#being real fucking generous knowing faerghus

[stupitunclehal]

heavy sigh. parts 1 and 2. checked my phone so we're hopefully free from the penis curse at last.

[slotumn]

Twist on a 3H golden route where Byleth does succeed in getting the lords to cooperate in implementing reforms and defeating Agarthans, but ultimately ends up backstabbed by them for political reasons.

Namely, they're way too popular/influential/capable, and this does not bode well for the rulers of the three nations.

Byleth being powerful isn't as much of a problem in the standard 3H routes, because one way or another, the continent becomes unified and Byleth is on the side of the unifier. But in a situation where all three regimes still exist and there's this prominent figure who helped fix so much of the continent's problems and has religious/ideological significance transcending the three nations' borders? Like it or not, they're political competition and threat for the lords. Whether they're archbishop or "just" a general/advisor, they are too damn competent and/or popular. And it doesn't even matter whether Byleth intends to become a politician themselves— just by existing, the lords are going to get compared to them.

Even if Byleth tries to stay behind the scenes as much as possible, realistically there would be other personnel who worked with Byleth alongside the lords in various endeavors, and they're going to have opinions. Said personnel are probably important figures in each nation's military/government, too. And again, like it or not, Byleth is risking showing up the lords in front of their own guys. Even if they're close personally, in terms of politics, it's that much harder to maintain authority when there's someone who seems stronger than you right in the vicinity!

Claude stepping down as leader of Leicester and going over to Almyra doesn't solve this either, because in a situation where Adrestia and Faerghus still exist, Byleth can't just take over Leicester. Considering the significance of their power, Byleth directly ruling over one of the three nations will definitely look biased and stroke tensions.

So, what are the options? Just have Byleth hang around and vibe? Either as the archbishop or an advisor who floats around between the three nations? This influential, popular figure simply being allowed to exist in vicinity of the three regimes without pledging alliance to any of them? That's going to work out real well (not). The most idealistic scenario is Byleth agreeing to disappear after everything (driving out Agarthans + implementing reforms) is over, but realistically? The regimes wouldn't wanna wait that long. If they let Byleth hang around until that's all done, it's too late, this commoner ex-merc already has stolen too much thunder.

This is the irony about overwhelming power; in times of great turmoil, it saves, but otherwise, it's a threat, a disruptor to the balance, even if it's wielded by someone benevolent.

Anyway, the situation is: the lords all have good reasons to want to solidify their own authority over their respective nations as they get rid of Agarthans and reform things, and it's obvious as all fuck who's (unintentionally) undermining said authority. Yeah maybe Byleth is their beloved mentor, but now, they're leaders of their nations before they're their teacher's students. Maybe they feel bad about doing this, but whatever their personal sentiments are, that doesn't change their next political move.

The lords betray and kill Byleth for power— just like how the Agarthans they'd teamed up to defeat killed Sothis for power.

I think all the ways Byleth could react to this are very sexy. Genuinely caught off guard and dies casting a curse on the ungrateful fools of Fódlan? Sexy. Expected it and doesn't stop it because they know this is what it takes to bring peace? Sexy. Too sad and tired and heartbroken to fight back? Sexy.

Tl;dr local teacher literally too powerful to be allowed to exist in a golden route, gets killed by their students

[randomnameless]

It's still wild to me that people will go to bat for the nothing characters that are Randolph and Fleche as proof of Dimitri being bad; we know next to nothing about them, they have miniscule screentime, what little we do know of Randolph paints him as human scum who'd do horrific things if it meant a chance at a promotion, and Fleche illogically only ever holds a grudge against someone for killing her brother if that someone is AM!Dimitri, with her completely vanishing from the game in every other route.

Eh,

I'd say they play the same purpose than this random child in TS in Roland's story - at this point, both lords want vengeance, and they have to face someone who also wants (misdirected!) vengeance at them, smth smthg like war sucks because people die.

But it's completely wasted in FE16, because, as you said, Randy isn't a random or a civilian or a war orphan, he is a general leading an attack on refugees/civilians/randoms to gain more fame, and dies in the process.

Now, can we say Flèche's anger and death are ultimately directed at Randolph, who died for nothing and took his sister down with him in his quest for "muhrit" ? Or are we supposed to think that this scene is important because Dimitri, the Blue Lord, isn't supposed to fall as low as the Imperial Army - something he comes close to (apparently?) ?

And yet again, it completely fails.

Because for one Randolph - who also had a family and loved ones - we have 50 Waldos and Baldis, whose lives aren't given any fuck about.

We don't see a war prisoner, or an Adrestian civilian accusing Supreme Leader of having sent her/his wife/husband/daughter/son to death with a conquest they never asked and trying to off her.

Only Dimitri receives this backlash from - invaders who wanted to invade and suddenly remember they have loved ones so are very sad when their loved ones dies - Flèche, but not Claude nor Billy, as you rightfully pointed out.

And Supreme Leader never receives any backlash - or wake up call - from a real third party/civilian/casualty who could have done the exact same thing.

Emile mentions how, during her attack, the Holy Grounds near Garreg Mach were turned in a slaughterhouse, why don't we have any civilian who survived from that try to take a jab at Supreme Leader? Waldi's best friend? Baldo's mother? A war captive from Leicester/Faerghus or a conscripted Adrestian?

I laughed about it with friends earlier, and again with the teatime paralogue, but it truly feels as if only 1/3rd (since the church doesn't count) of the cast will face consequences for the war and suffers backlash from the constant fighting (they didn't even start!).

Whenever you have to deal with serious stuff in Fodlan, it'll be for the BL members.

The rest? Will sip tea, talk nonsense, try to solve "mysteries" and live as if nothing is happening in the background.

Just imagine how both deer routes could have been much more impactful and interesting - instead of being a recycled Billy route with a different infodump at the end - if Raphael's sister popped up to a War Council, asking Claude to stop coddling the Empire because their lands were invaded, her grandfather put to Aymr and her inn destroyed by the Imperial Army, or how Ignatz's older brother discovers how Adrestia is burning pieces of art and history and every material related to Leicester and Faerghus history because they want to push an "Adrestia Eternal" narrative. Heck, Claude could even discover more "lore" by picking a Leif route, sort of rescuing the people "handpicked" to become new Baldos and Waldis, discovering the secret of the artificial crest stones and maybe having an infiltration map where, lo, instead of receiving an info dump, they maybe witness Rhea being turned in a relic or used to "produce" artificial crest stones.

War BaD, but only when we can make the BL suffer for it, for the rest, it's just a bgm.

And even then, it can't be too critical of Supreme Leader, because she was made to sell alts in FE heroes or dubious Cipher Cards.

"Supreme Leader", "cute girls" and "I want to see how Faerghus and its knights will deal with the aftermath of the Tragedy while defending against the invading forces".

Tl; dr : Flèche and Randolph are named, which is a cheap way to make people care for them despite their role in the plot, but the demonic beasts and the civilians dying aren't mentionned nor talked about.

Hell, why do you think I gave names to the artificial demonic beasts? The game doesn't want you to think too much about them, but if I talk about Baldo and Waldi, maybe the fandom will?

[travelling-on-the-octopath]

Okay so me and the sis are in Chapter 10 in AG (got Marianne!! babygirl <3) and watched the convo between Dimitri, Claude, and Rhea. Way more cordial than I thought it'd be, though Claude still throws a bit of shade at the Church. In an amount that's more readily understandable, at least, but knowing what it snowballs into in his route is. Ugh. Do like him combining his and her strategies together to take the best from both of them tho, that was neat.

What's interesting to me tho is Dimitri. Cuz Claude flat out asks him if he's going to keep giving the Church refuge, and Dimitri answers with basically that "well the Church is important to my people so I have to." Which... kinda doesn't answer the question. And Claude presses on and asks "so if it wasn't useful you wouldn't?" and Dimitri goes "well that likely won't happen anytime soon, or at all." Which. Very much doesn't answer the question. And given Dimitri's general attitude with the Church matching this, it gives the very heavy implication that Dimitri would, in fact, leave the Church in the dust should it not be useful to the Kingdom.

Which, like. Why? The Gard hating on the Church - something which, in 3H, was almost exclusively portrayed as a beacon of hope - makes sense for her to do, since she was the villain. But why is Claude suddenly so down on outright toppling it and murdering its leader (fuck all those who need it/her - that thing that Claude himself acknowledged was true in 3H), and why is Dimitri pussyfootin' so hard about whether he'd help it outside of necessity or not (fuck saving those who are being unjustly persecuted - you know, his entire character)? I'd understand it if the Church were portrayed as more nefarious and dubious in this game, but if anything they come across as better in Hopes than in 3H! Especially when the common-ground enemy for a three-lord-team-up is LITERALLY RIGHT THERE with TWS, not the Church? Maybe I'm still missing something since we haven't beaten AG yet, but it just seems so pointless to me

I'm going to get into spoilers for supports (that have no bearing on plot) so if you want to avoid those lemme know and I'll make another post addressing it another way, but Dimitri's personal apathy toward the church also has me scratching my head?? Which isn't to say that I dislike it, or think it was a bad choice--just that I don't understand why it's a thing. Like let's go on a small journey here.

We're going to ignore events from Houses, because all the game really does here is provide foundational characterization. But honestly the shit that happens in Hopes is a little more damning </3 Dimitri says, incomprehensibly in his support with Claude, that he agrees with him on a personal level regarding the Church, while as king, he can't. What I don't understand is why he'd feel those things personally at all.

Mercedes-Dimitri B Support:

Okay, so the townsfolk being helped by the church are thankful.

Mercedes-Dimitri A-support:

Call me delusional, but this doesn't really seem like a guy who personally would be all right if the Central Church went bye-bye, if for literally nothing else than he says he can't personally oversee every little town in Faerghus. And before I hear someone cry theocracy, because I already have, there are examples in real life of a religious institution, like a church, offering aid to local communities because they fall under the radar of the overseeing government.

