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randomnameless · 10 months

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If you could rewrite the church family (Rhea, Seteth, Flayn, Billy, Cyril, Catherine, Alois, idgaf about Jerry, and Shamir’s fans generally like Edelgard too much for me to vibe with them), how would you do it? I love your headcanons.

thanks lol

No Manu ???

I don't know if rewritting them is the word, or just, "using them", but it can range from anything like "summer AU" (like what FEH tries to sell even if Cyril and Alois will never be added and the lizards are in limbo) where everyone relaxes, to monastery hijinks like

Cyril's first day of class and everyone popping up to check if he's alright, like Alois passing by to say hello during class and cracking jokes as an excuse to see if the giant cookie stash Rhea gave Cyril is empty or not (if it's empty it means he shared some with his new friends!), Shamir being "suddenly ordered" to give archery seminars or Catherine inviting everyone to the training tower.

Alois's family sometimes visiting Garreg Mach and Flayn sort of befriends his daughter and loves to hear the story of how he and his wife met - Seteth, after many "hmph" and "maybes" finally accepts to accompany Alois to visit his family with Flayn (who wanted to talk to his daughter about fashionable stuff young people do nowadays and how normal people live!), but it ultimately became a trip to convince Alois not to buy the rumour that "there is a Great Sage living in Lake Teutates who can teach you how to master your fears" because 1/he knows his brother started this rumour since he was bored and wanted some company and usually it ends in a disaster 2/Indech loves to make magic ghosts/soldiers for fun, and if dropping kid!Rhea in a pond was supposed to help her "master her fear of water" he knows Indech is going to throw a hundred ghost soldiers at Alois to help him "master his fear of ghosts".

Rhea still gives the worst pointers to Billy on how to "people" correctly, to the point where Billy is the one who gives her pointers, but it doesn't really work - until Manu gives the ultimate advice to Billy, no one has to try to socialise with her, because everyone falls for her charm! So Billy tries to understand what "charm" is, which prompts Rhea to dust off some "subversive books" to help them.

Which of course spirals in a catastrophe, when Cyril who's starting to recognise letters, wonders what's "charm" to Catherine who tells him it's something like exchanging knight vows, like swearing your life to someone "a bit like a partnership then?", but it's totally not like that, so Catherine directs him to Manuela. Of course Cyril doesn't go and asks Rhea instead, who is very happy to tell him everything she knows about Great Emperor Wilhelm which leaves him completely puzzled, but he's too polite to point it out, so he nods.

Ultimately he asks Seteth when he returns "It's like swearing knight vows but not like a partnership and doing it like the First Emperor did?" and Seteth gives the longest sigh every, asking him to come to his office later to get a lecture about "romance and appropriate conduct", but Cyril replied that he was not interested in romance anyways, but the professor is, since they have books about it.

Of course, Alois volunteers to help Billy with their heart issues, and Billy spills the beans, they tried to make friends so they asked Manuela how to do so, and Rhea gave them those books.

It is rumoured Seteth's sigh echoed for days in the halls of the monastery.

Billy, while accompanying Seteth who pulled out one of his "straight to the Abyss" cardboard boxes to "cleanse the Archbishop's quarters" asked Cyril if he managed to make friends during his first day of class, and Cyril dismissed them saying they don't need friends anyways (which then made Alois confess he had been spying on Shamir's orders "But I saw your bag of cookies, you didn't share them with your friends?") the life at the monastery is more than enough for him.

Billy then said to everyone - who's reunited in Rhea's quarters because they were following first Seteth (who's hunting the "subversive books"), then Billy, then felt bad for Cyril (who brought fresh water for the flowers!) so followed him - everyone here is their friend.

Alois cried hugging them, Catherine called them stupid for saying something so corny but ruffled their hair, Flayn was so happy to hear it, Manu didn't hear anything since she was arguing with Seteth about "artistic licence" and "books of art" and Cyril still didn't see what was to great about having friends. Rhea returned from helping kittens (Duchess Whiskers the VIIth got a new litter!) she placed in Seteth's office seeing everyone hugging Billy in her quarters, who told her they have friends now.

Flayn then pulls out the "deluxe tea-time set" from Rhea's cupboard - she kept just in case hoping she would be able to have tea with a lot of people - and the "preserved thanks to Nabatean magic" cookies and everyone shared a cup of tea.

#anon #replies #lizard family time?#fodlan nonsense #in those aus billy is sort of the estranged family member who connects with them and with the world altogether #seteth is always the one who tries to be rational #but when it's not rhea it's Indech who causes trouble #you don't ask what charm is to a nabatean they have an insane charm stat by just existing #catherine is weirded out by non fearghan demonstrations of affection #like you don't call people friends or lovers it's too weird #but exchanging knightly vows polishing armors or being partners that's a love language she knows and is comfortable with #Alois doesn't want to even start to think on Jerry's parenting but instead they'll help Billy with whatever they want #Manu is jealous of Rhea's collection but was surprised to see no collector version of the tome of comely saints #maybe it's too subversive about people important to the church?#FE16

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pegasusknightsonly · 7 months

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i have to put something here to make the cut work

just saw someone say that Felix and Dimitri "were best friends". now. come on. that is literally not true. Felix and Sylvain? probably friends. Felix and Ingrid? no. Felix does not befriend women. but Felix and Dimitris support establishes that pre-academy Felix and Dimitri had not spoken for over two years and that Felix mostly knew Dimitri via Glenn, who was close enough to Dimitri that his death was emotionally devastating for Dimitri. Felix and Sylvain's support establishes that Felix spent more time with Sylvain than he did Dimitri, because Dimitri was so often with Glenn. Dimitri and Ingrid mostly talk about Glenn! Ingrid compares Glenn and Felix and Dimitri turns the conversation back to just Glenn!!!! it is in fact explicitly stated multiple times that Dimitri was much, much closer to Glenn than he ever was to Felix and that Felix and Ingrid mostly knew Dimitri *via Glenn* !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

actually im going to sidebar here i just read Felixs supports with Ingrid Dimitri and Sylvain to see if i was actively losing in my mind in remembering the game specifically establishing that Felix and Dimitri were never emotionally close and he is so fucking unpleasant. none of those were fun to read. he's not even just being blunt or being unintentionally rude he is constantly, deliberately, putting other people down and insulting them and belittling them. he is capable of being nice to people! he's nice to Annette and to Flayn and to Lysithea and to Bernadetta and he really likes Leonie (good taste) but he is so fucking genuinely vile to Ingrid and Dimitri and Sylvain that i forget that he can be civil to people and i want him to die. "best friends". you are huffing paint milord

sidebar sidebar: (in a monotone, as if reciting this from cue cards) the "faerghus four" is a fandom invention based on misreading and extrapolating the actual text of the game in order to diminish the importance of the relationship between Dimitri and Dedue. it is made very clear at multiple points that Dimitri's actual close friends were Glenn, who is dead, and Dedue. (normal voice intonation resumes) DONT GET ME WRONG i dont think fe16 fandom needs another white man to prioritise and i see far too much of Glenn as is but the fact that his absence is so crucial to all of Dimitri's pre-existing relationships *except with Dedue who is the only person he knew pre-academy who does not remind Dimitri of Glenn* is not, like, accidental!!! the text of the game is right there!!! you can read the exact words from the script right here on the internet at houses.fedatamine.com !!!!!!

stop lying!!!!!!!!! Felix and Dimitri were not "best friends"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! stop fucking lying about something so easily disproven!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! check for open solvents in your room!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

#yaoi gas leak strikes again i guess.#hater moment

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homelessbird · 2 years

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I have this idea.

It's playing with the idea of CF!setleth but not in the way of him betraying Rhea and joining Edelgard.

I was thinking like....it's years after the war has ended and Byleth is traveling around. Since her CF solo end just talks about how she keeps on her "destined path" by fighting TWSITD to bring peace to Fodlan. So I was thinking she's traveling around and is in Deidru and catches a glimpse of something green.

Which obviously makes her tense up and she quickly turns but sees nothing. Part of her hopes she somehow sees Seteth and Flayn again but at the same time doesn't because she doesn't know how she could face them now.

For her heart beats and her hair isn't green anymore.

But she stays a few days longer and is exploring the market area when she sees it again but this time sees a hooded figure walking quickly away. Without really thinking about it she runs after them and lo and behold it's Seteth.

It's not exactly the warmest reunion since the last time they saw each other she was invading the Monastary; and was telling him to flee if he wanted him and Flayn to live. And like they just stare at each other.

And he's like "so it is true....The Goddess has forsaken us all." Or something snippy lol Which obviously makes Byleth upset bc rn she doesn't know any truth about the children of The Goddess and just knows the propaganda.

Though she will never admit of the nightmares she has after stabbing Rhea with the SOTC and hearing the woman brokenly gasp "mother". Just like the dream she had of a similar woman holding the sword and calling if mother.

She refuses to ponder it because why admit that maybe you don't have all the facts?

But she's like "No she hasnt" and he just stares at her before turning away and she grabs him not understanding why she feels panic bc she KNOWS if he goes now she will never see him again as long as she lives.

And like I really wanna capture the feeling of "could of been" "in another life" regret and consequences. Loving someone and they love you back but it can never be bc they will never forgive you.

I dont have much thought out outside the "reunion" but they like talk to each other of the course of a few weeks. Seteth tho is even more cagey with her and even Flayn is keeping distance. But somehow she learns the truth about crests and relics.

But I also wanna enraptured these feelings in these qoutes

Like also dont want it totally disregarding Byleths choice but I think the consequences of giving up her "family" whether she understood or not is like interesting? And also to like give Seteth and Flayn ability to understand her but for her to understand THEM.

And I still want it to be romantic but that achingly tragic kind. If that makes sense? Like I have a lotta thoughts but I think it'll only just stay like....thoughts since I don't really have the writing abilities or delicacy to write something like this. But I'm like obsessed with it lol.

I do know how it ends. Seteth and Flayn leave Fodlan maybe they contacted Claude and finally gave him tbe church secrets so be could give them asylum? And just ends with Byleth moving forward bc she chose her path. But the regret and love stays.

Maybe even ends with her giving him the ring as a goodbye. Or something lol

It's a very scatterbrained idea I know.

#edens personal #writing ideas

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a-pale-azure-moon · 2 years

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Midnight Plays Azure Gleam: Chapter 5

Lonato's rebelling on a foggy map. It's deja vu all over again.

Count Rowe has officially rebelled. Everyone act surprised. I hope in this time we actually get to dispense with this jerkwad.

Poor, poor Ashe. Apparently there isn't a timeline in existence where he doesn't have to fight his adoptive father. Dimitri even tells him he can leave and Ashe refuses, since he is now a knight to the royal family. (Press X to hug!)

An Imperial vanguard is attempting to rendezvous with Lonato. No mention if there are any familiar faces in said vanguard.

Dedue telling Dimitri to stay behind in Fhirdiad, which naturally doesn't fly, lol. The plan is apparently to deal with Lonato and then seize control of Arianrhod. Someone named Duke Ifan will be maintaining things in Fhirdiad. Rodrigue says this person is a distant relative of Dimitri's? Hm.

Gustave's staying behind too. I'm kinda sad he isn't playable this time around, but at least Rodrigue is.

Dimitri needlessly apologizing again. Just another day ending in Y.

Seteth and Flayn are joining us! But where the heck was Flayn last chapter? Was she tucked inside Seteth's pocket or something? It was really weird that she wasn't on the battle map nor in the post-battle scene.

Camp (Southern Charon Territory)

(I like the way it shows you where on the world map you're currently located and the point where you're heading. This was something that was sadly missing in 3H since your base was always Garreg Mach. This makes the world feel bigger. Now if only the weather/terrain changed around camp too.)

We can go on "expeditions" now, which is this game's version of teatime. Truthfully, I barely used the teatime mechanic in 3H, so I'm probably not going to do many of these either, lol.

Arval mentions the fog in Magdred Way. But we don't have torches in this game...

An NPC notes how Lonato's beloved by his people and many of them rushed to enlist in his army.

Ashe (who is standing near this NPC) points out how it's wrong to enlist civilians in such a reckless cause. He looks so distraught, just like in 3H. Someone please give this boy a hug!

Annette doesn't have a good impression of Count Rowe. Surprise, surprise.

Rodrigue says that Rufus and Lonato used to clash a lot, but it was also Rufus who gave Castle Gaspard to Lonato. Interesting.

Ingrid brings up Miklan, of all people. She also says the enemy has skilled mercenaries in their employ. (Foreshadowing about Byleth?)

Woah. There's an NPC who talks about a rumor regarding one of Rufus' surviving retainers. Apparently said retainer had plans to try and assassinate Dimitri, but his headless corpse was found at Castle Itha before he could carry out the plan. Was this Dedue's doing? Dimitri's? Neither? Both of them?

Felix talks about the rebellion he put down with Dimitri years ago, and says that's when he saw "the beast" inside of Dimitri. Nothing we didn't already know from 3H, but it's good to have the refresher.

It sure is nice to see Seteth and Flayn again. <3

Interesting to note that Seteth was a Wyvern Rider when he appeared in last chapter's battle, but his starting class when he joins here is....cavalier. Weird. Also, because of how this game's class mechanics work, he can't actually use the Spear of Assal in his preferred class!

Catherine's here too, but she's sadly not playable (yet?). Strange that she's not with Rhea. Cyril's here as well, but he is leaving to go to Rhea, who is staying in a town called Camulus.

Interlude

Count Rowe sadly has a generic mage/scholar model, but he's still a complete snake and craven opportunist, just as was heavily implied in 3H. I'm guessing Gwendal is supposed to represent the dark side of knightly fealty, because serving and being willing to die defending this piece of trash is uh...not a good look, lol.

Battle

Arval again warns about the fog. I just realized that it hasn't been explained exactly how Arval has saved Shez's life so many times. With Sothis and Byleth, we knew about Divine Pulse, but what does Arval do? I'd like some clarification.

Ah, one of the strategies is a torch! Persuade Dorothea is also listed.

Oh shit. After defeating the vanguard, Byleth comes out (along with that badass/foreboding music). Now we're supposed to defeat them, and uh...yeah, they still hit like a truck.

Wait, what?! Freaking Miklan just showed up as a green unit! (Guess Ingrid really was foreshadowing what was going to happen this chapter!)

I can't wait to find out what the deal is with this. Felix is just as incredulous as I am, but Sylvain doesn't sound surprised.

Now there's a prompt to find Jeralt in the fog. I'm badly outmatched against Byleth, so I guess this is plan B.

The fog is really annoying, even more than it was in this mission back in 3H. It's making it very hard to navigate all the twists and turns on this map.

Now Alois has appeared as an enemy unit. Why is Alois here?!

So...Alois. Alois, the proud and dutiful Knight of Seiros...just quit his job and joined Jeralt's mercenary band. What the everloving @$%# writers? This is completely out of character! Why did you do this?!

Byleth defeated Miklan. But I managed to find Jeralt and defeat him, and defeat Alois too. Jeralt orders a fall back and Lonato sends in reinforcements.

There, took out the dark mage creating the fog. And now Lonato appears, and on the way getting to him, out pops Dorothea. Her magic's explosive of course, but "persuading" her wasn't hard.

Lonato calls the Central Church a "poisoned chalice." He really drank the Kool-aid didn't he? He does at least have the decency to ask Ashe to back down, but Ashe refuses. Poor Ashe deserves so much better than this.

Arval sounds strangely chill that Byleth got away.

Got an A Rank, because I went over the time limit. Stupid fog. Dimitri got the MVP. Shocker!

We see the Faerghus Four (plus Dedue) meeting with Miklan. Dimitri commends him for his efforts and Miklan's all about the money.

Felix is pissed (more than usual I mean). It's hard to say if it's because Miklan's a known bandit, or because he wasn't informed of this development, or because of concern for Sylvain. Probably all three.

Dimitri says he conferred with the Margrave over recruiting Miklan, because the Kingdom lacks military leaders. He points out that Miklan was trained by House Gautier, and that Faerghus has been dependent on Relics to protect their lands since its founding, but with Crests fading out, there needs to be an alternate path.

Felix and Ingrid still aren't convinced he should be a commander. Miklan says he's less a commander and more of a prisoner, since his every move is being watched.

Ah, Sylvain says he was one of the first people Dimitri consulted over this decision. That's comforting to know; it would've been a colossal jerk move for Dimitri to bring in Miklan without running it past Sylvain first. Sylvain sounds fairly chill about the situation, TBH.

Oh. Oh! Judging by what Dimitri says here, I think he partly came to this decision due to guilt about Rufus. Now that makes a lot of sense!

