#azama is tough to write

[legault]

Perfect (Rarepair Week Day 3, Azama/Subaki, Curious)

Title: Perfect

Author: legault/pinksnowboots (fic blog)

Warnings: Brief mentions of blood, vague kink-related content, intentional self-injury (but not in the way that self-harm typically implies), generally unhealthy relationship, non-explicit mentions of sex

Words: 4,665

Summary: Every time Azama catches so much as a glimpse of Subaki, his fingers itch with the desire to take him apart, piece by camellia-scented piece.

An incredibly late contribution for Day 3 of @ferarepair-week2k17-I’m very glad to see that y’all are going to keep reblogging for a week or so because I still am trying to finish out all 7 days but I’m several days behind...whoops.

AO3 Link

Whenever people ask Azama why he decided to become a monk and devote his life to healing others, he tells them it’s because people say the most fascinating things when they think they’re about to die. Most people think it’s a dark joke and laugh uncomfortably, not realizing til much later that he’s entirely serious.

When he first meets Subaki, Subaki doesn’t laugh, just looks at him quizzically, like Azama is an animal that he’s seen before but he just can’t remember the name of.

“This is where most people laugh.” Azama supplies helpfully.

“Why would I laugh?” Subaki says, voice polished smooth as rocks in a stream and flowing like honey. “I didn’t think it was funny.”

Azama’s grin grows even wider. “Oh, it’s going to be very fun to know you.”

“I’m assuming you’re trying to say that it’s nice to meet me,” Subaki’s voice is the epitome of polite disinterest and Azama can’t wait to change that. “And for politeness’ sake, I say likewise to you. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to be off.”

Subaki retreats without so much as a glance back at Azama, leaving the scent of camellia blossoms in his wake.

Azama’s mother had been a basara and his father had been a clockmaker; their marriage was peaceful but not particularly joyful and Azama figured out from a young age that they stayed together because it was easier than starting over.

From his mother, Azama had inherited his mild talent for magic and his mild talent for lances. She tried to teach him both and he took to neither, remaining just mediocre enough that she eventually gave up on trying to make him care. His becoming a monk had been as much teenage rebellion against her idea of what he should be able to do as it had been anything else.

Azama had also inherited his father’s insatiable curiosity and propensity for taking things apart to see what makes them tick, the only difference being that Azama found humans infinitely more fascinating than clocks.

Getting under people’s skin in order to get to the machinery underneath was his dearest hobby, nay, his calling, and he never met someone who’s mind he wanted to get into more than Subaki. Every time Azama catches so much as a glimpse of Subaki, his fingers itch with the desire to take him apart, piece by camellia-scented piece.

“You’ve really got the perfect situation figures out with this whole perfection deal.” Azama says conversationally, without preamble. “If anyone ever points out your imperfections, you can brush them off because they are imperfect by sheer virtue of not being you. It’s quite clever, really.”

Subaki looks up from grooming his pegasus, annoyed. “Do you have a point, Azama?”

“Just making conversation. Since you’re perfect, I figured you would be a great conversation partner.”

“I am.” Subaki says. “Perhaps you’re just not cultured enough to appreciate it.”

“Arrogant and rude?” Azama tries to feign shock, but he’s enjoying himself too much. “Doesn’t sound very perfect to me.”

“There’s nothing wrong with confidence and a desire to be treated with respect.” Subaki says, brows furrowed.

“Ah ah, careful! If you leave your face like that, you’ll get wrinkles.” Azama warns gleefully.

Subaki’s face twitches as his desire to maintain his looks conflicts with his absolute annoyance with the entire situation and Azama can’t help laughing out loud.

“Well, I’m off to minister to the weary and cure the sick, but this has been lovely.” He says, giving Subaki a jaunty wave. “I’m still not convinced of the perfection of your conversational skills, so I hope we can chat again later.”

Azama asks almost every member of the Hoshidan court about Subaki. It’s a mixed bag in terms of results; Saizo looks at him as if he’s insane and also potentially suicidal, Oboro sneers and insults his hair, and Hana almost decks him, but he scrapes together some information from Hinata and Orochi.

Hinoka calls him in to ask him about it, looking weary as a mother with too many disobedient children. It is one of Azama’s favorite expressions, second only to her defiant rage.

“Why are you interrogating the whole court about Subaki?” She asks, face pinched in anticipation of the answer.

“I’m providing him with spiritual counseling.” Azama says. The more blatant the lie, the more likely it is to be believed. “The more I know about him, the better I can help him.”

Hinoka looks at him with a face that is part-reproach, part-disbelief, part-throwing her hands up and ridding herself of any responsibility for the situation. It is Azama’s fifth favorite Hinoka expression.

“Did anyone believe that load of pegasus shit?”

“Hinata.” Azama says, and Hinoka rolls her eyes because of course he did. “And Setsuna, of course. Sakura probably would have but I didn’t bother her out of respect for you, and Oboro might have believed me but she didn’t listen to me long enough to find out.”

“If you talked to all the retainers, you’re lucky you got out unscathed. I wouldn’t be responsible for your recovery if Hana put a hole in you.”

“Ah, but then you’d have to find a new retainer,” Azama says. “And I’m irreplaceable.”

“Unfortunately.” Hinoka mumbles, under her breath.

Azama finds out that Subaki had a younger sister who had thought that he could do no wrong, that he was perfect. They had been very close, but she had been killed along with his parents when their village was attacked by bandits. Subaki was the only one who survived long enough to be rescued by the Hoshidan sky knights. Without a home to go back to, he decided to join the sky knights and eventually worked his way up to being a royal retainer.

“You don’t have to worry about being perfect for your sister, you know.” Azama tells Subaki. He’s found that starting conversations with pleasantries does nothing but waste valuable time before Subaki storms off, annoyed.

His words have the desired effect. Subaki stiffens instantly, tension filling his frame.

“What are you talking about?” Subaki asks, voice low and dangerous.

