Weirdly enough, based on vibes from the key-art and trailers I think Cai is my favourite 'Lord' in-so-far. Though admittedly, I am biased towards characters with strong Gap-moe, and all the Lords so far have radiated various levels of it. But Cai, by far, is bleeping the loudest on my radar.
It's a familiar premise, the Hero's Journey, The Coming of Age - a journey to save his father from imprisonment, the destination could not be more of a straight line for cause to effect.
The First trailer didn't paint more than than the obvious, a young man, out of his depth, desperately trying to standout against the far more interesting leads of Dietrich, Leda, and Theodora. The earnest "I only want to fight so I can save my father's life", feels very shonen protagonist 'i only fight to protect my friends' coded. Love that for Cai, very sweet sentiment. It's an interesting stance to have in a FE:3H world, which from prior experience, has been more grounded on showing the emotional impacts war and violence shapes it's characters.
So imagine my delight when my boy goes from this in the first trailer to to this in the second:
The journey from A to B is intriguing in and of itself. The confidence and control he has over his mysterious power is night and day (which may or may not be Argathan-coded, at the very least dark magic/curse coded). The change in eye colour from yellow to red, which you see him casually running with in the Arena demonstration. Those changes are interesting, and help to balance his intrigue with the other Lord's stories.
But then I started seeing the key-art for all the Lord's grouped together and the contrast was in both:
(curse you Tumblr for destroying the quality of the images...)
My boy's face is strongly framed in shadow for BOTH of these Images, in comparison to all of the other Lord's faces are framed with either light, or softness, or softness of expression. Cai's Blue popped against the Red/Red/Black dominance of the Lord's . All of these sent my intuition bells off immediately, and got me thinking about where these characters are going on their journey's in FE:FW, and what their relationships may be like with Eshmel (aka the Angel AvatarMC, Aka Arval coded, no particular thoughts or feelings towards them yet).
Anyways.
(look at my son (and his ostrich-dino) - precious boy!)
The Key art for his official profile image as pictured in all the images above, when I initially saw it in the trailer, my impression was he wasn't smiling at all. And with the shadow outlining his face, it looked almost cold as he looked down, pointing his laser producing hand back at whoever is gazing up at him. Thankfully, when I looked at it in higher quality, there is a natural curve to his lips and roundness to his eyes that presented him as warm/confident like as with all the other 'Lords'.
But it rattled the marbles around in my head an got me thinking.
Dietrich, Leda, and Theodora all feel like they're coming into the game with their baggage already attached, whereas Cai may have yet to obtain that same level of emotional baggage. While the other Lord's have an air of mystery to their Backgrounds, Cai doesn't give off the same air at first (though I do wonder when/where/how the Laser producing Ruby was lodged into his palm). Though thinking back to the FE:3H Lords, that seems unlikely as being children did not disqualify them from tragedy. Regardless, I feel like Cai's journey we'll see that accumulation of emotional baggage, that descent into darkness and shadow and developing of maladaptive coping mechanisms in real time, rather than beginning the journey with them as with he other Lord's (I would not be opposed to playing Flashback levels where we could say, experience and frame Leda's loss, Theodora's drive for the crown, or Dietrich hunger for strong opponents).
Maybe I'm just hungry for the classic drama of the Hero's Journey/Coming of Age.
But then I saw the Boxart for the Game, and went 'hang-on, to think we're onto something here'.
The way all the Lord gazes are turned towards Eshmel made wonder if the Box-art is highlighting the relationships that going to develop between the Avatar and their role in Lord's character's journey.
For Leda who (I hope) will enjoy some Monte Cristo style revenge, Eshmel softens the shadows of that tale, (very literally if we look at the contrast on the boxart) reminding her of what she's striving to obtain in her pursuit of those who wronged her.
Dietrich has a gentleness to his expression, in contrast to his controlled stoicism from all other appearances so far. His back facing Eshmel, glancing over his shoulder, it feels like a show of trust to show that side of him. Even as he holds a sword used to "smite the Gods", and Eshmel is the most blatantly divine-coded being, I don't believe he swing at them with malice (after whatever relationship between them develops at least).
Theodora oozes confidence in most of her appearances thus far. On the boxart, she's the only character with a full side profile, not quite glancing back, but more if she were shoulder-to-shoulder with Eshmel. She knows her goal, and the power she pursues on path to succession, and expects Eshmel to keep up with them, and is giving me partner or someone she recognises as her equal. Divinity and Royalty are two forms of power often constrained with loneliness as the figure leading the flagship, I feel like there's a good chance at solidarity to grow between the Theodora and Eshmel from the similarities stemming from their roles.
