#blaiddyd of the 10 elites

[randomnameless]

What do you think about the zombies at the end of verdant wind?

As (mostly) everything in this opus...

They're a wasted opportunity.

IIRC in the DLC, during the necromancy/human (?) transmutation plot, Rhea mentions the Chalice cannot return a soul, less a body?

(JP!Rhea specifically says the Chalice cannot return the soul of a human (人の子 ? Child of Man?) Is she implying the Chalice can return the soul of a Nabatean - but refused to do so because the price was too high?)

Of course Agarthan Tech is supposed to be rad and all... Nemesis was "sealed" after Tailtean (uhhh) somewhere by Rhea (re-uhhh) but then the Mole People put him in their freezer (Re²-uhhh) without Rhea going ballistic (Re^3-Uhhh) and now he has thawed?

I don't know which endgame has more plotholes, SS or VW.

Anyways, Rhea thought Nemesis could return because he has the Crest of Flames (zombie!Supreme Leader when), but what about the Dudes?

Claude tries to talk to them (funny how Dub!Riegan makes a sound, but JP!Riegan is silent and only breathes) but comes to the conclusion they're just puppets - so what, are they reanimated corpses but without a soul (unlike Nemeis who kept his because of the Crest of Flames)? So what animates them? A titanus microchip inserted in their brain?

Hmm...

Now that I think about it, in Nopes, Thales said Crest Stones are the essences of a Nabatean - so if they put a Crest Stone on an animated corpse (like the 10 Elites), would it make a Nabatean or a sort of zombified!Crest Beast?

Or what would have happened in Thales'n'co tried to animate Sitri's corpse? Would it have worked like it did for the Elites (tfw Aelfie's plan sucked he should have sided with the Agarthans) but since Sitri's heart (and essence?) in within Billy, she would just have been a corpse? Or it wouldn't have worked at all?

They missed the occasion to have people fight against figures of the past who were supposed to be dead, like imagine if in VW instead of putting Blaiddyd who doesn't say a thing, they zombified!Dimi and everyone you've killed at Gronder (a bit like FE5, if you kill people you meet them as zombies later on), with Zombie!Jerry being a staple (maybe zombie!Sitri too?) ?

Both FE13 and FE14 played this tune, so why FE16 - ripe with the possibility of making zombies from corpses - didn't play it in turn?

[omgkalyppso]

things I would like to know about fellow writers

I was tagged by @dustdeepsea, thank you!! (:

Putting a cut in this because I'm very specific in some sexual language (not about my sexual history).

For this reason I'm too shy to tag anyone else, but if you see this and want to answer the questions, please consider yourself tagged by me.

Last book I read: The last book I finished must've been American Gods.

Greatest literary inspiration: I don't know. I like reading for reading and for learning, but no one that I really want to write like, and I feel bad for naming big names, still. JRR Tolkien, Douglas Adams, Diane Duane, Isaac Asimov (the short story Liar! has really stuck with me). And even then, that might influence how I used to write original fiction, but not at all how I write fanfiction, which I do almost exclusively now. I write far more original poetry than original fiction, and then ... I'm inspired by my mother, people in my community, all the music I listen to.

My fanfiction is a little inspired by my friends. I was going to link their a/o3 accounts but realized they may not want that. fghdfghdfg

Things in my current fandom I want to read but I don't want to write: Let's think of 3 for bg3 and 3 for fire emblem.

Vlaakith's defeat. - Idk enough about githyanki politics / how many "elite" forces (if any) are at her disposal.

Minsc's homecoming. - I feel like I'd have to play the first two games to be up to this.

He Who Was in control of his faculties but subbing very sweetly for Tav/Durge of any gender with bondage, hair pulling, overstimulation, spanking and the presence of a knife (I'd say knifeplay, but I don't mean bloodplay / cutting for him). - Reminder that this isn't a w/endy's, it's my blog.

Slowburn, longfic of Marianne moving to Faerghus with her eventual marriage to Dimitri. - Time.

Shura holding Kana for the first time. - I could write this. I won't.

Kink scene, free-use Hilda where her inner monologue is as complex as she is while still being wildly indulgent. - I started this wip; Hubert was also up for grabs in it. But it isn't happening.

Wait, also, Sylvain x Mercedes x Dedue starting a relationship with miscommunication and pining. - Planning this feels hard. fghdfg

Things in my current fandoms I want to write but I think nobody would be interested in them but me: 

With the note that I know I have at least 5 enablers who will (probably?? fdghfgdhfdg) always express interest in my completion of a project even if the won't read it, and so "nobody" being interested applies to strangers:

Komira and Locke, either domesticity or sexual intimacy.

A fic where Wyll and Ulder talk and it results in reconciliation, and then a bigger rift, and then understanding (people really don't like Ulder).

My Blaiddyd Bastard oc Almanzor learning to let go of the hang-ups on sex his parents gave him and fucking my oc Peregrine.

My oc Fae as a Student AU longfic.

You can recognise my writing by: The temptation to insult my own writing is so, so strong, but I don't mean to insult anyone who reads my stuff and enjoys it so I have to be nice. Hm. I don't know. "The way I write dialogue / inner reflection" is vague, but it's all I've got.

My most controversial take (current fandom): You guys (gender neutral and vague) can't call that shit self-insert if it's a non-human Tav (or Durge). It's first or second person writing (often, and not even always lately???), and x Reader fic, but self-insert To Me means that either any reader or at least the author has to be able to picture themself Being Inserted into the story. I haven't seen 1 isekai situation using this tag, which isn't a requirement, but you're giving the self-insert tiefling-tails and backstories, which is fun, but that's not a self-insert to me.

Top three favourite tropes: Slowburn (or emotional slowburn, sexually complicated), Hurt/Comfort (emotional or physical, whatever), Battle Relationship.

What’s your current writing mood (10 – super motivated and churning out words like crazy, 0 – in a complete rut): How current is current? Because potentially 0/10. I'll say 4/10 though.

Share a random frustration: I hate psyching myself out of a project because I worry something won't make sense (and I should post it anyway) or that it won't be up to my personal standards for myself.

[deathbirby]

Hero's Relics Origins - Part 1

Trigger warning here! This post gets quite graphic.

What are Relics?

Alright, I'll speedrun the explanation.