“Your sister. I’m guessing your little perfection thing comes from her idolizing you when she was alive. You feel guilty that you couldn’t protect her and so you strive for perfection to live up to her expectations and to avoid the same thing happening to Lady Sakura, who you view as a proxy for your dead sister.” Azama says, breezily as if he were discussing the weather. “You shouldn’t worry about it though, since you’re sister’s dead and couldn’t care less about whether you’re perfect or not.”

“I prefer to think that my sister is still with me.” Subaki says, body still on high alert.

“You can prefer to think anything you want, but it won’t change the reality of the situation.” Azama says. “Dead is dead is dead. No point moping about it.”

“Aren’t you a monk?” Subaki asks, incredulous. “You’re supposed to believe in the afterlife and bringing peace into people’s lives, not taking it away.”

“Well, the church and I have a few fundamental disagreements, but that’s ok.” Azama says. “I took the job anyway because I look good in the robes.”

Subaki looks at him incredulously. “You’re unbelievable.”

“So I’ve been told.” Azama replies cheerfully.

“I hate you.” Subaki says, voice much more emotional than his normal smooth baritone.

“I think I can live with that. It means that you’re thinking about me.” Azama says, and leaves Subaki glaring and clenching his fists.

Azama has always known how to wield a lance, having been taught by his mother at an early age. But he finds inflicting violence much more boring than watching others do it and then healing them so they can inflict more violence, so when he becomes a monk he embraces the nonviolent lifestyle and pretends to be completely inept with weapons.

“Which end is the stabby end?” He asks Hinoka, holding one of her javelins upside down and tilting it like he would a staff.

“Don’t play dumb.” Hinoka rolls her eyes. “I’ve seen you cleaning my weapons, I can tell you know how to fight.”

“Perhaps.” Azama admits, thrusting with the blunt end of the javelin. “But I’ve taken a solemn vow of nonviolence, so cleaning lances is all I will do.”

“So you’re saying you’d prefer to let people die protecting you rather than fight alongside them?”

“You could interpret it that way, I suppose.” Azama says. “Ideally, they won’t die because I’ll heal them.”

He extends the javelin like he would a heal staff, but the javelin is much longer and the sharp end nicks his leg.

“Whoops.” Azama looks completely unconcerned that he’s bleeding onto his robes. Hinoka has that dumbfounded look on again, the one that she wears whenever she’s asking herself why the hell she choose such worthless retainers.

It’s an expression Azama sees a lot.

“Fine, have it your way.” She says, giving up. “But if we ever get into a situation where things are so dire that we need every last man, I want you to pick up a lance right side up and fight by my side.”

“Sure.” Azama agrees. “But only if I get to pretend that I’ve suddenly learned how to use lances thanks to the magic of master seals. I don’t get many chances to show off my theatrical ability.”

“Whatever.” Hinoka says. “As long as you fight with us afterwards, I couldn’t care less how you reveal it.”

Subaki hasn’t been talking to him lately, and Azama is mildly put out, even though he most likely deserves it. Luckily, Azama doesn’t believe in absolute morality; he also doesn’t believe in fate, which means that he has no problem tracking Subaki down instead of leaving it up to chance.

“Let’s spar.” Azama says as he walks up behind Subaki, who is grooming his pegasus.

Subaki jumps in surprise, turns around to glare at Azama. “What, are you going to hit me with a bloom festal?”

“No, with lances.” Azama says.

Subaki stares at him incredulously, a look that Azama has grown quite familiar with. Luckily, he likes it. “You don’t use lances.” He says, talking slowly like Azama is a child, or a very, very stupid adult.

“Then it should be easy for you to win.”

Subaki hesitates, thinking it over. “Fine.” He eventually agrees. “But only because I need to blow off steam, and you can’t get mad if I hurt you.”

"Same to you.” Azama shoots back.

Subaki leaves his pegasus behind as they head to the training grounds, because even though he is willing to fight someone who doesn’t know how to use a lance, he’s not willing to do so on a pegasus, because that would just be unfair. They both select practice lances and square off against each other, Subaki holding his lance fiercely with perfect form, while Azama waves it around like a flag.

“Ready?” Azama calls out.

“If you are.” Subaki says, and charges.

Much to Subaki’s surprise, Azama blocks his thrust, although he looks like he barely moved. Taking advantage of Subaki’s confusion, he counterstrikes, pushes him backwards. Subaki does not stay stunned for long but the few minutes for which he is are incredibly satisfying.

They trade blows back and forth; it is a good fight, but once Subaki recovers from the shock that Azama does know his way around a lance after all, it becomes clear that Subaki is still the more skilled of the two. He pushes Azama back until his back touches the wall, disarms him with a quick twist of his lance, and presses the end of his lance to Azama’s throat.

“I win.” Subaki says, breathing a little hard.

“Well,” Azama says, pushing the lance away with his hand as casually as if he were swatting a fly. “I suppose you had to at least once.”

“I’m surprised you’re not secretly an archer.” Subaki grumbles as he puts away his lance. “It would be just like you to want to bring me down to your level.”

Azama smiles, showing all his teeth. “I don’t need arrows to do that.”

Every few days, Azama gets bored and bugs Subaki about his perfection, listing ridiculous things upon ridiculous things in an attempt to make Subaki admit that he’s not perfect. Azama has little hope of succeeding, but the game itself is quite fun.

“We know that you take meticulous care of your hair and body.” Azama says. “And we know that you are a first-class Hoshidan Sky Knight. But there’s still so much about you that we don’t know.”

"What’s your point?” Subaki says curtly, unsure where this is going but sure that he is not going to like it.

“I just think it’s interesting that you claim to be perfect, but don’t give us any proof other than that you think you are, and since you’re perfect you can’t be wrong.” Azama shrugs. “It’s a little thing called circular logic, but since you’re perfect, I’m guessing you already know that.”

“Ok, name one flaw of mine.” Subaki challenges.

“That’s not really a fair challenge, because I haven’t gotten the chance to verify your qualities firsthand.” Azama says, voice deceptively light. “I know that you’re a skilled fighter, because we’ve sparred. I know that you have impressive social skills because I’ve observed you talking with others. I know that you have a beautiful face and a very attractive body, because I have eyes. But I don’t know whether you know how to use that body, so it wouldn’t really be fair to call you perfect, now would it?”

