• Breaking News

    Tuesday, April 13, 2021

    Home Unlabelled Fire Emblem I Drew The Tellius Birds

    Fire Emblem I Drew The Tellius Birds

    April 13, 2021

    Fire Emblem I Drew The Tellius Birds

    I Drew The Tellius Birds

    Posted: 13 Apr 2021 12:50 PM PDT

    Borger Tiki

    Posted: 13 Apr 2021 04:28 PM PDT

    Genealogy of the Holy War Fanart

    Posted: 13 Apr 2021 01:48 PM PDT

    90s anime styled Hilda art I commissioned from @Supuriiin on Twitter

    Posted: 13 Apr 2021 04:00 PM PDT

    Mozu Commission part 2 of 3: Mozu, Unrecruited

    Posted: 13 Apr 2021 01:35 PM PDT

    Shadows of Valentia Fanart

    Posted: 13 Apr 2021 12:45 PM PDT

    Happy Birthday To This Beautiful Bruiser of a Lady

    Posted: 13 Apr 2021 12:41 AM PDT

    Younger in Velthomer (Genealogy of the Holy War)

    Posted: 13 Apr 2021 02:10 PM PDT

    Step 6x: Use gladiatorial deathmatches as your interview process

    Posted: 13 Apr 2021 12:52 PM PDT

    Lol I for some reason drew Corrin in that one part in Bread Bank

    Posted: 13 Apr 2021 01:17 PM PDT

    The Search for Swanchika

    Posted: 13 Apr 2021 04:57 PM PDT

    Preface

    Yesterday I decided to take a break from Birthright Lunatic to instead work on analyzing the etymology behind the the Twelve Crusaders of Jugdral. And while I was appreciating the name change from Neir to Nál, I began thinking back to the puzzle that is Helswath. Or rather the axe's Japanese name, Swanchika (スワンチカ), the etymology of which has continued to be a mystery for the past 25 years.

    And so I spent the rest of the day researching potential sources of this weapon's name. Even the hour after turning in for bed, my mind continued to race with thoughts and ideas. While I haven't found anything absolutely conclusive yet, there are many potential connections I'd like to share.

    The Name Structure of Swanchika and Other Holy Weapons

    The names of Jugdral's Holy Weapons seem to fall into three naming conventions:

    1. Directly named after a mythological weapon (Tyrfing, Mystletainn, Balmung), Gáe Bolg, Gungnir, and Mjölnir)
    2. Named after the patron deity of the weapon (Naga, Loptous, Forseti))
    3. A combination of a two nouns (typically foreign to Japan) meant to invoke a mythological subject.

    I'm sure the last one seems like a stretch. But I believe it to function with the following Holy Weapons:

    • Valkyrie: This one finds itself in a bit of a grey area, as the Japanese name is バルキリーの杖, literally Valkyrie's Staff, using traditional Japanese writing rather than it all being loanwords of other languages. This is because the naming scheme of staves makes it so they always end by saying it is a staff. So basically Valkyrie goes here because its the closest fit.
    • Mjölnir: "But we had Mjölnir in an earlier section!" I hear you say. And that's right! This tome finds itself bleeding into two categories. The Japanese name is トールハンマー Thor Hammer, a very literal way of saying Mjölnir, yeah?
    • Yewfelle: Probably the most famous example in this category. The Japanese name is イチイバル, Ichii-bal. This name was later corrupted in the west to Ichaival, and the name snuck into Wikipedia, with claims of it being a bow wielded by the Norse god Odin. However, the actual meaning of Ichii-bal becomes more apparent when you break the name into two sections: 一位 ichii, sometimes written イチイ, is the Japanese word for a yew tree. バル baru can be read in a myriad of ways, but the most notable is val or vale, words appearing in several languages meaning "valley". This leads us to Ýdalir, which literally means "Yew-dales" or "Valley of the Yews". Ýdalir is home to the Norse god of archery Ullr, of which our bow-wielding Crusader is named after.

