#and I miss jeralt

[thatonesherlocknerd]

Jeralt's death hurt just as bad as the first time

[srapsodia]

the Blade Breaker and the Ashen Demon

[burr-ell]

I know I've beaten this drum quite a bit, as have others, but I think it bears repeating that most people who dislike Edelgard would probably not find her so aggravating if the game didn't frequently and unsubtly let her abdicate responsibility for her actions.

Like, it's wild to me that White Clouds goes to great lengths to show how fucked up and horrible demonic beasts are—Miklan's transformation is horrific and agonizing, and Jeralt is clearly appalled to learn that the beasts attacking the chapel were students who had been transformed, with the story heavily implying that these were students who'd gone missing earlier. The game also explicitly identifies them with the Flame Emperor and the Imperial army; the Flame Emperor uses them to attack the Holy Tomb to steal Crest stones and they're frequently used by the Empire in the war phase. But as soon as the Flame Emperor is revealed to be Edelgard, the game never again remarks on it or tries to explicitly connect it to her. Hanneman has one Explore line theorizing that "the Empire" wanted Crest stones from the Holy Tomb to make more demonic beasts and then...no one follows up on that! A single missable line of dialogue is all we get; the fact that Edelgard is using victims of experimentation, knowing that at least some of them were kidnapped fellow students, is just sort of something you have to remember on your own time.

The game makes a huge deal about how terrible the events of White Clouds were—bandits almost killed the house leaders; religious extremists invaded the monastery and used lethal force on students; kidnapped students were turned into monsters and died horribly; Flayn got kidnapped and experimented on for her blood; Jeralt was murdered by an assassin who'd infiltrated the monastery; Remire Village was nightmarishly razed and innocent people were slaughtered; a serial killer was wandering around abducting and murdering people and did so under the unwitting cover of the monastery for months. And then the game reveals to you that the Flame Emperor, who was connected to all these things and knew about them, was Edelgard...and then just sort of quietly ignores them for all of Part 2! She's allowed to give flowery speeches about how terrible the war is, and characters are willing to extend grace and airtime so the devs can make sure you know that oh she wanted to walk with you and make a better world, and not even in the parley with Dimitri does anyone bring up the fact that she's up to her eyeballs in complicity.

Even in the routes where you fight the Slithers directly, neither Claude nor Seteth engage with the fact that Edelgard knew about everything they did and did nothing to stop it. Not once is the game ever interested in telling her to take her precious ideals and shove them up her ass. And there's no reason why any of these characters shouldn't bring all this up (particularly Seteth and Claude), but they don't, and it couldn't be clearer between that and Edelgard's endless fawning over the player self-insert that it's because god forbid anyone think negatively of our precious, cute, oh-so-marketable El-chan.

And it's just a shame, because the game does have well-written female characters—Annette, Ingrid, Mercedes, Hilda, Leonie, Petra, Constance, Manuela, Catherine, Shamir, Rhea (when she isn't being sidelined and damselled), I would even argue that female Byleth is pretty solid! But they're all explicitly heroic characters, and the game absolutely does not want to engage with the idea of Edelgard having agency over evil, villainous actions. It would be great if she owned it—but she doesn't, and the game's writing suffers because of it.

[sheikahwarriork]

Sylvain: I think she is staring again…

Dimitri: I am sure she simple despises me.

Felix: It’s called focus, boar. You should try it for once in your life.

Jeralt, who is in horse duty nearby and knows exactly where she is looking as once he also received the very same unblinking, wild and intense gaze from Sitri to his own bosom: … that boy has no idea what he just got himself into.

CANON TO ME DEAR ANON!!

i liked this idea so much it made me write a little fic, i hope you'll enjoy!

wordcount: 2.4k

Staring

Dimitri was puzzled by the Ashen Demon- no, she said her name is Byleth, and Dimitri couldn't find a reason to not use it (especially because it sounds so sweet on his lips)- by Byleth's intense stare. The woman was not very expressive, he knew it well by now; and despite Dimitri's efforts to get to know her better, he still couldn't figure out why she started to staring at him so much. He was almost sure she hates him, and how could he blame her? His army essentially forced her and Jeralt's company to join the kingdom (that, or death); and even if Shez tried many times to reassure him that Byleth wouldn't do anything she doesn't want, and Jeralt himself thanked the king for freeing them from the Empire's hands, Dimitri can't help but feel like Byleth Eisner isn't feeling comfortable in his army. ('Forced to fight for the useless beast you are-')

And that was a shame, because the woman was a formidable warrior (stronger than Felix, or Dedue, or Shez, and perhaps than Dimitri himself), and Dimitri wish he could make the woman feel more at home. After all, he was the king: it was his duty to make sure everybody is fine. No other reasons whatsoever, of course!

---

Entering the Dining hall of the kingdom's camp, Dimitri immediately noticed two things: Byleth Eisner was eating with Shez and Flayn; and Byleth Eisner's look turned to him the very moment he stepped foot in there. Feeling flustered, Dimitri's gaze turned away, but he sould feel the woman still staring at him. (He already noticed that, if she got caught in her staring, she didn't look embarassed like anyone else caught staring would be; she kept doing whatever she wanted- exactly like Shez told him.)

Sylvain must have noticed too, because Dimitri could hear him chuckle a bit. "She really is shameless, isn't she," he said with a teasing tone.

"I am sure she is holding a grudge towards me," Dimitri replied, unable to hide the light sad tone. "Everytime I look at her, she has that same staring expression."

Felix sighed, annoyed. "For someone so sure she hates you, you sure seems to notice her a lot, stupid boar," he said, rolling his eyes.

Sylvain's chuckle becomes a full laughter.

Dimitri's cheeks blush. "I- I only wish for Miss Eisner to feel comfortable in our army."

Sylvain, still laughing, managed to catch breath. "Well, maybe you should try to give her a dagger, Your Majesty!"

Now Dimitri's blush reached his ears. "Sylvain!" he exclaimed, looking at his friend in astonishment. "This is very unprofessional and uncalled for."

"Strange to say, but the boar is right," Felix said. "If she truly hates him, why should he give her a weapon?" he asked, raising his eyebrow.

Aware that Felix didn't know about the so-called "dagger incident", and fearing that Sylvain was going to tell too much, Dimitri tried to change topic. "Do any of you know about today's stall duty turn?"

He failed. "Well, Your Majesty, if you're really so curious about her feelings for you, shouldn't you ask her directly?" Sylvain said with a malicious hint in his eyes.

Felix shrugged. "Again, strange to say, but Sylvain is right," he said, then looked at Dimitri. "This whole thing is distracting you. Fix it before you fully become a full useless boar, and not just an annoying boar."

Ignoring Felix's last comment, Dimitri nodded. "You are probably right. I should speak to her and make sure Miss Eisner is not bothered by something."

---

When Byleth reached puberty, Jeralt feared he was too old to deal with a teen girl; but luckily (for him) his kid never caused any problem, never went through any "rebel" phase, and never showed any interest towards anyone. And even if Jeralt knew it was selfish of him, he was glad his little girl was still the same.

But now, he would trade a whole troublesome adolescence, if it meant his daughter wouldn't fall for the freaking King of Faerghus.

The Eisners were assigned for stall duty that evening, and as always Byleth was doing an impeccable job. But she suddenly stopped in her working, and Jeralt noticed her eyes carefully following the king's movement: he was walking near them, probably headed to his tend; and Jeralt noticed the nervous expression of the king, when he noticed Byleth was staring at him.

