#sylvain just emotionally abusing you

[gladiator-gladiolus]

My prejudgement of the engage cast: Solm edition

Like I said before, this is as of before I venture into chapter 4 this time, so obviously I don’t actually know ANYTHING about anyone except what I’ve accidentally absorbed through fanart. This is all purely based on their appearance and the vibe. I’ll reblog with what I actually think of them after I’ve finished the game, or have sufficient enough exposure to them

(^_−)−☆

(These are probably really harsh, I have unleashed my full prejudice)

Fogado

Sylvain and Yuri’s personality love child

manwhore (but respectfully)

Looks like he has committed numerous war crimes and does so with an irresistible smile, 10/10 would do again, 5 star review on yelp

Knows how to emotionally manipulate you

Can dance really well but won’t tell anyone

a very good leader

Charismatic as FUCK

knows his people well and they love him

has a fanclub

Is known to prank people

sexy and he knows it

I’ll either be in love with him and won’t admit it or I’ll be completely immune

Pandreo

What is going on with his hair???????

ngl im kinda into it though

Has “goes to the same hairdresser as Lorenz” syndrome

Really mean but everyone is into it

Gay but is almost homophobic about it

would kick a child and call it character building

Has another male character he is shipped with religiously

the red flag everyone ignores

obnoxious pretentious little meow meow

I’m going to absolutely adore him

pretends he knows everything but actually dropped out of school at the age of 9 months

Bunet

Chivalry isn’t dead personified

excuse me hi, yes, my name is micromanagement supreme

Probably a Nationalist

Comes across as a jock at first but is actually extremely skrunkly dunkly

His work is his life

would rather the world be shaped into a cone and everyone slide off the face then see his friends hurt

Would rather be dead than not feel useful

In a modern Au would be obsessed with guns and holding dead animals

his parents are silly :(

is trying to further his reputation for 60% of the game

accidentally adopts one of the younger characters

is actually a bit of a nobody

Timerra

If you sucked every inch of optimism out of the world and concentrated it in one place, this is what would grow legs and emerge

Social butterfly

Comes across very confident but is actually really insecure

Is an only child

Tends to avoid reality

Shockingly the most religious out of all Solm characters

either extremely childish or overly mature with responsibility issues and there’s no in between

Kins Pinkie pie

Merrin

Wears winter clothes in the height of summer and visa versa

Tell him to bring a coat and he won’t then will blame you when he gets cold

is probably a girl that I mistook for a boy

Wants you to think he shops at hot topic but can actually be seen buying neon vests in the rave shop

Goth but the heart’s not in it

“I dOnT nEEd fRieNds, tHeY diSaPoiNT mE”

Quiet and reserved

Takes a long time to think about things but when he gets back to you on that, it’s going to be the best idea you’ve had the pleasure of hearing

Has a strong sense of self worth

was abused by his dad

Seadall

no, Navarre isn’t my twin brother why would you say that?

while you were busy buying body pillows, he studied the blade

Is a martial arts genius

If you’re not talking about combat, get lost

One of the most morally grey people you’ll meet

Is a sword for higher but would probably do it for free if you said please

noble gone bankrupt

Has a cruel master he has weird sexual tension with

the one Merrin looks up to

Man of no words

a woman I’m mistaking for a man

Panette

I saved the worst for last

not the clown but the whole circus

the quiet kid (trademark)

edgelord

who am I kidding, I’m just jealous because she’s way cooler than me, I’m going to end up loving her to bits

Super slay makeup so is super slay in all aspects of life

doesn't take life too seriously

just go with the flow

Likes causing people pain

favourite film is probably final destination

likes the smell of dead bodies

in reality cares about the well-being of others too much

doesn’t care what anyone thinks of her

the most mentally stable in the entire game

has a weird obsession with marionettes

Solm will most likely be my favourite but right now I’m in denial

#Solm #fire emblem engage #fe engage #panette #bunet #pandreo #fogado #merrin #seadall #timerra #Long post #unsolicited slating

[agent-cupcake]

IDK why but yandere prompt 10 screams sylvain to me! it's okay if you dont wanna do this one, though. thank you for opening requests! ive really enjoyed all your writings

10. “I don’t know what I would do if I couldn’t have you.”

Sylvain didn’t greet you when you took a seat beside him, ready for the meeting to be called. Agriculture wasn’t a particular interest of yours, but it was a part of your duty as the wife of an important, land-owning lord to be invested in the affairs of Gautier territory. For his part, your husband didn’t seem terribly enthused. Just as you were about to ask if he was okay, he spoke.

“Who was he?” Sylvain asked in a would-be casual voice, low enough to be lost in the mindless chatter of the slowly filling council room.

The question usually went something like that, innocuous but pointed enough for you to know where it was headed. And you knew who and what he was referring to, knew it so intently that you felt a completely unreasonable stab of guilt because you knew how Sylvain was, how he might have interpreted your interaction with one of the male mages working on the current project. As familiar as the question was, you couldn’t immediately guess the tone. Sylvain was tricky, always masking his intentions behind playful masks and a glip front.  

“Who?” you asked, playing dumb. That sometimes worked. If it seemed like you were innocent, he might drop it and move on. It would be incriminating if you admitted that you knew what he meant right away. And if he was just teasing, playing around to fill the part of the protective husband, you didn’t mind the role of the oblivious wife. Really, you wished you were that type of woman. Blind to the world, and especially the men, around you. Everything would be so much easier.

"That guy you were talking to,” Sylvain explained, dangerously nonchalant. “The two of you seemed pretty close.”

“Really? We only met… Mmm, last week?” you replied, refusing to meet his eye or become flustered. That would just make you seem guilty. Which you weren’t. “He’s from Fhirdiad, one of the mages who are working on solutions to fertilizing the soil in the fields near the Fraldarius border.” You hesitated, searching for something to add, something to change the subject and ease the tension. “Um, the tests so far have been really encouraging. They’re thinking that next spring they can have at least half of that land ready for production.”

"Yeah, I heard about that,” Sylvain said, nodding off your attempt to distract him. “I was just asking ‘cause you were laughing pretty hard.”

There it was. Sylvain’s tone, as you had come to know quite intimately, was cool, a little stiffer than his usual way of speaking. Lacking inflection. It was always like that with him. He never told you outright when he thought or felt or explained his stark shift in demeanor, always skirting around the subject with those needling little questions, maintaining his façade of indifference even as a storm brewed behind his dark eyes. Once, what felt like a lifetime ago, he told you that he’d never experienced jealousy before you. He told you that it hurt. Was this pain? Was that what made everything so uneasy and uncomfortable, leaving you scrambling to find the words to ease his mind?

You forced a faint smile, clinging to your innocence. “Was I?”

“Yeah,” Sylvain said, clearly not buying it. If anything, his eyes just narrowed. “You were.”

“We were just discussing his work. If I was laughing, I don’t…” You shook your head, forcing a shrug. “Please don’t get the wrong idea.”

“The wrong idea?” he asked. “I was just wondering who he is.”

“For no reason,” you said, some of your frustration leaking through.

“Yeah, sure, for no reason,” Sylvain agreed in an amicably flat tone. “Although now I’m curious about why you’re so defensive.” He paused, a smile playing at the corner of his mouth. “I guess he was kinda handsome. Are you worried I’m jealous?”

“That’s not-”

“‘Cause I’m not…” he insisted. “Unless there’s a reason I should be.”

There wasn’t. There never was. You never thought like that. But he did. Sylvain always did, those too keen eyes of his following you around, waiting for you to slip up in some way, to do something for him to misinterpret in the most uncharitable ways he could. Even if it was ignored, unspoken, willed out of existence through the sheer force of his adoration, yours was not a relationship born out of the stuff of romantic novels or even the clumsy affections of young lovers. For as obsessively insistent he once was in proving your own feelings to you, sometimes it was like Sylvain didn’t believe it when you told him you loved him and only him. Because there was a time―such a long time ago, hardly worth remembering―when you didn’t mean it. Even though you did now, that memory was his constant anxiety, an endless tension lingering right below the surface.

“I don’t want to fight,” you finally said, spreading your hands out in an attempt to de-escalate the situation, to convince him of your innocence. “I swear that it meant nothing. But… but if it makes you uncomfortable, I won’t talk to him again. I really, honestly don’t care.”

“Sheesh, you make me sound like I’m some sort of control freak,” Sylvain said with an air of coolly playful offense, leaning back in his chair. “Why would you even assume I’m trying to fight?”

“I don’t-”

“I’m not,” he said before you could really respond. Not loudly, never loud enough to draw any unnecessary attention to the two of you. Sylvain always knew exactly how to skirt the line of propriety in public. “It’s not like it’s even my business who you talk to. I’m only your husband. No big deal, really.”

“It is!” you insisted, heat burning at the back of your eyes. Realizing you’d spoken a bit too loud, you softened your voice, glancing around the room to ensure nobody heard the slip-up. “You are. Of c-course you are.” Maybe it was the trembling of your bottom lip as you stared hard at the table to fight off the tears burning your eyes that made regret flash over Sylvain’s face. Sometimes, when he was in a very particular type of mood, your crying only spurred him on, but not now.

“H-hey,” Sylvain told you, leaning close and draping his arm across your shoulders. “Don’t cry. I was just playing around. Guess I let it go too far.” Now he seemed apologetic, looking at you with a sheepish smile.

You met his eyes, confusion and distress giving away to understanding. Of course Sylvain had only been pretending. And you had been overreacting, always too sensitive to this kind of thing. Embarrassment followed the momentary emotional lapse, frustration that you wouldn’t just go along with his antics and had to go and make it all weird. Relief, too. It was just pretend, after all. He wasn’t upset with you.

“You’re not mad at me, are you?” Sylvain asked sweetly, pulling you towards him with the arm around your shoulders, his soft voice tickling your ear.

“You’re too mean,” you told him. But the words weren’t serious. They made him smile fondly, such a dramatic shift from the Sylvain of only minutes before.

“I’ve gotta keep you on your toes,” he said. “You never know what’s going on in the heads of pretty girls like you. I mean, imagine if I lost you to a guy who studies dirt. I’d never live it down.”

“That’s ridiculous,” you told him, leaning into the half embrace.

“Isn’t it? But, you know, I can’t help it.” Sylvain leaned in even closer, speaking in such a low, intimate way that it definitely pushed the lines of propriety, even for him. “I don’t know what I would do if I couldn’t have you.”      

#sylvain jose gautier #fe sylvain #sylvain jose gautier x reader #fe sylvain x reader #yandere #yandere x reader #fe3h #fire emblem three houses #look i almost feel bad #why is he acting like this #also this is so short orange you impressed #i should be writing an essay but who needs motifs when you can have #sylvain just emotionally abusing you #uh anyway i have one like this for claude i found hiding in my old wips but that might be more painful #physically i mean #claude is a nice gentle soul

[misselko]

It's my biggest dream to have a big brother but... oh well. I never had any in my whole life! That's why I decided to try to write this platonic headcannons for my own self-indulgence.

How would the Blue Lions treat their younger sibling that also goes to the Officers Academy?

BIG BROTHERS (BLUE LIONS)

Dimitri

He always loves his little sibling wholeheartedly! Always there whenever you need his help with anything. Lessons, training, homework, horseback riding, or life advice. Big brother Dimitri always gives the best piggy back rides!

Protective towards his younger sibling because you were the only family that he had left after the Tragedy of Duscur. With his life as cold as it is, he doesn’t want to lose other close ones.

Whenever you have nightmares, he will welcome you with open arms to sleep together in his quarters, trying his best to comfort you. He did the same thing as well. When the nightmares and voices become too strong, he always seeks you out for comfort because you can understand him, understand the way he feels and act the way he does since both of you have suffered from the loss of your family’s death. 

Even when he was being distant, he only scowled and snarled, but rarely pushed you away when you approached him and insisted on taking care of him in the cathedral. Healing his wounds or bringing food and drinks from the Dining Hall. Dimitri will only look at you silently, accepting your kindness.

Never let you participate in battles because he didn’t want to expose you to danger. But when you really have to, he will always stay close to you. Even when he went feral like a beast, your safety was his utmost concern, especially on the battlefield. Goddess please have mercy on enemies that trying to strike you. He will attack them mercilessly.

 

Sylvain

He used to protect you from Miklan abusive behaviour when you were kids, taking the brunt of his aggression so you’d be safe. Sylvain is even willing to do his best to defend you from Margrave Gautier’s mean ways to prove your worth (solely based on Crests). And he will do it again in a heartbeat for you, both in your Academy days or battlefield.

