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theofficersacademy · 3 years

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Continental winds from the north take up their arms as the long daylight hours wane, and drive out the last of summer’s oppressive heat. As cooler air follows behind, signs of the vibrant harvest season bloom across Fodlan. Hunting dogs pull eagerly at their leashes, scythes are taken down to reap golden fields, and celebration rises in feasting to give thanks for another bountiful year.

The students and faculty sent out on the investigations of the Relic rumors have now returned to Garreg Mach, and life is once more back to normal. The students of the Blue Lions house do not get to rest long, however, as the Church has a new mission for them... The Five Great Lords of the Roundtable have received a threat to the relic Thyrsus’ safety. Aware of the situation surrounding the Relics in the previous moon, they have made a formal request for aid to protect one of the Alliance’s most sacred treasures. In spite of the Alliance’s Founding Day celebrations, the Blue Lions of Faerghus find themselves packing up for a trip to Gloucester territory...

Blue Lions Mission: Protect the Thyrsus!

We are back on our regular season rotation, and this one belongs to the Blue Lions! As before, threads using tasks from the Blue Lions board must contain a Blue Lions character as a participant, but there are also non-mission tasks available to everyone without restrictions.

It soon occurs to everyone involved that sending the Blue Lions during a time when the Alliance celebrates its independence from Faerghus is a gaffe at best and a serious insult at worst. The prideful lords outwardly take the assistance in stride, but in private you are all relegated to heavy labor and busywork in preparation for the festivities, far from the Thyrsus you're supposed to be protecting. It might be more tolerable if it wasn't for this feeling that the lords somehow blame you for the mixup, and not the schmoozing cardinal that arranged the mission in the first place...

BL Mission Task Board

Dozens of lords coming into the Gloucester Estate means dozens of horses that need to be stabled up and taken care of for as long as their owners are here. The tedious task of taking care of these animals has, unsurprisingly, been dropped on your lap. This morning, shortly after putting out some horses to pasture, a Demonic Beast attacks. You’re able to fend it off, but the horses have fled in the confusion. Hopefully you can round them all up before their owners begin to miss them…

A personal invitation has been extended to Lord Acheron, fulfilling what rumors say is a political favor. You have the distinct honor of escorting him and his elderly aunt to the festivities. Remember to nod and smile. [grants Heavy Armor +1]

This year, House Gloucester holds the distinct honor of hosting the Crescent Moon Ball, the formal ball meant for celebrating the Alliance's Founding Day this moon. Dress up and observe the latest fashion trends, schmooze like the good little nobles you are, and hit up the local hotties. You might get some information about the Alliance’s Relics for your trouble...

Tourney time! Leicester takes pride in their own brand of knighthood and chivalry. The Horsebow Moon has always been a prime time for archery competitions and jousting. Try your hand at the games, and show off your skill with a bow! [grants Bow +1]

Part of training to be a young Alliance noble is participating in mock roundtable meetings, and the three-day event this year is made even more exciting by the presence of students from backgrounds outside of the usual big names in nobility. According to Golden Deer students, the script is the same every year, and you prepare to state your facts for and against declaring war on Almyra. Yet when the meeting begins... you discover that the topic is actually about separating from the Kingdom. Bullshit your way through it and try not to offend anyone.

NEW! You’re given the bad news with the typical aristocratic tact: it would be prudent to recuse yourselves from the investigations as they are carried out. That is to say, that many of the Alliance knights won’t allow you to enter the Gloucester mansion to see the crime scene for yourselves. It seems like not everyone got the memo, though, as a pair of greenhorn knights seem willing to escort you inside. They’re suspicious, but if you act like you’re suppose to be here hopefully they’ll let it slide. [grants Authority +1]

NEW! Your investigations bring you to the hunting forests, sitting on the border between the counties of Gloucester and Riegan. As you make your way through the murky forest, pushing your way past overgrown brush and hedge, you spot a brilliant red light gleaming in the darkness. When you approach, you recognize Thyrsus... but see no hand that holds it. Moving under its own power, it fires a potent Ragnarok spell over your heads. Well.... unfortunately there hasn’t been a “Combat Against Flying Weapons” elective for you to take. You’ll have to improvise as you go! [grants Any Weapon +1]

Non-Mission Task Board

It’s time for the seasonal fishing tournament! This year, however, it seems a strange mixture of fish has been added to the pond. Why do these fish have teeth!? And why does this one give off an electrical shock!? Some anglers might find this just an exciting change to the ordinarily boring tournament, but others might feel they need to investigate the sabotage... Or perhaps YOU’RE the one who dumped these exotic fish in the pond. [grants Axe +1]

Legend has it, any who chance to sit beneath the boughs of the old willow tree at the far back of the courtyard fall subject to a curious charm: they find their tongues tied if they should attempt to speak a lie, and they find themselves compelled to obey any instruction given them by another party, no matter how silly or untoward. Most sensible students diligently avoid this tree lest they find themselves put under its spell, but some braver souls take up a seat - after all, it’s the perfect place for a high stakes game of truth or dare. Is the legend true, however, or is it merely a matter of vain pride? [grants Reason +1]

A new trend has swept over Garreg Mach in these early autumn days of the Horsebow Moon. Various notes have been springing up around campus. Some claim to be looking for love. Others simply want to yell into the void about a frustrating assignment they’ve been given. And yet others might bemoan the presence of ghosts in the monastery’s halls… The letters are many and varied. The one thing they have in common is the fact they are all anonymous, and there is an implicit understanding that discretion is required to play the game. Will you take up a mystery pen pal?

The students return to the monastery with some answers, but more questions than ever before. What information you manage to uncover is swiftly censured by the Church as they continue to formulate their response on this matter. For those who live their lives pursuing knowledge, it’s time to bust into the restricted sections of the library and really start looking for the answers you deserve.

NEW! You spot a new, unsigned flyer tacked onto the school bulletin board, “Assistance Needed. Battle prowess required. All interested parties, please meet with me at the back of the marketplace.” You meet with a tall, cloaked figure with dark-lensed spectacles and white hair peeking out of his hood. He can’t introduce himself, but he at least elaborates on his mission. You are to travel to an abandoned quarry in Faerghus and gather a bag’s worth of Nepenthe Ore. Of course, there’s a catch: a large spider-like automaton guards the quarry, frightening away intruders with strange noises and a powerful beam of concentrated magic. No one knows who built it, but regardless you’ll need to figure out a way to get past it.

NEW! A small flight of wild wyverns have roosted in the mountains nearby, resting before their next leg in their journey to their wintering grounds in the east. You could observe them from a safe distance and take notes on wyvern behavior and social interactions... but that’s some nerd shit. You’ve heard stories of knights leaping onto the backs of wild stallions and taming them with sheer grit and determination. Would that philosophy work on a wyvern? It’s on you to find out! [grants Flying +1]

NEW! Each and every class of students has upheld the time-honored tradition of organizing a “House Prank” to pull on their beloved faculty members, and your class will be no different. With the stress and excitement of the upcoming Battle of the Eagle and Lion palpable in the air, it’d be good to get a little harmless mischief in and have some fun. At your professor’s expense, of course.

Frequently Asked Questions

How does the divided task board work?

This season’s mission is assigned to the Blue Lions. Therefore, tasks from the ‘BL Mission Task Board’ must be undertaken by someone that is affiliated with the Blue Lions.

Tasks from the ‘Non-Mission Task Board’ have no house restriction and can be undertaken by anyone.

These aren’t the only threads I can do, right?

Of course not! These are just prompts to help give some ideas of possibilities. You’re always free and encouraged to make up your own threads. You’re also more than welcome to worldbuild on your own, using these prompts as a base.

How do I claim the skill points?

In order to qualify for the skill point, the thread must clearly allude to the listed task and preferably feature the task being completed; however, the point can still be claimed even if your muses narratively fail the task (failure is sometimes just as fun to write as success, after all). You do not need to message the masterlist to claim your skill point.

Can I only do one task?

Nope, you can do as many as you’d like with as many different partners as you’d like! You can do the same task with more than one person! However, you can only claim the skill point for each task once.

What if my partner leaves or drops a skill point thread?

If the dropped thread has at least 2 notes (not counting likes, only reblogs with replies in them) and you have hit at least 400 words on your end, you may still claim the skill point.

Remember to use (and track!) the #toa open tag for any open threads, and you can also post a link to your open thread on the appropriate Discord channel! If you have any other questions or concerns, shoot us a message through the masterlist or on Discord!

#toa mission #mission: watchdog

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merakilyy · 5 years

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Rinse and Repeat

Pairing: Dimileth and Sylvelix (Fire Emblem: Three Houses) Tags: Post-game, married fluff, angst with a happy ending, pregnancy, miscarriage, overprotective Dimitri Summary: The first time Byleth conceives a child, she miscarries. Then it happens again. And again. And again. And again. Despite these challenges, Dimitri remains the world’s most supportive husband who only wants the best for his beloved.

Pregnancy, for Byleth, was unexpectedly difficult and her lack of a child increasingly began to weigh on her.

Byleth and Dimitri were completely blindsided by her first pregnancy, only finding out about the child after Byleth had fainted in the gardens while on a walk with a visiting Flayn. Dimitri had been completely beside himself when he’d heard the news, storming out of a meeting with some of the Dukes from the former Leicester Alliance. (Luckily, Dedue was able to smooth over the remainder of the meeting using the very detailed notes Dimitri had left behind in his haste.) He made a beeline for the infirmary, breaking three doors and a bannister in the process, only to find Byleth awake and well. She was sitting up in bed, laughing at a story Mercedes had been telling her, when Dimitri barged into the room.

“Oh Dimitri! We were wondering when you’d show up!” Mercedes greeted cheerfully.

Dimitri paid Mercedes no mind as he went directly to Byleth’s bed and knelt at her side. His face was lined with deep concern. “My beloved, are you well? I was just informed of your fainting spell in the gardens. Have you eaten today? Did you drink enough water? Was the sun too much for you?”

Byleth beamed, unworried about Dimitri’s numerous concerns. Showing her emotions was still not something that came naturally to her, but it was easy to share her feelings with Dimitri. “No, nothing of the sort, darling. We are fine,” Byleth said, taking Dimitri’s hands into hers. “Just a dizzy spell.”

“We?” Dimitri repeated, confused.

Mercedes clapped her hands together. “Yes! Congratulations on expecting your first child!”

“A child?” Dimitri repeated again, a smile slowly spreading across his lips. “Our child?”

“Yes, darling, I am with child.” Byleth squeezed Dimitri’s hands.

Dimitri raised Byleth’s hands to his lips, laying a soft kiss on the back of each hand. “You are with our child! Our heir! The product of our love! How far along are you?”

