#it’s not to say lambert didn’t love Rodrigue

[dimiclaudeblaigan]

Something that SEEERIOUSLY isn’t talked about enough among Rodrigue fans is how Rodrigue (almost? or generally) always refers to Dimitri as “Your/His Highness” except in the moment that Dimitri’s life was at risk right in front of Rodrigue and Rodrigue shielded him with his own body.

Rodrigue is always respectful and aware of their stations, but none of that matters when Dimitri is almost killed. Rodrigue reacts emotionally without station in mind, forgetting to refer to him in an “appropriate” manner and reacting instead in a more intimate manner (i.e. using a person’s name instead of their title).

Most people wouldn’t dare to refer to their prince by their first name, but Rodrigue forgets all that the moment Dimtiri is in danger. He follows up that familial intimacy by calling Dimitri “my boy”. In a way it’s like Rodrigue's formalities are just forced expectations that are ingrained into him, because his actual instinct is to refer to Dimitri in a familial way. If he doesn’t have time to think about what he’s saying, it will be Dimitri’s name that he uses because that’s how he truly thinks of Dimitri.

He doesn’t solely view Dimitri as his prince. He views Dimitri as family, and in a setting where royalty exists, it’s so important to the relationship in question when that societal expectation is broken, simply because it tells you exactly what that character thinks of their royalty.

When royalty’s life is in danger, it would even make sense for people to hesitate because if they do anything, they might also be in danger and generally humans instinctually prioritize their own life (even if they do really want to step in to help). That typically is not the case with humans regarding loved ones, where that instinct instead changes to an instinct where they automatically step in to protect people dear to them - especially parents to their children. Parents - not just in humans but in most forms of life (cats, dogs, etc) - are extremely protective of their children and react without a second - even a first - thought, because it’s not a thought at all when they see their children in danger. It’s a base reaction.

Rodrigue wasn’t witnessing his prince being attacked. He was witnessing his son being attacked, and he reacted as a father would - not as a knight, a vassal or anyone under Dimitri’s station and how they would be expected to react to protect him. Dimitri didn’t have to be his blood son for him to react the same way a blood parent would. Dimitri wasn’t born to him but he was Rodrigue’s son all the same and he couldn’t accept his boy being harmed.

I love that his reaction is exactly the same as what Lambert would have done. I love that in that one moment when he didn’t have time to think about his word choice, such important stations meant absolutely nothing to him. I love that what was important to him was Dimitri the person, and not Dimitri the prince. I love that at the very end, he died knowing his boy was safe and alive. I love that, when he starts reusing “Your Highness”, it’s only after the immediate danger has passed and he has time to actually process his word choice again, because it really drives home how quickly and thoughtlessly he reacted to seeing Dimitri in danger when he dropped formalities to use his first name.

He also didn’t tell him to live for the people or live because he was a prince. He wanted Dimitri to remember to live for himself and likely died with the hope that those being his last words would be taken much more heavily and sincerely, and give Dimitri a lot to think about in regard to caring for himself as a person and not just seeing himself as a prince/future king, because Rodrigue also saw him as a person.

Not only did Rodrigue protect his son (which mind you must have been extremely important to him after already losing a son. Can you imagine how devastated he would be to lose another child? This time he saved a son from death, which he was unable to do previously and he wasn’t present to be able to even try), but he gave Dimitri the thing Dimitri desired the most from those he loved: he treated Dimitri like a regular person who needed to live his own life for himself, and in the single most critical moment to Rodrigue, forgot to use titles and formalities and openly expressed his true feelings just by using Dimitri’s name alone.

Dimitri never liked all those stuffy behaviors and titles. He just wanted to be a person. Rodrigue, his family, gave him that at Rodrigue’s very end, explicitly informing Dimitri that was how this man always thought of him just from that one moment of Rodrigue’s feelings slipping through. He was always keeping up appearances, but Dimitri was always just Dimitri to him.

Also, Rodrigue says “please tell me it wasn’t in vain”. Remember, Rodrigue’s son died in vain. Glenn didn’t actually get to protect Dimitri. Earlier, Rodrigue stated that Dimitri’s injuries left him on the verge of death. Glenn didn’t die protecting him. Glenn died in a tragedy. Nothing Glenn did that day that led to his death actually helped Dimitri survive. Dimitri survived because Gilbert found him in time.

Rodrigue knows that and doesn’t want another person dear to Dimitri to die a death that didn’t need to happen. He also doesn’t want it to be in vain because if it was, he would have died being unable to protect his son. Rodrigue “died for what he believed in”, but he died because he thoughtlessly, without hesitation, died to save his son. He believed in Dimitri, but he also believed Dimitri to be his child as much as Glenn and Felix ever were.

Even though Glenn did die in vain, he attempted to die keeping his best friend alive. He believed in his best friend, just like Lambert believed in his son to be able to saved if he ever went astray.

Before Rodrigue dies, he last thoughts are of Lambert, but also his promise to Lambert, which was about Dimtiri.

Rodrigue was always thinking of his family throughout the whole game (literally, he brings up Felix to Byleth regularly and brings up Glenn throughout the story as well), and that extended to Lambert and Dimtiri. At the very last, he literally died like he lived, and that was for his family.

[callmewishful]

My humble offering for Rodweek2023. This was a joy to write because I like torturing my little trash man and because I love looking into his relationship with Lambert and Rodrigue.

.—.

The letter came in the hands of a scared messenger; no older than twenty-five if one had to guess. The boy’s hands shook ever so slightly as he handed it off, looking eager to complete his job and get anywhere else. Only one had visited Gautier with such terror in their eyes in many years. That was his first sign.

The assistants had the good sense to let the door stay after the latch slowly clicked shut. Contrary to the color of his hair, Margrave Gautier was not heated and needed no disturbances. They didn’t know what happened, but the sorrow in his eyes held strong in a way they’d only seen once before and they knew it was something bad.

If only they knew how bad it was.

Matthias hadn’t meant to get caught up in the future King and Duke’s shenanigans. It just kind of…happened.

The first time he saved them from minor trouble was by sheer accident. Yet, both boys had cornered Matthias the next morning in the dining hall to properly give their thanks, which he wasn’t really interested in. Letting the Crown Prince get injured was not in his best interest, hence why he stepped up. Still, they insisted on a shared meal where they questioned him incessantly about the Gautier lands, Sreng, and the ever-mysterious current Margrave Gautier. The latter was Matthias’s least favorite topic and though he did not speak the sentiment, the three rarely discussed him afterwards.

Rodrigue and Lambert seemed to think that sharing one meal together made them close enough friends for them to join Matthias at any meal they happen to be eating at the same time. In truth, Matthias had thought it a formality for them to sit with him the first time and had expected their chatter to end following it. He mostly stuck to himself at the academy, preferring to focus on his studies rather than the social aspect of it all. His father had been of a completely different mind: sending Matthias to the academy solely because he’d heard that the Crown Prince was attending. Such blatant attempts at schmoozing were ridiculous.

Despite the accident of it all, he couldn’t say that their company wasn’t welcome. When he could get them to be serious and discuss important topics, they had interesting perspectives and were much deeper than he initially thought them to be. Lambert had a plethora of ideas and tactics for his reign as king and Rodrigue was found to be far more observant than Matthias could’ve ever imagined from the social boy. Though he soon found that the intelligence Lambert carried for politics and the sharp eye Rodrigue had for his surroundings did not carry over into their little schemes.

However, when the Crown Prince asks for your assistance in getting the future Duke out of the locked wine cellar…how can you say no?

After a few weeks of this, it became obvious that Matthias wasn’t getting out of being an accomplice and thus he suggested they come to him for assistance in the planning phases of their activities for lesser chances of mishaps (and lesser chances of Lambert or Rodrigue interrupting Matthias’s study time). The future Margrave carved an hour out of his morning routine to sit down with the two boys and go over the plans for the day. He even used the time to encourage them to attend their strategic classes. Sure, the professor taught them strategy for battle, but who was to say that same strategy couldn’t be applied to their mischief as well? And, if Matthias was lucky, maybe something about battle strategy would stick and save their lives.

After a few attended classes and a few actually good ideas from the two, Matthias was rewarded in wine.

“I heard Gautier’s like to drink.” Lambert told him bluntly while Rodrigue passed the bottle over.

Matthias rose an eyebrow at the statement, but upon further reflection, shrugged and nodded. He hadn’t thought much about the consumption of alcohol in his home and the realization was two-fold: 1) his family did drink often and 2) they probably all drank for the same reason he did; to be able to handle his father.

He never received alcohol as a gift again.

Instead, through some unknown methods that would probably make Matthias uncomfortable, the boys found out other things Matthias liked. Snacks from shops, books on topics he found interesting, even a few trinkets he had eyed up but couldn’t logically bring himself to purchase were gifted instead.

It wasn’t until one of Dominic’s spawn mentioned something, that Matthias really saw this for what it was.

He’d been in the library, gathering books for Rodrigue on faith-based magic - Rodrigue would read them if brought to him, but wouldn’t go searching for the items himself - when he was cornered.

Of course, he wasn’t really cornered. It was easy to escape if needed, and Matthias could hear the boy’s heavy footsteps approaching from downstairs. Still, his presence felt similar to those of other men Matthias knew. Other men Matthias didn’t particularly enjoy.

“Cozying up to the Crown Prince, eh Gautier? Never thought you had it in you to actually befriend them.” He’d sneered. Matthias could see the reason for jealousy; Dominic had spent the better part of the year following Lambert around like a stray cat near the fishing docks. But Dominic was far off his mark. They weren’t friends.

“Really?” Dominic rolled his eyes when Matthias had told him as much, “I haven’t seen the three of you apart in months.”

That wasn’t true. Matthias often sparred…well, no. He supposed Rodrigue had been sparring with him lately to improve his lance work. Well, Matthias still…no. Lambert and Matthias had taken to playing chess in place of Matthias’s former reading time. But, Matthias did study…in the Knights Hall while Lambert and Rodrigue sparred or planned their next excursion or, on rare occasion, studied with him…shit.

“It’s come to my attention that we are now friends.”

Lambert gave him a questioning look while Rodrigue chuckled, “Well, I had thought that had been long established, but I appreciate the heads up that such a title has only started now.”

Matthias went to snip back until he further analyzed Rodrigue’s face. Ahh, yes, Fraldarius was teasing him. He couldn’t help the flame in his cheeks, “Well…I’m not exactly…well-versed in these types of situations.”

“Well, never-fear, Matthias.” Rodrigue gave him the same soft smile he would come to give when discussing uncomfortable topics, “We’ve come to be properly-versed in understanding you.” That would prove mostly true in the coming years.

It was Lambert who put his arm around the Gautier then. Matthias had learned a few months prior to stop flinching, and that Lambert meant no harm. “Exactly. Happy to break it to you, but we’ve been friends a little longer than just today. Luckily for you, your recent discovery requires no additional work on your end.”

“Not anymore.” Matthias muttered while he thought back to all the time he used to spend studying and training. Perhaps Rodrigue had been correct when he said that Matthias didn’t need all those hours. No, Matthias was not going to tell him that.

“Oh, come now. What would you do without us? And you can’t say have better marks because you’re still top of class even after we came along.” Rodrigue continued teasing, throwing his arm around Matthias’s other shoulder.

Matthias very quickly came to the conclusion that he did not want to consider what he would do without them, especially following Rodrigue’s ‘battle incident’ a few months later. And no, Matthias was not going to tell them that either.

Or so he thought.

Years ago, at the second funeral Matthias never wanted to attend, he had stayed at the gravesite far longer than anyone else. Well, Matthias, and his remaining friend who had still not learned much in the way of stealth.

“If you insist on staying, you could at least stop pretending you’re not here and come up where the view is better.” Matthias had told him.

It didn’t take long for Rodrigue to join him at his side, shoulders softly bumping together. It had been Rodrigue’s signature way to let Matthias know he was there, while still respecting Matthias’s uncomfortableness with affection. “I know how you are with space.”

Yes, Rodrigue did know Matthias. Much better than he seemed to know himself at times.

“I just can’t believe he’s left me stuck here with you.” Matthias had shared emotion the only way he knew how.

Thankfully, while Matthias was still poorly-versed in emotion, Rodrigue was still well-versed in Matthias. “I miss him too.”

The air had felt pressurized, but only in his chest…Matthias could feel that pressure again today. “Do me a favor and don’t go dying on me Fraldarius. Teaching someone your responsibilities and Lambert’s would be a pain in my ass.”

Rodrigue had smiled, looking at Matthias with that emotionally understanding look the Margrave had ‘hated.’ …He might kill to see it one last time. “Only if you promise to do the same.”

Matthias sighed, blinking away the memories to look at the blurry letter now shaking in his hands.

“I kept my promise, old friend. I wish you could keep yours.”

[dmclemblems]

also something I really love about Dimitri telling Rodrigue that his death would destroy him is that’s finally proof that it was Rodrigue dying that made Dimitri almost go out into a suicide battle in AM.

people have been saying (and actually meaning it, not as a joke) that Byleth just “fixed” Dimitri and that they don’t like how Dimtiri was just “magically cured” because of Byleth.

that was never true. both him wanting to die completely and utterly in that moment when he spoke to Byleth was because he lost all sense of hope when he lost Rodrigue; however, it was also because of Rodrigue’s words to him that he could go on living. Byleth was a deterrent from him going out into a suicide battle because he was so overwhelmed, but he also points out, iirc a couple times post Gronder in AM, that Byleth said the same thing Rodrigue did to him.

when Byleth says anything that seems to “change” him, it’s because it’s something he could think back on as “oh, he said the same thing to me so it must have been the truth if someone else can say the same thing and it wasn’t just because he loved myself and Lambert that he said those things”. basically, Byleth could verify the truth of Rodrigue’s words.

Dimitri also says he ISN’T cured and just “okay”. he tells Byleth directly that what is effectively his mental illness is something that he knows he’ll have to live with for the rest of his life, but that he’s no longer going to let it hold him down. he outright admits his understanding of his issue with the voices of the dead. he knows they may always be there and he knows his aggression due to losing so many loved ones in his life will always haunt him.

the sad thing is I feel like people just pick and choose things they want to see for the sake of argument, and I say that because it’s not even nuance in this case that it’s very clear that Dimitri isn’t just “cured” of his illness. it wasn’t ever something that needed to be looked more deeply into. it was said outright multiple times that Dimitri wasn’t just “cured” or “fixed” or any of that, and it’s also very outright that Byleth wasn’t the one who helped him to see things straight again. it was Rodrigue who opened his eyes (no pun intended) and it was Byleth being there to confirm Rodrigue’s words.

mind you, Byleth spoke to Rodrigue in private one night and Rodrigue shared some personal feelings with Byleth, then said he entrusted the future of Faerghus and Dimitri to Byleth. anything from that point on that Byleth did that helped Dimitri see his way again was because Byleth was keeping true to Rodrigue’s words.

prior to that, nothing Byleth ever did could sway Dimitri. the only person, right from the beginning to the end of the battle at Gronder, who could sway Dimitri or make him waver in his feelings was Rodrigue. he would argue with anyone else in a steadfast way, but when Rodrigue finally had enough and told Dimitri he would listen to him, Dimitri did. considering Dimitri has always seen him as a second father, it makes sense that Dimitri would take that as a scolding from his own father. even in the mental state he was in, he didn’t brush it off as “just someone” telling him those things. he took it to heart and he also thanked Rodrigue, calling him a friend despite his behavior up to that point (which was Ailell).

in other words, Byleth never really had much influence at all on Dimitri’s recovery until he lost Rodrigue. it highlights quite well imo that Dimitri truly saw Rodrigue as his own father. if Lambert had been there to speak to him similarly, Dimitri would have reacted similarly. he might have argued, but at the end of the day he was still affected by what he was told.

essentially Byleth was like a proxy for Dimitri after he lost Rodrigue. it was like all of Rodrigue’s wishes were within Byleth now because Rodrigue felt he could trust Byleth, and that got through to Dimitri (and it also helped that Byleth and Rodrigue see things similarly, as highlighted by them saying very similar things to Dimitri but prior to Gronder, Dimitri only listened if Rodrigue was the one to say something). it was not directly Byleth, but because it was like Rodrigue’s feelings for Dimitri were now within Byleth.

I just really feel like people looked right over the head of their relationship in Houses and just how much it meant to Dimitri. their relationship could make or break him and it did both. Hopes helped to emphasize how powerful their bond is and gives you more context into how and why he lost his will to live when Rodrigue died at Gronder. obviously Byleth is important to him, but Rodrigue has been with Dimitri for Dimitri’s entire life and wasn’t someone his age - he was a respected adult and the man who protected Faerghus for five straight years from the Empire when Dimitri had to flee and couldn’t be the one to do that. he respects the other adults in Faerghus, but even in Hopes it’s very clear that he doesn’t view Matthias or Gilbert as a father figure. Gilbert has a bit more on Matthias there, but Rodrigue is extremely special to Dimitri and as much a father to him as Lambert was.

[outerspacebun]

So it’s Rodrigue week and since I don’t have the time and energy to write the prompts I want to write so I’m going to do a master post of head canons and stuff I have for Rodrigue and for these said prompts. So prepare for a very long post. The prompts I am going to combine are Mrs. Fraldarius, Felix and Glenn, Felix’s Uncle, Faerghus 4: The Old Generation, and the Blue Lions. This is also going to have a shameless plug of my ships. laskfjf this is a warning I guess.

To start off, Mrs. Fraldarius:

Rodrigue’s wife name is Amelia von Atalanta and she is from a Barony in the Alliance territory and her village is small.

They never met until they went the Officers Academy when they were 20 years old.

There first meeting was a little messy and very awkward. Erwin purposely made her mad and she chased after him to beat him up. When they met, she had Erwin’s face in the dirt. Godfrey had to diffuse the situation and apologized to Rodrigue and Lambert who also witnessed the situation.

She later apologized to him about.

The beginnings of their relationship was rocky.

At first, Amelia didn’t like Rodrigue because his uptightness about knighthood and his retainership. But when they started to put effort into their relationship, they did fall in love with each other.

For Rodrigue, he fell in love with her after one sparring session they had, he fell head-over-heels for her. He beat his ass, it confused her.

He truly fell in love her when he was passing by the infirmary. She was there cleaning and he watched her and heard her sing. This was a couple months into the Officers Academy.

That being said, they were betrothed a couple of months into knowing each other.

As a way to court Amelia, Rodrigue would give her flowers, especially roses since she is known as the Winter Rose. But when he found out that she could cook and sew, he would buy her sewing supplies and hunt for animals for her to cook.

She loved these as a way of courtship.

Rodrigue used to have very long curly hair in his 20s. And as a way to bond, Amelia would braid it and put roses in his hair.

When Amelia found out that Rodrigue could dance, she asked him to teach her. She made him promise to dance everyday they spent together.

There is this tradition in Faerghus where you give the person you are marrying a betrothal gift. Rodrigue wanted to give her something he made, but three things, he didn’t know how to sew, he knew that Amelia didn’t like jewelry. But he really wanted to make her something he made.

So what he does, he knows how to make jewelry and makes her a rose shaped hair pin for her betrothal gift. She absolutely loves it and only takes it off if she is asleep or to clean it.  

Even though Rodrigue said it she didn’t have to give him a betrothal gift, she still sewed him the cloak he wears (the one we see in 3 Hopes/Houses). He says it’s one of the best gifts he has ever received.

They have nicknames for each other. Amelia’s nickname is Winter Rose for her thorny words, her coldness, and her beauty. So Rodrigue will lovingly call her Winter Rose, Little Rose, or My Rose. Rodrigue’s nickname is Roddie but he hates. But he never hates it when Amelia says it.

While they were betrothed, Amelia wore the Fraldarius engagement ring. But when Rodrigue truly proposed to her, he handmade her a rose wedding ring.

Their first date was to the beach.

Amelia unknowingly will say something really romantic to Rodrigue and his heart will stop because she is being to cute.

He absolutely loves her smile.

She fell in love with him because he could sing, his kindness, and his willingness to put effort into her and their relationship.

For their wedding, they braided cords together as a symbol of their promises to each other. For one of their promises, they promised each other to embarrass their children and their grandchildren.

