#fire emblem community

[skelezomperman]

Random thoughts the second - On Hostility in the FE Community, Part 1

This past weekend, more or less, marked a year since an incident that took place here on Tumblr regarding the Fire Emblem: Three Houses community. Specifically, it involved an artist being run out of the fandom due to harassment. Even as a relatively uninvolved person, this incident has stuck in my mind for the past year as perhaps one of the most egregious things to come out of the four years of discourse over this game. If you, my audience of two or three, will indulge me, I have a few rambles - so much in fact that I have to split into two parts. The first part will focus on 3H specifically, and the second will be on the broader FE community.

As I was saying, about a year ago – towards the end of September 2022 – there was an incident which took place on Tumblr. This incident involved a fanartist for Three Houses who was a fan of the Blue Lions. They were rather obscure, or at least obscure enough to where I had never heard of them before this. The artist deleted their social media after allegedly experiencing harassment from Edelgard fans which was allegedly over a comment over Sitri. Afterwards, their Tumblr URL was hijacked by someone else and used to reblog a rant from a prominent Edelgard fan. In that post, the person denied responsibility but they said that the artist “got what they deserved” and that they “fucked around and found out.” While the posts in question have been deleted, I do have screenshots of this happening in case anyone wants to examine what was actually said rather than taking my description as fact.

Generally, this person and their followers have been held responsible for what happened to this fanartist, and this story has been passed around as fact to this day. I was personally angered when I heard of what happened, especially because of the brazen URL stealing, the lack of shame regarding what happened to this person, and how irrelevant they were in the grand scheme of things. (It's one thing if this happens to someone who compared Edelgard to Putin or called Dimitri a racist or something like that - as poor of an excuse it is to point to that, it's at least an excuse. This was beyond the pale.) It pains me to admit that I allowed anger to get the better of me, and I apologize that I did so.

Since then, there’s been an interesting allegation. 

I’ve seen that when this story has been brought up, other peoplehave claimed that the artist was harassed off the Internet by “their own fans” and that members of the…we’ll say “anti-Edelgard” group had framed Edelgard fans as being responsible.

Sadly, I cannot immediately disbelieve this allegation. Some of the reaction to this incident was quite exaggerated, especially with the attempt to drag Edelgard's VA (Cristina Vee Tara Platt) into this drama and with the digging up of years-old Discord posts. While I won't elaborate, I also have reason to believe that the anti-Edelgard crowd also has a complicated relationship with the truth. It may be simplest to believe that it is the Edelgard fans who are lying and that whoever stole the URL sympathized with them or collaborated with them, but as things stand, it's a he said-she said situation. I am not God and I don't know for sure what the harassment entailed or who stole the URL, so I cannot make an impartial judgment.

(As an aside, while I'm not interested in debating this incident publicly, my conscience does weigh on me for having possibly spread calumnies in the past. If anyone per chance has evidence that there really was a conspiracy to frame Edelgard fans as responsible for harassment, I ask that this evidence be emailed to skelezomperman@gmail.com. If you convince me that there really was a conspiracy, I will publicly apologize. If you send evidence but it doesn’t convince me, I won’t say anything in public, so don't feel afraid to reach out.)

So this is where things stand, one year after moonlitboar was run off Tumblr. It would be one thing if this quietly faded into the background, but to this day I still see people spread this story (probably because nothing happened with any of the people involved, as far as I know) and to this day I see people play the blame game over this. To me, the fact that this incident happened and that it continues to linger is symbolic of the fact that an entire section of our fandom has been turned into a wasteland where people are fearful to speak their mind. It was egregious, but certainly not the only incident. And I do not mean to be an "enlightened centrist," but this kind of thing certainly does not exclusively happen to BL fans and it is not exclusively perpetrated by Edelgard fans. Many different people from many different cliques are responsible for this petty conflict and I would say that it has left a negative impact across the broader FE community. At the very least, I hope we can all agree that this shouldn't have happened and this person did not deserve this, regardless of what they actually said. I freely admit that I am naïve, but I hope that one day this will be resolved - that not only will the actual truth be known, but that all those responsible will apologize and turn a new leaf.

