#heather fe

As mentioned earlier one of the most notable things about Heather is her position as Fire Emblem's first canon lesbian a positioned she would be alone in until Fire Emblem Three Hope's Monica entered the screen 15 years later. This means something in her own world as well though, while the land of Tellius more certainly seems a little more inclusive in terms of women's places in society that does not mean queerness has been elevated into being a norm. For the most part we don't know much about queerness in the continent of Tellius we see through Heather that there is still heteronormative expectations at work for common women. Kyza's supports also imply at least a small pressure for people to be a bit more private about their sexuaity and gender.

Heather is hit on by men and likely has been hit on by men as a fairly traditionally attractive, unmarried adult woman for some time. She learned how to manipulate men into getting meals and other things from them outside of just robbing them but her manipulation is totally harmless, it is men doing things for the expectation of something Heather has never promised or even implied, simply a man's expectations for women. We know Heather has no history of abuse from an interview question where it was also affirmed she is simply a lesbian, that is just her nature and that she was never abused. So this kindness comes not from a place of trauma but in a place of solidarity with other women. We can see that the harassment of men is a factor for her though from her ability in the fire emblem TCG "Buffoonish men are in for a thrashing!" which shows how much she is just done with men being an asshole to her.

Unlike the men of the world her love for women comes with no expectation that they'll romance her, she likely thinks she is the only woman who likes other women, that she will be alone in her desires. So she simply works to make pretty women happy, content to give them a small flirt and a gift then leave them to do their own thing. Just getting to see a pretty woman is what she wants from a desire to see Princess Elenica and see if she lives up to the stories to wanting to help women like Nepheene and Illyana. She knows both that her taking care of her mother most come first but also that she's unlikely to be able to meet another woman to love.

I don't think it's an accident that the two women we see her be most into are bother fellow commoners when you look at Heather a a woman who is focused on solidarity between women. Heather's mechanics in Fire Emblem Cipher tend to lean on her attraction to women as well having women based abilities. In fact one of her abilities is called "For the smiles of girls!" showing that what she is doing is simply to see another woman smile. The end goal isn't marriage, isn't sex, isn't a relationship but just to see other women smile. This places her as a woman who is deeply rooted in community with other women and solidarity with them.

All of this comes from so little in the game and card game but I think together it paints a picture of an extremally kind woman with a roughish slant. She can be a scoundrel but only to people who deserve it and she is willing to steal and blackmail but it's always for a woman who is in need. At the end of the game Heather returns home to her mother, she lies and says she won't go be a thief again but she makes sure her mother is taken care of for the rest of her mother's life. She has no paired endings and is left alone at the end of it, proving that her own assumption is correct that she wouldn't find love so instead she would settle for smiles.

I want the best for Heather and I wish her love with many women. In my head she has a nice polycule to go see and helps nurse her mom to good health but regardless I think she has so much potential that was not explored thanks to Radiant Dawns bad support system and in general just being a minor character in a very massive cast. I love her and I hope I showed a bit of what draws me to her and why I think she is so special. If you enjoyed and want more, let me know and maybe I'll do more character deep dives. And of course Patreon and Ko-fi are always great ways to support me slash get me to do what you want.