Chapter 13 Of Fates Revelation Is A Writing Highlight For Me.

i don’t think the trauma hits owain/odin until after anankos is killed.

he never knew peace. he was so unbelievably young when the war started, as there was war before there were risen, that chances are, the only little bit of peace he’d ever seen was in the few months before anankos showed up and begged him, severa, and inigo for help, so he donned a persona and fit himself into the role of a retainer—another soldier, another fighter, just with a more refined name.

and then he fought for leo. he fought for garon. he fought the war, and perhaps he killed anankos along the way, or perhaps he and selena hoisted laslow’s body in a casket and used their crystals as odin bid farewell to his lord turned king. and then he returns home—wherever home is, whether it be ylisse or nohr—and is met with… peace.

if he stays in nohr, it takes longer to set in. there are still skirmishes, still reparations, still things that must settle down and things that he must manage by leo’s side. but as peace settles a blanket over nohr, as odin no longer has things to worry about every moment of every day, is no longer worrying about battle after battle or training or building up public trust—well, first come the nightmares, then the flashbacks, then the triggers.

if he goes to ylisse, it’s faster. ylisse has settled, by now, almost irregardless of how much time passed in ylisse versus nohr. there are no battles to fight, no wars to win. owain barely counts as a prince in the ylisse he returns to, with his counterpart already born or maybe, if the time is far different, simply on the way. there is little for him to do, and so the images of risen haunt him—whispers of their magic in dark corners, their eyes in the reflections of stained-glass windows, their rotten stench in the stables.

he is fine. he is fine, he is happy, he is healthy, he is stable. but then when everything he has built himself up around crumbles—when there is no longer a cause to fight for, no longer people who need protecting—he collapses, completely and utterly.

So I was rather curious as to why Corrin and Azura were barefooted and everyone else (except Kana) had shoes.

In ancient Rome, footwear was a sign of power. Fathers would give their Sons shoes on their wedding days to symbolize “a transfer of power.”

Those who were imprisoned, enslaved, or even captured would have their shoes removed. Many prison uniforms did not include any form of footwear! And if you played the game, you would know that Corrin and Azura are captives, just raised by the royal family. The lack of shoes may represent their lower status in their countries, or may just show that they are captives.

However, bare feet can also symbolize innocence, which very much ties into the fact that, despite their choices, Azura and Corrin are ‘innocent’ for wanting peace. Another meaning to being barefoot is “a child”, which can explain Kana’s lack of footwear.

What I say: I'm fine.

What I mean: Do you ever stop and think about everything the future children went through? they grew up in a literal zombie apocalypse ruled by a demonic dragon bent on destroying humanity. Their parents died trying to defend them, and some of them saw their family members dying. They went back in time to stop it, but were dropped off in different continents in different years and had no real idea what to do. Laurent spent five years in solitude, becoming the oldest child despite being younger than Lucina before the time travel. He was nearly driven to suicide from the loneliness and grief. Yarne only wanted somewhere safe where he could live in peace, but instead he was forced to join a mercenary band and nearly died before you found him. Severa was forced into a bandit gang to get her mother's wedding ring, her one precious keepsake from her family, back. Nobody knows where Morgan came from - he/she may have been ripped from another timeline entirely, which begs the question of how his family is doing. Are they concerned? Are they even alive? And he's amnesiac to boot. He never gets those memories back. Cynthia, pure, honest Cynthia, was tricked into a life of crime and nearly killed her own mother before she cleared things up. Kjelle found an adoptive family, only to watched her father figure brutally murdered in a dirty duel. Lucina got the closest to her father, but couldn't reveal her identity before she was born. Imagine how painful it must be to see your long dead father before you, close enough to hug, but know that for the sake of your unborn self you simply cannot. Brady must have felt so useless being unable to fend off bandit raids. He must have cursed himself every time he healed the wounded. And the brave and brash Owain admits that he curled up into a ball and CRIED for days and weeks when he realized he was separated from the others. Inigo probably wanted so badly to show his mother his dance routine and finally learn from her, but he couldn't. Instead he turned to skirt-chasing, which he is incessantly mocked for in most of his supports for the rest of the game. Gerome is completely numbed to the idea of becoming close to anyone in the past - to him, they are all already dead. He just wants to let his wyvern, Minerva, go so she doesn't have to be hurt anymore. But he doesn't even get that simple pleasure until after the game ends. And Noire probably doesn't trust herself to go into towns because she's too mentally unstable, so she probably wandered for weeks at a time without trying to seek medical help for her anemia. And Nah. poor, poor Nah, cursed to live forever. She probably wanted to spend as much time as she could with each Shepherd - memorizing their names and faces and voices, knowing one day they would all be gone. But she would still live. She'd live for thousands of years after her friends died. She might even outlive Nowi and Tiki, which would leave her truly and utterly alone. And despite this she's still friendly and gets married to one of her mortal companions. She spends as much time as she can with her father, knowing one day he just won't be there Just....think about the future kids.

