#and Miklan’s childhoods

[callmewishful]

Woke up thinking about dilfs today. Here’s the results of the days work:

It’s no secret that Lambert’s political ideas were…ambitious. And that’s not a bad thing - I think he really wanted to better Faerghus and that his policies were truly for the good of his people.

However, it is also no secret that the western lords were…hesitant. And it’s also no secret that Rodrigue knew this and worried about it more than Lambert did.

So how much time do y���all think Rodrigue spent chasing after Lambert trying to rein him in?

And thus, how much time do you think Matthias spent holding down eastern Faerghus while Lambert charged towards a new future and Rodrigue tried to temper him? How much time did he spend helping in territories so Rodrigue could spend time in Fhirdiad trying to tell Lambert to ease into things instead of charging into them head first? (And this is absolutely no hate to Papa Roddy - I love him and he’s such a good guy and believe me when I say he was doing the Goddess’s work trying to keep Lambert from charging off a cliff; he had decisions to make for the good of Faerghus too and this was one of them)

Rodrigue and Matthias play those roles in Houses though; Rodrigue goes in search of Dimitri while Matthias holds down the fort. To me it doesn’t seem far off that the same thing was true earlier in life.

In addition to that, we know there were two plagues in Faerghus - one Matthias sent his wife up north for and one that killed Dimitri’s mother. We know they had the large Sreng campaign where Rodrigue saved Lambert, that Matthias had Leif for a while, that Duscur occurred, and that Faerghus was utterly destroyed afterwards….

We know Matthias is a margrave before anything else, for better or worse depending on perspective (mostly worse than better). But how many times do you think duty took Matthias away from the boys? How many times did he look up and yet another day was long gone? How many times did he sacrifice today in hopes for a better tomorrow?

I’ve never said Matthias is winning any awards for his parenting, but I often wonder how things like this played a part in it.

[sleepy-bear-tm]

Dimitri in Three Hopes watching Edelgard and Claude radically change their countries in Fodlan while his hands are tied with having to protect the church

[fodlanficdotcom]

Chapter 5 of my sylvix fic: posted. I should: be asleep.

[azzydoesntexist]

Gautier family week day 4! I went with childhood and lil baby Miklan with his mother, Leni, and father Mattias.

[lapinbunwrites]

So apparently there is @fe-oc-week going rn and I almost missed it! So I am going to clump as many of the prompts as I can.

Day 1: Introductions

Her name is Elena von Riegan! The illegitimate daughter of Godfrey von Riegan and his mistress Setsuna. She was born in the year of 1153. When she was about six years old, her and her mother left the Leicester Alliance to get to another country, but they end up in Fraldarius territory where they stayed. When the plague hit, it took her mother, leaving her by herself with no family left to speak of. She is a dark flier and her pegasus was a gift from Lambert and was once his first wife's pegasus.

Elena is very energetic, cunning, and stubborn. She loves her pegasus, dancing, singing, purple butterflies, rose acacia flowers. spicy food. Here interests includes learning new tactics, exploring, new training styles, and scheming. She does not like her father, disorganization, heat, and swimming. Elena is one year younger than Glenn and she is 9 years older than Felix.

Day 2: Relationships

She was part of the next generation of Faerghun four which includes Glenn Govan Fraldarius, Colby Frey Galatea, and Miklan Anschutz Gautier.

Glenn: Her childhood friend who she bonded with instantly. Over the course of their lives, they became best friends and did everything with. Eventually the two did fall in love with each other, but never acted on it because of Glenn's betrothal to Ingrid. She is the one that Glenn trusts the most.

Colby: They are very close and are childhood friends. They are pure chaos with each other and have zero braincells when they are around each other. They do care about each other deeply and Colby trust her to the point that he told her that she is a trans woman and wants to go by Astrid instead of Colby.

Miklan: The two used to be so close, like brother and sister, and did everything together. They both trained in axes and war tactics under Matthias and magic under Miklan's mother, Raven. They always competed with each other to see who was best. Elena always won. But with the birth of Sylvain, that's when their relationship broke. They constantly fought and she did everything she could to protect Sylvain from Miklan's terrible behavior. With the way Miklan treated his younger brother, she lost all feelings towards him and felt relief when he left/died.

Holst: They are friendly with each other and get along very well. They usually train with each other or have a little tea party to catch up on life since they don't see each other all that often. Sometimes they are at odds with each other, but usually they come to an agreement.

Balthus: As much as Elena likes Balthus, she gets very frustrated with Balthus. Most of her frustrations come from cleaning up his mess with Holst. She constantly questions their friendship and wonders how is still alive most of the time.

Claude: Elena cares for Claude so very much. Whenever they are around each other, they get into so much trouble and have so much fun. They pull multiple pranks on people, especially on the Gloucester family. They constantly give Judith and Nader heart-attacks. Elena also is very motherly towards Claude.

Godfrey: Elena despises her father and can't stand him. She went no contact with him after her and her mother left Riegan Territory. From what she remembers of him, she didn't feel like he cared for her or her mother. She also felt like she was like she was never meant to exist and that she was a plight on the Riegan name. So she never cared to keep in contact with her father when she got older.

Amelia: Elena always felt loved from Duchess Fraldarius, as she was the daughter Amelia never got. The two of them are very close, and they treat each other with a lot of respect.

Rodrigue: Rodrigue is like a father to Elena. He treats her with such kindness, softness, and gentleness. If she had any opinion on how a father should be, it would be Rodrigue. He trusts her with a lot of information and has her as his advisory, not only for him, but for his wife and his son Glenn.

Lambert and Aisla: Elena is like a daughter that they never had. They are like a third family to her. They care for each other deeply and trust her with so much.

Dimitri: Elena is like an older sister Dimitri and one of his closest friends. She would do anything to protect him, even at the cost of her life and in turn he would do the same. She believes in him and the future he wants to create. She is also very motherly towards him.

Ingrid: Elena and Ingrid don't get along with each other at all. She wanted to befriend her and be nice to her for Glenn's sake and because she would become Ingrid's advisor in the event she becomes the next Duchess Fraldarius. But that always failed with Ingrid's jealousy and hatred towards her. Elena does everything possible to avoid Ingrid.

Day 3: Backstory

Elena was born the only, and illegitimate, daughter of Godfrey von Riegan and his mistress Setsuna. She is also the niece of Tiana von Riegan and cousin to Claude von Riegan.

Setsuna's and Godfrey's relationship was kept in secret, and when Elena was born, her existence was also kept as a secret. Shortly after Godfrey's relationship and daughter found out, Setsuna feared the worst for her and her child, she took Elena and left the Alliance Territory. Setsuna fled towards Duscur in hopes of saving Elena from her family and all the backlash.

On their way to Duscur, they ended up in Fraldarius, only hoping to stay the night. While they were there, Elena befriended Glenn instantly. After that, they stayed there. Setsuna became an advisor to Duchess Fraldarius, Amelia and Elena enjoyed her childhood in Fraldarius.

Because of her mother constantly traveling, Elena was able to befriend Colby/Astrid Frey Galatea and Miklan Anschutz Gautier. She was able to train in axe and tactics under Matthias and reason magic under his wife, Raven. She would also travel with Amelia and Glenn to the Alliance Territory, where Elena was able meet Balthus and Holst.

With her friendship with Glenn and the Fraldarius family, she grew close to the Blaiddyd family. She learned how to hunt, ride a pegasus, and light magic because of the Queen Consort, Seraphina. Once Seraphina passed away, Lambert gifted Elena with his wife's pegasus because he knew no one would be able to ride her and Elena would be able to take care of her.

Growing up with Glenn, she fell in love with him. He was always so kind, so gentle with her, and he gave her all of his trust. They always confided in each other. As they grew, it always pained her that he would end up with Ingrid to the point where she debated leaving the Fraldarius family. She stayed anyways with the family, coming to the conclusion that she was content being with Glenn even if he was going to marry Ingrid.

Much to her delight, Glenn decided that after his travels to Duscur, he would end his betrothal to Ingrid and truly start his relationship with Elena.

Day 4: Tragedy

Elena was cleaning some rooms in Castle Fraldarius for when Lambert, Matthias, and a few other visitors came for some business. While she did that, she found a notebook that belonged to Lambert's first wife. While she read through it, she thought it would be best if he saw it because it had some incriminating info about Rufus and what his plans were for the throne. When she went up to Fhridiad to discuss negotiations with Duscur, she forgot the notebook and Lambert, Glenn, and the small army to wait a couple days. If she wasn't back from Fraldarius with the notebook, to go ahead and leave without her.

