#lorenz get his ass..

[davecumstaine]

🤬

[roraruu]

New OCOM chapter!

[ms-scarletwings]

Endearing through the Alien Lens: A Clue About the Primitive Irken?

I love literary xenobiology. I love it a whole lot, in fact. There’s a paradoxical line I dance across, between criticizing intelligent fictional aliens for their likeness to our species, and criticizing them for their unlikeness. It’s a pretentious and laughable dance between “Come on, the sky’s the limit, there’s no real reason for a bucket of different extraterrestrial races to just all be more flavors of quirky humanoids! Boring, show me something actually alien!!” and the yearn for the use of alien races as a funhouse mirror of mankind’s own evolution. I think the way Irkens nonchalantly dwell somewhere on that subjective tightrope is a good part of why I can’t seem to stop thinking about them.

They are inspired and yet creatively original. They are truly alien, and yet, they can still play foil to the bottomlessly decadent humanity that Vasquez’s Earth has set the stage for.

Before, in the very first brain dump I let loose about them, I noted a few of their parallels to the worst in Homo sapiens and the insects they resemble. This time, something is chewing on me that i haven’t seen another put into perspective. A something that seems contradictory to our collective view of the heartless, sexless, atomized conquerors that all of the cosmos will fear:

They… have parental instincts.

I didn’t necessarily say drives or wants; however, they undeniably havewhat seems to be an actual, instinctual “cuteness response”. Like us, like social pack animals which invest a great deal of resources and time into their young. Given that the closest thing that 100% of smeets born on the home world get to call a parental figure is a literal cold, unfeeling, automated machine, this seems kind of weird, doesn’t it? They’re not even born like mammals or nested like birds, they’re mass produced, like hived wasps or ants, miles beneath their actual society and out of the business of the adults. So, what the heck with them being written to be humanized with this baseless, arbitrary trait?

But, ah ah ah, nitpicker Scarlet, it’s not baseless. It’s only ✨vestigial✨

Y’all could probably make a good guess to what the cuteness response is and why it exists in Homo sapiens, but to sum up- it’s the phenomenon of when we see something we find “cute” and it makes us react to it in a protective, nurturing fashion- or also want to bite/squeeze things, weirdly, if it’s just too damn cute. Well, what do humans find cute? Things that resemble human infants, basically. It’s a biological reflex that makes us want to defend and provide care for our kind’s absurdly dependent and slow-developing young, rather than abandon them in the shrubbery like they’re just screamy, food-leeching paperweights.

“Pff, really? Well I must be special cause I don’t even LIKE babies. I think babies are icky gross, not cute! So, genetic instinct my ass!”

I hear you, sure, but what about… harp seals? Or koalas, or pandas and puppies and fawns and kittens? Or funny little cartoon blorbos? At bare minimum you’d have to be an alien yourself to feel nothing looking at photos of young hedgehogs

See, the fact that a lot of us may often find baby animals a great amount more endearing than even humans’ is not even in conflict with this understanding of cuteness.

The concept of the “baby schema” was formally proposed in 1943 by Konrad Lorenz, an Austrian ethologist. Fun fact is he was also the same researcher who originally observed and described imprinting behaviors, as seen in newly hatched waterfowl. Point is that his “Kindchenschema” idea grouped together a handful of infantile traits that make fireworks go off in the parts of your brain that wants to keep things alive and baby-talk to them. Included on the list were features like proportionally large heads, big eyes, round faces, short noses, etc. despite the name, the baby schema’s effect is something applied not to just actual babies, but children generally, and even in our reactions to non-human animals.

It’s the hypothesis behind both why we’ve jacked up the skulls of so many small dog breeds in the name of aesthetics and why we generally find the portraits on the left side of this image more appealing to look at than the ones on the right.

The consistency of these features across many species may also give some hint that they experience a similar phenonemon, especially given that these are traits shared among bird or mammalian offspring which require significant attention and protection to survive. And, it may also explain why this image likewise gives me a huge dose of that sweet, sweet response.

Awww, look at that lil’ mans! Look at his teeny noodle arms!! I just wanna pinch him like a marshmallow!

YOU are not immune to cuteness psychology, and neither are the proud Irken warriors. I’m going to cite Zim’s proclivity to what I can only describe as paternal bonding as a demonstration of this response, but before you go reminding me about his pak defects, it’s far from the only evidence that this is a natural Irken trait.

Check out little Timmy (importantly, the surrounding response to him), a hilariously out of place youngster who appeared briefly in the trial transcript for the sole purpose of a dark gag and to get us some lore revealed.

Take further note of the complimentary nature of smeets themselves.

Suddenly finding themselves alive, fresh Irken babies too, like the hatched gosling, begin to immediately seek an emotional attachment with the first animate thing they see. While mobile and fast learners, smeets are far from being able to truly fend for themselves. They’re tiny and naive and they need lots of mental enrichment/teaching. They also play and form something akin to friendships, much like human children. In the bygone era before Irkens were so reliant on Paks and all of the advanced technology of the modern empire, smeets would have been exceedingly vulnerable. All signs point to a phase in Irk’s natural history where they were once nurtured after by adults of their own kind, and commonly bonded with their caretakers. This could mean compact family units, or maybe even a communal raising situation, akin to penguin crèches (Personally I like to headcanon that the tallests/queens were traditionally the only breeding members of the population but that’s neither here or now). Either sense, the evolutionary remnants of a parental creature are still around.

Taking all that to note, instead of perceiving Zim as the bizarre outlier to the Irken condition when it comes to having this soft spot, I instead see him as an opportunity to see natural behaviors in action without the suppression of his militarized society and its distractions. Even someone as warped and selfish as he can be is still very, very full of love to give that he doesn’t even understand enough language to describe. He pretty clearly shows he has no cultural understanding or reference of cuteness, and still, he’s not so different in this “weakness” than the very humans he manipulated into fawning over Ultra Peepi. It just took an example his own sensibilities could relate to instead of an unfamiliar, repulsive alien rodent.

And when he’s given the rare circumstance to show that potential, well-

*(With the rough shape/size down, no nose, and huge, bug-like eyes, Li’l Meat man may actually be a great approximation of the key “smeet schema” features. More importantly, it was made to specifically resemble Zim himself)

- I feel that’s downright adorable.

[fireemblems24]

Golden Wildfire Ch 11

On we go to ch 11. Things are . . . uh . . . interesting.

MAIN STORY

So if you didn't see ch 10, I failed to recruit Byleth. I retried the level a few time, but honestly I just want to finish this game so I didn't bother.

Plus, the reason I failed was that Claude just sat there instead of moving forward on the escort mission, which got really frustrating, and honestly I didn't want to bother.

Ugh, I don't want to fight the Kingdom.

So those Houses that wanted to defect to the Kingdom didn't because Claude's battle was that bloody in that fire map.

Poor Dimitri and co seems like he's just betting bullied for no real reason by two imperialistic maniacs.

I love how Arval is getting snooty over Shez getting credit for their tactics lamo.

Man, this dialogue is dragging.

So Nadar is going to cause diplomatic chaos by utilizing the Almyran army without getting real permission.

Wait, Claude riled up Sreng? So much for "ending racism" lamo. Wasn't having two cultures not be prejudice against each other like his MO? The writers really just threw him in the trash, hunh.

I feel so bad for Claude fans. He's really a piece of work in this.

MAP/SIDE STUFF

Everyone missing Judith has a lot more punch than Randolph. Even Monica was like "get over it" to Fleche (but nicely).

So, let me make sure I have this right. Mr. I Want to End Prejudice Between Cultures just provoked Sreng into attacking the Kingdom so Edelgard can take it over because Rhea is the reason for everything bad. Did I get that right?

Unlike SB, GW is entertaining as hell, but man is the logic here is just non-existant. And poor Claude RIP.

Like, I know I'm biased and all, but I don't see how you're supposed to be the heroes and not Dimitri here. The people just defending themselves are getting attacked on all 3 fronts for the crime of *existing.*

Not going to lie. I kinda wish Claude didn't side with you in AG either. It would've been hype to kick everyone's ass as Dimitri after getting cornered by all these land-grabbers.

GW!Claude is really just the mean girl's sidekick. 😂

If Felix and Rodrigue die in this chapter I swear to God . . . (I just remembered Rodrigue is dead in SB now 😭 - LET THIS MAN SURVIVE).

I had to fight Felix in a side mission. Lysithea said they had to "defend this place" - like, girl, you are invading.

When the challenge is "you can't dodge" but you're using Lorenz 😌👌 (FYI, he just does not take damage in this game)

SHEZ & HILDA A SUPPORT

They're talking about how Hilda exerted energy in a battle because she worried about Shez.

Hilda claims it's just self-defense bc she was cheering for Shez on the front lines and enemies were there (honestly, this is pretty boring so far)

It's the same-old Hilda claiming she's weak but that not being true.

SHEZ & CONSTANCE C SUPPORT

I know she's an Empire character, but whatever.

She wants to create new magics to restore her noble house and wants to research Shez bc of their weird magic

Lamo, Constance low-key called us dumb

Shez suggests she get her house back through military accomplishments.

Constance refuses to train right now, she wants to at night (it's her dual personality thing, right?)

CLAUDE & LYSITHEA B SUPPORT

Their first one. Claude's unhappy Lysithea charged in the last battle. But Lysithea kicked ass, so she's upset with Claude.

Claude calls her plan dumb and that he thought Lysithea was smarter than that. Lysithea still argues it ended earlier bc of her.

Lysithea doesn't back down.

Honestly, I side with her here. Claude's being patronizing. And it's rich of him not to care about all the other deaths dragging out the battle would cause and only Lysithea dying because she's *important*

CLAUDE & HOLST A SUPPORT

Oof, this one hurts. Claude accuses the church of creating all the systems to serve their own interests, because he doesn't know the truth here. That the Empire actually created most of it, and that all the church ever did was protect a genocided race from being murdered by more power-hungry humans.

It's also hysterical to hear Claude talk about wanting to improve foreign relations while instigating a war between two cultures.

Oof, Holst doesn't care about any of this. He's only worried Claude's going to send Hilda to marry a big, brown, scary foreigner. NOT a good look.

Holst says he cares more about Hilda's future than the whole Alliance. Yikes.

HILDA & HOLST A SUPPORT

They're preparing a feast.

Oh, it's nice to see Hilda's insecurities about Holst's "perfection" come up in this, bc so far she hadn't said much.

After that last support though, Holst is actually a pretty shitty leader.

Holst wants to make the feast all about Hilda instead of himself though. Hilda likes the attention.

Hilda basically had to set up her own feast lol.

HILDA & LINHARDT A SUPPORT

Hilda's cleaning, and Linhardt's honestly upset that he's lost a fellow lazy person.

Hilda claims she never pushes work on people. That, is a lie.

Linhardt is mostly worried how bad it'll look if he's the only one not working instead one of two.

All this support confirms that Linhardt is by far the superior lazy.

LORENZ & LYSITHEA A SUPPORT

Their only support.

So, not related to their support (and watch it counter it), but I find it pretty amusing how getting a leadership position faster matured Felix and Sylvain, but Lorenz is still a bit of a joke and the butt-end of every support he's in.

He's just bragging about how awesome his position and power is.

Lysithea says she's not inheriting her house. She claims it's because she doesn't like what comes with nobility, but we all know why.

She worried that the land will go to chaos without it's leaders though. Lorenz offers help (which, imo, he's actually mature here!)

Lorenz suspects she's turning it down for another reason and encourages her to rely on others to help.

RAPHAEL & LEONIE B SUPPORT

Raphael keeps snapping bows in half when he uses them. Leonie's shocked.

Leonie seems to actually make one and invites Raphael to test it while on guard duty with her.

IGNATZ & MARIANNE B SUPPORT

Marianne found his picture. He puts it down, but she likes it (it's a horse, well a pegasus, but of course)

Ignatz gets carried away talking about it, but Marianne finds it cute.