Julius and Ishtar are Well Written Characters, Actually

You All Are Just Taking Spoken Words At Face Value

The title to this post is tongue in cheek and the subtitle to this post is mostly a joke, but I've seen a lot (with no real change over time) of misunderstandings regarding the character writing of these two. Mostly confusion over exactly how "himself" Julius really is, and why the hell Ishtar stays with him; there are some finer points as to what the game expects you to feel about these characters, too.

Part 1: Julius (The original one, to be clear.)

So, most people know Julius's general backstory- was a good kid until he was given the Loptous tome. This is where the information ends, though. We learn nothing else about him, even from other characters, besides "he was such a nice guy."

There are a lot of arguments made that certain actions taken by the Julius we see imply that he's still in there, but these don't hold much water. There's also mention of Loptous "fully returning" in the final chapter, but in terms of actual events, this seems to refer more to the fact that Arvis is out of the picture than to any change in Julius himself.

Characters in the game who actually interact with him treat him in varying ways. Arvis calls him a demon; Ishtar spends half of Thracia worried for his health; Manfroy spends much of the second generation of FE4 treating him like a child, suggesting that at least he thinks that he's not actually speaking to his god for most of it. All three of these people, though, have good reasons to be deceiving themselves. (Arvis is a major wifeguy; Manfroy really doesn't want to be shown up as a religious authority (see his interactions with Veld); Ishtar (in Thracia specifically) is a 14-year-old at best going "I can fix him." with her childhood crush.)

The most important testimony, funnily enough, comes from someone who's not seen him in over half a decade. Julia, upon initially encountering him, tells him that he is not her brother and asks him who or what he really is- that her actual brother died seven years ago. Julia, who treats her father and his sins with a gentle hand, and even greets Julius by calling him her brother, isn't the type to treat someone as unforgivable if there's any way she could see to save them. And of course, she has no memories of possessed Julius to mix with her memories of the Julius she knew and loved as a child- unlike Ishtar.

Per Kaga: "The tome... makes Loptous able to control Gair's descendants. The final boss of Genealogy of the Holy War was its victim." It certainly doesn't sound like Julius has any effect on things.

TL;DR: Julius is gone as hell from at least the start of Thracia 776, but in practice probably from 771.

Part 2: Loptous (This Fucking Guy)

As for Loptous, we get PLENTY to characterize them. They're a complete misanthrope and a sadist, of course, which isn't news to anyone who's played FE4; but they're also interesting in terms of how incredibly paranoid they are- for the sort of evil god figure, such vulnerability is surprising. There's a lot to dig into.

Most people who've played Thracia know about the "jealous about Reinhardt" scene, and many people take this (and his obsessiveness in general) to be a twisted expression of Julius's actual feelings for Ishtar- but this doesn't actually make any sense. Julius was possessed (and killed Deirdre) at age nine to ten, at the oldest- seven to eight is more likely. (Deirdre's not pregnant yet at the end of chapter 5, which takes place in 761; 778 is the year the game ends. Per Julius himself, Deirdre bit the dust seven years before 778, thus he'd be ten at maximum.) If Julius has feelings for Ishtar at all, they would have developed entirely after being possessed (or at most been a puppy crush that developed into something more later). While possible (if Julius is still there) Occam's razor simply says that Loptous is the one who has feelings for her, instead. (Or doesn't, and thinks of her as useful. Who am I to psychoanalyze a lizard? But dragons in FE are perfectly capable of getting attached to people, and cartoon villain though he is, I don't think Loptous would be an exception.)