When she was on her way back to Fhridiad, she was ambushed by the TWISTED. She fought off as many as she could, but she wasn't able to survive the attack. She ultimately died along with her pegasus. In her last moments, she wished Glenn all the happiness in the world and hopefully he loves someone as much as he loved her. Her body was taken back to Fraldarius Castle where she had a proper funeral. Her pegasus was taken back to Fhridiad to have a proper send off of her own.

Day 5: Joy

In another world, she gets to Fhridiad in time and saves her life and the life of many, including Glenn's and Lambert's. Because of this, Glenn was able to call of his betrothal to Ingrid and they began to date, eventually getting married. They ended up having two children, Akari and Hotaru. They had Akari when Felix went to the academy, right around the time he receives the Aegis shield. Then they had Hotaru during the five year war.

Day 7: Endings

She will only have one canon ending and that will be with Glenn.

"After the war had ended, Elena went back to House Fraldarius with her beloved husband. Both Glenn and Elena rebuilt and restored Fraldarius Territory to its former glory, even making it better than the previous Duke and Duchess. It was often said that the Duke and Duchess spent much time in the kitchen with their children, filling the castle with laughter and celebrations. The recipes that they had, were passed down from generation to generation and became pillars of what food that started a culinary revolution, setting a new trend in the culinary world."

[yanderefairyangel]

" a game that keeps making fun of the traumatic experience of their character and their ptsd" wait, what do you mean by that ?

3H like every FE game ever has a cast adapting Fe archetype and having their quirks, but the game links those quirks to a traumatic back story. Clever idea at first, but when you think about it the whole thing falls flat.

The biggest victim of that kind of writing is Bernadetta. The reason why she is antisocial and scared of everything is because of what her father did to her. That's how the game explains her quirk meaning all of this is PTSD.... and guess what the game does with it ?

"Oh look Bernie is scared of strangers ! Oh look she is so antisocial she is thinking of killing Sylvain !! Oh look she keeps screaming around and doesn't want to fight or go outside !! Isn't she funny ? Wanna know why she is like this ? It's because her father tried to turn her into the perfect bride and forced her to stay in her room, tying her to a chair and forcing her to remain submissive for hours and even forbade her from having commoner friends !!! Haha, why aren't you laughing ?"

This creates a cognative dissonance between what the story is telling me (Bernie's behaviour is a result of trauma I am clearly supposed to feel bad for her) and what it is showing me (that Bernie's behaviour is played for comedic effect). I am supposed to feel bad for her but at the same time the story makes fun of what is supposed to be the result of severe PTSD... huhum

And I am not saying you can't have a character whose trauma exist solely for comedy. In Pandora Hearts, Gilbert Nightray is scared of cats and it's played for comedy, but this doesn't invalidate his trauma has a whole because the author never tried to treat this particular element as something that should be taken seriously, in fact it is never revealed why he is scared of cat. The rest of his past his taken seriously and the story never makes fun of the rest of his traumatic experience and what result of it.

With Bernie however, they want to make a comical quirck the result of a dark backstory... which is like the story making fun of the character's own traumatic experiences and as someone who genuinely like Bernie, I don't like what they did to her.

Another victim of this is Sylvain. He is the Sain archetype, a womanizer. But the reason why he is doing it is because he hates how woman are interested in him for nothing but his crest, the reason why his older brother Miklan hated him and beat him up. What does the game do with this ? "Oh look, you see this guy who flirts with woman has a coping way for hating crest ? He tried to hit on Ingrid's granny when he was 8 !!! Haha !!! Oh look, he also tried to hit on several girls !!! haha!! Oh look you can recruit him for free as F!Byleth and he will leave all his childhood friends to join you even if he (and byleth too as a matter of fact) doesn't know a war is soon to happen !!! Haha, laugh, why aren't you laughing ?!"

So at the end I don't know whether or not I can take their backstory seriously or not. I am supposed to, but what result of said backstory is played for laugh.

[gauldheri]

[ 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐬 ] : after being misinformed that the sender has died, receiver is grieving. (ehehehe)

vague spoilers for the timeskip of azure moon ahead!

Sylvain isn't sure how long he's been stood out here. He should go back, he has to go back. They need him to be strong for them. He isn't sure he can be.

He isn't sure he feels anything beyond nausea in the pit of his stomach. Loss has haunted them for so very long. Perhaps Sylvain's heart has simply lost the ability to shatter like glass. Tears frozen like snow in the distant past.

Yet even the birds sing a melancholic elegy for the lost prince. Even the skies weep, not tears but blades of ice. It's almost summertime. The earth itself grieves and yet Sylvain finds he cannot. He lifts his hands to eye level, flexes the muscles and breathes in the frigid, numbing air. His eyes sting, not from unshed tears at the loss of a childhood friend but from the brutal chill of the wind out in the woods outside a home he no longer recognises.

He cannot go back. He cannot move forward. He can only breathe, painfully aware of the life still running through his veins, beating in his chest. A life he does not deserve, not now. Not after failing his prince, his friend, his brother--

It was easier to weep for Miklan. Cruel, abrasive and jealous Miklan, who had it coming all along. Earned his fate, spilled in blood and rage and broken teeth clinging to Sylvain's limbs like a feral animal that still refuses to let go. It was easier to accept that Miklan had met his end.

Sylvain is too old and too jaded to dare deny Dimitri's demise but maybe he's also too wounded to accepted it. Stunned in silence and in place, face battered by hailstones, wondering why those damn birds don't take shelter. Why they choose to taunt him instead with their mournful funeral dirge.

Sylvain stares at the skies, as if they'll swallow him too. He can't go back, but he knows not how to move forward, either.

[alienducky]

I DEMAND THAT YOU TELL ME ABOUT YOUR BLORBOS (if you want)

So I had to double check what Blorbo means, and apparently it means your favourite character? In which case may I present a good % of the FE3H cast? ;P

I just... I love most of the students in different ways for different things?

Claude is just... Claude. He has so many layers to him, being both incredibly simple (in terms of what he ultimately wants) and also stupidly complex (in how he goes about getting those things)? He wants to make connections, make friends, bring everyone together, but has been burned too many times while growing up to ever really trust anyone. He's always waiting for the other shoe to drop, for that knife to land in his back. His closest friend is Hilda who openly shits on Almyra because she's a casual racist, and that has to kill him on some level, wondering what she'd say about him if she knew, and yet she's still his best friend who he openly mourns when she goes down fighting for him? Who he can't stand the thought of losing in Hopes? He has to be in charge, of everything. Has to know all the details, make all the plans. And then makes plans for in case the first ones fail. He never stops thinking, calculating, digging up all the information available, because knowledge is power. Not just for blackmail, but because understanding your opponent means you can predict them.

Claude's just great, and I could pick him apart for hours.

Also? He has a wyvern. So, ya know. I'm very simple and predictable, ok?

I also love Leonie. She's solid, very open and honest. Kinda stubborn, but open to learning and can admit when she's wrong. Puts Lorenz in his place which is always a bonus. I want her to be my friend!

Same with Raphael and Caspar to some degree. Caspar is a little less willing to the whole learning thing, but with enough rope to tie him to the chair so he can't run away I think he'd eventually listen? Raph sees the good in everyone and everything, always willing to help, and stands up for his beliefs. They're muscle heads, but fundamentally kind people who deserve way more love than they get

Marianne is a peach who straight up talks to animals! Hilda is a riot when she pulls her head out her racist ass who has way more depth than she lets on, with the whole loyalty till death thing, and her creative side with the jewellery. I want to tease Lysithea like Claude does and feed her cake and sweets while we discuss magic. Ignatz is doing his best and the flashes of backbone he shows in early supports are amazing

Annette and Ashe are wonderful and deserve all the best things in life. Two little cinnamon rolls trying to make the best of their monuments of childhood trauma

Sylvain is.... Um. Ok, he's kinda an ass sometimes, and if he were real I'd probably hate him, but the snippets of who he could have been without all that Miklan and crest trauma? That version of him I love. The one who goes all out for his friends, who is a self sacrificing moron who hurts himself over and over because he somehow thinks it'll make things better? The one who cares so, so deeply when he lets himself, despite trying to push everyone away and keep them at arm's reach so they can't hurt him first. The version of him who is loyal to a fault, through thick and thin, and who is forever torn and on some level broken in non Blue Lion routes.

That Sylvain I love. The one behind the smiling playboy mask he shows the world.

