#restoration of duscur

[withpatiencecomespeace]

South Asian Dedue by Quan Ming

This is where it started, The Lion and the Lotus. Feeling powerless during the 2020 Black Lives Matter movement, I sought to transform my anguish with a Duscur fix-it. When Quan Ming created this for me, my vision crystallized.

Now, what started as an experiment to 1) insert South Asian characters into a "Western fantasy" and 2) imbue the real encounters of genocide experienced by my immediate family -- has turned into a 170k+ mystery drama that has been showered with fan art, memes, fan fics, and thoughtful conversations.

Thank you so much to everyone who has Fire Emblem engaged with me! As of 24 hours ago, the world has started steering in a new direction. Works like this are more important than ever. Let's share works that restore our faith in humanity with each other -- and let's share the work of restoring humanity together.

Posted with permission. Show Quan Ming some love on Bluesky and Twitter!

[isan0rt]

Jumping off this post, I feel like I see a lot of posts espousing their love for Dedue in general terms but I very rarely see content on Tumblr that actually engages with the complexities of his character (Pixiv is better about this tbh). And don't get me wrong, I love seeing Dedue content of all types. But often I see him relegated to ‘He’s a cinnamon roll who doesn’t deserve to have to be involved in this so I put him in a nice coffeeshop or bakery AU where he can be happy in a mundane way.” And like. I get how that can be a big wish fulfillment thing for some fans, and am not unilaterally knocking it.

But I also…feel like sometimes doing this is about removing Dedue from the narrative in a way that means fans don’t have to sit with the discomfort of actually engaging with the themes he brings to the table.

It’s easy to just say “oh he’s too good for this narrative, too pure” and put him on a bus that looks like a twee little flower shop, because it means that you don’t have to engage with the fact that he is also just as emotionally damaged as the other Lions. You don’t have to engage with the ways in which he is gentle and kind by nature but choosing, of his own volition, to be part of the violence of the war effort because it means something to him. You don’t have to engage with the fact that he is subjected to constant racism in the academy phase by his own teammates, and that he grits his teeth and bears it because he is trying to accomplish something. That he is intentionally making himself the face of Duscur and choosing not to retaliate even though he would be WELL within his rights, because he is on an uphill PR campaign and Felix and Ingrid are the people he has to bring around, because they are the people the king he’s backing needs in his corner to restore Duscur without just getting immediately overthrown by his own lords. The Western lords have done it before! Without the Eastern lords’ backing, Dimitri will barely get to warm the throne before his head is rolling in the mud like his father’s.

If Dedue quits and just goes and opens a cute little restaurant somewhere, you don’t have to grapple with the fact that he loves Dimitri personally, but the political situation means he cannot just be his friend. Dimitri doesn’t get it. Dimitri wants to get it. Dimitri wants to snap his fingers and make Faerghus respect Dedue like he does, recognize Duscur’s innocence like he does. Dedue understands it will never work that way. He understands that the closer he appears to Dimitri, the more biased Dimitri will appear to the people who are determined to hate Dedue and everyone like him, and the easier it will be to dismiss him. Dedue knows that the prejudice of the people of Faerghus can’t just be wiped away so easily; he knows that it’s not rational, that there’s not any basis for it, and so declaring their innocence is not going to work like Dimitri expects.

But at the same time, Dedue knows Dimitri is the only fucking person in Faerghus with any kind of political power who gives the slightest fuck about reparations to Duscur, and if he dies, Dedue’s people will never see justice. Rufus will simply make it all go away, whatever way is the most convenient. The exact same way he made Lambert and his reforms and his peace treaty go away; with murder and scapegoating. Dedue sees this, even when Dimitri isn’t willing to.

And at the same time, he wants to keep Dimitri safe because keeping Dimitri alive in the hell that was the Tragedy of Duscur is the only fucking thing of value that came out of a nightmare that was otherwise an unbearable loss. He also has nowhere else to turn, and nowhere left to go, and no one else left alive who loves him and cares if he lives or dies. If he leaves Dimitri’s protection, he will never be safe himself. It’s only a matter of time until he’s used as a political football by Cornelia if no one else. If he’s out of the way playing nice little barista, you don’t have to grapple with the fact that Dedue can’t just walk away and expect to be left alone.

You also don’t have to grapple with the fact that he doesn’t want to. To grapple with the fact that being helpless to stop the Tragedy changed him fundamentally, so he can never go back to being innocent the way he was before. The fact that he has a fundamental need to effect change himself, the fact that he came back after five years and the first thing he asked was to be allowed to witness the new, better world himself, with his own eyes, on the front lines. That he needs to make the Tragedy worth something in his own soul in order to live with it.

To grapple with the fact that Dedue is the only retainer to both outlive the Lord of his route on other routes, and to decide to personally finish the mission himself, anyway. Hubert doesn’t; his allegiance is to Edelgard personally, and not to her ideals beyond the fact that they’re hers; he dies in every non-Crimson Flower route well before you reach Edelgard. Hilda certainly doesn’t; you can recruit her away as long as you’re not backing Edelgard, and Deirdru is the last place she appears if you don’t recruit her. Dedue cannot be recruited, and yet, no matter what route, he personally faces Edelgard himself, even if Dimitri is dead. Even if the odds are against him in every possible way. He can’t die in Silver Snow or Verdant Wind! He is the only retainer who cannot die except in Crimson Flower!

Unless you, the player, betray him. Unless you, the player, decide that what matters to him doesn’t matter to you. Unless you, the player, decide to let his people die, when it is the only thing he asks of you, to give him the power to save them. If you don’t live up to his expectations, if you choose to not allow Dimitri to be the leader who cares about Duscur that he believed Dimitri to be, that is the only circumstance in which it’s even possible for Dedue to die outside of Crimson Flower.