"Hey, kid?" Jeralt called, hoping to catch her attention.

"Yes?" she replied, her eyes still fixed on the king's figure.

"Are you feeling alright? We can take a break if you want."

"No need," Byleth simply replied, not bothering to look away. When the king was out of sight, she turned to Jeralt. "Dad, Dimitri's weird."

The man almost choked. His daughter always has been honest and straight to the point, but to hear her call the king in such a casual manner… he was glad that at least the king didn't look like a strict guy. "Wha- why do you think so?"

Byleth frowned a little, the expression Jeralt knew she made when trying to express a thought she herself didn't really understand. "He… is weird. He's not like anyone I've ever met."

Jeralt sat down. 'I'm too old for this.' "Is that why you stare at him so often?"

Byleth nodded. "I'm curious. And I'm trying to understand why he intrigues me so much."

"So you're… intrigued by him?"

Byleth nodded again, not showing even a hint of embarassment. "And I can't figure out why. He's strong, but he's not the only strong person I met, right? And he's tall, but Dedue is taller. And he's very kind- well, Mercedes and Annette are kind to me too, but in a different way. And he has a pretty smile. But other people smile too. That is to say, he doesn't have anything special per se, and yet, it's like everything is special about him. And I can't figure out why." Byleth was frowing again.

Jeralt wished he had at least a beer with him. "Well, kid… sometimes, people think someone in particular is very special, and that someone is special in ways only for them. The king… is not weird. I think you're intrigued by him not because he's weird, but because you feel he's special for you."

Byleth brought a hand to her chin. "And why is that?" she asked, sincerely puzzled.

Jeralt wished he had two beers with him. "I don't know, kid. Nobody knows how… uhm, why sometimes people think someone else is special. Only the Goddess, perhaps."

Byleth looked like she was lost in thoughts for a few seconds, but then she shook her head. "No, I don't think she does."

Confused, Jeralt decided to drop the matter. "In any case, it's completely normal to feel this way about someone. So you shoudn't worry."

"I don't," Byleth stated. "I guess I'll just have to live with that."

Jeralt's heart almost broke. His kid's first crush was a king, probably already engaged with some duke's daughter: not the most lighthearted romantic story. And yet, the look on his daughter face when looking at Dimitri was the same one Sitri used to give him, a long time ago. It wasn't a simple crush.

He made a bittersweet smile. "Kid, have I ever told you the story of when I met your mother?"

Byleth looked at him, her eyes full of curiosity. She simply shook her head.

"The first time I saw her, she was watering some flowers. Blue irises, just like her eyes. She was the most beautiful woman I've ever seen; she was so captivating I stopped in my walking, and almost tripped! She heard me and turned to look at me… And when our eyes met, she simply smiled. And that is when I knew I fell for her."

"So you did trip in the end?" Byleth asked, tilting her head.

Jeralt chucked, shaking his head. "I mean I fell in love with her."

Byleth nodded, as if understanding during a lesson. "I see. Interesting choice of words." She adverted her gaze. "But thank you for telling me this story."

Was Jeralt's sight getting bad, or was his daughter smiling?

---

Dimitri breathed deeply. The time had come to face Byleth Eisner, to finally talk to her and find out whatever reason she hated him for.

He was well aware of the true reason he postponed the talk for so long. The fear of hearing her sweet voice telling him how much and why she hated him was frightening at least. ('Pathetic. To fear some words from a whatever mercenary girl…') The fear of seeing her go away, far away from his army, far away from him-

Regular as clockwork, her stare was on him the very moment he entered her field of vision (-The fear of not watching her beautiful emerald eyes again-). She kept staring at him while he was approaching. Her stare was unnerving; and Dimitri realized, it was not because he didn't like the idea of getting attention from her, but because it was like she could see inside him, see the monster he truly was. (-The fear of hearing she knew the beast inside him, the fear she may hate him for what he truly was, the fear of knowing she, too, rightfully hated him-)

"Good evening, Miss Byleth," he managed to say, trying to hide his anxiety.

"Hi, Dimitri," she simply replied, calling him by his name. Someone else would be offended by such casualness, but Dimitri always preferred to be addressed by his name, rather than sumptuous titles. (-The fear to lose one of the few people that seemed to understand his wish, the fear to not hear his name from her sweet lips ever again-)

"I don't want to cause any inconvience, but may I speak with you?"

The woman was sitting on a bench, polishing her sword; she simply nodded and made space on the bench for him.

Feeling more nervous than ever, Dimitri complied, and sat next to her. Byleth set down her sword and whetstone and looked at him. "What's the matter?"

Dimitri inhaled deeply. "Forgive me if it's not the case and I'm stealing your time uselessly, but I have the feeling you hold some kind of sentiment towards me. If I have done anything that upset you, please feel free to speak to me."

"Oh. So you have noticed," the mercenary said, for the first time adverting her gaze.

Dimitri felt his heart sink. 'She hates you. Of course she hates you. Were you really hoping she was interested in such a lowly beast-'

"I talked to my father, and he said I think you're special," Byleth kept talking. "Then he told me the story of when he met my mother. I'm not completely sure the two things are related, but maybe he meant he thought my mother was special too?" she asked, looking at Dimitri, as if he had the answers.

He simply blinked. "I'm sorry. What?"

"See? So I'm not the only one that doesn't understand," Byleth sighed.

"No, I mean… I- what… You… What?!"

Byleth looked at him again. "I mean, it was a nice story, and I'm glad he told me. Jeralt rarely speaks about my mother. But I don't understand. And it's annoying. Dimitri, do you think someone is special for you?"

Dimitri was speechless; their talk wasn't like anything he had prepared for. "I- well, I think you're a very special person, Miss Byleth," he finally said. He did, in fact.

"Oh." Byleth, the usually impassive Byleth Eisner, the infamous Ashen Demon, the one mercenary known for striking down enemies without batting an eye, was blushing.

"I- I mean, I saw what you're capable of on the battlefield, you're one of the strongest warrior I've ever met. But I know you're also very kind and patient- I see how you help everybody you can here on our base, and… And you're also very smart, your strategies in the last battle were crucial for our victory! It's a pleasure to have hired you, I consider myself a lucky man to have the change to know you, Miss Byleth. So yes, I can confirm you are a special person indeed."

Dimitri was aware he stuttered a lot, but couldn't stop himself in keep going. Especially because for every thing he said, the blush on Byleth's cheeks got redder. And she was more mesmerizing than ever.

"Very interesting," she finally said, breathless. "Now I understand what my father meant with 'thinking a person is special'. Thank you."

"I admit I feared you held a feeling of hate or some sort for me, Miss Byleth, but I'm glad to know it's not the case," Dimitri said with a smile, feeling lighter.

Byleth frowned lightly. "Why would I hate you?"

Dimitri blushed. "I…" 'Because I'd deserve it.' "It doesn't matter."

"Well, according to my father's words, it's more like I'm in love with you, so I don't think I hate you even a bit," Byleth bluntly stated, as if reflecting on a mission plan.

