#he would have sent a letter to Dimitri asking to meet with him to talk first so they could figure things out

[dmclemblems]

Just some examples below of characters at camp in GW not being okay with what Claude does (mainly to reiterate past points I’ve made about him/the route):

Mind you, the game forces all characters to cooperate with Claude in GW, even though a lot of them disagree (Marianne adamantly is against everything Claude is doing and expresses it regularly. Her excuse for not leaving or doing anything about is that she hopes the war ends quickly, but she still repeatedly expresses that she doesn’t believe what they’re doing is the right thing to do).

Lorenz repeatedly questions Claude’s decisions, as he should, but due to it being the GW route, all the characters have to follow what he does and just deal with it. There’s no “hey this is bullshit I’m out”, when realistically at this point a good handful of characters would’ve walked out.

This proves the writer’s are totally aware of what they’re writing and know the nuance to it! It’s just that... because Claude is the main character of this route, he’s swept up in the story and has to be adjusted to fit the story accordingly.

There’s no happy ending for the Kingdom and Alliance unless Sylvain (who is a major player in Faerghus politics) can agree to it, which is highly unlikely after he openly expresses his hatred for Claude/the Alliance (as he puts it, the “invaders”, which... were Claude/the Alliance).

Also, I have another post with the camp part of Hapi saying that it’s scummy of the Alliance/Federation that the only reason she and Constance are alive is because they surrendered. In other words, she finds the “surrender or die” thing to be scummy. Then we have Yuri, who notices the same issue:

This point proves that Claude is pretty cold hearted in this route. He not only forces Ashe to surrender (or die, as is implied by his dialogue when he says “Dimitri would be sad if you died” and thus urging him to surrender), but then he even has Ashe fight against his own people.

While this is a recruit mechanic issue and is a problem in all routes generally speaking, it’s not highlighted upon by other characters about other characters. That is to say, Petra for example in AG will express relief that they didn’t have to kill Dorothea, but she doesn’t mention anything about Dimitri forcing them to fight the Empire (which Petra decides to do entirely by her own will). Dorothea expresses some reluctance at first in her own camp dialogue, but it’s never mentioned that Dimitri is forcing anyone to fight against their will.

The fact that other characters are commenting on it means other characters are seeing and understanding what’s going on (which is more than a lot of players can say apparently, like the ones who blindly send hate to people who didn’t enjoy GW/SB lol). They recognize that everything Claude is doing is just shitty and shouldn’t be what they’re doing.

So... why do they keep fighting with him? Because... bad writing. That’s honestly it. Because they’re all forced, by the writing and route’s story, to keep fighting for Claude even though probably a good half of his camp doesn’t agree with his actions. Even though, if this were a better story even somewhat, and if Claude still did what he’s been doing here in this somewhat better story, the story would be made better by the disagreeing characters defecting to the Kingdom. Mind you, three background lords did try to defect to the Kingdom... and were promptly shut down from defecting.

If this were a good story, Claude wouldn’t have had his morals flipped on their head. If this were a decentish story, Claude would have lost a good chunk of his allies who defected after being fed up with his behavior and decisions. If this were a bad and lazily written story, it would look like it does.

ALSO I ran out of tags to explain my last point BUT

the irony of all this is that when he killed Shahid, he was trying not to cry and got drunk over it. This guy who had been trying to kill him and would’ve done so without batting an eye (and probably would’ve told everyone and bragged about it), this guy who has been presumably among his siblings trying to kill him his entire life, and this is who he feels guilty about killing. Then he goes marching to Faerghus, invades them and says he just wants to talk while forcing one of their royal knights to surrender or die.

Apparently Claude would rather feel sad about the brother of his that tried to murder him than the innocent people who never wronged him.

[mysterynoel]

12 Days of Ficmas Day 12 - Blue Lions Count of Monte Cristo Inspired

Title: The Boar Prince of Remire

Chapter Title: Engagement Ball

Ship: Sylvain Jose Gautier/Ingrid Brandl Galatea, Mercedes von Martritz/Dedue Molinaro, Annette Fantine Dominic/Felix Hugo Fraldarius (and Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd/Female My Unit | Byleth, but despite being the main ship, it isn't present here)

First made: April 2021

Last worked on: December 2022

At another table sat two people not unfamiliar to the expectations of arranged crested marriages.

Sylvain Jose Gautier, heir to House Gautier and the title of Margrave Gautier, had been told since he was young that he would carry on the family line. He had built up a reputation as a philanderer for that reason; playing with the affections of many of the girls he met, knowing they were not interested in him but what they could get from him. Nobles had wondered about when he would settle down and take a wife while young woman had tried to enter a courtship with him, but he had turned them all down.

Mercedes von Martritz, though a commoner, had the distinction of being a crest-bearer. Many young noblemen looking to strengthen their house and name had sent letters asking for her hand in marriage, but she had refused each one. Her father’s anger at her actions was no secret to those in the merchants’ district, but she was adamant in her wish to either devote herself to the church or marry for love.

To say Sylvain escorting Mercedes to tonight’s ball earned the attention of a few guests would be an understatement. All around them, whispers involving a union between them swirled about. A few were excited gossip, though many were laced with talks of scandal and impropriety. The two had spent a few dances together in an attempt to enjoy the evening, but as the attention became too much for them, they chose to instead return to their table for a quiet discussion over a drink.

“How are you holding up?” he asked her.

“I was about to ask you that.”

“They’ve been saying those things about me for years. I didn’t think they would start about you. Had I known, I wouldn’t have asked to escort you.”

Mercedes smiled softly at him. “I’m not sure it would have been good for you to attend alone. I’m worried you would have done something you would regret.”

“You’re right. I would have.” Sylvain took a sip from his glass.

“Did you ever tell Ingrid how you felt?”

Panic crossed Sylvain’s face. He quickly composed himself, falling into his notorious playful smirk. “You sure you don’t want to keep that guard company?”

“Sylvain!”

He put his hands up in surrender. “Okay, you win. I haven’t told her. But what am I supposed to do? Walk up to their table, say, ‘Ingrid, I’ve been in love with you since I was sixteen, leave your arranged marriage and marry me instead,’ and then pray to the goddess that it doesn’t end in my death?” He sighed. “I can’t do that to her. The two of them are going through with this for multiple reasons. The last thing I want is to make matters worse. Tonight, I’m here to support them.”

She took a drink from her glass. “Annie is the same way. I kept checking with her to make sure she wanted to attend, but she swore she would be fine.” She looked out at the dance floor to see Annette currently dancing with Ashe, no doubt surrounded by their own set of whispers of how House Dominic could help the heir to House Gaspard into a new era. “I’m happy he’s able to help her smile.”

“Returning to that guard, are you sure you don’t want to meet with him?”

“He’s currently working.”

“Mercedes, I’ve never seen you gaze at a man like you were when we approached the steps. It’s too late for me, but you deserve to find love. If anyone begins talking about you speaking to a Duscurian, I’ll stop them immediately.” Mercedes blushed.

[madammayh3m]

Day 3: The One Where Literally Everything Goes Wrong

This one took course over two sessions that had us two players screaming “what the fuck” at the end of them both. The stakes have officially been raised, and Thais thinks it’s stupid that this is what did it, but at least we met a hot lady. As always, spoilers for the Curse of Strahd module, largely around some NPC secrets and fun things like that.

During the ritual, Thais notices that it seems like the Abbot has practiced this beforehand, and is putting on a show of some kind. Ilya is “returned to life” and Dimitri and Anna take him back inside. As the Abbot leaves, seeming pleased with his turn of events, he invites them to visit him up at the Abbey if they would like to speak with him. After he leaves, Thais and Ferrin look around some and notice that some of the older graves seem to have been disturbed somewhat recently.

Ferrin and Thais decide they will stay another day in order to speak with the Abbot, and decide to earn their keep by taking care of some of the Krezikov’s household chores. While they are doing this, a villager comes by to notify Anna that a woman in Krezk is about to give birth. Anna takes on the role of a “priest” during the birth, as opposed to asking the Abbot to be present. The two women are invited along because it’s considered good luck for there to be many people present at a birth. The birth goes smoothly, but the baby does not cry, and Ferrin notices that the midwife seems disappointed by this. She asks the midwife if there was anything wrong, and the midwife reveals not only that the baby was born without a soul, but that only 10% of Barovians do have souls.

The two decide to go up to the Abbey and speak with the Abbot about what he knows about the mists surrounding Barovia. Before they go up, Dimitri gives them a letter stating that he is in the Abbot’s debt for resurrecting his son. The Abbey is essentially turned into an asylum for those who have gone mad walking through the mist. They meet a mongrel-folk named Otto who takes them to go see the Abbot. While they wait for the Abbot to return, Ferrin drops a copper into the well in the middle of the courtyard, alerting the creature that lurks inside, which attacks them. The Abbot quickly interrupts the fight and invites them inside to talk. They learn that they’re very fortunate to not have experienced any negative effects from traversing the mist. They also learn that the Abbot believes that he can clear the mists over Barovia by sacrificing something to Strahd to make him happy – he has been training a young woman, Vasilka, to be Strahd’s bride. He asks them for a favor, to acquire a wedding dress for Vasilka, as the wedding is set to take place in a few days’ time.

After a tour of the Abbey and meeting a Vistani woman named Ezmerelda, who is immediately suspicious of Thais and also a total badass monster hunter with a burning hatred for Strahd, the two sit down with the Abbot who asks if they have any other questions for him. Thais, taking a chance, reveals her face to him and asks him if he knows her, which he denies. He becomes suspicious of her and she tells him what she knows. It turns out the Abbot is also balls to the wall crazy - he claims that she has been sent by the Morning Lord to become Strahd’s bride, as the fact that she has died, come back to life, been outside of Barovia, and still found her way back is absolutely unheard of. Ferrin tries to dissuade him from this line of thinking, but he brushes her aside, instead tasking her with telling Dimitri that he will be calling in the favor – Dimitri is to acquire the wedding dress, and Ferrin will help.

Thais is taken away by Vasilka to bathe and Ferrin goes to collect her and Thais’ belongings. Ferrin warns Dimitri of what has happened, and he promises not to stop them while they escape, but that he owes the Abbot and cannot directly interfere. Ferrin also asks him if he has ever heard of a woman named Vasilka, which he denies. Ferrin quickly returns, and while Thais spends the day being attended to by Vasilka, Ferrin goes to see if Ezmerelda would be a potential ally in their flight (and also has a gay sparring session with her). Ezmerelda, like Dimitri, indicates that while she won’t directly help them, she won’t get in their way. They also learn through Ezmerelda that Vasilka is a construct, not a resurrected woman like they initially thought.

They decide to wait for Vasilka to sleep before making their escape, but as it turns out, Vasilka doesn’t sleep. Ezmerelda casts a spell on Vasilka and tells her to go pick some flowers, and then rolls over and pointedly pretends to go to sleep. The two escape the building proper but are caught by Otto, who goes to notify the Abbot, and the two run down the cliff using Ferrin’s Spider Climb ability and into the woods. As they run, they see a bright flash of light and something winged take off from the Abbey. They continue deeper into the woods towards one of the only places they know the name of – Yester Hill.

However, during their flight they are ambushed by a battalion of zombies. The zombies kick their collective ass, but Strahd sends in direwolves to save the day. However, even with their assistance, Ferrin is knocked unconscious and Strahd himself appears and feeds her some of his blood to revive her. Thais barely manages to keep from attacking him, instead getting in between him and Ferrin. He reveals that he has been taking notes on Ferrin’s condition, and offers to make her a copy of them. He again reiterates that she is welcome to visit any time before leaving. The two camp for the night.

[raspberryranpo]

announcing your engagement

fire emblem three houses: blue lions

i made a mistake and tapped post instead of save so i’ve had to start again 😭 this is in response to @angel6776 ‘s ask!! sorry!!

DIMITRI

dimitri probably wouldn’t even want to announce his engagement, only to one or two of his closest friends and then just send out invites to more people when you’ve both set a date for the wedding

but he’s the king of faerghus, and later fodlan, & the entire country deserves to know about the new monarch on the throne

all of your closest friends and family know beforehand, but the official announcement comes during a speech to the entire country, spoken from the balcony of the palace looking over the city

he’s talking about the new tax laws or something boring, and he then says something along the lines of, “my partner and i will…”

of course, the city takes notice of this and everyone gasps at the same time

dimitri then realises that not everyone knows about the two of you, and so he says, “it is with great pleasure that i announce my engagement to….”

and the city goes WILD. there’s parties everywhere. everyone celebrates yours and dimitri’s engagement, as well as the new realisation that the king has come out of his depression

DEDUE

the announcement & the wedding date is sent out on little cards to your closest friends and your family, decorated with little flowers and sparkles and whatever else goes on cards

each person who has received a letter has personally come to your shared home and has asked about whether the card is the truth or not

with a small blush and an even smaller smile, dedue nods and takes your hand, looking at you with a tender look in his eyes

dimitri was obviously the first person to know. in fact, dedue made sure that the two of you took the invitation to him personally

dimitri almost cries when he reads it, knowing that his friend has grown up and has realised that he’s not the big bad monster he made himself out to be

in fact, he’s so excited for his friend that he’s running around and telling everyone who’ll listen - not that dedue minds, of course, because he’s much too smitten with you to realise what’s actually happening

SYLVAIN

definitely the one to stand up in the middle of an important meeting and just scream it

it happens during one of the monthly meetings the nobles of fodlan have, during which they discuss (or rather argue over) all of the issues the newfound country has

they’re in the middle of discussing something like child poverty or something actually really sad when sylvain stands up & clears his throat, drawing all attention to himself

he has the biggest grin plastered on his face, and with all the satisfaction in the world, he just yells, “I’M GETTING MARRIED!”

you’ve got some like mercedes and dimitri, who quietly clap, genuinely happy for our resident ginger, but then you’ve got the ones like felix or ingrid, who promptly grab him by the ear and drag him down, yelling about how inappropriate that was

the look he gives you from across the table tells you that he doesn’t regret almost having his ears pulled out of his head

FELIX

brings it up quietly to annette, ingrid, ashe or mercedes, seeing as though they’re the only people whom he doesn’t feel would judge him, and they’re the only people he’d feel comfortable telling

the only way that sylvain and dimitri find out is through those four. they aren’t really formally told. felix does kind of hope that they find out, even though he refuses to outright tell them

he, mercedes and annette constantly talk about it - the girls because they love talking about weddings and decorations, felix because he secretly enjoys thinking about you dressed up in a wedding outfit

eventually, the entire monastery knows, simply because dimitri overheard annette taking about it, & he immediately yelled, “WHAT?! FELIX?! ENGAGED?!”

the poor lad would get incredibly flustered the second someone would bring it up with him but you can tell that he’s not embarrassed to be engaged to you

if anyone asks any questions about it, he won’t hesitate to blab on about it for three hours straight. they’ll be bombarded with him constantly singing your praises

ASHE

it’s like chinese whispers. he says it quietly to dedue, and dedue, not wanting to keep things from his king, tells dimitri, but dimitri doesn’t understand the concept of secrets and tells felix, felix laughs and tells ingrid, ingrid tells sylvain and sylvain tells the entire population

upon being asked about his engagement, ashe’s smile extends from one ear to the other, and he talks for a very long time about how pretty he thinks you’ll look & about how excited he is to actually be married to you

he decides to formally announce it because neither of you have actually said anything - the only way everyone knows is because of something someone else has said

he announces it at a formal dinner party the blue lions have every so often to meet up together. his chair scrapes the floor as he quickly stands up and the room goes silent

it’s very awkward, but he blurts it out with a smile on his face anyway. everyone is incredibly proud of the both of you

MERCEDES

the second you’re engaged, she runs to sing it from the rooftops. except she doesn’t sing, but she quite literally yells it from somewhere high up in the monastery

she’s full of laughter and immediately pulls you into her arms after she’s done, and doesn’t stop kissing you

omg imagine she yells it in the middle of the night & all you can hear is felix in the distance going “SHUT THE HELL UP”

everyone won’t stop talking about it the next day. turns out, everyone heard it, and mercedes is incredibly embarrassed for the entire day

her face is red and her left hand doesn’t leave her cheek, but her other hand stays on top of yours, every so often running her thumb over the ring on your finger

ANNETTE

imagine you propose to annette & she just screeches. it’s the most unholy screech you’ve ever heard and it gets everyone’s attention

that’s how it’s announced. annette makes the most primal scream ever heard to man & the entire monastery runs to her aid, wanting to know what’s going on

she slowly turns to the small crowd of people silently watching the two of you and very loudly says, “i’m engaged??????” and she sounds so unsure about it

everyone’s kind of unsure about whether or not you’re both engaged but after a long period of her being quiet, she starts laughing like a maniac, jumping up and down and crying about it

it’s all she talks about for the next year and a half. even after you’re both married she doesn’t shut up about you proposing

INGRID

tries to stay as quiet about it as possible before she tells all of her friends at once at one of the many blue lions reunions

she wraps an arm around your waist and everyone is shocked at the purely sunny look she has on her face

even her voice has a cheerful lilt to it as she happily announces, “we’re getting married!!”

everyone’s shocked at how genuinely happy she sounds since normally she’s quite serious, never really showing anything other than that

she immediately regrets acting like that because for the next few weeks it’s all everyone goes on about and she’s so humiliated

[iamdarkness]

Letters from Fodlan.

(Not Sent.)

 The accounts of the missing parts in To Feed a Tiger

These are Dimitri’s memories of those missing parts in forms of letters never sent to you. A/N at the end.

This is Feral Dimitri POV.

Chapter one.

 Now that I have left Askr to try my luck to beat destiny; I want to thank you for everything you have done for me. I want to gift you my memories of the events that changed me for ever that had to do with you and them. This is the account of the times I encountered Lif, including the times I never told you, I witnessed for fear you would think badly of me.

  Then I gain I was in a bad place at the time and making bad decision. I am very aware that I can not send this to you ______, but I still want to put these memories to paper and preserve them for the time being. Then one day when I am a king and my battles done, we will meet each other again and then I will be able to tell you my self about this…And we will see each other again, of this I am sure. I will not bend or break. I must prevail and save my people and my self.

   The first night I saw him was the night you game me leave to use Corrin’s tree house. The half dragon had come to Askr in a bad state of mind and considered himself a danger to everyone. You had commissioned a tree house for him to live in, not too far away from the castle complex. It was a cabin proper but high up and propped up by four high trees. Prince Alfonse had been the one who wanted it that big you told me later. I suppose he liked the stories Corrin told you all of his childhood and his tree house. I can see the prince coming to spend some time away in here tom relax…but I digress.

