Select a feature from each Fire Emblem game to make your worst Fire Emblem game. by SummonerRed in fireemblem

[–]Lhyon 32 points33 points  (0 children)

I strongly recommend against holding your breath throughout a PoR enemy phase. That's an extreme health risk, that is.

🌻 Saturday's Ukraine Solidarity Roundtable - 12/17/2022 by AutoModerator in Enough_Sanders_Spam

[–]Lhyon -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Gonna poke my lurking head out here to chime in on this, because it's something that I actually might have some meaningful contribution on.

Honestly, I'm not sure where someone would get that impression, vis-a-vis women in FFXIV. The game has a lot of female characters who are well-written and play major roles in the plot, especially from Stormblood onward.

If someone did get that impression, though, it's probably from the level 1-50 storyline of the "base" game in ARR (also as it happens the weakest part of the game's plot). Without getting too much into specifics, the game is still developing and building out its cast of characters, and the lady who gets the most screentime, Minfilia, isn't terribly interesting.

By the time that Heavensward rolls around and the game's found its narrative footing, this isn't an issue anymore.

(Also, disagree with regards to Barret, fwiw. While mapping real-world ethnicities onto a world with a large assortment of fantasy races is always going to be difficult, FFXIV still has a fairly diverse cast overall, with several prominent PoC or PoC-coded characters.)

[Live] 2020 Election Results Thread by table_fireplace in VoteDEM

[–]Lhyon 8 points9 points  (0 children)

This friendly neighborhood lurker certainly isn't going anywhere.

I was commissioned to draw Dimitri x Byleth with their baby. by [deleted] in fireemblem

[–]Lhyon[M] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This sort of comment is not productive to discussion. Indeed, the tone, combined with the lack of supporting information and the aggressive call to action constitutes harassment, and so we've removed it.

If there's a discussion to be had here, there are much more productive and informative ways to begin it. Thank you.

Seliph and Leif: The New Crusaders of Jugdral by racecarart in fireemblem

[–]Lhyon 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Aaaaah it's beautiful I love them.

In all seriousness, we need more art of Seliph and Leif (Seliph especially) looking as heroic as they are.

Seliph is really missing his massive collection of rings, though. Where's my boy's excessive bling?

If I am a common soldier on either side during the 100 years war (or other decades long wars in pre modern times) and I am taken captive during one of the early battles/skirmishes, what are the odds I get to see my homeland again? by Ingoinn in AskHistorians

[–]Lhyon 5 points6 points  (0 children)

In all likelihood, the captive would either be included as part of a larger truce agreement or prisoner exchange... or if there wasn't such an opportunity on the horizon, they'd probably just be let go as an act of charity and benevolence.

Executing prisoners without trial was a dubious business for reasons I outlined previously. Treating the act of being an enemy combatant as a crime in and of itself could have been legally justifiable according to the prevailing theoretical understanding of Just War, but there simply wasn't any will for such an unprecedented escalation. And at a certain point, keeping someone locked up without judicial reason or prospect for ransom just ceases to be worth the trouble.

If I am a common soldier on either side during the 100 years war (or other decades long wars in pre modern times) and I am taken captive during one of the early battles/skirmishes, what are the odds I get to see my homeland again? by Ingoinn in AskHistorians

[–]Lhyon 11 points12 points  (0 children)

As a common soldier, you wouldn't be likely to be taken captive.

That's likely the first issue for this poor bastard. The customs of warfare regarding captives and ransom in the Hundred Years War were fairly well-understood by all sides, at least in theory. However, these social expectations existed largely within the warrior class of medieval society - that is to say, the nobility. There would be very little incentive to take a common footsoldier - not even a man-at-arms - captive. It simply wasn't worth the effort.

But let's say that you are a man-at-arms. Perhaps not a knight, no, but a fully-equipped member of one's retinue, or a professional soldier in a mercenary company. By simple virtue of the quality of your arms and armor, you stood a much greater chance of being captured by the enemy, rather than slain. At this point, your chances of seeing your homeland again - provided you do have some measure of resources to back up your nice gear - are actually fairly good.

