#make a wish ( arianrhod. )

[midnightfiireworks]

tag drop oops.

[fireemblems24]

Azure Gleam Ch 9

More Azure Gleam to come. So far it's doing everything I wished AM did or had time for.

STORY

Oh, the title includes "Reunion." I'm guessing Dimitri and Edelgard talk again?

Curious how they'll handle this. Because if Dimitri does talk to her and it becomes clear he's after TWSITD, what does Edelgard do? Keep insisting on war or give up and team up with Dimitri against TWSITD? It's OOC for her to give up and let Rhea and the Kingdom live their lives, but prioritizing killing Dimitri and Rhea above even taking TWSITD down would be, eh, questionable on her end to put it lightly. Really curious to see how the writers deal with this.

The Empire is stalemating at Arianrhod. Shez is worried about supplies, but Dedue thinks they need to prepare more first.

Oh, look at that, Dimitri being smart. He plans on cutting off Edelgard's supply line. Since she only uses one, that's brilliant.

Shez thinks if Dimitri pulls this off, he wins the war.

So I'm betting the big enemy will switch from Edelgard to TWSITD. It would be cool for Edelgard to team up with Dimitri against TWSITD, but I doubt that'll happen. She'll probably die or go and join up with TWSITD or escape but the big focus will still be TWSITD and Edelgard a footnote on the way there, hence powering up the Empire after Dimitri would've otherwise taken them out.

Feels like this is going to end part 1, like how GW just ended.

Oh, Claude!? First time we've seen him in a while in AG. Oh, shit, is Claude going to bail out Edelgard for no real reason except writers said so? Because it would make no sense to help the Imperialists if he wants the Alliance to remain standing.

He's wondering what the Alliance will do, what's best for them and trying to predict who's going to win.

Oh, wow, I really expected AG to get the 1 battle deal this time, but nope. Good.

MAP/SIDE BATTLES

Lamo, Shez thinks one hundred Dimitris would wipe the floor with the Empire.

I got to compliment Dedue. Life complete.

Yuri sold Edelgard a tip about a secret passage. He saying some skeevy stuff about that count. I'm betting we'll recruit him this time. He doesn't seem to like Count Rowe's general dude lol.

Dimitri saying he's not good around children in the expedition dialogue is funny, since it's fairly cannon that they like him.

INGRID & RODRIGUE B SUPPORT

Aww, Ingrid got to return to Fraldarius territory and went down memory lane. Again, another support that reinforces how tied all the Faerghus team are together.

It struggles with having enough food too. I think it's the influx of refugees causing the shortages.

Cool details. There's new shops and good roads.

She finally faced it and wants to keep visiting it. Of course, Rodrigue says she should.

Haha, Ingrid ordered Glenn around. Not surprised.

And Rodrigue says it's ok to show weakness and not just worry about pushing forward. He's such a team dad. And very much in line with the themes in the Blue Lions.

ASHE & DEDUE B SUPPORT

Dedue made his own tea blend!!! Ok, Seteth officially has competition for #1 husbando in Fodlan now.

OFC he made it for Dimitri, lamo.

You would forever be second place to Dimitri with Dedue lol.

The tea reminds Ashe of some Lonato made.

And OFC it's a tea to calm nerves. He made it for Dimitri after all.

ASHE & DIMITRI B SUPPORT

Dimitri is checking on Ashe, esp with his role as a knight. Everyone's been nice to him, which is good, but Ashe is still unsure of himself.

Dimitri pretty much knighted everyone who's now his knights.

Ashe has a more romantic view of knighthood. Someone who's loyal to the king and protects their leader and their people.

Then Dimitri's like, naw, they're here to kill people. Loyalty is only there to control them.

Very in-character for both of them.

Dimitri's like go ahead and follow that code, but don't die for it. Now he's talking about Glenn. And how he wants Ashe to choose life over loyalty.

So THAT'S why Ashe defects. He's so miserable about it.

FUCKING FINALLY. All the points to Ashe. Glenn didn't die because Faerghus is toxic. He died because he wanted to protect his best friend. He argues that there's nothing wrong with that.

Ashe respects Dimitri so much. He's so wholesome.

DEDUE & PETRA B SUPPORT

More language learning lessons. She wants to learn the language to help Brigid diplomatically. It's too bad she can't get a teacher in-house.

Dedue is sorta doing the same for Duscur, though not royalty so not as much power.

Dimitri wants to make Duscur independent again. I'm so glad AG is paying more attention to Duscur.

Petra also realizes that Dedue is more than just Dimitri's bodyguard.

Giving these two a support was a brilliant idea.

DIMITRI & SYLVAIN B SUPPORT

Aww, Dimitri didn't want House Gautier's opinion, but Sylvain's. Their relationship is underrated.

Lamo, Dimitri is speaking with others about bringing commoners into the nobility. This game does a shit job justifying Edelgard's war if everyone is on their way to doing what she's killing them for not doing.

The main concern is lack of crests. And funny that it's Sylvain defending them and Dimitri saying it doesn't matter. The more you learn about Sylvain, the less sense he makes defecting to the Empire.

Lamo, the Kingdom is already discussing the possibility of getting rid of inheritance.

Sylvain only shows the political side of himself to Felix and Dimitri.

I love this support. Dimitri is just showing Sylvain with compliments and expressing how much he relies on Sylvain (which is very healthy for him to admit). Then Sylvain is admiring Dimitri back.

DIMITRI & FELIX B SUPPORT

My first Dimilix support in Hopes. It better be good.

Ah, starts with Felix calling Dimitri an idiot, these two are just so . . . I love them. One of the most complex relationships in all of Fire Emblem. And I live for it.

"Idiot, let me worry for you!!!" Is the most Dimilix(Felix) thing ever.

Felix has a mother, everyone. I think she got mentioned before, but power to her for actually existing!!!

Then Felix gets mad at Dimitri for worrying about him and not his own issues, It's the most Felix ever. And then Dimitri's like, oh, that's not possible.

Oh, no, now Dimitri is going off about revenge. And Felix isn't thrilled about it.

Oh, shit is getting real. Dimitri thinks Felix might hate him because he could do nothing when Glenn died and feels so guilty over it.

Felix "I don't hate you, ok." Haha, I love these two idiots.

Dimitri has such horrible survivor's guilt. He feels so guilty for surviving and that Glenn died protecting him. It makes me wonder what kind of hell his head went through when he thought Dedue died in Houses (or actually does die, including CF). That has to be like worst nightmare shit.

Felix is like, ugh, just eat!!

MAIN BATTLE

Shamir and Catherine! Together, as it should be.

Miklan is here too. Still not sure how to feel about this. Ohh, he's the one who cut ties?

He's starting to come around to liking working for the army though. Shamir called him out for having a bad attitude too lol.

Annette is so much shorter than the rest of the Blue Lions lol. She's standing next to Dedue. Who thought that was a good idea. They can barely fit into the same frame lamo.

So Persuade Shamir and Yuri are strategy options. I was confused until I saw Shamir was an allied general and Yuri an enemy one. Getting to both of them, obviously.

I'm guessing Miklain's death is unavoidable? Eh. Seems pointless to bring him back at all.

Isn't this were Ingrid died in SB? Worst moment in the game so far. 

Aha, cool! Cutscene time. And seems it's cannon here that Dimitri defeated Edelgard in combat. He just keeps racking up the badassery in this game. 

So glad Dimitri didn't just let her run. So annoying when heroes do that, except Thales is here to fuck things up. 

Wait, Edelgard FINALLY told him about Thales? Girl, you (maybe?) could've spared all of Fodlan a lot of pain if you just said that earlier. 

Dimitri just whipping the magic away. He's so cool in all of these cutscenes. 

Thales bullshit magic abilities ruining a potential team up. (Could they ever? She seems hellbent on taking over his country so . . .)

Oh, hey, hegemon. 

AG really is going to go there! TWSITD is really the big bad, not Edelgard. Don't misunderstand, Edelgard is the superior villain. But since Dimitri gets two stories, I'm glad one will focus on TWSITD and (hopefully) send Edelgard to the backseat. Bc him vs her again, what's the point? 

Aw, Shez saving Dimitri. These two have such a wholesome relationship. I really like it more than I expected too. 

Aww, this stuff with Shez and Dimitri just keeps piling up. Shez feels so worried about having the same powers, but Dimitri just doesn't care. Still trusts her. It's so sweet. 

I also love how Shez has some personal involvement in this route. It's kinda missing in the other two. 

