#look there's a lot in here and it's edelgard critical to the extreme

[raxistaicho]

I really can't see how people keep calling Edelgard the villain of Three Houses. Her methods may be questionable (but really, whose methods aren't in this game?) but her ideals and reasons for starting the war are sound. She wants reform. She wants positive change. She wants people to suffer less. She wants to remove the powers that result in things crest eugenics and extreme wealth gaps and various forms of abuse and human rights violations. She wants a better world for the people of their continent. And while those things may come sometime in the future through slower "peaceful" reforms, not everyone in Fódlan can wait that long, or will even live to see it. Especially with the added issue of those who slither in the dark being part of the equation. Also, looking at the lyrics for "Edge of Dawn", canonically Edelgard's song and the main theme of the entire game, how can anyone look at her and go "oh, yeah, that's an irredeemable war hungry villain".

Edelgard is a character who saw the issues plaguing the people, heard those in power say "it is what it is, and peaceful change takes time" and decided the risk of starting a war for change was worth it.

A lot of her motivations and methods honestly remind me of Lelouch from Code Geass, and people consider him one of the greatest heroes and tacticians in all of anime.

Why can't people see Edelgard is cut from the same cloth?

Edelgard detractors tend to fall into two camps, one of which I understand (though still disagree with), while the other are the kind of people I interact with here.

First you have the reasonable Edelgard detractor who acknowledge her positive motives but disagree with her methods. I understand where they're coming from (war sucks after all, not even CF pretends different) but I also disagree with them that life in Fodlan could have been fixed by just having the three lords and Rhea sit at a table and talk things out. Systemic issues that have lingered, and if anything worsened, for a millennium don't get fixed by just having the "right" leaders come into power and fix them.

Then the Tumblrite Edelgard criticals are just the type who think she's a vicious Nabatean-hating racist who want to reclaim the old Adrestian territories. For them there's just very little middle ground since they aren't even coming at it from a baseline accurate read of her character. It'd be like trying to argue with someone who thinks Dimitri was having a blast slaughtering Imperial troops in boar mode...

And yeah, there's a whole video comparing her to Lelouch, it's really good stuff!

Link here for anyone who wants to see it!

[iturbide]

I think I remember seeing somewhere that Edwlgard was the smartest of the three lords for a) wanting to tear down the Crest system and b) taking out TWSITD, and to that I say: the ends do not justify the mand because holy F uck man this route is hHHHHH-

HA

HAHAHA

HA HA

yeah no sorry I do not buy that Edelgard is the smartest of the Lords.  Not by a long shot.  She does the stupidest thing possible in the stupidest way possible -- throwing her own personal forces into the conquest of Fodlan, substantially weakening her armies in the process of these hard fights and effectively leaving the now subjugated nation as easy pickings for the Twisted.  If she expects that she’s going to have forces from the Kingdom and Alliance to bolster her weakened forces, let’s not forget that she subjugated those nations: they’re not going to fight out of loyalty to her, and I wouldn’t be surprised if forced drafts lead to mass desertions.  I honestly think it’s outrageous to think she managed to take out the Twisted at all, considering how little forethought she seemed to put into the long game (and the fact that it’s just a footnote in end cards instead of actually showing how she did it is highly suspect to me personally).

[[MORE]]

Also, who in their right mind thinks that Edelgard is the ONLY one that wants to tear down the Crest system?  It might not be Dimitri’s top stated priority, but he very clearly wants system reform, and the system is based on Crests.  Changing the system requires dismantling the Crest bias -- and not only that, he himself and more than a few of his childhood friends have been negatively impacted by that bias (Sylvain and Ingrid in particular, but it’s not hard to see how Mercedes has been harmed by it), so he knows intimately how harmful it is.  The only reason Claude doesn’t have Crests on his top priority list is because the Alliance doesn’t operate the same way the Empire and the Kingdom do, and their reliance on Crests is different -- on top of that, the Eastern Church is considered the weakest branch with the least authority in its embedded region.  The system might be uncomfortable in the Alliance, but it doesn’t have the same stranglehold on governmental operations.

Also, who takes down the Twisted?  Black Eagles end cards make only the briefest mentions of it, but we never see her do the thing: the game literally ends after she murders Rhea.  Meanwhile, Claude not only infiltrates the Twisted home base and forces them to destroy it, he also helps murder Nemesis, who even Seiros couldn’t kill.  And this is a man who was completely in the dark about them, unlike Edelgard, who’s been intimately aware of them and their operations for most of her life: Claude takes the new information that Hubert’s note provides, generates a cautious plan, and then completely uproots them.  That’s incredibly badass and I feel goes to show just how effective he is as a tactician (and while Silver Snow goes the same route, don’t forget that Seteth is there, and he had first-hand experience with them -- Claude is flying blind, so his success is notable. 

Also, just taking a step back to get a broad view of Edelgard’s plan and the long-term consequences shows how unfeasible it really is.  Besides how ill-advised it was to take her own forces to war with only Twisted ‘support’ against the Church, the Alliance, and the Kingdom, her entire plan seemed to rely on bolstering her numbers through conquest, since she doesn’t hesitate to send her own people through the meat grinder known as war and would likely be hurting for soldiers and support when the whole campaign is done.  Beyond unrest in her own nation after five years of war they never asked for and that has likely left the Empire in a rough spot, conquered peoples generally aren’t all that willing to line up and fight for the people who subjugated them: she will likely be dealing with rebellions and unrest for years if not decades to come from that move alone, both within the Empire’s original borders and without in the territories she claimed by the sword.  Not only that, she kills the King of Faerghus, effectively making him a martyr for the Kingdom loyalists; add onto that the cryptic and completely unexplained line from one of his talks with Rhea before the Tailtean battle -- something about how ‘the Blaiddyd bloodline lives on’ -- and either he has a child on the way himself or possibly young relative with a Crest who’s been sent off into hiding.  So that’s probably gonna come back to bite her if that kid starts rallying Kingdom forces. 

And then there’s Almyra.  Whether you kill Claude or not (and let’s be real, Edelgard probably would prefer to kill him and it’s only Byleth that can potentially stay her hand), Almyra’s probably going to become a major threat in the not so distant future.  Spare him and he goes home, but his father is still king and could easily mount an invasion whenever he so desired; kill him and now the Almyrans have a blood vendetta because she murdered their prince.  Add to that the fact that Hilda very likely died in the battle, meaning the Gonerils have lost family to the Empire’s invasion and aren’t terribly likely to play nice, and they might even be willing to ally with the Almyrans and let them in through the Locket, perhaps even rallying scattered Alliance resistances and rebellions to swell the Almyran forces as they go.  On top of that, there’s even the fact that the Twisted city is literally in Goneril territory: even if Almyra took their sweet time preparing for an invasion force, what’s to stop the Twisted from reaching out to Holst -- the man who has been leading Fodlan’s whole defense against Almyra -- and trying to draw him to their side with the promise of revenge against Edelgard?  They make frequent use of pawns, so there’s nothing stopping them from finding a new one even before Edelgard turns on them (since she very unwisely telegraphed her intent at Arianrhod when she took out Cornelia: the fortress’ destruction was meant as a warning, but the Twisted group isn’t the type to sit idle either). 

Beyond all that, let’s not forget exactly how Edelgard intended to do away with the Crest system: tear it down completely.  But she had no plan in place for what to replace it with, which is painfully obvious from her A support with Ferdinand where she hadn’t considered the option of public schooling as a place to foster growth.  Her plan is literally ‘I want to make a world where merit is rewarded,’ but she has no plan for how to do that, and what counts as merit is a vague and intangible thing...until it’s taken in the context of her wider words and actions.  She praises Miklan as a man who could have been a great asset to the world had the Crest system not undermined him -- and remember, this is a man who tried to kill his younger brother and eventually rebelled against his family by taking charge of a bandit group that murdered and pillaged its way through the Kingdom.  Is the Crest system fair?  No, not in the least -- but the system didn’t make Miklan commit assault and murder: he made that choice for himself.  Edelgard seems to value combat prowess and potential military application far more than anything else -- even in her supports with Linhardt she berates him as wasting his talent by doing things for his own personal enjoyment, rather than to further magic theory -- so her ‘meritocracy’ is likely going to favor scientists working on combat magic and technology...and soldiers: obedient and unquestioningly loyal.  Which, in all likelihood, she’ll need given the environment she cultivates for herself in CF.

So no, I don’t think that Edelgard is the smartest lord.  I think she’s the most stubborn and bullheaded of them, instead.

[sergeanthopeless]

female Byleth S-supports ranked best to worst

(keeping my personal feelings about the pairings themselves to a minimum)

(Gilbert and Alois omitted, since those are platonic S-supports)

(warning: long post)

1. Seteth 

This S-support is about as romantic as it can get. This thing just makes my heart flutter every. dang. time. and it’s easily the best S-support in the whole game for female Byleth. There’s a REASON why a lot of people hop aboard the Setleth train after witnessing this masterpiece.

Sure, Seteth lectures his way in and out of the proposal, but let’s be real, if it was any different it would be out of character, and acting the responsible advisor is just part of his charm. Plus, he pledges utter devotion to Byleth for the rest of his existence, and we essentially get wedding vows out of this one. It doesn’t get better than that!

He’s so self-assured during this S-support, and that’s sexy. But he is patient and affectionate with her, and takes the time to make sure there’s no room for confusion. He clarifies that his feelings are not those of duty (which is a problem with some other S-supports), or an interest in perpetuating a Nabatean or Crest-rich bloodline. It’s very clear that he just wants her, and that’s it. But where others put Byleth on a pedestal, this S-support feels like an exchange between equals.

Byleth’s reaction to this one is particularly noteworthy — there’s an unusual amount of emotional expression from Byleth during this S-support, INCLUDING A FRIGGIN BLUSH! Byleth does NOT blush often during these supports. Plus, Byleth asks Seteth to promise that he’ll follow wherever she goes. Unlike some of the other S-supports, it’s very clear that she’s invested in him and wants him.

Favorite quotes:

“I cannot conceive of a world without you in it.”

“I love you, deeply. Will you marry me?”

“From this day forward, I will always be at your side. Through good or ill fortune. Through the greatest of joys and the worst of woes. No matter how daunting the task, I will be there.”

“Courage, my love. Let us go forth and face the world - together.”

2. Hubert 

I was genuinely caught off-guard with Hubert, especially since I haven’t played Crimson Flower yet and have gotten all of my impressions of Hubert from the fandom. A pleasant surprise, though, and pleasant enough to snag the #2 best S-support!

He starts with advisor nagging, which is no surprise since that’s his character. However, he doesn’t take too long to get to the point of the conversation, and everything is straightforward yet sweet. It’s very cute how he flustered he gets in the beginning, and his self-consciousness about his suitability as a husband is really sweet. But what really clinched this for me was the privilege of seeing a BLUSHY HUBERT! This surprisingly lovable psychopath gets so dang worked up and excited over Byleth giving him a ring and proposing to him right back.

Favorite quotes:

“[I’d] rather you be with me rather than some dubious individual.” (Yes, I altered the quote, but let’s be real, he wasn’t talking about Edelgard there.)

“I once thought killing you would be a great challenge, but the real difficulty was declaring my love.”

3. Ignatz 

This S-support starts with an angry Ignatz, which had me worried. Ignatz is one of those characters where I expected his apparent youthfulness to cause a problem in his S-support (it definitely causes problems in other S-supports), even though he’s actually 17 at the start of game like Felix, Dimitri, Claude, Raphael, Ferdinand, and Edelgard. So I was pleasantly surprised by the sheer maturity of his proposal!

While he’s definitely self-conscious and doesn’t even expect Byleth to accept his proposal, it says a lot that Ignatz still had the guts to do the proposing. While he expresses surpassing admiration toward Byleth as someone who supported him through troubled times, he’s not dependent or subservient. Yes, there is a prominent fixation on Byleth’s beauty, but he’s an artist, so I think that adds more meaning to what would otherwise be an extremely shallow point to make during an S-support.

Favorite quotes:

“You are my goddess.”

 “You soothed my troubled soul.”

“My beloved goddess.”

“I want to love you for all eternity.”

“I love you with all my soul.”

Hoo boy, this boy’s got a serious SILVER TONGUE on him! *fans self*

4. Lorenz 

Regardless of how you feel about Lorenz, you’ve gotta admit this is a pretty flawless proposal. He reminisces about and apologizes for the trouble he used to cause as a youth, has a smooth transition into the presentation of the ring, and then his composure falls apart when Byleth reveals she’s been wise to him all along. He’s such a perfectionist, and his determination to propose perfectly is very consistent with his character. But I also appreciate that he made sure of Byleth’s feelings before actually asking her to marry him (ring presentation aside).

This S-support makes it very clear just how much Lorenz admires Byleth, which I feel is extremely important in context of his character. He can be incredibly self-centered to the point of being downright irritating, so the fact that he’s now talking about her and is focused entirely on her shows the sincerity of his feelings and how much Lorenz has grown as a person.

The bit at the end where he gets overexcited and uses his full name is hilarious, but I’m glad the S-support doesn’t end there, which would have taken away from it. Instead, it ends with Lorenz swearing to make Byleth happy and work with her in making the world a better place. Equal partners!

