Got to meet another Fortune's Weave voice actor, this time Leda! Some of my favorite voice lines/moments in Fortune's Weave come from Leda's route, so getting to meet her voice actress was super cool. 🤩

(Bleeped part is my name, haha).

Am I cooking or nah?

EDIT with some explanations .

• Cai: Young boy and his friends saving his sickly Dad.
• Dietrich: Very strong fight guy who knows nothing about politics and a Racist mage who hates everyone except him.
• Theodora: Red Ruler with horns who wants to annex a country alongside her loyal advisor.
• Leda: Vengeful lord and her very loyal indebted retainer who wants whats best for them.
• Talimun: Sly laid back guy with an agenda. Woman with the crest of the beast.
• Orchel: Undercover maiden and her rogue protector.
• Anatolia: Secret Heirress pretending to be a priest. Setting out to save her home country with her close friends.
• Bertrand: Fallen Hero who was betrayed and framed by a red usurper. (He also took his wife.)

Self-explanatory title but yeah, I really enjoyed having Anna and genuine bonafide Christmas Cavaliers in the game as actual characters with plot relevancy. It's cool fanservice for older fans, but they also stand on their own as fully-realized characters that are enjoyable and interesting even if you don't have any prior knowledge of their archetype.

I've seen a lot of (fully justified) praise for FW Anna, so I want to add praise to Nathan/Creek too, they've quickly became one of my favorite Cain and Abel of the franchise

Also I really like their voice and battle quotes

PANTERE ON THE MOVE

From Chris Mayek. Full interview here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rL5Woqqh60s

IE: You skip right after part 1, everyone's level 35-40, they're level 40-45 after the skip. You skip after doing the first 3-4 chapters of Part 2, they're 40-45, they're 45-50 after the skip.

The skip reflects your current status when you choose to skip, including the middle of the chapter, so you can class change or use the group training/exp army action before going back to the obelisk chamber and selecting to skip.

Theoretically you could recruit a unit at a low level in part 1, get them as little EXP as possible, get to chapter 4 of the war arc, then class switch them around to everything they remotely qualify for and group level/skip over and over and have them merge with themselves again and again.

Do what you will with this information.

An ice dragon that has green hair and red eyes and wearing green dress.

Both also have descendants who are half human, half dragon.

Their fathers can also revive dead people.

I believe my dear will better be suited as a dreadnought but I don't want to compromise her positioning with her OP arts.

I like both because they are basically the same thing lore wise just hero relics come from multiple dragons while drakes treasures come from one. But I would like other people's opinions

(Dietrich path chapter 12 spoilers): Dietrich and Fabio are genuinely great MLM representation. Fabio explicitly declaring his love for Dietrich in a cutscene is unheard of for the franchise, and I appreciate how unambiguous their feelings are towards each other (even if you don't interpret it as romantic love, it's still genuine love nonetheless).

But looking at the game's support list and the paired endings the characters get to choose from, it kinda feels like the game stops there with the inclusion. In fact, it feels like they went out of their way to block Male/Male paired endings. Some pairs get A-Supports together, but then, suddenly don't get a paired ending (something that can also be said for some F/F pairs, such as Mu+Olympia, don't get me wrong). Additionally, other pairs that should be obvious candidates for a paired ending, inexplicably don't even get an A-Support together. In what world are the christmas cavaliers not pairable? Bonaventure and Tobias? I feel like the only way to make it make sense is if you put the tinfoil hat on.

Anyone else disappointed by the lack of follow-through? Obviously, there's a lot of discussion about the game's lacklustre support system, but this is an additional layer to it that I feel needed to also be talked about. Thoughts?

EDIT: Tobias and Bonaventure DO have an A-Support, that's my mistake. However, they do not have a paired ending together, and thus, they belong in that 2nd column, not the 3rd.

I just think they're neat!

