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bahamutgames · 5 months

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Fire Emblem : Three Afterthoughts

Game: Fire Emblem : Three Houses (July 26, 2019)

Console: Nintendo Switch

Hello again! Been a hot second since I've talked about anything I played recently. But I have been playing a good bit! I've actually been a little stressed and burnt out and kind of ONLY had the energy to play games. Which isn't great lol. But I'm here once again to talk about some random games to you all!

Originally I was just gonna put this game in the December roundup. But the more I thought about it, the more I had to say about it. And today I watched my sister beat the Golden Deer run. So now I've seen the 3 base game runs (I played Black Eagles and watched her do Blue Lions a few months ago). So I figured I'd give some of my silly little thoughts about it.

Gotta say it every time: This is NOT a review!! This is just me throwing up my thoughts after having beaten the game! Don't take my words as gospel and always check out anything I talk about if it interests you!

SPOILERS FOR ALL 3 HOUSES AHEAD, BUT MAINLY FOR BLACK EAGLES!!

Opening

So yeah! I haven't played a TON of Fire Emblem games, but prior to this I had played Awakening and it's easily one of my all time favorite video games! So when my sister asked me to play it, I figured I might as well give it a shot!

I was honestly not really expecting to like this game. I knew it wouldn't be as good as Awakening and the teacher sections seemed SO daunting and unfun. However I was pleasantly surprised to see that...

Stuff I liked

I loved this game! I had a real blast playing through this one! The main thing that really drew me into the game is how good Strategy RPG gameplay is. I genuinely forgot how seriously good this genre is. Now, I will confess that I played it on casual mode because I suck at these games. (But also I actually prefer no perma death because using teammates as bait and sacrificing allies to boost them forward is more fun than playing carefully around keeping everyone alive)

But still I had a ton of fun beefing up my teammates, and finding the best way to get guys to the commanders as quick as possible, or the thrill of just seeing my dudes mow down enemy units ON THEIR TURN! It's super fun and again I genuinely forgot how much fun the genre can be! I really need to play more Strategy games soon!

And outside of that, a BIG strength Fire Emblem has always had to me was its characters. They are GREAT in this game! I joined Black Eagles cause I was thirsty for Dorothea, and didn't like ANY of the boys in my class. But by the end I loved ALL OF THEM! Between them just being super useful in combat, their supports, and them just being fun to see them talk, every classmate was GREAT! It's genuinely impressive this game can make you care about people you are convinced you will not give a shit about. By the end of it I actually wanted to marry Bernadetta SO bad she's SO cute post time skip. But sadly she's not into girls (genuinely unbelievable) and male byleth looks STUPID so I refuse to play as him.

The story is also interesting, I was actually VERY impressed with it. It's SUPER political with a lot of talks about serious government stuff which was very interesting. Obviously Awakening had a lot of war and political talk too but it was a lot more anime and about the power of friendship. Which I prefer of course, but it was interesting to see a Nintendo game tackle a first party (I think) title with a lot more dark themes about religion and horrific war crimes. It was neat even if it wasn't my cup of tea. And I thought the stories of the different classmates were nice, I actually liked Byleth a lot and really enjoyed seeing them grow a bit as the story progressed (I want this weird kid to be happy), and I was surprised that I even liked Sothis who I also thought would be annoying lol. I was genuinely a little sad to see her go.

And I did genuinely enjoy the school sections. They weren't my favorite part of the game but considering I was convinced I wouldn't like it AT ALL I was really pleased with it! I liked cooking and eating with teammates, talking to everyone, walking about the monestary, and I liked how teaching your classmates allowed you to REALLY customize everyone. It was neat! I was worried the teacher angle would introduce a kind of weird power dynamic but honestly, I was really pleased that it didn't. They don't harp on it very much (in Black Eagles they full on say they consider everyone in class as equals) and they don't even let you marry your classmates until the END of the game so it's not a huge deal.

And there's some other stuff to say, I like the music a lot. It has some great battle themes and the main theme is very good! I really liked that you could change character's outfits by upgrading them to different classes and I honestly wish there were more costume options in general (I had my Byleth in the dancer outfit all game!) I think the game has some nice character and monster design. I was seriously heartbroken by having to kill Edelgard and Hubert. There's a lot to praise!

Stuff I didn't like

BUT, of course. There's a lot to not praise too. I do have some issues with this game. The first, and maybe it's a nitpick, but it bothered me a LOT during the game. Is that the graphics can be kinda ugly! It's not really something you notice when you're zoomed out on the map. But when you really get up in the character's faces in support conversations it's VERY noticeable. Some gross textures, and the bizarre box texture they put the characters in for supports. Stuff like that usually doesn't bother me but for some reason it was REALLY noticeable in this game? I think I would've rathered they cut some more corners in other places to allow them to make the character models at least very good looking. Similarly the game has some odd design choices for characters like their rosy noses? Not a big deal but it did add more stuff to the models that made them feel off.

Then I do have some issues with the story. So, it's a good story for sure. And after having seen all the runs I certainly liked all 3. But I really can't help but feel like the story would've felt more impactful if it wasn't split into 3 runs. I know it may have been odd because separating the classes allows for some more personal moments with them and some tough moments when you encounter other classes in combat. BUT at the same time, when they make you feel all sad for a student you NEVER interacted with. It doesn't hit that hard? And yeah, you're SUPPOSED to do all 3 runs. But I feel like they aren't different ENOUGH to warrant doing it back to back? Although I also thought the story was a little TOO smart for me. So I couldn't properly understand all of the political stuff and I feel like some things went over my head, so maybe combining it together can't help my dumbass.

Like, killing Edelgard is something everyone does. And it was a really sad moment for me when she begged me to kill her. But in Golden Deer, it seems like you don't interact with her much. So how can be that impactful? Dimitri's run ends after killing her so you don't even get EITHER of the cool final bosses? Also after seeing Golden Deer I do feel like them not being super fond of Rhea just feels better? Whereas in Black Eagles they all just immediately warm back up to the church after the first half of the game was EVERYONE being like "why did Rhea execute those people? Will she do that to us if we misbehave?"

I understand some other problems would arise from it. But I think maybe having all the classes join forces, having to fight edelgard, then having Nemesis vs Rhea vs Your Rebel Army for the final boss? Maybe that way there could've been some more attention to Those Who Slither In The Dark too? Idk. Of course this is just me throwing up my thoughts so they don't have to make any sense.

But my biggest issue with this game... Is some of the non classmate characters. 3 of them in specific. Number one is Rhea! Hey. Are we going to talk about Rhea being a weirdo and sometimes being a religious dictator who seems to use her power to kill whoever she wants? I don't care she was sad about her mom WHY IS SHE EXPERIMENTING ON CHILDREN? Hello? But whatever. She has a big butt so I guess it's okay? Then there's Cyril. Ugh this dude is SO boring. And all his supports are HOURS long. And then. Catherine. Oh my GOD... I hate this lady.

Like I'm not kidding, new paragraph just to talk about this character. I'm actually INSULTED they had the audacity to punish me with this character joining my team like I agree with her in any way shape or form. And I'm honestly shocked this character is even in this game. Like. Holy shit. So. Catherine is a religious nutcase who worships the goddess to an unhealthy degree. She is convinced that the only way to show her devotion to the goddess is to strike down and kill ANYONE who doesn't believe in her. She is a total cop. She kills a royal's son, causing him to go insane. She threatens to kill Shamir, her best friend, because she isn't religious. And the most shocking of all, she tells Caspar she kills children and that it's necessary for the job. Her defense is "what if they're coming at you with weapons" THEY'RE CHILDREN YOU FUCKING PSYCOPATH?? YOU ARE A TRAINED SOLDIER?? And at no point in the Black Eagles run is she called out for being the most unlikable character ever made. I'm actually blown away by her and having her in my team genuinely made me uncomfortable. Maybe I'm overreacting but I just genuinely hate this character!

Final Thoughts

ANYWAY! Aside from some nitpicks and finding one of my new least favorite teammate in an RPG ever! I REALLY REALLY enjoyed Three Houses! Maybe it's just cause I was expecting not to enjoy this one. And while it's no Awakening (what could be?) I had a blast with this! Three Houses gets my seal of approval I think!

===

Thank you for reading! It always feels weird when I have a big negative section about a game I ultimately really enjoyed. But I suppose it's better for your game to give me complaints rather than me just feel nothing and think the game was boring as hell. And Three Houses certainly wasn't boring!

I don't know if I'll do the DLC mission but I might consider it. Like I said I'm tempted to play more Strategy RPGs soon. Cause even outside of this I really enjoyed the Strategy stuff in Enchanted Arms and Ikenfell! It's clearly a genre I enjoy.

I've been extremely stressed and burnt out recently. Like, for a few months. So I'd like to take a break for a little as I get ready for some really stressful irl business. So I hope I can just enjoy some more video games soon while I try to unwind for a little.

That's all I got though! Go out and play a game you thought you wouldn't enjoy!

#2023 #thoughts

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pegasusknightsonly · 1 year

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games. video games

truly getting so mad at engage has released me from having any sense of expectation for the writing in fates. i am not trying to defend it because it's sloppy and disjointed and deeply inconsistent and nonsensical but i can at least kind of grok what intsys thought they were doing. here is the Good Japanese Ethnostate and here are the unquestionably evil Bad People (not Japanese) who steal children. are you the player going to return to the good and pure and righteous land of your birth where everyone was only ever kind to you or are you going to follow the bad and evil foster family who raised you through an a-z of war crimes? Is There A Third Way Available To Download For £17.99 On The Nintendo Eshop*? it's a bad premise and it's executed laughably badly but at least it has a premise

im still struggling to put my finger on what exactly about the engage story upset me so much but that might be because there's no one thing. it would always be a disappointment to follow such a narratively heavy and narratively interesting game as fe16/16w with a game that holds such contempt for the idea of interesting narrative. it was always going to feel bad when the trust that fe16 extended to its audience to engage with the story at the thematic level is followed by a game that neither trusts its audience nor believes it has any thematic level for them to read. the best comparison i could find for engage is 80s toy commercial cartoons, if Hasbro had found a way to charge you £50 just to watch it and everyone on the writing team hated children.

i keep reaching for words like "cynical" to describe engage but that's not right. engage is, ultimately, completely sincere about the pile of shit it's serving its players. it's also aware that it is serving them shit. you don't like it? you wanted something better than this? too bad. download fire emblem heroes on your mobile device to learn about all the other better games we don't want to sell to you.

fates has bad writing but it feels like that's a result of the thoughtless premise. when fates falls short it feels like it reached beyond its abilities, that making the story it wants to tell into something coherent and interesting would require far more radical thought than anyone was willing to give it. when engage falls short it's because it didn't care to try to do better. you've known Lumera for about ten minutes and you've been given no reason to care about her? she's going to get a seven minute long death monologue anyway. we played the sad music behind it. that's enough, right? you weren't expecting more than the shallowest, most perfunctory attempt to engage you emotionally, were you? who cares. download fire emblem heroes if you want to actually get to know her.

i could think of several ways to address the fundamental problems in fates' writing (make it explicit that Corrin IS sheltered and naïve and makes bad decisions! have the siblings push back instead of unanimously agreeing with them! lengthen the timeline to remove the need for the baby dimension! drop the Japanese Ethnostate Good framing and let there be some nuance in the relationship between Hoshido and Nohr!!!) but there is not much that could be done to make engage worth your time. sure, you could give Alear actual motivations and carry through on their arc instead of having every opinion they express be immediately dismissed so they retract then and do what they're told. you could tone down the truly nauseating hero worship and let them be a dynamic character in the story instead of a cipher for the player's sense of worth. you could think for fifteen seconds about the politics of Elyos and how the competing churches of Good Dragon and Bad Dragon actually function** so there are real stakes but ultimately however much you try to tidy up the presentation it will remain an extended advertisement for feh. that's all it is trying to be.

