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Ashe Ubert ([personal profile] ashenblue) wrote2019-11-20 03:31 pm

ashe ubert support wishlist [updated 12/12/2019]

because while i respect quality over quantity in regards to supports, man do i feel like there were still some missed opportunities. there will be discussions of character supports and endings that i will not be spoiler marking. i will also mention post timeskip events, but i will try to keep things as vague as possible.



ashe and dorothea
spoilers: this is the support he doesn't have that i feel the most passionately about. their backgrounds are similar - they're both extremely poor commoners who, for a period of time, struggled to even survive, but got noticed by the right people and had their lives drastically improve after - but distinct enough to lead to some interesting conversations.

i think dorothea's legitimate fear of having to go back to the life she once lived, as highlighted in her a support with byleth ("I was an orphan, living in the back alleys of Enbarr, until one day I was overheard singing... That was when my new life began. I was suddenly a songstress in the Mittlefrank Opera Company. [. . .] I was just some young pretty girl who could sing, a spectacle to be admired. Even though everyone praised my looks and my voice, and they showered me with gifts... I knew, one day, I'd be old. My looks would fade, my voice would change, I wouldn't sound the same. And I started to wonder, when I did get old, what would I have left? I'd be old, alone...and back on the streets of the capital, right where I'd started. [. . .] I never had much to begin with in life, and I worry that one day, I'll be that way again...") contrasts beautifully with ashe's situation, where he's recognized as lord lonato's only living heir and, as such, has land and responsibilities to inherit even though he never outright says if he's ready for that. (we can infer from some of his paired endings, though, that he's woefully unprepared - they explicitly state how he's young, inexperienced, and struggles to govern gaspard territory.) one believes that unless she finds love, she will have to return to her difficult life, and the other has a sense of security but with the added pressure of upholding a legacy he's not equipped to uphold. they both have such kind and caring hearts despite the darkness they've both faced, and at the very least would be very good friends.

it's also important to note, when thinking about them as a pair, that they both ultimately focus on bettering the lives of commoners when in the position of power to do so. this is explicitly touched up on in ashe's non-crimson flower endings with byleth ("[Byleth] put much toward the rebuilding effort with particular attention paid to relief for orphans in the form of food, beds, and even schooling. It is said that these compassionate deeds were all Ashe's suggestions, but the modest knight always gave the credit to his beloved wife."), dorothea's non-crimson flower endings with byleth ("The former songstress resolved to stay out of the public eye, keeping to herself and her family, but as Byleth worked tirelessly to restore Fódlan, she did offer advice from time to time. It is said that her experience growing up as a commoner provided a useful perspective."), and dorothea's endings with ferdinand ("Thanks to the wisdom of his wife, Dorothea, Ferdinand's policies were of massive benefit to the common folk and brought about a swift recovery.") ashe wouldn't be able to offer dorothea much in terms of money, given that gaspard is a minor territory, but he would wholeheartedly love her, if she chose to be with him.



ashe and dimitri (a support)
spoiler: this is the support ashe does have but stops at b that i feel most passionately about. i do have a stipulation, though: in this fantasy, their b has to be unlocked in pre-timeskip, because i don't think the dialogue changes as they are (meeting up after classes vs. after the tasks for the day are completed, and "I am not king just yet" vs "I am not officially the king just yet") really reflect the several months prior to unlocking the support post-timeskip.

with that aside - why i want an a support for them is because of their discussion of admiration. to quote directly from the support:

Ashe: I also respect you as a person. You carry the weight of the whole Kingdom on your shoulders. You're a faultless warrior, and you're always so kind to your allies. Even me.

Dimitri: On all accounts, I can say the same of you. But you also have a strong heart. I can't say that about myself. No matter the circumstance, you are never drawn toward darkness. That mindset of yours has done me well on countless occasions.

there is so much in just these two lines that could be addressed in an a support, but isn't. how has ashe's overall opinion of dimitri changed after the timeskip and the subsequent months? how does he behave around dimitri, now that he's shown him a side that's far from faultless and kind? what do either of them feel about "you are never drawn toward darkness. That mindset of yours has done me well on countless occasions" now?

