#feth meta

[megashadowdragon]

[indigowallbreaker]

No one asked but one of my beefs with Three Houses is that what the fuck was the Forbidden Spell of Zahras

Like, it was obviously the Forbidden Spell of MacGuffin and only serves as a plot point to make Byleth stronger and is never mentioned again but I ask you, what the fuck is it??

Solon lures Byleth to a very specific place (technically behind enemy lines because it’s in the church’s back yard and I’ll talk about that in a moment) and uses Kroyna’s heart to cast this spell to send Byleth into eternal darkness. I already have so many questions.

Then after Byleth comes back, Solon expresses shock that they got out of the darkness of Zahras and, after being killed, declares that “Thales will carry out our mission, somehow...”

AND THEN IT’S NEVER BROUGHT UP AGAIN.

Thales/Volkhard never mentions trapping Byleth, using an ancient spell, or even says the word Zahras himself! If this game wasn’t already studded with plot holes and the like, I’d just chalk it up to good communication within TWSITD. “Solon tried trapping them in the infinite darkness and they popped out all green.” “Right, so we’re obviously not trying that again and there’s no need to even go over what went wrong. Moving on.”

But there’s no mention of pulling out evil, long-forgotten magic tricks ever again! They go right from ritual sacrifices to Big Mech Tech Titanus’. What a leap. 

Who/What is Zahras? Is that darkness a separate plane or the opposite of wherever space Sothis occupies? Who else knows how to do this spell? Does it HAVE to be used in that spot? Is it in a book somewhere in Shambhala with instructions? Do you have to be Agarthan to use the spell or can anyone learn it with enough dark magic potential? (re: could Lysithea/Hubert/Constance/Other Dark Mages figure it out if given time?) 

Does any of this matter? No. But it leaves a loose thread that the story glosses over in the wake of the whole ‘is the Professor the Goddess??’ stuff and it’s always nagged at me. 

The only thing I can say for certain is that the church/Rhea knew that place was significant to TWSITD. Catherine tells you during the chapter 9 explore phase “Eh, Garreg Mach has lots of places that are blocked off for one reason or another. That's true of the underground Holy Mausoleum as well as the northern woods. People call it the sealed forest, but as far as I can tell, it's nothing special. Just a forest.” 

It’s for sure blocked off, but no one is told why. The only thing there is a shifty looking plaza and lots of sinister rocks. Maybe Rhea didn’t know what they could be used for but she must have known they were important to the enemy or else why keep everyone away from the place?

My last thought --I promise-- is the name Zahras. After some digging, the closest I could find was the name Zahra. In Arabic, it can mean “beautiful, bright, shining and brilliant.” Nothing to do with darkness or evil magics. Every other name in this game was given great attention (I would know, I have spent hours looking them all up for fun/ fics) so I’m inclined to believe this name was chosen ironically.

OR because every other aspect of the MacGuffin plot point is not well planned and quickly tossed aside, it could just be A Name They Picked. “Hey my daughter’s name is Zahra and I want her to be in this game.” “Can do. How do you feel about eternal darkness?”

In conclusion I’m going to write so many fics that InSys will be forced to hire me for the next game and I can fix everything wait and see.

[vanquishedvaliant]

Three Houses and Three Ages; An analysis of the perspective of Time in the ideology of each Lord's Route

META ESSAY TLDR: Each house leader represents the idealized preference of a certain period of time; Claude is the Past, Dimitri is the Present, and Edelgard is the Future. Their routes enforce these time periods as what one should prioritize when making decisions, and what is most important when society is revolutionized.

Playing through Three Houses, it's quite clear that each of the three main Lord routes is a unique story with more differences between them than which maps are cleared or what nation you fight for; each of the stories is rich with themes and symbolism asking questions to careful readers, and offering different solutions based on the ideals and values of the characters you choose to follow.

Many have suggested before some strong themes these routes carry, most notably the question of "Do the Ends justify the Means?", and what place memories of the dead should have on the actions of the living. While these hold true on many levels of the story, it never seemed to fully encompass the whole of what the story had to say.

Reading more broadly across the entire text, I have come to think about their messages on a different alternative angle; that each route and lord is also representative of a method of thinking and decisions making that is based on their perspective of Time, ultimately asking the question of where you should look in time to decide what is right when the world is at the brink of revolution.

I propose that Claude, Dimitri, and Edelgard are each defined utterly by the answer they can be seen to represent; the Lessons of the Past, the Reality of the Present, or the Promise of the Future. 

Below, I will go into each character at length and provide specific evidence from the text for my proposal. This breakdown includes detailed spoilers for all routes*. 

Claude von Riegan - Correcting the Mistakes of the Past

Claude, heir to the sovereign dukedom of Leicester, is a man defined by the past. Born of the mixed heritage of two different nation's noble castes, he inherited the expectations and responsibilities of both, and neither. This disconnection from both sides frees Claude from each of their cultural momentum, and lets him to step back to see a global and historical perspective without the biases of a man with a true stake in either.

Coming to be known as the 'Master Tactician' and a brilliant schemer, Claude's harsh biracial youth cultivated a careful and contemplative attitude in him. He learned about others so he can act according to their expectations and fill the role that they want from him. As an adult, Claude uses this friendly attitude as a mask for his true intentions in order to gather information, and then uses his detailed knowledge of people, places, and events to manipulate their behaviour to his benefit.

