#like she has the crest of macuil and everything

[discount-komaru]

#like she has the crest of macuil and everything #and she's not Kronya #and she's probably gay #monica von ochs #fire emblem three hopes demo #monica fire emblem

[randomnameless]

One of my main hcs is that Rhea is the only Nabatean we know who's directly Sothis' child, and there were a lot more of them who were born like Cethleann (full lizard). But because of their long life and social structure, pretty much everyone knows one another and is at least on friendly terms.

Turtle, Birdie and Cichol may be siblings but it doesn't really matter cuz Cethleann calls every nabatean who is close to her father's age uncle/auntie :')

The birth order goes: Cichol > Indech > Macuil > Pan > Rhea > Cethleann

General Pan stuff:

He's the Metal Dragon. His crest ability allows him to control metallic objects, kinda like telekinesis but only for metals. This is a lot more powerful in his dragon form, where he can liquidify his metallic scales and make pretty much anything he wants. His title is Glimmering Armour cuz he's very sturdy and shiny.

The Fire Dragon is his sister! But she's Luín now RIP. It was getting hit by her that made him force-transform. He knows a lot of fire magic because she's awesome.

Out of the surviving ones he's closest to Rhea cuz they were good friends pre-zanado. He's the one who taught her swordsmanship cuz he's considered one of the best. He also got to know Indech better during WoH cuz they're both holed up together lol. He visits the pond often to talk and hang out.

He and Macuil have a weird rivalry type relationship. They will badmouthing each other at every opportunity and will get into fights sometimes. Macuil is better at magic and Pan is better at physical/weapons arts. Pan/Macuil rivals to lovers 2000+ years slow burn

He didn't have a high opinion of Willhelm because he was Going Though It and willy's kinda stupid. He knew smth was going on with Seiros and Willy but he really didn't want to think about it so all he ever really said was 'your taste in men is horrible'.

The damaged crest stone caused the magic flow in his body to become unstable, that's why he force-transformed like that. In his travels after WoH he pretty much had to relearn magic and was able to get everything back under control so he's better now! But the damage can't be fully undone so now he can't go into regenerative sleep and his normal self-healing has gone down. He can still transform normally but has to stay in one form for at least a few days before turning back, otherwise he might damage his body/crest stone even more.

To answer your questions:

In his travels he was able to see how Adrestia kept falling into depravity and became disillusioned with humanity. By the time of the rebellion he doesn't have a sliver of hope in the nobles or their emperor.

He hadn't met Rhea since he left after the war. He had no clue where Cichol and Cethleann are. He doesn't want to involve other nabateans anyway because he fears for their safety. But he will put himself in danger because self-worth issues and he believes he can't be relic'd with the damaged crest stone. Imagine Rhea's surprise when she arrives at Charon for the peace treaty and sees who Faerghus' strategist is.

He liked humans and thought they were okay but kinda weird pre-zanado. That later changed to 'I may not like humanity much now but that doesn't mean I'm gonna punish children for the sins of their parents.' Fighting with Loog and Faerghus gang brought him hope. They showed him that people aren't so bad after all! But having a child with a human is a big no-no in his books.

He dotes on Cethleann and later Cyril a lot! He considers himself 'the cool uncle', doing stuff like teaching them swear words, making them treats, keeping an eye on them without being overbearing, etc. They think he's very cool.

Yes, he dyed his hair, and got very annoyed with others when they didn't do it properly.

- Lizard Pan anon

Ooh!

my dumb comments under the cut!

The birth order goes: Cichol > Indech > Macuil > Pan > Rhea > Cethleann

Boomer Seteth lol "Nabateans those days with their hair dye and spins and humans and whatnot"

The Fire Dragon is his sister! But she's Luín now RIP. It was getting hit by her that made him force-transform

:(

I had a similar HC, that being "hit" by a Relic does weird shenanigans to a Nabatean, and if their crests are similar/compatible it hijacks their own magic, sometimes messing up with their transformations.

Out of the surviving ones he's closest to Rhea cuz they were good friends pre-zanado. He's the one who taught her swordsmanship cuz he's considered one of the best.

Is he the one who taught her how to spin with a sword? But I always loved the idea of Seiros the Warrior having been taught stuff by her brothers, magic comes from Macuil, brawling from Indech... Cichol tried to teach her how to use a spear, but she only went to D rank because he was boring, or something.

Or worse, Rhea, as Seiros the Warrior, tells Pan "look brother, I refine your technique, now I spin in midair, and this move is very cool and deadly!"

He also got to know Indech better during WoH cuz they're both holed up together lol. He visits the pond often to talk and hang out

"Look at those humans. They're too loud, and they do stupid things."

"I prefer to run away from Cichol, he started to have a rant about proper conduct when two humans started to hold hands. I couldn't stand it."

"Do we talk about Macuil?" "No."

He and Macuil have a weird rivalry type relationship. They will badmouthing each other at every opportunity and will get into fights sometimes.

Funny how we all hc Macuil as the idiot who will get into fights, but he is also the one who insults people freely (in the lolcalisation he disses on Sothis, but in the jp version, he disses on Seteth instead lol). "who needs stupid human weapons when one can use magic??" "maybe you're just jealous because you are weaker than a human!"

He didn't have a high opinion of Willhelm because he was Going Though It and willy's kinda stupid. He knew smth was going on with Seiros and Willy but he really didn't want to think about it so all he ever really said was 'your taste in men is horrible'.

"Pan, look, Willy swallowed a noodle through his nose, isn't he awesome?"

"Do you really want an answer?"

The damaged crest stone caused the magic flow in his body to become unstable, that's why he force-transformed like that. In his travels after WoH he pretty much had to relearn magic and was able to get everything back under control so he's better now! But the damage can't be fully undone so now he can't go into regenerative sleep and his normal self-healing has gone down

Oh, I had a kind of similar HC for Cichol - the trauma after losing his wife and Cethleann was so heavy and he spent 1k years angsting about Cethleann that his body became unstable, and that's why he cannot transform anymore - theoretically, he can since he managed to relearn magic (even if he sucks at it compared to his fam) - but the trauma from the WoH nerfs him unconsciously (instead of "real" damage like your Pan) and he cannot go in "lizard sleep mode" or heal as fast as a Nabatean should.

(macuil calls him a cripple and insults him because he's an ass)

btw, what's your hc about Seteth losing his powers and ability to transform?

became disillusioned with humanity. By the time of the rebellion he doesn't have a sliver of hope in the nobles or their emperor.

:(

So it's more of a middle ground - he doesn't have hope in them but still doesn't want to kill the descendants of the Elites, hopefully some Faerghians (again? Or it's the first time in canon?) made him have faith in humans again!

Imagine Rhea's surprise when she arrives at Charon for the peace treaty and sees who Faerghus' strategist is.

"if you ever want to come to garreg Mach, there's a room for you"

And then Charon thought those words were meant for him, and didn't know what to say - but passed on those words to his descendants, and that's why Cassandra knew (besides of her other reasons for turning to Rhea in time of duress) that Garreg Mach would be a safe place to hide when the Kingdom called her a traitor lol

They showed him that people aren't so bad after all! But having a child with a human is a big no-no in his books!

"sister what have you done with your stupid human - sister?"

He dotes on Cethleann and later Cyril a lot! He considers himself 'the cool uncle', doing stuff like teaching them swear words, making them treats, keeping an eye on them without being overbearing, etc. They think he's very cool.

I Hcd Cyril as the one who tells Rhea Seteth is super cool and he wants to be like him later on, which makes her so confused, Cichol?? Cool?? Will Cethleann finally be able to join the Blue Lions for "training" if Uncle Pan looks after her? Will Cichol accept it? (as if they care about his opinion anyways!).

Also : Hair dye is a very srs business

#Lizard Pan anon #ooh #you have a lots of super interesting ideas !! #willy being stupid is fanon at this point lol #i'm sorry tumblr ate my reply with the other hcs post #but i still have it in my inbox #it'll just be in another post :( #FE16 #I love all those hcs so much lol #nabatean stuff

[blarp-is-tired]

Freeing Fódlan: Prologue

Welcome to redacted, where somehow anything and everything goes wrong! It's usually warm here and a little cloudy. There's no set weather type, anything can happen. There are quite a few trees here as well, all green and pretty. But we aren't going to stay here. No, we're going to Fódlan, more specifically Garreg Mach Monastery.

Fódlan is a large continent, split into three parts. Adrestia, the westmost part of Fódlan, is ruled by the Hresvelg royal family. No one truly knows what happened to the former Emperor, but the next person in line is the Imperial Princess: Edelgard von Hresvelg. Then, to the frigid north, lies The Holy Kingdom of Faerghus, the Bladdyid bloodline is in control here. The young man who will soon seize the throne is Dimitri Alexandre Bladdyid. His father, the King, died a tragic death in the Tragedy of Duscur, his brother, Count Rowe, is acting as the King. Finally, to the southeast is the consistently warm Leicester Alliance, usually just called the Alliance. This country functions like a government. Five families split control here, the most important one is the Riegan family. The current Duke Riegan will retire soon, passing a hefty torch to his grandson: Claude von Riegan.

Remember how I said there were three governing powers in Fódlan? While that is technically correct, there is one particularly important part that I didn't mention. A key component of the lives of Fódlan's citizens, The Church of Seiros. Despite the name "Seiros," she is not the god governing Fódlan, no. Seiros is the daughter of the Goddess, Sothis. It is simply called the Church of Seiros because she founded the religion in her mother's memory. The Goddess had five "children” the Saints. They are Saint Cihol, Saint Cethleann daughter of Cihol, Saint Indech, and Saint Macuil. Truly though, Seiros is the only daughter of the Goddess.

I can't talk about Fódlan without explaining Crests. A Crest is something passed through bloodlines. There are 16 Crests in total: The Crest of Flames, Seiros, Indech, Macuil, Cihol, Cethleann, Bladdyid, Fraldarius, Dominic, Gautier, Daphnel, Charon, Reigan, Glouscter, The Beast, and Ordelia. The ones I listed starting from the Crest of Bladdyid and ending at Charon are all split into noble Faerghus houses. The rest are in Alliance territory. None are in Adrestia as only the Crests of Saints are in noble bloodlines. Onto the main characters.

Let us paint a portrait of the elder brother first. He's quite tall, standing just under 6 feet with deep brown eyes and skin to match. Short black hair and a wide frame of “pure muscle”. He can often be seen sporting an orange hoodie and grey sweatpants and a myriad of coloured trainers. His name is Xiyon. The younger sister is a bit short at 5 feet “that's taller than my mom,” is how she'd respond to that comment. With the same eyes and skin as her brother, she usually has her hair braided or bleached blonde. Typically, she'll be seen wearing her school uniform with a cardigan, thick glasses, and strange socks. Her name is O'Ren (yes, I'm the main character).

Their journey begins on a Sunday afternoon, just the two of them, and their dogs in their worn grey house. They're sitting in the living room, chatting about their two schools. O’Ren goes to the “Academy”, a name the school itself had earned from time immemorial. While Xiyon attended a normal public high school. Let’s see what they’re talking about.

“I'm telling you; his laugh is weird!” “Whatever you say, Sis.” Never mind, I lied, they were gossiping. “ANYWAY. I told him that...” O'Ren’s sentence was cut off by a knock at the door, causing their dogs to start barking. “Artemis, Diva! Be quiet,” Xiyon shouted. “Were you expecting anything, Ren? Are those the lights you ordered?” “No, that came last Friday. I thought you ordered something,” was the girl's confused response to the questions.

The pair ignored the knocking for a little while longer, before the person at the door seemed to get desperate. “Ugh! I’m starting to get sick of that guy,” O’Ren complained loudly. This caused her brother to sigh. “Maybe if we ignore them for a little while longer they’ll go away. But I agree with you, I’m starting to get sick of it as well,” he muttered more to himself than her.

Against their better judgement, they opened the door, finding a large black box with a strange “symbol”. O'Ren recognized it first, The Crest of Flames. This made the short girl gasp. 

“Hey! I recognise that! It’s the Crest of Flames! From Three Houses. The one that Byleth has,” she exclaimed. “So you bought another pendant? This time with the Crest of Flames?”

She raised a brow at this. “No, I didn’t buy any Three Houses merchandise. I don’t even think they sell stuff like this,” she said, confusion lacing her voice. “Maybe Iya got into it and she bought it,” she questioned.

“Hmm.. Possibly,” Xiyon said in agreement. “Sooo,” O’Ren stretched out the word. “We should open it right!? Right,” she said with excitement, clear in her tone. Xiyon shook his head. “Sis, when have you ever seen a mailman so dedicated to their job here? This has ‘suspicious’ written all over it! Use your head for once,” Xiyon chastised gently.

 Like the ingenious person she is, she opened it. “Didja say somethin’ Xai? I was too busy opening the oh-so mysterious package.” She looked down into the large box, finding a piece of parchment on top of a sword and axe. Both weapons looked awfully expensive, made of the finest silver. “O’Ren you idiot! Why would you open a box like that!? What the hell is wrong with you,” Xiyon yelled at his sister. “Wait, shut up for a second. There’s a note in here,” she shushed her fuming brother. “Do you wanna read it, Xai?” “Ugh! Fine,” Xiyon said angrily.

“You have been cordially invited. Wake up, Children of the Goddess,” Xiyon read aloud. “Um… Invited to what, exactly..? And what ‘Children of the Goddess’,” O’Ren questioned nervously. Her eyes darted around. O'Ren was feeling anxious, even more so than usual, and Xiyon could tell. "Calm down, Ren. Everything will be fi-," Xiyon's sentence was cut off when a bright light suddenly started shining. “Your journey is about to begin. May the Goddess protect you throughout your travels,” a feminine voice boomed. Just like that, the teenagers and the box were gone.

Xiyon woke up in the woods during the late afternoon, the axe lying next to him. Disoriented and confused, he started looking for his sister. “Ren? Ren! Where are you,” he called anxiously. He saw a relatively large group of people being led by an older blond man and a younger blue haired one. Picking up the axe and hiding it behind his back, he walked over to them. “Um, excuse me? Have you seen a girl wandering around here,” he asked the blond man. “What are you doing walking around here? Where are you going? Where are your parents,” the blond man asked in a rapid-fire manner. “My sister and I suddenly woke up here, but I couldn't find her. Do you know where the nearest town is?” “My name is Jeralt and this is my son: Byleth. We're headed to Remire Village, we might find her there.” “Thank you, sir. My name is Xiyon,” he said. He tried not to look at the Byleth, he looked so lifeless.

Proceeding to the village, they bumped into some thieves. “Stay back, Xiyon,” Jeralt ordered. Pulling out the axe, Xiyon got ready to fight. “I can help you, just tell me what to do.” Just like that, the group rushed into a short battle. The thieves' morale was low and Jeralt's group was large. Soon enough, the thieves ran away. “Hopefully, your sister didn't run into them,” Jeralt muttered. They went to a small, lightly wooded area near Remire without any incidents after that.

“Ren,” Xiyon exclaimed. “Xiyon! Where have you been!?” O'Ren ran over and hugged her brother, happy to see him, noticing Jeralt and Byleth, she bowed in thanks. “Thank you so much for helping my brother.” “It's no problem, kid,” Jeralt said. Noticing her sword, a puzzled look crossed his face, but he decided not to question it. “Now then… Your brother never said, but do you know where your parents are,” Jeralt asked the small girl. O'Ren was barely listening, though. She was too busy looking at Byleth, he looked familiar, but there was no time for that. “We'll join you,” Xiyon said. Little did he know, that would be the biggest mistake of his life.

This is Freeing Fódlan, a story about my brother and I basically getting isekai’d to FE3H. This is already up on my Quotev account which you can find here. I’ll just be rapid posting the chapters so enjoy!

#fe3h #xoc #why do i do this to myself #fire emblem three houses #fe3h x oc

[umbralstars]

friend i have loved all the nabatean byleth hcs you've shared so i'd LOVE to see some of the ones you haven't shared yet!!! :D (only if you want of course!)

Gladly! So language nerd me has a whole thing where Byleth is actually taught the Nabatean language by Seteth and Rhea because he only has fragments from Sothis. Seteth has experience teaching Flayn how to write it (not speak it since Nabatean was her first language most likely) and teach about the culture so this is only slightly new, but Rhea does not (unless she taught Sitri but I'm still on the fence on that one) and she's downright giddy at the idea of teaching Byleth all about Nabatea. He's a pretty fast learner on account of Sothis luckily so it's almost like a refresher course on things he just forgot. Rhea does something she hasn't done in a very long time and takes Byleth to Zanado to explain what the city was like on her own terms in ways that she only can in Nabatean. The trip does help them both through putting Byleth's mind and memories at ease, and letting Rhea have just a bit of closure through just being able to talk about it to, essentially, a lost family member. He also has a much easier time talking to Indech and Macuil since both of them express themselves best in their native language.

Byleth also connects a lot with those two through them helping him with the dragon stuff. Just flying across the desert with Macuil and swimming in the lake with Indech does wonders of getting them to open up . They, along with Rhea too, help him control his transformation along with just his mobility in dragon form. Indech and Byleth particularly get along cause both of them don't speak much so they can just sit together next to the lake in utter silence just enjoy each other's company and they like that.

Bonus for Nabatean Morfis idea, post-Azure Moon. When word reached Morfis about everything that happened in Fódlan during the war to say they were shook would be an understatement. They have only just started opening up so they didn't actually know about Seiros and everything, but the description of the "avatar of the Goddess"/new archbishop being suspiciously similar to a Nabatean in appearance catches their attention. Morfis decides to take a leap of faith and send a delegation to King Dimitri and the Church.

Lo and behold when they get to Fhirdiad and see the Archbishop and holy mother that's Cichol jaws are collectively dropped. Needless to say, Byleth and the rest of the Nabateans quickly make a trip to Morfis to see what's going on. All of them are so relieved to see that even small portion of the Nabateans managed to survive, and the sheer joy that comes from seeing the civilization they've built in Morfis is indescribable. The older Morfisians are so happy to see friends they thought they lost centuries ago. Byleth also has a much easier time revealing the truth using documents from Morfis that corroborates the 'revelations' he's getting from Sothis, and forges a really close bond with the normally closed of City of Illusion.

The connection with Morfis allows for the Relics to be given proper burials too. Dimitri is able to commission traditional Nabatean weapons from Morfis that correspond to Crests a la Seiros' Sword, the Sword of Moralta, etc. Burying the Relics is just the right thing to do and having these new weapons allows them to permanently retire them without concern or fuss from the nobility or general public. This probably does come after a few years of rapport with Morfis and they are able to find blacksmiths willing to do the work if it means the Relics will never be used again.

#fe3h #Nabatea #nabatean byleth #rhea fire emblem #seteth #flayn #saint indech #saint macuil #morfis #fe3h headcanons #stars answers

[crestbound]

in another life, i was free.

In one lifetime, they’re gathered around a fire—him, Dimitri, Felix, and Ingrid. It must be summer in Fraldarius; Sylvain can hear the crash of ocean waves off the towering cliffside far away. They’re not old enough to be here completely unsupervised, but neither are they too young to know how to sneak away. The Fraldarius maids must be turning the castle upside-down.

The fire crackles. Sylvain remembers that look on Felix’s face; it’s the look he gets when he boasts about something Glenn had done, to be inevitably followed by his own plans to follow in his brother’s footsteps. 

(He misses that look. He misses when Felix’s eyes used to shine with a world of things to look forward to.)

“I wish I had a sibling too,” Dimitri admits. “Someone strong, like Glenn... or smart, like Miklan!”

No, Sylvain thinks wryly, you really don’t.