This is a really good scene. Whatever your personal opinion about Miklan, this discussion allows the player to see both sides of the argument explained, and Ingrid and Felix both get to voice their disagreement with Dimitri and he listens to their criticism and takes it in. Character dynamics! Actual nuance! It's great stuff!

Sounds like we're heading to Arianrhod next. Bring on the Silver Maiden!

#few3h #fe3hopes #azure gleam #blue lions #midnight plays azure gleam

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fireemblems24 · 3 years

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Dimitri's Supports

I have waited FOREVER for this. Let's go. And I decided to put my patience to the test, saving Dedue for last.

Since it's Dimitri and I love him, and like Dedue who I also love, he's the only one unlocking all his A-Supports, I'm going to blog all my reactions to them like I did with Dedue. Part of me wishes I thought of this for the other characters, but honestly it would've taken forever lol. Plus Dimitri and Dedue get special treatment because I said so.

Raphael

Starting off with something light hearted, I hope. I do wonder if I'm going to regret not saving this one for the inevitably heavy-handed stuff coming later.

I'm seriously betting this is a support you're supposed to get in part 1 lol. Dimitri sounds young (or maybe I'm just haven't heard non-growl part 2 Dimitri enough yet?)

Dimitri's training made Raphael think he was dying lol. Dimitri's strength is really meme tier.

I need fanart of Dimitri and Chrom co-miserating their mishandled strength breaking something. And Lucina.

Lamo, Raphael has never felt a cramp before. Lucky bastard.

Raphael is a sweetie, going to apologize to his muscles. I really wish they gave him something else to talk about other than muscles and food. Not everyone needs Dimitri tier development, but I think I'd like Raphael a lot more if he just got a smidge more depth.

Got to say, it's a bit jarring to go from "moments away from a suicide charge in the rain" to "lol, Raphael, it's muscle pain." As glad as I am that I got this support, I do think some should've been locked to part 1.

And this isn't just for Dimitri's development. I also saw Marianne and Raphael's B before this support and she reverted back to her part 1 self too.

Catherine

Maybe it's just me, but he does sound a bit older.

OMG - Dimitri's back. 😭😭😭

Sorry, it didn't really hit in that first one since that seemed like a part 1 support.

Oh, cool! I was wondering if anyone would bring up Catherine returning to Faerghus. My bets is she's too loyal to Rhea. (I guessed right)

Catherine be simpin. That's ok, I get it.

So it's not because Catherine dislikes Dimitri, or that she's absolutely needed to rule House Charon, so I think Dimitri just likes her. She's cool though. I get it.

Lamo, she told him he'd better get his sleep like he's a kid.

Curious how the A+ support will play out.

Mercedes

Team Mom's support!

Oh, no, this one's taking a serious turn isn't it? But their initial supports were so light and cute.

Mercedes just told Dimitri that he's kind to a fault. Somehow I know he's going to deny that.

Annnnnd I'm right 😭😭😭He's still calling himself a killer and disgusting monster 😭😭😭

OK - so THIS seems perfectly in tone with his recent character development. But it's so sad hearing him still talk about himself that way.

Mercedes is such a therapist. I can't. She's too pure. But savage. I saw that Lorenz support.

"I am scared . . . so scared that I will forget their faces." 😭😭😭😭😭😭 Dimitri why????

Mercedes telling Dimitri to live in the present. Her supports are always so good. I legit think she's easily a top 10 favorite in this game.

Wow, Dimitri saying if someone told him that 5 years ago, he'd be different. DID NO ONE EVER GIVE HIM ANY HELP AT ALL???

I love how she's talking to him as a classmate, and equal, and not talking up to him. He's always wanted that.

Dimitri's never given his own dreams any thought 😭😭😭He really was just 100% living for other people most of the time. 😭😭😭

Awww MERCEDES, I can't. She says she just wants to keep being his friend. This is so damn sweet. And heavy. But still sweet.

It just hits super hard knowing how badly Dimitri just wanted friends in part 1. And looking back, Mercedes and Sylvain were really the only two who were pretty casual with him.

Aww, yeah, Mercedes not putting up with the bullshit, Dimitri. Telling him to quit the self-deprecation! God, I love her.

Oh, God, they both said the old FE code for "we're married" i.e. I want to "stay by your side."

Ok, @garlandgerard, I totally get why you ship this. Mercedes loves to nurture people, and Dimitri's emotionally needy, so they match pretty well. She also didn't put up with the constant self-put-downs, but stayed gentle about it. And they talked like equals too, like friends, which is what Dimitri always wanted. It's all very sweet.

Annette

Yeah, see, this one starts off with "your highness," but Mercedes it was just Dimitri. No hate for Annette. She's my girl.

These two always give me sibling vibes.

Haha, Annette "I thought I already knew you, but I'm not sure I really do." Hmmmm wonder what Dimitri did that made her think that maybe there's parts of him she didn't know. No. idea.

Hey, Annette, no one blames you for not knowing what to say to Dimitri when they reunited lol.

Annette too pure too, wanting to cheer Dimitri up with his favorite food.

Her not knowing what he likes to eat is 100% that moment when you realize you don't know someone's favorite color.

HOW can Dimitri have no strong feelings about food. I'm having pizza right now. Let me tell you, I have strong feelings about some food.

I love how easily Dimitri deflected from talking about himself lol.

Awwww, Annette wants to live with her family again. I'll make that happen, Annette. Don't worry.

Haha, they're conspiring together behind Gilbert's back.

They still have an A+ support, which is weird, because that seemed pretty well ended? Like I see why Catherine's needed more, but not this one. Still, not going to say no. I like their dynamic.

Ingrid

OCF they're training. God I love all the Faerghus childhood group though.

Oh, fuck, here comes Glenn again. My heart's not ready for this with Rodrigue dead. Poor Felix.

Ingrid being Dimitri's knight 😊😊😊 as it should be.

Haha, Dimitri asks her for an interpretation. Just make her your knight.

Glad he hasn't started saying "I'm not worthy!" Because right now it's about Ingrid's feelings.

Wow, there, Ingrid. "However you please, Your Highness." That . . . that sounds like an invitation. To "staying by your side."

Dimitri laughed. 😊😊😊

Oh, God, this is so cute. His pause asking her to support and defend him as his knight. 😊😊😊 OMG. I'm not sure that's all she had in mind though, good Sir, have you LOOKED in the mirror?

Seriously though, Ingrid's just surrounded by studs, isn't she?

Oh, God, I'm right. She didn't just mean knight. But Dimitri's too dense in that area to notice. She crushing hard. Girl, I get you.

She blushing, saying "for the Kingdom," naw, she just like him. Me too, Ingrid. Me too.

Dimitri always makes people promise not to die on him. It's so sad considering . . .

Flayn

With Flayn it's always a toss up. Sometimes things are super light hearted, and other times it's way heavy.

On a random note, does no one wonder why Flayn hasn't aged a day in 5 years?

Flayn having nightmares. Not allowed. I bet it's fucking Jeritza's fault. I'm glad you get to rip him a new one so many times in this game.

Why is Flayn apologizing?? She's never done a thing wrong in her life.

Right, Flayn's other support with Dimitri was pretty heavy. And it started so funny with him stomaching her food.

Oh, good grief, what's he apologizing for? Ok - so Dimitri did do some things wrong. But not to Flayn.

He lied. Let me guess. Her food actually sucks.

Aw, got it. He went right to the meal. Is he really going to come out and say, well it actually sucked 😂

WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK

WHAT ABOUT ALL THOSE MEALS???? AND THE TEA an embarrassing amount of tea.

Wait. He can't taste ANYTHING??? Like. How? Did he hide that????

Ok - I need to look at his team and dining dialogue.

OMG. He really never says a word about how anything tastes? He always just talks about smells????

OMG. How did I NOT NOTICE. I've taken Dimitri to dinner a million times. And tea timed him too many times to admit too.

AND I NEVER NOTICED HE NEVER ONCE SAID HOW ANYTHING TASTED. HOW.

OMG that support with Annette hits different now 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

OMG and Dedue's support with Flayn hits different now. Since he wanted to badly to find food Dimitri loves 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

Does Dedue know? Is that why he's so dedicated to cooking??

Can I headcannon that?

OMG, I feel so awful about that jab about pizza. Dimitri CAN'T TASTE pizza or anything 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

Please someone tell me there isn't any more "this awful thing also happened to Dimitri and he's failed to tell you" like learning he almost fucking died at Duscur. And now this. Dimitri needs to learn how to fucking complain.

The writers are so fucking mean to Dimitri. OMG. OMG, how am I supposed to take him to dinner and tea now, knowing this?

Why does everything hit so differently now? And so many Blue Lions supports are about food - but Dimitri can't relate

😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

This game needs to stop bullying Dimitri.

But like, God, can you imagine? Not tasting anything? I'd starve. I'd actually starve. I never really get hungry. I really would starve.

On the flip side, he's good for Flayn then, since someone can eat her cooking I guess.

"I was just saying what I thought you would want to hear . . ." Dimitri - a summary.

Naw, that's a kind lie. That kind of lie doesn't really hurt anyone.

Oh - dear God. Flayn. Stop. No sampling pungent food.

Oh, she blushing. Dimitri got her blushing

Please tell me in their paired ending Dimitri gets his taste back.

Oh, there's an A+, does he taste something. Please tell me he tastes something.

This support though. It wasn't really one on my radar but

😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

Gilbert

Oh, man, this one right after Flayn's. God, I'm going to need the Alois one after this. Gilbert and Dimitri are two of the most somber characters in the franchise.

And I haven't forgotten that heartbreaking B support.

Haha Lambert sucked at lying too. Dimitri too pure. Weirdly, despite everything, it's still pretty true.

Oh, shit, oh shit, we're back to Dimitri's demand that Gilbert kill him. I'm betting you usually get that in part 2.

God, imagine seeing Dimitri recover only to see him beg for death again 😭😭😭😭😭😭

I need alcohol.

I need the Alois support.

OMG, shit, Dimitri. No. Don't. Stop.

Like, I know Gilbert won't really kill him, but damn. This support is heavy.

No, Dimitri, no Gilbert is not cruel for not killing you. God.

Oh, not sure about this. I get what Gilbert's going at here, but telling Dimitri that he's not allowed to die because he's got a duty is . . . I think Rodrigue's and Mercedes' live for what you want/the present is a LOT healthier.

At the same time, this is a pretty effective way to make sure Dimitri won't go and try this again, because he really takes duty seriously.

Dimitri doesn't wish to die? 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

Oh, thank God.

"Many times I have felt that I cannot afford to die . . . But this was the first time I truly feared the prospect." 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

"Is it really right for me to live?" Oh, dear God. I'm so soft for Dimitri. I can't.

Gilbert answered that one right. 100%.

Damn, these supports.

Alois

OK. I need this one. I really need this one.

I really hope Alois' inspiration is bad puns. I need bad puns right now.

Pretty sure this is a part 1 support though. I love how Alois, not Dimitri, is leading this. And that the person the Kingdom NEEDS is running around and getting attacked by monsters lol

Ok, bad puns. Bring them.

There we go. Thank you, thank you, Alois.

OMG no one's laughing 😂😂😂

Dimitri's laughing 😭😭😭😭😭😭

That's it. This is always getting saved for part 2. I need to hear part 2 Dimitri laugh.

I'm also so glad someone finds Alois funny. Dimitri and Petra need to start a club.

OMG I love the two other confused soldiers. I needed this 😂😂😂

Marianne

These two were so sweet in their C and B supports.

I swear I'm going to end up shipping Dimitri with everyone. Except maybe Annette, no hate, they just seem so much like brother and sister to me.

And Felix x Annette 100%

Survivor's Guilt - the pairing. Both wondering why they survived 😭😭😭

"There are so many others who are much more deserving of life . . ." - who said it? Marianne or Dimitri?

These two just understand how each other feels so well. It hits so different compared to Marianne's other romantic possible supports where they just try to make her smile.

Instead these two take comfort in finding someone who understands how they feel so well and feel relieved they can share that with someone.

Haha - "I must go on living. I cannot give in to death so readily." This coming right after his support with Gilbert. Good job, Gilbert.

They've both had it so rough 😭😭😭😭😭😭

"There is no need to force yourself to smile as your soul bleeds." Dimitri always gives such good advice that he never follows.

Aww, now at least it's getting cute instead of just heavy. Marianne laughed too 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

Yesss, Girl, preach. I got a little sick of her other supports all being "cheer up!" Like I know it's all in good faith, but I'm so glad this chain exists. It just hits different.

Dimitri doesn't think he's strong enough to live his life. 😭😭😭 this game. I swear.

ohhhh - ohhh, Dimitri blushing now. And all she needed to say was they've been brought closer together. Congrats Marianne!

OHHHH tables have been turned. Now someone's making Dimitri promise he needs to live!

"I don't know what I'd do with myself if we lost you . . ."

"I promise to the goddess of Fodlan that I will never give you cause for despair."

OMG these two are being so sweet, I can't. 😭😭😭😊😊😊

Felix

Oh, boy, here we go. This should be . . . interesting.

Oh, we're starting off good I see. Felix telling Dimitri he needs to answer quickly or get cut in half 😔Felix. No.

Dimitri sounds so somber 😭

Dimitri admitting both are him - the vengeful "boar" and the friendly good person. And this is why I love him.

Dimitri feels the need to shoulder all the regret the dead feel, please don't. They wouldn't want that 😭😭😭😭😭

"The dead won't acknowledge your loyalty, they don't care." - Felix not wrong there.

I partly agree with the idea Dimitri is "serving his own ego" by claiming he's acting for the dead. I think it's a bit more complicated than that, but I think that's part of it.

Felix saying some good stuff here about the dead being dead and the living being living.

"If you keep stringing gravestones around your neck, you'll snap." - Felix, I don't know if you noticed but . . . uh . . . he sort of did.

Felix telling Dimitri to become a grave keeper is a bit funny. Not going to lie.

"I'm not immune to emotion you know." - just tsunderes things

Aw, Felix is upset his father died 😭😭 after all that shit-talking about Rodrigue 😭😭

Wish Felix didn't cut Dimitri off when he said "more than anyone you-" (care about other people, unless he joins CF and just kills everyone)

Oh, God, Felix is such a tsundere. "I couldn't stand the pathetic look on your face. That's all." Sure, Felix.

Kinda wish these two had an A+ though. Seems like there's more to do than the A+ with Annette and Flayn.

Really curious to see what their paired ending is like after that. Seems they're still learning to learn about each other. Well, Felix is. Dimitri didn't seem too upset lol.

Dedue

Ok guys. Here we go. I can't believe I managed to wait for this for last. Everyone hyped this one, so let's hope.

Really? We open with Dimitri having scars on his back? 😭

From 9 years ago? So scars from Duscur then?

Images of shirtless Dimitri now. though Not bad images.

He got scars protecting Dedue?

"It makes me think that is was worthwhile that someone like me survived." 😭😭😭 he's talking about protecting Dedue? 😭😭😭

😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

"But I saved someone - saved you. That and that alone has been my crutch." 😭😭😭😭😭

I always knew these two were co-dependent.

Dimitri really out here saying that saving Dedue helped him "justify" surviving. 😭😭😭😊😊😊

OMG THAT'S THEIR STORY

OMG, poor Dedue. And Dimitri 😭😭😭did he literally "take a bullet" to save Dedue 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 and still has scars? No wonder Dedue's so loyal. Some kid he didn't know did that. That's one hell of an introduction.

And picturing little Dedue just resigned and angry and waiting to die and just 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

Oh, Dedue, you've repaid that debt ten-fold I'm sure.

Ahaha, Dimitri's doing the "you'd better accept your worth!" discussion this time lol.

Dear God these two. Now Dimitri's bringing up that Dedue busted him out of the jail.

I swear, these two have more of a plot off screen than some routes do on screen.

And now picturing Dimitri resigned and just ready to die. And then Dedue busts in. 😭😭😭

"That was nothing more than my duty as your vassal." Stop that Dedue. Dimitri doesn't want you to be his vassal. He wants more.

Holy shit.

"You are irreplaceable. Cherished." 😭😭😭😊😊😊😭😭😭😊😊😊😭😭😭😊😊😊😭😭😭😊😊😊

Not to be that person - but I tell all my "friends" that.

Yes, Dedue, stop saying insisting you're just a "vassal" - that's a worse joke than Alois' puns from earlier.

"Please . . . do not look at me that way." What way, like you're about to make Dimitri cry, or like . . .

"You promised me you would build a Kingdom that is proud to boast of Duscur blood." - shit, man, these two. I just . . .

OMG so much emotion from Dedue. The only time I ever heard that before was in VW when he learned Dimitri died. But let's not remember that right now ��😭😭😭😭😭

Oh shit. He called him "Dimitri." 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊

And it made him blush.