And that’s uncomfortable. Dedue’s themes and narrative weight are uncomfortable. He challenges the player, like he challenges the other Faerghus characters, to look him in the face and understand his humanity. He demands that the player sit with discomfort and the injustice of his circumstance. He demands the player care about what he cares about if they want to retain him. He demands that, and refuses to be sidelined, refuses to go away, refuses to stop doing the hard thing even though it doesn’t have to be him that does it, because he is the only one with the power to do what he does for Duscur. The only one who can advocate for them the way he does. He wants to be on the front lines in that fight.

But in a happy little bakery, he’s harmless, isn’t he. Then you just don’t have to think about it anymore.

[sunsetconcert]

so random shower thoughts. ignoring the gigantic agarthan elephant in the room, i think its important to ask what the point of each route is.

crimson flowers endgoals are: 1) remove the crest system from active power. 2) create a system in which talented individuals of any status can achieve any rank in the social/career hierarchy.

verdant wind's endgoals are: 1) break down the walls between disparate groups of people. 2) remove animosity between nations to prevent wars in the future.

silver snow's endgoals are: 1) stop all attacks against the church. 2) find and retrieve archbishop rhea. 3) create a lasting peace by uniting fodlan under a new, revised theocratic state.

azure moon's endgoals are: 1) stop edelgard. 2) restore order.

goal 1 is feasible. edelgard is a living being who can die. but goal 2 is fucking nonsense, because "restoring order" is impossible. faerghus has been in maintenance mode for almost 20 straight years now, from the loss of their king and queen, rebellions from duscur, sreng, and the general populace, the ongoing famines, the dwindling bloodlines, and the culture that outright exalts the act of dying for a noble cause.

faerghus is rotting. they CANT restore "order" because faerghus hasnt KNOWN order in literal decades.

[butwhatifidothis]

What gets me about GW defenders saying that "Claude siding with Edelgard shows how far he's willing to go to get what he wants, he'll use anyone to further his goals" is that, even if that were accurate to his character... that's not what he does in GW. At all.

Which one of Claude's goals are ever progressed once he sides with Edelgard? And how does siding with Edelgard, specifically, accomplish said goal?

Maybe... killing Rhea? But all of the reasons he says he wants her gone in this game are either completely unproven or blatantly incorrect - there's no proof of the Church forcing arranged marriages, Crests do not force obligations onto those that have them (which Claude himself literally proves), and the Church is helping Dimitri restore Duscur - a foreign nation - meaning they are actively willing to help fulfill Claude's main goal that he came to the officer's academy to achieve.

And... that's it! That is the only possible thing that even POTENTIALLY helps Claude's dreams, and taking a five-second look at it shows that it actually does nothing at all to help anything. But in the meantime? Claude weakens Faerghus through agitating Sreng and invading it himself, forcing Dimitri to fight a three front war; he actively helps Edelgard get herself out of a messy situation, even though not helping her and letting her die would have actually helped him and would have actually been him using her like people keep saying he's trying to do; he and Holst even admit that by the end of the war Edelgard is going to make a vassal state of Leicester after taking the lion's share of Faerghus' territory for themselves, which Leicester can't do anything about because of Adrestia's far stronger military. He is the one saying that! He is the one pointing out that that is going to happen! And yet he just keeps going anyway!

He is the one getting used. Very blatantly, and very extensively. Claude walked himself into a trap and lied to himself into thinking he's the one with the upper hand, which somehow managed to convince a large portion of the fanbase too. There's no gray morality here, there's no cunning being showcased, Claude is just an evil stupid tool

[synergysilhouette]

Remaking "Fire Emblem: 3 Houses"

(Spoilers ahead, obviously)

The time has come for another rewrite! I'm an amateur (re)writer, and I KNOW people are gonna be picky about this rewrite since many consider this entry the Holy Grail of the "Fire Emblem" series, but I hope you'll still be open to my changes, anyway! This is purely subjective and not something that reflects the fandom's opinion or me saying how to make the game objectively "better" (even though the term itself is subjective). I don't remember every single aspect of the game, so if I mention something that I wanted from the game that they actually DID do, be sure to mention it!

General

DON'T RUSH US!--From the get-go, you're on a fixed schedule. Once you become a professor, you've got one day out of the week to explore the grounds, fight battles/do paralogues/xenologues, or another activity. Every Monday, you've gotta do instruction for your student, and the other days literally breeze by until you get to your next story arc. Letting us go at our own leisure would be awesome, particularly since it'd give us more time to get to know our characters via more missions and xenologues. Between school and war, it can get a bit monotonous.

2. Give us impactful dialogue options instead of the illusion of choices--I have the same issue with "Pokemon: Mystery Dungeon." Throughout the game, we're given dialogue options, but most of the time the choices are identical or offer no affect other than a character's approval/disapproval. It felt annoying to have the option to tell the Flame Emperor that you'd join them, only for them to say they could tell you were lying. It's annoying stuff like that that makes it feel like you don't really need dialogue options at all, just cutscenes with Byleth speaking for themselves.

3. Those Who Slither in the Dark being keeping us in the loop--It's wild to me that the people who did the most damage are the most underused in the game. Someone said that making their deeds more pronounced/known would ruin the point, but I disagree. In Crimson Flower, their role in the Tragedy of Duscur is revealed, but Edelgard defeats them offscreen before restoring peace. Dimitri never learns the full truth of this in Azure Moon, and if I recall, the organization does get more attention in Silver Snow (for like 2-3 chapters) and Verdant Wind, but I can't recall for certain. Either way, I feel like each route should feel complete, given that you're playing completely different stories, rather than it feeling like you're missing some information depending on the route you play. Not to mention, Kronya deserves better, even if I'm retconning her actions (more on that in a second)...