“Three moons. It would seem that the stomach flu I had last moon was not a stomach flu after all.” Byleth released one of Dimitri’s hands so that she could bury her fingers in his hair and pull him in closer.

Mercedes quietly stepped out of the room then, knowing Byleth and Dimitri needed some time to relish in their joy. Mercedes would just return later to give them instructions on how to proceed and with more information of what to expect from pregnancy. In the meantime, she closed the broken door as best she could to give Byleth and Dimitri their privacy.

~~~

A moon later, Byleth was back in the infirmary.

Instead of tears of joy, Dimitri cried tears of sorrow as he watched Byleth curl up on the infirmary bed. Her arms wrapped around her midsection where her dead child was slowly and painfully expelling itself from her body. He could do nothing but watch and hold Byleth as she endured painful cramp after cramp for two days. He could do nothing but watch as Mercedes periodically removed cloth stained with blood clots and fetal tissue from Byleth, grimacing as he was watching Mercedes literally taking away the remnants of their baby.

Throughout her miscarriage, Byleth shed nearly no tears until the very end as a particularly painful cramp caused her to cry out and she only openly grieved her lost child for a day.

That day, Dimitri would bury the bloody remains of their child in the garden as Byleth watched from her chair. She had lost too much blood during the miscarriage and wasn’t quite strong enough to help Dimitri yet. Later, she and Dedue did plant new flowers around the little stone that read “Baby Blaiddyd”.

~~~

As they soon discovered, becoming pregnant was not an issue. Within the next year, Byleth had conceived four more times. With each subsequent pregnancy, she had grown increasingly desperate and increasingly cautious about her actions so as to avoid the pain of her first pregnancy. But at the end of the year, after her meticulous planning and careful contemplation over her each and every action, she still had no child to show for it.

The second miscarriage had happened very early on, just three weeks into her pregnancy. Neither Byleth nor Dimitri cried over this child as they hadn’t known about this child’s presence until it was gone. Yet, Dimitri could see how the loss of another child weighed on Byleth as she spoke, ate, and trained less afterwards. But again, he could do little but hold her and love her as he promised they would try again.

The second child had no remains, but Dimitri still placed another small stone in their garden a short distance from the first. This stone read “Baby Blaiddyd #2”. Dedue and Byleth planted yet more flowers.

~~~

The third pregnancy wasn’t a miscarriage, exactly, but Mercedes was forced to remove the child to preserve Byleth’s life as it was an ectopic pregnancy. At first, Byleth and Dimitri were cautiously optimistic and saw Byleth’s lack of morning sickness as a good omen. But, in the third moon of the pregnancy, Mercedes called for both Byleth and Dimitri. Byleth didn’t shed any tears as Mercedes explained how there was no choice but to terminate the pregnancy, but there was no hiding the wateriness of Byleth’s gaze as she stared blankly at the wall behind Mercedes. Dimitri had insisted on staying in the room for the entire procedure so that Byleth would not be alone. Byleth said nothing, but her numbing grip on Dimitri’s hands told him how grateful she was for his presence.

Once again, there were no remains so Dimitri set up another small stone for “Baby Blaiddyd #3”.

Byleth didn’t help Dedue plant the flowers for this child, but she did select the seeds for Dedue to use.

~~~

The fourth pregnancy was the worst. It began with extreme morning sickness. In the early moons, Byleth lost so much weight that her already lean physique was beginning to appear emaciated. Even as her child expanded her abdomen, Byleth was losing weight alarmingly quickly. Without knowing otherwise, it would not appear as if Byleth was with child at all and this persisted well into the fifth moon. Byleth was unable to leave her room much, lacking both the energy and willpower to do so, nevermind attend to her duties as Archbishop or Queen. Fortunately, having already heard of her earlier pregnancy struggles, Seteth took on most of the Archbishop’s duties from Garreg Mach so as to lessen the burden on Byleth.

Dimitri took on as many of Byleth’s queenly duties as he could, and Ingrid filled in as a proxy for Byleth wherever and whenever her presence was required. Meanwhile, Byleth spent the majority of her fourth pregnancy on bed rest.

The timing of the fourth pregnancy coincided with Sylvain and Felix’s visit to Fhirdiad. Officially, they were in Fhirdiad to discuss more advanced education for commoner children but Sylvain, Felix, and Dimitri all knew they were really just here to see Byleth.

“How many rules do you think we’re breaking, entering the private bedchamber of the Holy Queen of Faerghus and the Archbishop of Seiros?” Sylvain joked, though a tightness in his eyes gave away his true concern for Byleth.

“Well the Boar King has already broken tradition by technically marrying a commoner and keeping a shared bedchamber with his queen,” Felix smirked at Dimitri. Like Sylvain, Felix’s quips were only a cover for his genuine concern.

“I wish I could share my bedchamber,” Sylvain mused. “I didn’t think Dimitri had it in him! Too bad my lover lives all the way in Fraldarius, though. Must be great to wake up to your lover every morning.” Sylvain wriggled his eyebrows suggestively at Felix.

“Ugh. You crass beast,” Felix responded by smacking the back of Sylvain’s head just hard enough to make his point. “If you thought with your big head instead of your little head for once you would know exactly why I can’t just move to Gautier.”

“Hey! You didn’t think it was that little last night!”

Albeit strained, Dimitri still smiled as he watched his childhood friends, former classmates, and invaluable wartime allies squabble beside him. “I see your relationship is as strong as ever,” Dimitri quipped dryly.

“Shut up,” Felix muttered, though his words were muffled by Sylvain’s shoulder.

Sylvain had pulled Felix into a tight embrace, further mussing up his hair. “Don’t mind Feli-Feli,” Sylvain cooed as he half dragged Felix down the hall, “He just missed his morning sugar. You know, me,” Sylvain clarified, as though he had not been obvious enough. Dimitri laughed as Sylvain emphasized his point with a wink.

Felix swore as Sylvain placed a very loud and very wet kiss on his forehead, though Felix made no move to wipe his face afterwards.

For Dimitri, Sylvain and Felix’s banter was a welcome distraction from the seriousness of Byleth’s predicament. As soon as Dimitri opened the door to his bedchamber, Sylvain and Felix both froze at how weak Byleth appeared. Her skin was pallid and, other than her protruding midsection, she was little more than skin and bones.

“Hello, Beloved,” Dimitri said with a gentle smile, having gone immediately to sit at the foot of their shared bed. He gathered Byleth’s feet in his lap and began to massage them. “Sylvain and Felix are here.”

“How lovely,” Byleth smiled weakly. She pushed herself up from the bed as best she could so she could greet Sylvain and Felix. Dimitri reached over to support her back as she sat up. “Hello Sylvain, Felix, “Byleth greet softly. “It is good to see you both. I apologize for the circumstances. This really isn’t a very proper setting for a Queen of Faerghus to be entertaining guests now, is it?” She chuckled self-deprecatingly.

“No,” Felix recovered first and spoke quickly before Sylvain could stuff his foot in his mouth. “But anything that would drive those old nobles who refuse to accept common sense is usually the right thing to do.”

Byleth laughed in response and Dimitri brightened up at finally seeing his wife so happy.

Upon reaching the sixth moon of her fourth pregnancy, Dimitri and Byleth finally began discussing names.

“If we have a boy, I think it would be nice to name him after Rodrigue,” Dimitri said pensively. He was reclined in bed, back against the headboard, while Byleth rested between his legs. Her back pressed up against Dimitri’s chest and he gently massaged her shoulders, loosening her muscles to help her relax. “I did not ever truly thank him for all he did for me,” Dimitri continued, “For acting as a surrogate father, for his loyalty, and I took advantage of his dedication until he died for me. There is much I am indebted to him for, and it is a debt I will never be able to repay. He helped pull me away from the ghosts of my past and I wish to honour him.”

Byleth agreed, “That is a lovely thing to do. But I would like to honour Dedue as well. Is Rodrigue Molinaro an agreeable name to you, Dimitri?”

“Rodrigue Molinaro Blaiddyd,” Dimitri murmured appreciatively. His hands stopped massaging Byleth’s shoulders, instead running down her arms until they intertwined with her hands. He reached around, resting both his and Byleth’s hands on her bump. “Rodrigue Molinaro Blaiddyd,” Dimitri said again, “I love it. It will be an excellent name for a son. But what of a daughter?”

“Hmm,” Byleth hummed. She tilted her head back so that it was resting against Dimitri’s shoulder. “I have no preferences. Though I would like to honour Mercedes for all she’s done for us, especially in recent moons.”

“I quite like the name Leanna. My father once told me old fairy tales of Faerghus when I was young and I quite liked the character Leanna. She was the sneaky counterpart in the adventures of Loog. Would Leanna Mercedes Blaiddyd be agreeable to you, my beloved?” With their hands still connected, Dimitri gently stroked Byleth’s belly. He grinned when he felt the baby kick in response to his ministrations.

Byleth shifted her body and turned slightly so that Dimitri could see the smile on her face. “Very much so, my King.” She tilted her head up and laid a kiss against Dimitri’s jawline. “Very much so.”

But, just mere days after Felix and Sylvain’s visit, mere days after they had chosen a name for their child, Byleth went into premature labour.

Having wanted to account for any possible event, Mercedes had sent for Manuela and even Rhea herself as soon as Byleth’s pregnancy had been confirmed. Yet, even with all their preparation and Byleth’s care, there was nothing to be done for the child.

Once again, Dimitri was adamant that he remain at Byleth’s side. He held her hand all throughout the thirteen hours of labour. He raised a glass of water to her lips periodically, wiped her face and her tears with a damp cloth, held Byleth’s nightgown out of the way when Mercedes or Manuela or Rhea so requested, and he murmured reassuring words but there was nothing he could do as he watched his wife give birth to a dead daughter after thirteen hours of pain and suffering.

Byleth was bedridden for another two weeks after the delivery as she had hemorrhaged during labour and Mercedes wanted to be overly cautious. As such, she wasn’t able to join Dimitri when he buried their stillborn daughter and set up the little stone engraved with “Leanna Mercedes Blaiddyd”.

Nor did she accompany Dedue in planting flowers for her dead daughter. This time, too deep in her own grief, Byleth did not even select the flowers and she could not bring herself to visit her dead daughter’s grave.

She remained in bed, trapped in the very room where she had lost her daughter. Leanna Mercedes Blaiddyd was not Byleth’s first failed pregnancy, but Leanna Mercedes Blaiddyd was the first of her dead children whom Byleth shed tears for. Dimitri shared Byleth’s grief but there was nothing he could do.