Petra is a Bean. A Very Good Bean. She deserves all the love and kindness and all the help she wants tracking down the bastards who dragged her from her home and then made fun of her being dumped in a completely alien society. She is so damn strong, both physically (srsly she's been a crit machine in every playthrough it's insane) and mentally, I don't have the words

Thea is great in every way. She's kind and compassionate and is lethal with her snark. I want her to adopt me as her little sister and teach me her ways

Bernie needs a hug. And also all the help she wants disposing of her father because I know she's creative herself but I have some ideas if she wants them? Despite how much she wants to hide, and complains about being made to go out, she does go out to help her friends when they need her

Cyril is amazing. I love him to bits. Absolutely no fucks left to give for Hilda's bullshit. Slowly learning how to have friends. Learning to rely on people other than Rhea. He's wonderful and adorable and he'd hate me for it but I want to ruffle his hair and help him with his chores and make sure he's not getting blisters and feed him tasty Almyran food coz I bet he misses it, even if he won't admit it.

Shamir is everything I wanted to be growing up. No nonsense, take no shit, super smart, stealthy, and an archer??? She's great. I need that Marge Simpson meme

Seteth is fantastic, because once you get past that straight faced rules lawyer, he has a wicked sense of humour and a playful side and is such a dad. He's kind and caring, and he honestly does care, even if he shows it oddly

Byleth is whatever I want them to be. Blank slate, who nevertheless loves the people they pick in each route. Fierce and loyal and loving and struggling to express barely understood emotions... And putting up with Sothis being a gremlin

And then omg, Shez. Shez Shez Shez. The embodiment of no thoughts head empty. No filter, at all. Jumps off fucking cliffs for funsies. Multiple times!!!!! I just. I love Shez, ok? I am in desperate need of Shez merch, and Etsy is failing me. All I can find is the occasional sticker and I am a very sad Duckie about it

Ahem

Non FE3H is a little difficult... Mostly because 3H is my current obsession, but I guess...

Arlo and Oaks, from My Time at Portia are great? Arlo eats spaghetti, kicks down doors, and gets sweaty in the summer. Oaks is the Best Bear Boy Bean in the world. Shame the Devs dropped the ball on developing him, or giving him a decent backstory (I have so, so many questions about how he was raised)

Also, probably don't count, but the Cotton Llamas and Panbats. They are my Blorbos too. I need to finish making my third Panbat... As soon as I work out where I stashed it <__<;;;

Dys from I Was A Teenage Exocolonist is great! Little rebel baby. Also Sym, who is... Not really someone you can sum up easily? Cal is also great! I need to get back to playing this game, so I can romance him. Or not, because I want him to be happy with Tammy... Nngh

I think that's everyone I'd consider a Blorbo...? I mean, I love a bunch of other characters from different things, but none I've got out of my way to buy merch for like I have Claude (and the other students to some extent. Looking at my sticker covered table).

Sorry that got so long >__<;;;

[callmewishful]

Not me writing a different ending to my story because I have regrets and so many ideas in my head.

Featuring Matthias’s siblings?? I think yes

[millicent-dagworth]

Bronze Bell Character Bio's

These are meant to be just quick overview of the changes to their personalities and backstories. Since we're only swapping the lords, this does mean that a number of characters don't have any changes but are still added so we don't forget anyone.

Mercenaries

Byleth: chooses Golden Deer.

Beles: chooses Black Eagles. The sword of the Creator stays with her during the time skip.

Jeralt: still dies.

Chez: The cool aunt/uncle figure that steps up to lead the group after Jeralt’s death and the twins' disappearance. 

Blue Lions/Kingdom

Dimitri: (Claude) The Tragedy of Duscur never happens, his father never remarries. Dimitri has a lot of pressure on him as the next king. But his father does die during the time-skip due to sickness. He lost his left eye during an assassination attempt after his coronation.

Dedue: Becomes besties with Dimitri via diplomatic relations between their fathers.

Dusan: Close friends with both Dedue and Dimitri. Childhood friends with Ashe. Captain of the Royal Guard in Duscur. Happier and still has his parents and siblings, who are both successful in their own fields. He's tortured and experimented on by TWSITD during the 5-year gap and given an unstable version of the Crest of Ernest. Parents both pass over those 5 years due to old age, but both siblings are still alive.

Sylvain: No change.

Felix: Still friends with Dimitri and broody but does have healthier coping mechanisms.

Ingrid: Happier, but still as strict. Still engaged with Glenn

Ashe: Not really changed. He is still close with Christophe after he joins the church.

Mercedes: Not changed. Though Mercedes is ecstatic to be reunited with her brother.

Annette: Happier with her father still around.

Glenn: Still alive. Dotes on his brother since his dad is still a pos

Rodrigue: Still a pos dad, compares Felix to Glenn all the time (Who shuts that shit down)

Lonato: Does not start a rebellion against the Church

Miklan: Has not changed, still a pos

Gilbert: Stayed around, is a good dad

Golden Deer/Alliance

Claude: (Edelgard) Crests- Crest of Flames, Crest of Riegan. Less Laid-back, and more paranoid unless he’s around Cynthia or Byleth. Always has some sort of scheme up his sleeve. More willing to use lethal poisons but less willing to put his friends in danger. Uses the persona of The Gilded Emperor when forced to work with TWSITD.

Hilda: Less lazy, but still a girly girl. Also does not have the same hatred towards fighting as she does in cannon

Cynthia: Crests- Crest of Aubin, Crest of Macuil. She is also kidnapped/forced to work with TWSITD due to them holding her brother hostage. Less of a spitfire. Calmer, more refined. Does not curse. Unwilling betrothed to Claude on both sides.

Lorenz: No change

Raphael: No change

Ignatz: No change

Lysithea: No change really

Marianne: No change

Leonie: No change

Nader: Working to find the Almyra Prince (Claude)

Judith: No personality change, but does worry about what Claude isn’t telling her. Also teases him about him being betrothed

Eric: Equivalent of the Death Knight. Escapes from TWSITD after the time skip and eventually joins up with the Blue Lions/Black Eagles

Black Eagles/Empire

Edelgard: (Dimitri) Snapped due to rage concerning how her family was killed/endangered. Much friendlier towards Dimitri, and more prone to violent outbursts when it comes to TWSITD. After the time skip, what snaps her out of this rage is when Beles almost dies to protect her, making her realize that if she continues then she’s no better than TWSITD.

Hubert: Stays the same but is friendlier with Ferdinand. Stays with Edelgard during the time skip.

Ferdinand: Does not like being called “prince”, less competitive with Edelgard. Also friendlier with Hubert. Strained relationship with his father due to seeing how weirdly obsessed he is with the throne (and how he’s only proud of Ferdinand while on the throne).

Linhardt: More of a worry wart when it comes to Caspar. Has learned how to not throw up as much when healing as well as how to keep Caspar still while he looks over him.

Caspar: Brother was killed in the uprising of Brigid, less cheerful unless he’s around Linhardt and/or Cress. Tends to be a bit reckless when it comes to protecting those he cares about. After Cress’s “death” focuses more on his training and becomes more reckless.

Petra: Quieter due to her language “issues” unless she’s around her other classmates (then she’s more of her normal bubbly self)

Dorothea: no change.

Bernadetta: no change.

Cressida: no change until the time skip, then she becomes darker and angrier. This is due to her being left behind during the attack on the Church and having to cope with the loss of her foot alone.

Church

Rhea: no change

Seteth: no change

Flayn: no change

Hanneman: No change

Manuela: no change

Alois: no change

Catherine: ran away from her house with Christophe, in a relationship with Shamir and Christophe.

Shamir: No change.

Christophe: Still alive, in a relationship with Catherine and Shamir.

Cyril: Works under Nader looking for the lost Almyra Prince (Claude). Does still recognize how important “Lady Rhea” is to the Church and still genuinely wants to help the Monastery

Jeritza: Still the same, just not the Death Knight. Very happy to see his sister again. She convinces him to get help for the blackouts he gets.

Holst: Inherits the family title but doesn’t become a general due to no fighting with Almyra

TWSITD

Thales: Disguised as Claude’s Uncle, Godfrey, used an attack to disguise the swap.

Solon: Literally no change.

Kronya: Disguised as a former Golden Deer student who went missing.

Masterpost | Character Bio's | Time Line | Misc

[malsfefanfics]

Sylvain and Medee B-Support

Summary: Sylvain has another heart to heart with Medee when he catches her in the training grounds. Some old wounds open up for the both of them. Content Warnings: Referenced past familial abuse, discussion of attempted murder

Written in script format under the cut.

Medee: [TRAINING BLINDFOLDED IN THE TRAINING YARD, STOPS] I know you are on the other side of the pillar, Sylvain. You need not hide from me.

