#verdant wind route

[dragonsarecats]

To be fair CF is just as much about found family than VW

Hi anon! I'm gonna link the post I talked about the Golden Deer here for clarity's sake lol.

I think when discussing themes of found family in different three houses routes, it's important to talk about Byleth. In a game where the single, main variable between possible futures is Byleth's interference, it means the story has to be written in a particular way--I mentioned this before when talking about character supports and endings; each character needs to be able to have a romantic ending with Byleth, which affects how their supports are written. In the case of the Lord's, this means you're given tangible reasons why you should've chosen them.

I mean. Let's be real here. Claude has the highest survivability rate of any character in the base game. He can't die if you're completing Verdant Wind (for obvious reasons), or Blue Lions. He's heavily implied to live to see another day in Silver Snow, and you can spare him in Crimson Flower! Edelgard and Dimitri die without the professor's stabilizing influence--but Claude? What does he lose without the professor.

That's sort of how I determine subtler themes of each route in a way--by comparing what you get with and without Byleth.

So when I argue that Verdant Wind is the most about found family, I mean it thematically; the other routes don't have tangible less found family, but without Byleth members of the Golden Deer just blatantly disappear unrecruited post time skip in several routes!

Without Byleth, the option for found family is removed for Claude in a big way, I personally feel, and not just by full recruitment runs lol. Not completely, of course--even in Crimson Flower a recruited Lorenz laments having to face off against Claude and Hilda is willing to die in defense of him and the city--but enough that it was blatantly shocking to me that if you don't recruit Marianne, she does not appear at all post time skip, no exceptions.

In a narrative sense, perhaps slightly unshocking; but in a practical sense? This leaves Claude without a healer.

Claude can't hold onto all his Deer even if you don't recruit any of them in the Academy phase. Silver Snow, Azure Moon, Crimson Flower--Marianne will always be gone; consistent, non variable. Depending on the route other characters like Lorenz might disappear as well.

The themes of found family are prevalent in all the routes, but since each route is pretty much defined by the Lord who leads it, I feel as though their personal relationship with the found family is most defining, if that makes sense.

People stand by Edelgard, Dimitri, and even Rhea for better, or for worse. Even recruited, characters like Felix make it abundantly clear that switching sides doesn't change the immense emotional attachment they have to their original lord.

This just. Isn't true for Claude.

Without Byleth, he doesn't get to keep everyone together. Without Byleth Hilda is recruitable in two routes. The idea that you could ever do the same with Hubert or Dedue is blatantly laughable.

Byleth's presence is what enables Edelgard, Dimitri, and Rhea to remain the most of themselves, if that makes sense. Edelgard's war strategy in Crimson Flower is a lot less aggressive and scorched earth then it is in the other two routes because she's had the professor as an emotional rock. Similarly for Dimitri, he's able to recover because Byleth is there to keep him alive and safe. And then Rhea will blatantly die in the Verdant Wind route where she doesn't in Silver Snow. Byleth, in every sense of the word, keeps these three characters alive and well.

But without her? They still inspire loyalty and devotion--unquestionable, again, if no recruitment takes place. Dimitri, Edelgard, and Rhea can all face up against you as enemies with the full force of their houses/allies (save for, oddly, Annette).

Claude does not.

Claude's whole route is about learning to trust others in a way that allows them to trust him. The Deer are devoted to Claude in Verdant Wind in a way they just, textually aren't otherwise, and that's due to Byleth's influence, both as a Professor to these individual students, and to Claude.

When I say that Verdant Wind is the most found family thematically to me, I mean it at a very base level. Claude knows he doesn't have what Dimitri and Edelgard seem to take for granted. It seems almost effortless, in Verdant Wind, the loyalty and devotion he inspires in his friends despite how often you, as Byleth, are told that Claude appears to be an untrustworthy and sneaky individual.

