And I'd get him to swap our places

make another hit like a smash i’m climbing

Chapter 24's title is taken from "Arrival" from WAR*HALL

Don't know the band, nor the song, but I'll take any appropriate Smash jokes sent my way. :3

Battle planning is always fun to write, especially when it involves unique staves. And of course Gotoh contacts the crew- I love it when Ange interacts with him, you can tell she respects him and yet is still Ange.

AND WE GET TIKI BACK! I love that Bantu and Xane followed Marth, Tiki would've like to see more Manaketes in the group.

Getting the information needed to stop Gharnef and his hold on Hardin was part of canon, so it made sense to keep it in. It also helped develop more of the added lore of the Break/Shake series, and how game canon ties into it.

And then we finished up with the four Manaketes! Ange, Bantu, Tiki and Xane! God I love their little group, even if Maia isn't there.

a legacy of lies

Chapter 22's title is taken from "Lost In Thought All Alone", from Fire Emblem Fates

When songs from your own franchise has the perfect lyrics for a title, YOU TAKE ADVANTAGE OF IT.

The Flame Barrel! This was fun to write, mostly because they're fighting in a very hot environment. Marth is dreading this and it's so fun to write everyone's reaction. Especially Ange, since fried Sea Dragon might have Marth drool from the smell.

"Poppa was a freak beneath it all." AH, YES. HE DID ANRI'S WAY ALL BY HIMSELF. THAT MAN HAS STAMINA, FORTITUDE AND COURAGE THAT MADE MAIA SWOON. And yeah, Dragon lore! Considering Awakening's map, there's other lands outside of Archanea/Ylisse, Valentia/Valm and Judgral in Kagaplanet! And yes, of course Marth notices Xane's word choice! B/S!Marth is much more observant and clever, after all!

Team Grust! I'm glad we get to have more Grust stuff in this story, thank you New Mystery for the add-ons.

And Marth figures out the truth of the Fire Emblem! Now, anyone who read Eternal Bruise might notice some inconsistencies... but that's because Emblem Marth is, well, an Emblem, and the Tiki chapter of "A two-way street called Trust" explains why it happened.

do what's good for you, or you're not good for anybody

Chapter 20's title comes from "James" by Billy Joel

"I can still do full price." I just love how nonchalant Marth accepted Dice and Malice's mercenary price because he's just filled with money. XP Since this is the last time we see Legion, we wanted to bring it out with a bang, so a bit of humor to start out would be fitting for our favorite masked assassin.

Anyway, the battle against the mass amount of Legion copies and the original. I wanted it to be somewhat sad, so the commentary about the duplication spell, Marth wanting to respect the fallen assassin, and also deciding to save Katarina and Clarisse.

Aaaaand we finally get to talk to Mr. Char Expy himself, with Ange being pretty testy about him. Marth had to calm her down, even! And at the end, I just had to give another nod to Masou Kishin by referring to Sartre's quote used in Shu's scenario in EX, which then became Dark Prison.

i can finally stand the man in the mirror i see

Chapter 18's title stems from "Better Than I Used To Be" by Tim McGraw

Oooh, this chapter. We had a lot of fun with some of the changes here!

I love joking about reused assets in the series, and the introduction was no exception.

Oh, and here we start Michalis' redemption! Yeah, since we got Minerva early and Maria isn't captured, we get the rest of the Macedon Royal Family! So much fun.

I love Ange's snarking, especially when it comes to Gharnef. At least we got Etzel back. XP

Moar lore! Like who Mannu sent to Macedon- Griffin Knights! Awakening has them, and I wanted to have an original source for these cool warriors. Michalis doesn't intend to take the throne once more, so him dropping his title is symbolic of that. Also foreshadowing of the Darksphere! Ange is clever like that.

...Of course Marth and Caeda are gonna have a couple's night, as it is one of their preferred de-stressors.

you say you saw your good friend flyin' low

Chapter 16 takes its title from the song "Snow Blind Friend" by Steppenwolf

Fane of Raman again! The original Mystery would reuse maps, after all.

We get Navarre again! And we have Phina as well! Apparently Ange looks like her cousins enough to be recognized as related, lol.

