#support ✩ dimitri ✩

[wild-moss-art]

this is how I feel when I play azure moon

[sailforvalinor]

“I’m fine” says the guy who just watched his entire team die on one mission, lost his second family, and feels like he needs to run himself ragged charging headlong into a nigh-unwinable war alone and nearly killing himself because of his raging survivor’s guilt that is making him think that he owes it to his first family that died in a religion-wide genocide when he was barely a teenager. Yes, baby, everyone believes you.

[four-loose-screws]

Hi! I’ve seen people people say that Dimitri speaks in an informal rude manner in Japanese so him being super polite in English is weird changes his character a lot, but I’ve also seen people say the localization is just fine. Could you clear up please? Thank you!

This ask has been in my inbox forever, and I know other ENG/JP bilingual FE fans have weighed in on this topic before. But exploring the nuances of Japanese formal vs. casual speech is always super fun, so I want to share my own thoughts too. There's always a chance there will be more to learn with each new person's input on the same topic. Plus, I discovered some things even I didn't expect! So, I'll still offer everything I have to say!

First, I'll explain the full background this ask is referring to. Japanese has 2 major distinct speaking styles - casual and formal. I was taught to call the formal style "distal" - because it is more about respecting distance in social standing than being formal specifically. But formal is the more common term, so I tend to stick with saying formal most of the time.

The distinction between casual and formal is made with pronoun choice, word choice, and other factors as well, but the fastest way to differentiate the two is to look/ listen for the use of desu and masu at the end of someone's sentences. Formal uses them. Casual drops them. This concept is entirely foreign to English speakers!

Dimitri drops desu and masu most of the time. His "I pronoun" is also ore, and his "you pronoun" is omae - both casual, blunt, and masculine choices. But does speaking casually to most of the cast make him rude?

Short answer is... no, not at all! There's 2 major reasons for this.

Reason #1 - the rules for casual vs. formal speech are a bit different in reality vs. fiction:

Partially, Dimitri speaks casually because he is showing his personality. He's got all those traits most standard FE protagonists share - he's strong, straightforward, and wants to connect directly on a personal level with everyone he meets. He tries to convince several characters that they can speak casually with him, because he sees people as people, and doesn't want social status putting distance between them.

Fictional characters generally speak more in-line with their personality more often, rather than following the socially acceptable speaking rules of the real world. (Though don't get me wrong - casual real Japanese people will speak casually in more circumstances than the average Japanese person.) This is simply the style that Japanese writers largely choose. And I think it is one of the great benefits of Japanese - anyone can start to pick up on a character's personality archetype almost instantly, thanks to their speaking style!

Reason #2 - Dimitri is a prince, making him of high social rank:

Here's the second nuance to this - it is absolutely standard for a superior to talk to their subordinates in casual style.

In modern times, this is shown in the workplace. Bosses and those in other leadership positions will frequently speak casually with the staff in a lower-ranking position than them. The president of the office I now work at is Japanese, and he speaks very casually with me - I have to be formal in response though, because he's at the top!!

But in the past, this would have been a distinction made between lord/ royalty, and those beneath them. Which is the case that is relevant in Fire Emblem's setting.

Dimitri can also speak casually without coming off as rude, because he is one of the highest ranking people across all of Fodlan.

-

Okay, so that's the answer in broad strokes - but let's get a bit more nuanced, go down Dimitri's support partner list, and confirm whether or not he always speaks casually!

Group #1 - Dimitri and the other citizens of Faerghus (8 other Blue Lions + Gilbert)

Dimitri has a multi-layered relationship with all of the other 8 Blue Lions. They are citizens of the country he is a prince of, therefore he is ranked very highly in social standing above them. But they are also his friends, classmates, and later, war allies; placing them on the same social level in that regard. So the way they speak to him comes down to a little bit of column A - personality, and a little bit of column B - which aspect of their relationship with Dimitri they feel is the "main" one.

Gilbert is also here in this category, as another person from Faerghus.

Dedue: Dimitri speaks casually, Dedue speaks formally, as they have a lord/ servant relationship. Dimitri wants Dedue to be a very close friend to him though, and wants Dedue to speak casually with him - this is a major source of tension in their supports. In the end, being able to mutually speak casually with each other and be friends, is a place they may reach one day. With other characters, Dedue speaks casually.

Felix: As royalty above Felix's noble house, Dimitri speaks casually. Felix is Felix, so he speaks casually too. I imagine he sees Dimitri quite literally as more of a wild boar than a human being, much less royalty.

Ashe: Dimitri speaks casually, Ashe speaks formally. However, pretty much the whole point of their supports is Dimitri attempting to get Ashe to speak casually with him.. Ashe tries in earnest to switch, but in the end sticks with speaking formally, otherwise he feels too uncomfortable. His view of Dimitri as his prince is too strong for him to let go and speak casually.

