#so true this is Linhardt

[real-fire-emblem-takes]

For the Lorenz anon comparing him to Sylvain, this is so true. It's definitely bc Sylvain is more conventionally pretty than him... We have the same with misogyny, where for example rude character like Felix are well liked, or where rude moment are outpassed ( like Sylvain/Byleth, Felix/Ingrid, Claude at Byleth mourning, Claude/Ingrid, pre time-skip Hubert and Linhardt, ECT ) when it's not the case for women. There's so much hate for Leonie, and there's actually surprisingly quite some backlash against Lysithea too! And Rhea/Edelgard despite having a lot of reason behind their dialogue, get the side-eye for every single comment that isn't perfectly nice.

Male character are though to have interiority, i.e "Felix lash out because he actually care a lot about his friends" or "Sylvain is an asshole to women because his trauma skewed his view of them". On the other hand, women are took on a surface level : when Leonie lash out its because she's just a bad mean person, when Edelgard is cold its because she doesn't care about other, etc. It's not even just on negative aspect, even women viewed positively are reduced to how their appears. Mercedes is put in the "nice person" case and I struggle to find much of analysis beyond that outside of my little sapphic corner of the fe3h fandom.

TLDR: Please analysis more in depth fire emblem women, they're worth it I swear

Not saying anyone is a bad character too, they're all incredible and the moment are mentioned are *all* nuanced. There's no bad fe3h character 🫡

.

[gghero]

Casphardts and Bergliezes

Description under the cut!

id: Two sketch sheets depicting various characters from Fire Emblem Three Houses.

First sheet: 

Upper left corner shows Linhardt and Caspar in their mid-30s, dressed in casual clothes and cuddling as they lie down. Linhardt is wearing glasses and resting on Caspar's chest with a smile on his face and his eyes closed. Caspar has some scars on his face, some stubble, and is missing a leg. There is a screenshot of a line in their Three Hopes support where Linhardt says "Let's survive this war so all of our wildest bear dreams can come true one day." There is an arrow pointing to the doodle that reads "He meant this." 

Lower left corner shows Academy era Casphardt lying on the grass being playfully romantic with each other. Linhardt is facing up and Caspar is lying on his stomach. 

Doodles on the right show Academy Caspar training with a tank top on and Linhardt admiring him in the background. Then, the same scene is repeated with their War phase designs. Caspar is topless now and has top surgery scars.

Second sheet:

Full body sketch of Leopold von Bergliez. He's giving a menacing side-glance. Text next to his head reads "Never drawing all that armor again." 

Caspar and his brother Hermann fighting. Hermann is an 11-year-old with a middle part and bangs, and Caspar is a small 5-year-old. Hermann is grabbing Caspar by the collar and Caspar is kicking. Text behind them reads "'My children are fine'. Your children are beating the shit out of each other, Leopold.'" 

Full-body sketch depicting Caspar in a casual outfit. He's wearing a short sleeved burgundy shirt, a leather vest, dark burgundy pants, a blue tasseled belt around his waist and his right leg, and dark blue gloves and boots. He is smiling confidently. 

A sketch of Caspar's head with a worried expression. There is a speech bubble that reads "...dad." 

A sketch depicting Caspar and Linhardt as children. Caspar is wounded and holding in his tears and Linhardt is healing him. End id.

[randomnameless]

Something pretty interesting I missed in my earlier Supreme Bullshit reading.

When Supreme Leader is upset at Lonato, she wonders if going to help him would be feasible, which leads to this convo with Hubert :

You want to save the man, Your Majesty? If I may, we would march all that way for...what, exactly?

Hubert, imo, thinks Lonato as basically already done and dead, Supreme Leader earlier was pissed at Lonato not following their plans, he acted on personal enemity and will most likely have to fight both the KoS and the Kingdom so...

Imagine the consequences of leaving him to die.

Here we have an example of the Supreme Leader who made this route, so interesting : it's not Hubert who has all the dastardry in their duo, Supreme Leader too, participates.

When KT forgets that they gave her a sailor fuku to be "more free", they write her to be in a similar vein as the other red Emperors like Arvis, or, Gustadolph from TS.

It's not "we must save him" or "we can't let him die", but Supreme Leader directly evacuates all that pathos, and thinks, rationally, about the consequences of leaving Lonato reap what he sowed.

We need our vassals to believe the Empire will always come to their aid. Always.

It's PR!

Going to save Lonato is not about Lonato himself, she can't give a fig about the dude, but it's all about public relationships and keeping a façade for her war of conquest : her vassals need to believe the Empire will always come to their aid.

Whether they actually do, or not, is irrelevant - they need to believe Adrestia is "trustworthy enough" to come to their help when called.

And the sheer "we need them to believe" coming from Supreme Leader herself? It's really neat, she's lying/manipulating the events to build a perfect image for her vassals, or the ones who will become her vassals (by choice).

Compare this to the Kingdom/Church "we need to help the ones who need help!" and here, instead, we have "we need to make people believe we're going to help them".

Lonato doesn't act following the plan ? It doesn't matter, Supreme Leader will seize this new opportunity to advance her own goals : aka, making people believe the Empire is "trustworthy" and "reliable".

Good. Now make our plans known to the others. I'm counting on you, Hubert.

What plans? The "we must rescue Lonato because he is our ally" or the true "we must pretend to rescue Lonato to make other nobles join our cause and believe in us"?

And what is intereting is how this exchange, of course, only happens when she is alone with Hubert.

In the following event, where Barney is here and they talk about their powers :

Ah, you should see the look on your face! Did Hubert threaten you? Don't let it get to you. Yes, he's quite good at that kind of thing, but it comes from a place of caution.

Hm... Sure. It's Hubert's way of caring I guess.

But then comes the manifesto :

I want to transform the world into a place where no one has to feel trapped by where they came from.

What's that about the place they come from? Aren't we later in this route trashtalking Annette and the Kingdom peeps because they believe in outdated values like chivalry and sacrifices to protect their loved ones?

When I am done, it won't matter where you are born, whose blood you have, or what powers course through you—everyone will be treated as equals.

When she means equals, she means people will "believe" everyone will be treated as equals, just like Lonato was supposed to "believe" Adrestia was coming to back him up and not just, play minimal part to guarantee their PR but not much more?

That's what we're fighting for, and that is what this war is going to achieve.

But Hubert said this war is a war of conquest ?

So believe me when I say this—I don't care who you are.

And yet Barney is still a nobody commoner, even if pal with the Emperor, when Linhardt is a general?

I only care about what you have done and what you have yet to do.

And what Barney can do with that power you said you don't give a crap about right? But what if Barney's abilities are basically the result of their weird powers, can we still say their power/abilities are irrelevant ?

And, hm, maybe someone can translate this for me ?

人の力に拠る未来を創るため、 すべての犠牲を私は負って立つ！

She says this when she defeats 1k peons, and Googl'd it gives... "To create a future based on the power of people, I will bear all the sacrifices!" - so what this line about not giving figs about "what powers course through you everyone will be treated as an equal"? Could Amelie the lady from Mittelfrank who couldn't end up as a diva be treated like Leopold, or what?

--

Supreme Leader's words being treated as gospel is always imo hilarious, because Supreme Leader has some instances where, when KT's not busy dressing her up with some "Scarlet Blaze Power! Make Up!", she plays the role Arvis already played before her, the dastardly red emperor who manipulates and seizes every opportunity to reach her goals.

In Tru Piss we got the Javelins - but in Nopes? We get those "heart to heart" moments with Hubert that lampshade even more how much of an unreliable narrator Supreme Leader is - she still maintains care to have a level of PR and only confides to trusted people (yay Hubert!) or, in FE16, when, curiously, she has her mask on (Flamey doesn't need PR).

That's why we still have so many pretzels over Rhea's fate in Tru Piss, yes, Supreme Leader claims she wants to spare her when she adresses her in Firdhiad, in front of her allies and the people she has to lie to about her War.

