#faerghus fun so i like talking abt faerghus

[dimiclaudeblaigan]

Yeah, I think it's the best choice to not tell people he's the king. I also think it would lave a bigger impact if he didn't and then someone else told them, like if someone realized it was him and told them later after he'd helped them (or if they just somehow found out long after he'd left the area). Dimitri literally helps commoners with their physical labor and doesn't say who he is and doesn't ask for anything in return. Saying who he is might come across as bragging, too, like look at me helping the commoners, it makes me better than other leaders.

I don't think he personally minds if people find out, but he's not going to go around announcing it to people either.

That also makes Adrestian nobles significantly more disconnected from the people they rule over. Even Leicester has lords who are very protective of their people and lands. They quarrel because they want what's best for their area and people, but that's worth a hell of a lot more than quarreling over politics, status, etc.

Ingrid also just has a general idea anyway by living in Galatea. If she didn't know what her people were up to etc, she'd still live in what's essentially a barren wasteland as far as crops go. She'd still be aware her people are also living in those conditions and would know they're suffering. Just by living in that territory, even if she was somehow oblivious to her people (which her paired ending with Raphael makes it clear she's not), she'd still have a pretty good idea of what they're going through.

It just means even more that the nobles in Faerghus do check on their people.

I think overall we don't much to go by with Adrestian nobles. A big issue there is Houses not having any content of almost all of them. Hopes is the best we have. I think Waldemar at least seems to take things seriously, and Leopold definitely does in both games. In Houses in VW he sacrifices his life so his soldiers can escape/leave with their lives. He basically takes responsibility and dies so that they don't have to.

I don't know how intimately connected Adrestian nobles are to their people, but I think it's fair to say Leopold is probably the most aware of his people with Waldermar in second. Dorothea's father is a noble apparently but we don't know the extent of his position or anything like that, and he seemed like trash anyway. Not sure about Hubert's father because we don't have enough information on him, but we do know Hanneman seemed to consider it wrong of Hubert to be involved in his murder. No idea if the guy had much to do with his people or not though.

In general, average people are at a disadvantage in her society. Like, with me, I'm not physically strong and I'm otherwise very average. I don't have any particular skills (outside like writing lmao). I just live day to day as most ordinary citizens in Fodlan do. I wouldn't get a chance to give my opinion or be heard, because I'm too ordinary for that. In other words her society favors people who have some sort of advantage.

Some people, sure, can work toward not being average, but others with say, disabilities, won't have that opportunity. If someone's physically impaired, such as having lost an arm or leg (which is very likely in war, no less) but they're mentally average, they're doomed to live in her society as an always disadvantaged person.

For me, at least with Dimitri's reign, I'd still get a say and a voice no matter how average I am (and that's how it should be - people should still get a say in how their lives are lived regardless of their capabilities). I could continue being average and living my life normally, not feeling pressure to be more than I am. For people with any sort of disability, that's great (physically and mental both).

Inb4 someone says being disabled is lazy lolol. And also, some people just want to be average (and some people are just incapable of learning the normal way or properly at all, such as people with learning deficits. Even I, while not having direct learning deficits, still have trouble learning how to do some things and it becomes overwhelming very quickly).

Some people just want to have a normal job and go home to their family. Some people don't want to be extraordinary. In her society, there would always be pressure to be more than what's comfortable for you, and I can guarantee fights would break out over positions.

There's this great line in FE9 where a citizen says what the nobles/people in power do doesn't concern them unless it affects them directly. They're just "faceless beings who rule from on high", and as long as they - the commonfolk- can live their normal lives, they don't care. But if those people were to take away their lands, etc, of course they'd rebel.

It's something that's an issue in Houses too, because so many places have been trampled by war - the war she started. That's already going to leave her unfavorably among the commonfolk, who are the majority of people.

If the majority makes a stands against her and they riot, her only choices are to have trained fighters kill them (i.e. killing civilians who are enraged by her treatment of them and wouldn't have made a stand at all if she'd been good to them) or give in to their demands. There wouldn't be enough jail space to jail everyone if the majority of commoners started rebelling.

Things like that are why Dimitri wants to avoid rebellion at all cost. If people are unhappy with his reign, fine, whatever, he'd step down if necessary... but he's not risking that if it's going to cost innocent lives being lost in the middle of the chaos.

Also, like Dimitri said, humans are weak creatures. People need each other to thrive. People want other people! We need social stimulation (look at us right now!), but we also need help in our day to day lives when things get rough, because things are stressful and sometimes painful. Humans just... generally want help from each other. It doesn't make them pathetic.

Something important to take away from their conversation there too is that Dimitri lowers his mouth and calms it. While Edelgard is arguing very firmly about her stance, Dimitri remains polite and speaks in a sympathetic tone. It's a reflection identical of their beliefs. She wants a society where people are firm, self-righteous, and unwavering. He wants a society that takes care of each other, is gentle and kind to each other, and will be reasonable and fair with others.

Edelgard's uh, Nabatean hatred aside, the society she wants is literally, by all accounts, an ablest society and a society that the already advantaged will get a leg up in. Who do you think would be in charge of the military after the war? It'd be the guy who already has the experience and knowledge and is already a war general. Leopold wouldn't lose his position, and if he's the one with the say regarding who his inheritance goes to, it's going to be his firstborn son.