I will address this last part to everyone who continues to be involved in debates over FE3H, whether it is here on Tumblr or elsewhere. I recognize that with some of you, I have lost credibility due to past actions, but I hope you will still listen. When we are at the point where there are accusations of conspiracies being lobbed between cliques, there is something wrong. Some people may be more to blame than others, but I do not believe anyone who continues to be involved can truly claim to be innocent. I recommend that you do an examination of conscience: in other words, to review if your activities to fandom are truly bettering yourself and others or if they are detrimental. Those who are fanning the flames of conflict are quite possibly hurting themselves more than other people! I will get more into this in the second half of the post, but please, I really recommend stepping back and taking a long look at what exactly you are bringing to our community.

If you are spending inordinate amount of times getting into arguments with other people about 3H, or if you see yourself as part of some kind of war, or if you are looking down on other people, or if you see yourself as a martyr, you should take a step back and consider if you actually being a positive influence or if you are part of the problem. Yes, some people do say really stupid, mind-blowingly dumb things, and I understand the temptation to rebut it - I feel it a lot. But it’s worth remembering that sometimes it’s best to just leave them alone and lay off. Lack of discretion is a big reason why many people have been made to feel unsafe in a community discussing a game that they love. Let me say this again: this entire conflict has made people feel unsafe to discuss a game that they love. Putting everything else aside, this alone should be enough to make anyone in this community feel ashamed. It is very regrettable and we should all review to see if we have contributed to that and what we can change to prevent that in the future. This includes being a bystander - if you see stuff like this happening, even if it's from someone you consider a friend, do not be afraid to step in and say something! Your small, humble action could make a huge difference for other people.

To those of you who have made it to the end...congratulations? You are probably asking: how is this thing that involves a few dozen people at most relevant to the broader FE community? Tomorrow or Friday, I will post the second half of this ramble in which I address hostility across the entire spectrum of intensity, from a simple backhanded comment to outright harassment like this. From there, we can perhaps truly discover what it means to be a welcoming community and better ourselves and each other.

Edit: The second part is finished! Go take a look. It's much more positive and uplifting than this post, a reflection more about how everyone can help solve the problem of hostility.

[creativesplat]

So: fire emblem community! I have a question (also this is assuming you like the art-style or writing or whatever it is being posted)

Please reblog for sample size!

Headcanons could include the height or weight of a character and therefore how they're drawn, or their favourite style of clothing, friendships they've made etc. so to random examples:

eg. M!Byleth is very tall, slim, and wears dark academia clothing and is good friends with M!Robin and Sumia

eg. F!Alear is married and has a dog, M!Alear is a cat person and both are good friends with Dimitri

[baconplasm]

(hands them over)

[flagwars]

Video Game Flag Wars: Finals

[latinosoles]

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE COMM TAMMAA @lovelymessybubbly

This is the first Act of a three parter Edeleth tk comic Tamma is working with me on. You can check out the following link to see all the pages, since it has nsfw hehehe.

Act 2 will have Edelgard get her karma >:3

[crimsonkingg22]

here it is! the comic that's been keeping me busy ;3

this was My first comic commission.. i'm very proud to Say that the client loved it (⁠｡⁠ﾉ⁠ω⁠＼⁠｡⁠)

i have another commission to do now but i'll try to post more about jjba soon! <⁠(⁠￣⁠︶⁠￣⁠)⁠>

renember you can ask for commissions on private chat! i do almost everything, if i can draw it i Will do it

byebyeee!!!

[squeaky-potat]

Happy Pride Month! 🏳️‍🌈

feat. Edelgard, Dimitri, and Claude

[whumpusgumpus]

Give Dimitri one sneeze for every time Felix calls him a boar

Sorry this one’s messy was mad tired drawinv it last night but had to feed y’all

[milkahia]

Fire Emblem Rally for Gaza | Collections of illustrations

Ullr – Genealogy of the Holy War

Seliph and Larcei – Genealogy of the Holy War

Azura – Fates

Robin – Awakening

[dpsisquared]

Dimileth community update!!

Awesome news! Tumblr has finally allowed invite links for communities, so you can join the Dimileth community without having me add you manually!

[skelezomperman]

Some random Thoughts the first

Here's some random thoughts about Fire Emblem that I'll post here since the Opinions Thread on Reddit is a bit late. Negative first, then positive.