AND WE GET MIDIA AND NYNA! And that leads into getting Astram early! I love having Nyna early in this fic and having her kicking ass, she deserves to do so.

THE REVEAL HAPPENS. Originally Marth was going to be more distressed about this (back when we were in hiatus after finishing Break/Shake and doing the commentaries) but organically, as we wrote more Never Thought, I went with "it hurts a lot, he's a beloved friend, Gharnef's a dick for doing this, but this was inevitable once I knew Gharnef returned." AND I EXPLAINED HOW MAIA'S EXISTENCE MEANS THE FOUR CANON SACRIFICES ARE SAFE FROM GHARNEF. Incidental thing from picking Ange in the first place!

...Kinda want to make a side-story of Maia sassing the shit outta possessed!Hardin. That would be fun to write.

go on and cry in your coffee, but don't come bitchin' to me

Chapter 14's title stems from the song "Big Shot" by Billy Joel

I love writing tactical and strategy discussions, we get interesting reveals. Like how Ange strategize using her Dragon form! It's less "it's risky to me to use it because it makes me more of a monster" and more "I'm making sure I'm not doing any property damage for important buildings that are being lived in."

Lamia soon discovers she bit off more than she chewed. We're talking about people who went through the War of Shadows. Marth has a rapier. This is why blind loyalty is FATAL.

Ey, Frey and Norne! Glad to have those two back from the remakes!

Also yeah, the lol about it actually being Samuel instead of Navarre... AND OGMA LORE. I LOVE OGMA LORE.

Lamia's breakdown is just. Pure joy. ALSO TO REPLACE THE MOMENT OF AWESOME IN CANON I HAD JAGEN HAVE THE FINAL BLOW TO LAMIA. I love that Ange offers her Armorslayer to him. Oh, and yes, I made Marth and Elice Cancerians, it made sense to me.

Not much more to say, except the ending was kinda inevitable narrative-wise. XP

Because it was inevitable that I make voice actor jokes in Engage. I'll probably play this run in Japanese... lol.

Alear- Will be renamed Randahl- not only is it a more European name, but the katakana of Randahl shares the 'ru' ending the Dragons of Elyos has in Japanese. Also because Alear isn't voiced Midorikawa, who's the actual Masaki here. XP

So!

Alear/Randahl
Final Class: Divine Dragon
Specific Emblem: Marth
Reasoning: Going with the obvious defaults for Alear seems like it's because of the no-brainer fact that Masaki aka Marth is the protagonist of Masou Kishin. Marth is a speed build, perfect as a representation of the whole Herald of the Wind Elemental Lord. Also Lodestar Rush is the perfect Ranbu no Tachi replacement, and hell yeah I'm gonna take advantage of having 9 hits instead of 7!

Kagetsu
Final Class: Griffin Knight
Specific Emblem: Lyn
Reasoning: SHU'S GONNA REPRESENT THE CYBUSTER HERSELF, I HOPE HE'S HAPPY IN HIS ROLE. I needed a role for Kagetsu since he's voiced by Shu, and since he's a speedy and dexterous boy he gets to fulfill Shu's old dream of being Cybuster's pilot. Griffin Knight has almost identical stats when maxed out, and the same is for Lyn. Call Doubles and Astra Storm aren't the focus of this build (although they will be useful, especially the Flying bonus on the former)- it's Speedtaker.

Veyle
Final Class: Fell Child
Specific Emblem: Byleth
One tome: Nova. It's the closest thing to Cosmo Nova design-wise, and I needed a character who's class also embodied Cybuster. Oops, it's Veyle! Byleth being a support Emblem suits her needs and his designated stat boosters aid her Magic and her Spd/Lck weakness. Also engaging with Byleth means access to the Sword of the Creator, which raises damages higher the magic. It could be either the Discutter or the Vanity Ripper equivalent!

Zelestia
Final Class: Melusine
Specific Emblem: Ike
...Welp, the only thing closest to Cyflash is with the only thing closest to the Granzon. Might as well stick Ike with a Flying Unit for the extra Res bonus for Great Aether! Zelestia/Melusine has really good stats for what I'm planning for, so might as well use her! Also because DLC characters aren't off the hook for my runs since I have them. Also Urvan is a boss of a Emblem Weapon and I love it.