And let's not forget that the Central Church does fuck-all when Dimitri throws open the doors to Duscur and begins reparations. Not a peep from them, and this is before the war phase starts/they're officially on the same side. Everyone on the continent is quite literally free to do whatever they want, so long as they're not marching on Garreg Mach with the intention to literally light it on fire. The Empire undergoes its reforms without a damn word; the Alliance becomes a Federation unencumbered; and Dimitri finally began repairing the relationship between Faerghus and Duscur, to the point where portions of their armies overlap.

Dimitri appreciates the stability Rhea offered after the Tragedy. Dimitri knows how important the church is to his people. Dimitri knows they haven't done anything to deserve the ire of literally everyone else on the continent. His main internal conflict is that taking them in basically painted a target on Faerghus' back, and in every route but his, he gets shown how desperate people are to get their hands on the Central Church, and what they're willing to do to Faerghus to get to them. So . . . why is he personally okay with them being put to bed. I don't get it at all.

[butwhatifidothis]

Can't STAND these bitches in the fandom whining about "Wah, Rhea didn't wanna let go of power, she endangered the students by never revealing the truth of anything to them" and then turn around and fuckin' GUSH about how ~brave~ and ~daring~ Edelgard is for ~standing up against Rhea~ by doing THE EXACT. SAME. SHIT.

Edelgard never told her allies about TWS and thus they were ill-prepared for them when the post-game war came about. You can tell that no one was prepared for the war because so fuckin' many endings Byleth has in CF has it say that their marriage with the person they get with was immediately followed by the war against TWS. The other characters were literally never told once about their existence and Edelgard expected everyone to throw themselves into this war she never told them would happen, after already finishing a war she'd already forced on them. Run it back guys! Edelgard's War That She Makes Everyone Go Through Without Their Prior Knowledge Or Consent Part 2: Electric Boogaloo!

Edelgard stripped every noble that stood against her of almost any power they had and only nobles that at that moment stood against her got that treatment. Counts Bergliez and Hevring were equally involved in the Insurrection of the Seven - that thing that revealed Vestra, Varley, and Aegir as "corrupt" in Edelgard and Hubert's eyes - but since they choose at that moment to stand by Edelgard they're suddenly not corrupt anymore - they "earned forgiveness". As long as they never go against Edelgard - i.e., threaten her hold on power - then they are cured of their supposed corruptness. How convenient for Edelgard, that that's how that works! Suddenly Bergliez and Hevring are totally good guys and all it took was them bending the knee to her, how lovely. Also, see Acheron.

Everyone expects Rhea to just fuckin' spill the beans of everything right away as if that exact thing didn't fuckin' lead to the near extinction of her race. As if humans knowing everything the Nabateans know didn't almost lead to the permanent ruination of all of Fodlan. And then they pull excuse after excuse after excuse out of their asses for why Edelgard was so much better for all the shitty things she did. They pin all the blame on Rhea for Edelgard's actions, because I guess Edelgard isn't a grown ass woman who's capable of making her own independent decisions. She can never be blamed for her actions, no, someone else is always at fault, but Rhea can and should be completely and solely responsible for the decisions she makes.

Nothing can influence her decisions. No outside force made her think her actions, morally questionable they can be, are the best course. Nah chief, it's her being just fuckin' evil that was the reason she did what she did. Rhea's bad for secrets, but not Edelgard! Even though her secrets involved hiding the existence of two incoming wars that she was planning on spearheading- that's fine! Rhea is bad for wanting to hand the reigns over to someone specifically, but Edelgard wanting a successor worthy of her bloody throne is something to be admired. Just look over the fact that this person almost certainly cannot be someone who came from the people, and that it's almost definitely someone deemed worthy by Edelgard, from the elite social circles, with connections to Edelgard and/or other powerful people, with the best tutors and the perfect environment, and an already surefire shot at success already. See, Rhea's means were more morally questionable, so that means Edelgard is squeaky clean!

Who cares that there is literally no fuckin' way the weak aren't gonna be fuckin' trampled under the boots of the stron- oopsy daisy, I meant "meritable". Who cares that the literal one person in BE that could even possibly be considered someone who defies this is someone who 1) admits herself that she had to "pull some noble strings" to have a chance at paying the fees - oh, yeah, because you know who thrives under a meritocracy? Bitches with no money, for sure!! - and 2) is the only BE to not be appointed general post ts. Who cares that the weak have gotten persecuted and exiled under Edelgard's reign if they believed in the wrong faith, and who cares if any faithful in Edelgard's Fodlan have to cope with the loss of a foundational support system of theirs - just be strong! Just be good! It's just that easy amiright guys

And like... look, I honestly wouldn't care about people raggin' Rhea so hard about what she's done if it existed in a vacuum. She's done some questionable shit! Shit that could very easily warrant disdain! But it's when it's coupled with the fact that I know these people will go on to praise Edelgard and love her despite her doing equally morally questionable actions that peeves me off so much. Edelgard deadass started a war that lasted five years! She starved her citizens to have more food for her men! Men of whom some of which are forced to be there! She uses meat shields in AM and VW just like Rhea does in CF! She lets her citizens be turned into Demonic Beasts for her to use as war assets! She hides shit that people oughta know just like Rhea does!

But people wanna ignore that, just like they ignore Rhea just having the Church fuckin' off away from Adrestia 120 years before the game even starts, and how Faerghus definitely has a unique view on religion that doesn't align that perfectly with the Seiros faith, and how the Eastern Church might as well don't real for all the power it has, and how it's Rhea and the Church that is dealing with all of the issues in the game and not, oh, I dunno, the nations the problems are set in (with the only possible reasonable exception being Faerghus, because of Edelgard's allies) - fuck all that I guess!

Rhea's power hungry and Edelgard "just NeEdS all that power guys!!" and Rhea's bad for holding secrets and Edelgard is FoRcEd to keep the literal cause of all of Fodlan's problems hidden from literally almost everyone and Rhea should be held solely accountable for every single one of her actions and Edelgard shouldn't because others MaDe hEr Do iT

[themoomoorn]

Random Thot #46,853

I had a health exam for my upcoming new job and put my two weeks in for my current one, so I’m rewarding my neurodivergent ass-brain with this.  Sit tight and enjoy.

46,853: I’m half-convinced that Edelgard is like the Soul Series’ Alexandra sisters and daughter when it comes to her combat ability - or rather, lack thereof.  Unlike Claude, Dimitri, and Byleth, who all explicitly received combat training as children, Edelgard likely did not.  The tools given to her are what likely allow for her to fight at all - heck, they may even do a bit of the fighting for her.  How else can a noodle-armed womanlet like her wear all that armor and heft that axe?  

(Also, how the eff does this dress make clanking armor sounds when she walks in the game despite this dress having like no armor whatsoever)

To begin with, we have in-game factoids of her stat caps being the second highest in the game (390 when combined, with Cyril only beating her by 5 points due to his Aptitude skill), and she even has a magic cap that’s not only on-par with other magically-inclined units (72), but it’s actually better than some of them (Dorothea and Linhardt, who are both dedicated mage types, have caps of 61 and 66, respectively, while Manuela, who tends to get placed in Faith Magic-aligned classes despite being a hybrid unit, has a piddling cap 48).  She even has a quirky but feasible spell list for both magic types (Fire/Bolganone/Luna Lambda/Hades Omega for Reason, and Heal/Nosferatu/Recover/Seraphim for Faith, which is one of her banes, mind you).  I imagine this is the work of the experiments that gave her her version of the Crest of Flames - after all, the 2020 DREAM interview noted that the Hresvelg children were given a more “refined” version of the experiments the Ordelias had.  The refinement isn’t just reflected in-game with caps and magic too; Edelgard is also more robust in terms of health, whereas Lysithea is prone to bouts of weakness and illness.  In-game, she has poor Luck and Strength, and the single lowest HP cap of all the playable units at 48.  And while this one is admittedly conjecture, Edelgard doesn’t hint that her lifespan was drastically cut, as she gets to live a long life in all of her endings.  Even in her Crest-heavy ending with Hanneman or her healthcare-related ending with Manuela don’t mention that she had one or both of her Crests taken out.  Lysithea, on the other hand, is extensively motivated by the fact that she doesn’t have many years left, and it’s only in two endings (Lorenz, Balthus) where she’s able to live fairly long without removing her Crests; The rest either have her dying young or being able to live long only after her Crests are taken out.

Now what of her combat abilities?  Let’s turn to the source of where this silly thot came from.

For the uninitiated, Sophitia Alexandra, a fighter who’s been in the Soul Franchise since its very first game, did not grow up as a dedicated combatant like the other fighters - she was an ordinary baker living in Athens during the late 16th Century when Greece was part of the Ottoman Empire.  When she was bathing in a lake one day, she received a message from Hephaestus himself in that she has a divine destiny to destroy the cursed blade Soul Edge, and he gifts her with a divinely crafted short sword and shield in order to fulfill her mission.  While she does gain training in Athenian combat styles, a lot of her power and capabilities are tied to her weapon set, which are named the Omega Sword and Elk Shield.  Her younger sister Cassandra would follow suit in SoulCalibur II, actually going out of her way to steal the same holy armaments Sophitia used in Soul Edge and SoulCalibur I before getting her own specially empowered set.

(Sophitia Alexandra)

And Pyrrha, Sophitia’s daughter in SoulCalibur V, takes it to new heights.  Per a data book, the timid, mistreated Pyrrha has absolutely no combat experience, not even in self-defense.  While Sophitia and Cassandra were able to train themselves into formidable soldiers outside of their divine weapons’ influences, this is not true for Pyrrha.  If it were not for the sword and shield Pyrrha wielded (which is the same exact set Sophitia wielded before her passing), her clumsy attacks and timid guard stances would amount to ineffectual, useless flailing.  

