Month: January 2022

The Nabateans Pre-Fire Emblem: Three Houses

The winter poll brought us here, to the much anticipated meta on the Nabateans before the events of Fire Emblem: Three Houses! Let’s be honest, there’s not enough content out there on the people who lived in Zanado, the Red Canyon. Some of the exclusive content includes my headcanons, which are not included in this preview post. Most of it is directly related to the canon information regarding how the Nabateans might have been. You should naturally expect…

Spoilers for Fire Emblem: Three Houses

This preview includes samples of the meta on these Nabateans:

  • Seiros
  • Sothis
  • Cichol

Become a patron at $1+ for the full meta on the above and following Nabateans:

  • Indech
  • Macuil
  • Cethleann
  • Cichol’s wife/Cethleann’s mother

Seiros (Rhea)

As for how Seiros gradually became Lady Rhea, that came about from her remaining rage at losing everyone in the Red Canyon combined with an unfortunate lack of oversight following the century-long war. There doesn’t appear to be any existing hierarchy in Nabatean culture outside of answering to Sothis, meaning there was no chain of command. Whether the others were permanently a magic beast, living elsewhere, or, in Seteth’s case, grieving a deceased spouse while waiting for his daughter to recover through years of rest, there simply wasn’t anyone else fit to lead following the war—or to realize Seiros was establishing the false church out of misplaced and unfulfilled spite. Killing Nemesis and getting Sothis’ remains pushed her anger to the back of her mind, giving the vague appearance of recovery, but it wasn’t gone by any means.

Sothis

That she chose to descend to Fódlan and walk among the people as one of them suggests she was incredibly trusting and uninterested in ruling with an iron fist (which she very easily could have done at the time). She liked humans, and it’s a safe bet that she traveled to Fódlan because she wanted to start her own family there. In fact, that’s precisely what she started doing once she was settled in. If anything, she was blindly optimistic because she shared her advancements with humanity and didn’t have a plan in place for anyone who might take advantage.

Cichol (Seteth)

His ability to speak against Rhea’s choices without making her hostile (like she is with Catherine, for example) implies that Seiros and Cichol were equals growing up. Once again, his title given to him by humanity as “guardian of the land” backs that up. But a power imbalance grew between them when she assumed the role of leader after Nemesis fell, and Seteth was understandably worried about Flayn more than anything else. Cichol’s absence allowed Seiros to do things without his fair, unbiased perspective to take the place of Sothis’ mocking wisdom.

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FE3H Spoilers: Rhea’s Past in Adrestia

Hello and welcome to my headcanon about Rhea having a romantic relationship with Wilhelm from Adrestia! Here are my crumbs of canon information to back me up.

Spoilers for FE3H Below

Rhea repeatedly references that Edelgard is a descendant of House Hresvelg. She goes so far as to say that Edelgard “humiliated [her] brethren” by standing against the Church of Seiros, and you simply don’t bring up a point like that over and over unless it has special meaning even generations later.

For those who don’t know, Seiros personally persuaded Wilhelm Paul Hresvelg to side with her against Nemesis, giving him her own blood. She’s done this before with a handful of people she deemed worthy, including Jeralt. So it wasn’t something she offered strictly as leverage to persuade him (although it probably played a part) by giving him a Crest of Seiros. She went on to help him found the Adrestian Empire, and the novel called The Feast of Decadence found in the Shadow Library implies it was a very popular rumor that she had a romantic relationship with Wilhelm:

A young man, staring at Emperor Wilhelm as he caught the saint and pulled her into a close embrace, suddenly beckoned me. He pressed his lips to my ear and whispered sweet nothings, mirroring Emperor Wilhelm and Saint Seiros upon the stage…

Given how Seiros consistently mentions Wilhelm around Edelgard after she declares war on the Church, I believe this rumor of their romantic relationship was true. Despite feeling betrayed by humanity for how the Agarthans turned against Sothis and her children, Seiros clearly trusted Wilhelm and elevated him to the role of Emperor.

Obviously, they didn’t have children together, but this history adds an entirely new level of offense to Edelgard’s perceived betrayal of Seiros. (I say perceived because there was human experimentation being carried out by the Agarthans with not a peep from Seiros’ leadership as all of Edelgard’s siblings were wiped out, as well as what happened with Lysithea, so it’s a very tangled situation.)