OMG.

Guys, these two.

Aww, Dimitri looks so surprised. 😊😊😊😊😊😊

Oh, these two are so soft for each other. I can't. I just can't.

"To be your friend . . . is what I have always wanted." You're going to get it.

Man, I feel almost guilty S-Supporting Dimitri. He needs to pair up with Dedue pronto.

Dimitri sounds chocked up. OMG.

"So please call upon me when you walk alone at night." Ok. Dedue. Ok. Yes. Guys. This is all very straight.

I'm not saying it's - you know - cannon, but there's some big feels here.

Oh, Dimitri, stop it. You like Dedue's overprotectiveness. Don't lie.

Man, you guys were so right. Dimitri really just came out and said Dedue was "cherished" and "irreplaceable." Like, I'm not making this stuff up. And Dedue blushing hardcore just saying Dimitri's name.

They're both just so soft. I can't. I literally cannot. This support was gold. It was worth all they hype.

And learning more about how they meant. Dimitri really taking a bullet for Dedue there. I just . . .

I just want all the happiness for both of them. They're really something special towards each other. Like I legitimately think this is one of the most two-way loyal relationships in the whole franchise, and definitely the tightest bond in this game.

Like in past games you had Seth for Ephraim and Erikia and Soren for Ike and it's not like Ike, Ephraim and Erikia and etc don't care, but it wasn't the same level, you know? But this is such a two way street.

And I'm so weak for bodyguard with a crush. Like Seth/Eirika? Yes. Geoffrey/Elincia? 100%. Riza/Roy (Fullmetal Alchemist) there again. I'm sure there's more, but those are my top ones. Even Merlin/Arthur sort of counts even if Arthur doesn't know Merlin's his bodyguard lol.

I need to read fanfic for these two. I really don't want to spoil anything, but I'm dying. They're both just so sweet, and I just really love their dynamic. I really want to do a write up on it once I get to the end of the game.

#fire emblem #fire emblem three houses #dimitri alexandre blaiddyd #dimitri fire emblem #fe3h #fe16

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mrrow-of-laughter · 2 years

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so i saw something was happening and didn’t wanna miss out

Buddy no one is excusing genocide. I never said that the Kingdom people were excused of committing genocide on Duscur nor did I say that they are free of the wrongdoing. I said that it happened because Lambert was killed by TWSITD and it wouldn’t have happened otherwise i.e cause and effect. Because prior, Faerghus and Duscur did have good relations. So to make it clear: Kingdom people commiting genocide on Duscur as a result of their King’s murder is bad and wrong AND Genocide was due to an assasination of the King commited by TWSITD for the future Emperor’s benefit. If you don’t think these two arguments/claims can coexist, I don’t know what to tell you.

it was, in fact, done so they could destabilize the kingdom for a future takeover. even if that is the case though, i’d like to know how edelgard is responsible for that. she was like... 13 or 14. i’m not sure where this argument started but i fail to see how it’s relevant to “edelgard bad”.

I saw the post and I think it’s absolute horseshit. Just because Edelgard takes Kronya (which doesn’t matter and feels like a deflection on your end) doesn’t mean she doesn’t take Flayn. As the quote says “Bring me the two women and step away”, which means she was okay with kidnapping Flayn. Also there’s some Flame Emperror soliders, I think it’s very telling that Edelgard had a hand in this.

admittedly, raxis makes a lot of assumptions, but so do you. she has nothing to gain from kidnapping flayn at all. if you have an argument to the contrary, i’d love to hear it. i don’t at all see how kidnapping flayn would benefit her in any way. she could have been trying to kidnap her, and she also could’ve just been trying to get her away. we don’t know. also, they’re literally classmates, i think if she wanted to kidnap her super bad, she would’ve had many other better opportunities.

She was aware of what exactly was happening during Remire if this conversation is anything to go by and considering you don’t go to Remire until the end of the month, she did nothing to descalate the situation and just let it happen so that she could use it to her advantage. And it matters in this case because she knew who was responsible, what exactly was going on and just let it happen.

that’s also a lot of assumptions. she says in every route that she would’ve stopped them had she known. i don’t see why she would lie about that, because she’s in her disguise and again, has nothing to gain from lying. that, and i always thought the conversation with hubert was about something that happened a longer time ago, not something that was like, actively happening, judging from the way he says everything. keep in mind that at this point, the villagers were just behaving “strange”, they weren’t going on killing rampages, so there’s no reason for hubert to talk about it like some grand tragedy they couldn’t prevent in the past.

Whom she defies and bad mouths and still faces no reprecussions with the exception of Cornelia. I know your argument is that she uses the church to defy him well then what’s stopping Thales from doing an investigation on the matter specifically in the forest? He did it for Cornelia in Arianrhod why couldn’t he do it for Kronya and Solon? What is he? An idiot? It’s almost like he doesn’t care or maybe he can’t do anything about it cause he doesn’t have the power. Almost like he’s her puppet.

because kronya and solon are completely disposable pawns. both have already been revealed as members of the agarthans, while thales and cornelia are still in disguise and holding positions of power. tomas was someone with moderate influence i guess, but he and monica were mostly random people and when solon and kronya disguised as them, they essentially were meant to be the men on the inside, your average joes someone would never suspect, while thales and cornelia hold positions of significant power - arundel is the regent of the empire and cornelia is the faerghus court mage. we already know thales and solon only used kronya as a means to an end - who’s to say solon isn’t the same? kronya did her job and killed jeralt, therefore solon was fine with sacrificing her. solon tried to get rid of the vessel of sothis, and he miserably failed. that’s all the relevant info thales needs to say “yeah, whatever”. the reason he got mad over cornelia was because she was an essential part of them maintaining a foothold in the politics of fodlan, which neither solon nor kronya were. he doesn’t care because edelgard killing kronya and solon means absolutely nothing to their grander plans.

i’ll put your last point, if you can call it that, here with this. i’m gonna double down and say that yes, actually, thales giving orders to edelgard and hubert is in fact a solid argument for why he’s their boss and not the other way round. now, i’m not gonna sit here and say he phrases them as requests because it’s some kinda intimidation tactic, that’s way too far into speculation territory for me, but he does, in fact, phrase his orders as requests. it’s literally flat out stated.

but wait, i have more. did you know this line is mistranslated? i can’t really grab a source right now, but you can ask anyone who speaks japanese, or you can literally just throw it into google translate. if i find where i first read it, i’ll link it, but in case you think i’m just making things up, i’m not - it’s enough of a big deal for the wiki to have a note there that corrects the mistranslation. basically it has the exact opposite meaning. my question is, why would edelgard then have to trick the agarthans if she is in fact their boss? from the original quote, if anything, it sounds like cornelia thought they were controlling her. if they were her puppets, there would be no need to trick them, because they’d just obey her.

as for the badmouthing - you think that the agarthans would just be totally okay with their supposed puppetmaster wanting to eradicate them? thales knows about her hatred for them - if nothing else, she outright says as much in the scene, so he has to know by that point. i don’t understand what means she would have of controlling them, because she’s made it completely clear she does not want to see them reach their “salvation”. say this is true and she was ordering them around - what’s stopping them from rebelling against her? they have extremely advanced technology. they literally have massive robots. if she really is their puppetmaster and has all the control over them, then explain why they’re fine with her outright saying she will destroy them, despite that directly clashing with their plans (obviously) and obeying her - and don’t say it’s because they don’t have the military or political power, because they do. so again, i don’t see what leverage she has over them. like you said, they’re not stupid. if they thought their supposed leader was going to go against their plans which have spanned across centuries, they would’ve done something. the only reason why they would entertain her musings about wanting to destroy them and not act at all is if they were sure she wouldn’t pull anything, which is only really possible if they have enough control over her.

that also answers the question you asked - why does thales get mad over cornelia but not solon? not only is cornelia very important to thales and the agarthans, but also because of that importance, this is edelgard showing she actually means business when she kills her. up until then, she didn’t do much aside from the occasional remark and taking out pawns that they had little use for anyway - something thales lets her get away with because it has no impact on the greater picture. but cornelia was extremely important and edelgard knows that - it’s an “oh shit” moment for thales because up to that point he thought edelgard was all bark and no bite. her taking action against one of their major actors disproves that. this is why he retaliates - he wants to show her that if she actually strays from their plans, there will be consequences.

#edelgard critical #edelgard discourse #edelgard positive

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iturbide · 3 years

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What do you think could have been done to improve 3H? Given the budget/time, what changes would you have done? Also, what elements do you consider KEY to a good story?

fffffff I would have done so many things differently in 3H it requires a read more but to your second question: I feel that characters are a key element of a good story. Possibly the most crucial element, to me. You can have the most epic, incredible plot in the world -- but if the characters taking part in it aren't interesting or able to engage the reader, then the story loses a huge part of its impact. It's only by caring about the people taking part that a reader can get invested in the story and its outcome; if you don't care about what happens to someone (either in a good or a bad way) then you're at best apathetic to the events, at worst bored by them.

Frankly everything else in a story -- narrative structure, conflict, etc -- is so malleable that I can't consider it key. You can easily make stories that have no classic conflict if you have characters that people care about, because just watching them interact with the world and each other can be beautifully engaging. So at least to me, the key is in the characters: whether you love them and want them to succeed or love to hate them and want to see them get their just desserts, they're the ones that do the heavy lifting in a story, so making sure they're compelling is one of the most important things to me when writing.

As for 3H though I have a lot of changes I would make. Throughout the whole game.

Academy Phase

Giving each House their own unique set of missions. I feel that part of why the Azure Moon route is considered so strong is because it's the most character driven, something that starts in the Academy Phase: everything from Lonato's rebellion to Miklan's theft of the Gautier Relic are highly personal to the Blue Lions students, with Ashe being Lonato's adoptive son and Miklan being Sylvain's estranged older brother (and someone who's well-known to Dimitri, Felix, and Ingrid on top of it). While these are both important events, for the Black Eagles and the Golden Deer there's not the same level of personal engagement: it's just a thing that's happening rather than a devastating blow to the students we love. While there are certainly missions that can and should stay the same (the raid on Seiros' tomb, Flayn's kidnapping, the Remire incident, etc.) having select missions be personalized by House to give that same level of engagement would have made for a far stronger narrative, since it enhances the player's connection with the students of their chosen House.

Just as an example: for the Black Eagles, rather than putting down Lonato's rebellion, maybe have their mission be aiding a small sect of the Church in the Empire that's being plagued by monsters or bandits. It gives us the chance to learn more of the history between the Church of Seiros and the Adrestian Empire, how close they were and how it fell apart a century before the game; Rhea might explain that she wants to improve these failing relations by having Imperial students go to aid this disconnected branch, and in private Edelgard could hint at her distrust of the institution and of Rhea herself even if she is following orders. Not only that, we could hear on returning that the Blue Lions students accompanied the Knights of Seiros in dealing with Lonato's rebellion, so we still get the fallout from those events and have a reason to choose the Blue Lions in another run.

Another example: for the Golden Deer, rather than going after Miklan and witnessing his transformation, maybe a report arrives that someone stole Failnaught and task the Alliance students with retrieving it. It lets us learn more about the situation in the Alliance, giving more details about Duke Oswald's situation, Claude's appointment as the heir to the Riegan House...and while he would never do it personally, have there be subtle implications but no hard proof that Duke Gloucester is behind the theft, just as he was the death of Claude's Uncle; on top of that, we could still get a battle against a Black Beast when Failnaught transforms the bandit, giving Claude a very personal look at how dangerous these Relics can be (something he likely wouldn't have had deep insight into, given his Almyran roots). And again, on returning to the monastery we could see the Blue Lions dealing with the fallout from Miklan.

More interaction between the House Leaders in general. There are only a handful of scenes where all three of them interact together, and I can only think of one instance where they're even in each other's company at the monastery (Claude and Dimitri in one of the early chapters). Having more of these moments where they're apparently interacting on the grounds or where we can see them together in cutscenes, giving us more insight into the leaders of the other Houses we didn't pick, would give us a lot more investment in them as people and make the eventual revelations at the end of the Academy Phase hit a lot harder.

Especially with Claude's ambition being what it is, it would have been a far better show of his character to have him hanging out with different students every month -- not just from his own House like Hilda, but from other Houses. Have him be talking with Petra in the dining hall one month, or with Annette at the reception hall another; if you sided with the Black Eagles or the Blue Lions, it would be very easy to suspect that he's up to tricks and trying to figure out individual weaknesses...but if you picked the Golden Deer, you'd likely realize very quickly that he's got no ulterior motives because you've been seeing him in action and getting Supports with him.

More Supports period. We were robbed of some fascinating interactions, like Ashe and Dorothea or Dedue and Petra, and some really strong Support chains stop before they reach their full potential (several Sylvain supports, including Marianne and Bernadetta). I want to see so many more of these and I would add in a ton if given half an opportunity.

Giving Byleth more agency. This bleeds over into the War Phase, too, but one of my biggest complaints about the game is how limited the response options are, especially when it comes to Edelgard and her frightening rhetoric as early as chapter 3. Give us more options with real varied outcomes, rather than it changing one immediate line of dialogue; give us real dialogue trees rather than minutely altered responses so that we have an opportunity to affect change. This runs the risk of drastically altering Byleth's relationship with the various House Leaders, but that potential is undeniably fascinating in and of itself.

War Phase

Azure Moon: Make Dimitri's turn more gradual. Show him grappling with Rodrigue's words more, have more scenes where he and Byleth talk and he tries to work through his understandably complicated feelings. It doesn't even have to take that much longer, honestly: every week for the next month, give us an extra cutscene and let there be a small change in how you can interact with him. For example, maybe he still doesn't attend the round table in the first week, but you do have the option of assigning him to a task around the monastery; in the second week if you explore, you have the option to invite him to a meal; in the third week he finally attends the roundtable and you're able to work on his skills again; and in the fourth week his supports finally unlock.

Azure Moon: Make Claude recruitable. Don't have him leave Failnaught and go waltzing back to Almyra, have him actually head up the Alliance in this time of need and volunteer to join forces with the Kingdom forces. You can have the option of turning him down, if you really want, at which point he might leave Lorenz in charge and go back home, but give us the option of bringing him on board along with any other former Deer that fought with him at Derdriu -- and furthermore, let us have some supports with Dedue and Dimitri to go with it. Ideally those Support chains would be available in the Academy phase and maybe you'd have the recruitment option only if Dimitr's Support level with Claude is at least a B (since you can get to A during the Academy Phase but not unlock it until the War Phase as I experienced many times). But still: Claude recruitment. Yes.

Verdant Wind: Make Dimitri recruitable. Having him die offscreen after Gronder is absolutely terrible, especially since we know for a fact that at least two people from the Alliance army saw what was either going to happen or directly happening. At the end of the battle, give us an option of going after Dimitri: if you choose not to, he still dies, but if you do you have the opportunity to save him and recruit any other former Lions with him. As abve, Supports between Claude and Dimitri would be great, and you could even keep Dimitri's Supports locked for a while and include scenes of Byleth and/or Claude and Dimitri talking and working with him until he starts turning around the way he does in Azure Moon. Dimitri's death in Verdant Wind is a travesty and it needs to be changed.

Verdant Wind: More character stuff in general. One of the things that makes Azure Moon such a strong route is that it's so deeply character-driven. Verdant Wind is much more plot-driven, and while it's still strong, it could have been more impactful if the characters were more directly affected and/or we got to see more of their individual actions. For instance: after securing Myrddin, have weekly missions where you actually go along and meet with the Great Lords and discuss with them before the final round table. Have Byleth and Claude go with Lorenz to talk to Count Gloucester and try to get his buy-in, and give us more dialogue trees where Byleth can contribute (for better or for worse) so that in the end you either get his full agreement or only grudging consideration because Lorenz intervenes. Get us engaged, show us more of the situation in the Alliance, and let us have a role in moving from this uneasy state of neutrality to full agreement that it's time to take action.

Silver Snow: A unique story in general. Basically everything in the route is a weaker copy of the events in Verdant Wind, and regardless of which came first, Verdant Wind handles the events in a way that makes more logical and narrative sense than Silver Snow does. So even if things could be changed in Verdant Wind to make it stronger and more unique, Silver Snow needs the most work and ideally should have a new plot made just for them that gives the Knights of Seiros a chance to really shine.

Silver Snow: More for Seteth to do period. Despite the fact that he's ostensibly our Lord stand-in for the route (since he's the one who meets you after the timeskip, where it's either Claude, Dimitri, or Edelgard who does in the other routes), he barely has a chance to do anything and doesn't make much of an impact on the route overall. Silver Snow could -- and ostensibly should -- give him a chance to showcase his talents and stand as a unique and engaging character, since his role in the Academy Phase was so minor; relegating him to the same general role in Silver Snow does him a great injustice.

