#like Fodlan? so fucking good

[sleepy-bear-tm]

I can let a lot of inconsistencies in media slide if I find the world or characters interesting. I may go on rants about the writing but if it’s got distinctive lore? I will simply look away from aspects I do not like.

[randomnameless]

Checking this alt's lines for something interesting, I happened on this instead :

WTF is Rhea saying about time being everlasting for her??

Nabateans have a longer lifespan than humans, for sure, but they're not eternal?

We know Aubin was an old man when Yuri met him, even if we don't have direct confirmation he was a Nabatean. But to imply Nabateans are "everlasting" - that is if someone doesn't slaughter them - is something that wasn't even suggested in Houses or Nopes, but then, I know 10k years of lore are just, that, so maybe they were, or not, idk.

Also, WTF is the "I will return to those days. That thought is what sustains me, even now"???

Sothis even lampshades this, wondering if it's alright to be so obsessed with her, and the "oh of course you should be pleased" is???? Rhea's ashamed of her obsession and her inability to process her mother's death and absence, she isn't proud of it!

The "what sustains me, even now" is doubly WTF, because we know, Fodlan-wise, that Rhea didn't spend every hour of every day thinking on how to resurrect Sothis, she only crafted 12 homonculi in 1000 years, and let Jerry and bby!Billy live their lives out of her reach when Jerry ran away 20 years ago.

The return of the Goddess is one of her objectives, for sure, but she isn't as obsessed with it as those lines suggest.

And the second reason is more, uh, watsonian wise : this Rhea is the one who is hanging out with her mom, so why the "I will return to those days. This is what sustains me" nonsense? She's already living through "those days" with her gremlin, there's nothing to return to, she's already there!

--

In a way, this alt is even more infuriating because it feels like Rhea's own "Adrift" banner : Young!Azura dreamt she had people who were her friends/accepted her, but it was nothing but a dream, it's not the Ascended or even Legendary!Azura who ended her journey with real, and not dream "friends".

Here Rhea reunites with her mom - save that it's the amnesiac gremlin and not the mother she remembers - but her core trauma and issues aren't tackled, this is not the Rhea who survives Silver Snow and can finally have a character arc because Billy decided to marry her else she either dies or fades off-screen*, but, I'd say, a Rhea who "might have reunited with the Gremlin during the events of White Clouds" and even then, it's a bit of a stretch.

But given how Gremlin!Sothis is here, we can't even say this alt is finally Rhea's dreams coming to fruition - because this is not the Sothis who remembers being her Mother, nor acts as one (hell they seem to be closer on the artwork for the soundtrack than in the multiple lines exchanged with this alt!) so it's just... let's say some weird weed induced hallucination she has lol

What's even more annoying is how this TT dialogue implies Gremlin!Sothis knows there's something wrong and disturbing about Rhea's obsession, but instead of trying to tell her to move on and accept the present to build a new future instead of being focused on the past, Sothis drops that point after Rhea gives a, frankly, disturbing answer, and prefers to follow on the topic of conversation at hand, aka, what kind of present Billy'd like.

:/

We can't have a Sothis who borrows a page from Seteth's wife's book and tell her daughter something like this :

And we can't even have some harmless heroes fluff - like Erinys hanging out with her Manhya even if she knows the Manhya from her world is dead, or Tailte spending time with her children - this alt was designed as "Rhea who is weirdly obsessed with her mom reunites with the sassy Gremlin in Byleth's head who doesn't remember her - even if she does at a certain point in the canon - , and Rhea's so desperate that she's satisfied with this and tries to bond with the Gremlin who - despite wondering where and what her family was doing and missing them in the canon and the spin-off - feels awkward and begrudgingly accepts her affections".

And the entire situation will never be resolved in a meaningful way, Rhea's still creepily obsessed with her mother returning and won't deal with her obsession in a constructive "the past will never return let's move on" way like her brother and niece (?) learnt.

*I'd say Heroes who "finish their character arcs and are the best versions of themselves" are Brave Heroes, so unless Brave!Rhea becomes a thing, this will never happen, but given how Rhea's development in FE16 is tied to Billy wanting to shag her because everything is crammed in that horrible S-support convo even the fact that her mother finally talks to her, we could make a case for Ascended!Rhea who, much like Azura, will be a mouthpiece to sing the praises of the player character.

[slicksquid]

remembering how fucking insane the fire emblem three houses ost went

[lumeha]

In the end, too, another flaw of FE3H is that it isn't able to make itself stand without making the Agarthans so... wildly inhuman

Like how Kronya's heart not being a heart is just. Never explained. It's just there. Fuck you if you care I guess, but also, it's a detail, and it's another detail in a pile of detail that detach the Agarthans from their supposed humanity. Because that's... who they are supposed to be. The humans who got exiled underground by Sothis after destroying the Fodlan, leading her to take her deadly nap.

