Eeeyyy, Strikes (that’s her nickname and it’s a lot shorter than butwhatifidothis, sorry) doesn’t usually make arguments anymore! This’ll be a nice break from Fantasy Invader.
Maybe.
Hopefully.
Spoilers for Trails in the Sky a ways under the cut
And uhh, that’s not an argument I’ve ever heard before, honestly, it must be a super old one. Good thing it got dropped, it’s weak.
So because Edelgard said,
It means the devs are saying, “you did wrong, tho.”
So I guess when Dimitri says he’s a monster who deserves death it means we need to ram him into something that can kill him, accept the game over, and start a new file of Three Houses?
When Joshua Bright said he was a broken person with a broken heart, it meant Estelle should have immediately given up on him?
When Velvet Crowe said she was monster and claimed she ate Seres just ‘cause, that meant she retconned reality and changed the circumstances under which she ate her?
It’s almost like sometimes people with trauma and a poor self-image say self-deprecating things that aren’t actually true.
“Which doesn’t mean Byleth is defying destiny by walking at Edelgard’s side. No sir.”
Again, the devs only said Silver Snow was the route that was made first to explore the world, not that the worldbuilding suits SS specifically. Otherwise, what the fuck is Azure Moon there for? I’ve seen it argued that White Clouds best suits Azure Moon because of Lonato and Miklan (setting aside that their respective issues were not about Dimitri’s personal tragedy but the broken state of Fodlan society), but with Strikes’ argument Azure Moon can’t possibly mesh with White Clouds because White Clouds only supports Silver Snow, according to her!
I mean... Azure Moon doesn’t mesh at all with White Clouds anyways, but that’s for very very different reasons.
I’m on to you, you red-headed, red-caped bastard.
I won’t let you invade Nohr, Ryoma >:(
Also, correct me if I’m wrong, but Byleth’s side, whichever side that is, does plenty of mowing down in all routes.
Damn, Fodlan is doomed.
Those poor celebrating commoners.
Oh no, is this Crushed Nugget again?
Now we’re delving straight into, I believe, Crushed Nugget’s Everyone is Miserable in CF set of posts, which is something I’d reeeeeaaaaaally like to dig into sometime, because it’s just a lot of petty and trivial ways to try to demonstrate everybody as being unhappy or less-fulfilled characters in CF.
These can range from the ever-popular “Lysithea doesn’t want to destroy the Empire in CF”, to “Yuri feels overworked in CF”, to “Raphael is irresponsible and happy in CF”, to “Ingrid is sadge in CF”. Yeah, being happy is bad if in CF and being unhappy is also bad if in CF.
It’s basically just her plucking at literally anything she can find to say that CF is bad in that exact moment without any regard for consistent standards. Ignatz’s is especially amazing given you know if the paintings he drew were reversed she’d instead say VW Ignatz is good for wanting to immortalize the horror of war so we never forget what war takes from us while CF Ignatz is bad for trying to cover up the pain with pretty pictures of something.
If you looked at red flags through pink lenses, wouldn’t they still look red?
Hey, you’re the one who said,
Because even the lord of the route is trying to tell the player that uhhh Byleth doesn't belong here, they're supposed to be on the other routes. Which checks with how the devs said that SS is the route the world-building is based on, and how within the game itself CF directly goes against SS' world-building.
Don’t blame me for arguments you made!
She’s missing the point. It’s not argued that you don’t get to choose SS. The argument is that you do have to choose CF. You can’t default onto CF the way you can SS.
Another important point is how riddled with But Thou Musts SS is.
Who’s in charge of the army here, Seteth!?
So... going CF isn’t about tearing Byleth away from their proper place in SS?
If Byleth is meant to go SS, as Strikes said above, then CF is about defying fate.
If CF isn’t about defying fate, then Byleth isn’t meant to go SS.
So suddenly Byleth is more than a self-insert for the player to glom onto? That’s a bit contradictory to the usual Edelcrit line, but okay.
Since Byleth is now their own character and not a self-insert to represent the player, then Edelgard isn’t trying to date the player and the player demographics have no bearing on whether or not she’s bi, nor does her "gap moe” have any bearing on whether or not CF is a valid choice, because maybe Byleth doesn’t care about all that. Maybe they’re into MILFs.
Technically no, there’s a sequence of options that can have Byleth making no positive choice regarding which side to take.
Miss the coronation entirely, then you have a “I must kill Edelgard,” and “...” option at the Holy Tomb.
Indeed, you can spend basically all of SS being dragged around expressing discontent, and getting But Thou Must’ed into following along with the plot.
Also, again, the argument is not that Byleth can’t choose SS. It’s that they have to choose CF.
Hey, speak for yourself, I usually marry Dorothea.
Strikes is getting real fuckin’ philosophical all of a sudden about the concept of player character agency in a narrative-driven video game.
For real, this is some Bioshock/Undertale-level shit.
You know, I never considered that maybe Corvo would rather just stay in his cell and accept execution as penance for his failure to protect the Empress. He can’t speak in Dishonored 1, how do I know what his thoughts on the subject are? Am I puppetting him to commit mass murder like some kind of revenge-loving cordyceps!?
I am so sorry, Corvo :(
But actually, Strikes, how do you know that Byleth wants to fight Edelgard? Maybe they want to pick Black Eagles every time? Are you perhaps denying their agency every time you join your beloved Golden Deer? (I’m just assuming GD is her favorite route since she professes to love Claude). Are you denying their agency when you click on, “I must kill Edelgard”?
How could you do such an awful thing?
Bonus round time!
Why is she continuing her arguments in the tags??? That sounds annoying as hell.
Also, uhh,
Look at that fucking smug grin. Is that the face of an expressionless killing machine?
I have no idea where this, “Byleth reverts to being the Ashen Demon in CF” argument came from. I guess because they’re killing people the Edelgard detractors would rather they not kill, they have to be doing it heartlessly? That’s assuming a lot.
That’s... more or less exactly what it is, actually.
I know Strikes doesn’t like Edelgard being portrayed as a sad, tragic figure, but uhh... she is. Edge of Dawn is right there, it’s about Edelgard’s sorrow thinking about the future.
