#Fire Emblem Warriors Three Hopes spoilers

[wrenhavenriver]

[demon-snqw]

Shez: The Ashen Demon is a cunt.

*After Shez recruits Byleth*

Arval: Remember why you think the Ashen Demon is a cunt.

Shez: I never said that.

Arval: I’ve been living in your head for two years hearing you say that.

Shez: The Ashen Demon is my friend

[butwhatifidothis]

Like, what more do you want? For her to be tossed into a deep dark cell with rats to bring her story to a full traumatic circle? For her to executed when she's permanently has the mind of a child and has literally no idea WHY she's about to be executed?

I'll circle around to that second suggestion in a bit, but for now:

What "more" do I want? What exactly did I - or anyone - get, in the first place?

got long lol under the cut it goes

We have the victims of war blaming themselves for daring to fight back against their violent aggressor, we have those same victims either praise their aggressor for their ~reforms~ or mindlessly believe what they say with no proof, we have the story going out of its way to show the violent aggressor of a needless war to be a good leader because ~look at how bad it gets if they're NOT the one leading~ (looking straight at you AG), we have the aggressor gain a NEW mindless fan squeeing over their every action for specifically this game when they already had two characters who in some way were doing that already (Hubert and Dorothea) - oh gee, there's just so much woe that Edelgard has to go through, as the story, plot, and characters all castrate themselves trying to make her look better, amiright?

Edelgard faces zero repercussions in this game as a result of her enacting war against the Church and Kingdom for their crimes of *checks notes* doing nothing. The Church outright helps her in her efforts to get rid of the corrupt nobles of Enbarr, doing exactly what she requested of them to do down to the letter, and she still declares war on them, forces them out of their home, and chases them down to the Kingdom and goes to war with it for daring to house people who are being wrongly and violently persecuted for no reason.

You suggest her being tossed in a dungeon as if that's some sort of unjust, cruel thing, but frankly I don't care at that point whether the poor uwu warmonger shits herself in fear over rats because of the violent and cruel actions she chose to enact independently of anyone's influence. These circumstances are ridiculously different from when she was an actual innocent child being forcefully experimented on; she's the direct reason countless innocent people have either lost their families, friends, homes, livelihoods, and/or lives. To say she should go without any form of punishment - and harsh punishment at that - just because she has a fear of rats and there might be rats in the jailcell she gets thrown in is laughable. Tough shit, she shouldn't have murdered thousands in a needless war for power if she didn't want to get thrown in jail, and I have no sympathy for her in that regard.

Even in the supposed "bad end" version of the routes, Edelgard gets off hilariously easy. Who do you lose in AG? Rodrigue, a full-on playable character that you could've put actual effort into making into an extremely good/reliable unit, as well as the father/father-figure of Felix and Dimitri and someone whose presence is immensely felt throughout all of AG. Who do you lose in GW? Judith, someone who, while (criminally) not a playable unit, is still someone with a huge presence in the story of GW, and who is deeply connected to Claude on a personal level. Meanwhile on SB you lose fuckin' Randolph, a joe-schmoe nobody whose only purpose in any regard whatsoever is to die and who has literally zero connection to anyone except his similarly joe-schmoe nobody sister. Dimitri loses someone he saw as a father and who he heavily relied on to get through deeply traumatic events, Claude loses the one person he actually actively wanted to reveal being an Almyran prince to (before she put two and two together first, that is), and Edelgard loses... someone who's basically a named NPC for all the investment - personal or otherwise - he's been given.

What more do I want? Literally anything, because right now I have nothing.

But regarding the mind-of-a-child thing.

Given Hopes' obsessive need to relieve Edelgard of any actual responsibility for her actions - how it's Dimitri that started a war with the Empire and how that's bad, how it's Claude who invaded the Empire and how that's bad, while Edelgard is always given the benefit of the doubt despite being the actual aggressor unlike the other two who only fight back against her (at first anyway, in Clyde's case), things like that - her mind being reduced to that of a child's is almost fuckin' poetic, because that's pretty much how the game itself treats her. She's a child making a mess of the kitchen but she meant well and that's all that really matters - it's every else's fault for not walking over the mess well enough! It’s sadly very fitting that the game that treats her with the softest, silkiest kid gloves imaginable ends up literally reducing her to a child in the one route where the player never sides with her.

Because now she “shouldn’t” be punished! Isn’t she going through enough, the poor little dear? It’s just like you mention nonnie; she’s already just gone the absolute ordeal of *checks notes* being put in a situation where she literally can’t be held liable for her horrific, cruel actions she committed before she was Lobotogard. Now any attempt from anyone to do anything to Edelgard regarding the actions she chose to make independent of anyone else will be seen as being “too mean,” because now she’s in a state where she can’t understand the wrongs of what she’s done - she doesn’t even think she’s done them! Her mind is reverted to the time she was lil’ ol’ El with her crush Dee and isn’t that just so sad? Feel bad for Edelgard, not for her victims that she forced into war.

