#anyway jeralt my beloved

[voxmilia]

You guys ever think about how easy it would have been for 3h to make Jeralt less than stellar as a dad, how easy it would be for him to push Byleth away as a baby - either out of misplaced anger that Sitri died to save their life or out of fear ("A child that doesn't cry...isn't natural.")

And yet Jeralt saved them, escaped the church that kept him the dark about his wife's death and his strange quiet child, and kept Byleth safe, protected, and loved for 21 years

[ashenlavellan]

Final Thoughts on my 1st Blue Lions Playthrough [4/4]

First off - my apologies for spamming, as well as the fact that I could've waited until I finished since I zoomed through it so quickly towards the end.

[MAJOR THANKS - to those of you who had interacted with my earlier posts and did not spoil the Blue Lions/Azure Moon route for me.]

So, shortly after Fort Merceus - I'm genuinely surprised that we didn't have the whole, pillars of light and all that bullshit. As soon as we claimed it, I was nervously waiting for everyone to scramble out of there as everything went down... but then, it didn't.

Anyways, everyone comes rushing back to Garreg Mach - especially once there is word that there is a man waiting for his sentencing from Dimitri, claiming to have been part of the tragedy that took place upon Duscur - including all of Dimitri's loved ones.

Honestly, as more time passed on and more information came to light, I can certainly say that Dimitri's stepmother is not as innocent as we initially believed. Not at all. But I can't fully dwell on it since there was nothing else left - Arundel was killed back in Derdriu and Cornelia was killed in Fhirdiad. Two of the people with connections to Dimitri, as well as what happened in Duscur - now dead.

Anyways, skip forward a bit and before the entire confrontation in Enbarr, we have a tense conversation - Dimitri and Byleth v. Edelgard and Hubert... It was quite intriguing hearing her reasons as to why this war had begun, as well as Dimitri calling her out and claiming that her method and approach is simply self-righteous - regardless of those who are weak and are unable to fight back. I knew for a fact that this wouldn't end peacefully, [otherwise it wouldn't be a Fire Emblem game] but the fact that both leaders somehow come to an understanding as to why they're doing what they're doing... interesting.

Skipping forward to the final confrontation - I was NOT expecting the lengths that Edelgard would go, but I kept being surprised and was somewhat terrified. Luckily, her attacks from a distance hardly damaged Byleth and Dimitri... the only nuisance was Myson [Those Who Slither in the Dark] and his spell that could lower any of my units down to 1HP. That was annoying AF.

Dimitri and Byleth managed to easily take down the transformed version of Edelgard and the cutscene was... Man, it was shocking to say the least. In one final attempt, he wanted to try and make peace - at least to some extent - but the fact that she wanted to take advantage of that, especially with the dagger that's tied them together, made my blood boil. Especially Byleth's, based on her reaction.

It was ironic, though, in the end. Dimitri had caught on that she was purposely letting her guard down and as the blade pierced his shoulder, he had swiftly thrusted his spear into a vital organ and she slumped forward - dead.

My heart broke a little as they began walking out and he hesitated, wanting to glance back, but Byleth had caught his hand and they had shared a look... They walked out together, hand-in-hand, and my god...

It's so fucking obvious that the chemistry is there, regardless if Byleth romances him or not.

Don't even get me started on his S-support - my fucking god, I loved it so much. He starts listing off all of the reasons why he cares for her and what she is to him, and then -

"That is true. To me, you will always be the one who guided me so kindly. My ally through all. My beloved... Yes... My beloved."

EXCUSE ME?

[Look, I know that by the end of the game I had... {checks his stats] around +50 Charm for him, but my god.]

I fucking squealed as he began blushing and getting flustered once he handed Byleth the engagement ring and she hadn't answered. I, however, chose the option as she hands him the ring Jeralt had given her -

"What is this?"

"I love you, Dimitri. Marry me."

The look on his fucking face had me cackling - he was so surprised and embarrassed by the turn of events and his response had me smiling.

"Yes. I see. Right. In that case, let us exchange them, shall we?"

But before I could revel in the fact that he was embarrassed, it changed the screen to the S-support image and I fucking died. He's holding Byleth's hand close, looking at her with such a tender gaze, and he continued -

"Your hands... Now that I hold them within my own, I see how small and fragile they are. These hands that have saved me countless time... Thank you, my beloved. Your kind, warm hands... May they cling to my own forevermore..."

Sir... SIR?!?

I'm so glad that I finally gave the Blue Lions/Azure Moon route a chance [especially since I've owned the game since it's release date and never played any other route] - I don't know if I'll ever be able to play Golden Deer and witnessing the scene/moment where Dimitri's still consumed by his inner demons and grief, getting him killed shortly after the fighting at Gronder Field. It breaks my fucking heart that he only survives within his own route, but dies in the other...

Man, all of you were right about the emotional rollercoaster, but I feel like no one mentioned the inner turmoil I'll now experience if I play Golden Deer again and have to witness his death... It will hit so differently now, after playing this route and pursuing his S-support.

P.S. -

Thank you to everyone for watching me experience this rollercoaster of a playthrough and how some of you may have been laughing at my confusion or even thinking "Oh, just wait..." - I hope you got a good laugh or smile at my confusion/shock/etc. with this playthrough... I can see now why so many of you enjoyed it and I thoroughly enjoyed it too!

Thanks again for being so kind to a hardcore Golden Deer/Claude girlie! I hope to publish some of the ideas I have running through my mind for both characters - Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd and Claude/Khalid von Riegan.

[randomnameless]

Funny how Jeralt could've used the fact he had a Crest to claim a title but instead went mercenary mode when his own child reveals in Hopes they dislike killing.

Anyway, I am still scratching my head about how he didn't connected the dots together about Rhea and Seiros when he received a Crest and lived for i don't remember how many years

And he also somehow didn't noticed that his beloved wife had a Crest as well. Yeah they don't leave marks but aren't they supposed to give you a boost ?

NGL,

Maybe it's only in my HC or AU, but Jerry suddenly popping up with a Major Crest of Seiros and asking for a title was bound to end up with "and this man helped House Hrym and made an enemy of Adrestia so he must be terminated he and his progeny" false charges to get rid of potential "dynastic threats" to the Adrestian succession.

Jerry still thinks Rhea's scary per her support with Billy in FE16, so maybe he found her "scary" because she was still alive and kicking after all those years (canonically he was there during the Mona Rhea incident and the portrait Ignatz'n'Sylvain found in Nopes, so he knows she fakes her death periodically) - granted, he only started to find her to be sus 280 years after meeting her for the first time, so...

FWIW, Jerry could have sold more of her secrets to randoms (we don't have proof he didn't, even if the game seems to imply the Western Church and Adrestia came to resent Rhea thanks to Agarthan meddling believing she's not "what she pretends to be" and not because a drunk Jeralt casually dropped that Rhea has been running the CoS for 300 years while using a lot of aliases and faking her death periodically) and he didn't !

I guess he knew she was someone "special" or had many secrets, but never bothered to enquire or to thing about them - at least before Billy's birth and Citrus' death.

As for Citrus' crest, I wonder if Rhea didn't explicitely ask Citrus not to tell a soul about her crest, worried as she was about her and how potential Sothis hosts - or just, bearers of the Crest of Flames could be attacked by Agarthans or sought after for the power of the crest.

Granted, Jerry didn't notice Citrus' nature as an artificial being so...