4. Don't make us forget about marriage--having to find a ring sucks. After Jeralt dies, you have a certain amount of time in order to find his marriage ring (which I completely forgot about in my first playthrough) that you NEED if you want to reach S-supports with anyone. I'd prefer if Jeralt just gave it to Byleth rather than us having to go to his office and find it.

5. Change the confusing Byleth bloodline--I'm fine with Sitri being either Rhea's daughter or (if you wanna romance Rhea and Sothis without ethical concerns) simply working at the church where she met Jeralt. The family tree above makes things a lot more confusing than what it needs to be.

6. Marriage to (mostly) whoever, whenever--In the game, you have to wait until after the war is over to be married, and out of them, you only have 5 romantic same-sex options for female Byleth--2 of which are route-exclusive--and 3 options for male Byleth--2 of which are either DLC or route-exclusive. I'd rather make it a free-for-all, save for Gilbert and Alois, who are married, and should've never prevented you from a romantic relationship with another character.

7. Keep Jeralt alive--I'm just...I'm just TIRED of the "dead parent/evil parent" storyline that "Awakening," "Fates," and "Engage" have done, along with "3 Houses." I'd enjoy having Jeralt kept alive, in this version. Nevermind, this is probably the longest a protagonist has gotten to keep their parent in one of the recent FE games. Having him stand by Byleth similar to "3 Hopes" would be awesome.

8. Let us have Child units--As someone who got into the series via "Fates" and "Awakening," it disappointed me greatly that child units were removed. While I prefer "Fates" using the Deeprealms, I think an "Awakening" approach fits best here. Perhaps Sothis' time manipulation is more powerful than she knows, having sent the child units from the future to avoid their dark fates. Since it's story-related, perhaps it's Byleth's child who comes from the future first, referencing Chrom's daughter Lucina coming to save him and Emmeryn in "Awakening," only the child comes to save Byleth and Jeralt. Personally I made a lsit of fanmade child units almost a year ago.

9. Recruit Jeritzia outside of Crimson Flower--"3 Hopes" allowed us to do so as long as we had Mercedes in one of our routes, and I'm confused on why that couldn't be done here. Recruiting Mercedes would be the wakeup call Jeritzia needs to join our side, rather than being the opposition.

10. Keep Byleth's hair color--This is a nitpick, but I'd like being able to change Byleth's hair color back to the way it was before becoming one with Sothis. I'm fine with keeping the hair color, though.

11. A 3 Houses United Route--I mentioned in another post about a route where Jeralt survived, TWSITD as the main antagonists. What'd make this route unique (since I'd want the other two changes to be changed in all routes) is that the almost-death of Jeralt would inspire Byleth to leave the church and become a mercenary again, only getting involved years later once they see how the war has affected their students, and they can still recruit others based on their stats, and since they're not tied to a particular "side" in this concflict, they could recruit the house leaders and their aides rather than having to kill them.

12. Fix Dimitri's turnaround (Azure Moon)--It's probably just me, but it felt like Dimitri's vengence and sudden change of heart following Rodrigue's death felt...too quick? I know this is a hot take, but I'd have thought Rodrigue's death would've fueled Dimitri's anger. Plus I didn't feel like Dimitri's redemption (so to speak) was earned. It was just kinda "sorry for being a jerk, guys" even though the whole team seemed to back him. I'd have enjoyed seeing more moments of his sanity and morality kick in amidst the chaos rather than being one-track-minded. I feel like a lot of poorly done villain arcs do this (even if he isn't the villain of this route, per se). Since in my rewrite we learn about TWSITD, it's quite possible that Dimitri's anger is focused elsewhere in any case. Maybe Rodrigue didn't even have to die...

13. Utilize 3 Hopes designs--This may not be a popular opinion, but I think some of the characters looked better halfway in 3 Hopes than in 3 Houses. It would be nice to have the option to switch their costumes to their 3 Hopes looks instead (even though I know they're older in the 3 Houses timeskip than they are in 3 Hopes).

14. NO IGNORANT BYLETH--Instead of other installments that use the amnesia subplots, Byleth is simply kept in the dark about their parents' pasts, the world, and the church (which is kinda the same thing). I'd alleviate this entirely so we can have a mature and well-learned protagonist rather than a teacher who's just learning how the world works and about the tension in the land.

Hope you're not too upset with my version of the game! Lemme know what you think and if you have any questions. The next FE rewrite I do (whenever I get around to it) will be "Engage," which is the last FE game I've played.

[brynn-lear]

Note: This is for December 2024's "Monthly Reader's Beloved" (aka supposedly monthly content I create based on a poll). I'm sad I don't have a lot of FE:TH content when this is an FE:TH-themed blog, so...

Dedue: It's been a few months since a strange man has kept you as his company. Your kidnapper has kept a jar of Duscur seeds since the day you've been held hostage. Each time you tried to run away or attack him, Dedue takes a seed out and bury it someplace else. You wonder what would happen when the jar's emptied... Better yet, just what was that one thing you desperately need to remember before all this...? [Post-Verdant Wind]

Ferdinand: Having been given his land and title back after assisting His Majesty in the war, Ferdinand found himself incredibly conflicted yet terribly empty. Just what even was worth doing when he had helped bury old friends...? Well, the now Margrave Gautier brought him a fine suggestion: find a wife to sire some heirs. Maybe Ingrid and Sylvain's recent wedding has influenced this sudden motivation he has. How else could you explain why his pursuit for your hand has been... relentless. [Post-Azure Moon]

