#made it look like Dimitri was the bad guy and Edelgard was right in killing him but it still doesn't fit with that route

[fireemblems24]

Azure Gleam Ch 13

Alright guys, we're getting close to finishing this thing - like 10 years later, but still here.

MAIN STORY

Ok, guys, the hard battle is over. Dimitri stomping everything is all I have left to do, I hope.

I wonder if I dislike Claude now. He's here and on our side, but I think "ew" and "ugh" when I see him now.

Claude suspects stuff.

Seteth is lecturing Hilda for whining lamo.

Seeing Claude, Rhea, and Dimitri all fight on the same side is cool, even if I find Claude annoying as fuck right now.

I wish Rhea would lead the knights herself, but instead she just gets sidelines so hard in AG. Hopes as a whole tgh.

Oh! No side battles! Not all that mad. Bc that means this'll speed things up a bit lol.

MAP/SIDE BATTLE

Sylvain is admiring Dimitri and Felix and how good of leaders they are. He's hoping he gets his act together soon too lol.

It's cool seeing Byleth and Jeralt around. Rhea's here too. The camp is packed with little blue and yellow dots.

There's a letter from Glenn on the table :(

Seems a bit cheap that Byleth only supports Jeralt and Shez, but can reach A with everyone. Like a cop out.

Honestly, neither of them have a ton of supports (Jeralt or Byleth). A bit bummed, but I guess you get them kind of late. Too bad this game never got a DLC. Byleth/lord supports would've sold that.

ANNETTE & DEDUE B

Annette needs help using Crusher. It's too heavy for her.

Annette thinks she needs to gain weight, but Dedue says that's not everything and is willing to help her out.

He helps her train with a bag of rocks and credits him with the motivation to try.

Dedue hesitates a bit when replying to her though, making Annette curious.

Pretty much a set up for part 2.

ANNETTE & DIMITRI B

Their only support this game.

Annette creates a disaster in the kitchen (or training grounds, unclear). With Dimitri's help. So . . . they tried cooking together? Yeah. That was never going to end well.

Dimitri and Annette both blame themselves. Dimitri "wins" though.

Dimitri wishes he were better with magic, but it runs in the family. He wanted to be a mage when he was younger.

"An old friend of mine would give magic demonstrations." - probably Edelgard?

Annette is willing to help Dimitri learn magic. She wants to get better at teaching. Dimitri really wishes he could learn magic.

Annette really wants to be a teacher.

She encourages him not to hold back. I think he made another explosion. Poor Annette has her work cut out for her lol.

INGRID & MARIANNE B

Horse girls final support.

Ingrid's been trying to figure out what her horse is thinking/wants based on behavior but is struggling.

Unlike Marianne, but, you know, she has help lol.

Ingrid's horse doesn't want to move again, so Marianne comes to help.

The horse/pegasus doesn't want to go to the battlefield because she's worried about Ingrid (and remembering Scarlet Blaze, that sucks, Fuck SB for killing Ingrid)

Ingrid is getting better connecting with her horse, and now will go get to save her friend.

When Ingrid's leaving, Marianne starts wishing for something but doesn't say what, Ingrid guesses horseback riding together and guesses right.

Ingrid credits to spending time with Marianne and getting to know her.

So Ingrid and Marianne are friends now. Good for both of them.

SHEZ & RODRIGUE A

Rodrigue is looking for a book on mercenaries.

When Shez asks why, Rodrigue skirts around it and Shez calls him out.

After a tough battle with Jeralt and co, Rodrigue wants to read up on mercenaries to make sure he understands their tactics better and avoid potential disaster.

Shez is impressed with Rodrigue for still studying after so long.

Rodrigue says he's not as smart as Gautier or courageous as Lambert, so he has too.

Shez says Rodrigue and Felix are close alike than either would admit - they both always want to improve themselves.

(and that Dimitri and Sylvain are like their dad's too)

Rodrigue still feels he doesn't measure up to the other two though :( But I'm happy Shez had such nice things to say about Rodrigue.

MERCEDES & ASHE B

Ashe turned pale while training. He plays it off as nothing, but Mercedes calls him out.

He got a minor injury, which reminded him of seeing a ghost.

Oh, poor Ashe, Mercedes starts playing 100 questions with him - wanting to know what it was wearing lol.

Ashe tells the story - he went looking for herbs to help his sick brother and saw a ghost in the fog. While running away, he got a similar injury.

Mercedes isn't scared of his tale. She's heard it before. In her tale, it wasn't a ghost though, but a shadow. Making Ashe think he saw his own shadow too.

Now Ashe thinks he lived in fear of his own shadow, lamo.

Ashe is like, you should hear this guy's story, and there's no one there.

But this isn't Ashe pulling on Mercedes, but him thinking he found another ghost because there was never anyone else around, lol.

FELIX & RAPHAEL A

Raphael wants to work out. Felix yells at him for being loud and giving him away.

Felix is boar hunting lamo.

Raphael talks about how Petra taught him a special technique. So now we have a Deer and Lion training, talking about an Eagle.

The boar they're hunting is wounded, but Felix is still weary of it.

Felix failed to hunt a boar before.

Dimitri once hunted so many animals that they couldn't fit them all on the sled lol. Felix struggled to get one.

Raphael gets confused when Felix is talking about boar, if he means a real boar or Dimitri lol.

Raphael wants to help Felix get revenge for the boar that got away.

And he attacks head-on, much to Felix's dismay, but he got it. Felix is a bit stunned it went down so quickly.

Felix admits that maybe working with friends helps sometimes. And Raphael is happy Felix called him friend.

This was actually way more entertaining than I thought it would be (Raphael supports can be . . . you know . . . dull or amusing, this one was amusing)

Plus I love hearing the story of Dimitri being an apex hunter as a child and Felix grumbling off trying to bag his own boar and failing lamo.

RODRIGUE & FELIX A

Rodrigue wants to talk. Felix tried to brush him off. And Rodrigue's like shut up and sit down, boy. But nicely.

He wants to talk because neither know when they'll die and don't want lingering regrets. Which, knowing what happens in Azure Moon . . . :(

Rodrigue apologizes for what he said about Glenn. Which I find a bit stupid because he was a grieving father so . . .

Thankfully, Rodrigue gets to explain his thoughts behind it. Acknowledging Glenn's agency in his decisions too.

Felix denies Glenn's agency and can only get Dimitri to say he caused Glenn to die :(

Rodrigue acknowledges that, but asks Felix what he would've done. Let Dimitri die and run away to save himself or do what Glenn did.

Felix gets angry at the idea that saving your own life is cowardice and that, when the time actually comes with something like that, you don't think - only act. So . . . he walked into Rodrigue's trap lol, who'll say then Glenn acted and choose to act that way.

Felix is such a dunce, saying "we'd both survive." Rodrigue rightly accuses him of wanting it both ways lol.

Felix says he understands Rodrigue's way of thinking, but dislikes Glenn's death being glorified.

Felix apologizes too, for his own bad behavior. For hitting Rodrigue.

Felix can't stand dealing with feelings anymore and leaves lol.

I'm sooooo glad this game let Rodrigue have a voice. It was always obvious to anyone with a shred of media literacy what Rodrigue meant, but Hopes let him spell it out.

DIMITRI & YURI B

Yuri's staring at Dimitri. Same. Same.

Yuri's impressed/confused at how quickly Dimitri blended in.

Dimitri's now thinking about the best way to help the poorest (we stan a good king, guys). It's something he's thought a lot about.

He thought medical facilities or investing more in the church (who do more to help the poor than anyone else in this game) would be best, but being around them made him realize that they should get the chance to take charge of their own "destiny."

He wants rulers to actually listen to what the people need best and actually do it rather than what's best for himself.

Yuri says education for everyone is necessary. Dimitri agrees.

But then Yuri makes the point that people won't care about education if they're starving or homeless. (so really, his earlier goals of building medical facilities where people get free/cheap healthcare isn't too far off).

So Dimitri wants to improve quality of life, then build educational reform on top of that.

But of course Edelgard's warmongering is draining money, so Dimitri can't make lives for the common folk better and needs to end the war fast so he can focus on helping people and not keeping little miss imperialist away.

Yuri says if money's the problem, he can use Yuri who can connect Dimitri to merchants and hitman lol. Dimitri's like "no working evil in my name!" He's also cautious about working with Yuri because he's backstabbed people in the past.

Yuri says he promises to honestly work with Dimitri, even protect him, because working with Dimitri will help his dream come true too. So he believes in Dimitri's leadership and vision.

Dimitri says he's grown to trust Yuri too.

Man, I need a sequel game where Yuri and Dimitri work on improving Faerghus together.

SHEZ & FELIX B

So . . . I had no idea I hadn't seen this support yet. I have their A unlocked for a while now too, though, I'll wait to see it since I'm getting support fatigue at the moment.

They're training. Felix insults Shez's footwork. What a typical Felix support lol.

Shez says she has a lot on her mind. Felix calls her a worthless partner if she's training distracted.

And then explains how Shez can't afford to do that on the battlefield (like a mercenary needs telling that lol).

Shez is surprised how much Felix has a read on her.

Felix wants to know where Shez learned how to fight because it's not like a knife or a mercenary.

Shez had a lot of teachers and just picked up stuff here and there. She doesn't use the playbook that knights or mercs usually use.

Shez says she has her unique style which is to her benefit. Felix wants her to teach him. But Shez thinks it's too reliant on the sword Felix can't use. Felix is like try me.

I can agree or refuse to teach him. Obviously I'm agreeing. (I would totally be an ass if it was character I didn't like lol).

Shez comments on Felix's style too - reacting to the say things are playing out.

Shez thinks she'll get stronger too.

I seriously can't believe I let these two sit at B for so long.

ANNETTE & DEDUE A

Annette comes across Dedue training. She insists he takes a break, but he insists on training still because he's not strong enough.

He feels inadequate because he can't use a hero's relic.

He admits he's jealous that others can use such powerful weapons.

Annette's surprised that he opened up, and appreciates that he opened up around her after he tried to dial back and apologize.

Annette talks about how impressed she is with him - his ability to cook and sow where she can't, and his sheer strength despite not using a relic. She thinks he'd be too good if he could use one lol.

Dedue talks about her strengths too - her optimism and how that lifts everyone up around her. Annette is happy if she can help anyone even a little.

Annette made dinner. The bottom of the pot fell out, but she insists that dinner still tastes great.

Someone tell Annette she's not destined to work in marketing lol.

Dedue still goes to eat dinner after hearing that. Brave man.

BYLETH & JERALT B

Definitely one of the supports I was looking forward too.

Byleth has a lot of blood on his clothing and is trying to wash it out and is failing.

Jeralt says washing blood out is more work than it's worth. Proof that man's never had a period.

Jeralt says Byleth reminds him of Sitri when they first meant. She had the same quiet composure and would rather clean a handkerchief she was cleaning than throw it away.

She never laughed or cried either, like Byleth, not at first at least.

Byleth asks why Jeralt is talking about all this now. Jeralt says he's feeling guilty of the lifestyle he's given Byleth - no home, no friends, always battles.

He says life would be different if Sitri was still alive.

Byleth doesn't regret his life and likes having Jeralt around.

It's nice to learn more about Sitri.

JERALT & SHEZ C

Jeralt comes across Shez fishing. Shez is weary. Jeralt tells Shez to relax, but Shez isn't used to it.

Jeralt is like, we're mercs, life happens, it's not personal.

Shez brings up the beginning where Jeralt's Mercenaries wiped out Shez's old company. Glad they're addressing this.

Shez is still upset about it. Jeralt understands now.

He asks if Shez has a grudge. I can choose yes or no. I'm gonna choose yes. I think this Shez would admit to attachments to other people, plus the conflict is more interesting, I think.

Shez talks about how much she liked that group and shares her goals of defeating the Ashen Demon.

Jeralt's like, you just have to let that go now.

Shez admits she's partly relieved because she couldn't defeat Byleth. Jeralt is like, that means you think you could beat me? Shez is like, well, I'd have to try first.

Then Shez helps Jeralt untangle his fishing string and comments on his lack of dexterity.

Jeralt then apologizes about what happened to Shez's mercenary company, especially since it was just too minor lords spewing.

He says he didn't originally plan on killing them, but she (the old captain) came charging in trying to use Jeralt to make a name for herself.

Shez understands, but still seems regretful.

Def hope I can unlock their A in time to see how this resolved (they don't have a B support).

MAIN BATTLE

No side battles this chapter. Onto the showdown at Ailell. Which means fire ground. Ugh. Gonna make everyone a flier that it makes sense for.

They're run into the Black Eagles. The Emperor's personal force.

Claude is there. Man, I gotta play Three Houses again. Every time I see him I'm like "ugh." I did NOT used to think that way.

Wait, is Edelgard actually here? I thought she was some kind of zombie whatever.

TWSITD is there (or mysterious dark mages). Claude is like "you know these people?"

Man, why is Dimitri trusting Claude. Telling him "don't let your guard down." Dimitri wants Claude about the mages. I wouldn't count on Claude's support if he was the only person left.

Even though this IS the only route where Claude's actions make any sense lol. It's definitely in his best interest to put a stop to the Empire's warmongering.

Arval's like, maybe we can learn something this time!

Arval's not upset if they never learn the truth and promises to be with Shez always regardless.

I gotta defeat Duke Aegir and Edelgard. Interesting that she's actually there.

Ohh, persuade Death Knight. They were setting him up to be here, but I didn't know I could recruit him. Makes way more sense than in Houses where you can't. Not surprised you need Mercedes to do it. I always bring her anyways.

Dimitri took out Ladislava right away lol.

Death Knight showed up. I'm beyond seeing him as a scary opponent though lol.

Mercedes defeated the Death Knight as an NPC. Is that automatic or just funny coincidence?

Aegir and Edelgard ran away. Really wish I could've killed Aegir. Killing Edelgard would stop the war too.

I killed Caspar and Bergliez so fast the dialogue didn't even finish lol. Dimitri too strong. They both ran away. Honestly, couldn't care less about killing this version of Caspar.

Oh, cool cut scene. And, ok, it's cool to see Claude and Dimitri fighting back-to-back.

Claude tells Dimitri to run after Edelgard while he holds off the Empire here. Not sure I trust him at all, but like I said, this is the only route where his choices make any sense.

Dimitri has 74 strength lol. No wonder he kills everything so fast.

Cool to get Jeritza though.

xxx

[gascon-en-exil]

2, 3, 8, 25 for Hubert?

2. Favorite canon thing about this character?

That he's a murderer, and a patricide at that.

In past FEs and especially in Genealogy, voluntary kinslaying is presented as pretty much the worst crime you can commit, and a shorthand indicating that a character is an irredeemable monster who needs to die (ex. Chagall, Andrey). There are multiple conversations to that effect in FE4, and it crops up in a few other games as well; it's why the big Gaiden/Echoes twist is meant to hit as hard as it does, or why Ashnard has zero redeeming qualities when his backstory essentially amounts to "removing" his entire family.

And meanwhile Hubert's over here casually killing his father offscreen in two separate continuities for no greater reason than political expedience, and sometimes even getting away with it. Koei-Tecmo doesn't appear to place the same moral weight on kinslaying, since Dimitri, Claude, and...Ferdinand all perform such an act onscreen in Hopes (hmm, I wonder if the reason Edelgard is the only house leader excluded here has anything to do with the topic of my latest video...?), but I don't think that detracts from Hubert committing Obvious Villain Act #1 and giving not one single solitary fuck about it.

3. Least favorite canon thing about this character?

Mostly his Lysithea supports in Hopes, which try to spin him as loving his mother and younger sister in spite of the aforementioned gleeful kinslaying. You can't tell me he wouldn't murder his other relatives if he believed they somehow posed a threat to Edelgard's reign. Like a few of his other Hopes supports, it's a conspicuously cutesy spin on a character who otherwise escapes the generally ridiculous ways that the writing of both games attempts to make Edelgard and Jeritza sympathetic. (She draws pictures of her teacher! He likes kittens and ice cream!)

8. What’s something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you despise?

Related to the above, any attempt at softening Hubert. He's a calculating, ruthless murderer who would do literally anything if he thought it would further Edelgard's rule even if it's behind her back or she expressly forbids it, because he - in that standard incel vein - thinks he knows what a woman wants better than she does. That characterization has the potential for so much black comedy, especially when thrown up against the guileless and indefatigable Ferdinand.

Why anyone would want to throw that away and replace it with an angsty emo who's not really a bad guy once you get to know him is beyond me. If you want an angsty guy with a massive guilt complex, Dimitri's right there and even gayer.

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

When we first got his character intro in spring 2019: "He looks like Iago. He's going to push Edelgard into evil, or betray her halfway through the story...but still be playable, probably?"

Now, he's every bit as ugly and evil as I expected, and then some. Carries the constantly-faltering tone of Crimson Flower on his bony shoulders, a badass dark mage and a playable patricide, and to top it all off he's bisexual in a way that none of the bi-for-Byleth options can even touch, and unlike Dimitri fandom at large has turned Ferdibert into his most popular ship. One of the mostly unexpectedly good characters to have come out of FE16, considering that at the end of the day he still pretty much is "but what if we made Iago playable?"