Crimson Flower: Have Edelgard suffer consequences. This is one of my biggest complaints with the game on the whole: that Crimson Flower goes out of is way to glorify imperialism and Edelgard gets a rosy perfect ending with nothing ever going wrong according to her endcards. Logically the way she achieved her goal would have led to massive dissent, unrest, and civil conflict in the territories she conquered and subjugated; her route needs to show that, and make it clear that there are in fact consequences for her actions, both within the original Adrestian territry and without in the newly conquered ones.

Crimson Flower: Deal with the damn Agarthans. Given that she knows about them in detail the way neither of her fellow House Lords did, it's an absolute travesty that we never saw her go after them in her route: all she did was show her hand too early and cause hundreds of senseless deaths when the Agarthans fired on Arianrhod. Her route should have ended with a conflict against the Agarthan menace -- and likely a very hard one, harder even than the battle against Rhea, because she left them for too long and gave them time to bolster their defenses before she arrived. And given that she's killed Rhea, the end of that conflict would likely be a massive loss of life when Thales bombs Shambhala -- further consequences for her actions.

All Routes: Give Byleth agency. This is especially pertinent in CF where canon reduced Byleth to Edelgard's enabler: give them a chance to fight her, push back against things that either don't make sense or are only going to hurt people, argue and maybe force her to change her mind or see another viewpoint rather than continuing to barrel down a path of bloodshed and loss because she selfishly decided that war was the only way. But giving Byleth that same agency in other routes would be equally powerful: let them talk candidly with Dimitri, let them encourage Claude to trust his companions and reveal his Almyran heritage, just...let them have a chance to be their own person, with complicated relationships and the ability to speak freely.

#answered #21stcenturyhero #fire emblem: three houses #look i enjoy 3h a lot #but it's also kind of a mess when you think about it #these are just the immediate changes that come to mind #there are probably more improvements that could be made #but these are a good start #and would have made a much stronger game #at least in my opinion

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butwhatifidothis · 3 years

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Byleth: *watches her dad who according to this fic was the best dad ever get brutally murdered, is left to experience that trauma on her own, is basically told to "suck it up buttercup" by Edel, is sent into a black void to wander endlessly until the end of her days, only escapes after having to part from the goddess who was her steadfast companion* Eagles: *cricket noises* Byleth: *decides to spend more time with the Church folk who actually fucking talk to her* Eagles: *surprised Pikachu meme*

Honestly kinda shocked at just how like. Bad, everyone is. Everyone is just a horrible person - or, more charitable though meaner, incredibly stupid - who's incapable of seeing anyone else's pain but their own.

Ashe was suffering during Lonato - better never actually check up on him! It's enough to just make sure he's off the mission, can't actually go and see if he's holding up okay (#ClaudeIsRight). Sylvain was suffering during Miklan - better scold him for behaving badly because of it! Really, he was being selfish, couldn't he see how much he was inconveniencing Ingrid (#DimitriIsRight)? We already know how everyone's pain is actually Edelgard's in disguise, of course. We conveniently take the camera off of Seteth and Flayn during their emotional paralogue unless it's to make Seteth look bad and them both look suspicious - better not actually let them be the focus of their own story. Byleth is acting strangely after two hugely traumatic events - how inhuman of her! Doesn't she know that the Black Eagles don't like her acting a certain way? And so on and so forth

This story never really explores other characters' pain when it comes up - Edelgard swoops in and says she "understands" it, and it gets promptly pushed to the side. Like, with Sylvain and Miklan, it wasn't Sylvain doing most of the talking about how he felt about what he's going through, we barely got any insight into how Sylvain felt; Edelgard and Ingrid just kinda turned his pain into being about them, actually, with the guy barely getting more than a half-hearted attempt at comfort after the attention was already taken off of him. That's been the prevailing pattern when it comes to discussing pain in this fic, honestly. There's barely any introspection from the character actually going through the tough time presently, it usually goes back into how someone else - almost always Edelgard - felt about something kinda similar that happened to them in the past.

Of course, the one exception to this is Edelgard; her pain gets to be completely hers, with others giving their sympathetic listening ear and comforting words and gestures to make sure that she feels that little bit better than before. Or, rarely, you'll get someone genuinely opening up to her, in an attempt to make her not feel alone. As in, they actually talk about their pain to her and don't just say they vaguely "understand" her; that cringey Stones to Abbigale scene in Chapter 21 has Byleth do this for Edelgard, telling her about the scar on Byleth's chest (that exists at least for the purposes of this fic) that she was told by Jeralt to never tell anyone. She breaks the rule her beloved father told her never to break in order to comfort Edelgard (which in any other fic, with any other characters, might have actually been somewhat moving). It is not often that that - genuine empathy - is given to anyone else, and of course Edelgard is one of the few people who receive it.

It's just so baffling that an author can make their own characters that they're writing look this bad and have it be completely unintentional. You lay it out so simply nonnie; oh wow, I wonder why Byleth is preferring to be with the Lettuce Fam! Maybe it's because they're actually talking to her? Actually engaging with her? At the absolute minimum, Flayn would be treating Byleth as a person and not some inhuman thing like that Black Eagles apparently saw her as. And this is during a time where Byleth was going through some rough fuckin' shit, all while those she thought were close to her sat back and watched her life get fuckin' ruined and did nothin' to help her.

Look. Maybe I'm jumping the gun right? Maybe this'll be explained in a bit - I stopped at Chapter 35, which ends right after Byleth makes her choice to protect Edelgard. Maybe once Edelgard and Byleth reunite with the rest of the Black Eagles their shitty behavior towards her will be addressed. But, like. Damn man

#ask #anon #o captain my captain #exqueuese me princess #everyone's an asshole and I hate it here

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firemblem-fics · 4 years

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SFW alphabet. | seteth

-> Pairing: Seteth x GN!Reader

-> Warnings: None

-> Genre: Fluff, Headcanons

-> A/N: this was chosen by a poll on my discord server except i gave no context in the poll so this is for y’all :) also uh im sorry if i’m not active in the next week, i rlly just had the absolute worst nervous breakdown ive had in a long while LMAO so uh ya might stay away from the internet for a while

warning, long post.

A -> Affection (How affectionate are they? How do they show affection?)

with seteth, affection STAYS private. it will never ever be displayed out in the open, especially not around the students. he prefers to keep personal relationships out of professional life

when he does show affection, though, it’s super slow and gentle. he always hugs you from behind and just sways side to side, pressing little kisses against your temple and cheek while you lean i to his embrace and close your eyes.

B -> Begin (How did the relationship begin?)

it didn’t really have a solid beginning. you just kind of wormed your way into seteth and flayn’s hearts unknowingly. when he asked to court you, you were super super hesitant because you didn’t want to replace his late wife. he assured you that she’d want him and flayn to be happy and that she’d 100% approve of you.

you still have your doubts, but seteth is always there to reassure you.

C -> Cuddles (Do they like to cuddle? How do they cuddle?)

cuddling is saved for nights or early mornings on a day off. seteth is always itching to get up and get things done, so it’s a little on the tougher side to get him to stay. eventually he caves and lays in.

you cuddle facing each other, your head tucked underneath his chin and his legs entangling yours. his hand that lays underneath you plays with the ends of your hair while the other rests gently on your thigh, which is hiked over his hip.

D -> Domestic (Do they want to settle down? How good are they at cooking and cleaning?)

seteth’s thoughts rarely every go astray, but when they do, he imagines what life would be like, just retiring from the monastery and living a nice life with you. he’d like to settle down eventually, but not any time soon

he’s super good at doing his part in chores and duties! of course he is, but he’s very very reliable and does things when asked. it’s nice

E -> Ending (If they had to break up with their partner, how would they do it?)

he would sit you down and explain his reasonings and such. it hurts him, definitely, but he does well at hiding it. until you leave his office, that is.

F -> Fiancé(e) (How do they feel about commitment? How quickly would they want to get married?)

not any time soon, as said earlier. seteth really will not stop his obligations towards the monastery and to fodlan. he wouldn’t have time nor would he want a very extravagant wedding, either. a simple ceremony would suffice.

G -> Gentle (How gentle are they, both physically and emotionally?)

physically, seteth is the epitome of a soft, romantic man. his touches make you melt and he’s always trying to keep you comfortable and happy. if you’re content, hes content.

emotionally, not as much. seteth has trouble sympathizing with some things. he’s used to pushing his feelings aside for the sake of fulfilling a duty or doing something, so he struggles sometimes to understand why someone else can’t do the same. give him time, though, and he’ll get better at comforting

H -> Hugs (Do they like hugs? How often do they do it? What are their hugs like?)

seteth’s hugs are firm and warm. they’re always like a passionate embrace, as if it would be the last time he’d ever touch you

seteth really enjoys hugs and physical affection with you, but as i said earlier, it’s always behind closed doors. sometimes he calls you to his office just so you can sit in his lap while he holds you.

I -> I Love You (How fast do they say the L-word?)

NOT fast. seteth is kind of in denial that he even had feelings for you at first until flayn pointed it out, so it’s rather hard for him to wrap his head around the fact that he loves you.

he does say it first though, as you’re half asleep, making you wonder if you even heard it correctly. you did.

J -> Jealousy (How jealous do they get? What do they do when they’re jealous?)

seteth doesn’t get jealous, really. there’s really nobody around to even like, make him jealous. he knows that a bunch of weird ass teenagers like sylvain aren’t going to actually come in between his and your relationship. honestly, most people in the monastery probably don’t even know that you’re both in a relationship.

if he is jealous, he stays relatively nonchalant about it, asking you to help him with a task somewhere else to take you away from the person

K -> Kisses (What are their kisses like? Where do they like to kiss you? Where do they like to be kissed?)

seteth’s kisses are very loving and passionate. every single one of them are full of adoration, even the little pecks. they never fail to warm up your entire body as everything melts away around you

he loves to kiss your neck. not just for more intimate reasons, but because he absolutely adores your giggles as his beard tickles your skin

this only happens when your relationship has been going on for a while, but seteth really enjoys it when you kiss his ears. they’re super sensitive and they always tinge as red as his cheeks when you kiss them.

L -> Little Ones (How are they around children?)

seteth is super good around his own child, of course, but he doesn’t so so hot around other children. theyre often too rambunctious for his liking, but he’ll tolerate them enough to entertain them sometimes.

M -> Mornings (How are mornings spent with them?)

three words. soft, soft, and soft

you usually either wake up in the same position that you fell asleep in, or you’re spooning. seteth’s always the big spoon, no acceptions. if you’re spooning, he kisses your shoulders and the back of your head until you wake up enough to turn over and give him an actual kiss.

N -> Nights (How are nights spent with them?)

also soft, but a little less.

seteth is always so busy during the day that when he lays in bed, he falls asleep almost instantaneously. if you want to stay up and talk or cuddle, he’ll try his hardest, but please don’t be upset with him if he accidentally dozes off. he’s a hard worker

O -> Open (When would they start revealing things about themselves? Do they say everything at once or wait to reveal things slowly?)

this depends on who you are. if you’re the professor, you more than likely already know everything by the time you get in a relationship with him

if you’re not, then he trusts you enough to catch you up on most things in the early weeks of your relationship. sometimes there’s a little tidbit that he may have forgotten to mention in the talk that comes up later on, but that’s really it

P -> Patience (How easily angered are they?)

seteth has the patience of a saint

hehe

but no, literally. very rarely does he get irritated or impatient with you. you know how he is and know how he likes things to happen or be done, so you do them. kind of like in the Domestic headcanon, he does his part so you try your hardest to do yours. he doesn’t ever have a reason to be impatient with you and is actually rather understanding now that he knows how you function as well

Q -> Quizzes (How much would they remember about you? Do they remember every little detail you mention in passing, or do they kind of forget everything?)

seteth remembers everything. literally everything. you’d think in his 1000+ years of life, he’d be an old ass man with shit memory, but no. to seteth, you and flayn are his number one priority and he’d never forget a thing about yall.

R -> Remember (What is their favorite moment in your relationship?)

seteth’s favorite memory is when he accidentally walked in on you hanging out flayn. you two weren’t doing much other than reading and talking about your books, but it warmed his heart to see his two favorite people bonding

S -> Security (How protective are they? How would they protect you? How would they like to be protected?)

insanely protective, but like in things that matter. if you’re doing something that could get you hurt, he’s in defense mode trying to get you to safety. if you’re in battle, he’s sure to always know where you are just in case.

he’s not one to appreciate being protected- he feels like he failed to protect his people in the past, so to be the protected instead of the protector makes him a little iffy- but he’ll always admit that he needed the protection and will always show his gratitude

count how many times i said protect in that second paragraph wow

T -> Try (How much effort would they put into dates, anniversaries, gifts, etc?)

seteth is romantic. he’s not much for physical gifts, but the memories and sentiment and feelings are so real and present that you really don’t need material things to know that he loves you

of course he does give you gifts, like a pretty bouquet of flowers that he saw in the greenhouse, or a necklace or something from the market that reminded him of you

U -> Ugly (What would be some bad habits of theirs?)

seteth tends to forget to slow down and take a break every once in a while. he’s constantly finding tasks to do around the monastery and doing things to help rhea that he often neglects his own well being. you always remind him and try your best to help him out, but he never really breaks that habit

V -> Vanity (How concerned are they with their looks? Do your looks bother them?)

seteth is rather concerned about how he’s seen in the public eye. how could he not? he’s a very prim and proper man. this, however, doesnt extend to you as much.

he doesn’t expect you to dress up to the nines every day just to be seen around him or whatever. he may be like “darling, are you sure you want to be walking around the monastery in your pajamas?” but the minute you’re like “hell yeah” he lets you be.

W -> Whole (Would they feel incomplete without you?)

this is a tough one, because i feel like seteth would do just fine on his own and would still feel relatively whole. but there would always be like this tiny little sliver of him that constantly misses you when you’re not around

X -> Xtra (A random headcanon for them.)

seteth has a secret, super playful side that only comes out when you’re alone in your shared bedroom. he likes to play wrestle you and mess around just to hear your laugh and see you smile.

Y -> Yuck (What are some things they wouldn’t like, in general or in a partner?)

in a partner, seteth wouldn’t really like someone who’s obnoxiously loud and blatantly disrespectful. it’s one of his biggest pet peeves and he wouldn’t date someone like that.

this doesn’t pertain to people who like, don’t realize their volume or is disrespectful to someone who deserves the disrespect, though. he doesn’t like just overly rude and jnconfiderate people who are like that for no reason

Z -> Zzz (What’s a sleep habit of theirs? Does it change around a partner?)

seteth is the lightest sleeper in the history of the world. he’s always on guard for something to happen. i dont blame him, but sometimes even the littlest bumps in the night wake him up almost completely. don’t ever try to sneak out of bed because chances are, he woke up from you just opening your eyes.

if anything, this habit becomes even more prominent when you start sharing a bed with him. he’s just afraid of losing you is all 😃

#fire emblem #fire emblem three houses #fire emblem x reader #fire emblem imagines #fire emblem three houses x reader #x reader #fire emblem three houses imagines #headcanons #seteth #seteth x reader #seteth imagines #saint cichol #sfw alphabet #lay writes

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furry-emblem · 3 years

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You know what, after talking about how biases and stuff mess with 3H discourse, I'm going to go over my biases and personal experiences with each major faction leader because I feel like it. I don’t really want people arguing with me on these, but I would like to hear other people describing their experiences with these characters because that’s always interesting to read about. I'm listing the characters in order of how much I liked them.

Byleth

Also known as erotica, keyboard smash, Sothis, another keyboard smash, BoobBoob, and Boobama. I really dislike them. I’ve never been particularly fond of silent or self-insert protagonists. At best, they signal to me that the game isn’t going to bother with its story or character writing (and that’s fine when that’s the case), while at worst, it’s the writers taking the most important character in the story and then throwing their hands up and saying “we don’t need to write this one.” Byleth feels like the ladder and it’s to the detriment of pretty much everyone around them. Like, even considering that silent protagonists are supposed to be characters that the player projects onto, Byleth doesn’t do a good job at this because there’s enough canonical descriptions of them that you can’t really roleplay, but there’s so little going on that they don’t stand on their own two feet. So it’s like having a piece of cardboard dictate the fate of the country. They also primarily function as a wall for characters to exposition dump their backstories onto, which isn’t very interesting to watch. Like, 3H would have been better off without Byleth in it. 0/10.

