#I still think the CF!Lion and at least CF!Dimitri knew

[randomnameless]

Rhea doesn't trust VW Claude tho and she tells him the truth because he kinda demands it from her. If you had to pick, I think she'd easily trust AM and AG Dimitri, albeit maybe over time. Dimitri has never done anything to hurt or betray her family. AM Dimitri, Felix, Dedue can even marry Flayn (Ashe fishes with Flayn in AG). Ingrid can marry Seteth in AM. Felix has a conversation with Seteth in AM. The Blue Lions and Faerghus are always closer to the church than any other nation overall.

Context is important -

In VW Rhea's first infodump (the one where she still ommits several things) is given because Seteth pleads her to do so, because Billy is here supporting Claude's ask.

And yet, she doesn't reveal a lot about Nabateans, how relics were made and who was Nemesis (she has the famous "idk how nemesis got his sword" when she perfectly knows at least from what "materials" it was made).

She only does that when she's going to die, after Shambala, to settle things with Billy, when Nemesis is knocking at their door.

I'd love that too, in AM and AG - but the game sucks and no one ever reacts to the fact that Flayn has pointy ears (save for Supreme Leader and Hubert and we know how that ends).

I don't think the BL peeps would ostracise them because they are not human, (just like Manu because I hate it how Nopes made her an Adrestian nationalist, let her lust after and finally get some comely saints) but to make Rhea spill her secrets?

After the Hresvelg debacle (Edel knows she is a lizard and started her war based on Willy's knowledge that she was a lizard?) and, even if the game eludes the question, Sitri's family drama (Jeralt never knew what is wife was, even after being married, and he ran away when the child resulting from their hand holding wasn't "human"??) must also have had some weight on Rhea's willingness to reveal "the truth".

I see Flayn and Seteth being the ones revealing the truth to their human "companion" in a AG-AM world, "companion" being supportive and all, but again, how will the world deal with that knowledge?

Sothis trusted Agarthans with her knowledge, and ultimately, it led to her children being genocided.

Rhea trusted Wilhelm, and it ultimately led to a continental war 1k years later.

Kill that, I see Flayn, and only Flayn willing to "take the risk" and share the secret, because the other two are either too jaded or don't have faith anymore in humanity. For sure they love them, they really do, but after Edel's war?

The best ending will forever be a game where Dimitri learns the Truth (tm) and promises to make a world where everyone can live together, and accepting people who are different, and Nabateans, once again, chosing to trust him.

Still, if that was the promise Wilhelm made to Seiros all those years ago, the living Nabateans have knowledge that this promise wasn't respected in the end. So why should it be any different with Dimitri's? (and then we would have some usual "there's no certitude, but we will always strive for a better world" and Nabateans would have rekindled their faith in humanity, after Edel destroyed it).

Tl;Dr : if only the game tackled this issue and made characters react to this dilemna, but for Rhea, who takes personally the Hresvelg betrayal and the War that ensued, I don't see her making the same "mistake" a second time, or at least, not 5 months after the end of the Hresvelg War.

But I totally see Flayn doing it, let her be a hybrid or a pure blooded Nabatean.

[sheikahwarriork]

Do u have any dimileth headcanon??

LMAO TOO MANY. here's a brief(?) list

dimitri fell in love right away when they met but realized it only during the rain scene

byleth fell in love more slowly and realized it at the goddess tower (academy)

sylvain knew about dimitri's crush all along and kept teasing him about it but dimitri was dense and clueless and always like "i dont know what you are talking about, sylvain. my only feelings toward the professor are admiration, care, and the wish to spend all my life at her side. totally normal"

during the fishing tournament, byleth asked dimitri to keep her company. dimitri was confused, the professor always fishs alone!, but gladly accepted. she also tried to teach him how to fish but he kept broking the fishing rods

byleth always spends at least 3 hours at sunday having tea with dimitri (its me im byleth)

the first time byleth tried to make tea for dimitri, she made a chamomille too strong for a normal human to enjoy. luckily dimitri isnt normal and it was the first time in years he tasted something. byleth keeps over-pouring his chamomille just to see him enjoying some taste

dimitri cant cook for shit. byleth only knows how to stew at a campfire. dedue is their savior

(dedue knows about dimitri's crush too but doesnt tease him about it)

they love each other in every universe, in every timeline. even if they dont realize it, or one of them (dimitri) dies, they still love each other and always will.

dimileth CF: edelgard is the one who kills dimitri, byleth tries to stop her but fails, and after she spends an entire day hugging dimitri's corpse, unable to understand why her heart feels so broken (since when does she have a heart?)

dimileth VW: after the timeskip, byleth meets dimitri for the first time at the gronder. she rushes to him and hug him, whispering "i thought you were dead", and dimitri replies " i thought it about you too". then an archer hits dimitri on the back. he looses strenght on his legs. byleth starts screaming. dimitri doesnt look at her, he only says "i always wanted to dance with you" and dies. byleth turns back time till the monastery and now chooses the blue lions :)

dimileth SS: (wooo "ghost scene".) dimitri always loved the professor from afar. and hes not dead, but he knows he's about to, so he goes to the monastery to see the professor one more last time. he needs to tell her what hes doing, what hes about to do, but looses all his composture once he sees byleth smiling at him in relief (she thought he died- offscreen during gronder). ohhh but he needs to go now, he feels like that smile isnt meant for him, this isnt his- their story; maybe in another life. this is dangerous. why this urge to kiss her, why right now? he needs to go, now. "im sorry, professor. im a coward, i've always been a coward. i came here to tell you-" shes crying, shes smiling. "i love you too".

woooo too much angst. back to the romcom fluff

when byleths asks dimitri to go to the sauna with her, he heats up so fast not bc of the heat, but bc the professor is in her underwear sothis help me-

mercedes knows too. (actually every blue lions knows. theyre not very subtle) she tries to help byleth realize her feelings by talking through metaphors but byleth is too dense and she keeps wondering why mercedes always talk to her about "the goddess and her king"

during academy phase, dimileth dont kiss. but according to sylvain, they spend all the time "eyes-fucking each other". true!

their first kiss? lmao actually at the S support scene. theyre clumsy and a bit awkward- its the first kiss for both- but its also the best one of their lives. bc its the beginning of their life.

sothis hates both of them (lovingly). A LOT. she considered many times to get control over byleth's body just to make those two fuck. everytime byleth smiles under her breath when she thinks about dimitri and then wonders "what is this hot wave im feeling? must go ask manuela about it" sothis starts screaming

at the ball, dimitri spent all the night looking for the courage to ask the professor to dance. once he collected it, he sees claude dancing with the professor! (how dare he!) (why am i so jealous?!) the next time he spares with claude, claude ends up in the infirmary. "oops. my crest activated :("

they have many children and lives happily ever after forever.

