Not much to say about this one outside of what I’ve already touched on in my existing author’s note, and elsewhere on this blog regarding Takumi and wielding Fujin Yumi - except that I’m not sure I love the magic system in this game from a story-telling and narrative aspect. I am, of course, a filthy causal [sic] who knows nothing of overarching FE laws/lore (not to the same depth I understand the lore of say, Final Fantasy - hey, poke me, I’ll link you my FF blog), but to me it appears that magic is item-dependent. You have the right scroll/tome, you cast the spell. No issues.
Perhaps I’m missing something. Perhaps I simply lack imagination.
On that note, I will mention again out of sheer confusion and a little frustration that I’m disappointed Takumi and Ryoma don’t really have canon confrontation dialogue in this encounter. So much that I’ve latched onto its absence and headcanoned a very strained family dynamic between Takumi and his older Hoshidan siblings. More on that later. Another AU was born from this tangent, to do with Takumi’s possession, the trauma in his life and emotional neglect that got him there. This is also why I ship him with Camilla so eagerly. In an ideal world, he is given the chance to heal. In this world, he’s given a hot and toxic wife, who instantly gratifies him with physical affection and obsessive adoration. More on that later, too.
Random research for this chapter: ember storms are something that occur in Australia. You can probably imagine what those entail: strong winds, extremely hot conditions and flat expanses leading into dry bushland. It’s no wonder the fires get so bad.
I love the idea of forced physical proximity with the guise of rules - a neat little barrier behind which to hide while blindly lobbing denials at anything that can possibly be hit.
I mention somewhere else in this blog that I headcanon Camilla to be the mortal incarnation of a goddess of war. If a weapon exists, she can wield it, and if she cannot, it is only a matter of time before she figures out how. I imagine she might have been originally trained with a sword, and is actually very proficient with one.
It tickles me that the friendship set Takumi obtains through Ryoma grants him the option of promoting to a Swordmaster, with the absolutely fascinating coincidence that his armour for the class bears a high resemblance to Sumeragi’s. While I actually don't think it's intentional (Ryoma = red; Takumi = blue), I'd like to pretend that maybe there is some narrative thought behind it. Considering the (not quite canon) content of the Drama CDs, I have spent too many hours musing on the complexities of the relationships these three men have with one another and how they all intrinsically revolve around a sword of some sort.
All that said, I view swordsmanship as a secondary skill Camilla and Takumi both have, and the middle ground on which to meet one another eye to eye for the first time. There’s a surprising number of people out there that seem to want to know whether a katana would beat a long or straight sword in a duel. Friends, you’re asking the wrong question. I was more interested in whether will could defeat want. Support B occurs immediately afterwards - the one that helped me realise that Camilla isn’t just doing this for kicks - but Takumi is so discombobulated by the disparity between his determination to hate Camilla and her clearly friendly teasing (and the fact that she’s… just hot) that he can’t figure out what to believe anymore.
Support A absolutely kills me. If that had been the tone with which their S Support was written, this fic would not exist. However it is what it is, and I ended up dialling the discomfort up instead. I've figured out now that I don’t like it when someone is condescending to Takumi, and I insist on this relationship occurring on equal ground. Camilla will not get away with treating him like a child - at least, not until she obtains consent to do so - and not until she thoroughly understands by Takumi’s own admission that he actually likes it.
Until then, she will respect his boundaries, be polite, and accidentally plant a seed that becomes the most rampant brambly brush that Takumi has ever had the displeasure of housing in his chest.
Hinata turned out to be a pleasantly fun time to write. I like the boy. I imagine him to be that enabler friend that encourages you to take three extra shots, tear off your top and dance on the tables, but absolutely holds your hair and rubs your back as you puke. I think a lot of people in Takumi’s orbit are inadvertently affected by his pull, and Hinata is one of them - he’s probably more of a brother than Ryoma will ever be - and incidentally, by sheer proximity to Oboro, and out of pure respect and admiration, develops a crush on Takumi too.
More on Hinata later.
And speaking of Oboro, the first of many deleted scenes is attached to the spar, and occurs between the first and second halves of this chapter. Takumi sustains a tear to his kimono sleeve. It is up to, of course, Oboro to fix.
More on Oboro later.
Unexpected research this chapter included:
The history of bento in Japan. This becomes tangentially attached to a later chapter.
Katana lengths and metals used to forge blades, wood and materials used to construct a saya and tsuka, respectively. Clearly not used very much here.
What the heck the deal is with Windmire and Castle Krakenburg. I honestly still don't really understand, but don't get me started on Shirasagi. More on that later, too.
Originally, another whole chapter existed before this one. At the time, I felt a need to justify why Camilla might even be interested in the royal little shit after he not only attempted to kill her, but also continued to openly promote hostility towards her entire kingdom.