Ignatz finds Marianne loving pegasus cute. She blushes.

He wants Marianne's help, helping him paint a pegasus bc they don't like men, but if Marianne is around he can get closer and get a better painting. She's happy to help.

Honestly, this whole support is really cute.

MAIN BATTLE/STORY

It sucks having to attack the Kingdom over and over again when all they want to do is exist in peace.

Oh, joy, Nadar wants to plunder Faerghus. I can see why Fodlan is so evil for not wanting to let them do what they will.

GW really had a chance here to finally do something interesting with Almyra. It even marketed itself as a route that WOULD. But instead it's just doubled-down on Almyra being a one-note lawless place full of barbarians. At least we have Brigid and Duscur so the only brown country isn't some racist stereotype. Since it's only 1 of 3, it's not AS bad of a look.

Fuck. I don't want to kill Felix and Rodrigue. It would be one thing if the Kingdom actually provoked this, but Felix and Rodrigue haven't done anything to deserve this.

I get to recruit Ashe again. Is he miserable here too?

Ugh, I was hoping Felix and Rodrigue weren't here. It seems vastly unfair that it's only Kingdom characters who die for reel in this.

Wow. Claude's really an A-class asshole. He told Ashe to surrender because Dimitri wouldn't want him to die. Maybe don't invade for no reason then?

Is Claude also going to single Felix out as a citizen of Faerghus who deserves to live? Or does only Ashe count and not the nobles and unnamed grunts he's slaughtering because he decided to team up with the person who plans on taking over his rule? (not hate to Ashe at all, I honestly feel awful for him in this game)

Ok, so fighting Felix is just a side quest. I'd rather fail a side quest than fight Felix so, going to try to avoid having to kill him. Ugh, he's attacking the engineers. And he's damn right saying he has every right to kill the people who are invading his home.

Thank God, he just retreated.

I still love how Claude got bent out of shape over Ashe, but Lorenz alone has killed 500 citizens of Faerghus this chapter so . . .

Felix is so worried about Rodrigue. I swear the writers wanted you to feel like shit playing this route.

Oh, fuck. Just when I thought I was finished killing people for defending themselves, Daddy Gautier shows up :( He's sacrificing himself to safe Felix and Rodrigue, isn't he?

Oh, fuck. He died for real 😭

It's really hard to like these characters, making mindless chit-chat after killing Sylvain's daddy. I hope Sylvain fucks them up a new one.

I've never wanted to slap a character more than I'd love to slap Claude right now. The moron has the audacity to be surprised people are going to die while he's invading a foreign country. What a fucking stupid moron.

He's also blaming - get this right - chivalry.

I'm like. I'm speechless right now.

That's right guys. Margrave Gautier died defending his king, his country, his home, and most importantly one of his fucking best friends from an asshole invader. But it's CULTURE'S fault he died.

I'm really confused what the hell Claude thinks he's doing. Does he REALLY think killing Rhea will magically allow people to live as they please? Didn't he grow up in another country where they had princes and shit and NO Rhea?? All he's doing is making Edelgard's take over easier.

This is starting to feel like a borderline spoof. Look at us end the war by invading another nation!!! I mean???

What's his plan? Kill everyone in Faerghus - profit - "freedom" from Rhea - Edelgard takes over - no profit???

The writing in this route has gotten really fucking stupid. Like, I LIKE the idea of evil!Claude. Either a Claude who wants to take over all of Fodlan or one who's ruthless and will do anything to preserve Leicester.

But what I don't like is really fucking dumb Claude, which is what GW's devolved into.

Oh, God, now we get a flashback between father and son. Sylvain and Gautier :(

Sylvain better not be fucking recruitable in this route.

Now Sylvain's in charge 😭😭😭😭

I'm convinced someone who's a major Edelgard stan wrote the larger plot of this, but then a Dimitri stan wrote the actual dialogue 😅

We really go from one moment Claude being like - it's Rhea's fault Gautier died bc Kingdom culture bad because church bad to Sylvain being like, naw, he died defending his friends.

At the very least, I'll give Hopes credit here. At least they didn't write anyone opposing Edelgard as either evil or like they're idiots for resisting invasion, but I almost feel like they made the Kingdom especially too sympathetic which makes Edelgard look more interesting (since SB is more honest than CF) and Claude just look like a bozo. Rhea just doesn't look like anything since she's not even here.

Though, I REALLY wish Claude didn't side with us in AG. I really wish we got to see Faerghus backed into a corner and kick everyone's asses. They've very much the underdog and watching them do that would've been awesome.

Felix and Rodrigue are beating themselves up over this.

See, this is what I mean - Sylvain just said he's reserving all his hatred for the foreign invaders who take everything for no reason - I really feel like a Dimitri fan saw how everyone collectively decided to take a dump on the Kingdom in the big plot and got revenge by making everyone look like villains (or morons in Claude's case) for doing so in the writing.

xxx

[m0-rax]

KINKTOBER 2023 DAY 1: PEGGING

Pairing is Alva Lorenz x AFAB reader!

warnings: smut, pegging, reader has a v

The costume

————————————————————————

Alva Lorenz, the hermit. Once an inventor but now who knew what he was. You initially found him handsome at first glance.

Like how you met other survivors during matches, some of your first meetings were during games. One such game was where you met Alva.

The instant attraction to him and infatuation with him and his appearance was a large distraction for you.

Just his looks nearly led to you getting caught in a match because you were focused more on his pretty face than getting away.

Alva had seen the way you looked at him. He was confused at first. Then over time, match after match, he slowly accepted your affections.

He could never predict or understand the emotions of humans. Human nature was a complicated subject.

Alva simply gave up trying, believing that formulae and theories could never deduce such things in humans.

He only believed in his savior and eventually… you .

Your pursuit of him was not in vain because you had managed to form a connection with him through a lot of persistence.

In this relationship, when you both were free, the two of you would be intimate with each other. Feeling the other’s breaths and being so close you can feel the skin of each other’s bodies.

He was always fucking you senseless in bed. He usually did so you wanted to try something different the next time the two of you were having sex.

You knocked on his bedroom door, he muttered a ‘come in’ and you walked in to see him trying on his new costume for the Halloween season.

He had a deep neckline on his shirt and his makeup was done to appear cat-like. His eyes were naturally one step ahead.

They already looked cat-like. You really liked his eyes though. They were so pretty. Maybe it was just because you loved cats.

His outfit for the occasion was cat themed as well. He caught you staring and he held his staff in his right hand. He looked at you, raising a brow in confusion.

“Why are you staring at me?”

You took in the rest of his clothing. You could see his chest because of the neckline being so low. He had a high collared open jacket and cat ears on his head.

Even his staff was matching the theme because it had a cat on the top with a gem on its tail. The colors were mostly black and gold and damn did Alva look good in it.

The coat made him look taller if that was even possible. He was already tall as fuck to begin with but the ears and the extra accessories just accentuated it.

The pants made his long and thin legs look even better than normal. His ass was hugged nicely by the pants and the jacket loosely hung over it.

The whole costume was a masterpiece and you had to stop yourself from salivating like a hungry dog.

“You look…so hot in that costume.” You blatantly state, almost no shame in your words.

Alva blushed a bit and leaned his staff on the wall. He started to make his way over to you. You could hear his pilgrim pepper steppers tapping on the floor as he walked.

When he got to you, your face was flushed just from the sight of him, he bent down and kissed you.

The man was handsome, even he could admit that much. He knew the effect he had on you.

He knew you were enchanted by him. Infatuated. Not only was he pretty, he knew how to use that against you.

He licked your lips, you parted them and allowed him entrance. His yellow eyes stared down at you, taking in the sight of you as he gave you his attention.

He moved his tongue, exploring your mouth. He slurped on your own, your salivas mixing together as you moaned into the kiss.

He pulled you over to the bed, tongue still tasting yours. He broke away, a string of saliva lingering, connecting your lips.

When he pushed you down on the mattress, gazing at your form beneath him, you stopped him. You put a hand on his arm, he halted his actions.

“Wait. I want to try something different today.”

He raised a brow.

“Like what?”

You blushed a bit and he waited for you to speak your mind. What exactly was it that you wanted to try out?

“Let me peg you.”

“I’m sorry, you want to what-?” He wasn’t opposed to it, he was just caught off guard.

“Peg you.”

His own pale cheeks flushed with a reddish hue and he sighed. He got off you and sat on his bed. You were looking at him and his cat-like yellow eyes were on you.

“I don’t see why not. If you need anything, go get it. I’ll wait.” He said eventually.

A little experimentation didn’t hurt.

You kissed his cheek, careful not to smudge the makeup on him and took off to your own room. His slit pupils followed you out the door of his room.

You had something lying around in wait. Waiting for this occasion. You just had to remember where you had put it.

You checked your wardrobe and found a box sitting at the bottom. You picked it up and opened it, finding exactly what you needed.

Alva was touching up on his black makeup when you returned with…

“A dildo..?”

His hand paused, setting down the makeup brush and container. He was more nervous about the size of it. Would that thing even fit inside of him?

“Are you sure that will fit?”

“I’ll try and go as easy as I can, Alva.” Your reassurances made him feel better but not by a whole lot.

You went over to him and put aside the makeup, after putting it on his night table you straddled him and wrapped your arms around his shoulders, kissing him deeply. He returned the kiss with fervor.

You gazed into his golden eyes. The vibrant yellow hue meeting the gaze of your own eyes, slit pupils watched your every move.

You noticed the face makeup. He had his nose painted black, some whiskers were drawn on too.

He had painted his under eyes black as well and the color brought out those eyes you just loved to look at. Alva wrapped his arms around you, one going to the small of your back and pressing you into him further.

One of your hands moved to stroke his head as you continued to taste him. Your fingers danced along the tips of his ears, feeling the fur on them and his blackened hair.

The once white strands were now dark as night, probably dyed for the spooky season.

It looked ravishing on him. You pushed the hermit onto the bed so he was laying on his back.

You pulled away from the kiss, watching his chest rise and fall with quick pants.

You got off of him and slid off his colonial clompers. You took off the ruffled socks and kissed his feet.

It earned you a sharp look and a blush as you stood back up in front of the man.

Your hands ran along the curves of his ass, caressing the hermit’s skin. You could feel the shape perfectly thanks to his tight pants.

You fumbled with the garment before removing the clothing piece entirely. It left only his underwear between you and his pale colored nether region.

“Go easy on me, will you? I have a game tomorrow.” Alva’s face was beet red as he said these words.

You smiled with a nod, giving him a quick kiss as you slid off his underwear.

Your hands wandered across his pale skin, his ass was firm. His soft cock was the color of the moon. That bluish gray tone.

You had a bottle of lubricant on you that you’d brought as well, not wanting to hurt the man before you.

He watched as you used it to make your fingers slick. You prodded his hole, slowly pushing one finger into him.

Alva made a face and you looked up at him.

“Are you alright? How do you feel?”

“Strange. Very strange.”

He was still blushing crimson and you slowly started to pump your finger into him, his unsteady breaths and the strange sensation from your fingers inside of him slowly sent blood rushing to his cock.

Your slick finger moved in and out of him with ease once you’d worked the muscle lax enough.

You pushed another finger into him, generous with the lubricant so you wouldn’t rub Alva raw and hurt him.

You prodded at his insides, the pleasure was a strange feeling for him. He attempted to steady his breaths and a half choked gasp of pleasure left his lips as you found what you were looking for.

“Found it~” You said with a grin.

“That spot… what did you do?” Alva questioned, his dick stood up now as blood rushed down below.

“What did I do?” You ask it innocently as if you didn’t know what exactly you were doing.

You thrust your fingers into that particular spot, Alva quivered beneath you. A mix of shame and embarrassment on his face at the reaction to just having his hole toyed with.

You scissored the man, separating your two fingers inside of him as he writhed beneath your touch. Once you’d stretched him out enough, muscle lax enough to penetrate without too much trouble, you grabbed the dildo.