*no! there is not. lol

**the church of the divine dragon vs the church of bad dragon would be a way more interesting story. also let's be real: merrin wouldn't be on the divine dragon's side there

#hater moment

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lochnessies · 3 years

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I mean to be fair to edelgard, if I found out the popes/president were actually one guy who lived basically forever, I'd probably at the very least question thus popeident's leadership skills. Especially if I found out that a good portions of this hypothetical popes religion was fake and that also this pope was basically jesus. Granted, that'd mostly because of a lack of context since this hypothetical immortal popes motives are largely unknown.

Like without the context of her motives, Rhea CAN seen in a pretty negative light. She suddenly goes from a mother/grandmother/wife/daughter who's got issues and is trying to protect her relatives and fodlann with her position while trying to turn some homuncili into her mom, to a dragon lady who's been in head of a major religion that she made up for centuries who actively stiffled/slowed down fodlann's scientific/academic growth for unknown reasons.

Like if you didn't know about Rhea's whole deal, she'd look pretty suspiscious. This isn't me saying "edelgard completely right church bad! Rhea is evil!".

I'm more trying to say Edelgard was SORT of right in being suspiscious of everyones favorite lizard pope, but jumped to WAY too fast onto the conclusion of "The church is definitely evil, because crest=bad and crest=blessings of the goddess, therefore church=bad!"

Rhea WORST 'crime' at most as leader of the church is that she was pretty passive as leader of the church. Like, apart from trying to keep the peace as a whole and hiding technology for a while until she decided (maybe arbitrarily maybe not) that humanity was ready for it, she seemed *largely* content with the state of things as a whole. Granted, that strikes me less as her not giving a shit and more just her not knowing about some if the bad shit going on behind the scenes in Fodlann, and her going "Okay yeah thats bad. Buuuut when mom's back she'll be a way better leader and she'll make everything way better than I ever could. Back to studying and researching homunculi children so I can maybe shove my moms soul into one."

That's my take anyway. Basically if Rhea and the lords had a group therapy session a lot of tragedy could have been avoided. Alas therapists don't exist in fire emblem, just look at the various characters with underlying trauma that they havent dealt with.

I mean to be fair to edelgard, if I found out the popes/president were actually one guy who lived basically forever, I'd probably at the very least question thus popeident's leadership skills.

why? wouldn’t their longevity make them better leaders? they have much more experience and know how the world works. i mean, agree with the woman or not, rhea’s results are hard to argue with. 1000 years is an extremely long time to help mitigate peace. our world can’t seem to avoid conflict every half decade it would seem. so it’s not like rhea is doing a bad job of it.

Especially if I found out that a good portions of this hypothetical popes religion was fake and that also this pope was basically jesus. Granted, that'd mostly because of a lack of context since this hypothetical immortal popes motives are largely unknown.

that’s when you have a nice little sit down and have a chat. and also, rhea didn’t make up the religion. it already existed before the war of heroes. all she did was change a couple of details to hide the fact that nabeteans existed and the fact that the elites were mad murderers to keep their descendants safe.

as for the tech thing, i mean, we see most of the tech inside garreg mach itself and nobody acknowledges any bans so it clearly was an extremely long time ago that they were taken down. also, edelgard never mentions these things as her reasons for war (or at all) so i don’t even think she’s aware of them so how could they color her view? like edel canonically doesn’t know about the homunculi so why would she find it sus?

Like if you didn't know about Rhea's whole deal, she'd look pretty suspiscious. This isn't me saying "edelgard completely right church bad! Rhea is evil!".

like i said above, all of rhea’s more suspicious behavior is never mentioned by edelgard. and everybody else in the game seems to like rhea well enough and not find her suspicious and all the crimes edelgard espouses are lies so what even is there that would turn her off from the archbishop other than the ‘beasts hiding in human skin’ thing.

the only character that has real legitimate reasons to not trust rhea due to personal experience and rhea’s extremely suspicious behavior is jeralt which he talks about in his journal. but that’s noting war worthy.

i’m sure ionius had a hand in this since edel talks about how she has information about the church from him that’s been passed down from emperor to emperor (basically a centuries old game of telephone). what was told? who fucking know. she never says.

Rhea WORST 'crime' at most as leader of the church is that she was pretty passive as leader of the church.

is that the worst crime though? i mean, it’s a damned if you do and a damned if you don’t situation. rhea isn’t a queen, she isn’t an emperor, she’s a spiritual leader. she can’t force people to do anything outside of her staff at garreg mach. hell, she has no presence in adrestia, the western church hates her, and the eastern tries to help in the alliance but the nobles don’t listen to them.

the alternative is for her to grab actual political power and involve herself in the politics of the other nations and make laws that you have to follow the church’s teachings which is… uh… bad. thank goodness she doesn’t bc i wouldn’t be able to defend that lol

Like, apart from trying to keep the peace as a whole and hiding technology for a while until she decided (maybe arbitrarily maybe not) that humanity was ready for it, she seemed *largely* content with the state of things as a whole.

but she isn’t though. that’s why she’s trying to revive sothis in the first place. she isn’t satisfied with how things are and she’s actively trying to being back fodlan’s golden age through sothis.

Granted, that strikes me less as her not giving a shit and more just her not knowing about some if the bad shit going on behind the scenes in Fodlann, and her going "Okay yeah thats bad. Buuuut when mom's back she'll be a way better leader and she'll make everything way better than I ever could. Back to studying and researching homunculi children so I can maybe shove my moms soul into one."

yeah. when it comes to twsitd and them fucking shit up in the background she isn’t aware that it’s them. after the war of heroes the church had tried to uncover who helped nemesis since the church is suspicious of the fact that a simple bandit was able to commit so much horror on his own. they believed that he had accomplices who helped him, and with good reason. however, no matter how hard they looked they never discovered the puppet masters behind everything since twsitd covered their tracks and nobody knows they exist. the church eventually gave up the search in favor of helping the people and tried their best to put the incident behind them. and by the time of the game it’s been over a thousand years so i’m pretty sure that rhea believes them to be dead lol

then like you said at some point rhea starts her plan to fix fodlan through sothis again.

very true.

#asks

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philliamwrites · 3 years

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The Dawn Will Come [Chpt.6]

Fandom: Fire Emblem Three Houses

Pairing: Dimitri x Reader, Claude x Reader, Edelgard x Reader, Yuri x Reader, Edelgard x Byleth, lots of minor pairings

Tags: #gn reader, # platonic love byleth & reader, #reader is a tactical unit, #angst, #slow burn, #subplots, #unreliable narrator, #pining, #remporary amnesia, #reluctant herp, #canon divergence, #lost twin au, #many chapters, #original content

Words: 5.1k

Summary: Waking up in a forest without any knowledge of your past and who you are, you join the house leaders of the Officers Academy to search for a way to return your memories. Unfortunately, the church has different plans for you, and Fate places you in the centre of a cruel game with deadly stakes. It certainly doesn’t help to fall in love with a house leader who is doomed to be your demise.

Notes: Chapter 5 | Chapter 7

Chapter 06: From The Beyond

Ah! It is well for the unfortunate to be resigned, but for the guilty there is no peace.

[Mary B. Shelley, Frankenstein]

Thinking back on it later, the events during Garland Moon were probably what set the hare running toward its demise. Not that any of you could have known that. Not the students who joyfully spend their days in cherished halls where daylight passes through coloured glass; not Byleth with her gift to correct past mistakes with a flick of her wrist and change the course of time; not you with your foresight to see what dangers await in the future and prepare a different path for those you care for to walk safely.

Thinking back on it later, everything that followed surely ascribed to and served Fate, and not even Sylvain could charm her with his silver tongue and golden wit, for Fate’s lover is Time and she does not look kindly upon those who enslave him.

Maybe that is why things turned out the way they did for Byleth and you.

But that future is still far away and every single one of you still believes the goddess has Fate tightly leashed to her side, her benevolence endless and spreading to every corner in Fódlan.

That is why you don’t think too much about it when one day, Seteth disturbs your seminar, a deep frown settled in his features as you explain how to turn an ambush to your advantage to the students.

“Apologies for the disturbance, Herald. Lady Rhea asks to see Ashe.”

The boy gives a pitiful squeal but is up on his feet nonetheless. “Me? Why?”

“You will see. Please come.” Seteth holds the classroom’s door open.

You nod, a little worried about the frightened glance Ashe sends your way like he hopes you can actually say no and decline Rhea’s command. An encouraging smile is everything you can give him on his way before the door shuts behind him. Its sound wakes everyone else from their slumber and it takes a few minutes to reclaim order and their attention. It certainly does help that the Blue Lion House isn’t as chaotic as a certain other, not to name any names.

Said house proves again to be more difficult to teach. Or tame. You didn’t have the courage to ask why they thought it was a good idea to see whose shoe would leave the darkest stain on Claude’s bedroom’s ceiling. Even days after their mischief students kept talking about how they have never seen Seteth this furious.

“Herald, please,” Hilda cries, tragically draped over the back of her chair, a maiden in bittersweet agony over her loss of free time. “It was all Claude’s fault.”

“Liars never prosper,” Claude calls from the far back of the room. He’s hunched over his papers, working vigorously on Seteth’s punishment. He ordered them to write hundred times I shall not throw footwear against any ceiling in the monastery. They’ve been at it for about twenty minutes and Claude’s quill hasn’t stopped its furious scratching against parchment at all.

“I won’t mess with Seteth,” you tell them and lean dangerously far back on your chair to place your feet on the teacher’s desk. “And you deserve it. Or do they not teach you proper manners in your noble homes?”

“Well, it’s not like anyone taught us not to do it,” Hilda chirps. You throw a glare her way and she quickly dugs her head and continues writing. Quills scratch on paper for about seven seconds before Hilda stops again.

“Herald,” she says. “What do you think about Lady Catherine’s Thunderbrand?”

You look up from your book titled Noticeable War Generals. Smile gone from her face, Hilda looks up at you with sharp curiosity. It’s eerily silent now, and a quick glance towards Claude shows he is listening as well.

Catherine’s Thunderbrand. Its sight is still burned into the back of your closed eyes: Golden ivory forged into a grotesque sword, a blood red Crest Stone in its middle that seemed to pulsate—as if it breathed. As if it was a living thing with a heart. You had simply stared at it in awe and thought What a mesmerising weapon.

“It’s … fascinating,” you manage. “A Hero’s Relic. There are more than just Thunderbrand, right?”

“Ten exist,” Claude calls from the back. “Bestowed by the goddess upon ten heroes, they are passed down to their descendants. House Riegan and House Goneril have one in their possession as well.”

“Then why don’t you use it?” You certainly wouldn’t miss a chance to own and wield a mighty weapon like that.

“Wield that?”Hilda shudders in disgust. “No thank you. It looks so weird, pulsating and moving like an insect.”

“And we’re way too inexperienced to use it in a real battle.” Claude puts his quill between his nose and upper lip and tries to hold it there. “They’re locked away anyway and hidden from those who might misuse their power.”

Claude has a point. Nonetheless, you’d gladly take a look at them. Maybe even hold one … Did the Herald own one as well? A special weapon only forged for the Herald. A slight shudder runs down your spine at the thought of using it in battle.

