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msbluebell · 5 years

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Dramatic Opera Adaptation

You’ve seen Disaster Wedding, now get ready for...Mittlefrank Opera Company’s production of the grand love story!

“Mittlefrank Opera Company Presents, the epic love story, Dance of The Fell Stars! An epic story of how his Highness King Dimitri Alexendre Blaiddyd fell in love with Byleth Eisner, the mysterious mercenary that would become a professor at Garreg Mach!”

Sylvain is the first to hear of this production. He doesn’t know how it happened so fast, or way, but it was enviable a play/opera would be written about the war. Still, he didn’t expect the Dimitri marrying teach to be the first rendition. He laughs all the way back home and immediately pins a letter to EVERYONE. He is GOING to see this show no matter what.

Dimitri dies a little on the inside when he sees the flyer Sylvain oh-so-helpfully included in the letter. He spends a good couple of minutes just staring at the wall, hoping this is a trick. It’s not, and Sylvain is going to see it. He’s doomed. He can already hear the mockery. Sylvain will NEVER let this go.

Dimitri is ready to throw the flyer into the fire and jump off the roof of his own castle just to avoid going to the play. It’s too late though, all the Blue Lions know. He can feel it. And something tells him this is just the beginning.

He is absolutely right. Everyone is planning to go. Everyone. “It’ll be fun!” Annette’s letter says, “I haven’t seen you all in a bit! We should meet up!”

“I’ve always wanted to see an Opera.” Mercedes concludes, “And maybe I’ll be in it!”

Ashe thinks it’s a wonderful reason to meet up, and he loves stories, and he’s interested to see what they get right. Felix doesn’t say it, but Dimitri knows he’ll go just so he can mock him. And, suddenly, everyone is class is going because Ingrid agrees she wants to meet up and see what they do too.

Dimitri could honestly die.

Byleth, of course, is curious. They’ve never actually been to an opera, besides knowing Manuela and Dorathea, which doesn’t really count. And they’re always willing to meet up with the Blue Lions for a reunion.

Dimitri knows he’s doomed before his beloved is even half way through the letter. Dedue, a sympathetic soul, pats him on the shoulder. Dimitri can only sigh mournfully and pin a letter to order reservations for the class.

...the turnout is worse than he feared...

The Opera Company made no secret of how excited they were that THE KING HIMSELF and his beloved were coming to see the production of their story with all their friends. Hundreds are here, maybe even thousands. And, oh no, is that the Golden Deer house? Please no. Oh Goddess, is that Claude? Dimitri thought he’d left Fodlan.

Oh Goddess, all their classmates are here and dressed in their best jewelry and clothes. Is that Ingrid wearing make-up? Is that ALOIS? Is Seteth here with Flayn? Oh no, everyone he knows is here. Why is Byleth’s Gatekeeper friend here? No, please, not you too Gustav, you and your wife are too reasonable to be here.

Alas, this isn’t a nightmare, everyone came to watch this.

The inside of the theater is packed (and oh dear goddess he killed Edelgard here), but he and Byleth are given the best seat in the house, and all his classmates/friends are given priority seats. He can see the stage perfectly. He isn’t going to miss anything. Dimitri despairs.

The show is more awful than he imagined.

It’s also terribly inaccurate while also sticking to an accurate timeline and getting some things waaaaaaay too close to home.

Manuela comes out wearing a green wig and Rhea’s old clothes and begins the thing. Dimitri lost any hope right then and there.

Somehow, Byleth is the child of both Jeralt and Rhea in a secret affair that he swears has someone weeping. There’s a tragic love song about being ripped apart by expectation, and Rhea being a mother forced to give up her lover and her child while Jeralt fakes his death and runs off. He SWEARS he hears Leonie crying.

He has to blank his mind during the evens of Duscar. But, luckily, after that things get right to him enrolling in school. But one the way he, Claude, and an obviously evil Edelgard meet Byleth. Dorathea (assuming she either defected or survived and has no bad feelings) comes out in her own costume playing Byleth, and it’s love at first sight, and somehow they’re already at their first love song? He’s so embarrassed.

Is Alois crying now? What?

Then there’s a whole plot about their tragic secret feelings because Byleth is his teacher, and he’s a student, and it’s forbidden, just like Jeralt and Rhea. By now Dimitri is starting to get a terrible feeling. Also, Jeralt and Rhea have a song about lost years gone by and not getting to see your child grow up that he swears gets a sniffle out of Seteth and Flayn.

Everything is so dramatic. Somehow Byleth has a lot of very dramatic lines, and so does he, and the scene where she’s blessed by the goddess is somehow so over the top that he has to blink dumbly at it, and Dorathea!Byleth gives a long speech about being holy, and why is she floating? Is...is she going to be suspended in air for that whole song? Why are all the other characters just staring dumbly?

They play up the forbidden love, and add several stolen kisses that never happened, and somehow they knew a little too much about the goddess tower. Oh, and they somehow knew about Claude being Byleth’s first dance at the ball and played that up as well, romantic rival. He swears he can hear Claude and Hilda giggling.

There’s a few conversations that seem like the actually happened, like when Byleth smiled, or...wait a moment...

He’s going to kill whatever traitor has spying on him and been feeding these people information. How do they even remember all of this? It doesn’t matter, they’re going to die. Or muck stables. Whichever he feels like by the time this show is over.

The scene where Garreg Mach is invaded gets horrifyingly accurate with his devastated reaction to Byleth’s seeming death. His character is frantically searching while fighting off soldiers, only to give a devastating cry and beat his fists into the ground when he realizes Byleth is gone. It’s...very close to what happened, and he hopes no one thinks that actually happened, but the sniffles around him say otherwise.

His character has a song about missing Byleth and how all the stars seem to dim without them.

Luckily, they skip the five years of war.

But that just means the reunion song is here.

It’s the most awful thing he’s ever heard. It’s...also pretty close to home. There are people crying, but still awful to watch such an over the top dramatic version of their reunion.

His character singing about feeling like a ghost unworthy of Byleth’s light, and how they haunt him, hits hard.

The rest of the play is so over the top it’s absurd, and there has to be ten more songs just between here and the epic climax with Edelgard. The whole theater must be weeping, and Dimitri wants to go home.

Unfortunately, as they’re finishing the love song, and the curtain is closing and the cast is bowing and he’s about to run away, the Opera Company spotlights him, drawing everyone’s attention. They thank him and Byleth and everyone else for coming, and hope they enjoyed it, and he’s so mortified, and people are clapping, and he’s so fucking embarrassed.

Claude and Sylvain waste NO time mocking him with over the top and sappy lines from the play. It’s totally the worst class reunion ever.

P.S. Claude and Annette were the traitors that both conspired to write the play with Manuela.

#fe3h #byleth eisner #Dimileth #dimitri alexandre blaiddyd #dimitri x byleth #sylvain jose gautier #Blue Lions #Blue Lion Route #claude von reigen #Manuela #Dramatic Opera Adaptation #disaster blue lions #Someone save them

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gamerphantom · 4 years

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Probably not something I’ll ever do anything with (because I’m bad at project management and this feels like a long piece) but I wanted to get it out there:

Using their Diving Pulse powers, Byleth keeps reliving their time at Garreg Mach and into the subsequent war as they try desperately to either stop the war or save everyone. After four cycles of fruitless attempts to avert catastrophe (one for each route lol), Sothis gets an idea. Clearly war was in motion long before the fateful meeting in Remire (the farthest back Byleth can push their Divine Pulse), and thus nothing they can do will stop it. However, Sothis has been awake for a while at this point (even if she keeps fusing and then being re-separated from Byleth) and feels like she can go back further than Byleth. So, she gives Byleth a kiss on the forehead and tells them to let her fix it for them, and proceeds to turn back time over twenty years.

What Sothis doesn’t account for is she’s still bound to her heart/crest stone, and so a wrench is thrown into her plans when she arrives in the past to find herself staring at a surprised Sitri. What commences is Sothis and Sitri’s Roadtrip To Save Fodlan, ft. Jeralt (who is a little freaked out about kidnapping Sitri from the monastery for some divine mission they can’t tell Rhea about because he still trusts Rhea at this point, but he’s weak to Sitri’s will) (Addendum: Sothis came dangerously close to fading completely in the CF run so her memories are a little spotty for the end of that one, but she Does remember Rhea going batshit, and she also remembers Rhea treating Byleth especially weirdly in the church route and thinks it’s probably wise to not let her daughter know she’s awake and aware just yet. It does not occur to her that Rhea will freak out just as bad to realize Sothis’ crest stone Sitri has gone missing but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯)

Although somewhat hampered by Sitri’s weak constitution (bolstered by Sothis but not fixed completely) and later Knights of Seiros frantically looking for them, they and any allies they manage to make (I imagine at least a young Alois shows up and instead of turning them in he’s like, “Captain! Lady Sitri! You forgot to tell me we were going on a trip! =DDD” bc sure he’s a Knight but he’s Jeralt’s SIC first. Maybe Aelfric too since he hasn’t been twisted by his grief yet. Probably at least one person from the Empire, Alliance and Kingdom. I’m nominating Tiana von Riegan bc Sitri deserves female friends and I feel like Claude got his obsessive curiously and devil-may-care attitude from her so obviously she would be down to investigate the dark secrets of Fodlan. Not sure about the Kingdom or Empire representative. Lambert would already be king at this point and Gilbert/Gustav and Rodrigue are too loyal to go off on a boondoggle. Maybe Rufus, who isn’t acting as regent yet and thus has no obligations, and also since he’s a blank slate of a character except for his apparent womanizing and I like to imagine he’s what Sylvain would be like he was depressed about not having a crest instead of having one. Or maybe Cornelia: she hasn’t been bodysnatched yet and was apparently a lovely person before TWSITD replaced her. As for the Empire, Patricia would be a little young at this point. I’m guessing she’d still be an academy student or even younger since that was when she met Ionius and I’m not sure how long after that she had Edelgard but I imagine it was less than six to seven years. Ionius himself is out for the same reason Lambert is and... frankly all of the named Empire nobles we have aside from them are terrible people. Maaaaaybe a pre-bodysnatched Arundel? I suppose Hanneman and Manuela would both still be associated with the Empire at this point, too, although I imagine Manuela would just be starting her Opera career. Maybe they can bribe Hanneman with research on Sitri’s Crest of Flames (which she has because why wouldn’t she with Sothis there?).)

Anyway I’m a little vague on the middle parts but suffice to say Sothis accomplishes her goal to put down TWSITD and clean up any loose ends that would come back to bite Byleth twenty-odd years in the future. And at some point has a long-overdue talk with Rhea. ‘Cause what the hell, Rhea? But, in that time she’s become incredibly attached to Sitri, and doesn’t want her to die giving birth to Byleth. So, Sothis chooses to make one last sacrifice for Byleth’s happiness and does what she has four times before merges with Sitri (and I don’t care if this is impossible because it’s my AU and I get to make the rules). In the epilogue, Byleth is born safe and healthy and alive, and most importantly unburdened by the fate and responsibilities that weighed them down the first time (first four times?) around. Also I like to imagine Byleth maybe can’t see Sothis, but they can still hear her. And because I want Byleth to still wield the SotC, maybe they don’t have her crest stone in their chest, but the working heart they got thanks to Sothis’ interference is enough to at least get SotC up to its regular form, if not Sublime.

