Even a mule will eventually reach its destination

i couldn't skip dorothea's birthday as she's definitely one of my favs :) i feel like this is a portrait that was painted post game after dorothea has her happy ending.

when nemesis elevated himself and the ten elites to the rulers of fodlan and laid the foundation of its modern crest system and aristocracy, she became a leading figure in wilhelm's revolutionary movement. but when the work was done, the nascent adrestian empire and church of seiros made a choice to maintain and uphold the social order nemesis created and become its new defenders instead of offering something better to the people of fodlan. that all too common revolutionary outcome of "meet the new boss, same as the old boss." and fire emblem three houses suggests a reason why this happens—because as much as seiros could care for and about humans like wilhelm, she never had the plight of humanity in the forefront of her mind. during the war of heroes, her priority was revenge against nemesis.

that's the deciding factor that separates edelgard and rhea. they are both people who looked at what happened to themselves and their families and said "i won't let this happen to anyone ever again." but edelgard, who has every right to seek revenge against the people who wronged her, never does—she even refuses to execute duke aegir for treason (which can have disastrous consequences in certain routes)—and she always keeps her overarching goal of creating a more free and equitable social order for humanity at the forefront of her mind.

in fact the entire reason edelgard takes up arms against the church of seiros is because 1200 years ago seiros had the chance to do the right thing and tear down an oppressive system and didn't. there are many ways in which the corruption of the adrestian empire, the noble fixation on crests, and the influence of those who slither in the dark represent the failures of the church of seiros' governance over fodlan that compel edelgard to take up arms, but it all stems from seiros' initial and foundational failure to do what edelgard now seeks to accomplish.

Tagged by @ladyinthebluebox to make a poll for my favorite female characters in video games <3333

I am not including any dragon age characters because that would be too easy!!!

tagging: