Notes and Errata of Mark of the Asphodel

Just to get these thoughts down in one place...

I don't know about y'all but I found little things about the way female characters were handled to be a very off-putting thing in FE13. I didn't like a lot of the Big Things in FE13 either but small disparities really got under my skin. At this point, the high-water mark for the franchise treatment of female characters looks to be Tellius, but it's worth examining the baby steps-- both forward and backward-- it took to get to that level, or even to FE6's level of female empowerment.

( Spoilers for FE1-FE10 )

All right. Tellius.

[Information about Nintendo of Japan script courtesy of amielleon ]

On the surface, it seems to be a big break from tradition, what with non-noble Everyman protagonist Ike and a world populated by beast-people and bird-people as well as dragons who aren't quite the same as the "manaketes" of earlier games. Despite these surface changes, FE9 and FE10 aren't as big of a departure as they look; in fact, I'd say that for their return to console gaming IS pretty clearly took a look back at the previous console era and returned to the SNES well for these games. The skills from FE4 and FE5 are back, as is the differentiation between Wind, Thunder, and Fire magic. Many characters are obvious echoes of long-ago beloved predecessors-- the relationship between snarky sniper Shinon and his green-haired apprentice Rolf evokes Archanea's Jeorge and Gordin, while layabout Makalov reincarnates loser-brother Matthis from that saga. The Jugdral character tributes are somewhat more subtle, though Micaiah in particular evokes FE5's Linoan on a couple of levels.

There's a feel of "old canon in a blender" to this despite the new distractions of 3D graphics and… cat people. 

( Once more into the breach )

I was gonna do that fanfic meme that's been going around but my answers are boring and evasive.

On an IM the other night, Ammie dropped a revelation: Soren, in an "our world" modern AU, would vote Republican.

( Fanfic and contemporary politics: You're doing it wrong )

What makes a "favorite" character?  In my case, it's kind of a visceral appreciation and not purely an abstract "what-if" meta obsession.  Put simply, I often know if a character (or pairing) is truly a favorite by how I respond to artwork.  If seeing a little fan-doodle or icon provokes a reaction in me, that's a beloved character.  If I see the picture, think "meh," and skip on by, I don't really like them all that much-- not for what they are in-game, or in-media.

I'm also skewing this list toward the characters who have a substantial amount of material upon which I can base my opinions.  I love Norne to bits, but she has, what, three lines of translated dialogue?  That's not enough to hang anything on.  

So, if this entry feels like a bit of a cheat, it's not.

I don't write 'fic about him.  I don't have complex meta posts about him.  I haven't played the second of the two games he's in, cause I rather dislike the first game.

But if you mentally give a power salute to virtually everything that character says on-screen, I think that makes them a favorite character.

Therefore, at #8... Soren.

( He is so. )

#14:  Best Designed Character/Artwork

Design.  Interesting topic.  Of course, we have to suspend disbelief on the front end to accept FE designs; spikes on armor and long swirls of clothing and hair all invite immediate speculation on how they might harm the wearer in actual combat.   

( Read more... )

 Most of the questions on this meme hold scant interest to me, or at least I have no opinion on the matter.  This was a kind of cool question, though.

"What Country Would You Live In?"

I was going to say "Sofia" because life is there is totally sweet as long as Mila's running it, but Mila went bye-bye and now I guess everyone has to actually work for a living and till the soil for food and stuff.  So that's out.  Oh, and the king was a dick, but he's dead anyway.  And I'm not 100% sure all the zombies went away.

So, with that in mind...

Frelia.  It appears to be stable and prosperous, with a secure and capable king and a competent crown prince.  The Frelian outlook on life seems pretty sensible, the food there is apparently good, gender dynamics don't appear to suck as much as they do in some other Fire Emblem countries.  It's not a theocracy.  It's not ravaged by earthquakes.  It's not governed by Joshua.  I'm not 100% sure the zombies went away here, either, but all things considered?  Oh, and they have flying horsies.   

Khadein would be really interesting, too, but it's in a desert and I can't take the heat.

Places I don't want to live: Grado.  Duh.  Post-war Jehanna (hell, pre-war Jehanna doesn't seem nice, either).  Rausten.  Anywhere in Archanea with the possible exception of Talys.  Gallia (though the feeling would be mutual).  