Dimitri - "I alone-" Felix shuts that down, ofc. Good though. I'm glad seeing Ingrid and Annette speak up. It's obvious to remember how Felix and Dedue got their lives changed, but so glad they called back to what Ingrid and Annette dealt with too. 

Felix saying Dimitri's name so soft when he's hurt. My heart. 

Oh, Ferdinand's dad, Duke Aegir is now in control? What happened to Edelgard? (also, I sorta love how so many dads got whitewashed, but they went full evil with this guy still lamo). 

Is TWSITD controlling Edelgard? Lamo, that's one creative way to write her out of the story without letting her team up with Dimitri or choosing TWSITD over giving up conquest.  

(sorry for the weird formatting, some of this is copy and pasted)

xxxxx

[adhd-merlin]

Yooo so for the ask game, I have too many questions so I've narrowed down my faves in order of favoriteness. So if the list is too long u can just not do the last ones lol.

Okay so the order is: 34, 35, 25, 37, 21, 19

Hello! I've answered most of these, here are the ones that remain:

19. Things about canon you ignore?

Arthur forgetting about Merlin at the Cauldron of Arianrhod? Didn't happen.

Gwaine dead? To you maybe. I know better.

There's other things probably but I can't remember them right now.

21. Fics you wish you could find more of?

Arthur/Gwen canon-compliant ficlets. More Arwen fics in general tbh.

5k-10k words single chapter stories -- it's a sweet spot for me, not too long and not too short. Not everything needs to be a novel.

Modern Era AUs but with the magic, which are surprisingly rare? Think urban fantasy.

Gen fics — by which I mean fics not focused on shipping/romance, not just fics without smut — especially humorous.

37. Random plot idea you think would have been funny for an episode?

Body swap episode, but make it Merlin and Gaius.

Merlin is enchanted and cannot lie; until the enchantment is broken everything he says is carefully worded to be technically correct.

↳ merlin ask meme 📬

[wordsandrobots]

002 for Shino please 🙏

For this ask game. Major spoilers herein

How I feel about this character: 

What a perfect dummy.

Norba Shino is the living embodiment of why we care about Tekkadan. Because they are, despite their profession, just as capable of warmth, enthusiasm, care and love as any other bunch of kids. And of being idiots, of being horny, of committing all the mistakes and stupid arguments you'd expect from teenagers.

Which is why it's the right move for him to be the first major casualty as season 2 races towards its inevitable conclusion. All those things -- all that humanity -- leads to Shino's rash attempt to kill Rustal Elion, to him throwing his life away on something that serves very little purpose beyond making everyone feel better about having tried. It's prideful, stupid and reckless, driven by a desperate need to be taken seriously. Everything that makes Tekkadan what it is.

Also he's bi as hell. I adore the great big jug-eared lunk.

All the people I ship romantically with this character: 

Hmm. See, sexually, I could ship Shino with practically anyone. My man is not fussy and he has the kind of personality that could mesh well with most of the cast, frankly. But romance . . . I dunno. I don't actually think, at the point he is in the show itself, Shino is very much capable of romance.

Regardless, current run down of slash-pairings I have written/may write:

Yamagi/Shino = 'I finally got a clue and also PTSD'

Yamagi/Shino/Eugene = 'hey, did you know I'm allowed to sleep with my friends?'

Yamagi/Chad/Shino = 'my partner's boyfriend is having a bad day'

598/Yamagi/Shino = 'that kid we met once grew up hench as fuck and just blurted out 'you're really pretty' at Yamagi while half-drunk - let's go!'

My non-romantic OTP for this character: 

Shino and Eugene are best buddies for life. Poly-shipping aside, I see those two as joined at the hip forever, with their friendship long predating Orga and Mika's arrival at the CGS.

And yes, Shino's been winding Eugene all the time they've known each other but 1) Eugene needs people to call him on his ego and 2) the way he's still prepared to be vulnerable around Shino anyway means something, you know?

My unpopular opinion about this character: 

OK, I don't know if this is unpopular, but I stand by the idea Shino is not actually a fundamentally nice person. That is to say, for all he's an unabashed cheerleader for his friends, a walking bear-hug of a personality, and generally quite sweet in his ignorance, he's also completely at home with violent behaviour. Of all the mecha pilots on Tekkadan's side, Shino is the one who most readily gives the impression of *enjoying* the fights. He's eager for it, wants to prove he's capable of winning, and readily lashes out when he's angry. He is, to my mind, very much a product of being socialised in a military setting and has absolutely no issues with solving problems via beating the tar out of them. A hell of a friend to have at your back but you do *not* want to be on his bad side.

Though obviously my actual unpopular opinion is it 100% took him that long to notice Yamagi was into him and didn't consciously consider being attracted to the guy until then. The pining was *never* mutual.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon:

*stares at the 600,000 words of fanfic predicated on him surviving his suicide run against the Arianrhod Fleet*

Funny you should ask.

No but seriously though, I would have liked his bisexuality to have been referenced outside the context of Yamagi. Like, it is pretty definitively text that Shino *is* bi, I just think it'd have been funny to establish that, no, he's capable of being attracted to other guys, he just genuinely had it fixed in his head that because Tekkadan were family, sex between them was off the table.

my OTP:

I mean it's not like I'm *not* a total sucker for the doomed in-canon pairing, is it?

What I think it is, is that it's established very quickly that Shino sees Yamagi as a friend and respects his abilities. To an extent, he even thinks Yamagi is really cool! Which, well, he thinks that about all his friends, but it establishes Yamagi isn't pining for nothing. This isn't a 'barely knows I exist' kind of crush, it's a 'I cannot spit out what I actually feel despite the fact the other guy likes hanging around with me and is never less than friendly and complementary'. It feels very 'normal teenager' in a way that, similar to Mika/Atra/Kudelia, contrasts poignantly with the situation everyone is in.

But there are also layers to it, or at least enough attendant details that allow for the possibility of layers. Shino has moments suggesting a fatal lack of self-confidence, for all his bigging up Tekkadan as a whole. He doesn't congratulate *himself* much and he reacts really badly to his skills being doubted, and to letting everybody else down. He's also not a pushy person which sits a little strangely with his otherwise loud, extroverted personality: despite having basically had Eugene confirm Yamagi is into him, he still makes space for the whole 'drinking the night away' thing to be an invitation rather than an assumption.

Yamagi, meanwhile, is blatantly not a shy person in general. He explores ideas off his own bat and presents them to Yukinojo, he's in his element ordering Dane and Hush around, and he gets to be a sarcastic little jerk more often than he pours oil on the troubled waters that are Takaki and Ride. Furthermore, while he lets his crush on Shino show blatantly when it can't be seen, his go-to reaction when observed is to become quite curt and cold. Shino jokes that Yamagi is 'scary' and it's clear the kid knows how to make his displeasure known. Plus, of course, Yamagi rejects -- off his own initiative -- a yearning to have died alongside Shino in favour of picking up where he left off, protecting Tekkadan.

There are angles there, is my point, to explore their similarities and to have their differences run counter to assumptions about who they are based on first appearances. I'm too deep into writing my version of this to be be objective any more but I really do think it's interesting to posit that Yamagi has the more durable personality and Shino a far more vulnerable one, ill-equipped to deal with, say, thinking his failure caused all his friends to die.

In the show, they're a could-have-been. They don't get their chance to be together and if they had, and things had generally gone better, it might not actually have lasted. I don't know how well Shino would have done in a first-time relationship after years of growing up too fast, and I don't know if Yamagi would have gotten what he was looking for out of it.

But give it a few years of Yamagi trying to live up to a Shino-shaped hole in the world and of Shino trying (failing) to live with himself over what happened and they become this wonderful, spiky ball of love, trauma and an enthusiastic openness about sex that comes of learning the cost of taking things too slow.

my cross over ship:

I'm semi-allergic to crossovers (they're just usually not my thing) so I really don't know . . .

a headcanon fact:

I already posted the one about how the thing he wanted to shut Zack up about was getting turned on by a dominatrix so let's go with . . .

Shino is from a big family. Like, over half a dozen kids stuck in one household with over-worked/struggling/absentee parents. That's why he tends to gravitate towards sharing space with the younger boys: it's what he's used to, since he's played the roll of an additional care-giver from the age of too-flipping-young-to-have-that-kind-of-responsibility. He is *really* good with kids, albeit more in a 'on their wavelength' kind of way than actually being anything like a responsible adult.

This is not the tragic part, at least not dramatically so since this is probably the case for a not- insignificant fraction of the Third Group. No, the kicker is that one day Shino's family upped and disappeared and he has absolutely no idea what happened to them. He was off earning money at the CGS and then the next time he went home, the building had been entirely cleared out.

