#adrestia project

[mortiscausa]

first few pages from a long abandoned comic project

[elsjobproject]

Adrestia

Default

5/5 - Clear El Tower Defense 5 times [0/5]

'Are you afraid of your destiny?'

When she heard the voice, she remembered that moment

At Solace's Fortress, when she was told she was destined to be the next El Lady.

The one who exists for the El, and gives up everything for the El.

To think that the legendary El Lady actually exists, and that she's the next El Lady…

When she learned of this shocking news, Elesis began to ponder.

The partially restored Elrianode, the invasion that may start again any moment, people shivering in fear…

Everything that happened to her, all the uncertainties in Elrios were happening in a way that she could not predict.

When her left arm changed to the color of the sword, Elesis could control the sword of El, Divinus Manus at will.

This arm may be proof that she's becoming one with the El. It could be fate telling her to accept her destiny.

She thought about the moment her brother restored the giant El; when she thought she would loser her brother forever.

That might have been something she should have done as the successor of the El Lady.

But is this chain of destiny, without consider the situation of the successor, really the right way?

Will all the problems in Elrios resolve themselves if she becomes the El Lady as destined?

Right now, with the El still unstable, the only thing she can do as the next El Lady is keep this perilous status quo.

The chain of destiny will continue to repeat itself, creating the next sacrifice in the name of the successor.

'Are you afraid of your destiny?'

The mysterious voice echoes in her head again.

I'm not afraid of my destiny, but that destiny is not needed right now.

Elesis received the power of the El Lady, but she utilized enhanced and developed that power in her own way.

What Elrios needs right now is not an El Lady that manages and maintains the power of the El, but a warrior that guards Elrios.

Elesis headed towards the sanctum. 'She' was waiting for her answer at the heart of the sanctum.

(recorded; 01/08/2023)

[randomnameless]

Do you think Edelgard perceives herself as a victim? I’ve been thinking and I can’t decide myself, on one hand she clearly hates the idea of people being victims or helpless, and constantly reframes the victims of the war as “necessary sacrifices” instead of, y’know, tragic causalities of a war she started. She plays up her sad backstory to try to get Byleth to join with her in WC, but then she does all these things to concentrate as much power as possible on herself. On the other (other) hand, she pushes the culpability of the war on everyone except herself, and has trouble taking accountability. She’s obsessed with controlling everything but she doesn’t want to be blamed for the problems she’s created. What do you think?

Oh!

(sorry for replying one literal month later lol)

I find Supreme Leader hard to write because of this, but in a way, I believe that yes, she does.

However, for all the flak Faerghus gets for "ToXiC mAsCuLiNiTy" and "Chivalry BaD", there's something very toxic with the way some Adrestian victims (often women... blame the writers I guess?) deal with their abuse.

I'm not going to spend a lot of time on Doro because I already typed a lot about her, but while she still sees herself as a victim from what she endured and suffered in her childhood, she adopted the toxic mindset of "this suffering is a thing of the past and I grew from that/beyond that to become the person I am now" - which we can also see in Manu who suffered from, roughly, the same traumas.

Petra also follows this pattern, being a hostage and treated like shit, but she grow "beyond" her status of a victim to become the strong person she projects and believes she is - it's only out of House that she realises more accutely her status within the Empire, the reality of her situation and, in Houses, refuses vassalage to Adrestia to make her country independent without having to "ask the Emperor".

It's the same pattern : "I was a victim" but "I became strong" so "I am not a victim anymore, this is something of the past".

Applied to Supreme Leader...

Well, trying to ignore the Agarthans and her dad's own infuence on her character (which is kind of hard, since the games try their hardest to make Agarthans responsible for everything BaD and we're not clear on how much they had an influence on her), I think Supreme Leader believes she was a "victim" of abuse.

But - through further abuse and surviving said abuse - she became strong* enough to "not be a victim anymore".

Which is why her line of "if the weak remain weak it's their fault" feels like it echoes part of her mindset : she was a victim but became strong enough, maybe by hardening her own feelings to become "strong", so she is not the same helpless "victim" she once was.

If she managed to do that, then everyone can do the same.

As for the "necessary sacrifices", since early 2019 someone theorised that "the people" she pretends the fight for as seen as some general "concept", much like the "greater good". So if some people are sacrificed, it's for her ideals - the goal and aim of her newfound strength - , and it piles on her drive, she must realise them otherwise those people would have died (and she would have suffered) for nothing.