Ten minutes later, Claude jumps to his feet. He hurries towards you, slams his parchments on the table and leaves just as fast. “Bye Herald!”

“No way!” Hilda pales. “How is he so fast?”

You wonder as well and take a look at his papers. Instead of writing what Seteth has told them, Claude simply left poor drawings of their crime and promised with one sentence he wouldn’t do it again.

And we of House Riegan never break our promises, reads the last line.

You groan. Now it’s your turn to think about a good explanation to Seteth’s questions why you haven’t paid more attention.

Month three passed within the blink of an eye. Garland Moon brought the sweet smell of white roses to Garreg Mach, a tradition much anticipated by the students. Everywhere you went, garlands and gifts made of white roses were given to each other as a sign of friendship or budding love. Some found their way to your desk, though your admirers preferred to stay anonymous whereas Byleth was busy to stow them somewhere—not a day passed without her receiving something or a group of giggling students following her around.

“I really don’t know what to do with all those flowers,” she told you one day during a tea session, a deep frown on her face. “They wilt. Then I throw them away. It’s a waste.”

“Your students love it,” you replied but were glad not to be in her place.

Another good deed Garland Moon brought with it is longer days and shorter nights. Students lounged outside in their summer uniforms after class, enjoying those last warm days before raining season arrived with fierce gusts and heavy pouring, forcing them back inside where they spent their free time inside the library or the dining hall, playing little games to kill time.

For a change of pace, Byleth and Jeralt decided they’d hold a grilled fish dinner on every last day of each week and most of the invited either didn’t have the heart or the courage to tell them once every week was once every week too much.

Everything happened too fast after that. Rhea informed the teacher’s faculty and her Knights of Lord Lonato Gaspard’s planned rebellion against the church. With that, the mystery of why Seteth had demanded to speak with Ashe was solved; it also explained why he spent so much time inside the chapel, praying and wondering himself about his adoptive father’s reasoning.

“There is no question about it,” Rhea says in her cool, demanding voice once every teacher and Knight of Seiros gathered inside the War Room to discuss the matter. “We will send a troop to meet them halfway in Kingdom Territory. They will pay for mocking our goddess.”

“Allow me to lead the Knights, Lady Rhea,” Catherine says. Even now, you can’t take your eyes off Thunderbrand strapped on her back. “I know Gaspard and what he’s capable of.”

“We did not forget what you’ve done back when—” Seteth starts. Catherine silences him with one look, leaving no doubt she doesn’t wish to speak of it.

“And that is exactly why I have to go.”

Rhea nodded. “So be it. I know I leave this mission in your capable hands.”

“But why is he leading this rebellion?” you wonder. “I thought the Kingdom is strongly devoted to Seiros’ teachings.”

“Every flock has its black sheep,” Rhea says, sounding sad. “We will get our answers once we defeat and capture them.”

“What about the surrounding villages and those who support Gaspard’s rebellion but don’t fight?” Byleth asked. Until now, you haven’t really thought of those not directly involved in it, but she does make a good point.

Rhea squared her shoulders. “What about them?”

“They’re not directly involved but might try to get in our way.” Byleth glanced at the strategic map laid out before her. There is a way through the forest for your units to approach Lonato’s stronghold. Surrounding villages are marked with a red pin. They surround the forest in a loose circle, making an intrusion possible, though sending Knights of Seiros out to watch them and stop them could be quite easy—

“Everyone who supports this foolish rebellion should receive the rightful punishment,” Rhea says, her voice so cold it freezes your thoughts of how to make the villagers stay out of this. Your head snaps up as you stare at her. Byleth raises an eyebrow but remains silent just like everyone else. Something about that makes you shudder.

“But they’re civilians, right? If we can avoid having them interfere—”

“By joining Lonato Gaspard’s rebellion they pledge guilty to his cause.” Rhea looks up at you, scorn flashing briefly in her eyes. “I will not have them simply go if it opens the possibility for revenge one day.”

If you squinted really hard, there was reason behind her words. Still, your stomach turned at the thought of endangering civilians even though it could be prevented. Without any protests, that was the plan for the operation.

You sat this one out. There was much to prepare for the upcoming Rite of Rebirth, a ceremony when the Church of Seiros and its believers unite to pray for the return of the goddess. Even though you wouldn’t call yourself a believer—many find it strange that you remember the way of war but not the way of the Church as if you lived somewhere without Seiros’ teachings—your presence was of outmost importance as well. Though after you heard how the mission went, you really wished you had joined the Blue Lions fighting against Gaspard instead of sitting around and deciding which ceremonial robes fit better.

Loud voices drift through the closed door of a classroom, voices you immediately recognise belonging to Dimitri and Byleth.

“Are you insane?” You flinch back even though a heavy wooden door separates you from what is undoubtedly Dimitri’s wrath. “Those were civilians.”

A reply is lost, too quiet for you to hear, but whatever Byleth said, it wasn’t the right thing. A second later, Dimitri storms through the doors. The distress in his features stops you from asking what is wrong, a flash of betrayal lurking in his eyes seals your mouth shut. You look after him until he disappears around the corner, only slowly turning towards Byleth. She is propping herself up on the table, learning on her strong arms and staring at the opposite wall, her mouth a grim line—solid rock that stands against the raging waves summoned by Dimitri, her grip on the edge of the table hard enough to turn her knuckles white.

“Everything okay?” An unnecessary question answered by a simple shake of her head. You lean your hips against the table. “Do you want to talk about it?”

Byleth is silent. Only slowly, like a tight knot finally coming lose, the tension in her shoulders dissipates and she takes a long, deep breath.

“Dimitri told me about their mission. How they dealt with Lord Lonato’s revolt.” She finally steps away from the table and kneads the muscles in her shoulders. You imagine they’re hard like a rock. “They faced simple peasants who defended their Lord. Peasants who didn’t even know how to wield a sword without cutting their own thumbs off.”

“And Rhea made quite clear how to deal with them,” you finish, summoning unwanted imaginations about a gruesome butchery in your mind. Byleth nods.

“Dimitri asked for my advice,” she continues, her gaze drifting towards the door as if said young man might return like a bad haunting if his name is simply muttered. “If there was anything they could have done different. I told him there wasn’t.” She tears her eyes away from the door and fixes them on you. “I told him that is the way of war.”

She is right, a part of you insists. Such facts cannot be changed and claiming anything different is foolish, naive. Yet, something stirs, a tiny tiny voice, a feeling, that challenges that thought. A feeling you didn’t expect to be part of you.

“I don’t know about the details,” you say, shuffling from left to right, “but maybe it was avoidable. Lord Lonato must have known how his subjects felt about it. He didn’t need to involve them.”

“I think they joined on their own. The students gave them a chance to lay down their weapons.”

“Still—”

“Still they decided to follow their foolish Lord,” a voice from the door joins, cold and imperious, chilling you to the bone. Rhea enters the War Room, her expression void of any warmth or kindness. “There is no place for doubt. We must punish any sinner who may inflict harm upon believers, even if those sinners are civilians.”

“And you think to have the students punish them is right?” Byleth asks, earning a sharp glare from Rhea. She quickly, but somewhat begrudgingly adds, “Your Grace.”

“I have heard that some students struggled with completing the task,” Rhea acknowledges, doing her best to show how unaffected she is by Byleth’s criticism. “I pray they learnt a valuable lesson about the fate that awaits all who are foolish enough to point their blades towards the heavens.”

An icy shudder crawls up your spine, cold fingers tighten around your throat to keep you silent—a leash forged of obedience and intimidation, the mistress standing before you. It would be wise to keep your mouth shut, not draw unnecessary attention; keep your head low and nothing can slice it from your shoulders. But the words, burning hot on your tongue, demand freedom.

“Fearing the Church isn’t the same as respecting it.”

Something sharp flashes in Rhea’s eyes. “If fear is the only way to control them, then so be it. They are traitors to the holy teachings.”

“They are people. People with families.”

“People who would be wise to remember it was the progenitor god who gave them these lands and their life,” Rhea answers, growing impatient. She notices something in the way you look at her, for she takes a moment to collect herself by taking a deep breath. “I do not enjoy seeing those who wronged our holy teachings punished, Herald,” she continues, now much calmer. “But punish them we must before they hurt those who are dear to us.” Upon her last words, her eyes dart to Byleth, looking at her with so much fondness and care, a sting of jealousy in your chest forces you to avert your gaze to the ground. It isn’t the first time you notice Rhea’s palpable interest in Byleth’s wellbeing though no answer comes to mind why it is like that. If Byleth noticed the same, she doesn’t show it.

After that, the incident is quickly forgotten, making room for the new incident occupying everyone’s mind: an assassination plot on Rhea on the day of the Rite of Rebirth found in Lonato’s possession. You aren’t the only one wondering why he’d carry something like that around where it’s easy to find. Multiple theories go around, one more farfetched than the other. One particular makes sense, its source none other than sharp witted Claude who thinks this plot is a simple distraction for something much bigger.

“If security is focused on the Rite of Rebirth inside the Goddess’ Tower, pretty much anyone can simply stroll around the monastery and do who knows what,” he told you on the day Byleth and her class set out to discover what important places might become a target. Garreg Mach hides many secrets and treasures. Some of them even you are not allowed to see like relics passed down from archbishop to archbishop, guarded by the elite of the Knights of Seiros, tall and bulky men and women with grim mouths and determined eyes rooting them in place day and night in front of locked doors only Rhea knows what they hide.

With every passing day, tension hangs in the air like a thick blanket waiting to smother you all. But it isn’t simply the anticipation for whatever the Western Church has planned. It is also the holy ceremony of the Rite of Rebirth, one you’ve practised under the stern eyes of Seteth who doesn’t settle for anything less than perfect. Every word, every step is engraved in your mind.

On the day of the Rite of Rebirth the sun relentlessly blazes down at the monastery. Your ceremonial robes are heavy and woven from thick jacquard fabric lined with fine golden patterns that depict the Herald’s Crest on the back. You’ve barely finished preparing everything inside the round chamber inside the Goddess’ Tower but perspiration glues your hair to your forehead.

A whole feast is prepared; food offerings and gifts from the townsfolk and priests served on golden and silver plates on long tables covered with white table clothes. In the middle Seteth prepared a small platform for Rhea to stand and speak in honour of the goddess that she may return to Fódlan and show its people her infinite grace. In short, you’d do anything to join the students who are securing the locations lacking in defence right now instead of standing around and waving at pilgrims. The only joy lies in Flayn’s bright presence and her never ending optimism. She’s a sweet girl and has been looking forward to the ceremony since the beginning of Blue Sea Moon. Looking upon her, it is hard not to catch her excitement and joy when the ceremony finally begins.

Because of certain circumstances you couldn’t quite follow, the holy relic used for the ceremony, the Chalice of Beginnings, has been missing for a long time. Because of that, a mock chalice was prepared by the cardinals, a handful of high authority men and women who make it no secret they can’t quite decide if they like or dislike you and your position.

“You must excuse them,” one of the cardinals says after a group of them simply shook their heads at you happily scooping tons of food on a plate. His dark hair falls to his shoulders and unlike the other cardinals, his brown eyes are filled with kindness. “They simply think in old patterns and value their old traditions. You are quite young, Herald. They don’t know how to handle that.”

“But you do?” you wonder and notice too late how unfriendly that sounds. But he simply laughs.

“I do frequent with young folk, yes,” he says. “They are my flock and I will do anything to protect them.”

“That again, Aelfric?” Catherine joins you and slaps his shoulder just when he was about to drink from his cup. You pretend the pastries on your plate are far more interesting than watching him choke on wine. “You’re way too good for them, you know?”