So, today I went down to Lake Erie Metropark for the annual Hawkfest, a two-day celebration of our good friends, the raptors.  

I love hawks.  Even if they do show up in my yard and try to eat the squirrels and birds that we feed, the way a young female Cooper's Hawk wanted to yesterday (she missed).  I love them even more after hanging out with Peregrine Falcons, Red-Tailed Hawk, various owls, a Turkey Vulture that thinks it's a person, and an incredibly adorable American Kestrel.  Kestrels are like the budgies of the hawk world, dove-sized and darling.  This cutie made little chirps when her trainer gave her a spray-bottle bath, and puffed up into a sphere and began shrieking when she caught sight of a wild Cooper's Hawk that had just been released after banding.  

Facts about hawks:

"Hawk" is kind of a catch-all term in the US and UK, encompassing accipiters like the Cooper's Hawk, buteos like the Red-Tailed Hawk, falcons, eagles, and even buzzards.  Basically, it can mean "any bird of prey that's not an owl."

Buteo and accipiter hawks, compared with falcons, are clumsy as hell.  I have seen some hilarious "misses" by immature hawks that would've made me famous for a couple of seconds on YouTube if I'd taped them.  This is part of why falcons have the status as the preferred hunting bird.

Hawks have amazingly keen eyesight.  Scary keen.  Like, able to see a pea set down in the touchdown zone from the opposite end of an American football field.

Traditionally, "falcon" is a term for a female bird, while "tiercel" applies to the male.  (Take that, Falcon Sword!)

Female hawks are larger than the males.  Quite noticeably larger.  And often more aggressive.

Hawks that imprint on humans as hatchlings and learn to think of themselves as humans will select a human "mate" and fend off potential human competitors.  So do some other birds-- I met the "wife" of a Great Horned Owl today.  The owl got noticeably antsy if male humans came to close to his lady. 

They can learn a pretty interesting array of verbal commands, and recognize things like cameras.

Facts about ravens:

Ravens are awesome.  I need not say more.

Facts about herons:

Herons are predators, dammit.

 I'm still in screw-off mode.

"Paris, you pretty boy, you woman seducer.  Why were you ever born?"

This, one of my favorite quotes in E.V. Rieu's prose translation of the Iliad, is Hector's lament over the wayward and aggravating nature of his brother, Paris.

The Trojan Hector and Paris are amusing to me because, links to Sir Ector notwithstanding, FE7's Hector is named, well, Hector.  And Ike's original name was supposed to be Paris.  And, given that Ike was modeled on Hector, that makes him, in a sense, FE7!Hector's little brother.

And since girl-crazy Paris Ike doesn't work for me, I'm now imagining Soren as Helen of Troy.

Yes, you can hit me now.

Spent the weekend "Up North"-- as in, without internet or cellphone access.  Very restorative, especially if you like sandhill cranes and bufflehead ducks, but there was a little problem of a mold explosion in one of the bedrooms that brought back memories of the chupacabra episode of the X-files.  So clearly we have an issue there.

-x-

Color me surprised that the royal UK wedding did not inspire a single royal wedding-themed 'fic in the FE section that I've seen.  I didn't expect a lot of them, but I did expect a handful.

-x-

I guess I missed the magvel  comm deadline for the "royalty" challenge.  Just haven't been good with deadlines lately, or at least I haven't been able to write to them.   I had an idea that I'd been kicking around for about 18 months regarding Vanessa and her son, and again it just seemed like too much work to pull off.  Magvel is like that, though.  :/

-x-

My usually excellent spouse left the GameCube card with my FE9 file on it at the cottage, and we won't be up there again until Memorial Day Weekend.  Guess my plan to work on that is shot...

-x-

Dear fandom secrets anon: seriously, I do not bite.  It is perfectly OK to come here and talk.  There's a reason this journal is open to the public-- I like people coming in to say hi.  Unless you're a Russian spambot.  Those aren't welcome.  But real people from Russia and everywhere else are welcome.

 Ike/Soren is not technically a slash pairing.  Ike/Soren stories are not technically slash.

Discuss.