(Info about Pyrrha’s fighting style from the SCV data book)

Back to the Egg.  Now it’s made abundantly clear that while Dimitri’s Jean Valjean-levels of raw strength heavily stem from his Crest, he’s also from the land where, in lieu of milk and honey, there’s extreme sports jock training in heavy armor in the dead of night with boulders for weights and weapon mastery.  Dimitri loves to train, and it’s a big aspect of his character.  The tritagonist of his route is also one of his combat trainers, and he’s done that job for three generations’ worth of Faerghus royalty, with his ending hinting that he keeps doing it for one more.  I imagine that even without the Crest of Blaiddyd, Dimitri would still be extremely strong and formidable, he’d just have to actually exert himself a little when saving some poor soul from a runaway cart.

(Just in case the savior imagery wasn’t clear enough with Dimitri, he even did lift a cart the way eventual saint Jean Valjean did in the book/musical)

Claude is far more in favor of covert combat, and his own Crest is more defensive than offensive, but he’s no slouch either, having had a renowned war general serve as his combat instructor since childhood.  He’s from a kingdom that, much like Faerghus, values the way of the warrior and prides itself on the strength of its people.  His hidden talent, tying to wyvern mastery, is in friggin axes, and he’s also shown to be adept enough with a sword at various points.  Plus there’s the fact that he was abused and mistreated by his Almyran family, complete with his father plopping him on a horse and making the horse ride off with him backwards with no safety net as a form of punishment - Claude tells Hilda that there was a “trick” in how he survived that.  As any horse jockey can attest to, you need raw muscle in every part of your body in order to really ride one, and I imagine that’s doubly true for your local albino wyvern that’s decked out in Ottoman visual puns.  Plus learning how to be crafty and protecting oneself more covertly undoubtedly contributed to his combat abilities too.

(I mean you’d have to be shredded if you can pull off the Parthian shot on a fucking flying dragon.  61 Strength cap my ass.)

Byleth, as we know, grew up as a mercenary to the point of detriment.  There’s no need to go into extensive detail as to how Jeralt sacrificed almost everything else in exchange for contributing to Byleth’s combat abilities without being abusive and cruel, but even if you took away Byleth’s self-insert aspects, they’d likely bear a passing resemblance to Rei Ayanami in terms of behavior and attitude - An intended vessel/Avatar for a divine being from one end; Conditioned for little more than combat from another end.  Kind of a gloomy picture before she starts to express herself better and actually bond with other people meaningfully.  

(At least she’s cute as a button.  Kinda like Rei.)

But where does that leave Edelgard?  It’s a big question mark.  There’s no mention of her growing up with any kind of combat training, unlike the other three.  Heck, if tea time, Crimson Flower, and Heroes quotes are anything to go by, Edelgard grew up living a carefree lifestyle prior to the Insurrection.  She got to stuff her face with sweets and play with teddy bears and both dote and be doted on by her siblings.  Being child number 9 in her current generation, combat training and political studies likely weren’t major priorities for her, and since it’s speculated that Ionius favored her mother, she was likely lavished and spoiled by him.  After all, he expresses grief for her specifically when she inherits the throne from him, not the rest of her siblings.    

(Even the official merchandise notes how childish Edelgard is)

(This is all after she literally kickstarts her war, by the way).

While there’s varying degrees of elaborate flair that the Lords all wield their weapons with, Edelgard’s regular strikes with an axe feel far less rigid and more informal, and she’ll spin around her axe like it’s some kind of prop.  Her default battle stance isn’t even remotely protective and quite impractical; Dimitri’s stance with a lance is both of these things, while Claude’s arrow-twirling is a real-life exercise that’s done to keep the wrist flexible.  While she does refine her axe skills come Part II, she’ll still do things like throw her massive shield ten feet in the air for a critical hit.

(Seriously what even is this why is your hand out like that)

There’s even some proof of this: In her study request for axes and heavy armor, Edelgard will even acknowledge that the only reason she can likely keep up and wear heavy armor at all is because of her Crests.  And unlike Dimitri and Claude, who can get lesson plans for their respective Hidden Talents once they’re mastered (Horse riding for Dimitri, axes for Claude), Edelgard doesn’t get a lesson plan for Reason Magic, which is her Hidden Talent, so she likely didn’t get any kind of formal education surrounding magic either.  

(She has a similar quote in Heroes that’s even more explicit about this.)

The closest hint we get in Edelgard maybe having a hint of training as a child is in her Supports with Ferdinand, and even then, there’s no clear cut hint noting that his failures in beating her were combat-based.  She’s able to one-hit KO him in their B Support, but it’s locked to Part II and at this point she’s been both riding on the power highs of her Crests along with actually taking combat seriously.  She even says that their difference in skill level isn’t that great.

(Should’ve used Swift Strikes, Ferdie)

What’s more, in addition to all of those enhancements, she not only spends a lot of Part I in a custom set of armor that only archaic technology from the Agarthans can make, but they also made her a custom Relic that’s tailor-made to her specifications.  The other Relics as well as the Sacred Weapons, being over a thousand years old, still require their wielders to train in order to wield them properly, and in the case of the Relics, their potential cannot be fully tapped into unless the wielder’s Crest matches the Relic they’re wielding.  There’s also that particular safety issue, per what happens with Sylvain’s brother Miklan.  But this is not the case with Aymr, which is brand new, has a mismatched Crest that doesn’t negatively affect Edelgard, and requires the Agarthan tech-compatible Agarthium to fix, not the Umbral Steel that’s used to fix both the Heroes’ Relics and other Crest Stone weapons like the Vajra-Mushti.  The Aymr’s specific Combat Art even emulates the oft-broken Galeforce skill from Awakening and Fates.  It feels like that Aymr in particular is the Edelgard what Hephaestus’ swords and shields are to the Alexandra family.  

Now I don’t really think that an Edelgard who’d be stripped of her Crest of Flames, the Amyr, or her special Flame Emperor armor, would be as hapless as Pyrrha would be without her mother’s sword and shield.  I imagine she likely started to do some kind of formal combat training once the experiments were done with, not just to kickstart her dreams of imperial conquest, but also to protect herself anyway after everything that happened; She’s also the only Hresvelg heiress of her generation left.  There’s also her natural Minor Crest of Seiros to consider.  But if you stripped all that away from her, then her ability to fight probably would come off as useless flailing to the other three more experienced combatants.  

All those cakes and that lack of muscle would at least catch up to her, anyway.

[indigowallbreaker]

Re: the Mixed Royalties AU someone else sent you, you probably associate Adrestia with Germany because of the black eagle standard of Prussia and the use of "von" in their nobility names. That said, "German royalty" has always been more or less tied up in the HRE, since a unified Germany as we know it really didn't exist until just before WWI, and even what we would call a formal German monarchy only lasted for about 47 years over 3 rulers (at least as Wikipedia defines it) - for this AU, Prussia itself or Austria-Hungary might be another viable option if one didn't go with Russia. Funnily enough, though Dimitri strikes me as being more a French heir than anything else (I think it's the lions and the Fleur-de-lis motif on Faerghus heraldry), I actually think HE would work well for a Russian heir. The territories are similarly large with harsh, cold climates, his name is definitely more Russian inspired (especially with his fan nickname of "Dima"), and heck, Russia even adopted mainly French language, dress, and culture during its cultural revolution (thanks, Peter the Great), so that might even explain why I get French vibes off Dimitri. Adrestia Austria-Hungary, Faergus as Russia, and Almyra as the Ottomans (with the Alliance I then assume to be somewhere like Georgia, Bulgaria, or even north of the Black Sea like Ukrane) puts them all in a lot closer geographic relation to each other as well than shipping Dimitri all the way off to isolated England.

Okay so: 

1) Someone else DM’ed me talking about Austria-Hungry for Adrestian so safe to say we’re at least in the Holy Roman Empire feel. The eagle imagery and ‘von’ is quite Prussian. When I listed Germany I wasn’t thinking of historical accuracy-- more like, influence or inspiration. Obviously the history of Germany is, if you pardon my language, a fucking mess, so I don’t mean to say the Adrestian Empire reflects any specific part of Germany/HRE/Prussia’s past.

2) Dimitri is a much more Russian name but the names of places or families in the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus are heavily drawn from Britannic and Welsh myth. For example; ‘Blaiddyd’ or ‘Bladud’ refers to a legendary king of the Britons and the Welsh form of the name ‘Blaiddyd’ which translates to “wolf-lord”. Obviously it’s a fictional place so you can place it anywhere on a real-world map you like, but there’s heavy UK influences in general (even the taking of the southern half of Sreng can echo taking the northern part of Ireland) that are hard for me to ignore personally.

All this to say, the game isn’t Fantasy Europe so trying to draw direct parallels is never going to be easy and there’s no one right answer for this kind of AU. I think it’s more important to just explore the aspects from different regions that the writers/artists drew on. You mentioned getting French vibes from Dimitri, which I never picked up-- but you pointing out the lion and “the Fleur-de-lis motif on Faerghus heraldry” has me interested in the idea. The Kingdom’s physical description does match Russia closer than England. Who even knows about the Alliance other than “the Aquatic Capital” and it’s proximity to Almyra? And DO NOT get me started on the other places like Brigid or Dagda!

It’s a patchwork of a game, to be sure, and could spawn any number of versions of the AU.  

[lewlthea]

The Actual Thing Going On With Edelgard Von Hresvelg.

 Spoilers: It’s not fascism, nor racism (at least not in the way people think). Also, actual spoilers for the game.

If there has been a controversial character in Fire Emblem Three Houses, it’s Edelgard Von Hresvelg, one of the game’s main three lords, the house leader of the Black Eagles, the princess and sole heir of the Adrestian Empire, and an antagonist in every single route but hers. She has been a polarizing figure within the community: Some people think she’s an irredeemable monster, others think she’s a misunderstood leader. When it comes to Edelgard, theres hardly a grey opinion towards her; She’s either black or white. Today, I wanna talk about Edelgard’s actions towards the 4 routes, what they actually portray, and how and why the entire discourse towards her was caused deliberately by Intelligent System’s incredible mishandling and mistreatment of the character.