("brief list" my ass.)

hope you enjoyed this! many of these hc comes from a very long fic i wrote some time ago that i still havent published, but im working on its translation (its currently only in italian) and maybe, one day, it will be on ao3. i hope so. :3

[fireemblems24]

Azure Gleam Ch 6

Dimitri fans stay winning. The only route where I actually feel the need to put spoilers in the title - at least for anyone who's played Three Houses.

STORY

Oh, wait, we DON'T fight at Arianrhod battle? Count Rowe falls off screen? Man, Edelgard taking Ls all over the place.

I love how Arianrhod is unconquorable but fell right away. Lamo.

Is Edelgard keeping Aruendel imprisoned? I thought she had no clue where he was.

Dimitri struggled with his revenge issue for a moment there.

Annette is so smol. 😭

The way Dimitri says "Imperial snake" with so much venom.

Someone came with terrible news. Count Rowe escaped. Should've just killed him.

Oh, wait, they got attacked by mages. That's TWSITD? And Dimitri knows they're behind Duscur? Suspecting Cornelia is behind it. Glad that we'll get to deal with her again. She's a great villain.

MAP & SIDE BATTLES

Mannnn between the hurricane, not having internet, and last week being a nightmare for work, it's been sooooo long since I played AG. I had most of GW Ch 6 done when the hurricane came through, so it really has been like 2, 3 weeks? (not that I'm complaining, the flooding is just getting even worse in some areas)

Ahhhhh, I'm always so happy when I remember Flayn and Seteth are on this map.

Man, thinking about Post-CF Flayn makes me so sad. Like I know some people think it's oh so great she and Seteth can live, but they'll spend the next few hundred years on the run, terrified to trust anyone with their true identity. And Flayn hates that. She wants to hang out with friends and go to school. The fact she gets that teased and gets tossed into an even worse way of life if she survives CF is so sad. And she has to see everyone celebrate Rhea's death and act like her race is responsible for human greed too.

Ingrid knew Miklain was abusing Sylvain 😭

Dimitri's no nonsense. He's like "if Miklain acts up, kill him" to the soldiers. Like, that's hardcore.

Mannnn, Sylvain is interesting here. He's supporting Dimitri's decision with Miklain I'm betting in no small part because he wants to undo the reliance on crests and knows Miklain could help that.

The bubble over Felix says "It really pisses me off." So Felix being Felix. Annnnd Felix is annoyed with Dimitri for not telling him everything. So more Felix talking about Dimitri, lamo.

Man, the Blue Lions are always so intense. Everyone here is talking about Miklain or Ashe finding a way to deal with Lonato's death or Duscur generals talking about murdered family. AG goes hard.

Ohhh, if Dedue trusts Duke Infan, than I do too.

I was right about Dimitri and Count Gloucester, he just admired Rowe for surrendering quickly and sparing the people.

I get to kill Count Varley. Cool.

Why does Dimitri know so much about which plants you can eat 😅

ASHE & DEDUE C SUPPORT

Ashe is such a cinnamon roll. He's already wandering around while it's late outside and stopped to pick some yarrow because of its healing properties.

Gardening bonding incoming. Ashe noticed Dedue's hobby.

They're both missing the greenhouse :(

Dedue wants to visit Lonato's garden. He also wants to know why Lonato knows so much about herbs. Good question.

Dedue's into medicinal herbs.

These two are too sweet 😊

FELIX & MERCEDES C SUPPORT

He better be nicer to her than last time. I'd love to see her chew him up, lol.

Ohhhh yesss, we're finally talking about Felix's cat thing. Felix really is a cat in human form.

Felix taking in injured stray cats 😭. Mercie and Jeritza did too 😭😭. And they had to hide it because they wouldn't killed it 😭

Mercie "We left my brother behind. Next sentence. "Still, I wonder what happened to that cat." 🤣 Jeritza found dead.

Cat is attached to Felix and won't leave. 🤣🤣🤣 People (and cats) ignoring Felix's being tsun is what I live for.

Mercie is like "quit whining, Felix. You have a pet cat now." lamo.

FELIX & SYLVAIN C SUPPORT

Oh, this time it's Sylvain calling Felix out for fighting reckless. It's a reverse uno from their Hopes' supports.

"You don't look like a man who's achieved some fantastic new enlightenment." Sylvain just slayed Felix.

Now they're arguing about who got in trouble more as kids. I love that, lol, makes them really feel like childhood friends.

Ten bucks says Felix got in the fight defending Sylvain's honor (or Dimitri's).

Sylvain's like you can't die because you mean too much to Faerghus and Dimitri. And then talks about how much Felix means to Dimitri.

Wait, wait, wait - important line here "reforming the entire social structure of pretty much everything . . ." Sylvain on Dimitri. Eat shit "StAtUs QuO dEfEnDeR" argument.

Soooo the "Sylvix" support so far is all about . . . Dimilix 😅

I don't mind this in the slightest, but I suspect someone on the writing team was a shipper on deck OR they were as sick as I am of people saying "CF Felix makes sense because he HaTeS dImItRi."

Felix throwing the same arguments at Sylvain. Good on him.

"You're the complete opposite of integrity." Felix, that's your friend 😭😭.

So Sylvain did some growing up it seems.

SHEZ & RODRIGUE C SUPPORT

Finally got Rodrigue's C support. Took long enough.

Shez complaining about the cold brings back memories lol. I used to live in the North.

Hearing her talk about lamp-lit streets covered in snow makes me miss winter sooooo badly.

Cool detail that messengers ride pegasus during the winter. I think someone mentioned that on here before.