(And Byleth knew better than to use the divine pulse when it wouldn’t erase the hurt she was feeling from losing her daughter, and when she knew that her daughter could just die again and she did not have the strength to feel her child die inside her a second time.)

~~~

The fifth pregnancy was comparatively uneventful. Byleth conceived her fifth child out of a growing desperation to carry a child to term despite Mercedes’ and Dimitri’s concerns over Byleth’s declining health. Yet, Byleth still conceived. Not entirely unsurprisingly, Byleth then miscarried the baby two moons later.

Still melancholic from the stillborn Leanna several moons earlier, Byleth was fairly numb to her most recent miscarriage. However, her succession of failed pregnancies was beginning to give rise to malicious rumours.

Byleth first learned of such rumours when she overheard the conversation between a maid and a serving boy around the corner.

“Really,” the serving boy said snottily, “his majesty should get himself a new wife by now. It’s not like he’d be throwing the Queen to the wolves. She’s the Archbishop of Seiros, for the Goddess’ sake. She doesn’t need to also be the queen. Shouldn’t she be at Garreg Mach anyway? Especially since she’s useless at providing heirs.”

“I hate that his majesty needs to suffer with such a useless wife. What good at noblewomen other than having children? It’s not like they know how to work,” the maid said.

A second maid piped up then. “But Her Grace isn’t a noble. She was a mercenary. I don’t think she should get to be the Queen and Archbishop. The Goddess deserves an Archbishop who is truly devoted to her.”

“At the very least,” the first servant boy spoke again, “his majesty should take a mistress who can actually provide an heir.”

Stung, Byleth didn’t hear what was said afterwards. She headed straight for Dimitri’s office, accidentally alerting the maids and servant boy to her presence. Though the look on their faces at having been caught gossiping by the Queen of Faerghus and Archbishop of Seiros herself was priceless, Byleth did not get the opportunity to enjoy it.

Before Dimitri’s office door, Byleth took a deep breath. Steadying her nerves, she knocked.

“Come in!” called Dimitri’s voice through the heavy oak door.

Seeing Byleth enter the room, Dimitri immediately brightened. He stood from his desk, abandoning his mining reports, to greet Byleth.

His face fell immediately after seeing Byleth’s expression, his joy replaced by concern. “My beloved, what is wrong? Are you unwell?”

“Dimitri,” Byleth’s voice broke as she stumbled in Dimitri’s arms. Despite her emotional turmoil, the weight of Dimitri’s thick fur cloak wrapping around her was as calming as ever.

With her face buried in Dimitri’s cloak, Byleth couldn’t see Dedue. But, she heard Dedue say “I will take my leave, your majesty. I shall be in the garden.”

Although she didn’t hear Dimitri’s response, Byleth let out a sob at the mention of the garden. She had yet to visit her last two children and couldn’t bring herself to face her failure.

Once the door had closed behind Dedue, Dimitri gently guided Byleth towards the couch. The fire had been lit by Dedue earlier so the sparks crackled in the background as Byleth fought to regain control over herself. Dimitri said nothing. He simply held her in his arms and gave her a reassuring smile as he waited for Byleth to speak first.

“I…” Byleth spoke so softly that it was almost a whisper. “I love you, Dimitri.”

“And I love you too, Byleth,” Dimitri responded without hesitation. Byleth didn’t immediately continue, but Dimitri patiently waited for her to continue.

“I love you,” Byleth said again, voice stronger now, “but I know I am not the best queen for you.”

Dimitri’s eyebrows rose in shock. “Why would you say that, my love?”

“I…” Byleth dropped her gaze as her eyes began to fill with tears. “I failed to give you an heir. But you need an heir. And I would understand if you wanted an annulment or if you wished to take a mistress so you could have an heir.”

“Byleth, what brought this on?” Dimitri knew Byleth’s question and current vulnerability was not due to a lack of love on her part, but was a consequence of her string of consecutive miscarriages in such close succession. Despite her best attempts to appear otherwise, Dimitri knew that the loss of each subsequent child was taking its toll on Byleth both physically and emotionally. But, Dimitri also knew that Byleth would not consider such extreme measures, even in such a vulnerable state, without someone else having said something.

Byleth sniffed, burrowing herself even deeper in Dimitri’s cloak. “I overheard some of the servants and maids speaking. They think I am a failure as a queen. Nearly three years of marriage but still no heir.”

“Byleth…” Dimitri reached over to tilt Byleth’s face so she was looking at him. “I don’t care about an heir.” He could see the mixture of uncertainty and disbelief spelled out on Byleth’s face so he continued, “Byleth, you are my love, my beloved queen, and I need you to listen carefully, alright? For you, I speak nothing but my honest truth. Will you listen to me? Believe me?”

“But…” Byleth’s protest drifted off when she saw the look Dimitri was giving her. Instead, she nodded.

“My love, you know that I would do almost anything for Faerghus -- for my people.” Dimitri paused to gently cup Byleth’s face in both his bare hands. “But there is no question that you will always come first. Byleth, there would be no Kingdom of Faerghus without you by my side. My Queen, I have lost so much already. My father, stepmother, Glenn, Rodrigue, and even Dedue for those few long years. You saved me from myself then, saved me from my ghosts, and I am forever in your debt for that. But Byleth, “Dimitri’s eyes began to water, “I do not believe I would be able to ever recover from losing you. Without you, I fear I would lose myself to my ghosts permanently. I would lose myself to someplace so far that I would truly be beyond saving.

“I would love to have a house full of children. Children with my hair and your eyes, children with my nose and your strength, all running around the palace causing trouble for their tutors and maids and wreaking havoc upon the training grounds. But I would never, could never, choose them over you. I want no child, unless it is yours, and I would not protest if you wanted to give up on having children. My beloved, it is hard enough for me to watch you suffer with each child and I cannot imagine how much more difficult it must be for you to feel each child dying inside you.

“In the end, no matter how much I wish for children of my own, I wish to have you by my side for as long as I can. It is selfish of me, but I will choose you first. Byleth, I do not know what I would do if you were to pass while giving birth to my child but I know that I will never stop blaming myself for causing your death. Watching you destroy your health for me, for the hope of a child, I cannot bear to watch it for much longer.” Dimitri paused, tears leaking from his eyes. With her own tear tracks mirrored on her face, Byleth reached out and wiped Dimitri’s tears from his cheeks.

Dimitri took a deep breath before continuing. “I want a child but I need you, Byleth. Please, I will give you all the children I possibly can if that is what you so desire. But please stop pushing yourself for me. We are young and healthy, and this is peacetime. Please, my love, I will beg of you to recover your health fully first. Please, do not join the ranks of the ghosts of those whom I failed. I love you, with or without a child, and I want nothing more than to see you happy and healthy once more.

“You are not a failure as queen.” Dimitri said, wiping Byleth’s tears from her cheeks. “You are a wonderful queen and your job is not solely to provide an heir. You have done much in rebuilding Fodlan and renegotiating treaties. None of the peace and wealth Fodlan enjoys today would be here without you. You have reinspired faith in the Church, you are a wonderful teacher and exemplary leader, and the best wife and life partner I could have asked for. You are a wonderful Queen and Archbishop for the people of Fodlan and those who cannot recognize that are fools.”

~~~

Byleth didn’t conceive again for another year. By no means was her sixth pregnancy easy, but it was nothing compared to the nightmare that was her fourth. She suffering morning sickness and fainting spells her first trimester which gave way to odd food cravings in her second trimester, all of which finally gave way to swollen feet and a chronic ache in her neck and back for the last months of her pregnancy.

But, Byleth carried this child to term and all of Fodlan was shivering with anticipation for the latest news from the Royal Palace.

~~~

“To the good people of Faerghus and of all Fodlan,” Dedue and Ingrid stood on the palace balcony that was used for important announcements. “On behalf of his majesty, King Dimitri, and her grace, Queen and Archbishop Byleth, I would like to announce this joyous occasion of the birth of the Crown Prince, his highness Prince Rodrigue Molinaro Blaiddyd, first in line to the throne of the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus.”

Ingrid continued, “The Goddess has blessed us for both mother and son are alive and in good health. We welcome all to join the Lady Mercedes von Martritz in the Royal Garden this evening in prayer for the continued good health of mother and son, as well as his majesty King Dimitri.”

~~~

Later, when baby Rodrigue finally settled for a nap, Byleth looked at Dimitri who was sprawled out next to her. Despite her clear exhaustion, Byleth was still relishing in the glow that only a new mother has. Dried tear tracks still stained her cheeks. They were remnants of tears of both pain and joy.

“Hey,” Byleth said softly so as to catch the attention of Dimitri without waking her newborn son, “we did pretty good, didn’t we?”

“Yes,” Dimitri smiled, cradling baby Rodrigue’s tiny foot between his fingers. He pushed himself up to support his weight on his elbows and kissed baby Rodrigue’s nose before leaning up to place a chaste kiss on Byleth’s lips.

“You did perfect.”

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ncfan-1 · 5 years

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I keep thinking about Felix, and traditional masculinity in Faerghus (what’s implied of it), and the chivalric and knightly ideals, and the way these things are tangled together.

I think of Felix as a little boy who loved the same stories Ashe and Ingrid loves, Felix who looked up to his older brother and wanted to be a knight like him. I think of Felix who was described as a meek, emotional child who cried easily, and I still don’t think Faerghus is the Toxic Masculinity kingdom the way Rigel is, but the more I look at it, the more off it smells. I think of the parts of masculinity as a concept in Faerghus that have turned rancid, and I think of Felix, the boy who cried easily, and Felix, the teenager who seems now to struggle with expressing emotions freely, and I wonder.

I think of Glenn dying. I think of his death being so horrifically violent that all that was left of him to bring home was his armor, and I know that if whatever happened to him was so violent that they could only bring home the armor, his armor can’t possibly have been intact.

I think of Felix staring down at his brother’s armor, rent and twisted. The breastplate is badly dented with a ragged gash of broken steel running up the middle of it. There isn’t a square-inch of the armor, breastplate, vambraces, gauntlets, or greaves, that is completely clean of blood. His father looks at the ruined mess and says, tearful and proud, “He died like a true knight.” But all Felix can think of is what must have happened to Glenn for his armor to be in such a state, what must have happened to him for his armor to be all that’s left of him, what it must have felt like to die in such a manner, and all he can think is that being proud of such a death is absolutely grotesque.

I think of Felix feeling trapped. He’s not given the space he needs to mourn his brother properly, because his brother “died like a true knight.” He can see the ugly underbelly of the knightly and chivalric ideals, and now that he’s seen it, it’s all he can see, as he pries apart more inconsistencies with each passing day, as he finds new things praised as virtuous to be horrified by. He can’t see anything honorable about killing people like a rabid animal, just because the people you’re killing happen to be on the opposite side of the fight from you. He can’t see anything honorable about killing men and women and children just because it happens to be on the order of your liege lord. There is nothing glorious about battle, or blind obedience, or wanton slaughter.