People might say "it's not going to happen immediately after the war, but eventually things will change", but how can they? If the people in charge of each position choose who they want to succeed them, whether it's family or not, it's always going to come with some sort of bias. They'll pick people they know and/or are close to. It's not going to be some random schmuck of the streets. It's not going to be that extremely skilled and intelligent person living on the streets because they couldn't afford, financially, to keep a roof over their head.

It's true that the power centers about her. In the Japanese ending murals that's basically the long and short of it.

Someone with ADHD would probably struggle to take an exam too (especially if it's written). Imagine if they failed the exam, and it was because they couldn't focus. That kind of thing could happen and then, well... they don't get opportunities now. It's back to being a farmhand.

Religion isn't even a bad thing. Having faith in something or needing to believe in something to carry on isn't a bad thing. The way she treats it like it's some wretched brainwashing is awful. Imagine thinking someone's pitiful for believing in some kind of a god. I'd mention Petra, but we know how that dynamic is.

I'm not even religious in the slightest and have only ever stepped foot in a church for a funeral one time in my whole life (and it was a marine's funeral). It doesn't mean I think people who are religious and people who go to church are pathetic or devilish or something. Those may not be her direct words, but she definitely looks down on religion.

Tbh I think part of why Dimitri needs second opinions and so on is because he might hesitate due to personal views/feelings when it comes down to it. Any human being would. If it was something deeply personal to him, of course he would react in a way that makes him feel better.

That's why having other opinions, especially from lesser affected people or people not affected at all, is a good way to get things from a non-biased standpoint. Even if he sees something as correct, if a bunch of other people don't, he's going to want to know that and to know why.

Lol yeah I've mentioned in the past how Hopes is cruel because no matter route it is, the Gautier family will literally never be whole.

You're right though about the Lions getting the best content in GW (in our opinion, before someone feels that raging cactus up their booty)! I feel like we see how they act under such intense pressure, and it's... kind of amazing? They all give so much support to each other, and they work very hard to be a collective force and are very tightknit.

They also give each other emotional and moral support, and I enjoy seeing that it's not always the same person giving the news to Dimitri. It could be Gilbert, but then it might be Felix, and later it might be Seteth.

I'm sad too that we didn't get any reaction from Miklan. He has a relatively prominent role in AG, but in the other routes he's kinda tossed aside. Dimitri doesn't think Miklan will even have much to say "at all" about Matthias dying and Sylvain taking over for him, but I think it would've been more impactful to see him actually react to the news (especially since despite everything, they'd been a family unit for the past two years, even if it was still a bit rocky/shaky). Also, since Sylvain's mother loves Miklan, I imagine he might be worried about her at least a little bit as far as her losing her husband goes?

“it occurred to me that as long as we’re fighting the kingdom, there’ll be more death”

Then maybe stop invading, and there won't have to be more death!

But also like, it's kinda too late bc buddy made his bed and now he's gotta live with that. After killing a Margrave, ofc he's gotta expect potential backlash and Kingdom forces coming after him for invading them for literally no reason (their reason being for someone else i.e. Edelgard doesn't excuse that they did it).

Oh I've talked about this before, but there's no way the war will end post GW until someone is entirely annihilated or they simply have no fighting force left/will to fight left.

First of all, killing Matthias was the biggest misstep because now they have to deal with Sreng either invading, or they lose Sylvain's assistance (both fighting power and brains, which let's face it is a huge loss if that has to happen during the war at any point at all) temporarily, so he can ward them off.

Second, they attacked Sreng and faked it being the Kingdom, so now Sreng thinks the Kingdom attacked them first this time. While not true, not Sylvain has that to get through to them, which would be tricky to convince them because they'd probably think it was Faerghus trying to attack first this time to weaken them from a future invasion (and that whole situation is a mess as it is, and even though Sylvain's doing his best to fix it, the Alliance's bullshit just makes any strides he could've made way harder to do now).

Third, most people in the Kingdom will never forgive the Alliance for that period, let alone Sylvain (who makes that point very clear if Claude approaches him in battle after that chapter at the capital). He explicitly says he's "going to make Claude pay". This doesn't sound like a threat against the Alliance specifically either, but one directly to Claude who is spearheading this invasion, etc.

In other words, no matter what happens after the final GW chapter, Sylvain isn't going to just let that go. The way he says Claude just barged in there and killed people's parents made it extremely clear to me that he holds a deep grudge and resentment (and he already expressed that in the exact scene when he's officially named Margrave, that he holds hatred for the invaders and foreign threats).

That is to say that I don't think any amount of "uwu okay let's all be friends and stop fighting now" is going to work. If the Empire loses the war, Sylvain will probably still attack Leicester at some point (let me remind you that Sylvain is a man of vengeance and is extremely emotionally volatile about family and friends being killed, to the point it gets him killed in SB). If the Empire wins and Sylvain is still alive, he's prooobably still gonna eventually attack Leicester.

Even if he doesn't attack Leicester, the Empire will turn on them (which Claude and Holst explain they're aware of). If Edelgard still wants conquest post final GW chapter (which idk why she wouldn't since that was her goal from the very beginning and she says as much repeatedly), she'll end up going after them.

