I'm doing Dietrich's route first! I was enticed by him due to my tastes in long-haired pretty boys, but really it was Esmeralda. The fact she's based on Andromeda and falls for Dietrich after he rescues her and starts calling him "Darling" is so freaking moe. Fabio having feelings for Dietrich while also being a former member of the main antagonistic faction in Three Houses is also so intriguing. Honestly, how could I not choose this route first?

I'm planning on doing the Lion Obelisk (Dietrich) until Chapter 5, then switching over to the Eagle Obelisk (Leda), the Fox Obelisk (Cai), and the Wolf Obelisk (Theodora) in that order.

I'm not sure exactly who I'm going to recruit yet, but I'm sticking with the foils of the Flame Lords. So for Dietrich that'd be Talimun's faction "Moon's Lie". I'm also likely recruiting Nydine & Nuzzuo cause I'm interested in what dynamic they would have with Dietrich, and then Alexandra or Catania for an additional Pegasus Knight since I'm likely making Esmeralda into one as well.

The intro was really fun! Can't find my screenshots atm, but Fabio & Dietrich's meetcute was funny. His lines about Lamine was also very intriguing as well.

Esmeralda's meet-cute/introduction to the party was really fun as well. Fabio & Esmeralda's banter as she tries to garner Dietrich's attention is so cute.

(Genuinely obsessed with this love triangle)

I was surprised to learn that the cutscene of Anatalia & Dietrich fighting actually took place before the Heroic Games, due to Fabio triggering the security system of Kunlun, what I assume to be the sister group to the Agarthans. It is funny that his “miscalculation” caused them to miss the Heroic Games sign-up, leading to Dietrich stealing his notable cloak from Majide to get a chance to participate.

I think the Order of Mithras is an interesting villain group so far, especially since Hong Hua used to be a member, which we now learn is the source of her regret that her character bio alluded to. A friend also told me that Baozi's English VA is Denji's, which is really funny to me since they coincidentally both have shark teeth & similar demeanors.

(Oh Hong Hua...)

I haven't started the main matches yet after getting to Dagsion because I've been running around trying to grind Supports. So far I unlocked Fabio, Esmeralda, and Mikaela's C Supports with Dietrich, which were all varying degrees of hilarious. They're all weirdos and I adore them for it.

(They really made this game as catnip for me)

(I FORGOT TO SCREENSHOT HIS RESPONSE LOL. But the way he's just like "Ok...?" was so fucking funny.)

I got to Chapter 8 which is leading to a story boss battle with Cetus, the sea monster that shipwrecked Dietrich, so I think now might be a good stopping point to jot down my thoughts.

I'm having so much fun with this route honestly! It feels more comedic than I anticipated, but again maybe my sense of humor is morbid.

I did the first Story Match two days ago. Tialla & Cai were adorable. It was really fun watching Tialla lead us through the match against Benditz with her battle tactics, which pisses him off since he's being outsmarted by a 15 year old, but also leads to Fabio acknowledging his admiration for Tialla which was very sweet.

My other favorite moment was when Raksha unveiled herself & kisses Dietrich to manipulate him. I ended up laughing so hard I had to put my Switch down & take a break to go get water because what the fuck just happened ftgvjhds.

(Maria lurking in the back during the whole scene made me laugh)

I really do like that Dietrich takes his allies' feelings into consideration & shows that he cares in his own way, rather than just simply being a bloodthirsty hunter.

He even tells Esmeralda that he saved her because he's been trying to follow his little sister Elfrida's advice of listening to the needs of others, and the two bond over his sister's words. It's so sweet, so moe.

(I'm praying we get a sprite or CG of Elfrida)

I also really like Fabio's character development so far? That shot of Dietrich looking up at the moon & talking about how beautiful it is while Fabio agrees, but the camera is angled so that we see Fabio is looking at Dietrich instead of the moon was extremely well-played. Fabio's falling in love...

The other Dietrich Support I unlocked today was with Halvin, which was really fucking funny. You could tell they were directly paralleling Bernadetta & Jeritza's dynamic.

Dietrich joining forces with Leda & Theodora was super entertaining. I also thought it was sweet watching Leda bond with Esmeralda & Theodora. It really did remind me that Leda is only 19 years old & is the second youngest of the Flame Lords above Cai.

(I'm rooting so hard for you, Esmeralda)

I'm also obsessed with Raksha trying to use Dietrich as a pawn to revive Balor, which for some reason didn't work on him, but ends up falling for him instead. Raksha & her sisters are really cute, I actually like them a lot so far. The constant comparisons they make to Dietrich & Balor is driving me crazy.

The plotline that got me most excited so far was the group battle with Dietrich, Orchel, and Talimun against Nathan & Creek's armies. Orchel's face reveal was fucking awesome.