Claude also makes his decisions based on extrapolation of other’s behaviour based on what they have already done in the past, and he values the lessons learned from their failures. Claude is the only lord to express interest in learning about the history of the Church, and why they came to be the way they are. He is the only lord who confronts Rhea, to ask questions about history, and learn most of the truth of the original sins and offenses that lead to the conflicts taking place in his time.

As the war progresses, Claude goes so far as to forsake his own nation's flag to lead his war, and instead flies the flag of the Crest of Flames. Mimicking the army of Nemesis in history, Claude steps into the past and uses established symbols to his benefit, using the popular story of history to rally support for his goal, but revising the positions to create a more positive result.

As we learn about his own motives, he tells the player he wishes to create a land where people from different nations, races, and creeds can live together without conflict. Claude's revolution can be seen as addressing and correcting the history that lead to these conflicts, rewinding the sins of the original war between Agartha and Nabatea to a time when all of Fodlan was said to coexist under Sothis, and stepping back further in his long term view to encompass the world beyond their continent. He wants to build a world where those conflicts in the past were resolved intelligently, with all they've learned since, and to do so, he must learn why and how those events took place, and he uses his knowledge of history to present a story to accomplish this.

At the climax of his route, Claude comes face to face with the resurrected Nemesis, a literal embodiment of the conflicts and mistakes of the past. He faces down this foe with knowledge and planning based on his fighting style and the heroes under his command, and defeats him by anticipating and counteracting his movements in battle, placing an arrow in advance right where Nemesis will attack. He immediately claims that the victory will be hailed by Historians as a new dawn, and the narrative ending text references changing the history of Fodlan no less than four times in quick succession.

Each of Claude's actions are careful, planned, and considerate. He takes every factor into account, learns everything he can from the way things were, and takes action to reproduce the victories, and correct the mistakes others have made in the past. And because of this, Claude thoroughly represents the decision making perspective of learning from Lessons of the Past.

Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd - Conserving the Values of the Present.

Dimitri, crown prince of Faerghus, is a man with his eye locked firmly on the now. Burdened by the death of his family in the Tragedy of Duscur, Dimitri is unable to move on from events that happened in his past, and doing his best to do right by the people around him day by day. Dimitri is unable to rest when things he perceive to be unjust happen around him, and is the first to rush into action heedless of the repercussions.

As the story progresses, Dimitri confides in the player that he regularly witnesses vivid hallucinations of his deceased family members, describing them as if they are still there with him even 4 or later 9 years after their deaths. These memories encourage him to act, to find some kind revenge or salvation as he laments that he was helpless and unable to do anything on his own in the moment of that tragedy.

This manifestation of his trauma is emblematic of how he sees the world, still carrying the despair, anger, and helplessness of that time with him and unable to separate things that once were from things that are now, without properly grieving or accepting their fate. For Dimitri, the past is still happening in the present, and no matter what he does, he can't separate them.

Dimitri is determined to act upon this revenge without delay, and eventually confesses that his ulterior motives for all that he does, including attending the academy, are part of an ongoing plan to enact his revenge. When the perceived target of his revenge is revealed to be Edelgard, Dimitri immediately attacks her in that moment, with no need to confirm the truth of past events, or consider the consequences for the future.

As the war progresses, Dimitri's condition worsens and his anger overtakes him. His decisions become extremely impulsive and reckless. He charges into battle with no regard for the safety of himself or others, refuses to build connections with those around him, and is blinded to everything but what is immediately in front of him, acting on it the only way he knows how; with violence.

Dimitri's decision making during the first part of the war phase represents this need for instant-gratification. Dimitri directs the war effort directly into enemy territory, obsessed with achieving his revenge "Now" and either unable or unwilling to consider that his actions will affect the future of his people or his country.

As Dimitri regains composure and works to put the past behind him by learning the truth of the Tragedy of Duscur, Dimitri makes decisions with more consideration, no longer blinded to the past and the future, but now actively choosing the present. He chooses to return to Fhirdiad not for sake of the future or the past, but because his people are continuing to suffer in the now, and he chooses to continue the war in the fight to bring peace as quick as possible. Dimitri's personal values uphold his priority of the present; he values the culture of chivalry that Faerghus currently embodies, fully believing in their established norms of noble knights and a glorious king protecting the weak and guiding the lost, and correcting injustices happening in the present with direct action wherever possible. Dimitri does not believe that the systems that govern their society are inherently flawed, and that problems can be solved by addressing them one at a time.

One such issue he faces is the prejudice against those of Duscur, which is strongly tied to the Tragedy and his personal motivations. Dimitri wishes to correct this injustice, and acts immediately with whatever power he has to further this goal. In Dedue’s paralogue Dimitri will rush into battle to prevent his own nation’s soldiers from slaughtering Duscur troops, and he expresses intent to immediately address the prejudice. However, Dimitri proposes no definite actions for these reforms, showing that while Dimitri is insistent to act, he does not have a long term plan for the future of reconciliation with Duscur, and is taking things one step at a time. Dimitri is not convinced by promises for the future, and he is not influenced by lessons of the past. He values how things are right now, making decisions based on the good and bad with only the information and ideas at hand. And for these reasons, I contend that Dimitri utterly represents living solely in the Reality of the Present.

