#support: mauvier

[fletching-scar]

i'm a plow and you're a furrow / i'm a fox and you're a burrow

starter for @contempenitent

Shinon knows, in the rotted-out catacombs of his mind, that the bandit camp is empty. They saw church-men raise the flag of Seiros over Garreg Mach's burnt husk, and anticipated exactly this.

This, a dispatch of watchful eyes, of arrow-points and spearheads. This, a solemn vigil, this, two sodden bastards and a pup tent and a stakeout in the pissing rain.

Shinon and--and some other guy, whatsit, Mauvier--surveilling the movements of a buncha schmucks who cleared out days ago.

"There's no one here," grits Shinon, for the nth time, even though he's damn sure he'll be flogged if he crawls back to Garreg Mach before the two-night vigil is up.

He grinds his teeth. Paces. Snaps a thrice-damned twig under his foot, loudly.

There are no ruffians about to mark the sound. He knows this.

He knows this, and there's sweet fuck-all he can do about it.

"I'll throw a fuckin' rock down there," grunts Shinon, with a sweeping gesture to the barren camp below. "See if I don't, and nothing's gonna happen."

[melusinezephyr]

It didn't feel right to pretend he forgot it.

Mauvier was aware of the birthdays of each Hound at least by their own self-reporting. People place different value on these sorts of things. He himself hoped his own birthday was long forgotten but he couldn't forget hers even if he tried.

His feelings were complex. It wasn't as though he forgave her but it would be wrong to pretend that the years he'd spent in her custody meant nothing even though now he belonged to the Divine Dragon.

It was because of this lingering emotion that he left a bouquet of calla lilies at her door. There was no note attached and he cared not if she knew it was from him or not.

She stares at the flowers left upon her doorstep, almost tempted to trample them beneath her feet.

Life and fertility. What a mockery. And yet, they find a way into her quarters anyway, mage dragon softly humming to herself as she places a spell of perservation upon then.

Sentimentality is something that she would have thought beyond her, but she was in a good mood today, and she felt like remembering the past for once.

Mauvier, she says in the note she slips under his door later, I know it was you. Always so... caring. Is this the part where I would be expected to say thank you? Thank you, then. You're too kind.

[in--nagas--name]

🎲m'lord libra..

'they're gay' au

If nothing else can be said for him, Libra's hands are steady. He has sewn wounds, he has borne coffins, he has baptized fussing babes. For all of his deficiencies, for all his many sins, he can trust that his hands won't waver.

Always, until now--in the corner of the bath-house, knelt between Mauvier's thighs. It is the proximity of him, naked to his braies; it is the heat that tremors out from his broad breast. It is Mauvier's own breath, the way it falters, that puts a quiver in his wrists.

In his fingers, curled precisely as they are around the old straight razor--Libra sighs, to purge himself of shivers, to stay the blade against the hard plane of Mauvier's jaw.

That anxious sin... rattles as it ghosts between his lips. But he must not fail.

Gently, Libra draws the blade across Mauvier's skin; gently, he coaxes those dun whiskers back into their regimented shape.

He watches the edge resolutely. His eyes do not stray up toward Mauvier's eyes, as wide and worshipful as they must be... he does not mark the twitching in Mauvier's wrists. If their proximity is palpable, like the enigma of the magnetic field... Libra endeavors not to feel it.

He draws the tidiest, starkest of lines. And he hums, smiles, soothes Mauvier to stillness.

But there is--as he shaves away the shadows beneath the point of Mauvier's jaw, as his knuckles brush the tender space below his sweet friend's ear--there is a little sound. Broken, falling like a shard of star from Mauvier's throat.

And Libra--

Libra wavers, a little cringing of the wrist, and--gods, Mauvier bleeds. Just there, just slightly. Shining like a pomegranate seed.

Mauvier--bastion that his body is--does not flinch in pain. He is steady, steady, steady.

And Libra reels, and Libra loves him, and in this thunderclap of feeling he cannot say I'm sorry.

He only--despite himself, despite decency, despite every shred of fear he's ever felt--he only breaks forward, gasping, only lays his lips upon the wound.

[blacktempest]

The big guy smiles, there, just for a blink, and Haar thinks they're doing alright.

And then the smile is gone, and the wildest nonsense Haar has ever heard is marching, in regimented lines, from the big man's mouth.