[deathbirby]

For that last anon saying the Nabateans were striving for coexistence and all that, just remember that what the stans are saying is literally just made up. It's the version of the game they want to be correct to fit their agenda for the version of Edelgard they created within their own space together. It's definitely frustrating, but no matter how pro-Edelgard and anti-Nabatean they are, what they said in those comments is just objectively not true.

I guess this is the result of people twisting the context of a story for so long, and/or just being so bias that they let it color over what the story is actually saying because they WANT to see it a certain way. That or they just use that as their "owning the haters" go to arguments, and they've used them for so long that they believe that those arguments are actually within the confines of the game.

It's like how if someone tells themselves something is true long enough, they actually start to believe it. Maybe at first they did know full well none of that was true (if they didn't they're just fucking dumbasses plain and simple), but they argued it so long to "own the haters" that just forgot it wasn't canon and started to really believe it.

They use their obsession over Edelgard to color things entirely in her favor, even if it didn't actually happen. Instead of liking/loving Edelgard and agreeing with her, still seeing Rhea as bad and evil and needing to be killed and still giving in-game reasons for their views, they just make entire backstories and bullshit up. They do that to Dimitri too. Anyone who opposes Edelgard they just fabricate their role in the story to make them as horrific as possible so that Edelgard looks just and heroic. They create things out of thin air because they've run out of their in-game arguments that haven't already been run over frontwards and backwards by an 18 wheeler.

None of what they say is even based in canon at this point. It's definitely frustrating (and also because of how MANY of them believe this stuff within their hivemind), but at this point they don't even like the same game as us. In their minds they've played something completely different. Let them stew by themselves in their made up bullshit in their hivemind that they circle jerk over while we have fun enjoying the game we were given with the actual context that actually exists.

Also, just because not everyone in that server agreed with the downright Nazi logic that mod person gave doesn't mean they don't literally think the same way. They ALL believe in the Nabatean genocide and want that because Edelgard does. It doesn't matter the exact logic that leads them to that conclusion - at the end of the day, they're still advocating for genocide and using completely bonkers and fake excuses for it to be "the right thing". And why do they do all this? Because their pixel waifu wants it, so they do too and they will justify anything she does no matter how horrific (but you can bet your entire neighborhood that if a man did anything she does, they'd condemn it).

Says a lot about who they are as people. Imo leave them to rot in their corner together. Either real life will give them a wake up call one day or they'll just continue to rot.

Canon does disprove just about everything that they're saying, which makes it double weird how they came to that conclusion.

Honestly, anon, you've got such a giant ask here that I'm afraid of even touching it with my own comments haha.

But yes, it does seem to be a case of "Edelgard has to be good. She can't ally with bad people, so bad people need to be good. That means the enemy of bad people are now bad people who deserved the awful things that happened to them."

Still, I don't think everyone in that server believes in pro-genocide rhetoric. Some people have actively spoken out against it. You either get bullied into submission or banned.

Unforunately, we did try to just enjoy our canon material... only to get block evaded by some guy with no life.

[randomnameless]

I feel like (but it's only hc because as you said, the story is over now!) at the end of the WoH, while there was an "investigation" to determine who helped Nemesis, Rhea (since Seteth left to look for Flayn and their brothers fucked away) had "better" things to do, like rebuild Fodlan and help its people -

(a bit like the three house leaders different reactions in Remire - Edel wants to hunt the ones who did that (with all the dark humour it entails) when Dimtri and Claude want to help/support/look after survivors)

ultimately it wasn't the best choice she made, but given how the Church is still important in 1180, could Rhea truly have said "fig off" to all those people needing support and relief post War of Heroes, aka a war that spanned over 100 years?

(and that's not taking into account Rhea's belief, immediately after the WoH, that Sothis had to return because only she would be able to save the world)

Edelgard is full of nonsense when she says this, Enbarr is older than the Church of Seiros and was already a city when Seteth met his wife in a church (aka a church that existed before the Church of Seiros!), and ultimately created Flayn.

In Nopes, Rhea mentions how Edel's ancestor, her good friend Wilhelm, was a/the lord of Enbarr - but then we also know that Almyra and Brigid also have a nobility system (they have kings!) without the CoS and its crests playing any kind of influence... Nemesis himself was called "King" and the Elites were, iirc, clan leaders? Sure it's not the "nobility" with pretty titles and tights, but a social organisation that predates the Church of Seiros.

So yeah, it's nonsense to hammer how BaD the Church is, even when Petra should be able to rebuke her easily, but in those games, you cannot directly contradict Edel.

As for Church BaD and everyone being a yes man... I'd say it's not that the game wants the player to believe Claude and Edel are right, but more like they are wrong and misguided, but sadly, Byleth can't tell them to shut up and listen to their lesson explaining why their reasoning is full of crap because Byleth is a mute self insert and, again, in those games, you cannot directly contradict Edel.

Claude plays the reverse uno card, where Lorenz says the same things he was parroting in the pre TS about the Church's tenets promoting isolationism, only to grill Lorenz himself about this as he finally read the Seiros Books and says it never did so. Again, the writers couldn't make anyone contradict Claude, so instead, they foddered Lorenz to make Claude "grow up" and still appear as if he is the one who "knows".

For what it's worth, FE Heroes, Fe Cipher (back then!) and to some extent, FE Engage (even if it conveniently avoids mentionning/talking/referecing Nabateans) completely ignore the "church BaD" song and have Seteth, quite randomly, straight up demolish every accusation thrown by Claude or Edel - it never happens in the Fodlan games because 1/you cannot directly contradict Edel and 2/the church is red herring to make a "twist" that akshually, it was Edel behind Flamey's mask! 3/Edel merch has to sell, don't feel bad for her plz buy her merchandise.

Apparently Hubert managed to pinpoint their location by watching Javelins destroy Fort Merceus, I think? But in AM, iirc, Dimtri kills Thales "by accident" so the javelins are never thrown? So yes, I'd say it's the second option, without Thales the Agarthans aren't dangerous anymore?

FWIW, in his ending with Hapi, Dimitri finds Shambala, gets rid of the rest of the Agarthans and all is well that ends well in AM.

Yep, hard agree.

Those routes weren't handled well, but imo that's because the game itself doesn't know what it wants to be - is it a pure player fantasy with a waifu, or is it trying to be interesting with conflicting opinions but since the waifu should be a waifu and the other guy was charactersed as smart, no one can tell them they're sprouting shit - and tbh, if I hade to think about a better way with the routes, I'd yeet Claude from the story, and gice voice lines and develop Byleth's character - even if it means not ending up with the waifu.

FE16 didn't know what to do with its routes.

Quickly dumping out the Enbarr notes, since I'm sure the Shambhala section will have a ton of infodumping to note.

I think the only difference from VW is that we run some weird plan where a lot of our troops sneak into Enbarr ahead of the rest of the army moving in. Because uuuuh I guess we're weaker than the united army with Leicester? Everything else is pretty much exactly the same, including Dedue's part and the Edelgard death cinematic.

tbh I think it actually ends up feeling even weaker here? I thought it would fit better, since this is the "you like Edelgard but can't agree with her" route, but since she appears so little and her writing is so bizarre and confused... It actually feels kinda worse, since her dialogue feels incredibly inconsistent.

I thought I'd have some more appreciation for Edelgard after this route, but uh. I don't. Hm.

Anyway, onto more interesting points, I am starting to get the impression that Rhea and Seteth don't actually know much about the Agarthans. I think they might not actually know that the mysterious "those who slither in the dark" are from Agartha (and that's why they have beef), and it's basically explicit that they don't know who helped Nemesis make the Sword.

Which isn't an issue, but it's hard to remember that they know so little in practice.

Liveblogging:

A priestess mentions that they lost contact with all church personnel in Enbarr when the war started.

A soldier mentions that some of our troops have already departed for Enbarr dressed as merchants and traveling performers. We have an entire plan to have small squads sneak toward the capital and link up with the main army. The Empire apparently thinks we have abandoned our plans to invade (after Merceus).

Sylvain didn't think he's live this long (in the war)... bby. He wants to strike down the empire for Dimtri...

Apparently, we think Rhea is in Enbarr because of a soldier from Merceus. I guess Judith only told us that the Empire captured her. I already forgor.

The pre-battle blurb also mentions the troops moving in secret and our surprise attack on Enbarr. I don't recall this from VW. We were already outnumbered there, so I guess here with just the Church and Judith's troops, we're even worse off.

Based on the map close up during the pre-battle exposition, it looks like Enbarr was built on the delta where a river forks into two, with both ranches leading into the sea on the west.

Oh, Dedue is here! AC lied to me :( (/jk)

The music for his entrance is uh... imo it's a bit too heroic, given that he's here because Dimitri ended up like that.

He came after Gronder field, so... two months ago, since there was Merceus in between but not anything else. He gives us info on the inside of the castle (layout, presumably) and tells us that Rhea is at the palace.

Edelgard's axe, Aymr, is described as "a Crest Stone weapon designed to Edelgard's specifications, allowing her to use Raging Storm."

Edelgard's class, Emperor, is "With unparalleled defense, Edelgard appears as an unstoppable force in the legendary armor of the Adrestian Emperor." Note that her armor is a boobplate. So like... did they modify it for her, or....

Edelgard is so confusing. Even to the last, she goes on about how determined she is to "free this world" from the "vile grasp" of the "false goddess and her minion." But like... Edelgard has NO basis for beef with Sothis or Rhea. It's so puzzling and empty.

Dialogue with Seteth: He tells Edelgard to return Rhea and release her grip on Fodlan. Edelgard says that if we strike her down, "they" will return. So she can't permit what we desire (????? what? like, you'd assume she means the Agarthans, but everything else points to her talking about the Nabateans). She also knows that Seteth is a child of the goddess and thinks he can't be permitted power over the people. This is SO wild.

Anyway, to get this dialogue, I let Seteth get the last hit. The Edelgard death cutscene makes equally little sense on this route, btw. Edelgard was going "fuck you guys, I didn't think you'd make it this far, but I don't care and I'm never giving up" in the battle, but now she's all "you must strike me down to move forward, I wanted to walk with you..." GIRL WHAT

Hubert going behind Edelgard's back to write us a letter where he's basically entrusting the future and Fodlan to us is like....... l m a o This was whatever on VW, but on a route where we are the Church and those lizards Edelgard hates so much... god.

Anyway, Seteth apparently didn't really believe the Agarthans were behind all this, or else even around at all. He's very shocked and unhappy about Hubert's letter.

OK, unlike VW, where Claude is there for the info dumps and Rhea holds at least some stuff back, here she has no reason to hide anything. And she says she does not know where or how Nemesis got the Sword of the Creator. They only guessed that someone must have given him this power and tried to investigate it, but they never found the answer. They only NOW surmise that it was the Agarthans. ...hang on, do they even know that "those who slither in the dark" are from Agartha....

Felix and Sylvain are together at the monastery, cute. Felix even calls Dimitri by name when talking about defeating the Empire and the Agarthans to let him rest in peace.

Catherine backstory: She was born in House Charon in Faerghus > was called Thunderstrike Cassandra > attempted Officers Academy, was saved by Rhea as a student > was implicated in "a plot to kill the king" (seems to be Duscur) > fled to the monastery since she felt it was safe > Rhea hired her > and had her execute Christophe when he tried to assassinate Rhea, though the charges given publicly were regarding Duscur.

Is that right?

Anyway, next time: Shambhala

[butwhatifidothis]

So if it is MEANT to be a villain route...Why are the villanous actions NEVER ADDRESSED by ANY of the characters outside of "Huh. I wonder if there was a better way to do this."

Why did they have Rhea go insane and torch a city? Why make potray Rhea as a villain when you could potray her as the hero whos genuinely trying to do good? Why have a majority of the characters still be able to be recruited regardless of if it makes sense? Why have the ending narration mostly be possible? WHY have Edelgard succeed and somehow turn her tyranny into a society that "ensures a free and independent society fot all."

If it's REALLY a villain route, why is there not a single character ending mentioning things like rebellions and conflict? Hell, the ending narration shows not a hint of villainy and potrays its ending as heroic.

"Embracing her newfound power, Edelgard could at last set about destroying Fódlan's entrenched system of nobility and rebuild a world free from the tyranny of Crests and status."

Again, if it was TRULY meant to be the villain route, it would have been POTRAYED as such. Instead of a villain route, we got "A route where one of the villains is made the protagonist and her views and villainous actions are never questioned OR addressed and outside of the conquest and starting the war, everyone is mostly happy."

Alright so this is going to seem like a nonserious answer, but I'm 100% serious when posting this image as part of a genuine answer to this question:

On CF, your actions are never addressed because of ignorance. On the surface, your actions seem like they've helped Fodlan, but as soon as the player looks any deeper it starts to become evident that something isn't right.

If Edelgard made a free and independent society for all, why are the people spied on in Hubert's ending with Dorothea? Why are rebellions secretly being put down in his ending with Shamir? That's not free, in a general sense or from specifically tyranny. That's a direct contradiction from two of the characters that can only be played on CF, and this is only found on CF.

Rhea is portrayed as a villain because she is Nabatean, and Edelgard hates Nabateans, and you are playing a route that emphasizes her ideals - which include wiping out all of the inhuman, bestial, vile, cruel Nabateans that have been plaguing humanity’s world. Rhea goes insane on CF because unlike all of the other routes, where the player and the lord never go out of their way to trample and spit on their enemies' trauma, that's what you are doing the entire time you play CF to Rhea - for months once Byleth returns, and that’s being extremely generous and not counting the entire war. You help drive Rhea and the other Nabateans away from their homes when taking over Garreg Mach - like Nemesis did to Rhea after the Red Canyon Massacre! You're helping someone try to kill off the rest of her people - like Nemesis did at Zanado! You're trying to kill Rhea with the Sword of the Creator, her mother's mutilated corpse - like Nemesis did! You're doing so with the descendent of Wilheim - spitting on the legacy of the one human Rhea could trust during the War of Heroes! You're literally recreating the single worst moment of Rhea's life, all so that you can help the one who views her as less than human.

Portraying Rhea as "the hero who's genuinely trying to do good" goes against Edelgard's viewpoint of all Nabateans being evil, and you're never meant to question Edelgard or make her change her beliefs. You as the player are actively discouraged from talking back to Edelgard, as she will noticeably get upset whenever you do - many times you will even lose support points with her, and this is especially bad for specifically Edelgard because you have to get to a certain support level with her to enter her route, with you having less chapters to do so because she won't talk to you until after Byleth achieves the Sword of the Creator in Chapter 4.

Look at how Rhea, Dimitri, and Claude are portrayed on CF. Rhea and Dimitri are demonized, while Claude is given some leeway from Edelgard. Now notice who of the three of them always speak their minds over Edelgard's villainy to her face, and which of the three of them bends to Edelgard's view of them as the bad guy. Dimitri and Rhea never allow themselves to bend to Edelgard - they call her out and call her actions evil. Claude, on the other hand, will remove himself from Fodlan and then afterwards make himself out to be a bad guy whom Edelgard managed to take down. He puffs up her ego, and he gets to live, while the two that don't must die. Edelgard is the one always out for the kill, and only by submitting to her is anyone allowed to live - which, I don’t think needs to be said, isn’t very heroic of her.

I've had my fair share of complaints over the characters that can be recruited over to CF, but even with those complaints... look at how those characters behave on CF. None of them are Felix levels of negative character development, but they all act noticeably worse on CF vs how they are on the other routes. To name some notable examples: Ignatz goes from wanting to paint Garreg Mach as it stood five years before to preserve its beauty to wanting to paint the violent downfall of the Alliance, Lysithea wants to abandon House Ordelia, which is in direct contrast to her core character motivation, Ingrid is willing to throw away her lifelong dream of being a knight of Faerghus, which she herself says is her spitting on her dead betrothed’s dreams, Leonie works with Jeralt’s killers, etc. etc.. And mind, CF is the route that locks out the most units - there's the obvious ones like Dedue and Gilbert who were already route exclusive, but then there's Seteth and Flayn, Catherine, Cyril, and Hilda. CF is the only route to have even non-exclusive units be completely unavailable no matter what.

Edelgard doesn't make a society that is "free," like I said above - having a secret police monitor the people's actions, or is ready to put down anyone who tries to rise up against her, is literally the opposite of free. Edelgard can and will ban plays she doesn't like - not free. Edelgard only allows state-sanctioned religion, if she does allow it - not free.

CF is a route that wants to make the player believe the lie that you're not the villain, because you are playing from the perspective of someone who herself doesn't think she's the villain, but like. Look at what you're doing. You're invading two countries for the express, explicit purpose of taking them over and making them your own. You're working with someone who's been trying to reunite Fodlan back under Adrestia as early as the prologue when she tried to have Dimitri and Claude assassinated. You're helping TWS. Your Imperial presence makes Church people flee - which, given that Edelgard wants Rhea and those involved with the Church dead, I don't blame them. You're working with someone who is starving her people so that she can carry on with her war.