“What are you saying?” Subaki grits out, voice strained. “That you won’t admit that I’m perfect unless I fuck you?”

“Well, I’d personally prefer that I be the one to fuck you.” Azama says, casually as if he were discussing the weather. “But in essence, yes.”

“You’re crazy.” Subaki says.

Azama flashes a smile at him. “So I’ve been told.”

“Why do you think,” Subaki says desperately. “That I care what you think about me at all?”

“Maybe you don’t.” Azama shrugs again. “It’s just an offer.”

Subaki stares at him, fists clenched, thinking so hard that Azama can picture his brain working, gears whirring like the insides of a beautiful, beautiful clock that’s been wound much too tight. He doesn’t seem to be sure who he’s more concerned about arguing with, Azama or himself.

“Fine.” Subaki finally says, looking at Azama defiantly.

“What what that?”

“Fine.” Subaki repeats. “I’ll do it. But only to prove you wrong.”

To his surprise, Azama bursts out laughing, loud peals of laughter ringing out through the camp. Subaki looks around frantically, hoping that Azama’s cackling has not drawn the attention of anyone nearby.

“What’s so funny?” Subaki hisses.

“You never stop surprising me.” Azama replies. “I didn’t think you’d actually be willing to let me fuck you just to prove a point.”

“Maybe that shows that you should stop underestimating me.”

“Maybe. Well, this has been fun, but you can stop with the false bravado, I’m not going to call your bluff today.” Azama says. “I wouldn’t fuck someone who’s only agreed because he feels like he was cornered.”

“So you were the one bluffing!” Subaki exclaims, stuck somewhere between frustration and mad, wild relief.

“I wouldn’t say that. I’d be happy to carry through on my end of the deal, but as a man of the cloth, I do have a moral code to uphold, and consent is a very important part of that.” Azama grins toothily. “If you ever decide you want to take me up on the offer of your own free will, you know where I live.”

“Your morals force you to respect consent when it comes to sex, but they don’t prevent you from trying to psychologically torture everyone you meet?”

“What can I say?” Azama says. “The gods move in mysterious ways, and I am but their humble servant.”  

Their battles grow fiercer and more frequent and Hinoka tells Azama that it is time for him to start pulling his weight and using an actual weapon like any other decent retainer, tossing a master seal at him and warning him not to make too big of a scene.

Azama takes full advantage of his fake class change, casting a faulty heal staff to create a burst of light as he pretends to activate the master seal. Before the light subsides, he slips the master seal into his robe and grabs a lance he’d stashed nearby.

“Oh my, I suddenly know how to use a lance!” Azama exclaims, making a few experimental thrusts. “How lovely!”

Subaki peers at him suspiciously from his position nearby. Azama may have chosen this location strategically, knowing that Subaki always cleans his lance hear at this time of day, but that’s neither here nor there.

“Why didn’t your clothes change when you used the master seal?” Subaki asks loudly.

Azama flashes Subaki a bright smile. “Maybe it’s because I’m already perfect, just the way I am.”

“Help me practice.” Azama tells Subaki, interrupting an incredibly boring conversation he and Hana were having about the merits of different types of metal used in forging weapons.

“You do realize that it’s considered good manners to greet someone before launching into a conversation?” Subaki says dryly, unamused. Hana glares at him.

“Manners are a construct created by humans attempting to bring order into a chaotic world by imposing arbitrary moral values onto it.” Azama replies. “But if it makes you feel better, good afternoon Subaki, I hope that you are faring well on this lovely wartime day. If it pleases you, I would greatly appreciate your help in practicing for the next battle.”

Hana looks like she is about to yell at him for deliberately ignoring her, but Subaki puts a hand on her shoulder and instead of yelling, she turns her glare onto Subaki, shrugs his hand off her shoulder, and flounces away.

Subaki looks at Hana’s retreating back, looks back at Azama, looks at Hana again. Azama figures there’s about a 50% chance that he can goad Subaki into doing what he wants, but that might get lower if Subaki’s chivalry thing kicks in.

“Fine.” Subaki says. “Let me go get my lance.”

“Only,” He adds quickly. “Because I’m angry at you and trying to stab you in the name of sparring sounds quite appealing right now.”

Azama follows Subaki to his tent and then to the clearing that the troops like to spar in, letting Subaki get out his lance and drop into fighting stance before saying. “Actually, I didn’t need your help with lances. I need your help to practice healing.”

Subaki looks like he wants to hurl his lance at Azama like a javelin. “What.” He says, intonation more like a threat than a question.

“Healing takes practice too, in case you didn’t realize.” Azama says. “A lot of non-healers think that the rod does all the work, but that’s not true. It takes concentration for the wielder to effectively channel his or her magic through the rod.”

“That doesn’t explain why you need me.”

“I can’t practice healing without wounds, and I can’t heal myself. It’s the rule, you know.” Azama says.

“What rule?” Subaki asks, suspicious.

“The rule of magic, of course.” Azama says. His moral code does not forbid lying, as long as the lies are so blatant that the listener is shocked into believing them.

“The rule of magic...” Subaki repeats incredulously, then shakes his head, deciding that it is not worth it. “So let me get this straight. You want me to injure myself so you can practice healing? Why on earth would I agree to this?”

“Because without practice, I cannot learn to heal more effectively. And my healing skills could make the difference between life and death on the battlefield. Your death, perhaps. Or even the death of Lady Sakura.” Azama says. “If you’d prefer, I can be the one to injure you.”

“No, I’ll do it myself.” Subaki replies quickly, then realizes what he has just said. “Wait, I never said I would do this at all!”

“I believe you just did. You can back out if you want, but I don’t know if that would be very perfect of you.”

Subaki is far too easy to back into a corner, and Azama loves it about him.

Subaki inspects his lance, as if trying to figure out the easiest way to cause an injury without it being too painful.

Azama hands him a knife. “Try this, it might be easier.”

Subaki takes it without meeting Azama’s eyes, holds it over his left forearm and after a moment’s hesitation, draws a shallow gash down his arm, wincing as the knife touches his skin.