(Orchel Two-Hit KOs him after this dialogue btw)

I was extremely surprised that they would reveal something like this in Dietrich's route of all places, and felt like this filled in some blanks for some of the other routes & character motives, but I don't know exactly how the pieces fit in yet.

(Oh Fabio...)

Considering that Raksha and her sisters outright say that Balor's soul reacted to Orchel, my current theory is that Iliana is pretending to be Yu Phas to get closer to Solel and/or maybe kill him? But it makes it so funny that Theodora is trying to restore Yu Phas' honor when two ladies who are both supposedly Yu Phas herself are running around Dagsion.

I didn't get to play on the 20th due to work. I really adore how close Dietrich's group has been getting, though.

Chapter 8:

The Cetus fight was crazy but I wasn't like. Too frustrated, I guess? I was kinda prepared since Hundred Line had a similar mechanic with one of the bosses jumping around places, which meant having to get the units to run around the map to attack them.
Story-wise this was a really fucking good chapter for Esmeralda and Fabio. Her finding the truth about Cetus & taking up her Crest Weapon Grasitha after her death was really poignant for them both, especially since Fabio was around when Cetus was still human. Honestly the entire plotline felt exactly like Hyacine & Seliose from Honkai Star Rail, which was the only plotline from the Amphoreus arc that I genuinely enjoyed from start to finish, so you know what good for them.

Chapter 9/10:

I also absolutely love Fabio's character development. Since most of what we've seen of the Agarthans in the original Three Houses storyline have been as antagonists, choosing to make an Agarthan a playable main character was such an interesting choice for the devs. But in my opinion I think they've done an amazing job so far. You can see Fabio struggling with his sense of duty towards Agartha versus his (romantic) feelings for Dietrich & growing care for Esmeralda and Mikaela, and him ultimately choosing to abandon his mission for them after visiting Kunlun & conversing with Anatolia is so sweet. I really adore House Lamine's dynamic.

So far I unlocked all of the A Supports between House Lamine, except for Fabio and Dietrich which is locked to Part 2 or Part 3 I believe. Dietrich's growing bond with all of them is so freaking adorable.

This was about eating over-cooked pastries together, but it's the thought that counts right?

God. The Fabio x Dietrich support is so... I'll just let it speak for itself, but it's genuinely adorable how hard he's falling in love.

In regards to Chapter 9 & 10, the lore reveal regarding the “People of the White Egg” was fucking crazy to me? Like what do you mean we straight-up have space travel now??
There's a lot of aspects of Kunlun that really reminded me of Hundred Line, which was funny in the sweet way. I really had a great time playing Hundred Line and the Fire Emblem-like combat was fun (to some extent, I still hate fog maps).

Out of everything we've learned so far, I'm especially curious about the weird dragon-demon residing on the planet. I initially assumed that it was Balor, but considering it's confirmed in a different Flame Lord's route that Balor was given his power by Sothis, and I'm currently assuming that the people of Nuwa came to that planet before Sothis did, this doesn't add up.

I think I'm only a few chapters away from finishing Part 1 of Dietrich's route. I'm so excited for what's coming next.

I FINALLY FINISHED DIETRICH'S ROUTE!!!!!!!!!!!!! There was so much crazy shit, but it was very sweet & emotional and made me cry for like 10 minutes afterwards lmao.

Gameplay-wise, I kinda got burnt out towards the end, so I didn't end up recruiting everyone I wanted to. Fortunately I was able to recruit everyone from Moon's Lie outside of Talimun, who I assume joins after the timeskip, so I think I did pretty well for myself considering this was my first playthrough!

I already said it numerous times, but I love Fabio's character development so so much. I didn't think I'd love him so much, but he's so adorable to me. Everything about his relationship with Dietrich drives me crazy & I'm pleasantly surprised at how blatant they were about his feelings rather than being coy about it. He's just completely in love and finally acknowledges this during Dietrich's final few matches.

GOD... THE DIETRICH VS MARS CUTSCENE... IT MADE ME SO SO SO EMOTIONAL.

I wish I recorded it, but I'm sure it would've taken up a lot of storage on Nekoweb. If I find it on Youtube I'll try to embed it maybe, because I think everyone should see it. It's that fucking good to me.
I was already emotional when Dietrich started to let himself transform into a Crest Beast just to win the fight, but Fabio's proclamation of love for him literally brought me to tears. Everything about it was beautiful. The direction, the voice acting especially?????? Jimmie Yamaguchi put his all into that performance. Kendell Byrd was amazing too. I really want to go and watch the Japanese version as well.

A common thread between Dietrich & Leda I've finally noticed is that both of them are consumed by the desire to enact violence, to the point it blinded them to the fact they have people who love them. Albeit it's for massively different reasons, since Leda wants to avenge her father, while Dietrich acts out of bloodlust and his belief that he doesn't "fit in" as a human.