He never talks about it.

------

Well that was probably an unnecessarily sad note to end on. But I really enjoyed writing this! I think I like this ask game :)

[gascon-en-exil]

Honestly there's some "xyz is only bad when my fave doesn't do it" vibe coming out of the OP. They seem to take issue with AM having the characters follow Dimitri even against their better judgement and yet willing to give a pass when the BE class follow Edel on the same occasion (deciding to side with Edel in the Holy Tomb despite the fact that she was revealed to be the Flame Emperor and ordered her soldiers to kill them, believing in Edel when she lies to them about Arianrhod).

Also I don't think Dimitri asked Dedue to turn into a crest beast during CF but Dedue did it anyway against Dimitri's wishes but I guess the OP forgot about that.

I know for a fact that I've had to make this point before, but the low-hanging fruit of the Dedue/Felix conversation is very easy to refute. Dedue trusts Dimitri enough to know that Dimitri would never order him to kill children, and we know both from CF and from their A support in Hopes that there are times when Dedue is willing to disobey Dimitri. That support is just Felix determined to think the worst of Dedue as an indirect way of reaffirming his own negative image of Dimitri, and Dedue realizes this and tells Felix what he wants to hear.

These types of fans insist of reading everything through an overwrought political lens that doesn't even hold up in canon because the writers didn't care enough to flesh out their world in meaningful ways beyond what was needed for the main plot and for specific character stories (and giving priority to the lead characters is standard FE writing...and typical for writing in general, for that matter). Duscur is only restored in AG and in some of Dedue's endings which are of course AM-exclusive, because Duscur - here the Duscur people, not the Tragedy of Duscur which is a much more significant event narratively speaking - ultimately only matters in reference to Dedue. Call the developers racist/colorist for that if you like, but don't try to dump it nonsensically on the characters and certainly don't use it to attack people who like Dimitri or Dedue and/or ship them together. Honestly a romantic reading of their relationship makes their behavior and regard for one another much more straightforward: they're bonded to one another through trauma and mutually codependent to the point that each of them falls apart without the other, but they trust and lean on each other in a genuinely sweet way in spite of how a bunch of people around them disapprove of Dedue's presence in Dimitri's life (queercoding, yay!). The OP of that post was worried about not being smart enough to figure out Dedue, but it's really not that difficult...

...although as I've probably written more Dimidue-related meta than almost anyone else in this fandom and that poster has me blocked, I suppose I can understand why they might find his character unfathomable.

[nowis-scales]

Back to our regularly scheduled program on CF…

Last time, we left off with EdeIgard blaming the Church for the attack on Arianrhod, because here at the BE Strikeforce, taking accountability for how our decisions that affect other people is not where we shine!

(Emblems:

❃ = Positive, not a problem.

❋ = It is entirely neutral.

✾ = It’s a bit negative, but it’s told in a joking way.

✿ = It is negative and critical.

Remember to filter #Fódlan Fault Finding and #Shut up about Del as needed!)

✾ Yeah you’re probs never gonna get to kill me because I don’t think the people are gonna be chill with the imperialism ✾

❋ Me every day of my goddamn life. Not because of anything related to this route though, just like... Koto as a person. I have an anxiety disorder lol. I make unfunny jokes about it a lot. ❋

✾ Those are all excellent questions. We will not be answering those questions for you, Dorothea. The answers to some of them won’t make this route as sympathetic as it wants to be. ✾

✿ Caspar repeatedly assures her that he’s okay with how things are, and she’s like “no no no you don’t understand you’re a victim” and he just comes around like “yeah you admit when you make mistakes”.

Caspar, she’s still making the same assumption about you! Nothing has changed! Also this dialogue about “I admit to my mistakes” sounds like it was damn near lifted from the Ryoma/Corrin support, which is funny because even as a fellow dev’s pet, Ryoma actually acknowledges wrongdoing. Doesn’t get more than a slap on the wrist for it, mind you, but that’s more than EdeIgard gets… which is nothing. ✿

❋ I had a conversation with a friend about a fic idea I had for a sort of “Koto’s Own Wish Fulfillment Rewrite of Crimson Flower” told from the perspective of Petra, and while he liked my initial idea, he didn’t like that I wasn’t thinking of using the concept the story presents 97% of the time when it comes to the relationship between Petra and EdeIgard. I remember him saying that there “really isn’t much evidence that Petra’s unhappy”, and while I don’t think he’s wrong, the fact that there is any evidence is what draws me toward it. I know there are a lot of other points where the game tries to say that their relationship is actually super happy, and I don’t hate those, I just wish their relationship had actual complex feelings attached to it.

Cause if we just go for the route where they’re actually super besties and Petra’s struggles are related more to EdeIgard’s father, then it just becomes another instance of “nobody but Rhea can actually fully hate EdeIgard and anything bad that happens to others is not actually her fault”. The relationship would be compelling if there was more complex feelings associated with and given more depth, but with the way CF presents it, it seems kind of… flat, I suppose? Like anything it has done here, I just feel like Flora and Felicia can do it better, particularly because there’s two of them and each girl’s feelings can be fully realized — Petra can only feel as one person, and that one person has to be nice to Edie 97% of the time.

So if you ever feel like I’m discrediting the relationship between EdeIgard and Petra a bit, yeah, I recognize that I probably am! I don’t even actually dislike the way it’s presented! I just dislike that it’s presented this way in a game that already makes Edie kind of untouchable. I think it would be really cool for Edie’s “moral greyness” to actually bloom, rather than just being several layers of benevolent sexism. ❋

✾ Get our asses Dimitri

Also do they ever explain why he doesn’t have the eyepatch in CF, aside from being more mentally stable than in the other routes? ✾

❋ Rhea there has never been a good king/future king in this game series that hasn’t been willing to throw himself into danger, it's kind of a staple. ❋

[randomnameless]

The idea that Vestra wanted to protect Hubert is based purely off of Hanneman's baseless conjecture, and seven years passed between Hanneman leaving the Empire and the Insurrection. That's a long time for a man to change for the worst.

I disagree anon.

In the support, between the two, it's Hubert who refuses to consider his father as anything but a piece of filth, while Hanneman suggests he might have had other "reasons" to betray Ionius.

For sure, Papa Vestra could have changed for the worst, but Hubert refusing to acknowledge - straight out refusing to listen - another point of view on the father he murdered screams that Hubert does not want to consider that his father was not he man he thought him to be.

Hubert never replies to Hanneman's misgivings about our pal Ionius, when he says Ionius wanted to centralise power on himself, take power from the Seven Houses, and, in the jp version, remove the consort kin system (basically, if a consort had a family, that family had some privileges Ionius had to consent, else he couldn't bang that consort).

Hanneman ends with Ionius lost the power struggle, and Hubert replies that now, with Supreme Leader, it's the nobles who are going to lose the struggle.

From this exchange in their C support, we already see a breach in the "Papa Vestra was a piece of filth because he betrayed the Hresvelg", we don't know what he did, but we know the Hresvelg of that time, Ionius, attempted to pull several shitty stuff, and Papa Vestra opposed it.

In the B support, Hanneman asks him if he's going to hear him out, and when the subject is about Papa Vestra, Hubert straight out refuses to hear (but he still does because hey what's a support where one party just storms off?).

Hanneman, who was Papa Vestra's friend, calls him selfless and someone who wouldn't betray the Emperor for some power seeking scheme. Hubert disagrees, thinking he betrayed Ionius to side with Aegir for power.

Factually, Papa Vestra arrested Ionius, and caught Edel* himself.

Hanneman has this very important line, perfectly fitting with Crimson Flower :

But I fear that where your father is concerned, your eyes may see only what you wish them to see.

To which Hubert takes note.

Hanneman thus continues, saying Papa Vestra tried to protect something, something that was so important to him that he would be dishonored and ultimately killed by his own son.

Hanneman thus makes the link to his sister, someone he failed to protect.

I wouldn't call that parallel a mere coincidence, maybe Papa Vestra didn't want to protect Hubert or only Hubert, but if Hanneman makes the link to his family, imo, it's highly inferred Papa Vestra wanted to protect his family -

And we know what Ionius did to the families or people who opposed them - the Hrym family was punished so hard that the main line was completely wiped, aka, there are no heirs and no children from the Hrym family (main branch) anymore.

Back to the support, Hubert seems to acknowledge that even if his dad wanted to protect something, he also has his own "something" he wants to protect and the topic is dropped.