So then, if Faerghus is weakened and now forced to comply when Leicester asks for this and that, do we really think they'd actually back Leicester up? Nope! Not only would they have to deal with or keep watch over their borders regarding Sreng (thanks Claude that's on you), but they wouldn't have the military strength to give aid to anyone. Also, for personal reasons, they wouldn't anyway.

So this means Leicester just... wouldn't get help and they'd have to deal with the Empire by themselves, which could've been avoided if they'd fought with Faerghus to begin with. Then there's also the fact that they couldn't guarantee Sylvain wouldn't just straight up a small army to attack them while their backs are turned to the Empire. Hence, I think the fighting would go on until one or two sides were just decimated.

In SB we don't know how things would go because it just... unceremoniously ends and the three powers are all still there (so either the fighting continues post SB, or they all just magically stop fighting and continue existing as three nations, which would defeat the purpose of Edelgard starting a war against them in the first place and would make her and Hubert's words of aiming for conquest utterly useless and meaningless).

In GW it's uh. more clear cut that the continent is fucked.

I think, regarding Baron Dominic, that it was because Lambert was moving too fast and trying to do too much. Even Rodrigue was worried too (which we see in the Houses flashback). Lambert seemed to me that he was trying to make change very quick, like he wanted overnight change. Like, of course, we all would like that, but he also wanted to do this with foreign nations, including Sreng, who they have a long history with and it wasn't a friendly history.

I get the feeling Lambert was too open and trusting politically. He was trying to make hasty change, and that could absolutely be disastrous for Faerghus. One small opening and too much trust before they know if things are really settled and Sreng could attack from the inside. Duscur may not have been any sort of issue in that regard, but Sreng was desperate. They needed food. They didn't invade out of pure malice, but because they were going hungry.

If they had the chance to do anything, they would probably take it because maybe they just didn't want to wait for reforms and trade and all that. Maybe in the time that would take in an official setting would involve too many deaths from starvation. If Lambert was too open and trusting with them, of course they'd be likely to jump on that and take advantage.

I think the problem is that Lambert was too generous and kind to others. Dimitri is too, but he's more levelheaded and he listens when those closest to him tell him where his blind spots are. He knows that he can't just nilly willy fling the gates wide open for Sreng. He'd love to be able to, but he's learned restraint both from his friends and from what happened to Lambert. As a king, he knows he can't just endanger his people to make change. If there are no people to make change for, there's no point.

Lambert wanted to go through negotiations as well, but he was hasty about it. If I were a Faerghus resident at the time he was doing all that, I'd be very concerned if not terrified of finding out that Sreng is being just downright trusted by the king after their history of raids (and it's even worse in a sense when people are going hungry, because they'll raid just out of necessity of survival. Either they die in battle quickly, or they die slowly, starving). Like, how could I expect to be safe if Sreng attacked? To not be stolen from or killed?

Like, we don't know that he was just letting them in and whatnot, but we do know (iirc?) he was pretty hasty in trying to make peace with them. It was too much too soon and even Rodrigue was worried, and about Duscur - not even Sreng - at the time of the flashback. Lambert was going himself, personally, which risked him dying and the Kingdom falling into chaos because of that (which did happen).

Specifically Duscur itself wasn't an issue, but it was the fact that he going physically to see them (and took the whole goddamn royal family no less lol, save Rufus who was presumably not considered "immediate" royal family), and from what I understood he was doing that a bit too soon (again, too hastily). There was no guarantee that everyone in Duscur was on board yet. There was no guarantee that everyone from Faerghus was on board yet.

It's kinda just like... he was too excited/confident about the reforms/changes/etc. He made too many moves that were too risky too quickly. He didn't take heed of the warnings and concerns of the people around him who also had lands to lead. He was jumping right into what he wanted, no matter how good and positive those things were.

Lambert might've been a great person, but if his kindness became a weakness and endangered all the people of Faerghus because of his naivete, I can absolutely understand why other people/lords felt they couldn't have him as king if that's how he was going to rule. Things going well doesn't mean jump the gun, and because of his confidence in how talks were going, he probably skimped on security.

Fact is, I feel strongly that if Rodrigue had been there and more soldiers were there, they might've actually been able to prevent as much damage as what happened, including possibly even saving the king himself, and thus preventing Faerghus from falling into political ruin. Lambert also definitely should have waited before taking Dimitri with him out of the country.

Unfortunately Lambert seems like he was too kind and careless to the point it was becoming a danger for Faerghus. At least, that's what I understand from all the information we have. Baron Dominic especially never struck me as a bad or sour person. He doesn't seem to have any hatred or grudge toward Lambert, but he still couldn't get behind what he was doing.

As for your sadness about Rodrigue dying in AM, have no fear, for I am concocting a post AG situation too! ...That... involves basically the same stuff because Ferdinand Definitely Didn't Die Because I Said So, and because one day Claude has to go back to Almyra. In the meantime before he does of course, it'd be mostly the same general idea, but with Claude instead of Lorenz. Once Claude has to go to Almyra, Lorenz would take over his position. Also, hell, maybe he'd actually tell Dimitri sooner where he's from!

I, too, do not like a world without Rodrigue. :( But also, Hopes gives room for me to have this AU as a starting point for both Lion routes and branch from there, because Rodrigue is also learning different languages! It gives different potential after things settle down!