After getting very close to Rodrigue, Amelia would be able sleep easier at night. Him being near her and the scent of jasmine that he would put on, would help her sleep at night. When he was gone, he gave her this plushy and put the scent on it for her to sleep with.

Felix and Glenn:

Felix and Glenn are born ten years apart

Glenn was unexpected but they both were attached to him.

Glenn is closer to Amelia than he is Rodrigue but he still loves his father very much.

Glenn was born crestless, but was still heir to the Dukedom of Fraldarius

Because of this, Rodrigue’s mother attempted to have Glenn and Amelia killed, but always failed. His mother put Amelia’s and Glenn’s lives on the line and if he didn’t choose her, she would kill them. Rodrigue choose his beloved wife and son. In the end, she went after the two and because of it, and in the end, Rodrigue had to kill his own mother.

Glenn was named after a field that Rodrigue would take Amelia to when they were dating, but no longer can go to because they inherited Fraldarius.

Felix was name Felix because he was a giggly little baby. 

When Gunnar came to Rodrigue about betrothing their children, Rodrigue said no.

Gunnar’s bargaining chip for getting what he wanted was to continue the Fraldarius family line/to have an heir with a crest. Rodrigue said no, that Glenn didn’t need to have a crest to be worth something or to be heir to house Fraldarius or to have an heir with a crest and such. And that Glenn would make house Fraldarius stronger the way he wanted to, whether he decided to get married to a man, a woman, someone who was trans or nonbinary. Whether or not he would get married and have children. Glenn would do it his way.

Then it was for what little resources Galatea had. For what food they could produce, what little money they had, or for Pegasus knights. Rodrigue still said no. Both of them were struggling for food and didn’t want to make it worse, Fraldarius had enough money since he is the second highest ranking/second richest noble in Faerghus so they didn’t need money, and he didn’t need any Pegasus knights because they had plenty.

Then it was black mail. Gunnar used Rodrigue killing his own mother as leverage as a way to get Ingrid and Glenn to be betrothed. Rodrigue didn’t want to lose his family he had and not see them for what could be years because he killed his mother, so he agreed. This put a small rift between Glenn and Rodrigue. But they do still love each other.

Rodrigue taught Glenn how to hand-make jewelry and he taught Felix to sing.

Felix and Glenn know how to dance because they watched Rodrigue and Amelia dance every night.

Glenn does not look his father, but looks like his mother.

Rodrigue was going to give Glenn his cloak that Amelia made while Amelia was going to give Felix her hair pin to Felix. Amelia and Rodrigue were going to give their wedding rings to Felix because they both kind of figured Glenn was going to make his own.

Glenn decided to call off his betrothal to Ingrid after he traveled to Duscur, but was never able to.

Rodrigue never betrothed Felix off because he wanted his son to make his way through life on his own. Plus he knew the betrothal for Glenn put a rift between the two.

Rodrigue always writes to his sons when he is away.

Rodrigue and Felix do talk out their problems in a healthy way and repair their relationship.

In Verdant Wind, when Felix becomes a teacher, they have a mission going through Gronder field. Felix’s daughter finds Rodrigue’s dead body and Felix is heartbroken. Something more heartbreaking, he isn’t exactly on common grounds with his own son.

Rodrigue taught both Glenn and Felix what is to be a Duke.

Rodrigue taught Glenn how to use a lance. He taught Felix how to use a sword. Amelia taught Glenn and Felix how to use magic and Glenn how to use a sword.

At first, Rodrigue was really concerned that Glenn wouldn’t get along with his little brother. Glenn wasn’t too thrilled to have a younger sibling. But as soon as Felix was born, Glenn became protective of him and the two were very close. It made both Rodrigue and Amelia very happy that they were very close.

To this day, Rodrigue will say that Glenn and Felix were the best gifts Amelia has ever given, the best gifts anyone has given him. And he truly means it.

Rodrigue’s nickname for Glenn is GG and blue star (Glenn’s favorite flower)

Rodrigue’s nickname for Felix is Fe or little blue giggle. He laughed a lot when he was born.

Whenever Felix or Glenn would get sad, Rodrigue would wrap them up in his cloak. It would was big and the smell of their father would help calm them down.

Rodrigue would also sing to Glenn and Felix when they were young. It put them right to sleep.

Rodrigue would tell them stories to help them fall asleep, and when he was gone, or when Amelia was gone, Glenn would read bedtime stories to Felix.

Felix’s Uncle:

His name is Sidhbh Fiahd Fraldarius

The two were close, especially growing up with their abusive mother and when their father left when they were young.

Rodrigue would always take the abuse from her so Sidhbh would have to feel the hurt and pain she inflicted on him. He would especially take blame whenever his brother would do something bad by accident.

They are three years apart

While Rodrigue was betrothed to Amelia, and loves her dearly, Sidhbh accidentally fell in love with her. He never meant to and never said anything to his brother and his soon-to-be-wife.

Sidhbh is crestless, not that he cares.

While Sidhbh loves his brother, he was always jealous that he was always stronger and could never beat Rodrigue in a fight. He also keep this to himself.

Rodrigue trained to be a Holy Knight, while Sidhbh to become a Mortal Servant.

Rodrigue is more reserved and introverted while Sidhbh is more optimistic and outgoing. Rodrigue was always jealous that he was able to make more friends and keep them.

Rodrigue finds it very cute that Glenn and Felix calls his friends aunty and uncle. Like Uncle Lambert, Uncle Matthias, etc.

Faerghus Four: The Old Generation:

The previous Faerghus Four was Lambert, Saraphina (his betrothed/wife), Rodrigue, and Matthias.

Lambert, Saraphina, and Rodrigue cannot cook to save their lives. They have all burned stuff down and waste so much food by accident.

Matthias can sort of cook. Nothing fancy, but something to get by if they are in dire strains. Matthias was so happy when Amelia came into the picture.

Saraphina is the one saving all of their asses all the time. Lambert hates it because he doesn’t want his beloved angel to die. They fight about this from time to time.

While Lambert cares about Gustave, he constantly has to take breaks being around him.

Saraphina despises Gustave to the point where Lambert has to keep them away from each other.

Lambert is a Bow Knight

Saraphina is a Dark Flier

They each babysit each others children.

Matthias hates it the most. He only wants to take care of his own son.

Mattias’ first wife’s name is Raven von Vestra.

Rodrigue is the only one to not remarry.

Lambert and Saraphina were betrothed since Lambert’s birth. And they are helplessly in love.

Saraphina is a year older than him.

If Lambert had his way, he would never had remarried and he yearns to be with Saraphina again.

Lambert and Saraphina have matching wedding rings. Lambert’s wedding ring has moons all around it while Saraphina’s wedding ring rock is in the shape of the sun.

Saraphina and Lambert were going to pass down their wedding rings to their son Dimitri.

Saraphina is known as Faerghus’ sunshine and when she passed, everyone felt the gaping whole left when she died. But the person who hurt the most was Lambert.

Rodrigue is a little shit and would annoy the crap out of his friends from time to time.

Saraphina would pull harmless pranks on people. She would pull so many pranks.

Lambert, Rodrigue, and Matthias could never say no to Saraphina.

None of these four can sew.

Their is a scar on Rodrigue’s face that he got from when Saraphina tried to sew.

Lambert and Saraphina welcomed Raven and Amelia into their friend group with open arms.

Saraphina always had a hard time with noblewoman because they didn’t like her. She was an unconventional noblewoman herself always training and didn’t care for traditional feminine things. Though she does want to learn how to sew and cook.

Saraphina is the daughter of a Marquess, but her father’s whereabouts are unknown. And she doesn’t have a great relationship with her mother.

While they care for Gunnar, they aren’t too close to him.

The Blue Lions:

Rodrigue adopts all of them.

He is a big papa bear that is protective of all of them. These are my beloved little son’s friends, so now Felix’s friends are now Rodrigue’s children.

He is proud of all of them.

Rodrigue and Dedue’s relationship consist of them talking about cooking and food. Rodrigue constantly gives Dedue herbs and spices from him and his wife. They always talk about their knightly-hood and regales each other about stories of when their were young with their friends and family.

Rodrigue wishes he could be closer to Ashe. Them both being soft boys, they would talk to each other about stories they were told. Rodrigue would tell Sidhbh about different stories to help him sleep and forget their mother and their problems. Ashe would talk about the stories that his older brother would tell him and his siblings. They would have so much fun talking to each other about stories they had made up to get their families to sleep.

Sylvain is actually rather close to Rodrigue. Rodrigue just kind of adopted him into his family because of Matthias and Miklan being a dick. He often looks out for Sylvain and will scold Matthias to no end about how bad of a dad he is being. He is very annoying about it and he does not care. Rodrigue taught Sylvain how to use the lance. Unknown to Rodrigue, Sylvain has a huge crush on Amelia that fades away but never left. Sylvain gets his temper from Rodrigue, funnily enough.

Mercie! He adores Mercie. They talk about sewing and how bad he is about it and the multiple times his wife tried to teach him. He also thinks she would be a great queen for Faerghus. She is utterly surprised that he compares her to Dimitri’s mother and that they are similar in a lot of ways. She can only hope that she could live up to her and he reassures her that she doesn’t have and she will make her own way as the next queen.

Annie! He loves her as if she was his own daughter. He will show her off and boast about her anytime he can. He loves the fact that his own son is a little like him. He fell in love with a badass woman who can kick his ass. He thinks she would be a fine duchess and that Felix and Annette would make Fraldarius even better than what Rodrigue and Amelia have done.

While he does think of Ingrid of a daughter, and cares for her dearly, he doesn’t show off her skills or anything since there is a little bit of a strain with their relationship. With Glenn’s death, she never let him down on his failure and lashed out at constantly about his own son. She always acted like she was the only one that lost Glenn and no one else. He never did tell her about what happened between him and her father.

Rodrigue wish he could be closer to Byleth since she Felix’s professor and teacher and the fact that Sylvain is absolutely in love with her. Most of their conversations are of them training. Whatever is said, is between their weapons. But he does really care for her and does treat her like a daughter and that she understands Felix.

[bellamyroselia]

I’ve spent last couple days watching old synchronized skating programs, and then randomly thought to myself “You know what would be neat? Dimileth synchronized skating AU!”... And then decided why not, so here’s the result of this particular brainstorm.

For those unfamiliar with the sport, synchronized skating is a discipline of figure skating in which 8-16 skaters (full team usually consisting about 20-25 skaters) performs as a team. This is what it looks like in practice.

My initial idea was that Byleth would already be an extremely competent skater but a newcomer to synchronized skating - maybe she was a figure skater or ice dancer, but something happened. Maybe she has hurt herself and that means she can’t jump properly anymore, her partner quit or maybe she has just lost passion and isn’t sure if she wants to continue skating anymore. Jeralt and/or Sitri (she’s still alive in this AU) would of course try to cheer her up, they have some quality family time and at one point they decide to take Byleth to watch synchronized skating World Championships with them for reasons maybe Sitri likes to follow it casually, who knows. Byleth has a good time, she enjoys the atmosphere of the competition and there’s one team she takes a specific liking to; this of course being Blue Lions and in the midst of it all she takes notice in one particular skater, who's later revealed to be none other than Dimitri. 

The competition is great but tough and while Blue Lions perform well, they can’t do their personal best and end up in second place. Byleth feels a bit sorry for them as she liked both of their programs and their team spirit seemed great, but despite that she had a fun time watching the competition and considers to keep close eye to the sport moving forward. Jeralt and Sitri take notice on how Byleth seems to have cheered up, and some time later ask of her how she feels about quitting skating now - she still feels somewhat lost, but she doesn’t consider quitting anymore. Her parents then tell her that she could try synchronized skating if she’s interested, since the try-outs are open and the teams are searching for new members, Blue Lions included. At first she’s not certain if she should, but she decides to try it anyway because it’s not like she loses anything by simply trying. So when the time comes, she goes to the Blue Lions try-out and finally meets Dimitri; she immediately recognizes him as the skater she took notice of while in the worlds and during the try-out tries to socialize with him. Despite both of them being socially awkward, they get good first impressions of each other and Dimitri says he’d like to keep contact with Byleth even if she didn’t get into the team - not that it’s even necessary, as some time later Byleth gets to know that she was accepted to Blue Lions!

Now when it comes to Dimitri in this AU, he has already skated in Blue Lions for a season or two and he has been a synchronized skater ever since he was a little kid. I came up with a little backstory on why he chose synchronized skating in the first place, and it begun when Rodrigue brought Lambert to watch the Worlds with him years ago because his girlfriend was skating in there. Lambert agreed somewhat begrudgingly because he wasn’t really a figure skating person and would’ve much rather spent time practicing (idea here being that he and Rodrigue were famous ice hockey players in their youth), but much to his surprise he did end up enjoying it and there was a one particular skater in Blue Lions who caught his eye. Rodrigue and his girlfriend then decided to play matchmakers and arranged a meeting for the two; long story short they befriended and fell in love with each other, and after she ended her active skating career season or two later they got married and had Dimitri. As per canon she died when Dimitri was a toddler but since Lambert kept all of her skating memorabilia, Dimitri did know a good deal about her and wanted her to be proud of him - so once he was old enough to put his skates on, he was determined to become synchronized skater, to make her proud. Since pretty much all of the coaches in his club knew his mum back in the day, he was always under self-inflicted pressure to perform well. He has known Sylvain, Felix and Ingrid ever since skating school, met Dedue while they were juveniles, got to know Mercedes, Annette and Ashe in juniors and they’ve been tightly-knit group ever since those junior seasons. 

No when it comes to Dimitri’s relationship with Lambert in the AU, I’ve thought that he’d always been extremely supportive of Dimitri, even becoming the caretaker for his teams few times - if we keep the idea of him being a famous ice hockey player in his youth, this would’ve likely made Dimitri something of a celebrity among his peers, putting him under even more pressure to perform well and serve as example to his teammates. Lambert would still die in the AU but it would likely happen a bit later than in canon, maybe when Dimitri is in juniors. It still was a world shattering event to him, and would just add more weight and pressure on Dimitri’s already fragile mental state.

What happens next would be the actual meat of the AU, with Byleth learning what it means to be a synchronized skater and trying to find her place in the team, Dimitri becoming the captain of Blue Lions and struggling with that role along with his personal demons and life, along with Byleth befriending the other Blue Lions and her budding relationship with Dimitri. Of course it will have a happy ending with Blue Lions getting their well deserved WC-win after all the hardships and Dimileth getting together, but feel free to add more into this because all I have is the beginning, basic outline and the end - and there’s still room for 7-11 teammates, so there’s lot to add on.

[faroreswinds]

Scarlet Blaze - Chapter 10

This is where an Important Decision TM is made that changes the course of the story. I’ve decided to do both on different save files, and then play each side of the story per chapter at the same time. One of the playthroughs will go on to be NG+. The other is just for story comparison’s sake. 

And now, for my notes.

Story

So Claude is doing a strange attack formation, to limit causalities. Hilda has really matured here. She’s expressing her doubts and being.... pretty cool, honestly. 

Claude talks about possibly breaking the pact when the situation calls for it. 

Damn, the Kingdom brought peace to an area, and now they are actually getting marched on. They are surrounded. 

Ah, Jeralt’s mercenaries are back on the Kingdom’s side.

Makes sense for such quick reform to maybe cause revolts. 

Dimitri and crew agree reforms are needed, but after experiencing painful aftermaths of quick reform themselves via Lambert, they believe in doing it slowly. This is a more honest form of writing here, it’s logical how everyone has come to these conclusions and being honest that revolts are something that can happen. Even the Alliance, despite currently being allies with the Empire, have their grievances with the quick changes. 

Byleth has now been given a Knights of Seiros sword. I wish it actually meant something more, like symbolism. 

Rodrigue will be here, oh boy.

Gee, Dorothea, it is ok if the faces aren’t familiar? 

Randolph is.... just here. I guess to make his death feel more impactful when it happens?

I guess Arval can just... sense Sothis’ power. Because Arval is freaking out right now. 

Why do we always have to rescue or recruit the pathetic lords of Foldan? Yesh.

Yuri is pretty cut-throat here. He has no mercy with his words for his former friends, lol. But I love how he says “I always see a job through” then is like “well, yeah, guess I would prefer not to die, nevermind”.

R-rodrigue..... N-no..... :( We had to kill him.

We now get to.... the split. It’s time. One path to recruit Byleth. The other to kill him. Here we go.

RECRUITING BYLETH

Man, this is a weird way to recruit Byleth. It’s not easy- there are specific points to do.

But Byleth and crew surrendering is... weird. We didn’t actually BEAT Byleth. We just defeated Alois (the weakest member, lol) and we have to just run from Byleth. Jeralt wasn’t even there. 

Jeralt laughing at Alois’ jokes is cute though. At least Alois finally has a fan besides Dimitri. 

“We give people with abilities with proper outlets to use those talents in the Empire” Thanks Edelgard. 

Of course, everyone is VERY excited about Byleth. I mean, they are ALL over him instantly. No one cared he killed a lot of their allies. 

Except Arval and Shez. They are off in a corner. Arval says it is the right choice, so he doesn’t seem TOO upset. 

Oh no, Annette! She’s next on the chopping block. Simon, Annette’s cousin, ran off when he is supposed wield the Relic. Poor Gilbert. Annette wants to help so badly, and Gilbert just wants her save... Excuse me, GUSTAVE. :3 (He’s going by his real name again). 

Wait, we aren’t going to see Felix and Dimitri’s reactions to Rodrigue’s death? BOOOOOO. 

Dorothea... Dorothea, STOP WORRYING ABOUT GETTING MARRIED WITH A WAR GOING ON. 

I like how an NPC mentions that winter in the Kingdom could make the fighting harder.

Simon is actually at the camp, and he LITERALLY wants to be a bard. How hilarious. 

One NPC mentions that neither Monica nor Edelgard often know where Hubert is. Hmmm...

Ferdinand’s line “There are practically no Kingdom nobles without Crests” is here at camp. Which... makes NO sense, btw. Ferdinand, there WERE nobles without Crests, but you keep RECRUTING THEM TO THE EMPIRE. 

Both Hubert and Lythithea wonder about what the Slithers will be doing. Lysithea wonders if they will do something to keep the war going, for “chaos” to spread. 

Ignatz wants to win the fight in the Kingdom capital so he “can explore”. Like.... I forgot how weird Ignatz can be about war. 

Bernadetta sympathizes with the Kingdom. Interesting. 

Manuela wants to reopen the academy. Edelgard and Ferdinand were excited by the idea and promised to help her. Lines up with what happens in Houses. 

NOT RECRUITING BYLETH

This time, I killed Yuri. He says sorry, mom.:( 

I also killed Count Mateus, just to see what happens. Nothing exciting. He just died. Oh well. 

Byleth is acting strange. Likely cause Sothis is about to take control again.

Rodrigue.... sigh.... again dead. 

Jeralt shows up after he dies. Guess it is time to kill him. Shez literally wins because he is able to summon a sword and it caught Jeralt off guard. 

And Byleth kills Randolph. I felt... literally nothing, lol, why do they INSIST on making this character seem important? Well, bye, Randolph. This is part of war, Fleche.

Byleth just ran off after killing Randolph. Bye.

This path is way more emotional though. Better, so far. 

Fleche looks so crazed. Kek. 

Byleth learns after killing Randolph that Jeralt is dead. So, Randolph death was not some sort of revenge thing. 

Sothis is really pushing for Byleth’s body, she’s pretty vengeful herself. 

Instead of slobbering over Byleth, they actually talk about the battle and how bloody it was. 

“Only nobles have Crests” DOROTHEA, PLEASE!!!!!!!! THERE ARE LITERALLY COMMONERS WITH CRESTS IN YOUR ARMY RIGHT NOW. 

SAGFLDSAKGLDAGLFDSG

Arval is just like “Randolph was just one guy”, lol

And Arval is being pretty manipulative here “I am the closest ally you have, no matter what anyone says”. Or something along those lines

Byleth isn’t really interested in seeking revenge. But Sothis kinda manipulates him into going for it. She even says she can just take his body by force if she wanted. I really don’t like this Sothis, tbh. 