So I wouldn't say it's "baseless" conjecture, it is conjecture because Crimson Flower is just that kind of path, where your characters say something but you see something else (remember Arianrhod?), but imo, Papa Vestra betraying Ionius for the sake of his family has more ground than "Papa Vestra sided with Aegir because he was a power hungry fool".

It's not conclusive as that support, but imo, Papa Vestra being off-screened when Leopold'n'Valdemar are hanging around the BE in Nopes could also fit with the general "Papa Vestra challenges the narrative Hubert (but actually Nopes tried, with the Ludwig retcon) tries to push, so he is eliminated without any ado to keep the show going".

It's imo glaring that Papa Vestra is the only Noble Dad we don't see, and who is off-screened like that.

*I always mess up the timeline - Ionius is arrested during the Insurrection, okay. But is Edel sent to Faerghus after Ionius's arrest, or after? We know Arundel (the real one) also sent her to Faerghus, but Thales recovered her and sent her in the dungeons. Was she recovered when Ionius was already defanged, or she returned to Enbarr and spent time with her dad before the Insurrection?

Meaning, did Papa Vestra catch her to send her to Faerghus before the Insurrection - to protect her - and Hubert mistook everything, or Papa Vestra caught her when she returned, after the Insurrection, and thought she would be safe with her Uncle Volkhard - who sent her away for protection - unaware that Volkhard died and was now actually Thales?

[sandwhichjack]

Thank you all who participated in the poll on whether I should post character notes or the timeline of the fantasy world I made up in lockdowns and it was decided you all like to see that character notes. I’ll be posting them in the order in that actual google doc, so randomly. Have a good day.

Walker:

A buff ranger that lived in the wilderness for a long period of time thanks to the sacrifice of her brother she gained freedom and became a mercenary

Promiscuous with any kind of man

In touch with her more tomboyish side

Is closed off from the other party members

Second in command when Faris is out of commission

Talented in archery and acrobatics

Fan of the fastball special

Is the muscle to back up someone when in a fight

Big sister bond with Arianrhod

Tries to be supportive but kinda sucks at it

Faris and her have a flirty banter going on and Kaine makes a bunch of bets on if they get together, yes they do.

Doesn’t have a favorite color but prefers lighter colors in average settings

Kaine once made her a rifle as a birthday present but she broke her hand and fingers from not handling it correctly and that was the end of her delving into alternative long range fighting.

Is superstitious about the forest and nature

Treasurer of the group as she’s the most trustworthy of it

Punched her father in the face during his wedding renewal and he had no idea who she was

She has gained a reputation of monster hunting, breaking elven laws every day of her life and never giving in to the parts of her that wishes to return to her home

Third oldest person in the group at 34

Sends weapons and guides to her half siblings for when they are old enough to leave

Immune to mental attack

Has a blood pact with Torg to kill him if he ever starts to grow dim in the head

Modified her muscles and spine to help her draw and aim her bow

Does not believe in the gods

Prefers raw meats and veggies

Prefers men to women but is willing to experiment

Writes penny dreadfuls for twelve newspapers under a pen name and Torg edits for her

Plans on teaching creative writing classes after she retires

Would adore fanfic

Would absolutely punch a princess in the face if she was asked by the princess

Once ate her own skin on a bet to enter a hunter’s lodge

Needs glasses for when she’s reading

Had a crush on a famous bard and when Kaine brought it up he was biologically dead for nine days

Is willing to eat anything to prevent starvation

Punched a Person of the Magma so hard it caused their soul to bleed

Once killed a person of every species by lining up their heads and firing an arrow

[theeclecticwitchblog240]

~~~An in depth guide to the element Air~~~

~~A BOS Entry~~

Air is the spark of inspiration and the beginning of new ideas. It is the first step of progress in a journey. Air rules the intellectual and mental, as well as knowledge and learning. Air represents life in the soul's journey.

Air represents the intellectual aspect of ourselves, and therefore Air magic focuses on mental abilities like visualization, as well as expanding your knowledge by reading lots of books and researching things on your own. Air also has a strong association with divination and prophecy, and is represented by the suit of Swords in the tarot deck. Air works in harmony with the other elements: it moves earth, fuels fire, makes clouds (water), and it is our breath that is essential for life. Air is always moving, never still, and never in solid physical form. Air is versatile, quick, moving quickly from one idea to the next.

Air is considered a Masculine element.

~~~AIR ASSOCIATIONS~~~

~~Direction~~East

~~Substance~~wind, mist, clouds, spirit, fog, aether, hurricane, tornado

~~Movement~~projection, outwards and upwards

~~Magickal tools~~wand, incense, feathers (for smudging or incense), bell, athame

~~Magickal properties~~communication, travel, whimsy, writing, activation, movement, business contracts/agreements, mental strength and memory purification

~~Colors~~white, silver, pale yellow

~~Time of day~~dawn

~~Season~~spring

~~Zodiac~~Libra, Aquarius, Gemini

~~Planets~~Jupiter, Mercury

~~Plants & Herbs~~anise, birch, cedar, fennel, lemongrass, violet, primrose

~~Magickal creatures~~sylphs, Pegasus, dragons, fairies, phoenix

~~Animals~~bees, butterflies, dragonflies, all birds (especially: owl, eagle, hawk)

~~Deities~~Aradia, Mercury, Thoth, Urania, Boreas, Arianrhod

~~Crystals & stones~~moonstone, citrine, diamond, blue aventurine, topaz, and any that increase clarity, focus, intuition, or intellect

~~Places~~mountain-tops, prairies and plains, cloudy skies; places involved with intellectual pursuits such as libraries and schools; places involved in travel, like airports or train stations ~~Musical instruments~~flutes, wind chimes, all wind instruments

~~~Examples of Air Magick, Spells, and Rituals~~~

Air spells don't have to be complicated, unless you want them to be. Here are some easy ways to cast air spells and harness the energy of the Air element~~

~~burn incense as an offering to gods/guides/guardians, and to manifest your intentions

~~learn astrology, familiarise yourself with your horoscope and what's going on in the stars

~~meditation~~any form, any length of time, it's all Air magic!

~~write your air spell on a piece of paper, and let it blow away in the wind

~~write your wish in the air using a lit stick of incense, and watch the smoke drift away ~~smudge your home with burning herbs to rid it of negativity

~~blow a dandelion head and make a wish

~~learn to read tarot or oracle cards

~~visualization~~practice visualizing things to see them clearly in your mind; use this skill to enhance your spells

~~storm magick~~harnessing the energy of a storm to manifest your air spell

~~learn numerology

~~cloud scrying~~divination using the patterns in clouds to tell the future

~~cloud bursting~~moving air with the power of your mind whispering air spells into the wind working with air element fairies and spirits

~~~Air Meditation~~~

Feel the air that you breathe. Your breath goes in and out, deeply and fully. Breathe to the very bottom of your stomach, feeling your body expand as you breathe in and feel yourself relax with each breath out.

When you Begin to feel your body growing lighter and brighter with each breath, breathe in a glowing white light, and see yourself slowly becoming the glowing white light with each breath, little by little.

In your minds eye, see your body dissolving away like smoke in the wind. Leaving only your consciousness and spirit. Feel yourself drawn upwards on currents of Air. You float in the sky, surrounded by the brilliance of the Sun and clouds. With each breath you grow lighter and brighter, until you shine like the sun, filled with radiant golden and silver light.

You are made of Air, you are an idea, a passing thought, a dream of inspiration. You see the limitless possibilities of Air. Feel free to spend some time here exploring this element in this meditation. Go ahead and give yourself permission to spend as much time as possible. Building a connection with each element individually will better help strengthen your workings as well in the future when you decide to work with a certain element in particular.

When you are ready to end the meditation, you can begin to feel yourself growing heavier, as you breathe, slowly return to your physical form once again. Feel your body becoming solid as the earth. Feel the warmth of your fiery spirit. Feel the blood coursing through your veins. When your ready go ahead and open your eyes and feel free to move around once again. You are now balanced with the four elements.

Hope this in~depth guide to the element Air helps you along your path. Feel free to add or change this to better suit you. Yes this is more in~depth than other posts however this is intended to help inspire you to do more studying into the elements.

Thank you for reading,

Blessed be!

[fellhellion]

I get why it’s not explored because CF was already unfinished and railroaded on the absolute essentials but there’s so many unmined and interesting hooks for character drama.