However, despite acknowledging her past self as a victim, and because she's now "strong", she's not above using her past trauma (but actually, still present! Remember the rat scene?) to reach her goals, because, at her core, Supreme Leader is soemone who is very determined. Maybe it's her only drive to grow beyond the trauma, or her own illusions, or a mix of everything, but AM made it clear, Supreme Leader is not above, well, using herself if it means seeing her goals come to fruition : unlike Lobotogard from AG, AM!Supreme Leader willingly transforms in Hegemongard.

This is the cost she's willing to pay, so while the memes about Lord Farqaad were on spot, I still think that Supreme Leader is ultimately willing to sacrifice** herself for her goal (but only when there's no other way to ensure her future will come to fruition, and in a way, I guess she thought she would survive the Hegemon transformation, jury's out on what she meant to do in AM's finale, but imo, she still tried, even beaten and battered as she was, to claim Dimi's head).

Ultimately I think everything's a bit muddled by the fact that, as @fantasyinvader pointed out, Supreme Leader is a liar and knows the importance of maintening good PR.

She lies and manipulates the truth to reach her goals (which again, is a red flag when CF claims to want to restore the "distorted history" of Fodlan!) and for all the flak I give them, the devs managed to scrap enough material to give us a peek in Adrestia's mindset (or at least its top nobles), they're not people who self reflect, they are salty because they aren't ruling the world anymore, and they feel like they are better than the rest of Fodlan.

Put everything in the mixer, and you indeed have Supreme Leader (but also her court, especially Ferdie in SB who dares to say, as he is invading and trouncing people who don't really like and accept the idea of being invaded, that the fear those people feel are only in their mind, or something like that? Like, dude, you're rolling over their people and country, of course they'll fear and hate you!) giving her weird rhetoric lines (why are people opposing me if they are going to die?), victim blaming (something Treehouse swallowed like honey, if their lolcalisation is anything to go by, remember, it's Rhea's fault for not offering her head on a platter that is the reason why the War continues in CF!) and so on.

IDK if the devs wanted to bank that much on the Dany parallel with her "if I look back i am lost", but again, I don't know if her drive to make a "better Fodlan" is motivated by her trauma, Adrestian revanchism, Ionius telling her dumb things or Agarthans agarthaning, but her goal and vision are everything to Supreme Leader.

So she will do anythign to see them realised, even if it means sacrificing her people, starting a war, tweaking "the truth" or using her own trauma to motivate and recruit powerful people who might assist her with her goals.

To reply to your question, IMO she sees herself as someone who had once been a victim, but won't let that stop her from reaching her goals, even if it means creating thousands of "hers" in the process, because, in her mind, reaching her goal is more important than anything else.

*I know, she refutes Dimitri's claim that she is "strong" or laughs at it, but imo, it was more in the sense of "I was weak and became strong" so everyone can "become" strong.

**I don't think she wanted to throw away her life, but more something in the lines of "putting my life on the line" or sacrificing her precious (and to see how precious it is, just play CF lol) humanity.

[slotumn]

Apparently I'm having a lot of 3H worldbuilding thoughts this weekend. This post is on: on what Adrestia (+Agartha) was after, exactly, by invading Faerghus first in most routes

So the ideological/political explanation is that Faerghus is close to the Church and will defend them so you automatically have to go after them if you go after Church etc etc very cool, but what do they get, materially, by going into the frozen north first thing? That they don't have as much of in Adrestia (or Leicester)?

Metal and mines, apparently:

On top of this, regions adjacent to Faerghus— Duscur and Sreng— are also known for metalwork and weaponry.

Of course you can say it's because the Slithers have deeper infiltration up north (with their involvement with Duscur and Western Church plus Cornelia) so that obviously makes it easier, but I think it's the other way around. Meaning, I think the Slithers put more effort into infiltrating Faerghus because of the metal resources.

Following from that, I think the decision to invade Faerghus first in non-CF routes was a compromise between Edelgard/Adrestians and the Slithers, where Edelgard gets the ideological/political points but Slithers get the material benefits. Ideological stuff listed above aside, if you want to do wide social/civil reforms and make Fódlan less myopic, wouldn't it be more practical to take over the country with fertile farmlands and ports and industry and finance and trade first?