I feel like Dimitri is the kind of person where you have to trick them into passing off any work to someone else lol. Like, he'd rather do it himself and doesn't want to burden anyone with it because he thinks it's his responsibility and not theirs. I totally think his friends would trick him into splitting the work between them and have to be creative and think of different methods so he doesn't catch on. Man is too dedicated for his own good.

I get that with Petra! I think if she fought for Faerghus, especially during Hopes, she'd realize her treatment wasn't really... good? with Edelgard? Because like, at the end of the day, what if all of it was just manipulation, etc? Seeing how Duscur interacts with Faerghus might make her start having doubts. It's sad we don't really get details on her feelings about everything.

That's just it though, I don't mind people having a discussion and asking questions. It's when people jump to conclusions and spew insults or swear at people while clearly misunderstanding the context that I'm like nnnnope you're a piece of shit. If someone even just thought they understood it but left a polite response, I could correct them about the misunderstanding of the post and then we'd be on literally the same page (especially in this case, because Petra being a hostage is literally one of my biggest complaints with her relationship to the Empire and Edelgard and how it gets portrayed in both games, and her situation being exactly why her comments about Faerghus are bullshit. It makes her come off as selfish and just wanting her land to be all good and well, but fuck anyone else if it happens to them, which... is not a character I'd get behind).

Leicester is trying to fight with Empire because Claude thinks he's using them and being used in turn. No idea why he thinks he's using them though. He says that a few times, but like... what is he using them for/to do? For what goal? What does he reach by doing that? He always just says he's using them, but I don't recall if he even once mentioned what for. If it's for his happy ol' world, he's uh... failing pretty badly lol.

OKAY BUT LISTEN, SYLVAIN GOING TO A POLITICAL MEETING WITH SRENG WEARING A BRACELET AND EARRINGS FROM THEM. That's it, that's the comment, that's all we need from that comment.

I'm having a really hard time fathoming how some people consider SB to be a righteous/heroic route or a route where we're the good guys. The route where:

You invade two independent nations under the pretence of "saving their citizens from oppression" (though I guess you can't be oppressed anymore if you're dead lol) even though Her Majestic Hypocrisy repeats a bunch of times that she's in for conquest and that she'd obliterate anyone who stands in her way.

The cast keeps victim-blaming the invaded parties for *checks note* defending their countries. 

The death toll is the highest. You have to kill Ingrid, Rodrigue, Gustave and Sylvain. And you can also kill Ashe, Mercedes (btw, if she dies, the cutscene where Dimitri and Dedue grieve changes slightly, which is nice), Annette, Shamir, Ignatz, Raphael and Marianne (how does Margrave Edmund feel about Claude's alliance with the empire knowing his daughter was killed by its army?). 

IIRC, this is the only route where you conscript merchants into the imperial army. No wonder the empire has the biggest army.

Based Rhea who, despite being hunted, still thinks about the safety of the continent first in the final chapter. It's hilarious how characters like Edespot or Clyde harp on about how Rhea is the big bad, and in the few scenes you have with her, she's just kind? Anyway. Rhea based.

In the C support conversation - which happens right after Felix got seriously injured and Sylvain got killed- there's this bit where Dimitri is like "I don't know if I can talk with like everything is normal, so many have died already" and Edespot's response is basically "yeah I don't see it that way. Let's agree to disagree". Also, I believe she wonders if she shouldn't just kill Clyde and Dimitri once they're out. Even though Clyde is her ally at the moment. You bet on the wrong lord, Clyde... 

I probably forgot a few stuff, but... oh well.

To be honest,

The only things I like about Supreme Bullshit are :

Its ending! Supreme Leader and Barney (well, at least they throw a sword?) being sitting ducks while Rhea steals the show, and sacrifices herself in an epic shonen scene to get rid of the real threat, aka showing that unlike someone, she knows how to prioritize, and it ends up in an explosion. It matches the ending of the F-Zero anime (at 0.48!), Rhea/Falcon rushes to deal a blow (a Falcon punch and a Seiros strike I guess?) to their mortal enemy, there is a giant explosion, and both Rhea/Falcon fade away in a blinding light. Too bad the Supreme Bullshit BGM is eons away from "Searching to the Truth" :(

The reveal that Rhea kept the keys to the sekrit passages in the Imperial Palace - or Rhea knows more about Enbarr and its castle than the current Emperor and her aides...

Doro's paralogue being incredibly tone deaf about, uh, soldiers being "too busy" by the Mittelfrank troupe, that they can't basically protect the dancers/performers from bandits, when the paralogue happens in an area that is expressedly supposed to be full of soldiers!

If starts align in a certain way, it's the only route in Nopes where Clout dies!

Leopold! He's like Victarion Greyjoy, only if he was taken seriously. But we, as players, know better! Also he's a living retcon, from having a major cichol crest to gift to his son because he fought well (and not to, say, Big B or even Ferdie) a sacred weapon despite the route being all about muhritocracy!

Supreme Leader plans and plays with the cards she has in her hand - from trying to get good PR to get rid of people (Varley sr) by pitting them against her next target (the CoS)!

An entire game full of new Supreme Replies (tm)!

