won’t attack if it hits for 0 both in damage and in hit rates

EXP gains are halved

Bosses cannot be broken, and weapon effectiveness doesn’t exist against them

there are no skirmishes

the Tower doesn’t reset the Somniel

the level up growths are fixed

That’s pretty much it. Points 2, 3 and 4 are really what make the mode difficult, because they change entirely how you’d approach the game.

Let’s jump into it

The prologue is nothing to write about, it’s pretty straightforward. Most chapters actually play like Hard mode, except, you know, harder.

The most important part is to pick 3 to 4 units and to funnel everything you’ve got in them so they can carry you through what’s arguably the hardest chapters of this first part: chapter 5 and 10. If you don’t do this, these units will also be unsuable later on.

Your most important rings are Marth, Sigurd and Micaiah. Marth and Micaiah allow you to earn EXP. In this game, EXP is link with SP, and therefore with Skills. So the nerf in EXP also makes it you’re nerfed on several levels.

Marth with level 10 bond gives you access to Mercurius, and Mercurius doubles EXP gains. Basically, stick Marth on people you want to level up and make sure you use the arena to get level 10 bond with him. Mine was on Alear, then Yunaka, then Chloé, with the objective of reaching 1000 SP on them before chapter 10 so I could teach them Canter.

Speaking of Canter, Sigurd is your most important unit in terms of fire power. He comes with Momentum, a skill that adds 1 attack by number of tiles crossed to attack the enemy. It’s strong because Sigurd also gives shittons of moves. I put it on Chloé and it made sure she could one-round stuff she usually couldn’t have. In terms of bosses, I would park her far away but in reach regardless just so I could exploit the skill to its maximum potential.

Micaiah is free EXP for whoever is wielding her. That’s it.

Basically your strat will be to use these rings on the units you intend to use long term. The other units deployed can still pull their weight and contribute, but they won’t gain significant EXP, and they SHOULDN’T. To give you an idea, Boucheron, whom I used in every map, was merely level 5 at chapter 11. But he was there to chain attack, so he was useful in his own way. Some other units will be unusuable if you don’t invest into them. Alfred comes to mind.

One thing with Maddening is that your units hit like wet noodles and it’s really hard not to get overwhelmed since the AI is so aggressive. Engage mode becomes more than a clutch, it’s something you’re using ALL THE TIME to kill things that need to be killed right now. Support capabilities like Alear’s personal skill and Yunaka’s poison are also king. You literally NEED that extra 1 point of damage per attack. 

Anyway, here’s the roster for this first part:

At this point in time, Alear is still a fairly offensive unit, but that won’t last for long. I picked the Avoid skill for her because I like her in the frontline, but Canter would have been a better choice. Divine Inspiration (+3 atk, -1 damage taken to adjacent ally) is probably the best personal skill in the game because its flat damage. ie, it ignores def. Good to abuse with daggers.

Not much to say about her except I’ll probably reclass her to Thief at some point.

Chloé is probably one of the best unit in the game or at least for half of it (we’ll see if she falls off later). Sigurd gave her some punch, but so did the Energy drop I gave her + Angelic Robe to help her survive. Canter on her is optimal I believe. Forge her an iron Lance and she can one-round most of the maps early on. I picked wyvern for the extra punch.

Céline is the hardest hitting unit you get in terms of magical damage until you get Citrinne, and even there she can double when Citrinne cannot. Chloé is also HARD carried by Célica. I went with her personal class but later on, I think I’ll reclass her to Martial Monk of High Priest since her offense isn’t really anything to write home about long term. I could just bench her, but that wasn’t the plan. TOGETHER WE RIDE (and die).

I actually used Jean on Hard, but I benched him later on as I put him in a shit class that really didn’t make use of his stat growths. I stuck Micaiah on him and he’s budget Hortensia for now. We’ll see how it goes... It’s a bit sad he doesn’t actually have innate Staff proficiency, so he’s stuck with C staves...

ngl I compared her stats to Zelkov on his join chapter and it was just sad. I don’t think he’ll be any better than her in the long run and Lucina and Alear support make it so she can poison even with shit attack. So that’s what she’s here for: poisonning and facetanking. She’s also hit by the “enemy will forever ignore her” curse because she’s so dodgy, so you can’t break the game in half with her like you could in Hard. Having a dedicated support is still nice, though.

He sucked in Hard, so I made the most rational decision and I gave him All the Forged Weapons. He’s doing fine for now. More chain attackers is always good. I just don’t think Diamant is a good unit...

Amber has insane strength and a personal skill that boosts his hit rate. Bow Knight seemed like a good match, especially because it fixes his speed stat. And that’s what you want to do. Speedy Amber = enemy is dead 100%. We’ll see how he evolves but I’m very happy with him so far. You really want bow users in this game, and I’m not using Alcryst this time around...

And that’s it for the early game units! Everyone else was benched by the end of chapter 11.

Obligatory deaths:

-Etie, took an axe in the face chapter 5 so I could kill this horrible boss

-Jade, whom I didn’t recruit because I was left between letting her die, or face tanking Kagetsu, and you don’t face tank Kagetsu

Chapter difficulty rating:

10 > 5 > everything else

It mostly played like Hard mode except these two. Chapter 10 has a really, really difficult start because Hortensia actually moves. Chapter 5 has a really hard finish with the boss and his squad rushing you + you don’t have access to many ressources at this point.

Thoughts on [Feh Channel] (Aug 1st, 2021) + quick recap

So, a new [Feh Channel] release finally rolled out after the last one in late April, quite a long wait isn’t it?

If you want to watch it before reading (or not) what I think of it, feel free to check below:

And now, here are my thoughts.

I’ll start with a recap on what has been announced

It turns out Fire Emblem Heroes has reached its 4½th anniversary today, and we’re getting a bunch of celebratory events, including log-in rewards, free summons on the latest [Hero Fest] and [Experience] and [SP] multipliers, so if you have any fodder units you’d like to train without spending any resources on them, those chances are perfect for that.

Here’s a summary of what you get for participating, you can also get a new decorative structure themed after Feh taking a summer break after doing a few quests:

Yes, I said “latest [Hero Fest]”, we’ll actually get one and with the first seasonal unit taking part of those:

If you’ve been waiting to get some [A/R Far Save 3] and/or any other noteworthy fodder from Henriette, this might be your chance, and the summoning {Tickets} will be given to you right away.

This banner will roll out in about 3 hours, good luck!

Those will also return, along with quests in which you can get an additional free copy for the Hero that’s currently rerunning.

Veld’s rerun starts today at the same time as the [Hero Fest].

Our next seasonals are more pirates from a mix of games, and boy, Vika looks gorgeous, she’s not a favorite but I quite like her, still not pulling but good luck if you do!

As for what I think of them, most of the picks feel very fitting and the designs are cool, but the new Duo (Hinoka leading and Camilla as cheerleader) feels kinda random, still, it was bound to happen that Camilla would get her next alt as part of a Duo, so here it is.

And he’s the free unit:

This guy is the MVP of the update, he’s literally a pirate, and you can make of him one of you [Heroic Grails] projects if you need an axe infantry unit with the latest BST values and/or simply because you like him.

The skills and stats appear for a very brief amount of time, but you can see him carrying an inheritable axe (another one...) and [Wind Boost 3] and [Windsweep 3], hopefully the latter is at 4★!

And I’ll not be reviewing any of the Heroes here since I’m not feeling like it, but if there’s anyone you’d like me to talk about in more detail, I’ll think of it. 👀

They’ll also make of those guys “pseudo-demotes”, so they won’t pitybreak you any more as off-focus units, they’ll give out more details later on through an in-game notification, but as of now, nothing yet.

They also added new maps for [Arena], as well as two handy features, one for resetting your victory streak (in case you scored poorly in one of the matches or whatever), and the other for preventing you lose your victory streak if you lose or withdraw from the match, but works once per streak, so you’d need to break your current streak to use this feature again.

We’ll also get a new game mode in which you partake on quick battles with two Heroes of your liking (it’s the second one in which you can bring your Summoner) and then bring them to interact in doing random stuff in other places (you watch them in cutscenes and the like).

It seems simple and kind of interesting, but perhaps not what I’d hope for, we’ll see once it arrives this August 14th.

So... what do I think of this [Feh Channel]?

It’s... quite good! Well, at least there’s no [Feh Pass] propaganda or anything of the sort, for starters. 

There’s a little more content on the game, a new mode, an en masse “pseudo-demotion” of old 5★s again, which is very welcome as they won’t pity-break you when you’re summoning... and very rewarding celebration events and a banner rolling out for us very soon with a total of 11 free summons.

I still feel it’s kinda lacking since we could’ve had something a little more exciting like a new permanent game mode that brings something new to play with like Forma chess [Pawns of Loki] and the forgotten [Tap Battles], but it’s still too early to share thoughts on [Heroes Journey] (the game mode described just above).

Around mid-August, we’ll get the next more revealing details on the [Choose your Legends] Heroes that won earlier in Jan/2021, to remember, they were: Marianne (1st), Eirika (2nd), Gatekeeper (1st) and Marth (2nd).

I rate it: 7.5/10

Okay Barkskins fandom, I have. A weird one for you. I’m not even letting myself edit this before posting, because it’s almost certainly completely wrong but I like it so I just have to release the idea while it’s wild and free. One of those theories where I’m throwing out the question of whether it’s actually realistic/likely and more just saying “hey wouldn’t this be COOL.”

