Let’s say Byleth doesn’t have their same charisma, and one student from each of their original house defects, whether you like it or not. Who would you personally pick? It keeps the sympathetic tragedy of the game intact, even when you go for a full recruit in each house.

For BL, I feel like either Ashe or Mercedes have good cases to defect. Ashe has a pretty good reason to go with or against Edelgard, given the circumstances of his adoptive father’s death. Mercedes, who’s suffered against crests so much, and has living family with the Black Eagles, has a good chance of siding with Edelgard. It’s also good story-wise for drama, since Ashe and Mercedes are such kind people. There has to be something horrible that happened to push them to betray their house.

I don’t know enough about the three other routes, so feel free to discuss!

Edit: I wanted to point out, it doesn’t necessarily have to be in character. After all, the game’s story wasn’t written with a traitor in mind. But if you had to adjust the story/characters and pick a traitor, who would you pick?

The retainers would never do betray their leaders, but in this hypothetical, I feel like it’d be fun if one of them turned from their own cause.

At the top of my head, I can think of three very memorable moments where this was used:

1. His first boss battle, where the entire castle‘s theme had been leading up to that music.

2. If you choose to fight him, especially with Frog 1v1. Despite all that talk of Lavos and the world ending, this fight was personal.

3. If you choose to spare Magus, and he’s in the party for Queen Zeal’s fight, his battle theme overrides his mom’s own boss theme.

This man’s aura is bonkers.

So much anime have Europe-based settings. Yet almost every time, we get the same standard American accent. Even anime that are explicitly set in the United Kingdom aren’t exempt from this (yes, I’m talking to you, Ancient Magus Bride).

It doesn’t have to apply to real-life settings either. So much fantasy anime are heavily inspired by European aesthetics and architecture, but have no accent to show for it. Which is a shame, cause there’s so much potential charm in that.

Hell, it doesn’t even have to be European. Give us more Southern American or Boston accents.

Shoutout to Metaphor: ReFantazio having different accents, from London, Scottish, Scouse, and more. And a special mention to the iconic Xenoblade Chronicles’ Welsh catgirl. I’m sure there’s more I didn’t bring up, so go ahead and mention it.

Edit: Shoutout to Cyberpunk: Edgerunners too. There are so many accents because it’s set in a California melting pot.

Yes, I’m aware the friendship is goated in canon. I’m aware the writers confirmed it. I’m aware that they’ve called each other “bro” or something that would be odd in a non-platonic way.

Sometimes, I don’t even want them to get together in canon! Sometimes, the plot is perfectly fine as it is. But, it’s just fun to read about them being together. And look at art shipping them, even if its not canon. Because it’s called FANFICTION and FANART.

It doesn’t need to be canon to be fun and cute. And canon is its own good thing. Reading about a ship in fanfic doesn’t mean that’s where I want it to go in the actual work, it’s just different on its own.

Let’s just have fun with our separate places in the fandom and ignore each other if we do/don’t like the shipping.

Full credits to this awesome post by u/JaredAiRobinson. I just wanted to expand it a bit with the non-party members.

Grius, Fabienne and Maria

https://preview.redd.it/q3gpl5295h1h1.png?width=1920&format=png&auto=webp&s=4f3c7ab71a0ce33044d0b86e9a1cca633a391086

Grius died to create a kinder world for his family: his common-law Paripus wife and his daughter, a half-blood that faced discrimination even against lower class tribes. He knew the dangers and entrusted his daughter onto Fabienne and Will.

Maria, traumatized by her father's death (not to mention her biological mother's absence), struggled to call the place she lived in "home." She initially wanted to go on adventure because she felt she had nowhere to go. But Fabienne reassured Maria of their status as family, which Maria learned to reciprocate. She eventually found company in Will and the rest of the party. She eventually traveled outside of Grand Trad because of her family, not from a lack of it.

Strohl and His Parents

https://preview.redd.it/relv337a5h1h1.png?width=1920&format=png&auto=webp&s=cb3f47b1f69fa3a7bebec3446fa9b61fd8704aa3

Strohl's parents raised their son with values of true nobility in the service of their people. They lived by their beliefs and died by them. Strohl's social link is about aiding his displaced villagers; all the while thinking about what his parents would want. Eventually, Strohl would realize how admirably he fulfilled their wishes.

On a smaller scale, Strohl is a remarkably down to earth person because of his parents. Strohl knows how to cook and do laundry, which eventually became instrumental in their journey. He also defended an Elda that he owed no official obligation to, even seemingly at the cost of his own life.

While other party members go by their first names, Strohl goes by his last, most likely out of respect for his village and his parents. It's also his past that allowed him to empathize (but obviously not justify) with Louis' past (even though it was the latter's deliberate blind eye that led to his hometown's destruction).