But it's easy to see in routes where you don't chose him that without Byleth, that image mantains. Claude is an outsider. And maybe he doesn't need Byleth in the way the other lords do to survive or achieve his dream (after all, there's nothing saying he can't open diplomacy with his former classmates after he goes back to Almyra so long as he lives to do so), but just as Byleth is uniquely able to be a peer to the Golden Deer, so can Claude uniquely trust and gain the trust of his house in full.

It's not as dramatic as the other two houses, and I think it's the point. Edelgard and Dimitri have already built a solid foundation of devotion and loyalty. Ferdinand and Felix (your "rival" characters in those houses) are loyal without Byleth, even if Ferdinand claims it's to guide her or if Felix complains every step of the way. Lorenz isn't. In Verdant Wind, you sort of take it for granted that everyone will be there at the reunion if they survived the Academy phase. Of course they will--they promised, didn't they?

But outside Verdant Wind, it's clear to see that you as the player took it for granted. And that's why I think Verdant Wind is thematically the most found family. It's not because the other routes don't love each other as much or aren't as complex or there isn't devotion. It's because fundamentally Verdant Wind is about Claude, for the first time in his life, having a group of people he can rely on and who will rely on him without hesitation. It's about the formation of found family, and how Claude doesn't need it to achieve his dreams, but man, does it give him something to achieve those dreams for.

[slankyyy-revs-the-world]

(In)Correct fe3h quotes lovingly sourced from my dms with oomf through their playthrough of three houses for the first time

[dubiousdisco]

Claude: the goddess turned this beautiful nature into a vulcanic desert? Shes either not real or a fucking monster

Seteth, whispering between his teeth:

[amebelladonna]

Oath of the Christmas Presents

In honor of me beating Azure Moon (now excuse me while I cope with some jolly holiday cheer)

[crows-of-buckets]

Fire emblem three houses is so funny like why are all the knights so irresponsible about their students. "Oh we though Monica ran away to home-" NOBODY CHECKED??? THE OCHS FAMILY IS MENTIONED BY SEVERAL OTHER CHARACTERS DID NO ONE WRITE A LETTER. WHAT.

[femuirdris]

this is the cutest shit i ever seen omg

[opaleyedprince]

mmm hoagh more dorian thoughts. bite sized if you will

takes his steaks medium rare + used to have awful manners as a child

developed a habit of speaking while keeping his teeth hidden and has not fallen out of it

has tapetum lucidum - it's a hereditary thing + was sort of a major giveaway as to his parentage when he was a wee thing

after the fall of garreg mach, developed a habit of talking to his dogs and also the ravens that hang around since he isolated himself from most human contact. even after rejoining the group he will talk without thinking and does not realize it makes him a little unsettling!

[paris-rokin]

I started Verdant Wind, my second Three Houses campaign, a few days ago. I'm on Hard Classic, ng+

I'm excited to see how this goes. I've heard that Claude isn't as much of a convoluted schemer as the game makes him out to be, and I know that I'll end up killing Thales & Nemesis. But I don't know much about the details.

I want to keep this post mostly about canon, but I gotta say it once. Eagle Among Lions has radically improved this game for me. So many of these characters feel more fleshed out, and that's even more true of the setting. I'm making Annette a war cleric for this reason :D

The Golden Deer are the least interesting characters imho, and I'm curious to see if that changes now that I'm getting to know them better. Claude & Hilda are fun, Lysithea is good, and Marianne is perfect. And Lorenz is exactly what he's supposed to be: an asshole rival to Claude that you hate, thus firmly placing the player on Claude's side in the future. But Leonie, Raphael & Ignatz just don't inspire me. Idk why, exactly, but something about their backstories or personalities just isn't jiving with me. I'm especially confused about Leonie, gnc redheads are extremely my type, why am I not feral for her?

Anyway. In an attempt to get all the supports exclusive to VW & the Church (I don't have plans to do SS any time soon), I've recruited everyone except the Blue Lions boys (rip). I don't like having such a big roster, it's too many builds to manage, but it'll be satisfying to have as many supports as possible before CF.