I remember Nintendo’s 2018 E3 conference quite well. I was at with a group of friends, watching at one of them’s house because he had a bigger TV. I remember making jokes about how “there was going to be a new Fire Emblem” because loving Fire Emblem when Intelligent Systems is Like That is a living nightmare.

And then this happens.

Words could not express the joy I felt when the trailer was over. It wasn’t just a new Fire Emblem game: We were going to have another lady lord, and an axe-wielding one at that - something the fanbase had been desperately craving since the recent surge in Hector’s popularity - and for once, it was like when I first found out that there would be a new female character in Shadows Of Valentia with Faye, and it was the tipping point for me to finally buy a Nintendo Switch.

Of course, just like Faye, things weren’t that simple.

Because some months before E3 2019, which promised to reveal more info on Fire Emblem 3 Houses, Reddit exploded. All because of someone who goes by the username Thanibomb, who claimed to have leaked info on the game, saying a lot of information about all the characters, some of them very questionable (With things such as Lysithea would die due to her crest complications, and it would cause the major 5-year war, and other things like Claude being the one who shot Dimitri’s eye off), while other info being oddly specific. A part of it that made me particularly chuckle was when such user said that Dimitri would have lost an eye, and would cover it with an eyepatch. I found it so silly and, along with some friends, claimed it to be fake and carried on.

And then E3 2019 happened.

And Dimitri had an eyepatch. 

And still, even after Thanibomb, things remained optimistic. All lords looked nice, they seemed to have their own ideals, their own paths, and no fights were breaking out within the fanbase yet. But then early copies were sent to reviewers. And then 4chan got a hold of one of those. And then the main leaks started. And by the time the game got released, it was too late. The amount of hate comments towards the character was so overwhelming; some calling Edelgard a fascist, others claiming that she was racist, others even saying that she gives racist remarks towards Claude ingame (a blatant lie). A personal favorite comment of mine was how Hubert and Edelgard looked like the perfect alt-right couple. 

(Should I remark that these kinds of comments stopped as soon as they found out that Hubert could A-support Ferdinand, and most of them moved on to fetishize the relationship between the two of them instead. Ironically, before that happened people despised Hubert in general solely because of his unusual appearance and shady behavior, but that was soon seen as ‘nuanced’ the moment he could be paired off with another man.)

And so, a fight between the fanbase begun: (Mostly) Blue Lion fans bashing Edelgard’s character, Black Eagle fans defending her vehemently, and Golden Deer fans between either on any of those sides or just making memes for Joe Zieja’s rally campaign for the GD. Mostly the latter. But that’s beside the point.

A (Kinda) Brief Summary of Edelgard’s Presence In Azure Moon, Verdant Wind, And Silver Snow.

Throughout the game’s second part, unless you’re playing the Crimson Flower Route, Edelgard will always be an antagonist who cannot be spared, and she cannot survive unless it’s in her own route. However, the way she is percieved changes depending on each route you are making, with each route leaving small fragments depicting Edelgard’s past and shaping her character in full scale. 

In Verdant Wind/Silver Snow, Edelgard isn’t the final boss. She is one of the bosses before the big fight. (Nemesis in Claude’s case, Rhea in Seteth’s). She’s one of the obstacles, but not the main one, therefore there is not much insight on her character; However, there is still one element present in those routes that is curiously omitted from Azure Moon that is the reason why she doesn’t really have too much focus, that being Hubert’s final letter.

In both routes, Hubert seems to highly respect Seteth/Claude’s prowess in the war and their cunning mind. (Especially Claude; Throughout both Verdant Wind and Crimson Flower, he commends Claude’s tactics and strategies multiple times). In the letter, he gives the location of where Rhea is confined and asks them to eliminate Those Who Slither in the Dark, the game’s true villains and the ones behind most, if not all the game’s tragic events. Even more curiously, though, is the fact that the letter does exist on the Crimson Flower route, and can be seen briefly on Hubert’s B support with Ferdinand, being the reason of their argument throughout the conversation. Not a single mention of the letter exists in the Azure Moon Route. (Of course it would not make sense for it to exist gameplay-wise due to the player having already murdered Arundel/Thales earlier in the game but. It’s still something to be accounted for).

Speaking of Azure Moon, this is a much more trickier route to talk about. Not only due to the fact that Edelgard is this route’s final boss, but also because all of the things we discover about Edelgard within it are never mentioned in any other route, only brief mentions about the time she spent in the Kingdom; nothing more. 

In here, her time spent on the Kingdom is expanded: Both Edelgard, her mom Patricia and Arundel were sent off to Faerghus due to exile, with Patricia being set off to marry King Lambert. There, she meets Dimitri, and they both become fast friends. By the time she has to leave, Dimitri gifts her with a dagger (Which, in Faeghus, are important gifts that mean ‘to cut a path towards a better future’), and she returns to Adrestia. Some time after she leaves the Tragedy of Duscurr happens, caused by Those Who Slither in the Dark. However, due to a misunderstanding caused by eavesdropping on a conversation between Thales and the Flame Emperor, Dimitri mistakenly believes that the Flame Emperor was behind it all, and once the Flame Emperor’s identity is finally revealed to be Edelgard, she is instantly demonized and called a ‘witch’, even though she openly declares how she had nothing to do with it. This goes on until Rodrigue’s death and Cornelia’s reveal that Patricia was the one behind the Duscurr Tragedy so she could return to the Empire and “reunite with her daughter”. (We never find out about what happened to her and she is not mentioned during the Crimson Flower). Dimitri tries to talk Edelgard off their final confrontation, but Edelgard insists that it is far too late for her to back down for their ideals are far too different, and she refuses to live in a world where the Church of Seiros exists. Dimitri then hands back her dagger (Which she accidentally dropped before the timeskip), and they both retreat to prepare for the final battle.

This route’s final boss is an Edelgard who was absorbed direct power from Those Who Slither in the Dark, and adquires a grotesque, corrupted form. No other character in the canon possess such a thing, and only Edelgard can assume such form. Once she is defeated, Dimitri tries once again to spare her, only for Edelgard to stab him with the dagger, making Dimitri realize that she would never give up on her dream, and finally kills her.

An Even More Brief Explanation of What Does All of This Means.

Okay, all of that info was nice, fun, good, yadda yadda. What does this mean and why was it needed.

Well, for starters, let’s ask ourselves a question: After reading the summary, can you say that you know what drives her to seek out the destruction of the church?

What is her reasoning behind the unification of Fodlan?

Do we get anything out of her other than “Scary dictator” or “An obstacle that had to be sadly removed” or “Under better circumstances... We could’ve been Allies (tm)”?

We don’t. Because Intelligent Systems did not bother to show Edelgard’s motivations, despite her being the villain in almost all the routes.

During Verdant Wind and Silver Snow, Edelgard herself does not matter: she’s solely important because she is threatening the church, she is your scary big bad dictator that you have to beat in order to rescue Rhea, only to find out that in reality she was just a stepping stone to the real villains, Those Who Slither in the Dark. (In game it is said that Hubert came up with this name. In my humble opinion Hubert can go fuck himself because this is the shittiest name I have ever seen and I am tired of having to type this five word long thing every paragraph or so). As soon as you read the letter, suddenly Edelgard, the Empire, and all the questions you had as to why she Did It dissappear because now you have another objective, another goal. 

This is even more offensive during Azure Moon because she is the focus, the final boss, but it doesn’t matter why she did all of this nor what her ideals actually are despite them being the reason why she cannot be spared. The game would rather focus on getting reactions out of the player when the intimidating big meanie does something that makes Dimitri go angry than actually focusing on the clashing of Dimitri and Edelgard’s ideals, why they cannot go back to what it once was, what happened to her to change this way, why did ‘El’ actually die. All you have is a dictator in red which does things for no reason other than “I will destroy the Church and unify Fodlan so I can govern over all of it”. Nothing more, nothing less.

....Of course, you do realize that I have avoided to talk about a certain thing.

So, About That Crimson Flower Route...

If there is a way to truly understand a villain, one must walk on such person’s footsteps. Most people criticizing Edelgard were the ones who hadn’t played her route yet, or had only played Azure Moon and was led to believe that all of Edelgard’s actions are unwarranted or pure nonsense. 

There is a reason why people sing their tune differently as soon as they experience the Crimson Flower.

For starters, to be able to fight for Edelgard, you have to first have her support up to C+, go with her to Enbarr once she asks of you, and then defend her from Rhea at the Holy Tomb. The reasoning behind that is so that you fully understand what Edelgard has gone through and the reason why she cannot agree with the existence of the Church.

The Azure Moon route tells you of Edelgard before she returned to the Empire.

It never tells you what caused her to change after she went back.

Edelgard was part of the crest experimentations caused by Those Who Slither in the Dark, alongside all her siblings. Her father, the emperor, was unable to do anything about it, as the real people in control of the Empire were Arundel/Thales and Duke Aegir. Being the sole survivor of such things to return to society and see how everything is defined by whether you have a crest or not and finding out that the Church, who instead of breaking down such system to favor equality would rather turn the creatures who run it into figures to be worshipped is. Something.

There’s another reason for Edelgard’s sudden betrayal, a more sinister one, and why she feels like everything needs to be done in a quick pace. In her C+ you find out she has a second crest, The Crest of Flames, just like the player. People who bear two crests have a shortened lifespam, however.

When Edelgard declares war against the Church, and to unite Fódlan, it’s not solely because ‘Church bad’: She declares war against the unfair crest system, against the hypocrisy of Rhea’s dragon entourage, and of course, to destroy Those Who Slither in the Dark later on the road.

  However.

