#byleth x lords

[thirteendaysintaunton]

“And remember, the truth that once was spoken: To love another person is to see the face of God.”

[ffordesoon]

NEW FE3H FIC FOR YOU: The Best Disinfectant - Chapter 1

behold, the first chapter of a new Fire Emblem: Three Houses fic! post-CF (crimson flower)! moral philosophy! edeleth! everyone gets what’s coming to them! etc etc! 8.5k words! enjoy, my friends! https://archiveofourown.org/works/55738561/chapters/141496675

[emblemxeno]

If we're being honest, I got a lot of issues with Ingrid because I feel like she has the wrong character development

Her support with Dedue is realizing that she shouldn't apply her negative view of Duscur onto every Duscurian indiscriminately

That kind of thing works for Oboro because Nohrians really did kill her parents

But, Duscurians didn't actually cause the death of Lambert or Glenn, so her development should've been to learn that all those years of hatred were misdirected, and she hated them for no reason

It also didn't help that Dimitri states multiple times that Duscur didn't commit the crime, and Ingrid is still ignorant about it

I have this unhinged hatred of the Faerghus Four as a concept because every time, it's like they're consciously refusing to acknowledge the importance of Dedue in Dimitri's life in the present "Oh, these are Dimitri's childhood friends. Of course, they're close." Yeah, sure.... They're totally closer to Dimitri than Dedue is in the present.... *Internal screaming*

Combining these because my answer to both is similar!

In my opinion, it showcases how 3H's writing philosophy is ultimately shoddy in its foundation. The backstories, supports, and character-to-character dialogue itself is great in theory, but execution it clashed with what both FE usually tries to do and what 3H desperately wants to do.

FE typically has characters join chapter to chapter, with important ones having plot moments, while side characters fall to the background once their designated chapter is up. But this isn't at the cost of character interaction, pre-established relationships, and the micro-to-macro worldbuilding precisely because they're not overly important. You can have canon romances, friendships, familial relationships, etc. because that's all supplemental side material.

3H was written in a way in which the characters were all connected to its grandiose world, to the point where Fodlan itself can be almost considered a character. Multilayered backstories that infer key points in the narrative, each character no matter how trivial having opinions on how the world works, shifting dynamics, etc.

The problem though is that these two philosophies clash already at base, but also run into the problem of FE's gameplay integrated story elements.

None of the Faerghus Four can meaningfully comment on their relationship with Dimitri during a story cutscene because they can die. Ingrid can't meaningfully change her perspective on Dedue or Duscur beyond her supports because she can die. Therefore, all you get are (admittedly pretty good) supports, the monastery dialogue, and other tidbits intentionally disconnected from one another so as not to be important enough to write around potential death. The comments they do get in cutscenes were intentionally written in a way to be surface level and easily replaced. Look at the FEdatamine site for example, where conclusions are reached by Byleth, the lord, the unkillable retainer, and other important story figures, with numerous possible instances of "if X character is alive they comment this, but if X character is dead this line is skipped."

That is proof of how sloppy 3H's writing is in foundation when you think about it long enough. The game that has such an intricate world, thorough details, and fascinating story beats, is actually extremely bad at delivering a story, especially an FE story. Being the judgmental and petty cunt that I am, 3H gets a pass most of the time a) most don't care or bother to care about actual stuff like this and b) the game has the aesthetics of being a down to earth, gritty, serious narrative. The foundational issues don't matter when you have Edelgard yapping about "THE CREST SYSTEM", dark character circumstances, and intriguing mysteries to solve in part 1.

People want the appearance of sophistication, especially after Awakening and Fates bent a lot of rules to fuck around with their respective stories. It's why Engage, despite not having nearly as many basic issues at conveying its plot and is actually extremely good at being a Fire Emblem story (e.g. more character being able to actually die, pre-established relationships, chapter to chapter joining, not nearly as much centering on Alear as the ultimate decider on a character's fate compared to Byleth), is panned because... why? Its bright aesthetic? Its good dragon vs evil dragon plot? Its softer or humorous moments?

Hell, even its call backs to past FE games is called cheap, soulless, or a gateway to gacha (one video I saw even described it as something like "when art becomes obligation" or some such nonsense), despite it LITERALLY being the prime anniversary title. The main character is the Fire Emblem, and the writers-through Lumera-wish a happy birthday to Fire Emblem!!! What about that is lacking heart and soul?

But yeah, again, I preface that I'm a judgmental asshole who proudly proclaims that the audience (at least the western one) has for years been too obsessed with yearning for darker serious aesthetics of FE's past (despite said past being wackier than they remember), that when a new game has them in overflowing spades, the many fundamental video game writing issues do not matter as much anymore.

Aesop for the day: Serious tones and aesthetics are not automatically better than lighter, heartfelt, or funny ones. You still have to write well for a story to be good.

EDIT: Funny enough this is also why Three Hopes is a more comfy environment for the Fodlan cast's in terms of tangible development, because the things the writers want to do with that game's story complements its gameplay. Because KT is better at making Warriors plots than FE plots.

[fantasyinvader]

I was thinking about the shadow realm again, specifically the lords fighting their doppelgangers. Each one seems to reflect the dark truth of their character. I'm putting the original Japanese text through deepl, and this is what I get.

Edelgard: Two of me would be convenient. Don't you think so too? Edelgard: Yes, I agree with that. But …… I don't trust myself.

Dimitri: Why are you …… fighting with the emperor and others? Have you forgotten the grief of all? Avenge them quickly. …… Dimitri: ……Oh, I'm glad it was you who showed up. You are the one I want to …… kill the most.

Claude: This is an opportunity for me to fulfill my, your ambition. Why are you sitting there so still? Claude: If you were me, you'd know it. I don't like to leave things to chance!