“Who is ‘them?’” you ask but Catherine just sways her hand as if he wants to get rid of a nasty fly.

“Unimportant. You did a good job carrying the chalice to the podium.”

“I did almost trip over these.” You pluck at the heavy robes, already looking forward to getting out of them.

Catherine laughs but it is short lived. Out of nowhere, a knight hurriedly approaches and leans over to her, muttering, “They are after the tomb of Saint Seiros.”

Glass shatters as her grip tightens around the fragile stem but without so much as noticing it she storms towards Rhea, fury blazing in her eyes. Something happened. Something far more exciting than playing a believer in front of everyone, so you follow her to listen in more.

“Those dastards from the Western Church infiltrated the Holy Mausoleum,” she says. Rhea pales. “I will take some knights and go there at once.”

“Go and be swift, Catherine.” Rhea’s words are barely a puff of breath, those news shaking her but she remains stoic in front of everyone to prevent panic. Her voice drops dangerously low. “Punish those heathens.”

Catherine’s head dips in a slight bow. “I will, Your Grace.”

“I want to help too.”

Both turn around at your voice. Catherine narrows her eyes to sharp slits, but it is Rhea who says, “No. I need you here for the ceremony, Herald.”

“Please, let me,” you beg. Something inside you demands to follow, demands to see what is inside the Holy Mausoleum that causes so much bloodshed. “I can’t explain, but I need to be there.”

Rhea presses her lips into a thin line. Before she reopens her mouth to decline your wish, you whirl around and leave the ceremony room, Catherine in hot pursuit. You manage halfway down the hallway before she reaches you and grabs your arm hard.

“Even though you are the Herald, I won’t allow you to show this disrespect towards Her Grace,” she snarls. “If she tells you to stay, you listen.”

“I don’t expect you to understand,” you say, trying to free your arm from her bone breaking grip. “But something calls me to this place and I need to follow it.”

Catherine isn’t pleased but she knows better than do you any real harm. With a crude nod, she allows you to follow. Several knights wait for you and together you make your way through the warm evening air towards the Holy Mausoleum that lies behind the chapel.

You enter right before chaos erupts. At the end of the hall, its ceiling so high up it’s barely visible in the dark, Byleth stands tall and rises a sword that flashes in a bright red light. A throb goes through your body and brings you to your knees. It feels like an arrow drove into your chest, the stinging pain unlike anything you’ve felt before—no, it’s a pain you haven’t felt since the Crest appeared on your eye for the first time. And then that thrumming energy within you exploded, a sharp crimson that drenched every corner of your right vision, rushing through your veins.

“Kill them!” an enemy mage commands, fury fuelling him to a last desperate attack. With his remaining companions, they summon a giant fire spell you’ve only read about in books, a combination of spells into a group flame that covers a large area—the pre-stage to a much more fatal blaze that can scorch the land. Blaze or no, the effect watching the giant fire ball curling and sparking until it grows large enough to wipe out anything in its way is the same. Fear paralyses your body. Move, your mind screams, but you can’t. Your muscles have locked up; a high whine of terror fills your head and fizzes in your blood like poison, yet you do not understand where this fear of fire comes from.

“Take cover!” Catherine roars but it is too late. The blast hits the ground right before you, dispersing your small group of reinforcements like wind scattering leaves in all directions. A loud crack beneath you makes your heart skip a beat, a rumble shakes the hall and before you can fully comprehend what is happening, the ground gives way.

The last thing you hear is Byleth shouting, not Herald, but your name before you plunge into darkness.

Wake up.

You have to wake up.

This darkness is terrifying, so utterly black and choking, curling around you like a tight fist. Like someone is holding you in their dirty, tainted clutches, smelling of death and horror. Wake up, you tell yourself, more urgent now, your mind struggling to escape from claws digging into your consciousness, their goal unknown but you don’t want to stay here to find out what they are after. What they want to take from you.

Wake up, this time another voice, the voice, echoing like a sweet bell’s chime, the flicker of light in a darkness so black it hums. You have to wake up.

Your eyes snap open, the sudden white ceiling hurting like a sudden flash of light. Once you’re used to the brightness, you realise this isn’t a room, this is … this is your consciousness—no walls, no windows. It’s just a space, and yet you can clearly determine borders. Somewhere is an exit you’re free to use, nothing holds you captive. It’s your safe place. Your haven. Which doesn’t explain how you’ve gotten here.

All you know is it feels safe. It feels like a warm embrace, the feeling of hope, watching a budding flower embraced by soft, fragile hands—asteritrope, your mind provides out of nowhere, the flower always turning its head towards the Blue Star.

It is like breaking a spell. First, everything is simply white, empty, a second later, you stand in a vast field of asteritropes, an ocean of purple, gently swaying flowers at your feet. Everything smells of sweet innocence, of honey dipped fingers and bittersweet regret. It is a familiar scent, one your body remembers and reacts to with a shudder so strong it rattles deep in your bones; a chill so cold it freezes you on the spot, the slightest movement threatening to shatter you entirely.

What is this grief, this sadness? Is it your own or have you fallen into a sea of tears wept by someone else? Your chest is heavy with a burden, a pulling towards the unknown that is yet so familiar. It is homesickness towards a place you have never been but long to visit.

The flowers shaped like little stars stretch beyond what you think are the edges of this place. If this is a dream, you don’t want to wake up anytime soon, relishing in this peace and quiet.

A peace and quiet that lasts only a moment until you notice it. Not it, him. In the middle of the field, a boy sits, bent over something that demands his complete attention. Dark curls fall against pale skin, his brows pulled tightly together as his fingers work something in his lap. He is wearing a simple white robe, though it is unlike any of the religious wear you've seen on the priests and nuns; it seem ... too old for that. Only after you approach, you see he is folding purple flowers and green steams into a crown.

“Hello?” you say, only now entertaining the idea you might have died and this is the afterlife, the first point before returning to the goddess’ side. It is a strangely tranquil thought. “Can you hear me?”

The boy’s head snaps up, his eyes wide as he momentarily forgets his work, and you take a step back, struck by how bright his steel grey eyes are. They roam over you, up and down, back up again, as he slowly raises to his feet.

“You’re here,” he says, awestruck. “You’re finally here. It is so nice to meet you after all this time.”

His voice is like a punch to your gut. You recognise it immediately, the voice who pulled you back from the darkness.

“You—” Nothing makes sense. “Who are you? What are you?”

“There is nothing to fear,” he says, offering you his hand. The tips of his fingers are purple from handling delicate petals. The crown lies at his bare feet, forgotten. He looks strangely vulnerable.

You take another step back, worry a steady, hard pulse against your neck. The air catches in your lungs. You feel like the ground is opening beneath your feet. “Are you … the goddess? A god?”

The boy blinks, then throws his head back and bursts out laughing, the sound like sweet bells chiming in the wind. “You people love to call everything you do not understand god.”

“Then what are you?” It comes out as a breath, and for a brief second you think it’s fear that seizes your body, but no. You should be afraid and yet instead of frenzy panic there is a calm spreading inside you as if you belong here. You can’t say if it’s the boy’s presence or the familiar scent of wildflowers.

The boy leans his head to the side, his smile as vibrant as early sunlight casting away leftover shadows from a dark night. “Hmmm … the End, perhaps? Or why not just … a friend?”

“The end? My end?”

“No, the end is never simply the end,” he says, shaking his head.

“Is that supposed to reassure me?”

“It may be a rebirth,” he continues. “Or the passing into a new era. Into a new dawn.”

“A new dawn,” you mumble. The realisation makes your knees weak. “Don’t tell me—” You suck in a sharp breath, unable to belief where your thoughts are hurling towards in lightning speed. You kneel onto the soft flowerbed, careful not to crush any flowers. “Why are we here … do you know me by chance?”

“I … cannot say for sure,” he starts slowly, uncertainty turning his features even younger. “I have been watching you since you awoke four moons ago. On that day, I as well awoke from a deep slumber. But I do not know why it is you that I am bound to.”

“Bound to?” Your head spins. “What do you mean?”

“You must have felt it by now, have you not? I am here because of this,” he says, and lifts his hand to point at your right eye. You flinch back as if he smacked you right across your face.

“So you are him,” you whisper, a shudder ripping through your body. “You’re the first Herald. You are Seiros’ Champion.”

The boy smiles.

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butwhatifidothis · 3 years

Text

Hello, I just came across this blog and it says a chunk of my problems with Fire Emblem 3 Houses. Like everyone, I fell in love with the game, but oh my goodness the plotholes were so big and JARRING that I was mentally screaming like a banshee. I’ve played games where plotholes are present, just…not like THIS. Anyway, one of the major complaints about the game was the monastery. I won’t go into details over the problems. Instead, I want to bring up a miss opportunity that the developers, IS, made with this location. *cracks knuckles* Alright, here we go. They didn’t have battle sequences in the monastery. Let me explain:

This is a strategy game, correct? Strategy isn’t always out in the battlefield. Sometimes, it happens in places you least expect, and school is one of them. Remember the scene where Byleth and Sothis notice Dimitri’s notes on his uncle’s finances? That could’ve been a paralogue where some of the Black Eagle students (random NPCs) steal Dimitri’s notes. Dimitri would be dead set on getting them back, and the objective would simply be to retrieve the notebook back from the students. But, there would be a twist. Since it takes place within the library, the player must also be careful not to damage anything on the map! Seriously, the way the library is built, it was a literal CRIME that players didn’t get to have these kinds of strategic fights in it!

Oh! But, what if the player is in the Golden Deer House? Remember that Claude is trying to uncover the secrets that Lady Rhea. So, instead of the random Black Eagle students stealing something from Claude, they manage to nab the books that Claude wanted to look into (and plan on damaging them). Where the Dimitri’s paralogue is to go after that one student that has his stolen stuff, this one would require the player to gather each book that is in the clutches of each student (without wrecking the library in the process). While also making sure the Black Eagle students don’t get a chance to snatch the books back. The maze-like structure that libraries are known for would be a good challenge!

How about the Black Eagle House? Well, that would depend on how close the player is with the opposing houses. If the player befriended/compliment the Blue Lion House during limited dialouge, then Hubert will lie to the player about Dimitri exhibiting suspicious behavior, in the library, at night. He wants to uncover what Dimitri is doing by “borrowing” his notebook. This switches the paralogue to the player keeping Dimitri, and his group, from catching whoever is in holding the notebook.

If the player befriended/compliment the Golden Deer House during limited dialouge, then Hubert will instead ask the player’s help with gathering some books for a “book report” that he’s working on. Claude, and his group, will come in and he’ll ask to see one of those books when Hubert is done with them. Only for Hubert to “accidentally” make a tear in the book, which is enough to make it clear to Claude what Hubert is really planning to do to them. This, again, would switch the paralogue to keeping the Golden Deer students from snatching the books.

Another strategic battle could be a food fight in the dining hall! A random student starts a food fight (*cough* Hubert orcestrated it *cough*). Again, the objectives are different depending on the house:

The Blue Lions version, Dimitri wants to save the some of the students hiding on the map. The Golden Deers version, Raphael wants to find the culprit who started the food fight. Angry that not because of the wasted food, but because some of the students are actually getting hurt. The Black Eagles version, Edelgard focuses on surviving the food fight and wants the class to take cover. The map would be spacious, but at the cost of there not being many hiding spots. Flipped over tables, barrels, and other things would be temporary cover as they will disappear after taking a certain amount of hits. This would force players to stay on their toes, and keep the playable characters moving.

