I Love Flayn

How is this allowed?

As good as kin.mp4 Counterpoint: Seteth literally tells Byleth he views him/her as family. That compounded with his A Support dialog, which is needed to get this scene, leaves very little room to doubt the level of trust and security Seteth places in Byleth. Yes, even regarding Flayn. Unfortunately I'm already well aware. I've seen people share monstrous opinions about Flayn and what they wish would happen to her. Memes most certainly are not the worst ways people have expressed themselves over her, but that also doesn't mean there's no merit in discussing the impact they have.

Before you decide to shut down the discussion, could anyone at least address my point that people believing memes to be fact is, at worst, mildly problematic? That was the crux of my post, and it seems to have gone ignored.

No, I specifically said Flayn x Byleth. I assumed that's what you referred to when you mentioned shipping art.

I don't think I'm asking too much by wishing there were other people who shared my love of Flayn; who I could discuss her with and share the things I've gotten of her and appreciate them on the same level. People like to bring up how there are other unpopular/hated 3H girls, but they all still have people who love them. They all have people who draw them in wedding dresses and kissing Byleth, and people who are happy to share such pics while saying how beautiful the art is. My problem is that I am alone in viewing Flayn this way. And while jokes may not prevent a person who would have loved Flayn otherwise from doing so, seeing people continually misrepresent or trivialize her doesn't do anything to help my fandom isolation.

You say that, but at the same time there are countless pieces of Seteth fanart (including shipping fanart) where no one feels compelled to mention Flayn once. No one is going to mention what Flayn will think if you say you love Seteth or post shipping art with him. It's not the two-way issue you claim it is, and that is experience speaking. Actually yes, I am responsible for the majority of Flayn x Byleth art, not drawn but commissioned. So with that you'd have to conclude her "legion of fans" is really just me alone. If not for me, almost none of it would exist. I never said that people shouldn't ever joke about Flayn. Just that it's a problem when jokes are starting to override truths about her character and the story of the game itself. Someone makes a flippant comment and I give a flippant reply, but clearly I'm the one in the wrong. Okay.

Does your hatred of Micaiah have to do with her personality or the decisions she makes in the story? You act like I'm the only person in this fanbase who loves and is genuinely passionate about a character (and you know that's not the case). From the sound of that you seem like the exact type of person this pertains to. Why treat characters with seriousness and consideration when they can all be le funny maymays?

Well I just gave you an example of how widespread and overused this joke is that people are now seemingly unaware that it even is a joke. No matter what one individual's intent might be, this is unquestionably harmful to Flayn's perception. At least with those characters you can say those quirks are theirs. The Angry Seteth meme is just that, a Seteth meme, reflecting what I said about how Flayn is viewed not as her own character but an extension of him. At least with the fish thing you can say that's an exaggeration of Flayn's quirk. Also, I've never seen anyone mock or make derogatory memes about Marianne. You'll never see the majority of comments on her fanart be overtaken by memes. EDIT: Also worth mentioning is, with all of those characters' detractors who do nothing but meme them, they also have legions of people who love and respect them outside of any jokes or memes. Flayn cannot claim the same luxury.