Much love from a slow gamer who is still only in Part 1, finished Cai and currently halfway through on Leda's path. There's just so much so taking it all in while knowing there's a whole lot left to do :)

Source (it's me)

I'm so happy!! I love Dyan he's so cute & a bastard <3

Another one of my favorite designs, I love his compass blaze arts; also it’s a shame we see so little of him because his crit animations might just be the best in the game

Wasn’t on purpose but now the alternate 4 flame lords are all on the spread! (And I somehow have drawn 0 of the 4 lords we got)

As always feel free to suggest characters for future days 🕺

Now starting the parties of the all the lords! Fwiw a 5th unit for Cai would've been before this, and a 5th unit for Dietrich after this, but they don't have a 5th unit. This order of the parties will be what I'll be going with as we work our way up to the lords.

Since Ninae is part of a DLC lord group, if the upcoming DLC is full part 1s then I'll redo the discussion when the DLC comes out.

So current discussion order plan is: Ninae -> Dadao -> Lysander -> Ludia -> Olympia -> Goliath.

Ninae is an eerie woman who serves Credna’s temple like the cat-masked Orchel. She’s a “Vulkan”, member of an elite squadron under the gods’ direct command, and she’s known as “Black-Lace Ninae”. They say she can hear the voices of the spirits.

Recruitment

Negotiation: 1 Paradise Fish

Growths

Base stats

Her immediate base stats

Boons: Lances, Faith, Riding

Banes: Bows

Unique Abilities

Learned Abilities and Combat Arts

*Does not include universal skills and abilities

**Only includes known abilities

Supports

What do you think of Ninae's character?

How do they perform as a unit in any of the routes?

How do you think they'd perform on a hypothetical Orchel part 1?

Previous Discussions: Guzran, Yang Jie, Sofia, Catania, Noctula, Nydine, Io, Kiroc, Majide, Zarcone, Jasmine, Benditz, Alexandra, Nuzzuo, Inyoni. Peppe

Most LETHAL bob in all of dagda (also the most memorable voiced line in fortunes weave is her saying “virtuosa of ~heaven~ and ~earth~”)

Does it bother anyone else that nearly every spear animation has them slashing instead of stabbing?

I’m making sticker art of all of the Flame Lords and Sub Lords because of how much I’ve been loving Fortunes Weave. Here is the Orchel just wanted to share it with other fans

I find myself not even wanting to use Black Magic users in Fortune's Weave, because they are consistently poor and there are too few situations where they shine in Part 3 Hard mode.

Maybe I am wrong. I am open to being wrong. But here are my thoughts on why I don't like black magic in this game.

1. Outside of Wind magic, I find I don't often double with it due to tome weights. Levin Swords, while not having as good as accuracy, do often double and are infinite in use.
2. Salamander +5: This thing does the same or more damage than so many 1-2 range spells in this game, it basically obsoletes most of the spell list. Because of this, you can go into Wiseman using the Salamander and feel like you're not really giving up much by sticking to just White Magic, which frankly has better spells for the most part.
3. Most spells do not get around the Underworld Boon, so you are forced to have Eshmel near the enemy or pop an Aurora's Blessing to get any good damage out of them. This is pretty heavy restriction. And even when Wind spells are effective, they don't do much damage to Harpia's or Pegasus class enemies anyway due to high resilience and speed. I lost count how many times Excalibur could not actually kill something. It just feels bad. I don't actually know why Fire or Ice spells exist. I always wish I had a bow user anyway.
4. Siege tomes have really poor usefulness, again, because of the Underworld Boon. What is the point of casting a long-range Bolting if it's going to do half the damage, especially at bad accuracy? I'm sure someone can find a benefit, but it's not exactly the kind of payoff I would hope for investing in Black magic so heavily.
5. I just find that a lot of late-game classes can equip Swords, so at minimum, they can use a Cleansing Blade to get around the Underworld Boon without having to burn divine sand. Spears still get Ridersbanes and Ji's. Axes get Hammers and Bardiches. I feel like the Underworld Boon is mostly manageable when using regular weapons, provided you took the time to deck everyone out with effective weapons and refines. But to use spells, you have to pay a "tax" in the form of Aurora's blessing.