Dimitri stared at her, sure he didn't hear her words well. Surely he misheard, she couldn't really feel that way for him, he wasn't worthy of such things from anyone, especially her-

And yet, if he did hear her right, if she truly meant what she said- if there was a little, brief possibility she returned his sinful feelings-

"… So yes, you shouldn't worry," Byleth nodded at her own words. "If it's all, I think I'll go to get my dinner. Are you angry? We could-"

She was getting up, she was about to walk away. Unable to stop himself, he grabbed her by the wrist. He needed to know. "Can you repeat that?"

Byleth tilted her head. "That I'm gonna get my dinner?"

"No… before that. That you lo… that you lov…" Dimitri immediately regretted his actions. Of course he misheard her, and now he was making a fool of himself. 'To hope for such things when it's clear nobody can love you, do you enjoy so much to suffer?'

"Oh! You mean that I'm in love with you?" Byleth replied. "My father didn't exactly said that, but I guess it's the right name for this feeling-"

Dimitri moved quickly, taking her face in his hands and pressing a soft kiss on her lips. "Byleth, I love you too. Please marry me."

Byleth was right in thinking she'll live loving Dimitri, and Jeralt was wrong in worrying about it.

bonus scene:

Byleth: Dad, I made a weird dream about Dimitri. We were both naked and-

Jeralt: NOPE. I'M TOO SOBER FOR THIS CONVERSATION

[real-fire-emblem-takes]

My Fire Emblem take is that Leonie Pinelli gets more hate than she deserves and was set up to fail by Jeralt and IS.

(I will refer to Byleth with she/her pronouns for simplicity's sake)

Slander

Leonie is obsessed with and potentially lusts after Jeralt and has no personality or identity outside of him.

Background

Leonie grew up in Sauin Village, which was besieged by poachers until Captain Jeralt stepped in and saved them. Obviously, he is now the village's hero. Jeralt then takes Leonie as an apprentice and then leaves a short time later.

Reasoning

Leonie's apprenticeship to Jeralt, the village hero, defines her in Sauin Village. She's "Jeralt's Apprentice" in their eyes, so eventually that's how she defines herself. Children are malleable like that.

Typically, an apprenticeship lasts for seven years. You eat at their table, sleep in their house, and work with/learn from them every day. Leonie got maybe seven weeks of instruction from Jeralt before he leaves.

So, since she's defined by an apprenticeship she doesn't have a master around for anymore, she does what she can. Leonie constantly practices what he taught her and tries to improve her skills to be like him (which is what apprenticeships are for).

Then he shows up at the officer's academy with Byleth, his daughter, who has received all of the instruction and attention that Leonie should have gotten right along side her. And she acts incredibly flippantly about it. She does not seem grateful for getting what Leonie has always wanted and has a legitimate right to. Leonie's jealous. Understandable.

Yes, Leonie spends a lot of time around Jeralt while he's alive and at the academy. This is her trying to get that instruction her apprenticeship promised. And it seems like Jeralt finally took responsibility and trained her.

Then he dies.

The man who has defined Leonie's life for years and she's only just gotten to learn from is dead.

Then we reach a bit of a thing. Leonie's B Support is horrible. She is mean and cruel and upsetting in what she says and does. Grief does that to people. However, her lines during that month when you Explore contradict a lot of what she says.

B Support: I miss him more and you're a horrible daughter!

Explore Lines: I only just got to see Jeralt again and now he's gone! ...sorry, I shouldn't be burdening you with this. I know you miss him too.

These are paraphrased and summarized, but get my message across well enough. Leonie does, in fact, recognize that you are mourning too. She likely just made some bad decisions at some point and lashed out at Byleth. No apology is mentioned, but given her Explore Line lasts for a month and her B Support lasts for, like, five minutes, I'd say her Explore Line is her prevailing opinion on the matter.

Also, I'd like to point out of all her fifteen support partners, she only mentions Jeralt in her supports with Byleth and Felix. All thirteen of her other supports reveal different, and just as important parts of herself.

tl;dr Leonie's behavior w/ Jeralt makes sense in the context of medieval apprenticeship. Guilt can cause people to lash out at people who don't deserve it . 13/15 supports agree that Leonie has characterization outside of Jeralt.

.

[fireemblems24]

Azure Gleam - Special Chapters

Spoilers for the special chapters below.

SHEZ VS BYLETH

I didn't get the special chapter for SB or GW. SB, I just straight up did not care. GW, I tried, but it involved an "escort Claude" part and he just sat there and didn't move forward, and I didn't care enough to bother with the chapter a second time.

Shez sounds like Arval. Did Arval take Shez over? I'm guessing to go after Sothis?

Oh, cut scene! Shez vs Byleth again.

Byleth holding his own against Arval!Shez. Good to see. Shez is trying to hold Arval back though.

So . . . if we kick out Arval out in these chapters, does Shez loose their abilities/special class, because no :(((((

Felix, Dedue, and Dimitri are worrying about Shez and Byleth (also, awesome to see all my favs). Rodrigue has news about what happened.

Scouts report that Byleth and Shez are fighting. Felix accuses that Dimitri suspected this.

Dimitri tells how Shez worried that TWSITD would take over her. And Dimitri's promise to kill Shez to stop her from killing others.

Oh, we cut straight to the battle and have to defeat Shez. Makes sense. I'm guessing do it before Byleth dies?

My Shez is, eh, a bit stronger than Byleth, so I'm a bit worried. But Dimitri's such an overkill at this point, he's just going to blaze through this chapter like he did the last one.

It's weird not having Shez among my playable characters. I'm using Jeralt instead of Shez for my missing 8th person because he's the highest level (and I can't use Byleth either so).

Edelgard is around somewhere? Claude showed up to hunt her down.

My Byleth is like 10 levels below Shez. It's not going well.

Atrocity is one hell of a drug. Took Shez out.

Defeating Solon feels good. Got a cut scene too. He just ran away though. Wait, Arval/Shez killed Solon? Ohhh, like Solon killed Kyrona. A sacrifice is needed to open Zaharas. Karma I guess.

Claude and Dimitri talking is kinda cool. And weird Edelgard showed up. It's so amusing to me that they wrote themselves into such a corner with Edelgard they just yeeted her brain lamo.

ZAHRAS

Arval is talking to Arval.

Dark Arval created Normal Arval because Dark Arval wanted typical TWSITD nonsense, domination, restore the world to TWSITD, etc . . .

And in the most shocking twist, Normal Arval is programmed to kill Sothis, so therefore Byleth, and while Arval took over Shez.

Oh, Shez woke up! And Claude's there with Dimitri.

So they all got sent to this Zahras place.

Shez doesn't have a lot of memory of what just happened, and tells Claude and Dimitri about Arval, who's gone though.

Now they have to find a way out of this mess.

Dimitri found Edelgard. Since there's like 4 people, no one plans on fighting each other until they get out. Then it's time to kill people.

So Edelgard doesn't remember what happened and got some spell cast on her by TWSITD.

Claude cheerily tells her what a fuck up her country is lamo.

There's this mini map with the 3 lords just standing there, chilling, in this dark abyss place. It's pretty funny looking.

All my other units are gone, but I expected that. Dimitri's my most overpowered unit anyways.

DIMITRI & CLAUDE

Is this like some kind of support?

So AG Claude wants to get rid of the central church and kill Rhea. Like, I'm down for removing any sort of political power from a religious institution, but this fixation on Rhea is weird.

Lamo, is this game serious? Did it really just blame nobility and arrange marriage on Rhea?? OMG.

I knew Claude went completely dodo bird in this game, but he somehow became even more of an idiot?