This scene makes more sense in the context of Julius's further paranoia in chapter 10, after successfully capturing Julia; Manfroy is understandably more concerned about the army of rebels on their doorstep than some chick with a book (who doesn't even have a chance to get her hands on the book.) Julius, by contrast, sees Seliph and crew as busybodies at worst, but is very nervous about Julia escaping. Together with the Ishtar discussion, it seems that he's entirely unconcerned with any threat he's posed unless it's an obstacle to another vessel coming into existence or Naga herself. (This bites him directly in the ass, but it does the same to Manfroy; the paranoia in Julia's case is justified, but Seliph is why she's able to become a threat in the first place.)

His relationship with Manfroy is interesting- Manfroy seems to believe that he's speaking in some way to "Prince Julius", even going so far as to attempting to provide justification for why Arvis had to be gotten rid of in chapter 10 (The Emperor had long served his purpose, Your Majesty. He was little more than an obstacle to your ambitions. He had to die.), but Julius doesn't seem to care about this in the slightest. This is curious; why would Manfroy expect him to care about this after killing his mother in cold blood? One possibility is that he's convinced that that was only because he saw her as a threat- that Loptous exerts some influence over him, but Julius is still at heart a teenager who still cares about his family members to some extent.

This probably comes as a surprise to the player, too- Julius can come off as a bit childish. The way he follows his whims instead of plans and "plays around" can come off as being a teenager. Indeed, the game in chapter 10 has essentially no rhyme or reason to it, and seems quite out of character for an ancient dragon- at least until you remember the previous conversation, where you see his certainty at nothing but Naga being able to kill him. (This is even shown in gameplay, very funnily, by him not having Nihil- unlike every other one of Sigyn's (Maera's) descendants. Nihil, in Japanese, is 見切り awareness of everything. He's not paying attention!) In play that's just a way for you to get the Leg Ring if you somehow lost it in gen 1, plus a bit of a challenge. The intended solution is suicide + valkyrie staff; but if you're willing to put in the effort, it's a great way to demonstrate how arrogant Julius is right from the get-go.

As for the sudden turn to flower gardens in chapter 4 of Thracia, that's less whimsical and more practical- telling Ishtar to shut up without doing so explicitly when she won't fall for some particularly weak lies. Those lies are an interesting point, though! What good does it do to try and convince her that what he's doing is harmless when he eventually gives up in lieu of open threats ("Are you trying to escape me in death, Ishtar?")

My hypothesis is that "teenager under the dark god's influence" is vastly more capable of getting things done given Arvis is still around than "actually, it's just a dragon". Manfroy himself doesn't seem to be too loyal to Julius, in actuality- he's perfectly willing to make decisions that he won't agree with. There's a possibility that he's doing this because he thinks he's talking to a teenager, but there's another, quite salient possibility that he enjoys being the head of the church quite a bit, actually, and doesn't want to give up that position. In essence, I argue that Manfroy is a Gharnef in more ways than just being an evil wizard- he's got the one-upmanship, too. In that case, convincing him that the reason he wasn't listened to was because he was trying to argue with a bratty teen and not because the demon he summoned in the basement doesn't actually like him at all might be very useful.

(There's an interesting point, if that's the case, to be made about "why the FUCK would you send Julia out to fight instead of just killing her"- besides the fact that Manfroy doesn't see her as a real threat, there's always "well, just in case she IS a real threat, it's best to have her around in case my relationship with the brand new emperor goes pear-shaped pretty fast." like elice with aum. That's just a theory, though- it's perfectly reasonable for him to just be an overambitious idiot, too, like Hilda.)

Therefore, the thesis of this and the first part is that Julius is a.) Dead as hell and b.) Being imitated to some extent by Loptous in order to get things done more efficiently.

Part 3: Ishtar (Well, Why The Fuck Is SHE Still With Him, Then?)

