#Adrestia stuff

[randomnameless]

Constance and House Nuvelle ramblings -

We know House Nuvelle started when Noa, after promising Seiros she won't pass her crest, went to a place near the Fangs of Fodlan, and apparently fucked sufficiently enough to create her own house.

(GG on that "do not pass on your crest" promise!)

Nuvelle people, according to Constance's Supreme support, don't marry in other houses to not bring their Noa crested blood to other families :

Saint Noa was apparently super duper good at "magic" and her descendants are also super duper good - let it be because of their crests or because they focus and research "magic" - happens what happens :

The Emperor appointed the leaders of House Nuvelle were "well versed" in magic, and muhritocracy happening, means they were appointed to important posts...

However, House Nuvelle cheered on Ionius after he terminated Hrym, and threw its lot with the Imperial household, effectively losing influence when Ionius was defanged :

JP version makes it more explicit that they were casted away from the "inner circle" of Imperial authority... but what is this inner circle? They weren't part of the great noble families, and given how Constance was set up to marry the crested heir of House Bartels (even if it would have implied Emile would leave House Bartels and his mama/sis to live with the Nuvelles, so what kind of benefit Baron Bartels would gain from this union?) but not, say, Ferdie or Linhardt, I wonder how close to the great noble families they were.

Or maybe we had some faction war going on, with House Vestra in the middle, like Ionius and his pals (the Nuvelles amongst others) vs the other noble families, and they were supposed to act as some sort of check and balances system to make sure the Emperor wouldn't be all powerful and ignore his nobles, but at the same time, the nobles wouldn't be able to run the country?

(But then Ionius did his thing, and everything fell apart)

Anyways, Nuvelle sided with Ionius, and lost the power struggle.

House Nuvelle was used as sacrificial pawn to stop Dagda'n'Brigid when they invaded the Empire - and in Nopes, we see the former Nuvelle territory was absorbed by Gerth.

However, what kind of bollocks decision was it to send scholars/mages to fend off against a joint army, when Leopold "my loincloth is a holy relic from Cichol himself" von Bergliez, famed and reknown general out there, leading the Imperial Army and Minister of War himself, was around?

Was it, like Constance suggests to Billy, a dick move made up to punish the Nuvelles from having joined Ionius, fueled by some resentment some Houses might have had - interestingly enough, in her Supreme support, Constance says it was something House Nuvelle brought upon itself by wanting to keep on preserving Noa's secret and ultimately not making any bonds or alliances with the other houses (which is, hilarious in hindsight, given how this support is supposed to be obtained in CF, aka, the route where you set to get rid of pointy ears for presumably lying about history - much like the Nuvelles did - and we're left to wonder that if Rhea opened up to more people, maybe, just like House Nuvelle, she would have had more allies to rely on in her direst time of need?).

Supreme Leader wonders if the Six great Houses, aka the ones who deposed Best Dad (tm) weren't the one to blame for House Nuvelle's destruction, given how she believes they were eager to see it fall !

But...

Gerth, a member of the Six Great Houses, feels like trash for what happened to Constance in their paralogue, and confesses he owes much to Constance and to her parents so much that he is willing to shit on his role as "Minister of Foreign Affair" and abandon a card he could use against the Church - aka hoarding Rhea's sibling's remains - to repay his debt to the Nuvelles.

Does he sound like someone who was eager to see House Nuvelle fall?

Still, the thing is House Nuvelle was supposed to defend Adrestia against the Dagda'n'Brigid invasion, they failed and their heads were killed, the House was disbanded and Constance ended up in Faerghus. So while we can wonder what the fuck Leopold "my major crest is a retcon" von Bergliez was doing with the Imperial Army while the Nuvelles died, well, they still died without any backup from the Imperial Army, aka, the largest army on the continent.

Should Constance have had some support or at least lines with Leopold in Nopes, or Caspar in both games? For sure, but hey, we can't have interesting things in those games, so enjoy your teatime I guess.

Of course, and this is a given whenever I write anything about Constance :

HC obsessed me read the "passed down something of great importance from our progenitor" as a ref to Sothis, the progenitor god - but thinking more rationally, the progenitor Constance is refering to isn't Sothis, but Noa, and the "something of great importance" is... her crest? No, that wouldn't end with her generation, dragon blood would pass on Constance's children and so on, so as long as her bloodline exists, the crest of Noa will.

But what if that "something of great importance" isn't just the crest, but Noa's talent, affinity and study of magic?

Lizard or not, Noa's magical prowesses were apparently sufficient enough to fool the Empire for generations - starting with the first (I'd say post Willy departure) but, like, those first guys most likely were taught magic by Macuil himself, so was Noa's magic as potent as his or something? Their crests - even if the devs would rather sell spoons and umbrellas than reveal what are the effects of crests in this verse in a watsonian sense - were confused!

So, Noa was a very powerful magician, and her descendants pursued the tradition of being scholars, Constance herself designs new spells!

However, too much honey for today means I'm pretty sure the devs meant "crest of Noa" as the "something of great importance" and not the love and tradition to research and develop magic, which would have been more interesting but w/c.

House Nuvelle is interestingly - for something hidden behind a paywall - the most developped House from Adrestia, and paints a pretty messy picture of what happens in the Empire, from its dawn (again, post Willy departure) to the events happening during the game.

[whereforartthoumisthios]

A couple nights ago, my 3.5 year old was running around the kitchen imaginative playing by himself after we had just turned ACO off after being on for a little bit and suddenly went:

" 'Sandra, 'Sandra, come on! " and started galloping around like a horse.

He was playing with an imaginary Kassandra and Phobos omg!

I've never been more proud 😂😭

[gascon-en-exil]

