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Hello, everyone! I am in a band called Grimleal, which makes symphonic black/melodic death metal that is inspired by and about Fire Emblem. We dropped a new single back in late December called "Love Reincarnate", which is the first song in the Time-Surpassing Fate trilogy (named after our upcoming EP), and is based on Rhajat's reincarnation. There is some Japanese folk elements in the song, which is intended to evoke the aesthetics of Hoshido, and because it was also inspired by Fates' soundtrack. There’s also a slight gothic metal influence, in the vein of Cradle of Filth’s Dusk and Her Embrace era, so if you're a fan of that band and that album, you may enjoy this one a lot. Anyways, if any of the above happens to pique your interest in any way, feel free to give it a listen and leave any comments/criticisms! (P.S. There's plenty of references to Rhajat's dialogue in the lyrics, can you spot them all?)

Okay, so I was talking to my friend about Grima in Heroes, and we also talked about the case on his sealing by the Falchion empowered by the Shield of Seals. In it, I mentioned something I realized from another person telling me. I was explained that there was in fact never any mention of a time limit of Grima's sealing. Naga mentions that Grima was sealed a thousand years ago and sleep was the only way to stop him. But this means that the Sealing of Grima, once performed, stays in place normally. However, two things I have come to understand. 1) The Grimleal's attempts and desire for the Fire Emblem and the Five Gemstones makes perfect sense now. They aren't doing it to accelerate Grima's awakening. It's to actually to remove the seal. Since it was the Shield of Seals' power to put Grima to sleep, using it can also have the opposite effect. Even if there were no vessels, removing the seal sets Grima's spirit free at the very least, and who knows what he could do. He had to have done something during the First Exalt's time. 2) Creating a perfect vessel can actually have an effect on the seal. For years, apparently a thousand, the Grimleal strived to create a suitable vessel for Grima, someone with a pure enough Fellblood to have the Heart of Grima, and thus they could awaken Grima from this. In fact, this actually does seem to be for real. Future!Robin awakens Grima by being the vessel for him, and using the offering. Meaning that a vessel can in fact break open the seal. This in turn made me come to learn and accept several things. Grima's Power After the seal is broken, we are told that Grima is trying to restore his power. But he's already in dragon form, so why is he not just wrecking havoc? Well, recall Medeus in both Shadow Dragon and New Mystery of the Emblem. In both of these cases, it's revealed that Medeus has not in fact fully revived. Medeus cannot use his full powers outside the Dolhr castle in Shadow Dragon, and in New Mystery, he would be fully revived after draining the life force of the four clerics. Get it? Grima is in fact under the same conditions, where even after being revived, he has not yet reached his full powers. This actually makes sense when you look at how Future Past Grima is stronger than Awakening's Grima. It makes sense because the Future Past Grima had years to restore his power, while Awakening Grima had only about a few days to weeks to regain his power, so its not as much. Not to mention, in a Bad Ending of The Future Past 3, where Grima is injured but not dead, Robin tells Lucina that the injuries that he had taken will force Grima to sleep so that he can recharge some of his power. This could also mean that his revival after being defeated back in SoV and sealed in the First Exalt's time, may have required Grima a much longer period of rest before he could even be revived normally. Fellblood Okay, so the popular theory is that Validar and Robin's mother were Minor Fellbloods and thus having Robin makes a Major Fellblood. I... am starting to actually accept this. But not that they were Major and Minor. For the most part, there hasn't been a fully understanding as to how Grima even spread is bloodline in the First Exalt's time, since he couldn't have taken human form and banged any chicks. And even if he did, he should already have had a vessel from his child, since Grima is pure Fellblood. So it genuinely could not have taken them 1000 years to produce someone with a pure Fellblood like Robin. But then I random joked this question in my head, "If only they injected someone with Grima's blood. Then they'd be Fellbloods." And just like that, a million lightbulbs flashed in my head, everything making sense now. Imagine this scenario: Grima has possessed a human in the First Exalt's time, and this human has now become Grima's vessel, pure Fellblood. He suddenly gets cut by something, and blood spills out. Afterwards, Grima's body is destroyed by the First Exalt. The first Grimleal actually COLLECTS the Fellblood that spilled and takes it in to experiment with. Maybe some ingest it, and then maybe others inject it to someone into their bloodstream. That's pretty much it. What if the Grimleal actually created a very small, very dilute Fellbloodline, and with that, struggled to create a new vessel. But because it's so dilute, it was incredibly hard to actually produce more powerful Fellbloods, but they still strived for it. Furthermore, by producing several descendants, the blood has spread throughout many people, so many Plegians have Fellblood in them, and perhaps spread to other places as well. Meaning yes, I am conceding that Robin's mother might indeed have Fellblood in her, but not Minor Fellblood, but just a stronger blood, like 10% Fellblood that when she and Validar, the strongest Fellblood, got together, it created Robin, who had the purest Fellblood. This also means that even if Grima is defeated, there are a bunch more Fellbloods out there that has the potential to create a new vessel for Grima. So its like, so long as humanity exists, Grima will also exist. However, do not take this to mean that I'm saying that Grima losing his descendants means he will die. Because he certainly will not. Grima will always have a way to revive himself, even if no Fellbloods remain. If his spirit remains alive in the world, he will come back always, one way or another. Grima is neither Loptyr nor Medeus. He has surpassed both of them in terms of revivability.

