#but it gives closure and ending to the Nabateans

[randomnameless]

The zombie ask made me remember a thought I had for SS's final chapter where anyone who got blood directly from Rhea would have been resurrected to protect her (their vision is like that horror game blurry where they can see enough to spot you but can't see you from across the map). Jerry and Willy are mini-bosses near Rhea to make the area around her dangerous. Jerry and Billy having a talk where Jerry says anything he wished he could've said in life‚ and Willy having convos with empire (1/3)

(2/3) and nabatean units. Like Willy saying to Seteth‚ "Cichol! How long has it been? About the shield-" and Seteth wondering if the Willy talking to him is actually there or it's Rhea perception of Willy talking. Willy's empire convos would lean towards Willy himself is talking‚ with him saying to Ferdinand‚ "I never thought I'd see the day that anyone related to Aegir would join Nemesis." Him mistaking Bernie for Indech. And Billy's would be Willy thinking they're Nemesis (3/3) "Despite my vision‚ I know that's you Nemesis. I don't know how you're alive but this time you're staying dead!"‚ and anyone related to the elites as "After Seiros sparred you all‚ you dare turn your blade against her?! Do you even know what your 'relic' is made from?" TL;DR: I wanted more WoH content despite Nopes giving some‚ and thinking about how can I jam in as much as I can with the subtlety of a sledgehammer. Sorry for the long ask‚ wanted to get these thoughts out of my system.

No pbs anon!

I guess we all didn't like at all how the game bothered to bring back zombies but never wrote battle quotes against them (tfw Seteth'n'Flayn have no battle quote against Nemesis...)

I was going to hype zombie!Ionius, but he never got her blood directly, so he wouldn't have been resurrected :(

(let's be real, if zombie!Ionius was real and brought back in his prime, he would fold those Faerghian barbarians and those foreigners with his pinky, because he'd be that much of an awesome unit)

However, instead of them being "mistaken" because their resurrection failed about what's happening, I'd say let them get full awareness (as much as they can muster) about who they're fighting against!

I'd see a Jerry-Billy convo being a lot of apologies, especially since Billy accepted to take Rhea's mantle and was/is truly happy in the Monastery, something Jerry obviously wrote off when he ran away all those years, maybe we could have Jerry muse that it's weird how he was "brought back" to protect a Rhea who lost her mind know, and how ironic it is, when he should have stayed and maybe if he didn't ran away all those years ago, Billy would have led a happier life, and whatever Rhea's having right now wouldn't have happened. Billy ultimately putting his grievances to rest, saying that despite everything, they are still happy Jerry's their dad, and maybe ends with some "thank you Father" instead of calling them Jerry (in an AU where Billy is voiced, of course!).

Maybe a convo with Leonie too, where Jerry tries to goad her into killing him, saying she never got what it "takes" to be a merc, because she is a nice kid and isn't able to put her morals aside for a bag of money.

And with Alois, Jerry could encourage him, for the "first and last time", saying he'll make a fine Captain of the Knights, and to please not end up like him, mocking the wishes of his wife and not doing everything he could for the kid.

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Emperor Willy himself wondering where the fuck he is, but if Seiros is in this form, then he has to protect her - and it this is the post Lycaon death AU* Willy isn't surprised at seeing Adrestia turn its blade against Seiros, because Adrestia is a failure and he lost faith in the world.

Against Cichol, Willy could open the convo with the shield, noticing how Cichol took "his" shield, Seteth tries to reply but it's useless, and asks him to stand aside, Willy says he cannot, even for him, his "brother" because Seiros is his priority, and if in that state she'll bring ruin to the world, then so be it, Seteth sighs, apologises (and rekts him).

I suppose Flayn would ask him to get the fuck out of the way, and Willy will refuse, but also apologise for what happened to her, and her mother too (and her cousin!), but crusts this world and its inhabitants are to blame.

Willy against Billy... well, Willy will think they're one of Nemesis's scion even if he thought the guy died childless- despite their hair color, he knows better after all! - and reveals he was on Macuil's side, and told Seiros mercy would be wasted on the likes of them (the Elites' families and, I suppose, Nemesis's potential fam?), but she didn't listen to him.

Willy against the Empire peeps would be hilarious though, because in the AU* Willy ditched it after Lycaon's death, so he'd be pretty pissed that the same Empire now tries to kill Seiros. Maybe he'd call Ferdie a scion of traitor, referring to Derrick, who pledged his loyalty to an usurper (Empress Hildegarde, who took the throne after Lycaon's death), raving about how he descends from a line of traitors, and he will put an end to this farce himself (with his stats? lol).

