#support: greil

[fletching-scar]

[ ZENITH ] - A dance invented to celebrate the burgeoning peace recently established between the once feuding kingdoms of Askr and Embla. Long ago, so the story goes, these faraway lands had been meant to work in harmony. One land tasked with the closure of gates, and the other charged with opening them - this dance evokes a history of the back and forth of conflicting duty, eventually culminating in a tranquil hope for a better future.

There’s been an ongoing trend of Greil meeting unexpected faces. He must be very lucky to come across the Greil Mercenaries one by one, learning what each of them had been through since he was gone. Ike and Mist had been the main reason why he went to this ball, after all. When he is wandering around, seeing what activities were in store, he notices a head of long, red hair. There's many red-haired folks around, but that posture, that face... That’s undoubtedly him.

“Well, if it isn’t Shinon! Been a while, eh?” He approaches him from behind, pointing his thumb over at some dancers taking up the floor. “What say we talk over a dance? Give each other our charms when we’re done.”

In a way, he hopes that at least Shinon could open up to him. If Soren’s intel was anything to go by, there’s a couple of answers he’d like to find out. 

There is a ghost, here. A wraith that shambled from the sea, now so close to Shinon he can feel the echo of its long-gone body heat.

He arrests his body's urge to turn, to look once more upon that best-beloved face. He doesn't know what he will see, or if he'll be able to stand it. What it will do to his heart.

"You're dead," he says, his voice gone cold and brackish like the deep. "A-an' I got over it. I'm fine."

Shinon surmounts the lead in his feet, he slips a step away. And then again, and then...

Shinon forgets, as he always, always does, how to deny himself anything.

He turns, and Greil is there. Hale and whole and beautiful, just as lovely as he was the day he died.

Hazy, Shinon blinks. His breath breaks in his throat.

"Captain," he murmurs, he pulls the word out of his mouth in small, sharp pieces.

He reaches out and touches Greil--is this the first time? He doesn't know. He holds him the way he thinks people hold each other, to dance. He doesn't know.

He knows that this is Greil, and his body is warm.

[greilette]

If the timeline he pieced together is all in the right order, that would mean Ike or Mist were still of an appropriate age to study here. Well. He’s not sure if there really is an age threshold here. The matter stands that if he should try seeking one of them, the Officer’s Academy would be a good place to start.

“I’m looking for a girl named Mist. Brown hair, blue eyes. Do you know anything?”

He’s taking a bit of a risk here. What if she became a totally different person than how he remembered her all those years ago? Greil is half-expecting to come to terms with it. After all, he left her when she needed him most.

However, when asking around, a couple of students from the Black Eagles seem to understand without the need of explaining. They had pointed out a direction for him, saying that she was last seen near the monastery’s greenhouse.

Sure enough, he sees her inside, busying herself with watering a bush of flowers. She’s a bit older, yet very much recognizable nonetheless. Does she notice him entering? Maybe. Maybe not. Still, he approaches from behind, though not too close. Don’t wanna give her a heart attack. “You’re enjoying your time here at the monastery, I take it?”

It's an ordinary day. Free from her duties, whether classes or other tasks, she finds herself once more in the newly reconstructed greenhouse. A particular patch of flowers had taken her fancy -- gold, yellow, oranges, reminiscent of a field long gone, and on gardens long trodden underfoot by Daein soldiers. So, she had made it her mission to check in on this colorful bunch every so often.

It's an ordinary day, and her father is alive.

Her ears must be playing tricks on her, she reasons. That voice, she'd last heard it as a 15 year old, no taller than a short spear. That voice, whose last words had been entrusted to Ike. Her jaw clenches, her skin pricks, her heart beats fast, too fast. She doesn't dare turn around for fear of being wrong but, well. It's not like her father actually could stand behind her, right?

Mist is a reasonable girl. She had shed a river of tears on that daybreak four years ago in Gallia. Long conversationgs with Titania and comforting silences with Ike had helped her out. She was over it. She knew what had transpired, and she had come to terms with it.

Unfortunately, despite everything -- she want's so desperately to believe her father is in the room with her now.

Fingers tense on the handle of the watering can. Her knuckles whitening from the effort. The inside of her lip is being bitten furiously, too. It's all she can do from snapping, on this quaint afternoon in the Garreg Mach greenhouse.

No; surely she must be dreaming.

"Father?" Mist tries out the words. She can't turn around just yet. "Are you really here?"

[radiantpaths]

[ PHOTO-ARTIFEX ] - The photo-artifex, an invention that makes its appearance at these Ethereal Balls, is a device that utilizes light magic to create small, handheld instant pictures— the perfect thing to capture memories of tonight to keep for forever! It returns again this year in its brand-new portable version, the mini-artifex, at a station offering a variety of props to pose with.

Greil wouldn’t call himself very adept at using inventions. This little box, capable of producing photos in an instant? If he could have a memory of his family anywhere he went, that would be a nice little memento. 

“Hey, Ike. Come over here.” He waves a hand at him while examining the so-called mini-artifex. “We’ll get a photo for each of us.”

One photo for each of them… if Greil knows how to aim the thing, that is. The blurry and terrible angles for his first attempts could be endearing in of itself.

Ike has heard of the photo-artifex. With the power of magic, you can get a portrait of you, a loved one, or in Greil's case - a picture of some kind of blurry mass.

He looks at the attempt. It's... fatherly. It's the only way Ike can describe the thing. As a boy, he'd never thought of his father as being a man with flaws. Now as he's grown up, he's learned that his father is just a man - a man who is far from perfect. Taking terrible pictures is another flaw, Ike thinks.

"I'm not sure what I'm looking at," Ike says. He points to a blurry patch of brown. "I think that's your cape." Ike frowns. "Give me the mini-artifex."

He takes it from his father. Surely Ike can do better than this. In one hand, he holds the artifex. He throws his free arm around his father's shoulders. He never thought he'd do this again, let alone have a picture of him to carry with him always. Ike can't help the smile as he points the artifex at the two of them.

With the click of a button, the little box flashes. Out pops a small piece of almost-parchment, but it's different somehow. He takes it, but when he looks at it, his face falls. It's just as blurry, all the colours bleeding together.

How is this just as terrible as Greil's attempt?!

Ike scratches the back of his neck. "We should ask someone else to take the picture," he mumbles awkwardly.

The two pictures, side-by-side, almost make him laugh. They're as unclear as each other. He's always wanted to be half the man his father was, but perhaps, they're not as different as he'd always thought.

[dazzling-thunderclap]

"gatrie, good to see you," soren greets him with a nod. "now shinon will actually have a friend around here."

