#don't get me started on the dedue and ingrid paralogue.

[sleepy-bear-tm]

Dimitri in Three Hopes watching Edelgard and Claude radically change their countries in Fodlan while his hands are tied with having to protect the church

[malsfefanfics]

OC Profile: Davi

Art by @cringeyvanillamilk, edited to icon size by me.

"We're not exactly sure where he came from, but he's become a fine member of the monastery. Davi has the heart of a knight, but he has a laid back side as well. I get the feeling he keeps us all at arms length, though. I wish to know him better. He seems particularly awkward around Felix, Dedue, and is actively avoiding Seteth and Flayn." -- Dimitri about Davi.

Full name: Davi Valerio Nicknames: Dava (by children), Vi, Brat (by Graham, affectionate) Birthday: 19th of the Pegasus Moon, 1164 Age: 21 (Pre-Timeskip), 26 (Post-Timeskip) Crest: [REDACTED] Family: Unnamed mother (deceased), unnamed father (deceased), Rui (twin brother, deceased), unnamed grandfather (deceased), Graham Govain (Adoptive Guardian), Chliodna Govain (Adoptive Guardian) Nationality: Duscur Titles: Crepuscular Commander, Warrior of the Mind Voice Claim: Jonah Scott (Legoshi from Beastars)

Interests: Weapons training, the Opera, Religious Studies Likes: Horses, Choir Practice, Training, Dancing Dislikes: Most of Faerghus, Crests, Heroes Relics

Favorite Meals: Onion Gratin Soup, Grilled Herring, Fruit and Herring Tart Liked Meals: Saghert and Cream, Beast Meat Teppanyaki, Pickled Rabbit Skewers, Derdriu-Style Fried Pheasant, Disliked Meals: Garreg Mach Meat Pie, Country-Style Red Turnip Plate, Gautier Cheese Gratin

Tea Preferences: Chamomile, Cinnamon Blend, Almyran Pine Needles

Liked Gifts: Fishing Float, Exotic Spices, Floral Adornment, Book of Sheet Music Disliked Gifts: The History of Fodlan, Legends of Chivalry, Book of Crest Designs,

Lost Items:

Strange Book of Music: A notebook filled with unfinished sheet music. The lyrics are in a language you don't recognize.

Traditional Kilt: A garment fit for a warrior. An elaborately weaved design colors it like the twilight.

Suppression Charm: A charm meant to suppress magic power. You remember seeing something similar in a Crestology book.

Starting Class: Commoner Preferred Class Path: Soldier/Monk --> Cavalier/Mage/Dark Mage/Priest --> Paladin/Wyvern Rider/Bishop/Dark Bishop/Warlock --> Wyvern Lord/Dark Knight/Holy Knight Strength: Lance Weakness: Heavy Armor Budding Talent: Faith Personal Skill: Merciful Pantheon - Increases nearby allies critical hit rates by 5% when their health is less than half.

Weapons Starting Levels:

Sword: C Lance: B Axe: E Bow: D Brawling: E Reason: D Faith: D+ Authority: C Heavy Armor: E Riding: D Flying: D

Base Stats:

HP: 30 Str: 12 Mag: 6 Dex: 7 Spd: 7 Lck: 6 Def: 8 Res: 8 Cha: 10

Learned Faith Spells: Heal (D) Nosferatu (D+) Recover (C), Seraphim (B), Aura (A) Learned Reason Spells: Thunder (D), Thoron (C), Bolganone (B), Excalibur (A), Agnea’s Arrow (A)

Recruit Requirements for Canon-Compliance AUs: 

Blue Lions: must complete the Paralogues "War for the Weak" and "An Ocean View", and have B or higher in Lances, Reason, and Riding

Golden Deer: must complete the Paralogues "Dividing the World" and "An Ocean View", and have C or higher in Faith and Flying

Black Eagles: must complete "True Chivalry" and "An Ocean View", have a B in Axes and Heavy Armor.

Black Eagles (Silver Snow): Must also have completed Ashen Wolves Paralogues and have a B in Swords and Authority

Potential Supports:

Byleth

Dimitri

Dedue

Felix

Sylvain

Ingrid (up to B)

Annette

Mercedes

Edelgard

Caspar

Dorothea

Bernadetta

Petra

Claude

Lorenz (Up to B)

Hilda (Up to B)

Leonie

Raphael (Up to B)

Ignatz (Up to B)

Seteth

Flayn

Manuela

Hanneman (Up to B)

Yuri

Constance

Hapi

Balthus

Crit Quotes:

By the grace of the gods!