Edelgard von Hresvelg - Breaking New Ground for the Future

Edelgard, Imperial Princess of Adrestia, is a woman unflinching in pursuit of her goals. Devastated personally and politically by the corruption in her current government and the manipulation of evils from the past, Edelgard turned the trauma of the gruesome torture and suffering she was made to endure into strength, resolving to 'cut her own path' to the future she envisioned.

Edelgard thoroughly rejects the tradition and culture of the world as it is. She sees the suffering of those in the present, and traces it back to decisions of the past. Seeing how the lingering resentment of both the Church of Seiros and the Agarthans continues to damage the world, she rejects both as wrong, and instead chooses to craft new and revolutionary solutions to combat problems and inequalities and develop a plan for a just society free from their influence.

In everything she does, Edelgard is determined to move forward. Edelgard voices respect and even solidarity for those that resist conventions and forge their own paths, even when she is compelled to oppose them, complimenting the leadership of the disgraced noble turned bandit Miklan, and commending the resolve and bravery of Lonato and his rebellion, refusing to treat them as victims for fighting for change they believed in.

Constantly adjusting her plans with new information at every moment, Edelgard frequently changes course when the costs are deemed too high, or the plan unworkable. Edelgard abhors the experimentation done by Solon in Remire, and long plans to turn against the Agarthans that Slither in the Dark, enacting her vengeance on them during the course of the war.

Support conversations with Manuella and Ferdinand display her understanding of the role of faith in the lives of the spiritual, and the need to produce an environment to uplift individuals. She alters her plans for the future to take both into account; dissolving the church without rejecting the Goddess, and developing plans for universal education and training, understanding the role each of these plays in developing a stronger society with educated and enlightened citizens.

When providing support for the player during their moment of crisis and despair, Edelgard encourages them to look forward. The advice she gives is that world will always move forward, and being held captive by the tragedy of the past, or accepting the present as it is is fruitless when time moves forward for everyone. The only thing one can do to change the past, is to do their best to work for the future, and help others to move forward as well. When Edelgard's true plans are revealed, she dictates the manifesto of her revolution; dissolution of the Church of Seiros, and the abolition of the crest-bearing nobility, two traditions of ancient history which continue to define the world in the present and which are perceived to be sources of injustice and inequality. These burdens of the past, the Church's anger and punishment of mankind, and the legacy of the Crests that persists from the tragedy of a society long since dead, are cast aside in favour of putting all thought towards the future.  Edelgard goes so far as to declare war; determining that the grueling tax of war and destruction in the present is preferable to allowing suffering to continue across society for years and decades to come. She concludes that moderate change is ineffective; and her experience shows this. Political reform in Adrestia was unsuccessful and was met with a coup that separated her family and stagnated their government, allowing further negligence and evil to thrive. Edelgard concludes that the only way for true change to occur is through decisive action, and the need for change outweighs the short terms costs of lives, finances, and industry that war demands. In her personal affairs, Edelgard encourages others to never be satisfied with how things are, and instead work to improve them for the future. She commends Ferdinand and Caspar for constantly striving to improve themselves, she implores Petra not to settle for what is expected of her, and is frustrated by Linhardt's disregard for the fruits of his efforts. All of her relationships are influenced by her constant forward motion and desire for betterment. Edelgard is unsatisfied with the inequalities and inadequacies of the present, and chooses to reject the decisions of history that led to it, not accepting its effects on the actions of those dictating the future. For these reasons, I contend that Edelgard unequivocally represents working hard to chase the Promise of the Future.

Conflicts Between Each Lord.

With each character's ideology established, we can also examine how they interact with each other, and how their perspectives collide to create conflicts between them.

Claude and Dimitri, despite finding themselves against a common enemy, are not able to properly ally in either of their routes, as Dimitri's total concern for the present blinds him to the possibilities of cooperation. In Dimitri's route, he is impatient to assault the Empire, unable to overcome difficulties in communication caused by an enemy from the Past he is unaware of, and chooses to fight through the Alliance army and destroy it rather than be delayed. Claude later implores him for aid, but the history of the Leicester alliance is sacrificed for the needs of Faerghus' war in the present. In Claude's route, Dimitri is likewise unable to communicate, heedlessly rushing into battle without consideration that his brave war does not match the united front that the Kingdom possessed during its first war with the empire, and is defeated utterly. Dimitri and Edelgard, the most directly at odds, represent the greatest contrast in ideology. Dimitri is unable to reconcile the death and destruction that war causes in the now, and does not believe that violent revolution is just. Edelgard is unable to reconcile the disparities and suffering of the present, and does not believe that allowing inequity to continue to thrive is just. These ideals can be summarized most succinctly in dialogue between the two during the conclusion of Dimitri's route, wherein Dimitri states; "We must defend the present... After all, it is all the we truly have," prompting an enraged Edelgard to counter, "We must trample the past underfoot, and move onward to a brighter tomorrow." Each succinctly states the priorities that inform the core motive of each side of the war, and echo their statements in previous discussions. Claude and Edelgard's conflict is far more subtle and nuanced. These two lords fundamentally share the same goals; the revolution of current society to be more equal and just, but they differ greatly in their methods and reasoning. Claude believes that no future can be built without considering history; a future without the flaws of the present cannot be forged without respecting how those injustices came to be. Edelgard on the other hand believes that true change cannot be enacted while you are still beholden to the past; if you are afraid to discard tradition and history, you can never create something truly new. In each of their routes, these Lords bring their conflict to conclusion, and while their methodology and fates differ, each of them ultimately entrusts the future to the other, with Claude offering the Alliance and his allies to forge Edelgard's future, and Edelgard (via Hubert) informing Claude of the true threat rising up from the past. Their methods and their perspectives conflict, but they both accept the present as unacceptable and seek revolution, whether it be through solving the past, or by creating an independent future.