Note all the relationships I've extrapolated from the my Boxart imaginings feel positive. Once a relationship is fostered between the MC and Lord's listed above, Eshmel will fulfill the role Sothis assigns of "guiding the living to salvation." Nice little redemption arc implied, as the Lords go on their journeys and come away better people once they reach their destination.
However, Cai expression is one that's shadowed with... uncertainty? Expectation? It's a fairly neutral expression, in contrast to the other Lords. Cai glances back, adverting his eyes from his path before him, left arm raised just enough that we can see the Ruby in imbedded in his palm looks suspiciously eye shaped. Overall his body language feels more... closed and guarded? And extrapolating Cai's expression is aimed at Eshmel, like the other Lords, it feels like their relationship will be more fraught. Cai wants to rescue his father from Imprisonment, but what were the circumstances that landed him there in the first place? We assume that because Cai's a good boy, and the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, surely his father was imprisoned unjustly. What if there's a good reason for his father to remain locked away, and unleashing him on the general populace may not be in everyone's best interests. What if Cai is the sort of person who would rescue his father regardless of the crime, and the quality of his relationship with him. Maybe he's filled with filial piety, who knows.
My point is, is that whatever the relationship Cai has with Eshmel, whatever is happening on his journey is giving him pause to reach his destination. Or it may be more entangled in his relationship with the power he needs to succeed in the tournament arc and those he surrounds himself with to get there. Overall, I feel like I've gotten a lot more drama vibes and the potential for Cai's story to dive into some darker themes, and he'll likely have some of the biggest changes in character from beginning versus end. And that makes me so excited for him!
He's definably my number 1 for doing his story first.
Though all the stories and mystery the Lords are bringing to the table thus far have the promise of being very scrumptious. Hopefully the delivery lives up to expectation and exceeds it ^^
i know it's been such hell to get here but there's no other way to move except forward. i hope that you will spend the rest of your life in easier circumstances
One of the things I really like about Tumblr is there seems to be a healthy appreciation for invertebrate biology here, which I don’t always see as much on other social media websites. Tumblr users overall seem to love bugs, and it’s important to me that every person who loves bugs knows the name Charles Henry Turner. If you’re not yet familiar with this man, I’m delighted to introduce you to one of the most remarkable minds ever born of this earth, and a true pioneer in the field of entomology and animal behavior.
Charles Turner was born in the United States just a few years after the end of the civil war. His brilliance was evident from the start, and after graduating valedictorian of his high school class he quickly went on to earn his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in short order. While in school, Turner’s relentless curiosity became his greatest advantage. He was drawn to and fascinated by topics that were largely ignored by modern science at the time, namely the cognitive behaviors of insects and other invertebrates. While many of his colleagues believed insects to be mindless automata acting on instinct alone, Turner felt deeply that the brains of these oft overlooked animals were far more complex than the scientific community suspected. He performed extensive experiments to test his theories and found overwhelming evidence of problem solving and individualism among organisms as small as ants and spiders.
By the time Turner earned his zoology pHD in 1907 he had published dozens of papers in highly esteemed journals and had even co-authored a book. It is likely that Turner was the first African American to earn a pHD from the University of Chicago. With such a sparkling academic reputation and enormous body of research, one would expect this candidate to have no issues obtaining a professorship at a prestigious school. Though by every right Turner should have been head of science department at a top university, the systemic racism that permeated academia meant that doors a white man would have walked through were locked and bolted shut for Charles Henry Turner.
Turner did not allow this prejudice to dim in any way his blindingly bright passion for knowledge. He took a job as a high school teacher, and continued to perform and publish research on his own all while he instilled his students with a love for zoology. He published more than 70 papers in extremely respected journals and he remained passionately curious for the entirety of his life. If I tried to list here all of the incredible discoveries Turner made in his lifetime it would take me days to sufficiently express the impact he had on the field of invertebrate behavior. His experiments were so ahead of their time that entomologists today marvel at his research and wonder how much more we would know if Turner’s work had been given the attention and respect of other scientists working at the time. Turner’s mind was about a century ahead of those entomological contemporaries who had no interest in giving him a seat at the table. His tombstone simply reads “scientist”
Like many people of color throughout history, Turner’s exceptional contributions to our world have been unfairly overlooked by many. His name has historically been left out of entomology textbooks and courses, despite laying down groundwork that is still used today. I really recommend that anyone interested in entomology or even biology in general read up on Charles Henry Turner and his works. This is an excellent article that discusses his many challenges and triumphs in the field.
internet politics and real-world politics have gotten so separated, and pretty soon all this internet weirdness is gonna come crashing into real life and politicians are gonna start throwing around words like “SJW” and “anime communist” and “dark enlightenment” and it’s just gonna be the most ridiculous fucking thing
titsay
dededos
blakekathryn
jbbartram-illu
izzy806
kaledo-art
origamiaround
prguitarman