It basically hinges on me rewatching parts of 1.01 and being like, “Hm. Is it just me, or does this dead guy kind of look like Father Clape?”

The short beard, the thin face with prominent, rounded cheekbones... It’s not definitive, but it got me to thinking. The dead guy is from the beginning of the episode, one of the people killed in the raid by the creek. Specifically, he’s the one whom Renardette literally stumbles upon, accidentally planting her hand square on his chest as she flees, painting her palm with his blood. As for Clape... Renardette is a mystery in that nobody in Wobik recognizes her, but Clape is his own mystery in that it’s unclear how he survived the raid. Marth and Lafarge are adamant that there were no survivors. They missed Renardette because she hid in a tree; did Clape hide as well? Or was he not missed at all?

When Hamish and Yvon meet Clape, he’s shirtless (so: unclear if his old shirt would have, say, been bloodstained?), wearing nothing but good ol’ 17th century undies, praying over the body of a boy. He’s also clearly a bit out of it, which I don’t fault him for; even disregarding all supernatural theories, he’s been through a horrifying thing. But I do find interesting his what he says upon seeing the wolf: “Don’t you see it? It is Azazel. Sprung from the abyss” -- and then that scream. When our Company boys try to follow the wolf, they find no trace of it... Instead, right where the wolf lead them, they find Renardette. 

So, like. Just to go nuts here. Many of us have already discussed the idea of Renardette possibly being a witch or otherwise having some sort of witchlike themes. So what if Clape didn’t survive the raid? What if that was his body Renardette stumbled upon? What if, whether or not she meant to, whether she even knew she had the capacity, what if when she touched him she brought him back from the abyss, and Clape’s strange words and strange behavior are due not only to the trauma of the raid but also to the trauma of having died?

And then there’s Cross! Also notable for his strange behavior, also connected to Renardette! And remember in 1.06 or 1.07 when Cross pulls that body out of the river? When asked who it is, he says, “It is me.” Ostensibly, it’s a settler from the creek -- a settler that Cross killed, in fact, immediately before Renardette came upon him: “I killed him in front of his son. And then... the girl came. She smiled.” But honestly, the first time I watched that scene, I straight-up thought the body in the water was going to literally be Cross, that he literally had died and was pulling his own body out of there. And now I’m just looking at that dialogue again and thinking... He killed the man in front of the man’s son, you say? And immediately afterward, Renardette came upon them...?

I know Clape is a priest, obviously, and although idk about today, I’m assuming Jesuits in that era weren’t supposed to have kids. But who’s to say Cross, at least, didn’t simply think that this boy we see Clape burying was Clape’s son.

I do NOT know, man! I’m stringing together this theory in pure pepesilvia.jpg mode. It’s confusing, too, because what we see happen to Renardette at the beginning of 1.01 doesn’t explicitly match up with Cross’s version of events; when did they run into each other? Before she ran into the woods? After she came down in the tree? Or as it somewhere in the middle and we simply weren’t shown it? (Lafarge says Cross was there when the action started but then vanished into the woods during the attack; at what point?) Did Clape actually die? Did Cross actually die? Even if that body at the beginning wasn’t Clape, could stumbling upon that body have been around the moment Renardette met Cross? What is the meaning of Renardette’s smile? 

This is all weird and interesting enough when only Clape and Cross are considered, but, of course, I have another reason for being invested as well. Because when it comes to the concept of how death might be reversed, or affected, or even simply witnessed by Renardette...

Well, suffice to say there’s an ongoing situation that I’m very interested in seeing play out.

“thewarriorgoddess: I think they mean F!Byleth alongside M!Byleth winning? Because F!Byleth is definitely gonna come in at least 2nd in the women’s division only because she’s subjectively “hot”. Honestly I’m personally not bothered by who wins because I’m tossing votes for characters who are not yet in the game OR more alts for characters who don’t have one so if this is another 3H sweep I’ll be free picking whoever has the best fodder and dipping. Dimitri is the only 3H unit I cared about getting a brave alt lol.”

Could be?  I honestly don’t know, but F!Byleth’s definitely more “stale end piece of bread” aligned.  I guess she’s pretty, but honest to god the fashion sense kills any modicum of attractiveness for me.

I’m kinda in the same boat.  I really want Eirika to win, but if she doesn’t, there’s no possible outcome that could get me to pull for the Brave alts beyond needing fodder.  I’ll be voting for general favorites too, unless Eirika’s top 3 and I feel like she’s got a shot by midterms.  I’m way more invested in getting Limstella into the game, and having an actual Mythic figure with Ashera.  I’ll probably drop Sara as a vote entirely, since she’s in.  I’d love an alt, but far from required.

Still saying F!Byleth, Marianne, M!Byleth, Marth or Felix as the CYL5 winners.

okay , i gotta get another card for heroes for several reasons

next resplendent i’m buying is gonna be eldigan , and then robin

look , i may have to get marth too , and eliwood.

Claude’s banner is dropping sometime tomorrow ,  so i gotta buy more orbs..

i actually do not have a single version of Claude.

i have academy arc ! Dimitri & brave Dimitri.

i didn’t get legendary ! Dimitri on his debut banner. 

mainly due to a lack if orbs.

and the only Edelgard i have is Legendary Edelgard

other than claude , the other 2 units i’m gunning for are Hel & triandra.

the logical reason i’m gonna try & summon ‘em is because i missed both of them on their initial banners

the funny reason is :  i’ve got sharena & eir at s-support on my account ,  so it’s high time sharena meets her mother-in-law ; off the battlefield of course.

i’m gonna summon on this banner just to help my completionist instincts calm tf down.

btw i got annette on my free pull 

Bord again. So today is my thoughts on the Duo Heroes from feh.

Hector and Lilina (Halloween)

Design: Great

Art: Great

Voice Acting: Decent

Unit: Ok

For a first duo unit it made a pretty great splash. A great look with cute dialogue and passable voice acting. The unit itself is not super great in the meta due to being armored unit, and it's duo skill can only be used once and is not as impressive as the other skills since it only has a single effect, but overall not a bad unit to have in your stash. They come with a rare, inhertiable skill that when put on the right unit can be very dangerous, but is pretty easy to get around.

Ephraim and Lyon

Design: N/A

Art: Pretty good

Voice Acting: Pretty good

Unit: Stellar

The only current duo unit that isn't themed based off a holiday, but nonetheless an excellent unit. They are among the best lance units in the game, with effectiveness against armored and cavalry, not to mention great skills and a killer movement duo skill for armored and infantry units to boot. The voice acting is pleasant to listen to, although has some weak moments, and while the art isn't terrible, the faces are a bit odd to look at. As for design, its just Ephraim and Lyon slapped together, so there isn't really anything to say on the matter.

Marth and Elice (Christmas)

Design: Great

Art: Great

Voice Acting: ???

Unit: ???

I don't have this unit so I cannot comment on them too much, and I rarely come across them in the wild. But in terms of looks, they look awesome.

Alfonse and Sharena (New Years)

Design: Great

Art: Great

Voice Acting: Decent

Unit: Stellar

Easily one of the most dangerous blue tomes in the game, and one of the best duo units you can get. Everything about the unit is perfectly designed for it. Despite their low speed, they easily prevent follow up, especially when you activate their duo skill to lower specials down by 2, and with special spiral, which they come with, they stay in that range. They even come with close counter, but other skills can be used to be just as dangerous. This unit is a popular unit to see in the wild. The voice acting is passable, with Sharena being pretty weak while Alfonse is not too bad, but its not the worst in the game. If you can get them, do it.

Alm and Celica (Valentines)

Design: Ok

Art: Pretty Good

Voice Acting: Fantastic

Unit: Really good

This unit has some really great voice acting. Both actors really nailed it without sounding wooden or like they were reading from a script. It's a shame that the design is just ok. It's pretty boring- some casual clothes with flowers, that's pretty much it. That said, the unit itself it very useful. The unit is one of the fastest in the game and can hit like a truck- helps that it comes with some good skills too. The duo skill is also quite useful, having multiple effects that grants boosts, removes penalties, and heals. It can only be used once, but once is all you need- plus, like Alfonse, the duo skill helps the unit too with their personal weapon. You cannot go wrong with this unit.

Palla, Catria, and Est (Baby Edition)

Design: Good

Art: Great

Voice Acting: Decent

Unit: Stellar

Technically this is a trio unit rather than a duo but... we will let it side. This flier unit is top notch when placed with a flyer team, guarantee to double, and even quadruple when positioned just right! Their duo skill is similar to Ephraim's, except for fliers only and instead if being used once, can be used more than once per map, meaning lots of extra movement for your team and the unit. This unit will lose its effectiveness without at least two other fliers to back it up, but on a flier team makes for a dangerous unit. The art looks great, the design is cute but just their baby forms so nothing special. The voice acting is weak but passable, with some good moments and some bad ones.