  That had been a dark night. The moon was half full and there were groups of clouds lazily moving across it, blocking its light by intervals. That had been also the night you had come to visit me. That small act of kindness, had been the start of my recovery. The light at the end of the long tunnel of darkness. You had brought me dinner and I had done the best to get you to keep your distance but you never judged me. You stayed until I was ready to leave. I was in truth reluctant to do so. I felt you could understand my pain. You offered me apologies for intruding in my life, when you were right to do so and then you offered me a safe heaven where I could heal. You trusted me to follow you into the darkness of the night, to the woods, where the tree house I was to stay in was located and hidden. You knew what I could do and still you trusted me. I thought you foolish at the time, but this trust was what has kept me alive. After you left me to go back to the tree house I spent some time “conversing with the dead” as my hallucinations would not give me rest.

 After I had lost my eye my other senses had sharpened with the exception of taste. I heard the heavy steps of an armored unit make his way through the forest and as it neared the house I looked out the window. The house was high up and magically hidden as you had said, so I was invisible to the person below. My demons were never physical and even in my poor mental state I knew he was real, but it could not be so. He glowed brighter than the moonlight and a bluish color. His piercing red eyes searched the night for what I did not know. For a second I thought Death himself had come to get me and punish me for my sins. I could feel the rage and hate emanating from his blade like poisonous miasma, but he was not looking for me. The next thing I thought was that this was a spy and that he was wearing some strange armor that had some hidden virtue.

 I went down as silently as I had learned to move in my later years. He was, I suppose not expecting anyone around and was too distracted with his thoughts to detect my presence. Near the border of the fores he started to move in silence too. He moved like a predator; the same as I.

   Before he reached the edge of the woods he covered his glowing chest and mask, but before he did so I got a glimpse of his chest. I could see his ribcage inside the armor and the glowing matter was akin to water or crystal. It looked so in my eyes at least at the time. Once again I thought he could not be real, that he was a phantom made real to torment me and take away the only person in this world who had been kind to me. So I waited to see what he would do. If he was a spy come to do any harm I would finish him and if he was indeed a phantom I would still defeat it, or die trying.

   He stayed there in the darkness looking in at the light of the torches and the guards patrolling. He did not see to be surveying or to even care for the pattern of the guards. Then it happened. He tensed up and seemed to see something far away. It was two figures who had come from around the corner. It was you and Alfonse. He seemed to melt into tree he was hiding behind. I was about to pounce on him when you started singing softly. Your voice carried to where his hidden form trembled with a hidden emotion. The way he said your name, send shivers down my spine. It was the the prayer of the dying. The emotions in that sole word…Devotion, longing, sadness, love…

   Not too far from where you and I had sat you stood talking to a guard. They were giving their reports, not aware of the two persons intruding on their useless watch.

   -Do you want to go to the library and drink some tea?- You ask Alfonse.

   -It is late. Are you not tired?- Asked the prince.

 - It’s never too late to drink tea with you.- You say smiling while your hand touches his, almost by accident but his hand hand reacting at once catches your fingers in his. At this distance I can see him blushing hard.- But if you are tired…

   -No!- He answers faster than necessary, but he does not seem to care.-We should take it in the study. That way we can go right to sleep after.- You nod and the both of you turn to leave. Such an innocent, yet intimate exchange.

   -Alfonse.

   The stranger moved and my attention had returned to him. He had said the name with such hate and sadness. No… Not hate.. it felt more like jealousy. His Gauntlet-ed hand had carved the surface of the tree with its metal nails. He made to follow as you walked away, but he stayed in place. When you turned the corner he turned away but stayed a while. His figure leaned on the tree while he covered his face with one his hands.

  I turned away then. I felt I was intruding on a pain beyond what I had ever experience and too personal to witness. I only looked again when he made to leave. He uncovered his chest and face then and looked at the moon. From behind the mask the words of your song reached me with the voice of the specter. The whisper low and sad.

   -If I could,then I would…I’ll go wherever you will go…

   He came back a few nights later and I noticed that it was always the nights you were out on patrol.He had memorized your schedule it seemed. I got the idea, that even though he was jealous of Alfonse, he did not seemed to care for him or tried to harm him. There were nights when the prince would do a round by himself and the specter never came those days. I learned later that Alfonse was doing Sharena’s patrol since she had been working with the refugees and my specter friend had taken to spying her at town during the day,

   Then came the night my hallucination returned while we were talking during my dinner. You looked so sad that day and it sobered me up to see how haunted you were by the deaths you felt you had caused. You took responsibility instead of denying it, the way cowards always did. I knew then you felt the same way I did, but where I had become a monster you were becoming a light. I felt I should warn you about him. He was surely coming tonight and you were warned.

   Still I new you were not going to resist and that after my show of lunacy you would dismiss my warning as a product of my mind. I waited for him, hidden by the edge of the woods where he always hid to see you.

   He appeared again from deep within the woods. His slow determined walk turned quiet and again he covered his glowing chest and face. He stood there like I had seen him the previous nights. By the talk we had had earlier I guessed now that this was Lif, the person that had helped you before, but I was still unsure.

  Thankfully my demons were quiet that night and I was able to keep my sanity while this happened. The time when you came from around the corner of the building arrived. You were talking to Prince Alfonse and your hand movement reflected it was a quite emotional subject. Since I was closer to the clearing this time I could hear you better that the last time.

 -Luckily the potion was created fast and it is very safe.- I could hear the voice of the prince and his tone was almost soothing.

 -Yes. Even then I can’t help but worry about him not wanting to take it.

 -Why wouldn’t he take it? He must know you are only trying to help him.

 -He may not Alfonse. Most people that have this kind of psychological trauma and have hallucinations think they are real and there is no convincing them of the truth. I fear Dimiti may not understand that he is sick and that his demons are only the product of his sick mind. I worry so much about him Alfonse… I can’t…I don’t want him to die..

 This is when I noticed you were talking about me. What I felt at the realization was a jumble of feelings coming at me so fast it gave me mental whiplash. I was surprised at first and then I felt cold anger that you would think everything was just my imagination. I felt invalidated in my pain. Part of my mind, the one that was sick and delusional told me you did not believe me and did not care for me the way I had thought. But the part of my mind that had been touched by your efforts told me this was not the truth. I knew I was sick; and I knew I had been sick even before this. I had been told this so many times and I didn’t want to listen. What was worst was that my position as a prince meant that it was easier to ignore my mental problems than to risk their positions and this way the problems went unchecked until it was too late. Still, here there was a way for me to get better and people that cared for me. It made me feel a wave of warmth I had not felt since my childhood.

 -We will come up with a way to help him. Don’t worry.- He says softly and takes your hand. I hear a gasp from my right where the person watching you lays in wait.

 -Oh Alfonse. I am so sorry to drag you in. You keep telling me to not get close to the heroes and I know it is because you got hurt, but …

 -I have to learn to let go or I will never grow… but it is hard..

 -That’s because when you care for someone you give them your heart. You are so passionate Alfonse…You don’t do stuff by halves and that is the reason…-You let the silence end your sentence as you both stay watching one another. The steps of the guards may have been what brought your attention back to reality.- Any way…Yeah you better learn to let go or your future children will suffer for it.- You say with a laugh. He is taken aback by this and is visibly flustered.

 -What? My kids… erm…the things you say _____.

 -It’s true! I can see you not letting them marry until they are 40.

 -Not true.- He says and he sounds so young,- Forty years are a perfect time to get married.

 -Alfonse are you getting married until you are forty? Because I am not waiting that long.-You say and turn around to engage a guard. The prince stand there rooted to the spot with an expression between happiness and bashfulness.

 -I would marry you right now…- He says too softly for you and the guard to hear but I could hear them because he was closer to the tree line and because these words were echoed by the man standing near me at exactly the same time.

 The prince then joins you and the guard to take the reports and after a while I see you step aside and watch the place where we have dinner every night. Then you turn to the moon now past full and  the soft words of a song start to fall from your lips.

 - Come to my window…crawl inside and wait by the light of the moon. Come to my window… I’ll be home soon…I would dial the numbers just to listen to your breath. And I would stand inside my hell and hold the hand of death.- The reaction to the song was quite visible. Knowing I had told you someone would be coming, it felt to me like an invitation and it was plain he had taken it as such. But the words that had followed had truck him harder than the first. From where the prince was standing he gave you a look that seemed at the time unreadable to me at the moment. Now I know that he knew what you were doing. There was not much that would escape his sharp mind.- You don't know how far I'd go to ease this precious ache end you don't know how much I'd give or how much I can take. Just to reach you…

 -Ready? - He asked you suddenly ending your quiet singing. He looked troubled. You nodded and went to meet him to get back. Your patrol had ended. When they were at a distance I saw him lean to your ear and say something to which you shrugged in return.

 I looked back at him. He had one knee on the ground and he was leaning on the tree.It took some time but finally he got up and took some time to move. I suspect he was making up his mind about something.

 As you know I am quite tall and most of the time it takes some effort to be hidden well from all angles, but in my last years I had leaned well how to do so. I had sat among some leafy bushes between two trees.These bushes protected me from all sides. I was lucky they did as he did not walk in the same direction in which he went when he left the earlier times. He walked past me along the Western side of the grounds due North and I could see he was too distracted to notice me in my hiding spot. There was resolve and purpose in his steps and there was fire in his shinning crimson eyes. It was as if life had once again entered his being.

 If I was correct he was trying to get to your room that overlooked the central gardens and he had to get past the stables and the guards to do so. He seemed to have a very detailed outline of the castle and the location your room. I supposed then he had been in there before as a guest, but if he was an ally why hide from view? Had he done something to fall out of grace with the Order?

He hesitated before going past the stables and I soon understood why. I could hear the beasts grow restless as if sensing his presence. I heard Gerome talking to Minerva and asking why she was behaving this way. He stopped and listened for the hero’s presence. Indeed Gerome came out and talked to the guard who agreed to search for the source of the unrest. While they were at it the stranger had gone past the guards and crossed the grounds towards the entrance to the inner gardens. He was as agile and stealthy as a ninja.

  I decided then to come out of the shadows and let them think it had been me all the while the source of the beasts unrest. I knew if the stranger did something against you it would have been all on me, but I was sure I could stop him if it was necessary.

They saw me and asked me what I was doing, but a look in their direction shut them up. They knew who I was and I felt no need to explain myself to no one in any case. Lucky for me the stranger was already gone inside and had not heard the exchange. Once in the garden I too took to the shadows and surveyed the place. The gardens are vast as you well know and it took me a long time to locate my target. I found him by some rose bushes near the entrance to the entrance to the room complex where your room was located. He sneaked past the door and on to the side of the building until he came to the side of the camellia tree surrounded by laurels just under the balconies of your rooms. As expected there was no light in your room,nor the the prince’s. Instead of climbing up he waited in the shadows of the trees.

  I don’t know if you remember coming out to your balcony that night. Your light came on and after a while you came out of the room. You stayed there a while looking sadly at the gardens. He came out of the shadows to look at you and the soft and deep whisper of his voice reached me. I could not make out everything he said but I heard something like “… is the sun(1).” and as he talked to himself he quietly questioned if he should speak to you, light in the prince’s room went out. You went inside then. After a while he went out again and after looking over for prying eyes he climbed the wall to your balcony. By then I suspect you were asleep.He peeked inside and opened the door, but before going inside he paused unsure of his actions. He tried leaving but again he could not resist and opened it again and went inside. I was ready to climb and tear him apart if he was doing something untoward but just was soon as he went inside he had come out. He took out a flower he had taken from the garden and left it on the rail of the balcony…then he took it again and squished it in his hand. I found out later that he had placed a single kiss on your forehead and it had taken all of his will power not to spend the night watching you sleep.

 He sneaked out then and I did not follow. There were so much I needed to think about that night. Not only about the stranger but about what I had heard you say. That night I decided to give it a chance and try the potion I knew you would offer. The first thing I did that morning was take a bath in the gelid waters of the river that ran close to the tree house. I still feel shame about this but my logic was that by not being inviting to the senses I felt safer. It was an extra shield for me and if it made my enemies fear me then it was for the better.

   Knights later when it was again your turn to patrol I learned the prince was not going to be available to accompany you. I knew there were plenty heroes who would want to go patrolling with you, including my other selves who were very protective of you and the Fell Dragon whom you and Alfonse had almost adopted (2). I did not even offered to go out with you since I was ready to watch from the shadows and I wanted to see what the stranger would do now that you were alone.

   I watched over you from the beginning of your patrol. Even when stood outside in the garden looking up at the prince’s balcony and threw a small stone at the glass door, even knowing he would not be in there. I went to my spot near the clearing. Now with a cleared mind after taking the potion you had offered me it was easier to make better choices. I could not believe I had let him go so far as to get inside your room the nights prior. I was thinking of confronting him tonight and I was in for a big surprise when you appeared in the distance.

   The stranger had been waiting in the same place as before. Looking at him and knowing you were alone made wish he would not be wearing that mask. I knew by the glowing in the mask that part of his face was made from the same matter as his chest and I was not only curious to see his facial bones but mostly his expression when he saw you coming.

   Then you came and waited for the guards to report and stayed for a while writing down something on a small book. When the figures of the guard were gone you put the book inside your coat pocket and turned to fave the tree line. Unknown to me you had come earlier with Alfonse and had searched for signs that would let you know if he had come. Alfonse had found the scratches in the tree and so you knew where he would be hiding.

   You started walking towards us not knowing I was also hiding nearby. He seemed to panic for a second when we heard you speak. They were the lines of a poem I only remember but little.

 - “ Stay Shadow of my shy treasure. Image of the charmer I love best. Fair dream for which I die with joyful breast. Illusion sweet for which I live in pain…”

   He steps back and a shaky “No” leaves him, but he is now frozen in place as your figure enters the line of trees. You were guided by the sign of the scratches he had left on the tree so many nights ago.

 -“ It matters not that you slip through chains and embrace… when fantasy builds a prison just for you.” (3) - Now that you were standing just in front of him, his demeanor changed. It is as if he was steeling himself to fight. A fight I guessed then, that was against his feelings and one that was already lost.

 -Those words should be saved for Alfonse and I am not him.

 -You came to visit the other night.- You tell him, dismissing his words. He keeps quiet a moment.

 -I had an invitation. One you should not have given lightly.

 -I am glad you took it. I’ve wish to see you for a while…and I had thought it had been a sweet dream.

 -Why? I almost killed you and Alfonse. You should fear me and stay away from me.

 -I do not blame you for that; and it was you who saved us all in the end. I owe you everything.

 - It wasn’t just me who…

 -Alfonse please!

 -Don’t…not anymore...- He starts to say but your head leans on the glowing chest he had failed to keep covered. His arms jerk forward as if to embrace you, but he keeps them away.

 Until this point I had been confused by this interaction. Your words had been meant for a lover and I had thought you loved only Alfonse. Anger was beginning to seep into my heart. I had thought you better than so easy to flirt with another. Flirting while having a love so heartfelt and pure as the prince’s. Then hearing you say his name with such love made the truth sink in. You had talked about another Askr and that there was someone who had helped you defeat Hel called Lif. If this young man was the person that helped you and his real name was Alfonse and this meant that this man was that Askr’s prince Alfonse. All the pieces to my puzzle now fit perfectly. Now I understood how he new everything so well in the castle. It had been his home.

 -Can only Thrasir call you that now?

 Your words held no reproach, but his answer came in the form of his left hand caressing your head. His battle was truly lost.

 -I have words for him as well. Love and Innocence being some of them. Sometimes I feel I am polluting him.- There is a smile and fondness in your statement.

 -You think him pure…when he worships your memory every night before sleep and gilt takes him? Only to dream of you again.- I heard your gasp and your head turns upward to see his face. He does not flinch from your gaze, even after that personal revelation. I take it you understood he had done this as well.

 -You…

 -Every night.- He responds still not flinching. Your face is scarlet red. You lower your dead to his chest again. (4)

 -He…He’s the perfect gentleman with me. He barely touches me. Sometimes I feel like I am back in square one with him, but I don’t want to rush him if he is not prepared for more.

 -Fool…- He says with little venom and he takes to caress your cheek.- Why does he not act on his feelings? Was I this foolish myself? Yes…I lost so much precious, time I could have spent with you…You could both die any minute …has he learned nothing from my past?

 - You kind of told us and I quote "Get close to someone, and the pain of parting will be much more acute. You and Alfonse must remember this."

 -I meant the heroes.

 - I know this, but I think Alfonse took it more seriously. He still think I will go back to my world despite me telling him I will stay.

 -Fool...If only you were mine…- I saw him change again. He let go of you and even tried to repel you.-But you are not…My ______ is gone for ever… I need to go. I should have never come back here. This is not my place and you are not mine.

 -Alfonse…Lif- You change the name when he flinches away from you.

 - There is nothing I can offer you…nothing I can give you…Alfonse…how I envy him…

 -What is it that you think I want from him that you can not give me yourself?

 -...I don’t even have a heart to give you now…- He turns to leave.

 -Time…Time and friendship…That is all I ask…That is all I asked from the beginning.

 -I could never be your friend.

 -Please, I just want to help you…

 -Help me? How? I don’t need your pity or your friendship…I want...-He was about to leave but turns around and looks at you. He slowly takes off his mask and approaches you again. I could see he was waiting for you to flee or to be disgusted. I when I could no even see bone or teeth inside where his jawline would be. Whatever he though you would do however, he did not expect for you to take his face in your hands like it was a precious treasure. -So much more than that…-  He finished in a whisper. Once enthralled by your caress, he leaned over and kissed you.

 That kiss…How I longed then to be touched so lovingly, the way you kissed him then. He barely touched your lips, but you circled his neck with you arms and he deepened it while his arms sough to embrace you by the waist. Your hands tangled in his hair and I imagined how they would feel in mine. The moan of need that left his throat, appeared to have brought him to his senses once again and he let go.

 -I love you…I may not have a heart, but I love you with everything I have and I will continue to love you for ever…But so does he and I will not break his heart. If only one of us can be happy, then let it be him. Happiness was not made for me.

 -I love you too, Alfonse. Whatever form you take…but you are right… it is not his fault and it is not fair for neither of you. Forgive me for my selfishness.

 -Now go before the guards return and raise the alarm…He will be waiting…

 -Where will you go?

