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randomnameless · 3 years

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I write and write and make comparisons between a swimsuit and themes like tolerance and freedom,

But in this fandom, some people draw more dubious comparisons, especially ones regarding a certain game - and I warned (who?) at the beginning of the FE16 trend that while it wanted to have a Jugdral flair, it obviously failed. You have a sprinkle of Jugdral in FE16, but it’s only a surface image, or even a mirage.

“CrEsT SyStEM”? Holy Blood? No, those comparisons at least were made in good faith and had some merits.

One of the worst comparisons was noted by several friends, a certain someone, wanting to push a certain ship involving a certain character, managed to write :

“Every route makes one villain from Genealogy of the Holy War the hero, Edelgard being Arvis, Dimitri being Eldigan, Claude being Travant and Rhea being Manfroy”

This will not be a post about Manfroy’s hips, you are warned

Who is Eldigan (Eldie)?

A man who is the carrier of Hezul’s holy blood, Hezul being the founder of Augstria, a sovereign state. Everyone loves Eldie, he is good-looking, strong, kind, chivalrous and has the magic blood that makes him able to use his magic sword.

Is he the King of Agustria? No.

The King is a man named Chagall, who has an ugly sprite, doesn’t have Hezul’s magic blood and cannot use the magic sword. He also killed his father, and is really jealous of Eldie.

However, Eldie’s line (House Nodion) has sworn to support the royal line of Augustria (Chagall’s), so even if everyone wants Eldie to ascend to the throne, he will never accept it. Even if Chagall pisses on him, or imprisons him because he felt like it, Eldie will not rebel against his King. Eldie is seen as a Camus, because he will fight and die for Chagall, and his country, when Sigurd is... more or less attacking Chagall (because Sigurd’s forces are occupying Augstria and Sigurd’s orders are to bring peace to the land, Chagall doesn’t want peace and wants to fight to retake his throne). If everything ends well, Eldie will promise Sigurd he will try to talk one last time his king, try to convince him to accept a ceasefire and peace with Granvalle - but Chagall is an ass and beheads Eldie.

Dimitri... isn’t like Eldigan, at all. First of all, Dimitri is supposed to be the crown Prince, instead of being a mere knight sworn to serve the royal family. Secondly, Dimitri doesn’t die because his liege beheads him - Edelgard will never be his liege - he dies either by defending his borders against someone who is bringing war to his lands and wants his head, or he dies because he pursues Edelgard in a three way battle in Gronder.

We do not know what Rufus is like to his nephew, but I am pretty sure he is no Chagall.

The only common points Eldie and Dimitri have is their blond hair, and sometimes, their manner of death. there is also something about bonds with their sisters but we’re not here for that

Who is Travant?

Travant is the King of the Thracian Kingdom, a proto Nohr-like place, where farming is difficult, and the people living there are starving and often turn to banditry or become mercenaries to be able to earn some money.

Thracia’s neighbour, the Manster District (Manster) could export food to Thracia... but they do not, because, well, the people in charge of the Manster District do not like Thracians a lot (and use slurs to talk about them, but Quan is a special character). So Thracians raid the border, with hopes to reunite the peninsula, with the dream that, one day, they will seize the arable lands in the North.

Travant has an infamous line, which more or less went like “I will unite the peninsula for the sake of my people, and if that process dooms me to hell then so be it”.

And to hell he will go, because by Jugdral standards, ambushing Quan and his family in a desert (horses cannot move in sand, another example of gameplay and story integration!) with horseslayers, is despicable, especially since he leaves no one alive, even, apparently, killing Quan’s young daughter Altena.

(Travant ranks pretty high in the douchebag ladder).

With time, Altena grows, unaware that Travant, who adopted her, isn’t her real Father, Quan was. Things happen, Altena discovers the truth, and Travant finally achieves his dream by making a suicidal charge against Seliph’s forces (he doesn’t even bring his magic lance to the fight!), with him dead, finally, the peninsula can be united under one leader.

Claude? Also has a wyvern. And comes from another land than our hero (but which one?). And... that’s all.

If Almyra raids every sunday, it is not because they are starving, but because they are doing it, per Cyril, for funsies. Claude pretends to be a schemer and underhanded, but he never does something on the scale of the Yied Ambush (the moment where Travant pulled out the horseslayers against Quan). Claude never takes a child hostage, and never orders his daughter to punish civilians.

If Claude wants to unite the two countries, it is not because he wants his people to finally leave their life as mercenaries and bandits behind, but because he wants people to understand each other.

Edit because I’m sleeping : Travant will die for his dream. Claude... always survive. Always. I am not saying he doesn’t believe in it, but he is not as desperate as Travant is.

Comparing Claude to Travant is like comparing... Virion to Iago. They are both male with long hair, and pretend to scheme. Bar that? Well... they both have hands...? I guess?

Who is Manfroy?

Manfroy is... both a mastermind and a plothole.

Manfroy was the one in the shadows engineering a war in Jugdral, not because he likes wars, nope, but because he wanted political instability to recreate the Loptyr Empire.

He will help a douchebag to conquer the world, and use him to sire Julius, the only person in Jugdral who can become a host for the dark dragon Loptyr. The last time Loptyr was there... well, apparently it wasn’t roses and sunshines, slavery was rampant and citizens were pitted against each other to make sure the strongest ones would become citizens of the Empire.

Why Manfroy does this? It depends on the sources, but it is heavily implied Manfroy is part of a sect (sect as in group of people practicing a religion, here the Loptyr religion/cult) persecuted by a lot of people in Jugdral - to the point where Agustrians were having witches hunts to chase them. Manfroy and his followers escaped the the Yied desert, touted to be an inhospitable land. His people had no where and no one to turn to, so they prayed to their God Loptyr (who doesn’t give 3 figs about them).

Manfroy is thus the Archbishop of the Loptyr Church. He also killed his son in law, for some reason, and planned to turn his granddaughter in a zombie. Manfroy also supports (and conducts?) the child hunts, basically the plot in the second part of FE4 and FE5 where the Granvalle Empire and the members of the Loptyr Church round up children, take them from their families (sometimes by killing said families) to send them to Granvalle, with the highly suggested goal of sacrificing them one way or another to Loptyr.

On the not-so bright side, Manfroy doesn’t kill Julia - when Loptyr/Julius expressly asking him to do so, because Julia is the only person, story-wise, able to kill him.

What a guy!

Now, Rhea?

There are some comparisons to be made, unlike Claude and Dimitri, but again, it reinforces how they could be seen as foils.

Rhea? Yes, also engineers the birth of a vessel.

However, unlike Manfroy who “forced” Arvis and Deirdre to marry and have a baby, Byleth’s birth, born from the union of Jeralt and Sitri, was completely unexpected. There is no trace in canon of Rhea arranging Jeralt and Sitri’s meeting, and future wedding.

Rhea? Also wants her granddaughter to “die”?

Well, not this one, since Rhea thinks Billy is actually an amnesiac Sothis. Billy would just recover their memories.

Rhea? Doesn’t start a war to build her Sothis vessel. Hell, the DLC is about her previous experiment to resurrect her mother - it was a failure, but someone supposes she fails because she did not want to bleed dry the Four Apostles. Rhea wishes to resurrect a benevolent Goddess (when Manfroy knows Loptyr is... far from benevolent) but will not kill to do so.

Sitri? Asked her to save Billy, by offering her own life.

The most interesting foil though is... how Rhea and Manfroy both belong to a community that was persecuted by others, the people they are supposed to live with.