It was a large strap-on dildo, maybe eight or nine inches. You liked feeling Alva’s skin on yours so you took off your pants, leaving you in your underwear. You put on the strap-on, lining up the toy with Alva’s hole.

“Safe word?” You ask.

“Cat.” Alva responded, a little tribute to his costume.

You appreciated the association. He was a hot cat man after all. You’d be thinking about this till the end of your days.

You position yourself between his legs, holding onto his thin thighs. Alva watched you, waiting to see what you would do.

Without warning, you plunged into him. You buried the dildo all the way to the base.

Your hips met Alva’s white skin and you watched him squirm a bit. The tall man was gasping for breath.

He had never felt so full before, never had he ever. This was his first time being done in the ass, too.

You slowly pulled out and then slammed back into him, the slow pace making his body writhe beneath yours.

His hard cock was dripping with pre cum and you just took your time, teasing, slow, hard.

Alva was moaning beneath you, saying your name. Little sounds of pleasure left his lips and you loved it.

You found that sweet spot your fingers reached before and began to relentlessly pound into it.

Each thrust just abused that spot mercilessly and Alva was a quivering, moaning mess.

His legs were trembling and his body was shuddering beneath your touch, your actions, everything you were doing to him.

You bucked your hips into him at a fast pace and his broken noises of pleasure flooded your ears.

The sounds aroused you more as you watched his hands scramble for purchase on the sheets.

“Do you like that, Alva?”

You slowed your pace a bit, to give the poor man a breather.

His dick still dripped pre cum but he was probably close to climax.

”You gonna cum from getting your ass pounded?”

A little experimentation never hurt anyone but god did he want you to shut the fuck up.

“Don’t tease me!”

A hard thrust into his prostate, that sweet spot from before had a strangled moan enter your ears.

His legs were a quivering mess and streams of white shot out of his cock and onto the front of his costume.

You pegged him as he came down from his high, slowly and steadily as his body quivered.

His white skin was flushed and he was warm. His face was akin to the color of a tomato.

”How’d I do?” You ask as you carefully pull out of his hole.

It felt so empty having you take that dildo out of him.

He wasn’t going to sit in peace for the rest of the day. His ass would just tell him no.

He looked at you and then started to shed the white stained coat of his costume with a sigh.

”Very good… Now shut up.”

[glowingbadger]

Okay sexy outfit time we're DOIN IT because I COULD NOT get this out of my brain and I've learned to just carpe diem that shit

I will... Probably do a Genshin version of this too tbh... And/or like any other fandom I can justify lmao

What they love to see you wearing in bed

FE3H guys x GN/AFAB reader

NSFW 18+

Lorenz - Oh, it's intricately laced corsets, thigh-high stockings and elaborate silken lingerie all the way for this man. Lorenz relishes in buying you a wide assortment of the highest quality lingerie (all in coordinated matching sets, of course), dressing you up and then carefully and lovingly removing each piece from you, clasp by clasp and strap by strap, kissing every inch of you as he works.

Claude - as an open minded sort, he's of course impressed by anything you wear for him, more than able to appreciate the way your choice of attire (or lack thereof...) accents everything he adores about your body. That said, he gets a special sort of worked-up to see you in the richly patterned, flowing fabrics of Almyra. That you would go through the trouble of procuring such clothes to please him makes him all the more determined to spoil you in turn.

Raphael - Doesn't care so much about what you wear (if anything, complicated hooks and straps can be frustrating when he just wants your body so desperately), but boy, he does love the look of you with nothing on but some honey or sweet cream drizzled over your nipples or down the center of your torso, just ready for him to lick it all off of you.

Ignatz - a huge fan of maid outfits; having come from a merchant family, while he may have had a nanny or tutor, a traditional maid is something exotic and luxurious to him. He's fascinated by all the little details of how the frills accent every part of you that he admires, his hand warm as it slides up your stocking-clad thigh beneath your skirt.

Hubert - also can definitely appreciate a maid outfit, though for him it's more about those delightful power dynamics he loves to play with. Even better though is to have you in a collar, preferably one he hand selected for you, one with a little ring on the front that he can use to direct and guide you. Really though, anything you choose to wear specifically because you think he'd like it will have him devouring you with his eyes and hands.

Ferdinand - in the bedroom, he's quite open minded, and would love to select some luxurious lingerie for you; however, it's far more fun to tease him by wearing something out in public that's just a little too tempting for comfort- a dress with just-too-low of a neckline, tantalizing him with the curve of your breasts. Breeches that hug your ass far too perfectly. It makes his pulse race and his face redden at the very sight.

Linhardt - Lin is a man who deeply focuses on whatever's caught his attention, so he's more than happy to take his time with you in bed. As such, while he'll grumble at first about the extra effort, he actually quite likes complicated, strappy sets of lingerie so he can savor removing it from you piece by piece. The slow and meticulous way he obsesses over each inch of you as it's revealed to him almost becomes unbearably sensual and intimate.

Caspar - whatever you're wearing, he just loves to watch it come off. It's not that he's rushing (okay, sometimes he's rushing), but more than it's just so sexy to see you tug your shirt over your head and reveal your beautiful breasts, or bend over so he can watch your ass and hips as you tug down your pants. It just drives him wild with anticipation, he can't wait to carry you into his bed.

Seteth - listen, I feel like the Nabateans had to have some kind of erotic wedding-night attire. Something pseudo-ceremonial in draping white fabric that's paradoxically sinful to behold. So when you find an illustration in a dusty old book in the Abyss and commission a similar garment to wear to surprise Seteth after a long day of work? Goddess, he's lost. It's going to be a long night.

Jeritza - he never knew it until you, but he's actually weak to all sorts of outfits and aesthetics. Sweet cream or syrup down your body for him to lick up? Obsessed. Frilly, feminine underthings for him to literally tear off of you? Divine. But his favorite is to have you panting and whimpering beneath him in your normal every-day attire that's been pulled open, tugged out of the way, a wrinkled mess from the frenzy of him just needing to touch and taste you.

Yuri - while he certainly thinks you look stunning in anything, he's actually not much one for elaborate outfits or costumes. With you, he wants to be able to just see you and adore you. So his absolute favorite is to see you in nothing but a beautiful necklace that he'd selected just for you. In a strange way, being almost naked seems so much more erotic than actually wearing nothing.

Dedue - he absolutely adores seeing you wearing nothing but one of his casual tunics or undershirts, seeing how it dwarfs you by comparison regardless of body type. It's so domestic and sweet and makes him want to pull you close and run his hands under the fabric- and then savor the way his clothes still smell like you the next day.

Felix - He won't say it aloud, but it's obvious from how he stares and how handsy he gets that he's deeply aroused by seeing you in training/workout gear with the fabric of your shirt clinging to your sweat-dewed skin. Sometimes, you look just tempting enough to cut training a bit short to get back to his room together- you're just too distracting.

Dimitri - interestingly, regardless of his state of mind, a feminine and 'princess-y' gown or frilly white bridal lingerie really do it for him. On better days, it feels traditionally romantic in a way that makes him feel so intimately close to you. During his more 'chaotic' stage, he wants to tear the flimsy fabric off of you and ravage you.

Ashe - he's big into the sorts of things he would stumble into lavish descriptions of in romantic novels, blushing but still guiltily reading with rapt attention- decorative corsets and especially clingy thigh-high stockings with garters. It's so romantic and impractical in a way that only enhances the fantasy for him.

Sylvain - it's tempting to just leave it at "any and everything" with a guy like him, and that is more or less true. Sylvain is a man of broad and varied tastes. That said, he's particularly fond of seeing you in the Garreg Mach uniform, the skirt rolled short and shirt buttoned low. Having you like this fulfills all sorts of fantasies he'd had during his school days, and he just loves teasing you about being such a naughty student.

[herrlindemann]

Sonic Seducer - 2008, interview with Flake

thanks to ramjohn for the scans.

While his colleagues from Rammstein are working at full speed in the studio on the still untitled successor to their 2005 album 'Rosenrot', we invited the eccentric keyboardist to our psycho couch for an entertaining one-on-one chat. Flake Lorenz on success, idols and the advantages of not owning a wallet!

What is your profession?

I'm forced to call myself a musician, anything else would be a lie! The last thing that would probably apply to me would be the term entertainer. You can't really call me an artist either...

Why shouldn't you be considered an artist?

Because such a view presupposes that I would make art! Music does not necessarily have to be art at the same time. As is well known, there is also dance music that is artistically less valuable.

Do you still have stage fright before performances today?

I still have stage fright, but mostly in situations where I'm not 100% sure about how the performance will go — like during my solo performance at the Berlin Volksbühne some time ago, for example. I prefer to follow a precise schedule with times and other details. I feel very safe knowing the band is standing here, I'm standing there and the crowd is standing over there etc.

Are you a generally insecure person?

Yes. I chronically doubt myself and all other people and things.

Would you describe yourself as a perfectionist?

Not at all! Quite the opposite: I'm a real Schludrian - fortunately!

What was your career aspiration as a child?

I really wanted to be a piano player. In the early days I had lessons, but I didn't have my own piano. So in my free time I practiced at the kitchen table on sheets of paper that I drew the keys on. At some point my parents saw that I was serious about playing the piano and bought me my own piano.

Were you a good student then?

At first, but later I became very bad. From the 7th grade I basically saw myself as a punk and school didn't interest me that much anymore.

Did you have to be bad at school to be a punk?

No, not necessarily. I became a bad student all by myself... I actually would have liked to have done better. In the early days of Feeling B I was still in 10th grade - when I came home from our performances at the weekend, I couldn't be completely rested and fit again at school on Monday morning!

What do you like?

Shipwrecks.

What do you hate?

Very much! I probably hate a lot more than I like. I couldn't come up with a top 10 hate objects without neglecting the rest of the stuff.

Where is the most beautiful place in the world for you?

At my home in the country, just outside of Berlin.

Who would you want to swap roles with for a day?

Actually with nobody. I've got enough trouble with myself that I don't necessarily have to take on another role!

What do you have in your pocket at the moment?

A tissue.

That's all?

And money. I always keep my money in my ass pocket — I've never used a wallet in my life!

Out of pure post punk conviction?

No. It's just that I wouldn't think of keeping my money in a wallet in real life. So far it has always looked like this: I kept my credit cards loose in my pocket on the front left and small change on the right. In the ass pockets, notes and banknotes for free use. That's how I got through life for a long time. A friend was very concerned that this would scratch my credit cards and ultimately render them unusable. So he gave me a small bag with a magnet closure. However, this magnetic clasp erased the magnetic strips on all credit cards, garage door openers and alarm system code cards the first time I opened it, so I had to apply for everything again! A clear sign of non-improvement! I dare not imagine what could happen if I used a wallet!

How important is success to you?

There's small successes and big successes — it doesn't bother me that a lot of people think I'm great. With the fame I get from working with Rammstein, the positives and negatives are roughly balanced. It is important to develop your own position on these things. If the TV program annoys me, I turn it off — the same with Rammstein: If I don't want to have anything to do with the band, I put my hat on, go to the back room and have my peace.

What will your life look like in old age?

I don't want to say anything wrong at this point. Mick Jagger said at the time there was no way he would still be on stage singing 'Satisfaction' when he was 50... I also never thought I would live very old. The way of life in this band is anything but healthy: the touring life, the flights every day, the excitement, the noise pollution...

Also, there is a lot of drinking. It has gotten better, but in the past people often drank to the point of unconsciousness; especially in the east. Always. With a reason or without.

Do you have idols?

I think Helge Schneider is very good.

What's your biggest fear?

Quite factually: before dying.

What are your goals in life?

There are none today — I'm done, I've done everything I set out to do!

Do you have any regrets?

My only regret is that I didn't do various things. Then nothing.

[real-fire-emblem-takes]

jaffar will forever be the best lorenz archetype imo, not because of his role in the story, or how he develops etc. but because once you get past his really fucked up and sad backstory he is literally just some punk ass kid.