Honestly, killing Jeralt is a more emotional path and way more interesting so far. Let’s see how the story improves or not depending on this choice. 

Weird. Hubert likes it if you have to ask who “they” are (The Slithers) but Lysithea, obviously, does not. 

Marianne is basically the only GD member who is unhappy to even be there right now. 

Supports

Starting with some Shez supports, the A ranks unlock after the timeskip.

Well, except Edelgard’s support. Her B support unlocks after the time skip.

Will the Slither in the Dark actually play a role in this route beyond Thales just popping up at the end?

“Everyone has a bone to pick with you” No shit, Shez, Edelgard started a war. 

Did...  really no one give two shits about talent in the Empire? This support is really pushing “Edelgard is changing the world” just because she gave Shez a job. :/ I mean, I don’t dislike her ideas on the basis of the best people for the job, but still.

Shez never once questioned his powers and the effects on his health? I know he’s a moron, but still. 

Linhardt’s putting the moves on Shez, I think. Damn boy, calm down. 

Petra is ALSO kinda putting the moves on Shez. She wants Shez to come with her to Brigid. Not as romantic as Linhardt’s, though, more she wants someone she trusts. But still pretty.... something. 

Edelgard, Jertiza is a murderer. Just “doing good in the world” is not enough. I’m gaining some more respect for Jertiza, which I never thought would happen. 

How did... Ferdinand come to know Lysithea’s secret about her shortened life? Huh? This is harder to listen to knowing Billy died so young.

I can’t believe the Slithers just left behind evidence of their experiments, lol. But it’s a nice, hopeful support Lysithea’s future. 

Caspar is delivering great results as a leader? Are you sure about that, Ferdinand? Caspar just.... fights. He’s literally not good for anything else. This one feels a little forced, not going to lie. But only just a little. 

Shamir has basically NO supports with anyone from the Alliance or the Empire. She only has supports with Balthus and Hapi (so far) and they are technically Wolves, unaffiliated. Fascinating. 

Dorothea learning she had the misunderstanding with Ferdinand from years ago first was nice. The yelling was honestly funny. Making it seem like a lover’s quarrel was funny too. Aw, they are blushing, cute. Hey, I may dislike Dorothea but cute is cute. 

Whoa, the guy on the date from Bernie and Linhardt’s support died. Blame the girl in red. It’s her fault. Linhardt is very practical here about death though. It feels callous but I kinda get it? But er.... Linhardt, are you saying you and Bernie love each other? This boy just fucking gets AROUND. (He did in Houses too). Oh, wait, the guy didn’t die. He lived to the power of love. Kek. 

Holy crap, Petra killed someone in Hubert’s A support. Hubert wants his leaders to be far away from battle. And they are destroying chivalry in this support. 

LYSITHEA, WHY ARE YOU SO ANNOYING AND CHILDISH?!

Hubert being nice to Lysithea is so strange to me, but I get it. He sees her as his little sister. I get Hubert hiding his family to protect them but.... he’s a noble, isn’t there like... a registry of nobles that lists the family? Did his father also hide their existence? 

Holy crap, Shamir is is cut THROAT with Balthus, lol!

Shamir outright basically says she’s into women, I think, saying that she doubts “their tastes are unlikely similar” with Balthus. Holy shit. Epic. 

It’s interesting that Shamir used to live in the Abyss after the big Dagda war. Rhea hired her after she got noticed. I find it odd that Shamir has a relatively positive talk about Rhea here when they are after Rhea, but whatever. And the God of Fate of Dagda in the Abyss, huh. Probably another dragon tbh, since the Nabateans were so wide spread. 

Hapi and Shez’s A support - Shez wonders if his mom may have been on the run. Also, Shez can wonder if his powers can go astray. Which... is the opposite of what he said in another support. It’s not even main story stuff. Come on, why this inconsistency? Shez also wonders about a “dream” and experiments (I think he meant he dreamed of the test tube at the beginning of the game).

Hubert nerding out of coffee making with Hapi was cute. Useless, but cute. Would have preferred info on the Slithers. What a waste. 

Mercedes is still apologizing for her murderous brother. Mercedes is so blind by love, blind by her past brother and what he was like. Let him go to jail, Mercedes. I have more respect for him than I do you in this support. 

Shamir is KILLING Balthus in their B support. I love it. 

Ok, unlocked all of Shez’s A supports that can be viewed at this time, so the below comments are for these supports that I felt were worth mentioning:

With Caspar - Caspar calling Shez a “regular” person when he can shape-shift is silly. But I guess Caspar’s father still managed to beat him up, I guess. 

With Dorothea - Interesting, the background battle music has been canonized as real music, lol. Ah, and here we go “Wow, self-insert, thanks to you I found joy again, yay”. 

With Monica - Monica is basically Tharja. She literally stalks her, counts the number of times she drinks or how many days it’s been since she drank tea. What she said, where she ate, every sigh.... At least Shez tells her it’s weird. And wow, Shez can how express his undying love with her permission..... WHO WROTE THIS?!

With Mercedes - For a big war, getting tea and desserts seems REALLY fucking easy

With Lysithea - “Giving advice isn’t exactly my strong suit” Dude, Shez, my man.... You give the BEST fucking advice because you are the protagonist. But it is funny he apparently memorized lines to give to people... which I never get that impression anywhere else, so it feels forced. 

With Jeritza - I really hope Jeritza’s father didn’t kill his cat after his mother and sister left.... 

With Ashe - WHY DOES IT END LIKE THAT?! A LETTER ABOUT SHEZ’S MOM POTENTIALLY AND IT JUST ENDS WITH ASHE GETTING THE RESPONSE. Fuck you game. Fuck you. 

With Ignatz - literally all these A supports are just “why don’t you join with me after the war in some way”. 

With Manuela - Manuela.... likes ‘em young.....

With Shamir - We kinda already knew this about her past. And... it’s just as simple here as it was in Houses. Although, Shamir is right.... Shez, everyone adores you and tells you their sob stories. You DO hear it all the time. 

That’s it for the Shez supports for now that were worth mentioning, now for other supports I have unlocked. 

Petra and Edelgard’s A support - They keep saying Petra is the Queen of Brigid, but I thought she said at some point she hadn’t be crowned yet. Does... anyone remember? Anyways, it’s nice to actually ASK Petra if she should be there. She can even walk away. I don’t.... really understand why Petra is deciding to, though, except that she is Edelgard’s friend, really. I’ve been through so much supports that I am starting to forget things. If anyone knows, someone please remind me....

Edelgard and Monica A Support - Fucking hell, Monica is so creepy.... Nothing more to say, it’s just creepy as hell. Monica is literally Tharja. 

Monica and Hubert A support - I noticed the supports are more dynamic visually. Different angles, different way the characters stand.... anyways, another support about how wonderful Edelgard is. Except, well, Hubert admits that Edelgard is kinda sensitive. And now I’m confused. Hubert says that Edelgard plans to remove noble from land, so nobles will inherit titles but not land with it. Except.... then he says that nobles and commoners will not be a thing anymore. That’s... not how it works. If you have a title, you are noble, even without land. Hell, HUBERT’S family has no land at all. 

Edelgard and Caspar’s support - Uh, I wonder how the support will be different if Raphael is killed. Caspar mentions Raphael and that they should invite him for a spar. 

Yeah, this Edelgard is way nicer. She wants to help since she’s sending people to their possible deaths. That’s part of why she fights on the front lines, anyways. 

Edelgard and Dorothea support - Interesting, Edelgard blames herself for Dorothea losing out on academy experience. To be fair, it’s not entirely her fault per say. Yes, it’s her actions that did lead to it eventually closing down for a while, but ultimately, it was Rhea’s decision to close it down with all the countries experiencing all sorts of shit. 

Linhardt and Petra’s support - Heh, Petra is so good at learning another language. Teaching herself the old speech. Cute support. Also, people apparently spoke like that when the goddess walked the earth. Not too surprising, with how Sothis talks.

Monica and Dorothea A support - Um... why DOES Monica know Dorothea have scars? Frankly, I really don’t know why Dorothea is here, her reasoning is pretty much just “friendship”. It’s not like she’s on the defending side here. 

Caspar and Dorothea’s support - Saying Foldan has problems is like saying Canada, the US, and Mexico have problems and so the United States needs to go in and fix them. Sigh....

Dorothea and Petra support - Petra mentions that people in Brigid fight over who sits on the throne. HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM DID THE CENTRAL CHURCH CAUSE THAT TOO?!

Caspar and Petra A support - Petra sends Caspar’s father a dual message. Caspar intercepts. This is honestly one of the more interesting supports I’ve seen. Petra attacks Caspar instead... and wins, but decides to spare Caspar anyways. I guess Petra because queen of Brigid for... private reasons by this point in the story. 

What makes this support interesting is how different it is from Houses. In Houses, Caspar is the one who feels guilty about what his father did. Here, he doesn’t seem like he feels guilty, although he feels bad. Petra, on the other hand, is angry here, unlike Houses, where she has made more peace with the reality of what had happened. Fascinating. 

Constance and Petra A support - Man, they wasted this support. I wanted to know about the war with Brigid, not just their feelings on the past. 

Wait, Petra’s younger brother and sister will be killed most likely if Petra didn’t take the throne?????? Wtf, why? Does anyone know?!

Marianne and Bernie - Bernie has a hidden talent in horses in Houses, so it’s nice that this support calls back to that with Marianne noting Bernie is good with horses. 

Bernie and Hapi’s support - Literally Bernie’s face at the end was :0

Lorenz and Ignatz’s support - Literally, war has been good to Ignatz because he gets to march around Foldan and paint on the go. But... Lorenz realizing Ignatz wants to paint was.... honestly really, really sweet. Like... I like this support. A lot.

Lorenz for King, his supports are GOLD.

(They 100% did not have Lorenz’s model sitting or anything, they just lowered his model and angled the camera in his support with Marianne, kek)

Lysithea and Raphael’s A support - the art of the puppy is the creepiest thing I have seen in this game, those eyes.... will haunt me....

Ignatz’s mother was a pegasus knight? That’s kinda a cool thing to learn. Is that from Houses? I don’t recall. And he wanted to to become a pegasus knight, that’s cute. I mean, though.... he could still ride wyverns if he wants to fly. And wait... is he crushing on Marianne? I’m wondering because of his “you can sense my feelings?!” comment. 

Hapi and Shamir’s support - Jesus, they ripped Rhea a new one, saying that anyone who served Rhea and the Goddess pushed people around. Why is that unique to them? 

But we also get some Dagda lore. It wasn’t much different than Foldan, except it felt freer, which meant more conflicts. More freedoms, more conflicts... not that unrealistic, really. I take this as confirmation that despite Rhea “holding back Foldan”, Dagda isn’t somehow more advanced or that much different to Foldan in that way. Kek.

Me waiting for the supports to finally end because there are so many and they are so long.....

[lochnessies]

don't ever have children you sick bastard

rodrigue didn’t emotionally neglect felix. lambert died so he tries to also take care of dimitri bc lambert asked him to. not to mention he loves this kid like a son. taking care of dimitri isn’t an indication that he neglected felix which is never implied.

felix’s drama about the situation doesn’t have anything to do with dimitri being basically adopted. it’s about him having a negative reaction to rodrigue’s method of grief bc it clashed with his own. rodrigue copes by remembering glenn as a knight and takes solace in the fact that he died doing what he believed in. and up until that point felix also idolized glenn so like… what was rodrigue supposed to say? lol ur brother died for nothing??? no of course not. he tries to soften the blow by doing the equivalent of saying “they’re in a better place”. he tried to comfort his son.

rodrigue isn’t wrong to remember HIS SON this way. that’s his child that was murdered. are you going to tell a parent of a firefighter that died on call that they can’t think of him as a hero?

felix also isn’t wrong for being put off by the whole ordeal. he’s allowed to have his own feelings however that validation comes to an end when he berates his dad for grieving and has even physically struck him. 

rodrigue has tried to connect with his son but at some point felix has to reach back and meet him halfway. there has to be mutual communication which felix has completely cut off on the subject

as for gilbert, you must be new here. i don’t think gilbert was right in leaving annette and her mother. that’s like… the whole point of his character. he fucked up. however, i also understand why he left and it wasn’t for selfish reasons. gilbert is a knight who served the royal family since lambert’s father. he watched lambert and dimitri grow up and to loose one and barely rescue the other has left him traumatized. he failed the biggest duty as a knight which is to protect his lord. he thought staying at home would be shameful to his wife and daughter so he left them with his brother who would take care of them. like i said, this wasn’t a good choice. he let his self hatred cloud his judgement and it affected both him and annette terribly. he thinks of her all the time and tries to write her letters but doesn’t think he’s worthy to send them. it’s just a sad situation for everybody involved. annette loses her father to his depression and gilbert looses contact with the daughter he loved.

and the whole point of the og post was that gilbert didn’t abandon annette for dimitri. it was his job to be in the capital and teach the prince. annette speaks of those years fondly and dimitri says that gilbert talked about her all the time. are you going to say a teacher can’t be a parent bc they spend 8+ hours a day with other kids?

[fireemblems24]

Dimitri's Supports

I have waited FOREVER for this. Let's go. And I decided to put my patience to the test, saving Dedue for last.

Since it's Dimitri and I love him, and like Dedue who I also love, he's the only one unlocking all his A-Supports, I'm going to blog all my reactions to them like I did with Dedue. Part of me wishes I thought of this for the other characters, but honestly it would've taken forever lol. Plus Dimitri and Dedue get special treatment because I said so.

Raphael

Starting off with something light hearted, I hope. I do wonder if I'm going to regret not saving this one for the inevitably heavy-handed stuff coming later.

I'm seriously betting this is a support you're supposed to get in part 1 lol. Dimitri sounds young (or maybe I'm just haven't heard non-growl part 2 Dimitri enough yet?)

Dimitri's training made Raphael think he was dying lol. Dimitri's strength is really meme tier.

I need fanart of Dimitri and Chrom co-miserating their mishandled strength breaking something. And Lucina.

Lamo, Raphael has never felt a cramp before. Lucky bastard.

Raphael is a sweetie, going to apologize to his muscles. I really wish they gave him something else to talk about other than muscles and food. Not everyone needs Dimitri tier development, but I think I'd like Raphael a lot more if he just got a smidge more depth.

Got to say, it's a bit jarring to go from "moments away from a suicide charge in the rain" to "lol, Raphael, it's muscle pain." As glad as I am that I got this support, I do think some should've been locked to part 1.

And this isn't just for Dimitri's development. I also saw Marianne and Raphael's B before this support and she reverted back to her part 1 self too.

Catherine

Maybe it's just me, but he does sound a bit older.

OMG - Dimitri's back. 😭😭😭

Sorry, it didn't really hit in that first one since that seemed like a part 1 support.

Oh, cool! I was wondering if anyone would bring up Catherine returning to Faerghus. My bets is she's too loyal to Rhea. (I guessed right)

Catherine be simpin. That's ok, I get it.

So it's not because Catherine dislikes Dimitri, or that she's absolutely needed to rule House Charon, so I think Dimitri just likes her. She's cool though. I get it.

Lamo, she told him he'd better get his sleep like he's a kid.

Curious how the A+ support will play out.

Mercedes

Team Mom's support!

Oh, no, this one's taking a serious turn isn't it? But their initial supports were so light and cute.

Mercedes just told Dimitri that he's kind to a fault. Somehow I know he's going to deny that.

Annnnnd I'm right 😭😭😭He's still calling himself a killer and disgusting monster 😭😭😭

OK - so THIS seems perfectly in tone with his recent character development. But it's so sad hearing him still talk about himself that way.

Mercedes is such a therapist. I can't. She's too pure. But savage. I saw that Lorenz support.

"I am scared . . . so scared that I will forget their faces." 😭😭😭😭😭😭 Dimitri why????

Mercedes telling Dimitri to live in the present. Her supports are always so good. I legit think she's easily a top 10 favorite in this game.

Wow, Dimitri saying if someone told him that 5 years ago, he'd be different. DID NO ONE EVER GIVE HIM ANY HELP AT ALL???

I love how she's talking to him as a classmate, and equal, and not talking up to him. He's always wanted that.

Dimitri's never given his own dreams any thought 😭😭😭He really was just 100% living for other people most of the time. 😭😭😭

Awww MERCEDES, I can't. She says she just wants to keep being his friend. This is so damn sweet. And heavy. But still sweet.

It just hits super hard knowing how badly Dimitri just wanted friends in part 1. And looking back, Mercedes and Sylvain were really the only two who were pretty casual with him.

Aww, yeah, Mercedes not putting up with the bullshit, Dimitri. Telling him to quit the self-deprecation! God, I love her.

Oh, God, they both said the old FE code for "we're married" i.e. I want to "stay by your side."

Ok, @garlandgerard, I totally get why you ship this. Mercedes loves to nurture people, and Dimitri's emotionally needy, so they match pretty well. She also didn't put up with the constant self-put-downs, but stayed gentle about it. And they talked like equals too, like friends, which is what Dimitri always wanted. It's all very sweet.

Annette

Yeah, see, this one starts off with "your highness," but Mercedes it was just Dimitri. No hate for Annette. She's my girl.

These two always give me sibling vibes.

Haha, Annette "I thought I already knew you, but I'm not sure I really do." Hmmmm wonder what Dimitri did that made her think that maybe there's parts of him she didn't know. No. idea.

Hey, Annette, no one blames you for not knowing what to say to Dimitri when they reunited lol.

Annette too pure too, wanting to cheer Dimitri up with his favorite food.

Her not knowing what he likes to eat is 100% that moment when you realize you don't know someone's favorite color.

HOW can Dimitri have no strong feelings about food. I'm having pizza right now. Let me tell you, I have strong feelings about some food.

I love how easily Dimitri deflected from talking about himself lol.

Awwww, Annette wants to live with her family again. I'll make that happen, Annette. Don't worry.

Haha, they're conspiring together behind Gilbert's back.

They still have an A+ support, which is weird, because that seemed pretty well ended? Like I see why Catherine's needed more, but not this one. Still, not going to say no. I like their dynamic.

Ingrid

OCF they're training. God I love all the Faerghus childhood group though.

Oh, fuck, here comes Glenn again. My heart's not ready for this with Rodrigue dead. Poor Felix.

Ingrid being Dimitri's knight 😊😊😊 as it should be.

Haha, Dimitri asks her for an interpretation. Just make her your knight.

Glad he hasn't started saying "I'm not worthy!" Because right now it's about Ingrid's feelings.

Wow, there, Ingrid. "However you please, Your Highness." That . . . that sounds like an invitation. To "staying by your side."

Dimitri laughed. 😊😊😊

Oh, God, this is so cute. His pause asking her to support and defend him as his knight. 😊😊😊 OMG. I'm not sure that's all she had in mind though, good Sir, have you LOOKED in the mirror?

Seriously though, Ingrid's just surrounded by studs, isn't she?

Oh, God, I'm right. She didn't just mean knight. But Dimitri's too dense in that area to notice. She crushing hard. Girl, I get you.

She blushing, saying "for the Kingdom," naw, she just like him. Me too, Ingrid. Me too.

Dimitri always makes people promise not to die on him. It's so sad considering . . .

Flayn

With Flayn it's always a toss up. Sometimes things are super light hearted, and other times it's way heavy.

On a random note, does no one wonder why Flayn hasn't aged a day in 5 years?

Flayn having nightmares. Not allowed. I bet it's fucking Jeritza's fault. I'm glad you get to rip him a new one so many times in this game.

Why is Flayn apologizing?? She's never done a thing wrong in her life.

Right, Flayn's other support with Dimitri was pretty heavy. And it started so funny with him stomaching her food.

Oh, good grief, what's he apologizing for? Ok - so Dimitri did do some things wrong. But not to Flayn.

He lied. Let me guess. Her food actually sucks.

Aw, got it. He went right to the meal. Is he really going to come out and say, well it actually sucked 😂

WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK

WHAT ABOUT ALL THOSE MEALS???? AND THE TEA an embarrassing amount of tea.

Wait. He can't taste ANYTHING??? Like. How? Did he hide that????

Ok - I need to look at his team and dining dialogue.