Manfroy? Went the “if the world hates me, then I will hate it and burn it down” route.

Rhea? Doesn’t want to kill humans, hell, she and her brother disagreed because she didn’t want to kill children of the people who wronged her! She opens a monastery and offers guidance to anyone who needs it, a shelter for the needy and tries her best to protect peace and the humans living under her care.

They could have followed the same path, but didn’t. Manfroy rounds children to kill them, Rhea offers a new home to children who lost theirs.

They can also be compared with their “welp” points, Rhea gave CF!Billy the means to destroy her, just like Manfroy “forgot” to kill Julia - and yet, again, it is different. Rhea trusted Billy and never wanted to use them as a tool, in the other routes, it is because she trusted Billy with “those means” that Billy is able to save the world. Manfroy? Berserks Julia, wishes to use her as a tool and suffers when she regains some agency and beats her brother. But even without Manfroy, Julia would have recovered the Book of Naga to end Loptyr.

Rhea and Manfroy are definitely not parallels, but foils.

And the best for the end...

Who is Arvis?

Well... to summarise Arvis in a few words...

it’s impossible.

So, Arvis is the descendant of one Jugdral’s God-Crusader, Fjalar. Arvis is very proud of his heritage, but he also bears Loptyr blood, through his Mother. And yet, since the Loptry blood exists thanks to Saint Maira - the brother of the Loptry Host of that time, Emperor Galle, who rebelled and helped the Crusaders - he is also very proud of this heritage and his two brands.

Arvis’s familial history is a mess, his father was a womanizer and his mother abandoned him (which might have fueled his Freudian complex?). When his Father died, he exiled all of his bastard siblings, bar Azelle (his bastard half-brother, sired to his mother’s favorite maid). Arvis apparently wasn’t interested in women before he met Deirdre and fell in love with her...

But he had time to sire a bastard (on his best friend and confidante).

Arvis wants to build a world free of prejudice and oppression, and wants to build it by... associating with Manfroy, who blackmails him about his Loptyr blood (if Arvis is proud of his Loptry blood, sadly the Agustrian witch hunts are still a thing, and it will not be well seen in Granvalle’s nobility); however, he made it clear, to Manfroy himself, that he will never allow another Loptry Empire to be reborn. Arvis thus uses hiw fellow Dukes Reptor and Langobalt to set up a coup against Prince Kurth (the Prince of Granvalle) to kill him. Arvis grows close to Kurth’s father, Azmur and more or lesses takes care of everything in Granvalle, since Kurth has no heir left.

And, by chance, Deirdre, Kurth’s bastard daughter, thus rightful Princess of Granvalle, appears at his door. She bears the mark of Naga (the special blood of the Crusader Heim), so they marry, and if they have a son, their son will rule over Granvalle, Arvis acts as a regent until then.

(women can’t rule shit in Jugdral)

Then what? His plan is set into motion, all Granvalle Dukes die, he and Sigurd (plus his pals) are the only ones left, Sigurd dies after being lured to a welcoming party, and Arvis becomes the last man standing able to rule Granvalle, who became, through his plans and treacheries through the 1st gen, an Empire.

(and then his son becomes a Loptyr host, vaporises his mom and makes his sister disappear, wrestles power from him and he is reduced to a sad state (oldvis). He makes a last stand against Seliph, after delivering him Sigurd’s magic sword, and dies.)

Okay.

So, now, Edel.

Arvis managed to become the ruling... person in Granvalle by eliminating all of his rivals, and securing a nice marriage. Edel becomes Emperor... because Ionius gave her his crown, as her father.

So they do not rise to power the same way.

Edel never talks about her brands, but Arvis is proud to bear them and proud of his ancestors. Judging by how Edel speaks of Wilhelm I as a traitor who sold humanity to creatures, I am not sure she is proud to bear his blood.

Also, while Edelgard is extremely prejudiced against Nabateans, Arvis wishes to create a world... free of prejudice (his actions though...). He does not mind Manfroy preaching his stuff, when Edelgard will not allow anyone to follow the Seiros faith (friends put it better, but in several routes, the people who were followers of the Church of Seiros are missing in Adrestia...).

While both Edel and Arvis think they are making “sacrifices” for the greater good, as pointed out earlier, this greater good is different. They both ally with a death cult, but Arvis is naive enough to think Manfroy will not backstab him - he even wishes for him to preach his nonsense freely. Edelgard has been hell bent since day 1 on getting rid of Thales and friends.

By the time Arvis learns of the child hunts and Julius’s nonsense... he wants to stop it. He is however powerless to do so (or so we think! Apparently he and Ishtar managed to hide every children captured in a castle!) but, at least, he tried to do something.

Crest Beasts... are still used, no matter the path, and even after Edelgard became Emperor.

Now, if Manfroy had to capture children and round them up for execution to make sure Arvis would become Emperor, would Arvis have supported him? I... don’t think so. If children were captured during Arvis’s conquest of the world and it was a “necessary evil”, would Arvis have accepted it? We don’t know. Prideful as he is, I don’t think he would have agreed.

(which is all kinds of wrong, the man can start wars and backstab friends, allies and turn his own brother to ashes, but hunting children is too much? Meh. And yet, Manfroy mentions something about his ways and his pride being an obstacle to the realisation of his dream).

Arvis is... a complicated character. A douchebag through and through, who tries to redeem himself at the end, but ultimately fails. He is rewarded for his actions in the 1st gen by the 2nd gen, where Julius becomes Loptyr and destroys his Empire. He had it coming? Yes. Is it painful to watch? Yes.

Edelgard... does not face any retribution for her actions.

Yes, she can also kill her (step) brother. But either she didn’t remember it, or only cries after it, and ultimately puts the blame on him - so it is not a sacrifice ?

People doubt her words? Well, it doesn’t matter, Linhardt, Yuri and Lysithea are still alive after their... interrogations. Reptor doubted Arvis’s words? Aida was sent as back-up (and... backstabbed him).

Ultimately, Arvis loses Deirdre (whose ghost chills with Sigurd’s), Julia and Julius, whom he loved dearly. Edel loses... Billy, and some randoms.

So, in a way, Edel feels like a discount Arvis, because she misses his ascension to power and his downfall. Arvis doesn’t mow down enemies on the front lines like she is doing, Arvis maneuvers to ensure victory.

Both fight for ideals, but Arvis seems to believe in them when I cannot believe a world for “humanity” involves continuous making of Crest Beasts.

Both betray the main character, but Edelgard is hit with the uwu hammer, thus cannot kill Billy - Thales does it in the non CF-routes.

So... short story, long story, Eldie is not Dimitri, Claude is not Travant, Rhea is a foil to Manfroy and Edelgard is a discount Arvis.

Also, I don’t know what kind of weed the person who wrote this take had, but labeling Eldie as one of FE4′s villain is as dumb as labeling FE7 Karla a villain because she appears as a red unit you have to fight.

where is edel’s bastard son

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sireneia-a · 5 years

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this happens every time i pull up the love growths and the jealousy rates in genealogy so i’m unpacking that too but for all my fe4 muses. going in roster order for this. why am i doing this?? cause i love storytelling via game mechanics and think more games should do it. not necessarily in relation to romance though, like leif’s arc is pretty amazingly displayed through mechanics in both his game appearances but i can ramble about that another time.

for the record, i’m assuming a love growth of +2 as what a “normal” pace for falling in love is since it’s the most common growth rate in the game. the format that this reads as is 0+2 then which translates to “a love base of zero, a love growth of two.”

under the cut cause i still have no idea how to be succinct and also i’m talking about eight characters so yknow

lene:

almost every guy has 0+2 for her. she doesn’t have any particular attraction to any guy as a result, though she’s open to falling in love with any of them with no biases. the only exception to this trend is ares who is set at 300+1. this is one of the highest love bases in the entire game if not THE highest.

even disregarding their canon dialogue making me believe they are in a “more than friends, less than lovers” situation, this love base alone hints towards that too. 300 love points makes the game register the two as having taken a fancy to one another, 400 points is when they’re officially “well and truly in love” with one another, and 500 is when they’re literally married.

the fact that lene’s growth is at +1 with ares makes me think that although she has a high love base with him, she’s slow to realize her own feelings for him and would take a while to actually transition into being ACTUAL lovers. she would take a while to believe she should make a move. this is supported by the fact that she is at the low end of ares’s jealousy spectrum. she just doesn’t easily get jealous over other girls spending time with him.

interestingly enough, the people that she’s more easy to become jealous over are ced, oifey, and iucharba.

leif:

leif has a 0+2 for everyone except julia, nanna, jeanne, tine and linda. julia is set at 0+0 for everyone except seliph so that’s why there. nanna and jeanne both are set to 100+2 which means he has yet to even think about either of them in a romantic way.

200 points is when the characters are thinking more frequently about the person for reference. however, leif’s shared childhood with nanna and jeanne undeniably has a foundation for him to see either of them in a romantic light and them growing up together is likely the reason behind his falling in love eventually. despite this, he goes at a normal pace with either of them still.

the interesting thing is that he is set to 0+3 with tine and linda. whilst he has no foundation with either of them, this tells me that he is quicker to fall in love with them and his relationship might be likened more to a whirlwind romance. it’s also interesting to me because linda and tine are... nothing like nanna and jeanne KGHFKFHKFS

i guess leif’s taste in women might be more like linda and tine but he’s just got more backstory with nanna and jeanne to build upon. either that or leif probably interacts more with tine and linda then and has more opportunity to fall in love with either of them mid-war.

leif also has an equal jealousy rate with all girls which just means nobody ever gets jealous over him. Ever. what that means?? hell if i know how to dissect that

dew:

hi token first gen! he has a more unique spread, so i’ll just write it down first here.

edain 0+2 / ayra 0+2 / lachesis 50+2 / erinys 50+2 / silvia 0+3 / brigid 50+2 / tailtiu 120+3

due to his backstory and how he didn’t know any of these people until the war, i’m going to interpret a higher love base to mean he’s more strongly attracted to those characters upon a first impression.

but... why those four? that’s a tricky one. i can’t just say he likes women who can kick his ass cause ayra isn’t included. i was going to say it’s strong-willed women, but again ayra would’ve been included. i can’t say he’s just attracted to longer hair cause all of them have long hair, and i can’t say it’s that he thinks lighter colored hair is gorgeous because erinys with her trademark silessian green hair is there.

i might still say though he’s attracted to women who he immediately understands their convictions and motivations. by the time he meets ayra, presumably he would not be able to witness her devotion to shannan as strongly as, say, sigurd would have. but lachesis he’d see her desire to be strong for her brother, erinys her love for her homeland and proper strict attitude, brigid her backstory as a rare female captain amongst pirates, and tailtiu her desire to follow claud no matter where. he’s less certain with ayra for reasons explained, edain because he just meets her in jail and his mind is fixated solely on getting out, and silvia because he only interprets her as a dancer and probably doesn’t immediately catch onto her attraction to lewyn.

tailtiu is the highest, so i’m going to interpret that as him either thinking thunder magic is extremely intimidating and awesome or because he just likes girls in ponytails. him having a higher growth with silvia and tailtiu tells me he gets along better with girls who are upbeat but have a sadness underneath it, and he might just naturally feel more for them as time goes on.

his jealousy rates are complicated cause genealogy separates priority for first gen hardcore based on whether or not you’ve turned your console on and off again yet. a shared theme between the two versions though is that edain and ayra more easily get jealous over dew. also interesting is that dew’s jealousy rates post-resetting are identical to jamke’s -- a fact i choose to believe because dew and jamke likely hang out a lot around one another in the game, solidified by their ch5 convo having dew getting uncharacteristically sentimental on the archer prince before running off.

iuchar:

iuchar’s rates are mostly 0+2 so standard fare but the unique stuff comes to predictably larcei and more unpredictably tine.

larcei is set to 200+2 which i think makes sense considering he literally gets recruited under the pretense that he’s so in love with larcei that he’s willing to betray his family for her. i know the rate is set lower because he’s recruited in the first chapter of the first gen, but i want to believe that it’s a nod to the fact that he’s not as head over heels for larcei as he claims to be. again, 200 means he’s thinking about her but not necessarily in love with her. the fact that they have a growth of 2 points per turn makes me believe that them developing a romantic relationship would be at a normal pace, just in general normal and not affected by his supposed affections for her. he wouldn’t be pushing things aggressively as a result, but also neither of them are necessarily extremely opposed to it.

tine is set to 0+3. this... i’m going to unpack when i get to her because i thought at first this was something specific to leif since leif and tine are predestined lovers ( a fancy term used to describe pairings the game recommends or otherwise they have conversations with one another ) but i’m beginning to realize there’s something else here.

i can’t analyze iuchar’s jealousy rates because i can only see iucharba’s, and although the two have identical love growths and bases with one another, i don’t feel right just assuming their jealousy rates are the same. if they ARE though, it’s a wild time cause it’s:

nanna > larcei > fee > tine > lene > lana > patty > altena

tine:

i promised to deliver on analyzing iuchar’s rate with her here and yeah.

tine’s set to 0+3 with EVERYONE. EVERYONE. NO EXCEPTIONS. thank you for consistency for starters but oh boy.

so since i’m running on the idea that +2 is normal for love growths, i have no choice but to recognize that tine just falls in love really quickly. a +4 growth DOES exist though it’s basically for brigid only. the only other weirdly high love growth rate to be featured in game is finn who has a +10 with brigid and tailtiu because finn has only 50 turns to fall in love with either of those two so good luck and hope those jealousy rates don’t kill you if that’s your aim. regardless, all of tine’s romances edge on whirlwind romances. but why?

well, i have a feeling it ties into the fact that tine is supposed to be the second gen deirdre equivalent. this is showcased by her lover’s convo with seliph where she remarks that she doesn’t want to end up just like deirdre. this does not happen in any other lovers convo with seliph, so i’m pretty sure that’s just her role. her having silver hair, being associated with purple, a mage, and also a sheltered girl also helps the connections further.

tine’s fast rates ensure that no matter whom she falls in love with, it’ll be fast-paced in a way similar to how deirdre’s relationship with sigurd went. there’s nothing to make someone fall in love at first sight with tine, but she’s quick to fall in love with and reciprocate.

her jealousy rates are a bit more complicated to look at, but a general note is that she’s the girl that gets the most jealous easily over ced hinting at her own preference to him. behind that, in order, are ulster, diarmuid, oifey and iucharba equally, shannan and ares equally, and then every other guy. i don’t really know how to interpret that except that barring ced, i guess she just. favors the tirnanog gang i guess???

febail:

febail apparently ALSO HAS A 0+3 WITH EVERYONE except julia and lene. i have literally no explanation for this the way i did tine, but i’m going to try.