Well, that's what the Empire does in CF, where the Adrestian side presumably has more leverage on operations thanks to having Byleth and the Creator Sword on their side. Situation's a bit different in Hopes but I think it's interesting that in SB, the official invasion as led by Adrestia (instead of Lonato jumping the gun) does end up waiting until after securing the pact with Leicester.

Back to Houses though, it's not hard to see why Slithers want metal and mines. They want to make weapons, and not just regular weapons, they're out here making big fucking mechs. Probably fantasy computers (which also require metals, including precious metals) to operate them, too.

And on the one hand, seeing the Agarthans drag all the actual spoils off to their underground lair so they can make whatever fucked up weapon that they'll use for their own goals probably pissed the Adrestians off. But on the other hand, what can they do when the Agarthans are also providing the military technology (ex: Aymr) that the Adrestians use for their own goals?

Given all this, I think in non-CF routes, by the time Byleth wakes up again, the Empire is actually in a far worse state than we think. The Adrestian troops who are actually doing the fighting are stuck up north where they haven't made much progress in years, and any material gains they have there just go straight into Slither pockets. Back in Enbarr, the Adrestians and Agarthans hate each other even more than they already did at the beginning of the war and are probably doing everything they can to sabotage and spy on one another, while fighting a war on the same side.

At that point, the greatest common motivation the Adrestians and Agarthans would have in finishing up conquering the continent is probably the prospect of finally getting to go at it with one another.

And the letter Hubert leaves in SS/VW telling Byleth about the Slithers: the suddenness of that plot point aside, let's just appreciate how petty (complimentary) that is, politically. "I know you killed us and all, but we really hate the guys we were doing this group project (war) with. Can you kill them too. Thanks."

Tl;dr the Adrestian-Agarthan war councils in non-CF routes probably gave multiple people high blood pressure

[ghostlycircaea]

Time to update my pinned post while I have the motivation!

Hey ya'll! As always this is mostly for organization and unabashed self-promo--I didn't do an intro or anything last time, so you can call me Ghostie or Callie ❤️ I'm a freelance artist and painting instructor whose been on here for a lot longer than this account would imply.

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All of my art is (or should be) under: #Calliedrawsghosts

So the biggest update (and I'll probably make a separate post about this later): commissions are currently open! See all of the listings here:

https://artistree.io/ghostlycircaea

(If you’re looking for something I don’t have listed or you’d rather use paypal, DM me and I’ll let you know if your project is something I can take on!)

My portfolio is here!

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Stories

This is by no means a comprehensive list of stuff I have/am working on, but these are my main projects that I've put the most effort into.

Lethal Dose

Under : #A Lethal Dose

Annabelle is a private detective with some particularly questionable clientele--namely the Solanum family. When the family head is murdered, it was a natural conclusion for his son and successor to ask her to help solve the case. Annabelle might have thought the case was a good bit of fun, if only the primary suspects weren't leading somewhere a little too personal.

There isn't too much here at the moment, since I haven't spent much time on the one recently, but I have a cover and a few full pages posted!

Missing

Under: #Missing Ghosts

In the ruins of an earthquake ravaged mall, a group of teens find an unconscious young girl. At the hospital she claims to be Katie Easton--a girl who went missing alongside her twin sister ten years ago. But if she really was Katie Easton, then how had she seemingly not aged a day? And what had happened to her sister?

AC Odyssey:

And finally, the one I think most of my followers have at least stumbled across!

Under #ChildrenoftheMountain au

When Alexios had staggered to his feet after being thrown from Mount Taygetos, he believed himself to be the only one to survive. But stepping over the priest's corpse towards the bundle of blankets beyond him proved him wrong.  Nearly a decade and a half later, the relative safety they had found in Kephallonia was quickly vanishing. With Kausos burned to the ground and the cult having found them once again, the list of reasons to stay was quickly dwindling. When the opportunity to board the Adrestia and never look back presents itself, Alexios, with Kassandra and Phoibe in tow, takes the chance. 

(I swear I'm working on the next chapter, alas it's been fighting me.)

Some other stuff:

Want to see the references I use? Here's my nightmare reference board that took hours to organize! https://pin.it/7qkmgugUB

I'm also Enchanters_Ghost over on AO3

For any other links:

https://linktr.ee/ghostlycircaea

[wolfraven80]

BEFORE THE BEGINNING

BEFORE THE BEGINNING — three sentences (or more) about something that happened before the plot of my current project

"Are you certain this is the best course of action, Lady Edelgard?"

