#I don’t traditionally like using Edelgard

[katfreaks-hidyhole]

The team for “Ice and Flame Finale”

[misrepresentedmorallygrey]

PROPAGANDA

Eelgard Propaganda

"I know she's an antagonist but some people absolutely DESPISE her. like if you play her route you get to understand her and her motivations, yet people still treat her as the worst person in existence."

Mahiru Propaganda

Losers Bracket Round 2: 2B (Nier: Automata) vs Elizabeth Afton (Five Nights at Freddy's)

2B66.2%

Elizabeth Afton

Final result from 373 votes

PROPAGANDA

#last day

Losers Bracket Round 2: All Female DC Characters vs Princess Elise the Third (Sonic the Hedgehog)

DC Women37.9%

Elise

Final result from 269 votes

PROPAGANDA

#last day

Losers Bracket Round 2: Princess Bubblegum (Adventure Time) vs Edelgard von Hresvelg (Fire Emblem Three Houses)

Princess Bubblegum37.7%

Edelgard von Hresvelg

Final result from 268 votes

PROPAGANDA

No propaganda was submitted for Princess Bubblegum

Edelgard Propaganda

"I know she's an antagonist but some people absolutely DESPISE her. like if you play her route you get to understand her and her motivations, yet people still treat her as the worst person in existence."

Mahiru Propaganda

"They got unfairly voted guilty in the first round and keeps getting blamed She never meant to hurt anyone and the only reason she did was cause she couldn’t read social ques"

"Mahiru Shiina is the most traditionally feminine character in Milgram, and she’s very in love with the idea of love. That makes her an easy fandom target. In Milgram, we are introduced to ten murderers. It quickly becomes apparent that not all of these murders are conventional. By the time we are introduced to Mahiru, we already know most of these unconventional murderers. Mahiru’s first music video depicts her going on various dates with her boyfriend, even though he is not shown in the frame. At the end of the video, Mahiru wakes up, turns to the camera, and has a horrified expression. Whatever happened, she didn’t want it to happen. And then a lot of the fandom accused her of being a stalker. Was that what got her a 55% guilty/unforgiven vote? I don’t know. I wasn’t there. But she heard what the fandom said. She heard these voices saying she couldn’t be forgiven. Saying that she was a stalker or that she didn’t really love her boyfriend, even though that wasn’t true. She was beaten to near-death by Kotoko, a vigilante who was forgiven by 67%. Fuuta, who also sustained serious injuries from Kotoko, calls out the audience surrogate, saying what we did with our verdicts would have made us the same as him if Mahiru had died. And yet Mahiru doesn’t blame either us or Kotoko. Mahiru’s second music video shows that she was indeed in a proper relationship with her boyfriend. She smothered him with her love. The video slowly revealed the toxicity in their relationship. She asked why she can’t do anything right. The fandom perception was better in that she was safely voted innocent/forgiven. Still, there are issues. Some infantilize her or say that she’s delusional. Yes, she had a sheltered upbringing and has difficulties reading social cues, but that doesn’t take away her agency. On the flip side, some have theorized that she kidnapped her boyfriend and wasn’t in a proper relationship with him. (Not sure what to say about that, but this is a series about sympathetic murderers.)"

[edelegs]

hubert is objectively the funniest character

evidence:

- just listen to any line of dialogue he has

- “von Vestra” is the absolute rawest surname I can think of. It sounds perfectly ominous and suitable for a character who looks Like That. but like . . . his first name is HUBERT

- Me: “Oh, maybe it’s pronounced the French way!” Edelgard: *very much not the French way* Hubert

- His entire deal is his obsessive and steadfast devotion to Edelgard. Edelgard is a character who can throw axes around like they’re nothing. Hubert, meanwhile, is made out of tissue paper and will die from a single hit.

- Threatens Byleth, a trained mercenary, in their C-support. Has to attend class the next day. 

- seriously listen to any Edelbert support

- Felix has hilariously edgy lines too but Hubert does it in a more theatrical way? Like to me Felix is Shadow the Edgehog and Hubert is Scar Lion King. or like, Felix is Simple Plan and Hubert is MCR (no shade to Felix btw, I laughed at all his lines too) 

- I forget who the op of the post was but someone said “Hubert is the Evil Advisor trope except the person he’s advising is 100% in on it”

- He killed his father. this is mentioned once and is never brought up again. nobody reacts to this

- I’m obsessed with El’s Hubert impersonation but on my second CF run I got to remember that Hubert impersonates his father and I am. OBSESSED with these dorks. 

- He acts like he’s too good for school events and then goes “Lady Edelgard I hope you save one dance for me 🥺”

- DO YOU NOT LIKE THE SCARLET PATH I HAVE PREPARED FOR YOU

- “Hey Hubert is this your NOXIOUS HANDKERCHIEF?” “Yes, that is mine. Thank you.” 

- He’s genuinely one of the more complex characters (if you look beyond the surface) and I am so so passionate about his character development but I mostly like him because every line he has sends me

- Hubert only blushes for two characters in the game: Byleth . . . and Ferdinand. 

- he likes board games

- when you feed him something he likes he’s like “i don’t particularly care for food, but i will admit weakness for this one dish” which i take to mean that hubert is so edgy he thinks he’s too cool for EATING 

- or alternatively, he is an actual vampire 

- the evil laugh

- my best friend conceptualized the Byleth/Hubert relationship as a dad trying hard to impress his angsty teenage son. she calls him Hugh and I demand that this catch on please can we make Hugh happen

- by giving him traditionally “scary” facial features he actually gets one of the most interesting and unique character designs. this means that a lot of fanfic writes him as “sexy, but in a rat way”

- WOULDN’T IT BE TERRIBLE IF THE ARCHBISHOP GOT MURDERED

- he’s afraid of heights

- that one existential horror advice box question where he’s like “I used to fear the goddess. Now I fear the living” or something

- he is a massive edgelord to everyone else but he deliberately stops laughing around Bernie bc it scares her 

- when Jeralt dies in Black Eagles Part I, Hubert gives you dry facts about the enemy’s position as his own odd way to comfort you. however, in any other route, he says “I’ve never been one for condolences” and leaves it at that 

- he is 2 years older than his classmates. that fact alone makes everything he does 100x funnier

- the Hubert Stanning Experience is just laughing at this emo man until he’s wormed his way into your heart and soul and now he’s stuck there as your weird murder son 

[agent-cupcake]

just curious, what’s your favorite and least favorite character design? my least fav for sure has got to be female byleth for reasons i don’t want to get in to yep ok have a good day 😁

IOops this accidentally became a rant, sorry

Okay so, to preface this all, I’m not a character designer and I’m actually pretty bad at it, but my rule of thumb with really unappealing or fan-service outfits is whether or not it makes sense character-wise and how much it tells the player about the character. For example, I think we can all agree that there’s quite a bit of fan-service elements in Hilda’s design. Boob window. However, it’s not unrealistic to imagine Hilda picking out those clothes for herself. Her costume tells you almost everything you need to know about her character on a visual level. She’s confident, pretty, attention-grabbing, and high maintenance while the gloves and laced girdle give a nod to her Viking-maiden roots.