Now, there are some good spells for sure - most of them are white. Starlight and Seraphim are pretty good. If really need to do damage to an armored target, the magic users can still use Aura and it works. There's also the Salamanders and Levin Sword. I know Black Magic users have Warp, but I have not used it and I feel like the Warp discussion misses the point of the balance issue I'm bring up anyway. I think Dark Spikes against Cavs is good, but it is also not difficult to find good spear users to destroy cavs anyway - pretty much every spear user has access to a Ridersbane and can 1-shot them all on Hard mode.

I even tried Anatolia at the start of Part 3. She comes in at such a disadvantage with skill ranks. But even in the very first chapter against Brezza, her Glass Wheel spell does nothing to the fliers there. Like where is the incentive to use these characters???

I dunno. As I keep playing this game and trying units, and I am not compelled to use Black magic at all. The Cohen map in Section 5 is so awful for black magic users too - they get one-tapped by so many things and it's hard to keep them safe, and when you can finally attack with them, they don't help you anyway - I just want more bow users.

I feel like black magic is even worse than Axe users, which are already pretty bad in Fortune's Weave - again, putting Warp aside. I wish they were better because I don't really know what the point of most black magic is when you can just equip Wiseman with Salamanders, or go into a more flexible mixed attacker who can use a Levin Sword.

I’ve been thinking about something regarding Crests and the children of dragons.

In Three Houses, we already saw that Flayn doesn’t have her father’s Crest, Seteth’s. She has her own, Cethleann’s. That was already weird, though it could be explained by the fact that we know almost nothing about her mother.

But now in Fortune’s Weave we have another case: Lyrah is Balor’s daughter and she doesn’t have his Crest. She has Ernest’s Crest, which Balor doesn’t possess.

And that makes me think that maybe dragons don’t pass down Crests the same way humans do. It’s not simply “if your father has X, you have X or nothing.” Maybe with dragons, the Crest that manifests depends on something else: an ancestor, the mother, or simply the fact that their “divine power” works differently.

So basically, the children of dragons can have Crests their parents don’t have.

Do you think this could happen with more characters? Or that someone could have a Crest we thought was extinct?

(If this seems familiar to you, it's probably because you saw me post it on AO3! I'm the same author - just figured it might be interesting here.)

In this essay, I'll discuss the relationship between the identities of Jester and Maxim Berman, and analyze what exactly I think his ‘deal’ is. This work is not trying to be an academic paper - my word choice at times is way too casual for that - but it does aim to be a rigorous examination of the text and his character.

This is written under the assumption that you have already completed the game and understand the broad strokes of his character arc.

If a specific line from a support chain is relevant to my point, I will quote it - but otherwise, I just cite the supports in general. If you are unfamiliar with a support that I reference, you can find all of them transcribed here. Alternatively, since his vocal performance is so impactful for many of these, you can view them on YouTube here.

Before we get into what Jester is to Maxim, I think it’s important to state what I firmly believe he isn’t: any sort of alter/”split personality"/dissociative disorder.

At first glance, one could assume that he is going to be another take on the Noire or Jeritza "evil personality who loves to kill" archetype - but the text just does not back this up. The way he discusses Jester (which will be analyzed further on) is the primary point of evidence here, but a few miscellaneous things that rule this out:

— Maxim lacks the early childhood trauma necessary for the onset of dissociative identity disorder.

His first notable event aside from being born is becoming a squire at age 8. ^\1]) He talks positively about this time in his life, specifically contrasting it with his traumatic experience with the Order of the Haze. ^\2]) Thus, I do not think there is any textual reason to believe he experienced trauma during his time at Bertrand's squire prior to Cydonia, which occurred when he was 14. ^\3])

— Maxim remembers everything done by Jester extremely clearly - there’s no memory loss.

Multiple Maxim supports have him reference events that occurred while he was in the Jester persona.^\4])

— Maxim is able to enter and exit the Jester persona at will.

Multiple Jester and Maxim supports show his clear control over this.^\5])

Admittedly, Fire Emblem isn't exactly known for it's perfectly researched mental health representation. I will grant that it is plausible they would write a stereotypical story of an "evil alter" and not care about accuracy. So for some people, the fact that his depiction does not match up with the real world signs of a dissociative disorder might not matter.