The Goddess used her own blood to create her children, who would come to be known as the Nabateans. The Nabateans are dragons who can turn into humans. Rhea, one of these Nabateans, explains what the Relics are.

"The same is true of the Crests of the 10 Elites and the other Crest Stones... They were born of the blood and hearts of the progenitor god's children." - Rhea

The Crest Stones are their hearts, and the Relics are their bones.

Now, lets take a look at the Heroes Relics, their associated crest, what dragon they are, what their Nabatean Title is, and what arcana they belong to.

Some parts are left out because of missing information!

Heroes Relic - Crest - Dragon - Title - Arcana

N/A - Ernest - Thorn Dragon - ? - The Fool N/A - Macuil - Wind Dragon - The Wind Caller - The Magician Aymr* - Seiros - Sky Dragon - The Immaculate One - High Priestess Crusher - Dominic - Crusher Dragon - ? - The Empress Aegis Shield - Fraldarius - Shield Dragon - The Steadfast - The Emperor N/A - Noa - Bloom Dragon - ? - The Hierophant N/A - Cethleann - Light Dragon - The Benevolent One - The Lovers Lúin - Daphnel - Flame Dragon - ? - The Chariot Areadbhar - Blaiddyd - Grim Dragon - The Vigorous - Strength Thyrsus - Gloucester - Craft Dragon - ? - The Hermit Freikugel - Goneril - Kalpa Dragon - ? - Wheel of Fortune N/A - Cichol - Earth Dragon - The Hammer of Judgment - Justice Fetters of Dromi - Aubin - Ice Dragon - ? - The Hanged Man Lance of Ruin - Gautier - Fissure Dragon - ? - Death N/A - Indech - Water Dragon - The Immovable - Temperance Blutgang - Beast - Storm Dragon - ? - The Devil Thunderbrand & Suttungr's Mystery - Charon - Lightning Dragon - ? - The Tower Hrotti - Timotheos - Dark Dragon - ? - The Star Failnaught - Riegan - Star Dragon - ? - The Moon Vajra-Mushti - Chevalier - Snow Dragon - ? - The Sun Rafail Gem & Ichor Scroll - Lamine - Aegis Dragon - ? - Judgement Sword of the Creator - Flames - ? - The Beginning - The World

* Aymr is unique because Seiros is still very much alive. This is possible because it's made out of Agarthium and probably not out of any Nabatean.

Notes:

Crusher is made out of the Crusher dragon.. I wouldn't be surprised if its title was "The Crusher" at this point.

Why is the Aegis Shield not made out of the Aegis Dragon??

One could assume that Sothis is a Divine Dragon.

The Immaculate One is called The White One in Japanese.

Okay, so what exactly is this post about? I just told you their origins, right? Yes, but I like to ramble. That means that I'll also be talking about which body part the Relics are potentially made out of, and what animal the dragon form could've looked like.

Let's unpack!

WARNING: HEAVY SPECULATION FROM HERE ON OUT AKA: I MADE IT THE FUCK UP

Crusher

Crusher Dragon

That's a lot of fingers. It's like the hands have been crushed together. What kind of animal even has bones like that? I don't know.

Aegis Shield

Shield Dragon

Is that a face? There are two eye sockets and a mouth that has been melted shut. It even has the part that normally shows a crest on it. Maybe it has been flattened to work better as a shield, or maybe the Shield Dragon's head was always a bit flat?

What about the back of the shield?

Look at that. It's like it has been fused together with the breastbone. What if it's made out of the chest of the Shield Dragon? It could've had a shield there. But where are the ribs?

Maybe it's a mix of both? The face/head is used as the front of the shield, with the breastbone making it more sturdier.

From this angle, it looks like it's smiling!

Or maybe it's trying to scream.

Lúin

Flame Dragon

When I saw this, the first thought that came to my mind was "That's a weird bird."

You've got the hole for the eye and a massive beak. And hey, what animal better fits the "Flame Dragon" than something like a phoenix? Sure, it might be flat, but who doesn't flatten a skull when turning it into a spearhead?

It could also be something like a fang or the femur that has been sharpened. Who knows?

Areadbhar

Grim Dragon

It looks like a very, very long hand. What animal has a hand like that? Well, usually aquatic animals do. Think of dolphins.

Cetacean's hand

Or even a mosasaur!

Look at those hand bones!

This animal was said to be very powerful, and would fit with both the Strength Arcana and the grim concept. Grim can also mean things like ferocious and ruthless. It doesn't always have to mean something gloomy. And even then, it could still work with this extinct creature.

And hey, it's an aquatic animal. It fits quite well with the 'Blue' part of the Blue Lions , and Dimitri could be the Lion.

Of course, you can also argue that the Grim dragon looked like a lion and that Areadbhar was made out of its ribs. These ribs could be fused together to make a spearhead.

Thyrsus

Craft Dragon

Spine! Those are vertebrae with spikes coming out of them. For some reason it's bent around the Crest Stone. I am not sure what the bottom part of the bone is. It doesn't look like any bone I know.

Not sure what the Craft Dragon looked like. All I know is that it probably had some spikes.

Freikugel

The Kalpa Dragon! Now, before we look at the mutilated corpse, you need to know what Kalpa actually means.

(in Hindu and Buddhist tradition) an immense period of time, reckoned as 4,320 million human years, and considered to be the length of a single cycle of the cosmos (or ‘day of Brahma’) from creation to dissolution.

Got it? Good! Lets look at the relic.

Kalpa Dragon

That looks like a sail! Now, you might say that no sail in existence has bones between the spikes. That makes no sense. That's soft tissue or something, not bone.

WELL.

Dead dragon in FE: Echoes

Fire Emblem dragons are just built different!

But yeah that's it. It's made out of the sail of the Kalpa Dragon. What animal does the Kalpa dragon look like? No clue. Let me just type "Animals with sails" in Google Search..

Alright. A Dimetrodon, a Sailfish, a Spinosaurus, an Edaphosaurus, and a whole lot more.

I would say that one of the dinosaurs fits best. Mainly because Kalpa means an immense period of time. There were no dinosaurs around 4320 million years ago, but you get the idea.

Of course, you could also say that the Kalpa Dragon looked like any other dragon and just had a sail. That's also possible. I mean, look at the picture of the dragon from Echoes. That thing even has horns and everything! If you were to take the sail from it, you wouldn't know that it looks like a pretty normal dragon.