OMG. He really never says a word about how anything tastes? He always just talks about smells????

OMG. How did I NOT NOTICE. I've taken Dimitri to dinner a million times. And tea timed him too many times to admit too.

AND I NEVER NOTICED HE NEVER ONCE SAID HOW ANYTHING TASTED. HOW.

OMG that support with Annette hits different now 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

OMG and Dedue's support with Flayn hits different now. Since he wanted to badly to find food Dimitri loves 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

Does Dedue know? Is that why he's so dedicated to cooking??

Can I headcannon that?

OMG, I feel so awful about that jab about pizza. Dimitri CAN'T TASTE pizza or anything 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

Please someone tell me there isn't any more "this awful thing also happened to Dimitri and he's failed to tell you" like learning he almost fucking died at Duscur. And now this. Dimitri needs to learn how to fucking complain.

The writers are so fucking mean to Dimitri. OMG. OMG, how am I supposed to take him to dinner and tea now, knowing this?

Why does everything hit so differently now? And so many Blue Lions supports are about food - but Dimitri can't relate

😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

This game needs to stop bullying Dimitri.

But like, God, can you imagine? Not tasting anything? I'd starve. I'd actually starve. I never really get hungry. I really would starve.

On the flip side, he's good for Flayn then, since someone can eat her cooking I guess.

"I was just saying what I thought you would want to hear . . ." Dimitri - a summary.

Naw, that's a kind lie. That kind of lie doesn't really hurt anyone.

Oh - dear God. Flayn. Stop. No sampling pungent food.

Oh, she blushing. Dimitri got her blushing

Please tell me in their paired ending Dimitri gets his taste back.

Oh, there's an A+, does he taste something. Please tell me he tastes something.

This support though. It wasn't really one on my radar but

😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

Gilbert

Oh, man, this one right after Flayn's. God, I'm going to need the Alois one after this. Gilbert and Dimitri are two of the most somber characters in the franchise.

And I haven't forgotten that heartbreaking B support.

Haha Lambert sucked at lying too. Dimitri too pure. Weirdly, despite everything, it's still pretty true.

Oh, shit, oh shit, we're back to Dimitri's demand that Gilbert kill him. I'm betting you usually get that in part 2.

God, imagine seeing Dimitri recover only to see him beg for death again 😭😭😭😭😭😭

I need alcohol.

I need the Alois support.

OMG, shit, Dimitri. No. Don't. Stop.

Like, I know Gilbert won't really kill him, but damn. This support is heavy.

No, Dimitri, no Gilbert is not cruel for not killing you. God.

Oh, not sure about this. I get what Gilbert's going at here, but telling Dimitri that he's not allowed to die because he's got a duty is . . . I think Rodrigue's and Mercedes' live for what you want/the present is a LOT healthier.

At the same time, this is a pretty effective way to make sure Dimitri won't go and try this again, because he really takes duty seriously.

Dimitri doesn't wish to die? 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

Oh, thank God.

"Many times I have felt that I cannot afford to die . . . But this was the first time I truly feared the prospect." 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

"Is it really right for me to live?" Oh, dear God. I'm so soft for Dimitri. I can't.

Gilbert answered that one right. 100%.

Damn, these supports.

Alois

OK. I need this one. I really need this one.

I really hope Alois' inspiration is bad puns. I need bad puns right now.

Pretty sure this is a part 1 support though. I love how Alois, not Dimitri, is leading this. And that the person the Kingdom NEEDS is running around and getting attacked by monsters lol

Ok, bad puns. Bring them.

There we go. Thank you, thank you, Alois.

OMG no one's laughing 😂😂😂

Dimitri's laughing 😭😭😭😭😭😭

That's it. This is always getting saved for part 2. I need to hear part 2 Dimitri laugh.

I'm also so glad someone finds Alois funny. Dimitri and Petra need to start a club.

OMG I love the two other confused soldiers. I needed this 😂😂😂

Marianne

These two were so sweet in their C and B supports.

I swear I'm going to end up shipping Dimitri with everyone. Except maybe Annette, no hate, they just seem so much like brother and sister to me.

And Felix x Annette 100%

Survivor's Guilt - the pairing. Both wondering why they survived 😭😭😭

"There are so many others who are much more deserving of life . . ." - who said it? Marianne or Dimitri?

These two just understand how each other feels so well. It hits so different compared to Marianne's other romantic possible supports where they just try to make her smile.

Instead these two take comfort in finding someone who understands how they feel so well and feel relieved they can share that with someone.

Haha - "I must go on living. I cannot give in to death so readily." This coming right after his support with Gilbert. Good job, Gilbert.

They've both had it so rough 😭😭😭😭😭😭

"There is no need to force yourself to smile as your soul bleeds." Dimitri always gives such good advice that he never follows.

Aww, now at least it's getting cute instead of just heavy. Marianne laughed too 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

Yesss, Girl, preach. I got a little sick of her other supports all being "cheer up!" Like I know it's all in good faith, but I'm so glad this chain exists. It just hits different.

Dimitri doesn't think he's strong enough to live his life. 😭😭😭 this game. I swear.

ohhhh - ohhh, Dimitri blushing now. And all she needed to say was they've been brought closer together. Congrats Marianne!

OHHHH tables have been turned. Now someone's making Dimitri promise he needs to live!

"I don't know what I'd do with myself if we lost you . . ."

"I promise to the goddess of Fodlan that I will never give you cause for despair."

OMG these two are being so sweet, I can't. 😭😭😭😊😊😊

Felix

Oh, boy, here we go. This should be . . . interesting.

Oh, we're starting off good I see. Felix telling Dimitri he needs to answer quickly or get cut in half 😔Felix. No.

Dimitri sounds so somber 😭

Dimitri admitting both are him - the vengeful "boar" and the friendly good person. And this is why I love him.

Dimitri feels the need to shoulder all the regret the dead feel, please don't. They wouldn't want that 😭😭😭😭😭

"The dead won't acknowledge your loyalty, they don't care." - Felix not wrong there.

I partly agree with the idea Dimitri is "serving his own ego" by claiming he's acting for the dead. I think it's a bit more complicated than that, but I think that's part of it.

Felix saying some good stuff here about the dead being dead and the living being living.

"If you keep stringing gravestones around your neck, you'll snap." - Felix, I don't know if you noticed but . . . uh . . . he sort of did.

Felix telling Dimitri to become a grave keeper is a bit funny. Not going to lie.

"I'm not immune to emotion you know." - just tsunderes things

Aw, Felix is upset his father died 😭😭 after all that shit-talking about Rodrigue 😭😭

Wish Felix didn't cut Dimitri off when he said "more than anyone you-" (care about other people, unless he joins CF and just kills everyone)

Oh, God, Felix is such a tsundere. "I couldn't stand the pathetic look on your face. That's all." Sure, Felix.

Kinda wish these two had an A+ though. Seems like there's more to do than the A+ with Annette and Flayn.

Really curious to see what their paired ending is like after that. Seems they're still learning to learn about each other. Well, Felix is. Dimitri didn't seem too upset lol.

Dedue

Ok guys. Here we go. I can't believe I managed to wait for this for last. Everyone hyped this one, so let's hope.

Really? We open with Dimitri having scars on his back? 😭

From 9 years ago? So scars from Duscur then?

Images of shirtless Dimitri now. though Not bad images.

He got scars protecting Dedue?

"It makes me think that is was worthwhile that someone like me survived." 😭😭😭 he's talking about protecting Dedue? 😭😭😭

😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

"But I saved someone - saved you. That and that alone has been my crutch." 😭😭😭😭😭

I always knew these two were co-dependent.

Dimitri really out here saying that saving Dedue helped him "justify" surviving. 😭😭😭😊😊😊

OMG THAT'S THEIR STORY

OMG, poor Dedue. And Dimitri 😭😭😭did he literally "take a bullet" to save Dedue 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 and still has scars? No wonder Dedue's so loyal. Some kid he didn't know did that. That's one hell of an introduction.

And picturing little Dedue just resigned and angry and waiting to die and just 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

Oh, Dedue, you've repaid that debt ten-fold I'm sure.

Ahaha, Dimitri's doing the "you'd better accept your worth!" discussion this time lol.

Dear God these two. Now Dimitri's bringing up that Dedue busted him out of the jail.

I swear, these two have more of a plot off screen than some routes do on screen.

And now picturing Dimitri resigned and just ready to die. And then Dedue busts in. 😭😭😭

"That was nothing more than my duty as your vassal." Stop that Dedue. Dimitri doesn't want you to be his vassal. He wants more.

Holy shit.

"You are irreplaceable. Cherished." 😭😭😭😊😊😊😭😭😭😊😊😊😭😭😭😊😊😊😭😭😭😊😊😊

Not to be that person - but I tell all my "friends" that.

Yes, Dedue, stop saying insisting you're just a "vassal" - that's a worse joke than Alois' puns from earlier.

"Please . . . do not look at me that way." What way, like you're about to make Dimitri cry, or like . . .

"You promised me you would build a Kingdom that is proud to boast of Duscur blood." - shit, man, these two. I just . . .

OMG so much emotion from Dedue. The only time I ever heard that before was in VW when he learned Dimitri died. But let's not remember that right now 😭😭😭😭😭😭

Oh shit. He called him "Dimitri." 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊

And it made him blush.

OMG.

Guys, these two.

Aww, Dimitri looks so surprised. 😊😊😊😊😊😊

Oh, these two are so soft for each other. I can't. I just can't.

"To be your friend . . . is what I have always wanted." You're going to get it.

Man, I feel almost guilty S-Supporting Dimitri. He needs to pair up with Dedue pronto.

Dimitri sounds chocked up. OMG.

"So please call upon me when you walk alone at night." Ok. Dedue. Ok. Yes. Guys. This is all very straight.

I'm not saying it's - you know - cannon, but there's some big feels here.

Oh, Dimitri, stop it. You like Dedue's overprotectiveness. Don't lie.

Man, you guys were so right. Dimitri really just came out and said Dedue was "cherished" and "irreplaceable." Like, I'm not making this stuff up. And Dedue blushing hardcore just saying Dimitri's name.

They're both just so soft. I can't. I literally cannot. This support was gold. It was worth all they hype.

And learning more about how they meant. Dimitri really taking a bullet for Dedue there. I just . . .

I just want all the happiness for both of them. They're really something special towards each other. Like I legitimately think this is one of the most two-way loyal relationships in the whole franchise, and definitely the tightest bond in this game.

Like in past games you had Seth for Ephraim and Erikia and Soren for Ike and it's not like Ike, Ephraim and Erikia and etc don't care, but it wasn't the same level, you know? But this is such a two way street.

And I'm so weak for bodyguard with a crush. Like Seth/Eirika? Yes. Geoffrey/Elincia? 100%. Riza/Roy (Fullmetal Alchemist) there again. I'm sure there's more, but those are my top ones. Even Merlin/Arthur sort of counts even if Arthur doesn't know Merlin's his bodyguard lol.

I need to read fanfic for these two. I really don't want to spoil anything, but I'm dying. They're both just so sweet, and I just really love their dynamic. I really want to do a write up on it once I get to the end of the game.

[randomnameless]

In other words, Lonato should've been a red flag. 3h was a mistake, I miss the Fates day when the discourse was how the story was structured. Nobody said Garon had a point... God I wondered what would've happened if the villains were moe like Edel-chan.

Yes!

Coming from elincia's arc from radiant dawn, everyone knows Lonato is doing shit and must be erased.

But apparently some found a way to discourse around him, because Rhea bad and the devs loved their red herring. So when she goes with her version of "let everybody know that if they try to hurt my family or my people I will terminate them" it is worded in an ominous way, and Lonato might not have been bad, lizards bad etc etc.

Browsing redshit, I found this in the archive :

“They just want to get rid of the Church influence because of the wrongful execution of the Lord’s son”

They just happened to have weapons, to expressely want to get rid of the leader of the church with said weapons, to be willing to use said weapons and never rallied behind the “Christophe did nothing wrong”, they rallied because “Christophe was executed”. You do not raise an army “to get rid of someone’s influence” unless you intend to do so by eliminating that someone.

Also, this is not an assassination - force is used and targets a certain someone, but the main goal of this usage of force isn’t to kill Lonato, it is to stop his militia from marching on GM and chopping everyone in sight/people from the church/Rhea.

Or, we were all wrong, and Elincia assassinated Ludveck.

The only point that could be made is about the Church sending knights in Faerghus to stop the rebellion in Castle Gaspar - maybe they should have waited until they were at the border with GM’s territory. While Lonato was raising his army? If politics were more fleshed out in FE16, we could have Seteth rant because he contacted Rufus, Lonato’s lord, to ask what the fuck this was about, and either Rufus said he didn’t know or he said he has not enough knights/forces to prevent Lonato from attacking the Church.

Maybe House Charon would have intervened, because Christophe was killed for regicide, the reason why Cassandra isn’t a wanted criminal anymore so if Lonato starts to pretend Christophe was unjustly killed, he is actually saying Cassandra isn’t guiltless in Lambert’s death.

Maybe we could see Rodrigue (even if he is very far) warn GM, or send a letter to the CoS warning them about the situation, and have a joint effort/army between the Kingdom and the Knights to stop Lonato’s rebellion. If Lonato attacks GM, he puts Dimitri in danger, and Dimitri is the future King, so that is a big no-no. Plus, the Church of Seiros is the Kingdom’s ally, if the Kingdom allows one of their minor nobles to raise an army against them, are they truly reliable allies or not?

Or in the following explore section - when Rodrigue is here to explain the Gautier incident and why he is here to ask for Rhea’s help in dealing with it - he could mention Rufus feeling bad about letting Lonato raise his army and not dealing with him sooner, or just, complain about the current state of Faerghus as they are unable to deal with bandits and war-mongering vassals.

Ultimately, if Fodlan was really a feudal state - Ashe and his siblings would be stripped of their titles, and sent to the sewers.

[agent-cupcake]

Dimitri and mental illness

**Warnings for Blue Lions spoilers and armchair psychology

Depending on who you ask, Dimitri is an innocent sweetheart whose actions are entirely excusable and justified or an unforgivable war criminal and overall terrible character. Arguments for both sides have been exhausted, usually in the form of the popular Edelgard versus Dimitri debate, but I feel that both statements are heavily flawed and, truthfully, I think I take more issue with the former. Does it strike anyone else as rather patronizing that the audience (and the game, to an extent) treats Dimitri like an innocent, broken uwu soft boy both before the time skip and once he begins his recovery arc? Of course, a lot of this can be blamed on the awful pacing and poor writing of said recovery (which is the most valid structural critique of his character imo), but there’s a lot to be said about the fan depiction of Dimitri and the way people treat his mental illness. I think the reason this gets me is because I see it as an extension of the problems I have with the romanticization of male-specific mental illness. In this case, “all depressed boys are emasculated, soft, sad bois” and “anger is an accessory that is vanished once the cute boy takes it off” with the related sentiment of “the only two real mental illnesses are depression and anxiety, with a splash of PTSD for argument's sake”. And, speaking of arguments, while many people bring up mental illness in regards to the discussion around Three Houses characters, it is often supplementary to support their points rather than the main point unto itself. Dimitri’s mental illness (aka, the thing his entire arc is predicated upon) is mostly given only a passing recognition in the discussion of his actions. Even then, it’s often used as a justification to defend or lambaste him.

TL;DR Dimitri is a flawed person with a debilitating and incredibly well written mental illness that, while not excusing his actions, allows for further exploration of his character and a well-deserved shot at a recovery arc that is not usually awarded to people with the “non-traditional” mental illnesses. Furthermore, the game offers a wealth of insight as to what they intended his mental illness to be, the symptoms that manifested, and a plausible background to match up with it all and I have the receipts to prove it. Let’s go~

“Me? Oh. Um. Please forgive me... It's difficult to open up on the spot, don't you think? I'm afraid my story has not been a pleasant one... I do hope that doesn't color your view of me, but I understand if that can't be helped.”

I know that mental illness can be singularly caused by a traumatic event or events. That is, generally, how I see people framing Dimitri’s mental illness. My argument, however, is that the Tragedy of Duscur was not the genesis, but the trigger for issues that would exist otherwise. Perhaps it’s due to my own personal experience with mental illness, but I’m almost always more inclined to believe that issues stem from an unlucky combination of many things. 

Regardless, my evidence to entertain the idea that he would be naturally predisposed to mental illness is slim. Aside from arguing that it wouldn’t be out of the question for his mother to have been unwell while she was pregnant with him considering she would later die of plague (a cause that in and of itself is subject to skepticism), I would bring up his Crest. In-game there is clear proof that Crests have wide-reaching effects on the person, there are actually a few analysis posts that hypothesize that Crests could be the reason for certain character motivations. In ng+, the Crest of Blaiddyd is called the Grim Dragon Sign. There’s no definitive proof to point to here, but if his Crest was one of the reasons for his mental deterioration it would follow other rules set in-game. Rather than inherited human genetics creating the blueprint for mental issues and the writers having to face that issue on its own terms, it was the Crest’s influence. This goes along with the fact that the game never overtly references Dimitri’s illness, essentially using “the dead” as a blanket symptom of his problems. Both these things are cool ways to imply a possible way to read more deeply without having to use anachronistic medical terms.

Side note: There’s something uncomfortable about the idea of a Crest that gives the individual inhuman strength and mental issues. Grim Dragon indeed.

My next point is one that I don’t see being brought up too often in regards to how it might have affected Dimitri, likely because the events that came later in his life far overshadow it, but Dimitri lost his mom when he was young. The date is not given, but I think it’d be when he was about six-ish. Admittedly, the timeline is strange and non-specific around here but if that were true, it would mean that the plague, Dimitri’s mother’s death, and Lambert and Rodrigue’s war campaign to subjugate the southern half of Sreng would all have happened around the same time. Dimitri says he doesn’t remember it, but that doesn’t necessarily matter. At six years old he had lost one parent and the other one left him to go on a battle march, leaving this child without any sort of parent figure to console him in a country that is culturally opposed to expressing emotion. Lambert will probably always remain a mystery, but I think it could be fair to say he was a poor father. Or at the very least a distant one. Dimitri was undoubtedly a sensitive child (if we’re to judge by the sensitive person he grew up to be) and during the years where he was actually becoming old enough to remember, he had nobody to teach him how to properly navigate and manage his emotions. Emotional neglect in a child who is predisposed to being emotional and empathetic can leave them suffering from a sense of isolation, an inability to ask for help, and a predisposition to having break downs as they get older.

But three-ish years later, possibly one of the best things that ever would happen to Dimitri came to pass and Lambert married Patricia. Dimitri adored her. 

“I share no blood with my stepmother, but to hear you say that... It pleases me greatly. She was the one who raised me. I suppose it makes sense that we would share certain mannerisms.” (Dimitri’s B support with Hapi)

I don’t think Dimitri’s feelings about Patricia can be overstated, as I feel it’s one of the most defining aspects of his reactions to things that happen later on. Dimitri talks about Patricia more lovingly than he talks about Lambert. She was in his life for around four to five years but had such an impact on him that even his mannerisms are similar. 

Soon after, a ten-year-old Dimitri made his first friend that wasn’t knightly, who didn’t embody those Faerghus ideals of stifling emotions and swinging swords.

People point out the Faerghus crew as Dimitri’s best friends, and yet Edelgard is the one associated with his best memories. It’s just my own assumptions, but I think that it’s because both Edelgard and Patricia gave Dimitri space to be an emotional child, to not have to be the knightly prince who had no emotions and engaged only in the most masculine of activities. And, I mean, look at them. He’s learning to dance and she’s bossing him around, absolutely no regard for propriety.  

It’s pretty clear that Dimitri doesn’t feel romantic feelings towards Edelgard in the academy phase, but I think it would be fair to say she was his first love when they were young. He essentially says this was the best year of his life and establishes Edelgard as someone very precious to him (as well as the daughter of one of the most precious people to him). Strong feelings beget strong feelings, do they not? 

Google says that eleven to fourteen is the general age of male puberty. It’s the time that kids begin to more fully define how they’re going to emotionally interact with people and the world at large. Meeting Edelgard was at the cusp of this period of Dimitri’s life, and the Tragedy of Duscur was right in the midst of it. 