Taking it to female Byleth, I don’t think that her outfit works on either front. Her design is definitely my least favorite and it’s not helped by the fact that you have to look at her at all times. Whatever. The huge, solid mass of boobs, the buttoned bib, the big eyes, the feather hair, the bellybutton, the ripped tights, the booty shorts. She’s a merc out in life and death situations with an accessible, pale, tacky 2000′s “stab me” stomach cut out and a wedgie. Which could be excusable if, like Hilda, there was reason to believe that that her costume was character choice. But she doesn’t really have much character, and what there is gives the impression of a very stoic, dry, blunt person. I have no idea why they’d have gone that route when the sexual appeal of more “utilitarian” costuming (aka, form fitting armor that at least pretends to be functional) for characters like her is scientifically proven AND would say more about the singular personality trait she possesses. Okay, well, I know why they didn’t do that and I think it’s lame. This dysfunction of “character designer wanted a sexy girl but it’s kinda random and just shoved in the game without any thought” actually reminds me a lot of Xenoblade 2′s leading ladies, Hikari and Pyra. Although considering that their bad designs led to a lot of people hating the game for superficial reasons while accepting female Byleth’s design, I guess I’m just bitter. Jumping to a different comparison, then, look at 2B from Nier Automata. Her design is fine as hell which is kinda hypocritical of me considering that it's explicitly fan-service, but I think it also shows the most damning thing for female Byleth. Her whole look, despite having a dozen different element thrown in, is boring. Maybe it’s the colors (dressing her in all black and white would have been really interesting considering the colors of the three lords are so heavily emphasized as a part of their characters) or maybe it’s just the way the desperate elements come together. But, like I said, I'm not even slightly knowledgeable about character design and I know that despite Three Houses being mostly separate, they had to appeal to a larger aesthetic brand to which I have little experience with. And, ultimately, a lot of people find her cute or sexy which...To each their own, I suppose. I don’t pretend that fan-service doesn’t work on me (2B... Cloud’s arms in the remake... Seph's shirtless Smash skin...) but when it’s this obviously inserted in by the character designers rather than feeling organic in any way AND looks bad I'm just not super interested.

The other worst designs for me would be all four of the Ashen Wolves post timeskip. I don't think it's controversial to say that they didn't try with the clothes, even if I love their designs from the neck up (Yes, even Balthus. He looks like the type of guy that would let you sit on his shoulders at a rock concert so you could see the stage). While there are other designs I think are unappealing, those are for purely aesthetic reasons and so I can't maintain the opinion that they're actively bad or that I even truly dislike them.

As for favorite looks... I actually have a few so sorry you're getting all of them because despite the shit I'm talking, I actually really really love the character designs in Three Houses. 

Ferdinand's post timeskip is one of my favorite designs, if not my favorite. The hair, the coat, the armor, the spurs, the colors. You know exactly who Ferdinand von Aegir is just by looking at him. He’s wealthy, handsome, confident in his appearance, a hero, a princely type character, his battle form is mounted combat which is traditionally aesthetically reserved for nobility and leaders... I love it. The only reason I cannot say he IS my favorite is because of the three Lords. But before them, my honorable mentions include post timeskip Hilda, Dorothea, Lorenz, Felix, and Hubert. Granted, I could make a case for why I like almost all of the student’s post timeskip looks.

For the Lords, I obviously have to start with colors because, weirdly enough, Persona didn’t invent primary colors but are actually used as shorthand. Blue is the color of honor, loyalty, sincerity, sadness, and depression. Something I’ve always found very interesting is that blue is very rarely found in nature. To me, that’s always made it seem more lonely which, at least in this case, is thematically relevant. People call Dimitri boring pre timeskip and while I won’t defend his hairstyle (okay, actually, I probably would because he tucks it behind his ears and idk why but that’s one of the cutest things ever) I really like how unassuming he is. Bland. He’s supposed to be the plain shortbread cookie to caramel deLite Claude and strawberry meringue Edelgard. It is not in his character to draw attention to himself or stand out. To me, he kinda looks like an old Barbie prince, like he should have been named Dominic. Also I love the blue eyes/blonde hair thing and his more angular features. It really helps to sell him as the fakeout chivalrous prince type. Post timeskip, Dimitri's black armor is amazing. I love the fact that it’s a lot more intricate up-close with the different little shell-like pieces and the fact that his boots are furry. I love the big cape and the black and white fur around his shoulders. It’s really cool how they used his costume to change the shape of his in-game model to match the bodily proportions of the character art. It’s easier to see when you change his costume into the DLC ones, but the fur and cape build up his shoulders and chest look more broad while keeping that tiny little waist. The choice to give Dimitri an eyepatch is probably my favorite thing about this design. It’s genuinely inspired. Such a simple detail yet it tells the player everything they need to know about adult Dimitri when they see him post timeskip, in one frame the player can begin to understand the extent of his loss over the past five years. The subtle shadow under his eye in the first few Azure Moon chapters and the messy long-ish hair really help to sell the feral prince aesthetic as well, as it’s from those small cues the player gets that he’s exhausted (in more ways than one) and doesn’t maintain himself. None of these things are intentional choices by Dimtiri, they’re the result of what his character has been through.

Yellow is an intense, energetic color. Mostly, people think of it as being warm and inviting, the color of the sun and positivity. That intensity can be overwhelming, though, too visually demanding when compared to its primary counterparts. Don’t stare at the sun too long. Buuuut, it’s okay to stare at Claude. Claude not wanting to wear tight pants in either of his costumes is not only a mood, it is iconic. Pre timeskip, the softer lines of his silhouette makes him look kinda slouchy, kinda lazy. Like he’s not too concerned with appearances. But those adorably messy curls, the little braid, the clearly tended eyebrows, and earring make it clear that he DOES care about appearances and is very aware of his allure. And that’s before he even starts winking. It is honestly so in character that as many people picked him first on the basis of being thirsty, that feels like an intentionally Claude thing even if it was inserted by the designers. The contrast of his complexion with his seagreen eyes is gorgeous and instantly adds a kind of mystery and intrigue to him considering the setting... but it’s sf funny that nobody looked at bronze god Claude among a sea of white faces and thought something was up. Post timeskip, they used the same trick like they did with Dimitri to change Claude’s in-game model to match his canon appearance. The way they designed his uniform makes him not look as twink-ish, like he’s actually muscular and imposing and has the strength he’d need to shoot a war bow with a 120lbs draw weight. Also like Dimitri, you can instantly tell what Claude’s been up to. Like, he was very pretty pre timeskip but when he shows up in the Goddess Tower after those five years in all that gold, he demands your attention. Like a gentleman general with the excessive aesthetic ideals of the Alliance and details to imply his heritage. The quilted pants are amazing from both an aesthetic and practical standpoint. He’s a mounted unit riding a creature with scales, of course he’d want something on his legs for protection. And the chinstrap. I love that so much, it definitely makes him look more adult. He’s got such a cute soft baby face, it’s fun imagining him experimenting with different styles during the five years to get the most desired physical reaction to him as a leader. 