In Conclusion;

Three Houses is ultimately a story about a societal revolution that spans the continent. It involves breaking the old society into pieces, examining all of its strengths and weakness, and piecing it back together in the method of your choosing. Like a forest fire can cause death and destruction, but also breath new life into its ecosystem, so too does the war in Fodlan provide a means for a new beginning. Through the examples given above, I believe that one of the overarching themes of Three Houses, and questions posed in each of it's routes, is what is most important when you are rebuilding that society in the aftermath. Do you look to the Past, like Claude, and learn from what those in history did right or wrong to make the decisions with thousands of years of wisdom? Do you stick to the Present, like Dimitri, and preserve things the way they are, taking small steps in the now to enact gradual change? Or do you fight for the Future, like Edelgard, making sweeping changes and reforms to create a future that is truly new in the pursuit of betterment. Each of these routes, and each of these characters poses a different answer to this question, without providing any answer that is absolutely correct. The endings of all three of these routes are portrayed as good, happy endings, the most idealized crystallization of their ideology. No matter the player follows, what they decide is what will prevail. There is no wrong answer, and no right answer. Simply solutions with a different priority.

And through these options, a full completion of the game asks the player to decide for themselves; what is really most important to their decisions?

The Past? The Present? Or the Future?

--

If you've read this far, first of all, thank you very much! This is almost totally a full length literary essay! You're a real trooper. I hope you've gained a new insight on a method of interpreting the story. I think there's a lot of different levels to Three Houses and I believe examining it from all different perspectives with a fair and even approach is important to getting the most out of it. I think it's the mark of a truly great story to provide this kind of depth of discussion, and posing multiple themes and questions that the player can think on.

I've found a lot of the same ground tread over and over about the means to an end, fascism vs democracy vs monarchy; (sorry guys, but that ain't it. Edelgard ain't a fascist, Claude ain't democracy, and Dimitri's a monarch... so....), and I've wanted to take it at a wider angle. The quoted lines from Azure Moon really stuck out to me as incredibly poignant, and when I looked back into Claude more i found more and more reference to his interest in history and learning the truth.

I didn’t go into details with Silver Snow in this essay because... well, it doesn’t have a Lord. It shares half of its route with Edelgard, and half with Claude so it poses many of the same arguments, despite contradicting each other. You could consider Seteth to be a pseudo-lord as a replacement, but It’s my personal belief that the themes and motivations posed by that choice aren’t strong enough to provide a story truly distinct from either Verdant Wind or Crimson Flower. One might argue that Seteth stands for “Upholding Tradition” rather than Claude’s revising it, but I don’t think there’s enough evidence. It’s just as likely that Silver Snow has little message, or simply stands as an isolate rejection to Edelgard’s choices. It’s something to explore another time, but I think the bonds between the three lords are what is most important.

So hopefully this gives some juicy fodder for further consideration, and more discussion to last for time to come! Thanks for reading! 

-vanquishedValiant

[kingjinxii]

Mental Illness and FE: Three Houses

Warning: Early-Game Blue Lions Spoilers

So I made a joke about Dimitri needing medication before but...there’s an actual sidequest in the game devoted to giving medication to student who have mental health issues. 

Obviously, being a medieval fantasy game, the world of FE:3H doesn’t have pills or say “this student has Major Depressive Disorder/General Anxiety/ADHD”. Instead, medication is supplied through healing herbal remedies, and diagnoses are more vague, but can be inferred. 

There are two types of herbs you are given. “Calming Herbs” for “people who can’t help but make mistakes.” They will “help them being a little calmer and more careful.” And the other is “Fortifying Herbs” for “people who can’t overcome feelings of sadness.”

In my personal opinion, the descriptions sound like they help people who have ADHD and depression respectively.

ADHD is defined by “persistent inattention, hyperactivity, and sometimes impulsivity”. In a medieval fantasy story, they’d probably describe it as someone has trouble remaining calm and focusing on tasks at hand. 

Depression is easier to define, and FE:3H does it pretty well. A person with depression has trouble overcoming feelings of intense sadness and emptiness.

Medication is often used to help with this issues in real life, and it appears that that’s exactly what’s happening here.

While I’m on the Blue Lions route and I haven’t played any of the others, so I’m not sure if this optional side quest is int those routes, I think it’s fair to point out which characters these medications are for.

