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Description
After much contemplation on what to draw next, I finally decided on this guy. I kinda grew really fond of him. lol

It's Ralph, the ex-thief turned singing extraordinaire from my FE: Awakening stories! Only, this is how he will look in his next appearance, the upcoming sequel to Happy Together (his debut).

Class: Singer

Lv. 14 (lv. 1 when he first joins the Shepherds, of course)

HP: 33
Str: 13
Mag: 3
Skl: 11
Spd: 12
Lck: 12
Def: 9
Res: 7
Mov: 7

Weapon: Sword - C

Skills: Locktouch, Range +1*, Serenade**

*Allows Ralph to use a ranged attack or sing from one more square away than usual. Meaning, he can grant an extra turn to a unit two squares away or use a Levin Sword or other ranged sword from up to three squares away. Also works for any ranged weapons he uses when re-classed.

**Level 15 skill. Allows Ralph to grant an extra turn to all adjacent units. Does not stack with Range +1, however. I think that'd be overkill. lol

Reclass options: Thief (duh, lol), Cavalier (because of Frederick)

Ralph was originally created when I considered the idea of having Frederick meet an old friend from his village. We never hear much about where he grew up aside from when he mentions having been attacked by a wolf after wandering in the woods, so I thought I'd build upon that. At first, I wasn't sure how I'd do this since I didn't have anyone from Frederick's hometown appear in the first fic (HT's direct prequel) except for his parents. The first story is his wedding to Kelli, my Avatar, so if a good friend of Frederick's from his village appeared there, surely this person would've had some dialogue and mentions. But I hadn't thought of the idea of introducing someone from his village until after the story was finished. Thus, Ralph the impoverished thief came to be. I took a page from the movie Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas when coming up with the story revolving around him and Frederick. It's one of my favorite movies (and one of the few Dreamworks films that I actually like), so I thought why not?

In the movie, Sinbad was childhood friends with the prince of Syracuse, Proteus, until he just up and vanished for ten years for an unknown reason (later revealed to have been jealousy over Proteus's "engagement" to Marina). Ralph, similarly, was Frederick's closest childhood friend. These two did everything together and were inseparable. They both had the dream of becoming knights of Ylisse and fighting side by side (much like Sinbad and Proteus originally dreamed of fighting alongside each other in the Syracuse army). Frederick then left to become a squire at the Ylisse palace, and Ralph, meanwhile, watched his parents' shop begin to fail. The family became impoverished, and Ralph was forced to resort to thievery just so they could survive. Though he was likely tempted to take more, Ralph only ever stole food from his victims, often passing up the chance to steal money or valuables which he could fence. Likely this was because, having lost everything himself, he didn't have the heart to leave others in the same straits. Though his ethics might've been intact, despite his situation, his sense of self-worth was greatly damaged as his unwanted career dragged on. Over the next fourteen years, Ralph all but vanished. Part of this might have been because those aware of the dire straits his family was in could've suspected him. However, this was also because his thieving left him feeling ashamed that he had sunk to such depths. This was coupled with the fear that Frederick might discover what he'd become, and Ralph would've preferred being hanged to facing his friend's disappointment. A chance reunion with Frederick and his new wife, Kelli (my Avatar in Awakening), changes his life completely, however. Instead of condemning him, however, Frederick and Kelli resolve to help Ralph turn his life around. Grateful, Ralph promises to use the aid they give him to carve out an honest living and, in time, he exceeded the couple's expectations and his own. Ralph's vocal talent is unwittingly discovered when he winds up singing the Ylisse national anthem at a tournament.

From that point on, Ralph's confidence and self-esteem finally begin to grow and he pursues his dream to fight in the Ylisse army again. He also becomes the primary royal singer. Frederick trains him in swordplay and horseback riding and also gives Ralph his own mount, a palomino mare that he names Minuet (it's a type of song, of course). He wouldn't become a knight by title, but to Frederick, he has the heart of one anyway. Plus, he can reclass to Cavalier. lol Oh, and when Frederick and Kelli's children are born, he sings lullabies for them too. Isn't that sweet? ^^

