#since we got Fallen Byleth

[oh-cool-a-burning-sword]

AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH

I GOT TWO OF THEM RIGHT! AND CHROM'S REARMED!!!

PLUS ANANKOS! OMG I'VE BEEN WANTING HIM FOR SO LONG!

THIS IS WHY THE FALLEN BANNER IS MY FAVOURITE IT ALWAYS HAS THE BEST!

[childofaura]

As much as I don’t care about Byleth, I will say that Hidari’s art of her slaps and it’s also crazy that’s it’s been 4 years since Hidari did anything for FEH.

Also while I’m not familiar with FE7, you’re right on Linus gaining another alt since it’s been already 5-6 years since he’s released and while it sucked that he is a Grail unit, at least Joe Brogie is given more work to improve on Linus so no hard feelings.

Fallen Chrom is kind of the same as Fallen Ike and I’m liking it because of how amazing those concepts are and the fact that Fujisaki Kimihiko drew them is also a plus. (Also it seems like they’re going back to their old art style after their last one at Brave F!Byleth)

Yeah, I'm not really a Byleth fan either. And with F!Byleth, it's pretty clear that it's not her personality that makes her popular, more like two really big reasons for that.

But yeah, I was SHOCKED to see Hidari getting to do more art. They should get some more FEH art more often! I adored their style in Echoes, it was very... I'm gonna say quaint, in a positive way. Something about the style really invoked the medieval aspect of FEH that most of the more recent games haven't been able to really do.

Linus absolutely deserves that alt, and honestly that "Not like this!" is more of a teasing than anything. I just wonder what his art is gonna look like, because Morphs have dark hair and yellow eyes. So are they gonna go the Morph route (that the games never actually got to do probably due to time/graphical restraints) or just give him an aura? I'm curious to see how it'll look. And I think it's funny we were just talking about Linus with Joe Brogie, I'm psyched to hear his performance for FALLEN Linus. And no worries, I'm not familiar with FE7 either, sadly.

I remember hearing people begging for Fell King Chrom and thinking it probably wouldn't come to fruition, but I'm honestly glad it did. It gives us more opportunities for FEH content. And honestly Chrom looks AMAZING! I like to think that Fujisaki Kimihiko doesn't like F!Byleth that much either, lmao. Maybe that's why their art looks so awesome again.

[deathbirby]

K here are some terrible takes I have collected. Short thoughts for each one.

"Rhea intentionally caused famine by not sharing knowledge with Faerghus"

We have no idea what kind of knowledge she shared. And pick a side! Rhea has to stay out of human affairs because she's not human, OR she has to involve herself with human affairs because otherwise she's bad?

"The Church is homophobic"

Nowhere is it even implied that same-sex relationships are frowned upon in Fodlan. Hell, the archbishop, goddess, and many devout characters are queer, and nobody raises a fuss about their love lives in their endings.

Their holy book also says that the goddess does not deny love.

The whole crest stuff is not the church's fault. They tell you not to abuse crests, and had no hand in the creation of them. Humans did. And speaking of humans, Edelgard says that the people are the ones who elevate crest bearers, not the church.

The Church also has no control over the nobles, who would be the homophobic ones in this scenario??

"Cyril is Rhea's slave"

Cyril was an actual slave at House Goneril until Rhea saved him, something he is expresses his gratitude for by doing chores. He wants to feel useful in some capacity. This is a child who wants to feel useful and takes on extra chores because of that. He's a stubborn little lad, and we love him for it.

"Rhea keeps Cyril uneducated on purpose"

Cyril says in his and Lysithea's support that he keeps his illiteracy a secret because he doesn't anybody to feel like he's not up to a task because of it. AKA: He wants to help out!

"Seteth is doing propaganda"

I'm guessing this refers to the Shadow Library. Seteth removes books there that are either inappropiate or have information that's extremely dangerous if it got out. Some books talk about bans, but since those books are in the shadow library, that likely means they're outdated.

Or this refers to him calling Edelgard mean things?? She declared war against them; of course he's not happy.

"Byleth regains their humanity in CF"

Byleth was never human. Their mother is VERY much implied to have been a Nabatean, and their heart belongs to their (likely Nabatean) mother and the goddess.

Byleth also embraces their Nabatean heritage. Remember that Silver Snow is called Byleth's Route.

Byleth's Legendary Alt in FEH is their Enlightened One version.

Byleth's Brave Alt in Feh is Sothis's regalia, and they sing the Song of the Nabateans.

Byleth's Halloween Alt is a Duo with Sothis.

Byleth's Summer Alt is a Duo with Rhea.

Byleth's Khadein Alt talks about the Goddess's hand in events.

Byleth's Fallen Alt's Forging Bonds has Sothis taking over their body to protect them.

This argument also implies that it's bad for someone to be Nabatean, which is like... yikes.

"Seteth kills the western church members cuz theyre heretics"

"Indeed. The Western Church is attempting to seize sacred ground by force."

- They explain it to you in the exact same paralogue!

"The Nabateans benefit the most from the current state of events" / "The Nabateans are the ruling/top class in Fodlan"

How does the nearly extinct group benefit most from a system where their people's bones are used as WMDs?

They are walking on glass, y'all. If the truth (or even a lie) got out, they would get hunted down.

"Lonato is a good man"

He incited an armed rebellion against a church and would've mowed down villages to get there. He also goes around the knights to attack the students. No, he is not a good man.

"Nabateans ruled over humans in the past and their rule was bad" / "Nemesis did the right thing by taking out the Nabateans"

The word the devs use for the Nabatean rule is apparently something like "cure."

It is also NEVER stated that their rule was bad? Just that the Agarthans hated it (because they hate everyone).

Even the Agarthans talk shit about Nemesis. Nobody liked him.

And you can't... justify genocide? What?

"Sothis and her kids are colonizers and the Agarthans are the natives who got wiped out"

Fun fact! Despite all my theories, it is never made clear whether or not humans already lived on Fodlan when Sothis got there! The beginning cutscene flashes (Sothis's memories) show us a gorilla first, which implies that either life was not advanced, or humans did not exist by then.

Let's say humans did exist then. Sothis landed there and just started her own family. She never took any land by force? She shared knowledge with the humans which allowed them to build modern cities. That's not colonization. Please look up cases of actual colonization; I beg of you.

Sothis is more accurately an immigrant who shares her own culture with others.

"Sothis is not a god but a space alien"

It's never confirmed if Sothis is a space alien so that's actually just theory/headcanon.

Even if, all of her feats (and the dev's words) say that she's a god.

There are many more takes like these, but these are the ones I remember from the top of my head.

[sleprandomizer]

I think I like the xenologue story better than the main story. I also like the new characters better than most of the engage base game characters. However, for the gameplay... It is just not fun to do it mainly because one garbage unit.

One of the unit in xenologue is forced deploy but they are useless. It feels like Roy 0.5. At least Roy still can do something with sword since sword is good in fe6 but this one if you don't have byleth or corrin ring congratulation you stick with a piece of stick (heh) that easily break. Oh we also cannot alter their inventory in prep menu unless we sacrifice one turn to do trading or convoy management via Alear.

Speaking of difficulty and timing I think I agree that this xenologue should be played in chapter 16 or 17. Because the new characters not scaled based on the current main chapter they just got flat internal level 20. Doing it too early would break the early game playthrough. Doing it too late in chapter 20s their stats already fallen behind. 16 and 17 are ideal chapter because all the units we have probably around lvl 20-25. Moreover, it is better to have byleth and corrin in hard/maddening difficulty.

[kyogre-blue]

OK, post timeskip GD, go!

Got up to the bridge, which means unifying the Alliance and presumably starting an offensive against the Empire.

I've gotten all the B ranks on my supports, a bunch of A ranks, and all of Byleth's available ones except Lysithea A (which is blocked off) and someone's S. The A ranks really vary a lot in terms of how involved they are, with some being quite nice, but others being pretty whatever.

Unfortunately, some of the basic issues with the support system start to get pretty obvious. You end up doing them in batches, so they get tiring. Additionally, if you watch a few for the same character in a row, there's often overlap in what they discuss, since the characters only have a few traits. Worse, none of the growth in one support can carry over to another or even a paralogue (or to the main story). The supports just become disconnected what-ifs, in a way.

(And this not mentioning the issue that some major character details always end up hidden in the most out there support, which in 3H will require some bizarre recruitment combination.)

In regard to the main story, I don't have too much to say. It's kind of spinning its wheels while we get the new plot on the road, but it's fine. It's just... fine. Hopefully, it'll pick up once we start the real battles.

Notes again:

1185, nearly 5 years since the monastery fell. But it fell several months into 1181, so like... it's 4 years and change.

Kingdom capital has fallen, Leicester alliance is split between supporting the Church and the Empire.

Sothis is here again somehow.

Tomorrow is the Millennium Festival, how convenient. Byleth came floating down a river from Garreg Mach. It is Ethereal Moon, but... Which one is that again...

Ok, I see why AC said the reunion was underwhelming. It's cute but the buildup is non-existent.

Byleth's first concern is Rhea (relatable) but Claude thinks it might be better that she's gone. He doesn't explain why. I am gonna need some time to get used to everyone's adult voices.

Lorenz is quite chill about his father's uh allegiance.

