#(i am considerably less up for forcing abuse survivors to honor their dead abusers)

[scintillatingshortgirl19]

i am begging one single person in this entire show to consider, for perhaps one single second, THE POSSIBILITY THAT THERE IS A REASON HOUSE HATES HIS DAD THIS MUCH

[iturbide]

Heya. Love your writing. Been here for a year or so now just soaking up all your good content. Just wanted to say that all of your headcanons about Chrom’s dad make me feel so validated lmao. The fact that no one really talks about his crusades both in game and in the fandom made me feel like I was going crazy for hating him but also really wanting to know what went down while he was Exalt. Then again, I would probably disregard what canon says if they ever decide to expound on (1/2)

it now, especially since I prefer your take on 90% of Awakening lore/history/characters lol. Anyways!! Grima be praised and keep up the good work!!! (2/2)

I’m so flattered that you’ve been enjoying it so much! ;v; But I’m so happy I’m not the only one that has these kinds of feelings about Chrom’s dad because I have made the mistake of trying to look up info on him before, and some of the things I have stumbled across are mildly distressing to put it lightly (including some people trying to argue that the man was a hero trying to save the world from Grima’s return and is unfairly remembered as a monster).  The game really drops the ball on matters of how history plays into the present, and it does a great disservice to the fact that the man was responsible for a genocide, effectively brushing that fact off like it means nothing after only two sparse mentions.  And yet, so much of the current situation was likely caused by his actions: I still think that Gangrel’s hatred of Ylisse was born from that crusade, as was the fear he exploited among the Plegian people to raise a fighting force; while on the other side of the continent, Emmeryn’s pacifism and Chrom’s desire to protect her were equally born of the horrors their father committed, as his oldest daughter did everything in her power to end the cycle of violence and his only son tried to protect (and later create) the peace she sought. 

Honestly I can’t blame you for being on the fence about an official take because after what they did with Plegia, I don’t know if I completely trust IntSys to make an even-handed narrative.  But I am always happy to share headcanons about what I think went down and I’m really happy you enjoy them so how about a few more to really drive home how terrible he was: 

The former Exalt of Ylisse was as much a politician as he was a warrior.  Under his rule, the existing noble court became a significantly more vicious and cutthroat place, because he made extremely obvious shows of favor to those who supported him, including new territory and coveted appointments.  This led to the various families clamoring for his favor and trying to win it by any means – which included both discrediting their fellow Houses as well as offering to back his Crusade financially (something which he honored by relieving their members from active duty).  

Once he’d established that system, he also started punishing those who chose not to play the game.  I believe that Ricken’s family lost their standing because they opposed the Exalt’s war – and in turn, he stripped them of their wealth and territory, leading to their present diminished state.  And, of course, the things he stripped from them he could then use to finance his war and/or use as favors for those who did support him. 

Though he was not physically abusive in the sense of beating his children, when displeased the man took far less care with his considerable strength, grabbing and dragging them by the wrist or arm.  Emmeryn incurred this on several occasions as she started to demand more answers of her father where his crusade was concerned, but Lissa tended to get the worst of this: despite her extremely young age, his patience with her was extremely thin owing to her missing Brand.  She tended to run and hide behind either Emmeryn or Chrom whenever she happened to see their father because of it. 

Despite his hatred of Plegia and her people, the man did know at least a few things about their culture – just enough to be dangerous.  He knew that blood was important in many of their religious rituals, and while in truth only a small amount is needed for those traditions, he painted it as human sacrifice in his propaganda.  Moreover, he knew that Plegians buried their dead so that their souls could reach Grima – so in his crusade, once a battle ended, he immediately had the Ylissean wounded and dead cleared from the field and then set fire to all he could before the Plegians could see to their own, burning any survivors alive and making it impossible for remains to be identified and returned to their families. 

This is also the reason why, after he attacked the village where Gangrel lived in his youth, he set fire to everything.  Not only was he destroying whatever crops they might have had growing and making it difficult or impossible for anyone to come back to that place without investing significant time and effort into restarting from scratch, he was keeping the Plegians who had lived there from reaching Grima.