Most people generally take issue with one of Julius or Ishtar on the basis that either we're expected to think of Julius far too sympathetically considering how Ishtar acts around him or Ishtar's a complete idiot for staying with him for this long that the devs tried to make sympathetic by having her save kids at the last minute.

I've attempted to deconstruct the former line of reasoning (we are NOT expected to think of Julius-as-of-right-now at all similarly to people such as Lyon) but what about the latter? Is Ishtar really an inconsistent, poorly written character?

The answer is... mostly. In Genealogy, that is.

Ishtar in Genealogy, textually, seems to have a fairly happy relationship with Julius, all things considered. He does act weirdly possessive in chapter 8, and there's the implication that she's trying to run away in the final chapter (and she saves those kids), but you're given no real reason why other than her conscience catching up with her, which is inconsistent with her behavior in chapter 10; sure, the rebel army killed her dad and brother, but the same thing happens to Julia and she's perfectly happy to return to your army at endgame- it's kind of odd for Ishtar to participate in a game of hunting rebels with this in mind.

Of course, in Genealogy, you can argue that evidently their sunny relationship isn't all it seems, and she's not leaving due to her obligations to her family, that she doesn't seem THAT happy to play kill-a-rebel, et c. But it's just "whose interpretation is it, anyway" with only Genealogy in mind.

And then we get Thracia.

Thracia sheds light on all of this to an incredible degree. At the end of Chapter 4, we get to see Ishtar and her family obligations show up- they don't seem to actually be that pressing, though. She seems more concerned with the fact that Julius is unhinged, appearing more forlorn than anything, and appears to think that she can argue him out of child sacrifice. This is "I can fix him" Ishtar; she seems to be convinced that whatever Julius is going through he'll recover from eventually.

After this, we don't see her for a hell of a long time! But she eventually does return in 17A, to summon Saias and his ten leadership stars off the field. In this chapter, though, she's a bit more than forlorn; she refuses to ask the Loptrian bishops for help in healing Julius's illness, because she thinks they're to blame for his condition. (She'd be right, though.) Here, she seems to be a little less convinced of her ability to Fix Him(tm)- she just wants to stop things from getting worse.

And finally, the fucking chapter of all time, that confirms the light to see her actions in Genealogy. 21x. The two of them make a stop by the fort after you escape, and Julius mocks House Friege again- but notes that she's not the problem with it. As the conversation goes on, Ishtar spends the whole thing horrified, at both him and her mother- far from her forlorn air in chapter 4, by the end of the conversation here she's begging him to not kill her childhood friend and guard. There's no more "I can fix him" or even "I can stop him from getting any worse". The reason she's staying now is for her own safety- because she feels like she'd not be able to escape, even if she wanted to.

Of course, all of our encounters with her in Genealogy are after this conversation. By the point we fight her in chapter 8, she's too afraid to flee (and her father IS still alive at that point- she's fighting so he might not be killed, too. To a small extent, Blume and Reinhardt both get the same treatment as ch. 10 Arvis; Hilda, who's useful, isn't allowed to kick the bucket even after putting herself on the frontline, but the former three are, to put it nicely, left out to die.) By chapter 10, it's worse; instead of stating her opposition to the child hunts directly (like she does in chapter 4 of Thracia) she instead couches her disagreement in what Arvis wants- she doesn't want to anger him by speaking out here.

So, by the time you get to Miletos Castle, is that "I'd love to!" really something you can trust? Voicing her disagreement but still going along with something is one thing, but she's already passed that point. At this point, she's just hoping that she survives, because her mother evidently won't back her up. (Sorry Ishtar dear, mommy is climbing the social ladder.)

And eventually, she gives up on that, too. In the final chapter, when going off to fight your army, what she says is that she wants a chance for vengeance. Unlike in Thracia 21x, though, I don't think that what Julius says in response is baseless paranoia. Ishtar has personally betrayed him, after all; if he finds out that she saved those kids, she's going to go the way of Arvis- staying around as long as she's useful, and then being offed.