The worst part is... I kinda love the Agarthans ? I don't think they are really good as a story element, because their presence undermines a lot in terms of world building, but at the same time they are so stupid fun. I love the techno-magic, I love the dubstep, I love their fucking over the top dialogue. It's fun ! It's genuinely kind of dumb honestly ! I like Thales, he's an horrible man !

And it's ... They are supposed to be human. And frankly I think humans can be disgustingly evil the way the Agarthans are, sometimes. But... FE3H puts them in a position where they just don't look human.

I think the introduction of SF-like elements to FE is, genuinely, kinda cool ! But it just never goes beyond that, and beyond being kind of a weird crutch to Edelgard's story. Hm. Not quite that. But it's like they took inspiration from Arvis and Manfroy and missed what made it interesting ? without letting Arvis get away from his actions ? And in that case, Manfroy is not a weird underground guy whose heart is not a heart and whose appearance is almost undead-like (and also no shapeshifting plot).

Then again. As I said. I like Thales. I like Thales' design, in particular, I think he looks great, and he genuinely does have some really over the top, awful, horrible dialogue that I like because sometimes I want to see a terrible stain of a guy being terrible. But man. I think it kind of removes something from the story to have everything having to be linked back to him and his dubstep people. Makes it all feel kind of detached from what sounds like the main conflict is supposed to be about, when you think about it for too long.

[faerghusfucker]

my evolution as a fe3h fan is rlly funny to me lol. i played the game for the first time when i was 15 and now at 19 im playing through three hopes (yes im super late dont ask) and the fact that there have been times where ive been obsessed with EVERY HOUSE is rlly funny to me

at the start i was a claude and golden deer stan through and through bc funny meme house and also the nemesis fight

then when i was starting to get a little more politically minded i fell into the “edelgard did nothing wrong” camp because. yeah!!!! meritocracy!!!! united!!!! fuck religion!!!

and now as an adult with a lot more awareness and a lot less edgy atheism i came to the conclusion that not only is imperialism and destroying people’s lives for an ideal you have no concrete way of upholding bad, but the entire “let’s get rid of crests” argument is not even a solid one because it centers adrestia and doesn’t take into account the other two regions’ need for heroes relics.

correct me if i’m missing something or if i’m wrong, but no one in adrestia’s nobility actually has a hero’s crest. if they have crests, they’re saint crests, and saint crests have compatibility with sacred weapons, which are different to heroes relics because anyone can use them without turning into a beast.

additionally, adrestia doesn’t have any immediate neighbors that could cause them trouble. it doesn’t directly border a non-fodlan country, and they seem to have taken care of their brigid situation by kidnapping petra. the empire has no immediate threats.

the kingdom and alliance tho????? they border sreng and almyra respectively, which seem to invade at the drop of a hat and force houses gautier and goneril respectively to be in constant combat. those two houses literally DEPEND ON THEIR RELICS FOR SURVIVAL. until someone figures out a better way for them to defend their lands, they NEED crests!!!

obviously this isn’t necessarily a good thing, since we see the path that miklan and rufus as crestless older sons go down, but it’s not like the kingdom is exactly keen on keeping this in place either. in three hopes they talk a ton abt how crest bloodlines are dying out and how something needs to change. hell, sylvain is someone who directly benefits from faerghus’ crest dependency and yet in his supports with shez, he’s going and devising powerful weapons that people without crests can use!!! we see time and time again that the young nobles of faerghus are interested in the same things edelgard is: establishing a more equal society, and decreasing the need for crests. but why doesn’t she just collaborate with them to that end???? why doesn’t she hear dimitri out when he tries to talk her out of continuing on this path????

oh yeah. the church.

i’m probably gonna yap abt the church later lol i’m running out of steam on this ramble. tiktok is banned and so this is what i’ve resolved to do while i sip my morning coffee lol bear with me

[emblemxeno]

(different anon) re: about the Nohr vs. 3H Edel thing--I'd like to add that at least a part of Nohr's war stem from the fact that they have like, hardly anything in terms of food resources. It's brought up in pretty much every route in Fates at some point or another that all the citizens of Nohr are actively living through a famine, and to the credit of the writers for Fates, this is also never framed as a "good reason to go to war" moreso than it's presented as part of the tragedy of the war, a sort of "these people are starving and their leader--controlled by an outside force hellbent on destroying the entire world--can't/won't negotiate a treaty w/ the bountiful neighbors for food trade, and chooses to wage war instead" which doubles down on the tragic narrative elements presented in Nohr since like, funding a war and feeding an army is only going to make things worse for the average citizens of Nohr, and iirc this aspect of the tragedy is also directly addressed (in the Hoshido route at least bc of Silas and Ryouma's convo in one of the later chapters, but I can't recall if this is addressed in the other routes--and I could be misremembering, been a hot minute since I played Fates--but either way).