-🦴

.

[kolour-me-kourt]

Chapter Eight: Loose End

"Hey I'm not even trying to be funny I am happy for you and you didn't owe me anything but I thought you wasn't ready for a relationship? Now you're out with Jayson Tatum? That's wild to me like I said you don't owe me anything but you didn't have to lie I'm a cool ass nigga"

Lorenzo's message sent shivers down her spine the only thing that she hadn't thought about in this world wind romance with Jayson.... Was Lorenzo. She decided to text him asking him to come over so they could talk and he'll be here in five minutes. She contemplated telling him everything because Lorenzo seemed like he could handle it.

But she didn't want to tell him and then he tell the world about Lamelo or she didn't wanna tell him and he really see how fucked up she was. Cause she's done some fucked up shit to him and those could be memories she messes up forever just by telling the truth. Meeting one of your favorite basketball players.... But the girl you're pursing is fucking him..... going out to dinner with him and his girlfriend and your potential boo is arguing with him in the bathroom several things could go wrong. She heard her doorbell go off so she invited him in.

"Heyy" "hey ma how you been?" He hugged her tight "we're gonna get into that... you wanna sit down?" she could tell Lorenzo had revenge on his mind he smelled of expensive cologne he had on a nice outfit and a fresh ass haircut with his beard trimmed but still looking .... Edible.

"Yeah In the living room?" "Mhm... you want a water or anything?" "Yeah a bottle will be nice" "okay go get comfortable I'll grab you one" "thank you" she grabbed him a water bottle and then hands it to him sitting down right beside him with her leg in the chair. "Um how have you been first" "I'm good you know working staying busy" "oh that's really good" "yeah but we here to talk about you" they share a laugh

"Sooo thank you for coming I hope you really hear me out" "look I was out of it when I sent that message I saw the pictures everywhere and was just confused and hurt all at the same time so you don't have to apologize" she placed her hand on his chest "I do though the whole thing was fucked up Lorenz and I mean that so from the bottom of my heart I am sorry but no I didn't lie to you everything I said was truthful I can't get into details but yeah I was seeing someone when Trin hooked us up and the second date was genuine I did wanna try and date you cause you seemed so good but I just didn't feel right completely and you didn't either cause you saw the truth I was dealing with someone else who had my mind so when you broke it off I was relieved but all this shit that just happened I didn't expect it at all so I was glad you texted so I can tell you I'm sorry"

She found herself teary eyed he stands up opening and closing his hand signaling for her to stand up "give me a hug" she smiled standing up hugging him "I accept your apology we can even be friends.... If you want to um it's no bad blood" "you promise?" "Yeahhh I was dating too when I met you but I did like you Fr but like I said I wasn't mad you was seeing somebody Im mad cause I thought you were lying" "oh okay then yeah ... we're friends" he laughed

"alright Um thanks for clearing everything up I hope you're relationship is your last one and it's happy" "same for you You're a good man and somebody will appreciate that" "shittt she better or I'll start hoeing" he joked but she could tell he was low key serious. "Nah don't do that she might be right around the corner" "hopefully ... but let me get out of here thanks for reaching out" "yeah thanks for coming" she walked him to the door hugging him again and then he left" she shut and locked her door exhaling.

She had only been home for three minutes before he texted her she needed to do laundry and unpack get herself together cause she had work in the morning. She finally got her laundry in the washing machine and took a shower she checks her phone and she missed a call from Jayson.

She calls him back and he answered pretty soon. "Hey were you sleep?" "No in the shower" "oh okay" she laughed "you asking for a reason?" "I just miss you my mom has deuce for a few hours .... I just wish we were closer to each other" "yeah I really had to work tomorrow from the office" "no I get you completely... I was just saying I miss you" "I miss you too" "what you been doing?" "just cleaning all my stuff from being out there and getting ready for work tomorrow so it can be a good day ... you know?"

"Yes I definitely know it'll be a great day I know a lot has changed and little blogs have been posting you ... I didn't even think they would do that or I would've taken you somewhere else for our first date" "I loved our first date I wouldn't change it for the world" he smiles again "I loved it too .... You in that pink dress .... Damn" she laughed "baby pleaseeee" "I

Just saying we had all that fun I even beat yo ass in bowling" "first of all you only one but that one strike" "One strike you didn't have but anyway you had me already but if you didn't that pink dress would've did it"

"ughhh I can't wait to see you again I've only been gone for a few hours" "I know crazy how that happened huh?" "You gotta come see me next time" "you gon show me around your city?" "Of courseee" "yeah show me where all your ex Niggas stay so I know where the opps at" they shared a laugh she rolled her yes "okay baby clearly your sleepy" "yeah I am but I wanna to talk to you so here I am until Deuce get back" "Deuce has a better social life than me out partying on a Thursday" "speaking of that you told your friends or anything yet?" She sighed

"no I definitely wanted too before the blogs picked up Fr but ... idk you know they're calling me the mystery woman" "yeah I saw that ... it's interesting" "that's one word to call it" "well you can tell them..... we not a secret remember?" "Yes and I will tell them I just don't know if that's a text message" "did they know about Melo?" "Only people who knew about Melo is me him and you well Asia knew too" "what made you trust me?" "You're my man and you've shown that you wouldn't do that so..." "you right bae you get the real me at all times" "mmm so when am I gonna see you?"

"I don't know I gotta work all this shit out I have a couple meetings and Deuces schedule you know ... but I'll figure it all out and then be straight to you... I promise" "that's so sweet Bae" "I know I'm the man" "what's your plans for tomorrow?" "Getting a hair cut and practice " "mmm you gonna cut your curls?" "Yeah maybe I haven't decided Fr.... what? you like me better with them?" What's your famous quote? You top five regardless so it doesn't matter" she smiled "I better be your top one no other Niggas before" "yes sir of course not" she laughed

"What's your plans for tomorrow?" "Find a bookcase and some books" "easy to build?" "Yes definitely something I can just slide this in this and boom I have a book case" he laughed "what books do you like?" "Well I kinda wanna fill it up with books I already read and then like series so all the Harry Potter books all of twilight shit maybe even goosebumps stuff like that it's my nostalgic book case" "oh okay I got you that'll be fun"

"yeah If I don't do it right after work tomorrow then I'll probably just wait until Saturday morning when I have more time" "I think you should wait Bae you don't wanna rush your purchases" "you know what you right" "I know I am"

she heard his front door open "well okay Bae  goodnight I'll talk to you tomorrow" "goodnight text me when you get up" "okay I will" she hears Deuce calling for him "byee" "bye YN" she hangs up

*the next day after work*

She calls her closest friends Asia Trin and Maya In a group face time.

"What y'all up to? Y'all wanna come over here?" "You inviting us to your house what you do? Is it a body we need to cover up? Hold up don't answer that on the phone" maya began rambling YN laughed "shutup girl" trin says laughing harder "no I just wanted to tell y'all something but like it can be over the phone too I guess "alright yeah just tell us" "I'm have a boyfriend ...." "Oh shit?" "Yeah Um Jayson Tatum NBA player plays for Celtics"

"the one with all the tattoos?" "Wait the one with the kid?" "Yesss that's him" "well we're happy for you but he is a nba player take it slow" "yeah he's really good though like he's not like the other ones I really feel like he's different and wouldn't treat me wrong.... But yeah that's all I wanted to tell y'all" "welllllll like she said we happy for you have fun you deserve this"

The conversation goes on taking many turns talking about a lot of different things when YN hears her doorbell. "Oh shit who at my door?" "Go see take the phone" YN walks to the door and sees a package "oh nobody it's just a package" "you were expecting one?" "Not at all" she opens her door and it's a long big box and a few more boxes "yall it's like five boxes out here" "oh shit call us later then get your stuff in" "okay byeee love y'all" YN hangs up pushing the largest box in first and then going to pick up the smaller boxes but they were heavy too. While she was outside she though she might as well check her mail too. She found a hand written note from Jayson making her smile

Since you're all about nostalgia I found every series you said and through some funny ones in there and I got you a book case bae... enjoy it

He listens to her it's really the little things likeeee a five second conversation turned into him getting her what she wanted. She calls him immediately smiling ear to ear. "You got my book case and some books... thank you baby" "uh huh it was nothing I started looking for the stuff while you were talking I hope you enjoy it baby" "I definitely will" "okay Bae I'm going into practice but I'll call you when I'm back home" "okay byeee Jay" "bye Bae"

She loved it here everything was coming together finally. Lamelo was out of her life sexually meaning she didn't have to deal with all of that nonsense. Lorenzo wasn't mad at her. She had a new boyfriend who was great and her friends knew about him everything was great. Are her loose ends were tied up

[these-detestable-hands]

I can't find that 3H Ask Game again so I will make up my own asks!

If you were a character in FE3H...

What weapon and skill do you think you'll have talent ⏫ in? 3 is the maximum!

What avenues do you think you will be least proficient in? Ya know the good old ⏬? 3 is the maximum!

Who are the characters do you think you can achieve A+ or S in support with? No maximum limit!

In the game, Byleth has to achieve a degree of proficiency in certain skills to poach a student from another house to theirs, right? But let's pretend that they have to do more than that to successfully convince you. What should Byleth have also done to get you to join their house?

What will your backstory in FE3H probably be, briefly? (As brief as you think necessary hahaha)

YAYAYAYAYAYAYYAY this is so fun!!!!

What weapon and skill do you think you'll have talent ⏫ in? 3 is the maximum!

Definitely faith magic and spears! Ideally I'd be a bishop, valkyrie or gremory. I'm a huge sucker for healers so obviously I'd be a healer in 3h.

What avenues do you think you will be least proficient in? Ya know the good old ⏬? 3 is the maximum!

Axes, heavy armour and brawling cause I am not very physically strong.

Who are the characters do you think you can achieve A+ or S in support with? No maximum limit!

OOOOOO this one's fun!! Assume that all of these are platonic because I'm not a big fan of selfshipping.

Seteth - Our support line would be about art and literature and the paired ending would be me staying in thd church and helping Seteth make children's books.

Rhea (shhh I know she only has supports with Byleth) - honestly it'd just be Rhea convincing me to stay with the church for life and become a nun. In this paired ending, there would be subtle hints that I am for some reason unhappy.

Ignatz - we talk about art for 20 hours then live together in some tiny village and make art together forever.

Lorenz - I'd like to think I'd just call him an annoying bitch, then after the timeskip he'd offer me a job as his court painter or something lol.

Lysithea - we ping pong back and forth infodumping about magic and children's books we like. Paired ending where we just become besties.

Leonie - Leonie would somehow convince me to become a mercenary with her. I think she could do it.

Marianne - we'd just have a B support and exchange weird ass family histories.

Dorothea - we'd talk about theater and costuming for a while :]

Linhardt - idk but we would have supports. I like him a lot.

Mercedes - we'd talk ghost stories for a while.

In the game, Byleth has to achieve a degree of proficiency in certain skills to poach a student from another house to theirs, right? But let's pretend that they have to do more than that to successfully convince you. What should Byleth have also done to get you to join their house?

Honestly just befriend me. Ask me about my art and I'll be begging to join their house by the end of the conversation.

What will your backstory in FE3H probably be, briefly? (As brief as you think necessary hahaha)

I'd be an artist from Farghus who decided to become a knight of Seiros for no particular reason. In some supports, it'd be revealed that I did it because I felt lost and unsure of what to do in life and hoped that spending time in service as someone as important as Rhea would be fulfilling, but it wasn't. I'd be part of Garreg Mach staff.

[fireemblems24]

Azure Gleam Ch 14

I feel sad knowing this route is almost over :(

NARRATION

As much as Claude is annoying me right now, it's cool to see Faerghus, the Alliance, and the church all team up.

So it looks like we're fighting Caspar and Bergliez again. It's so much easier on me to kill the Empire characters lol.

It's so funny that all the Empire characters know something is weird with Edelgard, but are like "I'm still fighting anyways."