With the way he says it, with the crease between his brows--with the sheer anxiety on his face--it's got to be true, right?

Figures. Oh, it figures. No matter how far or fast Haar flies away, no matter how low he lies, this kind of crazy shit always comes knocking.

(Like the judgment, like the field of throngs of warring statues, the silence that keeps Haar up at night--!)

Haar contains himself. Laughs, even, a tight, cynical bark. "Woah. Alright. No deal. Call me a shit mailman, but I don't... put my fingers in that kind of pie."

I don't fuck with forces that I can't understand.

Not anymore.

Sighing, Haar tangles his hand in his companion's bridle and turns to leave.

So much for that coin.

who is your commander?

mauvier & haar

[vindy-vindingmachine]

Engage is such a two-sided game

Like we have King Morion become a corrupted and his sons have to kill him, Veyle’s whole ark, and the entirety of the Fell Xenologue

But then we have the dumbest supports- like Zelkov and Ivy taking sacred headache medicine together and Kagestu telling Boucheron to quiz him 🙏😭

[owainbradys]

O-Oh... 🥹

[radiantpaths]

Mauvier heard he was at Garreg Mach, but has never managed to catch a glimpse of him 'til now. Emblem Ike...but of course, he is not Emblem Ike. He may not even be Lord Ike.

He is just Ike.

Just all six-something feet of him, towering and imposing, even in a place like this. Ike is a mercenary, so it's not unlikely that they may work together one day. He should introduce himself, even if it's...disquieting, introducing himself to someone he feels like he knows, who doesn't know him.

"Lord - " No. Messed it up already. Mauvier clears his throat. "Ike! It's a wonderful evening, no?" He glances at the bracelet Ike wears, wondering if he is in need of Mauvier's charm.

Another person who knows him that Ike doesn't know. How his name has travelled this far, he has no clue. He sucks it up as he always does. Lord, huh. That's a new one - unless you're Elincia.

Who the hell is this guy?

“Hey,” he says with a curt nod. “It's not my thing, but it's not bad.” He looks out to the party. Yeah, not his thing. He notices the man looking at his bracelet. “You want one? I don't think I need twenty seashells. You'd be doing me a favour, really.”

[taguelbunnyboy]

Yarne knows traditions differ between cultures.

That's never been a mystery to him.

What little he can recall from what little his mother could recall painted taguel and manspawn culture around things such as family, nature, and the needs of the many compared to the few as very different structures.

And then, his time at Garreg Mach had taught him that manspawn culture varies even more than he had expected prior.

This, though...

This, though...

"What."

His hand instantly reaches for his beaststone as the festivities hit their fever pitch, eyes wide as chaos unfolds around him.

His first thought is its an ambush. That there was someone who wanted the two separated. Permanently.

But then, he recalls what he was told about their practices with weddings, and...

This hurts.

This hurts so much.

Marriage doesn't need to be everything and a bundle of carrots.

To him, marriage is just a proof of connection, that close to nothing could separate them.

Which, in a way, makes this make sense.

But that isn't something that needs to be tested!

"..."

He can see his classmates chuckling as they try to take one of the partners away from the area, and he can feel his face twitch.

But... he can't move, despite his legs begging him to rescue, his beaststone urging in his mind to become the one-rabbit army needed to bring them together.

He could probably secure it in a heartbeat.

But...

But was he right to? This was another culture, and Yarne was already poor enough at social cues.

He could end up ruining everything.

He...

He can feel the gaze of one of the members of their motley group burning into him. He knows he needs to act.

So why can't he?

@contempenitent

It's a Nice Day for a White Wedding

[machiot]

@old-scalebag continued from here

Just like that, Marni loses her chance to sneak up on her target. Lord Sombron below, he looks even bigger from the front. Even being lifted up into the air, she barely makes it to eye level! But she isn't one to back down from a challenge.

Unless things aren't in her favor, in which case she will make a tactical retreat. It's called being enterprising.

"? I'm trying to write on your head," Marni says like it's the most obvious thing in the world, waving the marker for emphasis. She thought her intentions were pretty clear here. "Can you stop moving? You're gonna make it hard to write and I'm trying to win a dare here!"