Lamo, Dimitri and Felix followed a pegasus and nearly froze to death as kids. Poor Rodrigue.

Man, this is why the Blue Lions are the best. All these little stories from the past in the supports. Other houses don't get this.

SHEZ & DEDUE B SUPPORT

Shez looking out for Dedue. Good.

Soldiers giving Dedue shit 😭😭.

Shez can sympathize with the soldiers. Wtf. No way. I'm questioning them. (I could either agree with them or question them)

Dimitri put Dedue in a position often given to nobles. Good. Deserved.

Shez says she naturally get's under people's skin, and Dedue's just like "true." lamo.

Commoners bonding over the resentment nobility feels towards them for Dimitri elevating them.

I like how Shez's solution is to just prove themselves. It feels very shonen lead and like what Shez would say.

This was a good support balancing being about both characters.

FELIX & INGRID C SUPPORT

Nooooo, not Glenn 😭😭😭😭

Ingrid found a spur. It's Felix's, but actually Glenn's.

Ingrid's calling Felix out for being a softie for keeping hold of a memento.

And now he wants to give it to her 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 I'm actually tearing up in real life over this. I'm so over attached to this group.

Glenn told Ingrid before anyone else about his promotion 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

I was not expecting that support. That support needs a warning. How did that??

Felix being sweet is my weakness, though.

Not going to lie, sometimes going through support after support feels like a chore. But never with the Blue Lions lol.

SHEZ & SETETH C SUPPORT

Fodlan's #1 husbando support incoming.

Seteth thinks Shez could've impacted Fodlan's future if she continued to study at the Academy and it wasn't shut down.

Seteth admits he's suspicious of Shez. Which . . . I mean it's Seteth.

Man, every time someone doesn't trust Shez, it just makes me love Dimitri's take on her powers even more.

Seteth defending Rhea. You love to see it.

Lamo, he wants Shez to stay away from Flayn and Rhea.

What's funny about that is Shez doesn't have a C support with Flayn (B & A though), so it's almost like she listens until they're more familiar with each other. And OFC Rhea doesn't have supports . . . . again . . . .

MAIN BATTLE

I love how Byleth sides with whoever you're not playing as lol.

Dimitri wants to help Shez achieve her goals (defeating Byleth), and Shez is like "appreciate it, but focus on the war" lamo.

Dimitri is obviously projecting. Shez is explaining how they're not THAT upset about Byleth killing their former teammates. And she's like "you gotta get used to death when it happens all the time or it's too much weight." I think we ALL know where this is heading.

Shez is like "you've let things weigh on you too much" too true.

Though it's kind of sweet that he's trying to help Shez out lol. In his own way.

Awww, yeah, Dimitri over here suggesting they recruit Byleth now. I'm pro-Dimileth, tbh. Even IF I may prefer other ships a bit more, I still think it's pretty sweet.

Dimitri's like "what if we pay more than the Empire?" Like, Dimitri, WHERE ARE YOU GETTING ALL THIS MONEY??? Lamo. He's already in the poorest nation taking in all the refugees from Edelgard's mess and paying an army. Like he must have a finance genius working for him or something.

Kinda cool that AG suggested recruiting Byleth first.

Time to recruit Bernie. Never again will I leave her alone with Edelgard when I'm not monitoring her.

I feel like this is the most tactics I've seen a Fodlan leader use in a map battle ever. Dimitri's giving orders to explicitly ignore Byleth, which is different from every other route that says to attack Byleth before pulling back. He's doing it because he knows Byleth is too strong. Same for the Death Knight, who they trapped. It's pretty cool, actually. No one else has done anything like this.

Dimitri forced Jeralt to retreat right away, lamo. And then beat up Alois. I think . . . my Dimitri might be a tad over leveled. He's level 30. Everyone else is level 20. I may . . . use him a bit more than the others lol. But he just . . . kills everything.

Pretty smart tactics actually. Dimitri had all the strongholds captured, then focused on getting the Death Knight, then on Byleth. So securing the area, then picking off the threats.

Oh, cut scene. Sothis! I think Shez woke Sothis up. But let's be real. It was actually Dimitri who did all the work. Legit I had everyone else picking off Jeralt's reinforcements. My Dimitri took Byleth on by his lonesome.

Oh, Byleth and Sothis fighting??? Ohhhh. What's going on?

Sothis kicked Arval's ass lamo.

I'm sure I'll eventually get this discussion on the other routes.

Shez's rivalry seems so low key. Shez prioritizing recruiting like Dimitri suggested, lol.

Sothis is being a dick to Byleth. ngl. Kinda treating Byleth like a car she's driving.

Arval and Sothis seem to hate each other more than Shez and Byleth do.

I just . . . can't get beyond Alois abandoning his family to follow Jeralt around.

Oh, Byleth hair-color changed. Don't know if that just happened or not. Yep, Byleth just said something. Jeralt seems alarmingly unbothered his kid now has mint-colored hair and eyes for no actual reason. Like what if you woke up one day and -bam- you're a redhead. Wouldn't you be a bit, um, concerned?

Alois saying nothing about having to fight his old friends. Oh, there it is, finally. Man, they really stripped Alois of all his character and turned him into what the fandom claims Leonie is, a mindless Jeralt simp. But he has his jokes, I guess??

Nice to see Jeralt isn't interested in fighting Rhea. Just ignoring her. Fair enough.

Wait . . . Dimitri is leaving? Does that mean I don't have him? OMG. I need him. He's my OP unit. No.

Oh, Sreng. That's cool. They're actually getting involved. And Gautier is in trouble :( Will Sylvain leave too? Or is this the next battle?

Ohhh Annette called them peaceful. Ouch. Sylvain was quick to correct her, though. Poor girl just didn't know. Appreciate they gave them a realistic reason to attack though. Needing fertile lands was a real world reason stuff like this happened.

Yes, Shez, tag along. Please. Don't make Dimitri leave all on his own. I need him ahh. Oh, great, that's not where this is going.

DEDUE AND RODRIGUE. NO. Why. This sucks. Ugh. I lost 3 units this chapter???? WHYYY? Unless I am with them?

Leaving Felix in command is cool, though.