Felix: With the war over, you decided to take a teaching position in the Officer's Academy alongside Felix. Once the boar had been slain, he had no interest in restoring his old stable life whatsoever. Instead, he uncharacteristically nods along and follows your lead. He's no longer the snarky and blunt man you knew. You desperately want to know just what goes on inside your friend's head... and a bottle of whiskey might just do the trick. [Post-Crimson Flower]

Ignatz: He missed you. He paints you daily. It's been half a decade since he last saw you. But... seeing you again... it feels... strange. You certainly didn't look like this the last time he saw you. Were you always this cold? This unmoving? Where has the light in his darling princess' eyes gone to? Your canvas is all blue. What must he do to restore it? Hold still. Let him paint your skin just right. [During Silver Snow]

[yellowocaballero]

It was cool seeing a bit more of Dedue this chapter, cause like his dynamic with Dimitri is just so interesting yk? Like alongside the loyalty and devotion, Dedue also genuinely cares about Dimitri and Dimitri very much so cares about him in turn, but there's also the added layer of Dimitri being basically his only hope for the justice and restoration of his people and that adds even more of a power imbalance (outside of just the general future king and his vassel imbalance lol). And the way that in their supports they both had said that the other had saved them and Dedue calling Faergheus abhorrent with Dimitri as the exception. There's just a lot of depth there, and I really like the way you're showing that so far in the fic.

YEAH BABY. I know I went on for WAY too long about Dedue in a comment, did I do it here??? I don't think I did? I'll more or less repeat what i said.

You're so right. Dimitri and Dedue's relationship is so complicated, and Dedue is so complicated, and I think the nature of Dedue's character is that he is very, very quiet about how complicated it is.

Dedue and Dimitri genuinely love each other very, very much. They're so devoted to each other, they would do anything for each other. I think they 'killed off' Dedue because Dimitri would not have lost all hope if Dedue was alive. Blaming himself for Dedue's death fucked Dima up bad. Dima genuinely, actually cares a ton about saving Duscur and helping the people his country hurt, about helping Dedue with his life goal of giving the country freedom. I also think Dedue is...um, bad for Dimitri.

You can't forget that Dedue is a single issue voter. He is a genocide survivor. The goal of his life is to save Duscur. Dimitri is his only method of saving Duscur. Dimitri is the only person who cares. Dedue has to make Dimitri king. He's thrown his hat into Dimitri's ring and he has to keep it there. Dedue knows every secret Dimitri has - his hatred, his mass murdering tendencies, his sickness - and he doesn't tell anybody, because that would get in the way of making Dimitri king, and that would put him at odds with Dimitri and what Dimitri wants. He enables continuously when what Dimitri needs is an intervention. He actually openly tells Felix that, should Dimitri start burning down a village and murdering women and children, that Dedue would help him. Dimitri would do that because he's nuts, but Dedue would do it fully aware of what he's doing and completely willing to do it, because Dimitri told him to, and Dedue needs to make Dimitri king, because Dimitri is going to save Duscur.

The power imbalance is a big thing, yes. It's huge, and it's understandable but silly of Dimitri to want them to be friends. But I think Dimitri is extremely reliant on Dedue. When somebody depends on you completely, when they share everything with you, you have power over them. Dedue had the power to help Dimitri, and he chose not to.

I don't blame him. Dedue had his own ways of coping too, and this was how. I think he put the salvation of his people over Dimitri's happiness, and...that's fine. The sad white boy is not the most important person in the world. In the fic, I draw an explicit comparison between Dedue and Byleth: that they needed Dimitri to be a king and a leader and alive, and they didn't need him sane for that. But it was the actions of two people who loved Dimitri so much that they were willing to do anything to keep him alive.

I always kind of wondered if Dedue had THAT MUCH internalized racism, or if he just knew that he had to be careful with his words and show the world the right face. He talks a lot about how ashamed he is of Duscur's So Awful Bad Actions We Killed Your King :(, but...he also privately shares that he finds finds Faerghus abhorrent. SO MUCH of Dedue's lines in his supports are just severely internalized racism, and I just kind of wonder how honest it is...same way that you have to wonder how honest Petra is. I think they're both doing what they have to in order to survive, and that they have to protect themselves and this is the way they have to do it, but...it's not...good...

He's a fascinating character in a way I don't think is immediately obvious, and I think he's kind of slept on in that way! Dedue portrays his own actions as very simple and straightforward, but I really don't think they are. Unfortunately, due to the story, this is the last time we see Dedue play a very active role in the narrative. I was sad about it (I also dislike writing out POC, but such was the story). Thanks for the ask, though - I think if you drain out all of this complexity about Dedue, then you're really missing the point. And the Dedue you'd be creating is somebody who has no internal life or motivations or faults or strengths outside of Dimitri, and who also just has so much internalized racism. Which is lame.

TL;DR

FELIX, AS USUAL, YOU'RE RIGHT BUT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY IT LIKE THAT.

[balanceoflightanddark]

"And the less said about Dimitri, the King of Faerghus, the better."

What exactly do you mean by that? Not asking in an angry way, I'm just genuinely curious. Your Edelgard analysis was really well done. This line just stuck out to me is all.

...sighs...

I'll be perfectly honest, I am the last person qualified to be talking about Dimitri. See...I'm not exactly his biggest fan. At all. In fact in a lot of ways, I sort of see him the same way I see Zuko from the comics which I have talked about at length before.

But, I will attempt to be as civil as I can. Just letting everyone know ahead of time so we all know what to expect.

Alright.

Dimitri is in many ways the opposite of Edelgard. Whereas Edelgard is extremely controversial within the fandom, Dimitri is lionized (heh) by large parts of the fandom. Mainly, since he's Edelgard's rival (for lack of better terms), he's seen as the "hero".