 -Does it matter?

 -It matters to me…to us. You can always return here.

 -There is…I have no place here. Now go.

 You sigh, say your farewell and leave. He watches you go and he puts his mask on again after touching his translucent lips with a sigh. After your form is gone from sight he turns and leaves. It may have been my imagination ____, but it seemed to me like his form did not look as somber or sad as before.

   I confess that… I felt jealousy of that love. No only your love for him but his love for you. He loved you beyond death and you loved him beyond appearances. In my life no one had loved me so. Yet you were giving me a part of your heart as Alfonse his friendship and Lif his pain. It had to be enough for me.

    A/N: Since Alfonse is a very intelligent man who loves to read and acquire knowledge, I am sure he asks the Summoner often about all kinds of stuff that the summoner has learned in their world. If the summoner can speak more than one language, he would be asking the summoner how to say  or write different words and phrases because he loves languages as you can see by him being a lost language translator. He remembers much of it because he has nearly perfect memory and loves the summoner very much that he tries hard to remember everything; specially the summoner’s favorite lyrics to songs poems or quotes from different media. Because The summoner does not share his perfect memory many of the quotes are not nearly exact and so I paraphrased quotes because this way the Summoner seems more like our real self who does remember parts of something but can’t access goggle to find the right quote.

  MY summoner is indeed Lif’s summoner as well. When the time line broke apart, she became two but when Lif’s Summoner died her part of the soul returned to the point when the time line broke, memories and all.

 (1) “ What Light through yonder window breaks? It is the East and ____ is the sun.”

“Should I listen for more, or should I speak now?”

Romeo and Juliet.

 (2) I love Grima and sometimes I feel like this dear dragon is still that child who is lashing out after being abused and neglected and knows no better.

 (3) Full Poem.

Stay Shadow of my shy treasure. Image of the charmer I love best.

Fair dream for which I die with joyful breast.

Illusion sweet for which I live in pain.

Your winning graces all my heart enchain,

It follows as the steel, the magnet’s test.

But wherefore you win my love and made me blest.

If thou must mock me, fading soon again.

Yet canst thou never boast, with fullest pride,

That triumphant o’er me is thy tyranny.

For though thou from the dose embrace doest glide.

That held thy visionary form from me,

But fancy builds a prison still for you.

 Sor Juana Ines De La Cruz. Paraphrased in actual text for plot reasons.

 (4) Alfonse taking Lan Zhan words to heart. “ Every night is every night” Lan Wanji Master of Demonic Cultivation XD . Sorry I could not resist.

[fe-semi-decent-scenarios]

How do the BL students cope with missing their s/o? (like they're on a mission or something and won't be back for a long time) Bonus points for including how they react to seeing them again lol. Congrats on the big 100 btw

[Thank you! This is a little late but I was amazed to see so many people reading these posts.I’m pretty proud of this one.I wrote this as a ‘first time they’re apart’ kind of scenario. Hope it is to your liking! :3]

Dimitri: 

Karma really does bite, and boy does it do so hard

More often than not it is Dimitri leaving you behind for missions. Being the leader of the Lions meant that he was stationed at almost every important battle. Sometimes you’d join, and others the professor would decide to have someone else take up arms. No biggie, you know? He never complained since it guaranteed your safety.  

He didn’t even think of the possibility of a role reversal. One where you’d be sent out while he’s left behind. Up until now he was always by your side, but Manuela knew his limits better than anyone. She insisted he take the month off to rest. 

Once again, no biggie. He’d much rather be productive but with some convincing he easily gave in. Everyone departed for the monthly mission and he decided to invest some of the extra time on his hands into an evening with you 

He was about to search for you, but then memory did it’s job.

“Ah, that’s right. They departed with their battalion this morning...”

Dimitri wasn’t used to the silence of an empty Monestary. Was it always this hollow when the army was deployed? There were some people, yes. However most areas appeared almost lifeless. 

It brought up some unpleasant memories to say the least. Ones of a dusk castle, strangers on every corner, empty dinner tables, and cold nights spent staring up from his balcony. 

The time he spends without Dedue glued to his side is full of reflection. Once he’s trained, eaten, studied up, etc. He’ll stroll around the monastery and think of what his life has become 

How fragile the peace is. How much longer will it last?  

He wanted to talk with someone. The silence was deafening and he wished for a distraction before the voices made their appearance. 

They did.

He wished for you to come home. Despite the voices screaming that he had no right to long for your comfort, the desire still remained.  

 Was it the same for you when he’d depart? This...lonely? 

He hoped not. 

Since when had Dimitri become assimilated to the daily nonsense that was his life? 

Dedue had caught on to his highness’ feelings instantly. Dimitri was more reminiscent than usual, and often his walks would take him to your room. He wouldn’t enter, just look at the door as if expecting it to open. He wasn’t one to talk of the past as it made him uncomfortable, but sometimes Dedue would catch him smiling at nothing. It was a welcome change to have happy memories. 

When you come home it’s as if Dimitri has a new aura. Well, maybe not entirely but he has a more solemn look in his eyes when they meet yours. He spends the first day being caught up on politics with the Professor and Seteth, but for many nights beyond the return he seeks your company 

He wants to hear your voice. The one he craved for when the silence became intolerable 

“I’ve returned my beloved, would you care to tell that story from the other night again? I know it has only been one day but I would love to hear it.” 

Dedue: 

Time alone with you was already a rarity, so your complete absence didn’t dieter him as much as one would think. Dedue’s schedule rarely has a slot for free-time, and so the days pass on like seconds 

As long as there is no specific reason to worry then he refrains from doing so. Dedue genuinely believes in your strength and capabilities so he won’t needlessly fret over nothing. He has his own duties to attend to just as you do. 

However, this doesn’t mean he feels nothing on the matter. Others can gossip about him all they want but his nationality doesn’t define his personality. Not that he cares, since his stone exterior hides signs of weakness 

Let’s get this straight: he does miss you. While not in surplus, your time together is precious to him. He notices how your seat is empty during lessons and meetings. He unconsciously checks the training hall’s door during his regime, impatiently waiting for you to pop in and say your daily ‘hello’. He’s painfully aware of the extra pair of gardening gloves in his tool pail. Dedue knows that you are gone and it has an impact. 

He just ignores it. Dedue knows that when duty calls it must come before personal issues. Even if there is no contact between you two, he would rather no letters than one relaying distress 

If his highness asks about his feelings Dedue’s replies are short and curt. He does not wish for any worry or pity. 

One small sign that Dedue is off-put is that he becomes forgetful. It’s something only those who know him well can pick up on. For example: he won’t bring any writing utensils to a meeting. To a stranger this is a common mishap that happens to everyone. Only people who know Dedue well will see that someone as responsible as him wouldn’t forget something so minute 

Another is the short sighs he lets out. Nothing drawn out or dramatic, just quick puffs of air through the nose- kind of like a huff. They’re very difficult to catch and are a habit when he feels impatient or restless 

The day you come home isn’t a large extravaganza. Prince Dimitri accompanies him to greet the returning troops, but it doesn’t take a wise man to see that he mainly came for moral support. You were his friend as well, and he also wanted to see Dedue happy. 

When you come into sight Dedue approaches as if it’s a normal day. Your appearance is a bit too worn-down for his liking, and he says so. He asks if the journey went well, and whether it did or not he gives a minuscule smile 

If you return it he’ll pat your head. A welcome home, if you will 

“Come. Let us speak of the time we were apart. I would like to hear of your travels” 

Felix:

Simple solution. Whenever Felix feels as if he’s missing your presence he’ll go find you. 

Oh wait 

He can’t lmao 

It doesn’t hit him how big your role is in his life until you’re forced to be apart. All it took was a few days for Felix to feel like something was missing

At first he’s in denial. What is he, a child? A grown man doesn’t need someone to lean on, or keep him company, or check on him...or to give him encouragement......make him laugh....listen to his problems............okay. Maybe he does. 

At the beginning he seems put together but gradually as the days go on Felix becomes socially intolerant. The only person he wants to talk with is you, and you’re not there. Anyone else can buzz off or they’re getting snapped at

No one says anything either. Sometimes you can’t when the only solution is so far away 

Felix works extra hard when you’re gone. No one’s there to force much needed breaks onto him. From morning till dusk he’ll train and only stop for meals.

It’s his distraction. Every time that familiar pang shows up the training dummy gets another slice 

What’s happened to him? He was never so dependent on another person. Yeah, he has people that he cares about but their presence was never a necessity in his life 

The pain only intensifies as he thinks of what you’re doing, the dangers you’re facing, other (men/women) making you smile-

Oh....Oh no. Dear god he’s in love que the dummy’s head being sliced off

He’s waiting in your room on the day you get back. You’ll walk in to see him reading at your desk, only for the book to snap shut when you open the door 

A bit roughly he’ll pull you in for a hug. Not too tight, if you wanted to escape it you could

“Look. I’ll only say this once so you better listen...don’t leave for that long ever again. If you have to then I’m going with. No arguments”        

Ashe:

He’s fine. It’s okay. Ten days in and life goes on, you know? Today he played with some of the stray cats in the monastery like he normally would. The only off part was that he forgot to bring fish treats, normally you’d do that. 

Then he ordered some sweet buns for dessert after dinner; it was his usual order on your rare dates. Those days you’d snatch one but this time they were all his

He had them in the garden with some mint tea and watched the sun set. The last time he did that you decided to braid his hair while he told bad puns about his patchy facial hair fiasco. This time he viewed in tranquil silence 

Later in the evening he practiced archery to unwind. Lately Caspar agreed to be his training partner with you gone. He’d collect the arrows shot and help reposition the targets. You would normally do the same and in turn Ashe would wake up extra early to help you in the morning. 

At night he curled up in bed with “Loog and the Maiden of Wind,” picking up from where he left off. It was easy since you had given him a copy with a built-in cloth bookmark for his birthday. He loves it to pieces. 

Please come home When his eyes began to feel heavy he tucked it under his pillow for the day. 

Under the covers he shifted to get comfortable, and just like every night he ended up cuddling one of his pillows 

How much longer 

He closed his eyes 

....

..........

What was taking so long? The professor never mentioned that the journey would take weeks? There haven’t been letters either...

Where are you? What are you doing? Do you miss him? Are you eating properly? Are you sleeping right? He should have asked Seteth to let him accompany you. Are you on your way home? Should he go ask? No, it’s late. Asking now would be a bother-

 He misses you so much. No amount of time spent absorbing himself in different hobbies makes the discomfort in his chest go away. Everything reminds him of you. 

When you come home he’s front and center at the gate. The professor had taken pity on the boy (courtesy of Flayn’s plea) and arranged his schedule to be free all day. He spent it chatting with gatekeeper until troops appeared in the distance 

The moment you’re in sight he’s skipping down the stairs and greets you with the warmest embrace. The second you pull back he’s peppering kisses on your cheeks. 

“You’re back! I’ve missed you so much I can’t even begin to explain. Let’s go eat dinner and you can tell me all about the trip” 

Sylvain:

Is it weird that with you gone Sylvain actually begins to be a productive human being?

He spends the newfound spare time at the stables with the horses, or helping with chores around the monastery. Very rarely is he found goofing off 

Weird. Most would expect him to let loose considering how you have him on a ‘ball and chain,’ as he puts it 

So???? How come he chooses now to be responsible. 

Simple. He only acts rebellious to get a rise out of you

Just kidding lol. Only partially

While he does get a free show out of your nagging, it isn’t the reason he behaves like that. Neither why he’s suddenly ‘turned over a new leaf’

Sylvain highly respects you. Not only do you work hard but you’re also one of the most genuine people he knows. He’ll never say it to your face but before he loved you Sylvain looked to you as a role model. He never could have imagined that someone with such an authentic set of emotions would become his partner 

He also puts you through hell with all the trouble he gets in. Anyone else would have ended the relationship by now with so many FALSE rumors of adultery on his end. Yet you never gave up on him.  

In short, you’ve stood by him through thick and thin. From daily mess ups to the more deeper problems. You’ve been a major pillar that he leans on.

So that’s what he’s going to be for you. While you’re away he’s going to pick up the slack and make sure there’re no messes waiting for you to come home to 

Just him and maybe a few snide jokes. You know, a couple of dramatic whines about all the trouble he went to in making sure your room stayed clean 

Sometimes it gets difficult to turn down the invites from his peers, but he holds strong. The change is so drastic that Byleth even jokes about sending you away more often. 

He takes it with a grain of salt. They’d never exploit their students like that and he knows it 

When you arrive home he’s waiting patiently in your room. In one arm there’s a blanket and in the other a feather duster c’mon he has to make this believable

“Well there’s the (man/woman) of the hour. Do you realize the horrors that I’ve endured these past weeks? I cleaned this room EVERY DAY. You owe me big time!”  

Sylvain demands that for all the worry, strife, and hard labor you put him through; he deserves an afternoon nap with his partner. Will you let him slack off?

Annette: 

Busy, busy, busy!!!

She has so many chores to get done, books to read, people to talk to, and songs to sing 

She hated to say goodbye, but eventually you’ll come home. This isn’t like before. You’re not like him. 

Annette trusts you

She loves you 

While you’re gone she’ll think of all the things you can do together when you get back. What’s a better way to use the time, right? 

She 100% plans to blackmail you into treating her for lunch. How could you leave her behind to watch over everyone by herself? So cruel...

There are mild worries that fill her heart. Thoughts on your health for one. Whether you’re skilled in faith or not it doesn’t matter to her. 

She kind of wishes that the professor scheduled her to fight as well. However, things were better this way.

Annette will make sure you have somewhere wonderful to return to 

She even writes a small ‘welcome home’ jingle! Anything to bring out your smile 

People will occasionally ask how she’s holding up. After all, if Annette doesn���t worry about herself then of course others will do it for her. 

And yeah. Sometimes it does get rough. She’s human and naturally her partner means the world to her. Who the hell would be okay with sending their loved one away? 

It’s just that if she isn’t optimistic than who will be. Who’s going to give you encouragement when you need it most? Isn’t that what being a couple is about? To have faith and believe in each other? 

That’s why she’s okay. She’ll sing those fear demons away and take comfort in knowing you’ll come home with everyone else

And when you do she’s there with a few of your favorite flowers. She’ll congratulate you on a job well done whether the battle was a win or lose, and literally force you into her dorm to talk the hours away.

“Welcome home! I had plenty of time on my hands while you were away so I wrote a small song...i-if it’s okay then can I sing it for you? I promise it’s not about tasty cakes this time haha!” 

Mercedes:

The daily church hymn lifts her spirits. Mercedes’ devout faith is what supports her during moments of weakness 

You’ve probably guessed this, but every day you’re in her prayers. 

Not that you weren’t before, but now she spends a little more time mulling over possibilities of danger. Some extra blessings couldn’t hurt either 

She does find her thoughts trailing over to you often as well. Not anything negative but instead the happier memories. Saying goodbye was a rough blow when realization hit that your return date wasn’t definite 

Alas, the goddess will protect you. Mercedes steels herself to be patient and invest her energy into more productive things 

Mercedes is sort of like the big sister of all her friends. The doting type. Without you around she has all this pent up affection, and the lions get the blunt end of it

They’re an outlet that she uses to distract herself from not having you around. Not that they necessarily mind it (maybe Felix but he’ll get over it)

The time she’d spend with you is used to bake for the monastery children, or help with chores. She uses it wisely and also works on some of her own hobbies. 

You may or may not find some well-stitched embroidery on your socks. She goes all out and even offers to help mend Dimitri’s battle-worn cape. That thing needed a literal miracle to return to it’s former glory 

Life isn’t much different aside from your lack of presence. With each day she finds herself looking forward to your return, and occasionally she’ll inquire with the professor about it. Mercedes is known for her patience, and it truly is a virtue in many cases. Definitely in this one. 

When note of your future return arrives she can’t help but smile. If allowed she’ll ask to read the letter of notification herself and will do so with incredible focus. She’ll clutch one hand to her chest in relief before giving it back and leaving to return to her duties 

and so it goes until your return. She might not be able to come meet you at the gate, but at first sighting she’ll engulf you in an embrace. 

After a once-over for any injuries, she’ll insist that you have tea together. Hell, Mercedes would be happy if you two could just chat together on the nearest bench. There’s so much to talk of and now you two have all the time in the world 

“It’s so nice to see you again! Oh my...it feels like forever since I have seen you smile. I almost forgot how contagious is is haha” 

Ingrid: 

If it was up to Ingrid than she would be positioned right at your side. You two work well as a duo both on and off of the field. The army would benefit from your skills being magnified as a team 

She also wouldn’t have to deal with this ungodly sense of dread in the pit of her stomach. Don’t misunderstand- Ingrid isn’t the protective type. She trusts in your capabilities both as a fighter and person. It’s only that being away for so long is a rarity, and she needs time to adjust. 

She’d just have to trust in the other people stationed at your side to do what she can’t  

If she knows any of them personally then Ingrid 100% approaches to ask that they watch your back 

That takes care of any worry, but not of the crack in her daily life 

Ingrid has much on her shoulders. Her family, Fargeus’ future, her friends, what food’s being served in the dining hall, if it tastes good or not, the church, the ‘flame emperor’, and you of course.

She’s also the type of person who likes uniformity: a schedule. You’re a part of that and being so far disrupts it. She’s afraid that her personal emotions will tap into her ability to fulfill her duties  

Everyone else assures her otherwise. Ingrid is known for always giving 110% so a while of just 100% is no big deal. She is allowed to be human 

She’s allowed to miss you. Her friends assure her of it 

She’s allowed to worry. There’s no need to sear shut her fears. After losing Glenn...well, it’s understandable. 

She’s allowed to ask for news updates. The professor has encouraged this. 

She’s allowed to go in your room if she needs alone time. You said so before leaving. 

However, Ingrid doesn’t allow herself those comforts until days after your departure. When you said goodbye it unsettled her stomach in more ways than one. It took some time to sort through her emotions while still maintaining her responsibilities

It took everything for Ingrid to move on from the past, and this experience set in a sense of gratitude for all that she’s been given. It also was an opportunity for her to reminisce over what she has lost, and still has to do. 

Needless to say, when you return Ingrid has gained a newfound confidence and comfort in not having a set schedule for life. Everything has always felt as if it needed to be rushed, but meeting you wasn’t something she had planned nor sped into. Spending some time to focus on her own personal goals aside from the ones preset for her before birth aided in Ingrid coming to terms with that. 