But when she was with Billy? Nah, she can safely tell them that path lead to the death of Rhea and her people, something she rejoices about in their S support.

Too bad Nopes doubled down on "Sailor Adrestia" instead of giving us more of that "Arvis with a skirt" they teased us with (seriously that power move of betraying Rhea in the third chapter was just, that awesome from her part).

[ginwilliamsart]

The Sleepy Scholar

Linhardt is one of my favourite Fire Emblem characters. He is always true to himself and knows exactly what he wants, to live in peace. I can empathize with him, as he is a night owl and loves to read with ferfor about his interests. He can be a bit crude and direct in his speech and has a longing for freedom and to live a slow and quiet life. These qualities really resonate with me.

I have wanted to give him the best of me, perhaps the sweetest memories of my quieter summers in the south of my home country, where the afternoons are dry and hot and the trees are bejewelled with acorns. Unfortunately, there are no hummingbirds in my country, but it is a bird that fascinates me with its fairy-tale appearance, its iridescent colours and its fairy-tale feeling. Even though I work in digital, I like to give my art a natural look. I like to experiment with textures, patterns, soft colours and retro look that reminds me so much of my hometown. The whole process here: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/lDLBzz

[vonbergerpants]

Drabble: S support conversation between Caspar and Linhardt

I wrote an extremely self-indulgent drabble a long time ago and I just remembered it today. So here's my imagining of Caspar and Linhardt's S support, before their paired ending.

Mind you, I'm not a writer, so I'm sorry that this isn't quite fanfic material!

The sun is close to setting at the pier. Linhardt is fishing as usual. Caspar is standing behind him, a bit restless, pacing back and forth, his footsteps clear and loud on the wooden pier.

Linhardt can tell when Caspar's mind is racing, but this makes it especially obvious. So he doesn't even turn when he says "You know, Caspar... if you've got something on your mind, you could at least sit down while you think about whatever it is you're wanting to tell me. You're scaring the fish."

This startles Caspar out of his thinking. He stammers a bit.

"I, uh. Yeah, okay. I can't really hide anything from you, so there's no point in hiding it."

He sits down next to Linhardt, who is still staring forward, rod in hand, line still cast in the water. Caspar looks down into the water, and he sees their reflections. Somehow, that eases him a bit as he takes a deep breath.

"Do you... have any plans, now that the war's over?" He doesn't look up as he says this.

Linhardt doesn't move. "Well, I won't be taking over my family's estate, if that's what you're asking. I decided that a while ago. Why do you ask?"

There's a beat of silence. Caspar looks at Linhardt, but it's a quick glance before he's looking down at the water again. It's the best way he can look at Linhardt's face without his nerves taking over.

"Well, I was... thinking of traveling. Seeing the world. There isn't anything left for me, so I guess I can just do whatever I want. And so can you. So I just wanted to know what you were spending your free time on." He lets out a chuckle. "I guess you'll be getting a ton of naps in from now on."

Linhardt looks up and hums. "Very true. I'm not sure quite sure how much sleep I'd get in with your constant movement, but I can certainly make the most of it, now that we're no longer at war."

Caspar lets out another laugh. "Yeah, you might not-- wait, what?" Caspar looks right at Linhardt. "With my-- hold on, what do you mean by that?"

Linhardt turns his head to him and raises an eyebrow. "Traveling typically involves a lot of movement. I'm not quite sure what else I could mean by that."

Caspar blinks, processing what he'd just said, then laughs again. "Yeah, I just don't plan on staying here very long. I just wanna get out there and see the world now that it's peaceful, you know? I'll make sure to send you plenty of letters, of course!"

Linhardt just stares at Caspar as if he'd said something off-putting. "Why would you send me letters? Am I not coming with you?"

Caspar sputters in surprise, as if the wind was just knocked out of him. "Wait, ARE YOU? I thought you wanted to stay behind and, I dunno - read and sleep all day now that you don't have to fight anymore!"

Linhardt lets out a sigh. He looks... a bit hurt? "Caspar... if you don't want me to come, you should just say so."

"NO!" Caspar's response was so loud that it startled the fish nearby and Linhardt. "I mean... no! I want you come with me, that's what I wanted to ask! But... I dunno, I just figured... I mean, this isn't your kind of thing. Traveling all over the place, moving around all day? Wouldn't you rather just relax?"

Linhardt takes this moment to turn around and fully look at Caspar's face.

"Caspar, I'm not sure what gave you that idea. Yes, I've been looking forward to finally relaxing now that this goddess-forsaken war is over. But that doesn't mean I would rather not be in your company. I've always been at your side, ever since we were children. As far as I'm concerned, this is just more of what we've always done. If I've ever come off as someone who doesn't enjoy your company, I assure you that couldn't be further from the truth."

Caspar is speechless. He stares open-mouthed at Linhardt, having somehow not expected this response. This whole time he thought Linhardt would just want to stay behind. And yet they've been best friends and stuck together for so long, he should've seen this coming.

"Linhardt, I... that makes me happier than you can imagine. Because, if I'm being honest..." He turns to fully face Linhardt and look him in the eyes. He swallows, unsure of whether his next words should leave his lips. But he follows his instinct on this one.

"... traveling and seeing the world wouldn't be anywhere near as fun and satisfying if you weren't there to share it with me."

Linhardt's eyes go wide. A light blush blooms across his face. Oh. That's a good look on him.

"Well. When you put it like that, I feel a little better in saying that there would be no point in staying behind if you were gone. Life would just be... incredibly boring without you." Linhardt looks down, almost bashful, or as close as Linhardt has ever come to it. "I don't want to experience that sort of dullness in my life again."

That did it. That steeled Caspar's resolve and made him decide to take the leap. The thing that he's been really pacing back and forth over. Linhardt hadn't realized that Caspar's had his hand in his pocket the entire time they'd been talking. Caspar takes a long, deep breath. He repositions himself and takes a knee.

"Then, uh. Linhardt. Do you..." He takes out a ring from his pocket. "Will you... travel with me? Side by side? ... Hand in hand?"

Linhardt's eyes are as wide as saucers. It's now his turn to be speechless. His blush is now on full display. After a moment, he holds out his hand not holding the rod and reaches for the ring. "Caspar... are you asking me what I think you're asking?"

Caspar takes a hard swallow and nods, face determined yet strained from nervousness. His hand is shaking. "Y-Yeah. I am. Linhardt... I love y--"

Caspar was gripping onto the ring in such a way that it slipped out of his fingers and fell into the pond.

"OH MAN!"

A loud splash is heard as Caspar jumps into the pond. Well, that shook Linhardt right out of his shock.

***

Once Caspar's pulled himself out of the pond and Linhardt is drying him off using light wind magic, Linhardt is chuckling at the whole display. Caspar just groans in absolute embarrassment.

Linhardt smiles. "In case it wasn't clear, my answer is yes. I love you too, Caspar. After all, it's like I said. Our fates are not so easily untangled."

Caspar looks to Linhardt, eyes wide. "Really?! You... so you're not just saying yes to traveling, you're saying yes to me?"

"I am."

"You love me?"

"That is what I just said."

"You... love me."

"Mhm. And unless I misheard you, you love me as well."

Caspar jumps in excitement before Linhardt could finish drying his hair. "I do! I do love you! So much it hurts! You've no idea how long I've been wanting to say something! Oh man, I was so prepared for you to say no that I wasn't expecting you saying yes to be so exciting - I gotta tell everyone!"

"Caspar, wait--"

It's too late. Caspar's already bolted past Linhardt, shouting at the sky.

"YEEEAAAHHHH, LINHARDT LOVES ME BACK!!!"

Linhardt shakes his head and sighs, a smile still on his face and so much fondness in his heart.

"Utterly ridiculous."

[fireemblems24]

Azure Gleam 15 (Final)

As long as this has gone on for, I'm actually bummed to finish this one.