But the one huddled by the fire, handing Ingrid a skewer of meat, doesn’t agree. This one looks happier. This one is braver.

“I can be your brother, Dima,” he says, which is everything wrong and everything he’s ever tried to be. “I can be everyone’s big brother!”

“Oh?” comes a familiar voice, carrying over the sound of footsteps on sand, of waves yet to announce a storm. Sylvain feels his heart jump once and catch in his throat when Miklan walks into view. It’s almost a knee-jerk reaction, to run in between them. 

“Miklan—” he begins, but even his breath tangles in his lungs when Miklan simply walks right through him. (Run. Why are you here? I’m sorry. I’m sorry, I’m sorry—)

“Forget about being a brother,” Miklan says, lacking so much vitriol that Sylvain has to turn, light-headed and nauseous, to stare at him again. “You’re going to be grounded, first. All of you are. The whole castle’s in a panic; Glenn’s about to round up the entire Fraldarius army just to look for you brats.”

“But we wrote a letter!” the young Sylvain protests.

Miklan rolls his eyes. (Wrong shade of brown. His hair’s so much shorter, here. He’s missing the scar on his jaw.) “You wrote ‘off to play.’ That’s not a letter, Syl.”

Syl.

His heartbeats grow louder and louder in his ears, crashing against an incessant ringing, the howling gusts of his breaths. Miklan’s never called him that. Miklan’s never been this nice, either. Miklan is...

(If it weren’t for you...!)

...Miklan is...

Shall we try again?

In another lifetime, the Margrave is ill. They say he caught a sweating sickness from the north, where the Srengi have been tearing down the border walls and pillaging the villages just beyond. He’s expected to die within the moon.

Sylvain is six years old when the margravine tells him.

“Oh,” he says, and looks down at his feet. His mother taps her finger on the table once, too proper to clear her throat. Sylvain straightens up to look at her until she smiles. “When is Miklan coming home?”

“Perhaps in a week or two,” she replies. “But I trust he will be present for the exchange of seals.”

They’re to destroy the margrave’s official wax seal stamp, made of gold and treated blackwood, and create a new one—this time, with Sylvain’s initials instead of his father’s. It’ll be used to seal the letter to the king, announcing the death of the margrave and a schedule for his heir’s arrival at the capital. In Fhirdiad, he’ll kneel before the throne and swear his pledges again.

Sylvain frowns, and resists every urge to shift uneasily in his seat. “...He has to be. Isn’t it going to be his ceremony?” After all, Miklan is the margrave’s firstborn. He’s charismatic, and he’s smart, and he’s terrifyingly brutal with a lance. There isn’t a single soldier in the Gautier cavalry that doesn’t admire him.

But the margravine isn’t part of the cavalry. Though she hasn’t said a word of it herself, everyone in the castle knows that their lady, a paragon of every feminine virtue belonging to the nobility, laments every day for her one failure in life: Miklan Anschutz Gautier, born to her without a Crest. 

Imagine that.

“Oh, Sylvain,” she tuts. Her hands are soft when she reaches out to touch him, brushing the hair out of his face and tucking unruly locks behind his ear. “Don’t be silly; of course it will be you. You’re our son.”

But not Miklan. Not Miklan, whose eyes are a closer shade of hazel to the margravine’s than Sylvain’s are; not Miklan, whose laughter echoes the same way the margrave’s does, heavy and confident. Not Miklan, born with a blessing from each of the Four Saints, from Macuil’s keen eye for strategy to Indech’s indomitable strength. 

But not Miklan, Crestless and worthless, of the right flesh but not the right blood.

The margravine pulls back. She looks satisfied with her work. “Now,” she says, “Let’s enjoy some tea, shall we?” It’s one of her favorites, a cinnamon blend with a touch of honey. In this life, Sylvain likes it, too.

His brother ends up returning home in five days. Just an hour after sunset, Sylvain—older, taller, the one that survived—watches Miklan kill him. 

Neither of them flinches when a sickening crack sounds from the bottom of the well.

In this lifetime, that’s the end.

—we try again?

The next life starts with blood.

He’s angry. Not him, but him—the Sylvain of this life, thrown away and forgotten. There’s a jagged scar that runs from his left temple down to his right cheek, a sick mirror image of Miklan’s worst injury.

And it strikes him, then, that this is the life where it finally happens; this is the life where everything’s turned around. Flames devour a small village just on the border between Gautier and Fraldarius. They don’t have much to plunder, but it isn’t about what can be stolen; it’s about the message that’ll be sent.

Even here, Fraldarius and Gautier enjoy a good relationship. Even here, Sylvain is smart enough to know the best way to hurt his father is through shame.

Your son did this, they’ll tell him. Control him.

And what can he do but try? Even disinherited and stripped of everything he has, Sylvain is still a Gautier. He’s the margrave’s responsibility, especially when he begins causing trouble for the duke.

But of course his father would never come himself. Sylvain can burn a hundred villages, kill a thousand civilians, steal a million bars of gold, and still, still, he’d send his prized son, his Crested son, his only son, to clean up the mess. That’s what he’s good for, after all. That’s what he’s worth. Riches and loves, hearth and home, all because the right blood sings in his veins.

“Miklan,” he rasps, smoke thick in his lungs. “Of course he’d send you.”

“That’s enough now, Sylvain,” Miklan replies, brandishing the Lance of Ruin. It titters and glows in his hands.

Sylvain—the real or the fake, the one that doesn’t belong, the one that should, that wishes, that doesn’t want to be—releases a quiet breath. Then another. A sound, then two, then three.

Then, he laughs.

Miklan kills him here, too.

—try again?

There’s a war in this life.

Behind him, on top of the hill, Dimitri refuses to die. He is a torrent of anger that threatens to tear open the heavens to drag down the Goddess by her neck. Several feet in front of him, Ingrid is already dead. She’s half-crushed by her pegasus, bent and twisted in all sorts of ways. 

Between her and Sylvain—the one fighting, the one losing—is Felix. The Sylvain that doesn’t belong knows with a sinking feeling in his gut that the blood on his cheek is Ingrid’s.

Sylvain lifts the Lance of Ruin. It’s tittering more than he’s ever seen in his life, stained through with blood and ichor.

“Hey, Felix?” His voice sounds tired. “Remember when we were kids and we made a promise about dying together?”

Felix doesn’t flinch. He’s always been like that—stubborn and unyielding, willing to commit himself to his decisions to the bloody, sad end. “I remember.”

Sylvain smiles, and it’s a pathetic thing, cracking at the edges. “Well,” he says, “seems we’re about to kill each other.”

There’s one moment where their heartbeats crash against each other, in sync. The next beat, they’re skewed again. One sounds like wardrums; the other, a funeral dirge. It isn’t hard to guess which is whose.

“Sorry, Sylvain.” There’s a flash of a blade. Sylvain—both—wonders if the blood that’s still on it is Ingrid’s.

“Fe—”

“You’ll die first.”

(I know.)

—again?

That’s enough.

#UnlockedWesternFaerghus2021 #drabble #also quote spoiler for cf felix vs am sylvain #u can tell i started off with Ideas that i wanted and then got lazy after like a sentence in shdoigshd

[butwhatifidothis]

I have thought it would have been a hella better game if Sothis had been the protagonist too! Here’s how I imagine it would be like:

Byleth is the actual reincarnation of Sothis and the child-Sothis we see at the start of the game is actually her subconsciousness. Sothis/Byleth is still the emotionless mercenary with no social skills when the game starts, but she does become more and more emotional and expressive as she begins interacting with specifically Rhea, Flayn and Seteth, her old family. They do form a bond with the lords and the students though (I think the dynamic in AM as a close friend is nice) and most of Byleth’s thoughts are shown through child-Sothis’ commentary.

They can still have the “protagonist being ignorant about Fodlan” thing going on, but with a little twist that it is actually because Sothis keeps confusing the old Fodlan of her era with modern Fodlan and gets blinding headache all the time but actually that is her getting flashbacks. Because of this Jeralt took them away to Morfis (which didn’t exist in her time yet) and they only returned recently after being hired by Rodrigue who had them take care of some bandits in the Kingdom (that is why she has heard of the Tragedy but doesn’t know the details of it).

For example, when she leads the class to the Red Canyon, she mistakenly thinks it is a big, prosperous city that is supposed to be the capital of Fodlan and the lords and Rhea have to explain to her the legend of Zanado. Then she faints and gets a flashback of a beautiful city called Zanado with many humans and dragons living together in peace and unimaginably sophisticated technology located in the exact same valley. She confuses a lot of places with old Fodlan too. To her, Arianrhod is still a small fishing village, Fhirdiad is a food paradise and tourist’s attraction, Goneril is the capital of Agartha, a neighbouring belligerent nation, Enbarr is an ordinary small town where she landed when she first crashed into Fodlan, the Valley of Torment is a fertile valley with a large population focused on agriculture, the Church of Seiros is supposed to be called the Church of Sothis instead and she doesn’t know what the knights are because such concepts did not exist in her time nor Morfis, etc.

Of course, because she often gets so confused by the current Fodlan, the lords and Rhea still have a lot of explaining to do every time they have to travel somewhere like they do in the game. Claude becomes very suspicious of her too.

When she gets attacked by Solon, child-Sothis merges with Sothis, now reincarnated as Byleth, and regains her memories and power as the goddess and from now on her emotions and stuff are back. Then a cutscene showing Sothis’ memory of how and why she came to Fodlan as an alien, how she created the Nabateans and passed her knowledge to the humans in Fodlan, how Fodlan thrived as a nation of Nabateans and humans living together, how Agartha rose as a highly technologically advanced belligerent neighbouring country in the east and how Fodlan and Agartha fought in a war that devastated the entire world so much that she spent centuries healing it until it finally began prospering again and she went to sleep. In her memory we are also shown that the Nabateans all had symbols like the current crests of the 12 Elites and we are misled into thinking those with the crests are the descendants of the Nabateans. The cutscene then ends abruptly when Sothis is jolted from her sleep and the last thing she sees is a wicked man (Nemesis) raising an axe on her and a young girl’s screams that she knows it’s her daughter Seiros.

She is very confused right now because apparently the world she knew is just completely forgotten by the people, and apparently five of her children founded an empire called Adrestia with a human an entire thousand years ago. She knows they can live longer than 1000years and realises they must still be alive now and wants to find them. She also doesn’t know how she died too and is rather panicked that she will be killed again if word gets out she is Sothis. Ah, and she is very curious of the true identities of the 12 Elites as their first names were not recorded and shared the same crests with some of her children. Sothis worries if they were her children who adopted a different surname because that would mean her children fought amongst each other and may be they destroyed each other to the point that Fodlan was in such a ruin that no one remembers the old Fodlan now.

After this cutscene showing the old Fodlan under Sothis’ guidance ends, Byleth who has now remembered her life as Sothis and regained her full power, wakes to Rhea singing a lullaby very popular in old Fodlan so Sothis thinks Rhea may know something about the old Fodlan, but she is paranoid because she thinks there are parts of her memory missing and does not know for sure if Rhea is trustworthy. As a result, she doesn’t immediately tell Rhea she is Sothis and Rhea is not aware that her mother has already come back.

Rhea suggests having Sothis sit on the Holy Throne to jolt her memory and she accepts, hoping to remember what happened to her after the man with the axe showed up. However, before she can sit on the actual throne, Edelgard comes in with her soldiers and battle begins. Then the Imperial army attacks the Monastery before Sothis gets a chance to investigate and talk to Rhea/Seteth/Flayn. Sothis is completely stunned when Rhea turns into a dragon to protect the people because she finally realises Rhea is Seiros all along. She goes back immediately to protect Seiros when she is in danger but gets hit by Thales’ magic energy balls and falls down the cliff. She manages to tell Seiros she is Sothis before falling down the cliff though.

From this point, the route differs into the three non-CF routes.

SS will be a more personal story about Sothis trying to recover her memory and finding out what happened to her family. Sothis will also slowly realise Seteth and Flayn are her family and Macuil and Indech will also join them on this route to help rescue their little sister. Unfortunately, none of them can tell Sothis what exactly happened on the day of the Red Canyon Tragedy because Seiros was the only survivor and the four of them weren’t present in Zanado at the time. They can only tell Sothis that the five of them banded together with Wilhelm, a human and later Seiros’ husband and fought with Nemesis and his 12 Elites who tried to conquer the southern half of the continent and subjugate them to his tyranny. They can confirm the 12 elites were not their siblings and just magically got the crests of their family via unknown means. In the end Sothis rescues her daughter and storms Shambhala. The family are happily reunited and strive to rebuild Fodlan together after Rhea explains what she did to Sothis in her infant state.

VW will be a story about Sothis and Claude learning about what happened to old Fodlan and Agartha. Claude notices that Sothis has been reading up on the founding of the empire/church and the legends about the 12 Elites/saints too. He suggests they team up because he is also doing the same thing. Sothis tells him about the truth of her identity, her missing memory and the old Fodlan she remembers. This clarifies things up for Claude so Claude actually opens up to Sothis and begins trusting her as a friend and the rest follows canon. Rhea will explain what happened in the Tragedy and the fates of their family. Sothis and Claude take down Nemesis to avenge herself and her family. They also learn that Agartha is why Almyra and Fodlan fight all the time.

AM will still focus on Dimitri and the Kingdom but this is how I would frame the story: Sothis thinks the Kingdom nobles descended from the 12 Elites are the descendants of the Nabateans and may know something about her children and what happened to them. Sothis asks Dimitri if he has heard of the Nabateans. Dimitri doesn’t know anything but promises he will help Sothis investigate into this. Everything follows canon until Cornelia’s death, who not only taunts Dimitri about his stepmother but also mocks Byleth that she is assisting the descendants of the 12 elites who slaughtered her entire family 1000 years ago in a war against the descendants of her own children. Sothis in the end comes to term with the possibility that Dimitri’s ancestors might have killed her and her family and continues to support Dimitri as she believes he will make a good king while Edelgard is currently a terrible ruler who has caused the suffering of thousands of people.

CF, on the other hand, will be a much darker story. After Sothis wakes up to Rhea singing to her, she gets to choose between “ask Rhea” and “ask Edelgard” about the saints and the elites. If “ask Edelgard” is chosen, Edelgard will ask why and you can choose “tell Edelgard the truth”. She will lie and convince Sothis into helping her by telling her that Seiros and the four faints did a major cover-up and they were the ones who killed sothis and turned their blades against the rest of their siblings for power. The man Sothis saw in her memory was a bandit hired by the five saints to kill sothis and the other children, known as the 12 elites now, banded together to resist Seiros around a heroic mortal that is Nemesis. When they lost, Seiros hunted down the 12 elites, crafted weapons from their bones and gave their blood to her own allies. The church then lied to the people again that the 12 elites were helping her because one of the five saints didn’t want people to remember their siblings as villains forever. Her own ancestor wilhelm helped Seiros in her unjust war for power and she intends to make things right now and asks if Sothis wants to be a part of that. If Sothis refuses her offer and expresses her scepticism of Edelgard’s claims, the game will immediately end because Edelgard will kill her.

If chooses “yes” then you enter the CF route. Edelgard tells Sothis she intends to declare war on the church to take down Rhea and take back the lands occupied by the evil descendants of the people who slaughtered Sothis’ children, aka Faerghus and Leicester. Edelgard, however, tells Sothis she intends to capture Rhea so Sothis will be able to ask Rhea the same questions to prove her claim. They do not return to the Monastery for the Holy Throne ritual and the coronation scene and war declaration scene play instead. When Sothis returns to the Monastery, she is with the Imperial army intended to conquer the Monastery. Sothis confronts an infuriated Rhea, who is extremely mad about her betrayal, and asks why Rhea/Seiros sent the assassin on her and killed her siblings. Seiros quickly realises Byleth/Sothis is in fact the reincarnation of her mother, but Edelgard notices that and has Thales attack Sothis from behind to prevent Seiros from telling Sothis the truth and swaying her to their side. Sothis falls off the cliff and Seiros tries to kill Edelgard for turning her mother against her and killing her again before she retreats to the Kingdom.

Five years later, Sothis wakes up and rejoins Edelgard’s army only to find out the Empire is on the brink of collapse against the combined might of the Kingdom-Church-Alliance with only Garreg Mach, Gronder, Fort Merceus and Enbarr left in their control. Not all of the Black Eagle students are fighting on their side either - Ferdinand, Dorothea, Petra and Caspar have abandoned the Empire and are fighting for the Kingdom-Church-Alliance army while Linhardt and Bernadetta simply refused to join the war. Instead, Ladislava, Fleche, Randolph, Count Bergliez, Arundel and Jeritza have become your new units.

Sothis continues to help Edelgard in the war and they quickly reclaim the territories lost to the allied powers. As they continue to push forward, Sothis encounters Seteth and the other three saints too (Indech and Macuil joined Rhea after learning of what Edelgard did to Sothis) on the battlefield. They will try to tell Sothis the truth and you have an option between “question Edelgard’s claims and spare them” and “believe in Edelgard’s words and kill them”. If the former is chosen, the game will end immediately as Edelgard will backstab Sothis instantly if she knows Sothis has turned against her. The rest follows canon, but Seiros will try to tell Sothis the truth again on Tailtean. Sothis will be killed if she believes Seiros instead of Edelgard here too. Heartbroken and traumatised by the fact that her mother has killed all of her only remaining family members and has already tried to kill her twice and is about to come and kill her again, Seiros transforms into a dragon in Fhirdiad and sets the city to fire once the citizens have been evacuated, hoping to bring down all of her enemies including her mother with the fire in order to avenge her friends and family.

In the end, Sothis kills Seiros as canon but loses her power and immortality as a goddess because it was Seiros’ magic that kept the creststone alive, and without the protection magic on the stone it would just be an ordinary stone and couldn’t function as a heart. Sothis almost dies without a working heart but the Agarthans save her by a heart replacement surgery on her using Seiros’ heart on the condition that she will give them the Crest of Flames creststone and the sword and share her blood with them regularly. Everything else continues as canon and the route can end with a realistic dark ending (everything crashes and burns) or a fake happy ending (the one in the game).

YOOOO dude this is great! Byleth as a character is so uninteresting, at least to me, because the only actually interesting thing about them is something that was done to them, not something they did. Byleth was born without a heart and was given the heart of a long-dead Goddess to let them live - neat! Intriguing! But nothing else catches your eye like that about them. They live on as a mercenary who apparently only wanted to ever ask questions about anything ever at all once they get to the monastery. The biggest thing they’ve done is make a name for themselves for how well they fight in battle. 

Now, we pivot the idea of Sothis being the protagonist, that’s where things start getting interesting. She fell from the stars and created new life? She helped humans prosper in knowledge only to have that knowledge be used for evil? She healed all of Fodlan from the devastation caused by the war humans enacted and fell into a sleep because of it? Those are all things she does that are worth getting to know more about. Her being murdered during her rest by another greedy human and was reduced to nothing but a dormant consciousness for a thousand years being coupled with the “being given the heart of a long-dead Goddess” being what was done to her isn’t the only interesting thing about them anymore. That’s all stuff that offers so much to the player to want to delve into, especially with a character who is gradually more and more vocal about their want to learn about themselves, with thoughts and feelings about what happened to them, what happened to their family, what they did in the past they can’t remember. 

I especially like all the ways you can just get a game over in CF - in a way that reminds me of that one mission in Sacred Stones where if you beat the boss you get an insta-game over since he was your only way to progress the story lmao, except this is turnt up to 11, and instead of punishing you for being a dingus and fucking up the plot, in a way it’s trying to save you from becoming a kin-killing pawn to a tyrant.