Rhea

I just haven't had the chance to see a lot of her stuff, so I think I'm missing some of the stuff that makes people like her (and I'd prefer to not have that spoiled for me). Haven't seen her supports or the Church Route, but she just hasn't left me with a good impression. I don't like how possessive she gets of Byleth. Like, it creeps me out a little. I'm also a bit disappointed that you never get to play as her. I want the pope to bitch slap people (except not my people). I remember her being an antagonist in CF felt kind of forced to me when I first played because her reactions felt a bit silly. The problem wasn't whether they were justified or not, the problem was lack of context given and the fact that she was saying stuff like "You will BURN in the PITS OF HELL" while standing perfectly still and making this face >:(. And I just couldn't take that seriously for whatever reason because it felt cheesy and I didn't really understand what was going on. It also soured any endearment Rhea showed towards Byleth to me on future routes because her actions in CF gave me the impression of her being obsessive and controlling of Byleth. Like, she acted entitled to their loyalty, expected them to be something they never asked for, and flipped the fuck out when they rejected. It reminded me a lot of some abuse I've gone through and it made me dislike the character. Now that I have more context on the character, I get why she reacted so suddenly and violently because CF kinda threw all of her triggers at her. It feels like she dug her grave in that route, but she dug it in a way that resembles a Greek Tragedy more than anything else. My second route was Claude's route, which thoroughly disappointed me in terms of its writing. When Rhea was exposition dumping her backstory, I was like "I'm boooored," so that really didn't help my opinion of the character. I also don't really like how she gets damsels in three out of four routes. I still don't actively like the character very much because she left a really sour taste in my mouth, but I understand that I'm missing information and that there are reasons to like her. I'm open to learning more about her, but she just really rubs me the wrong way.

Yuri

I never finished Cindered Shadows and I have no real opinion on Yuri. I thought he was a girl when I first saw him and I think he's fun to play as in gameplay, so I guess there's that. I don't really see myself replaying Cindered Shadows if I even finish it because it lacks a lot of the major things I liked from 3H.

Seteth

Does he even get to count? Like, he's not in charge and Rhea should've probably been the leader of Silver Snow. Haven't played that route yet. I like Seteth. He's got good dad energy and also he's my wife (specifically in Verdent Wind). He's got good vibes. Also, if you kill Flayn in Crimson Flower, his English voice acting when he's like "Flayn Noooo" gets to me. I still really like Seteth. A solid 8/10 for me.

Dmitri

I wasn't following Three Houses advertising at all, so I didn't know anything about anyone going in. I was originally just going to skip him entirely because he looked boring and had shitty hair. So I did his route last. Partially out if curiosity for the character, partially because I might as well do every major route since I'd already done Claude and Edelgard, partially to get to know some of the Blue Lions, and partially because some of Edelgard's backstory is only revealed in this route and I was curious about that. Dmitri's route definitely has the best writing out of any of the routes. I really like how personal the route is and how much it focuses on how one specific event impacted all of the characters in it. There are some big problems I have with the route and Dmitri, like how the game uses psychosis to represent Dmitri being murdery and how him changing his mind felt more like Byleth's decision than his own due to their conversation being pretty bad. But overall, he has the best writing. I'd strongly recommend playing through his route if you haven't just because the writing's rather good there. The reason why he's ranked below Claude and Edelgard, however, is pretty simple: I just don't vibe with him. Like, the hero archetype bores the hell out of me, even when it is subverted like it is here. I also just didn't relate to the character on really any level while I did with Claude and Edelgard. The amount of Edelgard slander in his name also annoys me, but I don't think it really impacts how much I like Dmitri. He's a well written character that I just don't vibe with. I also remember his death in Verdant Wind and being like “wtf was that??” Like, the writers killed him offscreen.. twice. In the same route.

Claude

I really enjoyed Claude as a character. He left a good first impression on me and I almost picked him for my first playthrough because he’s hot and sassy. Two good traits for any character. I ended up picking Edelgard, though, and he left a good impression on me during CF. I like that he held the alliance together and had a contingency plan for if he lost that battle. When I played his route, I ended up going Hard Mode NG+ Casual and I stuck everyone on a dragon. I did find it funny that throughout the school phase, Claude learns bow stuff repeatedly, then in one of the last months, he went up to me and was like “hey, can you start teaching me in axe and flying?” Which he had nothing in either. Then timeskip happens and he comes waltzing in on a dragon. Claude is where all the good memes in the fandom go. That said, I really disliked his route because Claude felt like an afterthought in it (because he literally was). I don’t like that I got out of the route and it felt like I didn’t know as much more about the character going out than I did going in. Some of that is because I didn’t see a ton of his supports, which is where pretty much all of the character work is. I like how Claude is open minded and actively tries to seek out the truth. So, overall, I found his route a bit disappoint but I still really like him because he’s a fun character.

Edelgard

I fucking love Edelgard. She was my first pick and therefore the character that introduced me to the game, and by extension, the series of Fire Emblem. I picked her because she’s pretty, she looked ready to fistfight god from the word go, and she seemed like the mascot of the game so I figured the writers might put a bit extra effort into her route (they didn’t, rip). My very first playthrough was actually a Normal/Classic run, but I had to abandon the run because literally everyone died four hours into the save (I swapped to Normal/Casual). Edelgard ended up carrying me through my first playthrough. I stuck her on a dragon and she killed literally everyone and everything. In my most recent playthrough of the game, I did CF and made her an archer mage dancer for the memes and that was also a ton of fun to play with. Her gameplay feel had a role in me liking her (like, Dmitri is also very powerful, but it was my third playthrough and I knew what I was doing better by then, so him being just as OP as Edelgard didn’t really influence my opinion on him as much as it did her).

Besides the gameplay, Edelgard’s probably the major character that I relate to the most. Every character on this list (except maybe Byleth or Yuri, I know literally nothing about Yuri tho) has experience with trauma and is coping with it in some way. Edelgard copes by villainizing herself and shutting off her emotions, but despite that, she’s still a low-empathy person who’s still very compassionate person who cares about others and is trying to do the right thing. She also generally tries to express some amount of compassion to her enemies, even if it’s little more than saying “it sucks that Dmitri had to die.” She’s not as open-minded or as truth-seeking as Claude is, but she still tries to keep herself open to other viewpoints and will readily accept any she deems as valid at a moment’s notice. I just really like that about her because I share a lot of those traits in common with her. I also like the idea of her being someone who’s willing to do evil things to bring good to the world. That’s not something you normally get in a protagonist and I think that’s a cool idea.

I still found her route to be very awkward, especially with no context. Like, I missed the line where Edelgard’s like “yeah, btw, I’m the Flame Emperor,” so I was just wondering what happened there. It’s an anticlimactic way to end the main plot of the first half of the game. I also didn’t really get Rhea’s angle at all. So the route just felt a lot like “I guess I’m doing this now??” In other routes, I found her deaths to be very hard hitting. The death in Verdant Wind only really got me because I really liked Edelgard and she was my original student and I could feel how much she wanted to make her future a reality and how her failing meant all of those sacrifices she made and the evils she’d done would now all be for nothing. I get that impression with Azure Moon’s ending too.

Most of my appreciation for the character does come from her support conversations. I like how her chain with Bernie has her trying to learn how to not scare her off. Her interactions with Dorothea in their support chain are kind of sad because Dorothea is trying to show her admiration and love for Edelgard in a way that makes sense to her but then Edelgard’s low view of herself causes her to reject the offer. I really liked her Manuela support too (haven’t seen Hanneman’s but I’ve heard that it’s good). I like how with Manuela, Edelgard learns why people are religious and she that being religious doesn’t make you weak. I like her Linhart support where he calls her out for trying to dictate his life and she responds by trying to overhaul some of her own systems and assumptions about him, which leads to her giving him a role to the empire that also properly accommodates for his needs. I like how with Ferdinand’s supports, he has to learn to let go of their rivalry, but once that does happen, Edelgard takes into account his ideas and roles with them. I think it’s funny that she and Hubert flirt with each other by sending each other credible death threats. Edelgard just has a lot of very good supports. Don’t get me wrong, Claude and Dmitri also have supports that are good (I thought Claude’s support chain with Petra was cute and I really like Dmitri’s support chain with Flayn), but Edelgard’s supports go a long way to paint her as someone who is flawed but still really admirable.

Edelgard is definitely one of my favorite fictional characters, and I’d love to see more characters like her in the future.

#fe3h #fe3h discussion #byleth #rhea #edelgard #claude #dmitri #yuri #seteth #I feel like seteth is less of a leader and more like Byleth's and Rhea's retainer #but whatever #I like all of the three major house leaders #byleth and rhea are the only two characters here that I dislike #and with rhea there's a heavy dose of ''i haven't formed my entire opinion yet''#i think i'd like rhea better if I could make her punch people in the face #like that would be a pretty strong motivator to get me to play silver snow #dick slam rhea would be the mvp of life #a solid meme capable of maybe even outmeming claude in my eyes

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kendrixtermina · 4 years

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The “Genocidal Edelgard” Shallowtake

I was not going to make a post about this because it’s most likely futile and not going to convince anyone nor do I believe in dinifying the purity police with attention, but maybe it will let some ppl know that they dont have to let themselves be shamed for liking the wrong video game character

Whatever might have been the case in the distant past when Nemesis was around, by the “present day” the Nabateans are not at all some commonly oppressed stereotyped minority - the setting is chock full of characters that fit that bill a lot better like Dedue or Cyril. Characters that are ordinary humans not magic dragons.

And even that is more founded on general purpose xenophobia than from the specific, relatively new early modernity construct of racism. (the dedue situation probably comes the closest)

Sure, Seteth and Flays have to hide from their old enemy the Agarthans, I see how some might find that relatable etc. but most of the population isn’t aware that they exist at all. They hold high status positions, are worshipped by the local religion and Rhea all but rules the entire continent (and says so herself to Byleth in that speech about how she was just “ruling this wayward country in your stead”, “you” being Sothis) - though that is mostly Rhea’s doing of which Seteth and Flayn are relatively innocent.

The interviews pretty much confirmed that the Nabateans constituted the local aristocracy and that many humans genuinely saw the Elites as liberators - though there was definitely also an element of ppl going around killing random Nabateans to gain superpowers, not to speak of Nemesis’ very obvious very unambiguous mass murder. Not wanting to be ruled over by foreign powers is understandable, though obviously killing them all down to the last civilian was just flat out evil - its certainly not a simple situation, we can all agtree Nemesis & the Agarthans were evil but there is no clear defined good guy.

There are historical conflicts you could compare this to, perhaps some conflicts in Africa or the middle eastwhere different groups took turns being the ruling class after the latest war, but it’s not at all like the modern USA or early modernity colonialism, and forcing every real or, in this case, imagined scenario inherently dependent of fantasy elements, into this one framework from the present or near past isn’t conductive to understanding at all.

And in the present day, by the time Edelgard is alive, we are talking about three specific people that she has good reason to dislike individually. Not any sort of group at all.

She calls Rhea a cruel beast because that’s all she’s ever seen Rhea to be. She’s the shadow tyrant who rules her world, who created the crappy world Edelgard grew up in. It’s no different Cubans thiking badly of the castros after suffering through famines - or, no need for such extreme examples really, ppl call their least favorite politicians monsters all the time.

She’s wrong to assume that Seteth & Flayn are wholly on board with this, but on the other hand, it’s not at all a far-fetched assumption to make: They hold high positions in the church though they ostensimbly just appreared out of nowhere one day. Do you have to be an evil bigot to assume that the brother and right hand man to the tyrannical god-queen is condoning & supporting her actions?

The truth is of course that underneath her pseudo-parental facade Rhea is sort of a scared girl, very lonely, very afraid, and ashamed, in a shallow, childish way, for “breaking the rules” just because they are rules. She says she can’t trust anyone, that she feels lonely & isolated... and while no one can blame her for distrusting humans after the slaughter of her people, but the reason she can’t trust Seteth is that she’s keeping her bad deeds secret from him. He wasn’t there the whole time, he just showed up a few decades earlier.

She sees herself only as filling out for Sothis and doesn’t quite grasp that she’s in charge, very much a follower personality bent on stasis & regularity.

Is Edelgard obliged to try & unravel the complex psychology of the tyrant who rules her home to correctly deduce why she would deceive even her own family? By all intents and purposes, Edelgard is the one getting rid of an oppressive government that doesn’t let ordinary humans let a say at all. A government where ppl of others faiths and nationalities are typically oppressed unless they work directly for the church.

It’s like having a disdain for, say, Ivanka Trump. She holds a high position in her father’s administration despite having no obvious qualifications, she appears to be profiting & making bank from her father’s atrocities, she certainly hasn’t done anything to stop him or disavow him the way that, say, her cousin Mary did - if you suffered under Trump’s regime you’d be very justified in assuming that Invanka is probably a bad person.

Flayn only looks young (She might not if we saw her in other clothes). I mean, Kronya could badly impersonate a schoolgirl. At the very least they’ve supported the regime by refusing to question their own side and they show some however benevolent belief that it is their duty to “guide” the people. Leaving her to the Agarthans is certainly questionable, but no more so than doing it with Rhea herself, under the assumption that she’s guilty and that it’s a sacrifice that will prevent larger chaos. The agarthans had their plan long before they created Edelgard as we know her, and she couldn’t stop their plots all on her own.

You could say that it’s callous, distasteful or a deal breaker - as the death knight is her direct subordinate & she makes a personal appearance in mask, I would argue that she definitely knew & sanctioned the kidnapping - but she’s no more callous towards Flayn than towards anybody else.

Of course, that doesn’t mean they’re evil, or that they deserve to die.... and Edelgard would agree with me. She doing all this to prevent death – flipping the lever on the trolley problem so it crushes one person instead of five so to speak. She always gives her enemies the chance to surrender, unwilling allies the chance to leave, and jails enemies whenever leaving them alive wouldn‘t lead to further death… even the ones she has the most personal reason to hate, like the PM.

As servants of the church who have chosed to back her enemies, she’ll certainly kill them if she has to, but not any more than any other enemy. At no point anywhere in the story does she say anything like that they need to die on principle. Nowhere at all. Indeed there is much evidence to the contrary.

The church paints her as being completely against the religion or even wanting to set herself up as a satanic godess cause it‘s good politics & they don‘t get what she‘s doing – to an extent her own credibility & messaging is compromised by her secretive and at times unscrupulous actions, no one said she was perfect. In truth all she wants is to have the church out of politics, you know, what we have in nearly every modern country outside the vatican and saudi arabia.

You can absolutely let Flayn & Seteth go on CF and there is no word, no fuss about it anywhere. No „make sure to kill em all“ which would certainly be there if the narrative wanted to portray Edelgard that way. It requires the mediation of Byleth as someone they would talk to & not immediately assume the worst of, but, they see the church as the embodymet of all that is good & fighting its enemies as their sacred duty so of course it wouldn‘t be possible for just anyone to talk them down. It‘s framed as Flayn letting Byleth go cause they saved her life once, even if we know from behind the screen that she wasn‘t going to survive a fight to the death against the player-controlled faction.

Heck, even when it comes to Rhea, the one most guilty that Edelgard has the most reason to loathe, she‘s ultimately surprisingly gracious. She gives her the option to surrender – and this is not a lie, she discusses this with Byleth in a lecture question, and seriously ponders the possibility. Here Byleth gets a range of options like „stab her in the back“ and „keep the church under imperial control“ but you know which one nets you the support points? „Strip her of her authority so she can‘t interfere in politics“. She wasn‘t gonna mess with the religious folks & their religion at all, just make it so it‘s separate from government. Rhea could even keep being pope, if she could be satisfied without having complete supreme authority (and ripping her precious artifact out of Byleth‘s chest) – even when she puts her down she‘s not 100% without pity, telling her that „Your duty is done“ (the translators mucked this up)

Couldn‘t be any further from „lets kill them all on principle“.

What really annoys me is how ppl go and twist everything Edelgard says out of context to ascribe a motive to her that just isn’t there.

Common examples:

„If you have Flayn or Seteth fight her she‘ll say they need to die because they‘re nabateans“

Actually what she says is this: „You are a child of the godess. You must not have power over the people!“ Not getting to be privileges rulers anymore =/= being opressed. Stay out of politics =/= Diediedie. Also, this is from the VW/SS boss fight, where they have literally come to get her in her own capital.

„Linhard & Leonie don‘t tell her & hubert about Indech, probably cause he expects that she‘ll go & kill him„

What he actually says is: „Lake Teutates is a place that concerns the saints of the Church of Seiros. It may become bothersome should the two of them find out...“

„It may be bothersome“ as in, „we might get in trouble“, for doing the possibly very inadvisable thing of waltzing into what could possibly be an enemy location to satisfy personal curiosity. If it‘s something related to her agenda she might take over and Linny wouldn‘t get to investigate as he pleases – at very most you might construe it as Linny fearing that they‘ll be accused of consorting with the enemy, but „bothersome“ suggest possible annoyance not imminent murder.