The “Calming Herbs” are for Annette, a plucky girl who is an aspiring magic-user. She’s known to be a little clumsy and maybe a little hyper. But she’s endearing and has her own important plotline.

The “Fortifying Herbs” I actually saw coming. One of the early missions in the Blue Lions route involves you beating back a rebellion in the North. A rebellion lead by the adoptive father of one of your students, Ashe.

He clearly was unhappy with the results of the siege, and couldn’t wrap his head around why it had to happen. His characterization during that chapter and the one after in which they find out his father was set up, is extremely well written, and definitely won Ashe a special place in my heart.

And officially, Ashe has depression.

FE:3H is filled with worldbuilding from the different characters, unnamed NPCs, and sidequests. But I never thought I’d actually see worldbuilding surround people with disabilities and mental illnesses and how they are treated.

Annette and Ashe aren’t defined by what they have. Annette’s still best friends with Mercedes and is a cheerful and outgoing friend. Ashe is still seen as kind and a bit dorky, but a good, valiant guy with strong morals. And they both have things they struggle with.

As someone who has both, it’s just heartwarming to see that people like me can officially see ourselves in video games, stated practically outright.

So thanks, FE:3H. I can’t wait to play more.

[melohax]

Honestly

Some people in the FE fandom say and write seriously ableist things when it comes to Dimitri.

I’ve said before that I’m all for freedom of expression in fiction and etc etc and I meant it but some of the trends I see regarding the treatment of Dimitri’s mental illness by people in the fandom do kinda disturb me, ngl.

I’m talking about how his mental illness often either gets sexualized and fetishized for smut or people talk like he needs to be put down for his own good like a rabid animal.

Like, I’ve read a surprising amount of people make the argument that killing him is for the best and/or justified cus he’s mentally unstable. The implications of statements like that are pretty fucking awful.

The fact that I’ve seen people who find him hot when “feral” also at the same time go all “he’s better off dead cus he’s a violent unstable man” is just... He gets to live only as long as his mental illness makes him hot? No. God, just no. I have no words for how much I hate that.

I srsly hope the people who say those things don’t actually feel that way towards real living mentally ill people cus jfc.

[sacredsymbol821]

Lets have a discussion about Blue Lions route. Specifically, my hot takes about it. This post is not going to be spoiler free, so be warned for spoilers under the break

THIS IS YOUR LAST SPOILER WARNING BEFORE THE BREAK

Okay lets get to it. I want to address the conception that this is the "typical FE route". While I see how people came to this conclusion, I don't believe that Azure Moon is a typical FE route, but the biggest subversion of it I've seen. Dimitri is not your protypical FE Lord, as we all know, but let’s not talk about him for now. It's how the narrative treats him that I'm interested in. Let’s fast forward to right when timeskip happens. In the 5 years Byleth's asleep, Faerghus gets taken over by Cornelia in a coup, Dimitri's uncle is murdered and he's blamed for the crime. This is one of the many consequences he suffers during the game, but I feel this is the most important to point out because Cornelia cannot kill the acting Regent and blame it on him if he's acting, well, not consumed by vengeance. Then, he escapes, Dedue "dies" protecting him, and he's on the run for years, fighting and killing for survival. It's a hard knock life for him, definitely, and thinking that your friends abandoned you when they think you're dead doesn't help matters. He spends the next 5 years killing, slaughtering, and doing what he has to do to survive, the whole time falling deeper and deeper into despair because of his survivor's doubt and trauma. He seems like he's lost, and he is, but yet he shows up to the monastery 5 years later anyway.

I will admit this didn't make much sense for him at this point at first, and his actions don't exactly betray he wants to be saved. When being healed, he says "A wasted effort" because he thinks so little of what he's been forced to do to others. But, he shows up anyway, despite his dark outlook. The only reason for this needs to be because there is a little part of him that believes he can be saved and that Byleth is still alive. Now, other lords have had this dark moment where they question everything, sure, but it’s usually solved in one to two chapters and then they're fine.

This isn’t the case with Dimitri. He ostracized himself, choosing to spend all his time in the Cathedral and not interacting with ANYONE. You can't even grow his relationships with anyone at this time, a brilliant choice of a gameplay mechanic in my opinion. He doesn't even show up to training/ planning meetings, and this is illustrated beautifully because there are two seats open next to Byleth during this time: the left seat on the corner of the table two seats from Byleth, reserved for the retainer of the group (like Hilda on GD, and Hubert on CF) and the right seat on the corner of the table two seats from Byleth, where the lord of the route sits (Claude on GD, Edelgard on CF) since Dedue is “dead” during this time. I don’t know if it’s because of playing Golden Deer route first, or because I’ve played so much Fire Emblem prior too, but having my main lord missing from very important meetings made that spot on my and Byleth’s right feel like a void. I felt naked, vulnerable, and just not right because that hadn’t happened. Byleth is leading an army basically by themself this time, and I felt every moment of this, especially dealing with Dimitri’s antics. One scene that really stands out in my mind is the scene right before Myrddin Bridge, where Dimitri accuses Byleth of being the same as him because of his desire for revenge. You can agree or disagree depending on your choices, but that scene is so poignant because it shows just how far off his path he should be, among the other things listed here. Other lords would have been sad for a minute over what they’re doing and called it a day.