Because, like, think about it. Why was Edelgard lobotomized, instead of just defeated/jailed/executed? Why was mind-control + mind-reversion dark magic pulled out of Hopes’ ass to make Edelgard completely unable to be liable for her actions? In a game where Rhea and Claude can die and TWS can be completely wiped out, showing that Hopes doesn’t really care that much about keeping other main important characters on the table? Why not just simply have Edelgard imprisoned - not even killed, not even executed, just placed in prison for omega murder? Even Claude, for as mindlessly the Deer eventually follow him once Clyde switcheroos with him in GW’s Part 2, gets some form of pushback from them initially (...for inconveniencing Edelgard by killing Randolph + other Imperial generals and not for fucking over Faerghus, that is, but it’s still anything), and like I said, he can actually die for doing certain things (...that certain thing being betraying Edelgard on SB’s bad end, but again, it’s literally anything), which is much more than can be said for Edelgard.

Because honestly, I think it’s because the game really didn’t want her to actually face the consequences of her actions. The only thing that happens to her is her being in a state that sad to see... for others. For Edelgard herself, she’s just a confused kid - she’s not living with the guilt of her actions, she’s not facing any real justice for what she’s done, there’s no acknowledgement on her end - or even any ability to acknowledge - all that she’s done. And for fuck’s sake, she wasn’t even put in this state because of the bad shit she did; she was put in this state because she was helping Dimitri fight Thales. This isn’t a result of her killing who knows how many people for a war that’s literal only purpose was to expand her influence over all of Fodlan, in her own words even in this game - she got this standing up against the real bad guy, which definitely isn’t her. Nothing like the loss of a loved one, or dying yourself, and nothing that results directly from her killing innocent people to expand her power. 

So basically what I want is for the aggressor of a needless war that’s killing innocent people to face any actual consequence for doing the shit she does, for other characters who are literally being victimized by her to stop going on about how “well maybe she’s not that bad” when she’s ruining their and their people’s lives, and for the game to not place her in a state where it’s almost completely impossible for anyone to make her hold her accountable for her actions. Considering the shit she still does in this game, I really don’t think I’m asking for much here

[catariasteele]

behold! a token effort!

i have assignments but i had to draw some of the eagles' new designs bc AHH

[vampirebriar]

Thinking about how Ferdinand and Hubert mention their mothers in few3h and I'm soft for them

[pandas-pandemonium]

Speculations on Claude's difference in character in 3 Hopes vs 3 Houses

Writing this because I'm so tired of seeing so many angry comments and tweets and posts about his supposed character assassination (among other things) and because I have faith in my guy. As of writing this, I've only just finished Part 1 of Golden Wildfire and only know some tidbits from spoilers (which I willingly exposed myself to)

The main gripe people seem to have about Claude's character is to do with how forceful and unwilling to hear people out and inquire about situations and people's motives. Personally, I don't see it as character assassination but rather a different way he could have developed if he hadn't gone through White Clouds in 3 Houses or met Byleth, or hadn't had to kill his half-brother, Shahid.

What I think was the turning point for Claude's forceful and aggressive actions, was very likely the event that he killed his own brother. We see traces of 3 Houses Claude, him trying to reason with Shahid and wanting to talk things out but alas, Shahid doesn't care and Claude ultimately makes the decision to kill him. Post-battle, we see Claude is very clearly affected by that event.

6 months later, Claude reforms the Alliance into the Leicester Federation and is placed as its king.

Perhaps it's all the stress built up from the war. The Alliance has been going through battle after battle and it's taking a toll on him. It doesn't help that because he wasn't in the Academy for a year to get to know his classmates and learn to trust others, he feels like as the Alliance Leader (as of Part 1), he has to shoulder all the decisions and be responsible for everything that happens. The Roundtable Conferences don't help with his frustrations either.

Through supports and the story itself, Claude has shown signs of disdain for the Alliance's system, but he hasn't really seen the need to change it, although it is inefficient. Then Shez comes along and goes, "Hey, why don't you make yourself the sole leader so decisions will go by faster during wartime?" and it opens up a possibility he hadn't even thought about. If he becomes the sole leader and doesn't need to go through the endless circling of decisions waiting for all 5 lords to come to a unanimous decision, things will be done faster and he can do what he wants to do quicker.

Back to Shahid's death and his impact on Claude's mental state - it definitely changed him. Perhaps after making the choice to kill his own blood, he made the decision to no longer hold back. He can't be too "soft" or hesitant anymore. He needs to be more resolved in his decisions and perhaps that is why we see the Claude we see in 3 Hopes. The aggressive, cutthroat Claude who doesn't consider choosing to hear people out. This can be seen in his decision to send troops to the 3 lords' territories to create public order instead of Lorenz's suggestion to send an envoy first. Claude even says that they'll "probably make half-baked excuses anyway" and that there's no point talking things out. This is pretty much where I've left off from the game, but it's clear that Shahid's refusal to reason with him still affects him.

I do think that perhaps the writers could have shown that a bit more, but Claude is way more reserved in his emotions and willingness to express himself and it may have been difficult to show that internal turmoil. Either way, I still think calling Claude's change of character, "character assassination" is going too far especially if you don't consider the prior events and the what-if's and differences in situation and events that occur between both games.

