#imo she looks too much like Byleth here

[pathetic-gamer]

saint cethleann says hellow and what the fuck is up broskies (that's her words, not mine)

i don't really know what's going on with any of this i just wanted to give her glowing eyes bc i think she deserves that after all she's been through

[nevermelting]

Fire Emblem Cindered Shadows Expansion - review

(Listen, I know I am like VERY late to the party but since FE3 is one of my most favorite games ever and I played the expansion just now, here's my IN DEPTH review.)

Overall impression: With Cindered Shadows, I received more than I bargained for. The whole new underground world (literally a new, explorable location) opens up for you with its special challenges of the disenfranchised people and underdogs. Unusual personalities dwell here with perspectives that were previously unexplored. The monastery and its internal politics just got a massive upgrade and you won't want to go back to how it was before.

The story: Cindered Shadows story opens up quite atmospherically, even though a bit clumsily in the way it ties in with the main lords' story. From the first moment you lay your eyes on Yuri and his team, you know immediately that you are in for something special. Does this feeling remain throughout the story and post-story FE3 main game integration though? That is a more complex question. In my opinion, while absolutely intriguing, Cindered Shadows story couldn't quite live up to the potential of greatness mostly because it promises a story of underdogs almost Victor Hugo style and throws it all away in a rather personal than social confrontation in the end. The villain is rather weak this time and isn't even a bad person per se. Personally, I am rather in favor of the Church but in this case, imo, the rebellion of Wolves would be more appropriate than Edelgard's rebellion (which is, you know, often the excuse for invading other countries). But Wolves are REALLY downtrodden, UNLIKE Edelgard herself and the story doesn't allow them to rebel. Had it been up to me, I'd rather have Yuri's Great French Revolution than Edelgard's....uh, let's just give it a rest this time actually. 'Descendants of Saints living in the slums' is an interesting concept for me as someone who likes the Saints though.

Characters: Characters are interesting but sometimes a bit confusing. When you first meet them, you get the impression of 'thick as thieves' close-knit gang. When you start getting bits of their conversation among themselves though, you start to see that they actually pretty much hate each other. Yuri in particular turned out to be a much more unsavory character for me, being so off-puttingly rude to most and main character too that it made me cringe. His self-absorbed persona of eyeshadow-wearing mafia boss is completely unrealistic, exasperating and irritating. Which is strange because I like his role as a leader in CS side story. (And I would like it even more if he was more about Rebellion and less about fucking around and eyeshadow and looking like an edgy Takarazuka Revue actress.)

Hapi is also sometimes irritating, but unlike him, in a completely realistic way. Her constant complaining, unrelated mentions of personal trauma in seemingly random situations and childish cynicism are all too familiar for everyone who dealt with Gen Z at any point in their life. I actually appreciate her as a character because it is the closest any media came to depicting a fantasy Gen Z girl - without any judgement, but you know, with all her quirks.

Byleth will be just minding their business when Hapi will appear out of nowhere with 'Gentle reminder that I don't trust you because you are with the church scum. I don't care if you saved me. Gentle reminder that the Church literally tortured me.' And the stories keep getting more and more colorful. You aren't half sure if it's true or simply exaggerated but the only thing you can say is 'Valid.' Hilarious. (Even if the stories are true , it is sad but the way she speaks of them is hilariously self-important.)

Constance seems to be like a running joke for most and she doesn't have many support conversations with people outside of the Wolves. She is sometimes a very annoying sadistic anime Princess but sometimes surprisingly human and then you feel bad for her. She is written in a very inconsistent way, perhaps as a villain or traitor originally. While I do agree that she is often bad, the game often treats her in an overly cruel way that isn't reserved for similar characters.

Balthus seems to be the only normal of the bunch and the one I like the most. However, even he isn't free from inconsistent writing. I often feel like with Ashen Wolves, the authors attempted to add edginess without knowing where to add it and managed to create hostility instead. Again, it's not that bad actually. But maybe it's related to the way the existence of Abyss is never really resolved.

Gameplay: Cindered Shadows add a lot of tough missions in both side story and main story where enemies exploit a tactic of reinforcements in a major way. Sometimes you wonder if those waves of enemies can even stop. On the other hand, after playing them the primary game may feel too easy on lower difficulties. Overall, the the difficulty isn't too bad and is mostly fair.

[randomnameless]

I had this thought regarding what you said about Edelgard's relationship to strength, and how it applies to Rhea. Edelgard views Byleth as strong and for that reason seeks to sway them to her side. But at the end of WC, Rhea swats Byleth away leaving them presumed dead. Rhea also escapes despite Edelgard's partnership with TWSITD. With this in mind, Edelgard wanting to destroy Rhea in CF makes sense. She knows Rhea is strong, perhaps seeing her as too strong to allow to live unlike in Hopes (where Rhea doesn't transform and instead flees) or the other routes in Houses (where Rhea is captured. Therefore, Edelgard wanting Rhea dead in CF may be because of Byleth.

This also works with her decision to go Hegemon. Dimitri crushed TWSITD by complete accident, people whose strength Edelgard thought she needed. Dimitri has made himself out to be someone strong, hence Edelgard resorting to desperate measures to fight him while at the same time making him the priority target.

Even her comment about feeling weak facing Byleth, it's not meant to be romantic. It's her feeling Byleth is stronger than her, making her feel like the inferior. Byleth can only be with Edelgard if they lose their powers, if they become weak which is very, very fucked up.

She doesn't respect Claude enough to view him as a threat, yet this would crate implications for SB's ending. Claude is strengthening the Alliance, Claude is gaining strength. Edelgard wouldn't like that, because it means he could potentially challenge her. Chances are, once the Kingdom is finished they turn on each other.

Pretty much,

After Supreme Bullshit - where she didn't lose anyone in the war, and won with a spectacular clean sheet - Rhea and Thales are "dead"! - Claude baring his fingers, or even existing, is a joke.

Isn't SB the only route where Claude can die? Supreme Leader will erase him if he becomes a nuisance, and if he wants to strengthen the Alliance/Federation/not bow his head to Adrestia anymore, she'll take it as defiance, and flatten it.

And I don't see the Kingdom rushing to his aid - after all he betrayed everything to side with her - so yep, post GW or post SB, Claude is fucked.

About the strength argument...

Rhea is a subhuman, thus has to die, but also, bar being a subhuman, she is also "strong" and someone who can potentially oppose her, or someone Supreme Leader can't rule over.

She cannot be Rhea's superior, and refuses to consider anyone else as her equal (only Billy is, and you guessed it, Billy humbles themselves to her "level", but we know they actually become her inferior).

In Hopes, iirc she has a line where she wants to make GM Rhea's tomb, so despite her PR here and there to look good compared to Claude and whoever else, Rhea's still on her death wishlist - not because she can become a pair of shiny daggers - but because she is a subhuman and an obstacle to her main goal : ruling over Fodlan.

In the paths where Rhea is captured, Supreme Leader only keeps her alive as an insurance against Uncle'n'pals - if she could she would erase her, like the remaining nabateans who cannot "rule over teh people" because they are nabateans - but she needs Uncle's help against whoever is preventing her from totally conquering Faerghus (Rodrigue'n'co?), part of the Alliance, the remnants of the Church and later on, Billy + the side they choose.

What she thinks of Billy though is fascinating - and imo factors on their "undisturbed sleep" during 5 years.

Sure we can throw idiot plot balls everywhere - but you won't make me believe that Supreme Leader (+Uncle), who spent more than say, 3 years, devising a plan to overthrow Faerghus and inflitrate the Monastery didn't know where to look for Sothis's unconscious host + the strongest relic around.

But if Supreme Leader was disappointed in Billy, it'd be another story. Billy who was supposed to be super strong and the Goddess reborn is swatted away by Rhea - who's only a child of the goddess - or Uncle himself - Uncle who apparently needed her to fight against the goddess can actually get rid of her vessel by snapping his fingers?? - so then what, is Billy super strong, or just a dud, and actually useless?

It'd be a cold reading of her character, but when Billy revealed to be useless (or not the strongest alive), she stopped caring about their potential abilities as a unit, let them be an ally, or an enemy. Rhea and Uncle are still more dangerous.

Which would be fit with her "facing you i grow weak uwu", she was mistaken on Billy's abilities - they are actually strong, and in SS/VW, stronger than her.

But I wouldn't erase the "uwu in luf with u" factor, because that's one of the most "human" points about Supreme Leader - she loves Billy, but does she love them as their own person, as a super strong unit who can support and help her, or as a cruel joke, because they're the goddess's vessel and she hates the goddess?

(idk if you know the katanagatari anime, but you have a similar white haired girl who uses a person - who thought he was a sword - and at the end of the anime, while she confesses she had been using him since day 1, she wonders, as she is dying, if she can now love him ? It made me think about Supreme Leader and Billy, what if she had been using them, later fell in love with them, but her goal was more important, and if she had to chose she'd always pick Billy's utility over her feelings for them?)

As for Dimitri, he not only crushed Uncle by parking his horse, but also got rid of Cornelia and managed to snag Faerghus, a land she was supposed to have control over!

Dimitri is "too strong" and she cannot rely on Uncle and his shinies anymore (tfw he didn't give her the password for getting Nemesis out of the freezer) so she uses Uncle's last present, and turns into Hegemon!gard.

[butchcraftwrites]

This is about the ask game, how about rhealeth and marihilda?

OH GOD YES HERE WE GOOOO

First off for Rhealeth: Need we ask? I am deep in rarepair ship hell for them.

What made you ship it? I played the game and I had EARS AND EYES. You know, when I first heard Rhea's EN voice, I was like "Oh, oh yes. I will go after that one." What I was NOT prepared for was all the internal conflict, mystery, and strife that emanated around the two of them. When Byleth woke up with her head on Rhea's lap, it was a huge reveal that Rhea was not who she seemed to be. And then when she morphed into a dragon like a month later, I had SO many questions. I couldn't wait to see her again so Byleth could just ASK her ANYTHING. But of course, Rhea wouldn't reveal anything until months later and I had Byleth stand in her room every month for an embarrassing amount of time just pining to see her again (and then standing outside her door yelling at Seteth when he decided to Gandalf me out of the room). What sealed the deal for me (as though it wasn't sealed already) was that when Rhea DID reveal to Byleth what her past indeed was, it was just so... circular? Rhea, though Byleth could not remember, was the first person she had ever met. And as someone who was obsessed with mythology as a child, the idea of an immortal being being directly involved in the existence of a human's life and then by chance they meet years later and fall in love???? It checks SO many boxes for me. Now they can be immortal and in love together forever byeeeee

What are your favorite things about the ship?: I feel like I already gushed about so many of them in the first paragraph. But I will say this: I love how Byleth is very quiet, but the words she does say are to the point and meaningful. And I love how Rhea, too, is quiet. She finds peace in the sounds that find their ways passing through her environment. I feel like Rhea listens to Byleth's silences as though they were words. I like how they can exist beside one another with few words, in comfortable silence, and find peace and contentment at each other's sides. I love how Rhea loves to feel worshiped and praised and yet she can become so small and shy if Byleth just looks at her in a certain way. And I love how Rhea, this nearly unchangeable 1,000 year old being, changes not FOR Byleth, but because of her, and becomes malleable yet again to the changes of time.

Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?: Rhea can be very, VERY unhealthy. Very unhealthy towards Byleth. I don't believe the person she was when Byleth returned to Garreg Mach was a healthy person for Byleth to be with, and I believe that there was a HUGE imbalance of power and knowledge that could have potentially created a very dangerous situation for Byleth, whether Rhea intended for it to be so or not (I don't believe Rhea had any conscious intention of doing anything outside of nurturing Byleth). In order for Rhea and Byleth to have a healthy relationship, imo, Rhea needs to do a lot of self work and reflection even outside of recognizing that Byleth is not Sothis, and that Sothis is Dead dead. Don't get me wrong, I love them DEARLY (clearly, they're like all that I think about) but I feel like I'd like it more if the FIVE of us that ship them could talk more about Rhea's flaws in their relationship because like there is so much plot potential thereeeeee.

Marianne/Hilda

AMAZINGLY ENOUGH: I do not ship it. Well, I do, but probably not in the way you imagine.

Why don’t you ship it?: Here is my main reason: I can not headcanon, under like any circumstance, that Hilda is ANYTHING other than Aroace. I think she is a noble girl who was spoiled rotten and grew up with an idealized picture of romance and turned it into a sort of game. She is GREAT at flirting, UNCHALLENGED when it comes to winning the eye of suitors, but literally no one ever does it for her. I don't think Hilda can love strongly in a romantic way, but I DO think she can love strongly in the way of friendship. I DO however ship them VERY HARD in the terms of a QPR. I want them to get married so that Hilda can steal Marianne away from her shitty step father. And I want them to be rich roommates and live unbothered together forever.

What would have made you like it?: If I could see Hilda as having any sexual or romantic inclinations like at ALL.

Despite not shipping it, do you have anything positive to say about it?: I LOVE them together SO MUCH. I only want them both to be in each other's lives for the rest of their lives literally all of my feelings about them are positive.

[anvils-of-history]

I really do think that there had to have been something else that made Jerry “terrified” of Rhea. Yes, a baby that doesn’t emote and doesn’t have a heartbeat is “weird”, but a man who is over 100 years old but looks far younger and was given a Crest instead of being born with one is also “weird”, a woman with a weak constitution, pointy ears, a flat affect herself (and possibly no heartbeat as well) is also “weird”, and a woman who can give Crests after healing someone is also “weird”. This is all stuff that Jerry does know/should know about Citrus and Rhea (there’s no way he missed Citrus’ pointy ears or possible zero heartbeat when they were “making” Byleth lol). 

Jerry had to have known that Rhea healing him is what gave him the Crest of Seiros and made his aging slow down, so he knows that Rhea is also a lot older than she looks as well. This doesn’t deter him from working with and being respected in the Church. This doesn’t deter him from marrying a Church member and having a child with her. This doesn’t deter him from letting Rhea be around Citrus during her pregnancy, and even being Citrus’ midwife. 

Fodlan is relatively advanced in the sciences, so they at least know the basics of genetics. Jerry only thinking that Babyleth is “weird” because Rhea did something is dumb because his first thought should’ve been that it’s because of him and Citrus. Even if he reaches the conclusion that Babyleth is “weird” because of Rhea, wouldn’t he think that she healed his child in a similar way to how she healed him when they first met? Nothing was stopping him from asking Rhea what happened during the pregnancy, especially when him “thinking the world of her” consisted of literally anytime before his wife died, so fear wasn’t stopping him. 

Did Rhea literally not say anything about what happened? That’s incredibly OOC of her, especially with how much she adores both Citrus and Jerry. She’s made telling half-truths into a science, she didn’t have to say anything about Crest Stones. All she had to say was that she saved Babyleth’s life similar to how she saved him, but didn’t have enough time to save Citrus too. I can see Jerry being a little concerned hearing this (a baby is different from a grown man, after all) but not to the point of faking a baby’s death and running away. This is why Jerry’s actions here are so nonsensical, and honestly pretty dickish. He knows that Rhea sees Citrus as a daughter, and he himself “thinks the world of Rhea” before Citrus’ death and Babyleth’s “weirdness”, so him faking Babyleth’s death and running away means he made Rhea think that her “grandkid” died right after helping give birth to them and that her “daughter” died for nothing. If I was in her shoes, I’d be furious at Jerry the next time I saw him. “He was sad once, too” be damned. 

Really shows how forgiving she is (to the point of being a character flaw, imo) when she’s not only not mad at him but also gives him his old job back. This is why I say that there had to have been something else that made Jerry not trust her anymore, because the series of events we have here are complete nonsense. Of course, the only reason why Jerry is even sort of right is because the writers wanted there to be a mystery plot and for the audience to think “Rhea BaD” in the first half of the game, but didn’t think about things like character consistency or how characters come to certain conclusions.

[fireemblems24]

SS Ch 17

Spoilers for FE:3H Silver Snow Chapter 17.

I'm playing all 4 routes of Three Houses at the same time as my first route! So please no spoilers.

Pre-Battle:

Man, they couldn't even give Claude a unique scheme? Silver Snow is using the "dress up and sneak in" thing too?

LAMO they're talking about disguises and everyone's in their PJs and maid/butler outfits. OMG I can't take this seriously. Help. I should've switched back to their normal clothing.

Oh. Death Knight. So scary. I wonder how on earth I'll kill him. It's not like I haven't killed him 12 times already.

SETETH LIKED MY ANSWER FOR ONCE! I picked "we've killed him before" and he liked it. Seteth is always just disappointed in me. I'm so happy.

Death Knight's outfit looks a bit try-hard. Not going to lie. Hubert pulls off the evil aesthetic much better imo (even if he too suffers from "and I'm retreating . . . again . . . but please believe the plot when they make a big deal out of me when I return!" syndrome).

Dimitri's face showed up on the narration screen . . . and then I remembered he's dead now in SS 😭. And I actually saw Claude. First time since the timeskip here, I think.

Battle:

I kinda like the challenge to stand all over the place and stop reinforcements.

Kinda mad the Death Knight started moving. Didn't get to route enemy, but predictably Lysithea nuked him with no issues.

Post-Battle:

Cut scene!

Did the Death Knight just . . . run down a fort wall.

Oh, is this that thing Edelgard lied to everyone about? It was hard to take this seriously after watching a horse run down a wall.

Haha Seteth is pissed at me for wanting a story instead of saying we needed to run.

OMG "Let's give up" is an option. There's no way I'm NOT picking that one. 😂

No, Seteth, no. I wasn't meaning to pretend like I wasn't going to invade the Empire (fuck the Empire though). I was just trying to pick the most ridiculous option.

I really wanted Daddy Seteth to lecture me again. Maybe even threaten to punish me, you know?

New Chapter:

So that was the same thing Edelgard lied to everyone about. Is it at least going to be somewhat relevant here and not some awkward as hell "ok, next?"

I cannot believe we're about to invade the Empire and there's literally no drama over Edelgard.

It's also a bit funny, ngl. Edelgard is likely angsting daily over it and Byleth's like "who?" at this point lol.

It would be so much more impactful if the player had some cool options here though: getting super upset at the idea of fighting her, feeling hurt by her betrayal, angry and vengeful because she's hurting Rhea and proved willing to kill Byleth's other students, etc . . .

Instead it's like: "we're going to kill Edelgard." "K." "We're getting close to saving Rhea." "K."

LAMO, I love when Flayn slips up about her age. It shows that she really hasn't actually lived many years because she slept through all of them.

And honestly, I'm just super glad to see BE students and Flayn interact in a way that adds interesting context to the story. So far BE and the church characters feel like they're having two separate stories.

Bernie saying she doesn't think Edelgard cares about avoiding needless casualties. She's seen AM and VW routes, hasn't she?

Flayn's talking about Edelgard's "twisted morality" and "dark path." It's refreshing. Usually this game treats Edelgard like some porcelain doll that'll shatter unless you pad it with a lot of characters acting as mouthpieces.

[blue-lions-baby]

Scars That We Can’t Erase (Dimitri x F!Reader)

hi!! this fic was requested by an anon! i’m so sorry i realized too late that once i replied to the original request i can’t like reply to it anymore does that make sense i’ve been studying for six hours pLEASE i absolutely fell in love with the given prompt, and i hope my writing did it justice! here is the original request--

“Hi! Can i get some dimitri × fem reader in which dima literally adores the reader please? One time, the reader takes a grave hit for him in battle and he is a worried mess? He cant stop thinking about her, his training is sloppy because he cant concentrate, he feels awful. He even stays at the infirmary with her all day and night while she's unconscious, manuela has to force him to get some rest. He feels terrible and guilty when seeing the scar that the reader has (oh poor boi-) Thanks! Ilysm♡ “

i should also let you guys know that this fic (imo at least) is a bit more... intense, compared to my other ones. it does get rather lighthearted towards the end, so hopefully it kinda balances out ???

pre-timeskip and no spoilers!!

~*~

No...

No, no, no...

The last thing that Dimitri saw was your quivering, paling lips and your frame crumbling to the blood-soaked ground.

The last thing that Dimitri heard was Byleth’s cries for a healer and the way your name mangled out of his throat in a blood-curdling scream-- along with the sickeningly sweet cries of the bandit who struck you down as he stabbed, stabbed, stabbed the poor bastard’s soul out of his botched body.

The last thing Dimitri felt on his lips was blood. Blood from his tongue-- the pink, throbbing muscle oozing with red liquid-- or from the pulp of that bastard’s corpse, he did not know or care. The hauntingly warm liquid stained the corners of his lips and the core of his very soul as the deep holes and gashes he imprinted on the man’s body left ribbons of flesh hanging from visibly cracked bones, rendering him nearly unrecognizable as a human being.

“Dimitri! That’s enough!” A voice that sounded eerily similar to his professor’s wormed its way into his mind.

“How dare you lay a finger on her, you monster!”

“Your Highness, he’s already dead! Just leave him alone!” Cried a legion of voices, none holding familiarity to him.

“I will punish you for what you did! For what you did to (F/N)!”

It was his fault.

It was all his fault.

If only he saw that bandit rushing towards him.

If only he saw the glistening of the ruffian’s axe as he swung the sharpened slab of metal at him.

If only he heard you call out his name, a foreshadow to his bloody fate.

If only you didn’t jump in to save him.

If only he could have saved you.

Scenes of you falling before his very eyes kept replaying in his head, tearing open the fresh, guilt-induced wounds in his heart in a never-ending cycle. Something solid-- arms, perhaps-- grappled onto his pulsing, aching arms, which he shrugged off with ease. He wasn’t going to stop until that monster of a man suffered the consequences for hurting you. He wasn’t going to stop until that monster of a man paid his dues. He wasn’t going to stop--

Until he felt a gentle hold on his wrist.

Dimitri, snapping out of his blood-lusting reverie, paused instantly. He jerked his face to the small, shaking hand that just barely ghosted the surface of his gauntlet.

Your small, shaking hand.

“Dimitri...” A hand as beautiful as the one steadying his shaking wrist cupped his cheek, erasing the splatters of impurities that marred his smooth skin. “Please, stop...”

The fractured lance in his hand fell to the ground as its owner caught you in his arms, preventing you from suffering the same fate. Dimitri stumbled to his knees, fatigue and overexertion having finally caught up to him. Wheezing and hugging you as tightly as he could, he stroked your matted, sweaty, yet gorgeous locks with the gentleness of a lover. The delicate footsteps of Mercedes caught his attention and he looked up at his peer.