A lot of this was reduced to the line it was the proper thing to do.
I mentioned previously that I originally dismissed Takumi as an archetype, present to check a box, but I’ve since come to understand that due to his place in the canon, he’s probably the most developed character out of the entire cast. It’s no accident that he’s consistently one of, if not the most popular male character in polls.
This chapter is the one that I return to when I’m trying to latch onto the vibe of Takumi that I want to write. He’s right on the cusp of becoming a man, but still only a boy; a seasoned master of his craft with a lot to learn. He’s one of the most dedicated and talented warriors in Hoshido, but he’s convinced he doesn’t deserve the accolade. He’s 167 cm of crackling live wire bundled tightly into a stylish uniform, with a face sculpted by the most affectionate and lonely gods.
Turns out the answer to “why” is: because he’s interesting.
It’s also probably why he’s so easy to ship with absolutely everyone else in the entire cast.
My Camilla POV chapters tend to be quite a bit shorter than Takumi POV chapters, and in hindsight, I think it’s because I have a bit more fun being in Takumi’s head. I also relate a bit better.
All of this isn’t to say that Camilla is uninteresting or that she’s unrelatable. I think this fandom does sometimes shoehorn her into the somewhat empty role of sexy big sister with jiggle physics - through no fault of our own. She’s marketed this way. She doesn’t have a head for politics or diplomacy. She takes long baths. It’s honestly way too easy to make those assessments and leave it at that. She’s got dialogue, descriptors, traits and flavour text that encourage this interpretation. I’m not about to gaslight anyone into thinking that she’s intended to be a deep and complex character. But I’m also not going to fall down a nine-year rabbit hole and not invent a whole heap of complexity to justify my shipping fixation.
My interpretation of Camilla is inherently violent (and sometimes, cruel) due to a number of reasons, not the least involving trauma, conditioning and the means to survive the environment she was raised in. As a result, she experiences crippling guilt, and as I describe, a repentant wish to rectify her actions by practising the kindness and compassion she sorely craved as a child.
I originally intended the entirety of this fic to simply be one of those Support Convo Rewrites. When it began growing out of control was when I started conceding to the notion that I would have to confront the writing in these dialogue exchanges.
I re-read all of the supports many, many times in both official Treehouse script and direct fan translations (honestly, BLESS you guys) from the Japanese dialogue to construct chapters where the supports feature heavily such as this one. It was inevitable that I had to adjust some of the wording for flow and context, but I did my best to hold onto the vibe for all except for the instigating (offending) support, S. Turns out it’s a lot easier to write when you have a fundamental setting and structure to fill out - although it’s also a bit of a trap, especially when you can’t quite get a grip of the tone. I rewrote this chapter, perhaps… five to six times. I’m still not quite happy with it.
C Support doesn’t have a lot of rational logic. Camilla appears out of nowhere and literally harasses poor Takumi because… she actually wanted to personally train him herself? I’m no Camilla expert, but I suspect it’s more because she wanted to annoy him for the sport.
One of the things I never expected to be researching for fic was kyudo. Traditional materials for arrow shafts, bowstrings and targets; technique and practice, uniforms, equipment - even events and cultural significance. It not only gave me a better feel for what Takumi might do in training and maintaining his skill, but spawned a one shot.
On that note, I will be posting extra scenes that didn’t make it into the main story, as well as these one shots both on this blog and on AO3.
And perhaps when I finally finish posting this fic, I might join the local kyudo school in my area.
In hindsight, I would have maybe liked to have gone all in on the action in this and had Camilla burst out of the grey like a rabid fanged beast, roaring and maiming as she went, but I wanted to at the time, make the point that despite the nerves, Takumi is an experienced warrior who can think through his instinct, and is absolutely the most efficient choice for annihilating Camilla in a single shot.
I make a very concerted effort to write my Takumi as Capable. Deeply (toxically) insecure and ruminating, but consistently strong, sharp and skilled. This is a matter of personal interpretation, and of course, taste. His limitations are due to prejudice, arrogance or poor temper, rather than any lack of ability - this makes him a bit of a double-edged sword. He needs to conquer himself before he can begin to understand his place in the world and properly take on anything else - otherwise, he’s also capable of causing a lot of unintended damage.
Based on my own understanding of ancillary information in the game, it’s possible that Takumi trained to become an archer under any one of his three parents - so I want it to be Ikona.
I… don’t mind Mikoto as a McGuffin and a character, but I find her role in the narrative to be more… coherent, if she isn’t just a clumsy, pure-hearted, unnaturally selfless individual with god-level skill, but is somehow unable to rescue a child so precious to her that she would literally die to preserve them. Call it cynicism, but I can’t comfortably buy into the fact that everyone not only accepted her without any question, but allowed this strange woman to just take over the entire country and royal family - and adored her as well.