    This leaves only two Holy Weapons without a category: Valflame and Helswath. And while I'd love to figure what the hell Fala/Vala/Fjalar actually is supposed to be, and why fire is relevant to it, today is about breaking down Swanchika. And I am very confident that it is a similar case to what happened with Yewfelle.

    From here on, most of this post will be a collection of information I have found that may be relevant to discovering the intention behind the name Swanchika.

    A Neir Connection

    I think it wise to look into the etymology of Nál and his descendants. After all that helped seal the Ýdalir connection for Yewfelle.

    • Nál: An alternate name of Laufey, mother of Loki in Norse mythology. The Japanese name Neir, has appeared as an English and Norman surname, and likely comes from the Old French word neir, meaning "black". Neir has also been recorded as a name for Emperor Nero in Old Irish.
    • House Dozel: I've yet to find anything conclusive as to what Dozel is. However, it is worth noting that the Japanese writing ドズル dozuru is very similar to Hezul (ヘズル hezuru), which is actually an alternate way of writing the Norse god Höðr's name, with the Z substituting for the eth (ð) sound. I tried doing a reverse search of the kana, but apparently there is a Japanese YouTuber named Dozle, so that's all I'm getting If someone could look into what Dozel may be from, it would be a massive help! EDIT: As stated by u/Skelezomperman: "...There is a theory which I agree with as to what Dozel is a reference to. It's a reference to the character Dozle-Zabi (ドズル・ザビ) from Mobile Suit Gundam, an anime which Shouzou Kaga is a fan of. In fact, I did once see a fanhack (Dain no Keifu) directly reference Dozle Zabi, so I believe the Japanese fandom believes this is the case as well."
    • Lombard: Also known as the Langobards, were a Germanic tribe that found dominion over most of the Italian Peninsula before their kingdom was conquered by Charlemagne and the Franks.
    • Lex: A shortened form of Alexander, possibly in reference to Alexander the Great, the Macedonian king and conqueror. Alexander was also a name of a few Scottish kings, with Alexander I being called "The Fierce". Lex's name has also been romanized as Rex, even FEH. Rex is Latin, meaning "king"
    • Danann: Likely in reference to the Tuatha Dé Danann, a pantheon of Irish deities. The Japanese name Danan may have been from Danand (also called Donann), the mother of Brian, Iuchar, and Iucharba. Speaking of which...
    • Brian, Iuchar, and Iucharba): Three brothers that kill their father's enemy Cian. However, his son, Lugh, punishes the brothers by sending them around the world to find magic weapons, and they return fatally wounded, though Lugh refuses to heal them.

    So while the progenitor of the family references Norse mythology, most of the family references Irish folklore.

    Putting the "Swan" in Swanchika

    Its time to break down Swanchika. With how Japanese is structured, the most obvious split is right after the N. So that gives us スワン suwan and チカ chika. Lets work with that first half first.

    Over the years, I've seen people claim スワン is supposed to be some great mystery unknown to the world. Something us mortals must never know. Or that the N should've been a Th or something.

    What if its literally just... swan? Let's look at the presence of Swans in relevant myths and religions!

    Norse Mythology:

    Two swans, said to be the progenitors of all swans, feed and drink from Urðarbrunnr, or the Well of Urd, one of the three norns (basically the Norse version of the Fates in Greek myth). The well is occasionally called a lake, but it is consistently referred to be located under one of the three roots of Yggdrasil. The water of the well is said to be so holy and pure that anything that enters the water will be made a pure white. As such, all of the swans are pure white.