I will also acknowledge this line from the Dante-Maxim A support:

Maxim: You said I didn't need it, but it got me through some tough times. It helped me understand your thinking about me—both of me. I'd be sad, or he'd get bored, and we'd read it—and it made everything a little easier.

And this line from the Goliath-Jester A support:

Jester: It's how I can stand up to that weakling living under my mask. [...] I think that was the other guy coming through—the delicate little squire-boy.

And state that, it is understandable how one might come to a conclusion of plurality from these. But I'm of the opinion that he's using figurative language here. In the same way you might have to "stand up" to the part of yourself which wants to tell your boss to fuck off, and instead put on the mask of a devoted employee who does as they're told. More on that later.

So now that we've discussed what he ISN'T, let's talk about what Jester IS!

Jester is being "done for Bertrand" & is a way to hide Maxim's identity.

In reflecting on his role as Jester, Maxim twice uses this very specific framing. He says that he was "doing it [performing as Jester] for Bertrand" and calls Jester "that performance—the man I became for Bertrand". ^\6])

Now. Presumably, Bertrand didn't specifically tell him "hey become a Twisted Joker From The Movie The Joker". We don't have enough evidence to say for SURE, but that doesn't track much with Bertrand's character.

We do know that Maxim Berman, after failing to assassinate Bertrand, was presumed dead. ^\7]) He (correctly, as shown by his Killed in Part I of Classic Mode ending) ^\8]) believes that the kingdom of Arago is looking for "Maxim Berman" ^\9])

But Bertrand needs his help in the arena - he has to complete the Trial of the Chariot. And if Maxim Berman is unable to help (and honestly, if Maxim Berman is someone who can't even be seen ALIVE)... then somebody else would have to take the role. Somebody with a personality quite unlike his own, with a different voice and mannerisms, who had a thematic reason to cover up his face and to act erratically. Thus, for the sake of both assisting Bertand and hiding his identity, Jester was created. As he says himself in the Peter-Jester C support:

Jester: There's a lot going on, and—I sort of have to. I'm playing Jester to hide my identity. It wouldn't be convincing if I didn't commit to it.

Performing as Jester, at first at least, required concerted effort

Jester is not some sort of clown demon who is possessing him - it is a role Maxim must play, and he must put effort into the character. Again from the Peter support chain (now B), in his own words:

Maxim: It took work to play him. The voice, the unsettling laugh—I practiced those for hours a day. I even had people tell me gruesome stories to shore up my tolerance for violence. Which led to the, ah, odd fainting spell, or getting laid up in bed all day. Embarrassing, I know.

Also worth considering for this is the entire Dante support chain. In the B support, she observes that he can easily get into character in certain circumstances:

Dante:I've realized I was trying to direct you offstage, as it were. On stage, in critical moments, you play it well! When you're at risk of being identified, and when you fight, you make manifest the sadistic joy. You exhibit the liar's gift.

And why is it, that Jester can be performed more easily when he's placed under this sort of pressure? Partially for survival, surely. But I will also argue that:

Jester is a mouthpiece for some of Maxim's socially unacceptable thoughts.

Recall my earlier example, of having the urge to tell your boss to "shut the fuck up" but choosing instead to be polite. That part of you - the part which immediately thinks cruel things and wants to take impulsive actions - that is a real part of yourself. But because we live in a society (sorry, I had to make that stupid joke, he's literally the Joker from Fire Emblem) - we don't act upon it.

In my opinion, in order to keep his performance as Jester "grounded" and as a way to make him as unlike the polite and kind Maxim Berman, Jester is a voice for many of the socially unacceptable things Maxim actually feels.

The key to this assumption lies in his Dante A support:

Maxim: Sometimes... I don't know if I was pretending. A long time ago, you said I had the "liar's gift." But the pleasure I took in what I did—that wasn't all a lie. I enjoyed being cruel. Maybe that performance—the man I became for Bertrand—was me.