i’m going to interpret this to mean that febail falls in love easier than he lets on. this might be a byproduct of him being a sensitive person at heart, something shown and exemplified by how he serves as a father figure to all the orphans in conote. hell, he even has a card where they’re all crying as they’re rushing to hug him.

febail indiscriminately falls in love, and perhaps him being kind of bad at hiding how sentimental and compassionate he is towards the orphans is what helps others fall in love with him quickly too.

except lene and julia. lmao. i get why julia is the exception, but i just think it’s really funny that lene also isn’t falling for this dude easily either. which might just say something about lene’s maturity and inability to just recklessly develop affections for others.

febail has the MOST confusing jealousy rates in my opinion because his is just. altena > everybody else. the reason why it’s weird that altena gets jealous over him easily is because altena shouldn’t be falling in love with anyone. it’s not even like julia’s case where julia is 0+0 for everyone except seliph. altena has NO rates or bases.

febail how did you do it,

coirpre:

i already kinda talked about his love growths and bases in this post but i’ll talk more about it cause there’s definitely stuff i missed.

coirpre’s spread is like this:

julia 0+0 / lana 220+3 / muirne 220+3 / larcei 0+2 / creidne 0+2 / nanna 0+2 / jeanne 0+0 / fee 0+2 / hermina 0+2 / patty 200+3 / daisy 0+3 i think / tine 0+3 / linda 0+3

him being lategame can help explain some of these but i don’t think that’s the right assumption to make? mostly because his bases and growths aren’t all across the board like how tailtiu’s are, and she’s in your army for around the same amount of time that coirpre is in yours. but they also still let him fall in love unlike altena who, as said before, should logically not fall in love but also you can rig jealousy rates i guess.

it’s also interesting because coirpre is one of the few instances where he differentiates between substitutes considering he will express absolute zero interest in jeanne no matter what but he’s open to falling in love with nanna.

there’s not really much of a common thread between all of the notable rates here, but minus tine and linda, you could say he’s taken a bias towards other characters seen as support units in a way. lana, muirne, patty, and daisy are not intended to be frontline soldiers. however, nanna and jeanne are out of the running for this, so it’s not a hard-pressed rule for him. it still makes sense that he probably hangs out more with other support units considering he himself is one.

his dynamic with patty and his dynamic with lana would probably be extremely different since lana is the more soft-spoken and sweet character whilst patty openly bickers with him. hence why i can’t say it’s a personality thing tying him to any biases.

coirpre has some of the highest bases in the game because of his being 200 or more with some of the characters. this implies he’s definitely taken a fancy to lana, muirne and patty upon first meeting them. if it weren’t muirne and nanna, i’d just say he has a preference for blondes and be done with it but of course things are Complicated.

coirpre has jealousy rates too, with his being patty > lana > altena > other girls. this gives insight to how girls feel about HIM and he’s not actually the least complicated scale, his having more people ranked than lester, febail, seliph and leif. he’s more attracted to lana at first sight but patty is more likely to feel things for him.

also altena is there for some reason. i’m DOUBLY confused on account of her not supposed to be falling in love and also the fact that coirpre sees her as a mother figure.

deimne:

deimne’s rates are identical to lester’s, not really surprising considering that he serves as lester’s substitute but only a bit surprising to me considering he has different lover’s conversations. regardless, his are pretty lackluster too, being 0+2 for everyone except julia, tine and linda.

tine and linda are at 0+3 again and julia is at 0+0. i don’t have much to add besides what’s already been said in tine’s section, but these bases DO reflect his lack of desire to interact with the nobles. doesn’t really apply that way to the substitutes though but eh. he’s still not really rejecting anyone though since he’s at +2 as opposed to +1 or +0.

i’m going to assume deimne’s jealousy rates are also identical to lester’s which means his is patty and daisy > altena > other girls. daisy and patty definitely makes sense to me since he has lover convos with them. altena is once again a wild card crashing in out of nowhere.

cause why avoid hanging out with nobles when you can have a princess of TWO houses getting jealous over you i guess.

only other notable thing is that deimne has an arc that i find sweet with his childhood friend karen who is not playable. it’s implied that she has feelings for him but he doesn’t really notice. this isn’t reflected in mechanics, but it’s a tangentially related subject.

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moczothe1st · 6 years

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Let’s Play Fire Emblem IV: Genealogy of the Holy War, Part 10: Yarrrrrrrr!

Part 9

Welcome back to FEIV! I was originally not planning to update this week, since my appendix ruptured last weekend and that’s actually pretty incredibly awful to experience. I figured I earned a week off. However, I did not consider one thing: when you’re basically required to keep yourself in bed for 90% of the day, you have a lot of time to kill. After the first four or so days of pain and eating very little, I started playing Genealogy because frankly why not. I did have to wait until I got off the IV, mind you, because industrial painkillers and strategy do not mix. Not unless you want to get all your units beaten to death by pirates.

Speaking of.

I feel like I should just point out that last week they were worried about me coming up north to attack them, and yet they willingly start a fight here, even opening up a bridge for me to reach them.

Given that our army has, at this point, defeated two entire countries, I think we can handle a bunch of pissed-off sailors, thanks. Though the first members of the group actually take their shots by going northwest after Bridget.

This exact same battle happens three more times. Bridget is awesome.

The rest of the pirates do go South, but Dew is holding the bridge and they literally can’t hit him. They’re axe men and his dodging is amazing. So they don’t even try, just walk to him and stop.

Sometimes smart AI is really annoying. When our phase starts up, some familiar faces come with it.

Taillte: Just look around! There’ll be pirates all over us if we don’t get moving!

Claude: Be at peace, Taillte. This was quite the fruitful journey! Lord Bragi has answered my prayers and revealed to me the truth. It is precisely as I had thought. Not to mention, I even found House Edda’s long-lost sacred heirloom within the tower: the staff of Valkyria.

Taillte: What, that grubby little cane?

Claude: … Taillte, please. Try to mind your manners. This is a legendary magical staff with the power to restore life to the deceased. It is usable by only the direct descendants of Saint Bragi. That is to say, me alone.

Taillte: Huh. So what you’re saying is, with this rod you could bring my sweet old grandma back to life?

Claude: Alas, most likely not. Valkyria is limited in many particular ways, and so cannot be used on just any lost soul. You see, all mankind is born bearing a life force called quintessence, which-

Taillte: Yaaaaawn… er, what’s that? You lost me. Why are you still talking about this anyway? We’ve gotta get outta here!

Well. This will be interesting, at least. Now, before we show off our new characters, there is a conversation to be held. Ethlyn, you haven’t made me angry in awhile: take it away!

Ethlyn: Here. Take this.

Quan: A spear? …. What?! I-isn’t this Gae Bolg?! Why do you-

(Yes, Ethlyn. Why do you.)

Ethlyn: Your lord father entrusted it to me, Quan. He thought it prudent for you to have it at hand in case our battles grew too fierce.

Quan: Even just holding it, I’ve never felt so strong! Why did you wait until now, though?

(YES, ETHLYN. WHY DID YOU?)

Ethlyn: With the spear, your lord father also passed onto me its tale… I’m so sorry…

Quan: … Ah. Gae Bolg bears the baggage of a truly sad legend. But that is all it is: a legend.

Ethlyn: But-

Quan: Ethlyn, trust me. Triumph is within our grasp this day. I’ll not fall victim to an old myth. I’ll not let it stop me from returning home. Our dear little Altena still awaits us, and I’ll not allow some fairy tale to disappoint her.

Ethlyn: Yes… Quan, no matter what happens… we’ll never lose each other. Right?