A grin breaks on Gatrie’s face like heat lightning in the summer sky; he is an inch from spinning Soren in his arms before he recollects that his old comrade doesn’t always take kindly to touch.

“Soren! Oh, it’s been months, I—I—!”

And then his eager mind parses the rest. The joyous tears that well up in his eyes fatten and wobble with shock.

“Shinon—Nonnie’s here?”

[urvanswrath]

Greil has been gradually learning the ropes here and there. It turns out that knight was right–there really isn’t a shortage of jobs for mercs like him. One of the missions posted on the board is a hunting job. Nothing too crazy, though it's a good amount of money to help him gather his bearings, he figures. All he needs to do is hunt down these turkeese and bring them back.

Urvan is a little too on-the-nose when it comes to hunting, especially for birds, so the guys who he asked about the hunting grounds gave him a simple bow and arrow to help. Not only that, but he has someone accompanying him to take on the job. One of those students from the academy, apparently.

“Shez. Do I have that right?” He pronounces the name out loud while they trek further into the forest on the outskirts of town. The boy's striking purple hair is certainly leaving an impression on him. “Call me Greil. If anything goes wrong, I’ll cover for you. I hope you’ll do the same.”

There is only one small, minor issue…

He doesn’t quite know how to aim a bow.

[ @bladeunbound ]

this one's for you boy (misses the shot)

BOW +1 ⟋ greil + m!shez

[soren-apologist]

i feel like people who say ike is a mary sue/gary stu in radiant dawn don’t realize that fe10’s supposed to be the ending of his arc as a character, where he’s reaching the very last part of his development.

at its core, fe9 is a coming-of-age story; ike goes from being a hotheaded, impatient teenager to a much calmer, more mature version of himself after having the responsibilities of handling a mercenary company and later an entire army thrust on his shoulders at far too early of an age. as such, while fe9 on its own initially seems as if it’s an entire character arc, we actually get to see how ike further grows into himself after 2 years of peace and coping with the events of the mad king’s war, a privilege that remains extremely uncommon for most fire emblem protagonists.

the ending of part 2 introduces us to a 20-year-old ike, now having physically grown up to match his personal growth from the start of fe9. while a more mature version of himself, he never turns on the morals and ideals that make him who he is, having decided to leave the crimean court to return working as a simple mercenary because he knows it’s where he belongs. despite this, however, he still finds himself dragged into conflicts and subsequent positions of power he doesn’t want. even though all he wants is a simple life as a mercenary, he still willingly chooses to take on the role of a general of sanaki’s army because he’s just not the kind of person to turn away someone in need, especially when he’s quite literally the only person qualified to fit the role asked of him (commanding armies of both beorc and laguz).

to clarify, ike isn’t already over with his character growth by fe10– he’s just nearing the end of it. while it’s a lot more subdued, you can absolutely still see the stubbornness and sass that characterized him in fe9; he’s still backtalking the enemy commanders he fights and giving people in positions of power above him a hard time whenever they do or say something he doesn’t like.

on that point, even as the “mature” version of himself, he honestly still kind of puts his foot in his mouth a few times there. it obviously never reaches the extent of him snapping at the entire council of begnion because they were being rude to elincia, but instances like this, where ike could have literally gotten himself and his entire army killed if he had genuinely offended dheginsea, whether through death-by-black dragon king or getting thrown back into the kauku caves:

or this, by which point in the story he’s so tired of everything that when oliver decides to defect from his own forces to the greil army, ike’s just like “eugh” and says right to oliver’s face that he’d rather fight and kill him then have his support as an ally, something he probably shouldn’t be doing (and most likely wouldn’t if it wasn’t oliver asking) considering there’s a very finite number of people available to fight ashera:

(i can’t entirely blame him for this one though, because, again… oliver)

or, hell, even this, where ike is standing directly in front of ashera who is about to kill everyone in the tower and turn the entire world to stone, to which his response is to tell her to pick a god and pray:

…are all pretty good instances of ike not always managing to catch his tongue. i mean, if nothing else, you can’t deny the guy’s got balls of steel, but shit-talking pseudo-immortal beings entirely capable of killing him on the spot probably isn’t one of the wisest decisions out there. still, though, it actually matches his fe9 characterization pretty well; in both games, he tends to snap and say or do something ill-advised when he’s frustrated and believes someone else is in the wrong in some way. the main difference between the games is the extent to which ike reacts, though, as now he’s a little calmer even when angry, and no longer charges headlong into danger like when mist and rolf were kidnapped or when facing the black knight for the first time. he’s still making some questionable (bad) decisions here and there, it’s just now they’re a lot less severe than they used to be, and he’s grown up enough that he doesn’t need titania to lecture him whenever he does something dumb anymore.

besides this, the main thing ike is still dealing with in fe10 is his tendency towards self-effacing behavior— and yeah, on its own “too nice for his own good” does sound like the sort of flaw a gary stu would have, but in this case it genuinely does affect him. he’s constantly bending over backwards to help those in need, even when his own kindness is constantly shooting him in the foot and leaving him to deal with even more problems. it actually coincides with his tendency to speak before he thinks, because as a person he just can’t sit by and watch as someone or a group of people is treated unfairly, even if it means getting himself wrapped up in a mess he could have avoided by staying quiet.

on that whole “shooting himself in the foot” thing, it’s important to keep in mind that the “rewards” ike receives for his kindness are more often than not things he doesn’t actually want. as a smaller example, his good looks, bravery, and gentle heart are constantly getting him attention from women when he himself has no interest in their flirting, to the point it makes him uncomfortable. as a much larger example, ike doesn’t want to be a wealthy nobleman, but he still accepts the title of lord to help elincia, and chooses to hold it for a year and a half after the war for the sake of giving legitimacy to her newfound regency over crimea. after this, he finally manages to give up his title and return to running the greil mercenaries, only to be contacted by bastian after a few months and have to go into hiding for the sake of launching a surprise attack on ludveck’s rebel army. he’s then immediately drawn into the begnion-laguz alliance conflict, something he’s actually okay with because he’s being contracted as a mercenary commander and not a general, except that as soon as their army combines with crimea and sanaki’s forces he’s promptly guilt tripped into being a fucking general again. after, like, 2 weeks of commanding sanaki’s army, they accidentally set off the apocalypse, and now ike is the general of the army facing off against literal god. when all of this is said and done, he still doesn’t get what he wants— a simple life as a mercenary— because now he’s known across the entire continent as the radiant hero, the savior of tellius. after everything he’s gone through, he doesn’t even get to have the quiet life he wanted because he’s simply too impactful of a person to be forgotten by history. ike doesn’t want fame, riches, and women; he just wants some relative peace and tranquility, something he is continually denied while the former is frequently pushed upon him.