Frenchfries, meet forehead. No, actually, Edelgard’s design is really fantastic. Claude and Dimitri both have realistically colored eyes and hair and then there’s Edelgard. Dimitri shrugs off attention physically and Claude shirks it with a wink but Edelgard commands the players attention from the very start. Although I’m sure there’s a lot of things to associate with white hair and purple eyes, my first thought was Daenerys from Game of Thrones. Otherworldly beautiful by with an edge. Red, of course, is The power color. Strong emotions, love and hate. Red is also associated strongly with blood, which is very important to Edelgard’s plot. Granted, I think the red and black association is even more powerful than JUST red and red is the cheapest play to make in regards to displaying villainy (I mean, there are some pretty universally recognized associations with red and black and it led to people making some unfair comparisons between Edelgard and a famous dictator) but I think it was effective and well used and I genuinely enjoy its use in her case. Anyway, if I had a major complaint about her design it would be the weird ashy color of her hair whereas Lysithea’s hair is pure white. Which doesn’t even matter with the AMAZING hair horns. Ram horns can actually symbolize quite a few things, but their association with power and strength is pretty universal I think. They’re also used in demonic imagery. I love that THIS was her alternative to a crown. Edelgard views herself as a force of war and power before she thinks of herself as royalty. She also mentions that she isn’t super vain, but she loves to do her hair, so the hair being the most elaborate part of her look is entirely in-character. Edelgard’s ensemble is, like Claude, very militaristic. I love that they kept her in a dress that embraces femininity without showing skin as that wouldn’t really suit her Also, again, Edelgard demands your attention. She’s dressed all in bright bright red waving around a giant axe. She is a symbol as much as she is a combatant, someone to follow. I didn’t really mention their secondary lord costumes, but a girl in sexy armor is literally everything and I love that they had the balls to put their main sexy waifu girl in full body armor.

Okay I’m sorry I realize this was excessive and probably didn’t need explaining and I’m not sure I even articulated my thoughts properly but anyway I love their designs so here is the positivity I’ll put into the world.

[lochnessies]

I can sort of understand? At this point, Nabateans (except for the two who are stuck in dragon form) have just sort of intergrated themselves into a relatively high position. They can't really be actively marginalized, because nobody except Edelgard and the Agarthans even KNOW that Nabateans are a race that exists prior to the timeskip. As far as the average joe is concerned Rhea, Seteth, and Flayn are normal Humans.

So they aren't really marginalized in the traditional sense. Post war its questionable since Edelgard's information that she hands out is questionable at best. For all we know she only told her troops that Rhea's the only dragon since going "the enemy has several divine dragons!" would lead to a hit in morale.

imma throw this under a cut bc it gets long. i’m not yelling at ya don’t worry lmao

I can sort of understand? At this point, Nabateans (except for the two who are stuck in dragon form) have just sort of intergrated themselves into a relatively high position. They can't really be actively marginalized, because nobody except Edelgard and the Agarthans even KNOW that Nabateans are a race that exists prior to the timeskip. As far as the average joe is concerned Rhea, Seteth, and Flayn are normal Humans.

that supposed integrated equality is built on a very tenuous and thin foundation. they’re still suppressed since they’re not being acknowledged as their actual race but rather that of the majority. they’re having to live a lie in order to maintain safety. you see how guarded and distraught seteth is in his hanneman supports when there’s even the chance that someone might snoop into their background.

i hate bringing up irl shit to any rebuttal, but it kinda reminds me of the argument against light skinned poc that since they’re white-passing they don’t experience racism when that’s not how it works.

being marginalized goes beyond how the “oppressor” sees you and also goes into the consequences that could befall you if the mask slips. same goes for lgbt people who are stuck in the closet. not saying any of these three situations are 1:1:1 but just comparing the mindset behind it. does this make sense?

an in game example would be claude. yeah he’s royalty in almyra and nobility in fodlan but that never stops attempts from being made on his life in either nation. he actively has to hide his almyran heritage in order to avoid the same persecution that cyril is subjected to. would you say that he isn’t marginalized when it’s a theme of his route?

also like… we see in the game that seteth and rhea’s positions in the church haven’t stopped people from attacking them specifically (western church) and having the nobility trample over their wishes on how their school and church is run.

So they aren't really marginalized in the traditional sense. Post war its questionable since Edelgard's information that she hands out is questionable at best. For all we know she only told her troops that Rhea's the only dragon since going "the enemy has several divine dragons!" would lead to a hit in morale.

traditional is such an odd word to use. this is fodlan and just about nothing is traditional in regards to anything. i do believe that nabateans do fall under the “traditional” banner but it’s still odd to say nonetheless when you have these other examples:

the mentally ill man (who is degraded for it) holds the position as king. the physically abused empress gets superpowers from her trauma. the prejudiced against almyran is leader of the alliance.

all these “traditionally” marginalized people hold actual hard power in the game and yet they’re still othered despite it.

Actually, the dreams interview stated that the Nabateans DID rule as gods prior to the Nemesis thing.

the reason it took a couple of days to get this out was bc i had to go through all stan and i’s messages on tumblr and discord to find this where i asked him to translate the kanji used for the relationship between nabateans and humans in the interview

but regardless of that, it’s still dubious since it clearly didn’t stop them from being murdered en mass.

from my experience with previous games the relationship nabateans had with humans prior to the nukes seems to be similar to many of the divine dragons of the series.

you have a race of dragon people who help guide and protect humanity who are seen as gods due to their immense power. they’re not gods per say since they, in naga’s own words, have no power over creation. however, this doesn’t stop people from revering them and looking to them for guidance.

however, nabateans, unlike manaketes, do have a direct connection to godhood via sothis. she fits the definition of a “true god” vs a higher being in the fe universe aka having the ability to spawn life. they (other than sothis) are not gods, let’s be clear, they just have more of a connection to it so humans looking up to them makes sense in context. not to mention all of twsitd’s tech originated from the nabateans as well so i’m sure it added to humans looking up to them while exchanging this knowledge.

i think it’s also telling that the reason twsitd are little bitches is because they were simply arrogant and thought themselves superior rather than some higher purpose of delivering humanity from the evil dragon clutches.

but all of this is pretty irrelevant since the days predating zanado have nothing to do with dragon suppression in modern fodlan (other than twsitd’s continued monitoring of the lizards) this was about how modern fodlan, and edelgard by extension, makes an unsuitable environment for nabateans to truly thrive in equality to humans.

This isn't me disagreeing with you by the way, just going. "I can *sort* of see it. Then again I haven't seen the post you talked about yet

i kept everything relevant from the original post as to not to take anything out of context so you didn’t miss anything don’t worry

[fireemblems24]

hey if you uh 👀 wanna share that essay on dimitri 👀 i'm sure more than one of us will be happy to read it... 👀👀👀 (dont mean to pressure you or anything! just joking around but in all seriousness your metas are 👌🏼👌🏼👌🏼)

This feels a bit like someone asking me to indulge in my favorite food.

I’m a bit stuck right now with no new content for Dimitri, and with that shocking personality turn, I’m dying to know where this all goes, and you bet there will be some massive Dimitri analysis coming. 

But for a “short” breakdown of why he’s my favorite so far:

He’s that kind, empathetic, diplomatic lord I always go for, but avoids being too vanilla because he’s allowed to have faults. It’s also so nice to see a character who goes through trauma and see it realistically affect them, and not just in a romantic tool kind of way either. You see it in literally everything Dimitri does and how he interacts with everyone. It’s an excellent case of “tragic backstory” done right.

It’s almost unfair how many complex relationships Dimitri has on the other main characters. It takes the Byleth pandering edge off a lot when he’s got these deep, rich connections to Felix, Dedue, Ingrid, Rodrigue, Sylvain, Gilbert, and even Annette and Catherine. It’s such a leg up on the other main characters that he gets to skip over awkward intro C-Supports and jump right into the drama. 

He surprises you. I fully expected Dimitri to be kind of boring, but instead he just made me . . . fall in love with him? Like, I’m closer to 30 than 20. I have not done this over a character since high school. Like what is this?