The fact that Hubert goes behind Edelgard’s back to enact violence she specifically orders him not to do, Edelgard/Hubert/Byleth actively utilise the bombing of Arianrhod as propaganda when Edelgard despises the same action from the church, Petra’s entire relationship w edelgard considering their power imbalance and so on and so forth

[clockworkflicker]

[tap or open image in new tab for higher quality]

In Sickness and In Spite

3.5k words, F cold. Familiarity with the source material is not required.

Fi/re Emb/lem Thr/ee Ho/pes — platonic Hubert & Monica. Snzfic + character study. These idiot rivals begrudgingly care about each other, your honor! Cue mlm-wlw bickering. Inspired by this post about ice magic. We love a sniffly traumatized mage.

Content warnings for wartime medieval fantasy setting, referenced past imprisonment, and mess.

“Return to the eastern encampment at once, and see to it that our reserves are told to prepare for the capture of Arianrhod.”

The faintest of smiles threatens to tug at Hubert’s lips as he hands a letter off to the courier standing at attention in his quarters. His expression, which the courier might later describe as “reeking of malicious contentedness” is one that Hubert’s fellow commanders are slowly growing used to as this war drags on, but it still sends a chill down the spines of those less familiar with the man’s more dubious qualities.

“Count Bergliez is to bring his troops to Arianrhod to hold the city in our absence, do I make myself clear?”

The man’s voice is smooth as dark chocolate, and equally rich, the courier finds himself thinking as he accepts the letter from Hubert. Of course, now is no time to indulge in chocolate, nor thoughts of admiration of a man’s voice. How foolish.

“I’ll see it done.”

Hubert folds his arms and gives a subtle nod. “Good. Well then, safe travels.”

The courier leaves, and Hubert finds himself once again alone in his quarters. He considers stepping out to check in with Lady Edelgard and discuss upcoming battle plans, but he thinks better of it once he pulls the drape from the entrance to his tent and sees that the sun has already set. They’ll be marching again early in the morning, and Her Majesty is likely to be asleep (or attempting to sleep, at least) by this hour.

He lights the lantern at his desk and sets a kettle to boil for coffee. His body feels heavy after the day’s skirmish at Magdred Way, but his mind isn’t quite ready to sleep. His troops encountered those damn Agarthan mages looming between the trees at Magdred. Evidence of their continued presence in this war, pulling the strings from behind the curtains, is enough to keep him up at night — not that he’d ever admit to such a thing. Given that he’s not sleeping just yet, there’s no sense in squandering an opportunity to get some work done, so he settles down with a stack of paperwork and quill.

Outside, a chorus of crickets come alive for the night, cautiously chirping along with the smoky early-autumn breeze and the occasional chatter from other commanders and soldiers passing by. After some time, the sound of a harsh sneeze pierces the white noise. Hubert casts a slow glance to his tent’s entrance. It sounded close by, but no one’s immediately outside the tent. He sets the distraction aside and returns to the list of provisions he was perusing.

But he can’t help but notice that the crickets’ song is punctuated by the occasional sniffle. Is that new, or has he only just noticed it now, he wonders. After a few minutes, there’s another sneeze, this one more high pitched than the last, followed by a slow, laden groan. It’s a familiar groan, he realizes. He knows exactly who it belongs to.

Unlike Monica von Ochs, Hubert does not possess a perfect memory. But given the frequency with which the woman expresses irritation around him, he would be remiss not to recognize the sound of her grumbling.

Her tent isn’t far from his. “I’m Her Majesty’s vassal just as much as you are,” Monica had insisted when they’d been setting up their base camp last week. “If she has need of me, I wish to be prepared and nearby.”

While Hubert finds her near-constant presence and general lack of composure to be somewhat grating, he certainly cannot complain about the woman’s dedication. Monica is, above all else, a valuable asset to the army and confidant to Her Majesty.

The kettle boils. He sets his quill aside and finds the coffee grounds he’d packed in his satchel. His eyes fall on the Almyran pine tea blend he keeps handy next to his stash of coffee grounds — a provision should he find a spare moment to enjoy a warm beverage with Ferdinand.

Hubert briefly regards the pine needles. Certainly not the ideal tea for a cold, and he can’t imagine his neighbor would particularly want his company. And yet...

~~~

There’s ice in her veins and haze clouding her head, and that’s really all there is to say on the matter. She sits at her desk, bundled up in her cloak with a quill and stack of paperwork. The flickering light from her lantern blurs her vision, eyes half-lidded and threatening to grow too rheumy to make out the words.

Not that it matters much. The chill gnawing at her bones from the inside out is enough of a distraction on its own that Monica finds herself wholly unable to make a dent in the status report she’s meant to have on Her Majesty’s desk by tomorrow morning.

She sniffles in irritation. She’d managed to doze off immediately after returning from Magdred this afternoon, but sleep held little respite. After a few hours of tossing and turning, she’d gasped awake, shivering with ire and cold sweat, unpleasant memories distorted by the whims of her feverish subconscious still vivid in her mind. With some effort, Monica had forced herself upright, shakily grasping the glass of water beside her bed and taking a drink.

She’s never forgotten what it’s like to be locked up in a cell — how could she? They say time heals all wounds, but such a thing can’t be true; not for her. While the sands of time are kind enough to erode others’ painful memories, weathering away sharp edges into manageable curves, Monica needs only close her eyes to find herself back on that cold stone floor, every detail in place, nothing forgotten. Exactly 296 stone blocks comprised the wall she had been chained to. That horrible woman’s raucous laugh, which always hit G#, no higher, no lower. The gleam of her athame, teasingly pressed below Monica’s jaw with just enough force to draw a thin line of fresh blood. The warm ferrous odor intermingling with the cool musk of the dungeon and that woman’s near-intoxicating scent of patchouli, sage, and mahogany.

And knowing Her Majesty was put through something so much worse; held in a cell and poked, prodded, sliced open, then reassembled as a tool of war? It makes her blood boil.

Her head had swam from sitting up so fast; a reminder that this Goddess-forsaken fever is going to literally boil her blood if she’s not careful.

Against her better judgement, she’d lit her lantern and dragged herself to her desk to take care of some paperwork. As much as she’d love to drift back off to sleep, the thought of going back there — even if only in a dream — is more than enough to keep her wide awake for a few more hours. Normally, she’d go out for a run or a swim to clear her head and simmer down, but she frankly can’t imagine her body will comply today.

Pinching her nose with a handkerchief that has long outlived its usefulness, Monica distantly wonders what would’ve become of her in that cold dark cell, had Her Majesty not come to her aid. She’d be dead, probably. It’s a useless thought, but one that plagues her nonetheless. Her nose is no less damp when she pulls the cloth away, so she sniffles again and resigns to just cleaning herself up with the inner collar of her cloak, soft fabric feeling like sandpaper against her nostrils.

“Monica?” A low voice from outside her tent startles her back to reality. “It’s Hubert. I have a matter I’d like to discuss, if you wouldn’t mind my company at this hour.”

She hesitates. Company is the last thing she wants right now. Well, perhaps she wouldn’t mind if it was Lady Edelgard or Dorothea...

“I’ll leave you be if you’d prefer it,” Hubert continues when she doesn’t reply. “But I thought it prudent to offer some tea.”

Still no response. Hubert briefly wonders if she’s managed to fall asleep. But then a small sniffle breaks the silence, followed by the sound of shuffling blankets. Monica draws aside the thick cloth draped over her tent’s entrance, eyes tilted up to meet his. Her brow is knit in confusion, but her gaze is glassy and distant. By the look of things, it was indeed the prospect of tea that coaxed her out.

She finds Hubert stood before her, holding two cups, warm steam gently rising from both. Monica doesn’t need her sense of smell to know their contents. One black coffee — a preposterous choice of beverage at this hour — and one Almyran pine tea. It’s almost a comedic image, the way the man's usual looming presence is kneecapped by something as mundane as a warm drink.

“You keep Almyran pine needles on your person specifically for Ferdinand,” she says plainly, her voice hoarse around the edges. “Why offer them to me?”

A slight frown draws Hubert’s lips. This woman is irritatingly perceptive and straightforward, especially when it comes to relationships he would prefer she kept quiet about.

But even in the low light, he can see the exhaustion plainly written across Monica’s face; dark thumbprints pressed beneath her eyes, a glimmer of moisture sits below her pinkish nose, her pallor framed by a mess of untamed burgundy locks. Judging by the paperwork strewn about on her desk, he figures she’s been just as busy as he’s been this evening. It’s not all that cold out, but her slight frame is swallowed up in a heavy winter cloak. Despite this, she looks to be shivering a little, and Hubert makes a mental note to check later if any of her reports from this excursion will need to be rewritten due to shaky handwriting.

While Monica is objectively the shortest commander in the Adrestian army, her shrewd demeanor and prowess on the battlefield are more than enough to compensate for what she lacks in height. But for the first time in years, Hubert finds himself thinking that she just looks small.

“You’re ill,” he says, matching her matter-of-fact tone.

“Yes, and?” Her eyes narrow, unfocused, and she inhales an uneven breath, then another. She ducks to the side with a horribly gruff sneeze, snatching the collar of her cloak up to meet her face as she shudders forward with the force of it. “ihh- hheh-! hHT’CHHUHshh!”

“And tea serves the dual purpose of perhaps offering some relief while also coaxing you away from your paperwork.” Hubert gives a small sigh, still looking stoic. “I should admonish you for working late in such a state.”

She scoffs, the watery phlegm crackling in her airways making her sound far more pitiful than disdainful, much to her chagrin. Wincing, she snuffles and rubs at her nose through the fabric. When she clears her throat, it does absolutely nothing for her wrecked voice. “As if you’re not guilty of the same.”

“Unlike you, I possess the sense not to work myself sick.”

“If you say so.” Knowing the man’s work-life balance (or lack thereof), Monica finds that statement highly unlikely. If she weren't so sick, she’d call him out for it, but she can’t quite muster the energy to get worked up over it at the moment. Another chill shakes through her, and it occurs to her that she’d much rather be sitting than standing, and a warm drink really does sound nice. She swallows thickly and glances away. “Anyway, I, um, I won’t say no to tea. If you’re offering.”

“That is why I’m here, yes,” Hubert says with a hint of levity, handing her a cup.

She gratefully accepts it, the deliciously warm ceramic prickling her cold fingertips. The rising steam causes her nose to run a bit more than it already was, but she revels in its gentle heat. “You said there was something you wanted to —” she pauses to sniffle, and exhales a tired, drippy guhh. “— to discuss?”

