Shoot the Plotbunny / Ruminations on Grunia

I have too many ideas and not enough time.

For one... why oh why do I keep coming back to the idea of some Yumina-centric darkfic? I've made at least three halfhearted stabs at it, and the latest one won't leave me alone.

The whole FE3 thing with Yumina and Yubello just haunts me, though. It's not just the abuse, or the way the kids are pawns to everybody, or the way that they lose everything dear to them except one another. That's run of the mill for royal children in Fire Emblem. It's the ending. For one, they're separated. Yumina is handed off to Elice for her education, Yubello is cooped up in Altea under Marth's supervision, and there's not a hint that the twins ever get their country back. The narrative leaves off with Grunia occupied by Marth's handpicked general. Oh, and Marth making a power grab for the entire continent. Or world. It does say "world."

Well, hell's bells, I thought this was supposed to be a happy ending.

I doubt the creators of FE3 intended for that all to be as sinister as it sounds (or maybe they did?). But the set-up is just rife for all kinds of horrible possibilities, especially if one tends to write with any degree of verisimilitude. And Yumina has so much more presence compared with her brother that it's easy to see her chafing at the whole tidy arrangement.

[It also stands out to me because it's one of the few "political" acts in FE3 that makes any kind of sense in real life terms. Yes, absolutely. Split up the kids, confine them to your own power base, teach the girl to want a religious life and make sure the boy never reaches adulthood keep the boy on a short leash. Bravo, Marth. Maybe you won't be a total disaster after all.]