This is an issue I need to address that no one else ever seems to mention, but I suspect you're all probably all aware of on a subconscious level. Flayn is not respected or taken seriously as a character by the vast majority of the FE fanbase, and whenever anyone brings her up it's almost always in the context of a joke: either how she's "obsessed with fish" or how expressing any sort of fondness for her will enrage Seteth. I get that these jokes were born out of actual (though heavily exaggerated) elements in the game, but it's come to a point where jokes have begun to replace actual facts. For example, I recently shared the following fanart I had commissioned: (source) And to my surprise and frustration, the most popular reaction was asking if Seteth would really be okay with Flayn and Byleth's marriage. Anyone who's played the game and actually knows these characters should not be asking this, but the fact is that the "Angry Seteth" meme has become so ubiquitous that a worryingly high amount of people have assumed it to be reality (this pic was commissioned specifically to challenge that assumption). I've been told that I "worry too much about memes" or "take them too seriously", but this sort of misinformation is what happens when people don't challenge this "it's all a joke, nothing matters" mindset.(And this doesn't just apply to Fire Emblem or even gaming, but that's too broad a topic for here). And of course this isn't the only example, but I point to it as a particularly egregious case. There have also been times where people have doubted the the validity of Flayn's official character information because it doesn't mention "fish obsession". As a whole, there are just many, many instances where these memes are brought up on Flayn posts meant to be meaningful or serious, and the result is that Flayn is far less respected than most characters, even those who are hated by a lot of the fanbase (because hating characters requires a degree of respect for them, as you still have to acknowledge that they are important and that their actions mattered enough to be hated). And yes, I'm sure people will bring up handfuls of other characters who have some recurring meme attached to them, but it still doesn't reach the amount of irreverence Flayn receives in comparison. Flayn is the only character whose autonomy people don't respect; I've even heard it said that Flayn isn't herself a character and is just a Seteth plot device. This couldn't be more wrong: Flayn is a beautiful, wonderful character in her own right and deserves to be viewed and treated as such. Not just an eternal punchline. If you've read this far, thanks. I've brought up this discussion here as this is one of the more reasonable pockets of the FE fandom from what I've observed, so I trust you'll be willing to lend my points some degree of validity instead of saying I'm trying to "kill fun" or "thinking too much".

So something like this? 😉 Honestly I think having Wrath AND Defiant Crit on her is overdoing it a bit, lol. They do synergize well with the CAS, but it's a very risky strategy. The drop in attack doesn't matter too much when every attack is a crit either. Here's a vid of her clearing out a room, critting every attack. Hilariously she keeps critting even after her sword breaks.🤣 (Sorry for the choppiness, I stitched it together with Switch video clips)

Oh it's definitely not as easy when you have to cart around Dimitri's useless Level 4 husk on most maps. Anyway I already did a SS Flayn solo, the (much less impressive) results shown here: Also, some other Flayn builds I've been toying with: Dodge Tank Flayn: Enemies will have a hard enough time landing a hit as is, but when Alert Stance+ activates, RIP. Iron Wall Flayn: I bet you've never imagined this tanky a Flayn build! Considering the strongest physical attack on this map is 74 (and there's no way anyone's putting a dent in her magically), and with Pavise and Renewal, she'll be taking pitiable damage. She's a slow but unstoppable juggernaut! Edit: Swapped Renewal for Axefaire due to Bolt Axe annoyingly being 1 HP away from one-shotting some enemies. Almost-Infinite Range Flayn: This setup requires more careful play due to the increased frailty and limited uses of magic compared to enemy count (hence the Bolt Axes), but it's notable for being able to attack from a max of 17 spaces away! (Then again any Valkyrie can do that with +5 mov. Imagine Stride on top of that... 😵) If you guys have suggestions for other fun or crazy ideas I can try out with her I wanna hear them!

Oh undoubtedly. I think about level 50-55 in Maddening is when units hit a wall in terms of exp from enemy kills. Flayn would only get 1 in the 80-90 level range (WITH the EXP Gem). If I used up all her magic with the EXP Gem and next to Byleth I was able to reliably get at least one level every map, up until the 90s. Fun fact, the final level required something along the lines of 30,000 EXP. I very much doubt the feasibility of capping for physical units/those with bad magic.

Well I explained how I reached level 99 in the post above, but that still didn't cap out her stats at the end. I was 1 off from res and 8 off from luck. Those were easy to patch up with stat boosters gained in later chapters though (she hit level 99 at Chapter 17 IIRC).