Sylvain: Dimitri speaks casually, and Sylvain speaks casually more often, but actually switches to desu and masu more than once. When a relationship is "in-between" higher/lower social standing and friendship, it's not uncommon for at least one person to switch back and forth between casual and polite speech, depending on which side of the relationship they are appealing to more at the moment. This happens in real life too as people shift from strangers, coworkers, etc. to friends.

Mercedes: They both speak casually. In Mercedes' case, I think she's speaks more in-line with her personality rather than paying attention to social status.

Annette: Both speak casually, but Annette is well aware that there's something a little wrong with that - her father would never let her get away with it if he knew!

Ingrid: Dimitri speaks casually, Ingrid speaks formally. But I think Ingrid speaks formally with everyone.

Gilbert: As you can probably guess based on my comments in Dimitri and Annette's analysis, her father most certainly speaks formally with Dimitri! He is very formal and takes social heirarchy very seriously. Dimitri, as the prince above him in social status, speaks casually.

Group #2 - The other characters at the monastary:

Since the remaining characters are not from Faerghus, Dimitri is not their prince. They'll be more likely to view him through the lens of a different relationship than royalty/ subject.

Catherine is originally from Faerghus yes, but she has cut her ties from her homeland completely to serve Rhea, so she fits into this group now.

Raphael: Both speak casually. I think Raphael treats everyone like a life-long friend!! He at least attaches san or sensei (teacher) to the names of his instructors, but that's about it for formal language for him.

Marianne: Dimitri speaks casually. Marianne speaks formally, as she does with everyone. I think she even attaches san to everyone's name, conveying how much she keeps her distance from people, trying not to form close relationships.

Flayn: Dimitri speaks casually. Flayn speaks formally, as I think she does with everyone.

Hapi: Both speak casually. I think Hapi speaks casually with everyone.

Alois: Now *here's* where things get interesting! At this point, I really thought I would discover that Dimitri speaks casually with everyone. But alas, he does NOT! Dimitri speaks formally with Alois, while Alois speaks casually to him. Why? Well, while Dimitri is a prince, he's also a student at Garreg Mach (in Part 1 of course). In this way, he is below all Garreg Mach staff and professors in social standing. So it makes perfect sense that he'd speak formally and Alois would be casual in this case.

Catherine: Same situation as Dimitri and Alois - as someone who serves as an instructor at Garreg Mach, all students like Dimitri are below her in status at the monastary. So Dimitri speaks formally, and she speaks casually.

Byleth: I left Byleth for last, because while Byleth is a professor at the monastary... Dimitri speaks casually with them. I imagine this has more to do with Byleth being the self insert than anything. Everyone bonds to Byleth on a deep level faster than magnets stick together.

And that's all I can think of to say for now! This is a super fun example of how nuanced Japanese's casual vs. formal language can get, and showcases one of the many reasons why Japanese has such a high barrier of entry for anyone learning it - including young native speakers! You don't get all this desu and masu stuff, until finally you just do.

Let me know if I missed anything, or if anyone has any follow up comments to make!

I apologize it took me so long to respond to this one! Thank you anon, and all readers, for waiting! I hope it helped explain even more of the trickier nuances of Japanese.

[failnaughted]

@blaiddllodi ; Flying +1

Though for the time being his good pal Nadia is resting at the wyvern stables and adjusting to the Academy, and as such he has resolved her not to bother her with missions and tiring exercises, Claude is, in reality, as much as a man of the wing as he is of the bow. And while he certainly has more affinity with the drakes than the pegasi, he can fly a winged horse when the situation calls for it. When necessity calls, skill and experience are there.

All that is to say that, when the Academy announced a new flying experiment, he was in.

He doesn’t have the slightest idea yet what a “parachute” is, but he’s about to find out, right? And what he’s heard of the endeavor sounds both exciting - he’s always wanted to know what being a bird, or what being Nadia, feels like - and useful for the future. The argument of learning how to handle getting knocked off his mount in battle without breaking his neck is, without a doubt, a compelling one. He doesn’t really need to be convinced about it any more than that.

Now, all that remained was finding a partner for the adventure - after all, fun is best had in company. At first, of course, he had thought to invite a fellow Deer, but then, another idea crossed his mind:

What could foster positive Kingdom-Alliance relations better than him and the heir to the throne of Faerghus jumping together or pushing each other off of flying pegasi?

Well, one thing leads to another, and on the arranged day, Claude is waiting at the field with two pegasi, two sets of prepared equipment, and an assistant waiting to teach them about it.

At the sight of the approaching blond, Claude grins and offers a friendly salute. “Good afternoon to you, Prince Dimitri! Glad to see you didn’t chicken o— Ahem. Change your mind. Are you ready?”