“Your Highness,” her eyes turned to you then back to him, “she’s going to be okay.”

Everything went black.

~*~

The carefree songs of swallows were the first to greet the groggy prince as he re-entered the world of consciousness. Although his hearing slowly came back to the awakened male, he just couldn’t will his eyelids to lift. And so he laid there, his ears the only channel to the bustling world around him.

“How are they?” Asked a monotone voice, stained with concern.

“Thankfully, the prince didn’t suffer any major wounds. A few scratches here and there, as well as some swelling and light bruising, but nothing too serious. Still, we should be careful straining his body any further. As for (F/N)...”

He heard the flirtatious healer heave heavily; his heart crumbled.

“That Mercedes girl did a splendid job patching her up in the moment. If you were to come even a moment later, we would have lost her.”

“So they’ll both live?” Dimitri recognized that worried tone from anywhere-- his loyal retainer.

“His Highness, for sure. (F/N), she... I’ve done everything I could to patch her up, but...”

“So... The best thing we can do is just... wait?”

“That’s the only thing we can do, Professor.”

Dimitri heard footsteps approach his bedside, then shortly congregate to elsewhere. The royal, disheartened and spirit-broken, let out a pitiful gurgle akin to a cry.

“Dimitri!”

“Your Highness!”

Through brute force and sheer will, he wrested his eyes open. The gentle morning light harshly struck his still-delicate pupils, making him wince. A raging headache tore through his temples, threatening to split his skull open.

“(F-F/N)...” He found himself muttering. “Where--? Where is--?”

“She is here, Your Highness.” Dedue motioned to the still figure beside the prince. “She is... not in the best condition.”

“I heard.” Dimitri dismissed the oncoming report, knowing his heart would all but collapse from within if he had to hear your grim fate iterated again. “I heard... everything.”

“Dimitri,” his professor began, “do you need anything?”

“Actually... May you please help me sit up?”

I can’t get a good look at her from this angle...

“No can do, Prince Dimitri.” Manuela retorted. “Even though your wounds are not as severe as (F/N)’s, we really shouldn’t put your body under any more stress.”

“Ms. Manuela, please. I beg of you.” Dimitri paused. “T-Truthfully, this position is rather uncomfortable. I would feel much better if I were to be readjusted.”

Manuela sighed, glanced over the royal’s swollen limbs and cut appendages, and reluctantly nodded.

“All right, fine. Let us know if anything starts to hurt.”

“Of course. You have my thanks. All of you.”

While Dedue busied himself propping and fluffing the pillows to Dimitri’s comfort, Manuela and Byleth worked together to assist the royal. They slowly managed to complete the task, doing their best to inflict as little pain as possible to the wincing and grimacing male.

“T-Thank you.” He breathed out shakily. “I feel... better now.”

“Do you require anything else, Your Highness?” Dedue questioned.

“I am fine, thank you. I just need time to... reflect.”

“I understand. I will wait outside should you need anything.” Dedue arose mechanically, bowed, and went outside to his station.

“Well, I need to run to town to restock on some medical supplies. I will be back as soon as I can. Goodbye.~” Manuela winked, patted Byleth on the shoulder, and sauntered away.

“Are you sure you don’t need anything else?” Byleth asked again, double-checking on the fluffed pillows.

“I am fine, Professor. Thank you for your help, as always.” Dimitri smiled slightly.

Byleth nodded, glanced at their other student, and leaned down.

“She’s going to be okay, Dimitri.”

Dimitri said nothing, the words meant to reassure only fueling his anxiety. All he could muster was a feigned smile and a small nod.

“Thank you for the encouragement, Professor.”

And Byleth was off, no doubt hurrying back to the rest of the Lions.

Now Dimitri was alone, save for Dedue who was ready to attend to his lord's every whim and command.

And... you.

Dimitri’s head lolled to face you. You were neatly tucked in the infirmary bed, a thin blanket cascaded over your body. So thin, in fact, that he could see the outline of the thick bandaging about your torso and shoulder.

Memories of the previous battle flooded his mind.

Distinct, biting, and painful memories that he’d do anything to bury in the oblivion-- to tuck away in the dark recesses of his mind, never to see the light of consciousness ever again.

He lifted his arm, forgoing his body’s desire to rest the battered limb, in a futile attempt to reach you-- to hold you.

So close, yet so far.

He remembered how his name was the last thing to spill out of your shaking, colorless lips as the lilting (E/C) hues he fell in love with gave way to a hollow, lifeless sheen.

How you were within his grasp-- within his reach-- yet he could do nothing to save you.

Except needlessly pulverize a dead man’s body into literal shreds.

Oh, Goddess.

His classmates.

His fellow Lions.

He had no direct memory of the faces or expressions he saw in his frenzy, yet he remembered it so distinctly. Although he possessed no recollections to base this on, he could clearly see each and every one of their faces painted with horror and quite possibly revulsion at the murderous monstrosity he managed to commit.

“Deem...”

Dimitri almost choked. He very nearly jumped out of bed if the shooting pain in his legs didn’t remind him of his sorry state.

“(F/N)...?!” Groaning, he turned his whole body to face you. “C-Can you hear me...?!”

“...ma.”

Your eyelids shuddered before stilling once more. He heard a quiet, labored wheeze rise from your chest before you succumbed to another deep sleep. A rush of emotions throbbed through his heart, each one too complex and short-lived for the prince to process.

“(F/N)...” He reached out his hand again, knowing full well that you were beyond his grasp. “I do not know if you can hear me, but please... Live.”

~*~

Within a day Dimitri’s body was healed of most of its external wounds, but his soul was still as ravaged as the battlefield you fell in. While the rest of the Lions greeted their leader with open arms (all except one, spitting out how his display in their previous skirmish proved he was “nothing but a feral boar,”) Dimitri could only return a fraction of their enthusiasm. He still smiled and trained and attended lectures, but the dark bags forming under his blank eyes were a physical manifestation of the raging storm within.

“Ope! Gotcha again, Your Highness!” Sylvain fisted the air triumphantly, hoping his smug arrogance would arouse a competitive flame within the despondent teen.

“Ah... It appears you have.” Dimitri mumbled, more so to himself than to Sylvain, and slipped into a fighting stance. “Let us try again.”

“Actually, Your Highness...” Sylvain leaned on the wooden training lance. “How about we take a short break. We’ve been training all afternoon.”

“Has it been that long?” Dimitri blinked, looking up at the still-blue skies.

“Yeah. C’mon. I’ll take care of the lances, you just sit down and make yourself comfortable.”

Although Dimitri would typically fight and say something along the lines of how he couldn’t possibly allow someone to take care of something he could so easily do himself, Sylvain found the lance slip out of the royal’s fingers with ease. After propping the training weapons on a rack, Sylvain joined Dimitri on a bench.

“So Your Highness,” Sylvain slid to his friend’s side, “we... couldn’t help noticing that...”

“Yes?”

“Well...” Sylvain trailed off again. “Ever since... you know... You haven’t been your usual self. At all.”

“Is that so...” Dimitri mumbled, staring at the ground with great interest.

“Yeah... We’ve all been really worried about you, Your Highness. We just... We just want to make sure you’re okay.”

Dimitri stared unblinkingly at nothing, utterly reaction-less to his friend’s voiced concern. He remained unmoving for a long time; Sylvain thought that if he so much as laid a hand on Dimitri’s shoulder, he would all but shatter into irreparable shards.

“... I apologize for my rudeness Sylvain, but I must go to the infirmary.”

“Huh--?”

“It is of utmost importance. Please excuse me.”

“Ah--! Hey, wait--!”

The prince managed to just barely slip out of the redhead’s outstretched palm, gracefully bobbing out of reach and the training grounds.

♠ ♥ ♣ ----------------------------------------------------------- ♣ ♥ ♠

“You have to take care of yourself too, you know.” Manuela clicked her tongue disapprovingly, setting down a lit candle on a nearby table.

“Thank you for your concern Ms. Manuela, but I can assure you that I am feeling just fine.” Dimitri replied flatly, his glossy pupils not leaving your frame for a second.

“Sure, but the bags under your eyes say otherwise.”

Dimitri’s fingertips grazed the sensitive stretch of skin on his face, his upper eyelid twitching in response to the gentle touch.

“I do not care much for personal vanity.”

“It’s a sign that you’re not getting enough sleep.” Manuela retorted sharply, smoothing out the crinkles on a nearby bed. “Here. I prepared a bed for you. If you’re going to spend the night here, at least do it on a bed.”

Sunken azure hues rested on the stiff, plank-like cot longingly before snapping back to your ashy complexion.

“Thank you, Ms. Manuela. I will make use of it later.”

“No, Prince Dimitri. Rest. Now.”

Brown, fiery eyes clashed with bleary blues as the healer and prince remained locked in a fierce staring match. Dimitri’s eyes began to water as he stifled a yawn, reluctantly accepting defeat as he slowly stood up and headed for the bed.

“Good. Thank you.” The prince’s yawn seemed to rub off on Manuela as she stretched her arms to the sky. “Go to sleep, all right? Don’t stay up too late.”

“Yes, Ms. Manuela...”

Manuela initiated one last check on your battered body, bade a goodnight to the royal, and slipped out of the infirmary.

Dimitri peered blankly at the barren ceiling, a cacophonous symphony comprised of self-hatred and regret premiering at the forefront of his thoughts. And the soloist singing for eternal damnation to his soul was none other than you-- you, whom he so lovingly adored. You, who helped pull him from the abyss more times than he could count. You, the light that warded off his thickening darkness. And how did he show his profound appreciation towards you?

By sentencing you to eternal sleep for his carelessness.

Dimitri twisted his body to face you, the delicate mask that he had so calculatingly designed crumbling at the near-lifeless shell before him. The shallow, unsteady rise and fall of your chest was the only indicator that your soul hadn’t left your body; he grew terrified at the prospect of it dipping and never rising. He made conscious effort to avert his eyes from that region-- not only out of the high regard he held towards you, but...

The more he lingered on images of your stilling body, the tighter his chest grew.

Just thinking about it threatened how much air his lungs could take in.

He rocked himself to a sitting position and slipped his feet out of bed. He dutifully made his way back to his original post-- on a rickety stool by your bedside. He firmly planted his rear on the round slab of wood and tenderly brushed a stray lock of hair from your forehead.

Goddess you were so, so beautiful.

He felt almost guilty admiring you while you were in such a state, but the way the singular lit candle contoured every feature, every dip in your face in the most heavenly way possible... He couldn’t help it. His hand found residence in yours, taking painstaking note of the very obvious size difference. His other hand busied itself smoothing your unruly hair, quelling the frazzled strands from a complete uproar.

He’d trade his life for yours in a heartbeat if it meant that he could witness the lively (E/C) hues he fell so desperately in love with shine once again.

A lone finger hooked under your jaw and the rest of his digits caressed your icy cheek.

“(F/N)...” His voice cracked out, “I am so, so sorry...”

Something hot leaked out of his eyes and splattered onto your cheek, in which he alarmingly wiped away. He reached up to halt the steady stream of tears pouring out of him, but the dam had broken. His large frame hunched over into a quivering mass, broken sobs echoing off of the indifferent walls of the dark infirmary. Only half-empty bottles of medicine bore witness to the royal’s breakdown; his sloppy apologies and implorations fell on the earless bushels of medicinal herbs.