Sylvain: [COMES OUT OF HIDING] Okay, seriously. How do you do that?

Medee: [TAKES OFF THE BLINDFOLD] Do what?

Sylvain: How do you know when someone's behind you and who? It's…. unsettling.

Medee: You can admit to being frightened by it. I understand. It is quite terrifying.

Sylvain: Don't.

Medee: Perhaps we should just skip to the reason you're here. It isn't about Adela this time. No. This is about Chalciope.

Sylvain: So you know.

Medee: You believe I didn't?

Sylvain: I honestly hoped you would never bring her up.

Medee: That is cruel of you. She is my sister after all.

Sylvain: And Miklan's mother.

Medee: Yes. This is also true. I heard about his treatment of you.

Sylvain: If you're about to offer condolences or apologies, don't. I don't want them.

Medee: I understand. I wouldn't want that from anyone regarding my late husband. Best to let our personal demons remain in the past.

Sylvain: Yeah….in the past….

Medee: You do not wish to leave it? Or is leaving it more difficult than you realize?

Sylvain: I…

Medee: Apologies. I tend to get carried away with assumptions. Although…am I safe in assuming the look in your eye is frustration?

Sylvain: [HOLLOW LAUGH] I've been trying to avoid you and your daughter because you both resemble her so much. That painting of your sister haunts me. I still remember it vividly. The day Miklan threw me to the wolves when I dared to look at it. I hate to admit it, but…I hate her. I never met her, and yet I can't stand her existence. It isn't fair. I know that. But she's the mother of a man who made my childhood a living hell. I can't help how I feel about her. And I hate my older brother. And yet….

Medee: And yet you find yourself still caring in some way, even if you wish you could not. Even if you wish you could remove your emotions and throw them away with the compost. Never to see them again. Or if you do, it'd be in a new form. A bloom, nurtured by time and the decay.

Sylvain: …..is that how you feel about the late Marquis?

Medee: Not exactly, but close. I always hated the man, even back at the Academy. And I had contemplated many times how I would take his life. Still, I suppose there is some affection there. But only insofar as that which forms from proximity, and the undeniable fact that he is still the father of my children. If given the chance to do it over, I would only be near him again because it gave me my children. But following that, I would certainly make a different choice following my youngest's birth.

Sylvain: So…you do get it….

Medee: Sylvain. Emotions are…complicated. There will be very few days where they are as simple as breathing. While it would break her heart to hear you hate her, my sister would be very understanding of how you are feeling and why. So do not let the guilt weigh on you. I only ask that you take those emotions and channel them into something productive. And not allow them to hurt those around you. Especially my children.

Sylvain: Of course. I will try not to hold what Miklan did against them. As hard as it is sometimes. [SIGHS] Somehow…speaking with you made me feel a little better.

Medee: Sometimes speaking your feelings to someone who can sympathize can relieve certain aches.

Sylvain: Yeah…yeah, that makes sense…. Um…I guess I should leave you to your training, then.

Medee: Why not join me? You could benefit from being able to pick up on minute details. Especially given your affinity for Reason.

Sylvain: I…you know what? Sure. What have I got to lose?

Medee: Your legs? Arms? Head? Even your life?

Sylvain: You…. pft… [BURSTS INTO LAUGHTER] Oh, you are funny.

Medee: [CHUCKLES] Let's begin with the basics. Show me what spells you've mastered.

[hapigairu]

Ahh, I was wondering when someone would pull the “Akshually” card...  I’m not going to bother replying to them, but I’ll just say this: Edelgard does say that she intends to dismantle the nobility system, true. But we don’t really see this in practice. Like, at the end of CF, House Nuvelle is reinstated (as well as given Hrym territory, I think?) and many of her buddies inherit their titles. So despite Edelgard’s claims, nobility is still very much present. “Yes, but you can’t change the system overnight, it takes time” Exactly, hence Dimitri’s position. Dimitri isn’t paralysed by fear, he just wants to be careful. Faerghus’ situation is way different than Adrestia’s and I wish more people would understand this. Besides, changing the way people obtain their position (ie: through mehrit rather than blood) doesn’t mean much if there are such stark social inequalities. Former nobles will still be rich, therefore they’ll have access to the best education possible and a peasant’s child -no matter how brilliant they are- would have to work very hard to catch up with them (best case scenario), free education or not. And nobody said Rhea was fighting for humanity at large, she fights for the safety of the people living in Fodlan, regardless of their race. And even then, she still helps the Kingdom in restoring Duscur. What a terrible person, truly. Anyway, back on topic:

It’s a shame we don’t get more information about Sylvain and Miklan’s childhood. Especially because we know that Sylvain’s mother took Miklan’s death pretty hard. She clearly loved him despite everything, so she could’ve seen that his behaviour was unhealthy at best, no? Welp, guess that’s what fanfictions are for. But I do appreciate the little tidbits we get about the dads’ past. It does a good job at enriching their characters without being info-dumpy. The way they talk about it feels just... natural? Idk, I just like it.

Oh for sure! Miklan’s appointment is very important in the grand scheme of things. It actually reminds of the theme of The Good Place (heck, even Orange is the New Black) in that it’s not enough to get a second chance, it’s just one part of the equation. You also have to give them the proper tools so that they improve. If Ashe was caught stealing and was given a slap on the hand and a ‘second chance’, would he say “Oh gee, I understand the lesson and I won’t steal anything anymore even if it means my siblings and I will die of starvation”? No. He’d steal again. But when Lonato adopted him along with his siblings, he had both a second chance and a real opportunity to do good on it. And, like, very few bandits started this life just for the lolz. In most cases, it was because they had no other way of surviving and ended up in a vicious circle. So seeing Miklan, an infamous bandit, being given the chance to turn a new leaf would encourage these bandits to maybe change their way of life. It’s the same with pirates, in a way. Pirates don’t choose to become pirates for the lifestyle or forever. In most cases, they engaged in piracy for a couple of years until they had enough money to survive and build something somewhere. It’s not hard to imagine that it’s the same thing for bandits. It’s Dimitri is offering them a pardon but with caveats (ie: if you try anything harmful, it’s over, but we’ll find something for you to do). Dimitri and Yuri’s supports in Hopes are amazing! (like most Blue Lions supports in Hopes, tbh). I also think they work better than Edel and Ferdie’s House support in that it feels like Dimitri is actively thinking of practical ways to improve the lives of his citizens. Whereas Edel seems to not think her future regime through... I wouldn’t say that’s because she’s dumb per se, but she tends to have somewhat of a tunnel vision. Yeah, unfortunately, we know next to nothing about Faerghus’ justice system, but maybe he was going to have a trial at some point? I can see practical reasons as to why he wouldn’t be executed. In AM, they still have yet to really understand what happened in Duscur, and this man could still know a few things so killing him would be unproductive. I don’t have much more to add about Dimitri’s decisions regarding Miklan, except that it proves that the “Dimwitri dumb” takes are unfounded. What he did shows how politically savvy he is without compromising his morals. Even when his friends are protesting, he doesn’t try to make excuses at all, he merely argues that Miklan has a lot of skills and that he needs more competent leaders as it is. He gave logical arguments, which, funnily enough, seems to calm Felix down somewhat. Conclusion: Dimitri smart.

And yeah, Crests are mostly important in Eastern Faerghus, because of the conflicts with Sreng. If you have a Crest, you can use the relic that matches it, so you can defend Faerghus against Sreng’s raids (also, just in case: I’m not saying that the Sreng situation is black and white, with Faerghus being completely unarguably good. It’s a very messy political situation). That’s all. Baron Dominic doesn’t have a Crest, and he’s still the head of his House. And he’s only one noble amongst many others who are crestless head of House without any problem. Even Rufus was the Grand Duke of Itha, he may not have been chosen as King, but he still had a whole territory. So it’s not like nobles without Crests are treated like trash. But Faerghus BaD. Oh... Since Miklan dies in AG and Sylvain in SB, does that mean GW is the golden route for real?

I feel like he could be sarcastic, but not in an insulting way? Like, he‘s just joking. But of course, the localisation team had to add some insults lol

Faerghus dads can’t do anything right. Either they’re caring too much about their kids to the point where they’re smothering them (and you can kill people this way!) or they just don’t care about them at all because how dare they have their own struggles and also want to support the Crown Prince/King.