Ashes to ashes, as they say.

This is my vengeance!

You are not much of a challenge.

My mentor calls.

You're in my way!

You shall regret crossing blades with me!

God of War, guide me!

You are a disgrace!

Defeat Quotes:

Apologies, friends. I must fall back.

This is too much. We must retreat.

I....I won't die here....not now....

Ah...so this is what Rui felt that day...

I'm sorry, Graham. I failed....

Don't weep....I....made my choice....

Skill Level Increase Quotes:

This will aide my people well.

This blessing will serve me well.

Blessings by the God of Wisdom.

Now this is curious.

Insightful. Thank you.

Level Up Quotes:

To grow is part of life.

Blessed by the God of War.

I know I can do better.

The Gods are testing me.

Gift Quotes:

Liked Gifts: You found something truly magnificent. I am grateful.

Neutral Gifts: This is delightful.

Disliked Gifts: Perhaps you should take your curses elsewhere.

[lananiscorner]

1, 4, 6, and 48!

Thanks for your ask, ohheyitsyouagain!

1. What drew you to / made you pick up and play FE3H?

Angsty Dimitri fan art and a quick rundown of his character arc from an ex colleague (who is a long time FE fan). I am a sucker for "good person who goes through shit ton of trauma and actually suffers from PTSD in unpretty ways as a consequence, but finds a glimmer of hope/redemption (if needed) later" narratives, so of course I had to check it out.

4. Which route did you play through first in FE3H?

Azure Moon. Needed to know what exactly is up with the character who got me into the game, after all.

6. Which route is your favorite?

Also Azure Moon. While it is possible and likely that a certain measure of first route bias is involved, many of the things I love so much about this route are things I would still have loved if I had played it 2nd, 3rd or last (e.g. the fact that it actually feels like the war had real consequences; the fact that the Lions start out connected by a traumatic event that affected each of them differently even before the war started, with the exception of Mercedes; Dimitri's character arc; Felannie and Sylvgrid; Dimitri being an absolutely busted combat unit; all of Dedue's supports; the fact that Rhea does not die in the end; ...)

48. What is a popular ship that you don’t care for / don’t like?

Dorogrid. Rest beneath the cut, because I don't want to ruin any Dorogrid fan's day with my griping.

I hate their support so much. Or, I guess it's more accurate to say I hate Dorothea's behavior in their support so much. If that support was word for word the same, only with a dude named Dorian instead of Dorothea, people would rightfully be calling Dorian a creep in need of a restraining order, but apparently woman-on-woman sexual predation is okay? Wooo. Miss me with this ship. I also don't get the argument that their paralogue is much better, because even there Ingrid makes it clear that the gesture Dorothea interprets as romantic was not intended as such at all. It gets especially yucky, imo, when people interpret Ingrid's straightness as "internalized homophobia". Like... no. Just being straight does not automatically make a person homophobic. Rejecting a bi/gay/lesbian person's advances does not automatically make a person homophobic either--it just means you're not their type.

I just cannot wrap my head around how anyone could like this ship, but as said in my last ask: different strokes for different folks. Tag blocked, problem 99% solved.

[saviourkingslut]

So I saw your response to sevarix's ask about Dimivain and I just wanted to say that I'm glad someone ships them past the whole meme aspect. 🙌 I've always just casually shipped them (liking art, sometimes looking for it but not really engaging in the fandom/haven't written/read it etc.) but I can ship them at all only bc of the serious aspects? Like if I considered the silly memey stuff I wouldn't actually ship them. It's the more ig meta-y stuff in their relationship that gives me room to ship them.

The main reason I even started shipping them was bc I saw how loyal and dedicated Sylvain was. While Ingrid fights for Dimitri, she also fights for her country at large and she largely doesn't have a lot of similar outlooks to things as Dimitri has. Felix is Another Topic Entirely and is just... Felix lol. But also, I always loved that Sylvain is always at Dimitri's side. It's not the same as Dedue because Dedue is Dimitri's "vassal" and sees himself that way which is why he feels he needs to be near as much as possible (like a bodyguard). Sylvain has no real... "post" you could say that keeps him there.

I've brought it up before on my own blog but Sylvain is the one who is there among Dimitri's closest friends in CF when you fight Dimitri in that chapter. Not only does Dimitri have a dialogue response to Sylvain's death, but Sylvain's death quote is to Dimitri. Even though they split up the BLs among chapters, reasonably so, it was Sylvain who ends up in Dimitri's chapter (while Felix, Ingrid and Rodrigue share a chapter which makes the most sense as Ingrid was basically their in-law). Considering in CF it's a battle to death, it always stood out to me that aside from the obvious Dedue, among those closest to Dimtiri it was Sylvain that he chose to remain with him when people had to sent to different posts.