And he is certainly presented that way. His story and route are the most classical narrative possible. A crown prince disgraced from his kingdom returns to take back his thrown from usurpers and bring peace to his land. He even gets to kill a monster (Hegemon Edelgard) at the end of his route. It's a familiar story which a lot of people can latch onto.

...the problem is that Dimitri acts as a sort of deconstruction of this kind of character. If Edelgard is the villain who is virtuous, then Dimitri is the hero who is morally bankrupt.

Now he doesn't begin this way, of course. He starts out as the head of the Blue Lions class in Garreg Mach, one of the classes you could end up teaching. He starts out as the classical prince. You know, caring about taking the throne. Wanting to restore honor to Faerghus. That sort of thing.

Well like Edelgard, he has a very dark past.

Dimitri is the sole survivor of an incident known as the Tragedy of Duscur, which resulted in the deaths of the entire Royal Family aside from him. Needless to say, he has a lot of baggage. Particularly against the Flame Emperor who masterminded the whole thing.

So when he finds out that Edelgard is the Flame Emperor well...

It's not too pretty.

When the war breaks out, he gives sanctuary to the Archbishop and the Knights and is basically all hellbent on putting Edelgard's head on a pike to avenge his family's deaths. Alright fair enough.

...there's just one problem. Edelgard wasn't responsible for the massacre since she was just a child at the time. It was her uncle who was the Flame Emperor at the time and masterminded the whole thing. Further complicating things is that Edelgard doesn't even have much beef with Dimitri to begin with. She's after the Church. So when Dimitri allies with the Church, he just dragged Faerghus and his whole people into the war for a chance at vengeance.

And he's pretty much driven by this need for vengeance during his phase as "the Boar King". It's here when...uh...he becomes pretty reprehensible. He tortures his prisoners, he goes on and on about butchering his enemies, and he treats his troops like absolute garbage. One of his most notable quotes is when he basically says he's going to use his people until the flesh falls right off their bones.

While it could be argued that this was before his redemption during AM or AG in Hopes and he does become a bit better before his route ends...he's still not the king that his people needs at the end of his story. For one, he upholds the Crest System in his ending, which I've delved into and basically said was downright abusive and encourages instability. The Church who enforced this system is still in power. We don't even see him dealing with TWSITD, since he lets them go during the last battle so he can deal with Edelgard. Mind you, Edelgard DID have a plan to deal with TWSITD once the war was over. Effectively, this whole mess can easily start again. Something that's reflected in a lot of the AM endings since there's a lot of widespread rebellion and fighting once he takes the throne.

What's worse, he enforces the traditions of Faerghus because "they're all they have left"...even though Faerghus's traditions emphasize warriors and militarism to the point it resembles Sparta in terms of brutality. Hell, it's part of the reason why Dimitri's so violent since he's a product of his environment. Doesn't justify a damn thing he did, but you at least understand where he came from. Which makes it galling that he lays the seeds for another Boar King to happen.

The only thing I can say about Dimitri is...I'm pretty sure his character was deliberate. In any other route he gets killed off swearing vengeance against his enemies and trying to continue to cut a bloody swathe through Fodlan. In many ways, he works as a deconstruction of that classical hero. Avenging his family becomes a rampage of revenge where more families suffer. He retakes the throne, but does not ensure peace. And his "villain" turns out to be the wrong person in the grand scheme of things. I feel Dimitri works best as a hero gone horribly wrong. Something that I feel that a lot of people overlook and are willing to whitewash him into being the true "hero" who brought democracy to Fodlan.

Which...he didn't.

[raxistaicho]

The Web of White Clouds

So I'm sure anyone following this blog is familiar with this brief discussion:

It's pretty common to see this get brought up as an example of Edelgard lying to the player in an attempt to downplay her activities throughout the year. After all, most of the events of White Clouds are tied to Edelgard's activities as the Flame Emperor, right? That's partly true, but also a major simplification of affairs.

It's important to remember just how many overlapping intentions there are throughout White Clouds.

Following Faerghus's culture of avenging the dead, Lonato wants revenge on Rhea and the Central Church for the death of his son, but he's a pious man who believes firmly in the goddess.

The Western Church thinks Rhea and the Central Church are corrupt, but they, too, believe in the goddess, and they use Lonato's hunger for revenge to their own benefit.

Miklan wants revenge on his family.

The Agarthans want to destroy the Nabateans and the surface-dwellers, and they want Edelgard to remain under her control.

Edelgard herself wants to limit the activities of the Agarthans while still using them to destabilize the church and enable its overthrow.

Rhea wants to replace Byleth with Sothis, thus restoring the "good old days".

Claude wants to learn about the Relics, and he's no friend of the church of Fodlan's rotten societal framework.

Dimitri wants to find out who orchestrated the Tragedy of Duscur, and he has a somewhat ambivalent attitude toward the goddess and would not want Rhea to sacrifice Byleth.

These parties at times use each other for their own benefits, but often all parties don't want the others to full succeed, either.

This is the point Edelgard's making: White Clouds has a lot of conflicting intentions overlapping, giving the appearance of a single-through line.

As is often the case with her, she's trying to get Byleth to consider their place in the world:

[deathbirby]

Can't be surprise that some people in the fandom want to trivialize trauma as "mommy issues". This is the same fandom that characterized the crap Dimitri goes through (including losing his family, not being able to stop the Duscur genocide, potentially losing his best friend, and the survivors guilt as a result of it all) as "man pain".

I can't even understand why people would do it. What's the point of it? Their traumas are integral to their character. It drives their motivations and affects how they might react to things. If you ignore those, you aren't talking about the same character anymore!

Let's look at some parts of these character's trauma.

Dimitri

He was just a child when he witnessed the death of his father and those closest to him, and he was powerless to stop the tragedy that would follow.