What the ideals of chivalry and knighthood really seem to glorify, all they seem to glorify, is death—the death you suffer, or the death you mete out. And Felix knows. He remembers that mangled suit of armor, and he knows that there’s nothing glorious about death. Honor and glory, these things won’t bring back the dead. Glenn’s still dead, at the end of the day. At the end of the day, his death was still so terrible that his body couldn’t be recovered, and no amount of honor will erase the pain Glenn must have felt as he died. He’s seen it. He can’t see anything else.

He’s angry. He lashes out. He still cares about duty, and about protecting people—he’ll call out his father in a heartbeat for protecting his people because it’s what a dead man would have wanted of him, instead of protecting them because it’s his duty as their lord to do so. (He still values protecting people, even if he’s very chary about admitting it, because he can’t find a way to admit it that doesn’t make himself sound like a knight.) He’ll fight, and he’ll kill, but what he’ll never do is pretend that it’s honorable or glorious to do these things. He’s not going to play along with that narrative, never again.

There is a part of him, a small part, that wants to once again be a person who can actually find something worth valuing in the knightly ideal. His support chain with Ashe indicates as much. I said that post-time skip Dimitri reminds me of Sandor Clegane, but in this, Felix reminds me of Sandor much more strongly. A boy who loved stories, and knights, and wanted to be one, until something horrific happened that shattered his idealism and made it so that all he could see was the ugly underbelly of something society held to be so valuable.

He still carries one of Glenn’s knighting spurs around with him. It’s one of his lost items in the Academy Phase, so he carries it around with him everywhere he goes. To me, it’s not clear if this plays into his lingering desire to back to those days when he could associate knighthood with anything but death. The alternative is that he just carries the spur around with him because it was Glenn’s, and it’s symbolic of his attempts to move on from his brother’s death, and he can’t, because of what the spur itself represents, and what no one will ever let him forget.

Where all this gets Felix is him being Othered in the eyes of Faerghus society. When you’re a nobleman, concepts of chivalry, knighthood, and masculinity all seem to be tangled up with each other. The latter is never explicitly spelled out, but to me, it’s pretty clearly there by implication. If you don’t perform the ideals of chivalry and knighthood, you inevitably fail also to properly perform the norms of masculinity. In short, in the eyes of this culture, unless adhere to chivalric and knightly norms, you’re not a “real man.” Felix performs masculinity in ways that are likely considered atypical, or, frankly, abnormal, by the standards of the culture he grew up in—or that culture just regards what he does as not performing masculinity at all.

(It’s interesting to compare him with Ingrid, one of his childhood friends, who struggles with conceptions of traditional femininity as much as Felix seems to with conceptions of traditional masculinity, and like Felix, seems to have quit bothering trying to perform it years ago. Especially considering the way they clash in their B-support. It is, of what I’ve seen of Felix thus far, his lowest moment, when he tries to shut her up by drawing attention to the obligations she can’t escape as a noblewoman in their society.

“You’re not meant to be a knight. Go find a husband.”

He does it try to make her go away and leave him alone, by aiming at what he knows, as her childhood friend, to be her sorest of sore spots, and it was a really jarring moment to me, because I hadn’t seen Felix express similar attitudes in his other supports, and I haven’t seen him express them again since then. It doesn’t sit naturally on him at all. It’s still gross, but it’s a different kind of gross than if he genuinely bought into what “traditional gender roles” are supposed to be. But the real conflict between Felix and Ingrid here is their difference of opinions on the value of the knightly ideal.)

Basically, what I’m saying is that it’s fascinating to me that Three Houses took a character that in other works could easily have been, and probably would have been, hyper-masculine within his cultural context, and instead gave us someone who does not perform traditional masculinity in a typical manner within his cultural context. Or at all, really. And I could get into how this plays into potential queer-coding for Felix’s character, or how this plays into his strained relationship with his father, but that’s not what this post was about. And honestly, I wrote this because there’s a tendency among a lot of the fandom to just write Felix off as a jerk (when a lot of the stuff he says is 100% true, even if presented in an unpleasant manner), when it’s so much complicated than that.

#Fire Emblem Three Houses #Fe16 #Meta #Felix Fe16 #Felix Hugo Fraldarius #Gender performance #Head canon

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kendrixtermina · 4 years

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It is me or are ppl really sleeping on Dedue?

To the point that ppl seem to shoehorn other characters into that same role/ space while he’s right there.

Like whatever Rhea’s backstory is she’s been in power and privilege for the last 1000 years, she’s a fantasy creature, and everything about the distant past is subject to unreliable narration as we hear like 5 different versions of it all from biased sources (though I’d say Seteth is probably the most believable one, he was there, and he’s an honest guy)

Whereas Dedue is flat out a survivor of extreme prejudice, no ambiguity, no metaphors, no fantasy magic nor unreliable narration involved, absolutely non-debatable.

If you’re looking for a character who’s totally focussed on their social role/another person because of poor self-esteem and not sufficiently knowing that they matter themselves that’s also Dedue.

Not Hubert. Like noo guys. Hubert states many times that he follows Edelgard out of conviction and no longer because of the tradition or because his father made him. He has his own reasons for hating corrupt nobles and the church. (Most apparent, I think, in the Byleth A and the Hanneman B support, but he mocks the church and the knights like all the time.). If anything, he’s less scrupulous than her (though I wouldn’t say that he’s completely amoral; He definitely has things that he repudiates (corruption) and outright tells Linny that he wouldn’t be friends with someone who’d abandon a person in need, or tells Byleth that he’s one of those people who can’t bring themselves to believe in a just god because of the evil in the world).

He also does pretty much whatever the fuck he wants, which is also established many, many times. Which Edelgard most certainly knows. She likes this. She listens to him (insofar as she listens to anyone), but she does so because she likes and agrees with his attitude. She chose to make this guy her right-hand advisor. She cares nothing for tradition and would’ve given him the boot and grabbed another advisor/attendant if she didn’t think he was supremely useful, and, as she put it “always right”. She kept him despite the tradition, because she likes intelligent, reason-driven people and he’s the third smartest person in all of Fodlan (numbers one and two are, of course, Claude and Lysithea). Plus he’s an accomplished mage without a crest. He isn’t even the loosest cannon in the imperial arsenal. She cares only about results, whether you’re from a peasant background like Manuela and Dorothea, unconventional/quirky like Linhardt or Bernie, or... whatever you’d call Hubert and Jeritza. So you could say that her leadership style certainly has both advantages and disadvantages. But Hubert himself seems overall pretty content with his position and doesn’t really expect anything else, because, after all, he chose it. Though we certainly have his father’s treahery as a cynism catalyst that lead him to be this super disillusioned cynical irreverent person who’s very slow to trust.

It also can’t be because Dedue is boring. This is evident when you compare him to say Cyril, who also has the sort of effed-up past that, in RL, would deserve sympathy by default, but in the end this isn’t a charity for real people but fictional entertainment and he’s just not likeable. (likeability being subjective of course - there’s clearly SOME ppl who DO like him, and why shouldn’t they?)

I mean boringness is subjective but Dedue has a whole load of characterization besides the fucked up backstory. there’s always that protective layer you need to get through (which is only realistic) but if you actually try to get to know him he’s got a lot of traits and hobbies and distinctive attitudes and complexities tragic plots.

Like on the one hand he and Dimitri are as glued-together as they are because no one else can remotely understand what it means to have all your friends and family massacred in front of you, they’re both people who are naturally nice and peace-loving but wound up with the capacity for ugly desperate actions because of what they’ve been through but there’s also a contrast, they’re both sort of repressed but in different ways (though you could say that both struggle to express anger on their own behalf and thus channel it onto anger on behalf of others), Dimitri’s clumsy and emotionally volatile whereas Dedue is very careful/dexterous and calm, and that’s where the tragic part comes in.

Because while he’ll go on with whatever Dimitri says cause he owes him his life and has nowhere else to go it’s quite clear that that’s not exactly what he wants (You get support points if you ask him what he wants even if he doesn’t give you a clear answer) - I bet he’d like nothing more than to just go live a peaceful life somewhere together without bothering with the revenge thing. (Though he’s got a better explanation/excuse than the rest of Team Kingdom, among whom no one will tell Dimitri to stop because of their culture’s overemphasis on loyalty. Even Felix doesn’t do much more than complain. It takes Byleth, a more pragmatic, cool-minded outsider to Faerghus, to put a stop to the kamikaze mission. )

He also has really sweet dynamics with Ashe and Flayn (who canonically like him even on other routes), also Mercedes and Sylvain if you did those supports. Because he’s kind of retreated completely into his social role as a vassal cause he has little else left and at this point he’s so used to being scorned that he preemptively tells ppl to keep their distance, but if you put in the minimum effort to actually get to know him you see this sweet, chill domestic young man who’s still there underneath. (Again contrast Hubert, whom you can’t really get much personal conversation out of, even Edelgard who’s known him all her life struggles to get him to spill what he’s really thinking, cause he’d just tell her what he thinks it would be useful for her to hear. And with Byleth he plain doesn’t trust them early on. He’s simply committed to being a consummate professional, by deliberate choice, though he definitely does have his own dephts to get to know, like being a bit self-conscious about his ‘scary’ mannerisms or ultimately being motivated by wanting to do something worthwhile and impactful with his short human life)

Ultimately, Dedue is very honorable, community-minded and reputation-conscious which means that he ironically fits in quite well with the Kingdom students, though that also probably makes it a special kind of hell to not only lose his community but to be stereotyped as a dishonorable scoundrel, because he cares quite a bit about his honor and reputation and that of his friends (see the Dimitri, Sylvain and Byleth supports) which puts him in this situation where he feels he can’t really be their friend without tarnishing their honor, there’s a complex mix of feelings where he’s of course as frustrated as any human being would be but has also partially internalized some of the crap from years of constant bombardment.

The function of anger as an emotion is to ensure just treatment in the group, so for someone to just lie down and take crap like that it shows that they’ve totally given up on getting justice so for me at least this is really a character that I really want to see good things happen to and that makes me cheer every time someone thinks of him or when something good happens to him.

Like in a setting where nearly everyone’s backstory sucked his is quite possibly the worst. Only Jeritza and Lysithea (mostly because of the early death thing) even come remotely close.

I feel like ppl would be all over this character if he were a bishie or cute girl, like just because of the “hides behind defense mechanisms but you can see his true self if you bother to be halfway decent” thing. Like usually ppl are all over that.

Like to summarize we have a sad backstory, a tragic loyalty conflict, a frequently misunderstood demeanor that’s the product of a tragic past, a basically sweet disposition that’s still not without the capacity for darkness, ample potential for wholesome Friendships (or more romantic ‘ships), what’s not to like?