And we all know what that turned out.

Dimitri’s accounts of what happened during the Tragedy are... conflicting. This CG of an unharmed Dimitri in a field of corpses is... conflicting.

“My father...was the strongest man I knew. Someone I loved and admired deeply. That said, he was killed before my eyes. His head severed clean off. My stepmother, the kindest person I had ever known, left me behind and disappeared into the infernal flames.”

I’ve seen people create a plausible scenario in which Dimitri’s recollection is entirely accurate, where he saw Lambert call for revenge and get beheaded, saw Glenn’s ruined body and face twisted in pain, saw his step-mother disappear into the flames, and all despite the raging chaos of the battle and how people would undoubtedly be targeting the prince, but I think it makes more sense that his memories are unreliable. Dimitri suffered a severe head injury (very important to keep in mind) at Duscur. Maybe that happened early on, after seeing who attacked Lambert but before he was an actual target himself, which merely made him look dead. Maybe he saw a version of the events he described, but through the filter of confused head trauma, smoke inhalation, and intense terror. To think that his recollection isn’t exactly entirely reliable sets a precedent for his later skewed take on reality. 

Regardless of opinion, though, the facts are that Dimitri left Duscur with a traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder. 

After that, from thirteen to seventeen, Dimitri was pretty isolated. Most of the people he cared about were dead. His entire emotional support system (Patricia) was gone. He saved Dedue (although they were definitely not on even terms, that relationship is unbalanced to the extreme) and occasionally saw Rodrigue (who I have no reason to believe was emotionally accommodating in any way considering the way he sees Dimitri as an extension of Lambert to his dying breath). Again, it’s strange. People act like Dimitri was super close friends with the Faerghus crew, that he was surrounded by people who loved him (although it is clear there is a lot of love there), but he never presents things in a way to imply that’s the case. In fact, he highlights his isolation:

“In Duscur, I lost my father, stepmother, and closest friends. I didn't have many allies at the castle after that. In truth, I had only Dedue for companionship.”... “I once had people I could confide in. Family, friends, instructors, even the royal soldiers. But they were all taken away from me four years ago.” (Dimitri’s C support with Byleth.)

Two years passed before the next time Dimitri saw his friends and it was a war campaign, putting down the rebellion in western Faerghus. Dimitri speaks about those battles from a place of deeply affected emotion, expressing empathy, pain, and disgust with his actions and the killing.

“I recall coming across a dead soldier's body. He was clutching a locket. Inside was a lock of golden hair. I don't know to whom it belonged. His wife, his daughter...mother, lover... I'll never know.... in that moment, I realized he was also a real person, just like the rest of us… Killing is part of the job, but even so... There are times when I'm chilled to the bone by the depravity of my own actions.” (Dimitri’s B Support with Byleth)

I love this support, honestly. It’s so very telling about the destructive quality of empathy. Although caring can be a good thing, it’s also arguably one of the most destructive of Dimitri’s qualities. His empathy is what presents him with situations he cannot accept, the thing that pushes him to disassociate from reality so he can be rid of it and fight without remorse like he was taught to do by his father and other soldiers. Dimitri is a man of extremes. Either total control or none, without any room for error. This dialogue is also the first time Dimitri brings up reconciling himself with reality and hints to the fact that he has been unable to do so. This is contrasted perfectly in this line from Felix,

“The way you suppressed that rebellion... It was ruthless slaughter and you loved every second. I remember the way you killed your victims. How you watched them suffer. And your face...that expression. All the world's evil packed into it...” (Dimitri’s C Support with Felix)

Dimitri doesn’t deny this. Just like all of the other terrible things Felix says, he takes it without protesting in an act of what I think is stilted contrition. Although, it’s not just in supports that Dimitri’s contrasting behavior is brought up. The Remire incident probably works as a good reference for what Felix saw all those years back.

This is the first time we see Dimitri’s darker side in full. The similarities in the situation to what is shown to have happened in the Tragedy of Duscur are interesting. The fire, the utter chaos, strange figures watching it all from above. This is another case of a perfect disaster. I wonder if his ultimate snap would have been so destructive if not for Remire.

Anyway, this draws parallels to his and Felix’s separate recall of the rebellion because later Dimitri apologizes.

“Professor... I...I'm sorry you saw that side of me in the village… When I saw the chaos and violence there...my mind just went completely dark.”

Dimitri is unreliable. A lack of control, a separation of self, and becoming consumed by a dark rage only to come to his senses later, full of shame and a sense of confusion about why. From my own experience, it’s not unnatural to come out of an episode like this without being able to explain what was happening and being baffled by your behavior. This firmly establishes Dimitri’s uncomfortably fast mood shifts in relation to his trauma from the Tragedy and confirms all of the warnings Felix had given. When Dimitri was faced with a reality he could not accept, he lost control of his emotions and his mental state shifted to adapt accordingly.

This is when I’d also like to note something interesting about how Dimitri discusses his trauma. He is very honest and open about his experiences, explaining exactly what happened to him to Byleth. However, he uses the truth to hide. In recounting the events of the Tragedy of Duscur, in talking about how his family died and saying how badly it hurt him, he does not make himself vulnerable. When he admits weakness, he does so in the past tense or apologetically, vowing to be stronger. “Stronger”, aka, he’ll be better in suppressing his emotions. 

“I always strive to keep my emotions at bay, but... Sometimes the darkness takes hold and...it's impossible to suppress. It just shows you how lacking I am... I have much to learn.”

Dimitri lies by using the truth, shoving down his feelings, and blaming himself rather than attempting to figure out how to handle his emotions. In his own words:

“Everyone has something that is unacceptable within them. I certainly do, and I'd wager you do as well. I wonder which is best, Professor... To cut away that which is unacceptable, or to find a way to accept it anyway...”

Good advice Dimitri. Might want to keep that in mind.

It is at this point is when I’m going to get into my personal thoughts and armchair psychiatry nonsense.

First off, when I mentioned earlier about “non-traditional” mental illness, I did not mean abnormal or rare. Although people mostly just point to Dimitri having PTSD (and depression) as the source of his issues, I’m going to use all of my above information to make the (decently common) argument that Dimitri is schizophrenic, which is, contrary to popular belief, not too unusual. I state that with the caveat that I understand that there’s a lot to be said about schizophrenia and the tumultuous relationship between mental health and fiction. However, now is not really the time to go into mental health politics and representation or the many lies spread about the illness so instead, I recommend that you read into the topic if you’re personally interested (This has some good information). 

At the very least be aware that this IS sensationalized.

That said, Dimitri does not, to my understanding using grossly simplified terms, meet the qualifications generally (very generally) used to diagnose schizophrenia through the majority of the White Clouds chapters. These qualifying symptoms include, but are not limited to, the duration of the psychotic episode, the concurrent presence of hallucinations and delusions, and a greatly lowered ability to keep up with basic quality-of-life tasks. You only see these symptoms in the final chapter of White Clouds and the first few of Azure Moon. This isn’t unusual, however, because schizophrenia manifesting fully in younger individuals is extremely uncommon, sometimes taking years to trigger during a person’s late teens. And since the diagnosis generally relies on the occurrence of a psychotic episode, it can be mistaken as other mood disorders. Actually, the idea of him having a mood disorder was one of the things that caught my eye originally. Prodromal symptoms such as depression, irritability, headaches, sleep disruption, and mood swings are common in bipolar disorder (and, of course, schizophrenia). 

Still, I don't deny that Dimitri has PTSD and depression, only that I don’t think PTSD is his main (or only) issue. In reality, PTSD and schizophrenia are closely tied. They share many symptoms, even the symptom of psychosis. There’s also evidence that those with genetic precedent to develop PTSD overlap with those at risk for schizophrenia, and that the nature of PTSD triggers can act as a severe stressor to aggravate a schizophrenic episode. 

(From here)

This falls into the realm of being uncertain where one ends the other begins, highlighting the lack of concrete understanding about schizophrenia and the dependency of diagnosis and treatment to rely entirely on the individual experience, but that’s not a conversation I’m actually qualified to have. 

The study that truly caught my eye and while researching for this was one called “Psychiatric disorders and traumatic brain injury”. As I mentioned, at some point during the Tragedy, Dimitri sustained severe head trauma. We know this because of his development of the rare inability to taste called ageusia. I was originally interested in following this narrative thread because, as you might know if you follow true crime cases, there are many murderers who recall having sustained a head injury as children. Not that Dimitri shares similar psychology to people that kill and eat their victim's feet... Although his body count is higher. Besides that, head trauma, in general, is known to be linked to mental illness and altering a person’s behavior. There is even a correlation between TBI (traumatic brain injury) and schizophrenia. 

From the study I linked above:

To put it more simply, patients in the study who had suffered TBI and developed schizophrenia reported that their most common symptoms were delusions of persecution, auditory hallucinations, and aggressive behaviors. The auditory hallucinations were often voices. Many of the subjects experienced psychotic episodes two or more years after the initial incident (although, as I mentioned, Dimitri’s age could also have something to do with the timing as children rarely have fully developed schizophrenic episodes). Furthermore, the behaviors classified as an absence of normal behaviors called “negative symptoms” (which include apathy and disordered speech) were rare in this testing group. 

Dimitri exclusively displays “positive” symptoms of schizophrenia (“positive” meaning the presence of symptoms such as hallucinations and delusions). He also clearly suffers from delusions of persecution in his belief that Edelgard is the sole instigator of Duscur and the war and that he immediately accuses Byleth of being an Imperial spy upon meeting them post time skip. I think it’s pretty fascinating how closely Dimitri’s symptoms follow the outline of the study, especially with the aggressive behaviors, as those aren’t actually very common in schizophrenics. 

In very, very simplistic terms, if I’m right and Dimitri was born with the genetic blueprint for schizophrenia/PTSD (through Crests, inheritance, or environmental causes) and later suffered severe head trauma in an event that also gave him PTSD in combination with his pre-existing parental issues and stilted emotional development, then this could definitely create the type of person who loses all sense of reality, can’t control his emotions, and is prone to episodes of murderous rage when being reminded of the trigger (however tangentially) of losing everything he loved.

However, I’ll add real quick that the study I mentioned should be taken with a grain of salt. 

I use it mainly because I thought the similarities were interesting and it shows that there was more thought put into Dimitri than maybe people appreciate.

This brings us to my final point; Some kind of twisted joke.

A major point I saw being made as proof of how terrible Dimitri is as a character was that he blamed Edelgard for the Tragedy of Duscur (a time where she would have been twelve). More accurately, he blamed her for everything that had happened and the thing is, I don’t disagree with that critique entirely. However, this is a case of him being a bad person, not a bad character. This might seem like an odd distinction, but I think it changes the scope of deserved criticism.  

As I’ve been trying so desperately to illustrate, Dimitri snapping wasn’t just because of Edelgard being revealed as the Flame Emperor. Rather, it was an unlucky combination of many things. His grasp and interpretation of reality were already hazy at best by the time she was unmasked, slowly falling apart as his prodromal symptoms worsened. Going into the fight, he believed the Flame Emperor to be responsible in whole or in part for the worst thing that had ever happened to him, guessed at Arundel’s involvement, had found (and lied about) the dagger, and was rapidly mentally deteriorating. While Dimitri suspected Edelgard’s involvement to some degree, he did his best to act like it wasn’t true.  

Dimitri didn’t want it to be true. To the extent that he was willing to lie to Byleth (and to himself) to avoid reality. He cared deeply about Edelgard. The best year of his life was spent with her, she was his first love, and she was the daughter of the step-mother he adored. Strong feelings beget strong feelings, do they not? This reveal confronted Dimitri with something that he could not accept, so his mind sidestepped the issue altogether. Delusion convinced him that all of the fears and worries he had beforehand were related, all into one larger delusion that Edelgard had sole responsibility. It’s not right and maybe not even excusable, but it falls in line with everything else.

Edelgard and Dimitri. Bound by some twisted fate but forever doomed to be separated, unable to understand the other’s chosen path. 

I do recognize the flaws of Dimitri’s character and arc. There are some pretty major flaws. I have parts of a post typed out about his shoddy recovery and how I’d fix it that, hopefully, one day will see the light of day as well as many complaints about the way the story is hindered by the need for flexibility to accommodate gameplay and a happy ending.

But, despite that, this has all been a very long-winded way of praising Dimitri’s writing. His mental illness has a surprising amount of depth and I loved studying it as intently as I did. I learned a lot about his character as well as about mental illness in general.

Ultimately, Dimitri is neither an innocent sweetheart whose actions are entirely excusable and justified or an unforgivable war criminal and overall terrible character. You can feel bad for his pain and his struggle with his illness and understand that as a reason for his actions, but you shouldn’t use it as justification. He had the opportunity to seek help before things got too bad. He was selfish with the mismanagement of his emotions and goals. However, he also was a victim. Dimitri worked to recover and mend the mistakes he made while he was unwell, which is a side of this mental illness that is rarely shown in media.  

I wholeheartedly believe that, love him or hate him, Dimitri is the most well-written of the Three Houses characters,

[callmewishful]

I have thoughts about Matthias’s childhood, his personality at the academy, and his shift after the death of his wife and child and now you’re going to hear them too.

(Bullet points because it’s easy)

Matthias’s childhood…left something to be desired. In a territory that is the only thing between Sreng and Faerghus, I think it’s easy to put strength and duty above all else. Yes I’ve said it before but I’ll say it again.

I think emotions were a no-no in the Gautier household. Crying is weakness, sadness is dumb (either fix it or move on), jealousy is pointless, etc. Focus on your duties. Matthias was to be the next Margrave and as Margrave you gotta be strong, clear-headed, and logical.

I also think Matthias’s father was about unwavering obedience (because not doing so against Sreng gets you killed) and he’s got no time for shenanigans with his duties

Because Gautier is super duty/learning focused, I think Matthias didn’t meet Lambert and Rodrigue until the academy. Friends are distractions, kids. But when he did meet them…that was a wild ride for him. The Future King and Duke…s-skip class? Get into TROUBLE? *clutches pearls*

No one can avoid the shenanigans of Lambert and Rodrigue though, so of course Matthias gets pulled in. He tries to keep himself out of it, but the two boys need help when their schemes fail and who’s the most cunning? Matthias.

And the shrewd boy is rewarded with stolen snacks (Rodrigue has all of his favorites memorized), game nights (Lambert is surprisingly good at chess), jokes (Matthias pretends to hate but can’t help laughing at) and genuine care.

Therefore I think Daddy Gautier loosens up a little, learns to relax, learns to have…fun? And friends? Who knew you could enjoy yourself and fulfill all the duties required of you? Who knew others really could care about you with nothing expected in return? These people just like him…and that’s why they hang around? It’s a brave new world.

Sometimes compromises must be made to keep them all sane. Matthias agrees to skip his third training session of the day to get into mischief if Lambert and Rodrigue will attend class with him in the morning, etc. Point is, the boys start to balance each other out.

Things are pretty smooth sailing. And then Rodrigue rushes ahead into battle and Lambert and Matthias nearly have a heart attack. Lambert and Matthias get into a fist fight about saving Rodrigue because damnit he needs help but both boys have such strong opinions on how to best do it.

It’s the first time Lambert and Rodrigue really realize that Matthias will quite literally do anything to help them, despite all his grumbling. Duty and respect be damned, he’ll even fist fight the king.

Of course they knew Matthias liked them and cared for them in his own little way, but that’s the first time they realized just how far Matthias would go for them. Maybe even the first time Matthias really realizes how deep into this friendship he is. Their bonds only strengthen from there as they all realize that they’re stuck with each other no matter what.

They graduate (even Lambert and Rodrigue lol), take over their territories, get married, have kids (for Matthias). And life is great!

Until it isn’t.

After he loses his wife, things take a drastic turn for the worst.

Everything his father told him about not getting close to people and people only bringing you pain comes true. If he’d kept his wife at a distance, she couldn’t hurt him. If he kept his joy and love in check and was emotionless and logical, this couldn’t hurt him. But he didn’t do that and he ignored his father and now Sreng took damn-near everything he held dear because he showed weakness and he was vulnerable and damn it all he hurts unlike anything he’s ever felt before.

By pure accident he snaps at Rodrigue and his friend doesn’t speak to him for a couple weeks. He thought that things would be better, because if he didn’t have his friends close, they couldn’t hurt him either. But instead he learns that he’s too far deep and Rodrigue not returning his apology makes it all worse because not only has he lost his wife and child but one of closest friends and it feels lonely and it amplifies the wounds he already has on his heart.

He realizes that cutting them off doesn’t fix the pain. But now he doesn’t know how to fix it. All he knows is that he can’t save himself. The most important thing now is to make sure his friends don’t ever feel this way and to ensure Sreng can’t take anything else from him. The next best thing he can come up with and do for them is start heeding his father’s advice.

So he keeps himself guarded instead. He hopes that if he shields his emotions that he won’t hurt his friends so bad when something happens to him.

Because let’s face it, Matthias will do anything for those he loves. He cares about them deeply, but damn if he doesn’t have a backwards-ass way of showing it

And that’s it. That’s his whole character. A man who cares but has a backwards-ass way of showing it that accidentally makes things worse instead of better.

[dmclemblems]

I've been rewatching some of the Azure Moon scenes just because well why not

and my god I love Rodrigue so much.

I love how much he cares for Lambert, Dimitri, Felix and his country.

I love how he's the ONLY person in the entire game who is willing to look at Dimitri straight and tell him no, you will hear me out.

I love how even though Felix doesn't get along with him, he watches over Felix from afar and wants what's best for him even if he can't be the one to give him that.

I love how emotional he is about Dimitri supposedly having been killed and how he refused to accept it unless he was shown evidence.

I love how he did everything in his power to get Areadbhar back.

I love how Rodrigue is literally the reason Faerghus didn't collapse under Cornelia's occupation. He defended the country in Dimitri's absence for five fucking years. While others were out there trying to locate Dimitri, Rodrigue never stopped fighting. Without him the whole country probably would have been taken over.

I love how later on Rodrigue is the one who confronts the possibility that the Tragedy of Duscur didn't go exactly the way it was thought to and, even when Gilbert isn't ready to hear the truth, he still wants to discuss it because he knows it's important.

I love the fact that he's not just keeping his promise to Lambert. He outright asks Dimitri which is more important, the dead or the living, implying despite what Felix thinks about the things Rodrigue says about Lambert ("I don't care if you can bring yourself to face a dead king", for instance), Rodrigue doesn't just fight for Lambert's memory. He fights because he wants to protect the people and the things he loves. Honoring Lambert's memory is a bonus, but I love how Rodrigue is trying to handle Felix, who is alive, and trying not to dwell on what they lost, i.e. Glenn. Felix might hate how it all blew over, but at the end of the day Rodrigue isn't dwelling on losing Glenn, but focusing on Felix and Dimitri and just wants them to grow the best way they can. Everything he does he does for the living and he's very up front about that.

I love the fact that, on that last point, he has a perfect balance of respecting the dead's wishes and caring for the living. Dimitri tries too hard for the dead, and Felix tries to avoid anything about the dead and only focus on the living even though one could argue keeping the memory of loved ones is very important (especially in that time period when they didn't have things like pictures and videos to keep their memories, remember their faces/voices, etc).

Y'all.

I love Rodrigue.

I really love Rodrigue.

[ship-ambrosia]

Thicker Than Blood is the Crests They Bear (Fire Emblem)

I’m usually all about the shipping, but that’s not the case here! I cannot believe I wrote this all in one day - one where I had to take Kiki to the vet too. She’s still glaring at me as I post this lol

This is set some time pre-Tragedy of Duscur. The moment Sylvain mentioned all the ways that Miklan tried to kill him, I wondered what his friends growing up would have thought of that.

Summary: In which Sylvain goes missing, and his friends know why.

   It’ll be fun, Sylvain. He had said.

   Just the two of us. Sure, it sounded wonderful.

   Don’t tell father and mother, they’ll just spoil everything. He was right. And Sylvain would do anything for him.