Something’s bothering you? Big brother Sylvain’s on it! He will take his time to talk and try to make you feel better. He might not look like one, but actually he is good with keeping secrets safe! Sylvain values communication and affirmation because he’s seen what negligence can do to someone.

Sylvain will always take care of you before himself and he doesn’t hide that fact. For as goofy as he is, Sylvain is a smart and quick witted. He will offer his help whenever he sense your distress, taking his time to help you with studying, training, or anything that you need help with. 

He never said it but he really loves his little sibling with all of his heart. It’s amusing to see that the famous philanderer always keeps tabs on you like an overprotective big brother whenever you go with your special someone. The redhead doesn’t want his little sibling to have a partner that’s overly flirtatious or mistreats you because he knows that’ll break your heart. He just wanted the best for his little sibling!

You know that he always tried his best to look tough and cool in front of you, but his wounds from jumping in to protect you against enemy attacks sure hurt a lot. Both of you knew that he would lay down his life for you in a heartbeat but... just like him, you wanted things to be as comfortable and safe as possible for him as well. He really should cherish his life more. He’d be panicked if you cried over him about it.

Felix

Felix will never turn down a request from his little sibling despite his endless complaints and annoyed sighs. He may make a stink over how it’s a ‘pain,’ but he won’t say no. 

He may not be the nicest, not emotionally expressive (aside from anger, determination, and rude words), and sometimes he’s downright just an ass. Both of you often ended up in arguments but he was always taking care of you secretly.

Expect your favourite cakes or small trinkets on your desk whenever he went to the town with Sylvain. But never try to ask him about it, he will get upset and might snap at you!!

Loyalty, honesty, and dependability are what he used to show he cares. On the outside it might appear to onlookers that he hates everyone and everything, but when things get tough he’s the first one you can call.

Anytime there is a battle Felix will get annoyed if you try to go on which would end up annoying you because you aren’t fragile, and might end up having an argument. But if you do end up going on the battlefield, both of you know that you can handle yourself. He always gets beyond anxious that something bad might happen to you that he almost shakes. Ironically though Felix might end up running straight to the enemies where you’ll have to follow behind him to make sure he didn’t do anything reckless.

 

Dedue

Words are rarely changed between Dedue and his little siblings. He may not be verbal with you, but his sentiment shows through his actions. When you were busy with upcoming exams, he often brought your favourite snacks or foods that he made by himself.

There’s no talking, and he just sits there beside you in silence. Drawing comfort from your reliable big brother really helps with your studying or relaxing time. Sometimes he will gave you some advices on learning on errands or tasks patiently

You often helped him to take care of flowers in the greenhouse. Roses, daffodils, lavender, carnations, anemones, forget-me-nots... Gentle Dedue taught you a lot about flowers and gardening. He almost choked in happy tears when you gave him a watering can and a flower wreath for his birthday. Hugging you and smiling warmly.

Sometimes a heavy pang of sadness gnaws at your heart whenever mean people bully both of you because of the Tragedy of Duscur. Big brother Dedue always tried his best to protect you from that kind of insult with a stoic face. It was very nice of Dimitri to defend both of you from that slander.

Dedue will get ferocious if someone dares to lay their hands on his little sibling on the battlefield. He will ask you to go to a safer place or stay behind him. It’s a known fact that being a retainer to the future king does not leave him much free time. But he always check on your well being after to battle ended before tending his wounds.

Ashe

Ashe always works hard to provide for his little siblings to prove that the world is still worth living in. He loves to see you happy and to hear your laughter.

He’s as open as his books even though his communication skills sometimes flop on him. Since your parents and Lord Lonato’s death, he acted like a parent figure for you. Offering moral support and genuine care for your well being. He can be such a worrywart sometimes but please don’t tell him so, he will be very sad if you told him that.

Weekends are very enjoyable with Big Brother Ashe! Cooking together with him and the Professor always brings so much joy. Bonus point if Dedue helped as well! It will be a delightful feast for Blue Lions!!

As much as he loves his little sibling, Ashe wanted you to be more independent. He will teach you life skills such as haggling, saving, and cooking. Dimitri often gave him some delightful sugar candies from the town that he shared with you when you had to stay up late for the upcoming exam. Hopefully that’ll help to keep you motivated!

The hurt of people he cares for is his own. It always pained Ashe to kill someone but he has to do it to protect you from the enemies. When Ashe loves he does so with his whole heart and won’t hesitate to show it. Their wounds sting him just as much, especially when his sibling was hurt on the battlefield. Expect lots of his handmade cooking and gentle care for your quick recovery!

#dimitri alexandre blaiddyd #sylvain jose gautier #felix hugo fraldarius #dedue molinaro #ashe ubert #dimitri fluff #sylvain fluff #felix fluff #dedue fluff #ashe fluff #fe3h #fe3h fanfic #fe3h fluff #fe3h x reader #fire emblem three houses #fire emblem x reader #dimitri x reader #sylvain x reader #felix x reader #dedue x reader #ashe x reader #fluff #platonic #brothers

[fireemblems24]

Post Grondor Field AM Analysis

I'm prefacing this by saying that I'm still not sure I can write a good analysis of this scene for two reasons:

1. I don't know what comes after, and

2. I'm very emotionally involved in what happened.

But I tried my best. One thing is for sure though, what happened in Grondor in AM was an incredibly significant turning point for AM and Dimitri and my thoughts and analysis on it will definitely expand as I keep writing about and playing the game.

Part of me is just so happy I got to see Dimitri's supports, have the inevitable turn around, and get to do things like tea and dinner time again that it's hard to be objective about this scene.

And by "this scene," I don't mean that actual fight at Grondor, but everything from Fleche's attack to Byleth's words in the rain later.

It wasn't all about Byleth . . .

Given how poignant Dimitri's character arc has been so far, I had a deep rooted fear player-pandering would ruin it. Byleth, as a concept, isn't bad, but too often the heaps of praise feel underserved and other things (like Claude's intelligence, Edelgard's relationships with everyone else) get ignored to make more room for player-pandering.

Thankfully this did not happen. Byleth, throughout the early chapters of AM's part 2, failed to reach Dimitri. And, honestly, seeing Byleth actually struggle for once has done wonders for how I view her character. Still, I worried that player-pandering-power, rather than something that felt earned, would cause the inevitable eye-opener for Dimitri.

But it wasn't just Byleth. Fleche's vengeance kicked everything off, what veered Dimitri away from his fate in other routes. He accepted his death at her hands, not bothering to defend himself. Rodrigue stepping in the way and his parting words forced Dimitri to confront things he'd ignored. Throughout AM so far, people have posed questions to Dimitri who refused to answer them because he didn't want to face what they asked. But Rodrigue dying for him, spending his final words telling Dimitri to live for himself - combined with Fleche's attack - forced Dimitri to confront things he avoided. It wasn't until after all of that when Byleth steps in.

And Byleth didn't "fix" him either. Dimitri's supports show a young man who's still very much struggling with his mental health, poor self-image, his previous actions, and wondering if he deserves not only to live for himself - but if he even deserves to live. Byleth didn't hand-wave Dimitri's problems away.

Everything about the scene is stronger because it didn't fall back on player-pandering, but more earned, realistic, and dramatic actions and consequences - including Byleth's involvement which felt far more earned than usual because of prior failure.

But I wish Dimitri's friends played a bigger role.

Not everything was perfect though. I wish we got a little more than we did from Dimitri's house mates - especially his childhood friends Sylvain, Ingrid, and extra special mention to Felix and especially, especially Dedue.

Throughout all of AM, none of the above mentioned characters feel utilized to their full potential. This isn't a problem exclusive to AM, and by all means it's far from the biggest offender, but given how close all the ties are in AM, it's felt when it's not there.

I still don't know what exactly I would've done with them. Maybe I'd need to make the game an actual novel to do it, and you can't forget how perma-death has historically held back games at times, limiting major moments to a select few "retreat" candidates.

Still, though, getting a bit more from Ingrid, Sylvain, Felix, and Dedue would've made the scene even more powerful.

I actually really liked the scene in the rain.

I haven't made it a secret that I dislike Byleth. Or maybe disliked is more accurate. Lately I've been rethinking my stance on Byleth, in part because I've heard from people who like her or found ways to make her work and from my own thinking about the game while planning future write ups.

I don't think it's Byleth I really dislike, but the player-pandering. Separating the two isn't easy, but it's easier since I've starting coming around to seeing Byleth as her own character.

There's been a few moments that made me care for Byleth, and this scene in the rain was one of them. Because she didn't just fix everything. She tried and failed for months to reason with Dimitri, and despite everything she never gave up on him or failed to keep offering her hand.

I'm not going to lie. I got all the bubbly, heartwarming, heartbreaking feels the writers wanted me to in this scene. Seeing Byleth reach for something and fail, and then finally, finally get through was rewarding in a way many of Byleth's prior accomplishments aren't because this one felt earned. And by God did she earn it.

Some people will likely disagree with that last point, but I disagree with them. She asked Dimitri hard-hitting questions, forcing him to come to unpleasant conclusions rather than trying to force him into anything. She kept Dimitri from veering to far off course, even at expense to herself when she killed Randolph. She saved Dimitri from Fleche when he refused to save himself. She quietly supported him, coaxing out the good she knew was still there and refused to give up on.

I'd never in a million years say someone in real life should put up with Dimitri's toxic behavior and verbal abuse, even considering his extreme trauma and aggravated mental illness. But seeing someone fuck up so badly still get forgiven, still get supported, still struggle but honestly change for the good, still get loved, start to accept and forgive himself through the power of love and forgiveness from others is very powerful, especially since media so often downplays those "softer" things as weakness in comparison to the "badassery" of ambition and stoicism. Using Byleth, who previously had little experience with feelings, who was encouraged to experience them in healthy ways by Dimitri, return the favor isn't really the worst choice.

It's cliche, but cliches aren't always bad.

The mentor dies. Redemption in the rain. Revenge against the protagonist's actions opens their eyes. Etc . . . This scene was chuck full of cliches, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

Tropes serve an important narrative purpose because a writer can rely on them to convey a message to the audience that either saves time or sets them up for something unexpected or even expected. Fire Emblem has always and will always be incredibly cliche and full of tropes. It loves tropes so much there's in-universe ones that make some unit or character discussions sound like a foreign language to people outside of or new to the fandom, talking about "Ests" and calling someone a "Camus."

What matters is if a story pulled something off well, not if it's terribly unique. A mentor dying is powerful because it forces the student to grow. Redemption in the rain is high symbolic of water washing things away + the somber atmosphere rain creates. Someone trying to get revenge against a character provides an eye-opening experience about the ripple effect of their actions. We see these things in fiction all the time because they work.

All the tropes worked like expected in this scene. Using images instead of cut scenes did make less of an impact, but more on that later.

Tl;dr: There's nothing unexpected or terribly unique about what happened. It was honestly painfully predictable, but that doesn't make it bad and is in a series that does this all of the time.

The voice acting carried because those images can't.

A major downside to this scene is that it used vague images instead of a cut scene. I get that budget and time were likely concerns, but many cut scenes from earlier in the game seem rather trivial. Did we really need that dance one? Really? I don't think so.

This was a hugely important, action heavy moment. Using one or two still images to convey everything that's happening and all those emotions, really makes it less than it could've been.

That said, the voice acting saves it. I've raved about how amazing Chris Hackeny is as Dimitri, so nothing new here. Rodrigue's and Fleche's VAs also did a fantastic job. No one oversold or undersold the emotions. Even without the cut scene, you felt what happened thanks to the skill of the actors. This scene would've been so much harder to engage with without them, if this was an older FE game where all you got was text. This is 100% one of the moments highly elevated by the decision to have a fully voiced game and choosing high caliber talent (let's not talk about Radiant Dawn's voice acting).

Questionable support timing.

One issue I had came right after the scene when I viewed Dimitri's supports. The nature of some - like his with Raphael and Alois - didn't quite line up with the character I saw in dialogue right after. I wish they staggered them a bit more or got picker about what you could get in part 1 or 2.

This isn't limited to Dimitri either. In the same support batch, I also got a Marianne B support where she still had no confidence or self-worth. And then like 10 minutes later I talk to her in the monastery and she mentions about how seeing all the death in Grondor made her value her life even more.

In the past, I've also received entirely valid opinions that Dorothea in part 2 is hard to understand because she's cherry and flirty in her supports, and morose and hates the war in her monastery stuff, making her seem inconsistent.

It's a bit jarring. It's not really an issue for characters who don't change much like Edelgard or Raphael, but even for characters with more subtle differences than Dimitri, Marianne, and Dorothea - like, say, Lorenz - you get a lot of weird stuff because of supports. I just think Dimitri's stands out because he's a main character with a really prominent, important turning point for his growth.