[sheikahwarriork]

Azure Gleam Murder Mystery dimileth; the king is already dating the fish eyed mercenary but all his other suitors and suitresses keep disappearing in mysterious conditions.

Dimitri, already into a long rant about how charming and kind his beloved is and how unfounded the rumours are about her: ... anyways, I am thankful to have your full support my dear friend. *hugs*

Shez: Why did I suddenly started to hear the jaws™ theme song?

Byleth: 👁️👁️

It was Flayn's fish pudding all along and all of them are incappacitated... but I consider the idea of all of the blue lions considering the ashen demon getting rid of them inmensely funny.

Shez: To be fair, I think she 10/10 could just muder us if she actually wanted. *shrugh*

Jeralt: You idiots, if my kid ever wanted to get rid of any of you she would just stab you.

anon you should know i FREAKING LOVE this. i dont promise anything but i could write something about this.

oh my god this is so funny, especially the part about jeralt being like "lmao my kid doesnt need to poison yall. she could kill anyone in a sec with a butterknife" bc ITS TRUEEE

thank you so much for the laugh. i really needed this today 🥺💙💚

[shepardyke]

one thing that i’ve been thinking about is when the sword of the creator is coming into play… if i remember correctly, the death knight and his lackeys break into the holy mausoleum and try to steal it to give to the flame emperor (who is edelgard and has the crest of flames, making her be one of two people to be able to wield the sword.. but i digress) ……

but like now that edelgard got rid of TWSitD, she doesn’t really have a need to wield it anymore? she has control of garreg mach, and presumably has access to the holy tomb and the mausoleum and any relics that are there… it doesn’t get brought up, but i can see that rhea orders for the relics to be transported away from the invasion… but i’m just curious to see when byleth will show up with sword, assuming that she ever does get to wield it ..it was a really cool sword… edelgard you must release the sword at once like WHERE IS IT WHO HAS IT

[yusuke-of-valla]

Thoughts on current cyl 6 designs and ghb? Who'd you free summon/are going for?

OH I NEW I FORGOT TO DO SOMETHING TODAY

*ahem* anyway!

Outside of Chrom I wasn’t super excited for this group, so I summoned him, but I feel like Chrom almost got the short end of the stick because everyone else is wearing clothes based on someone close to them and Chrom is pretty much wearing his standard Great Lord outfit. (Which is probably what happens when you’re at your fourth (?) non-seasonal Alt, I also think Brave Luci and L!Luci are similar and am disappointed by that)

I mean I love him because he is my husband but you know, cowards coulda put him in Emmeryn’s outfit to fit the theme is all I’m saying.

Jeralt as the GHB is absolutely delightful and I just got around to getting him in Three Hopes because I am the worst gamer ever and incredibly fucking slow so happy to see more of him!

Seliph in his dad’s clothes are cool, if I had more of an emotional connection to Geneaology I think that would probably be the one I enjoyed the most

Female Byleth in Sothis Regalia is cool conceptual but something about the artwork itself puts me off. Idk I don’t like the way she’s looking at me. Gives me the creeps

PenekoR my beloved but They coulda put Tiki in Naga’s or Bantu’s outfits instead of literally just her younger self which by design is very similar to her adult outfit. Or maybe something representing Mila since she was sleeping in the Mila tree?

So overall I’m kind of lukewarm on the Brave units this year, which isn’t surprising because other than Chrom I was lukewarm on the winners anyway. I’m sure people who are bigger fans of these characters are much happier

[omgkalyppso]

Sitri, My Beloved

Chapters: 1/1

Relationships: Sitri/Jeralt, Sitri & Alois, Jeralt & Alois

Rating: General

It's Saint Cethleann Day at Garreg Mach and Sitri is due in two months but she's still well enough to celebrate with her friends, at least a little.

Text of image below the cut.

[ID: A photo of pink flowers growing off of tree branches against a white-blue sky. The image is overlaid with a dark shade and white text. End ID]

“Hey,” Jeralt greeted softly, greeting Sitri with words and Alois with a smile that quickly faded. His worry was plain in his tone as he accused the pair of them, “I thought you’d be closer to the back of the crowd.”

“Alois let me set the pace, do not be cross with him,” Sitri scolded gently, saving their friend from having to defend himself, though his mouth had opened, ready to protest.

“Perhaps he should have slowed you down,” Jeralt said anyway, though his eyes crinkled again, to set Alois at ease. He reached out to stroke a hand across Sitri’s cheek as she rolled her eyes at him. “You know I worry. Don’t fall ill. I’m a terrible bed nurse.”

“You can’t afford to be a terrible bed nurse,” Sitri teased. “If the babe is anything like me, you will need to be prepared for soups and lethargy, tinctures and—”

“And guilt trips,” Alois contributed, as much to remind the couple of his presence as to joke with his friends.

Sitri gasped, bringing a hand to her chest, and then laughed all through Jeralt’s insincere act of defending her, as he stood upright and pointed at Alois. “That’s my family you’re talking about.”

[defiantbird]

Aight I finished Azure Gleam. Here are some disorganized thoughts.

TL;DR it was ok. Best part was the character interactions, gameplay and storyline were meh.

It wasn't terrible. I was glad to find that it was more "what if this other stuff happened instead?" instead of "what if they never met Byleth?"

I don't love the gameplay. It's alright but it got pretty tedious, though admittedly I think I leveled too fast and things got too easy or something.

The story was underwhelming. As much as it was nice to see everyone get good things, it just wasn't compelling. It's great that Dimitri got revenge and never had a feral stage, but it didn't actually feel resolved at all. What made AM compelling was how he had to learn that revenge wasn't going to heal him, and that he would be wrestling with his mental illness forever. The moment at the end where he tells Byleth that he's going to visit his loved ones graves for the first time in years? So good! It's him saying that recovery is a process and he can grieve his loved ones instead of being terrified of their judgement! So like...great that he got answers in Hopes but I don't feel like he actually got better?

Shez was equally meh. She felt like a generic protagonist, almost annoyingly plucky. I just didn't get attached to her at all.

As mentioned, the character interactions were the best. It was nice to see the Faerghus 4 really addressing their trauma together, along with Dedue. It was awesome seeing Duscur soldiers in camp and being able to talk to them and get their perspective a little.

I was expecting more of Sothis. She was there for a bit and seemed to have strong feelings on things, but we never got more of an explanation of her knowledge of Epimenides. Also, when you defeat Thales, Rhea speaks about cleansing the world herself...I'm guessing she has similar beef with humans but plans to fix it more through control than through destruction? Or is she talking specifically about Agarthans? Idk still a lot of questions on all of that.

I'm interpreting Edelgard's behavior as like...having reverted to her child-self. It was really interesting but I wish they delved more into it. It honestly seemed strange that when she seemed to remember Dimitri, he just decided to walk away and not deal with it. I feel like he's cared about that a lot and he gave up on it really quick in the name of forgetting the past.

Other thoughts aside from things I've already expressed elsewhere-

- Byleth my beloved. Her interactions with Jeralt were my fave part of the game.

- Jeralt just being like "Yeah Byleth's weird. She's my world tho. If I die try to be her friend aight?"

- So much Faerghus lore, with the more casual stuff being most enjoyable, like Rodrigue talking about how people get super competitive in snowball fights.

- More Glenn characterization ❤️ His letter was everything I've wanted about him.