CF lies to the player - Edelgard lies, constantly. She says she's willing to let Rhea live, but literally the scene before she says she seeks to fuckin' Exodia Rhea. She lies about Arianrhod. She lies - or is flat-out wrong, which isn't much better - about the Church hoarding wealth and about the Church splitting up the Empire. She lies about not knowing about TWS pre-ts. She helps spread the lie of Duscur being the ones who killed Lambert. She lied about not knowing where Flayn was when she was kidnapped. She lies to her people by making them believe she’s making the orders during the war, not Byleth. There's a student who doubts all of what Edelgard says right before the timeskip happens and who isn't sure about his decision to stay, and then there’s a man who calls Edelgard “a tricksy one” on the last explore section for lying about attacking the Kingdom capitol. She’s wrong about the history of Nemesis and Seiros, calling Nemesis killing all of Rhea’s family a “simple dispute.” She lies to her people about an entire war against a group who just a little bit ago were her allies. Lies and ignorance are staple points to CF as a route, it’s baked into it, so the idea of the CF going “oh no you totally are the good guys” literally as the city burns down around the players doesn’t come from nowhere.

And like... the ending narration “shows not a hint of villainy?” Um.

Her stepping on the flags of the Alliance and Church? Her recreating a painting of Napoleon - that little known imperialist - down to the hand of justice? Her denouncing gods constantly and then being ushered in by a statue with heavy resemblance to Nike, Goddess of victory? Hubert plotting away from the sight of the rejoicing people? Yeah, there’s a lot of hints to villainy.

Again, CF isn’t “portrayed” as a villain route because it’s you falling for the lies of Edelgard. You have a wool over your eyes. You accept everything Edelgard says as fact, even when she actively contradicts herself - sometimes as radically as in back-to-back scenes. You view yourself as a savior to humanity, even when you plunge it into darkness. You don’t think you’re the villain, so your actions aren’t going to be put in an explicitly villainous light - at least, not by anyone on your side.

This post showcases the difference between non-recruited characters fighting non-CF!Byleth vs CF!Byleth. Characters are mostly saddened by having to fight Byleth in the former, while they are mostly betrayed on CF. Byleth is very clearly seen as being wrong for having sided with Edelgard on CF by the non-recruited characters - Edelgard’s actions may not be directly criticized (save for by Dimitri and a few others), but it makes no sense for these characters to be this shocked and betrayed by Byleth siding with her if her actions were so good. Leonie deadass calls you a traitor to Jeralt, Ingrid says that you are not fit to rule Fodlan specifically for siding with Edelgard and the Empire after all she and they have done, and Dimitri questions you as to why you chose Edelgard and her “savage, bloody path,” just to name a few notable examples. You, as the player, are being criticized for siding with Edelgard. You say that the villainous actions are “NEVER ADDRESSED by ANY of the characters,” but what else are these reactions but characters addressing your villainous actions?

And like... “a route where one of the villains is the protagonist” bro that’s a villain route. Like. I’m not trying to be mean, but I am genuinely confused as to what you were trying to get at here.

Like. In a vacuum? I might can get the idea of CF not being a villain route a little better, were it the only route available (though even that is a very big stretch). But you have three whole other routes where there’s no conquest, there’s no working with TWS, there’s no using Demonic Beasts, there’s no killing/exiling the remaining (immediately known) Nabateans, there’s no continuous and long-standing lies that never get outed, the lords never stay flat out wrong about the events of the game, non-recruited characters aren’t shooting Byleth up the ass with accusations of being a traitorous lemming who’d follow Edelgard off a cliff... and they achieve peace. Those endings, with Dimitri Claude and “Rhea” (SS ain’t really her route even though it should’ve been but ye), lack the following in any of their endings:

Censorship

Spying on the people

Constantly putting down rebels in secret

State-sanctioned religion

(mind, this last one is in direct contradiction to CF’s ending narration that says that Church is destroyed)

None of this happens on AM, VW, and SS. They all have peaceful endings. They all have Fodlan see the light of dawn, and that is never contradicted in their endings. CF is the only route to have all of these things happen in it - I think that’s enough for it to be considered a villain route lol

[raxistaicho]

A little more on Thales’s claim

So it seems today that @kotomi795 and @nilsh13 discovered my post from yesterday and have taken issue with it;

So first in regards to the fact that Edelgard supposedly benefited from Duscur, Thales was also saying that the atrocities in Enbarr were done for her benefit. I dunno about you, but I doubt she was very appreciative of the torture and the killing of her family that Thales and Aegir did to her.

If anything made it easy for Edelgard to take Faerghus during the war, it was how readily Kingdom nobility in Western Faerghus turned their cloaks, how swiftly the Kingdom soldiers in the capital were swayed by Cornelia to execute Dimitri, and Dimitri’s own decision to abandon his duties for five years. Remember that Dimitri wasn’t roaming the wilderness killing Imperial soldiers because he had nowhere to go; he could have sought refuge in Fraldarius or Gautier territory at any time, from which they could have ousted Cornelia and retaken the Kingdom. He wanted to have a deathmatch with Edelgard right now, not do the hard things that would enable said deatmatch.

Edelgard didn’t hide Thales; he hid himself. What’s she going to do? Run to Rhea with, “My uncle told me he committed Duscur! No, I can’t actually prove it, but please take my word for it,”? She’d look like she’s just trying to get a political rival removed.

As for “enabling the lie”? What’s she supposed to do, say to Catherine, “Well, ackshually, I have it on good authority you guys are wrong about the people of Duscur being responsible,”? If she kept quiet then it becomes a lie by omission. Given how frequently monks and knights pass around anti-Duscur bigotry during explores, it seems pretty well-accepted among the Central Church that the people of Duscur are responsible.

As for Dimitri, she said she didn’t do it. He doesn’t listen. There’s no point trying to convince him when he’s in that state of mind.

These people simply can’t accept Edelgard is involved in bad things. 

And yeah, there’s the heart of the reason Edelgard’s detractors cling to this so tightly. Because Thales claims Duscur was done for her benefit, and because she didn’t single-handedly wield her impressive utter lack of evidence to correct the misconception held widely among the Kingdom and the Central Church, that means she’s responsible for it.

[houseisekai]

House Isekai: A Realm Reborn - Part 11, The Silver Weapon (1 of 2)

Act 2 Masterlist

—

The Silver Weapon has been deployed in the outskirts of Fhirdiad, though it is not under control of Separatist forces.

House Isekai moves to intervene as one group before the situation can get any worse...

==

[The OSF -Advancing - Scarlet Nexus OST]

Faerghus soldiers scrambled to combat-ready positions across the city as the citizens moved into their homes.

In the castle, soldiers quickly got into their units and set out for the area the Silver Weapon was deployed.

Their orders were to take any Separatist alive, but take no Knight of Seiros prisoners.

The ODST's, Raelyn, and Duvalie left the Mcgrath estate to see the everyone in the streets rushing to their positions.

(Dutch) "Well, guess we're not going yet then."

(Duvalie) "What could be going on now?"

[Rean's Voice] "Buck, do you hear me?"

(Buck) "Loud and clear, how bad's the situation?"

[Rean's Voice] "Bad, another superweapon has been launched."

(Buck) "Then we'll put our mission on hold, where do you need us?"

[Rean's Voice] "We need you to scout it out, according to Faerghus scouts it was pretty far north along the railroad."

(Buck) "Roger, be there soon."

Buck motioned to his team to follow him to the hangar.

(Romeo) "Think we could've asked that Sarge guy for his Warthog?"

(Raelyn) "I doubt I would have fit on there anyway."

(Duvalie) "Then what are we hopping on to get there?"

(Mickey) "Well the only thing they have here are pegasus and horses so..."

(Buck) "Wyverns too."

Buck looked behind at Raelyn, eyeing him up and down.

(Buck) "You're not gonna like my idea, big guy..."

...

After Dimitri dismissed the soldier who gave him the news, he turned to Edelgard and Claude.

(Dimitri) "We will have to prepare to defend the city should an attack come our way. Excuse us."

(Claude) "We should probably do the same, there's a chance this could be coordinated. Edelgard, mind telling our friends how to kill this thing?"

Edelgard nodded as Claude's image faded out.

Dimitri and Dedue turned to the Instructors.

(Dimitri) "Be careful, and thank you."

(Dedue) "Good hunting."

The two left the room in a hurry, leaving House Isekai and Edelgard.

(Kazuma) "From what I remember Rean and Aigis telling us, you made these things to kill us, and Crimson was based off you? The hell is Silver?"

Edelgard sighed, knowing Kazuma's anger was justified. Regardless she began explaining.

(Edelgard) "Silver is based off Rhea, or at least the very fragmented memories we found of her in the Zanado Tower."

(Towa) "But she's already dead, right? I thought they were designed to keep those alive in check."

(Aigis) "I believe I understand. I assume this was for the members of the Church, should they have returned and became a major threat?"

(Edelgard) "Perfectly explained, Aigis. Yes, it was for that purpose."

Astrid and Elizabeth's faces scrunched up upon hearing that.

(Juna) "H-Hey, you guys alright?"

Class VII and the Knights of Favonius turned their attention to the Garreg Mach students.

(Astrid) "Huh? Y-Yeah, I'm fine. How 'bout you Elizabeth?"

(Elizabeth) "..."

She said nothing as she averted her eyes to the floor.

Stefan fist shook seeing them before turning his eyes back to Edelgard.

(Diluc) "Let's wait until this is over before asking."

Everyone nodded and continued listening.

(Edelgard) "You all may have the advantage here. It was specifically designed to go against members of the Church while Crimson, Azure, and Verdant were designed for us and your group."

(Rean) "I doubt that means we can let our guard down and attack it freely."

(Edelgard) "It still has measures to fight you all."

She looked back to the rest of House Isekai.

(Edelgard) "However, I didn't anticipate newcomers to arrive, so they may be your key to winning."

(Sitri) "Should we find any survivors, what is our job then?"

(Edelgard) "Dimitri has ordered the capture of Separatist forces, but a kill on sight for the Church."

Edelgard then noticed how uncomfortable Astrid, Elizabeth, and Stefan were.

(Edelgard) "...Though that being said, you are the Headmaster of Garreg Mach, and these are your students. I will defer that judgement to you."

(Aigis) "Before we go, should we be expecting the pilot to initiate whatever it was that turned their personality into yours?"

(Edelgard) "I believe that would be the safest thing to expect. Depending on who the pilot is, they may act completely recklessly."

Everyone understood their orders.

(Edelgard) "Good luck, House Isekai."

As the crystal shut off, she turned back to Hubert.

(Edelgard) "Hubert, assemble the Black Eagles Strike Force. I want to know who Sitri's chosen students are."

...

(Sitri) "Seeing as we have our target and we don't know what to expect, I want us all to stick together."

The instructors nodded in agreement, looking to the rest of the students.

(Mercedes) "Isn't it too soon for some of you to go back to fighting already?"

(Recette) "Y-Yeah, you and Helena were messed up pretty bad..."

Helena shrugged.

(Helena) "We need all hands on deck for this. Plus if we're going to be a House like the big three back home, we need to learn how to fight together as a group."

(Kazuma) "Suppose that's true, we've been splitting up a lot."

(Rean) "Still-"

(Sitri) "I will be fine as well."

Sothis appeared next to her.

(Sothis) "You have me after all! I'll be more help than a certain blue goddess."

(Towa) "Hah, I suppose that's true."

(Kazuma) "That's not saying much, a goddamn rock could outperform Aqua."

The Garreg Mach students looked confused, first looking at the instructors than each other.

(Kairos) "Professors, if I may? Who exactly are you speaking to?"

Class VII and the Knights of Favonius could clearly see Sothis, then looked back at the students.

(Ash) "...So you don't see the floating lady then?"

(Stefan) "Honestly, I can't tell if you're joking or not."

(Kaeya) "In any case, I suppose we should get a move on? I doubt they are stopping on our account."

(Rean) "Right, I'll get Valimar then."

(Sitri) "Students, to your Knights!"

(Recette) "Ooh, I'll get them out! Come on Tear!"

(Mercedes) "I'll make sure everything's here while you're gone. Good luck!"

(Towa) "Move out!"

Everyone nodded and ran out the castle and towards the Hangars, grabbing their gear along the way.

[The OSF -Be prepared- - Scarlet Nexus OST]

As the engineers brought out the students' Knights with Recette and Tear bringing in other weapons, the students had a moment to gather their thoughts.

(Stefan) "I know this isn't our first sortie, but I'm still pretty nervous."

(Juna) "Yeah, I think I know how you feel, Stefan."

Class VII went up to the Garreg Mach students as they adjusted their weapons.

(Kurt) "Worry not, we'll take on whatever's ahead together."

The Knights of Favonius joined the group.

(Lisa) "Don't worry dears, we'll make sure you're alright."

(Kaeya) "If you don't mind me asking, you three seemed a bit uncomfortable with our orders."

(Astrid) "Oh...that."

Astrid rubbed the back of her neck.

(Astrid) "Before the war broke out, I actually wanted to join the Knights of Seiros." sigh "Needless to say, I'm not exactly comfortable killing them."

(Elizabeth) "If you must know, then I am a devout follower of the Goddess. That being said, Seiros and her people were dedicated to the Kingdom, and the fact they are our mortal enemies..."

(Musse) "I doubt you are the only two who are unsettled by this war."

(Kairos) "Far from it."

(Venti) "We can knock people out pretty good with our powers, so we'll try take every down non-lethally."

Elizabeth and Astrid smiled.

(Elizabeth) "Thank you, Mister Venti-"

(Venti) "Aw, just Venti's fine! You kids need to relax a bit more around us!"

(Helena) "...You don't exactly look much older than us."

Altina stared at Venti.

(Altina) "Scans indicate...Error."

(Ash) "Error? The hell's that mean?"

Jean and Diluc looked at each other awkwardly before she cleared her throat.

(Jean) "Kairos, Helena, Elizabeth. Are you three trained to pilot a Knight as well?"

(Kairos) "Trained, yes. Experienced with it? Well, unfortunately not."

(Stefan) "Yeah, we know how to use it, but using one as effectively like Rean and his knight..."

(Astrid) "That's why we got our asses kicked in our encounter with Crimson."

(Kurt) "Hopefully if these superweapons follow the same design principle, the use of mechs won't be necessary."

Juna sighed shrugging.

(Juna) "Not like we can get our Panzer Soldat's in here either..."

(Amber) "Panzer Soldat?"

(Altina) "They are bipedal machines, similar to Knights in this world. In fact, I heavily suspect the Soldat models were the inspiration for this world's Knights."

(Ash) "They actually seemed to rip us off a lot. Our ARCUS units, railroad system, down to our freakin' guns."

(Kaeya) "Hm...As much as I hear your world detests outsiders, you have no problem implementing their technology."

None of the Garreg students could retort that.

Much of the convivence modern life has brought them did stem from the original House Isekai.

(Diluc) "About that, there is something about that has been bothering me. From what I gathered your world's technology wasn't too dissimilar from ours. Yet in two years the entire country has jumped centuries ahead, on par with the most futuristic of the group."

(Venti) "On top of that, you all seem to utilize crystals that came from this 'Zanado Tower' very effeciently. Too efficiently for something so alien to this world. How did you all manage that?"

Everyone looked at each other. It was genuinely good question.

(Elizabeth) "I am not sure. It is something our world leaders only seem to know."

(Juna) "That's...not worrying at all."

(Recette's Voice) "No...NO NO NO!"

Everyone turned to Recette and Tear.

The Knights the engineers were bringing out seemed to grind to a halt as Recette put her hands to her head.

(Recette) "WHAT DO YOU MEAN THERE'S NOT ENOUGH FUEL?! WE HAD ENOUGH ON THE TRAIN!"

(Engineer) "I-I'm sorry miss, but you only have enough fuel to last for fifteen minutes at most, even with the extras! That's not including the four other Knights!"

(Tear) "How far is our destination?"

(Engineer) "Almost forty minutes, ma'am."

(Tear) "Damn!"

The group watched the scene unfold, putting them on edge.

(Astrid) "We're...We're gonna go into that fight without even a single Knight!?"

(Kairos) "Based on that recording you showed us, I'm not even sure if they were going to help..."

(Kazuma's Voice) "Don't worry kiddos. That's what we're here for."

The rest of the staff finally appeared with their weapons.

Rean had his Tachi and Valimar walking closely behind, Towa and Aigis had their guns, while Kazuma had a small dagger and sword.

Sitri had the Sword of the Creator on her hilt and Sothis by her side.

(Rean) "We got some tricks up our sleeves, don't worry."

(Towa) "We also had the other group scout on ahead."

(Diluc) "Other gr-...Ah, you mean the soldiers and Duvalie."

(Aigis) "Indeed. Now what's the situation here?"

(Elizabeth) "It looks like our Knights won't have enough fuel to get us there and fight, Professor Aigis."

(Sitri) "Damn, of course we don't..."

(Kazuma) "Not surprising, your guys Valimar looks like it sucks in comparison."

Everyone raised an eyebrow as Towa elbowed Kazuma's side.

(Kazuma) "Agh, hey! Don't think I won't hit ba-"

Rean glared at Kazuma before he rolled his eyes and finally became quiet.

Clearing her throat, Towa continued.

(Towa) "Then it looks like we'll be going on horseback! Or, pegasus back? There's wyverns too-"

(Rean) "We're flying. Thank you, Towa."

The Class VII students chuckled as a subtle shade of crimson formed on Towa's cheeks.

(Rean) "Valimar, think you can carry some of us?"

(Valimar) "Affirmative."

(Rean) "Then let's head out, we don't have a moment to waste!"