These happen regardless of route. So while Edelgard can have an arc about her learning to trust Shez, in reality she still doesn't trust anyone. Hell, she's also saying that she herself can't be trusted, alluding to her manipulative nature explored in Safflower. Dimitri's strict morality tells him he should be fighting Edelgard right her, avenging the lost and punishing the guilty. But this mentality only serves to fuel his own self-loathing. And in Claude's case, it's alluding to his attempts to manipulate others in service to his goal rather than him pretending to be a "kind soul" like the translation says. Taken together, these highlight how Shez failed in comparison to Byleth.

In Scarlet Blaze, there's the entire arc about how Edelgard learns to trust Shez as mentioned. But we also see her taking action not out of morality, but simply because it would gain her support from X. It's in this route that we get confirmation that Edelgard does oppress the common folk and coddle the nobility despite her anti-nobility speeches. We even get that she won't simply give commoners positions because if they fail they'll make her look bad. The route is alluding to Edelgard's fake nature, how in the Japanese of Houses she admits everything she said and did with Byleth was an attempt to sway Byleth to her side. She is still the immoral character she was in the base game even when she kicks Thales to the curb because this war that she starts is still the result of her being manipulated by him. And unlike Byleth, once Shez joins the Black Eagles he doesn't have the option of doing the right thing and fighting Edelgard.

In Dimitri's case, Azure Gleam points out that Dimitri's issue isn't what happens to him during the timeskip of Houses. His issue is how he has a strict sense of morality, and how he hates himself for not being able to live up to it as he also believes it's his duty to avenge those killed and punish the guilty. Shez can't teach Dimitri to love himself, to realize his duty as a king is to the living and not the dead, and as such will go on with Dimitri to punish the empire for the war despite it being clear they were manipulated.

In Claude's case, Wildfire only furthers the motive decay Claude had already suffered since coming to Fodlan. He's willing to do anything for his ambitions, including manipulating others by saying they're really doing this or that, but he fails to realize how twisted those ambitions have become. How twisted he's become, and unlike in Wind and Moon he's not willing to put his trust in a Liu Bei-like figure. Rather, he walks the path of conquest himself because he trust no one else to really help him with his goals. He becomes another Edelgard, and Shez only makes this worse.

If anything, it feels like Hopes was intended to clear up misconceptions people had about the three lords, though in Claude's case there was a lot elements that weren't fully implemented and required the player being familiar with Romance of the Three Kingdoms and Wu's bad points.

[reunionatdawn]

My Analysis of the Best Paired Endings in 3H (Part 1: Edelgard/Byleth)

Edelgard: I'm simply having trouble putting this feeling into words. I just felt…I don't know. As if something was drawing me to the Ashen Demon. I wonder… Could it be the influence of my Crest?

The story of 3H pushes Byleth with the lord of each route so hard that it almost felt pointless to add the self-insert dating-sim elements with the other students. In Persona 5, you could date whatever girl you wanted with no effect on the main story. But in 3H, it felt more like Final Fantasy X where there the love story was the main story.

This pairing absolutely felt "canon", at least in CF. As both of them bore the Crest of Flames, I strongly suspect that their relationship was meant to represent the concept of "twin flames". A twin flame is a deep soul connection between two people. They are actually thought to be twin souls inhabiting two bodies. Twin flames seem to mirror one another, have shared similar life paths, history, and sometimes trauma. They are naturally drawn to each other. This description certainly applied to Byleth.

Byleth: Who was your first true love? Edelgard: Hmm. For some reason, I feel compelled to tell you all of these things I have kept hidden. I can't say the name, but it was a noble who I met in the Kingdom, a lifetime ago.

But interestingly, it could apply to Dimitri as well. It is said that one twin flame is supposed to represent the divine masculine half of the soul and the other the divine feminine half. When the masculine and feminine energies of the twins harmonize, the two souls merge and become one.

The "divine feminine" principle is more about charting inner emotional space, while the "divine masculine" principle represents conquering the outer physical world. The characteristics of the divine masculine are logic, rationality, discipline, and assertiveness. The divine feminine is associated with goddess energy. Some of its attributes are intuition, nurturing, loving, and supporting their counterpart.

Edelgard: Professor... You've been crying. So even you cry sometimes. Oh... I suppose that was thoughtless of me to say. Byleth: Yes, it was. Edelgard: Long ago, someone said the same thing to me.

Traditionally, the moon represents divine feminine energy (yin) as opposed to the sun which represents divine masculine energy (yang). Edelgard is cool and collected. She is the active force of the story who wishes to bring about the new dawn. Dimitri is emotional. He is the reactive force whose storyline is symbolized by the moon. You'd expect Edelgard to be a natural yang personality and Dimitri a yin.

But Edelgard was born on the summer solstice as opposed to Dimitri being born on the winter solstice. Edelgard is a Cancer, which is a water sign ruled by the moon. Astrologically, Cancers are associated with yin energy. They are said to have a hard outer shell like a crab but are very soft underneath. Often called the mother of the zodiac, they are known for their deeply emotional and nurturing nature. They form strong attachments to their loved ones and often have a hard time letting go. It is implied that "El" cried when she learned that she'd have to leave the Kingdom. Dimitri was surprised seeing this reaction from her, but it likely influenced his choice of parting gift: a dagger symbolizing the philosophy of the patriarchal Faerghus.

I found it interesting how much Edelgard was displeased by Dimitri's gift. Even at the academy, she prefers if Byleth giver her more traditionally feminine gifts like flowers, a book, or a bear stuffy and she will be unhappy if she is given a weapon. Using a dagger to cut a path has very violent implications, although Dimitri was too young to realize that at the time. He had grown up around blades his whole life and only viewed them as tools of destiny. He wanted to reassure her that they had a future together, as long as she never lost heart. It was meant as a symbol of inner strength, nothing more.

Edelgard: Heh, so you consider me strong, do you? Even if one clings to their faith, the goddess will never answer them. Countless souls will be lost that way. Living without purpose. And I can be counted among those who have died that way as well. But that's why I must change this world, on behalf of the silent and weak! Dimitri: And do you intend to become a goddess yourself? Will you steal the power to take action from the broken-hearted masses you claim to defend?

