#because they already live in a big bad unfair thing called THE CONCEPT OF NOBILITY AND ROYALTY

[butwhatifidothis]

Fighting someone in that enlightened edelgard comment and they really pulled the "edelgard's war was necessary because crests bad!!" Bruh

Alright so like... why does Edelgard think Crests bad? What is she willing to propose to society as an alternative to Crests that won't similarly be abused by those with money and power? If Hanneman is able to conduct Crest research and is allowed to build his machines that gets rid of the need for Crests on all routes, even on SS and even if Rhea comes back as archbishop, then why did Edelgard need to start the war if that was her real goal? What problems do Crests specifically and uniquely bring to society?

Because Sylvain, Ingrid, Lorenz, anyone else who feels that they're only good for their Crest or need to marry due to their Crest? They'd literally be in the same position without them, because they're still high-end nobles with pretty titles and nice power that commoners would want a piece of or that their families would marry off to others families for more money and power (or any, in Ingrid's case). Crests change nothing, save for Sylvain getting the nice heir title from this unfair inheritance system over Miklan were it the usual "lol I popped outta Mom first" inheritance system.

Mercedes? Ah yes, because incest would never occur in noble families were it not for Crests, think I read that in my history class before.

Dorothea? Her having a Crest would have actually saved her and her mother (or at least her) from a life of poverty, so oops.

Hanneman's sister? Ah yes, right after the section where my history books told me that incest don't real, it says that women were never ever forced to unhealthily bear multiple children until their husband gets one he wants.

The only ones I can think of that were fucked over specifically and only by specifically and only Crests are Edelgard, Lysithea, and Marianne. The first two are so unbelievably unlikely to happen to anyone in the general Crest-bearing populace as to damn near be laughable - fun as Two Crests AU's are, this shit only happens the twice, once for the setup and once with the refinements from the first. This isn't something most, many, some, a few, or really fuckin' anyone has to deal with, this is something extremely specific to Edelgard and Lysithea. And similarly, Marianne, while facing most of her trauma because of uniquely Crests, only does so because she literally just so happens to be born with the literal one Crest in all of Fodlan that is feared and hated.

Like, Crests could have easily actually been a big deal in Fodlan, but like... damn near anything that could rise from specifically Crests gets taken care of pretty easy lol?? Like, Marianne just needs to beat the shit out of Maurice and she's fine(r). Edelgard and Lysithea's shit is reversible and is able to have its the biggest side effect of having two Crests be erased (for Lysithea, cuz as I've said I don't think Edelgard has any problems with the two Crest shit). Balthus' shit where "Ohhh, people will really fuck over Kupala if they find out it has Chevalier Crest bearers!!" gets solved by the Church itself stepping in and keeping it hush hush for Kupala's safety and that making it to where Balthus' more qualified Crest-less brother gets the inheritance (so much for wanting no one but Crest bearers to rule over Fodlan!). Some bitches literally are completely unaffected by Crests (Hilda, Linhardt, Yuri <- as far as I know, I'm sure there are others).

Hilariously enough, very few people in the cast actually benefit from Crests specifically due to Crests - the only ones I can think of off the top of my head are maybe Lambert (if you wanna count him) and Claude (let him prove his right to inheritance).

Like. Before adopting Marianne, Edmund was able to rise to Margrave through good financial and oratory skills - that's a higher position than Count. Y'know. Like Count Gloucester? Ordelia for all we can surmise has no Crest and bears the same title as Gloucester regardless. Count Rowe in the Kingdom is higher than Baron Dominic - Baron's, like, the lowest fuckin' noble title! Even the Empire, shitty as it is, doesn't have this problem! Bergliez, no Crest, House of Military Affairs for an Empire.

People hear Crests and see them packaged as a unique evil specific to Fodlan by the characters who were born and raised in this society and who have little to no reference to the world outside of Fodlan and so wouldn't know that most of this shit literally happens everywhere and they just, fuckin', forget!! That this shit ain't new!! Crests are just First-Born-Noble Syndrome wrapped in pretty shiny wrapping paper. Petra, a royal from Brigid, literally never mentions Crests, and Claude only does so out of curiosity over them - almost like, as nobility outside of Fodlan, Crests are just weird to them and nothing else! They likely know the same shit would happen to these nobles with or without Crests because they know a world without Crests, unlike those of Fodlan!

Getting rid of Crests seems like it will change a lot of Fodlan... until you remember that they're dying out anyway so Fodlan is already in a transition period where they'd become relics of the past, until you remember that, again, most of the shit wrong that comes with Crests actually comes with nobility in general, until you remember that a majority of the characters either don't care about Crests or are otherwise unaffected by them.

And like, we know that Edelgard doesn't actually give a shit about Crests lmao that is damn sure not a major reason why she started the war, she started the war because she wanted to wear the big girl pants and rule over all of Fodlan and also kill the Nabateans. That's it. No shit about Crests, much as she initially posits as much - notice how that shit falls to the wayside soon as the war's actually in action, it's literally said over and over and over again that Edelgard wants to reunite Fodlan, she wants to conquer the Alliance and Kingdom, she wants to boot the Church, she wants to kill Rhea and the Children of the Goddess; Crests are a footnote in her oh so grand plans. Edelgard didn't start war cuz Crests Bad, she did it because Me Want Be Dictator