Plus he’s got like one of the sweetest goddess tower events and S-supports. He gives you his jackets and looks at the starts with you etc. Bit too wholesome for my personal tastes [stuffs El, Hubert, Felix and Linhardt paraphernalia back into closet] but objectively loveable.

tl;dr: Let’s all appreciate Supreme Chef Deddie-pie.

#Dedue Molinaro #fire emblem: three houses #fire emblem three houses #fe3h

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faroreswinds · 5 years

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I just saw your post mentioning the whole Dimitri/Claude needing heirs thing, and it's possible I'm misinterpreting, but in CF Dimitri says something to the effect of 'the Blaiddyd bloodline will continue even if I die' - so I wonder if Dima, at least, would face that much pressure for an heir, given his focus on orphans and his uncle probably having had a family. I'm blanking on his unpaired AM ending but Faerghus is shown to be v traditional so who can say for sure I guess. :o

Oh my goodness, a message! I almost never get these so I had to rub my eyes a few times to make sure!

To answer your question, it’s honestly really hard to say either way. In the post I believe you are referring to, I made mention of heirs because that’s probably the excuse IS gave to themselves when deciding that the male lords will be not be bi options, while Edelgard (the only lord who doesn’t need an heir after she changes the system) is bi. If you take a quick look at all the bi options, there is kind of a pattern. Linhardt doesn’t care about anything and in almost all his endings, with two exceptions, rejects any role or his title. He doesn’t need heirs because by virture he simply doesn’t want to be next in line. Dorothea is a commoner, so is Mercedes and Jeritza. Rhea also doesn’t need children, and Sothis is... Well, you know. IS made these characters bi not out of characterization, but because these characters, by nature, have no need to be having any offspring.

Anyways, Faerghus is traditional in the sense that they uphold a lot of old values and beliefs that even shape their way of thinking (i.e. Gustave and Rodrigue) but not so traditional in that change isn’t an option. Women like Ingrid, for instance, are still able to become knights with relative ease. Lambert himself was actually about to make radical reforms. We don’t know what that means, unfortunately, but if we consider Dimitri’s values a window into Lambert’s values, we may get an idea. And remember, Mercedes may be from the Empire but she lives in the Kingdom. We are given no indication that the Kingdom is against same-sex partners, and Mercedes can even declare her love for you before you ever become archbishop.

His unpaired ending is weird, however. His unpaired ending makes absolutely no mention of any wife, consort, or queen. He lives to make orphans’ lives better; we even see him playing with them in his ending card. However, Gilbert’s ending is sort of tied with Dimitri’s. His unpaired ending tells us that he coached the “young prince” in the art of combat, meaning that Dimitri did have a son at some point. This prince could be adopted, but considering that Dimitri married a woman in his paired ending with Felix, it’s likely the child is his flesh and blood.

However, it is also entirely possible to avoid any mention of a child at all. Pair Gilbert with Annette or with Byleth (or just... let him die), then you can completely avoid hearing about Dimitri’s son.

Dimitri does change his government, but inheritance is still a thing, based on the ending cards in AM. So I wouldn’t be surprised if there was some pressure for him to establish a bloodline. People really cared that Dimitri was the heir to the throne. They wanted him back; it HAD to be him, in their minds. But honestly, if anyone pressured him it would have been Gilbert. Felix would have told him to fuck the traditions. But I’m more inclined to believe that Dimitri had a child out of love, not out of need.

Personally, though, I would love to know from IS if his son could potentially be adopted. How poetic would that be? Bloodlines are not so set in stone that someone like Ashe couldn’t inherit Lonato’s house. But I suppose the Royal Family might have different standards.

I would say there is more of a focus on bloodlines in the Kingdom, but we lack all the nuances of the kingdom’s culture to say for sure if they would be open to Dimitri adopting. Dimitri holds some core values of his nation such a loyalty, but not all of them (such as valuing Crests so highly) and makes a lot of changes. With the exception of Edelgard’s ending, Dimitri’s ending makes nobles the weakest in power out of them all (And in Edelgard’s ending, that is only because all the power is in the emperor’s hands; in his ending, even his own position could arguably be weaker due to setting up what sounds like a constitutional monarchy).

As for the line from CF, I do believe he’s referring to Rufus. Rufus may not have a Crest but he’s still his uncle, and could keep their bloodline alive. I have a hard time believing that Dimitri went and got a woman pregnant. Rufus is said to be a skirt chaser and since he’s not the one on the front lines defending the kingdom, probably has more time to get dirty. Plus, there’s no mention of Rufus dying at all in CF (since Cornelia never killed him).

I’m not sure if that line exists in the Japanese version, though. There are MANY times where the English has changed the Japanese quite a bit. One is where Felix calls Dimitri a monster in CF. Yeah, that never happened in the Japanese version.

I hope you do not mind, but I’m going to post this question. If anyone has anything to add or thoughts, please feel free to share.

#I hope I answered this corrently #My thoughts just flowed #Fire Emblem #3H #Asks #My thoughts

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kisant · 5 years

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agoddamn ha respondido a tu publicación “@ezralahm ha respondido a tu publicación “The Miklan mission is...”

Wait, when is it said that Ionius was trying to limit the power of Crest nobles? I was under the impression that all we heard was that Ionius was trying to obtain more power. Noted anti-Crest Hanneman believes that von Vestra was acting altruistically

Sorry but I went into a coughing fit at "I guess I assumed it was progressive because that makes Edelgard right" and "I've only finished Flower"

That came out a lot more aggressive than I meant, I apologize. I'm not feeling well and let myself get too flippant. I like a lot of your original analysis but I think your foundation is critically flawed by not having the full context of Faerghus's situation and making assumptions in Edelgard's favor”

Yeah, that did come off as a little bit aggressive my dude. Like, oh, excuse me for not having yet finished all the routes in a rather lengthy game that only came out in late July, I happen to have a life outside talking about videogames.

What I’m essentially doing is liveblogging my experience with the game, first with Crimson Flower, which was my first route, and now with Azure Moon, my second, so it’s only natural for me to compare Edelgard and Dimitri because of their radically opposed viewpoints and roles in the game, not because I hate either of the two. In fact, I think I’ve been rather fair to what I’ve seen of Dimitri just yet (I’m up to the “investigate Flayn’s disappearance” mission in AM), because I acknowledged his good points several times already in these meta posts. I do agree with you on that I don’t have all the information yet, and that my analysis may be flawed because of that, but that’s because I’m liveblogging, not analyzing the game from the perspective of someone who has finished all the routes.

And I defend Edelgard because I actually like Edelgard, much like Dimitri stans defend Dimitri and have yet to get half the amount of vitriol Edelgard’s get. With him it’s all “poor little boy was sooooo sad and traumatized, let’s handle him with kiddy gloves and ignore his violent streak and unthinking defense of harmful traditions and the status quo, because that bitch Edelgard made him SO MAD and it’s all her fault for starting an unnecessary war when everything was already fine and dandy in the perfect land of Fodlan”

That’s what annoys me about Dimitri stans, that many of them absolutely refuse to admit Dimitri’s faults while requiring Edelgard’s to pretty much put on a disclaimer before any post that is vaguely positive about her, saying that of course we know she was evil and wrong about everything and that we apologize for preferring her to the oh so perfect and holy knight Dimitri. I’m not saying that you’re one of those Dimitri stans, but it is a common enough attitude in his fandom for me to be annoyed at it.

If Ionius’ reforms were about centralizing state power, that means that he was dimishing the power of the crest-bearing nobility by default. And given what we’ve seen about the state of most of the empire’s noble houses (like with houses Aegir, Varley, Bartels and the house that used Hanneman’s sister as a crest broodmare, for example), I can’t say it was a bad political move born only of the desire for power. I also find it quite interesting that people in this fandom apparently have so much sympathy for the plight of the game’s feudal lords that use magically inherited superpowers and relic weapons to rule over their territories and get pissy about that power being diminished in any way, but okay.

I got an entirely different reading on the Hanneman and Hubert support conversations, by the way. What I got from that conversation is that Marquis Vestra was a good and loyal man who was forced to choose between the emperor and his son’s safety, and he chose to protect Hubert over his duty to the emperor. This caused Hubert to hate his father and to act as his complete opposite, putting his own loyalty to Edelgard above everything. And given Marquis Vestra’s position as spymaster and retainer to the emperor and the Slitherer’s involvement with the Insurrection, I think they were involved in him being cornered into making such a decision.

Talking about the experiments, I don’t know where you got that the emperor approved the experiments. In Edelgard’s crowning ceremony, she says that the crest experiments on the royal children were part of the Prime Minister’s plot with the Slitherers, and that not only did they made her father watch as his children were turned into science experiments and tortured into death and insanity, but Edelgard saw the suffering in his eyes and how helpless he was to help them or make their torturers stop.

EDIT: Wait, I don’t know if it was you making that point or another person. I apologize if it wasn’t you and I confused you answer with someone else’s. YUP, I CONFUSED TWO DIFFERENT RESPONSES TO THE SAME POST, MY BAD. IT WAS @ezralahm WHO SAID THAT THE EMPEROR CONSENTED TO HIS CHILDREN BEING EXPERIMENTED ON BY THE SLITHERERS, NOT YOU.

So yeah, I do believe that there is enough evidence in canon Crimson Flower to believe that Edelgard and her father had similar reformist ideals, and that the difference between them is that Edelgard succeeded where Ionius failed, not because I think having a similar political ideology to her father automatically gives Edelgard the higher moral ground.

What I do think gives Edelgard a high moral ground are her actions after the war, in which she spent years, if not decades, working on reforming the united Fodlan, reducing the power and importance of crests and the nobility, and giving commoners a chance to excel on their own merits through measures such as universal education, not to mention having gotten rid of the two shadow factions that had been fucking over humanity for at least a thousand years. It’s also implied that Edelgard also fostered good relations with foreign countries by negotiating with Almyra (something she showed she was willing to do in her paralogue) and giving Brigid its independence back.

And after her job was done, she selected a successor based on their personal merit (instead of making her own crest baby to succeed her) and abdicated the throne. There are still nobles in her ending, just like there are still slitherers, but it’s because completely getting rid of those two factions took the majority of her reign after the war.

#agoddamn #fire emblem three houses #edelgard von hresvelg #dimitri alexandre blaiddyd #ionius ix #azure moon playthrough #fe3h meta #my posts #kisant liveblogs three houses

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fancy-waffles · 4 years

Text

FE3H Siblings Week Day 3 // Ingrid & Bro (Evin)

Prompt // Sharing

Ingrid was going to the Officer’s Academy tomorrow. It had been her dream for longer than she could remember; she used to hang on each and every story Glenn would tell her about his time there. She knew, however, that the main reason so much of their already scant funds had been put towards her tuition was not so she could go and train and become a Knight. That was a dream that had died somewhere around the time Glenn did.