Lorenz: This was inevitable, since our lands are so close to the empire, we have to side with them or lose our necks. Lorenz also: BUT MAYBE IF CLAUDE DIDN'T SUCK

The amount of times you can ask after Rhea is... hum. Rhea is the most personal priority for Byleth. They're definitely not upset or unsettled by her, which is funny.

Seteth thought that maybe Rhea would turn up on the millennium festival.

Claude wanted to use the monastery as a base of operations due to its location.

Why are we talking to this Seiros Knight NPC? Was an unavailable playable meant to be filling this role?

Leonie A1 with Lorenz: she gives back a handkerchief... after 5 years. Leonie's village is called Sauin. It turns out Lorenz's family were the ones who hired Jeralt to help the village all those years ago. Lorenz is still punchable, btw.

Marianne A with Hilda: Their previous two ranks were more abrasive than I expected. The A is... OK? Given their popularity as a pairing, I expected something a bit more.

Cyril A with Hilda: This doesn't feel like it should have been gated to the timeskip. This A is also kinda underwhelming. It's okay, but knowing their relationship can't advance any further is... yeah.

Not really feeling the new monastery and menu music.

They did at least change the skybox to be yellow, which is something. Makes it feel autumn-y, which is... not correct. It would be nice if somewhere aside from the cathedral interior had some visible damage.

Claude A with Byleth: He admits to not being born in Fodlan (presumably because this has nothing on Byleth being potentially not even human) though doesn't name where he's from specifically. In Almyra, people from Fodlan are viewed as cowards, which Claude attributes to ignorance (if they just met and interacted with real people from Fodlan, like his mother, they'd know better). They also looked down on him for being of mixed blood.

He came to Fodlan to try and find "a new perspective" in his goal of breaking down those barriers, but people in Fodlan are even more racist, seeing people from other nations as just beasts. He wants to bring the whole world together and start anew. I know nothing bad happens, but uh. That's, hm... At least he realizes that it was extremely unrealistic... but Claude recognizes Byleth's magic dragon god powers and thinks they can make it happen together.

At first, I was wondering why we can view Ferdinand supports when he didn't turn up, but he IS here? He wasn't in the battle or the scene after...

Ferdinand has lost his territory and is determined to stop Edelgard no matter the cost. Per his B, he always intended to unseat his father. I guess, like Lorenz, he wasn't really onboard with his evil dad from the start.

Marianne and Lorenz A is....... uh. She's not going to smile while telling you about how her family is cursed, dude.

OK, so for weekly Instruct, we're using the Cardinals' room that was sealed before, and instead of the faculty giving staff training, we run advanced drills with the students.

Byleth's open mouthed shock when told Dimitri was killed (supposedly). And then a droopy sad posture.

"Faerghus Dukedom"

Claude approves if you ask him whether he hopes Rhea is dead. He just has things he wants to ask. It's interesting given that Claude presents himself as being in your corner, and Byleth has a big bend toward asking after her, seemingly in concern.

Claude thinks that most people accept the "noble system" because of their belief in the Seiros faith. They also have prejudices against non-believers too. That's... hm. A take, for sure.

So without Rhea, the supposed closed-minded Church doctrine will weaken and there will be more room for free thought, which Claude considers a cure-all.

Claude's ultimate goal here is to have Byleth take over the church and lead Fodlan that way. Then, people could be free to think for themselves. He thinks Edelgard is after something similar. He just doesn't like that she's using so much bloodshed to get there. Not necessarily because he disapproves but because the world "can't get behind" it.

But since Rhea is probably still around, we still have questions, and Byleth ambiguously might care about her (MY A RANK), Claude backpedals into finding her being the next step and quickly hurries you off to bed.

Claude and Cyril B: Claude never knew that there were people in Almyra in Cyril's situation. Which is to say... poor and exploited? Or...?

If no one else is in Rhea's corner, Cyril is. I appreciate that he doesn't just support her because she helped him personally, but because that's the kind of person she has been - trying to help those without any status and nowhere to go. Rhea helps refugees and orphans not just because of the goddess's teachings, but because it's the right thing to do.

Claude: OK, maybe Rhea is fine. Maybe.

GROWTH??

Too bad supports are basically not canon.

Claude and Lorenz A: Claude is fine giving up leadership of the Alliance to Lorenz now that he's gotten to know him. But same is true for Lorenz. Kinda gay. Not bad.

Claude was only recognized as the heir to Reigan thanks to Judith's recommendation. Which is interesting given his background.

Marianne's paralogue: One of the 10 Elites got cursed by his crest and he turned into a monster... that was still sentient and can talk. And he ate people. Unclear if anyone else with the crest was actually affected, or if they just carried that stigma for a thousand years...

Claude and Marianne A has an interesting implication about the timeline. Claude frames it as him running away from home as soon as he was old enough because he was tired of being discriminated against and hoped that Fodlan would be better. It was only after he arrived in Leicester and realized that it's no different that he came up with his idea to break down the boundaries between Fodlan and Almyra.

It makes more sense that his plan would be so weirdly underbaked if he's had it for less than a year and made it when he was despairing over having no place he could belong.

Flayn and Ignatz B: Flayn forgets the Church party line about the Elites being good guys, lmao. Also forgets that Saint Cethleann is generally portrayed as a woman, not a girl.

Ailell, the Valley of Torment, is the required lava stage. It was created when some kind of big heaven light destroyed the forest that used to be there. It's rumored to have been the wrath of the goddess, but that isn't recorded in scripture. (It's actually the Agarthans lol)

Count Rowe was in charge of Arianhodr (spl??) but betrayed the Kingdom to join the Empire. His general, Gwendal, wasn't happy about all this.

Judith accuses Claude of neglecting the Alliance territories for years. He left his territory with a reliable retainer ("Nardel"). Without Byleth's clout, he'd look like a "scoundrel leader." Judith leaves her territory with "Nardel" too, which is... lol.

One of Judith's men saw Rhea be dragged off by the Empire five years ago.

[randomnameless]

I was so excited seeing that we got risen king chrom, and then dissapointed to see that he's sharing with Nopes Byleth of all characters. Welp, I'll focus on blue then, I've been waiting for Anankos since 2017. Hope they gives us also a normal Anankos as a mythic in the future like they did with fallen Lyon/Formortiis.

I hope you'll get lucky with your pulls anon!

Fomortiis being added is really one of the few moments I was genuinely pleasantly surprised with FEH, like the cringefest of the current book aside and the past book still giving a bad taste, they had the gall to not only make Gotoh, but also Fomortiis, and give him that artwork??

FWIW Nopes!Billy has good fodder?

Maybe Anankos will pop up in the next Halloween banner like Mila'n'Duma did last year, it'd be hilarious if he does next to Medeus, Loptyr (the only way Julius will ever get an alt) and Sombron for the lols.

[beardrabbles]

invitation.

characters: GN!reader, claude, mentions of GN!byleth

warnings: none

word count: 2,814

notes: posted this on ao3 ages ago and totally forgot to post it here too :’) got into the fandom late, like alwaaaays! but i have an enormous claude / golden deer bias and wanted to write some fluff with him.

You forgot sometimes that this peaceful spot tucked between the trees wasn’t yours alone. You shared it with another from time to time, but it had been so long since the last time you both stepped foot in the clearing that it startled you to hear footfalls crunching at the grass behind you. Pushing yourself up halfway, eyes blinking blearily, you spotted the richly dressed prince with his hands planted on his hips.

“Napping without me?” Claude clicked his tongue, and you quickly replied with a roll of your eyes.

“I can’t nap here on my own?” You fell back again, letting the soft grass cushion you. A soft, content sigh escaped through your nose as the sweetest of breezes barely brushed your skin. It smelled of flowers and damp leaves, dense soil and a distant storm. There was no zing of hot iron or blood, and it was a relief.

“I thought it was our thing.  .  .”

You felt him sit beside you, taking up his usual position to your left. The tiniest flutter tickled the inside of your ribs, his nearness nearly making your head spin. “Before I came along, it was just your thing, remember?”

“Well, yeah, but I like it better this way.” Claude leaned back on his hands, eyes up towards the greying sky. It had taken fighting a war to bring back their usual glimmer, but it was there in full. Bright, hopeful, determined. Laying there, gazing up at the unsuspecting prince, it was almost as if you were looking at the man from five years ago — the cunning, clever and sometimes troublesome man that you had fallen head-over-heels for and had continued to painfully pine for.

“Me too.” You dared to smile, his gaze shifting to you. Adoring him hurt, but no amount of hurt would have you appreciating his presence any less.

Claude returned the smile, and the gesture sent your heart slamming against your chest. But just as quickly as it came, the smile faded. “I spoke to Byleth.”

You sat up in an instant, concern etched into your face. You were aware that he had gone to meet them, but he had failed to tell you why. You equally failed to push the subject, as it wasn’t your place to disrespect a man in his position. Curious as you might have been, you assumed it was best not to ask and only hope that he trusted you enough to confide in you later. Seemed you were right, though you acknowledged to yourself that it was a rare thing.

“How did it go?”

“They’re disappointed I won’t be here for the coronation. I can’t blame them. After everything we’ve been through together, I should be here for them. I want to hope they understands. They always have.” He exhaled sharply. “But, hey, I got to see them smile again! I think as long as they’re here, Fódlan will be in good hands. If they keeps smiling, if they keep breaking down the walls that were built up, I can go home and do my part there. I trust them.”

You shifted, feeling uncomfortable in your envy.

“So they’re not coming with you to Almyra?” You wondered. Claude shook his head.