Meanwhile, Adrestia seems to be one of the most prosperous and bountiful nations in Fodlan, and food shortages are never an issue for anyone living in Adrestia except it seems the commoners, which is a class issue thing; food/resources are never shown, said, or implied to be tied to Edelgard's desire to conquer Fodlan.

Exactly! You hit the nail on the head with Nohr's situation. Hell, in a fucked up way, the leaders of Nohr have more of a reason to wage war than Edelgard does for Adrestia. Hoshido being so isolationist that they ignore the problems of their neighbors could be constructed into an argument of them hoarding their resources and leaving everyone else to starve, betraying their humanity and worldly responsibility.

But even with that, as you say, Nohr's war is treated as wrong, because war is wrong. There's no reason to fight and kill others when you have the capacity to reason and negotiate. Does that mean to completely obliterate the offending force, though? No! Of course not. Especially when there are people who are trying to undermine or soften the damage that their leaders are doing.

3H's war, meanwhile, is treated with the same sentiments as like... a natural disaster? As if it was always gonna happen as a result of conflicting ideals. And it's gross, because this was a deliberate writing choice. By removing or pivoting away from the consequences of declaring war and conquering others' homes, you write your game into being defensive of and at times, affirming of starting a war in the first place. For example, Edelgard ~feeling bad~ and tugging at your heart for sympathy is unavoidable, while the material consequences of her actions are optional.

On the flip side, Fates story makes sure to include all aspects of war into its plot, for better and for worse.

[alexissara]

5 Years Of Three Houses, 5 Years Of Loving Edelgard.

5 Years ago today, I was first able to enter the continent of Fodlan, I meet Edelgard and from there I fell for a character in a way I never had before. I was already a professional writer with published worked and focused on Character driven work but I was still blown away by what an amazing character Edelgard was. 5 years ago, I got Engaged at a queer con, I was playing my 2nd route of three houses having played from Three Houses. The game was with me at this wonderful landing point in my life, it was there during the rough covid era struggles, when I was deeply, deeply sick, I was sicker than I ever been, not with Covid but with stomach issues and was hospitalized multiple times in one month ending in a surgery. I ran a roleplay inspired by Three Houses in Thirsty Sword Lesbians which I played for many years, I dated one of my exes through the whole campaign and grew a lot closer to one of my current girlfriends through it. I refined a version of one of my favorite OCs Ever Lena to do a Three Houses OC AU version of her for a different roleplay and while that fell through she did end up being used for that previously mentioned TSL game.

I reviewed Three Houses after finishing all four routes, I wanted to be really through and experience every route, every story, every FF romance arc, etc before I reviewed it. I gave the game a 7/10, I think now I'd give it an 8/10 maybe but a review score is what I think of the game as an overall package. The life changing power of Crimson Flower was really the big deal for me. That was 10/10, that was peak, it was just that the other routes were nowhere near as good for me. Edelgard the revolutionary who is happy to cast herself as a villain if that's what it takes to change the oppression in the world, something that was so strong, so powerful that it was reflected into our world. She was so good at being a character who impacted a fictional world, the only reason things happen at all that people to this day get angry about people loving her, discourse about her, cast her off, make up shit, show their political asses, etc. What a fucking character to be hated so strongly, for so long by this rabid group. Keeping love from a small fan base over time is hard but maintaining hate as a fictional character, that's harder especially with a 24/7 culture war of new women to hate. However, she also maintained love, Edelgard is the most popular character in all of Fire Emblem, in the 5 years she's got the most fan art, the most votes in CYL, she clearly makes nearly the most money in the gacha given how often they make new versions of her or rerun her, she is the moment.

Of course, it is not just Edelgard I love but the Black Eagles as a whole from the classic roster to the extended family of Mercedes, Lyesthia, Shamir, Leonie, to the Hopes additions of Monica and Shez. Edelgard stands so tall but she doesn't overshadow her amazing allies in changing the world. Even the men, me a famous not man enjoyer, finds at worst like, kinda boring rather than like repulsive. Plus I really love Hubert and Jeritza both as characters and think they are lovely, brilliant characters I wouldn't want to see replaced.

Three Houses hit me in a way "better" games haven't hit me in. I still think about the characters, the world, the politics, the ideas, the lore, the romances, everything so often, daily. I love so much art, most of this little blog is me talking about art I engaged with and I struggle to think of another piece of art that took me by storm in the same ways that Three Houses has. I'd love to have another game sweep me off my feet and have me giggling like someone who just met their idol but even if it doesn't happen again I am glad it happened with Three Houses.

Then there was Three Hopes and I fucking love Three Hopes, it only exists in the context of Houses but Scarlet Blaze and Golden Wildfire blew me the fuck away. Both routes do a ton for the characters in the series, the plots are fantastic, bringing Monica back and making her one of the best characters in the Fire Emblem series was so fucking great, and I adore the Warriors gameplay. Three Houses was a gift that not only gave itself but Hopes which really just furthered helped put Houses in focus, tie in way more lore, way more context, and way more information. I could explore the world of Fodlan even more honestly, I still hope for Hopes DLC because I just love this game.