Idunn and Fae (Easter)

Design: Great

Art: Great

Voice Acting: Poor

Unit: Really good

Hopping in is the dragon armored duo, and they are a much better armor unit that Hector and Lilina. When foe initiates, they are a wall- they prevent follow up attacks, but come with skills that with have them double in return. While they are weak as an armored and dragon unit to effectiveness, they have a duo skill that will neutralize that effectiveness for one time on a map- great for tight spots and for armor and dragon teams! You see them from time to time in the wild and they can be hard to kill. They look great too- shame about the voice acting. Fae sounds too fake, and Idunn sounds like she is reading a script. But regardless, a good addition to your barracks.

Micaiah and Sothe (June Wedding)

Design: Great

Art: Great

Voice Acting: ???

Unit: ???

Another unit I do not possess. They look phenomenal- some of the best art in the game, and especially among these duo units. And I've seen them in the wild. They are a rare colorless tome, and the only flier colorless tome to boot, and they seem pretty effective at their job. But I cannot really say more. At least they seem more useful than Christmas Marth duo, anyways.

Byleth and Rhea (Summer)

Design: Good

Art: Good

Voice Acting: Pretty good

Unit: Pretty good

They made a splash in more than one way, but as a unit they are not terrible. Nothing to really right home about, but they are a pretty powerful red flier mage. As a mage, they have stiff competition against superior red tomes, but their duo skill can really make a difference, as it greats desperation that actives despite the amount of HP, not to mention it can be used more than once on a map. They can be dangerous, but they die really easy when initiated upon, which cannot be said for some of the other duo units. Rhea's VA is great, while Byleth is just ok. The art is... well, technically good, but the faces are weird and the boobs are unnatural looking. Big isn't even the problem, they just look really off. But overall, a fun unit to use.

Sigurd and Deirdre (Ballroom)

Design: Good

Art: Great

Voice Acting: Terrible

Unit: Ok

As the first calvary dancer in the game, they look promising at a first glance, but ultimately are just ok. Their only job is really to dance, and since they cannot go through trees or are slowed by certain tiles, beast dancers can basically do their movement but without those restrictions. But while they look pretty good, while a nice get up and pretty art, their voice acting is really bad. They both sound unbelievable, like reading a script. It's really, really hard to listen to. And their duo unit is basically reposition, which can be used more than once but I have found to be difficult to use since is can mess up other positioning I have done. Overall, just a cavalry dancer for cavalry teams, and that's pretty much it.

Mia and "Marth" (Summer)

Design: Great

Art: Great

Voice Acting: Really good

Unit: Stellar

Technically they are not labeled as duo units but Harmonized units, since they come from different games... but they are functionally almost identical so I'm including them anyways! And they are overall amazing. They hit hard, almost will always hit twice, and take little damage in return (provided they initiate). They can be killed easily with their low defenses if foe initiates, but as long as they are in your hands they are awesome. Not to mention they look awesome, and their voice acting is fun to listen to. Their harmonized skill is passable, but it is helpful and can be used multiple times per map.

Veronica and Xander (Pirates)

Design: Great

Art: Great

Voice Acting: Terrible

Unit: God tier

Let's get the worst part out of the way- voice acting sucks. It's really bad. Nothing is read well and it feels so fake. That said... this unit is in a tier of its own. Don't let the poor speed fool you. This unit, when alone, its twice and hits like a truck, and has insane defense. The kit it comes with is already perfect. It's harmonized skill is amazing- it prevents follow up attacks for the unit and for units that come from the same games as Xander and Veronica. This would be limiting, except that Veronica is from Heroes, and some of the best units are from Heroes, and are free so nearly everyone has them. And, it is a skill that can be used more than once to boot. They look great and play amazing. Grab one if you can.

Tiki and Ninian (Halloween)

Design: Meh

Art: Decent

Voice Acting: Pretty good

Unit: ???

They just came out so I cannot fully say how they are as a unit. That said, they are... disappointing. It has been a year since the duo units were first introduced. Halloween is my favorite season. And Tiki and Ninian are just unimpressive. The demon and angel design is a fun idea, but the actual costumes are boring. Ninian's face looks really off too. At least Tiki sounds great, while Ninian sounds just ok. Their harmonized skill is very situational- while they have technically two functions, one of them requires to be close to a unit from the same game that has already acted, and basically is a dance function. It can also only be used once. So far, not a unit worth a pull.

Title : Robcina Week Day 5 - Three Houses

Description: This was supposed to be a fun vactation, just the three of them as a family. Then Morgan got bored and ran off to explore the Outrealms on her own, forcing her parents to chase after her. When they finally cornered her in a land called Fodlan… well… let’s just say neither Robin or Lucina were prepared for what came next.

Notes: Written for Day 5 of Robcina Week 2020. This is not to be taken as a canon event within continuity with my other stories. This is pure crack-fic.

"Nooooooo! You can’t! I had it all planned out! My pitfall revolution! It was perfect!”

Robin dug in his heels, trying to pry his daughter away from the doorway she was clinging to for dear life. Beads of sweat dripped down his brow, stinging his eyes, born from the struggle to extricate Morgan from the underground catacombs she’d taken residence in. He spared a sidelong glance to Lucina, seeing she was equally worn out. The fact their daughter had managed to resist their combined efforts was rather impressive, to be entirely honest.

“Morgan, please. Stop this nonsense, I beg of you,” Lucina urged. She peeled back Morgan’s fingers enough for her to release her grip and allow Robin to begin dragging her up the stairs that led out of the Abyss.

“But you don’t understand, mother! This was for the greater good! The greater good I say!” Morgan ranted, her arms flailing in front of her as she desperately sought some sort of purchase.

“Morgan, you weren’t even supposed to be here! What happened to our vacation to the Beachrealm?” Robin asked. Lucina gripped the underside of one of Morgan’s arms, allowing Robin to free up one of his hands to rub the sweat from his face. And to pinch the bridge of his nose as he tried to fathom the series of decisions that had led Morgan to steal the gold he’d brought along on the trip to pay for Anna to bring her to multiple worlds across the Outrealms.

What was supposed to be a fun family vacation had instead turned into the two of them chasing after their daughter as she trapsed from world to world, leaving chaos in her wake, before they’d finally caught her here. And from what that archbishop had told them, the antic.

“I got bored! There’s only so many times I can dig traps in the sand!” Morgan countered. “This was way funner! But that’s not the point! I uncovered a huge conspiracy! Like, the kind people wearing tinfoil on their head scream about! Except it's true!”

“Was uncovering this ‘conspiracy’ before or after you tried to extort the head of the church to give you a position as a professor?” Lucina asked.

“Before, duh! What do you think was my blackmail material?” Morgan shouted, managing to give an indignant sigh and roll her eyes even as she continued to struggle. They were almost to the top of the stairs now, daylight streaming down from the opening in the wall.

“It's that stupid Rhea’s fault too! Could have just given me the job and I would have left all her dirty little secrets be! But she had to deny me! ME!” Morgan screamed, her voice echoing down the passageway. She seized the edge of the wall, hooking her feet down on the last step. “I would have been the best teacher ever! Besides, they just gave a teaching gig to some random mercenary right before I showed up! I am way more qualified!”

In unison both Robin and Lucina heaved with all their might once, then again, and then again. On the third pull they managed to dislodge her, all three flying clear of the entrance and landing in a tangled heap in the grass. Several students making their way to class stopped dead in their tracks, staring at the scene unfolding, before hurrying along just as quickly.

Morgan managed to scramble to her feet first, making a break back for the entrance to the Abyss. However both of her parents were on her a second later, tackling her to the ground and pinning her there. She struggled for several moments, even resorting to biting Robin’s hand, but eventually she stilled, her struggle morphing into grumbling under her breath.

“Morgan, a part of me wants to ask you what this conspiracy is, but the more rational part of me knows this will just be some crazy story you concocted just like last time,” Robin told her, heaving her up over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. At once Morgan began to struggle again, pounding on his back with her fiists and flailing her legs. Ignoring the pain, Robin began hauling her to where Anna was waiting in the market, having struck up a conversation with her sister from this world last Robin had seen her.

“I didn’t make it up! Their whole religion is a lie! Their goddess is actually just some dragon!” Morgan told them, giving up her pounding to cross her arms indignantly.

“You mean like Naga?” Robin asked.

“Yes! I mean, no! This is different! Naga told us she doesn’t want people to worship her!” Morgan countered. “And the people running the church are secretly dragons too and have been controlling everything for hundreds of years! And don’t get me started on the mole people!”

Robin stopped, staring at her blankly. “Mole people?” he asked, utterly dumbfounded by the statement. Okay, that was certainly a new one, even for Morgan.

“Yeah! They live underground and have robots that shoot lasers!”

Robin blinked, it taking him several moments to process this. “Uh-huh…”

“It's true! I’m not lying!” Morgan told them, puffing out her cheeks with a huff.

“Is this not like when you tried to tell us that ridiculous story about how you uncovered that Grima was actually just some sort of creation an alchemist made by mixing his blood with a divine dragon’s?” Lucina asked.

“And that Risen are actually animated by some sort of magical insect hidden inside stone masks?” Robin added.

“All that is true too! I don’t know why you don’t believe me!” Morgan shouted even louder.

“What about the time you said Marth never wore pants before the gods ‘remade the timeline’? You must admit, that claim was quite outlandish, even by your standards.” Lucina offered in response

“Okay, that one was actually fake!” Morgan huffed. She tightened her crossed arms, pouting all the more fiercely.“But the rest of them were totally true. You never believe me about anything!”

