9/5/2024 c12 thzfunnymzn
Yay! Ninian healthy.

If you're worried about it, I don't mind at all any creative liberty taken to explain Idoun's creation of a dragon stone, or of the leader of the dragons in ancient times. I doubt Jahn was any sort of powerful leader of dragons during the Scouring, so just name-dropping a "Tiamat" as the leader works for me.

And Idoun being able to just create dragon stones feels perfectly fine, even if there's nothing in canon to strictly suggest it. And you'd have to expand on canon to get this "feel goods, make everything right" fluff, so more power to ya'. I also do appreciate how you have dragon stones as linked to the soul of the user, not just a replaceable artifact that stores big boom power.

Will be interesting to see where things go from here. For now, there's not really a conflict to resolve. Just feel good fluff of a healing Idoun and Ninian ten years in the past. Which I'm down for.

8/15/2024 c11 247Cosmic Sky
This chapter lived up to hype, I can say that. After seeing the buildup, Idunn finally rolled the dice, and though it was rocky at the start, she managed to pull it off-she made a miracle happen. Not one a permanent solution to Ninian's failing health, but close enough, not to mention it gives her and Eliwood genuine hope after they've likely spent years having given up. His uncharacteristic defensive when Idunn brought up curing Ninian was most likely a show of them; while understandable, it was still surprising. Usually he's as nice as they come, but it was clear when it came to Ninian, he really steps up to protect her. For some reason, the idea that they'd dealt with frauds claiming they could heal Ninian came up, though it could have also just been them not wanting any false hope (Cue Avengers Endgame Meme).

It was moving watching Ninian slowly regain hope as Idunn pleaded her case, as well as the latter finally revealing herself. Between that and her manipulation of quintessence, you can't blame Eliwood and Ninian for being shocked. Odds are they got a blast from the past, and maybe wondered if someone had slipped through the Dragon's Gate.

This has been on my mind for a while regarding this story, but this chapter felt the climax of the meta perspective of Binding Blade and Blazing Blade. Idunn's near infinite supply of Quintessence as well as her ability to breath Elibe's air perfectly fine clashed with Ninian's struggle to do the same and the world beyond the Dragon's Gate. It really reminded me of how inconsistent FE6 and FE7's lore are when you line them up. Felt like it added to the drama and fueled speculation about what's going to happen next. Which I'm going to take a shot at will involve Idunn trying to find a replacement stone for Ninian.

Earlier in the week I finished rewatching a show who's finale dealt with artificial life, so reading her Idunn dismissing the idea of creating a war dragon just for its dragonstone. Zephiel and Jahn would have done so without a second thought, but the fact Idunn didn't showed just how much respect she had, even dragons created solely for war. That said, the idea of creating a new dragonstone for Ninian is a permanent solution I'm eager to see her pull off. Dragonstones have always been one of the more iconic aspects of Fire Emblem, so I can't wait to see you dive into them.

Idunn embracing her Demon Dragon aspect instead of rejecting it is another direction I'm glad for. FEH, her Resplendent/Legendary alt does seem to imply she's regaining her divine attribute. That feels like it's going to come with its own set of challenges, including her potentially revealing her life's story to Ninian. I don't know how she feels about the Fire Tribe, but I don't think she (or Eliwood) would be fans of what was done to her to win the war.

7/16/2024 c10 247Cosmic Sky
I'd say this delivered as the leadup to the climax of the first act. Idunn's stumbled upon a solution, but she took the time to examine the pros and cons of it, and boy were they pretty heavy to consider.

It's funny, and kind of easy, to imagine the maids all avoiding Idunn because they think she's in a bad mood. She is kind of beautiful in a mysterious way, but when she frowns, I can see that being pretty off-putting, even terrifying. And all that is without anyone knowing she's a dragon and thus the LAST person you want to be on the bad side of. It's a good thing she ran into Merlinus otherwise she'd might have gone the rest of the day unknowingly scowling at everyone.

That bit about a potential vacation was interesting, and I guess an answer to my question of if Idunn would be traveling outside of Pherae. The Western Isles and Sacae do sound like they'd be a better fit for her, less people and more quiet tranquility. Estruria would definitely be crowded, and she might attract some unwanted attention with her magic. As for Illia, while I sympathize with not being a fan of the cold, I always think of Pokémon dynamics whenever I see or read a dragon disliking the cold.

My immediate thought regarding Idunn giving some of her quintessence, thus her soul, to Ninian was that there'd definitely be some side-effects. Usually those come along with these sorts of things, but the question is what kind. I'm sure it'll create some sort of mental link between them, but I also wonder if Ninian would take on more traits from Idunn's demon dragon nature. That includes becoming stronger than she might have originally been, which would be cause for curiosity and concern for everyone, especially Eliwood.

On the other hand, that may just be a risk they end up taking because the alternative is her dying, and Idunn has decided she's not going to let that happen. Especially after another visit from Roy. He has no idea that he might just be indirectly saving his mother's life, well, maybe not for another few years until Idunn probably tells him the full truth. Maybe.