We know that Maxim does not enjoy the violence of being Jester. ^\10]) But cruelty - he DID enjoy that. Again, think on my example: it'd be satisfying, to be able to cuss out the people you hate. Not polite, not sustainable, but satisfying. And a reflection of your true feelings.

I think this is best shown in the Goliath-Jester B support:

Jester: You gotta be yanking my chain. When the HELL have you ever helped? You're always getting in my way! You trying to piss me off and get stabbed in the neck?
Goliath: Huh? No, I was worried about you.
Jester: I ain't a child! I get it, you think I'm sooo weak compared to you. You act all worried, but you hate me! You're making fun of me! You think I'm a little runt!

These specific concerns - feeling annoyed that Goliath has been messing everything up for him, feeling like he's being made fun of for being weak, feeling like he's being lied to... these all feel more like things Maxim is concerned with, rather then Jester. And while Maxim would handle this in a socially respectable way, Jester would not. Thus, Maxim's feelings get intermingled with Jester's actions.

This, I believe, is what has led to his identity issues.

And speaking on those...

Maxim does not like it when other people define what parts of Jester were "real" or not.

This section is my way of trying to explain a couple of seemingly contradictory lines. Consider his B support with Noctula:

Noctula: I love seeing the real you breaking through.
Maxim: Thanks...but I really don't like when people call me "the real you". Feels weird.
[...]
Noctula: Ha! I always knew the real you was a softie.
Maxim: Come on... I told you I didn't like being called that.

Now, look at his C support with Peter:

Jester:Makeup on my face, a mask on my heart, and I become the clown. With my real, scaredy-cat self buried waaay below the surface.

And, of course, recall his conflict over how much he enjoyed Jester's cruelty and his continued identity issues over which one is the "true self". ^\11])

Placing all this together, the way to make this all line up is that he doesn't want other people drawing the line between what was real and what wasn't. There are some actions he can say for certain were just for show - but other times, he wonders if something was his real personality all along. He can make the distinction between the two, but doesn't want others to.

Finally, before I end things, I'd like to share some brilliant analysis from my girl Darantea Aeneus, which I couldn't decide what section to put into but I felt is a great addition to this discourse:

Dante Well, allow me to share my perspective. You are an honest, upstanding knight. He is an evil sadist. You are so desperate to ascertain which one you are, when the answer is simple. It's both! In the name of justice, you became a twisted clown. Then, for the same reason, returned to knighthood. It's no stranger than a lady wearing an evening gown or a warrior wielding a weapon. Why feel shame that you enjoyed the role? You did what you had to do, and that's admirable.

1. 1437: Serves House Brunhild, becoming Bertrand's squire. - Maxim's personal history page.

2. Since I joined this war as a knight, I've thought a lot about my time in Arago. I don't mean my time with the Order of the Haze, but when Bertrand taught me how to hold a blade...and when his father, Geigart, told me the meaning of knighthood. Those are the experiences that really made me who I am today. - Maxim, in Dagsion during Song of the Living.

3. 1444: Leaves the military after the events of the Siege of Cydonia. - Maxim's personal history page. See also: Buccar-Maxim C support.

4. Leda-Maxim B, Peter-Maxim B, Dante-Maxim A, Halvin-Maxim A.

5. Peter-Jester C, Eshmel-Maxim S. Arguably Halvin-Jester C.

6. Noctula-Maxim B & Dante-Maxim A, respectively.

7. 1448: Fails to assassinate Bertrand and is believed to be dead. - Maxim's personal history page. This line actually has some differences depending on the translation, but that's a tangent.

8. He returned home and tried to flee Arago with his family. But the Order of the Haze had been keeping an eye on their house and wasted no time getting retribution. - Ending if killed in Classic Mode during Part I.

9. Mikaela-Jester C & B, Halvin-Maxim A.

10. Peter-Jester C (Peter: D-do you enjoy threatening people? Jester: No, I don't, actually.), Noctula-Maxim B (Maxim: No more fights—no more hurting people.)

11. Quote during feast ("Am I Maxim or Jester? Sometimes I get confused."), Dante-Maxim A Support, Dante-Maxim ending card.