Dimitri just said "protect every last one of them." Oh, the change there lol.

Annette comes to like Dimitri's elbow lamo.

XXX

[fleshing-out-fodlan]

Ingrid and Dedication

Idk why but for some reason I’ve been really into the Blue Lion girls now (despite doing a CF playthrough haha) so whatever, I’m looking at Ingrid’s relationship to dedication. First off, dedication is obviously something Ingrid admires. In case it isn’t clear by everything about her character she explicitly says to Catherine that her dedication is “truly inspiring” which seems pretty clear cut to me. There’s also her support with Felix where she says she would put her hometown in danger if her commander told her to. This shows just how much Ingrid values dedication, to the point where she is willing endanger something she cares about (which fits into another common theme in Ingrid’s character of ignoring her discomfort but maybe I’ll talk about that another day). 

I would say the biggest example of Ingrid’s dedication is her relationship to Glenn. She consistently talks about him despite him having died four years ago and at least partially wants to be a knight for him. In her B support with Dimitri she states that she is proud of how Glenn sacrificed himself for the kingdom. This again shows how she admires people who display extreme dedication and also how she views someone giving up their life for a cause to be admirable. Furthermore, she is so dedicated to Glenn that when Dimitri ‘attacks’ his memory by calling it pointless she instantly gets defensive instead of taking time to consider why he may feel this way. We also see in her Annette support that the reason she is so opposed to makeup is because she doesn’t like that idea of changing into a person different from the one Glenn knew. This obviously demonstrates an unhealthy level of dedication to Glenn, that she would stunt her own growth as a person and her journey to self discovery for someone else. 

Another example of Ingrid’s extreme dedication is to her home. Galatea territory is struggling and Ingrid, as the crest bearer of the house, is viewed as their territory’s only hope. Despite the immense pressure Ingrid feels, she doesn’t run away from it or become bitter as we see some of the other nobles. In fact, in her B support with Ashe, she states that she has a responsibility to her home “whether she likes it or not” and has accepted that she will have to give up on her dreams (at least in her eyes). This shows how immense Ingrid’s level of dedication is. I would say Ingrid’s dedication to these things, however, can also fall under the category of an extreme obsession. A lot of her early character is doing what she feels she has to and ignoring what she feels is right (ex. the Felix support mentioned above and not following her dreams). Ignoring her desires and moral compass is not going to do Ingrid any good in finding any sort of fulfillment. Throughout her story, Ingrid must learn how to balance her dedication to other causes (which is of course still an important thing to have) with her own happiness. And we see this growth in how she goes from someone who glorifies self sacrifice to someone who thinks, while you should fight for what you believe in, you should also take care of yourself. From someone who ignores her dreams to make her father happy to someone who finds a way to do both. And from someone who believes blind obedience is to be valued above all else to someone who is willing to forge her own path in life.

[jackienautism]

hi again!! been a couple days with no update, time got away from me hahah. i've been playing a lot with my brother, playing a bit on my VW playthrough (although i think i'm like. really in it today and will probably play a lot more on my own). i also finally let myself start looking for fic and fanart and stuff a couple of days ago. so happy to say that linhardt finally clicked for me and i really like him now. i liked him before, and he's still somehow my least favorite eagle but. as i've definitely mentioned before i love all of them.

YEAH. idk it really just feels... wrong to pair ingrid with any guy romantically? idk beyond the fact that she is a lesbian To Me (for reasons similar to posts you've rbed and made) even if she weren't it's just like... uniquely nightmarish. especially considering i think the only options i had recruited on that run were. felix and sylvain. and while in spite of myself sylvain really grew on me, and felix is. idk he's fine. like i said her ending up with either of them is kinda.... the worst lol. i didn't even get to the b support with her and felix bc i ended up googling around and seeing general opinions on some potential paired endings i could've gotten on my last run and made the choice to keep ingrid single and intentionally kept her away from both of them lest i got their ending on accident lmao.

hmmm i definitely got the petra and bernie supports as well as the dorothea and bernie supports last playthrough! those two in particular i really wished had an a support. bernie and dorothea especially, their supports were some of my favorites! i only got one with ingrid and dorothea, and i think only one with bernie and ingrid? i know there were a handful with edelgard that i only got to b but that actually had an a support (which i'll def get on my next CF playthrough, if my brother doesn't get them. and probably if he does lol). definitely bernie i only got to b with her, and i think maybe the same with dorothea??? but that might be wrong. i would check but my brother is playing rn LMAO. marianne didn't really have like... any supports with girls who i had on that playthrough which was soooo annoying. i got lysithea after the timeskip but barely used her so i dont think i even got their c support that playthrough?

yeah i would love to recruit hilda but like. the desire to side with edie outweighs my desire to recruit her, especially since i just.... like all the eagles more on average than the lions and like hearing them talk during the story DFSKKF plus you don't have to kill hilda or claude who i also really like. i'll def try that with dedue because i do actually really like him despite like. barely interacting with him so far.

yeah by character perspective i do mean leveling from what like.. makes sense for their character to me! and for battle stuff, before i really knew how supports worked i would like put certain characters together bc i was like "oh this character probably likes being around this one" or "this one feels safer if another character is in front of them, and this one is probably more inclined to pick up on that and get in front of them" so that's how i usually try to play my battles lol. which works out pretty well in terms of supports, i'm just a little more conscious of that now.

update on my brother's playthrough!! he's recruited over half of the lions which is kind of funny to me like. okay dedue and dimitri are unrecruitable but LMFAO im picturing class for the blue lions now that it's just those two and ashe. he's also recruited some of the deer as well (marianne, lysithea and ignatz i think? and he's planning on recruiting leonie too lmao). win for both of us..... he likes bernie now!!!!! we haven't reached the timeskip yet but i think some of her b supports got her to grow on him. i have a feeling he's gonna side with edie, but the biggest thing that might stop him is that he REALLY likes hilda and wants to recruit her. but i think the fact that he likes edie might outweigh that?? here's hoping at least! he also really likes annette a lot. i made him make a tierlist and his favorites right now are annette, petra, edelgard, hilda, lysithea, and caspar, in that order.