Still, she was excited, it was a chance to escape her predictable schedule at Galatea and as much as they worried and frustrated her, she really did miss Sylvain, Felix, and Dimitri. They hadn’t seen each other on such a regular basis since they were children.

She would miss home, she knew that already, as well as she knew the sounds of her youngest brothers scampering through the home, running themselves ragged and expertly avoiding breaking anything. (Not that they had anything of any real worth anymore — most of it had been sold off ages ago.) She also knew that as well as she could always tell when her eldest brother was in the kitchen.

Ingrid could smell the Daphnel Stew (though Evin insisted on calling it Galatea Stew) from two rooms away. She let her nose lead her towards the kitchen where Evin was adding fattened chunks of meat that had been recently seared to the stew. They probably weren’t chicken, the chickens hadn’t done well this year and Evin usually used a few different kinds of meat, any root vegetables he could find, and enough earthy spices to mask too much gamey flavor. It still smelled wonderful.

“Hello Ingrid,” Evin said without turning around.

The worse his sight got the better his senses were getting, Ingrid noticed. “Did you recognize my footsteps?”

“No, I’m making meat in the kitchen,” Evin smiled, “it’s always you.”

“You’re making my favorite,” Ingrid pointed out.

“You have a lot of favorites,” Evin said, breezily.

She crept closer to see the bubbling liquid starting to turn an appetizing shade of brown and her mouth watered, even though she knew it would be hours until it was done.

“You’re going to miss me,” Ingrid said, staring up at him.

Evin shrugged and then leaned a little towards her to gently jostle her with his elbow. “Only a little.”

She wondered what he would do with a bigger kitchen. If she married someone who could infuse enough funds into Galatea that they could afford a bigger kitchen and a regular staff.

“Did you ever want to go to the Academy?” Ingrid asked him.

He was ten years older than her, but his sight had started to dim when he was younger than she was now, so the more traditional options for the eldest of a noble house went away faster than his eyesight. Besides, by that time Ingrid had been born, and their father had put all of the family’s future in her hands, which usually came with all the finances.

“Not really,” Evin said, reaching over for a container that had a notch on the top of it and then moving onto the next one after he brushed his thumb against the notch and repeated the process until he found what he was looking for.

“Why not?” Ingrid asked. “Didn’t you want to be a Knight?”

Evin snorted as he added salt to the stew. “No. Knights are always being told what to do and where to go, what’s the point in being a noble, even a poor one, if you can’t at least have some freedom.”

“Besides,” he added. “As our mother before me, I am shamefully uninterested in the Faerghus approach to always being combat ready.”

“You taught me how to use a lance,” Ingrid countered.

“I didn’t say I wouldn’t be good at it, Brandy-Wine,” he said, using her least favorite nickname in the history of anything anyone had ever called her, including the time Sylvain had called her ‘mother’ before she’d thrown a crabapple at him. “Maybe not as good as you,” he added, the praise making her feel like she’d grown ten sizes taller.

“It’ll only be a year,” Ingrid said, rather than saying she’d miss him terribly.

Evin frowned and then turned towards her, not quite giving her a direct look, but she could see his eyes tracing down the outline of her. She was too afraid to ask what she looked like to him now. The healers said he’d likely be completely blind by the end of the year.

“Don’t marry Gautier,” he said.

Ingrid choked a noise out between a laugh and a scoff. “That has never been an option!”

“I have to deal with whoever you end up bringing home and it’s bad enough you’re leaving me alone with the twins for an entire year, but if you marry someone that annoying, I’ll never forgive you.”

Evin had loved Glenn. Ingrid tried not to think about it. “So who meets your high standards?”

Evin seemed to think about that, tapping his fingers against his pant leg. “Not His Highness either, I need someone with tastebuds and I know he was the one who ate the centerpiece last time they were here.”

“Sylvain dared him,” Ingrid said, sighing. She hadn’t really talked him out of it, when it looked like Dimitri might do it. That felt like ages ago, it was one of the last times they’d all been together.

“Like I said, don’t marry Gautier,” Evin repeated. “And… don’t give in to every marriage proposal Father sends your way, he’s being too pragmatic.”

“He’s never too pragmatic,” Ingrid said, remembering the clutter and glad she could deal with keeping things clean and orderly in her own dorm at the Academy soon, no Frey and Kelby to mess things up or litter everywhere. She’d miss them too.

Evin raised his eyebrows and went to stir the stew again, without comment. The moment the wooden spoon shifted the ingredients around Ingrid’s mouth began to water again.

“It’s going to be a while until this done, Brandy-Wine,” Evin said, but he was smiling.

“I can wait,” Ingrid said and settled herself to lean on the counter next to him.

Evin leaned toward her briefly and his hand wavered for a moment somewhere around her head until she moved towards it a bit and then he pulled her in so he could kiss the top of her hair. “Don’t you dare like their food better than mine.”

“If I do, I’ll be sure to lie about it,” Ingrid said back, beaming at his rare open affection.

“Like I said, pragmatic.”

It was their last dinner all together and having Daphnel (Galatea) Stew was the perfect choice. It meant they had to pass bowls around, scoop for each other, and tear off pieces of hard bread to soak in the stew until it softened. It was a perfect send-off meal and made her excitement war with instant worry about how homesick she’d end up being.

#fe3h #fire emblem three houses #fe3hsiblingsweek #ingrid brandl galatea #ingrid's brother evin #because she has brothers plural #and i went with huge age gaps #pretty sure the galatea fam generally tried not too have too many kids cos money #but their parents were too hornt i mean in love #also managed to dunk on sylvain in this which is my skillset showing #fancy-waffles writes

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khorosvein · 4 years

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hc ; random rambles i think about

Mera is lonely -- in a lot of ways. There’s a couple layers to this that I’ll try to hit in this post and I’ll talk about other characters that relate to some points.

For one -- Mera is a new noble ; she’s only about two years into being part of nobility by the time the game even starts. Her social status elevation isn’t something that is voluntary and being forcibly and suddenly pushed into another socioeconomic class was very unsettling and anxiety inducing for Mera. Add the other layer that her family is new nobles who aren’t well established, this can make it very difficult to command a certain level of respect that “old money” nobles with generations ( esp with crests !!! ) under their names can easily get just for, well, existing. It puts her in an unfair situation that she has no control over -- some nobles !!! are jerks !!! -- where she has to work to build up respect and reputation in society / nobility with her own hands and on her own terms.

And because of the gap that exists between noble and commoner, there’s a big need for her to rush and learn as much as possible about “performing nobility” in as short amount of time as possible to avoid being outcasted and to assimilate into her new role. Because of these experiences and shifts, Mera has a lot of suspicion towards other people, especially nobles. This isn’t to say she won’t be friendly and kind to another, but that’s really different than actually coming to trust and bond with that person.

[ Because the game couldn’t give less of a [ redacted ] about Duscur, I need to reiterate that the people of Duscur were subjected to a massacre / pogrom ( pls be careful when looking up these words as there can be triggering images that can appear ) and the fact that this game doesn’t focus on the actual victims of this during its narrative is horrible. ]

Mera has also had her entire culture and life uprooted post-tragedy. It’s noted that there are very few people from Duscur that still live after the tragedy. Loss of culture is also traumatic ( aside from the killings, please also remember that the people of Duscur also lost all their land and lost any traditional knowledge / teachings / customs / etc. along with the victims among other things ). It completely changed the way she identifies and exist within the world and it left her with an enormous amount of trauma ( depression and PTSD ). Due to this and the continued treatment of the people of Duscur in Faerghus, it’s generated this feeling of loneliness in terms of culture ( I’m not quite sure what I want to say ; perhaps later I will find a better way to say it ) in that it’s not typically possible for her to coexist in Faerghus society without facing some form of racism / discrimination due to her birthplace. It’s really only comfortable for her to exist within her small community made up of other people of Duscur that lives in Faerghus but doesn’t integrate / assimilate within society.

That’s why I think no matter what route she is on, pre-timeskip Mera will always feel very attached to Dedue in a way that I don’t think any other character in the roster will be able to experience. I really do think that in Mera’s perspective Dedue is “ the person who understands [ her ] the most in this world ”. Because there is no one else besides them at the Academy, who understand each other in that way. The Blue Lions route of my mind focuses more on the actual people of Duscur’s trauma, which would situation Dedue and Mera more to the forefront of the Duscur storyline ( like they deserve tbh ).

She’s also mixed and there are specific issues mixed people might face within their lifetime ( for reference, I’m mixed, so I’m speaking from my experience ). From my experience interacting with the world as a mixed person, I think there’s a certain .... expectation people of either race / ethnicity have of a mixed person. There’s quite a bit of “ well you don’t look like .... ” or “ you don’t act like ... ” or the v dreaded “ what are you ? ”. Sometimes it’s difficult to define myself in the world because I’m not one or the other and it’s not even simple as in I can say “I feel half this and half that all the time”. So, I want that to translate a little more into my writing as well, but Mera definitely identifies more with Duscur and its culture than Faerghus. There’s also definitely pressure for her to have a reversal on that and to assimilate into Faerghus culture more but she really won’t budge from it lmao she’s really just be like “die mad about it”.

( thing i’m adding in here bc i’m thinking about it right now ) Mera assimilating into Faerghus / Fodlan society is really just a means to an end. She has Faerghus noble blood, why not put it to good use to help Duscur or even reform society as a whole once she’s powerful and influential ( that’s why when all the stuff happens during the timeskip makes her go like “my city now” ) ? Or just to have access to resources she might not have had before becoming a noble ? She never really gives up any of her Duscur heritage. And also make no mistake -- Mera doesn’t become intelligent and quick-witted from having education as a noble, she already is intelligent and quick-witted, her education is also just another way of displaying that.

For the final bit because It’s getting later but Mera just doesn’t .... hardly like any big aspect of Faerghus culture presented in the game. She doesn’t care about the Chuch -- will admit to even downright hating it. She doesn’t think the ideals of knighthood and chivalry mean anything -- after all, isn’t it the same honorable, good knights that came into Duscur ? And based on my own hc about Duscur, she doesn’t really ??? get nobility or even the idea of monarchy ??? because Duscur doesn’t really have either of those things ( there are different social classes in Duscur but the gap is just not as extreme between said classes unlike Fodlan ) and local councils run the government in Duscur. She knows she has to respect Edelgard and Dimitri because, well, they’re the crown heirs of their respective monarchies but she’s not someone who believes that these aspects of society have to stay that way or that they even should. And I think within the Blue Lions house which at times gives off that feeling of upholding traditional values, it can be a little difficult to connect with others on those topics.