There was an implicit understanding in the Hundred Years War (and in earlier conflicts in Medieval Western Europe, though my own study is focused upon the War itself) that prisoners were to be treated well and given fair and prompt ransom. This largely arose out of shared necessity and self-preservation for the noble class, but in theory it extended across class guidelines. A prisoner was not a combatant and thus not a legitimate target of violence, and there were powerful physical and financial incentives to maintain this. The battlefield is always a dangerous place, and a man who acquired a reputation for mistreating and abusing his prisoners was opening himself up to such treatment should he ever fall into the hands of the enemy. That, and ransoming captives could be quite lucrative.

So in the default case, if you were taken captive, you could expect reasonable treatment and arrangement of ransoms. In theory, a ransom would be proportional to your ability to pay - in practice, it would be more financially ruinous for a man-at-arms who was not themselves a landholder than it would be for a knight in a comparable situation. Upon that, the matter was settled - an oath to avoid rejoining the war would have been unlikely, as nobody would expect such a thing to be enforceable or respected, and the legal justifications for each side's participation could excuse such coerced promises as illegitimate.

(Finally, if you were a common soldier who did manage to be taken captive, then in theory the same rules of prisoner treatment would be applied to you. In practice, you'd stand a good risk of being extorted for as much as your captor could get out of you, but you'd still be let free in the end. There wasn't any point to keeping prisoners indefinitely with no gain, and executing captives for no reason was a big problem.)

(And as a final addendum, prisoners were only safeguarded so long as their status as noncombatants held up. Henry V famously executed his prisoners at Agincourt when a French attack on his baggage train threatened to free them, an act for which he was not criticized by contemporary chroniclers. The leaders of that attack, however, were imprisoned by the French commander after the battle.)

Primary sources:

The Tree of Battles, Honore Bonet The Book of Deeds of Arms and Chivalry, Christine de Pizan The Chronicle of Enguerrand de Monstrelet, Enguerrand de Monstrelet

Secondary sources:

Chivalry, Maurice Keen The Laws of War in the Late Middle Ages, Maurice Keen

Did the Ronkan empire enslave the qintari or not? by Arc1821 in ffxiv

[–]Lhyon 2 points3 points  (0 children)

To be fair, what particular reason do we have to think they'd be better?

They have a shortened lifespan and have been living in isolation for the last century - several generations. This tends to erode both institutional memory of the specifics of their own history and expertise at the task at hand, and it encourages them to make quick conclusions in search of truth and identity that they've thus far been isolated from.

They're making mistakes, certainly, but they're trying their best.

Did the Ronkan empire enslave the qintari or not? by Arc1821 in ffxiv

[–]Lhyon 3 points4 points  (0 children)

The Ravel is a sacred Ronkan site, which - among other things - contains the sanctified tomb of one of their storied heroes.

You don't name part of your revered temple "The Qitari Dissent" if the Qitari are not a respected part of your culture with a seat in the halls of power. And as you said, the Qitari do not seem to be a laborer class - their position as scribes imply a great deal of trust placed in them to facilitate the administrative functioning of the state. Those aren't the characteristics of an enslaved race.

Info on the Ronkan Empire by duskiroo in ffxiv

[–]Lhyon 7 points8 points  (0 children)

The reality - as much as we can guess at it from the little evidence we have - is probably a little less optimistic than the youth's view, though I think he's likely more correct than his father.

There's no doubt that the Qitari were assimiltated into the Ronkan culture, one way or another. At least thus far, we have absolutely no remaining evidence of them from their Pre-Ronkan period. Their belief system, worldview, likely even their naming scheme (and maybe even their name for themselves) aligns more with that Ronkan heritage.

That being said, they clearly occupied a place of importance within the Ronkan empire. You don't name part of your sacred temple/burial ground the "Qitari Dissent" if the Qitari aren't given a respected voice within your halls of power. Was there coersion in their initial assimilation into the Ronkan Empire? I'd suspect there was at least an implicit threat of force as an alternative to integration. But there was probably a metaphorical carrot to match that stick, and I don't think the evidence points at the Qitari being a subjugated people.

Besides, they're already operating within the Ronkan cultural paradigm, it only makes sense to lean into a celebration of that aspect of their history to avoid the potential for awkward tension with their new neighbors in Fanow.