Apologies in advance for the tangent I'm about to go on but to give more context on why the Deer are the way they are from a story-perspective and characterization aside(the writers have said they decided to have more fun and be more out there with the Deer to create silly outcasts), the explanation for the Deer's role is something a lot of Japanese and Chinese fans have already picked up on but comes down to the DNA of the story and the writers adhering too closely to the Romance of the Three Kingdoms so the third faction was always destined to feel this way because of what they were copying in that Leicester is Wu down to the primary conflict being between Wei/Adrestia and Shu/Faerghus with Wu/Leicester being a third wheel. The original novel was a story about 3 Kingdoms but it was by no means equal. It's just that the author of said novel wanted to primarily focus on the tragedy of the heroic underdog of Shu struggling and losing against the overwhelming more oppressive kingdom of Wei. So the novel had a pro-Shu bias with Wei being the villain and Wu being written as more positively when they're with Shu but portrayed more negatively when they're against Shu. Although real life history wasn't quite so clear-cut as that. ------------------ Side-note 1: I would actually say the inspiration affects characterization pretty strongly too but moreso in Dimitri's case and Edelgard's case. Like Dimitri's Azure Moon arc can roughly be mapped onto Liu Bei(Emperor of Shu)("virtuous" lord in a homoerotic brotherhood goes mad with vengeance near the end, realizing where they went wrong after a close friend dies and stopping themselves as well as apologizing and later dying of illness) although Liu Bei's lust for revenge near the end was directed at the Claude analogue, Sun Quan, not the Edelgard analogue, Cao Cao. Edelgard's character picks up a lot from Cao Cao(Emperor of Wei) . Although Fire Emblem's Red Emperor archetype in general just seems inspired by Cao Cao and Oda Nobunaga, the Great Unifier of Japan. Claude's role being similar to an amalgamation of Sun Quan (Emperor of Wu) and Sun Ce although the writers have confirmed that character-wise he's meant to be the perfect fusion of Rajendra(a snake of a prince that was looked down on for being born to a slave mother and who adopts a masks so it's hard to tell when he's sincere or not but cares about his ambitions the most but still better than his incompetent, purebred, snobby older half-brother, Gadhevi, who was the basis for both Shahid and Lorenz) and Yang Wen-li(a friendly humble average joe that just wants to live his life and teach history but is a military genius general) Side-note 2: Koei Tecmo's version of Cao Cao used to be like the novel's version where he's a cartoon villain but they eventually started to take from real life history to tone him down and later on he became whitewashed and a lot of Cao Cao fans would say he's the true hero in their later games which was around the time when they started writing Edelgard. Sorry again for the giant wall of text. Just felt that it might interest you or others to know some how Koei Tecmo's history with Romance of the Three Kingdoms intersects with stuff like this if they didn't know.

Thanks for sharing. I've been distantly aware of those references for a while, but it's nice to have them all laid out for anyone interested in them.

[randomnameless]

Re : Adrestia trying to excise every mention and reference to the CoS-

While this might be another example of MYH Sharena being full of crap, as usual, the wings are reminiscent of the Eagle in the BE flag, but why the color white ?

Isn’t there any other being, closely associated to Adrestia, who is White not counting that being's crap mother calling her the white one? Why picking that color for an eagle that is supposed to be Black ?

I wonder if it was just something picked to look nice with her color scheme, or maybe I'm connecting two dots in different planes of existence, but removing the crest from her own sigil, while associating the Adrestian eagle to the color white...

There's the feeling Adrestia tries to hide/modify/rewritte their history, preparing for their war (and general rhetoric) against the CoS.

[randomnameless]

Ooh!

While I agree and think this could represent a point of time after the defeat of Nemesis, I wouldn't say this card would represent Seiros.

As you said, post Nemesis, Seiros is sombre because canonically Seteth and Flayn left after this fight, and instead of returning to the Empire and establish the Monastery... Rhea continued to fight, hunting Elites.

However, I think this could either represent "the Emperor", returning from the battlefield with a laurel crown (meaning victory/success).

Per Nopes timeline, Wilhelm defeats (lol) Nemesis, and "having achieved his chief ambition", he passes down the Crown/his title to his son, Lycaon, while still supporting and helping him in the background.

Maybe the scene could represent this, victorious Wilhelm returns home, picks his successor and while there is still some fighting, this is a new dawn for Adrestia because no Nemesis in sight anymore? They won against Nemesis, so Adrestia can finally "guide" the people of Fodlan ?

Something like, a new Emperor for a new peaceful (bar Seiros still fighting what's left of the Elites) Fodlan, Adrestia through Lycaon and Wilhelm will now guide the people for a better future!

but then everything falls apart when 7 years later, Lycaon "suddenly" dies "young", Wilhelm leaves Adrestia, Seiros stops hunting the Elites and works on her plan to resurrect the Goddess and Adrestia falls to a "might makes right" state

Six of Wands & FE3H

The Six of Wands shows someone returning from a battle or a long sojourn victorious. They have earned respect and acknowledgement due to their service for their country or their community, and their people come out to support their triumphant return. Alternatively, this card can be seen as someone leading their people to a better place with the support of their community. Either way, this card exemplifies some of the positive aspects of having ambition, to contrast the negativity of the previous card. 

The event I relate the most to this card is Saint Seiros’ return from her fight against Nemesis. She led Adrestia to victory and brought peace to the continent with the support of the Emperor of Adrestia and her Holy Knights. 

I don’t think this is the best representation of this card, however, as Saint Seiros must have been rather sombre on her return. A war had been waged for over a hundred years. Many losses were had on both sides, and in the end Seiros even had to step in to protect the survivors of her enemies. However, based on the fact that she established her church and founded a country, I would say that she does reflect the themes of victory and recognition from the community. 

What do you think? Is there an event in Adrestia that ties better to the contents of this card?

Previous: Five of Wands

Next: Seven of Wands

[problematic-fodlan]

3H's worldbuilding is worse than literally every other Fire Emblem. Yes, even FE1.

Fodlan has no sense of space outside the monastery, and there's no villages or houses on the maps to give those places any character like in the other games. Everything's all clumped together in the base, and the whole story is you going back and forth between the monastery and wherever the war is happening that month. Fates and Engage have fixed bases too, but at least outside of when they're intro'd they're never involved in the story. The characters are still traveling around the world like in older FEs, they just warp back to the base whenever the player wants to do gameplay stuff. 3Hopes is even dumber about this than 3Houses, because your base moves around the continent but it always looks exactly the same.

Which is why it's such a bad faith take to see people whining about what's good for the people of Faerghus or Sreng or whatever. Like, what people? The games never bother to show them, and if they ever do appear they're all back at the monastery/your base instead of where they're supposed to be living. And it's a bad faith take because no player *actually* cares about the faceless masses of Fodlan that only matter if you're pretending that this is a real place and not a video game setting where if the writers didn't think it was important they just didn't include it...ya know, one of the most basic rules of writing ever. Faerghus is the best developed of the three main nations but it still pales in comparison to the attention give to side countries from other games like Silesse or Jehanna or Mokushu. You can only drag Faerghus's culture because unlike Adrestia or Leicester it has something resembling a culture to drag. But Sreng might be the worst because it functionally doesn't exist in 3Houses and is a plot device in 3Hopes, and even then there's *still* no named NPCs from Sreng with unique portraits. That's FE4 palette swapped bosses level of telling the player that this stuff isn't really important, but some people are willing to pretend not to get that memo.