About the only thing I might have a bit of a ehhh with is Agartha being why Almyra and Fodlan feud, just because I find them feuding due to themselves and not a third party to be more interesting to me (personally! That’s just for me lol, it’s not an inherently bad notion!), but thanks you so much for sending this!! 

#ask #anon #anti edelgard #Anti-edelgard #just to be safe #like omega safe lmao #this is so cool!!

[philliamwrites]

The Dawn Will Come [Chpt.3]

Fandom: Fire Emblem Three Houses

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

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

Words: 7.7k

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

Notes: Chapter 2 | Chapter 4

Chapter 03: Ties That Bind

Where war, and joy, and terror Have all at times held away; Where both delight and horror Have had their fitful day.

The happiest under heaven A king of powerful mind; A company so proven Would now be hard to find

Gawain put on a good cheer. ‘Why should I hesitate?’ He said. ‘Kind or severe, We must engage our Fate.’

[Sir Gawain and the Green Knight]

    „Breathe,“ Hanneman says for the third time. At every tap of his pen against the table, you flinch as if someone is knocking right against the inside of your skull. “You have to feel the Crest, become one with it. Don’t think of it as an addition; see it as an extension of your very self.”

    You exhale but it’s hard to focus after you’ve been sitting in the same position for nearly two hours and your legs keep falling asleep.

    “Focus on it,” Hanneman continues. He starts to gesture with his free hand, an indicator that he’s just as frustrated with your lack of progress as you are. “Focus on the feeling that took hold of you when you fought the bandits. Imagine what you want. Ask yourself what it is you really want, and take hold of that picture.”

    Well, first of all, you really want a sandwich.

    For the past few weeks, you’ve been waking up before sunrise to attend private lessons with Hanneman to get a hold of your Crest’s power. Now the end of the month approaches, and still your body refuses to get accustomed to work at such an early hour, and more importantly without eating first. An hour ago, your stomach started growling, but Professor Hanneman has proved again and again to be very successful in ignoring factors that disturb his lessons. You continue breathing through what you consider hunger pains instead of the raise of new powers, but with the sound of screaming students outside and the occasional flapping of wings as Pegasus Knights fly by on their patrol, it’s anything but successful.

    “Focus!” Hanneman chides again as if he can read your mind and knows exactly you’re thinking of the pheasant roast with berry sauce on the menu today.

    “I’m trying,” you groan and slump into the chair, defeated. “But I don’t feel anything.”

    “Hmm hmmm,” Hanneman hums and looks at you like you were supposed to understand what he’s conveying with that sound. “Maybe we’re looking at it the wrong way,” he says once you don’t follow up on his inexplicable sound. “Maybe we should stop thinking of it as a common Crest, but approach it like it is something entirely different.” He quickly notes something on his paper, then proceeds to flip through the open books he’s splayed out on his desk. “There is so little we know about the Crest of the Herald. I am much frustrated no one thought of studying it a thousand years ago!”

    “I don’t understand. How can it be different?” Your first lesson solely focused on Crests. How they are thought to be power incarnate, bestowed upon humans by the Goddess countless ages ago. Today those who are descendants of Fódlan’s Ten Elites and Four Saints, who fought during the War of Heroes beside Saint Seiros, wear Crests, a sign of wealth and nobility.

    “Well, one possible explanation could be that for whatever reason, the first Herald was different from his fellow warriors, the Ten Elites,” Hanneman offers, leaning back into his chair and looking a lot more interested in the conversation now. “The Goddess must have found him worthy of her power just as she found Saint Seiros worthy.”

    “Then why wasn’t he a Saint?” you wonder. From your understanding, the Four Saints were special comrades of Saint Seiros, just as guided by the Goddess as their leader. What had made the Herald from back then different? “According to everything you told me, he sounds a lot like this Macuil person. Focusing on strategy and all that.”

    “Saint Macuil,” Hanneman corrects you, but there’s no bite in his voice. “And yes, perhaps he was akin to the Saints, but that clearly wasn’t what determined the final decision to name him Herald.”

    “Well, that’s just my kind of luck,” you mumble, but when Hanneman makes a puzzled sound, you ask instead, “And you’re sure I’m a descendant of him?”

    “Most likely! You bear a Major Crest, which means the Herald’s blood runs strong in your body. After he disappeared, he might have settled down and started a family. Unfortunately, nothing is recorded about him after the War of Heroes concluded.”

    “Then how come there was no one else in a thousand years who bore the same Crest?” You aren’t sure you fully understand how they work. Apparently, Crests grant special powers to those who hold them such as high aptitude for magic or enhanced strength. But you know better than anyone that the Crest of the Herald is special. It doesn’t simply give you a boon, it allows you to command the flow of battle. But is it really a blessing bestowed by the Goddess? You don’t remember a divine revelation or talking to a Goddess. Or did that maybe occur even before you were found by the Officers Academy’s students? Before your memory loss? You certainly don’t feel chosen by a deity.

    “Trying to explain the Goddess’ whims would wield about the same result as asking this question,” Hanneman says. “Sometimes a Crest may skip generations. No one can say with certainty who will be chosen. If it will be the first or third born. That is why we must further study Crests! For example, why, unlike other Crests, has your appeared physically visible?” Hanneman mutters more questions under his breath and notes them quickly on his paper. It’s remarkable how enthusiastic he approaches the topic if it only didn’t make you feel like an experiment lying on a dissection table.

    “I want to know so much more about the first Herald,” you mumble. “What was his name? Where was he from?” Why did he disappear and what were the costs he had paid for such a title. Only one month in and Lady Rhea already granted you an impressive room to reside. People treat you with respect and admiration even though you aren’t doing much besides wave at them on the streets or hold some conversations. If being the Herald only encompasses these tasks, you’ll gladly take on the role and speak to people. But that would be a dream too good to be true.

    “We can only speculate,” Hanneman says. “Some believe the Herald came when Seiros needed him most. Our Goddess’ answer to her cry of help. Others believe he was simply a general who originated form a farmer’s family. Other, smaller sources talk about a prince from a far off land who passed through Fódlan and decided to stay. But in all cases, the Herald was a great asset to win the War of Heroes and save Fódlan from the tyranny of the Fell King.”

    “Yeah, no pressure there,” you mumble, sinking further into your seat. Hopefully no one expects you to save Fódlan from evil monarchs. If yes, it certainly won’t happen on an empty stomach. When Hanneman releases you, there’s only one place for you to be. The Dining Hall is crowded at this time of hour. Students and faculty bustle everywhere, eager to get their favourite meal on a plate. Just like them, you are drawn in by the amazing smell of roasted meet and freshly baked pastries.

    The only thing you can live without is how once you enter the room several heads turn in your direction, and a ripple of “Look, it’s the Herald” goes through the crowd, spreading like a wave. Or a disease, you think with a sour taste in your mouth as you move through the parting sea. They want you to acknowledge them but Goddess forbid you actually engage in conversation with them and they flee like you’re the Herald of Pest.

    “Herald!” Well, not everyone escapes. Some seem to like living dangerous.

    Edelgard looks straight at you from between the other students from the Eagle class sitting at a table, removing any doubt she means anyone else but you. Running from her would be a sign of defeat, so you drag yourself over to the Eagle table and give the round an uncertain smile. “Hello.”

    “Herald, if you have time, please sit with us,” Edelgard offers but the look she pins on you doesn't give you any choice. The silence of her classmates speaks louder than words, and a quick glance to Hubert tells you that he very much would like for you to notsit with them.

    “Sure,” you say lamely and sit opposite from her where Bernadetta quickly shuffles to the side to make room, and then further down the bench until she jumps to her feet and flees from the hall. It’s a miracle she’s out of her chambers in the first place, undoubtedly Byleth’s work.

    “Did you manage any progress with Professor Hanneman?” Edelgard asks, carefully cutting her pheasant roast into small bite-sized pieces. She looks the complete opposite from someone capable of hacking away their enemies but you wouldn’t dare to underestimate her.

    “It’s slow,” you admit, solely focusing on shoving potatoes from one side of your plate to the other so you don’t have to look at anyone. “I’ve only grasped the basics of how Crests work and the Herald’s is so different.”

    “Research might prove more fruitful if you’d be called into action,” she says, and it’s difficult to determine if that statement is a simple observation or underlying critique towards Rhea’s decision to leave you out of the major education system. At least that’s something you’re sure of. Edelgard is difficult.

    “Maybe. But chances are higher I get myself killed somehow on the battlefield.” You’re already dreading the approaching noon hours. Byleth has worked out a special training programme for you and the house leaders. So far there hasn’t been a day without aching muscles and bruises for you. Thinking of Byleth, you can’t help but ask, “So how’s Byleth as a Professor?”

    Edelgard considers her plate with mild interest, but her index fingers start tapping against her cutlery. She has small, delicate hands. Cute hands. You gawk at them for two seconds before noticing Hubert starring daggers at you, and quickly avert your eyes to your cup of ginger tea like it’s the most fascinating thing in the world.

    “Our professor shows knowledge in the most curious things,” he says, surprising you by joining the conversation. “I think the Adrestian Empire will benefit greatly from that.”

    You aren’t sure how leading the class correlates directly to joining the Empire, but you don’t want to point that out. Hubert is still too much of a puzzle you’re adamant on not piecing together because whatever picture waits for you after the assembly might be one of horror.

    “She really is one to look up to,” Edelgard agrees, but she isn’t looking at anyone, so it seems she’s saying it more to herself. You want to try and read more out of her expression, but distraction comes quickly in form of more students from the Eagle class. Caspar is the first bouncing excitedly towards the table, and still he somehow miraculously manages to keep his food from flying everywhere. “Herald!” he calls and slides right on the seat right next to you. “How’s the head situation going?”

    “Caspar,” Linhardt chides and gives his friend the disappointed look of a parent that can’t bring his child to use a fork to eat. “Would you stop pestering the Herald with the same question every day?”

    Linhardt hits the mark. It was nice in the beginning to have someone show so much interest in your wellbeing, but now you don’t know if the daily reminder how you fail to regain pieces of your past is rude or just Caspar’s naive politeness.

    “Yeah well.” You try to stuff as much potatoes in your mouth as possible just to avoid talking about it. “Nothin’ yeff.”

    “Herald, please try to keep your manners in check, will you?” Ferdinand comments because of course he catches you with your mouth full and sauce dripping from the corners. Unlucky for him, you don’t really care.

    “Well, sorry.” Caspar frowns and scratches the remains from his plate. The two minutes you needed to finish your potatoes, he’s cleared his whole plate. “I just thought it might help.”

    “Help to be reminded what’s missing?” Linhardt doesn’t look convinced. “I think the Herald knows so better than anyone.”

    “Guys, drop the subject,” Edelgard intervenes. “Let us finish our meals now. Classes resume presently and I don’t want to hear any stomachs growling, understood?” The last part goes with a pointed look towards Linhardt, who answers with a lazy shrug while continuing to poke at his food, looking bored out of his mind. It lasts about three seconds before he brightens up and turns towards you while rummaging through his school bag. From that, he pulls out notes and a pen, and unceremoniously shoves them into your hands. “I have a question, Herald. Would you be so kind and look over these strategic proposals I’ve developed from the last lesson? I understand what you taught us were basics as we find them in the library. I simply took the time and applied those to the strengths and abilities of my classmates.”

    You raise your eyebrows. “You did?” Up until now, you didn’t know Linhardt was paying attention whenever you gave the students your sorry excuses of lessons. You feel like you’ve seen him asleep far more than actually looking at the board or writing, so him presenting his notes to you now is more than a surprise. He has a clean handwriting, small letters that curl into themselves and forget to take a break between words. You squint at the sentences, trying to make them out. It sure doesn’t help that half of it is crossed out by what looks like a strategy sketch with little circles and everyone’s names filling out the space.

    “This looks … elaborate,” you comment, unsure if you’ll ever be able to solve this enigma.

    “No worries.” Linhardt gives a little smile. “Please give me your answer report until tomorrow. And feel free to correct me on anything I’ve done wrong.”

    He’s probably done a much better job than you on your lesson notes, but you nod with a lopsided smile. “I will.”

    “Oh, and while we’re at strategy talk,” Caspar jumps right in, “any good ideas how to take on a taller opponent?”

    “A good kick to their shins?” you suggest.

    “A dagger to their liver?” Edelgard says.

    “Poison in their cup?” Hubert offers.

    “You’re all animals,” Ferdinand says.

    Linhardt groans. “I toldyou how to win in a fight like that, Caspar. Why won’t you listen to me?”

    You don’t want to be part of the argument breaking out between them, so you turn away and try to see what the other students are doing in the dining hall. At the opposite end, Claude catches your eyes and waves like he’s been waiting way too long to finally get your attention. He points at Edelgard and flaps his arms like a chicken. He points at you and spreads his hands behind his head, forming antlers with his fingers. When Edelgard follows your eyes, his head whips around and he pretends to agree with whatever Lysithea just said.

    “I hope you forgive Caspar’s enquiries,” she says, steering your focus back to her. She’s gently tapping the corners of her mouth with an embroidered napkin, and oh there they are again, her delicate fingers. You look away before Hubert catches you staring again and decides to put poison in your cup7. “I speak on behalf of everyone in the Black Eagle House when I say we wish for your full recovery to be soon.”

    “If wishing would only get the job done, I might have something to work with by now.”

    Edelgard doesn’t blink, her expression frozen. “Meaning?”

    “I thought I'd come here and one of the Church's healers would just wave their hands to return my memories,” you mumble, scribbling a tiny Claude with little, evil horns on his head in the corner of Linhardt’s notes.

    Edelgard looks at you like you've just insulted her whole noble lineage. “That isn't how magic works.”

    You throw your arms up in frustration to emphasise that yes, that's the point. You don't know how anything works in this place, and you doubt Byleth's four pages of lesson plans are going to help.

    “If no one comes to your aid, maybe it is time you take matters into your own hands.” You flinch at the scornful sound in Edelgard’s voice. Judging the expression on her face, she seems just as surprised about her outburst. She gets up abruptly and bids farewell with a curt nod, followed closely by Hubert as always. Her classmates look after her, each more puzzled than the next.

    “Didn’t she seem … angry to you?” Linhardt thinks aloud, blinking into the empty space.

    Ferdinand harrumphes. “She’s always like this. Please excuse her, Herald.”

    You don’t think she’s done anything wrong, and yet she certainly doesn’t appear as always. Something about her last words strikes you as especially sharp; reproachful. Those weren’t meaningless words, but you don’t have any ways to decipher the message. A little voice tells you she isn’t wrong either. So far nothing has helped returning your memories—Manuela’s medicine, herbs from the Greenhouse, Hanneman’s spells. It seems like your brain has built defencive walls to repel any probing, which begs the answer to the question what is hiding in secret even more. But can you really do it on your own, like Edelgard suggests? It seems impossible.

    With newfound doubt you finish your meal, saying your goodbyes to the now scattering Eagle students as they scurry off to their next lesson. Two hours are left before you’re meeting with Byleth and the house leaders, and since you agreed to look over Linhardt’s notes, the library seems a good next stop. You still want to go over the seven classical manoeuvres of war, especially since the students didn’t really grasp the remaining two last time, and it gives you a good excuse to look over them again as well. At the beginning, you thought there was nothing you could teach those children, not with experienced colleagues at your side who have participated in countless battles themselves. Who could have thought that talking about tactics and strategies came as natural to you as breathing. Well, Rhea did for certain, and even the students drink up your every word like it is a message from the Goddess herself and you her chosen herald. The irony of it.

    But it isn’t only the students accepting your guidance. Something inside you changed in the last couple of weeks as well. When you started going through the books in the library, it was more stumbling and slipping on foreign terrain, but just in a couple of days, you moved through the matter like a fish following smoothly the currents of its native waters. It felt like home. Like building the foundation of a house from thousand variables, the result different each time but still the same: art. You build the art of battle, the last decision that will bring victory or death. You love every second of it. Which opens the possibility that it really isn’t your first time, but also more questions: Who taught you? What battles have you fought? How many of them did you win? Since those aren’t as simple to answer, you focus on fulfilling the first purpose, and hope that it will some day be enough for the students to survive battles.

    If only it would end there. Your second duty isn’t as easy or pleasant, and it lies in wait for you everywhere, stalking you like a dark shadow with monstrous fangs.

    “Herald.” A soldier gives a courteous bow, intercepting you in the Great Hall on your way to the library. “Pilgrims ask for you near the Entrance Hall. Please allow me to escort you.”

    Immediately, your nerves tingle with nervous anticipation. This is the scary part. Meeting the people, seeing the hope in their eyes. You’d gladly send them back where they’ve come from, but some have travelled for multiple days, and denying them audience would be cruel.

    “Don’t let me stop you from your duties,” you say, unconsciously tugging your clothes in order to appear presentable. “I will welcome them on my own.”

    The soldier nods and bows again, his expression barely readable under the helmet before he disappears as quickly as he came.

    Planning lessons is easy. You can find whatever you need in the library and work out the flow with the students. But nothing can prepare or teach you how to act like the Herald people wish for. Nowhere is anything written on the old Herald, how he talked to them and what promises he’d whispered when day broke. That is where you are on your own. Not even Rhea could answer that question. She only instructed that you see them, and remind them about their devotion to the Goddess—for she was the one who made it possible in the first place.

    The Entrance Hall is emptier than usual. Most of the students are in class, and a handful of knights and soldiers might be at the advanced training camp Jeralt and Alois hold in honour of the Blade Breaker’s return. So spotting the pilgrims isn’t difficult. Especially with the Gatekeeper waving his arms in wide arcs as if fearing you might overlook him.

    “Greetings, Herald!” His grin is blinding. “The pilgrims are waiting for you just at the at the foot of the stairs.”

    “Yeah,” you say. “I can see them.”

    “Oh, yes, of course! If anyone causes problems, count on me to help!”

    “Thanks.” You answer his thumbs up with one of your own before moving downstairs. What a refreshing young man. Certainly good looking under his helmet. Byleth seems to like talking to him a lot as well.

    Today’s pilgrims aren’t much different from other days. Old people are supported by their family members, who have brought baskets with sweets and flowers, presenting them at your feet.

    “Herald,” they breathe in awe, bowing. No matter how often you’ve seen it by now, it still feels incredibly wrong.

    “Raise your heads,” you tell them, helping an elderly woman up to hrer feet. She gasps at your touch, then clings to your hands. You try to swallow past the lump in your throat. “The Archbishop and I bid you welcome. The Goddess will smile upon your devotion.” Your cringe slightly when echoing Rhea’s words and wonder if any second the goddess might punish you by throwing lightning your way.

    “We are blessed to finally meet you,” a younger woman says, taking the old woman from your hands—mother and daughter maybe? “Please accept our gifts, and may the Goddess guide you on your path to light.”

    “She will answer your prayers and guide me so I can bring you peace,” you reply just so you can say something they might want to hear. Judging their delighted expressions this wasn’t the worst you could have said. Dorothea would probably be proud looking at your acting skills. Or point out your bad posture and how you’re avoiding their eyes. Dorothea would probably tell you how much you have to polish your acting skills.

    “Bring us peace?” someone from the last row spits, pushing to the front. “You know nothing, the Herald will bring chaos and ruin!” A man in his forties looms above you, an ugly, padded scar crossing his face from one temple to his chin. A war veteran? They way he holds himself looks like he’s been beaten up once too much to get up again.

    “You heathen, don’t you dare speak to our Herald like that,” the old woman barks, immediately doubling over in a coughing fit. Her daughter supports her, glaring at the man. “Go in peace, but go if you only came to talk ill about our Herald,” she says, clearly upset. "Doubting them is doubting our Goddess. How dare you."