Just because Edelgard’s behavior is justified, does not mean she is 100% in the right. She herself admits that the path she follows is one drenched in blood. But there are several times in the game that makes you stop and think for a second that she can still make bad decisions, and that sometimes her decisions might have horrible consequences. One of them is for example to never take away Brigid’s status as a vassal to the Empire and return it back to it’s former glory as an actual country, which shows how the entire Brigid kerfuffle is something akin to colonization. We should also point out that when she unifies Fodlan, in some endings she remains the Emperor, completely missing the point of what she fought for.

Another case that shows one of Edelgard’s biggest flaws is with the Silver Maiden incident.

Edelgard had just conquered Arianrhod, the Silver Maiden, and due to murdering Cornelia, enrages Ariandel/Thales, whom causes the situation above out of a show of power. She knows it was Those Who Slither in the Dark, but she needs to give explanations fast and she can’t reveal their identity or else they would slip away and it would be impossible to locate them and destroy them. So what does she do?

She says it was Rhea who did it, actively lying to her closest allies, one of them being the Prime Minister of the Empire.

For Edelgard, the ends justifies the means, and as long as she gets the results she wants, she will do what it takes. Even by alienation. And that’s a dangerous way to go on.

...So, where do I want to go from here? Who is to blame for the hatefest Edelgard is receiving?

Intelligent Systems Kind of Didn’t Know What To Do With Edelgard.

Now hold on. That sounds a bit too harsh, don’t you think? She was the first lord shown in the E3 2018 trailer, they have placed a very big emphasis on Edelgard everywhere hell the game’s main theme is about her, why would you claim that??

Well, first and foremost, I should start by saying that Crimson Flower is the game’s shortest route, with the total of 18 chapters. From those 18 chapters, there is only one cutscene, with most of the route’s major events being shown with either the game’s basic models or still images.

For comparison, Verdant Wind has the total of 8 cutscenes, counting the final one before the timeskip, with 3 of them being unique to its route.

Azure Moon has the total of 5 cutscenes, 3 of them being unique to its route. 

Silver Snow has 4 cutscenes, having 2 unique ones to its route.

The other two main lords have several support options with people outside of their respective houses; Edelgard only has one.

Remember when I said that one of Edelgard’s main enemies are Those Who Slither in the Dark? The game never lets her deal with them personally. You never truly fight them during Crimson Flower.

In a way, the game feels as if while Edelgard is the focus, you shouldn’t side with her. It really makes it feel as if someone at Intelligent Systems just snickered and said ‘Hey wouldn’t it be cool if we could let our players side with/date our villain?’ without even considering or respecting such villain’s motivations, her ideals, and what truly makes a character unique.

In the end, all they truly cared for was if Edelgard was romanceable enough for the player, not if she made sense or was appealing as a character, whether as a villain or a savior.

And considering how the fanbase is behaving towards Edelgard, they succeeded. 

[archer3-13]

Thoughts on Other Students in 3H

in no particular order

Hubert: evil snake boi, i kinda like you. i just wish there was more actual meat to ya then what there is. still, he does his role effectively and unlike edelgard plays into the whole evil empire thing with more gusto so i ironically find him more palatable because atleast the game isnt trying to pretend he isnt shady as fuck.

Dedue: oddly charming despite his straight laced attitude, he gets some interesting nuance in how well he highly respects (cough loves cough) dimitri and likes individual people from the blue lions, he doesnt have any particular fondness for faerghus as a whole which is definitely understandable given his history. hes essentially using the camus/murdoch aspect of undying loyalty and even borrows elements of the female camuses line of romantic interest in their liege however heavily implied it might be and applying that to a male playable character. Plus he just has some fun and interesting interactions with other characters in general.

Lorenz: I have difficulty saying whether i like him. on the one hand, he ended up being more multidimensional then i thought he was going to be with his internal conflict between keeping up appearances for the sake social status and societal order and his desire to pursue his own personal interests and ideals against the needs of his father and thus societal conventions. on the other hand, the game never really runs with this as much as it should and hes still treated as a bit of a joke character so... c+ to b? 

Ingrid: the token heterosexual of the blue lions whos still kinda gay anyways, her whole struggle with being a knight over a housewife seems a bit odd on the surface considering theres plenty of female knights and no one throws much of a fuss in universe, until you learn that it isnt so much that society expects her to do it as matter of course and more so that shes struggling with whether to pursue personal duty to her family or personal desires and ideals kinda like lorenz. in that respect she hits the mark a bit better then he does.

Raphael: kinda insubstantial but i liked him anyways, his sheer exuberance can be kinda refreshing in the games darker moments and hes got a few angles of his own such as his refusal to consider his parents deaths as part of a larger conspiracy so as to not hurt his friendship with ignatz nor ruin his own life and his sisters. plus hes just generally a nice guy. like a big huggable bear. just a shame that being a nice kinda dumb huggable bear is all thats really done with him.

Ignatz: his painting stuff and personal insecurities about wanting to do it over being a knight which his parents want him to do, more of that duty over desires and ideals thing again, is well enough and his probably misplaced guilt over raphaels misfortunes is definitely a highlight of him but he never really grabs as a character for some reason. probably because theres a lot of other characters in the game that hit those same marks and do it better then him.

Sylvain: has a lot of aspects that never really feel like they get proper follow up, his big thing is less womanizer and more so that he covers up his own mistrust and personal feeling by pretending to be a shameless flirt and philanderer. basically, maybe the emotional pain will go away if i flirt with girls and act the fool. but again there never really feels like theres any proper follow up for all this, others comment on it and then its more often then not dropped in story. hes fun enough but never really realized if that makes sense.

Caspar: shonen protagonist is kinda an apt word to describe him honestly, and that idealism of his clashes with the more grey on grey morality of the world hes within which is never a particularly bad direction to take the shonen bois in if done well like hunter x hunter. And he is done well, or at least satisfactorily to the point that hes another one i ended up liking more then i thought i would. his problem is more so that his interactions with most other characters in the main cast which feel duller then they should on most occasions.

Dorothea: probably gonna get a bit of shit for this, but i have no interest in her. her insecurities about her future and getting a good husband is well and interesting but manuela does that better honestly and outside of that dorotheas a bit... not shallow but hazy and insubstantial if you will. she obviously has appeal to people but like ignatz she failed to grab me in part because others did what she did and better within the game itself.

Ashe: soft boi chose to be soft instead of hard, one of the characters i found liking and one i expected to kinda like to begin with. in game he gets accused of being childish and naive a lot but i dont see it personally, hes not naive but more so tries to look for the best in people and in life like lonato did all those years ago for him. that said, the speed with which lonato dies damages his identity as a character a bit by happening before we really get a chance to feel for his relation to lonato, its not to big a bug bear as it doesnt hurt his character all that much but it does feel a bit frustrating.

Felix: teenage angst personified, his main gripes seem to be a distaste of warrior culture and its glorification of bloodshed and sacrifice but instead of approaching it with sadness or pacifism, he lashes out against what he feels is the unfairness of the world. hes not exactly wrong in his feelings and as a character it makes sense and works for his abrasive attitude, and its an interesting twist to the navarre type to have their isolation come not from stoicism nor sheer blood lust or a combo of the two but rather from a rage against the machine of society mindset.

Ferdinand: he got more interesting as i got farther along, and i personally feel he works the best as a character when going against edelgard since thats where more of his personal drama comes from. hes eager to succeed and prove himself worthy of his title over time and holds a chivalrous mindset very similar to others in the cast but his growth is less about learning how to hold onto those ideals in the face of reality for the sake of personal fulfillment but more so about learning to define himself by himself and not by societies needs. ultimately he comes to value chivalry not because its what people tell him to value but because he truly values it and i enjoy that. but its also why i feel he works better on other routes then edelgards since there hes still valuing himself not for himself but for the expectations society or edelgard in this case is placing him under, one tyrant for another in a sense. i admit i dont remember much about him on edelgards route though because i just like him more on the others.

Leonie: poorly timed support aside, she has an odd charm to her that a lot of modern fire emblem characters just dont have anymore. but knuckling past jeralt senpai shes an interesting blend of stingy and work effort that goes to inform itself and her relations to others. and like a lot of the golden deer she has a lackadaisical attitude of ‘i might not know what the fuck is happening, but i do know someone needs an ass whooping!’ and it works especially well in her case since her character is very attuned towards focusing more on her personal matters then the grand scheme of things because she has rent due in a few months. if she was in a more traditional fe set up she would definitely be a beowolf archtype that you need to pay to recruit. in fact im surprised thats not an option on other routes to begin with for her.

Hilda: honestly suprised me by not being a pure serra type. she has aspects of that on the surface with the selfish almost vain attitude towards life and others bur well serra is more about puffing herself up to hide insecurity and contribute towards a desperate desire for grand social status, Hilda downplays herself and her abilities due to living in her brothers shadow if unintentionally and seeing the stress it can bring. they’re both lazy and vain, on the surface anyways, always getting others to do their work for them but well serra seeks more social status to escape it hilda seeks less social status to escape it. plus it was kinda funny to see hilda act as claudes unofficial number 2 you could still recruit.

Lindhart: Sleepy boi needs a nap and thats kinda it really. exaggeration maybe but unlike a lot of characters in the game and the series as a whole he really doesnt have a reason to be there as a character. as a unit certainly but not a character, in terms of motivation anyways. He hates blood, fighting and violence, hed rather sleep or pursue personal interests then work or politics, hes insightful and intelligent but the important players in the plot have other advisers and hes not interested in stepping up in that regard anyways. his only real reason for being there is academic interest and even then a pin has to be put in that when war breaks out. hes not a bad character overall though, his sleepiness and insight make for an interesting double act along with his blunt mannerisms, i just have trouble pinning down motivations for him.

Mercedes: big team mom energy, which i suppose goes along with the whole being older then everyone thing. a bit dopey and airheaded at first glance shes one of the more receptive characters to how others are feeling and well she does try to nurture shes not above scolding if she feels it would help someone more then praise and reassurance. of course shes also very detached to events of the world mostly just there to help the people around her from the bottom rather then the top which is not an insult and more one of the things i find fascinating about her. it all makes for a very interesting character and one of my personal favorites of the cast.

