Trashdom

sure!!  i’ve written posts on this in the past, but i’m not at all going to force you to scroll through 500 posts to find those, so i’ll basically summarize everything i’ve said here!!

-- ferdinand was definitely reading voraciously the moment he learned how to read.  whether it be about weapons, or great nobles of forgotten ages, or obscure tea flavors, he would spend days in the giant library within his home.

-- his father probably hired tutors for his son at a very young age, and ferdinand was an eager student.  sometimes, his eagerness made him a nuisance to some of his less patient tutors, for all the questions he asked.  even if he annoyed some of his tutors with his barrages of questions, he was always intelligent and did very well academically.

-- ferdinand has always been a horse girl, okay??  the problem is, he was super energetic and maybe not the most cautious, considerate kid in the world, which meant he wasn’t popular in the stables.  horses need a tender hand, and it took ferdie a long time to master how to act around them to prevent himself from scaring them off.  once he did learn, however?  he’d spend as much time as possible with the horses, whether it be riding them or begging the servants to let him do their stable duties.

-- and there was no denying nine-year-old ferdinand whatever he wanted; the kid had puppy eyes down to a science, whether he meant to or not.  so, much to his father’s chagrin, ferdie was tending to the horses like a - give duke aegir his moment to wince - common peasant.  

-- when ferdinand tells manuela he didn’t miss a single one of her performances from the ages of five to eleven, he wasn’t lying.  i can imagine ferdinand pleading with his father to take him to the opera, and the duke disregarding his son for interrupting him and sending the little guy away himself.  ferdinand was toddling to the opera on his own the second he could.  i’m picturing him humming the songs he hears there under his breath while going about his tasks for the day - and when he first began his training, you better believe he spent more time practicing the sword dance from his manuela supports than he did actually preparing for battle.

-- he was definitely lonely growing up: he’d never gotten along well with children his own age, and his father obviously ignored him whenever it was possible.  his father’s servants were his friends, right up there with the horses.

-- just because his father showed no interest in ferdinand didn’t mean ferdie was going to stop chasing a relationship with his father: whenever time allowed, he’d sneak into the duke’s study and start chattering away, asking what his father was so busy with, if his father wanted to come watch ferdinand train for a moment because he’s gotten so good, telling his father about something silly the horses did, etc, etc.  his efforts were met with cruel dismissals from his dad.

-- ferdinand was probably ten or eleven when he stopped regarding the servants as friends: he heard his father speaking ill of them once and was naive enough to assume he was right.  that didn’t stop ferdie from helping them with their tasks on occasion, though, even if it was just to combat his boredom.  he went from warm with them to formal and awkward.

alright, this is a very interesting scenario, and not one i feel like i can analyze properly in one ask...so maybe i’ll expand on it in the future!!  for now, just let it be known that the dynamics will be completely changed.  both edelgard and ferdinand are the way they are solely because of their circumstances.  if edelgard hadn’t had all the pressure of a revolution placed upon her shoulders so young, then who is to say her personality would be recognizable at all?  and if ferdinand had been raised in such a way that he never had to worry about competition, what would he act like?  ferdinand’s toxic need for perfection and edelgard’s intense loneliness and sense of duty are like...such huge parts of their characters.  in this au, things will obviously be drastically changed. 

The Best Ship of the Day is

I forgot to screen shot the randomizer thing, but from top to bottom the answers are: 

Shamir, Cyril, Jeritza, Byleth, Lorenz, Dimitri,and Claude but Leonie is right it could literally be anyone of the house leaders.

Idk if I’ll do a part 3 but maybe I’ll have them play a different game instead. I’m gonna go finish my Black Eagles route first tho…

Part 1

Next Part

edelgard getting rhea was entirely unplanned i promis

this was also longer but i got tired, im might add mroe later

Next Part

Would you like to give Ferdinand flowers?

ABSOLUTELY.