The trauma is interesting and well-done and all, but even without it Dimitri’s a character who I would’ve gone for. He’s so awkwardly adorable and gets so easily excited when you talk about his favorite sword or whatever. But then he’s also so composed and confident at times.  

I also love how traditionally “feminine” his strengths are. He’s kind, empathetic, wants to compromise rather than punch his way through his problems, and he’s still totally a guy. Many times these “softer” male characters are written super feminine, but it’s nice to see these traits in a character who is still traditionally masculine. It’s refreshing because it shows these things don’t have to be one or the other. You can be a guy’s guy and still be emotional, considerate, and caring. Like his hobbies are swordplay and sowing, and he’s allowed to just like both and no one makes a big deal of it one way or the other.

Dimitri embraces his leadership role. You can tell it takes a toll on him, and that he’d probably really rather not have to take on all this burden. But he does. I’m so sick of entitled leader characters play the “but I never ASKED to be XXXX!!!” Dimitri just embraces it and wants to use it to help others. For all of Dimitri’s trauma and how center-stage it takes, you literally never hear this guy complain about anything. The headaches? You know know because of Felix and Dedue. Same with the sleeplessness. Dimitri never says a word because he’s just so ingrained to take on all the burdens and lead everyone else. It’s to an unhealthy level, but oh my God it’s so refreshing after dealing with so many heirs and chosen ones that come across like spoiled brats. 

There’s a few key moments in the story that Dimtiri really stuck out to me too. 

Post-Lonato - This was the scene where his character really caught my attention. So often fantasy glorifies war. Kings and chosen ones fight for their ideals against some dark overlord and it’s all rah, rah!!! And it’s all good and fun, but I can’t ever help but wonder what any of these stories look like from the common man’s POV. Dimitri gets that. He’s not about some high and might cause. He’s always focused on how the common man is getting hurt by their leaders. He does this with Miklain too. Of all the lords, he’s the only one who noticed how Miklain mistreated all the nearby commoners. That was what he talked about. It’s what he’s always talked about. And it really resonates with me. Leader characters with admirable ordeals are a dime a dozen when you read as much fantasy and historical fiction as I do, but ones who set that all aside and their ultimate goal is to serve the people - now that’s interesting. 

Post-Jeralt - This was one of the few times I felt kind of self-inserted in the game. I don’t care too much for Byleth or Jeralt. But after Jeralt did his thing, I got Edelgard’s harsh treatment, than Claude’s complete disregard, and I was honestly feeling so put out. I really expected the game to play this up given how much they love to pander to Byleth. I was especially shocked to see Edelgard be so dismissive of Byleth’s feelings when she’s so hung up on Byleth. It’s like Claude and Edelgard ask so much from Byleth - both openly wanting to use Byleth to achieve their own goals - and the single time Byleth shows weakness, is faltering, neither care enough to bother. By the time I got to Dimitri, I expected nothing. But when he showed up instead of Alois (sooner than the other two), I was a bit taken off guard. And then I finally got to see someone really care about Byleth for Byleth’s sake, and not only what they thought Byleth could end up doing for them later. He was so kind and considerate. He didn’t belittle Byleth for grieving, he offered to cover for anything Byleth needed. And it really got to me, because we’ve all been there. We have people we think we’re good friends with, but when you need them they’re just . . . not there. And then that one person who is there just really ends up sticking out so much more. 

I really expect this list to get so much longer after seeing the time skip. He’s clearly going to get some massive character development, and I’m so excited to see all the sides of Dimitri explored - even - especially - the not so good ones. So it’s slightly torturous that I’m stuck replaying the route I saved over and not seeing anything new and smarts even worse because Dimitri’s (and Dedue who coincidentally is another favorite) are literally the only characters I’ve seen 0 final supports for and I’m just . . . really dying over here. 

[fantasyinvader]

So, a couple of thing I want to put out here.

1) I’ve mentioned this before, but Flayn’s endings do confirm that Fodlan changes in every route but CF. This of course kneecaps the argument that those endings restore the status quo. But considering that Flayn leaves your party the second you opt into CF, the only route where you lose Enlightenment and the only one whose epilogue’s boarder is black rather than white, her leaving can be seen as important to the ending. Think about it, Nirvana allows someone to escape from the cycle of death and reincarnation. We maintain said status in SS/AM/VW, the routes where Flayn is around at the end to confirm Fodlan changes. CF is about restoring the Empire and losing Nirvana through ignorance, implying the cycle has just reset itself. It is the only route that doesn’t have confirmation things will change, even Heroes makes it out Edelgard is still trying to figure out how things will work, while Lorenz and Sylvain have endings that show they pass their positions off to their kids in complete contrast to what Edelgard wants. What did Hanneman say again in his support to Dorothea? Oh yeah.

“ Consider this. At its inception, the concept of nobility assumed that the greatest among the populace would rise to power... However, in practice, nobility often serves to keep those deemed commoners down, segregated from those who, by chance, were born to a noble family. “

The cycle repeats.

2).One of the things that has been bugging me lately is VW’s role in the story. I know I’ve argued it’s the outsider route because it doesn’t reflect the themes of SS, AM and CF that the game was built around. The idea of it being a foil to CF in some way was there, if it wasn’t meant to reflect those themes than what was it?

Then I remembered the interview, how Claude was originally meant to be a villain you can’t hate. This stuck me as odd, since a lot of people argue that CF is about humanizing Edelgard and making it harder to hate her. That doesn’t fit in with the interview, since it would mean having two likable villain protagonists. But what if, after everything we see, Edelgard WASN’T meant to be likable at the end of CF? That CF was meant to show us how vile she actually was, while the writing around Claude eventually changed so he stood among the heroes.

This started the ball rolling for me. VW’s foil is more about the nature of their stories. As the game says, Claude’s and Edelgard’s ideals aren’t that far apart but here’s the thing, Edelgard’s a liar.

* So for all the talk about her having trust issues and opening up to you, the fact is she does this as soon as her support becomes available, while Claude’s own trust issues figure more into the story and at the end he still doesn’t tell you his real name. Despite how his own damage is less severe than Edelgard’s tale, Claude’s trust issues are more prevalent. It takes a lot for him to open up about what he really wishes to accomplish to the GD, whereas Edelgard lies to the faces of her closest allies.

* Claude also sees violence as a last resort, whereas Edelgard starts the game by placing a hit on her fellow students in order to better facilitate her conquest. This can even be taken to account with their preferred weapons, Edelgard prefers axes, which have great power but poor accuracy. Claude uses bows, outside of the traditional weapon’s triangle, who are known for their accuracy but also tend to lack in power (not to mention, how they traditionally need support due to not being able to directly counterattack). You can also see this with Edelgard being defeated by Byleth (sword) but is able to defeat Dimitri (lance) except when Dimitri is supported by Byleth.

* Edelgard talks about merit but she takes credit for Byleth’s leadership, never putting them into a position of power and even has lines stating she doesn’t see them as an equal. Claude on the other hand recognizes Byleth would be a better leader for Fodlan than himself, and his speech at the end against Nemesis is all about the power of friendship. Hell, in some of his endings Claude doesn’t take the throne of Almyra and instead adventures around the world.

* His ending is in pure light, while Edelgard’s is in pure darkness.

* Edelgard says she has the true history of Fodlan, making it sound like it turned her against the Church. Claude actually does learn the true history and as a result is a lot more sympathetic to Rhea at the end.