Annette: overworker, issues with her dad, magic bubbly, and hits things with axes. a nice recipe of a character but it never feels as if the game can get it all to blend properly. more so to the point is that most of these elements work independently of each other and not to inform each other despite the games insistence. theres a lot of dramatic potential involving her father as well and though the game makes the best use of those aspects its not to the benefit of the rest of her character. it doesnt hurt her either though and she has some appealing dialogue with other characters.

Marianne: I had trouble getting to like her, perhaps more so then any other character among the other students. not because i hated her but because shes, well, very boring. alot of the characters in the game are into the self deprecation thing already and well her personality aspects of acting quite and submissive to fall into the background from a lack of self confidence it also feels like the game came up with two different explanations for it and couldnt settle on whether it was because of her adoptive fathers pressure or her families history and instead of weaving both together decided to use them interchangeably. Sometimes shes a wallflower because of her father and a lack of confidence to state her mind and self loathing over that lack of confidence, other times its because of her lineage and self loathing over her cursed history. never really at the same time.

Bernadetta: another odd favorite for me. recent support changes aside, the basic gist of her history remains the same in that her father was a tyrant in regards to her future which caused her to grow up with no confidence and a crippling fear of society, so shes already off to a good start as a character by basically doing mariannes schtik but better. well its hard for me to definitely say she ever grows past that as a character, thats fine in my opinion because her development is less stop being a recluse because society demands you dont and more so about making actual friends and learning that not all people are garbage fires just most of them. in most of her supports anyways. she just feels the most rewarding to interact with alright, and she was the one i always felt the most upset to mess up a speak thing with. Let us hug and stay inside watching cartoons together.

Petra: i went in wanting to like her and really liking her at first, but shes hit a middle of the road for me now. her speech gimmick wasn't particularly egregious and gets even less noticeable after the timeskip, but her actual character is a very straight forward ‘national pride demands independence’ package and doesnt really escape past that boundary all that much. its very understandable motivation, id even go so far as to say that shes the one with the best reasons to betray the empire of the black eagles characters, so like ferdinand i feel she works better outside of the black eagles in term of her own character identity and motivation/development as she finally stands up for her peoples right to exist on their own in an fe6 echidna kinda fashion. outside of that though shes... foreign to the other characters. thats kinda it.

Lysithia: as a unit she hits like a truck, as a character shes functional but hardly revolutionary for the series. i mean i did like her since i have a fondness for her archtype of weird magic prodigy poor social skills, but more so that she doesn't hit any particularly new notes in that regard. Shes a lot of lute, with some delthea childishness in her, some of sanakis sharper political wit and dark history, and a bit of miriels scientist on top. that said its all blended very nicely and she has some nice scenes for herself that got me to feel and care for her, some kinda adorable moments, and a history well woven into the games background and more so then most of the other deer and a lot of the other characters from across the houses in general. for a minor character anyways.

you may now all stone me to death.

[randomnameless]

What are your top 5 Strawmitri arguments?

Mine would be, in no particular order:

Dimitri cares about the present, therefore he doesn't care at all about the future and would be a terrible leader because of it

He's so mentally ill he can never hope to recover, and as such Edelgard did him a favor by killing him in CF

He's more at fault for the war than Edelgard because he fought back after she attacked first and unprovoked, instead of letting her take Faerghus without a fight

The entire point of Dimitri's character and of AM in general is how royalty can get away with commiting crimes commoners would be executed for, since Fleche gets killed for trying to take revenge on him but he survives in spite of all the people he killed when he was at his most unhinged

Dimitri's hatred of Edelgard is rooted in his love for her back when they were kids, which is why him killing her in AM by stabbing her with his phallic-shaped lance is supposed to be symbolic of his desire to fuck her

Oh gods, I remember I wanted to make a "redshit takes awards" once upon a time, but then I gave up lol

I haven't browsed that much about Dimitri nor given too much thought about the discourse surrounding him because laughing at the Rhea takes took way too much time, but I think I really laughed at the :

Dimitri is racist because he cuts Claude when Claude is being an asshole about the Abyss

Even if I can't forgot the

Defensive invasion

Dimitri represents toxic masculinity (the guy who has traditional "feminine" coded hobbies like sewing, who cries, who blushes calling his friends by their first names, whose biggest default and the one that leads him to his downfall is his empathy, etc etc)

Dimitri stole Felix and Annette's dads :(

dimitri is a religious extremist because he shelters Rhea who is also a religious extremist. source : trust me bro I know i have a degree in advanced bullshit

the State of Quo - as Dimitri reforms his country like his dad wanted to do but never got the chance because his head rolled from his shoulders for some reason - this one was parroted in Nopes because how dare he want a progressive change rather than a radical one !!

and last but not the least, and it's less about Dimitri than about the poor redshiter who said something like "women love dimitri because they are controled by their ovaries and they prefer a violent man who would abuse them rather than real people like me :("

Oh and also, as a french person so far removed from american politics, the "Dimitri is a centrist" take always made me laugh (Dimitri chez Bayrou?)

From your takes though, I'd rank them like this :

peepee weapon thus stabbing Supreme Leader means he wanted to fuck her and this is why he goes "cray-cray" because she didn't reciprocate his affections (and totes not because he believes she killed his father, their mother, his friends and actually starts a war slaughtering thousands of randoms)

"too cray-cray to live"

caring about the present sucks because you don't care about the future (which is totally not built on the people living in the present!)

nobles bad because they kill commoners who try to kill them :(

victim blaming (this one is so mainstream!)

[randomnameless]

I've heard you mention before how bad the Zahras chapter is in terms of characterization for the three lords, especially Dimitri, but can you specify the reasons why?

Thanks to the datamine, I can finally get those lines without having to screencap everything from youtube!

So,

For Dimitri, Claude says this :

I'm just gonna come out and say it: After the war, I'm going to abolish the Central Church and depose the archbishop. The people of Fódlan have been shackled by this decrepit system for too long, and I'm ending it.

So okayyy...

Claude just says he has some beef with the person Dimitri welcomed as a refugee. Why?

That's right. Think about it. Who steals your freedom and gives you an endless list of duties and obligations simply because you have a Crest?

Dimitri's obligations and duties are his, not because he has a crest, but because he is a King - just like King of Almyra would have obligations and duties not to let his own people starve or be used as meatshields in Saturday raids, or letting his spurned son mount the biggest invasion ever because he's too busy mopping about his missing son, but apparently the King of Almyra doesn't give a fuck about his people.

And while yes, Dimitri is a King because he was born with a crest as Lambert's son... The need to have a crested King never came from the Church, and let's be real, Dimitri, as the character we know, feels like he has a duty to people and wishes to help because he is Dimitri, even if he was crestless like Ashe, Dimitri would want to help (just like Ashe!).

Who forces you and your friends into a bunch of unwanted marriages and positions of power?

That's not the Church, for sure, but the feudal notion of nobility - even if, let's be real, it is completely hypocritical for Claude to say this, because the same notion of nobility also exists in places around the continent where the CoS has no sway like... Almyra?

And about the unwanted marriages, again, Claude knows (or should know) Lorenz and his marriage problems, it is not the Church who forces people in unwanted marriages, but the responsibilities that come with being a Noble - Lorenz marrying Marianne means both house Gloucester and House Edmund are strengthened and could work more closely, maybe being able to rival Riegan or even overtake them in an "importance" contest, Lorenz marrying Leonie means... House Gloucester stays House Gloucester.

It's also hilarious because AG has a NPC talking about her marriage to House Gautier (I think?), and she never mentions the Church, rather mentions how she ultimately loves her husband.

The church even forbids any official contact with outside regions!

Source : my chamber pot

Dimitri knows well, after having seen Rhea helping Duscurian refugees, that the Church does not forbid contact with "outside regions", hell, Faerghus and Duscur were on relative good grounds, before the Regicide.

Not exactly great for Faerghus, right? Being as close to Sreng and Albinea as you are.

If Faerghus has sour relationships with Sreng, it's because of border raids, but of course a Prince of Almyra will never talk about this :)

And we know Albinea trades a lot with Fodlan, in general, if their damn fruits being in every region is any indication - or this tidbit from the Book detailing the Royal Territories of Faerghus :

Dominic A small but beautiful barony. Its coastal cities have become a hub of commerce through trade with Albinea.

Too bad Claude speaks, again, with confidence, about something he doesn't know, but can you imagine a micro-second that Dimitri doesn't know who Dominic trades with? Gilbert, a second son of House Dominic, is pious to a fault - but apparently he never bothers telling his brother that trading with Albinea is BaD, so...

Claude, again, is presenting the contents of his chamber pot to Dimitri, asking him to trust him based on those.

Claude continues, after assuring Dimitri that Faerghus isn't his goal !

And really, our enemy isn't the actual church so much as the people at the top who make all the decisions.

Rhea BaD

So it's not even about the Church in General, but apparently, Rhea (as the people at the top) makes the decisions to, uh, prevent the world from interacting with Fodlan (but there are Morfis merchants in Garreg Mach???) - the same woman who, in AG, we hear busies herself helping children and refugees from Duscur after a fire or what not.

(And that's not talking about the kind of official "contact" Adrestia had with Brigid and Sreng...)

I'm sorry Claude, but if the Alliance doesn't want to have any "official" contact with Almyra, it's not because Rhea forbids said contact, but it's because your father, your brother and your retainer (?) Nader apparently do not see anything wrong with a penis measuring contest that consists in raiding, "rampaging" and "bringing souvenirs" from Fodlan for funsies.

So, after playing 12 chapters in AG where Dimitri knows what Rhea does, we could expect some rebuttal, right?

I understand where you're coming from, Claude, and on a personal level I actually agree with you.