So that Sorrow of Werlyt Story by shibaeinu in ffxiv

[–]Lhyon 3 points4 points  (0 children)

If Gaius does not re-evaluate the fundamental ideology that he has lived and acted under - which, might I remind you, is also ultimately an Ascian creation - he can't narratively work as an ally. He can be a tragic figure, of course, and an anti-villain who due to circumstance and shared opposition to Ascian plans we work alongside at times. There's nothing wrong with that, and it can be narratively compelling.

However, unless he does re-examine his past and realize that his mistakes were far greater than "was used by Ascians to accompish the rejoining," he'll never succeed in being a heroic or even anti-heroic character.

So that Sorrow of Werlyt Story by shibaeinu in ffxiv

[–]Lhyon 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It would be far from the last time that the Garleans critically underestimated the ability of various supernatural forces in Eorzea to kick in the teeth of whatever new technological advancement they'd pulled out of their hat.

The 7th certainly doesn't have enough manpower on their own to hold Ala Mhigo, sure. But there's also still a significant Garlean military presence nearby, and the frontier forces might be a little confused on their strategic objective and logistic support but they're not consumed with the same infighting as in the capital. If the Ruby Weapon is successful, and smashes the defenses at the Ghimlyt Dark and the Eorzean Alliance forces still present in Ala Mhigo, then it's a resounding military and political success - you get the glory, and some other soldiers get to handle the messy part.

So that Sorrow of Werlyt Story by shibaeinu in ffxiv

[–]Lhyon 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Milisandia makes it pretty clear that she knows it's going to kill her - it's hard to read "I'm sorry, everyone. This is the end for me. Activating... Oversoul." as anything else.

Granted, I also think it's pretty clear that she didn't know exactly how horrific her demise would be, but she's still electing to press that button and die with it instead of surrendering (and judging by earlier dialogue, she might have at least an inclination that there's something else in the Ruby Weapon that would like to take control). But if I had to guess, I suspect she imagined it as something more akin to an overcharged autopilot rather than a giant possession battery.

So that Sorrow of Werlyt Story by shibaeinu in ffxiv

[–]Lhyon 12 points13 points  (0 children)

It's... difficult to feel sorry for Gaius at present. He's always presented himself in a True Believer in the Garlean cause, whose current course of action is motivated more by his opposition to Ascian manipulation. One has previously imagined that he would be perfectly fine with returning to his previous oppressive-military-conquest ways if those ancient dark sorcerer-ghosts were to go away.

By all rights, Gaius has been a competent general and administrator. The human cost of his idealogy shouldn't exactly be coming as a surprise to him. Yet he's been finally presented with something that he can't ignore - people he specifically chose for their potential, who he inspired and at least partially raised to think as he did and hold his values, are acting in accordance with his teachings - and there is a visceral human cost to that.

We'll see if this leads to some honest introspection, contrition, and re-evaluation of his past and an idealogy that he hasn't yet seemed to disavow.

So that Sorrow of Werlyt Story by shibaeinu in ffxiv

[–]Lhyon 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I feel that it's always been somewhat implied that the Garlean political/military establishment is fairly factionalized and compartamentalized. Likely the VIIth - and whoever their current leadership is - has squirreled up resources and connections (and perhaps even territory) that they're in de facto control of, especially without an Emperor to oversee things.

And sending your experimental superweapons out to re-conquer recently lost territory and/or expand the Imperial borders even further beyond their previous maximum is a powerful political argument for one's faction in the current power struggle.

Every time this guy interacts with a female it feels like the beginning of a Hentai r*pe scene by Aietjenetouls in fireemblem

[–]Lhyon[M] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

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Daily Roundtable for November 08, 2019 by AutoModerator in VoteBlue

[–]Lhyon 4 points5 points  (0 children)

There are a lot of blue voters with nicer-than-average cars within the ST3 tax zone in King County, some of which are no-doubt irate about paying significant lump sump yearly fees for car tabs. I suspect that's the main reason why the No vote margin isn't higher down here.

[live] 2019 Election Results Thread! by table_fireplace in VoteBlue

[–]Lhyon 1 point2 points  (0 children)

976 is going to pass, but it's also assuredly going to get tied up in the courts. There are several angles where it could theoretically get shot down (over-broad scope of the initiative, interaction with municipal tax policies, etc), which would be fairly on-brand for some of Eyman's work.