- Child: Did you see that big funny knight who's carrying entire carts of stuff?

Yuri:...oh my fucking god Dimitri are you serious

- Felix has a cat now it's canon

- Also canonized: Dimitri falling asleep facedown on his paperwork and people having heart attacks thinking he's dead

- Shez: Let's relax in the woods!

Dimitri: Haha someone could easily jump out and stab me in the back 😬

Anyway, idk if I'm gonna play the other routes after a break or just watch them at some point.

- Are we serious with Jeralt being like "you might have been a student or Garreg Mach...cause it's not like you're qualified to be a teacher lol" and Byleth like "hmmm"

- Ngl, I felt like Sylvain was stripped of a lot of his character. Again, this was long the lines of "glad everyone is happy but now there's no conflict"

[imaginethreehouses]

okay so thoughts on shez... (i'm on ch.11)

so far, i like shez, and i like playing as shez more than i liked playing as byleth because i like the feeling of being just sorta there and not being too important. however, i think shez is much less interesting as a character than byleth. it's not necessarily a bad thing. like i said, i don't dislike that she's just sorta there, but i wanted to learn all i could about byleth when i played 3houses and i don't feel so intrigued about shez beyond her situation with arval. this might change as i keep playing.

i like her relationship with dimitri because of how casual but also deeply meaningful it is. in azure moon, i felt byleth became the person most important to dimitri, and i loved that story deeply, however i am glad that something different was done here. shez and dimitri don't have a relationship like dimitri has with dedue or felix, in fact, so far, shez doesnt have that sort of relationship with anyone in my playthrough, which is something she herself lamented in her C support with felix. but dimitri and the lions still touched shez deeply and made her change her outlook on life. i loved the casual change of heart that happened over time for her, when she tells arval "why can't my purpose just be to fight for dimitri and leave it at that?". there is something i liked in there. (arval's answers were hella sus in this convo too!! haha, i loved that)

one thing i noticed is that so far, none of her relationships, even in the A supports, have shown any hint of romance? in her A support with yuri, they even laugh at the thought of him telling her he'd want to be with her for the rest of his life (a line that 3houses definitely overused, so that was hilarious for me to see). her supports with flayn were hella cute and she's like a big sister for her now. I unlocked a few more A supports with girls and guys and they all just felt friendly and nothing like Byleth's. i'm almost sure the endings will be romantic but for now, i am enjoying my playthrough thinking that shez just isn't too into romance.

i feel like shez stepping out a little as a protagonist and being "just there" allowed all the faerghus characters to shine a lot more. i'm even loving all the rodrigue content and i'm loving it double thinking how happy it must be making all of you who loved the character from the start to see so much of him! i'm loving dimitri's relationship with felix and dedue.

i'm loving the church characters, even if i'm sad that there isn't a church route, i understand it makes no sense for shez, and that's okay. my beloved church characters are present in one way or another all through the game anyway! in short, i'm just glad that they made something different here to give us a different angle on the characters and let us see them through a different lens.

OH AND I LOVE BYLETH IN THIS? PLEASE GIVE ME MORE OF HIM. I CANT WAIT TO RECRUIT HIM... IF JERALT COMES TOO I WILL JUST CRY?

[sevarix-blogs]

if CF yurileth, how does yuri feel about byleth suddenly having a heartbeat? does it make it hard to be near him? does it make it strange to think about the past?

I like to think that CF yurileth is quite a bit more tragic than the other routes, actually. (sorry in advance this might be long)

First, I don't think Yuri would be happy fighting for the Empire, and he'd only do it out of necessity to protect his people (and Byleth in a yurileth situation). and although this is ultimately headcanon, this is backed up by what he says in the game. So please don't come for me, i know my boy and how he thinks. CF is Yuri's worst route for several reasons. BUT ANYWAY, So when Byleth's heart does the thing and starts beating again, I think he'd first be very concerned and upset, thinking he went down such a bloody path only to have Byleth be harmed too. But then afterwards when they fight the slithers, he'd be at Byleth's side doing everything he could to protect him out of paranoia, since Byleth likely loses his 'goddess' powers after the heart thing.

And then.... the tragic part. Byleth's 'un-fusion' from the goddess means he lives a normal lifespan. Yuri, since he received a blood transfusion from a (possible) nabatean has an extended lifespan just like Jeralt, as stated in m!yurileth endings in all the other routes. But since Byleth becomes 'normal' in CF.... Yuri loses Byleth to old age, and lives decades upon decades longer, grieving the loss of his husband, bitter about everything that happened during the war. And every time he notices his own heart beat... he is reminded of the strangeness of his beloved's heart, and how things could have been different had he chosen a different path all those years ago.

[kanomitri]

Dimitri vs Fleche Parallel

*SPOILERS FOR AZURE MOON CHAPTERS 14 AND 18 AS WELL AS (minor) SPOILERS FOR POST-GRONDER OF OTHER ROUTES*

Tw/Cw - Death, mentions of decapitation, trauma, and stabbing

Okay, but Dimitri and Fleche.

I'm in the middle of my Azure Moon replay, soaking in EVERYTHING,

and I just hit the end of Chapter 14.

Uh, as a reminder, this is the chapter after you've just reunited with your students and the monastery is being attacked. What's most important here is the dialogue Fleche shares with Randolph (the enemy general of this chapter whom you must defeat and Fleche's older brother). The transcript is as follows:

Randolph: It would seem the report that the Knights of Seiros have returned was accurate. This is going to take some effort.

Fleche: Brother... I heard a rumor that there is a vicious murderer among our enemies.

Randolph: Who knows if there's any truth to it. Though I admit we have lost some soldiers recently.

Randolph: Whether he's among them or not, taking on the Knights of Seiros is extremely dangerous.

Randolph: You're not ready for the front lines, Fleche. Stay in the back and support us from there. Understood?

Fleche: No! I want to stay with you! I have to---

Randolph: I need you to understand, Fleche. I will come back, I promise.

Fleche: Fine. I trust you, Brother. Please... be safe.

Randolph: All units, prepare to attack!

(Source: The game itself. I copied it from the Log)

Now, aside from the fact that Randolph using Fleche's name while Fleche only says "Brother" is heavily reminiscent of Seteth and Flayn (wow, even the names are similar - Fleche and Flayn), I was listening to this exchange intently.

You see, last time I listened, I was clowning on them because - duh, they're gonna die lol. Dimitri is on my side 🤪🤪🤪 (I later learned that my Dimitri was NOT that powerful, as this was my first playthrough and I had little experience back then. My current Dimitri would absolutely demolish though).

This time, however, I recalled Fleche from last time - she was the one to nearly assassinate Dimitri, and accidentally kill Rodrigue.

Before, I saw this conversation as relevant simply because, "Oh hey, that guy's gonna die! Yup, there he is. Wait, Dimitri, calm down-"

I completely forgot Fleche, so when she came and claimed we killed her brother, my mind blanked. I thought similarly to the rest of the army - her brother must've been some soldier we killed. Oops. ╮(╯_╰)╭

Then, as the conversation closed, a small thought dawned on me:

That reminds me of Dimitri.

To be blunt, a lot of things do (I think about Dimitri just about 24/7 and thusly, I think about Dimitri parallels non-stop) but this was a first for me - and the thought stuck.

Yes, yes... Fleche was like Dimitri - seeking revenge for fallen family, a vengeance that would take her life.