“No, and I didn’t want to ask. Fódlan needs to be taken care of. It needs a parent that will hold its hand and lead it in the right direction. It’s gonna stumble around like an infant walking for the first time, but that’s why they’re the best person to lead. They’ll know what to say and do to help this little baby along.”

You screwed up your face and nudged him with your shoulder.

“You really like talking about babies.” You pointed out. Claude’s cheeks and the tips of his ears darkened a fraction, but he dismissed it with a hearty chuckle.

“I guess I do. I wonder why that is.” He trailed off, voice soft but nowhere near as confused as his words would have lead you to believe. You had long ago resigned yourself to never truly understanding him, so you shrugged. Trying to pick through his mind was like attempting a hedge maze without a map.

“Does that mean you’re going to be heading back soon?”

“I can’t stay for long. There’s so much I need to do if I’m going to see things through, but there’s something important I need to do here before I can go home.” There was sharpness to his eyes that you recognized and deeply adored. He was planning something, and you felt your curiosity rise again.

“What is it? Can I help?” You were always so quick to offer him aid. Usually, he gently denied it, stating time and time again that most of his schemes were for his mind alone. Things often worked out for the better that way. The fewer people that knew, the less chance they could commandeer the plan or ruin it. Yet you still asked just in case he needed you.

“Maybe. Before that, can I ask you something?”

You frowned. “Of course. You can ask me anything, you know that.”

“You’ve been saying that since we met. Is it really true?” Claude smirked and raised a single brow, only for you to shove him harmlessly.

“Why wouldn’t it be?” You eyed him for a moment, worry mounting. “Was that what you wanted to ask me?”

The prince shook his head, as if he were getting off track. “No. I wanted to know where you plan to go. What are your plans for the future?”

“Oh! Oh.” You frowned when the sudden realization that you had no plans slammed into you. “I don’t.  .  . know. I haven’t thought about it. I’ve been so busy supporting everyone else, doing what I can for them, that I don’t know what to do with myself. Everyone’s grown up. They’re all doing their own thing, starting their own lives. No one needs me anymore.”

“That’s not true.” Claude’s voice was firm in your ear, and his expression was set to match. You smiled meekly.

“I grew up with all of you, but it felt like my purpose was to help you all find yours. Not that I really think I’m capable of being that helpful, but I never took the time to think about myself. I was too worried about you all reaching your dreams that I didn’t have one. I don’t have one.” You amended the last part quickly because it was blatantly clear to you that you had no direction to go in.

“There has to be something you want.” Claude pushed. You laughed.

“At the risk of repeating myself, I want what you want. I want you to succeed.” You opened your mouth again, but were quick to clamp them shut when another thought arose. I want to be with you.

It was lovely to imagine, but you had lived with the fact that any future with him was left solely to your imagination. You met him as an heir, and you knew him now as a prince. The differences in your status was vast and hard to ignore. Claude had his mind set on making those differences unimportant, but you doubted that he could find room in his heart for you. He had a country to take care of and love, not to mention you two had been friends since the start of your time at the academy. Too much time had passed since then, and while your feelings had grown deeper and more troublesome, you were sure he had none to begin with. No, as students, he had been too preoccupied with tormenting you. Teasing, poking, taking up your time with nonsense and rarely giving you a moment to yourself.

Despite him being a brat at times, you loved him. And even if he didn’t reciprocate, you were grateful to have known him at all.

“So you’re not bound to Fódlan?” His voice shook you from your thoughts.

“What?”

“Do you have any obligations here in Fódlan?” His gaze was so intently set on you that it made you squirm, the feeling ten times worse since coming out of your own head.

“No, not that I can think of.” You couldn’t recall making any promises.

“Right, so you could leave.” Claude hummed thoughtfully and got to his feet. Once upright, he dusted the grass from his clothes and offered you a hand. Confused, you took it and let him pull you into standing.

“I guess I could, but where would I even go? I don’t know anyone outside of Fódlan.” You felt something subtle was being said, you couldn’t catch on. Some days, you could. You had learned him just as he had learned you, but he was always several steps ahead. You could read him, but only the pages he allowed you to see. In this case, the pages were written on, but only in bits and pieces.

Claude gave you a pointed stare and a gentle, encouraging squeeze to your hand. When you failed to understand, he raised both eyebrows and pointed to himself. No words were needed. His gestures and odd line of questioning were like a clarifying slap to the face. You reeled, giving him a wide-eyed stare while sputtering idiotically.

“Wh——”

“That took you while. I was starting to worry I’d have to spell it out for you.” Claude put on a convincing pout. “Unless this is your weird way of telling me you don’t want to come with me.”

“No!” You leaped too soon, your eagerness prompting a smirk on the prince’s face. You fell silent again, worried that saying anything more might reveal all of what you had been trying to hide for over five years. “I’m not saying that.”

“What are you saying?” He purred cunningly, hand still holding tightly to yours. You didn’t resist when he to eased you closer, your heart screaming in your chest. Cheeks red and breaths shallow, you could hardly think. This wasn’t happening. It couldn’t be happening.

I’m still napping, and this is just another stupid dream.

You swallowed hard and peered up at him. “I think I should be asking you that, Mr. Vague.”

“Ah-ah,” chided the cheeky man, “you’ll have to address me as Prince Vague now.”

You scoffed and gave him another shove. When your hand pressed to his shoulder, he trapped it there with his own. Even closer now, Claude lowered his head until your noses nearly touched. You sucked in a breath and found yourself unable to move away, attention trapped in his bright, beautiful eyes.

“You want to know what I’m asking you?” He lowered his voice, tone growing tender and warm. You nodded. “I’m asking if you’ll come home with me. I want you to meet my parents and my people, and I want them to meet you. I want them to love you as much as——”

He choked for a moment, a rare flicker of pure emotion startling him.

“As much as what?” You didn’t want to get your hopes up, but he was making it incredibly difficult not to.

Claude calmed himself with a shaky breath and tilted his chin down, lips barely ghosting the curve of your cheek. His eyes fluttered half closed, while a single lock of his dark hair tickled at your cheek. When you didn’t shy away, he spoke again in honeyed tones. “I want them to love you as much as I do.”

“You can’t mean that.” Your entire being felt numb with glee, but you couldn’t process his confession without a little doubt. He met your doubt with a chuckle, so you persisted. “Why me?”

“Why not you?” He nuzzled into your cheek, and you felt the compulsion to reach up and thread your fingers through his hair. You had done so many times before, letting the gentle touches calm him during his bad days, but there was new meaning behind it now. There was an honest love behind it as your dragged your fingers through the strands, pushing them back and away from his darling face.

“There were so many others.  .  .” So many people wanted his attention, his affection. You were but one in a thousand that longed for him.

“I didn’t care. I dreamed of many futures, and all of the best ones had you standing there beside me.” He muttered into you, the softest of kisses resting just under your eye.

“We argued so much.” You shuddered, warmth blooming in your cheeks.

“You kept me grounded. How can anyone expect to be a decent ruler if they’re always agreed with?” He countered. You huffed and tried to think of another argument.

“You used to tease me all the time.” You muttered.

“I’ll admit that was dumb of me, but it felt like the only way to get your attention.” His lips found the tip of your nose, and you couldn’t contain a snicker. “You looked so cute when you were embarrassed, especially when you wrinkled your nose. I couldn’t help it.”

“Why do I feel like you still can’t help it?” You tucked a lock of his hair behind his ear and let your fingers follow the path of his facial hair. He was putty in your hands, cheek pressing to your hand.

“It’s part of my charm.” Claude flashed his usual smile, then took a step back. The lack of closeness left you feeling a little colder, but the distance let you appreciate him fully. Tall, handsome, commanding. You were exceedingly proud of him, and you felt yourself falling for him all over again. But before you could think to speak, he started again. “You don’t have to answer me right away. I know this a lot to ask of you, so I want to give you the time you need. I’m leaving in two days. Meet me at the——”

You didn’t allow him to finish. Your heart was too full and on the verge of bursting, and it seemed silly to you that he didn’t know what your answer would be when he was so skilled at predicting you. Rather than let him wonder, you removed your hands from his and took his face between them. You gathered your courage, mustered with his help, and pulled him down for a soft but silencing kiss.

Claude wasn’t often rendered speechless, but he supposed he didn’t mind being put in his place if it meant your lips fitting against his as perfectly as they did. Unfortunately for him and the heat radiating throughout him, you didn’t let the kiss last long. He wanted to wrap you in his arms and crush you against his chest like he’d long to for years, but you parted from him too soon for his liking.

“Where are you going?” He took chase, but you placed your hand over his mouth. Claude stilled and arched a brow.

“I’ve had my answer for years, Claude. I’m with you in every possible way. But if I ask you a question, will you answer me honestly?” You uncovered his mouth, but his silence told you more than words would. “How long have you, uh.  .  .”

“Cared for you? Admired you? Wanted to kiss you the way you just kissed me?” Every question he posed in response to yours made your heart thud and your cheeks burn. “A long, long time.”

“Why didn’t you tell me before?”

“I was never given the chance.” He answered so surely that you wondered if he had those words prepared. You couldn’t pester him about it — too many things had gone horribly wrong during your time at the academy, and it didn’t make sense to plant seeds in dead soil. There would have been no guarantee that it would bloom and flourish, but with the land starting a slow recovery, you hoped that what you two started here would become lusher and more far-reaching than any forest in Fódlan.