The last thing that really made this S-support for me was the voice acting. The broken voice, trembling, and stammering really added emotional depth to Lorenz’s character in this critical moment, and really brought everything to the next level in terms of overall impact.

Favorite quote: “Pedigree and status are no longer priorities for me. I now know that what matters most is the worth of an individual’s soul.”

5. Felix

The moment I noticed that this S-support was taking place at the training grounds, I knew it was going to be good. And it goes exactly as you would expect with our favorite tsundere, flustered and deflecting and all, but the sheer effort that he ends up putting into it is so endearing. And I adore how Byleth messes with him the whole time.

It starts rough, let’s be real. He just hands the ring to Byleth and tells her to “take this.” Oh, Felix. This poor boy is so. friggin. hopeless. You can practically hear his thought process leading up to this point. “How do I make sure Byleth never leaves?... Ah, marriage — yes, that’ll lock her in!” *facepalm*

But Felix’s body language is what really makes this S-support, starting with the finger point and then ending with the kabedon. Plus, we get a glimpse of something very rare: blushy Felix!

Favorite quotes:

“Fight me for the rest of my life.”

“I want you to be my wife. Please say yes. Let’s get married and stay together until we die. I love you.”

6. Balthus

I really didn’t know what to expect with this one, although to be honest, what expectations I did have were fairly low. Yet despite his faults, Balthus managed to scrape together a rather charming S-support! His nervousness and stuttering is adorable for such a big, tough-talking guy, and I love that we actually get an impatient “Just say it already,” from Byleth.

It was nice to see Byleth’s good influence on Balthus, although I’m not a fan of the woman-redeems-man trope. And considering that Balthus asks for up to 5 years to get his act together…that wasn’t exactly a point in his favor.

What made this S-support for me was all of the classic lines. Balthus isn’t necessarily a smooth talker, but it would be wrong to say that he doesn’t know how to talk to a woman. The proposal itself had me ROLLING: “Marry me, pal!” The voice acting was flawless, particularly when he said, “my love.” Balthus, I’ll say this on Byleth’s behalf: please stop trying so hard. And never say that again.

Favorite quotes:

“It’s time to take the biggest gamble of my life.”

“Comfort be damned! I need you by my side. Always.”

“Let’s get hitched right away! I know a guy.”

“To look after you...and be brave enough to let you look after me. that’s what marriage is all about, right?”

S-support portraits shouldn’t really matter here, but I’m going out on a limb here and saying that Balthus’ portrait is the best one of all Byleth’s S-supports.

7. Dorothea

I have a lot of Dorothea feels, okay? She’s my baby girl. And by this point in the game, she’s so jaded and used to disappointment that it just breaks my heart. So when Byleth proposes to her, you can hear the genuine emotion in her voice. She’s so in love with Byleth, but clearly talked herself out of it long before this moment. “You won the war. You could pick anyone in the world. Why would you…?”

And then she’s so happy. It’s not fancy, but her pure happiness really makes this for me. The hopeless romantic finally getting her happy ending is just really lovely.

Favorite quote: “I starred in so many operas where I captured the heart of my beloved. But I never dreamed that it would feel this wonderful when it actually happened.”

8. Ferdinand

Oh boy, Ferdie. There wasn’t much of a preamble, and the presentation of the ring wasn’t anything special. He’s still full of himself: “You hear noble Ferdinand von Aegir declare his love for you, and all you say is, ‘I understand’?” and this S-support is more focused on him than it is on Byleth, which is exactly the opposite of what happened with Lorenz’s S-support, even though they’re similar characters.

That being said, this S-support has its moments. We get a good reaction out of him (even though it’s over the top), and we get a sign of his personal growth when he reins himself in. The trembling and feeling faint is very cute (10/10), and considering his ambitious nature, him saying that he considers winning Byleth’s heart to be one of his greatest accomplishments is sweet, as is the way he dreams about their future.

In other words, this one starts rough, but ends sweet.

Favorite quote: “I need you as much as I need my next breath — more, even.”

9. Dedue

Can we just appreciate that Dedue chose to leave Dimitri for Byleth? That is so meaningful. Dedue spends the entire game unhealthily attached to Dimitri, and finally he finds something that he chooses for himself. Of course, there is the concern that he will become unhealthily attached to Byleth, but I don’t get that impression from his S-support.

There are so many wonderful little details in this S-support. The tiny, modest ring. The straightforward proposal. Both of them gazing at each other in loving, comfortable silence afterward. Byleth’s blush. And DEDUE’S LAUGH. Just. the laugh. It’s important.

Finally, Dedue invites Byleth to come with him to visit Duscur. TAKE NOTES, CLAUDE!! Anyway…

10. Edelgard

*takes a deep breath and sets aside my feelings about Edelgard’s stance on the Children of the Goddess*

Alright, so this S-support is significant because it’s one of the few where you can tell that there is genuine affection on Byleth’s end. She really takes charge of the proposal, going so far as to use Edelgard’s nickname, “El,” to convey affection and intimacy.

At first I was concerned when I heard Edelgard say, “This ring…thank you, my dearest friend,” and I was like HOLD UP – did Byleth just get friendzoned?? But Edelgard clarifies by expressing that she has romantic feelings too, which saves the scene. But while sweet, the rest of the S-support focuses on Edelgard’s ambitions and generally lacks romance. Fitting for her character? Yes. A satisfying S-support? Not really.

11. Dimitri 

It’s clear from the beginning of this S-support that Dimitri and Byleth have become close friends. I appreciate the way they talk about their wounds, and although talking about Dimitri’s nightmares is far darker than I expected from an S-support, it shows just how much Dimitri has improved.

What disappointed me about this S-support is the lack of emotion on both sides. Sure, the “my beloved” pet name is wonderful. And sure, Byleth isn’t very emotional as a rule. But Byleth shows more emotional in other S-supports. And there is not nearly enough of a reaction on Dimitri’s side. Come on, dude. You’ve been aggressively simping over Byleth since Day 1, and you’re just taking this proposal in stride?? You should be unconscious right now.

12. Mercedes

I’m so proud of how far Mercedes has come at this point. She’s determined to live in a way that makes her happy, outside of her Crest or anyone else’s expectations. That being said, a lot of this S-support feels more like it could have been an A+ support.

Major points to Mercedes to being the one to do the proposing. A lot of people mistake her kind nature for being demure, which is not the case. She is bold, speaks her mind, and knows what she wants. And in this case, that’s Byleth. Her proposal is gentle and respectful, if a bit bland, and her reaction to Byleth’s acceptance is absolutely adorable. She’s so happy yet insecure, and I wish there was more communication from Byleth to reassure her.

13. Hanneman

Hanneman is an academic through and through, and his nature as a scholar comes through strongly in his S-support. He tries to approach things pragmatically, almost ruins things by talking about Byleth’s role in his research, but fortunately realizes that’s the wrong way to do it and takes a new approach with more feeling. It’s very similar to Linhardt’s S-support, but less self-centered and overall better. Hanneman treats Byleth as an equal, and shows enthusiasm in his own way.

Overall, this is an extremely pragmatic S-support, but it’s not without its charms. That being said, it definitely requires an interpretation of Byleth’s character where she has developed a taste for academia.

Favorite quotes:

“I suppose there’s no reason to hold ourselves back any longer.”

“I don’t want the power of your Crest - I want you.”

“I can’t wait to see the results of this undertaking.”

14. Yuri

This S-support is very consistent with Yuri’s character. The scene opens with Yuri trying to repay his “debt” to Byleth, which definitely lacks in romantic vibes, but works in context. It’s nice to see Yuri nervous and out of composure, but I admit I had been expecting…more…from him with how charming he’s supposed to be. Then again, like Sylvain, maybe the fact that he’s dropped the façade is supposed to make it meaningful. At least he blushes! Blushy Yuri is something I didn’t know I needed. The bit at the end where he whispers his true name in her ear is very nice, too.

But yikes…Yuri talks about his death. And considering that in most of the routes, Byleth ends up being most likely essentially immortal, this hits HARD. She is definitely facing the death of her lover in a few decades at most, and that is not something she wants to think about during a proposal.

Favorite quote: “In return for this ring, I ask for you.”

15. Raphael 

Raphael is a pretty clueless, non-romantic kind of guy. But the sudden proposal is very cute. Considering how awful he is at expressing himself, it works really well with his character to simply have him jump right in and get it over with.

That being said, I couldn’t help but feel that his reasoning for getting married was just a little loose. He always wants to be with Byleth and expresses that he wants to serve as her knight. Uh, you realize you can do that without marrying her right, bud? Byleth didn’t seem to be very into this proposal either, although she does have a wonderful little smile in the S-support portrait, which makes up for that. I love how the portrait emphasizes Raph’s size and strength by having him lift her up bridal style. It’s an actually flattering portrayal of him, too.

Favorite quote: “And…I’ll love you. Forever and ever. And ever!”

16. Sylvain 

Ah yes, Sylvain. Our favorite train wreck. The good news is that he’s finally taking charge of his life, and I like that he’s straightforward in this S-support rather than flirtatious, which means that you know he’s being sincere. It’s cute to see him genuinely happy, and his statement that “I’m going to spend the rest of our lives together trying to make you happy,” is very good.

However, the “If you told me you never wanted me to look at another woman, I’d go blind for you” is going too far. I know it addresses his skirt-chasing character, but I just don’t know if they could have a healthy relationship. I know this is rating the support scene, not the ship itself, but I don’t think that’s a positive indicator for the future.

17. Claude 

This S-support gives me so many bad vibes. Yes, he expresses his love for Byleth as well as his utmost confidence in her, but dude, actions matter more than words, and your actions speak VOLUMES. He’s the only one to just run off at the end of the S-support, and while I understand his reasoning — I really do — it’s clear that his own agenda and ambitions will always come before Byleth.

This is what I heard: “Right now, Fodlan is like a newborn... so that’s why I’m leaving, so you have to do all the hard stuff yourself. See ya, sucker!!” Ah yes. Prime husband and father material there. Obviously.

“I’m sorry that I won’t be by your side at such an important event...” Uh huh, yeah right. You’re obviously itching to get out of there.

I’m sorry, Claude stans, but giving Byleth an engagement ring and then running away for who knows how long is LAME.

18. Jeritza

The first thing that struck me about this S-support is the fact that it takes place in the Agarthan HQ, Shambhala. This is super meaningful because it means that Byleth and Jeritza go there together to use their killing prowess to take out Those Who Slither in the Dark post-Crimson Flower. It’s a nice way to tie up the route. The portrait is super dynamic and unique, too. That being said…

He’s still fixated on killing Byleth. If that’s your thing, then hey, I can’t judge. At least we all know that if he hasn’t killed her by now, it’s never going to happen. It’s such an empty threat it’s probably an inside joke by now. But Jeritza’s clearly still figuring out his feelings, which means I’m not sure it really counts as an S-support (it would have made a better A+ support imho). There are also things about this pairing and S-support that have some serious implications for who Byleth has become by this point and what the future is likely to look like. Good storytelling, yes, but as an S-support…not my favorite.

Favorite quotes:

“It is you alone who can slay the demon inside me.”

“To the very depths of hell, I will tumble down with you.”

19. Linhardt

This S-support falls flat for me. It’s like Hanneman’s, but worse because it’s super self-centered. I feel like it’s a really bad summary of Linhardt��s character because so much more could have been done with it. Linhardt has lots of good traits, and this S-support ignores all of them. Instead, we have a one-dimensional S-support that focuses on Linhardt’s laziness and penchant for napping. He’s so self-centered and consumed by his own interests, so saying that he wants to study Byleth for the rest of his life makes her more like an accessory to his life plans rather than a central component. At least when Hanneman says he wants to study Byleth, he makes it very clear that he loves her and wants her as a person.

And the line where he says "I didn’t honestly think you’d reject me” is just…wow. Much disappoint. If I were Byleth I would turn him down on the spot just for saying that.

20. Ashe 

Ashe’s S-support comes off to me like he’s pledging himself to her as a vassal more than actually proposing. Yes, he does take initiative and does the proposing, which is consistent with the fact that Ashe is a gutsy little guy. But he’s so stuck on being helpful that the S-support ends up feeling immature. Plus, Byleth doesn’t seem very enthusiastic about the proposal compared to other S-supports, and overall Ashe’s worship of Byleth comes off as more dependent than romantic.

21. Caspar

We’ve reached the bottom four S-supports, starting with this disaster. Caspar is juvenile, reckless, and oblivious. (Don’t get me wrong — I adore his character and see him like a little brother.) Byleth has to take charge of the proposal, which is not a problem in itself, but then Caspar confesses that he hasn’t even thought about marrying Byleth — or anyone at all! asaslkjasdflk FAIL

At least the victory shout is kind of cute…if painfully cheesy.

And they get worse from here…

22. Rhea

I don’t have a lot to say here. I know I said that I would keep my personal feelings about the pairings themselves out of this, but I feel like there are certain things about this particular pairing that need to be addressed along with this S support.