Have a Safe Flight! || Claude & Dimitri

[chirpsythismorning]

Say it’s likely there will be a Brokeback Mountain reference in s5 and nobody bats an eye.

Say it’s likely that the final byler fight will be inspired by this scene and society goes wild.

[verycoolpersonyes]

fe3h characters and lana del rey lyrics i think fit them :P two things i rlly like rn

[koroart]

“Try not to fall to your death, Your Majesty~”

A DimiYuri commission based off the Romeo & Juliet painting for @ursapolaris ! ✨

[rorah]

I have only drawn 3 or 4 kisses... in my life as an artist lol. Time to add another two. Kisses are hard to draw but practice makes it easier (?). Just your typical delusional making your faves characters kiss, no context needed for the first part. The following part tho...

Is part of the brainworms A Closer Look by Ammeh had left on me. Check it out if you haven't >_>.

[deerlisteners]

thinking about “give me a hand, boar”/“i think you mean a tusk” and exploding and dying. something something dimitri always asking people to call him by his name rather than “your highness” or whatever but then the one nickname that was specifically meant to hurt him becomes an affectionate nickname. and how his supports with felix in three houses conclude with both of them coming to terms that both dimitri and the boar are the same person. is this anything

[cherishedboxart]

"Listen, Dedue... Perhaps you consider me to be someone special. But I think the same of you. You are irreplaceable. Cherished."

Today is the 4th anniversary of me seeing the Dimidue A support for the first time <3

[sillyfairygarden]

under the crimson moon (print link)

[brynn-lear]

someone had waaay too much fun. Template from Aegann (I couldn't find the main post T_T) <3

Asking hostelry (alon, harmony, mei, speckled) about my character traits got me self-reflecting. Turns out I'm not Brynn. I'm Doorttore, complete with hinges /silly

[myebi]

my sh0p closes tomorrow!! 🌷

[egittae]

bambi and the old stag - lambert & dimitri

Starter for @blaiddllodi (riding+1)

With one last double check on his equipment, Lambert nodded with satisfaction once he made sure all was set. Though this was a great opportunity to simply bond and get a breather with a nice and calm horse ride, as a teacher that was still an expedition and so he needed to be sure he was ready for anything that could possibly happen- both good and bad. 

Even more since he had been assigned a house leader on top of it all. Not that he’d be less prepared if it were a regular student, no- but house leaders did demand extra care. If anything happened to them it could be bad for everyone, particularly the Church’s image…and he didn’t even want to think about what damage it could do to the Abyss and its people.

The process itself was kind of odd, however- starting with the very student Lambert had been assigned to. As he was a professor of the Ashen Wolves Lambert naturally assumed that if he were to be assigned a house leader, then it would be Yuri since he was already a student of his, while the other house leaders would be each assigned to other professors from their respective affiliations for obvious reasons. The face he was met with, while a familiar one, wasn’t that of his keen-eyed house leader.

Dimitri, prince of Faerghus and leader of Blue Lions. That was the student that had been assigned to him for whatever reason…which was why he was double checking everything. Lambert already intended to be careful with whatever kid was allowed under his wing, but the prince of the very land he hailed from…it did add a little more pressure on his shoulders for this to go all right. It was one thing to give that boy a lesson or two within the Academy, and it was another to be the sole responsible for his safety outside of the campus grounds.

Not to mention, he hadn’t forgotten. Lambert knew better than to bring it up, but his heart remembered the cold ache from the realization that the boy’s voice and appearance- his eyes, felt almost like a claw trying to tear and shred through the fog in his mind, violently searching for something within it. The ominous realization of something he didn’t even begin to feel ready enough to think about let alone let it settle. It wasn’t fear nor disgust, much less displeasure. Lambert held no ill feelings towards that boy.

If anything, he was more afraid of what the truth behind that boy’s identity could do to him. Would it treat his heart like a pride of lions would a gazelle in the wilderness? Would it twist, crush and shred it apart violently- driven by survival and the need to make things right? Or would it cradle it gently, with love and the softness of resolution?

It felt wrong to sew his hopes onto someone else, but the phantom tugging his mind around while keeping him in the dark was restless.

He didn’t want to think about it. Not now- later, much later perhaps, but not now. Now he was just a teacher, preparing an expedition for a student and that was it.

A deep breath, eyes meeting the Goddess’ in the sky, and reality stood by his side. 

“Greetings, boy. Dimitri, was it? Are you ready to go or do you need more time to prepare your gear?” Arms crossed over his chest offered a comfort only he could understand. “We are scheduled to follow a trail into the forest and end up in a glade of sorts. This is no camping mission and I know there is Faerghan blood in your veins, but winter is coming. Do not underestimate the mountain’s winds.” He offered a gentle warning, taking the chance to also analyze what the student was bringing.