this is getting SO long but. as for my playthrough! i finally decided who exactly i wanted to recruit (and recruited them all today!). i decided to get three from each other house, and ended up with caspar, petra and dorothea from the eagles, and sylvain, annette, and ashe from the lions. i was going to get mercedes but after watching my brother get their b support i thought to myself. wouldn't it just be awful if they got that b support and i only recruited one of them. and so that's my plan! i think i'm gonna do the opposite on my next CF playthrough and just get mercedes. i'm really undecided on which paired endings i'm going to get, because i'm enjoying so many of the supports.... almost everyone i have has multiple supports that i'm actually interested in with characters i really like this playthrough! which is great! last playthrough i barely had any interesting ones with marianne. now i've got a team that's basically evenly split by original house, which is really fun (i've been going with my six out of house recruits, hilda, marianne and claude, and byleth, and i've been really enjoying it).

i know i said i really wanted the dorothea and petra paired ending (and i still do), but i'm considering s ranking dorothea myself this playthrough? although i might save that for my next CF run, or if i ever choose to go through with silver snow. i don't really know how all of the paired endings turn out, and i haven't gotten super far into the supports, but i'm liking caspar and ashe's supports so far, and i liked hilda and caspar's first support. if i choose to s support dorothea, i might go with caspar and petra again though? although i've also heard her supports with ashe and claude are good. but if i don't s support dorothea, i'll probably s support claude.... and i might pair him and hilda if i don't?? i'm liking their dynamic so far. although i'm ALSO liking hilda and marianne's supports. i really like annette and lysithea's supports, but sadly those only go to b... once again a loss for a supports between girls everywhere.... sylvain is gonna end up alone this time around for sure because while i do want to get his supports with dorothea again because i enjoyed them, i have like. multiple preferred endings for her lol. and i think the only other person he can get to a with that i have recruited is. byleth. who i also have other options for lol. lorenz is gonna end up alone because i don't like him lol and i don't want a character. raphael and ignatz... idk i like them and so far their most interesting support to me is with each other! so that's probably the route i'm gonna go. although i am enjoying a lot of raphael's supports in general so he's kind of my wildcard rn. as for annette, there are three characters i like who she could potentially get paired endings with? but i haven't seen enough of their supports (or any in some cases) to like. have a solid plan yet. i could probably keep going on but this is already SO long omg!!! basically the point is. i like so many of these characters now and i'm enjoying a lot of the dynamics! hope you're having a good one :)

HIII SO SO SORRY FOR TAKING A WHILE TO RESPOND. I KEPT PUTTING IT OFF AND FORGETTING THAT IT WAS IN MY INBOX 😭😭 SO VERY SORRY AGAIN thats still so awesome that you get to play w/ your brother.... its sooo fun watching others play the game, especially if its a route you're particularly fond of. AND OOOO LOOKING FOR ANY SPECIFIC FICS OR FANART IN PARTICULAR? OR JUST GENERAL FE3H STUFF? either way, have fun w/ that!!! theres sooo much awesome stuff out there. AND YIPPEEE WIN FOR LINHARDT ENJOYERS!!!!!!!! GLAD THAT HES FINALLY CLICKED FOR YOUUUU hes just an autistic dude w/ chronic fatigue and i love him. hes my boy, lvoe him lots

NO FOR REAL!!!!! IM RLY GLAD THAT YOU AGREE AND THA TIM NOT BEING DRAMATIC OR W/E 😭 there's just... theres no way that girl DOESN'T like girls. its just. its so There yk. esp her being like 32234 feet inthe closet. i dont know her endings w/ either felix or sylvain but .... yeah. i dont think i could do either for personal reasons kfkdgg unless, like you said, i get it by chance. YEAH fair enough, in regards to ingrid and felix. their b support is jus t... idk. i know felix is an asshole like thats his whole thing but god. the shit he says to ingrid really infuriates me. i totally agree that it was better to leave ingrid single. the only way to get their endings is if you get their A supports i believe. the only time its random is if you have Multiple A supports from the same character. i could be wrong though

OH THEY DONT HAVE A SUPPORTS? i didnt realize that. i still think that its a waste of time if characters that can support dont have an A one........ its just dumb imo. esp if their C + B supports are rly good and fun, its just. grrrr it makes me so mad. theyall deserve supports post timeskip!!!!! good luck getting the rest of the supports w/ edie! i know off the top of my head that both bernadetta and dorothea have A supports w/ her, which is cool. and yeah ): i dont believe marianne has many supports w/ girls outside the golden deer? IF she even has any? but yeah. i know she has an A support w/ hilda but ofc you cant recruit hilda in CF. lysithea and marianne's supports are ok i guess, they couldve been a looot better. im actually currently writing a fic for like a mock A support between the 2 fdkndfg you said you spared lysithea during the bridge of myrrdin (?) battle right? makes sense why you didnt hav emuch time to get her supports

YEAAH fair enough, i def feel the same dfgndf in terms of wanting to side w/ edie more than anything else. the black eagles are so <3 theyre so fun. i totally agree w/ you there, i love listening to their conversations dgnjfdg they r very silly. andmm righr thats true. i totally forgot you could spare hilda, pretty sure my brother had marianne kill her 😭😭😭 and i like how you can spare claude as well. and yeah :D good luck w/ dedue!!! hopefully my memory serves me right

makes sense! esp since i know the characters do have a like canon path they go down in terms of classes, which im sure you already knew, but if you ever need ideas / inspiration id def check that out! and OOOO THATS A VERY INTERESTING WAY OF GOING ABT BATTLING.... i like that a lot! and like you said im sure thaat helped a bit w/ getting certain supports. thats def not a bad idea . plus its such a cute thing fr ): to think abt what the character would want and feel safer w/.... you are so cool for real

YEAAAAH it is really funny to think abt what the other classrooms look like dkffdg esp after recruiting like their entire class. must be so sad for them </3 happy that hes recruiting a bunch of the characters though... does he know that hes gonna have to most likely fight them in the later half of the game? or is he doing it just cause he likes them? either way, good for him. OOOO ANOTHER WIN FOR BERNIE ENJOYERS YAAAY makes sense that watching more of the supports helped her grow on him... since thats usually where you get the bulk of their personalities and development. I HOPE THATHIS LOVE FOR EDIE OUTWEIGHS THAT.... if it doesnt though i totally understand, he would prob enjoy azure moon since he'll be abl eto recruit hilda, but he also prob wouldnt like going against edelgard so hm. OOO ANNETTE HUH? def a good choice. thank you for making him make a tier list jdfgdg always interested in other ppl's faves. AND LYSITHEA!!!!! YIPPPEEE