Quan: Ah, you’re concerned about Deirdre, aren’t you? There’s nothing to worry about. It won’t be long until we find her.

Ethlyn: Yes…. I want to believe she’ll be okay, too. I wish I could. But…

Quan: Ethlyn? Come now, dry your tears. Do you truly feel so bad about this?

(… Okay, I’m still angry at Ethlyn over her withholding the Omni-Spear from me the whole game, but she kind of has a point here. Her sister-in-law has vanished. It would be kind of weird if she wasn’t worried, Quan.)

Ethlyn: Yes… knowing th-that Sigurd and Deirdre may never meet again… they love each other so much… why, Quan? Why did this happen to them?!

Quan: Ethlyn…

Deep breath

Okay, let’s look at our new stuff. Simplest first.

Quan now has the Gae Bolg, his Holy Weapon, like Eldigan’s Mystletain and Claude’s above-mentioned Valkyria. It gives him +10 boosts to Strength, Skill, and Defense while holding it; he was already a nigh-unbreakable juggernaut, so take that ‘nigh’ off and you get the idea. It also does ten more points of damage per shot than the Silver Lance even without the strength boost, while weighing only slightly more.

So. You know.

THANKS FOR KEEPING THAT IN YOUR POCKET THIS WHOLE TIME, ETHLYN. YOU BITCH.

Now, the new characters.

Claude of Edda is basically Aideen: Part 2. Same class, similar growths; his Major Bragi Blood (+20% HP growth, +20% Magic Growth, +20% Luck growth, +40% Resistance growth) push his in a better direction for their class, but she’s leveled up so great she’s basically his equal anyway, and he has fewer levels left than her to take advantage of them. He’s also promoted, so he can use offensive magic in addition to staves… but he didn’t bring any, so that’s not much of a comfort.

And his gear at the moment is just plain not great for the situation, i.e. alone with a teenager fighting pirates. The Fortify Staff is the best healing staff in the game, giving a huge amount of health back to not a specific target, but to everyvunit within 10 spaces of Claude. Amazing… but it only has ten charges. The Valkyria staff, meanwhile, is basically a one-use get out of jail free card if someone dies: Claude can use it in the main castle to revive them, at which point it will break and require a stupid amount of money to repair for one more use. So it’s nice to have as a fallback, but if you rely on it you’re going to end up bankrupting yourself in short order.

Taillte is… a unique character. On paper, she’s quite good; her growths are solid, bolstered by Minor Tordo holy blood (+20% HP, +30% skill). She can only use Thunder magic, but that’s okay, because it’s the second-best kind of magic and she can use it up to A-rank, and even comes with the A-rank Thoron tome, meaning she joins us with the equivalent of a Silver weapon in her chosen weaponry class. And she also has a very nice personal skill, Wrath, which turns all her attacks into guaranteed criticals if her health is below half, basically taking her already ‘glass cannon’ status and allowing her to upgrade to a much bigger cannon if she’s willing to take some extra glass on board. And her stats are quite good for her level!

Which is to say, for level 3. When the rest of the army is in their late teens at the lowest.

So, we clearly need to get someone over there to help those two, because Taillte is most definitely not going to be able to hold off all the pirates in her area alone, and Claude can only heal her ten times. But whooooo is nearby to go saaaaaave them?

sniff

Oh, Bridget you’re so fine, you’re so fine you blow my mind, Hey Bridget. She’s also a little underleveled, being only 12, but she’s a pre-promote like Sigurd so if anything her stats are a little higher than most of the army; in particular, she actually has the third highest Strength stat of anyone in the army, after Quan and Lex. And a low level actually gives her more levels to gain bolstered by her Major Ullur Blood (+40% HP, +60% luck). She’s gonna be surprisingly durable for an archer class, with luck making her dodgy and plenty of hit points, on top of Strength, Speed, and Skill which are already enough to carry her the whole game. The only skill she has is Pursuit, but if you’ve been paying attention that’s the most important one for an offensive unit to have anyway, soooooo.

Let’s do this shit.

Bridget immediately begins moving west along the peninsula towards Taillte and Claude, who move toward the pirates around them to start working on things. Neither is, unfortunately, close enough to any enemies to make an attack… well, Bridget is, but she can’t run and shoot at the same time, and even the best Archer of all time can’t fight at melee. If she gets surrounded, even she’ll be in trouble. Everyone else, in turn, begins to move towards the units holding the bridge, while they themselves defend with all they’ve got.

Yeah, no, the bridge is going to fall. Horribly. The Orgahil pirates are so pitiful in comparison to Agustria that we might as well ignore them and go knit. The rest of the level is going to be entirely about Taillte and Claude’s survival. End turn!

Continues knitting

And over with Claude, Taillte takes a single hit, but survives. This leaves her in a somewhat dangerous situation because she’s fragile and will die at any slight brush now, but Wrath is now enabled and she one-shots her attacker in reply.

The rest of the pirates in her area are out at sea and will be coming ashore slowly, letting her engage them one at a time on her own terms, so. Picture that sequence of the Death Star getting ready to fire, and you have an idea what I’m about to do with Taillte. Bridget continues to move toward them as well, the edge of her movement range leaving an enemy in her sights.

Get used to screens like this.

For the bridge team, I actually don’t do any fighting this turn, because Dew is a perfect blocker, and he isn’t going to take a shot at anyone. Rather: Aideen is broke and his money is maxed, so he can’t rob any of these guys! I have her move forward to stand next to him reassuringly, and he in turn gives her 49,000 gold. I wish I had more friends like Dew.

Much better. Killing off all these idiots would have cost me so much money if I hadn’t done that. Dew will likely be right back to max money by the end of the map. The pirates, in addition, can move very slowly on water squares and some of them do go around Dew to reach other units.

Their next of kin will be reminded of the dangers of swimming. On our turn, it’s mostly movement. Quan and Ethlyn move toward our home castle, everyone else moves toward these dorks again. The dorks in question, mind you, are doing very well. I actually have Lewyn run back towards a castle because I don’t need him to hold these dorks, and his Elwind is about to break from overkilling. Instead, Jamke moves up to take a shot in his place.

For the pirates, this is kind of like saying ‘I send the killer bear home because his stomach is full, and replace him with the killer lion.’ Dew moves forward, continues robbing shit, and levels.

You know, he needs defense so badly I will take this. I have Ayra move up to back him up and soften the newly poor pirate up with her weaker Bolt Sword…

… and of course she uses Astra and kills it. I would have really liked Dew to get more kills, Ayra, he’s about to promote. Please try to be caring of me. Taillte also reaches her first victim.

“You may fire when ready, Commander.” End turn!

Dew… took a hit. From these idiots. How… why! You little jackass, your ability to make me money and your ability to dodge are your only good points right now! You better proc Sol next turn and get some of that health back, quicksmart, or I will be furious. More furious.

I also almost lose Taillte because I didn’t realize she was in range of the enemy, but unlike SOME PEOPLE she pulls off the dodge and destroys her enemy with extreme prejudice, gaining her first level. Not great, but she at least got Speed and since she certainly can’t take a hit, making her better at avoiding them is helpful.

Our turn takes over and Bridget continues to run towards the Dynamic Duo, her rage steadily building. Dew and Ayra team up to take out the first pirate in line…

And since I’m bored, I have Holyn run into this new empty space in the line and smack the guy behind it.

sigh

Holyn, I’m taking a fucking risk by putting you on the front lines. You could at least try. But on the bright side, this does open another new spot in the line for Jamke to move up and take a shot at the enemy commander.