(it's honestly a disservice to ashe as a character to have his line stay the same, regardless of timing, but i won't get into that because i did say up top that i'd like their b to remain the same but be pre-timeskip exclusive.)

outside of that, there are elements of ashe that could be touched upon in an a, or even an a+ support with dimitri.

first has to do with ashe's activities in the five years prior to byleth's return. ashe served under house rowe, who had defected to the empire, and while it's never (as far as i remember) outright stated, i can imagine he decided to take the path of least resistance for the sake of his family, but once rumors started surfacing that dimitri was alive he left house rowe's service to cling to that hope of reuniting with him and, eventually, helping him take back fhirdiad and faerghus as a whole. he's the only blue lion that has that period of betrayal - while i can't imagine anyone holding that against him, he'd hold it against himself. after all, he thinks he was in the wrong for once being a thief, despite needing to steal in order to survive and provide for his younger siblings.

second is the theme of ghosts. dimitri is haunted by the voices of those who have died around him, and it's implied ashe experiences a similar trauma, both in his a support with annette ("You're not scared of ghosts, are you, Ashe? I didn't think you'd be..." "You haven't seen what I've seen!") and one of his closing remarks during tea time ("Have you ever seen a ghost? Probably for the best if you haven’t…"). ashe could empathize with him, as someone also haunted by the dead, and then maybe that mindset of his that isn't drawn toward darkness could help dimitri through once more.

honestly, i'm not even sure what i would want out of an a/a+ support between ashe and dimitri, but i feel they have the most missed potential out of all of ashe's b-locked supports.



ashe and alois
[ashe voice] i tried to grow a beard once. it was hairrable. hahaha... huh... almost as bad as that joke...

need i say more than that

-- but seriously. on the surface level we have ashe, the boy who aspires to be a knight, and alois, who is a knight of seiros. alois was knighted at 24, which is only a bit older than ashe is after the timeskip - with that, and how warm and jovial of a person alois is, it's hard to imagine ashe wouldn't admire him.

especially when, in ways, they're quite similar. both ashe and alois lost their families when they were young, lead miserable lives (ashe with having to steal in order to survive/provide for his siblings, and alois saying in his c support with byleth "My parents died when I was small, and I came to live in the monastery. It was an aimless existence."), and were eventually found by the right person (lonato and jeralt respectively) who changed their lives for the better and set them on the path toward knighthood. but despite their rough backgrounds, they're upbeat, kindhearted, and eager to help others, even if they end up getting taken advantage of (see: byleth's concerns in ashe's b support, and catherine's supports with alois). they also both have fond memories of fishing - ashe with christophe, and alois with jeralt.

and, perhaps most interestingly, they're both afraid of ghosts. ashe mentions seeing ghosts in his a support with annette and a tea time line with byleth, but doesn't go deeper than that. (i assume that, similar to dimitri, they're visions due to trauma, but there's nothing confirming nor denying that.) alois, however, has two support chains that delve into his relationships with ghosts: shamir and mercedes. in their b support, alois and shamir have the following exchange:

Alois: No, no. I want to get it off my chest. That time when we were on our way back from a mission. Do you remember what I asked you?

Shamir: You asked if I ever think about the people I've killed.

Alois: Yes, you said you never do, but me, I... I can't go a day without thinking about them. The feel of my weapon cutting through them, their twisted faces, their cries of pain. And that awful scent of blood... I was carrying out my duties. But... but that doesn't make it easier for me to forget. And the dead haven't forgotten me either. Their hatred, their resentment, their curses... One day, the spirits will set upon me for revenge!

taking a life isn't easy - it's something that alois struggles with after over 20 years of being a knight. but it's part of his reality, as a knight. he says as much (and restates his reasons for fearing ghosts) in his a support with mercedes:

Alois: You want to join the Knights of Seiros?

Mercedes: Helping those in need with the goddess always at my side? I can't think of a better way to live.

Alois: Hm. I think the Knights of Seiros wouldn't be quite what you expect. As a knight myself, I slew countless foes. I shudder at the memory of my own deeds. The corpses I made, heaped in a pile, would be like a mountain. I suppose that's why I'm so frightened of ghosts. What if they appear before me, seeking revenge? Perhaps it's a silly thing to worry about, but... still.

being a knight isn't glamorous. helping those in need sometimes means ending the lives of others. it's a lesson that alois knows too well, and ashe would learn throughout the course of the story, but alois would want to make sure he really, truly knew.

(speaking of really, truly knowing - given that alois is a knight of seiros in particular... well. he wouldn't have the same tension as he does with catherine, given that she's directly involved with the incidents with lonato and christophe, but ashe's anti-church (or at least church skeptic) side could come out. and i think alois could understand that, at least to some degree - he flat out tells mercedes "Before you talk to [your parents about becoming a knight], I had better relate some of the darker chapters in the knights' history." i don't remember alois ever commenting on the situation with lonato, but at the very least he acknowledges that, again, being a knight isn't all sunshine and rainbows, and there is some darker stuff lurking beneath the surface.)

overall, ashe could potentially see alois as someone he wants to be in 20 years' time - and even after alois peels back the layers of himself, his traumas, and the dark realities of knighthood, that vision remains steady.

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