#anw tl;dr there are actually a lot of great edeleth fics but since i ran out of them ages ago (except for the occasional ones that pop up)

[randomcanbian]

What kind of Edeleth fanfic are you reading? I read a lot of fanfic ( albeit I filter what I read ) and Edeleth always put an emphasis on Byleth, the person beyond the vessel and mercenary. It's often one of the major point of the story.

Okay, in fairness my rants are in large part due to recency bias 😂 There are several (dozens of?) amazing, well-written Edeleth fic with Byleth fleshed out as a character who's usefulness isn't only relegated to physical battles but also to strategy and the morale of the Strike Force and the Imperial Army/Adrestian Faithful at large, whose personal relationships didn't revolve entirely around Edelgard!

That said, I've been reading Edeleth fics since the game came out, I've finished all the fics whose opening chapters I found good/interesting, so I've been trying to read everything else...honestly, it's no wonder there's a drop in quality. My gripe is just that there's so many fics among the recent ones I've read where I find Byleth's characterization unsatisfying, and I'm the type of person who gets annoyed when there are a lot of people who think about my fave in a certain way. Hence, the rants.

To describe what types of fics I've read, here are common enough tropes that I've found in multiple Edeleth fics that I find annoying:

Byleth's humanization coming from her loving Edelgard first-and-foremost--the insinuation that romantic love trumps platonic love rankles me. I wish there was more of an emphasis on how Byleth was humanized through her caring for all her students, and they caring for her in return. And--it's a matter of personal taste I guess--but I like to think Byleth returned Edelgard's romantic feelings only during the timeskip. Before that, she cared for all her students equally.

Byleth choosing to side with Edelgard because it's Edelgard, and not because of the ideals she's waging a war for. Hate that. I've read too many fics where Byleth doesn't really get why Edelgard wants the crest system eradicated / abolish nobles, but she's siding with her because it's her. I'd rather people draw from her background as a commoner--I know that Byleth's been in a daze for most of her early life, but if FEW3H has proven anything is that Byleth feels good when she helps people. Outside of the mercenary group, where she has the chance to interact with people she didn't have to kill, that she had to take care for--it should be enough for her to reflect on her own principles.

Post-Crimson Flower where Byleth isn't doing anything except waiting for her wife to come home and complaining about how much work she's doing and being emo about how they don't have enough time together. Even without the crest and Sothis' power she's a skilled fighter and a great tactician. She also has experience as a commoner / mercenary which Edelgard and the Twin Jewels (I love you Ferdibert) don't have. Surely she'd be better utilized and much busier than just being Edelgard's arm candy? (Honestly lmao I think most of my frustration stem from fics centered on this...like I know the writers wanted to write a fluff fic based on this trope and didn't want to overthink it, but it just bothers me. I'm a complainer.)

I hate dumb jock Byleth. Hate it. She may not know a lot about the world, but it's out of a lack of curiosity, as well as her father intentionally hiding things from her. I see her as someone more pragmatic, who only searches for knowledge if it's of use to her, but if it interests her she picks it up quickly. I remember seeing this more often in modern AUs, but I'm sure it's happened enough in fics set in canon for the hatred to have cemented in my mind.

I heavily dislike fics where Byleth barely interacts with the rest of the Black Eagles, or where it's obvious that she cares about them much less than she does Edelgard. I also dislike fics where the rest of the Black Eagles feel distant from Byleth, when in-game they were as worried about her as Edelgard was.

Special mention since I'm already complaining, but it's not really relevant because it's more a personal taste:

Byleth and Edelgard falling in love at first sight (I find love at first sight stupid in general, it's inorganic. I understand horny-at-first-sight, and obsession-at-first-sight, but the love-at-first-sight trope bothers me, and there are only certain ships where I'll let it slide. A recent fic that I read that I loved had Edeleth review an opera someone made of their love story, and both of them agreed that the initial part where they fell in love at first sight was stupid and wanted it rewritten, lmfao. It also makes less sense on Byleth's side due to her muted emotions. I'd buy that she'd feel connected to Edelgard because of her shared crest, but many fic writers don't go that angle, she just thinks Edelgard's hot, and that really annoys me (muted emotions reason))