#fire emblem #fire emblem three houses #dimitri alexandre blaiddyd #azure moon #fe3h #fe16

[megashadowdragon]

some fire emblem three houses characters who went through terrible trauma

While most students at the academy have had some sadness in their lives, a few have had terrible abuse or trauma given to them.

Bernadetta's father, who was slowly falling out of nobility, took his anger out on his poor daughter, desperate to create 'the perfect wife' so he could still have noble connections. However, he instead ended up abusing her horribly, including tying her to a chair to force her to stay still. It got so bad that Bernadetta's mother ended up stealing her away to the Officer's Academy in the dead of night, an occasion that made Bernadetta think she was about to die. Due to the fact that her father's abuse gave her a horrible anxiety disorder, it's no wonder Bernadetta is so afraid of connections or criticism, even believing that the all-complimenting Sylvain, who read her book, must be making fun of her, and even wonders for a second if she should actually do something bad to stop him from ever mentioning it again. Bernadetta is very small before the Time Skip before growing quite a bit in five years. It's not hard to imagine that in addition to being physically and emotionally abusive, her father also wasn't feeding her very well.

Edelgard lost all her siblings to Crest experimentations, and also lost most of her lifespan, living for years in a dungeon, trapped away. There's no wonder as to why she hates Crests so much.

Dimitri lost all of his family from betrayal, and was the sole survivor of the party at the Tragedy of Duscur. Even years later, they continue to haunt him. There's no doubt that Dimitri has some sort of terrible mental illness from the experience, and even worse when you realise he had to conceal it until he just /couldn't/ any more, and ended up causing a bloodbath of his own.

Sylvain's entire personality has been shaped by abuse - confirmed physical abuse by his own brother, Miklan, implied emotional abuse by his father (in the Japanese version, he mentions that his father will do bad things to him if he finds out he ran away to fight in the war) and implied CSA*, which makes his flirting with Ingrid's grandmother not quite so amusing any more. He has a high defence growth (40%) similar to those of a typical future Heavy Armour specialist, which is a bad reminder of how his brother hurt him, including pushing him into a well and leaving him on a mountainside - which is even worse when you consider that he lives in the /coldest place in Fódlan/. He is angry towards Byleth for having a powerful Crest with no repercussions, has no ability to trust anyone new, hides his intelligence (as seen in his supports with Annette), and has eye bags even in his pre-time skip portrait. He refuses to flirt with Bernadetta and Marianne because he recognises how damaging it would be to them, and only really connects with Mercedes, who sees through his persona with kindness, Dorothea, who recognises someone who is only valued for their inherent talents, and Felix in their A-Supports, where it is implied that Felix knows how little Sylvain values his own life.

Lysithea, like Edelgard, was the only survivor of an experiment to implant a second Crest, losing most of her siblings and friends who have undergone the same procedure, and emerging with her health damaged and lifespan shortened. Again, it's little wonder that she came to despise the Crests and belief placed into them, to the point where trying to tie her magic abilities to her Crests rather than her work, skills and knowledge is a major Berserk Button for her. In fact, on the Golden Deer route Lysithea, after discovery of similarity between the two, vows to avenge Edelgard after the latter's defeat and demise, whereas on the Black Eagles route she'll be eager to switch sides and join Edelgard in her campaign against the Crest-based nobility even if she hadn't been approached in the Academy phase.Then there's 

Marianne. The poor girl, adopted by a small noble hoping to increase his influence through a marriage of convenience, was shunned and abused simply due to her "improper" Crest that is believed to be cursed and bring misfortune (due to its association with Maurice, one of the Elites who eventually turned into a Demonic Beast). What else could be expected from it — other than her turning into an utterly broken asocial loner and, at one point (as she admits in A-Support with Byleth), contemplating suicide?

Jeritza/Emile, as mentioned before, was estranged from his mother and half-sister when they fled to Faerghus, and ended up killing his father when the latter decided to bring Mercedes back to have Crest-bearing children. Out of the trauma brought by this event the Death Knight persona was born, haunting him ever since and turning him into a bloodthirsty monster now and again. Even after getting a position from Edelgard, he fears that the Death Knight can activate at the worst time, struggles to keep it in check and openly hates it — and by extension, himself. Suddenly, the lines about his desire to have Byleth 'pierce' him sound less like a combat-or-erotic Double Entendre and more like a call of desperation. Granted, he gets better towards the end Crimson Flower, but still...

of course there is Dedue whose  people and culture were massacred in a genocide

to quote dedue 

 in his felix C support :

Dedue: Faerghus destroyed my homeland. Burned it all to the ground. Slaughtered my people.

Dedue: My father, my mother, my siblings—all were killed. We received no aid. No respite. Faerghus murdered our dignity and torched our pride

#fire emblem three houses #fe16 #feth #fire emblem three houses meta #feth meta #fe16 meta #edelgard von hresvelg #fire emblem edelgard #fe16 edelgard #edelgard fire emblem #sylvain gautier #fe3h sylvain #fe3h meta #fire emblem bernadetta #bernadetta von varley #bernadetta fire emblem #dimitri alexandre blaiddyd #fire emblem dimitri #fe16 dimitri #dimitri blaiddyd #tv tropes

[firemblem-fics]

Smitten Kitten [Finale]

one | two | three | four | finale

-> Pairing: Felix x Female!Reader | Hybrid!AU (mostly platonic idk)

-> Warnings: Abuse mentions, Like Two Sex Jokes, Yelling

-> Genre: Angst, Fluff

-> Word Count: 1.6k

-> Summary: You never wanted to be involved with hybrids. They were risky and had too many rules for you. But what will you do when a little black and white cat that you take in turns out to be the very thing you steered clear of?

-> A/N: Okay so the more i wrote this the more i realized it was more platonic than anything and also it barely fucking features felix and i’m just very unhappy with it i suppose ... maybe in the future i’ll rewrite idk i’m really sorry for this i kinda hate it but i’ve been working on it for so long i didn’t want to make people wait longer

Soon, the bell rang once more and you turned your head, finally making eye contact with those red eyes you'd been longing to see for weeks.

"Fe!" You nearly stumbled forward as you rushed towards the hybrid, your heart leaping as you reached out to-

"Don't touch him!"

Karen's shrill voice was like an invisible wall that was keeping you away from Felix. You almost shrunk back as she yelled, but you stood tall. The Hybrid Services needed to see that you were strong and fully capable of taking care of Felix and you were determined to do just that.

You only looked at Felix expectantly. He went to walk over to you, but was stopped with an extremely harsh tug on his leash. He hissed at Doug, who was talking to an HPS officer with a hardened gaze.

Karen, on the other hand, walked coolly up to you. "What's your problem?" She sneered.

"My problem? You're hurting Felix."

"We're just disciplining him," She rolled her eyes, "Sometimes a savage animal needs a few hits to get the rules in their head. Felix plays too many games that we don't feel like dealing with."

"Then why do you keep him?"

"Have you seen the boy? He's gorgeous. He's won multiple awards and thousands of dollars at Hybrid Shows. A bit of pain is worth the prize."

It was your turn to roll your eyes. "He's gorgeous, yeah? Is that why you felt the need to cover his bruises with makeup? I took care of Felix for two months and he never caused any trouble. He was polite, respectful, thoughtful, and never once did he need to be 'punished'. He's not the problem- you are."

"Why you-"

"Mr. and Mrs..." An officer called the couple away from you. He began showing them all of the messages between you and Felix- proof of their wrongs.

You, on the other hand, turned to the cat-boy and finished what you started, throwing your arms around his torso and squeezing him tightly. In return, Felix only stiffened up. He didn't know where to put his hands, choosing to rest them on your shoulders as his chin laid on the crown of your head. You only got a few seconds of alone time before another pair of arms wrapped around the two of you.

"How sweet, a reunion! I'm sniffing out a kiss and some 'I missed you' sex later on- OW!"

Felix's hand went from your shoulder to Sylvain's stomach, stopping him in his sentence. "Go fuck yourself."

"Only if you watch me~"

You laughed, pulling back from the hug and looking over at Ashe, who was now engaged in a conversation with one of the HPS officers. You were more than thankful to have him at your side. Ashe had gone through the same little trial to get custody of Sylvain, so he was more than willing to help you get Felix out of his shitty situation as well.

Ashe had explained to you how Hybrid cases worked. Evidence would be presented to officers or a Hybrid Facilitator, such as Nancy, and they would make the call as to what happens next. You would be presenting evidence of Karen and Doug’s abuse to them and asking for Felix to be placed in your care. Lucky for you, Felix could speak on your behalf as well since he had stayed with you for two months.

You were scared. Felix was a big boy. He hid his emotions and stayed strong throughout the shit that his owners put him through, but even the strongest people have their limits. Unfortunately for you, Felix was still a hybrid. Legally considered an animal and treated as even less.

You couldn’t give him the freedom that he deserved, but you would try your damn hardest to give him a happy life.

You nearly teared up thinking about it and Felix must have noticed, for amidst his and Sylvain’s bickering he subtly placed his hand on the small of your back. It stayed there when the officers gathered everyone together, letting both sides present their cases. You spoke first.

“Two months ago, I found a little black and white cat in a dumpster. He was cold, hungry, and unhappy. I took him in and learned later on that he was Felix. Felix stayed with me for two months. I was under the presumption that he was kicked out of his old home- that was what he had told me, anyways.” That earned you a glare from the man beside you. “But I sheltered him for about two months, waiting for someone to come looking for him. They never did, so I took him here to get some papers filled out and make him legally… mine.”

You spat out the last word. God, did you hate the idea of having a human as a pet. Felix’s thumb brushed your back again, providing you with his own quiet form of comfort and amping you up to continue.

“I came, got some papers, and left. I should have known that he would have had papers under Doug and Karen’s name, but since I believed that they no longer wanted him, I went ahead and took ownership. Then they came up to my door later that day and took him. He had actually run away from them.

Felix put up a fight at first- he didn’t want to go. I gave him Sylvain, the other hybrid’s, phone so that he could still message me if he needed anything. The minute he left, he sent me a voice recording of those two screaming at him in the car. Since then, all of those messages had been sent as evidence that Karen and Doug have threatened him and harmed him emotionally, verbally, and physically. I want Felix to stay with me. They called him a behavioral issue, but I know how to treat him. I’ve never had an issue with him. Ever. I want full ownership of Felix Hugo Fraldarius.”

Nancy nodded and pointed to the couple, who were fuming on the other side of the room. Karen practically stormed up to Nancy and the officers, her face redder than Sylvain’s hair and voice more annoying than Sylvain himself.

“She obviously stole Felix from us!”

“What the fuck?” Said hybrid suddenly interrupted. An officer shushed him and motioned for Karen to continue.

“Felix is an award-winning, purebred Fraldarius tuxedo cat. He’s won thousands of dollars in prize money and trophies and awards, so of course a lower class girl like her would want such a high end Hybrid. He would win her money. She could have easily turned him into the facility, but she didn’t, so she stole him from us!”’

Karen had a point- you should have turned Felix in, but you couldn’t. The little cat had wormed his way into your heart more and more every day- even if he was kind of an ass in the beginning.

He still is an ass, but a little less now. You knew that when his arm moved from your back to around your shoulders, thumb now soothing the skin there.

“Wh- I didn’t even know he was a show cat until you two showed up and told me!” You defended. His hand gripped tighter as if already trying to hold you back. You were rather ready to tear this lady to shreds, honestly, so he was helping.

“You’re such a little liar- and those videos, too! They’re obviously fake. You don’t deserve Felix, you deserve to be jailed for stealing our precious prize!”

“Prize?! You don’t even see him as a real being with feelings and emotions or anything! Look-“ You suddenly licked your thumb, turning around and swiping underneath Felix’s eye. “He’s got bruises that you gave him and hid. Your face and fist are in that video. I’ve got selfies I took of him and I when he was in my care- there are no injuries, so they obviously happened in your care.”

“And how do they know you didn’t use makeup to hide the bruises you gave him?” Karen accused. God, she really was going the extra mile here. “Listen, little bitch, Felix is ours and he will be if I have to pry it from your little dead fingers.”

“You won’t lay a hand on her.” Felix speaks up. He turns to Nancy and sighs. “I wasn’t going to say anything because my pride heavily prevented me, but I am afraid of Karen and Doug. They have abused me in the last few years that I’ve been in their care and I can’t do it anymore. I can recount every single instance where they have harmed me and I will gladly do it if it means I can get the hell away from them and go with people who actually treat me well.” His face stayed straight as he spoke, his eyes hardened in a desperate attempt to show everyone how he wasn’t affected. Felix never was one to show his feelings- you were proud that he did this.

