like a star, like a firefly

Started my Golden Deer run yesterday! I've been itching for this since a while before I finished Azure Moon. ^^; Right now I'm about to do Chapter 2's story battle.

I'm playing as male!Byleth again this time, and I'll be having him marry Yuri. :3 I've already recruited all the Ashen Wolves plus Ferdinand, and I'll also be picking up Linhardt (hopefully next chapter!), Dorothea (as she's another favourite and I'm impatient to see her Yuri supports, though she might take longer to get because she wants a fairly high Charm stat), Ingrid (not straight away in her case, as she's meant to be stronger as a cross-house recruit if gotten later) and Cyril (the only non-automatic faculty recruit I'll have this time).

I've gotten a decent handful of C-ranks already, mostly thanks to abusing mealtime boosts, although not to the degree that I've properly gotten a feel for all the Deer yet. Still, I'm happy to offer my thoughts on most of what I've gotten so far.

( Shouldn't be any real spoilers, though this does include some supports involving the Wolves )

I have pairings in mind for most of the recruited characters, but I've got fewer preconceptions about ships within the Deer themselves than I've had for the Eagles or the Lions, so I'll see what I end up liking.

For now, I'll keep playing on!

It's taken me a weirdly long time to get around to it, but I'm finally staring down Chapter 20's story battle in my AM run.

I'm already sad.

( Spoilers, mainly with regards to specific enemy units )

Shame I can't just cancel this map or something. =/

I just finally reached Chapter 17's big story battle in my Azure Moon run, and all I'm gonna say for now is that I knew this music would make me cry.

I love this game's OST so much.

And that's CS Chapter 4 done and dusted! That was a really panicky one to play through... if I never have to hear "Wrath Strike" ever again, that would be bloody wonderful. ^^;

I think that puts me about halfway through this sidestory now? I'll have to see what other challenges get thrown at me in the latter few chapters!

Chapter 3 of Cindered Shadows is proving to be a real doozy, and I'm only about a third of the way down the map. >>;

( Possible spoilers for the chapter in question )

This DLC is challenging to be sure (playing on Normal/Classic in my case) but it's also kind of refreshing that way; it reminds me a little of older FE games. I'm enjoying the new characters, too.

I've just finished Chapter 1 Part 2 of YTTD, and for now I've only got one thing to say.

( Spoilers, unsurprisingly )

Wonder if I might need a breather before starting Chapter 2 in earnest...

I've just suddenly started playing Your Turn to Die! I'd meant to do so some time earlier, but hadn't gotten round to it til now.

For those who haven't heard of it, it's an indie horror/adventure game that's evidently inspired by the likes of Dangan Ronpa and Zero Escape and Ace Attorney. You can find an unofficial English translation for it here, it's totally free, and you can play it either in-browser or by downloading. Just please heed the trigger warnings if you need to; it is quite dark and bloody, as one might expect when it's about a death game.

Right now I'm only partway through Chapter 1 Part 2, but it's been a neat little game so far -- definitely up my street!

Have some more spoilery assorted early thoughts under the cut. Where I'm at, I've just unlocked and been in the black and white rooms, then gone back and spoken to a particular someone on the landing.

( Pondering mysteries and wondering who can be trusted )

Naturally, I'll keep playing and see what the game throws at me from here. :3

More assorted thoughts on assorted supports I've gotten recently in my Three Houses Azure Moon run -- or not so recently, in the first few cases!

( Support spoilers, including some A-ranks, but no main plot spoilers to speak of )

Next stop: Annette's paralogue.

I got AI: The Somnium Files for Christmas, and I just finished the last route earlier today.

It was quite a ride, to say the least, and one that I enjoyed quite a bit. I'd definitely recommend it to anyone who's a fan of Zero Escape or any of Uchikoshi's other previous works, so long as they have a reasonably strong stomach and can handle some rather gross stuff involving eyes.

I also recommend playing the game as blind as possible, as I think that helped enhance my own experience of it. :3

I'm at the start of Chapter 5 on my Blue Lions run. Progress on that will most likely be slow for a while, between wanting to poke more at Pokémon Sword and needing to get through some library books, but for now I feel like throwing down some assorted thoughts on these characters and supports I've gotten between them.

( Only early-game spoilers at most as I've only even got one B rank; CW for mentions of adoptive parent death and characters being racist )

My plan is to get to the timeskip again before the final wave of DLC drops, but let's see how that goes.

I BEAT CRIMSON FLOWER

I GOT THE PAIRED ENDINGS I WANTED

IT'S THE FIRST TIME I'VE EVER ACTUALLY BEATEN A FIRE EMBLEM GAME AND IT'S WONDERFUL

I've reached... the final chapter... in Three Houses Crimson Flower... at long last...!

I could potentially have gotten to that point or even beaten the route outright a lot sooner, but I had to spend most of last month having my left joycon sent off to be fixed due to it having had increasingly intolerable drift issues. >>;

Still, though! This is the first time I've ever gotten to the final chapter in a Fire Emblem game, and it feels amazing. (Or maybe I'm just emotional because I got a certain very tearjerking alternate scene in Chapter 17...) The final map looks pretty scary, but I want to win so bad. I want to beat this map, and clear this route, and see the ending and most importantly if I got the pairings I wanted, though I can rest assured that my male!Byleth's gay marriage to Linny is definitely in the bag and finally be able to say that I've actually beaten a FE game.

I'm gonna do it!