#⊰ ❀ *ﾟ⊱ ❝ gathering up your mysterious color of light ❞ ( info. )#racism /#( also as a side note but mera reads so much once she gets into the academy.#she's like kirby just sucking in all the useful knowledge she can #her and claude see each other in the library all the time )

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narutsuart · 5 years

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Fire Emblem Three Houses Info Dump/Mild Speculation:

Reaper Knight: In the streets of Garreg-Mach, there are rumours of a knight spiriting away people at night. But the dreaded knight who’s supposedly just a rumour suddenly appears before the protagonist. Their appearance evokes an ominous presence as if they’re not of this world.

Flame Emperor: A mysterious figure who acts behind the scenes around the monastery. They hide their body with a mask and cape and their true identity is a complete mystery.

As some have already pointed out the bandits that attacked Edelgard were working under the orders of the Flame Emperor.

Makes you wonder why he would resort to using such unreliable grunts to carry out the attack. He looks quite formidable but it seems like he’s not ready or perhaps unable to take direct assault yet.

Some information about how choosing Houses affect story:

The protagonist is a teacher at the Officer’s Academy and will decide which of the three houses to lead during the early stages of the game. Although the incidents that occur at the end of each month/season are the same, the events before and after are different depending on the house. Often, you may gain a new perspective on the story compared to the other houses.

An example of this can be seen in these scans, each have the same event but different information is provided by the characters.

If the Black Eagles was chosen we learn from Hubert that Lonato is staging a rebellion. If the Blue Lions is chosen we learn from Dimitri that Lonato doesn’t want to involve Ashe (his adoptive son) with his rebellion.

It seems like depending on the characters we have the the perception of other characters presented in story could change. Hubert gives us the impression of Lonato just staging a rebellion and it’s played straight forward, but since you have Ashe in Blue Lions we are presented with information that makes Lonato’s morals come off a bit more gray. A pretty cool concept I think.

Here we see Ashe is confused about why his father(adoptive) would do such a thing.

Lonato’s profile:

In the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus where chivalry is held high, Sir Lonato–ruler of Gaspard Castle within the kingdom–raises an army against the church. The protagonist and their students are tasked by the officer’s academy to help complete the task of suppressing the rebellion. From this rebellion, disquieting movements around the church slowly come to light…

Coordinated Attacks

When attacking an enemy, if there are nearby allies that can target the same enemy, a “Co-ordinated Attack” can be used. In addition to boosting the Hit Rate and Avoid of the attacking unit, when certain units join in a Co-ordinated Attack, there are various potent effects like increasing attack power. In previous games, there were mechanics that made battles easier when close characters fight near each other, and these mechanics are back! When characters deepen their bonds by socialising in the academy and triggering Co-ordinated Attacks, support conversations can be unlocked. After conversing, their support level increases further improving the effects of Co-ordinated Attacks.

Co-dinated Attacks seem to be Three Houses answer to the pair-up mechanic and the attack/vanguard stances of Fates. In addition to this we now have confirmation that traditional support conversations will be returning. I personally thought it was a given but I know some people were worried. It says nothing about S ranks, but supports are really the focus here so only time will tell.

Co-ordinated Gambits

The same kind of Co-ordinated Attacks can be applied when characters with hired battalions use Gambits. When a Co-ordinated Gambit occurs, the Might and Hit Rate will increase relative to the number of participants and their support levels. Gambits have limited uses per battle, so it’s crucial that you have units waiting nearby to maximise their effect. Keep your units’ positions in mind and battles will turn in your favour!

So we saw a glimpse of the Co-ordinated gambit in the February trailer but it’s nice to get a proper description on it. There’s so many cool tactical nuances to Fire Emblem Three Houses like Crests, Gambits, Co-ordinated Attacks, how classes are treated and the absolute customization of every unit. I’m really looking forward to this game! I want to give credit to VincentASM at Serenes Forest for translating the Famitsu Article. I encourage you to check out the website as VincentASM covers even more information and plans to cover even more of the article sometime later!

#fire emblem #fire emblem three houses

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tsunnychan · 4 years

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a change of pace: celebration plans

installment 2 (for now) of the best laid plans series

i’m just caught up in my own feelings and theirs so here’s another update

ao3

Ingrid sits in the darkness of her car as snow begins to accumulate on her windshield, silently taking in the grandeur of the home she used to frequent in her childhood.

The Blaiddyd mansion stood tall and imposing, only softened by the twinkling Christmas lights lining the roof (of which she’s sure Dedue had a hand in) and the festive wreaths on the lion statues out front. She exhales slowly, watching her frosted breath fade into the cold. She’s here to celebrate Dimitri’s 20th birthday, not sulk in her car. Whatever problems were going on at home… she can afford to set it aside for a few days. At least until their usual holiday traditions are over.

The last thing she wants is bringing her troubles to her best friends.

Ingrid sighs wearily, the thought of her family back at home weighing heavily in her chest. Their bills were stacking up and her scholarship and work-study could only cover so much. She'd opted not to return home this holiday break, to save her family the plane ticket back to Galatea. She’s in the middle of massaging a crick out of her neck when a sharp knock raps on her car window. She starts, her muscles tensing and her fists clenching, instincts on high alert. Her eyes dart to the figure standing outside her window.

A muffled voice reaches her through the glass. “Ingrid! It’s me!”

The tension leaves her body and she lets her head fall back against the car seat. His voice inadvertently grates and soothes her nerves simultaneously. Huffing, she swings her car door open and finds herself swept into a suffocating bear hug. “Sylvain!”

Despite her reprimanding tone, she finds she doesn’t mind. Doesn’t mind the way she’s being crushed to his chest and the way his warmth surrounds her completely. Her own arms wrap around him and she’s hugging him back, tighter than she thought she would. She buries her nose into the lapels of his coat and sinks a little bit deeper into the familiarity of honey, leather, and cinnamon.

She’s missed this. She feels Sylvain press his cheek into her hair and squeeze her even closer. She’s really missed this.

Ingrid’s just about to pull back and scold him for startling her, when his arms wind around her waist and suddenly, she’s airborne. She yelps and her hands grapple for his shoulders as Sylvain starts spinning them around like when they were kids, laughing into the winter winds without restraint.

“Sylvain! Put me down!” Her indignation entirely unconvincing, ruined by the laughter bubbling in her own throat as he spins them around for a third time.

“No way, Ing! One spin for every month I’ve spent away from you!”

Normally, she would’ve bat him off the moment he hoisted her up, but it’s been seven months since Sylvain graduated from college. A long seven months since anyone in their group of friends had seen him. His initial radio silence had worried her. He’d been whisked back to Gautier promptly after graduation, just barely hanging around long enough to say his goodbyes.

Then he was gone.

His text messages were brief, and they always came at odd hours of the night. His absence in their group chat was painstakingly apparent and Ingrid wondered if one of his exes had finally hunted him down. She wasn’t there to back him up anymore, so what kind of trouble did he find himself in now? Her fingers itched to text him, but Felix’s completely unbothered attitude convinced her otherwise. If Felix was unworried… then she should relax, right?

It wasn’t until two months ago, when Faerghus began reporting on the successful completion of Phase I negotiations with Sreng, that they all received the same blurry picture of a redheaded blob on a TV screen captioned, ‘did you miss me?’. She doesn’t quite remember the barrage of texts that followed, but she remembers marking Dimitri’s birthday celebration with an extra note and heightened prioritization: Sylvain’s back.

And it was that note that led her here, spinning around in the snow with her best friend, instead of spending her holidays alone in her apartment away from her family for the first time.

After the seventh and last spin, Sylvain set her back down on her feet, toothy smile still plastered on his face, mirroring the one she’s sure is on her own. Her eyes take him in. He’s somehow grown taller, his cheeks are a little more hollowed out, and… “You changed your hair.”

One of his hands shoots up and ruffles the back. Nervous? “Oh, uh, yeah. The ‘fresh out of bed’ look just doesn’t make the cut for diplomatic roles.”

She scoffs, remembering the disaster that sat on top of his head for the last six years of his life. “Well, it looks nice.”

Suddenly, his hand is shoved onto her forehead and his face is far closer than she’s used to. She blinks at him as he studies her worriedly. “Are you feeling okay, Ingrid? Did something happen in the seven months I was away? Did the cold finally get to you? Did you say, I looked… nice?”

Shaking him off from her, Ingrid elbows him away and goes back to her car to grab the gifts she brought for everyone, fond exasperation in her voice, “Don’t make me hurt you.”

He gives her the same smirk from high school that promised trouble. She pointedly ignores it and changes the subject. “Are you going to try that spinning stunt with Dimitri and Felix?”

The smirk deepens and his eyes light up with mischief. “Do you think they’ll let me?”

She rolls her eyes and shuts her car door. She gestures to the main entrance with her head and turns on her heel to start walking, hearing him fall into step behind her. “You know the answer to that.”

“I don’t know, Ingrid. You let me, didn’t you?”

She freezes in her tracks and he bumps into her. She’d been so caught up in seeing him again after seven months and how much she missed him, she didn’t think twice about letting him grab her and spin… didn’t even think about how good it felt to be wrapped in his arms and how he smelled like home—

Her heart skips once and the tips of her ears burn unpleasantly. Quickly pushing any further thoughts away for later, she squares her shoulders and shrugs. “Hm. I guess I did.”

Without another word, her hands shift on the gift boxes and she picks her pace back up. She smiles to herself, hearing the slight pause and then rapid crunching of snow close in beside her.

For the rest of the evening, she watches Sylvain attempt to spin Dimitri and Felix seven times each. Even Dedue, when he steps out of the kitchen with the birthday cake. Dimitri allowed the full seven rotations. Sylvain made it to five with Dedue before his arms gave out.

Felix tolerated one revolution and a half before he went flying across the dining room when Sylvain let him go per his request. He catches her eye and throws an obnoxious wink in her direction before Felix tackles him to the ground in a choke-hold, shouting obscenities as Sylvain relentlessly teases him, even with an arm around his neck.

Ingrid can’t remember the last time she laughed so hard.

#sylvgrid #sylgrid #sylvain jose gautier #ingrid brandl galatea #fe3h #fire emblem: three houses #my writing #4 more chs to this part #2.5 already written #i just really want to get to one particular scene #and boy is it a ride there #i still have the scene in my always: me for you document that haunts me because i love it so much but theres so much to slog through #until i finally get there..

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tk-duveraun · 5 years

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So for FE16, I have the following OCs:

Children of the Goddess:

Fathalon - one of the eldest. He believes “the ocean isn’t infested with sharks - they live there” and that the humans are entirely justified in hating them. He shows up after he hears that Byleth was given the Sword of the Creator to yell at little sister about letting the humans run around with their mother’s corpse-pieces.

He can still transform into his beast form: a traditional dragon in shape, but without magic breath. His power (and that of his Crest, the Aethran Crest) is mind manipulation. In beast form his gaze is instantly hypnotic to the Crestless. He adores Flayn, as everyone should, and lives in one of the surrounding villages until Edelgard’s invasion.