“It’s alright.” You giggled giddily and granted him another kiss, this one to the corner of his lips. “We were given our chance, and you took it.”

“Does that mean you’re going home with me?” He asked.

“I told you——”

“I want to hear you say the words.” Claude softly pleaded. Weak for his doe eyes, you melted in his arms and relented.

“I’m going home with you, Claude. I want to meet your parents, and I want to get to know your people. And for as long as I’m there, for as long as you’ll have me, I want to get to know you better.”

A soft sigh tinged with relief escaped the man as his head came to rest on your shoulder. His grasp on you tightened, and you felt his heart beat against your chest.

“Thank you.”

You smiled and embraced him. “Don’t thank me. Just take me home.  .  .”

[fireemblems24]

Azure Moon Ch 20 Reactions

Hi everyone, spoilers below for Fire Emblem Three Houses AM route up till Ch 20 and all the other routes roughly the same spot.

Pre-Battle

Time to take Fort Merceus. If I remember right, I get to fight the Death Knight . . . again. Still feels better than fighting with that guy. Same like last chapter saving Claude felt so much better than killing him in CF.

Ah, it's so nice to hear Dimitri's voice again.

"Perhaps a head-on siege was a foolish plan, after all." LAMO I love how wonky battle strategy is in most stories compared to real life. A head-on siege is actually smart. The nonsense about disguising soldiers and relying on tricks isn't how things really went most of the time.

There's instances of tricks working throughout history (one of my favorite was how a Chinese General sent out dancing girls to distract his enemy and it WORKED), but that means your whole plan hinged on a trick working and most of the time when an army used a trick it's because that was their ONLY choice.

Just remember this folks. Good army commanders aren't the one who know the most tricks, it's the ones who win (or the one who can keep their army together even when they keep losing like George Washington for the longest time). Don't listen to the movies.

Also, bows were soooooo much more effective than swords. Our penchant for giving every hero a sword actually has classist roots since it was the weapon of the rich because it cost a lot to make and time to properly learn unlike a spear or arrows.

Sorry, but it always annoys me whenever I see stuff like this misrepresented, and I like to rant about it.

See, there we go, Gilbert for the win. "I don't think the Death Knight would've fallen for any tricks." Well, aside from why on earth we still fear this guy aside, bravo for not hinging success or failure based on some wonky trick.

And now Gilbert's talking about supplies. I could KISS this man right now. And now reinforcements. Thank you, Gilbert 😭

Oh, man, I get the option to flirt with Dimitri, I'm taking the "Will you save me if I'm in trouble?"

Aw, Mercie, you're better off without him. Dimitri's letting her step away too, if she wants. But best girl (one of them) isn't about to run away like the champ she is.

Battle

Do we ever learn why the Death Knight is so obsessed with Byleth?

LAMO Dimitri's like "wow, I know why this fortress is known for being impregnable," says he after busting through the front door on day 1. There's a joke somewhere here about Dimitri's incredibly potent dick.

I wanted Mercie to attack the Death Knight, but she couldn't take the hit. So Byleth one-shot him with a crit lol. Byleth wouldn't have killed if she didn't crit, and then Mercie would've gotten her chance, but alas it wasn't meant to be.

Poor Mercie deserves a better older brother.

Dimitri MVP. This is my surprised face.

Post-Battle

Poor Mercie is an angel and has nothing to be sorry or. I like that she gets this scene though. I feel like every member of the Blue Lions got their own mini-arc.

Time to take down the Empire, aw yeah.

Which means I'm coming up on the last monastery visit for BL. For all the routes really. This has been such a long journey. I have no idea what I'll do with my free time after this lol. The DLC I guess. and then more Azure Moon!

I'll wait and see how the other routes wrap up, but I feel this game has a high replay value, but I don't know if I can bring myself to play a route where Dimitri dies again.

Dimitri's such a workaholic. I can't relate.

Good! The Kingdom is all united now. Glad Sylvain is speaking well of his father. It makes Margrave Gautier seem like a more fleshed-out person and not just an excuse for Sylvain angst. (as much as I love some good angst)

Oh, so some Faerghus nobles were behind Duscur. I thought it was those lame mole men? Having corrupt nobility behind is sooooo much more interesting.

Hey, I just noticed. No light bombs in this route. Cause we actually just killed the Death Knight.

"I only did what I believed was right." Says the prisoner. Seems like it's the theme of Three Houses as a whole summed up there. Pending on your perspective, what's "right" and "wrong" look very different.

Ohhhh so Patricia wasn't supposed to be harmed at all, and Dimitri was supposed to die too. Makes it seem like she really did set that up. If she really was involved, what an awful, selfish, sad excuse for a person that would condemn so many people to brutal deaths just because she missed her daughter. I sincerely hope there's more to her than "oh, I miss Edelgard. I'll hand my husband and other child over to burn to death so I can please my own desires."

What do you all think of Patricia? Is she a pathetic sad waste of air or an enigma we'll never find out or a poor hapless victim in a plot she didn't understand or mostly an innocent? What's your headcannons?

I'd really like the believe she never intended for Lambert or especially Dimitri to get hurt, because I want Dimitri to have a mother figure that loved him and not one that sent him into a meat grinder because she redefined playing favorites (which would be ironic given Edelgard never mentions her whereas she obviously had a huge impact on Dimitri). I'd also prefer a character a bit more complex than evil step-mother. We have enough of those, thanks.

It sounds like she's just an evil useless windbag according to Gilbert though.

What were Lambert's radical ways?

I see why Edelgard and Dimitri will never both exist in the same world. Dimitri's always appalled when people in charge involve soldiers and especially citizens in their personal quests for justice, but Edelgard thinks that justice is worth getting all those people killed for (and is actively doing just that).

I have to ask, though, how is Edelgard any different from the people who committed the Tragedy of Duscur? They both believe their cause was right and don't care how many others die in their quest to see their own vision through to the end.

I'm sure people would say "but Edelgard is fighting for a good cause, they didn't, they caused genocide too!"

Did they? Do we know what Lambert's causes were? Maybe he wanted to strengthen the church's influence or crests and Klienman and co were against that, which would make them the exact same as Edelgard. Also, I believe they're referring only to the attack on Lambert and co, not the persecution of Duscur people that came after. That was a product of war and chaos. Who's to say Edelgard's actions won't begin a massacre of anyone who worships Sothis? Or further violence she didn't directly begin? Impersliam and blaming the world's ills on a single religious group of people tend to cause chain-reaction violence.

That's ultimately why I think she's morally incorrect. She's blinded by her own vision and has no control over what might happen because of it or how others might see it. She sees her cause as just, but you can be sure the farmers who fields she robbed to feed her soldiers (no, not personally, but there's no way that didn't happen) could give less of a hoot about her grand vision seen from the height of her golden throne, unable to even see what anyone else thinks or believes.

Note though, part of what I like about her is how unbending she is. Just because I think someone is wrong doesn't mean I dislike them as a character.

Man, the writers are so mean to Dimitri. Edelgard gets to fra-la-la through a field with Byleth with little to no conflict or loss on her part and Claude gets to joke around with Hilda about dressing up as Edelgard to sneak in a fortress while Dimitri learns his mother sent him to a slaughter house because she loved her other child better. Yikes. That's also why it's the best route. Fight me.

Good for Dimitri moving on though, and not lingering on what Patricia might or might not have done. I noticed he left her out this time when listing people who died though lol.

Yes, Dimitri, talking to Edelgard is a fool's errand. That would require her to do things she's not very good at - listening, understanding someone else's POV, and compromise. Pretty sure you need to die for her to stop or else you're too big of a threat to her rule.

Still. So glad he's trying to use diplomacy to end this war rather than weapons. I think this is the first time in FE history a leader has tried meeting with the enemy and not just killing them (oh, wait, Erikia did that too with Lyon, didn't go well. Guess I have a type lol).

Is it weird to feel proud of a fictional character? Lol. Dimitri moving on past Patricia to focus on what he still has and value those he knows that love and support him is just 👌

OMG I love this route. I'm going to miss it so much once it's over.

[burr-ell]

100% petty confession i don't want hilda to win CYL this year bc i don't want her to have more alts than claude🥲 i don't really care about the whole 'recency bias/3H burnout' going on in feh but also the possibility of it being felix/bernadetta/hilda (chrom HAS to be a shoe-in this year🧿) just has me going 'ok fodder'

oh listen that pettiness is valid!! i'm still annoyed that claude hasn't gotten a fourth alt to put him even with edelgard and dimitri. he'd never have been on the fallen banner, he's too hot for that, but cmon intsys. pirate barbarossa claude?? christmas reindeer claude??? SUMMER CLAUDE???? do yall not understand how unabashedly horny claude's fans are and how much we'd pay for him

i. personally. am begging for CYL not to have bernie, hilda, or felix in it. i was actually planning to split my votes between chrom and miss byleth, but since she got her legendary i think i'm just gonna go all in for chrom. bc i'm of two minds about the 3h saturation in feh: on the one hand it's wildly popular and they're making up for the time when 3h wasn't in the game or getting rep; on the other, holy balls that's a lotta 3h. i mean i'm guessing it's working, since feh's still super successful, but after the fiasco that was cyl5 and the sheer Amount of alts 3h got this year, we gotta cool it on the 3h stuff.