Potential spoilers for Hopes for you or anyone who might be reading this if you post it:

That happened again though in Hopes! Twice!!

When you fight Dimitri in one of the SB chapters, it's Sylvain who is one of the big bosses, both to avenge Ingrid and to protect Dimitri. In SB Dimitri lives but Sylvain dies, and Dimitri's quote is very specific. "Not you too, Sylvain! What am I supposed to do now..." Mind you, when he says that, Felix is still alive and so is Dedue. They don't die in SB like they do/can in CF. He still has powerful allies and close friends, but he starts to lose all faith when Sylvain dies. When Ingrid dies he just vows to return for her body so she can rest in peace. Instead with Sylvain, it's... what is he supposed to do now? What is he supposed to do without Sylvain?

In GW when Claude's army is supposed to send an envoy after the battle, Dimitri is there with Annette and... Sylvain. They were cooped up in the castle waiting for someone to show up, and instead of his usual bodyguard-type person, Dedue, or his right hand man and the Shield of Faerghus himself, Felix, it's... Sylvain. Again. By his side when shit is hitting the fan and they're fighting a losing battle. Whenever they're struggling, he keeps Sylvain with him. You could make the argument of "Felix is Duke Fraldarius in Hopes and has exceptional skill in both Hopes/Houses so he was sent to the front lines", but Sylvain... has the Lance of Ruin, so instead of sending a relic wielder on the front lines to wipe out as many enemies as possible, he has someone who wields a relic at his side, maybe just in case. But then, you could make the argument of, again, why not Felix? Why not someone who has the best bet of protecting him if a fight breaks out? What if he needs someone to defend him for any reason? And yet, it's always Sylvain he keeps at his side during emergencies.

Then we have AG! Sreng is a stronger topic/issue in this game and it leads to more insight on their views on that front, giving you a paralogue for Dimitri, Rodrigue and... Sylvain. Felix and Dedue get their paralogue with Ingrid. Dimitri gets his with... Sylvain. Complimentary dad is dad. But once again, Dimitri is with Sylvain during an emergency (in this case a Sreng invasion).

Also, when Felix has a fit over finding out about Miklan being a commander in their army, he tries to get Sylvain to speak up because he thinks Dimitri should've talked to them first before deciding to do that. Sylvain says... he's one of the first people Dimitri spoke to about it. Two years prior. Dimitri and Sylvain were the only two privy to this fact for two years within their immediate ranks and kept it quiet. I don't think it's because, you know, lolz secret between two ppl in luv, I think it's because of the trust they have and that Dimitri knew that while Sylvain deserved to know, he also trusted that Sylvain wouldn't let it slip. It's understandable they had to keep quiet about it because of the whole bandit -> commander situation, but out of the people he trusted most, the only one he told about that to was Sylvain. He could have told any number of his closest friends that he also trusted (because I don't think Ingrid and Felix for example would go telling everyone about it). He just... didn't. He obviously had to talk to Matthias so Matthias could train Miklan in military strategy, but out of his closest friends, only Sylvain knew.

Also, Dimitri's biggest dreams involve things like friendship with other nations. Felix and Ingrid don't really seem to have any opinion either which way about that for themselves. It just kind of... is, for them. It's fine if it happens, it's fine if it doesn't. Only Sylvain shares the fervent desire that Dimitri has to see both Sreng and Duscur as friends. Even in Houses, Sylvain's supports with Dedue show that he's just as open about friendship with Dedue as Dimitri is. Sylvain's the only other person who is quick to say "I don't believe any of that" and to not look at Dedue as anyone but an ally. Dedue opens up to Sylvain significantly faster than anyone else in his supports because of that. Dimitri and Sylvain's Hopes supports are also political in comparison to the memey Houses supports they got. The only person Dimitri can really speak to about in depth politics and expect a discussion from it is Sylvain. He doesn't really get that deep into politics with other people.

AM has probably the most along with AG but this ask is! already! huge! so I'll keep this to a very specific one: Sylvain saying he'll stick by Dimitri's side even after everything Dimitri did. He says he's not sure he can just forgive him for all of it iirc, but that he'll be with him to the end and he doesn't see why he can't give him another chance if he's making up for his mistakes/taking responsibility and stuff. Nobody else says that. People are either on the side of "I'm glad he's back to normal" or "he's not back to normal, he's finally opening up" and so on. The only one who makes it very clear that he won't give up on Dimitri is Sylvain. That shows a lot to me among all the routes in both games, because even though it was a quick line during exploration in AM, it holds so much water because it's true in every route and now in two games. He really is the person who will always be there for Dimitri and doesn't give up on him.