She reflected what Dimitri could've been - and is - in another route. Another way the story could've been told.

Allow me to explain:

Firstly, Fleche was worried for her brother, and she survived the battle where he died.

This was, oddly enough, the first thought to come to mind to explain this, but hear me out.

In an earlier conversation (pre-timeskip), just after the Jeralt is killed, Byleth speaks with Dimitri, where the latter reveals more about his experience back in Duscur, as a way to empathize with the Professor - including some words about his stepmother, whom he loved as his own flesh.

Dimitri: ... My stepmother, the kindest person I had ever known, left me behind and disappeared into the infernal flames. ...

(Source: The Cause of Sorrow/Script - Fire Emblem Wiki)

Dimitri and Gilbert's C-Support reveal that Dimitri would not have lived were it not for an external influence.

Dimitri: (To Gilbert) ... You saved my life at Duscur. I have only gratitude for you, no blame to speak of. ...

(Source: Dimitri/Supports - Fire Emblem Wiki)

No doubt, Dimitri was extremely worried for everyone of the Kingdom during that battle - friends and family alike - but I focus specifically on his stepmother mostly because it's later revealed that she has something to do with the Tragedy, and I sometimes like to have a tragic sense of humor :]

Similar to Dimitri's concern for his stepmother, Fleche worries deeply for her brother, Randolph. Both of them are kept from the front lines and live the battle, but still bear witness to the murder of their family - for Dimitri, that included his stepmother, and for Fleche, that's her brother. Both survived where their beloved family fell, and they had a feeling it would happen.

Second, Fleche seeks revenge.

This is not a hard one to prove. In Chapter 18, as Fleche prepares to kill Dimitri, she shouts:

"[The pain of being stabbed is] nothing compared to what my brother felt! You will never be forgiven, you know. I will never forgive you!"

(Source: Blood of the Eagle and Lion (Azure Moon)/Script - Fire Emblem Wiki)

If that's not vengeance, I don't know what is.

Third, her vengeance is her death, but she does collateral damage in the process.

This one is also fairly obvious - after stabbing Rodrigue she's killed - but there's also a bit more to it.

Yes, Rodrigue's death is an important step in Dimitri arc as it caused him to view both life and death differently, but you can also use it as parallel fodder (as I have).

You see, during other routes (Verdant Wind and Silver Snow specifically), Dimitri comes incredibly close to killing Edelgard (they are literally on the same battlefield, and she's even severely wounded in the process!) but he fails to finish the deed. He severely damages the Imperial army (alongside the Kingdom and Alliance forces, as cited in the event, "A Visitor"), but Edelgard lives. He dies.

Similarly, Fleche comes incredibly close to killing Dimitri. She even does collateral damage (aka she killed Rodrigue) - but she ultimately fails. Dimitri lives. She dies.

In essence, Fleche is a Dimitri that would've been - a Dimitri that is - had he not been corrected. Ironically enough, she helped him - saved his life even.

And people give all the credit to Byleth. ┐(´ー｀)┌

Anyways, that's just a thought I had that I may or may not have put too much thought into haha. I'm not sure if anyone else has noticed it but that's my two cents at the very least.

TL;DR - fleche is lowkey a manifest of dimitri

[of-invisible-ties]

Rhea: "We are all truly sorry for your loss . . . Sitri was like a daughter to me. The child she left behind really does have her likeness, don't they? Would you mind if I held Byleth for a moment?"

Jeralt doesn't want to let go of his child. The baby in his arms is his last remnant of his beloved wife, and he fears what giving him to another would result in. Yet, so far, Byleth has remained unfalteringly quiet. The baby never once protested nor cried out when his father did anything. Was he silent, to join with Jeralt's grief?

No, that was impossible. The ex-mercenary had seen infants before. He knew that the lot of them had lungs stronger than men. Babies cried and mewled until they got what they wanted. So ... why? Why was Byleth as silent as the grave?

What did you do to my child?

That's the words that Jeralt aches to say. He knew that Rhea assisted his late wife as she was giving birth. An understanding had passed between them, when Sitri weighed her life against her newborn's, and decided to die in his stead. But there was something more. Something ominous.

He didn't like the way that Rhea eyed the baby. Her expression was of the appropriate grief, yes, but there was an eerie shine in her eye. Whenever she looked upon the infant Byleth, she did so with the expectance of something.

Yet, he had no reason to refuse her request. Not at the moment, anyway.

"Yeah," he says gruffly, trying to disguise the catch in his voice. Whenever Jeralt spoke, his throat tightened, and he feared that, if he didn't control himself, he'd burst into tears. The grief of his beloved wife's death was threatening to tear him apart, and not even Rhea's healing would bring him back this time.

"You can hold him for a little while. I just ... don't want him out of my sight right now. I have to be with him."

[crackimagines]

You know the scene where Rex took Pyra to see his parents graves? (Which I thought was sweet, despite them not being alive he still wanted her to "meet" his parents) & talked how amazing she is & going was to take Pyra to Elysium. I was redoing Seteth & Flayn Paralouge & got inspired. May I please have a story where Flayn took ChildByleth to see her mother's grave & talk about how amazing he is, how he saved her & etc similar like Rex did with Pyra?

Child!Byleth Post Masterlist here!

OOF OW OUCHIES, MY FUCKING HEART

I THOUGHT YOU WERE GONNA SEND IN ASK ABOUT THAT TIME MYTHRA AND REX WOKE UP NEXT TO EACH OTHER JESUS CHRIST ANON

ANYWAYS, Thanks for the ask anon, I hope you enjoy!

-------

A Visit (FE: Three Houses Short Fic)

Child!Byleth Professor AU

After dealing with heretics from the Western Church, Seteth and Flayn visit the grave of someone beloved.

At Flayn’s request, the tiny Professor accompanies them.

-------

(Seteth) “To be back here so soon...”

He was speaking to himself, but Flayn chimed in.

(Flayn) “At least we aren’t killing anyone this time. This visit should be peaceful.”

Byleth walked up beside Flayn, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword.

(Byleth) “Can never be too careful though...”

(Seteth) “Agreed.”

The three of them looked at the ocean silently. The sound of the waves washing on the shore was the only thing making noise for a while before Seteth spoke up.

(Seteth) “...Come Flayn, let’s head to the grave. Professor do-”

(Byleth) “I don’t mind waiting, no.”

(Seteth) “-...Actually, I was going to ask if you wanted to come with us. I think you’ve earned that right now.”

Byleth looked a little shocked to hear Seteth say that, but he just nodded his head and followed them to her grave.

After walking across the sands for a short while, they finally reached her grave. It was a small burial ground next to a ruined building. It had a small round tombstone over the sand, not particularly fancy or ugly. It was just simple. 

Byleth stood next to Seteth as Flayn set flowers down and knelt in front of the grave.

They bowed their heads, most likely saying a prayer for her. Byleth took the time to think about his own mother, and how he and Jeralt rarely did something like this. It wasn’t because they didn’t love her, it was because they never had time.

Though, Byleth was happy to see that Flayn and Seteth had time to pay respects to the one they loved.

(Seteth) “If...If you excuse me, I need to be alone for a moment.”

Byleth nodded and watched him walk off to the waters. He was close by, but it didn’t seem like he could hear them.

(Flayn) “Hello, mother. This is the Professor I’ve been telling you about...!”

Byleth knelt down next to Flayn, looking at her mother’s grave.