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Castlevania: Trephacard Dynamics Preview

From July’s patron-only poll, the winner was Trephacard relationship dynamics from Netflix Castlevania! You can see a preview of it below, and join at $1+ to see the whole meta, vote on the winter poll, and get other benefits shown here.

Remember, there will be spoilers.

Alucard and Trevor

“They’re… two of a kind in that few others will understand how it is to be so entrenched in your family name as to be almost synonymous with it.”

It’s not much of a surprise that these two started off fighting the second they met each other. Mostly because of family legacies, honestly, but the fight quickly evolves into something of a conversation. They are testing each other through this battle. That ability to test one another, push each other’s buttons, and come out friendly on the other side really defines their dynamic.

But they’re also two of a kind in that few others will understand how it is to be so entrenched in your family name as to be almost synonymous with it. To feel that duty so strongly that, as Trevor says at the end of their first fight, “living through it was just a luxury”. He had every intention of killing “Dracula” and didn’t care if he lived in the end, and for Alucard, that’s essentially what he went into the fight with his father thinking.

Their biggest struggle is that Alucard does care about class and appearances to an extent while Trevor doesn’t even a little, so they can get on each other’s nerves (more on that later with Sypha, who helps smooth things over with those two). They also understand each other’s hidden pain very well and cope very similarly.

Alucard and Sypha

“They also use sarcasm with each other to make painful moments more bearable, but it’s typically more lighthearted.”

All that blatant honesty and nerdiness they share means so much for them! She won’t mince words with him, just like he won’t with her. Meanwhile, she won’t get extremely offended and gives as good as she gets when Alucard oversteps. Who else can tell him he might be an angry teenager in an adult’s body? That frank ability to say what they might not like to hear does go both ways. After all, who will ask Sypha where she dropped the castle when he’s afraid he already knows the answer?

Like Trevor and Alucard, they also use sarcasm with each other to make painful moments more bearable, but it’s typically more lighthearted. Their reunion at the end of season 4 makes for a good example. Despite the somber atmosphere, Alucard was still making jokes and so was Sypha. The purpose with them is not to change how they feel, but take the edge off the pain through their brighter quips and banter.

The sheer depths of his sorrow do alarm her at times, but Sypha before season 4 is unfamiliar with grief and bittersweet memories as vast as what Alucard is up against with the death of his mother and the inevitable loss of his father. She needed time to see more of the world and the impossible situations (and corruption) in it to really comprehend that side of him and see what he needed.

Sypha and Trevor

“She brightens his lifestyle, and he expands her horizons. This is a gradual exchange that encourages a trust and affection that grows on its own.”

Even before they got along, never mind started dating, there was a generous helping of blunt honesty between Sypha and Trevor too. It’s harsher than the one between Sypha and Alucard, but that’s because their resolves oppose each other. Primarily in the sense that Sypha still has hope when they first meet and Trevor is much, much more jaded.

It’s during his time spent with the Speakers that Trevor rediscovers his drive as a Belmont, along with the hope to carry it through, and he shows Sypha the adventurous and purposeful life she does wish to experience more of. Their real turning point was when they worked together to defend Gresit. Between Sypha saving his life and her watching Trevor easily assume command of the townsfolk in order to not only save them, but teach them how to save themselves, they both discovered something new in each other and themselves.

It’s this that really clears the way for them to share parts of themselves with the other. All the adventures Sypha finds so thrilling and fun, burning goat turds and all, have generally been a trial and horrific for Trevor. Even the fact that she likes to travel and live nomadically turns being on the run into just a way to live, another thing they simply do and enjoy. She brightens his lifestyle, and he expands her horizons. This is a gradual exchange that encourages a trust and affection that grows on its own by its very nature.

Trephacard Trio

“Each of them has felt alone or lost before, but they have a place to belong together.”

However emotionally stunted this group can be at times, they do maintain hope, acceptance, and support with each other through an instinctive synergy they developed over spending time together. When Trevor and Alucard are at odds because of their differing approaches to life, Sypha can sort them out and remind them what they have in common. When she’s at her wit’s end with their nonsense, they can work out matters on their own with dark humor and their biting banter. Trevor and Alucard offer different kinds of comfort for Sypha, one warm and active while the other is cool and unobtrusive.

Each of them has felt alone or lost before, but they have a place to belong together.

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