#dimitri gets to be an honorary member of the fell family. as a treat

[fayesdiary]

@loregoddess yeah sure I can do that

The first thing of note is not only how they got traumatized in the first place but how they deal with it.

Dimitri was traumatized by a single horrific event where he watched everyone he loved die followed by an entire population and culture being wiped out for it while he couldn't do anything in either case, while Alear had to deal with all of their siblings being brutally murdered while being threatened with the same fate for their entire life.

Alear processes the trauma by growing completely numb to it in the past (to the point of sounding like a robot) and freezing fear in the present. They mention in their support with Diamant they have to mentally prepare themselves every time they fight a Corrupted, and when one catches them off guard they completely freeze like a sitting duck and you can see this even in the main story when Veyle saves them in Firene. Also the obligatory manga panel, because it is mandatory to include every time we talk about Alear's trauma.

Dimitri's trauma response is instead visceral, murderous rage.

If he witnesses an event that reminds him of the Tragedy of Duscur, his response is to find whoever is responsible for it and not just kill them but murder them.

Whether Alear's usual response is either freeze or flight, Dimitri's is fight.

Hell, even their relationship with fire foil each other.

To Dimitri fire seems to be a huge trigger (Remire), but to Alear it's when they (almost) kill Sombron.

speaking of fire, Veyle and the Hounds are lucky Emblem Dimitri isn't plot relevant or else they would have met a gruesome end in Ch17, ironically another map that involves a village being set on fire which is also an important moment for Alear too now that I think about it

Same thing with their insane laughter scenes. Dimitri's signifies his complete shattering of his mental stability, but Alear's is when their life truly takes a turn for the better. ...After being revived by Lumera, but still.

Lastly, while present Alear is completely unaware about their traumatic experience for most of the game but still bears PTSD from it and doesn't remember any of their countless siblings, Dimitri remembers everyone he lost that day. Every single one. Painfully. And they keep tormenting him from beyond the grave (or rather he keeps hallucinating them, but that doesn't make it any less valid)

And he's disgusted by his trauma response and either desperately tries to hide it pre-timeskip or completely gives into it in the early timeskip.

Hell, even their rage differs quite a lot.

Dimitri goes on a rampage slaughtering everyone in his way to kill those he hates, while Alear's rage is deathly cold and focused esclusively on Sombron. Hell, you don't even see any emotion in their eyes until they deal the killing blow.

And in the parallels, I mean. Both are young monarchs who are trying their best and are deeply traumatized by and also committed manslaughter and I think they should be friends.

Honestly I kinda want to write a short fic where they have a talk post- Engage Ch24, because I refuse to believe Dimitri wouldn't want to talk to Alear after that.

As a small bonus have this parallel between Veyle and Dimitri the game itself draws in their bond convo:

The further I go into Blue Lions, the more I need to scream about the parallels and foils between Dimitri and Alear