Reminder

This entire post is speculation. The Heroes Relics aren't enough to say what the original dragon could've looked like. They only gives us bits and pieces. A relic might've had a feature that is seen in one animal, but it can still look like a completely different animal even with that feature.

Areadbhar might be a hand, but that doesn't necesarrily mean that it looked like a marine reptile. Maybe it looked like a fusion between a lion and a mosasaur. Maybe it just takes a little inspiration here and there. They are still dragons in the end, even if they might have the features of some normal animals.

I probably should've made this clearer at the start of the post, but I believe that my explanation works best with the image I have shown earlier.

In short, the Relics may be made out of a body part that usually belongs to a certain type of animal, but it can still look completely different from that animal. What I come up with is pure speculation.

Let's keep going.

Fetters of Dromi

Ice Dragon

That sure is a hand.

Yeah... I don't know what animal this could even be. It's the Ice Dragon. What ice-related animals look like they have hands like that?

I have no idea.

Lance of Ruin

Fissure Dragon

The spearhead could be made out of another bone like the fang, tailbone or another spike.

What about the spikes? Are they fangs?

Well, Miklan turned into a Black Beast, which gives us the chance to examine him. The shape of demonic beasts are nearly always the same, so we won't be looking at that. Instead, we'll be looking at the more unique features of this Black Beast. Take a look.

Those spikes coming out of its back look like the spikes on the Lance of Ruin. It also has 'rocks' covering its back.

This part looks like the vertebrae with the spikes still attached to it. You may notice that there are more than one attached to one vertebrae. This isn't the case with Miklan, but he isn't exactly a carbon copy of the Fissure Dragon.

I believe that the Fissure Dragon had multiple spikes on its back protruding next to each other, much like a Kentrosaurus.

If you were to look at it from above, it would look somewhat like a fissure. Other features of the Fissure Dragon would likely be that it's covered in black scales or 'rocks' like on Miklan's Black Beast form.

It might also have wings. Why do I say this?

Look at this.

Compare that to the Immaculate One's little back sail.

It says that it's used to mantain stability in flight. This could mean that Miklan's Black Beast form simply doesn't have a fully formed sail yet.

Before I move on. I have no clue what this text says, and I would appreciate it if someone could translate.

Google Translate says something like "If you get transformed by a Heroes Relic, a part of your body will be covered in armor. This is because there is a component of the bone used for the blade." or something like that.

Whoops!

This post is getting too long. It gets continued in part 2.

[ladyleonster]

Caeda annihilates the first of the Elites and Ethlyn cheers her on with a whoop. They're off to a fantastic start and the pegasus knight turned mage proves to be a formidable ally again. It leaves Ethlyn quite confident. She's lucky she's part of such a capable team.

"Caeda! That was awesome! We've totally got this! With all of us together, we're sure to win the day."

Even as Lyn is attacked and trampled, Ethlyn's confidence only wanes slightly. Lyn is confident and Eldigan is equipped with a physic staff again as well as Ethlyn having her recover. She'd seen how well Eldigan did as a healer in the last round.

"Are you sure you're alright Lyn?" The other woman waves her approval and Ethlyn pulls out her tome. "Eldigan, it's up to you to take care of Lyn, alright?"

Ethlyn 10/10HP misses Blaiddyd 4/10HP with Valaura at range. [Roll: 4; 0HP] Blaiddyd 4/10HP

Blaiddyd 4/10HP is Bound and cannot counter.

She does worry about Lyn though. Even if she claims she'll be alright the enemies look quite impressive. But the poison from her spell will help so she opens her tome to cast Valaura against the Dark Knight. Her voice wavers, lacking the confidence needed to fully cast the spell and it fizzles out before it reaches her opponent.

"Eldie, I swear to Baldr if you tell Sigurd about that..."

@lionheartsoath @ashenprofessor

:crunchy: — team four silver round

[femblem-emblem-throuses-houses]

House Blaiddyd + various assorted meme charts

[lilias42]

Simplicis caput

Bon ! J'avais pas prévu de le faire (et je ne sais pas si je recommencerais pour les autres) mais, voici la tête de Simplex ! Je l'avais bien en tête donc, autant la dessiner et la montrer ! (même si j'ai pas un super trait)

Comme dit dans son billet, son peuple est d'origine duscurienne donc, son teint de peau est très proche de celui de Dedue (enfin, aussi proche que je pouvais le faire avec mes crayons, et j'en avais un qui s'égalisait mal pour le marron et le coloriage, c'est vraiment pas mon truc donc, pardon pour les coups de crayons encore visibles)

J'ai essayé de respecter le code couleur de Dimitri pour ses vêtements (surtout que ça colle aux vêtements des habitants de la péninsule ibérique étant donné que d'après Strabon, ils portaient des tuniques de laine noire) et, normalement, il lui ressemble beaucoup. S'ils se croisent au même âge et sans les fiertés, on dirait Dimitri mais, s'il était né en Duscur. Les plaques de métal autour de son cou sont les tessères d'hospitalité qu'il partage avec Pertinax et Laeta et même si j'ai pas eu la place, elles ont une forme de main et peuvent toutes se superposés.

Pour ses fiertés, j'ai essayé de suivre le chemin de sa trachée le long de sa gorge pour celle qui ressemble à un collier et même si c'est caché par le col de sa tunique, elle continue dessous et recouvre une grande partie de son torse, notamment ses poumons vu que Simplex utilise souvent sa flute pour faire de la sorcellerie. L'idée est la même pour celles sur ses joues, elles suivent le chemin de sa sorcellerie.

Celle sur son front est apparut plus tard dans sa vie (elle est même tout autour de sa tête et sous ses cheveux, même si je ne l'ai pas dessiné) et n'a pas la même explication : déjà parce que je trouvais ça plutôt beau, même si ça reste des difformités plutôt effrayantes, mais aussi je trouvais que ça faisait comme une couronne sur sa tête, ce qui permettait de rappeler que sa lignée deviendra la famille royale de Faerghus.