[shauni-will-never-write]

ZELESTIA, SWEETIE, PEOPLE IN THE STREETS THINK YOU'RE ZEPHIA, THEY WON'T BEFRIEND YOU

Jokes aside, I like Zelestia to a ridiculous degree

Like, I get it, she's supposed to be sexy mom type material in a skimpy outfit and just a way to make the sexy villainess playable, but she's just so darn cute and likable

Honestly, all the Four Winds are ridiculously cute and likable and their supports together are all so wholesome, they're all among my favorite characters in the game at this point.

Seriously, she's SO cute

and badass!

[melusinezephyr]

Zephia doesn't know what she is supposed to feel when she stares at Mauvier, so she lets her eyes dart away from him. If she looks at him, she will feel the guilt and she doesn't want to have to feel like that.

"Ignore you? Is that what you want? For us to forget that the other has existed entirely?" She cannot put a name to what churns in her stomach, because the feeling is unknown to her. She doesn't want to put a name to it, because if she does, then she has to face that she has feelings for anything other than her loyalty to Lord Sombron.

"... I won't forget, Mauvier." She doesn't say that some sickening part of her had loved every moment that she had spent with all of the Hounds, that they really were the only thing she could have considered family, however twisted her words were.

"You can serve Lady Veyle all you want, but I will not forget all that has happened between us."

"Mauvier." Of all the people she could face here at the academy, of all the people in the world that could have hated her; it had to be him. Zephia can't control the way her face twitches between a falsified affection and pure anger.

He was a traitor; wasn't he? And yet some wretched deep part of her still wanted to embrace him as one of her "beloved" Hounds, as if they were still the family she had always claimed that they were.

Their eyes are level as she grabs his shoulder, struggling to reconcile the two images of him in her mind.

"What are you doing here? What reason do you have to be here?"

Mauvier watched her approach and felt nothing short of caution in his own stance as she did. It was hard to face her again. He didn't expect he'd ever need to, but fate had its own ideas it seemed. He didn't let any of the apprehension he felt appear on his face.

What he felt was...conflicted. He was terribly uncertain about what had happened. He hated himself for feeling disappointed that she was still here. He hated himself further for the fact that it wasn't all disappointment, that he still felt some familial love toward her after everything.

He couldn't just discard old emotions it seemed.

"I am here because Lady Veyle is here. That is all. I am content to ignore you if you give me the same courtesy."

[rafent]

YOUR CHARACTER IN FIVE QUOTES!

( repost, do not reblog. )

Tell us your favorite quotes from your character. Give us an idea of who they are by five things they’ve said. Then tag your friends.

"Nonsense. You mean to say that it was just some spell? That all should be forgiven? Ridiculous! Regardless of Sombron's influence I am responsible for my own actions. I chose to do what I did. It was what I wanted. I will not allow anyone else to shoulder my blame. Not even Father." (FE: Engage, DLC Xenologue 6)

“If I cannot carry out Father's wishes then my existence serves no purpose. All my life I have sought to be valued…only to discover that I am truly worthless." ( FE: Engage, DLC Xenologue 6)

"Even if the rest of the world should turn against you, I will be here. I swear it." (FE: Engage, Pact Ring support conversation)

"Wise words. No amends I make to you will counteract the evil I have done at all. My paltry overtures have been nothing but a childish attempt to soothe my own ego." (FE: Engage, Rafal & Mauvier A-Support)

"I watched over you for a thousand years after you sacrificed yourself for my sake. I spent every waking moment of that time keenly aware of the depths of my foolishness. The fear that you would never wake held me constantly in its grasp. It nearly drove me mad. Hear me. I will do anything not to lose you again. Protecting you is all I care about. Whatever may become of me I am prepared to accept." (FE: Engage, Rafal & Nel B-Support)

[archiepiscopus]

♡ your grace

○○○○○ | ATTRACTION ○○○○○ | AFFECTION ●●●○○ | INTEREST ●●○○○ | LOYALTY ●●○○○ | TRUST

“Quite a mysterious man, but a rich addition to our army indeed. Not only does he showcase great strength and agility as a skilled knight, but his discipline is too a point of praise for many. I must say however, that his eyes are rather difficult to read…and many soldiers, particularly new recruits, have stated him to be quite intimidating, but I personally feel he simply has difficulty in expressing himself. It is a matter of time, I shall say. Hopefully as he finds himself better settled within the monastery, he may open up more.”

“In my view, he seems rather tense as well. Perhaps I could offer him some calming herbs to hopefully remedy that and bring him more comfort.”