Let me go back to Dedue for just a second here, because he’s another huge reason why I don’t believe Azure Moon is the classic FE route. Do you remember when I said he’s “dead”? He stays that way unless you do his paralogue in the pretimeskip phase. Then, and only then, does he return in chapter 16. No retainer has ever stayed dead, if I recall correctly. They are some of the only units in Fire Emblem that have plot armor, even if they’re defeated. 

Dimitri’s redemption is when the route finally starts to feel like a classic fe route to me, but I think everything else that happens before it makes Azure Moon a subversion of the classic FE model, and not a following of it. I do believe there are routes that follow this model, but I do not think Azure Moon is it. 

[megashadowdragon]

024sep said: the last sentence is the best way to summarize everything about his situation tbh.

jeritza-von-hrym said: Uh, Cyril doing such “because he wants to” is hardly a want and more of a fear that he’ll be discarded? He’s speaking of fears that people in extreme poverty or Give & Take relationships have where Cyril has expressed so much fear and anxiety of anyone finding out that he can’t read that he hides that. Moreover, Cyril displays so many trust issues that he’s rude to people.

jeritza-von-hrym said: Like? He’s a kid and omg - keeping a child alive with food, shelter, and clothing is literally the most basic “Congrats on keeping your child alive - now what are you doing to aid their social and emotional development?”

Cyril was just an indentured servant to gonerils all the stuff Cyril does for church was of his own choice rhea freed Cyril so edelgards talk about church having too much power amounts to them freeing a slave

Anonymous asked: Cyril was freed from slavery by rhea every one of his chores he chose to do

I'm not really sure what prompted these asks since I don't remember really talking about Cyril ever. I try not to go into this because it uhhh.... well there are just so many problems with how Cyril is written that it actively inflicts psychic damage on me to watch his supports. There's... a lot to unpack here. I guess we're opening many cans of worms on this day.

Regarding the church, Whether or not the church does good things and whether or not the church has too much power are two completely different issues. You can make your case for one or the other, but they are not the same topic! The fact that some people find value in what the church does is something that Edelgard even acknowledges in her supports with Manuela and attempts to reconcile with her plans. A story that does much more to grapple with the complexities of the church is Mercedes, who values what the church stands for even while admitting that it essentially sold her off for her crest. It's certainly not a black and white issue, but that doesn't mean there aren't major corrupting factors in the church's structure.

As I've said before, my problem with the church is its institutional power. Institutions can be oppressive even as they do good work. This is especially common for powerful religious organizations. As for Cyril himself... I find it really difficult to ascribe much consent to a traumatized former child soldier who is still literally a child at the start of the game and who repeatedly tells people that he has nowhere else to go. Cyril has been an orphan since he was five and served in the Almyran army when he was less than 12 and then was made a servant to the very people who killed his parents and was clearly not treated well by them, so yeah! Of course he likes his life better now! Of course he's grateful to the person who gave him a safer and more comfortable place. And that is legitimately a good thing that Rhea gave him a better life. And it is clear that Cyril himself chooses to go above and beyond in his duty to her out of his own sense of obligation rather than being forced to. That much is true. But he also takes Seteth aside and reminds him that he has nowhere else to go. Cyril works as hard as he does because he's afraid of losing his place. His laser focus on repaying his debt to Rhea is something that even Seteth himself flags as excessive. Because it's not normal or healthy to, for instance, take on other people's chores on top of his own, and refuse any and all help out of fear of no longer being seen as useful, and hide any struggles he has to complete his tasks out of fear of being perceived as inadequate. It is very clearly a trauma response from growing up with so much horror and instability. Cyril has had to spend his whole life surviving and he has not left that survival mode behind because he still doesn't feel safe enough to do so. Can Cyril really be considered free to make his own choices under these circumstances? A 14-year-old war orphan on the wrong side of the border who is desperate to remain in the good graces of the person responsible for his job, food, and lodging? The fact that losing his position would mean losing his home and the knowledge that an underaged Almyran isn't likely to find a position anywhere else in a hurry? And sure, being a servant isn't a terrible life. Somebody does need to clean the toilets no matter who is in charge, and as long as they are treated well and adequately compensated, there is nothing wrong with that. But what I always come back to is this:

Rhea runs a school and yet Cyril can't read.

[memorygp]

Shortlist of book suppliers in Upper Highway Kwazulu Natal

Shortlist of book suppliers in Upper Highway Kwazulu Natal

Shortlist of the most popular book suppliers for the Upper Highway area of Kwazulu Natal

  Berea, Durban Ikes Bookshop  031 303 9214   [maxbutton id=”13″ url=”http://ikesbooks.com/” ] 

Chatsworth  CUB BOOKS  Phone: 031 404 6644  [maxbutton id=”13″ url=”https://cubbook.wixsite.com/website” ] 

Hillcrest Bargain Books Phone: 031 765 2940   [maxbutton id=”13″ url=”https://www.bargainbooks.co.za/store…

[megashadowdragon]

[indigowallbreaker]

If you could only add FIVE supports to fe3h, which ones would they be? (Between characters that didn't get supports)

Boy it’s a good thing you stipulated “characters that didn’t get supports” because there is a laundry list of characters I think should have gotten A supports. But not counting those, here’s my list (not in any specific order):

Edelgard and Sylvain and/or Marianne-- I’m cheating lumping these together as one but anyway. Basically I want Edelgard to have conversations with the other Crest-hating students. Sylvain openly resents his Crest and Marianne considers hers a curse; Edelgard wants to destroy the current nobility/Crest system. Give them matching jackets.