The officers, who had stayed silent for the entire time, looked at each other.

One sighed and spoke up. “You two are under arrest for Hybrid cruelty and will be investigated further and punished as charged.” He turned to you, “Do you mind if we keep the phone for a while to extract evidence?”

“I mind-“

“Not at all.” You cut off Sylvain, “He can go a little longer without his phone. He needs to go longer.”

The officer thanked you and led the two away, nearly kicking and screaming.

Nancy watched as they left, typing some things into her computer before standing up. “If any of you can follow me to the back, I need to put the proper information on a new collar tag.”

Ashe volunteered and dragged Sylvain back with him, leaving you and Felix alone at the front. You turned back to him and slipped your arms around his waist once more. Felix looked around, making sure nobody was near before holding you back properly this time. A purr erupted from his throat- quiet, but soothing as your ear was pressed against his chest.

“You’re coming home, Fe.”

“I’m already home right here with you.”

#fire emblem #fire emblem three houses #fire emblem x reader #fire emblem imagines #fire emblem three houses x reader #x reader #fire emblem three houses imagines #felix #felix hugo fraldarius x reader #felix hugo fraldarius #felix x reader #felix imagines #felix fraldarius imagines #felix fraldarius #felix fraldarius x reader #hybrid au #hybrid #au #alternate universe #series #fanfiction

[thepandapopo]

Absolute Truths

This idea wormed its way into my head and for the life of me I couldn’t get it out.

This oneshot is a little longer than the stuff I usually write (a whopping 8539 words), but I loved every minute of it. I tried editing it to the best of my ability, but honestly I suck at that. No beta, we die like Glenn. #SorryNotSorry #TooSoon ?

Please note this is non canon. The time frame for this is sometime after the Battle of Gronder post time skip and it is a mash up of the GD and BL routes (ie. Dimitri joins Claude and is no longer crazy; Rodrigue still dies. RIP).

Cross posted to ao3.

Pairing: Sylvain x Felix

Warnings: mentions of child abuse and PTSD

Synopsis:

When Felix and Sylvain get hit with a dark magic spell that reverts them back to children, the Resistance Army gets a deeper look into their bond and learn 5 absolute truths that form the foundation of their relationship.

OR

5 undeniable facts of Sylvain and Felix’s relationship.

Word Count: 8539

“Felix!”

Fuck. Sylvain loses sight of him for only a minute but that is all the enemy needs to overwhelm the already bombarded swordmaster.

Pulling the reigns sharply to the left, the Paladin charges across the battlefield, skewering any unfortunate enemies that dare block his way, the lance of ruin glowing like a beacon of fury despite the thick coating of blood on it. The air is heavy with the smell of smoke and dark magic, making it hard to breathe and blurring the red head’s vision. Regardless, Sylvain presses on; determined to get to his best friend in time before the group of mages over the hill finish casting… whatever ominous looking spell they are aiming at Felix.

“Sylvain, get out of here!” Felix shouts angrily, not even pausing his fighting to face the sight of Bella charging her way through the throng with her master astride her.

Shit. Felix cuts down another enemy.

It is never ending. No matter how many falls to his blade, another two enemies take their place. Felix isn’t stupid – he can see the group of mages prepping a dark magic spell in the distance, which makes him even angrier when he spots Sylvain riding to his aid.

Like hell he’ll give his childhood friend another reason to toss himself into harms way. Felix isn’t weak. He doesn’t need protection. And he sure as hell doesn’t want Sylvain to be the one who gets hurt trying to fix his mistakes just because he got a little too cocky and split from the rest of his battalion.

“Fuck.” Felix grunts and pushes his sword hard to disengage the thief that has him in a sword lock. He doesn’t bother to see if he is being pursued and dashes towards Sylvain who is now dismounting a short distance away, Lance of Ruin making quick work of anyone who strays too close for comfort.

Sylvain was undoubtedly within hit range of the spell now. If that idiot insists on being his usual self-sacrificing self, then the least Felix can do is use his own body to shield the older man and take the brunt of the damage.

The tell-tale crackle of magic behind him sets the hair on his nape standing.

Shit. Shitshitshitshitshit.

He isn’t going to make it. Damn Sylvain for being so slow – this is exactly why he keeps telling him to take his training more seriously-!

“Fe!”

The last thing he knows before succumbing to the darkness is a hard chest plate knocking the wind out of him and warm, strong arms that remind him of summers spent with a heart lighter than air.

----

1.       Sylvain always has, and always will protect Felix until the day he dies.

Leonie is one of two on the first shift of babysitting duty.

Undeniably, the orange haired paladin would be the first to admit that she wasn’t the greatest with kids, however there is only so much the tiny, and thankfully unconscious, Fraldarius boy can do given his current predicament.

No one really knows what happened after the enemy spell envelops Felix and Sylvain, the larger of the two curled protectively around his companion as they fall. No one even knows what the spell is.

But what they do know is that now, instead of a regular sized Felix Hugo Fraldarius and Sylvain Jose Gautier, they have a chubby cheeked blue haired cherub and an unfairly-cute-even-as-a-child ginger.

It is in the middle of bemoaning her poor luck at drawing straws when the mini-Felix begins to stir and she feels panic clawing its way up her throat.

“Ngghh…” small, unscarred hands balled into fist come up to rub at bleary amber eyes before they widen almost comically as they take in his surroundings.

“Uhh… hey.” His gaze snaps towards Leonie and she can feel her terror rising with mini Felix’s hysteria, clearly evident by the shiny glaze beginning to cloud his eyes and the fat crocodile tears gathering at the edges of his almond eyes.

“It’s okay, Felix. It’s just me.” She reaches out a hand tentatively in a placating gesture, but quickly withdraws back as young Felix lets out a squeak and scurries as far back into the corner of the bed as he can get, taking his older self’s wool Fraldarius crest blanket with him, as if it could shield him.

“Wh-wh-who are you?” The poor thing is absolutely terrified and damn it, Leonie wants to comfort him, but she is equally as distressed here and this is exactly why she didn’t want to babysit.

“It’s me, Leonie. You don’t… you don’t recognize me?”

It comes out sounding more like a statement than a question.

It’s so painfully obvious that little Felix has no idea who she is.

Which means he doesn’t have his memories.

Which means they are down two of their best generals.

Which means they are well and truly fucked.

So, Leonie does the only thing she can logically think to do.

“Come on,” She says, rising from her bedside chair and reaching for his arm. “We need to go tell Linheartd that the situation is much worse than we had originally thought.” But as soon as her hand wraps around his forearm, Felix screams.

“Oh shi-! Felix! Calm down, I’m not going to hurt you!”

If anything, this just seems to have the opposite effect and the wails increase to near piercing.

Leonie thinks it may be a trick of her mind, and probably her ears because holy crap does little Felix have a set of lungs on him, but she is pretty sure that Felix is screaming out a name.

Specifically, a name belonging to a certain red head that is, the last time she checked anyways, unconscious two doors down from his room and currently being watched over by Caspar.

“Fe!” The door bursts open and suddenly there is chaos.

Was being watched over by Caspar, Leonie amends in her mind.

“Get back here!” The blue haired warrior lunges and swipes his arm out trying to catch mini Sylvain who is slipperier than a fish in water, using his short height to duck between legs and launch himself onto the bed.

“Leave Fe alone!” Honey brown eyes that are so very familiar yet also so different, are glaring holes into Leonie and Caspar, proudly defiant and blazing with determination. Short arms stuffed into the smallest adult shirt they could find on short notice stretch out protectively, completely shielding Felix from sight.

“S-Sylvain,” comes the little sob from behind him and the older boy spares a second to throw a comforting smile behind him. “Don’t worry, Fe. I’ll protect you.” And Goddess, he sounds so genuine and earnest that it makes Leonie wonder what happened to cause their Sylvain to hide behind fake laughs and charming lilts of the tongue.

“Sorry, Leonie.” Caspar is gasping for air like he has just run a marathon. “I tried to keep him in his room but as soon as he heard Felix screaming, he was out faster than I could blink.”

“Ugh. Just go get Ingrid and the Professor.”

----

2.       Sylvain hates himself and his crest, but Felix likes him in spite of it.

A day later finds Ingrid watching over the five year old Felix (“What?! He’s five? But he’s so tiny.” “Don’t let him hear you say that or he’ll cry again.”) and seven year old Sylvain.

“Just stay in this area, okay?” She calls out over the din of raucous laughter echoing throughout the courtyard. “I don’t want you two wandering off and getting into trouble.”

The play wrestling pauses for a brief moment and little Sylvain sticks out a tongue at her.

“We don’t get into trouble! You’re just a party pooper!”

“Yeah! Party pooper!”

Shoving down the urge to smack her childhood friends into the next moon, Ingrid settles for watching with pursed lips as Felix dissolves into giggles, Sylvain’s grabby hands finding purchase in his sides and tickling him relentlessly. The look of such carefree happiness on their faces makes her heart clench and eyes sting.

If Ingrid is being completely honest… she misses this.

She remembers what it was like not carrying around a broken heart for a man buried six feet under, his remains not even whole enough to bring home. Back when she could play wrestle with Fe, Sylvie, and Dima in the dirt and then go to Glenn to kiss her knee better when one of them inevitably accidentally activated their crest and used too much strength, resulting in tears and scrapes and bruises.

It doesn’t do her any good to dwell on the past.

The dead should be left to rest, and the living should move on.

For an emotionally constipated guy, Felix is dead on with his philosophy.

Though she has long come to terms with her betrothed’s death, the small sliver of envy she has for her two oldest friends still lingers in the deepest, darkest recesses of her heart.

They’re lucky that they still have each other, even though they spend half the time bickering and denying their feelings.

“Is that the Gautier boy?”

Two monastery staff members stop beneath the path archway and look with undisguised admiration.

“So handsome at such a young age!”

“And I hear he’s incredibly charming too.”

Ingrid knows that Sylvain and hear them. He has always been keen of hearing, especially when it involves others gossiping about himself, for better or for worse.

Felix takes advantage of Sylvain’s distraction to get the upper hand and rolls on top, completely oblivious to the onlookers.

“If I were his mother, I would have secured him a betrothed as soon as he was tested for a crest.”

A hum of agreement. “Yes. His family is blessed with good looks so it would not be hard to secure an advantageous match. The Gautier line will likely continue on stronger than ever with such a prized heir.”

“Sylvain? Why did you stop?”

Felix is all wide eyes and adorable pouty cheeks, staring confusedly down at his best friend underneath him who has gone strangely silent with a strangled expression.

“Don’t you have duties to attend to?”

The two gossipmongers snap to attention at Ingrid’s sharp tone, her expression clearly telling them to get the hell out of here or risk facing her wrath.

With rushed replies of “yes, sorry miss!” and “our apologies”, they scurry off down the pathway and disappear around the corner.

But unfortunately, the damage is already done.

“Sylvain? What’s wrong? Why are you sad?”

Gently, the older boy extricates himself from Felix’s death grip of a grapple and stands up with his eyes cast downwards. “Sorry, Fe. I… I don’t want to play anymore.”

“What? What do you mean? Where are you going?”

“I’m tired. I want to go back to our room.”

It only takes one look at Sylvain’s expression before Felix is latching his fists into the fabric of Sylvain’s pants with a scowl on his face.

“You’re lying to me. Why are you lying?”

“I’m not lying, Fe! I don’t want to play anymore.”

“We’re best friends aren’t we?”

“Well, yeah, of course we are.”

“Best friends don’t lie to each other.”

Ingrid has patiently watched the exchange between Felix and Sylvain to this very moment, hoping that they can sort out this argument without her intervening like she always did as a child, but through years of experience, she can sense that one of them is about to snap and she would very much like to avoid that.

“You know the only reason we’re best friends is because our parents are friends and we both have crests.”

There it is.

It’s absolutely heart breaking how Sylvain has already learned to self destruct at the tender age of seven. If Miklan were still alive, Ingrid would skewer him a thousand times over for instilling the mantra of ‘you’re not worthy of love’ into Sylvain’s head.

“Hey guys, do you wanna go-“

“You’re a stupid head if that’s what you think.” Felix’s interruption shocks her. His usually bright amber eyes are fixed in a watery glare leveled at the boy opposite him. Right now, Ingrid may as well be invisible for all Felix cares.

“What?”

“You’re a stupid head!”

Sylvain looks absolutely affronted.

“No, I’m not!”