(Byleth) “Hah...I hope I’ve made a good impression for her. I think your dad likes me.”

Flayn and Byleth laughed together, but her smile was still sad.

(Flayn) “I’m sure she would have loved to meet you, Byleth.”

(Byleth) “Think so?”

She nodded.

(Flayn) “I do. After all, there’s so many good things about you.”

Byleth chuckled, not really knowing what to say. He didn’t really seem to think so, but he appreciated the thought regardless.

(Flayn) “Byleth, may I be honest with you?”

(Byleth) “Always have been, why stop now?”

(Flayn) “I...”

She started clenching her fists, the smile fading away.

(Flayn) “I was afraid that when I went to Garreg Mach that I was going to be very lonely. Of course I have father but, he gets busy with work and...Well, I don’t think there’s many people my age either.”

(Byleth) “Yeah, everyone seems to be near their twenties. Only other people like us are Lysithea, Petra and...What’s that kid again...Cyrus? But anyways, I was used to that kind of problem but...Now that I’ve talked with you, I’m glad you don’t treat me like a kid.”

(Flayn) “I must thank you for that as well.”

(Byleth) “Oh, sorry. I didn’t mean to detract from the conversation. What else were you going to say?”

(Flayn) “Oh, you didn’t. I was going to thank you for keeping me company and well...For making things less lonely at the academy. Thanks to you, everything has been so much fun, learning with you and the class!”

(Byleth) “But...you got kidnapped-”

(Flayn) “Father would surely kill me for saying this but...If it took just a little bit of pain to be with you like this, I’d do it again in a heartbeat.”

Byleth started to blush and started to stutter.

(Byleth) “L-Let’s...uh, let’s not go saying that, alright?”

(Flayn) “Ha, don’t worry...It’s been so lonely without mother, and I know father has been feeling it too. But, thanks to you, we have so many friends! More importantly you help us in our times of need. I’m not sure where we’d be without you.”

(Byleth) “Thanks and...Honestly, I’m not sure where I’d be without you either.”

Flayn looked over to Byleth and saw him blushing. Although he was looking away, he was smiling.

(Byleth) “I’m glad I got to meet you, Flayn. I’ll do everything I can to make you and Seteth as comfortable as I can.”

Flayn’s smile came back, and she slowly hovered her hand over his.

She thought about it for a moment, and put it back onto her knees.

(Sothis) “...Oh come on, you saw that didn’t you?”

(Byleth) ...Ugh...

Byleth put his hand over Flayn’s, still blushing.

She giggled, flipping over her hand and held his tightly.

Sothis decided to give them the space they needed and floated over to where Seteth was.

She stared out into the ocean until she heard sniffing from Seteth. Turning her head, she saw Seteth smiling while a few tears fell from his eyes.

(Sothis) “Hah, no need to ponder if you heard all that.”

Everyone stayed where they were for a long time...

[gaybyevening]

edeleth writing exercise

once in a while to get over writer’s block i do this exercise where i shuffle my playlist and write something about my chosen pairing, based on the song, and only through the duration of the song! it’s a lot of fun.

i wanted to do something for Valentine’s Day, but... huh. I don’t know. Maybe if I put my intentions out there I’ll be more motivated to follow through, who knows.

i think i’ll do another instalment of this in edeleth and doropetra and then i’ll write something more substantial in honour of valentines day. who knows. not me.

warning for nsfw content (nothing major though. no smut. maybe smut-adjacent)

1.    Aly & AJ – Take Me

Edelgard will not apologise for her crude language, and it needs saying: Byleth makes her horny. The attraction isn’t entirely physical, of course, but right here, right now, she just wants Byleth to push her against the door and devour her whole.

The problem is… she doesn’t actually know what they are. They’ve been texting back and forth for a few months; they’ve hung out (alone, she should add) multiple nights every week, and… huh. It’s kind of frustrating. Does Byleth not see how much Edelgard wants her?

 2.    5 Seconds of Summer – She’s Kinda Hot

Edelgard has a folder in her phone, full of candid photos of Byleth, sent to her by her friends. So far the most prolific contributor is Dorothea, followed closely by Ferdinand, of all people (and much to her horror. How could Ferdinand, of all people, notice her crush on Byleth? It’s okay, Edelgard thinks, because she can retaliate by sending him pictures of Hubert during their study groups.)

(Unfortunately, even Petra, Linhardt and Bernadetta have joined in on the fun.)

It’s two in the morning and there’s a text from an unknown number. It’s a picture of Byleth in her glasses, descaling a fish with stern concentration all over her face. There’s a blur of green near the edge of the picture.

Greetings, Edelgard. I thought you’d appreciate this.

Oh, no. Not Flayn.

 3. The Turtles — Makin’ My Mind Up

Her suitcase is filled to overflowing with her clothes and other knick-knacks that have brought her joy over the years. The day is finally here: she’s finally able to run away with her beloved, just the two of them.

Byleth had brought her to the countryside once six months previously to look at the small and humble cottage they were going to move into soon, and the thought of a simple live delighted her to no end.

Days of idle and nothing nothing nothing with Byleth and maybe her friends whenever they stop by.

 4. Elvis Presley — It’s Still Here

It’s hard to be broken up and stay broken up when the ex-girlfriend involved is your bodyguard. Edelgard feels a migraine fading into existence as she sits at some corporate event, Byleth by her side.

She looks away when she catches Byleth’s eyes, her own face becoming redder. It’s the same look she’s given when they’re about to absolutely desecrate Rhea’s office.

 5. Sleater Kinney — Gimme Love

There’s a desperation to how Byleth peppers small kisses down her girlfriend’s neck. Perhaps it’s the fact that Rhea may enter her office at any second. Perhaps it’s the fact that they haven’t done this in a few months.

Perhaps it’s the fact that she still doesn’t know what any of this means.

“Byleth, I think I l-” Edelgard is cut off by Byleth’s lips on hers. Well, she never finished that thought anyway.

 6. The Cure — Secrets

In the dead of night Byleth strokes the side of Edelgard’s cheek and the younger woman stirs, slowly opening her eyes.

“Yes, my dear?” she asks.

“Nothing. I’m sorry for waking you up,” Byleth answers with a kiss on her cheek.

Edelgard wants to snuggle into Byleth’s chest, but perhaps the grogginess isn’t letting her. Perhaps it’s something else, she doesn’t currently have the mental capacity to analyse every single action. That can happen when the sun is up.

Byleth sighs. In a few moments she will dress and slip out and into her own bed.

 7. Brian Eno — Shell

 Little Maude laughs as she picks up another seashell and puts it into her bucket. She inspects it and deems her collection sufficient and waddles towards her parents, handing her bucket to Byleth.

“Make my castle pretty, please Mama, Mommy,” she says with her best puppy-dog eyes, and Edelgard starts arranging Maude’s seashells on the girl’s sandcastle.

 8. Lush — Desire Lines

Byleth murmurs in her sleep. Edelgard finds that out the third time Byleth sleeps over, much to her delightful surprise. The older woman is almost always composed and cool that at first Edelgard almost bursts out laughing when she realises it’s Byleth making small noises.

“You murmur in your sleep,” Edelgard says the next morning with a gentle, mirthful smile. “It’s very cute.”

There’s a blush forming across Byleth’s cheeks, red almost as furious as Edelgard’s covers.