What anybody claiming this really cares about is Edelgard and trying to justify why her routes are the best, and they're more than willing to openly shit on anyone who likes Dimitri or Dedue or the other characters who die in her routes - you know, playable characters with names and dialogue, the kind people actually get attached to. "Oh but Edelgard dies in three routes!" Yeah, and how often do you see anybody cheering for that because Adrestia deserved to be conquered and it's this great victory for the people of Fodlan, as opposed to just not liking or caring about Edelgard or finding her hardcore defenders super obnoxious?

Tl;dr, 3H fails massively at showing instead of telling, but people like to pretend it's Tolkien because you can read a bunch of text dumps in the library and because some people love to ignore that major characters are always going to get more attention than a continent full of NPCs the writers never bothered to show or develop.

-

[pearbosc]

ouiughhh sorry thinking about fe3h lore again. They really put soooo much detail into the worldbuilding for this game, like there's so much implied political drama over the last 1180+ years, weird stuff in the shadow library, little nuances in the way things are phrased that could imply other things about the world and the people, and little details in the designs that imply a lot but aren't explained (like Nemesis's Dark Creator Sword having both Hapi and Constance's crests). But the team was limited to making a JRPG with routes that clearly didn't get enough budget lmao. I honestly don't even want an FE3H remake, prequel, or sequel I just want ANOTHER GAME with different characters, set somewhere else in the world or in an entirely different time in Fódlan, maybe even before the founding of Adrestia (which is when the calendar year reset!! What year were they on before the calendar changed?? What was life like??)

[randomnameless]

FWIW,

Ferdie later reveals Ludwig planned to marry him to Bernie.

So unless he planned to cancel this union after the Insurrection - when, uh, Edel would have returned safe’n’sound with her shiny two crests - thus alienating Grégoire and a good chunk of the guys he allied with who wanted to depose Ionius and might not, as you say, be super happy with seeing Ionius Jr suddenly become the wife of the most important man - after the Insurrection and when Ludwig would have died - in Adrestia... This theory doesn’t really stands.

As for Aegir being deposed easily, that scene in CF, where she is escorted by two loldiers, immediately brings to mind a coup - and we know in canon she was negotiating with Leopold during her time at the Academy (during the mock battle) so if she had the backing of the military...

Ludwig was “deposed” by someone who had the backing of the military and brought them to arrest the former head of state (since Ionius was only a head in title), so imo, it’s not that Ludwig immediately bows to the new Emperor, but the new Emperor asks him the key to his office, with 50 soldiers behind her who are sharpening their weapons ; Ludwig has no choice but to obey her new orders.

do you know where that one theory that duke aegir worked with twsitd in order to create a trophy wife for ferdinand came from? ive seen people state it like it's a fact but it's never made any sense to me

The idea that Edelgard was supposed to be a trophy wife comes from a fairly known Edelstan, though I won't namedrop them here - I'll say that it's the same person who wrote a meta that within it claims that Edelgard is a better representation of anti-racism than Claude is, so, um. Take their meta with a pinch of salt.

Because I've never read the OG meta myself and only know of Cap'n's portrayal of it in The Fic (which, um, doesn't do the logic of the meta any favors, is what I'll say on that lmao), I don't know what OP's logic is. All I know is that it already makes no sense for Ludwig to have wanted any of Ionius' children to be given more power upon being crowned Emperor given that Ionius trying to centralize power onto himself was why the Insurrection happened in the first place, but to then think that Ludwig would think that he could make the surviving child a trophy spouse for Ferdinand to marry is, like. Complete nonsense.

Like, attribute it to shitty worldbuilding, but the books and characters who say that House Aegir has the "real" ruling power of Adrestia are completely disproven by Edelgard immediately arresting Ludwig and stripping House Aegir of all power, lands, and wealth. And with Ludwig immediately bowing to Edelgard's authority as Emperor, it's clear that he doesn't think House Aegir has the "true ruling power" of Adrestia - if he did, he would have shown some resistance to the idea of following Edelgard's orders (not just confusion at her being coronated itself).

Even if Ludwig was "ruling" Adrestia through sick weakly Ionius, there's no reason he would have to think that he could do the same to the perfectly healthy, perfectly sound-of-mind Hresvelg child that, according to this meta, HE had made even more powerful by giving them another Crest. And oh yeah also the child fucking hates the shit out of him and he made no efforts whatsoever to try to mitigate that hatred that the child would obviously have for him - no manipulation, no brainwashing, no blackmail, no threat of force, no coercion, nothing. So what the hell did he think was gonna happen, if this meta was accurate?

So yeah, it doesn't make any sense to you because it just doesn't make any sense period lmao

[ghostlycircaea]

Time to update my pinned post while I have the motivation!

Hey ya'll! As always this is mostly for organization and unabashed self-promo--I didn't do an intro or anything last time, so you can call me Ghostie or Callie ❤️ I'm a freelance artist and painting instructor whose been on here for a lot longer than this account would imply.

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All of my art is (or should be) under: #Calliedrawsghosts

So the biggest update (and I'll probably make a separate post about this later): commissions are currently open! See all of the listings here:

https://artistree.io/ghostlycircaea

(If you’re looking for something I don’t have listed or you’d rather use paypal, DM me and I’ll let you know if your project is something I can take on!)

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My portfolio is here!

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Stories

This is by no means a comprehensive list of stuff I have/am working on, but these are my main projects that I've put the most effort into.

Lethal Dose

Under : #A Lethal Dose

Annabelle is a private detective with some particularly questionable clientele--namely the Solanum family. When the family head is murdered, it was a natural conclusion for his son and successor to ask her to help solve the case. Annabelle might have thought the case was a good bit of fun, if only the primary suspects weren't leading somewhere a little too personal.

There isn't too much here at the moment, since I haven't spent much time on the one recently, but I have a cover and a few full pages posted!

Missing

Under: #Missing Ghosts

In the ruins of an earthquake ravaged mall, a group of teens find an unconscious young girl. At the hospital she claims to be Katie Easton--a girl who went missing alongside her twin sister ten years ago. But if she really was Katie Easton, then how had she seemingly not aged a day? And what had happened to her sister?

AC Odyssey:

And finally, the one I think most of my followers have at least stumbled across!

Under #ChildrenoftheMountain au

When Alexios had staggered to his feet after being thrown from Mount Taygetos, he believed himself to be the only one to survive. But stepping over the priest's corpse towards the bundle of blankets beyond him proved him wrong.  Nearly a decade and a half later, the relative safety they had found in Kephallonia was quickly vanishing. With Kausos burned to the ground and the cult having found them once again, the list of reasons to stay was quickly dwindling. When the opportunity to board the Adrestia and never look back presents itself, Alexios, with Kassandra and Phoibe in tow, takes the chance. 