(also f!robin for cyl <33333333333)

[oh-cool-a-burning-sword]

it's May and about a week away from the next story banner, you know what that means!

Who do y'all hope'll get a Fallen Alt this year?

[legendsoffodlan]

The Lioness and the King - Part 1

*In honor of Leonie getting her God-tier art, I finally got off my ass and am writing that Leonie x Dimitri fanfic I promised!*

Please, let me know what you think of it!

Summary: When Leonie joined the Blue Lions it was primarily to keep a close eye on Byleth, her one-sided rival. Falling in love with the future King of Faerghus was not on her to-do list.

-

Leonie’s first impressions of the Blue Lions was... underwhelming to say the least. Not to say she didn’t like them, or they rubbed her the wrong way, but she could tell she was an intruder. Mercedes and Annette were joined at the hip, Sylvain, Ingrid and Felix had years of friendship behind them, and Dedue never left his majesties side.

Surprisingly, Ashe was the one she got on best with at first..

“You use Goose feathers to fletch your arrows?” she asked as the she and Ashe practiced on the archery range.

“Sure, what about you?” he asked, loosing an arrow. It landed nearly dead center and Leonie’s competitive side preened as she saw it was just a hair further away than her own.

“Whatever I can get my hands on. Duck, mainly, but I like falcon,” she explained, nocking another one.

Ashe nodded. “Yeah. After Lonato adopted me I could try out lots of different feathers, but Goose works best for me.

Leonie felt her mouth quirk in annoyance. That was another thing she recognized as a gap between her and the Lions. The wealth gap between them. She knew that Mercedes’ family had fallen on hard times, and Ashe had been born in poverty, but still, all of them had known a level of wealth and privilege that she could only ever dream of. The only exception was probably Dedue, but the rest of them probably didn’t actually have to worry about money.

Ah well. The price we pay for competition.

Speaking of, the object of her competitive verve was on the other end of the training ground with Felix, sparring.

Byleth Eisner, the son she didn’t know that her teacher had. Truth be told... he unnerved her. That blank, emotionless face that only ever seemed to curl into annoyance. He never flinched, he never faltered, he moved with a grace that was positively unnatural.

She shivered. Sometimes she doubted he was human.

“Ah, Ingrid said I would find you too here!” said a cheerful voice. Leonie turned to See their House Leader, Dimitri.

“Aa-h! Y-Your Highness! You- you surprised me,” Cried Ashe, quickly bowing.

Dimitri flushed. “Ah- Ashe, I’ve told you, Dimitri is fine.”

“I- I’m sorry Your Highness. That’s- tha’s just too strange for me,” ashe was looking about, clearly looking for an escape.

“Hey, uh, Ashe, I think I left my spear in my dorm. I’m gonna go-” she began and Ashe cut her off.

“N-no no! I’ll go get it for you!” Ashe bowed to Dimitri once more and rushed off.

Dimitri blinked after him and turned to Leonie. “That was well done.”

Leonie shrugged, “Eh, I’ve wrangled worse.”

Dimitri cleared his throat. “I- uh, I don’t believe we’ve been properly introduced. I am Prince Dimitri of Faerghus. And you’re our new House member, Leonie?”

She nodded, slinging her bow over her shoulder. “That’s me! And, uh, should I call you Your Highness or...”

Dimitri shook his head. “No, no! Like I told Ashe, Dimitri is fine.”

“Right, good to know Dimitri.”

They stood in awkward silence for a few moments. Leonie really had no idea what to say. She’d never met royalty before, Hell, The Alliance didn’t have a King at all. The Grand Duke might run things, but there was no “Divinely Chosen King” or any of that. Even the most stuck up of Nobles, Like Lorenz and his family, weren’t treated like that.

As it turned out, Dimitri broke the silence. “You are, uh, very skilled with that bow!” he said brightly.

Leonie immediately picked up. “Uh-huh. I’ve been hunting since I was a little girl, but Captain Jeralt taught me how to really shoot. Now I almost never miss.”

Dimitri nodded. “You think highly of the Captain.”

She beamed. “He’ the best there is. I hope to surpass him one day.”

“Of course,” said Dimitri good naturedly.

The clash of steel to the side signalled the end of Byleth and Felix’s sparring. As they left, Felix shot Dimitri one of the dirtiest looks Leonie had ever seen. ‘What was that about?!’ thought Leonie, alarmed. She turned to Dimitri, only to see an almost mournful look cross his face.

He shook it off a moment later. “Ah, nevermind that. Felix and I- well, we have problems of our own. I do not wish to bother you with them.”

‘Problem?’ thought Leonie, alarmed. ‘That wasn’t problems, that was borderline hatred!’ But before she could voice them, Dimitri bowed.

“I hate to impose, but I have a request to make,” he said. He gulped nervously. “Could you perhaps show me how you use the bow properly? I’ve attempted to learn but... I tend to break them by pulling to hard.”

Leonie blinked at the sudden change, but mentally shrugged to herself. Whatever was going down between Felix and Dimitri wasn’t her business.

“Sure, you can use the training bow Ashe was using,” she said, unslinging her own again. Dimitri beamed and grabbed the loose bow. 

“Now, first of all, the most important thing with the bow is-”

SNAP!

Leonie wheeled around to see that Dimitri had, in record time, managed to snap the bowstring. He gave a sheepish smile that was downright adorable, in her opinion. “Uh- I-... I’m sorry?”

Leonie blew out a breath. “Well, let’s start with the basics, judging draw strength.”

-

“Been training the boar, have you?” came the cold voice of Felix.

Leonie looked up from her essay. They were in the classroom, working on an essay on tactics. Ingrid had had to actually drag Felix in, much to the amusement of the rest of the class. Even the ever-stoic Professor had cracked a slight grin at that, or at least an upward mouth twitch.

But now Felix was lingering over her, most of the rest of the class either gone or chatting in private.

“Boar? You mean Dimitri?” she asked, confused.

Felix snorted. “Yes, the beast. You’ve been teaching him the bow?”

Leonie nodded, not sure where this was going. “Mainly how not to break them with one pull,” she said dryly.

Felix narrowed his eyes. “My advice? Stop. Or exercise caution. The Boar is dangerous. Let your guard down around him and he’ll gore you to death.”

Leonie balked at the vitriol in Felix’s voice. “Are... are we talking about the same person?”

Felix gave a bitter grin that looked more like a death rictus. “It’s a convincing disguise isn’t it? But that’s all it is, a disguise. The Boar is nothing but a savage beast. Sure, like any beast he can be affectionate, but he’ll rip your throat open without a second thought.”

Without another word Felix swept away, leaving an alarmed Leonie in his wake.

“Well... that was... something.” she said to herself. Inside, her mind was whirling. What the hell had Felix meant, a Boar? Dimitri had never been anything but kind and polite to her. What did Felix know? Or presume to know?

Uggh, she should have stuck with he Deer. Not nearly as much drama there.

Dimitri approached her, interrupting her thoughts. “Leonie! Are you finished?”

Leonie shook her head like a horse ridding itself of flies. “Pretty much. Up for another archery lesson?”

Dimitri beamed. “Indeed! I’ve been practicing, and I managed to pull the bow without breaking it.”

“Heh, that’s great. Maybe now you’ll be able to shoot an actual arrow.”

-

Let me know what you guys think! If you like it, I’ll continue, but you’ve got to let me know. I won’t bother if no one seems interested.

BTW, I’ve decided that Leonie and Dimitri’s ship name is Lion King.

[allbrainrot]

Hi! First, i love your writing🥺 Now to the point. How about felix, sylvain and dimitri pinning after the female reader? We are basically yeeting ingrid and placing a fem reader instead😂 Like, they are childhood friends and the three of them have had a lovestruck for her since they were kids? And now they just end up fighting for her love or smth? Either hdcns or an scenario is fine! You can pick whichever you wish! However if you dont want to write this req please dont feel forced to! Love u🥺

Thank you so much!! 🖤 And yes, you got it! Bye Ingrid LMAO 😎😎 I write pre timeskip wayyy better so I’m gonna just say that reader is 18 (i don’t write NSFW or anything but age is still a thing lol) so that they’re in between the ages of Dimi + Felix & Sylvain and it works out, hope you don’t mind! I love you too anon 🥺

- Dimi is probably the first one to catch feels when they’re kids! Felix does too but he’s kinda just like wtf is this??? until someone teases him about it. Sylvain is quite ✨special✨ with romance but I think he’d be inclined to trust you a lot more because you’ve known him since you were teeny tiny before you even knew wtf a crest was! So he probably also catches feels when you’re kids but then he goes through his whole girl phase SIGH

- None of them realize their predicament until they all see you again at the officer’s academy together. I wouldn’t say they’re super obvious about it, but they’re teenagers (well Syl isn’t but shhhhh) who all like the same person so they’re going to pick up on each other’s crushes while reader remains ignorant. It’s not an issue that needs to be addressed immediately, but they’re all watching each other cautiously.

- Syl would have a massive head start on flirting with you, but he’s faced with the big issue that you don’t believe he’s being genuine and brush him off. Felix is constantly challenging you to duels to get close to you and also have alone time with you, although the other 2 will occasionally ruin his plans and insist on joining. Ah man bby Dimitri would probably come across as a little overbearing because he’s very protective of you and is constantly offering to do things for you. He’s just a mother hen that’s whipped for you and doesn’t know any other way to express it!