Age gap aside (because frankly with immortals, age doesn’t really matter anymore), Rhea CREATED Byleth’s mother, essentially making herself Byleth’s grandmother. Incest vibes, yo. Plus, she fully intended to sacrifice Byleth’s life in order to bring back Sothis — which, granted, is a sentiment that wears off, and Jeritza is just as bad in terms of original intent to kill Byleth. This makes any kind of romantic revelation on Rhea’s side just…weird.

There are some good quotes in this S-support, and we get a ton of reveals about Rhea’s character development in a short amount of time. She’s self-conscious of her other form as a dragon, she acknowledges the wrongs she did in the past, and she expresses a desire to repent. She acknowledges the pivotal role that Byleth has played through her choices and accomplishments, rather than attributing them to fate and the “flow of time.” But honestly this would be more appropriate as a final scene at the end of the game, not a romantic S-support.

23. Cyril

Oh boy. Where do I start with this one? It’s so bad...

This boy is BABY. 19 years old after the war? Sure. Attractive design? Yes. But still, he. is. BABY. And the S-support portrait makes it so much worse by making him look freaking TEN.

And he’s so, so oblivious. Even worse than Caspar. He barely has a personality as a character outside of being committed to the servant mentality, and he has had no opportunity to discover himself as a freaking person outside of his obsession with Rhea. It should be illegal to even consider this kid for S-support. One thing would be if it was platonic, like Alois or Gilbert, but Byleth gives him the ring, and that means it’s supposed to be romantic.

Plus, Cyril says that he loves Byleth, but it’s super casual and comes off more like familial or friendship love rather than romantic love. Unless I missed something, I don’t think Byleth ever says that she loves Cyril in their S-support. And the end is just the worst: “Love ya, see ya in the morning.” That’s IT???? There is absolutely no indication of a mature relationship, and that’s just scary and gross.

I just…really hate this S-support. There’s only one S-support that’s worse…

24. Sothis

Forget everything that I said about keeping my feelings about particular pairings out of this ranking. This is a TRULY CURSED S-SUPPORT.

I don’t care that Sothis is technically a goddess whose age is beyond counting or mortal comprehension. All that matters is she looks like a child. She is lolibait. And to top it all off, she doesn’t even have physical form (thank goodness) — she’s just an apparition in Byleth’s head!

And this quote? “I love you deeply! Overwhelmingly! passionately! Ours is a love without an end!” I only have two words: PEAK CRINGE.

It would be one thing if Sothis came back in her adult form. Or better yet, if she had always been in her adult form as portrayed in the fresco in the reception hall. You can do something with that. But that’s not the case, Sothis is portrayed as a pre-pubescent child in both appearance and personality, and that’s just pedophilia vibes, y’all. I can’t believe this is a sincere S-support option.

[butwhatifidothis]

Anon who asked about the assassination attempt right at the beginning of the game here. WHY DO PEOPLE THINK THAT CLAUDE WANTS TO CONQUER ALL OF FODLAN?! Without the war, all he needs to do in order to achieve his goals is to WAIT. He can just TAKE HIS TIME and wait for him to become the leader of both the Alliance and Almyra! He has no reason to try to conquer Fodlan!

Most of the time, it's because they take him saying that he wanted to become a "supreme ruler" in CF at face-value and jump to the conclusion that he wanted to conquer Fodlan. It doesn't really take into account... many things. If Claude wanted to conquer Fodlan through war, then:

Why does he never bring in the Almyran army in full force during the war when Fodlan is at its most chaotic and weakest to foreign invasion

Why does he state multiple times that Edelgard's violent and bloody methods nearly destroy his ambitions, if a violent and bloody war was what he was going to do himself anyway

Why do no endings anywhere on non-VW routes state that they had to fend off Almyran attacks due to Claude trying to conquer Fodlan while it's recovering - in his own words, when it's "fragile and easily upset"

Why does he care to keep the Alliance intact so much (to the extent that he puts his life in extreme danger trying to protect its capital) if he's just going to invade it before any other nation in Fodlan anyway, when theoretically he'd want it to be in shambles so it'd be easier to conquer and he can have a foothold in Fodlan

Why would he be so insistent on Byleth having ambitions for themselves, if he'd wanted them to simply be a puppet ruler for him to control Fodlan through

Tbh, a lot of it comes from a want of not having Edelgard look as bad - you'll also see takes like "I can't believe Dimitri lambasts Edelgard for conquering when HE conquers Adrestia" too. Dimitri and Claude have to be as bad as Edelgard so she can't be criticized without her critics (or fans who also critique her) "being hypocrites" and thus unworthy of note. With Claude sometimes it'll be a "Edelgard ISN'T a conqueror/imperialist, CLAUDE is" (there's a long, fairly popular, and dumb as shit meta post that does exactly that). Like, I'm sure there are also some people who just (wrongly) think that Claude wanted to start a war without having anything to do with defending Edelgard, but uh... it's not that common lmao at least in my experience

[lochnessies]

ok here’s a dissection of a post an anon sent me the link to and bc i have the worst time management possible and i completely forgot i had it lol so sorry anon here you go ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜

I am constantly thinking about how Edelgard just doesn’t seem designed to appeal to cishet men.

i hate to be the one to break this news to you op but just because a character doesn’t show skin like charlotte fire emblem doesn’t mean she isn’t designed to pander to men. she’s very much designed to pander to the (majority straight male) player base with her ‘uwu i only trust you professor omg did u see that rat? pls don’t look at my painting of you uwu’.

then there’s the whole edelgard c support in japanese where byleth makes reference to having come to her room for ‘yobi’ which is

there’s also the scene where byleth can make an unsolicited comment about edelgard’s breast size. which is… uhh… gross.

edelgard also has cipher cards that go from slightly fanserviceie to full on suggestive

and also her breast armor that my sister relentlessly mocked lol

and here’s a chart from the 3h subreddit about gender/sexually in regards to edelgard and edeleth. it’s extremely straight male. op might have just overlooked this since they probably don’t go on reddit and stay on tumblr (which unlike reddit is mostly female and has a high lgbt demographic).

Like the joke is that Bleagles is the Gay House, but everything about her feels deliberately non-hetero.

i don’t like where this is going…

She’s dressed in sharp outfits covering her upper body, with proportions that don’t seem exaggerated.

so women who cover up must be lgbt because straight women are naturally more revealing? oh y i k e s

Her poise and the way she effortlessly flourishes her axe exhibits an air of coolness. While titties out =/= character of no substance, Edelgard being dressed more modestly suggests that she wasn’t designed with male-centred fanservice in mind.

“titties don’t equal no substance but here’s my post on how she has more substance because she doesn’t show titties” ok

And she still looks absolutely stunning in her more modest attire (like seriously, I haven’t felt the need to return to cosplay in years but I want to do her academy look so bad). 

yes she does. amazing design 10/10. i have a feeling this is the only part i’m going to agree with

Edelgard is intense. She does not mince her words and she is constantly evaluating you. Though she tries, she has a difficult time understanding her peers initially. Early on, she talks about how she would sacrifice herself and others in the name of some greater good. She is terrible at communicating with her peers. She has to be seen as infallible. Her heart has been hardened for years and she assumes she has to stay that way. She also assumes everyone mourns the same way she does - which is why she (kind of insensitively) insists you move on when Jeralt dies. Because to her, grief has to be channeled towards action, or else you’ll get lost in it. This attitude is demonstrated time and time again as she presses on. It can make her come off as cold and unfeeling - but look closer, and she’s anything but.

don’t really have anything to say at this part. it is pretty on the nose though i would slightly disagree with that last sentence a bit. i wouldn’t say she’s as i feeling as hubert is but all of her talks of the war boil down to how she feels and never her victims.

Her story is ultimately about her realizing that to achieve her goals, she needs to let people in and allow herself to want things like cakes and tea parties and lazy days in peace. 

????? what ????? her goals include imperialism, ethnic and religious targeting. her story is about having a set of beliefs and mowing down anybody who stands in her way. that has nothing to do with tea, friends, and lazy days. also am i supposed to be sad that she has to get up everyday and work? i do that and i didn’t start a war and only throw a pity party for myself

The game leaves the player guessing as to how involved the Flame Emperor was in each Part I event, makes you feel hurt by her betrayal, and leaves you with a choice: do you follow the orders of the woman who tried to make you a god without your consent, or a young girl with questionable morals about to throw the world into upheaval?

this isn’t an ideal situation but i think i’m going to stick with the woman who tried to make me a god since i’m not selfish and i know it’s not only my desires and life at stake here. plus the green hair slaps ngl

Choosing her of your own volition (not for completionist reasons) requires the basic ability to sympathize with a woman’s pain. It also requires the player to read beyond her unwavering will and dubious methods to get a sense of how deep that pain goes and how the theme of humanity relates to her differently in each route.

i’m not going to touch this since @nilsh13 made a post on it that i’ll link here. i agree with everything he said so to repeat it would be redundant.

The player must be able to see a young woman’s desperate resolve to change the world so it stops exploiting people and ruining lives. They must be able to accept the fact that women can make the same morally wrong and ambivalent decisions that complicated male characters get to make all the time and still be the one to root for.

literally the same reason i love rhea lol her goddess experiments are dubious at best but her reasons are the same you mentioned. i would say that i like this quality in edelgard too if her ending, while bloody, actually ended in a good outcome for fodlan.

This is not unique to LGBT+ people, but this population is likely to understand why Edelgard feels so strongly about why she has to change the system. 

i understand wanting to change a system, i really do. like edelgard, i’m an opinionated bisexual woman (who’s also physically disabled) so yeah i get it. and change can be good but it can also be terrible. even if the church was the boogeyman edelgard treats it as she still replaces it with her own shit regime. so it’s the same circus just with a new conductor.

I don’t think “Edelgard gets undue criticism because she’s a woman” captures the full picture. An important aspect of her treatment by certain parts of the fandom is that she’s a radical woman.

or maybe she does some pretty fucked up shit and it goes unacknowledged in her own route. and yeah she’s radical but in all the worst ways.

Her hatred of the Church and the Crest system resonates way harder with people who have been hurt by institutions that are deeply engrained in our society. 

and what about people who have been hurt by systems where their ‘merit’ didn’t measure up and they were left behind? what about people from nations that experienced imperialism?

Siding with her means siding against the Church - which, while different from real world religious institutions, still invokes language about “sin” and “punishment.

yeah the ‘sins’ and ‘punishments’ are used in relation to attempted murders which i think everybody can agree is a bad thing that needs to be condemned.

Choosing Edelgard will likely hit different if homophobic and transphobic Christians used that rhetoric against you.

it has literally nothing to do with ‘sins’ and ‘punishments’ in regards to being gay or trans. that’s you projecting. especially since the church has 2 canon gay characters and two coded ones.

like i can understand why having a church condemn you can be uncomfortable but i’m begging you to please look at the context of what’s happening.

I’m willing to go out on a limb and say that the reason F/F Edeleth is the more popular iteration of that ship because most people who would choose to S-support Edelgard are LGBT+ themselves. This is not a revelation. To anyone in the community, it’s fairly obvious. 

i was talking to nilish and he said

so yeah… while there is definitely sapphic femleth shippers out there, there’s still a whole lot of weird fetishizing going on from straight men about edelgard.

Crimson Flower was my first route. I went into the game knowing absolutely nothing. I played it during the last week of 2020 and hoo boy was it cathartic. 

i can tell. this wasn’t supposed to be a dig but it came out that way and i’m not taking it out.

I felt like I was living out a gay revolution power fantasy, where I could truly change systems of oppression while fighting alongside a group of troubled students I’d shaped the lives of.

so a gay revolution power fantasy (cringe) goes hand in hand with imperialism and installing a dictatorship? also the war had nothing to do with sexuality.

Through your unwavering support, Edelgard learns that she needs to be human, that she must listen to her friends, and that she’s allowed to enjoy the world she’s creating.

edelgard gets to learn how to be human all while hunting those who don’t. and she doesn’t listen fo her friends. she doesn’t even trust them. she’s willing to talk to byleth but keep the people who’s been by her side for five years in the dark about everything. and yeah she gets to enjoy her new words since she’s on top. hate to be a commoner under her rule after she burned down my village in her war.

I love this character so much.

clearly. and i honestly don’t care if somebody likes her. i do as well even if my sometimes scathing words can make it seem otherwise.

It has been six months since I first played and I am still analyzing her,

me too. please help me escape i’m losing my mind

because there’s so much depth. Yet so many people fail to see that depth and dismiss her as evil,

i mean, she does some fucked up shit that goes beyond any of the less than desirable actions of the other main characters and does an extremely poor job in trying to make herself seem innocent. i personally don’t think she’s pure evil but i completely understand where the people who say she is are coming from.

because they never had the will to understand complicated women in the first place. 

that’s big talk from somebody who implies that a gay pope is comparable to homophobic and transphobic irl religions and that leads an oppressive regime all because she uses the vague terms of sin and punishments that you have to gay power fantasy your way out of

[fireemblems24]

Ooh cool to see you've finished the Hilda paralogue! I think it's critically important to understand the cons of the VW route. In this paralogue, we learn Almyrians attack for funsies and still put pressure on the Goneril defense squad to flex, and then when they have had enough they return home to throw a feast. The Gonerils? Are legitimately pissed about their neighbors but end up being total asshats and "take in" Almyrian children as quasi slaves. Claude being silent on this paralogue is, imo, on par with the BE peeps forgetting the flame emperor shtick and joining El to liberate the world from the scary dragon lady.