Thirty minutes later...

The ODST's rode on four Wyverns, flying fast towards the site of the weapon's deployment.

Duvalie rode with Dutch's Wyvern, hanging onto this back.

Raelyn was carried by the claws of Buck's Wyvern, dangling off like a cat picked up by the scruff of its neck.

The group was informed by Rean that they were at most ten minutes behind, which gave them enough time to see how hot the landing zone was.

(Buck) "Romeo, see anything yet?"

Romeo checked his sniper's scope, looking at the area ahead.

(Romeo) "Not yet. Even then it's kinda hard to see with this scope shaking around. This thing isn't exactly built for moving around, Gunny."

Duvalie rolled her eyes at his whining but saw something at the corner of her eye.

(Duvalie) Hmph, don't need a scope to see that. "Explosion to our right!"

Everyone turned and saw the puff of smoke that went into the air.

In the distance was a railroad track and lots of smoke and fire rising from the snow.

(Raelyn) "Then that is our quarry. We should land close by to avoid-"

[Cheap Trap - The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel III OST]

An arrow whizzed past by Buck's head, making the Wyvern panic and shake violently.

(Buck) "The hell?!'

(Mickey) "ABOVE US!"

Romeo immediately looked up with his sniper and aimed for whatever shot at them.

A group of people riding Wyverns dropped in from the skies, all aiming at them.

Duvalie's shield arm rose in time to deflect a shot aimed straight at Dutch's head while Mickey's Wyvern flew to a sharp right.

Romeo pulled the trigger and the sniper's shot echoed through the air, scaring the Wyverns and making them flail around.

His shot found its mark as the distant sound of metal exploding and a shower of red told him the impact it left on its rider.

(Buck) "Damn it, we can't use our guns like this! LAND, LAND!"

The four of them swooped down and barely made in time before the next arrow barrage came in.

Raelyn shook himself free before they landed and rolled onto the ground and pointed his Bolter upward.

Raelyn pulled the trigger as his tactical visor showed the four attacking them.

The bolter round roared out and entered the head of the first wyvern, making it explode into a bloody mess as it fell straight out of the sky and crushed its rider.

With trigger discipline trained over nearly a century of warfare, he effortless displaced each wyvern rider with the remaining three shots.

Within barely a few seconds of each other, each of them fell dead onto the floor, crashing through trees and landing sprawled out.

(Raelyn) "We are clear for the moment, but it is safe to assume they know we're coming."

Buck nodded and went to radio for Rean.

Everyone else had their weapons out, looking around and at the skies.

(Romeo) "Nice shot by the way."

(Raelyn) "Yours was not bad either."

(Duvalie) "Can we focus?!"

(Buck) "Rean, you copy?"

Nothing.

Shaking his head, he continued.

(Buck) "Dunno if you can hear this, but your LZ is gonna be hot! Make your ways towards the smoke, we'll be there!"

He turned to others and checked his assault rifle's ammo.

(Buck) "Get your asses in gear, ladies! Double time!"

Everyone nodded and rushed towards the scene of the battle.

Finally arriving after a few minutes of running, they saw how bad the situation was.

Train cars were scattered across the ground alongside bodies and weapons.

From what they could gather, some appeared to be Separatist while others were wearing a uniform they didn't recognize.

Many of the weapons on the ground were broken with crates and its contents shattered as well.

(Buck) "Duvalie, Raelyn! Move ahead and take out any son of a bitch wanting to fight us!"

The two nodded and rushed ahead weapons at the ready.

Buck looked to his team and tapped his helmet, making his face disappear his visor.

The three immediately followed suit and heard Buck's voice in their helmets.

(Buck) "Communication between us stays in Comms! Romeo, want your eyes above us, Mickey, find us anything useful! Dutch, with me to find survivors! Shoot to stun! If they don't want to go down, put 'em in the ground for good!"

The squad nodded and went ahead with their orders.

Mickey went to one of the train cars crashed in the trees and kicked the door open, looking around with his SMG.

Romeo silently moved to the trees big enough for him and began scouting the immediate area.

Buck and Dutch ran after Raelyn and Duvalie.

...

(Church Soldier) "YAAAAAGH!"

The Church Soldier swung with all his might, his sword clashing against Duvalie's shield.

Raelyn raised his Bolter and pulled the trigger three times on archers in the distance aiming for Duvalie.

Each shot made their upper halves explode into a paste, limbs flying around and intimidating the others.

The Separatists forces fighting looked in fear as Duvalie effortlessly cut the one fighting her in half.

(Separatist) "I-It's them! The offworlders!"

(Church) "HERETICS! DESTR-"

Before he could finish his sentence, Duvalie dashed over to him and dislogdged her shield into his skull, slashing with her sword and killing two others.

(Duvalie) "If you jackasses wanna live, then stay right there!"

Raelyn examined the area around him. More crates and train car pieces littered the forest ground, melting the snow and some of the trees into nothing.

Though there were more Separatist bodies than Church on the ground. Most of the bodies weren't intact, either from their enemies or the crash.

Surprisingly, he and Duvalie hadn't caused nearly as much carnage.

(Raelyn) "You, what happened?"

He looked at one of the soldiers. making him flinch.

(Separatist) "C-Church soldiers infiltrated the train and made us go off the rails!"

Looking at the others states of shock, he determined they weren't lying.

(Raelyn) "Do your commanders still live?"

(Separatist) "They were near the back of the train, I'm not sure!"

He motioned to Duvalie before turning back to them, getting on one knee in an attempt to get on eye level.

(Raelyn) "You have our word you and yours will be treated fairly, so long as you remain here. Do not attempt to run, but at least tend to the most grievously wounded."

Buck and Dutch appeared behind Raelyn, rifles raised, but lowered it after seeing the two's handiwork.

(Raelyn) "Sergeant. There are wounded here that need assistance. The ones in charge may yet live, but I suspect that is where the fighting is heaviest."

(Kazuma's Voice) "LOOK OUT BELOW!"

House Isekai landed among a myriad of mounts, all dismounting with their weapons drawn.

Valimar landed on both feet while Rean teleported out of it.

The Garreg Mach students and Class VII were taken aback by the gore while the Knights of Favonius seemed only slightly fazed. Venti the least of all.

The smell of smoke and blood almost made Elizabeth, Kairos, and Astrid puke. Helena and Stefan weren't as affected as them, but they quickly reached over to comfort them.

(Kazuma) "Shit, this looks pretty bad..."

Stefan turned to one of the Separatists and shouted at him.

(Stefan) "Valda, Claus! Are they?!-"

(Raelyn) "Calm yourself. They told me she is near the back. From what I heard about her, I doubt an ambush like this will be enough to kill them."

(Rean) "Then she's too dangerous for the students to deal with. Jean, Kurt, Kairos!"

The three of them stood to attention when he called their names.

(Rean) "We'll take care of their commanders so you three are in charge! Stay here and protect the Separatists until Dimitri's forces arrive!"

(Aigis) "Alert, Church forces incoming from the South!"

(Sitri) "North too!"

Duvalie was being pushed back by the overwhelming amount of church soldiers.

Rean teleported back into Valimar while Kazuma seemingly disappeared to thin air, leaving Towa, Aigis, and Sitri to move up.

Towa fired her pistol directly above Duvalie, covering her with a green aura.

(Aigis) "Athena!"

Aigis's Persona knocked all the soldiers away with her shields while, Sitri and Sothis used magic to knock them out cold.

Valimar jumped ahead and took care of the heavily armored soldiers while Kazuma was nowhere to be seen from the group.

(Towa) "Duvalie, help the others out! We'll handle this!"

Duvalie gave a nod of acknowledgement and hopped back.

Buck and Dutch began communicating with their squad while the others looked around.

(Juna) "Goddess, the destruction..."

(Separatist) "...What do you care?!"

Everyone turned to one of the Separatists who was laying against a tree, hand bloody as it rested over a gaping wound.

(Separatist) "All of you offworlders...Fodlan would never have gotten like this if you hadn't shown up!"

(Kairos) "H-Hey, we're trying to help!-"

(Separatist) "And you lot! You're from Fodlan, why aren't you stopping them?!"

(Stefan) "Please, just rest easy sir."

(Separatist) "Piss off, we can't so long as we're under rule of these idiots!"

They reached into their pockets and held something that looked a gun.

Instead of aiming it at one of the students, he aimed it straight up in the air.

Duvalie rushed in to stop him, but he pulled the trigger as soon her arm grabbed them, slamming the hand into the tree.

The gun fired a red flare straight up, illuminating the fire in a blood red haze.

[Steel Reason - Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn OST]

(Raelyn) "Motion tracker picking up multiple targets near us!"

Duvalie grimaced at the Separatist before knocking him out with a punch, making him go limp.

(Duvalie) "He just alerted every last bastard to our location!"

[Romeo] "Gunny, Separatist forces being chased by those other guys closing in!"

Before anyone could react, a loud clang came out from one of the train cars before the side of it exploded into debris, revealing a massive machine.

It appeared to be some sort of massive mechanical spider, some of it mixed in with steel and crystal.

Its height was nearly that of the train itself, making everyone's weapons point at the monstrosity, though the body was small enough for one person to be on top of it.

(Ash) "Shit, the flare must've activated the thing!"

(Jean) "Our groups will handle this machine!"

Jean turned to the ODST's.

(Jean) "Can yours take care of our incoming company?"

(Buck) "Will do ma'am."

He gave a half salute before he and Dutch left the area.

(Duvalie) "Mustard bottle, go and help them! I'm more than enough help."

They could hear Raelyn chuckle through his helmet.

(Raelyn) "As you wish, miss sunshine."

Her eye visibly twitched as the thumping of his armor grew quieter as he ran off.

(Altina) "...Miss Sun-?"

(Duvalie) "SHUT IT, ALTINA!"

The spider seemingly 'roared' as its gears began to kick on fully, steam shooting out of its mouth.

Diluc and Stefan jumped in first, Stefan's shield clashing against the mouth and lifting it up as Diluc's greatsword ignited and smashed it overhead.

The flames did nothing as the spider jumped upwards and sent both of them flying and colliding into the ground, the spider landing near Kurt, Helena, and Astrid as everyone else scattered.

Kurt's swords slashed at one of the legs but his attacks bounced off.

Ash rushed in to strike at one of the seemingly weaker joints in the leg, but his scythe bounced off just as easily.

(Ash) "Damn it!"

Astrid stuck her lance into the mouth and managed to break off part of its steel mandibles, but the spider swung rapidly around, making the lance slide out and threw Astrid into the air.

Ash and Kurt barely dodged Astrid before its legs struck them onto the ground.

(Venti) "Hang on!"

Venti's eyes glowed green as he flew up and caught her before she could fall, making Helena leap on top of its head, her dagger ready to stab it in the eyes.

The head quickly opened up and a cannon-like shape threw her off, aiming straight at Kurt.

Duvalie rushed in with her shield and shoved Kurt out the way as the cannon fired, blowing Duvalie back into a tree.

Jean glowed a soft green aura as the wind blew around her, getting Kurt and Ash's wounds patched up.

Stepping in front, Lisa's eyes glowed purple as she snapped her fingers, thunderclouds forming and striking the spider with a lightning bolt.

(Lisa) "There we go!"

Her excitement was shortlived as a small cannonball nearly took her head off, making her grab her hat and dive out the way.

It shook violently as the cannon began to fire in wild directions, everyone ducking down as trees came apart.

(Kaeya) "Amber!"

(Amber) "Already on it!"

One of the trees were about to crush several of the Separatists before Amber and Kaeya grabbed them out the way. Venti fired an arrow into the distance, dragging the Separatists into it and blasting them out of the action.

Altina stood out the way as she scanned the enemy, nodding at Musse and Juna.

(Altina) "Structural weakness detected in the head!"

Musse and Juna aimed their guns at the head and opened fire, Juna's wild aiming taking out the eyes while Musse's precise aiming severed the parts connecting the head and the cannon.

(Lisa) "Cuties, help Miss Lisa won't you?"

Not needing to ask who she meant, Kairos and Elizabeth rushed to Lisa's side and grabbed out magical books, their hands glowing with electricity.

(Kairos/Elizabeth) "THORON!"

A stream of electricity blasted through the spider, making it shudder and shake while pieces of it began exploding off.

Before the debris could hit anyone, Stefan grabbed one of the metal sheets that broke off and ran in front of Kairos, Elizabeth, and Lisa, blocking the debris.

Duvalie did the same with the rest of Class VII as she grabbed Kurt and Ash and threw them behind her.

Diluc used his greatsword's strength to swing part of the metal walls in front of Kaeya, Amber, Venti, and Jean, and using his sword to prop it up.

(Altina) "Come, Claiomh Solais!"

Behind Altina materialized a mechanical construct that towered her twice over, and its massive club like arms smashed the spider overhead with brute force.

(Altina) "Finish it off!"

Amber grabbed a stuffed rabbit that resembled her and tossed it at the spider's body, which was still twitching.

(Amber) "FIRE IN THE HOLE!"

Quickly grabbing her bow, she closed one eye and let loose an arrow before hopping back into cover.

Altina's Claiomh Solais raised both arms and to shield Altina from the blast, the explosion creating a small dust cloud.

[End Song]

Taking a deep breath, everyone looked around for any other immediate danger.

They could hear the gunfire of the others, but other than that, it seemed to be over for now.

(Ash) "Agh, crafty little bastards, making new machines like that..."

(Elizabeth) "My goodness, I've never seen anything like that in my entire life!"

Amber went up to the remains of the spider and realized the pattern of the steel looked very familiar.

(Amber) "Hey, doesn't this kinda look like a Ruin Guard?"

The Knights of Favonius joined Amber and examined it themselves.

(Kaeya) "How interesting, it does."

(Kairos) "Is...that bad?"

Lisa put a finger to her chin and frowned.

(Lisa) "If it came from our world, maybe, but if it came from this world, definitely..."

(Jean) "Let us tend to the wounded and make sure they are subdued. We can report our findings to the professsors."

Everyone nodded and ran towards the Separatists they got out of the fight.

...

The staff finally cut their way through the last of the church forces to the back of the train, or at least the remains of it.

The bodies scattered around appeared to be only Church members, though no Separatist forces seemed to be present.

The group heard one of Church soldiers drop to the floor as Kazuma came out of the trees' shadows, shrugging.

(Kazuma) "Knocked out every last one of 'em hiding."

(Sitri) "Did you find this Valda person?"

(Kazuma) "Nah, place is pretty empty. Rest of the guys I saw ran towards the flare."

(Towa) "Should we go back?"

(Rean) "We should investigate first. Though, I am worried about them too."

(Aigis) "You needn't worry Rean, Towa. I sincerely doubt there is anything they couldn't handle together."

(Sothis) "...Do you guys feel that?"

[Thunderer - Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn OST]

No one moved for a moment, as they all began to sense what Sothis was feeling.

Behind them they all drew their weapons, seeing a black shadowy portal emerge from the broken train tracks and ruined cars.

Instead of a pale bright energy like they were expecting a Church Member to have, this was had a completely different aura.

A figure in a red robe adorned with gold and purple accents stepped out of the portal and looked up to the group, wearing a half mask that only left his mouth exposed.

The person's skin was a sickly white, with purple veins running through it.

(Rean) "An Agarthan!"

(Aigis) "Locking on!"

Aigis's Persona came out and rushed to the front, as she put all of her guns pointed straight at him.

Sothis reached for her head, which in turn made Sitri feel nauseous as well.

(Sothis) "W-Why does he feel so...familiar?"

(Sitri) "Sothis, what's happening?!"

(Towa) "Hey, are you alright?"

(Kazuma) "You want some too asshole?! 'C' and I already kicked your buddies asses earlier!"

(???) "I would expect nothing less of the people who killed Thales."

Everyone was put on edge upon hearing that name.

The man's body began to glow with a dark purple aura and the Crest of Flames flashed in front of his face, glowing red and staying on.

(Sothis) "What?!"

(Sitri) "H-How does he?!"

(???) "You all have grown since Enbarr. Let us see how much!"

[TO BE CONTINUED]

[firemblem-fics]

GAHHHHH IM SORRY FOR NOT READING RIGHT 😭🤚 i kind of want dima headcanons with prompt number 36 🥺 i feel like since his hair will be long after timeskip he'll really appreciate it

rough times. | dimitri

50 Wordless Ways to Say I Love You (#36): Helping brush their hair after a shower

-> Timeskip!Dimitri x GN!Reader

-> Warnings: Death Mention, Anxiety

-> Genre: Comfort, Fluff

Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd always considered himself to be clean and well-kept. He prided himself on his grooming and would sometimes scold those who weren’t quite up on their game, yourself included. Dimitri’s morning routine was a lengthy one and he always made sure to look his best, so surprised was an understatement when you saw him five years later. 

You approached the man, whose hair had grown long and matted, whose face was muddied with dirt and scars and debris from the ever-slowly collapsing Monastery around him. He wouldn’t look at you in the eyes when you spoke to him, instead brushing you off with words more dirty and vile than his being. 

And yet, you couldn’t blame him. The world had changed- he had changed- so much. 

You recalled your Academy days. Days when getting out of bed and getting dressed and looking decent became nearly too much to handle. You remembered how Dimitri would help you, giving you as much time as you needed to slowly start your day. How he would wait for you after sitting outside of the baths, letting you sit in front of him as he tried to style your hair. He never did it quite right, but you hadn’t the heart to correct him. 