“Hello. It’s been so long that I hardly recognize you! What? It’s a joke!...Yes, I know how to tell jokes- hold on this is supposed to be a heartfelt reunion so don’t ruin it!” 

[thesilvervixens]

Hi! Can you do headcanons for Dimitri with a shy s/o?

dimitri w/ a shy s/o headcanons

⇾ sfw / tw: none

⇾ reqs: a few more!!

a/n: omg im sorry for being so late. i’ve been busy and afk. thank you for asking for a dimitri headcanon, i love writing for him. i hope you enjoy anon!!!!!! - allie

⇾ before meeting, he was very hesitant about coming up to you because he knew it was hard for you to talk to new people.

he came off very gentle and genuine. he didn’t want to scare you away.

it took you a couple of minutes to warm up until you noticed his true intentions! the more you guys talked to each other, you slowly started to come out of your shell.

⇾ dimitri doesn’t mind the fact that you’re shy. in all honesty, he thinks it’s pretty darn cute.

it gives him more of a reason to be extra encouraging to you, but he won’t force them to do anything out of your comfort zone.

while training, you may be too embarrassed to practice and would rather watch from a distance.

he’s like a little personal hype man. if you agree to practicing, he will continue to give out compliments like “you’re doing really well” or “we should do this more often” to make you feel more comfortable in your own skin.

⇾ when it comes to ordering food, he’s always down to help you order or order for you.

he is that meme format that goes like “excuse me!!!! y/n asked for no pickles”

⇾ he was the one who started flirting first, despite the fact that he can be shy as well sometimes. dimitri was also the one to ask you out.

he was really nervous because he got memories from back when he first starting talking to you. he didn’t want to ruin the friendship and never speak to you again. he was really nervous over how you were going to react to the point he kept putting it to the side.

when he finally got the guts, you felt your anxiety starting to act up, but you remember the advice he always gave you and remembered the sweet stuff he would save. after a couple of seconds, you calmed down and gave him your final answer, which was a yes.

⇾ since you are sometimes too nervous to open up to him face to face, you write him letters and notes for him to read.

⇾ you both have a very wholesome relationship. you guys get flustered over the smallest things, especially you. i believe dimitri has a way with words and every single compliment he gives you can make you blush as red as a tomato.

⇾ he gives you a lot of reassurance.

modern day: he would talk to you to sleep and send you long messages whenever you are having a bad, anxious day. he will sent good morning text the next day and make sure you are treating yourself and also taking care of yourself.

[cloviaglade]

THE CRIMSON FLOWER ROUTE CORPORATE UNION AU

Yeah it came to me in a dream shared it with a friend and she said I should inflict it on the world so here we go

Warning: It's super long but I broke it up into chunks

(note not all members of the house fall into the categories listed also I'm not the best with corporate terms and positions. Also this was made for fun and isn't that serious)

The houses

The Black eagles generally were in accounting or sales. They dealt with a lot of the customers firsthand and were considered expendable

Blue lions where mostly in HR or IT

Golden deer mostly worked in maintenance and public relations.

Staff and church members are members of the board. Flayn has her position on the board despite her age because nepotism

The Seiros Co:

It's a large company that provide a large array of services and products that promote physical and emotional well-being. The company started out with good intentions but soon became a corporate monster

The company provides a host of benefits to its employees including on site housing, on site restraunts, on site pools gyms ect. They even have the best insurance on the planet. They even have horse therapy.

However they have to pay premiums on the health insurance, their rent is docted from their pay, they have to pay for on-site facilities, and those living on site are heavily encouraged to work overtime.

a lot of this is justified by cover every single health expense and days of for minor colds. Many employees seek mental health care more often than they seek physical care.

The on site living conditions vary heavily. Most are just a small white room with a single bed and a dresser. No visitors after certain hours and forget about outside visitors. However rumors are spreading that the board members have spacious luxury apartments.

The pay without all the benefits is not a wage you could live off of. But with the rent for these rooms doct from your pay you couldn't reasonably save up for different arrangements.

The strike begins:

Edelguard was finally fed up watching her team struggling. She hears constantly about how her workers are not making enough. How they have to scrape because they needed new clothes or shoes. Or worse how Petra wasn't able to support her sick grandfather

She hired a lawyer Hubert to look into information about their contracts and compare everything to labor laws. She needed to know how much of this was legal and if there was anything to be done about it.

Huberts lawfirm dealt with several lawsuits in the past. They are considered ruthless in court however media painted them out to be money hungry and demented

As expected, it was legal (mostly due to lack of regulation for these types of benefits) but really unfair, So Hubert suggested a strike. His firm would handle all the legal matters as they prepared a lawsuit and to unionize.

Edelguard was careful to organize it in private. Nothing was emailed. Nothing to tract them. Flyers were handwritten and posted in the dorms inviting members to secret meeting on slow hours.

Roles

What everyone did on the day of the strike/position they were in the office.

Black eagles

Edalguard: head of sales- she got everyone in her department and many others in different departments to simply stop working for the day when she commanded everyone to stop working via megaphone. She suck in hubert and went to a private meeting room to set up a list of demands.

Hubert: head of Vestra lawfirm- he snuck past security with the help of Edelguard. He brought a laptop and a phone with Hotspot so he could video call the rest of his attorneys from inside the conference room. Once the strike was in full swing he toured the place with Edelguard gathering evidence.

Ferdinand: senior sale manager has the highest customer satisfaction - when the strike was well underway he sent a mass email to everyone in every department including the CEO and founder herself in a very professional tone about how there is a strike. Lornez replied immediately and they when to the breakroom to enjoy tea while on the clock.

Lindhart: IT software specialist - first thing he did was turn off all the bans on websites. Everyone could go on whatever website they wanted to. He left the download blocker up and other safety precautions in place. Others could looks at memes and scroll through social media ect. He then returns to his dorm and takes a paid nap.

Caspar: manager in accounting slow but very accurate and a real team player - he hated the no pets policy with a burning passion so he let all the stray and feral cats that hang around the building in through one of the side doors. They stayed mostly on the ground floor and a few made a mess under the desks. He played with the strays with a few of his co-workers.

Bernadette: customer service rep. - she hated the calls filled with angry people. She clocked out, disconnected he phone, ran into her dorm and screamed into her pillow until calm. Once she calmed down enough she did some embroidery.

Dorothea: sales representative- has the highest upsale rate - she gets into her car and just leaves. She is still clocked in. Nobody knows where she went. Some say she met with a lover, others say she went on a binge. Nobody really knows.

Petra: bilingual sales rep. - she signed her phone off and immediately called up her family overseas. She proceeded to catch up and talk with her family for hours. She rarely got to speak with them due to the difference in timezones.

Blue lions

Dimitri: head of IT - he doesn't actually know much about IT and has little intrest in it. He got the job because his dad recommended him. With the outside website ban lifted and the lost of control of his department he frantically tried to get everything under control

Dedue: cyber security and protocol educator - although the bans are lifted he is still concerned about a cyber attack. He is frantically try to restore the ban but it seems like lindhart deleted the code.

Felix: hardware specialists - he was the one who should've been promoted into Dimitri's position and is a bit smug about how everything is falling apart in front of his boss. He bypasses the download blocker and plays minecraft on the company computer. Dimitri is too busy to notice that felix isn't helping.

Sylvain: HR rep. - he knew from the start that working conditions were shit. He was tired of trying to raise moral by doing everything but paying the employees more, giving them time off, and reasonable working hours. He went to the break room where Ferdinand and Lornez were having tea and ate a bunch of the snacks the company was reselling at super high prices then faxed a picture of his ass and balls to rhea herself as a letter of resignation.

Ashe: new hire in IT - was called down to the first floor to replace a keyboard a cat peed on. Found caspar was the reason the cats were let in. Caspar then persuaded him to play with the cats instead of shooing them out. 3 hours later he completely forgot about the strike and clocked out per usual. He completely forgot about the strike

Mercedes: head of HR - she meets with the board and discussed what to do about the strikers. They can't force them to go home since everyone striking lives on site and has every right to be there. No significant damages is being done to property. The only loss is from those not working (and a keyboard covered in cat piss and $35 worth of snacks) Mercedes is forced to find a way to get them to stop but in a way that doesn't really change anything. She leaves the meeting when it is over clocks out and returns to her modest house she calls out sick for the next couple of months.

Annette: HR rep - she tries to stop the chaos on the floor and to convince everyone to return to work. She is ignored. She wanted to ask for a megaphone to help gain attention but edelguard took the one from HR and the person with the key to one in the event closet is striking as well. She runs around in a paint trying to answer emails and settle everyone down.

Ingrid: IT helpline rep - helping Dimitri reset the ban on outside websites is above her pay grade. She at least know some of the terminology and the basics. She manages to set up a very basic blocker but it didn't block whole domains just the homepage of every website she could think of that's wasn't appropriate for work. Logging into the site allowed you to bypass the block. Ingrid feels like she will be fired for not being able to do more

Golden deer:

Claude: event planner - noticing that there was no work happening he finally decided it was time to actually do his job. He dipped into those sweet event funds and ordered as many pizza's as he could from every pizza join that could deliver. He busted out the sport balls and got employees to clear some room for flag football on the 3rd floor. He got Hilda to organize games of hide and go seek in floors 4 and 5. All games and activities were not officially approved but followed all guidelines.

Hilda: claudes assistant - organized games on the 4th and 5th floors. The cubicle although uniform made excellent hiding spaces and the food plaza just got rid of the old tables and chairs awaiting delivery of new ones so there was a ton of space to run around. Hidia had to jump between floors pretty often which was a workout all on its own but it was worth it to see everyone smile at work for once.

Lornez: head of advertising - he was tired of writing jingles and stupid commercials for the company. He wasn't aware of the strike until he got the email from Ferdinand. He offered to treat him to some tea he brought from home. They had a lovely talk and watched Sylvain stress eat. He tried to talk Sylvain out of resigning but failed.

Raphael: pizza delivery guy - he thought it was a joke at first since they never delivered pizza to the Serios Co but was persuaded by Claude. He got stopped at the front by the front desk clerk who was ordered not to allow any deliveries. Soon more pizza guys showed up and some of them where not as nice as Raphael. He eventually got in and successfully delivered his pizza.

Ignatz: accountant - he wanted no part of this and tried to work despite being on the 3rd floor. He doesn't have any PTO and is frantically trying to get his absence approved because he cannot work under these conditions. He got walled in with desks and chairs and hand to crawl his way out to try to find someone in HR to help him but found their office empty. Worst day of work ever.

Lysithia: Intern- hopes to join the advertising department - She needs this job for school credits so finding out that her boss told her to take the day off because of strike she immediately thought of her record. Lorenz assured her that she would get credit as long as he had any say in it. She played a round of hide and go seek before studying in Lornez's office

Marianne: customer service rep.- she heard the rumors and on the day of the strike she freaked out and when to have a panic attack in her car. She was on lunch technically but she took a 3 hour lunch. She came back in clocked out and decided to try that horse therapy.

Leonnie: pizza delivery guy (not nice) - she knows the customer didn't care that the order took so long to complete and was very understanding that the 30mins or less delivery time but seriously! 50 PIZZAS!! She had to stretch and press dough at top speed for like 45 mins then she burnt her hand while boxing some of the pizza's and she had to deliver all of it to this company just outside of town and now the person at the front door is insisting that the pizza was ordered by mistake oh no! Not today! You will take the pizza and you will pay for it and tip 25%.

Church

Rhea: CEO and founder - she honestly believes her practices are helping the community. She doesn't realize that she doesn't give her employees much choice. She thinks her employees are ungrateful.

Seteth: president - also believes the company is doing the best they can. He knows the dorms are small and brand but they house 78.364% of their employees and they all see a doctor at least 3 times a month. He hates that he has difficulty finding a balance between competitive prices, compensating workers, and turning a profit.

Flayn: secretary - she saw the fun going on in the 5th floor while on her lunch and thought it was organized by staff and didn't connect it as part of the strike.

Catherine: front desk - tried to turn away all the delivery drivers but more kept coming. She kept getting calls from upper management about the social media platforms and tried frantically to get in to make a statement but had little luck. She gave up when Leonnie demanded payment and let all the delivery people in.

Shamir: social media manager- she originally attended the meetings as a mole but soon learned that her fellow employees hardships. She drafted huge posts on every platform exposing the truth, changed all the passwords then took a vacation during the strike.

Hanneman: chief operational officer - he is calling and emailing the IT department about the bans every moment he can. He organized the meeting as soon as the strikers got rowdy.

Manuela: chief financial officer - although she is worried about the finances she has also been pressing about where to cut the budget first. Horse therapy is ridiculous! They own the whole ranch and are responsible for the upkeep of every horse. And all the horses are carefully hand selected and trained too. It's too much nobody uses the horse therapy because nobody has the time off to go to horse therapy!

Alois: Chairman - his title is mostly empty. He joined the strikers in a game of flag football scored a touchdown. Then went back to work as usual. Didn't check his emails about the strike since he only checks them in the morning when he first comes into work.

Gilbert: treasurer - he puts business first. Doesn't know his daughter works for the same company. Was friends with Dimitri's father. He is stressing about how the company will recover financially. He is the reason for the pay cuts so they can fund most of the benefits.

Cyrill: gopher - he gets paid minimum wage and lives on site. He considers himself lucky that he can drive the company car to go pick up office supplies from the store. He was homeless before he got a job at Seiros and feels like he is important.

Results

Since several members of the board were caught participating in strike activities the hubert and his firm counted them at strikers and used this in court.

The dorms were not considered responsible accommodations saying that prisoners in jail cells at least have their own toilet.

The news when crazy with the posts on social media. The account never replied to any dms or comments. When called they said a rogue employee posted them falsely because she was being fired.

Rhea was forced to pay a lawsuit that gave all dormitory workers an allowance of $1000 for rent for life. Even if they choose to leave the company.

Dimitri was fired for not actually having any training. Felix was promoted to the head of IT and everyone respects him.

Rhea looses her company. And most of her assets. She kept the therapy horse ranch and manages that for a living.

With the entire company now belonging to her since everyone above her resigned she made a ton of changes making the company more normal. She pays a fair livable wage to every employee. She repurposed the dorms into offices or solitary break rooms.

Huberts firm gets rebranded as a honest firm that wants to help the little guys. He later goes on to help other corporations unionize.

[firemblem-fics]

Ok so you don’t have to do this but like blue lion boys comforting an s/o who gets mean letters from home? Like, “Oh you’re so stupid I never should have sent you there” (I don’t know I’m dumb lol)

no you're not dumb this is valid! thank you for requesting!!!

comforting their s/o with an unsupportive family. | BL boys

---

dimitri

after just receiving the letter, you were put in a bad mood. you didn't even want to open it. you knew that there was nothing inside except for negativity, so you just left it on your desk with other letters from your friends back home

later that day as you and dimitri sat in your room to do homework, he saw all the letters and mentioned how there was an unopened one. 

you didn’t think much of it, telling him that you probably just forgot to open one of your friends’ letters and that he could open it 

he did and stayed silent for a while. you asked him to read it out loud, but he didn’t

instead, he looked up and asked kinda quietly, “how could your parents say these things to you?”

you jumped up from your bed and snatched the paper out of his hand, tearing it up and throwing it away. “it doesnt matter”

“it does matter,” he gently pushed your shoulder to make you sit back down, “im here if you ever want to... talk about it, you know.”

“yeah,” you’d lay your head on his shoulder as he sat with you. 

you didnt really want to talk about it right now, but he wouldn’t push you. he would just be there for you, giving you as much love as possible. 

sylvain

originally, sylvain didnt know what to think when he found you crying on the dormitory steps 

he sat down with you, not saying a word. he’d just sit and stare ahead, waiting for you to pull yourself together a little before he’d ask

he did and you wordlessly handed him the letter, letting him read it.

to say that sylvain was furious would be an understatement 

he’d go on this huge rant that was essentially insulting your family and complimenting you

eventually, he’d turn to you and take your face in his hands, looking you in the eyes 

“y/n l/n, you are so much more than what anyone says. you deserve to be here just as much as everyone else does, and you’re doing so well. you’re amazing.”

if you had stopped crying, then you were again- but for a different, and better, reason

felix

felix honestly doesnt know what to think. or do. or say. or anything

he sees it as an opportunity to ask you to train with him more 

“obviously, your family doesn’t think you’re good enough yet. I’ll help you get better.”

he’s really just trying to help you the way he helps himself- with distractions

its a win-win to him. you forget about your problems for a while and get better to prove your family wrong and he gets to train. even better, he gets to train with you. 

dedue

dedue will act according to how you’re acting

if you’re indifferent about it, he will be as well 

if you’re crying, he’ll do whatever you ask. he’ll hold you, cuddle you 

dedue can and will pamper you, however

even if you act like it doesn’t bother you, he’s going to be tending to your every need even more than he usually does

sweet sweet boy just wants you to feel loved

ashe

its unlike him to physically show it, but ashe is livid

even more so than sylvain

he keeps his composure better than sylvain, though

he’s going to compliment you nonstop

your family tore down your confidence and he is determined to single-handedly make everything better 

he’ll do it every time

if he ever meets your parents, they’ll be in for a lot of snide remarks covered by fake coughs 

its the least he can do or else he’d lose his shit being completely nice to the people who were so mean to his s/o 

[candlelight27]

The Golden Deer And The Alabaster Doe

Summary:  After the war, everyone changed, including Marianne, who is trying to find her happy ever after. This leads her to visit Claude in Almyra, where he's been for years.

Warnings: Explicit sex - quite tame and vanilla though, friends to lovers, post timeskip, SMUT, Fluff.

Pairings: Marianne von Edmund/Claude von Riegan

Word Count: 4361

AO3: The Golden Deer And The Alabaster Doe

A/N: I’m working on the Sylvain series but needed to get this out of my chest. Claude is my best boy after all... welp, hope you enjoy it anyways <3

Marianne arrived at night, when the sky of the desert is filled with stars and the cold makes its way to you bones.

Her camel stopped at the big doors of stone, where two guards let her enter the city. The place, so different from her homeland, was in complete silence. There were a few torches lighting their way to the palace.

Marianne felt a familiar thrill in her heart, one she hadn’t felt in a long time. Ever since the war ended – the last time she had seen Claude. She recalled the sweet but distant memories of Garreg Mach, how Claude tried his best to understand her, to observe her, how she had convinced her to pursue what she wanted, even if she felt undeserving. The Almyran was so persuasive she almost confessed her love to him. Yet that bliss was cut short when war broke out and the death and duty was all she had time to think of. In that moment, all they could have been together was plucked out of her.