    “First I want to see the Herald do something! What if … if this one is an impostor.” The man turns towards the others, throwing his arms in the air. “Bring forward proof that you are not here to ruin our lands, but to actually serve in the Goddess’ name!”

    This time his demand meets less resistance. Until now people were fine with seeing you and the Crest, but to want actual prove? You could easily threaten them and ask if they doubt the Goddess’ decision, but you’d rather leave that method to Rhea. You don’t want to sound like her. You don’t want to scare people. Yet admitting that you don’t really have a clue how to really use the Crest would surely support the man’s accusation. Diminishing the people’s trust in the Herald is the last thing you want, especially if it means facing Rhea’s scorn.

    “I—”

    “Herald!” A voice calls from the top of the stairs. When you turn around, Sylvain waves and jogs downstairs, looking like he’s been running for some time. “There you are. The Archbishop wants to see you.”

    Oh no, has she heard of your failure already? Giving the choice of facing a group of doubting people or Rhea, you’d immediately go to the people. You give him a curt nod, unable to speak because you don’t trust your voice.

    “I apologise,” you say to the pilgrims, clearing your throat when it comes out as a croak. “I will have something prepared for another time.”

    “No, you do not need to prove anything to us,” the elderly woman says. “We will always believe in you. Please tell Her Grace we are constantly praying to our Goddess and thank her for sending you to us.”

    “I will.” You squeeze her hand a last time. “Save travels.”

    The man still glares at you, but without a chance to keep you present any longer, he turns away and follows the rest. You can’t wait to leave all that behind, and as you steel your nerves for what’s waiting for you in the Audience Chambers, you look up to Sylvain and ask, “Did Lady Rhea say what it is about?”

    He looks over at you and blinks a couple of times, then seems to remember. “Ah ... yeah, about that. I lied.”

    You stop dead in your tracks. “You lied?”

    “Yup. I don’t know what Lady Rhea’s doing. But you looked like you were about to puke at those poor pilgrim’s shoes. As hilarious as that would have been, I wanted to spare you the embarrassment.” He stops now as well and smiles a boyish crooked grin. Sylvain knows exactly what to do with his face so girls fall over themselves to do him a favour, and boys grow jealous of all the attention he gets. Two weeks in, and you’ve figured out his game, keeping a respectable distance that wouldn’t birth the thought you’re avoiding him. In fact, this could be the very first time you’re actually holding a real conversation.

    “Well, I … thank you? But I had everything under control.”

    He looks like he doesn’t believe you. The gatekeeper you’re just passing looks like he doesn’t believe you. You press your lips into a thin line and dare any of them to disagree.

    “Okay.” Sylvain shrugs. “But now we’re here.”

    “Sylvain, what do you want?”

    “Cutting to the chase, huh?” He crosses his arms behind his head. “Why do you think I want something?” Your raised eyebrows seem to be answer enough. Sylvain laughs a little helplessly and returns his hands back to his front, raised as an offer of peace. “I promise, I want nothing. Just a little talking. A little talking hasn’t hurt anyone.”

    Something inside you wants to argue against it, but without a solid argument in hand, you follow him silently, wondering where his destination and intention lies. He belongs to the many students you can’t really read, nothing about his ambitions or goals. Sometimes he gives you this strange look through half lidded eyes, his gaze focused on your right eye—his interest in your Crest undeniable, and yet he’s been one of the few not to talk about it with you. It’s strange because whenever you come together, he looks like there’s something he’s dying to say. This time is no different.

    He leads you to the wooden pavilion in the gardens, but instead of offering you a seat, Sylvain leans his slim hips against the table, half sitting on it. Seteth would be furious seeing this.

    “How’s the Herald business doing for you?” he asks the one question you wouldn't expect from him. “Other than you having ‘everything under control.’” He has the audacity to air-quote. This isn’t a conversation you want to hold right now, leastwise with him. Sylvain must discern that you’re ready to bold from whatever your body is showing. With a quick step, he’s standing between you and the escape route, lazily leaning one arm against a column to uphold the illusion that you’re only having a pleasant talk when in reality his body stands between you and your freedom.

    “Do you talk to the other faculty members like that as well?” you say through gritted teeth, crossing your arms. Sylvain blinks like he doesn’t understand, but you’ve seen this act before, followed by an eerily precise repetition of a subject to one of his classmates when he thinks none of the teachers pay attention. Sylvain is playing dumb and deliberately hiding a sharp mind.

    “Oh, I didn’t mean to offend,” he quickly says, nothing about this crooked smile appearing apologetic whatsoever. “I’m generously curious. You’re holding up really good.”

    “In comparison to what?” you demand, your heartbeat picking up. Is he trying to call you out on something? That you aren’t heraldy enough? But to your surprise, Sylvain looks genuinely surprised by your reaction.

    “To nothing. In general?” He shrugs. “Back on the ceremony day, you didn’t look so good standing up there, and His Highness told us everything happened really uh … ‘suddenly.’’ More air-quotes, whatever they mean this time.

    “If you mean I wasn’t really asked to become the Herald, then yes.” Your arms drop back to your side. “It was suddenly.”

    Sylvain watches you for a moment, and again, there’s this look in his eyes; the need to say something he can’t. He kneads the back of his nape, avoiding your eyes. “All I’m trying to say is … having that Crest out of nothing is cool. Probably. And maybe terrifying? And just—”

    You grow impatient. “Come on, get the words out, Sylvain.”

    “A Crest isn’t just this nice letter of invitation to a privileged life. Just take care, is all I’m saying.”

    And there’s another page to the book of surprises with Sylvain’s name on it. The immediate lack of response catches him off guard; it’s like he only notices now that the vital part to understand this conversation is missing: The source of his doubt towards Crests.

    Sylvain’s body turns in a split second, his feet facing the direction he’s ready to bold towards, but this time you stand in his way and block him off. “Sylvain, are you okay?”

    He blinks in confusion, then furrows his eyebrows in deep thought like you demanded he recites the Ten Heroes from memory or else fails classes. His face contorts with the effort of looking fine. “Why, yes! Just peachy. Why would you think something is off?”

    “Because I have eyes in my skull.”

    “Very pretty eyes, if I dare say.” His answer comes out like a fire spell, hard and fast, seemingly more instinct than anything else. He clears his throat and scratches his chin, loosing momentum. “Goddess, I am bad at this.”

    “You are.” No need to sugar coat it. “If something happened, just say it.”

    “Nothing really happened, I just—” He exhales audibly and stares into space for a long minute, before side stepping you without difficulty. “Actually, I remembered Professor wanted to see me after class. Something about extra lessons about eh. Horse riding. Yeah. I’ll catch you later, Herald.” He winks and bolds away, darting under your outstretched arm before you can catch him. For someone this tall, he’s surprisingly agile and fast, already disappearing behind a tall hedge towards the main building.

    If that wasn’t the strangest conversation you’ve held with anyone, you don’t know what might excel that. Maybe it’s time you stop avoiding Sylvain.

    The Training Grounds smells of sweat and oil. Many students and knights train, which is surprising at this kind of hour, the short break between afternoon and evening classes. You’d like to know what they’re working on, but Byleth doesn’t tolerate inattention in a classroom or on the battle field, and demands you do push-ups each time your eyes wander somewhere off. You hate her a little for that. For whatever reason, Claude has taken on the role of your partner in crime, and does whatever necessary to make Byleth punish him as well.

    “What can I say, I like a good workout,” he said when you asked. He didn’t even try to hide his lie, looking as miserable as you felt. Probably hating Byleth a little as well.

    It’s the fourth week of private training with her and the house leaders, and so far you can definitely say that you were not meant to fight on the field. You see how your opponent moves, you can somehow predict what they’re going to do next—but your body simply protests to act accordingly. You stumble, you fall, you need a second too long to get up and before you can do anything, a training sword is at your throat. Byleth always looks like she wants to facepalm her fist through her forehead. Or yours.

    “Herald, this is not how you disarm someone,” she says, as always, and demonstrates it in one smooth, swift movement, as always. You blow hair out of your eyes, knowing you’re about to fail again. At least that gave Claude a reason to give you a new nickname, though if it’s better than the last is debatable.

    “You gotta twist your wrist, duckling!” he calls from the other side of the hall, immediately drawing Byleth’s attention to him. He and Dimitri are facing off, both wielding a spear which should give Dimitri the upper hand. So far, he hasn’t landed a single hit on Claude.

    “Keep your elbows in!” Byleth berates Claude. “Stop flapping them like some kind of chicken.”

    Claude lets out a disturbingly convincing cluck.

    You raise an eyebrow. “At least someone’s having fun.”

    Byleth sighs. “He’s going to get himself killed sooner than later.”

    “I don’t know. He’s managed so far, hasn’t he?”

    “I’m not sure if it’s a talent or a fault.” She turns back to you and nods her chin towards the side. “Take a break. I’m going to see how the boys are doing.”

    You nod, tensing all over because that’s where Edelgard is currently standing and picking out a training axe. You haven’t talked to her since lunch, and you can do without it for a couple more hours. She barely glances at you when you walk over, and instead checks out the edge of the wooden blade, turning it left and right.

    “Is she as strict in the classroom as in here?” you ask, unable to go on in awkward silence. Edelgard hums, throwing a quick glance towards Byleth from under her long, white lashes. “She’s systematic and consistent. Capable in both fields. I have no reason to raise any kind of complaint.”

    “That’s impressive.” You sure as heck still wouldn’t want her as a teacher. “Even though she’s been pushed into all this, she handles it like she’s never done anything else.”

    “I think as a mercenary, she is used to changing approaches depending on the employer.” Edelgard is still looking at Byleth. Reading her expression is impossible, and you don’t want to point out that sticking a sword into thieves and bandits is not the same as teaching kids how to fight in a battle. Her head whips to you suddenly, and she considers the training sword in your hand. “Speaking of different approaches,” she continues, “have you considered that your field of combat might be magic?”

    You have, so the answer comes immediately. “Chances are higher I set myself on fire.” You stare at her. “I didn’t mean it to rhyme.”

    Edelgard ignores your last comment. “But you haven’t really tried it out, have you?” Your lack of response is answer enough for her, and she nods like that proves a point.

    It’s complicated. You haven’t really tried it out because … the simple answer is, you’re afraid. It gets tricky once you try to search for the answer to that. There’s just a strange sensation when you try to use magic, like there’s a vast sea of possibilities and one step inside is enough to get you lost. It isn’t as bad with wind spells or white magic. You haven’t touched Fire spells because a crippling fear chills you to the bones every time you manage to nourish a small flame inside your palm—the complete opposite to Dark magic. When you tried a MiasmaΔ for the first time it felt strangely … secure. The rope tying you to a shore, it had felt like—

    There’s a loud crash when the spears collide and Claude knocks Dimitri off his feet. The whole room is silent as everyone watches how Claude taps the blunt end of his practice spear against Dimitri’s chin. “Steady on there, darling,” he says with a smug grin. Dimitri flushes bright red, and pushes with more force than necessary the spear away, quickly climbing to his feet.

    “That wasn’t bad.” Byleth quickly steps in before Dimitri can throttle Claude. “Dimitri, you rely too much on your brute strength. That’s a big disadvantage against someone like Claude. And you, young man,” she turns to Claude who’s been smiling victoriously, “are scheming too much and lose time to take action. In a serious battle, you won’t be as lucky as today.”

    “Noted.” Claude whirls his spear from left to right, almost dropping it when Dimitri drills his elbow into his side. “But in a serious battle, I won’t be upfront. I’ll be hanging back nicely, and skewing my enemies with a myriad of arrows.”

    “You can barely shoot three at the same time,” Dimitri grumbles, his cheeks still splotched with red specks.

    “You wanna bet—”

    “That’s enough, guys, save it for then next round.” Byleth ignores their sulky expressions and turns to you, raising a single eyebrow. The message is clear. What are you waiting for?

    Your feet feel like they’re glued to the ground. Edelgard doesn’t hesitate at all. “Let’s go.”

    She strides in the middle, training axe raised. It’s made out of wood, but you don’t doubt that she’s able to severe a limb from your body if she only tries hard enough—and what you know of Edelgard is that she alwaysexceeds even her own expectations. You grip your sword tighter. It’s a clear disadvantage, but better than anything else you can handle. Maybe it won’t be as bad.

    The fight lasts for about seven seconds. The moment you raise the blade, Edelgard is on you and unleashes fierce strike after strike, the power behind each hit forcing you back. She doesn’t bat an eyelash when she easily disarms you, the wooden sword flying over your heads and the edge of her axe on your throat. Somewhere behind her, you hear Byleth sigh. “Again.”

    The next hour is torture. Edelgard throws you to the ground, again and again. Byleth keeps telling you to get up, again and again. One might think they would cut you some slack, being the Herald and all, but it feels like Edelgard is so much more aggressive today because you’re the Herald. Or maybe it’s personal. Maybe she’s appointed you to be her sworn enemy, and won’t miss out any chance to make it as hard as possible for you.

    This isn’t fun. Being watched by Dimitri and Claude, who whisper conspiratorially to each other isn’t fun. Luckily, Byleth notices them gawking and bellows them to focus on working on their stances. Right now, you’re thankful nothing escapes her eyes and she calls her students out on their bullshit. It doesn’t make your current situation easier though. Every muscle burns, just raising the sword is exhausting and your feet feel like they’re about to give out any second. This must be hell.

    When Byleth finally ends lessons, you ignore everything and crumble to the ground, splaying your limbs out in all directions. Surely they can clean up without you, two hands less will barely make any difference.

    A shadow settles over you. You know who it is, and don’t bother to open your eyes. “Go away, Byleth. I don’t want to hear how bad I am.”

    “Personally, I think you have improved, Herald.” Your eyes snap open. Dimitri looks down at you, his forehead still glistening from perspiration. “But facing Edelgard as an opponent usually wields those results. Don’t let it bother you.”

    You want to point out that he and Claude don’t seem to have as much problems as you, even though yes, none of them have defeated her yet in practice. He goes down to your level and sits beside you, and you hate how this all barely made him breath hard, like it’s just a stroll around the monastery whereas you’re trying to climb the mountains surrounding it.

    “I think she hates me,” you blurt out. Luckily, most students have already left the hall, Edelgard included. Dimitri considers this a moment, and you don’t know what to make of his lack of immediate response.

    “I doubt she hates you,” he finally says.

    “But?”

    “But she has a hard time warming up to people. Give her time. Once the ice is broken, you will see that her personality is one you’d like to have around.”

    “Oh?” You watch him for a moment, but Dimitri doesn’t blush or look away. It was a heartfelt, sincere statement, which flusters you for some reason. No one should be that honest.

    “Talking about breaking ice. Do you know if something happened to Sylvain?”

    “Sylvain?” Dimitri raises both eyebrows. “Please don’t tell me he harassed you in some kind of way.”

    “No, no, he just—” You finally get up from lying on your back, and try to explain it by frantically moving your hands. Dimitri still looks puzzled. “He said some weird things about Crests in general?”

    “Hm.” Dimitri stares at your hands for a moment, then quickly raises his eyes back to your face. “It’s complicated.” Well, that answer is as good as none. “And I won’t go into details without his consent. I can only say that if he talked about Crests, in whichever way, his brother must have upset him again.”

    “He has a brother?” Now you’re wide awake. Many students have siblings. You know of Hilda’s brother and Raphael’s sister. It shouldn’t surprise you Sylvain has one as well even though he’s never mentioned it before.

    “Do you have siblings?” you ask, generously curious. As heir to a kingdom, it’s hard to imagine his parents would have settled with one child. But he hasn’t mentioned any sisters or brothers as well.

    “Hmm, I have a step-sister,” he says, although very hesitant and you can see if someone doesn’t want to talk about a specific topic. He doesn’t return the question, which is kind of him and makes you wonder … maybe you have a sibling as well. Somewhere. Maybe somewhere in Adrestia or Leicester a younger brother or an older sister is currently looking for you, unrelenting in their journey to be reunited at last. The thought alone brings a flicker of hope alive. Maybe they'll come once word of the Herald’s return travels far enough.

    “I guess as long as Sylvain doesn’t disturb classes or acts out of order, I would leave him to his brooding. I can tell out of experience, only Felix is capable of cheering him up.”

    “Felix?” Your eyebrows rise to your hairline. “Are we talking about the same Felix?”

    A smile forms on Dimitri’s mouth. “I understand why imagining that might prove difficult, but I assure you, Felix is one of the view exceeding in handling the mess Sylvain is from time to time.”

    “Felix and Ingrid?” you guess, earning a nod from Dimitri. “Ingrid is a very nice girl,” you continue, picking at a loose thread from your uniform. “But Felix seems detests me. Every time he sees me, he looks like he wants to throw his sword at me.”

    “That is—” Dimitri stops mid-sentence. “That might be not so far off from his true intentions.”

    You groan.

    “But I assure you it is for a different reason than you think. Felix is simply … difficult with people holding a commanding position.”

    “He doesn’t seem to have the same problem with Byleth,” you point out. No, whenever he trains with her, he manages something close to a smile and accepts her guidance. Then again, she isn’t his teacher.

    “I’m sure you’ll be able to make him consider his opinion on you during the Mock Battle. I as well am looking forward to how you will guide us.” Dimitri beams. You stare at him like he’s just lost his head.

    “What?”

    “The Mock Battle three nights from today?” Dimitri’s smile falters a little. “Have the Professor and Lady Rhea not told you yet? You are to participate in the Mock Battle as the commanding unit of the Blue Lions.” Now he’s pulling his eyebrows together in worry. “Herald?”

    “I—” You jump to your feet. “I have to go.” Go far far away. Just yesterday you introduced the students to the tactic called Feigned Withdrawal, which involves staging a retreat in order to induce the enemy to abandon its position and plunge ahead in an attack. Dimitri abandons his position, getting up to go after you, but instead of turning back to surprise him with an ambush, you flee the battle and hope the enemy doesn’t pursue.

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[incorrectsmashbrosquotes]

hey just wanted to ask as i was curious about the Palutena Party, how did Palutena break the news to Gabriel about taking in Sothis and Rhea as he's now a dad to the green dragon gremlin and granddad to the lovely pope of Fodlan? I know Palutena was estatic about them, but hows the depressed Vampire Lord taking in the news of new family? Also what does Trevor, his son, think of the new family members? (I offer you a copy of Pikmin 3 Deluxe and Hades as payment)

The worst part was the silence.

Even as they wandered through through the canyon, stained red with the blood of the innocent. Even as they passed the still smoldering fires. The worst part was the hollow echoing silence.

Palutena’s light was dim, and the only thing illuminating the wreckage and ruins of the Zanado. But there was no joy or warmth in her light. Beside wer walked the blank faced Dracul. Dracula. Gabriel.

They stopped before the ruined palace. Still burning. Still blood soaked.

The place their daughter had been murdered.

“They cut her to pieces,” said Gabriel in a tight voice. “Into pieces. They forged a sword from her bones and heart,”

Palutena bowed her head. “Sothis... oh Sothis...” she said, tears running down her face.

A strangled scream loosed from Gabriel’s lips, more that of a beast than a man, and he hurled a piece of fallen column into the side of the canyon. “ANIMALS!” he screamed. “She gave them everything and they slaughtered her like the animals they are!” Fire and shadow burned at his fingertips, his eyes wild and hungry.

“Burn. They will all burn! I will deafen them with the sounds of their own screams!” he declared.

Palutena said nothing, torn between her natural compassion and her grief. She longed to try and talk Gabriel down, but at the same time she could not ignore the blood-soaked ruins of genocide around them.