    Various folklores around the world use the concept of Swan-maidens; beautiful creatures that shapeshift between the forms of swans and women. They typically remove their feathers (clothes) to bathe, and often in tales those feathers are claimed and hidden by a passerby who wants to take the maiden for a wife. However, in Norse legends, these Swan-maidens are the Valkyries themselves. As such, swans are considered beings that transport the dead to the afterlife in Scandinavian beliefs. A blend of these portrayals can be found in Völundarkviða, or The Lay of Völund, where Völundr and his brothers Egill and Slagfiðr meet the Valkyries Hervör, Hlaðguðr, and Ölrún bathing in a lake called Ulfsjar, in the land of Ulfdalir. They would marry for seven years, until the Valkyries return to battle and never return.

    Irish Legends:

    The Irish tale Children of Lir tells of Lir, who was given a wife, Aoibh, by the new king of the Tuatha Dé Danann - Bodb - so that he would swear fealty to him. They had four children, but after the birth of twins, Aoibh died. Lir was filled with grief, and Bodb sent another of his daughters, Aoife, to be Lir's new wife. Aoife wasn't happy about this, and felt that Lir loved her stepchildren more than her. When she didn't have the strength to kill her children, she opted to instead turn them into swans, and they would only return to their human forms after 900 years. As punishment, her father Bodb turned her into a demon.

    The Wooing of Etain tells of the life of the most beautiful woman, Etain, who is reborn after her husband Midir's first wife attempts to kill her. She is later taken as the wife of King Eochu of Ireland, but when he is away, Midir attempts to claim his wife back. Midir then challenged Eochu to a game for Etain. He loses several times, but upon setting the reward as a kiss and embrace from Etain, Midir wins, and the two flee from Ireland in the forms of swans.

    Cygnus in Greek Myth:

    Cygnus is the Latin word for swan. Cygnus is also the name of one of the constellations). The constellation is associated with many Greek figures who have been turned into swans, from Zeus, who took form of a swan to woo Lera to lead to the birth of Helen of Troy, to Orpheus, who was said to be made into a swan in the stars after his murder, along with his lyre (hence the constellation Lyra neighboring Cygnus).

    So... What the Hell is a "Chika"?

    This is where things get a bit messy. There are so many different ways to read chika. From several forms in Japanese to potential interpretation of the kana to other languages, there are many possibilities, yet none seem to click quite like how -val was for Ichii-bal.

    Here's what I've found so far. Additional opinions will be very helpful here:

    チカチカ chikachika - onomatopoeia referring to a painfully bright light, a flickering or twinkling, or a prickling pain. The first two definitions are pretty well suited for the swans of Urðarbrunnr, with their pure white feathers from the holy water. Could possibly also be used in reference to the beauty of Etain? Or the twinkling of the stars of Cygnus.

    地下 chika - noun. Basement, cellar, or underground place; underground; secret, under cover. There may be a connection in how the Urðarbrunnr is beneath the roots of Yggdrasil, but the well is still above ground. A much stronger connection would be with Orpheus, as he went to the underworld to retrieve his lover Euridice. Another connection can be made to Midir, as he was from a sídhe, hills where the aes sídhe (and in some versions, members of the Tuatha Dé Danann like Midir) lived.

    治下 chika - noun. Under rule of. This one is much more fitting for those of House Dozel than any mythical figure. I've read that Midir is a king, but nothing else seems fitting.

    近 chika - kanji, not an actual word. It means near, and is used in words meaning "close (relationship)", "near (time or distance)" or "neighbor". This one is in favor of most of the myths we've seen, as most have a focus on close relationships.

    力 chikara - noun. Strength, might or force; effort or endeavor; power or authority. This may be seen as stretching things a bit, as I've added an additional character in ら. But Genealogy already cut some names short, like cutting off the end of Baldr for just "Baldo". So I'd say its realistic for something like that being done again. It doesn't help much anyway, as endeavor is the only one really fitting for any of the stories we've read. Strength and Power are concepts more fitting for a giant axe or the Dozel family.

    Now its time to start looking at possible interpretations of chika outside of Japanese. Note that katakana can be flexible in reading. チ chi has the potential to be read as a ti, thi, or di sound. カ ka could even be intended as ガ ga due to the nature of the language and possible errors from the devs (like how Balmung is called Balmunc in Japanese). And remember, it doesn't have to be directly from Latin, Nordic languages, or Irish. Val has a very different meaning in Old Norse, but the meaning from other languages was perfect.