It seemed like a lifetime had passed by. She had matured, no longer as tortured as her younger self, and she had learnt to make herself useful next to Margrave Edmund. In fact, her adoptive father harboured the hope that she would inherit his lands at his passing. That understanding between father and daughter was what made Marianne take a chance, a step against all she had done when she felt undeserving of living.

This was the first time Marianne had done something remotely selfish. She asked her father for permission to travel to Almyra, and he accepted without objection. Then, she wrote a letter to Claude. She spent hours that night writing and crumpling papers. Too cold, too intrusive, too improper, too needy – nothing was good enough. In the morning, feeling more like herself, she wrote the first thing that came to her mind and sent it.

And a few weeks later Claude sent back a letter welcoming to his home in Almyra, right where she was headed.

The closer they were to the palace, the more nervous she was. Lost in thoughts about protocols and rules, memories and hopes for the future, almost without realising where she was, the small procession arrived and entered the enormous building.

The entrance hall left her in awe. It was as big as Garreg Mach’s had been but decorated with infinitely more opulence. From the ceiling hung silks made in confines of the East, while the lamps had been made with the finest gold and silver from Faerghus, surely a kind present from the actual King, Dimitri. Marianne walked along a rug whose intricate pattern was coloured yellow and green. She scanned the place, looking for someone among the emptiness. On the other edge of the stay, just opposite to where she was looking at, a shadow was moving in the darkness. She turned her head to the sound.

“You can go back to you posts. Thank you for escorting our guest.” The rich voice reverberated throughout the stay. Marianne couldn’t supress the smile that crept to her lips when she recognized the person who had come to greet her.

Claude stepped into the light, the fire of the candles and lamps kissing his tanned skin and colouring his eyes of amber. Her pulse shot up.

He was just as handsome as Marianne remembered him. His clever eyes were tired, yet they carried the glint of a man filled with content. After all, Almyra’s relationship with Fódland had never been better than at the current time, and house Goneril was favouring a long-lasting peace by the hands of Hilda. She felt a pang of jealousy noticing they must have seen each other frequently.

“The servants are in bed. I hope you don’t mind that only your old friend is here to welcome you”, started Claude at ease, as if he had seen her the previous day and not many years ago.

“I actually prefer it that way,” she answered sweetly. Claude approached her with slow and deliberate steps. Discreetly, he observed her and captured her featured with his pupils.

“May I take you to your room?”, he asked, offering his hand for her to take it. She nodded and accepted. The Almyran man linked his arm to hers to guide her across the mosaic of corridors and doors.

For the first time in forever, Claude was nervous – and after a hundred of meetings with a lot of older men and women who belittled him, he had forgotten the feel. Marianne was more beautiful than he remembered. In their academy days, she used to be like a fawn walking through life wobbly and unsure, tender, innocent, scared, a prey. Yet now, the animal he’d use to describe her would be doe. She was graceful and majestic. If he didn’t know better, Claude would think he was before none other than the queen of Fódland – which would had been a shame, because it would mean Dimitri was her husband. Still, all the differences Claude spotted hadn’t change her core at all. She had that caring air, that serenity she always had. And she had a brightness he couldn’t decipher.

The first surprise Marianne gave him was the she was the one to start the a conversation.

He had been convinced he’d have to make an effort to ease her and make her comfortable in order to coat any monosyllable out of her. He had been ready, he prepared questions, pieces of news. But the soon-to-be heir of Mangrave Edmund spoke first.

“How have you been, Claude? We haven’t seen each other in… ages. We have to catch up.”

Marianne even looked at him in the eye, totally disarming him. Not that she could notice, because he knew how to compose himself in a matter of seconds. Some things never change, and Claude would never reveal his cards so soon. Yet, he had to admit, it was truly amusing.

“Frankly, I’ve been busy. So busy.” Claude sighed. “Working on a political alliance with Fódland wasn’t easy and keeping a durable peace while pleasing every part is turning out to be a complete challenge. I’m not complaining, things are going great and according to plan… but it’s like I don’t have time to myself anymore.”

“It’s comprehensible you feel that way, Claude”, Marianne said, with a certainty in her tone he had never heard. It did soothe him. “You are pouring you heart on your mission. You are dedicating your life to your people. I know it’s hard, but it’s what make you a good king.”

“You seem to be informed of my affairs,” Claude tried her, testing the waters.

“I am.” Her simple reply didn’t leave him much to use.

“Did you miss me that much?”

“Me? I…” Marianne doubted what she could say. But the new self she found within her relied on sincerity and worried little about the aftermath when she didn’t have anything to lose. “Yes, Claude. I missed you.” She let out a giggle out of nervousness, ringing bells for Claude. “I can’t lie, I was quite bored when you disappeared off to Almyra.”

“The call of duty”, he shrugged. “Had I known that… and I would have visited.”

After what felt like an eternity walking – and conversing –, Claude stopped before a dark wooden door.

“This is your room,” he stated.

The former Golden Deer leader was ready to call it a day and go to bed. He was indeed tired. A part of him wanted his lovely visitor to beg him to stay, to chat a bit more, mirroring his own wishes, but Marianne had never been that kind of person. But what if? He didn’t walk away, he just stood still, as if something was telling him Marianne only needed a little push to do the second thing remotely selfish she had ever done in her life.

“Are you busy tomorrow?”, she murmured the question tentatively.

“Actually, no. I took some days off meetings to attend a very special guest that was coming from Fódland”, he smiled.

“Then why don’t you stay a little while? I’d love to talk to you a little bit more. It feels like the old days.”

She curled her toes in her shoes, anxious. But of course, he wasn’t going to deny her. Her hunch about Claude was correct. So, he muttered a confident ‘sure’, hiding his surprise, and opened the door for her. She slid past Claude and took in her new stay for the next few months.

She marvelled at the beauty and exquisiteness of the decoration. Every little detail, like the flowers, similar to the ones she had in her room at Garreg Mach, like the small statue of the goddess, like some books beautifully bounded and regarding Fódland’s matters, all those details suggested Claude had personally made all the arrangements to make her feel at home. And it made her heart throb. A teapot caught her eye, as its scent reached her.

“Is that lavender tea?”, she asked, eyes wide.

“Yes, it is.” Claude’s back was facing Marianne and he composed a satisfied smile at her surprise.

“How did you know it was my favourite?”

“I have my ways.” Claude realized in that moment that he loved the sound of her voice when she was pleased, and he hadn’t heard it before. It made him want to fulfil her every wish right there and then. “Go on, help yourself.”

Marianne poured two cups of tea. The Almyran took a seat in a mahogany chair, its legs sculpted like the claws of a lion, and took the warm cups in his hands.

Marianne couldn’t help but stare at him. He was no longer the Claude she remembered, not quite the same. He was a grown man, shaped by a war and the power of a king. His shoulders were broad and strong, and the muscles of his arms, hardened by the use of his bow, couldn’t be hidden by his loose clothes. The cheeks of the young girl from Fódland turned crimson. When did her thoughts shelter lechery? But she forgot all her modesty as her eyes reached his shaped jaw, angles covered with facial hair styled in the fashion of his land. His irises instantly captivated her, watching her every move. They looked like they were made from seawater. He had the kindest gaze she had ever seen in a man of his position, and that could never change.

“I have to be honest here,” Claude started, putting the cup away, “but your letter a month ago stating that you were coming was the last thing I was expecting.” He laughed, a perfect song to Marianne’s ears. “I thought I’d never see you again. Or that I’d have to go there by myself to finally see you… any of the Golden Deer, I mean. I’ve been meaning to send you a letter… or something. But I never found the time.”

“Don’t worry. I’m here, after all,” she tried to soothe him, sipping her tea. He opened his mouth, then closed it as if he regretted even thinking what he wanted to say.

“I can’t believe I choose to be a coward now of all times.” He shook his head from side to side.

“You are not a coward, Claude. In the name of the Goddess, what are you talking about?”

“Yes, yes. You are right. I haven’t said anything.” Claude smiled, but he was hiding something, and it twinkled in his eyes, trying to get out. He tried to lighten up the mood distracting her attention. “Are you married?”

“No!” Marianne blushed, then giggled, as if it was the oddest question in the world.

“But you must have thousands of proposals.”

“I’ve had a few.” She ignored his comment, and the question in her heart of he’d propose to her given the right circumstances. “But father… I mean Margrave Edmund said he wanted me to decide. I rejected them because I didn’t know them.”

“Quite the peculiar Margrave, not after benefits, but her daughter’s happiness,” Claude pointed out.

“And you?”, asked Marianne, her eyes round with curiosity. “Are you married?”

“Wouldn’t have you heard about it if I were?”, he laughed again, yet then a bitter tongue coated his tongue. “No, of course not. Although… people are pestering me. You know, a king must have babies and wives – well, one at least. Ever since Dimitri’s wedding with Byleth, it’s been a nonstop pressure to find someone.”

Marianne put her teacup away and took Claude’s hands in hers. She would have wanted to hug him and press him against her chest, to tell him that everything was going to be fine. It was obvious that the man was affected by the situation. Yet the only thing she could do was showing compassion with that small touch. Still, her pale hands comforted him immensely.

“You’ll find love when you least expect it. Don’t listen to them. And don’t let it concern you that much.”

“Finding love isn’t really what’s concerning me,” he ended up confessing at last. Marianne doubted if she should press him to continue, but curiosity got the best of her.

“Then what is it?”

“It’s… the person I love might not love me back. I don’t deserve her.” Marianne furrowed her brows. She was about to talk, but Claude cut her right before she did. “And even if that worked… I don’t think she’d be happy to leave all she has behind in order to be with me. It’s not that easy, Marianne.”

“You are reminding me of when I was young.” She tilted her head to the side. “Why don’t you begin at the beginning?”

“And that is?”

“Confessing your love”, she said as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

“I told you I become a coward when the most important decisions ought to be made. I wouldn’t… even if she was… right in front of me right now.”

Marianne then committed another act that surprised herself. It wasn’t exactly selfish, but it was definitely something she wouldn’t have dared to think about some years ago. She was completely sure Claude was talking about her. His glance was declaring his love for her out loud. The way he looked and melted at her touch was revealing the truth behind his secrecy.

Before performing any action, she thought of the consequences. Should she be wrong, would he be mad? Probably not. And if he was, what was the worst that could happen? She’d have to leave Almyra eventually and she’d never hear of him again. But it was probably the exact same thing that would be happening if she didn’t do anything.

She was feeling self-conscious. Her legs were shaking. She couldn’t even breathe. But she didn’t let any of those impediments deter her. She had decided she was going to be the master of her fate, so she would take the chance.

Slowly, Marianne leant in, her eyes closed. The silent of the night wrapped around them. And then, when she finally reached his lips, she kissed him.

Claude stayed still, which she considered a small victory. Her rosy lips were unbelievably tender on his own. He could have sworn time had stopped right away. How could someone so precious as her want him? He didn’t have the answer. He was handsome, but he was sure that was not the only feature a girl like Marianne would be looking for. But he was one to seize his opportunities, so he kissed her back and let his eyelids fall.

The kiss soon turned desperate. Claude placed his hands on the back of her head as he caressed her blue locks, and Marianne just melted in his touch. And a kiss became two, three, and many more. They were tentative, indecisive; they were trying to figure out what the other wanted, neither of them believing what was happening. Between breathy moans, the Almyran dared to use his tongue to seek hers. He’d swear he could spend the rest of his life like that.

“Claude…”, Marianne murmured with her sweet voice.

“What are we doing, Marianne?”, asked Claude, assaulted by his uncertainty.

“Whatever you want,” she smiled, “whatever we want.” The were so close, their nose were almost touching.

“I… Do you love me?” Claude felt so vulnerable he wanted to cry. But he needed to know.

“With all my heart, Claude. I love you.”

Claude then stood up. In a manner as delicate as a rose petal, he undid Marianne’s updo. Her silky, periwinkle hair fell down her back and shoulders like a waterfall. His hands took her cheeks and dove in to kiss her once again.

She fell back on the soft mattress slowly. During the few seconds they stayed apart, his dexterous fingers loosened all the bows, knots and buttons holding her dress together. One of his digits drew a line from her jaw to her clavicle, paying special attention to her neck. Marianne felt how her nipples got hard against the fabric of her clothes.

His next movement was taking off the loose white shirt he was wearing. The gaze of Marianne, his old friend – and now, lover –, was intense, like the one a hungry beast would display. Her pupils were completely black and taken by desire. Marianne herself discarded her dress, too impatient to wait. Her heart was thriving, and she had never felt more alive. She rose to her knees, letting Claude take a good look at her.

Claude thought she was breath-taking. He couldn’t fix his gaze anywhere else. She reminded him of the white marble statues of the goddess he could find around Fódland, with the difference that Marianne could be someone whom he could give his devotion. Her pale skin was practically glowing under the candlelight. Where could he start? One night was not enough to put into practice all the ideas that were crossing his mind.

“Can I touch you?”, was the only thing that he managed to vocalize.

“Please.”

He grabbed one of her tempting breasts, kneading it while he left a trail of kisses that led to the other. Marianne trembled and whined, too overwhelmed to understand all those sensations yet willing to indulge and pursue those pleasures.

Claude licked his lover’s perk nipple. She gripped his dark locks of hair, then moved to scratch his back. Claude felt his leather pants were too tight when his bulge started growing at every scratch Marianne gave him. Still, he didn’t stop and grew even bolder placing his wide hand upon the apex of her thighs.

“You like what I’m doing, don’t you?”, he smirked to himself. “You’re already pretty wet.”

“Not playing shy anymore?”, she answered, with that unprecedented confidence Claude was starting to love.

“I’ve got better things to play with”, said Claude, and as a reward he gained a laugh of her fair mouth.

As he slid a finger into her wetness, she took his face with both hands to plant a hot kiss on his lips. He responded eagerly, offering his tongue, and putting in a second one without any resistance. Marianne welcomed the addition vocally. There was fire in her veins, and bolts of delight went all over her body.

The more adventurous his movements were, the more her hunger grew. Claude was making her feel things she had never felt, yet something within her wanted more. And she wasn’t dumb, she knew Claude was starting to get uncomfortable under his pants.

“Why don’t you take your pants off?”, her voice was the perfect mixture between suggestiveness and purity. She was going to drive him crazy.

“My sweet Marianne, I’ll gladly comply your orders.”

“Is the king tired of commanding other people?”, the tease rolled out of her mouth effortlessly.

“Perhaps.”

“My poor king.” Oh, what Claude would give to hear Marianne saying that while he made love to her.

When he undid his belt and buttons, Marianne kept provoking him. She scratched the skin under his navel with her sharp nails. Claude inhaled loudly. He might have never been this turned on in his life.

“Are you sure this is what you want? There’s no going back once we do this.”

“There is no going back since you crossed the doorstep, Claude,” she said as she guided him to the bed. He threw his pants on the floor.

“How could have you changed so much?” He stuttered. “It’s not that I don’t like it. Or, well, it’s not that you changed entirely. But-” Marianne stopped his rambling.

“I’m merely making the decisions that will make me happy.”

“This might not have a happy ending”, he pointed out.

“If that happens, at least we’ll have something to remember.” She made a pained face but gained her smiled back rapidly. “And right now, I feel beyond happy.”

“You… you are right. Let’s indulge.”

Claude now stood proud and naked. She admired his erection, because it was the first time she saw one in that situation. Claude laughed at her wide eyes, and gleefully Marianne led him on top of her. Claude kissed her once more – and if it had been up to him, he’d kissed her until the end of time – and she noticed his hard member pressing against her thighs.

Having his body caging her and taking in his warmth made her head go dizzy. For Claude, on the other hand, it was as if a spell had been suddenly broken. The contrast of her alabaster frame and his skin of sun and desert, his hardness and her softness, it was as if someone had made her just for him. He felt greedy, but overall, he felt whole.

“Go on,” she mumbled. “I need you inside of me.”

Claude entered her in a slow rhythm to be able to watch her face. He wanted to make sure there wasn’t any pain, and so far, her face only had shown pleasure. The Almyran felt overwhelmed sunk in her essence, but it didn’t distract him. Her expressions were precious to him, and he wanted to see every detail.

“Does it feel good?”, he asked concerned.

“Yes… it feels different from your fingers.”

“Good different…?” He stopped.

“Too good. Don’t- Keep going, my king.”

His member twitched. He laughed to mask the aphrodisiac that name was to him, and then he started thrusting. Once more, he was being careful, but it wasn’t as easy as before. He was constant, but it was difficult to keep a pace.

“I love this, Claude. My king.”

Marianne was completely lost in the moment. She accustomed herself to his manhood quickly and waggled her hips to chase the close promise of her orgasm. The hot pleasure was constant, as if Claude was her other half and they just clicked perfectly. They were so close that all his body rubbed against her, and it was doing indescribable things to her.

Just like their conversations used to be, she was timid but concise and clear, while Claude was an organized mess of passion. Marianne couldn’t contain herself and roamed his back with her nails. She was beginning in the devotion of the flesh, but she was sure she just needed a little push to come.

“You are screaming, Marianne.”

“Does it matter?” She had been so absorbed, she had neglected on keeping it quiet. But she didn’t want to get him into trouble.

“No, who’s going to scold us, anyways? Besides, I adore the way you call me.”

He pushed himself firmly, over and over. He heard the echo of his name and almost lost his mind. Abruptly he grasped her thigh and lifted it, allowing his bulge to dive in deeper. He squeezed her flesh, leaving red marks where his fingers were, making Marianne go wilder.

“Please, Claude, make me come.”

He didn’t need any more cues, and he kept going, trying angles, pinching everything he could reach, kissing and biting her neck, until Marianne’s eyes were blurry. She tried to keep up, making her hips meet his when she could, but when she felt the rush of her peak, she let herself go. The repetitive clench of her wetness was enough to make Claude come too. Still, he had enough sense in him to take himself out and finish on her stomach.

A couple of seconds later, when Claude caught his breath, he reached for a cloth and dutifully cleaned her. She was gasping in the afterglow but looking sharply every move Claude made. He kissed her shoulder.

“We have things to talk about,” Claude began. “I love you, Marianne.”

“I love you too, Claude, but everything you want to ask me can wait until morning.” She extended one of her lover’s arms, using it to rest her head, and placed the other around her waist, so he was hugging her form. “But something tells me you already know the answers.”