Cancer's greatest fear is abandonment which can cause them to be clingy. It is implied that El "died" after praying and not receiving any hand reaching out to help her. During her imprisonment, she felt totally alone and forsaken by the goddess. That's when she began to see faith as a sign of inner weakness.

Edelgard was reborn bearing the Crest of Flames. She no longer shed tears and looked to the dagger for strength. Dimitri accused her of trying to supplant the goddess. And while that may not literally be true, perhaps it was true in a figurative sense. CF is about standing firm in your principles and cutting your own path no matter who stands in your way, even the goddess herself.

Dorothea: Is there someone you have your eye on? Edelgard: (Normal): To be honest, there's nothing resembling romance in my life at present. (Has reached Support Rank A with a male): A certain face comes to mind at the thought...though I'm not sure you could call what we have a romance just yet. It's not that I'm disinterested. I'm simply too busy with other endeavors. I have no time to spare for such things.

Ideologically, CF represents the most traditionally masculine path for Byleth to take. Edelgard is drawn to them regardless of gender, what route you choose, and even in Hopes. But she is drawn to their stoic masculine energy and even seemed somewhat disappointed that they were crying after Jeralt's death. Women can certainly embody divine masculine energy and vice versa. Twin flames are not based on biological sex. Overall, the fandom understandably prefers Edeleth with female Byleth for the less stereotypical aspects.

But I found it interesting that even though this very Support conversation implies that Edelgard is bisexual, the dialogue only changes (I tested this myself) if she has A-Support with a male. Edelgard has paired endings with a few other male characters, but not a single one of them has the level of emotional intimacy she has with Byleth. They read like political marriages, while Edelgard truly wanted a passionate romance.

Shez asks about memories of the past. Edelgard: Have I told you about the boy who gave me the dagger? I called him "Dee," which is all I really remember about him.

The tagline for FE3H was, "Sweet memories twisted by time's cruel hand". Dimitri said the day he gifted her the dagger was a sweet memory with a bitter ending. It's unclear why she couldn't recall that Dimitri was her first love. Perhaps when she realized her "fated path" would force her to go to war with someone so special to her, the pain caused her psyche to block out the memories of him and his identity. Who knows.

Edelgard: There was nothing I could do to save him. And so, the very least I could do was— Byleth: Are you crying? Edelgard: No. The Edelgard who shed tears died many years ago. Everything that's happened...it's all just part of the ebb and flow of history.

After Dimitri cursed "El" at the Tailtean Plains, she may have finally realized he was "Dee". In their A-Support, Edelgard admitted that she was actually relieved that Byleth could feel some human emotions like jealousy, but she tells them that they are both "detached" (actually "inhuman" in the JP version). Because of this, Byleth was someone she could relate to. And she does come across as rather inhuman at times. She finally does cry when she thinks Byleth dies, indicating her old self had come back to life in some way. But she was unable to cry when she killed anyone else. Even her old flame.

Edelgard: You called me El. That's... I... That means more than I can say. And this ring... It's lovely. Thank you, my dearest friend. I will happily accept it. I must admit, I feared my feelings would be unrequited. So long as I had you by my side, it never mattered how many enemies I amassed. You were all I needed.

Byleth's Crest and Edelgard's second Crest is the Crest of Flames, which is associated with The World arcana in Tarot. The World represents a successful conclusion after all aspects have been accounted for. Things have come full circle. A journey has been completed. Edelgard believed that the one leading the people of the world should be someone with humanity rather than an inhuman creature like Rhea. But there are two meanings for the word "humanity". One is "the human species" which is obviously what Edelgard meant. But the other meaning is "benevolence".

Byleth & Edelgard Byleth and Edelgard ended the tyranny of a godlike being. Byleth was wounded and lost the power of the progenitor god, but it mattered not, as he/she and Edelgard had each other. To ensure lasting peace, the two fought against those who slither in the dark, and to ensure a society where people can rise and fall by their own merits, they spent their lives reforming the antiquated class system. They achieved much in their time together, and it is said that they were sometimes spotted leaving the palace to privately enjoy the world they had created. How they spent those precious moments, none but the two of them will ever know.

Byleth cuts down Rhea with the sword made from the remains of her dead mother. Upon doing so, they lose the power of the progenitor god. The Crest Stone in their heart is destroyed. Their soul was once merged with the goddess Sothis, but symbolically Edelgard now fills that spot as their twin flame. Byleth's heartbeat returns, and their color goes back to normal.

But their hair color was actually the origin of the nickname "Ashen Demon". So, it leaves you to wonder: Did Byleth truly maintain their humanity until the end? I'm not so sure, but I still really enjoyed how the traditionally masculine aspects of Edelgard's conquest contrasted with the little glimpses of her feminine side that only Byleth could bring out. It is certainly unique romance among JRPGs and one that I won't ever forget.

[calamari-inari]

Playing this game (without the likes) 🫶

1. enemies to lovers, best friends to lovers, lord and their knight ❤️

2. Not sure if these are tropes, but yandere lover (just not a very big fan of yandere), obsessive love (treating their partner as a possession), misogynistic attitudes or abusive power in a relationship (basically a partner defining what their partner, whether it be a woman or man, should do or behave, and the victimized partner finds it hot???)

3. Gradual mutual understanding for one another! I also learn more about the characters' personalities this way!

4. One or both partners experience withdrawal when they're being separated from each other lol. True feelings often emerge from such situations and it's adorable...

5. Multiship! So far, the only ships I really think about now are from FE3H and a few from Engage and TGAA. Here's a list of several multiships I enjoy!