Evidemment, son oeil gauche est celui de Pertinax, d'où le fait qu'il soit avec une pupille en forme d'amande car, celles de Pertinax ont cette forme. Ces yeux se sont adaptés au cas où il plongerait en eaux profondes avec peu de lumière et sont donc plus sensible, d'où l'iris rétractable, même si j'aurais dû faire le fond blanc pour encore plus coller à l'image d'un oeil de poisson (mais bon, les poissons n'ont pas d'iris en amande de ce que j'ai vu donc, ça passe). J'ai aussi ajouté des petites écailles sarcelles à côté de son oeil pour faire comme si des résidus de sa sorcellerie faisaient apparaitre des fiertés semblables aux siennes sur le corps de Simplex. Bon par contre, je me suis loupé vu que normalement, Pertinax a les mêmes yeux bleus d'eau que Rodrigue... j'avais fini de colorier quand je m'en suis rendu compte... les aléas du dessin à la main... on va dire que c'est une couleur un peu altéré par le fait que l'oeil soit gelé. D'ailleurs,même si ça ne se voie pas finalement sur la photo, j'avais aussi passé du bleu très pale sur le blanc de ses yeux pour donner l'impression qu'il était givré.

Pour sa coiffure, c'est une tresse que Simplex roule en chignon pour qu'elle ne traine pas par terre, étant donné qu'il ne se coupe jamais les cheveux. Il en fait aussi tombé une partie sur son épaule droite et sa natte tombe jusqu'à ses hanches. Pour le résultat de dos... (+ l'échelle de taille avec Pertinax et Laeta... et oui, même Simplex ne sait pas comment il a pu finir aussi grand alors qu'il mangeait autant que ses amis conservi, qui ont eu des retards de croissances et une petite taille à cause de la malnutrition)

(ordre de gauche à droite : Pertinax, Simplex, Laeta)

Bon, la qualité est pas top et j'avoue, je ne savais pas trop comment représenter correctement le fait que son chignon soit une tresse enroulé mais, ça donne ça de dos. Pour le chignon tressé à côté, c'est Pertinax, et là où les cheveux qui sont rassemblées en une multitude de nattes sont ceux de Laeta, ce qui crée une sorte de grand châle roux autour d'elle quand elle danse.

J'ai pas fait exprès, j'ai pensé à ses coiffures en imaginant à quoi ressemblaient les Braves indépendamment les uns des autres mais, en les dessinant tous les trois à côté, j'aime bien me dire qu'ils ont tous une / des tresses car, en plus d'être pratique, ça évite que leurs cheveux trainent au sol ou ne passent devant leurs yeux quand ils travaillent, mais aussi parce qu'avant que Pertinax et Laeta ne rentrent chez eux, ils se les faisaient les uns les autres pour gagner du temps et vérifier qu'ils n'avaient pas de poux ou de puces, ou de pucerons pour Laeta, puis ils ont continuer à s'en faire de leur côté en souvenir de ce moment-là entre eux (même s'ils ne l'avouent jamais à eux-mêmes et enferment tout dans une amphore, même si ça fait mal). Simplex porte un chignon comme Pertinax, et la partie de sa tresse qui tombe lui fait penser à Laeta.

Et voilà pour la tête de Simplex ! J'espère qu'il vous plait !

Ma source pour la manière dont il a noué son sayon vient d'Hycarius sur instagram (histoire appliquée sur Youtube) : c'est le lanceur de fronde de ce post. Allez voir ce qu'il fait, il est une source fiable ! Vous avez aussi les Ambiani et le Samara Parc sur insta qui font de supers reconstitutions ! De ce que je sais, vous pouvez les utiliser comme sources si vous écrivez une histoire qui se situe à la fin de la Tène et avant la conquête romaine ! (en plus de lecture sur le sujet !)

[onyxedskies]

thinking so much about the way how crests and relics shaped everyone

not even in just the obvious ways, either. i mean personality-wise.

the descendants of fraldarius wield the aegis shield. every one of them is a protector — glenn in duscur, rodrigue at gronder, and felix in every moment of the war.

the descendants of gautier wield the lance of ruin. one way or another, they’re all “ruiners” or “destroyers” — matthias with his family, miklan with the villages he and his thieves went through, and sylvain with his relationships.

the descendants of daphnel wield luín. luín of celtchair is what it was likely named after, the lance of irish literature that was dangerous for wielder and foe alike, could light aflame in an instant if not doused. fiery, unpredictable, and unyielding, just as ingrid and judith are.

the descendants of riegan wield failnaught. they cannot afford to fail — duke riegan in the round table conferences, and claude in hiding his identity and changing the minds of those in his care as far as the view of foreigners go.

the descendants of gloucester wield thyrsus. thyrsus was the staff of dionysus, greek god of fruitfulness. both erwin and lorenz take their duties as nobles incredibly seriously — they need to be the best to protect their citizens and be the most fruitful territory in leicester to prove that their territory is doing well.

the descendants of goneril wield freikugel. freikugel got its name from the german romantic opera der freischütz, translating approximately to the freeshooter. in the play, the main character must prove he is a brilliant marksman and makes a deal with the devil to ensure it — the devil will give him 6 magic bullets that are guaranteed to hit any target they’re shot at and 1 bullet controlled by the devil itself. the gonerils are similar — upstanding nobles and citizens, yes, but one is gripped and controlled by sin, as hilda often succumbs to sloth.

the descendants of dominic wield crusher. they crush the things in their way — gustave crushed his family as they were in the way of him repaying his sins, baron dominic crushed the loyalty he had for the kingdom to protect his people, and annette crushed the obstacles in her way of reuniting with her father, both school-wise and not.

the descendants of lamine use the rafail gem. rafail is another spelling of raphael, the name of an archangel meaning “god has healed”. the known ancestors exhibit different aspects of the name — mercedes is a healer, and jeritza was molded to be the best servant he could be for thales, a higher power, just as raphael was created to be gods servant.

the descendants of charon wield thunderbrand. just as the name suggests, the wielders are quick and sharp as thunder, with catherine being sharp, fast, and fiery.

the descendants of blaiddyd wield areadbhar. areadbhar directly translates to “slaughterer” and was a spear in irish mythology that needed to be submerged in water to prevent it from igniting. this is similar to the blaiddyds we’ve seen — their incredible strength, yes, but their personality as well. lambert was set on a cause — relations with duscur — and it “ignited” him, so to speak. it was his prime motivation, and he could not be talked down from it. dimitri’s “ignition” was edelgard — until gronder, he would stop at nothing but getting her head or dying himself. rufus was ignited to take over the kingdom, even if that had just been cornelia’s voice in his head telling him to do so.

they all represent their relics and ancestors, even if you have to think a little bit to see it.