And as for joining the rebellion... She isn't entirely fabricating; they did kill her entire family. Also, though, it's pretty unlikely they'd allow her to join in the first place- princess of the Empire and all that. And who knows if Julius would try to get her back? He's brought her back from the brink of death at least once, most likely twice if you're decent at the game; evidently there's not much that would stop him from pursuing her.

So she's left with two options; to likely die once her treachery is discovered, or to definitely die and absolve her sins once and for all. I think it's pretty understandable, considering all she's experienced, that she'd choose the latter.

Of course, she's still complicit in the empire's actions over the past seven years- and she did make the mistake of thinking she could help Julius in the first place. She is not without sin- even if that sin stemmed from a childish crush that she never got an option to back out of. Yet, she (and Julius himself, though we never get to see him) is more of a tragic figure than a fool trapped by her loyalties. She may have once been the latter, but eventually had no choice.

Thanks for coming to my jugdralposting.

(Arvis is still the better main character of a Greek tragedy, though.)

ohhh my god do i hope this theory ends up being true. It just makes so much sense for the Clara Dolls to be able to disguise as Homura in some way, they're all her after all

We also know familiars are able to grow into witches themselves after consuming enough souls

Another point id like to make:

2. Nekura: The second one to come was Gloominess. Walking out with a tapping sound, she sneered at Good-for-Nothing. “This is Good-for-Nothing! How very unbecoming.” These dolls are only disciples of Freedom, and are devoted to their lust for it.

10. Mie: The tenth to come running is Vanity. She exaggeratedly avoids Good-for-Nothing's head and says a few words. “I wouldn't be able to bear dirtying my cape with that sticky blood!” These dolls make fun of the witch's self-mu tilation.

I feel like this fits the other Homuras in the trailer quite well

Nekura's name would also explain why that Homura is hiding under the umbrella's shade:

Reblog if you love any of the underappreciated pokespe pairings

luckyshipping • specialjewelshipping • viridianshipping • ambershipping • entourageshipping • raltsshipping • concretejungleshipping • gracefulshipping • magmajewelshipping • chosenshipping • manganewrivalshipping • originshipping • absurdistshipping • grantedshipping • originalshipping • romantic or platonic • reblog with others!

Fates’ 2nd Gen Characters: Parallels and Contrasts

A request from an anon. Again, I won’t do the neutral children since it would be kind of difficult to do so. But it was easier than I thought to do the rest of the kids.

Shiro and Siegbert: Both are heirs to their respective kingdoms through their very renowned fathers and are actually pretty insecure about inheriting the title of king. Siegbert is principled and docile, and always knew he was royalty. Shiro is rebellious and direct, and was kept in the dark about his identity. Siegbert idolizes Xander and wants to be just like him, whereas Shiro wants to be better than Ryoma and went so far as to fight with naginata so he’d have an advantage over his dad in a fight.

Kiragi and Forrest: Both have mixed feelings about their royal blood and their inheritance; Forrest is afraid of the responsibilities and terrifying power that comes with being royalty and Brynhildr’s successor, whereas Kiragi hates being coddled due to his status. Forrest is a healer with a keen aesthetic eye, loves fashion and prefers to keep things neat and tidy. Kiragi is an amazing hunter who is one with wilderness, and is pretty unkempt. Forrest is shy with confidence issues (said issues being more apparent in the JP version, again he was kind of changed in Western releases) and has an uneasy relationship with Leo. Kiragi is optimistic and outgoing, and loves Takumi unconditionally.

Asugi and Nina: Both of them have very strained relationships with their fathers, are skilled in espionage, fight for what they believe is righteous and just, have unconventional obsessions and both of their paralogues require you not to let them escape. The key difference is that Nina chose the same path that Niles did despite him not wanting that for her, whereas Asugi resents being the sixth Saizo, and wants to find his own path in life no matter what his father wants.

Mitama and Soleil: Both are noted to have inherited a slew of traits from their respective fathers (Soleil inherits Laslow’s smiling credo and flirtatiousness with women, Mitama inherits Azama’s star eyes, wisdom, and sharp tongue). However, Soleil is sociable and enthusiastic, while Mitama is lazy and keeps to herself. Also, Mitama is very artistic; she enjoys poetry, scroll crafting, and chigiri-e (a Japanese form of artwork where you tear and paste together colored paper to create an image). Soleil on the other hand has as much artistic style as stale bread, and is outright noted to be a terrible dancer and singer, among other things.