“Yeah, you are!” a few tears have managed to slip beyond the barrier and trail down Felix’s cheeks. “I don’t care that our parents know each other. And I don’t care about any stupid crests.”

Felix marches up to Sylvain with all the anger he can muster in his five year old glory and reaches up to smoosh his cheeks together. “I’d still pick you to be my best friend in the whole wide world because you’re funny and nice and I’m always happier with you than Ingrid or Dima.”

Sylvain can only stand there with his lips parted in round ‘o’ from his cheeks being pushed together and a dazed look in his eye. Felix takes this as a sign to continue his little tirade.

“And I know you’re smart so you should stop being such a stupid head because I don’t care what you think. You’re my best friend and I’ll always pick you over any stupid crest.”

“Fe…”

She recognizes that tone. Ingrid looks away then because she fears that if she doesn’t, the part of her heart that belongs to Glenn might just twist its way into her throat and choke her with envy.

Sylvain is giving Felix that look that she has seen many times throughout their lives whenever she watches her two friends from afar. It’s one that everyone, except for Felix, has seen a million times and knows that to Sylvain, the world around him has fallen away except for one person.

“You’re my best friend, Sylvain. So, don’t lie to me.”

For the first time since the gossipers appeared, Sylvain lets a smile slip through.

“Okay. I promise.”

Felix eyes him warily and searches for any hint of a lie in Sylvain’s expression. Once satisfied, he loops his own pinky around the one outstretched to him.

“Good. Now let’s go play Knights and Bandits!”

Perhaps it is because Felix is always looking ahead that he never sees how Sylvain looks at him like he was the one who hung the stars and moon in his dark sky, illuminating his life with happiness and love.

----

3.       Felix feels so much and Sylvain is the only one who understands him even without words.

A collective sigh echoes throughout the monastery when they find out that mini Felix and mini Sylvain aren’t too picky with their food.

Granted, even as a child, Felix shows a proclivity towards eating meat; but with a little friendly jostling from his best friend, even the youngest Fraldarius son can be convinced to eat his brussel sprouts.

Which is exactly why Claude is so baffled when Felix starts to protest eating during mealtimes.

“What do you mean he won’t eat?”

He’s well aware that he probably sounds like an idiot, if the exasperated look Lorenz is giving him is anything to go by; but they haven’t had any trouble before so it makes absolutely no sense that Felix would start being picky now.

“It’s exactly as I said,” Lorenz frowns. “We were all simply sitting together enjoying a meal, when Felix stopped eating and refused to finish his dinner. I’ve been told this is now the third occurrence in a row that his has happened.”

“Was he full?” Byleth pauses from looking through some supply requests to chime into their conversation. Although she has not outright said anything, Claude knows his love well enough to tell that she is stressed about their current predicament. Felix throwing a silent protest against food is just one more thing to add to her pile of worries that she doesn’t need.

“Don’t worry, Teach,” Claude winks and flashes his signature grin. “I’ll get to the bottom of this. You just worry about securing our supplies for the next moon, yeah?” His chair lets out a deafening screech as it drags across the floor, drowning out any protests their former professor may have and providing Claude the distraction he needs to usher Lorenz out of the room with him.

“Claude, are you sure you know what you are doing?” The doubt rolling off Lorenz would have offended a lesser man, but Claude has spent his life being the underdog and he lets the words bounce harmlessly off him. “Felix is not an enemy to be outsmarted. He is simply a child who only adheres to emotion.”

“I am aware of that, yes.”

“Then why do you look as though you are about to hatch a scheme?”

Because he is.

And although Felix is not an ‘enemy’, per say, doesn’t mean that Claude can’t use his usual tactics of watching and observing his opponent until he has hatched a plot to take them down. Hence, leading to Claude’s current position tucked away in the far corner of the mess hall during the following breakfast.

Even on his off days, Claude is always watching and learning. He knows the favourite foods of all his fellow comrades in arms and he also knows whom everyone’s preferred companion is.

There is very little that escapes his notice, and the Resistance Army leader is confident that he will have a plan by sundown at the very least.

It is a little past 8am when the two children sleepily trudge their way into the dining hall with Bernadetta, their ward for the day, close behind them.

Nothing seems particularly strange or odd when they join the line to retrieve their meal; and nothing remarkable happens either when Bernie leads them to the only empty table left in the middle of the hall.

“Good morning, Bernadetta!” Raphael greets cheerily and shuffles his mountain of food over to join the trio at their table. “Good morning, Felix, Sylvain!”

The little ones mumble back a greeting, but their voices are lost in the din of the morning meal chatter.

So far, so good. Felix is still eating his porridge (albeit with an adorable frown on his face) and talking animatedly about goddess knows what with Sylvain, who occasionally turns to answer a question from the adults.

“Oh, good morning, Bernadetta, Felix, Sylvain!”

Slowly but surely, the table begins to fill as their friends meander into the building in search of food to start their day. Greetings are exchanged and unsurprisingly, Felix and Sylvain garner a lot of attention due to their current forms. Sylvain, ever the chatterbox that he is, fields most of the questions; Whether it is because he is being considerate of his quieter friend or if he simply relishes in the attention is debatable, but Claude cannot help but notice how his eyes constantly dart back towards Felix who grows increasingly frustrated.

“Oh, you’re just too adorable!” Annette’s squeal of delight reaches even Claude’s remote corner and he assumes that the wince he sees from Felix is due to the sheer volume of the orange haired mage. Sylvain, the current object of attention, just flashes her his prize winning smile; his dimples making him look even more endearing than he already is.

The adults gathered around the children don’t even notice that Felix has stopped eating. Nor do they see Sylvain quietly reach below the table to grab Felix’s smaller hand in what looks to be a gesture of comfort.

In fact, it takes another five minutes of cooing and fawning before Raphael, of all people, notices that Felix is now glaring with teary eyes at his bowl of half eaten porridge.

“What’s wrong, little buddy? Not feeling well?”

Immediately the attention shifts to him and the effects are just as disastrous as Claude predicts.

“I’m not hungry.” Some of the porridge finds its way onto the table as Felix pushes his bowl away with such ferocity, Claude is half surprised it doesn’t completely tip over.

“What do you mean you’re not hungry?” Annette frowns. “This is the fourth time you’ve left a meal unfinished. Are you not feeling well? Do you need to go see Mercedes?”

“No. I don’t wanna eat anymore.”

“Are you sure you’re feeling okay, Felix? We just want to make sure you’re not getting sick.”

“I’m fine.”

It’s a big fat lie and anyone with half a brain can hear the distress and frustration in the blue haired boy’s voice. One lone tear manages to squeeze its way out of Felix’s water logged eyes and that’s all it takes for the table to burst into a flurry.

Claude almost feels bad for Felix as the adults descend on him like a pack of vultures, all of them crowding him and trying to coax the reason for his distress out of him. The Almyran prince has half a mind to go over and rescue his friend in arms from a situation that is probably in his top ten worst fears, but before he can even get out of his seat, Sylvain is already bounding out of his chair with a teary Felix in tow.

Sylvain shouts something about ‘Knights and Bandits’ and they’re out the southern doors before Bernadetta can even process what has happened.

Felix’s half eaten bowl of porridge sits on the table completely forgotten.

----

At lunch, Claude decides to test a hypothesis.

He asks Mercedes and Hilda to sit with the kids at lunch and pay special attention to Felix.

To everyone else, he gives them strict orders to leave their table alone.

Satisfied with how his experiment is set up, Claude finally seats himself back in his observatory spot with his own lunch sitting in front of him.

He’s not expecting amazing results. In fact, he’s not expecting his first hypothesis to be a success at all, but he wants to try it none the less because there is always the possibility that mini Felix fundamentally operates much differently than the Felix that he is used to.

What he doesn’t expect is for Felix to immediately shut down the minute Hilda tries to engage him in some conversation about the games him and Sylvain play in the courtyard.

Today’s lunch special is Daphnel Stew and Claude has it on good authority that it is a favourite of Felix’s (technically Dimitri is a reliable source, right? They were childhood friends after all).

Sylvain tries his best to jump into the conversation and pull some of the attention to himself, but Hilda is every bit as smooth of a talker as Claude is; deftly maneuvering the conversation back to Felix no matter what Sylvain does.

This time, it is Felix that reaches for Sylvain’s hand under the table.

Except instead of just holding Sylvain’s hand, Felix starts to pull at it every time Mercedes or Hilda asks him a question, as if pleading for his friend to save him.

At least Claude could now say for sure that Felix is not, and never was, a fan of being the center of attention.

When the first afternoon bell tolls signaling the end of lunch, Felix’s stew remains uneaten and untouched. On the way out of the hall, Claude looks the other way and pretends not to notice when Sylvain steals an apple from the pantry.

His experiment doesn’t exactly succeed, but he cannot write it off as a failure either. The information gathered from his two observation sessions is plentiful and a solution is forming within his mind even as he makes his way up to the war room to meet Byleth for their afternoon strategy session.

By the time he pushes open the door to his usual haunt, Claude is absolutely certain of two truths.

One, that Sylvain knows Felix better than anyone could ever hope to compare, and two, Felix Fraldarius is incredibly lucky to have an attentive best friend like Sylvain because stars above, does he suck with using his words.

----

When the hour before dinner time rolls around, Claude makes sure to talk to everyone he passes by and give them the order that no one is to approach Felix and Sylvain’s tables at mealtimes anymore. He tells them to pass the word around and it doesn’t take long before the entire monastery is in the know of their Leader’s command.

“Care for company?” Byleth smiles and sets her tray down beside his own without waiting for a reply.

Claude does a quick survey of the area to make sure no one is looking before leaning in to land a quick peck on Byleth’s cheek. Joy flutters in his stomach at her rising blush and he merely laughs and winks at her stuttered protests.

“Check it out,” Claude quickly changes the subject and nods his head over to where Bernadetta sits exhausted with a now cheerful Felix and Sylvain. The latter nodding enthusiastically to their conversation with the occasional laugh and both of their plates near devoid of food.

A tiny rush of pride swells when he sees the relived expression on Byleth’s face.

“Told ya I’d take care of it.”

Underneath the table, he flips his palm facing upward so that he can intertwine his fingers with her searching ones.

“Yes, you did.” The unspoken thanks lingers in the air between them, louder than the constant buzz of activity in the room.

For the first time in a while, the former professor looks more at ease. And Claude, being the shit stirrer that he is, cannot help but toss a little fuel into the fire.

“So… who do you think will wear white at the wedding? Between the two of them, I think Felix is the better choice.”

“What?!”

----

4.       Felix has an unwavering faith and belief in Sylvain that he’s not afraid to stubbornly stand by to the bitter end.

“Annie, are you sure this is a good idea?”

If Mercedes is concerned, then Lysithea is absolutely certain that no, this is most definitely not a good idea.

They are at the part of the training grounds where the various magic users can come to practice and hone their spells. The ground is singed with charred marks from stray thunder and fire spells, the black streaks contrasting starkly with the pale stone underneath. To the side, there is also a sand pit where mages can practice some more destructive flame based spells.

“I’m just a little curious, is all!” Annette whispers back. “I know Sylvain is really good with magic even though he never uses it. He was the one who helped me understand that magic formula that I was stuck on for a week, after all. I was thinking maybe he might show an aptitude for Reason as a child.”

“That’s fine and all; but I’m not really sure how safe it is to teach a child how to conjure a fire spell. That just seems like a recipe for disaster.”

The orange hair mage cannot help but look slightly put out by Lysithea’s comment.

Yes, maybe it wasn’t the safest idea ever… but Annette just really wants to find out the extent of Sylvain’s inherent abilities. Even after she makes him promise to take his training more seriously, she still feels like he is holding back on her when they are paired together.

“What kinda magic are you gonna show us?” Felix is eager and bouncing on his toes. The House Fraldarius specializes in swordplay, not magic, so this is a treat for him and he can barely contain his excitement.

“Oh well, I was thinking we could start off with a basic fire spell!”

“Oooh, fire!”

Annette really hopes that Felix doesn’t have a penchant for pyrotechnics.

As much of a bad idea as this is, Lysithea can’t exactly bring herself to leave them in case something goes terribly wrong. She is the strongest, most advanced Gremory the Resistance Army has; with her around, she’s confident that the worst that could happen would be some singed eyebrows and possibly an impromptu need for a haircut. But even that is an outcome that she is hoping to avoid.

Once the target is set up, Sylvain and Felix eagerly make their way over to the sidelines to watch Annette demonstrate a basic fire spell.