[damegalantea]

deja nue / team 1 gold round

When she would play saints & elites with her brothers, and then later with the ever competitive heirs to houses Gautier, Fraldalius, and Blaiddyd there was always a tussle over who would be Seiros.

She remembers her oldest brother swinging around a shield, proudly declaring that Ingrid would just have to take on the role of Ceathleann if she was unable to unarm him. The real Seiros could disarm a soldier with naught but her gaze. The real Seiros shone as bright and pure as her gold hair was said to be, and no one cared that she was a warrior but not a man for she was more than that, she was divine.

Garbed in white armor, holding a spell book in one hand and a staff in another Ingrid remembers those days, on how enraptured she had felt the one time she had managed to slip away to see the Opera troupe from Enbarr and heard Seiros speak for the first time, remembers how she had copied the actress’s stance and stage swordplay for weeks on end afterward until her instructor had told her how terribly unrealistic, and unbecoming it all was in reality.

Reality or not, Ingrid finds herself facing the Nue once more and there in the center of battle - the center of the stage - she feels right at home, as if the Goddess herself has placed her here.

“Again, we meet,” Ingrid calls up to the chimera: “have you stopped running? Know by now you cannot win this chase.”

Ingrid peers around her at the comrades she’s come to trust - Leonardo, Kent, Hector, and Sakura, and finds herself grinning. Again and again, they have knit themselves back together - compared to that the Nue’s miracle seems nothing but a parlor trick.

It stares blankly back at her, but Ingrid does not flinch; flips through the unknown spellbook until she feels the Faith strum through her fingers and then flings it the Nue’s way.

Ingrid attacks Nue with Luce. 1d4 roll: 3. Illusion does not proc!

For a moment the Nue shimmers like a heat mirage but then the spell hits with a blast of divine light and pinned there in the air Ingrid feels the magic strike true.

1d20: 8. Hit! (-2HP) Nue’s HP: 48/50. 1d4 roll: 3. Nue reflects all physical damage! Ingrid remains unaffected.

“Now is our chance!” Ingrid calls, excitedly, breaking character for the moment to shout to the others and in that moment the Nue howls: nearly causing Ingrid to drop her book, though she stays upright by leaning on her staff.

Nue counters with Omen. 1d20 roll: 14. Hit! (-2.5HP) Ingrid’s HP: 7.5/10.  Ingrid is inflicted with Void! 

Playing center stage certainly seemed to have its draw backs as well, but nothing she couldn’t handle. “I’m alright,” Ingrid assures, “just, ah, unused to this new toolkit. But, please, let us not falter! Surely this is the last stand!”

> @gentlenekomata@liegebound @braveryinblue @freedomarrow</

[doodleofbugness]

The 10 Elites from Fire Emblem: Three Houses, made using Artbreeder:

Blaiddyd, Dimitri’s ancestor

Riegan, Claude’s ancestor

Lamine, Mercedes’s ancestor

Goneril, Hilda’s ancestor

Daphnel, Ingrid’s ancestor

Dominic, Annette’s ancestor

Gautier, Sylvain’s ancestor

Fraldarius, Felix’s ancestor

Gloucester, Lorenz’s ancestor

and Charon, Catherine’s ancestor

I had perhaps a bit too much fun making these. Also, I blame @caffeinatedflumadiddlebutpjo for introducing me to Artbreeder in the first place. I now have way too many pieces on that site.

[bylaudelekha]

SHIT I CAN'T BELIEVE I FORGOT TO POST THIS

So, I was thinking about Crests and the Ten Elites and the Heroes' Relics and shit last night at like. 11pm.

And I start thinking about the nobles that have the relics.

So there's Blaiddyd, Fraldarius, Gautier, Daphnel and Dominic from Faerghus.

and there's Riegan, Gloucester, Maurice (aka Marianne's crest, also known as the Crest of the Beast) and Goneril from the Alliance

(+ Catherine's, which is the Elite Charon)

So that's ten, right? But the ten are all from the Kingdom and Alliance. And the Eagles, well:

Hubert and Caspar are both nobles without a crest.

Linhardt has the Crest of Cethleann, so it's not his house's crest.

Ferdinand is the same as Linhardt, as in the fact that he has the Crest of Cichol, not his house's crest.

Bernadetta has the Crest of Indech, putting her in the same circumstance as Linhardt and Ferdinand.

Dorothea and Petra both don't have a crest (Petra wasn't born to a house and Dorothea is a commoner).

Edelgard is a bit more complicated. She has the Crest of Seiros, sure. We see that from the beginning. But she also has the Crest of Flames, which I guess would make her capable of using the Sword of The Creator? But we're talking about their own Relics here, so that wouldn't count. Now, Edelgard also has Aymr. but that isn't classed as a relic either, with it being known in game as a 'Crest Stone weapon'.

Therefore, I bring you the newly realised fact that the Adrestian Empire has no Relics (or members of the 10 Elites) to its name.

What was I accomplishing with this? Not much. Just thought it was cool lol.

[randomnameless]

The main issue with discourse about crests is how people see it as a cause for inequality with the nonsense about church bad it explains them as gifts of the goddess when

Is there another part anon?

I was loitering on redshit today and saw this sort of argument about the "Church BaD because Rhea said Crests come from the Goddess so she gives a divine right to rule to crested people" and...

Well, save for being a peak example of projecting and ignoring the text at hand...

It's, as you say relatively meaningless in the greater "inequality" scope of things, because, hey.

Kevin Blaiddyd can lift an ox with his pinky. Bob the mailman cannot. Even if Rhea never wrote a thing about the source of Crests... Kevin and Bob wouldn't have been treated the same way : in a world rife with giant monsters and bandits, Kevin's super strength will always be valued over Bob, who doesn't have this super strength, when it comes to protect/defend his people/family.

In a way, writing the Crests come from the Goddess has two results : 1/humans won't try to get their hands on one since, uh, if the goddess gives them, it's as random as it can so, maybe, if you find a person with pointy ears who has a crest, you won't be tempted to, idk, kill it and eat its liver to get a crest

+

2/maybe... it's the one of the only few things Rhea could preserve/salvage from her family and culture ?