                "Claude and the professor defeated us soundly at Myrddin, Hubert. I'm not confident we can repel their armies should they invade Adrestia." She took a deep breath and pressed on. "If the professor wishes to negotiate then at the very least I can hear her out."

                "It could be a trap."

                She gave him an incredulous look. "I don't believe the professor would stoop to such tactics."

                "But Claude von Riegan would."

                Hubert wasn't wrong; she couldn't trust Claude not to try to take advantage of the situation in some way. But the professor's invitation had been accompanied by a guarantee of safety. Only words, she knew, and yet… There had always been something about the professor that had made her want to trust her, to reach out for her, even though she'd chosen Claude and the Golden Deer, even though she was a member of the Church, even though they were enemies.

                If the professor wanted to talk, she would listen.

                "Just this once, Hubert, I'm putting my faith in the professor. Please take care of things while I'm away."

                He bowed. "Of course, Your Majesty."

                She would meet with Claude and the professor in secret. None would know of her absence. And then, when she'd heard what they had to say, she would decide the course the war would take from here.

[stergeon]

Rating: General Audiences

Fandom: Fire Emblem: Three Houses

Relationship(s): Edelgard von Hresvelg/Byleth Eisner

Words: 2.6k

----

For her twenty-seventh birthday, the Emperor of Adrestia received a gift from her beloved: two tiny kittens. Byleth had figured Edelgard would take to pet-parenthood quickly, but soon discovered just how spoiled rotten the Hresvelg-Eisner heirs would be.

(extremely saccharine edeleth fluff inspired by my cat burger, who sat on my lap literally all day)

[mimbotomy]

🚨NEW CHAPTER ALERT🚨

The next chapter of the Children of Kephallonia, Old Foes and New Friends, is now up! In which Kassandra proves she's a one woman army, Barnabas is worried, and the people of Paros start to fight back against the cult.

Also @aeide, you should know that I acted out some of these scenes with my dog as per your suggestion. She was very confused 😂

As always, click below for a fic summary!

The Children of Kephallonia is an Assassin’s Creed Odyssey fic that starts at the beginning of the Korinth storyline, when Kassandra learns that Aspasia sent Phoibe to Monger ruled Korinth and decides she’s never letting her girl be put in danger like that again. And while bringing Phoibe on the Adrestia puts her in a whole new kind of danger, well... at least Kassandra can keep an eye on her.

Featuring:

Phoibe being the Atreus to Kassandra’s Kratos, as we deserved

a hopefully fun new interpretation of Kassandra and Ikaros’ bond

a less fun but arguably more accurate look at Kassandra and Myrrine’s relationship

Kassandra, Barnabas, and Herodotos taking turns with their shared braincell

Lots of references to Kassandra and Phoibe’s life on Kephallonia

Additional backstories for Deimos, Barnabas, Markos, etc.

Kassandra being an legitimate demigod (fuck the Isu) and a slight reinterpretation of the Cult’s MO to match

Lots of ships

fun little notes at the end of each chapter

And most importantly

Kassandra being the very best mom she can be to her beloved baby bird Phoibe

Rating: M

Warnings: Canon Typical Depictions of Violence, Mild Sexual Content, and the occasional vague reference to attempted or threatened sexual assault

Romantic Relationships: Kassandra/Brasidas, Kassandra/Daphnae, Kassandra/Alkibiades, Kassandra/Kyra/Thaletas, and Kassandra/Anais

[mousegard]

since i'm back from my vacation, getting back into my writing groove, and about to finish up the next chapter of my crossover fic, i figured i'd better make a big effortpost to promote it!

Aria of the Black Eagle is a very loose "retelling" of Symphogear G that goes off the rails before it even begins when Edelgard von Hresvelg, Emperor of Adrestia, inexplicably appears in the middle of Tokyo with the ability to fluently speak every human language, rising pop star Maria Cadenzavna Eve suddenly finds herself in the possession of a mysterious magical stone, and Adrestia's top sniper, Bernadetta von Varley, becomes the captive of a certain trio of monsters eager to prove themselves to the mysterious Illuminati.

Also, tall, dark, and arguably handsome Adrestian marquis Hubert von Vestra's life takes an unexpected turn after being bitten by a radioactive Hibiki Tachibana an accidental head-on collision with a J-pop powered magical girl at terminal velocity.