“I’m worried about how we are going to make it work,” he confessed. He was surprised at her calmness, but if he was being honest, it was appeasing him.

“We’ll come up with something as long as we don’t give up. And I don’t intend to give you up.” She turned her head and looked him in the eyes. “I don’t want this to be a beautiful memory to hang on the wall of memories. I want to be on your side forever.”

“What about Mangrave Edmund?”, he asked.

“Claude, don’t anticipate problems we might not encounter.” She composed a smile, her eyes closed halfway. She was captivating him. “Do you want this to be a thing of one night?”

“No! No. Marianne I want to marry you. Who knows for how long I’ve wanted. I’m just… Since the war ended and took so much from us, I’m scared of losing any happiness. Of losing you.” He kissed her cheek. “Okay, I’ll trust you on this, since you seem so sure. Just, don’t disappear, please.”

“Try to sleep, Claude. I’m here.”

Claude closed his eyes and he fell asleep as he hadn’t in years.

[iturbide]

honestly reading your posts has made me think about what a post-cf fic would look like with morale, supplies and might at an all-time low and slithers being mostly unscathed with superior tech, not to mention the liklihood of rebellions breaking out across fodlan as it struggles to recover from war and that isn't even counting the potential of attacks by almyra, sreng and dagda. would any of the bleagles even survive?

oh yeah post-CF fic would be.  So rough. I mean, even assuming that the other Black Eagles kids survived, I can’t see many of them choosing to stick around once it becomes clear that Edelgard lied to their faces about what happened at Arianrhod and left them completely in the dark about a threat in their own midst.  Ferdinand would probably stick it out because he has noble ideals and truly does want the best for the people -- but even his bright optimism might well falter and flag as things get worse and worse with no end in sight for any of them.  Whatever feelings Dorothea had for Edelgard have been utterly and completely shattered, and it makes her sick to sing the ode she once wrote of the princess’ -- but she’s still an actress, so no one can tell.  Petra may not have visible shackles, but she is chained invisibly to Edelgard’s side for the sake of protecting her people.

No one is happy.  And worst of all, they can say nothing without being branded as traitors.

[[MORE]]

There’s actually a very soft Bad End AU I toy with on occasion when I need something to think about.  Basically, Byleth realized by the time the Empire attacked Derdriu that they’d irrevocably fucked up, and in a bid to give Fodlan some chance of a better future, when Edelgard chooses to kill Claude they step up to do it -- but deliver a non-fatal blow, despite how convincingly mortal it seems.  Realizing what Byleth was aiming for, Claude plays dead -- and when Hilda, distraught and despairing over her friend’s apparent death, comes charging in to avenge him, Byleth deals a similar blow to her before the Imperial Army leaves.  Believing their prince was killed, the Almyrans sneak back in under the cover of darkness, intending to bring the body home for burial...only to find Claude and Hilda both clinging to life, and their retrieval mission rapidly turns into a rescue mission as the small force gently loads them both up and rows them back to the navy waiting just out of sight.

From there they return to Almyra, where they’re laid up for quite a while in recovery.  Claude spends a lot of time talking with his parents, and when Hilda asks if she can see her brother the king of Almyra doesn’t hesitate to send Nader to the Locket to hail him.  Holst is...understandably having a rough time, to the point that he sees Nader and his small contingent of Almyran wyvern riders and tells them, effectively, “you want in? be my guest, I don’t care anymore.”  Nader, though, tells him to buck up, they’ve got a surprise for him -- and take him back to the Almyran capital where his sister is just starting to get up and about a little more often.  Hilda ends up staying in Almyra, but she and her family have lots of contact via both letters and in-person meetings at and around the Locket since Holst gladly agrees to ally with the Almyrans when they put any plans in motion.

As Edelgard continues to struggle with keeping the peace and starting her campaign against the Twisted, she decides to reach out to Almyra for an alliance, hoping that their army will be able to bolster her diminished forces so she can keep the peace and devote attention to rooting out the hidden problem.  Unfortunately for her, the Almyrans have no love at all for the Empire after what they did to their prince -- so while her messenger is treated quite well and kindly, the king and queen of Almyra send him back with a box containing a live, lethally venomous snake native solely to Almyra, and do not include an antidote.  The messenger is explicitly told and shown what’s in that box (it’s very well fed before it goes so that when it reaches its destination it’ll be alive and more than ready to snap at whoever decides to open the box), so the return message is very clear: we bear no ill will toward this person you sent your message with, but we have a very big problem with you.

By the time Claude is pretty well back on his feet, though, they start hearing some very, very interesting rumors coming through both their Sreng and Alliance channels -- namely that there’s a Blaiddyd running around.  Now, Claude’s well aware that Dimitri perished at Tailtean at Edelgard’s hands, but this isn’t something he can just let go -- so he sets out with Hilda on a covert investigation.  They end up finding the source of the rumors, too: a small group of old Kingdom loyalists and a teenage boy named Nikita who bears a striking resemblance to the last king of Faerghus.  When they’re beset by Imperials, the truth is revealed: Nika is the product of a long-ago dalliance by Dimitri’s father, after his first wife died and before he wedded Patricia -- and does, in fact, bear a Major Crest of Blaiddyd; he was secreted out of Fhirdiad well before the battle at Tailtean for his own protection, just in case the worst came to pass...and the Empire, understandably, doesn’t want to give the Kingdom loyalists a rallying point, so their operatives have been out hunting him down.  Claude offers them all protection in Almyra and helps to get them all across the border where they’ll be safe -- but he puts a not insignificant number of conditions on that protection, all of which are aimed toward protecting Nika, up to and including the fact that Nika will not be pushed into leadership until he reaches his majority by Almyran standards.  The Kingdom representatives have little choice but to agree, since it’s their best hope.

From there, Claude and Hilda both take on support and mentorship roles for Nika, teaching him pretty much everything he could feasibly need to know and a whole bunch else that he just wants to learn.  He picks up diplomacy, statesmanship, weapons mastery, riding (both horses and wyverns), plus strategy, several Almyran games, accessory crafting, and a little flower arrangement.  And when the night of his final mandated birthday rolls around, Claude finds him and tells him that whatever anyone says tomorrow, always remember that it’s his choice what he does.  If he wants to go back and lead the Kingdom, then he should -- but if he wants to stay here?  He should do that, instead.  And when Nika points out, hesitantly, that he’ll probably need an advisor if he goes back, Claude grins and replies that a very strong case could be made for him as an Almyran Ambassador.

Edelgard doesn’t even see it coming, really.  Almyran forces tear past the Locket and start sweeping up the resistances that have held out against the Empire since the fall of the Leicester Alliance, bolstering their forces and subduing the Imperial outposts; they cross the Valley of Torment into the northern Kingdom and reveal Nika to the people, drawing the old Kingdom loyalists out in force and pushing back hard against the Empire’s hold.  The closer the New Kingdom forces and the Almyran Alliance army get to the Empire, the more their ranks are swelled by Imperial deserters, those who hold the Seiros faith close and those who have lost any in their Empress; and in the end, with these monumental forces at her gate, Edelgard realizes that she did, in fact, succeed in uniting all of Fodlan -- but it wasn’t supposed to be against her.

[dmclemblems]

also to sum up earlier, I do still love Claude - I just don’t agree with the direction the writers took him in for Hopes because it feels too strongly like a 180 to the Claude I know in Houses. it doesn’t mean I think 100 percent of the writing itself is bad (it’s not, though some of it really is questionable). while I’d like to see a darker side of him, I don’t mean like... a whole lotta killing, or unnecessary killing to boot.

the problems he’s dealing with regarding Faerghus could’ve been solved very very easily though with a simple “hey can we meet up somewhere safe” letter to Dimitri so they could talk through it, seeing as Claude literally stampedes through Faerghus, weapons in hand, to reach Dimitri, to... ...talk??? I mean BRUH lmao WHAT.

like yeah I like to make my dmcl jokes about it because he acts obsessed with Dimitri sometimes but also bruh, just send a letter instead of charging through his country and killing his soldiers first. might have had a better result rather than Dimitri not wanting anything to do with you now that you’ve been murdering his people just to talk to him about the Church and your plans.

he says he doesn’t wanna take Faerghus down, but he still attacks instead of just... trying diplomacy. he admits he doesn’t know what’s going on in Dimitri’s head, so like... why... not just... make the attempt with a letter and see what happens??? my guy???

and also deciding to declare war on all of Fodlan despite NOT having talked to Dimitri yet (who was literally waiting for him to talk to him originally after the first attack on Faerghus. Claude had to turn back and leave bc of TWS but ffs Dimitri was still ready to talk to him even after ALL THAT) was a really dumb thing to do.

when it comes to the side of him that’s less trusting and more combative, I get that in the writing’s sense. I just don’t like what he’s doing, and he’s still guilty of aggression. no amount of “it’s for a better cause” is a good excuse to me, but less so when it’s just not part of who he is. I’ve seen the argument that Claude just came to the decision that he had to use the war and kill some people and yadda yadda, but it still doesn’t excuse anything regarding Faerghus. he could have come to that conclusion with Randolph’s army (as the Empire was the aggressor against Leicester to begin with), but there was no good reasoning whatsoever with Faerghus if Claude was still written with his core beliefs and values in mind. he could have sent a letter and asked to meet with Dimitri because if he never wanted to take any lives and only did it out of necessity, there was absolutely zero reason to attack Faerghus in the first place.

and I shit you not, it got to the point where in SB’s secret interlude chapter (the Arval chapter), Dimitri said he would stop running from Claude if Claude would just leave him be. CLAUDE THEN HAD THE AUDACITY TO BE LIKE YOU GOT YOURSELF INTO THIS SITUATION LIKE??? I’M HOWLIN MY DUDES IM HOWLIN i ain’t never wanted to punch this beautiful man’s beautiful face so much in my life

jimmy von riegan please return claude von riegan to us

[lewlthea]

The Actual Thing Going On With Edelgard Von Hresvelg.

 Spoilers: It’s not fascism, nor racism (at least not in the way people think). Also, actual spoilers for the game.

If there has been a controversial character in Fire Emblem Three Houses, it’s Edelgard Von Hresvelg, one of the game’s main three lords, the house leader of the Black Eagles, the princess and sole heir of the Adrestian Empire, and an antagonist in every single route but hers. She has been a polarizing figure within the community: Some people think she’s an irredeemable monster, others think she’s a misunderstood leader. When it comes to Edelgard, theres hardly a grey opinion towards her; She’s either black or white. Today, I wanna talk about Edelgard’s actions towards the 4 routes, what they actually portray, and how and why the entire discourse towards her was caused deliberately by Intelligent System’s incredible mishandling and mistreatment of the character.

I remember Nintendo’s 2018 E3 conference quite well. I was at with a group of friends, watching at one of them’s house because he had a bigger TV. I remember making jokes about how “there was going to be a new Fire Emblem” because loving Fire Emblem when Intelligent Systems is Like That is a living nightmare.

And then this happens.

Words could not express the joy I felt when the trailer was over. It wasn’t just a new Fire Emblem game: We were going to have another lady lord, and an axe-wielding one at that - something the fanbase had been desperately craving since the recent surge in Hector’s popularity - and for once, it was like when I first found out that there would be a new female character in Shadows Of Valentia with Faye, and it was the tipping point for me to finally buy a Nintendo Switch.

Of course, just like Faye, things weren’t that simple.

Because some months before E3 2019, which promised to reveal more info on Fire Emblem 3 Houses, Reddit exploded. All because of someone who goes by the username Thanibomb, who claimed to have leaked info on the game, saying a lot of information about all the characters, some of them very questionable (With things such as Lysithea would die due to her crest complications, and it would cause the major 5-year war, and other things like Claude being the one who shot Dimitri’s eye off), while other info being oddly specific. A part of it that made me particularly chuckle was when such user said that Dimitri would have lost an eye, and would cover it with an eyepatch. I found it so silly and, along with some friends, claimed it to be fake and carried on.

And then E3 2019 happened.

And Dimitri had an eyepatch. 

And still, even after Thanibomb, things remained optimistic. All lords looked nice, they seemed to have their own ideals, their own paths, and no fights were breaking out within the fanbase yet. But then early copies were sent to reviewers. And then 4chan got a hold of one of those. And then the main leaks started. And by the time the game got released, it was too late. The amount of hate comments towards the character was so overwhelming; some calling Edelgard a fascist, others claiming that she was racist, others even saying that she gives racist remarks towards Claude ingame (a blatant lie). A personal favorite comment of mine was how Hubert and Edelgard looked like the perfect alt-right couple. 

(Should I remark that these kinds of comments stopped as soon as they found out that Hubert could A-support Ferdinand, and most of them moved on to fetishize the relationship between the two of them instead. Ironically, before that happened people despised Hubert in general solely because of his unusual appearance and shady behavior, but that was soon seen as ‘nuanced’ the moment he could be paired off with another man.)

And so, a fight between the fanbase begun: (Mostly) Blue Lion fans bashing Edelgard’s character, Black Eagle fans defending her vehemently, and Golden Deer fans between either on any of those sides or just making memes for Joe Zieja’s rally campaign for the GD. Mostly the latter. But that’s beside the point.

A (Kinda) Brief Summary of Edelgard’s Presence In Azure Moon, Verdant Wind, And Silver Snow.

Throughout the game’s second part, unless you’re playing the Crimson Flower Route, Edelgard will always be an antagonist who cannot be spared, and she cannot survive unless it’s in her own route. However, the way she is percieved changes depending on each route you are making, with each route leaving small fragments depicting Edelgard’s past and shaping her character in full scale. 

In Verdant Wind/Silver Snow, Edelgard isn’t the final boss. She is one of the bosses before the big fight. (Nemesis in Claude’s case, Rhea in Seteth’s). She’s one of the obstacles, but not the main one, therefore there is not much insight on her character; However, there is still one element present in those routes that is curiously omitted from Azure Moon that is the reason why she doesn’t really have too much focus, that being Hubert’s final letter.

In both routes, Hubert seems to highly respect Seteth/Claude’s prowess in the war and their cunning mind. (Especially Claude; Throughout both Verdant Wind and Crimson Flower, he commends Claude’s tactics and strategies multiple times). In the letter, he gives the location of where Rhea is confined and asks them to eliminate Those Who Slither in the Dark, the game’s true villains and the ones behind most, if not all the game’s tragic events. Even more curiously, though, is the fact that the letter does exist on the Crimson Flower route, and can be seen briefly on Hubert’s B support with Ferdinand, being the reason of their argument throughout the conversation. Not a single mention of the letter exists in the Azure Moon Route. (Of course it would not make sense for it to exist gameplay-wise due to the player having already murdered Arundel/Thales earlier in the game but. It’s still something to be accounted for).

Speaking of Azure Moon, this is a much more trickier route to talk about. Not only due to the fact that Edelgard is this route’s final boss, but also because all of the things we discover about Edelgard within it are never mentioned in any other route, only brief mentions about the time she spent in the Kingdom; nothing more. 

In here, her time spent on the Kingdom is expanded: Both Edelgard, her mom Patricia and Arundel were sent off to Faerghus due to exile, with Patricia being set off to marry King Lambert. There, she meets Dimitri, and they both become fast friends. By the time she has to leave, Dimitri gifts her with a dagger (Which, in Faeghus, are important gifts that mean ‘to cut a path towards a better future’), and she returns to Adrestia. Some time after she leaves the Tragedy of Duscurr happens, caused by Those Who Slither in the Dark. However, due to a misunderstanding caused by eavesdropping on a conversation between Thales and the Flame Emperor, Dimitri mistakenly believes that the Flame Emperor was behind it all, and once the Flame Emperor’s identity is finally revealed to be Edelgard, she is instantly demonized and called a ‘witch’, even though she openly declares how she had nothing to do with it. This goes on until Rodrigue’s death and Cornelia’s reveal that Patricia was the one behind the Duscurr Tragedy so she could return to the Empire and “reunite with her daughter”. (We never find out about what happened to her and she is not mentioned during the Crimson Flower). Dimitri tries to talk Edelgard off their final confrontation, but Edelgard insists that it is far too late for her to back down for their ideals are far too different, and she refuses to live in a world where the Church of Seiros exists. Dimitri then hands back her dagger (Which she accidentally dropped before the timeskip), and they both retreat to prepare for the final battle.

This route’s final boss is an Edelgard who was absorbed direct power from Those Who Slither in the Dark, and adquires a grotesque, corrupted form. No other character in the canon possess such a thing, and only Edelgard can assume such form. Once she is defeated, Dimitri tries once again to spare her, only for Edelgard to stab him with the dagger, making Dimitri realize that she would never give up on her dream, and finally kills her.

An Even More Brief Explanation of What Does All of This Means.

Okay, all of that info was nice, fun, good, yadda yadda. What does this mean and why was it needed.

Well, for starters, let’s ask ourselves a question: After reading the summary, can you say that you know what drives her to seek out the destruction of the church?

What is her reasoning behind the unification of Fodlan?

Do we get anything out of her other than “Scary dictator” or “An obstacle that had to be sadly removed” or “Under better circumstances... We could’ve been Allies (tm)”?

We don’t. Because Intelligent Systems did not bother to show Edelgard’s motivations, despite her being the villain in almost all the routes.

During Verdant Wind and Silver Snow, Edelgard herself does not matter: she’s solely important because she is threatening the church, she is your scary big bad dictator that you have to beat in order to rescue Rhea, only to find out that in reality she was just a stepping stone to the real villains, Those Who Slither in the Dark. (In game it is said that Hubert came up with this name. In my humble opinion Hubert can go fuck himself because this is the shittiest name I have ever seen and I am tired of having to type this five word long thing every paragraph or so). As soon as you read the letter, suddenly Edelgard, the Empire, and all the questions you had as to why she Did It dissappear because now you have another objective, another goal. 

This is even more offensive during Azure Moon because she is the focus, the final boss, but it doesn’t matter why she did all of this nor what her ideals actually are despite them being the reason why she cannot be spared. The game would rather focus on getting reactions out of the player when the intimidating big meanie does something that makes Dimitri go angry than actually focusing on the clashing of Dimitri and Edelgard’s ideals, why they cannot go back to what it once was, what happened to her to change this way, why did ‘El’ actually die. All you have is a dictator in red which does things for no reason other than “I will destroy the Church and unify Fodlan so I can govern over all of it”. Nothing more, nothing less.

....Of course, you do realize that I have avoided to talk about a certain thing.