Subaki stares at the thin red line as blood begins to well up, barely acknowledging Azama until he murmurs a few words and waves his bloom festal, making the wound close up before Subaki’s eyes, blood seeming to evaporate into thin air.

“This is wrong.” Subaki says, voice sounding far away. “This is not normal.”

“Sure it is.” Azama says. “All you have to do is redefine what you think is normal. Now, again.”

Subaki repeats the motion on the other arm this time, and Azama heals him so quickly that Subaki barely sees any red.

“That was too easy. Do another spot this time, and try to make it deeper.”

Subaki obeys as if entranced, rolling up one leg of his light cotton trousers to reveal the skin of his calf. He brings the knife to his skin again, and Azama can tell by the twitching in his face that he is pushing harder.

Azama heals him again, and Subaki moves onto the other leg without prompting, looking only at the wounds as they open and close without sparing a glance for Azama.

They continue the pattern of harming and healing several times, Subaki creating wounds and Azama making them disappear.

How symbolic. Azama thinks. Or maybe ironic.

With every glow of the bloom festal Subaki looks more and more distant, and Azama thinks that although his experiment has been quite fruitful, it may be time to bring Subaki back to earth.

“Only one more.” Azama says, and Subaki starts at the sound of his voice. “Let me do it this time.”

Wordlessly, Subaki hands him the knife.

Subaki’s shirt has a lower neckline than he usually wears, leaving his collarbone exposed. Azama chooses that spot to place the knife and Subaki shivers when he feels it touch his skin, then grows deathly still as Azama opens up a new wound, longer and deeper than the previous ones.

He puts down the knife and picks up the bloom festal, but pauses before casting the spell, gazing at Subaki as an artist might gaze at their work. Subaki does not shirk from his gaze this time, closes his eyes and runs his fingers along the wound as it closes.

Subaki does not open his eyes until the entire gash is healed.

“Will that leave a scar?” He asks, trying to get a good look at the skin that was just healed.

“No. For a wound that minor, an experienced healer like myself should have to problem healing without leaving a scar.”

“Good.” Subaki says, rubbing his fingers over his collarbone and looking disappointed.

“What do you think love is?” Azama asks Subaki, without preamble. It is a trite question with many stupid answers and few good ones, but Azama finds it interesting to hear which stupid answer people choose.

“Love is when you care for someone despite their flaws.” Subaki answers almost instantly.

It is a trite answer, but it is delicious anyways, and Azama savors it.

“But then, if you have no flaws, how will you ever know if anyone truly loves you?” Azama asks.

Subaki does not answer, and Azama reflects that Subaki’s flaws are what he likes the best.

The battles grow harsher and Azama’s hands become more accustomed to the feel of his lance than of his rod, although they certainly have need of both. Everyone is weary, and when Azama tries to goad Subaki into bickering with him, Subaki only glares.

“Be careful, you’ll get wrinkles!” Azama calls to him, enjoying the sight of Subaki’s furrowed brow.

But Subaki doesn't respond, just turns away in the direction of his tent, and Azama is much more bothered than he has any right to be.

During their next battle, Subaki is struck across the cheek with a shuriken coated with some kind of poison. The shuriken itself barely hurts him, but the poison makes his muscles seize up, and only the combination of Azura’s song and Azama’s staff restore him to a somewhat normal condition.

After the battle, Subaki glances into the reflection of Benny’s armor by accident and sees that the shuriken left a scar. He makes a strangled sound as his hand flies to his cheek, ignoring Benny’s concern.

Stunned, Subaki stables his pegasus, sheds half his armor, stares at himself in the small mirror he keeps in his tent, sheds the other half of his armor, breaks the mirror and does not clean up the pieces, and marches angrily to Azama’s tent.

Azama opens the tent flap before Subaki reaches it and for once, neither of them say anything as Subaki storms in, grabs Azama’s forearms, digging his nails in much too hard, and puts his mouth over Azama’s like a plea.

Even now, Subaki kisses gently and with refinement, the very epitome of a gentleman. It would be perfect for some youngest daughter of a noble family wanting to swept off her feet by a dashing night, but Azama is no blushing maiden. He does not like the way that Subaki kisses and so he does not let Subaki kiss him for long, choosing instead to move his mouth to Subaki’s neck and bite down, hard.

Subaki gasps breathlessly and his entire body shivers, and he lets Azama bite him again, lets Azama draw him down onto his tiny cot and undress him, lets Azama lay him bare and fuck him.

Azama peels off Subaki’s clothes meticulously and with mechanical precision, and Subaki feels his layers removed one by one until all that remains is the clockwork within, whirring madly as his heartbeat quickens every time Azama touches him.

Azama takes him apart with every touch, with deft fingers and chapped lips and sharp teeth unraveling more and more of the identity that Subaki has spent years weaving, and Subaki cannot help but cry out for more.

As he fucks Subaki, Azama caresses his face, surprisingly gentle, and whispers that he is so good, that he is perfect, and Subaki shudders under his touch because he knows that it is a lie.

“What about you? What do you think love is?” Subaki asks out of the blue one day, picking up a thread of conversation that has been hanging loose for weeks.

“If you even believe in love, that is.” He adds.

Azama considers it. “I believe in love, I’m just not sure it’s a concept that applies to me.”

Subaki’s face is contemplative, free of relief or disappointment.

“But if I did want to engage in the silly practice of defining abstract concepts.” Azama adds. “I think I’d say that love is when you never get bored.”

Subaki is naked when they next hear the horns that signal an ambush; he grabs his pants and Azama tosses him a shirt and they rush out of the tent, weapons in hand. Even disheveled and disoriented and pegasus-less, Subaki rushes to the front lines, recklessly brave and bravely reckless.

Azama hangs back and watches him charge into the fray, hair full of tangles, neck covered in bite marks, and mind full of Azama.

Perfect. He thinks.