For shippers around, it has a Cathmir scene where everyone knows Shamir will prioritize Catherine's life over her allegeance! too bad this is a Supreme Leader route, so no, Shamir won't fucking try to kill her for blackmailing her and can even kill Catherine herself later on....

That's not a lot lol, and most of it are breadcrumbs because for the proper plot...

Yeah, it kinds of sucks.

Supreme Bullshit is even more tone deaf with the War and its realities than Tru Piss (and that's a feat!), Ferdie being completely, uh, off the mark about everything (invading lands and rekting people, and then saying those people's fears are only in their heads! Pal, one of the first missions in the SB exclusive chapters is to rout refugees??? + the nonsense about the Kingdom having more crested generals, when data shows the Empire has more crested peeps than the Kingdom!), Caspar being turned in the worst version of himself who dgaf anymore about protecting "innocents" and "justice", and, uh, everything with Monica.

Victim blaming is the norm with Fodlan games, but yeah, it really feels odd that suddenly, in the Zahras chapters, Dimitri's all "okay" when his closest friends either died or were grievly injured and the game proceeds as it does when, come on, why wouldn't Dimitri kill her the second they're out of the Zahras verse??

I really disliked how Supreme Bullshit yeeted Ionius from Adrestia, or how it didn't explore in more depth the Insurrection of the Seven, especially since we side with Leopold'n'Waldemar against Ludwig, who used to be allies! Also, as far as I remember, no one mentions anything about Arundel, why he ran away to the Kingdom with a young Supreme Leader and how he changed when he returned, or something?

If Ludwig is pushed by Supreme Leader, reciting her Dad's words, as the one who led the insurrection and the experiments on her, why the fuck no one else mentions them, as Leopold and Waldemar were on Aegir's side back then? They don't even mention "Arundel" participating, like, Volkhard sides against Ionius and hides his niece, but 3 months later, he returns and offers her as a guinea pig?

As is the norm with the Supreme Leader routes, the "truth" isn't what we're looking for, because we know Supreme Leader pushes a narrative she will follow to reach her goals, but where Tru Piss gave hints here and there about her narrative being, uh, rubish, we have no clues here, and Leopold prefers to flash his loincloth than giving us anything meaningful about that incident.

When you compare them to Matthias and Rodrigue (and Gilbert?) who often mention Lambert "back in the days", it's more and more obvious that... we're not supposed to ask questions in Supreme Bullshit, and just go with the flow.

And it ends with a high five.

I'd say it deviates less from Tru Piss than Golden Shower does from Verdant Winds, but it's an "expected disappointment".

That's why my only higlights are not plot relevant (save for the Captain Falcon - Rhea parallel) - because we know the plot will never deliver something meaningful in a Supreme Leader route.

[figbian]

ok here's them throuses fic recs in a format that won't cap my character count: "Watchtower" by mareza [https://archiveofourown.org/works/20755727] Sylvain angst abt Gautier's role as defending the border with Sreng extended towards that idea of "I spent so much time look out that I failed to look in". Goes from pre-game to war phase. Tone is dramatic and sad. Faerghus is where fun happy people go to have that fixed, etc etc "a poem for strong things (boy with crest)" by.. oh this is also mareza lmao. [https://archiveofourown.org/works/20568998] it IS About Dimitri but uhm. well. ok the premise is that school phase some of the kids are speculating on if dimitri's crest means he would injure a sexual partner and several of them bet on if they can seduce him to find out. it's a school phase comedy that features everyone on your faves list (sylvain most, dorothea also a significant amount, edelgard is only there for a couple scenes but she has opinions). It's a lot of talking about Dimitri obviously since he's the subject of their bet, but each of the characters participating in the bet has a segment that's told from their PoV so you're really getting more on what /they're/ thinking rather than what Dimitri is doing or thinking. If you are worried about the implications of "a bunch of people are trying to seduce this sad wet boy under false pretenses" he's ok in the end. "homeroom (or, if we're not recruited in 15 minutes, we're legally allowed to leave)" by Schistosity [https://archiveofourown.org/works/24140818] school phase comedy again (ahh the sweet summer days for the tragic future world leaders with magic powers) this time taking place in a world where byleth recruits everyone except edelgard, hubert, claude, and hilda, and it follows their unlikely antics while literally everyone else is (mostly) off screen doing game event stuff. it's well-written, sweet, and fun "my fellow passerine" by... goddamnit, also Schistosity. I swear I've read more than just these 2 authors. [https://archiveofourown.org/works/24625273/chapters/59492041]. OK PREFACE this one is about Claude (from Cyril's POV) and spoils some important Claude stuff that you may have seen Suggested but not outright Said, and also some specifics related to that which are not revealed until later in the game than where you are I THINK it's been several years since I played throuses so WARNINGS. actually maybe don't read this one until you're done with claude's route or at least pretty far in there. once you know all the claude stuff. but ok but I did not care at all of Cyril's worship of Rhea and this fic makes me appreciate Cyril. So it gets props for that. Finally, in honor of Time Travel Fics, "I Know, I'll know (that you were my future, and you were my past)" by placesinfive [https://archiveofourown.org/works/42667977]. Blue lions route takes place nebulously in war phase. Byleth time powers hijink sends the gang back in time where they have brief encounters with younger versions of... each other. Each of these little scenes is very sweet, and the author put a lot of thought into who meets who. Shout out to Annette's, Ashe's, and Mercedes' segments which make me feel things. There is a final section where they all reconvene and have awkwardness about meeting each others' past selves that honestly I think... ehh, "weakens the whole" is a bit harsh but I think the fic could have done without it. Maybe the author wanted to end on some levity? Or maybe the author just liked it and wanted to have it! They can do whatever they want, I'm not a cop.