Okay, so with Grima being out as a unit in FE Heroes, I got him and got his quote as well at LV40. ANd my god, what a quote this is: "You are a curious one... You willingly come to chat with me? The fell dragon? Alone? You know full well how I detest humans. They have no qualms asking for divine assistance when it meets their fickle needs... But how quick they are to shun their benefactors once they get what they desire. They become arrogant and make the same mistakes repeatedly, incapable of learning the folly of their ways. They claim their actions are for the good of others, but that's merely a show of self-indulgence. Humans are selfish. And the ugliness of mankind has turned me repulsive. It's the world that wants me to be evil. And yet you claim to need me here? Enough of your lies, worm. How dare you look at me with such a gaze. Do not dare pity me!" So a while back on an FE subreddit, I posted this: And I cannot believe that I was actually right. Grima truly does hate the world because of humanity being evil. Yes, some texts about how he is created is different, but overall, the Grimleal act in that Grima is meant to punish the world, and Grima is doing just that. Humans are evil and want him to be, so he will gladly do so. Like... WHAT?! It was just my thought about what Grima could be. What he represents... BUT I'M RIGHT?! ... I just... What?

Everyone that played Awakening must have seen the Grimleal cult, and were likely VERY disappointed by how it was. Unlike other Fire Emblem series that held religion, such as Genealogy's Lopto Sect, and Tellius series religion that talk of Ashera, the Grimleal is a religion in Awakening that wasn't fully explored. Even the Duma Faithful were explored a bit in Echoes. But we hardly know a thing about the Grimleal, what sets it apart, and so on. My fic has the intention of exploring some of the stuff, and about two of the three things I'll say did get explained and explored. But I want to hear your opinions regarding it, and what you think about it. 1) Teachings: The Grimleal was founded under the worship of Grima. However, what Grima is depicted as differs depending on what form of faith you have. If you are of the minor faith, which makes up the majority of the religion, Grima is a god that exists to punish the non-believers, and protect the faithful. However, the Major Faithfuls, the one that are the fewer in the religion, know something deeper. In that Grima is born from the darkness of humans themselves. Here're a few quotes I have Validar speak in my fic where he explains it in: To the Major Faithfuls, Grima is a sign that the world must start over. The entity where humanity has evolved in all the wrong ways, and that the world must start over by ending humanity. This is what the religion believes. And anyone that tries to fight against that are the most vile creatures, as they are trying to prolong the suffering of the world. 2) What defines the Minor and Major Faithfuls? Simple, knowledge. You must study extensively on the customs and ritual of the religion. Afterwards, when you prove yourself, you are given the chance to ascend to the Major ranks. However, the reason these are so few is because the ritual for it is brutal. In there, the person has the Brand of the Defile burned onto their backs using a burning hot iron branding tool. Naturally, such a thing is incredibly dangerous, and if the pain does not kill you, the possible infections and damage to the skin could. After you receive the brand, you get treated almost immediately, but many die during recovery. But the ones that manage to survive, they are able to read the encrypted grimoires and have access to major knowledge about the religion, and even attain a great deal of wealth and political power, and some even attain some more ancient and powerful tomes to learn more powerful magic to grow stronger. This test is mandatory, but the person are informed of the risks, making sure that the dangers are very clear to them. If they accept, it shows true dedication to the cult, if you're willing to put your life on the line and scar yourself for life, it shows. 3) The Hierophants: Obviously, the Hierophant or the leader of the Grimleal obviously MUST have Fellblood in them. But exactly what makes the person want to serve Grima? What sort of brainwashing did they go through? Or rather, what did Validar go through for him to want to end the world? And would this have also been Robin if he/she remained in the cult, rather than be spirited away by their mother? Well, it basically is that the Fellbloods are taught to utterly hate the world. They are raised to believe that the world is truly vile and should be eradicated. This is done by making the child see the cruelties of mankind, from the war ravaged areas, to how bandits attack helpless citizens, and even see how people betray one another. The Grimleal manipulates many events to implant the seeds of the world's evil into their mind. Any glimmer or hope that the child might see is quickly snuffed out when they see the evil behind the good. They see acts of kindness to be nothing more than hypocrisy. And the final setting to cement their despair over humanity, when they reach a certain age, somewhere at like 10-12 more or less, the parent Hierophant fights their child in a battle to the death. They try to invoke all their anger, hatred, fear, and so forth in the fight, and ultimately makes the child kill them. Validar went through this and was forced to fight and murder his own father. When he realized what he did, and what his father tried to do to him, Validar's mind was shattered of all faith he might have possibly harbored for humanity, and that there was no such thing as goodness, and the world must be destroyed. -------- And there we go. That is how some of the stuff that I think the Grimleal functions in, and how I want to present it into my fic. What do you guys think? If this was in the actual Awakening game, would it have made the Grimleal more understandable? Would this have made Validar more sympathetic?