NO WORRIES ON IT GETTIGN LONG!!!! I RLY ENJOY READING YOUR THOUGHTS! glad you were able to decide on how youre gonna recruit :D atleast that stress is gone for now. and whose b support did you get w/ mercedes? i assume all three of them? ashe sylvain and annette? regardless, YOURE SOOOO EVIL (lighthearted) FOR ONLY PURPOSELY RECRUITING ONE OF THEM FDKGDFG but then that means more angst and pain and angst an dpain can be super good. esp in this game. mercedes my beloved<3 makes sense that you just get her your next CF playthrough! and so even then you get to separate her from her blue lions (specifically annette) and ): pain. and yeaah it can be pretty difficult to choose which endings you wanna go with. i ended up just getting to A between all the golden deer and letting the game decide for me jfdgnjgd that way you get to enjoy all the supports without feeling pressure to choose just one A support :] but i also understand wanting to pick out the ending youd rather see more... so good luck deciding! and im glad that youve really been enjoying the supports! the supports are usually sooo much fun... and you get to learn more abt the characters which is just awesome. i assunme you mean youve been going out into battle w/ those characters right? thats so epic... have fun w/ them!!!!

THATS WHAY I DID DURING VERDANT WIND!!!!! I S SUPPORTED DOROTHEA AND OUHHHG I LOVE HER SO MUCH..... S supporting claude is ofc also a good choice.. good luck decided on what you wanna do! i suppose once you have that figured out everything else should fall into place in terms of endings and whatnot. i still gotta get those supports you mentioned... glad to hear that youve been enjoying them so far though! i cant say mcuh abt petras supports w/ ashe or claude unfortunately. ive only got petras c support w/ claude and i thought it was funny. but i know that almost all of ashes supports are very sweet, sinc ehes a very sweet guy. a claude and hilda pairing makes sense! their dynamic is certainly interesting fdjgndfg plus i think they complement each other well. hilda and mariannes supports are very good... since you get to see another side of marianne that you dont rly see anywhere else. in terms of clumsiness and whatnot! I HEARD LYSITHEA AND ANNETTE'S ONLG GO TO B!!!!! WHY DOES THIS GAME HATE THE GIRLIES SO MUCH!!!!!!! RIP<//3 yeah far enough for sylvain fdndfgg esp if youu have better ending plans for both dorothea and byleth. YEAH LMAO. LOWKEY FUCK LORENZ but you didnt hear that from me. the only support chain i didnt get of his (of the golden deer) is w/ claude.... and i wont lie going through his supports made me like him a TINY bitmore, but still, hes just. euugh. to me yk. raphael and ignatz def have good supports! i def liked them a lot, i esp enjoyed ignatz and marianne's. once again, good luck figuring out your paired ending plans!!!! i know its been a bit since you sent this in, but still! wish you the best of luck! dont stress yourself too much though :]

STILL SUPER HAPPY THAT YOUVE BEEN ENJOYING THE GAME AND THE CHARACTERS AND THE DYNAMICS SO MUCH HEHE GLAD THAT ME POSTING ABT IT GOT YOU TO GET THEGAME.... HOPE YOU HAVE A GREAT DAY AND WEEK!!! HOPE TO TALK TO YOU SOON

[isuzukuretsuki]

me before playing blue lions: haha I’m not like ~other girls~ I don’t like Dimitri and I think he’s boring and basic.

me after playing blue lions: I will die for Dimitri.

I finally finished Azure Moon!! Can’t believe it took me 4 damn months to finish this route. Just like with Crimson Flower, I decided to do a very long write up of my thoughts of this route after letting my thoughts marinate for a bit. There will be spoilers for both Azure Moon and Crimson Flower. Also disclaimer: these are just my personal opinions.

Tldr: this route was so fucking good!!!! I jumped ship from being team Edie/BE to team Dimitri/BL faster than Sylvain jumps girlfriends because I enjoyed this route more than Crimson Flower in almost every way possible. The Blue Lions are my KIDS and I will die for each and every one of them. Blue Lions may not be my first route/house, but this is where my heart rightfully lies. 

I guess the first thing I should get out of the way are the negatives. While this isn’t really a complaint about AM specifically and more so the narrative over the entire game... the conflict between Edelgard and Dimitri seems really stupid and contrived. In other games, war happens because the villain is evil. In this game, war happens because the villain is fucking stupid. Basically, I still ain’t convinced that Edelgard’s war was ever necessary LMAO. She straight up nuked the church’s authority and relevancy out of orbit the chapter before the time skip, so she technically already accomplished her goal; why she still feels the need to go on a savage conquest alludes me. 

Speaking of nuking the church’s relevancy out of orbit, that’s exactly what happened to Rhea LOL. Despite all the church goons clamoring every .5 seconds about how they gotta save Rhea, we literally never see her again at all after the time skip, even at the end of the game. It makes no sense why Edelgard would keep Rhea imprisoned and not kill her, especially when Rhea seemingly served no greater purpose to Edelgard and became completely irrelevant in the war phase.

Edie says some mumbo jumbo of “I weighed the victims of this war against the victims of the world and I deem that there will be less victims of war” like bitch, how??? How do you tangibly quantify “victims of this world”. If she means “people who had a shitty life because of shitty society”, then those people are always going to exist because every society has its flaws. Even if you change society, you aren’t decreasing that number because you’re only solving problems by creating new ones (Edelgard’s specialty). Also the mental gymnastics you have to do to be tortured by an evil organization only to team up with said evil organization to take down another organization that, unless I missed something, isn’t even directly responsible for the death of all your siblings??? In both CF and AM, Edelgard comes off as incredibly thoughtless and illogical in her actions and I can’t help but feel that if she had been just a little bit more diplomatic, then maybe, just maybe, she could have found a better solution without starting a bloody war.