Panette
Final Class: Wolf Knight
Specific Emblem: Sigurd
SOMEONE had to be the zooming aspect of Cybuster/Cybird, as it has a hilariously large movement pool in the history of the Original Generations. Masaki can ZOOM. Unfortunately, that can't be done with a Flying Unit, so I went with the most viable Cavalry unit perfect for a Masaki run. It just so happens that Sigurd is voiced by one other of the first trio protagonists of the OG Saga, Kyosuke... who's song title is Steel Beowulf! I went with Panette because LOVE her and also I could use natural axe users in this setup.

Boucheron
Final Class: Paladin
Specific Emblem: Tiki
"Why are you using Boucheron? What's his Masou connection?" If you have to ask- you don't know Masaki Andoh's biggest meme. His lack of direction, which Boucheron shares. I gave him a class that works with his strength and gave him Tiki to cover his Def/Luck weakness. Tiki is also the closest Emblem that is similar to Cybuster in looks as well as a Cyfis expy imo.

Clanne
Final Class: Mage Knight
Specific Emblem: Eirika
Twins! One of Masaki's teammates is a twin herself, so why not having the Twins Emblem with one of the twins of Engage? I choose Clanne as the selected twin since he has Dex/Spd bonuses, as much as I love Framme. Also, Eirika comes with the Wind Sword, an amazing Discutter expy.

(TBC)

can't read my poker face

Chapter 11's title is taken from "Poker Face" by Lady Gaga

Hell yeah Lady Gaga!

...Anyway, we start with interrogating Lamia, who still refuses to talk about her orders. She's not gonna budge, and we know that's gonna be her downfall. I love the contrast because reasonable rulers and mindless minions.

Then our main crew discuss Nyna and the stuff about Archanea, and what's going on. I really love that they're not blindly going into battle like in canon, but that's because canon was a different situation altogether, anyway. Also! Ange has limits to her telepathy! I wanted to explore that for a good while, and here was the perfect place!

Oh yeah, this is a Gaiden chapter, so we get to meet Clarisse. And yes, Lena is here! Since plot is working differently (which will be revealed once we reach how it diverged), I thought her being with Wrys would be an awesome spot to appear.

And here we get to see Ange flirting with Clarisse as a distraction/battle tactic! Ange is very good at that, and she's got enough battle experience to figure out how to deal with her bow, as well.

...LOL at Katarina being all, "Wait, what do you mean flirting, Clarisse? She never did that to me." I really wanted to show that Clarisse was one of Ange's type. XP

do you have the time to listen to me whine

Chapter 9's title is taken from "Basket Case" by Green Day

YEEEEAH WE CHANGED THE SCENARIO MATTHIS SAVES MINERVA THANKS TO HIS CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT. This is what made writing Never Thought fun- continuing the developments that started in Break/Shake!

"Who?" I just love the contrast between Lykke's whole motivation and how insignificant he is to Marth is found in a single word. Absolutely silly from my point of view.

...And Marth jokes about Warren/Catria. I thought it would be the most hilarious thing knowing canon.

The battle against Lykke's lackey was kinda fun, in the sense that Ange leaving everyone to fight him because he's not worth his time is kinda introspective of the insignificance of Lykke's forces. ...Especially once we learn that there's no magic users in Lykke's group. If you know how Archanea works, you'd know that that's a risk if the enemy forces have magic users of their own... and a man wielding a rapier.

I don't have much more to talk about, this is a rather straightforward chapter for me.

building a mystery

The interlude's title takes from the song "Building A Mystery" by Sarah McLachlan

She's one of my favorite artist. Everyone knows her song "Angel", but her repertoire is very good, and this is one of my favorite songs of her!

We get to see from the assassins' perspective! Based off an RP we did, since we do see some stuff from their perspective in canon, I thought, "why not here?"

Legion's perspective on the whole thing was absolutely fun to write! His giddiness about Altea, his thoughts on the whole Marth deal- We don't dig much in his thoughts in canon, so I thought this was the perfect opportunity. And yes, he does think Marth is pretty; who wouldn't?

And I love Clarisse and Eremiya's reaction to everything. About the Manaketes, Anri having a daughter who can wield Falchion... indeed, usually Eremiya would punish those who failed, but this is not your usual situation.