Is there any explanation of what happened to her? Or is this just a cope out so the war keeps going without making her into a flat-out evil.

Bergliez tells Caspar to run away. He's not though. And honestly, I don't want him. Not Hopes!Caspar at least. Brgliez keeps trying though, which guess he gets some dad points? Maybe? I like him more than Holst.

He compares what they're doing to captains that go down with their ship. So needless death. Ship captains have no choice, but they do and they keep fighting. Poor taste.

They're heading for the monastery. Shocking. I know. /s

I love how in the other routes, I protect Aegir. In this one, I'm sure I'll get to kill him. Feels good.

They talk strategy.

I honestly appreciate that this games goes a bit more into strategy. It's not super detailed, but more than Fire Emblem usually does lol.

Arval is like, ok, it's my turn. The suggestion is to just strike everyone all at once.

She's like, we've got the stronger army, let's act like it. I like that kind of thinking.

Felix calls Shez a boar lol. Says we have too boars in this army.

SIDE BATTLES/MAP

Shez tried to sympathize with Linhardt about possibly fighting Caspar and he's like "it doesn't really bother me" lol.

Felix admires Berlgeiz however the fuck you spell his name because he finds the sense of duty to the Empire despite it being a giant fuck up right now admirable. Coming from Felix, that's hysterical. I wish Shez had the option to tease Felix about it lol.

A scholar just said Dimitri appreciates their input (calculating how much food and raw materials is needed etc) unlike many other leaders. Happy to see more Dimitri praise in this game.

Petra once knocked Duke Aegir on his ass for insulting her father. I wonder if you get to learn this amazing piece of Petra lore in other routes or if this is an AG exclusive badassery.

Ok, so some random church NPC talked about how killing Edelgard would end the Emperor bloodline because there's rumors all her siblings are dead. Her backstory is really so weird. How would people not know about a bunch of dead princes and princesses?

Yuri is religious? He says he has a habit of praying before a big event, something he does because his mother did. I like it when characters add something unexpected to them that the usual stereotype of that character doesn't usually have.

If Hubert came up with "those who slither in the dark" as a nickname, how come everyone uses it? Even people who wouldn't know Hubert at all like Flayn?

Lorenz was just talking up how smart Claude is and all I can think is that GW!Claude isn't smart enough to find his way out of a wet paper bag.

I just got all of Shez's Blue Lions supports unlocked. Now I need to still get Flayn, Seteth, Catherine, Jeralt, and Byleth. I'm not sure I have enough time. But I'm going to try.

Duke Aegir is Thales' puppet. So TWSITD is ruling the Empire.

Edelgard just mindlessly listens to Aegir and Thales.

This lady turned on the Empire big time. Dimitri says he's still throwing her into a cell, lol.

Dimitri believes what she said though. He brings up the evidence he discovered while investigating in White Clouds. And also uses the Tomas situation as more evidence.

Dimitri now knows that his father, the knights, and the citizens of Duscur would all be alive without those mages.

He says they have the right to seek justice in the way they see fit. I love it. Not apologizing for defending themselves, but owning taking the initiative against TWSITD.

And there's a lot of people in the Blue Lions who has a personal beef with TWSITD.

I can finally give Dimitri the merc whistle! He also had a second set of dialogue on the map this chapter. It was about some Empire general we captured.

SHEZ & FELIX A

This one starts on a battlefield instead of training. Still very Felix.

And they're complimenting each other. Felix is complimenting someone. But it's their swordfighting so . . .

Shez is beginning to understanding Felix, saying he assigns a role to himself and carries it out. Which, she's not wrong.

Felix credits Rodrigue for his skill, lol. He also just complimented Rodrigue. Good for Felix.

His style is passed down in Fraldarius for generations. Because they're so tight. Man, the Dimitri/Felix yaoi writes itself.

Shez calls him indispensable to Dimitri and everyone. Felix is the lance and shield. Shez is the projectile like an arrow or stone.

She tells him to be more direct with compliments, Felix gets annoyed, but then says Shez is important to the army too.

Felix says Shez can't stay focused in battle - like she has someone talking to her in her head. More proof on how perceptive Felix is.

Also kudos to Byleth for Felix never noticing the same, which, imo, is perfectly in character for Byleth and Shez.

Shez is actually happy to know that Felix knows her so well that she spotted it. Since she gets sappy, Felix goes tsundere is like "I'm never complimenting you again!" Congrats, Shez, it means you're one of his people now if he's that emotionally fickle with you lamo.

This support was mostly just Shez and Felix gushing over how good the other is at fighting and how important they are to the group as a whole. I loved it. AG!Shez must be so much happier and more grounded than poor SB!Shez.

SHEZ & DIMITRI A

Dimitri is on break, but also depressed. Shez is concerned. Of course, it's because Dimitri can't relax. Other people are working, so he feels bad that he's not.

Shez asks why Dimitri is so insistent on it. Dimitri says it's the only way he knows how to be. That his life has never belonged to him because of his birthright.

Aaaaand of course the tragedy comes up, saying that makes him feel responsible too. So it's rooted partly in trauma :(

I can disagree or sympathize with him. Not sure which. I think I'm going to disagree, that it's not all his responsibility.

Ohh, Shez says he needs to trust people who wants to help.

Dimitri wants to ease the pain of the dead and living. That he'll have to make sacrifices to reach that goal, but doesn't want anyone else to suffer because of his goals. So he must carry the burden alone.

Shez is like, what about you're suffering and pain. That he can't care for others if he doesn't care for himself first.

Dimitri's like, I don't know how to respond to that - but like earnestly doesn't know. He doesn't know how to take care of his own pain nor what happiness would look like for him.

(God, this support is just making me love AM even more in retrospect, knowing that Dimitri gets to learn all of this, an my God wouldn't it be awesome if there was some kind of AG/AM blend that included this support somewhere in the middle)

Shez is like, how can you not know that? Asks what makes him smile? Like defeating a rival or a banquet.

Dimitri doesn't think he has the right to such happiness.

Good, God, Dimitri. He says he can only think of his death and leaving happy citizens and a peaceful kingdom behind.

Lord, nobody knows how much I love this. Like, not for Dimitri, boy needs therapy asap, and I want him to just be happy.

But, as a avid anime/manga and fantasy fan, do you know how many snot-nosed spoiled chosen ones and royalty and nobles I've come across who bitch and moan endlessly about their privileges lives because it comes with responsibilities and how they want to be a commoner with NO FUCKING IDEA what it's like to work day in and day out for someone who doesn't really care about you and will just replace you if convenient but your entire livelihood is dependent on spending most of your able-bodies life slaving away for them? Not to mention - back then - it would likely be some backbreaking work with shitty working conditions and no modern medicine or workers rights? It's so infuriating. Sometime they have a point, like pressure or whatever, but the older I get, the less I sympathize with their whining.

But Dimitri is like the exact opposite. He can't even be an individual away from his role at a leader because he's thrown too much of himself into it with no complaining at all. It's just so refreshing to see something the exact opposite of how this usually plays out, and is so much more interesting to explore than the same old for the xnth time.

Shez is like, you're dismal sometimes, she's not wrong. And is like why is death what makes me happy. Dimitri sounds like he doesn't even get that it sounded dismal while saying it.

She's like, what about partying with friends! Dimitri's like, wasted on me. But he says seeing his friends smile does make him happy.

Shez is annoyed with him lol. And is like, k, I'll just have to work twice as hard.

"You're going to take a break. And by the goddess, you're going to like it." I actually laughed. God, I love Shez.

She's like, you need to leave the office, bud. Dimitri says no words can express his gratitude.

I love their friendship so much. Like, I honestly don't think I ship it? I think they're just really tight friends, which Dimitri is such a shipping magnet, it's nice to see something as just pure friendship.

This is by far my favorite lord/Shez dynamic. Though, I think I ship Shez most with Byleth and I haven't even seen their supports yet.

ASHE & RAPHAEL C

Raphael is eating a lot. Shocking.

Raphael opened an inn??? And he's the cook. But he never gets compliments on his cooking, which makes him think his food tastes bad. He confesses that he doesn't know how to cook.

Ashe volunteers to teach Raphael how to cook.

Ashe thinks one of the best feelings in the world is when someone likes the food you cook.

Ashe test tries Raphael's food, which is just a pile of meat lol. Raphael doesn't understand why people would want anything else.

He describes Raphael's food like bacon wrapped around a salt lick lamo.

Unlike the Empire which won't eat their veggies like a bunch of spoiled brats, Ashe is promoting healthy veggie eating and understands food is best when you match complimentary flavors, including veggies, those Empire heathens.

Poor Raphael gets confused. Ashe talks about seasoning, and Raphael thinks like spring, summer, etc . . . and not like garlic.

Ashe is determined to help though.

Fairly wholesome support.

ASHE & INGRID B

They only got 1 support :(

Ingrid's troubled. Ashe notices. But she denies it.

Ashe encourages Ingrid to talk to him.

Ingrid's amazed by how fertile the lands are. And it's Faerghus lands. It's because of lack of snow and lots of fields.

Both Ashe and Ingrid notice things like the wheat fields.

Ingrid basically lives on rocks. So, hard to grow food.

Ashe thinks the effort will pay off later, even if Ingrid doesn't live long enough to see the results.

Ashe was quoting King Loog. Ingrid notices, lol. They start geeking out a bit. I love Ashe and Ingrid geeking out.

Dagda apparently also has soil issues. They have a crop they can grow despite that, but can't remember the name, but thinks Shamir might know. So Ingrid has hope she can learn it.

Ashe says he's just helping her as a friend, not a knight.

He can relate to being hungry because he grew up poor.

INGRID & ANNETTE B

Annette is trying to convince herself to grab something and run. Ingrid accidentally scares her. It's dark outside, so Annette's likely afraid of ghosts or something lol.

Of course, Annette wants a book she left in the mess hall. A woman after my own heart, braving fear because of love of a book.

Ingrid was heading there too. Annette's like this is destiny.

It's so dark even Ingrid gets spooked, but not as much as Annette. Who runs into a pile of crates lol.

Ingrid asks Annette if she's afraid of the dark. And poor Annette is, but really wishes she wasn't.

Ingrid, though, isn't afraid of the dark or ghosts. Annette is fascinated how Ingrid isn't afraid of ghosts.

Ingrid's brothers used to tell her those stories, but Ingrid thinks it's proof ghosts isn't real because you'd run into them more.

Ingrid actually wishes ghosts were real, because then she'd be able to talk to the dead still. But accepts that the dead are dead.

Annette circles that back to living while you're still alive.

Annette decides to walk back by herself to conquer her fears.

Ingrid is impressed with Annette's attitude.

INGRID & DEDUE A

This is a support I'm very curious about. It's their only one, but it's A. Plus, this game has handled Ingrid and Duscur much better.

Dedue has "brought substance" - it's just a cream puff lol.

Ingrid is happy with the timing. She's writing reports on their last fight in the Duscur region. And thinks it'll be a while until things stabilize.

Both Ingrid and Dedue agree that the Kingdom and Duscur have good and bad people. Ingrid gets upset over the innocent people getting lumped into the bad ones.

Dedue says he used to hate Faerghus, but meeting the nice people like Dimitri and others has made him expand his views.

People used to throw stones at Dedue - and Dimitri too :(

Ingrid says she would've remained gnorant about Duscur if she'd never meant Dedue.

Dedue says he finds Ingrid's willingness to change admirable. Ingrid admits she has a long way to go still.

She invites Dedue to go get a snack together and suggests an inn that Dimitri suggested with good food, owned by someone from Duscur. Pretty sure that was mentioned in her support with him.

Dedue is just pissed that Dimitri went wandering around town with only just Ingrid, seeing it as reckless, lamo.

I love all the Blue Lions, man.

YURI & SETETH A

Yuri fell for a trap. Because it was his "second worst" brush with death, Seteth is curious about the first. It was the plague that wrecked Faerghus (and killed Dimitri's mother). Yuri survived without a doctor's help.