This brings me to the god forsaken chat between Edelgard and Dimitri. Dimitri demanding to know why Edelgard started the war only for her to go “it was the only way” has about the same narrative weight as “Riku why did you become one with the darkness?!” “Because I’m the worst”. Instead of bitching about whose ~ideals~ are better, how about y’all sit down and actually discuss what each person wants to accomplish and maybe figure out a way to accomplish these goals without murdering each other over it? Not that I think Edelgard would accept anything BUT murder, but jesus, this is why you don’t leave diplomatic matters to actual children.

Speaking of why you don’t leave diplomatic matters to children, god that Gronder battle. I get that it’s supposed to be an epic showdown between the three houses that mirrored the mock battle pre time skip but... the Kingdom had literally NO reason to fight the Alliance!!! The reasons they provided to justify why the Kingdom and Alliance couldn’t team up at Gronder was so fucking dumb, especially when two chapters down the line, Claude is knocking at our door begging for help. I will say tho, I never knew how much I appreciated himbo in distress Claude until now lmao.

Rodrigue's death was also really poorly done imo. As much as I liked having Dimitri’s father figure be the one to snap him out of his insanity, (I love found father/son relationships...) how on earth are you guys so fucking incompetent that you let this tiny little girl kill Rodrigue??? It doesn’t help that the exact same thing happened with Jeralt and Monica. This... just ain’t it, chief. 

I think the biggest bone I have to pick at AM specifically is... so what the fuck is the truth behind the Tragedy of Duscur LMAO??? They literally blue balled me by dropping the bomb of “Dimitri’s step mom may have conspired in it” ONLY TO NOT DO ANYTHING WITH IT. I assume that the full truth behind the Duscur tragedy will probably be revealed in VW (I hope) because it involves the slithers but it’s highkey ridiculous that the BL goons... never actually find out what really happened, and why. And I get that the story is about them moving on from their trauma and the past, but they should have at least figured out the actual truth behind it so they can get the closure they deserve???

Despite the gripes I have with some of the writing, unless VW or SS is mind blowingly amazing, this route will easily stand as the best route for me, because.... it is kind of is mind blowingly amazing. I wholeheartedly love character driven stories, and this route absolutely delivers in that respect-- the character writing is amazing and is essentially the heart of this story. To think Dimitri and the Blue Lions were the lord/house I was least interested in at first. Even after hearing people talk about what the BL goons and Dimitri’s character arc was roughly about, I was still blown away by just how damn fucking good it was, and this route exceeded my expectations in every way possible. 

When playing CF, I struggled to connect with a lot of the beagles; I didn’t have that problem at all with the BL goons and the route does a phenomenal job at making me actually give a shit about these characters and their problems. Childhood friend squad (+Marianne and Ashe) are easily my favourite characters in this game by a landslide, and the dynamic between not only the childhood friend squad, but all the BL goons, was just so, so amazing. Watching these characters that are seemingly joined by a single tragedy, rise above all their suffering as they grow, heal, and overcome hardship together is just so... MY KIDS... MY HEART..... I really got the sense of not only their shared pain, but also shared intimacy, care, and friendship. Their support conversations with each other had everything; from goofy and fun, to soothing and nurturing, to painful and harrowing. 

The connections that the BL goons have to the pre time skip missions gave part 1 story so much more meaning, and it only gets better after the time skip. I really appreciate that the BL bean boys actually feel relevant to the main story, and that their input and opinions actually mattered. The cast’s struggle to come to a consensus on the best course of action during the war phase made them feel like actual people with opinions, unlike in CF, where everyone was just a mindless passenger to Edie’s not so merry joyride. This also made Dimitri’s arc way more impactful because the narrative actually holds him accountable for the consequences that his behavior/poor decisions had on others. What I also really liked about the war phase is that you could just feel how war torn the kingdom was and how much everything went to shit after the time skip. I felt really strongly to the characters’ sense of hopelessness at fighting a losing battle as they struggled to keep their home land in tact while everything just kept spiraling out of control and deteriorating further. 

So to see the BL goon beans slowly, one battle at a time, turn the tide of the war and push back against the corner they were backed in, was SO fulfilling and rewarding. The battle of Fhirdiad is probably my favourite battle in the entire game because it felt like all the suffering and toiling that the BL goons went through was finally worth it, and just watching the kingdom slowly heal after being liberated was just such a good feeling. This kind of payoff is something I think CF sorely lacked, since tbh, I struggled to celebrate Edie’s victories with her. Though I do appreciate how Edie’s a much more threatening antagonistic force than either Dimitri or Rhea were in CF too bad Edelgard’s boss battle was pathetically easy and Dimitri shredded through her armor like swiss cheese... at least Rhea put up a slightly challenging fight.

I could gush about the characters all day, but Dimitri? He makes this game, 100%. This truly felt like his story and he was the star of this route. On a superficial level, I’m a basic bitch as well as a slut for angsty boys who have trouble talking about their trauma because I want them to rail me. I fucking loved his feral personality it was just so fun to watch and interact with LMAO 10/10 would let him use me until the flesh falls from my bones. His dialogue in this state is just so demeaning, belittling and raw that it somehow comes a full circle and becomes charming I promise I’m not a sick masochist.

I’m also a degenerate and dimileth is my otp. The way the relationship between Dimitri and Byleth develops over the game truly felt like a bond forged over time. The way Dimitri admits that he couldn’t trust Byleth at first because he was put off by the way they could “kill without batting an eye”, to being so elated when he sees them smile for the first time that he’s completely mesmerized when they starts expressing emotion... oof, talk about otp material. I think what really sold me is the way he’s their anchor after Jeralt’s death; their emotional support both in a traditional sense, but also in a darker sense when he declares he will kill anyone so they desire it because their enemies are his enemies. Character A declaring they’d die for character B? Soft shit. Character A declaring they’d kill for character B? A+ romance right there, boys. 