- When it comes to the 4 of you sitting together at lunch or in class, Sylvain is the worst. He’s very aware that his competition is far less bold than him, and so he’s making sure he’s always closest to you. Will squish as close to you as humanly possible HE WOULD DEADASS PUT YOU IN HIS LAP IF HE COULD 😭 If he puts a hand on your thigh or an arm around you it’s a wholeass declaration of war.

- Felix will likely become much more protective which may cause a lot of yelling at you for being careless or weak, but really he’s just so worried! To ease his mind, he’ll help you correct your mistakes himself (which has the added bonus of getting really close to you and occasionally lowkey holding hands when he adjusts your grip). Around other people, especially Dimitri and Sylvain he’ll be evidently sweeter to you to get the message across. A blended mix of jealousy and concern will make him very protective of you around the other two. Dimitri is not getting within 5 feet of you while guard dog Felix is around.

- In the Blue Lions the tension in the air is so thick you could cut it with a knife everyone is thoroughly confused but frankly just sick of it lol. Felix glaring at Dimitri? That’s totally normal but Dimitri is doing it back AND Sylvain is added to the weird stare off- wtf happened?? Byleth would have to talk to them after class and be like guys what in the goddess’s name happened 😭 They’ll all give a vague answer that doesn’t give away that it’s about you and each one of them has a jab at the others to shift the blame..please find your chill lads !

- At this point everything gets a little bit needier because they’ve all had this pent up yearning but have been blocked by the others. (If you’re ok with it) Sylvain will just randomly peck you on the cheek or your forehead when he sees you and you’re just like LOL ok ✨typical Sylvain✨ But when you sit next to him at lunch or in class he’s started very tenderly holding your hand under the table and you’re like huh ok that’s a little odd. If Dimitri is on the other side of you he will carefully take your other hand in retaliation. Felix will probably give in and do the same but he’ll snatch your hand a lot more aggressively and look away from you with a scowl and a blush.

- Dimi and Felix are both touch starved AF and would very much appreciate cuddles or any physical contact. If you’ve reacted positively to everything thus far, Dimitri will slowly start to bite the bullet and initiate affection because he wants it so bad. Any time you touch Dimitri, he gets sappy and lovey af and will express his adoration in hopes that you’ll keep giving him affection. Felix would never upfront ask for affection but he just kinda sits really close to you and glares at you with a little pout and you will have to realize that this is Felix language for ‘it is a crime that you aren’t cuddling me rn’.

- Obviously Sylvain gets lots of physical contact with women but I don’t ever see it as holding affection yknow?? Like yeah he spends a night or two with chicks after them crest babies™️ (i cannot take myself seriously this sentence is so funny-), but I don’t really think that they’ve done actual cuddling or casual displays of affection like petting someone’s hair because they likely don’t care too much for Sylvain and will just do the bare minimum. So in a way, Sylvain is also starved of affectionate touches and he would very much appreciate the little things that no one else has done for him. It’s new and scary for him to actually seek romantic attention, but he’s still pretty bold, just not very tactful when it comes to you lol. If you’re sitting by yourself on a bench he will not hesitate to sprawl himself out on top of you with his head in your lap and stare up at you with an innocent grin. Is also lowkey not embarrassed to whine or pester you?? His reputation is pretty hopeless at this point so what does he have to lose by sitting behind you in class and poking you while dramatically whining about you not paying attention to him?

- Attention is a huge deal to Sylvain. It’s one of the main things he’s looking for when he randomly flirts with people at the monastery. He can’t handle being ignored and that leads him to often seek many girls at once so that he always has attention when one is busy. But when it comes to you he finds himself in deep shit because once he’s gotten a little bit from you, everyone else seems minuscule and with others he only receives a mere fraction of the satisfaction he gets from being with you. So he’s gradually allotting more and more time to you until he hardly talks to any other girl. But Sylvain is used to being the one that everyone wants more of, so when he finds himself in the shoes of the smitten women that piss him off, he’s plagued by the worry that you’ll think he’s overly needy. So he comes to seek validation from you too. If he can just get you to comb your fingers through his hair or give him a kiss on the cheek then he can renew his confidence in trying to court you.

- Dimi is somewhat similar but for different reasons and in different ways. Dimitri has practically no experience with romance so he’s extremely smitten and has an overwhelming desire for the affection you give him that he’s never had. But he’s painfully aware of how extreme his feelings are in comparison to any other couples he may have seen at the monastery, and he’s terrified that he’ll scare you away if he expresses exactly how much he yearns for you. So Dimitri is always very visibly holding back much like he often holds back his strength. Dimi will do anything for you or with you, but you have to initiate it so he can be certain that he’s not smothering you. On days where he’s extremely lovey and never wants to let go of you (which is kind of often lol) he will constantly ask if you’re sure that he’s not bothering you. He is just so horrified at the thought of messing up whatever it is you have.

- Felix will be very easily overwhelmed by you, so it’s much better if you wait to cuddle up to him until you can both go to one of your rooms. It’s not that he doesn’t want to be touched, he does, but his feelings for you make him way too vulnerable for his liking, so he’s not going to want anyone else around. Felix is still Felix and he goes off to take out his feelings in the training grounds every free day, but has started occasionally coming to your room when he’s done for the day and receiving his required cuddle time away from prying eyes. He may have accidentally fallen asleep with you a couple times..

- You’ve probably snuck in to sleep in Dimi’s room on occasions when he’s dangerously sleep deprived. The man, the myth, the legend Dedue would definitely help sneak you in because he knows it does Dimi a lot of good. Dimitri is able to fall asleep with you practically on top of him in his grasp. Feeling your heartbeat close by and your hair beneath his head and hearing you breath peacefully is enough to ground him from his fear of losing you too. He’ll still have nightmares, trauma is a bitch, but when you’re there you can bring him back down and he’ll eventually be able to fall back to sleep (which he typically can’t do alone). It’s not a perfect night’s sleep, but it’s enough to keep Dimi functional and that’s what you’re there for. He’ll thank you a million times and unnecessarily apologize for the inconvenience, please do what you can to reassure him that he’s not a nuisance to you. 

- SIGH Sylvain, this god damn silly little goose, is extremely distressed by his feelings for you and even moreso by his developed neediness. It honestly kinda scares the shit out of him to realize he’s whipped for someone and at a loss for a way to ask you out. He’s used to having that power, to have someone’s feelings in the palm of his hand where he can do anything he wants. Genuinely trying to figure out how he would court someone is a frightening new thing for him and he’s suddenly on a playing field where he doesn’t have his experience or his power to shield himself with. So he reverts to his old ways to try to get a handle on his fear and have his confidence boosted back up. But of course, Syl still wants all the attention he can get from you so you so he spends all of the day with you, then does his other girl bullshit at night! It doesn’t go as smoothly as planned though..Sylvain is used to being yelled at by crying girls, but it hasn’t gone unnoticed that he ignores them all day and drops by whenever he feels like it, and he ends up getting in some pretty nasty arguments that do not help his already vulnerable state. So it’s like 2 AM and Sylvain’s feeling like a sorry sack of potatoes and just wants to be held by someone and talk until falling asleep in their arms. And there’s only one person who Sylvain wouldn’t mind being open with and who could provide him genuine comfort..and you’re the lucky winner of the ‘Sylvain on your doorstep at 2 AM’ lottery!! Unless your sleep schedule is wack you’re gonna be all groggy like hey uhh wtf Syl??? And that is how the occasional nights that Sylvain falls asleep in your room happen!

- If the 3 of these scenarios interfere with each other ummmmmmmmm no they didn’t 😳

Ok! That’s where I’m leaving off because I don’t want to try to write endings with you picking one of them it just makes me kinda sad LMAO. Bro omg it’s the return of the ridiculously long Allister fics she do be goin a little insane though 😳 But for real I’ve been gradually adding to this for like?? a week? And I just kept picking cute relationship milestones or whatever in my walnut brain and writing a point for each of them so that the 3 of them are equally written. So it might not line up perfectly but I hope you like it!!

[wienzard93]

i just wanna write some thoughts...? idk. lately i’ve been thinking about FE3H a lot and the characters. god i love them to death. this is probably one of my fav title since path of radiance. i got into thinking bcs someone made a comment about it on a youtube video.

first maybe about edelgard as the red rose/ crimson flower. edelgard looked so cold and evil if we’re on the outside looking in. the perfect princess and then emperor. just like a perfect red rose, complete with her thorns. so beautiful, alluring and prickly. technically there are plants that can live without the sun. but for flowering plants? that’ll be near impossible. to make the perfect rose bloom, you need sunlight. 

if byleth were to guide edelgard, they showed us the person behind the emperor. she’s just someone who are as lonely and in need of companion like dimitri. i feel like, byleth could’ve done more but as imperfect as the scenario is in the game... i like how they turned out. between her and dimitri, i honestly find it hard to choose. they both need guidance and compassion. although.. the latter need it more imo.

dimitri is the moon that needs the sun to shine. he simply need byleth more than edelgard considering the things he had to go through as a child. the only reason he was ‘functional’ in the academy, in my opinion, was bcs his friends were there. a person like dimitri is what i call a ‘mirror’. there are a lot of ppl who reflect the ppl/situation around them but a person like dimitri is the most apparent.