    Let us continue:

    chica - Spanish noun. Girl. This has such a general meaning, but it could work well as a connection to the swan-maidens and Valkyries.

    thikë - Albanian noun. Knife, dagger. This word may have been used because "ooh foreign weapon name". Nothing beyond that, to my knowledge.

    dīķa - Latvian noun. Genitive singular form of dīķis, meaning "pond". This one's likely a stretch, but the connection to a body of water is in favor of the swans of Urðarbrunnr, as well as the swan-maidens of Völundarkviða.

    chiga - Garo noun. spring, stream, pond; a place where water is obtained from. This is very much in favor to the swans of Urðarbrunnr, as well as the swan-maidens of Völundarkviða.

    What Now?

    Now, I need your help. We've gone over many possibilities for what Swanchika could be, but there's still nothing concrete. Share with me your own interpretations of Swanchika. Inform me of any relevant information I may have missed or didn't focus enough on. And tell me what you think the Axe of Nál should be called? I'm personally leaning towards either Urdrbrunn (from Urðarbrunnr) or Hlaðguðr, one of the Valkyries from Völundarkviða whose full name - Hlaðguðr svanhvít - means "swan-white".

    Ultimately, I'm just one person who had enough free time to do this research and write this. And I'm not even confident enough in my Japanese to say I'm bilingual, so I have no clue what I could've screwed up or misunderstood in places due to language barriers. If anyone recognizes an error I've made, please correct me!

    submitted by /u/ThePsyShyster
    [link] [comments]

    A Day in the Life - Annand: Knit-Defender

    Posted: 13 Apr 2021 07:52 PM PDT

    I Draw Hana but the the vegetation and floor is a photos I take (sorry for my bad English xdxd) I hope you like.

    Posted: 13 Apr 2021 04:35 PM PDT

    MONTHLY RAGE THREAD

    Posted: 13 Apr 2021 03:05 PM PDT

    WELCOME, FRIENDS, TO THE MONTHLY RAGE THREAD, ON-TIME FOR THE FIRST TIME IN FOREVER! AFTER OVER FOUR YEARS OF RAGING, I STOPPED RAGING LONG ENOUGH TO DISCOVER THE POWER OF DISCORD REMINDER BOTS. BRIEFLY. AND NOW BACK TO RAGING!

    SO WELCOME! HERE YOU CAN YELL ABOUT FIRE EMBLEM WITHOUT BEING JUDGED!

    RULES

    1. CAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAPS

    2. PREFERABLY ONLY FIRE EMBLEM RAGE

    3. DON'T BE A DICK

    4. TAG SPOILERS

    LAST THREAD

    submitted by /u/LaqOfInterest
    [link] [comments]

    Doodle of Resplendent Lilina to treat me'self.

    Posted: 13 Apr 2021 11:00 AM PDT

    Dancer Marianne (By @ray_dango) [Commission]

    Posted: 13 Apr 2021 07:23 PM PDT

    Best chapter in the series, probably.

    Posted: 13 Apr 2021 06:59 PM PDT

    Lego Mosaic of Lyndis

    Posted: 13 Apr 2021 09:59 AM PDT

    Revelations Lunatic Negative Growths - Chapter 11

    Posted: 13 Apr 2021 01:21 PM PDT

    Lucina wearing Marth's 1990 outfit (bonus leggings version!)

    Posted: 13 Apr 2021 08:24 PM PDT

    Was thinking of making a Conquest Lunatic + hack, any ideas?