[daydreamingsommie]

Giving names for every character's mount

Rosado's wyvern is canonically named Camille, but no one has shared if their mounts have names

When I wrote their support, I decided to name Alfred's horse Chiffon, and Fogado's horse Stella

Vander's horse should be named Jagen as a reference. This is an anniversary game

I like the name Majesté for Chloé's pegasus. It seems like the right kind of fairytale feel for her

Amber's horse would be Shepherd. The name refers to how he used to help Amber herd the alpacas on the farm, and also how there are a lot of classic stories about ordinary shepherds becoming great legends

Ivy's wyvern looks like her name would be Violetta

For Hortensia's pegasus, I like the sound of Rosalyn

Bunet's horse is Amaretto. Keeping with Solm's dessert name and Bunet's career as a chef, amaretto is an ingredient used to make the dessert Bunet is named after

I'm convinced that Merrin would want to give her wolf something really cool-sounding, but would overdo it. So I came up with Sir Fenris Chevalier III

I don't think Mauvier would think to name his horse anything, but Veyle totally would when she finds out Mauvier didn't. I think Gleam would be a good choice. I think Veyle would subconsciously pick a name that reminded her of Alear, and Gleam has a similar meaning. Plus, it also refers to the gleam of their dragonstone that Veyle has kept as a treasure

I felt like making a fun post

[synergysilhouette]

Rewriting "Fire Emblem: Engage"

This has been on my "draft" page FOREVER. It's my oldest post, and by the time I post this, I'll probably have forgotten some details that I KNOW I'm gonna get hounded (no pun intended) for.

Less emphasis on Emblems--I know, I know. "'Engage' celebrates the anniversary of the franchise, so why wouldn't previous games come into play?" I get it, but it feels suffocating; putting emphasis on the protagonists from past games takes away from the current game (which already feels like it borrows a lot from their last installments). However, in lieu of emblems inside the magical rings, something much more sad is there: 12 of Alear's dead siblings whose spirits are inside them (or their bodies were sealed in there; less sad and still works).

2. Zephia is Alear and Veyle's mom (plus Sombron being their father isn't a plot twist)--As per usual for previous recent FE protagonists (notably Robin and Byleth), Alear's mom is an unseen character who doesn't do much for the plot. Seeing how Zephia wants a child and Sombron promises to give her one, I'd prefer it to be retconned so this happens earlier, and she ends up giving birth to Alear and Veyle (and possibly other siblings). She yearns to be reunited with her children a thousand years later, and manipulates the Hounds into acting as her family (I feel like making Mauvier younger works here since she was supposed to see them as her children, but she physically looks his age or younger), something they all latch onto. However, when they stand against her and Sombron, she turns vengeful and vows to destroy them. Plus she takes the place of the evil Lumera boss (because that was too much like the Revelation route in "Fates" with Mikoto).

3. Flashback/Nightmare makes more sense--A really confusing thing is evil Alear at the beginning. I don't recall if it's ever made clear if this is simply a nightmare or a flashback. Neither one makes sense; we SEE Alear in the past, and they're much more timid and submissive, not as sadistic or wicked (at least their vibe) as shown in the flashback. A nightmare also doesn't make sense, since it's never validated; Alear never joins Sombron, nor do they ever struggle with their evil. Instead, I like the idea that at first, they're legitimately evil. Thanks to Lumera and Sombron's toxic love and living in fear of their death, they are cruel and broken at first. Only when they're injured during battle and rescued a thousand years later by Lumera (for once, I'm keeping the amnesia arc) do they change their perspective on things, vowing to defeat their father. It's also worth noting that they KEEP their hair color; it doesn't turn blue because of Lumera willing it to. Instead, I'd prefer they have a natural red and black hair color (looks better, imo).

4. More of Alear's backstory--We do an unnecessary time travel event for ONE chapter, and I'd prefer if we did more back and forth. Perhaps we simply nix the arc where the team travels back in time (I'll still be using time travel, albeit in a different way here), and subsequent flashbacks we get are from Alear slowly regaining their memories. I'd probably also utilize Nil and Nel, who, in the OG game, are twin children of an alternate version of Sombron. I'd also kinda of change their designs since the black and white is mainly used to show affiliation (still keep Nel in pink and Nil in blue, though), and I'd probably give Nil a more buff design to contrast with Alear, similar to how Nel's mature design contrast's with Veyle's innocent one. In my version, they're children born to Sombron (not via Zephia) who are treated as inferior to Veyle and Alear, and are abused for that, so they strive to prove their worth so their father won't kill them.