To say there’s a lot to unpack regarding the relationship between the Gonerils and the Almyrians is an understatement. 

The fact Claude never discusses the horrors both sides are perpetrating while wishing they could intermingle more is really strange. It’s amazing potential for good conflict, and it’s just swept under the rug. It also makes him look naive to the point of foolishness. Right now, if he really opened borders, he’d only be calling for opening hunting season on poor Fodlan commoners, and I don’t see how Amyra would want to play nice with people keeping their people as slaves. 

My guess is that this is just too big of a bite for this game to chew. How on earth is a Fire Emblem game supposed to unpack that in a satisfactory manner? It really can’t. Just like I don’t expect Three Houses to really deal with the genocide of Duscur or Edelgard’s Imperialism all that well either. 

The question here though is why include it in the first place? Unlike CF’s Imperialism or the genocide of Duscur, the antagonism going to the extreme between the Alliance and Almyra isn’t important to the plot and could’ve gotten tossed out without losing much. 

I don’t think it’s as bad as the nonsensical response from the Black Eagles after the Flame Emperor reveal though. That is literally one of the worst and illogically written scenes I’ve ever come across in my life and was supposed to be a huge emotional and plot-important turning point in the story. The stuff between Almyra and the Gonerils seems unnecessarily complicated and way under explored, but it’s not super vital to enjoying the story.   

[omgkalyppso]

Number 4 for the romance lyric prompt for any variation of the ot4!

4. ‘Cause girls like you run 'round with guys like me 'til sun down.

The lyric is from Girls Like You by Maroon 5 (idk how obvious this is without me saying it), and was added to the playlist specifically for Claude x Hilda though a lot of the lyrics have to be taken at face value because it could be interpret extremely negatively, though not that line, and not my intent. I'll try writing a few words of the stage-production au.

I didn't read over this when I finished.

Here's the first post of the stage-production au: [HERE]

Most of the cast were gone for the day, though the actors who had agreed to go out afterwards had lounged in the audience. Dimitri and Edelgard stood on opposite step ladders, as crewmen held them in place, going over the lines of their final battle with a choreographer and the director.

Dimitri would be atop a large dragon puppet someday, and Edelgard would be in her Hegemon construction, but for now, they were in t-shirts and jeans and trying their best to imagine what the final product might look like.

Hubert and Dedue stood by their sides, and had stopped crouching after the fourth recitation of their lines. By now had been brought chairs to sit upon, from which they each spoke their one line, to be shouted in production, as they supported the song shared by The Rightful King and The Flame Emperor in their epic moment.

From the orchestral pit, the production's vocal coach, Yuri, played an upright piano to guide their tune and tempo.

Hilda sat between Claude and Ferdinand in the audience. Each man whispering along with the song with a bounce of his head while she sunk into her seat, amused, and embarrassed by the prospect of joining them.

It was the most genial cast Hilda had ever worked with, and when Ferdinand, Edelgard, Manuela, Seteth and Lorenz had spoken of not drinking for seven weeks before a show, the bulk of the cast had agreed to go sober for the duration; though when they'd spoken of different dietary restrictions in the week leading up to production, there'd been very little consensus. Regardless, tonight would be the last hurrah for those who drank, as Hilda didn't anyway, and they were waiting to take their friends out for the night.

It was still relatively early as far as nights went, barely seven o'clock, but that was still late enough that people were missing dinner. Hilda could hear the crinkling of a paper bag from behind her, where Mercedes and Dorothea snacked on sweet and sour chicken balls.

After three more runs of the scene, Sweetpea, their stoic mint-haired director, declared, "I think that's it." They did their best to turn to address the rest of their team, in the wings and in the audience. "I'll see most of you in four days when we join Yuri for a, hopefully less chaotic, rendition of The Storm of Myrddin. Great work."

Hilda whistled loudly in support of her castmates, while her friends applauded and hollered. Dimitri bowed to their audience, and Hubert bowed to Edelgard who rolled her eyes and laughed as she exaggerated with one hand thrown skyward as she and Dimitri made their way down their respective stepladders.

"Thank you, Yuri," called Edelgard.

"Yes, thank you, Yuri," Dimitri agreed.

"We'll practice those low notes next time," Yuri answered, before waving up out of the pit to soften his implied criticisms. "You're welcome! We're getting there. There's a lot of range to cover."

Dimitri was still insecure by the time he joined his castmates in the aisles as they marched to the exit, "Did it sound that bad?"

"No," Claude snickered.

"It's Yuri's job to strive for perfection," Dedue observed.

Hilda held her hand in front of her lips for a moment, considering her contribution. Once they were outside, she jut her elbow into Dimitri's stomach so he grunted in surprise, stumbling back into Felix.

"Eugh!"

"Hey, watch it!"

Hilda shrugged. "Just remember that sensation?"

"Don't be mean," Sylvain exaggerated with a whine, giving Dimitri his sweater he'd been holding onto.

"No, I—" Dimitri tried to mimic the same position his mouth had been in, tongue drooping forward in his mouth as he sought the pitch of his exclamation.

"You broke him," Hubert declared, his brow furrowed, at the same time that Claude, Edelgard and Dedue were following Dimitri's example and carrying a deep monotonous tone.

Edelgard even turned it into a line that Yuri had probably been concerned with, that she would sing below The Rightful King's pleas, "So that none will suffer I must forfend—"

Dorothea answered her with The Rightful King's following line, "Living and dead, I will not forget those whom I defend."

"We're not doing that," Felix said, flat.

"Right," Annette agreed, which seemed to surprise him. "Resting voices."

"Resting voices," several people echoed.

.

They followed Dedue to a Duscur place for dinner, and wolfed down their wraps as they waited in line at a club that might be large enough to accommodate their large group.

"You didn't bring your date?" Lorenz asked Felix.

"We're not dating," Felix said, as if on instinct. He thought a moment. "Wasn't this just for cast?"

Lorenz shared a frown with Hilda before he assured Felix, "I doubt anyone would have complained even if you'd brought someone unrelated to the production. We'd have been happy to—"

"Don't listen to him," Claude said, turning from Leonie so he could wrap an arm around Lorenz. "Or I mean, do, because you could have brought anyone you'd wanted, but also don't because Lorenz just chickened out of asking the other make up artist to join us and hoped they'd have tagged along with Mia."

Felix snorted.

"That's not what happened," Lorenz objected.

"Oh, sweetie," Hilda contributed with a pout. "That's exactly what happened."

"We just got to talking, and I got distracted," Lorenz contributed.

"You forgot?" Felix asked, aghast. Hilda brought her hands to her lips, failing to hide her amusement.

"It didn't come up," Lorenz countered.

"That's not better," Claude said, shaking his head. Lorenz shrugged him off and flicked his chest with all four fingers.

"Fat lot of good friends like you are."

.

The second floor of the club was open to the elements, archways acting as windows to the brisk wind of evening, and the bright shine of sunset. The breeze and drinks were welcome, Mercedes, Dorothea and Hilda taking turns sitting with their pitchers, yellow with alcohol and pink without, to protect them just in case.

Hilda found herself distracted throughout the night, watching Claude as he dipped Lorenz, and nearly dropped Dimitri, and joined Dorothea in a samba that she and Annette were soundly better at.

They danced together only twice, the first time early in the evening before the dancers and the night had hit their stride, when there was more laughter and embarrassment in their fun than indulgence. The second time had been later in the evening, when he was flush and tipsy, to a ballad that had them swaying slowly with his hand politely between her shoulders. She'd thought about stepping closer into his space, resting her head on his chest, facing the brunt of his sweat and his cologne, but hesitated — partially because of their working relationship, but mostly because Sylvain and Mercedes had whistled about the way Hubert had held the small of Edelgard's back and she'd stretched back in a smooth, flowing dip.

It was maybe an hour later that Claude found Hilda seated at a table by a south-facing archway, the dim red of the western horizon a memory of the now fallen sun, the deep blue to the east twinkling with a few visible stars over a small lake and parkland.

"You having a good time?" Claude seemed more sober now than earlier, unlike some of their friends, and Hilda smiled softly, glad of his attention.

She nodded and ran her fingers under her eyes. "Just tired. Worked early before practice, and will again tomorrow."

"I'm glad you made it," Claude said sweetly, and Hilda rolled her eyes as she sucked on a straw from a cup that was mostly ice.

"No one would have missed me," she contributed, her gaze darting to where most of their colleagues were gathered, some of their friendships spanning years and others only as long as auditions, but generally they seemed to feel closer to each other than she really felt to them. So far, anyway.

She felt slower at forming these deep friendships that others seemed instinctually born with. She wondered if she'd know any of these people long enough for that to matter.

"I just said I would've," Claude insisted, crossing his arms as he leaned into the table. His hair was wilting around his face, framing thick eyebrows and dark lashes that half-hid his green eyes. He needed to curl them, Hilda thought idly.

She blushed and pushed at the ice in her glass with her straw. "You just owed me a few drinks for improvising with you in your audition."

Claude chuckled and hid his smile in his elbow for a moment. "That was kind of you," he allowed. He looked at her directly, and promised, "But it's not just that."

"No?" she peeped, half teasing, waiting on the joke or the reveal.

"No," he said at a whisper. "Would you want to come over to my place on one of our free nights? I could make you dinner? We could just run lines, or...?"

"Or?"

Claude blushed and they both snickered softly. He shifted back and forth against the table, forcing himself to sit up, running a hand over his chin, clean shaven for his part in their production.

"Or whatever you like."

His smile widened as she considered it, and she wondered if it was because he wasn't facing instinctual rejection or because he could tell that she was interested. When she nodded, his shoulders fell, as if suddenly relaxed. A lot of people had rules about not dating people they worked with, the risk of rejection and the pain of a breakup always had a chance of hurting a production, but she could see the value of taking a few moments of flattery too far. Even if Claude tucked his heart away from something more, even if they only ran lines, she was looking forward to it.

[glowingbadger]

Can I ask…what your favorite route is in Three houses? 0 shame to admit azure moon is my favorite and I really wish Ashe or Dima or Sylvain….ok, everyone really, were all in another new route where everyone lives. Azure moon, in my mind, is one of the best routes and I really enjoyed the development of Dimitri, Sylvain, and the rest of the BL/AW/GD house in the route. I have played all the others and it’s still my fave. Ty for writing the Sylvain and Dima HCs last minute. It really warmed the heart and I enjoy reading all your content. 💙

Listen. I've played every ounce of content that FE3H has to offer, and I have some Opinions TM

I'm the kind of person who relentlessly criticizes the things I love, and I mean that in the most unflattering way possible lol like I'm a pain in the ass to watch movies with because of it. So I need you to know that when I say that FE3H disappoints me at every turn, it's only because I LOVE this game enough to be disappointed by looking at what it COULD have been. So here are my route thoughts:

(with kind of mild spoilers? But honestly not much)

Azure Moon: The best emotional gratification in the game by far. Dimitri's arc is Shakespearean and beautifully handled. Also contains a little segment I like to call "Why Are You Booing Felix He's Right"- where Felix is consistently the only person with the balls and sense to openly call out Dimitri when he's being a piss baby and everyone's like "God Felix you're so shitty and mean" and I'm like "HE'S RIGHT THOUGH." But the way the characters have real, developed chemistry with one another makes this route really easy to emotionally invest yourself in. However, you also learn next to nothing about the actual grander plot of the game in this route, which makes it feel very unsubstantial in a lot of ways.

Verdant Wind: In my opinion, the best executed overall in terms of generally accomplishing everything it set out to. In particular, I'm glad that you deal with the Agarthans in this route, since that's the only true win condition IMO. Claude is extremely charming as a point character, but his political and societal beliefs keep being briefly brought up and never really elaborated on. He keeps being made to do stupid shit (like fighting both Edie and Dimitri in that three way battle- which he WOULD NOT DO fight me about it) because the plot demands it, and that results in his character remaining a bit more shallow than it should be.

Silver Snow: More or less the same as the above, and I mostly loved it very subjectively because I love Seteth, but that's not quantifiable feedback lol. I actually personally believe that this route should have been retooled as an unlockable "good" ending, where you manage a secret alliance between Edie and the church faction (as lead by Seteth on the practical end and Byleth as a figure head) to deal with Rhea's bullshit and the Agarthan's. I have like a whole plot in my head for this, don't get me started.