Survivors guilt is a massive part of his character. He sees the ghosts of those who have perished, and he wants desperately to appease them. Their spirits haunt him, and such hallucations are not something you can just shrug off.

Rhea

Was living quietly in Zanado (possibly as a child herself) and was a survivor of the massacre. We have no clue how she survived. All we know is that she cannot forget the sight of the bloody canyon, nor can she forgive those who wielded her brethren's corpses. Did she directly survive the attack and wake up to mutilated corpses? Did she escape? Both are horrific and would shatter someone's psyche, especially if they could come to believe that their entire race is dead and turned into weapons.

The consequent desperation she feels to revive her mother is because she believes Sothis, The Creator, can restore everything back to the way it was.

Dimitri and Rhea are both deeply stuck in the past. But no lets say one has man pain and the other has mommy issues and ignore everything they went through!

[megafan1993]

Does anyone else find it kind of funny and tragic that the route in 3 hopes that do the best job of showing 2 cultures overcoming their shared history of trauma and bloodshed and have them actually recovering together is actually Dimitris not Claudes.

It starts off with Dimitri being able to prove the people of Duscur innocent of the crime they were excused of he then works to help restore the nation and return their homeland back to them while he makes sure Faerghus knows they are the ones who messed up. This was partly the reason why his nation fell into civil war, but he still Hose ahead with it.

Over the next 2 years, he helps to fix Duscur and bring its people back home . They are still not ready to stand by themselves they are offered all the support Dimitri can give. We see Dimitri invite their leaders into postions of power in Faerghus. There, people are building homes and businesses in a land that ounce hatred them, but is now changing.

We see the Church of Serios offering its aid to the peopel of Duscur dispute the difference in faith simple to spread goodwill as well. Aka showing by example to help the faithful embrace there allies regardless of faith or nation of orgin.

We find out that both nations are sharing culture and knowledge with each other to help both of them improve and grow, and this further the bonds between them. Dudue mentions in his expenditure dialogue that he sees the children of both nations play with each showing how the next generation will not carry the scars and how the current one trust each other.

While it is still not a meeting of equals, mostly because Duscur was so badly crippled it's clear they are moving in that direction, and the 2 nations will have strong bonds going on from this point.

Unfortunately, Golden Wildfire has none of this as insted of having Alymra and the Alliance/Federation coming together in mutual understanding and acknowledging the issue of the last and accepting responsibility it isnted puts all balme onto a third party and have both sides take place in invading and attacking a innocent nation.

The Almyra attacks and crimes against Fodlan are either forgotten or turned into a joke while the Alliance keeping some Almyra child slaves is not even addressed. None of the issues or problems are ever addressed in a mature way as they just find a scapegoat to blame all their problems on.

It's just so disappointing, and honestly, Claude and the Alymra deserved so much better writing than they got, and the games basically just truns them into a racist stereotype and then defend it.

[gascon-en-exil]

Honestly there's some "xyz is only bad when my fave doesn't do it" vibe coming out of the OP. They seem to take issue with AM having the characters follow Dimitri even against their better judgement and yet willing to give a pass when the BE class follow Edel on the same occasion (deciding to side with Edel in the Holy Tomb despite the fact that she was revealed to be the Flame Emperor and ordered her soldiers to kill them, believing in Edel when she lies to them about Arianrhod).

Also I don't think Dimitri asked Dedue to turn into a crest beast during CF but Dedue did it anyway against Dimitri's wishes but I guess the OP forgot about that.

I know for a fact that I've had to make this point before, but the low-hanging fruit of the Dedue/Felix conversation is very easy to refute. Dedue trusts Dimitri enough to know that Dimitri would never order him to kill children, and we know both from CF and from their A support in Hopes that there are times when Dedue is willing to disobey Dimitri. That support is just Felix determined to think the worst of Dedue as an indirect way of reaffirming his own negative image of Dimitri, and Dedue realizes this and tells Felix what he wants to hear.

These types of fans insist of reading everything through an overwrought political lens that doesn't even hold up in canon because the writers didn't care enough to flesh out their world in meaningful ways beyond what was needed for the main plot and for specific character stories (and giving priority to the lead characters is standard FE writing...and typical for writing in general, for that matter). Duscur is only restored in AG and in some of Dedue's endings which are of course AM-exclusive, because Duscur - here the Duscur people, not the Tragedy of Duscur which is a much more significant event narratively speaking - ultimately only matters in reference to Dedue. Call the developers racist/colorist for that if you like, but don't try to dump it nonsensically on the characters and certainly don't use it to attack people who like Dimitri or Dedue and/or ship them together. Honestly a romantic reading of their relationship makes their behavior and regard for one another much more straightforward: they're bonded to one another through trauma and mutually codependent to the point that each of them falls apart without the other, but they trust and lean on each other in a genuinely sweet way in spite of how a bunch of people around them disapprove of Dedue's presence in Dimitri's life (queercoding, yay!). The OP of that post was worried about not being smart enough to figure out Dedue, but it's really not that difficult...

...although as I've probably written more Dimidue-related meta than almost anyone else in this fandom and that poster has me blocked, I suppose I can understand why they might find his character unfathomable.

[isan0rt]

See, here's the thing about Dedue and the non-Dimitri members of the Faerghus Four. They're not his friends. Ashe and Mercedes are his friends, Annette is debatable, but Ingrid, Felix, and Sylvain he is not even looking to be friends with.

They're his in-laws. In-laws that, at least in the Academy phase, he doesn't even particularly like.

Like, if not for Dimitri, he would absolutely not talk to those people. He's making nice with them because they're the closest thing Dimitri has to family that's not actively trying to murder either of them, and they're important to Faerghus so Dimitri has to have a relationship with them no matter what, and it's important to Dimitri that they and Dedue at least kind of get along with each other as much as possible.