    Posted: 13 Apr 2021 03:00 PM PDT

    My plan is to make a lunatic + hack where enemy stats are unchanged and the only additions are additional enemy skills, additional enemies and additional status staff enemies. So for example some ideas I had at the moment were chapter 7 faceless having quick draw, pass and seal defense, chapter 10 having monks with freeze, chapter 17 ninjas having inevitable end, chapter 19 kitsune having quick draw and darting blow, chapter 25 being kill all bosses and adding a wall to the lower ryoma room so he can't be attacked over the bottom wall, chapter 26 being kill all bosses where there's a boss sorceror on the right side and a boss stoneborn on the left side and so on and so forth.

    I wanted to see if anyone had extra ideas or suggestions they wanted to make since I'm interested in hearing others opinions.

    submitted by /u/Excadrill1201
    [link] [comments]

    FE7 Redux Tier List Resubmissions: Preliminaries

    Posted: 13 Apr 2021 09:27 AM PDT

    FE7 Redux Tier List Resubmissions: Preliminaries

    Welcome to the Preliminary Round for Resubmissions!

    Each round will last about 24 hours in between each other. Rate the units in each tier, and give clear explanations why. Feel free to comment on each other and discuss why you agree or disagree. Be polite, and remember, this is all in good fun. After the 24 hours, I will review all the answers and understand what the consensus reached has been, posting the result in the next round. If there is no clear majority, a tally will be made. If a tie ensues, well the round will be extended until a tiebreaker comment appears. At the very end, a hub finalized tier list will be created, with links to each and every one of these rounds.

    Preliminary Round

    Last round resulted in Renault in E tier and Athos in C tier.

    Today is the day to submit units who you think are in the wrong spot. ONLY ONE RESUBMISSION PER PERSON. With your resubmission, please provide some argument as to why you think they should be retiered. Don't just say a name and the tier you want. If you agree with someone else and want to resub the unit they suggested, respond to their comment saying so. If you disagree, you should also respond to their comment and provide a counter argument, get the discussion going, maybe change some views. There is a cap of 4 units that will get retiered to prevent resubmissions from taking too much time and that way we can finish resubmissions in 1 round for 4 units: I'll just choose the units who clearly have the most outcry for resubmission, or the ones who don't have a clear consensus and need more discussion.

    Tiers Being Used:

    Fantastic Performance: S

    Insanely useful from the get go, always a dominant force from the moment they arrive and require little investment if any. Contributes in a significant enough manner that they always sticks out and have a substantial role.

    Includes: Lyn Mode Florina, Nils, Ninian, Marcus

    Great Performance: A

    Extremely useful and always a good addition to a team. Doesn't require too much investment and if they do then it's enough to make them stand out compared to most units. Biggest things holding them back are that they either don't stand out as much as the S tiers or even with investment they aren't as dominant in their role as the S tiers.

    Includes: Lyn Mode Sain, Lyn Mode Kent, Lowen, Fiora, Heath, Pent

    Good Performance: B

    Is pretty useful and has some sections of the game where they stand out and help. Overall solid, isn't the most significant unit, but definitely contributes in a helpful way. Aren't the highest priority when it comes to deployment, but will definitely be one of your main choices for deployment to fill out your team at multiple points in the game. Biggest things holding them back are good but not amazing stats that may cause them to be dropped later on for other units, not the best class access, not the best weapon access and maybe not the best availability. Good, but has some significant flaws that hold them back from being great.

    Includes: Florina, Lyn Mode Lucius, Hector, Matthew, Oswin, Priscilla, Raven, Canas, Isadora, Hawkeye, Geitz, Harken, Vaida

    AOK Performance: C

    Perfectly average, they can make contributions at base sometimes, but investing in them doesn't tend to improve them very much . They may not be deployed for the whole game, but it doesn't hurt to deploy them most of the time either. At the end of the day they are just serviceable, neither a detriment nor a priority when it comes to being used and are essentially filler.

    Includes: Sain, Kent, Serra, Erk, Rath, Lucius, Farina, Athos

    Iffy Performance: D

    Can perform a niche role and do something, but generally aren't that useful. Don't really do much and if they do something unique then it's usually done much better by a bunch of other units. Severely outclassed by most other units and while they can do something, it's usually pretty bleh in execution.