Crimson Flower: Oof Crimson Flower. Ooooh, Crimson Flower. I made a half hour long speedpaint video about my feelings on this route. It promised so much and delivered so, so little. The fact that you don't actually deal with the Agarthans in-game and it's just handwaved as "oh Hubert will deal with it, don't worry, it's totally okay that we're siding with them even though they're objectively horribly evil." The fact that nothing actually ever goes wrong for Edelgard (other than the token deaths of NPCs we don't care about) and you just steamroll the continent. Edie and Huberts A support that makes me want to vomit into space. There was so much potential here, but FE3H was not prepared to deliver on it. The result is that I personally would have preferred if this were (portrayed as) just a villain route. So... I guess the answer to your question is that I like and dislike things about every route, but I can say that CF is my least favorite lol. I guess SS is my "favorite," but only because of extra Seteth screen time tbh. Overall though, FE3H really is the story of an incredible and compelling cast stuck in a tragic mess of a story lol

[msbluebell]

Hey! How about a Captured AU where Byleth, before all this, had a thing with Dimitri and is pregnant by the time she is brought to Enbarr? 💔

Oh boy.

Oh boy.

This one is going to hurt, isn’t it? There’s no way it’s not. There’s no way not to hurt in this one. I’m sorry guys, but melmcshane is the one that did this to you all. I’m merely writing these scenarios in the most logical/in character way I know how. I didn’t do this!

Before we get into what happens if Byleth is pregnant during captivity, we need to figure out how this would happen. Now, it’s no secret that I’m against student/teacher while the student is in school, and Dimitri is only 17 when he’s in school which is iffy as shit to me. I may have projected that onto Byleth as well, y’know, just wanting to keep the power dynamics at balance. It’s very clear to me that Dimitri and Byleth do fall in love over the course of the school year, but I imagine one of the things holding them back is the fact that Byleth is Dimitri’s teacher and Dimitri is the prince of Faerghus.

So the affair would have had to happen late in the year. Both biologically and personally speaking. I mean, Byleth would have had to be in the extremely early stages of pregnancy to go into the battle without noticeable changes, especially considering her default clothes shows off here naval. She would have had to be in the first trimester, which gives us a three month interval.Now, Dimitri was on a downward spiral during that interval, but there’s a certain point I think we can pin when this affair would have happened. Now, I’m going to go ahead and say it didn’t happen post-reveal because Dimitri was not okay and I doubt he nor Byleth would have indulged in such an intimate moment at that time. It would have been iffy at best, and I don’t think either one of them would have been emotionally able to 

If I had to take a guess when they’d indulge in such a moment, I think I would put my bets on the night before visiting the holy tomb actually.

Logically speaking, I think that’s the best bet. If Byleth and Dimitri have harbored feelings for one another that they’ve been holding back based on the fact that Byleth is his teacher, then I think that this is the time that issues would seem most irrelevant to either of them. Not only does this take place after one of the moments that I have speculated either of them could have realized they’ve fallen in love in the game, but this is also a critical moment where they don’t know what will happen. Neither of them know what will happen when Byleth receives the revelation, and even if Byleth is expecting nothing based on what she knows about what happened to Sothis that no one else does, there’s no guarantee that she will not come out of this unchanged, or perhaps even replaced/overwritten by Sothis. 

So, maybe the night before the ritual Dimitri comes to check on Byleth, or maybe it’s the other way around considering he mentions that he hasn’t been sleeping well lately. Either way, they’re both worried about the other, and they don’t know what will happen, or what the future holds, and this might be their last chance to tell each other about their feelings. Maybe it started out innocent enough, with some mutually reassuring words, mutual attempts at comfort, and then it got more heavy from there. Comfort somehow became admitting they don’t wanna lose each other, which somehow became a kiss, which lead to them forgetting everything outside that moment and just focusing on each other, which lead to that night. 

It was a thing of passion and comfort, because they’re scared everything will change and they’ll lose each other and then may be the first and last time the get this. 

They’re…not wrong.

After the holy tomb there were more important things to focus on. Dimitri’s mental health has rapidly declined, and there’s a war marching toward them, and things have gone to hell. So there’s no time to talk about what happened, not yet, right now they need to focus. They can talk later, if they survive.

Maybe they did say something before battle, maybe they promised that after they would talk. Who knows. In any case, the battle goes as it does in the game, with Edelgard’s forces taking Garreg Mach and basically destroying it, and Byleth falling off that cliff.

So, when Byleth fell off that cliff she would have been about two months into her pregnancy. That’s early enough both to not be showing and for the baby to possibly survive the fall with their mother so long as Byleth didn’t land on her stomach or anything. So, for the sake of the prompt, I’m going to say that the baby got lucky here and the force of impact didn’t do much to disrupt the pregnancy. Now Byleth is in a coma, and pregnant, and the Imperial troops probably find her.Now, I’m going to assume some field medics are on the case, but I doubt they’re going to be looking for signs of pregnancy in a soldier, especially one that survived falling from a cliff, so they don’t realize right away and keep Byleth put under for the trip to Enbarr like in the original Captured Post. They put her in the tower, lock her up, and things continue as it was in my original AU.

Except that, of course, things have to change if Byleth is pregnant.

Now, I’m going off the assumption Byleth didn’t realize she was pregnant at first.  Observant as she is, I doubt that the possibility of pregnancy was the first thing on her mind at all during the last month or two. If she noticed she missed her period than she probably assumed she was irregular because of stress and anxiety or something.

Three months into the pregnancy though? She’s going to start showing a bit.

Now, three months is the end of the first trimester, so she’s starting to show more than a little bump. During the second month she could brush off a little bump as some weight gain, maybe, but three months in and it’s becomes a little difficult to mistake a swell for extra fat tissue. By this time she will miss her third period in a row, and would start showing more noticeable symptoms. Morning sickness would definitely be an issue, a heightened sense of smell as well as fatigue, much more frequent urination, breathlessness, headaches, mood swings, frequent changes in libido, and of course, breast swelling.

Yeah, pregnant ladies deal with a lot of bullshit, and being trapped in a tower shouldn’t be one of them.

Now, Byleth isn’t stupid. That said, I can see her being in denial at first. She’s already trapped here, she can’t be pregnant on top of that! She probably denies it for as long as she can.

But no one else is stupid either, and she has people watching her for signs of health risks and such. They probably notice something is up right away and have healers sent in. And even if Byleth somehow denied them the chance to check her, it would become very obvious to everyone very fast that she’s pregnant.

Can you imagine how horrified some of the Black Eagles student’s would be to realized they locked up their pregnant professor in a tower?

So they find out she’s pregnant. I imagine that, at first, Edelgard isn’t too happy with the news. There’s probably a lot of debate over who the father could even be, because I doubt that Byleth would share that particular information. Some of the more observant students, like Hubert, could venture a guess that it was Dimitri, but there’s no solid evidence yet. There’s probably a lot of debate about what to do about the professor, specifically what to do about the child. Some might have even been in favor of, y’know, easing up on the captivity (Dorothea), or at least putting her under house arrest as an alternative (Ferdie), just anything to ease up on a pregnant woman. Someone may have suggested…”accidentally” inducing a miscarriage (which I think would be a last fucking straw for a lot of the students, not going to lie, you can only justify so much awful shit in the name of safety) which got very quickly eliminated from the ideas. Either way, it’s considered an unresolved issue…at first.

Byleth, herself, would be stuck on what to do. She’s not stupid, she knows that if she has this child then they’re probably going to take them, or kill them, or…something. Worst case scenario they grow up trapped in this room for all their life and never see the outside. Or Edelgard takes them as fills their head with nonsense. Or…or…

She can’t see a good way for this to end. The best she can hope for is a rescue, or to escape while she’s still early. But security will have been doubled by this, and she doubts she can escape with a baby in her arms. Risking herself is one thing, risking an innocent baby is another. But staying doesn’t seem any better.

Byleth may even also legitimately be considering somehow aborting the child herself out of sheer desperation. It’s not that she doesn’t want the babe, she just legitimately can’t see a way to save them.

Let’s say that there’s no chance to get rid of the baby though, what happens?

I can see Edelgard being resentful…at first. But the longer the pregnancy goes on, the softer her feelings for the idea becomes. She might never have a child of her own, after all, there’s no certainty, and the idea of raising the babe as her own family has appeal. 

Byleth would swell, of course, and go through the turmoils of pregnancy without the father. I wonder if Byleth would ever rub her belly and think about Dimitri? I wonder if she would wonder if he’s alive? I wonder if she sings to the babe? Or tells it stories? Babies are supposed to be able to sense that stuff in the womb, right? That’s what the stories say. So she probably tells them about their father when she’s all alone. She probably tells them about their grandfather too, and the mercenaries, and Garreg Mach, and what little she knows about Faerghus. I wonder if she knows any lullabies? I wonder if she has to make some up? I wonder if she tells them about the Blue Lions, about kind Ashe, and gentle Mercedes, and loyal Dedue, and clever Sylvain, and responsible Ingrid, and fierce Felix, and loving Dimitri.

I wonder if she agonizes over the names. I wonder if she wishes Dimitri was there to help her. I wonder if she rubs her belly and tries to imagine what kind of names Dimitri would have liked, what kind would fit Faerghus.

Her child deserves to grow up knowing these people, knowing their home, but instead they’re going to know round walls and windowless rooms.

I wonder if she gives birth in that room of if they let her into an infirmary. She probably gives birth in that room.

They probably let her keep the baby herself, because newborns need constant attention from their mother. They need to be nursed, and changed, and given constant affection. Maybe, that’s what gets Byleth through the first year and a half of her captivity, taking care of the baby. Naming them, telling them stories, playing with their hair.

Byleth is a new mother, and she didn’t have a mother of her own to learn from, but she has nothing but time to learn in this room. 

I wonder if the babe has blonde or green hair? I wonder if they have green or blue eyes? I wonder if they have their father’s nose? Their grandfather’s ears? I wonder if Byleth looks at them and thinks about Dimitri sometimes, and the fact this child might never meet him.

Okay, but in my discord server we decided that Link from BOTW is the Dimileth love child and now I can’t stop thinking about it.

One thing the child does have is a crest of Blaiddyd.

Pretty hard to hide who the father is with that.

The Black Eagles all try to be involved in raising the child. They brings toys, and books, and clothes. The stay and tell stories and sing songs. But it doesn’t make up for the fact that the child is growing up in such an environment and never will.

Edelgard probably relocates the child after the first half a year, though. She moves them to a royal nursery and has nannies help raise them, and tries to act as a second mother to them. It was probably a big fight to get them out of the room, with lot’s of Byleth screaming and kicking and clawing at the guards as they took her child. Edelgard probably tried to placate Byleth, saying that the babe needed to be outside some, and that she’ll join him as soon as the war is over.

Or maybe that doesn’t happen. Maybe the babe is locked in that room with their mother, having never seen the outside world. Never knowing anything but that room.

I think that one is sadder and more likely, if only to keep Byleth complacent, so we’ll go with that one.

The babe probably grows up with two different extremes. On one hand Edelgard is trying to be their mother and feel their head with Empire propaganda. On the other hand Byleth is telling them not to trust Edelgard, whispering different stories than the one they’ve heard about the war and he people involved. The grow up with one side telling them about the evils of the church and crests, and the other telling them about the best memories of Garreg Mach and the people there.

For years, the only thing the child hears about their father is that he’s either an enemy of the Empire, a dead one, or he was a kind and just man. 

If the poor babe was locked up with their mother and never let out than they’re probably more inclined to believe her over the other mother that’s not really their mother that visits all the time, even if she does bring great toys. The news would be more mixed if they’re raised in the nursery. But since I’m leaning towards the former…

The child grows up pale and used to enclosed walls. They probably don’t know what the sky looks like, or the sun, or a forest, or lake, or the stars. They’ve seen pictures in the books the Black Eagles bring, but no real concept other than that.

I like to think that Byleth probably finally decides to risk escape when the child asks if he’ll ever get to feel rain. That’s when she tries to make plans at least.

Byleth probably teaches him to wield a sword as best she can in that room, teaching him to swing a little wooden toy sword as best she can. 

The first time the child sees the sky is during the first escape attempt.

Tiny hands clutch their mother’s clothes from beneath a cloak, and small eyes turn up towards the sky to see so much bright that they’re blinded, unused to so much light. It’s big, and blue, larger than they could have ever imagined.

Byleth fights a whole armed guard trying to get out of that city, her child strapped to her back. She’s fiercer than any dragon, more savage than any lion, and more determined to get through those gates than any force of nature they’ve ever faced. It takes dozens and dozens of guards to stop her without harming her or the child, but they do, eventually, because Byleth couldn’t go all out, she couldn’t risk the tiny body on her back.

She failed to escape in the end.

The babe is most certainly taken from her after that, relocated to a nursery and only allowed supervised visits every day. Byleth isn’t even sure if she’s angry or not, because she showed her child the sky, and they get to see it all the time now, the get to see something other than this damn room, and she still see them every day.

Still, ever day she holds them close to her chest, when it’s time for them to leave her, those small hands clutching her clothes and fat tears rolling down their chubby cheeks. All she can to is hold them so close in a warm embrace and whisper promises in their ear that she’ll get out someday, and when she does she’ll come get him, and they can go away and find their father, and the Blue Lions, and then they can all finally live together under the sky.

