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Listen, dmcl is one of the best ships and its so fucking subtle, you have to really pay attention to notice. Sure, Dimitri and Claude cannot have a support—none of the lords can, but I believe their designs are intentional foils of one another and here’s this:
Dimitri and Claude’s backstories are basically opposites of one another: a beloved prince surrounded by friends and a scorn prince whom everyone tried to kill off; in their adulthood, these positions are clearly switched with Dimitri’s trauma and Claude’s dream
They’re also paired up regarding astrology: Dimitri is the moon; Claude is the star, and yet their crests show the opposite sign (Riegan is the moon; Blaiddyd looks like a star). Their birthdays are symbols with Dimitri being a Sagittarius (archer) and Claude being a Leo (Lion)
What about interactions? Claude the schemer who naturally puts people at an arm’s distance away is immediately trusted and praised by the most earnest and sincere person at the academy. Dimitri’s trusting nature and kindess is completely opposite to Claude’s caution.
Why else would Claude immediately know that Dimitri would come to his aid during the Empire’s invasion? He took a chance with Dimitri knowing that the man will rescue him because he’s just that person. Dimitri, in turn, immediately recognizes that this was Claude’s plan overall
They also promised to see each other one day once they become the kings of their respective countries and the war dies down, affirming that Fodlan and Almyra will have tighter relations in the future
Not to mention that Claude practically convinced the ENTIRE alliance to rejoin with Faerghus and HANDED it to Dimitri, 100% trusting that Dimitri will take care of his people
Compared to Edelgard who invades Claude and sees him as a potential threat with the latter understanding that she won’t let him leave alive unless he appealed to Byleth, Claude and Dimitri will never actually kill each other
In VW, when Dimitri dies, Claude is devastated knowing that the latter came all the way here for nothing. In AM, he tells Dimitri about not allowing the dead to drag him down and to live for the future
He understands Dimitri better than Edelgard who puts the Tempest King down in CF because he was a delusional beast who probably would have been a good king in a time of peace.
I know it seems like I’m reaching out but the dmcl is an experience that slowly unravels itself the more you play the game and learn of the characters. It’s not an in-your-face-ship but one you start to see come to fruition