[fatesdeepdive]

Entry 10: Geneva Convention Speedrun

Before doing anything else, I built a Prison in the castle so I can test out Orochi’s personal skill. Birthright allows the player to replay old maps for EXP, so I tested it out on one of those maps. I had Orochi go up to a random enemy soldier and use her Capture ability, which knocked him out. When I got back to the castle, he was imprisoned. I had my most terrifying, intimidating soldier, Sakura, go into his cell and convince him to join us. She screamed a bunch like she was being murdered and then walked out with our new soldier: Kenshi the Oni Savage.

Kenshi

Why am I even doing a character profile on this guy? He’s a generic enemy I kidnapped. Whatever, he’s part of the team now. I shall treat him with love and respect.

Hey, minor thing that’s unrelated to anything that I feel like mentioning: the Geneva Conventions forbid forcing POWs to fight for you. Corrin is a war criminal. I mean, that isn’t big news, considering the fact that Sakura is by definition a child soldier, but still. So many war crimes.

Speaking of child soldiers, we got Hayato at the end of last chapter.

Hayato

Hayato is another Diviner and the son of Fuga, the buff dude we fought last chapter. His personal skill makes him fight better against higher level opponents, which is fitting for a character with an inferiority complex. Personality wise, he seems kinda rude about characters treating him like a kid, which is dumb because he is a kid. Maybe the game will do something with his wanderlust. Is it just me or does Hayato look a lot like Ricken from awakening? I mean, they aren’t identical like CERTAIN CHARACTERS, but they’re both short young mages wearing blue with red hair and brown eyes. It’s weird. Speaking of his design, I think Hayato’s is fine? It isn’t bad, it’s just kinda okay. Way too similar to Ricken’s though.

Support: Azama/Setsuna

C: Setsuna does chores and Azama sarcastically mocks her. Setsuna is too stupid to understand that he’s being a dick.

B: Setsuna tries cooking. She makes food that is unholy.

A: Setsuna, thanks to Azama’s sarcastic advice, goes into a zen state and creates the greatest meal Azama has ever had.

S: Setsuna proposes to Azama.

Review: A very shallow support line, admittedly. Setsuna’s incredible stupidity is amusing, but Azama comes off as a jerk and the two of them do not work as a couple.

Support: Kaze/Saizo

C: Kaze asks Saizo about his quest to avenge their murdered father, pointing out that Saizo is motivated solely by his desire for revenge and loyalty to Ryoma. Saizo hints that there may be something else fueling him before running off.

B: Kaze challenges his brother to a duel, under the condition that Saizo comes clean if Kaze wins. Saizo decides to just explain things to Kaze. Years ago, Saizo confronted the man who murdered their father but failed to kill him, losing his eye in the process. Saizo hid this fact for years out of shame.

A: Kaze apologizes for allowing Saizo to carry the burden of his revenge alone and vows to make amends, promising to become Saizo’s new eye.

S: This is a great support line that expands Saizo’s backstory, explaining his scars and grumpy mood, while also establishing a solid relationship between the ninja brothers.

Support: Hinoka/Sakura

C: Sakura, while watching her sister train, laments that she isn’t brave and tough like Hinoka.

B: Hinoka praises Sakura for her kindness, stating that their love for their family members is what they have in common.

A: Sakura and Hinoka decide to train each other. They hug.

Review: A sweet, but ultimately lacking support line. I do like Sakura’s feelings of inferiority and desire to have Hinoka be proud of her, but ultimately this support line is just the two of them explaining things we already knew.

Support: Corrin/Hayato

C: Hayato is sending charms back to the Wind Tribe. Corrin encourages him to send a letter with them. Hayato freaks out, because he’s never written a letter before.

B: Corrin helps Hayato write a letter, recommending that he tell his family that he isn’t scared of ghost stories any more. Hayato objects, and instead writes about his battle prowess. On Hayato’s suggestion, Corrin also decides to write a letter.

A: Hayato sends off his letter and Corrin gives him hers, which is filled with her gushing about how awesome he is and embarrasses him. Hayato decides to write an embarrassing letter for Corrin in response.

S: Hayato writes a letter about how cute Corrin is and how he’s in love with her. They get engaged.

Review: This support was...weird. It’s a “comedic” support, but it isn’t very funny. The letter writing concept is odd, but I suppose it makes sense for Hayato. I will say that this one flows into the S-Rank conversation better than most, but that’s about all that works.

Paralogue 1: Tragic Start

Fire Emblem games often feature side levels called Paralogues. Most of the Paralogues in Fates are linked to a specific route, so I’ll be doing them after their route is done. The exception is Paralogue 1, which is available for all three routes and will be done now.

The chapter opens by showing a herd of faceless destroying a small village and killing the mother of Mozu, one of the villagers. Team Corrin hears the screams and runs in to save the day. They find Mozu cowering in a thicket, hiding from the faceless. Corrin comforts her over the death of her family and Mozu decides to fight to avenge her family, joining the army.

Mozu

Mozu is our obligatory small child who can’t fight but has really good stat growths because of her personal skill. Like Donnel from awakening. Honestly, identical to Donnel from Awakening. To be fair, she does have some characterization about her being the sole survivor of her village, which might come up in supports. Her design is fine; a bit plain, but that works for her character. I am unnerved by how young she looks for a character in a game about soldiers and marriage, though.

The enemies in this chapter are fairly weak. I bolted Corrin over to Mozu with Subaki and recruited her. I decided to try and have Mozu kill as many faceless as possible, to avenge her dead family. Mozu can’t take a hit and does one damage, or zero in some cases, but it was doable. I positioned her next to Corrin, made sure to only fight one enemy at a time, had Hana weaken enemies with a kodachi, and healed Mozu constantly with Sakura. After thirty-three long turns, Mozu killed all of the faceless and reached level eight. Still, it was worth it. Those seven levels of high growths made her go from doing one damage per hit to doing five.

After the battle, Mozu is left wondering what to do with her life since, you know, everyone she ever knew is now a corpse. Corrin suggests she join the team, but only until they find a good home for her, because Mozu is a child and they are an army. Mozu decides to join their cause, despite having literally no idea what they’re fighting for.

