#post azure moon

[mochipicchu776]

The post-Azure Moon epilogue I needed

[azuremist]

Mainseries Pokemon characters who can be argued to be bisexual-coded (due to their implied crush on the player)

1. Shauna (Pokemon X and Y)

Kalos takes place in France, and Paris is the city of love. So, in the words of Junichi Masuda, "I wanted to implement some elements of romance with Shauna when playing as a boy and express a deep friendship when playing as a girl."

However, due to the VERY few dialogue changes between female vs male protags (as well as actions Shauna takes that are intended to imply romantic interest being the same across all player types, such as her staying behind with the player in the early-game forest), this can be argued to be unintentional bisexual-coding.

2. Lillie (Pokemon Sun and Moon)

Lillie is implied to have a crush on the player. When the player character is female, on Exeggutor Island, she says, "I want to become a Trainer, and learn all the things you know, Selene..." When the player character is male, she says, "I think... I'd like to become a Trainer, too. And travel together with you, Elio..."

Obviously, the difference between these two dialogues makes it pretty clear that they want her dialogue with Elio to be interpreted as more romantically-inclined. However, much like Shauna, Lillie's actions and dialogue varying VERY little otherwise between female vs male protags can be read as unintentional bisexual-coding.

3. Kieran

Kieran is the first character here to receive absolutely zero dialogue changes across player gender. Additionally, I'd say he's the character that we get the strongest hints regarding romantic feelings towards the player with.

Kieran has multiple moments where he's implied to feel romantically towards the player. These include, but are not limited to:

His sister saying that he's "been all googly-eyed over you" since you met, and that he "wouldn't stop talking about you - even at home. I seriously couldn't get him to shut up." Kieran reacts with embarrassment when she says this to the MC.

Him saying, "You're...you're special," before pausing, then getting embarrassed and rushing to change the subject.

When the MC calls him a friend, he responds, "What?! R-really?! We're friends? F-friends... I feel all tingly and funny hearing that... Ehehe..."

After the MC changes into their festival outfit, Kieran says, "Whoa...", when seeing them for the first time.

The player can even seemingly flirt with Kieran; when Kieran describes letting Ogerpon move into his home, the player can teasingly ask when they, themself, can move in with Kieran.

These are all very common romantic tropes. I think Kieran is the closest thing that we have to a canonically bisexual mainline character at this moment.

4. Carmine

Carmine has a fewer number of specific moments compared to her brother, but she can still be easily read as having feelings for the player.

Her extreme reaction to Drayton asking the player on a date is the best example, with her bringing her hands up to her face, and saying, "A wha-?!" Once Drayton leaves, Carmine continues fuming. (This can also be chalked up to her general dislike towards Drayton and how he can be manipulative, but the fact that it's that request that sets her off specifically makes this also easily read as jealousy.)

And speaking of...

5. Drayton

While, like Kieran and Carmine, Drayton doesn't have any dialogue changes between if the player is male and female, it's not really clear how he actually feels about them.

He tells the player, male or female, that they can go on a cafeteria date to talk, which the game fully acknowledges as a romantic phrase via Carmine's extreme reaction. He also tells the player, "From one charming catch to another..."

This is very obviously him flirting with the player, but, due to his laid-back and just-a-liiittle-bit-sleazy nature, this more so comes across as him trying to tease the player character, rather than anything earnest.

If nothing else, he's at least confirmed to be comfortable with romantically teasing male classmates, which I would consider a win.

[rorah]

IT's Dimitri DAY EVERYONE!🙌💙 what's better than waking up with his beloved at his side?

[atissi]

new fire emblem game has me thinking about the blue lions again. they are so silly and depressed

[asha-mage]

🌶️ whats the Hot Take on fire emblem or ffxiv!!

Oh boy. I'll go with Fire Emblem since I've played it more recently. Let me just put on this metaphorical beekeepers suit before I take a swing at this particular hornet's nest.

*zips*

Azure Moon is, inherently, a tragedy, and of the various endings, the one that is the bleakest for the over all future of Fodlan. On a smaller scale level, all the characters that we personally care about are going to be fine by the end of Azure Moon (presuming you where playing on casual and/or didn't let your favs die in the war). On a macro scale, none of the cycles that lead things to fall apart in the first place are fundamentally changed in any way. The systems that lead to the misery/issues of most of the cast are still in place.

Byleth has replaced Rhea as Archbishop, and thus as the semi-divine shadow ruler of Fodlan, and Dimitri has become Wilhelm 2.0- the mortal companion and figure head of said semi-divine shadow ruler, who unites all of Fodlan beneath the control of the Kingdom and Church. The Agarthans meanwhile remain unexposed and plotting in secret. Their's no hint that the Church is going to reform and stop it's policy of censoring and altering history to suit it's political agenda, or meddling in the affairs of the governments of Fodlan at whim or need. And their is really no reason to believe that in another few hundred years the cycle wont repeat itself as the pressure from all the cracks and flaws in the system once again becomes unbearable.