“Also, do not forget treats for your horse. They are hard workers and could use some extra appreciation too.” The man blinked before climbing up to the saddle, looking down at the prince.

[asha-mage]

My roommate is playing Three Houses for the first time and that means that of COURSE I am being possessed by Dimiashe feelings again, especially because they are doing Azure Moon first.

And you know what gets me most about Dimiashe? What drives me insane into the small hours of the morning? It's the fact that, on Silver Snow and Verdant Wind Ashe leaves. He turns his back on Byleth, on his classmates, on the Church, on everything, to do what he thinks is right: to fight for justice for Lonato and Cristophe. He gives up his dream of being a Knight, he gives up his place in the Kingdom, his adopted House, the title that is now his by rights, even the friends that he fought and bleed and learned besides- all to do the right thing.

But on Azure Moon? On Azure Moon Ashe stays. And their is only one thing, one possible reason, for Ashe to remain on the Kingdom's side on Azure Moon, when on all other routes he sides with the Empire.

Dimitri.

Dimitri the golden prince that Ashe blushes and stammers and begs not to treat him with such familiarity. Dimitri who, if all had been as it should have, Ashe would have knelt to after graduation and sworn an oath of fealty and devotion, to serve as liege man, as bow arm, as guardian, as knight, onto his death.

Dimitri who Ashe finds again after five years broken and full of sorrow and pain and lost in the dark. Dimitri, who swears and insists he is a mad man, a monster, a killer, but who all the same Ashe can not turn his back on.

Ashe is driven by an fierce fiery need to do the right thing no matter what. His defining quote is It's never wrong to have virtue, even if means being made an outcast and he follows through, siding with Edelgard on every route except Azure Moon. And why? Because on Azure Moon Ashe looks at Dimitri, scarred and near feral with grief and without Dedue to be his knight any longer, and chooses Dimitri over what is right- over justice for Cristophe, over Lonato's memory, over a future free of the church's tyranny.

Ashe's loyalty and love for the Prince who showed kindness and compassion to a commoner, who brought sweets to a foundling and street thief, is the only thing greater then his sense of justice.

[randomnameless]

Revisiting Yuri and Dee's support in Nopes :

It has bonkers things like :

Yes, and it's also got me thinking about how best to help those of more meager standing. Originally, I'd thought that establishing medical facilities or investing in the church were the best pathways to this cause. But after seeing the people here, I realize they are not indigents standing around with open hands awaiting salvation.

What are you talking about Dee? Medical facilities aren't anything like "salvation", it's just a place where people are healed?

Sure, some people want to participate in their life, decisions and politics so to associate them to those processes is an interesting thing... but they'd still need somewhere/someone to help/heal them, right?

And it's really where Yuri shines - and reminds us that this support can only happen in AG - because he completely corrects Dimitri, if Dimitri wants to associate commoners to decision-making, they should at first receive education :

Of course, they're already fully capable of telling you when they're hungry or if taxes are too high... But they'll need education to understand the policies and laws established by their lords and hold any kind of thoughtful opinion on them.

I love this last sentence, because man does it ring differently when you consider Yuri was the de facto guy in charge of the Abyss - where people complained in every explore section about Church/Nobles BaD - special mention to Hapi "CoS BaD they promised me they'd cure me but it has been a year since I'm here, I know I am a danger to the people living on the surface, I most likely never told them who experimented on me nor where she was nor what kind of stuff she did to me, and I haven't been cured since!"

Thoughtful opinions on policies and decisions uh?

Problem is, people aren't in the mood to learn anything when they don't know where their next meal is coming from or where they'll sleep that night.

I know some politician I love to joke about once said "morality don't feed your belly", but this is in the same vein - people can think about education/doing the "right thing" and whatnot... only when their lives aren't in immediate danger, like, say, because they're starving or on the streets.

That's where I think we have the closest "thoughts" Yuri has about the Abyss - sure it's not all roses and daisies, far from that, but it's still a place where people who have nowhere to go, well, can go, and eat.

Regardless of the Abyss...

Yuri is here to remind Dimitri that people still need to survive before receiving proper education, aka, they need "support" to be able to walk on their own legs, or decide to do what they want.

Compare this to Supreme Leader's "if the weak remain weak it's because they're too used on rely on others" and while I really dislike how Dimitri was teetering to close to that edge on his own and only reconsidered when Yuri reminded him of, uh, something that should be common sense - for a Fodlan game, I still find it very nice that this issue was adressed (and it even recontextualises the Abyss from FE16, something FE16 couldn't do bcs, Church BaD).

Now, I know Yuri can join Tru Piss and Supreme Bullshit, but is it any wonder that his paralogue is AG oriented, his supports are AG oriented (save for the ones who are always available + Marianne) and he has no interaction with members of the Empire?

Mmh...