Hmm, true, but AM endgame is almost exclusively ranged enemies, and I don't want her relying on gauntlets too heavily (Byleth has the COB for my Vantage/Wrath WM setup). I'm still not settled on the skills, but playing the chapter a couple times now I've swapped out BM prowess for Renewal so I don't have to take a turn to healing focus when she takes too much damage (also why I have Caduceus Staff on her over Thyrsys. That and she has to have it, she's Flayn 💚). Also switched out BM Range +1 for Axe Prowess since the Bolt Axe is way more useful for range killing than the small amount of magic she gets as a War Cleric. Speaking of gauntlets, I forgot about the monsters on the final chapter and didn't get and Dragon Claws to kill them, and don't have enough ore to craft them. Rather than putting any other physical weapon on Flayn I just avoid them mostly 😩

Started it Saturday actually, got the dates mixed up🤣 Her bases don't matter when you've got tons of stat boosters to load her up with on recruit and a maxed battalion to slap onto her, which of course was in my case. But I say she's easy to grind because of the support magic she has access to. Fortify gives massive EXP, and Rescue and Restore give a fair amount, more than heal. The best maps for expending all their uses is anything with beasts, since they have infinite, status-inflicting attacks. You let them repeatedly attack and rattle Byleth and create a cycle of Heal/Restoring until your magic runs out. This is especially good to do in the bishop or gremory class, obviously.

Yep, it's all over. Kinda sad about it actually... maybe I'll do another Flayn solo of Verdant Wind lol (already did one of Silver Snow too before you ask). Bruh, I think no one has anything better to do right now with global lockdown and all. Also believe it or not, I only started this run this past Friday. I think Flayn is actually easier to grind than most units. And trust me, nobody likes Flayn more than me. From what I understand simping is when you spend hundreds of dollars to prove your love and dedication to a girl? Then yeah, I'd say it fits haha.

And also I was bored but more because I love her ❤️

Looking back on my opening post and the replies I've gotten I will admit my tone was overly and unnecessarily defensive, especially for this community. In all honesty this was a post I had initially written up for Reddit and posted there simultaneously, and I wasn't aware if there was an overlap of users or opinion here. I'm not trying to push for people to have to like Flayn x Byleth, and my apologies if I came off as aggressive.

Unfortunately I don't have to assume; I and others have been attacked on places like Reddit and YouTube for expressing fondness for Flayn. Also, my having an opinion and wanting it respected is "worrying"? There is no need to make this about me as a person, so also ask you to not project things onto me either.

Do people completely miss the part where Seteth tells Byleth he literally trusts them with Flayn's life?

Feel free to have disagreements about Flayn but don't call others "creepy" for liking or romancing her. With everyone claiming that Nabatean x Byleth relationships are incestuous (which I don't agree with), someone could easily call you creepy for saying Seteth is "perfect spouse material" (IE what is that, some weird daddy fetish?). Everyone deserves to have their opinions respected if they aren't disrespecting others.

Perhaps it's the "Monika effect" or the fact that Flayn is the only one that looks directly at the player as opposed to the slight profile shot of the other characters. Very few Fire Emblem characters have this characteristic, and no one else in 3H does outside of Byleth themself.

Why should we agree on that? What makes her resemble a child any moreso than any of the other short characters (female and male btw)?

Oh, my mistake, my stupid eyes read the last part of your post as "I don't find that appealing". If it'd read it over more carefully I would've seen your intent. Sorry. How are you defining Flayn as a loli? I hesitated to point this out but she has a larger bust size than Egelgard, and the latter is pretty short too. Does that then mean pre-timeskip Edelgard is a loli?

Here's a Byleth x Flayn fic that was actually done for me as a gift (admittedly it could use more of them actually interacting but I still enjoyed it). Check it out and it's good to have some Flayn solidarity! You may not agree, but to the people that do that reasoning makes no sense. Flayn is in no way genetically related to Byleth, and if you want to say dragon blood makes them related, you'd have to say that she's then related to all crest bearers in some way. I'm really not interested in having a lore debate so I won't go into that further. I can't tell if this is a joke. You DO know there's way more to her character than enjoying fish, right? That's another problem the fanbase has: instead of seeing Flayn as a fleshed out, multi-dimensional character, people always reduce her to "that fish meme girl" so they can push her to the side and never take her seriously.