ike’s ending is where i personally believe it marks the true conclusion of his arc as a character. like a lot of other people, i wasn’t initially sold on the idea of him just up and running away from the continent forever, leaving behind loved ones like mist and titania. after thinking it over a lot, though, i eventually realized it’s actually a very fitting ending for someone like him. the unfortunate truth of the matter is that, no matter what, if ike had stayed in tellius he never would’ve gotten his true happy ending— his fame as a general would have followed him forever, and it’s almost guaranteed he would have found himself dragged into yet another conflict he didn’t want to be a part of, something he himself definitely seems to be aware of.

as such, ike packing up his belongings and taking off either alone or with someone dear to him was actually the best solution to this perpetual dilemma; after years of pain and struggle, finally finding a way to escape the world that had ripped away his childhood and demanded so much out of him must have been cathartic. no longer was he the radiant hero, savior of crimea and tellius— now he was just ike, a traveling mercenary, and that was all he wanted the entire time. it’s also part of why i like the idea of him going with soren so much, as anyone else, including ranulf, would still have ties back to tellius, and could potentially come to regret leaving permanently in the way ike wanted to (hence why someone like mist could never be an option). with soren, however, all he wants is to be at ike’s side, regardless of wherever it takes him. in fact, i’d even argue the two of them leaving together is the best-case scenario, where they both can get exactly what they’ve always desired. as ike and soren get to finally escape the world that had caused them so much grief together, they actually both attain their happily ever afters, living the lives they always wished they could have had.

at no point is ike ever a “perfect” character; at his very core, he’s a person who refuses to stray from his moral compass, something that causes him to make as many mistakes and brings as many issues as it does successes. in fact, it’s so prevalent of a trait it stands as one of the themes of fe9, where even as he grows from a stubborn child to a calm, mature adult, he never loses that earnest belief in doing what’s right. as such, while it can be easily mistaken as doing so, path of radiance was never meant to contain the entirety of ike’s development as a character— it was merely intended to portray his growing pains as he gradually develops into the person who would one day be hailed as the radiant hero. mirroring this, radiant dawn stands as the very ending to this story, in which his selflessness finally grants him a tellius at peace and the freedom to seek out his own happy ending. he was never meant to go through an entire, second arc in this game— he was simply finishing the one he started four years ago.

[enbyleighlines]

Ikesoren + peace?

Ooooh, love this!

So, directly following the Mad King’s War, when the Greil Mercs were staying in Melior to support Queen Elincia in her efforts to rebuild Crimea, Ike and Soren finally had their first taste of peace in a little over a year.

The only problem was… it was difficult for them to adjust, especially for Ike.

The two are both very serious people, and they were both so used to always keeping their guard up, even more so than when they were mercenaries, that it takes them a very long time to finally relax.

For Ike, this looks like him remaining in gruff, terse commander mode, losing his patience quickly, and struggling to sleep. He lays awake at night, thinking of his father and his fight against the Black Knight. There’s a part of him that feels like it can’t really be over. He keeps expecting the Black Knight to reappear, and flinches whenever he sees anyone in dark armor out of the corner of his eye.

For Soren, this looks like him overworking himself. He is used to being in charge of an entire army. Once all of those responsibilities are taken off of his hands, Soren starts making work for himself in order to fill the void. Relaxing for even a second invites rumination of the past, of how he never told Ike his suspicions about Nasir for fear of having his secret exposed, how his cowardice might have cost them the war. And when he’s not being haunted by the past, he cannot help but worry about the future.

Ike is a Lord, now. And as much as he hates it, he has chosen to dedicate himself to the reconstruction of Crimea.

Sure, they still tackle some mercenary work here and there, but most of their energy is put towards supporting Elincia in whatever capacity they can.

Soren makes no complaints, but he’s deeply uncomfortable at Melior. He hates hearing all the gossip spreading through the castle, how everyone anticipates an announcement of Ike and Elincia’s engagement.

And sure, Soren is well aware of Ike’s utter disinterest in the affection of women. But it’s true that Ike and Elincia spend so much time together, so he cannot blame anyone for imagining that there must be romance blossoming between them.

Frankly, they both do themselves no favors. Soren overworks himself, limiting the time he gets to spend with Ike, and thus adding fuel to his fears about how much time Ike is spending with Elincia. And Ike’s fatigue leads to him being snappy and irritable, and drives away the people that try to help him.

In the end, they end up helping themselves by helping one another. It’s Ike who first notices how much Soren is avoiding him, and who starts badgering him to relax a little.

Which, of course, leads to Soren calling Ike a hypocrite, which forces Ike to take some time off himself.

In short, they both strive to achieve a better work/life balance in order to be a good example for one another, and because they’re each more likely to take time off if it promises time with one another.

Thanks for the ask!!!

[reginleif-valkyrie]

I’ve been bing watching Kuroko’s Basketball and for some reason my brain is crossing it with Fire Emblem Path of Radiance/Radiant Dawn.

I would like to preface this with the fact I don’t know jack diddly squat about basketball and am basing everything off this anime since that’s what I’m imagining.

Greil is the coach of a small high school’s basketball team. Tragically, he’s killed in a car accident.

Titania is his assistant coach. She takes up the coach mantle after the death of Greil so the team doesn’t fall however it’s a group effort between her, Soren, and Ike.

Soren is technically the manager however he doesn’t do any of the actual work. He’s main job is strategy and data gathering.

Gatrie is great at defense and gets the rebounds under their own net.

Oscar is another defender but with his speed (cause you know, he has horse in game) he gets the rebounds under their opponents net. He picks up the manager slack and always has honeyed lemon slices for the team. He’s also the captain at first though he really doesn’t want it.

Shinon is disturbingly good a threes. If he’s bored enough, he’ll only use one hand though those aren’t as accurate. He does these more after the death of Greil.

Boyd is good at getting the ball past the defense. His shots at the hoop are about 50/50. He never misses free throws.

Ike was considered a nepotism baby. Players believed he was a starter because his dad is/was the coach. He’s a good player at first. He practices harder than everyone else (this is a sports anime after all). After the death of Greil, a lot of players wanted to quit, however Ike, with help from Oscar and Boyd, managed to convince them to give him one game to prove the team was still strong. It was during this game that Ike proved himself to be the ace. Oscar gives him the captain mantle.

Mist and Rolf are in middle school and come to cheer them on with Rhys, the school’s nurse and Mia who’s on the girls soccer team (this girl screams soccer. Fight me)

The bird tribe is all on team.

Tibarn plays like Shaq. Need I say more? He’s also the captain.