The whole scene ends with Linhard telling Byleth to fill her in later. Doesn‘t sound at all like he expects her to go back with a harpoon.

„She said Claude isn‘t fit to be a ruler cause he‘s a foreigner“

What she actually says: „I understand your ideals are not so far removed from my own. But without knowledge of Fodlan‘s history, I cannot entrust its rule to you“

Now without the additional contexts that Claude won‘t get until after the fight, it might easily feel a bit like the former with the raw spots he‘d have from his backstory, but what she means is that he‘s ignorant of the Agarthan threat – which he is. Edelgard is all for making peace with Almyra and sees fostering isolationism & prejudice as one of the many faults of the church.

Once Claude basically kills Edelgard for information, he winds up having to take care of the storm she had been holding back. But to his credit, he DID „finish the job“ and get the info. But he didn‘t have it at that point.

And I don‘t mean any of this in the least bit as a diss of Claude - He is the smartest character, so there would be no plot if he got easy access to the info. At this point, they both think they can probably do better, and more importantly, both their backstories have made them so that they won‘t let down their guard far enough to cooperate in this scenario.

That‘s also why the outcome in CF is contingent on Byleth‘s choice. - You‘d sort of have to trust that he will also act so as to minimize casualties.

Very disingenious since many players wouldn‘t necessarily trigger these dialogues.

I guess because Adrestia got a vaguely central-european aesthetic (partially; all the countries are hodgepodge mashups and there’s more than enough spanish or ancient roman vibes there) and central europe existed only for those 12 years of tyranny I guess, even though many other places have had similar BS happening, including the US that delights in making craptons of movies about their faraway victory because their governments haven’t added much of value to the planet as of late. -.-

Faerghus (vaguely french/ russian - not at all places where nothing bad happened ever) has actually annexed some territory from their northern neighbors in the recent past, not to speak of the whole Duscur atrocity - but no one seems to go around laying that at Dimitri’s feet, because it would be nonsensical - he was a child at the time and as an individual he is super against it and champions a policy of reconcilliation if he gets to rule. after all, there wouldn’t be much of a plot if the characters inherited three perfect faultless problem free countries.

Edelgard, too, is completely against the previous administration under Duke Aegir (which was in charge during the Bridgid war). She deposed him and is plotting to do the same with Arundel once she can politically afford to do so. For all that one can understand why she would chose the other path (depending on how much she knows about what Edelgard’s doing and why) it makes all the sense in the world for Petra to support her on CF or if not recruited, because again, she got rid of that previous administration.

#edelgard #edelgard von hresvelg #fe3h #fire emblem: three houses #fire emblem three houses

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randomnameless · 2 years

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We need more lettuce family positivity! What are some new headcanons you have for them after hopes came out? Cyril is also part of their family btw you cant convince me otherwise.

You want positivity and I was thinking in the car "what if Seteth asked Rhea to kill him if he was ever turned in a relic in AG and she became really upset because she already saw dozens of her older siblings die she could never kill her brother" -

Positivity it is then!

Seteth teaches Cyril how to ride and fight on a wyvern, Shamir may not be here anymore to teach him how to shoot a bow, but he can still fly with Seteth.

Sometimes they don’t even train at all, they just talk about anything and everything, and while Cyril tries really really really hard to convince Seteth to ask Rhea to fight on the front lines - to defend her instead of staying in the back, Seteth once tells him that to Rhea, his well-being is more important than her own. She sees him as someone she must protect, not the inverse.

Cyril then vows to become stronger, to be the one to protect Lady Rhea and not be a kid needing protection again, to which Seteth agrees, and they train to do barrel rolls on wyverns (also, Seteth can teach Cyril how to use spears while riding wyverns, something he cannot do when he is fighting for mysterious reasons).

Being the concerned Uncle he is, Seteth tries to teach him manoeuvers through Saint Cichol’s treatise on strategy, but ultimately found out about Cyril’s illiteracy and immediately started to teach how to ride and write.

(TFW Rhea doesn’t read him stories or old legends, but sort of recalls events of her past life and romances them a bit)

Flayn tries to start up a pseudo school to teach and read the Fodlan language, Cyril joins with the dozens of orphans (from Duscur?) and while there’s a language barrier at first, they manage to make some progress - King Dimitri thinks it’s a neat idea, to help his people and to make children forget, at least for one afternoon per week, the fact that there’s a war raging on and people hellbent on invading Faerghus for reasons.

Once upon a blue moon, she and Seteth go to Rhodos Coast, with Cyril - Rhea absolutely refuses to go (she’d still feel guilty about Seteth’s wife’s death thus thinks she cannot decently go to her grave) - and Flayn tells her mom how there is a new war going on, but just like last time, she made a ton of good friends and even has a cousin now.

When she and Barney went on the market to buy “nice things”, Flayn bought a ribbon for her mother, and drops it on her grave, fulfilling a promise she made during the War of Heroes to go shopping with her and to find her something nice.

She hopes they can all return here next year, and bids her goodbye.

Seteth doesn’t have a lot to say, but he drops flowers and tries to explain to Cyril that, uh, while he and Flayn are siblings, they are not actually, but they are still “like family” to Rhea, and that person who died here is his wife, Flayn’s mother and someone who was like “family” to Rhea as well.

Cyril then asks Seteth why he was brought here, sure he is touched that they brought him to this very important place for them, but why him?

“Why, you are family to us as well.”

Being blunt as always, Cyril notes that he forgot to say “like family” but said “family” this time, but he sort of understands the message.

Rhea not so much, why is Cyril suddenly so happy that Seteth called him part of his family but he doesn’t react like this when she calls him her son?

Flayn points out that she used to call everyone in the monatery her “children”, and anyways, they have to find a golden trinket and soon for Cyril, since everyone in the family has one.

Cyril cheers up Rhea when she feels like dirt, after some zealots from the Western Church tried to raid the Camulus Cathedral and called her a “monster”.

A peon claimed to know what Rhea really is (he wanted to say a witch) which hits her hard, because she’s thinking again that this war and all those people wanting to kill her want to do so because her ears are pointy.

And thinks Faerghus is also under attack because they sheltered her - maybe her brothers were right, maybe there’s no place for Nabateans in Fodlan, or if there is one, it must be one away from humans, since their existence always bring them harm - since she stopped being Seiros the Warrior, she swore to always be proud, even if she would be the last one remaining, to be a Nabatean, but she cannot ignore the truth anymore, if her ears had never been pointy, then Fodlan wouldn’t have known so much torments -

Cyril just stops her in her self-depreciating mental loop - she is not a monster, they are the ones attacking her for no reason, and even if they had one and she was really a monster, then she is less monstruous than everyone he met before meeting her since she helps everyone, saved everyone she could, and saved him when no one else cared.

Rhea thanks him, and hugs him, calling him wise and hugs him (in front of everyone!!) which makes him very embarassed, but since she seems to look better he won’t mind that much.

Rhea sometimes participates in Cyril’s training, but stays in “shape” by training against Catherine with the sword.

Catherine brags to everyone who can about Rhea’s martial prowesses, but Rhea personally thinks she’s still not in shape, alas she cannot train with her former master at arms Cichol anymore, since he lost most of his powers/stamina.

One day Dimitri joined them, Rhea had PTSD about Willy’s mullet and tried to cut Dimitri’s ponytail, but she stopped at the last second, thinking it might worsen the relationships between the Church and the Kingdom. Dimitri of course thought Rhea gave up on purpose as to not humiliate him - unaware of the ponytail issue - and wants a “fair” rematch, but she always refuses.

She heard one of the young Charon knights call Catherine “Cassie” - which irked her to no ends, before finally giving up, and introducing the young knight to Rhea as her younger sister - which prompted her to ask, later that day, to Seteth if she annoyed him back then when she called him “Cicha” instead of Cichol.

Not waiting for his answer, she said it was for the best if she kept on calling him “Cicha” anyways since it wouldn’t sell out his identity to humans if she forgots to call him Seteth once.

Rhea overhears young Faerghian children talking about the strongest heroes of legend, and making a tierlist on how strong their heroes are

Being the mean runts they are, they put Saint Cichol dead last on the list, because he isn’t known to have won battles by himself or have done super cool things like the other Saints. They rank him lower than King Dimitri (who’s lower than King Lambert and of course lower than Loog who’s the number 1).

Rhea is a bit saddened to hear it, because Cichol was strong, and she tells them that Cichol was stronger than Seiros at the sword, he was, actually, the one who taught her how to fight using weapons. The children nod, and thus rank Seiros lower than Cichol. Cue a child saying it’s not good, Saint Seiros saved the World, she can’t be dead last!

Catherine mistook Rhea participating to the tierlist as her “playing with the children”, but hopefully the debate ended with soup time.

Macuil and Rhea are not on good terms, not at all. Rather, Macuil said next time they saw each other, he was going to kill her (because she didn’t want to kill those pesky humans who descended from the Elites and still has faith in them).

He cannot refuse anything from Flayn though, so he begrudgingly comes to her Xth birthday, since he is not that far, and he cannot avoid humans on the way. Introduced as Seteth’s brother, he sold everything calling Rhea his “worthless sister”.

Macuil doesn’t really like humans at all, especially not the ones who descend from the Elites, but Cethleann invited a blonde human with a ridiculous ponytail to the festivities celebrating her day of birth, a human with dark hair who keeps on telling the world he isn’t here to cut fruits, while cutting fruits, a Gautier and a bunch of other humans who apparently met blue lions in the Oghma Mountains, or something like this.

He finds their presence less insufferable as he first thought when they start to nerd about Zoltan and magic swords. Rhea wonders why he looks pleased, did he forgot he wasn’t the one who made those weapons, or worse, did he brag about them when they all know Indech made them??

As for Indech, Flayn went to investigate rumours about a ghost living in Lake Teutates, remembering her Uncle has the worst sense of humour possible.

Cyril tagged along (or was dragged along), it’s not like he believes in ghosts, but Ashe and Mercedes, his new “friends” want to settle a point about ghosts existing or not.

Flayn returns with a satchel of Zanado Fruits, Cyril with a golden trinket, Ashe with a bow and Mercedes with the confirmation that some people can apparently conjure ghosts out of thin air, but they are not real ghosts like what she read in her stories.

Alerted about the state of the World right now, Indech passed by Camulus Cathedral to make fun of Rhea about her legendary “instincs not being wrong” and how she often bragged about being a good judge of character for 3 days and 3 nights, and then went on his merry way.

Cichol received a new shield though, before marching on Enbarr (AG verse).

In an universe where Manuela isn’t ruined by the writers to join Supreme Bullshit, she actually lends her “tome of the Comely Saints” to Flayn, who reads it to her Aunt and dad, and several old opera books about various plays she used to play in Enbarr

Seteth nearly dies of aneurysm, he has never been a scoundrel frolicking with every women he met! Rhea doubles down, even if he had been, who could even fall for him? Flayn’s Mother was just the exception that confirmed the rule, no one in their right mind can tolerate him ! And who on their right mind would find Macuil attractive? Honestly, humans are incomprehensible.

She was more annoyed at the lack of the “Grand Epic of Great Emperor Wilhelm’s Journey” she totally did not write but might have sponsorised an Adrestian playwriter to make, but Manuela told Flayn that every story about Emperor Wilhelm was frowned upon and disapproved in Enbarr since Ionius IX’s accession to the throne, so the Mittelfrank company can only perform its “classicals” when they’re giving a representation in the countryside.

They still wonder what Liora’s story was supposed to be inspired from, Indech? Or an even older sibling, and the story was passed down since ages long lost, before Nemesis’n’co?

Rhea always used to borrow Cichol’s things

Even back then in Zanado, she hid cats under his bed, and borrowed his clothes to make “clothes” for her animals - usually using them as blankets. Of course her animals (ranging from normal cats to mountain lions to Giant Wolves) often destroyed his clothes, often by scratching them.

Being the good and responsible older brother, he sermoned her but told her she could still do it, since it was born from her desire to help, but really, she could just ask him, he would not refuse.

She called him a liar when he refused to lend clothes to Willy when “preaching to the goddess” went wrong, but he hold his ground - he disapproves and his belongings would not be used to support something he doesn’t. Willy tried to defuse the situation saying how he doesn’t really need clothes when he is with Seiros anyways. It didn’t work as he expected.

In Faerghus, she borrowed his “herbal balm” for Cyril, when the boy first had to shave. Rodrigue suggested he could direct her to a famous barber - who works for him ! - but she refused immediately, if Cyril has to shave or take care of his facial hair, the men of Faerghus are the last people on Fodlan she would ever consult on the topic.

Flayn tried to fight using the sword once, wanting to mirror her super cool aunt by spinning

It was a glaring failure, Rhea telling her that spinning needs to have a good foothold, and she can do it in mid-air because she uses the power of her crest. Cethleann’s own powers are different, thus it is up to her to find her own fighting style.

They still train together in black magic, and Rhea ultimately taught her how to summon “ghosts” like all Nabateans can do, but given how Flayn’s body is recovering she forbids her from doing this, else she would go to sleep for more than 1k years this time.

Besides, they don’t need to conjure soldiers from magic anymore, they have real allies this time!

#anon #replies #FE16 #3 nopes #Lizard family time?#those are so random lol #Dimitri's ponytail is either loved or hated #too bad nabateans hate ponies #I have so many questions about those summoned by magic ghost soldiers #what are they #are they conscious like they're creations or???#just golems but human sized?

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omgkalyppso · 3 years

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for the fe3h asks, 32. Favourite teatime? and 40. Who would you like to see Judith or Nader have supports with?

Thank youuu!

32. My favorite tea time is Claude.

Love and a cough. cannot be concealed. Even a small cough. Even a small love.

Idk. There’s something to be able to see the character accused of constantly lying blushing. Blushing isn’t love, but it��s on the list of things you can’t conceal. I like seeing him happy.

But shout out to Flayn. I loved how often I got to choose: Fish and the sea… AND so many of her Final Conversations would be good little ficlets and one shots:

"I desire to see the ocean again–it is difficult being so far away from it"

"Have you any idea how many types of fish there are? It is unthinkable–their different sizes, shapes, colors… I find it fascinating!"

"Whenever I look at you, a wave of nostalgia washes over me. I wonder why that is."

"I have a fear of sleeping. I worry that I will awake, and everyone I know and love will have vanished."

40. OH! Fun. And uh. LONG. Forgive me. I could have just kept going. But I needed to stop myself at 3 because. Long.

Judith

Claude. She may not be his aunt as I’ve written in my fic, but I think a good C support would still be him asking after his family, trying to figure out what stories shared by his mother or read in histories are true or embellished. Leading to a B support of him asking why his uncle had no proper heir (during training. lets get a few taunts out of Judith here), and whether her own life was less lonely now that she had him to worry about. An A Support could address a little more of the Almyran v Fodlan conflict, and her rage at him involving Nader, to try and make her a little more sympathetic. An A+ Support could trigger just before Enbarr, with apologies and expressions of pride, declarations of allegiance, and confessions of worry.

Ingrid. C support, Judith walks in on Ingrid, head in her hand, reading a letter. “Uh-oh, I know that look.” Judith can presume heartbreak and Ingrid can confess the letter is from her father, and Judith can shrug sadly “Different kind of heartbreak then.” And ask if she wants to talk about it. Cue Ingrid’s usual spiel. Perhaps a reveal of why Galatea is in the Kingdom and not the Alliance, why they were granted this piece of unfertile land. Apologies from a powerless position of family drama. B support, Ingrid decides that she doesn’t forgive Judith, but that’s fine because she can fix things, whether by marriage or becoming a knight. Judith seems unoffended, and challenges Ingrid to a duel. A support can start with Judith observing that Ingrid’s done well with her strength and her prospects, she may have rejected those suitors long ago, but she’s seen how Ingrid lights up when certain members in their company are around. Ingrid can claim that marriage is the farthest thing from her mind while the war goes on, but then observes that Judith has never married, and Judith can assure her that she needn’t. That whether you were promised to someone, or whether you’ve chosen them, all relationships can end unexpectedly, and if who you have to rely on is yourself, and your friends, then there’s no shame in that. And that she hopes Ingrid can rely on her regardless of the path she chooses.