Dimitri was always so put together and he would go out of his way to make sure others shined just as brightly. To see him now- dulled, angry, out of place- your heart broke. You yearned to help him. 

Every day, you would try to get close to him again. Every day, you would talk to the man only to be shot down and shooed away from the area of rubble that he claimed and sat at every day. Every day, your heart broke over and over again as you tried to get your Dimitri back. 

Soon, you accepted that that Dimitri was never coming back. He was a shell of himself and you started to wonder if that was all he would ever be. Would you ever be able to feel his fingers run through your hair, telling you some silly story about Sylvain as a child? To hear him whisper that everything would be alright as you cried your heart out? Dimitri made you finally feel like you were good enough, but why wouldn’t he let you return the favor?

“Because I don’t need your comforts.” He told you. “I don’t need your pity. I’m fine, now go.” 

You were persistent. “How long has it been since you’ve bathed? Since you’ve taken care of yourself? You’ll feel a little better if you just-”

“I don’t need to! I will feel better when I kill Edelgard.” 

His gaze was growing angry, so you could only sigh and take your leave. Dimitri knew your limits in the past, so the least you could do would be to respect his. 

If you thought you’d seen Dimitri’s worst, you were wrong.

Rodrigue, Felix’s father, took a hit for the blonde man and unfortunately passed away. You didn’t know who was taking it the worst- Felix or Dimitri. Felix had spent the past three days after his father’s death in the training area. You knew he was beating himself up and simply wouldn’t talk about it. He may have been harsh on his father, but he still cared for him. Sylvain often tried to relieve your worries by checking on him daily, bringing him food and trying to talk to him. Most of the encounters ended with Sylvain being chased out of the area, but you appreciated his efforts nonetheless. 

Dimitri, on the other hand, concerned you greatly. One may think that the complete turnaround of his attitude was a good thing, but it only concerned you even more. He’d apologized to everyone that he was rude to in the past- except you. You waited for the day that he would come to you and say sorry for pushing you away, but he never did. 

“Dimitri, open the fuck up.” Your knuckles slammed harshly against his door. You had marched yourself to his room after he completely ignored you at a meeting and left without another glance once it was over. Fed up was an understatement. 

The man opened the door, his eye widening at the sight of you. “Y/N-”

“Let me in. You’ve got some explaining to do.”

Dimitri opened the door wide enough for you to slip in and you marched to his bed, sitting with your arms crossed. He wouldn’t meet your gaze, instead leaning against the desk and pushing his damp hair out of his face. Thank Goddess he finally is showering. “I think I’ve explained myself to everyone that I am okay now.”

“Everyone except for me. Every single day I tried to talk to you and to support you, but you brushed me off. Even now, after you claim that you’re okay, you refuse to talk to me or even look at me. What did- did I do something wrong?” Tears filled your eyes as anxiety began to course through you. Maybe you were the bad guy-

“Absolutely not. I feared that… after I treated you so poorly, that you wouldn’t forgive me. So I avoided you like a coward instead of facing my fears.” 

You sighed and held your hand out. “Hand me your comb.”

“What?”

“Your comb. You would always do my hair when I needed comfort. I think it's about time that I return the favor.” You smiled softly as Dimitri did just that, sitting on the floor in between your legs so that you could reach.

He titled his head back, leaning into your touch and relishing the feeling of your fingers massaging his scalp. “I’m so sorry, Y/N.”

“Silly, I’ve already forgiven you. Just- if you ever feel bad, y’know, and get anxious or angry or upset or anything, please come to me. You were there for me for so long-”

“I wasn't there for five years. Don’t give me such credit.”

“I’ll give you as much credit as I please- and keep still! Your hair is going to end up with more knots than it started.” You playfully yanked on a strand, your heart flipping when you saw him finally crack a small smile. “You were there for me in my rough times. Please, let me be there for yours.”

“...Okay.”

[teaveetamer]

Please do explain Dimitri, Edelstans, Fundamental Attribution Error and the Just-World Fallacy if you have time?

Okay so think of the most common anti-Dimitri arguments you can think of. I think, at the end of the day, all arguments boil down to two very broad points: “Well he did bad things so he was a bad person” and “It’s okay because he deserved it.” These two conclusions are excellent examples of the Fundamental Attribution Error and the Just World Fallacy at work.

For a brief rundown of what I’m talking about, here’s how both of these fallacies function.

The Fundamental Attribution Error

The Fundamental Attribution Error is, essentially, assuming people do things because of who they are as a person (dispositional factors), not because of what’s going on around them (situational factors).

For example, let’s say you’re driving your car somewhere, and as you’re getting on the highway a big SUV cuts you off. Now obviously you’re pissed and you think “wow, that person is a really bad driver! They must be really careless!”

That’s you assuming SUV guy’s observed behavior (cutting you off in traffic) is directly attributable to some part of his personality (carelessness). Thing is,  his pregnant wife might have gone into labor and he’s distracted while driving because he’s trying to get her to the hospital, or maybe his kid got hurt and he’s trying to get her some help, he had a bad day and was trying to rush home from work, or maybe you were just in his blind spot and he couldn’t see you before he pulled out in front of you.

Point being, there could be any number of factors that caused him to cut you off in traffic, but by jumping to the dispositional factor right out of the gate you have made an error in your thinking (and, in the process, likely assumed the worst of someone before you’ve even met them).

The Just-World Fallacy (& Cognitive Dissonance)

The Just-World Fallacy is essentially believing in karma. Good people will be rewarded for being good and bad people will be punished for being bad.

However, there’s just one little caveat... the world isn’t fair like that. So what happens when you see good things happening to bad people, or bad things happening to good people? Cognitive dissonance.

Cognitive Dissonance is what happens when what you believe or think does not match up with your observations or behaviors. There are two solutions to cognitive dissonance: change your behavior/understanding to match your thoughts, or change your thoughts to match your behavior/observations.

Let’s use an example of the Just-World Fallacy to demonstrate that. Say you’re walking down the street and you see a homeless person. You’ve been taught for pretty much your entire life that you better work hard so you don’t end up like those people. Hard workers get what they deserve (money, stability, promotions, etc.) and lazy people get what they deserve. So you see this homeless man and think to yourself, “Wow he must be really lazy.”

Your thought process might be: You see he is homeless (something you see as a consequence of laziness) -> Believe he is lazy. There is no cognitive dissonance because what you believe (hard workers are not homeless) is not challenged.

But then say you sit down with him and find out this man is a veteran that served in some war. He tells you his story all about how he escaped poverty by joining the military, worked three jobs to take care of his family, got injured, and then lost his health insurance so he could no longer work.

Now your thought process might be: You see he is homeless (something you see as a consequence of laziness) -> Discover that he is actually an extremely hard worker (something you do not associate with homelessness). Cognitive dissonance emerges because what you believe (hard workers are not homeless) has been challenged.

Cognitive dissonance is uncomfortable for people, so we’re going to have to resolve it somehow.

Option A) Realize that you were wrong to assume all homeless people are lazy. Revise your definition of homeless people to include “good people fucked over by the system.”

You see he is homeless (something you realize can happen to anyone regardless of work ethic) -> Discover he is an extremely hard worker that ended up homeless despite his best efforts. There is no cognitive dissonance because the observation (a hard working homeless man) does not contradict the belief (anyone can be homeless regardless of work ethic).

Option B) Double down on your thoughts and change your behavior/perceptions to match your thinking.

You see he is homeless (something you see is a consequence of laziness) -> Discover he is actually an extremely hard worker (something you do not associate with homelessness) -> Assume he must have done something to “deserve” being homeless (like showing up late or just not working hard enough to keep his job). There is no cognitive dissonance.

Now Option A seems like the easier path, but remember that humans are stupid. We tend to take the path of least resistance, so if it’s easier to pick Option A we tend to pick it, and if it’s easier to pick Option B we tend to pick that instead. Your primary aim is consistency, not rationality.

Okay, I hear you saying, but what does this have to do with Dimitri and the Edelstans?

Well let’s look back at those two major arguments I listed up at the top.

“Well he did bad things so he is a bad person.”

This is the Fundamental Attribution Error at work. They’re taking a behavior (killing people) and associating it with Dimitri as a person (he’s bad) rather than looking at the situational factors (he was protecting his homeland from violent invaders).

“It’s okay because he deserved it.”

Just-World Fallacy here. Dimitri is a bad person (see above) therefore it is okay to kill him (because bad people deserve to be punished).

It’s impossible to talk about these separately because these two fallacies work in tandem. Dimitri is, fundamentally, a good person that has very very bad things happen to him. This causes severe cognitive dissonance, and the Fundamental Attribution Error is many people’s solution.

So let’s take a look at it like this.

Problem 1:

Dimitri is a good person (good people don’t do bad things) -> Dimitri does bad things. Cognitive dissonance.

Solutions:

Option A) Dimitri is a good person (good people don’t do bad things) -> Dimitri does bad things -> Dimitri wasn’t a good person after all. No cognitive dissonance.

Option B) Dimitri is a good person (good people don’t do bad things) -> Dimitri does bad things -> Recognize that sometimes good people do bad things because of the circumstances. No cognitive dissonance.

Problem 2:

Dimitri is a good person (bad things don’t happen to good people) -> Bad things happen to Dimitri. Cognitive dissonance.

Solutions:

Option A) Dimitri is a good person (bad things don’t happen to good people) -> Bad things happen to Dimitri -> Dimitri wasn’t a good person after all. No cognitive dissonance.

Option B) Dimitri is a good person (bad things don’t happen to good people) -> Bad things happen to Dimitri -> Realize bad things sometimes happen to good people. No cognitive dissonance.

The beautiful thing about this is that you can interchange pretty much any character name into this framework.

Which brings me to Edelgard.

See, while most people who like Dimitri are most likely to opt for Option B, if you were to swap in Edelgard’s name then the people who like Edelgard will also be most likely to opt for Option B. Remember how I said we tend to take the path of least resistance to solve our cognitive dissonances?

It’s easier to change the intensity of your emotion than it is to change the valence. That is, it’s easier to go from negative emotion -> more intense negative emotion than it is to go from negative emotion -> positive emotion. They like Edelgard and dislike Dimitri already, so it’s far easier for them to choose Option A for Dimitri (because it makes their negative view more negative) and Option B for Edelgard (because it makes their positive view more positive) than the other way around.

And let me be clear. It doesn’t have to be “if you picked option B for Dimitri you must automatically assume option A for Edelgard” or anything like that. You can recognize that both of them are affected by their circumstances and the world isn’t really fair to either of them.

Now how does this fit into the stans specifically? Well, the stans, for whatever reason, seem to connect these two things. For Edelgard to be good Dimitri must be bad. I can only assume it’s because they realize that if Dimitri is a good person that has bad things happen to him then they’ll have to acknowledge where those bad things come from. More specifically, who does those bad things to him. That’s a whole ‘nother layer of cognitive dissonance on top of the original cognitive dissonance.

Which I guess at this point it’s all speculation, but it’s something about the way they talk about the game that pings my radar. Notice how a lot of Edelstans will discuss her bad actions in the passive voice? It’s to put distance between Edelgard and the action. They constantly try to put distance between Edelgard and her actions or they hone in on some bad act of her opponents to use it as justification for her actions.

Except... Crimson Flower Dimitri doesn’t really do anything bad, does he? He wasn’t deposed, didn’t spend five years wandering the countryside killing Imperial soldiers, didn’t have his mental breakdown, anything. He was just a guy in charge of his country doing his best to keep things together as an imperial invasion bore down on him. He doesn’t deserve to die because he hasn’t done anything wrong.

This is probably why we get terrible takes such as “Dimitri was a rabid dog that has to be put down” or “Dimitri is just too mentally ill it’s a service to put him out of his misery” or “Dimitri is an oppressor because he was shielding Rhea.” Pretty much anything they can find to make it seem like he  “deserves” to die.

So, in conclusion, I think you can trace pretty much every anti-Dimitri argument back to one fundamental question: how can I make him deserve it? And once you break it down to that it’s pretty easy to see through their twisted logic, and a lot of their theories and speculations start making sense.

[fantasyinvader]

@fireemblems24

Since @teaveetamer already posted their document on the game, I figured I’m going to go ahead as well since I promised you I’d do this. Part of it is me being impatient and just want to get writing this over with, I’ll admit, but it’s better than something I scribble at the last minute.

Okay, let’s start off with something simple. The route split. There is a meaning behind this you might not be aware of. See, Byleth’s personal class isn’t the Enlightened One in the original text. It’s Nirvana.  While it does take some cues from Hindu tradition, namely fusing with the Creator God...dess, in Three Houses it’s tied to a more Buddhist outlook. Namely, the duality between enlightenment and ignorance.

Let me explain. In Buddhist tradition, when he was attempting to reach Nirvana, a being called Mara tried to tempt Buddha away from that using his daughters. In their mythology, Mara represents spiritual death and among other things making bad things look good. However, the story goes that Buddha did not fall for the trap and in order to celebrate this a flag is used as the symbol. This is known as the Banner of Victory.

In Silver Snow, Byleth is presented with a flag. Not only does this flag appear as the route’s save icon, it’s also confirmed to be the game’s Fire Emblem. In addition, the developers have also said that the worldbuilding of Three Houses was done to support Silver Snow. Silver Snow is supposed to represent truth.

But what does that mean for Crimson Flower? It’s meant to be this path of temptation. Even the Japanese name for the route reflects this, as Safflowers don’t represent love like the red rose mentioned in the opening theme but rather attraction. Attraction and used in bouquets to say “I’m trying to attract you.” Even in the game itself, the choices that unlock CF are presented as changing the story.

What’s more, there’s implications.After joining Edelgard’s army, a NPC will talk about how he doesn’t think he should believe everything she says. This is way after Kostas dying, saying he should never have listened to her. There’s another NPC who, in the Japanese, heavily implies Edelgard is using propaganda to try and sway the unsupportive public to her side. We have the aftermath of Arianrhod, with her lying to the Black Eagles. Hell, the full version of the game’s theme song reveals she lied to Byleth during the events of White Clouds. Likewise, there’s a lot of little tidbits hidden in the route that imply it is far less heroic than it initially appears. Stuff like how Edelgard is starving her people to wage this war, how she abandoned the war she started for five years to search for Byleth, how she’s still using Crest Beasts, the fact the troops you liberated at Brigid were Imperial troops rather than Brigid militia like in the other routes (and notice how Catherine says “we just asked Brigid to not support the Empire” in contrast to Petra saying they’re forcing Brigid to join them? Other routes reveal that Brigid would join Rhea in a heartbeat if Petra wasn’t under Edelgard’s control), all optional but they’re there. Just like how her route has endings that contradict each other all over the place, talking about giving the people liberty while Hubert’s imply it’s a police state killing those who don’t accept their new overlord. Or how the Church is still around post-war, just under Edelgard’s control. Or how Byleth’s solo ending makes it still sound like they can use the Sword of the Creator, while the Jeritza ending shows them using the Sword of Seiros. Various bits of information floating around the game also debunk her narrative, if you know where to look. Crests and the Church don’t have as much power as she makes them out to, the Empire was founded on meritocracy but those in charge used their power to oppress the masses, and the Empire’s split with the Church happened because the Southern Church rebelled against their leadership and was crushed by the emperor at the time.

There’s so much evidence that things are changing in Fodlan, with new power structures and attempted reforms, while the Japanese text makes it clear Edelgard wants to put things back to how they used to be. She’s not a reformer, she seeking restoration of the Empire.

Even Byleth’s romance with Edelgard is suspect in the Japanese text. Ferdinand and Hubert’s paired ending makes it clear that Edelgard is jealous of how close they are, while her supports with Byleth flat out say Byleth has become more distant (and likely undoing their development during White Clouds). In addition, Japanese Hubert and Byleth’s support ends with Hubert saying they can be two particular birds flying alongside the eagle that is Edelgard. This bird is from Chinese mythology, representing eternal love...and bringing death, destruction and misery. It has very negative implications, hence why using the mandarin duck is seen as more appropriate since it also means love without any of the other stuff.

CF is the path of ignorance. Hell, the Japanese script says as much when Dimitri calls you out on walking the path of the beast. Nirvana is meant to be extinguishing the flames of hatred, greed and ignorance within yourself, while the path of the beast is one of hatred, greed and ignorance. CF is the antithesis of what Byleth’s story is supposed to be, hence why they lose their powers in it’s ending and aren’t a leader in Fodlan despite having proven themselves capable of the task. Instead, various endings show Edelgard restoring the nobility, albeit with far more control over them. Hell, the Japanese script uses the words conquest a lot more than the English one, the devs even referring to it as such while Silver Snow is the Empire Route and that part of the meaning behind CF is simply getting rid of those who stand in your way. Nothing about liberty or humanity, just Edelgard taking all power for herself.