Yuri and Ashe-- They obviously know each other??? The DLC characters honestly lack many supports but this was is so annoying. They have unique dialogue in the DLC! Right in chapter one! I know Hapi and Ashe have a support so why not these two?? 

Petra and Dedue-- Both from not-Fódlan. Both homesick and unable to go home (albeit for different reasons). I think there’s a lot of potential here. Plus Dedue and Hubert, both route-exclusive students, have such a small pool of supports. I think this is one friend Dedue could use. Petra would enjoy Dedue’s company; she still struggles with the language and he’s endlessly patient with people. 

Flayn and Annette-- I’ve talked before about Flayn needing more female supports (she has two counting Fyleth) and I think Annette would just be fun. Both are cheerful, young girls with lots in common. But Flayn is a young girl in appearance, with many years behind her. I’d love to see supports where like Annette talks about something and it reveals how old/from-another-time Flayn is.  

Byleth and Judith-- Judith isn’t a playable character, fine, whatever, but we get scenes with Rodrigue in the Blue Lions route. Like, mandatory plot-adjacent scenes. Could we not have those with Judith also. Or proper support scenes. L et mee t a l k to pretty lady plz 

[sessiznotafan]

Gıyaseddin Eb’ul Feth Ömer İbni İbrahim’el Hayyam veya Ömer Hayyam, Fars şair, filozof, matematikçi ve astronom. Hayyam Nişabur’ludur. Yaşadığı dönemin ünlü veziri Nizamül-Mülk ve Hasan Sabbah ile aynı medresede zamanın ünlü alimi Muvaffakeddin Abdüllatif ibn el Lübad’tan eğitim görmüş ve hayatı boyunca her ikisi ile de ilişkisini koparmamıştır. Bazı kaynaklar; Hasan Sabbah’ın Rey kentinden olduğu Nizamül-Mülk’ünde yaşca Ömer Hayyam ve Hasan Sabbah’tan büyük olduğunu ve buna dayanarak aynı medresede eğitim görmediklerini belirtmektedir.

Benim varlığım senin yaptığın bir nakış Ömer Hayyam

Bu kubbe altındaki bin bir belayı gör Ömer Hayyam

Canların canı dost, gel etme, dinle beni Ömer Hayyam

Dünyada olan biteni ben de görmedeyim Ömer Hayyam

Ey özünün sırlarına akıl ermeyen, Ömer Hayyam

Ezel avcısı bir yem koydu oltasına Ömer Hayyam

Gülün yüzünde çiy incisi nevruzun ne hos Ömer Hayyam

Gülün yüzünde çiy incisi nevruzun ne hos Ömer Hayyam

Kimileri laf dünyasında şişinip durmuş Ömer Hayyam

Kimileri laf dünyasında şişinip durmuş Ömer Hayyam

Olanların olacağı belliydi çoktan Ömer Hayyam

Vefasız dünya diye yakınıp durma Ömer Hayyam

Odunla Namaz Kılan Deli

Ömer Hayyam Sözleri Gıyaseddin Eb'ul Feth Ömer İbni İbrahim'el Hayyam veya Ömer Hayyam, Fars şair, filozof, matematikçi ve astronom. Hayyam Nişabur'ludur.

[kingjinxii]

Cursed FE3H Things That Make More Sense The More I Think About Them

Ashe would be a COD/military shooter fan

[malatyasonsoz]

Türk Bayrağı'nı PKK'lılara Vermeyen Kahraman Kadın Konuştu

Türk Bayrağı’nı PKK’lılara Vermeyen Kahraman Kadın Konuştu

Cumhurbaşkanı Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’ın İngiltere ziyareti sırasında terör örgütü PKK’nın saldırısına uğrayan Fethiye Kubal IHA’ya açıklamalarda bulundu. Yaşanan olayın şokunu üzerinde hisseden Kubal, Cumhurbaşkanı Erdoğan’dan gelen telefonun ardından kendini daha iyi hissettiğini söyledi. Kubal PKK’lıların saldırı anını şöyle anlattı:

“Kötü şeyler tabii ki çok çok kötü. Biz Sayın Cumhurbaşkanımız…

[okunurnet-blog]

Büyük İskenderin Feth Edemediği Tek Yer: Termessos

Büyük İskenderin Feth Edemediği Tek Yer: Termessos

Büyük İskenderin Feth Edemediği Tek Yer: Termessos

Termessos Türkiye’nin en iyi korunmuş örenyerlerinin başında gelmektedir. Antalya’nın 30km kuzeybatısında yer alır. Kent Güllük Dağı tepesinde adeta doğal bir platform üzerine kurulmuş bu yüzden kente ulaşmak için büyük bir çaba sarf etmek gerekir.