I'm kind of impressed lol.

He drank the Edelgard koolaide.

Dimitri's like, well, as long as you just dislike the church and not Faerghus.

It's interesting for Dimitri to acknowledge that his personal beliefs and his beliefs as a king are sometimes at war.

He also lays out why Claude's plan is an awful idea. Meaning, all the death and suffering he'll cause.

It's just a classic, Claude is too rash - Dimitri is too cautious.

Claude tells Dimitri that he's too good for him. And that they could've been friends if kingly stuff didn't get in the way.

It's overall a fine support, except this absurd idea that the church is solely responsible for stuff human nature always comes up with, and I think it's more a symptom of a huge flaw in the Fodlan games as a whole than anything else.

DIMITRI & EDELGARD

Dimitri finds it hard to talk to Edelgard because of all the people she's caused the death of. But way more polite.

Edelgard doesn't feel that way. Which, not surprised. She doesn't really care too much about the people who've died like he does.

Lamo, she also is way less polite and is like "you don't want to talk to the tyrant who's gotten everyone killed." See, though, it's acknowledgements like this that make me like this game more. She knows that's what she looks like to everyone not in Adrestia.

Dimitri gets annoyed with her for placing words in his mouth. And good for him. That's always annoying.

Edelgard is less confident than Dimitri that he has no regrets of his actions and carefully considered all of them.

Oh, good, Dimitri asks about Patricia. But Edelgard doesn't know what happened either. So, still no answers about her.

Dimitri wants to just end the conversation. I am loving how much he really doesn't want to talk to her. It's so different from Claude who he was curious about.

She falls down because dark magic place does it's thing, then helps her stand up, and they get a picture, which is cool.

It reminds her of when she fell once and took the help without thinking about it. Now she thinks about it.

Dimitri remembers helping a girl up.

I see where this is going, but it's funny such a mundane thing will trigger important memories, lamo.

Edelgard is like, yeah, knowing you, you probably helped a lot of people get up who fell down.

I'm living for these supports acknowledging that Dimitri's a way better person than the other two lol.

He's like, naw, it was you. Edelgard keeps insisting it wasn't her.

He calls her El at the end.

Is this the same support in SB? It works for AG, but man, this asshole just killed Sylvain (and Annette, and Gilbert, and Ingrid, and Rodrigue, and tons of other people from Faerghus simply bc she wants that land back), so I'd be furious seeing it there.

In AG, though, it makes sense.

BACK TO THE CHAPTER

Dimitri's the only one who asks about Shez's wellbeing. Does their dialogue change in different routes?

Oh, cool, I had some access to stuff like the blacksmith, which makes no sense, but ok.

Bad Arval showed up behind Shez, but she alludes it.

Arval says none can escape. But I doubt it.

Dimitri's like, that's bullshit, bc there's no way they'd build this without a way out, and if they can get out, so can we.

And then Dimitri's proved right when Arval says he'll leave, alone.

Ok, I learned this other Arval's name, but I am not going to spell all of that.

So like, after this, do they all just go back to war? Because if they do . . . lol.

They let you use all the 3 lords, but I'll probably only use Shez and Dimitri. Neither Edelgard nor Claude impressed me much when I started this game (and at the time I started, I liked Claude a lot more than I do now).

Oh, so a dark Hubert, Hilda, and Felix showed up. A bit sad it wasn't Dedue, though. I feel like he deserved to be the BL rep even if Felix is more popular. But maybe it was for variety? Like Dedue is another axe like Hilda, but then switch Claude's people out.

At the same time, Felix makes sense, esp in Hopes. He and Dimitri are practically married lol.

Dimitri's like, that's not Felix. He wouldn't get mad at me for doing this and not avenging people. He's not wrong.

Ohhh, not they're fighting phantom versions of themselves.

They had some throwaway lines explaining why Edelgard is normal now.

Lamo, Edelgard doesn't trust herself.

Meanwhile . . . Dimitri . . . is like, really excited about this. Because he gets to kill a version of himself. :((((

Claude's line wasn't as interesting as the other two. I know. Shocking. /s

Dimitri wants to thank Arval for letting him fight and kill himself. I cannot with this man.

Evil Claude just about totaled regular Claude. Edelgard isn't scratched though.

Edelgard and Claude were way more normal about reactions to fighting themselves lol.

I had to make Claude an adjunct. He was nearly dead. It's actually surprising how much worse he is than Edelgard. (Dimitri's not fair to rate against them since he's more built out and not dropped into this map for a one-time battle).

Ok, he summoned more dudes to protect him, and one was a Shez copy the other Dedue. So Dedue got credit too. So now I'm less conflicted about Felix making an appearance.

Shez is upset at fighting herself.

Dimitri feels awful about fighting the shades this time. He's only motivated by all the people he's kept alive in real life.

I defeated Epimedes. That seemed too easy.

Cut scene fight between Shez and Epi. It's pretty badass looking in the dark magic place with falling rocks everywhere. Like, in a cheesy but just roll with it way.

Shez wins. Arval pops back up and they almost hold hands. Arval's never felt more alone :( Honestly, kinda sad things end badly for them. So not recruiting Byleth gives Arval a better ending? Will Arval not be there in the final map before the final battle?

They escaped!

Dimitri's like "it felt like a strange fever dream" and honestly, not a bad way to describe it.

They lost Edelgard and are we back to the normal stuff? Oh, no Shez asks to go back to the search for her and the others. Claude wants to get back to his people too.

Ok, so moving onto the final chapter now.

xxx

[lemon-grey]

I know Dimitri already has shit to deal with but sometimes I just wanna. Rub my HoH hands all over him anyway

HoH Dimitri with similar hearing loss to mine, so that he’s missing certain ranges but others are fine

Lost his hearing as a result of injury during the Tragedy

He is not able to hear Dedue’s voice, but they both learned to sign after the Tragedy (which means that Dedue had to work on two languages at once, bless him)

He can’t hear Felix or Sylvain clearly, but can hear them in a muffled way, so he can get by with this plus lip reading for them

He can hear most girls and women due to range differences; he can hear Ingrid and Annette, but Mercedes is too softspoken and relies on writing notes to him instead

Most professors at Garreg Mach speak in a register that he can hear, except Jeralt. Dimitri does the “confused smile and nod” to Jeralt a lot (unfortunately)

Alois takes it upon himself to become even louder for Dimitri’s sake, despite Dimitri telling him many times he can hear him just fine as is

Hearing everything muffled and muddied most of the time makes it even more jarring when Dimitri hears his ghosts, because they’re very clear, and that’s frightening 

Postskip, he becomes very jumpy and easily startled from a combination of his mental state, his hearing loss, and his limited vision

Postwar, as king, he works toward improving quality of life in Faerghus for disabled people because he’s Been Through It himself

[itsmoonpeaches]

Title: Healing Backwards

Made for the Dimileth Winter Gift Exchange @dimilethfever a treat for Nariana! I can finally reveal this with creator reveals!

Rating: T

Word count: 2,911

Summary: A mission that goes wrong reminds Byleth of Jeralt in a way that she was not expecting. Dimitri is there to understand.

Byleth had settled into a routine. Wake up at dawn, freshen up in the bathroom, head to the greenhouse to tend to the seed bulbs she had planted for the month, walk to the mess hall for breakfast, and then prepare for that day’s lecture. If she had time, she would do odd favors in between, even search for lost items if any of her students were missing anything.