NARRATION

Those special chapters were so weird. It's kind of funny how the plot is like, just ignoring all of that and going back to regular programming. It's like in an old kid's show when they got a dog and then the next episode - no dog anymore. Like there's kinda no point to it.

Ok, so Thales talking to yeeted Edelgard. I will never not get over how funny it is that's the path the writers decided.

Yep, we're really just jumping back into the regular plot. That is so funny. The writing in this game is a clusterfuck at times.

Ok, so we're going to the monastery to save Rhea. MUCH better than saving Bernie's dad.

TWSITD causing chaos again. I feel this route targeted them more than the other two. Like they barely existed in GW.

Everyone's worried about Rhea.

Dimitri wants to wreck TWSITD and the Empire. Let's fucking go!

MAP

No side quests again! Guys, I'm sooooo close to beating this game I can taste it. Both SB and AG have very short final chapters.

Only Claude is annoying, which tracks how this game's gone so . . .

So I've gotten all the supports for: Dimitri, Dedue, Felix, Sylvain, Ingrid, and Rodrigue. Mercedes I'm only missing Jeritza. I didn't use Annette or Ashe, so they're missing a few, but I feel I did pretty good. Hopefully I can get Mercie and Jeritza this chapter.

Ugh, so I missed the opportunity to deepen my bond with Byleth :( Maybe next time.

So in another route, Ashe had no idea what he believed in anymore. In this one, he's confident about his sense of justice.

In another route, Yuri didn't tell me his history with Varley, in this one he trusted me with it.

Ingrid is a queen. She said it's the people who suffer in war, our leaders should reach diplomatic resolutions. Too bad only Dimitri believes in those :(

Aww, Byleth refused to kill Shez during their fight because he could tell she wasn't herself. I soooo wish I'd gotten their supports.

Ok, so I ran into Raphael again and agreed that I didn't like how we were fighting (which, imo, isn't true, but I wanted to see the difference). Shez thinks Edelgard is too cruel, Claude is too haphazard, and Dimitri is too cautious. She pretty much nailed it.

No Arval in the tent :(

Linhardt just said Caspar revels in bloodshed. That's fucked up.

My heart just broke and warmed at the same time. A Kingdom general asked a Duscur general how the people from Duscur pray. He wanted to learn because he lost a lot of good soldiers from Duscur in the last battle and wanted to pray for them in the way their religion would. It's details like this that make Hopes worth it.

Haha, Dedue was fairly chill considering I attacked allies and posed a possible threat to Dimitri. He brought it up, but didn't harp on it.

BYLETH & JERALT A

Man, I'm glad I got this unlocked in time.

Byleth gave Jeralt flowers. First time in Byleth's life lol.

He's trying to communicate his feelings, thankfulness to Jeralt for being his captain and father.

Aw, it's a throwback to Byleth giving out flowers at the Academy.

Lamo, Jeralt just said Byleth may have been a student or led seminars, but isn't qualified to be a teacher.

Jeralt's like, I knew you cared, kid. But I still appreciate it.

Byleth picked the flowers out himself. It's the same kind his mother liked :(((

Jeralt used to give these flowers to Sitri.

Byleth is being so sentimental and sweet. I can just imagine a voiced Byleth saying lines like that in Houses' supports and buying more into the character.

I swear, this game made me really get Byleth more and "buy into" the character. Also, I'm going to cry so hard when Jeralt dies. I still don't really care for Jeralt, but I'm going to just feel so sad for Byleth.

DIMITRI & DEDUE A

For anyone wondering, I purposefully saved this one and Felix A. I've had them unlocked for a while.

Dedue is worried because Dimitri keeps sleeping at his desk. He's grateful or else he'd get sore.

Of course, he had bad dreams about the past.

Ohhhh! Not the tragedy, but arriving home after. Cool to learn some tidbits about that part too.

A child cursed Dimitri after the funeral because his dad died in Duscur and was furious with Dimitri for not killing Dedue, but hanging out with him instead.

Dimitri just ignored him.

Then Dimitri talks about his duty to those who died, and asks Dedue what he would do if Dimitri begged for vengeance while he was dying. OFC, Dedue says he'd do it even if he died.

Then Dimitri asks the opposite, what would Dedue do if Dimitri begged him to live for his own happiness? Dedue said he couldn't.

"I cannot know happiness without you by my side." :(((((((

He'd seek revenge, for his own sake, not Dimitri's.

Dimitri's like, nothing I'd say would change your mind?

Dedue just flips the subject, asking if Dimitri can't just live for himself, and ofc Dimitri says no, he can't.

But imagines another life traveling around as a merc with Dedue or living as a farmer. Dedue's like, why not go?

Dimitri says obviously I can't do that.

So Dedue's like get some sleep.

It worries Dedue every time he sees Dimitri asleep like that at his desk bc he's worried Dimitri died. But Dimitri's like, not why you're here. It won't happen.

Dimitri's like, if I died, that wouldn't go well, so I'll listen.

GUYS. DIMITRI'S GOING TO SLEEP. SOMEONE TALKED HIM INTO SLEEPING. THE POWER OF DEDUE.

They're married, your honor.

DIMITRI & FELIX A

Starts with Dimitri apologizing and promising revenge, killing all of TWSITD no matter the cost.

Felix walks in, Dimitri almost calls him Glenn, but corrects, and apologizes again except to Felix for seeing that.

Felix is like "I've seen all there is of you to see." So, uh, what does that mean?

Dimitri explains that he suffers from a "waking dream," saying he sees the dead like they're real.

Then talks about the violent revenge the dead scream at him.

Felix asks when this all started. Dimitri says 6 years, but the voices started 4 years ago during his first battle? Not sure those numbers line up with lore and age, but I don't know how old they are this time. Anyways, started with Duscur, got worse when Rufus tried to have Dimitri killed by sending him to battle.

The man he killed that freaked Felix out was someone from Duscur, and the voices cheered when he killed the guy.

Felix is like, do you really think Glenn and Lambert would torture you like that? Telling Dimitri he's the one doing it, not them.

Dimitri's like, even if that's true, I can't forgive myself.

Felix talks about how if Dimitri loses his path, he's taking everyone down with him (so Houses, sans AM) and says "keep the whole removing their heads thing in check yeah?"

Felix says it'll be their secret.

"are you offering to let me unburden my heart to you when the time calls for it?" - Dimitri to Felix. Guys, I'm dying a little.

Dimitri credits Felix with the reason he hasn't descended into madness, and asks Felix to continue being his right-hand man.

Hahahah, OMG, Felix picked Dimitri up and is physically carrying him to bed. Dimitri is nearly laughing because he's so much taller than Felix his feet are dragging the floor.

Felix calls him a "sack of muscle" lol

Dimitri carried Felix like this when Felix twisted his ankle. And now is calling this a workout. Dimitri's still massively entertained.

They are also married.

Man, so Dedue got Dimitri to fucking sleep, and Felix got him to laugh.

Ok, this game is really Dimilix, the game. I swear a shipper on deck wrote this. It may also be why Felix was one of the few Blue Lions to survive SB. Writers' bias.

My shipping heart is so happy with both supports.

ASHE & FLAYN B

This is their final support.

They're fishing together. She's trying to reel in a big fish, but it's not working. Ashe gives her tips. And she got it!

Though, it seems like it was a bit of a struggle.

Flayn swore she'd not let go no matter what. Ashe says sometimes it's best to not let go, and suddenly understands Seteth. But still compliments her on her determination.

Flayn thinks her mother would be proud of her for catching this, which is part of the reason Flayn loves fishing.

She flirts with Ashe a bit too lol.

And now she's drooling over the fish.

Ashe says Flayn enjoys him of his sister and really had fun.

But then panics thinking of Flayn in the kitchen lol.

ANNETTE & CONSTANCE B

Constance compliments Annette's performance in battle.

Constance is a legendary alumni at the school in Faerghus.

Stories include turning bossy noble kids into horses. And she started using it everywhere.

She argued magical theory with teachers and won.