Firstly, I've said this before but I think that the biggest casualty of incest being discussed in Fire Emblem is that it means that people cannot treat a brother and sister being affectionate to each other normally. Every time they do so much as share an embrace, you are sure to see someone claim that there is some kind of romantic undertone. I really, really just hate this. Can we just...not?

Secondly, there's a pattern I've noticed, a sort of temptation to get addicted to looking at other people's bad takes. It is certainly not hard to find people saying things that objectively make no sense, not especially on social media sites like Tumblr, Reddit, or Twitter/X. Sometimes it is so funny that you have to say something to someone else. But at the same time, it's easy to fall into this addiction to looking at bad takes. To make it a full-blown habit of spending so much time at looking at terrible things said on the Internet is extremely unhealthy! I am not saying this to laugh or to proclaim myself as better, because I too am guilty of gossip. But we are called to greater things than circlejerking off other people's faults.

---

We are honestly blessed to have so much talent in our community. Obviously, there's artists, but we also have talented writers, talented cosplayers, talented translators, talented analyzers. I see it when I see the subreddit, I see it on Twitter, I see it on Tumblr, I see it on Discord. My talent is nowhere near the talent that other people have. I can't draw, I can't really speak Japanese, and my creative skills amount to some middling writings. So to everyone who has this talent, I thank you for all you've done, and if you want to use your talents to enrich the community, I say go for it! I support you.

Have I mentioned before that I like Ivy from Fire Emblem: Engage? I will spare you the details of my months-long angsting with the fact that I like her. I've said repeatedly before that I would not die on a hill defending that character, but for once I'll say that I appreciate her. I appreciate that she isn't one-dimensional (contrary to popular belief, ghosts are not mentioned in every support she has). She's adept at maneuvering around many different people, whether it's with Alcryst who clearly still has bad feelings about what happened in Chapter 10, with her sister whom she wants to support despite the enmity between their mothers, or with someone like Mauvier who is in a similar situation to her. Yes, the worldbuilding in Elusia rings hollow just as it does throughout the game, but I still felt that she was fine with regards to fitting into the plot, perhaps more-so than any of the other royals in the game.

(In general, I think my enjoyment of Engage increases when I turn away from looking at posts where people say they dislike it. Then I feel less bad about liking Engage even if it went against a lot of what I was wanting out of future Fire Emblems.)

One last thing is that I want to just say that I like how many little things there are to discover about FE4. I'm in the process of building a group of docs comparing the various translations of FE4. It's been three years since I went through the work of putting together a script for Project Naga, and I'm still finding lines that I never knew existed. Who knew that there's actually a line for if you seized Lubeck (first castle in Chapter 5) with Byron somehow still being alive? Or that Ishtore's boss dialogue changes if you fight him before killing Liza? So many little details to appreciate from this game even if it does show its age.

[rosieaurora]

hand kissing is a totally valid love language

[atomeequark]

🤔 I had an impulse to make this and.

Byleth mod credit: histy

[earnono]

ディミレト/m!dimileth

modern

[awkwardgtace]

Almost Stranded

Another prompt for @gtgotcha4gaza this time an anonymous donor! Donations are still open until June 30th 2024!

Rare occasion of fanfic. We got fire emblem with Saber and Celica, hope I did the prompt justice!

Saber goes inland to look for people and resources after a shipwreck. He returns with something very different.

Almost Stranded

Saber had only signed up to help the lass and her group cross the sea. Not to wind up on some island with no way off. The ship was damaged, enough they couldn’t just find a way to put it back in the water and move on. The hole from the rocks near this island would just make them sink. They needed to repair it. Which meant they’d need food and water.

“Lass,” Saber said. Celica turned to him, she wasn’t panicked like the others. “I’ll head inland, see if I can’t find some help. The rest of you start setting up a camp for us. Can’t run the risk on the boat if a storm rolls in.”

“Saber, wouldn’t it be best if we all sought out help or a solution?” she asked. He sighed, they’d merely slow him down. He knew places like this. 

“That will be later, lass, for now I’ll go see what I can find. I’ll move faster on my own.” Saber turned to walk away, pausing a few steps away. “Besides, we’ll need to be able to rest after the pirates we already fought. If we all tire ourselves out we’re ripe for an ambush.”

“That is a good point, be cautious Saber.”

“I will be lass.”