Or in other words, she’s the hegemon that’s referred to in Byleth’s CF title. This was actually confirmed to be a reference to China’s Mandate of Heaven, and is meant to stand in contrast to Azure Moon. The gist is that unlike the Divine Right of Kings, where a leader has a right to rule given to them by God and everyone else can just suck it up, the Mandate treats their rule as a privilege. If you’re a cruel leader, corrupt,you put yourself ahead of your subjects, or just simply an oppressive tyrant, then you’re walking the path of the Hegemon. The Heavens will then give signs to the people, telling them they need to overthrow you and install a new leader. That’s what Edelgard is supposed to represent, and her route has confirmed rebellions against her. Ironically, her portrait at the end of CF is based off of Napoleon’s coronation portrait, which was meant to emphasize his own divine right to rule. That hand staff is supposed to represent being given God’s approval to rule, it’s call the Staff of Justice...except what we see in the game is inverted from the real thing.

Meanwhile, Dimitri’s path is that of the Righteous Kings. He’s a benevolent leader, one who puts the people first, giving them power and by overthrowing Edelgard he enacted justice. Dimitri at the end of AM and during CF is meant to be the good king, while Edelgard is always the tyrant. Hell, the terms for these in Japanese are used as expressions. Hegemon has very negative implications, like a power-tripping middle manager, while Righteous King has positive ones and can even be used to say a particular way of doing things is the proper way to do things.

Also worth noting that Azure Moon is the only route where you can pretty much save everyone sans Edelgard, Hubert and Jeritza. It seems to be the route that most emphasizes compassion over learning the full truth (hence, it doesn’t feature the flag like SS/VW).

Hell, the same final boss theme plays at the end of CF and AM. It’s Edelgard’s theme, using her own musical cues and stuff. Rhea might be the final boss of CF, but the music makes Edelgard the bad guy. Likewise, there’s many cues in the game linking Rhea with light/dawn and Edelgard with shadows/darkness, even Rhea’s lilies represent purity compared to Edelgard’s safflower.

Claude also has light based symbolism, and the devs confirmed he’s a good guy. He’s supposed to be Fodlan’s new guiding light after Rhea dies and the collapse of Fodlan’s institutions. In essence, he’s a direct contrast to Edelgard. While Edelgard thinks she knows everything and won’t change her mind, Claude learns the real truth and his views change with the route (mostly implied due to his supports). Claude reveals said truth, while Edelgard will keep pushing lies that suit her. The endings were Edelgard loyalists and TWSITD rise up to try and retake Fodlan are less hidden than the rebellions against Edelgard. Claude treats Byleth as an equal, whereas Edelgard pulls rank and says she can only see them as an equal when they propose. Claude doesn’t fall for attempts by TWSITD to turn him against the Church in VW, which creates the impression that they were the ones responsible for turning Edelgard against Rhea for simply being not human.

Claude is legit, especially considering the fraud that is Edelgard. You can’t save everyone as Claude, since the story prioritizes the truth (with SS being in the middle) but there’s a case to be made that it’s meant to be Claude’s path to his own form of enlightenment so he can be your true equal and partner.

So, that’s kinda it. Each of the three main routes are meant to contrast CF in some way. AM is more focused on compassion and saving Dimitri from himself, at the cost of learning the full truth. VW pushes the truth more, but you’re not able to save those you could in other routes. SS is somewhere in the middle, where you can save everyone you take into your class, Rhea if you have supports with her, and Dedue if you can keep him alive. The language the devs used makes them all out to be hero routes, whereas CF is the villain route once you dig under the surface. It’s the route of lies, it leads to tyranny, it lacks sincere compassion, but it doesn’t tell you that because you’re meant to be ignorant because you decided to join her. You put Edelgard ahead of the good of Fodlan, leaving it in darkness while she talks about being it’s light.

The main thrust of the game is SS vs. CF, but VW and AM serve to further illustrate why CF is the wrong way of doing things.

The devs took it a step further in the Nintendo Dream interview. Take all of what I just said, and consider the fact they wanted the players to immerse themselves in Fodlan. They want people to see all the evidence against Edelgard, hence why fighting her = Enlightenment. BUT they also talked about wanting to play a trick on players, and when people complained about how hard it was to “walk with Edelgard” during testing they made it easier to access CF. CF is the trick my friend, it’s the player thinking they’re the good guy when in reality they’re playing the game’s villain route.

[kendrixtermina]

I’ve found the interview! Or parts of it

Other fun points beyond Claude’s real name.

A lot of my headcanons have been confirmed!

Silver Snow was the first route written (maybe that’s why it’s the weakest? It took them a while to find their Mojo)

El wasn’t just a driving figure in the plot but also in the writing process, ie, the other lords were then developed as contrasts.

Dimitri’s eyepatch was also improv apparently one person just randomly suggested it halfway through, the original model was then used for CF. It was intended to show that he had a hard life in the last 5 years

They say they took some influence from “Romance of the Three Kingdoms”

CF was indeed intended as a “secret” hidden route holding a distinct place - it was originally supposed to be harder to unlock - they also underestimated how many players would always go explore on the first day (apparently the option is only open in the first day - which makes sense, later she’s already departed)

Edelgard is indeed Byleth’s foil/ counterpart / rival / contrast as someone with roughly equal power

So developement wise you might draw some parallels to Elsa (the developers gradually realized this character had more potential as a hero than a villain/ was actually pretty sympathetic - part of why they made joining her easier) and also Rika from Digimon Tamers (they realized the figurines of the girl characters didn’t sell, so they made the primary girl the ‘rival character’ which always sells. Rika was indeed hugely popular, probably because your average anime ‘rival character’ tends to be complex, cool,  and one of the most powerful chars in the setting)

Lysithea was indeed just a prototype, Edelgard had a much more advanced procedure done on her (hence why she generally seems a lot more “super”)

They originally planned for her to be able to stop/interfere with divine pulse but that didn’t end up making it into the final game

You have to consider that a game is not a book or a movie - something might be a cool concept on its own but if its implementation is annoying to the player it’s worthless

However I will take this as confirmation to my headcanon that she has some mild timewarping going on, and that this is what happens when she can attack multiple times (as per ‘raging storm’ or in her Hegemon form)

That really IS Sothis on the mural

An aspect that I didn’t personally consider but adds to my observations of how Rhea is a really interesting take on the concept of a demigod: They stress that to her Sothis doesn’t just represent her mother but also the creator/ her god. She very much does worship her and has goals beyong just wanting back a family member

(Indeed she does tell Byleth that she can’t wait until “Our creator rules this wayward land once more”)

And here’s yet another account of the war of heroes. In this i must admit defeat because others called this and I didn’t:

The Nabateans were in fact ruling over humans, and people were in fact resisting/standing up to that

The Agarthans having their own sinister motives,  invented the methods to make crests/ relics

At this point you DO get greed and powerlust involved - people like Nemesis started trying to kill dragons to gain their power left and right and the balance of power shifted

Rhea didn’t so much “make” the Elites into heroes - The (human) people really did see them as liberators and that was too big to change, so Seiros kept the broad strokes manipulating the details so that all tied back to the goddess.

So they replaced an aristocracy of Nabateans by an aristocracy of people with Nabatean-like powers. There’s an interesting dynamic here

So Edelgard was almost completely right.

I’m sorry I doubted you El!

That said I still get the impression that Nemesis was definitely in it for the power and still massacred civilians.  He’s like the Ten Elites’ secretly evil teammate.

So on the one hand, Rhea didn’t do this unscrupulous act of making people she hates into heroes just for control, on the other hand the war of Heroes was alot more muddy

On the other hand this makes Silver Snow a bad end in my book. “Happiness in Slavery”.

I did talk about how SS didn’t have Byleth growing out of their character flaws the ways the other routes, but now... wow they were a tool until the end

I still can’t believe that Sothis, Seteth or Flayn are evil though, Sothis seems compassionate and disliked Rhea’s methods - but was she even around then, actually? Because she was asleep for a long time after the war with the Agarthans. So the Nabateans, perhaps already under Rhea’s leadership, were already semi-corrupt.

(That obviously doesn’t justify slaughtering them all down to the last child - Zanado was the civilian population)

Seteth might have been as much of a tool now as then. Though I still hold to my opinion that he’s the last one to hold to Sothis’ “real” mission - which was guard not rule

Of course Rhea believed almost to the last that guarding was precisely what she was doing

Heavens this has so many layers and complexities I love it I want to make a full drawn out novel based on a similar premise

That said they specify very clearly that Seiros and co really did just want to keep the peace. They are benevolent/ paternalistic overlords basically

Almyra seems to have an “Ottoman Harem” situation going on where the King has multiple wives and the heir is whoever is worthiest/strongest rather than the eldest. So from the beginning Claude had many rivals as if the bullying he experienced wasn’t bad enough

So Claude/Khalid is different from Dimitri who was always the rightful crown prince, and Edelgard who never expected to inherit and suddenly found herself catapulted up the line of succession. For him it was always a “maybe”.  

This is an interesting contrast to Edelgard. Her father also had many concubines but it seems she had a good relationship with her siblings regardless.

“He won’t hesitate to plea for his life and considers survival as the ultimate victory. That’s also why Claude is the character who survives in every route. “

The original plan was to slip up and have Nader call him the wrong name. i see why they cut it, it would make everyone involved look like they don’t take the situation seriously

The moment in non-GD routes where he couldn’t predict that Hilda and Judith would sacrifice themselves is ascribed to him “having different values than the people in fodlan”. Ouch. So good at reading people but the cultural difference still bit him in the ass at the worst possible moment.

If you see the Church as Seiros as an analogue to a corrupt medieval church, this certainly fits with the common observation by ppl of different backgrounds that christian countries tend to have an undercurrent of glorifying suffering and self-sacrifice in ways that seem masochistic to ppl from other backgrounds or even local non-believers

The beard was supposed to make him look “adventurous”

“He’s a very good guy” - I mean, yeah.  

The timeskip designs were supposed to “radiate their life style over the last five years” - I certainly see that with, say, Dimitri or Bernadetta

[msbluebell]

You know, you forgot to mention one very important person in the Dimileth Wedding. And he’s right over there standing near the altar with the proudest smile on his face as he watches his daughter walk towards her beloved, a tear slowly falling from his face after knowing he can now truly rest in peace .

The truth is, Jeralt wasn’t really ready to die when Monica, Kronya, whatever her name was, stabbed him.

He wanted to see his wife again, he wanted to so bad he couldn’t stand it. But Byleth…Byleth was the most important thing in his world. He loved that kid, more than life and breathing itself. He couldn’t leave her yet, crying in the rain. Goddess, it’s the first time she’s ever cried.

She’s a weird kid, always has been. She didn’t cry with skinned knees, or panic when she started puberty, she never even made an expression before coming to this school. He wonders if Rhea did something, added something to the kid to keep them numb without her. He hopes not.

Still, he doesn’t move on yet. His spirit lingers, unseen and unheard until he can make sure his kid is going to be okay.

She’s…not.

It’s like losing him stripped something from her core. Where before she never seemed to feel anything, suddenly her grief for him is the most obvious thing about her, the first thing someone would notice at a glance. He’s worried, Goddess he’s worried, but at the same time his no longer beating heart swells because she really did love him, didn’t she?

Sometimes…he sees glimpses of the green haired girl his daughter told him about. He can hear the echo of her voice. And suddenly, something about this is all starting to make sense. Whatever Rhea did, it involved that girl, and Byleth started feeling around the time those dreams started turning up. So maybe…

It’s weird to think about. Gives him a headache. And more than that, he hopes he’s wrong about Rhea.

Right now he focuses on how much people seem to be taking care of her right now. He’s glad. He’s so glad. He was worried as the eternal flames, but it seems like she’s going to be fine. That Dimitri boy in particular seems to be doing her some good, he’s being supportive and comforting.

He’s almost ready to move on when they track down Kronya.

He’s about ready to scream at the kid. Look, he’s proud, and happy Byleth loves him, but this is clearly a trap. And he hates to agree with Rhea, but he doesn’t want Byleth to get herself killed trying to avenge him. Dimitri, please stop her, she listens to you sometimes.

…Dimitri?…

Dimitri you’re supposed to stop her. Goddess damn it all, his kid is too young to join him in death. 

So Jeralt has no choice but to stick around a little longer to make sure his kid doesn’t die.

If he still had a body, he’s sure he would have died from a heart attack watching that wizard prick lock his daughter in an endless void. There’s a moment where he’s stuck next to the Blue Lion kids, watching with horror as they start to break down, realizing that their teacher is gone. Dimitri is twitching scarily, his body jerking unnaturally.  The others look ready to lose it too, either to tears or anger. They’re lucky they didn’t see just how horrible it was.

Then his daughter is ripping open a hole in the sky and walking out with green hair and eyes, glowing against a red sky like she was the Goddess’ divine wrath taken form, and all Jeralt can think is what in the flames did Rhea do to his kid?

He can’t leave now, he needs answers. Rhea is setting up a ritual, and things are getting strange, and he can’t leave her alone. Well…not alone, but he can’t leave.

Though she IS getting a little chummy with that Dimitri kid.

Still, he’s way more focused on spying on Rhea now that she can’t see or hear him. He watches Rhea and Seteth talk, and he’s never appreciated Seteth as much as he has when he’s demanding answers from Rhea about what was going on with Byleth.

…what is this about his kid being a vessel? 

He wishes he could reach Byleth and tell her not to sit on that throne. But she can’t hear him, no one can, so he can only watch.

The there’s invaders in the tomb, and one of the students is unmasked at that Flame Emperor guy…gal…and Dimitri loses his mind and goes very scary very fast. Even he’s a little unnerved and he’s seen some scary stuff in his day, and he’s suddenly not so sure about his daughter’s taste in men.

Then things somehow get worse, and the Empire is invading, and he hates the Church more than most, but he doesn’t approve of starting a war over the damn thing, because war is hell and there had to be a better way to do this.

He can’t help but hate Edelgard when he watches his kid go over a cliff.

He finds her body under the rubble, so mangled that he’d mistake her for dead if it wasn’t for the spark of life in her soul. He can’t…he can’t look at her like that. He can’t. He’s not strong enough. He’ll come back to her if she wakes up.

If. 

He sticks to that Dimitri kid because he might as well look over his daughter’s crush while he waits for her to be found, or wake up, or die. Whatever happens. 

He doesn’t expect things to somehow get worse, but they do. The kid is already in the middle of a breakdown, but it seems like life just wants to fuck with this kid in particular, because he’s suddenly framed, and chased, and on the run, and goddess damned if watching this kid go through a breakdown isn’t one of the hardest things he’s ever seen in his life. Kid is tormented by ghost either Jeralt can’t see or aren’t even really there, and he doesn’t know what taking care of himself means, and frankly, Jeralt doesn’t even know how this kid is alive at this point. Watching Dimitri is like watching a bridge fall apart and crash into the water below, but someone was standing on it and all you can do is stare as they hit the water and the rubble falls on top of them. He’s constantly torn between easy sympathy and disgust, and he’s almost glad Byleth hasn’t woken up yet.

Somehow Byleth does eventually wake up, five years later, and five years of war and spiraling out of control. Jeralt goes to be with her, because he loves her and wants her to be safe and watching Dimitri has become downright unbearable. But wouldn’t you know? Dimitri must be her damned soulmate or something, because he’s right there where he promised he’d meet her on the very day he promised it. And, privately, Jeralt thinks a part of Dimitri wanted her to be there as much as Jeralt wanted her to wake up.

The next few months are Jeralt wanting to grit his teeth and punch out Dimitri’s. That’s his little girl Dimitri is talking to, and if he were alive than he wouldn’t even stand a villain talking to her that way, much less a guy she wants to marry. And, fuck, he thinks she wants to marry him because she’s not giving up on the kid. And he has sympathy for the kid, he’s been through absolute shit, but he wishes she’d give up on him and go to someone, anyone, else. He’d settle for Sylvain and that kid is pretty sleazy at times.

It turns out to be worth the effort when Dimitri starts taking actual naps and getting his head straight though. Turns out he CAN see other ghosts, because that Rodrigue guy joins him right after a pretty horrible assassination attempt gone wrong. There they are, two old men, watching their kids have a meltdown in the rain, Dimitri revealing he doesn’t think he deserves to live. Rodrigue’s lip is quivering, and Jeralt has to take a cough because it’s pretty emotional after watching these two all these years. And then that Felix kid of Rodrigue’s is pretty furious about his father’s death, and he thinks Rodrigue is ready to cry, so Jeralt gives him a manly pat on the back that doesn’t even feel like one because neither of them have bodies.

Jeralt can’t help but be proud of his girl, because she’s setting herself up as a great adviser, and Dimitri getting his head straight and marching towards Faerghus might be one of the most satisfying things he’s seen in years, and he’s finally starting to remember why he first liked the kid again. Rodrigue can’t stop beaming.

Jeralt is watching Byleth and Dimtri finally get out on top after five years in the worst place they could be and he’s never been more satisfied. He’s never been more proud than watching them walk out of the theater hand-in-hand after ending the war.

Not until the wedding, anyway.

The proposal was hilarious enough, but he manages to convince Rodrigue to stick around just long enough to watch his little girl get married. It’s the most wild thing he’s ever seen, and he wishes he was over with Alois and Catherine having a drinking contest. He feels like it’d be a good excuse. The whole thing is hilarious though, and perfect for is girl, the now Queen of Faerghus, and man isn’t that weird? He loves it, even if Rodrigue is despairing beside him.

He thinks he can rest in peace now, so he and Rodrigue both let go once the wedding dies down. Their kids will be fine.