5. S-supports for other characters--It was a weird choice for only Alear to be able to marry/reach S-supports with other characters. I know this is a minor detail, but I'd like this, since it adds a bit more depth to character bonds.

6. More romantic options--Everyone is fair game except characers who appear to be underage, ie Framme and Clanne. FE was really great with making much more same-sex options for "Engage," though it did seem confusing why some characters were platonic (yet still required a ring). I'd prefer it if S-supports were romantic, personally.

7. Child units via ring chamber--I got into FE via "Awakening" and "Fates," and I always loved being able to have kids. I made a post about fanmade kids a while ago, and I would do an "Awakening"-style time-travel story. Only this time, it's not a threatening future or a grim mission; you simply unlock them in the ring chamber when achieving S-supports, and they're summoned to your world via the rings within thanks to Alear's siblings.

8. Sombron's backstory is less hypocritical--I...I'm at a loss. He talks about his kids trying to kill him when he's killed several of them. Then he says how alone he feels, and when Alear reaches out to him, he brushes it off. It doesn't feel like writing that makes sense, especially if Sombron himself had feelings. In my rewrite, I'd say that Sombron is from Elyos (IDK why they made him from another world) thousands of years ago, growing up in an abusive and toxic family who eventually tried to kill him before his powers were unleashed and he killed them. Mentally broken, he vowed to have a "right" family of his own, though his first child ended up being as twisted as his family and tried to kill him, only for Sombron to beat them to the punch. Now suspicious and weary of all succeeding children, he lives a loveless, unhappy life.

9. Less rushed villain origins/more pronounced Hounds--Every FE game I've played has issues with writing villains, at least supporting ones. I guess that's the downfall of a game that relies on pair-ups/boosting affinity with other characters. In any case, it does feel like the Four Hounds weren't really characters, but just obstacles. They didn't feel fleshed-out beyond certain traits, and their motivation/backstories were pretty quickly rushed through. I'd probably include them in the story a bit more to give them more screentime and availability to be expanded upon for more nuance.

I feel like there are things that I'm missing, but I've had this post for so long, I wanted to finally release it, so I'll add any additional thoughts later.

[dexjarxenoengage]

Fire Emblem Engage’s Psycho Rangers

IMO, I actually think the Four Hounds aren’t that bad as antagonists.

Because I see them and EVeyle as an evil foil to Alear and the Four Royals. Have you heard of the Psycho Rangers trope? The Psycho Rangers are basically meant to be evil Power Rangers.

This, IMO, how the Four Hounds work. Alear’s team is the Four Primary Royals that Alear meets on their journey to defeat Sombron (Alfred, Diamant, Ivy and Timerra). While Veyle (or at least EVeyle)’s team consists of the Four Hounds (of whom Zephia considers to be “family”).

The Four Hounds, however, are family by name only. Zephia’s actions towards the Hounds, especially being with Sombron (who could give zero thought about bonds) would ultimately be the downfall of the family Zephia created.

The main difference between the Four Royals and the Four Hounds is how they treat Alear and Veyle. The Royals respected Alear initially because they were the Divine Dragon, but Chapter 20 shows that Alfred and the others accept and know Alear for who they are as people.

The Hounds (except Mauvier) more or less treat Veyle as a means to an end. Zephia follows Sombron in order to win his favor. Griss (as follower of the Fell Dragon) needs EVeyle to inflict pain on him because it’s his devotion to the cult of the Fell Dragon, which required blood. Marni wanted EVeyle’s praises. Marni saw good Veyle as the “boring one” because she never got praise from Good Veyle. This mentality changed by the time she learned Veyle’s backstory, but by then, it’s too late.

The Royals could have been like the Hounds if they only saw Alear for their status rather than as a person. In their supports, Alear and the Royals get to form relationships outside of battle and they get to understand each other better as a result.

Alear, Alfred, Diamant, Ivy, Timerra and eventually Veyle all eventually became the real family that the Four Hounds failed to be. They may not express this dynamic outright, but they don’t need to. It just makes these facts all the more telling.