I think Edelfans were quite happy with Hopes (bar AG), but Claude fans were very much not (rightfully so). But overall, many somewhat enjoyed it (at least in the West). In some regards, I prefer AG to AM, because AG allows characters such as Dedue and Felix to shine instead of (mostly) just Byleth, who is... well... who exist to be pandered to. And the little bits of political stuff we get are great! But Hopes is indeed quite strange in a way... You get two routes where you’re told certain things and one route where you’re shown that it’s utter poppycock. Sadly, Dimitri can’t tell that to their faces in the Zahras chapters, because... uh, you still need to play the final chapter, I guess lol.

Dimitri protecting Edelgard at Arianrhod is yet another proof that he’s a sensible leader, tbh. His needs for answers is not just for him, it’s for Faerghus as a whole and Duscur and he knows that. And yes, it helps that he’s mentally sound (ish) at that time! Golden Deer student be like “I haven’t talked to Edelgard ever and she’s invading my country, but boy don’t I just wish I could walk with her”. Yeah, it’s... weird.

I can maaaaaaybe understand why they didn’t get an A support in Houses? Maybe? But in Hopes? Nah. They could have had an A support that would unlock after Miklan’s death and they could talk about his legacy (if there have been improvements in terms of bandit activity, etc), how Sylvain feels about this, Dimitri relating to him, etc. Instead we got Bernie getting freaked out by someone trying to be nice to her AGAIN. Yet another missed opportunity, wouldn’t be the first time, as you said.

As for Felix, honestly, it’s just a complicated situation where no one is really at fault? You can find good reasons for Dimitri either telling him or not, and, in the end, he chose to be cautious. But Felix is also the Duke now (and the highest ranking noble in Faerghus IIRC and basically the King’s right hand), so you could say that’s something he should have been told about.  But, like you said, it’s first and foremost a family matter on top of being a very delicate one where mistakes had to be avoided at any cost. Yeah, I’ve never realised how bad the localisation was until I discovered Houses’ datamine site... I’d really love to know what happened, or how that happened. Cause in some cases, the localisation feels rushed at and others, it seems the localisation team made a lot of effort to botch it. I’m also a bit of purist when it comes to translations, localisation (I don’t like the Ace Attorney’s localisation for example but I realise that’s a very me-problem and that they did a good job overall), so comparing the original vs localisation is... an experience. It would be nice if, instead of forcing their own ideas about the game, they respected what the text says.

Yeah, promises are all good and all, but if you can’t fulfill them, then what’s the point? (Our president was just taking the electorate for morons, got elected, and now is doing is damnedest to anger people while pretending to seeking to calm things down lol)

Damn, a Dimitri-Lorenz support chain would have been so interesting! Both are willing to admit their wrongs and improve, albeit in a different way. Both (in Houses at least) grow out of their initial mindsets. Both thought of implementing a more democratic process. You could imagine an ending where they focus on that. Or - if in Hopes - have a support where Yuri is also present (though it might have been complicated, but still, one can always dream) for a bit and they talk about how to make Faerghus better, Lorenz being a third party (since he’s not from here) but offering good suggestions! True, Dimitri is too good to be true as far as monarchs go (and some people will still harp on about how he’s actually a terrible ruler who should be put out of his misery...). I don’t know if you’ve read the Mistborn series, but he reminds me of Elend in some ways. Both are extremely concerned about the lower-class’ living conditions, they wouldn’t hesitate to stand down if it’s what’s best for their people (No, Edel taking over Faerghus doesn’t count), they don’t abandon their people even when the situation is dire, etc. And yeah, Dimitri (and the rest of the Blue Lions) are too nice sometimes, but idc, I’m a sucker for kind characters anyways lol. It would’ve been interesting to see some of his character’s flaws have more of an impact on his rule. Like Dimitri making some mistakes because he hasn’t slept in days like he should have, idk. I guess this kind of subplot wouldn’t work that well in a hack-and-slash...

Aaaaand that’s why I always snatch Petra away from the Empire. In CF, she mentions that she still a political hostage. After 5 years. Edel had time to kill people and simp over sensei but she couldn’t find the time to free one of her supposedly closest allies? Why? Seriously, why? Points to Edelgard for telling her it’s okay to go back to Brigid if she do wants in SB, but... it doesn’t make the whole situation any better...

The only thing I could think of (and that’s hardly a charitable read lol) is about possible reparations? We don’t know how Brigid was treated by the Empire, but Brigid’s vassalage might have done some damage to their economy (maybe they were no longer allowed to trade with Dagda and it had no choice but to sell some of their products to the Empire at a cheap price without much compensation on the Empire’s part? So maybe Edelgard wants to give as little reparation as possible, which Petra agreed to somehow. So maybe Petra’s successor wouldn’t be so lenient and ask for more? Brigid would have every right to ask for reparation, but I can see Edelgard not wanting to grant much.

(Also, Petra in GW can be quite... unlikeable IMO, mostly because of her lines about how the Kingdom won’t have much power in the future and Brigid will take its place.)

You’re right, Dedue would be a good choice for helping in Brigid’s independence! It just really depends on who’s taking the reins of the empire, IMO. Brigid being a vassal State of the Empire, it might be necessary for the latter to take part in the negotiations, even if its role is purely symbolic. And I’d argue that Brigid wouldn’t necessarily feel indebted to Fodlan, but rather it’d be Fodlan repaying their debt to Petra (for eventually turning on the Empire and fighting against it).

But yeah, at the very very least, Duscur (represented by Dedue) could be present to ensure that everyone is negotiating in good faith. And it could also be a good time to start talking about trade between Duscur and Fodlan and Brigid? Y’know, once Brigid’s independence is settled.

I'm having a really hard time fathoming how some people consider SB to be a righteous/heroic route or a route where we're the good guys. The route where:

You invade two independent nations under the pretence of "saving their citizens from oppression" (though I guess you can't be oppressed anymore if you're dead lol) even though Her Majestic Hypocrisy repeats a bunch of times that she's in for conquest and that she'd obliterate anyone who stands in her way.

The cast keeps victim-blaming the invaded parties for *checks note* defending their countries. 

The death toll is the highest. You have to kill Ingrid, Rodrigue, Gustave and Sylvain. And you can also kill Ashe, Mercedes (btw, if she dies, the cutscene where Dimitri and Dedue grieve changes slightly, which is nice), Annette, Shamir, Ignatz, Raphael and Marianne (how does Margrave Edmund feel about Claude's alliance with the empire knowing his daughter was killed by its army?). 

IIRC, this is the only route where you conscript merchants into the imperial army. No wonder the empire has the biggest army.

Based Rhea who, despite being hunted, still thinks about the safety of the continent first in the final chapter. It's hilarious how characters like Edespot or Clyde harp on about how Rhea is the big bad, and in the few scenes you have with her, she's just kind? Anyway. Rhea based.

In the C support conversation - which happens right after Felix got seriously injured and Sylvain got killed- there's this bit where Dimitri is like "I don't know if I can talk with like everything is normal, so many have died already" and Edespot's response is basically "yeah I don't see it that way. Let's agree to disagree". Also, I believe she wonders if she shouldn't just kill Clyde and Dimitri once they're out. Even though Clyde is her ally at the moment. You bet on the wrong lord, Clyde... 

I probably forgot a few stuff, but... oh well.

To be honest,

The only things I like about Supreme Bullshit are :

Its ending! Supreme Leader and Barney (well, at least they throw a sword?) being sitting ducks while Rhea steals the show, and sacrifices herself in an epic shonen scene to get rid of the real threat, aka showing that unlike someone, she knows how to prioritize, and it ends up in an explosion. It matches the ending of the F-Zero anime (at 0.48!), Rhea/Falcon rushes to deal a blow (a Falcon punch and a Seiros strike I guess?) to their mortal enemy, there is a giant explosion, and both Rhea/Falcon fade away in a blinding light. Too bad the Supreme Bullshit BGM is eons away from "Searching to the Truth" :(

The reveal that Rhea kept the keys to the sekrit passages in the Imperial Palace - or Rhea knows more about Enbarr and its castle than the current Emperor and her aides...

Doro's paralogue being incredibly tone deaf about, uh, soldiers being "too busy" by the Mittelfrank troupe, that they can't basically protect the dancers/performers from bandits, when the paralogue happens in an area that is expressedly supposed to be full of soldiers!

If starts align in a certain way, it's the only route in Nopes where Clout dies!

Leopold! He's like Victarion Greyjoy, only if he was taken seriously. But we, as players, know better! Also he's a living retcon, from having a major cichol crest to gift to his son because he fought well (and not to, say, Big B or even Ferdie) a sacred weapon despite the route being all about muhritocracy!