Okay. Teach. Jamke, you ready to learn?

Yup, Jamke has totally learned fear.

Jamke also gets his personal little trinket, the Leg Ring, improving how far he can move each turn by 3 spaces. Jamke doesn’t get a horse, so he’s not a terrible choice for this, but I’m not totally sure if he’ll be keeping it or not. It’s definitely in high demand by units all over.

Erin, off on her own doing her own thing, stops at another of the villages.

Stranger with Candy: Don’t be shy. Drink up! Well, how about it? Feel the might swellin’ in yer muscles! Oughta make yer work out there so much easier.

Erin gains +3 to her Strength, another boost she sorely needed. You’re also probably realizing why I ignored most of the villages on the map; there are a lot of little gifts to be gotten on this one, and I wanted them to go to specific people. There’s still one left meant for Claude, in fact.

On the enemy phase, Jamke provides an assisted suicide and reminds me that all levels these people gain will be either flawless or the worst.

sigh No other combat happens other than some pirates missing Holyn with hand axes, and our turn begins. First, to the home base… Ethlyn, care to not disappoint me for once?

The first magic she’s gained all game! I also send Quan right into the top tier at the Arena, using his new toy. Let’s see how it goes.

Holy Weapons are the best.

Back up at the real war, I continue to break the pirates a little.

Nothing super impressive, but at least the bridge is now mine, so that battle is over and this team can start moving to flank the jerks chasing Bridget. Bridget herself has also reached Claude and Taillte; the general idea now is that she will be their tank, dodging 90% of all melee attacks and slaughtering the occasional archer while Taillte stands behind her doing her best death ray impersonation. End turn!

… I think the pirates are losing hope, you guys, this one definitely had targets to go after who wouldn’t have killed him as terribly as Holyn. Come on, pirates don’t give up! You can’t go out like Agustria!

Our turn begins, and the team that took Silvail begins to reach the pirate fight, turning it from a one-sided fight to a one-sided fight. Lachesis also gains a healing level.

I… really should have given her that Paragon band. At least Dew won’t need it much longer.

He gained a level from this battle, but I missed the stats. +1HP, +1STR, +1SPD, solid enough I won’t have to scream at his face. Aideen also levels from healing him.

… Kind of bad, but she’s gotten so many great levels on this map I don’t really care. End Turn!

… Nothing happens! A sword guy misses Bridget and an axe guy misses Beowulf.

On our turn, Lachesis gets home, and I send her into the Arena with her new Earth Sword to see if it helps her a little.

cue beating

Nope! But the fun part is that now there’s nothing to stop me from just having Ethlyn heal her and trying again next turn, so I’ll let you know if RNG turns her favor at any point.

Over to the west, my two little nukes begin their blasting away at the crowd pressing against Bridget.

Those two sword guys are the most dangerous; they’re not very strong, but are accurate enough to regularly hit Bridget. Most turns Bridget won’t actually be attacking, but I want those two dead ASAP. End turn!

WHERE THE FUCK DID HE COME FROM?! DEEP BREATH Well that scared the shit out of me. I had no idea there was a ranged enemy close enough to reach Taillte. If she hadn’t dodged I’d be up a reset. But, on the plus side, fine level! On the next turn, they both take their shots…

… For the second time this update I missed the stat screen. Bridget gained a level. It was +1HP. I would be furious if she wasn’t already basically endgame quality without any stat gains at all. Taillte is doing okay, though! And then Claude heals ‘em up.

There we go! And better yet, he instantly gains 85 experience from this; Fortify is a pretty rockin’ staff. I start moving the others toward them again; Erin is now close enough to help out next turn, and the others should arriving to reinforce soon.

Though they don’t need it, really, Taillte is dodging everything and its mom. Our turn begins again, and… slaughter?

Yup, slaughter. The enemy phase is basically just Taillte and Bridget continuing their brutal ascent to dominance.

Welp, there goes the enemy’s archer brigade. At this point the rest of the army is basically only heading their direction because I’d like Bridget and Taillte to get some trophy husbands. On our turn, Sigurd and a few others test the defenses of Orgahil itself.

It is not a test they pass well.

The western team continues their just… rampant slaughter, it’s almost humiliating…

You know, barring the horrible level. What is with you this run, Erin?! You started off so perfectly, too! Well, on the plus side, I also realize I completely forgot Ethlyn had Arena levels to challenge too, and she’s a Paladin now. Let’s see how this rolls out.

Ethlyn: Up to seven wins, gained one level: +1 HP

……………… I hate you so much, Ethlyn.

You fucking guys!

……. I want to leave Agustria.

Okay, I’m frustrated so I’m going to take Orgahill now. The boss is nothing special beyond holding the Strength Ring; I’m gonna try to give it to Sigurd, actually, since his Strength stat is actually somewhat on the low end for how high his level is. Luckily he’s a sword dude fighting an axe moron, so it shouldn’t be hard to arrange.

Yeah, this will be over quickly. End turn, and Duvall once again seeks to destroy us with all his skill and power.

See how much he needs that Strength? Duvall should definitely be dead by now. On our turn, it’s… basically… just kind of a pitiful slaughter again, you know the drill.

And Sigurd finishes off Duvall, ending his 27-minute reign as cap’n and gaining himself a sweet +5 to strength.

Welp, might as well end the turn here. Good times. The few remaining pirates all take swings at Bridget and… all hit? How the… no. No. Not engaging. Her defense is good enough it doesn’t matter, and they…

Will not be taking any more swings. One more turn of the same and the enemy army is gone forever, with Erin leveling.

If I had another Pegasus Knight to use she would be so fucking benched right now.

Anyway, there are no more enemies on the map, so from here it’s a matter of just cleaning stuff up. Like this village of ungrateful bitches!

Bitch: Why are you even here? We’ve absolutely nothin’ to do with Agustria or Grannvale! If you’ve really gotta fight, take it somewhere else, you thoughtless sod.

Take a close look at her village in that image. A section is burned, meaning we literally ran in and saved it from being slaughtered by pirates. Next time, we won’t.

More importantly, Aideen finally meets Bridget. Were yooooooooooou paying attention…?

(D’aaaaaaaaaaaaw. Yup, Aideen mentioned her sister Bridget way back in Verdane, and we finally reunited them. Heart: Melted.)

Aideen: Surely you recall me?

Bridget: What? How do you know my name? Hang on… you look just like me! Aideen, huh… it sounds kinda familiar. But where from…?

Aideen: Bridget, listen well. I am your twin sister! We lost you to pirates years ago, when you were just five years old. I’ve searched for you for years. I never lost hope we would meet again!

(D’aaaaaaaaaaaaaaw!)

Bridget: This is all so sudden… no. Weird feelings aren’t enough. I need proof!

Aideen: Proof, you say? Here. Draw this bow.

Bridget: Huh? Okay, a nice bow and all, but what’s it gotta do with anything? Well, I’ll humor you. So I draw it, and… Whoa! Wh-what’s going on?! The hell is this? This… weird feeling boiling within me… are these memories? Ah, my heart is on fire… Aideen? Yes… you’re Aideen... my sister...

Aideen: Oh, thank the gods! You remember! That bow is your birthright, Bridget. It is Yewfelle, the sacred bow of Jungby. Legends tell that the exalted weapons of this land, such as this one, can only be wielded by a single heir per generation. For House Jungby and Yewfelle, that rightful heir is you, Bridget.

Bridget: Oh, Aideen, come here… Let me get a good look at you. How is our father doing? And our brother… Andre, right?