It was so amazing to see Edeglard freed of Those Who Slither in the dark and the way her revolution works if she could just have saved her lesbian best friend and probably girlfriend. I loved to see the new amazing paralogues, the way the war shakes out, how she operates free of enemies resting in her house, how the nobles react when Edelgard is a free agent, the way the church fights back in this new time line. It really exciting and it is fun to see how the world once again revolves around the actions and moves of Edelgard and how she sets Fodlan Ablaze with change but now with more time to do things more carefully. It is such a great alterative look.

I don't have enough glowing things to say about Three Houses but I do have some things to say for the future of my favorite video game series. I deeply hope the future of Fire Emblem is more like Houses and not like the games around it. Houses was a return to form and the first story that blew me away since Radiant Dawn. I want more games that have the style and budget and scope and ambition of a Houses. I don't really trust intelligent systems to bring me that kind of story, so I hope they work with Koei again in the future and let their writers do their thing,

I love the smaller scale Fire Emblems but I can play indie games and smaller budget SRPGs and get the scope and ambition of a smaller scale Fire Emblem but only Nintendo money can bring the kind of game Houses is to the table. I really want to see the expensive class system brought back hopefully without the sexism and the big roster of characters and so much of the little things that made houses so charming. I don't need multiple routes but I would like a good political message like Crimson Flower to be in the future. I don't know if I'll ever love a character not made by me or my loves ones as much as I love Edelgard again but I want them try and I want them to pull it off.

Happy 5 Years Fire Emblem Three Houses, you are something special. If you want to see more of me gushing about houses you can read my fics here https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlexisSara/works?fandom_id=23985107

[yulgurr]

shoutout to the person who reblogged half of my good oc posts one by one but said they don't know lore of any of my guys, this one is for you. i hope you see this. i love you

i've been inactive recently but my brain cooker is always cooking, so i will do a small(a lie) recap of my stupid funy 3 houses main trio

look at these guys. war criminals

i will yap about them from left to right.. under the cut! because i yap a lot and it takes too much space!

Camille Adeline Gautier - her dominant color is red, so she is obviously from blue lions house. She's Sylvain's twin, she also has a minor crest of Gautier and she also likes girls, but her distinct difference is that she is a loser but gets super jacked post-timeskip (still remains a loser). She holds a grudge against Miklan but is also scared of him to death, but also wants him dead, it's complicated and she needs therapy. AND SHE GETS ONE and is able to live freely and happily despite still being a loser. She also has a suspicious magic tome with weird spells in a different language.. and her kit is agarthan spells only.. huh! weird!

Theodore von Menja - his main color is yellow, so he is, of course, a black eagles student. He is an illegitimate son of viscount Menja of the empire... except that HE ISN'T he is an impersonator and he is SO.BAD AT HIS ONLY.JOB of impersonating. He doesn't know nobles' etiquette, he can't write like a noble, he doesn't talk like a noble, he doesn't wear his clothes like a noble (they're a bit too big) AND his recruitment condition is you giving him 50k gold. He's good at killing though and his steps are silent. He is awfully observant and is pretty good at keeping his emotions and feelings in check, showing people a side of himself he wants them to see. Post-timeskip Theo is drinking a bit too much and often talks how "it's been 10 years" and he "just wants to go home".

Sienna Crane - her signature color is blue so she is from golden deer. She is the youngest child of Crane Guild of the Alliance, who are one of the biggest merchant guilds in all of Fodlan, and also have connections outside its borders. Sienna's biological father left early on, then immediately got married and became the best polo player in the Adrestian Empire, never to be seen by his former family ever again. Sienna's mother later remarried, and the guy turned out to be a head of the Crane Guild. Sienna then grew up without any financial problems, she was always provided for and always got what she wanted. She's not a spoiled brat in the academy phase though, she is just dumb (no better way to put it) and doesn't get the value of money, but she means well and wants to help everyone. Post-timeskip things get difficult for her, and she actively tries to find a partner. During these 5 years she fucked around and found out, lost her eye, got smarter and realized the most terrifying thing a girl can realize. Her parents have arranged a marriage for her with their friend from Morfis, who is more than twice older than Sienna, and they agreed on this arrangement when she was 13! Insane! Crazy! So she does her best to escape this fate, her parents and the guild that has eyes everywhere. And she fails.

hope this cleared things up! thumbs up emoji

In three hopes their stories are altered, obviously, but Sienna basically escapes from her wedding in a wedding dress and fights in it. why wouldn't she change? idk

[stormsbourne]