~~~

The two sit beside a small fire, tucked away at the edge of the base camp. On any other day, Monica would have simply invited Hubert to join her in her quarters, but she can’t imagine she’d be able to keep this damn cold to herself in such a small enclosed space, so this will have to do.

“Were you unwell when we marched on Magdred this morning?” He asks, settling down on a fallen log once he’s convinced he’s fed the fire enough wood to sustain itself. The flames dance, bathing them both in a warm glow amidst the dusky woods.

She shakes her head. “What, would you expect me to delay our troops because of a sore throat? I simply did what was necessary.” Monica takes a careful sip of her tea. Swallowing hurts, but it warms her from the inside out. Although her senses are too dulled to get a good handle on the flavor, she finds the tea has a distinct, earthy quality. It reminds her of simpler days spent hunting in the mountainous woodlands scattered about inland Ochs territory.

“And last night?” Hubert raises an eyebrow.

“I thought it was just exhaustion and nerves, at that point. We’d been marching all day, after all.” Smoke from the fire makes her sinuses burn, prompting her to retreat further into her cloak with a watery sniff, almost like a turtle into its shell.  

“For someone so perceptive, you certainly posses an impressive lack of self-awareness.” He tilts his head with a slight smirk. “Perhaps if you didn’t so frequently find yourself flush with rage or affection, you wouldn’t struggle to tell apart fatigue from fever.”

She glowers. “Perhaps if you grew flush with rage every now and again, you wouldn’t have the complexion of a coffin-dweller.” Smoke catches in her throat as she speaks, completely stripping the insult of any teeth it may have had otherwise. She muffles a few weary coughs against her collar, causing a bit of mess to spill from her nose and create another dark patch on the fabric.

Hubert exhales a dry laugh. In spite of everything, it’s good to see that she’s at least well enough to quip back. “Well, there’s nothing to be done for it now. But do try to be more conscientious of your limits.”  

Monica narrows her eyes with a sniff. “I know very well how hard I can push myself, thank you.” As if to deny her claim, the irritation in her airways causes her breath to hitch. Her eyes squint shut and her face contorts into an expression somewhere between a grimace and a snarl. She snaps forward with a desperate and distressingly sick-sounding sneeze, frantically aimed at the fabric resting atop her shoulders. She’d meant to stifle, but there’s only so much one can do when attempting to restrain such a forceful sneeze hands-free. She fumbles her cup of tea, spilling a bit in the process.

“And yet I can’t help but find your form as of late to be rather... rash.” Hubert turns his eyes back to the fire, not wishing for his gaze to be a source of further embarrassment for his stricken companion.

The gesture does not go unnoticed, and she’s grateful for it. The space between her nose and lips is slick, and a string of glistening mess dangles precariously from her septum to her cloak before falling against her chest. She instinctively snuffles, and immediately regrets doing so, as it produces a horribly soupy sound and reignites the burning itch. She hastily sets her tea aside and clutches at her collar with steepled hands, trembling with a flurry of quick, audibly damp breaths, until —

“ihheH- hH’KSSCH’ue! …hh? …hht’KSSCH’uhh!”

The second sneeze rends her throat, leaving her airways and collar absolutely drenched. With a small, exhausted groan, she allows herself just a brief moment of feeling sorry for herself before tending to her nose. She’s soaked through the fabric in her hands, and finds herself wondering if she needs to worry about running out of cloak. After finding a suitably dry spot, Monica draws a handful of cloak to her face and begins cleaning herself up. The stinging sensation of dry fabric against slick, inflamed skin makes her wince. “How so?”

“Lady Edelgard tells me you’ve had quite the talent for fire magic since you were young, and I must agree. The army would be remiss without a skilled mage such as yourself to set enemy strongholds ablaze.”

If she were alone, Monica would have blown her nose by now, but the thought of doing so in front of someone else makes her stomach twist in a knot. Clearly, if his unprompted arrival at her tent with tea is anything to go by, she's assaulted Hubert (and the rest of the camp, for that matter) with far too great a volume of sick noises as is. Goddess, she hopes Her Majesty hasn't overheard any of this. Monica settles for gently pinching her nose between the slick fabric, which does, blessedly, remove a decent amount of moisture. She gives a tired sigh, cautiously reaching down to retrieve her tea, almost afraid another sneeze will cause her drop it without warning. “What’re you getting at?”

Hubert gestures to the jet black tome strapped to her hip. “You’ve been teaching yourself ice spells recently. Why?”

“What kind of question is that?” She crinkles her nose. “Sometimes it’s more beneficial to freeze an enemy in place than set them on fire. Anyone can benefit from being more versatile.”

“Is versatility truly your reason, though? The elemental whiplash you must be giving yourself can’t be healthy.” Hubert gives her a knowing look as he raises his coffee to his lips.

Monica stares at him, then looks down at her tea. Assailing an enemy with flames, followed up by an ice spell, is going to inflict more pain than fire alone. That’s her reason. It’s that simple.

“We’ve recently been fighting more of the people who imprisoned Her Majesty and me. The dark mages at Magdred, for example. I...” she pauses with a sharp sniffle, frustrated with this cold, frustrated with Hubert for prompting her to confront one of her more wicked impulses at a time like this, frustrated with herself for being such a deeply bitter person. “I want it to hurt.”

Hubert remains silent and his expression unreadable, much to Monica’s annoyance. She presumes that his lack of reaction means she’s just confirmed something he was already aware of. Goddess, she hates how he seems to know her vices better than she knows them herself.

Finally, he speaks. “I understand.” His voice is low and surprisingly sincere. “Not a day goes by that I don’t lament my failure to protect Her Majesty when it mattered most.”

‘I understand’ is a bit of an unspoken compromise between two people who will never truly see eye to eye. Their ire for Edelgard’s captors is not equivalent, and they both know it. Hubert is cold and calculating, more than able to channel his emotions into neat, underhanded tactics that will serve Her Majesty well. But for Monica, it’s a spiteful, burning hatred that hungers for vengeance. It’s selfish and cruel and everything she wishes she wasn’t.

Hubert continues. “But, for Lady Edelgard’s sake, if not your own, I ask that you don’t do this to yourself. Even the most skilled mages aren’t equipped to deal with recoil from opposing elements. I suspect you’re intimately aware of this fact.”

He’s not wrong, Monica must admit. Ice magic has a way of chilling its caster to the bone, and alternating between fire and ice always leaves her a sniffly mess. It’s caused easily-ignored colds to turn debilitating more times than she’d care to let on. She doesn’t know what to say. She hadn’t expected anyone, let alone Hubert, of all people, to care.