I tried to keep my blions bias out of this but I am also dedicating this fic rec list to this post/tweet which I think about constantly: https://www.tumblr.com/pierroticism/712250352420978688 He is a man who murders women. Not just kills. But murders.

yayyy yay yippee yay so looking forward to these! blue lions’ connections to one another made me INSANE so very felt on that front. that said. well. edelgard 🫶. i’ve read some good more shippy stuff which i can dm to you if you’re interested and also one petra fic where it doesn’t Quite work but there’s enough in there that it really really gets you thinking about her. i’ve been tearing thru a lot of fic lol. but i need to read more black eagles )-: i was sort of expecting to like sylvain (he is a blorbo in law turned blorbo i guess ) but i didn’t know anything about him so it was very shocking and annoying right until i Got him. that said i tried to start w blue lions but i played black eagles first since edelgard bewitched me completely. i’m still obsessed w her. blue lions is fun but since their ending is like “bandaid happy ending” it was hard to play. also because i hate the church lol. but yes. dm me 🫶 or message me on discord either works. i’ll let u know what i think of the fics as i read them! :-3

[bronanlynch]

For the character ask game: 4, 7, and 8, your choice of fire emblem character!!

ok so today you're going to hear abt felix fireemblem

4. If you could put this character in any other media, be it a book, a movie, anything, what would you put them in? he would fucking thrive in a sports anime. he needs & deserves to be in a story abt high school kids who take their sport way too seriously. he would the Most 'takes his sport too seriously' guy and then has to learn abt the power of friendship and how it's not all abt becoming the best etc etc

the rest is going under a readmore bc it got long oops

7. What’s something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you like? there's a lot of very good dramatic art of him fighting against his old friends/his father (like, he was recruited and they weren't/can't be recruited and now they're fighting to the death). lots of people do very fun symbolic stuff with shadows and blade and dramatic angles and it's nice to look at

8. What’s something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you despise? thank you for giving me this platform. I don't like how ubiquitous it is for people to talk abt his endings in routes where he's recruited away from his home faction as though he's automatically going to be 100% miserable for the rest of his life. like this is the guy who spends the entire game talking abt what a mess faerghus is and how badly he wants to leave it and not remain trapped in the fucked up system that caused his brother's death and will very likely cause the deaths of everyone else he cares abt including himself. and you want me to think he would actually inherently be happier staying?? (like I'm not saying he could never be happy if he stayed, he can, I've read & enjoyed plenty of fic where he stays in faerghus and learns to live a life there that he likes too, it's just that I don't think it's the only way for him to be happy and lots of people say that it is) and yes leaving always comes at a cost and yes he would mourn and yes I too ship him with several of the people he would be leaving behind (or who are dead in this sort of worldstate) but like. he's at most 24 years old at the end of the game I promise he can find a way to move on and live a fulfilling life for himself and Imo nothing in the text of most of the endings that people point to as "the tragic ones" suggest that he doesn't. his whole thing is that he hates the overwhelming societal pressure to treat Dying For The King as the best thing you could possibly do, something you should aspire to above anything else, and would rather fight on his own terms and in this setting becoming a mercenary is the way to do that, y'know? so it's kinda disappointing when I constantly see people say that becoming a mercenary is some horrible fate for him

[dmclemblems]

with all the three hopes panic going around and stuff due to leaks/possible spoilers

i just wanna remind y’all that

rodrigue is still the same ol’ lambert simp he always was and i think we can take comfort in that blanket of familiarity

you can always trust a man who simps for his man

if there’s anything we can trust, we can trust rodrigue’s single brain cell and love for lambert

[saviourkingslut]

i am curious about how dimivain is in your head 👀 i know it tends to me kinda meme-y in the fandom i am curious how you see it!

i don't have a super strict set of hcs for them or anything, but what i do think about them is just very far removed from the way fandom usually talks abt them. i mean, i get it, there's some grounds to portray them both as classic dudebros/loser guys you'd meet in a frathouse and i don't begrudge people having their fun with that but i think it's a very shallow portrayal of both them and what their relationship could potentially be.

i mean, sylvain acting like a good-for-nothing whore is largely a front, because he's actually whip-smart, capable, calculating and caring. there's a lot of things wrong with thropes, but i do like that they decided to ditch most of the skirt-chasing to devote time to some of his character traits that get snowed under in throuses. besides that, i think it's really important to realise that sylvain just. hates himself. to the point that he has quotes in throuses war phase that sound downright suicidal. i think his carefree attitude is a part of him, absolutely - he is a jokester and he is the kind of guy to be whiney and make jokes at the expense of himself. but he also exaggerates it for the sake of hiding the morbid parts of himself from the outside world/protect himself.