(I swear I'm working on the next chapter, alas it's been fighting me.)

Some other stuff:

Want to see the references I use? Here's my nightmare reference board that took hours to organize! https://pin.it/7qkmgugUB

I'm also Enchanters_Ghost over on AO3

For any other links:

https://linktr.ee/ghostlycircaea

[dimiclaudeblaigan]

"wow how pathetic it is of a man who isn't much of a fighter to be afraid and want to live in the middle of aggressors invading his lands"

WHY WON'T U JUST GIVE UP AND STOP DEFENDING YOUR LANDS THAT WE'RE INVADING AND ATTACKING ON TOP OF YOU LITERALLY DOING ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO US

[hresvelged]

— alliances, part II.

The way I wrote part one almost a year ago lol time flies. Part I still has stuff under her current purview! Replaying and reviewing lines both as a lord and as an antagonist in other routes really illustrates her other (and stronger) loyalties- That being the Empire itself, those who align themselves with it, and her classmates. So that is what I am going to dabble on here!

Adrestia: Adrestia is her homeland! She cares deeply about it but well recognizes its flaws. She will always fight under the Adrestian banner and nothing else. It's best known for being a monarchy with the emperor at its forefront. Adrestia also has strong military might. Edelgard's minor Crest of Seiros comes from Saint Seiros herself in due to the first emperor back in the day.

The empire has diverged from what is once was, though. While Fódlan is presently 3 separate factions, it was the empire that acted as Fódlan's first footing. The emperor position currently lacks power and is therefore just a figurehead in due to the Insurrection. Their relations with the church are not the same as other regions, either. Edelgard wants to change the power structure within Adrestia and even their surrounding territories. Her goal is to grant people power based on merit, not birthright. Being a member of the Hresvelg family also gives her access to information only the emperor knows.

Edelgard canonically starts her plans before she even enrolls at the academy, which acts both in her favor and against. She has more time to prepare nowadays, but also has more time to learn. She has more time to test the waters- To continue her silly little foreshadowing and occasional outright saying of it lol. Edelgard knows which noble houses participated in the Insurrection obviously and has seen personally what ways nobility runs corrupted, which is why she greatly wants to dismantle it and Fódlan's general uplifting of crests. Her interest in wanting to speak with Faerghan/Leicester nobles/people in general is purposeful because she wants their knowledge (and potential alliance-ship) for the future. She has never left Fódlan which is another reason why the academy enriches her. She can't travel to other places, but she can learn about it, which is also why she's interested in politics from other continents, too! Perhaps she can use their boons and banes for herself.

For as much as she does hold some info most people lack, she doesn't know everything. She hardly knows all of the Agarthan lore, their backstories, etc. The information she was told prior to enrolling at Garreg Mach was cherry picked and she is well aware of this fact.

People she's met at Garreg Mach: Bonds are a struggle for her. When Edelgard cares about someone, she means it. It's one of my favorite things about her- Just the way that, even on her path of reformations and unity, she wants to see her friends thrive. And as House Leader, she has an important role she hopes to play effectively. She wants them to view her as a strong leader (even if strict and doting at times) in order to encourage them to do their utmost. She will commend people who have a strong will. This is one of the first things she'll judge people on.

While these snippets are from 3 Hopes, I think the lines are important enough to at least show the way she still cares about her friends despite being on opposite sides of a battlefield and regards them as such, not dismissing the time spent together. She'll say stuff like:

(To Petra) It's been a while, Petra. You know it's not too late for you to come back to the Empire. What do you say? (To Dorothea) Then say no more and prepare to lose once again. I'll drag you back to the Empire myself.

She'd prefer to have them back on her side. Therefore, the same very much extends pre-skip. The longer she knows a muse, the more her convictions about them will be swayed one way or another. Her own is strong and she won't waver no matter what, though. Gaining different outlooks is something she needs, even if she is not always aware of it.

(From Ferdinand Hopes A support) I cannot begin to guess where that idea sprung from, but this is exactly why I need you beside me as we shape the future of Adrestia.

Her dynamic with Hubert is also very important to her (albeit different compared to some of the other bonds she has), but the TLDR of that is she's grateful for her retainer and is one of the few people she does trust. He knows her deepest secrets canonically and does work she is not capable of.

I am also pretty sure I've mused on this briefly, but I purposefully do not have her use the word 'friend' terribly often. It's not because she doesn't want friends lol much the opposite! She does! The feeling of having others she can rely on is greatly cherished to her, but it has to be a grown bond. After walking on constant eggshells, it's hard for her to just befriend anyone. Edelgard is not the best liar though so when she speaks those words of kindness, she means them. She cares for the people in her life and will uplift them/encourage them to do their best.

But she is aware that she walks a path of a lonely emperor. She's prepared her heart to be alone even if she doesn't wish it so. She can't win a fight on her own, nor could she even be a successful House Leader, without others.

The Hresvelg family: Edelgard is the only heir to the throne after her siblings all died from their experimentations. She was not raised specifically to be Emperor, but obviously she was still brought up as a literal princess and therefore is regal/a noble/has a retainer/etc. She always had a rather strict personality, though that is not in due to preparing for the throne. That's just who she is lol.

Her family and what happened to them is an extremely strong factor in perpetuating her resolve. Edelgard did believe in the goddess at one point. It was during her imprisonment specifically that made her lose this trust. Nobody was helping her and she felt very trapped until she ultimately emerged with two crests.

She also knows what happened to her father during the Insurrection of the Seven. He has become just a figurehead and the power is no longer really his. Edelgard holds no ill will towards him. Even in Engage, she muses about this as an emblem in her bond conversation with Madeline:

Edelgard: Mother passed away when I was very young. Father was kind… Too kind for an emperor.

She refers to him as 'too kind for an emperor' and I think she does care about him. I do believe he didn't spend hours and hours with her since he was busy with other stuff and I think she spent plenty of time with her Uncle, even including that he's the one that took her to Faerghus during the Insurrection for her protection (which is why the body snatching is extra Oof). She recalls little of her Mother but she's been told that she was a nice and good person and when she visits the Goddess Tower, she muses about how her parents met there. She even believes they were truly in love which touches her. In her 3H coronation scene though, she says:

Within your eyes, I saw true care. And upon your fists clenched tight with indignity, I saw the blood that dripped and fell. Even as I bled, I felt that you, too, must also be bleeding.

She was speaking from the heart. I have written other HC posts about her siblings before, but I think she was closer to the few younger ones and would definitely watch the older ones. They did not all possess the Crest of Seiros, either. I'd believe whomever the original Hresvelg heir was did have the crest, though. Three Hopes also gave the fun sentence that "there are hunting grounds near Enbarr that the Imperial family uses for outings" so I'm sure she once had fond memories with this activity, too.