These make me love Constance, not going to lie.

Annette is nervous being around someone so famous. Constance calls Annette one of the most talented women in the Kingdom.

Constance loves a book Annette work, but it's mostly a cook book, so Annette doesn't make much of it.

Annette wrote a magical cookbook, and Constance is all about it.

Annette tries to give Mercedes credit because she's the cook.

They both want to get to know each other better.

This was really them geeking out over each other, magic, and Mercedes' cooking.

MERCEDES & JERITZA A

It came down to the lack fucking minute, but I got it. Thank you, Shez, for cooking the perfect dinner.

Jeritza finds and old letter from Mercedes' mother. Or, rather, she wrote Jeritza a letter after Mercie told her that they found him.

They both want to live with him after the war, but he says no.

He can't face her because of his past actions. Doesn't seem Mercie holds it against him. And says neither will her mother.

Then Jeritza talks about the Death Knight persona.

Mercie's like, naw, because you're fine right now.

Jeritza still doesn't give in though. He insists he must pay for his crimes, which he thinks he never can. He wants to get judged by the law, which, honestly, respect.

Mercie decides to support his decisions, even though it makes her sad, and that they'll be waiting for him. No matter how long. Even if they're both old ladies.

I really loved that support. Seeing Mercie support Jeritza's decision, seeing Jeritza take responsibility for his actions. All around good support.

ANNETTE & CONSTANCE A

Glad I got this one. I think Seteth/Shez A is the only other support still within reach.

Constance wants Annette's help conducting an experiment outside. Annette knows how Constance's mood changes when she goes outside. Annette's happy to help.

Obviously now Constance is being down on herself.

Annette volunteered before learning the experiment. Thankfully it's just to try and get all the cats from the area.

It fails :( I want a spell like that.

Constance is obviously moping, Annette gives her a pep talk, but it probably useless bc they're outside.

It attracted bugs, and Constance says the cockroach is a better sorceresses than her lamo. Then they attract angry birds lol.

Once back inside, Constance realizes her spell does sort of work, but they just didn't know how to get cats.

Aww, I really liked that support chain.

FINAL BATTLE

How can anyone not tell something is wrong with Edelgard?

It's so weird how they just ignore the special chapters.

Thales is making her fight.

Sylvain said he'll skip the class reunion if this is what they're like.

Ingrid is roaring to go after Thales.

No sign of Claude. Dimitri's trusting him, but I don't know about that. I wonder if he betrays you here too. Though Dimitri makes a good point that if Faerghus falls, Claude's ass is next.

On, cool image! Dimitri giving a speech. It's like a moment in Lord of the Rings before Aragorn and co march on Mordor.

I like this! Dimitri's talking about severing the past and moving on into tomorrow. Good to hear him talking like that.

I only got 40 points too. Guess Claude was the odd one out, getting more points for his battle than the other two.

Kyrona made an appearance.

Felt good to kill Varley for once.

Getting ready to face Thales now. Dimitri about to get his revenge against TWSITD. Feels good.

Shez is reassuring Dimitri that he's not alone. That his friends are here to help. :)

I think I just killed Kyrona for good this time.

Time to kick Thales' ass. Much better than killing Rhea. Again.

We also got to defeat Edelgard. Having a hard time feeling bad about that.

This battle is pure chaos. But in a fun way.

Oh, did I beat Thales? I'm at a cut scene. Shez stopped Edelgard; and Dimitri's marching to kick Thales' ass.

Haha, he just ignored Thales magic like it was nothing. What a fucking badass.

He's not even saying anything, just breathing, and the voice acting is still on point.

Edelgard remembered Dimitri? So he didn't kill her. And outside Rhea, Claude and the Blue Lions are waiting. And sun is about to come up.

This felt WAY more complete than the other two. I was expecting MUCH worse. Maybe if I played the other two first I'd be more surprised, but they set the bar stupid low.

We defeated the Empire, defeated TWSITD - I don't know what would even be left?

I love how hard the narration tries to make it sound like the Empire has a fart's chance in the wind anymore. It's just clean up now.

MVP time. It'll eventually turn into the Dimitri show like SB did Hubert and GW did Lorenz. I suspect it'll take longer though bc I wanted to use the other Blue Lions a lot.

Actually, I lie, it happened like the second I got Dimitri and not just Shez. I think I may just be a stan lol. He's also just so damn strong he killed so much easier and faster than anyone else.

You can tell the chapter Dimitri was missing for since Felix and Ingrid kept trading MVP. Then back to Dimitri.

Hey! Rodrigue got one!

I'm excited for Dimitri's letter. Still wish we got paired endings here though.

Dimitri feels reassured with Shez by his side. He's also the only one who asked Shez to stay in the Kingdom. It's nothing spectacular, but it was sweet.

I'm also a bit sad to see this one end. No more Fodlan unless I replay, but I guess there's still supports I didn't unlock.

Guys, I can't believe I finished. Now I'm finally "free" to play whatever games I want.

Def want to replay Engage and Houses, and some non-FE stuff too. Should I get the Engage DLC?

xxx

[dilydilydily-fe]

I had it translated by 　@charlesworthy　Reposting with permission ☺️

Page 1

It’s pretty rough when you suddenly have an extra childhood friend note: pre-established casphardt, but it’s about this →

page 2

← Thinks it’s unfair he gets the S Rank -- -- Thinks he’s up to something → Caspar: What the heck is up with these vibes?!

Page 3

Caspar: Uhm… Bunhardt: Give it back.

Caspar: Uhhhhhh… I-I… I GOTTA GO TRAIN!

Caspar: SEE YOU WHEN I’M DONE, LINHARDTS!

Sfx as Bunhardt puts his headband on: boioing Bunhardt: Running away, hm? Linhardt: Running away, hm?

Bunhardt: Well, I’m sleepy. Today’s not a good day for this, is it? Linhardt: (yawn) It seems like it… Goodnight… (and goodbye)

Linhardt: (Sleepy)

Linhardt: He’s following me.

Page 4

Linhardt: Hey, why are you following me? I can guess, but… Bunhardt: Ah, well… Both at once: Aren’t you/I heading somewhere I/you want to be? By Bunhardt: (sleepy…)

Bunhardt: Oh no, it seems you’ve expedited your inadvertent help by voicing the same thought. I was having trouble finding a nice spot… Linhardt: Hmm.

Bunhardt: In exchange, you can borrow my pillow. Sfx by linhardt: (lights up)

Linhardt: Well, since I can’t stop you… Are you looking for the perfect spot to nap, or where I keep the books I’m reading? Bunhardt: Nap. Linhardt: I figured as much, since I’m sleepy too. Alright, it’s this way.

Linhardt: Here we are,

Page 5

Linhardt: The Slacker’s Sacred Ground. You know what I mean.

Python: (You deserve a rest*) There’s two of you now? What the hell is he wearing?

Dwyer: (You deserve a rest…) [t/n: they’re using a japanese phrase commonly said when one leaves work to the people still working as a greeting. I tried to keep half of the joke.]

[ THE SLACKER’S SACRED GROUND Residents: Python, Dwyer, Linhardt ]

Bunhardt: yaawn Linhardt: Mind if I nap beside you? Python: Sure, sure, help yourself. Dwyer: Somehow there’s two of them today…

???: PYTHON!! ???: DWYER!! Python: Ugh… Dwyer: It never ends…

Page 6

Forsyth: Python! So I would find you here again! Get up! We must sally forth! [ Python’s legal guardian (true guardian): FORSYTH ] [ Dwyer’s legal guardian (father): JAKOB ] Jakob: Dwyer! Lord Kamui just said ‘I’d love a cup of coffee’! You must offer your exceptional brew at once!

Python: Ugh… Yeah, yeah… How did you ever get on without me… I’m coming. Dwyer: You came here just to tell me that? I’ll never understand you.

Python: Alright Linny, have a good nap for me, too.

Bunhardt: Is this ‘sacred ground’ always so noisy? Linhardt: Not usually.

