#I'm playing FE3H

[krazieka2]

Engage doodles from twitter!

[kurikorso]

the deer prince and the golden doe

from chapter 34 of Salt00's fic Chick Magnet

please click for HD tumblr is killing this one

[kastillia]

[isan0rt]

Jumping off this post, I feel like I see a lot of posts espousing their love for Dedue in general terms but I very rarely see content on Tumblr that actually engages with the complexities of his character (Pixiv is better about this tbh). And don't get me wrong, I love seeing Dedue content of all types. But often I see him relegated to ‘He’s a cinnamon roll who doesn’t deserve to have to be involved in this so I put him in a nice coffeeshop or bakery AU where he can be happy in a mundane way.” And like. I get how that can be a big wish fulfillment thing for some fans, and am not unilaterally knocking it.

But I also…feel like sometimes doing this is about removing Dedue from the narrative in a way that means fans don’t have to sit with the discomfort of actually engaging with the themes he brings to the table.

It’s easy to just say “oh he’s too good for this narrative, too pure” and put him on a bus that looks like a twee little flower shop, because it means that you don’t have to engage with the fact that he is also just as emotionally damaged as the other Lions. You don’t have to engage with the ways in which he is gentle and kind by nature but choosing, of his own volition, to be part of the violence of the war effort because it means something to him. You don’t have to engage with the fact that he is subjected to constant racism in the academy phase by his own teammates, and that he grits his teeth and bears it because he is trying to accomplish something. That he is intentionally making himself the face of Duscur and choosing not to retaliate even though he would be WELL within his rights, because he is on an uphill PR campaign and Felix and Ingrid are the people he has to bring around, because they are the people the king he’s backing needs in his corner to restore Duscur without just getting immediately overthrown by his own lords. The Western lords have done it before! Without the Eastern lords’ backing, Dimitri will barely get to warm the throne before his head is rolling in the mud like his father’s.

If Dedue quits and just goes and opens a cute little restaurant somewhere, you don’t have to grapple with the fact that he loves Dimitri personally, but the political situation means he cannot just be his friend. Dimitri doesn’t get it. Dimitri wants to get it. Dimitri wants to snap his fingers and make Faerghus respect Dedue like he does, recognize Duscur’s innocence like he does. Dedue understands it will never work that way. He understands that the closer he appears to Dimitri, the more biased Dimitri will appear to the people who are determined to hate Dedue and everyone like him, and the easier it will be to dismiss him. Dedue knows that the prejudice of the people of Faerghus can’t just be wiped away so easily; he knows that it’s not rational, that there’s not any basis for it, and so declaring their innocence is not going to work like Dimitri expects.

But at the same time, Dedue knows Dimitri is the only fucking person in Faerghus with any kind of political power who gives the slightest fuck about reparations to Duscur, and if he dies, Dedue’s people will never see justice. Rufus will simply make it all go away, whatever way is the most convenient. The exact same way he made Lambert and his reforms and his peace treaty go away; with murder and scapegoating. Dedue sees this, even when Dimitri isn’t willing to.

And at the same time, he wants to keep Dimitri safe because keeping Dimitri alive in the hell that was the Tragedy of Duscur is the only fucking thing of value that came out of a nightmare that was otherwise an unbearable loss. He also has nowhere else to turn, and nowhere left to go, and no one else left alive who loves him and cares if he lives or dies. If he leaves Dimitri’s protection, he will never be safe himself. It’s only a matter of time until he’s used as a political football by Cornelia if no one else. If he’s out of the way playing nice little barista, you don’t have to grapple with the fact that Dedue can’t just walk away and expect to be left alone.

You also don’t have to grapple with the fact that he doesn’t want to. To grapple with the fact that being helpless to stop the Tragedy changed him fundamentally, so he can never go back to being innocent the way he was before. The fact that he has a fundamental need to effect change himself, the fact that he came back after five years and the first thing he asked was to be allowed to witness the new, better world himself, with his own eyes, on the front lines. That he needs to make the Tragedy worth something in his own soul in order to live with it.

To grapple with the fact that Dedue is the only retainer to both outlive the Lord of his route on other routes, and to decide to personally finish the mission himself, anyway. Hubert doesn’t; his allegiance is to Edelgard personally, and not to her ideals beyond the fact that they’re hers; he dies in every non-Crimson Flower route well before you reach Edelgard. Hilda certainly doesn’t; you can recruit her away as long as you’re not backing Edelgard, and Deirdru is the last place she appears if you don’t recruit her. Dedue cannot be recruited, and yet, no matter what route, he personally faces Edelgard himself, even if Dimitri is dead. Even if the odds are against him in every possible way. He can’t die in Silver Snow or Verdant Wind! He is the only retainer who cannot die except in Crimson Flower!