Saber walked straight into the brush. There would be something to find inland. At least clean water. This wasn’t what he’d expected the pirates to do. The choice to strand them wasn’t unheard of, but he thought they’d rather see him dead. It was all too likely they’d show up once supplies had run low. A fight he didn’t want to see.

He let out a heavy sigh as he kept walking. Deeper into trees that felt out of place. Not the right kind to be near the water. Too tall for the island too. Wrong. If he let the others out here they’d likely get lost. He’d stay close to the lass, make sure he got his payday once they reached Valentia. That golden dagger had to be worth it after all this.

Trees kept getting taller. Saber huffed as he started to find vines he could barely step over. He’d never seen plants like this. He didn’t want to risk his life out here in a mess. Just before he turned back he heard a sound. A kind of screech that almost reminded him of metal being sharpened. That wasn’t something to ignore.

Saber found a path between the massive plants. It almost seemed to clear out for him. Saber grumbled a few curses under his breath. The screech grew louder, he prepared for a fight. Sword drawn he walked and walked until leaves bigger than he was tall blocked his view.

With a deep breath, Saber pushed through the leaves. The sight before him made him freeze. What looked almost like a desecrated place of worship for Mila sat before him. Statues broken, pieces turned to dust. Vines, trees, weeds, undergrowth of all kinds grew over the marble. If he didn’t know better he’d assume they’d arrived at Mila’s temple a few thousand years late.

“What do I tell the others?” he whispered. “The lass won’t be happy to see this.”

The screech of a sword sharpening died down. Saber took the silence to inch forward. Investigate the ruins that appeared to grow as he walked. Statues bigger than he’d seen made by the most skilled artisans. Roots and vines that were thick enough to reach his waist. He tried to cut a vine next to him; his sword barely scratched it.

In an attempt to find the source of the sound he no longer heard, Saber kept moving. The place almost seemed to get bigger. The statue of a hand sat on the ground, partly disintegrated, but still bigger than him. Bigger than anything he wanted to picture. That didn’t deter him. Someone who might be after him or the others could be here. He was going to damn well earn that payday.

A swish that reminded him of an arrow shot from a bow came from a large cavern. Part of him considered retreating. If he left he could warn the others. Prepare for battle when they’d have a bunker prepared. That didn’t sit well when he hadn’t seen the enemy. It could lead them all to death when a minor army marched on them. He wasn’t dying on some forgotten rock in the middle of the ocean.

Saber entered the impossibly large cavern. Almost missed the rubble that looked eerily like a door. The sound of arrows flying didn’t stop. In fact it increased. As though a battle raged inside, one he’d witness at least. 

“Remember,” he whispered as he stepped through the darkness, “you were paid to protect them. Can’t earn your pay when you turn tail at the first sign of trouble.”

That reassurance spurred him on. Step by step into a darkness that left him on edge. A green light began to coat the hall he was in. Another part of this place that reminded him of Mila. Maybe some long forgotten blessing could get them out of this mess. Back to the mainland where he could get his pay and move on.

Either way the sound of arrows grew louder. It was joined by the swish of swords. Quickly met with the clang of metal clashing. Saber slowed his pace. Moved beside the wall, stuck to the shadows. Prepared to escape.

The green light grew brighter. The noise louder. He swore there were voices echoing in front of him. Yet the source was found and the room empty.

Saber found a room so big he couldn’t even see the other side. The ceiling above him was merely darkness. In the center sat a glowing green light. One that felt inviting. Against his better judgment, he walked forward. 

The sound of battle surrounded him again. An all too familiar sound. Saber could picture his last major battle. Before the duel, before he ran. It pushed him forward. Towards the glowing in the center. A promise to fix it. To change it. To become what he needed. To protect those under his care.

Before he knew it, Saber stood in the green glow. Inside was a gem. A brilliant emerald. Shaped like the mark the lass had on her palm. This place was too dangerous to bring her. Even with her allies. He reached out to it. The gem looked gigantic next to his hand. Impossible to hold, yet it was easy to grab. Almost… small after the fact.

The light died. The noise gone. Saber moved to leave. His body felt strange, light and heavy all at once. The room felt smaller than when he’d first entered. All of it had to be a trick. The light of Mila’s artifact merely made it feel huge. Even the presence of the artifact itself could be it. Gods were powerful, she could make that happen… probably.