[kitkatopinions]

I’ve been playing Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes, and just finished one of the routes, and all I’ve got to say is

[little-taiyaki]

When you and your political rival form a pact <3

[claire-lyindecisive]

Adrestian Nobility, circa. 1185

Depicted in the portrait above are Edelgard von Hresvelg (right) and Ferdinand von Aegir (left). It is the only known post-war portrait of the two to survive the fall of the Empire.

[probably-need-sleep27]

I'm just gonna say that I ship Shez/Byleth so hard, it doesn't matter what gender those two characters are, I ship female Byleth/Shez together especially, this was literally the moment I started shipping them

[wrenhavenriver]

[skellizo]

I am really loving Claudes characterisation in Three Hopes, like you can see that while he is the “Master Tactician” he also is often doubting himself and struggling keeping everything together. Idk it just feels like what I was missing in Claude, I now see through his three hopes version

I haven’t completed their supports yet but I also deeply adore the new supports between Claude and Hilda and Claude and Lorenz like they are both so good?

[butwhatifidothis]

another rant lol

“there is a strong chance that Claude will ally with Edelgard to save the Alliance” except no there isn’t. That is one of the major problems of Hopes!Claude siding with Edelgard, because there’s no point in 3H where Claude ever even considers siding with her at any point.

But even if we ignore him saying that her bloody methods aren’t ones he stands for, and how he believes no one could stand behind them and thus they can’t enact true change, and how he says that Edelgard’s bloody methods almost ruins his ambitions - do you know what Claude actually says and does in CF in response to Edelgard’s invasion? Backed into a corner, feeling as though he either can’t or shouldn’t go to the Kingdom/Church for help, having lost the Great Bridge, Judith, and the support of any pro-Imperialist lords (which include Gloucester and Ordelia, two out of five Roundtable Houses)?

He makes a stand. He’s insulted at the idea that he would run away from this, knowing that people are depending on him to keep them safe. He even privately goads the player to take him on, completely determined and ready to fight back. He gathers what resources he can - in this case, some Almyran troops - to do this. He prepares for the chance that he could lose so that he mitigates damage to the Alliance and its people as much as possible - so much so that multiple people on CF will commend him for this. 

Does that sound anything like a guy who was at the cusp of shaking hands with Edelgard? When at the end of his rope he does his best to take one last swing at her to make sure he can keep the Alliance safe from her conquest - and even when planning for if he fails, doesn’t have that plan involve siding with her, but leaving Fodlan entirely? Because if he stayed, he knew people would keep fighting back against Edelgard and possibly put themselves in danger? Meaning that even his people knew that he’d keep fighting back against Edelgard and would help him in doing so, that’s how hard he fought back against her? Meaning that even his people knew that a Claude von Riegan that stays in Fodlan is a Claude von Riegan that would not side with Edelgard?

And this is how he acts without thinking he can turn to the Kingdom and Church for any help in warding off the Empire. In a position worse than the one he is ever put in in Hopes, where he DOESN’T have win after win after win against them under his belt and DOESN’T have the support of damn near everyone around him - in fact, even having potentially every GD friend he could have barring Hilda actively fight against him. 

Despite all that, he always stands against Edelgard. Because he would never side with Edelgard. There was no “strong chance that Claude [would] ally with Edelgard” when even at his most vulnerable he makes a stand against her. That’s why Hopes is so fuckin’ bullshit for trying to pull the “he thinks he has to side with her under duress” card, because he literally wouldn’t even in way worse conditions in 3H.

And, like, even for the sake of argument we do take Hopes!Claude to be completely in character - my stance on that idea is, um, more than clear, but yeah - people keep makin’ a stink about how “oh well Hopes and 3H have Claude go through different things, so of course he acts differently” but suddenly he would’ve acted exactly like he would’ve in Hopes in this one regard? Despite all of these different experiences he’d have gone through making him act completely differently otherwise? 

And also, they got Dimitri wrong too. He does not - repeat, does not - have a “polite façade.” That is such a reductionist take on Dimitri’s character that even the game itself rebukes as false, in more than one area. Taking his attitude and behavior at the beginning of AM and seeing that as his “true self” with his politeness being seen as fake is literally completely wrong. So cool, there’s that too.

madge

[kiwowiwo]

I love how so many of Felix’s 3 hopes supports are just people telling him that they know he cares for them and his friends and him desperately denying it

[flaynbestgirl]

people have been misinterpreting claude for three years and now theyre acting like his portrayal in three hopes doesnt make a lick of sense

one of his main character traits is that hes an opportunist and it always has been. hes like really fucking smart and a great tactician and he isnt afraid to make unpopular decisions as long as it keeps those in his care safe. like this isnt new,,,,

[astralfungus]

Really loved the part in golden wildfire where 3 Houses Claude teleports in and beats the fuck out of Hopes Claude. Pretty bold choice narratively speaking but I really enjoyed it!