So that’s another child soldier. God, child soldiers, forcing POWs to fight for you, invading Hoshido and killing border guards, killing enemy medics...Corrin’s speedrunning the geneva conventions.

[fatesdeepdive]

Entry 33: Dawn Breaks

No Supports or castle stuff today. It’s time to end things.

Birthright Chapter 27: King Garon

Corrin enters the throne room to fight Garon, who stands up from his throne wielding a massive axe. Garon compliments us for making it so far. When Corrin mentions the deaths of Xander and Elise, Garon calls Xander a pawn, showing no remorse. You know, I like Xander as a villian, but goddamn did he get the short end of the stick in terms of parents to die fighting for.

Corrin attacks Garon, doing no damage. Azura begins singing and Garon grabs her by the throat. What are you doing, stepdad? Garon orders Corrin to stand down, using Azura as a hostage.

Ryoma attempts to negotiate an end to the war and Garon asks Ryoma to hand over all of Hoshido. And also kill himself. Then Garon attacks Ryoma with a fireball. I don’t think Garon’s good at negotiations.

Ranjito, Ryoma’s sword, begins glowing for some reason. Like Fujin Yumi before, it upgrades Yato, this time into a cool curved sword with a white glow. Wielding the new Blazing Yato, which is really OP, Corrin manages to hurt Garon.

This chapter sees us charging through the throne room, taking on an army of tough enemies who my high leveled units cut through like butter. Wait a minute, didn’t we fight Iago in the throne room? Does Garon have two throne rooms? Yeah, that tracks.

Garon has powerful stats, as well as skills that stop criticals and reduce the stats of units who attack him. But also Corrin and Ryoma are really strong and killed him easily.

Then Garon gets back up and trunks into an ugly dragon that demolishes Corrin and shatters Yato. Ryoma and Takumi run in to protect Corrin and also get taken out. Garon attempts to breath fire on the princes and Corrin jumps in front of them, T-Posing to block the attack. Corrin falls over, presumably dead.

Birthright Endgame: Dawn Breaks

The final chapter of Birthright, which has a name that is far too close to that of the fourth Twilight book for my liking, begins with Corrin floating in a black void. She wakes up back at the start of the game, in her bedroom, with Flora and Lilith standing over her, telling her to wake up. Either we’re in hell, or the entire game was a flashforward.

Corrin doesn’t remember anything and acts like everything is fine. Xander and Elise walk in and tell Corrin to wake up. Corrin says she’s happy, as long as everyone is with her. Then she remembers everything bad that happened to her. Xander tells her she can either remain in the afterlife, or go back and fight. Corrin hears echoes of Ryoma and Azura being attacked by Garon and Corrin decides to keep fighting.

All of the units we brought into the final battle shout cheers of encouragement; all of them are nice, but kinda generic, with two exceptions. Yukimura begs for Mikoto to lead Corrin back to the world of the living, which is really nice. And Azama says that Corrin isn’t destined to die for another 72 years and 19 days, which implies he knows exactly when each of my units will die. Which explains a lot.

Overall, this scene is great. It’s blatantly reused from Awakening with less narrative connection, but it’s still good.

Corrin says goodbye to her fallen friends, with scene shifting between the Frost Village, Training Grounds, and Dueling Grounds. Also, now that I think about it, where the fuck is Gunter? Did he have something more important going on? I know that Conquest and Revelations reveal he’s still alive, but I’m pretty sure he’s dead in this story path. Dick.

Corrin awakens, wielding a repaired Blazing Yato. Somehow. The repaired version of Yato, despite having the same stats, can now block Dragon Garon’s attacks. Neat.

We aren’t given an opportunity to head back to Fort Kenshi between chapters, but that’s fine. This battle has us charging through the ruins of the throne room to take out Garon. Again.

At the start of the battle, Azura begins singing her magic song, weakening Garon. LITWAA leads into the final battle theme, which is great. I don’t praise this game’s music enough; all of it is good and this battle theme in particular is amazing. As Garon begins to weaken, he begs for Anankos to give him strength. I wonder if that’ll end up being important.

Garon hits hard enough to one-shot most of our units and has fantastic defensive stats. Unlike the last round, he doesn’t wield an axe, meaning we can’t take him out by abusing the weapon triangle. This battle would genuinely be very hard...on hard mode. On normal I can just bum rush him and end the battle in two turns. Fittingly, Corrin ended up with the final blow.

Garon transforms back into a human and tells us he should have killed us as a child. As he dies, he says that perhaps this is what he wanted all along, the sweet release of death. He mumbles about how he lost his mind and became something, then dissolves into bubbles. Corrin wonders about what Garon’s deal was. Unfortunately, we need to buy some DLC to find out.

Azura faints, having pushed herself too far to stop Garon. Azura says that she can die in peace, knowing that everyone else will be safe. As Azura fades away, she asks Corrin to smile for her, one last time.

I know I compare this game negatively to Awakening a lot, which it definitely deserves, but I’d like to praise it for using its anime cutscenes in the final chapters, something Awakening didn’t. It really helps the dramatic moments hit hard.

Ryoma is crowned king of Hoshido, promising to bring the world into a new age of peace. Ryoma upholds his promise and helps rebuild Nohr with Hoshido’s resources. Everyone cries tears of joy.

Corrin meets with Leo and Camilla, who mourn the deaths of their siblings, and finds out that Leo is now king. Afterwards, she heads to the lake where she met Azura. Azura’s ghost tells Corrin to look into the lake, to find something hidden deep, before disappearing. The final cutscene shows the Hoshidan royals, happy together, meeting at a statue of Mikoto.

The credits roll, giving epilogues for all of our units and showing their battles/kills. I’ll be going through all the epilogues in bulk at the end of Revelations, but I would like to note my top units: Kaze, Silas, Mozu, Ryoma, and surprisingly, Azama. Who had close to 2000 battles because I sent him and Azura alone into a battle to build Support and unlock a Paralogue and just let enemies beat the shit out of him for a while.

As well as my least used units: Selkie, Caeldori, and Rhajat. Which isn’t surprising, considering I used them so rarely that I haven’t even mentioned recruiting them yet. My worst non Paralogue unit was Yukimura, followed by Shura and Izana. My least used actual units were...Sakura and Jakob. Sigh.