But Dedue isn't trying to be friends with them! Dedue is like, I'll go to the family holiday party because it's important to you but if Felix starts talking shit or Ingrid says something racist then I'm not going to be the one to deal with that. They're your relatives and I'll be nice but that's your problem. He's not looking to be close with them, he just wants to have a halfway decent relationship with them for Dimitri's sake and like no more than that.

And they improve a lot in their supports, especially after the time skip, especially in Three Hopes, but like. The relationship there is still fundamentally in-laws. It's just a graduation from "shitty in-laws I'm putting up with" to "in-laws I've come around on and can have a decent-to-good time with." Depending on what supports you get they can even graduate to "in-laws I actively like and admire." But like. He's still hanging out with them because they hang out with Dimitri. He's not hanging out with them for their own sakes.

Dimitri has one important familial relationship with them and another vitally, crucially important relationship with Dedue. Both are fascinating to explore and I love to explore them. But they're completely different relationships.

Like they're not all a big five-person friend group, Dimitri is in the position of having to like. Try and keep the peace between his extended family in all but name who he still loves, and the person who has been the most important person to him for his entire teens so far. Even if Dimitri were tired of his friends' shit personally he can't just stop talking to them, they're the future leaders of their houses, the only houses that are all in behind House Blaiddyd and not fomenting assassinations. He HAS to maintain a good relationship with them for Faerghus.

Dedue gets this. He'll play nice with them. He knows Dimitri also needs them on his side if he's ever going to restore Duscur, but he doesn't have to like them. He'll save their asses on the battlefield for Dimitri but he's going to go hang out with Mercedes and Ashe after.

[butwhatifidothis]

Azure Gleam ending:

TWS is completely wiped out

All the lords are alive (EdeIgard can theoretically be cured of her lobotomy)

Many of the corrupt nobles of Faerghus and Adrestia are removed/killed

Duscur is getting restored

The war is basically over

Claude isn't a brainlet

Edelstans:

[jothsdump]

The Great Hero

Dedue Week day 5 prompt, Duscur.

After the war, Dedue takes a trip to Duscur alongside some friends to aid in the restoration effort. There he is made aware of how much he means to his country.

(Note: Regularly colored dialogue is in Duscur's language. Green dialogue is Fodlan's language.)

Dedue awakens to the smell of a savory breakfast. He sits up, rubs the sleep from his eyes, and yawns. Dedue observes the room around him and a slight grin sneaks up on him as he experiences a pleasant nostalgia. Yesterday, Dedue along with Ashe, Mercedes, and Annette had arrived in Duscur to contribute to reconstruction effort. They quartet was granted a roof to sleep under during their stay, by a generous man named Giorgios. A man who aided him in the five years since his sorrowful parting from Dimitri.

Dedue rises from bed and changes into his clothes for the day. Then he briskly walks towards the scent of sausages. He finds Giorgios and Ashe in the kitchen. Ashe was finishing cooking omelets, alongside it was the sausage links Dedue smelled earlier and a teapot.

            “Not bad,” Giorgios complemented Ashe’s work. While his statement could be interpreted as an insult, the old man is a notorious heckler. Giorgos is an old man in his late 60s. His skin tone is darker than Dedue’s. Much of his once rich and dark maroon hair has grayed or dulled. Prominent crow’s feet and forehead lines accessorize his face.

            “Giorgios, have you been teasing Ashe?” Dedue questions his elder. Both Gio and Ashe turn their attention towards Dedue.

            “Is that how you tell your elders good morning!?” Giorgios barks with false indignation.  “I’ve been heaping praise on this string bean the whole time!”

            “Morning, Dedue! He’s been pestering me all morning!” Ashe jovially rats the man out.

            “OI! I understood that!”

Dedue snorts out a deep laugh and Ashe begins to chuckle. Giorgios rolls his eyes and grins. With a large tray, he carries the food and tea to the table for the men to enjoy. The three men sit down and Ashe serves the omelet and sausage while Gio pours the tea.

Dedue looks around, he wonders aloud, “Where are Mercie and Annie?”

Ashe answers, “They went out to buy bread. I tried to get them to wait, but they just went right ahead.”

“The bakery isn’t far they should be back soon.” Says Giorgios in a nonchalant manner. As if on command, a trio of quick knocks on the door alert the men. “That must be the girlies.” He sets down the tea pot and approaches the door. He checks through the peephole of the door first, “Or maybe not.”

When Gio opens the door, it is not the Fodlan ladies on the other side, but a couple of excited Duscur children. The first one to speak is a freckled girl with her black hair shaped into a bun on the top of her head. “Old man, is the Great Hero really here?!”

The little boy next to her with white hair like Dedue’s and golden-brown eyes, chimes along with his sister. “Yeah, is he! Is he!”

            Giorgios pinches his brow and groans, “Kids these days. Where are your parents!”

            A shout from Annette travels towards Gio and the visiting kids, “HEY!! WAIT!!” She runs up and apologizes, “Sorry Giorgios!” Mercedes carrying a bag with the bread and surrounded by six kids, approaches the house.

            “Gods,” grumbles Gio. “Hey Dedue, the ladies brought some kids here to meet the big hero!”

            Dedue’s face is burning with embarrassment. Ashe smirks and pats him on the arm, “Go on!”

            Dedue sighs and makes his way out the door. The first two children at the door gasp and giggle. The older sister cheers, “Great Hero!” This triggers an uproar from all the children present. Dedue steps away from the entry way to give Gio some breathing room. The children all flock around Dedue and begin chattering and asking him questions.

            Annette attempts to organize the kids, “One at a time kids! Wait, how do I say that in Duscur?”