Of course, no one would lose any lives over this. Instead, failing these paralogues would decrease the class’s motivation drastically.

Heck, there could also be a paralogue where a small group (Mercedes, Annette, Lysithea, Leonie, Linhardt, and Caspar) decided to try and summon Death Knight, and seal him away, believing that he is a ghost. Instead, it causes Sothis to seperate from Byleth’s body and appear on the map. The objective would be to keep them away from Sothis (who takes the form of a ball of light), while reuniting Byleth and Sothis. This would take place before the Flayn Kidnapping Arc.

However, these paralogues wouldn’t be available in the battle section like all of the other battles and paralogues. Rather, these type of paralogues would be available during the days at the monastery. Which would mean that the game would have to ACTUALLY allow the players to go through Part 1 day-by-day, and not just skip all the way to the free day of each week. Though, if the players want to speed through the game, then the “skip straight to the free day” gimmick would be optional for them.

---

ooo, that’s a creative way to incorporate the explore sections! Ngl I personally don’t mind how they are that much, but I definitely do understand how others can be put off by how boring it can be. This’d be a really interesting way in incentivize characters into actually doing the explore sections (like the amount of players I’ve seen complain about getting locked out of CF only for them to admit that they always skipped the monastery bits was so large, it was both parts hilarious and kinda sad)! I’d like this more for war phase exploration tho - post ts is where the monastery can get really bland cuz there’s no more cute missions like “deliver this love letter,” there’s no lost items to try and find and return, no Heron Cup to make Dimitri curse Byleth for damning the class forever by making him dance, no fishing contest to appease the Fish Goddess that is Flayn - there’s like. Nothing to do at all ‘cept talk to everyone, which, hey, I will! Just want other things to do lol

#submission #anon #though like... lmao imagine trying to summon a demon and you get God instead #like whoopsie daisy wrong spirit #but yeah do with there were more substantial things to do in the monastery lol

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dreamsmp-au-ideas · 3 years

Note

Fire emblem AU

The third and final house is The Red Ravens House, where those from The Badlands Kingdom reside! (Also the route with the best exclusive boss music we get freaking dubstep in our medical fantasy game. Three house’s ost is so good oh my gosh)

The Badlands was the first to break away from the SMP, albeit in a more peaceful manner. Badland’s territory connects to the foreign nation of Errata and the two nations have had many clashes at their border. However, something odd is happening in Badlands. Mysterious red vines have started covering small villages and wiping out crops. It’s being kept secret by the king so that Badlands doesn’t appear weak. The Kingdom only has so much land however and the problem can’t be ignored forever. The Raven is chosen because of its cunning and willingness to do whatever is needed to survive. This years Red Ravens consist of the following

Bad-Bad is the prince of The Badlands and set to be its next king. Bad’s father is a decent king but his main flaw is his refusal to work with Errata due to them being enemies for a very very long time. Bad hopes that when he becomes king he can end the fighting between Badlands and Errata. He knows that their Kingdom needs help because of the new vines problem. Bad is seen by his father and royal court as too much of a softie and they hope he will toughen up at the monastery. Bad is one of the nicest people at the monastery and he is considered a bit of an oddball, such as his dislike of any swearing. Despite this, Bad is not to be underestimated. While he’d rather have a peaceful outcome to problems, he’s still willing to fight to protect his kingdom. Bad has strengths in bows, riding and flying. He has a weakness in axes. Bad has one crest

Skeppy- Skeppy is Bads retainer and best friend. However, it didn’t start out that way. Skeppy was an orphan commoner who was forced to do crime to survive. He would go from village to village and steal from the richest people there. One day, Skeppy was hired to steal a rare book from the royal families castle. While he really didn’t want to, winter was coming and he needed the money to survive. Long story short he gets caught by the king who is about to kick him out. That is, until Bad happens to spot him and asks his father if Skeppy can stick around because he looks hungry and needs a friend. Skeppy works as a servant in the castle for years and he becomes the best friend of Bad. It helps that Skeppy now has a place to stay and three whole meals everyday. Eventually, Bad asks if Skeppy is willing to train to be his retainer and Skeppy says yes. Despite Skeppy messing with Bad a lot, they’re still best friends and Skeppy does feel he owes him a lot. As a result of this, Skeppy is very loyal to Bad and doesn’t like hearing what all the adults are saying about him. He hopes that when Bad becomes king he won’t change too much. Skeppy is the biggest prankster and has a love of making puzzles. Skeppy has strengths in bows and swords. He has a weakness in heavy armor. He has no crest

Sam- Sam is a minor noble whose family is famous for scientific discoveries. It was his grandfather who invented a device that determined what crests people had. Before, people had to be put in dangerous combat for the crest to activate. Sam studies magic so that he can invent new spells to make lives better. He was raised by his grandfather and feels he has big shoes to fill. Sam is considered a dad friend among his classmates and is good friends with Puffy. He’s that guy who won’t directly give you the answers to homework but will help you with it. Collects texts that the church has deemed inappropriate. Sam has strengths in reason(lighting) and riding. He has a weakness in faith. He has one crest

Ant-Ant is a minor noble who lived in a small village close to the border. A couple of months ago, his village was one of the first to be overtaken by the vines. Many of the people of his village mysteriously disappeared after they claimed that the vine were to be worshipped. Ant is at the monastery so that he can hopefully find a cure for the vines. He worries that he has been infected and doesn’t know it yet. Ant is a more distant type and appears to have dislike for Bad. This is due to bitterness at Bad’s father for not wanting to confront the problem and being more focused on fighting Errata. He also thinks Bad is just pretending to be nice at first. Ant does eventually warm up to Bad, but he’s still the most likely to challenge him if he feels he is making a bad decision. Ant has strengths in bows,riding,and faith. He has a weakness in flying. Ant has one crest

Punz- Punz is a part of a mercenary group. His goal is to be the next leader of the group. Leaders are chosen by beating the current leader in a sparring match. Punz is at the Monastery so that he can get the best training possible. Punz is well known for being the one who trains a lot. He’s also known for being willing to do almost anything for some cash. He’s the guy you go to if you want to buy a homework assignment. While some of his classmates fear he would sell them out for the right amount of money, his true friends know that...well, if you’re a friend he won’t sell you out but otherwise ehhh. Basically, Punz was raised by his mercenary family to not trust easily. Once someone proves they are trustworthy, make sure to repay that trust tenfold. That’s the mercenary way. Punz has a strength in swords and heavy armor. Weakness in bows. He has no crest

Purpled- Purpled belongs to a family of merchants. Him and Punz actually knew each other before going to the monastery because their two families work together when traveling to protect each other. Purpled’s family is also unique in another way. Their family lived in the foreign nation of Loxbor and have only recently come to Carmine. This is because Carmine is considered to have more variety in resources. Purpled is smart and very business savvy. He’s at the monastery mostly to make new connections, hopefully with nobles. While he was a bit annoying with the nobles in his class at first, he eventually learned that the best way to get allies is to just treat them like normal people. Purpled does look up to Punz and Punz in turn teaches him some of his sword techniques. Purpled also sometimes get his family’s products in the mail and will advertise it to the students. Purpled is a nice and smart guy even if he can act a bit callously. Purpled has strengths in reason and axes. He has a weakness in faith. He has no crest

If Karl teaches The Red Ravens, the main plot is les s focused on winning the war and more focused on taking care of the the whole egg situation. Probably more lighthearted than the other routes.

There are 21 chapters in this route. In the 18th chapter there’s a decoy egg that is set. What the group thinks is that a certain spell needs to be performed by two people, one of whom has to have whatever Bad’s crest is called. So, that chapters mission is getting Bad and one other Red Raven(besides Karl but other than him whoever you send over there) to the decoy egg and doing the spell. Then, it is revealed that it is a trap! The spell actually causes Bad and the other person become overtaken by the egg.

19th chapter is when the person decided by you is saved by destroying an egg that is near them. That person vaguely remembers where Bad went and so the army goes after him.

20th chapter is rescuing Bad, which basically means you have to defeat him and the egg that is with him (which would be a pain gameplay wise probably). So, Bad is knocked out and when he wakes up he knows where the main egg is located.

The 21st chapter actually starts when the Red Ravens have broken into the main egg and have to fight whatever is inside it and ready to hatch out. Honestly, I think it would be really cool gameplay wise to have the final battle set in the egg. You can do a lot with that visually.

Also in that chapter where TWSITD send javelins of light (nukes) on Fort Mercues, it’s instead this huge seed that comes down on the fort and completely covers it in red vines in like a minute or two.

After seeing this Bad gives everyone permission to say one swear word right then and there.

There’s also a point where Bad helps Errata with the egg and they in turn send soldiers and supplies. So, yay peace!

So yeah that’s all houses done! Now, what’s next I wonder?

Holy hell. Okay. That’s great. That’s honestly great.

This is the arc I would be playing the most if it were a game and that’s solely because of the characters and everything.

Love all the little things in here too!

As for what’s next, well, assuming that it isn’t a rhetorical question, then uh...I don’t know why and it’s highly impossible but now I’m just thinking of trying to find a way where I can get everyone to be happy.

Fuck. I love all of them too much and now I’m attached to them all.

#dream smp #dream smp au #smp three houses au #badboyhalo #skeppy #awesamdude #antfrost #punz #purpled #karl jacobs #ask #tack-tick #long post

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runawayballista · 2 years

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there’s this ever present inchoate urge to make some kind of tellius/fe13 crossover au, i think you’d get some interesting conversations (lucina & ike! elincia & chrom! some taguel and laguz action!) but what i think it really boils down to is my never ending desire for fe13 to have the level of rich world building that tellius has. the bones are there, there’s a ton of potential, but we learn virtually nothing about any of the nations or their relationships beyond a few token details and whatever is immediately relevant to the plot - and politics are only relevant to the story of fe13 on a purely surface level, they’re a thin veneer of a feint meant to shuttle the party around the map early on in the game before grima is revealed as the real threat fairly early on, thanks to lucina. we don’t need to know more about regna ferox beyond the fact that they’re “warlike” and have two leaders with an unconventional ruling system, because we really only spend time there early in the game, and it serves largely as an origin for some characters and the “get a bigger army” story stepping stone.