Janaff is a speed demon that’s great at steals while mocking his opponent.

Ulki uses his ears more than his eyes when he plays which tends to unnerve other players. Passing and predicting what the other players will do are his specialties.

Naesala’s style is more tricks but that’s not to say he can’t play. He can go toe to toe with Tibarn. The two make an unstoppable force when they aren’t fighting.

Reyson, yup, he plays too. Don’t let his looks fool you. He’s aggressive on and off the court. Being underestimated is his greatest strength. He’s no ace, but he makes a for a great supporting player.

Leanne is the manager.

Nealuchi is technically the coach, but that’s only because the team needed one if they wanted to play. He’s very supportive and is quick to give advice when the team is struggling.

Ranulf is on the beast team. He’s Ike’s friend and rival. He may not have the captain mantle, but the others look to him for guidance, even his captain, Skrimr.

That’s it. That’s all I’ve got.

I can’t believe I did this. 😖

[slumberinglabyrinth]

Most of what Caineghis does is done out of his love for others. He is king of Gallia because he loves Gallia's people. He initially supports Elincia because he loved Ramon, and by RD it is clear he has come to love her too. Even after having spent ten years apart, Greil trusts Caineghis and trusts the love Caineghis held for his family enough to tell Ike to "stay with the king in Gallia" (not just "ask him to help you get settled", but to live with him) (and, of course, when he supports Ike like he supported Elincia it is because he loved Elena and Greil). When he initiates Gallia's first genuine military campaign, it is because of his love for Serenes' fallen and its few survivors. It is not as if the other Tellius sovereigns are without compassion, but it's such a central part of what he does and why he does it that it is undoubtedly the trait that defines him the most.

[theia-eos]

Elincia Was Not Too Hesitant to Act

I love the Tellius games. I think the writing for the Fire Emblem series as a whole peaked in the Tellius duology. There's a lot of nuance and tiny details and characterizations and depth and layers to every character. However, this does not mean that the games are perfect or beyond criticism.

And one such criticism I have is the message they try to sell in Radiant Dawn Part 2. I am not buying it. Spoilers below the cut.

In Part 2 of Radiant Dawn, we see how being ruler of Crimea is working out for our fair Queen Elincia. The last time we saw her in Path of Radiance, she was filled with self-doubt and worried about her ability to rule as she was never raised to rule and kept secret from the public, so her coronation as queen of Crimea is a big step for her.

Ike stayed on as a member of the royal court for a while, but dips out 6 months prior to the events of Part 2 because he's only causing her more grief than he is providing support now and he goes back to the simple mercenary life he loves.

Bastian has also left her side, citing sightings of the Black Knight returning in Daein and wanting to get a good understanding of Ashnard's "son," the new King Pelleas. He is lying to her, which I'll go into later. So it's only Elincia and the children she was raised alongside, her knights Geoffrey and Lucia, in the courts.

And the nobles do not respect Elincia at all. They disparage her at every chance they get, they blame her for Bastian wanting to go scope out Daein because she lets him go because he tells her, as her advisor, that it's the best idea. They chastise Lucia and Geoffrey for trying to defend her. Generally, you get the idea why Ike had to leave, he probably kept calling them out until he was blue in the face and then some.

Leanne comes looking for Ike, and he's disappeared into the wind, and then Elincia gets word from Nephenne, Brom and Heather from Ohma that one of the nobles, Duke Ludveck, is attempting a coup based on what the recruiter said. Elincia sends Lucia to Ludveck's territory, under the guise of showing Leanne around Crimea's best orchard region, to gather some more information. Lucia finds proof that Ludveck is trying to start a civil war/insurrection, and brings that back to Elincia, who then sends Geoffrey and the Crimean Royal Knights to arrest Ludveck. Elincia privately despairs to Leanne that she never wanted to be queen, she never wanted to deal with these problems, the burden of having to act against her own people is too much for her to bear.

There's some political espionage, Ludveck had a decoy force at his castle and attacks Elincia in her safehouse in Fort Alpea, and Elincia bests Ludveck, captures him, and then says he needs to be executed for treason. Ludveck says she should make him king instead, as she's too indecisive and feeble to be queen, she took too long to stop him plotting under her and that's weakened her authority in Crimea, and to force her hand, he says that he captured Lucia. His forces will execute Lucia unless she releases him and promises to pass her crown to him. Elincia refuses, Lucia is about to be killed but Ike and the Greil Mercenaries swoop in to save the day to save Lucia. Elincia resolves to be more decisive in the future.

So what is my problem with this plot? Well, let's review the chapter count of Part 2, it's very short.

Prologue - Elincia finds Begnion wyvern riders attempting to capture Leanne and intervenes immediately

Chapter 1 - Nephenne, Brom, and new recruit Heather fight their way out of Ohma to warn Elincia directly

Chapter 2 - Elincia sends Lucia to find solid evidence that Ludveck is a traitor

Chapter 3 - Lucia comes back with proof and Elincia sends Geoffrey to arrest Ludveck

Final Chapter - Elincia fights Ludveck

Please tell me where Elincia was indecisive, failed to take action, dwadled, or let the insurrection just grow. As soon as she finds out that it's happening she goes to get evidence, and then as soon as she has the evidence, she orders for Ludveck to be arrested. She immediately refuses to hand Ludveck the throne.

Ludveck: So I take it you understand everything now? And considering Lady Lucia’s life is on the line, you haven’t much choice. Now, let’s have you free me from this prison cell, and then we can discuss any further details… Elincia: I don’t think so. Radiant Dawn, Chapter 2-F, Elincia's Gambit Extended Script Translation from Serenes Forest

No hesitation. None. Even in the prologue where she fights and kills Begnion forces intruding on her home, trying to enslave Leanne, no hesitation.

Elincia: Begnion dracoknights… You will only be warned once. Leave this area immediately! I serve the queen of Crimea. Trespassers on Crimean territory will be dealt with. No exceptions. Zeffren: The queen, she says! The very queen that relied on us, the Begnion Empire, to free her nation. Imperial dracoknights are not frightened by soldiers so weak as Crimean pegasus knights. Listen up! Leave those two alone. It’s the Serenes maiden we want. Do not allow her to escape! Elincia: …Looks like we’ll not talk any sense into them. I suppose we have no choice. Sir Nealuchi! We’re here to help you! [Elincia attacks Zeffren] Zeffren: You… You Crimeans seriously believe you can withstand the might of Begnion?! Elincia: Crimea takes this sort of encroachment seriously. We will not overlook invaders in our domain. Release your weapons, and apologize for your discourtesy… Only then will we lower our own. Zeffren: You have quite a mouth on you… I won’t be addressed in that tone by anyone. It’s time to end this farce. Radiant Dawn, Chatper 2-P, On Drifting Clouds

Like yes, she offers diplomacy and a chance for them to stand down, but the story and Ludveck would have you believe that she's so crippled by hesitation that she wouldn't take action. Ludveck says "you were too hesitant and too concerned about harming the people" in stopping the civil war decisively to be a strong ruler.