Unless you, the player, betray him. Unless you, the player, decide that what matters to him doesn’t matter to you. Unless you, the player, decide to let his people die, when it is the only thing he asks of you, to give him the power to save them. If you don’t live up to his expectations, if you choose to not allow Dimitri to be the leader who cares about Duscur that he believed Dimitri to be, that is the only circumstance in which it’s even possible for Dedue to die outside of Crimson Flower.

And that’s uncomfortable. Dedue’s themes and narrative weight are uncomfortable. He challenges the player, like he challenges the other Faerghus characters, to look him in the face and understand his humanity. He demands that the player sit with discomfort and the injustice of his circumstance. He demands the player care about what he cares about if they want to retain him. He demands that, and refuses to be sidelined, refuses to go away, refuses to stop doing the hard thing even though it doesn’t have to be him that does it, because he is the only one with the power to do what he does for Duscur. The only one who can advocate for them the way he does. He wants to be on the front lines in that fight.

But in a happy little bakery, he’s harmless, isn’t he. Then you just don’t have to think about it anymore.

[moinstar]

FE3H x OM crossover

Brawler Diavolo

[stergeon]

Premise: Seventy years after the events of Silver Snow, Byleth and Claude reunite on a farm in Almyra.

Rating: Teen and Up (old man angst; language; violence)

Chapters: 5 of 7

Words: 17.7k (71k cumulative)

Chapter Summary: The farm is attacked by mercenaries with orders to capture Claude and Byleth. As they try to determine how to respond, their friendship and futures will be put to the test.

(aka the chapter where i start getting really ambitious)

[runawayfuture]

my first time using clip studio paint

[the-horrors-in-pink]

been replaying fe3h on blue lions and it's honestly impressive how quickly daddy issue can evolve into commiting unforgivable war crimes

[pearbosc]

sorry I've been posting so much hubert fire emblem content lmao, I'm playing Golden Deer rn and not being able to hang out with Hubert and Edelgard pains me

[shiroselia]

I have spent 12 hours playing three houses and all I have to say so far other than yeah it's that good we been knew it's good is that ehm

THE FACT THAT I CANNOT FUCK MANUELA AS FEMALE BYLETH IS THE GREATEST SIN COMMITTED IN THE NAME OF HOMOPHOBIA TO EVER FUCKING EXIST WHY CAN I NOT MARRY HER AS FEMLETH COME OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON

[dazzlerazz]

I should play CF again with a fresh clear head just to see if I actually like it without fandom bullshit clouding my mind

[pathetic-gamer]

the worst part of 100%-ing a game is when you finally 100% it and then it's over and there's nothing to do and you have to pick another game smh

[andyling]

the past couple weeks i've finished a verdant wind run of fe3h that was collecting dust on my switch and played through golden wildfire on three hopes for the first time afterwards and i'm still craving more claude content 

i think there is something severely wrong with me

[martritzvonmercie]

me when mercedes

[catariasteele]

the sketch i was planning to do in like 15 min to test if my new USB splitter worked, vs what i spent all afternoon painting over the sketch bc i kept fussing things

I still dont like the final one but i really dont have anymore time to draw bc i have so many assessments due at once atm, but i wanted to draw byleth as the test bc im replaying fe3h

i knew i'd just use the same characters again if i replayed, so I'm doing a PMU (pick my units) run where my friends all voted for who to use. It's been fun so far, the small amount i've been able to play, and i want to draw more for it, if i get a break from assignments soon

[sybbi]

Imagine being raised Catholic but through a combination of shady behavior on the church's part and your life sucking dog shit and your most desperate, vulnerable prayers going unanswered, you turn away from religion and one of your single greatest desires is to dismantle the church and kill the pope (whom you suspect is Jesus Christ) and to destroy all they claim to stand for and dismantle the system they've built around them that grants them power and you're actually in the process of teaming up with terrorists (the ones who actually made your life dogshit in the first place) to make this happen with vague notions that maybe once you kill the pope you can kill them too but then you meet the physical incarnation of God and get a stupid gay little crush. This is Edeleth.