Saizo. The unit with the least real battles was Saizo. That’s what I was getting at. Followed by Kaden and Takumi. That’s not to say any of them were bad, Takumi in particular is insanely overpowered; I just didn’t need to feed him kills to keep him useful.

After the credits, the game gave me the option to select a few units to keep and recruit in later playthroughs. I only chose one, my max strength, eight movement Blacksmith: Kenshi. We’ll be seeing him again, eventually.

Closing Thoughts

Replaying Birthright has given me a new appreciation for Fire Emblem Fates. It’s a very flawed game, but to be honest, I had a great time. I’ve focussed on the writing, primarily, but the gameplay in Fates is fantastic. It’s a solid Fire Emblem game and I like Fire Emblem. Hell, things like personal skills, the rebuilt weapon triangle, and fixing pair-up make it a fantastic Fire Emblem game. My only complaint is that it’s a bit easy at times. Part of this stems from me playing Normal/Casual for this blog; I started a Hard/Classic playthrough in my spare time and it fixes most of the issues. The maps, although not as phenomenal as Conquest, are still varied and creative.

And then we have the writing, which is very hit or miss. I’ve explained my problems with this game before (black and white morality, incest, half of the Supports are forgettable), but to be honest, I do enjoy a lot of Birthright’s writing. It’s rarely anything special, but it gets the job done and occasionally has these fantastic moments of drama.

Birthright is a solid game that deserves a spot in the Fire Emblem series. If you haven’t played Fates before, I would recommend playing it.

Now comes Conquest, which has even better gameplay and also...even worse writing. Yay. But first, I’m going to be going through some of the DLC and Paralogues for Birthright.

[fatesdeepdive]

Entry 48: A Lazy Poet, The Daughter of Azama, Joins Corrin’s Army

Paralogue 12: Sweet Dreams

Azama’s daughter Mitama’s village is under attack. Azama doesn’t care, because everyone dies eventually. Saizo acts like a normal person and drags Azama to go save Mitama. This map sees us protecting a village surrounded by tough axe wielders. When I visited the village with Hinoka, Mitama told her to go away because she’s napping.

To recruit Mitama, you must visit her village three different times with Azama. When Mitama finally wakes up, she reads off a haiku for some reason. Azama forces her into battle, because if he has to fight, so does she.

After the battle, Mitama heals Corrin then, exhausted, goes back to bed. Azama forces her to come with us because she’s useful.

Mitama

Azama’s very lazy daughter. Talks in Haikus for some reason. Her personal skill, Haiku, heals her for 7HP and two allies of hers for 5HP. Her design is decent; I’m torn on whether her star eyes are cool or creepy though. Also, oddly enough her generic hair color is pink, not brown like Azama’s.

Support: Azama/Mitama

C: Azama chastises Mitama for sleeping and snoring during a war council meeting. Mitama asks him to send her home so she can nap in peace. Azama instead decides to force Mitama to get up early and stop taking naps. Also, although he doesn't show them, Azama mentions that his perpetually closed eyes look just like Mitama's.

B: Azama wakes Mitama up with an early morning lecture. Mitama yells at him. Azama explains that he's trying to make up for not raising her properly, in a rare moment of kindness. Then he makes her do a bunch of chores.

A: Mitama gets up early...by never going to sleep. One of my favorite tricks that definitely isn't awful for my health. Azama praises her for at least trying to get up early and promises her she can nap after the war is over.

Review: This one was actually pretty good! Azama is oddly nice in this one and he and Mitama bickering is fun.

Support: Mitama/Mother

C: Mitama is tired after staying up all night reading poems. Her mother asks her why she started writing poetry and Mitama says she doesn't know.

B: Mitama digs out the first poem she ever wrote, one about how sad she is over her parents basically abandoning her.

A: Mitama's mama writes to her caretakers and learns that Mitama became interested in poetry by accident. Her mother sang her a song, she repeated the lyrics to her caretakers without the melody, and they just assumed she was into poetry.

Review: Overall, this one is fine. It is interesting that Mitama’s defining character trait arose from a misunderstanding.

Support: Corrin/Mitama

C: Mitama's brush breaks. This saddens her, because she can't write poetry without her exact perfect brush.

B: Corrin takes Mitama to an art supply store. Mitama decides to never leave.

A: Corrin finds an exact replica of Mitama's brush and gives it to her.

Review: Fine, if a tad shallow. Mitama refusing to leave the art supply store was admittedly funny, though.

Support: Moron/Mitama

C: Corrin asks Mitama why she spends so much time in her room, she says she likes it and spends her time alone writing Haikus. Mitama teaches Corrin how to write Haikus, he struggles with counting.

B: Mitama teaches Corrin that Haikus are about the images and emothions they evoke in short sentences. Corrin tells her she can learn more for her poems by going outside more.

A: Mitama teaches Corrin a new form of poetry called the tanka. Corrin finally starts to understand how poetry works and writes a poem about leaving Nohr.

S: Corrin proposses with a poem.

Review: Suprisingly good. The discussion and display of poetry makes it unique and more intellegent than most Supports.

[fatesdeepdive]

Entry 25: Oops! All Supports Volume #3

You know the drill. Let’s get some more Supports done. I’ve got about 100 Hoshido Supports left and only seven more story chapters, so I’m not sure where I’ll find the time to write them.

Support: Kaden/Sakura

C: Kaden finds Sakura taking a nap and asks her to become a napping buddy.

B: Sakura and Kaden take a nap together in a meadow. Sakura falls asleep petting Kaden.

A: Sakura says she feels bad for taking naps during a war, but Kaden convinces her that napping will help them fight better.

S: Sakura reveals that she can no longer sleep without Kaden by her side. The two of them start dating, and also presumably start sleeping together in the other way.

Review: A decent, cute fluff Support.

Support: Oboro/Saizo

C: Oboro, disgusted by Saizo’s bad fashion, decides to make him look nicer.