It’s nothing special really. Even the older Felix and Sylvain could probably cast it without much problem, but to their younger versions, the small ball of fire is so grand and spectacular that it warrants oo’s and ah’s and enthusiastic applause.

“Wow! That is so cool! Isn’t that so cool, Sylvain?”

Felix is pulling on Sylvain’s sleeve and the older boy nods emphatically with admiration shining in his eyes.

“Do you think you could do it too?”

Lysithea is startled to hear the question Felix asks Sylvain. Of course, Annette was already planning to ask the Gautier boy to attempt the spell, but that was out of curiosity.

From the shining look on Felix’s face, Lysithea knows that he is asking because in his mind, there is nothing that his smart, talented best friend in the whole wide world cannot do.

“Magic is difficult to learn and takes time. It can take years for some to learn just the basics.” She cuts in before Sylvain can answer.

She doesn’t want Felix to unwittingly trap him with an unrealistic expectation that he cannot meet and she figures it is better to disappoint him now rather than allow the red head to try and then feel guilty when he disappoints his friend.

“Sylvain is smart. I bet Sylvain could do it!”

Felix is pouting in that way that they are all quickly learning means ‘I’m right and you can’t convince me otherwise’.

“I’m sure Sylvain is very smart!” Mercedes agrees and gives the boys her best placating smile. “But I’m not so sure that a person could learn how to cast a Fire spell in one day! Why, it took Annie and I at least a week of practicing before we could do it!”

“Yep, I remember I almost burned my eyebrows off the first time I tried! But I can teach you the basics maybe and then we can bring you here again next time to practice?”

The urge to verbally reprimand the warlock for her relentless pursuit to satisfy her own curiosity rises and Lysithea has to physically clutch her biceps to stop herself from bursting.

Fine. If they were so eager to set themselves down this path, then so be it.

“Yeah!” Felix is literally vibrating with excitement and Sylvain looks nervous but determined to not let his admirer down.

Heaving a sigh, Lysithea moves to settle next to Mercedes who sends her an apologetic smile.

It was going to be a long afternoon.

----

Unsurprisingly, Felix does not do so well with learning the basics.

The diagrams and symbols are a little too much on the side of complex and it becomes apparent rather quickly that there is a reason the Fraldarius men carve through the battlefield with swords instead of magic.

“Aw, it’s okay Fe! You’re still the best with a sword anyways. You don’t need magic!” Sylvain ruffles his hair and smiles. “You’ll always beat me at swordplay.”

The small admission is enough to cheer Felix up and after a bit more nudging from the older boy, he runs off to play around with the wooden practice swords they have on the other side of the training room while Annette and Sylvain continue to work on creating basic magic circles.

It’s only after the third hour and Mercedes has long left to attend to various chores that Lysithea turns to watch Felix go through rather crude sword forms instead.

“You need to spread your feet farther apart.” Using her own foot, she nudges Felix’s left heel to the side to widen his stance. “Try striking again now.”

The wooden sword wobbles a bit in its trajectory, but the swing is undoubtedly much better than before. The sheer delight that lights up in Felix’s eyes almost makes Lysithea laugh out loud because she recognizes it as the same gleam she sees in the older Felix’s eyes when he executes a particularly hard maneuver.

“Why aren’t you watching Sylvain and Annie?”

For a five year old, Felix is incredibly perceptive.

Rather than lie to him, Lysithea opts for honesty because she is sure that’s what older Felix would have wanted.

“I don’t think he’ll succeed.”

Felix frowns. “You don’t know that.”

“Yes, I do. I know how hard it is to learn magic. I’m sure Sylvain is very intelligent, but it takes a lot of hard work to use Reason.”

“Sylvain can do it. I know he can.”

She sighs and turns a baleful eye down at Felix. “You’re a stubborn one aren’t you.”

“Glenn said that to me too when he didn’t believe me that I could stay up all night waiting for Sylvain.”

“And did you prove him wrong?”

Felix turns to full face her, expression full of gravity.

“Yup.” The dead seriousness of his tone looses Lysithea’s first laugh of the day and she cannot help but be drawn towards this little boy, the same way she was drawn to his older self.

Deigning not to continue a lost conversation, the cake loving Gremory opts to turn back and watch the progress that the other two have made, leaving Felix muttering to himself about his steadfast belief in his best friend.

----

“Alright, let’s see what you’ve got!”

The sun is setting and it is nearly time for dinner by the time Sylvain and Annette break away from Magic and Sorcery: Vol 1. to actually put some practice to the theory they have spent all day studying.

“Now, don’t be too disappointed if you can’t get it.” Annette says while moving out of the way. “You did just learn the basics and it takes a lot of practice!”

Lysithea has not moved from her perch from a nearby bench. She’s still extremely skeptical that Sylvain will manage to do very much at all. Yes, it is true that he had a budding talent for Reason during their academy days, but Sylvain hardly ever applied himself to any of his studies. The professor had to literally force him to attend one on one magic lessons with her before his aptitude for spells finally emerged.

Although, she muses, this younger Sylvain seems to be more enthusiastic to participate in things he was interested in. Even now, the scrunched up look of concentration on his face is indication enough that the Sylvain Lysithea is used to is a much different creature than the one before her currently.

House Ordelia does not really have any established trade routes with the Gautier territory, but the Ordelia heir has heard enough to know that the current Margrave is an arrogant, crest-obsessed prick.

It doesn’t take a prodigy to connect the dots and surmise that Sylvain’s carefree attitude and refusal to apply himself to anything is a product of his father’s suffocating expectations.

Fuck Margrave Gautier.

Maybe Lysithea does want Sylvain to prove her wrong and succeed; then at least he can go back home and light his father’s breeches on fire.

She’s only slightly disappointed when her expectations prove correct and the best Sylvain can conjure is one tiny flicker from a lone flame in his hand. However, it is still much more than she thought Sylvain would be able to do and for that, she is genuinely impressed.

Annette is also very much awestruck with Sylvain’s quick learning and happily informs the boy of this all the way to the dining hall. Sylvain is uncharacteristically quiet as he listens to the older mage praise him, but he is not yet skilled enough in the art of hiding behind a mask and the slight downward tilt of his lips does not go unnoticed.

“You really did an amazing job learning so much in such a short time, Sylvain! Don’t be too disappointed that you couldn’t do it.”

Sylvain gives a weak smile in return, but it is Felix who ultimately responds; one hand clasped tightly in the Gautier’s and the other one balled into a fist.

“Sylvain can do it. Just watch.”

----

Dinner passes without much fanfare and the boys are eventually tucked in for the night. Claude and Byleth have long decided that a full-time night chaperone is no longer necessary; although occasionally, one of their friends will peek into the room in the dead of night before they retire, but very rarely do they find anything wrong that requires their attention. A week has already passed with no incident, so there should be no need to exhaust their soldiers by keeping them up at night.

Except this time, when Petra nudges the door to their room open – being extremely careful not to open it too fast lest the hinges squeak – she does not see any sign of Felix or Sylvain anywhere.

It is the dead of night, but Garreg Mach Monastery blazes alive with a flurry of panic at the toll of the emergency bell.

“You’re absolutely sure no one saw them leave their room?”

Seteth slams his palms on the table and interrogates the night shift guards; his brows furrowed and mind racing a mile a minute.

If the enemy has somehow managed to sneak into Garreg Mach and kidnap the children, then they are well and truly fucked. They may have to abandon their home base or at the very least do an extensive investigation of their current ranks and re-evaluate their current passive defense.

“There were no signs that a struggle was happening.” Petra voices from her place around the war table. “I am having confidence that they left with willingness.”

“Goddess, please keep them safe.” The situation leaves a bad taste in Flayn’s mouth; it is much too reminiscent of when she was kidnapped and although it has been years since the incident, the memories still plague her.

Byleth’s voice leaves no room for discussion, “everyone split up and search the grounds. Most of our facilities are locked up at night so that should help limit the number of places we need to search.”

Everyone dashes out of the room with their orders and branch off at the second floor corridor. Those once belonging to the Black Eagle house comb through the main hall while the former Blue Lion students check all surrounding independent buildings; the Golden Deer fanning out to cover the outdoor grounds of the monastery.

An hour passes. Then another. And another.

Soon it is 3 in the morning and the panic is truly beginning to set in, giving rise to an unsettling fear clawing its way up from the depths of the night.

“Dimitri, Dedue! Have you found anything?” Ingrid pants and skids to a halt just below the stairs to the Sauna; the rest of her Blue Lion classmates run up to join her and debrief their findings.

“Nothing,” Dedue’s tone is flat as usual but his strangled expression is enough to betray his underlying worry. “We have searched all the open buildings and the grounds. There is no sign of them at all.”

Annette is near tears now and Mercedes places a hand on her shoulder, offering her silent support even while she herself is fiddling with her shawl, an attempt to keep her mind occupied before it spirals.

“It’s not like them to run away,” Ashe frowns. “Did anything happen today? Were they acting weird at all?”

“Not really. All we did was practice magic at the training grounds.”

Mercedes frowns. “Perhaps they left something there and went back to retrieve it?”

“The training grounds should be locked at 11PM. No one should be able to get in or out until sunrise.” Dimitri shakes his head.

“Well then we’re clearly running out of ideas here!” Ingrid throws up her hands in frustration and rakes them through her hair which is on the verge of looking like a bird’s nest. “We’ve checked the dining hall and the greenhouse but –“

“Your Majesty.” Dedue’s raised voice cuts Ingrid short and they look over to see the doors to the training grounds swing open slowly with a slight push of the man’s hands. “The doors were not locked as we thought.”

It takes only a heartbeat for them to scramble through the large wooden doors and down the hallway, their rushed footsteps echoing like thunder in the stone corridor.

“Oh Goddess. I smell smoke. Does anyone else smell smoke?” If her heartbeat accelerates any more, Annette is pretty sure she will have a heart attack.

“It’s coming from over there!” Their King leads the charge towards the magical training arena where the smell of smoke is the thickest.

When they burst into the open area, they are prepared for the worst. Weapons are drawn and hands raised with spells on the tips of tongues, but the sight they are greeted with is enough to shock them into stasis.

There in the middle of the sandpit, hunched over and panting hard, albeit with a brilliant grin on his face, is Sylvain. The practice dummy a few feet in front of him is alit with flames, illuminating the room with an orange glow, casting shadows along the stone walls that flicker like a live audience.

And off to the side bundled up in a woolen teal blanket that they all recognize, is a tired, but extremely proud looking Felix Fraldarius staring directly at the newcomers.

“I told you he could do it!”

----

5.       Sylvain has given Felix all the pieces of his fragile, fractured heart, even if he isn’t aware he possesses it.

Although once his greatest secret, Ignatz no longer hides his passion for art from his fellow Resistance Army members.

It’s not uncommon these days for people to find him at random places in the monastery with his art supplies sketching away at preserving a moment in time on blank paper forevermore.

Today, he is sitting on a bench next to a large oak tree, just a stone’s throw away from the main grounds. Beneath the shade and tucked between two large roots lie Sylvain and Felix, both completely tuckered out from their earlier attempts at climbing the towering tree. Sylvain is starfished on the ground with his arms stretched wide; to his left, Felix lays curled away from him with his head pillowed on the outstretched limb.

Sylvain and Felix have been the talk of the monastery for the past week and it is pretty obvious why. It’s not every day that you see two high ranking generals revert back to their child forms. Especially the most notorious bother-me-and-I’ll-bite-your-head-off and if-it-breathes-I’ll-flirt-with-it Generals to boot.

Of course, stories of their shenanigans and troublemaking usually fill the daily meal conversations, but there is one topic that floats above all else; the one that makes the maids in the kitchen giggle and even the burliest of knights crack a smile:

It is clear that even from a young age, Sylvain Jose Gautier and Felix Hugo Fraldarius are absolutely smitten with each other.

The two are inseparable and Ignatz is pretty sure that even a blind man would be able to see the absolute trust and unspoken devotion they have towards each other.

Ignatz has spent the day watching Felix and Sylvain, not just because it’s his turn to babysit, but also because he is fascinated with their bond. He had once thought that the Goddess was the most beautiful thing in the world, but the rawness and purity of their relationship fills him with more piety and awe than any portrait or statue of Sothis ever did.

It is like they are two parts of a well-oiled machine. Where one gives way, the other will step in to fill the gap; whenever Sylvain’s insecurities flare up, Felix is always there to chase the demons away with clumsy words and a physical display of affection, using his own body to ground his best friend and keep him close. Likewise, whenever tears well up in the youngest Fraldarius’ eyes (which is unfortunately quite often), Sylvain is there to wipe away the salty tracks and light up Felix’s heart with a smile warmer and brighter than sunshine.