[crackimagines]

Dawn of War (FE: Three Houses Short Fic)

The students of Garreg Mach have nothing to do to pass the time during a massive storm, in which the House Leaders sit around trying to alleviate their boredom.

Claude manages to find a tabletop game hidden inside the drawers, and this game proves to test their tactical prowess, and find out who is the better leader of war!

...In which they get weirdly competitive about a game of toy soldiers shooting each other.

----

The storm outside raged on, the rain pelting the door with thunder able to be heard in the distance.

Claude, Dimitri, Edelgard were stuck inside the classroom since they had business to attend to before the storm came upon the Monastery.

Sighing, Claude looked out the window and shook his head.

(Claude) “Great, we can’t even get back to our rooms without being completely soaked!”

(Edelgard) “Unfortunate, I don’t have anything with me to study or pass the time productively...”

(Dimitri) “We could always spar.”

(Claude) “I’m not sure that’s a good idea with how big your weapons are. Plus my arrows are totally going to pierce something important like a book.”

(Edelgard) “Then are we trapped in here with literally nothing to do?”

(Dimitri) “Hm...Perhaps we could look around for a book to read?”

(Claude) “I’m wanting to have something to do, not be put to sleep. Though, looking around for something isn’t that bad of an idea.”

Everyone got up to look around the classroom to see if there was anything worth doing while they were trapped inside the classroom. Edelgard opened a closet and raised an eyebrow after seeing the contents.

After getting the other two’s attention, they sat the mysterious box and book on the table.

(Edelgard) “What in the world is this?”

(Claude) “I think this is a board game. What is this even doing at a military academy?”

(Dimitri) “We might as well take a look. It’s not as if we have anything better to do.”

---

After a bit of reading, the three realized it was a game similar to chess, only that you roll dice and use measuring sticks in order to move your pieces and attack.

The pieces were tiny plastic miniatures, which appeared to be soldiers of some kind. 

The soldiers Edelgard picked up wore heavy armor, and had a massive golem with what looked like a cannon to be its right arm.

As for Dimitri, his soldiers looked far more metallic and skeletal.

Claude was perusing through the book Edelgard picked up and eventually found pictures and descriptions of what they were.

First was Edelgard’s miniatures. It consisted of 5 soldiers in heavy armor, and the massive golem.

Space Marines

“The Space Marines are defenders of humanity, the greatest of the Emperor of Mankind's warriors. They are barely human at all, but superhuman; having been made superior in all respects to a normal man by a harsh regime of genetic modification, psycho-conditioning and rigorous training.” 

Dreadnought

“The Space Marine Dreadnought is a massive war-machine piloted by an honoured Space Marine hero whose body has been ravaged in battle.”

Looking over at Dimitri’s miniatures, it consisted 10 skeletal soldiers and 1 on top of a spider-like construct.

Necron Warriors

“Necron Warriors are the primary infantry troops of the soulless, undying mechanical monstrosities known as the Necrons. These once living creatures are now made of living metals, and carry weapons that atomize their foes.”

Necron Cryptek

“A Cryptek is one of the technologists and engineers of the Necron race, and they are responsible for studying and maintaining the technology of the Necron dynasties.“

(Claude) “So, from what I understand so far, you use these miniatures to fight in a toy-sized war against each other across the galaxy?”

(Dimitri) “That sounds-”

(Edelgard) “SO AWESOME!...Er uh, incredibly childish.”

(Claude) “Hah, come on no need to act all shy! It’s not like anyone can watch us play glorified chess!”

(Dimitri) “Come Edelgard, I bet I could beat you at this game!”

(Edelgard) “Hmph! I accept this challenge!”

(Claude) “Sweet! I’ll be the rules guy! Now let’s see...”

ONE EXPLANATION OF HOW TO PLAY LATER...

The two set up the board and took a good look at their miniature battlefield.

INITIATIVE PHASE:

OBJECTIVE: King Slayer (Kill the Enemy Commander)

Edelgard - Space Marines

5 Tactical Marines, 4 armed with Bolters (very big assault rifles), 1 armed with Missile Launcher

Dreadnought, armed with assault cannon (very big minigun), combat weapon (giant fist), and flamethrower

Dimitri - Necrons

10 Necron Warriors, all armed with Gauss Flayers (green laser beam)

1 Necron Cryptek, armed with Staff of Rod (Enhancced version of Gauss Flayer)

(Claude) “Wow, looks like odds are in your favor, Dimitri! But let’s see here, now we roll off to see who moves first!”

Dimitri and Edelgard rolled a single six sided die.

Dimitri rolled a 3 while Edelgard rolled a 5.

(Edelgard) “Ah, I move first!”

(Claude) “Alrighty! Go ‘head and move your models!”

MOVEMENT PHASE: Turn 1 (Edelgard)

...

The Space Marine squad moved with their dreadnought closely following behind, aiming down their bolters as they trudged down the ruins of this barren wasteland.

Their heavy weapons expert carrying the missile launcher, Brother Ferdinand was the first to speak up.

(Ferdinand) “Sergeant Hubert, what is this ruin?”

...

(Dimitri) “Wait, are you naming your squad after your classmates?”

(Edelgard) “Well, I thought it’d be easier to tell who’s who in the unit. After all not a single one is painted.”

(Dimitri) “Fair enough. Hah, maybe I should do the same with my commander! Though my warriors are mindless automatons, so perhaps naming them wouldn’t be worth it...”

(Edelgard) “Now, where was I moving them to?”

...

Hubert didn’t turn to face him, instead keeping an eye on his helmet’s tactical display.

(Hubert) “This world is a Tomb World, filled with the Necron. Though it is a graveyard, these Xenos will arise from the ground to stop us if we are not careful. Commander Edelgard wants us to perform reconnaissance at this area, and report back.”

Hubert turned to his communications specialist with the scanner, Linhardt.

(Hubert) “Any readings?”

(Linhardt) “Affirmative. Multiple signals are dead ahead.”

The booming voice of the Dreadnought shattered the silence as it clenched its fist.

(Caspar) “Finally. Action.”

Two of the other marines walked past the wall and immediately jumped back into cover.

(Petra) “Brothers, we have contact!”

(Dorothea) “Necron Warriors are right in front of us!”

Caspar moved to the front, shielding his battle-brothers with the dreadnought’s chassis and started warming up his assault cannon.

...

(Dimitri) “Wow, there is not a lot of space on this board.”

(Edelgard) “At least there is cover for all of us to hide behind. Anyways Claude, what comes next? I have finished moving my models.”

(Claude) “Let’s see...Ah, shooting phase. Let’s go ahead and roll to see what hits and wounds!”

SHOOTING PHASE: Turn 1 (Edelgard)

...

(Hubert) “OPEN FIRE BROTHERS!”

Caspar’s assault cannon started shooting into the crowd of Necron warriors that were assembling themselves as they rose from the ground.

Most of the bullets made their mark by nailing them in the head and torso, though the damage appeared to be minimal, as they continued to rise.

Only two Necrons were taken out by the initial burst.

(Dorothea) “Damn, the reports of Necrons being durable was no exaggeration!”

(Hubert) “Provide fire support, brothers!”

The Space Marines opened fire, the sounds of their bolters becoming deafening as volley after volley was fired into the crowd.

All of their shots had been shrugged off, even though they hit.

Ferdinand took aim with missile launcher and pulled the trigger, smoke exploding out of the barrel as a missile flew towards them.

Hitting a Necron directly, it exploded into pieces, finally having the first casualty.

(Ferdinand) “1 xeno down!”

(Hubert) “Do not relax yet, brother! They have their reanimation protocols!”

...

(Edelgard) “Your men are quite durable! I have to roll a 4 or higher on my dice to even wound you!”

(Dimitri) “Hah! And it would appear that you are too far to charge into melee as well! Though your aim was true, your boldness has now become your downfall!”

(Claude) “Right then, your turn to move Dimitri!”

...

MOVEMENT PHASE: Turn 1 (Dimitri)

As the Space Marines fired into the Necrons, Cryptek Annette knew that their bolters would cause superficial damage at best.

(Annette) “Foolish meatbags. They think they can harm us.”

Annette turned to one of the fallen warriors and pointed her hand at it.

(Annette) “Rise.”

Activating the reanimation protocol, the warrior rose back up as if it were never taken down to begin with, and began to march.

...

(Dimitri) “Reanimation protocol: on a 5+ roll of your die, a slain model in this unit may return to battle at full wounds. If you have a Cryptek within 3 inches, you may get to add 1 to this roll. So in this case, rolling a 4+ just made that warrior come back to life.”

(Edelgard) “Uh oh.”

...

SHOOTING PHASE: Turn 1 (Dimitri)

They all slowly marched in perfect unison towards the Space Marines, aiming their gauss flayers at the team.

Not needing to verbally give the order, the Necrons opened fire.

(Annette) “Reduce these humans to ash.”

(Hubert) “INCOMING!”

A majority of the shots missed the humans as it whizzed by their heads.

(Annette) “Slightly alarming. It seems their aim has not been calibrated properly yet. I will fix this.”

Since the dreadnought was in front, the suit took a majority of the hits, vaporizing bits and pieces of his armor.

The human in charge of the team looked like as if it were about to give another order. Annette was not going to let that happen.

Cryptek Annette fired the rod towards the leader, in which a marine got in the way of the shot.

(Dorothea) “SERGEANT, WATCH OU-”

Brother Dorothea’s head was shot clean off, as the body shook violently for a single second before falling over, dropping her bolter, blood spilling out.

(Hubert) “NO!”

...

(Dimitri) “Hm...maybe I should have focus fired on your squad instead of your dreadnought. It’s way tougher than any of my units compared to your marines!”

(Edelgard) “At least you managed to put one of my men down with your commander.”

(Dimitri) “I suppose that is the silver lining. It appears I’m a bit too far to charge in myself, so I suppose it’s back to you?”

(Edelgard) “Indeed! I will have revenge for space marine Dorothea!”

...

MOVEMENT PHASE: Turn 2 (Edelgard)

(Caspar) “YOU WILL FALL BY MY HANDS, XENO SCUM!”

Caspar charged forward, ignoring the shots incoming by the Necron Warriors.

Hubert pointed towards the enemy, reloading his bolter.

(Hubert) “WE AVENGE OUR FALLEN!”

With a rallying cry they all charged aiming their bolters at the enemy.

SHOOTING PHASE: Turn 2 (Edelgard)

Caspar first used his flamethrower now that he was finally in range, igniting the skeletal abominations into flame.

Even though his heavy flamer was a weapon that could melt the most solid material, the Necrons remained unphased.

Pointing his assault cannon, he opened fire into the crowd and 3 of the warriors went down since they were the closest to the gun as it fired.

The Marines provided covering fire, picking any of the stragglers off, however much of the same effect happened with no one going down.

(Hubert) “We will get overwhelmed by their reanimations at this point! Brothers, we go for the Cryptek! Caspar, show no mercy!”

(Caspar) “LONG HAVE I WAITED FOR THIS MOMENT, BROTHER HUBERT!”

FIGHT PHASE: Turn 2 (Edelgard)

(Caspar) “XENOS, MEET YOUR DEMISE!”

Caspar charged straight for the squad of warriors, shrugging off the shots they fired in vain, finally getting into close combat.

...

(Dimitri) “What are your stats on your dreadnought?”

(Edelgard) “Let’s see...Oh, ouch! 2+ on a D6 to hit, AND wound!”

(Dimitri) “Uh oh.”

...

Caspar grabbed one of the Necrons and slammed it into the nearby building’s wall. Swiping his hand back, he knocked back several more Necron as they tried to swipe their bayonets onto the his chassis to no avail.

3 more Necrons were completely crushed as Caspar continued laughing, ripping apart any of them in his path.

MOVEMENT PHASE: Turn 2 (Dimitri)

Although Caspar was easily defeating them, 4 of the 6 Necron he crushed reassembled themselves, and got back into the fight.

(Annette) “That meatbag leader...”

Annette quietly left the warrior’s fight, as her presence was not needed. They would keep it busy with their reanimation protocols.

It was of no matter however, once their leader was down, all that mattered was to take down the dreadnought herself.

Circling around the building, Annette stood right in front of where the entrance where the marines would have flanked her.

(Linhardt) “SERGEANT!”

SHOOTING PHASE: Turn 2 (Dimitri)

The Cryptek aimed its staff at her enemies and fired, the shots hitting Petra and Linhardt.

Ferdinand and Hubert dodged in time, but didn’t look back to see if they were okay.

Their icons on their tactical display were darkened, then disappeared entirely.

...

(Edelgard) “No!”

(Dimitri) “Hahaha! Another 2 down!”

(Claude) “Tight spot you’re in princess! What’s the strategy?”

(Edelgard) “Hm...”

... 

MOVEMENT PHASE: Turn 3 (Edelgard)

(Ferdinand) “Sergeant, I got this!”

(Hubert) “Brother, what are you doing?! We need to fall back and-”

(Ferdinand) “No, I got this!”

Loading another missile into his launcher, he ran towards the Cryptek and dodged more incoming shots.

...

(Dimitri) “Edelgard, you realize moving your marines up makes them have a penalty for shooting right? Firing your missile launcher will be on a 4+, and it’s your only shot.”

(Edelgard) “It’s the only shot I need to end this game!”

...

SHOOTING PHASE: Turn 3 (Edelgard)

Ferdinand finally got into position and pulled the trigger, the missile flying straight for Annette.

...

Edelgard breathed calmly and started shaking the die in her hand, and finally let it roll.

(Dimitri) “It hit?!”

(Claude) “And Edelgard needs only a 2+ to wound, but there’s a chance you could survive! Your cryptek has 4 wounds!”

(Edelgard) “But my missile causes D6 damage!”

Rolling a 3 for the wound roll, everyone was on the edge of their seats for the total damage.

...

When the missile made contact, everything exploded violently, pushing Hubert and Ferdinand out of the building.

Hubert looked up to see if the Cryptek still stood.

All he found was bits of him everywhere.

(Ferdinand) “Mission...complete...”

...

VICTORY: Edelgard (Space Marines)

SURVIVORS: Hubert, Ferdinand, Caspar

The damage roll was a 4.

(Edelgard) “YEEEEEES! WOOHOOOOOOO!”

Edelgard high fived Claude and started pumping her fists.

(Dimitri) “I cannot believe the odds of that happening!”

(Claude) “That was one heck of a gamble you did!”

(Edelgard) “And it paid off! Looks like your overconfidence was your downfall, Dimitri!”

(Dimitri) “It would appear so Edelgard! Good game!”

The two shook hands and sat normally on their seats.

(Edelgard) “That was a fun way to pass the time, honestly!”

(Dimitri) “I would not object to another game of this! Perhaps we should introduce our classes?”

(Claude) “Ooooh yeah, after that, I want a piece of the fight too!”

(Edelgard) “Well, let’s clean this up for now.”

...

Hubert and Ferdinand slowly walked back with Caspar tailing behind, engines smoking.

(Hubert) “We will make sure their geneseed is collected. Their sacrifices are not in vain.”

(Ferdinand) “Indeed. The Xenos have paid with their life, but our battle is not over yet.”

(Caspar) “The Necrons still plague this world, and no doubt other foul forces will be here to stop us.”

(Hubert) “Let us not dwell upon for that. Come, we make our way to report to the commander.”

Nodding, the three of them walked away, reloading their weapons.

Only in death does duty end for them,

for in the grim darkness of this future:

There is only War.

[fe3h-imagines]

HC where reader is meant to be wedded off to some jerk of a husbandaftwr she graduates but wants to instead marry someone from the officers academy (Dimitri, edelgard, sylvain, Felix, claude)

Hallo! I'm sorry this took so long. School has been running me into the ground with all the art projects I have for my Computer Graphics class and my Design class. These are also long, because I'm me and I write really long and detailed Headcanons XD

They are left on a cliffhangers because I want to add little story endings to them, so keep an eye out for those 😊👍

"I want to marry you!" (Dimitri, Edelgard, Claude, Felix, and Sylvain Headcanons)

Dimitri

When you found out that your parents had set you up to marry some noble brat from inner Faerghus, you were ticked.

They said that you would have a say and your opinion on it would be valid, but you cursed yourself as you thought "I should have known this would happen"

When your parents set you up with him, you about passed out. He looked down on everyone that wasn't someone of his status or higher. When out walking, he would shove common folk aside, even once saying they should figure out their struggles on their own and beat it.

"I don't want to marry that jerk-"

"You'll watch your tone," you mother warned.

"You said I would have a say in who I marry and I love Dimitri-"

"I said, watch your tone."

They shut you down every time you tried to argue or speak your mind. On the matter. Your mother was the one who was being stern. Your father was more relaxed with your opinion.

"I want to marry Dimitri. Not him..."

When Dimitri heard the news from you, he was distraught. Seeing you marry anyone else, especially someone like that broke him. Dimitri loved you dearly. Why some Rich snob like them? You were his beloved, and he was your angel.

When he saw you, he quickly led you to where you two were alone and pulled you into a hug upon seeing you cry, and you told him the news.

"I want to marry someone else! I don't want to marry that snob! I... I want to marry you...," You whispered as you started to cry into his chest.

"I'm going to fix this," he spoke. Seeing you cry stirred up anger in him, and he wasn't having it. "I can have something arranged to change their plans."