The entrance hall through the cavern felt shorter. The dilapidated statues looked  more as he expected. The vines up to his waist made it just over his ankles. Strange, but clearly the work of the magic he held. Once he brought the gem back there’d be an explanation.

Saber kept repeating that thought as he walked. As the impossibly tall trees felt more normal. As they started to feel small. As the ones he had recognized in the beginning only reached his knees. The island had greenery because of Mila’s power. The gem was the source. He’d taken it, but someone would know the best option. The lass was a priestess after all.

His denial ended at the beach. When the boat looked small enough he could hold it in one hand. As prepared as he usually was, the surprise made him stumble back. Which brought out screams from where he now saw the tents he’d told the group to set up. Too small… or was he too big?

“Stay calm everyone!” the lass called. Her voice was still easy to hear at least. Saber crouched down, arms on his knees as he tried to get a look at them. The red hair stood out to him first. The others were more of a blur. “Saber?! Is that you?”

“Lass, I don’t suppose you’ve heard of any strange artifacts Mila left behind,” he said. While squinting, he could see the arms move to cover small ears. How the books held in Boey and Mae’s hands shook. The staff Genny held painfully close. All prepared for a fight, one against him that he knew they couldn’t win. They knew it too.

“Saber, I couldn’t quite understand you.”

Still polite. Collected. He didn’t have to see her clearly to know she was likely more terrified than the others. Saber held his hand in front of his face. In the center of his palm he could see the gem. The one that he thought was a remnant of Mila’s strength. That changed him, not the world. Maybe did change the world until he took it for himself.

As carefully as possible he set his hand down. Tensed at the way all his charges stumbled. He was still on the job. Paid to protect this group. Whatever did this to him wasn’t going to change that. Although that gold dagger wouldn’t do much when he was too big to even see it clearly.

“Lass, I found this inland. Do you recognize it?” he whispered this time. The weapons stayed ready, but the lass didn’t let that stop her. She approached him, too collected. The small shake of his head was too obvious, but he couldn’t hold it back. That made her pause.

“I… can’t see it from here, Saber,” she said. A simple nod from him. 

He tilted his hand towards himself. There wasn’t a chance he’d risk hitting the lass. The gem didn’t move. Saber lifted his hand off the sand. Shook it a bit in the air, but the gem stayed. He used his other hand to pry it off, but couldn’t get a grip. Reached for his sword only to realize two things. He didn’t remember sheathing it and if it was there it was too small to be of use.

“I can’t get it off, lass,” he said.

Silence. Unending silence. Until suddenly, “Then you’ll need to put me in your hand.”

“Lass, what are you thinking?” 

“I can’t see it on the ground and if it’s something from Mila I might be able to help. I can’t leave you like this.”

Saber thought about it for a bit. He could try grabbing her. The idea of her small body held between two fingers. Dropped on his palm that made her look as big as a bug. A part of him was confident he could do it safely. A part he’d ignored for too long wasn’t willing to risk it. So he took another route.

Saber reached over her to the boat. Lifted it out of the water with ease. Set it down next to her, or rather close to her. Then placed his hand down beside it. This was safer, no need for him to pinch her to get her on his palm. To risk a bad estimate of his own strength and killing the one he’d been hired to guard.

“Climb on by using the boat. It’s safer, lass,” he said. The others looked almost calmer when he said that. Maybe trusted he hadn’t lost himself to the sudden change in his size. At least this way… “Wait… Lass we should look at this later.”

Celica had already started to climb up the ladder to the deck when he spoke. The way the rope ladder acted like his voice was a storm wind bothered him. At the same time, his task was easy. Like this he couldn’t fail to protect his charges. The faint promise of the green light echoed in his head. He couldn’t fail.

“What do you mean?” she cried out once the ladder stopped. Saber used his other hand to put a finger under her. Lift her up and onto the deck. She weighed nothing against his finger. Nothing could fight him. He could defeat the gods like this… That might be pushing it.

“Lass, there’s no way off this island. You were in a rush. I can get us to the mainland,” he mumbled.

“What if you need something from here to get back to normal?”

“We’ll add that to what you owe me for the protection.”

“Saber, are you sure? We could repair the boat.”

“If you want to spend the time here we can lass. I thought you had some mission to see through.”