“Morgan, are we also going to ignore when you tried to tell us Naga and the other Divine Dragons were from outer space? Or have you decided that one was actually true again?” Robin asked.

“That… okay, fine, that one wasn’t real either. Also the dragons are space aliens! Turns out it's just in this world, not ours!! I just didn’t know that at the time, so I was sort of right… kinda...ish.”

“Okay, now I know you’re making this whole thing up,” Robin said, rolling his eyes and eliciting a flurry of angry grumbles from his daughter. He sighed deeply, shaking his head for what was perhaps the dozenth time.

“Morgan, even if this supposed conspiracy was true, that does not excuse trying to turn that entire Abyss place into ‘the biggest pitfall trap ever conceived by mankind’,” Lucina quoted, using her daughter’s own words to describe her own plan.

“Hey, that stupid Rhea started it when she sent her church ninja-assassins after me. I think trying to trap the whole monastery in a pitfall trap was the perfectly rational thing to do,” Morgan argued.

“I…” Robin glanced over to his wife. “I am not sure what I’m even supposed to say to that.”

“Nor do I,” Lucina agreed. “But at the very least, I am now certain that Morgan concocted the whole thing.”

“Agreed, that much is plain to see,” Robin said, nodding.

“Hey! I’m still here! Don’t ignore me!” Morgan cut in, glaring at both her parents in turn.

“Yes, and I think it's safe to say you’re also grounded. No idea how long yet. Not quite sure what’s a fair length of time for trying to topple a religious establishment,” Robin told her.

“I’d say at least a month. Perhaps longer,” Lucina suggested.

“Certainly,” Robin agreed. “Maybe three or four would be good.”

“Awwwww, you’re both laaaaaaaaaaammmme!” Morgan whinmed, dragging her hands over her face. She grimaced, muttering something under her breath that sounded suspiciously like  ‘I’m so telling on Rhea to Naga.”

She is taking this quite seriously. I wonder if she really could… Robin mused, then shook his head at the thought before he’d even finished it. Of course it wasn’t. Given Morgan’s track record, there was no way she could even possibly be telling the truth.

Listening to Joan Baez and now I have a Band AU question if you'd be so inclined: who sings Diamonds and Rust just a bit too emotionally (possibly while staring down the person who's making them feel emotional about the song), and under what circumstances?

What an absolutely cracking ask!!! <3

I’m going to start by embedding the song and posting the lyrics because it’s absolutely gorgeous and definitely has a place in the Band AU:

Well I'll be damned Here comes your ghost again But that's not unusual It's just that the moon is full And you happened to call And here I sit Hand on the telephone Hearing a voice I'd known A couple of light years ago Heading straight for a fall

As I remember your eyes Were bluer than robin's eggs My poetry was lousy you said Where are you calling from? A booth in the midwest Ten years ago I bought you some cufflinks You brought me something We both know what memories can bring They bring diamonds and rust

Well you burst on the scene Already a legend The unwashed phenomenon The original vagabond You strayed into my arms And there you stayed Temporarily lost at sea The Madonna was yours for free Yes the girl on the half-shell Would keep you unharmed

Now I see you standing With brown leaves falling around And snow in your hair Now you're smiling out the window Of that crummy hotel Over Washington Square Our breath comes out white clouds Mingles and hangs in the air Speaking strictly for me We both could have died then and there

Now you're telling me You're not nostalgic Then give me another word for it You who are so good with words And at keeping things vague Because I need some of that vagueness now It's all come back too clearly Yes I loved you dearly And if you're offering me diamonds and rust I've already paid

Well, I don’t think there’s any doubt whatsoever that it’s being sung about Francis. The blue eyes, the ‘good with words and keeping things vague’, the harsh reviews of the singer’s poetry... And that leaves us with, uh, a number of options.

I was inclined to say Philippa when they’re pretending they can’t possibly be together in Checkmate, but the song maybe has a bit too much finality for that? Or at least more distance in terms of timing than the AU really allows for. There’s a feeling in it I could see Oonagh pulling off, but, bless her, she’s got an ‘interesting’ voice, not a balladeer’s voice, and ten years after Francis I don’t think she would feel that nostalgic about it, what with having Marthe all to herself instead. It’s definitely a song for lovers, so not one for Marthe to sing about him, or Kate. Jerott...hmmm, I find the idea appealing (perhaps predictably). He would have to have come a long way in terms of emotional vulnerability and taking himself less seriously though. I can see him trying not to listen to the lyrics because they hurt when it comes on the radio though.

Nope, I think this is a Catherine d’Albon song. I haven’t quite decided who the d’Albons are in the AU - other than très chic, très français - but they must be musical because they’ll be around for Eurovision or the Berlin scene in 1983 (Queens’ Play). Catherine probably meets Francis then, and I wonder if she’s actually seen her Dad having Feelings about this song before it becomes relevant to her later on, too.

If she plays it at a festival or gig where she knows Francis is going to be there, I’m sure Philippa will be there too, and there’s scope for her singing a song that is lyrically blatantly about Francis, but looking at Philippa throughout because that’s where her real regrets lie... Solo on stage with her guitar, glancing coyly at the wings when the lyrics really hit home, Francis making himself meet her eyes though it’s uncomfortable and Philippa holding his arm and wondering about the intensity in Catherine’s expression when she looks at her and not just Francis.

Oh boy that sure was a whole lotta stuff going on in the 1.5-year anniversary digest video, huh?

I was hoping to post some of my predictions and hopes for it beforehand but life stuff got in the way so here we are, lol.

Anyway there’s a lot I wanna talk about across the board so it’ll go under a cut.

When I saw that this digest was like 20 minutes long I figured it’d be padded out, but lol it’s actually even more dense with material than the last one we got. This really makes up for the recent drought of news and content.

Firstly, they immediately showed off Gala Alex, since she’s a given at this point and we all knew it was gonna happen. Funnily enough she actually seems like she might more or less be bait for the banner happening afterward, which also seems to be a shadow element banner.

In general Gala Alex is a weird and complicated character and I’m not sure what to make of her. At first glance she doesn’t seem super essential or game-breaking, but she has poison infliction and buff dispel, so I’d probably benefit from getting her since I don’t really have good units with that sort of utility in my shadow team yet. But I’m not gonna bother doing more than the free daily tenfold summons on this gala, since as a whole she doesn’t interest me much and I think I could live without her.

On top of her weird skill chain mechanic which I’m struggling to wrap my head around, she also introduces the chain co-ability feature, but I’ll get to that later since it’s a whole big thing.

Hopefully she’ll at least let people start accepting sword units into eKai, lol. That fight has a very open and accepting meta, unless you’re a sword unit in which case you’re fucked because there’s currently no meta shadow sword units people want for that fight.

We’re also getting two separate platinum summons for this gala that cover the past gala units, which is honestly kinda tempting to me since I still don’t have Gala Elly, but I’d just have a 1/3 chance of getting her instead of the other two gala units on her platinum summon, who I already have, so it wouldn’t be worth it.

Then there’s a whole bunch of free summons and wyrmite from new endeavors and co-op rewards getting reset. Which will be helpful in building my stash back up, but I’m probably still gonna avoid spending any resources on this gala.

I’m happy that this gala seems like one I can skip, since I went all in to get Tobias, and I didn’t want to end up regretting that.

Anyway, we also got a look at the next raid event, which will start at the end of this month. It looks like it’s another shadow element one, which just reminds me even more how much we need another wind element raid event, but it looks cool. Aldred has a fun, edgy design. I hope he’s actually worth using. As a shadow unit, he’ll at least be competing with the most stacked element in the game. It also looks like the event’s story is gonna involve the Syndicate, which we’ve actually known about via wyrmprint lore since the game came out, but they’ve never come up until now, so that’s interesting.

They also showed off the banner units, who look cool, but it’d take a lot for me to want to summon for them since I have so many good shadow units as it is. They also said it’ll be another two-part banner, which is getting really annoying.

We’re also getting a rerun of the FEH collab event, along with some sort of a new part two event for it, so that’s cool. I started playing the game at the tail end of the FEH collab originally, but I didn’t actually take part in it since I had performance anxiety about doing any of the co-op stuff, lol. So this means i’ll at least finally be able to get Alfonse.

I think the part two event is probably gonna involve more Fire Emblem characters who’ll be on their own banner, but like with the existing FE units, i don’t really have any attachment to that franchise so I probably wouldn’t be interested in pulling for them.

Though on that note, they did say that all of the four existing FEH units will get mana spirals, which might be interesting. But since I already have Euden and Xainfried at 70MC, as well as Gleo, I don’t think I’d be interested in pulling for Marth, Fjorm, or Veronica, lol. It’s at least interesting to set up this precedent, though. I guess we can assume that if Megaman ever gets rerun, he’ll get a mana spiral too.

If we get new FEH units in a part two banner for the event, I feel like they might end up being a bit underwhelming, since they probably won’t come with mana spirals built into their kits, but we’ll see how it goes.

We also got teasers for the next three main story chapters, which isn’t what I expected at all. We already knew when they’d be coming out since they’re on a fixed schedule now, but I didn’t expect actual teasers of the story content in them. Though tbh the thing that intrigues me the most is the gameplay clips of chapter 14 that involve unique maps based around the Alberian capital. I didn’t think we’d get to actually do stuff there, so that’s cool.