[platonic-qpr-selfshipping]

today makes four years since I got the three houses game as a gift so I'm gonna write down some thoughts I recently had about my selfship with Claude and the sun/moon dynamic? symbolism? that XD

I wouldn't be able to tell who is who. Even if some hints could make it seem obvious (ekhm, my s/i's name being Helios, for example), it didn't feel like a complete description of their own views and what's going on between them, so I gave it more thought and came to the conclusion that they are each other's sun and they see themselves as the other's moon. that's what Claude and I would have going on

Because how wouldn't I see Claude as the Sun with the way he lights up any room just by being there? with how bright his smile is? with how he seems to be able to slowly change things for the better with such warmth, making days easier to go through? yet I am very aware that sun eclipses exist, but I would do anything to go through those days by his side, too. in that way, the name of Helios is full of devotion and loyalty, for not only the personal feelings but also the admiration, the gratefulness, the acknowledgement, the will to do anything to keep him safe. Helios is a sign that he guards the Sun, almost as if they had been named for it, putting him before them just like a small satellite always orbiting around the same other.

Yet for Claude, born under the Moon symbol of the Riegan Crest, he feels like he's always dealing with both the bright and dark sides of the Moon. He might be the house leader of the Golden Deer, sure, but that "golden" in its name and a yellow cape won't make him escape from his Moon nature. He's got shadows he needs to control and not let others find out; he's got to get clues and know what's going on there where no one else dares to walk down; he's got too many expectations on his shoulders to consider he can naturally shine bright, so he tries his best at putting strategies over the table and not let any lives fall behind. Oh, but Helios. They who encourage freedom, who are so open with actions and questions, who always got his back in the batteflied to the point of feeling like someone's missing if they are not there, whose eyes look so fondly at all the Golden Deer that they might be two whole suns in one human body. Their silences, full of understanding somehow. Their invitations to reading evenings in their bedroom, never judging, never pressured; just their comforting smile and their embrace's warmth, truly worthy of being compared to the Sun.

[queeraurora]

Say what you will about Azure Moon and Crimson Flower; at least they're each unique stories with unique plot points

The fact that Verdant Wind and Silver Snow are functionally the same story is something I was, and still am, very disappointed by. They deserved unique stories too

[fayesdiary]

Congrats on beating VD ! What are your thoughts on the story of this route ?

Barring the feeling of "I've done this already" that permeated the majority of the playthrough, I found VW to be good, but not great.

The Deer are a great cast of characters but they're almost completely uninvolved with everything that happens in Part 1 unlike the Lions and the Eagles too to a lesser extent.

And while I now love Claude about as much as Dimitri which is a lot they're amazing, his story really doesn't play up to his strengths as a character because as we all know, it's a recycled version of Silver Snow (speaking of it's very cool that the first and currently only POC protagonist ended up with the copypasted story🙄), which is such a shame because he's so interesting and fun.

Like, does his curiosity about Fòdlan mean he slowly starts putting together and figure out its true history? No, Rhea just dumps the whole thing in the second-to-last chapter. Lysithea hinted at knowing the Twisted and revealed her history with them, so does she mean she investigates with Claude and Byleth to find them, uncover their secrets and eliminate them? No, Hubert is the one to posthumously doxx them instead.

There's both a lack of build-up and spotlight being stolen that permeated the whole route for me, and Nemesis is the perfect example.

Shows up in the last chapter out of nowhere, apparently he was just sealed in Shambhala (which is a really cool setting btw) just because and didn't fit in the Twisted's plans whatsoever, keeps yelling about Seiros when she's not even there and the Elites are also just... there. Completely silent. With none of their descendants being able to recognize them or have a monologue upon realizing their bloody legacy. (Like imagine Catherine coming to terms with the fact her ancestor helped murder Rhea's entire race as well as the fact her prized sword is actually one of her family members' remains. Or Lorenz realizing his proud noble lineage actually comes from a barbaric thief complicit in genocide)

To me Nemesis is the perfect final boss for Claude's story because he's both the (un)living symbol of the true history of Fòdlan written in blood that must be put an end to, as well as the literal embodiement of everything Claude stands against, but the lack of build-up and wasted narrative potential drags it down quite a bit for me.