But anyway the fic ends with Byleth meeting the three House Leaders not as a professor, but as a student who isn’t affiliated with any of the nations and thus gets to choose which house to join. The fic ends before Byleth makes their choice, but with the implications that regardless of what choice they make, they have a better, more peaceful future waiting for them.

#fe #fe3h #fe16 #fan fiction #fanfic inspo #fanfic #maybe one day i will feel motivated enough to actually do something with this plot #but thats pretty unlikely so if someone’s inspired please have fun #just link me so i can read it

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yuuchre-moved · 5 years

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Love Me in Spite

Sylvain x Felix (Fire Emblem Three Houses)

Summary: With the Garreg Mach Ball fast approaching and all the girls at the monastery giving him the cold shoulder, Sylvain realizes that he's going to have to get creative if he wants to maintain his dignity and snag a date for the occasion. Enter Felix: hostile, unamused, and utterly confused, he's somehow dragged into becoming Sylvain's fake boyfriend for the better part of a month. During their time together, the two might just learn to separate love from lies and turn hopes they didn't know they had into realities.

Ao3 Link

chapter one under the cut

“Hey, pretty lady. Want to go to the ball with me?” Sylvain smiled, silently praying that the girl he’d approached at one of the courtyard tables would accept and he could finally stop this day-long activity of begging girls to go out with him. Ever since he’d cut ties with a disgruntled caramel-haired girl, he’d been hearing snippets of rumours about himself and suspected that she was the one who’d started them as revenge.

Some of the stories were, unfortunately, true—damn Ingrid for yelling about that incident where he hit on her grandmother they were kids—and others were wild, unflattering exaggerations that caused girls to stare and giggle at him when he walked by. It seemed the entire female population was against him, and he looked like a moron for bragging that he was going to bring the cutest girl in the school to the ball to everyone he came across. It was terrible—every girl he turned to rejected him, usually while laughing or glaring at him.

His grin slipped for a moment when she rolled her eyes and giggled. “Uh, no thanks. Aren’t you into older women, anyway? Much, much older?”

Sylvain had to actively sustain his smile to keep his disappointment from showing. “That’s just a dumb rumour.” He gestured to the whole table and amped up his smile. “Come on, don't one of you ladies want to be the lucky girl on my arm at the Garreg Mach Ball? Anyone up for it?”

The table of girls exchanged glances. He knew he’d screwed up again when the first girl cleared her throat. “Did you really just ask my friends out just seconds after I rejected you? Really? People really are right when they call you desperate.”

“Well, I see you ladies aren’t interested. But know that I’ll be waiting if you change your mind.” He made eye contact with each of them and winked before he turned away, only then allowing his face to fall.

This sucked. He’d asked over two dozen girls around the monastery to the ball, but it seemed that his reputation had been tarnished because not a single one accepted. There was some hardcore girl teamwork going on here, which would’ve been impressive if it wasn’t working against him to make his life miserable. Showing up without a date wasn’t an option, especially after all that bragging he’d done. He’d look pathetic. There was hardly a point in going if he didn’t have someone with him, but who would still be willing at this point?

As climbed the stairs leading to his room, he was suddenly struck with an idea. Maybe it was true that no one wanted to date him, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t ask someone to pretend to be his date. If he could beg or bribe a girl to pose as his girlfriend, he’d keep his dignity and maybe even eliminate some of those weird rumours floating around. All he needed was a girl to agree to the plan.

Sylvain ran back down the hall until he reached Ingrid’s room. He knocked rapidly, mentally filing through all the tactics he knew to girls over. When Ingrid opened the door and saw who was standing there, her expression soured.

"Sylvain. What a pleasure. What do I have to get you out of now?" she asked flatly.

"I have a huge favour to ask. Will you pretend to date me so I can act like we're going to the ball together?"

Ingrid's eyes went wide. "Excuse me? Date you? No thanks. Anyway, were you not aware that I’m already going to the ball with Mercedes?"

She tried to shut the door, but Sylvain stuck his foot inside before she could. "Really? Sorry, I didn’t know. Do you happen to know anyone who would be willing to fake being my date so I don’t get laughed at the entire night of the ball?"

"No. Solve your own problems, Sylvain. You’re going to end up hurting someone if you play with people’s feelings like that."

“Not if I find the right girl for the job. Which I really need help with…” He frowned and gave Ingrid his best puppy dog eyes.

“Oh look! There’s Felix. Go bother him instead of me.” Ingrid crushed his foot with the door until he drew it back and shut the door on him.

"The hell was that about?"

Sylvain turned around to see Felix staring at him, a hand on his hip and familiar annoyance glinting in his eyes.

And suddenly, Sylvain had an option he hadn’t considered before. He smiled and shook his head. “You’ll find out soon enough.”

"Whatever." Felix stared at him for a moment, then frowned and brushed past him as if it wasn’t worth his time.

Sylvain let his gaze drift after him as he disappeared into the stairwell, wondering if he’d actually be able to pull this plan off. Sure, things might get a little weird, but it would be worth it in the end. It might just be ridiculous enough to work.

✿ ✿ ✿

Sylvain strutted into the dining hall, a bouquet of anemone clutched in one hand and a grin plastered on his face. Nervousness had crept under his skin in the time before dinner, sowing tiny seeds of doubt in his mind and telling him that maybe this was a completely idiotic and terrible idea and he should turn around before he did something he'd regret. But he took a deep breath and shook his head, shoving those thoughts away for now.

"Felix!"

As Felix turned around in his seat at the dining table, Sylvain leaned down and pressed a quick kiss to his cheek. Felix recoiled, eyes wide and lips slightly parted, but Sylvain handed him the bouquet and started to talk before he could say anything.

"Tomorrow, let's do something together. I know a great place in town where we can have lunch, or I can just watch you train if you want. Hit me up, babe." He winked and leaned in, his lips brushing against the curve of Felix’s ear as he whispered, “Sorry. I’ll explain later.” He leaned back and turned without waiting for an answer, ignoring the whispers and stares he'd attracted from people at various tables as he left the room.

The air was cool on his skin as he made his way through the courtyard, but it did nothing to quell his growing embarrassment. This felt weirder than he’d expected. Much weirder. He didn’t think it would be easy, of course, but still… that look on Felix’s face after the kiss… Sylvain pressed his lips together, suppressing a sigh. It had to be done. All would be well after this plan played out. Felix wasn’t his first choice in this scenario, but he didn’t really have any other options. Sylvain had known him for years, so it wasn’t like their ‘relationship’ would be totally out of the blue. Maybe pretending to date a guy would even turn out to be a fun change. It would be a learning experience, at the very least. And it wasn’t like this was a permanent arrangement. Things would be fine.

All that was left to do was explain the plan to Felix and beg him to agree, the latter of which much easier said than done. He’d probably have to do a lot of grovelling and pleading, but he was pretty sure that he could get Felix to say yes somehow. And he’d be sure to make it up to him—he could find a gift in town or buy him a meal or two sometime.

For now, Sylvain retreated to his room, too ashamed to go back to the dining hall for dinner. Hopefully, things would look brighter in the morning.

✿ ✿ ✿

The first thing Sylvain thought when he woke up was how glad he was that it was Saturday. The second thing he thought was oh shit.

He'd actually done that, huh? Sashayed up to Felix and kissed his cheek, given him flowers, the whole shebang. Felix was going to be so pissed. Sylvain hoped he wouldn’t be angry enough to refuse even considering faking a relationship with him.

He rolled out of bed and got dressed, last night’s doubts evaporating in the air of a new day. He had nothing to worry about—he was just going out with one more person, and not even for real. So there were obviously no problems. It would be over soon enough.

Though, it occurred to him that if he wanted people to believe that he was interested in Felix for now, he probably shouldn't be flirting with girls like he usually did. He wouldn't be taken seriously if he split his attention like that. So as much as it pained him, he supposed he had to try and resist.

When he opened his door, something caught in the bottom from the outside. He stepped out and laughed aloud when he saw a bouquet of abused and dying flowers lying on the ground, the same ones he’d given Felix yesterday. He picked them up and gently removed the paper bound to the stems by the ribbon.

Fuck off was all it said, in Felix's delicate handwriting that never failed to surprise him no matter how often he saw it. He didn’t seem the type to have such charming penmanship with that hostile demeanour of his.

"No can do," Sylvain said in response to the note as he ducked into his room for a moment to toss the flowers in the trash. He chuckled again and started to make his way to the dining hall, relishing the idea of a meal after going to bed hungry.

He almost sprinted to the dining hall and pushed open the door with a relieved sigh, looking around and letting out a little breath of relief when he didn't see Felix. Curious glances seemed to follow him as he got his breakfast, but he pretended not to notice. He took his seat and smiled at Annette and Mercedes across the table, about to compliment them before he remembered his promise to himself not to flirt with girls. It wasn’t like they’d respond well, anyway… plus, Mercedes was taken already. It just wasn’t his day.

"Hey. Have you girls seen Felix today, by any chance?"

Annette glanced worriedly at her friend before responding. "Not today, no. Um, not that it's any of my business, but—"

"Annie! You shouldn't," Mercedes scolded, glancing between her and Sylvain, eyebrows furrowed.

"I just want to know what's going on between him and Felix! You have to admit that incident last night was kind of… unexpected."

Sylvain chuckled and waved his hand dismissively. "It's fine, I get it. I guess the feeling sort of snuck up on me, you know? With the ball coming up, I realized that he's the one I want to go with. As much of a shocker for me as it probably is for everyone else."

The girls exchanged a glance, their expressions unsure.

"So you aren't trying to trick everyone? And you’re not getting desperate because you can’t find a girl who wants to go with you?" Mercedes was playing with the ribbon in her hair, her eyes worried.

"Yeah, I thought maybe you were just messing with Felix or leading him on or something. Sorry, I guess it was kind of mean to assume that, but we couldn’t figure out why you suddenly showed so much interest in him."

Well, this was certainly less than a positive interaction. Sylvain hadn't expected to be accused like that, especially not by two of the nicest people in the class. Yeah, it might seem a little strange that he came onto Felix so suddenly, but it wasn’t the weirdest thing to ever happen at the monastery by a long shot.

"Come on, I’m not that horrible," he said, trying to keep his tone light and teasing. Were the girls were worried about him or worried about what they thought he was capable of? He couldn't think of anything to follow up with after a few moments, so he distanced himself by picking at his food and trying to keep his smile from slipping.

✿ ✿ ✿

"Felix, baby!"