Caeldori and Ignatius: Both characters look up to their fathers and want to be just like them, but have massive insecurities. The difference lies in that Caeldori is outwardly confident in both social interaction and battle, but is incredibly anxious and afraid of not measuring up to her father. Ignatius is afraid of looking like a coward to basically everyone, especially because his role as an armor knight means he must protect people; however, he gets a boost of bravery and courage whenever he’s on the battlefield. Another difference is that Caeldori hates being treated like a natural talent because it makes her feel isolated and her hard work being ignored, whereas Ignatius diminishes his own talents and hard work a lot, and hates looking like a failure in front of people.

Rhajat and Ophelia: Both are eccentric spellcasters who are talented in the dark arts. Ophelia is open and dramatic, whereas Rhajat is gloomy and introverted. Ophelia makes her love and admiration for her father well known, hence her being inspired by him. Rhajat on the other hand is initially rebellious and standoffish with her father, but does reveal that she loves him deeply. While Ophelia is always flashy and chipper, she’s secretly insecure that people won’t take her seriously and that she’ll never measure up to the Chosen One status that she seeks to accomplish. Rhajat may appear standoffish, but desperately wants to make friends and have people like her despite her gloomy aura and odd habits. In short, both care deeply about what others think of them despite it seeming like the contrary.

Hisame and Percy: Both characters initially rebelled against their fathers. Both also have contradictory traits compared to their fathers (Hisame’s seriousness vs Hinata’s carefree attitude, Percy’s good luck vs Arthur’s horrendous luck). However, Percy’s rebellion against his father is played for laughs and a reference to both of their respective luck (good luck that Percy had mercenaries to back him up, bad luck that Arthur has to deal with the mercs), and he ultimately loves his father a lot. Hisame’s relationship with Hinata though is more complex and deep-seated, but he ultimately does care for his father and is actually secretly jealous of his carefree nature. Lastly, Percy is childish and innocent, whereas Hisame is calm and wise beyond his years.

Selkie and Velouria: Both characters are scions of their respective beast tribes and love their fathers dearly. Selkie is a free spirit who loves playing with others and getting praise, whereas Velouria likes to remain by herself most of the time and has more unconventional interests. Selkie is naive to the ways of the world, and often has to be taught about things such as morality during conflict or how her race puts her in danger. Velouria on the other hand is quite knowledgeable about things, if a bit blunt. Also, Selkie is clingy to her father because she never had a chance to visit the rest of the kitsune hamlet, but Velouria is clingy to her father because she knows she’ll eventually have to live for herself one day and is trying to make the most of the time with her dad that she can.

-

And there you go. I hope I made a good sequel post.

something something Inigo is such an inherently tragic character who quite literally never gets to rest or just breathe. He was so young when the war in future-ylisse started he barely remembers peacetime. He fights because it's all he knows. He watches his mother die right in front of him, in an act of selflessness, to protect him. He forces him self to become comedic relief in a way, practically degrading himself in some cases just to make his friends smile because what is he if he's not boosting the morale of the army? He repeatedly puts himself in harm's way to protect others but maybe that selflessness is also partially derived from selfish desires. He's afraid to lose people like he did his mom, he'd rather die for someone than have it be the other way around. If he can't help people what does he need live for, especially if he's Lucina's brother. There she is, his strong and amazing big sister, a beacon of hope for all as she leads them. He has to be cheery, has to make everyone laugh, because if not then he's utterly useless. No one relies on his leadership the way they do Lucina. Then they go back to the past. He's glad to see his mother again but his father? He barely knows the man. He's distant and seems so unreal to him. They fight and he chastises Inigo and finally all those years of bottled-up emotions burst. He sceams and yells because how DARE his father assume he doesn't care. He doesn't know the utter hell Inigo's been through. Such an anxious boy forced to be all smiles and smooth-talking for the sake of the others. After getting that out of his system he's mostly alright. Relationships are mended, everyone's happy, but he can't stay. Not with baby Inigo on the way.