Before she can fully sort out her thoughts, a familiar burning sensation bristles at her sinuses. Her mouth hangs slightly open in uncertainty, brow furrowed, and a small, wavering breath sifts through her teeth. Monica teeters on the precipice for just a moment. Watery mucus drips down one flared nostril, then the other, pooling above her lip. She dares not sniffle, or else —

“ihhh-? hehh- hED’SSHuuh!”

She ducks to the side and clings desperately to her teacup as a half-stifled shivery sneeze seizes her, sending another unfortunate deluge of soupy mess down her face. Goddess, she’s tired. “snndffl. ghuhh. You could say that.”

Once again, she sets aside her tea and takes to tending to her nose. “Look, Hubert, I appreciate the concernd, but I...” she trails off with a congested groan and shakes her head. “I don’t know.”

“Far be it from me to lecture you,” Hubert says, standing from his seat on the log and turning to leave, “but destroying yourself won’t change the past.”

“Where are you going?” Monica looks up at him, confused.

“To fetch my kettle. You’re still shaking, and have just about spilled the last of the tea.”

Pulling her cloak a little tighter around herself, she watches him walk back to his tent. She thinks that perhaps, just this once, he might have a point.

[unxpctedlygreat]

Do you think AG Miklan did enough to "redeem" himself - aka enough to justify his survival against Gwendal if the player had reached him in time to save his life? Or do you think "redemption thru death" was always gonna be the end to his AG arc? On one hand, I think AM Miklan probably was worse, but AG Miklan seemed genuinely happy to be given this chance and he was thriving in actually helping the Kingdom now. I'm torn cuz a part of me didn't want Miklan to die in AG. He won me over somehow xD

I personally think redemption through death isn't interesting ( /)w(\) I think having a character do good things, however reluctantly they may do it at first, and actually grow and start wanting to do the good things without an outside push to do them is better

So to me it's not a matter of "Did Miklan redeem himself enough to be allowed to live" and more "he should have been allowed to live regardless, but especially so he could keep on redeeming himself"!

I don't think AM!Miklan would have taken a second chance if it had been offered to him, and the circumstances in Faerghus didn't allow for that anyway (not to say I don't like a Miklan lives AU where idk, he gets forced to work for the Knights of Seiros or something and eventually does reach the same point as AG!Miklan sfgdb)

I wish AG!Miklan had been allowed to live, because living means he could have gone great things! He was already starting to prove himself and earn people's respect despite his past misdeeds and his lack of crest

Somewhere along the way, he could have also somewhat fixed part of his relationship with his family; obviously I'm not saying his abuse of Sylvain is something to brush off, but Sylvain does care for his brother still and Matthias cares for his eldest son as well, they would never be a tight-knit family but they could at least have amiable conversations eventually

Miklan did terrible things and was an asshole, but he did deserve a second chance, especially since Sylvain who has all the reasons to refuse working with Miklan did agree to it! But second chances are only nice if the character does get to make something great out of their lives, which "redemption through death" doesn't allow 😭 Sure he'll be remembered as a hero for the kingdom, who held out the enemy long enough to save Arianrhod, but he won't get to do more than that :<

[lumeha]

Thales really could've been a great antagonist and tbf, he does have those moments like in Shambala where he's like "DEATH THOSE TRAITOROUS HUMANS WHO SIDED WITH THE BEASTS!" in a very over the top tone. Unfortunately for the most part, him and the Agarthans ultimately ended up serving as an attempt to strip Edel of her villainous agency, which is a shame.

Yes ! Yes ! Yes !!! You get me, anon !

Thales has some extremely good trash talk in the Shambhala chapter ! The voice actor did such a good job. I just went to re-listen to some of them right now and it's so good.

"Now is the time. Remove the binding spell of Titanus. Let their metal bodies be drenched in blood!"

LIKE HELL YEAH DUDE I WANT TO HEAR MORE OF THAT it's so over the top and yet it's so good

He's pissed off, he's ready to burn to world, Agartha and everything just to get his revenge against the Nabateans. Honestly, the pieces are all here to make him an excellent antagonist ! He's an absolute monster who doesn't care about who suffers for his revenge, including directing human experimentation on children, he has (chef kiss) an excellent old rat bastard design, he's set-up to have all his fingers in all Fodlan's pies as a master manipulator, and...

In a way, I think that they missed the mark with his relation with Edelgard because, unlike with Arvis and Manfroy, the story doesn't let her be confronted with her own actions (and especially her actions during the White Clouds part of the game). That's why I think her character is the strongest in Azure Moon - Thales and the Agarthans aren't quite present, so she's the one taking center stage, her and her ideology only. But. I don't think not having the Agarthans is necessary for that. As long as Edelgard gets confronted by her own actions at some point. Which she doesn't really get imo. Not even counting Crimson Flower, even with all my gripes with the writing of that route, but... yeah. Silver Snow and Verdant Wind just don't really let her owning up to her actions narratively I think, which just undermines her character

Honestly, speaking about Shambhala... the Agarthan tech is also really under-used I feel. I adore the dubstep, sci-fi aspect of that specific map, the threat of the javelins of light and what they made of Aillel / Merceus / Arianrhod, their capacity to take the appearance of anyone... well. I don't know if that last point is, hm, related to tech or magic, but I suppose, at some point, even if it is magic, the way they handle magic is so wildly different from how it is handled above ground that it makes it feels more tech-y / sci-fi-y to me. I just wish we'd seen more of their weapons, more of their high tech / techno-magic shit

[costofwar]

; Verse || Red Fields of Revenge ☀

(Warning: Spoilers for Azure Gleam)

After his defeat at Arianrhod, Ferdinand returns back to their temporary base with his head hanging low. He had already failed Edelgard once against the Alliance and now this was just another blow to his confidence. So he waits for her return to apologize and make sure that, in Hubert’s stead, she is faring well after the battle. That time never comes to pass as he waits, and it’s only cut short when the mages that had been working alongside the Empire make mention that the emperor was returned safely to Enbarr.

There’s some semblance of relief that she is alright, especially after the mention of a beast emerging on the battlefield after he was forced to retreat. So he takes the information and heads back towards the capital city.

Once arriving he’s greeted by his father. He’s all too smug when Ferdinand demands to see Edelgard to check on her well-being. His wish isn’t granted as he’s told that she still lives and is resting from her almost fatal injuries. When he goes to press, he’s instead escorted away by those very same mages. They completely bypass the turn for Edelgard’s quarters and even his own as he’s led, now roughly, towards the depths of the castle. It’s there that Ferdinand truly learns the might and greed of Those Who Slither.

Their experiments and rough treatment are painful. What’s even worse is not knowing Edelgard’s current state as they opt to tell him nothing.

The days are long and difficult. He spends the better part of what he can only assume is several months beneath their mirthful gazes. He’s left wondering if they delight in their torture against him. It’s an even grander reoccurring thought when they mention that a second crest, the major crest of Daphnel, was successfully transplanted and forced to take root into his blood. It’s a painful process that made him feel like he’d never make it through alive.

Yet somehow he continues to live. He goes for many moons being forced to test out the might of his new crest alongside that of his original, Cichol’s minor one. The satisfaction of his captors only growing with their continued cruelty due to the success.

Finally, it all comes to an end. He’s not quite sure how Hubert made it to him. He’s not even sure how they both made it out of there before Ferdinand had collapsed in on himself from malnutrition and lack of sleep. But he’s out and taken back to a safe space with Hubert and his special unit, hidden away right along the boarder of the Empire and Alliance.

They bide their time to rescue Edelgard with their meager knowledge of her status.

Ferdinand’s appearance:

Once freed from beneath the palace, Ferdinand has certainly lost muscle mass. The shine from his eyes are also dulled and his skin a bit paler. And unlike others with forced dual crests, Ferdinand ends up with streaks of light yellow-ish highlights within his hair. It becomes an insecurity of Ferdinand’s, but he quickly adapts to blending it out with the rest of his natural color.

Crest combination:

- Minor crest of Cichol

- Major crest of Daphnel

Both work well to keep him both protected (Cichol) and strong (Daphnel). It’s perfect for combat situations, but also proves to be hazardous as he adjusts to the new crest. The downside being that it’ll activate uncalled for, especially in moments of stress or the heat of the moment during training. He asks Hubert if there’s a way to remove it, and once told no he settles on learning how to control it with the other’s help.

