I am the only one uncomfortable with how Hubert and Edelgard dynamic is played?

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I am the only one who's uncomfortable with Hubert because he's played, especially in the fandom, as this hyper-rational male character compared to the more sensitive and emotional Edelgard ?

I'm genuinely asking this to other people who will treat this a minimum seriously and hold similar belief when it comes to feminism as me, because I know it's a topic I'm biased about due to personal experience and so might be missing some important nuance and elements. While I'm trying to best convey my point in this post because I want to be treated seriously, I'm genuinely open to real critism outside of the bad "it's not that deep" or related point.

Many people wrongly believe Hubert is a yes-man when he actually don't hesitate to do what he thinks his best. We see him express this view in his Ferdinand support and even hold critism, though gentle in their approach, of Edelgard course of action like in SB. While this makes sense thematically and mechanically, Hubert also tend to be more the one speaking strategy and information in CF while Edelgard express a more emotionally charged opinion on the matter. This particulary come to light with how the strategic comparison between the Empire side and the Alliance side is focused on Hubert and Claude rather than with Edelgard wich focus on moral. It show through the difference between chapter 19 and chapter 20 battles or comments like that:

Hubert: Claude von Riegan. What an interesting character.

Hubert: Underneath that compassionate exterior, he was always cold and calculating.

Hubert: Ordinary fools run headlong into combat, without even considering the possibility of defeat.

Hubert: But to consider one's chances, and to prepare for plans to go awry—that takes real intelligence.

Hubert: I have to say, I am impressed beyond words.

There's also the whole context that plays into it with Rhea having Seteth is in a similar spot and on the other hand, the male lord having retainers who are not as involved in decision-making and "less critical" of the choice of their leader, with Hilda not caring that much and Dedue being blindly loyal.

_

For me, while it seems to hold some truth in the game, it's mainly a problem in the fandom. I've seen AM fan say Edelgard is dumb and only managing to do well because of Hubert intelligence, but I've also very much seen CF fan making Hubert/Edelgard relationship dynamic as rational man telling sensitive woman decision made on the spot/due to love is risky and not well though enough. It's even something I've seen with fanfiction writer I respect a lot...

There's also this added dimensions in some fanfiction where Hubert is played enteriely as the man silently enduring deep man pain to protect Edelgard from the brutality of the world, all while somewhat putting aside or somewhat dismissing her trauma. For example they use a very dramatic and dark lexical field when talking of Hubert's while on the other hand they don't really directly mention Edelgard's, which to be fair is also a whole problem of how dismissed/down-played Edelgard trauma is in general in this fandom but that's another matter. There's this common trope in fiction of the man who suffers and want to protect the woman from similar suffering, and what's interesting with Edelgard/Hubert in the game is that it's simply not the case. While what Hubert had to go through is unarguably awful because bystander trauma is not something to dismiss, it remain that it mainly consist of being a bystander to the horror Edelgard continually had to go through ( not just the experiment). There's the very potential child abuse he endured and the whole aspect of having your whole life being dedicated to another that's not to dismiss too definitely, but the point remain... If anything, canon Edelgard/Hubert is a partial reversal of that trope, yet a non-negligigble part of the fandom don't exactly handle it like that.

I don't know if I conveyed my points well enough since I had a hard time directly explaining exactly what I'm speaking off, I hope it's not too messy.

Posted Apr 2, 2023, 11:30 AM UTC

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