mirrors like dimitri needs good ppl to be good. once they’ve fallen into mental sickness they need someone to help them or else they’ll spiral down even further (as we all know how in the game). i don’t know how to elaborate more on this one. i can use myself as an example but it feels a bit ‘too much of myself’ from doing so. all i can say is that dimitri will be a good leader if he were to surround himself with good people who wants to help. hence, the need of byleth. to be the light he can reflect and chase away his self-doubt.

just like the moon itself, he rotate between the bright and dark side. dimitri will never be rid off his ghost (bcs i know, i still think about “the bad” from time to time despite being plenty okay nowadays). but we all know everyone on earth needs the sun and the moon to flourish.

then we have claude. oh my boy, claude. how i love you. if dimitri doesn’t exist he’d be my number one. he is the wind that blows the gentle breeze. plants need it, the ships need it. one way or another the wind is like a presence that sometimes we take for granted until either it’s gone or turned into something like terrible typhoon/ tornado to notice. much like claude himself. not to mention he is the most independent out of the bunch.

bcs the wind are caused by differences in temperature on earth due to different are exposure to sunlight. the wind does blow bcs of the sun but it’s not something that happen instantly. it’s not as ‘needy’ as the moon or flower. personally i like claude bcs i just want to be swept by his current. i don’t need to guide/ nudge him a lot.

we also have rhea who is cold as snow. cold isn’t the opposite of hot. it’s an absence of heat. therefore rhea isn’t necessarily a good person bcs she lacked that warmth. she had been, for a very long time. her obsession to find it (which was her mother/ sothis at that time) is a bit too much. but i guess if you’ve been in the north/south pole for too long you’ll want to have some warmth as well.

she still function just fine without the sun. i just don’t think a lot of people liked her that way.

last but not least, i have been talking about ‘the sun’ all this time. it’s of course byleth. the thing that i like about this is bcs byleth as a character kind of challenge the trope for a character that signify ‘the sun’. usually such character is someone bright and cheerful. someone optimistic, has a good morale and compassionate. but byleth isn’t all that. they’re stoic, almost unfeeling also a mercenary. someone you can pay for a kill. byleth was already quite gray from the beginning. they’re not quite noble.

regardless bcs the lack of heart or not, there are ppl like byleth in real life. those who set aside their personal feelings regarding things bcs it’s not necessary. this caused them to look cold or unfeeling. but byleth as a character does care for their students (at least in my opinion). the little things he did in the academic days will have ripple effects in the future. just like the sun and its light. i mean, you can’t exactly see it but you can feel the differences. the light. the small details byleth notice and did for everyone throughout the story.

i’m sure someone already noticed this or talked about this. i guess, i just want to write this down for my own peace of mind. i just love the symbolism and how they’re all make sense. even down to the logical/ scientific side of things.

[crystalelemental]

Since I’ve apparently decided that today is Flèche and Randolph day, I’m gonna bitch about how much I hate the story purpose of these two in Blue Lions.

This whole situation kicks off with Randolph’s defeat, and a follow-up scene where Dimitri has captured him and is taunting him, threatening to kill him or do all sorts of awful things. And it’s supposed to show how far he’s fallen, and that he’s too wrapped up in his anger to recognize the people he’s facing. But like…all he ever does is make threats. He never actually hurts Randolph at all, just stands there taunting him about all the stuff he could do to him and posturing. And for some reason, Byleth’s sensible response to this is to fucking ice Randolph, because Dimitri saying mean things was too extreme, but straight-up killing the guy is merciful? Okay. Like, this isn’t showing Dimitri being a savage killer, it’s showing him being mad and making threats about killing people he’s mad at, like the ten year olds I work with do every day. Why did we kill Randolph?

So this kicks off Flèche seeking revenge, by infiltrating their ranks by posing as a civilian. But she seeks revenge on Dimitri. Who hasn’t done anything. Byleth did that. But she identifies Dimitri as the enemy, pulls off some great moves to try and get him killed that fails, then just tries to do it directly by just stabbing the fucker. The end result of this is that Rodrigue takes the hit and dies, and Byleth kills her in response. And it’s like…she’s like 10 and half your size. Just scoop her up from under her armpits and set her on top of the wall for timeout. I’m sorry the ten year old got mad and tried to stab you, but you don’t have to fucking kill them over it. “But she killed Rodrigue!” Yeah, but it’s not her fault the idiot doesn’t know basic self defense and could only thing to spread his arms out and jump directly in front of a sword instead of just…I dunno…blocking? Pulling her back by her braids before her tiny baby legs can get to Dimitri? You had other options, dude.

But after this, Dimitri’s all like “she had the right to kill me” because cycle of violence and seeking revenge. Except he didn’t do anything. Byleth did. Byleth’s responsible for both of them dying, basically over nothing, and somehow we’re supposed to look at this as Dimitri was bad and is getting over it, because Byleth was doing a good thing somehow and that they’re helping? By killing an unarmed captive and a child? I get that after having your lord threaten to torture and kill a dude you may not want to have him actually kill someone, but since Byleth did the deed and Flèche was just wrong about who killed him this whole situation just falls apart. Dimitri has no reason to feel guilty in this instance, and Byleth doesn’t discontinue the cycle of violence they just won it by killing everyone left to seek revenge in this scenario that they started.

[inthedusksynria]

until-lune respondeu seu post “@until-lune I’m 99% convinced that Micaiah will be...”A couple of things that I want to say. • If we...

@until-lune

Hello! Again i am using this one form of reply bc its easier for format! If you prefer i change for reply format it let me know!. Putting under read more bc this got long, but i had lots of fun doing it!. I am answering all your replies here!

M!Corrin-wise -  I dont think Omega Yato will be his weapon, because the refined version of his OG version (normal M!Corrin in the red pool) already has it. While his art has his normal weapon, his sprite has Omega Yato.

Dawn Yato is definitely a possibility tho! although it would be very odd to give it to him and not make its Twin/Mirror Weapon Dusk Yato to CQ!themed!L!F!Corrin.(but hey its IS)

(something i am so salty off bc i love Dawn and Dusk Yatos ;-; they are so pretty and match so well their promotions... and games... heck!! they both have their route-represent Legendary weapons features incorpored on them and just *clenches fist at the emotional moments*)

Also, A re-colored dragon alt is also a possibility, since L!F!Corn did that.

I dont think skipping the Staff is a certainty because IS has made weird choices before. Leif has an Bow which is a weird choice for him, but, like Corrin, he has a A Rank in bows in his promoted class, and like Corrin he is an “unpopular” Lord. Chrom and Lucina have Bows, when they also had Lances as options by promotion class.

I dont think popularity certainly incentivizes diversity in weapon usage. because we have had a lot of Weird choices from IS of making a popular character have the same weapon across multiple alts. -> 3H lords, Ike, Eirika and Ephraim had all a repeat of their OG weapons and are far more or just as popular as Micaiah; and even weirder L!F!Corrin, who by CYL and Nintendo magazine poll is more popular then M!Corrin,  has the same weapon type than her fallen version (and still lacks a red alt for her emblem AND had an iconic red weapon associated with her promotion of DarkBlood/Nohr Noble (Dusk Yato)). Also fun fact, F!Corrin counterpart to M!Corrin Staff Rank is a Tome Rank. So it would also be possible for her to have had an red tome alt.

conclusion regarding weapons: IS pretty much spins a Wheel and decides what to do. I think its pretty much a case of...whatever the executives woke up on that day wanting.

(that, of course, doesnt make theorizing what weapon they will have  any less fun xD)

Honestly the only reason why I am certain it is Micaiah is irrational/a F2P technique. In  that if it is not her, it will destroy my will to summon and thus allow me to spend less XD. I have seen people doing it and boy does it works wonders when you arent right.

Going by that (my theory it is Micaiah) I find it unlikely to be Colorless (and thus Staff or colorless tome) only because the other spreads are just That Good^tm.

One of the methods that people used to guess which color the new Leg/Mythic will be is to see which color has a busted spread of colors. And it has been right ever since Edelgard

(The reason for so is that IS seems to have realized that by debutting the hero on a so-so spread, it made people wait for their rerun in order to get them, Bramimond being an example in that his spread was awful (L!Grima) and his rerun spread was godsmacking good (Mila)... pun not intended)

The colorless this time is rather...i wouldnt say weak, because Eir usability is REALLy good and Duma has a nice niche of wrecking people plans(cackles in my AR matches). However, they are fairly outdated in comparation with the other color spreads. So, in the event this leg hero is Micaiah (or Elincia, or Byleth) i dont think they would be colorless because of that.

Oh! Regarding the CYL theory, since the legendaries were introduced in the second year of FEH, I dont consider much broken, since i merely think its always /A/ winner instead of the 1st of each year. Since shuffling of legendaries is possible, (those times when IS changed the calendar lineup), should the Byleths win CYL(which is fairly likely). it would be easy to put them on the next GW. And I also think it will be a theory that will be broken absolutely next year, since I doubt Marianne and Gatekeeper would be viable L!Heroes. I agree with you that is a weak pattern that is likely to be broken.

Counterpoint to Wind F!Byleth ->  Blessings not always end up being the element that is most associated with the Character in the main game. Highly Water themed (and midly Fire themed;) Corrin ended up as Wind; Julia, who has Minor blood of fire and was called “Genealogy’s Fire Emblem sword” was Earth; Eliwood, wielding the fire themed Durandal, was Wind. (tbf this is also a counterpoint to Wind Micaiah, since she has more association with Light and maybe Fire(?) than Wind)

Regarding 3H launching with 3H, besides Edelgard, Claude also debuted with no 3H legendary accompanying him. Annete was there, but other than that, no other 3H unit or legendary was on the banner. In fact, the pattern i do see with 3H legendaries is that their first re-run matches with a release of a Mythic in their color spread. (Edelgard -> Hel ; Dimitri -> Seiros).