Supreme Leader plans and plays with the cards she has in her hand - from trying to get good PR to get rid of people (Varley sr) by pitting them against her next target (the CoS)!

An entire game full of new Supreme Replies (tm)!

For shippers around, it has a Cathmir scene where everyone knows Shamir will prioritize Catherine's life over her allegeance! too bad this is a Supreme Leader route, so no, Shamir won't fucking try to kill her for blackmailing her and can even kill Catherine herself later on....

That's not a lot lol, and most of it are breadcrumbs because for the proper plot...

Yeah, it kinds of sucks.

Supreme Bullshit is even more tone deaf with the War and its realities than Tru Piss (and that's a feat!), Ferdie being completely, uh, off the mark about everything (invading lands and rekting people, and then saying those people's fears are only in their heads! Pal, one of the first missions in the SB exclusive chapters is to rout refugees??? + the nonsense about the Kingdom having more crested generals, when data shows the Empire has more crested peeps than the Kingdom!), Caspar being turned in the worst version of himself who dgaf anymore about protecting "innocents" and "justice", and, uh, everything with Monica.

Victim blaming is the norm with Fodlan games, but yeah, it really feels odd that suddenly, in the Zahras chapters, Dimitri's all "okay" when his closest friends either died or were grievly injured and the game proceeds as it does when, come on, why wouldn't Dimitri kill her the second they're out of the Zahras verse??

I really disliked how Supreme Bullshit yeeted Ionius from Adrestia, or how it didn't explore in more depth the Insurrection of the Seven, especially since we side with Leopold'n'Waldemar against Ludwig, who used to be allies! Also, as far as I remember, no one mentions anything about Arundel, why he ran away to the Kingdom with a young Supreme Leader and how he changed when he returned, or something?

If Ludwig is pushed by Supreme Leader, reciting her Dad's words, as the one who led the insurrection and the experiments on her, why the fuck no one else mentions them, as Leopold and Waldemar were on Aegir's side back then? They don't even mention "Arundel" participating, like, Volkhard sides against Ionius and hides his niece, but 3 months later, he returns and offers her as a guinea pig?

As is the norm with the Supreme Leader routes, the "truth" isn't what we're looking for, because we know Supreme Leader pushes a narrative she will follow to reach her goals, but where Tru Piss gave hints here and there about her narrative being, uh, rubish, we have no clues here, and Leopold prefers to flash his loincloth than giving us anything meaningful about that incident.

When you compare them to Matthias and Rodrigue (and Gilbert?) who often mention Lambert "back in the days", it's more and more obvious that... we're not supposed to ask questions in Supreme Bullshit, and just go with the flow.

And it ends with a high five.

I'd say it deviates less from Tru Piss than Golden Shower does from Verdant Winds, but it's an "expected disappointment".

That's why my only higlights are not plot relevant (save for the Captain Falcon - Rhea parallel) - because we know the plot will never deliver something meaningful in a Supreme Leader route.

[unxpctedlygreat]

Oh my god???? Oh my god?????? The A support for dmilix?????? This was so good I am legitimately crying

[ship-ambrosia]

Thicker Than Blood is the Crests They Bear (Fire Emblem)

I’m usually all about the shipping, but that’s not the case here! I cannot believe I wrote this all in one day - one where I had to take Kiki to the vet too. She’s still glaring at me as I post this lol

This is set some time pre-Tragedy of Duscur. The moment Sylvain mentioned all the ways that Miklan tried to kill him, I wondered what his friends growing up would have thought of that.

Summary: In which Sylvain goes missing, and his friends know why.

   It’ll be fun, Sylvain. He had said.

   Just the two of us. Sure, it sounded wonderful.

   Don’t tell father and mother, they’ll just spoil everything. He was right. And Sylvain would do anything for him.

  Miklan never wanted to spend time with him. Miklan never wanted to even be around him. When his brother offered to take him for a horse ride through the mountains, it meant everything to Sylvain. It was everything to him. Finally, Miklan was seeing him for what was true; he hadn’t chosen to disinherit him with his birth. There was nothing more that little Sylvain wanted than for his brother to love him.

  As he lay in the snow, alone and cold in the quiet winter evening, he finally confronted himself. Deep in his heart, he knew it had been too good to be true. He had always known Miklan hated him, and that wouldn’t go away in a single day. Still he had believed him, put all his faith in him.

  Right to the moment that Miklan told him to get off the horse.

  As he watched his brother ride away, Sylvain was angry, but not at him. He was filled with fury and hatred toward the goddess, toward his parents, toward his Crest. This thing he never asked for, didn’t even fully understand. Why? Why had this happened to him? He supposed if he were to die here, at least he’d had some good times. Dimitri, Felix, Ingrid... his closest friends. At least while his parents mourned their heir, his friends would mourn him.

  ~

  Dimitri, ever the prodigious hard worker, was returning from training for the day when he overheard the conversation.

  “The heir you say? That’s the boy who was friends with Dimitri,” Lambert sighed. “My word... how would I ever be able to tell him?”

  “Tell me what, father?” Dimitri asked, having stepped forward into the room without even realizing it. “Who are you talking about? What’s going on?”

  “Dimitri,” the king, so strong and wise and ever the perfect image of a knight to the young prince, he looked so sad as he kneeled down so he could be level with his son. “How much did you overhear?”

  “Just the last part. I was with Gustave until but a moment ago,” he looked up, toward the man who had been speaking with his father. “I recognize you, sir. You’re from House Gautier. So you were talking about Sylvain.”

  “Ever the perceptive young man,” the man chuckled, but there was a darkness to his eyes.

  “Dimitri,” his father let out a sigh and avoided his son’s direct gaze. “Sylvain went missing about three days ago. Margrave Gautier sent his man to me immediately, so he could have been found by now but... we don’t know. We won’t know until I get another report.”

  Dimitri’s eyes widened in response, as all the breath left the young prince’s body. Something like this... he was no stranger to death. Dimitri had seen people die before, in front of his eyes. He knew his birth mother had died, and that was why his mother wasn’t truly his mother. But to think Sylvain would be claimed in such a way was a thought that had never occurred to him. He had always imagined his friends - Felix, Ingrid, and Sylvain of course too - growing up to become knights in his service when he became king.

  Except, the thought had occurred to him before. Once, when the four of them had all gathered not even a year ago at Margrave Gautier’s manor.

  ~

  The clashing of practice swords was a common sound in the Fraldarius household, if it wasn’t Duke Fraldarius’s two sons competing with each other than there was at least one of them fighting an instructor or even more interestingly, dueling their father. For now it was Glenn and Felix facing off, per usual the younger of the two having once again challenged his older brother to a duel.

  With a quick thrust, Glenn pushed the tip of his sword into his brother’s shoulder, just above his heart.

  “I purposely struck above your heart so as to not hurt you. But I think I win again, Felix,” he chuckled.

  “Ngh, again!” Felix snarled. “Another bout! I must beat you!”

  “That’ll be the day, little brother,” Glenn shook his head as he walked off the training ground and sat on a nearby bench. “But I think five rounds is enough for one day. I’m beat.”

  “How is it even possible? I train so much more than you!”

  “What do you think I do in the capital all day? Stare at Prince Dimitri?”

  “No, but it’s not like you and Dimitri can spar all the time! When you’re gone, all I do is train but it doesn’t even seem to matter!”

  Glenn leaned over and flicked his brother on the forehead. Felix yelped and rubbed the spot, narrowing his eyes at him.

  “It’s not about how much, but the quality of the training. If you’re just running yourself until you’re exhausted, that’s not going to do you any good. You need to understand what to improve on, and figure out how to compensate for your weaknesses. That’s why I train with His Highness so much. You and I are too similar in the way we fight.”

  Felix pouted. “What do I need to work on then?”

  “You need to compensate your lack of defense with your speed. You’d be even faster than me I’d bet,” he grinned. “Have you ever sparred with Prince Dimitri? I’d love to see that.”

  “Father won’t let me. He thinks Dimitri and I might actually hurt each other.”

  Glenn howled with laughter for a moment, clutching his stomach. “Ha! Well he’s not wrong,” finally when his laughter died down, he placed a hand on Felix’s head and ruffled his hair. “Don’t worry Felix, it’ll happen someday. You and I both, we’ve gotta get stronger than His Highness if we want to serve him, right?”

  And Felix looked up to his brother, to the person he looked up to more than anyone else in the world, and cracked a grin. “Of course.”

  It was then that the doors to their training yard burst open, and from them came their father, Rodrigue. The duke was a man known by his sons to be rather jovial and cheerful, but the same could not be said about him in that moment. Duke Fraldarius’s entire face was darkened, his brow furrowed deeper than either of them had ever seen.