tellius’s on the other hand, while at heart having the classic We Must Attack & Dethrone God plot line, is BURIED in politics. granted, it has two games’ worth of story room to work with, but even path of radiance alone stands out as a strong example of complex storytelling for a fire emblem game. there are only a handful of people who know what’s going on behind the scenes in tellius, and none of them are the main characters. half the cast is carrying secrets, and even when they’re not majorly plot relevant, they tell us TONS about the characters themselves and the world they live in. and because the primary antagonists are making their moves in layers of secrecy, becaus what they are fundamentally doing is manipulating world events on a bedrock level, everything is political. because politics is not only the best way to achieve their ultimate goals, it’s also the best camouflage, which sets off a little ripple effect to everyone downstream from these machinations, because they do a very good job of making certain players believe that this was all their idea from the start, and they come with their own personal motives and agendas that further muddy the waters. and even when ike & co know what the fire emblem is and that what they (think they) are dealing with is the revival of a dark god, everything has to be done through political channels. they can’t just storm daein’s capital with the power of righteous heroism; they have to let sanaki use them as political puppets before she can help them with reinforcements. they have to play by diplomatic rules at almost every step to ike’s deep frustration. even when the endgame threat in radiant dawn starts to really loom in the background, politics and personal greed dictate so much of what happens. a discussion for another day is what a good job tellius does of showing with nuance how wars don’t end, they just lead into other wars, but i digress

there’s virtually no meaningful political intrigue in fe13, when you get down to it. that’s partly a factor of lucina knowing a bunch of future events and it’s not inherently bad, but it makes the stakes feel a little hollow at times, particularly the early story beats with gangrel and emmeryn, which we’re clearly supposed to care about. (and i do. but emmeryn’s death would have had more whammy if there were more concrete specifics imo) we only learn vague details about the atrocities the previous exalt committed and what was done in the interim, but at the same time it doesn’t matter, because none of it really has to do with grima - it’s just the story justification to put plegia in that narrative position, so that the feint feels real. the crimes of the previous exalt and grima’s return feel thematically divorced from each other - the only thing they really share is the notion that sometimes sacrifice is necessary to break a cycle, and that’s a shame, because i feel like there was totally room to work emmeryn’s legacy more tightly with the rest of the story beyond being a martyr. fe13 as a game and a story works so well because the themes are so strong, but they could be even STRONGER, is what i’m saying. there’s room to have drawn some strong parallels there, to have deepened the history between plegia and ylisse and linked together concrete events, to have gone into the history of the grimleal and why they have such a foothold in plegia in the first place, and it would have made the whole story hit harder imo. a deeper dive on rosanne and chon’sin in relation to valm could have made walhart’s invasion more interesting a threat than “oh shit, he’s got LOADS of guys”. we find out later he was trying to destroy the grimleal, that he was being manipulated, but it ultimately isn’t connected to anything meaningful outside of grima*. the taguel are the vaguest possible version of persecuted transforming furry race and it’s criminally underdeveloped, especially in contrast with the laguz. Give Me More Bunny Lore

*i haven’t hit this in my current replay yet correct me if im wrong. but, im right anyway

daein’s attack on crimea isn’t a feint. daein’s invasion has a ripple effect felt through the entire rest of the story, and it massively informs the shape that the plot takes. but even more than that, the past is a major factor in the plot and the way the events play out. events that took place before the game are crucial to what’s happening, because what’s happening is incredibly long in the making, and it could have been a string of discrete events where A caused B and X caused Y, but instead all of these events are connected in a fascinating web. the blood pact is not only a major player in radiant dawn’s main story, it’s also the cause of the daein “plague” (which is dropped as a minor background detail when first introduced and then turns out to be super important!) that results in ashnard taking power, and the driving force behind all of naesala’s convenient “throw a wrench in the plot” actions, many of which are also pivotal contributions to the grand scheme of awakening ashera early. it also has the nice side effect of adding depth to naesala’s character and kilvas and giving a lot of shape to the world of laguz politics. they could have just made naesala the ruthlessly greedy jerk with a gilded heart of gold he appears to be in much of path of radiance and it would have been fine, but instead they hitched him to another part of the plot that enriched that aspect of the story on all sides, because now it’s an even more entrenched part of the world. the fact that we know about multiple blood pacts, all of which have worked to devastating effect, makes the plot whammy hit a lot harder. it makes the begnion senate an even bigger and more horrendous villain, knowing that they’ve done this to multiple leaders. and it made naesala a more nuanced character who did some shitty, shitty things in the name of what is to him the greater good - which is still an aspect of his selfishness, because ultimately he cares more about kilvas than the rest of the world. and i love it

they are very different stories thematically, and i’m not saying that fe13’s story at heart is bad or wrong. i love it! i love the themes. i love fe13 as a whole SO much. i just think it had a ton of potential to make it more compelling by underscoring it with stronger, more interconnected worldbuilding. tellius’s story has a TON of moving parts and they’re all connected in at least some way, and fe13 doesn’t need that many moving parts, but i do feel like it could have used what was already there to give the store more depth and oomph. imagine that fe13 whammy ending with even MORE whammy. weave in some more connections between the places and the characters. give some people some more secrets. imo not enough of the characters in fe13 have secrets. i also just think it would be cool if these two worlds crossed over! esp considering the taguel and the laguz. i would pay money for yarne and tormod together

please don’t take this as deeply thought out analysis i just typed out my feelings in between customers at work. maybe i’ll write an actual essay with coherent structure on this someday

#fembles #tellius tag #fe13 tag #i just have a lot of thoughts and feelings about the contrasts between these two games #they are among my top 3 fembles for a reason!!!

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seijch · 4 years

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4, 6 and 17!

make me work on my wips!!

4. venom drench, a suguru pokemon au

in which you and suguru are partners pitted against each other for a promotion within the organized crime organization known as team rocket, notorious throughout the kanto region for being impossible to take down.

this originally started as the setup for a different pokemon au but it ended up growing a mind of its own so i caved and let it be its own fic NSKJFDSF

but ive even been thinking of repurposing it for smth thats Not pokemon just bc the actual pokemon presence in this one is SO minimal lmao the snippet i managed to pull out of my ass has pokemon but the rest of the work...not so much

“don’t take it personally,” suguru says, leaning close. you want nothing more than to rip his perfect hair out of his scalp, but his seviper’s coiled around your midsection. “it’s not your fault i wanted it more. really, i should be thanking you.” long fingers brush against your jaw, and you suppress the shiver it sends up your spine. “who knew you could be such a graceful loser?”

you use his proximity as a chance to spit on his face. it works, and his fingers retract to wipe your saliva off his cheek. “maybe not,” he amends. a childish part of you preens at the small victory, a battle won despite the war lost.

“for the record,” he adds, an afterthought as he walks off, “i did enjoy our time together. but you know how it goes. all good things come to an end, shit like that.” he releases your honchkrow from its ball, and the bird squawks in confusion as he orders it to fly away. “now, if you’ll excuse me, i’ve got a flight to catch.”

suguru leaves, the oranges of the setting sun painting him as some hero off to save the day. you curse, shifting your weight as much as you can to try and escape his seviper’s hold. the only thing you get out of it is a greater loss to blood circulation.

if he was the hero, you must be the villain. there’s no going back to the boss once suguru gets to headquarters with the president in tow. you feel the gears move in your head as the plan changes.

6. heart swap, a sugawara pokemon au

you wouldn’t have guessed it when you first met, but sugawara koushi has done nothing but change your life in ways both big and small.

the parentheses are from the Present...the gimmick for this one is that suga and the reader are just retelling the events of the fic but im still figuring out if i should also use present tense for the non-parentheses parts or past tense since its,, technically The Past

(“you’re sure you don’t need to use the bathroom, right?” you ask. “we’re gonna be here for a while.”

“don’t worry about me,” daichi assures, waving a hand. you and sugawara exchange a glance; at daichi’s side was one of those obnoxiously large water bottles. the thing’s like a bathroom break waiting to happen, but sugawara just sighs.)

the air smells different in slateport city. it’s less crisp than the colder canalave, but that was to be expected. the scent of saltwater gets carried along the gentle breeze. as you step off the ship, roserade gasps beside you, taking in the new sights and smells. she hums contentedly, taking in the sunlight.

you slip the thick leather gloves on and hold a hand out for her to take. to account for her wonder at all the ships docked in the new environment, you slow your pace down. if your calculations were correct, you had under five days to register for the hoenn contest circuit.

you create a mental checklist: hotel, contest hall, maybe some food if you or your pokemon were feeling peckish. the hotel was easy enough to spot, a pristine building a stone’s throw from the beach.

(“i still don’t know how you managed to afford the lapis shore hotel,” koushi snorts. “no wonder i had to pick up the check every time we went out.” you shove his shoulder as daichi laughs on the other side of the screen, voice cutting for a second as the connection falters.)

17. paths that will never cross, an oikawa fire emblem: three houses (?) au

oikawa was a winner if you ever saw one, pushing himself to greater heights even in the face of a loss. in hindsight, you suppose you never stood a chance.

this and my other fe3h aus are in an awkward situation where theyre definitely based off of the game but i could just as easily change some aspects and slap the high fantasy label onto them without breaking a sweat

the thing keeping me from staying true to the inspiration and (kinda) universe is that ... im sure the majority of haikyuu fic readers havent played fe3h LMAO i dont want to call it that in fear of people not picking it up because they feel like they wont get the fic bc it has preexisting source material

“i should’ve known you’d come,” you croak, voice echoing off the walls. the war has made you tired. desperate. the crest stone you’ve had grafted on your skin throbs, threatens to consume you.

oikawa looks different. you expected as much; it’s been a long five years for both of you. but the passage of time has not been kind to him. in his eyes, you see nothing but reinforced steel. if the war has made you tired, made your bones ache for peace, it has made him furious. hellbent to stop it, to put your head on a spike once and for all. dimly, you note that his hair looks as good as ever.

“i’m sure you know how this ends.” my, even his voice sounds different. gone is his playful lilt (you mourn its loss, despite yourself), replaced with the authoritative voice you would only hear when he was up against the wire. then again, you suppose each battle could be his last.

when he entered the throne room, threw open the unnecessarily large doors, he knew.

there are only two ways this ends: him bleeding out before you, or your head in his hands as he begins to patch up this wartorn country.

at the apex of the world, you find yourself fighting a losing battle for the last time.

#there was a point in time (read: before i wrote the snippet for it) that i wasnt sure if i was keeping 17 w oiks or not #but i think i can finesse it to fit my needs?#well see LMAO #thank you for the ask aj esp for requesting venom drench #i wrote a full casino scene that sucked the life out of me #as someone who hasnt been in a casino w the intention to gamble Ever #🖋 wip game #💌 love letters #aj 🕊#krystallisert

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thisgodwontforgiveyou · 4 years

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talk about dorothea

How I feel about this character:

More than anything genuine bafflement at how Intsys managed to write her. A lot of it is probably just favorable interpretation and also the fact that I straight up have not seen almost any het A supports BUT they genuinely managed to capture the pathos of womanhood and the bizarre self objectification that sort of becomes involved in the entire process of identifying as a woman deliberately.

she reads as very extremely trans because of this and i think this is all the direct result of a bunch of people desperately trying to create the most Woman woman possible while being fully aware as they were writing that gender is a construct even if they wouldnt be able to put it in words or even be willing to address their own transphobia

a lot of character narratives in three houses come close to self awareness about gender and how it functions in society but despite being intelligent people when it comes to social issues intsys are too married to their fetishes and extreme worship of japanese imperialism to ever actually consider holding a progressive opinion on anything so we get fragments of characters who sort of have something interesting going on but just end up having genuinely terrible politics in canon (ingrid… but also unfortunately sylain and dimitri too. i think edelgard was honestly the opposite of this where they thought they were making her more imperialist than they did and that they loved it)

dorothea is one of the very few characters who genuinely feels fully fledged and provokes actual thought and is enjoyable as presented in canon. like shes a character you can ACTUALLLY analyze instead of inventing 200 non canon attributes to desperately fix intsys’ terrible writing and then basically analyzing your own writing. shes one of the better written female characters in video games and definitely the best written female fire emblem character ive personally seen. it doesnt hurt that shes allowed nearly heather levels of turning directly to the camera to say she wants to fuck women

Any/all the people I ship romantically with this character:

Hilda, Edelgard, Very Conditionally And Specifically Ingrid, Petra, Bernadetta

I honestly don’t have like a really intense dedication to any ship for her because the game never really conclusively resolves her Issues, but pretty much any female character that isn’t a weird age gap thing works. The fact that she can romance Manuela is a crime only equaled by the fact that you can marry your own grandmother.

My favorite non-romantic relationship for this character:

In terms of canon…. not a lot of other characters she has supports with can keep up with her writing quality except Edelgard. Her supports with Yuri are too sad for me to think at directly and I don’t think they’d be good influences on each other for a lot of reasons but maybe if they both get a lot of therapy.