Ignatz’s original plans were to draw the oak tree and the beautiful meadow of primrose flowers, but it seems that there will be a last minute change in muse.

Taking up his piece of charcoal, he begins the outline of what he thinks will be his fondest work to date.

Ignatz doesn’t know how long he spends sitting on that bench hunched over his sketchbook in silence with only the occasional birdsong floating through the silence. It’s so calm and peaceful that he doesn’t even notice that Sylvain has begun to stir until he looks up to find one of his subjects in a different position.

Leonie had warned him that Sylvain has a tendency towards nightmares. She had discovered that unfortunate fact in the first three days when each time she tip-toed into their room to check up on them, she found Sylvain wide awake with wild terror in his eyes and a sleepy Felix clinging to him comfortingly.

Strangely enough, Sylvain also does not startle awake from his nightmares. Instead, he slowly rouses himself as if from a deep sleep and if it weren’t for the glaze of lingering fear in his eyes, none would be able to tell that he had just woken up from a night terror.

That same glazed look is now flickering rapidly around him as if searching for the shadow of a monster that exists only within his mind.

“Sylvain…?”

Wild brown eyes finally settle on steady molten amber ones.

“Fe.”

“It’s okay, Sylvain. I’m here...”

Felix yawns and shuffles around until he is half wrapped around Sylvain with his left hand settling over Sylvain’s pounding heart.

“I won’t let anyone hurt you…” Small hands curl around the material of Sylvain’s shirt in a death grip. Felix’s loyalty and protectiveness so painfully evident even when the boy himself is half asleep. He manages to cling to the realm of the conscious for a little while longer, until the rapid thump thump thump of Sylvain’s heart slows to a steady lulling rhythm, pulling Felix back down under the veil of sleep.

Ignatz has silently watched this entire exchange and to be honest, he’s not really sure that Sylvain or Felix even remember that he is here with them. He cannot bring himself to make his presence known, so he continues to watch and observe.

He watches as the fear that was once in Sylvain’s eyes slowly recede again, the monsters inside his head vanquished in the company of his best friend. It only takes one more glance at the boy cuddled up to him with a hand protectively hovered over his heart to melt away the chains that bind him to the expectations of the people around him.

Here under this oak tree in a field of blooming young love, there is no crest or Miklan or nobility. There is only Felix and Sylvain.

Sylvain holds onto that truth as he wraps his free arm around the younger boy, tucking him more securely under his chin, letting the cool summer breeze lull him back to a dreamless sleep.

Ignatz pulls out a new page and starts a fresh outline. It takes him a little longer than anticipated to finish his drawing, but he figures it’s not such a bad thing since he likes this new version much better.

Later, as he trails after the now energetic boys back towards the monastery, Ignatz tucks his newest masterpiece securely under his arm, being very careful not to smudge the drawing or crease the paper.

After all, Claude did mention something about a wedding and Ignatz thinks that his drawing will make a fine gift.

----

Bonus: They’re just two idiots in love.

“Go away. Can’t you see I’m trying to enjoy my meal?”

“Aww, don’t be like that, Felix! You know, the younger you was much cuter. Definitely less prickly, too.” Dorothea pokes his cheek and snatches her hand away before Felix can stab it with his steak knife.

It’s been roughly a week since Felix and Sylvain have returned to their normal sizes, the dark magic having run its course and fizzling out without so much as a final spark. To the rest of the Army, this is a joyous occasion as it means that two of their best generals are now back to normal and can command them again. But to the last class of the academy… it is bittersweet.

Of course, they want their friends to return to normal. But that also means that Felix will go back to hissing and spitting with all the fury of a spooked cat and Sylvain will go back to seducing any individual that makes eye contact with him for longer than half a second.

“Better do as he says, Thea. Felix’s looking extra grumpy today and we wouldn’t want you to lose a pretty little finger.” Sylvain winks at her as he sets down his own meal and settles in the seat across from the swordsman.

The opera singer snorts, “right back to the flirting as usual. Save your hollow words for some other girl.”

“Ouch. Give a guy a break! I just recovered from a dark magic spell after all. Doesn’t that warrant some pity?”

“The only pity is that you immediately lost all your innocent and cute appeal when you reverted back to your regular body.”

Felix scowls at them, “if you insist on continuing your flirting, I’ll just eat my meal elsewhere.” He moves to stand but Sylvain is quicker and grabs his wrist, preventing him from moving.

“I’m sorry. I’ll stop. Just stay, okay? Please? For me, Fe?”

Sylvain is looking at Felix with that expression which he knows he cannot resist and Dorothea takes this opportunity to slip away while the two engage in a silent conversation with only their eyes.

“Fine.”

Their meal continues with little fanfare and easy conversation. Around them, their old classmates are scattered in their own little groups and if they notice, none of them mentions anything about how everyone seems to avoid sitting at Felix and Sylvain’s table.

Easy conversation flows into dessert, or more specifically: Felix wordlessly giving Sylvain his peach sorbet and Sylvain beaming a rare genuine smile and promising to join him at the training grounds first thing tomorrow morning.

The sun is slowly dipping below the horizon when Sylvain and Felix gather up their dishes. On their way out of the dining hall, Ignatz stops them with a heartfelt congratulations and a bundled up package that looks suspiciously like one of his works.

“Congratulations? For what?” Artfully tousled red hair shifts as Sylvain tilts his head in confusion and reluctantly accepts the gift.

“O-oh, well Claude just said…”

Dread rises up from the pit of Felix’s stomach. “What did that schemer say this time?”

“…He said that you two were getting married.”

“What?!”

#sylvain jose gautier #felix x sylvain #sylvain x felix #felix hugo fraldarius #deaged #kid felix #kid sylvain #MxM #non canon #cross posted #Popo writes #Panda writes #one shot #ingrid galatea #lorenz hellman gloucester #petra macneary #ashe duran #dimitri alexandre blaiddyd #dedue molinaro #mercedes von martritz #hilda von goneril #annette fantine dominic #claude von riegan #claude x f!byleth #claude x byleth #Claudeleth #f!byleth #lysithea von ordelia #raphael kirsten #ignatz victor

[emblemxeno]

honestly Sylvain's entire deal just feels hollow considering things like Mercedes getting potentially married off against her will to have children because of her crest, considering he doesn't actually have to deal with things like that and instead just has women try to get with him for his crest sometimes (which he can just say no to at any time and isn't really that different from like, a woman marrying him for money) he honestly just feels like "my brother beat me so now i hate women"

It’s because Crest nonsense parallels oh so nicely with misogyny and treating women, wives, and daughters as tools, that when the attempt to include a guy in the mix is written poorly, it looks even worse.

Bernie was abused by her dad because he wanted her to be a good wife to be married off, Mercie has the issues that you mention, Hanneman’s sister had to give birth until she died, Constance’s house fell even though she was still alive and probably could’ve lead it, House Martritz fell because Mercie’s dad died even though her mother was perfectly fine, there’s really no mention of any women in power besides Edelgard and Rhea.

The biggest sticking point is that Ingrid goes through the same shit, where she thinks she’ll have to give up her dreams in favor of getting married for the sake of her house. They’re supposed to be childhood friends, yet we’re supposed to feel as bad for Sylvain as we would Ingrid because girls don’t like him for his personality.

And if I can be honest, that’s such a ‘so what’ thing. Like, I’m not judging what people do, if they just wanna marry for money, good for them get that sugar. We have a character that does just that with Dorothea.

Even if they are trying to get with you for money, that’s still not an excuse to emotionally manipulate them and cheat on them over and over, and even bring out the “she didn’t care before she found out” shit, like gross. And that’s the thing, almost all of the girls that try to get with Sylvain aren’t doing it for money, from what we see they just genuinely wanted a relationship, and that’s where his writing falls apart. It’s just blegh.

#fire emblem #fire emblem three houses #fire emblem opinions #discourse emblem

[nanigma]

💩 ✌ 💦 💖

💩Ship that you find disgusting:

SoleilxOphelia: Due to how predatory Soleil behaves and Ophelia’s clear distress. I honestly cringe whenever I see them presented as “perfect lesbian rep”.

MiklanxSylvain: Okay, weirdly enough I have less of an issue with people “unironically” shipping them, since those tend to tag everything apropriately and I can stay far, far away from it without the rest of the fandom being diluted with it. Now people having Miklan sexually abusing Sylvain as a common backstory element bothers me a lot. It adds literally nothing to those characters except give Sylvain some extra woobie points he didn’t really need in the first place. It honestly comes across as more egregious than actual incest shipping. There’s nothing wrong with exploring the concept, but the sheer amount of it out there is quite annoying. (as is overwoobiefying Sylvain in general, but that’s off-topic.)

✌Ship that you find cute but don’t ship:

DorotheaxPetra: I dunno, I just find them cuter with other people.

HildaxMarianne: Ditto.

💦Ship that is taboo:

ManuelaxDorothea: Because of the grooming element one could see in their relationship. I honestly like it, because while it’s clear that Dorothea admires and looks up to her senpai, she is also much more mature than her emotionally in many aspects. Their supports do not really have them interact like teacher and student most of the time, but rather as equals. I also find it really adorable how they just decide to settle down together in their ending.

  💖 Ship that needs more love:

DeduexDimitri: It’s sad that it seems to be stuck so far behind the other Dimitri flagships, when they have the strongest canon evidence imo. 

#3H #extremepineapple2

[zarekthelordofthefries]

A Long and More Detailed Post About Why I Hate Sylvain Gautier

Okay, so, people keep defending Sylvain with “he gets better in his supports, he’s not abusive he’s just flirty and he’s not misogynistic!” and. No. Some of his supports make him worse. 

I have seen his C-A supports with Byleth. His C support is about him cheating on women, an action he never expresses remorse for. Cheating is abuse. We also see how he talks to a girl who calls him out for cheating on her, and he’s super emotionally manipulative and negging towards her, heavily implying to her that she only wants him for his Crest anyway, and then AFTER that he STILL tries to get her to stop being mad at him again. After he just essentially called her a gold-digger to her face.

His B support is about him breaking up with another girl and explaining it to Byleth as him telling her (after they had already been dating) that he just wants to keep their relationship casual, and she is upset because she wanted it to be more serious. I’m not gonna slutshame Sylvain, wanting casual relationships is fine, but you would think the polite thing to do would be to address that before they were dating. But, like, whatever, that one’s kind of a minor point and I’ll fully admit it’s just me not giving Sylvain the benefit of the doubt because no other evidence suggests he deserves it.

But then in that same support he doubles down on the idea that he basically hates the women who want to date him because he assumes they only want him for his Crest. This is doubled down further (tripled down?) in his A support, albeit with some minor reluctance on his part. It’s possible the phrasing in his A support is supposed to imply that he’s questioning his assumptions, but it’s an implication at best.

The basic explanation of his behavior proposed by his discussions in his supports with Byleth is this: Sylvain feels like he’s only valued for his bloodline, and therefore assumes that anyone who wants to fuck him only wants him to have Crest babies with, and his conclusion is that he should ignore what everyone else thinks about him and play the field and use the girls who want him because they’re using him so why shouldn’t he use them back?

Sylvain’s character motivation is sad, sure. It sucks for him that his upbringing has given him such warped views of himself and the people around him. But you know what? I don’t care. Being sad and having issues doesn’t excuse being a piece of shit to people for no reason. It does not excuse utilizing a position of power to harass and abuse women. And that is a series of actions that Sylvain never actually expresses remorse for.

And you know what bugs me the MOST about all of this? We never really get these girls’ sides of the story. We get a couple lines, if that, from the first girl in the C support. That’s it. All we get otherwise is him telling HIS side of the story, him explaining why HE’S the real victim and that’s why it’s okay for him to be an asshole to people.

And y’know what? I’m sick of men justifying their shitty behavior towards women by rambling off a sob story, whether they’re a real person or a cute sad anime boy. It sucks. I don’t buy it. And if they wanted me to sympathize with him, they should have had him questioning his shitty behavior in his C or B support, not MAYBE questioning it in his A support and leaving it up in the air whether he becomes a decent fucking human being.

#original content #rant #fe3h #fire emblem

[agent-cupcake]

You know, you've written a lot of your thoughts/hcs/etc on how various characters would behave as yanderes and so on, but I've never seen you talk about yandere readers before and I feel like that's an interesting subject to consider? Especially for 3H - you have a treasure trove of damaged boys to attract obsessiveness from girls who are convinced they are the ONLY one for them and it's their duty to drive away competition/threats/anyone they want.