FE3H (Apparently Dimitri is very shippable to me LOL)

Hubert x Ferdinand

Hubert x Edelgard

Sylvain x Felix

Sylvain x Ferdinand

Dimitri x Ferdinand

Dimitri x Felix

Dimitri x Dedue

Dimitri x Claude

Byleth x any lord

Engage

Alear x Alfred

Alear x Diamant

Diamant x Ivy

TGAA

Kazuma x Ryuunosuke

Barok x Kazuma

Barok x Herlock

6. I like both rarepairs and mainstream! Most of the rarepairs I like don't have any canon interaction, so I like to explore the "what could've been" situations.

7. Monogamy. Not much to explain here. It's just my preference lol

8. Using my favorite pair ferdibert, they are reversible, but I have a really strong preference for dom Hubert and sub Ferdinand. However!! I'm not a big fan of where Ferdinand is written or drawn very femininely. This applies to any MxM pair. I'm not against the concept of femininity in males, but when used in a stereotypical fashion, it rubs me the wrong way. Just a subtle depiction of their relationship dynamic is perfect to me! I'm alright with seeing SFW artwork of the reverse and reading said fics, but NSFW is where I draw the line

9. Thinking about the games I've played, I can think of at least one pair I like to see romantically, so yes 😂

10. Not at all important! After all, my favorite is romantic fluff 🥺 Depending on the intensity of my liking for a ship, the NSFW aspect becomes more bareable since I'm still personally embarrassed consuming such content lol. I am vanilla. Ferdibert is highkey the only one I consume NSFW for

11. A lot of my MxF and FxF pairs are platonic to me! This is likely due to my aegosexuality, which is the closest explanation I can identify with. Not everything needs to be romantic. I find close friendships very heartwarming too 🥺

12. My top favorites right now are ferdibert 🖤🧡, sylvix ❤️💙, and diminand 💙🧡!

13. My favorite pairs from fandoms that I'm not really engaging in now are:

Madeleine Cookie x Espresso Cookie (Cookie Run Kingdom)

Victor x Yuuri (Yuri on Ice)

Link x Zelda (Skyward Sword version)

Reyn x Shulk (Xenoblade Chronicles 1)

Chrom x M!Robin (Fire Emblem Awakening)

14. Domestic fluff is really cute, but the official legal bonding of two partners isn't on my "must have" list for any romantic pairing. I really love seeing creations of my favorite pairs marrying though! Gives me the tingles every time and I just feel so happy 😍

15. As someone that made OC fan kids in the past, yes that is totally fine and I love seeing other people's interpretations for the same pair (if they don't have canon children). I've even made some for ferdibert before but I never fully flushed them out lol

[greengirlfight]

💚GREEN GIRL BRACKET!💚

Here's the official bracket for the Green Girl Fight! The first round of polls will be posted in 4 parts, and each part will last a week. Round 1 polls will be tagged as #round 1, and I should have the first part up by June 26th! So start getting your propaganda ready!

Full list of names under the cut!

Elphaba/Wicked Witch of the West (Wicked/Wizard of Oz) VS Mossie (Cattails)

Takane Yamashiro (Touhou) VS Nepeta Leijon (Homestuck)

Tree Hugger (My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic) VS Rottytops (Shantae)

Collei (Genshin Impact) VS Emira Blight (The Owl House)

Ibara Shiozaki (My Hero Academia) VS Demeter (Lore Olympus)

Lime Cookie (Cookie Run) VS Usura (Princess Tutu)

Nott the Brave (Critical Role) VS FF/Foo Fighters (Jojo's Bizzare Adventure)

Vera Oberlin (Monster Prom) VS Saria (Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time)

Leaf Fairy Aoba (Guardian Tales) VS Kyoshi (Avatar The Last Airbender)

Jade Harley (Homestuck) VS Freya Fatima (Coffee Talk)

Wakasagihime (Touhou) VS Nevanthi (AFK Arena)

Frankie Stein (Monster High) VS Sam (Totally Spies)

Cure Oasis (Tropical Rogue Precure) VS Fauna (Sleeping Beauty)

Green M&M (M&M's Candy) VS Tiki (Fire Emblem)

The Dolorosa (Homestuck) VS Polaris (X-Men)

Mew Lettuce (Tokyo Mew Mew) VS Jessica Cruz (Green Lantern)

Doc Ock (Spiderverse) VS Sandy (TokiDoki: Cactus Friends)

Aisha (Winx Club) VS Fire (DC Comics)

Cure March (Smile Precure) VS Illusen (Neopets)

Lottie Person/Snotgirl (Snotgirl) VS Mashiro Kuna (Bleach)

Rhea (Fire Emblem) VS Ermes (Jojo's Bizzare Adventure)

Number 3/Kuki Sanban (Codename: Kids Next Door) VS Tisiphone (Hades)

Nasmira Satrinava (The Arcana Mystic Romance) VS Mei (Lego Monkie Kid)

Porrim Maryam (Homestuck) VS Tiana (Princess and the Frog)

Sailor Pluto (Sailor Moon) VS Pidge Holt (Voltron Legendary Defender)

Divine Beast of Harvest Mayreel (Guardian Tales) VS Disgust (Inside Out)

Vendetta (Making Friends) VS Scarah Screams (Monster High)

Terrible Tornado (One Punch Man) VS Gwen Mortia (Sleepless Domain)

INFP (MBTI) VS Hera Syndulla (Star Wars Rebels)

Buttercup (Powerpuff Girls) VS Cure Mint (Yes! Precure 5)

Peridot (Steven Universe) VS L'Archel (Fire Emblem)

Granny Smith (My Little Pony) VS Willow Park (The Owl House)

Nowi (Fire Emblem Awakening) VS Tsuyu Asui (My Hero Academia)

Peridot (Cucumber Quest) VS Cheadle Yorkshire (Hunter x Hunter)

Kirika Akatsuki (Symphogear) VS Tinkerbell (Disney Fairies)

Cure Felice (Mahoutsukai Precure) VS Minty (My Little Pony G3)

Amphitrite (Lore Olympus) VS Artemis (Hades)

Gamora (Marvel) VS Shiho Hinomori (Project Sekai: Colorful Stage)

Maleficent (Sleeping Beauty) VS Fearne Callaway (Critical Role)

Candice Catnipp (Bleach) VS Fink (OK KO!)