[horsegirldischarge]

ferdibert’s A+ support- a weird analysis-type thing

sometimes i think about the ferdibert A+ support, and by sometimes, i mean all the time. so here’s an analysis of their A+ support that’s not really an analysis i’m just really feeling ferdibert and want to talk about Them

ferdinand/hubert‘s A+ support is one out of three same-sex A+ supports in ALL of three houses, (the other two being sylvain/felix and shamir/catherine). they’re also each other’s only A+ supports, which isn’t true of sylvix and cathmir, who all have at least one more A+ support with another person. that means that their A+ support is completely unique to them- which is quite a monumental thing all on its own, without even delving into the content of the actual support. 

the fascinating thing is the presence of an A+ support AT ALL.  it shows that hubert and ferdinand deeply trust each other, and care about each other a lot underneath their little rivalry. (of course, hubert will never trust and be quite as devoted to ferdinand as he is to edelgard, as her best friend and vassal, but i digress). if the goal of ferdinand and hubert’s supports was to simply make them friends, then going up to a regular A support would seemingly do the job. after all, in their A support, they’re sitting down together for tea and coffee, and hubert genuinely compliments ferdinand (despite claiming that he is a contemptible degenerate).based on hubert’s personality, that’s seemingly close enough to friendship to pass as friends.

but, nope, they didn’t stop there! the mere presence of an A+ support, plus the uniqueness of that support considering the supports between them and other people, hints at something quite a bit deeper.

and that’s without even talking about the A+ support‘s content! because... whoo boy.

[ spoiler warning for ferdinand and hubert’s A+ support (obviously)! if you haven’t seen it already, don’t be stupid and go do that first ]

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

the support starts off simply enough- ferdinand and hubert run into each other by the dorms, (presumably on their way to meet each other, based on the events that follow.) quickly, they both notice that the other is carrying cargo- hubert, some tea leaves, and ferdinand, some coffee beans.

the coffee is basic enough, and not necessarily romantic. it doesn’t mention anything beyond the fact that they’re coffee beans. there is a bit of speculation around the origin of the coffee beans, which i’ll talk about in a moment. however, what is concrete is the fact that ferdinand was thinking about hubert, and remembered what he liked- and, most importantly, cares about hubert enough to give him gifts entirely unprompted.

now, coffee beans are generally imported from dagda to fodlan, from what we’ve seen in-game- i.e., the coffee beans item that hubert likes (purchasable from one of the travelling merchants) is mentioned to be dagdan. there is a distinct possibility that the coffee beans which ferdinand has are also imported. assuming that they are, there are a couple of ways that ferdinand could have acquired them.

1. having them specially imported for hubert, meaning that he thought about it ahead of time, put a lot of money into the gift (which is actually a big deal, as ferdinand loses the majority of his fortune and sway as a noble in crimson flower)

or

2. he simply found them at some sort of travelling merchant’s shop like how it is in-game, and bought them for hubert

the second way can also apply if the coffee beans are, in fact, not imported. the first way is interesting, but possibly less plausible. 

now the tea leaves that hubert brings ferdinand are explicitly stated to be imported from the east, as shown in the screenshot from their A+ below.

this could be for either reason above, but once again, the fact remains that hubert was thinking about ferdinand when he bought the leaves, and bought them specifically for him- as is implied, and as he states.

however, the very interesting bit is that said tea is one of ferdinand’s favourites. i don’t have the screenshot, but ferdinand explicitly says that it is his ‘favourite drink.’ (this could also just mean tea in general, but i’m taking it as the former, since it’s kind of ambiguous, and because of the fact that ferdinand also recognises the packaging and origin of the tea within a single moment of seeing it.) either hubert got EXTREMELY lucky, and picked one of ferdinand’s favourite imported teas from the many available, or he knows ferdinand well enough/has observed him closely enough that he simply knows. the former scenario is improbable, and both of the latter scenarios suggest a higher degree of interest in ferdinand.

next, ferdinand asks hubert who the tea is for, but he doesn’t tell him. instead, he asks ferdinand who he went out of his way to buy the coffee for.

and then, ferdinand looks away, blushing. he doesn’t say anything beyond a ‘well, i...’, as if he’s completely speechless. speechless, blushing, smiling, and unable to meet hubert’s eyes. all he’s doing is giving him a simple gift- ferdinand is shown to be a kind and compassionate soul, and i’m sure that generally, he has no trouble doing something as simple as this with many other people. however, giving hubert his coffee beans seems to be a somewhat embarrassing affair, but his smile suggests he’s also feeling very fond at the same time.

hubert presumably sees this blush, sees his smile and his eyes averted, and decides to tease him. he asks if it’s for someone that ferdinand fancies- fancies, as in, has a crush on. the fact that this is even brought up at all is fascinating, but make note of something else. the gender-neutral term, ‘someone’. in these types of scenes, the other person will often use ‘girl’ or ‘guy’, not a gender-neutral term like someone. of course, this could be a simple oversight, or even a translation error, seeing as the english localisation has been known to get the meaning of many scenes wrong. i just thought it was an interesting point to bring up, seeing that the english localisation also loves to make everything more heterosexual, and the fact that they didn’t change this line to ‘girls’ is very compelling.

anyway, here’s the fun thing. ferdinand doesn’t deny it, nor does he try to change the topic. he just forges right ahead, and plainly tells hubert that it’s for him. hubert is, naturally, surprised, seeing as he just hinted at the gift being for ferdinand’s crush.

after hubert confirms that, yes, it’s actually a gift meant for him and ferdinand isn’t just playing a prank, ferdinand blushes again. once again, doesn’t try to deny anything, nor change the topic away from what is a clear implication of a crush on hubert. just simply tells him to take the coffee beans.

when hubert confirms that he bought the tea with ferdinand in mind (see above screenshot, referenced earlier), he himself actually blushes. hubert von vestra, who never blushes on any other occasion (as far as i know) that isn’t teatime with byleth. not when bernadetta makes him a special embroidered flower to wear, not when petra says that she’s going to make him choose her over edelgard one day, not when he confesses his feelings for edelgard to edelgard, and not even when dorothea literally brings up a MARRIAGE between the two of them. nope, the simplest thing, ferdinand bringing him a gift and the implication of a crush, is enough to get him blushing.

after this, they laugh together! not hubert’s evil critical hit laugh, nor his torment-bernadetta laugh, nor his sarcastic little chuckle. a genuine, soft laugh- at the end, he lets out a little cough, as if he didn’t mean to laugh so genuinely at that moment. to end off the support, they decide to have a tea and coffee break, and make each other’s drinks.

whoo, that was a lot.

the implications in this are so damn HEAVY, even if there’s nothing actually concrete happening. the fact that this unnecessary A+ support exists, purchasing gifts for each other unbidden, blushing and smiling and generally acting awkward, the mention of a (gender-neutral) crush and the lack of denial, the implication that ferdinand has a crush on hubert- overall, it’s just undeniably gay.

tl;dr: the ferdibert A+ support is just. so damn gay. there’s no heterosexual explanation for this.

[kendrixtermina]

Would you think that Rhea was a tyrant, or did Edelgard try to undermine the good things she's done and paint her only in a bad light?

What we see happening first-hand on-screen never left me any doubt that Rhea is a tyrant, and it’s obvious no matter what route you play, long before Edelgard even features into it. Just as importantly, she is glaringly incompetent.

It’s not just Edelgard saying it either, if anything Claude levels even worse accusations at Rhea. Heck even if you S support her she admits that, though you redeemed her, she definitely used to be a villain, she says word for word that she fabricated fake histories, abused her authority for selfish gain,  was at one point gleefully hoping for the MC to suffer death of personality, and that the war was at least partially her fault. If you’re a bad ruler, people are going to revolt, and you’re responsible for that. It’s not like they could vote her out. Heck, they couldn’t even dispose of her the Feudalist way (getting enough lords to back a different ruler) since she derived her authority directly from the local deity. And any religious leaders who disagree on theological grounds get purged as heretics.

We see her kill dissenters without even asking questions or investigating (which is likely why she never caught the Agarthans), “purge” a whole branch of her organization, coverup unsavory facts regarding the relics and the nobility ( after the Miklan business), make young members of the ruling class take out these dissenters specifically to teach them not to question her (It’s almost like having to join “the party” to get higher education really) and she wants Sothis to come back and literally “rule this wayward land once more”, flat out telling Byleth (who she thought was Sothis at the time) how she has been doing the ruling in her place, ie she outright says in her own words that she’s the real ruler of Fodlan. The borders are literally arranged so that her stronghold is in the middle through the stronghold existed first.

And as for the additional information that Edelgard puts on the table she’s basically saying that she knows cause her own folks were complicit until a few generations ago, that her family was a bunch of traitors, that their claim to royalty was based on selling out humanity… not exactly the most self-serving thing to go around claiming. What also makes her credible here, at least in my eyes, is that she doesn’t really have interest in ruling. She never wanted to be the heir and never would have been if her older siblings weren’t murdered and says constantly how much rather she would be living an ordinary life, and how she’s going to abdicate and run off as soon as the work is done. She never asked for power, but power fell into her lap and with it, a lot of responsibility - she’s one of the very few people who are in any position to maybe stop this effect up system.

She’s certainly not above spins, secrecy and information control, and that might’ve worked against her in terms of making her manifestos look like a “he said she said” situation to the public, but this - this is her motivation. This is why she’s doing all the other stuff.

But even if you disregarded everything Edelgard says as not credible/likealy biased and looked just at what we see on screen in part 1 with no middlemen involved, and what Claude says, you could build a solid case for how she’s a tyrant. look at, say, Caspar’s and Bernie’s horrified reactions after the western church debacle, Dorothea wondering how exactly making them fight is part of the church’s teaching, anything involving Ashe and Catherine… even Sothis calls her out for the indoctrination and the sheer incompetence. (which is kinda sad cause she’d probably have been less harsh if she had known that that’s her daughter)

Edelgard is by far not the only person who objects to Rhea, you have two separate rebellions against her in one year, they’re regular enough that putting them down is practically part of the curriculum.

Everyone worships her because she’s a high-ranking religious functionary but I don’t see how she really does that much good.  She takes in a bunch of poor people but that is not hard for her to do, costs her nothing and wins her adoration. It’s not like she’s personally caring for the orphans.

And given her role in maintaining the status quo, any “good things” she does come off like a billionaire donating to charity after they have supported politicians that are against wage increases and worker rights …maybe they care only about the tax breaks and don’t have anything against the poor or minorities, but they’re still perpetuating that system.

It may not have been her primary intention, but Rhea is the reason that these people are poor and discriminated in the first place. She’s not doing people kind favors, she’s badly and insufficiently mitigating the damage caused by her own actions, and you get no badge for that.

Out of the younger characters, Cyril, Mercedes, Raphael, Leonie, Ashe and Dorothea were all dirt poor at some point (that’s all the commoners bar Byleth, Ignatz and Dedue, and the latter’s idyllic village life childhood took place before Duscur was under Fodlanese rule) and only Mercedes and Cyril received any charity… and Cyril basically got a marginally less sucky job that he’s only grateful for because of how much his previous life sucked. (directly because of Rhea’s isolationism policies!)

Catherine, at least, was blatantly used. She turned to a trusted authority figure in a moment of doubt when she genuinely didn’t know what to do, was roped into doing dirty work, and her extreme loyalty is a result of her guilt; She can’t question Rhea because that might mean confronting the possibility that she killed her best friend for nothing.

Notably the one who seems to have been well-taking care of (Mercedes) lived at a small local church, not something controlled by the central organization.

Edelgard is basically a product of the effed up world Rhea created, the summation of all her errors comming back to haunt her. If you see her as part of the problem and not the solution, then she’s a problem of Rhea’s own making.

No one IRL is 100% a cartoonish villain all the time, even dictators and terrorists have, say, favorite colors and movies. But there’s a critical mass or percentage after which the word ‘evil’ is appropriate to use, and Rhea’s crossed it long before Edelgard was even born - and you could make a solid case for that even if you accepted the premise that every word out of Edelgard’s mouth is lies.

[agoddamn]

Hi! I really like your views and since you mentioned you feel the game feels unfinished to you, I'm honestly curious about how would you "finish" it, change things to make it make sense, or be just generally well rounded. Church Route is my favourite, but yeah, it has a lot of hanging threads...

I think it's not just a matter of adding more events so much as a consequence of the game's disjointed structure.

So...here's how the game goes:

Harry Potter mystery featuring Blue Lions and Sothis, with the overshadowing villains being Slytherins and the Flame Emperor. There are two big twists: that Edelgard is the Flame Emperor and that Rhea is a dragon.

Every path, all of those bolded terms are critically important.

And then route split comes:

Azure Moon: Dmitri's Feelings: The Book: The Movie, a mostly character-focused route that resolves Edelgard's character. The Slytherins, Rhea, and Sothis make no appearance. In spite of that, I usually call this the most complete-feeling route because it's less ambitious and has a tighter scope. Part 1 and 2 have the same supporting cast. The lack of proper ending works in this path because the route genuinely is about Dmitri's feelings and he reaches his closure in that final cutscene. The kingdom is just gravy. Less ambitious than Solving Racism, but because it's smaller it accomplishes more.

Crimson Flower: Edelgard's Imperialism Adventures. Rhea, someone who did not torture Edelgard, is presented as the final boss killed. I have written at length about my issues with it, but extremely short version: Slytherins not addressed, Sothis never addressed, emotional weirdness, final cutscene is a meaningless mess because it's never established that Sothis's Crest Stone is actually harming Byleth.