The most baffling thing about the Kotaku article, besides spewing out typical Edelstan talking points, is how it thinks Claude wants the "status quo" and has an "us vs them" mindset. I'm sorry, but what?! Have they actually played the game?

it doesn't make any sense for dimitri either, who says time and again that he finds the current system abhorrent and wants to cultivate an era where the strong aren't able to easily prey on the weak who can't defend themselves. the entire point of fe3h is that it's four different takes on what needs fixing in a fucked up world. some of the takes are wrong and some are ill-informed, but every "lead character" of each route (edelgard, claude, dimitri, and rhea) have a different view on what fodlan really needs to become a better place.

and in regards to saying edelgard is the only right one, or even the most right one, I think it's just a western thing to view conquest as inherently productive and I think it's an instinct we should interrogate! not to mention that fire emblem is traditionally about either recovering conquered land or defending your home, eventually taking the fight to the invaders but only because you got invaded first. so crimson flower is trying to tell us something by nature of it being a route where you are doing conquest. you are on the side of the initiator. all of the lords in 3h pull from very distinct archetypes (dimitri is a combination of a classic lord and the swordsman/nobleman with a dark past, your ravens and such; claude is a combination of the wyvern riding noble/prince -- often villainous -- and the wandering/itinerant prince like lewyn or joshua). edelgard pulls from the red emperor, an exclusively villainous archetype very, very strongly and has little else to her.

all of this is also without getting into that japanese game writers are just going to have a very different outlook on this shit than online western leftists in their 20s. I find it happens with a lot of non-american media specifically, where people have a hard time understanding, say, japan's relationship with the aesthetics of christianity or catholicism, because they've got the american viewpoint on those religions and what they mean embedded so deeply that it doesn't occur to them.

anyway I don't know how anyone playing through cf watches dedue Do That on tailtean plains while a dour war march plays, and thinks to themselves, yeah, I'm the good guy here

[fantasyinvader]

Concerning Claude’s ideals...

Looking at the other nations outside of Fodlan. Sreng is a desert wasteland, fighting over territory they’ve lost to the Kingdom. Albinea is in a similar state, resulting in a small population that can’t grow food due to arctic conditions. If anything, Claude using trade to help promote his ideals would benefit these nations as they can help them with food. Likewise, Morfis is a metropolis that is part of a web of trading routes so it’s not hard to get them involved. Claude getting Almyra involved with trade would make it easier for him to get Morfis involved, as marching an army through a massive dessert to invade would be a disaster. Brigid would be good for a trading post, and it’s also said to be bountiful so it’s not like food is scarce there.

Dagda is the question mark. Shamir calls the organization she was a part of there as one big mercenary state. Shamir mentions how Dagda felt “freer” than Fodlan in her support with Hapi, but there was more conflicts over there as more people did whatever they wanted. Considering she’s in no hurry to go back, like Cyril, really shows she has issues with the place. Also reminds me of how Claude only starts learning rulers have duties and responsibilties when he comes to Fodlan despite being Almyran nobility.

Might need to revisit my theory about how Almyra was also founded by members of the Elite’s clans who fled Fodlan rather than submit to the Empire.

The fact Shamir mentions she was part of a mercenary state, and the link that said organization was the one who attacked Nuvelle... fuck, someone likely paid Dagda to invade the Empire and got Brigid involved in the process. And considering it's Fodlan, it was likely Thales.

[randomnameless]

Why do the FEH devs insist on ignoring Nabatean lore so much?

I recently had a surprisingly cordial discussion on redshit with someone about the "nabateans = colonisers" take, and one of the main points raised was that the game was purposedly foggy around Nabateans/Sothis/their story because it would obviously favor a certain narrative (and thus make another narrative look, uh, not that marketable anymore).

To be honest, we still ended up with a product that had a lead go "this race and its blood* is the reason why the world sucks" and yet that lead is still marketable enough to have raunchy cipher cards and 5 FEH alts, so I actually wonder if, while pissing on that lore had that purpose, it was ultimately pointless since Supreme Leader can still sell goodies despite her incarnation in FE16.

And not only Supreme Leader - but the entirety of WC where we basically have 70% of the cast crying/complaining about their "mixed blood" or lack of and basically adding their 10 cents to the "this race and its blood is the reason why the world sucks".

I mean, can you imagine Sylvain selling any goodies and alts if Flayn replied to his "wah wah people only are kind to me and want to fuck me because I have Nabatean blood :(" by some uncharacteristic "good for you, I have to hide my ears, had to dye my hair, have to lie about my family because if the truth is found out about my identity, I will be hunted and vivisected like an animal and harvested for parts by people who call my kin abominations - just like what happens in the game where the same people who call my kin "abominations" ally with a classmate who calls me a creature and pretends I am incapable of human feelings based on my race".

FE Fodlan's main selling point is its cast of students, for various reasons, but even if I tried to kid myself, Nopes and FEH made it clears : students are the main selling point.