Miss Edel (Princess Tutu) VS Test Tube (Inanimate Insanity)

Honey Swamp (Monster High) VS Heather Duke (Heathers)

Harpy Gee (Harpy Gee) VS Sanae Kochiya (Touhou)

Jolyne Cujoh (Jojo's Bizzare Adventure) VS Lyn (Fire Emblem)

Sailor Neptune (Sailor Moon) VS Fiona (Shrek)

Marie (Splatoon) VS CC (Code Geass)

Flayn (Fire Emblem) VS Penny Polendina (RWBY)

Setsuna Tokage (My Hero Academia) VS Anode (Transformers IDW)

Sailor Jupiter (Sailor Moon) VS Chie Satonaka (Persona 4)

Rosie Cotton (Lord of the Rings) VS Gumi (Vocaloid)

Eternity Larva (Touhou) VS Mallow (Pokémon)

Gavial (Arknights) VS Nene Kusanagi (Project Sekai: Colorful Stage)

Marcy Wu (Amphibia) VS Marina (Splatoon)

Kaede Kayano (Assassination Classroom) VS Inko Midoriya (My Hero Academia)

Byleth (Fire Emblem Three Houses) VS Toph Beifong (Avatar The Last Airbender)

Te Fiti (Moana) VS Rina Touin (Mermaid Melody Pitchi Pitchi Pitch)

Venus McFlytrap (Monster High) VS Palmon (Digimon Adventure)

Tekno the Canary (Sonic) VS Ceres Fauna (HoloLive)

Cure Milky (Star Twinkle Precure) VS Shego (Kim Possible)

Clara Valac (Welcome to Demon School Iruma-Kun!) VS Dusa (Hades)

Futaba Sakura (Persona 5) VS Poison Ivy (DC Comics)

Kanaya Maryam (Homestuck) VS Rika (Pokémon Scarlet & Violet)

Surge the Tenrec (Sonic) VS She-Hulk (Marvel)

Sothis (Fire Emblem Three Houses) VS Rue (Sleepless Domain)

[badass-queer-couples-battle]

The major bracket of the gay wrongs/murder husbands and wives poll is here!

Full list of all couples/ships along with sources below (although not in order they're in the poll)

Osamu Dazai & Chuuya Nakahara - Bungou Stray Dogs

Edward Teach & Stede Bonnet - Our Flag Means Death

Arséne Lupin III & Jigen Daisuke - Lupin The Third

Princess Bubblegum & Marceline - Adventure Time

Tiziano & Squalo - Jojo’s bizarre adventure: Golden Wind

Ellie Williams & Dina - The Last of Us 

Eve Polastri & Vilanelle - Killing Eve

Louis & Lestat - Vampire Chronicles series/Interview with the vampire

Kinn & Porsche - Kinnporsche

Alec Hardison & Eliot Spencer & Parker - Leverage

Vegas & Pete - Kinnporsche

GoodTimesWithScar & Grian - 3rd life (Life series as a whole, hermitcraft)

Jonathan Simms & Martin Blackwood - The Magnus Archives

Legolas & Gimli - Lord of the rings

Female Byleth & Edelgard - Fire Emblem: Three Houses

Heavy & Medic - Team Fortress 2

Edward Nygma & Oswald Cobblepot - Gotham (TV series)

Misa Amane & Rem - Death Note

Joe & Nicky - The Old Guard

John Silver & James Flint - Black Sails

Vriska Serket & Terezi Pyrope - Homestuck

Nandor & Guillermo - What we do in the shadows (TV series)

Eustass Kid & Killer - One piece

The Doctor & The Master - Doctor Who

Hannibal Lecter & Will Graham - Hannibal (TV series)

Wen Kexing & Zhou Zishu - Word of honor (series)/Faraway Wanderers (book)

Lord Boxman & Professor Venomous - OK KO: let's be heroes!

Jack Harkness & John Hart - Torchwood

Nadja & Laszlo - What we do in the shadows (TV series)

Poison Ivy & Harley Quinn - DC comics/Harley Quinn (series)

Gregory House & James Wilson - House MD

Rei Suwa & Kazuki Kurusu - Buddy Daddies

Wylan & Jesper - Six of crows (books)/Shadow and Bone (TV series)

Eddie Brock & Venom - Venom

Mystique & Irene Adler - X-Men Comics

Roronoa Zoro & Sanji - One piece

[randomnameless]

How accurate is this description i found on Twitter of what each person's favorite 3H lord is likely to say about their thoughts on the game?

Byleth: likes the game as a whole

Edelgard: likes the game due to interpreting all of it in an extremely biased manner

Claude: either likes GW and doesn't care about the other routes or, if their second fav lord is Edelgard, only likes GW and CF

Dimitri: likes Azure Moon and Silver Snow, either doesn't care about or actively dislikes GW and CF

Rhea: despises the game as a whole; likes the game if their second fav lord is Edelgard and they interpret Rhea as a villain

I can only talk about myself lol,

To say I despise the game would be a bit too much, there are interesting elements out there and the setting could have been used to make something interesting - the game sort of built those foundations so here it is.

Now, as to what actually goes on with the plot... let's say I am not fond of it, but more than the game being potato, I guess what annoys me the most is the devs trying to get their cake and eat it at the same time, with the entire earl grey debacle and the actual writing shooting itself to make sure the players will drink their cup of tea.

I won't claim UO or Triangle Strategy have stellar writing, but compared to Fodlan they do something "coherent" with the characters and you're not, just, wondering why/how the fuck did the character accept/arrived to one point.

some claude fans i've seen around hate GW but love VW, Twitter/X forgot them or what?

[grimoireroseart]

I normally don’t do fanchild ocs but,,, loving byleth x dimitri lately sooo meet Alwin! I’m thinking he would probably be a lord class

[kyogre-blue]

SS is done.