  “Father? What’s wrong?” Glenn stood up, dropping the sarcastic tone and “old man” greeting he usually gave their father upon recognizing that something serious was happening.

  “We’re leaving for Gautier territory tonight,” the duke’s words were sharp and crisp. “Boys, gather your things.”

  “Did something happen? Did the people of Sreng attack? How could they retaliate so soon? It has only been six years since you and King Lambert quelled their uprising,” Glenn dropped the information he recalled from his studies quickly, once more leaving his younger brother in awe of his abilities.

  “No, it is not Sreng. At least, goddess I hope not,” Felix stiffened up when his father’s gaze moved to him. “Felix. Sylvain has gone missing. I’m taking you boys with me to help search for him, and so that his friends will be there when he is returned. Count Galatea and his daughter should be on their way, and I believe Gustave will be bringing Prince Dimitri as well. Do you understand?”

  All the joy and frustration building up in his body from sparring with his brother rushed out of him in an instant, and instinctively, Felix looked toward his brother. Glenn was staring straight ahead, eyes narrowed, teeth clenched tight in anger. Like his brother, Felix also looked up to Sylvain who, despite being friends with him and Dimitri and Ingrid, was two years older than the rest of them. To hear Sylvain could be hurt, could be missing, even dead somewhere... just didn’t seem fathomable. Sylvain had made a promise to him; a promise that neither would die without the other. He couldn’t die on him now.

  Staring into his brother’s face however, suddenly the situation became all too clear.

  ~

  Ingrid was silent in the carriage to Gautier. Her hands were clutched together in her lap tightly as she muttered prayers under her breath to the goddess that Sylvain would be found safe before she and her father even arrived. It had not even been that long since she had last seen her friend, loud and obnoxious and exhausting that he was. She found that any time she spent with him was only spent cleaning up his messes, apologizing to people he’d angered or upset.

  She knew Sylvain meant no harm, and she was just grateful they’d gotten to the point where he stopped attempting to flirt with her too; amusedly, it’d taken him saying something in front of Glenn and for the older young man to threateningly tell him to back off to finally do it. Ingrid smiled ever so slightly at the memory.

  The ache in her chest brought her back to reality though, the pain of not knowing what had befallen her friend. Was he dead? Had he been kidnapped? Of course she and all her friends understood extremely well the danger their lives were in constantly; not only were they the children of nobles - Dimitri being the prince and next heir to the throne, and both Felix and Sylvain being the children of two of the highest ranking noble families in Faerghus - but all four of them bore Crests of the Ten Elite Heroes. They were all incredibly sought after for marriage, so she was sure that even kidnapping wasn’t out of the question.

  “Do they... do they have any clue as to what happened?” She spoke up finally.

  Her father appeared to be startled by her voice, looking up at her quickly before back down to the floor of the carriage. “Not from the message I got sweetie, no. But it takes some time for those messages to be delivered, you know. They will probably have some idea by the time we arrive.”

  “Sylvain could be returned safe by that time, could he not?”

  Her father nodded, giving her a smile. “Of course, Ingrid. That’s why I’m bringing you. When he returns safe, he’ll want to see his friends, wouldn’t you think so?”

  She could see it in his eyes though, that her father didn’t truly think that was what would happen. She supposed it was good then, it was a show of his support for House Gautier, that he would travel so far to help them search for their missing heir. And she would help too, as best as she could. She may also have Dimitri and Felix, and even Glenn, but nothing would be the same in their group if Sylvain was found dead, or never found again.

  Yes, their group, the future leaders of Faerghus... who all bore Crests...

  ~

  He wondered how well his friends remembered that night in the manor. His father had thrown a party; for what, Sylvain couldn’t have been sure. Even if he wanted to know, his father still probably would’ve insisted he was too young to understand. The only thing Sylvain cared about was that King Lambert, Duke Fraldarius, and Count Galatea were all in attendance, which almost guaranteed that his friends would all be there.

  There was nothing he looked forward to more while growing up than the days he got to spend with even one of them, so having Dimitri, Felix, and Ingrid all together was a dream come true. It helped lessen his loneliness, which suffocated him. Sure, he was friends with the attendants, he could go or do anything in Gautier territory that he so pleased. But somehow, just by avoiding him, Miklan made it a nightmare. He should have known; seeing him surrounded by kids his age, seeing him happy, would only have made Miklan more furious.

  “I cannot believe Glenn is to be your retainer, Dimitri!” Ingrid clasped her hands together as she chirped. “He’s just incredible, isn’t he?”

  “Yes, he is. I’m very happy to have such a friend by my side,” the young prince answered.

  “Well, I could be a better retainer than him,” It was Felix who spoke up, looking unhappy. “You should pick me.”

  “It was Gustave who picked Glenn, not I.”

  “Besides Felix, you just can’t compete with Glenn!”

  “Oh shut up Ingrid!”

  Even though his friends were bickering, Sylvain couldn’t have been happier to have them there.

  “Guys-“

  A shadow fell over Sylvain, causing him to stop in the middle of his sentence. He looked up to find Miklan standing above him, looking down with that cold expression he was so used to.

  “Miklan?” It was Dimitri who spoke first. He sounded only a bit confused. Sylvain supposed he was confused too. Miklan didn’t speak to him.

  ”Figures you babies are just standing around talking,” his older brother laughed. “All the adults in the manor are busy so you could be off doing whatever you wanted, but here you are. Just a bunch of spoiled rotten children.”

  “What do you want, Miklan?” He groaned.

  “I was just going to take a peek at the Relic... maybe play around with it a little,” his older brother answered with a smirk. “No one’s around to tell me not to.”

  “Well, we’re around,” Ingrid said with narrowed eyes.

  “Right, so are you going to come with me to see the Relic or not?”

  Dimitri spoke up. “We shouldn’t. Hero Relics are extremely dangerous. Our parents only use them after extensive training.”

  “No, I think we should go with him,” Felix said, stepping up beside Sylvain and narrowing his eyes at the older Gautier brother. “What right does he have to touch what’s rightfully yours? You have to prove you’re better than him.”

  Sylvain saw a shadow cross his brother’s face for a moment, sending a chill down his spine. His childish pride wouldn’t let him back down from Felix’s statement though, and he nodded. “Fine, we’ll come.”

  Miklan just grinned again. “Understood. Follow me.”

  Though Dimitri and Ingrid protested the entire way, all four kids followed Miklan up to the room where his parents kept the Lance of Ruin. With such an ominous name, Sylvain had always been frightened by the prospect of having to wield it one day for his family. He knew it was the weapon that kept his family safe, but he also knew it was more powerful than he could ever hope to understand. Sylvain watched as his brother walked up to the case it was kept in, produce the key from his pocket, and push it into the lock.

  “Did you steal that from Margrave Gautier?!” Dimitri guffawed.

  “Sure did little princeling.”

  “Our father is going to kill you if we get caught,” Sylvain exclaimed.

  “He’ll have to kill both of us, since you were here too,” Miklan grinned again that mean smile. “Guess you better hope we don’t get caught.”

  The four children watched as Miklan opened the case, reaching in to grab the pole of the lance. It was not the first time Sylvain had seen it, and it wasn’t the first time any of them had seen in a Relic since both Dimitri and Felix’s fathers wielded their own and Ingrid had already been shown her inheritance, it was the first time any of them had seen a Relic without any adults present.

  Miklan touched the lance, gasping somewhat at the power that pulsed through him at the touch. Slowly, he removed the Lance of Ruin from its case, and all of them present stared in silence.

  “You should put that pack, Miklan,” Dimitri spoke in his I’m-a-prince-and-you-should-listen-to-me voice. Eventually they all would but Sylvain still found it funny, and would have laughed if he wasn’t suddenly filled with dread as Miklan spun the lance around in his hands.

  “You aren’t in charge of me yet, princeling.”

  “It’s your lance! Stop him!” Felix exclaimed.

  Sylvain fathered his nerves, clenching his fists at his side’s tightly. “Miklan! Stop!”

  He watched his brother set the Lance of Ruin at his side, turning to face him with an expression that Sylvain didn’t recognize. “What?” There was a hostility to his voice that hadn’t been there before.

  “I-I think...” he could feel himself losing his nerves quickly. “You should put the Lance of Ruin back, and we should all leave before we get caught. They’re going to notice us missing.”

  “Oh yeah? And I think spoiled little brats like you should learn their place!” In a heart stopping maneuver, his older brother pointed the tip of the lance toward him.