As Sylvain approached from behind him, Felix visibly stiffened. He dropped his mock sword and spun around, storming up to him with such a dark expression that Sylvain stopped in his tracks and was tempted to back up. Well, at least Dimitri and Dedue were right across the grounds, right there if he needed someone to save him from Felix’s wrath.

"You!" Felix grabbed Sylvain's collar and jerked his head down so their eyes were level. Yeah, he might just need that backup. "You jackass. What the hell was that in the dining hall? What were you trying to accomplish by making me look like a fool?"

His amber eyes burned with fiery anger as he searched Sylvain's face, lips drawn tight as he waited.

"Look, I’m really sorry about that. The thing is…” He glanced up to make sure no one was eavesdropping. “I need a favour.”

“No.”

"Felix, my sweet." Sylvain lifted one of Felix’s hands and kissed his knuckles, causing him to rip both his hands away and hold them stiffly at his side. "You’re my only hope. I haven’t even told you what the favour is."

“I don’t want to hear it. My answer is no.”

“Just hear me out. I need you to pretend to be my boyfriend and go to the ball with me so I can win back the hearts of all the misguided girls of this school.”

Felix’s face went through half a dozen indistinguishable expressions before he settled on one with narrowed eyes and a tight jaw. “Are you joking?”

“I’m being completely serious. I need your help.”

“I don’t even know where to start with that. How—why me? What the ever-loving fuck possessed you to think asking me that would end well?”

Sylvain realized that maybe it was in his best interest to leave out the part where Felix was essentially his last resort. “Because I trust you, Felix. I’m scared to ask anyone else because they’ll laugh in my face, and I can’t take any more of that. I know that even though you might want to punch me or strangle me for asking, you won’t laugh. Not like them.” Slightly dramatized, but true nonetheless.

Felix stared at him for a long moment, his face going almost blank aside from the way he dropped his gaze for the briefest moment, giving away his uncertainty.

“Well, I don’t trust you. Leave me alone.”

He still sounded just as angry, but Sylvain could tell by his slip that there was a tiny crack in his foundation. All he had to do was find a way to keep breaking that down. “Come on, you’re not scared, are you? Think of it as a little competition—or, hey, I’ll pay you back. I’ll scout out the market every weekend, looking for merchants selling swords you’re interested in—anything you want.”

“I’m not going to be bribed like that.”

Wrong tactic. “Think of it as payment for doing me a favour. Please help me out? Hey, this way, you won’t have to deal with people bothering you to go with them to the ball because you’ll be taken.”

Felix stared sceptically at him, silent.

“By the Goddess—Felix, please. I’m begging you to do this one thing for me. I can’t bear the idea of going to the ball alone. Please go with me.” Sylvain bit his lip, holding his gaze and trying to plead with just his eyes.

Felix groaned and rolled his eyes. “I despise you. How long would I have to do it?”

Sylvain tried not to break into a relieved laugh. “Only about three weeks, until the ball—then we can stage a break-up and the girls will flock to comfort me.”

“I don’t think I’m going to be able to stand this. Don’t forget about buying me that sword. I deserve compensation for going through with this idiocy.”

“Of course. Now, let’s do this for real.” Sylvain got down on one knee and smiled up at him. “Will you go to the ball with me, Felix Hugo Fraldarius?”

“What are you—yes, I will, now get up! You’re going to attract unwanted attention. I’m regretting this already, stupid bastard.”

Sylvain jumped to his feet and took Felix’s hands in his. “Thank you.”

Felix stared at him for a long moment before tugging his hands away and shoving them in his pockets. “Yeah, whatever. Now can I finally get back to my training?”

Sylvain smirked. “Only if I’m allowed to stay and watch, babe.”

✿ ✿ ✿

Felix's head spun as he made his way up to his room after a day of rage-fueled training, feeling hot all over in the worst way. He couldn't believe Sylvain—what kind of horrible, oblivious, insensitive asshole did someone have to be to act like that? Felix shouldn’t have said yes. That, he could admit, was a huge mistake on his part, but Sylvain had been looking at him with those soft, pleading eyes and he’d lost it. How was he supposed to say no? Stupid fucking Sylvain.

The night before, when Sylvain had embarrassed him in the dining hall, Felix had wondered for just a moment what it would be like if Sylvain actually did have feelings for him—but he knew better than to dwell on such ludicrous thoughts. He knew there had been something fishy about that dinner scene and now his suspicions had been confirmed. Sylvain was just using him to get girls. It was just as he expected, which should have made him relieved and glad. So why… why did he feel so crushed by the realization?

He tried to push the thought away but kept coming back to it, unable to face the feelings blossoming in his chest but also unable to ignore them. Okay, so he could admit that he felt a pinprick of hurt because Sylvain expected him to act like he was in love with him just to win back some girls. Honestly, did he even consider for one second how Felix felt? How badly it would hurt when Sylvain inevitably dropped him for a girl? Then again, why should he consider them? Felix knew Sylvain had never felt like he had to consider if Felix liked him or not. The unknown part of the equation was how Felix himself felt.

He was no fool. He saw the pesky signs: how his chest felt tight every time he saw Sylvain flirting with a girl, how his heart jumped whenever he gave Felix that caring, knockout smile of his, the one that appeared when he dropped his playboy front, and even how some nights his mind refused to let him sleep, instead keeping him up and sickening him as his thoughts orbited around one stupid redhead that refused to leave his mind. It wasn’t a new feeling. He’d been acquainted with it for years, at this point. But he’d never had a reason to address it until that dumbass opened the floodgates with a bouquet of flowers and a kiss on the cheek.

By the Goddess—he took it back, he really was a fool. He didn’t have time or energy for this ridiculousness. He felt… something for Sylvain. Unfortunately. But it wasn't like it mattered. It would never go anywhere—as if he would ever choose Felix over the dozens of girls lined up in front of him. It wasn't worth thinking about.

Felix fell back onto his bed as soon as he entered the room, his head aching. This was fine. In three weeks, he’d confirm that he couldn’t stand dating Sylvain and things would go back to normal. Just like he wanted.

✿ ✿ ✿

See you at breakfast, buttercup. p.s. I'll clean up the petals so don't freak out too much :)

Sylvain’s note ricocheted in Felix's mind even though he'd trashed it right after he read it. He almost couldn't believe Sylvain would decide to sneak into his room while he was sleeping and scatter snow-white rose petals over literally every open surface. The only thing that kept him from strangling the idiot was the fact that he promised to clean it up, though his room would probably still smell like perfume for a day or two. And Felix wasn't sure he wanted him traipsing around his room unsupervised. Again. He grimaced at the thought of Sylvain being in his room when he was asleep and defenceless. Yes, they were supposed to act like they were dating, but this was going too far. No one was going to see the petals, so it wasn’t like they were cementing the lie. He probably just did it to get on Felix’s nerves.

As he angrily pushed his breakfast around on his plate, someone touched the back of Felix's neck and, to his horror, planted a kiss on his cheek.

"Don't do that!" he spat, whipping his head around to shoot Sylvain an unamused glare.

Sylvain gave him a relaxed grin and slid his hand under Felix's chin, pushing it up a bit and running his thumb along the skin just below his bottom lip. Felix felt his face heat up almost immediately, suddenly finding it hard to look Sylvain in the eye.

"Get off." He swatted his hand away and turned back to his food, ignoring the looks he was getting from the other students at the table. "Don't touch me."

"You're cute when you're mad. Hey, what did you think of the rose petals? And do you always keep your room unlocked, or were you just expecting me?" Sylvain took the seat beside him and bumped him with his elbow.

Felix lowered his voice to a low hiss. "No, I was just distracted and forgot to lock it. What you did was completely unnecessary. Honestly, what were you thinking? Let’s just keep it to mildly affectionate public interactions, okay? Don’t cover my damn room in flowers again, dumbass."

Sylvain whistled and raised his eyebrows. "Not a fan of roses, then? I was just trying to set the mood. White flowers are a good look for you, though. They give you a splash of purity, you know? Innocence. It’s almost cute.” He cleared his throat and gave a short laugh, like he was nervous. “What's your favourite flower?"

“Don’t ignore me when I talk to you.”

“Don’t ignore me when I ask you a question. But fine, I’ll find other ways to show you my affection. He reached out to touch his face again, but Felix shoved his hand away.

"Stop that." He shifted uncomfortably and looked down at his plate. He couldn’t do this. He really couldn’t do this. His chest was tight as he took a deep breath, fingers clenched tight around his fork.

“Felix.” He looked over at Sylvain, then down at his hand as the fork was gently eased out of hand and placed on the plate. Sylvain placed his hand over Felix’s and rubbed his knuckles with his thumb. “You know, you don’t… you don’t have to do this. Don’t force yourself.”

Felix squeezed his hand, hesitantly looking up. And there it was: that soft, exposed smile that he could lose himself in if he stared for too long. The smile he both hated and cherished. He blinked and shook his head. “I keep my promises.”

#fire emblem three houses #fe3h #fe16 #felix x sylvain #sylvix #felvain #felix hugo fraldarius #sylvain jose gautier #fake dating #writing #fanfiction #bell writes

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ichigo777666 · 4 years

Text

FE3H Character Impressions

Just my thoughts as I’m playing through. I’m including 4 sections for each - first impressions, impression at end of WC, first PTS impression, ending impression. (BE route will have more than 4). Characters for the PTS are ONLY for their ending routes, since that’s where they main. Will updates as I progress. Spoilers ahead, obviously.

**These are listed in the order of paths I played them in with exception to CF (which was my 4th) which is added in under BE. I actually wrote this all down in a notebook and am slowly typing it in here when I have time, so INC for now**

Black Eagles (due to this being a branching path, this is going to have 5 sections)

Edelgard

FI: I like this sassy lady. Obviously the best choice. C1E: Okay, Edel...just wow. You became so much cooler! PTS: Um the hair is...no. But hey, you didn’t kill Byleth! END-SS: No, my Edels.....WHY IS THERE NO SPARE OPTION?! END-CF: My Edels :) I like her in CF - it’s power child Edel! This is the only route where your “leader” is actually a leader.

Hubert FI: Creepy, one half of a hidden face. Betting on this guy being EVIL! C1E: Well I did call it. I still like him tho. PTS: So, they decided to go with the whole “vampire” aesthetic I see. I can’t decide whether I love it or I hate it... END-SS: Uh, well he showed up what, twice? Not much to judge here... END-CF: Loyal Hubert. I grew to like him a bit....

Ferdinand FI: He’s kind of annoying. But hey, at least they picked a good color orange for his hair. C1E: Um...well...did he actually change? No, no. PTS: I’m not sure I like the long hair. His voice though...it seems to suit him better now. END-SS: I liked using him in combat but not as an actual character. END-CF: Doesn’t seem much different than in SS....

Lindhardt FI: Okay, so you’re the unmotivated lazy character, Got it. C1E: Well, there’s actually something interesting about him! Yay. PTS: No, the outfit. Just no. The hair, yes - the clothes, no! END-SS: You kinda removed his laziness and sleepiness...WHY?! END-CF: No real change from SS.