Willy'd also be pissed seeing Bernie, digusted at what Adrestia became if Bernie, as a noble, is what Adrestia's finest has to offer (maybe insert a fire joke or two) - Bernie could find the courage to fight back against this rando who insults her and tell him to shut up, because she wants to fight to protect people now.

Lin would maybe comment on Willy being, well, Willy, and wondering why the fuck is he fighting against the Empire, maybe with Willy telling him this is what he should have down instead, cutting off his own "blood"* for the sake of Fodlan, but he will correct this mistake right now.

Caspar would be interested in fighting this "strong warrior" from ancient times, if the fate of Fodlan wasn't at stake, Willy'd swore he came from an Elite family with a mindset like this, but only be digusted.

As for Petra, maybe we could get an ancient exemple of Adrestian assholery, like Willy saying he thought the people of "Eyvel" wouldn't be mindless allies of the Empire, and how mistaken he was, they're "savages" after all - only for Petra to reply with some "who are you? Get out of my way plz" (and she crits him and he dies).

And for Doro... I guess their convo would be the most important "lore wise", Doro immediately recognises him and wonder if he is here to avenge Edie - Willy immediately cuts her off, asking why he should even care about that person when no one avenged his son when he was murdered by his "bastard" siblings (confirming that Supreme Leader is not part lizard!).

*The AU I'm talking about is the AU I came up with, aka Lycaon being a half lizard, being named heir, murdered by his "human" half-siblings/nephews - Willy learns it and immediately bails out of Adrestia, having lost faith in Fodlan, humanity and well, most likely everything. After 80 years of chronic depression (while Rhea is now obsessed with bringing back Sothis, because she will make the world go round, and be safe anew for Nabateans living and the ones that would be brought back, humans, and even Lycaon who will obviously return - Willy doesn't believe it) he passes away after having found some sort of renewed faith in the world (seeing all those people coming to the Monastery and tending to their daily lives, looking after orphans, etc etc). So obviously, when he's brought back at the end of SS and sees Adrestia, targeting Seiros/Rhea, he loses it and becomes an extra kind of asshole (a tru hresvelg).

I agree with you though, maybe add a bit of "savages" and "ungrateful barbarians" here and there, but I don't think Willy is even going to listen to reason or even try to listen at all (like a tru hresvelg) anyone who descends from an Elite.

Maybe after those two mini-bosses, Seteth would say that those "persons" were not the ones they were in life, and how the Crest (crusts are to blame!) warped their personalities, only for Flayn to follow with a meaningful "..." - opening a lot redshit threads for fans to "give their own version" lol

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And for extra useless completionist stuff, like, if you picked the "Nabatean" option in the Sothis paralogue when Supreme Leader asks you who was lived in the Red Canyon, got a C+ support with Supreme Leader and went to her coronation, fought her using Billy and the Nabateans (with the famous "your ears are pointy you cannot rule over humans"), have both Billy and the Nabateans fight against Thales and Billy had a A support with all Nabateans, after Jerry and Willy's death, Berserk!Rhea would unleash a large scripted AoE on the map, empty husk!Lycaon could appear on the map, maybe as a white beast like creature on steroids, but who looks more like the IO than a regular White Beast (he has arms and wings?), who starts on the opposite side of the map and goes in your direction, but unlike the other white beasts, damaged dealt on Rhea won't be reflected on him.

Obviously, if the party kills him, Berserk!Rhea suddenly gains "Wrath" - but if you stall too much, empty!husk Lycaon has stats to ruin your party (unlike Willy!). Also if he dies then A support or no A support Rhea doesn't survive.

(And maybe if you accidently kill him, Billy gets "!" box popping up, with a new use of "Divine Pulse" coming out from nowhere, as it's Sothis' way to ask them to find a way not to kill him)

Billy will reveal what that unit is, idk, maybe they're closing their eyes and say that they are only a body animated by idk, the resonating power of the IO's Crest - but their true spirit has been long gone, now only remains a body and the rage it had before passing away. Then Billy opens their eyes, and says they would have wanted to meet him under other circumstances (but who is talking? Billy? or Sothis?)

Flayn despairs seeing her "cousin" (confirming her ties to Rhea!) in this situation, apologises for not having been able to be there for him, idk, like she promised too, but this time, she will.

Seteth too is saddened and while he wonders how many members of his family he will have to kill today, he tells Lycaon that this is final lesson, so he better remember it.

Ah, and in this revamped SS finale (since we're in AU land!), Relics work like Devil Weapon against Rhea and Lycaon - damage isn't dealt to the foe, but to your unit instead! And if your unit survives, the Relic insta-breaks (as a gameplay mechanic like 0 uses left).