If you spare more time and attention to the Nabatean plot/lore, the students either grow from "likeable" to "despicable" or worse, you won't gaf about them because yeah sure, Hilda might be upset because people expect things from her due to her crust, but it would feel like a "peanut" compared to Seteth's irrational (granted, it's not so irrational since GW exists) fear that Flayn's newest friends would dissect her if they learnt she was a Nabatean, and being conflicted by finally letting her have human friends and form bonds she crave, or protect her due to the trauma from the genocide of their species.

Don't get me wrong, I love peanuts, I mean, not everyone can have a tragik of loaded backstory!

And yet, given how this verse's DNA is "can you fight against the red emperor who uwus about you", they had to add copious amounts of Earl Grey to their games so there's no clear-cut factions :

The "Your alien blood and its influence on the world corrupted it, so I want to reform it under my command" vs "I don't want to die and you oppose me due to my race and side with the people who genocided my kin"

is turned to :

"Your alien blood Crests and its your church's influence on the world corrupted it, so I want to reform it under my command"

"I don't want to die and you oppose me due to my race and side with the people who genocided my kin"

Sprinkle with the cast's hammering here and there that the "reforms" might be needed - but never develop on what they are - and add a few baseless and groundless takes as a toping (basically everything Claude says about tolerance and the general "isolationism/foreign policy" stuff) and you get FE Fodlan where the Red Emperor's war isn't seen as the catastrophe it is in the other entries from the series!

Now, for FEH...

FWIW, the F!F!Billy's trailer had them try to explain that Sothis was a bit pissed about her slaughtered/massacred children when Nopes never gave any reason about why she was pissed - maybe on Billy's behalf bcs Jerry's dead, but come on, she would indeed deserve the medal of the worst parent in the franchise if that was the case, since Billy can murder her daughter without Sothis taking over ! - but given that they cannot write/go against the source game those characters are from.

They tried a bit, with B!Supreme Leader and Hegemongard's FB, but then it stopped (because she had no "new unit" released since then lol) and I can understand why : Hegemongard came out before the Supreme Emblem, and Hegemongard hates dragons who are seen/perceived as gods by some of their human followers. Come FE17, and now Supreme Emblem accepts Alear because they are "one of the good ones". We can come up with HCs and details and talk about what are emblems or if Hegemongard's views were only hers at the end of AM all day long... But imo, Doylist wise, it still feels it's a retcon because the devs from the main games tried to scrap and remove the most "controversial" traits she had.

For the other characters... Well, you see what Marianne is in FEH (but even in her base games), she's one of the few characters who reacts - in a way - to the partial history about relics and demonic beasts and all... only to give sad uwus to Maurice.

FE16 (and Nopes) refused to have any "student" character react to the Nabatean lore/reveal, about what are relics and all. There are no lines, Claude shared some knowledge in the explore section of VW's last chapter, but we don't have anyone muse or think or even talk about what are relics, what are crests, and what kind of fuckery their ancestors or the ancient humans of Fodlan did.

With that in mind, FEH can't do much : either they write Marianne in a retcon-y way like what happened for Hegemongard (and they're not afraid to piss on characterisation, look at Lyon!), or they flanderise her "character" and develop her around 3 lines she had in the game in her paralogue, and continue to give sad uwus about Momo when he was at best a guy who slaughtered and murdered so much that he abused the Nabatean turned into a relic to the point where he turned in a demonic beast even if he had a matching crest, or at worst, had been part of Nemesis's piñata party in Zanado and was something of a genocider.

Tldr :

Why FE Fodlan never gaf about Nabateans : earl grey + the marketable cast has to stay marketable and you can't sell peanuts at the same price you'd sell swordfish

Why FEH dgaf about Nabatean lore : they can't afford to retcon characters + they have to sell peanut alts with the same seasoning they had in their base game.

For what it's worth though, I think FEH is more daring than the base game(s) given how they gave more lines and screentime to Rhea - through her different alts - than GW. And they even designed her Halloween!alt's lines to piss on some of Claude's assertions, while the various FB involving members of the church also - indirectly - reply to some accusations thrown their way in FE16 when, FE16, never gave them an opportunity or lines to explain that those takes were full of dung.

*"but random, maybe she doesn't know that the crests she often decries is "dragon blood"!"

It's highly debatable, especially given what she and Hubert throw to Billy in CF - but even if she doesn't, Doylist wise we still have a character who, knowingly or not, says "this race and its blood* is the reason why the world sucks" and who is never called out on her prejudice. That's more of an issue regarding the general writing though, she has to be a red emperor and took pages from Ashnard's book, and yet, the player must still feel bad and want to romance her, so her mindest/goal cannot be looked at too closely, because, I guess, even the devs thought it would be difficult to romance her (thus sell goodies!) if more light was shed on the "blood from this race corrupts our people" schtick -> which in turn would also make characters whose backstory and gimmick rely on "crying about crests" be way less likeable, thus marketable and able to sell goodies.