as for dimitri i think the meme-ish version of him sells him so short as well. yes, he wants to eat weeds, but in my opinion that was meant to show that he tries to find ways to fix the eternal food shortage problems in faerghus as much as it was supposed to be a fun little bit. yes, he's one of the students who like training and weapons maintenance most of all, but he's not just a simple jock - he tries to investigate arundel in am because he knows something is up. he's dutiful and cares for justice and wants to do right by his people to the point of being self-destructive. he's intelligent and introspective and wants to see the best in people, though thinks that he himself is unworthy of love and admiration because he feels that the acts he committed in the past are sins that can never be washed away, though he'll spend his life atoning through ruling his people justly rather than hide away.

anyway, the thing is that i think the meme-y version of dimivain tends to skip over the complexities of their characters and the ways that they could connect to each other and try to support each other. in their own ways, they both hate themselves, though for different reasons. i think they'd do anything for others and nothing for themselves, and that they could help each other in that regard: mutually learning how to care for themselves by taking care for the other and being taken care of in return.

i think sylvain would never allow for dimitri to retreat back into himself, would go his entire life trying to make him see that he's worthy and important, not at all expendable, that dimitri shouldn't think of himself as irredeemable, that he'd take on any tasks that would lighten dimitri's burdens. i've always figured sylvain would be excellent at administrative tasks and that, in wartime, he'd excel in the role of tactician (strategy is something he actually likes). and that he'd take dimitri to do something for himself for once. he'd be gentle but firm about it, apply humour when it fits but be very, very serious when it's needed. sylvain's very wordy, and he'd show his care with them because dimitri needs to hear certain things, again and again until it sticks, but he'd also show his care and love through acts, because he's used his words for lies so many times in the past.

and i think that dimitri's sheer earnestness would be a very good counter to sylvain's lifetime of facades, that it would be difficult for him to keep his mask on when dimitri is always so honest and open. when dimitri speaks he means what he says - and they're always good things when it comes to his friends (and beloved). and with time i think sylvain could start to believe him. dimitri would see through his self-depricating humour and his facades because he's known sylvain all his life. he'd try to draw out the better parts of sylvain, his cunning and capabilities, because he knows that they're hidden there under all his posturing. and that actually making use of his skills will have sylvain feeling better about his worth in this world and to the people around him. i think being with dimitri would make sylvain want to make use of his skills because it means he can help dimitri with them, and it would make him feel worthy of dimitri's love, since dimitri himself is always giving all of himself. it wouldn't be an easy process, because trauma is a bitch and habits are ingrained, but with time? yeah, i think they'd be very good for each other.

tl;dr i think dimivain is a pairing made up of two complex and intelligent characters with their own respective difficulties who could help each other get better and i think the meme-y version of the ship sells them and their relationship kinda short.

[turtleduckmocha]

Hii sorry to come out of nowhere but I found one of your posts while scrolling through @/inthetags, and I just wanna say you have really good taste in characters!! :> Cyril and Leonie are my faves too and idrc for any of the Faerghus Four except maybe Sylvain

AUHGHDFSD THANK UUU right back at ya!! i think it sucks that so many ppl hate Leonie and Cyril bc of some bad first impressions (leonie specifically bc she was mean to byleth that one time), but ig sucks for them missing out!! i could talk at length abt how much i love them both, they have some banger supports & i think it’s fun how straightforward they both are! i definitely wish the Cyrinatz & Leomari supports went all the way to a paired ending, but also as it stands i adore them both dearly <3

i strongly believe that Leonie is the butch icon in/gr/d stans WISH she was lol. i avoid hatin’ on main bc like, i GET why people would like them, i just. Do Not. (and i could talk at length abt it as well lol)

[koshka-sova]

all this time whenever i think abt which house id hypothetically join if i were to enroll at the officers academy, i always steer myself away from the blue lions. id either pick black eagles or golden deers. but every time i thought about why, i couldnt really pinpoint it. like, why?

it finally hit me. it's to do with the norm that each house implicitly (or not) has. at least, as late as before the war, fodlan was still 3 seperate nations living in relative harmony right? geographically fe3h managed to create the basis for a really sound and multi-faceted set of nations. it's part of why im so fascinated by the game skdjdj

anyways, what i meant by norm is how the culture of each nation is reflected in what the houses are like, or what theyre not like. the reason i keep steering myself away from BL is... bc of strong familial obligations. i think it's safe to say family values in the holy kingdom of faerghus well exceed that of adrestia's and leicester's. it should be pretty obvious esp if one has played the azure moon route that by examining how the lions behave, we know those values to be regarded of, well, high value.

personally, it's not that i dont want to care for my family or dont value them. i happen to be blessed with a family that loves me. but i think familial values in faerghus exceed just love. i think especially for royal blood (since it is the nation with the harshest discrimination against non-crest bearers--see mercie, sylvain among others--so mostly royalties are the focus here) a mix of strong family bonds and undying, unwavering, unfiltered loyalty reigns supreme. the BL house features the most childhood friends, and since their siblings/fathers knew each other as well, theyre mostly on amicable, if not good, terms. from my eyes, this esteemed value just seems... so extreme to me. and not in a bad way! perhaps only now i just realised that i dont vibe with that.

i could vibe with my family, but i dont want vibe THAT hard to the point of immovable loyalty.