Caspar FI: Loud, short, obnoxious battle nerd. C1E: Alright, I can kinda get him. I can sorta understand why he’s like this. PTS: Armor...no. And why didn’t you change his hair at all...feels lazy. END-SS: And he’s basically the same but older and a bit more mature. Okay. END-CF: No real change from SS.

Bernadetta FI: Aw, she’s a scaredy-cat. I’m intrigued. C1E: I get it. I wanna HURT whoever hurt her. PTS: Bernie’s gotten a glam up! The pouch is a good added detail. END-SS: I like that she grew a little and got some confidence. Good for you Bernie! END-CF: No real change from SS.

Dorothea FI: Okay, so she’s the pretty one? Got it. C1E: Okay, so she’s the pretty one who’s concerned about her future....okay, I can understand. PTS: The BEST PTS outfit from the BE crew (and possibly from all of FE3H). I want this... END-SS: She’s the only one who seems to have ANY regrets about turning on Edel....and for that, she’s got respect. END-CF: Aw, best friends with Edie forever!

Petra FI: The foreigner who can’t talk well. Okay, she’s adorable and tough. C1E: I really like Petra! My she-beast Amazon! PTS: Okay, she went totally exotic - is this Brigid style? I like! END-SS: So, she’s leaving. uwu END-CF: No real change from SS.

Jeritza (yeah, he’s going here...) FI: Quiet and mysterious guy who wears a mask. Yeah he’s not suspicious at all! Also adding to that is the fact he’s the only other character besides Jeralt who you cannot have support conversations with so...hmmmm..... C1E: Okay, serial killer vibes... PTS: They just removed his mask...in combat his outfit is great...but yeah... END-CF: Okay, I can kinda get it but...he’s so flat. I get that it’s his thing but....just no.

~~~~~~

Church of Seiros I (Basic grouping for all the faculty + knights. Endings will be for the ones they’re most impactful in)

Rhea FI: Okay, so we’re supposed to be suspicious of her, right? I kinda like her even though I know she’s not being honest with us... C1E: Okay, wow...yeah....cool! END-SS: Well, that went from 0 to 100 real fast. Anyone wanna explain WHY?! *END-CF:

Jeralt FI: Dad maybe? Is it odd I’m questioning this? C1E: Okay...so, yeah that happened. Wow. ...I didn’t know where to stick him, so...here ya go!

Catherine FI: Strong female knight character? We’re getting to play with a girl knight before a boy?! WTG FE! C1E: I really like her dedication. PTS: So, no change huh? *sighs* END-SS: Aw, I like how she got all emotional!

Shamir FI: Okay...cool girl. That one strand of hair tho... C1E: Alright, so she’s cold for a reason. I’m curious. PTS: And another no change huh. *sighs* END-SS: So, she’s a bit more friendly, eh....

Cyril FI: Is this kid really necessary for this game? Just no... C1E: Well his stats are okay but I don’t think so.... PTS: Okay, he grew up. He’s still annoying. END-SS: Yeah, just no.

Seteth FI: Sexy green-haired mysterious distrustful priest dude? AKA the only PERSON WITH LOGIC for the first few chapters. I like this :) C1E: What do you MEAN I can’t take you with me?! NO! PTS: No change...but I really loved your original design, so yay! END-SS: My dragon daddy! :) Best character EVER! And he feels so right as the one planning and leading everything.

Flayn FI: She’s small and green and kind of adorable! I sense an interesting dynamic at play! C1E: So...this explains her odd relationship with Seteth. But still, I must protect the bean! PTS: Well if Seteth didn’t change, I wouldn’t expect Flayn to either. END-SS: Aw, cute! I really don’t get why people hate Flayn - she just wants everyone to get along!

Gilbert FI: Brooding...and bland C1E: alright, so regrets over abandonment and self flagellation... PTS: you couldn’t even add a few more gray strands? really? END-AS: Boring much?

Alois FI: Oh boy...hes going to be loud, huh? C1E: do I have to recruit him? how many more dumb jokes do you have?! PTS: yeah, same outfit....why do the older characters just get NO changes... END-AS: Well he’s still Alois..

Hannerman FI: a scholarly type huh? let's see if he's interesting. C1E: a word comes to mind: obsessed. yup, obsessed. PTS: a suit during war? really? really! END-?: So more crests basically....*sigh*

Manuela FI: I really hope her only quality isn't "i'm sexy" C1E: okay, so she's an ex diva struggling to find love who turns to alcohol...might be the most realistic character.... PTS: would she really be wearing this same outfit during a war? END-?: Is it wrong that I laughed here?

~~~~~~~~~~

Blue Lions

Dimitri FI: Pretty boy prince character. I don’t really like you. And the haircut with the long bangs over your eyes drives me INSANE! C1E: Okay, so he’s a psychopath. no wonder I didn’t like him. PTS: uh...just no. also are you going to remain in this brooding i’m-angsty-but-a-murderer mood for the rest of the game? END-AS: I cannot bring myself to like Dimitri...I cannot. Jeez, it honestly feels like someone tried to ft a whole bunch of tropes into one cohesive character and failed massively.

Dedue FI: Okay, so you’re a foreigner and people hate your people and you’re used to it. The obsession over Dimitri is weirdly off-putting. C1E: eh....you really don’t have much of a personality do you? PTS: ...so you added scars and gave him armor...wow...also, you tried to fool us with the whole ‘he’s dead’ thing and yet HE HAS AN A RANK SUPPORT with Byleth that you cannot unlock pre-skip and Dedue is non recruit-able...so yeah, no. END-AS: Let’s face it, Dedue’s going to be doing Dimitri’s work every time Dimitri goes all angsty....I feel sorry for him

Ashe FI: Ah, he’s cute and shy and innocent and helpful. Why do I feel like they’re going to exploit this? C1E: ...poor kid, really. PTS: okay, so he looks better. kinda nice actually. END-AS: Eh....I feel like he has little personality now...

Sylvain FI: I...actually like him! I was expecting to not like him but hey, this might be my favorite BL dude! C1E: Okay, calling it now - favorite BL character unless something major changes, PTS: Well they could have done more, but it’s not terrible. END-AS: Okay, so he’s cool. I was right - this is my favorite BL dude!

Felix FI: Grumbly weapon boy. He’s got to have so major character development...please? C1E: Okay, so he’s an ignored child who’s got a dead brother. I can get it. PTS: Did they make his hair wilder? END-AS: Oh Felix. He’s alone now and I honestly think that might be for the best with him...

Mercedes FI: Her voice doesn’t seem to fit her character as well as some of the others. I do not understand her shirt. C1E: Um...she’s not really a standout. PTS: Okay, I liked the outfit: the hat, the veil, the dress. I’m ehhh....on the short hair... END-AS: Mercedes with confidence?! Okay, yes!

Annette FI: I kinda hate her and love her. Squeaky high pitched mage who’s also a walking disaster - she’s toeing the line. C1E: please no more singing....please. That maybe from before is leaning drastically towards the ‘hate’ PTS: wtf is this outfit? what’s with that blue tab thing on her butt?! END-AS: Please no more. Please no more....just take her away

Ingrid FI: A much better written female knight character! She reminds me a bit of Ferdinand...but better! C1E: she’s cool really. please don’t ruin her... PTS: Okay, outfit is a +. way to give her a nice looking knight outfit but feminine! END-AS: I like Ingrid, I like Ingrid a lot. Best BL girl.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Golden Deer

Claude FI: Okay, so he’s the “schemer/rogue” character eh? Let’s see if they do this well.. C1E: Okay, so he’s got some depth. Good for you. PTS: Oh no - why is the outfit slightly metallic looking? That bothers me sooo much. END-VW: Alright so he’s got big dreams...also why is he in the ending picturegram if Byleth is going to be king/queen?

Lorenz FI: What is with the hair....oh no.... C1E: I actually kind of like you...huh... PTS: OKAY, HOTNESS. BEST GD PTS MAKEOVER! Yes, yes, yes - please give me! END-VW: I like Lorenz’s character development arc!

Raphael FI: Big burly guy with muscles....okay. Bet they make him kinda dumb too... Will there be any character at all? C1E: It’s as I suspected... PTS: Okay well...it’s a change...but not too much. The outfit is weird. END-VW: And Raphael is still basically the same...

Ignatz FI: Uh....okay, so this is the house of the weird haircuts. What’s with his eye color? Nerd? C1E: Alright so he’s indecisive and troubled about choosing his path vs the path his parents want for him...okay PTS: Oh TFG the hair is fixed! At least his outfit has personality! END-VW: Yo do you, boy!

Lysithia FI: Okay she’s kinda cute. She’s spunky too! Why do I have the feeling there’s something awful hiding here? C1E: I’m intriqued. I want to know more. PTS: Okay, nice outfit! Good design there. END-VW: POOR BABY!!! Someone save the girl!

Hilda FI: So, her thing is that she’s a spoiled brat? And lazy. Gotcha. C1E: I don’t know whether I hate her or I like her.... PTS: Um....what’s with the sleeves? All I can see is weird clown outfit... END-VW: So is Hilda this route’s advisor? Why did they use her and not Judith?!

Marianne FI: Aw...she’s so cute and shy and her hair is messy. Please don’t ruin her.. C1E: Okay so there is a reason she’s like this...give me more! PTS: Yes, a good design! She looks so much better! END-VW: I’m glad to see she slowly evolved. Good character.

Leonie FI: Is every conversation going to involve Jeralt? It is, isn’t it? *sigh* I might have found my least favorite character.... C1E: Can I not take her back PTS? Can we just forget she exists? PTS: Okay...so she’s dressing like Jeralt...nope. END-VW: And I don’t care. You’re the winner of my worst FE3H character Leonie!

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langwrites · 5 years

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Lang Plays Fire Emblem: Three Houses

So a while ago I said I was planning on playing the story routes in this order: Blue Lions, Black Eagles, Church of Seiros, and then Golden Deer.

The Golden Deer made a liar out of me.

So, here’s an approximation of What Happened During Verdant Wind.

So many spoilers below the cut, you guys. I do a lot of route comparisons.

Okay, I’ve been staring at the “which house do you want” selection screen for an embarrassing amount of time.

This shouldn’t be hard. I had a plan.

But no.

I clicked the Golden Deer, just like that. What the fuck, Claude. I blame you.

Immediately upon talking to this rop of students again, I can feel the difference in the social group from what the Lions were like. The latter were really a bunch of noble kids around their prince, and they felt really tight-knit. Classic Fire Emblem starter crew.

The Golden Deer is the fucking Scooby Gang.

First impressions of individuals:

Raphael, thank goodness, is the one character who absolutely has his shit in order. Sure, he’s bad at book work and thinks everything comes down to MUSCLES, but all of his emotional issues are handled by the time he arrives at Garreg Mach. He’s the brightest of sunshines.

