merlyybird

[merlyybird]

"Garreg Mach has always been filled with secret rooms and passageways. At my brother's request, I have made some of them my home...I can hide you there."

—

practicing digital painting with flayn from my au fic!

[merlyybird]

The Ferdinand & Dorothea A Support is Disappointing, And Here's Why

Before I begin my #HotTake in earnest, I want to make something clear: I really really like the relationship between Dorothea and Ferdinand, romantically or platonically. This critique is coming from a place of deep love. (I mean, look at my URL!)

With that out of the way... I've recently been thinking on the Ferdinand & Dorothea support chain, and I feel like it ends in a disappointing manner that does both characters and their relationship an injustice.

A quick summary of the supports, for those who don't remember:

C Support:

Ferdinand wonders why Dorothea treats him so coldly, and asks if she hates him.

Dorothea confirms that she does hate him. She won't answer him when he asks for a reason why.

She tells him that if he can guess why she hates him, she'll tell him the truth. She gives him a clue that she hates him because he's "like a bee".

B Support:

Ferdinand believes that he has solved Dorothea's, and has done so by making some pastries for her.

Bees are dutiful workers, just like Ferdinand. The bee also "inherits a capacious home, with a wealth of honey", just as Ferdinand inherited his fortune.

To try and make her feel differently about him, he makes pastries all on his own. He performed labor in order to get the ingredients, and he took on extra chores so he could use the kitchen at night.

While making the treats, he burned his hand. Dorothea notices this and scolds him, and immediately takes him to the infirmary to patch him up.

She says this incident has made her reconsider him a little bit, but that he has still failed to realize why he is like a bee.

For these two supports? No notes. Mwah. Chefs kiss. Really good stuff. But I don't think that the A Support manages to use the solid foundation it was building up very well.

A Support

Dorothea shares her tragic backstory as an orphan with Ferdinand. Nobles mistreated her when she was a street urchin, yet these sames nobles fawned over her when she was an opera star.

Ferdinand understands this is why she hates nobility, but wonders why she thinks that would apply to him.

She explains that, on the very day she was scouted for the opera, she ran into Ferdinand in Enbarr. She took a bath in the public fountains, and he glared at her. Yet when they met at the academy, he was friendly to her.

"You were like a bee, Ferdinand. A bee attracted to a flower in full bloom."

Ferdinand insists there was a misunderstanding - he was not glaring at her in disgust, but in awe. He thought she was a beautiful water nymph.

Dorothea is hesitant to accept this, but admits that she wants to believe in him.

Ferdinand says that he's glad they had this conversation, and muses that "life as a simple drone, circling a queen" would be quite wonderful.

I do think there is some really good stuff in this A Support. But this post is long enough already, so I'll focus on what I find so disappointing: it being "just a misunderstanding" means that neither of their characters have their ideals tested.

Dorothea's hatred of Ferdinand being positioned as solely because of this one incident as a child is just... a little silly. Even if she hadn't misunderstood - all of that venom because of something he did when he was like, 9? It's pretty immature. It's especially weird because she has plenty of valid reasons to be upset with nobility!

As for Ferdinand, him thinking a girl was so pretty that she had to be a mythical creature is pretty cute - but it removes a lot of the stakes. Ferdinand doesn't have to change as a person in order to earn Dorothea's trust, because it turns out he did nothing wrong. I think this is a shame, because the best part of their support to me is the B Support, where Ferdinand is trying so hard to look inward and change himself!

The Three Hopes version of their support chain does touch upon how silly it was that it was all a misunderstanding, and while I find that chain deeply adorable... I also think it fails to engage with the conflict of nobility.

If I was to rewrite the support chain, I'd make whatever gave Dorothea such a grudge be actually meaningful. Either a grudge against Ferdinand's father, or some legitimately rude thing that Ferdinand did to her in the past, would suffice for me.

But that's just my opinion! Again, I wrote this post out of love - I will always hold Ferdithea dear to my heart. That's why I hold the support to such a high standard.

[merlyybird]

something has been haunting me the past few days. while i was editing chapter 16 of wseyh, angsty hilda crashout chapter, i realized there was a deliberate w.d. gaster reference like five paragraphs in

[merlyybird]

Fe3h peeps! Who was a character you didn't like/hated at first but ended up being one of your faves (or at least one you really like)?

I'll go first! I didn't like Rhea for whatever reason. Maybe I thought she was a bit smothering, idk. but after reading all of her dialogue/info from tea parties, routes, supports, advice box notes, etc., she ended up being one of my faves! :)

[merlyybird]

next chapter of my fe3h au! some atmospheric angst in the aftermath of what just happened... (if you're new and interested in demonic beast werewolf marianne x hilda, here's chapter 1!)

[merlyybird]

pomni and alear are the same thing but opposites. you either remember your name or remember your past, you don't get both. also you're windex

[merlyybird]

If you are a fan fic writer and you're alright with people making fan art of your fic, reblog this 💚

[merlyybird]

big 2-chapter update to my marianne x hilda fic after quite a while! the scheme patrol plans to use the ball as a cover-up to rescue marianne...will everything go according to plan? (here's chapter 1 if you're new!)

[merlyybird]

my deltarune fic is taking me 1 million years to finish gah. it's freaking me out because i feel like the window of relevance is closing but people will still be here to enjoy it even if i don't release it for another couple weeks. right. right

[merlyybird]

Was anyone gonna tell me Super Paper Mario is super fun or was I supposed to realize it myself by playing the game over a decade after buying it? (okay so maybe this is my fault)

[merlyybird]

going into your favorite character's tag after blocking the most popular ship they're in

[merlyybird]

the majority my old fe3h art (mainly from 2020) 🫡 can you believe ignatz walmart baby was the first fanart i ever made for this game

[merlyybird]

traced in a bunch of traditional deltarune doodles i made during my free time at a con

[merlyybird]

so artfight month totally flew by , and i totally only made one attack , to everyone who attacked me: THANK YOU. i really did not expect to receive so much art in my first month, and all of it made me smile! it's so cool that even a few total strangers liked my character designs enough to draw them. i wish i'd had the time and energy to return the favor this year. just means i've got my work cut out for me next time!

[merlyybird]

made some doodles of my favs while @strawberrylind was playing fe3h the other day (she also drew those Creations in the second image)

[merlyybird]

oh boy it's that time again! (taking a distance break from tumblr)

[merlyybird]

do you guys like my new pikmin