An old man saved him. They found some old man on the road, took him in, and then later he saved Yuri. But is dead by now.

Seteth seems to know who it is.

There's a legend that one of the Ten Elites got sick and got healthy after getting a crest from a Saint.

So Seteth thinks Yuri got his rare crest from the actual saint? Or close descendant of.

So that explains why Yuri's hinted at living longer than average, and has a super rare crest.

Seteth is happy to learn one of his old friends may have found peace in his final moments because he got to save a child's life.

I don't know if his House's supports tells you about this lore, but it's cool to learn it here.

It's also nice to see Yuri talk to someone without picking a fight. He was so chill, almost friendly to Seteth rather than sounding a bit like a fanfic edgelord initially (like, I like Yuri, but some of him reeks of baby's first fanfic OC).

SHEZ & FLAYN A

Flayn's upset with Seteth, who told her no about something.

Man, Seteth and Flayn's relationship would be creepy as fuck if they were really siblings. Like, Seteth is extremely controlling of Flayn, and often it looks like the typical icky "my woman must remain pure!!!" Like, not only do they treat the women in their family like possessions, not people, but seem especially interested in owning their genitals and sexuality. It's so extremely weird and gross, and why I pretty much can't stand Holst anymore (he seemed alright at first, but some supports are so ick).

But learning that their father-daughter helps (it's still gross, but less weird because at least he's a legit authority figure in her life and not her . . . brother), but knowing it's actually because TWSITD want to torture Flayn to death, that his people got genocided and turned into super weapons, and that she healed so many people she nearly died too (which would leave him with no family) makes it not offputting. It's actually a pretty smart way of using tropes that seems set up to make us dislike him (over controlling father) and then a big "ohhhhh" once you learn the WHY isn't the typical creepy "my girl is not a whore!" obsession wayyyyy too many men have.

OK, back to the support now.

Seteth is trying to block Flayn from going out entirely. Poor Flayn. But with TWSITD on the move, it does make sense.

Shez is very concerned with Flayn. I love how empathetic Shez is while still being realistically distant enough to be a merc and pretty straight forward. I actually REALLY like Shez. Esp F!Shez.

Flayn is going to listen to Seteth because she doesn't want to make it hard on him.

After the war, they plan on going out together again.

Flayn is grateful it's F!Shez and not M!Shez bc a woman is less sus to Seteth than a man. I wonder how the M!Shez one goes.

Haha, Shez can offer to help Flayn sneak out, or talk her out of it. I totally offered to help her sneak out lol.

MAIN BATTLE

Do we ever learn what happened to Edelgard? Or did she get yeeted from the plot?

She's missing this battle. Aegir lost her. What an idiot. He looks so funny in that armor. I'm glad in this route at least, I get to kick his ass, not save his ass (unlike the other 2 routes).

I do not understand the hype around Caspar's dad. He folds like a twig when I fight him.

Killed Aegis. Such a tragedy. /s

OMG. I beat that chapter in like 4 minutes. Dimitri is so overleveled and stupidly strong. He just kills so fast. It's hilarious and fun. But I also miss S rank because I didn't kill enough. He kills too fast.

They still can't find Edelgard.

It'll be weird if we don't get a monastery chapter.

Byleth insists on looking for Edelgard more because he feels she's nearby.

Byleth and Shez look for Edelgard together. Which makes me hope we get dialogue between them.

Unless this is the start of the special chapter? Ok switching to the next post now.

xxxx

[semi-imaginary-place]

who left a bad first impression in fe3h? Lorenz hands down, he has a good heart once you can get past all the noble bullshit but wow is there a lot of get through. It took many playthroughs, but through his supports and a lot of time I started to appreciate him a little more he really does want the best for others and really does out of his way to help people its also just strongly filtered through the talk of noble obligations. Ferdinand to a lesser extent he's really obnoxious in part 1 and that ends up highlighting his character growth in part 2 all that much more. It only one playthrough to warm up to Ferdie but much much longer to come around to Lorenz. Sylvain is an interesting case in that I liked his character design from the start, and then he opened his mouth and I wanted to start waterboarding him until he respected women. After many supports and multiple playthroughs, like Lorenz I came around to Sylvain, so much in fact that he's now one of my favorite characters but I still simultaneously want to punch him in the face, he really does deserve it sometimes. I disliked Hubert immediately, grody ass wannabe vampire, and after 20 some playthoughs and thousands of hours I can say that: I never stopped disliking him.

Lorenz is more in your face obnoxious, Sylvain is more manipulative. Lorenz is more easy to detect as unpleasant but Sylvain probably does more damage. Lorenz has good intentions but is so caught up in his ideal of nobility and is about 15 miles deep into classism that he's insufferable. His ego is massive and he refuses to take no because of course he knows better than them, no woman can resist Lorenz! Hellman! Gloucester! Sylvain is on a self destruction binge and using women to feed into his self loathing. He sets up his relationships to fail and then when the woman inevitably gets fed up with his lying cheating bullshiting ass he turns on them accusing them of only wanting him for his family name, money, and crest. Which he uses as proof that he is useless and worthless and that.

Most people find him annoying. There's an unusually high number of Lorenz likers on the fe3h subreddit because there's a concentration of players there who have seen most/all of the supports and that's where his character shines. The average FE3H player plays 1 route or less and doesn't see many supports probably sees Lorenz being an ass once and then never sees any of his supports if they are on Golden Deer at all which is the least popular starting house.

Happy to see lorenzpilled people out there in the wild. Lorenz is obnoxious and infuriating but that's just the first layer and it's a shame how often he's overlooked and underappreciated. It took me over 3? 5? playthroughs before I came around to him, it was a slow and painful process but he grew on me, like a fungus. The Lorenz and Marianne supports are some of my favorites in the game, they really show his kind nature, he's always trying to look out for others, you see it in his Lysithea supports too. Like that moment in Marianne's support she's struggling with something and he says he'd rather not know if telling him pains her so much. Lorenz cares a lot and he spends his life trying to help people and make their lives better, he's really quite sweet, he just goes about it in the most infuriating way possible.

His jp voice actor is more over the top outrageous than his eng voice actor, he sounds like a cartoon aristocrat it's so funny.

[fantasyinvader]

Another thing clicked.

Remember what I said about Hubert's ending? His endings outline that historians know the things he does to support Edelgard, from spying on the people to putting down rebellions from the shadows, as well as the existence of TWSITD despite Edelgard's attempts to keep their existence a secret. The Japanese text uses terms like black-hearted or wicked for his solo ending, implying that those historians view him as a very immoral man who supported Edelgard.

The history the games gives us refer to Edelgard as “The Flame Emperor.” You know, the name Edelgard operated under before the war broke out, who Jeralt seemed to know about as he investigated what was going on during White Clouds with the knights. This is how history remembers Edelgard, whereas the people give Dimitri the title of Savior King and Claude the Unification King.

Edelgard is remembered as her alias.

Byleth in this case is referred to as “Wings of the Hegemon,” indicating that Edelgard was a hegemonic ruler after all and Byleth is remembered for allowing her to come into power. This is in contrast to their Wandering Flame title in Silver Snow... which is another example of Pat being Pat making it sound like Byleth was lost with Edelgard. The Japanese title is a callback to what Sothis called Byleth at the start of the game. King/Queen Byleth is remembered as “The Flame that Seeks Their Destiny” in the Japanese script, same thing Sothis called them whenever she saved their ass. In Moon, they're remembered as “The Guardian of Order,” and Wind “The Ruler of the Dawn” highlighting the dawn of a new Fodlan.

Jertiza is simply remembered as the Bloodstained Demon.

I also noticed a certain line was changed. Remember at the start of the game when the leaders describe their House members? This is what Edelgard starts with when describing herself “Me? I’m exactly how I look. You may feel that I’m arrogant, but still, I’m to be the next Emperor.” Funny, Edelgard wants you to see her at face value. What you see is what you get, no ulterior motives and it's not like she'll be unmasked or something during the story. /s But seriously, the Flame Emperor reveal is meant to be a major twist according to the devs. That the entire time, Edelgard had another side to her, a side that history remembers her as as I mentioned above, and part of that surprise is it's a role a woman hasn't filled before in this franchise. The villainous red emperor seeking conquest. And hell, people know that the things Edelgard does as the Flame Emperor don't make her look good, I've seen her defenders wish that the identity would change based on route and let's not forget the teacher theory in response to her hiring bandits to kill her classmates.

The other thing that stood out is that Edelgard is remembered as THE hegemon. THE. But the thing is, I think this can be a sign that Edelgard's reforms don't fix things and the Empire would repeat it's decline following her rule.

Edelgard's Japanese endings make it out her goal is to reform the class system so that people won't rely on others. While the route's ending makes it out that Edelgard intended to abolish the nobility, the Byleth/Lorenz ending says that their son INHERITED his position from his father. This was an ending that was changed from the other routes for Flower, and it still shows that nobles can merely inherit their parent's position whereas the Constance solo ending makes it out that the noble titles are only supposed to last for a generation and not be passed down. Edelgard consolidated power so that she could reform Fodlan as she saw fit, so that she could decide who gets what position. Yet, by the time Lorenz retires the Emperor doesn't seem to have that power anymore. This could tie back into Hanneman's support with Dorothea, about how the nobility were supposed to be a meritocracy of sorts before the nobles used their power to secure their positions for their families while keeping the commoners down.

Edelgard was THE hegemon, with her successors seemingly not being considered as much likely because they didn't hold the same absolute power that she did.

[randomnameless]

Hey, I have to say I am really, really impressed with how much you've managed to dig up and connect about Fodlan. Dang, all those details in obscure supports...

Do you have any insight on what is the deal with Lorenz's dad? I think Ignatz-Raphael paralogue suggested that he was directing a dude who could control wild beasts (sus dark magic?) to attack merchants going to Derdriu in the present day and to kill Claude's uncle in the past, and he's kinda vaguely supporting the Empire but only because he's looking to side with the victor...? But also wasn't there something something about him in Hopes?

Basically, I am fishing for juicy details.

4 years of discourse and 2 years of lockdown spent browsing the datamine lol

Lorenz's dad supposedly hates the Riegan family and wanted to get rid of them, Claude's uncle died along with Raphael's parents? - and to get rid of the Riegans, he was willing to stage and mount attacks, and most likely as you pointed out, hiring shady people to do so, like an agarthan or two who could control wild beasts...

But also, Lorenz's dad is someone who wants to protect his people, and sides with the Empire in the non VW routes elsewise, by virtue of having lands near imperial territory, he'd be crushed first. Erwin is also the one who hired Jeralt to protect the Sauin village (where Leonie comes from!) from poachers the first time they met.

In Nopes, like a good chunk of what could be interesting* in FE16, he is whitewashed because everything wrong must have be done by Agarthans, so, somehow, Agarthans were the ones who killed Claude's uncle and Raph's parents, and i don't remember if Erwin learnt about it afterwards or not.

*"the agarthans did it" is the cheapest way they found to make sure everything has an explanation and a clear target, humans cannot be asses because humans being asses is a staple in the FE series, nooo. Agarthans must have "pushed them" or manipulated them to be asses.

I really really really didn't like this, and still don't.

[sun-marie]

Thoughts on Claude von Reigan for the character breakdown thing?

How I feel about this character: I really like Claude, I find his character really compelling! The Golden Deer route is my second favorite route of the game, and in my favorite route, the Blue Lions, I like the Alliance's role (as mostly demonstrated through Claude) as a wildcard third party. I like how he reclaimed himself despite his rough upbringing and allowed it to shape him rather than define him, and I am a sucker in general for characters who seemingly have a plan for everything. Also, his design is an 11/10, top tier, especially his post-timeskip with the pushed back hair and lil beard <3

All the people I ship romantically with this character: So personally, I actually like him best with Hilda, I love how ride-or-die they are for each other despite playing it off so casually. The problem is that while Hilda is my favorite partner for Claude, Hilda herself has *many* great potential partners, one of them being Lorenz. So (at least in my BL playthroughs) I hc they're all in this terrible soap-opera love triangle, where Hilda is on-again-off-again with Claude until she gets together with Lorenz, which lasts until he defects to the Empire, in which they breakup (Lorenz actually ends up dying on the Great Bridge of Myrddin, because Tragedy™). Then, a few years after the game ends and relations between Fódlan and Almyra have improved, Hilda and Claude officially get together.