I really appreciate how Claude and Byleth actually feel like equals and friends, compared to Dimitri's "only Byleth can make him come to his senses despite the fact Rodrigue had to literally die for him to stop and rethink what he's doing thereby making his entire support network feel almost worthless" and... whatever Edelgard's deal is. Helps he's actually competent without them around unlike the other two who are helpless.

That said I like Dimitri's unceremonious death. It's completely devoid of glory and fanfare and it really makes it clear where his quest for revenge would have brought him hadn't he stopped in Azure Moon. We lose the friendship between Dimitri and Claude as a consequence for it which is a huge shame but... eh, I can live with that.

Also his scheme to infiltrate Fort Merceus was fun and I wish there were more moments like that that actually made use of Claude's favorite MO

[longroadstonowhere]

feels so weird to finally almost be done with the silver snow route

forgot i wasn't playing on casual so i got hanneman killed before the timeskip, but other than him i think i've gotten all the supports for the knights of seiros and academy people (or at least gotten their black eagle supports)

gonna do the wolf dlc thing next cuz i keep seeing it getting referenced and i wanna know what people are talking about, and then we'll see if i'm burned out again or if i wanna do my mega recruitment crimson flower route (recruit literally everyone, see who stays after the timeskip, get all the little fiddly cross-house supports i can)

i keep having to remind myself that i don't agree with edelgard in this route, though, which is very hard, hahahaha - i did realize that in the enbarr fight, there are specific buildings that proc reactions from dorothea and flayn (and i assume manuela and seteth, but i didn't have them on the mission), which is very cool

switch is dying though so i have to stop for the night right before the 'kill edelgard' mission

[latinokaeya-moving]

treated myself to the very short beginning section of three houses just now but i had to stop n turn off my switch when the game asked me to pick a house bc i started agonising over whether to go w edelgard first or just jump straight into the claude route

[elegyofthemoon]

Fe3H Ask Game: 12, 17

>:O thanks zorua !!!

fe3h asks

12. How many routes have you completed?

All!! And for that very reason!!! I refuse to play it again!!!!

As much as I'd love to replay the game, playing all 4 routes burned me out so bad I feel aversion towards the idea of trying the game again asdkfjh It's a good game though!! But I really don't need to be throwing an extra 250 hrs on that game 😅

17. Which route did you do first?

Azure Moon!! I think it's very much the reason why I'm so fond of the Blue Lions. Also because this was my first FE game, they hold a special place in my heart for dragging me into FE (shoutout to Ashe in particular. Saw that little guy and went I WANT THAT ONE!!!! and proceeded to jump into the series lolol)

After that I think I went Crimson Flower > Silver Snow > Verdant Wind ! I can't remember how I decided on this... I think I knew I wanted to S support Claude since he was like a BIG fave while I was playing but you know "save the best for last" so that's how Verdant Wind was my end (it was such a good way to end the game though!! How cool was fighting against all the ancestors of the nobles >:OOOOOO)

As for Crimson Flower vs Silver Snow. I'm guessing after Azure Moon I thought "hmm Edelgard....I want to understand you." and that's how I got in there. Silver Snow back to back with Verdant Wind was not very fun though since it felt v similar to each other (or ... they were actualy the same...? I can't remember clearly but I remember the plot being so similar.)

[kaoharu]

kin assigning you juno and annette fire emblem sorry. There’s no justification either it’s just vibes

FIRE EMBLEM MENTION !!! i know annette shes very cute :3 juno seems very me as well . . . nodnod

[dubiousdisco]

Damn dimitri just fucking died and everyone keeps saying "oh no i widner if yhis could have been avoided if anyone could have avoided this somehow" like i get it, you want me to play his route, i will get there eventually! Let me finish claude's first!