The other people who are around him in different routes/battles changes, so it's not really consistent who will be there fighting near Dimitri except Sylvain, or who will be there with him after a battle. Ironically in SB when you see Dedue, I believe it's Monica who says it, but it's mentioned that "if Dedue is here, Dimitri must be here", and while that's a reasonable assumption, I'd be just as inclined to see Sylvain and say "if Sylvain is here, Dimitri is probably here", and Sylvain isn't his "vassal". He has less military reason for that to be true, but it is. In both games it's basically like a different bunch of people you may or may not see around him, but if any of his closest friends will be there, it's probably gonna be Sylvain.

At this point it's one of those things where I'm like, hurray true friendship, love the loyalty, actual best friends... but I'm also like holy shit just kiss. I write a lot of dmcl fics but I tend to regularly have Sylvain make the local best friend guest appearance for Dimitri and basically just milk their love (in those cases it's platonic but it's still love imo) for everything it's worth even when it's not directly a Dimivain fic sjkfgsjkgs. Even where there's not supposed to be Dimivain, if you squint you'll still get Dimivain. There will be sprinkles in a lot of my fics of Dimivain.

I don't even consider the memes when it comes to that ship bc for me it's like a side funny thing, but not the bulk of my reason for shipping them. I don't see it as a funny/joke type ship. For me it's more of a legit romantic ship and not just silly bros being bros kind of thing. It's fun to meme, but the ship itself is a lot more than that. Not many characters are THAT loyal to anyone. It's like, almost on par with Catherine's devotion to Rhea LMAO.

ayy sorry anon i read ur ask and then i forgot i hadn't actually replied yet 😔 hmm i appreciate your passion for dimivain but i can't say i really dive into the source material in the same way. as in, me shipping dimivain doesn't have to come at the cost of saying 'dimitri acts so and so around sylvain while he acts differently around his other friends/his friends act so and so around him' bc it sometimes seems to imply that his relationships to those other friends are less real or important. you probably don't mean it like that at all though so no hate lol it's just my personal experience with using the source material like that. you do you tho! im more the type to look at their personalities and build hcs and theories around that, and maybe make use of 1 or 2 canon interactions. also bc their characters are only partly fleshed out due to them being in a video game and so characterisation will always be a little tropey and limited. i certainly don't dive into the details and voicelines as much as you seem to do! guess im just kinda lazy LMFAO

[mxmearcstapa]

Maddening Lions Update #3!

[WARNING. SPOILERS FOR FE3H AHEAD. CURRENTLY PLAYING LIONS ROUTE BUY SOMETIMES I TALK ABOUT OTHERS AND SOME PARALOGUES OVERLAP SO SORRY IN ADVANCE]

So for a time, my roommate kidnapped me to play Minecraft (foxes!!) but the Madlions continue! And I have moved quite a bit further. So much further that I'm splitting this update into TWO updates because I have too dang much to say.

And DLC wave 3 is out! Regrettably, I am so late in this run that I am not making as much use of the sauna as I could, and I am missing like alllll the new quests and whatnot, but I am loving the new outfits! I got all my boys in summer wear, and most of the girls are wearing evening wear (unless they're mounted--summer wear overrides for combat, but evening doesn't because the skirt is too long).

I have class outfits overridden and I swear we're Valkyria Chronicles now but everyone looks dapper af and I don't care for the Mortal Savant outfit so really this is better

Here's what we've been up to!

The Great Bridge of Myrrdin:

HEY, LORENZ, YOU'RE ON THE WRONG SIDE.

This absolute sunofabitch comes at me ready to throw down as a level 40 Paladin and comes back home to us as a LEVEL 14 SOLDIER. I understand that I did nothing to improve him over time and I shouldn't be surprised, but honestly I expected at least his current class to stay unlocked. Was I gonna use him? No. But it was simultaneously hilarious and jarring. I even made a meme:

AND DEDUE IS BACK MY BOOYYYYYY!!

I keep forgetting that Dedue returns at the beginning of this chapter instead of the end. It's so inspiring~ I had him classed as a Warrior before he left, and he was about 5 levels behind (yikes) but he survived well enough. With the power of Byleth's healing and exp gain, he caught up quickly enough.