Verdant Wind: Scooby Doo versus Historical Revisionism. Edelgard is defeated and the Slytherins are the final boss. The Slytherins are unrelated to Claude's personal motivation. The questioning nature of this route means the mood flows better from White Clouds, and "outside party watching two maniacs tear each other apart" is a pretty common starting point. The problem here is that its lord is irrelevant to everything happening; Claude is the only lord not scarred by the Slytherins and Edelgard is just another crazy white lady to him, where Dmitri shares history with her.

Silver Snow: "What if we just skipped having a main character?" However, Edelgard is defeated, the Slytherins are dealt with, and someone with an emotional investment in the conflict with the Slytherins actually shows up (if quite late). Sothis/Byleth is finally explained. So it's doing great on dealing with plot points that were raised in the narrative leading up to it...the real problem is that it's got no heart. The "lord" position is awkwardly shared between Byleth and Seteth and assigned to Rhea in casual conversation even though she's Lady Not-Appearing-In-This-Chapter until the very end. The lack of emotional investment for the majority of it makes the chapters before Rhea feel like pointless filler. On top of that, the final boss is a baffling asspull.

No path properly flows off of the first 12 chapters. I can't find this excusable. It is awful, awful writing to look at your player halfway through the game and go "actually half of that school shit isn't gonna matter here, so just forget about that dragon stuff". It's a waste of your fucking time!

And these aren't things like "you'll find out more about Mastema if you ally with him"; the story functions just fine without you going in-depth with his machinations. Shit like the murder of the main character's father, which is allegedly supposed to be an extremely emotional moment? That doesn't really stand on its own if you just go "yeah we're not dealing with the guys who did that on this path, just forget about it".

tl;dr no route in 3H flows off of the entire first half of the game, except for the one that features no protagonist and loads of filler. It feels more like each War Phase is its own miniature shallow game. You can't solve this without completely restructuring the game.

I guess the easiest solution would be to promote Seteth to Actual Character Who Matters to give you real emotional investment, and maybe actually laying groundwork for the final boss being violent therapy with Rhea instead of dragon out of fucking nowhere. Then you also get the conflict of Seteth having to turn his blade on his sister, which I'd say is pretty decent main character/final boss fodder.

[emblemxeno]

(3H SPOILERS) Analysis of Main Characters in FE and the Western FE Community’s Perception of Them

In the midst of all the Three Houses hype, there’s a lot of contention with Edelgard as a character as well as her route in general with how it plays out.

With this, it’s given me some perspective on how the community feels about main characters and whether or not they are liked and/or well written. Since I am a Westerner myself, please always assume this is in the context of the western FE audience, as I don’t know enough about the JP audience to do comparisons or whatnot.

Now with this, there’s more or less a pattern with some main characters in how they’re received by western fans. (Sigurd, Seliph, Leif, Roy and Kris won’t be covered in this since I haven’t read enough of their games’ scripts to get a grasp on them)

The most contentious main characters by far are Eirika, Micaiah, Corrin and Celica (when I say contentious I don’t mean unpopular as they have many fans; however, though popular, they also have the most detractors). 

These characters all have very defined flaws that get them in trouble in their games, are peace seeking in general and look for peaceful ways unless there is no other choice, and all do questionable things in their stories that call for doubt, discussion, and criticism. Most of their development comes from making mistakes and learning from them. They are also all known for getting into situations where they either need rescue or because of something they fucked up.

The least contentious main characters (compared to the four above, I might add) are Hector, Ephraim, Ike, and Alm. 

They may or may not have noticeable flaws, but they hardly ever cause trouble for them. They may or may not seek peace at some opportunities, but are always willing, with no hesitation, to fight. They are all blunt and speak their mind, and though sometimes that poses situations where they could get into trouble, but they never really do. Most of their development comes from growth after bad things happening to them rather than something that they messed up.

In this, realize that main characters are the ones that people identify with the most, therefore, there’s a reason for certain characters to be less contentious than others. In particular, the reason for FE main characters?

It’s probably a little bitchy to say it like this, but it’s kind of power fantasy esque. 

Hector, Ephraim, Ike, and Alm all have great authority/renown within their groups or territories and are always seemingly in control of the situation. They are hardly questioned, and when they are they are almost always proven right. In short, the players like these characters because they are validated as strong, intelligent, and almost always in control of the moment. Since these are the characters players identify with, the players themselves feel validated.

In contrast, compare to them Eirika, Micaiah, Corrin and Celica. They hold little authority (compared to the other four), are questioned and not always proven right, doubted at some points, they question and doubt themselves, they’re not as notably strong in various fields like the other four so they don’t get validated as the other four. Being main characters, these are also characters that players are to identify with, but since they have unattractive/undesirable qualities to them, (and because FE players always believe they themselves have the perfect solutions to everything) they are instead cast aside as being badly written, stupid, incompetent, and the oh so misused moniker, Mary Sue. 

(Well, Celica doesn’t really get called that, but that’s because she wasn’t known by the audience that uses it frequently, and Echoes came out at a period when people stopped using it wrongly)

Again, I don’t wanna sound condescending, but power fantasy is really what I get from this.

Now there is sort of a problem with this theory, and that’s Ephraim, because he’s contentious in his own right because of the shit he pulls in FE8, but he gets less flack than his sister, Corrin, and Micaiah, so...

Anyway, besides the characters I intentionally left out because I didn’t know enough about them, there remains Marth, Lyn, Eliwood, Chrom, Robin, and the 3H Lords.

What’s notable about Mar-Mar is that his Shadow Dragon interpretation is very well received over here in the west. Marth in Shadow Dragon is written as being more blunt, and not really questioning himself, his actions, or anything that happens around him. Notice how this is very much unique to SD, as the original Dark Dragon script as well as Mystery and New Mystery portray softer, more idealistic Mar-Mars. Heroes also takes after those portrayals. Yet the audience here likes the SD portrayal the best; the one most similar to Hector, Ephraim, Ike, and Alm.

Lyn is in an interesting situation; she’s very much in control and she’s not as unimportant in the story as some say, but it’s still very much Eliwood’s story. Which makes it all the more weird that Hector shines over poor Eli. Had Lyn not been many players first Waifu FE lord, Hector would no doubt be the most popular one. Compared to Hec, Eli is peaceseeking and idealistic, though not to the point of the more contentious lords, so he gets passed on compared to his friends, but not to the point where people think he’s badly written.

Chrom and Robin are in an interesting situation as well, as the story is Chrom’s and then gradually become’s Robin’s story as it nears the end. (Some say they stole it from Chrom, but I would say it’s like the spotlight slowly drifted from him to them) 

Chrom doesn’t have a notable flaw that gets him into danger, and is in control/has authority throughout a good deal of the campaign, but also very emotional and starts looking for peaceful solutions more often than say Hector, Ephraim, Ike, and Alm. Chrom tries to reason with Walhart, even, and those other four would never. So he’s kind of at an in between. Robin... is kind of hard to discern. They are supposed to be the character the player identifies with more since they are the avatar. We do see that they are in control as well and never makes to many mistakes. But they’re also batshit crazy for setting fleets on fire and fighting in a volcano. Having the player suspend their disbelief like that isn’t the best thing for identifying with a character, but it seems people like them enough for other reasons so indirect validation isn’t as prominent a thing with them.

Then come the 3H lords, and oh my, they do not fit into any sort of mold whatsoever; not perfectly anyway.

Byleth being a complete blank slate means they are truly in the middle on things; despite being the least customizable in appearance, they are the most avatar like of the FE avatars. The player can feel true, direct validation from the 3H cast as you get to pick which dialogue choices you want, and do other things at your own pace. (Unless you care about support points) As a character they’re not anything too special, but since they are a true avatar, they’re not seen as bad as say, Corrin, because the player can literally be who they want through Byleth and be validated by the story at the same time.

Edelgard, (the most discussed of the lords) is also unique. Never has a main character been so extreme in how they accomplish things. From what I’ve gathered from FE4, she’s Arvis like. And yet, she’s a protagonist in one possible outcome. She has the attractive qualities of protagonists like Hector and Ike, (being in control/having authority, speaking her mind) yet she’s contentious because unlike them her morality is very grey. The very definition of the ends justify the means. There’s a reason her title in Heroes is ‘The Future’. Because her goal and ambition is for the future, with no limit on what she’ll do to get there.

Dimitri is unique because he starts off as model prince, honor loving, sweet boy with bad hair. Then you gradually notice strange things about him, then Remire happens, then you learn he’s at the academy for revenge, then he goes feral at the Holy Tomb, and descends even further for 5 years, until he’s a revenge obsessed beast. He then begins his ascent back to being a proper king for his people (he’s more deserving of the title Restoration King than Ephraim, but that’s just me). There’s never been a main character in FE that falls so low and then climbs back up like that.

Claude himself is unique as well. Besides being the most well adjusted of the three lords, he’s actually pretty idealistic compared to them. He has big dreams and ambitions for Fodlan, and his main concerns are with the world at large, and his story doesn’t end with the major war among the 3 factions. He’s intelligent enough to not be blinded by emotion like Dimitri but also keen enough enough to realize that pure brute force isn’t the only option unlike with Edelgard. He’s very much a middle ground, but a middle ground that’s like a bell curve instead of a straight line, since Edie and Dima both fall hard and do messed up things, but are still not completely terrible people, whereas Claude is nowhere as extreme as they are and feels like a true balance.

If nothing else, 3 Houses achieves something very different with all of its main characters for once.

Anway, that’s kind of all I have. Sorry for the long post, but Fire Emblem is my #1 game series for a reason, so I get big into these passion analyses sometimes.

[aristccrvcy]

( gavin leatherwood, trans male, he/him, fire emblem: three houses ) * &. i know it must be scary for you, ferdinand von aegir, after surviving the takeover. to turn into someone like aeric-ferdinand “ferdie” vittori, a twenty-four year-old actor at castle town centre of theatre & dance, right here in castle town. just remember that you are as sincere as you are opinionated, and to be wary, be safe, be true to who you are : neutral through and through. ( hylia )

         i could never drop him i just. i could Not. i rly couldn’t but i DID ..... want to revamp him a bit so here’s take two on ferdie !! politics, war, death, & divorce tw under the cut !!

BEFORE THE SNAP.  /  F E R D I N A N D  V O N  A E G I R 

So alright. Chances are , if you’ve heard of Ferdinand , it’s because you’ve heard the infamous ‘ I am Ferdinand von Aegir ! ’ quote goin’ around which . . . attributes from. Him introducing himself every time you select him on the battlefield in FE3H. Don’t believe me ?? WATCH. 

...u don’t need to watch that whole thing I’m just tryna get the meme out of the way before I talk abt everything else.

BC ALL JOKES ASIDE I HONESTLY LOVE FERDINAND SOOO MUCH n I promise I’ll take him seriously bc holy fucking shit this character is my babyyyy.

So for STARTERS. Ferdinand is the legitimate son of House Aegir in the Adrestian Empire , which is the house that produces the Empire’s Prime Ministers. Now , here’s the thing ; Ferdinand himself isn’t involved in any of this , but thanks to the Adrestian nobles pretty much stripping the Emperor of their power in the past . . . the Aegir house ( much like the other houses , but Duke Aegir’s implied to have like , spearheaded it ) is pretty damn corrupt.

NOT FERDINAND , THOUGH , considering Ferdinand is actually someone who has very opposing views to his father. Ferdinand , in a nutshell , is basically the snobby noble trope you’re expecting turned upside down crossed over with a Disney prince. That’s the best way i can describe him.

Ferdinand is very aware of his noble status , but he is very steadfast in his opinion of what is truly means to be a noble. He’s well-aware of the difference between nobles & commoners , but where you’d expect him to use that to degrade people of lesser status , he . . . doesn’t. 

Ferdinand strongly believes the duties of a noble constitute of protecting & helping the common people , and that is why they’re so high in status - they’re there to assist and make things better , and not to make things worse , and it absolutely sickens him to his core when there are corrupt nobles who very clearly use their power for selfish & malicious gain. 

Like , he’s confident - he’s very confident and sure of himself , but he isn’t a dick ( in that sense ; he can be kind of a dick , don’t get me wrong ) about it. He’s actually extremely polite & respectful , very kind & genuine - like I really don’t think lying is something that this boy is capable of doing , I really don’t. But he’s humble in the sense that he isn’t afraid to admit when he did something wrong , or that he needs to apologize - IN FACT , a lot of his supports have him apologize for approaching someone wrongly or when he’s accused of something.

One example , he has a support with Dorothea where she tells him that she hates him , and instead of fighting her on it , what he does is he tries to figure out why she hates him so he can better himself and fix something he did wrong. 

Another example , his B-support with Bernadetta has him apologize for spooking her , and he respects her comfort levels by speaking to her on the other side of the door to her room because now he understands that Bernadetta feels extremely scared & uncomfortable during confrontation.

LIKE . . . okay , in the simplest of words , Ferdinand is just good. He’s a good person and he tries his hardest to be better if someone brings it to his attention that he’s doing something wrong.