Before she could make a choice a voice rang out.

“Father! Lady Palutena! Over here!” It was Trevor, or Alucard as he was known these days. “I have found survivors!”

-

The young Nabatean woman before them was barely more than a girl. Her long green hair was ruffled and matted with sweat and blood and her eyes were those of a cornered animal. The dagger she held shook in her hand.

Behind her were a small handful of Nabateans, all about her age. They huddled together away from the strangers.

“L- leave us!” cried the girl. “Leave us! Y-you h-h-ave taken everything al-already!” she seemed on the verge of tears.

Palutena laid a gentle hand on Gabriel’s shoulder, stepping in front of him. “Child, we are not your foes. We are your family,”

At the girls confused look, gabriel spoke. “We are the parents of the Goddess Sothis. Dracula: the Lord of Darkness, and Palutena: Lady of Light.”

The girl shook her head. “P-parents? The Goddess- Mother- had parents?!”

Palutena turned to Gabriel. “Show her.”

Gabriel nodded, and the shadows and blood bent to his will. The darkness wrapped around him and twisted. Molded. Changed to suit him.

Moments later, a great black dragon stood before them. A dark shadow of Sothis’ form.

The knife clattered from the girls hands and she fell to her knees sobbing. Prayers came out in a jumble, the other survivors quickly joining in.

Palutena kneeled down and wrapped her arms around the child, her grandchild, and whispered gently. Moments later, Gabriel assumed his true form and joined them.

“All will be well, little one. All will be well,”

When the girl had calmed down a bit they rose together. “Now then, tell us your name child.” Said Palutena.

The girl bowed her head. “Exalted ones. I am Seiros. Firstborn daughter of Sothis, the Progenitor God.”

-

They stayed with Sothis and her small band of survivors for some time. They taught them their magics, their powers, and how to take their beastly forms at will. They guided her, taught her rage and mercy. Taught her compassion and cruelty.

They stood by her as she raised an army of those still loyal to the Goddess Sothis. Those who were horrified by the genocide at the Red Canyon. Many were even family of the Ten Elites, horrified by their relatives actions. They stood by her as she became a leader. A hero. A Queen.

Her army grew with every smashing victory. Her strength grew, as did the legend surrounding Seiros, the Chosen One.

And when the moment of her final victory, the killing of the traitor King Nemesis, they stood by here there too.

-

Seiros sat in her tent, staring down at the sword in her hands. The last thing that remained of her mother. Her final legacy. She traced the bumps in the bone, the rune engraved on the Crest Stone, her calcified heart.

She was barely aware when Dracula and Palutena entered the tent. 

“You are leaving now,” she said, not really asking.

“Our time in this world grows short.” said Palutena gently. “Justice has been done. Our daughter may sleep easy now,”

Seiros clenched her jaw. “You can forget her that easily?” she asked clodly. “Cast aside her memory like so much trash?!”

“Never,” said Dracula firmly. “She could never be forgotten. But We must let her pass on. We must let her rest,”

Tears fell upon the Sword of the Creator. “I don’t know if I can,”

“Then try, Seiros,” said Palutena gently. “Try. That is all we ask,”

Unable to speak past the lump in her throat she nodded once. Stiffly. “We love you child. Your mother did as well. Never forget that,” said Palutena as she embraced the girl. Dracula did as well.

A moment later they were gone.

-

Seiros stood alone in the face of the rising sun. The Ten Elites had been executed for their crimes, their remains returned to their families. She had shown a measured hand and spared them. The cycle of vengeance must be broken.

Macuil, Cichol and the others were travelling around, seeing to their forces, but Seiros could only feel a tremendous sense of... futility. Her people were avenged. What now?

“Milady!” cried one of her Generals, coming up to her. “Milady, we await your orders.”

For a long moment Seiros said nothing Finally, she said “Your Goddess is avenged. Go home,”

The general said nothing for a moment before he spoke once more. “With all due respect, your Holiness, we did not fight for the Goddess,” Seiros turned to face him, her face lined with confusion. “We fought for you.”

[electricprincess96]

Hi, do you mind explaining why you like Rhea so much?

Because she's a well-written deconstruction of a series archetype who's trauma and struggles feel real on a human level (ironic since she's not a human).

She is the games "mad dragon" but unlike Hydra/Anankos from Fates Rhea is set up as the mad Dragon, Academy Phase plays her up to be this super secret bad guy when in actuality she's a Woman suffering from PTSD who only really goes mad when provoked and is shown to be kind to people who need her support and is self aware to know when to apologize. The only route she plays the actual mad dragon is Flower and even there if you know her backstory you see how she's been pushed to this. It makes sense unlike some other characters in this game...

Like just take her backstory, she's the youngest daughter of a single mother who has to witness her mother and siblings be slaughtered before her very eyes, she gathers the survivors of her race together in order to avenge her mother and once she does that she realises she's found herself at the heart of a new religious movement and people are looking to her for guidance. The girl uses what influence she has to try and curtail Crest Abuse (literally in the Book of Seiros she says humanity abusing Crests is what caused the Goddess to leave Fódlan) and she believes if she revived Sothis, Sothis would be able to come in and fix everything that's wrong with Fódlan because Rhea doesn't have the hard power to do so. Sure could she have maybe done more? Perhaps but it's possible if she did more then Edelgard's war on the Church could have come about generations earlier and Rhea's priority is to protect the remaining Nabateans more than anything else.

Although her main personal priority is wanting to see her mother again, so she tries to do what Sothis did when Sothis created her kids, she tries to create a living body for Sothis to inhabit but because Rhea isn't half as powerful as Sothis was she keeps failing. The pain she felt at each failure is palpable, you can hear it in her voice when she tells us about it. Like that's a motivation plenty of people can relate to especially if they've lost a parent.

Rhea also has every reason to hate humanity. Unlike Cichol, Cethleann, Indech and Macuil who all lived amongst humanities before the tragedy Rhea didn't, she didn't have a pre-existing reason to like or dislike humans but the tragedy should have gave her every reason to hate them yet we see repeatedly Rhea show compassion towards humans. She saves Jeralt and Catherine's lives, she takes in outlaws like Shamir and Catherine, she offers sanctuary to orphans like Cyril and the Remire Village Orphans and she risks her life to protect The Students, Monks, Priests etc at Garreg Mach when the Empire Invaded. Rhea is a genuinely compassionate person, she's just got pretty awkward social skills, her advice box questions show this.

Also I'm gonna have to throw some shade here... But unlike some other characters in this game I can look at Rhea's trauma and see exactly how it led her to do what she does and I can see the moments, particularly in Crimson Flower, where Byleth and Edelgard set off all her triggers. Rhea is a survivor of a genocide being forced to face someone who wants to finish what Nemesis started, her reaction makes perfect sense in that context. Another anon put it perfectly when they said if you removed Rhea's traumatic past it would feel like there is a part of her backstory missing because it influences her so much and is pretty well intertwined with her character unlike Edelgard who if you removed her tragic backstory not much of Edelgard as a character would change or feel that different.

Also Rhea is self aware enough to know when she's went too far. Rhea's S Rank is all about her apologising to Byleth for what she's done, for the people she's inadvertently hurt. There are other characters... Who are not as self aware of their flaws and shortcomings the way Rhea is. Rhea in all her alive endings bar her married Byleth ending has her going into self-imposed exile in Zanado with Catherine. Rhea knows when to call it quits unless you are threatening the extinction of her race, then she'll fight to the bitter end and quite frankly I don't blame her on that point.

For further reading: https://electricprincess96.tumblr.com/post/191003394116/i-dont-know-if-you-mentioned-this-before-but-your

Also just read my Lady Baea tag, it's most of my opinions about Rhea in various other posts.

#princess answers asks #anon #lady baea

[frozenartscapes]

Wilhelm + Rhea - I’m pregnant.

Something was wrong, Seiros was sure of it. She staggered back to her cot after running a cool, damp cloth over her face, and flopped down with little grace. She groaned as she clutched her abdomen, praying to the Goddess that the world would stop spinning so much.

Someone must have poisoned her. Or rather, is poisoning her because this is the fifth day in a row she’s woken up like this.

“Seiros!” A singsong voice floated through the opening of her tent, all bright and chipper.

“Come in,” Seiros managed to call out, gulping as she felt her stomach heave again.

It was Rowena, which was probably good considering her current situation. How Cichol had ever managed to find, woo, marry, and have a child with such a woman so…different from himself had always been a mystery. But it was times like these that Seiros was thankful she was around.

Rowena frowned when she spotted her companion curled up on her cot. “Another rough morning?” she asked, producing some herbs from her bag and setting them down on the desk. She pushed aside some of the war maps and got to work making a nausea remedy.

“We really must…find whoever’s...responsible for this,” Seiros grumbled.

Rowena brought over the concoction and wordlessly handed it over. As Seiros brought it to her mouth, she caught her friend’s knowing, and worryingly smug grin. She gulped anxiously and asked, “What?”

“I think I know who’s responsible,” Rowena teased, “You might want to have a word with Wilhelm.”

“Why would he be poisoning me?”

“Poisoning?” Rowena’s gleeful laugh filled the tent, though Seiros was still at a loss as to why, “Oh my dear, please tell me all this war planning and scheming hasn’t clouded your head that much!”

“I…I don’t understand…”

Rowena reached out and took Seiros’ hands in hers, and gently pulled her up into a sitting position. “Seiros, my dear,” she said softly, breathlessly happy for her friend, “You’re pregnant.”

“…I’m…what?”

Rowena chuckled. “Don’t worry. That news always takes a moment to sink in.”

“I’m what?”

“Expecting, Sweetie.”

“But… I…I can’t be pregnant!” Seiros cried, “We’re fighting a war! I’m leading the war! A…and Wilhelm and I… I mean… We did, but he’s human and I’m…not…” She gasped, clamping a hand over her mouth as it finally, finally hit. “Oh Goddess I’m pregnant.”

“I don’t think you have much to worry about,” Rowena assured her, “It isn’t unheard of for our kind to have children with humans. And it’s not like you’ll be in this alone. I’ll be here, and so will the others. And of course there’s Wilhelm.”

“Oh Goddess…Wilhelm!” Seiros exclaimed, “I…I have to tell him!”

“Knowing Wilhelm I imagine he’ll be rather excited, too,” Rowena added.

“But what about the others?” Seiros demanded, “Cichol and Indech I’m not too worried about, but Macuil will be furious, I know it.”

“Oh don’t you worry about that old windbag,” Rowena sighed, “If he gives you any problems, send him to me.” She suddenly clapped her hands together, bouncing a little in excitement. “Oh little Ceth will finally have someone she can play with!”

“I’m pregnant,” Seiros murmured, suddenly feeling nauseous for a different reason. This was something completely out of her wheelhouse. She could lead an army. She could wield a sword. She could kick anyone’s ass with just her fists if she had to.

She could not picture herself as a mother.

She sighed heavily and buried her face in her hands, trying not to think too deeply about how this was going to affect her war against Nemesis.

“Oh Wilhelm! What perfect timing!” Rowena greeted cheerfully.

“Very funny, Wena,” Seiros groaned.

“Oh! I’m…sorry… Is this a bad time?”

Her head snapped up in an instant. “Wilhelm! No, it’s… Actually Rowena’s right: it’s perfect timing,” she said quickly.

“I’ll…give you two some privacy,” Rowena said, making her way to the door of the tent. She slipped out quickly, but Seiros could tell by the shadow cast against the canvas walls that Rowena’s definition of “privacy” was a tad skewed.

“Is everything alright my Love?” Wilhelm asked, a look of concern marring his gentle face, “Have you been sick again?”

Seiros was momentarily lost in his warm hazel eyes, but she shook her head briskly to bring herself back. “I…yes, I have,” she admitted, “And Rowena believes she’s found out the reason why.”

“It’s not poison, is it? I swear on my life I’ll find the bastard that’s been doing this to you and—“

“It’s not…poison, Wilhelm,” Seiros cut in with a wince. She patted the space on the cot next to her, and Wilhelm readily sat down beside her. She worked her hands into his, and gave a small squeeze. “My Light,” she breathed, “I’m pregnant.”

There was a pause, as the information sunk in. Then a brilliant smile - as bright as the sun itself - worked its way onto Wilhelm’s face. “You are?” he gasped, laughing with joy. He leapt up from his seat, dragging her along with him. He twirled around the tent with her in his arms, before slowing to pull her into a tight hug. “That’s wonderful, my Love!” he sighed.

Then he stopped, pulling away while still holding tight to her arms. “That…is wonderful, right? I… If you’re not… What I mean is, I know you’ve got your own—"

She put a finger on his lips, a common action of hers whenever the excitable man began to ramble. “It…it is wonderful,” she assured him, “I just…never thought it would happen to me.”

He chuckled. “I have to admit, knowing you can I believe that,” he said, tucking a lock of her emerald hair behind a pointed ear. She cast him a playful glare and he smiled innocently in response. “But…” he continued, “Wouldn’t this mean that… Well, we’ll be a family. You, me, and the little brawler waiting to come out.”

She snorted at the thought. “I should hope the child decides to become a brawler after they are born, my Light,” she stated. But then her mood sobered, as the rest of his statement was realized. “A…family…”

He frowned when he saw her eyes beginning to glaze over. “If it’s too soon, my Love, I…”

“No. No, it’s…” Tears began to form in her eyes, and slowly a large smile spread across her face. She could barely contain her joy as she uttered, “I’ll have a family again.”

— — —  

She held the bundle close to her chest, still exhausted and sore. But a tiny hand had a tight hold of her finger, and wide, green eyes stared up at her. The child in her arms giggled, then, and tightened his grip.

“He’s incredible,” Wilhelm breathed as he watched over her shoulder, “So…small. But incredible.”

“He’ll grow to be a great Emperor someday,” Seiros sighed, looking up to meet the gaze of the newly-crowned Emperor of Adrestia.

“Hopefully he’ll know more of what he’s doing,” Wilhelm stated anxiously.

Seiros reached for her Light’s hand. “He’ll have an excellent role model,” she assured him gently.

In her arms, little Lycaon reached for his Papa and smiled.

— — —  

AN: Ok, hear me out... This is my take on Rhea and Wilhelm. We don’t really know a whole lot and the stuff we do know comes from fairly shaky sources. We know Rhea - then Seiros - had some kind of relationship with Wilhelm but we don’t know the extent. We also know Wilhelm had a son, but we don’t know with who.

So what if Rhea is the matriarch of the Hresvelg legacy?

I’m going to expand on this more later, but for now I wanted to first, answer this prompt, and second, cover something I probably wasn’t going to cover in my longer fic.

So here are my headcanons that appear here and will likely pop up later:

Rhea and Wilhelm genuinely loved each other. They met when Rhea was in a dark place, having lost her family and unsure of where to turn next. Wilhelm was a kindhearted farmer who wanted to help her out, saved her life from some of Nemesis’ men by sacrificing himself, and was then saved by her in turn when she gave him her Crest in the healing process. From there, their relationship blossomed. Rhea calls him her “Light” because he brought light and warmth back into her life when she thought it was all gone (much like how El views Byleth...hmm, symbolism...)

Rhea tells Wilhelm that Nemesis destroyed her family, but doesn’t go into details. He respects her enough to not push for more answers, though he is curious. He always hopes that one day she’ll trust him enough to open up.

The other Saints join the fight against Nemesis at Rhea’s insistence, but they stay for Wilhelm. He’s a charismatic guy, a hell of a warrior, and a kindhearted man, and he wins over Cichol and Indech with little effort. Macuil, however, never trusts him and acts like the scary big brother protecting his little sister (Seiros).

Rowena is my take on Seteth’s wife/Flayn’s mother. I picture her as a Nabatean, just not one of the powerful saints. (I always kinda pictured it like a hierarchy of Sothis first, then the Children of the Goddess/Saints, then lesser Nabateans forming the bulk of the community.) Like Flayn, she’s mostly a healer and has a bubbly personality. She brings out the fun and happiness in Seteth, and after her death he struggles to feel such things again. Her loss was heavily felt by all, due to how friendly she was with everyone.

The reason Edelgard doesn’t look more like Rhea/only has a minor Crest of Seiros, etc. is due to the fact that it’s been centuries since Rhea gave birth to Lycaon. The Nabatean traits eventually fade, as Rhea is the only Nabatean to ever continue the line in the Hresvelg family. Crest-strength and other traits shared by Nabateans eventually faded as more human genetics were added in. (This is also why I HC Flayn as having two Nabatean parents rather than just one.)

Rhea, having lost Wilhelm in the war and then watching her son grow old while she stayed young, disconnects from those types of relationships once the heartbreak becomes too much. In her altered history, she makes sure Lycaon’s mother is listed as unknown, and eventually the number of people who did know becomes only her close, remaining family. And she swears them to secrecy. Eventually, the connection she and the Church have with the Hresvelg family shifts and breaks, and it eventually becomes unimportant that the Imperial family literally wouldn’t have existed without her.

Perhaps that was a dumb decision, along with some of the other dumb decisions she made back then, but I also headcanon that Nabateans age very slowly. So while she was probably around 100+ years old by then, for a seemingly immortal being who appears to be in her 30s? 40s? nearly 1100 years later, her emotional age by that point would have been maybe late teenager? Early twenties? Around the same emotional age that Edelgard was when she decided that there would be no potential flaws in her Flame Emperor stunt. That’s not to diss either of them - it’s just that they were young, and dealing with emotional shit far too heavy for any one person to deal with. So Rhea’s choices back around year 90 through to year 100 should probably be taken with a grain of salt.

All those centuries don’t make it any easier, though, when Edelgard declares war on her ancestor unknowingly, and through all the anger and betrayal Rhea feels she can see the same passion and fire in the girl that Wilhelm once had.

#fanfic #fe three houses #rhea #wilhelm i #prequel fic #i have a bunch of headcanons under the read more #if anyone wants to add or discuss feel free #i'm down for some brainstorming #Anonymous

[goldenlionimagines]

Seteth, his human s/o, and Flayn finding out that s/o is pregnant? Finding out, pregnancy, and birth if possible.

 Sure! I loved writing this request.

Strong

Word Count: 2,544

Warning: Spoilers for Seteth/Flayn’s Lore

 Pregnant? Pregnant? Pregnant.

 How did she get pregnant? Long story.

-

 A woman of faith would be the opposite description of what Y/N was. Did she believe in the  Goddess? No. Did her husband at the time? No. But a lot can change in three years. A lot can change when you wake up one night and decide you don’t want to live like this anymore. A lot of it is bound to happen when you aren’t strong.

 So, the next day, when your husband is at work, you pack a bag and leave it in the closet.

 He comes home. He tells you about his day, and about how he wants to try for a child tonight. He tells you about his shitty coworkers who believe in a Goddess that doesn’t exist. He asks you to fix him a drink.

 He doesn’t know how cheap sleeping medication is in the market in town. Or about the man at the market who said the Monastery tends to offer jobs quite regularly, to those in the faith at least. It isn’t the best idea, but it’s the only one that can get you away.

 He’s asleep in the next hour, just as the sun finally sets. A perfect escape for a girl who wants a new life. So, she left, off to a monastery. To seek help from a faith she didn’t know anything about.

 She took her Husband’s horse. A fully black steed, who’s saddle read 1180. It had the current year imprinted, rather than a real name. 

 She rode in at dawn two days later, the first woman she met was a girl named Marianne, who agreed to take her horse. She advised her to look for Seteth or Rhea, who were apparently the leaders at the Monastery. Rhea was the Archbishop. The leader in the teachings of Seiros. She wasn’t available at the time. So…

 She knocked three times on the office door she had been told was Seteth’s. “You may enter.” A calm voice stated. As she entered, it was the first time she had seen a person with green hair, and ears that looked as though they were out of a fairy tale book. “Is there something wrong, you seem surprised.”