[wordsandrobots]

Iron-Blooded Orphans fic section breaks - part 2

More of these because I’ve just completed the next two installments of Wishing on Space Hardware (the first two parts in arc 4 of 5; posting begins this coming Friday) and wanted to mark the occasion. These are from the second arc of the series, Monsters out of the past.

««««««««««««⟸ ♔ ⌖ ♔ ⌖ ♔ ⌖ ♔ ⟹»»»»»»»»»»»»

“Someone had to pick up the fucking pieces and there wasn't anyone else left to do that. It sucked. I was crap at it. I'm not Orga, I can't be that kind of person. But I did the best I could and I'm gonna keep doing that until there aren't any more pieces to pick up.”

- Eugene Sevenstark

««««««««««««⟸ ♕ ⚜ ♕ ⚜ ♕ ⚜ ♕ ⟹»»»»»»»»»»»»

“Anger helped me stare down the Arianrhod Fleet. It got me up in front of the parliament in Edmonton. As for the rest . . . I have far too much blood on my hands to start making moral judgements. Your blood, for one.”

- Kudelia Aina Bernstein

««««««««««««⟸ ♢ 📎 ♢ 📎 ♢ 📎 ♢ ⟹»»»»»»»»»»»»

Those feelings he put away earlier bubble out of their box. There's nothing left to keep them down. No mission to complete. No one to protect. No immediate danger to escape. He can actually think instead of simply reacting and that hurts, in so many ways, and he hates it.

- Chad Chadan

««««««««««««⟸ ♘ ✵ ♘ ✵ ♘ ✵ ♘ ⟹»»»»»»»»»»»»

And perhaps Gaelio does not believe anyone caught in McGillis' plans could have been entirely devoid of ambition. But even so. Is it such a terrible thing to want more, when you start without even pride in who you are?

- Gaelio Bauduin

««««««««««««⟸ ☼ ✯ ☼ ✯ ☼ ✯ ☼ ⟹»»»»»»»»»»»»

Something snaps inside Takaki, sharply, like a broken bone. “I don't think it matters if someone is brilliant or not. People shouldn't be treated as things.”

- Takaki Uno

[Part 1, Part 3, Part 4]

[butwhatifidothis]

Do you personally believe that the war was started with good intentions? (I'm asking this to several blogs and wish to see opinions)

Ahhh, now that's a toughie.

It depends heavily on how sincere you believe Edelgard is with what she says she wants to do. If you genuinely believe that Edelgard genuinely believed war was the best - and only - way to achieve a better quality of life for those who are overlooked, weak, and/or born on the lower rung (among the myriad of other descriptors for those under privileged), then, well, yes, the war in your view would have been started with good intentions.

Me personally though? I just don't think so, really. imo there's just too many things about the war, what it ultimately resulted in, and the things brought up by CF's endings that are never said to be resolved - with Byleth, who is supposed to bring out the best of the routes' potential outcomes, being present at that - for me to honestly believe it was started with good intentions.

Edelgard states that the Kingdom and Alliance ought to be reunited back under Adrestia despite them being two independent nations with long-standing cultures separate from Adrestia (which are forgotten after the war according to CF's ending narration),

she mentions nothing of the starvation of Adrestia's citizens due to her war (you have to recruit and then talk to Ashe to find this out) (this would be fine - well, not really fine, but at least more acceptable - if, again, she hadn't been the one causing this starvation through her war),

she puts the people in direct danger in three out of four routes,

she continues her war despite initiating it with the stated goal of only taking down the Church but continuing it after she's disbanded the Church,

she lies about the Church dropping a bomb on Arianrhod to her allies in order to hide TWS' actions from them - people who pose a far more direct and larger threat to the people of Fodlan than the Church ever has, and whom she knows have already caused immense harm to her citizens in particular (Remire)

FEH mentions her not having any solid political reforms even after the war is finished which shows how little thought she put into her plans (not having an idea of what to do would be fine/more acceptable, if she hadn't started war certain that her way was the best for Fodlan. She can't say that and then also not be ready to implement some form of government without at best being wholly irresponsible),

the entire basis of the little political structure she outwardly describes would only further help the strong and do nothing for the weak (meritocracy will only elevate those with access to the means of elevation and even then is based entirely on what Edelgard views as valuable),

the people having to be spied on by Hubert constantly due to the amount of rebellions and risings that happen throughout her reign (Dorothea's paired ending with Hubert),

And with that last point mentioning endings, a large amount of CF's endings showcase that Fodlan harbors many of the traits Edelgard supposedly instigated the war for:

undue inheritance granted by birth (Sylvain and Lorenz each have an ending showcasing this to be true),

nobles holding ownership of land,

the loss of choice regarding political standing (Bernadetta being forced to take on House Varley's head position in at least two endings),

one person holding amalgamated power that wasn't rightfully theirs to begin with and that they have by forcefully taking power from others (Leicester and Faerghus being conquered, nobles being stripped of long-held power immediately after her coronation),

censorship of history being present after the war (Dorothea's paired ending with Edelgard, as well as propaganda being deployed even within the ENG ver. of the game, shown by Hubert outright saying that Edelgard hium and Byleth should "control the flow of [this] information")

With all this in mind, I can't honestly say I believe Edelgard had good intentions when starting the war. Every metric that would lean to that idea - keeping the people safe, wanting to elevate the less privileged, wanting to instate legislations that she has put ample thought in that she believes will help the people eventually, throwing away corrupt practices she perceived were being conducted by those she strove to overthrow - all don't happen. Even DLC bringing in Constance and giving Edelgard some sort of idea of what to do in one area of politics isn't stated to have done anything in the ending the support is attached to.

The best I can say for Edelgard's intentions is that she wants for humans to rely on their own strength to become strong, but even that idea is tainted by her continuation of that idea being to strip away support pillars many people rely on to get through life because they are based on a divine presence, not a human one. It means that Nabateans are not allowed to be present in Fodlan - or at the absolute minimum, allowed to hold any form of power - in her mind, because they "lack humanity." It means that the religious are weak-willed and can't survive on their own. It means that they are not allowed in her Empire, as shown by all four routes expelling them in some way (even CF, when she says before she initiates the war that Rhea as well as the servants of the Goddess must be killed in walking her path).

Like... to expand on one of the examples, Dimitri and Claude do not start the war, they have no idea that the implementation of political reforms must be made in the aftermath of war must be made, and yet their solo endings, while still vague on the exact details, give us an idea of how they're going about actually implementing the changes they want to do, with these changes being said to have a visible, positive impact on the people.

Dimitri installs a participatory government that allows for the common people to have a say in politics in order to have their voices and concerns heard directly from them as well as improving foreign relations in general, and Claude installs new trade routes between Fodlan and Almyra and sends forth Almyran reinforcements to assist in Fodlan's skirmishes with Imperial loyalists in order to foster better relations between the two nations. They are very simple explanations for how they're ruling and how they're accomplishing their goals, but they're a starting point. We have some clue as to how they get from Point A to Point B, and we see that they have a very clear, very directly positive result.

Edelgard? The one who started the war? Who started it with the presumption that she knew how best to rule it? Who knew that she needed to rule and implement changes in the aftermath of war ahead of time? She simply "reformed the class system." No how's, not even a simple one, she simply - supposedly - does it. And again, FEH (as well as some supports, like Ferdinand's) shows that she hasn't thought this through, that that part of ruling wasn't a priority for her when she started the war.

To me personally, that's not a sign of someone with good intentions. It's another sign that she mostly started the war in order to get back what she thought was rightfully hers, which was rulership of Fodlan under Adrestia's banner, with little care as to the outcome of her actions in getting that apparent birthright. None of the above results of her actions contradict this idea whatsoever, and many in fact bolster it (only she may decide who is worthy of promotion, only she may decide what the people are allowed to know of history, only under her watch may religion be allowed).

Now, does the setup of her having this intention make sense? Definitely, yeah. Being told by the one family member you have left of this supposed grand birthright that belongs to you and your country and how this evil race of godly beings is stealing it away from you and you must fight to get it back - after you've experienced the horrific lost of every single other family member you know and love to torture you were forced to witness and after you yourself were horrifically tortured and after you've come to the realization during the torture that the Goddess everyone loves and worships didn't help you - and with the torture happening to you in the first place (again, according to your one family member) because other people that aren't you and your family wanted power that rightfully belonged to you and your family....... uh, yeah, that can make more than a few people go a little extreme in their grabs for power. In that regard Edelgard is extremely sympathetic and understandable... just not good.

Again though, this is me personally! I'm not gonna sit here and say that seeing her intentions as good is an invalid view of Edelgard or anything. Hope I answered your question!