Page 7

Linhardt: The only person who’d come looking for me is Caspar, and of course we know he’s not coming. (But maybe a cat will show up..?) Yaawn…

Bunhardt: That’s an interesting thing to say.

Bunhardt: Regardless, you may nap with this once. Linhardt: Oh, right, the promise… Thanks.

[ nighty night… ]

right cat: meoww bottom cat: moow

[ Time to get up ]

Page 8

Cat: Meooww Bunhardt: (Kitty…) It looks like we wake up at the same time, too. Linhardt: It looks like it… (Came to see me again, kitty?)

Linhardt: Say, I have something of a personal question to ask. Bunhardt: What is it? (Ugh, it’s stuck…) cat: Mew! Linhardt: (Again..?)

Linhardt: Do you recall how you got this?

Bunhardt: ….You want me to confess that on my own? (Isn’t that a bit unfair?) Linhardt: Well, if it’s so daunting, we can just say it at the same time. Bunhardt: Alright, alright. Both at once: ….A long time ago, some one tied it in my hair while I was sleeping, so I don’t really remember.

Page 9

Both: Yes, that’s right.

Bunhardt: Well then,

Bunhardt: Why is it that you’re always wearing it? Linhardt: Unfair. Let’s say it at the same time again.

Both: It’s simply because I think it was given to me by the most important person in my life.

Bunhardt: You know, it’s actually quite a valuable experience to be able to look at myself objectively. Linhardt: Agreed. Surprisingly, meeting you hasn’t been the worst--

Both: Look at myself objectively?!

Page 10

Both: Hey, would you mind taking off your clothes?!

Bunhardt: You already knew what I was going to say! I’ve always wanted to do a thorough examination of the Crest of Ceathleann! Sfx: boioioiong

Linhardt: Yes! We’ll both be the most cooperative research subject we’ve ever had!

[ translated from rightmost to left: ]

(Both:) Undress quickly!!

Your skin is so pretty. Well, so is mine.

Yes, yes, now turn around.

Pants too, I want to see behind the knee!

So this is what my back looks like…

Show me your neck, too!

Hey! You have a mole here.

After this, let’s head back to my room to do some tracing.

Excellent idea! At this rate, we'll get so much done!

Page 11

Caspar: Two Linhardts… I wonder if they’re still going at it… [ * like this ]

Forsyth: That performance was disappointing, Python! (Next time I won’t lose.) Python: Yeah, sure. Maybe when hell freezes over.

Python: Hey, Cas. Looking for your buddy? Caspar: Eh? Have you seen him? Python: Two of them, even.

Caspar: Yeah, exactly! I was kinda looking for them both… Did you catch them bickering?

Python: No? They seemed to be getting on fine. Sleepy as always, but that’s not out of the ordinary. (As always, I saw them the Slacker’s Sacred Ground) Caspar: Of course!

Caspar: Thanks for the info! Caspar: That’s such a big help! Python: Don’t mention it.

Page 12

COMPLETELY NAKED

cats: meow! Mew!

Caspar: I don’t get them at all…. Bottom left: fin

BONUS:

[ picture with the linhardts sleeping on caspar ] Thank you very very very much for reading!!! (Please add Caspar normally to feh)

[ picture with the two linhardts in mixed up clothes ] Lin & SpLin mixing up their clothes accidentally after a nap

[ picture with the two linhardts ] I’m happy to have Linhardt & Spring!Linhardt!

I thought it would be cute if 'Hevring’s Heir Linhardt' and 'Spring Snoozer Linhardt' competed over 'Summer Intensity Caspar'.

It was my first time drawing a manga spanning several pages, and I found it incredibly exhausting!

But it was also a lot of fun :)

＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿

A huge thank you to @charlesworthy

[i-am-a-meat-popcicle]

Are you interested in more Fe3h worldbuilding lore because there's so much implicit stuff!! You can look at the character and country name and what they reference, the way the dress, or even what Fe3h is inspired from ( did you know the game take a lot of inspiration from Irish culture )!

For example, did you know that Sothis correspond to the Egyptian goddess Sopdet? She's the personification of the star Sirius, a reference to how Sothis come from space which lead to her being called "Fell Star" by the Agarthans. But more importantly, Sopdet is linked to the annual flooding of the Nile! It join how Sothis flooded Fodlan "In the land of Thinis, where the old gods are said to live, the False God has awakened. Its looming, heteromorphic vessel was resurrected to sink the world to the depths of the ocean. It will bring extinction to all children of men, and salvation to all beasts of the land, sky, and sea. [...] And soon, a flood aptly named Despair will drown this world. [...]" ( from the book "Romance of the World's Perdition" in the Shadow Library of the DLC ). Also, she's the goddess of the fertility brought to the soil by the flooding which tie with how Sothis created the Nabataean, the current humans, magic outside of Dark Magic and the crest. It's implied she created more than that in the book of Seiros ( it says she created all plants and animals ), but we can't take it by words with how the current Nabataeans rewrote the past to found the Church of Seiros to protect their kind.

For more crest lore personally I love this dialog from Linhardt A support with Byleth:

"Well, I don't see how Crests have much use in times of peace. Certainly there are Crests that make you stronger and could be used in engineering. And I suppose Crests that increase magical abilities might help doctors heal injuries... Still, the possibilities seem limited. It's as if Crests were designed to be used only in times of war. Their power meant to bring about death and destruction. I cannot prove what I say is true, but suppose for a moment that it is... The longer this war goes on, the more useful my Crest research becomes. But if the war were to end today, we would go on living, perhaps not using the power of our Crests at all."

( Very sorry for the unwanted ranting! I have no control over myself when it comes Fe3h lore )

Short answer: I'm just a little weirdo that gets hung up about weird details in games, and Fe3h has a lot of weird and interesting details. Long answer [and I might even talk about unrelated stuff too, sorry I don't often have the chance to talk about fe3h]: About fe3h, the game is surprisingly good at giving you just enough information to ask more questions, and then when you start paying more attention you're hit with more moments of "wait a second- what?" "That doesn't seem right." And part of that has to do with the fact that a lot of the time the information that characters give you [or Byleth] is somewhat unreliable, due to them either keeping vital information to them selves, they don't know the whole story, they're trying to manipulate you, or they're outright lying to you.

I remember I had a lot of hang-ups about Dimitri blaming Edelgard for what happened in Duscur because I had a hard time believing that a fourteen year-old would be able to orchestrate the assassination of a foreign nation's king [especially when considering the timeline of events for Edelgard herself]. However, in Dimititri's case his perception of the truth was warped by multiple factors. Such as his severe lack of sleep and rest, possible malnutrition, his abysmal emotional state, implied schizophrenia [or something like it idk I'm not a doctor], and the fact that Edelgard was, indeed, working to kill him and all of his friends for a year. It's not so much that he logically believes it or that Edelgard was responsible for Duscur, it's that he had to fight her anyway, and her involvement with it may as well make her responsible. [still kinda bullshit but it makes sense as to why he's being the way he is]

A better example would have been how Tomas/Solan tries to manipulate Claude into thinking that there was some kind of church conspiracy with information about the immaculate one only for Claude to later stop listening to him after he found out who Solan really was and what he wanted. But that was one of the things that were solved in-story which left me less room to chomp on and obsess over. [not a bad thing- this is good story writing.]

The other reason is that sometimes the writers mess something up but depending on what that is it can be more interesting to find an in-universe reason why something doesn't add up. For instance the whole thing about the Red Canyon. It's implied to be called that because the Nabateans were genocides there. The funky thing there is that Nabatean blood isn't red, it's green. What this can imply is a few things, that Nabateans have red blood in a human form, or there was a mistranslation somewhere between the Nabateans and the humans they worked with, or it was deliberate [which makes more sense now that I think about it]. Basically, it was probably called something along the lines of "bloody canyon" or something due to the tragedy that happened there, but it got changed to red canyon because The saints [or just Rhea/Sieros] wanted to both keep the history a secret, but also wanted memorialize what happened.