The small candle that Manuela had previously set up was nearing its end, the stumpy mass of wax and wick now a mere puddle of its former self. Before the few remaining trickles of light embarked on their last pilgrimage across the room, Dimitri made one last guttural plea.

“Wake up, my Beloved...” He called out, the name he had granted you only in his mind slipping out in his desperate hour. “Please, wake up...”

♠ ♥ ♣ ----------------------------------------------------------- ♣ ♥ ♠

The mellow arias of songbirds heralded the beginning of a new day. A biting breeze blew through an open window and sliced your exposed skin, eliciting little goosebumps on the affected areas. With a breathless sigh and a pain-stricken moan, your eyelids managed to wedge themselves open. A bland ceiling was the first to welcome you back to the land of the living-- along with a large, dark mass hovering beside you.

You felt the remnants of a scream scratch out of your sorely unused throat and a sudden barrage of aches and pains besieged your frail body. You opened your mouth to yell, to cry for help, but no sound manifested. You felt something rough but warm adjust its grip on your hand, further sending your mind into a groggy panic.

“Mmph... (F/N)...”

That... That voice...

You stilled yourself (not that you were moving much anyway) and silently studied the steadily breathing shadow beside you. The dim dawn’s light reflected off of a bundle of disheveled gold locks, as well as a bright blue cape that was messily slung over a male’s shoulder.

A maelstrom of memories swirled through your mind.

A ruffian racing towards Dimitri, the edge of a bloodied and rusted axe swinging right for his neck.

Your legs discovering a mind of its own as it placed you right on the receiving end of the strike.

Your head throbbed, each surge of memory more painful than the last.

Darkness, followed by the putrid, metallic smell of blood in the distance and other auditory sensations too disturbing to fully comprehend.

Something warm and comforting pricked the corner of your heart as you recalled a certain sensation akin to embracing before you blacked out. Your thoughts frustratingly hazed into nothing. It felt like a certain memory was locked, forever lost behind an impenetrable brain fog. You wracked and sifted through your fragmented memories, but pieced together nothing. 

The first few rays of light began to peak over the horizon, streaming into the room in gentle waves; you squinted your eyes, still unused to any light source brighter than a candle. As your vision slowly readjusted to the brightening room, your eyes caught sight of something that almost sent you back to sleep.

Your fingers tightly entwined with Dimitri’s.

Your weak heart thundered loudly in your ears-- so loud, in fact, you worried that it would be enough to rouse the slumbering prince. As cautiously as you could, your body writhed itself in a futile attempt to sit yourself up. You kept a careful eye on the prince, noting how dark the circles under his eyes have become and how hollow his cheeks have turned. The fact that rest had eluded him for however long you were unconscious was as plain as day.

You shifted your stiff legs a bit; the frame of your bed let out a booming groan.

Dimitri quietly snorted and his neck reeled upwards; alarmed blue eyes met with equally alarmed (E/C). The veins in Dimitri’s neck swam to the surface of his skin, growing more and more defined as every choking second passed. 

“H-...” You began. “Hi...”

“(F/N)!” 

Your surroundings whizzed right past you before you were unceremoniously slammed into something solid but so, so... warm. 

Ah...

You remembered now.

This tenderness.

This contentment.

This warmth.

Dimitri held you in his arms, stroking your hair and mumbling rushed whispers as he did the day you fell.

“(F/N)... Oh, (F/N)...”

You felt how hard and rapid his heart was beating, almost deafening the incoherent whispers he sighed into your hair. Your arms weakly wrapped around his heaving back, rubbing it as soothingly as you could. He pulled you closer in response-- closer, closer, closer, until every inch of you was smothered by him. Hesitant, trembling fingers graced your tightly wound bandages and you felt something warm and wet splatter onto your exposed shoulder.

“Dimitri...” You pulled away slightly to look up at him and smiled. “It’s okay... I’m okay...”

“(F/N), I--” Clear, shiny beads of remorse pricked the corners of the prince’s eyes. “I’m so sorry. Goddess, I am so sorry, I... I’m so--”

You reached a finger to his lips, your heart splintering into tinier and tinier pieces as you watched the man you love slur apology after apology for a crime he did not commit.

“It’s okay, Dimitri... I'm okay now... I’ll be okay.”

The door quietly clicked open and a slender leg slipped itself into the tiny crack. The rest of Manuela slid in, along with a tray of vials and herbs.

“Oh--!” The healer tripped on her own two feet, dropping the tray and all of its contents onto the ground. She stumbled over the tied wad of herbs and leaking bottles of medicine that she had so desperately haggled from a travelling merchant.

“(F-F/N)?” She stuttered, slowly closing the distance between you two. “H-How are you feeling?”

“Um, w-well...” You peered down sheepishly, suddenly becoming very aware of the... intimate position you were in. “I am a bit achy all over but--”

“Ah!” Dimitri immediately released you from his arms and he shot out of his stool, almost tripping backwards. “P-Please forgive me! I was so caught up with my emotions, I did not even ask for your consent to hold you in such a way, a-and your wounds--!”

“Oh! N-No, Dimitri, it’s all right! I-- Uh--”

A rich chuckle from the older woman padded the shrill squeaks that poured out of you and your house leader.

“Well, Prince Dimitri... I’m afraid you can’t have her just yet. I still have to do a thorough check up on her. But after that... she’s all yours.”

Scarlet seeped into the royal’s cheeks, his sickly pallor bursting into hearty ruddiness. Broken vowels tumbled out of him as he clumsily rested his arse back onto the wooden stool.

“Actually Prince Dimitri,” Manuela began as she checked your vitals, “can you notify the professor that (F/N) has awakened?”

“You can count on me, Ms. Manuela.” Dimitri dutifully stood up and bowed. “I will deliver the news to Professor Byleth.”

Casting one last glance at you and bashfully looking down when he caught your eye, Dimitri hurried out of the infirmary to complete possibly the most important mission ever entrusted to him.

♠ ♥ ♣ ----------------------------------------------------------- ♣ ♥ ♠

After your awakening, your classmates and professor began incorporating regular infirmary visits into their schedule. They showered you with kind, encouraging words and occasionally bore small gifts, constantly reminding you that they were right alongside you on your road to recovery.

But your most frequent visitor of all was your beloved house leader.

Every morning, without fail, he would grace your presence with the pleasant aroma of freshly prepared breakfast.

Every afternoon-- after class and training-- he spent his days with you, informing and personally tutoring you over concepts the class learned that day. Or simply providing his company, ensuring that the sinking and crushing feeling of loneliness never found residence in your heart. 

Every evening, after all of his academic and princely duties have been met, he delivered your dinner trays with a sparkle in his eye and a smile on his lips.

"Is everything all right? Is there anything else you would like to go over from today’s lesson? If not, perhaps I can fetch you a glass of water in case you grow parched during the night.”

“Dimitri,” you laughed as you slowly rested your weary back on freshly-fluffed pillows, “you’re just downright spoiling me! I’m going to miss all this special treatment when I’m finally discharged.”

“W-Well, I would be more than happy to continue doing this long after you have been discharged.” Dimitri coughed. “I love-- er, rather, I find my time with you to be quite enjoyable.”

“Even though you’re constantly running around and fetching me whatever my heart desires?” You giggled.

“Why, of course! Seeing you content and well brings me insurmountable joy.”

“You’re so thoughtful, Dimitri.” You couldn’t help but grin after seeing how flushed his face turned. “Thank you so much for everything. You and all the other Lions have made my time in the infirmary so much more bearable. It’s... nice to feel loved like this.”

“You are loved, (F/N).” Dimitri threw the thin blanket over you. “You are an integral part to our house... and... t-to me.”

“Pardon?” You leaned forward, hoping to catch whatever he stuttered.

“N-Nothing. Please do not worry yourself over it. It is not very important.” He shot you a reassuring smile before your bandages entered his field of vision. Shame streaked across his features; his hold on the edge of the blanket loosened as he unconsciously stepped away from you.

“Dimitri...” You reached out for him, hoping he would take your hand as he always did. The prince kept his distance however, refusing to even look at you.

“(F/N)... (F/N), I’m--”

“Dimitri,” you raised your palm, “stop.”

Pure, unmasked horror bruised his handsome features.

“I-I apologize if I have offended you in some way--”

“It’s not that. It’s...” You sighed, closing your eyes. “Dimitri... What happened that day is not your fault. There is not a single drop of rage or bitterness in my heart. I can’t forgive you, simply because I was never mad at you to begin with. So please... Don’t look so pained when you see my bandages.”

Your stomach knotted painfully as a second alternative was made clear in your mind.

“Unless... Perhaps my wounds disgust you in some way...”

“Goddess, no!” Dimitri interjected immediately. “That cannot possibly be further from the truth. Your beauty has never waned-- not even for a second.”

The royal’s hand flew to cover his mouth while you both peered at each other, sharing the same shocked expression on your faces. Dimitri had never possessed such a strong desire to catapult himself into the sun. He remained frozen in fear, unsure how or if he could even save himself from his slip.

You tucked a stray strand of hair behind your ear and looked down, the corners of your lips slightly turned upward. Dimitri found it unnecessary to fling himself into the sun since his cheeks had practically burst into flames at this point.

“O-Oh... Um... Thank you...” You managed to mumble, fidgeting with your blanket sheepishly.

“Um--!” Dimitri cleared his throat, jumped out of his seat, and bowed deeply. “I-It is getting quite late, is it not? I am afraid I must retire for the evening. Goodnight (F-F/N).”

The upper half of his body snapped downward in another deep bow as the prince hastily retreated from his social blunder. When the door clicked closed, you had all but broken into laughter. You pleasantly recalled Manuela’s previous remark towards the prince, and your heart danced in your chest. 

“Your beauty has never waned-- not even for a second.”

You buried your face in your palms and let out a quiet, airy scream, a delightful rush of emotions coursing through you. You laughed almost maniacally to yourself, and you were certain if someone were to walk in on you right this moment they would think you had gone absolutely mad. Look at you! Acting like an antsy little schoolgirl! How embarrassing!

Then again, there should be no shame in experiencing such highs. Especially when it’s related to Dimitri! You gingerly twisted your body so you that you were face-first into your pillow before letting out a happy, muffled scream.

Meanwhile, Dimitri was marching back to his room, head down and thankful that at least the cover of night was enough to hide the flushed tone of his face. Like you, he replayed that one line-- that little slip of his tongue-- in his head over and over again. Unlike you, he wished to chain his feet to a cinder block and toss himself into the lake. Hopefully the fish would be willing to share the same space with an idiot of his caliber.

Still, even as he flung himself into the comforting embrace of his bed, his thoughts couldn’t help but drift to your response to his idiocy. The way you looked down, smiling gently at his words, the tips of your ears adopting a shade of baby pink... 

You were so... 

So...

Cute...! 

Dimitri subjected his poor pillow to a bone-crushing hug as he buried his face in the mushy thing, imagining the soft, velvety texture of his pillow to be your skin and the warmth of the stuffed fabric to be your body pressed flushed against his.

Racing thoughts and rose-tinted fantasies propelled you both further and further away from Sleep, who desperately sought out her sleepless prince and fidgety (Favorite Class). When Sleep finally took hold of you, she could do little to obstruct the joyous meeting you both shared with each other in the forgotten land of dreams. 

♠ ♥ ♣ ----------------------------------------------------------- ♣ ♥ ♠

“Are you ready, (F/N)?”