I want to highlight that i am not saying it wont happen, but that I lean more towards they keeping a space between 3H legendaries release, in order to long term profits, and to not cause burn-out of 3H content. (or at least decrease people complaining about it; They seem to have learned their lesson with the Fates and Tellius spams.)

Finally,I do think that it is possible for Micaiah to be a Staff and for other characters to be released in this month/banner, mostly it is the premises i chose to apply to this theorizing lead me in a contrary direction xD. You show some good points! (I would love a Dawn Yato Corn and a Staff Micaiah ;-;...)

Extra Tangent: I have absolutely no idea what IS(executives) considers the character is associated with Silver Snow like...

For one side, Seteth makes lip service saying the route lord is Rhea; Rhea presents the choice mirror to Edelgard’s in the route split; the ending cutscene focuses on Rhea character development/closure, but, at the same time, she is Sir Not Appearing for 75% of the route and the rest of the time she is benched.

For another side, Byleth was made to be the lord to Edelgard emperor’s and her rival; has several cutscenes showcasing that; is the “lord” of the route in role sense, but, on the other hand, its more associated with Fire (fire emblem).

Honestly at this point i just dont know what FEH is going to do with them. I think IS is going to make one of Byleth Wind as you said and the other Fire, but which one, i have no idea. I could see too an argument for Ground(since i think at the lack of an Light element for Light element character-focused they pick ground sometimes) too, but yeah. 

I cant believe the true plot twist of GW is gonna be Rhea being the wind legendary breaking all of our theories xD (/j, but can you imagine how funny it would be?)

[radramblog]

Ultimate^2

Super Smash Brothers Ultimate has finally unveiled its final DLC character, with reactions ranging fully across the spectrum. Hot takes abound.

I mean, statistically, just about every possible opinion is going to be represented. There were at least 500,000 people watching the reveal stream, and that’s not including those viewing through restreams. That’s insane for a trailer of any kind, let alone for a console-exclusive video game DLC.

Now that it’s been like… a day and a bit, I think most of the spciest takes have probably been made, which is the perfect time for me to chip in with my own milder opinion. More of a butter chicken, really.

(no images in this one i’m lazy tonight)

I figure I’m this late already, might as well drop some notes on the other ones first.

Piranha Plant was kind of the definition of an unexpected pick. Not only was it from an already well-represented franchise, being fucking Mario, it’s also just…not a character. As such it makes an odd choice for a DLC fighter…except for the part where it was free. If you owned the game in its first month. And frankly, I don’t think people would have been happy if it wasn’t. As it is, though, it’s a perfectly fine character- surprisingly cute, actually.

I’m unsurprised about Joker’s inclusion. With how huge Persona 5 became in both Japan and the west, capitalizing on it to make a shitload of money makes perfect sense. The character plays well enough, though the meter gimmick was kind of a daunting sign of things to come. All that in mind, though, the most surprising thing about Joker being in the game is that they still haven’t put P5 on the Switch. Atlus please.

Hero and Banjo/Kazooie were announced on the same night, and I distinctly recall someone saying that this was one for the Japanese audience and one for the Americans. I mean, I’ve never played Dragon Quest, so I guess I fell into the latter? Both series have a long, well-regarded pedigree (Banjo’s lack of recent offerings notwithstanding), so both arguably deserve their respective positions. Hero is the much more notable character gameplaywise, though, with the incredibly complex mana and spellcasting mechanics. Complaints about RNG in Smash aren’t completely unfounded- though it has existed in the past in the form of, say, Luigi’s misfiring side-B- but I know a lot of people think Hero took it too far. If I’m honest, though, the weirdest thing is just having Akira Toriyama-ass 3D models in the game. Banjo’s gameplay is…awkward. The kit is kind of a mess, but at least the gimmicks weren’t going too hard, you know?

Next was Terry, perhaps the most obscure character on the entire list in 2021. I actually really like Terry in this game- while he’s still trying to emulate a similar feel to Ryu/Ken, the difference feels more natural, if that makes sense. Maybe it’s because I’ve never really devoted significant time to them, but Terry’s kit feels easier to work within than the Shotos when going between characters.

Finally for the first Pass, we had Byleth. I think it’s for the best that they announced the second Fighter’s Pass before this released, because if both 4 and Ultimate had ended their run on Fire Emblem DLCs then people would have been pissed. I mean, people were already pissed, but like…moreso. As someone who has played Three Houses, I do think the game is worth celebrating, but having yet another Fire Emblem Protagonist (read: basically a blank slate) in the game over all the substantially more interesting characters 3H has to offer is just really frustrating. Also the final smash looks like dogshit, like FE3H has overall worse animations than Smash for obvious reasons but I’m pretty sure this attack looked better the first time around.

FP2 opened with Min Min, which brings ARMS to the table. ARMS. The only first-party fighting game Nintendo has outside of Smash, so it looks a bit less weird next to everything else but…come on, man. I think this was the most confusing pick of all of them- the game came out in 2017, and having Min Min in Smash would serve as promotion for a sequel…which hasn’t been announced. There was a graphic novel in the works, but it was cancelled earlier this year. Oops? At least the stage was fun.

As much as playing them is awkward and complex, the Minecraft addition was fitting. Only the best-selling game around. I think people weren’t sure if Microsoft would go for it, but they let us have Banjo, so sure. I’m mostly just annoyed that they couldn’t get any of the songs from the actual game in there- like, you got one in from the fucking mobile game, but you couldn’t just get C418 on the phone?

Sephiroth is definitely one of the hype-ier releases from this pass. The character is iconic, as is his theme and his home game. I’ve never played any Final Fantasy game, but I can still respect the name. Once I remember how to spell it. The whole bossfight aspect to his release was also quite cool, while it lasted.

On the other hand, I have no love for Pyra nor Mythra. There’s so much wrong with these ones, frankly. They’re another swordy character, immediately following Sephiroth too, and they go back on Smash’s very deliberate decision to split characters like Zelda/Sheik and Samus/ZSS up (Yes I know Pokemon Trainer does the same thing but I have a lot more leniency for them). Add in their being from a JRPG much less well-known or remembered than the previous couple characters and the designs being…questionable, I have a big issue with the whole thing. This was also around when I kinda stopped playing the game in general, and they definitely didn’t help pull me back in.

Kazuya might have, though. With the exception of him and Sephiroth, all the characters from the Fighter’s Passes were pretty much protagonist-types, but this motherfucker pulses with the essence of bad guy. What I’m saying is that he’s fucking cool, and while he’s ludicrously complex, that makes perfect sense since…I mean just look at the combo lists from Tekken 7. His inclusion also kinda rounds out the list of biggest fighting game franchises out there being rep’d in the game, though I imagine now I’m going to have stans from Mortal Kombat or whatever on my back. They’re not going to put a fatality-capable character in Smash, guys!

Finally, this rounds us around to the original point of this article. Let’s talk about Sora. And by that I mean…I don’t really have a huge amount to say about him. Kingdom Hearts is a franchise that completely passed me by growing up, and I don’t think I have the time or energy to devote to it now. I’m sure it’s good, people seemed really excited for him to be in the game so they have to have gotten that love from somewhere, but I don’t share that feeling.

That’s not to say that I don’t think he deserves a slot. The idea of “deserving a slot” in Smash Bros is kind of an odd concept, even though it’s come up a lot so far this post. But a slot in this roster isn’t just a place in a popular fighting game, because at this point, Smash is kind of a museum of (mostly Nintendo) games- and so having representation is a forever acknowledgment that the franchise is, or has been, an icon to so many. Kingdom Hearts, to my knowledge, has 100% earned that position, and so Sora getting to be playable here makes perfect sense. He wasn’t my pick (Touhou representation never I guess), but I’m happy for those who wanted him.

As far as the actual gameplay looks, he reads like a character that kept in mind what people didn’t like about Hero when he released. It’s another sword-based character, which I think at this point speaks more about the demographic of video game characters than it does about Smash. But I appreciate that the Magic Bullshit is toned down, and that it’s also his only real gimmick (The 3-hit combo feature is A Thing, but other characters e.g. Bayonetta have already done that, so whatever). His recovery potential looks patently absurd- like he just gets Pikachu/Pichu’s Up-B as a Side-B that can also be chained with his actual Up-B? This guy better be light as hell or he’s going to be super hard to take out. I dunno, I think he looks solidly fun enough- more dynamic and aerial than the other swordfighters, at least- and that’s good enough for me.

And I guess that marks the end of Smash Ultimate. Not with a bang, but with a key…dude. It’s been a very solid run, the game managing to keep itself fresh across several years of development, even as other games have risen and fallen. Smash is kind of forever at this point, I think, though the finality of Ultimate’s ultimate character implies that this particular iteration may be coming to its end. And seeing as it is always one Smash per console, I wouldn’t be shocked if the Switch itself was nearing its endgame as well.

Okay but also it’s pretty funny how they heavily censored everything Disney out of Sora’s DLC except for that little Mickey charm on the trailer, like how much must that one shot have cost them, was it even remotely worth it, I don’t know but I kinda want to