She will always keep the promise she made to them. They are allies in heart and mind.

[rozyrne]

[ CHAMPAGNE ]

-- IT IS WITH UTTER seriousness that Hortensia paces the length of the bar, tip to tail with her finger tugging under her chin. It has been stated quite clearly: students are only allowed one (1) glass, which means that she is only allowed one (1) type of bottle. One chance at one flavor.

But it is- at least proclaimed to be- seventy of Adrestia's best! What a crime it was, completely, to rob her of the opportunity! Only one? She didn't care about the drunkedness of it all, she just wanted the taste! She was weak to delicacies as expensive as her wardrobe, and drink was no exception.

But only one... she hums to herself, so lost in thought that she almost barges directly into Rosado. By the dragons' graces, she catches sight of him beforehand, stopping short and letting out a small gasp.

"Rosado! Perfect timing. You're- uhm. Okay, still a student. But what should I pick!" She extends her hands exasperatedly, motioning at the bottles across the bar. "Do you know anything about this kinda stuff? I just want something... sweet! Are any of them fun? Pink? Expensive?"

"Oh, and uhm! Before I forget." Hortensia digs into the soaked folds of her dress to pull out one of her perfectly round and cutieful pearl charms. She holds it out to Rosado with a smile. "I really wanna make sure I get my bracelet done before the night is over! I know everyone's kinda glum with the storm, but... I still want a cute little trinket! You get it. So trade with me?"

"HORTENSIA!" HE BURSTS OUT RIGHT AFTER⠀✩⠀she shouts his name, tit for tat. perfect timing? oh, she means the drinks. for a second, he'd been worried something'd happened. "hmmm. . . well, all of them look pretty expensive." and that's no lie. but then, he wouldn't say he was really an expert on prices and that kind of thing, since he tended to spend whatever he had. oops.

opal eyes snap back to her when the subject changes again, and it's only then as she reaches into her dress that he realizes she's totally soaked! "oh no, hortensia, you got all wet and everything——!" he starts to whine, but she shoves right past that and presents a gleaming pearl for him to take instead. figures she wouldn't let a bit of water get in the way of whatever she wanted.

"yeah, yeah, i get it." willingly, he plucks a five-pointed crustacean⠀(⠀were starfishes crustaceans? starfishes? starfi?⠀)⠀from his fashionable! stylish! charm ring!! that he'd made just for the occasion and purpose, and passes it over in exchange. "are you close to finishing yours? honestly, i haven't been paying that much attention this year with the beach and the storm and everything. i should get on it."

"oh, but you wanted a drink! weeell, they are just doing it on scout's honor, you know." the winning grin and wink he gives her is two parts mischief and one part whimsy——come on, what could be so bad if they got a second one! "what you can do is just wait for the bartender to change," he lowers his voice, whispering with hand cupped against her ear, "i think they swap every hour or so."

then he pulls back, like they were having a totally normal conversation. "honestly? you should try the watermelon boat with me. it's a coconut-y mixed drink served in a watermelon shell instead of a glass, good for two."

"between the two of us giving our best puppy eyes, there's no way they could say no, right?"

[fireemblems24]

Azure Gleam Ch 10

Onto AG Ch 10. Slowly making my way through all the Hopes routes.

MAIN STORY

Guys, I finally made AG Ch 10. Between wisdom teeth and a concert and FE Engage and other stuff I haven't had a lot of time to actually play much.

Aegir is not leading Adrestia well. It's so funny to me that so many dads got white-washed but they still left him an idiot.

So we're starting part 2. And Adrestia has gone to shit. I guess the nobles went full maniac the second Edelgard's gone. It's really a nation of sociopaths.

Rhea just said "knaves." I love that word.

Ohhh, Rhea brought up that lack of donations that Dimitri noticed in Houses, cool call out.

And they're putting it all together. Thomas, Cornelia, Thales - I love this, you guys. Dimitri and co getting to go after the people who did Duscur. Don't get me wrong, Edelgard is the far superior villain to TWSITD. And if I had to pick between the two, I'd pick her. But given that Dimitri gets two stories, I'm glad one of them gets this.

Claude is here!??? Does this mean he's not siding with Edelgard in AG? It'll be funny if he's the smartest in Dimitri's route - again.

Oh, we get a Claude and Dimitri team up? That's pretty cool. I doubt we get to use him though.

So it's cannon now that all three (church, Kingdom, and Alliance) are all weaker put together than Adrestia as one.

I also just noticed since Adrestia went full evil, that Dimitri is morally right in invading them to rescue the citizens lamo. He's really the "good boy" in Hopes. Though, he always was if you just removed the massive trauma events.

We're going to reclaim Garreg Mach! Cool.

Pretty cool seeing Rhea, Dimitri, and Claude all talking strategy.

Claude seems like he still wants to get rid of the church. But Dimitri's too realistic about it haha. The only one not living in an anime power fantasy.

Oh, cool, got some Golden Deer members playable now. And Lorenz uses his few lines to drag Claude lol.

If Rodrigue is in the West, does that mean no Rodrigue this chapter? Big sad.

MAP/SIDE QUESTS

Haha, some random merchant just said Dimitri lifted a whole ass cart out of the mud (she only later found out Dimitri did it).

This is the only route that lets Catherine and Shamir be girlfriends. By default it's the most superior.

Ingrid's alive again 😭

Interesting fact, Sylvain's mom actually really cared about Miklain.

Dedue is worrying about Dimitri and his overly enthusiastic work ethic.

I love how Edelgard is like we must have war to end nobility and promote commoners, meanwhile Dimitri is knighting and promoting commoners left and right and no one gives a shit. Meanwhile, Edelgard can't promote willy nilly because the Empire nobles will throw a fit. I wonder if she actually bothered to learn anything about Faerghus she'd realize how different it is and how they'll solve their own issues on their own terms.

SHEZ & ASHE A SUPPORT

Shez didn't get any answers about her mother.

Shez makes peace with it by saying she still loved her mother as a good mother regardless of what past she might has had.

They make some guesses what the mom's past is.

They were happy with the journey even if the destination was a disappointment (or never happened at all)

OH! Ashe got a letter at the end! But that's their A Support. So what's in the letter?????

SYLVAIN & ASHE A SUPPORT

They're learning strategies from Loog's past battles and learning more about Loog (who's pretty mysterious).

Sylvain is impressed with how smart Ashe is.

He's also jealous that Dimitri gets a knight like Ashe and offers to "steal" Ashe, but he shoots that down saying "only Dimitri." That just makes out of AG Ashe hurt worse.