You met Manuela’s steady gaze with your own. With a firm nod, you replied,

“Yes.”

The healer moved closer to you, her skilled hands undoing the set of bandages for the last time. Dimitri averted his frantic eyes to the wall when the dressing loosened just enough for your chest to peak through. A cold, unforgiving breeze whipped the newly exposed skin, jolting a shiver down your spine. Manuela clicked her tongue softly and slowly traced your shoulder.

“The wound’s all healed, but I’m afraid this scar’s here to stay...”

Your eyes immediately flashed over to Dimitri’s stiffening frame.

“I see...”

“You can apply certain creams on site to reduce its appearance, but it’ll never go away completely... I’m sorry, (F/N).”

“It’s all right, Ms. Manuela.” You flashed her a controlled smile. “Honestly, with all the regular outings to dispel bandits and whatnot... It was only a matter of time before I bore my first battle scar.”

Manuela’s lips curved upward and she patted you on your unmarked shoulder.

“Do you need anything else, (F/N)? Some water, or food?”

You hummed thoughtfully, then shook your head.

“All right. Should you need anything, all you have to do is holler.” Manuela gave you one last smile before excusing herself from the room.

Dimitri stood unmoving and unblinking, countering your hard stare with blatant refusal to look at your scar-- a physical memento of his failure.

“Dimitri.”

The prince visibly recoiled at the sound of his own name.

“Look at me.”

His jaw clenched tautly; his eyes crunched into a pain-stricken wince. 

“Look at me, please.”

He refused.

“I don’t blame you for this.”

. . .

“And I’ll never blame you for it.”

. . .

“If it means saving you, I’ll gladly do it again.”

This struck a chord with the prince, his enraged face suddenly mere inches away from yours.  

“Don’t you dare say such a thing.” He growled lowly. “I will not allow you to throw your life away for me.”

“Dimitri...” You cupped his cheek in your hand, in which he immediately melted into. “I’ll gladly do it again because... Because... I love you.”

Not a moment later did you feel something warm and soft press against your lips. The tips of his bangs lightly dusted the surface of your skin, tickling your nose with the crisp smell of Faerhgus pine. A pair of gloved hands caught either side of your face, thumbs rubbing shallow circles into your cheeks as he pressed his lips further into yours. His mouth moved sloppily but lovingly, awkwardly yet ardently adoringly against yours; a medley of celestial colors you’ve never seen before flashed brilliantly at the forefront of your mind, casting you into a dreamlike stupor.

Dimitri leapt back, panic stewing in his deep briny blues. His fingers brushed his still-tingling lips as he bowed lowly.

“F-Forgive me (F/N), I-.. I have no idea what possessed me to do such a thing! I suppose I was just, um, c-caught in the moment and--?!”

More than tired of hearing his apologies, you grabbed his shirt’s collar and jerked him back to where he was before-- contently and firmly pressed right against your lips. Your fingers bunched themselves into patches of velvety, wispy gold while your lips moved sanguinely against his, happily leading your mouth and his in a spicy dance. A small moan escaped your slightly opened lips and Dimitri, consumed by nothing but base desires, surprised your tongue with a face-to-face meeting. 

The wet muscle wrapped about yours, pulling you into an unyielding fight for dominance. You felt smooth sheets hit your exposed back; you hadn’t even noticed Dimitri progressively lowering the both of you onto your bed. He planted his hands on either side of your body, ridding any hope of escape from his ravaging kisses.

Not that you wanted to anyway. 

Dimitri’s lips left yours to wander around your face and neck, taking particular interest in the latter. He nipped the exposed skin, teething and sucking wherever his heart desired until you were covered in nothing but love bites.

Then he caught sight of your cleavage, simply irresistible and downright begging to be marked with his love.

Then he suddenly remembered that you two were in a very public place and not in the private confines of his bedroom or dreams.

“Ah-- Um--” Dimitri stammered, quickly pulling away from your panting form. “P-Perhaps we should... stop... before it escalates any further...”

You whined, wanting nothing more than to be showered with kisses and bathed in his worshiping love. But your senses, hazy as they may be, pulled through the fog and coldly reminded you of your current whereabouts. 

“Fine...” You pulled his fingers to your sultry lips and pressed a hot kiss on each digit. Dimitri’s jaw and pants tightened, the prince desperately clinging onto the last thread of sanity and reason which threatened to snap at any moment.

“My Beloved,” he purred sweetly, pressing a chaste kiss to your cheek, “rest now. When your strength returns to its fullest, we can pick up where we left off. I swear it.”

You giggled, finding his attempt at being serious too adorable. The heat and passion was still very visible in his eyes, and it was obvious that anymore teasing on your end would send him over the edge.

You nodded sleepily as he pulled the covers over you. He graced your lips with one more kiss before he stood up.

“Class will be starting shortly. Do you need anything before I go?”

“Mm...” You looked up coyly. “One more kiss, please!”

Dimitri chuckled, happily fulfilling both of your wishes.

“My Beloved is too cute for her own good...” He murmured huskily into your ear. “It should be a crime to be this captivating.”

“Then maybe you should punish me tonight~?”

“T-That’s...” Dimitri’s smug confidence had instantly dissipated. “S-Sleep well, (F/N).”

You had never seen a person’s cheeks go so red so fast. Dimitri zoomed out of the infirmary with a chorale of laughter bubbling out of his beloved.

Not a moment later after the door closed, it opened again just enough for the prince’s head to pop back in.

“Oh, uh, (F/N)?”

“Yes, darling?”

“I...” He cleared his throat loudly and shyly smiled. “I love you too.”

bonus: your discharge from the infirmary prompted a day of celebration in the blue lions house, with byleth cancelling lectures and training for the day to celebrate your miraculous recovery.

the rest of the lions organized a mini ‘welcome back’ party; the desks that previously held books and other study things now harbored all your favorite dishes on one side and a cluster of gifts on the other.

and when the sun dipped below the horizon, well... let’s just say dimitri made good on his promise from that night onward ;)

[holydragon2808]

My Personal Opinion on Edelgard (FE Three Houses) SPOILERS FOR THE GD, BL and BE Routes

Fire Emblem Three Houses has pretty much consumed the majority of my free time since its launch. Someone on reddit made a topic regarding their opinion of this controversial character, and I commented on it. I figured I’d copy/paste my response there here too, just for the hell of it (and I’m curious to see what anyone else has to say or think on the matter). There will be spoilers for three of the four routes in this post, so read at your own risk. Final Warning.

Personally, of the three lord characters, Edelgard is my least favorite so far (I've played the GD route and the BL route and now I'm working on the BE route, and eventually going bookends with the Church because its similar to the GD route). Mainly because I feel the whole "tormented by awful memories of the past" thing was done much better and was much more compelling with Dimitri. Yeah, he definitely snaps and loses himself in all other routes not his own, giving into his mental despair and inner hatred (and like Edelgard, dies in every route not his own), but on the Blue Lions route, not only can you pull Dimitri back from the brink, but he ultimately makes the conscious choice to move forward, realize the suffering he's caused and atones for his actions.

He stops with the whole "violent revenge is the only way forward" (in his case) and resolves to fight and live for what he truly believes in (mirroring the exact same speech he once gave you when Jeralt was killed five years ago), and eventually he rises to be the benevolent king he always had the capacity to be, because he chose to put his past behind him (on his route). He chose to actively find another less violent way to end the conflict (we take a huge, but still necessary detour back to the Kingdom of Faergus to save it from the Empire on the Blue Lions path). And the romance between Dimitri and a female Byleth felt very organic to this arc IMO. Huge Dimileth shipper here lol.

Edelgard, on the other hand, had already made up her mind that violence is really the only answer, and thus, doomed herself to a lonely grave in every route not her own. And, even in her own route, all you're really doing is helping her be less cold. We're still committing massive war atrocities, and far too much sacrificing/murdering for my liking personally, especially having played Claude and Dimitri’s routes beforehand.

With Claude, he actually has very similar ideals to Edelgard, and similar views about crests and a very similar desire to create a more equal world, but he takes it a step further to include tearing down ALL the barriers across the world, not just Fodlan. The major difference between the two of them (and why Claude can potentially survive all four routes and Edelgard dies in every route not her own) is that he's willing to compromise and work with others, admit his faults, and adjust his methods. He's also willing to admit when others might be better suited to change the world than him (i.e., not picking his route.). I’ve actually seen people claim that Claude is a “gary stu” character because he’s the only lord who can survive all four routes. Uh....no, just no. 

AND unlike Edelgard, he's 100% opposed to sacrificing/killing his friends for the greater good. If anything, his constant (and admittedly sometimes questionable) scheming is all in the interest of his closest friends and family surviving (and he's willing to do other things aside from war and slaughter that might still be morally wrong if it means saving his friends, which I found to be very interesting and why he's one of my favorite FE characters. I'm a sucker for the lovable rogue type, and I did a romance with Claude and loved it too).

I find it extremely ironic that Edelgard says that Claude isn't the best qualified ruler because he doesn't know much about Fodlan's history, when it truth, the GD route easily has some of the most world building and truth discovering. Another thing is that Claude is willing to take the time and do some research and learn/seek out the truth rather than just assuming he knows everything already. He doesn't have the same level of hatred towards the Church of Seiros that Edelgard has, so he's more willing to look beyond what others have established or what he's merely heard, and one could argue that Claude's mixed Fodlan/Almyran heritage and his lack of bias actually makes him more qualified to attempt this sort of dynamic change in the world, as well as Dimitri actively making the conscious choice to not let his past, his hatred and his anger rule his every action, becoming a well loved and benevolent king on his route to be frank.

Edelgard never once questioned if the Empire itself might have distorted history. She’s actually the one who's the most misinformed about Fodlan's history, the true conflict between Seiros and Nemesis (it was WAY more than just a "minor dispute or misunderstanding", and the ancestors of Those Who Slither in the Dark were clearly the aggressors in the conflict between Seiros and Nemesis (and it started with what the ancestors of TWSITD did to Sothis and the rest of Seiros' brethren and the TRUE nature of what the hero's relics are. Oh yeah Edelgard, they were "man made" alright....), not the other way around, and actually a more potentially dangerous enemy than the Church, but that's another discussion altogether).

Edelgard is so caught up in her "my way or the high way" mentality that she just flat out won’t work with anyone who doesn't share in her views completely and utterly. She's so convinced that she’s the only one capable of changing the world, and that it has to be her and only her, that she literally runs herself into the ground in every other route (she dies). Again, I'm aware of her trauma, but we all have a choice in how we live our lives going forward, and Edelgard chose war so....).

She's not wrong in her views that the Church of Seiros was stagnating the world and hiding a lot of dark secrets, particularly "Rhea", but she was (and is since this is my current route) completely wrong in being so arrogant to believe that she was/is the only one qualified to exact change, when not only are Claude and Dimitri perfectly capable of doing the same, but they do so with far less bloodshed than Edelgard does (well, once Dimitri comes around on his own route. That was the second one I played. I'm working on the BE route at the moment, then I'll go back and do the Church of Seiros. So far, it's readily apparent to me what Edelgard's flaws are and why her own hubris is typically her downfall in all other routes outside her own, even if some of it has to do with trauma).