            Dedue speaks, “Everyone! Please, use your listening ears!” The chattering dies down, the kids look towards Dedue eagerly and expectantly. Dedue sighs, “It makes me very happy that you all want to meet me. But my friends and I have not eaten breakfast yet. In one hour, I will go to town square, there you can ask me as many questions as you want.”

            The crowd of children start to chatter amongst themselves. A particularly tall boy, probably the oldest, speaks up for them. “Yes, Mr. Great Hero!” The oldest kids grab the hands of the younger kids and walk back to their houses.

            Dedue sighs with relief. Mercerdes chuckles with joy, “Good morning Dedue!”

          �� “Morning.”

            “When Annie and I were at the market, those children found us, and asked us to bring them to you,” Mercie explains. “We tried slowing them down…”

            “And then I accidentally mentioned Giorgios… Sorry.” Annie apologizes.

            A gentle and warm smile brightens Dedue’s expression. “Thank you. It warms my heart to see their smiles and joy.”

            “Hey! You better get back in!” Giorgios barks. “Those kids probably won’t be able to wait the full hour!”

            Ashe comes over and retrieves the bag of bread from Mercie. “Plus, our food is getting cold.”

            “OOH! I’m starving!” Annette pumps for fists in excitement. “Come on Mercie, come on Mr. Hero!”

            Dedue groans with embarrassment. Mercedes gently grasps him by the arm and begins walking back to the house. “It suits you.”

            “That is… difficult to except. I wonder… what would my family think?” the tears begin budding in the corner of his eyes.

            “They would be so proud of you.” Mercedes hands him a handkerchief.

            With the handkerchief, Dedue dabs away the tears in his eyes. “Thank you.”

[swordofthecreated]

My OC House - The Jade Serpents

There are six characters I have created out of my love and desire for expansion within the universe of Fire Emblem: Three Houses. The house was created by the Church of Seiros as a an ambassador house, of sorts. It is a house strictly for students from different countries and continents with a house leader from Fodlan (and the house leader is appointed strictly by the CoS). The flag of this house is, well, jade green and pennant-shaped. The flag bears the emblem of the house, a white serpent with several heads branching out like a tree at the top of the flag. Artwork is to come.

The house leader is Florence Arielle Kleiman, daughter of Faerghus' own Viscount Kleiman. While the roster for the Blue Lion house was filled, Viscount Kleiman's intense dissatisfaction led to Florence accepting the position of house leader for the Jade Serpents per the request of the church. She had no real intention of keeping peace or exhibiting any leadership qualities -- she simply wished to be away from and temporarily satiate her oppressive father. She excels in Flying and Reason with a budding talent in Authority. She is weak with Bows, Lances, and Heavy Armor. Her best stats are her Mag, HP, and Res. Her worst stats are her Spd, Lck, and Avo.

Accompanying Florence to the Academy is Soren Olamina, a survivor of the Duscurian genocide and tenant of Kleiman territory. She is Florence's closest friend and most trusted ally. Their relationship is not one of indebted servitude like Dimitri and Dedue, but rather both set out to gain the strength and allies to restore Duscur and its people. Soren carries on Duscurian traditions in metalwork, carpentry, and combat and is eager to pass on such knowledge to all willing to learn it. She wishes to help her people escape the oppressive banner of Kleiman alongside Florence and with the help of Dimitri and Dedue. She is quite capable with Sword, Axe, and Heavy Armor with a budding talent in Flying. She is weak with Faith and Riding. Her best stats are her HP, Atk, and Dex, where her worst are her Res, Mag, and Cha.

Inbound from Morfis is Alistair Balkwill. He is an aloof, quizzical mage with a penchant for gossip and the latest trends. When not sharing anecdotes over tea with those he wishes to befriend, he is often found strolling through towns and markets to see what's in season throughout Fodlan and how it compares to the trends of Morfis. He's observant, lackadaisical, and encouraging. He is adept with Reason, Faith, and Sword, but falls short with Authority and Lance. His best stats are his Cha, Mag, and Lck and his worst are his HP, Avo, and Atk.

Althea Fleur Rothschild is a native to Albinea. She is practical, witty, and highly sociable. Her mannerisms remind most of a canary or other small bird, given her tendency to flit about with a light tune. Despite her pleasant disposition, she is fiercely firm with her routines and grows quite irritated when they're interrupted. Her specialties lie within Bow, Heavy Armor, and Lance with a budding talent in Riding. She is weak with Axe, Sword, and Brawling. Her best stats are her Dex, Spd, and Atk where her worst are her Mag, HP, and Avo.

Hailing from the mountain villages of Sreng is Severin Ignatius Koyle, an evasive and distrusting figure. He keeps to himself and wanted more than anything to not be chosen for a position at the Academy. His hobbies include hiding, plotting, and analyzing his peers through acute observation. He is critical in everything he does and is happiest when working with his whole body. He is adept with Flying, Bow, and Lance and struggles with Sword and Brawling. His best stats are his Atk, Avo, and Def where his worst are his Cha, Mag, and Spd.

Ricard Sawiris was a last-minute addition to the Jade Serpents and is a native of Almyra. His enrollment was highly contested with Alliance lords, but was ultimately excused after Florence (and consequentially, Faerghus) became responsible for the house. He is incredibly friendly and charming, though some are not fond of his pride. He is adept with Brawling, Authority, and Lance. His best stats are his Spd, Cha, and Def where his worst are his Res and Dex.

The Jade Serpents, similarly to the Ashen Wolves, are available for Byleth to recruit after completion of DLC and after a certain chapter has passed within the early Academy Phase. Byleth will be able to interact with the students on free days while exploring and they will attend lectures with great enthusiasm. More specifics on each character are to come.