What the hell else was she supposed to do? Elincia never caught wind of the rebellion until the beginning of Chapter 2, and then what was she supposed to do? Take the word of three villagers that there was some random unknown man they didn't even bring in with them recruiting for a rebellion for Duke Ludveck? Like I love Nephenne, Brom, and Heather as much as anyone else, but if she had just arrested and executed Ludveck based on that information she'd be a tyrant, the other nobles would never trust her and could possibly turn against her too. Getting proof was not a sign of hesitation. Sure, she says she'd like to attempt diplomacy first instead of immediately resorting to the sword, but as soon as she says that, a soldier runs in and says Ludveck is preparing to attack and Elincia realizes the time for negotiation is over and authorizes an immediate attack.

Lucia: As we suspected, Lord Ludveck is intent on rebellion. His followers are spread across the land, inciting insurrection. We have the documents to prove it. Geoffrey: Queen Elincia, I stand ready to defend the realm! I will lead the Royal Knights into Felirae, and we will seize the duke! Elincia: I am hesitant to resort to the sword without at least attempting diplomacy. At all costs, I must stop the people of Crimea from fighting one another. [A Crimean soldier rushes in] Crimean Soldier: Your Majesty! News from the countryside! Duke Ludveck has assembled an army and announced his intentions against you! The rebellion in Felirae is growing quickly! Elincia: I see… Lucia: He must have realized that his operations were no longer a secret. Your Majesty, we have no time to waste. We must stand against this, for the future of Crimea! Elincia: …I understand. Geoffrey, leader of the Royal Knights… I hereby authorize the use of military force against the rebel army! Geoffrey: Yes, Your Majesty. At once! Radiant Dawn, Chapter 2-2, Tides of Intrigue

Does a few seconds warrant Ludveck's criticisms? Is that a failure of Elincia, for taking a moment to say she wants to try diplomacy first?

Ludveck: Exactly, Your Majesty. If you truly had the power to quell the civil war… As long as I could affirm that, even if I were executed as a traitor, I would have no regrets. But, no, you were too hesitant and too concerned about harming the people… Now look what has happened. Radiant Dawn, Chapter 2-F, Elincia's Gambit Extended Script Translation from Serenes Forest

No, the real reason it took Elincia so long to act is because Bastian, Lucia and Geoffrey failed in their roles for her. All three of them had known that this was underway for a while.

Elincia: I see… So, that’s what’s going on. Thank you for bringing it to my attention. I’m very sorry your village was affected by this. You have my sincere apologies. Brom: Oh, no, Your Majesty. We don’t need no apology. We’re just happy we could help. Geoffrey: Lucia… Brom’s story confirms what we’ve suspected all along. Lucia: Yes, as we thought. Duke Ludveck of Felirae is firing up a rebellion. We should have seen it coming. To be honest, Queen Elincia, there have been a number of indications that something like this was under way. We’d hoped to uncover something more tangible than hushed rumors… I should have told you sooner. Radiant Dawn, Chapter 2-2, Tides of Intrigue

They've suspected it. They've known it. They're not surprised when the Ohma villagers tell Elincia about it, which is the first time she ever hears of this going on. Lucia apologizes for keeping it from Elincia because she was waiting for more proof. If Elincia had known about this sooner, she could have acted sooner. She would have acted sooner, by how she immediately sends Lucia to gather evidence.

But worst of all is Bastian. Bastian not only knows that this is happening, he is so certain his absence would set things into motion that he hires Ike and the Greil Mercenaries to step in and assist at the last minute if things go as he expected. Does he warn Elincia of what might happen while he was gone? No. Not only that, but Bastian isn't even going to Daein to see if the new king is going to be friendly to them. He's going to Daein to get Izuka to force Izuka to cure Renning, even though Bastian has known all along for years that the herons could have cured Renning. Why does he go this route?

[エリンシア] ユリシーズ、あなたは いままでどこにいたのです？▼ 突然、連絡を絶ってしまって… とても心配していたのですよ。▼ [ユリシーズ] デインにて…… 長く探っていた”鍵”にめぐり合いまして。▼ それ故、表より姿を消し、 策謀を巡らしておりました。 全てはクリミアの未来のために……▼ Radiant Dawn, Chapter 4-5, Unforgivable Sin Extended Script

In the Extended Scripts (JP Only script locked to Hard/Manic Modes), Bastian explains that he is looking for a "key" to Crimea's future in Daein while working in secret, which is later revealed to be that he wants Izuka, former advisor of King Pelleas of Daein, cure Renning. This despite the fact that he could go to the herons the entire time, and eventually winds up going to the herons in the end anyway. While never talking to Elincia about any of this. The only justification for this is that Bastian is in love with Renning and Bastian is worried that Renning will die if he is cured through heron galdr, as Rajaion did, and Bastian's emotions get in the way of his reason. The best and most charitable explanation I can give Bastian saying that Renning is the key to Crimea's future, to the point he's left Elincia alone since before Part 2 begins when she really could have used his help, is that he hopes that Renning's support will make Elincia's rule more stable, but it's never explained why Bastian believes Renning is the key to the future or why Bastian doesn't go straight to the herons, so your guess is as good as mine.

But that still doesn't excuse the fact that he hires mercenaries to rescue Elincia without ever warning Elincia himself. He either doesn't believe in her himself, which him saying that Renning is the future of Crimea kind of hints towards, or he is just leaving the the queen of the country in the dark because he thought his plan was best. Either way, unforgivable.

None of Elincia's most trusted people, the people she relies on for advice and counsel, gives her a single hint of a warning of the information they have, even if it is only rumors. Elincia should have been told.

Is Elincia young and naïve? Yes. Ludveck's criticisms that she's too trusting, that it is too easy to assassinate her, or poison her food or drink are 100% valid. I'll even agree with his point about her letting the fleeing rebels leave after she captures Ludveck in the final chapter, they absolutely should be arrested and punished for treason. Maybe not killed, but punished.

But that she is too hesitant to act to quell the rebellion? No. Bastian, Geoffrey, and Lucia keep vital information from Elincia. That the civil war gets so far is on them, not Elincia. Elincia always takes the correct next step for her based on what she knows and what they know after finding out about it. Now, for all Ludveck knows, Bastian and the others found out and told Elincia from the start and the inaction was on Elincia, because why wouldn't they keep the queen informed, so he can say what he believes to be true. But the fact that Elincia believes him, the fact that no one calls out the three of them for what they did wrong, is a failure of the writing.