If it was a Sunday, she would wake up earlier. She would sit at the end of the dock with her fishing rod and a container of bait at her side, her legs dangling as the tips of her boots skimmed the still waters of the pond. The ripples would roll from where her toes touched the water, creating concentric circles in the shape of a cathedral’s perfect rose window. The sunlight reflected off the surface the same way it would on stained glass, and a myriad of different colors refracted into starbursts.

That morning her routine remained as simple and straightforward as it had been. It was early in Pegasus Moon, the coldest and harshest month of the year. Even in a place milder in climate than Faerghus like Garreg Mach, the snow piled high. The air was chilled with frost, a constant stream of flurries making their way through the winds.

She trudged through the fresh snow that had covered the steps from her quarters, thinking not for the first time that perhaps she should wake a little later just so that the monks had time to shovel out a path. She did her routine, but as it was a weekday, she made her way to the bulletin where Seteth awaited her.

He nodded at her, the bulletin board in the mess hall behind him now plastered with clean parchment and requests. “It seems there is a skirmish in the Airmid River not far from here,” he said, then paused. He scratched at the beard on his chin, his emerald green hair standing out against his pale skin. “Or I should say there is fear of one.”

Continue reading on ao3.

[lumeha]

❤💛💚 for three houses!

❤ : Which character do you think is the most egregiously mischaracterized by the fandom?

... I mean, beside Rhea, because we all know Rhea is my answer for FE3H because god damn it people love to mischaracterise Rhea in all possible ways because she just doesn't deserve to have her full character appreciated ?

.........

Gilbert. Which. I almost said Felix, but you know what, fuck it, it's Gilbert, when people dare to give him any attention, 90% of the time, it's to characterise him solely as a deadbeat dad who doesn't care about his family, and who cares more about Chivalry TM than anything else. And it's just. So fucking frustrating.

Because Gilbert is not just... See, that's the thing, I think Gilbert is an excellent character in the sense that he is, in fact, not just defined by being a parent - he is a father, and the truth is, yeah, he's not a great father, and he knows it. Because he's heavily burdened by guilt. A guilt that comes directly from his own role as a knight who was unable to save his king and his fellow knights. The man, canonically, prays every. evening. in the cathedral. while reciting the names of all the knights who fell during the Tragedy.

He never even pretends that hiding as a knight was a good thing. But he also doesn't ignore that he was in such a place that he found no other escape from his own guilt, to the point it was affecting his relation with his family, and he feels like he doesn't deserve them because they are a good thing in his life and he doesn't deserve good things. THAT is the only reason why it's easy for Gilbert to go help Dimitri and impossible to go up to Annette.

Because Dimitri is duty.

Annette... Annette is not duty. She's important to him, and he loves her, and because he loves her he cannot let himself have her in his life because he feels like he doesn't deserve to have anything positive because he failed his king, failed his duty, and failed his fellow knights. It's the same for his wife.

The man's stuck in a spiral of guilt !!! this isn't about him being deadbeat or prefering Dimitri over his daughter !!!!!! I don't mind when people don't like him because of that but I hate that so many people seem to miss the obvious thing that's at the core of his character !!!

... I didn't expect to say that much about that but you know what fuck it I have feelings about Gilbert lmao

💛: What is a popular ship you just can't get behind, and why?

Edelgard / Byleth

... Mostly because I really didn't like the way Edelgard acted around Byleth in CF, it felt just really kind of. off-putting. Not even talking about how I felt like the game was trying to force my hand with some of the scenes, there's just something I find off about the dynamic in general ^^;

💚: What does everyone else get wrong about your favorite character?

:3c do we have three hours (joking)

Main one that I am forever annoyed that everyone else gets wrong about Rhea is that they somehow miss that... she cares. She cares a lot, actually.

It's not an act. She cares. That's why there's cats and dogs in Garreg Mach, that's why she gives you herbs for your students, that's why she opens the door of Garreg Mach to the Remire refugees, and why so many members of the Church of Seiros have stories about her helping them directly. That's why she transforms into a dragon to save people from the Imperial Army. That's why she gave her blood to save a young Jeralt.

That's why she couldn't bury Sitri. That's why she can accept that Byleth is Byleth, and not an amnesiac Sothis, despite how much she wants that to be the truth. That's why she stopped the Apostles from killing themselves to bring Sothis back.

She's not... someone who doesn't give any thoughts about the people. She's not someone who hates humanity. She cares.

I think that's the biggest thing a lot of people get wrong about her - and the worst part is, I think it would be easy to make the way she cares terrifying, if one wanted to. But they usually don't. It's easier to make her character cold and uncaring.

Except she's not. She's just not an approachable character. But she cares.

[synergysilhouette]

Remaking "Fire Emblem: 3 Houses"

(Spoilers ahead, obviously)

The time has come for another rewrite! I'm an amateur (re)writer, and I KNOW people are gonna be picky about this rewrite since many consider this entry the Holy Grail of the "Fire Emblem" series, but I hope you'll still be open to my changes, anyway! This is purely subjective and not something that reflects the fandom's opinion or me saying how to make the game objectively "better" (even though the term itself is subjective). I don't remember every single aspect of the game, so if I mention something that I wanted from the game that they actually DID do, be sure to mention it!

General

DON'T RUSH US!--From the get-go, you're on a fixed schedule. Once you become a professor, you've got one day out of the week to explore the grounds, fight battles/do paralogues/xenologues, or another activity. Every Monday, you've gotta do instruction for your student, and the other days literally breeze by until you get to your next story arc. Letting us go at our own leisure would be awesome, particularly since it'd give us more time to get to know our characters via more missions and xenologues. Between school and war, it can get a bit monotonous.

2. Give us impactful dialogue options instead of the illusion of choices--I have the same issue with "Pokemon: Mystery Dungeon." Throughout the game, we're given dialogue options, but most of the time the choices are identical or offer no affect other than a character's approval/disapproval. It felt annoying to have the option to tell the Flame Emperor that you'd join them, only for them to say they could tell you were lying. It's annoying stuff like that that makes it feel like you don't really need dialogue options at all, just cutscenes with Byleth speaking for themselves.

3. Those Who Slither in the Dark being keeping us in the loop--It's wild to me that the people who did the most damage are the most underused in the game. Someone said that making their deeds more pronounced/known would ruin the point, but I disagree. In Crimson Flower, their role in the Tragedy of Duscur is revealed, but Edelgard defeats them offscreen before restoring peace. Dimitri never learns the full truth of this in Azure Moon, and if I recall, the organization does get more attention in Silver Snow (for like 2-3 chapters) and Verdant Wind, but I can't recall for certain. Either way, I feel like each route should feel complete, given that you're playing completely different stories, rather than it feeling like you're missing some information depending on the route you play. Not to mention, Kronya deserves better, even if I'm retconning her actions (more on that in a second)...

4. Don't make us forget about marriage--having to find a ring sucks. After Jeralt dies, you have a certain amount of time in order to find his marriage ring (which I completely forgot about in my first playthrough) that you NEED if you want to reach S-supports with anyone. I'd prefer if Jeralt just gave it to Byleth rather than us having to go to his office and find it.

5. Change the confusing Byleth bloodline--I'm fine with Sitri being either Rhea's daughter or (if you wanna romance Rhea and Sothis without ethical concerns) simply working at the church where she met Jeralt. The family tree above makes things a lot more confusing than what it needs to be.