The beings who were originally granted crests, aka Nabateans, were created with this power because the Goddess created them as such - "it comes from the goddess" is not technically a lie, Crests come from her blood and were only originally gifted to her children... Humans just happened to get this power by "stealing" it (at least if we're talking about the Elites and their lines!)

Back to projection and "ignoring the text at hands", getting the "divine right to rule" conclusion from this is like me, idk, going to the UK and expecting to find a good baguette :

The Book of Seiros lit says the Goddess is disheartened to see how the power of crests is misused by humans and says Nemesis fell to corruption, basically spelling out how people who have crests... shouldn't abuse it.

Imo, it's not the "divine endorsement" to rule here, but it's much closer to the mandate of heaven doctrine : if you do not rule wisely, the gods will abandon you - the first crested humans did so much shit that Sothis wept and left Fodlan (according to the Book of Seiros!).

As for crest inequality...

Yes, some people are born with super powers, and others aren't. Just like your usual run of the mill genetics that are still used, irl, to discriminate or at least make differences between two people.

"get rid of the system where super powers are valued" is just a nebulous nonsensical leitmotiv that... is completely empty, if you look closer at it.

AG!Sylvain wants to get rid of situation where you will have to use those super powers, okay, why not? But if a Giant Wolf charges at a toddler, and Sylvain with his relic can stop him, but Miklan without said relic cannot - who should be called upon to protect the toddler, or to get rid of the Giant Wolf? Sylvain or Miklan?

Ditto with healing : if Flayn can her special Nabatean Magic to make an AOE area to heal 100 people at once to full HP, when humans require at least 10 healers to cover the same area to heal those 100 people to full HP, who is going to be called to help when available? Flayn, or 10 healers?

Unless you get rid of everyone who has a super power - you can't value something that doesn't exist lol - "creating a world where crests aren't valued" is just, impossible.

FFS, Billy can rewind time, how do you make people "not value" this ability?

[saviourkingslut]

i don't want another 3h banner within the next 6 months but now that we have a crusader that had minimal character design ... blaiddyd 10 elites pls? 👉👈🥺

[butwhatifidothis]

TL:DR: crests have nothing to do with nobility. They are only valued because they give people bragging rights that they are related to certain important historical figures/powerful families.

Can we talk about how stupid it is to claim that nobility exists because of the crests? First, let’s ignore the fact that nobility exists in Brigid, Almyra and Dagda where crests are distinctly non-existent too.

Most of the Fodlan nobles are crestless. Bergliez, Vestra, Ordelia, Gaspard, Rowe, Edmund, Kleiman, Arundel, Gerth, Ochs, Bartels, Hrym and whatever house Acheron is from are all crestless. The Dominics have a crest but they are only Barons, and the only family member with a crest (Annette) is not even the heir. Mercedes and Constance both have crests but they are commoners (for now). Hilda has a crest while her brother is implied to be crestless yet Hilda is not the heir. Balthus is not the heir despite being the eldest son and his crest.

House Varley has a family crest, yet they did not come into power until recent years when the Emperor decided to throw out the southern church and make a new position called the Minister of Religious affairs (whatever it’s called) and their heir is only trained as a submissive wife in order to be married off to someone powerful.

Hanneman is from a family with a crest, yet they are so powerless and has so little prestige that it is not even mentioned in that book talking about the Imperial nobles in the library. They are so powerless that their daughter/sister is raped to death and they can do nothing about it.

House Galatea is so poor that its damn heiress needs to sell herself in order to keep it going.

And don’t forget Hapi and Balthus are both born with crests, but they are not nobles (Balthus is one but he’s a noble because of his father instead of his mother who is the one with a crest).

Yuri and Jeralt both get their crests from random strangers yet Yuri stays a commoner until he gets adopted while Jeralt is a goddamn mercenary (mercenaries were very powerful in the middle ages though don’t be mistaken).

The only prominent families with a crest are Hresvelg, Aegir, Hevring, Blaiddyd, Gautier, Charon, Fraldarius, Riegan, Goneril, Daphnel and Gloucester. House Hresvelg and House Blaiddyd are the goddamn royalty; Aegir and Hevring helped the first Emperor and Seiros found the Empire; Fraldarius and Charon fought in the Independence war to found the Kingdom; Gautier protects the Kingdom from Sreng invasions; Riegan, Goneril, Daphnel and Gloucester were the leaders in the revolution that led to the formation of the Alliance, and Riegan, Goneril and Gloucester still have a seat on the Roundtable while Goneril is the only reason why Almyra has not taken over Fodlan.

Look at the numbers. There are only 12+4+1+1=18 noble families with a crest (12 elites + the saints including seiros and excluding macuil + constance’s + hanneman’s), with only 10 of them being truly politically powerful and prestigious thanks to having played a pivotal role in the founding of the country or being the border protectors. 10 houses in the entire Fodlan. That’s fewer than all of the noble houses in a single central european dukedom back in the middle ages.

Instead of the crests being the reason why nobility exists, how about “some of the most powerful noble families having a crest leads to the crests being valued as they indicate one being related to these families”? They are literally signs that you are related to the saints/12 elites - who wouldn’t love telling people that you share a common ancestor with the King? Or it’s just because these families with an ancestral crest are the oldest families in Fodlan and they have accumulated immense wealth and power over 1000 years and also married into almost all of the other noble houses so that’s the only reason why nobility SEEMS to be associated with the crests?

It’s just confirmation bias that nobility is built on crests. People are mixing up correlation with causation. Crests are associated with the nobility, but crests do not give rise to the existence of nobility. People need to understand that association does not mean causation.

It’s like. My dudes. 

Real-ass life created the nobility system without the existence of magical blood powers that are 1) directly tied to a literal Goddess, like it’s deadass proof of god, and 2) let you do things like, oh, you know, have monstrous, inconceivable levels of strength at all times and sap the life out of people if you hit ‘em right. Maybe, just maybe, there tends to be a correlation (that isn’t even 100% accurate in the first place) because at the time the game’s set in Crests make you objectively better in some fashion? And yeah, that also don’t account for the whack ass system in place if the so called “Crest system” was as prominent as the game and fandom wants us to believe. 

