Favorite stories and casts

I'm new to this subreddit, so I apologize if this question has been asked before/recently. I'm curious: which FE game has your favorite story and which one has your favorite cast of characters?

The reason why I'm asking for both because my own answer is split. To give context, I've played part of FE7 (borrowed from a friend) and then all of Sacred Stones, Shadow Dragon, Path of Radiance, Awakening, and Fates Birthright and Conquest, so my list has holes.

For story, my favorite is Sacred Stones. First, the stakes are presented pretty much right away with Eirika and Seth fleeing Renais after a surprise invasion by a former ally, who seems to be systematically destroying the Sacred Stones. Emphraim and his men are missing. Eirika is forced to rebuild from scratch to reclaim her kingdom and find her brother. Second, Lyon being the true villain of the story was genuinely shocking and saddening for me. It was excellently built up and foreshadowed, especially with the reveal that the emperor of Grado is dead. Third, former secondary antagonists, like Duessel and Cormag, who join you have good and compelling reasons to join your ranks, which adds more flavor to the whole story.

For all its positives, it doesn't have my favorite cast. Perhaps they're held back by the limited number of supports everyone has, but, aside from a few (like Forde or Joshua or Marisa), they didn't stick as much with me. Awakening hands down has my favorite cast, the adult and children generations both. I enjoyed every interaction each of them had with each other and discovering more about them. Lucina is hands down my favorite protagonist and Owain is my spirit character. The story, however, is lacking because it is a little disjointed and they revealed too much too soon.

So, with all that, I would like to hear about your own favorites