Joanna and Her Son

https://preview.redd.it/2hivif4b5h1h1.png?width=1920&format=png&auto=webp&s=7e07f65595f9dec0be112c67e855a4095e045c11

Even the most depraved villains have family, and Joanna undoubtedly loved her son. She rejected reality because a hate-filled world that took him away from her. She took innocent lives so she wouldn't mourn his loss. She framed an innocent man. Her world became contradictions upon contradictions. Why would she lash out at the world if her son didn't die? Why cause innocents pain when she was once an innocent too?

In the end, Heismay withheld judgement from her. He broke her framework of justice and fought so they could both confront their pain. He killed her "son" so she could finally see reality. In the end, she willingly faced death so his name would be cleared. In her final moments, she supported Will in the belief of a kinder world than the one that destroyed hers.

Heismay and His Son

https://preview.redd.it/oajcneyb5h1h1.png?width=1920&format=png&auto=webp&s=72926a7cf78dfae6dd74ddb37df6abd5a8da69a9

Heismay's defining trait is his fatherhood. He set out into the world, became strong enough to defend the crown, and then made a family for himself whom he cared about deeply. He gained so much individual power, but it was all for nothing. Heismay's son may not have died because of direct discrimination, but the world was cruel enough to ignore his child's cries for help. His love for his son broke him. He wandered the world in loneliness and apathy. In the end, he became just like the village that he had left: isolated and unchanging. It was meeting someone like his son, Will, that saved him.

Maybe once, he couldn't even take care of his own body because of that grief. But it was that same grief that gave him the kindness to reach out to a woman who wronged him. One whom no one could ever sympathize with nor defend except him. In hindsight, his kindness towards her was crucial in the dream of a better world.

Neuras and His Mentor

https://preview.redd.it/gh9fyehd5h1h1.png?width=1920&format=png&auto=webp&s=f95b7ff4a574b196430a42efe26b4f2d5dcc8070

Neuras' full name is Neueirus Corvus Corax, presumably from House Corax. But he long rejected that life in favor of his eccentric but genius curiosity. He has a rocky relationship with his biological family because of his eccentric behavior. He notably goes by his nickname, unlike Hulkenburg or Strohl.

He had family, in his old mentor who fanned the flames for his curiosity. Even beyond death, it's his mentor's words that guided his relic hunt across Euchronia.

His endless curiosity cost him his relationship with his biological family and nobility. Worse, it's what made him complicit in the igniter experiments against the paripus. But that curiosity led him to his mentor and the Resistance. His relationship with the Partisans enabled him to put lives above intellectual curiosity. In the end, he used his passion specifically for the good of others.

(Eiselin) Hulkenburg, House Hulkenburg and Knighthood

https://preview.redd.it/71z8v1ge5h1h1.png?width=1920&format=png&auto=webp&s=cd39e630752090a6bc0c3aa0ae79a666cd3c5634

Hulkenburg's primary struggle comes from her duty. She was an outcast in her noble family due to her inclination in martial matters instead of political responsibilities. She had sought knighthood to replace her family and gathered companions like Grius, Rhodanthe, and others in the shadowguard. However, it was her biological family's shadow that caused the rift between her and Rhodanthe due to (unwanted) nepotism.

Eventually she became a sworn knight without a master. She had left her family, grieved Grius, given up knighthood, dueled Rhodanthe, and went searching for the prince that had been presumed dead for years, one whom she failed to defend. She has a past that's defined by broken duty, setbacks with no clear solution, and a future where she's forced to walk blind because she knew nothing.

But she took a leap of faith to follow a boy that she would later discover to be the prince. She fulfilled her obligations to her knighthood that she once thought she failed. And her experiences with the partisans made her work for a utopia, one that would eventually lead her back into politics. She succeeded in her familial duty, all on her own merit, all while staying true to herself. It may not have been the path that she would have wanted to take, but it led her to become the person that she needed to be.

Alonzo and His Mother

https://preview.redd.it/46j2wduf5h1h1.png?width=1920&format=png&auto=webp&s=72d9a949961b65a0c3243a2acb89b728c42ef2ca

Despite Alonzo's roguish tendencies, he's trapped under the very system he despises. Just like his greatest enemies. He's a contradiction. Others tricked his mother (the one that raised him as his own), yet he likes tricking others. It's the same cycle that lead to his mother's death. It was his mother whom he did everything for, it was her end that made him long for death, and it was her words (and Will's) that gave him a reason to live once again.

Despite all his deceit, he found people he could be sincere to and truthful for. He may be a liar, but he believes in fantasy, a world not unlike lies, and a world that was worth tricking for. Even if he will never be as saintly as his mother, she lives on as long as Alonzo keeps moving forward.