The game is filled with little stuff like this that give me so many little brain worms, and that tends to be the start of it. The rest of it comes with me mentally writing fanfic with an oc and I start to go: "Like what are their bathrooms like, how does the plumbing systems work, what tools are available, if magic exists how does it work, does magic still follow the law of conservation of mass, how does magic and using it affect the body, etc."

Like, the implicit stuff and the inspirations are definitely a factor, but it's primarily my little brain going off the rails and asking way too many questions that probably doesn't matter.

[cartoonnonsensegirl]

So, here's my opinion on Fire Emblem: Three Houses thus far...

Verdant Wind was a nice, pretty chill route. I liked the idea of them being the underdogs taking on the more competitive classes in the Academy Phase, and then later finishing off the true villains in the Timeskip. I will mention that I S-Ranked Claude because he's the only house leader that I cared about at the time. The only weak point for me was Claude's S-Rank itself, being that he and Byleth do love each other, but Claude has to leave Fódlan, leaving her to wait for him so they can be reunited.

Azure Moon, on the other hand, was kind of a chore to get through, since nearly everyone seems depressed. I know the story itself explains and shows why, but it had me trudging through, sometimes even procrastinating on finishing the route (also because I started it back in 2020 but then got Animal Crossing and was obsessed with building my island). Two major drawbacks of Azure Moon were 1) Dimitri being basically outta commission for monastery activities until after Gronder Field, and 2) Dedue's disappearance, both of which had me grinding for support points with meal sharing—especially with Dedue, because I wanted him to marry Mercedes. The only redeeming factors about Azure Moon are 1) Dimitri realizing the error of his ways after Gronder Field, and 2) Mercedes and Annette being rays of sunshine. I did S-Rank Dimitri, and one point I'll give it over Claude's S-Rank is that Byleth does become his queen almost instantly.

I'm currently teaching the Black Eagles...and I'm gonna say that I like them more than the Golden Deer (I played all three routes in Three Hopes, and Scarlet Blaze actually won me over more than Golden Wildfire). Their class intro was hilarious (Linhardt sleeping, Petra's language quirks, Edelgard embarrassed by her class, etc.), and their supports are so good; Ferdinand's personality feels overly theatrical and it shows in his supports, for example.

I had originally planned to do Silver Snow first and split the save file to go to Crimson Flower later. I've heard people say that it's best to do Crimson Flower last. However, after unlocking Edelgard's first C-support and hearing her cry in her sleep, I've decided I can't go through with betraying her. I know that when I get there, I'll lose access to certain units—Flayn will say good-bye, but come the timeskip I'll be sparing her and Seteth. I'll also have Claude and Hilda spared so they can be happy together and live for a brighter future. Hopefully it's okay that I never play Silver Snow—the thought of betraying and killing Edelgard after merely listening to her crying for her father in her nightmare-induced sleep is just sickening. Plus, you teach her class to get invested in her and her friends; I am not going to turn her class against her (in Azure Moon, I recruited them mainly because I didn't want Bernadetta to be burned to death). Add to that that I see Byleth as being more of a mother figure who's willing to listen to her students' problems as if they were her own children, and it makes Silver Snow seem like a mother disowning her own daughter whom she nurtured and listened to her issues (the same could be said about Crimson Flower with regards to Rhea, but it's wildly different, and comes off more as a sort of 'divine judgment' from Byleth towards Rhea)

As far as S-Ranks go, I'm planning to either remain single or become Linhardt's wife, since Edelgard belongs with Hubert IMHO.

[bowbowis]

"Vae, puto deus fio."

Thinking on it, Dimitri's accusation that Edelgard intends to become a goddess herself is even more ridiculous in context.

Dimitri asserts that there are people who need their faith to live. Edelgard responds that no matter how faithful someone is the Goddess will not actually help them, citing her own personal experience (which is true; the Sothis worshipped by the church - an omniscient, omnipotent, prayer answering capital "G" Goddess - no longer exists, if she ever did in the first place). Edelgard says this is why she must change the world "on behalf of the silent and weak." Dimiti then responds by accusing Edelgard of trying to become a goddess herself and "steal the power to act" from the people she "claim[s] to defend".

So what exactly is he accusing her of here? The only thing that makes sense in context is that he's upset that Edelgard is trying to take the role of the Goddess by helping the people who have nobody else to rely on (with the difference that Edelgard can actually produce tangible results) instead of letting them help themselves, like he's a damn Fox News pundit. This, of course, sounds like rank hypocrisy. In every other instance Dimitri is all about helping people, even reverting back to that stance in the same scene.

But let's give him the benefit of the doubt. He did say it was not the rulers, but the people, who can change the world for the better. So perhaps its a power thing, the disaffected can help each other out, but when a ruler tries to help they're trying to play Goddess...

Okay, maybe he can help in his personal capacity, but if he uses the power of the state that's going too far.

Okay, so it turns out that he is Mr. Government Handout, to the point that AM's ending mural flat out depicts his soldiers distributing food to the common folk.

Still, as long as he doesn't want to make the common folk dependent on the rulers to affect change; say by espousing a form of enlightened despotism where the rulers wield their power on behalf of the people, who have an advisory role, instead of the people being able to hold power in their own right. he's at least not trying to "steal power" from them.

Well, at least he would never unilaterally make a major decision about his people's lives, wants, and needs without actually consulting them first. Right? RIGHT?

OH, GOD DAMNIT DIMITRI!

Okay, so he's kind of a hypocrite, but that doesn't necessarily make him wrong about Edelgard. So where does she stand on things? She's trying to help people but is she stealing power from the people? Is she helping them in a way that would make her a "Goddess"?

So, here we have the basics of Edelgard's ideology. Instead of Crests and bloodlines guaranteeing a person has power or excluding them from it entirely, Edelgard wants people to earn power by proving themselves capable of using it effectively. All positions of authority, including, Emperor, will be selected from the general populace. This alone greatly expands the power of the common folk rather than reducing it as Dimitri accuses Edelgard of doing.

There is a common misconception that Edelgard's ideal system is a form of social Darwinism where people either must succeed or get cast aside. This is untrue.

This, along with other supports like her Houses supports with Linhardt and Petra paint a very different picture. Rather than a brutal, sink-or-swim version of meritocracy Edelgard takes an approach more suited to her humanist values, one that empowers people to stand on their own two feet, to choose their own path, and to become the best they can be.

In this way Edelgard actually avoids becoming a Goddess, even in the stupid and benign way Dimitri accuses her of. She doesn't want people to be dependent on her help, rather she wants to help reach a point where they can help themselves. Dimitri doesn't even start to consider that the people might need more than just charity unless he supports with Yuri in Hopes.

In a way Dimitri and Edelgard reflect the old proverb: "Give a man a fish and he eats for a day; teach a man to fish and he eats for a lifetime." Dimitri aims to provide the people with fish each day, leaving them to rely on his generosity. Edelgard empowers them to provide themselves with fish so they won't need of her in the future.

It's pretty well summed up in their end cards:

Edelgard is remembered as a liberator who gave the people their independence and stepped away when she was no longer needed.

Dimitri is explicitly seen as a savior figure who focused on charity and lived his whole life letting his people be dependent on him.

Alas, Dimitri, I fear you may be becoming a god yourself.

[fodlaneverafter]

FEA character mini-analyses: black eagles as rebels

Today I feel like explaining why I cast characters the way I did in FEA (my ongoing 3H/EAH crossover fic)! If all goes well this'll be a four-part series--one each for the three houses and one last post for the house lords + Rhea. (I'm sorry Ashen Wolves fans... I'll talk about Yuri in the last post, but I don't think there's much I can say for the rest of his house.)

Now without further ado, let us begin!