Mikaela's Support with him alludes to it & then he confirms that belief here with Esmeralda, but Dietrich genuinely associates love with violence, and thinks that he's 'incapatible' with love, or rather human emotions in general, without it.

(This is the "Remain Silent" option btw, because I felt bad for Esmeralda vgjhbkds)

That's why Fabio declaring his love for Dietrich & admitting that there's no difference between them, that they're both human, was so wonderfully written. Dietrich stopping himself from being consumed by Answerer's power after he finally realized how much Fabio, Esmeralda and Mikaela loves him, and Seteth acknowledging his growth because of this, was really poignant.

God I really don't have the words to explain how much I love House Lamine's dynamic. They're all so sweet... I really loved playing this route. I can't wait to see Part 2 of it after I finish the other Flame Lords.

I actually managed to breeze past Leda's route faster than Dietrich's since this was my second playthrough. So I'm probably gonna divide the entries differently.

Chapters 1 & 2 were really fun and instantly made me tear up, lol. I think it's funny that Eshmel and Fortuna caused a small time paradox by calling Leilidahna “Leda” before she ever went by that name, implying that it's why she chose it as a pseudonym when she got older.

Leda, or Leilidahna, is someone who held onto a lot of rage even when she was young. Her wanting to fight the soldiers invading Cydonia when she was only a teenage girl, while Buccar wanting to smartly flee was so interesting to me. That cutscene of Leilidahna killing the soldiers with Obsidian with a smile on her face told me immediately this route was gonna be phenomenal.

I really love how the party members were introduced. Their dynamic reminds me a little bit of the Bravely Default cast, especially Sirocco lol. He's a huge flirt like Ringabel, but also has poignant moments where he advises the rest of the cast and acts sort of like an older brother figure to Mu in this case. Sirocco consoling Mu after Leda kills Bjor was sweet. Rose Tempest has a really interesting group dynamic working for them in general.

I got to Chapters 3 to 8 today. I really like Father Mahdel's dynamic with Leda? It gets more apparent later on that Father Mahdel could kind of tell that Leda's desire for revenge was the only thing keeping her alive, giving her that list as a way to keep her tethered to that desire after she learned Bertrand was already executed, and also to make amends for causing the Cydonia Massacre. Sirocco counteracting this by voicing his thoughts on how Leda might've been better off not knowing the truth, since even if Father Mahdel had refused, the culprits behind the conspiracy would've likely found a new person to carry out their plan made for interesting discord between him and Leda.

Kalla is so pretty and also cute. It's sad that the lingering grief over her son Cohen, and the fact that she sees him in Leda leads her to “condone” Leda's more unhinged behavior and outright reignite her revenge plot by telling her that Bertrand is still alive. This was also a plotpoint in Three Houses, but a lot of the gods are very “obtuse” to human behaviors, and that leads to a lot of problems down the historical line.

This also becomes very noticeable with Solel as well, who I've seen several others besides me compare to Rhea in terms of “godly ruler of a nation callously lets the problems in the main story coalesce until it's too late.” Both Rhea and Solel had essentially overlooked the villain factions of their respective countries due to being preoccupied by grief.

Maria's introduction in Chapter 3 inside Cohen's Mausoleum was also fun lol. I love that she acts as the antagonist of this route using her matching Vihuela to use the same spells as Leda during the battles. I already saw some of her in Dietrich's route, and already having the knowledge that she once had similar feelings as Raksha for a human contextualizes a lot of her actions in Leda's route. I really like how each route so far has focused on one of Balor's daughters. Since Aurora is Yu Phas' daughter and is the focus of Cai's route, I'm assuming Iliana will be the focus of Theodora's since she's posed to be Yu Phas with lost memories.

Bertrand's introduction was really good. It became a prevalent theory pre-release, but it's fun that our theory of Aswan & Bertrand being lovers was confirmed here. Can I also say that I personally think it's really funny that Leda keeps equating her desire to kill Bertrand with “love”, and the narrative itself keeps alluding to this by using the blush sprite when she talks about killing him, Leda telling Olympia in her B Support her desire for revenge “is unlike the feeling of love”, and Mu outright asking her in the route finale if she “likes Bertrand”.
Leda just has so much wrong with her and I love her for it.

Leda's feud with Lechner was very interesting. The reveal that Leda had buried the memory of letting Lechner into Kassite, which ultimately caused the invasion when he faked an attack on the Aragonian army to give them the "right" to invade, and that Leda blames herself for it is sad. You can also see that she has some self-awareness that her desire to kill Bertrand is just a shield she uses to not have to deal with the emotional weight of everything that has happened to her, but she refuses to let go of it because she feels like she would no longer have any reason to live.

This leads to an fascinating conflict with Aswan, who desires to be Leda's friend but also wants to save Bertrand's life after finding he is due for execution. I really enjoy her friendship with Aswan and the drama is creates when she finds out Bertrand was her ex-fiancee.

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