  Miklan never wanted to spend time with him. Miklan never wanted to even be around him. When his brother offered to take him for a horse ride through the mountains, it meant everything to Sylvain. It was everything to him. Finally, Miklan was seeing him for what was true; he hadn’t chosen to disinherit him with his birth. There was nothing more that little Sylvain wanted than for his brother to love him.

  As he lay in the snow, alone and cold in the quiet winter evening, he finally confronted himself. Deep in his heart, he knew it had been too good to be true. He had always known Miklan hated him, and that wouldn’t go away in a single day. Still he had believed him, put all his faith in him.

  Right to the moment that Miklan told him to get off the horse.

  As he watched his brother ride away, Sylvain was angry, but not at him. He was filled with fury and hatred toward the goddess, toward his parents, toward his Crest. This thing he never asked for, didn’t even fully understand. Why? Why had this happened to him? He supposed if he were to die here, at least he’d had some good times. Dimitri, Felix, Ingrid... his closest friends. At least while his parents mourned their heir, his friends would mourn him.

  ~

  Dimitri, ever the prodigious hard worker, was returning from training for the day when he overheard the conversation.

  “The heir you say? That’s the boy who was friends with Dimitri,” Lambert sighed. “My word... how would I ever be able to tell him?”

  “Tell me what, father?” Dimitri asked, having stepped forward into the room without even realizing it. “Who are you talking about? What’s going on?”

  “Dimitri,” the king, so strong and wise and ever the perfect image of a knight to the young prince, he looked so sad as he kneeled down so he could be level with his son. “How much did you overhear?”

  “Just the last part. I was with Gustave until but a moment ago,” he looked up, toward the man who had been speaking with his father. “I recognize you, sir. You’re from House Gautier. So you were talking about Sylvain.”

  “Ever the perceptive young man,” the man chuckled, but there was a darkness to his eyes.

  “Dimitri,” his father let out a sigh and avoided his son’s direct gaze. “Sylvain went missing about three days ago. Margrave Gautier sent his man to me immediately, so he could have been found by now but... we don’t know. We won’t know until I get another report.”

  Dimitri’s eyes widened in response, as all the breath left the young prince’s body. Something like this... he was no stranger to death. Dimitri had seen people die before, in front of his eyes. He knew his birth mother had died, and that was why his mother wasn’t truly his mother. But to think Sylvain would be claimed in such a way was a thought that had never occurred to him. He had always imagined his friends - Felix, Ingrid, and Sylvain of course too - growing up to become knights in his service when he became king.

  Except, the thought had occurred to him before. Once, when the four of them had all gathered not even a year ago at Margrave Gautier’s manor.

  ~

  The clashing of practice swords was a common sound in the Fraldarius household, if it wasn’t Duke Fraldarius’s two sons competing with each other than there was at least one of them fighting an instructor or even more interestingly, dueling their father. For now it was Glenn and Felix facing off, per usual the younger of the two having once again challenged his older brother to a duel.

  With a quick thrust, Glenn pushed the tip of his sword into his brother’s shoulder, just above his heart.

  “I purposely struck above your heart so as to not hurt you. But I think I win again, Felix,” he chuckled.

  “Ngh, again!” Felix snarled. “Another bout! I must beat you!”

  “That’ll be the day, little brother,” Glenn shook his head as he walked off the training ground and sat on a nearby bench. “But I think five rounds is enough for one day. I’m beat.”

  “How is it even possible? I train so much more than you!”

  “What do you think I do in the capital all day? Stare at Prince Dimitri?”

  “No, but it’s not like you and Dimitri can spar all the time! When you’re gone, all I do is train but it doesn’t even seem to matter!”

  Glenn leaned over and flicked his brother on the forehead. Felix yelped and rubbed the spot, narrowing his eyes at him.

  “It’s not about how much, but the quality of the training. If you’re just running yourself until you’re exhausted, that’s not going to do you any good. You need to understand what to improve on, and figure out how to compensate for your weaknesses. That’s why I train with His Highness so much. You and I are too similar in the way we fight.”

  Felix pouted. “What do I need to work on then?”

  “You need to compensate your lack of defense with your speed. You’d be even faster than me I’d bet,” he grinned. “Have you ever sparred with Prince Dimitri? I’d love to see that.”

  “Father won’t let me. He thinks Dimitri and I might actually hurt each other.”

  Glenn howled with laughter for a moment, clutching his stomach. “Ha! Well he’s not wrong,” finally when his laughter died down, he placed a hand on Felix’s head and ruffled his hair. “Don’t worry Felix, it’ll happen someday. You and I both, we’ve gotta get stronger than His Highness if we want to serve him, right?”

  And Felix looked up to his brother, to the person he looked up to more than anyone else in the world, and cracked a grin. “Of course.”

  It was then that the doors to their training yard burst open, and from them came their father, Rodrigue. The duke was a man known by his sons to be rather jovial and cheerful, but the same could not be said about him in that moment. Duke Fraldarius’s entire face was darkened, his brow furrowed deeper than either of them had ever seen.

  “Father? What’s wrong?” Glenn stood up, dropping the sarcastic tone and “old man” greeting he usually gave their father upon recognizing that something serious was happening.

  “We’re leaving for Gautier territory tonight,” the duke’s words were sharp and crisp. “Boys, gather your things.”

  “Did something happen? Did the people of Sreng attack? How could they retaliate so soon? It has only been six years since you and King Lambert quelled their uprising,” Glenn dropped the information he recalled from his studies quickly, once more leaving his younger brother in awe of his abilities.

  “No, it is not Sreng. At least, goddess I hope not,” Felix stiffened up when his father’s gaze moved to him. “Felix. Sylvain has gone missing. I’m taking you boys with me to help search for him, and so that his friends will be there when he is returned. Count Galatea and his daughter should be on their way, and I believe Gustave will be bringing Prince Dimitri as well. Do you understand?”

  All the joy and frustration building up in his body from sparring with his brother rushed out of him in an instant, and instinctively, Felix looked toward his brother. Glenn was staring straight ahead, eyes narrowed, teeth clenched tight in anger. Like his brother, Felix also looked up to Sylvain who, despite being friends with him and Dimitri and Ingrid, was two years older than the rest of them. To hear Sylvain could be hurt, could be missing, even dead somewhere... just didn’t seem fathomable. Sylvain had made a promise to him; a promise that neither would die without the other. He couldn’t die on him now.

  Staring into his brother’s face however, suddenly the situation became all too clear.

  ~

  Ingrid was silent in the carriage to Gautier. Her hands were clutched together in her lap tightly as she muttered prayers under her breath to the goddess that Sylvain would be found safe before she and her father even arrived. It had not even been that long since she had last seen her friend, loud and obnoxious and exhausting that he was. She found that any time she spent with him was only spent cleaning up his messes, apologizing to people he’d angered or upset.

  She knew Sylvain meant no harm, and she was just grateful they’d gotten to the point where he stopped attempting to flirt with her too; amusedly, it’d taken him saying something in front of Glenn and for the older young man to threateningly tell him to back off to finally do it. Ingrid smiled ever so slightly at the memory.

  The ache in her chest brought her back to reality though, the pain of not knowing what had befallen her friend. Was he dead? Had he been kidnapped? Of course she and all her friends understood extremely well the danger their lives were in constantly; not only were they the children of nobles - Dimitri being the prince and next heir to the throne, and both Felix and Sylvain being the children of two of the highest ranking noble families in Faerghus - but all four of them bore Crests of the Ten Elite Heroes. They were all incredibly sought after for marriage, so she was sure that even kidnapping wasn’t out of the question.

  “Do they... do they have any clue as to what happened?” She spoke up finally.

  Her father appeared to be startled by her voice, looking up at her quickly before back down to the floor of the carriage. “Not from the message I got sweetie, no. But it takes some time for those messages to be delivered, you know. They will probably have some idea by the time we arrive.”

  “Sylvain could be returned safe by that time, could he not?”

  Her father nodded, giving her a smile. “Of course, Ingrid. That’s why I’m bringing you. When he returns safe, he’ll want to see his friends, wouldn’t you think so?”

  She could see it in his eyes though, that her father didn’t truly think that was what would happen. She supposed it was good then, it was a show of his support for House Gautier, that he would travel so far to help them search for their missing heir. And she would help too, as best as she could. She may also have Dimitri and Felix, and even Glenn, but nothing would be the same in their group if Sylvain was found dead, or never found again.

  Yes, their group, the future leaders of Faerghus... who all bore Crests...

  ~

  He wondered how well his friends remembered that night in the manor. His father had thrown a party; for what, Sylvain couldn’t have been sure. Even if he wanted to know, his father still probably would’ve insisted he was too young to understand. The only thing Sylvain cared about was that King Lambert, Duke Fraldarius, and Count Galatea were all in attendance, which almost guaranteed that his friends would all be there.

  There was nothing he looked forward to more while growing up than the days he got to spend with even one of them, so having Dimitri, Felix, and Ingrid all together was a dream come true. It helped lessen his loneliness, which suffocated him. Sure, he was friends with the attendants, he could go or do anything in Gautier territory that he so pleased. But somehow, just by avoiding him, Miklan made it a nightmare. He should have known; seeing him surrounded by kids his age, seeing him happy, would only have made Miklan more furious.

  “I cannot believe Glenn is to be your retainer, Dimitri!” Ingrid clasped her hands together as she chirped. “He’s just incredible, isn’t he?”

  “Yes, he is. I’m very happy to have such a friend by my side,” the young prince answered.

  “Well, I could be a better retainer than him,” It was Felix who spoke up, looking unhappy. “You should pick me.”

  “It was Gustave who picked Glenn, not I.”

  “Besides Felix, you just can’t compete with Glenn!”

  “Oh shut up Ingrid!”

  Even though his friends were bickering, Sylvain couldn’t have been happier to have them there.

  “Guys-“

  A shadow fell over Sylvain, causing him to stop in the middle of his sentence. He looked up to find Miklan standing above him, looking down with that cold expression he was so used to.

  “Miklan?” It was Dimitri who spoke first. He sounded only a bit confused. Sylvain supposed he was confused too. Miklan didn’t speak to him.

  ”Figures you babies are just standing around talking,” his older brother laughed. “All the adults in the manor are busy so you could be off doing whatever you wanted, but here you are. Just a bunch of spoiled rotten children.”

  “What do you want, Miklan?” He groaned.

  “I was just going to take a peek at the Relic... maybe play around with it a little,” his older brother answered with a smirk. “No one’s around to tell me not to.”

  “Well, we’re around,” Ingrid said with narrowed eyes.

  “Right, so are you going to come with me to see the Relic or not?”

  Dimitri spoke up. “We shouldn’t. Hero Relics are extremely dangerous. Our parents only use them after extensive training.”

  “No, I think we should go with him,” Felix said, stepping up beside Sylvain and narrowing his eyes at the older Gautier brother. “What right does he have to touch what’s rightfully yours? You have to prove you’re better than him.”

  Sylvain saw a shadow cross his brother’s face for a moment, sending a chill down his spine. His childish pride wouldn’t let him back down from Felix’s statement though, and he nodded. “Fine, we’ll come.”

  Miklan just grinned again. “Understood. Follow me.”

  Though Dimitri and Ingrid protested the entire way, all four kids followed Miklan up to the room where his parents kept the Lance of Ruin. With such an ominous name, Sylvain had always been frightened by the prospect of having to wield it one day for his family. He knew it was the weapon that kept his family safe, but he also knew it was more powerful than he could ever hope to understand. Sylvain watched as his brother walked up to the case it was kept in, produce the key from his pocket, and push it into the lock.

  “Did you steal that from Margrave Gautier?!” Dimitri guffawed.

  “Sure did little princeling.”

  “Our father is going to kill you if we get caught,” Sylvain exclaimed.

  “He’ll have to kill both of us, since you were here too,” Miklan grinned again that mean smile. “Guess you better hope we don’t get caught.”

  The four children watched as Miklan opened the case, reaching in to grab the pole of the lance. It was not the first time Sylvain had seen it, and it wasn’t the first time any of them had seen in a Relic since both Dimitri and Felix’s fathers wielded their own and Ingrid had already been shown her inheritance, it was the first time any of them had seen a Relic without any adults present.

  Miklan touched the lance, gasping somewhat at the power that pulsed through him at the touch. Slowly, he removed the Lance of Ruin from its case, and all of them present stared in silence.

  “You should put that pack, Miklan,” Dimitri spoke in his I’m-a-prince-and-you-should-listen-to-me voice. Eventually they all would but Sylvain still found it funny, and would have laughed if he wasn’t suddenly filled with dread as Miklan spun the lance around in his hands.

  “You aren’t in charge of me yet, princeling.”

  “It’s your lance! Stop him!” Felix exclaimed.

  Sylvain fathered his nerves, clenching his fists at his side’s tightly. “Miklan! Stop!”

  He watched his brother set the Lance of Ruin at his side, turning to face him with an expression that Sylvain didn’t recognize. “What?” There was a hostility to his voice that hadn’t been there before.

  “I-I think...” he could feel himself losing his nerves quickly. “You should put the Lance of Ruin back, and we should all leave before we get caught. They’re going to notice us missing.”

  “Oh yeah? And I think spoiled little brats like you should learn their place!” In a heart stopping maneuver, his older brother pointed the tip of the lance toward him.

  Sylvain started down the shaft of the pole, never once expecting in his life to be afraid of the weapon he was to inherit would be used against him. “Remember what father said? You can only wield a Hero Relic if you bear the Crest that matches it. We don’t know what the lance will do if wielded by someone who doesn’t have one, and you don’t have the Crest of Gautier-“

  “You think I don’t know that?!” His brother roared, swinging the lance around. “You think I don’t think about that every day?! Because of you! It’s all because you were born! Why did you have to have the Crest; but not me?!”

  “Miklan, stop!” Dimitri yelled.

  “Sylvain!” Felix and Ingrid cried at the same time as the Lance of Ruin came flying from his brother’s hand... directly at him.

  The next heartbeat later, Sylvain was staring into the familiar face of Felix’s older brother, Glenn. The Fraldarius heir had him pinned to the ground, breathing heavily as though he’d just experienced a very intense workout. When Glenn registered just exactly what had occurred, he took a deep breath and smiled at him. “I cannot believe... I made it in time...”

  As he stood up and offered a hand to Sylvain, the younger Gautier brother took in what had occurred. The Lance of Ruin was wedged into the wall, at the same height as Sylvain’s head where it had been only a moment ago. Dimitri, Felix, and Ingrid were on the other side of the room, all looking shocked with their mouths agape. And Miklan...

  Miklan hadn’t moved an inch, staring ahead of him with no intention to look at his brother.

  All six noble children stood there in silence until some time later when they heard footsteps, and several adults cane burst into the room. At the front of the group was Margrave Gautier and his wife, looking madly between their two sons and the Hero Relic they protected. Sylvain listened quietly as Glenn explained calmly what had happened to everyone.

  He’d seen Miklan provoking the four younger kids, then watched them all leave and decided to follow. Glenn had wanted to step in and intervene with the others when they insisted Miklan put the lance back, to tell his brother he was wrong, but the scene escalated quicker than he could have anticipated and leapt in to push Sylvain out of the way of the lance at the last moment.

  And that memory, that one small situation in time, was how when they all thought about it, Dimitri, Felix, and Ingrid all came to the same conclusion as to who could have caused their best friend to disappear.

   He wasn’t actually trying to kill Sylvain, the adults had all said. He was just angry about the Gautier Crest and acted without thinking. That’s how he’s always been. But they hadn’t been there. They didn’t know. They hadn’t seen the same smile that Dimitri, Felix, and Ingrid had watched cross Miklan’s face after he realized he’d thrown the lance.

  “It was Miklan who made Sylvain disappear.”

  ~

  By the time each of them reached Gautier manor, Sylvain had in fact been rescued. Ingrid, having left first, arrived ahead of the others, and was sitting next to her friend’s bed when Dimitri and Felix arrived together. Sylvain was awake but still advised to stay in bed, wrapped up in several blankets with a fire going in the hearth at the other side of his room.

  Sylvain had spent nine hours alone in the cold, on the side of that mountain. It was a miracle by the goddess that he was still alive, they all knew that. It was an unspoken understanding amongst the four of them that under any other circumstances, he would have died. So they were more than grateful to sit by Sylvain’s bedside, to talk with him as long as they needed, to pretend that hadn’t just been the worst three days of all of their lives and that their friends’ brother hadn’t actively meant to try and kill him.

  “Dimitri believes Miklan is behind this,” King Lambert informed the others.

  Count Galatea was taken aback. “Ingrid said the same thing.”

  “So did Felix,” Duke Fraldarius nodded. “And Glenn seemed inclined to agree.”

  “I see,” answered the boys’ father.

  “I understand that there may not be hard proof for this,” the king continued. “But I believe the children may all be referring to what occurred at that party a year ago with the Lance of Ruin.”

  “It’s just one incident after another,” the duke shook his head. “Even if there’s a chance that we have grossly misunderstood this situation, you must make it clear to Miklan that he cannot put his brother in such danger.”

  “And even if his anger is only directed toward Sylvain, next time it could be my Ingrid caught in the fire,” Count Galatea added. “Or His Highness.”

  Margrave Gautier nodded. “Of course. I understand very, very much. It will not happen again. As of now, Miklan will be disinherited completely from the Gautier family.”

  ~

  He felt that pain in every enemy he cut down with the Lance of Ruin in hand. He saw his brother’s grinning face, heard him call him “you Crest-bearing fool” over and over in his head whenever the lance was in his hands. Watched him scream and curl in agony and transform into the monsters that he slay on the battlefield. In that way he understood the ghosts that tormented Dimitri very well. Miklan never left him alone.

  But it was the Crest Stone embedded in the lance’s surface that reminded him he had to keep fighting. It was the reason he carried on, for the Crests. To do away with them once the war was over, to make people forget they were ever important in the first place. He hated his blood, which carried his Crest, which could be passed down to one of his children some day. But Sylvain had already made up his mind; no matter Crest or not, his firstborn child would be the legitimate heir to House Gautier.

  They charged into another endless battle. The lance glowed red in his hands. As red hot as his fury, all his pain, and all the blood he had spilled. But it was fine, because it meant that he would never forget that which was most important.

  He hated his Crest almost as much as Miklan had hated him.

[ichigo777666]

FE3H Characters Ranked

My opinions of all the main characters in FE3H ranked from worst to best in my opinion. These are MY opinions! Spoilers ahead, obviously.

*NOTES*

This does not include any of the DLC characters. This also does not include the following characters since they have limited dialog / appearances within the game: Gwendal, Pallardo, Duke Aegir, Anna, Lambert, Ionious, Metodey, Kostas, Holst, Macuil, and Indech. Any other characters who are only mentioned by name are also not included. And Byleth is also not on this list due to being the player’s character.

Everyone else included in this list has a few interactions or mentions in multiple ending paths so they’re fair game. Not having a lot of interactions is not going to affect placement that much so don’t be surprised if some major characters wind up low on the list…

*The PIT*

Aka the worst of the worst. The characters I would throw into the void.

#54 – Leonie

I absolutely hate this character so much. Her personality is so flat and grating that she drives me up a wall. Her character can be summed up in two words “loves Jeralt” – that’s it. Just about everything about Leonie revolves around impressing Jeralt or being like Jeralt or doing this because of Jeralt ect. I don’t care if she’s useful as a playable character – every time she opens her mouth I cringe. Her support which is only available after Jeralt dies in which she berates you for “not appreciating him enough” is just the epitomny of selfishness. Then PTS she basically turns herself into a second Jeralt, replicting his outfit as best she can and giving herself his title “the blade breaker” and adds a 2. Excuse you, but is ANYONE can call themseleves that it’s Byleth, aka Jeralt’s child, not YOU. But she doesn’t care and does it anyway...