(A few nights later she finds out Edelgard lightly snores in her sleep if she is very thoroughly exhausted.)

 9. Julie London — Easy Street

 There’s a signature frantic knock on the door. Edelgard knows instantly who it is. “Go away, Ferdinand,” she sniffles.

“Edelgard, I still don’t have your part of the assignment yet, and it’s due in two hours,” he says, a hint of panic in his voice.

“And if you’d let me talk, you’d know she’s sick today and has passed her part onto me,” Edelgard hears Hubert’s voice in the hallway.

“Ah! My apologies, Hubert. You know this class is important to me and I forgo any thinking at the thought of missing deadlines for it.”

“It’s quite alright, Ferdinand; although, you can make it up to me by buying me my favourite coffee.” Edelgard is absolutely disgusted. She’s alone this Valentine’s Day and the two are out there… doing that? Unacceptable—

She receives a text from Byleth. All is well again.

 10. Years & Years — If You’re Over Me

This what-are-we relationship is going to be the death of her, someday. Technically, they’re broken up. They’ve been broken up for almost half a year now. (And yet, in that period, they have slept together a total of fifteen times. Shamefully, Edelgard has kept count.)

There’s just… something absolutely irresistible about Byleth in her bodyguard uniform, looking all stoic, accompanying her everywhere.

She’ll continue thinking later. For now, all her focus is on Byleth and her lips on Edelgard’s clavicle.

 11. Purity Rings — Shuck

The only light in the room is from the moon, shining through the curtains. It hits gently on Edelgard’s face, and Byleth stops her ministrations for a while to admire her wife’s face. All she can think is beautiful beautiful beautiful and all she wants right now is to let Edelgard know that she is utterly and thoroughly loved: the good and bad parts.

Byleth smiles, all happiness and love, and continues undressing her wife and she is stuck in worship all night.

 12. Hayley Kiyoko — Ease My Mind

Edelgard has been weird all month. Dorothea can see that. She’s been smiling at her phone, and yet weirdly refuses to share what’s so funny. She’s been sneaking around the post-grad dorms early in the morning and in the dead of night.

“Edie, can I talk to you about that assignment from last week? I can’t seem to find the right answer for this question right here…” Dorothea rambles, while a shadow sneaks behind Edelgard.

“Dorothea, who is this B.E. person? They seem to be sending lewd texts to Edelgard.”

“Byleth?”

“You roped Petra into this?”

 13. The Radio Dept — This Time Around

They shouldn’t even be here.

Here is the ruins of a monastery ruined by a war thousands of years ago. Byleth doesn’t know how she ended up here. (It’s the voice in her head. The same one that screams that this face is a familiar one.)

“Come here, Kid! I got something to show you,” Jeralt’s gruff voice snaps her out of her thoughts.

“Miss von Hresvelg?” A man’s voice carries through the grounds and everything grinds to a halt.

 14. Derek & the Dominos — I Am Yours

Byleth is in Brigid to consult on something. That is, at first. One thing led to another and she’s stuck there for another month. This would be a total disaster had it not been the letters they’ve sent each other back and forth.

As it is, it has been two weeks since the last letter and Edelgard is on the edge of her seat waiting for the next one. She’s been restless, every day asking Hubert for any new correspondence.

“I truly do miss her,” Edelgard says, sipping her tea.

That comment broke Dorothea. “Goddess, Edie, just text her like a normal person, I’m begging you.”

 15. Sparklehorse — Heart of Darkness

Byleth has an unbeating heart and a darkness that follows her wherever she goes. She also has a goddess’s voice berating her when she misses the chance to kiss Edelgard.

As it stands, everything is alright, she reckons. Edelgard isn’t in the best place for romance: she’s busy with her final year project thesis and she’s in preparation to inherit her family’s company.

She’ll just be there, a shoulder to lean on, when Edelgard is tired from carrying the weight of the world.

[sheikahwarriork]

Hey your childhood enemies dimileth gave me an idea!!

When Byleth was a child Jeralt kept her in an inn to do mercenary work (and maybe visit Sauin village to train Leonie), Byleth discovered the sword ™…

And that she could just knife emoji things to make them go away… anyway my girl just kept beating bandits and monsters in the spooky forest outside the inn from having nothing better to do, until the point said monsters and bandits there developed ptsd from her.

Jeralt: I am so glad to return from mercenary work to my baby girl who safe and comfortable in the exact place I left her.

Tween Byleth, bathed in the blood of her enemies:

anon THANK YOU i love this!! it could be a sequel of my childhood enemies 👁👁 i dont have the energy to properly write a fic but i'll keep this idea in mind for the future.

lately i was thinking about how byleth's first killing could have been. but my idea is a bit angster, with byleth who has to kill someone in order to protect herself or her father, in a situation where she wasnt supposed to be on the battlefield. and as she watches her enemy's life slowly fading, she starts to get why her father drinks so much, and she feels something breaking inside her.

welp! i could use your idea as the "sequel" of my idea now that i think about it. jeralt is super worried about his kid after "the incident", so his first idea is to not make her fight, but at this point byleth knows she must learn to fight if she wants to keep her father alive (*cries in kronya*). she then steals a sword and starts training by herself while jeralt is away. when jeralt comes back, he understand the best way to keep his girl safe is to teach her how to fight. and so the blade breaker's lessons begin.

here byleth should be like 8 years old i guess... yeah i really need to think this through. i just dont have the energy know cuz its a super uper stressful period, sorry.

anyway thank you!!!!! i love thinking about byleth my beloved 💙

[luminisvii]

okay im gonna go black out and write some bullshit about my Thoughts on Literary Analysis and Character Writing bc i love writing and i love trying to figure out what works and what doesn’t. i am an unfortunate fan of fire emblem, so the real joke is on me, but let’s do this anyway. using a lot of bold as always! it makes me feel special.

Why is Leonie such a divisive character? 

as per usual, here is my disclaimer that it’s okay to like Leonie. it’s also okay to dislike her, as long as you’re not being a massive dick about it. lord knows people are rude to me about lorenz and i didn’t ask for their opinions. if you like leonie, i am not out to get you, i’m not going to tell you that you shouldn’t, i’m not even mad at you. Neat! you like a character i don’t! and that’s just fine. i honestly don’t care! go have fun! 

so let’s talk. theres a TL;DR at the end so be ready.

i’ll make no bones about it: i’m in the camp that dislikes her. i don’t have the energy to hate her as i do for faye, but leonie is pretty obnoxious as a character and it’s an uphill battle to like her. i’ve played VW like three times since i’m a self professed GD stan so i’ve dealt with her a lot, read most of her supports, and seen her as a character in actual cutscenes and stuff.

the short answer: making a character obsessed with another one and having that be most of their personality is really annoying. 

the long answer: let’s start on that now! these are my personal thoughts and analysis, so you’re free to disagree with me if you think i’m falling short.

one statement i will make right away is that i’m not offended by leonie being mean to the player. a lot of people who stan leonie like to argue that people dislike her because she’s one of the few characters who doesn’t kiss byleth’s ass immediately. that’s fine. that doesn’t bother me. after all, seteth and hapi are mean to byleth at first too, and those two are far more beloved… in fact, it’s funny that they’re mean to byleth. i would also argue that my favorite lord claude is not buddy buddy with byleth at first either, but if these popular opinion threads have proven anything to me, people love taking claude’s lying ass at face value. that’s besides the point—it’s okay that leonie isn’t immediately friendly to byleth. that is not an objective character flaw. characters need something to conflict over in the narrative, and not being instantly friendly to a player insert is not a problem in the slightest.