* Edelgard talks about uniting the continent, doing away with the Church, and bringing to light the history she has been told. While she forcefully does the first, the details show she takes over the Church instead and spreads her own false history. Claude does unite the continent in the aftermath of the death of it’s leaders, the Church loses a lot of power as a result of the war and Rhea’s death, and Nemesis himself shows up to prove he wasn’t the hero. While this may have played a role in the post-war loyalist uprising, Claude does what Edelgard says she would do.

* Edelgard says she will make peace with Almyra, thinking it will be easy because they don’t believe in the Goddess. But in CF, she kills/exiles Claude. IT’S PRINCE, NO SURPRISE THERE’S AN ATTACK THE MONTH AFTERWARDS. And Hilda and Cyril, both of whom are a part of the GD in VW, can not join her meaning the paralogue that explains that Almyra fights for shits and giggles is not available in CF. Claude does unite his forces with Almyran ones in order to stop Edelgard despite the latter not believing in the goddess.

I mean, we can go on. But it’s clear, Claude is definitely meant to be more heroic than Edelgard. His route is meant to foil CF, showing what it would look like if your leader actually meant what she was saying. Even him being a foreigner can play a role into this, as he’s bringing parts of his culture into Fodlan. Again with the outsider theme, but also outside of the Buddhist/Chinese theming of the rest of the game. Claude is the real deal as he finds the courage to trust others, whereas Edelgard is a fake.

[omgkalyppso]

for the character thing - sylvain!

- 🌱

Thank you for the ask!

favorite thing about them

He's so passionate. He's full of love and plagued with hate. Most of the time Sylvain seems to me like he wants to do better than what people expect of him or die trying. Some of the time he just wants to die. His struggles are not relatable when you look at them under a microscope, but the weight of family and the struggle of loving people who either don't know or love you, the fear that people only want something specific from you and don't respect you as a person; he's very human.

least favorite thing about them

He's not canon bi.

But more seriously, I would love if he expressed more regret about hurting characters other than Byleth pre timeskip, or otherwise that there was more insight into his dating life. People keep accusing him of things, and he accepts each accusation, and even self-describes as willingly harmful; but how much of that is illusion and his mind, and how much is him just wanting another way to be a punching bag because he feels he deserves it? Since we have to take him at his word, it would be significant if he mourned how he'd used people.

favorite line

Flayn: I have heard that men and women alike have been seduced by your nefarious ways.

Sylvain: I hate to suggest my talents are being oversold, but...

Not even the canon bi's get to say anything like that...

brOTP

I was trying to think if there's a character I can't ship with Sylvain. And you know what? It's Hilda. I love them as friends. I can see them as good standing exes in some circumstances. But I don't see them together long term.

OTP

I ship Sylvain with A Large number of characters.

If I pick 1 for an otp based on canon interactions, it's Felix. The huge amount of Sylvix content that exists keeps me from feeling like contributing myself, but I do have a Sylvix fic I've been thinking about writing since oct 2019, and suspect it would be around 25k. I need to finish my Hilorenz thing before I even think about it.

But when not restricted to canon, I have to mention Dedue... While in the trans bb server I asked who I should write a Sylvain concept with, and people voted for Dedue. After writing that I started seeking Syldue fics to read... I'm so attached. They're so sweet together.

nOTP

Also in the trans bb server I was introduced to Sylvain x Edelgard as a ship. Something that drew people to this ship was that if anyone understood Sylvain's hatred of the Crest system it would be Edelgard. I think most characters can understand Sylvain's hatred of the Crest system and I'm just generally not a fan.

random headcanon

First the popular one: he needs glasses. At first I didn't understand why people thought this and needed someone to spell it out for me: "part of the glasses thing is that Sylvain's only(?) weakness is in archery, his dex stat is low, and the whole support point with Ingrid about accidentally flirting with a scarecrow gives people the impression he's horribly nearsighted." But now I'm attached. This is so funny: [X]

But also. It says in his likes that he likes Fine Art, but I would like to suppose that he just likes art: cultural art, trashy novels, folk music, a child's finger painting. He's just versed with fine arts, and is more comfortable offering critique and praise in a formal way that suits that fashion of art more traditionally.

unpopular opinion

I've glanced over so many fics that are like: His heart always belonged to Felix. That's not my jam. Let him be a little in love with everyone, and some more than others; and that can include Felix. But I don't think he was pining away his whole life. I think his love for the people closest to him evolves as they do, and as his relationships to them change.

But mutual pining is still a delicious form of angst (whether with Felix or whomever).

song i associate with them

don't worry, you will by lovelytheband

She said I can't find a thing I don't like about you And I'm like don't worry, you will I don't wanna find a reason to doubt you And I'm like don't worry, you will I'm a freak, I'm a fraud I'm a child, I'm flawed She said I can't find a thing I don't like about you And I'm like don't worry, you will

favorite picture of them

This one.

[bloomandcoffee]

Fe3h ABO headcanons

So yesterday I had a lot of fun in the anon meme writing some ABO worldbuilding for FE3H. Some of it was inspired by the amazing @theeeveetamer. I decided to post it here for easier access, and in case anyone wanted to read them/get some inspiration/play in the sandbox.

All questions and comments are welcome!

Let's start shall we?

Faerghus

Faerghus has a tradition to not give a fuck about omegas. Loog was an omega, and all Blaiddyds are as well. Omegas can inherit and can be leaders of their houses or clans. They prize Chivalry and Duty above all else, and with the harsh conditions of Faerghus they can't afford the privilege to dismiss a third of their population. All are trained to fight before they learn how to write, no exceptions. If they want to partake in the battlefield, become part of the royal guard, command armies? They can.

Which means of course Faerghus is the nation expert on omega nature, heats and all subtle intricacies of omegan behavior and its relation with other spectrums. As a nation that values righteous fury and devotion (to the King) Omegas are very prized as well because of their emotions and relentlessness when it comes to protecting their own. This clashes with the other nations and their concept on what is the proper omega behavior. Faerghan omegas find it stiffling to not be openly passionate and determined in the presence of people from the Alliance or the Empire.

Alpha/Omega unions is most desired between crest bearing nobles because they needs the crests (remember The crest of Gautier is the only thing between Faerghus and a Sreng invasion) and a huge litter will up the chances of getting one. But it is far more common outside the nobility for omegas to mate with Betas.

Betas and alphas too are held in high regard, but for different things. There's no hierarchy based on the ABO designation, but on political nobility designation and chivalry.

The Empire has made a long effort to scrub from history the fact that an omega rallied an army, fought the empire head on, and won somewhat successfully. That is, people on the Empire and Leicester (to a lesser degree) belive Loog was an alpha, while it is is common knowledge in Faerghus that Loog was an omega.

Adrestian Empire

The Empire is very conservative with ABO designations. Alphas on top, betas as servants/retainers and omegas ought to be quiet, domestic and be a perfect wife (see Bernadetta).

Omegas cannot inherit Houses, not even if they have crests (See Mercedes' mom) and while it is common knowledge in the Empire that it is not a woman's fault if the child they bear lacks a crest (or is an omega) it is still fairly common to be shunned culturally.

It is fairly recent that the Empire has allowed omegas to enter in fights, though many nobles would first have them married than allow an Omega of the Family join the battlefield and "decrease their value" (because what if they get scars and become undesirable?!), and those that do usually expect the omega to bring home a respectable wellbred mate.