Manuela. C Support is also drinking but Judith thinks it’s a date until she arrives and Manuela thinks she can look more alluring than the soldier by her side while looking at the soldier boys. Judith and Manuela could totally pull off a version of the bandage me up while fondly calling me rash and foolhardy until we accidentally make eye contact for a little too long trope for a B support. A Support, Manuela can observe she didn’t think she’d ever see Judith again after the war began, Judith can agree, and can ask after how Manuela’s doing, as the only people who look more weary than healers during war are the dying. Manuela can insist she’s fine, and that maybe when everything is over, she’ll even find a reason to sing again, because she’s uncertain whether she could stay here any longer, in Garreg Mach, where the world fell and now the students she taught sought to kill each other. (Assuming Judith is only available in VW) “I was supposed to be something of a mentor to the Flame Emperor, you know? I don’t think it would be appropriate to try my hand at teaching again.” And Judith can offer her a place to start again. “That might be nice.”

Nader

Claude. For C Support, we start with Claude either making small concentration noises or humming (perhaps an Annette song). “What do you think you’re doing?!” Shattering glass and perhaps sizzling noises. Claude complains about Nader keeping it down, and speaks loud and awkward for anyone eavesdropping some excuse related to the organization of house Riegan. Saying more quietly afterwards that it’s a harmless poison. Nader is grim about the contradiction, and Claude is insistent that it wouldn’t kill anybody, just slow their heart for a day or so, for easy transportation, or for the sake of hiding. He knows how it is. Nader can grab Claude by his collar and insist that while he might think he’s smart with his number of contingencies, he’s being wasteful of his youth if he’s thinking of poisoning himself for the sake of hiding - and it’s time to train. B Support can take place after Flayn’s disappearance and can have a mini montage of Claude in the library, Nader in the background; Claude in a classroom, Nader in the background; Claude in a hall, Nader in the background. Until we get to the dining hall, where Claude sighs and asks that unless Nader has business with him, can he please sit somewhere else? Nader can pretend to ignore him and say some rude things about bland boiled vegetables, and follow up with something about how, while it was strange that the Death Knight focused upon young ladies, there was something to be said about blood and magic and Crests here in Fodlan, and he would be irresponsible to not watch over Claude more closely for the coming weeks. Claude can point out that no other student has to suffer this, and that he knows better than any of them how to outrun a threat. Nader would concede, and it would be terse. A comment that he’d have been Nardel up to this, and instead we could just have “Oh you remember Nardel” in his cutscene instead, and Nader is just . trying to remember what it felt like to go by another name. Their A Support, hm. I guess it would come after Merceus, and we just wouldn’t have Judith shooing him away. “You didn’t tell them?” Nader is surprised, concerned. “You saw how they reacted.” Claude is nonchalant, hurt but recalculating his expectations. “I saw how you organized a victory at Merceus, how your enemies had to bring down the sky to stop us. Your allies are neither weak nor cowardly, but I still hesitate to call them warriors. If they can neither feel the bond of battle nor in breaking bread, then they will never be friends of yours. You had me bring soldiers halfway around the world to die for these people-” “The troubles in Fodlan won’t be contained here if the-” “What makes you say that? They always have been, before.” “I am proof that they’re not, Nader. Me. Look at me. Their conflicts reached Almyra decades ago. You know I’m not the only victim.” “I would not call you a victim.” “Heh. Slip of the tongue.” “For better or worse then. There are people loyal to you, and I will always march ahead of them. May our victories bring peace.” “Thank you. I’ll bring us home. I’ve always intended to bring us home, it’s just that this war has...” “I know, kiddo. I know.”

Seteth. C Support, an interview in Seteth’s office. Seteth, “I’m surprised House Riegan speaks so highly of a retainer of Almyran-descent. But I can find no reason to fault you, or withhold you your duties. You will have as much reign of the Academy as the students, though you may find yourself more highly scrutinized by the guards.” Nader, nodding, “Prudent.” “You seem amused. Have I said something untoward?” Nader, chuckling, “Not at all. If anything you’re amazingly polite. I’d been half prepared to be turned around at the gates.” “I could still arrange for your removal, but there have been ... stranger admittances to the Academy as of late.” “Ah! You’re speaking of your latest professor-?” “I will not gossip.” “Of course. Too polite.” Forehead vein bulging Seteth, “The kindness of the Goddess is to be emulated. Gossip is rarely kind, whether it is polite is irrelevant.” B Support, in the stables Nader asks how old Seteth was when he learned to ride a wyvern. Seteth says he was a young man, that it feels like an age ago. Nader expresses the same, that it is a coming of age in Almyra. He asks the name of Seteth’s wyvern, who introduces a beast but is very clear that he does not own one, that they belong to the Church, which Nader finds rather sad. Seteth assures him that it is no bother, that the Church has meant much to him since his wife’s passing, and that if all the Church has given him and Flayn has a price, he will pay it a thousand times over. Nader will comment that watching over a child or sibling can make you feel grateful for water, when all are worthy to it, and that Seteth shouldn’t lose sight of this. That the students will face challenges beyond his control, Flayn included, and every helping hand is not a demand for recompense. Seteth will bristle a little, but agree. B+ Support, Nader gives Seteth a little wooden or jade wyvern, pick your poison (I like jade). “What’s this?” “A wyvern, for yourself. To have. To name. To sell, if you’d rather. It just felt ... appropriate, for you to have one.” When Seteth doesn’t respond for a long time, Nader can apologize, he wasn’t aware of there being a rule in the Church of Seiros about gifts, but if Seteth’s silence is because he can’t find the words to refuse, but Seteth will say no, it’s just unexpected. That it’s a lovely gift and that he’s honored Nader would have given him any thought. Nader says he is learning that trust can be earned off the battlefield as much as on it, and that he’s glad to have friends to think of. Seteth can comment that it was perhaps rude of him not to ask before, and ask for Nader’s wyvern’s name. It can be supplied and attributed to an Almyran constellation. Their A Support, after Merceus, in a field at night. They share a bottle of wine and Nader is pointing out the relevant constellation. Seteth agrees that he sees it. Nader says he’s surprised Seteth still came to sit with him, after everything. Seteth confesses that he was surprised to discover that Nader had been going by a fake name ... and that his victories should be a matter of personal conflict, but that he too has killed people in Fodlan, the Goddess’ chosen people, and the saints had yet to strike him down. He drinks, and giggles. “It will be good to meet you, Nader.” “There may be things I cannot tell you, but I should say you know me well enough.” “Well enough for what?” “To call me a friend?” “You know I ... I lost your wyvern. When we fled the monastery, all those years ago. I may not be the most trustworthy of friends.” “Time will tell,” Nader concedes, drinking. He continues, “But for now, I would have you at my back, come ruin and consequence.” “To the present,” Seteth toasts. “To the present.”

Cyril. C Support, Nader asks Cyril where he was taken from? Cyril asks him why it matters. Nader instead asks if there are other Almyrans working in the monastery? Cyril says it’s none of his business. Nader is surprised, and comments upon whatever laborous task they have Cyril performing, and Cyril will reply that he’s strong enough to do his work. Nader says he didn’t mean to suggest otherwise, he was just trying to - but Cyril will cut him off, saying he’s known men like him, he’s lived under men like him, that he might think he can show up and make demands of him just because he’s an Almyran, but that he works for Lady Rhea now, and his time is accounted for, he doesn’t owe Nader anything. Cue some version of Nader being left alone to observe that “that could’ve gone better.” B Support, starts in a black screen with the sound of breaking wood. Cyril is in the training grounds and his last three arrows missed their target. “Your left arm is too low,” Nader observes. Cyril jumps and scowls. “I have a teacher.” Nader raises his hands in surrender, “Then by all means.” The sound of a bow being pulled taut, and then being straightened. Cyril comments, “Don’t you have somewhere to be?” “Is this part of your duties?” “I need to be as prepared to defend Lady Rhea.” A missed shot. “From what?” asks Nader. “From anything,” Cyril answers. “That’s a lot to ask of anyone,” Nader observes. He continues, “But alright. Strong enough to defend one person? That’s a simple goal. It’s not as though you need to be strong enough to defend all of Garreg Mach, all of Fodlan, all of Almyra.” Cyril is catching his breath, “There’s a lot of people in Almyra.” “There is. Do you think they’re all like me?” “No,” Cyril answers, and explains, “no I know ya’ a bit now. There are men worse than you.” Nader chuckles sadly, “That’s true. Why don’t you try again?” “Yeah, alright. And then I should get back to work.” “Back to work?” “I’m supposed to be - err - I still need to clean the fireplace in the back.” Nader steps forward with a sigh. Cyril objects, “Hey what are you-?” “Your arm,” Nader repeats, “it’s too low. I thought it was your posture-” “What else would it be?” “You’re exhausted.” “Am not! I could go for hours yet.” “I don’t think your teacher would appreciate you practicing under these conditions.” Cyril makes the shot. Stares down Nader, walks off muttering, “Shows what you know.” A Support HAS TO FEATURE an apology from Nader that they were unable to defend Lady Rhea. Cyril insists it’s fine, because they’re going to get her back. Nader does not fight him on this point. He compliments what a fine fighter he’s become, and Cyril concedes that Nader’s been honorable too. That it isn’t the will of the Goddess for him to be arguing all the time, and that he shouldn’t have been so quick to distrust him. Nader thanks him, but isn’t smiling about it. He asks Cyril what his goals are for after Lady Rhea returns, and Cyril says he’ll defend her, as he always intended to, so that nothing like this happens ever again. Nader suggests that he consider that, rather than showing his devotion at Garreg Mach, that he could always emulate those virtues he sees in Lady Rhea at the border, where there are people and children like he was, who will need help navigating both Fodlan and Almyra when the war is done, and that he would be glad to support him, if he should ever find himself out that way. Cyril says he’d have to think about it, but that ... he does appreciate what Nader’s trying to do.

#fire emblem #fire emblem three houses #long post #my writing #why not put it in that tag this is fucking long enough #seteth fe3h #nader the undefeated

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sevarix-blogs · 3 years

Text

okay, so... I was in the mood to write a Seteth x Manuela fic (i really like this ship don’t @ me) so I wrote this silly thing. Figured I might as well post it. So here we are :)

To Stop a Rumor

It was late, and Seteth was walking through the courtyard of Garreg Mach on his way back to his study. When he saw Byleth sitting on one of the garden benches, he first decided to ignore him--the new archbishop could stargaze as much as he liked, for all he cared--but then he realized someone was sitting next to him.

Seteth was not exactly nosy, but it was indeed his job to look after the archbishop. The least he could do was make sure one of the cardinals was not pestering him so late.

As he walked by a gap in the hedges, he glanced toward the bench, momentarily stunned by what he saw.

He knew Byleth had many friends, to the point where many of them stayed at the monastery after the war ended, so he was not surprised to see that Yuri was sitting next to him. What he found surprising was that Byleth was smiling. It was a rare sight even when he was among his friends, and Seteth hadn’t even thought he and Yuri were that good of friends. To Seteth, it had always seemed more like a business transaction than a friendship.

But then, to his complete bewilderment, Byleth leaned over and kissed Yuri on the cheek. While Seteth remained frozen in place with shock at the scene, he then saw Yuri kiss Byleth in return.

His head still spun with confusion, but he urged himself to continue on, far away from the courtyard.

What he had seen, what he likely was never supposed to have seen, still completely baffled him by the time he reached his study. How long had their relationship been going on? He had not heard a single rumor about it, not even a hint that they were remotely close. Not even Dorothea, the monastery’s gossip monger, had uttered a single thing about it. And she had no shame about spreading such things.

Yuri must have done something to keep it a secret. Seteth decided he would have to talk to him soon.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Seteth didn’t like the idea of wandering in Abyss, so he called for Yuri to meet him in his study. Although, once Yuri arrived, he realized it was probably not the best idea. It was clear that Yuri was very suspicious of the meeting, keeping his eyes narrowed as he sat across from Seteth.

“Thank you for coming here,” Seteth began. “I… wanted to ask you about something.”

He sighed. “If this is about Flayn, I can assure you that we’re only friends.”

Seteth was initially stunned at the statement; he had not even known Flayn considered herself friends with Yuri. “That was not what I was going to ask, but now I feel I must know more about this.”

He shrugged. “It’s just as I said. She wanted to be friends, so we’re friends. I make sure she stays out of harm.”

It was enough of a satisfactory answer for now, Seteth decided. “I see.”

“So… what did you really want to ask me about?”

He nodded. “I was wondering… about you and Byleth. How long has that been going on?”

Yuri’s eyes widened as he tensed up. “How… how did you--” Then he frowned, eyes becoming angry. “Look, I don’t care if you disapprove. It won’t change anything.”

Seteth immediately regretted his choice of words. “I do not disapprove at all. My apologies if it came across that way.”

Yuri’s expression softened, turning into confusion. “Wait, really?”

“Byleth can choose to be close to whoever he wants. I was merely surprised, as I had not heard any rumors about it.” He glanced down, feeling slightly ashamed. “I want to know how you kept it a secret, considering how quickly rumors spread around here. That is why I wanted to talk to you.”

Yuri sat back in the chair, smirking. “I get it. You want to stop the rumors about you and Manuela, don’t you?”

He felt his face become hot. “Yes.”

“You haven’t exactly been subtle about it.”

He thought he had been, but he wasn’t surprised Yuri of all people had caught wind of it. “I… just feel that it would be wise to keep it private. At least for now. I am bewildered that the archbishop of all people can keep such things private, but I cannot.”

Yuri laughed. “Well, it doesn’t help that Manuela likes to talk.”

Seteth sighed. They had both agreed it would be best to not make their relationship public, but Manuela had a bad habit of telling others she was taken. She of course did not specify to whom, but it was enough to spark rumors.

“It’s not just words, though,” Yuri continued. “People notice when behaviors change. For example, Manuela has not been seen stumbling drunk back to her room for months now. That alone is enough to create speculation that she finally found a stable relationship.”

It made sense, though he had hoped people would think she had simply turned a new leaf. “I see. I suppose you’ve heard things about me, as well?”

“You’re a bit harder for most people to read. But people have noticed you’ve been happier.”

“So us both being happy is creating suspicion,” Seteth summarized. “I am not sure how to hide that, exactly.”

He shrugged. “Honestly? I don’t see a reason to hide it. You’re both respected. I don’t think anyone would care.”

He supposed it was true, but he still felt some reluctance. “I am… mostly worried about…” He sighed.

“You’re worried what Flayn will think?”

He nodded. “Yes.”

He waved his hand dismissively. “She already knows.”

His eyes went wide. “W-what?!”

Yuri laughed. “She even asked me about it once. She’s really happy for you, by the way.”

Seteth felt a slight embarrassment followed by an immense relief. “I see. I am glad to hear that.” Then he nodded. “I suppose there is no need to hide it, then.”

He nodded. “I guess I owe Flayn a nice fish dinner for winning that bet.”

“Wait, you were betting on this?!”

He laughed. “I didn’t think you’d be brave enough to admit it, but Flayn did. She knows you better than you think.”

Seteth did not think he could be bewildered so many times in such a short span of time. “And it appears I do not know her as well as I thought.”

Yuri shrugged. “She just wants friends.”

He sighed. “Are there any other friendships of hers that I should be aware of?”

He pondered a moment. “Well, she’s been getting singing lessons from Dorothea. She wants to impress Manuela by learning how to sing.”

Seteth only blinked at him for a moment, feeling a warmth in his heart. Perhaps he should have talked to Flayn about it sooner. Perhaps he should have tried to be closer to her through all of this. “I… I am glad to hear that. Thank you for telling me this, Yuri. This has been a very enlightening discussion.”

He smiled. “Good. Glad I could help.” He began to stand from the chair, but Seteth stopped him.

“Yuri. Wait.”

He sat back down with an exasperated sigh. “You’re gonna ask me about Byleth now, aren’t you?”

He nodded. “Well, it would be remiss of me not to, considering I apparently lack so much awareness of things happening at the monastery.”

“Fine, go ahead.”

“Again, I would like you to know that I do not disapprove, but I feel I must ask: is this a… long-term situation?”

He glanced away, face flushing slightly. “Yes.”

“Then I do not see why you must keep it secret.”

Yuri sat for a moment in silence, pondering. Then he spoke, his voice soft. “Yeah. Maybe Flayn was right about that, too.”

Seteth smiled. “It appears we are all benefiting from her wisdom.”

#fe3h #fanfic #fanfiction #seteth #seteth x manuela #manuela casagranda #manuela x seteth #setuela?#does this have a ship name lol #yuri leclerc #this one is silly

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kumeko · 3 years

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Title: goodbye my hopeless dream

A/N: For the Sylvgrid BB, for watercolorvigilante’s heartbreaking work. I love the angst of separating the Faerghus Four.