the major flaw in leonie’s character, imo, is that the writers decided it was a brilliant idea to make her obsessed with a man who barely seems to acknowledge her. this is an extremely unfortunate reoccurring character trope in fire emblem. notable other victims that more modern fe fans may recognize are faye and cordelia, faye being the worst offender. luckily, leonie isn’t as bad as faye. but it really is irritating that leonie, along with these other women, seem entirely driven by men who cannot acknowledge them. within three houses, you have similar traits in male characters as well: cyril is another notable offender, and to a lesser extent, dedue’s fixation on dimitri. now, we do see jeralt talking to leonie at the very least, and he does speak about her at least once in my memory, and positively at that. so it’s not as pathetic as the likes of faye. 

outside of that, leonie cannot stop fucking reminding everyone she comes across: she loves captain jeralt. she’s his only apprentice. and you, dear player, who is his child, are not good enough, because you don’t love him as much as she does. practically all her convos with byleth are about how they don’t love jeralt enough, save for a slight turn around in the A support where she talks about her promise to protect byleth in jeralt’s place. to be honest, i usually ditch her in any run i’m forced to take her (hello sylvain, the superior idiot redhead cavalier) so this promise is just cute.

the arrogance in this attitude is insensitive at best, and as seen in her B support with byleth, potentially malicious and self centered at worst. 

let’s not beat around the bush. the main point of contention for leonie is her B support with byleth, which is locked to jeralt’s death. you cannot get this support until jeralt has kicked it. and if you’re on GD, chances are you have gotten enough support points with leonie to get it immediately upon his death. the man’s grave is still fresh. what does she have the gall to say to her beloved mentor’s child?

“I've spent my whole life working to become a great mercenary like your father. There were so many times when I wanted to ask his advice, but I couldn't. I just had to make do. That's how I've made it this far. Just hard work, all on my own. But then you come along... And it's like you don't appreciate Captain Jeralt at all, or how lucky you were to have him around your whole life! Ugh! It still really bothers me! You might be his kid, but I'm still his best apprentice! Got it?!”

YIKES.

no matter how you dice it, saying that to someone whos father just died? NOT GOOD. it doesn’t matter what her reasoning is. a lot of people argue that this is realistic, that she’s acting out of grief. maybe so. however, if the game wants me to like her, they’re failing, no matter how realistic her reaction is. if this was supposed to be seen as a moment of weakness, that would be one thing, but it’s clear leonie never learns anything from this. she never gets better. she spends the rest of her life constantly centered on jeralt, and sees byleth as a competitor and obstacle to his affections, even after he’s dead. 

i don’t want to entirely make this about byleth, because let’s be real, byleth is only one of her many supports. but it is the most easily noticeable, and the least charitable to her character. 

also fun fact i did a basic search for jeralt in her supports and thats 37 times hes mentioned lmao this isn’t even accounting for her non support dialogue! which is still a lot! 

so a decent chunk of her supports still involve her talking about how great jeralt is as if the man is jesus. her better supports don’t involve him at all. i don’t have easy access to a lot of her dialogue by chapter, but quite a bit of her regular dialogue references jeralt too, be it by name or title, and a good chunk of her endings, especially her solo one, have her just taking up his title and job and drinking habits. it’s supposed to be seen as cute.

this woman is in her 20s at the beginning of the game. she’s my age. this kind of behavior is worrying. 

so you’re thinking “tell, you’ve spent a LOT of time talking about how leonie won’t shut the fuck up about jeralt. what about the rest of her character? unlike faye, she actually has one!” right you are! i will concede that. leonie does have things going on for her outside of her constant screeching about jeralt! what are they?

we see that her personality has her as a hard worker and frugal person because she’s grown up in a life that has less than many of her peers. she’s rational and rather keen, capable of assessing her opponents correctly and outsmarting them. she likes to help others. her supports with claude are fairly interesting as they talk about their own perspectives on the world to each other in a friendly manner. she talks to bernadetta and praises her skill in craft and manages to befriend her. in fact, all her supports where she doesn’t mention jeralt at all are pretty good. she can be headstrong and sometimes quick to jump to conclusions, but leonie isn’t one to be too beholden to preset ideas and shows a capability to learn and change.

wait, this sounds like a pretty well rounded and likeable character i’m describing! what happened here? this kind of portrayal is almost contradictory to the side of her that only thinks of jeralt. 

a lot of people who like leonie like her for these aspects. at first, i had thought her to be interesting, since she’s the poorest student in the entire school, here on money raised by her entire village, which must have been extremely difficult for them to do. she doesn’t understand how nobles can be so frivolous, and butts heads with the likes of hilda, who has been raised in luxury her whole life and she clashes even harder with lorenz, who is obsessed with nobility. in a way, leonie is the slap from reality that many of the rich students from garreg mach need. and she also serves an important function in the dynamic of the deer—she’s a bit of a hapless straight man to all their bullshit. they always need one of those! in the lions, that role falls to ingrid, while edelgard plays that to her own house. 

so yes, there is merit in leonie’s character. there’s a lot to like about her here. however, in my opinion, it’s not enough to make up for the incredibly abrasive aspects of her fixation on jeralt. it really just comes back to that—that someone decided that it would be a fantastic character trait to have her never stop thinking about a man, and flaunt this to the man’s child. constantly. almost all her dialogue directed at byleth is about jeralt. post skip, a lot more of her lines become about jeralt and making him proud. it’s like she thinks that he’s her dad. she’s a grown ass woman! leonie is one of the older students! she is an adult by the time the game starts! an adult with some actual worldly experience, unlike her peers! what went wrong? why is she like this? why did they make her so fucking annoying when it comes to jeralt?

so yes, that’s what i think is the major flaw of her character. a flaw that is not easily overcome. cyril is a largely derided character for similar reasons. another simple control+f tells me that rhea is mentioned in cyril’s supports 59 times so uh, woo! he has leonie beat there.

worst of all this is a flaw that narratively, she does not overcome. she never grows and gets better from it. she never changes her single minded determination to impress jeralt, even long after he’s dead. a good chunk of her endings have her taking up his business and acting just like him, taking his title too. somehow lorenz is the more likeable character, and lorenz starts off as a much worse person than her! he starts as a stinky incel classist and somehow, especially over the course of verdant wind, manages to learn and grow and change into a much better person, while leonie remains stagnant in who she is. her own peers outdo her in almost every aspect, in that they appear to be capable of growing up while leonie, already an adult, never seems to show any signs of maturing over the course of the game. we see ignatz turn from a meek nerd to someone who’s willing to do what it takes to protect what he cares about. marianne grows from suicidal and depressed to finding the will to live because it means she’ll be able to spend more time with things she enjoys and people she loves. lorenz goes from snobbish and distant over his complex about nobility to being one of the kindest members of the deer, willing to go against his father for the greater good. even hilda matures! hilda starts the game lazy and unambitious, trying to avoid work, saying she’d never risk her life for her friends, to fighting against some of the strongest forces in the continent and ESPECIALLY on CF we see her refusing to abandon claude in his time of need, no matter how bad it gets, even if it costs her life. what does leonie do? leonie seems to forever be stuck in the mindset that she has to impress jeralt, no matter how far she goes.

this is incredibly nitpicky, i’ll admit, this isn’t really part of the character analysis, but i find she under performs as a unit too. she may have ungodly speed and no weaknesses in her skills, but damage output wise she’s easily outdone in house by the other canon paladin of lorenz and his wonky statline, and out of house sylvain has basically the same ability as her, the same color hair, and a crest + relic that make him way more effective. the man has bulk, too. so, that’s a small ding to leonie as well. i had the same problem with sully in awakening. for all the talk about how these women are just as good as the men, they appear to under perform quite a bit.

and i’m gonna talk real quick in a basic list format of arguments i’ve seen for people defending leonie, since i’m running out of like, a coherent way to talk about some of this stuff.