It’s far more consistent that people who do good shit for the nation get to be called nobles. Sure, there are some instances of Crests being the root cause for discord in individual cases, as well as it appearing as though some families being able to gain a title through Crests alone (or mostly alone), but if you take away Crests you’ll 1) only get rid of those few individual cases of discord while the rest of the people fucked over by the existence of nobility will still have a shit time and 2) do shit all about there being a nobility system in the first place.

[gascon-en-exil]

Going through the 10 elites classes, at first I thought it was weird that Blaiddyd.was a dark knight given how that doesn't reflect Dimitri's promotion path at all. It took me a moment to go "Oh, Eldigan reference". Dimitri already cribs SO much from Eldigan (blond knight lord, lion theme, feudal kingdom, his death scene in CF, his relationship with his sister, homoerotic undertones with his friends/servants) that I can't believe that one threw me for a loop.

I would say that the source material for Dimitri’s queerness primarily lies in Quan rather than Eldigan, but otherwise pretty much. All of the house leaders blend traits of Genealogy Gen 1 lord trio, but it’s most apparent with Dimitri as he’s the most traditional lord character.

(Side note, but Blaiddyd’s class as an Eldigan reference is odd in light of how class names have changed over time. The class (re)introduced in FE13 under the name dark knight is essentially the same as the mage knight of the Jugdral games, whereas Eldigan and Ares are paladins using dark/black armor as an aesthetic choice. I have never liked this name change, especially in Awakening where it’s blatantly misleading: a dark mage who promotes to dark knight loses access to dark magic. I don’t know, referring to elemental magic as dark/black always felt too Final Fantasy to me, and it irks me that FE has apparently adopted this as a new standard when pre-Awakening the black/white terminology was used only in Gaiden.)

[yukiwrites]

Byleth, Closer to the Truth

Thanks for the support as always, @xpegasusuniverse! It’s amazing how much worldbuilding three houses had ;v;) it’s so good to explore it all!

Summary: Byleth asked Hanneman to aid him in his pursuit of knowledge, but there was TOO MUCH that the crestologist knew that the young Professor did not, so Byleth had to actually catch up in his own studies to be able to discuss things in equal terms with Hanneman. However, the more Byleth learned, the bigger were the questions forming inside of him, as well as the discomfort such things brought Sothis... could it all be connected?

Commission info HERE and HERE!

______________________________

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 -  Part 5 - Part 6 - Part 7 - Part 8  - Part 9 - Part 10  - Part 11 - Part 12 - Part 13 - Part 14  - Part 15

Enlisting Hanneman into his personal group (consisting of Byleth himself and the voice in his head, Sothis) dedicated to uncovering the secrets of the Heroes' Relics was truly an astounding idea.

Although the older Professor demanded much knowledge Byleth never had in first place to even start a proper discussion, Hanneman's insightful questions truly spurred Byleth and Sothis to seek more answers to millennia-long questions.

Since the Relics were weapons that could only be wielded by crest-bearers, they fell into Hanneman's area of expertise -- meaning that the crestologist knew by heart all of their names, related crests, original wielders and general location. Byleth, on the other hand, knew no such thing, so Hanneman's lecture was taken to heart.

Areadbhar, the lance that once belonged to Blaiddyd of the Ten Elites, lay inside the Royal Palace of Fhirdiad, guarded to be used only by its King. The Crusher of the Dominic crest was also back in Faerghus, though thankfully those were the last two Relics located in the Kingdom to yet come to Byleth's hands.

The Aegis Shield, the Lance of Ruin, Lùin and Thunderbrand were all within the Professor's grasp, alongside the Alliance's Freikugel and Thyrsus. Byleth held onto six out of the twelve Relics in existence, and that was the most a single person possessed in over a thousand years.

"But... twelve?" The Professor mumbled as he stared at the open book in front of him. Wasn't that strange, though? There were twelve documented Heroes' Relics (their whereabouts varying from 'unseen since the Heroes' War' to 'being guarded by a noble house'), though only Ten known Elites, plus the Sword of the Creator, supposedly handed by the goddess herself.

Hanneman mentioned that Maurice had been the eleventh Elite back in the day, though he had been banished for being consumed by his Crest, so the math added up on that account.

But what about Seiros and Four Saints?

If they were the ones closest to the goddess, it should've been natural for Her to bestow Relics to them as well, yes?

However, that didn't seem to be the case. Seiros and the Saints were only known to use a different kind of legendary weapon, dubbed Sacred Weapons by the church. Their whereabouts were documented by ancient texts, which informed the reader that all Sacred Weapons were supposedly buried alongside their original wielders under the monastery: inside the Holy Mausoleum.

'Why supposedly?' one might ask. The answer was simple: Inside Seiros' tomb lay the Sword of the Creator, not her sword neither her shield. What's more -- Byleth also had two Sacred Weapons in his possession, the Spear of Assal and the Caduceus Staff, originally Saint Cichol and Saint Cethleann's weapons respectively.

The place Byleth found them at couldn't be farther from the monastery: on a remote island far from the Central Church's grasp, inside the tomb of a woman completely unrelated to the Saints if only that she was a devout follower of the religion. Flayn and Seteth considered that place special to them and were the ones to bestow the weapons to Byleth, alongside a very distinguished detail regarding their family bonds.

Though Byleth informed Hanneman of the Sacred Weapons in his possession, he of course refrained from repeating secrets entrusted to him.

"Your mind has been wandering and wandering... each second farther away from the text in front of you." Sothis mentally poked Byleth's shoulder, making the Professor blink back into reality.

"Ah, that's true," he shook his head in a vain attempt to shoo away the boredom that came with reading any heavily worded text that hailed from the church.

The volume in question was one of the many tales centered around Saint Macuil. As were the other seven books stacked right beside it, which only made Byleth even less willing to even go through with all that encrypted and salted reading.

Sighing, the Professor resigned himself to going back to studying, his thirst for answers winning over his unwillingness to read.

Although the origins of the Heroes' Relics was unknown, the Sacred Weapons properly hailed from a documented place; or person, for that matter: Macuil was an accomplished blacksmith, rumored to use his skills to craft weapons for Seiros' army. One could only assume that the Sacred Weapons were made by Macuil's hand.

Yet, that wouldn't add up, according to the teachings of Seiros!