Oh! Dimitri offered for Ashe to take over the land Lonato used to rule rather than always be a knight. Ashe likes that.

Ashe fawns over Sylvain's intelligence too.

I love seeing this mentor, teacher, more mature Sylvain.

ANNETTE & MERCEDES A SUPPORT

It's their only support, but at least it's A!

Since they're both nervous about the battle, they decide to chat.

Awww, I love that we're getting some details about their time at the sorcery school together. Apparently they'd chat together till dawn.

They talk about how they've stuck together through everything. Which makes outside SB Mercedes depressing.

Haha, Annette saved Mercedes from a bandit trap, but was in such a panic that SHE fell into the trap and needed Mercedes to heal her lol.

"Everything's better with you." Annette to Mercedes.

They plan to make lists of things they want to do after the war and then will do them once it ends. (if they had this discussion and then Mercedes defects, that hurts)

That was so wholesome.

MERCEDES & INGRID A SUPPORT

Ingrid is kicking ass in training, so Mercedes brings snacks to reenergize everyone.

Oh course, it tastes amazing, because it's Mercedes.

Ingrid wishes they were as relaxed around her as Mercedes, but Mercedes says that Ingrid is kind to them in a different way (mother Mercedes is here again!)

Mercedes bring up Ingrid's brothers and how it's probably like that.

Hahaha, Ingrid says she's going to show Mercedes her affection. And Mercedes is like "where is this going?!" Poor girl probably got excited lol.

You know what I also just realized? With Dimitri in charge, Ingrid doesn't feel pressured to marry. She's just a knight and living her best life and I love that for her (and we stan a king who stans women)

DIMITRI & BERNADETTA B SUPPORT

Is it petty that I feel a bit smug about Dimitri getting an Empire support but Edelgard didn't get a Kingdom one? lol

She's sneaking about and Dimitri finds her and she freaks out. So typical Bernie support lol. Poor thing trips over crates.

OMG. Bernie is like "this is the worst" and Dimitri naturally assumes HE's the worst lamo. OMG, Dimitri, baby, no. Thankfully she clears that up.

I kinda wondered why these two got a support and it actually makes a lot of sense. Dimitri doesn't sleep and Bernie sneaks out at night, so yeah they'd run into each other.

Dimitri's not offended because her being from the Empire means she's afraid of the Kingdom's king. Fair.

Bernie thinks he's going to execute her and he calls her a valuable ally instead. That's a bit sweet, not going to lie.

Dimitri then swears by his father's name, and Bernie's like "ok, I'll tell you." It's pretty funny how sincere they both are in very different ways.

Bernie exhausts Dimitri lol.

SYLVAIN & YURI C SUPPORT

Starts with the classic "..."

They're talking about Miklain. Yuri's like the rumors about his violence seem exaggerated. Sylvain's like "naw." You have no idea how much I love that Sylvain is like captain of the "stop making excuses for Miklain club"

Yuri makes it sound like Dimitri preyed on Miklain's inferiority complex to recruit him (saying uncrested people could get a chance to prove themselves).

Sylvain's impressed with Yuri's cunning.

Man, Yuri thinks Sylvain is just waiting to kill him for some reason and has a murderous smile. But this impresses Yuri. Sylvain is like "mixed messages, dude."

SYLVAIN & INGRID A SUPPORT

Ingrid's overwhelmed by noble work, which makes her appreciate Sylvain, Felix, and Dimitri more.

Sylvain responds by . . . asking her out (well, to dinner)

Sylvain said that they're "basically family" and said Felix and Dimitri feel the same way 😭😭😭😭 I can't.

Sylvain says we appreciate the things that stay the same because we can't stay in the past (or shouldn't) which is actually kinda deep for an FE support convo at least

Of course it devolves into Ingrid and Sylvain bickering about him gawking at her eating lol

Hearing them talking about how much they love their friendships and how they'll always be dear to each other makes recruiting any of trio to CF just criminal. I personally find it way more cruel to recruit them away from their homes and families than to kill them (i.e. the true way to play CF in "evil mode" is to recruit most of the Blue Lions and I will stand by that)

SYLVAIN & SHEZ A SUPPORT

Sylvain feels bad that they dragged Shez into the war, and that they only reason they're even fighting it is to keep their homes from getting destroyed.

"If we fail, we'll lose everything. Our houses, our families, the places we grew up." - see this is why recruiting them to CF is actually the evil thing to do. Then they gotta deal with that guilt.

Shez, of course, has nothing at stake unlike the Faerghus people

Poor Shez doesn't know what it's like to have a home.

I had Shez deny that it's just money she's in it for. And then calls Faerghus her home. 😭😭😭😭

Sylvain is inventing weapons. We stan a genius.

This support was seriously so sweet. It made my soft spot for both characters even bigger.

DEDUE & CATHERINE C SUPPORT

I have no idea what these two will have to talk about, but I'm still excited to see it. Maybe Dedue will try to recruit her back.

Dedue is suspicious of her because she shows up to a city where only people of Duscur are living. It's sad that he's got to be that way, but I'm excited if this support gives us more Duscur crumbs.

Neither Rhea nor Dimitri let him know what she's doing there lol, she's just helping after a big fire.

Catherine points out that the church is always helping people out, plus they feel a debt to Faerghus for giving them a home after Edelgard did her usual.

Apparently Rhea "jumped" at the chance to help. No one in the church cares that the people of Duscur don't worship the same religion, they just want to help/pay their debt.

SHEZ & INGRID A SUPPORT

I feel like I unlocked a million supports, but I'm not mad about it

Dedue put Shez on ingredient shopping duty.

Ingrid is flustered getting spotted by Shez in the market though. She looks like a deer in the headlights lol.

She's fangirling over the market since it's more lively and prosperous than Galatea.

Shez asks Ingrid to go on a shopping/eating date, but Ingrid feels she shouldn't be meandering markets as a future count.

Ingrid wants to help and protect Dimitri so bad as a knight. She also brings up her farming endings too.

I had Shez offer to help Ingrid out. She even offers to be Ingrid's personal mercenary. It's kinda cute.

Shez got Ingrid to blush a bit too. Happy Ingrid is a good Ingrid (and Shez too)

DIMITRI & INGRID B SUPPORT

It's sad that they only go to B, especially since we know how badly Ingrid want to be his knight (and has a crush on him, but like, girl, I get it, no one is immune to Dimitri)

Dimitri was planning with Duscur forces - how to use their unique fighting styles and avoid in-fighting with regular Faerghus forces

Dimitri asks her about Duscur, but Ingrid's moved on, and understands that it wasn't just Duscur.

She feels ashamed for putting it all on Duscur, and is not afraid to interact with them.