-She’s realistic.

maybe so, but the game intends for me to find her as likeable and sympathetic, as it is for all recruitable characters. her reactions to byleth and sometimes others may be realistic, but don’t paint a charitable image of her. again, the moment in her B support with byleth is so bad, it makes her seem like she’s acting towards them with cruel intent. while i don’t care about byleth’s feelings since byleth isn’t a real person, what it does is it paints leonie as malicious, no matter what her intent was or how realistic it is. yes, she’s in grief, she’s lost someone important to her, but in what context is telling someone who just lost their dad that they didn’t love him enough supposed to garner anything but hatred? even if she apologizes for it in their A support, that means she basically took years to do so and still seems to think of byleth as an obstacle to her being like jeralt.

although as i have said before, the rest of her personality is fine. i find her non jeralt stuff is much more well written. she’s a down to earth person amidst a sea of lunatics. that’s not a problem.

-People don’t like her because she’s mean to Byleth. 

this is probably true in some regards although i can’t say for certain. because byleth is a player insert and some might take it personally, but otherwise i find this isn’t much of a good universal claim since there’s more to the disdain to that. personally, i think it’s hilarious when video game characters are mean to me, but that’s just My Opinion, so no, i’m really not offended by leonie being mean to me. other characters are also mean to byleth, and that leads into the next point...

-Other characters act similarly towards Byleth and they’re popular.

one, look at those stupid unpopular opinions threads on twitter. they’re not as loved as you think. two, a lot of the characters who are listed for these things are often the likes of seteth and felix, and let’s talk about the context of their actions there. seteth is indeed mean to byleth at first, but his intent is wildly different from leonie’s—he’s suspicious, and rightfully so, of this mercenary who came out of nowhere and rhea is suddenly showing a lot of interest in and is giving a position of power to. seteth is not acting out of malintent or jealousy, he’s acting out of concern for the students and his daughter as well as rhea. because his core intent is “protect everyone around me” it comes off as far more palatable and dare i say, endearing. this is vastly different than “i’m jealous towards byleth because i love their dad and hate that they’re getting attention i can’t.” with a character like felix, this is outright incorrect—felix is not necessarily more rude to byleth more than he would be anyone else. felix is angry with the faerghus four in particular, but everyone else gets the same level of vague disrespect from him otherwise, so his behavior is not centralized to byleth. again, i don’t care about byleth’s feelings. there is also cyril, who is similarly obsessed with rhea, and is just as irritating as leonie for it, if not worse because he gets an extra layer of being a poc character obsessed with a white one who saved him. 

tl;dr: context and intent matters. a lot. i know this is a ton to ask of the fe fandom to consider taking things beyond face value, but please consider the context of characters actions and their intent behind them.

-People who don’t like Leonie are misogynistic.

i won’t discount that there are bad actors who are likely extra critical of leonie because she’s a female character. it could be and has been argued that the reasons that characters like edelgard and ingrid are so controversial is because they are female. but not everyone who raises criticisms is strictly doing so in bad faith. most people i’ve seen criticizing leonie do it for the same reasons i am, which is that she’s an abrasive character. these traits would not be any better on a male character and in some regards could be worse. so for this one, it’s better to take it as a case by case situation, and pay attention to how people are talking. those doing so for less savory reasons often let it slip eventually, somehow. i’ve been avoiding using the word “bitch” in this entire thing for this exact reason.

-Her non-Byleth supports are good.

this is highly subjective imo and comes down to what you personally like in a character. i do like some of her non byleth supports, but she still has an unfortunate habit of bringing up jeralt in non byleth supports, so the only ones that are truly good are the ones where she doesn’t talk about him at all. even then, some like her one with marianne can do the same accidental portrayal of her seeming like a pretty unpleasant person. this isn’t saying that leonie can’t be flawed or short tempered, after all i adore felix and he’s got Some Fuckin Issues, but her portrayal as a kind and bright person clashes with how she’s portrayed surrounding byleth and jeralt. far too much. i like her supports with claude, i like her line with bernadetta, and her seteth one is good too, but i’d also argue that as a personality she doesn’t bring much to the table. she’s a perfectly serviceable character when she’s not dealing with byleth, but i personally fail to see more appeal to her. she isn’t particularly enrapturing like some of the others, and unlike someone like ingrid who has a similar role in BL, doesn’t have the shared history and integration with the deer that grants ingrid a unique perspective on her peers. although again, this is highly subjective, so it’s tough to argue about this. i’ll grant that yes, the writing that doesn’t surround jeralt is WAY better and almost makes leonie a redeemable character.

-Other characters are worse.

very true! i’ll cite faye again as the bottom line for “this is how abysmal this character could be” and in feth itself there is, as stated many times before, cyril. however it doesn’t mean that leonie is better by association. and i also often see people citing seteth as an example over the rudeness to the player too, but once again that’s about context and intent. hapi is a lesser example, due to a similar mistrusting nature, and there’s quite a bit of the cast who are cold and rude because that’s just who they are. now, thank fucking god that leonie actually talks about things that aren’t jeralt. like, seriously, i’d die. she still talks about him too much, but i really should go through all of faye’s dialogue to do a proper count. 

so now you’re probably thinking—if you even got this far—“gee tell, you sure do like running your fuckin mouth, eh? so what’s the point of all this?” let’s wrap it up. 

the TL;DR:

what this all boils down to is that leonie’s got a serious problem in her writing where her entire life revolves around a man, and the way it’s dealt with isn’t particularly great. she doesn’t have a dynamic character arc like some others that redeem them from their problems, and the personality she has outside of her relationship to jeralt and byleth often clashes with the one she has with them, particularly centering on byleth. when dealing with byleth, the image it paints of her is extremely negative, and not one easily shaken—again, the B support moment is just THAT BAD. that is the most cited moment for why people hate her. it just seems like for all the flaws she has, they are not compensated for or grown out of like other characters in the game do for theirs.

theres also that tweet about how we put more thought into these characters than intsys does, so. yeah. definitely doing that right now. thanks, intsys, you did it again.

i will also point to the argument that we should hold the writers accountable, not the fictional characters who aren’t real and don’t have feelings. i don’t think leonie needs to be held accountable for her bullshit. i just wish the writers could have treated her better.

this is personally why i find leonie so difficult, and hopefully if you didn’t understand why people don’t like leonie, this can help enlighten you. i’m willing to hear people out if they have something to say, and as always, if you are a leonie stan, please go enjoy yourself, have fun, and don’t let me ruin your parade. i just enjoy trying to figure things out and talking a lot along the way! so that’s all, here’s hoping that in the future they do better, and remember that GD is the best house okay bye take this picture of me typing up this whole ass thing