My non-romantic OTP for this character: I really enjoy the potential of his friendship with Dimitri, particularly the aspect of which they are both the heads of incredibly important nations, and so I feel there is an inherent respect borne out of their equality of power that's really fun to watch.

Additionally, I love his supports with Cyril and really wish they had an A support!

My unpopular opinion about this character: I don't know that I have any? I think the closest I would have is that I'm not a huge fan of Claudeleth, but not only does that have less to do with Claude and more to do with me just preferring other Byleth pairings, but also bc plenty of other people don't ship them.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: I really really wish he stuck around for the ending of the Blue Lions route. In my ideal, perfect, hypothetical world, the Blue Lions and Golden Deer routes would be combined into one, with Claude joining up in the Chapter "Golden Deer's Plea" and the BL route being the dominant one until after Edelgard is defeated, with the Chapter "Oath of the Dagger". From there, transitioning into the GD for finding Rhea with the Chapter "The City Without Light" and going to Shambhala and fighting Nemesis.

I understand that they didn't do this for replayability purposes, but for me, the BL ending leaves just a little to be desired in the larger scale of the lore and Claude is too good of a character to just disappear for the last few chapters.

GIVE ME A CHARACTER: and I’ll break their ass down:

[three-duck-houses]

@fe-oc-week day 6 - Supports

So I skipped days 4 and 5, Tragedy and Joy, because I really can't work out what to do for them? The only thing she would consider a tragedy is her mum dying the day she turned 11, and she makes an effort to find as much joy as possible in the little every day things, like sun rises and sun sets and clean air and tasty food and being near people she likes. Just too many things to list

For Supports, I don’t tend to think of Nico in terms of fitting her into the game mechanics (with branching paths and joining different classes), it’s more of a linear story that has conversations at various points that I guess could count as Support convos? Though saying that, I know that one and one conversations with most everyone do all happen at one point or another (if Shez and Byleth get to talk to everyone, so does Nico!) however where most of her story is still living in my head as a giant jumble to half cooked ideas and snippets of dialogue... I'll just share what I've already got for a few people

So here's some of my favourite bits of dialogue and short scenes? =3 (and a few scene outlines because my brain Will Not Work properly)

Conversations with Leonie, Hilda, Lorenz, Felix, Shez, Claude, Sylvain

Leonie:

When Nico first gets to the academy - 

“Leonie! Hello darling, it’s great to see you!” she said, reaching out and pulling her friend into a quick hug before stepping back and holding her by her elbows as she gave her an exaggerated once over. “And oooh, look at you! Dressed up all fancy. It really suits you. Give us a twirl? Niiice. Now give me another one so I can check out something other than your ass? And your legs, phew, didn’t think I’d ever see so much of them out in public like this.”

Leonie burst out laughing as she cuts the start of her second spin short and shoves at Nico’s shoulder with a fond eye roll and faint blush. But she’s quickly reminded that they aren’t at Sauin village where everyone knows what they’re like, and are in fact surrounded by strangers when she hears a few other people also laugh while still more splutter from drinking at the wrong moment or make scandalised sounding gasps. And through it all, a laugh she vaguely recognises. She looked round, and found Lady Hilda sitting at the nearby table next to Yellow cape–no, he was Claude, and she was still kinda mad at him–, and she’d half turned towards her to say hi when Leonie’s words made her freeze

“Yeah, I didn’t either, but my uniform choices were this or a dress. It’s surprisingly comfortable, when you get used to it. What have you picked for yours?”

Her eyes snapped back to Leonie, hoping her friend was joking, but no, no it didn’t look like she was.

“Run that by me again? Did you say the options are a skirt or a dress?”

“Huh? Well, yeah. I was pretty miffed about it too, but they seemed kinda strict about it, long held tradition or something.”

She turned to Shez and Byleth, who were watching the conversation with vague interest, and silently asked them what the fuck with a head tilt and brow lift.

“You don't remember us going to see the tailors last night after we talked to Professor Hanneman? Well, we did, and we've picked out what we want, but you were too out of it to pick yourself, so we said we'd go back later today. Oh. They needed your measurements to get started on your shirts, so me and By got them, so they wouldn’t be touching you.”

Well. That was one thing to be thankful for, she supposed, giving Shez a grateful smile, then glancing down at Byleth when she felt a light touch on the back of her hand to find her cousin looking up at her, the faintest of frown lines between her brows, and shifted her smile over into reassuring.

“I’m fine, honest. Just gonna have to talk to them is all.”

“Aww, what’s the matter Nico?” Leonie asked with a laugh in her voice. “You can’t tell me you’re afraid to show a little leg yourself, I’ve seen what you dance in.”

Shaking her head fondly she turned back, noting that Hilda had left her seat and was walking towards them so she needed to wrap this up quickly.

“You know damn well how much of me I’m happy to show, but when you’ve got some free time how about I take you up on Kilani and you can find out how much of a pain in the ass it is to ride a wyvern in a skirt?”

Hilda:

When Nico gets to the monastery, and she’s meeting everyone along with Byleth and Shez, she’s just introduced herself the the Great Lord’s heirs and offered to do anything she can to help them, since she’s employed by Lady Daphnel and trying to build a good rapport with these noble kids - 

"Except you. If you want me to buy you more beads you need to start learning Almyran properly and come with me. I'm not having you yell at me for buying you what you ask me for again."

Hilda laughed, rolling her eyes, then started her familiar argument

"I asked for lapis lazuli seed beads Nico–"

"No, you asked for blue–"

"And you bought me turquoise cut gems–"

"Turquoise is blue! I bought you blue stones with holes in them! I tried, ok? This is why you need to come with me!"

End of Harpstring, after the class’ first main mission in which Nico took an arrow to the back of the shoulder for Claude, and then an axe hit to her arm while pushing Hilda out of the way of an attack. Hilda and Leonie have gone with Nico back to the eyrie to help her unsaddle Kilani, since her arm’s in a sling. Probably their C support? - 

“Nico, why’d you take that hit for me? You know I’m not actually a delicate flower, don’t you?”

“I know, I know. But I still didn’t want to see you get hurt. Even if you could have taken it, it would still have caused you pain, and I just… don’t want to see you hurt. I honestly do like you Hilda, and I’d like to be friends someday.”

“Wait, you think we aren’t friends already?”

“Huh? I mean, um…”

“Nico!”

“I didn’t want to presume! You are a noble after all, and you’ve paid me to run errands and do stuff for you before! I thought you might still see me as a messenger, or like, a merc who works with Holst sometimes.”

Leonie, who was on the other side of the wyvern stall, started sniggering

“Don’t mind her Hilda, Nico’s pretty bad at knowing when she’s made a friend, she asked me if she could call me one after we’d known each other six months.”

“Leonie!!!”

“Haha, I see! In that case yes Nico, we are friends. And I think Marianne and Lysithea would probably say you are too, so how about we all go and get tea together at some point, yeah?”

“Huh? Oh, um, yeah. Yeah, I’d like that.”

Lorenz:

Lorenz pissed Nico off when they first met because he didn’t like the way she’d talked to Leonie, and reminded her several times that he was a noble who had standards. So when she went back to Daphnel for her first weekend running messages and she offered to take stuff for the rest of the class, she made a point of charging him, since he was a noble, not one of her classmates or friends. This happens shortly after that

“Hey, um, Lorenz? Do you have a second?”

“Yes? What can I do for you?”

“I. I wanted to apologise for the way I spoke to you on Friday,” she said, dropping into a bow and focusing on his shoes, which were of course perfectly polished. “And for all of my conduct towards you so far, in fact. I know I’ve been a real brat towards you, because what you said when we met kinda annoyed me, but that’s no excuse for my frankly terrible behaviour and attitude. You of course aren’t obligated to, but I was wondering if perhaps we could try to start over?”

His feet shuffled in place while he made a vaguely surprised noise, and she could hear their classmates still tidying books and lingering at desks. She hated having to do this in front of them, but, well, she had made the point of charging him for delivering his message and then warping him away to his dad’s office in front of them too, so it was only fair.

“I accept your apology. And as to starting over, ahem. I am Lorenz Hellman Gloucester, and it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

She slowly rose up from her bow, looking up and finding him giving her a small, tight looking smile, but it was a smile nonetheless.

“The pleasure is mine Lord Gloucester. I am Nicolita Eisner, but please, call me Nico. Do you think you might be free at all in the next few days to join me for some hot leaf juice, do you think?”

She bit her lip as she watched his eyes fly wide and he started to splutter, colour rushing to his cheeks and looking like he was trying to be a kettle fit to boil over, before he paused, and narrowed his eyes at her. She shrunk down a little, and felt her shoulders hunch despite herself. Yeah, she’d been trying to wind him up by calling it leaf juice, but she did actually want to have tea with him

“Humph. Very well. But I must insist that you refrain from referring to it as such. While I acknowledge that not all of the blends that are generally called tea deserve the title, those blends do have their own proper names, such as tinctures and tisanes. Come along, and I can begin teaching you the differences now.”

Felix:

End of Harpstring, her dead mother’s birthday. Nico has been trying to keep her head down and not interact with people, and Felix has been trying to goad her into sparring despite her and Byleth telling him to stop - this would be C- I think? -

"Tch, what's the matter? Scared to fight me now I know the sort of dirty tricks you like to play? You truly are pathetic"

That makes her snap, spinning to face him and magic sparking out of her, like in one of those static ball things, and leaving faint scorch marks on the floor near her

"For fucks sake Felix! I'd heard Sylvain was the insatiable one who didn't understand the concept of 'no', but were all those rumours really about you instead? Are you really the type of guy to keep pushing and pushing after a girl's turned you down, and ignore all her attempts to politely make you back off? I’m thinking maybe they were, since Sylvain has been nothing but a gentleman since I met him"

Felix is horrified, because of what she's implying. And Sylvain's a little surprised, because er, does she not remember their date?

“I said no. I said I don’t want to. I am now saying to fuck the hell off and leave me alone and just don’t talk to me about anything, ever, you spoiled little noble brat! It’s more than time you grew the fuck up, learned some manners and learned to fucking listen to people other than yourself!”

Later the same day, Nico returns to the monastery from where she’d stormed off, and goes to find Felix in the dining hall - 

"What do you want?" he bites out, and it's an effort to swallow from how dry her mouth suddenly is as she tries to remember what she wanted to say

She bows to him, a full proper one with all the respect he deserves, and says "I'm sorry. I was in a bad mood but I shouldn't have taken it out on you. You did nothing to deserve what I said to you, and my words towards you were completely unwarranted and unjustified, and the insinuation I made was unnecessarily cruel. I truly regret my actions, and any harm I've caused you, and will do whatever you want to make things right, if I can."