To answer your question at the chapter's end, yes. I've felt that way numerous times, including in writing because sheer nervousness. I think everyone hits that point at least once in their lives because there's always that one thing that'll really test you or change things in a way that scares you in some form. That's why I can understand a little bit of what Idunn's going through. It's scary, but you've got to do it, you've got to take that chance.

7/15/2024 c9 Az-Bebere
It's interesting to see Idunn's dilemma between hiding her draconic self and helping Ninian with her (to her) obvious Quintessence issue. Can she detect that Ninian doesn't have anymore a dragonstone to rely on though? Because if so she could have the idea to share hers with Ninian, like Ninian and Nild did back in the FE6 era.

And I agree with Idunn's assessment that pride and unwillingness to bend and learn human ways for human forms is what did the Fire Tribe in because between Nils fighting as a Bard, Ninian as a Dancer, and Sophia as a Shaman, it's pretty clear that Elibean dragons can fight like humans if they have a mind to. And while the examples are all half-dragons, Elibean half-dragons can transform like pureblooded ones do (see Ninian) and the non-Jahn pureblooded ones we see are either going through the motions (Idunn and the War Dragons), blind with rage (FE7's Fire Dragon), or too young to know otherwise (Fae).

7/14/2024 c10 161CitrusChickadee
Ooh, the Quintessence being a temporary solution definitely makes sense... even if Idunn's frustration here is also understandable!

I do like her conversations with Merlinus and Marcus here, too. Again, it's just nice to see her being more accepted around the castle. And more importantly, I can see travel being something she'd be interested in, too... Her initial thoughts of Sacae and the Western Isles are nice, but it also makes me wonder if/how much she'll find out about Arcadia.

Anyway, the pace is picking up here for sure, but Idunn had already thought of revealing herself earlier in the chapter before Roy's scene, so it still works well! And hopefully this will let her make some more progress healing Ninian now, so it's something that would necessarily have to happen soon anyway.

6/18/2024 c9 247Cosmic Sky
With a title like this one, I was expecting something big, and I got it. Idunn finally got to have that private conversation with Ninian, and man was it informative and emotional. Their conversation also felt somewhat meta since I found it to be (fittingly) a character from Binding Blade addressing the differences between their game's story and Blazing Blade's.

As far as dragons being able to use human magic, every game with playable dragons/manaketes have them able to learn the same kind of magic as the human cast. So I think your idea really has some canonical basis.

Personally, I actually think you had Idunn hit the nail on the head-it was pride that caused the downfall of the Fire Dragons; that same pride led Jahn to feeding Idunn not entirely accurate information. I'll admit, I was really thinking about it reading through her inner thoughts as she tried to make the pieces fit together,

I'm not surprised that Eliwood and Ninian haven't told Roy the truth that he's quarter-dragon thanks to Ninian. He's still young enough it'd be hard for him to wrap his mind around it. I mean, Roy's got one hell of a complicated family history, that's just Ninian's draconic nature-her familial history is a whole other can of worms. Speaking of the two, Ninian's calm acceptance of her impeding death was the most emotional part of the chapter, and it kind of hit home. It shattered when Idunn brought up Roy, showing that despite that acceptance, she still wants to see her son grow up. That breakdown was tragically complicated by Idunn's future memory of his death.

If, or hopefully when, Idunn reveals herself, I've got a gut feeling that's eventually going to come up. Her telling Ninian she's from a dark future is going to lead her to some heartbreaking conclusions.

Ah, a great chapter that's got me really excited to see what happens next! Idunn is indeed facing one hell of a choice, and one option is one she simply won't be able to do, especially as she's gotten close to everyone in the castle, especially Roy. The other one's going to come with it's own risks as well, and who knows if a third option will present itself.

6/14/2024 c9 Guest
"Jahn and his kin had lost to the humans in the Scouring ... because the Fire Tribe had simply been too prideful to ever consider learning to fight with human weapons..."

It feels like a rather strange sentiment? The entire reason why the Demon Dragon was created was because the Fire Tribe was vastly outnumbered and would've lost without War Dragons to boost the numbers. Learning to fight on par with humans would not have closed the massive gap in numbers. Surely Idunn is at least aware of why she was "made"? (and that's before considering that there was no time to learn (as Eight Heroes were beelining for the temple even before the Ending Winter happened), no one to learn from, and nothing to match the apocalyptic Divine Weapons)

5/31/2024 c8 3Az-Bebere
On one hand, Idunn examining Ninian is probably the first step to healing her so good of her to have thought of it. On the other hand, I hope she thought of an explanation because a druid looking at her quintessence closely might remind Ninian a bit too much of Nergal.

Idunn interacting with Jenny is fun though, it's nice that she get some more human interaction. And Idunn being happy that Roy be grounded because that way he's close at hand is hilarious.