How could the Four Saints and the founder of the church herself be left to their own devices in wielding weapons that anyone -- crest-bearer or not -- could brandish while the ten, or rather, eleven humans that followed them were the ones blessed by the goddess with weapons that only those with crests could use?

Humans; the creatures that could be born with crests or not, purely by chance. Humans; against whom the goddess herself fought before these eleven heroes emerged.

Why didn't Macuil forge weapons for the humans, instead? Why weren't there Relics for the Saints?

Even if one inspected the Spear of Assal and the Caduceus Staff, they wouldn't find any trace of the bone-like structures common to the Heroes' Relics. Hell, even the Crest Stone inherent to every Relic apart from the Sword of the Creator was nowhere to be found with the Sacred Weapons!

Of course, since they were weapons anyone could wield, that much was obvious, but still -- why did the Saints wield these considerably weaker weapons as opposed to the much stronger ones their human companions brandished?

Byleth groaned, closing the book loudly. And these texts heavy with parables and metaphors! There was very little one could learn from reading them, even though they were basically the only source of knowledge around anywhere in Fódlan.

Sothis hummed chipperly by his shoulder as Byleth got up from his seat at the library. "Finally gave up, hm? About time! You were not getting any studying done."

Pursing his lips, the Professor took the remaining books, intent on taking them to Hanneman's office rather than his own room -- that was also another boon of having the older Professor in his pursuit of knowledge: proximity to the library.

Not three weeks after Tomas -- no, Solon -- revealed himself to be an enemy of the church, the library managed to remain mostly unchanged. Since there had been a rotating system of students and teachers to take care and oversee the books, the usual library activities could go on as always.

Byleth's mind wandered once again to his headmate, the amount of information he'd absorbed in the past few days overloading his thinking capacity. Hey, Sothis? He looked up as though he could see the girl floating by the ceiling.

She preferred to float beside him, instead, however. "I know that tone..." Sothis crossed her arms and legs in a sigh.

Byleth's head drooped. If you still don't want to talk about it, i won't, but-

"Hahh... Very well. Out with it."

You're... The goddess, right? You have the power to control time and are linked to many places the goddess is said to have been, he started, tentatively. Sothis bobbed her head to the sides.

"So we are to believe, according to Rhea's words at the start of this month. Sothis, also known as The Beginning -- I identify with both aliases, as does the goddess. However, I am not up there in an imaginary heaven; I am bound here with you by something beyond my current understanding. Am I simply a part of the goddess? The conscience one calls 'self'? If so, is that the reason why I bear the appearance of a child? Because whatever bound me to you could not harness the vastity of my power, only managing to tap my sense of self instead?" She asked in a serious voice, then sighed, her small shoulders sagging. "I cannot give you the answers you seek, young one. However, I AM grateful that you are going through such lengths for my sake -- or at least for the sake of having your own mindspace for yourself." She sneered, visibly tired.

Such exhaustion bled into Byleth himself, making the task of simply going from the library to Hanneman's office a most strenuous one. I just want to help you regain your memories, and I feel that all of this is connected...

Sothis chuckled, mentally patting Byleth on the head. "Thank you for this, Byleth. Good luck when you go through that door, however. Hanneman seems to be eager in drawing your blood to check your crest in depth."

"Ugh," it was Byleth's turn to groan, throwing his head back in regret. Hanneman had mentioned that he wanted to do a thorough physical check-up on Byleth and compare it with the pulse they felt coming from the Relics, after all, so Byleth couldn't run.

He himself wanted the answers, so subjugating himself in a mostly harmless experiment or two was a good enough price to pay for answers.

"Ghk- W-what did you-" Sothis winced, curling around herself before entirely disappearing from Byleth's sight. "What was this thought?!" She huffed, as though in pain.

Byleth's legs gave out as he loudly crumpled on the stone floor, scattering books and scrolls about. "S-Sothis?" he panted, a sharp pain twigging his chest. He clutched it with one hand, pressing his forehead against the cool stone to regain his breath.

"Experiment...? What- what is this terror engulfing my entire being?" Sothis cried, her very soul trembling to the point of translating it to Byleth's body. "Did I- go through such a thing in the past? What IS this?" She sobbed a cry without tears, her voice slowly disappearing as she succumbed to a forced slumber.

Sothis? Byleth called in his mind, his body still too weak to stand. "Sothis?" He mumbled, realizing his breath was coming back. "She must've gone to sleep..." he huffed, forcing himself to sit up.

Dizzy, he could barely hold his head up, choosing to lean it on a nearby wall. There were many incongruences and discrepancies with Sothis' memories and real world events.

She wrote a song only Rhea knew of; She, supposedly the goddess, lived in a place that the goddess destroyed in her rage; She bestowed weapons of fine quality 'materials' to humans and feared being experimented on-

"Wait," Byleth widened his eyes, his hands patting his own self in search of the Sword of the Creator hanging by his hip. Upon touching it, the sword glowed red, its bone-like structures warming Byleth's hand as though he touched a person's body. Yes... as though it was someone's flesh and bones.

Were... were the Heroes' Relics part of Sothis' body from the time she was alive? Was that the reason the goddess de facto disappeared from the records? Because she tore her own bones and flesh apart to help the Saints and the Men win the war?

Sothis conjectured herself just a few minutes ago: her childlike appearance to Byleth's eyes could simply be because that whoever channeled her conscience to him didn't manage to capture her entire essence. It was also known that the Children of the Goddess could transform into Magic Beasts, so if the goddess herself could change into a form so large she could rearrange her own bones into weapons, this theory could hold some truth into it...

Still dizzy, but with his mind racing with the prospect of learning more about the Relics, Byleth dragged himself up to his feet after painstakingly picking up the books and scrolls from the floor. "This all might be just my tired brain throwing whatever it can at me, but I feel that... somehow, I'm on the right track." The Professor nodded to himself, dragging one shoulder across the wall to help him walk.

If possible, he wanted to bring this up with his father, as well, once Jeralt was released from whatever duties Rhea had him go through. They would meet at the end of the month for their shared mission, yes, but this wasn't something Byleth could simply bring up to his father right before a battle, after all.

"All this reading and thinking only brought more questions, but I'm on the right track. We're on the right track, Hanneman, Sothis." He mumbled before stepping inside the crestologist's office for yet another afternoon of studying and experimenting.

[femblem-emblem-throuses-houses]

blaiddyds