6. Marriage to (mostly) whoever, whenever--In the game, you have to wait until after the war is over to be married, and out of them, you only have 5 romantic same-sex options for female Byleth--2 of which are route-exclusive--and 3 options for male Byleth--2 of which are either DLC or route-exclusive. I'd rather make it a free-for-all, save for Gilbert and Alois, who are married, and should've never prevented you from a romantic relationship with another character.

7. Keep Jeralt alive--I'm just...I'm just TIRED of the "dead parent/evil parent" storyline that "Awakening," "Fates," and "Engage" have done, along with "3 Houses." I'd enjoy having Jeralt kept alive, in this version. Nevermind, this is probably the longest a protagonist has gotten to keep their parent in one of the recent FE games. Having him stand by Byleth similar to "3 Hopes" would be awesome.

8. Let us have Child units--As someone who got into the series via "Fates" and "Awakening," it disappointed me greatly that child units were removed. While I prefer "Fates" using the Deeprealms, I think an "Awakening" approach fits best here. Perhaps Sothis' time manipulation is more powerful than she knows, having sent the child units from the future to avoid their dark fates. Since it's story-related, perhaps it's Byleth's child who comes from the future first, referencing Chrom's daughter Lucina coming to save him and Emmeryn in "Awakening," only the child comes to save Byleth and Jeralt. Personally I made a lsit of fanmade child units almost a year ago.

9. Recruit Jeritzia outside of Crimson Flower--"3 Hopes" allowed us to do so as long as we had Mercedes in one of our routes, and I'm confused on why that couldn't be done here. Recruiting Mercedes would be the wakeup call Jeritzia needs to join our side, rather than being the opposition.

10. Keep Byleth's hair color--This is a nitpick, but I'd like being able to change Byleth's hair color back to the way it was before becoming one with Sothis. I'm fine with keeping the hair color, though.

11. A 3 Houses United Route--I mentioned in another post about a route where Jeralt survived, TWSITD as the main antagonists. What'd make this route unique (since I'd want the other two changes to be changed in all routes) is that the almost-death of Jeralt would inspire Byleth to leave the church and become a mercenary again, only getting involved years later once they see how the war has affected their students, and they can still recruit others based on their stats, and since they're not tied to a particular "side" in this concflict, they could recruit the house leaders and their aides rather than having to kill them.

12. Fix Dimitri's turnaround (Azure Moon)--It's probably just me, but it felt like Dimitri's vengence and sudden change of heart following Rodrigue's death felt...too quick? I know this is a hot take, but I'd have thought Rodrigue's death would've fueled Dimitri's anger. Plus I didn't feel like Dimitri's redemption (so to speak) was earned. It was just kinda "sorry for being a jerk, guys" even though the whole team seemed to back him. I'd have enjoyed seeing more moments of his sanity and morality kick in amidst the chaos rather than being one-track-minded. I feel like a lot of poorly done villain arcs do this (even if he isn't the villain of this route, per se). Since in my rewrite we learn about TWSITD, it's quite possible that Dimitri's anger is focused elsewhere in any case. Maybe Rodrigue didn't even have to die...

13. Utilize 3 Hopes designs--This may not be a popular opinion, but I think some of the characters looked better halfway in 3 Hopes than in 3 Houses. It would be nice to have the option to switch their costumes to their 3 Hopes looks instead (even though I know they're older in the 3 Houses timeskip than they are in 3 Hopes).

14. NO IGNORANT BYLETH--Instead of other installments that use the amnesia subplots, Byleth is simply kept in the dark about their parents' pasts, the world, and the church (which is kinda the same thing). I'd alleviate this entirely so we can have a mature and well-learned protagonist rather than a teacher who's just learning how the world works and about the tension in the land.

Hope you're not too upset with my version of the game! Lemme know what you think and if you have any questions. The next FE rewrite I do (whenever I get around to it) will be "Engage," which is the last FE game I've played.

[emblemxeno]

Someone on reddit is convinced that IS doesn't like it when 3H wins and makes their brave alts boring on purpose.....

Most brave alts aren't that creative. Though some are better than others

If IS didn't like it when 3H wins anything, they wouldn't subtly promote the game winning by having so many banners over the past five years including its cast tbh.

3H is just that predictable when it comes to this stuff.

At risk of sounding like a history revisionist, I argue that after Legendary Edelgard released, it was obvious that the master classes for the lords were gonna be the Braves, and the regular timeskips for Claude and Dimitri were gonna be their legendaries. Lysithea was the sort of wild card, but she was tailor made for Gremory in her game, and was a meme for being Dark Spikes-chan. People had hopes for Marianne, to mixed responses. Byleth was gonna get Sothis because Jeralt's armor being sold on F!Byleth was a tall order and she had already gotten Englightened One. Felix and Bernadetta got their most common master classes now too.

Gatekeeper is the only one where no one could expect what they'd do, because he's barely a character with no playable appearances at that point. Then they just made him look how he always does but with an admittedly creative and cute weapon. But given he hasn't had anything since despite being a winner? He's probably the only evidence of IS being "resentful" of something 3H related (though being honest, that might have more to do with Eirika and ESPECIALLY Marth coming second to non-main characters than actual anti 3H hate).

Being fair though, 3H isn't the only kind of predictable in this case. Once CYL first started, it was expected that characters would get clothes and weapons from dead fathers/parents/relatives in some way, but it's been hit or miss since then. Soren getting the standard Archsage outfit being an example of this, cuz even though he looks swanky, it's not the peak of creativity either. But that was also the same year where Robin got an outfit pulled completely out of thin air, sooo.... yeah it's hit and miss.

[iusedtohavesixtoes]

A heart to heart between father and daughter, in chapter two of Flicker.

Still working on it, but I love them.

A snippet under the cut.

ko-fi

Jeralt’s voice steadily became thick, memories clogging up the breath in his lungs. He even had to clear his throat as he held her gaze. “Her small gasps when a cat chose her to run his side on. The way she hummed when I brought her a flower or some small thing from a mission. Her relief when she would see me again after being away.” He sighed.

These stories would end sadly by death and a fire, then slowly turn into an old man’s tale. Byleth could tell Jeralt was getting too sentimental even for himself. The way he wrapped his hand around his mug let her know he was ready to knock the alcohol back and possibly get something stronger to chase it. So before he could drown, she placed her hand over his. Her father looked over at her, brow raised in a sort of sad amusement. She let herself smile again, small, and he still looked surprised when she did. Like he had never seen it before.

Though she had to remind herself that this was a new version of herself. She leaned in close, and Jeralt followed. “It’s okay to miss her,” she said into the din.

And though this wasn’t like Byleth at all, not in the last twenty years, Jeralt didn’t pull away. He laid his other hand on top, fingers pulling her own together with his. Calluses against calluses. He breathed in deep and let it out. “I know.”

[fantasyinvader]

This is for all my amigos sick with “FE is always about how dragons are bad.”

Rhea, in Japan, has the title of “White One.” Her attacks in dragon form are called Hoarfrost and Aurora, and the route where you romance her is called Silver SNOW. Rhea is an ice dragon, and a Nabatean.