The most standout part: I got the Rhea S rank. It was good. I support it, but I wish there was a gen version and also that it was available on VW. My general impression is that VW actually gives you more chances to ask after and worry for Rhea (plus Claude is a rather meh romance option), so it would be great if I could get with her there too.

In general, I wish VW and SS were just one route. Both have some nice small details, but given how similar they are, I feel like you'd get a better experience if they were just combined.

Checking my VW endgame notes, it seems VW gives you info dump about Agartha, which definitely feels missing in SS, and SS gives you a bit more detail about Byleth's deal from Rhea, which adds some nice details on the Rhea relationship front. Seriously, they should have just combined them.

(Hilariously, Catherine's endcard outright contradicts the paired Rhea one. They are incompatible, but I got both. Additionally, Ingrid's card seems to be written for Crimson Flower, since it mentions Galatea being "seized" and Ingrid needing to push strongly to be allowed to govern it, which comes across weirdly as a post-war in the Byleth-led United Kingdom, especially since the other Lions kids I recruited all got their lord positions without any apparent fuss.)

Overall, not much else to say about SS. Final take: SS and VW are really obviously the same route, but even though SS was supposedly written first, VW feels marginally better in its focus and I enjoyed it more. However, the Rhea stuff specifically is good, and I wish I could get it on VW. Yup.

Final save file time: 95:19. Minus the VW playthrough, it's 44:07, so a bit faster. Specifically post-route split, it's 20:16, so it seems like the part that I finished faster was actually just Academy phase, possibly because I just didn't care much for the BE kids.

Liveblogging notes:

Looking closely at the battle selection screen, it seems Shambhala is at the very eastern tip of the Empire. There's a bit of mountain that stretches down from the Throat across Airmid River, and it seems to be there.

Narration calls it a "sprawling underground city."

Thales was kind of a chump!

Ah, I just realized I forgot to check his X description blurbs. They probably weren't too interesting tho.

The Agarthans are super mad about living underground and not having "light." Thales also name drops Agartha in his battle line vs Seteth and in the cutscene afterwards. Aside from their ability description, I think this is probably the first time their proper name is mentioned. But we uh, don't seem to discuss this much?

Small scene with Nemesis's coffin is missing, I think. Well, obviously because he's not the final boss now. iirc the scene immediately after the month change, with everyone freaking out over Rhea is new instead. It's a little weird because iirc VW gives you more opportunities to express concern for her. Here, the Rhea focus feels a bit less supported.

Seteth didn't realize you already knew that Rhea is the Immaculate One (which you did, btw).

Seteth "long ago" lost the power to change form, but "it seems" Rhea has not. My dude, did you not know... He does confirm that he's also a child of the goddess, which Rhea keeps hidden in VW. Flayn is also counted as one of the children of the goddess, even though she's more like a grandchild. It's a general term for dragons.

Seteth and Flayn press Byleth about taking over as the leader of Fodlan in some capacity, now that Rhea's future is uncertain.

We find the Sword and Bow of Zoltan in Shambhala. I was wondering about whether these things existed, since Zoltan is a dude that got namedropped in a small quest item description a while back. I also have an Axe of Zoltan though I can't remember exactly where I picked it up. No spear?

Just noting that you use Arcane Crystals to repair magical weapons like the Bolt Axe, Mythril to repair sacred weapons like Cichol's Spear of Assal, and Umbral Steel for relics. Mythril is also used on forging the rusted weapons that require A+ professor rank. iirc they're legendary weapons from other games or something like that. Smithing Stones are for normal weapons of all rarities.

On VW, this month was about Nemesis appearing and us going to fight him, but here on SS, that doesn't happen, so the explore dialogue is all about Seteth telling us that we should become the new Ruler of Fodlan and us taking the month to think about it. Everyone around the monastery comments on this, how we should think about it carefully, how they believe in us, how they're thinking about the future, etc. It's... hm. I think it's okay, but it really highlights how much Byleth has not been setup for this role At All.

They're a mercenary who became a teacher via nepotism and while we do things in the story that you could probably read as proof of Byleth's ability to lead, they don't really feel that way, especially since Seteth can end up spending half the war refusing what we suggest. Byleth is also just... not a real character. So them becoming the big deal leader is kinda... yeah.

Anyway, I accidentally ended the month early. But whatever.

Before you tell Rhea your "decision," she gives you exposition about how she made you and Sothis's crest stone is in you. She wanted to see Sothis again and thought she could regain everything she had lost.

Sitri was Rhea's 12th attempt. She "grew up" without Sothis's consciousness and fell in love with Jeralt. But when she gave birth, the child was not breathing and she herself was also "in grave danger." Sitri told Rhea to take the crest stone from her and put it into her baby. Otherwise, both would have died.

Byleth is suggested to be able to house Sothis's consciousness because they have both the crest stone and a body born from a parent with Rhea's blood.

Rhea is aware that Sothis gave you her power and disappeared, which means Rhea's dearest wish did not come true, but she's accepting of that. She basically entrusts Fodlan and the future to you.

And she just flips out in the middle of that.

"White Beasts" appear all over the monastery. They are from priests and knights that Rhea shared her blood and "stones" with. Tho given how JP plurals work, it's impossible to tell if Rhea is meant to have one crest stone or several. Demonic Beasts also run in??

Enemies are Frenzied Church Soldiers with minor crests of Seiros, Altered Golems, White Beasts (cardinal that has transformed and gone mad due to the rage of the Immaculate One) with Blest Crest Stone Shards (bestowed by a saint and wielded as a weapon), and the Immaculate One herself. She has a crest stone of Serios, can recover HP when near a White Beast and is described as having been driven to an uncontrollable anger due to the power of the goddess.

This battle was annoying because of the Classic setting. The whole business with Rhea having a private army of people whom she shared blood with is, hm. But I get the feeling this was done purely to explain her battle having the same mechanics as with Nemesis and the 10 Elites. It's... an interesting tidbit that these cardinals and such exist, but kinda weird that the crest of Seiros is actually this common, especially since they can ALL presumably pass it down to their kids, and I would expect Rhea had done this for more than just one generation.