in contrast, i find it oddly reassuring (?) that the beagles actually also know each other, or at least in a similar fashion to BL, their parents knew each other, BUT. their parents' relations? not good at all. terrible. blegh lmaooo

it's absolutely wonderful how the beagles are able to become such a tight-knit squad post timeskip. knowing what happened to edelgard's father (stripped of power) bc of at least caspar, lin, hubert, ferdie and bernie's fathers, the kids of BE show a subtle theme. theyre really the "fuck you old man gonna stick it to you" kids, and they show how old foes can still foster new allies.

an exception to this would be dorothea. even with her being raised to fame in the opera, in the end she has no significant familial relations due to her being an orphan. still, she does fit well with the rest of the beagles regardless.

as a side note, the beagles also seem like kids who are kind of inclined towards rebellion (perhaps im simply making connections with their 'fuck u old man' stance?). this, along with their more independent path they take compared to their families, leaves me wondering if id somehow be a fit in that house... haha. fun things to think about.

i didnt talk much about the deers bc i kinda want to get to know them better first. other than that theres not much other reason.

[hometownrockstar]

here they are, my fe3h oc... i might draw their timeskip design with and without armor bc theres more details not visible at that angle. ok anyways how do i explain them? so they arent rude or anything like their face suggests, theyre just very antisocial and shy because of how awkward they are around others, they often unintentionally weird people out because of their weird passions and the way they talk about them. but if theyre talking to someone theyre more comfortable with, they’ll get really animated and talk in flowery poetry talk and giggle when they laugh and say things like “oh my stars!” :) 

their interests include stuff like bug catching, singing and writing (though theyre not the best at either), and they love old knight stories! but they only like the really weird and obscure kind, they dont very much care for mainstream shining knight stuff. its why theyre a griffon rider, they idolize the really REALLY old days when people rode them in battle. they want nothing more to become a hero like the ones they admire, even if they shy away from attention. they love unconventional ways of battle because they think since theyre not as common anymore it gives them an upper hand. oh also theyre from faerghus bc it has a griffon on the banner lol. i’ll put my thoughts on their supports under a cut so this isnt too long.

i made a chart instead of writing it out bc i hate writing in sai lol anyways the supports are tentative for now bc they’ve got a lil too many, but theyre the ones i had ideas for support convos for!

so them and didi would basically be them heavily idolizing didi (and him feeling a lil awkward abt it) because of how similar he is to his ancestor loog, and basically they want to be the “kyphon to his loog” because of their hero fantasy and also cause kyphon was a griffon rider (not canon but im making it up now). i think it would end with didi slightly convincing them to rethink how they idolize their old tales and their aspirations.

them with ashe and felix would probably be those 2 confused at their ideas of knight stuff, with ashe being more abt stories and for felix, knightly conduct.

for ferdie, l*renz and dorothea it would be abt their interests in singing and poetry but the morbid way they go about them weirding out those 3 at first, until they learn to appreciate different ways of artistic expression. theyre pretty similar i know but i included ferdie and l*renz only cause their reactions would be funny

those r really the only ideas i had so far, the rest is just me thinking their interactions would be fun!

[imaginemyhouse]

Hi. I'd like to hear about this OC of yours. I really like thinking about what I would be like in Fodlan (and other fictional places), but I haven't come up with any specific non-self-insert OCs. So I'm curious! Side note: Your ask button is really hard to see because it's just a slightly darker pink than the rest of the pink in the background.

you guys are so sweet for asking abt my oc!! also sorry that the photo quality got kinda nuked idk what im doing ever but im trying my best. also, thank you for letting me know about the ask button!! i made this blog at like 2am sdkfjhs but i fixed it! hopefully!

i guess i’ll just give a basic rundown of my oc!! everything might not be 100% canon compliant but i had fun making her so we’re gonna stan anyway-

her name is magdalene celine de lascelles, a child from faerghus nobility! she has a twin brother, magdalene bearing the crest out of the two of them, and pre-timeskip they are under the care of their step-father after the death of their father at a young age and the more recent death of her mother. their mother was accidentally killed by magdalene as they were practicing magic, though she has no memory of that night (in a cool dramatic twist for the added ~pizzaz~ during her hypothetical paralogue, it was actually her step father trying to kill both magdalene and her mother, magdalene assumes for power of the house though he never divulges why).

her strengths lie in reason and sword, though she has some faith ability as well. magdalene is definitely a blue lion! she’s friends with most all of the blue lions, though her closest friends are mercedes and annette, with sylvain following behind because she gets a good laugh out of his antics. she enjoys inviting others to tea, playing the harp, and reading most, though dislikes sitting through lectures! she’s more of a mild mannered, friendly, and shy girl before the timeskip, though there’s definitely a fire in her to try and live up to the expectations her mother left. 

after the timeskip, she’s presumed dead after a nasty battle with her step-father, seeing as he pledged his alliance, as well as house lascelles’, to the imperial army, which she wouldn’t allow. when she awoke, she was taken in by kind villagers. she became a sort of “robin hood” after that, earning the title lady justice. kinda like... anti-dimitri? she would swoop into villages being raided and save them from thieves, soldiers, etc. so, yeah, still kinda feral but more “just” in her actions.

i kinda ship her with dimitri but that’s really just self indulgent ?? aksdkashf i’m horrible someone stop me but yes!! please talk to me about your ocs as well!! if anyone wants to send in ocs please tell me about them this is an oc positive zone!!