Elincia: Yes, that’s true. It’s for the same reason that, once I knew of the rebels’ movements… I didn’t immediately make any decisive orders. Radiant Dawn, Chapter 2-F, Elincia's Gambit Extended Script Translation from Serenes Forest

If they wanted me to believe that message, they would have needed to add another chapter into Part 2, not that Radiant Dawn needs to be any longer, ideally making Chapter 3 deal with her attempting diplomacy and hesitating to act (maybe they set up a place to talk that gets attacked and she still doesn't authorize an attack on Ludveck), and then Chapter 4 being Geoffrey's Charge when Ludveck mobilizes his army.

However, as it stands, Elincia hesitating to take action is completely absurd.

[four-loose-screws]

Since you are doing PoR translations I have a question : do you feel as though the localization tried to make Elincia and Ike's relationship more "romantic" than it was in the japanese script ? I have heard many people made that claim (I personally don't find Ike and Elincia's relationship romantic in english but I was curious to hear your thoughts)

I have plans to study PoR's supports more in-depth throughout this year, so to answer the quesiton, I'll hold off on writing out details for now, and give a short-and sweet explanation of my thoughts.

I understand exactly where the discussion spawned from (mostly a change to Ike and Elincia's A support), and wouldn't say it's a wrong interpretation by any means. But in my personal opinion, I never really felt like the localization made Ike and Elincia's relationship more romantic than the Japanese.

HOWEVER

This is because I honestly find Ike and Elincia easy to ship in Japanese as well? I don't think the Japanese text is trying to push Ike x Elincia as the canon option by any means. And my personal headcanon for Ike's sexuality has always been asexual, gay-romantic. But the set-up is there, in the backbone of the plot, to ship them if you want.

Ike does so many things he absolutely loathes to help Elincia. The guy just wants to be a simple mercenary with nothing but the clothes and sword on his back, yet he ends up doing whatever it takes to keep her safe and restore her throne, eventually becoming the lead general of Tellius' largest army, all for her sake.

Ike flips his entire life upside-down for Elincia. As Greil's son, his life was bound to be turned upside-down at some point, yes, but he had no personal stake in Crimea's royal family being restored.

And yes, Ike and the Greil Mercenaries are established to be almost impossibly good people. They willingly risk their lives to help anyone in need, even if they will not benefit personally and/or financially. But for Ike to go this far for a moral reason? It can be hard to believe, and feel much more like romance, depending on each fan's personal interpretation.

No matter what changes the localization could have possibly made, I've always seen all this as more than enough romantic set-up, if one wanted to take their headcanons and fanfiction in that direction.

[fletching-scar]

@urvanswrath

Greil shepherds him kindly to the center, and they dance without ever having learned how. Instinct, that's what it is, and the music...

Shinon had always imagined that this would happen in perfect silence. Greil's body close to his, the plainspoken permission to call his lodestar by his name...

Shinon had always imagined... something other than this. But he has always been a man who takes what he can get. The intrusion of the music, the crowd that thrums around them, the way they run roughshod across the rhythm of the dance...

It is enough. It is good, and Shinon warms with it, sweeter than any drink. When the desire comes to bow his head, to lay his brow on Greil's proud chest, he offers no resistance.

He can hear Greil's heart beating, like this, can feel it when he speaks. Bone-deep, but the words...

The words are wrong. Greil--knows, and seeks to know more, Greil coaxes information out. So pragmatic, as he's always been, the way Shinon has always known him... Still.

"Fuck," Shinon murmurs, half-laughing. "Save it, save it, will you?"

His voice shakes, creaking toward utter collapse.

"Let me have this," he whimpers, "Greil, you--let me just have this one thing!"

equal to gods, that man

sappho 31, trans. anne carson

[crestoflaminee]

How Old Is Soren Fire Emblem?

(Image alt under the cut.)

Soren’s battle prowess is not to be questioned, nor underestimated. Uncertainty arrives when trying to discern how old the Greil Mercenaries’ strategist and chief staff officer is.

Based on information from in-game conversations, from the canon timeline, and from the Tellius Recollection volumes, I have an answer. Read on under the cut. Or skip to the end, I don’t mind, I even put the important stuff in bold for you.

[[MORE]]

[Alt ID: the image is divided horizontally into two screenshots of a viral video of a young child running through a backyard. Soren’s original Fire Emblem Heroes portrait has been photoshopped over the child’s face. In the first panel, the caption at the bottom reads, ‘“Let me see what you have”’. In the second frame, Soren/the child is closer to the camera. A screenshot from Soren’s Wiki page reading “Skills: Knife” has been added to the left of the image. The caption at the bottom reads, in all caps, ‘“A knife!”’. End ID.]

Googling ‘soren fire emblem age’ yields a suspiciously simple result. According to the Tellius Recollection volumes, Soren is physically sixteen in both games. Immediately, it is clear there is more to Soren’s age than that answer. Since Soren is half-laguz and half-beorc, he ages differently from his beorc companions. In his Path of Radiance (PoR) A Support with Stefan, he admits, ‘I thought I was aging normally… Well, until about three years ago.’ There is some ambiguity here, as Soren only noticed he was aging differently ‘about three years’ from the time of this conversation during the latter part of PoR, but if nothing else, we know Soren must be older than sixteen. We may assume this line means Soren stopped aging three years before this point, and was sixteen at the time.

If this is true, Soren would be about nineteen in PoR. But what if Soren is older?

What is the oldest Soren could be? To figure this out, I looked to Almedha and Ashnard. When Almedha met Ashnard, he was power hungry and if he wasn’t already, soon set on war with Goldoa. In Radiant Dawn (RD), Nasir informs Almedha that ‘the red dragon platoon which went in search of [her] was captured and turned into Feral Ones by King Ashnard’. Unaware of this at the time, Almedha continued to live with Ashnard until Rajaion’s capture ‘more than twenty years’ ago, at which point they ‘had a falling out and ended up living separately‘ according to Almedha’s conversation with Elincia. Though a ‘falling out’ is a weird way to describe the aftermath of her brother being drugged into insanity by her husband, we now know that Soren is more than twenty years old when RD takes place in year 648, though not too much older, or Almedha would have perhaps picked a different number to say than twenty.