  Sylvain started down the shaft of the pole, never once expecting in his life to be afraid of the weapon he was to inherit would be used against him. “Remember what father said? You can only wield a Hero Relic if you bear the Crest that matches it. We don’t know what the lance will do if wielded by someone who doesn’t have one, and you don’t have the Crest of Gautier-“

  “You think I don’t know that?!” His brother roared, swinging the lance around. “You think I don’t think about that every day?! Because of you! It’s all because you were born! Why did you have to have the Crest; but not me?!”

  “Miklan, stop!” Dimitri yelled.

  “Sylvain!” Felix and Ingrid cried at the same time as the Lance of Ruin came flying from his brother’s hand... directly at him.

  The next heartbeat later, Sylvain was staring into the familiar face of Felix’s older brother, Glenn. The Fraldarius heir had him pinned to the ground, breathing heavily as though he’d just experienced a very intense workout. When Glenn registered just exactly what had occurred, he took a deep breath and smiled at him. “I cannot believe... I made it in time...”

  As he stood up and offered a hand to Sylvain, the younger Gautier brother took in what had occurred. The Lance of Ruin was wedged into the wall, at the same height as Sylvain’s head where it had been only a moment ago. Dimitri, Felix, and Ingrid were on the other side of the room, all looking shocked with their mouths agape. And Miklan...

  Miklan hadn’t moved an inch, staring ahead of him with no intention to look at his brother.

  All six noble children stood there in silence until some time later when they heard footsteps, and several adults cane burst into the room. At the front of the group was Margrave Gautier and his wife, looking madly between their two sons and the Hero Relic they protected. Sylvain listened quietly as Glenn explained calmly what had happened to everyone.

  He’d seen Miklan provoking the four younger kids, then watched them all leave and decided to follow. Glenn had wanted to step in and intervene with the others when they insisted Miklan put the lance back, to tell his brother he was wrong, but the scene escalated quicker than he could have anticipated and leapt in to push Sylvain out of the way of the lance at the last moment.

  And that memory, that one small situation in time, was how when they all thought about it, Dimitri, Felix, and Ingrid all came to the same conclusion as to who could have caused their best friend to disappear.

   He wasn’t actually trying to kill Sylvain, the adults had all said. He was just angry about the Gautier Crest and acted without thinking. That’s how he’s always been. But they hadn’t been there. They didn’t know. They hadn’t seen the same smile that Dimitri, Felix, and Ingrid had watched cross Miklan’s face after he realized he’d thrown the lance.

  “It was Miklan who made Sylvain disappear.”

  ~

  By the time each of them reached Gautier manor, Sylvain had in fact been rescued. Ingrid, having left first, arrived ahead of the others, and was sitting next to her friend’s bed when Dimitri and Felix arrived together. Sylvain was awake but still advised to stay in bed, wrapped up in several blankets with a fire going in the hearth at the other side of his room.

  Sylvain had spent nine hours alone in the cold, on the side of that mountain. It was a miracle by the goddess that he was still alive, they all knew that. It was an unspoken understanding amongst the four of them that under any other circumstances, he would have died. So they were more than grateful to sit by Sylvain’s bedside, to talk with him as long as they needed, to pretend that hadn’t just been the worst three days of all of their lives and that their friends’ brother hadn’t actively meant to try and kill him.

  “Dimitri believes Miklan is behind this,” King Lambert informed the others.

  Count Galatea was taken aback. “Ingrid said the same thing.”

  “So did Felix,” Duke Fraldarius nodded. “And Glenn seemed inclined to agree.”

  “I see,” answered the boys’ father.

  “I understand that there may not be hard proof for this,” the king continued. “But I believe the children may all be referring to what occurred at that party a year ago with the Lance of Ruin.”

  “It’s just one incident after another,” the duke shook his head. “Even if there’s a chance that we have grossly misunderstood this situation, you must make it clear to Miklan that he cannot put his brother in such danger.”

  “And even if his anger is only directed toward Sylvain, next time it could be my Ingrid caught in the fire,” Count Galatea added. “Or His Highness.”

  Margrave Gautier nodded. “Of course. I understand very, very much. It will not happen again. As of now, Miklan will be disinherited completely from the Gautier family.”

  ~

  He felt that pain in every enemy he cut down with the Lance of Ruin in hand. He saw his brother’s grinning face, heard him call him “you Crest-bearing fool” over and over in his head whenever the lance was in his hands. Watched him scream and curl in agony and transform into the monsters that he slay on the battlefield. In that way he understood the ghosts that tormented Dimitri very well. Miklan never left him alone.

  But it was the Crest Stone embedded in the lance’s surface that reminded him he had to keep fighting. It was the reason he carried on, for the Crests. To do away with them once the war was over, to make people forget they were ever important in the first place. He hated his blood, which carried his Crest, which could be passed down to one of his children some day. But Sylvain had already made up his mind; no matter Crest or not, his firstborn child would be the legitimate heir to House Gautier.

  They charged into another endless battle. The lance glowed red in his hands. As red hot as his fury, all his pain, and all the blood he had spilled. But it was fine, because it meant that he would never forget that which was most important.

  He hated his Crest almost as much as Miklan had hated him.

[preyedwolf-a-blog]

felix to sylvain: you’re insatiable felix in their next support: i’m sorry i shouldn’t have said that felix in their next support after that: you’re incorrigable

[semi-imaginary-place]

Sylvain Character Analysis

Sylvain gets introduced as a relentless flirt and cheater. a rather shallow frivolous man who can't be serious and apply himself. and then we learn things like he's incredibly smart and can understand at a glance complex magic math textbooks that have the magic scholar annette stumped. he likes board games (other's in the board game club are edelgard, hubert, claude, and yuri. you know team scheming). he's a horse boy and a clean freak who thinks the monestary's cafeteria is filthy. And as ashe's supports show he genuinely want to help people and has a lot of traits that ashe thinks are knightly, noble, and gallant. Sylvain enjoys the arts and is quite the reader. Under the flippancy he also has one of the strongest sense's of duty and responsibility as he is one of the few character where all his endings have him becoming margrave because he feels obligated to its people and to negotiating peace with sreng. most of the other nobles have some endings with them taking power and some where they go off to travel the world as adventurers. for someone so dedicated to being not serious he's also oddly deferential to authority. oh yeah and miklan his brother repeatedly tried to kill him.

and through all this the audience starts to piece together sylvain as a person and what makes him tick. miklan was not kicked out of the house until sylvain was 18 and a childhood of being tormented, the heavy expectations of his father and nobility, and the relentless pursuit of sylvain by women wanting to marry into house gautier have left him deeply jaded about the nobility and crest system, with low self worth, and engaging in a lot of self sabotage and emotional self harm. Sylvain hates all the women he flirts with and dates. and he sets up all his relationships to fail. by advertising himself with his family name and crest he will attract women that are interested in those things. Then when the women inevitable get fed up with his lying, cheating, bullshitting ass and dump him he takes it that he was right all along that they only wanted him for his family name, crest, etc. thus justifying his treatment of them in his mind. so he's shooting himself in the foot in an endless cycle to prove that no one actually cares about him and all women care about are crests and power.

sylvain believes that he doesn't have worth beyond his crest and nobility and this also manifests is a disregard for his life as in several supports he's noted for being reckless or taking blows for others that leave his seriously injured. And despite this all he still can't stop helping others. and he has nothing but love for his friends despite them having the things he always wanted like a loving older brother. Sylvain deliberately plays himself off as a useless flirt who lazes off partly as a passive aggressive rebellion against his father and his expectations for sylvain to be a perfect noble and partly because of his low self worth. he's self aware of his own bullshit but has resigned himself to it as his annette supports show. He actually believe's he's nothing more than a worthless flirt.

Its only with the war and the responsibility over the actual lives under his command that sylvain shapes up because its no longer just his life to waste but all those under him will suffer for his incompetence. sylvain continues to struggle through part 2 and here his development is mixed depending on route and supports. Through some of his supports like with dorothea and mercedes he is forced to confront his behavior. Such as when Dorothea offers him unconditional companionship he is forced to reckon with all the shallow double standard ways he has treated other women. or with mercedes when he finally acknowledges how the crest system has hurt him and finally starts to heal. his war time monastery dialogue is mixed with him seeming to improve on some route and seeming to fall back into his old bad habits in others. which again makes it notable that in all his endings he shapes up to competently rule gautier

more sylvain thoughts here: https://semi-imaginary-place.tumblr.com/post/688934110917443584/rfireemblemthreehouses-support-chart-for-all