So, About That Crimson Flower Route...

If there is a way to truly understand a villain, one must walk on such person’s footsteps. Most people criticizing Edelgard were the ones who hadn’t played her route yet, or had only played Azure Moon and was led to believe that all of Edelgard’s actions are unwarranted or pure nonsense. 

There is a reason why people sing their tune differently as soon as they experience the Crimson Flower.

For starters, to be able to fight for Edelgard, you have to first have her support up to C+, go with her to Enbarr once she asks of you, and then defend her from Rhea at the Holy Tomb. The reasoning behind that is so that you fully understand what Edelgard has gone through and the reason why she cannot agree with the existence of the Church.

The Azure Moon route tells you of Edelgard before she returned to the Empire.

It never tells you what caused her to change after she went back.

Edelgard was part of the crest experimentations caused by Those Who Slither in the Dark, alongside all her siblings. Her father, the emperor, was unable to do anything about it, as the real people in control of the Empire were Arundel/Thales and Duke Aegir. Being the sole survivor of such things to return to society and see how everything is defined by whether you have a crest or not and finding out that the Church, who instead of breaking down such system to favor equality would rather turn the creatures who run it into figures to be worshipped is. Something.

There’s another reason for Edelgard’s sudden betrayal, a more sinister one, and why she feels like everything needs to be done in a quick pace. In her C+ you find out she has a second crest, The Crest of Flames, just like the player. People who bear two crests have a shortened lifespam, however.

When Edelgard declares war against the Church, and to unite Fódlan, it’s not solely because ‘Church bad’: She declares war against the unfair crest system, against the hypocrisy of Rhea’s dragon entourage, and of course, to destroy Those Who Slither in the Dark later on the road.

  However.

Just because Edelgard’s behavior is justified, does not mean she is 100% in the right. She herself admits that the path she follows is one drenched in blood. But there are several times in the game that makes you stop and think for a second that she can still make bad decisions, and that sometimes her decisions might have horrible consequences. One of them is for example to never take away Brigid’s status as a vassal to the Empire and return it back to it’s former glory as an actual country, which shows how the entire Brigid kerfuffle is something akin to colonization. We should also point out that when she unifies Fodlan, in some endings she remains the Emperor, completely missing the point of what she fought for.

Another case that shows one of Edelgard’s biggest flaws is with the Silver Maiden incident.

Edelgard had just conquered Arianrhod, the Silver Maiden, and due to murdering Cornelia, enrages Ariandel/Thales, whom causes the situation above out of a show of power. She knows it was Those Who Slither in the Dark, but she needs to give explanations fast and she can’t reveal their identity or else they would slip away and it would be impossible to locate them and destroy them. So what does she do?

She says it was Rhea who did it, actively lying to her closest allies, one of them being the Prime Minister of the Empire.

For Edelgard, the ends justifies the means, and as long as she gets the results she wants, she will do what it takes. Even by alienation. And that’s a dangerous way to go on.

...So, where do I want to go from here? Who is to blame for the hatefest Edelgard is receiving?

Intelligent Systems Kind of Didn’t Know What To Do With Edelgard.

Now hold on. That sounds a bit too harsh, don’t you think? She was the first lord shown in the E3 2018 trailer, they have placed a very big emphasis on Edelgard everywhere hell the game’s main theme is about her, why would you claim that??

Well, first and foremost, I should start by saying that Crimson Flower is the game’s shortest route, with the total of 18 chapters. From those 18 chapters, there is only one cutscene, with most of the route’s major events being shown with either the game’s basic models or still images.

For comparison, Verdant Wind has the total of 8 cutscenes, counting the final one before the timeskip, with 3 of them being unique to its route.

Azure Moon has the total of 5 cutscenes, 3 of them being unique to its route. 

Silver Snow has 4 cutscenes, having 2 unique ones to its route.

The other two main lords have several support options with people outside of their respective houses; Edelgard only has one.

Remember when I said that one of Edelgard’s main enemies are Those Who Slither in the Dark? The game never lets her deal with them personally. You never truly fight them during Crimson Flower.

In a way, the game feels as if while Edelgard is the focus, you shouldn’t side with her. It really makes it feel as if someone at Intelligent Systems just snickered and said ‘Hey wouldn’t it be cool if we could let our players side with/date our villain?’ without even considering or respecting such villain’s motivations, her ideals, and what truly makes a character unique.

In the end, all they truly cared for was if Edelgard was romanceable enough for the player, not if she made sense or was appealing as a character, whether as a villain or a savior.

And considering how the fanbase is behaving towards Edelgard, they succeeded. 

[princeanxious]

“Egg-celent” TSS- Patceit

Warnings: Aphobia, sympathetic deceit

I was requested to write this prompt with anyship, i gave it a shot xD , all errors are mine, and i hope ya’ll like it bc it’s almost 1 am for me.

Prompt: “You’re famous and I jokingly left a comment on your social media post asking if you’ll go egg my ex-partner’s house with me this weekend, and I never actually expected you to respond, let alone show up Friday night with dark sweatshirts, toilet paper rolls, and three egg cartons tucked under your arm” AU

Prior/extra info: Patceit AU where Patton is Famous(and has a youtube and uses it for good) and just moved into Dimitri’s hometown, and Dimitri is also a youtuber but a much smaller one, known for amazing stage/costume makeup artistry and the peculiar way that one side of his face is covered in freckles and the fact that his eyes have heterochromia. Patton is also really tall(6’4) and Dimitri is really short(5’2).

———

‘Hey, /PatPuffballSanders, wanna help me go egg my ex’s house this weekend? I’d bet it’d be sp-egg-tacular.’

-posted at 10:23 pm, by /BoopDiSnek

The short makeup artist hadn’t expected things to escalate this far, and well, in all honesty, he hadn’t expected anything to happen at all. Perhaps it was the fact that Patton Sanders was famous, known well for his pretty voice, sneaky puns, dad humor, and growing popularity as a voice actor.

He was a ray of sunshine, and readily used that talent on every social platform he could to make people smile, but primarily on Youtube. The tall puppy of a man had a pun of the day, animal shelter promo of the week, and a monthly charity stream where he’d invite his friends and other youtubers of all kinds to play games and skits and challenges to raise money for all sorts of causes.

The puffball has a moral streak a mile wide, and has a segment for ‘Dad Chats’ in his videos with his viewers about how they should choose go about certain issues, and how their choices and feelings would affect their decisions, among other topics. He wasn’t good at words, but he tries to be the best influence he can, and that much was evident in any of his videos.

Perhaps it was the fact that Dimitri was still heartbroken, his boyfriend dumping him a week ago for someone else after a year and a half of dating. All because he was a ‘killjoy’ for not feeling sexually attracted to the man. It wasn’t even that Dimitri didn’t want it, he just hadn’t felt any of the sort towards his ex yet and didn’t feel the need to fake an act. It hadn’t sat well with his ex-boyfriends ego, apparently, as was evident in their last fight leading towards their breakup.

The words ‘freak’ and ‘prude’ had indeed stung, but not more than ‘unlovable’ had, the sentence burned into the forefront of his thoughts as his ex exclaimed it.

And maybe Dimitri had been a little out of it, typing the sarcastic message through his angry tears.

Even when pressing the post button had sent a jolt of nervousness through him, having tagged his favorite ball of sunshine, he’d never expected a response. It was evident in the comments his followers added to his post, concerned about his full week of silence, that the question had been silly. Patton? Patton Hart Sanders? The Patton Hart Sanders, egging a house? Sure, Patton had just moved into Dimitri’s hometown, but their hometown was big enough that he’d probably never run into the voice actor anyhow. And Patton just wasn’t that kind of person.

In any case, his phone had been left on the charger as he went to make some tea, and had almost spilled it everywhere when he returned 10 minutes later. A single notification from Patton Sanders himself sat, waiting to be read.

‘Now, I don’t know about eggin’ a house, Kiddo, but you sure have got me on the ‘Egg’ of my seat, ‘fryin’ to know whats eating at you. You feeling okay, Di?’’ It was a private message, sent two minutes ago, and Dimitri was barely breathing.

Okay, so maybe Dimitri was pretty gay for Patton, it was a popular type of crush, nothing very real, and that was all. He looked up to the man, definitely. However, there was no way in heaven that Patton Sanders had privately dm’d him. He could scarcely believe it, even after triple checking that this was an official Patton Sanders account. Perhaps it was unprofessional, but Patton seemed genuinely worried and was trying to reach out, and that made Dimitri feel guilty.

“Hey Pat! Don’t worry about it, I was just joking around.” He squinted at the sentence, scrutinizing it for any particular error before sending it, Patton’s response was almost immediate.

“Something tells me you weren’t, but i’ll let it slide for now, kiddo. The question remains, are you feeling okay?”

“Honestly? No, but i will be. Aphobia sucks, though. Some dude my ex turned out to be.”

It took Patton three extra minutes to respond, a hesitance present in his response. “Oh goodness, that sounds bad.. on second thought, that egging his house idea doesn’t sound so mean after all, Di!” Dimitri snorted, gently waving off the others suggestion through another message.

Back and forth they went for another hour, talking about video ideas and plans and possible collab ideas. Perhaps Dimitri was in over his head, he’d never collabed with anyone before, but he wasn’t going to turn Patton's suggestion for a stage makeup challenge for a charity livestream down.

Eventually they both went to bed, and time moved on.

Dimitri picked himself back up and threw himself back into his videos, breaking the silence with a short explanation video followed by his regularly scheduled videos. By the time Friday rolled around, Dimitri had all but forgotten about his question to Patton. Over the course of the week, both of them had gotten closer, talking about their town and suggestions of places to go, and promises to meet up that hopefully would not become empty.

It was mid-afternoon when Dimitri, who was currently mid-edit thankfully and not mid-makeup mode, got a knock on his door. Confused, he wandered to his front door and opened it, peering through his glasses at the outside world.

Well, attempting to peer, as suddenly Dimitri is met with a blue sweater-clad chest and a happy squeal of excitement coming from the man standing at his door. It takes two seconds for Dimitri to blink upwards at the taller man and recognize him as Patton Sanders, it takes Dimitri two more minutes for his brain to catch up with Patton’s excited rambling.

And to catch up with the fact that Patton is hugging him.

He notices Patton has a few things in one arm, most notably, a couple cartons of eggs. He can’t help but crack a smile, completely flabbergasted that Patton actually thought of going through with this.

Dimitri’s thoughts are going wild, and he’s pretty sure he has a headache coming on, but instead of addressing it, he plays it cool and invites the other in and decides to make tea for the both of them.

When Patton pulls out two black sweaters, one turned inside out,along with a mask and some toilet paper, Dimitri can’t hold back his giggles. He misses the way Patton lights up at the sound, and lets Patton know that they really weren’t going to egg his ex’s house. The relief is evident in Patton’s voice, “Thank goodness! I don’t think we’d fair too well in the dark!”

Dimitri can’t help but agree, adjusting his glasses. No, not even his contacts could save him for the depth perception nightmare that was aiming in the dark, plus, they’d easily get caught. Absently, Dimitri moves to hand the inside out sweater back, flipping it right side out now that the dark interior wasn’t needed, only to pause. His eyes caught on the graphic print on the front of the sweater, adjusting it in his hands so he could see it fully. He paused again, squinting at the familiar design.

It held a cute albino snake curled around a small round ornament, blepping contently with the words ‘It cold’ next to her. Under the graphic, the name of the snake was presented in pretty cursive lettering, ‘Nova.’

“Pat.. is this?? My winter merch??” Dimitri could barely hold back his disbelief, glancing up at a flustered Patton. Patton owned the merch of his pet albino python, Nova, and goodness gracious Dimitri needed to sit down.

“In my defence!! Nova is cute!! And she's even cuter when happily curled around you!” Patton huffed, arms crossed as he blushed, though unashamed at his remark. Dimitri’s mind went a hundred different ways at that, before just putting his face in his hands and sighing.

After calming down a bit, he had an idea, and glanced up at Patton who blinked at him nervously, afraid he’d messed up somehow.

“Wanna hold her?” Patton’s bright grin was worth the brief stuttering of Dimitri’s thoughts.

With permission, a picture was taken of Patton with Nova wrapped around his shoulders, captioned ‘Nova found her #1 fan, it seems!’ and posted on both of their social accounts.

And if the media went a little shipping crazy at the two’s meeting, that was fine by them.

(The End?)

I might draw somethink for this but idk yet.)

[yukiwrites]

Their Joyous Marriage

Thank you so much for the support again, @reirevan! I’m weak for marriages and now it’s DIMILETH’s turn!!

Summary: Precisely because Dimitri and Byleth held the highest positions possible for anyone to hold in Fódlan, their marriage was one that would need months of careful planning. Ah, but to finally be able to swear their love in front fo the world... anything would be worth it.

Commission info HERE and HERE!

_______________________________

Even before they returned to Fhirdiad, Dimitri and Byleth already considered themselves a married couple by the eyes of the goddess. They had exchanged their vows at the Goddess Tower and consummated their wedding, but that was all in between themselves. Their own private wedding, so to speak.

In reality, they would still need to go through many a preparation before they could swear their love in front of the world.

First and foremost, Byleth could not go to the capital of the United Holy Kingdom of Faerghus with her beloved just yet -- as newly appointed Archbishop, she had certain duties to attend to at Garreg Mach monastery, just as Dimitri had his duties as King back in Fhirdiad.

Holding their ring hands before parting ways, they promised to meet again back at Byleth's new home: Fhirdiad. She would do everything she could to transfer all of the routes of information of the Church to the capital, where she was going to make permanent residence of. She was the new Archbishop, but that did not mean that she had to live in Garreg Mach to fulfill her duties.

She was going to be Queen of the new Unified Fódlan as well, after all. Accumulating both positions required her to be as close to the capital as possible -- more precisely, right beside her King, at the Royal Castle.

... Of course, those were all the official responses she sent to the allies of the Church throughout Fódlan. Byleth's true, deepest desire was to be kept beside her husband at all times.

Such tall amount of work would surely take a few months to complete -- to meet with the highest-ranking representatives of the Church around the continent not only to introduce herself but to discuss the best routes they would need to take to deliver information; to hear the plea of the people and spread the doctrine of the goddess she knew of, the Sothis Byleth had housed for the largest part of her life... She was about to reform the entirety of what it meant to be a follower of the goddess, basically.

However, she would leave that bold approach to the faith for when she would be properly installed at Fhirdiad -- for now, she only needed to tackle the most pressing matters required of those in a transition of power.

Besides, there was a detail that kept nudging the back of her mind: As Archbishop of the Church of Seiros, Byleth quite literally outranked every kind of priest that existed in their faith. Who would be able to bless her and Dimitri's unions in the name of the goddess if Byleth herself held the highest position?

Of course, Rhea would be the most obvious choice as the previous Archbishop herself, but due to the continuous mistreatment she went through for five years after the fall of Garreg Mach monastery, she was barely able to give her position away before retiring to a deep slumber at the Holy Mausoleum.

Briefly before falling asleep, Rhea had finally revealed to Byleth the truth of her birth, her origin and the reason why she had housed the consciousness of the goddess inside of her. Finally understanding herself for the first time in her life, this new knowledge only spurred Byleth further into longing to be near her husband for as long as time allowed her to.

Which spiraled back into the question of who could officiate her wedding with the Savior King -- two public and named as 'legendary' figures by the folk such as themselves couldn't be united by a simple priest, not even if said priest were the one officially residing at the capital specifically for such occasions.

Seteth wouldn't do either. Although the right-hand man of the previous Archbishop, he was never seen presiding masses outside Garreg Mach, not to mention officiating marriages.

Byleth sighed, exasperated, as she went through a pile of documents. Resting her head on her fist, she peeked under each sheet of paper to see what it was about; sighing each time she did so.

Meeting, meeting, meeting, public speech, class on how to preside a Mass, public speech, meeting with the eastern church, meeting, visiting one, two, three, seventeen villages-

"Wait a moment." She blinked as she finally focused on what was truly written on the papers. "The eastern church... What does this say, again?" She mumbled to herself as she scrambled through the documents to find the letter from the newly appointed Regent of the Leicester region, Lorenz Hellman Gloucester, as he liked to call himself at the beginning of each letter. He asked for Byleth's presence in this endeavor of uniting the Church itself under one same banner much like before, so it could follow the example of the continent.

Well, that was what Byleth had planned from the beginning, but what if... A sly smile started to creep on her lips, making her regain the vigor she had lost as she dove into the endless pile of documents.

One priest or Bishop wouldn't do to officiate the Archbishop's marriage with the Savior King, but what if there were two Bishops from two previously warring factions of the same church?

Byleth was going to have a long and strenuous talk with the representatives of the Eastern and Western Church both, so they could bless her marriage! That would not only be appropriate in terms of rank, but also in terms of unification -- if Byleth managed to bring two known enemies together under the same roof to once again unite their faith in the same goddess, she would have given a full stride towards the direction she wanted the Church to go from now on.

A new glint shining in her eyes, Byleth dunked the tip of her feather pen in ink, bracing herself to write letters all day long.

The first one was to her husband, of course. To let him on her plans for their union as well as to ask him to check what the situation was around the Western Church beside the Rowe territory. In more than a few occasions, Byleth had exchanged blows with them under Rhea's orders, so approaching them with nothing to give but her words would prove difficult.

The second and third ones were for Lorenz and the Eastern Church's Bishop, Deacon, respectively. She also wrote a check list of things she wanted the Knights of Seiros posted at House Edmund's territory to check out once they went out in patrol. She would also send a similar list to the ones posted in Arianrhod so they could keep an eye on the Western Church's movements.

There was a steep, uphill road ahead before she could finally climb up to be married to her beloved, but by Sothis she was going to prevail. She WAS going to marry Dimitri by the end of the year or her name wasn't Byleth Eisner Blaiddyd!

... Well, it wasn't yet, but it was going to be!

Dimitri had to cover his face with both hands to hide his blushing cheeks the moment he read the end of his beloved's letter. On a whim, she had signed it as 'Byleth Eisner Blaiddyd', almost literally killing him instantly. "Oh, but I cannot wait to see you again, my light." He whispered to his hands as he tried to regain his breathing.

He peeked at the letter once again, heat immediately flushing his face. He could see by her handwriting on how boldly she had started it, surely filled with determination after a long time of pondering. The first line, written with such a strong penmanship the ink leaked and stained a bit read as 'My Lion', killing him instantly once again.