Ignatz needs some more confidence in his art, and also I want to see his painting of Seiros. Now, if only both of his offensive stats and growths weren’t incredibly bad.

I was so close to making him my dancer. Just because he sure as hell wasn’t gonna be useful anywhere else.

Lorenz! I don’t like him. His haircut is a monstrosity.

Leonie! We are going. To be. Besties. Even though the timing of your support conversations are incredibly bad.

Marianne no please don’t be sad everyone loves you

Hilda is the greatest enabler I have ever seen. By which I mean she enables other people to do all her work for her.

Lysithea is going to have the last word with God. And especially he Death Knight.

And finally Claude! Teamwork makes the dream work, so obviously meme work does the same.

I’m sorry.

PRE-TIMESKIP

Mock battle! Marianne’s great and I love her and also the only healer oh god.

OKAY. I have access to New Game+ bonuses. What do I do first?

Immediately crank the Professor Level stat to max to avoid ever having to run short of activity points again.

Next, raise all skills I can’t easily get to at least Rank D+. HEAVY ARMOR IN PARTICULAR.

Third: Boost supports with people whose support ranks are an absolute pain in the ass to earn. Lookin’ at you, Rhea.

Also, put glasses on Byleth (named “Yuri” for this playthrough). Glasses are the bomb. I am the evil genius.

LEVEL GRINDING TIME.

It’s a lot harder with Blacksmith access being story-locked, but I can do this!

As a direct result, every single battle after this point is a complete curbstomp in my favor. Because the grind don’t stop.

I broke a lot more weapons than last time, though.

I will befriend Leonie and Ferdinand if it’s the last fucking thing I do. I will befriend everyone, and I will not get timeskip-locked out of supports! >:(

Ferdinand was my first recruit. Oh dear.

Okay, there are like five born cavaliers in this game. Leonie, Ferdinand, Lorenz, Sylvain, and I guess Dimitri if you’re on the right route.

Last time, Sylvain was a great paladin and a decent Dark Knight before he started getting one- or two-stat level ups for like thirty levels. Similarly, Dimitri was great until all his ultra-secret-awesome promotions didn’t use a fucking horse.

Contrast Leonie who, despite sitting out 99% of the game out of spite from me getting locked out of her support chain, went to endgame with a ten-level deficit and still rocked.

Ferdinand didn’t count since I failed to recruit him last time and he died. These two facts are directly related.

I didn’t use Lorenz at all; I recruited him to keep from having to kill him later.

This time, Lorenz straight-up sucks, Sylvain did the terrible level dance for like the entire game, and Dimitri’s not recruitable.

Contrast, again, Leonie. Her support chain with the player character is hot garbage, but she plowed through most of the game as a mainstay of my team and made it to Bow Knight first out of anyone.

Bernadetta and Ashe as Bow Knights don’t even come close to being as durable as she is, except for Ashe’s absolutely bananas Resistance. 29?! WHY?!

And Ferdinand is also awesome. His only real weak point is Resistance, but he doesn’t need it. He dodge-tanks everything, is faster than Leonie, and has two Saints’ relics he unknowingly stole from Seteth.

He still talks in MLA format, though.

I started putting off recruiting people so I wouldn’t have to level-grind them up to par with the rest of my team.

But if these people wanna join, of course I’m saying yes.

Lord Lonato’s rebellion and Miklan yoinking the Lance of Ruin feel way less relevant on a Golden Deer playthrough than on a Blue Lions one. None of the Herd really know who the hell these people are.

I say that despite having already recruited Sylvain for this playthrough and deploying him in the relevant level. He wasn’t treated as there by the game’s preamble cutscenes.

At least the Holy Mausoleum stuff feels more...handled? Claude actually asks questions about rebellion and about the “assassination plot,” where Dimitri didn’t really.

OKAY SO there’s this whole plot thing where Flayn goes missing for a month. With the Blue Lions, this is handled like a manhunt. Dimitri’s seriousness about the issue rubs off on everyone except Sylvain, and Felix actually correctly identifies the culprit almost instantly. He doesn’t know he’s done it, though, because basically everyone is just throwing out accusations. Manuela is the real MVP.

CONTRAST THE DEER. The very first meeting reads like a Scooby Doo episode, when they’re piling up clues and throwing out suggestions like the gang of goofball teenagers they are. Claude’s got this group running like Persona 4′s Investigation Team. None of them are jaded or frantic, they’re just doing this.

Why did Rhea entrust the investigation to a herd of teenagers.

Anyway, the rest proceeds as usual.

I don’t know why the game tries to drop the same set of hints for each route. “OoooowoooooOOOOoooo, your house leader might be the FLAME EMPEROR.”

The Flame Emperor wears heels. And is still too short to be either Claude or Dimitri. Especially Dimitri. Who the fuck let this kid get so tall.

The only real result of all this bullshit is that my wyvern-riding sniper of doom is not available during the first map where Yuri personally beat the Death Knight into the ground.

Which, by the by, was hilariously cathartic.

It doesn’t exactly matter, since the only unit who can make real use of the Dark Mage and Dark Bishop classes is unrecruitable, but bragging rights.

Remire Village’s drama is about as bad while playing as the Golden Deer. One of the foreshadowing cutscenes, though is excellent:

Claude actually finds a book that depicts The Immaculate One before its debut, only to have it confiscated by Seteth and learn that it wasn’t a library book at all; it belonged to “Tomas.” Like, all of his suspicions--which he shares with the player--start lining up. Censorship! Monsters! Sword of the Creator! What the hell is going on here??

Dimitri’s version of the cutscene involves him being caught investigating Lord Arundel by the player and Sothis. Which--since his route doesn’t meaningfully deal with the Morlocks faction aside from steamrolling them as incidental opponents--seems kinda useless.

Kicked the Death Knight into submission again out of spite.

Sylvain was useful! Mostly because I had him sit there and distract the incidentals while Claude and Lysithea cleaned house, but still!

Claude is the only lord character who seems to understand that the transforming Morlock faction probably needs to be taken more seriously. For the remainder of Part One, no one does so.

Rhea you’ve got some ‘splainin to do.

Marianne’s my team’s dancer this time. She’s a sweetheart. She seemed happy to be asked and to pursue the lessons, and being able to use Physic is a good trait in someone who’s nearly always going to be waaaaay behind the rest of the group.

Dad-stabbing happened.

Again.

Boop boop Solon’s dead.

Again.

Dear diary: I learned the definition of irony and set the Flame Emperor on fire.

I kid.

But Claude took her out in one completely overpowered shot, because crits are a thing, Flame Emperor class skills don’t reduce damage enough to survive it, and his Dex stat is through the fucking roof. And he was on a wyvern at the time because fuck it, why not.

Claude’s reaction to all of this is a minor letdown compared to the fully-rendered cutscene in the last route.

This would become something of a trend--taking out OP bosses with unexpected critical hits.

I didn’t expect to like Lorenz and now I do. How.

This is hilarious simply because he seems to be the only character that Mercedes hates. What the fuck, man.

Once again, Edelgard invades! Once again, I drop someone unexpected on her head!

Not really. It was Yuri.

Yuri does the timeskip shuffle and we’ll see everyone again after a nap.

FIVE YEARS LATER.

Aw, Claude was waiting for Yuri to show up. Adorable.

The post-meetup fight is actually harder than it was in the BL route, despite excessive level-grinding. This is due to three factors:

Claude is automatically on a wyvern, meaning that he has inherent class vulnerability to archers on a map with at least five of them. And less range than they did, for some fucking reason.

Lorenz and Ignatz started out on the same corner of the map and both of them are shitty offensive units who could barely kill a mage between them. (Neither of Ignatz’s offensive stats cracked 20 for another thirteen levels.)

I don’t have Ashe and his personal skill Locktouch, and nobody started with a Chest Key or Door Key, which meant I had to keep various enemies alive long enough to steal all of their stuff. And the enemy item drops came up one short of the number of chests on the map. I want my stuff, dammit.

LET’S MAKE A SCENE.

Randolph, as a boss in Verdant Wind, did not get any better at figuring out when he’s outmatched. Therefore, I killed him with Raphael again.

At least he straight-up died this time.

Claude didn’t even get to set the damn place on fire.

Ingrid is turning out to be way better of a unit this time than she was last time. She’s a little slower, but a lot stronger.

FELIX, WHERE THE FUCK WAS ALL THIS STRENGTH HIDING LAST TIME. YOU’RE TEN POINTS AHEAD OF THE GUY WHO HAS STORY-BASED SUPER STRENGTH.

AND SPEED.

Iiiiiiiiit’s JUDITH!

She only shows up on one map in the entire Azure Moon route, and that’s a damn shame. She’s so cool in Verdant Wind.

A lord-class character who isn’t also a Lord! WOO!

Also her spies are better than anybody’s apparently.

I am choosing to believe that because Ingrid’s family is related to Judith’s, her badassery in this route is the direct result of meeting her distant cousin and absorbing badass radiation.

There’s something funny about having to pull one over on Lorenz’s dad to get anything done. The Great Bridge falls not to power, but Claude baiting Count Gloucester’s entire army to be somewhere else. (FEAR THE DEER.)

As a result, Ladislava dies alone. (As opposed to taking Ferdinand with her due to plot shenanigans.)

Lysithea and Ferdinand’s paralogue was really quite sad, for all that the only named guy who died was deeply unsympathetic. Ferdinand’s dad was an asshole, but he wasn’t the asshole for this particular scenario, and now both of his parents are gone. :(

Felix...hasn’t heard from his dad in a while. Worrying.

Oh, and Caspar’s uncle is still dead, in case we were keeping track of that.

Dorothea’s happier with Ferdinand alive. She did an impression of the Gatekeeper. :3

Gronder Field! FUCK.

I delayed playing this chapter for two solid days because I already knew what was gonna happen. Specifically: Edelgard gets injured and evacuated, and Dimitri drops of exhaustion just in time to get run through like ten times by the Emperor’s rearguard.

I eventually got my shit together enough to do the thing.

Marianne, Raphael, and Ferdinand went after the Kingdom army first. Leonie and Felix hung back and then reinforced them after taking out the archer on the central hill.

Claude killed everyone in the center of the map, which meant Edelgard set the entire hill on fire and if Bernadetta had not been recruited she would’ve burned to death there on the spot.

Ahem.

I sent Yuri to clear the entire left side of the map by herself.

She succeeded.

Raphael KO’d Dimitri with a luck Gauntlet crit, got blasted down to half health by a Warlock, then plunked ineffectually at Dedue until Marianne used her Levin Sword to sort him out.

Ferdinand killed everyone else on that side of the map.

Claude once again got the kill on Edelgard with a lucky crit, after Yuri had killed everyone else (up to and including the Demonic Beasts) single-handedly.

And then the plot moved on. Hilda’s account of Dimitri’s death was awful, Dedue’s reaction was worse, and off we go to punch Edelgard’s teeth in.

Again.

Annette’s dad is probably dead now.

Felix’s, too.

(I THOUGHT WE WERE DONE WITH THE DAD-STABBING.)