Aideen: I’ve so much to tell you, too… Bridget. My sister.

Well. That was adorable. And Bridget also gets a hold of Yewfelle, which gives her a +10 to Strength and Speed, along with the natural ability Renewal to heal her a small amount per-turn. Not quite as great as Gae Bolg, but frankly Bridget doesn’t need much help to start with so this turns her from unbreakable to super unbreakable. From here it’s mostly last-second healing and warping around, to get Claude to the one village he still needs to get his holy butt to, and to have everyone else start moving the new dudes toward the arena.

Though Aideen does hit 20! Probably won’t promote her this chapter, though, I have no way to get her home quickly. And next, I trigger the secret event by moving Dew over to the sacred tower… no, once again, no hint to do this…

Dew: Mmm… nope, nothin’ over here. Over there, maybe? Aw man! What a boring little dump.

Strange Voice: Who… are you…

Dew: Huh?!

Strange Voice: … State your business…

Dew: Heh, maybe if I pretend I can’t hear it…

Strange Voice: How dare you… defile this sacred ground… BEGONE!

Dew: Kyaaa! S-sorry! Please don’t hurt me! Hah… hah… what just happened?! Hang on… a sword? What’s it doin’ sitting around a place like this? Eh, who cares? Guess I’m getting’ something outta this after all!

Dew gets the Wind Sword, a magic blade like Ayra’s bolt sword and Ethlyn’s light brand, and it will be put to good use over time. Also he’s an awful person. I kind of wish the event had been the ghost eating his soul and joining our army instead.

Over on the other side of the map, Claude grabs the final village:

Cool Old Dude: We can’t thank you enough, but mayhap this magic staff will help. They call it a Restore staff. If yer allies’ve been put t’sleep or silenced, one cast of this staff’ll get ‘em back on their feet.

See, village of northern bitches? This is how you thank the people who stopped your home from burning down.

Now, the last two things. First arena runs:

Bridget: 7 wins, Gained two levels: +2 HP, +1 Strength, +1 Luck, +1 Defense

Finn: Up to 7 wins, did not gain a level.

Erin: Up to 7 wins, gained one level: +1 Speed, +1 Defense

Dew: Up to 4 wins, did not gain a level. I shouldn’t have used him.

Taillte: 7 wins, Gained three levels: +2 HP, +3 Skill, +2 Luck, +1 Resistance

In addition, a few of the new recruits have conversations with Sigurd.

Claude: I’m glad Taillte was close at hand. We may not have survived, if not for her magic. More importantly, Lord Sigurd, my prayers to Saint Bragi were answered.

Sigurd: You have the trust of all this, then?

Claude: That I do. As I thought, Duke Reptor is behind all of this. On his orders, it was Duke Langbalt who killed Prince Kurth. The two then framed your father, Lord Byron, for the crime.

(Noooooooooooooooooooo, ya don’t saaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay.)

Sigurd: As we thought…

Claude: The pair’s treachery runs deeper still. The murder of Isaach’s King Mananan was also the handiwork of Duke Reptor. He feared a peaceful end to the war would end the sole excuse for the conquest of Isaach, so he had the king assassinated.

Sigurd: Is that so… Reptor’s filthy hands are all over this mess…

Claude: Not entirely. In the shade of his avarice, there’s something else at work. Something unsettling and terrifying. Not even Lord Bragi could scry this evil presence, obscured as it was by its great power.

Sigurd: An evil presence? Could it be that dark priesthood? … Wait! What of my father, Claude?

Claude: Lord Byron yet lives, but he is weak. I fear he is not long for this world…

Sigurd: Father… this can’t be happening…

Claude: I’ll hasten back to the capital. His Majesty needs to hear the truth. Lord Sigurd, for the time being, stay here and restrain yourself from rash action.

Sigurd: Understood. I can’t thank you enough, Father Claude. I beg of you, do everything you can to save my father and clear his name.

Sigurd: The villages told me of a woman who leads the pirates of Orgahil, and of her devotion to aiding the poor and weak. That would be you, correct?

(“Also you’re identical to my childhood next-door-neighbor, who has an identical twin named Bridget, so…”)

Bridget: You must be that Grannvale man… Sigurd, right? Guess this is it. Come on. Just get it over with.

Sigurd: Oh, no, you’re mistaken! I’m certainly not here to kill you. I just want to talk. I’d like you to ally with you. We’d love to add your strength to our own, to help us better fight the pirates. What say you?

Bridget: Wait. You really want me, of all people?

Sigurd: Certainly! You’d be a tremendous asset.

Bridget: You’re a strange little man, Sigurd…

Oh, Bridget, You have no idea. Let’s get the Hell out of Agustria!

Sigurd: Oifey, would you please gather our troops here? Now that this is all over, I’d like to ensure that everyone’s alright.

Oifey: At once, sire.

Langbalt: Seize these vile allies of Byron, accomplices to his murder of Kurth and his bid to take over our kingdom! It is the will of His Majesty! No mercy for enemies of the state!

Reptor: To think, he personally put an end to that miserable prince and nearly killed Byron as well… I’ve never seen such a bold ploy! And with Arvis using His Majesty’s trust, it all worked flawlessly! Convincing the king of anything is hardly a challenge, but to succeed with a tale of this scale takes quite the storyteller… and here we are, with the entirety of House Chalphy framed for the crime! Heh heh… our victory is all but assured. The throne of Grannvale shall be mine, one way or another. I’ll leave no pest who dares interfere with me alive…

(……. I’m going to assume Langbalt is loudly shouting to the army and Reptor is just thinking to himself. Otherwise, I got some questions.)

Sigurd: What in the blazes is this?! I’ve been declared a traitor and a Grannvale legion waits at our doorstep to arrest me?!

Oifey: Sire… and to think, the war here was over at long last, and you were about to go search for Deirdre.

(“YES, OIFEY, THANK YOU FOR REMINDING ME”)

Sigurd: Gah… how could His Majesty believe Reptor’s lies? That my father, of all people, would kill Prince Kurth?! If only Father Claude had reached the capitol before they struck… Why?! Why is this happening?! I fought a pointless war! I let Eldigan die! And now this! What have I been fighting for all along?!

(The one and only time it will be a relief to see neutral units.)

Mahyna: Queen Rahna bade my corps and I to come and retrieve you. We invite you and your subordinates to retreat with us to Silesse, until your good name has been cleared in Grannvale.

(Lewyn’s mom! Finally, our habit of collecting lost royalty has paid off!)

Sigurd: … Queen Rahna of Silesse, you say? Why is Silesse willing to give aid to an alleged traitor like me?

Mahyna: Please, sir. Time is of the essence. The Grannvale assault is sure to begin at any moment now. My Pegasus knights will escort you across the sea to safety in Silesse.

And there we go! Grannvale, our ambiguously evil home, has outright turned against us. Reptor and Langbalt are in control, and the king thinks we killed his son. The only option remaining is to flee across the sea and regroup.

… We probably coulda solved the issue by having Lewyn stand near the enemy, but this is more dramatic.

Anyway, see you next week in the shining northern lands of Silesse, where I’m sure nothing will go wrong!

Part 11

#let's play fire emblem #Let's play fire emblem IV #Let's play genealogy of the holy war #fire emblem 4 #Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War #FEIV #LP #my writing

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fire-emblem-heroes-supports · 7 years

Text

Sigurd/Julia C-A Support

Written by animenutcase

C SUPPORT

Julia: …

Sigurd: …

Julia: …

Sigurd: …You can stop hiding now. I know you’re there.