Dimi, no :(

But as King, he is opposed, not because a King has to use his head and can't do stupid shit on a whim (like marrying the still current wife of a foreign leader!)

Yes, for three reasons. First, abolishing the church would deny the king's right to rule Faerghus. Without one, the people will descend into chaos and war. Would you be able to take responsibility for such a thing, once it came to pass?

My Bad!

That mention of the King's right to rule Faerghus coming from the Church was nonsensical during the discourse days, and still is, after Nopes.

If the Kingdom's name is "Holy", remember that a name and a history doesn't mean a thing when people don't want to follow it - again, remember what happened with Adrestia? They pissed on the Church, Rhea acting as a witness is a custom you can ignore whenever you want, and they are actually waging a war against the Church of Seiros, when Seiros herself fucking created (together with Willy!) the country who has her own symbol on their flag!

Faerghus won its independence against Adrestia, Church or no Church, Faerghus existed by fucking over the Empire (as it was led by Loog). Without the Church, and faced with a powerful Empire, are we really supposed to think Faerghians won't rally behind Loog's scion to, hm, protect them or at least ensure their continued independence from Adrestia?

Second, recklessly discarding the church will only incite discord among the clergy and its supporters.

This is a somewhat valid reason, as we know, the CoS helped the Kingdom in recent times, especially after the regicide. But they are also currently helping the Kingdom against Supreme Leader's war of conquest, let it be by taking care of randoms or sending its knights to support Faerghus.

Also, the Kingdom operates on "shat upon by this game" notions of gratitude, love and loyalty - unlike Adrestia, if Supreme Leader's stunt of backstabbing the CoS after they helped her get rid of "corruption" in the Empire is any indication. And I doubt the same Kingdom folk would readily accept it if their King suddenly got rid of the organisation/woman who helped them so much during their time of need.

And finally, a revolution of this nature will not only mean casualties among the commonfolk, but will endanger your own life as well.

I will have to check the JP text because this "revolution" word is a bit contrived - there's no revolution if you're just kicking out a religious organisation in YOUR Kingdom - but yes, commonfolk will be pissed (maybe take up weapons?) even if I'm pretty sure some "noblefolk" will also be pissed at this decision.

And because Dimitri worries about everyone - save for Rhea and the church apparently because they BaD - he also worries about Claude's life.

Leaving the first two for a second, I have some serious issues with that last one. I'm glad you're concerned for my safety, but I can take care of myself

Claude really replies with "leaving logic aside" and the commonfolk casualties he doesn't give a fuck about if GW is any indication, uwu don't worry about me I can watch over myself :)

Ah, good ol' Plot Armor :)

But don't you see? The people you wish to depose are human, just as you are.

Hahahan hilarious Dimitri, those people aren't human ! Supreme Leader told me!

No matter what ingenious scheme you come up with or how careful you try to be, they will suffer.

Is he trying to appeal to Claude's compassion and moral fiber? The guy who is, in GW, invading his country for funsies, staging a double invasion with Sreng forces who are just used as decoy/fodder?

And their vengeance will eventually find you, no matter how hard you try to stave it off. I know full well the guilt that accompanies such actions…and the retribution they provoke

Lol, no.

Who can give a fuck about the suffering of Nabateans/Church folk? Being backstabbed by everyone because of propaganda, and needing to die for reasons as consistent as a baby's first purée?

"don't do that Claude, Rhea will be angry and swear vengeance against you, and blablabla cycle of hatred and retributions and blabla"

Everyone has to deal with the consequences of their decisions. If you let it rule you, Fódlan never changes.

Says Mister "I abolished a Republic and created a Kingdom in the land that used to say "we bow to no king and to no emperor" " or "I'm invading your land and killing your people" or even "I'm enrolling Almyrans in my army who will rampage and bring souvenirs and the Leicesterians (?) are totally okay with it!" ?

Claude who never ever faces any consequences for his bonkers decision through the entire game? That guy? Talks about "dealing with the consequences"? Fodlan changing is more important than Fodlan dying?

(at least that's how it was for the Alliance turned Federation...)

But not taking the time to look where you're going will only lead you to stumble and fall. And if there are those who would be hurt by this, I consider it my duty to help them.

Dimitri wants to help... Claude, who would be hurt with this "revolution", but dgaf about getting rid of the Church, aka Rhea/Seteth/the clergy who would also, obviously, be "hurt" by this stupid idea?

Heh. There you go, trying to save everyone again. You really are too good for me!

Not everyone, as we all understood - the Church can burn :)

To be honest, I'm jealous of how you're not burdened with the same restrictions.

"tbh Claude, I'm jealous of how you don't give a fuck about the number of deaths your actions are causing"

Are we... sure that's Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd talking here? Really? Wasn't he body snatched by Chilon?

Forgot OOC, this line wouldn't even be said by this character.

In the world I'm trying to create, you wouldn't be burdened by them either. You could even… No, forget that. I'm serious about what I said, though. And I really do admire how you want to save everyone. Honestly, if you weren't a king, I think we could've been friends.

"In my world, you too wouldn't give a fuck about the deaths/suffering your actions are creating! You're only worried about them because you are king! But if you weren't, you could be an amoral asshole, just like me! Could we be fwends in an AU plz?"

I feel much the same. Had I joined with you, I might have been able to see a different vision of Fódlan.

"yeah!"

Sadly, Dimitri isn't able to throw his compassion and morals to the trashcan, so he cannot join Claude !

And if you consider this line can be said during the GW events (remember, the invasion, killing Matthias, killing his soldiers and his people, etc etc), this is even more insulting.

So, as a good friend said, this Zahrofl convo shits on FE16!Claude (but the games is all about it), but more importantly, it is the only place in the game where Dimitri is Nopes'd, aka, his character does a 180° and/or is butchered because the plot demands so.

Like, anon, can you imagine a second, Dimitri, the Dimitri, wishing he too, couldn't "be burdened"' by the suffering he creates?

Imo, it's on par with Supreme Leader suddenly loving the sun and loving to swim. That character wouldn't be Supreme Leader, just like the person in this convo, isn't Fodlan's Dimitri (tfw Engage's Emblem!Dimitri is more faithful to IS's idea of Dimitri than Nopes lol).

[travelling-on-the-octopath]

S Plays Golden Wildfire - Part . . . i can't remember

Chapter 9 - The End of the Alliance

All right motherfuckers, we're really in it now. This one is longer than normal because of the sheer volume of SHIT we have to wade through.

Story Content

All right so four months have passed since Almyra's attempt to ream Leicester's borders.

Holst is now the head of the house, though I can't remember if that was already established. Brain melty.

Anyway hot take, the federation would have been cool if it were something like the War Measures Act, in that it was a set of laws passed only during war, and shows that Claude does what has to be done when the situation calls for it. (You'll see why the current execution of the Federation falls flat soon.)

Arval knows what the fuck is up fgkljdflgkj "Yes, [Claude being able to do what he wants is] probably for the best. Probably."

Real talk though, for Shez to put it like "Claude can do whatever he wants now" makes him sound like a child wearing the crown rather than the capable leader he's shown himself to be (at least in Houses), if not an outright abuser of his power. I'm not saying that's what he is, but it doesn't instill in me a great deal of confidence to hear a leader can now do whatever they want.

All right so the three amigos of the Alliance (Albany, Siward, and Burgundy) are planning on defecting to Faerghus because fuck the Federation

Hm. Okay. Interesting.

Claude says they're going to send these territories a heads-up for the incoming army to settle unrest. Lorenz suggests instead that they send envoys to first learn of the situation, and Claude says they would just lie.

I'm like. That's not wildly out there, but it certainly makes me skeptical.

Bold fuckin move to maintain the old banner with the Crests of the previous five noble houses now that power lies with one man

Shez and Lysithea acknowledge that kingship might be a little messy because of Claude's tendency to get . . . carried away? Is that a characteristic that's at all congruent with a pragmatic schemer?

Holst says the minor lords weren't in favour of the federation. Tracks, seeing as Claude seemed to only get the approval of the roundtable lords in doing so

"The whole thing was Claude's idea right? I'm sure it'll be fine" BUT YOU GAIN SUPPORT POINTS WITH LEONIE FOR BEING SKEPTICAL SO . . . . .

Nothing kind to be said about Viscount Burgundy apparently. I'd be interested to see if this is like Crown+Eastern Lords v. Western Lords in Faerghus.

Huh, so it is a little different; Dimitri has a line in AG where he says that because the lords are his vassals, even in the west, he cannot disregard them entirely. What funky Leicesterian general over here is telling me: "It's not like the minor nobles were ever allowed to participate in the roundtables. They'd be told about the discussion topics beforehand, and could submit a complaint if they had any objections. And now without that, they won't have a say in how the region is run."

Judith corroborates this; what she doesn't have a comment on is how their dynamic is going to shift now that the Federation is instated, which I think the general was right about, but that's just me.

Soldier in the camp wants to align with the Kingdom. Why isn't she leading the Federation again? And that's not even a bias talking; she says the only reason they couldn't before was because the start of the war had fucked up Faerghus too, but now that things have settled down, it would be a good chance to improve relations with them--and it would. Leicester's and Faerghus' resources are complimentary in that the former excels in agriculture while the latter has what is arguably the most skilled military in the continent, even if it's not the biggest. Both of these exports/specialities are what the other lacks. Seeing as they're BOTH being reamed by the Empire, there's really no reason outside of patchy narration that they shouldn't make allies out of each other, because they . . . literally do that in Azure Gleam.

Ignatz says pilgrims on their way to garreg mach used to occupy the territories Claude mentioned before, and now that there are Imperial forces in that area, unrest has began to rise.

HUH. IT'S ALMOST LIKE THE EMPIRE IS THE BAD GUY IN THIS. WHAT A CONCEPT. CLAUDE GET YOUR FUCKING HEAD ON STRAIGHT.

