storm ily please rant about thropes nonsensical worldbuilding and how they fucked up the noble hierarchy by having too many dukes <3
shyd. shyd.
IT MAKES NO FUCKING SENSE AND I'M SO MAD. LISTEN. LISTEN.
So, in the irl historical uses of the european terms (since Fire Emblem uses European terms, that's what I'm referring to), there's a hierachy to noble titles which tends to be pretty similar across the board. The words differ slightly depending on the language, (some of which have the same root somewhere, which is neat) so like, marquis (french) and margrave (anglification of German markgraf) are different terms for similar positions.
So, using the terms fe does, USUALLY IT'S LIKE (and this is a simplification. I'm not an expert asfgk):
sovereign (I'm disregarding the differing positions of king vs emperor vs archduke here, bc its not relevent for 3 houses. obvs they're different irl, but it is irrelevant here)
(sovereign heir)
Duke
Marquis/Margrave - usually used for a noble with land on a border, so worth extra distinguishment. That's especially true of 'margrave' from what I can tell, but 'marquis' did originate from the same use (medieval latin "marca", meaning "borderland/frontier") i like language. ANYWAY.
Count
Viscount
Baron
Lord (as in 'of the Manor')
Now. NOW. There can obviously be multiple people in the same rank, barring sovereign and heir, but. Thropes did this funny thing where they were like: what if we added new nobles not mentioned at all in 3 Houses, with very promient titles that would imply they are high ranking.
Faerghus? So you got Duke Fraldarius - tracks, the Fraldariuses are the Blaiddyd's right hands - and Margrave Gautier - also tracks - implying the Gautiers and Fraldariuses are basicially the highest ranking noble families in Faerghus, apart from the royal family. Makes sense.
But what if we added a new Duke? said Koei Tecmo, Just to fuck with Storm, specifically?
So KT dropped not just one duke - IFAN - who up until now was never mentioned, which. A duke is pretty fucking important. Important enough to BE LABELLED ON THE PRE-EXISTING MAP, I'D SAY. Anyway. But not satisfied with this, they ALSO said hey. Why not just put a marquis in Faerghus? For funsies. A marquis. A title of different linguistic origin to margrave, but the same status? Margrave, as in, the established Margrave Gautier? Whatever, we worked out a fun linguistic thing with the Empire, which I actually love, but it's the principal of the thing.
So there I am, screaming into my pillow, trying desperately to make some semblence of sense out of these goddamn retcons, which is, we all know, a hopeless endeavour. But it bugs me. It bugs me SO MUCH.
NOT TO MENTION, they seemed to have made "Duke" Ifan's territory so, incredibly tiny. Like. A duke you say??? Sure.
They also added just. So many viscounts. So many counts. SO MANY. DEMOTE SOME OF THEM. Seven whole viscounts - four new ones - and five counts - two new ones - while there are only two barons. Demote some of these fuckers for the love of god. The political power balance is all outta whack.
Adrestia and Leicester were also not spared this. Leicester was gifted just. Too many viscounts (WHERE are the lesser lords? in the basement??). And while Adrestia has the most reasonable balance of barons there are still so. many. viscounts. Like who the fuck are the von Fenjas? von Fenja the fuck up.
I'm not even gonna talk about how it makes NO SENSE for Arundel to only be a "Lord" - he's the regent??? Obvs this is a Three Houses thing, not a Thropes thing, but are they telling me he didn't get a fancy title to go with that fancy land and fancy crown. intsys I'm gonna need 3 pages double sided of your thought process there. I know I know, they didn't think it through that thoroughly bc it doesn't actually matter, but what about me? will someone please think of me, left out in the rain, behaving very exceedly not neurotypical about this game??? 😔
I'm a werebat, and I was planning on dressing up as Dracula for Halloween (get it because he turns into a bat, and I turn into a bat; I know it's a common costume but people who know me could still get it) but my cousin yelled at me and said that I was romanticizing my condition and joking about like that would be offensive to people with therianthropy who really suffer. Is that true? He's not a thrope, but he is older than me so maybe he knows better than me, but I don't know.
Your cousin’s being ridiculous. You’re the one who turns into a bat and you can riff on that any way you want.
If you were more responsible you wouldn't have been bitten by a werewolf, so since it's really your fault I don't see how it's anyone else's problem.
A lot of people are bitten as children or while taking perfectly ordinary actions like going to the store or taking out the trash. While you can reduce risk by staying inside at night on full moons, it’s honestly not realistic to ask of everyone that they do so, rarely a ‘thrope’s responsibility that they were bitten, and callous to suggest that by having therianthropy in public I’m making it your “problem”. Besides, the same accommodations that work for a born ‘thrope are useful for bitten ones too.
If I know I've been bitten by a were-creature, a 'Thrope, what precautions should I take? Do they infect with every bite? Even a scratch that gets their saliva on it?
It’s actually only bites, not introduced saliva. If you injected an entire syringe of ‘thrope spit it wouldn’t do anything except, uh, be gross. If you have been bitten by a ‘thrope, you should make sure you are in a safe, calm place where you will not be interrupted and will have a hard time leaving if addled, when the transformation occurs. You can use a moon lockup if your own home isn’t suitable (for instance, you might not want to turn into a bull if you live in a china shop and don’t know how your cognition will be affected). Try not to have anything going on during the day after a transformation so you can rest and recover, and consider befriending other ‘thropes in your area or online for more support and tips.
What happens if you're a thrope and have a pacemaker and transform, will that break it? I was bit last night but my cardiologist is out of town for the week so I can't ask him and I'm scared about tonight and I don't know what to do.
Sorry for the delayed answer and I hope this reaches you before the moon does! I had to call around because I didn’t know. Your pacemaker COULD be dislodged by the transformation and just in case it is HIGHLY recommended that you check into the nearest hospital with a moon lockup available (list). However, if it stays in place (both turning into your animal and turning back, the first time), you can rely on that in the future because they’re consistent in the details that might affect your device. For this reason an option is to have a new one inserted and hope for better luck this time, but you may have to do without for the duration of the moon cycle this month because mixing transformations and major surgery isn’t advisable (how inadvisable it is compared with your pacemaker being unavailable I can’t say without being a doctor and knowing your condition, which I am not and don’t).