He could feel her stare from the deck. A glare that burned him. She was feisty. Strong, determined. He didn’t mind working for someone like this. Maybe he’d stick around after the job was done. Especially if they got him back to normal.

“Boey, Mae, Genny, climb on the boat.” Celica called. “Saber’s right, we can’t wait for rescue here.”

Saber smirked. The other three kept wary gazes on him. They’d get where they needed to go. Maybe not to a port town, but near enough. Although it wouldn’t be easy to hide himself from people on the coast even avoiding cities. That was a problem for later. Might even get the pirates off his back.

The three were slow going. The finger closest to the ladder twitched. Quiet screams came from the three. Clearly he couldn’t lift them as he did the lass. Rather he could, but he didn’t want to see how a mage’s spell would react to him right now. If they were unlucky it could bounce back and hurt the one who cast it. 

As soon as they were on the ship, Saber stood up again. Like this he couldn’t imagine being the size of the others. The ship fit in a single hand, hearing and seeing them didn’t even make sense. The magic that changed him had to be the cause. 

A quick stretch for his back before bending over to grab the ship. All four of his charges watched him. The idea of this seemed like a strange dream. He’d wake up to the lass telling him to get to the deck. Watch for pirates. Question himself how he’d fallen asleep in the first place.

That wasn’t the truth. Cemented by the prick on his skin of the splintered wood of the ship. Saber placed the part with the hole on his palm. Over the gem that had gotten stuck to his skin. His other hand wrapped around to keep the three safe from water and air. He brought the ship up to his chest. Near his heart where he could make sure they were safe from the water.

“Lass, I put the hole over the gem. Feel free to take a look, but I wouldn’t try anything until I tell you we reached land,” he breathed. This close he tried to keep his voice as quiet as possible, worried it could hurt the others.

“I’ll take a look,” she yelled. It made him smile. The lass showed no fear.

Saber wasted no time in starting his trip. His steps small and slow. Until the waves were under his feet. He’d never considered the depths of the ocean. His guess was he could walk them to safety, but there was no guarantee. He could try holding the others and swimming. Abandoning the boat completely.

Those thoughts didn’t matter as he waded into the water. It stopped rising just above his waist. He barely repressed the shiver that sent down his spine. His eyes widened when he felt a tickling sensation on his hand. Near the hole in the boat.

Saber focused on his steps, not the tickling. He knew it was the lass, her friends too probably. It was lucky he knew these waters. Knew the dock they needed. Steady focused steps. Every other step he tested the area ahead, making sure he wasn’t about to drop into the sea. He begged for the tickling on his hand to stop. He wanted to curl his fingers in to stop it.

It wasn’t clear how long he’d been walking when the tickling stopped. It was more of a relief than he wanted to admit. A bigger relief was the sight of the coast he wanted. Valentia was in sight. The sun was low already. Saber decided it was best to wait for nightfall. The others would ask if they got concerned, but it wasn’t far off. Maybe an hour of standing in the water before he moved again.

Careful, soft steps to reach the mainland. Ones to avoid drawing too much attention. He paused near the coast. He had to find a cove, a place where he could sit to hide. They could deal with the rest later. A few sweeping glances found what he wanted. Saber took long, gentle strides to the area. Scanned for signs of people before resting his own back against a cliff.

A sigh left him. They made it. He just had to get his payday, which would hopefully include fixing his size. Carefully he lifted the ship. He planned to set it down next to him. He paused when he found the source of the tickling on his hand. All four of his charges sat near the gem. Papers and books spread all around.

Boey had fallen asleep hugging a book tightly. Genny and Mae hugged each other. Celica had fallen asleep on the gem. In a way that didn’t look comfortable. Saber gently put the ship down nearby. Hole on land, the rest in the sea. Then brought his free hand close

“Lass, that can’t be comfortable,” he whispered. All four stirred for a moment then returned to a blissful rest. He smiled to himself as he brought his finger up and gently pushed the lass off the gem. She curled up quickly. “We’ll deal with my payment tomorrow.”

Saber chuckled to himself. Held his hand with the four near his chest. Used his other to protect them from cool air. If he could at least get smaller maybe he’d hang around. The lass was reliable. Could use someone who saw through her collected nature. That was something for tomorrow.