Hubert as Faybelle Thorn: let's raise a cheer for everyone's favorite dark fairy!! (please don't this is cursed enough. haha get it? cursed, because he's--) As we all know the most important thing about Hubert von Vestra is his impeccable sense of style, and Faybelle's aesthetic is the only one that comes close. The only major difference between these two characters is that Faybelle is spiteful, while Hubert is simply ruthless. And I think it's enough to make him a Rebel, as the Dark Fairy's actions are nothing but petty. With his father's role being stolen by the Evil Queen, I thought this would add an interesting dimension to his loyalty to Edelgard (whereas Faybelle hates Raven for it). Also, Faybelle's pet is canonically a pomeranian puppy named Spindle, and I wanted to give Hubie a pomeranian puppy named Spindle.

Ferdinand as C.A. Cupid: I needed something to replace nobility as the virtue around which he centers his life, so naturally I decided on the most entertaining alternative--love. In this AU, destiny-bound "true love" serves as a good enough parallel to the corruption of Fódlan nobility. So while he may have some disagreements with Edelgard, he can't argue with her understanding of destiny. Giving him big ol' wings makes him even more annoying to her, which is exactly what I want. ... Okay, yes, I did make him Cupid just because it was the only way I could include "Ferdinand von Aegir Cupid" in this AU.

Bernadetta as Cerise Hood: yes, it does hurt me that Bernadetta's color palette clashes horribly with the RRH aesthetic, but what can a girl do they're the perfect match! Of course Bernie would be shy and reclusive if her father was the freaking Big Bad Wolf. And who wouldn't be anxious having to hide a secret like that in the woods, constantly surrounded by the vicious Wolf people? Of course I couldn't make her as extremely nervous as she was in 3H, but uh. I don't think anyone minds. (We are kicking Count Varley out of the picture by the way please forget he ever existed.)

Petra as Cedar Wood: the only princess besides Edelgard in 3H may be a mere commoner in this retelling, but real queens need no crowns. Cedar's desire to understand humans is the closest in-universe to Petra's desire to understand Fódlan (even if they're for different reasons). Furthermore, I find Petra's honesty works well with Cedar's curse--they're both so endearing for it.

Dorothea as Meeshell Mermaid: we shall forever mourn the lost potential of Meeshell, but Dorothea is a whole other story. Voice of an angel, check. Renowned beauty, check. Most importantly, her longing to be truly seen and loved, check. Let's not forget the Little Mermaid was treated as little more than a pretty plaything in the prince's court, never truly seen by the man she loved. Canon Dorothea fears exactly that. Her being a Rebel is just too perfect.

Linhardt as Briar Beauty: I don't think I need to explain myself here? But... the tricky part about him is that Linhardt would never in a million years be unsatisfied with his destiny. I had to lure him to the dark side with lots of enticing research opportunities on the true nature of destiny-bound curses and succession laws, because of what happened with his mom's story (Evil Queen stealing Dark Fairy's role and all). Anyway, I love imagining him with green crownglasses and the fact that his personality is the polar opposite of Briar's will never not be hilarious.

Caspar as... the son of the White Queen??: yeah so the White Queen doesn't have a kid in EAH; I just couldn't think of anything more suiting for Caspar, both in personality and appearance (a bonus, in my book!). Now technically most of the Wonderlandians are Golden Deer, but like... who cares. Also, it's adorable to picture Caspar having normal conversations with his mom, who is the princesses' advisor, and they're quite literally just shouting at each other. Even if they're on opposite sides of the destiny conflict, I feel like they'd have the sweetest relationship.

And that, my folksies, is that.

Confession: before starting this fic, the Black Eagles were my least favorite house. I didn't understand them at all, but now I am so glad I do. They got that Rebel heart, lads.

Next up: Blue Lions!

[princehatterene]

ferdimana ace attorney au. all the houses have to participate in a mock trial. for the black eagles trial, ferdie and mana are on defense and edelgard and hubert are prosecutor/head detective respectively. bernadetta instantly volunteers to be the victim so she can participate as little as possible. linhardt instantly volunteers to be the defendant so he can sleep through most of the trial. byleth (or seteth/rhea maybe?) is the judge. dorothea is the true culprit, playing the role a little too perfectly.

[nightshadedawn]

Obsidian Sea Part 3: Supports

I thought about putting them in separate posts, but have since decided against it. Honestly, love these characters. I'll do a bit of a breakdown of the rules I made for supports, and then the rules I broke.

Rules: 1. I could not repeat character from the Ashen Wolves DLC except for house leaders. Which means Bernadetta, Mercedes, Dorthea, Ingrind, Lysithea, Hilda, Ferdinand, Linhardt, and Ashe were out of the question. 2. Every character had to have a house where they "fit" best. I.e., had the most supports. (Yuri + Constance = Empire, Hapi = Kingdom, Balthus = Alliance) 3. Outside of the main four, I had to add another already established character or two to fill out Jeritza and Anna's places. (adding supports 'cause Anna not having any is weird) 4. No more than one faction leader to a character's supports. 5. A leader does not get a support with another leader. 6. Do not use the same leader supports as the Ashen Wolves counterparts. (Jeralt-Yuri, Beatrice-Balthus, Sophie-Constance, Niklaus-Hapi)

As I said, I did break some of these. They were more guidelines and what I observed through the examination of the Ashen Wolves mechanics. I did what I did for story purposes and what felt true to the characters. Each character also had personal rules, like Sophie's only explicitly romantic supports were with women and Jeralt doesn't have any romantic supports with anyone who was a student during the academy part of the game.

Rules I Broke: 1. Fitting in a specific house. (Jeralt doesn't have a "house" as much as he fits with the church, seeing as he's a Knight of Seiros. Most of his supports are with adults of the church, which filled out the roster nicely due to the lack in the Cindered Shadows DLC) 2. No more than one leader. (Niklaus had Yuri and Dimitri because I felt they were necessary. They both just made sense. Dimitri for Niklaus' story and Yuri as the only real viable one for NIklaus among the Ashen Wolves) 3. No leader/leader supports. (Jeralt gets a support with Edelgard because she would absolutely go and question him and attempt to get answers and unravel the fraught history between him and Rhea for leverage.)

Now then, onto the summaries. I will say that I am generally pleased to have been able to use these characters, even if it disappoints me to realize just how few Golden Deer characters were utilized in Cindered Shadows. Despite the fact I can only post 30 pictures, so I'll have to put the ladies in a separate post.

Jeralt

Niklaus

[fleshing-out-fodlan]

I feel like the way Petra responds to Edelgard’s offer to help her in their C support is pretty different from the way she responds to other people’s offers. When Edelgard says to let her know if she needs any help, Petra responds that she “will not have that need” and “can resolve any problems that occur by herself.” Compare this to how she begged Linhardt to help her with her spear work in their C support or how, while turning down Dorothea’s offers for help, she still seems overall more thankful of Dorothea’s offers (at least to me) and even says Dorothea’s kindness is “filling her heart.”

So this got me think, why did Petra seem... annoyed? Or maybe a bit defensive over Edelgard’s offers, and my thought is that it has to do with their respective positions. To my knowledge, Petra has not had extensive contact with Edelgard before reaching the officer’s academy (and their C support makes it seem as if they do not know each other particularly well). Therefore, to Petra, Edelgard is simply the princess of the country that is holding her hostage, so it makes sense that she would hold more negative feelings towards Edelgard than the other Black Eagles, especially Dorothea who is a commoner and therefore has no connection to the people imprisoning Petra. However, as a hostage, Petra would know she does not have the ability to just freely speak her mind and must appease those who have power over her. This would create some tension between the two princesses, but why does Petra specifically feel annoyed by the offers of help?