#53 – Rodrigue

Oh boy this is going to be a very unpopular opinion but in terms of a character, Rodrigue is kind shit. Rodrigue earns this spot for being the shittiest living parent in the game. His eldest son Glenn dies and his comment on that is how “he died like a true knight”. His first emotional response is pride not remorse. He never mentions how much he loved him or how he misses him: just how proud he was of him… And this pisses off poor Felix. Felix whom gets left ALONE after this happens because Rodrigue decides he’s got to be Dimitri’s mentor / guardian. So he basically straight up abandons his grieving 13 year old son to be the new father figure of the prince. Dimitri was more important to him that his own child. We can all see what the impact of this was on Felix through the game. And then, in Azure Sky, when Rodrigue joins you as a “mentor” character, he lacks all balls. Dimitri is going crazy and acting like a psychopath and Rodrigue doesn’t even really try to do anything about that – he just stands aside and comments on how he’s “changed”. I mean FRICK MAN – your were his guardian, his mentor. TALK TO HIM! But NOOOOOOO! So yeah, Rodrigue sucks!

#52 – Lord Lonato

Speaking of shit parents, here’s another for you! Yes, Lonato was kind enough to allow Ashe and his siblings to live with him, which is the oddest decision ever considering this came about after Lonato caught Ashe sneaking into his castle to steal from him. “I’ll just adopt this thief child”. Despite that act of kindness, he also chose to not tell Ashe the truth about what happened to his son Christophe; that Christophe was not involve with the Duscar incident but rather had been a part of a plot to try and kill Rhea. Lonato could not bring himself to believe that his son was wrong or had done anything wrong. Despite the fact that his son had decided, for whatever reason, to try and kill someone, Lonato thought that this was okay. He then sacrificed himself for the sake of trying to avenge his true son instead of continuing to care for the children he’d taken in. He basically took Ashe & his siblings in, giving them security for the first time in years, then chooses to follow his only wrong beliefs and thus put Ashe & his siblings back into the world again. He gave them 7 years of security and this just went “oh well, you’re on your own again”.

#51 – Gilbert /  Gustave

And rounding out the “shit parents” section of the list, we have the father that literally abandons his daughter and wife due to own depression. He’s totally alive and out there but just can’t bring himself to give a crap about either or write them any letters. Nope, he’s caught up in his head that he wasn’t there during the tragedy of Duscar, of how he “should have arrived sooner”. I mean, really? It is in now way his fault just because he’s a knight. He wasn’t supposed to be there and he’s got guilt that he wasn’t there? Seriously man?! And then when he finally does reunite with Annette all he does is push her away. Instead of letting Annette decide whatever she wants to be around him again, he chooses for her and denies her attempts to reconnect with him. Yeah, shit father…

*The Bottom of the Barrel*

These characters are bad. They’re not absolute utter garbage like the PIT characters, but they still are awful.

#50 – Dimitri

Yeah, I don’t like Dimitri. What is there to like about this guy? He was traumatized as a teenage when his dad was killed in-front of him and that changed him into a survival-guilt ridden bloodthirsty killer? Jeez, it honestly feels like someone tried to ft a whole bunch of tropes into one cohesive character and failed massively. The whole “brooding” phase in Azure Sky where he’s basically a tantrum throwing 5 year old only makes him worse. Also, I still don’t understand WHY he immediately jumped to the whole “Edelgard is the one who killed my parents” conclusion. The entire Duscar incident had nothing to do with Edelgard, unless Dimitri thinks a teenager with no power could do that. And, if he’s blaming the Empire, why does that extend to Edelgard who was just a princess at the time? I could see if something like the FE was present and that’s why he went crazy after Edelgard but I’m pretty sure the FE didn’t exist back then… so WTF? This is like “my parents were killed by a drunk driver. Hey you, unrelated person who just learned to drive this year, you are drunk therefore I HATE YOU – you killed my parents!” Really, no. NO.

#49 – Acheron

He has a minor role only but you fight him twice and you can get some background from Lorenz. He’s annoying and I guess he’s designed to be so. I don’t like him much. But he’s not as annoying as Dimitri.

#48 – Cyril

Oh Cyril. He’s such an annoying character. He’s a more toned down version of Leonie with his obsession with Rhea. He’s a bit of a jerk during his support conversations and he’s dismissive of his homeland. I think his supports with Seteth best show what Cyril’s all about: he’s devoting himself to repaying Rhea without thought for anything else, even his own future. He has no ambitions and no desires….how can a character be so bland?

#47 – Hannerman

And the obsessive one. ‘Obsession with Crests’ is just the only phrase you need to describe Hannerman. While I can understand why Hannerman as a character wants to research crests, the way he goes about it is just wrong. He hounds Lysithia w/o realizing why she’s avoiding his questions until she basically has to spell out WHY she’s uncomfortable with talking about it. He’s been hounding Seteth for 21 years about his crest and Flayn’s too. 21 fricking years of bothering someone and he can’t understand the answer “no”.

#46 – Arundel

Yeah, he’s a piece of shit but at least he’s interesting. He’s Edelgard’s uncle and yet he basically allowed her to be experimented on. Why? Who knows? He’s associated with TWSITD but why? Power? Conquest? He’s mysterious. His personality “suddenly changed” leaving the option open that he was replaced and the Arundel that exists now is a fake. He’s intriguing but he’s still a piece of crap.

#45 – Dedue

Oh Dedue. I feel like Dedue is stuck playing the “victim” card but without looking for sympathy. He’s from Duscar so everyone looks down on him...and Dedue just takes it. He doesn’t try to defend himself or say that just because he’s from Duscar doesn’t mean he’s evil. He does nothing to try and change anyone’s opinions – he’s content to just sit and take it. But then he talks about wanting to have the world move past the tragedy….so which is it Dedue? In order to have it change, you need to actually DO SOMETHING!!!!

#44 – Thales

The weakest character of the main three. The game tells you almost nothing about Thales...and then you go and read the wiki and find out he’s Arundel….yeah mind telling us that game?! So he’s higher than Arundel.

#43 – Nemesis

Another evil character with no personality or real background. Why did he start his rampage? Was he manipulated or just evil? Who knows….

#42 – Judith

Judith has such a small role unless you’re playing VW. And in VW she’s a bit of a bitch who treats Claude as a misbehaving child even after he proves himself again and again.

#41 – Nader

AKA the Alymrian general you meet briefly in VW and in CF. He’s in for less than a few minutes and he appears to be jolly/happy and has the rep of being an undefeated general. I guess he’s alright. But with no real role I can’t bring myself to feel anything for him

#40 – Annette

When I first played I was on the fence with Annette. I sorta liked her determination and her drive to reunite her family. But then her singing started...and oh boy do I hate her singing. So many of her supports center around that annoying singing! Just STOP already, please! Also WTF is that blue “tab” in her PTS redesign that’s right on her butt? It’s the only one...

#39 – Ferdinand

Ferdinand’s personality is just...annoying. From his meme’d battle line to his constant talk of “being a noble” he just grates my nerves. And why does he act like this? Because his father is not and he’s trying to not be like his father and be a “good person”….

*The Low-End*

These characters are “eh” characters. They’re aren’t too good or too bad...but they lean more towards bad than good.

#38 – Kronya / Monica

This was an interesting idea. I just wish she had been more involved or usable. Like if you’re playing BE house, she becomes a playable member. Something to endear her a bit more other than “this other random character you rescued who acts suspiciously”. Let’s face it, we all knew something was up with her. And then she’s killed off so easily and quickly...

#37 – Cornelia

Okay, she’s a bit interesting and a manipulator. They weren’t afraid to give her an “ugly face”. She’s a schemer and not afraid to flaunt her assets to give her an advantage.

#36 – Alois

Eh. Alois. Loves jokes, very loyal. I guess he’s alright but he’s not spectacular and some of the jokes and just so so so so so so bad.

#35 – Ashe

Ashe is another character that I think lacked development. I mean he just gained a slight bit of confidence and purpose but he’s not one for much change. His personality over all is a bit bland: he likes stories about knights and is worried about his siblings. Oh and he used to be a thief.

#34 – Jeritza

Bland because he’s meant to be bland. His other personality is typical “killer knight”. What saves Jeritza is his support conversations where you get background and you realize why he’s the way he is.

*The Middle Ground*

These characters are right in the middle. Not great but not awful.

#33 – Ladislava

In every ending except CF, you only get to see her once but in CF you can chat with her and learn more about her. She’s the head of Edelgard’s person guard and its heavily implied she had next to nothing before this appointment. She’s fully loyal to Edelgard, even willing to die for her cause.

#32 – Flame Emperor

I listed this character separate since FE is an enigma. I actually liked the design of the FE and the whole mystery surrounding them.

#31 – Manuela

I’m...ambivalent about Manuela. She’s a drunken whiner at time and other time she turns into something sweet and reliable. She’s so worried about her age but she’s NOT that old. It’s a bit trope-y though...to have an older character all concerned about her age.

#30 – Jeralt

Jeralt’s a good dad character albeit a flawed one too. It’s a shame they didn’t give him any support conversations to flesh him out more. As it is most of what we learn about Jeralt comes from others.

#29 – Sothis

I don’t hate Sothis like most. She’s a bit bratty, yes but look at from her way – she’s got no memories, no recollections, and has found herself somehow stuck with this person. She tries to help out Byleth best she can, even if it sometimes leads to near disaster.

#28 – Gatekeeper

A nice wholesome character who always wants to help out and be useful. He’s a nice guy but suffers from lack of characterization.

#27 – Mercedes

First off, I dislike the “breathy” quality of her voice. She’s a very nice girl and very kind...but that’s about all there is to Mercedes...

#26 – Raphael

Ah, the big guy who loves to eat. He’s overprotective but not too overprotective of his little sister. He’s strong, interested in his muscles, and in getting stronger but it’s because he’s shouldering the responsible of taking care of his sister. Still he’s a bit trope-y.

#25 – Lindhardt

Lindhardt make up your dang mind! He talks about wanting to study crests but when he’s offered by two separate people to do just that he complains about how he’s being “tied down”. Really? His laziness and sleepiness also gets tired after a while.

#24 – Ignatz

Ignatz is a character who shows a lot of growth and goes from having no confidence in what he wants to do to finding his path. However Ignatz remains a pushover who gives in to whatever anyone advises even when he knows its wrong. It takes a long, long, long time for Ignatz to learn to have any say in himself...which is why he’s down here.

#23 – Solon

The most developed of the three main TWSITD characters. I feel his reveal as Tomas was ruined by the poorly executed Monica / Kronya earlier. However he was unexpected. Who expects the librarian? It would have been better if they didn’t have him as “suspect” in the whole Flayn is missing part through.

#22 – Randolph

You only really get to know Randolph in CF although he’s got a minor part in AS where we see that he truly cares for his sister and how he feels he must do this, even if he risks dying. In CF, we get to learn more about Randolph. He’s actually a step-uncle to Caspar through his mother marrying into the family. He has no power or clout so everything he earns is done by action. It’s a shame they killed him off so early.

#21 – Caspar

Caspar is a good character in several ways. He’s not depressed about not being the heir to his house and is motivated to find his own way. He knows he’s flawed and in his supports he tries to change only to learn that he’s better off following his own path. It’s his boisterous yelling and charging headfirst into danger is what I don’t like about him.

*The High Side*

These are characters I like. They’re not the best but I like them and can understand them.

#20 – Hilda

Ah Hilda. Hilda’s one of those characters that surprise you. Hilda starts off being this lazy character who doesn’t want to battle and doesn’t want to do chores. Not because she can’t do them, but just because she’s lazy. You see her trying to get out of things in her supports only to either feel guilty or wind up helping someone learn something. But I think where Hilda shines is in VW where she acts as Claude’s “advisor” and some of Claude’s best plans come from suggestions from Hilda. By then she’s come into her own. I also enjoy Hilda’s C support with Seteth greatly where he just lists all the excuses she’s given flat out as Hilda gets more and more nervous.

#19 – Claude

Claude made it up here due to his unprediacbility. Some of his plots/schemes are downright hillarious. Claude is unashamed of who he is and where he comes from – he knows who he is and who he wants to become. And, in a game riddled with characters who struggle with that very issues, Claude’s a bit of a breath of fresh air.

#18 – Fleche

Ah Fleche. She’s a very minor character but she’s got such an impact on the story in AM – this is what path we’re going to discuss. We first meet Fleche when she’s talking with Randolph, her brother, right before Randolph heads out on a mission that will ultimately end with his death. Instead of doing the typical thing for a young girl which is to cry, Fleche goes ‘nah’ and decides to take revenge. She disguises herself as a “maiden” and goes to try and join the Kingdom Army; she’s allowed to by Dimitri. Fleche bides her time and waits until after a big battle and then straight up goes and tries to murder Dimitri. She actually stabs him once and barely fails in her task of killing him. Against Dimitri, one of the strongest characters... a little girl.. Yeah, Fleche is kinda badass.

#17 – Miklan

Okay, so here’s another good sympathetic villain character. Miklan was born with no crest so he was looked down upon by his family. He was the first child however so his family kept him...at least until his brother Sylvain was born with a crest. Then Milan became “garbage” and useless in the eyes of his family and thus was disinherited. He lashed out against his brother multiple times. With no one on his side, Milkan became the leader of a group a bandits and began taking things he wanted, things he felt he should have had, by any means necessary. He later stole the heirloom lance from his family, intent of keeping it and its power for himself. While it’s true Miklan is not a nice person at all, more like a sadist, the reason he became that way was due the treatment of his family.

#16 – Dorothea

I am in the camp of the very few who like Dorothea’s second outfit better than her first – that dress is boss. Some of her supports are downright sweet and her interactions with Ingrid in their paralogue are just adorable. I love how we get to see so many different sides of Dorothea and how she treats each of her aquantinces with the side of herself that’s most appropiate.

#15 – Shamir

The silent Shamir. Unlike so many characters who talk and talk and talk, Shamir only speaks when necessary until she gets close to someone. Her skills are top-knotch, which is showcased in her supports. Her personality is a reflection of her work and the kind of jobs she does as well as her way of protecting herself. She’s mysterious and deadly.

#14 – Rhea

Oh Rhea. I’m often torn in the way I feel about her, going from understanding to becoming frustrated with her within the span of a single conversation. Her desire to see her mother is what drives everything she does – every single thing. She is 100% committed to trying to reach her goal, no matter the cost, and she’s been at it for almost an eon. Outside of that goal, what she’s doing she truly believes is the right thing. She’s trying to guide people towards the right path and away from conflict. She lets no one truly into her innermost thoughts, not even Seteth, and her emotions are all sequested away, so much so that when they do come out it becomes obvious. I mean, for anyone who thinks she’s nuts, let’s take a look at some of the trauma she’s gone through. Her beloved mother, whom she obviously cared for more than anything, was murdered and her body was used to make a weapon. Said weapon was then used to slaughter the vast majority of her brethern who were then in turn alos turned into weapons to be used to kill. She had to then fight the man who had killed her mother to reclaim what’s left of her body and to stop any more pointless killing. Yeah, Rhea’s had it rough.

#13 – Marianne

Ah, sweet Marianne. It was great to watch her change and grow based on her supports with the other characters. Her caring nature towards the animals, espcially the horses, was lovely – she even knows the names of a few of them (the only one to refer to the horses by name). I like how her PTS outfit reflects the changes she’s overcome – even the subtly of making her hair neater.

#12 – Catherine

Badass female knight with a legendary sword. She’s brash, not lady-like, and not afraid of anything really. The way she rushes into combat w/o a though for danger, the fact that she doesn’t try and hide her past from the person whom it affects the most, and her way of testing people. Catherine��s great.

#11 – Hubert

Juts missing the top 10 is loyal Hubert. I’ll admit I didn’t like Hubert at first but he grew on me bit by bit. Hubert’s S-Support with Byleth is like the cutest thing ever – I was not expecting it at all. This is loyalty done in a good way.

*The Summit*

The best characters in the game, IMO. These are the characters I love!

#10 – Petra

I got to admit, I like her not-perfect talking. That’s so much of Petra’s charm. Adding to that is how Petra’s always trying her best and trying to advance herself. She has modest goals she wishes to reach and doesn’t try and sell herself as better than she is. She’s always willing to learn and to help others. When there’s someone with a different opinion, Petra tries to understand why they feel the weay they feel and to try and find common ground.

#9 – Lysithia

Oh poor girl. Lysithia struggles with others seeing her as a child or too childish due to the fact that she’s younger than most of the students. She’s incredibly intellegent and throws herself into her studies. Both of these things lead to others teasing her, either playfully or actually. Instead of taking it stride, this ‘teasing’ causes her temper to show and erupt. She can’t tell them WHY she’s trying so hard, why she’s so desperate to achieve cause that would reveal her secret. She’s burrying all this hurt and anger deep inside that she can’t talk about because can understand what she went through (except perhaps Edelgard). And even though she knows she’s going to likely die soon, she’s not focused on her own life: she’s doing all she’s doing to try and help her family...

#8 – Sylvain

Sylvain quickly became one of my favorite blue lion boys. At first glance he looks like this degenerate womanizer...and then you learn abut him and why Sylvain is why he is. His father views him as a studhorse and that his crest is the only good thing about him; his father literally cannot see Sylvain as an actual person, just a way to further the family. Having a father like this and a brother who hates him for having been born with a crest has greatly shaped Sylvain. In order to have some semblence of himself, Sylvain began to act out, to do ANYTHING and EVERYTHING he could to not be what he was supposed to be. His father wanted a noble son; Sylvain did everything he could to not be that. This got him into trouble again and again but Sylvain didn’t care. Sylvain is willing to do things that make others look down upon him if it helps him try and escape from his life...

#7 – Bernadetta

Aw, Bernie. Bernie’s such a good girl. Based on what she went through, it’s amazing she’s even sane. Her father’s idea of parenting was tying her to a chair and forcing her to remain quiet and submissive for hours, to “teach her to be a good wife” which is the reason she turned into such a nervous wreck of shut-in. He resorted to beating to near death a boy she made friends with because he was a commoner, which terrified Bernie into not wanting to make friends at all. Bernie’s mom seemed to have a little sense and smuggled her out but this is only AFTER she allows this stuff to go on for years – YEARS. Bernie’s had years of psycological trama inflicted on her and then she gets thrust into a school surrounded by people whom she has to interact with. The poor thing. It’s a testament to her professors and friends to see how far Bernie has come; to watch her change and grow as she slowly comes around to adjusting to normality.

#6 – Ingrid

There is something incredibly entertaining about a lady knight who loves to gorge herself on food. Loving eating food is generally a character trait you see on guys (typically big guys like Raphael) so to see it on a chick is a good change of pace. Her whole no-nonsense strict attitude is a great contrast to that. She’s not girly or into very lady-like things such as dresses or makeup or tea parties. Ingrid is a guy’s soul in a girl’s body….and she’s amazing.

#5 – Felix

If you haven’t read the entry for Rodrigue (he’s #53 on this list) go read that first. After all that shit that Felix’s gone through, it’s amazing he’s even still standing and capable. He’s stewing with anger and grief that he’s never been able to work through and it manifests as anger and his stand-off attitude. Poor freaking Felix.

#4 – Flayn

Fishy Queen. I do not get the hate for Flayn. She’s been horribly oversheleted by Seteth in his attempts to protect her so it’s left Flayn a bit naive. Flayn’s usually very cheery and happy which is a bright light in the depressing war times. She’s also a quite capable mage, mainly with healing magic but she can also learn a good bit of reason magic too. Flayn is always trying her best while trying to fit in with the others – she’s over 1000 years old, mind you! It can’t be easy trying to fit in when you don’t understand and when a vast majorirty of those years were spent asleep. She was involved in an ancient battle where she was badly injured (Seteth blames it on her being too young) and requires sleep inorder to heal. Meanwhile everyone else she knew and lived with aside from Seteth was killed. She wakes up an everything she knew and just about everyone she knew is just...gone. Not only her beloved mother but any friends she had too are just gone. It’s no wonder she fears falling asleep when this is what happened. Her obession with fish? It’s Flayn’s coping mechanism for dealing with the loss of her mother. Flayn explains on numerous occassions that she spent lots of time sitting with her mother while she fished and that fish is her favorite food due “to no small part” of this pastime. Fishing and eating fish is Flayn’s way of remembering her mother and dealing with the fact that she’s no longer with her. Flayn’s supports are just great; they all develop her personality more. With Dimitri and Dedue, Flayn’s cooking is explored. Flayn can’t cook although she tries her best. With Dedue, Flayn tries to learn to cook better. With Dimitri, Flayn expresses her disdain that no one enjoys her cookings and how this wastes food, even when she tries her best. Obviously Flayn never cooked before – her mother did most of it. Now there’s no one in her family to cook so Flayn’s trying to learn to try and follow in her mom’s footsteps. With Ignatz and Manuela, Flayn’s exploring things she never has seen or done before: the opera for Manuela and paintings with Ignatz. In Claude’s and Lindhardt’s supports, Flayn sidesteps questions about her heritage and her crests. With Sylvain, we see how Flayn grows and learns to not trust the rumors others say. In Felix’s, she’s trying to help Felix find a purpose after the war ends that still allows him to use his sword. With Raphael’s it’s Flayn who’s being helped by Raphael as she tries to “grow stronger”; she even mentions how she’s frail and how this worries Seteth. And then there’s Ferdinand’s supports where it’s clear Flayn’s been starved of physical affections aside from Seteth. And their supports, between Seteth and Flayn, are a great progression between the two...Overall, I love little Flayn.