Continuing my longstanding tradition of An Eagle Among Lions' notoriously massive novella-sized chapters and shameless Edelgard fan pandering, Aria of the Black Eagle is a big, meaty longfic you can, should, and must really sink your teeth into, especially if you want to know the answers to burning questions like "how many characters in this anime are Just Like Edelgard?" or "Where does Tsubasa Kazanari's dad fall on the sliding scale of Bad Fire Emblem Dads?" or "what sort of songs would Hubert sing if he were a song-powered magical girl?"

Thank you for reading!

[aboldone4]

Spoilers for Genshin Impact, Fire Emblem: Three Houses, and Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes.

Okay, hear me out. Let me cook with this one.

My brain came up with the crack pairing of Kamisato Ayaka from Genshin Impact and Edelgard von Hresvelg from Fire Emblem.

Waitwaitwait pls dont leave. Let me cook.

Think about it.

Starting with similarities:

Ayaka comes from a clan that’s head of a whole commission in Inazuma, so she’s from an influential and powerful family.

Edelgard is the emperor of Adrestia. There’s no need for me to elaborate on that. I think the title speaks for itself.

Ayaka was willing to question the Raiden Shogun to some extent.

Edelgard questioned the church of Seiros and started a revolution against the crest system of Fodlan.

Gameplay wise, they’re both really strong units in their respective games. Literally every alt of Edelgard in Fire Emblem Heroes is broken and I love it. Like, it’s objectively a bad thing, but she’s a fave so I let it slide.

In terms of differences,

I tried not to emphasize it too much up to this point, but Edelgard is significantly more open to radical courses of action than Ayaka and is more willing to do things that might be considered morally questionable at best.

Ayaka couldn’t openly support the resistance movement of Sangonomiya Kokomi, and it’s even mentioned the Yashiro commission and the Watatsumi Resistance don’t see eye to eye on certain matters.

Ayaka’s also more of a swordfighter, while Edelgard uses a heavier weapon in an axe. Ayaka could probably teach Edelgard to use a sword better while Edelgard could show her how to wield an axe and use it in combat (and maybe like during training Ayaka looks at Edelgard and is like sjsjshshshsusu. Would be interesting for sure).

I think that Edelgard could broaden Ayaka’s horizons, while Ayaka could help Edelgard not lose herself in pursuit of her lofty goals.

I also just like this ship because they’re both pretty and I headcanon both of them as autistic as someone with autism myself.

Like cmon, people can’t tell when Edelgard’s joking because of the tone with which she delivers her jokes, and she didn’t know the social cue of a high five in Three Hopes. I also think that part of the reason she acted the way she did when Byleth lost Jeralt was because she didn’t know how to deal with something like this, along with the fact that this was the only way she could cope with losing her siblings and mother.

Ayaka had difficulty socializing with people, and though that’s probably mostly because of her status, I also think part of it is that she doesn’t really know social cues due to being put on a pedestal. She seems to have experienced some fun things pretty late in life like going to a festival to enjoy it, which — to be as vague as possible — I can kind of relate to.

This is obviously projection on my part but come on. They are both my scrunklies. I love these two so much I’m so normal about them.

[quillfulwriter]

Sweet Humarianne written for the @hubertlovezine that's in the leftover sales stage now! The mods and contributors went all out here, so it's a good time to pick up a copy and any merch you were thinking of getting. Here's to Adrestia's loving shadow, lol.

[cynical-gamer-media]

Edelthea Week 2024, Day 7: Free Theme (chapter 1/?)

Role Swap AU; Emperor Dorothea & Commoner Edelgard.

The Adrestian Emperor, Dorothea von Hresvelg, hears of a commoner banding others to revolt against the nobility and Church. Said leader, Edelgard, is captured by the Empire.

Dorothea, being critical of the class system and Church, proposes to Edelgard that they work together through her becoming her Representative of the Common Folk.

By working together do they have a chance to change the political and societal landscape of Adrestia, and even the entirety of Fódlan?

[elsjobproject]

Soar Knight

1/4 - Enter 'Bethma Village'

Elesis heads to the forest following the faint energy that calls to her and finds adventures under attack.

The moment Elesis blocks the monster, a blue light shine from the adventure's bag and Elesis defeats the monster with a mysterious surge of power.

The adventurer, grateful for her help, gifts her the sword, believing she's the true master.

Elesis looks at the sword with suspicion from this unexpected turn of events, but it doesn't seem evil, so she decides to investigate more about the surge of power and this sword with a blue gem with half curiosity and half excitement.