 “I am not surprised, my apologies.” She sat down in front of him, looking around the office. He observed the way she looked at the writings of Seiros as though they were alien, and she looked at paintings and such in his office like that as well.

 “Are you unfamiliar with the teachings of Seiros?” Shit.

 “Erm, no, of course I-” 

 “Then what are the names of the Four Saints? Or even the Goddess herself?” Seteth asked. He watched her search with her eyes around the room. “The Goddess is Sothis. The four Saints are Cethleann, Indech, Macuil, and-”

 “Cichol. That one I do know. There was one religious man who tried to talk to me when I  was little, and the only name he got out before my Father dragged me away was  Cichol.” She said. “Both my parents and my husband believed that the faith was stupid, and not to be respected. I never got a chance to learn anything about the faith.”

 “I’m guessing you lied because you want a job here, is that correct?” He sighed. “I’m sorry, but positions here are only offered to-”

 “Big Brother? There are more papers Lady Rhea has requested you look though. They are for trade that the church handles.” A girl walked in with light green and curly hair. She was small. Was she a child?

 “They seem to be endless. Put them with the others.” Seteth said. As she did, he smiled as she exited. “Thank you Flayn.”

 “I can help with the papers, if you tell me what I need to know about them.” Y/N stated. “It would probably be faster than learning about the church, but I could do that while I’m here.”

 “How would you know what you need to in order to fill out the papers? It would take a while to memorize the information that you need to go at my pace.”

  “The girl who just walked in’s name is Flayn. Your name is Seteth. The Goddess’s name is Sothis, the Four Saints are Cethleann, Macuil, Indech, and Chichol. The girl who greeted me outside is Marianne… I can go on. My parents described me as having a perfect memory, because I can read or hear anything once and remember it perfectly.” She stated. “I need a job… more than that, a new life. Tell me what I need to do, and I’ll do it.”

 He sighed, looking at the stack of papers, and then back to her. He took a tiny book off his desk, and then looked at one of the bookshelves in his study. He grabbed a medium sized book, which definitely seemed to be a writing from the church. 

 “The small one is recent trades, trade partners, etc. You should have it memorized by tomorrow morning, if you want a job here. The medium book is the church rules, the most basic thing you’ll study while you work here.” He stepped towards her. “There should be a room among the knights that is unused. That is where you can stay while you work here. Tomorrow, you’ll work next to me, and I’ll help you along. If you want this to continue, eventually you will work on your own.” 

 She took the books, nodding. “You won’t regret this.”

 “I pray as much.”

 Seteth didn’t regret hiring her. Y/N did anything he could have hoped. Because of her memory, she didn’t have to shuffle through papers as often as he had done before. Soon, he was getting a chance to work on other things while she handled more of the paperwork side.

 Sometimes, she would ask questions about the faith and church as she learned, and he would answer to the best of his abilities while they worked. He enjoyed talking over the Saints with her, and had mentioned a few times how Cethleann was his favorite. 

 She had met the new professor a few times, as well as some of the students. Despite the fact that the Professor and Rhea would often seem panicked, Y/N had found an overall good quality of life.

 That was, until she walked in one morning to find Seteth after having not seen him in a few days.  He was a mess. Things were flung around his office, and she had used her key to his office to enter. 

 “Is everything alright? What’s wrong?” She shut the door and walked up to him. He looked at her, upset.

 “Flayn is kidnapped. I don’t know where she is. I’ve searched everywhere in the monastery, and now even Byleth is searching for her. What if she’s gone, Y/N? It would be my fault. I didn’t pay attention enough, or do well enough keeping her safe from harm.” He had his hands covering his face, so she grabbed his wrists, holding his hands away from him.

  “We will find her, but you look like you haven’t rested in days.” She said. “What do you need? I  can handle it until they find her.” 

 He looked distantly into her eyes. Tears welled up in the corners of his eyes,  and he hugged her. “Lady Rhea is not allowing me to work until they find her. She is right in doing so, as I will not be alright until she is safe.” 

 She hugged him back, though she hadn’t expected the hug. “Then don’t be okay. Just take yourself from it. Why don’t you teach me about a book I haven’t read yet? I always find myself away in the conversations we have about them. Just tell me about one of the saints or something.” She said.

 Seteth pulled away.  He sat down. She sat down across from him. “There’s a story I know by heart, and I guess it’s one you can know too.” He wiped his eyes with his handkerchief, and began to tell the story of Saint Cichol, and his wife.

  When he was done, Edelgard had brought Manuela to the infirmary. Flayn was found that day.

-

 Never forgetting is a double edged sword. So is learning. So, when you learn things about a historical figure, and then they start correlating to your boss… what’s the approach?

Major Crest of Cichol. The green hair. The weird ears. The knowledge of all things Cichol and Cethleann. A sister that could pass for his daughter.

 So, the best thing is to make a joke about it while working into the evening.

 “Seteth, are you and Flayn actually Cethleann and Cichol?” She asked. He deadpanned, looking her dead in the eyes. “Wait, you’re not-” Seteth got up, quickly going to the office door and locking it. 

 “You- I-” He sighed. “Yes. We are. I suppose I have given you the information to put it together.” He walked  back to the desk, leaning back on it. “What are you planning to do with that information?”

 She thought for a moment. “Well, nothing. It just makes a prayer I made to the Saints a few days ago seem… a bit out of place.”

 “Oh? You were praying? Well, what did you pray for?” He seemed a bit surprised as she stepped closely in front of him.

 “Well, I prayed that this guy at the place I work would notice me the way that I’ve started noticing him.” She saw a small smirk gather at the corner of his lips. He put his hands on her waist, making her shiver a little. She blushed. “And that I wanted him to kiss me.”

 “Is that all you wanted?” He asked. He flipped their positions around, putting her up against his desk. She didn’t respond, and instead her face got more red. He leaned in, whispering in her ear, “You shouldn’t be thinking impure thoughts about the Saints, Y/N, they may hear you, and then I’d have to punish you for a breach of faith.”

 “Maybe I want them to hear me.” She whispered back.

 Just then, the door handle shook. “Big Brother? Are you in there?” It was Flayn at the door. Seteth stepped away as she unlocked the door with her own key. “I just needed aid with some things.” Flayn said.

 “Excuse me, I was just leaving, Flayn.” Y/N stated, quickly grabbing her things and heading out.

-

 5 years ago, she wouldn’t have thought of this moment. There was really no one more careful than Seteth. 

 They had been living in the monastery with a Prince who was a bit less than there mentally, and his entire crew of Nobles and Soldiers. Therefore, Y/N and Seteth had promised that they would only make each other feel good, even in these stressful war times. And of all the people Y/N had been talking over her symptoms with-

 “The spell confirms it. You are pregnant. Normally, this would be a happier time, but we are in a war.” Flayn said concernedly. “I guess the joy of life is good anyway, so congratulations.”

 “Flayn-”

 “Who is the father, anyway? I do tend to be a bit nosy.”

 Silence. The room was dead silent. She and Flayn were the only ones in that Clinic. They ended up just starting at each other for a little while. Flayn understood that meant she had been doing it with one person. Flayn took a deep breath in, before what came out of her mouth was,

 “ARE YOU SERIOUS?”

 “Shh, Flayn, please quiet down. Seteth could-”

 “Flayn? Is everything alright?” Seteth asked down the hall.

 Y/N shook her head at Flayn, and Flayn sighed, turning to the hall and yelling. “Yes brother, everything is okay.” Flayn then turned back to Y/N. “I’ll help you hide it as long as I can. Manuela should know more about herbs that can help your nausea than me.”

 “Thank you Flayn.” Y/N said. “Really. I don’t want to worry him.”

 “Neither do I, but just know that I am a bit… Excited. Even in the times we are in, a little one from Seteth… It makes me happy.” She smiled. “This will not be an easy secret to keep, and I’ll get you appointments with Manuela.”

 “Thank you again.” And Y/N whispered. “I know Seteth is your father. You don’t have to hide it from me.” 

 Flayn giggled happily. “Even better.”

 At first, it was an easy thing to hide. With the nausea medication, and biweekly meetings with Manuels, the baby was okay. Of course when Dimitri got better, Y/N and Flayn decided Y/N was becoming too hard to hide. It was time to let Seteth know, now that the Kingdom’s Prince had taken more pressure off of him. Life had become… As good as it could be for the times.

 Y/N was sitting at his desk. Her legs were on it, and Flayn was sitting next to her, smiling. He stepped into his office, crossing his arms. “This is a surprise. It’s early. And, you both know I don’t like when people put their feet on my things.”

 Y/N laughed. “I just thought the baby may be more comfortable this way.” She smiled at him, as he covered his mouth. Flayn began laughing at her father’s shock as well.  Y/N stood as Seteth came over and kissed her. 

 “I didn’t even notice- You two kept this from me for how long?” He asked.

 “Just a little more than the first trimester. But, it means we’re pretty much in the clear. And, it wasn’t too bad.” Y/N said. “I didn’t want to worry you while things were still happening with Dimitri. So we decided-”“Don’t you two hide things like this from me again.” Seteth motioned Flayn over with his hand, and hugged both girls. “But… I love you both. And it was most probably for the better.” They were all smiling after that.

-

 Manuela saw Y/N coming down the hallway to the clinic. She was leaning on the wall, her eyes barely focused. She came up to her, calling for the nurses in the monastery, and laying Y/N down on a bed. “You’re going to be okay. Seteth is coming back from Embarr soon. Just… Breathe.”

 In… out… pain. Was Seteth alive? In… out… pain. Was he coming? In… push… out… pain. Did they defeat Edelgard? In… Push… out.

 “It’s a boy!” said one of the nurses. All the nurses were talking and happy. They were wiping her off, and washing the baby as well. She saw someone kneel down next to her, and grab her hand.

 Y/N locked eyes with the man, and he smiled. “Sorry, did I miss anything?” He asked.

 “Just the bad parts.”

 The nurse handed Y/N and Seteth their baby. He was crying, so Seteth stroked his head as Y/N held him. “Of course he has green hair and eyes. He is your son. He’s so cute.”

 “He only gets to be cute because he had someone strong to bring him into the world.”

#seteth #fe3h seteth #fe3h #fe3h imagines

[ichigo777666]

FE3H Characters Ranked

My opinions of all the main characters in FE3H ranked from worst to best in my opinion. These are MY opinions! Spoilers ahead, obviously.

*NOTES*

This does not include any of the DLC characters. This also does not include the following characters since they have limited dialog / appearances within the game: Gwendal, Pallardo, Duke Aegir, Anna, Lambert, Ionious, Metodey, Kostas, Holst, Macuil, and Indech. Any other characters who are only mentioned by name are also not included. And Byleth is also not on this list due to being the player’s character.

Everyone else included in this list has a few interactions or mentions in multiple ending paths so they’re fair game. Not having a lot of interactions is not going to affect placement that much so don’t be surprised if some major characters wind up low on the list…

*The PIT*

Aka the worst of the worst. The characters I would throw into the void.

#54 – Leonie

I absolutely hate this character so much. Her personality is so flat and grating that she drives me up a wall. Her character can be summed up in two words “loves Jeralt” – that’s it. Just about everything about Leonie revolves around impressing Jeralt or being like Jeralt or doing this because of Jeralt ect. I don’t care if she’s useful as a playable character – every time she opens her mouth I cringe. Her support which is only available after Jeralt dies in which she berates you for “not appreciating him enough” is just the epitomny of selfishness. Then PTS she basically turns herself into a second Jeralt, replicting his outfit as best she can and giving herself his title “the blade breaker” and adds a 2. Excuse you, but is ANYONE can call themseleves that it’s Byleth, aka Jeralt’s child, not YOU. But she doesn’t care and does it anyway...

#53 – Rodrigue

Oh boy this is going to be a very unpopular opinion but in terms of a character, Rodrigue is kind shit. Rodrigue earns this spot for being the shittiest living parent in the game. His eldest son Glenn dies and his comment on that is how “he died like a true knight”. His first emotional response is pride not remorse. He never mentions how much he loved him or how he misses him: just how proud he was of him… And this pisses off poor Felix. Felix whom gets left ALONE after this happens because Rodrigue decides he’s got to be Dimitri’s mentor / guardian. So he basically straight up abandons his grieving 13 year old son to be the new father figure of the prince. Dimitri was more important to him that his own child. We can all see what the impact of this was on Felix through the game. And then, in Azure Sky, when Rodrigue joins you as a “mentor” character, he lacks all balls. Dimitri is going crazy and acting like a psychopath and Rodrigue doesn’t even really try to do anything about that – he just stands aside and comments on how he’s “changed”. I mean FRICK MAN – your were his guardian, his mentor. TALK TO HIM! But NOOOOOOO! So yeah, Rodrigue sucks!

#52 – Lord Lonato

Speaking of shit parents, here’s another for you! Yes, Lonato was kind enough to allow Ashe and his siblings to live with him, which is the oddest decision ever considering this came about after Lonato caught Ashe sneaking into his castle to steal from him. “I’ll just adopt this thief child”. Despite that act of kindness, he also chose to not tell Ashe the truth about what happened to his son Christophe; that Christophe was not involve with the Duscar incident but rather had been a part of a plot to try and kill Rhea. Lonato could not bring himself to believe that his son was wrong or had done anything wrong. Despite the fact that his son had decided, for whatever reason, to try and kill someone, Lonato thought that this was okay. He then sacrificed himself for the sake of trying to avenge his true son instead of continuing to care for the children he’d taken in. He basically took Ashe & his siblings in, giving them security for the first time in years, then chooses to follow his only wrong beliefs and thus put Ashe & his siblings back into the world again. He gave them 7 years of security and this just went “oh well, you’re on your own again”.

#51 – Gilbert /  Gustave

And rounding out the “shit parents” section of the list, we have the father that literally abandons his daughter and wife due to own depression. He’s totally alive and out there but just can’t bring himself to give a crap about either or write them any letters. Nope, he’s caught up in his head that he wasn’t there during the tragedy of Duscar, of how he “should have arrived sooner”. I mean, really? It is in now way his fault just because he’s a knight. He wasn’t supposed to be there and he’s got guilt that he wasn’t there? Seriously man?! And then when he finally does reunite with Annette all he does is push her away. Instead of letting Annette decide whatever she wants to be around him again, he chooses for her and denies her attempts to reconnect with him. Yeah, shit father…

*The Bottom of the Barrel*

These characters are bad. They’re not absolute utter garbage like the PIT characters, but they still are awful.

#50 – Dimitri

Yeah, I don’t like Dimitri. What is there to like about this guy? He was traumatized as a teenage when his dad was killed in-front of him and that changed him into a survival-guilt ridden bloodthirsty killer? Jeez, it honestly feels like someone tried to ft a whole bunch of tropes into one cohesive character and failed massively. The whole “brooding” phase in Azure Sky where he’s basically a tantrum throwing 5 year old only makes him worse. Also, I still don’t understand WHY he immediately jumped to the whole “Edelgard is the one who killed my parents” conclusion. The entire Duscar incident had nothing to do with Edelgard, unless Dimitri thinks a teenager with no power could do that. And, if he’s blaming the Empire, why does that extend to Edelgard who was just a princess at the time? I could see if something like the FE was present and that’s why he went crazy after Edelgard but I’m pretty sure the FE didn’t exist back then… so WTF? This is like “my parents were killed by a drunk driver. Hey you, unrelated person who just learned to drive this year, you are drunk therefore I HATE YOU – you killed my parents!” Really, no. NO.

#49 – Acheron

He has a minor role only but you fight him twice and you can get some background from Lorenz. He’s annoying and I guess he’s designed to be so. I don’t like him much. But he’s not as annoying as Dimitri.

#48 – Cyril

Oh Cyril. He’s such an annoying character. He’s a more toned down version of Leonie with his obsession with Rhea. He’s a bit of a jerk during his support conversations and he’s dismissive of his homeland. I think his supports with Seteth best show what Cyril’s all about: he’s devoting himself to repaying Rhea without thought for anything else, even his own future. He has no ambitions and no desires….how can a character be so bland?

#47 – Hannerman

And the obsessive one. ‘Obsession with Crests’ is just the only phrase you need to describe Hannerman. While I can understand why Hannerman as a character wants to research crests, the way he goes about it is just wrong. He hounds Lysithia w/o realizing why she’s avoiding his questions until she basically has to spell out WHY she’s uncomfortable with talking about it. He’s been hounding Seteth for 21 years about his crest and Flayn’s too. 21 fricking years of bothering someone and he can’t understand the answer “no”.

#46 – Arundel

Yeah, he’s a piece of shit but at least he’s interesting. He’s Edelgard’s uncle and yet he basically allowed her to be experimented on. Why? Who knows? He’s associated with TWSITD but why? Power? Conquest? He’s mysterious. His personality “suddenly changed” leaving the option open that he was replaced and the Arundel that exists now is a fake. He’s intriguing but he’s still a piece of crap.

#45 – Dedue

Oh Dedue. I feel like Dedue is stuck playing the “victim” card but without looking for sympathy. He’s from Duscar so everyone looks down on him...and Dedue just takes it. He doesn’t try to defend himself or say that just because he’s from Duscar doesn’t mean he’s evil. He does nothing to try and change anyone’s opinions – he’s content to just sit and take it. But then he talks about wanting to have the world move past the tragedy….so which is it Dedue? In order to have it change, you need to actually DO SOMETHING!!!!

#44 – Thales

The weakest character of the main three. The game tells you almost nothing about Thales...and then you go and read the wiki and find out he’s Arundel….yeah mind telling us that game?! So he’s higher than Arundel.

#43 – Nemesis

Another evil character with no personality or real background. Why did he start his rampage? Was he manipulated or just evil? Who knows….

#42 – Judith

Judith has such a small role unless you’re playing VW. And in VW she’s a bit of a bitch who treats Claude as a misbehaving child even after he proves himself again and again.

#41 – Nader

AKA the Alymrian general you meet briefly in VW and in CF. He’s in for less than a few minutes and he appears to be jolly/happy and has the rep of being an undefeated general. I guess he’s alright. But with no real role I can’t bring myself to feel anything for him

#40 – Annette

When I first played I was on the fence with Annette. I sorta liked her determination and her drive to reunite her family. But then her singing started...and oh boy do I hate her singing. So many of her supports center around that annoying singing! Just STOP already, please! Also WTF is that blue “tab” in her PTS redesign that’s right on her butt? It’s the only one...

#39 – Ferdinand

Ferdinand’s personality is just...annoying. From his meme’d battle line to his constant talk of “being a noble” he just grates my nerves. And why does he act like this? Because his father is not and he’s trying to not be like his father and be a “good person”….

*The Low-End*

These characters are “eh” characters. They’re aren’t too good or too bad...but they lean more towards bad than good.

#38 – Kronya / Monica

This was an interesting idea. I just wish she had been more involved or usable. Like if you’re playing BE house, she becomes a playable member. Something to endear her a bit more other than “this other random character you rescued who acts suspiciously”. Let’s face it, we all knew something was up with her. And then she’s killed off so easily and quickly...

#37 – Cornelia

Okay, she’s a bit interesting and a manipulator. They weren’t afraid to give her an “ugly face”. She’s a schemer and not afraid to flaunt her assets to give her an advantage.

#36 – Alois

Eh. Alois. Loves jokes, very loyal. I guess he’s alright but he’s not spectacular and some of the jokes and just so so so so so so bad.