BUT ALSO . . . the thing is , Ferdinand is also extremely opinionated to the point where he’ll share his thoughts even if not asked ; and sometimes , it comes out. Dickish. Like , really , he’ll criticize anyone if he believes he should because he hates the idea of someone who doesn’t - exemplified in the beginning of his supports with Hubert , where he condemns Hubert for not openly criticizing Edelgard but Ferdinand’s criticism can come out . . . harsh. Like , he’s respectful still , but he’s harsh. And that is because Ferdinand firmly believes in speaking his mind.

His determination also makes him stubborn & extremely competitive to a point where it becomes damn near annoying and this is , because again , he always strives to better himself - even going as far as to declare Edelgard his rival when she . . . really doesn’t think of him as one , and then he gets his ass kicked and runs with his tail between his legs because he lost. He’s. He’s competitive. I will not lie to you. Like he’s great but aLSO... this guy doesn’t. Know. When to let go.

Bt yeah in a nutshell - Ferdinand is a rich guy who criticizes other rich guys for being jerks and not caring abt other people , and he can come off as a dick but ultimately he means well & he is a LOT better than some of these other assholes out there. Ferdinand’s.... he’s just GOOD. 

Bt now that I have the basis of his character out of the way , I want to mention that a major change about him is that I’m changing what route I’m pulling him from - originally , I pulled him from Azure Moon , where if you don’t recruit him you have to kill him at the Great Bridge of Myrddin. So instead , now , I’ll be pulling him from Crimson Flower , where he’s still sided with Edelgard but now she has Byleth & she’s triumphant and everything’s okay on the Empire’s end. But - in other routes - while he’s still with Edelgard , he unfortunately doesn’t make it so if u have AM or VW muses . . . Ferdie didn’t make it.

BUT THAT’S WHAT MAKES THESE THINGS INTERESTINGGGGG and I love it so for that reason ,,, shoves. Ferdinand. In everyone’s direction.

AFTER THE SNAP.  /  A E R I C - F E R D I N A N D  “ F E R D I E ”  V I T T O R I

So the more major changes from his pre-revamp portrayal lie in his CT life - his name’s changed , his occupation’s changed , and almost his entire whole past has changed.

Aeric-Ferdinand Vittori was the only child of a film actor & stage actress , pretty famous people , and he was born with the spotlight on him immediately given that he scored his first role as a child at six years old. Since then , he never really had much of an easy time.

His big break was as a teenager in a teen drama that lasted from when he was fourteen to when he was nineteen , the co-star of a vampire television drama in where his character was a fan-favorite. He ultimately left the show and his character was killed off , and he had some starring roles in other movies & the like before he ultimately moved to Broadway. And in that , he had a bit of an easier time , but he would still often feel like he was about to crack under pressure since all eyes were still on him. He was known as a talented young man with a beautiful singing voice , and unfortunately , everyone wants something to do with you when you have something like that.

His parents were also always in the spotlight because of their very public divorce , and it started to bleed into Ferdinand’s career & public image as well with many people poking their nose into his life and asking his opinion on it. Multiple scandals came out claiming that he leaned one way or the other during it and ultimately , that ruined his relationship with his parents. So at twenty-three , he left the Broadway spotlight , and decided to step out of any light in general for a while.

Settling down in Castle Town , a place where nobody bothered to look , was a good start.

He still loved performing , so he worked as an actor at the local theatre on stage - trying his hardest not to get the big roles and take those up , because he was still a relatively big name & when you’re a big name , people lean into their biases.

And then . . . at this point was where he “woke up”. Because his whole past was fake - but there’s always a point where you realize it is.

He had a girlfriend in Castle Town beforehand that he broke up with due to his paranoia that she’d get caught up in the publicity that he did - Nerissa. And he had parents that he didn’t even talk to anymore , and it threw him for a loop because he was reminded of his father back in Adrestia. And suddenly , he’s no longer a soldier or a noble , but with his celebrity status , he’s basically the closest there is to modern nobility at this point.

So . . . Ferdinand feels. Strange. He always loved the opera & he always loved performances but he never thought of himself as someone who would actually do so. It’s strange , but he likes it.

So now , he’s trying to figure out exactly what the hell happened and how he got here and he’s grown pretty used to people not remembering who he is , but it still . . . hurts.

And THAT is where I end this !! I’m gonna go back 2 my plotting DMs and message more ppl but if this gives u some ideas pls do hit me up bc I love Ferdie SOOOO MUCH and I’m excited for his revamp !!

Also if ur curious ab his old intro still I’ll link it here bc there’s probably some pre-snap stuff I forgot in here that’s in there so !! yes. i’ll b around n will probs try n get an open up soon !!

[butwhatifidothis]

I also think that part of the reason why the church gets so much hate is because of how much general distrust there is in organized religion in real life. Like I went into Three Houses trying to keep an open mind and during White Clouds I really couldn't see what was so heinously wrong with the church even during the Lonato thing that made the institution so much worse than what Edelgard was inciting. I could be totally wrong but I was under the impression that Rhea didn't squash the insurrection because they were a part of the Western Church but because they were actively rebelling and, on top of that, Lonato was bringing civilians into the conflict. That, along with the fact that Rhea knows for an absolute fact that the goddess existed and that she herself is old as dirt (trauma included) makes her decisions make a lot of sense.

I'm playing through AM with my friend who's never played before and they IMMEDIATELY said they distrusted the church because Jeralt doesn't like Rhea (for understandable reasons but my friend also ignored his very sus behavior of not explaining literally anything to Byleth) and because organized religions must be inherently bad.

It’s something that’s heavily related to a player’s inability to separate the reality of their specific circumstances with those of the fiction they’re consuming. They implant their experiences onto things that are only somewhat related and then extrapolate “facts” about the fiction that are, many times, actively shut down and/or disproven by that fictions lore or story or plot.

And, like, it’s normal to relate fictional things to your personal stories if you see connections to them. I’d wager a good amount of people find some aspect of a character they like/love that sticks out to them specifically because of a similarity they share of some kind, whether big or small. I know of people who’s fave superhero is The Flash because The Flash is fast and they ran track and hey, that’s cool, a superhero who’s ability is running really fuckin’ fast and I wanna be really fuckin’ fast. To use myself as an example, I can relate to the struggles Claude specifically has with race because many of the things he says correlate very well to my personal experiences with race. So, going by that line of logic, the opposite is clearly going to happen as well; there are many villains, or characters of either or neither allegiance towards good and evil, who have traits that personally affect someone in a negative way.

But here’s the thing about that... Claude and I have similar experiences with race. He’s still a prince, and I’m still someone who’s never seen above the poverty line in terms of income. He’s never had to live off a box of Whoppers he happened to find under his bed for three days to hold off until the food stamps come in because there’s just no food and no money to get any food. And on the flip side, I’ve never had people try to kill me just cuz I’m mixed. I’ve never felt the pressure of having to lead thousands of people to safety or have them die, directly due to my inability to lead them well enough. We still have extremely different lives and I can acknowledge those differences when looking into his character, regardless of whatever connection I may have with him otherwise, and that’s where these people fail in terms of critically consuming 3H as a piece of media.

These people - understandably, to an extent - look at Rhea, this devout religious woman who heads a major religious institution, and they automatically connect the language she uses as a devout religious person to the negative experiences they personally had with religion... without acknowledging the differences between the two. They see Rhea and they don’t see a bisexual who surrounds herself with and gives shelter to former criminals, foreigners, and people in need of a home while asking for little in return - they see their local pastor, or some other religious leader/person, who’ve done them wrong, and thus Rhea hates gay people, she hates POC, she’s a zealot and unreasonable and she’s this terrible person with no redeeming qualities. And this isn’t me arm-chair psychology-ing these people - they poke fun at themselves about how much they let their personal experiences cloud their judgement of the game and its characters with bingo cards for liking Edelgard having “raised with religion” be one of the slots and things like that. 

And really, why else would “religious institution led by white-presenting race of people” be automatically turned into “racist, homophobic, misogynistic, and violent to any who aren’t their religion” when 1) one of the main characters - the one calling Rhea racist - himself eventually says that racial diversity fits well and snug in the Seiros faith, 2) not only is the leader and founder of the religion a bisexual woman, but no one says anything about having their love be confined to one specific gender anywhere, with heavily coded LGBT relationships like Shamir+Catherine and Dorothea+Petra being just as LGBT coded in SS - where Rhea can potentially come back as archbishop - as anywhere else - hell, when one of the most devout followers of Rhea clearly is romantically interested in her and faces no repercussions or consequences for openly being so despite being female herself, and 3) the Church only ever uses violence when either called from the outside for help or forced to when outside forces try to attack them? Why are we hearing all of these awful things about the Church when it sometimes is never even implied? 

It’s in large part due to religion being such a sensitive part of people’s lives that they are unable to disconnect their personal experiences with religion with the fictional religion the media they’re interacting with provides them. Rhea, as a devout religious leader, especially with how genuinely morally gray she is, was never going to land well over here in the west, double especially to an audience of people that very clearly are already inclined to ignore pieces of the game’s story, lore, plot, and character interactions to fit their own preferred version of what’s happening. Triple fuckin’ wombo-combo especially since the game itself fails to do Rhea any favors until the literal last second of two out of four routes and only shove in her directly admitting she was wrong in her actions in the hardest support chain to build up in the entire game, and even then only at the last part of it. Poor girly didn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell

[namyks]

Alright, here we are at the final route, cause god knows I’m not doing another BE run anytime soon. Like before story stuff then character/unit thoughts. SPOILERS under the cut and a bit of negativity.

Why did I even fight Claude? Like, I assume Edel just didn’t trust him to not try and ambush her while she was focusing on the kingdom, but it seems she didn’t even attempt to negotiate with the Alliance. And that’s kinda my biggest issue with this route, so much of it seems like it could be solved if Edel just attempted to talk to people. With Claude she could just say, “Hey man, just gonna overthrow the church don’t get in my way kthx”, and that’d probably be that. For Dimitri she could’ve just said she had been looking into the Duscar Tragedy and found some stuff out, and if he doesn’t go off the rails then boom DImitri’s probably down for whatever. Also I hate the name Black Eagle Strike Force. It could have been Black Eagle Strike Team and we’d have a cool acronym but nope now we’re BESF and not BEST.

I’ll save Edelgard for last because it’ll probably be the longest. As a group I feel the Black Eagles had the least amount of chemistry in story cutscenes. Had some good supports, but these characters definitely felt the tropiest in the game to me.

Hubert: He kinda fell off once I got Lys back, but early to mid-game he was a beast. He’s probably my least favorite of the “retainers + Hilda” but that’s less to do with me disliking him and more to do with me loving the other two so much.

Ferdinand: Made him a Warrior, and it was fine, started to fall off late cause lol no mount, but I had fun with him. I like him more than Sylvaine, but less than Lorenz as he seems to be a less extreme version of Lorenz in general but eh, again he was fun.

Dorothea: She’s a good dancer, but she just didn’t get good levels unfortunately. She had pretty good supports, although some felt not too great, like Ferdinands. I might be alone in saying this, but I much preferred her pre-timeskip design, the hat is just too good.

Caspar: I don’t know how people get a bad Caspar, just put him in Brigand > Wyvern lord and laugh as he slaughters everything. I enjoyed him more than I thought I would although a lot of his supports with girls just felt, eh. Petra not withstanding of course. Got him with Linhardt, and fellas is it gay to live the rest of your life in adventure with your bro, eventually settling down and fading from history.

Linhardt: I really don’t get how Lin’s a faith mage. Like, I get that he’s a pseudo pacifist but I don’t think he ever mentions the goddess or faith ever which is weird. But I guess that makes sense, cause his faith spell list is garbage, and I’m pretty sure Lys gets all of his faith spells to boot. As a character, he really surprised me. Most of the supports I saw made him probably my favorite of the Black Eagle kids, so that’s neat.

Petra: Petra’s a beast, put her down Wyvern Rider and would you look at that you have an Ingrid dodge tank who’s actually useful before she gets alert stance+. As a character she was just kinda okay I found, nothing particularly bad, but also nothing that really jumped out at me as being particularly great either.

.Bernadetta: Brigand helps her strength issues out a lot, but like Ashe and Ignatz she just doesn’t have the same usefulness as Leonie unfortunately. Character wise, a lot of her C-supports felt pretty samey, but afterwards she gets better. I don’t like that her issues are presented as comical, especially when Mariannes aren’t, but she was still fun by the end of it.

And finally Edelgard: I’m gonna be real with you, I really don’t like her characterization in her own route. The fact that they tried to moe-ify her, rather than just doubling down on her characterization pre-timeskip probably upset me more than it should have, That she never even attempts diplomacy puts me off a lot, and the fact that I’m not allowed to criticize anything she does really upset me. Her fanatic hatred of Dragons also seems weird to me, though that’s probably the FE fan in me talking so, eh. As a unit, she felt like the worst of the lords. Being a footlocked armor unit, with what felt like worse defenses than Dimitri really hurts her a lot. She’s still stronk as fuck, but she’s definitely not as strong as the other two.