For this battle, our main force went up the middle, and Byleth and Dimitri went on a magical bridge adventure on the side. Even though I re-learned the hard way that I AM NOT A FRONTLINER at the start of the timeskip, I believed erroneously that Byleth would be okay over there. I am not ashamed to admit that I had to pull out the Sword of the Creator to end that shit sooner than otherwise.

Paralogue: Dummy Thicc Thickets:

Sometimes I forget that not every battle requires you to kill every last one of them rout the enemy. Sometimes the battle objective is to defeat the commanders.

This is not a battle I forgot that in.

So, uh, Marianne was about level 9 when we started this one. The rest of the roster was mostly mid-high 30s? With Dancer Flayn creeping up the highest around 39. With the power of torches, some trial and error (and Divine Pulse Intervention--thanks Sothis), thicc thickets (40% cover is #blessed), and aggressive Striding, we gunned it for Maurice and beat the absolute shit out of him before he could so much as protest.

Thicket is love. Thicket is life.

And Marianne gained a single level casting Physic. *tiny sad low exp gain flags*

Worst Class Reunion in History:

I learned from the last times I did this map. Hahaha. With all students recruited, Gronder was monumentally easier. And I can't speak for Golden Deer players, but for Blue Lions, I'm telling you: avoid the center hill. The not-Bernie archer could not do enough meaningful damage to anyone I put in their range, and most importantly, it gave us much-needed distance from Claude's disgusting wyvern range.

I like to see the special dialogue, so I went out of my way to send Dimitri to fight Edelgard. This is probably one of the most chilling interactions between the two of them. Holy cats does Chris Hackney deliver this shit.

Gronder is such an intense and important battle, and I wish so hard it was executed just a little better. The pieces are all there, but some don't fit together correctly, or create discord between story and gameplay. I have never quite understood why the Alliance chooses to so aggressively attack when my Kingdom intentionally stays out of their way. If the battlefield were covered in actual fog, it might make more sense (though SOTHIS it would be a NIGHTMARE). Instead, Claude comes off as capricious, not as a "Master Tactician."

But with some suspension of disbelief, Gronder still packs an emotional punch. And hot fucking damn, Chris Hackney's voice acting. The cutscene after Gronder is some of the most intense and moving shit in the game. The way his fucking voice cracks at, "But you seem to have all the answers, Professor," is utterly destroying. I love the Blue Lions for many reasons, but I'd recommend it just to get to this scene alone. It is beautiful and humbling.

Paralogue: One Big Turtle:

Hey did you know that Lethality procs off Gambits, too? Because that was an absolute delight to learn.

I almost didn't do this paralogue because of the FOG and Leonie and Linhardt being so low-leveled like anyone not on the A-team, but this was really the only chance I was going to get to fight a 3x3 beast on Blue Lions, so my curiosity won out. Plus, the dialogue in the cutscene leading up to this is some of my favorite. It is really a shame that Linhardt and Leonie don't have more dialogue/supports.

With enough torches, this level is reasonable, and fighting The Immovable was fun! Probably as much fun for me as it was for him. And I finally took Flayn to fight a Saint, which is a riot.

"Oh, hey, Cethleann!"

"UNCLE, SHUT UP!"

Next Update: Bernie/Petra Paralogue, Retaking Fhirdiad, Ferdie/Lysithea Paralogue, and Saving Claude!

Roster (post Saint-smacking):

To see the class progression, please check my earlier updates! It's a lot of text to repost 😭

Unit: Class (Most Used Weapons)

Byleth: Enlightened One (Brawl and Faith)

Dimitri: Great Lord (Lances)

Dedue: Wyvern Lord (Axes)

Ashe: Bow Knight (Bows) duh

Ingrid: Holy Knight (Lances, Faith)

Annette: Mortal Savant (Levin Sword+, Reason)

Sylvain: Mortal Savant (Burn until we meet again Reason)

Flayn: Dancer (Levin Sword+)

Felix: Warmaster (PUNCH!)

Gilbert: Great Knight (Axes, Lances)

Caspar: Wyvern Lord (Axes)

Hilda: Falcon Knight (Lance's, Axes)

You Two Should Kiss! (Intended Pairings):

• Dimitri and Byleth (I AM SHAMELESS TRAAAASSSHHH)

• Sylvain and Felix

• Ashe and Ingrid

• Mercedes and Annette

• Flayn and Dedue

• Caspar and Hilda

• Dorothea and Petra

• Ferdinand and Manuela

• Catherine and Shamir

• Hanneman and Lysithea (thankfully not romantic)