#35 – Ashe

Ashe is another character that I think lacked development. I mean he just gained a slight bit of confidence and purpose but he’s not one for much change. His personality over all is a bit bland: he likes stories about knights and is worried about his siblings. Oh and he used to be a thief.

#34 – Jeritza

Bland because he’s meant to be bland. His other personality is typical “killer knight”. What saves Jeritza is his support conversations where you get background and you realize why he’s the way he is.

*The Middle Ground*

These characters are right in the middle. Not great but not awful.

#33 – Ladislava

In every ending except CF, you only get to see her once but in CF you can chat with her and learn more about her. She’s the head of Edelgard’s person guard and its heavily implied she had next to nothing before this appointment. She’s fully loyal to Edelgard, even willing to die for her cause.

#32 – Flame Emperor

I listed this character separate since FE is an enigma. I actually liked the design of the FE and the whole mystery surrounding them.

#31 – Manuela

I’m...ambivalent about Manuela. She’s a drunken whiner at time and other time she turns into something sweet and reliable. She’s so worried about her age but she’s NOT that old. It’s a bit trope-y though...to have an older character all concerned about her age.

#30 – Jeralt

Jeralt’s a good dad character albeit a flawed one too. It’s a shame they didn’t give him any support conversations to flesh him out more. As it is most of what we learn about Jeralt comes from others.

#29 – Sothis

I don’t hate Sothis like most. She’s a bit bratty, yes but look at from her way – she’s got no memories, no recollections, and has found herself somehow stuck with this person. She tries to help out Byleth best she can, even if it sometimes leads to near disaster.

#28 – Gatekeeper

A nice wholesome character who always wants to help out and be useful. He’s a nice guy but suffers from lack of characterization.

#27 – Mercedes

First off, I dislike the “breathy” quality of her voice. She’s a very nice girl and very kind...but that’s about all there is to Mercedes...

#26 – Raphael

Ah, the big guy who loves to eat. He’s overprotective but not too overprotective of his little sister. He’s strong, interested in his muscles, and in getting stronger but it’s because he’s shouldering the responsible of taking care of his sister. Still he’s a bit trope-y.

#25 – Lindhardt

Lindhardt make up your dang mind! He talks about wanting to study crests but when he’s offered by two separate people to do just that he complains about how he’s being “tied down”. Really? His laziness and sleepiness also gets tired after a while.

#24 – Ignatz

Ignatz is a character who shows a lot of growth and goes from having no confidence in what he wants to do to finding his path. However Ignatz remains a pushover who gives in to whatever anyone advises even when he knows its wrong. It takes a long, long, long time for Ignatz to learn to have any say in himself...which is why he’s down here.

#23 – Solon

The most developed of the three main TWSITD characters. I feel his reveal as Tomas was ruined by the poorly executed Monica / Kronya earlier. However he was unexpected. Who expects the librarian? It would have been better if they didn’t have him as “suspect” in the whole Flayn is missing part through.

#22 – Randolph

You only really get to know Randolph in CF although he’s got a minor part in AS where we see that he truly cares for his sister and how he feels he must do this, even if he risks dying. In CF, we get to learn more about Randolph. He’s actually a step-uncle to Caspar through his mother marrying into the family. He has no power or clout so everything he earns is done by action. It’s a shame they killed him off so early.

#21 – Caspar

Caspar is a good character in several ways. He’s not depressed about not being the heir to his house and is motivated to find his own way. He knows he’s flawed and in his supports he tries to change only to learn that he’s better off following his own path. It’s his boisterous yelling and charging headfirst into danger is what I don’t like about him.

*The High Side*

These are characters I like. They’re not the best but I like them and can understand them.

#20 – Hilda

Ah Hilda. Hilda’s one of those characters that surprise you. Hilda starts off being this lazy character who doesn’t want to battle and doesn’t want to do chores. Not because she can’t do them, but just because she’s lazy. You see her trying to get out of things in her supports only to either feel guilty or wind up helping someone learn something. But I think where Hilda shines is in VW where she acts as Claude’s “advisor” and some of Claude’s best plans come from suggestions from Hilda. By then she’s come into her own. I also enjoy Hilda’s C support with Seteth greatly where he just lists all the excuses she’s given flat out as Hilda gets more and more nervous.

#19 – Claude

Claude made it up here due to his unprediacbility. Some of his plots/schemes are downright hillarious. Claude is unashamed of who he is and where he comes from – he knows who he is and who he wants to become. And, in a game riddled with characters who struggle with that very issues, Claude’s a bit of a breath of fresh air.

#18 – Fleche

Ah Fleche. She’s a very minor character but she’s got such an impact on the story in AM – this is what path we’re going to discuss. We first meet Fleche when she’s talking with Randolph, her brother, right before Randolph heads out on a mission that will ultimately end with his death. Instead of doing the typical thing for a young girl which is to cry, Fleche goes ‘nah’ and decides to take revenge. She disguises herself as a “maiden” and goes to try and join the Kingdom Army; she’s allowed to by Dimitri. Fleche bides her time and waits until after a big battle and then straight up goes and tries to murder Dimitri. She actually stabs him once and barely fails in her task of killing him. Against Dimitri, one of the strongest characters... a little girl.. Yeah, Fleche is kinda badass.

#17 – Miklan

Okay, so here’s another good sympathetic villain character. Miklan was born with no crest so he was looked down upon by his family. He was the first child however so his family kept him...at least until his brother Sylvain was born with a crest. Then Milan became “garbage” and useless in the eyes of his family and thus was disinherited. He lashed out against his brother multiple times. With no one on his side, Milkan became the leader of a group a bandits and began taking things he wanted, things he felt he should have had, by any means necessary. He later stole the heirloom lance from his family, intent of keeping it and its power for himself. While it’s true Miklan is not a nice person at all, more like a sadist, the reason he became that way was due the treatment of his family.

#16 – Dorothea

I am in the camp of the very few who like Dorothea’s second outfit better than her first – that dress is boss. Some of her supports are downright sweet and her interactions with Ingrid in their paralogue are just adorable. I love how we get to see so many different sides of Dorothea and how she treats each of her aquantinces with the side of herself that’s most appropiate.

#15 – Shamir

The silent Shamir. Unlike so many characters who talk and talk and talk, Shamir only speaks when necessary until she gets close to someone. Her skills are top-knotch, which is showcased in her supports. Her personality is a reflection of her work and the kind of jobs she does as well as her way of protecting herself. She’s mysterious and deadly.

#14 – Rhea

Oh Rhea. I’m often torn in the way I feel about her, going from understanding to becoming frustrated with her within the span of a single conversation. Her desire to see her mother is what drives everything she does – every single thing. She is 100% committed to trying to reach her goal, no matter the cost, and she’s been at it for almost an eon. Outside of that goal, what she’s doing she truly believes is the right thing. She’s trying to guide people towards the right path and away from conflict. She lets no one truly into her innermost thoughts, not even Seteth, and her emotions are all sequested away, so much so that when they do come out it becomes obvious. I mean, for anyone who thinks she’s nuts, let’s take a look at some of the trauma she’s gone through. Her beloved mother, whom she obviously cared for more than anything, was murdered and her body was used to make a weapon. Said weapon was then used to slaughter the vast majority of her brethern who were then in turn alos turned into weapons to be used to kill. She had to then fight the man who had killed her mother to reclaim what’s left of her body and to stop any more pointless killing. Yeah, Rhea’s had it rough.

#13 – Marianne

Ah, sweet Marianne. It was great to watch her change and grow based on her supports with the other characters. Her caring nature towards the animals, espcially the horses, was lovely – she even knows the names of a few of them (the only one to refer to the horses by name). I like how her PTS outfit reflects the changes she’s overcome – even the subtly of making her hair neater.

#12 – Catherine

Badass female knight with a legendary sword. She’s brash, not lady-like, and not afraid of anything really. The way she rushes into combat w/o a though for danger, the fact that she doesn’t try and hide her past from the person whom it affects the most, and her way of testing people. Catherine’s great.

#11 – Hubert

Juts missing the top 10 is loyal Hubert. I’ll admit I didn’t like Hubert at first but he grew on me bit by bit. Hubert’s S-Support with Byleth is like the cutest thing ever – I was not expecting it at all. This is loyalty done in a good way.

*The Summit*

The best characters in the game, IMO. These are the characters I love!

#10 – Petra

I got to admit, I like her not-perfect talking. That’s so much of Petra’s charm. Adding to that is how Petra’s always trying her best and trying to advance herself. She has modest goals she wishes to reach and doesn’t try and sell herself as better than she is. She’s always willing to learn and to help others. When there’s someone with a different opinion, Petra tries to understand why they feel the weay they feel and to try and find common ground.

#9 – Lysithia

Oh poor girl. Lysithia struggles with others seeing her as a child or too childish due to the fact that she’s younger than most of the students. She’s incredibly intellegent and throws herself into her studies. Both of these things lead to others teasing her, either playfully or actually. Instead of taking it stride, this ‘teasing’ causes her temper to show and erupt. She can’t tell them WHY she’s trying so hard, why she’s so desperate to achieve cause that would reveal her secret. She’s burrying all this hurt and anger deep inside that she can’t talk about because can understand what she went through (except perhaps Edelgard). And even though she knows she’s going to likely die soon, she’s not focused on her own life: she’s doing all she’s doing to try and help her family...

#8 – Sylvain

Sylvain quickly became one of my favorite blue lion boys. At first glance he looks like this degenerate womanizer...and then you learn abut him and why Sylvain is why he is. His father views him as a studhorse and that his crest is the only good thing about him; his father literally cannot see Sylvain as an actual person, just a way to further the family. Having a father like this and a brother who hates him for having been born with a crest has greatly shaped Sylvain. In order to have some semblence of himself, Sylvain began to act out, to do ANYTHING and EVERYTHING he could to not be what he was supposed to be. His father wanted a noble son; Sylvain did everything he could to not be that. This got him into trouble again and again but Sylvain didn’t care. Sylvain is willing to do things that make others look down upon him if it helps him try and escape from his life...

#7 – Bernadetta

Aw, Bernie. Bernie’s such a good girl. Based on what she went through, it’s amazing she’s even sane. Her father’s idea of parenting was tying her to a chair and forcing her to remain quiet and submissive for hours, to “teach her to be a good wife” which is the reason she turned into such a nervous wreck of shut-in. He resorted to beating to near death a boy she made friends with because he was a commoner, which terrified Bernie into not wanting to make friends at all. Bernie’s mom seemed to have a little sense and smuggled her out but this is only AFTER she allows this stuff to go on for years – YEARS. Bernie’s had years of psycological trama inflicted on her and then she gets thrust into a school surrounded by people whom she has to interact with. The poor thing. It’s a testament to her professors and friends to see how far Bernie has come; to watch her change and grow as she slowly comes around to adjusting to normality.

#6 – Ingrid

There is something incredibly entertaining about a lady knight who loves to gorge herself on food. Loving eating food is generally a character trait you see on guys (typically big guys like Raphael) so to see it on a chick is a good change of pace. Her whole no-nonsense strict attitude is a great contrast to that. She’s not girly or into very lady-like things such as dresses or makeup or tea parties. Ingrid is a guy’s soul in a girl’s body….and she’s amazing.

#5 – Felix

If you haven’t read the entry for Rodrigue (he’s #53 on this list) go read that first. After all that shit that Felix’s gone through, it’s amazing he’s even still standing and capable. He’s stewing with anger and grief that he’s never been able to work through and it manifests as anger and his stand-off attitude. Poor freaking Felix.

#4 – Flayn

Fishy Queen. I do not get the hate for Flayn. She’s been horribly oversheleted by Seteth in his attempts to protect her so it’s left Flayn a bit naive. Flayn’s usually very cheery and happy which is a bright light in the depressing war times. She’s also a quite capable mage, mainly with healing magic but she can also learn a good bit of reason magic too. Flayn is always trying her best while trying to fit in with the others – she’s over 1000 years old, mind you! It can’t be easy trying to fit in when you don’t understand and when a vast majorirty of those years were spent asleep. She was involved in an ancient battle where she was badly injured (Seteth blames it on her being too young) and requires sleep inorder to heal. Meanwhile everyone else she knew and lived with aside from Seteth was killed. She wakes up an everything she knew and just about everyone she knew is just...gone. Not only her beloved mother but any friends she had too are just gone. It’s no wonder she fears falling asleep when this is what happened. Her obession with fish? It’s Flayn’s coping mechanism for dealing with the loss of her mother. Flayn explains on numerous occassions that she spent lots of time sitting with her mother while she fished and that fish is her favorite food due “to no small part” of this pastime. Fishing and eating fish is Flayn’s way of remembering her mother and dealing with the fact that she’s no longer with her. Flayn’s supports are just great; they all develop her personality more. With Dimitri and Dedue, Flayn’s cooking is explored. Flayn can’t cook although she tries her best. With Dedue, Flayn tries to learn to cook better. With Dimitri, Flayn expresses her disdain that no one enjoys her cookings and how this wastes food, even when she tries her best. Obviously Flayn never cooked before – her mother did most of it. Now there’s no one in her family to cook so Flayn’s trying to learn to try and follow in her mom’s footsteps. With Ignatz and Manuela, Flayn’s exploring things she never has seen or done before: the opera for Manuela and paintings with Ignatz. In Claude’s and Lindhardt’s supports, Flayn sidesteps questions about her heritage and her crests. With Sylvain, we see how Flayn grows and learns to not trust the rumors others say. In Felix’s, she’s trying to help Felix find a purpose after the war ends that still allows him to use his sword. With Raphael’s it’s Flayn who’s being helped by Raphael as she tries to “grow stronger”; she even mentions how she’s frail and how this worries Seteth. And then there’s Ferdinand’s supports where it’s clear Flayn’s been starved of physical affections aside from Seteth. And their supports, between Seteth and Flayn, are a great progression between the two...Overall, I love little Flayn.

#3 – Lorenz

I like noble boy. I will admit, I hated his schooldays haircut with a burning passion...and then man on man did he become HOT pts. Winner of the best boy glow-up. A lot of Lorenz’s character flaws are the fault of his father. His father taught him that all that is important is being nobility and Lorenz ate it up, not knowing any better. His father instilled into him how he neeed to find a wife to further the family’s influence and thus how she must be a noble. This worked so well on Lorenz to the point that he willing to even give up someone he loves if they happen to be a commoner. Lorenz spends a lot of time trying to ‘interview’ girls to find his perfect noble bride, coming off as a bit on an ass – even when he’s confronted by Byleth he refuses to believe he’s done anything wrong since this is what his father taught him to do. It takes a long time until Lorenz starts seeing that he is wrong that what his father taught him is wrong. He starts using his own head and his own eyes to determine what is instead of using the opinion blasted into him by his father. He’s always trying to help other, feeling it’s his obligation as a noble to help those around him, which is a quality that he alone seems to take seriously (despite the school being filled with nobles). He originally dislikes Claude cause he believes that Claude isn’t taking his responsibility as the next Alliance head seriously since Claude is so laid back. He eventually comes to see that, despite appearances, Claude is working on the issues and is capable. His S support with Byleth where he mentions how he has "worked tirelessly to improve" "to become a man truly worthy of (Byleth)" and then is uttely shocked if Byleth tells him he already was worthy shows how dedicated he can be. With Ignatz, he instills confidence in him, seeing talent in Ignatz for art and talking about how there is more to knighthood than combat. His poetry writing comes out with Manuela’s supports and he convinces Hilda through actions to actually throw herself into battle. But I think his best supports are with Marianne. The vast majority of her supports are the others telling her to “be more confident” or “smile more” or other such things where they give her advice on how to improve...but Lorenz is the only one who comes to see that nothing needs to change. He starts by complementing her and then commenting on how she “needs polish” only to realize he was wrong and state she is “becautiful just the way she is”, accepting her fully for who she is without looking to change a thing. He is, essentially, telling her she is perfect the way she is and she doesn’t need to change at all for him to love her...which I find just so utterly sweet.

#2 – Edelgard

Edel gets a lot of hate but I honestly love her character so much. Edelgard is a doer not someone who sits by and does nothing. Due to things outside of her (and her father’s) control, she would up the victim in an experiment, a experiment that killed all of her siblings. Edelgard alone survived although at a cost. That experience forever changed her. Gone was the child and in her place rose Lady Edelgard. Unlike Lysithia who is dealing with her similar situation by trying to provide for her family before her time runs out, Edelgard isn’t. Her goal is the destruction of the circumstances that caused the experiment as well as those who caused the experiment to happen upon her so that this cannot happen again to anyone else. Since the experiment were done to give crests and since Edelgard has obviously seen how some children are treated whent hey have / do not have one, she aims to destroy all of that. Edelgard is literally stomping her foot down and saying ‘no, this isn’t a good or fair system and I’m not going to stand around and let it continue’. She’s willing to sacrifice everything to attain this goal, even if it turns her into a monster or ends in her death. Instead of waiting for the world to change, Edelgard decides to BE the change. She knows she’s going to be responsible for the deaths of a lot of people and she clearly struggles with the idea of this but in the end she decides that if she does nothing than that number will be greater so she persists. She burries her desire for friends and for love because she can’t bring herself to trust or rely on others – her father loved her but couldn’t protect her; the nobles in her father’s court are resonsible for hurting her too. They had her trust and they betrayed it. Her heart has been broken already; I don’t think she wants to risk it breaking again by trusting someone who will betray her, by making friends who can abandon her, by falling in love with someone who doesn’t understand what she’s doing. In CF when you side with Edelgard, you get to see more of that emotion slowly come out. Think on the PTS reunions: Dimitri was in disbelief and then apathetic that Byleth was alive; Claude was slightly surprised but then glad; Edelgard though broke down. Edelgard was the only one to get so emotional over Byleth’s return – someone she had trusted whom had returned that trust wasn’t dead after all; there wasn’t another corpse to add to the pile of people she cared for. And in that final animatic where Byleth falls – she’s clearly so upset. She’s crying, clearly devistated. Devistation which turns into laughter when Byleth revives because she can’t believe it. I stand by my opinion that Crimson Flower is the canon ending for FE3H. It’s the only ending where the endings song is different; all 3 other paths have the same song “Edge of Dawn” but not CF – you get something different. Add to that that EoD is sung by Edelgard. And let’s not forget the symbolism. The game is Fire Emblem. What’s a fire emblem? Crest of Flames. Who posess this crets out of the main cast: Byleth & Edelgard. And in CF you unite. Also notice the same letters. Crimson Flower (CF) & Crest of Flames (CF). That’s not a coincidence.