FOOOOOORT MERCEUS.

No matter how many times I think about it, Claude’s Almyran army reinforcements only make so much sense. How the hell and fuck did he manage to sneak an entire foreign army across a whole country to help with one battle?

But hey, they’re here, and Claude almost admitted the reason why he could do that. And the arrow greeting between him and Nader was cool.

(Spoiler: On top of being the Alliance’s leader, he’s also the crown prince of Almyra!)

The Death Knight had the gall to run from my army.

Yuri punched his ticket for the third time, which was not the charm.

And then Fort Merceus took an intercontinental ballistic missile and suddenly defeating the fort’s garrison feels a lot less triumphant.

Spot the miscolored eyes in this cutscene!

Welp. Fuck it, we’re off to Enbarr. Time to also punch Hubert this time! What a change of pace.

Eyyy, it’s the Enbarr map. I totally forgot to bring Seteth and Flayn along to check out the opera house, despite a whole bunch of characters talking about how they totally wanted to check that place out at some point. No room for deadweights in a map that has SO MANY ARCHERS.

Managed to get the special dialogue between Ferdinand and Hubert, and now I’m sad again.

Killed Hubert with Claude.

And because this is a two-part map, we immediately run off to chase down Edelgard. Due to the player army not doing a really weird 180 in the middle of the plot to kick Cornelia out of Fhirdiad, she didn’t have time to turn into a giant demonic thing! She just has WAY TOO MANY MAGES.

Strategy: Forget what Door Keys are, split the team by Avoid rating, and go to town.

Claude nearly died thanks to a critical mass of Gremories and Mortal Savants (and still, what the fuck is that name), but Dedue-as-guest-character didn’t, so I count that as a win! His defense was so high that the Giant Demonic Beast couldn’t even scratch him.

Claude, Petra, and Ingrid all having Alert Stance as a skill means dodge-tanking is hilariously easy.

Also, Ingrid was supposed to just take a chunk out of Edelgard’s HP bar for the final assault and ended up crit-killing her on the first attack. With a bog-standard silver lance.

Weird as the situation turned out, I guess that means one of Dimitri’s friends really did avenge him after saying they would. Even if Dedue was the only one who had a special cutscene about it.

We rescued Rhea! And the characters being happy about it doesn’t mean I’m happy about it. I want answers, same as Claude, and being forced to RP Yuri being oh so worried about Rhea’s safety felt incredibly disingenuous.

Claude actually yells at her over the “...” she seems to think is an explanation. THE TIME FOR SECRETS IS PAST.

WHY DID ALL THIS SHIT HAPPEN.

WE’VE BEEN AT WAR FOR FIVE YEARS.

A WHOLE BUNCH OF PEOPLE DIED HORRIBLY FOR BASICALLY NOTHING.

Incidentally, this is why I didn’t end up playing Edelgard’s route as planned. Her logic for kicking two other sovereign countries in the balls felt incredibly self-centered.

At least Catherine’s happy. Same with Alois and the rest of the Church crew.

They are soon going to be not as happy.

I’m filling out the ENTIRE support log before endgame. I have absolutely no idea what characters are going to end up together as a direct result.

The last conversation? Seteth and Manuela’s A+ support!

Because so many of the support conversations are romantic at A/A+ level, I guess we’ve managed to turn this ragtag army into a polyarmory.

Oh boy, Thales sure is a sore loser.

I say, as though I didn’t kill EVERYONE he knew over the course of an hour and also split his skull open under Seteth’s axe. His racism would have keeled his ass over before death set in.

That sure is a ICBM.

GOD DAMMIT RHEA, THERE WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A Q&A SESSION AFTER THIS.

WHY DOES EVERYONE WHOSE JOB IS EXPOSITION UP AND DIE.

Meanwhile: THE UBER-DEAD PEOPLE.

Claude, your route is batshit. What is this genre anymore?!

I wanna point out that, despite seeing Rhea/Seiros do the dragon thing, the player character never told Claude what the fuck that was about. I feel like one of the first things I would have done after the class reunion would be going, “By the by, did anyone else notice the fucking dragon?!” WHO IS ALSO THE POPE???

Bah.

ANYWAY. Looooong-overdue exposition time!

I notice that Rhea didn’t out Seteth or Flayn, which was nice of her.

Claude, she can turn into a fucking dragon. I don’t think immortality is that far from being plausible.

GOD DAMMIT NEMESIS, CAN YOU FUCK OFF FOR TEN MORE MINUTES.

Uuuuuuugh fine, fuck everything, I’m putting your head on a pike.

CLAUDE, THE SWORD OF THE CREATOR LOOKS LIKE A SPINE.

OF COURSE IT’S MADE OF BONES. A BUNCH OF THE HEROES’ RELICS MOVE ON THEIR OWN!

The frantic music is not helping.

Time to kill a bandit king.

“My flabber is completely gasted by now.” Okay, that made me laugh.

Nemesis’s boss mechanic is pretty neat. To kill him at all, you need to kill all of the minibosses in the level and take down his friendship-based-plot-armor.

Or it would be, if I didn’t already make a habit of steamrolling everyone else on the field before tackling the boss at the end.

CUTSCENE.

Cutscene lesson: “Fuck honor duels.” It’s time for CHAIN SWORD LIMBO.

Claude, your bow shoots LASERS. SINCE WHEN.

Also getting kicked across the field by a dude twice his size didn’t seem to actually affect his mood much.

Awww, Yuri smiles now. Adorable. :D

AND THAT’S A WRAP.

Pairings: Yuri/Sothis (mostly to get them out of the way and see what everyone else would do), Claude/Petra, Raphael/Marianne, Catherine/Shamir, Lorenz/Mercedes, Ashe/Annette, Felix/Sylvain (bad end; the former straight up disappears), Seteth & Flayn wander off, Manuela/Dorothea, Lysithea/Linhardt (again), Leonie/Ignatz, Ferdinand/Bernadetta, Caspar/Hilda, and a couple of people are alone. Cyril gets to actually be a student after the story’s done, though!

Whew, that was fun. Gonna mix up the pairs a bit next time I play through the endgame and see what happens.

#fire emblem three houses #Lang plays Fire Emblem: Three Houses #Lang Plays #spoilers #long post #fire emblem

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tk-duveraun · 5 years

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Just Kidding

FE16/FE3H, Felix/Sylvain, Azure Moon/BL Spoilers, Rated T

---

The problem with Felix was- Okay, one of the problems with Felix was- Hey, I’m getting to a point here, stop interrupting. One of the many problems with Felix was that he was equally the funniest person Sylvain knew and the person thought of as the least funny person in existence.

He very clearly remembers telling Byleth, with gestures, so she’d believe him, that, “Felix handed me a ladder... And then told me to get off his back.”

Byleth had tilted her head - it was eight months into the school year and she’d gotten better at showing her emotions - and said, as deadpan as Felix had been for joke, “He must have seen you trying to get something off a tall shelf.”

The bottom line was, no one believed Sylvain when he told them Felix was making fun of him.

“I won’t say you have a persecution complex,” Ingrid said, “though you do, but Felix is completely serious. That’s his thing. Glenn was a sarcastic jerk with a heart of gold. Felix is just, well, bluntly rude.”

Sylvain protested and tried, again, to explain that Felix was actually quite good with Black Magic and the electric shock that made his red hair stand on end had been completely intentional, but she wasn’t having any of it. When Ingrid stalked off in disgust, he was frustrated enough that he didn’t even go into town to flirt with pretty girls. He sulked in his room, a book on Black Magic propped up on his lap. The only thing for it was retaliation, even if he struggled to think of how he could use his talents with fire for a harmless prank. Maybe a haircut? He fell asleep with the conversation and plots still swirling around in his head.

No one ever compared him to Miklan, his sleep-muddled brain muttered between dreams. Yeah, he was older than the others and Miklan older still, so they didn’t know Miklan the way they knew Glenn. And Miklan was unashamedly awful, even before he was disowned. Generally, it was bad form to compare a guy to someone who’d dumped him in a well and left him for dead.

There was something about the well incident that made it easy to talk about. If he was opening up about his family, which, okay, was a rare occurrence, the well was his go-to. It had been terrible. He was still claustrophobic on bad days. Still choked every time he drank well water. (Thankfully Garreg Mach had plenty of milk and juice for the students.)

Sylvain would have thought it’d be easier to talk about other things. Like the thing he never talked about. The thing no one else knew. It was hard to form the words, even in the silence and privacy of his mind. When Miklan had caught him sneaking his laundry to the washing room before the sun was even up. When Miklan had looked between his red face and balled up sheets and smirked. When he’d said, “Congratulations, little brat. You’re officially as useful as you will ever be.”

It was just a few words and the goddess certainly knew that everyone called him useless at least once a week, but for some reason the event shied away from his waking mind and hid behind damp well-walls.

“You know, Felix,” he said the next day. It was late afternoon and he was in the training hall for one reason and one reason alone and it wasn’t training. No, the training was a terrible downside to his attempt at subtlety. “Hey, that doesn’t count as a point, I was talking.”

“Maybe you should shut up.”

Sylvain crossed his lance with Felix’s sword twice more before he got back to his point. “You know, Felix. You’re not like anyone else. No one in the world could possibly compare to your boring disinterest toward and for girls. It’s almost impressive, really.”

There, he’d done it. “People shouldn’t compare you to your brother” in words that wouldn’t bring up his defensive hackles.

“You’re an idiot,” Felix replied, but there was something in his sword swings. A thoughtfulness that did nothing to make them easier to parry. Not that parrying a sword with a lance was a particularly sound strategy to begin with, but the point of his trip to the training grounds had nothing to do with training, remember?

When Sylvain later fell dramatically to the ground in feigned, completely feigned, exhaustion, Felix stood over him.

“That’s why I do it.”

Okay, that was another problem with Felix. He would continue conversations he had in his head aloud and simply expect the other person to keep up and figure out the context. And if they didn’t, and Sylvain never did, he huffed, scoffed and walked off.

Sylvain spun his lance in his hands, still on the ground, and tried to make sense of the latest non-sequitur.

Three days later, waking up from a nightmare of clutching soft linens and wishing to melt into old, stone tiles, he woke with a gasp. It hadn’t been his own fault this time, not understanding Felix’s comment. Felix had, for once, given him too much credit. Felix had imagined Sylvain grumbling at muttering at him that ‘No one ever believes me when I tell them you’re funny.’

Felix messed with him precisely because no one would believe it. Jerk.

---

Five years was a long time to wait for any follow up. Not that Sylvain had expected any. There wasn’t much to joke about. There might have been an upturn when Dimitri pulled his head out of his ass, but it had come at the cost of Felix’s father. Felix loved him, Sylvain knew. Hating their parents was a privilege Sylvain carried alone, no matter how many suitors Count Galatea threw Ingrid’s way. Felix’s love for his father was obvious in how angry he made him, in how badly, deeply Felix wanted an apology for a single, careless comment nine years old.