Again, Edelgard's route is my least favorite so far because of how arrogant she is really (and I really didn't appreciate her rather rude and arrogant worded speech to me only mere days after Jeralt was killed either compared to the other two lords. Had it taken place at the end of the month, it would have worked better, but just a few days after was her overstepping, future Emperor or no). I get where she's coming from for the most part, but I find her far too narrow minded and far too ready to sacrifice everyone and everything around her for her ideals for my liking....just all my opinion though. I actually found her more compelling on both the Golden Deer and Blue Lions route (the latter in particular), but that's another discussion altogether. I'm glad the BE route is the shortest. Probably not gonna play it ever again personally. Despite how all this sounds, I don't "hate" Edelgard, so much as I just find the other two lords far more compelling.

[supergenial]

The Most Dangerous Predator in P5

Recently I came across some mildly spicy twitter mini-drama regarding the character Kawakami from Persona 5. On one hand you had people saying she's bad because she's a predator, and on the other you had people saying she's good because she's a depressed mommy gf with feet or whatever. Seeing as I previously took an extensive dump on another famous jrpg teacher, I found it rather interesting and thought I might as well chime in on this one too, so let's dive a bit into it.

For starters, I am generally ok with people hating Kawakami, as personally I'm more of a Makoto man myself (though there's way more reasons to hate her considering her career choice). I am also ok with people despising fictional characters for basically any reason, as I think hatred towards fictional characters isn't a particularly big deal or anything to get riled up about. What I find particular about this particular case with Kawakami is the idea that she is the exact same as Kamoshida, the other pedophilic teacher in the game, because if anything I find that she is the opposite

1) The role of Power in Persona 5

Persona 5 entirely revolves around the idea of Palaces, manifestations on a different plane of the psychological state of people in the regular plane of existence. These palaces spring up mainly because of the Power people hold over other people. Kamoshida holds absolute power over his students and the school, Madarame holds power over Yusuke and his disciples, that boring Yakuza guy had power over the entire city, Haru's dad has power over a billion dollar conglomerate, Sae has power over the court system and Bald Man has power over the country's politics. (Sorry, I played this when it came out and can’t be bothered to look up the names.)

The whole idea of palaces is to manifest that awful situation when someone holds absolute power over a certain place or a certain group of people with little to no consequence to keep their true nature in check. Now, the reason why pedophilia is wrong is very self-evident to anyone not residing in the bottom-right partition of the political compass, but it's fair to say that a big factor of why we find it so infuriating is how unjust and despicable it is due the sheer Power an adult can have over a minor, being able to physically overpower them in some cases, or psychologically manipulate them ("grooming") in others.

Hence it is a bit ridiculous to say this is Joker's relationship with Kawakami. Their relationship starts with Joker finding out about her embarrasing secret job. At this very moment a power relationship is built as Joker can easily ruin her entire life by simultaneously destroying her social standing while also taking away her already slim sources of income. It is because she understands this that Kawakami decides to follow along with whatever Joker says, as she literally has surrendered all power to him in this unfortunate twist of fate.

This can be clearly observed in the gameplay as the progression of her social link results in all sorts of perks that obviously have very little to no benefit for her. She cooks, makes tools, coffee, laundry, and even lets Joker slack off in class, oftentimes seeming rather bothered by having to be stuck doing these tasks. A further point can be made that their relationship of power is further exacerbated by their economical standing, as Joker (through the player's gameplay input) quickly becomes rich and one of her most reliant sources of income. He is not only blackmailing her, but is also taking advantage of how poor she is to coerce her into following his word. What a gem of a capitalist we have in our hands here.

Even if their relationship may possibly end in a lovers relationship, it is somewhat fair to assume that the start of this relationship was irreparably tainted. She absolutely had to be subservient to the guy because she had no other option, even if she does develop legitimate feelings eventually, you could still say that Joker has effectively groomed her into being his partner

If she was merely trying to get closer to him and groom him into his personal sex pet, her preferential treatment towards him would've started significantly earlier in the game as opposed to her openly showing disdain towards his presence, yet it is by Joker's action that any of these developments can be achieved for he holds all the power. This comes as no surprise for as I have previously stated elsewhere:

2) Player avatars are inherently creepy

If you've read my Byleth diatribe you already know where I'm coming from. There I argued that Byleth was creepy not by nature of being a teacher who can date their students, but rather because they are a player avatar with no personality who can mind control other characters into liking them. This is no different from Joker.

Merely by choosing to spend time with other characters these will inherently feel indebted to Joker, eventually unlocking social links that are merely soliloquys by the subjects in which the whole notion that they are multidimensional and interesting characters falls apart once you see them pour their soul out for someone whose reply will merely amount to two or three words, yet somehow will gain their utmost respect by uttering these generic replies.

So yeah, basically I just found it interesting because this is exactly the example that I mentioned on that one occasion, I said Byleth would be creepy even if they were a student who's dating a teacher, and this is exactly that same case, but they just had to double down on it and write an explicitly exploitative relationship where the player character acts in the exact same way that the game's villains do, but I guess without the framing of the palace and the magical monster fights Persona fans just get confused as to who's the good or the bad guy. Bravo Atlus, looking forward to SMTV in 2030!

Some additional less relevant points:

-Kawakami’s still a pedophile! Perfectly valid to hate her for that imo, personally I won’t because of the above, but you do you. 

-I’m aware it’s a very small twitter poll and that at large the fanbase is much more likely to defend her than to attack her, hell I only found this one out because someone was dunking on it and had way more retweets than the original

-Again, I don’t think you’re inherently creepy for playing these games, they’re ultimately good fun and they’re in fashion, just keep a critical eye out for why words are bad, rather than obsessing over the actual words.

-What the actual fuck, how was Morgana that low? Even on a rigged poll they should be second place at best, no excuses.

[bae-leth]

FE3H x LoZ

Hey, I saw that you enjoyed my Zelda AU so I decided to expand upon it! This includes eight students for each house, and even strengths based on the Three Houses weapon types. Also for convenience all of the students are Hylian/Gerudo/basically human.

To set the scene, the Gerudo Empire is in the desert to the west, the Kingdom of Hyrule is in the north and east, and the Ordon Alliance is in the forests to the south. The main religion is the Church of Hylia, and the Officer’s Academy is still in the center of the continent because the name sounds generic enough. The curse of Demise exists, but records of it have been lost to time and none of the students are aware of it (cue emotional revelations and plot twists).

CRIMSON BOARS

Since there are so few Gerudo characters of actual plot relevance, I decided to include Ganon’s other allies from across the series, plus a few wild cards.

Ganondorf - house leader. Heir to the Gerudo Empire. Strong and very physically capable, as well as a firm leader. Strengths: Lance, Brawl, Reason, Authority

Ghirahim - Ganondorf’s cunning retainer. Only really ever thinks about himself and his master. Strengths: Sword, Reason

Cia - used to be a warm, angelic girl when she was little, but has become the opposite since then. She idolizes Ganondorf, but also admires Link from afar. Strengths: Faith, Authority, Flying

Lorenz Zant - a foreign exchange student from Twili, a faraway archipelago. Only friends with the people in his class, and hates everyone else. Especially despises Midna. Strengths: Brawl, Reason, Flying

Urbosa - probably the nicest person in the class. Has a motherly attitude. Very strong and protective of her allies. Strengths: Sword, Bow

Astrid - a quiet girl who is almost always studying. Also has an obsession with fortune telling. Strengths: Faith, Reason

Onox - son of an imperial general. Large and built, and loves training. Always agrees with Ganondorf. Strengths: Axe, Brawl, Heavy Armor

Ruto - daughter of a wealthy noble from Hyrule who became close to the emperor, but she does not always approve of the Empire’s methods. Very flirty, and has many admirers. Strengths: Lance, Riding

AZURE OWLS

These characters are all either Sages, Champions, or Resistance members.

Zelda - house leader. Crown princess of the Kingdom of Hyrule. Extremely smart, and though usually kind, can be cold and relentless on the battlefield. Strengths: Bow, Reason, Riding, Authority

Impa - rescued by Zelda during the Tragedy of Sheikah and has become her faithful retainer since then. Often found accompanying Zelda or praying. Strengths: Sword, Lance, Faith

Revali - son of a renowned warrior in the Kingdom. Thinks very highly of himself and looks down on those who are physically weaker than him. Often trains to the point of intense fatigue. Strengths: Bow, Flying

Mipha - a shy, quiet girl who mostly keeps to her room. Dotes on those who are injured despite her introverted nature. Strengths: Lance, Brawl, Faith

Medli - daughter of a famous musician. Incredibly skilled at playing the harp and dreams of becoming a star as well. Kind to everyone she meets, but has a reputation for being clumsy. Strengths: Axe, Flying, Authority

Byrne - A quiet student who often goes unnoticed. However, he is immensely skilled in battle, which tends to surprise people given how often he disappears during training. Strengths: Sword, Brawl, Heavy Armor

Shad - a scholarly student who is extremely interested in history. Will approach any random student to help him with his research. Unlikely friend to Ashei. Strengths: Faith, Reason

Ashei - the daughter of a noble, but she would rather be a knight than an heiress. Blunt and sometimes downright undignified. Unlikely friend to Shad. Strengths: Sword, Axe, Riding

VERDANT WOLVES

These characters are Link’s friends and companions from throughout the series. 

Link - house leader. Future leader of the Ordon Alliance, though born a commoner. Kind and genuine, as well as very charismatic, but hides insecurities. Strengths: Sword, Faith, Riding, Authority

Ravio - son of a merchant family. Very close to Link, almost like a brother. Quite lazy, and would rather scam people than study. Strengths: Axe, Bow, Flying

Midna - the princess of Twili, who came to the Academy as a foreign exchange student. Admired by many for her beauty and charm. Incredibly snarky and mischievous, and often gets into trouble. Strengths: Lance, Reason, Flying

Saria - the youngest student at the Academy. A sweet and charitable girl who loves animals and feels at home around nature. Strengths: Bow, Faith

Daruk - a noble who dreams of becoming an accomplished knight. Very friendly and outgoing, but has a fear of dogs. Strengths: Brawl, Heavy Armor, Authority

Fi - a girl who is very religious and is usually found praying. Very analytical and excels in her studies. Often responds to her peers without emotion, and many have never seen her smile. Strengths: Sword, Flying

Groose - Link’s self-proclaimed rival. Always trying to one-up Link, much to Link’s exasperation. Has a massive crush on Zelda, and is willing to join the Azure Owls for free. Strengths: Axe, Lance, Brawl

Malon - a farmer girl from the Ordonian countryside. Works extremely hard, as it took a lot for her father to send her to the Academy. Known for her distinct singing voice. Strengths: Bow, Reason, Riding

OTHER NOTES

Despite moving some things around, such as their locations on the map and certain events like the Tragedy of Sheikah (Duscur), the nations here are loosely based on those in Three Houses: Hyrule = Adrestia, Gerudo = Faerghus, and Ordon = Leicester. (oh and Twili = Brigid)

Though Hyrule is a KINGDOM and Gerudo is an EMPIRE, Hyrule is larger because Gerudo is still growing and expanding. However by the timeskip Gerudo won’t have grown much because of Hyrule’s declaration of war.

The Tragedy of Sheikah basically went as follows: the people of the Sheikah region were close allies of the royal family, but were then blamed for the mass assassination of several nobles, including the queen. In retaliation, Hyrule massacred the people of Sheikah.

Since elements were pulled from many LoZ games, the three house leaders aren’t based on any specific incarnation. However, if I had to pick, Ganondorf would be from Ocarina of Time, Zelda would be from Breath of the Wild, and Link would be from Twilight Princess.