It's telling to me that Edelgard in Verdant Wind more or less accepts her fate when Claude and Byleth have her cornered. She tells them outright that the only way forward is to unite all of Fodlan and sieze the future, and they can only do that if they kill her. But in Azure Moon she resists past the point of all reason, becoming the Hegemon in her efforts to defeat Byleth and Dimitri, and using her last breath to try and cut Dimitri down with her dagger. And that's because deep down, she knows that Dimitri lacks the will and the courage to break the cycle. Claude, is a reformer, a visionary who wants a better future and wont stop until he has the truth. Dimitri even after everything he's been through is still a servant of the past, and still bound by it. So she refuses to yield to the bitter end, to give up her dream of a better future no matter what.

[sailforvalinor]

A Treatise on Felix Hugo Fraldarius

Every day. EVERY DAY I’m thinking about the genius move in Azure Moon’s writing to have FELIX be the only one to warn Byleth about Dimitri’s darkside.

It’s genius because of its tragic futility. Felix is the absolute worst person out of the Blue Lions to reveal this knowledge, however, not because we won’t believe him. Except for perhaps about his feelings (textbook tsundere), Felix doesn’t lie—the game establishes straight out of the gate that he is a very blunt person. No, it’s not because we can’t believe him, it’s because both we the player and Byleth the character don’t want to believe him.

We the player are witness to Felix’s interactions with his fellow classmates, and with little insight into his backstory, his early supports paint him as an abrasive, unfeeling jerk who hates his dad and his friends and cares about nothing but fighting and…well, fighting. As most of the barbs and accusations we see him throwing at his friends are for the most part untrue (though he certainly himself believes them, so he’s not lying), we have no reason or desire to believe Felix’s claims about Dimitri.

The same goes for Byleth. The game establishes in White Clouds that she grows more attached to her students than she has to anyone before—in fact, by the end of the game, the implication is that they essentially restore her humanity to her, or even create it in her where it hadn’t existed before. If this is the case, and Byleth is learning from her students how to feel emotions, then why would she want to believe someone who not only tears her students down, but actively represents the philosophy she is trying to escape?

Furthermore, Byleth’s relationship with Dimitri is undoubtedly different from hers with anyone else in the monastery, even from the beginning. While the other students undoubtedly support her, Dimitri is one of the only ones to ask how she is doing as a professor. He’s always offering his assistance and support, canonically is the first to bring out her emotional side, and is the only one of the few to truly empathize with her after Jeralt’s death, even going so far as to offer his assistance in securing her revenge. As he is arguably the person she is closest to in this route, even from the beginning, why would she want to believe he is a soulless monster driven by nothing but bloodlust?

However, here’s the kicker—while Felix is the one she is least likely to believe due to her emotions, he’s the person she’s most likely to believe logically. As I briefly mentioned earlier, out of all the students, Felix most closely resembles the mercenary’s philosophy (no, not you, Leonie). He represents what Byleth used to be (this is kinda the reason I don’t ship Felileth, but that’s another story for another day). Felix even essentially says as much in their supports—much of those supports have a heavy emphasis on establishing their similarities.

Byleth tells Rodrigue mid-White Clouds that she understands Felix. She may not resemble him, or act like him, but she understands him, because she was him, once. She understands his logic, his reasoning—why he comes to the conclusions that he does. Logically, she should know that if Felix is calling Dimitri a boar, it wouldn’t be based on something petty like childish jealousy.

But she doesn’t. She refuses to consider it—she shoves it down and makes excuses. Throughout White Clouds, for the first time in her life, Byleth is caught in a war between her head and her heart—her heart, newly beating, desperately wanting to cling to this strange sense of care and family that she’s never truly felt before, and her head, the voice of the mercenary, the voice of Felix telling her to stop being so blind, to look up and see the evidence around her.

But that’s the tragedy of Felix, the true Cassandra of Three Houses. He knows the truth, but because he’s so bitter and jaded he can’t communicate, he will never be believed—and the one person who should believe him refuses.

[fleshing-out-fodlan]

Crimson Flower vs. Azure Moon Marianne

I think an underrated part of the game is the differences between how the characters change on different routes (tbh I only really see it discussed to trash on CF characterizations when I don’t even think it’s objectively true that all characters are worse off on that route). Since I’m on a Marianne kick I decided to compare some explore quotes from her.