"I might frame this," he contemplated as he bonked his head on his desk, a giddy feeling bubbling in his chest. He could barely bear to read it without wanting to giggle like a schoolgirl, his entire body heating in embarrassment and fondness at the same time. Slowly did he reach for the letter to reread it one more time, clutching his chest with his free hand. "No, this is for my eyes only." He pressed his lips into a thin line as he opened the locked drawer of his desk. He would keep it there, close to him whenever he was hard at work.

It would help him cope with her absence, alongside with the ring he proudly wore on his finger. His eyes falling to it, the King smiled fondly, his cheeks still flushed with pink. Dimitri raised his hand to his lips, kissing the ring lovingly. "Separated as we may be, we do this so we can stay together until the end."

Byleth herself could barely be found at the monastery -- she took it upon herself to travel to the most distinct churches of the faith as well as to gather information regarding the opposing factions. Knowing that approaching the Western Church without hearing back from her husband would be a tad too risky, Byleth tackled the Eastern Church first.

Deacon, the Bishop of the Eastern Church, was a meek and reasonable man. His predecessor had died during the war with the Empire, though not because of it, since they couldn't be further from the frontlines. Whooping cough or some other ailment.

The previous Bishop had taken the Eastern Church's mistrust on the Central Church to the grave, apparently, since the negotiations went down so smoothly it shocked Byleth and the Knights she had brought from Garreg Mach. The ones posted at Edmund territory weren't nearly as surprised since they had written as much in their reports, but it was still hard to believe without witnessing it firsthand.

However, despite that tremendous win -- Deacon had agreed to bless Dimitri and Byleth's marriage alongside Abbot, the Western Bishop -- the real fight was still to begin: to convince Abbot himself to go to the ceremony.

Or so Byleth thought. The moment she received word back from Dimitri and the Knights at Arianrhod, she realized that the situation might be easier to tackle than she initially thought.

Of course, the deeply rooted mistrust that described the Central and the Western churches' relationship couldn't be so easily erased, but Abbot, the Bishop appointed to lead the Western Church since the incident back in 1180, had actually been working towards mending that. After the fall of Garreg Mach at the start of 1181 he had put a stop to those plans simply so they could survive through the war, but once Byleth started to make a name for herself inside the Central church after they freed Faerghus from the Empire's hold, Abbot had decided to once again merge the Western Church with the Central one.

Surprisingly good news, really! Even if it took a longer while to convince their respective followers, to have the support of their leaders was a surefire way to fostering understanding between them.

And great timing, as well: Byleth had planned all of her voyages with the goal of having the Western Church be her last stop before moving to Fhirdiad permanently. She had already informed her friends of the former Alliance of her marriage so they would be prepared to leave a month open once they arranged everything. She also wrote a few advance letters to the ones she couldn't visit -- Bernadetta, Ferdinand, Dorothea, Caspar... While her business didn't take her to the former Empire region, Byleth still wanted her companions to be there during the most important moment of her and Dimitri's shared life.

Overjoyed but exhausted to the point of being burned out, Byleth returned to her temporary quarters in Arianrhod to rest, her heavy body contrasting with her light soul and heart. She was just one step closer to being with Dimitri again after five long months or running here and there.

"Just one more step," she mumbled as she finally tucked herself in her bed -- a lonely, too big of a bed. "Then we can be together forever," she sighed longingly, her eyes so heavy she barely made an effort to fall asleep.

Unbeknownst to her, Dimitri had stolen away from the capital in a blind eagerness to finally meet his wife again -- according to Dedue, his known accomplice in letting the King escape from his duties, Dimitri had been so antsy as of late he was barely useful in whatever he did.

If only Byleth had stayed awake for another hour, she could have met Dimitri in the flesh, but alas, the moment his exhausted horse arrived at the gates of the fortress, the Archbishop had already given in to fatigue.

"Your Majesty! If you'd given word of your arrival, we would've prepared your quarters-" A knight from House Rowe scrambled to find the words to direct to the sudden appearance of his King, but Dimitri could barely hear him.

"No matter, good soldier. Just direct me to where the Archbishop is- where the future Queen is located." He almost ran inside, knowing that Byleth would be at the noble wing of the fortress, though relying on the man to point which door he should open to finally meet his beloved.

"Future-" the man stuttered, freezing in place. "A-at once, Your Majesty! This way! B-but the Archbishop has already retired to sleep-"

"No matter, I said," Dimitri almost skipped, making the poor knight struggle to keep up. Once the proper way was pointed out, the grand smile on his face almost made it impossible to speak. "Thank you, good soldier. You are dismissed." He said softly before quietly opening the door, disappearing inside of it.

Ah, there Byleth was, wrapped under the covers... And it wasn't a dream, not this time! She was there, she was real; they finally met again!

Barely containing his excitement, Dimitri felt his eye burn with tears, faltering in his steps to the bed. He silently took off his mantle and jacket, placing them over a nearby chair. Then, he took his boots off without even sitting down, bending only when it was time to climb on the bed.

His whole body trembled to the point of worrying that the sound of his thundering heartbeat could wake his beloved up -- how tired she looked! How ragged, how exhausted- how terribly, wonderfully beautiful!

Ah, to gaze upon her features again! Dimitri sniffled with emotion, quietly slipping under the sheets as he laid by his beloved's side. He took a few strands of hair from her face, unsure of what he wanted to do -- to hug her, obviously, but he also wanted to gaze upon her throughout the night, to hear her calm breathing and finally take it in that she was there, with him.

In his un-decision, he decided to simply gaze upon her beauty until either sleep claimed him or left her, whichever came first.

Dimitri thought he would be able to stay up all night as he did many a time before, but simply being with Byleth again made his whole body relax and fall soundly asleep like he hadn't done properly in the past five months.

In the morning, Byleth groggily snuggled into her beloved's chest, her mind still far from catching up with what had happened. She simply dug her face into the familiar warmth, wrapping her arms around his solid build.

Realization hit her so fast it made her jump out of his arms. "Who is- Dimitri?!" She gasped, "what- how-"

Startled by his wife's start, Dimitri sat up almost immediately, although his face was still in the land of dreams. "Hu- Byle- my light-" he shook his head, quickly remembering what had happened. "Oh, My Light, you are finally awake!" Wasting no time, he dove into his beloved's lips, claiming them to himself like the both of them wanted for so very long.

"Mmph...!" Byleth rolled her eyes in pleasure, forgetting how many times she wished for that to happen. To taste his kiss again and be tenderly held by him- oh, what joy!

Once the fog of exhaustion lifted from her mind, she could mostly guess how her husband had found her there, but she was too busy indulging herself into his kiss to speak at that moment.

Finally reunited, the couple could at last work together in preparing for their marriage -- they sent proper invitations to their friends from in and out of Fódlan. Byleth mentioned wanting her dress to be decorated by Hilda, Dorothea and Bernadetta, remembering how good the three of them were with sewing.

It would be special to her to have her former students -- now her allies and friends -- to have an active role in the preparations. She would never have won the war by herself, after all.

Dimitri had bashfully asked for his childhood friends Sylvain, Felix and Ingrid to be his best men and woman, expecting rejection of at least a third of the party. But Duke Fraldarius had actually agreed to it, though his letter sounded rude as always.

"'Don't make me regret it', huh?" Byleth giggled as she read Felix's reply, lying on her husband's lap as they arranged this or that detail of the party inside their quarters.

Dimitri smiled bashfully, "that truly does sound like him, does it not? I am glad that deep down he is still the same boy I befriended as a child."

"Both of you changed," Byleth held two different kinds of sample of laces for the details of the tables overhead, close to Dimitri's face. "But your bond will always be unbreakable, I'm sure of it."

Dimitri chose the lace on the right, nodding as Byleth put it on the 'chosen' pile. "Indeed."

As the big day approached, so did the guests who came from farther away -- Claude arrived with Hilda and Lorenz, bringing gifts and good news from Almyra. The trio never failed to make Byleth laugh with their interactions, bringing warmth into the Queen-to-be's heart.

Bernadetta arrived a few days after, quickly latching onto Byleth's arm. "I-I came to a new place on my own, see!" She stuttered as she followed her former professor around like a duckling. "Although you're here with me as p-promised."

"Thank you for braving through this trip for me, Bernie. I hope I didn't ask too much of you in helping with a few touches on my dress."

"O-oh, don't be sorry, Professor- umm, should I still call you that? You haven't been my teacher in over six years and I'm sure I should be calling you Your Majesty? Maybe Your Holiness? I'm-"

Byleth chuckled. "Just call me Professor if that's easier for you, Bernie. Don't worry too much about it, okay? I called you here because I wanted you to witness this important moment."

Bernadetta lowered her head, blushing slightly. "O-okay. Thank you, Professor. I'll do my best to help with the dress! B-but don't blame me if looks terrible in the end, okay? It probably will..."

"Hah! It's going to be fine!"

It felt as though Byleth had spent the entire year running around from place to place -- which was actually true. She had barely had time to breathe in preparation for the big day, but she couldn't be happier. She was overcome with emotion the first time she tried on her dress, allowing a few tears to escape before sniffling them all back in. Once she saw Dimitri in his outfit testing, she was unable to keep her emotions in check, however.

He looked so radiant and full of life -- so unlike the unhinged man she had found during the war. He was still the same man inside, she knew of it, but witnessing his recovery from this up close was so breathtaking it took the strength out of her body. How she loved him!

Dimitri giggled as Byleth jumped in his arms to steal a kiss, his own emotions overflowing through his eye.

In a blur, time flowed quickly -- soon it was time to walk down the aisle: the cathedral of Fhirdiad was packed with guests from all over Fódlan, the Bishop dual awaiting at the feet of the goddess.

Byleth wore a bright white dress, its ruffles and sleeves skillfully modified by the three young ladies who already sobbed quietly at the front row of the altar. A flowy, lace cape covered her slender shoulders, matching her pair of long gloves as she slowly made her way through the red carpet.

Gustave walked her down the aisle, proud to be the one to hand his new Queen's hand to his King. Once their hands met, Dimitri and Byleth smiled ever so softly it brought tears to that old man's eyes.

"Hey, you're not crying, are you, Felix?" Sylvain whispered by his friend's side as they stood a ways behind Dimitri as his best men.

The Duke flinched, quickly turning his face away from his friend. "What? 'Course I'm not. Go get some glasses."

Ingrid stepped on both of their feet. "Do you want to ruin this ceremony?! Quiet!" She whispered gravely, about to pull their ears.

Abbot glanced at the trio before clearing his throat to start his matrimonial speech while Deacon gestured for all of the guests to be seated.

"We are here beneath the feet of the goddess to bless this couple in marriage..." Abbot started, being followed by Deacon.

"The couple that unified not only our continent, but our faith under a single banner once more."

Dimitri and Byleth exchanged glances, their fingers intertwined into a firm hand hold. "I love you," Byleth mouthed as the Bishops kept on with their speech.

His eyes blurry with tears, Dimitri squeezed his beloved's hand just a little before bringing it to his lips. "I love you, too." He mouthed back, stealing a few 'awww's from the guests who were at the front row.

"... and now, for the Solemn Promise." Abbot finished his part of the speech, raising both hands towards the sky. "Would the couple- ah, you're already holding hands, I see."

Byleth and Dimitri once again glanced at one another, their emotional smiles never leaving their faces.

Deacon extended his hands to the couple, inviting them to place their hand hold over the altar. Once they did, Deacon held them within his own. "Do, Byleth Eisner, consent to this union in taking Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd as your husband, in sickness and health, in poverty and wealth?"

"I do." She replied solemnly, never breaking eye contact with her beloved.

"Do you, Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd, consent to this union in taking Byleth Eisner as your wife, in sickness and health, in poverty and wealth?"

"I do... no matter what comes our way." He replied, his voice cracking.

Both Bishops nodded, Abbot joining the hold with his hands. The both of them spoke at the same time: "May the Goddess in Her magnanimous will strengthen your consent and fill you both with Her blessings. What the Goddess has joined together, let no man put asunder."

"Forever," Byleth's lips trembled as she lost herself in her beloved's eyes.

"Forever." Dimitri mirrored, his hands shaking slightly.

"You may kiss the Queen now, Your Majesty." Abbot and Deacon let go of the couple's hands, each patting on a royal's back.

Dimitri was sure he would be bashful in sharing a kiss with his beloved in front of so many people, but he wasn't. He was so focused in her emerald eyes, glistering with tears; in her peach colored lips just waiting to be kissed... He closed his eye as their breaths intertwined, their lips brushing slightly before they pressed against one another.

Forever. They thought in unison as they embraced for the first time as official husband and wife.

[nicolewrites]

of new intentions - v

It’s his birthday. He can have a little soft, as a treat. 

Day 5: Birthday / Reunion

Rating: G+ Genre: Romance, Friendship Characters: [Sylvain Jose Gautier & Ingrid Brandl Galatea] Words: 1,194

AO3

v. birthday

The march on Enbarr is in six days.

Everyone is nervous and on edge and there have been so many strategy meetings in the last several days that Sylvain’s head feels like it’s constantly spinning. It’s not that Byleth isn’t a brilliant strategist, because she is, but rather that he feels a bit overwhelmed at the idea that all of this could be over soon.

They’ll kill Edelgard and take the Imperial capital or she’ll kill them and the united Kingdom-Alliance rule will be short-lived.

Sylvain stays up entirely too late one night reading his latest post from back home. His father’s letter is, thankfully, entirely war-related. It’s an update on the unification of the eastern Kingdom lords and the modified troop numbers from Gautier, Fraldarius, and Charon. At the bottom of the letter is the only personal detail. It tells him to write back to his mother.

His mother’s letter, on the other hand, is all personal. She, of course, updates him on the four noble ladies that have been corresponding with his father for when the war ends. She asks after her ring, the one still tucked away in Sylvain’s pocket, and asks if he has given it to the girl he said he would yet.

Worst of all, she brings up the anniversary that this month marks. It’s been five years since Miklan stole the Lance of Ruin from Gautier territory after being disowned. It’s been five years since Rhea ordered the Blue Lions to retrieve the Relic that is leaning against the wall by his door.

Today, of course, is the worst day of the month because today is Miklan’s birthday.

Sylvain stares at blank parchment and tries to think of something to write back to his mother. He doesn’t want to ask about the other women and their fathers that he knows his father has been in talks with. He doesn’t want to talk about the Lance of Ruin and the Crest he bears that makes it his birthright.

He doesn’t want to talk about the brother who spent most of his youth trying to murder him.

He’s still staring blankly at the sheet of parchment when there’s a knock on his doorframe. He turns his head and is surprised to see Ingrid standing in his doorway. Her hair is loose around her face and she’s wearing casual, comfortable riding clothes. She’s holding a tea tray and smiling lightly at him.

“Can I come in?”

Sylvain shoots to his feet and sweeps a hand into his room. “Yeah, of course.”

She sets the tea tray down on his desk next to the letter and fiddles with the tea, adding the leaves to the water so that it will brew for the right amount of time. By the rich, floral smell of the tea, it’s probably Bergamot, his favourite.

“You could have brought Chamomile,” he says, stepping next to her and watching her slim fingers fiddle with one of the teacups.

She shrugs. “You like Bergamot better.”

“You prefer Chamomile and it is already super late. The decaffeinated tea probably would have been a good call.”

Ingrid yawns and quickly covers her mouth. “I don’t need another reason to fall asleep. Besides, Mercedes made lavender tea cakes today which are divine with Bergamot.” She points out the slightly purple-tinted cakes on the tray next to the teapot.

Sylvain chuckles lightly. “Alright, fair enough. But, if we both sleep through the council meeting tomorrow morning because we stayed up too late, it’s on you.”

Ingrid laughs and checks the tea: it’s almost done, but not quite. Her gaze skims over his room, noting the clothes practically spilling out of his trunk and the weapon resting by his door. She doesn’t comment on it and it’s because he knows that she keeps Lúin in a similar place in her own room.

Then her gaze lands on his unwritten letter. She notes the address on it and turns to glance at him. “Writing home?”

He sighs and steps around her to sweep the blank letter into a drawer on his desk. “Trying to avoid it.”

When he looks back at her, Ingrid bites her lip and he knows she’s connected some of the dots herself. “Your father is after you about it too?”

Sylvain rubs at his temple. “He’s much more gung-ho about it than my mother, for sure. My mom just wants to talk about other things.” He’s aware of the bitterness that creeps into his tone, but he doesn’t have the energy this late at night to try and hide it.

Realization flickers on Ingrid’s face and she takes his hand, squeezing it lightly. “Verdant Rain Moon.”

Sylvain presses his lips together and gently pulls his hand away. He reaches around her for the now-steeped tea and pours two small cups. He picks up one and holds it out to Ingrid until she takes it and then he takes the other cup for himself. He leaves her the desk chair and goes to sit on his bed. To his surprise, she follows him and sits next to him.

“How are you feeling?” she asks quietly.

Sylvain considers the emotions swirling in his chest. “Frustrated?” he mumbled, picking one at random. “It’s like she still can’t see that I don’t want to think about him. That I would be happy to go the rest of my life without thinking about him.”

Ingrid’s hand touches his wrist gently. “She doesn’t know everything that happened, does she? Didn’t your father keep most of it from her?”

“Yeah,” he mutters, staring down into his tea.

“Then you can’t blame her,” Ingrid points out. “But,” she continues, “you don’t have to talk about him. Talk about Felix or Dimitri or what the sunset looked like over the monastery on patrol yesterday.”

He looks at her. She’s smiling at him and he wants to kiss her. He wants to drop his teacup–hot tea be damned–and pull her against him and never let her go. He hasn’t earned that right yet. He never sent a letter to her father and the ring’s in his pocket and they’re so close to the end of this war.

“I could talk about you,” he says instead.

Ingrid’s eyes widen and she blinks. “Um, yeah, I guess you could.” She stumbles over the words a little bit and Sylvain feels the tiniest bit smug that he made her stumble.

He turns the palm of the hand not holding his teacup up on his leg and his fingers extend. Ingrid’s hand falls into his without a second thought and he squeezes her hand. Their hands are both rough with callouses from riding and flying and wielding tools of war, but her fingers are slender and her skin is soft too.

I love you bubbles up in his chest, but he presses it back. “Thanks, Ing,” he says instead.

She smiles at him and gently retracts her hand so that she can take a sip of her tea. Sylvain copies her and they smile at each other over floral decorated china.

-

They both sleep through the council meeting the next morning.