I haven’t really thought of who would be the leader of the church, or the faculty, or the equivalent of Byleth, but then again it’s not like this has to be an exact copy of Three Houses anyway. However I do think that Telma would make a wonderful stand-in for Manuela.

There are still cats in the Monastery (speaking of the monastery, I don’t have a name for it). Link and Saria give them the most attention.

I hope you enjoyed this!

--------

notes from bae: OK ROUND TWO.... LET’S TRY SUBMITTING THIS AGAIN....

in short: HJHGDSFGFSGJDFSHD??? JDGFSHGFHS??? I LOVE THIS??? I LOVE THIS??

this is so well thought out im going to cry. instead, I am just going to go through everything in order (prob not ) and scream at things i want to point out

'no one knows about the curse of Demise until later' IM BWUBWUWBWUBBWUB NOO.... NOOO..... THIS IS GOING TO TEAR APART FRIENDSHIPS..... i NEED to see the confrontations after this, because.... that's so heartbreaking and I don't want to imagine it... but i Need to see it :((

i AdOre how you incorporate characters from across the games, too. seeing chars like Byrne, Onox and Astrid make my lil Zelda heart happy...

and speaking of the characters, I love the strengths you gavce them!!! and the backstories... because this REALLy makes me want to see their supports. can you imagine.... Midna and Zant, Ravio and Revali, Groose and Zelda, Groose and everyone, Link and Ghirahim trying to hold a friendly conversation (which. oh dear. doesn’t work)... there is SO MUCH POTENTIAL and i can only IMAGINE!!

if you have any story details sketched out, I NEED to know!! i esp liked how you adapted the tragedy of Duscur to the tragedy of Sheikah, since there’s already hints of hostility towards the Sheikah in 10,000yrs ago-BotW, so it’s definitely not remiss that they wouldn’t be blamed ;; and this also makes me intrigued about Zelda’s motives!! Why does Hyrule declare war? because of her own personal reasons pertaining to the tragedy? in response to the Empire? something else entirely??

same with Ganondorf.... WHAT makes him declare war.... because I don’t think it’s just a case of conquer n conquer..... eyes emoji....

(and ofc our boy Lonk. with the best team, imo.... I Love the Verdant Wolves. would join them ASAP. they look like the house with the most Chaos but ALSO a lot of POWER...)

ESSENTIALLY I JUST NEED STORY DETAILS and house leader interactions!!! because, pre-timeskip, the triforce trio are friendly?? Yes??? And then it all falls apart??? Yes???????

TELMA AS MANUELA. PLEASE. PLEEEEEEAAASE..... she’d be absolutely fantastic!!! I also think we could have Kaepora Gaebora in replace of the white owl at the bulletin boards. Just for some friendly little advice...

and of course!! Link and Saria give the cats the most attention!! Saria plays the ocarina for them, and Link canonically picks them and runs around while giving them cuddles.... EXCELLENT....

 I also think Ravio would be a very good replacement for Anna. y’know, just to get the best bargains for the Wolves.... maybe steal for them a house, too.....

LORENZ LOOKING LIKE ZANT I SDJHHDSFH WHY HAVENT I NOTICED THIS BEFORE IM GOING TO CRY. IC ANT LOOK AT LORENZ ANYMORE WITHOUT SEEING ZANT P L E A S E SAVE ME I DIDNT WANT THIIIIS

also? Groose joining the Owls without any recruitment requirements??? I. Groose ily but shUT UP STOP THAT!!! LINK Probably just facepalms mournfully.... who else is going to play around with the Groosenator with him :((

IN SHORT: I LOVE THIS. SO MUCH. IT HAS MADE MY DAY AND I AM GOING TO NEVER STOP THINKING ABOUT IT

[strawberryybird]

So whats your favorite thing about each of your fe3h favs? Anything you could just go on a long rant about for any of them? or interactions between them that you wish had happened or wanted to happen.

Waking up in the morning and going through all of the drunk blogging and “-thank-u-for-weathering-my-deep-need-to-be-liked-and-given-attention-off-main-I-guess” if this isn’t a whole mood on its own I don’t know what is. Anyways it sounds like you had fun and it was definetly fun reading everything. I hope you are feeling okay the day after everything. And to tack on a random question which fe3h character would you want to get drunk with if it was just the two of you?

Hi Hello!! thank u for enjoying my drunk blogging !!! and for the asks!!! (and the lovely comments on my fics actually hi there ur wonderful!!!) i’m currently cursing the damage i’ve done to my sleep schedule and suffering under my (truly deserved) hangover lmao ;p apologies u don’t get drunk me, only uncaffeinated hangover me, but we talk to the same degree and make the same spelling errors lol

ah yes.. im a fountain of moods (all of u still with me here are saints hhhh)

ok content time:

the second one first: i absolutely want to get drunk with ferdinand von aegir. the man’s a hop, skip and a vodka shot away from a mess. i love him. he’d be full of conversation and would buy the rounds every time as a true nobleman should !! he’d probably be really good at instigating drinking games but horrible at playing them.. i love party gay ferdie von aegir.

i’m going to LIMIT the faves i list because truly i love them all very much but i have to at least pretend i have some restraint and i don’t want to make this even More of a wall of text it’s going to become . SO 

edit: ok i started writing this at like. half ten pm. when the fuck did it become monday. 

edit edit: Disclaimer time: these are my conclusions and my conclusions alone. I’m not saying I’m objectively right or correct. I’m very much approaching this from an English Lit-ish point of view because that’s just how I look at a lot of media. I’m not asserting my opinions or conclusions as the only viable to interpret this media, and if anything I say offends you then I am sorry, it was not my intention but I acknowledge that I have hurt you. This is not the exhaustive list of my thoughts on the whole thing, there’s a lot more depth and detail I didn’t go in to.

My favourite thing about Edelgard is the Everything, but notably I really love her proud nature and how in VW it quite directly gets her *spoilered*, and in CF it’s integral to her success (bc it’s her own rigidity within herself that keeps her standing i think) and I Like Tragic Characters (and it’s very elinor dashwood). because it’s one of the qualities that can throw her character into a villainous light & it’s really interesting !! but at the same time.. it’s not quite ‘pride’ purely, and it’s kinda the wrong word. it’s some mixture of determined/stubbon, anger, self-reliance, and that really hard veneer of personality u develop when you’re around people who aren’t healthy for you to be around, and the very very critical need to be right about the choices you made because the weight of the  consequences would kinda ruin you if you weren’t. (the dean winchester effect huh) and wrap that up together with a big scoop of ‘i believe my way is right’ (’and my way Has to be right’) and then u get a lot of what i LOVE about Edelgard’s character

My favourite thing about Dorothea is really how she was the character that Hated the war. genuinely the contrast between white clouds dorothea & timeskip dorothea Breaks My Heart EVery Time I See Her !!!!! that and Spoilers!!! (her last words in AM unrecruited is edelgards name and i literally had to stop and cry about it for five minutes.) she’s one of the characters that post-war doesn’t have a Massive political stake in the war - like there’s her anger towards the current class system (another reason i bloody love her PLEASE give me angry feminine characters) but i think it’s her bonds with edie (or byleth&whoever if recruited) that keep her actually fighting in the war & it’s kinda different and i like that (actually i think she parallels/sends up/contrasts really really nicely with mercedes in that way)

my favourite thing about Marianne is just everything. how she finds worth within herself if you play VW (and the very very harrowing hc that she didn’t if you don’t), how she’s full of a quiet rage for the crest system but you eek it out of her as you play the game. how she’s still loved by the deers despite her appalling mental health (fight me on that canon) and the game essentially has her ‘save’ herself by finding worth and life within herself. i love her so much ok. (i also love her because she committed identity theft.. she and i share a name with the second dashwood sister oho (but i don’t use that name on the internet hhh) (also because my favourite shakespeare play is king lear (no really it is), my birthday is in red wolf moon too, i used to have very long hair i wore in a plait most days for school, little 11 and 17 year old me acted Exactly like white clouds marianne did & genuinely i love marianne von edmund to pieces but God it hurts to see her in game sometimes bc her journey mirrors a lot of mine & i love this character. so much.) WOW that was a lot. am i sure im not still drunk

so claude is not only one of my favourite characters in the whole damn game, but also shares the name of one of my favourite painters so i simply have to love him ;p however i can’t give a proper opinion on him yet because i haven’t finished playing deers yet :( but !! i love how (as is with all the lords) he has a veneer of personality to him, but in contrast to Edie where it’s quite seemless with her actual personality, Claude’s veneer of personality seems very opaque and plastered on. i may or may not just be wildly imagining things but he’s a very different personality in his lower supports with Lysithea than he is in his B support with Marianne, for instance. like, i love characters that are obviously a lot more socially intelligent than i could ever be, and claude is *chef kiss* BEAUTIFUL ON EVERY LEVEL.

i’d wax lyrical about Ingrid too but honestly there’s many better people out there with the good ingrid content than i could do. shortly, i love the New Take on the pegasus knight archetype she brings, and i really like her perspective on femininity !!! she’s such a good character & she brings so much to the game and to the pegasus knight character too!!!!! she’s such a bright personality and altho i wish so many of her supports weren’t centred around make-up (hhh dorogrid fans i pray for you), i think she’s really going to pave the way for whoever’s next in that character slot. (like, you can’t tell me she’s not an offshoot of Phila from awakening lmao)

no ok i’m adding in Hubert because i love this vampire man. i really really love the devoted servant archetype and we all know i love edelgard’s tragedy. and i love hubert. so much. the way he enables edelgard in pretty much everything is just so so interesting to think about, and i love his intensity about it. he’s like the ever present reminder that edelgard’s will kinda has to work otherwise the potential consequences of her being wrong are personified in hubert imo. it’s only touched on in VW in his letter but like. god i wish we got more but it’s a wonderful starting block. i love his comic relief as well, he’s such a fun character to have !!!! and also i have so many hubert fics in my bookmarks that just Get him. i love hubert. oh i love hubert.

i’m going to cut myself off there because . that’s just a LOT. 

as for characters i would sell a limb to have them talk to each other, honestly it’s Edelgard/Marianne. (and only 51% because of all the projection i have going on with those two ok don’t at me i  k n o w). that support chain would be too powerful and honestly i wish they had one becuauese it would have gone so Hard about what Edelgard was doing and what Marianne thought about it, and how they connected over it & they probably would have had their supports set over cups of tea or smth .. it would have been amazing. 