Also, them teasing at Leif showing up in chapter 13 is making me think that either he’ll be the next gala unit, or a welfare unit. Hopefully the latter, since he’s obviously a light sword unit and we already have Gala Euden as a light sword. If he’s a welfare unit, though, I hope he’s not super weak like Laxi.

We’re also getting the event replay feature, but sadly it seems like there won’t be any raid events in it at first, and the facility events included from the start are ones that have gotten reruns relatively recently. So that’s a bit lame. I’m glad they said that they plan on adding raid events to it, though. It looks like you can at least get the facilities from the facility events, so I hope we can also get the welfare units from raid events.

With the new version update they’re also apparently introducing a new currency called fafnir medals which can, to some degree or another, be exchanged for different materials. There’s a whole list of them, but let’s be honest here. The only one that actually matters is the gold testaments, lmao. Unless there’s a really rigid cap on how many of them you can trade for each week/month, that’ll probably be the main thing people trade for. Hopefully it can help address the need for more testaments [especially now that co-abilities are a bit more important]

Then there’s a few bits and pieces to the 1.18 update that they didn’t even mention in the digest. Like how there’ll be adjustments to daily endeavors, the addition of normal endeavors related to using skip tickets on your daily stages, and the ability to check your summon history. But the biggest deal they didn’t mention is how they’re standardizing drop rates in e/mHDTs, and adding horns to the weekly bonus chests for eHDTs. Which is basically exactly what people had been asking for.

We’re also eventually gonna get our encyclopedia feature, which will be nice, especially since it apparently comes with rewards based on how much stuff you have. Which will probably provide a huge batch of rewards to old players right off the bat.

They also showed off two more Agito bosses, who will probably be the next two ones. They didn’t say which would come out next, exactly, but we at least got their names and full designs, which also spells out what elements they are. I can’t actually remember their names at the moment, but the Sylvan lady is water, while the twins are flame. Since wind units have been getting some attention lately, I think the Sylvan lady will be next, and then the flame twins afterward, but we’ll see. One way or another I think the final Agito is gonna be the shadow element one. Which is a bit lame, since my light team really needs a boost. Oh well.

Oh, and they also teased at the Agito, or at least Volk, being formally introduced in chapter 14 of the main campaign, so that’s interesting.

And of course one of the biggest things in this whole update is the huge changes to co-abilities in general. Chain co-abilities are the main thing, but I’m also really intrigued by how in co-op matches, you’ll now take on the effects of your own team’s co-abilities, rather than the co-abilities of the main units your team-mates are using. On the one hand it means you can more comfortably run multiple units of the same weapon type in co-op without feeling like it’s a waste, but I feel like it’s also gonna introduce new ways to cheese some fights, like how 4-Gleo comps can now benefit from stuff like defensive co-abilities from AI units. I think that sort of situation was an intentional choice on Cygames’ part, though. It seems like their way of helping to make end-game content easier and more accessible. It also means that you have to depend less on your team-mates if you need stuff like defensive coabilities to survive an opening blast or something. So you can control that yourself and not worry about what co-op room you end up in.

But the real star of the show, whether or not it ends up being more game-changing than the change to how co-abilities are applied in general, is the chain co-ability feature. Which basically just seems to be a straight up second co-ability that every unit gets, but with the unique quality that they can stack with each other. I don’t actually know how often you’d bother stacking them, though. I looked through all the units I own and what chain co-abilities they have, and it seems like in each element, it’s usually units of the same weapon type that have overlapping chain co-abilities [like Mitsuhide and Fritz getting combo time]. So most of the time I don’t think you’d bother. It also looks like they’re kinda under-tuned, stat-wise, probably to compensate for them being stackable, so I think they might ultimately not be a huge deal, but hey, it’s just a straight up bonus set of stats on top of everything else, lol.

It’s a bit overwhelming since literally EVERY character has a chain co-ability now, and there’s way more variety in them than with regular co-abilities, but there are a few that stick out to me.

-Water seems to be the only element with units that have buff time chain co-abilities, from what I can tell, with Renee, S-Estelle, and Cibella having it. I think this might make S-Estelle a more valued AI team-mate for water teams, since buff time is a pretty big deal, and she also brings the skill damage coability.

-Light seems like one of the main cases where you might stack chain co-abilities, since S-Luca, Annelie, and Fritz have the same one that gives a strength buff whenever you get an energy stack [with a cooldown]. Which I think has a lot of potential, depending on how exactly it works.

-On a similar note, Lucretia has one that gives her a chance to get inspiration stacks when she gets energy stacks [I forget if it applies to just her or the whole team, though], which is interesting. I had a feeling they’d start adding inspiration mechanics to light to complement the amount of energy mechanics going on with them.

-OG Xainfried gets Dragon Claws VI, which seems like it’ll probably be a pretty huge deal for him. Pipple also gets about 18% dragon haste when he’s maxed out, which seems like it’d complement really nicely with Xainfried’s kit.

-Mitsuhide and Fritz’s combo time chain co-ability is gonna be REALLY nice for Gala Luca, since he kinda struggles to keep a high combo, but part of his kit relies on it.

-There’s a whole lot of units who get defensive chain co-abilities which will probably help people get by in HDTs even more. Including units with offensive co-abilities like Mikoto and Valerio.

All in all it seems like a really overwhelming and potentially game-changing mechanic. I also think it’s gonna be just about impossible to properly reflect the implications of it in the DPS sims, lol. This introduces way too many variables. And even then, the DPS sims won’t account for any of the more defensive ones, which have their own value.

Since the chain co-abilities seem to be tied to the regular co-abilities with how they get upgraded, it sounds like this is gonna incentivize getting more people’s co-ability nodes, which will also involve more use of testaments.

The chain co-abilities are one thing, but there’s also some interesting uses for how you benefit from your own AI members’ co-abilities in co-op. Mainly for characters with unique co-abilities like Tobias, H-Mym, and V-Melody. I think Ezelith is gonna basically always want to have an H-Mym on her team, Lin You is gonna want V-Melody on her team, and any wind buffer other than Tobias is gonna want a Tobias on the team to give them more buff-time.

Oh, and I almost forgot that they also casually mentioned that they’re gonna be bringing back defensive battle event types in the future. They didn’t go into much detail about it, but I assume it means that we’ll get more random events once in a while with the same sort of format as the FEH one. Hopefully that’d help alleviate the feeling of stagnation that comes with constantly alternating between raid and facility events endlessly. Since I didn’t actually participate in the FEH event I don’t know what that whole event type entails, though.

I’m probably forgetting lots of stuff they talked about, but they talked about a LOT of stuff, lol. It’s hard to keep track of it all. I wasn’t expecting such a substantial update for the 1.5-year anniversary, but I’m happy with it.

Taking Stock of Units in Fire Emblem Heroes, Part 2

Next! Let’s take a look at the merged heroes I have and feel some sort of affinity for:

My 5*+10s:

Nowi (+Atk): She still puts in WORK. My first 5*+10 and she is an evergreen feature on any Grand Conquest teams, first runs of Lunatic maps, etc. She deserves a kit upgrade sometime soon, but somehow LB/Aether/SB/QR/Threaten Res/Distant Def still get the job done almost every time. Sothe (+Spd): Sothe is one of the first characters I ever really fell in love with from Radiant Dawn. He was an easy +10 decision. Again, I need to upgrade his kit soon, I have Broadleaf Dagger+ fodder....I just feel like I have to choose between him and Matthew, and I adore Matthew’s personality and I feel like I just need to bite the bullet and just raise both. Ross (+Spd): I literally yelped when he was released. Favorite character from the first game I actually beat (played FE7 first but beat it after beating SS). Every major decision in summoning since his release was clouded by “but I should still summon on Green for Ross merges.” But he’s done! This little dude runs so many builds and is also a main staple on teams. The Almosts (Most of these I actually have the resources to +10 but have been holding off because of a need to keep resources on hand to remain competitive):

Lyon, +7: My sweet boy. Major staple on most teams for a while before he just...couldn’t keep up. He needs a refine BADLY. Sophia literally takes him behind the woodshed and beats him within an inch of his life. We all know he likes it. He was the first person I sacked a Counter skill to. I love him and I want the best for him...but not until I know what his refine is.

Mordecai, +7 (+Atk): Another soft boy. Honestly, I merged him up because I had them available and got drunk while playing PoR. He functions very well at this merge level. I’ll get him up one day, but he really can’t be a focus right now, given he serves a very similar combat function to Nowi.

Shigure, +6 (+Atk): This is one of those scenarios where the voice actor really drew me to the character. Matt Mercer kills Shigure’s voice lines and also I got pitybroken by him a LOT. He’s got a pretty balanced stat-line, but performs better as a player phase duelist....except I want to eventually use Valter instead. That’s 99% the only reason I’ve held off, the other is having Harmonic Lance+ fodder just in case. I have the merges for Shigure, but I have a feeling this is as far as he goes.

Micaiah, +5 (+Atk): Best girl from RD (we all know this). Honestly, I haven’t ever sniped for merges on her, these are all organic, which is impressive. But she deserves the +10 and I think I would rank her pretty high in terms of trying to achieve that. Too bad I just missed several good opportunities to do so. This is why I should have done this a while ago.