On a non superficial level, Dimitri’s character arc of his fall from grace and subsequent redemption was absolutely phenomenal. Just seeing how far he sinks, how far he goes, only to see how far he climbs his way back up after hitting rock bottom, was such a roller coaster and I loved every minute of it. I also probably like revenge stories more than I care to admit. Dimitri has everything; blood lust, cruelty, obsession, but also empathy and compassion so extreme that it’s his very own innate kindness that drives him into insanity, which is what makes him such a compelling character in my eyes. The extremity of his psychosis was absolutely heart breaking, but despite everything, him making the conscious decision to change for the better and rise up to fulfill his role as king was just astounding to watch. 

I will say though... maybe I have a screwed up moral compass but tbh Dimitri brutally killing imperial soldires didn’t really upset me because... this is war??? That he didn’t even start?? Everyone is killing everyone??? Even if he never went feral, he’d still be killing because his bloody kingdom is being invaded?????? But I digress.

While I think just how damn avoidable everything was kind of detracts from the tragedy of his relationship with Edelgard, I still really loved how steadfast and unconditional his love for her was (after he stops going feral), and you can tell just how much she meant to him every time he spoke of her. I also love how the dagger kind of becomes a symbolic motif throughout the story, and Edie throwing the dagger at him in the final cutscene as a sign of her wholehearted rejection of him was just fucking depressing, but also very fitting of her character. 

I adore the whole overarching narrative and themes surrounding grief and death, befitting of a war game. How, as tempting as it is to constantly keep the memory of the dead alive, there comes a point where you have to move on and not let your life be ruled by those no longer around. The way that the characters react to the death of loved ones and grieve so differently was a huge highlight of the BL squad’s characterizations, which just makes them feel more alive and human. Honestly, no words can really describe just how incredible of an experience Azure Moon was.

Anyway my order from favourite to least favourite BL goon bean boys are: Dimitri > Ashe >/= Sylvain >/= Felix > Ingrid > Mercedes > Annette > Dedue. (I love Ashe/Sylvain/Felix almost equally LOL)

tldr my experience with Azure Moon:

tfw my second best girl is childhood friends with all the best boys in the entIRE GAME and she settles for a guy with a dead wife, daughter, and most likely triple her age :|.

I’ll be finally playing Golden Deer next, which I’m gonna do on NG+ Maddening so.... hope that goes well!!

[randomnameless]

About Wilhelm and the Lion symbol. Something interesting I have noticed is that in houses after Byleth and Sothis merge, AM Byleth is the only version of them directly being compared with Seiros while Dimitri is the only lord who is associated with Wilhelm (this is the only choice that makes sense) in the same conversation. Not even Edelgard has ever been associated with Wilhelm. In fact, I think Edelgard is bit resentful of him for accepting the Nabateans.

Dimitri and Wilhelm have even more similarities if we look closely. Wilhelm was also a holy knight who wields a lance while Dimitri is the only lance user among the three lords. Wilhelm took Seiros in and offered his full support to her and their war against Nemesis who was working with TWSITD. Dimitri gives Rhea shelter when she has nowhere to go and fights against the Adrestian Emperor who is working with TWSITD in CF and every route in Hopes.

Watch out, Willy was a loser, his statue doesn't have a lance, it portrays him with a steel sword!

You're not wrong about Supreme Leader, the jp text makes it clearer but she thinks "Poor Dumb Willy" was manipulated by the lizard lady - or at least she says so to Billy - but without the manipulation angle... he is the guy who helped those cruel beasts against fellow "humans" so....

The biggest hurdle to the comparison with Dimitri, is Willy's war to unify Fodlan.

Was it to civilise the world, to stomp out Nemesis and make sure no one like him would ever re-appear, your usual brand of Imperialism, everything bundled in the same package - idk

What is more interesting, between the two, is how I'm 99,57% sure Wilhelm knew what the relics truly were, and knew Rhea and other Nabateans were, well, Nabateans.

AU where Dimitri and Willy are swapped, or AU where Fodlan gives a fuck about Nabateans : What would Dimitri, AG or AM Dimitri do if a certain someone (or a group of people) wanted to slaughter randoms to craft weapons from their bodies, to become "might makes right" warlords?

Would he try to organise a parley with Nemesis'n'Dudes to ask them to stop warring around and stop hunting Nabateans?

Hope they won't try to bring out their circular saw next time they spot Flayn? Or won't smash a baby on the ground, because "the strong prey on the weak" and it's natural order?

I've commented earlier on the, imo, "acceptance" theme of AG and how it ultimately felt flat, because the mole people and Nabatean angle is completely dropped to instead have the "parley" discussion be about sandwiches, the general concept of war and "ideals" - but now we all know IS (KT) backpedaled on Supreme Leader and her, uh, opposition to lizards based on the shape of their ears because she needs to sell -

But if another studio wrote that exchange, and Supreme Leader's racial bias towards people with pointy ears came to the light (like what happened off screen and managed to convince Clout), could/would Dimitri still let her return to Enbarr after that exchange, knowing well that someone is jailed in Fodlan's Gritnea and subjected to "things" that makes her unable to walk, even if that someone is one of the strongest beings alive on the continent?

Would he be able to let go of his hatred?

Back to the WoH - can there really be acceptance of "something different" when that something is, well, unacceptable because no matter what redshit or some people in their echo chamber parrot, racism and genocide really really suck?

When Word of God said Nemesis'n'Dudes didn't see Nabateans as people, but as "things to be looted" to become stronger? Seiros the Warrior couldn't accept it (i wonder why) and came to the conclusion erasing Nemesis'n'Dudes was the only solution.

Did Willy reach the same conclusion ?

But took it further, and thought that if he became the "Supreme Ruler" of the world, then no Nemesis or Dudes could pop up in the land, so no even like this would ever happen again? And he naively thought his descendants would follow him?

IDK.

Maybe we could have had a Willy mirroring Dimitri, but in the Watsonian POV, losing (kind of, like AG!Mitri) his way at the end because he isn't supported by Fodlan's messiah as to not, idk, alienate players who self inserted in Billy -

Doylist POV would of course notice that while Dimitri's archenemy Supreme Leader was scrubed of any heinous and racial prejudice, Nemesis cannot sell in a nightgown so Willy had to deal with him, and ultimately couldn't adopt Dimitri's AM's solution (which wasn't a solution anyways, since Supreme Leader inherited her stupid ancestor's "incredible will" and tried to kill him).