Summary: Five years ago, Sylvain had thought they could fix it all. That they could bring Dimitri to the Alliance, that they could end the war and save everyone. Yet…Felix lay face down, Ingrid sobbing on her knees, and Dimitri frozen forever mid snarl. He wasn’t sure how he could pick the pieces up after this, but he had to try.

…

Something was burning. Sylvain stuck his lance in the dirt carelessly, ignoring every lesson he’d ever learned about proper weapon care, and closed his eyes. Something was burning. Possibly someone, the air was full of fat and smoke and his throat grew drier with every breath. There were dozens of small fires nearby, the only outcome in the middle of a battlefield, where mages scorched the earth and fiery arrows rained down on their ashes.

He opened his eyes. Before him spread a war-torn field, survivors picking dragging themselves off the fields and to their respective armies. Something bitter filled his mouth as he saw the bodies strewn across the field, blood pooling in the mud. Crows cawed as they perched on bare trees, their beady eyes taking in the field, and vultures circled above as they eyed their food.

Five years ago, the Battle of Lion and Eagle had been nothing like this. Five years ago, they had all been just kids fighting for bragging rights and victory letters to send home, for stories to seduce strangers and that shiny glory that had seemed all too important at the time.

Five years ago, he had been in with the Kingdom, not the Alliance. Now his Golden Deer family were scattered across the field, helping each other back. The Empire was long gone, Edelgard leaving behind the wounded and the dead alike. The Kingdom was torn apart, shredded into pieces. And Dimitri…

Sylvain shivered at the memory. The one-eyed, raging monster he’d seen hours ago hadn’t been any friend he’d known. The only thing that had motivated him was a long-nursed hatred, one that Sylvain hadn’t seen for all the years he’d known him.

Or maybe he had avoided seeing it, just like how he was now avoiding the dead spread around him, trying not to look at their faces. He didn’t want to see another classmate he used to sneak out with, another beauty he’d flirted with in the shadows.

He was certain Ingrid was doing the exact opposite. She’d always had a masochist streak and unlike him was probably all too intent on memorizing every person she’d killed.

Sylvain looked up. It had been hours since he’d seen her Pegasus. “Ingrid?”

Dread filled him and he yanked his lance out of the dirt. This was Ingrid he was thinking of. She was unkillable. Even Felix’s hardest glares and Sylvain’s worst lies hadn’t done the job.

“It’ll be fine,” he muttered. Whistling, he waited impatiently for his steed to gallop over. His horse’s silken mane was matted in blood and dirt. Grabbing the saddle, Sylvain slung himself over. “I bet I look just as bad,” he murmured, patting his horse’s neck once before squeezing his thighs. “When we find Ingrid, I’ll make sure she gives you her special mixture.”

His horse nickered and quickly trotted through the field. Sylvain scanned his surroundings as they moved, searching for the pure white Pegasus or even just Ingrid’s blonde hair. As he looked, he avoided checking the bodies, refused to check the bodies.

There was no need.

Ingrid wouldn’t be lying in the dirt like that. Not after all the times she’d yelled at him for his slovenly room.

Instead of blonde, he spotted pink. He turned his head.

Ingrid would have stopped.

Sylvain gritted his teeth and guided his horse across the field. A tired, limping Hilda looked up blearily. With her stockings torn, hair awry, and a nasty cut along her chest, she looked as bad as he felt. She even dragged her axe instead of carrying it. “Hey.”

“Hey.” He slipped off his horse, wrapping an arm around her waist as he helped her out of the ditch. “You’ve looked better.”

“I’d say you’ve looked worse, but that’s a lie.” Hilda grinned crookedly as she leaned on him. She felt impossibly small, nothing at all like the mischievous woman who was Claude’s right hand. “Glad you made it.”

“Me too.” Sylvain swallowed. “Did you see Ingrid?”

He held his breath as she frowned and shook her head. “No…not for a while.” Noticing his face, Hilda squeezed his arm reassuringly. “I’m sure she’s fine. She’s a strong bitch.”

Sylvain couldn’t laugh at the old joke. They’d exchanged it many times after Ingrid had scolded them or knocked them on their asses during practice. “She’s really strong.” His voice came out more of a whisper than he’d intended.

“The strongest,” she agreed, pulling away. Leaning on her axe, she patted his back. “You go find her.”

Sylvain hesitated. “Your chest—”

“Needs Marianne’s loving attention,” Hilda interrupted, winking. Though, with the dirt streaked on her cheeks and her pale skin, she didn’t look half as flirty as she acted. “I can make it back from here.” She forced herself to stand a little straighter but for all her acting, she couldn’t hide her wince. “Who knows, maybe Ingrid’s there already. She’ll be too busy nursing me to health to take care of you.”

Hilda waggled her brows. He wanted to smile but he couldn’t muster the energy.

Ingrid would have helped her regardless.

For all of her faith in him, he’d never been half as good as she’d hoped and not even a quarter as good as she was. “I’m sorry,” he muttered, letting his guilt and fear chase him as he vaulted onto his horse once more, spurring it through the field as though death itself were after them.

Hilda wasn’t critically injured, at least. She could stand and she could joke and one of the others would find her in no time. They’d laugh about it later and she’d tease that he had tunnel vision when it came to Ingrid. The dense idiot that she was, Ingrid wouldn’t understand until maybe years down the road, when he told her everything.

He clenched his fist. “Ingrid? INGRID!”

The only response were the grunts and moans as other survivors crawled, hoping someone, anyone could come to their rescue. He’d save them all after he found Ingrid. He’d personally pick them up, carry them to Flayn and Manuela. He’d even wrap their bandages himself.

He just had to find Ingrid first.

“Sylvain!”

A familiar gold caught his eye, and for a moment Sylvain thought Ingrid before realizing it was Claude’s torn cloak. He pulled his reins tight, heels digging into his horse as he came to a stop just beside the tired leader. Byleth wasn’t by his side for once. Maybe she was out there, picking up her former students.

Maybe she’d already found Hilda.

“Claude.” Sylvain tried to smile. It came out like a grimace. “Have you seen Ingrid?”

“Straight to the point, huh?” Claude chuckled wryly, pulling his gloves off his fingers. His arms had small burns on them, the attacks of enemy mages, and Sylvain tried not to think how much that must have hurt as he loosed arrow after arrow. “No, not yet.”

“Hilda’s that way,” Sylvain blurted out, unable to stop himself. He jabbed over his shoulder. “She’ll need help.”

“Oh.” Claude blinked, resting his hand on the flank of Sylvain’s horse as he looked. His dragon wasn’t with him. Sylvain tried not to wonder why. “I’ll get her then. Thanks.”

They stood there a moment, neither of them moving. Sylvain’s horse panted, nostrils flaring as he caught his breath.

“I…I didn’t think it’d end like this,” Claude admitted quietly, barely audible over the wind. “Edelgard…I knew she wouldn’t listen, but Dimitri?”

It was like a gut punch, remembering Dimitri. When he and Ingrid had heard Dimitri had survived his execution, they’d sworn to bring him over to Claude’s side. Dimitri had been a reasonable person, after all. He should have been reasonable now.

Goddess, why hadn’t he been reasonable now? Sylvain thought, looking away. “I thought he’d come around.”

“Me too. We could have avoided so much…” Claude trailed off. It wasn’t like simple bloodshed could describe everything they’d experienced here today.

“Maybe next time,” Sylvain croaked, licking his chapped lips nervously. The air was still far too dry. It was hard to breathe. “We can talk to Dimitri again. Maybe after he’s had time to calm down.”

Claude snapped his head to him, his expression unreadable. After a few, heart-pounding seconds, he pointed to his left. “Is that a Pegasus?”

Immediately, Sylvain jerked his head up. Further up the hill, almost at the treeline, he could just make out a white horse. A pure white horse, sitting on the ground.

It had to be a Pegasus. It had to be Ingrid’s. He squeezed his thighs, urging his horse into a gallop as he hastily shouted, “Thanks!”

He really did have tunnel vision. Sylvain couldn’t tell anyone, even himself, how he got to Ingrid, what the route was like, anything really. He just kept his eyes fixed on the white horse, watched as its sides became wings and the saddle on its back took on the familiar markings of Ingrid’s. There was no blood on it, as far as he could tell, no injuries at all aside from a few ruffled feathers.

That was good, right? It must have been tired after the long fight. Maybe Ingrid was letting it rest before heading to camp. “Ingrid?” he called out as he reached, jumping off his horse without even waiting for a response.

The silence worried him. She wasn’t beside her steed and she’d never abandon her partner. “Where is she?” he murmured, patting her Pegasus’s nose. Her partner whickered, turning to his right and further up the hill. A bright green cloak stood out amongst the bushes, a familiar coil of blonde braided hair crowning it.

Ingrid.

She was kneeling next to someone. He could just make out their legs, still and unmoving. Of course, she was taking care of an injured solider, the bleeding heart she was. He’d bet the farm that she hadn’t even thought to look for him before doing that.

And if she was doing that, she couldn’t be that injured. Sighing with relief, he jogged to her. “There you are.”

Ingrid looked over her shoulder, cheeks stained with tears. “Sylvain,” she rasped, closing her eyes. “I’m sorry.”

“Sorry for—” He couldn’t speak, couldn’t breathe after he saw Dimitri lying in front of her. His chest squeezed and he stumbled the final few steps to her side.

Unlike the raging man he’d seen hours ago, Dimitri was utterly still and calm as he lay there. His bright, blue eye stared unseeing at the sky, his mouth half-open as though mid-way through a roar. Ingrid whimpered and Sylvain stared at the lance stuck in Dimitri’s chest.

Luin.

Bile rose in his throat and Sylvain barely crawled forward more than a few steps before he vomited in the bushes. Oh no. Oh no no no. He could just picture it now. Dimitri and Ingrid. And Felix—Sylvain couldn’t stop himself before he looked for a familiar fur-lined jacket.

There was a sword in his hand. He’d died as he’d lived. Sylvain vomited again.

“It’s my fault,” Ingrid sobbed, curling into herself. “I’m sorry.”

His heart broke a second time at the sound. Wiping his mouth, he forced himself to his feet and stumbled back to her side. Sylvain forced back his uneasy stomach, forced back his growing numbness and pain, and gathered her in his arms, crushing her to his chest. “It’s not.”

“It is,” she repeated, apologizing over and over even as she pressed into him. “It is.”

And he couldn’t argue with that, not when her lance was in Dimitri’s chest. It wasn’t like five years ago, when she’d been crushed after they’d changed houses—no one could have predicted the looming war, the fact that they’d be disowned by their own families for something as simple as following their beliefs.

It wasn’t like years ago, after Glen’s death, when Dimitri had broken down, Felix had hardened, and Ingrid had holed herself in her room. It hadn’t been anyone’s fault then. They’d been just kids, taking on more than they should have.

Now, there was only Ingrid.

And Dimitri’s blood was on her hands.

Bile rose once more, pricking his tongue, but he forced it back down. She’d break if he said anything else. She’d break and then he’d break with her. Sylvain buried his face in her hair and shook his head. “Not true.”

“I…I did it,” she sobbed, her fingers digging into his sides.

“He would have killed you.” He realized the truth of his words as he said them. Dimitri would have killed her. The others from their house might not have. Annette and Mercedes and maybe even Dedue could have been talked down, but not Dimitri.

Dimitri hadn’t been himself for a long while.

Maybe he’d always been like that. Felix had been right, calling him a boar.

“He would have killed you,” he repeated, stronger now, hugging her tighter. Sylvain could hear her breath, hear her heart beat like a frightened rabbit. She was alive. She was in one piece. She’d made it through. “You had to protect yourself.”

“I could have injured him,” she mumbled, pressing herself closer as though to hide away from it all. “I could have knocked him out.”

“Anyone else, sure, but not Dimitri. Never Dimitri.” Sylvain closed his eyes. Even before it all, Dimitri would never let himself get captured. Killed, sure, but never captured. “He’s too strong. Was too strong.”

The was stung, burned on his tongue like an ember. Felix had been loyal. Dimitri had been a friend. They’d never be anything else anymore. They might never be anything but the two, angry bodies on the grass. It was hard to remember their smiles when all he could picture was their pale, frozen faces.

“I should have tried,” she insisted, shoulders shaking as she cried. “I should have…I…he’s dead, Sylvain. Dead. They both are and I…”

“I know, I know.” Sylvian stroked her hair, pulling back just enough to press a tender kiss on her forehead. Years ago, she’d done the same for him when he’d killed his brother; he wasn’t sure when he’d started looking at her differently, but he was certain the roots of it had been then. He hoped it brought her twice as much comfort as it had given him, this warmth, this forgiveness and love and gentle acceptance.

She wailed, a wordless cry that sounded more animal than human. He remembered the maids talking about banshees and their mournful screams, and it had to sound something like this. Still stroking her hair, he let her cry it all out, his eyes closed so he didn’t have to see Dimitri or Felix. There was probably a better way to help. Mercedes and Annette had been good at it. He should have learned from them when he had the chance.

He should have done so much more before this all happened, but he’d been barely able to help himself for years, let alone others.

And now it was just them.

No, not just them. Sylvain bit his cheek. That was what had caused this war in the first place, this stubborn belief that they had to stand alone. That was why he and Ingrid had left the Blue Lions in after all, for Claude’s vision of unity. There was Raphael and his hugs, Hilda and her jokes, even Marianne and her quiet companionship.

He could try again. Better this time, in fact. Ingrid hiccupped and he pulled away slightly, still keeping her in the circle of his arms. Now that he was looking at her properly, he could see the cuts on her arms, the gash on her side. Small injuries, for fighting Dimitri, but injuries nonetheless. Sylvain knew every trick in the book when it came to convincing Ingrid to do something that was good for her, even if it was something as unrelenting as guilt.

“Let’s go back to camp together,” he suggested gently, brushing her hair out of her face. Her puffy eyes, still red from her tears, started to slide away from his, to where Dimitri’s corpse grew colder with the passing minute. Before she could, he carefully cupped her cheek, forcing her to stay still. “We need to get patched up.”

“But…Di…Dimitri and Felix,” she mumbled, not fighting him for once.

“We can get them later.” Sylvain didn’t even have to try this time, he just smiled. She’d always been able to draw those out of him, even if she never realized it. “I’ll come back.”

“Me…Me too.” Ingrid shook her head. “I’ll help.”

He bit his lip before reluctantly nodding. There was time to argue about that later. “Okay. Can you stand?”

She nodded. Sylvain wrapped an arm around her waist, slowly hoisting her up as he stood. Keeping his grip firm, he called for his horse. “I’m not sure if I’m ready to fly, so let’s take my horse, okay?”

“Sure.” She sounded distracted, but he didn’t think much of it. With everything that happened, it was hard to focus. As his horse stopped beside him, he let go and quickly adjusted the saddle bags and straps. “You get on first.”

Ingrid didn’t reply and when he turned around, she was beside Dimitri once more. Silently, he cursed himself as he ran back to her side. “Ingrid!”

She didn’t respond, unbuckling her cloak instead. Gently, she spread it out over Dimitri’s body, covering him like she used to put blankets on them as kids, all tired out from practice. Leaning forward, she pressed a chaste kiss on his cold forehead. “Could you give me your cloak?” she asked, her expression unreadable.

Sylvain didn’t hesitate before yanking what was left of his off and draping it gently on her shoulders. Ingrid shook her head, pulling it off. “It’s not for me.”

She moved a little further into the forest, to Felix this time, and tucked the cloak around him. Her fingers shook as she brushed his hair out of his face. Kissing him on the cheek, she whispered something he couldn’t hear before getting up.

“Let’s go back.” Ingrid grabbed his hand now and this time he didn’t let go.

“Yeah.” He didn’t ask her what she said. Sylvain had his own, private words for them, things he’d never repeat to anyone. When they reached his horse, he still kept his grip tight as he hopped on first. She raised a brow, the closest to a positive expression he’d seen so far. Not bothering to explain, he helped pull her up, settling her on his lap in a side-saddle manner.

“I haven’t ridden like this since we were kids,” Ingrid commented, a little stiff as she looked at her dangling feet.

“Not since you realized knights had to ride on their own.” He waited a second before asking. “Just this once?”

“It’s silly.” Yet, she didn’t jump off, didn’t protest, just leaned against him.

He released the breath he didn’t know he was holding as he wrapped his arms around her, taking the reins and urging his horse into a gentle trot. “That’s not a bad thing.”

“No, it’s not.” She closed her eyes. “Thanks.”

#sylvgrid #sylvain jose gautier #ingrid brandl galatea #claude von riegan #dimitri alexandre blaiddyd #hilda valentine goneril #felix hugo fraldarius #fe3h #fire emblem three houses #fanfic

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