B: Saizo runs away from Oboro as she tries to rip off his clothes and replace them with nicer ones.

A: Saizo, after being asked by Ryoma to attend a royal ceremony, begrudgingly apologizes and asks Oboro for help.

S: Oboro asks if Ryoma is the person who is most important to Saizo, then throws a fit when he says he is, because she’s in love with him and wants to be the most important person to him. Saizo says he likes her too, which is nice and all, but Oboro is acting really clingy for someone who hasn’t even started dating Saizo yet.

Review: A very fun Support Line, Oboro’s grating behavior during the S-Rank notwithstanding.

Support: Hinata/Sakura

C: Sakura is nervous after almost dying in battle. Hinata tells her that enemies always go for the weak link, which must make Sakura’s anxiety skyrocket, and offers to train her to be tougher.

B: Hinata begins training Sakura, who struggles to appear tough.

A: Hinata ends up getting hurt, because enemies attack strategically instead of avoiding people who look confident. Sakura whines about not being useful because all she does is heal and Hinata reassures her.

S: The two of them get together.

Review: Not bad. Sakura trying to be tough is fun, as is Hinata terrifying her out of stupidity. The S-Rank is really bland, though.

Support: Takumi/Rinkah

C: Takumi and Rinkah, both being assholes, get into a fight with each other. Takumi asks how secure the Flame Tribe’s alliance with Hoshido is and Rinkah grumbles about how she wishes the Flame Tribe was still independent.

B: Takumi finds Rinkah cooking for herself in the middle of the woods. They bicker some more.

A: Takumi kills a deer and gives it to Rinkah as a thank you for allying with Hoshido. Rinkah begrudgingly admits that she and Takumi make a good team.

S: Takumi and Rinkah continue hunting together. Takumi proposes to Rinkah using a precious Flame Tribe jewel given to Sumeragi years prior.

Review: An okay Support. The dialogue is good and Takumi and Rinkah bounce off each other decently well, but I wish it went further into Rinkah’s thoughts on the alliance.

Support: Hinoka/Subaki

C: Hinok and Subaki talk about how, when he trained Hinoka to be a pegasus knight, he taught her to calm her anger and bond with her steed.

B: Subaki reminds Hinoka of a time when, after Sakura got lost in the woods, Subaki stopped her from flying through a storm and saved Sakura himself.

A: Subaki and Hinoka discuss how the new recruits admire them.

S: Subaki asks Hinoka for romantic advice. She reveals she's never had a boyfriend, which is good for Subaki because he has a crush on her. The two of them hook up so they can lead the next generation together.

Review: Not bad. A bit bland, but it gave some good backstory information and Subaki was much less arrogant than normal.

Support: Orochi/Ryoma

C: Orochi shows off her divination cards, which were made by Kagero, a nice detail that connects this to other Supports. Orochi points out that Ryoma is dull and stern, and promises to make him laugh.

B: Orochi tells Ryoma stories about Mikoto and Kagero. They aren't that funny. Ryoma smirks.

A: Ryoma requests Orochi tell him more stories about things he hasn't noticed.

S: Ryoma asks Orochi to marry him because Orochi makes him feel like a more complete person. Also Orochi keeps talking in third person, a character trait that is annoyingly inconsistent.

Review: Not awful, but also not particularly memorable.

Support: Hayato/Mozu

C: Mozu asks Hayato to give her a charm that will make her less nervous during battle.

B: Hayato gives Mozu the charm. Mozu asks him if it's just a magic feather and he insists it's real.

A: Mozu's charm has been working perfectly, so she asks Hayato if he wants to mass produce them. Hayato explains that the magic doesn't work that way.

S: Hayato does the obligatory "I've always loved you" thing and Mozu says yes because he's dependable.

Review: Just okay. After reading this a few times, I’m still not sure if Hayato’s charms are real or not.

Support: Hana/Silas

C: Silas tells Hana that he's disappointed by how weak she is in battle. Hana retorts that she fights to protect Sakura, and Silas says that Sakura must not be fighting for, which pisses Hana off. Silas is weirdly mean in this one.

B: Hana criticizes Silas's fighting and the two of them argue about who is more loyal to their respective princess. Hana, being Hana, suggests they spar to find out who’s more dedicated.

A: The two of them draw and note that their constant sparring has made them stronger.

S: Silas proposes to Hana. She assumes he's trying to throw off her balance with the ring, which is funny. The two of them spar to decide who likes the other more.

Review: Not awful, but Silas was an asshole in the first conversation. Also I’m pretty sure this is like the third Hana conversation where she marries someone after sparring with them a bunch.

Support: Kagero/Silas

C: Silas sees Kagero making a flower arrangement. Silas, a Nohrian noble, is fascinated by how different and scary Hoshidan art is.

B: Kagero makes a cup of tea that looks and smells evil. Silas runs away.

A: Kagero makes a terrifying portrait of Silas. He calls it ugly, she gets upset, and he explains that he also sucks at painting.

S: Silas, after mailing Kagero’s paintings to his family, nobility of the nation he is rebelling against who could probably use the letters to track the army down, proposes to Kagero. Apparently, his parents think that Kagero’s art is just Hoshidan weirdness and accept their marriage.

Review: A decent Support. Part of the problem with Kagero Supports is that the audience can’t see her horrid art, but in this one there were at least good descriptions of how horrible it is. I like the idea of Nohrians being really into Kagero’s art, because Nohr as a culture seems to love spooky nightmare stuff.

Support: Azama/Felicia

C: Azama asks Felicia what it's like to be devoted to another person. Felicia explains that thinks it's natural to want to help people out. Azama is confused by this, so Felicia offers to let him work as a maid for a while.

B: Felicia attempts to teach Azama how to be a maid. Unfortunately, she's Felicia, so it goes very poorly.

A: Azama yells at Felicia while she works so she doesn't mess up. Felicia says that he's been a big help, and he has a breakdown over becoming a better person.

S: They get together.

Review: It’s weird, a lot of these raise questions about devotion then abandon them to play with characters��� quirks. Hana/Silas did the same thing. Setting that aside, this one is fine but forgettable.