Kyra - one of the youngest. She was never interested in humans nor in her divine siblings. After Sothis rebuilt the world, she spent an overwhelming majority of her life in her beast form - a giant snake - curled up in the desert. Above all else, she loves the sky, perhaps because of her lack of wings. She used her magic to modify wyverns into being domesticateble and more easy to tame and train. She made only slight changes to their bodies to allow humans to ride them more easily. Her original name, Xanael, was bastardized by time and legend in Almyra to “Shanal - the Wyvern Mother.”

She wakes from a dream about Sothis three months before the house leaders are attacked near Remire village. The dream made her want to check on what remained of her family and was convinced by Flayn to take the job of wyvern master at the monastery. She’s more traditionally young than Flayn in that she hasn’t spent many years living as a person. She lacks the sense of incredible age and wisdom that Flayn has and is much more convincingly a late teenager.

Students:

Estelle von LeMonte - the heir to a minor Adrestian noble. After her father died as a war hero in the fight against Dadga and Brigid, her mother is rewarded with the position of “Minister of Agriculture” which is little more than a special name and a pat on the head. However, her mother takes the position seriously and deals hands on with the Empire’s farmers. Estelle joined her on a majority of trips to these farms and is a skilled toolsmith and farmhand. Her default classes are: fighter, brigand, grappler - it’s recommended you recruit her early if you plan to make her a Holy Knight (suggested).

Vasili von Blaiddyd (Vasili Alexi Sokolov) - an identical twin to Terenti and distant relative of Dimitri’s. His immediate family became known as “von Blaiddyd” after Vasili was born with a major Crest of Blaiddyd. Completely unable to wield weapons without breaking them or his opponents, Vasili focuses on magic. A berserker since puberty, he spends all of his mental energy trying to remain calm and as a result, just goes along with whatever ridiculous, evil and/or hedonistic scheme his brother concocts.

Though he always blamed the berserking on his Crest - as his twin didn’t have the problem - he has this “confirmed” when he learns that DImitri shares his problem, albeit to a lesser extent. Being recruited on an Edelgard run leaves him out of control and suffering constant “black outs.” His best endings are when recruited on Golden Deer runs.

Lin von Sreng (Lǐn Baatar) - Crown Prince of Sreng, Lin comes to the officers’ academy as part of a diplomatic arrangement with Faerghus. Though she identifies as a woman, she insists that her proper title is Prince because “you don’t treat women properly in Fódlan.“ (In Chapter 12, her ambient dialogue regardless of house is “And so Edelgard is Emperor. And I was called pretentious for insisting on Prince.”

My headcanon of Sreng for her is a combination of “clan of clans” and the “you grow your hair in times of peace and cut it off and send it to someone to declare war” trope. Her people are primarily nomadic, moving with horse herds. Her parents considered alliance marriages to both Miklan Gautier (their primary antagonist) and Glenn Fraldarius (heir to the highest noble in Faerghus), but obviously Shit Went Down and eventually they settled on “We trust you not to kill her, if you trust her with her with your war training.”

#fe16 spoilers #feth spoilers #fire emblem three houses spoilers #feth oc #fe3h oc

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theofficersacademy · 4 years

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Days grow ever shorter as the cold deepens across Fodlan, sprinkling the first powders of hoarfrost from its icy hand. Roaring fires become the eye of every household, a halo of red to match that which cloaks the silhouettes of wolves under the growing moon, their distant howls striking fear into the hearts of shepherds in the dark.

At Garreg Mach monastery, a request has come in from the Goneril Valkyries for assistance in manning and repairing Fodlan’s Locket. An early snowstorm, coupled with the damage from Gricenchos two months prior, has caused no small trouble for Fodlan’s primary eastern fortress. A call goes out to the Golden Deer House:

Golden Deer Mission: Assist with Protection and Repairs of Fodlan’s Locket!

This season’s rotation belongs to the Golden Deer! As before, threads using tasks from the Golden Deer board must contain a Golden Deer character as a participant, but there are also non-mission tasks available to everyone without restrictions.

GD Mission Task Board

Ever since the incident with Gricenchos, already-fraught tensions between Fodlan and Almyra have run even higher. Captain Irina has seemed more stressed lately whenever Elam, head of Almyra’s border guard and Irina’s ‘friend’, appears at the Locket. It appears that, against her better judgment, he’s adamant about offering his help too, along with a couple of the friendlier Almyrans. Surprisingly though, the most immediate issue seems to be that the Almyrans’ wyverns won’t stop bullying the pegasi! Got any solutions?

Part of the Valkyries’ training is learning to maneuver their pegasi dauntlessly through arrow fire: a pegasus knight’s worst fear. However, with so many of the archers who usually assist them assigned to other duties or relocated throughout the Alliance, they’re short on hands. Anyone who has some experience with a bow and is willing to help with their flight drills or man a mock ballista would be a huge asset. [Grants Bow +1]

Just before the storm that devastated the Locket, a routine patrol came across an odd young man traveling alone in the northern region of the Throat. Something about him seemed strange, and he carried a sinister, bejeweled set of gauntlets made in striking Kupalan style. Even odder, he seemed to completely vanish before the patrol could bring him in. The snowstorm had come in from the north and completely unexpected, and rumors are spreading that he might have been the cause. Likely a snowstorm is just a snowstorm, but with all the unease, Irina is obliged to at least ask you to investigate. [Grants Gauntlet +1]

Distress calls have come in from some of the surrounding settlements as well: destroyed bridges, travel routes covered in snow, people who went missing in the storm. There’s no shortage of work to be done, but everyone is forbidden from going out without at least one partner. The Locket also has a team of search and rescue dogs for occasions like these that are trained to help, so take along one of those big fluffers with you!

Work never ends at the Locket, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t time for enjoyment, too. Late at night, when the howling winds of the Throat are at their loudest, the border guard sets up a bonfire in the fortress courtyard, passing out roast meat and warm drinks and sharing a song or two. The temperatures may be dropping faster in the mountains than almost anywhere else in Fodlan, but the view of the night sky is unimpeded: a moment of peace even in all the tumult.

NEW! As a new day dawns in Fódlan’s Throat, a caravan of supplies arrive in the Locket! Much of it is just what you need, but it seems like an extra treat has snuck its way into this new shipment: Dagdan chocolate! The soldiers stationed here are brimming with excitement: the story goes that hot cocoa warms your bones like nothing else, and given the winter they’ve been having they are all eager to try it. You better go see if it’s worth the buzz before they run out!

NEW! With this new shipment of supplies, it’s time to give them to villages in need! The horses and oxen have all been drafted and assigned to carry the heavy loads to the most remote villages. Where does that leave the closer villages, you ask? Well, surely even *you* know how to pull a sled across the snow, right? No more backtalk! Start hauling! [Grants +1 Heavy Armor]

Non-Mission Task Board

Local villages are sending a plea to the church for help: bolder than ever this year, wolf packs are terrorizing livestock, and one shepherd has already been killed trying to defend his herd at night. People have painted their doors with a bow and arrow: a tradition to invoke the protection of Indech who is said to have once defended villagers from the same threat. But the wolves prowl ever closer...

The annual Faculty and Knights Mixer takes place in the second week of the Red Wolf Moon! Now is the opportunity for students to get to know their teachers and the holy warriors who guard the Seiros faith. Rumor is that the dining hall brings out their best food for the occasion. Share a casual chat, or for the sneakier among us, get into someone’s good graces for those top marks. [Grants Authority +1]

There’s been talk of a particularly enormous canine stalking the outskirts of Garreg Mach, and several reports of this rare monster sighting have led the administration to decide to do something about it. Apparently, there’s someone who also claims that this massive wolf is guarding a collection of highly rare wootz steel in its den. The blacksmiths would love you if you could bring back some of it.

The 21st of the Red Wolf Moon marks the anniversary of the founding of the Kingdom, and the dining hall is serving foods from Faerghus to celebrate. Though not as lavish as the Alliance Founding Day fair, there are a few events going on around town too, among them jousting tournaments, horse races, and horse shows in the spirit of Faerghus’ most well known traditions. [Grants Lance or Riding +1]

A tragedy occurs not even five hours into the new moon. The statues of the blessed saints Macuil, Indech, Cichol, and Cethleann have been ruined! From head to toe they are dressed in the most hideous and gaudiest clothes that Fódlan has to offer. Each one has been found with a piece of parchment pinned onto their chests, bearing a strange symbol. Reports indicate that some of the students, particularly known members of the historical book club Pages of the Incunabula, have been seen wearing this same symbol on their chests. You better not join them! Protect the remaining statues from being defaced, and bring these evildoers to justice!

NEW! Who can concentrate on homework and assignments when the Ethereal Ball is just around the corner? There isn’t much time left before the event, and everyone is working their hardest to make sure this year’s ball lives up to its legacy! Whether it’s decorating the main hall, preparing the food, or cleaning up the rest of the monastery, help out with the preparations! Or grab a dance partner and get to practicing your steps!

NEW! If you thought too many people visited the monastery for the new year, just wait until you see how many people are willing to make the long journey for Garreg Mach’s founding day! While you can help the clergy manage the crowds, some of the priests are more concerned with assembling the perfect choir to sing all five songs for this lengthy service. If you have the pipes of an angel, why not go to tryouts this weekend? [Grants +1 Faith]

Frequently Asked Questions

How does the divided task board work?

This season’s mission is assigned to the Golden Deer. Therefore, tasks from the ‘GD Mission Task Board’ must be undertaken by someone from the Golden Deer House. However, they may choose to perform the task with someone who is not from their house. In logistical terms, this means that if you play a non-GD muse and want to do a mission task, you must ask someone who plays a GD muse to thread with you. All thread participants will still receive any skill point rewards.

Tasks from the ‘Non-Mission Task Board’ have no house restriction and can be undertaken by anyone.

These aren’t the only threads I can do, right?

Of course not! These are just prompts to help give some ideas of possibilities. You’re always free and encouraged to make up your own threads.

How do I claim the skill points?

In order to qualify for the skill point, the thread must clearly allude to the listed task and preferably feature the task being completed. You do not need to message the masterlist to claim your skill point.

Can I only do one task?

Nope, you can do as many as you’d like with as many different partners as you’d like! You can do the same task with more than one person. You are also free to combine tasks in your thread. However, you can only claim any skill points once, and one thread can only count for one skill point.

What if my partner leaves or drops a skill point thread?

If the dropped thread has at least 5 notes (not counting likes, only reblogs with replies in them) and you have hit at least 400 words on your end, you may still claim the skill point. The mun dropping the thread is not eligible to claim the point.

#toa mission #mission: sastrugi

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