End of the fight, Rhea survives (?), there is some ending blurb about every White Beast who wasn't defeated vanished "as if they were finally put to rest", that S support is revamped to have Rhea more or less say she has to move on now and cannot be stuck in the past, and has to let the past "rest in peace" to finally move forward - both for her and the one shes so dearly misses (ending line would be Billy in brackets musing how rare it is to see Sothis smile).

Ultimate bonus if this is the last route you play (or finished all the other routes), and if you got this ending, you'd have a special scene at the end, of Rhea and Billy waving hands at an assembly composed of all BE students (some of them waving back! even Bernie!), members of staff/knights, some randoms, but also, 11 randos with green hair and pointy ears, idk, wearing tunics with their emblems to know who they are, Willy (back to his bright and stupid self) carrying kid!Lycaon (with his pointy ears!) on his shoulders, some other random woman next to Flayn with a matching haircut, Manu pulling at Seteth's pointy ear (if they got their A+ support, else he frowns like usual), ghost!Jerry and ghost!Sitri waving too, and adult!Sothis (all the ghosts are transparent like, save for adult!Sothis - again, it would have been made on purpose by the devs who wondered if that would have created fanwank about Sothis' state, dead or alive?).

Not to say ghosts are real in Fodlan, but it would be some sort of representation that both dead and living people are happy to see a world where both humans and Nabateans can live together - even if they're dead, their dreams live on, or some stuff like that.

But of course, to get this ending, you'd have to get the most out of Supreme Leader's beliefs and the general intolerance that permeated Fodlan since, well, the Red Canyon, but even before (the first agarthan war?).

[lochnessies]

this isn’t the worst take I’ve ever seen but everyone always saids ss is the half baked vw when if we’re being honest it’s the other way around and people are just too afraid to admit it

ss is better than vw and i cant change my mind. it makes so much more sense thematically with

the eagles aka saint crests rising back up against nemesis

the nabateans get closure

the fact that the last chapter is called ‘following a dream’ where rhea technically gets her dream finished of having sothis in charge again though byleth (while the professor retains autonomy) vs cf ‘the end of a dream’ which is *chefs kiss*

actually gives seteth something to do

like, ppl can like vw more if they just have a golden deer bias but the story def works better in ss

though i will admit nemesis needed to be in ss bc wtf happened in that final battle lol

[thedivergingpaths]

The Diverging Paths: What Could Have Been

So in light of a post I reblogged recently (and also just other discussions elsewhere) I’ve decided to tackle my ideas and opinions about how Three Houses could have done a more solid job at diverging paths (hehe because of my blog name).

These opinions are both my own and my own as developed by reading stuff, some of which I have reblogged here and some of which I just read. Just a sort of disclaimer and FYI.

So here we go!

White Clouds

I think the differences should have been more prominent, not just in the occasional cut scenes, with changes in lord dialogue and group dynamics. Important, especially for the shared beats of the game, but each route should have had distinct beats and not just shuffled up dialogue for the same beats.

To clarify, what I mean by beats is story beats - i.e. like scenes and the content that goes with it.

I do think White Clouds should still have similar missions and objectives across all routes, because I think it would help demonstrate how divided Fódlan became following the war and five years during Byleth’s absence.

So there should have been more distinct missions, or even if they were the same, maybe shuffle what exactly happens. Like while leading the Black Eagles, maybe instead of confronting the church invades in the tomb, they are confronted elsewhere because of a failed diversion by Edelgard and Hubert.

And some of the missions that really should be Faerghus missions - Miklan and Lonato - should be Blue Lions exclusive. There are other rumblings going on in the grand politics of the three nations, as seen in paralogues. Maybe instead of Hilda’s being the main one to discuss the conflict with Almyra pre-timeskip, maybe there’s a mission because of civilians at the border during a skirmish and the Golden Deer are sent to deal with it. It would be a good way to plant the seeds of Claude’s dream of open borders by actually, you know, exposing us to the wider world and having to make opinions based on people and not boogey-men. For the Black Eagles, we could actually do things in the Empire and meet the main players there rather than them just being mentioned or randomly appearing once the war begins.

Certain things I feel would need to happen to keep the main plot of the Empire vs Everyone Else going, such as Flayn’s rescue, Monica’s reveal as Kronya, the Battle of the Eagle and Lion, etc., etc.

Verdant Wind

Verdant Wind should have been grander in what it achieved. Claude wants to open up the borders of the world and foster understanding, and while some of the insulation and the whole war isn’t really something he can control, the world should have felt bigger in the Golden Deer route.

The Almyrans become allies and Claude is their Prince Khalid and yet we get very little of them and only one Almyran character appears in the second half of the route. I think it would have been interesting, and fun, to have had a few diplomatic-ish (tho because it’s fire emblem, inevitably having some sort of battle) missions with other nations, like Almyra, but maybe even Dagda and Sreng and a few other close nations that we even no less about, like Albinea.