So reads the infamous line from Takumi’s profile: Has the worst nightmares. Dreams in writing are one of my bugbears, and as expected, something I find really difficult to write. Because they’re so subjective and emotionally intertwined with the author, I don’t think I can truly say what makes a good or bad dream sequence, only what I imagine might knock about in the head of a boy that thinks too much and is worried about almost everything. And because I am bad at them, I have then endeavoured to pepper this fic with as many of Takumi’s dreams as possible. While I only bring her up again in Takumi's conscious thoughts, I imagine Mikoto’s death to be an incredibly frequent and invasive presence in his unconscious mind.
I’m sure you’ll recognise a few lines in here lifted directly from the in-game script.
Finally, I thought it would be fun to not only have Takumi attempt to kill Camilla in battle upon first sight, but to double down and to attempt it again as soon as he could. Takumi is, if nothing else, a man of principles - even if they are deeply flawed.
In 2017, this fic existed as a chaotic scramble of 200-odd words and included a hysterical paragraph sent to a friend about how I imagined these unlikely two might get together. These words have since been wiped.
This monstrosity was birthed, like many ship fics in this fandom are, from a desire to expound on the scraps we were fed in these characters’ support conversations. I activated Camilla and Takumi’s supports very quickly in Revelation because I was always either pairing or setting them beside one another - I’m a bit of a lazy RPGer and on my first run, I’ll throw anything that works repeatedly at the game until it doesn’t. And camikumi always worked.
I assumed immediately in their C support that this was going to be one of those typical older sexy woman hits on younger man situations.
Thankfully, I was wrong.
I had a pretty shallow understanding of Takumi’s character at the time. He was the abrasive little brat that was too immature to do anything other than yell for attention in Birthright, and then the angy possessed boss boy in Conquest. He existed, in my mind, to be ship fodder for the teenage prince from Nohr, and for the oneechans that liked a tsundere bishounen to keep as a pet. I didn’t care too much and I didn’t care to trial him with anyone else. I married him to Oboro originally because it made hella sense. I would have single mindedly married him to Leo in Revelation if I could because that made even more sense.
But these supports suddenly threw a spotlight on the guy. Takumi is anxious, insecure and frankly, pretty racist. Camilla not only realises this and provides a challenge to these traits, but offers a means to work towards resolution. While Takumi is neither mentally nor emotionally prepared to be scaroused, Camilla genuinely seems to be pretty objectively unconcerned, and appears, even more so than individuals like Jakob, to want to simply alleviate any preconceived animosity between them.
Their A support fatally shot me in the head. I had this idea of gradually building rapport from an unlikely place and then was given a scene featuring a boy who is starved of acknowledgement and recognition suddenly being the centre of attention of a woman who is not just undeniably physically attractive, but is willing to treat him like something valuable - someone important and precious.
To this day, I’m convinced that the writers never meant for Camilla to marry anyone other than Corrin - and certainly not either of the Hoshidan princes. She frankly has more romantic chemistry with Leo. But if their supports helped me shift my perspective on Takumi, it completely evolved the way I thought about Camilla. She went from an eye roll inducing fanservice add-on to a woman with at least a couple more layers to her - disarmingly, strategically playful, patient and generously tolerant, and most notably, kind. She is overbearing to comedic effect, but it places a very effective sort of pressure on Takumi to accept the kindness, to be nurtured and forced to grow, to allow his understanding of what is good and bad to take on a few extra shades.
I knew once I read that A support that I had to marry them as soon as possible - and then I read their S support.
The disappointment when all of this build up I had formulated in my head amounted to an epic, monumental effort on Takumi’s part to swallow his pride and ask perhaps the toughest question he’s ever had to ask his entire short and deeply traumatic life, and Camilla basically staring down her nose to say, “Hmm. Wasn't on my bingo card. I guess I could shape you into something serviceable.”
I nursed that injury for six damn years. And then I suddenly busted out Chapter One.
While I surely love teh thought of A!Cami topping the everloving soul out of O!Takumi. Alpha!Cami being 100% supportive of Omega!Hinoka is my jam as well. Maybe because Camilla as an alpha that's a lady of war but nurturing just clicks well with Hinoka who is determined and a pegasus rider. (Also, imagine the wyvern and the pegasus secretly shipping their riders. Imagine the Wyvern accepting Hinoka as his Master's mate. Imagine Camilla assuring the pegasus that she'll protect her on the ground
Yes oh my god give me a hug anon. Alpha!Camilla is my jam! She’d take such good care of her omega and act so motherly that one would think that she’s just an extremely caring beta. That is, until she gets on the battlefield or her omega is hurt. Then the blood thirst and aggressiveness gets kicked into full gear.