BYE GFKLGJ???FGISHLgkh Federation soldier: "I wonder, what kind of man is Claude? He led us to victory against the Empire and Almyra, and now he's suddenly our king. I can't imagine a man of his caliber would listen to the opinions of those beneath him."

Oh that is JUICY, keeping that in mind.

Oh yeah by the way, I plan to inconvenience Claude at every turn. I even said he didn't have my full support just yet on the making of the federation <3 sorry not sorry king

NOW WAIT A DAMN FUCKING MINUTE?????????

Church person (sorry can't remember their station gflgkjd I think it was a priest?): "The bishop and I went to Derdriu to bestow the goddess' blessing upon the coronation. Just between you and me, King Claude said he'd be perfectly fine without a ceremony. But the bishop convinced him it would help give Leicester's citizens peace of mind. That's why King Claude gave in and had a short ceremony. It's certainly possible to become king without the goddess' blessing, but the world isn't ready for that yet. That's waht the bishop said, anyway."

I'm not even. Oh boy.

Reminder to anyone who's managed to forget: The Alliance was formed without religious involvement; and as was pointed out by anvils-of-history in this post, the idea that the Church somehow birthed the Kingdom is a retcon at best.

Claude's agreed to meet with the Emperor. Someone fucking kill me.

EdeIgard you little-- (essentially, she's pinning the whole thing on Acheron turning tail on the Alliance, which gave the Empire the chance to attack them, though Claude knows it was an unprovoked attack and that "dead men tell no tales." SOMEHOW, he still allies with her. Fuck knows why.)

CLAUDE. HONEY. I WOULD LOVE TO KNOW WHY YOU AGREE THAT THE CENTRAL CHURCH HAS TO GO.

okayyyy waiiiitttttttttt he literally says the same thing dimitri says in the dimiclaude support! "Oh, I read [your letter] all right. And from a personal standpoint, it's something I can get behind. But as the leader of the Federation, I can't say the same." SO HE LITERALLY ACKNOWLEDGES THE IMPORTANCE OF THE CHURCH GFJLSFGJ I CAN'T STAND THIS

EdeIgard's whole thing truly does make me a little . like. "We do not care where the Federation places its faith, so long as it is not with the Central Church." That feels so slimy to me god flgjdflgkj

Okay so the gist of this is: EdeIgard and Hubert are like "Wouldn't it be NICE if you finally had peace at the border :) wouldn't that be so fucking neat :) we'll compensate you for the war we wrought, by the way!" and claude and holst just go "Meh, sure."

This fuckingggggg gameeeee HOW did it peak with Azure Gleam

Shez being the ONLY one on this fucking bridge with brain cells and saying "??????? The Church and Kingdom are suddenly our enemies? People aren't gonna like that . . ."

Shez: "[Rhea and Seteth] aren't what they seem to be. If what the Empire says is true, that is." SO YOU'RE REALLY WAGING WAR ON A MILLENNIUM-OLD INSITITUTION AND A NATION BECAUSE OF THE WORD OF HER IMPERIAL MAJESTY? MY SIBLINGS IN CHRIST WHAT--?

Oh god almighty-- Claude: "By cooperating with the Empire, we can expand our influence and power as much as they do, if not more." WHEN WAS THIS EVER A CONCERN FOR HIM????

My head is fucking hurting dfgkljdfgkj Claude dredges up past conflicts as some sort of fucked up justification for reaming the Kingdom now. When the Empire was attacking, Faerghus fucked over Leicester, and Claude--look to the brighter dawn, forget past grudges Claude--uses that as some sort of gotcha/justification for trying to dick over the Kingdom now.

NOW HANG ON, HE THINKS FAERGHUS MEDDLED IN DAPHNEL? HUH? Didn't someone from house Daphnel want to defect????? And regardless, it wasn't even that Daphnel moved to the Kingdom/became part of the Kingdom; Galatea is split off from that house.

This is a letter from the shadow library, by the way, written by Claudia of House Riegan, emphasis mine: "My Beloved...You were right. It seems he would not hesitate to divide the house. What's more, I hear he's considering taking his half of the territory and joining the Kingdom. I can't believe he would even consider dragging another region into this, not to mention stirring up trouble over his inheritance, at a time when the Alliance desperately needs to unite."

But, yeah, blame the kingdom for that.

Claude: "I've always been skeptical of the dogma they preach. It's just a way for them to force their own belief system onto everyone else. Their creed legitimizes Fódlan's system of nobility, which values Crests above all else leaves no room for people of different backgrounds or faiths. And if what the Empire is saying is true, then I couldn't even begin to count the number of crimes the Central Church has committed."

Claude you oblivious little shit if you would just think about this for TWO SECONDS:

You come from a royal family. You KNOW that power structures are as arbitrary as they are necessary, and it's HOW they're used that matters. You KNOW that if it weren't Crests, it would be something else, because you grew up in it.

Shamir was one of Rhea's most trusted knights. She is not of Fódlan.

Petra, Princess of Brigid, was welcomed with open arms; IN FACT, the real hostility there was her being THE EMPIRE'S HOSTAGE. But working with the Empire is the means to an end, right <3

Not sure if you met Cyril, but oh boy! He was given free room and board at the monastery because he had nowhere else to go.

Dedue! Right hand of the literal prince of Faerghus, and in this game LITERAL, OFFICIAL RIGHT HAND TO THE KING OF FAERGHUS

Why would the Empire, the leader of which just lied to your fucking face at your acknowledgement, suddenly be telling the truth now? Using them to your own advantage or not, you are allying with the aggressor, which you LITERALLY COULD NOT DO IN THE BASE GAME.

Guess who was able to reform their nation, top to bottom, without a single peep from the Central Church! THE EMPIRE! The one with arguably THE deepest roots in religion! WHY ARE YOU DUMB

Catherine, literally Rhea's most devoted knight and hailing from the not-so-Holy Kingdom of Faerghus does not concern herself with the teachings of Seiros, but rather protecting Rhea/executing her commands.

Okay Claude is starting to piss me the fuck off, even beyond his butchered character.

With his ANGRY PORTRAIT, mind you: "Honestly? I want to break this place wide open and tear down every last one of its insular customs."

What is wrong with you? WHICH of its insular customs?????? It's one thing to want to break open borders so people can meet in the middle; it is ANOTHER THING ENTIRELY to want to "break a place wide open" and "tear down" a portion of its supposed customs that YOU failed to understand. You are LITERALLY everything that made your life a nightmare, how are you not seeing this.

God he fucking pisses me off, where is my actual Claude. I might just have to suck up my distaste for dead dimitri!routes and play Verdant Wind to wipe this taste out of my mouth.

??? Strange; unlocking the Claurenz support before the event/gallery scene was strange enough, but now it's saying I haven't talked with two people in the camp when I already have? GW the route of glitches?

Plonking this (Lysithea/Claude B support) in the story content box because it does WONDERS for characterizing Claude the way he should be, and because I know the battle I'm about to enter will contradict this: "In the grand scheme of things, your life is far, far more valuable than a few measly days of combat. [...] You know, it's not just your own life you're rolling the dice with. Every single soldier you command would die with pride by your word." Claude prioritizing the life of the people that fight for him over everything else, because death is the only thing you can't reverse.

Main Battle

Aiding Imperial forces at Ailell.

Are we sure I can't just let them die--

Arval senses a Claude Scheme(TM) in the works.

Okay so yeah Claude just straight up let people die to get the advantage. (Catherine and Shez say as much.) who are you and what have you done with my dude.

Oh yeah I've decided that no one gets recruited anymore. Everyone suffers. I'm not gonna go for the alternate ending and people are gonna die.

The Church and Imperial forces were wiped out

Okay either this is the worst "I keep fucking up" story in the world or Claude loves lying to himself.

"Not one enemy made it off the battlefield alive. From a tactical standpoint, that's an ideal outcome. At least . . . it's supposed to be. But it still leaves me with a bad taste in my mouth. Even so, the only way I can go is forward. Now that I've taken this first step, there's no turning back." And then I missed the last line verbatim but it was essentially "not after what i've done. these hands will never be clean again."

God this is giving me such "the path I walk soaks my feet in blood." Like either fix your mistakes and do better, or shut the FUCK up. Honestly.

Everyone is Very Displeased with Claude. God bless.

Claude says he'll give thought to being a better leader. Says he might not come to the conclusion Judith wants.

WELL SEEING AS WE KNOW WHAT HAPPENS IN SRENG--

Side Battles

Aid imperial troops, protect Leicesterian supplies, and I'll be honest I want to be through with this route as soon as possible so I skipped the rest.

Miscellaneous

(this was unlocked at the beginning of the chapter, when the discussion event was only triggered after you leave the camp for the first time) I WAS ALLOWED TO UNLOCK THE CLAURENZ B SUPPORT WAY TOO EARLY??GFDKLJRIJT LORENZ IS TALKING ABOUT CO-OPERATING WITH THE EMPIRE? FUCK

Claude now apparently sees little to no benefit in the Alliance's previous structure?????? Even though he praised it as a peacetime method???? Regarding a non-hereditary monarchy: "But I can't stand to think about going back to making that decision via roundtable. It'd be no different from how we used to do things in the Alliance."

Claude suggests democracy

For some reason they got a CG in their support???gkljdflgj lol

Claude for some reason finds it sooooooooo easy to talk to Shez. God fucking knows why. He says it's because they don't come with strings (merc life) but. Ayo KING, guess who's the last person you want to trust with your secrets? A mercenary !!

Going on dates with hilda fixes everything (though her japanese voice actress is doing a lot of that work. I just love the way she speaks

I find it really funny that one of the dialogues you get when observing Lorenz is basically "can you PLEASE stop trying to eye-fuck me!! We're in public!!"

I love Lorenz an embarrassing amount fdgkldjfg (yes i gave him the merc whistle leave me alone)

Me, cooking up literal braised pheasant for Lysithea: :D

This seventeen-year-old menace: SO YOU COOK ME CHILD'S FOOD, DO YOU?