Thesis: While Marianne works to become happier in both routes, in CF she learns moreso to derive this happiness from herself while in AM she learns moreso to derive this happiness from her connections to other people.

Chapter 12

CF

AM

Marianne’s CF dialogue is obviously more focused on herself than her AM dialogue. In CF she says “what if I have the power to change the world” while in AM she says “surely we can win.” I believe this pronoun change, in CF she is feeling empowered to break free and become her own person while in AM she is feeling like she is a part of a strong group.

Chapter 13

CF

AM

Both routes here involve Marianne’s father telling her where to go, however I do believe Marianne seems more content with her decision in CF and like it’s something she would want independently of her father, even going so far as to say she would disobey his orders showing her dedication to the cause. On the other hand, in AM she doesn’t say anything about how she feels about the cause and the thing that gives her hope is hearing that someone else who she has developed a strong bond with wants her around. This contrast again shows how AM Marianne places a stronger emphasis on her bonds with other people.

Chapter 13

CF

AM

Honestly I don’t have much to say here, I don’t feel like the change in this says much about her characterization. You could say CF Marianne is freely volunteering her thoughts without needing prompting like AM Marianne and maybe there’s something too that but it does feel like a bit of a stretch to me so I’ll just leave it at that.

Chapter 14

CF

AM

As the story progresses, the explore dialogues stop being direct counterparts so the analysis may feel a bit more disjointed but let’s see what we can get from these. This is a scene of CF Marianne deriving happiness/comfort from a support network as opposed to herself (being consoled by Byleth and turning to her faith). In order to be truly happy you do need to be able to derive happiness both from yourself and others so I think it’s good to see CF Marianne relying on other people despite her increased sense of independence on this route. In AM we see a lack of confidence we haven’t seen yet in CF with her directly saying she’s “not very good” at something. She also says she is following her father’s orders which I think helps prove my earlier point that Marianne is more concerned about her father’s opinion on this route than CF. However, we do see her move on quickly from her self deprecation, pointing out an accomplishment she had and using that as a source of comfort which is a healthy approach. No one is ever going to have 0 negative thoughts about themself so it’s good seeing Marianne able to cope with these negative feeling and not just letting them destroy her.

Chapter 15

CF

AM

Here we do see the self deprecation we just saw in AM Marianne in CF Marianne with her saying she’s weak without the goddess. We don’t see her utilizing any sort of coping mechanism here which, while not inherently indicative of the fact that she has none, is still interesting. I wonder if CF Marianne feels her emotions in more extremes while AM Marianne has more consistent, middle of the road emotions?? Something I definitely want to look out for in the future but not sure if this theory will bear any fruit. Anyways, another interesting thing about CF Marianne is the ways he hangs on to her religion like we saw with her mourning Claude. Her holding onto her faith in CF is remarkable to me because of the environment she’s in. While I know Edelgard doesn’t want to completely abolish the religion, when you’re fighting against members of the church in order to dismantle it, there’s definitely going to be some sort of pressure to abandon your religion and I’m sure you would hear some not so nice comments about religion and religious people form fellow soldiers. So Marianne holding onto her faith shows her strong resolve and how she is willing to stick by her personal beliefs even if it doesn’t fit in with those around her. AM Marianne brings up her dad again, making this the third time compared to CF Marianne only bringing him up once. Marianne does say that she wants him to forget about her showing a desire for independence, but the fact that she continues to worry about her father’s views shows how she has not completely broken free from him.

Chapter 16

CF

AM

Here we see CF Marianne discussing her religion here and her using it to provide herself with a sense of comfort. Not much to comment on here except that she seems more confident in her relationship with religion here than she did last chapter. I find AM Marianne’s dialogue to be really interesting and I like hearing her reflect on her past perspectives in order to show how much she’s grown. I do think a lot can be said about this dialogue but I don’t think much of it would be related to what this post is about so I’m moving on.

AM Chapters

So as I’m sure most of you know, CF is shorter than the rest of the routes. I’ve gone through all the CF explore dialogues already and still have some AM ones left so I’m just going to go over those ones in their own section now.

Pretty basic sentiment and I think CF Marianne would feel similarly (replacing DImitri with Edelgard) if in that situation so not much to say here.

Another mention of her father, AM Marianne obviously is more dependent on her father than CF Marianne. This is likely a result of her spending more time with him in AM than CF. In both routes she goes back to assist him after the initial Garreg Mach battle, but in CF she joins the imperial army in the same year while in AM she doesn’t join the kingdom’s army for another four years. Interesting how she comments on his wellness before her own which again shows how AM Marianne spends more energy thinking about other’s than about herself. 

Her final AM dialogue is literally exactly the same as her final CF dialogue so I feel no need to report it. 