For the Fódlan war, I think that the confrontation with Edelgard should be a little different. The cutscene doesn’t really fit, so maybe a different one where Claude and Byleth get ready for the final death match, but then Byleth holds Claude back as Dedue appears to avenge Dimitri and Duscur, even though Edelgard didn’t cause the Tragedy of Duscur, Dedue doesn’t know that and she’s also working with those who caused it so. I just think that it’d be good closure for Dedue before he leaves to mourn. Also ~collaboration~ in toppling the war.

And so, after the war in the immediate fall-out, I think the confrontation with the Agarthans/Those Who Slither in the Dark should still happen, but not culminate in Nemesis’ resurrection. As great as that cutscene is, I think having more efforts to try and reconcile with the Agarthans would be more interesting. Let there be non-homicidal Agarthans who just want to live in their caves with the shiny tech in peace.

Azure Moon

I feel like the route should have started more in Faerghus. Part of that country was annexed to the Empire during the five years of Byleth’s absence, so I don’t think it’s unreasonable for Edelgard to make appearances there.

And in some ways, that would be more heartbreaking because Dimitri is in his kingdom, and his friends and followers are trying to get him to save their nation, but all he sees is Edelgard. It would be more of a blow to what choice he makes. He’s choosing vengeance over salvation. Until, of course, he begins to recover and really looks at what has become of Faerghus and figure out what he must do to end the suffering.

Also Dedue should be more involved once he returns because not only is he Dimitri’s retainer, their bond is a lot deeper than Dimitri and Byleth’s so Dedue should have had a stronger hand in Dimitri’s recovery arc.

Crimson Flower

It would be interesting if the route split wasn’t decided whether to betray the Church or turn on the Empire, but how to handle the war once Byleth returns from their five-year absence.

Like, let us either embrace the villain route - and potentially show how our allies who have a very different sense of morals start cracking under the banner of the empire - or let us challenge Edelgard’s motives and morals and goals.

I’m pretty sure that a lot of Edelgard’s anti-church and crest stance is really just nonsense fed to her by the Agarthans - particularly Thales - so that she could set Fódlan on fire for them. There were possibly similar lies told to Nemesis, honestly. And I think that should affect the trajectory of the game.

Embracing the villain route entrenches the Agarthans deeper into Fódlan politics, even though Hubert and Edelgard says it leaves a bad taste in their mouth, but both groups are taking advantage of each other. And obviously this would culminate in the battle with Rhea and her death. Basically, keep the route more or less intact but really drive home that this maybe isn’t the good and moral choice.

On the flip side, a Byleth who challenges but still cares for Edelgard might succeed in Edelgard at least considering she’s on the wrong path. And here I think the main foes should be the Agarthans. Essentially, abandon the war for a more internal one. I feel that the Kingdom and the Church would still be thorns in the Black Eagles’ side - because they’ve been at war for five years and Rhea is very angry at Edelgard and Byleth’s actions - but they’re not the focus. I think this route would be interesting to find out more of the depth of the Agarthans’ manipulations throughout history, their experiments, and maybe have a moral crisis when Edelgard realizes she’s just been an attack dog all this time.

Silver Snow

Really two big things:

1) I think the catalyst should be for this route is a Byleth who would not choose a house back in the pre-timeskip era. They end up a sparring master (replacing Jeritza once he leaves, but is like, a supporting teacher with him prior to that) and so we can forms bonds across all of the houses.

yes, this is to make it more painful when the war happens and all those kids you knew are grown up and killing each other

2) Byleth’s background should also be revealed in this route, and the history of the Nabateans as a whole. There’d be something poetic about returning to Zanado and having at least some of the battles, if not the climatic one, there. A sort of closure.

I’m not sure whether Rhea’s dragonic feralness should still happen or not, depends on how things go with the whole “well, time to talk about genocide and a dead society” goes I guess.

A Final Thought

I  think it would be appropriate if Byleth, the avatar character, could decide whether they became the supreme ruler of Fódlan/the archbishop (since it varies what they are by route) because while I get why the characters would hoist this onto Byleth, it seems to be more following “remember the past games where people were fulfilling their divine destiny as king, guess we’ll keep going with that!!! :)”

I just think it’d be neat to go “nope” and be able to nope off into the woods or something haha.

And it wouldn’t change anything but the ending slides, so it would really just be an Aesthetic choice, but it could give even more variety to the ending slides since most are basically the same, just some phrases swapped out depending on the route and pairing. Some are outright different which is cool, but most aren’t.