Dimitri of course blames himself for not insisting harder to Ingrid, but they were both dealing with shit. Dimitri's still upset with himself for not having the right priorities.

But like, Dimitri, even Ingrid herself says they weren't allowed to see each other (fuck Rufus).

Ingrid said she wouldn't have even listened to him. But like Dimitri just wanted to blame someone, so did Ingrid. Which, never really thought about how they dealt with it in a similar way before.

Dimitri takes her to a Duscur run Inn so help bridge the gap. She thinks she can do it with Dimitri there to help her out.

The character growth. Man, this is another missing discussion from AM that AG blessed us with. I swear AG doesn't have a single bad or boring or unnecessary or repeat support (no I'm not biased, why did you ask?)

INGRID & FELIX A SUPPORT

Felix is handing out compliments. Sound the alarm.

Aww, Ingrid has a rough battle, and Felix is worried about her.

Ingrid had Glenn's spur with her. 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 She says that helped her through the battle 😭😭😭😭.

Felix is obviously confused and worried that Ingrid is relying too much on remembering the dead, but Ingrid argues it can be a strength too. And Felix . . . AGREES.

GUYS 😭😭😭😭 Felix is growing up. 😭😭😭😭 He's understanding that his views aren't the only ways to exist. 😭😭😭😭

He tells her to visit Glenn 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 OMG, guys, he's encouraging her to keep using Glenn's memory as a source of strength and hoping she'll visit his grave and give him flowers.

Guys, he's not only understanding and accepting that people feel differently, he's ENCOURAGING them to continue using that opposite way because it works for them. Guys, he needs a cookie or something.

Ingrid is just that powerful.

Ingrid wants Felix and Dimitri - Rodrigue, Sylvain, and Gustave - and everyone to come visit and just have a festive time near his gravestone. Haha, Felix gives in too.

SHEZ & DEDUE A SUPPORT

Dedue commanding soldiers. We love to see it.

The people of Faerghus are warming up to Dedue 😭😭😭😭, the wounds of the past are healing (the soldier's mom died in Duscur)

GUYS. DEDUE ARGUED BACK. The soldier gave Dedue shit, and Dedue stood up for himself. OMG. He gets a cookie too!

Both Felix and Dedue showing real growth back-to-back supports, I can't . . . 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

Shez called Dedue her friend. 😭😭😭😭 Says that's why she's happy for him, because they're friends. 😭😭😭😭

Shez is determined to prove herself. Dedue says she doesn't have prove herself, that he trusts her.

Shez asks if Dedue really does despite her powers. Dedue doesn't deny that he's concerned about the powers, but it doesn't define Shez.

Haha, Dedue still adds in that if Shez ever did turn on Dimitri, he'd cut her down. Which, yeah, that tracks, which Shez agrees.

DEDUE/INGRID/FELIX PARALOGUE

3 of my favorites in one paralogue about the tragedy of Duscur. Yes please (they're also fully leveled up so I'm not broke!)

Everyone is down in the dumps because they're near where the attack took place. Probably a bit awkward with that trio.

Guys, we're in Duscur, it's exciting.

Aww, Dedue is telling Ingrid she doesn't have to fake being happy while their (because he knows about Glenn).

They're fighting Duscur :( having to put down a rebellion. Not everyone wants peace with Dimitri.

Dimitri keeps coming back in attempt to continue to make peace.

Oh, so the leader of the insurrection lead the group who killed Lambert and Glenn. This is intense.

They aren't allowed to kill him because they need information, but Ingrid wants to kill him, but won't.

Haha, that's why they didn't take Dimitri, well why he didn't go. Dimitri trusted them to handle it.

Felix said king, not boar everyone.

I can't wait to see the end of this paralogue.

Oh, we're rescuing Duscur soldiers? Glad Ingrid is a pegasus knight. She can zip around fast.

We're not killing, just subduing.

Ingrid requested this assignment to help her move on from the past.

Ingrid and Dedue put their faith in Dimitri to figure out the motivation.

Dedue wants to stop by a childhood spot that got trampled and he's wanting to see if it recovered. Ingrid asks to join him and he does. Shez also wants to come. Felix accepts grudgingly lol.

Ingrid has shown such growth in this game. I love it so much.

It's recovered 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 Dedue used to come there with his sister.

Dedue invites Ingrid to come back and keep checking on the field. Felix is just hanging back though. Typical Felix.

Felix says he's focusing on his duty to protect the same things Glenn did and Shez can say the lands or . . . well you know who and you KNOW which one I have to pick.

Felix says protecting Dimitri is the same as protecting Faerghus, and makes Shez swear not to tell Dimitri (well the boar but you know). I had Shez tease Felix big time by claiming she was going to run around and telling everyone lamo.

The Dimilix is real in this game.

MAIN MAP

So the Empire's going full scorched earth tactics.

Annnnd of course Dimitri's blaming himself for other's actions. He's getting all worked up too.

Oh, geeze, they killed all the citizens too. Shez says the Empire was always rough, but not this bad.

I still can't get over the fact they wrote themselves into a corner with Edelgard - either team up with TWSITD again or Dimitri and Rhea, so instead they just zapped her lamo.

Oh, that's cool, the map battle zone flipped spaces because the Western Church attacked.

Arval hoping to strike down TWSITD is rich since you know he's (she's, they're?) connected.

Poor Shez is worrying about her power again. I swear she's much better integrated in AG, then SB, and GW it's like why is Shez even there? They have no plotline.

I think my Dimitri is too strong guys. He just. Kills everything.

Myson escaped. Ohhh, now he's confronting Shez. And asking about Avral I'm assuming.

Arval makes a good point, that the power Shez has keeps saving lives. And brings up Dimitri's point that power isn't evil or good, it's how it's used.

Ashen Demon brought back up again. Arval really wants us to kill Byleth, hunh. Except this time I'm determined to recruit Byleth.

I wonder if Arval will eventually turn on us, esp once I don't kill Byleth. Because he really wants us to kill Byleth.

Rodrigue is back! My beloved.

Oh, hi Claude. Not sure where he stands with me right now. I vastly prefer the Claude who has two braincells.

Judith being alive again is good though.

I do like hearing about how Claude and Dimitri are making plans together to trick the Empire.

So our goal is to retake the Monastery. Makes sense.

xxxxx

[randomnameless]

What is even more "funny" is how, in the Nopes timeline, Rhea's human ally, "Great Emperor" Wilhelm abandonned Adrestia and "retreated in the background" when his son and heir "died at a young age" due to, per FE16, a "sudden illness".