Returning to Almedha’s conversation with Nasir, Kurthnaga, and Ena reveals that Ashnard’s cruelty toward the dragon laguz had intention. Nasir says Ashnard ‘did everything in his power to provoke King Dheginsea’. Indeed, near the end of the Mad King’s War, ‘the king thought he'd lost not only dragon soldiers but also his children’, not knowing Almedha and Soren were still alive, and was ready to join the war. Why was it that ‘Ashnard needed Goldoa to get involved in this war’? Goldoa was completely isolated from everything outside its borders until Almedha left, so Ashnard had no personal reason for provoking them. Nasir tells us that if the Goldoans had joined the war, they ‘would not have stopped until the continent was ashes. Then the spirit of chaos would have spread across Tellius, awakening the goddess’. Why would Ashnard want to destroy the continent and all humanity, when what he clearly wanted in PoR was to be the most powerful man alive? Awakening the goddess to pass judgement was Sephiran’s motivation. Thus, when Almedha met Ashnard, he was either already plotting with Sephiran or would conspire him in the short time between Almedha’s departure from Castle Goldoa and the arrival of the red dragon platoon sent to look for her in Daein. Based on this information, we know Soren could not have been born before the Serenes Massacre of 625, after which Sephiran decides humanity needs to be judged. So the oldest Soren could be during PoR is twenty years old.

So now that we have an upper limit, what is the youngest Soren could be? Another member of Goldoa’s royal family holds the answer to this question. Rajaion left Goldoa to rescue Almedha and Soren ‘some nineteen years ago’ according to Ena near the end of PoR. At this time, Soren was already born and determined to be worthless by Ashnard. We also know Ashnard was already king when Rajaion was captured, meaning this happened after 627. If Soren was born in 627 he would be eighteen at the start of PoR, and perhaps would turn nineteen before the end of the game in the spring of 646, meaning Ena’s line about ‘some nineteen years’ would still be accurate. This means eighteen is the youngest Soren could be while still keeping with the continuity of the game.

It is important to note that Ena’s line corroborates the earlier conclusion drawn from Soren’s support with Stefan that Soren is nineteen in PoR. Furthermore, if Soren were nineteen in PoR, he would have been born within the calendar year limits determined by the events surrounding Rajaion’s capture (625-627). Nineteen is also the average of the oldest and youngest he could possibly be (18-20). Thus, I conclude that

in Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance, Soren is nineteen years old

and factoring in the three year timeskip between the games and Almedha’s line about her and Ashnard’s separation,

in Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn, Soren is twenty-two years old

which makes a lot of sense. If I were twenty-two but looked like a sixteen-year-old boy, I would also get zero sleep, have the self-confidence of a duct-taped teacup, and cry at inopportune moments. Pre-T trans men, you are our strongest soldiers.

You have reached the end of my investigation into Soren’s age! As a bonus, Ike is seventeen in PoR, so the age difference between the two of them is two years.

Thank you for reading!

[luce-speaks]

If you did a fire emblem promare au who would promare. Why

EMRY you sent this ask to me having no idea of the can of worms you just opened. i'm going to preface a lot before i get to the actual thing so bear with me.

first of all i want to say this is a lot of fun and i'm starting to think i should have a tag for my AU shenanigans because i love collecting these things and codifying them on tumblr. will keep you posted

second and more importantly: this promare au was not my idea!! please go see THE ORIGINAL POST by softlytired because it's their mind behind all this

okay. lets go

1: central concept

the art i linked to shows several screenshots of promare redrawn with ike as galo and soren as lio. this is really really smart for numerous reasons, including:

ike and soren share color coding (blue and green respectively) with their counterparts, as well as sharing similar builds and relatively similar styles/aesthetics

ike and galo both do the thing where racism is brought to their attention and they're like WHAT THAT'S AWFUL like hands down immediately against it despite living in a society that's much less progressive

soren and lio are both racial minorities in a way that gives them powers but also is plot relevant as a racism allegory

soren and lio are both dragon themed (less obvious with lio but it's notable in the scene where he attacks promepolis)

gay

this all goes out to softlytired who i'm sure considered these things when drawing the art. now it's time for me to do my part

2: filling out the side characters

with ike and soren in place the next question is how to fill out the rest of the movie's cast. i want to start by taking my best shot at who would fill each movie role and why.

captain ignis: greil or titania, take your pick. it's the same thing, it just changes based on whether you want this to be a greil lives au.

heris ardebit: oscar. i think he could pull off the evil scientist thing. also, they're both more withdrawn than their boisterous younger sibling, and they're both very protective of said sibling. which brings me to

aina ardebit: boyd. he's mainly here for the sibling thing and the goal of keeping the greil mercs and burning rescue as overlapped as possible. but what about the almost-kiss on the frozen lake, you ask? yeah that still happened. the only difference is neither of them were into it. (that idea is kudos to @tobegii, who also helped me brainstorm a lot of this.)

lucia: mist. mist's role as a healer is hard to translate to promare world, so i figured the next best thing would be letting her play a support role as the gadgeteer. testing new mech suits is a sibling bonding activity!

vinny: rolf. okay before you dismiss this as just me being mean to rolf i'd like to point out that letting him play sidekick means actually keeping the fourteen-year-old (?) out of danger for once while still letting him exist in the narrative. but also haha rat boy

varys and remi: gatrie and shinon. i feel like the fact that i introduced these two as a duo says it all. even though they're not technically a duo, they're the only two who are deployed together in the movie's opening scene that establishes the members of burning rescue. they have a similar brains-and-brawn thing going on. maybe shinon can be less racist in this one or something.

and for the enemies

vulcan: petrine. big scary lackey who doesn't actually have a very deep motivation other than being a horrible person. you could also use ashnard for this but i think petrine deserves some enrichment

kray: this is the difficult one because there is a good case for either sephiran (your traitor is In Charge Of The Fucking Government) or zelgius (your traitor is someone you knew personally and worked with) but for now let's go with sephiran because

biar: zelgius. it's funny okay

oh and prometh? by my calculations there is No Good Option. there just isn't. put altina in there or something. i don't fucking know