Where have we seen Nabatea and an ice dragon before? Blazing Blade where Ninian's death is a “what have I done?” moment. Now look at Rhea's deaths. In Silver Snow, the battle against her is accompanied by the somber Funeral For Flowers, portraying what is happening as a tragedy. In Verdant Wind, she dies because she sacrifices herself tanking nukes to save the party. But in Flower? Her death is accompanied by EDELGARD's final boss theme Apex of the World. Rhea possibly dying in SS is meant to be sad, and in Flower the music is telling us she isn't the real final boss. Killing her there is a moment where the player is screwing up, doing something they can't undo.

But then look at the legendary weapons in Elibe. They were made by humans to kill dragons, doing untold damage to the world which the humans blamed the dragons. It also goes into how it was humans who started the war, launching an attack on those they had previously lived with but then made themselves out as heroes. In Elibe, Nabatea is the last place where dragons live after fleeing to other worlds, where they live alongside humans.

Likewise, there's an element of an interspecies romance. Eliwood's favored wife is Ninian, which would make Roy 1/4 dragon. Romancing Rhea is exclusive to Silver Snow, and she's the only one exclusive to that route. There's also the Jeralt/Sitri romance. But when you think about it as well, Hartmut was the founder of Bern and who found out his wife was a dragon and sealed her with their son believing he couldn't be with them considering what he had done (it may be that while he ended the war, he didn't start it). You then look a Wilhelm and Seiros, portrayed as lovers in a play, House Hresvelg claims descent from both of them, and Wilhelm left Fodlan to wander with Seiros with Rhea missing him over a thousand years later. Whereas Roy would go on to use the Binding Blade to try and make a world where humans and manaketes live together, Edelgard would become the Flame Emperor insistent on getting rid of all beasts. While both believe in humanity, Roy is forced to confront the worst of it both in his enemies, who ironically wants to give the world to the dragons because of the humans are bastards trope, as well as the history of the champions, while Edelgard aligns with the worst of humanity in committing genocide because it would give her power.

The golden ending of Binding Blade is about coexistence, Flower's ending is about wiping out everyone who opposes Edelgard. And in terms of design, Edelgard is supposed to be based on previous conqueror villains in the FE franchise. If Edelgard is based on the people you fight against in FE games, then those games don't support her views.

[sheikahwarriork]

Got a prompt for you

Dimileth Post-Timeskip pre-Gronder unplanned pregnancy

(thank you so much anon, i had so much fun writing this!! hope you enjoy it too :3 <3)

wordcount: 1.2k

“Fuck!”

“… Fuck indeed”.

Byleth looked up at Mercedes, biting her lips. “What the fuck am I supposed to do now?!”

Mercedes sighed, visibly worried for her professor. “I think… you should at least tell him, professor. The final choice is entirely yours, of course, but he has to know”. She hesitated. “He needs to know”.

Byleth lowered her gaze. “Sadly, I think you’re right”.

The former mercenary was standing in front of the Cathedral, unable to step inside. She caressed her belly almost unconsciously. ‘You’re not a mistake. I just… I'd rather prefer you not to meet your father when he’s… like that’.

The belly didn’t respond.

Byleth was angry. Furious. She had never felt such rage, not even to Kronya the day Jeralt died. And the worst part? She didn’t even know who exactly this rage was for. Herself? Maybe. Destiny? Not exactly; destiny was Sothis, and Sothis was long gone. Him? Well, yes, of course; but not only. Biology? That one, too. Maybe especially it.

Byleth’s gaze wandered inside the Cathedral, immediately recognizing his figure, standing in front of the old Goddess statue, as he did every single fucking day since they reunited.

Okay, maybe that anger was totally for Dimitri. What did he do, since she woke up, since she found him? Kill, talk to the dead; kill, argue with Byleth; kill; and kiss her. He kissed her. He fucking kissed her. That damn bastard, who once was so afraid of his feelings he even took back his love confession, had the gall to grab her and kiss her like she was water and he was lost in a desert. He kissed her at the worst time possible because she had waited for it for so long, and that wasn’t the right time. She had kissed him back. Byleth missed her Dimitri; missed the sweet prince, missed the caring student, missed her kind friend. She shouldn’t have kissed him back. She should have scolded him, have stepped back. That… that wasn’t her Dimitri. Her lips weren’t for that… not-Dimitri. She should have gone away. She hadn’t, of course, because when Dimitri’s hungry lips captured hers, she felt… desire. Longing. Fire; a burning sensation she thought would kill her instantly. It hadn’t. She indulged in the fire, she lost herself in that fire. She was fire; she had been since the beginning.

Byleth shook her head; it was pointless to think about… that. What is done is done.

She stepped inside the Cathedral; he didn’t turn to her, his shoulders startled slightly, the only sign he noticed her presence.

Oh, the anger was back. Like a tsunami. “Oi, asshole!” Byleth shouted, unable to stop herself. “I have something important to tell you, so at least, look at me”.

Dimitri hesitated for a moment, but apparently something in Byleth’s tone caught his curiosity, since he did turn to her. He just shot her a vague questioning glare.

Byleth sighed. She thought about the advice Mercedes gave her, about what to tell him, how to tell him—

“I’m pregnant”.

It didn’t go exactly as planned.

Dimitri’s eyes widened, the hand holding Areadbhar twitched. He didn’t say anything, just looked at her for forty seconds straight.

“… Who”, he eventually said.

Byleth furrowed. “What?!”

“Who dared touch you”, Dimitri growled, his voice raising in tone.

Byleth blinked a few times. “What the hell do you mean”.

Dimitri was getting closer; he stopped a few inches from Byleth’s face.

“I’ll kill them. I’ll kill whoever dared to touch you, no, whoever dares to even look at you—”

‘Oh… oh heavens, no. He can’t be that dumb, can he?’

“What are you talking about?”

“… The baby’s father, of course”, he hissed, visibly annoyed. “Who is he”. Dimitri looked away, almost as if he was unable to hold her gaze. Almost as if he feared the answer.

‘Oh. He is that dumb’.

“Who do you think he is?” Byleth asked, almost casually. He was going to pay for his dumbness, and she deserved some fun.

Dimitri turned to her, anger in his eyes. “Don’t tease me, you! Tell me who dared touch my—”

“‘Your’ what? Am I yours now?” Byleth interrupted him, folding her arms, holding his gaze.

Dimitri gasped and fell silent. Byleth, still looking him in the eye, grabbed his hand and placed it on her belly.

“This is yours. This— is ours”. ‘You dumbass’, she also thought, but decided to keep it to herself.

Dimitri’s eyes went from their joined hands to her face, looking at her in disbelief.

“Keep in mind—I’m not asking you for help or… or opinions. I don’t need them and don’t care about them. I’m just telling you because you have the right to know—”

Byleth stopped talking when Dimitri suddenly dropped to his knees, their joined hands still placed on Byleth’s belly. It took her a few seconds to notice he was sobbing. Desperately sobbing.

“I’m sorry”, Dimitri was mumbling. “I’m so sorry”.

Yes, Byleth was generally angry with him, but she didn’t hate him. Quite the opposite, in fact. That’s why she yielded and took his face in her hands, looking at him. “Why are you apologizing, Dimitri?” she asked softly.

Dimitri startled, as he did every time Byleth called him by his name. He tried to turn away, but Byleth kept holding him, looking him in the eye. “Answer me”, she demanded.