#1 – Seteth

I honestly could fill pages on why I love Seteth as a character but for here I’ll try and keep it shortish. I’ll start with his supports. Seteth’s supports are all about his advice to the others and him trying to guide them. For Cyril, he’s talking about how it’s great to repay debts but it is also important to consider one’s future as well; he doesn’t want to see Cyril just waste his whole life in servitude to Rhea but rather to grow into his own. With Catherine, it’s concern over her safety, over how she throws herself into battle without care for the consequences. For Manuela, it starts with a lecture over her drinking habits but turns into something far more personal when his wife and daughter get mentioned. Outside of the paralogue, this is the only time an outside person gets to learn that Seteth even had/has a wife and daughter and it’s Manuela who gets told it, implying a deeper friendship. Hannerman’s involves his investiagtion of Seteth’s crest and how Seteth is constantly refuting him, obviously trying to protect himself and Flayn from others finding out the truth. With Leonie, he teaches her how to relax while fishing while she improves his own skills in the area. For Hilda, he’s trying to improve her work ethic first by confronting her about her excuses, and then by writing a story about her laziness...which does work somewhat as it gets her to work on illustrations. For Ingrid, he’s a voice of reason about the demands of her father and he’s the one who suggests that Ingrid simply talk to him about her issues, something which she didn’t consider. For Felix, he’s trying to help Felix realize his beliefs are holding him back and that he needs to make friends. With Bernie, he helps her build some confidence in her own skills and talents. And of course we can’t forget his interactions with Flayn where he goes from overly protective, to realizing he’s a bit too overbearing, to actual apologizing for that. Seteth acts as a conduit or a spark that helps inspire change in those around him, to wake up potential, or to see things differently. He’s strict and often seems somewhat unreasonable about rules and regulations but its obvious this is his way of trying to protect people. He’s shouldering massive guilt over the events that happened in the last war. He personally blames himself for Flayn being hurt and for his wife dying. This event spurred him on to becoming overprotective of his daughter, of the only thing he had left. Seteth is doing what he’s doing to PROTECT his child (unwilling to see her to come to harm), even if he’s going about it in the incorrect way. He has literally devoted his whole life to protecting Flayn to the point that when she gets kidnapped, he falls apart at the seams and is unable to do anything at all except despair and distress. Flayn has become his whole world and just about everything Seteth does is to protect her or help her. That kind of devotion from a father is incredible, especially in a series where most of the parents kinda suck. I also adore how he breaks the typical “paper-skinned mage” trope. Let’s face it, most of us probably thought the stern chuch advisor was likely going to be a mage – and then we get a wyvern rider with a lance. I could go on and on, but I’ll leave it here. Seteth is just the best character.

...this was 18 pages of writing.....

[randomnameless]

"Maurice’s deeds were so hideous that the truth of his actions couldn’t be hidden" THATS IT THATS IT thats what ive been trying to put into words. ive always seen maurice as 3h's narrative justification for rheas coverup, to show what wouldve happened if she hadnt hidden the crimes of the elites. its why mariannes paralogue is one of the most important for world building, and really builds up the greyness of rheas actions. like yeah, she lied, but heres what would happen if she didnt

Yep!

Marianne's paralogue is relevant in the story for 2 reasons.

First, is to depict what would have happened to the children and descendants of the Elites if Rhea didn't conceal "da truth". Marianne pays for the sins of Maurice.

Second, but tied to the first, is to show how Fodlan's humans are... kind of assholes? Like, they wouldn't hesitate to demolish a restaurant if it serves a cooking from a country that just declared war on another. Marianne is Marianne, she talks to animal and has never done anything worthy of being ostracised, but because she "might" turn into a monster and her crest is "cursed", she's shunned by the world.

Would those people also join the BESF claiming Rhea is actually a Monster and needs to die because she has pointy ears?

And yet, even in Asshole Fodlan (tm), a random, Margrave Edmund, helps her. He hides her crests and, in the routes where she's recruited, becomes a splendid orator and works/uses her talents to help people/her country, without the power of her crest.

Still, for one Magrave Edmund, we had 56 randoms who shunned and threw rocks at Marianne and her family, for sharing Momo's blood.

Another strike at crest system

Back to Momo, other friends already explained the general nastiness of turning into a beast in buddhism - and Momo becomes one. Yes, it is because he abused his shiny weapon, and might be some karmic retribution for everything he did leading to the obtention of said shiny weapons - but bar becoming a physiological beast? Momo sided with the King of Liberation, and asks to be "liberated". No matter how hard FEH tries to retcon Momo, guy knew Nemesis was the king of "giving death", highly regards him and has no afterthought about the massacre of Zanado (if he had been there or not ? but generally, the butchering of Nabateans).

Marianne expresses compassion, in her paralogue, but compassion does not mean forgiveness (see Mercie and Emile in AM) - even if the game is really vague about what Momo should be forgiven for, only giving an infodump at the end of VW.

Should Rhea have lied to humans, or should she have told them the truth and let them turn Felix in a Marianne?

Who is truly responsible for the situation that needed Rhea's band-aid "lies" to be repaired ?

That's why I can't seriously take Woobie!Marianne (Marion) or anyone who says they like Marianne, but insists on parroting everywhere how Rhea "created" the "crest SyStEm" by hiding the truth.

It's like someone saying they love France but don't love cheese, it doesn't make any sense.

Edit : Funny to note how VW is the route where the usually route locked paralogues, Momo and Claude's, kind of tease why Rhea lied as she did about the origins of crests.

Birdie pretends to be the mortal enemy of the Elites and their descendants, because of what the Elites did, even if Claude never met Riegan or told him to slaughter Macuil's baby bro to make a shiny bow. Macuil, just like the humans throwing rocks at Marianne, can't make a difference between what the Elites did and what their children are.

Marianne's situation is born because humans follow Macuil's reasoning.

But sure, tru piss is the route where everything is revealed

#anon #replies #crest system my rear #Marianne has a crest and she's worth peanuts because Momo was an asshole #now imagining how Momo turned into a beast we have catherine saying using her sword too much eats away at her soul or smthg #did Momo used his Relic too much by liberating people right and left so his soul was consumed? #by the nabatean he killed and turned into a smoothie? #yes it is a karmic revenge in a way but it sucks because Marianne's caught in it #should people die for the sins of their fathers? VW says no #no to random from marianne's paralogue and no to birdie #even if momo was a piece of trash #FE16 #i mean fuck maurice no one tries to woobify valtome so why maurice gets this treatment?? #this is my momo tag btw

[heartswayed]

thanks to discussion with katya and pea i revamped araceli’s entire 3h verse to be much more black eagles aligned so have a quick post updating everything to include yuri as he has the crest of aubin as well! i was going to add a description of her paralogue as well, but this got incredibly long so that’s going to be its own separate post!

just note that any mentions of hubert and edelgard are katya’s and pea’s specifically!

the short version: araceli is abducted by garon at the age of five, submitted to twsid’s experimentation at age 13, and childhood friends with edelgard and hubert-- therefore she won’t abandon them so easily.

she will leave the party with edelgard and hubert in silver snow, but is recruitable in azure moon and verdant wind-- though unless dimitri has a b support or claude has a c+ support with her, she will not remain in the party after the timeskip.

if dimitri does not have a b support with her, she will not be able to stand feralmitri any longer and leave the party after gronder in azure moon, submitting to the empire as a prisoner of war.

if claude does not have a c+ support with her, she will not show up at all in verdant wind.

her motivations for following the kingdom or alliance are an effort to find a peaceful solution to the conflict that still benefits edelgard and hubert and if she’s still with byleth’s army she will openly grieve for them after their deaths.

i am so sorry this gets long, the backstory here is incredibly important to araceli’s paralogue! :’) if you want to skip to everything actually relevant to araceli, just ctrl+f to ‘in faerghus’! aubin, a member of nemesis’ band of thieves, murders the ice dragon and obtains his crest upon consumption of his blood. two relics are made from his bones: whatever yuri’s canon relic will be, and the yato. hydra, son of the ice dragon, chases after and defeats aubin in combat... but offers to spare him on the condition that aubin’s descendants hide and protect him evermore. aubin, desperate, agrees. they settle in what would become touma territory.

centuries pass, and the house of aubin splits; the half that left becoming yuri’s family, while the rest remained hidden in touma. hydra took the false name anankos and continued to watch over humanity, growing increasingly worried about the crest system and the church of seiros’ influence over fodlan, but not wanting to reveal himself just yet.

he would soon fall in love with the second daughter of house touma, mikoto, and have two children with her: araceli, born in imperial year 1163 on the 14th day of the verdant rain moon (august 14th), and lilith, born in imperial year 1164 on the 31st day of the wyvern moon (october 31st). araceli bore the major crest of aubin upon her inner right thigh, while lilith bore a minor one.

unfortunately for anankos, the survival of a full-blooded nabataen did not escape the notice of those who slither in the dark. upon learning that a group of shadowy figures were spotted in the territory, heading for the mansion, anankos feared for the worst. he bid that mikoto take their infant daughters and flee to safety-- and to never tell them about him or their heritage, lest the enemy discover and track them down. mikoto complied, bidding her husband and family a tearful farewell and escaping to faerghus.

anankos, meanwhile, took the yato and fled into a series of hidden underground caves. when those who slither in the dark followed him in there, he used far too much power defending himself from his assailants and degenerated-- much like rhea does at the end of silver snow. with enough clarity of mind left to know what he’d become, anankos sealed the entrance to the network of caves. if he had his way he would stay there, alone with the corpses of his enemies, for eternity.

in faerghus, mikoto and her daughters had been taken in by sumeragi and ikona shirasagi, a prominent military family whose territory sits on the border between the kingdom and the adrestian empire. they’re accepted into the family, and the touma daughters grow up happily alongside stepsiblings ryouma, hinoka, takumi, and sakura.

in imperial year 1168 sumeragi’s longtime rival from across the border, garon von krakenburg, learned of the presence of a child possessing a major crest in house aubin. while already a prominent noble military family in adrestia, garon was power hungry and determined to rise through the ranks; he enlisted the help of house vestra to abduct the child and pass them off as his own “recently legitimized” bastard child, with the plan to marry them off to an incredibly influential family and tie his family to theirs. ideally this would be house vestra, as they are closest to the hresvelgs. with his heir crestless, marquis vestra was very open to the idea. 

araceli was abducted as planned, and raised alongside garon’s own crestless children: xander, camilla, leo, and elise. she would closely befriend the children of house vestra, including hubert, as well as hubert’s new liege: a princess of the adrestian empire, edelgard von hresvelg.

in imperial year 1176, a child was born to house vestra bearing the minor crest of macuil. concerned about the state of the arrangement between himself and marquis vestra and having heard of a group performing certain experiments from the latter, garon sought a meeting with those who slither in the dark. eager to get their hands on the blood of a bearer of aubin, those who slither eagerly took araceli off garon’s hands to experiment upon her. she would spend one full year locked in the basements of house krakenburg with tws’ mages, and the minor crest of dominic surfaced within her with surprisingly few problems-- though the costs on her part were severe: an incredibly shortened lifespan, much of her constitution and physical strength being sapped. the shock and stress of the situation turned her hair stark white, and upon recovery she would soon discover an increased magical prowess.

the procedure complete, garon set about showing araceli off to potential other suitors-- most unsavoury but high in ranking. in the end, an arrangement between house krakenburg and house vestra was reached: araceli would marry marquis vestra’s eldest son as expected, though hubert insisted on any wedding preparations waiting until after he completed his education at the officer’s academy. while hubert had absolutely no interest in marrying his childhood friend, the situation benefited him greatly: his father would not be showing him off to noble women in hopes of securing a match, therefore his time would not be wasted. (with what he and edelgard were planning, he would also never finish his education.)

in imperial year 1180, araceli attends the officer’s academy and is placed in the black eagle house. she is reunited with her younger sister lilith, and depending on the actions of byleth, her role in the conflict will change-- by default, she will side with edelgard and hubert. 

regardless of what her path will be, she will play a part in hubert’s assassination of garon von krakenburg.

#（◈）▸ ɪᴛ's ᴛɪᴍᴇ ᴛᴏ ʟᴇᴀғ. ( ooc ) #（◈）▸ ʟᴇᴠᴇʟ ᴜᴘ. ( headcanon ) #（◈）▸ ᴛʜᴇ ᴇᴅɢᴇ ᴏғ ᴅᴀᴡɴ. ( verse: three houses ) #long post // #absolute unit hc

[tk-duveraun]

I finished!

FINALLY! All four routes are complete in FE:3H

 For anyone new here, the ground rules are thus:

1) We love OCs/Self-inserts/???

2) Canon is only what you can explicitly learn in game 

3) Fuck canon

Spoilers below! Spoilery ones! For all routes! I suggest you play in this order:

Blue Lions, Black Eagles, Your Decision Will Drastically Change the Story and then Golden Deer.

( Your Decision Will Drastically Change the Story starts from Black Eagles; have the C+ support conversation with Edelgard BEFORE starting Chapter 11, talk to her, and you’ll see the dialogue)

What the actual fuck is Hegemon Edelgard? From her dialogue just before the transformation, she was expecting it to come, like some blast of magic from the slithery boys, but what? 

I’ve been told that random what the actual fuck final bosses is de rigueur for Fire Emblem, but I am not used to this many plotholes and nonsensical just WHAT.

Also, what the fuck happened to Claude in the Church route? Where is my son? What did you do to my son?

Someone on reddit postulated a post-apocalyptic setting because of the Agarthans and their magitech (funfact “agarthan” is the unobtanium-esque word for people who moved under ground during the apocalypse). I can buy it from the explanation Rhea gives in GD about Nemesis and Slithery Boys.

Since Rhea collected the remaining Children of the Goddess after the massacre of Zanado and built up her forces in Enbarr before the final battle with Nemesis, I think we can assume that’s how the Cethleann, Cichol, Indech and Seiros Crests got into the blood lines.

Anyway.

Earth or something, but if you zoom in in Shambala it looks like Cyrillic writing

Sothis comes from Space(tm) 

Sothis makes her children and they chill, sharing their alien tech and maybe introducing magic or something

humans fuck everything up 

Slithery Boys go under ground

Sothis rebuilds the world 

Sothis passes the fuck out in the Holy Tomb (with magitech defenses) 

The Children of the Goddess live in Zanado to not fuck up the humans again 

Nemesis is picked up by Slithery Boys and steals the “remains” of Sothis

Slithery Boys make the SotC, put Sothis’ blood in Nemesis, slap him on the butt and tell him to slaughter everything in Zanado

Slithery Boys make “relic weapons” for the 10 Elites

Seiros collects Macuil, Seteth, Indech, Flayn, presumably also Flayn’s mum and they give their blood to the budding Imperial humans to power them up to fight the Slithery Boys

Seiros defeats Nemesis, but is too weak and without enough forces to take back the other weapons

Rhea designates the relic weapons as “holy artifacts” in hopes they won’t be used against the Church and to keep track of their locations

Why don’t the humans notice that the Archbishop literally never ages?

Flyan tells Byleth “It’s hard to remember after your first sleep.” This implies that CotG regularly do a long sleep kind of thing (see also Indech and Macuil being sleepy shits) so Rhea probably takes generational breaks to sleep and let the humans forget what she looked like.

This is also supported by the fact that Byleth’s mother was only attempt 12 in some 1100 years. Rhea is batshit trying to resurrect her mother, there’s no way there’d be that few attempts in that timespan if she wasn’t sleeping. You could maybe guess that these attempts lived a little longer than humans so she waited ~100 years for one to die before trying again with the Crest Stone, but naps makes more sense. (Note: Rhea is what we’ll call Fantasy Insane, not to be confused or conflated with real life neurodivergence or mental illness)

If Rhea’s story of the Zanado Massacre is correct, why does Edelgard never mention it? She acts like everything Rhea’s done with the Church and over history is all just to grab power.

I see two possible options:

1) She is an incredibly damaged, severely tortured young woman who either forgot about it or believed that Rhea was lying when she told the first Emperor

2) The Slithery Boys have spent generations tweaking the story that the Emperors pass down in order to fit their own narrative

I think it’s more a case of unreliable narrator to create a “villain route” that has a sympathetic leader. Everything about Edelgard’s route is slap dash. Fewer anime cut scenes, worse writing, it’s markedly shorter, etc.

Not to say there isn’t an astonishing amount of overlap between Church and GD, but anyway.

tl;dr: Claude is the best and I’ve already got three damn OCs for this godforsaken game.

ps. Felix’s romance scene was much better than I was expecting, though I still think Felix/Sylvain is where it’s at. Is Felix/Sylvain/Ingrid OT3 too weird with Glenn? It’s too weird.

#fire emblem: three houses #fe3h spoilers #spoilers #Sothis #Seiros #slithery boys #shambalalala

[damoselcastel]

Black Eagles, pt.7 (Silver Snow pt.1)

So we’ve gotten to the portion of the game that I actually cared about when advertising mentioned it: the War. No more playdates and school stuff (except yes, the Monastery mini-games are endless, despair)

Now, I’ve spoiled myself on almost all the plot and world META in this game. It probably would’ve been a blast to go blind, but I’m still having fun so it’s fine... but because of this, I decided not to go the true BE route, aka Edelgard’s route, just because of how sub optimally I flailed about ta the start. I’d lost Edelgard as my lord character and Hubert flew the coop with her... So after a fancy cutscene of Edelgard walking out in a huff, who shows up after Byleth wakes up from a half-decade long dirtnap? Seteth.

Seteth a character I quite like, but not one I’d call over powered. And with the way post time skip catapulted me into the middle of Mad Max: thieves den edition HOO BOY. Did I ever regret sticking Byleth into the Thief class to try and grind skills. I had to stick to the trees with my first 5 units, or the waves of archers, warriors, and assassins would pulverize them. Only when Ferdinand the tank, Linhardt the walking magic arsenal, and Deadeye Bernadetta showed up did it turn from cowarding into a real fight. Admittedly it was the first time since the bandit-massacre map that started as a challenge... this game is very FE9 in that once a unit’s strong, watch them roll up their corner of the map.

Then the true reunion took place, with all the kids giving a rundown of their various sad states as traitors to the imperial crown (Caspar was just wandering aimlessly for five years!?) and out of the bunch other than Petra and everything she’s risking as a political hostage, I respect Ferdinand’s stance most.

Not only did Edelgard rescind the Aegir family’s title and lands, but Ferdinand rallied what troops remained loyal and lead them against her forces, which I think was the only internal military opposition offered within the Empire. I’m honestly proud of this fictional character for standing up to say “no” rather than just running away. Interestingly, Ferdinand’s paralogue cannot be unlocked in the mirror of this route Crimson Flower, only outside it (and with Lysithea in the army). Ferdie really wishes he could step into those Lord boots, who would’ve thought I’d actually be wishing I could make him Emperor? (I scoffed at that advice box ask when he was a hot-blooded kid, but now...)

When you consider Adrestia has all the Crest bloodlines descended from the Saints (Indech, Macuil, Cichol, Cethleann, Serios) they should have some of the strongest ties to the Church and likely have invoked them as a basis for their legitimacy as rulers often. This was one reason I was baffled when as students none of them cited a reason beyond “the professor” for opposing Edelgard when she attacks the Monastery- there should’ve been MANY reasons for them not to agree. (if anything I’ll feel weird when I replay and Ferdinand’s gungho to destroy the House of the Goddess he so diligently attends and believes in) I know it’s mostly mechanics, but I feel like Edelgard’s heel turn against the church should’ve resulted in extremely messy in fighting spread across the Empire (though from BL we know there’s a lot of religious refugees).

A bunch of generic knight NPCs had flavor text for having been scattered because the Monastery fell, monks and nuns in particular having to go into hiding from the Empire’s forces. And Dorothea’s been looking after orphans, who y’know, used to be taken in/lived at the Monastery... speaking of Do, boy it seems that war’s taken a big toll on her, much more somber and tired sounding. More openly cynical? Cause she’s was quite cynical before, just hid it behind a smile. A knight who talks about how the Kingdom’s doomed to fall made me sad (especially since I’d stolen Felix who says “A country with no king has no future.”). Another NPC mentions how the neutral territories of Charon and Galatea are getting slowly eaten by imperial incursions, while the Alliance is very much at war within itself. Which are honestly all great conflicts to have during war time, things SHOULD suck!

So Seteth’s kept the Church an active organization but failed to rally war efforts and their big goal is find Rhea, because [redacted] reasons. So I guess that + defeating Edelgard are the big aims of this route. I’ve heard this route REALLY cribs on the plot points of Claude’s which is unfortunate, guess a route where you ally 3/4 factions was just not in the cards.

#Dame plays Three Houses #fire emblem 16 spoilers #Black Eagle run 1 #Silver Snow