My Verdict: Honestly, I think both Marianne’s are capable of leading a happy and fulfilling life and I can see why someone would prefer either one. That being said, I do prefer CF Marianne. I think AM Marianne’s dependence on her father is a bit much and I think CF Marianne’s lack of concern for that is going to allow her to figure out what truly makes her happy without trying to please him. Also the things I’ve read about Margrave Edmund lead me to view him as a not particularly good father so I think getting some space from him will really benefit Marianne. I also think she seems more at peace with herself. While I would say AM Marianne seems to have a slightly stronger bond with Byleth than CF Marianne due to how she often seeks comfort from them, I do prefer CF Marianne’s stronger sense of independence over that. I honestly love her first CF explore dialogue where she wonders if she also has the power to change the world and if she holds onto that sense of empowerment I really think she can accomplish a lot.

Anyways, that’s my thoughts on CF vs. AM Marianne. I’m interested to hear which version of Marianne others prefer (if you even have a preference) and why so please either leave a comment or reblog with your opinions.

[kitkatwriter951]

just wanna say that the ending of Azure Moon has to be the most impactful and emotional ending in all of three houses. there is just something about the ending to AM that makes me cry every time I watch it. The lighting, the lack of dialogue, Dimitri’s facial expressions being hidden by his hair, Byleth taking his hand to prevent him from going back. It is a satisfying ending to Dimitri’s story, but at the same time you can’t help but feel your heart ache a little bit. but overall, it is an excellent way to end an intense and emotional character journey of a individual who went through so much in his life and probably never thought he would ever be able to achieve happiness by his friend’s side.

[wtfkiana]

sylvain | petunias

enchantment • resentment • charm • mystery

okay this is the last time I post this piece I am officially finished with it! deadass tho I’d like to have more of a bouquet with flowers that give a more well rounded symbolism for each character but you know…..we move!

[homoeroticvillain]

love biased tier lists by someone who hasnt even finished one route yet

[rhianwen24601]

Headcanon that Edelgard thinks of Faerghus exclusively as Adrestia's Hat.

She will grudgingly call it Faerghus out loud, but she knows its real name.

[squeaky-potat]

Oh hey look it’s me again with another DimiClaude post.

Just a rough sketch, maybe I’ll come back to it one day…

Anyway, this happens in my head cannon off screen in AM…. Then they kiss.

Edit: wanted to include the version with no background cuz I like it. 🙈

[azuremist]

mō me me meromero natchatte mō

suki de suki de (I LOVE)

Pokemon ft. Hatsune Miku - Project VOLTAGE

[multiipl]

─── ❝ Even in dark times, we cannot relinquish the things that make us human. ❞

[claude-bi-riegan]

something that still boils my blood in like a very quiet way is the fact that ingrid has a paired ending with claude. ingrid, the girl who looked dedue right in the fucking eyes and said the fódlan equivalent of 'you're not like the other brown guys'.

she's genuinely, like, the only character that i sincerely cannot bring myself to like. i honestly cannot find any redeeming qualities in her that offset her unfiltered racism.

and she can end up with claude??? khalid, king of almyra???? the man whose entire character arc and route revolve around erasing the prejudices of the people of fódlan against the outsiders??? and their fucking support chain isn't even about that, it's just ingrid nagging him??? SO HER FLAWED VIEWPOINT ISN'T EVEN CHALLENGED???? i'm gonna tear my hair out

and i'd better not see a single fucking comment in this post trying to excuse ingrid's racism/xenophobia with "boo hoo she lost glenn in the tragedy" YEAH??? AND DIMITRI LOST HIS ENTIRE FUCKING FAMILY AND CLOSEST FRIENDS AND WAS THE SOLE SURVIVOR. SO WHAT'S HER EXCUSE.

not to even mention that she wasn't the only person affected by glenn's passing- felix and rodrigue (and dimitri and sylvain) are right fucking there and although felix isn't particularly friendly towards dedue it's bc of what he percieves as blind faith in dimitri, not his duscur nationality.

[travelling-on-the-octopath]

And I said, “Darling, When you break my heart and cut me open, Could you put my blood to paper And mix it with your tears, So our rainbow lives past the stars and madmen?

(It looks . . . considerably less shitty when you click on it lol)

So yeah not to be dramatic or anything (she said, creating THE most dramatic quotation imaginable) but the Lions have the prettiest colour palette I’ve seen on any ensemble of characters. I considered doing some shading on the banner, but the intention was to use flat colours pull from character portraits, so. Oh well.

colours I pulled under the cut! one is hair, one is eyes, the other two depend on which colour was most indicative of the character; the blues and grey of the banner were pulled from the Faerghan flag.