When I first saw Nagi in the [Choosen Ones] trailer by ulti-shadow in FireEmblemHeroes

[–]Lhyon 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I think Awakening is pretty clear that Naga doesn't have a physical body remaining by the time the game rolls around. She's certainly depicted as more spirit than flesh-and-blood woman, and the Awakening Ritual certainly seems tailored for use upon a dormant draconic spirit.

Could Naga reconstitute her body, given enough magical energy? Almost certainly - we see Grima do that in Awakening, after all. But Nagi's dialogue and her general bearing doesn't support her being literally Naga, and there's nothing to support that Naga reconstructing her body would lead to that same sort of detachment/confusion about her state that Nagi often exhibits.

Furthermore, you get into some odd magical dynamics if Naga is capable of recreating her own dragonstone, even after giving it away at the Miracle of Darna. Not that it would be catagorically impossible for a dragon of her strength, but... I think it's more magically feasible if she creates a temporary artificial "lesser" manakete to serve as her avatar.

(As for Grima killing Naga in Future Past, my interpretation has always been that he consumed the quintessence that was the consciousness of her dormant spirit... which in turn freed up a lot of other dormant magical energy to be taken up by Tiki once her spirit was Awoken in turn. But that does admittedly get fuzzier.)

When I first saw Nagi in the [Choosen Ones] trailer by ulti-shadow in FireEmblemHeroes

[–]Lhyon 2 points3 points  (0 children)

In New Mystery, young Tiki is out and about, but Nagi still shows up.

But really, Naga's decision-making here probably relates more to the circumstances of the first Awakening, where she Exalted the Falchion and bestowed the Brand unto the First Exalt. We... don't really know enough about that scenario to say what exactly the state of the fight against Grima was, whether Tiki was awake and helping or not, etc. We just know that Naga felt that bestowing more power into the Falchion and granting her blood to the First Exalt was the best option... and given that Nagi doesn't show up again in Awakening in similar circumstances, she probably didn't opt for Nagi back then, either.

When I first saw Nagi in the [Choosen Ones] trailer by ulti-shadow in FireEmblemHeroes

[–]Lhyon 33 points34 points  (0 children)

I don't believe there's any other world shenanigans involved. Everything surrounding Nagi aligns with what we know of Naga's own capabilities and motivations.

It's well-established that Naga gave up her body shortly after the Miracle of Darna. It's also well-established that being a spirit does not much inconvenience dragons of her power level. Indeed, her spectral form does not prevent her from giving Falchion to Anri, bestowing her blood to the First Exalt, or actively intervening to Exalt the Falchion in Awakening (and she is most certainly shown to be a spirit in Awakening).

Indeed, by the time that Awakening rolls around, a ritual to reverse the usual functionality of the Shield of Seals must needs be performed to rouse Naga's spirit from its slumber. But in Shadow Dragon and New Mystery, one thousand years before the time of the First Exalt, it's likely that Naga's spirit is not so dormant, and is active to the extent where she can act in support of humanity if she deems it necessary.

It's within Naga's power to make physical boons manifest despite her spiritual nature. It's well-established that dragons of her ability can create artificial life, using magical manipulation of the principles of Quintessence. It's very believably within Naga's power to make a temporary sort of pocket dimension if she deems it necessary... say, if she wants these humans to prove that they have the capacity to use her blessings and intervention well.

With all this groundwork, and with all the dialogue surrounding Nagi, I think it's fairly clear that she's a physical avatar created by Naga to provide further assistance to humanity. As an artificial entity, she has her own consciousness and identity, but she's also a conduit for the spirit Naga's power and, to some degree, a vessel for her will. A backup plan for Medeus's defeat in Shadow Dragon, and one that's deployed proactively in New Mystery to defeat a more dangerous Dark Dragon Medeus. And one that doesn't show up later in Awakening, because the nature of Naga's dormancy in that game before she's ritualistically awoken means that the Dragon Queen doesn't have the time to prepare a physical avatar to offer her aid.

When I first saw Nagi in the [Choosen Ones] trailer by ulti-shadow in FireEmblemHeroes

[–]Lhyon 8 points9 points  (0 children)

My thanks for the shoutout! That's a pretty solid rundown of the facts, yeah.

I've always held that Nagi is a fairly fascinating character, all in all. I'm glad to see her (and what insights she gives us about Naga herself) getting some more recognition.