Personality-wise, Ralph likes a good laugh, he's quite friendly, and he will definitely return a favor if you do one for him. In fact, his description in the Shepherds' profiles would say "the one most likely to return a favor." He just doesn't like getting help or favors or gifts without doing something good for the other person in return. He feels it's the courteous thing to do. Ralph prefers to follow rather than lead as well, and will gladly follow Frederick anywhere. He looks up to Frederick like a brother figure and mentor even though they're only a year apart in age. Ralph normally addresses Frederick as "Fred," but he also calls him "Fredster" as well, which was the name he tended to use for him as a kid. You can see that he's taken some of his dressing habits as well in that white shirt and bow tie. Ralph is also a little cowardly, pessimistic, and clumsy, but he will gather his courage and fight if need be. He retains some of his thieving skills from his old life, though, and will use them for good. But nothing else. He loves music more than just about anything and during his thieving days, he managed to swipe a song book from a store that let him teach himself how to read and sing the music in it. It's suggested that his vocal talent really came naturally because of this. He even knows at least one piece of music from another world (heavily implied to be the Galdr of Rebirth from Tellius). Oh, he also has an interest in rock/mountain climbing, suggesting that he enjoys the outdoors and sight-seeing and such as well. It's implied at the end of HT that he gets to try it later too.

The idea of making Ralph a talented singer came to me when I decided that I wanted him to factor into the story a bit more than just being support for Frederick when he enters the tournament (Frederick is pretty much forced into it as part of the plot). I also kind of left him good at very few things (because he grew up thieving, he didn't get much of an education or anything), and felt that he needed some kind of skill not relevant to the plot or anything. Then it hit me. Why not have Ralph wind up singing the national anthem in the arena and turn out to have an incredible voice? It also provided an interesting twist. Another reason is that we don't see many male characters in fiction that are good singers. It's usually associated with women. Even in FE. Sure, you have Reyson and Rafiel in FE: Radiant Dawn, but they're still very feminine appearance-wise. I decided that the idea of a more masculine male singer would be different and more unique too. Ralph even gains a slightly muscular build from all the training he does with Frederick. And that's pretty much it.

Stat-wise, Ralph is a fairly well-rounded unit and is mostly similar to Frederick and Stahl. Only not quite as strong with slightly better speed and slightly less defense. His res is kind of bad too though, so he's rather fragile. He also has terrible magic since he just doesn't study it. He has a high HP growth like Frederick though (probably like 105%) and decent skill, so he's hardly bad in combat. He can be just as good a support unit with his singing abilities too.

I love this guy because I just so successfully managed to make him awesome and so deep and multi-dimensional. ^^ I hope he looks Awakening-esque enough here. I don't like a lot of common features of Awakening character designs, so it was kind of hard not to stray too far from it.

Description
After much contemplation on what to draw next, I finally decided on this guy. I kinda grew really fond of him. lol

It's Ralph, the ex-thief turned singing extraordinaire from my FE: Awakening stories! Only, this is how he will look in his next appearance, the upcoming sequel to Happy Together (his debut).

Class: Singer

Lv. 14 (lv. 1 when he first joins the Shepherds, of course)

HP: 33
Str: 13
Mag: 3
Skl: 11
Spd: 12
Lck: 12
Def: 9
Res: 7
Mov: 7

Weapon: Sword - C

Skills: Locktouch, Range +1*, Serenade**

*Allows Ralph to use a ranged attack or sing from one more square away than usual. Meaning, he can grant an extra turn to a unit two squares away or use a Levin Sword or other ranged sword from up to three squares away. Also works for any ranged weapons he uses when re-classed.

**Level 15 skill. Allows Ralph to grant an extra turn to all adjacent units. Does not stack with Range +1, however. I think that'd be overkill. lol

Reclass options: Thief (duh, lol), Cavalier (because of Frederick)

Ralph was originally created when I considered the idea of having Frederick meet an old friend from his village. We never hear much about where he grew up aside from when he mentions having been attacked by a wolf after wandering in the woods, so I thought I'd build upon that. At first, I wasn't sure how I'd do this since I didn't have anyone from Frederick's hometown appear in the first fic (HT's direct prequel) except for his parents. The first story is his wedding to Kelli, my Avatar, so if a good friend of Frederick's from his village appeared there, surely this person would've had some dialogue and mentions. But I hadn't thought of the idea of introducing someone from his village until after the story was finished. Thus, Ralph the impoverished thief came to be. I took a page from the movie Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas when coming up with the story revolving around him and Frederick. It's one of my favorite movies (and one of the few Dreamworks films that I actually like), so I thought why not?