[deathbirby]

I don't know if Rhealeth is fully your thing, but like what are your thoughts

I eat Rhealeth for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

I think they're neat. Being able to let go of a fantasy and truly see the person who was always there for you.

Also the meme potential... Jeralt tells Byleth to be careful of Rhea and Byleth completely ignores that and invites her to tea and yeeted gifts at her.

Or Byleth seeing Rhea reveal her true form and immediately going to help her when they see she is in trouble. They deadass do not care about what she looks like. Imagine them running down that hill while they're internally going "HOLY FUCK THATS HOT"

Or how Byleth is so fucking concerned for Rhea in SS (and VW) and just wants to find her. They're running around Fodlan looking under rocks and climbing in trees to find her you just know.

Oh and Byleth not escaping when Rhea blasts the nukes at Shambhala when they could absolutely do that. They're worried for their dragon pope...

Also Byleth running over to Rhea's unconscious form and holding them like that "you good?" "no" meme.

And before the battle they just look so sad when Seteth tells them they gotta ohko Rhea. They dont wanna do that damn ittt.

And then the final cutscene. Byleth deadass ran ALL THE WAY to the cathedral while SOMEHOW keeping up with this big fuck off dragon. They were determined to get to her in time. And then they hold her as she flatlines from peak fiction.

[problematic-fodlan]

First off, Rhea never gave the nobility their titles. Her first mistake was saying crests were a gift at all, and not enforcing the rules of her own religion so that people didn’t lord over others for having crests. Secondly, what the fuck is she supposed to tell people when they came to her asking why they had super strength and have extended lifespans? She had an insane burden placed on her from the get-go, she made a mistake but she’s no evil genius pulling the strings to rule the world. It’s never said once that she set this system up for her benefit, and very clearly stated that she didn’t want it this way. She got complacent because it keeps the remnants of her people safe from you know, GENOCIDE, but I don’t think she’s evil for that.

What good does she do? The church is the only institution shown taking in orphans and refugees. The church is the only power that sent aid to Remire at all. The church is the only place in the entire continent where commoners can hold high positions and are otherwise not discriminated against. You don’t even have to follow the religion, like some people claim, nor do you have to be from Fodlan. The church isn’t calling for the conversion of other nations like Dagda, Brigid, or Almyra, and doesn’t prohibit trade or international relations.

She is not a “race supremacist” nor does she express in any way that humans are anything but equals in every route that isn’t the singular one where she loses her sanity completely. I don’t think she’s unequivocally good, but painting her as a one-dimensional villain, inhuman monster, and heartless is just wrong and it does her amazing writing a disservice

-

[faerghusfucker]

For the ask game how's about 4, 25, and/or 26 for Hubert?

4: If you could put this character in any other media, be it a book, a movie, anything, what would you put them in?

i think in general i would love to consume 3H in book form because so much of it plays out like literature that it would be amazing to see the whole story retold with language instead of visuals and gameplay. i think that, put in the hands of the right author, a lot of the beautiful symbolism and allegory and all that would play sooooo nicely on a page and it would be quite beautiful.

for hubert specifically i think a book about him would be awesome. like i said in the one ask abt dedue i think that extreme loyalty is a rlly interesting character trait and to rlly get inside his head and see how that comes about would be super cool, esp in first person.

25: What was your first impression of this character? How about now?

i thought he was fucking hilarious lol i was like WHAT is this gerard way son of a bitch doing at anime boarding school. and that opinion still stands lol i think hes silly. obviously his role in the story is actually insane and very understated when ppl talk abt edelgard/ the war/ crimson flower but. in the back of my mind he's always just the dumbass goth lol

26: What's something the character has done you can't get over? Be it something funny, bad, good, serious, whatever?

the letter that he writes in vw/ss is FASCINATING!!! i think it's a crazy deviation from his normal character for him to entertain the possibility of edelgard losing even a little bit, and i think it's super interesting to speculate on just. why he did that!!!! did edelgard ask him to????? did he do it behind her back???? what's up with that!!!!! it also makes me wonder just. how much he agrees with edelgard's doctrine and how much he's doing behind the scenes. because obviously we know that the church are not the real villains of fodlan and that those who slither in the dark are the ones ACTUALLY responsible for the evil that takes place there. we as viewers know this, edelgard knows this, hubert definitely knows this, yet edelgard focuses all her attentions on the church WITH THE HELP of those who slither. and i dont think hubert is very okay with that!!!!!!! i think he gives more of a fuck abt seeing those who slither stamped out than doing conquest n shit, and that letter was probably his last resort for having SOMETHING done abt them since edelgard prob wasnt budging on their collab lol

[emblemxeno]

How is Nohr any better than Woobiegard's Empire? They're both vicious imperial powers trying to conquer their neighbor for power and glory because they think they deserve that land. The only difference is we see Nohr commit more atrocities onscreen. Hell, the Black Eagles are just the Nohr royal family except instead of having no spines they have no brains.