Nino, +5 (+Spd): I have uncovered a not-so-secret trend. I have a major bias towards characters from Blazing Blade, Sacred Stones, Path of Radiance, Radiant Dawn and, to an extent, Awakening. These were the games I played growing up, so it makes sense that they stayed. ANYWAY. Nino, adorable and punches through everything. I find I don’t really have a ton of space for her on teams, though...she was easy to merge and offers no fodder. I have all the materials, but she’ll honestly have to wait, like Mordecai.

Now, I think I should list out every character with at least +1 merge, to sort through who should be a priority. So this will go in descending order:

Mia, +3 (+Res): One of the only speedy sword girls I actually give a shit about (unsurprisingly). I would love a +10 eventually. Masked Marth, +3: A product of a bygone age. I never spent any real fodder on her, so I’ll chalk this one up to *meh*. OG Eliwood, +3 (+Atk): I have all the resources to +10 him. He’s my favorite Lord. He’s incredible in combat. He has amazing Resplendent Art. Why the fuck have I not finished him. I’ve failed my boy. Forgive me Eliwood. He’s clearly a high level priority. What have I been doing. Astram, +2: He’s a strong unit and has a great niche but I just....don’t care about him. I built him for this week’s Arena needs. His cost is just way too high as a Grail unit. He’ll stay at +2 for now.    Joshua, +2: He was almost my first grail merge project and I...held off. Idk, his cost is so high. but I love his personality and he’s near the top of the grail pile that deserves a refine. I might wait until then?? Idk, I’m torn. I think he could put in good work if I took the time to kit him properly. I need to put more thought into him. Eldigan, +2 (+Def): Multiple pitybreakers that have been merged. Garbage. Next. Donnel, +2 (+Atk): Donnel’s another character I’ve always really liked, but held off, because my Blue Enemy Phase Infantry slot remains filled. His new refine gives him an interesting niche, but is he worth the resources? I have the merges and feathers, but I’m hesitant to pull the trigger. Hawkeye, +2 (+Def): Another random decision I made months and months ago for...no particular reason? He’s got a great refine, but there’s nothing he can do that Ross or Brave Ike can’t. Brave Ike, +2 (+Atk): Speaking of...amazing typing, amazing refine, I sacked my only Nailah to him in order to finally make it to T21 in AR. I have one more waiting in the wings, because I worry that I might need Steady Breath for someone in the future. But I think the ship has sailed on SB’s hey-day. An extra merge for survivability is likely better. Rath, +2 (+Spd): I love Rath so much. His personality, his art, all great. He got SHAFTED stat line wise but....we shall prevail. I have a +Atk waiting in the wings, but I think I’ll keep the +Spd. Speed is king and will remain king until something drastic changes in the meta. He could be +7 with the copies I have, so I’ll likely up his merges soon. Lissa, +2 (+Res): I love Lissa. She’s so cute and she was the first true defensive healer, and I LOVE healers...but she’s incredibly outclassed at this point. Resplendent Lissa when??? I don’t see this going forward without some kind of refine/Resplendent. Adult Tiki, +2 (+Atk): Tiki has the misfortune of just not appearing as fast as Nowi did in terms of merges. I don’t love all dragon teams, and Nowi has the better color. Plus her refine isn’t amazing. She’ll remain here for now. Y!Marth, +1 (+Atk): I am on the fence about whether I feel regret for not pulling more for Y!Marth. His weapon is so strong, he’s got great stats, and not great fodder. But I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. I decided +1 was better than trying for the +10 and getting mad when I spent money on orbs. But he puts in work. I love him as a unit. OG Alm, +1 (+HP): Funnily enough, as an almost day-one player, I didn’t pull an OG Alm until halfway through his availability as a Limited-Time Divine Code option. He was a free pull on some random banner and obviously got a merge afterwards. I like his character, but I don’t know if I will ever make an effort to +10. Saber, +1 (+Atk): One of my absolute favorite units. One of the characters I had Summoner Supported for a period of time. His refine is very interesting and allows for some really interesting builds. I might need to make more of an effort for him in the future. Ayra, +1 (+HP): I’ll be honest, I don’t love Ayra. I don’t like the speed arms race she kicked off, and I’m bummed I didn’t just use her as Swift Sparrow fodder. Whatever. Black Knight, +1: Big surprise here: I love the Black Knight. I think he still holds up as a viable option for Red Armors. His cost remains high as a Grail unit, but I think it might be worth it, given how many armor skills exist now. Elincia, +1 (+Atk): The trend continues: character from PoR and RD that I love. She’s got amazing player phase capabilities, and eventually she’d be a great +10. Lukas, +1 (+Atk): The OG physical tank. Great personality and solid niche, but I have others who do the same thing. Nephenee, +1 (+Spd): The Halberdier class in PoR still ranks as one of my all time favorite character ranks. Nephenee languished as -Spd for a long time before I snagged another merge. I love her character and need to prioritize her builds. I’d love for her to demote one day (lol), but she’ll go on the list of 5* exclusive merge desires. OG Azura, +1 (Neutral): I feel like OG Azura is still outclassed, even with her Resplendent stats. Although she has a strong niche as a triple Chill support unit. I need to actually build her and deploy her before I sink any real assets into her. Legendary Ephraim, +1 (+Res): I pulled Legendary Ephraim long before I ever pulled OG Ephraim. He finds use mostly as a Grand Conquests lead. Which makes me realize that I don’t have a ton of lance cavaliers....or really any that I would really love to build. I’ll look into this. Altena, +1 (+Def): I adore Altena. She’s one of those characters that FEH really introduced me to and I fell in love with her personality, and she’s got a great kit. I’d love for her to be 3*/4*, but I find myself thinking I should pull for Blue on random banners, just in case I pull extras. She’s a high priority merge project. Halloween Dorcas, +1: Another case of a strange decision made without any real thought. Especially since Hack-o’-Lantern+ is a solid axe to have in a unit’s back pocket. I’m suddenly mad at myself for doing this. Minerva, +1 (+Atk): You know, Minerva was the third 5* I ever pulled in this game, and I never really found a use for her somehow. I suppose I avoided flying units for a long time, just because they were always physical, and usually less useful than infantry or cavalry units (what a time). She’s merged because of a pity breaker. Young Minerva, +1: Ironic, I know. Y!Minerva is near the top of my list for Grail projects. She’ll likely get a +10 eventually, it’s hard to top the skills she has available. And I’m weirdly a sucker for tiny children who destroy enemies. I love this unit. Legendary Alm, +1 (+Def): My first pull of L!Alm was -Spd, which was a major fucking bummer. I ultimately decided I needed to fix that when I pulled one a while back, it was a good decision. I am never going to have the resources to pump more into him, though. So his base kit will do for now. Matthew, +1 (+Atk): Let’s talk briefly about how fucking bad Matthew’s attack stat is. At lvl 41 with a 14 mt dagger equipped and attack boon he has 43 attack. Literal garbage. His refine makes him useable and I want to +10 him so badly because I love his character, but again, it clashes directly with the Sothe I already built, who only loses out on the defense that Matthew’s packing. It’s hard to justify, ngl. Kagero, +1 (+Atk): I am only human. Every once in a while, I am susceptible to the pull of a waifu or two. Cool refine, solid niche, but hard to justify when I have characters that do the work better. Julia, +1 (+Def): Another character I didn’t have for literal years, and got in back to back banners long after she had a hey-day. Crystalelemental on Tumblr loves Julia and, honestly, that love kinda rubbed off. She doesn’t even have skills equipped, but I’ve been on the lookout for a way to deploy her. She’ll get a good kit eventually. Legendary Female Fallen Robin, +1 (+Spd): Describing some of these characters becomes a mouthful. Solid niche, and she got a merge because she kept pitybreaking me on the road to Bramimond. The rest were sacked for Res Smoke fodder. She’s useful from time to time, but not a favorite. Lethe, +1 (+Def): I always liked Mordecai more than Lethe, but she hits a lot of criteria for me. Her typing holds her back a little bit, though. I also don’t run all beast teams very often, and that’s where she really shines. It also doesn’t help that her first appearance was as -Atk. Sometimes heroes with bad IVs that you love kinda lose their luster, which is sad. Kaden, +1 (Neutral): Both times a pitybreaker. Great niche as a unit, sees plenty of use when I’m running Bonus Doubler shenanigans. Doesn’t see a ton of use outside of that.

Phew. That was a lot to write. If you read through that....I am deeply impressed. I think next is taking stock of what I actually want in terms of unit niches, and which ones would fill those roles that I could target. 

Don`t think you have done this yet, and since its a lot of fun i wanna ask you: Mutuals as fictional characters?

omg thank you marthe ❤️ i’ve been lowkey waiting for this lolllll. now is my Time 2 Shine. some of these may sound like i pulled my answer outta my ass but i swear i have actual good reasons for every single one.

@forcesawakens is definitely steve rogers to me. jamie is so strong and opinionated, but always calm which seems like an impossible feat to me.

@ironendgame is tony stark fo sho, just looking at sho’s blog gives off those big tony vibes

@stormbreakersthor reminds of hermione granger, she seems very educated and sensitive and like she would be such a good friend to have

@shxrirogers is shuri because she is a Vine Queen and also hella smart

@mytserio gives off such strong mj vibes, a. because of the peter love and b. because of the personality conveyed in her tags lol

@buchanans-james is luna lovegood. she just seems so mystical and chill.