2/4 - Bethma - Clear 'Bethma Lake' [0/1]

Elesis use the sword with the blue gem to train in various ways to find a way to control and utilize its power.

During training, Elesis happens to find that the weapon she imagined in her mind materializes through the sword. After that discovery, Elesis searched for new potential through trial and error.

As a result, she was able to recreate various weapons she experienced through battle, and could maintain its shape and even use it in attacks.

Elesis learns that she can change the shape of the sword with her will. Let's try this new power in actual battle-

3/4 - Enter 'Bethma Village'

Elesis continued to think of new ways to use the power of the sword with the blue gem. When she concentrated on the sword, a surge of immense power exploded out of the sword with blue light and got absorbed into Elesis's body. Not only was she startled from this unexpected event, but Elesis also started to feel faint from the immense power coursing through her veins.

This phenomenon continued to occur, and the more Elesis got used to using this power, the uncontrollable power also began to grow stronger.

4/4 - Bethma - Clear 'Dragons Nest' [0/1]

The power that resonates with her and turn her will into reality.

The more she used this power, Elesis felt that this power could be greater and more dangerous than anticipated. But that only made her more determined.

It could be dangerous if she's not careful, but it touched on her competitive side.

Elesis held the sword she had on one hand and the blue weapon on the other, willing to show her burning determination to make this power her own.

(recorded; 1/4/2023)

[randomnameless]

So because of Leopold's support and the shadow assassinations by the Agarthans and Humbert , it would be irrealistic to have a civil war happen early on (as in it start during the first year of the war) despite how Edelgard's extended lmanifesto (not just the church part) screw over the nobility while at the same time screwing the church that, unlike the nobles, the civilians of Adrestia seem to somewhat give a shit about?

At least if the intent when writing a fanfic is to respect the lore/world building of Canon?

We don't see enough Adrestian civilians to even know what they think about, we heard about "missing" church people in Adrestia, but nothing about the commoners - we only hear in passing iirc Ashe talking about starvation because of the war, but idk if he's talking in general or about Adrestia.

Ferdie'n'Lysithea's paralogue tells us the randoms in Hrym and being bled dry under Ludwig's name (when he's actually framed by Thales!), and even if the game tries to avoid this topic like the plague, I still wonder where all those "war assets" are coming from, especially since the "people working" on those projects didn't hesitate a second to use Adrestians as guinea pigs (iirc Remire is in Adrestia!).

So Hubert's secret police + starvation + whatever is happening thanks to Agarthans riling people up like what happens in Hrym + Leopold being in charge of the army (that is made up of people from other places than just, Bergliez) + Hubert being Hubert, aka willingly take people hostage or threaten them to make their families comply + Supreme Leader (I mean Hubert) jailing/rekting "corrupt" nobles in the first days of her ascension to the throne...

Nopes apparently says Enbarr's people are pretty happy about the war, because they're revanchists and are hell removed from the frontlines - but what about the rest of Adrestia?

I once compared the coronation scene in CF to a coup (because Billy and Supreme Leader are accompanied by soldiers) but it would sort of match, Supreme Leader gets total control of the army through Bergliez's lust of power/conquest, control over the finances because Linhardt's dad is just like that I guess, Hubert oversees everything and, at least in FE16, Arundel still sides with her.

Aegir was neutralised, Vestra Sr was put in a trashcan, and Varley is either reduced to a puppet or to House arrest.

There are no powers left to oppose her in Adrestia, and if commoners somehow managed to rebel, they would have to deal with their very own national army, secret police and random Agarthans... on top of finding enough food to eat to survive while the ressources are given to the frontlines.

But in a way, everything I'm just saying bar the canon facts of :

having Leopold and the Army + Waldemar and the money

Hubert doing Hubert things

opposing big name nobles being swiftly deposed/neutralised just after her coronation (or before in Nopes!)

food shortages

FE16 wise : Agarthans taxing randoms to death/ Nopes : Agarthans killing people randomly

FWIW, AG where we learn a bit more about Adrestia, and how, apparently, Agarthans and bandits (?) are slaughtering randoms there, but the nobles are too concerned by the Kingdom's assault to protect their people, and would rather see them die than divert troops to, just, have the bandits/agarthans stop creating rivers of blood with the bloods of the people they're supposed to protect.

Everything else is headcanon/AUs/fanfic/however you want to call it.