Many reasons, actually!

Nohr was lead to be the way it is through a corrupt outside influence through Anankos. Though we don't have any information on rulers before him, Garon was explicitly stated to be someone who was prideful but never cared for conquering other nations. While The Slithers had a hand in the Empire, ultimately, the Empire's bullshit in the current story started with Edelgard's dad given that he destroyed an entire noble house that tried to break away because he wanted ultimate power, before Edelgard herself took up the mantle of doing that both inside and outside the Empire.

2) The Nohrian royals were pretty much groomed for 15 years into being complicit in Nohr's actions through Anankos possessing their father, added onto the pre-existing trauma of dealing with the Nohrian concubines abusing everyone around them including other royal children. The Black Eagles made a conscious decision to back Edelgard knowing what that means, with the only person having a good excuse to do so being Petra, whose country is being held hostage by the Empire.

3) The Nohr sibs actively work to 'loophole' their way through missions and assignments, as explicitly stated by Leo in chapter 14, and exemplified by how they all talk themselves and Corrin out of trouble concerning things like the Ice Tribe. Another example is how they have no issue in sparing people whatsoever, so long as Garon isn't there to threaten them into submission. The Black Eagles do jack shit to undermine Edelgard while under employ. Not that it matters, because...

4) The Nohr sibs hardly ever share positive feelings about the war and conflicts they take part in. Elise is an idealist who's visibly shown to be crushed and confused when her family isn't around, Leo outright says that they would've "lost their souls" had they not worked around Garon's orders, Xander has suicidal ideation and is basically going through doublethink when it comes to his responsibility and actions, and Camilla... well, she's already been fucked up for a long time and her fear of Garon is greater than her desire for peace. The Black Eagles meanwhile? They're just fine when participating in Edelgard's war. Sure, you have Dorothea wangsting on about it, but she's still doing her part no questions asked. Ferdie's spineless, Linhardt is unconscionable, Bernadetta basically convinced herself that forcing a complete 180 personality shift is for the best, and Petra and Caspar have no qualms about killing innocent people defending their homes, given they frequently dehumanize/impersonalize the actions.

5) Most importantly, the stories of each game present the war differently. The war in Fates and Nohr's part in it is actively presented to be irrational and wrong, a cruel plot by a false king exacerbated by the pre-existing issues that caused friction between Nohr and Hoshido in the first place. There is never a moment where a character in Fates says, "yeah this war is for the greater good." No matter the route, but especially in Conquest, Corrin is making the best of a bad situation that was out of his control from the start, yet he can turn around before it's too late. And even when the Nohr siblings have an out, that being they were abused into being accomplices in war crimes, they take responsibility of the pain they've caused at the end of Conquest, pledging their lives going forward into reshaping Nohr for the betterment of everyone.

3H is the opposite. Edelgard poses the war as better than the "false peace" that has been present between the three nations of Fodlan for three centuries. And the story actively validates her perspective and beliefs on this, through complimenting her leadership skills, saying her soldiers would rather die for her than abandon her cause, by constantly putting Rhea under scrutiny before the timeskip, by saying Edelgard "has a point" in every single route, by infantilizing her in White Clouds and CF, by giving her a happy ending at the end of CF, by the entire existence of Three Hopes, etc.

Fates paints war as the tragedy as it is, the trauma and grief that comes with the loss of any individual life, and punishes the ones who profit off of it while offering the chance of atonement from redeemable participants.

3H rewards Edelgard for warmongering, and brushes aside the brutal reality of warfare and imperialism by focusing on Edelgard's feelings about "the weight on her shoulders and her blood soaked hands!" before asking you to care about the lives taken.

Those are the differences. I hope my answers to your inquiries were satisfactory.

[howi99]

So for the son of the blue lion au, How did Dimitri even meet Mama arc?

Well, it's really simple, Mama Arc is one of the other Blue lion. Like i said, Fire emblem X RWBY so the dimitri i talk about is the real one, from fodlan and all. i can be even more precise and say he is the one from after Rodrigue death so more sad then edgy. though for reason i will explain in the chapter i am writing, during the final fight against El, those who slitter in the dark use one final weapon so they wouldn't loose. that mean that indeed, we will see familiar faces, both good and bad. (if you know fire emblem lore, people shifthing world is not a new thing. in fact, 3 house exist because a fucking dragon decided to say fuck the old world and hello new land.) Some of the character you might see in the first Volume of RWBY might be: Felix, Silvain and some others.

but back to the question, who might be Mama Arc? i'll be honest, i don't know yet. though i really like Mercedese. and the question of why the name change? again, simple, they needed a new name since new world.