@spiderspace is ned leeds and i love her for it; kelina is so sweet and funny

@romanovasnatalias is natasha romanoff, i think we can all agree!!

@swkywalker is miss general leia organa... ok so i don’t really have a real reason for this one it’s just,,, vibes??? idk i’m sorry

and u my dear @wandaomanov are the lovely wanda maximoff!! you are so kind but i gotta feeling you could destroy us all if you wanted.

i could do like 80000 more but i feel like that would get annoying so i’ll stop here lol. feel free to send me more asks, gang. i am desperate for attention lol

Simon Belmont forgets that he has to share the chicken with everyone, and doesn’t realize it until it’s too late

(Thank you for the submission!)

At first, Simon wasn’t sure if he should’veaccepted his invitation to this “Super Smash Bros.” or not. The idea was soridiculous and outlandish, he was almost certain that it couldn’t be anythingother than a trap, and Simon refused to be gullible enough to fall for it. Butnot long after his encounter with a strangely shaped man and another who claimedto be his descendant, Simon had little other choice than to accept that theinvitation was real.

Now that he was here, the vampire hunter had toadmit he’d gotten very attached to the place. Most of his fellow fighters weregenuine and good-natured people, and quickly made friends with Simon. And nowthat all of his fights were non-lethal, he found that he liked the chaotic andunpredictability of free-for-all, items-on matches as well as the one-on-onetests of skill against his comrades.

What was most surprising, though, was just howluxurious it felt to live in the fighter house. Having traversed Dracula’scastle, Simon was no stranger to foreign and advanced technology, but he’dhardly gotten the chance to take advantage of these things until now.Electricity that could keep rooms warm and well-lit far better than any fire,infinite hot water whenever he bathed, machines that cleaned and dried clothesfaster than any human; it was incredible.

Though perhaps the most amazing thing out of allthese wonders was the abundance of free food. Aside from knowing that thehouse’s technology allowed the food to last longer, Simon had no idea how anyof it worked. Obviously, there had to be a lot of the stuff in order to feedthe absurd number of people living in the fighter house. But it was like magic,the way Simon could watch someone inhale half the kitchen’s supply of fruit andthen come back the next day to find all of it had been replenished.

And if that was the case, why not help himself?Simon never considered himself much of a glutton, but a scenario like this washard to come by anywhere in his home, so he thought to take advantage of it thesame as he took advantage of electricity and clean plumbing.

At least, that’s what he told himself as he servedhimself the remaining of the kitchen’s roast chicken for the third night in arow. It couldn’t have been healthy for him to eat so much meat and little of anythingelse, but it was free, abundant, and most importantly delicious, and thevampire hunter found it hard to resist the temptation. Still, as he ate thatnight, it felt like something was nagging at the edge of his subconscious,making him feel guilty for enjoying his meal.

He didn’t truly understand what it was until hereturned to the kitchen to clean his dishes and found Ike at a table, themercenary’s face buried in his hands as Marth stood beside him and offered hisfriend a comforting pat on the shoulder.

“… Am I interrupting something?” Simon said,awkwardly looking between the two of them.

“No, no, it’s fine.” Marth shook his head. “Ikejust… needs a moment to pull himself to together.”

The young prince was trying to be diplomatic, butSimon felt just as uncomfortable as ever. He made his way over to the sink,debating if he should stay and clean up or worry about the mess later and getaway from the awkward tension as fast as possible.

Before he could make a decision, Ike spoke up. “Someonekeeps eating all the chicken.” He admitted. “I know it’s a dumb thing to getupset about, but…” The mercenary sighed, looking utterly downtrodden.

Simon could feel the guilt twisting his insides,as if all the food he just ate turned to sawdust. “Isn’t everything in herereplaced when something’s taken?”

“Well, technically yes. But it doesn’t happeninstantly, and some things take longer to replace; meat takes longer thanfruits and vegetables, for instance. And if someone cooks something, theingredients get restocked and not the actual dish. To be honest, I’m not entirelysure why it works that way.” Marth mused.

It was all Simon could do to keep himself fromphysically cringing and giving himself away as the culprit. “Oh. Interesting.”He choked out the words, finished cleaning the dishes, and vacated the room asfast as he could before the two swordsmen could catch on.

Top 10 (Slightly Revised) Smash Ultimate - Fighters Pass Predictions

Keep in mind, these are fighters I personally want in Smash Ultimate. With the surprise reveal of Joker, and that he’ll be joining the roster soon with only a month away, anything is possible at this point. Also, Mii Costumes and Spirits usually does not mean a fighter is de-confirmed. For example, Mario is a fighter and he has multiple Spirits of himself from other Mario games. This will be a slightly lengthy list, so I’ll put a cut underneath.

Rex & Pyra/Mythra - Xenoblade Chronicles 2 Unfortunately they did not make it into the final roster as Smash Ultimate’s development period was around the time Xenoblade 2 released in December 2017, and Smash Ultimate released the next year. As compensation, we got a Mii Fighter costume of Rex if we pre-purchased the Fighters Pass DLC for free. I still have hope for Rex being in Smash. Some people say they want Pyra & Mythra as solo fighters, I have to disagree on that. They share their life-force with Rex, and without him as the Driver, they’re not at full strength, even if they are the Aegises. I COULD see Mythra as a solo fighter, should Sakurai and his team choose to use her Torna iteration. For their special attacks and Final Smash, here’s what I got: Sword Bash in Neutral-B, Rolling Smash is Side-B, Double Spinning Edge is Up-B akin to Link’s Spin Attack, and Down-B can be Blade Switch by changing between Pyra or Mythra respectively. For Rex’s Grab, it can be Anchor Shot akin to Young/Toon Link’s Hookshot, and it can also work as a tether-grab on ledges. For their Final Smash, it can be something like how Ryu and Ken have a 2-in-one Final Smash; Chain Attack - Burning Sword (Pyra), and Chain Attack - Sacred Arrow (Mythra). Rex call upon either Nia & Dromarch, Tora & Poppi, Mòrag & Brighid, and/or Zeke & Pandoria. They let their Blades go all out with the Special Attacks, and Rex deals the finishing blow with Pyra or Mythra using either of their respective Level 4 Special Attack.

Elma - Xenoblade Chronicles X Elma is one of many highly requested fighters to be in Smash, especially during the Fighter Ballot back in 2016 for Smash 4. Even if Elma doesn’t make, I can see the avatar, Cross, be in it. Elma’s moveset can be directly pulled from her origin game, and from Xenoblade 2: Neutral-B is Stream Edge, Side-B is Sliding Slinger, Up-B is Shadow Strike, and Down-B is Ghost Factory as counter akin to Lucario’s Double Team. For her Final Smash, it can be call Full Metal Jaguar Overdrive: This can be similar to Shulk’s Chain Attack in a way. Elma activates Overdrive, then splits clones of herself with Ghost Factory like in her boss fight from Xenoblade 2. Elma and her clones then go all out using moves like Violent Streak, Executioner, Electric Surge, Hundred Shells, and the original Elma finishes the attack with her signature Art being Shadow Strike. For a special aesthetic, one of Elma’s alternate costumes can be her True Form, where she’s actually one of the mysterious peaceful aliens trying to protect humanity from the Ganglion Alliance.

Kazuma Kiryu - Yakuza series I know what some of you might be thinking; “But Kiryu has never been on a Nintendo console before!” This is where I say, not true! The first two Yakuza games had HD ports on the Wii U. Sales didn’t do so well though.... But that’s okay! If we can get characters like Bayonetta and Joker, why not Kiryu? For Kiryu’s fighting style taken straight from 0 and Kiwami 1 & 2, he has Brawler, Rush, Beast, and Dragon of Dojima. For most of his standard and aerial attacks, Kiryu can use both Brawler and DoD styles. When dodging, that’s where Rush Style comes in. For his grab attacks and throws, Beast Style is in play. So all in all, Kiryu will mainly be using Dragon of Dojima with hints of his other 3 fighting styles mixed into one, just like in Kiwami 2 and onward. I’m not entirely sure what his B-specials can be like, but they’ll be something straight out of his DoD style. For example, his Down-B can be the Tiger Drop as a counterattack, where Kiryu gut-punches foes causing them to be stunned, similar to Ryu & Ken’s Focus Attack. For his Final Smash, Kiryu goes into Extreme Heat, unleashing powerful Heat Action attacks on anyone that gets in his way. The finisher is using his signature high kick, causing foes to be sent flying. A Kiwami symbol (極) will appear as an aesthetic when the Final Smash is finished.

Byleth - Fire Emblem: Three Houses With FE: 3 Houses recently announced and coming to Nintendo Switch soon, it won’t be a surprise if yet another FE avatar makes it into the roster alongside Robin and Corrin. Corrin especially since both them and Roy were originally put into Smash to promote both of their respective origin games. Roy being The Binding Blade, and Corrin being Fates of course. Robin, Corrin, and Byleth. Wouldn’t that be amazing? As of making this list, we don’t know much of Byleth other than they can use swords and have mysterious powers in Three Houses and how that’ll be incorporated into Smash Ultimate, but I have a feeling they’ll be an original FE fighter much like Robin & Corrin. Robin using their tomes & Levin Sword, Corrin wielding the Omega Yato & using their Dragon Fang ability, so I’m curious and I’d like to see what Byleth could bring to the table.