Sylvain stood at Felix’s right shoulder over the best grave they could give the late duke and heard the quiet, “I forgive you.”

Was this another event no one would ever believe? Another set up? No. Sylvain knew it wasn’t and didn’t question his certainty. It couldn’t be a set up because Sylvain would never tell another soul about the private moment he was allowed to witness. Until he heard the whispered words, he might have doubted that he carried Felix’s complete trust, but there was no mistaking it behind the highly inadequate grave.

So Sylvain did the only thing he could. He said the words Rodrigue should have said so many years ago. “He didn’t deserve to die like that. There should have been another way.”

Felix reached over his shoulder for his hand and when he had it, he squeezed Sylvain’s fingers so tightly that his knuckles popped.

---

In the camp outside Enbarr, outside the final battle, Sylvain hoped, they sat together with their fingers touching through layers of leather and metal. A thick, tense atmosphere lingered throughout the entire camp, but to Sylvain it felt like they sat in a pocket of a different, shakier, more anxious fog. Maybe it was the tremble in his heart, the way it screamed and clawed at his ribs for him to grab Felix and kiss him now while they still had the chance.

He didn’t start at the sudden turn of his thoughts. After all, it wasn’t really sudden when he’d been circling around the feelings for years. It was just like him and his useless brain and heart to realize how he felt on what was potentially their last day alive.

(It didn’t occur to him that most of the war had been potentially their last day alive, but if it had, he would have discarded the thought because he was a romantic at heart.)

Then Felix did the thing. The particular tilt of his head, the exact softness of emotion around his eyes, the pull at the corner of his mouth as if he wanted to smile, but chose not to because he liked to make himself suffer needlessly.

It wasn’t the time for jokes. Or maybe it was the best, the only time for jokes. Sylvain picked up his hand and put it fully on top of Felix’s. He braced himself.

“I don’t know how to make the others believe it.”

Okay, it was the other thing. The thing where Felix was having a conversation with the Sylvain in his head, who was always more clever than the one holding his hand and maybe he should take it as a compliment, but he was mostly focused on the knots his stomach had turned into.

“Believe what?” He finally asked because his heart wouldn’t give enough energy to his brain to figure it out.

Felix turned his head, looked him in the eye and the rest of the conversation, the one line he had said to the Sylvain in his mind struck the Sylvain holding his hand.

He thought the words at the same time Felix said them.

“I love you.” Sylvain didn’t, however, think the derisive “Obviously” that Felix tacked onto the end.

Didn’t really think at all.

He just leaned in and kissed him.

#sylvain jose gautier #Felix Hugo Fraldarius #sylvix #FE16 #blue lions spoilers #what the fuck #this meanders for 1000 years #these boys #Rodrigue you failed #you had one job

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sage-nebula · 5 years

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Fire Emblem: Three Houses - Thoughts so Far

So I’ve just hit the timeskip in my Golden Deer playthrough (which is my second playthrough overall, my first being a Black Eagle Strike Force playthrough), and so I thought I’d post some thoughts, especially since I’m feeling kind of disgruntled at the moment and feeling disgruntled seems to be the best way to get me to lay thoughts to paper nowadays. This is going under a cut, both because of spoilers, and because it’s going to be long.

I can’t remember if I made a long post when I finished my initial playthrough or not, and I haven’t been using a very concrete tag for posts about it regardless (gone are the days when I’d liveblog every little thing, I guess, particularly since I got so absorbed into this game so quickly---I’ve put 85+ hours into it already, and it’s only been a little over two weeks!), so it wouldn’t be that easy for me to check. But needless to say, I’ve fallen head over heels for this game, and I absolutely loved my initial playthrough and the Black Eagles House (minus Caspar and kind of Hubert). Edelgard and her route have garnered the most Discourse™ in fandom, from what I can tell, for both legitimate reasons and not, but while I did have some personal issues with Edelgard toward the end of part one (and kind of leading into part two, though I learned to let it go), I have to say that overall I loved her and I feel that her overall objectives---dismantling the oppressive Church of Seiros, dismantling the nobility system and establishing a meritocracy, and ultimately abdicating the throne to a worthy successor once she was done because she never actually wanted power, she just wanted to change a world that was domineering and hurting people and knew she needed power to do it---were just. She could have gone about it in a better way, maybe---but then again, it’s very easy to say that violent revolution isn’t necessary from a comfortable seat where you’re not actually forced to make that decision, versus when you live in a throes of a world that has not only existed this way for thousands of years with any hint of rebellion quickly executed by the church without a trial (as we see in game with characters such as Lonato and the Western Church soldiers), but also saw your siblings tortured and murdered before your very eyes, with you yourself being the sole survivor of that torture. Rhea showed time and again that she was not willing to negotiate with anyone who breathed a word against the church. Edelgard merely announcing that she was going to take the Crest Stones from the Holy Tomb had Rhea calling for her head, not only in the Black Eagles route, but in the Golden Deer route as well. If there is to be no negotiation, then the only choices are to let the world continue as it has been---which, considering what Edelgard has personally seen and how we know so many others in the game have suffered, is not an option---or to meet force with force, which is what Edelgard chose to do. Her path was not perfect, no---but considering Rhea is one who is willing to send children into battle to execute a man without a trial (children which could include that man’s own adoptive son, if you’re playing Blue Lions or otherwise request mission assistance from Ashe) as a way to show them why they should never raise a weapon against a church, I can’t see any other way to unseat Rhea and stop further injustices from being carried out. It’s not perfect, but life isn’t always, and I for one think it’s kind of refreshing to see a JRPG acknowledge that for once, rather than have everything wrapped up in a neat bow like Awakening did (much as I love Awakening, it went way too far with the happy ending nonsense).

. . . And that was an absurdly long paragraph that really got away from me. Apologies.

Anyway, as I was saying, I love Edelgard and her route. Apart from Sylvain (who was free), Ashe (who was adorable), and Mercedes (who I got to supplement losing Flayn), I didn’t really recruit anyone, and as a result I got to know the Black Eagles very well (aside from Caspar, whom I ditched early on because a.) he kept dying, b.) his voice was annoying, and c.) I wanted to focus on my other students). I’ve only played two Houses so far, but as it stands I’m just really very attached to the Black Eagles . . . and only like about half of the Golden Deer.

To be fair to them, the Golden Deer have had kind of an uphill battle. Unlike last time, I got to work recruiting people early; I scooped up Sylvain immediately because, again, he was free, and I used Renown to boost the Support ranks of Bernadetta, Petra, and Linhardt so I could get them immediately as well. I also used Renown to boost up my sword skill to nab Felix, since the fact that he has four support ranks with Sylvain piqued my interest and I wanted to see what all that was about. So from the get-go, I didn’t have much reason to pay attention to characters like Ignatz (who was replaced by Bernadetta), Lorenz (who was replaced by Linhardt), Raphael (who was replaced by Sylvain and Felix), or Leonie (who was replaced by Petra). But even if I did have reason to pay attention to them, mmhhh . . .

Well, okay. Let me do a brief rundown of each student from the Black Eagles and Golden Deer (including House Leaders) and how I feel about them, real quick.

Edelgard: Obviously, I love her, as I’ve already said. She’s a complex, strong character---not just in what she’s able to do in battle or how she’s able to lead, but in how she’s written. When playing her route and getting to know her, you come to see her vulnerabilities---and I think in that sense I benefited from playing her route first, so I could get to know that side of her before seeing the side of her that’s a warlord trying to change a world that desperately needs to change, but doesn’t want to. Edelgard’s vision is one of sweeping, systemic change; it’s not something that can happen overnight, or easily, or without sacrifices, particularly when some (e.g. Rhea, Dimitri) insist on calling for heads and blood splatter and refuse to surrender no matter what. But it’s change that’s rooted in the concrete, change that says, “I don’t care whether you like it or not, this is what’s best for all those who have been suffering until now, and you’re going to do it whether you like it or not.” That sort of demanding attitude can be bad, but considering Edelgard immediately takes action against corrupt nobles, dismantles the church that dominated EVERYONE in reality even if they claimed not to on the surface, and established a meritocracy, we can see in this instance that she truly was looking out for those who were disenfranchised, hurt, and suffering under the way things were. Certainly, there were things she could have done better (not working with her uncle would be a great start), but considering the situation she was in, I can also see why she made the choices she did. (Also, Hubert is a terrible influence, so.)

Hubert: SPEAKING OF . . . I have a love / hate relationship with Hubert, in that I like him as a character and what he adds to the story (especially with regards to Edelgard’s personal story), but mmmmmboy do I dislike him as a person. His ridiculous habit of threatening everyone for so much as looking at Edelgard wrong aside (when Shamir called him out on being unstable and told him to be careful who he threatened, I cheered), the fact that he says time and again that he will go and do heinous things behind Edelgard’s back in her name really pissed me off. Hubert is what’s known as a Poisonous Friend; though he does genuinely want to help Edelgard, his refusal to actually consider what she wants and what her values are regardless of what he, selfishly, believes to be in her best interests means that he very easily becomes the exact sort of person Edelgard despises. And while you could say that’s fine so long as she doesn’t find out (because that way she wouldn’t need to imprison him), what if others do, hm? How would that make her look, for everyone to know that her very own advisor and retainer was the exact same sort of person as Prime Minister Aegir, or her own uncle? I wanted to punch Hubert in the face so very badly. It’s a shame I was never able.

Bernadetta: MY SWEET AND PRECIOUS DAUGHTER . . . I LOVE HER SO MUCH . . . While I will admit that some of her supports with various characters got a bit repetitive and annoying because Bernadetta refused to listen to anyone and thus would continue into hysterics without reason, at the same time I can’t help but love this anxious little recluse (and want to murder both of her parents, but her father especially, given that they’re the very reason Bernadetta is so reclusive and prone to panic as she is---she’s traumatized!). Not only do I love her personality and design, but she is an absolute MONSTER on the battlefield. Part of the reason I insisted on recruiting her immediately in my Golden Deer playthrough is because Bernadetta slaughters pretty much everyone she comes across, without fail. Her and Petra both. But seriously though, her parents are awful and I wish I could adopt her.

Petra: YET ANOTHER DESTROYER OF WORLDS, AND THE ULTIMATE ASSASSIN. In both of my runs thus far I’ve classed Petra as a thief and then assassin, and honestly I can’t ever imagine classing her as anything else. She crits on practically every single strike, and she’s quick enough to get to chests I actually try to get to (some I skip on purpose because they’re too much of a pain lol). Personality-wise I also love her, though I wish her grasp on the Fodlan language had improved over the five year timeskip, instead of staying exactly the same. It would have been a subtle way to show some growth for her.

Dorothea: I like Dorothea, but I’m actually not as in love with her as most of the fandom. When I started playing I actually assumed I’d marry either her or Edelgard on my first run, but not only did Dorothea’s first support come across as very off-putting to me (I’ve had bad experiences with people who are desperate to be in a romantic relationship at all costs in the past, no matter the reason for it), but I actually found her to be kind of . . . annoying after the time skip. Whenever I selected her in battle she said, “More fighting” with a heavy sigh, and most of her win quotes (e.g. “Only thorns left on this rose”) felt very melodramatic. Which, I mean, she’s an opera singer, and I’m not expecting her to enjoy war, but it just grated on my nerves after a while. No one wanted to fight, but no one else complained about it as constantly as Dorothea did. That said, I do like a lot of her supports and how, well, supportive she is of (most of) the others, and she was a good mage as well, so I don’t dislike her. I’m just not as crazy about her as others are.

Ferdinand: OTOH, my opinion of Ferdinand is the opposite of my opinion on Dorothea. While I started off not liking him at all because of his insistence that he was superior to Edelgard (especially when he was so fragile at first? bruh), his character development was truly great. He was a true noble gentleman by the end, truly caring about doing his best for his people and Edelgard both. Many of his supports---particularly those with Petra and Dorothea---were very sweet as well. I truly came to enjoy Ferdinand immensely.

Linhardt: THIS BOY, I LOVE THIS BOY. At first I was not too impressed with the “just want to sleep, leave me alone” shtick, but aside from that being as relatable as Bernadetta always wanting to be left alone, I came to love how direct he is, how blunt he is, how clever and witty he is, as well as how great of a healer he is (make him a Holy Knight and he can destroy everything as well as heal it---and he knows Warp, too!). He’s one of my top favorite students, for sure. Love this boy.

Caspar: On the other hand, as I think I mentioned above, Caspar . . . got ditched fairly quickly. His voice is annoying, and on top of that he had low defense without enough damage input (or movement squares) to justify it. I already had an axe user with Edelgard, and so it made more sense to just bench him early on and be done with it. As a result, I don’t have much to say about him. Didn’t have many supports, never really talked to him outside class. Sorry Caspar, but you were just a very low priority for me.

And with the Black Eagles rounded up, let’s move on to . . .

Claude: I love this boy a WHOLE LOT as well, but I’m also not feeling much of an . . . attachment? between Claude and Byleth. I think it’s because Claude takes so long to open up, and he (understandably) wants to know about Byleth’s past before he’ll share any of his own. But even when he starts to open up, his words about how he feels as if his meeting with Byleth was fate and how they’re more than a friend to him feel kind of hollow since we haven’t had emotional moments before that to build it up (unlike how we had in Edelgard’s C and C+ Supports). The fact that his reaction to Byleth returning was less emotional than Edelgard’s contributes to that too, I think. On the other hand, I love how much he knows about Byleth even before the timeskip---way more than Edelgard knows even by the end of her route---as well as how he did have genuine consolation for Byleth after Jeralt’s death, which was one of my issues with Edelgard (SHE OFFERED MORE CONSOLATION ON THE GOLDEN DEER ROUTE THOUGH, WHAT EVEN---). I also just love, love, love everything about his personality. He reminds me a lot of Marco from Animorphs, albeit more idealistic and optimistic, and so I just can’t help but adore him. (More on his idealistic approach in a bit.)

Hilda: Honestly, I thought I wouldn’t be able to stand Hilda, but boy was I wrong. Yes, she’s a bit self-centered and definitely lazy and takes advantage of others---but she also encourages her less confident Housemates to be stronger (in a way that’s actually encouraging, at that), doesn’t take kindly to others not getting what’s owed to them, is honest, and DOES pull her weight when she needs to. On top of which she is a total TANK, and I can’t help but love dainty-looking female characters who can just steamroll and sweep through enemies with giant axes, haha. Hilda’s a fave, and it kills me that she can’t be recruited to Black Eagles at any point ever.

Lysithea: Another fave, and someone I’m recruiting IMMEDIATELY when I play the other routes. She’s by far the best black mage I’ve encountered, and the fact that she has white magic to go along with it (making her a shoo-in for the Master class Gremory) makes her fantastic on the battlefield, even if her defense is a little fragile. And while her “OMG I’M NOT A KID >:(” thing can get kind of annoying at times, at the same time the reason for why she’s desperate to grown up does make sense, and I love her overall attitude.

Marianne: Like Dorothea’s attitude post-timeskip, Marianne started to wear on me after a while. I do like her okay, but her constant “I’m cursed” and “leave me here to die” and “I am going to apologize for breathing now” --- even if there’s an understandable reason --- got to be a bit Much after awhile. She seems a bit better post-timeskip, which is nice, but mmmm, my nerves still feel just a bit frayed.

Raphael: Honestly, I usually skip past his dialogue, because it’s either about Muscles or Food or Both. I’m wondering if this is something that was done to him in the localization, to make him the Comic Relief character, but either way I don’t find this archetype funny at all. He could have been a big dude who likes working out with more to him---and maybe he does have more to him, in his supports, but I have no need for him in battle and thus haven’t seen those, particularly since I don’t feel like talking to him out of battle since he’s just a walking Fat/Muscle Trope joke. Disappointing, but is what it is, I guess.

Leonie: THE MOST. ANNOYING. ISTG. I don’t think I would mind Leonie so much if she didn’t act so antagonistically toward Byleth / so possessive of Jeralt, but her constant prattling about how she’s “Captain Jeralt’s first and best apprentice” and how she’ll have HER revenge for his death and etc etc --- sis you knew him for, what, a couple weeks? TEN YEARS AGO??? Holy shit, it’s a wonder Jeralt even remembers her name, much less taking her on as his apprentice when he’s got the kid he raised from infancy right there. Considering that both her C and B supports have her yelling at Byleth for ~not appreciating Jeralt enough~ just makes it worse. It’s a shame, because she could have been a supportive pseudo-sibling for Byleth, but instead she just comes across as annoying as all get-out. Needless to say, she’s perma-benched.

Ignatz: I really don’t have too much to say about him, because he’s another that was benched pretty much immediately and didn’t give me reasons outside of battle to un-bench him. As in, he never offered anything particularly interesting in cutscenes, or out of cutscenes, his design wasn’t appealing, etc etc. I don’t dislike him, but I don’t like him, either. I actually forget he exists most of the time.

Lorenz: His design is unappealing, his attitude is insufferable (worse than Ferdinand EVER was---at least Ferdinand started supporting Edelgard by the time of the timeskip, whereas Lorenz can’t even do that for Claude!), and his C support reveals that he’s an incel. Like I don’t think there’s much more that needs to be said about how little care I have for this dude.

So as you can see, even setting aside my biases, the Golden Deer just . . . don’t click for me, for the most part. If I could poach anyone I liked to other Houses, I would definitely take Claude, Hilda, and Lysithea, and leave the rest. (Well, except Marianne; she’d be useful as a secondary healer, since I don’t like Mercedes’ voice and Flayn is too loyal to the church.) And as a result, I really, really miss my Black Eagle Strike Force route.

But do you know what makes me miss that route even more than the students?

The stance on the church.

Listen: I figured that playing the Golden Deer route wouldn’t mean tearing down the Church of Seiros the way that playing the Black Eagle Strike Force route does, but the fact that you’re still siding so heavily with the church and that Byleth is apparently super concerned about Rhea / actually likes her in this route just disgusts me. Listen again: I’ve never liked Rhea. Admittedly when I very first started playing I thought that she was probably another Emmeryn type, but the moment she said that she wanted to send the students to kill Lonato because she wanted to show them “what would happen to those who raised a blade to the church” she went on my Red Flag list, and everything that happened in the Holy Tomb after just cemented that for me. For all that people love to call Edelgard a tyrant, the real tyrant in this game is Rhea. Those who speak out against the church aren’t given a shot at a fair trial or a chance to surrender. In both the Black Eagles route and the Golden Deer route her immediate reaction to Edelgard turning on her is to call for Edelgard’s death in the most brutal way possible, ranting and raving about how Edelgard’s “sins” will never be forgiven “even if she bathes in flames and her blood soaks the earth for eternity” or whatever it was. And while she puts on a nice face toward Byleth provided Byleth doesn’t also turn on her (at which point she immediately flips on Byleth and starts calling her a “worthless failure” and “filthy thief” and whatever else), keep in mind that’s only because she thinks that Sothis will use Byleth’s body as a puppet vessel. She doesn’t view Byleth as a person, she views Byleth as a thing, a means to an end, something which even Seteth points out is “questionable” (though it’s much worse than that). True, you can work very hard and get an S Rank with Rhea (though why anyone would want to I have no idea), but that doesn’t change her general attitude throughout the game if you choose not to go that route. It doesn’t change how she treats other people, even if she does eventually see Byleth as their own person. Rhea is a tyrant, and rather than being their own sovereign nations, it’s more accurate to say that Faerghus, Adrestia, and the Alliance are states / colonies of the Church of Seiros. The fact that Garreg Mach is at the center of all three territories is not a coincidence. That those who speak out against the church are assassinated / executed without trial and without hesitation is just another instrument of their tyranny. And you can even see Rhea’s manipulations with other characters, as well. Cyril was taken in as a child, and raised to worship the ground Rhea walks on; Rhea took Shamir in when she had nowhere else to go, making Shamir feel indebted to her; Rhea saved Jeralt’s life (and granted him immortality) so that he would serve her as a Knight of Seiros, and so on and so forth. And should any of them turn against her, she immediately wants their heads on pikes. No doubt she would have killed Jeralt in an instant had she the opportunity to get Byleth away from him before he left the monastary all those years ago (/had he tried to leave the monastary with Byleth again). That’s just the type of person she is.

So the fact that Byleth in this route seems to genuinely like Rhea---enough to risk their life for her---disgusts me. It goes completely against how I feel. I not only hate the Church of Seiros, but I hate Rhea most of all. (Though I also hold quite a bit of contempt for Catherine, given how gleeful she is about killing others.) Claude knows that Rhea was up to some shady bullshit in the past concerning Byleth’s history, but he’s still placing faith in the church (mostly for his own gain, which I get, but still). It really, really bothers me. I already knew ahead of time that the Blue Lions route would be church heavy given that the Church of Seiros openly owns Faerghus, but I didn’t expect that from the Alliance as well, and it makes me feel queasy. I might have to cleanse my palate with another Black Lions Strike Force run again after this. (And if the Blue Lions is even more church-centric than this? Ugh. I don’t think I’ll be able to stand it.)

All of this said, it kind of makes me want to write a fic that combines the Black Eagle Strike Force route with the Golden Deer route---one where Claude joins with Edelgard and Byleth pre-timeskip, and continues working with them after. Bringing Claude and Edelgard together would be difficult, but not impossible, I think, considering that Claude feels no loyalty to the Church of Seiros and wants to know the truth behind everything more than anything (and has a pretty open mind, at that). Perhaps, with the three of them working together, they could even save Dimitri later on down the line as well . . . well, it’d be something to consider, anyway.

That said, this post is long enough as it is, and I still need to shower and then get to sleep. Better leave it off here. :P

#fire emblem: three houses

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