In terms of ignoring what intsys did to the games writing probably Sylvain, they are very much two sides of the same coin and I wish the game did something with them beyond just bland comphet bullshit.

My unpopular opinion about this character:

I don’t know what would qualify as an unpopular dorothea opinion other than telling every single edelthea shipper who wont stop talking about who tops and bottoms to shut the fuck up and learn how human beings act

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon:

She honestly got out better than any other gay woman in the game and gets a lot of happy endings. I don’t think there was a way to resolve her massive and innumerable personality disorders but it would have been nice for her to at least get to meaningfully stand up to someone about the War Is Bad thing they tried to do with her.

Favorite friendship for this character:

Basically already answered this but I’ll throw i the bonus that I think she and claude would really play off each other well

My crossover ship:

literally ridiculous but the only thing i can think of is pre timeskip dorothea and monika ddlc

#femblem

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four-loose-screws · 4 years

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Their Sealed Pasts - FE4 Short Story Translation - Section 2

If you would like to start from the beginning, read a missed part, etc., click here!

FE Game Script Translations - FE Novel Translations - Original FE Support Conversations - Ko-fi

I consider this a “section” and not a “part” because it’s a break that I defined myself. This short story was not broken up into parts by the author.

T/W: Half-sibling incest. Direct implications of sex, but no explicit scenes.

———————————

Their Sealed Pasts

Short Story #5 of Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War - The Last of the Earth Dragon Tribe

Section 2

Deirdre was not a virgin.

But this fact did not change his feelings for her, rather, it made them burn all the brighter.

Every night, as he touched her, he felt pangs of jealousy.

'Someone else did as he pleased with this beautiful body before me.'

Not wanting to lose to this unknown man brought him to love her all the more passionately.

Nothing satisfied him more than her moans of pleasure, but at the same time, they also made him suffer.

'Tell me, did you moan just like this for him?'

But he couldn't ask her, because she could not remember anything before him.

'I can't go on like this.' He thought. 'I've been so fixated on her past, that it's become an obstacle to everything I am planning to do. I cannot stand to think about it any longer.'

ー

Arvis sat down at his place at the table.

"Deirdre, I've been thinking. About why you appeared before me after you lost your memory. And I've concluded that it was destiny. It was your destiny to lose your memory and be mine. So I don't want you to try to remember your past anymore. Only for you to make more memories with me."

Tears welled up in Deirdre's eyes.

"What happened? Did I say something wrong?"

"No, not at all! Actually, I'm very happy!" She wiped away her tears with a handkerchief.

"This whole time, I've thought of myself as only half a person. As a woman that can't possibly be good enough for you. During the day, when you go to the palace, I try as hard as I can to regain my memories. But I can't, no matter what I do. When you come home, I always blame myself. Today was the same. I'm a terrible, awful woman…" Her last words trailed off into a wail.

"You don't have to feel like that anymore, Deirdre. What I’m saying is, we are the most perfect couple in all the world. Today, I visited the king. I told him that I found the woman that I want to spend the rest of my life with. And then he said he wants to give us his blessing."

"You… You did…?"

"He was overjoyed, and asked me to bring you to the palace tomorrow."

"Am I really the one? A woman like me…?"

"Don’t say that. You are the most amazing woman I have ever met." He said with all the conviction he could muster. Then, he repeated to himself over and over that he couldn't obsess over her past anymore, and sealed those thoughts deep within his heart.

That night, he made love to her without a single worry in his heart for the first time.

All unease disappeared from her face as well.

'She's even more beautiful now than ever before.' He thought.

When they were finished, Deirdre said, "I don't know why, but that was the first time our love has ever felt quite like that."

He stroked her soft, smooth back. "I felt the same way. I love you, Deirdre."

"I love you too, Arvis. I love you so much."

They fell asleep in each other's arms, and slept soundly until morning.

ー

King Azmur sat on the throne for the first time in a long time.

Arvis walked up to him with his fiancée, and they both bowed.

"It's good to see you. Please, raise your heads."

Deirdre bowed further, dropping down on one knee, before doing so.

The king’s expression changed suddenly.

"Is something the matter, Your Majesty?" Arvis asked.

"It's nothing." He said, then looked closely at Deirdre's face once more. “Young lady, I understand that you have lost your memory?”

“Yes, I have.”

“So you don’t remember anything about your parents?”

“Unfortunately, no.”

“I may be wrong, but… Your face reminds me of someone. Please take off your circlet, and show me your forehead.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.” She looked puzzled, but raised her arms to take off her circlet.

She always wore it. Even Arvis had yet to see her without it on.

“Is this okay?”

On her forehead was a white, wave-shaped mark.

“I knew it.”

“What is it?” Arvis asked, worry dripping in his voice.

“That mark on her forehead is the Holy Mark passed down through Grannvale’s royal family. Deirdre, was it? There is no doubt in my mind that you are my son Kurt’s orphan.”

“What are you saying? That my fiancée is Prince Kurt’s daughter…?

“Yes, I am. I do not know when or with whom he may have fathered her, but I know that she is his daughter. This is cause for celebration! I worried that Grannvale’s royal bloodline had died out, but the gods have not abandoned the Crusaders after all. Duke Arvis, Deirdre, I give you my blessing to marry as soon as possible and produce an heir. Duke Arvis, I will grant you the status of regent, and you will run the kingdom’s government until your successor has grown. What a joyous occasion this is! We must announce the news throughout the country straight away!”

It was Arvis’ final chance to question who she was. He started to wonder how she could be Prince Kurt’s daughter...

But he had already sealed his heart off from thinking about her past.

All he could think about was the idea that he was next in line to inherit the Grannvalian throne.

‘Everything is going according to plan.’

War continued to ravage the continent, yet Grannvale remained almost completely unaffected by it, throwing a wedding so extravagant it would be the major news story long after it happened.

ー

Sigurd’s army came out of hiding in Silesse, and killed Lombard.

Now, they were gaining momentum, and traveling across the Yied Desert towards Grannvale.

But Arvis had a plan in place for every possibility.

He ordered Friege’s army, led by Reptor, and Velthomer’s army, led by General Aida, to face Sigurd's army head-on. However, once the fighting started, Velthomer’s mages rained Meteor spells down on Friege’s Army.

Friege’s Army panicked, and Reptor was killed by Sigurd, who had obtained his Holy Weapon, the Holy Sword Tyrfing.

General Aida opened the gate to Velthomer Castle, and greeted Sigurd.

“Duke Arvis knows that you are innocent, Lord Sigurd. He says everything that transpired was all the work of Duke Reptor and Duke Lombard. They were simply too powerful for Duke Arvis to do anything about them until now.”

“Really? Then that means my father’s name will be cleared as well?” He asked her with a cold expression on his face.

“Yes, Duke Arvis is waiting with His Majesty for you in Balhalla. The Roten Ritter will be there to greet you. The entire country will celebrate your triumphant return.”

Sigurd announced to his army that the war was over, and disbanded them.

Only two hundred of his soldiers went to Balhalla, and just a single unit went with him to the palace.

What the world would soon call “The Battle of Balhalla” would not be a battle at all. It would be a massacre.

Arvis himself stood before Sigurd, and declared him a traitor. Then, Arvis pulled Deirdre alongside him. “Take a good look at him! This is the man who killed your father! Sigurd, son of Duke Byron! He will now be executed for his crimes!”

Then, Sigurd screamed, “Deirdre!”

She looked at him in complete surprise.

“Of course! I know everything now, Deirdre! It was him!”

“You… You know me...?”

Arvis cut off her next question, and ushered her to the back of the Rotten Ritter. “Take my wife back to the palace.”

The two soldiers each took one of her hands.

“Wait, milord! ...Just give me one moment with him…”

But the soldiers began to pull her along, nearly dragging her across the ground.

“Deirdre!!”

“All units! Kill the traitor and his soldiers!”

It was over in an instant.

The only traitor who survived was a woman, who lost her right arm and fell unconscious in critical condition.

Those who had traveled to Balhalla, but did not go to the castle, all fled without even trying to put up a fight.

‘So it was him. He is the man who loved her before me.’ Arvis thought to himself as he looked down at Sigurd’s charred remains. ‘But it is no matter. The past is in the past, and now he is dead. The only problem is whether or not she regained her memories when he called out to her.’

He didn’t want her to remember.

He wanted her to be his, and his alone.

Once he confirmed that the battle was over, he returned to the palace.

His wife was alone in her room, sitting in a chair in the corner, lost in thought.

When she realized that Arvis had entered the room, she pleaded, “Tell me! Did he know something about my past!?”

‘Thank the gods. Her memories did not return.’ He sighed and answered, “I do not know. But he was always a liar. Surely, he thought that by pretending to know you, I would spare his life.”

“I see. If that’s the case, then I understand, but…”

“You have no reason to worry. As I’ve always said to you, we gain nothing by obsessing over the past. Your only memories are the ones you have with me. Those as my perfect bride.” He took her hand, pulled her up from the chair, and hugged her tenderly.

“Hold me tighter. I’m so scared of what my past might have been. Even one thought about it chills me to the bone.”

“It’s alright. I’m here.”

They held each other for a long, long time.

A few days later, he learned that she was pregnant.

ー

The rebellion was over.

And King Azmur was on his death bed.

To build his new empire, Arvis had to work long, hard days, and traveled frequently.

While subjugating Leonster to the east, he was informed that his wife had given birth to twins, a boy and a girl. All three of them were doing well.

He named the boy Julius, and the girl Julia.

With their king and inheritor to holy blood, Quan, gone, Leonster did not put up much of a fight. Seeing that there was still much to be done, he entrusted Leonster to Reptor’s son, Bloom, and returned home.

He promised Bloom the title of King of Leonster. Bloom vowed his absolute loyalty with glee.

It was Arvis’ first time coming home in two months.

He rushed up to Deirdre’s room, and found her breastfeeding one of the babies.

The sight of her husband’s return put a smile on her face, but made Arvis gasp in response.

Deirdre no longer had the face of a young woman, but of a mother. And it reminded him exactly of his mother’s.

‘Mother!’ He couldn’t bring himself to say the word, screaming it inside of his heart instead.

And it became the key that unlocked the seal upon his heart.

Every one of his forgotten memories came flooding back to him.

His father’s suicide. His mother, Cigyun, and Prince Kurt’s behavior at the funeral. And his mother’s disappearance.

As a child who'd become the Duke of Velthomer at such a young age, he had to be strong to protect his title. However, he was still just a boy who'd lost his mother and been left alone, so at first, he’d cried time and time again.

With all the pieces in place, he put the truth together.

His wife was the child born between his mother and Prince Kurt.

He'd fallen in love with her at first sight because his unconscious saw his mother's image in her.

'I married my sister from a different father, and even had children with her.'

For any normal person, it would be a shameful secret, and end there.

‘But I inherited Loptous’ blood from my mother. So children born between my sister and me would likely have much thicker Loptrian blood than us. What will this mean for them?'

And the last thing he remembered were Manfroy’s words. “She is waiting for you.”

‘What are you planning, Manfroy!?’

“What’s wrong, milord?” Deirdre saw that her husband was still standing in the doorway, and called out to him. Then, she looked down at their child. “Look, Julius, it’s your father!”

Her voice dragged him to their side.

“Aw, look at our son. He looks just like you!”

The boy seemed to be like any other innocent infant, eyes closed, peacefully sucking his mother’s breast.

Except for the tiny red dot on his forehead.