(funny concept: after a thousand years of Rhea just sharing her blood all over, a good three quarters of Fodlan has some Seiros crest blood and it manifests pretty much at random in people all over.)

Anyway, final blow by Flayn.

OK, enough screwing around. tbh I do like Rhea, so there's some emotional resonance in everyone being very worried about her and having little voicelines about how they want to pay back the debts they owe to her, and her sadness and suffering and all that. It's not the worst.

She mistakes Byleth for Sothis when collapsing in the cathedral.

They did make a mistake: Rhea transforms in her dressing gown without the mantle or headpiece, but she changes back in full archbishop regalia.

The post-battle exposition exposition is kinda... ah yes, all nations in Fodlan are gone, but you see the Church is leading people toward a new... nation? How does this work. Sorry, but I don't see a religious government (??) as a good thing.

Rhea says she had a vision of flying free and speaking with Sothis while near death. She's happy she survived... so am I.

Rhea's wish was for peace, but she admits fault in propagating a false history and deceiving the faithful. And she did a bit of forbidden experimentation on the side, obvs. We forgive her tho.

I wish there was a gen way to save her, without the romance. It's such a good coda, honestly, without the marriage.

I wish Byleth was a more concrete character. Not necessarily a super detailed one, but with at least some grounding traits.

Still, Rhea romance scene is pretty good. WAY better than Flayn. Why can't I do this on VW..........

Endings: Ashe takes over Gaspard as the new lord. Galatea was "seized" what the heck, though Ingrid did rule it. Felix still ended up Duke Fraldarius. Sylvain talked his way into peace with Sreng, good on him. Lindhart "escaped the Empire" but went missing. Dorothea fled with her troupe to a secret location. Petra went to Brigit. Caspar fell on a battlefield. Bernadetta because seriously ill and lived as a recluse. Ferdinand returned to his territory but went missing. Catherine became Guardian of Zanado, but why was she shaking up with MY wife in solitude? Because in the ending card with Byleth, Rhea is still archbishop and assists the leader of the new "United Kingdom of Fodlan." Shamir became Robin Hood. Alois became captain of the knights. Seteth became very tolerant lol

[hubristicassholefight]

Automatically Included contestants

These are contestants who have automatically made it into the bracket due to getting 3+ submissions, as well as planned preliminary polls

Alanna of Trebond (Tortall)

Peko Pekoyama (Super Dangan Ronpa 2)

Sayaka Miki (Puella Magi Madoka Magica)

Eowyn (Lord of the Rings)

Olivier Mira Armstrong (Fullmetal Alchemist)

Adora (She-Ra and the Princesses of Power)

Gideon Nav (The Locked Tomb)

Brienne of Tarth (A Song Of Ice and Fire)

Juri Arisugawa (Revolutionary Girl Utena)

Utena Tenjou (Revolutionary Girl Utena)

Lady Oscar (Rose of Versailles)

Sabre Artoria (Fate franchise)

Nobunaga (Dragalia Lost)

Erza Scarlet (Fairy Tail)

Lady Maria (Bloodbourne)

Baiken (Guilty Gear)

Morgana (BBC Merlin)

Casca (Berserk)

Mitsuru Kirijo (Persona 3)

Windblade (Transformers)

Talia (DC Comics)

Fa Mulan (Disney's Mulan)

Akame (Akame ga Kill!)

Xena (Xena: Warrior Princess)

Maggie One-Eye (Clover and Cutlass)

Keladry of Mindelan

Kagumi Tsurugi (Miraculous Ladybug)

Youmu Konpaku (Touhou)

Preliminary Polls

One Piece Slot 1 (between Kikunojo, Tashigi, Rebecca, Kuina, Charlotte Amande and Lola)

One Piece Slot 2 (Second place of the same)

The Locked Tomb Slot 2 (Between Camilla Hect, Alecto, and Coronabeth Tridentarius)

Fate slot 2 (Between Mordred, Mysterious Heroine X, and Miyamoto Musashi)

Legend of Zelda slot 1 (Between Urbosa. Impa and Twilight Princess Zelda)

Fire Emblem Slot 1 (Between Lucina, Eirika, Lyn, Byleth Eisner, Lucina and Altina)

Revue Starlight Slot 1 (Between Hikari, Karen, Daiba, Maya and Claudine)

Final Fantasy (Between Alisae, Lucia, Mylla, Lightning, Terra, Celes, Agrias, and Paine)

[bronanlynch]

❤💔💕 fire emblem canon of your choosing 👀

❤: Which character do you think is the most egregiously mischaracterized by the fandom?

all of them but especially the main three lords like. you have the people who think edelgard is an evil ~crazy tyrant, the people who have some wild fucking opinions abt dimitri's mental illness, and the people who either think that claude is just a silly meme guy (or that he's 100% pro-church)

💔: If you had to remove one major character from the series, who would you choose?

those who slither in the dark. like edelgard can have a shitty ambitious uncle who wants to use her to gain power and whom she is using in return. but please. he can just be an ordinary guy who sucks there should not be a group of ontologically evil non-human guys who secretly manipulate all world events for their own gain. genuinely wild that I have only very rarely seen anyone point out that uhhhhhh that's classic antisemitic conspiracy theory shit that the game would be better without on so many levels

💕: What is an unpopular ship that you like?