(but i’d rather have nothing than an awakening-level-content support where they talk about eating fucking bear meat instead of talking about how they grew to trust each other with and their ability to save the fate of the world HUH AWAKENING. (i’m salty about fredrobin forever)

also hilda/dorothea supports . we were robbed. they’re best friends and you can’t actually tell me otherwise. they run the disaster bi chat of garreg mach. honestly i just would Love a support chain for them that starts with them talking about self care routines and something really small like accessories or perfume and it goes into how self-esteem and how dorothea has to find the same worth in herself as hilda so easily can. (hilda’s the queen of self esteem she’s a babe) and in CF they could have dialogue and then we cry about it. and in SS they talk about how they both chose their place with Byleth and not at edie/claude’s side like i’m just free balling here it could be Anything and i’d love it. 

also big shocker .. dorothea/marianne supports . they both hate themselves in their profile CAN THEY PLEASE CHAT. 

also i accidentally fell in love with the claude/edelgard ship and i desperately need them to interact on the same level that edie and dimitri get to because.. aren’t there supposed to be three main characters huh intsys .. and like i get what the game goes for with two of the lords embroiled in a personal war against each other at the heart and the third actually finding something close to the truth because he’s not involved in age old grudge matches but at the same time That’s one of the things that really really falls flat for me in the game. dimitri’s villain is edie, edie’s villain is big dragon wife, claude’s villain is the lack of communication that everyone in fodlan suffers from apparently. lack of communication and lies. ymmv with what im saying rn but i would have preferred if all three lords had strong personal ties to each other and in Each Route it was brought up. or just snip dimitri’s dialogue out of CF because i have beef with how that WHOLE moment went down on so many accounts hhhh honestly it makes me angerey to think about lol

.. back on topic- can the lords pls talk to each other because it would be SO interesting in white clouds and i like seeing how their personality presentations clash

also . can i marry manuela yet. my crops are dying here.

.. im so sorry about this but it’s midnight and i’m too tired to edit so. have this. thank you so much for the questions!!!! very kind (and brave) of you to ask me!!!!! i had a lot of fun writing all of this & as always if anything you didn’t quite /get/ i’m happy to re-explain myself!! :)

[dmclemblems]

@randomnameless

From here.

From my understanding Edelgard doesn’t like how the church is running things. She believes they’re corrupt, but it also looks to me that it’s in part tied to the fact that the church is run by dragons. Basically, she seems to think all dragons are corrupt and are “beasts”.

That’s something that bothers me too. I understand Edelgard has a distaste for the church, but that in no way makes a war acceptable, much less on the scale she forced. Her war wasn’t just against the church. She made it sound like it was, but then she proceeded to attack even the Alliance that was staying neutral. The Kingdom sided with the church and that’s one thing for her to thus involve them as well, but the Alliance? That’s attempting to strong arm the entire continent under Empire rule, which makes her absolutely no different than the church that she’s against. She doesn’t like that the church has full control and she has issues with Rhea, sure, but she’s in no way making any attempt to fight the church in a better light and she’s making it seem like all dragons are responsible for whatever Rhea does.

Also, she states in part one to Byleth that she’s willing to sacrifice even innocent citizens for her ideals. That’s actually worse than the church. Rhea will exterminate enemies of the church and yeah, I’d argue sometimes Rhea is too extreme about it, but Rhea in charge of a school of human students and is protecting them. Also, she doesn’t sacrifice her own kind for her ideals like Edelgard is willing to do. I get Rhea isn’t a perfect leader, but imo Edelgard is way more extreme. Also, Rhea didn’t do really do anything beastly imo when she transformed. She just transformed when cornered to protect herself. So yeah, I can’t see that as “bad”.

I’m not sure if you know this information regarding the experiments and Edelgard’s relationship to them so feel free to ignore this paragraph if you aren't familiar with it. I’ll keep it in small font too just in case. It also bothers me that Edelgard is willing to side with her actual enemies who she wants to stop to fight the church instead of siding with the church that she doesn’t agree with to take out their actual enemies. These are the people who did experiments and all that on her, so why ally herself with them? The church is not worse no matter what she thinks than the actual threat with literal town obliterating missiles. Her priorities are... not in order to say the least.

Thanks! Tbh I’m not sure I’m ever going to actually play Edelgard’s route lmao. I might go to the halfway point and hop to the church in a run, but watching Edelgard’s route had me wincing in agony of even going through it lol. I felt like I disliked her more after seeing her actual route than how I felt on the other routes.

Here in this Jugdral house we appreciate our dragons.

[sunshades]

Same anon who sent the ask about how Edelgard & Dimitri parallel each other so fascinatingly. God just. These two are so goddamn tragic. That fucking final cutscene. It's so great because it goes full circle with the reunion cutscene when you first see him again. He reaches for her hand. In a way she 'soars away.' It's just so heartbreaking in a way idk how to fully articulate just yet. I won't spoil the other routes final scenes for you, but I think this one is the strongest.

(this anon) also as usual, readmore to be safe

YEAAAAA GOD IVE BEEN THINKING ABOUT THE CUTSCENE THESE ENTIRE 3 DAYS. now that the steam boiled down im really excited for BE and church route too... but i still don’t think they’ll get me as much as this did.

call me vanilla cuz yea BL is the classic fe story of the prince taking back his country from a ruthless emperor but like... i loved it so much??

(BL SPOILERS HERE)

the fall and then the slow aching path to recovery w the help of his friends and his father figure and his professor/friend/mentor and his -yea im gonna say it- and his LOVE INTEREST whom he thought was dead---

AND on the other side, all the love he had for patricia (or whoever that was in the years before the tragedy), and all of the love and admiration and trust he had for edelgard until literally the end (turning around to get one last look at his sister, but byleth grabs his arm. not a fan of the avatar but imo this scene wouldn’t be complete without that)

(NO MORE SPOILERS HERE)

it’s painful and it’s heartwarming and idk if its gonna be called the most boring one bc it just makes me go. yea that’s a story i’m glad was told.

also started deer yesterday and seeing the kostas cutscene made me go :O because. she takes out his dagger. she keeps it with her. that hurt me! that single detail made me really excited to play her route as well!

[hamadynes]

Claude and any of the other lords!

Y’all are MVPs… I appreciate you so much

How I feel about this character:

I feel like… it’s decently obvious that I’d die for Claude… Like I definitely knew I was going Golden Deer as soon as I saw his recruitment trailer and heard Joe Zieja SPEAK, but nothing could have prepared me for how much I love him now that I’m actually in it. 

(Under a read more cause of spoilers and I talk waaaaaay too much…

A lot of people claim that Claude grows the least of the three lords over the timeskip, and while I’d generally agree with that, it’s still such a poignant thing to get to the timeskip and suddenly this cheerful, teasing “That’s the Golden Deer for ya!” has changed to this super resigned yet determined “Sorry, but I must…” Sure, Claude may be the one who is least outwardly affected by the war, but honestly, that’s exactly what he wants you to think. He has a smile that doesn’t reach his eyes and that’s even more true after the timeskip. He has these grand ideas about how he wants to change the world and is actually facing the reality of the scope of what that dream implies for one of the first times. No, his dream isn’t a raging fire willing to burn its way through a forest if it has to like Edelgard, and it isn’t so steeped in despair it loses its meaning like Dimitri. But gosh, the way he talks about it... he wants it so desperately it hurts, yet it’s all tempered by the lingering fear of “can I really do it?” The Alliance is falling apart as he struggles to keep up a good front, all of his friends have scattered, he’s getting forced into a corner by the other lords, who have way more experience, training, and military strength… and here’s Claude. Tired and battered, but still smiling and still fighting and still hoping cause the world he’s dreaming of is WORTH THAT and like? That’s my favorite kind of character. 

Not to mention hiS BACKSTORY MY GOSH. Looked on as a filthy outsider by both his worlds, someone who either has “beast’s” or “coward’s” blood in his veins depending on who you ask and then is treated as such. And yet?? He’s not cold? He’s not dismissive of other people? He hides behind a battle worn smirk and charismatic words and looks up at the sky and dreams of a world where the boundaries are torn down and people see people as people first and their bloodlines second and oh my gosh just, let him be happy please????!!?

All the people I ship romantically with this character

I’m notoriously bad at multi-shipping cause once my heart is set on something, it’s SET, so like, Hilda for the banter is great and Petra for the cool societal implications is also great, but BYLETH FOR THE SURPRISED SMILES AND MUTUAL SUPPORT AND POWER COUPLE DYNAMIC SLAYS ME. 

Look. L o o k. I know I’m gonna be biased and I know that Byleth being plot important plays a huge role in how much they interact buT ALSO. Byleth is the first person to actually give substance to Claude’s dream and that’s? So huge for him? He has these wild ambitions and crazy dreams that he’s determined to pursue, but also never a real way to accomplish them. He’s the only lord without a route specific retainer and he’s never had someone that’s so firmly in his corner, who supports his ideals yet also challenges him to see them through. And then Byleth shows up and she’s knowledgeable and powerful and he can USE that, but oh, oh no, she’s also kind, she also has this deadpan can’t-quite-tell-if-it-was-intentional humor that catches him off guard, she doesn’t smile often but they’re so real and so genuine he can’t help but return them, she sees him as more than an outsider, the heir of House von Riegan, or an Almyran royal, she looks at his dreams and smiles and opens the door to a reality where they aren’t just dreams anymore. I ALSO LOVE THE IDEA THAT CLAUDE’S TEASING GETS THESE LITTLE SURPRISED LAUGHS STARTLED OUT OF BYLETH? She’s stoic and distant and doesn’t show a lot of emotion cause that was never encouraged, but her deer are ridiculous and adorable and sweet and Claude is the epitome of that anD UGH I LOVE THEM. 

Also their paired ending?? Is so good??? I was wary of it at first, but I FREAKING LOVE THAT IT ISN’T JUST CORNY THEY LIVED HAPPILY EVER AFTER, it’s CLAUDE HAS A DREAM AND HE PURSUES THAT DREAM BUT THEN COMES BACK TO HER LIKE??? AHHHHHHHHHH

My non-romantic OTP for this character

HILDA. Like I said, I LOVE their banter and the way they goad each other on and generally just play off each other. It’s a very fun dynamic and I could absolutely imagine them running amok at the monastery together, gossiping and teasing other students, pulling pranks, and generally doing vine worthy activities… if Hilda can work up the effort. 

WAIT WAIT LORENZ TOO. Claude pokes relentless fun at him at all times, and Lorenz HATES IT, but like, in a resigned sort of way and I can’t. 

… Just all the Deer are the ultimate brOTP tbh… They play off each other so well and their antics are soooooo fun. They’re goofballs, but they care about each other so much and I’m so proud. 

My unpopular opinion about this character:

Dunno if it’s unpopular but like, regardless of romantic partner (or not, cause that’s also a totally in character option too imo), I don’t think Claude would ever have kids or ever “settle down.” He’s just not the type to stay still or have time to prioritize a family. Unlike the other lords, his dreams extend WAY beyond Fodlan, and I don’t think he’ll ever stop pursuing a true WORLD where borders are torn down. 

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

I WANT. SO BADLY. FOR CLAUDE’S PAIRED ENDING WITH BYLETH TO BE LIKE. YEAH HE SHOWED UP. HE KICKED BUTT AND HELPED OUT THE LEADER OF UNITED FODLAN. THEY MADE SURE THINGS WERE GOOD, PUT TRUSTED PEOPLE IN CHARGE OF FOSTERING PEACE (Probs Cyril and Lorenz and Hilda and the rest of the deer) THEN THEY DISAPPEARED. JUST GONE. 

Like if there was one thing the post war didn’t give me, it was Byleth actually getting to choose whether or not she actually wanted to be the new leader… Throughout the game, it’s pretty obvious that, while she DOES CARE, it isn’t really HER dream to unite Fodlan and then rule over it… I think she and Claude both would be waaaaay happier jumping on his Wyvern and taking his dream on the road to change the world at large. They’re both practical, capable, and don’t really like being tied down, so I definitely feel like they’d have the time of their lives just wandering the world, instigating change, taking mercenary jobs if need be, fishing, living off the land, and then packing up and moving to the next place to do it again.