Julia: …! How did you-

Sigurd: Your mother was rather good at hiding, but once you pick up on her habits, she can be rather easy to find. I still remember the day I found Deirdre in the Spirit Forest. Or rather, she found me.

Julia: Then you know who I am.

Sigurd: Well, no. I don’t know what your name is. But I’m fairly certain I know who your parents are.

Julia: I am Princess Julia of the Grannvale Empire. My twin brother is Crown-Prince Julius and my parents are Empress Deirdre and Emperor Arvis. And you’re the traitor Sigurd of Chalphy.

Sigurd: That’s not-

Julia: You’re the father of my half-brother, Seliph. You and your father were framed for the assassination of my grandfather and at the Battle of Belhalla, you were personally executed by my father.

Sigurd: …You’ve really done your homework.

Julia: Lewyn filled me in.

Sigurd: Lewyn’s alive!? He made it out!?

Julia: Yes. He raised me after he found me outside of Belhalla Castle. Despite me not having any memories, he took me in for seven years.

Sigurd: But you said-

Julia: I got them back recently.

Sigurd: How did you lose them?

Julia: …It’s a long story and it’s not a happy one.

Sigurd: I see. I won’t force you to talk about it.

Julia: No, I think you need to hear about it. You’ve heard of the dark dragon Loptyr, correct?

Sigurd: Of course. He was the one the Twelve Crusaders defeated.

Julia: Well, my brother inherited his power through our parents. One night, he got his hands on Loptyr’s tome was possessed. Then he… tried to kill me.

Sigurd: How did you survive?

Julia: Mother burst into the room as he was casting his spell and pushed me out of the way. She… took the hit in my place.

Sigurd: …! So she…

Julia: She-She used the last of her strength to teleport me away, telling me that I had to live. The shock of it caused me to lose my memories, but I remember the day I heard the announcement of the Empress’s death. One of Lewyn’s inside sources came and told us about it. And then I… I ate my breakfast.

Sigurd: …

Julia: Isn’t that terrible? She was my mother and sacrificed herself for me, and then I just let myself forget and-

Sigurd: It’s not your fault. You were a child who’d just had her entire world ripped from her. No one could blame you for blocking that out.

Julia: But-

Sigurd: Was there something you wanted to ask me about?

Julia: I wanted to… ask you about my parents. Lewyn, too, now that I think about it.

Sigurd: And I’d be happy to answer any of those questions at another time. Right now, you look like you’re about to cry. We can try talking about this later, okay?

Julia: …That’s my line. You’re the one who looks like he’s about to cry.

Sigurd: …! Ha ha… You’re pretty good at reading people, just like her.

Julia: …

[Sigurd and Julia have reached support rank C.]

B SUPPORT

Julia: Hello, Sir Sigurd.

Sigurd: Princess Julia. We still have to finish our conversation from the other day, don’t we?

Julia: Yes.

Sigurd: I suppose it’s my turn to talk. What would you like to know? Julia: I’d… like to hear about my father.

Sigurd: Duke Arvis, huh… I’m sorry to say, Princess Julia, I didn’t know him very well. Velthomer was a fair distance from Chalphy, so I didn’t see him very often, and he wasn’t particularly social when I did.

Julia: Did you hate my father? For… everything that happened?

Sigurd: For a long time, I did. I assumed he was in on everything. But the way he reacted when he brought your mother out to see me… It confused me. I started keeping watch over him and the man who was hanging around him, and I eventually realized that your father was just as much of a pawn as I was. I couldn’t bring myself to hate him after that.

Julia: I see.

Sigurd: Not only that, but I could tell his love for Deirdre was sincere. It wasn’t just because she was the prince’s daughter. I couldn’t tell if she loved him the same way, though.

Julia: Mother sometimes seemed like a different person. I think she might have been trying to remember you.

Sigurd: That would make me happy, but I can’t know for sure.

Julia: I’m sure she was! I often saw her sneaking around trying to learn about your family. I think she thought my grandfather’s death was suspicious. Father tried to keep it from her, but… I think he had some regrets as well.

Sigurd: Oh?

Julia: He kept a large box nearby almost all the time. I snuck into his room once while he was busy. I opened the box and I saw a beautiful sword with a green hilt and a blue scabbard. I almost wanted to take it out, but I just sort of knew that it wasn’t for me.

Sigurd: The Tyrfing…

Julia: I think Father is waiting for Seliph to claim it.

Sigurd: …

Sigurd: As for your mother… I can’t really explain why, but I felt drawn to her the moment we met. Calling it “love at first sight” might sound silly, but that’s basically what it was. She was very soft-spoken and gentle, much like yourself. At the same time, however, she often seemed afraid that we’d be separated. When Seliph was born, she only stayed behind to look after him reluctantly because she was afraid it would be the last time we saw each other. Lessons in hindsight, I suppose.

Julia: You really loved my mother a lot, didn’t you?

Sigurd: I still do.

Julia: …

Sigurd: …It’s getting late.

Julia: You’re right. We can talk more later. And I think I know what you want to talk about next time.

[Julia leaves.]

Sigurd: Seliph…

[Sigurd and Julia have reached support rank B.]

A SUPPORT

Sigurd: Shall we continue our discussion, Princess Julia?

Julia: Yes, I’m ready to talk more. We still have a lot to discuss.

Sigurd: So now we’ve come to Seliph. I admit, I’m both eager and terrified to hear about him. I hope he’s grown up well.

Julia: I felt… drawn to Sir Seliph as soon as I met him, even before he was kind to me. I think he subconsciously reminded me of how my family was. His face bore some resemblance to Mother’s.

Sigurd: So Seliph took after Deirdre in terms of appearance? That makes me happy. How did you two meet?

Julia: Once the liberation army began moving to free Isaach, Lewyn had them take me in while he made his way south.

Sigurd: How was Lewyn, by the way? He raised you, didn’t he?

Julia: He made sure I had enough to eat, and he kept me safe, but he often came across as cold.

Sigurd: Cold? That doesn’t sound very much like the Lewyn I knew. He could have a sharp tongue, but I know it was only because he cared.

Julia: It’s strange. Now that I think about it, I never saw him eat or sleep.

Sigurd: …What about Shannan and Oifey?

Julia: Oifey is like a father to all of us, and Prince Shannan is like a big brother. To tell the truth, I think Sir Seliph keeps his hair long because he wants to be like him.

Sigurd: I see… I’m glad. I don’t think I’d be able to face Ayra if anything happened to Shannan. And Oifey… I placed a huge burden on him when he was still so young. Ha ha… I’ve really messed things up for a lot of people. Oifey, Shannan, Seliph…

Julia: Please don’t blame yourself, Sir Sigurd. You were doing your best with the circumstances you found yourself in. You made sure Sir Seliph was safe.

Sigurd: And your mother made sure you were safe.

Julia: …!

Sigurd: It’s not something you really understand until you become a parent yourself, but I know that Deirdre didn’t regret what she did for you. I’m sure she’d do it again without a second thought.

Julia: *sniffs*

Sigurd: Hey now…

Julia: Don’t worry, I’m happy. I think I can… I think I’ll be able to face my mother when I see her. My father, too.

Sigurd: And I know I’ll be able to have a long talk with Seliph. Heh, with any luck, we’ll all be able to have a long talk as a family.

Julia: Yes!

[Sigurd and Julia have reached support rank A.]

#fire emblem genealogy of the holy war #male and female heroes #sigurd #julia #sigurd x julia #submission

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