3: other notes and adjustments

with all of my "how far can i take this" out of the way i want to make an actual attempt to clean this up a little and tie up loose ends. this is my loose list of "how would i adapt the plot of promare to fit better around the tellius cast"

replace the character of kray with the duo of sephiran (the governor) and zelgius (the enforcer), and have zelgius absorb what little plot relevance biar has. maybe zelgius was the one to save ike from the fire, but it was sephiran's burnish flare that started it. they could also be a sort of two-stage bossfight, with zelgius sort of one-on-oneing them before sephiran breaks out the big guns mech

greil died in the fire that nearly killed ike, putting titania in charge of burning rescue and giving ike and mist extra character motivation

shinon's character is hard to work with if you consider how racist he actually is in canon, but i think you could tone it down a little and use his character to make a point about how racism can be insidious and masked ("if you terrorists stopped burning down houses, no one would have a problem with the burnish!" and things like that.) getting proved wrong about those supposedly moderate beliefs might even give him a chance to grow

we can pretty easily add in ike and soren's childhood encounter as well! when they met as children, ike had no idea soren was a burnish (not that he would have cared). soren has always wanted to find him again but was busy yknow running an organization. he's incredibly hurt and disappointed when ike 1) does not recognize him and 2) works for the government now. but before they pilot the mech together, they finally get to talk it out, ike remembers and apologizes, and it represents a step forward in their relationship that prepares them for the ultimate test of teamwork (mech piloting)

okay well that's been a lot of talking from me. it's really more pattern recognition than any kind of actual story planning, but i hope you enjoyed! if anyone else has feedback or additions, i would love to hear about them. thank you for coming to my ted talk

[soren-apologist]

fallen ike and the chaos of lehran’s medallion

one of feh's strongest selling points as a concept has always been its ability to show a number of alternate universes and "what if?" situations, and among these fallen ike is something of a personal favorite of mine. getting to see ike fall under the influence of lehran's medallion in the same way his own father once did is such an interesting concept, and taking it from just a cipher card to an actual feh character with lines and a forging bonds support actually gave it a chance to be fleshed out. with feh’s new characterization of him, however, one thing has always stuck out to me: why is fallen ike so… sane?

…relatively sane, at least. on its own, fallen ike’s behavior is erratic and aggressive for how he himself normally acts, but when compared to most others who’ve come into contact with the medallion, it actually seems to be rather restrained and controlled in ways that are practically unheard of. so unheard of, in fact, that to really illustrate just how unusual ike’s behavior is, i’m going to go into depth on something i mentioned in the intro: the parallels between ike and greil.

to start with, tellius’ lore tells us that the chaotic energy of lehran’s medallion “magnifies the worst aspects of its holder a thousandfold” and casts upon them a madness only capable of being broken by having the medallion itself taken from their grasp. with that said, it’s fairly likely that the negative traits the chaotic energy is “magnifying a thousandfold” in both ike and greil are pretty similar considering just how often the two are compared. in fact, their shared traits of stubbornness, hotheadedness, and love of combat seem to shine through the most when in possession of the medallion. keeping all that in mind, their reactions to the spirit of chaos should be nearly identical, right?

…they’re not.

even though we never get to directly witness how greil behaves with the medallion, we do know that he was thrown into a crazed, berserk rage that had him on a violent rampage against anything he came across. this information seems to suggest that greil was completely out of it the entire time; after killing the assassins sent after him, he proceeded to mindlessly slaughter the townsfolk that had taken him and his family in, and eventually even the beloved wife he’d thrown away his entire previous life to protect. the fact he hires volke as an assassin and cripples his own arm afterwards definitely seems to further present the idea of greil being absolutely horrified by what had occured and likely having had little to no control over himself while it was actually happening.

in a stark contrast to greil’s madness, ike is surprisingly controlled and cognizant with the medallion; while he does tend to become more violent and unhinged on the battlefield, he otherwise can restrain himself enough to have conversations and seemingly exhibits some rational thought. in fact, ike even has a voice line where he asks the summoner to take him out if he loses control entirely, something greil was only ever able to ask of volke after he regained his sanity. meanwhile, ike is able to warn the people he loves most to keep a distance—

—and tells the summoner in his lvl 40 5* conversation that he intends to actually overcome the medallion's influence and use its power as a means of protecting those he cares about.

(the fact that the main thing ike wants with the medallion is just the ability to protect his loved ones actually makes me believe he may be using greil's story as a warning to himself to avoid losing control entirely, but that's not really relevant to what i'm getting at and is just something i happen to think is cool.)

despite all prior information seeming as if it should point towards the contrary, greil and ike’s reactions to the chaos of the medallion are practically polar opposites. going further, this contrast isn’t even exclusive to just the two of them; ike’s control over the medallion’s influence is bizarre compared to just about anyone who comes into its possession.

with that in mind, let’s pivot back to my original question: why does ike in particular handle it so well?

interestingly enough, ike himself has a theory for this—

—but i think it goes a little beyond that.

as you’re probably already aware of by this point, ike isn’t the only one in the family to have an “unusual” reaction to coming into contact with the medallion. the actual narrative of the tellius games establishes that elena happened to have a unique balance of order and chaos within her that allowed her to handle the medallion without consequence, something that would then be passed down to mist. we do know for absolute certain that ike lacks this total balance, but this finally leads into my kind-of crack theory about all this: ike inherited at least some of elena’s chaotic tolerance.

again, i’m not saying that ike has the same perfect balance of order and chaos as elena and mist, but i think the comparison of his reaction to the medallion to that of his parents’ may imply he’s somewhere in between the two— while greil had absolutely no control of himself and elena was entirely unaffected by the chaotic energy of the medallion, ike is susceptible to its influence but is generally capable of fighting through it regardless. ultimately, it’s possible that the combination of elena potentially passing down some of her tolerance to chaotic energy and her singing the galdr of release to ike as a child could offer a concrete reason for exactly how he manages to fight through the medallion’s influence so well.

-

at the end of the day, i don’t really know if this is genuinely the case. as far as we know the galdr alone could really just be what’s keeping him sane, but ike standing as a blend of traits from both of his parents instead of exclusively a carbon copy of his father is just such an interesting concept as a whole.

[radiantpaths]

Greil acts like it's nothing, like no time at all has passed. He's acting like it had been weeks. He's acting like he hadn't died.

When Greil hugs Ike, all he can think of is of their last moments together. His grief. He hadn't shed a single tear and now, looking at his father again, he feels guilty that he hadn't. He doesn't know how to react. None of this feels real. It's a cruel prank he'll wake up from, he's sure of it.

A part of him wants to collapse into his father's arms. Ike had been a pillar of strength to many, but Greil's memory had been what kept Ike strong. Greil is not a memory. He's warm, and real, and he's everything Ike remembers. But how?

"You're supposed to be dead," Ike says. If it wasn't for the shock, he might've found a more tactful way of saying that, but he's never been too tactful anyway. "I- I watched you die. The Black Knight- no, General Zelgius-!"

As if Ike could forget any of that. As if Ike could forget Mist's heartbreak, and the heartbreak of the whole group. Ike may not have shed tears then, but his eyes sting, the sensation unfamiliar.

"I killed him for you. I killed General Zelgius."

He had avenged his father, and even a year later, he feels oddly empty about the whole thing.

@urvanswrath

father from home

from here