Honestly with how much they screwed over Edelgard by trying to turn her into a wifu, it makes me like Lucina a lot more than I did. Sure there were parts that were definitely there for fan service but when the chips are down Lucina is willing to complete her mission and fully prepared to kill the MU, even if they are her mother or lover
Agreed.
I mean I never disliked Lucina although I did think she often got more of the spotlight than Chrom despite me liking Chrom more, but I always felt like Lucina's fanservicey moments just for better with her character.
Like Lucina for lack of a better word was "quirky" so that allowed a lot of otherwise not very compatible character traits to all come together in one character and make a bit more sense but as you said at least when push came to shove Lucina was not about to put any familial or romantic love above her mission (now I admit when the Avatar is her mother that scene does actually kinda annoy me but that's more because I feel like they should have rewritten the scene a little more but I understand why they didn't, too much work for something a lot of players won't see).
Lucina, similar to Edelgard, is a character who is strongly masculine in the sense she is introduced while masquerading as a man, and Lucina is arguably even less "fanservicey" in design than Edelgard with her completely flat chest and an outfit that covers her from head to toe (Edelgard dress not only emphasises her breasts but the skirt gives the impression of shapely hips as well. Lucina by comparison... Is literally a plank of wood 🤷🏻♀️). But when Lucina has her gap moe moments they feel less forced because 1. They aren't all involving the self insert main character, like Lucina being scared of the bug in her sibling supports have absolutely nothing to do with her relationship with Robin, it's there to be cute and funny and to give her and her sibling something to bond over. It's a dumb slice of life joke but it doesn't completely go against her as a character.
Edelgard on the other hand only ever shows her "vulnerability" to Byleth. Her cute gap moe moments all involve Player-sensei which makes them just feel more artificial. I don't care how "guarded" someone is, she'd slip up around someone else at least once. Even Marx from Fates showed his more vulnerable side around more than just Corn and while he wasn't experimented on he was hardly the poster child for a healthy childhood upbringing.