“I…” Dimitri gasped, searching for words. “Your… child… deserves a better father. A better person. All I know how to do is kill… I have to… They… are telling me this is wrong; I do not have the right—”

“Dimitri”, Byleth interrupted firmly. “A soon-to-be-human is growing inside me. A child will be born. I will be their mother, you will be their father. Now, tell me. Who is more important? The long-gone ones, or the coming ones? Who do you want to dedicate your life to? What, who does your life belong to?”

Dimitri’s eyes were shut, tears along his cheeks. “I… want… it to be yours. Both of you”. His eyes opened. “But, tell me, professor... Please, Byleth, tell me... How do I silence their desperate pleas? How do I... How do I save them? Ever since that day nine years ago... I have lived only to avenge the fallen… How could I be a fitting father for a small creature if I can’t even please those that are already here…”

“Those are not here, Dimitri”, Byleth whispered, her forehead touching his. “But I’m here, and they… they will be soon”, she added, bringing his hand back to her belly. “You just need to choose. Not necessarily now. I’ll… wait for you; I’ll always wait for you.” Her vision was blurred. Was she crying too? ‘I miss you, Dimitri. I miss you so much. Please, don’t leave me alone anymore…’

She would wait until the end of time, if needed, to have a glimpse of her Dimitri back. She knew it, and it hurt. Because she was aware she’d never stop loving him. And, sometimes, to love means to wait. And, often, waiting is painful.

Lost in her tears, she didn’t immediately notice Dimitri’s hands softly caressing her cheeks. When she did, she opened her eyes to meet Dimitri’s resolute gaze. “And I’ll always choose you, my beloved.”

[onyxedskies]

ooo please tell me about savina!!!!!

AH OK

so

i made her when i was like 13 so i have a ton of lore for her so this might take a moment to sort out

she’s ingrid’s cousin on her dad’s side, making her a lady in some fairly small capacity. however, she was the second crestless child of a second crestless child, so her role as nobility is greatly diminished. she knew that, but she still wanted to make a difference to the common people; so, with her 15 year old brain, she decided that running away around the same time glenn became a knight to become a mercenary was the perfect way to help her people, as she sent the vast majority of her funds back to galatea territory in one way or another under a pseudonym.

and then she got hired by lord arundel.

she wasn’t told the nature of the job until she arrived. she was told to go to duscur to kill a “corrupt knight”—she knew there were plenty of those, so she didn’t question it until she actually arrived at duscur in the midst of the tragedy. she saw glenn shoving little dimitri into gilbert’s arms before running back into the chaos, and so she followed him. i have two ideas of how her story goes, one where she saves him and another where she doesn’t, but i’ve been thinking about him lately so we’ll go with the one where she does.

she manages to pull him out of the fire and heal him with the concoctions she had on hand and the minimally-better-than-elementary understanding of healing magic she had, but he was still incredibly wounded and, when he woke up, was missing his memory, not recognizing her or any of the things she tried to do to fix his amnesia. as he healed, it became clear he retained his sword prowess, and so he joined her in her mercenary endeavors until they eventually met the savage mockingbird on a job in adrestia around a year and a half after the tragedy.

they kept meeting the savage mockingbird, who eventually joined up with them. he disappeared for a while, eventually joining them again and leading them to abyss to set up home base there. he introduced himself as yuri, and savina introduced herself by name instead of the nickname “black sky”, which she had received for her use of thunder magic.

i am running out of time cause i have to get ready for an event but yuri and savina do eventually date and are an established relationship by the time canon starts. however, she and glenn are on a mission regarding their eventual goal of revealing arundel for his part in the tragedy, and thus do not meet the students and all them between chapters 4 and 5 when the dlc actually occurs. instead, they are met in chapter 10 (i think it’s 10), where savina stops kronya from killing jeralt.

i might be writing a fic about her i haven’t decided yet we shall see hehe

[calamitaswrath]

Cal Lucia plays Fire Emblem Path of Radiance: Chapter 8

Just two stray thoughts before I get to the actual chapter - one, for as much as I enjoy the game overall thus far, I have to say that music isn't really all that remarkable. The track that plays on certain maps when they are almost cleared is nice, but it's the only song I really enjoy (which is probably not surprising given that it also made it into Smash). The track that plays when Daein generals like Petrine are on screen meanwhile is just. . . silly.

Not to constantly compare the game to the modern FEs, but with Greil in particular, I feel there's def a comparison to be made with Jeralt in Three Houses. To be more precise, I just feel that Greil's death has more weight to it since the first seven chapters (plus prologue) of the game really took their time to not only set him up, but also his connection to the mercenaries, and how they play off of him. Jeralt, by contrast. . . he doesn't really interact that much with anybody, and since Byleth is functionally mute in 3H, the impact of his death solely hinges on the connection the player forms with him. It really works just better in PoR, and not just because Ike isn't mute.

Ouh, case in point! A flashback (that seems to take place in the exact spote where Greil got killed), a CG illustration of Ike and Mist at the tombstone. . . that's the good stuff.

Ahhhhh and Titania putting her own grief aside the moment she notices Ike showing up! Ike apologizing to her and Soren, thanking them for sticking with him!

And exit Shinon and Gatrie. Shinon was just about expected, but I am lowkey surprised that Gatrie left with him. From a gameplay perspective I can understand it, since he also was a pre-promote, but from his writing, he always seemed more onboard with Ike than Shinon did. But then again, given the 🏳️‍🌈 vibes between them. . .

Oh, the way Ike assumes responsibility. . . it definitely reminds me of Chrom taking over as exalt in Awakening. And, given that Ike doesn't have to share the protag status with two other characters, I hope that unlike Awakening, this gets properly resolved and developed

Soren is pretty humble here, huh? That's some of the basis for their chemistry then, I take it

Ahh, finally stuff like the convoy, buying items and supports get introduced. . . really rather late for my liking, but at least it neatly ties into the story here

Only got one support unlocked so far, which is the C support between Ike and Oscar. Good found family content in that one, though! And lol @ Mist's cooking.

"Info". . .? Not quite sure what to make of that menu point. But Aimee and Muston! I've definitely seen Aimee before, in one of those "Ike doesn't care about affection from women" posts. I'll gladly take her affection though

Jorge and Daniel. I have no comment. ...No, literally. They don't stand out enough in any way

Huh. . . the more I look at it. . . is this "Info" point just little bonus scenes? Just saw Titania's. . . woof. That's good content.

Ahh, bonus experience! I've heard a bit about that gameplay mechanic. . . and also already learned that I missed out on a lot on that escape map when I had Ike escape first. I hope that future chapters actually tell you what these bonus objectives are. . .

I levelled up Mia once with this and she got stats on everything except for resistence???

Well, doesn't that just look like another defend map!

Mist's medallion is glowing again. How unimportant.

Why, an enemy unit who's a cute girl and not the boss? She's definitely not important.

Three clear chokepoints, and enemies that just approach you one after another. Pretty doable. The cleric with the fire jewel tried to escape, but I managed to track him down with Titania and get the thing.

Mist talking about wanting to die alongside Ike?? Holy shit, that's dark

Oh my. Big buff cat man Mordecai. . . I remember a post about somebody wanting to fuck him, and then needing to clarify that they didn't mean a cartoon bird by the same name

Lethe! Honestly surprised that it took this long for them to introduce a catgirl. And she doesn't immediately trust Ike and the others. . . that's neat.

Ah. Soren does a racism. I did wonder why he's more divisive among some people, so I guess that'd do it

You know, for how antagonist Lethe was just a moment ago, she did calm down very quickly here, mission or not