#fire emblem #fe #fe4 #genealogy of the holy war #nintendo #super nintendo #snes #famicom #super famicom #japan #japanese #translation #short story #t/w: incest

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iturbide · 5 years

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There's a part of me that really liked Gangrel. Don't get me wrong, he really fucked up there near the end, but he does show remorse after you recruit him. His Hot Spring Dialogue with Emmeryn /wounds/ me. ;-;

Friend you are not alone

I actually really like Gangrel, too! He’s a deeply flawed character who did some absolutely terrible things during his time in power, but he’s also one with a lot of potential, who could have been so good under different circumstances. I actually have a lot of headcanons about Gangrel, and I’ve put about as much thought into how he ended up the way he did in canon as I have for Validar.

Even though it may not be exactly canon compliant, I personally think that Gangrel is a war orphan who witnesses his mother’s murder at the hands of the former Exalt before the halidom’s forces burned the village to the ground, leaving Gangrel as one of if not the only survivor of the slaughter. He managed to find his way to another town crowded with refugees, and spent the rest of his early years on the streets, but the memories of that event haunted him in waking and in sleep, and his hatred for the halidom, her people, and especially her ruler continued to fester in his heart and mind.

His mother had been a devout Grimleal, but after witnessing those horrors, Gangrel lost any faith he might have had: Grima did not come, did not help them, did not save them from Naga’s men, and isn’t that the point of their divine protector? He did, however, end up getting a lucky break in his teenage years as he tried to talk his way out of a tight situation (likely a theft gone wrong): one of the bystanders heard in his arguments some curious, almost idealistic notions for reform, and stepped in to help. She happened to be a member of the king’s council, and brought the thief before the king himself to speak his peace; the king, too, heard something promising in Gangrel’s words, and gave him an opportunity to see those very thoughts put into practice by offering him a place on the council.

With the rest of the council to temper the worse aspects of his nature, Gangrel fared well in his position, learning many of the ins and outs of the Plegian government; unfortunately, things went downhill when the former king died and the diviners were called to select the next ruler. Though Validar was also a candidate, many feared his cruel ambitions, and he ended up getting passed over…for Gangrel – who again, had no faith in Grima whatsoever (which just made him all the more certain that the whole ‘divining Grima’s will’ thing was a crock of shit). Putting him on the throne was where things started to go wrong, because while the council was there to advise him, Gangrel’s political powers reached far beyond them – and he suddenly saw an opportunity to fulfill the desire for vengeance that had been burning in him for so long.

Gangrel is a smart man. His formal education might be lacking, but he is sly, cunning, and adept at playing off people’s fears and beliefs. Despite the council’s attempts to keep him in check, Gangrel began to push for action, starting small with the notion that Plegia should demand reparations from the halidom, who had done no more than call their forces back across the border following the end of the last Exalt’s crusade. Realizing that he could exploit Gangrel’s hatred of Ylisse, Validar reached out and made an offer: he would offer the full support of the Grimleal in the king’s ambitions, in exchange for Gangrel’s official sanction of the faith.

And Gangrel wanted nothing more than to see Ylisse burn.

With Validar’s help, Gangrel began to prey on the Plegian people’s fears: the bad blood that had so long existed between Ylisse and Plegia was easy to exploit, and he soon managed to gain the support of the increasingly fearful masses. He began to send small raiding parties across the borders in hopes of baiting an attack by the Ylisseans (and souring relations between Ylisseans and Feroxis to prevent foreign aid), which would give him an excuse to launch a war of his own, though Emmeryn never gave in. Eventually he resorted to kidnapping Maribelle to force the Exalt’s hand, knowing that she would never part with the Fire Emblem and expecting that he would get his war in short order – but Emmeryn insisted on bolstering the halidom’s defenses, rather than attempting to invade, which again proved problematic for the Plegian king.

Around that point, though, word arrived through the ports that Walhart had nearly completed his conquest of Valm, and it seemed all too likely that the foreign emperor would not stop there. Perhaps Gangrel really did believe that a united continent was the only way to save them all – but his hatred twisted that into a certainty that with a pacifist ruling Ylisse, they would all fall anyway. So he sent Validar to assassinate her.

In the original timeline he succeeded, which gave him the very war he wanted and ended in his death. In the revised timeline, he failed, but in the end he still managed to capture the Exalt…and then, acting on the rage and hate that had so long ago corrupted him, he put her to death in the most horrific way he could imagine, given his own fear of heights. And he still got his war, and earned his death.

Gangrel never realized was that, as his hate corrupted him, he became the very mirror of the last Exalt who he so despised. Aversa and Validar preyed upon that hatred, fed all of his worst impulses, and drove him faster and further down that road – but coming back from death as he did, he finally had a chance at introspection. He could see where that hatred truly brought him. And that realization that he became no better than the man who killed his family drives him to despair. It takes a lot to drag him back out of that: he needs to find a new purpose, which he finally does with Chrom and the Shepherds…but it doesn’t change what he did. And as hard as he tries, he knows his crimes will pursue him for as long as he lives. That remorse haunts him, now, much as his hatred once did…but it tempers him far better.

Even so, can you imagine what things might have been like had Gangrel had more support? Not just acquaintances working toward the same goal as he did in the council, but true friends, or a new family that could help him deal with those old traumas? He could have been so much better – so much more – than what his all-consuming hatred made of him in the game.

#answered #anonymous #fire emblem: awakening #headcanon #gangrel #i honestly really love gangrel okay #if i see an opportunity to use him in a story i tend to jump at it #because he's so interesting and has so much potential to be amazing #good or bad it's all a matter of the choices he makes #he made a lot of bad choices in the canon events #but in different circumstances he could have ended up an amazing man

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etlivnheart · 5 years

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( cody fern, demi male, he/him, fire emblem: three houses ) * &. i know it must be scary for you, dimitri alexandre blaiddyd, after not surviving the takeover. to turn into someone like dimitri a. baker, a twenty-four year-old housekeeper at cozy corner inn & cafe, right here in castle town. just remember that you are as chivalrous as you are misguided, and to be wary, be safe, be true to who you are : heroic through and through. ( back on my bullshit )

alright folks I hope y’all are ready to STRAP YOURSELVES IN bc hoooooooly hell do I have a lot to say abt this kid. he was the muse I originally planned to bring in alongside Zelda when CT first opened for apps bt then I,,, had seconds thots and picked up A Thot sooo. back to square one and I can tELL ALREADY I’ve made a good decision. More under the cut pls but beware of FE3H Blue Lions spoilers !!

⁠— BEFORE CASTLE TOWN

Alright so I’m gonna say this now : Dimitri’s general backstory is no walk in the park , and for some , it may be triggering. I’m going to warn you that this bit will contain some content relating to mental illness ( not named specifically in-game but most prominently ptsd & depression ) , violence/war , and ( parental ) death.

So Dimitri is the crown prince of the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus - a wintry kingdom in Northern Fodlan. When you meet him , he’s a student at Garreg Mach Monastery’s Officers Academy & the head of his homeland’s respective house , the Blue Lions.

And at first glance - Dimitri is a fucking sweetheart and he’s diligent , kind , maybe a little cautious especially around fragile objects and there’s always some... allusions that there’s way more to him than this Disney Prince air he seems to carry.

Yeah... there is.

So Dimitri. His parents ( father & stepmother ) died in an incident known as the Tragedy of Duscur where Faerghus’ king and queen were killed , many people died ( including the elder brother of Dimitri’s childhood friend , Felix ) , and the people of Duscur were blamed for it. Ever since , Dimitri’s trauma & survivor’s guilt has only been left to fester and settle to the point where he believes he won’t be able to be at peace until he fulfills revenge for those who passed - to the point where he claims he can also see the ghosts of the dead , ushering him to avenge them.

This tends to manifest in a side of Dimitri that makes him a fierce warrior on the battlefield. But this doesn’t really show full force until the timeskip rolls around , Byleth disappears , and Dimitri’s lost his final crutch and it’s pretty much at this point where his life takes a major turn for the worse - yeah this kid can’t catch a break.

He becomes more and more obsessed with the idea of revenge now that there’s a clear enemy in sight and he constantly is scared of failing his lost loved ones if he can’t succeed in taking her down. He’s been on his own with no-one to hang onto since he thinks his best buddy - who he saved from Duscur - is dead and so many people think he’s dead and once he’s found he’s not the same as in the beginning. He’s now tenfold sucked into that one objective until someone else he loves is lost and normally you think that would only make it worse. But it doesn’t. Since now Byleth’s there.

Byleth’s assistance and compassion teaches him that he can also live for the living and himself rather than focus on only those he lost - and that is what they’d want for him, too. So throughout the rest of the game he reverts back to how he was similarly in the beginning of the game - less aggressive & impulsive and more careful & considerate ( and back to being your typical sweetie ) and he realizes his actions during that period were wrong and he’s willing to atone rather than wallow in his own negativity - and it’s through help him others that he begins to walk a better path and gets his own happy ending in the story ; he learns to forgive and to give chances, even though sometimes those chances are tossed back in his face.

DIMITRI, AS A CHARACTER,,, REALLY MEANS THE WORLD TO ME ( as sb who has ptsd & depression myself ) and his development in my opinion ( since now I’m closing in on all four routes ) is probably the most drastic & in depth of the three lords.

He does have some issues that he recognizes & comes to terms with seeking help with once he realizes that he’s deserving of it - since Dimitri’s whole thing is that he doesn’t think he’s deserving of anyone’s kindness or love or help or compassion thanks to his own grief & guilt.

He will give you the shirt off his back and he’s definitely not someone who enjoys being seen on a higher level than others and he’s so human in the sense that he’s one of the only people in Faerghus who refuses to believe Duscur was orchestrated by the Duscurian people. He saves Dedue - who devotes his entire life to him - but only wishes for Dedue to see him as a friend. He just wants a friend.

Some facts !

I forget what the exact word for it is but Dimitri can’t taste anything except... cheese?? Is that it?? Is that where the cheese thing come from?? Yeah basically he can’t taste anything.

He possesses the Crest of Blaiddyd which enhances his strength to superhuman levels to the point where, when he was only eight years old, he snapped a sword clean in half on accident.

Again I will say he’s a major sweetie & I highly recommend at least reading through some of his supports since my god all of them are... so good. I fucking love Dimitri.

Also he’s bi because I fucking said so and it’s a CRIME you can’t s-rank him as both masculine & feminine Byleth.

⁠— BEFORE CASTLE TOWN

SOOOOO Mitya here is a housekeeper at Cozy Corner Inn. He didn’t survive the takeover - but his memories are returning at a quicker pace than that of my other character who didn’t survive, Zelda, as Dimitri’s already beginning to see glimpses of his past throughout dreams

...well, mainly nightmares unfortunately : ( but you get the drill

He has a lot of really awful nightmares but once in a while he dreams of this dark-haired person with a smile that no-one else has and it puts him... at ease whenever he wakes up

I also imagine he routinely volunteers at local shelters or centres or the like just because it’s very In-Character for him to do so

I DON’T HAVE,,, A LOT OF WHAT HIS LIFE IS LIKE IN CT AS OF RN but even tho his eye is never explained in-game he thinks in CT the scar he got over it was from a cat ahsushauhshs

love tht

ANYWAY YEAH IM GONNA WORK ON SAM’S INTRO SOOOOOOOOON but we’ll see if exhaustion doesn’t hit me first

pls gimme byleth i’ll cry

#castletown:intro #* . abt — ☆ ❛ ᴛʀᴇᴍʙʟᴇ ﹐ ʟɪᴛᴛʟᴇ ʟɪᴏɴ ᴍᴀɴ ❜#war tw #parental death tw #ptsd tw #depression tw #mental illness tw

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