So bar those points... Adrestia just exists and it's a damn shame, because even Begion managed to get its pseudo civil war between Sanaki and the Senate where commoners/people supported one over the other, but in Adrestia? Bar the BE peeps and a few dads, you have the feeling no one else exists.

FWIW, in the non CF routes, the opera company joins Billy's army iirc, so maybe they're not loyalists? And represent some people who aren't that gung-ho about the war?

i have that random headcanon that in Nopes, Manu and Mittelfrank are used for spying stuff, and actually, through Yuri and Manu herself, give intel about what happens in Enbarr to the CoS while the opera workers try to sabotage as much as they can some stuff in the Imperial Army... but that's just an AU lol

[slotumn]

(@dpsisquared replying to this in a separate post because this is another piece of meta I've Pondered™, hope you don't mind)

Also I always wondered if the "Southern church" was expelled from the empire if it was by the empire itself or the central church. Seemed like one of those things that could make or break Edelgard's claims but of course they don't explain it

Ok I actually have a pretty detailed headcanon about how and why the Southern Church insurrections happened, and it's something like:

Announcement of Empire helping build Fódlan's Locket, which is expected to be a long-term project, taking a few decades to complete

Harvests are bad and economy sucks, but Imperial house insists on spending a lot of money, because Fódlan's Locket is a joint effort between the three nations, led by the Church, and they think it's a good opportunity to flex on the Faerghans and Leicesterians by showing that they're still rich and powerful

People are fucking livid, because they can barely eat and the government is sending money and resources to build fortresses in another country

This combines with religion, and a popular fundamentalist (and reactionary) movement that says Adrestia and the emperor must RETVRN to its religious roots to make the country good again (with the implication being, "or else" for the emperor)

Southern Church of course gets onboard with this, Victoria von Hrym also gets onboard and promises them greater influence if she becomes minister of religion

Domestic escalation, armed insurrection

Imperial house is obviously not pleased and decide to dissolve the Church + execute + exile

As for the Central Church, they were the ones who suggested the whole Fódlan's Locket thing in the first place, but also, they weren't going to turn down a big religious revival in the Empire either, and they definitely didn't want the Imperial house outright dissolving and kicking out the southern branch

So this is a circular situation where it's like. Did the churches opportunistically and implicitly support a reactionary and fundamentalist movement in the Empire? Yes. Did the people have legitimate grievances, and was the Imperial house sucking and making their lives miserable the main fuel for the reactionary sentiments? Yes. Did the Church ever stop and consider that them using religious authority to push for big projects like Fódlan's Locket only contributes to regimes squeezing their citizens dry? No. Did the emperor crush the insurrection because his ideology and policies were any better than the fundamentalists? No. Did every authority involved make god awful decisions at the cost of the masses? Yeah.

Tl;dr Empire and Church are both a thousand years old at this point and are suffering from severe decay, my hc is that the Southern Church incident was just one of the many symptoms of it

[ghostlycircaea]

I was going to wait a bit longer before posting but I changed my mind so here's chapter 1 lmao

Chapters: 1/? Fandom: Assassin's Creed - All Media Types

Rating: Mature

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Relationships: Alexios (Assassin's Creed)/Brasidas (d. 422 BCE), Kassandra/Kyra (one-sided), Alexios/Others (mentioned), Kassandra/Others

Characters: Alexios (Assassin's Creed), Kassandra (Assassin's Creed), Phoibe (Assassin's Creed: Odyssey), Brasidas (d. 422 BCE), Nikolaos (Assassin's Creed), Myrrine (Assassin's Creed), Stentor (Assassin's Creed), Barnabas (Assassin's Creed), Herodotos | Herodotus (c. 484-425 BCE)

Additional Tags: Canon-Typical Violence, Alternate Universe, Alexios raises Kassandra and Phoibe, Found Family, Stentor was adopted before Taygetos, Overprotective dad au, No Deimos

Summary:

When Alexios had staggered to his feet after being thrown from Mount Taygetos, he believed himself to be the only one to survive. But stepping over the priest's corpse towards the bundle of blankets beyond him proved him wrong.

Nearly a decade and a half later, the relative safety they had found in Kephallonia was quickly vanishing. With Kausos burned to the ground and the cult having found them once again, the list of reasons to stay was quickly dwindling. When the opportunity to board the Adrestia and never look back presents itself, Alexios, with Kassandra and Phoibe in tow, takes the chance.