Brigitta, Her Dog, and Her (Adopted) Children

https://preview.redd.it/38b4y41i5h1h1.png?width=1920&format=png&auto=webp&s=2b124a0cde809212783dc7bf7aa325e14cbce513

Despite her icy demeanor, she cares deeply about whoever she latches onto, whether it's her dog, or Will. It's that care that almost led her to rashly continue that cycle of violence that had initially left her with nothing. It's the same care for Will that made her see reason. If she didn't listen, there would be a world where two eugief children would be completely justified to take revenge on her, thus beginning the cycle of violence anew. But her empathy with others because of her past experiences is what made her build a home (basically adopting) for two innocent orphans.

Batlin and His Father

https://preview.redd.it/vt3bozzj5h1h1.png?width=1920&format=png&auto=webp&s=8a7b6181298461dad4e7913335d22c347f0cefca

There must have been a time where Batlin doubted his father. At the start of the story, Batlin fully believed in the Sanctist Church. But Batlin's father was against them, due to his investigative work in the paripus riots. Eventually, Batlin's pursuit of the truth outside the church that led him to following in his father's footsteps and finally believing in his old man.

Basilio, Fidelio, Vinca, (and the Cygnus Sisters)

https://preview.redd.it/vwlfbh6l5h1h1.png?width=1920&format=png&auto=webp&s=965b36dde7a7ead01d0ee48780114bcd808c0952

Basilio is no stranger to injustice, pain, and loss. But those agonizing and dark moments also brought out the best in the others around him. Basilio had no one except his brother and his community. When others around them died, it was Fidelio's concern and Rella's kindness that saved the brothers from death. Even when the brothers joined an organization as hateful and unsuitable for hope and kindness as Louis', Junah's songs made all their lives a little easier. She morally grounded them when the situation called for it. And when Basilio lost his older brother, he found new friends, Vinca, and a purpose. When Rella died, he had a support system to keep him on the right track because of the partisans. Despite Vinca's induced madness, he affirmed his place as Basilio's family.

Basilio never lost hope for a better future. He had his older brother always looking out for him, even when Fidelio didn't know how. But eventually, Fidelio entrusted him enough to give his life away.

Edeni and Eupha

https://preview.redd.it/9eadrxpm5h1h1.png?width=1920&format=png&auto=webp&s=f39e37a4760b4b4cece18a9b77feb1a8a34d2b99

The only constant that can break a cruel yet persistent cycle of tradition, code, and honor is basic human decency and kindness. Eupha almost died because of a village's adherence to faith that valued itself over logic or kindness. Her parents died due to them trying to find a way to save their daughter, even if it went against commonly believed truths.

Edeni's beliefs are undoubtedly unorthodox, due to his experiences from the outside world and his role as chief of an isolated village. But it was primarily his love for his sister that made him prioritize her wellbeing. That is what ultimately saved Eupha and their village. Later on, Eupha's love for her island lead her to fight against Louis and save her people.

Junah, Rella, House Cygnus

https://preview.redd.it/svkdrgcn5h1h1.png?width=1920&format=png&auto=webp&s=c7717f8289dec65d5a442ee0394f0b96172a3b83

House Cygnus enjoys significant power because of its alliance to the Sanctists. However, it comes with their bloody duties passed down from generation to generation. Rella hated her house except for her adopted sister. It's that love for her sister that forced her hand in cursing the prince. And once assured of Junah and her flock's safety, she willingly faced her death in the belief of a better future.

Junah was old enough to remember her life in slavery before she was sent to House Cygnus. It's completely possible that Rella was one of the first kind faces she had encountered in her entire life.

Despite Junah's background as a slave and a noble, she was clearly a free spirit. She joined the Resistance, studied as a student of the Mage Academy, and entered Louis' faction, even with her family's relationship to Sanctists. But besides her singing, she didn't nearly have as high of a stake in returning the Prince into power until her sister's confession. Rella's death solidified Junah's resolve to see her mission until the end.

Gallica and Will

https://preview.redd.it/g9qzam4o5h1h1.png?width=1920&format=png&auto=webp&s=4ab5750edefdd9f13b170eb9006e9648461c20a0

Fairies aren't part of the tribes due to their unique origins of magla. Fairies can live indefinitely as long as they keep a sense of purpose for life. Thus, fairies fade away when they lose their will to live. Will's magla body isn't that different from Gallica's origins either. In the bad ending where Will gives up, the game immediately gets a game over (which could imply that as a magla being, he faded away, just like a fairy that lost their will to live. Not canon, just a personal theory).

The Prince's dreams would've stayed as unmotivated fantasies unless he had people to build a better world for. So the Eldan Queen fabricated his first friendships with the Prince and Gallica, because the Prince was in no position to build relationships on his own. Once Gallica and Will's purpose was fulfilled and their memories were revealed as fake, Gallica and Will had no real reason to associate with each other anymore. They were given an opportunity to part ways. But they didn't.