I try to keep Linhardt on the back lines as much as possible, despite the fact he can tank just about any magic based damage like a champ. Poor kid doesn’t need more stuff hanging on his conscience.

Caution the above descriptions and below concept contain some spoilers.

Hey!! I finally finished the designs for this idea I had like months ago! whoop!!  Below you can find my thought process regarding the designs and ideas for this I guess AU.

I wanted to write the descriptions like something out of a SoulsBorne game but ended up feeling really embarrassed about how edgy they sound…please don’t call me out on being an edgelord…..

It’s just? Hubert literally says again and again that he only does what is necessary for Edelgard and for her ambitions and that’s it, he never does stuff for himself, only if it’s going to benefit Edelgard, he’s made that perfectly clear

BUT THERE IS NO REASON FOR HIM TO GO OUT OF HIS WAY TO BUY TEA FOR FERDINAND

SO HE JUST DID THAT BECAUSE HE WANTED TO

So there are a few reasons behind my decision to support Lorenz Hellman Gloucester. To me, he’s definitely much more than a self-righteous, heartless noble that only cares for power and fame. A few things prove this: his love of tea, his poetry, and most definitely his character growth that occurs in several of his supports. 

He does start off as a cocky little snoot, but grows up to acknowledge it and apologizes for it, marking immense character growth. His Supports with Claude, Marianne and Mercedes show his growth beautifully. It’s similar to how we grow as people, learning from our past mistakes, vowing to become better, wiser, stronger in the future. Claude and Marianne’s Supports with him are personal favorites, as Lorenz outright apologizes for mistakes he made as his younger self, and voices a complete change in opinion.

Other lovable traits about this snooty mage are his love of tea and his love of poetry. One with a black heart could not care so much about tea, and a black-hearted soul would definitely NOT WRITE POETRY. Lorenz’s poetry alone shows a gentle character, a person that’s able to connect with the tenderness in life’s treasures. And then he’s flustered when Manuela finds out about his poetry. Poor cinnabun.

Another reason I choose to defend Lorenz is because of his father. I live with an abusive parent, which is probably what led me to have a really soft spot for Fire Emblem Fates’ Xander. I seem to fall in love with characters that have abusive parental units. Lorenz and Xander are definitely similar in my eyes: both of them have so many good qualities, yet they’re insanely loyal to fathers that are bonafide, heartless bastards. They’re blindly loyal to fathers that wouldn’t care if their sons were tortured, then executed. If Lorenz somehow failed the Gloucester name, you can bet your sweet bottom the Count would discard him like yesterday’s garbage.

Summary: Linhardt wakes in the Infirmary with a nasty wound, and his favourite fighter by his side.

Linhardt’s eyes did not want to open. A familiar pressure of exhaustion pushed at his forehead, imploring them to remain closed for as long as possible. He sighed quietly and attempted to turn over, to mesh his face into the soft pillow beneath him and drift back off into the bliss of sleep, when the rest of his senses awoke.

The pressure in his head turned into an ache, a throb that continued behind his brow and past his ears. Any deep breath caused spindles of pain to snake their way through to his back, and every part of him felt stiff. Linhardt groaned quietly as he tried to adjust, tried to do anything to alleviate this discomfort, but it followed – if not increased – with every movement.

When the smell hit him – that stale, crisp smell of the Infirmary – he opened his eyes. They felt puffy and swollen, but managed to snap open all the same. The light was offensively bright, streaming in from the high windows seemingly directly onto his face, but he adjusted soon enough. He saw himself tucked under the starch white sheets of one of the beds, a rack of medical ointments and vials at his side, and on his other… Caspar.

Comic transcript under cut! Sometimes two characters in fire emblem don’t get a support and you really wish they did, so please have this 

H???  HHHHH????  HHHHHHHHHHH???