Of course this doesn't mean that the empire never had noteworthy omegas in their ranks, but they easily scrubbed their designation (or outright changed them) when they excelled in fields that were deemed inappropiate. I.e. an omega excelling in the arts was fantastic, but one that excelled in martial arts and warfare was a disaster.

(It also goes the other way around, an alpha that excells in arts but is mediocre in the activities the Empire demands alphas to excell in is a disappointment, and many families have either disinherited their alpha children or tried their best to hide the shame.)

As for alphas, they are on top, call the shots and have all the rights -but so are their responsibilities. They must excel in the areas that the Empire has traditionally viewed as given for alphas like science, politics, diplomacy, warfare, management and such. The field is extremely competitive (alpha women are held to a higher standard because the Empire made the notion that Seiros was an alpha woman, so they all are compared to her) and a perfect manners and form of conduct is expected at all times.

This means of course that the Empire has the leading knowledge on alpha supressors, because they can't have their alphas behave like beasts. They are civilized individuals, the land where Seiros and the four saints lived, they must lead by example!

(There's a black market for omega suppressors as well. It moves better in the lower classes, but has higher profit margin in the businesses in the noble class)

Leicester Alliance

The Alliance being mainly a mercantile and business nation holds Betas in higher regard. Time is money and businesses that get postponed because someone got a heat/rut is money lost. The logistics of the whole thing are a nightmare for merchants, and after the third time a big negotiation or deal got frozen because of the biology of one of the parties some rules just had to be set.

So betas that don't have to get into this biological mess are valuable. Though it is also fairly common for commnfolk to procure alpha and omega suppresants to be able to conduct businesses as well.

The only people that look down on the use of suppresors are some noble families because the willful ingestion of something that impairs your body is not very noblesse obligue. They think it is either addictive like alcohol, or poisonous.

It is not uncommon to hear the rumor that ingesting suppresors will leave you sterile as a means to dissuade noble omegas from consuming them. (Of course that doesn't mean they won't ingest them from time to time when there's one big summit or deal on the line. The excuse of "oh it seems my rut/heat is coming late this time" is fairly common)

Nobles of course employ trusted beta families to close negotiations in their name, and it is a major honor for a beta family to be adopted into the noble family as their main negotiator.

The Alliance also gets a few cultural cues from both Faerghus and Adrestia. Namely that Alphas should be exemplar and omegas should use their passion to excel in the arts (which includes oratory and negotiation), but in all Alliance fashion the reason why they shouldd excel is because they must make up for the time they are impaired to support the Alliance.

Also all nobles should act in a maner befitting to their station, which means of course that alphas are hold to the manners and etiquette standards of Adrestian alphas (but without the help from suppresors) and omegas should be outspoken and passionate but in a diplomatic and well mannered way that doesn't include outbursts or displays that can be considered shameful.

Garreg Mach

Garreg Mach has everyone on suppressors, and is very liberal with contraceptives as well. There is no ABO orientation shaming because everyone is a child of Sothis and the monastery is a refuge for everyone, and those serving within the church or in the Knights of Seiros should be available at all times to reprieve and help those in need. (Of course this is mainly because Nabateans don't have ABO designations and what better way to hide it than to have everyone be the same?)

Because they are not affiliated to the church, it cannot force any of the students on suppresors. However they make it available for anyone who wants to have them, and make the transaction discreet and private. It is not uncommon for students to go to a "confessional" and leave with suppresors.

Of course the Monastery also has repurposed heat rooms and rut rooms, but they aren't many. The academy does ask the students to give their rut/heat schedules to the administration so they can properly manage the heat/rut rooms and avoid inconveniences.

As for some people:

Dimitri is an omega. But what has (and had) the Kingdom worried for a long time was the fact that he hadn't presented at the proper age (13) but at 17. (This of course is related to his extreme PTSD, survivor's guilt and the almost mortal injuries he sustained in Duscur and while saving Dedue) His heats are terribly irregular and painful. There's also the fear that he might be sterile given how late he presented and the issue with his heats. He believes he can't be a proper omega on top of not being able to be a proper prince, and that it is one more sin that has to be added to his shame.

(Of course in full Dimitri fashion, he buried all that self loathing and insecurity behind a princely smile)

Claude is an alpha passing as a beta with the aid of suppressors because he needs all the advantages he can get in the Alliance. No one really knows because he was presented as a Beta in the Alliance. (Judith knows of course, and complains that it is a pain in the ass to procure the exact brand of alpha suppresors because not all of Fodlan's suppresors work on someone that is used to Almyran suppresors). He finds it fascinating the strange cultural concepts pertaining ABO in the different countries and Almyra.

(Almyra does have a respect for omegas, with a myth that mostly resembles that of Amazons. Claude has a laugh when he realizes the fabled amazons live in a cold Kingdom and not a tropical island)

Edelgard is an omega turned alpha by Agarthan experimentation, because Adrestia cannot have an omega emperor. Among the mess of things she has, there's some internalized omegaphobia, and part of her hatred with the church stems from the fact that Seiros was an alpha (and never realizes that the Alpha Seiros thing was all Adrestia propaganda).

Lysithea is an omega turned beta. A failed Agarthan experiment (they wanted alpha) but the Ordelia family still took the small victory because Betas are more valuable in the Alliance. She doesn't care much about ABO, though it stings when an omega she knows goes into heat, and is more worried about curing herself.

Ferdinand is in fact an omega on permanent suppresors who knows very well that the only reason he's Ferdinand von Aegir is because he's the only legitimate heir. His competitive behavior and manners is he overcompensating and an attempt to hide the secret.

(Also because I love the idea of two of the most prominent and greatest minds of the empire being fucked over by Adrestia's ABO expectations)

Lorenz is an alpha born out of Beta and Omega parents, who is trying very much to prove that being an alpha in the Alliance should be an asset instead of a burden. He will stop at nothing to do so, but has a pouch of alpha suppresors that taunt him every night.

Marianne is an omega, but she is on suppresors. Margrave von Edmund justified it by saying that the suppresors helped Marianne's health given that her heats were irregular. But in fact, while her heats were irregular, she has them because her heats react strongly with her crest. It was usual for her to vomit blood or destroy the whole omega heat room. That's also another reason why she's terrified of her crest.

[gascon-en-exil]

I really don't understand Edelgard at all, and why people think she's a well written character. I'm trying to understand, but her motivations are all over the place. She's ok with religion because she allows faith in CF, but says she hates it in her support with Lysithea and wants to obliterate it? She feels inconsistent but people seem to think she's a gift to us all.

Edelgard is very inconsistently written, and to get to the heart of what she actually wants (at least as far as I can determine) you have to cut through something like 3-4 layers of deliberate misdirection and figure out who’s responsible for what in CF. Claude is just as vague when it comes to his real motivations and even more obvious about his manipulation of Byleth, but at least he has a concise philosophical stance (fix racism) that he attempts to enact through recognizable means (control as much of the world as possible, by whatever means necessary, and open the borders). Edelgard doesn’t do much of anything for me personally so I’m not the best one to ask about what anyone sees in her. Other bloggers have laid out what are probably the biggest factors:

She’s a female ruler, and a “strong” female protagonist if you ignore that just about everything she does either couldn’t have been done without or was done to appease one of Hubert, Thales, or the potentially male Byleth.

She’s bisexual, in the sense that she can S rank Byleth which apparently counts for more than Dimitri having two deeply romantic endings with other men. Representation only counts when it’s your self-insert doing it?

Edelgard was the most prominent of the house leaders in promotional material, and the game in general seems to slightly favor her perspective, ex. “Edge of Dawn” is her song, she has the most strongly telegraphed romance with Byleth of the house leaders. That she’s also the main antagonist for 3/4ths of the game doesn’t sit well with this kind of favoritism.

She opposes the church, which is a common trope in JRPGs as well as a popular sentiment in younger/left-leaning online spaces that are generally opposed to organized religion. Her claims in CF that she only hates the church but not the Seiros faith itself align with anyone describing themselves as “spiritual, not religious” which is apparently fashionable in some circles...but then she calls Sothis a false goddess so who knows.

Related, she wants to kill all the dragons, which is par for the course in FE. Most recently, all three 3DS games end with killing an evil/insane dragon. Whether this counts as racism/species-ism across the entire series has never been entirely clear or consistent.

Her desire to abolish the nobility and the Crest system looks like a revolutionary leftist position on paper, even if she doesn’t really follow it through in the end. Also, applying the logic of contemporary politics to a game series where a good and just monarchy restoring the status quo but better has always been the standard doesn’t work all that well, but that requires a broader knowledge of this series and its traditionally mildly reactionary political stances.

Similarly, parallels/allusions to Jugdral, conspicuous as they may be (ex. “the Flame Emperor”), don’t work when one isn’t familiar with the source material . In this case, said material is over two decades old and was never officially translated, so safe to say the references get lost on many fans. 

That’s about what I’ve been able to glean from the fandom as to why people are so into Edelgard and get so defensive about any criticisms of her.

[crystalelemental]

Edelgard’s an emperor trying to expand her empire. Adrestia’s got that clear German influence. Flayn, Seteth and Serios can be killed in BE and they’re among the last members of their race, so that’s where “Edelgard commits genocide” comes from.

Damn, is that where it came from?  You know what, fuck it, I can appreciate a good asspull, 10/10.

But seriously, I feel like this must have started as a joke, and was taken seriously and became a real thing people now argue over.  There’s no way that started real.  Like...you took one data point out of context, and another you forced a convenient interpretation onto to make the claim.  That’s absurd.  Like...okay, first off, does Edelgard even know that Flayn and Seteth are dragonkin?  Because, like...I didn’t.  For a while.  They mention pretty early on that the saints and heroes could have ridiculously long lifespans, and it was pretty apparent that Seteth and Flayn were related to the saints, so for a while I just assumed that was all it was.  I can’t even remember when I started to connect they might be dragons too, and I think it was specifically when they start talking about how Rhea is like family.  Which happens in the Church route, an entirely separate reality.  Secondly, if we’re going to start counting “killed the last known dragon” as a form of genocide, then I’m pretty sure about every lord in Fire Emblem is guilty.  Killing dragons, especially corrupted or evil ones, is kind of a series staple.  Hell, apparently they’re not even the last, they’re “among the last.”  I’m really hoping that has to do with the Nabateans that Seiros mentions near the end of BE route.  God, please tie this in to some dragon society.

Moreover though, it’s just amazing to me that this is the direction we take with Edelgard’s character.  You know the first thing that happens when you join Edelgard against the Church?  She asks everyone if they’re sure they want to stay, and tells them they can leave if they’re not up for it.  What a vile, power-hungry fascist, allowing her friends and comrades to duck out of a conflict they may not be ready for.  When you take over major areas, her first declaration is for everyone to drop their weapons and cease fighting.  Again, so vicious.  Or hell, how about Hubert and Ferdinand’s B-support, where we’re told point-blank that Edelgard intended to allow their enemies to go free?  It’s Hubert who sends the order to kill; Edelgard had every intention of allowing her enemies to live.  What an unbelievable showing of cruelty.  Hell, even her motivations don’t line up.  Yes, her goal is to unify the continent within her empire.  I haven’t finished the game yet, but one of her proclamations is that the Church was explicitly responsible for creating the divisions between nations, and that this division held people back.  I dunno, maybe that’s right.  Even if it’s not, the Church is responsible for keeping a lot of secrets about relics, crests, and crest stones from everyone, and has shaped history to the current form where Crests are all-important, to a degree where many go to disgusting lengths to obtain them.  Edelgard’s entire MO is basically “Eat the rich.”  She hates the nobility that stole power from the emperor, and immediately used that power to torture children to essentially create weapons bearing two crests, and called it “research.”  She was one such kid experimented on.  If we seriously want to talk about who’s the oppressed and who are the oppressors, it doesn’t take both brain cells to figure out Edelgard was on the worse end of this.

Hers is the story of a child abused by society at large, recognizing those responsible for setting the conditions that allow or even celebrate these atrocities, and rising up to dismantle the systems that protect them.  At every step of the way, she’s resolute, but she’s clearly not happy that things have to go this way.  She cries when she has to kill Dimitri.  Someone out to kill her who would stop at nothing, and she cries over the fact that nothing would have been able to stay his hand.  I’m not saying she’s a perfect cinnamon roll who did nothing wrong.  She fucks up quite a bit.  She never once talks with Dimitri about the truth of what happened before the timeskip, which could’ve saved everyone a lot of trouble.  She could have been more detailed about the problems the Church is responsible for, because believe me, having played it, I’m still not entirely clear on their role, which made it harder to understand why they’re her target.  Her ambitions being largely for the greater good don’t excuse the fact that she’s willing to jump to subjugation through force in a case like with the Alliance.  Hell, you could argue that Dimitri, even consumed entirely by his lust for revenge, didn’t need to die, and that she’s simply justifying the solution that’s most convenient for her.  All of those criticisms I’m fine with.  But my god, it’s like you don’t know how to tell someone with complex motives and questionable actions from a sociopath.

Personally, I blame Fates.  I feel like a lot of Fire Emblem does pretty well with moral gray, and characters who can seem purely evil having a complex history or motivation.  Those qualities are what drew me in so much when I first played through Blazing Blade.  But Fates...did a terrible job of this.  Garon and his goons were so transparently evil as to be cartoons, and Hoshido was left to be the pure “did nothing wrong” victim good guys despite showing the more overt levels of racism and hatred toward their enemies.  They created this concept of picking a side as if they were equal and just butchered it so hard.  Awakening was...actually really not much better about this at all.  So I guess I shouldn’t be so surprised that many newer fans to the series are seeing this game play out and trying to fit it into a neat little pure good and pure evil box, but that’s not the way the series has traditionally played out.  I hate to be this much of a snob, but god Three Houses feels like a proper return to form.  It legitimately feels the same as when I played the Radiant games the first time through, only without the frustration of the fucking bridge.  This moral complexity is how the series is meant to run, and by god it feels good to be back in a game that has this kind of depth.

[flowerofgoneril]

[[💃]] Edelgard greets Hilda with a simple wave as she approaches, “You seem to be enjoying the energy of the ball.” She casts a quick glance around, “But I do not approach you with only idle chatter in mind.” The princess then holds out her hand, “I have noticed the eyes on me, as I suspect you have felt too. How about we give them something to look at, hm? Care to dance?”

"Two lovely ladies like us? We'll be the talk of the whole ball." She steps in close and takes the traditionally female position. "You don't mind leading, do you? It's not really my thing."

The two join the other dancing couples on the floor. Hilda is surprised to have been asked by the princess for a dance. She knows she's toward the bottom on Hubert's list of people and just always assumed the two of them shared opinions. She's enjoying it though. Edelgard is a skilled dancer and the extra eyes on them is definitely a bonus. Maybe Claude has noticed and is watching.