    Includes: Lyn Mode Lyn, Lyn Mode Dorcas, Eliwood, Guy, Dart, Legault, Louise, Jaffar

    Lame Performance: E

    Straight up bad, no way around it. There are very few places where they are actually useful, and they are actively difficult units to use effectively. Can probably do something at base such as heal other units, rescue canto others or chip stuff with effective weapons but it's such a bare minimum contribution that calling them good would be a stretch. They can do something, that's the most you can say for them. Other then that they're bad.

    Includes: Lyn, Dorcas, Wallace, Bartre, Karel, Renault

    Meme Performance: F Rank

    These units are just really bad, complete bottom of the barrel. So bad that even with an insane amount of investment they either end up still bad or at best incredibly mediocre and this is accounting for immense babying and all stat boosters going to them. E ranks can at least do something that counts as contribution. These units can't even have that as a claim to fame, they're so bad that they just do little if anything in a non casual/non meme context.

    Includes: Wil, Rebecca, Nino, Karla

    submitted by /u/Excadrill1201
    [link] [comments]

    Who is a character you feel get too much hate?

    Posted: 13 Apr 2021 06:53 AM PDT

    There tons of characters I noticed get too much hate from people. Characters like Lorenz who gets better as the game goes on. Or Edelgard because people don't really try to look more into her character to truly understand her actions. Or Camilla who has really good supports but is just bad in the main story. What characters do you feel is over hated in the series.

    submitted by /u/MiuIruma332
    [link] [comments]

    I finished Path of Radiance for the first time, here's what I thought about it

    Posted: 13 Apr 2021 05:44 AM PDT

    I like just getting my thoughts out right after a beat a game. So, I really, really wish I liked PoR more than I do. I'm really glad I played it and I'm definitely looking forward to Radiant Dawn now, but it's not a game I can place very highly in my Fire Emblem game rankings.

    So what did I like? The story and characters are probably one of, if not the best, out of all the FE games I've tried (which are now 6-9 and 13-16 minus Revelation). It's the game's best point in my opinion. Ike and Elincia's story, the whole world of Tellius and the beorc and laguz... It's all done really well. I also am a big fan of the Support system. So much better than the GBA games. And Base Convos are cool for what they are. They add a little bit of extra details on the characters that aren't locked behind Supports. I wish more FE games had them.

    My issue I have is the gameplay, and unfortunately, that is what I value most when judging a game. The game is really slow, even without animations, which I know isnt exactly a hot take. It is also way too easy, even on the hardest difficulty (in the English version). Easier than FE8 in my opinion. Enemies are almost all jokes, and because of that, you can just juggernaut with your main units and be basically invincible. Bonus XP makes you snowball super easily. Flyers and mounted units are stupid busted because of Super Canto. Forging is OP too, because you get so much money, why not just make a max Might, max Hit Javelin or Hand Axe between every chapter and go brrrr? Besides the second defend map in the early game, I can't think of any maps that gave me any trouble. Well...

    Besides the Ashnard fight. I hated it. Maybe there was something I missed, but it was so tedious trying to take him down, even with my capped Strength Ike. He had Aether, which I know isnt as good as Wrath/Resolve, but I was lucky I had enough Physics and the Aeshera Staff to pull it off. I didn't prepare equipment enough because I was overconfident from how easy the rest of the game was, and because I beat the Black Knight in one turn on my first try. I honestly would rather play Conquest Endgame straight than try that fight against Ashnard again. It ended the game on a terrible note for me.

    So basically, it's the opposite of Conquest in my eyes. Great story, bad gameplay. Its a game I don't know if I'll go back to, but I can see why some people think so highly of it.

    PS- Marcia and Jill are best girls.

    submitted by /u/LeatherShieldMerc
    [link] [comments]
    Read more
    at

    No comments:

    Post a Comment