SO FIRST OFF i was not prepared for this aND OUCH OUCH OUCH

also…your mind…omg, let’s think about this.

so are you imagining side effects similar to edelgard’s and lysithea’s getting coupled with the experiments??  a ferdinand with hair as shockingly white as theirs is, and the complexion to match???  dang, his freckles would be so stark against his bleached face, his skin tight, his features gaunt; it’s terrible to envision.  but, let’s make it worse: if he had no crest to begin with (and, if those who slither were even bothering with him, chances are he too would’ve been a prototype-of-sorts for edelgard’s eventual mutation), he wouldn’t be able to fend off the magic and…well, his future would look like lysithea’s: barely there.

ouch.

honestly, i think he’d be a little more serious (still ever-enthusiastic to rise to any challenge, still very proud of his heritage and eager to live up to it, but more strait-laced and less hung up on beating edelgard) and even more determined than he already is to succeed.  he only has so much time, after all, so he has to repair his legacy and help liberate fodlan, as well as becoming the best prime minister fodlan has ever seen, in a very limited window of time.

so…even more intense, slightly less bubbly, and way more prone to overworking, even though that would be his instinct either way.

regarding his relationships with edelgard and hubert…i’m really thinking things between him and them would be less frosty to begin with.  mainly, because both of them are very aware of what must’ve happened - just looking at his colorless hair and it’s obvious to anyone who knows of twsitd’s process - and it brings a lot of emotions back for both of them.

for edelgard, she’s reminded of her struggle, as well as the suffering of her siblings, and she simultaneously resents him for existing and weakening her with the constant reminder of what she lost…and pities him, because she knows exactly what his fate will be.  not to mention she’s curious: why would his father sell him to the agarthans without a fight?  how easily was he convinced to give his own son away?

ferdinand shrugs at one point and tells her, upon her asking, that his father knew what he wanted in a son and heir, and ferdinand, at the time, simply prioritized being the perfect heir.  he was too young to defend himself, anyway.  in a way, he doesn’t seem so upset about what happened: “since fodlan’s birth, the rulers have been blessed with the power of the goddess.  if i am to be a duke worthy of my name, then i should have a crest, as my father says.”

hearing just how convinced he is that this broken logic is somehow the truth only fuels edelgard’s ambitions.  she’ll win the war, sure, and she’ll do it for her siblings, her father, herself, the better interests of the bulk of the population…and for ferdinand, her friend.  she’ll do it for ferdinand too.

as for hubert…he looks at ferdinand, and all he can feel is a strange, strangling emotion that just might be guilt.  he blames himself for the terrible process attacking edelgard and leeching the life from her body, since he couldn’t be there to protect her, and when he sees ferdinand, someone who cares not for revenge, someone who still smiles and strives despite his future being just a particularly heartless ghost…it brings the guilt right back to him, until it’s wrapped around his lungs, until he chokes on it.

at some point during the academy phase, ferdinand crinkles his nose at hubert and asks him, “how come, whenever your eyes find me, you always look so strangely melancholic?  i’ve never seen you wear any emotion around anyone but me.  am i truly that special to you?” he teases.

hubert, then, would scoff and reply, “i’m just pitying lady edelgard, for the fact that you will be serving her in the future.”

five years later, if ferdie were to ask the same question (his voice weaker, just barely, but it seems like it’s a million times weaker to hubert’s fine-tuned ears), hubert would tell the truth: “i’m just thinking about how you will be leaving me so soon.”

and ferdinand would stretch his face into a weak smile and reply, “oh, hubert, i will not leave until i’ve fulfilled my purpose.  there is so much left for me to achieve, after all.”  he would squeeze hubert’s hand, and all hubert can feel is the way the bones in ferdie’s fingers could crumble if hubert were to accidentally cling too hard.  “we have all the time we shall need.”

(except they don’t.  what hubert needs is an eternity with him; perhaps he could even settle for a regular lifespan, but he’s not even getting that, and he can’t bear to break this truth to the man he loves.