Shantae - Shantae series Reminder once again, Spirits don’t usually de-confirm fighters. In Smash Ultimate, Shantae & Risky’s Spirits are represented in their Half-Genie Hero appearances & design. So what I’m thinking is that we can bring in the “recent” Shantae iteration from one of her more popular games being The Pirate’s Curse. Shantae’s Smash design can be a mix of all of her past and present iterations, like her vest from PC. All of Shantae’s attacks can derive from all of her games. She can use her magic, and use other means of weapons & attacks from Pirate’s Curse. Shantae can be slightly similar to Robin, and how they use swords & magic. Like she can use her signature Hair Whip attack on the ground, shoot magic fireballs or use a flintlock pistol for projectile attacks, and use a pirate cutlass for her aerial attacks. She can even use moves like Power, Drill & Uppercut Kicks. Her dodge can even come from her notable Backdash. Her most iconic magical bellydances can be her special attacks, and her taunts. Shantae’s Final Smash can be something like unleashing powerful Genie Magic via her magic bellydancing.

Phoenix Wright - Ace Attorney series & VS. Capcom series I mean, c’mon now. We gotta have another joke-fighter in Smash. Nick works as a joke fighter in the VS. Capcom games because most of his moves are taken from his games and from Project X Zone 2. Shouting an “Objection!” can be a forward-Smash attack, his Up-B can be a powerful sneeze, and other attacks can involve his partners such as Maya & Pearl Fey (with the Steel Samurai), Apollo Justice, and Athena Cykes. For his Final Smash, the name can be something like “Final Evidence Presentation” A.K.A., “TAKE THAT!” Phoenix presents the final key evidence on the “suspect”, belittling them even further that they were at the crime scene with no alibi and hope left, with the finisher being a powerful “TAKE THAT!” shout sending the suspects flying. For this, both Apollo and Athena join Nick like they both did in Dual Destinies.

Neku Sakuraba - The World Ends With You I was one of the people that voted for Neku to be in Smash during the Fighter Ballot. If you’ve played TWEWY, you probably already know how Neku can fight. Most of Neku’s powers come from pins, allowing him to use pyrokinesis, electrokinesis, shockwaves, energy projectiles, quakes, soundwaves, and more. If he were to be a fighter, Neku can be similar to Robin. In his game, the pins’ powers have a limit use and time limit. After a certain amount of use, Neku must wait to use the pin again until it reboots. This goes for all of his special attacks. Neutral-B can be Energy/Force Rounds, Side-B can be Shockwave akin to Marth/Lucina/Roy’s Dancing Blade, Up-B is Vulcan Uppercut or Teleport, and his Down-B is Pyrokinesis which is controllable. Neku’s Final Smash will be Final Fusion. He summons Shiki, Joshua and Beat where they put all of their power in the Harmonizer Pin with Neku dealing the finishing blow. If Final Fusion manages to KO opponents, this fully reboots all of Neku’s pins.

Monster Hunter - Monster Hunter series Smash Ultimate feels nearly complete as it already has the armor as Mii Costumes and Rathalos as a boss & Assist Trophy. I know very little of the Monster Hunter games, but they can work as a fighter with their various weapons.

Ruby Rose - RWBY series Ruby seems very unlikely for a fighting game like Smash Ultimate, but she already has her own game which is RWBY: Grimm Eclipse, and stars in another crossover fighting game being BLAZBLUE: Cross Tag Battle. But what she can bring to the table is that she’s the most unique fighter out of everyone in Smash. Ruby wields her favorite weapon, Crescent Rose, a high-impact sniper-rifle scythe hybrid weapon. Most of her attacks from the show involve using her Speed Semblance, and attacking from a distance thanks to the rifle part. In a way, she can be similar to Bayonetta as both characters uses guns and attack from far away. Her speed can even match Sonic’s and Shulk’s Monado Speed. For Ruby’s Final Smash, it can be similar to Shulk’s Chain Attack, where she summons the rest of Team RWBY; Weiss, Blake, and Yang. All four girls use their unique team attacks, and the finishing blow is all four of them attacking together with their respective weapons.

Sora - Kingdom Hearts series Sora is on the very bottom for this list because I feel he’s highly unlikely to be the next DLC fighter. He’s technically a Disney character, and Square-Enix is usually careful with their IPs, though some producers seem to be okay with his inclusion in Smash Ultimate. Anyway, should Sora become a fighter, of course he would bring his Keyblade, the Kingdom Key to the battle. All of his attacks can derive from his origin games, like moves from Limit & Second Form. Sliding Dash is his Dash-Attack, Ripple Drive can be his Up-Smash, Stun Impact can be his Down-Smash akin to Zero Suit Samus’s, and Magnet Burst can be a Neutral-Air as an example. I’m not sure what his Neutral-B will be like though for the rest of the Special Attacks; Side-B will be Strike Raid akin to Link’s boomerang, Up-B is Aeroga, and Down-B is a Counterattack being Zantetzuken (or even his latest reprisals from KH3). Sora’s Final Smash is a bit tricky as he has a lot of powerful finishers and attacks. They can be either Ragnarok, Sonic Blade, Ars Arcanum, Union χ, Ancient Light, or Trinity where he teams up with Donald & Goofy to unleash a powerful attack.

The Prince & Thief.

Slowly, life began to flood back into the unconsciouus thief. And it was quite safe to say that the pain he hadn’t felt before, was pounding down on him now, as though all of his senses had been re-awakened. His limbs ached, his body felt heavy, his head muddled in thought, and his jaw hurt like hell. A muffled, near mute, groan rumbled from within his chest, vibrating lightly throughout his skull and drawing a small, fresh wave of pain in his jaw. For a moment, he wondered if it were broken and when he attempted to raise a hand to feel, he realized rather quickly his limb wouldn’t obey him. 

Bewildered, his brow furrowed and he struggled to finally open his eyes. His vision was rather disoriented at first. He exhaled weakly through his nostrils, closing his eyes again before re-opening them and blinking a few times, in hopes to clear the blurred scenery. It was dark, making him believe for a second he hadn’t actually been able to open his eyes but was proven different when his eyes began adjusting to the darkness. Again, he attempted to move his arms but only managed to get a good twitch from them; his fingertips brushed against one another, making him pause. 

Slowly, realization began to sink in. Marthe, ignoring the small tendrils of pain and soreness raking his body, twisted to peer over his shoulder as though he might actually be able to see but knew better. It was an impossible notion, especially considering he was laying on the ground of what felt like bedded hay and straw alike. His arms were pressed firmly against his ribcage, wrists bound tightly behind his back. Inhaling sharply, he struggled to right himself up, using the nearby wall of the shack along with his upper body strength to push himself up-right into a sitting position. Once he had done so, he pressed his back against a wall and stretched out his legs before him, taking the opportunity to notice they were bound together at the ankles. Clearly, whoever had caught him by surprise and blindsided him wasn’t taking any chances with the Asturian thief. Smart. 

But if he wasn’t dead—Not yet anyway—that only left one other option for being captured. And it wasn’t for protection. To conceal the secret or whom or what he'd stumbled into here. Whoever had assaulted him; clearly didn't want anbody to find out their presence.

A fury of demands rose from deep inside his chest and decided now would be the time to voice them—only for his voice to be muffled within his own mouth. Gagged; he was gagged, a tight cloth stretched along his bottom jaw, forced between his teeth, so any sounds he tried to make would be muffled. The gag wouldn’t be able to be removed until his hands were free or at least one of them, which meant calling for help was out of the question. Of course. Inwardly, he cursed himself for not having noticed sooner. It wasn't surprising, honestly. As he had thought, this person  clearly didn't want the locals finding out he was hiding out in their presence for some ulterior purpose. 

A burst of adrenaline, mingled with anger, flared in his core and his eyes flickered around for sign of the person responsible in the dimness surrounding him of what seemed like an abandoned farmstead in the Asturian countryside of Gaea, but saw no movement or any signs of life. Although, that large, distinctive white guymelef laid hidden in the far reaches of the building. Covered in straw, sheets of cloth, admist other things to try and conceal the majority of it from partial view. For some reason, this individual didn't want it to be noticed. (Was THAT what the Zaibach Empire had been hunting for in their country of late?) It'd been naught but hearsay and rumours flooding the land, but this thing sprang like something out of the ordinary. He tugged and pulled against the bindings but it did little good. Sighing inwardly in frustration, he forced himself to stop and think. No sense in wasting what little energy he had currently. Giving himself a minute to clear his mind, he again glanced around, trying to get a feel of his surroundings—along with any possible escape routes. Whoever this person was, they weren’t to be taken lightly. Even for a thief, like him.

He had to try and escape. However, before he could even attempt the very gesture of doing so, the sound of footfalls knocked him free of his whirlwind of thoughts. They were quiet, but in the absolute silence, they weren’t difficult to hear. Cerulean visionaries spotted what seemed like a pair of mahogany leather boots traversing to the stead's entrance. Marthe braced himself, muscles tensing, nerves wound just as tightly as his bindings. A look of scorn plastered itself over his features easily as he prepared for the captor he would soon be face-to-face with.