"What if they don't accept it..?"

"They will, I'm sure of it. I can't stand seeing someone else with you and them treating you like dirt."

Edelgard

You? You're Edelgard's lovely. You're her flower. And the day that she was going to confess her feelings for you, she heard the news.

You were beyond crushed. You were a commoner. Not the very bottom, you were decently off, but your family wasn't nobility.

A noble man cut a deal with your parents, offering you a net of safety with money and a better living space. As soon as the ceremony takes place, your things were to be gathered and you would be off to your new "home". He only liked you for your looks. You were stunning and eye catching, a valuable attention grabber in noble affairs if you were to be on the arm of a noble.

"I'll kill him."

Hubert looked at Edelgard with worry. "Edelgard, I-"

"No. I'll kill him. I know that man, and all he wants are better money and power deals to come his way."

Edelgard sought you out and she was going to confess to you. She had been waiting long enough out of fear, and she was too angry to worry about nerves anymore.

"(Y/n)."

You were in your room. She walked in and shut the door behind her.

"Edelgard?"

"Now may not be the best timing, but I have something I would like to say."

You looked up at her with red eyes from crying earlier. Your heart belonged to someone else. It belonged to Edelgard. She was fearless, kind, smart, confident, beautiful. You held your feelings close, fearing she wouldn't reciprocate. You felt every chance you had was gone.

"(Y/n), I've been quiet for quite some time but I have to say it now because I do not see a better window of time, but I love you. And I don't like what that noble man wants from you."

You froze. She usually is a blunt and straightforward person; very honest. But she wasn't having that nonsense.

"Do you feel the same... About me...?" Edelgard's voice softened as she looked at you, your silence saddening her.

"I have for a long time...  But since I didn't grow the nerve, I don't have a chance to make you happy like I want...."

She sat next to you on your bed and looked at you in the eyes.

"We will fix this. I promise."

This isn't usually like her, but you had a strange feeling it would all work out.

Claude

This boy. This calm, relaxed, chill boy, was mad.

How could your parents set you up with some high up brat that doesn't care about you? That abuses power?

Your parents hid this from you for about two months. You only figured out when the noble came for a visit for the first time. And I tell you, you blew up.

"No!"

"(Y/n)! That's no way to act around your future-"

"He isn't anything to me, father! I'm not marrying this jerkoff!"

"Watch your attitude. I can't and won't have you act this away once we are married," the noble spoke.

"All you care about are looks and status! Screw off!"

The whole Golden Deer house was riled up. They hated what was going on with you, and it ate Claude up inside. You two had been together for a while now, and he didn't want to lose you to some noble douche.

"I hate this... Why won't it all just go away...?" You mumbled, wiping stray tears from your face.

Claude abruptly stood up. You looked at him with wide eyes.

"We're going to see your parents."

"We're what-?!"

"We're going to change this. Right now."

He knew your parents were more concerned about status and wealth than anything, and that's why they set you up with the jerk.

"Claude... Are you sure about this...? I don't want them trying to use you-"

"They won't. It's their weakness to look at status and positioning first, and when they see me, they'll have no questions," he explained with a sneaky grin and a wink. "I'll have no tolerance for corrupt people."

His ability to calm you down and make up relaxed was amazing, and you appreciated it.

"When do we see them?"

"Now. The morning service starts soon and they are always there. They'll have to see me."

Felix

Upon hearing the news, Felix didn't really know what to think.

The emotions of shock, anger, and confusion kept flooding him and filling his brain like a flood.

He was more confused as to why they set you up with someone else and not him?

Your family and the Fraldarius house were very close friends, and the fact that he was watching you get set up with a man who had no care in the world for you, really made his blood boil.

The truth was, Felix had grown to adore you. Ever since childhood, he had always been around you because of how close the families were, and he took a liking towards your company.

Him adoring you isn't exactly what made him mad, it was the fact that they set you up with a horrible guy.

He was some Rich guy who looked down at everything, treated his servants terrible, talked bad about and threatened towns people, and if he didn't get what he wanted, he threw tantrums like a three year old.

Why him over Felix? Why overlook someone who cares about their child and settle their eyes on that man? It didn't make sense. It was the stupidity of their decision that riled him up. It's your future they are meddling with.

And you were disheartened because you liked Felix. Did he know? NOPE. You were scared to tell Felix. With Felix being a guy that isn't the best with emotions of other people, you kept it quiet.

You knew he wouldn't act the same with you, but it still didn't stop your nerves and heart from fluttering everywhere at the thought of telling him. You didn't want to make it awkward.

"I want him away from me. I want him away from my family. I'm not having it!" You argued with your parents.

The students had time to go visit their families, and you had went home to combat your parents on the problem. Little did you know, Felix and his father Rodrigue were going to show up.

"(Y/n), please settle down."

"Why should I? You set me up with some guy I don't even know, and he treats people like garbage beneath his feet!"

After a while of arguing, your father tried to shoo you off to have their normal tea time with Rodrigue. You followed.

"Father-"

"(Y/n), enough," he commanded as he greeted Rodrigue.

"No. Why not someone like Felix? Why not Felix? We're friends, we actually care about each other, and I actually like Felix in that way. Why not him or someone that cares about me?"

Felix and his dad had actually gone there to talk your father out of the guy and into Felix. When you saw Felix behind his father, you were a blushing mess.

"Would you be willing to alter your decision?" Rodrigue asked slowly as Felix looked at his feet, an unnatural red covering his face.

Sylvain

No one has ever seen Sylvain so angry and livid.

How could someone so ignorant and rude, be paired with someone as sweet and as caring as you?

When you and Sylvain started dating, you didn't tell your parents. Your parents tended to be a bit snotty, trying to gain status in any way they could.

You agreed not to tell your parents because you didn't want them to try and use him and your relationship for his crest. He was okay with you not telling them because it's your decision. They are your parents.

You were worried, but he said he loved you for you, and your parents wouldn't scare him away.

But you didn't think they would pair you off with some ignorant and snot nosed noble. He would ignorantly blow off his money in the most dumb ways, he was rude to common folk and servants, and he was rude towards your families servants (who you are quite close to) when he visited.

You were a panicked and upset mess, and the fact that you were so distraught, made Sylvain angry. He was going to fix this in whatever way he could.

"I can't do this! I c-can't marry some... Some thick skulled brat like that!" You cried as Sylvain paced back and forth in your room.

"We'll get it fixed. I'm not losing you."

"I don't know what to do..."

"(Y/n)... Would you be willing to marry me...?"

"Of course I would!"

"Do you think your parents would change their arrangements if they knew about us...?"

"I'm not letting them use you. No." You said as you stood up.

"(Y/n)... I don't want you to be stuck with him... I'm more than willing to-"

"I'll leave them."

Sylvain looked at you wide eyed. "You'll what?"

"I'll leave their house hold... I can stay with my grandparents and I can figure something out."

"(Y/n) I'm not letting you risk something like that. With how noble families are..."

"I don't know what else to do, Sylvain. I don't know what else to do."

"Just breathe," he whispered as he hugged you tightly. "We will sort it out."

[patricia-von-arundel]

@frozenartscapes' story made me think about the first time Millie gets hurt in training.

Byleth brought up the possibility, but Edelgard blew her off: "Injury is a part of life. None will hurt her badly, and she'll learn to protect herself - and others."

She gets trained by many of them, learning different styles, different techniques. (Her favorite is secretly Raphael, who turns punch-dodging into tickle fests.) Neither Byleth nor El is particularly skilled at a lance, so they turn first to Dimitri - who resolutely refuses to even risk hurting Millie - then to Ingrid.

Ingrid is thrilled. She was the one as a kid who had to argue incessantly that she could train just as well as Dimitri and Sylvain and Felix. The one who had dreamed of being a knight.

And also the one to (quite accidentally) smash Millie in the face with a lance.

She was turning, not realizing Millie was behind her, and doing so rather quickly, and she could feel the reverberation up her arm.

Millie went sprawling.

Shit.

Oh, shit.

And several more colorful phrases she might have heard in the stables.

Running over: "Goddess, Millie, are you -"

She was already sitting up. A bit dazed looking, her nose wrinkled - but it didn't appear broken, thank the goddess - and blood on her lips, running down her chin.

Shit, shit, shit.

She wiped one hand across her face, looked at it. "Yuck."

"...Yuck?"

"I don't like being bloody. Can I wash it off before we do anymore?"

Well.

But there was still the matter of her mothers.

And of course it was Edelgard, not Byleth, who came to get her. And everyone knew what an axe could do to a lance.

Shit on a -

Millie's face was clean, but her lips were swollen, scabbed, and there was an obvious bruise rising dark and very lance-shaped across her cheeks. And of course she said, "Ingrid hit me with a lance, Mama."

There was no phrase colorful enough for this.

Edelgard only stared. She looked very, very tense, suddenly.

"An accident," Ingrid said quickly.

"I don't want it to be an accident. You said I could be a knight. It was a big, huge battle, and I got whacked right off my horse! But I got back on and killed everybody. If they were bad guys. I only kill bad guys."

Ingrid closed her eyes, and waited for the end.

"A knight, is it?" Edelgard finally said. "We'll have to consider some riding lessons."

"Really?"

"Really. Now, run off to gather your things, while I speak to Aunt Ingrid."

Aunt Ingrid who finally now found the courage - some knight, herself! - to open her eyes again. "I'm really very sorry. I didn't mean -"

"I knew it would happen," Edelgard said softly. "I must admit, I also feared it. Tell me, if you don't mind - how did she react?"

"She got right back up. It was amazing, truly."

Edelgard was looking at Millie, stuffing things into her satchel with little attention to folding or care. She had a faint smile, now. "I thought that she might do so."

Her eyes met Ingrid's - there was something cold there. Almost unsettling. "Sometimes, a mere battle injury may seem nothing to pains of the past."

[butwhatifidothis]

But...Byleth wasn't unemotive because they were a mercenary, they were unemotive because of the fact Sothis hadn't woken up. Like I said, you're injecting a negative viewpoint where there isn't any.

As much as people would LIKE for it to be Crimson Flower is NOT a villain route, as villain routes usually have you as the bad guy. The villainous actions are addressed. Instead you're potrayed about as much (if slightly less with the whole conquest thing) of a hero as the other routes, complete with the Black Eagles becoming the underdog and being short on troops, and Edelgard fighting directly on the frontlines. Sure we can call it the villain route since Edelgards the villain in all the other routes, but it isn't played as if it were one. There's no "Look at the horrible thing you've done!" or "Edelgard's empire crumbled and she was killed in a coup after TWSITD were defeated". or even a "Edelgard's lies get exposed' moment. She's just potrayed as the hero the entire time.

Also, Edelgard doesn't think Byleth is completely without emotion, she thinks byleth is DETATCHED. As in, not showing emotion often. She also agreess if Byleth says that Edelgard is also detached. That entire part of the conversation is brought on because Byleth says they are jealous. The entire thing of "Edelgard thinks Byleth has no emotions" is from a conversation in which Edelgard is GLAD that Byleth os showing emotion.

"I'll admit, I think of you as rather detached, so to hear that you have emotions such as jealousy is... something of a relief."

Also I forgot to ask...where is it STATED or SAID that Byleth WANTS to be a guiding hand for Fodlann? Like I'm not sure where that came from since it's not as if Byleth actively pursues a position of power, it's usually something they just sort of get given at the end of the other routes since Rhea either gives them said position, or is dead and Byleth ends up filling that role

Imma ask this: if being a mercenary was completely fine, if that had absolutely no negative impact whatsoever on Byleth... why didn't Sothis wake up earlier? Why did she only do so right before the lords - who give Byleth the chance to grow - meet with them? If they don't want to be a guiding hand in Fodlan, why don't they reject the leadership position given to them - especially on AM, when Rhea and/or Seteth could take over as archbishop?

It's because being a regular mercenary isn't good for them. It's because there's a consistent theme with Byleth that leadership as well as the Church are good things for their character, as well as for Fodlan - it's in the routes the Church is standing and Byleth earns a leadership position that Fodlan is at its most peaceful in the endings. It's not me being negative when it's this consistent within the game itself that being a leader and having a purpose beyond being a sword hand is what is best for Byleth.

To give the short answer to the "CF isn't a villain route" idea, here's this post I made detailing many of the ways CF is by far the most morally bankrupt route of the four of them, regardless of surface level framing. CF isn't a villain route in that "oh ho look at you, being evil!" It's the villain route because you are actively helping the villain get what she wants. You are the reason Fodlan falls into tyranny. It's your fault, as the player, that Fodlan is engulfed in war again when that isn't necessary in the other routes (where TWS are just taken care of with no need for a "long, arduous, bloody war"). It's because of you that the people of Fodlan must live under Edelgard's cruel leadership, being spied on by the secret police and having any rebellion they try to muster be put down in secret by Edelgard's evil butler.

You say CF isn't the villain route because Edelgard's villainous actions aren't addressed, but I'm sorry, I have to disagree with you with what qualifies as a villain route. You help plunge the continent into war by backing an imperialistic warmonger. You help spread outright lies about the Church. You keep up these lies even to your friends and let them believe the Church just nuked Arianrhod, without ever setting it straight with them. You work with a murder cult hellbent on killing as many people as they can. You comply with someone who is keeping an independent country (Brigid) under her thumb by keeping Petra as a hostage, which she herself refers to herself as on CF. You use Demonic Beasts as "war assets." You invade a neutral nation that's kept out of the war entirely. You help try to finish a genocide against the Nabateans - or, at best, work with someone who wants to finish it. You are the villain.

CF has you as the underdog despite it always being the one with the advantage in the beginning of the war phase because it is deliberately breaking from the worldbuilding of 3H, as said by the developers. Byleth is supposed to stand against Edelgard, not walk with her, hence the warping of the story when they do. It doesn't have to directly, explicitly say it's the villain route for it to be clear that you are not the good guy here.

Like, "you're portrayed about as much (if slightly less with the whole conquest thing) as much as a hero as the other routes-" no! Not slightly less! That is in large part what makes it villainous! You aren't fighting to defend yourself and to take down the one who plunged Fodlan into war - you are the conqueror! You are the one doing the plunging! For completely selfish gains, at that! There's no explicit "wow bitch you fucked up here" because the sign of you fucking up is the state your actions leave Fodlan in. It's Byleth losing the Crest Stone and going back to the beginning of their character arc. Edelgard, the villain, won - she got to have her happy ending on the graves of countless innocents lives she deemed less worthy than her ambitions, and it's all because of you. Edelgard getting exposed and her empire crumbling down is a good thing, which CF is not. You don't get to have Edelgard face the consequences of her actions like you do on the other routes where she dies, because she won. The bad guy won. You helped the bad guy win, so no, you aren't going to get the satisfaction of watching Edelgard fall - you play the other non-villain routes for that to happen. Why should there be? This is what you as the player wanted! You chose to side with Edelgard, even after being shown her involvement with nearly every bad thing that happens in WC, because you wanted her to win! You’ve reapt what you’ve sown!

And imma just ask... why is Edelgard relieved to hear Byleth has emotions such as jealousy? And why does she insist that Byleth is detached if you try to deny it? Why does Byleth have to directly tell Edelgard about them feeling emotions for her to know it - why doesn't she just know already? You never hear this sort of doubt come from Seteth, Claude, or Dimitri on SS, VW, and AM - hell, Claude will even outright say that Byleth has gotten far more expressive lately during tea time conversation! Why is Byleth detached in CF - why aren't they closer to the lord? Why is the lord doubting the connection between Byleth and others in their A support? Why is it only on CF that Byleth is ever called detached during post ts? Why is Byleth not showing emotion often? Enough to make Edelgard question whether they have emotions? 

It’s because Byleth is regressing on the progress they’ve made in being able to emote - they act in ways that are similar to how they act in the beginning of the game because CF is a negative influence on their character. Edelgard calling herself detached like Byleth is not a good thing - Edelgard’s detachment from other people is what lets her sacrifice innocent civilians for her goals. It’s what let’s her believe that her imperialistic dreams are worth the bloody path needed to make them come true. She is not connected to those around her, hence her being able to justify killing anyone to get what she wants, up to and including her Black Eagle classmates (Bernadetta on Gronder). Byleth being compared to someone like that is far from a positive thing, especially when all other routes have them have that connection with others and all other routes having a more positive, peaceful ending for Fodlan than CF. 

I will say though, it seems as though Byleth never seems to explicitly say that they want to be a guiding hand - that's a fuck up on my end and I apologize for that! But it's almost undeniable that that is the intended good path for them, versus CF where they don't have that happen. In the ending cutscenes of AM, SS, and VW, Byleth and the lord of that route (+ Rhea for SS) are bathed in the light (with Rhea being able to live on SS if she is close enough with Byleth), and Edelgard dies in the light. In CF, Byleth and the lord of the route are shrouded in darkness, with only the flames of destruction lighting them, and it's this setting that Rhea dies in. Edelgard can't survive in the light, and Rhea can't survive in the dark - and then the endings that correspond with these two scenarios match as well. The endings where Edelgard dies in the light and Byleth rises to become a guiding hand for Fodlan are the ones where peace is achieved, and the one where Rhea dies in the darkness (the one time Rhea always dies, unlike SS) is the one where Fodlan is fucked.