Then he goes to Nohr. He serves under Xander, devotes his life to him. For the sake of this ramble, then birthright happens. Oh boy, birthright. Inigo, who's never been afraid to put his life on the line, dies for a country he has no loyalty to. He loves Xander (whether it be romantic or platonic) He sees Xander about to get himself killed and directly disobeys an order to stay put (I mean, when has he ever listened to those) and gets himself killed. He dies protecting someone he care for. I'm sure as he layed there dying he thought of everyone he left behind in Ylisse. He thought of Selena and Odin and the promise he made, how all three would live no matter what, but it's too late for that now.

Did this make sense? no but I got my messy thoughts out somewhere

this is just part of my interpretation of him as a character and there's so many more things I could talk about with his character and who he is, but I love focusing on the aspect of him feeling the need to sacrifice himself and his own needs for everyone else

Grimleal Studies: A Masterpost

Hi. I have been inspired to compile the immense body of work generated by my fellow Grimleal about everybody's favorite maggot. A lot of these are also mine, because, yeah.

These are all of varying length and style by various authors, so obviously not one congruent opinion. We all have different interpretations, after all. Additonally, this is NOT the full breadth of everything that exists, because tumblr search is, not good.

Also known as: I wish Tumblr had nested bullet points, the post.

Bolded for personal recommendations, though everything here is worth reading, honestly.

Required Reading:

Valentian Accordion: Secrets of Thabes Labyrinth

Awakening and beyond:

Grima = Robin Reincarnation Theory (the-priestess-of-dawn) [THE classic Grima essay]

check out Dawn's masterpost while you're at it, so I don't have to reiterate everything she's ever written (it's all very good)

Grima: One Guy in Two Trenchcoats (meeeee)

FP Grima is Tired (cannibal-lesbian)

Reading Grima as an Abrahamic god stand-in in the world of Fire Emblem, and how that is filling in gaps in the narrative. (imustbenuts)

Id, Ego, and Superego as applied to Chrom, Robin, and Lucina (thanatophagency)

Robin, Grima, and Fighting Your Own Nature (ro-botany)

Why does Grima have two bodies? (me <3 ft. Dawn)

On Chrom and Robin instantly hitting it off in Awakening (gimureifeathers)

Grima & personal agency (cannibal-lesbian) [prose]

Naga's treatment of Grima (iturbide ft dawn and cannibal-lesbian)

Guilt-complex Naga (dawn)

Contextualization of Grima's Echoes backstory (iturbide)

Echoes & Agency (ro-botany ft. the whole gang, really)

The Anatomy of Grima:

Grima anatomy per the Awakening artbook (dawn)

RE: Grima having a tongue (cannibal-lesbian ft. the-priestess-of-dawn)

Heroes:

Depths of Despair's continuity (dawn ft. me n salem)

What's up with Brave Robin's Forging Bonds? (me <3, ft. many people with cool opinions)

Let's talk about Grima's personal morals (cannibal-lesbian)

On the Characteristics of the Risen, and the Character of their King (ro-botany ft. the whole gang, really)

Addition 1 & Addition 2 (thanatophagency)

The Risen King and his Tactician (ro-botany)

Additional discussions:

Sombron's Cobra Dragon Form is a call-out to Buddhist Nagas. Or: wait, are Divine and Fell Dragons really that different? (imustbenuts)

Are Dragons mammals? + Addendum (Original post by me, major additions by ro-botany)

An Attempt at a Semi-Realistic Analysis of Thoron Stab Wounds (ro-botany)

The Different Kinds of Risen (dawn)

Resplendant Tiki (iturbide)

Sombron & Grima comparison (thanatophagency, dawn, cannibal-lesbian)

Additional notes:

A lot of us have started keeping track of these! Check out Grima Studies on my blog or dawn's, or Grimleal Studies on ro-botany's.

Accolades! Check out these guys, they're very cool!

cannibal-lesbian

felikatze (meeeeeee)

gimureifeathers

imustbenuts

iturbide

thanatophagency

the-priestess-of-dawn

ro-botany

And if you read all these, congrats! You are now a certified grimleal scholar!