AstraSage

And that's not counting the tiny chance Maiko's Mirage could be a Thief instead of a Dancer (even though her first name would heavily hint to the latter via the homophone shenanigans the game is well known for)... That said, while I do agree one should not expect the Carnage Form to resemble the Source Mirage, the fact Barry's actually took the Collar + Chain Leash of his goofy dog guise and made it look a lot like how Awakening Fighters wore something similar makes me think he has a good chance to be bound to a Vaike Mirage. Overall, I'm excited for the promise of new story elements.

And that's because we don't know if anyone bilingual enough has dared to spoil the Japanese Community with the previews of this side of the pond. And last time I checked, most of the 5ch-ers were expecting Raphael to be an option because they have a hard time thinking his design is not made to appeal the Gay Community... Anyways, I don't think we'd see Japan's Reaction until the game is released...

If I can put my my two cents, I think there's less Meta Player-Avatar interaction involved and more of the fact it's hinted Sothis' Main Domain is Omniscience: I mean, the in-universe explanation for Divine Pulse is that Byleth has watered down version of Sothis' power and said power allows seeing all present, past and future outcomes in a short span of time. Couple it with Sothis' sole voice clip in the latest E3 Trailer infers that she's quite familiar with the idea of someone witnessing two wildly different timelines, and I won't be surprised if the flashing images are just her Slumbering Self's Subconscious trying to look at all possible Time Periods of Fodlán's Timeline from Prehistory to a Modern(or even Sci-fi)-looking Age and Beyond...

Hopefully there's some care in the Support Convos, but to be personally honest I see Gilbert as an option and the knowledge kinda gives me a reaction of constantly wondering how they're gonna make his support differ from Alois who shares the same niche (and the latter is unfortunately also on a bit of thin ice as a non-platonic option because one big trait of his shown in some preview screenshots is that he's a proud married man with a kid, and his wife is now doomed to be fridged in order to enable him as a romantic pairing for both Byleths) and not give me a feeling similar (using a game mechanic as a metaphor) to how Awakening made me wish Libra could reclass as a Fighter instead of a Mage because the latter class tree didn't offer anything special after both Priest and Dark Mage overlapped both of of its promotions. Add the fact everyone kinda got queerbaited by Claude in the latest batch of Japanese Ads for the game (Seriously, how could anyone see a clip of Claude seemingly asking Byleth for a Dance at [what I call] the Big Prom Ball Scene while being framed with the same First Person PoV both Awakening and Fates intentionally used to keep the Avatar as gender-neutral as possible in close interactions and not entertain the possibility of him being as bisexual as Edelgard?) and that a previous screenshot disproved all the Blue Lions Guys (which, with the exception of Ashe who's as slender as Linhardt, were a nice middle ground between slender and burly frames) as candidates, folks have some reason to be disappointed.

On one hand, the Non-Linhardt options shown so far are characters that wouldn't be out of place in a old-school Bara comic, but on the other they do feel like they both cater the same niche so I understand why folks are feeling disappointed by the lack of variety in the MLM options if that's the confirmed total...

From the way Thani phrased in her comments, it felt like she was actually close to someone in the localization team (or maybe even a play tester) willing to risk breaking NDA to gush/drop-hints 'bout what they had seen in a early build...

Not to mention most of the Latin American Key Culture Beats (that are not shared by the Iberic Nations or Pre-Hispanic Cultures, which the latter would bring a completely different feel for the Medieval context) are way too modern for the usual Fire Emblem timeframe. That said, I'll find it fitting if what little we see of Almyra resembled a Middle Eastern or Saharan Culture because it'd go well with the fact I seem to get a Mediterranean Feel out of how the Leicester Alliance has been presented so far: I wouldn't be surprised the Alliance interacted with Almyra in the same way the Venetian Republic + the League of Italian Duchies dealt with the Ottoman Empire or the way things went in the Iberic Peninsula before the Reconquista... Anyways, I have to apologize for the late reaction but I'm currently having trouble taking the goofy smile off my face after learning Petra (who has been shown so far as a very Myrmidon-looking Noble and as a Model for the Sword & Bow favoring Thief Class) is now hinted to come from Brigid...

If we use the latest Famitsu article as a reference, we can flip a Character's Weak/Neutral Skills into Strengths through constant practice & motivation from Byleth's praising/scolding if the skills in question have a three star gauge next to them.

I dunno, I wouldn't be surprised if Knight-worshipping Faerghus does the medieval equivalent of Athlete Scholarships and have a few more commoners besides Double-D in the Blue Lions' ranks thanks to their Promising Martial Prowess... That said, I must've stumbled into some shipping goggles before reading her backstory summary but I can't shake off the feeling fan creators got provided with enough fodder to start writing Dorothea with a Sempai/Onee-san style crush on Manuela... Half-joking aside, I'll feel seriously robbed if both Dorothea and Manuela don't have at least a platonic mentor-apprentice support in the case the latter is recruitable.

Keep in mind there's no way to distinguish both the Iberic and Italian spellings from just transliterating the Katakana, and even as a Native Spanish-speaker I don't understand why go out of the way to berate someone for deciding to write the name of someone explicitly stated to be a Former Opera Singer with the Italian Spelling's double Ls... That said, I was surprised for her having a lighter voice than I initially expected her to have, but again with Divas and most Prima Donnas being Soprano it makes sense.

I mean, if I use the Katakana spelling as a reference, Raphael seem to be pronounced as Ra-Fah-El like it's done in Latin-based languages...

I'll probably wait until we have a clearer idea of each House's Class Roster outside of the Leaders to make a more definite answer, but I seem to have a soft spot towards the homely attitude of the few students shown for the Golden Deer House (Leonie and Raphael).

Yeah, I have to agree. So far, by the looks of the latest trailer, the majority of the playable units shown seem to be literally Trainees with access to what the Game labels as Professor Levels which groups all the Weapon Ranks (Sword, Lance, Axe, Bow, Melee Weapons and both Reason [aka. Dark+Anima] & Faith [Light+Healing] Magic) and "Proefficiencies" (Authority, (Horse) Riding, Heavy Armor, Flying) they need to hone to meet a minimum rank if they want to be promoted to a more Specialized Class via an Intermediate Seal and an Exam. So far the Classes that were confirmed while showcasing Edelgard getting her Minor in Brigand were Mercenary (Sword Focus), Thief (seems to be specializing in Hand-to-Hand Combat this Game), Knight (Lance + Heavy Armor), Cavalier (Riding and I assume also Lance), Brigand (C or higher in Axe Wielding), Archer (Bow), Mage (Reason) and Priest (Faith); And I wouldn't be surprised if the option after the dotted line below Priest was gonna be a Flying Class like Pegasus Knight or something. Other than that, all the students (or at least the first ones the Avatar has to tutor) also seem to have a headstart D rank on a weapon skill (examples being Dorothea and her D in Reason or Lindhart and his D in Faith) which you can either take advantage or ignore depending on your stance on Flexible Reclassing.

Alright , I think I can see a problem: When I think of magenta, I think in how warmer it looks in the CMYK model, which underplays its purple undertones... That said, now I notice with your example image that Edel's Portrait hints at Magenta without using the exact hue: Soft Red Cape, Lavender Eyes, Purple Ribbons...

To be fair, Edelgard does wear something between a very deep hue of Magenta or a very soft Wine Red... That said, I'm very okay with the next entry taking a more subdued approach to the designs. I still have yet to see how the artist renders a rugged character, though...