"It's fun, don't you think? The staring, I mean. Look at me, I'm gorgeous. It'd be a sin to keep the others from admiring me. Isn't that the whole point of this event?"

[anonarat]

“You know, I still can’t believe you are going through with this,” whined Caspar, despite the fact that the limousine was pulling up outside the park where the wedding was being held.

“It’s what she wanted,” was all Byleth said with a small smile.

“And I can’t believe that you made us wear skirts,” continued Caspar.

“I’ll remind you that kilts are traditionally male garments Caspar,” came the gentle chiding from Linhardt, the other groomsman in the car. That earned a playfully disgusted noise from Caspar. The couple’s antics would normally have gotten a small laugh from Byleth, but he was far too excited about what was to come next.

Jeralt was already waiting to open the door, and Caspar and Linhardt quickly exited to free up some more space for Byleth to get out with a bit more ease. While it was absolutely gorgeous, the white wedding dress that Byleth was wearing took up a lot of space. All paid for by Edelgard of course.

He went slow to make sure it wasn’t damaged, and thus escaped the limousine without incident. Already waiting for him was Flayn as the flower girl and Seteth as the ring bearer, along with the other groomspeople. An entirely non-traditional group, which really did fit the pair of them just perfectly.

“Hey, don’t forget the veil kiddo,” said Jeralt as he flipped it down over Byleth’s face. Linking arms with his father, and giving the nod, the group began to process down towards the aisle of chairs that had been set up. With every step Byleth’s smile grew wider and the excitement in their chest felt like it was bubbling over.

While the veil obscured things, he could still see Edelgard at the end of the aisle, ready to officiate, and just in front of her, Dorothea. Byleth swore to Sothis that he could feel his heart stop when he looked at her. She looked gorgeous at the worst of times, but in her suit, she was immaculate.

He could practically feel the force of the love that she held for him, and he knew that this was the most right decision he had ever made.

[jademonument]

Fire Emblem: Three Houses February 2019 Trailer Impressions

hi! i’ve said a whole lot of nonsense about the new trailer to a bunch of people already, but i’m going to try to compile those thoughts here again in some sort of more official capacity because i keep going back to the trailer and catching new things.

also this got a little out of hand, so it’s under a read more!

The Class System & Unit Customization

so, the first thing that i want to talk about is easily the thing i’m the most excited for since watching the trailer - Three Houses is looking like it’s going to give us a pretty much unprecedented level of fine control over the units that make up our armies!

all of the units we see in this trailer share the Noble class, at least to start, which seems to be incredibly malleable - while each character seems to start with their preferred weapons, you’re given the opportunity to change their Focus, which, taking what we saw of the class change/promotion screen, seems to imply that nearly any character can eventually be lead to just about any class!

notably, the classes presented here are classes that, traditionally, have been base classes - or Tier 1 classes, or starting classes, whatever you want to call them. this seems to imply that Noble is essentially a “trainee”/Shadows of Valentia-style Villager class in role!

from the post-battle screen we’re presented with after Petra here crits and takes out an enemy unit, we can see that she has a multitude of experience bars:

she has a more traditional Level experience bar up at that top that determines her displayed level

under that, she has two “Professor Level” bars that match up with the Sword and Authority skills seen on the Set Goals menu with Linhardt

under those, she has a class mastery bar - this seems to imply some sort of reward for going through a class, which would further imply a benefit for going through multiple classes?

at the very bottom of this list of bars, Petra has a Battalion experience bar, noting that she is currently leading an Empire Infantry Battalion.

now, a note about Battalions - these are assuredly the “faceless soldiers” who are following our characters into battle. the fact that these can be leveled up is very interesting in its own right, but lets also consider for a moment the following:

Edelgard, on foot and with her axe, is seen leading a Battalion of lance-wielding cavalry. of course, there’s no telling exactly what sort of effect this might have on combat, but it almost assuredly will have an effect, rather than just being a peculiar visual gimmick - and, more than that, this implies that characters will be able to lead Battalions that don’t necessarily match up to their own movement or weapon type

(that’s a neat outfit you’re wearing there, Edelgard!)

finally, on this screen with Dorothea, we see that beside Swords and Reason, she has blue arrows pointing upward - and beside Faith, a red arrow pointing downward. because of the menu on the right side of the screen telling us that the blue arrow indicates a “Strength”, we can hazard a guess that the skills with blue arrows pointing upward suggests the skills a unit will be better suited toward, and the ones with red arrows pointing downward will tell us what skills they don’t necessarily have an aptitude for.

of course, all of that is ignoring the other symbols present here - the finger pointing upward next to Swords, Axes, and Reason, as well as the three stars arranged in a triangle across from Faith. for the time being, it’s pretty hard to say what these could mean!

Weapons & Magic

so, we got to see a hint of the new weapons and reclassification of magic once again! let’s talk about the most notable thing here first, though

from the image of Linhardt selecting a skill for “solo study”, we can see that the Iron Gauntlet Caspar is using here belongs to the Fighting classification of weapon. there’s really not... a whole lot to say here? i’m just very much in love with the idea of characters who are rolling into a battle and just. Punching.

putting it in here again because it gives us our best view of the way magic is being handled in Three Houses! here, we can see magic is being split into Reason and Faith, and that Reason has two separate symbols within it. now, this is primarily notable because

if you look to Dorothea (unit in the middle of the bottom-most row of the map) and the currently unknown character located on the rightmost of the map, they are both wielding Reason weapons. each one, however, is being displayed with only one of the two tome icons; Dorothea has the one with the black cover with a few white lines, while the unknown character is using the one with the bright cover and triangles on it. 

(you can also see this in the image of Caspar punching a Western Church Soldier, who is wielding Fire - which notably uses the black cover with lines on it symbol. could that symbol be used for “Anima” magic, while the symbol with a bright cover and triangles be for “Dark” magic? or is this some new distinction altogether?)

its interesting to note three things here - Faith seems to replace the concept of healing staves from other Fire Emblem titles. Linhardt (as well as the Western Church Soldiers pictured above) is not actually holding anything in either hand as he is casting Heal.

but, as far as we’re aware, casting Heal is not costing Linhardt HP to cast. if you go back to the trailer and observe, Linhardt begins healing at 12 HP and ends at 12 HP - so, unless the HP to cast is taken before the combat animations begin, it seems unlikely that Three Houses will be using Shadow of Valentia’s magic casting style.

The Crests

i went back to the E3 2018 trailer, just to see what else i could catch, and.

"Some people believe the crests - tokens of the goddess's power - are necessary to maintain order. But they're wrong, teacher. The crests are to blame."

what an interesting line, right? here’s the thing. as of the February 2019 trailer, we’ve seen one of these crests.

it’s a little hard to read, but this Black Beast that Edelgard is taking out is wielding a Fighting weapon called the “Crest Stone of Gautier”. if you’ve watched the trailer, that last bit might sound a bit familiar.

hey Sylvain what the fuck did your family do

jokes aside, this little detail - something easy to miss, especially given the time that has passed between the original trailer and this recent one - has kind of renewed my excitement for this game’s story. i wasn’t really sure how or where this game could go while i was watching the Direct, but now that i’ve done my digging (and gone back and rewatched the original trailer), i can safely say i’m pretty hype again

In Conclusion

please let this game be good