So we have

91 : Nemesis dies - Adrestia rules over Fodlan, Wilhelm gives his throne to his son, but still assists him in battle - we know some Elites escaped, maybe Seiros was hunting them even if she had already recovered Sothis, by this point.

98 : Wilhelm's son, Lycaon, dies, Wilhelm ditches Adrestia - the War of Heroes ends (even if Rhea didn't kill all Elites, given how Maurice is still around!).

100 : An Aegir, Derrick, challenges the Empress of that time (most likely Lycaon's successor) to gain control of Adrestia, but loses the duel.

185 : Garreg Mach's monastery is completed - iirc a NPC in Nopes mentions how it took around 100 years to be built ?

---

Adrestia's own history shows how, without Rhea's input or anything else, the nobility - the Emperor, being the most important noble of them all encompassed - that was supposed to be something measured by knowledge and want to help/guide/protect the people was swapped by "winning a duel".

In 2 years, we came from an Adrestia that opposed and fought Nemesis, to an Adrestia that borrowed his "the strong must rule that's the natural order" motto - if betting the Imperial Throne, aka Adrestia's leadership on a duel, is any indication.

Now, we don't know what happened between 98 and 100, if Rhea told humans to kill each other for funsies or to pick the strongest human to rule over other humans, but we know her "favored" human was still around and bailed out from that nonsense (not even taking back the throne when his son died!) and they returned Seteth's the Ochain Shield to Indech's hamlet at one point, so it might very well mean that neither Rhea nor Wilhelm were around when Derrick von Aegir challenged Lycaon's successor for the throne, nor when that successor agreed to that duel.

Tl;Dr : Nopes gives us enough clues to understand that in this timeline at least, Adrestia became the hellhole we know without any Nabatean/Agarthan influence, but just through humans being, well, humans.

(unless we're supposing that young Lycaon's "sudden illness" was a lie Rhea made up to cover Agarthan assassination - even if I prefer the "he was killed by his peers who wanted his throne" theory).

One thing that grinds my gears a little regarding Rhea and the FE3H lore is that people assume that she's the only one who has built Fodlan's society the way it is post War of Heroes

As if humans had no agency at all and just blindly followed her every words

As if humanity hasn't shown that it is willing to do a lot for power, again and again, and turning against itself if needs be for it, and against others too

As if everything falls on her shoulders

(as if the Agarthans aren't also running interferences but also why the fuck did the dlc make Pan an Agarthan that part is still baffling to me what was the PLAN here)

[randomnameless]

@fantasyinvader

More on the "duty, Vestra Sr, and Faerghan knights" thingie,

In Nopes, Hubert explicitely tells Lysithea he hides the existence of his family :

If I tell you, you must not breathe a word of it to anyone. I will erase you if this gets out. Permanently. (...) I...have a younger sister. One the same age as you. (...) I conceal my family's existence as much as possible to avoid their becoming a liability. I also have a mother and little brother, yet you certainly do not know the first thing about them, either.

To which Lysithea replies with this :

Still, it's surprising you'd keep it under wraps from even your close friends and comrades.

Hubert is no social butterfly, but what this "even your close friends" means? Bar the "wow Lys believes Hubert is close to people", who could this refer to?

Supreme Leader??

By liability, obviously Hubert means by hiding their existence they cannot be used against him and then I was thinking about Vestra Sr's reason for turning against Ionius - which Hanneman suspects is tied to Vestra Sr wanting to protect his family over the Empire -

Could it be that in Nopes, Hubert had a tiny speck of self reflection (iirc, his turns his face away from the camera when he tells Ferdie that his dad's guilt or innocence will never be proved?).

Sure, Lysithea highlights how stupid this plot point is with some "Hmm... I suppose it would be strange for a noble like yourself to not have a single relative." - but the thing still is, Hubert doesn't trust even his "closest people" with intel about his family, aka his mother and his younger siblings.

Is Supreme Leader even aware Hubert has a family, aka a mother and siblings? She never brings them up (granted, she never brings her numerous step mothers' existences either, or Ionius' spouse so...) and yet, given the precedent with Vestra Sr - who wouldn't have had to betray Ionius if his family had never been targeted - is Hubert making sure not to fall in the same kind of dilemna his Father found himself in?

I know Adrestia is not developed at all on that level - we still don't know the name of Supreme Leader's sibling who was supposed to become the Emperor before Thales experimented on them, and yet we know the name of Raph's sister or of Felix's brother - and we can make assumptions about several characters being called "legitimate" heirs of their respective houses mean they at least have siblings, if not bastard sibs!

And yet, this support convo tried to cook a Watsonian reason as to why Hubert never mentions his family... and it more or less clicks the very few breadcrumbs we had about his father : House Vestra hide the existence of their members just in case they're used against the House Leader, much like what happened to the previous head and Hubert knows it, and still upholds the tradition, to the point of apparently not telling even Supreme Leader, his lady liege whom he follows wholeheartedly, about the existence of his mother, or his siblings!

Tldr: Nopes!Hubert had maybe more time to listen to Hanneman and learnt what he refused to listen during Houses, as such, unlike Vestra Sr, Hubert will even keep Supreme Leader out of the loop when it comes to knowing about the existence of his beloved siblings and his unnamed mother.

[problematic-fodlan]

What so much Edelgard discourse boils down to is that some of her fans feel like they have to prove that she's the most progressive, morally correct character to support.

Dimitri can't struggle with mental illness, or have gay subtext that isn't dubbed racist or yaoi fangirl bait. Claude can't be too progressive even when it comes to racism. Rhea can't have trauma or gay subtext, and her S rank with F!Byleth is brushed off as grooming. Nobody is allowed to have these characters resonate with them or feel relatable so long as Edelgard or one of the Eagles has something vaguely similar going on.

Meanwhile you can't call out Hubert for his racism, or Jeritza for being an offensive pop culture depiction of mental illness, or Edeleth for being a teacher/student player pandering ship like the other Byleth ships, or Edelgard for still being an autocrat who doesn't get rid of the system of nobility so much as replace it with meritocratic cronyism. Nobody is allowed to be bothered by her conquering two sovereign nations that have been independent from Adrestia for centuries, or all the characters who die to make that happen since think of all the awesome progressive stuff she *might* do after the credits roll. And you definitely can't bring up that IS uses Edelgard as a fanservice object just like all their other female characters, because to even acknowledge the gacha whale in the room would offend lesbians. It's all "this is a game about gray morality" except that actually Edelgard is totally white and everyone else is some flavor of conservative/centrist boogeyman for her to defeat.

The real kicker is that the two loudest voices doing this are a pair of cishet men who have a history of going after women and queer men, some of whom are also POCs, who disagree with them. Peak hypocrisy.

-