#3 – Lorenz

I like noble boy. I will admit, I hated his schooldays haircut with a burning passion...and then man on man did he become HOT pts. Winner of the best boy glow-up. A lot of Lorenz’s character flaws are the fault of his father. His father taught him that all that is important is being nobility and Lorenz ate it up, not knowing any better. His father instilled into him how he neeed to find a wife to further the family’s influence and thus how she must be a noble. This worked so well on Lorenz to the point that he willing to even give up someone he loves if they happen to be a commoner. Lorenz spends a lot of time trying to ‘interview’ girls to find his perfect noble bride, coming off as a bit on an ass – even when he’s confronted by Byleth he refuses to believe he’s done anything wrong since this is what his father taught him to do. It takes a long time until Lorenz starts seeing that he is wrong that what his father taught him is wrong. He starts using his own head and his own eyes to determine what is instead of using the opinion blasted into him by his father. He’s always trying to help other, feeling it’s his obligation as a noble to help those around him, which is a quality that he alone seems to take seriously (despite the school being filled with nobles). He originally dislikes Claude cause he believes that Claude isn’t taking his responsibility as the next Alliance head seriously since Claude is so laid back. He eventually comes to see that, despite appearances, Claude is working on the issues and is capable. His S support with Byleth where he mentions how he has "worked tirelessly to improve" "to become a man truly worthy of (Byleth)" and then is uttely shocked if Byleth tells him he already was worthy shows how dedicated he can be. With Ignatz, he instills confidence in him, seeing talent in Ignatz for art and talking about how there is more to knighthood than combat. His poetry writing comes out with Manuela’s supports and he convinces Hilda through actions to actually throw herself into battle. But I think his best supports are with Marianne. The vast majority of her supports are the others telling her to “be more confident” or “smile more” or other such things where they give her advice on how to improve...but Lorenz is the only one who comes to see that nothing needs to change. He starts by complementing her and then commenting on how she “needs polish” only to realize he was wrong and state she is “becautiful just the way she is”, accepting her fully for who she is without looking to change a thing. He is, essentially, telling her she is perfect the way she is and she doesn’t need to change at all for him to love her...which I find just so utterly sweet.

#2 – Edelgard

Edel gets a lot of hate but I honestly love her character so much. Edelgard is a doer not someone who sits by and does nothing. Due to things outside of her (and her father’s) control, she would up the victim in an experiment, a experiment that killed all of her siblings. Edelgard alone survived although at a cost. That experience forever changed her. Gone was the child and in her place rose Lady Edelgard. Unlike Lysithia who is dealing with her similar situation by trying to provide for her family before her time runs out, Edelgard isn’t. Her goal is the destruction of the circumstances that caused the experiment as well as those who caused the experiment to happen upon her so that this cannot happen again to anyone else. Since the experiment were done to give crests and since Edelgard has obviously seen how some children are treated whent hey have / do not have one, she aims to destroy all of that. Edelgard is literally stomping her foot down and saying ‘no, this isn’t a good or fair system and I’m not going to stand around and let it continue’. She’s willing to sacrifice everything to attain this goal, even if it turns her into a monster or ends in her death. Instead of waiting for the world to change, Edelgard decides to BE the change. She knows she’s going to be responsible for the deaths of a lot of people and she clearly struggles with the idea of this but in the end she decides that if she does nothing than that number will be greater so she persists. She burries her desire for friends and for love because she can’t bring herself to trust or rely on others – her father loved her but couldn’t protect her; the nobles in her father’s court are resonsible for hurting her too. They had her trust and they betrayed it. Her heart has been broken already; I don’t think she wants to risk it breaking again by trusting someone who will betray her, by making friends who can abandon her, by falling in love with someone who doesn’t understand what she’s doing. In CF when you side with Edelgard, you get to see more of that emotion slowly come out. Think on the PTS reunions: Dimitri was in disbelief and then apathetic that Byleth was alive; Claude was slightly surprised but then glad; Edelgard though broke down. Edelgard was the only one to get so emotional over Byleth’s return – someone she had trusted whom had returned that trust wasn’t dead after all; there wasn’t another corpse to add to the pile of people she cared for. And in that final animatic where Byleth falls – she’s clearly so upset. She’s crying, clearly devistated. Devistation which turns into laughter when Byleth revives because she can’t believe it. I stand by my opinion that Crimson Flower is the canon ending for FE3H. It’s the only ending where the endings song is different; all 3 other paths have the same song “Edge of Dawn” but not CF – you get something different. Add to that that EoD is sung by Edelgard. And let’s not forget the symbolism. The game is Fire Emblem. What’s a fire emblem? Crest of Flames. Who posess this crets out of the main cast: Byleth & Edelgard. And in CF you unite. Also notice the same letters. Crimson Flower (CF) & Crest of Flames (CF). That’s not a coincidence.

#1 – Seteth

I honestly could fill pages on why I love Seteth as a character but for here I’ll try and keep it shortish. I’ll start with his supports. Seteth’s supports are all about his advice to the others and him trying to guide them. For Cyril, he’s talking about how it’s great to repay debts but it is also important to consider one’s future as well; he doesn’t want to see Cyril just waste his whole life in servitude to Rhea but rather to grow into his own. With Catherine, it’s concern over her safety, over how she throws herself into battle without care for the consequences. For Manuela, it starts with a lecture over her drinking habits but turns into something far more personal when his wife and daughter get mentioned. Outside of the paralogue, this is the only time an outside person gets to learn that Seteth even had/has a wife and daughter and it’s Manuela who gets told it, implying a deeper friendship. Hannerman’s involves his investiagtion of Seteth’s crest and how Seteth is constantly refuting him, obviously trying to protect himself and Flayn from others finding out the truth. With Leonie, he teaches her how to relax while fishing while she improves his own skills in the area. For Hilda, he’s trying to improve her work ethic first by confronting her about her excuses, and then by writing a story about her laziness...which does work somewhat as it gets her to work on illustrations. For Ingrid, he’s a voice of reason about the demands of her father and he’s the one who suggests that Ingrid simply talk to him about her issues, something which she didn’t consider. For Felix, he’s trying to help Felix realize his beliefs are holding him back and that he needs to make friends. With Bernie, he helps her build some confidence in her own skills and talents. And of course we can’t forget his interactions with Flayn where he goes from overly protective, to realizing he’s a bit too overbearing, to actual apologizing for that. Seteth acts as a conduit or a spark that helps inspire change in those around him, to wake up potential, or to see things differently. He’s strict and often seems somewhat unreasonable about rules and regulations but its obvious this is his way of trying to protect people. He’s shouldering massive guilt over the events that happened in the last war. He personally blames himself for Flayn being hurt and for his wife dying. This event spurred him on to becoming overprotective of his daughter, of the only thing he had left. Seteth is doing what he’s doing to PROTECT his child (unwilling to see her to come to harm), even if he’s going about it in the incorrect way. He has literally devoted his whole life to protecting Flayn to the point that when she gets kidnapped, he falls apart at the seams and is unable to do anything at all except despair and distress. Flayn has become his whole world and just about everything Seteth does is to protect her or help her. That kind of devotion from a father is incredible, especially in a series where most of the parents kinda suck. I also adore how he breaks the typical “paper-skinned mage” trope. Let’s face it, most of us probably thought the stern chuch advisor was likely going to be a mage – and then we get a wyvern rider with a lance. I could go on and on, but I’ll leave it here. Seteth is just the best character.

...this was 18 pages of writing.....

[tk-duveraun]

Can I request Felix clawing at own throat with Sylvix

HEY

HEY

TRIGGER WARNING: SUICIDE ATTEMPT

Academy Phase, pre-relationship, soulmate AU, TRIGGER WARNING, SUICIDE ATTEMPT. I CANNOT STRESS THIS ENOUGH.

—

The only people who liked soulmates met their partner as an adult. People who instigated the bond when they were old enough to understand the bruises, the pain without a source. Felix had been bound to Sylvain from when he was only a few days old. His earliest memory is his father yelling at Glenn about the hand-shaped bruises on his tiny wrist. He didn’t know many words, but he used all of them to defend his idol, not that it spared Glenn his punishment.

“I know you love your brother, but it’s not okay for him to hurt you.” His father’s eyes were wet and soft, as were his lips when he kissed Felix’s forehead.

At least Glenn didn’t hold a grudge. If anything, he was the most upset at whomever had hurt his little brother. He spent a month interrogating the staff, writing notes with his rumpled practice quill.

It was years later, when Felix was five, that they realized he had touched his soulmate at some point. After all, there was no other way for Felix, asleep in his warm bed, to wake up with frostbitten fingers and toes. There was a cut on his forehead, but that hardly warranted notice as Rodrigue soaked his son’s limbs in cool water and White Magic.

The problem was the question of who.

Rodrigue believed, and King Lambert agreed, that it had to be some page or scullery maid, since no noble child in Fearghus would suffer such injuries with such frequency. The problem lay in the fact that Felix had been to many noble estates and run through countless kitchens across the kingdom. The great hunt for Felix’s soulmate didn’t begin in earnest until he was sitting in the royal nursery with Dimitri and his fingers started hurting. Dimitri summoned his healer immediately, but no amount of White Magic could block the bond, could stop Felix’s fingertips from bleeding and his nails from breaking and tearing.

“I had my doubts before,” King Lambert said next to Felix’s bed in the middle of the night when he should have been sleeping. “But this? I’m sorry, my friend, your son’s match is…”

“I know.” His father sighed and brushed the hair back from his face. “Do you think a reward, for, let’s say, discovering them? Bring the child to Fraldarius territory, receive the gold, no questions asked as long as they leave forever?”

“I can’t think of a better idea.” He rubbed the star-shaped scar on the back of his left hand. “If we used our technique for confirming-”

Rodrigue covered the king’s hand with his own, the same scar blatant, even in the dim candle light. “Then it might escalate. They will fear the consequences of injuring my son. Directly or not.”

The reward yielded no children, but the questionable injuries stopped. Nevertheless, the king was careful to ensure Dimitri wore gloves at all times. When Felix next went to Fhirdiad, he was three months free of wounds. It had him at a lifetime high of cheer so infectious it spread to Dimitri and Ingrid. It took four days into the visit for anyone to notice Sylvain didn’t share in the happiness.

Felix climbed into his friend’s bed in the middle of the night. He pulled the blankets over their heads, so they could have a secret conference. He held Sylvain’s hand. “What’s wrong?”

“Miklan ran away.”

“When is he coming back?”

Sylvain wrapped his arms around his knees. “I don’t think he is. He hated me. And Father.”

“That’s stupid. He’s stupid.”

“…Yeah.”

“You can share Glenn.”

“Thanks.”

They didn’t get to share Glenn. At least, not for long. The Tragedy of Duscur consumed their lives. Felix drowned himself in training for a battle with a ghost. He almost felt bad for his soulmate, when he sank into a hot bath and felt every muscle ache. Almost because he was thirteen and understood what finger-shaped bruises around his wrist meant. Thirteen and could think of only one scenario that would result in the destruction of his fingertips. Thirteen and aware of the fact that for the suspect injuries to stop, his soulmate had to know who he was and didn’t care enough to reveal themself.

Attending the Officers’ Academy at Garreg Mach was a relief. He hadn’t had any contact with the Central Church or its servants when he was a child. That meant there was no chance his soulmate was sitting back and watching in silence, letting him suffer for no reason.

The students with soulmates paired up quickly. It was easy to match up bruises once they’d shaken everyone’s hand and gone through a few days of training exercises. Felix didn’t envy them. If anything, he pitied them. With both halves in the academy, they’d suffer twice as much for every battle. Not that anyone listened to him.

He rhythmically beat his training dummy while Ingrid argued with Sylvain behind him.

“First of all, you’re never going to be able to dodge like that in full armor. Second, how are you supposed to find your soulmate if you-”

“If I find my soulmate, how am I supposed to flirt with all of the lovely ladies-”

“This isn’t a game, Sylvain!”

“Yeah, so I’m not going to get needlessly injured for a whim that won’t matter when I have to go through with an arranged marriage and have Crest babies anyway!”

Though he didn’t turn, Felix paused at that. He’d never heard that level of venom from Sylvain before. A few days later, he cornered his friend with a flask of whiskey smuggled in from the village. Together, they climbed onto the roof of the dormitories and drank.

“This isn’t like you Felix. What, is it my birthday?”

“You’re better off without a soulmate.”

He laughed without humor. “And don’t I know it? All of Faerghus was in an uproar over yours. Come to think of it, it’s real insensitive of Ingrid to keep going on about them around you.”

Felix took a drag from the flask. “She’s Ingrid.”

“Fair enough.”

When the sun had set and the flask was empty, Felix stayed. Something in him, some tether in his chest wasn’t ready. And he was right to.

In a voice barely above a whisper, Sylvain said, “Miklan didn’t run away.”

“Ah.”

“When I was packing my things, Father came up to me with the Lance of Ruin. Made me hold it. Said that was the only bond that mattered and that if I forgot that… That… That I’d find out where Miklan went.”

Felix tried to take a drink from the empty flask. He threw it to the ground below. “I don’t see why my father can’t run Gautier territory until you graduate.”

Sylvain laughed until he cried, pressing his wet face into Felix’s shoulder.

They never spoke of soulmates again. There wasn’t anything else to say. Months passed by and Margrave Gautier made Sylvain ‘prove his worth’ before bestowing him with the Lance of Ruin. It was a threat. ‘I know you’re flirting with everything that moves,’ the lance said. ‘Miklan didn’t run away.’

The night the threat arrived at the monastery, Felix woke up trying to gasp. He couldn’t breathe. It hurt, it hurt like someone was trying to kill him, but didn’t know if they wanted to break his neck or strangle him. He clawed at his throat, drawing blood. His soulmate was dying. Dying and would have been dead if their bond hadn’t shared the trauma. He fell off his bed and the next thing he knew, he was in the hall, dragging himself somewhere, pounding on the floor, the walls, because he couldn’t speak.

The boar woke first, breaking down his own door in his haste to enter the hallway. He took one glance at Felix before cracking through Claude’s door. “Marianne, end of the hall!”

Claude needed no more instructions; he ran bare chested and tripping over his sleep pants to Marianne’s room.

Dimitri knelt next to Felix and turned him on his side. He saw the blue tint to his skin and the blood on his throat. “Sylvain!” He shouted loud enough to wake the dead. “Sylvain now! You know White Magic!”

When he saw Marianne running down the hall in her dressing gown, he left Felix to drag Sylvain bodily out of bed. He shouldered through his door with another shout of his name that turned into a howl when he broke through. “In here! Marianne in here, now!”

Felix closed his eyes. If he’d had breath in his lungs, he would have laughed. Of course. Of fucking course. He sank into the pain, relished it. As long as he felt pain that wasn’t his, Sylvain was still alive.

[multi-fandomfanfics]

To Tell

Dimileth Weekday 2 Struggle @dimilethweek

(because I struggled with writing this damn it, I shit you not I was thinking in writing something about Dimitri not being able to take his newborn baby and I got in Ao3 just to see that in a summary hahahahaha, kill me...)

Also, I posted without checking Grammar maybe I'll do later.

It's 10:24 so technically it's Dimileth day 2 still

Words: 900?

Summary:

Dimitri Finally Revealed his dark past to his kids, he expects them to take it well.

Fodlan has lived almost 20 years of peace after Dimitri killed Edelgard, many things happened in that time, he asked Byleth to marry him, they got the wedding, they had a kid, then three years later twins, and another four years later another one, and right now five years later are waiting for the new baby. As of right now the first, Jeralt has thirteen years and is already training to become King one day, the twins have Nine and studying in the school of Sorcery, Amelie and Lambert those are their names, and the youngest Leo.

Dimitri knew this day will come, he just didn't think it will come so soon.

He was in front of them Seated in a couch sweating, yeah sweating in winter, they may have a fire at the other side and even though it could warm all the room someone shouldn't be sweating like him.

"Father are you alright?"

Lambert asked really Concerned

"I'm fine..."

He felt the warm hand of his wife over top his and she smiled directed at him.

"It's okay, you can do it"

It has a deeper meaning ' I'm right here' 

He sighed and finally look at the four.

"Listen, long time ago, even before your mother and I were together" he stopped their eyes were all on him.

"There was a war, it lasted six and something years"

He looked at Byleth and then at them.

"During that time... I..."

He looked at his hands and then at them

"I did things of which I'm not proud, things that when I remember I did I feel gross of myself, I killed people... I killed innocent people and ruined many lives..."

He saw how their faces changed to surprise.

"And I hate myself for it, if I could, I'll change it all, but I can't,  I just have to live with all I have done, that's why I been doing my best so that all of Fodlan becomes a better place" he felt Byleth's hand envelop his.

"And I don't want any of you to live with that kind of regret, one of the things I hate myself more for doing was killing my step-sister, I'm sure if she and I had found another way, maybe today she would be here..."

Silence filled the room

"Something you want to say, kids?" Byleth asked finally.

"We had an aunt?!"

They all asked.

"That... wasn't what I expect at all... But yes, her mother was my step-mother."

"What was her name?"

And maybe that what he struggled the most to say.

"Edelgard Von Hresvelg"

Because now everyone was looking at Amelie.

Amelie Edelgard Blaiddyd.

"We named you to honor her" she looked at Byleth and then at him.

"Why did you kill her?"

He sighed and looked down.

"She wanted to change Fodlan, in a good way, but the way to do it was wrong, she wanted to destroy the church and kill Rhea, and she will do anything to do so... But I tried... I tried to give her another opportunity to stop everything and she didn't take it... And again I did it, a way to save herself" he stopped and looked at them

"She stabbed me in the shoulder" Byleth tighten the hand with which she's holding his hand.

"So I give it back to her..."

He now tightens his hand.

"She wasn't the only to die because of me, Felix's Father, Rodrigue, he died saving me too" he took her hand with both his now.

"Had I not been as I have in that time, a girl wouldn't have tried to attack me and he would be alive"

"That's not your fault" Jeralt almost shout

"In a way it is, because I didn't want to hear those around me and for doing so it cost an important life to me, and yet if it wasn't because of it maybe I wouldn't be here... Maybe none of us would be here..." This time he looked at his wife, who smiled deeply at him.

"What I try to say is... I don't want any of you to make a mistake you later regret, be careful, and patient, heard the around you, and if you doubt about what they say Live for what you believe because maybe those are not the voices you need"

There was everlasting silence Dimitri didn't want to live and then Leo goes walking to him.

"We're you sad when she was gone?"

"Yes"

He didn't have to think it was true, he wanted to help her and yet she refused, he wish he could have done more, but Byleth was there if it wasn't him Edelgard attacked it could be Byleth and he wouldn't have forgiven himself had something happened to her.

Then something very beautiful happened, his son opened his arms in a hug gesture, so Dimitri smiled and took him, a hug was exchanged.

He felt relief.

And then Amelie was in front too, getting close to hug him, and then another and another, and he had all his kids hugging him, he felt such relief, they loved him even though he told them that, he couldn't ask for anything else and yet, he looked at Byleth, who tried to be in that family hug, he felt a kick in his lower region from her belly.

He could only think the Goddess give him a hand this day, and that he was able to take it.

She may have thought all he has done was dumb, but right here and now he didn't.