Well first off, Edelgard’s attempts to help people in the beginning of the game don’t tend to go particularly well (see my post about Edelgard and criticism). But beyond Edelgard’s general difficulties with interacting with people, Petra is also very aware of how people see her. For many in the empire, she is likely the only person from Brigid they have the ability to regularly interact with, especially outside of the context of war. This means Petra has had to deal with all the empire’s stereotypes about Brigid being thrown at her, and we can see a bit of how that impacted her in her C support with Hubert where she mentions being treated like a “beast.” She also notes in one of her study requests that people call her a “thief.” She brushes it off as being because she moves quickly, but it’s also possible it’s a result of Adrestians stereotyping her. All of Petra’s shortcomings were likely seen as a reflection of her people. Her inability to speak the language would be proof people from Brigid were stupid, if she struggled with training it would be proof her people were incompetent. This likely plays a role in Petra’s drive to constantly get better as she wants to prove her people are just as capable of Adrestians. Therefore, I think Edelgard’s offer of help came off as condescending to her rather than an act of generous kindness (though I think Edelgard meant for it to be the latter). Petra felt as if she was being pushed back into the role as the ‘lesser princess’ or that Edelgard was trying in some way to assert her superiority. So, while Petra cannot outright call Edelgard out, she instead tries to politely push back against Edelgard and show how she’s just as competent as any other Adrestian. And, to Edelgard’s credit, she responds well to the push back and encourages Petra to show her her true power. I think the end of this support likely gave Petra something to think about and consider maybe Edelgard is not someone who simply feels she is above Petra and there may be a chance for genuine mutual respect there.

[glowingbadger]

Guys I basically hate everything I'm making right now, drawing, writing, etc. and it's all taking a million years to make just to be disappointed with the results SO I'm taking an indulgent and stupid break to spit out my thoughts about the FE3H lads' vices of choice (in terms of what they may imbibe to take the edge off). Also I'm tired and doing this super off-the-cuff, so if I forget someone or my takes are shit or w/e... i dunno, mea culpa I guess.

big ol' TW for drug & alcohol use so skip this one if you don't vibe with booze and/or smoking of various types (nothing too hard tho lmao no one's shooting up or anything on this post). As a disclaimer since this whole post might make me seem super pro-drugs lmao: I am into having your vices and letting them help get you through the day to a healthy and controlled extent.

Also, I guess this is sort of modern au?? FE3H's setting is wildly anachronistic, but I'm pretty sure they wouldn't have things like modern cigarettes, or edibles as we know them. Just. Roll with it ig.

Honestly this was inspired by a guy I used to hook up with before I met my husband who smoked and because of him I briefly developed a pavlovian response where I'd become aroused by the scent of cigarettes so shout-out to you, Dan- hope you're doing good somewhere you dumb, handsome bastard

Vices:

Linhardt- he's open to a lot, as a naturally curious type, but he's particularly fond of hookah. He finds the experience meditative and calming, and it's honestly best if someone keeps an eye out and makes sure he doesn't fall asleep with the coals still burning. But having a pipe in hand while reading on a quiet evening is just unmatched.

Hubert- obviously his canon vice is coffee, which he naturally takes black (at most, perhaps a splash of milk). That said, while he doesn't have an addictive streak, he will have a cigarette here and there when the stress is getting to him and he needs to stay focused. Other than that, he of course will partake in wine when it's expected of him at events, but he doesn't overly enjoy it.

Ferdinand- he enjoys wine both as a social experience, and as a true connoisseur; he's constantly scouting out which sellers have gotten ahold of something rare and exotic, and has no compunctions about paying a good deal of money for a valuable bottle. However, he dramatically overestimates his own alcohol tolerance.

Caspar- pretty much lives completely clean, unless food and over-exercise can be considered vices (which many would say they could). He tried Lin's hookah once and he coughed so much that he wrote off smoking across the board. Totally doesn't get things like "acquired tastes" when it comes to drinks, either- why bother with something you don't like right off the bat?

Dimitri- as a function of growing up at the height of society, he's of course expected to drink socially and know just enough about fine wines and liquors to serve appropriately high-quality drink to guests and dignitaries. However, he's a very dramatic and sad drunk, on the rare occasions he lets himself get that far. Frankly, he should probably just try weed.

Felix- he keeps his vices pretty under control, as lack of control makes him feel on-edge. Similar to Caspar, his 'vice' is more about drowning his anxieties in training and exercise. That said, he'll sometimes nurse a cigarette for a while, mostly to keep his mouth and hands busy- it's a fidgeting habit more than anything.

Sylvain- he's made a conscious effort to familiarize himself with and build a tolerance to just about anything that's consumed socially. Passing a joint, pouring a drink, taking shots, anything that adds to that socially-acceptable party vibes, he's ready to jump on-board. Left to his own preferences though, he likes a good whiskey, but like, the softer, smoother ones that go down easy.

Ashe- he doesn't look it, but having grown up in a rough situation and having to rub elbows with some unsavory types, he does have a respectable tolerance for most of your standard substances- though he's mostly only ever taken them to be "polite." But he knows his body and knows to keep alert.

Dedue- can appreciate coffee, but is potently aware of the disadvantages of caffeine addiction, so he keeps it moderate. He can also appreciate hookah, and similarly to Linhardt, finds it to be a soothing and calm activity that doesn't impair his judgement or cognition significantly.

Claude- pretty open minded overall, and is in support of indulging in moderate hedonism as long as it never puts you at a disadvantage. His preferred indulgence is weed, and in particular, he can really enjoy a well made edible. He's very picky about who he imbibes with, however- he doesn't trust just anyone while he may be in a slightly compromised state and more likely to say something he otherwise wouldn't.

Lorenz- he's as much a wine aficionado as any true noble would be, of course, and has memorized all the usual talking-points thereof. He considers it distasteful to become visibly inebriated, however. He also definitely owns a collection of elaborate and expensive tobacco pipes that have almost never been used.

Ignatz- he's fairly clean, and will nurse a single drink throughout an evening in social settings. He's heard that many famous artists have found inspiration in "broadening their minds," but he finds the loss of control intimidating. To be honest though, he also should probably try weed, this is a man with an anxiety disorder if I ever saw one.

Raphael- probably hasn't had many opportunities to get extremely experimental, but he does absolutely love a good beer or ale (or several beers or ales), preferably alongside a hearty meal or vast array of snacks. He considers it just part of enjoying a feast, a perfect accent to the food.

Jeralt- his love of booze is canon, of course, but he is generally open minded about such things and is willing to partake in whatever takes the edge off after a big job. He has decent tolerance, but has a habit of ignoring when he might be pushing a little too far, basically willfully ignoring his own limits.

Seteth- canonically, Nabateans have high alcohol tolerance (if Seteth's mention of it to Manuela is anything to go off of), so I imagine this extends to most foreign substances. That said, he does enjoy the earthy flavor of a well-worn tobacco pipe, and will sometimes unwind with it after a long work day.

Also on a personal note, modern au Seteth in a business suit smoking a cigarette makes horny brain go brrrrrrrrrr

Jeritza- he stays totally clean, as he deeply dislikes the sensation of losing control. He lives with the constant shadow of the thought that any lapse will trigger the Death Knight, and knows he can't risk such a thing outside of the battlefield.

[cherrypikkins]

More Non-NG+ Maddening Run - Completed the dreaded True Chivalry Paralogue while saving all villagers and earning the Aegis Shield (which I don't plan on even using)

No wonder Felix hates everything. Everyone living in this town wants to die like a true knight.

Strat used below the cut

Fortress Knight Sylvain and Assassin Petra to deal with southeast corner rescue mission and stronghold. They can hold that position with minimal issues while the others are coming to Rodrigue's rescue.

Snipers Leonie and Claude to unload wide-spreading Gambits on northern bandits targeting Rodrigue - since they will kill him in one hit.

Warlock Lysithea warping Wyvern Rider Hilda to solo tank the far west side and then using Stride on the group for maximum coverage.

Swordmaster Byleth and Grappler Felix taking the south side with Dancer Marianne to heal and refresh turns. Both Felix and Byleth were key to dealing with the southmost stronghold bosses.

Dark Flier Constance with Bolting to soften key targets so that the Kingdom Guards can deal with them solo.

...And Priest Linhardt as Mission Assistance to babysit Rodrigue.