Maybe their relationship started as a lie, but their hardships, experiences, and fantasies were something they could believe in. They had met other people to dream a better future for. They chose each other. Fairies are often oblivious, hedonistic, and unaware of time, but Gallica is an exception because of the time she spent around others like Will. In the end, it's Gallica's voice and Gallica's music that shook Will out of More's reality.

Louis, the Charadrius Family, and the Eldan Sanctum

https://preview.redd.it/p3lckfzo5h1h1.png?width=1920&format=png&auto=webp&s=984e7cfd76a2ae0544b7f7f3377422e5ce2b1daa

Everything about Louis ties back to the destruction of the Eldan Sanctum. His family was known for its medical pursuits, but he followed in the opposite of their footsteps. Despite his own concealment of his heritage through his clemar horns, he kept his family's name alive through his skyrunner, the Charadrius. Much of his knowledge and strength in magic came from the sanctum too.

However, unlike Will, his family seemed to be the only people he undoubtedly cared about (and even then, it's subject to interpretation depending on the player. But I personally think he did). He enjoyed Junah's presence enough to indulge in her whims. He had prolonged interactions with the Magnus brothers in his ranks. However, none of that was enough to stop him from harming them, whether it's Junah or Fidelio.

His belief in his ideal is so great, that he willingly left Strohl's village be destroyed by humans. Perhaps he despises those who cannot shoulder anxiety, but he himself had never really moved past that day. One can wonder, if he had someone like Gallica, and he encountered friends like Strohl, Hulkenburg, etc., could he have been someone different?

Will, Hythlodaeus V, and the Eldan Queen

https://preview.redd.it/d12jjvzp5h1h1.png?width=1920&format=png&auto=webp&s=223fabf3896f25a9f955cc2f1e4fae238d80a658

From the outside, Hythlodaeus V was a weak man that ultimately led to the greater collapse of the kingdom. But his strength really depended on the circumstance. He only lost the will to his live when his wife died and his son slept into a nigh unbreakable coma. Even then, he had his undeniable moments of strength. For one, he declared a very chaotic election to challenge the status quo, albeit in post-mortem. And second, he fought back with everything he had when his son was willing to face his third death (literally right after More barely rescued him, against the same guy no less).

Will's parents, out of sheer will, did everything from within the boundaries of death so their son could live. More eventually discovered that he wasn't a prisoner, but rather a guide for his son. The queen said what all of the partisans needed to hear so they could assert their wills on the world. One can wonder, if Will didn't have his bonds with his family and friends, would he have been able to stand tall and face the cruelty of this world, or fall like his father?

In the end, his two parents have guided him long enough. Once they've done all that they could, they finally let go of his hands and faced the ending of their journey together.

Conclusion

The ultimate found family in Metaphor, the Partisans. A cheers to the greatest family in Metaphor: the friends we made along the way. It's great but fairly self-explanatory (and I'm just tired cause I wrote this all in one sitting and I really don't wanna write about ten more people lmao.)

We have to look at family as parts of a greater whole. For better or for worse, it was seemingly insignificant family units from a few individuals that ultimately changed how their society treated the ideals of fantasy. The dream for a better civilization ultimately comes from many small groups of people who care about each other enough to imagine a better world. An ideal family is a unit that supports each other when they're at their lowest. Louis' ideology comes from a place of anxiety that is ultimately incompatible with that support.

A dream is empty unless there's someone worth doing it for. And as long as there's family worth fighting for, fantasy will always live on.

Imagine if Taylor Swift

• Was a student at Harvard who had a battle with the racist church
• Claimed she was banging the populist mass murder that assassinated the previous leader
• spouted out some racist drivel for a genocidal pope
• went to some island to loot some cultural relics with the “demon spawn” candidate that got a bishop killed
• assassinated the mass murdering populist candidate she was supposedly banging, which didn’t even do anything
• found out the guy she supposedly assassinated came back from the dead
• Had to watch as the guy she supposedly assassinated killed her friend
• Publicly revealed that she‘d been spying for the rightful leader that’s supposed to have been assassinated way before everything happened
• Saw her sister run for president. Said sister brainwashed everyone
• Found out that guy she was supposed to be assassinating was her fucking sister, (who “assassinated” the rightful successor because of the racist pope)
• Was there as her sister killed herself
• Helped in killing the mass murdering populist candidate (for real this time)

Even if the public didn’t know that Rella and Junah were related, it’s still wild af. Also, assassination doesn’t even feel like a word anymore.

Edit: I didn’t include it because it had less murder in it, but she also became the president of Harvard

Im so nervous. It was supposed to be kahapon that they released the interview dates, but I didn't get any e-mail from UST? I'm so confused. I already e-mailed OFAD and CoN. Too bad it's a holiday today and a weekend coming up.