She waits, holding the bow, for his reaction, and has to bite her lip to try and hide her flinch when he scoffs

"If you think that drivel you spouted will make everything better–" he starts with a barely suppressed snarl in his voice, and she knows it's rude and will probably make everything worse, but she cuts across him

"No, I don't think it'll make things better. I understand if there is nothing I can ever say or do to make up for the pain I caused you or any damage to your reputation. But in case there is, please know I will say or do whatever you deem necessary to make things right"

Silence. And she internally cringes because it's the sort of silence that means everyone in the hall has stopped and is watching, and if anyone hadn't known what happened before then they'd find out now and this was a terrible idea what was she thinking she was such a fucking moron

"Idiot," Felix spits, followed by a tch of him clicking his tongue. "Go away. I don't want to deal with you right now. You disgust me"

(this one isn’t even dialogue, just how the scene would go, but shhhh, pretend it is?) This would be… either C+ or B I guess? - 

After everyone’s settled down, she goes to Kilani’s saddle bags and pulls out her set of poi, and moves to a bit of the clearing away from Felix, because they still aren’t exactly on the best of terms from the whole insulting him thing, and starts practising. Hits herself a few times, but mostly does ok

She keeps track of the time, and when their shift is over she looks over at Felix, trying to build herself up to face the cold hostility she’s sure she’s about to get from him, but finds him staring at her, looking considering and calculating, and what? Tentatively calls his name, and he blinks a few times, then tch’s, looking away from her. Says her footwork was interesting was all, he was studying it to see if any of it could be applied to his swordsmanship.

She stares at him, because huh. Didn’t expect him to admit that. But her silence seems to bother him, and he shifts, crossing his arms, then huffs loudly.

Asks if she’d be willing to teach him how to do all that, and she’s a little surprised. Because she hadn’t been entirely sure they were back on good terms… They hadn’t interacted much since the whole blow up at him thing?

He tch’s again, and says she had a point, he was wrong, he’s been trying to be better about it. And… he wants to learn how to do what she did. Not just with these balls on strings. But with the moving around in fights. The dodging out of the way, and all the footwork. And he saw her dancing in town, and the moves she used looked... He thinks it’d be useful for his fighting. Please.

It’s the please that gets her. Because wow. Progress!!!

Shez:

So Nico and Shez are pretty close before the game even starts, so it’s difficult to work out what would even count as supports for them. But I really do love this scene so I’mma share it =3

Context is Byleth and Shez started the Ashen Wolves DLC while Nico was away running messages for Judith, only Judith told her to take a few hours off while she wrote supplies so Nico made a giant pool at the Troupes camp and was teaching the kids to swim when she felt Byleth turn back time (long story). So she warped to Byleth while still in her under things, and joined in the fight in that outdoor map below the cathedral bridge, but because of the excess amount of Sothis magic down there her magical senses are dulled, and she kinda hasn’t noticed anyone else who takes part in the DLC are kinda hanging back to stay out of the way of her attacks… - 

A sharp slice across her collarbone as she didn’t step back either quick or far enough, and she hissed in pain, then growled as she felt her top which just got cut through slide down to leave one side of her chest exposed, and then hung loose and distracting off her other shoulder as the knot got stuck in the rings at the back 

“Nico? What’s wro–” Shez’s question dissolved into splutters, and then a grunt of pain, and she glanced over to where she was pretty sure he was to see him sprawled on the floor, cheeks a bright red, and a construct standing over him with an axe.

Sighing, she reached out and waved a hand, shooting ice up from either side of Shez to impale the enemy.

“Oh I’m sorry Shez, don’t tell me you got distracted by my non-existent tits?” she asked sweetly sharp, keeping half an eye on him as he scrambled to his feet

“For the love of–gnnngh! I said it one time, and that was months ago! How are you still not over that yet?”

“You’re right, you did only say I’m flatter than a wash board with grapes nailed to it one time, yeah. But there was another time when you said the only shape I have is because of an excessive amount of ruffles! And maybe I’ll start getting over it when you apologise??”

“What? I already did!”

“Bollocks did you!”

“I did! You were yelling at me in the healers tent and started to cry and stopped as soon as I said I was sorry!”

“When I was in…” She stopped after kicking one of the things in the stomach then spinning round to get the momentum to behead it cleanly. She uses this quick lull in the fight to yank at her top, pulling the knot through the rings so it was free and she could drop it to the floor, where it wouldn't distract her by flapping and shifting and tickling her back

“Shez. Darling. Love. Sweetheart–”

“Uh oh”

“–Light of my life. Did you perhaps apologise to me during the three days I lost because I had a mother fucking concussion from being thrown head first into a tree saving your sorry ass from the giant wolves you pissed off?!”

“. . . well when you put it that way–”

“As soon as we’re done murdering these bitches I’m smacking you upside the head you flaming sack of putrid festering duck shit!”

Claude:

Shahid attacked the Locket while the Goddess’ Rite of Rebirth was going on (because he’d heard someone tried to murder some of the Alliances heirs last month, so the Alliance must be weak right now), so the Deer have to ditch protecting the Sword in order to beat up Shahid. Nico provides some psychological horror to the Almyran’s before warping them all back to the capital, and then has a quick conversation with Nader before sending him back to explain that they’re all going home in one piece this time because of her debt to queen Tia—--

Nico blue screens as she puts together that Tiana is the same name as Oswald’s daughter/Claude mum and the Fodlani born Almyran queen and huh

The next day, when Nico wakes up from her magical overexertion nap and Claude catches her in the eyrie -

“So, about what happened with Nader yesterday. I guess that means you kno–”

She spun around and practically lept towards him, slapping her hand over his mouth as she grabbed his shoulder and pushed him backwards until he hit the wall out of sight of the doorway. She squeezed tighter when his hands seem to instinctively go to her wrist and try to pull her off him, and she had to look away from his eyes and focus on a spot just past his ear when she saw how alarmed, confused, and wary betrayed he was, because it made something in her chest ache something fierce to see how he still didn’t trust her, despite everything. But she pushed that aside for the moment, because he needed to hear this! 

“Look. There is a very fine line between me strongly suspecting something because of facts I’ve pieced together, and me knowing something because someone else has confirmed it. Right now, I can honestly say if anyone asks that I don’t know who or where your parents are. So I need you to be very careful about what you say to me from now on so you don’t tip me suspecting over into me knowing. Understand?”

A light seemed to flicker on behind his eyes, which were darting all over her face as she slowly lifted her hand off his mouth and let go of him, and then he slowly nodded, something like a smirk tugging at the corner of his lips

“Yeah, I understand. I… yeah.”

She nodded at him, then turned to go back to making sure she’d packed all of Kilani’s things properly, but he grabbed her shirt sleeve, gently tugging, and she looked back at him in surprise, because huh?

“Thanks, Nico. For not saying anything yesterday.”

She gave him a look, brows raised and lips quirked, and shook her head with a sigh

“Don’t be dumb, Claude. You don’t need to thank me for something like that. You should know by now I’ll have your back when I can, alright? No matter if that’s from swords, axes, arrows, or info”

~~

And then a few days/a week later, when Judith comes and gets Claude and takes him back to Deidriu to sit in on the Roundtable, Judith brings Nico along too so she can then fly Claude back (so Judith doesn’t have to make the trip there and back again)

And Nico realises that every time she’s spoken Almyran in front of Claude, he’s understood it. And she starts trying to remember all the things she’s said in front of him, and remembers the whole “We could always bribe these three with the literal Prince’s ransom I’ve been offered to track down the youngest prince if you want me to go take that job?” conversation from after Remire

So she goes to find him, and they have a little conversation where she asks him if that was why he didn’t like her at the start of the year, and he’s annoying and reminds her he’s not meant to do or say anything to confirm either way anything she suspects, and she’s very grrrrr at him because he has a point but also she can tell he’s being a wind up, till he laughs and says yeah,  he understood what she said, and while he knew she worked for Judith and she’d said she worked for Gramps, he didn’t know how far her loyalty would last when she was worried about keeping Byleth and her chest rock away from the monastery

And oooooooh, fuck. She’d forgotten she’d talked about that. Yeah, no, not acknowledging that he just said that, moving on

~~

There’s then what would probably be a B support that happens at the White Heron Ball, but I need to rewrite that because I wrote it ages ago and I don’t know if it’ll fit in with various changed I’ve made to the rest now, but tl:dr is Claude asks Nico what she plans to do after they graduate, Nico says not sure, depends what Byleth and Shez do, but probably go back to working for Lady Daphnel at least part of the time, and Claude asks if she’d want to come work for him maybe?

And She kinda does… but she’s got this whole thing about not flirting with people who pay her, and she was really looking forward to trying to flirt with him a little after she wasn’t being paid to kinda look after/keep an eye on him or do whatever he asks her to?

Que conversation where they talk around how they both feel about that, with a few hypotheticals thrown around by both of them ;3

Sylvain:

So what would be their C support (where Sylvain takes her on a date and she doesn’t realise it’s a date because he reminds her so much of one of her troupe cousins and has unconsciously fallen into the sort of banter she has with that cousin) is a giant mess of half formed ideas and half written conversations which I can’t share

But their B- support happens after the Gronder fight, because Nico did something stupid to save some people from the troupe as the students made their way back towards the monastery and completely drained herself of magic and gets stuck in bed (she shares a room with Byleth because reasons) and is bored - 

Nico is stuck in bed for 3 days after they get back. She is bored stupid, but light and sounds are still hurting, and she can only just get herself up and to the toilet without help, so classes are out of the question. But she's finding Manuela was right, and stuffing her face with as many cakes and sweets and sugar as possible is helping immensely, and she's getting plenty of them whenever people visit her

She's laying in bed trying to focus on a book Ashe and Ingrid recommended to her when someone knocks on the door, then opens it without waiting for a reply. It's Sylvain carrying a tray loaded with a tea set and covered plates. He puts it down on the side table Byleth found for exactly that, since she can't even handle going to the dining hall to eat, while Nico slowly gets herself sat up

"You could have waited for me to say come in," she scolds playfully, trying not to laugh at his pout and puppy eyes. "What if I was getting changed or something?"

His pout turns into a crooked grin, and his eyebrows dance a few times.

"Then I would have enjoyed the free show," he smarms, and laughs as he dodges the small cushion she throws at him. "Careful. You'll knock over the tea"

"Uh huh. So. Not that I'm complaining, but who are you using me as an excuse to hide from?"

"What?" he draws out, playing at being offended, the doofus. "Can't I visit my dear bed bound friend without having some sort of ulterior motive?"

"I don't know. Can you?"

He manages to hold his fake offended expression for a few seconds against her flatly amused one, before he laughs, shaking his head as he settles on the edge of the bed

"Ingrid was trying to get me to train with her, but I really was planning on coming to see you anyway. Wondered if you wanted to practice chess, but you don't look entirely with it"

- Sylvain ends up sitting/laying next to her in the bed and letting her lean against him as he reads to her since she's having trouble focusing but the book has occasional pictures she likes to look at, and somehow he's way more comfy than Byleth to lay on??? She thinks it's the boobs, she tells Sylvain solemnly, and it sets him off laughing so hard he has to lay back with his arm over his face for a minute or two. He keeps having to nudge her to remind her to eat because she's sort of dozing off, and refilling her tea and making her drink

- Byleth comes in the room, looking like she’s been in the training hall, and her brow goes up when she sees them, making them both laugh. Byleth starts moving around the room putting her things away, and Nico scoots over towards the wall, tugging Sylvain, and tells By to join them, Sylvain's doing storytime. Sylvain tries to protest, because this seems kinda weird, but Nico pouts at him and asks "Why, don't you want to share a bed with two beautiful ladies?"

"Yeah Sylvain," Byleth agrees in an even more deadpan than usual voice while her eyes sparkle with mischief, walking back to the bed and leaning down next to them, one hand resting on the headboard. "I thought you'd jump at the chance to get us both in bed?"

"Do I need to come back later?" Shez's flat voice drifts in from the doorway, surprising all of them, and Nico is the first to burst out laughing only to immediately wince and stop and clutch her head, burying her face again Sylvain with a groan

Byleth keeps laughing lightly as she grabs Shez before he can leave, dragging him and the fresh tray of tea and cakes into the room. Nico groans again when she sees it, turning her face back into Sylvain's shoulder

"I hate to admit it, but I'm getting kinda tired of cakes. I think I maybe even want a vegetable"

Shez gasps, and she opens an eye to glare at the overly shocked face he's making

"Who are you and where's the real Nico?"

- Shez ends up joining them and sitting at the foot of the bed and all three of them bully Sylvain into continuing story time