In the movie, Sinbad was childhood friends with the prince of Syracuse, Proteus, until he just up and vanished for ten years for an unknown reason (later revealed to have been jealousy over Proteus's "engagement" to Marina). Ralph, similarly, was Frederick's closest childhood friend. These two did everything together and were inseparable. They both had the dream of becoming knights of Ylisse and fighting side by side (much like Sinbad and Proteus originally dreamed of fighting alongside each other in the Syracuse army). Frederick then left to become a squire at the Ylisse palace, and Ralph, meanwhile, watched his parents' shop begin to fail. The family became impoverished, and Ralph was forced to resort to thievery just so they could survive. Though he was likely tempted to take more, Ralph only ever stole food from his victims, often passing up the chance to steal money or valuables which he could fence. Likely this was because, having lost everything himself, he didn't have the heart to leave others in the same straits. Though his ethics might've been intact, despite his situation, his sense of self-worth was greatly damaged as his unwanted career dragged on. Over the next fourteen years, Ralph all but vanished. Part of this might have been because those aware of the dire straits his family was in could've suspected him. However, this was also because his thieving left him feeling ashamed that he had sunk to such depths. This was coupled with the fear that Frederick might discover what he'd become, and Ralph would've preferred being hanged to facing his friend's disappointment. A chance reunion with Frederick and his new wife, Kelli (my Avatar in Awakening), changes his life completely, however. Instead of condemning him, however, Frederick and Kelli resolve to help Ralph turn his life around. Grateful, Ralph promises to use the aid they give him to carve out an honest living and, in time, he exceeded the couple's expectations and his own. Ralph's vocal talent is unwittingly discovered when he winds up singing the Ylisse national anthem at a tournament.

From that point on, Ralph's confidence and self-esteem finally begin to grow and he pursues his dream to fight in the Ylisse army again. He also becomes the primary royal singer. Frederick trains him in swordplay and horseback riding and also gives Ralph his own mount, a palomino mare that he names Minuet (it's a type of song, of course). He wouldn't become a knight by title, but to Frederick, he has the heart of one anyway. Plus, he can reclass to Cavalier. lol Oh, and when Frederick and Kelli's children are born, he sings lullabies for them too. Isn't that sweet? ^^

Personality-wise, Ralph likes a good laugh, he's quite friendly, and he will definitely return a favor if you do one for him. In fact, his description in the Shepherds' profiles would say "the one most likely to return a favor." He just doesn't like getting help or favors or gifts without doing something good for the other person in return. He feels it's the courteous thing to do. Ralph prefers to follow rather than lead as well, and will gladly follow Frederick anywhere. He looks up to Frederick like a brother figure and mentor even though they're only a year apart in age. Ralph normally addresses Frederick as "Fred," but he also calls him "Fredster" as well, which was the name he tended to use for him as a kid. You can see that he's taken some of his dressing habits as well in that white shirt and bow tie. Ralph is also a little cowardly, pessimistic, and clumsy, but he will gather his courage and fight if need be. He retains some of his thieving skills from his old life, though, and will use them for good. But nothing else. He loves music more than just about anything and during his thieving days, he managed to swipe a song book from a store that let him teach himself how to read and sing the music in it. It's suggested that his vocal talent really came naturally because of this. He even knows at least one piece of music from another world (heavily implied to be the Galdr of Rebirth from Tellius). Oh, he also has an interest in rock/mountain climbing, suggesting that he enjoys the outdoors and sight-seeing and such as well. It's implied at the end of HT that he gets to try it later too.

The idea of making Ralph a talented singer came to me when I decided that I wanted him to factor into the story a bit more than just being support for Frederick when he enters the tournament (Frederick is pretty much forced into it as part of the plot). I also kind of left him good at very few things (because he grew up thieving, he didn't get much of an education or anything), and felt that he needed some kind of skill not relevant to the plot or anything. Then it hit me. Why not have Ralph wind up singing the national anthem in the arena and turn out to have an incredible voice? It also provided an interesting twist. Another reason is that we don't see many male characters in fiction that are good singers. It's usually associated with women. Even in FE. Sure, you have Reyson and Rafiel in FE: Radiant Dawn, but they're still very feminine appearance-wise. I decided that the idea of a more masculine male singer would be different and more unique too. Ralph even gains a slightly muscular build from all the training he does with Frederick. And that's pretty much it.

Stat-wise, Ralph is a fairly well-rounded unit and is mostly similar to Frederick and Stahl. Only not quite as strong with slightly better speed and slightly less defense. His res is kind of bad too though, so he's rather fragile. He also has terrible magic since he just doesn't study it. He has a high HP growth like Frederick though (probably like 105%) and decent skill, so he's hardly bad in combat. He can be just as good a support unit with his singing abilities too.

I love this guy because I just so successfully managed to make him awesome and so deep and multi-dimensional. ^^ I hope he looks Awakening-esque enough here. I don't like a lot of common features of Awakening character designs, so it was kind of hard not to stray too far from it.