Termessos

Bu bölgenin insanlarına Solymler denilmektedir. Solymler diğer antik kentlerdekinin…

[megashadowdragon]

The CF ending art has prominent "victory" symbolism like the palm branch, while Academy Edelgard's FEH weapon is called "Victorious Axe" and in her level 40 convo, she says: "With my allegiance to your cause, victory is a foregone conclusion."

Edelgard is the character who's actually the most consistent with what we see of what Sothis wants/wanted for humanity (in houses, at least). It's really interesting to think about. I'm not gonna do the full analysis or anything, others have already done that lol

[megashadowdragon]

on recruitment in three hopes

Unlike in Three Houses where you could recruit almost every other student except the opposite house leaders and their retainers to your house, Three Hopes has a lot more students who are locked to a specific route when they weren't previously this time around (Ferdinand and Caspar in Scarlet Blaze; Felix, Ingrid, Sylvain and Annette in Azure Gleam; Hilda in Golden Wildfire). This could be because unlike in Three Houses, everyone's stay at the Officer's Academy was cut short due to the political affairs of their respective nations and the school closing down, meaning they never had the chance to explore other possibilities outside their comfort zone, unlike in Three Houses where they spent the full year at the academy.

This also works in a different way - the characters in Three Hopes are recruitable during the war because their bonds with others are nowhere near as strong (and those whose bonds are established, are not recruitable). Meanwhile, in Three Houses, the only character who is recruitable during the war is Lysithea, and even then only because of her Commonality Connection with Edelgard.

Another aspect that is important is the time frame. In Three Houses, most of the students at the Officers Academy had some kind of idea of their future, and were studying there to prepare for it, or to at least look into a potential future. If they joined Byleth's class, the war starting completely changed their future and so they stuck to their Professor due to believing in them. In Three Hopes, the students are only at the Officers Academy for a few months before returning home, where many of them are suddenly thrust into important roles because of the turmoil caused by the altered timeline. So while in Three Houses they had time to make new plans, here they get none, and become better entrenched in their nation's system. Notice how a number of the characters you can recruit in almost every route are ones who aren't in super high-ranking positions (the Ashen Wolves, Petra, Ashe, and Ignatz to name a few), making it easier to defect to other sides. By contrast, characters like Ferdinand, Felix, and Hilda are effectively put into important roles that make them unlikely to defect.

The method of recruitment is also quite different from Three Houses, where most recruitment was done via a character asking to join Byleth out of admiration of them as a teacher and warrior, with no higher stakes at the time other than the house they belonged to. In Three Hopes almost all recruitment is more persuading the character to surrender and join the opposing side instead of dying for their faction during the war. For specific characters, some more specialized persuasion may be used, such as offering them special knowledge or opportunity to do something that matters to them personally (Hapi getting revenge on "those who slither in the dark" and Lysithea finding a means to restore her life expectancy), or using an already recruited friend of theirs or knowledge of their family's wishes to convince them. That the recruited character stays loyal afterward no matter what is at least partly explained by most of them holding the view that changing sides once may be justified or explainable, but doing so twice would render them untrustworthy for life. Much as the story of Three Hopes leans further into Gray-and-Grey Morality, so too do the methods of recruiting. Many of the characters will express they don't know who is really right in the war, and ultimately decide to fight for whoever they think will end it more quickly while giving them the biggest chance to personally survive. The biggest irony in all of this is that Three Hopes uses classic recruitment methods, persuading an opposing unit to switch sides.

Also consider how many students of each nation actually defect. The Leicester Alliance, due to its fractured nature, sees all of the students outside of Hilda able to be recruited in the other routes, mainly due to self-preservation as they see that the Alliance is unable to fend off the invading countries, though Lysithea and Leonie will not join in Azure Gleam. The Adrestian Empire, as the country that declared war, sees Petra, Dorothea, Bernadetta, and Linhardt able to be recruited to either route, citing their disagreement with Edelgard's war. Finally, the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus, due to how close each student was to begin with, only sees Ashe, due to his loyalty to Lonato, defecting to either side, and Mercedes, who will join her brother Jeritza in the Imperial Army.

This could also be because unlike Byleth who joined the Officer's Academy as a Professor; Shez joins the Officer's Academy as a student alongside them meaning that Shez lacked the status and renown that Byleth had that would inspire a student to switch houses. This also works on a personal level too: Shez's supports with the students only start during the war phase as opposed to Byleth's which started during the school year itself.

plus the kingdom of faerghus  culture values loyalty which would be instilled in to felix and ingrid etc unless broken ( them being able to defect doesnt mean they are less loyal or caring to edelgard  edelgard permitted it 

The fact that some Adrestians are able to surrender isn’t a sign of disloyalty to Edelgard just as the Faerghans mostly being unwilling to surrender isn’t a sign of their rock-solid loyalty; it’s a sign that the Adrestians value their lives and have an Emperor who values theirs, while the Faerghans grew up in a culture that values death in service.

Edelgard actually permitted Petra to surrender if the worst should come to pass. Edelgard chose her bond with Petra over her duty as Emperor here

when she’s defected? She doesn’t want to fight the Empire

raxistaicho . tumblr . com/post/689798004439384064