it's time to tell you abt yet another girl that I think should kiss edelgard. it's understandable that this is a rarepair bc hapi & edelgard don't interact much and also hapi is from the dlc (she's from the secret fourth house in the sewers) and there's another girl from the same dlc that she's ~gal pals with, so people tend to pair them together (they're cute too, and tbh these ships are not mutually exclusive, the other girl is one of the ones who has a paired ending with edelgard (the magic scientist who wants to restore her family's status) so like. polycule. anyway). hapi/edelgard. the thing abt hapi is that she's cursed (every time she sighs she summons monsters, because she was experimented on by the same people who experimented on edelgard) which is why the church threw her into abyss and she's. understandably angry abt them locking her up instead of helping her. see: this entire conversation between her and byleth, that caused me to immediately be like "you and edelgard Need to have a conversation abt this" especially this part

like. the thing abt hapi is that she's very jaded and disillusioned and acts like she doesn't care abt anything or anyone as a defense mechanism and I think that's a fun sort of character to set up with someone like edelgard who believes So strongly. girl who doesn't think the world can change so why bother hoping x girl who believes that the world Must change and she has to be the one to do it. this too is yuri

anyway that's why I wrote a fic abt them

[fantasyinvader]

I think there's something almost… validating concerning the localization. I mean, sure, it exists and alters the story but think about what it means when you're actually aware of those changes. That they needed to change Edelgard's ending because it was so bad, because it was so much a slap to the face of players who believed they were doing the right thing (which was the intention), that Treehouse instead tried to tone it down. That they had to make Edelgard's character arc legit rather than her simply saying X to manipulate Y. But even that wasn't enough, they had to go so far as to try make her enemies seem worse as well. In order to make the game grey, they needed to add white to Edelgard and black to those who oppose her.

Acknowledging this basically means admitting the original text was pretty clear cut about who was right and who was wrong.

The thing is, as I was thinking about this I was recalling how around launch there were fans demanding an anime adaptation. I was thinking that if that had happened, people might have been more aware of the liberties Treehouse took with the script. The obvious choice for a route to adapt is Snow, as it's the natural progression of White Clouds, it's the route the worldbuilding was done to support, it puts the most emphasis on the trick the devs wanted to play, and it features what they view as the game's real Fire Emblem in Byleth's flag. It makes the most sense to do that route since it's Byleth's route, the path of the player character. I'm sure it thwould have been controversial, but consider the ramifications of the anime adapting that route specifically.

The anime would be portraying the Church as the good guys, like they would be if they adapted either VW or AM, and Edelgard as the villain.

It would align with how Cipher also used Silver Snow for it's Black Eagles expansion.

It would match how the Three lords are meant to represent their own routes in Engage, meaning that Emblem Byleth is from Snow.

But most of all, there would be people watching it with subs, maybe even fansubs, and they'd notice how different the voice direction is with both Edelgard and Rhea. If there's fansubs and the translation tries to make the offical subs align with the game's translation, people would have noticed that. And with the story of the route cut down to 24 episodes, it would tell people what the actual focus was of the story.

[sheikahwarriork]

Aww thanks you!! Now I can follow you too, because I'm sorry I tend to be really shy when I use anon ^^"

- Reincarnation AU? I can't wait to see how you're going to deal with the concept :] And it's lovely you included Mercedes/Byleth and Ashe/Dedue friendship. Also, ohhh Angst! I admit I looove hurt/comfort-

- You're right, I've never heard of it ( and I know ship like Kronya/Ignatz! ), but it could be so interesting :0 The enemy to lover, the whole confrontation between Nabateans and Agarthans, and their very particular situation- Also very funny, I'm sure they would bicker a lot :] Also, what do you like about Flayn and Shez? And I've heard of Marianne/Ashe before but it's definitely a rarepair, though a really sweet one. Very uderstandable with Dimileth, respect for sticking with your OTP!!

- I've never heard of Annette with Marianne and Bernadetta! I admit I really love developing platonic relationship and this one sounds so nice :] And to be honest I was kinda excepting the Faerghus four x)

- The Black Eagles girls!! ( With Shamir and Thyrus- ) I'm really happy to hear you like them!

- That's good because I love LGBT headcanons >:] Asexual spectrum Byleth is the finest, especially demi! 

To be fair there's not a single Blue Lions that doesn't have homoromantic subtext in some way- Dedue with Dimitri and Ashe, Annette with Mercedes, all the coding with Ingrid, and I don't think I even need to mention anything for Felix because his ending are some of the most obvious in the whole game. Sylvain is not even just in subtext anymore!! 

As for Sothis there's no way she care about gender anyway- And transfem Arval :0 I really like the story behind the headcanon!

And I'd love to share my thoughts and headcanons!! Though to warnw you I'm very invested in them and I tend to rant :') I have a lot too, is there any specific subject you like?

yayy new friend :3 btw sorry for the late reply, i was busy and then got sick these past days cwc

- yes i have few rarepairs but theyre very weird i know xD i like to think sothisxarval would tease each other all the time, also enemies to lovers!! about flayn and shez, i dont have much ships with shez bc i see them much more as aroace, but flayn's supports with f!shez are very funny and i like to think how seteth would react when hearing the two are dating! his brain first goes "thank the goddess my little daughter sister is not dating an ugly and insolent man" then he realizes flayn is getting laid anyway. eheh

- about annette with marianne and bernie: the idea was born when i first wrote the modern!au, because even if the blue lions are my fav characters, i wanted bernadetta and marianne to be there too since i love them so much!! so in my modern!au, they are all in the gardening club at school, and annie became friends with them bc theyre both shy but also sweet, and annette thought "i want to be friends with them!! they deserve to be happy so i want to see them smile!!!!" (in my au, mercedes and annette havent met yet at the beginning of the story). this is how the "chaotic singer becoming friend with depressed sweetheart and anxious writer" idea was born xD

but enough with my rambling lmao, it's your turn now! 👀 (as you said to me, feel free to respond whenever you can and to whatever you want! also do you prefer my questions to be in your inbox? if so i'll re-write them as an ask to you!)

1) i imagine edelgard is your favourite lord, but which route do you prefer the most?

2) your fav house and characters?

3) what are your OTPs in the game? and rarepairs?

4) i'd like to hear your LGTBQ+ headcanons too!

5) what is your favourite map in the game? and the best class?

6) best track in the game in your opinion?

(i'm having so much fun, thank you!!! <3)