Okay it's time to be toxic. I’m not going to go for all the guys, just the ones who immediately came to mind.

Dimitri: I joke quite often that I would be yandere for Dimitri. It all started when I brought up killing the girl he danced with at the White Heron Ball and quite frankly it's only spiraled from there because doesn't the Savior King Dimitri deserve to be adored and worshipped? Doesn't he deserve someone who wants the best for him and only him? Doesn’t it only make sense for him to be with someone who understands his mental issues and is willing to offer him unconditional support and patience? Doesn't he need someone with unwavering loyalty who will do anything no matter what the cost for his sake? It'd be so easy too because he's super dependent, desperate for affection, and clueless so if you just nourish those traits and constantly downplay his discomfort/suspicion of you driving away anybody who you feel is a threat by saying that this is how relationships just are, that it's just because you love him so much, that you're just looking out for him, what's he gonna do? It's not like he'd have any solid basis for knowing how relationships are supposed to be. Besides if he gets too upset you can threaten to leave him just like his mother did, I'm sure that would work to get him back in your arms (where he belongs). Yeah, that’s a little fucked up but it would be so much worse for both of you in the long run if you were apart. Being too aggressive or overt about your obsession would definitely make Dimitri wise up so it'd be better to go with love bombing. This would be good because it really lets you prove your devotion to Dimitri and makes it easier for him to just laugh off and excuse your disturbingly possessive behavior. His friends would be potentially problematic, but they're not always around and Dimitri's private enough that he probably wouldn't volunteer information about you to them. If you told him that it made you very upset and uncomfortable when he was friendly with the girls from his class, he’d most likely stop for your sake. Bonus round, have his babies. What is he going to do, abandon the mother of his children? Dimitri?!? No way. Of course he wouldn’t do anything to risk breaking his family, but neither would you! After all, this is all because you know Dimitri better than anyone which means that only you can love him.

Sylvain: Sylvain being manipulative and cheating on you after you try and prove your love to him through conventional means causing you to snap and kill hurt the girls, throw his lies back in his face, and prove that you're the only girl for him by preying on his emotional trauma with women is really something to consider. Why try to resolve toxic situations with love, compassion, and open communication when you can use blood and abuse to keep him with you? Play the part, be snarky, witty, flirty, be super hot and cold to keep him intrigued, give him the best fuck he's ever had, really show him that you don't care about his Crest, you just want to love possess him. Maybe even do the whole "I don't care who you're with, we both know you belong to me" to really engage him in those super fun mind games. Make everyone else acknowledge that you're the perfect girl for him, get them all to vilify him for continuing to be such a womanizer and breaking your heart. But, like, why stop there? Encourage him to retaliate, to be mad at you. Tease him for being so disgusted and angry at you when all you want, all you've ever wanted, was for your hearts to beat as one and then later act confused because of course you wouldn’t make light of his feelings like that, that’s horrible. All you want, all you’ve ever wanted, was for him to acknowledge that your adoration for him is true. Really break him until he gives you the whole “I’ll let you chain me up so I never even look at another girl” schtick. This might seem awful, but so is he! Reform can be difficult and if he’s going to be happy, he has to be made to understand why his behavior was so bad and the consequences of it. Because it’s not like you’d act like this if you had any other choice, it’s not like you’d continue once the two of you were truly together, of course you wouldn’t treat him so cruelly once he vowed himself to you and only you. And, really, I think it’d be a lot easier once he understood that and you got to prove your love to him through raw, unadulterated affection. Spend every day adding onto the list of why you love your Sylvain. 

Claude: Claude being more than aware of the ole' saying "don't stick your dick in crazy" and then doing it anyway because he has a proclivity for the fiery, forbidden, and oh-so temping call of danger would be the perfect set up for a very bad predicament. You’d have to play some mind games to really convince him that he’s the one seeking you out, he’s the one who’s got it bad, he’s the one who wants to have you. In other words, you’d have to give him a challenge. But, you know, if it’s a game, you’d have to play back because you’re doing this for him, because you love him, because you want him to realize that he loves you, too (Uno reverse Claude’s yandere behaviors, basically) so obviously you’d have to eliminate any obstacles and taking out anybody who could be a potential threat. Get him to open up about his dreams, his past, his feelings. As it goes with basically all of these affection-starved men, make him feel loved for who he is. You know, if you were really good, you could probably even get him to give up on everything else for your sake. I mean, I loathe the ending but he does that for Lysithea. Pull a Tangled on Claude and make him believe that you’re his new dream as he mostly certainly is yours.

Felix: Sweet Felix. So oblivious but so difficult. A man who would provide the ultimate and most dangerous yan rival of them all: the thrill of the fight. In a lot of ways, I think he’d be like Dimitri. Mostly just because he’s so dense when it comes to love of any kind. But he’s also not as emotionally desperate or dependent so you wouldn’t really be able to use that against him. The similarities come from Felix’s equal amount of inexperience with romance which opens up a lot of possibilities for you convincing him that certain behaviors are normal. You can even bring up how his cold emotional state (something I believe he’s insecure about) is what forces you to be so overbearing, how badly it hurts you.  You don’t necessarily mean to be so cloying but you’re so afraid of losing someone else you love so much (another insecurity of his). After all, there is nobody in the entire world who is like him, Felix Hugo Fraldarius, (three for three with his insecurities) and how irreplaceable and precious he is to you. These examples are kind of “soft” when it comes to using his insecurities against him, but you could go further with them assuming you were sure that it wouldn’t drive him away. Not knowing and having to work on assumption would always be a pretty big reason to control yourself in how you went about manipulating him because Felix is stubborn and prideful and pushing him too far would only hurt the both of you. It’s actually kind of funny because as opposed to the traditional yan mindset, it would be in your best interest to get Felix to form relationship bonds with others (but definitely not any of the girls he’s so popular with) because that would be a bargaining chip when convincing him to stay with you.

Ferdinand von Aegir: Ferdinand is, honestly, so easy for this. Like, I feel as if I don’t even need to talk about the details. You show him some affection and he’s yours. Bury him in love and praise. Tell him that it makes you unhappy when he talks to other girls or prioritizes his work over you and then reward him with boundless warmth and devotion because of course he would bend over backwards to make you happy. He just wants to be needed and treasured, to love and be loved. He’s already got the poetry and the ring and of course he wouldn’t mind getting married right away it’s true love, why would you wait?

Yuri: Yuribird is the forbidden darling. You’d need to be running on 100% love because he’d sniff out and ditch you at even the smallest whiff of deliberate obsession. But you know what he wants? More-so than the other guys, in some ways. He wants to be known and loved for who he is. In the face of genuine affection, he doesn’t stand a chance. Still, you’d have to be measured about this stuff. If you were jealous and got rid of your rivals yourself, Yuri would be disgusted and leave you. And you can’t hide that sort of thing from him, either. You’d have to go all in on the manipulation but only in the most honest way possible, that’s the only way past his defenses. Get him to prioritize your feelings first so he feels guilty talking to people or acting in ways that upset you. Reward him for putting you above everyone else. Constantly remind him that you’re the only one who knows and understands him, who loves him for who he is. Get him so emotionally fucked that even if his big brain logic is telling him that you’re toxic and horrible, he can’t stand the thought of being without you. He’d give up crime, it’s not like he even particularly likes it. Set up the perfect life for him, something domestic and sweet and warm, something he’s never had worries he doesn’t deserve, something that keeps him away from others. The goddess only knows how much he deserves a happy dream for once, and you’re the only one who can understand and provide that for him.

#dimitri alexandre blaiddyd #sylvain jose gautier #yuri leclerc #claude von riegan #felix hugo fraldarius #ferdinand von aegir #fe dimitri #fe sylvain #fe yuri #fe claude #fe felix #fe ferdinand #fire emblem three houses #fe3h #yandere #headcanons #yandere headcanons #quality content only on my blog

[larena]

Azure Moon and Women

I've been thinking a lot about how much the Azure Moon (Blue Lions) path of Fire Emblem Three Houses really failed to grab me, and why that might have been. There are, I think a number of reasons: I didn't connect emotionally to Dimitri, I don't like the Kingdom as a body of governance, and I played it after Crimson Flowers (Black Eagles) as my first playthrough which made it very hard to distance myself from my sympathies for Edelgard and her cause.

But I think a lot of my inability to connect to the plot of Azure Moon is actually that I don't think it does women very well.

We start with the fact that there are only three women in the house by default compared to the other houses' four, I played Female Byleth so that's four women total in the core cast. Obviously Flayn joins later as she always does, you can optionally recruit Manuela, Shamir, and Catherine, and any other female students you want. But their role in the narrative is limited.

Then, all the characters exclusive to Blue Lions: Dedue, Gilbert, and obviously Dimitri, are men. As well, the sole major supporting NPC, Rodrigue, is also a man.

So the gender ratio is already off. This will always be a mark against something for me, but it can be mitigated somewhat if female characters are given a lot to do and have deep characterization. And while the latter is true, I think, for every character in Three Houses, the former... Kinda isn't for the female character of the Blue Lions.

Obviously all of them are playable, so they do by the strictest definition *do* a lot, at least if the player allows them to. But within the core narrative... None of them truly contribute much.

Mercedes has an entire arc with the Death Knight, her brother, but it relies on completing a Paralogue that you have to recruit another man to unlock. That entire part of her character can optionally be completely unresolved. Annette has her relationship with Gilbert which is well-written and important to a greater metanarrative, but is also optional as it is mostly contained to their support chain. Ingrid, one of Dimitri's closest friends, doesn't do anything to help with his mental state besides be part of the peanut gallery, and occasionally express concerns to Byleth. None of them move the core plot of the route forward.

Granted, all of this is the way that it is because these characters can die, and so the story must not hinge on their involvement. The same is true of most of the male characters besides Gilbert. But then, they should have done more to make sure that there was a female presence in the narrative regardless of character death. Nothing mandated Gilbert or Rodrigue or even Dimitri be men.

The one case of a woman in the core cast who cannot be removed from the story is Byleth, if female. This is also not ideal because she can be a man. And her role becomes even more frustrating if she *is* female.

Much of Azure Moon revolves around Dimitri's breakdown and fragile mental state due to his trauma and feeling of betrayal from Edelgard. Most of the characters around Dimitri... Don't do anything to help him, really. Most of the rest of the Blue Lions can't do much because they may all be dead, Gilbert and Rodrigue don't do much because they are frustratingly loyal to Dimitri as the heir to the throne, and don't deign to go against any of his decisions, and Dedue *may* help somewhat, if he lives, but in a scene that is optional and is not reflected on very much in the succeeding narrative.

So we're left with Byleth, who is a largely silent protagonist, but does have personality and does take actions without player input. And if Byleth is a female character her actions regarding Dimitri become a problematic trope.

Byleth in Azure Moon cares deeply for Dimitri, regardless of player input. She wants to help him and is always there to be his emotional support. Which becomes frustrating when she is a woman who is, essentially, allowing a man to consistently verbally abuse her, in addition to a consistent threat of physical violence from him. She is a woman who exists almost entirely to be a sounding board for a violent man to work through his issues. Because that's really all a man needs, ultimately, a good woman to just be there for him.

The player is never given the opportunity, as Byleth, to push back against anything Dimitri says or does. The only options ever presented are understanding or silence. Even when Dimitri is telling Byleth that he will use her and her friends as instruments of war with no care for their wellbeing, Byleth *must* care about his.

Granted, all of this is exactly the same regardless of Byleth's gender, but if Byleth is a man, then it isn't better that the only roles this route can envision for women are side characters

Or villains. Azure Moon is the route that features Edelgard the most in her role as villain. In addition, it also features two other female villains in Cornelia and Fleche.

Cornelia is... Two-dimensional and shitty. She's a sexy woman who manipulates people and uses her position to only benefit herself. A deeply problematic trope that I don't think I need to discuss more?

Fleche meanwhile... Is a young girl, who (fairly) wants revenge against Dimitri for her brother's murder (so already her motivations revolve entirely around men) and when she finally makes her move to claim that revenge, it isn't tragic, the narrative does not care that she fails, it only cares that in her failure she killed Rodrigue instead.

Fleche's entire role in the story may as well have been fulfilled by a nameless enemy soldier, she is never mentioned again, even in the following scene where Dimitri starts to recover from his violent fugue, the focus is entirely on Rodrigue's death. Byleth strikes Fleche down without any input from the player. The player character of this game *kills a child* for wanting to avenge her brother, to protect a man who's killed ten times as many as she possibly could have. And it's brushed past.

Then there's Edelgard... I think Azure Moon actually does a good job of presenting Edelgards ideaology and motivations fairly and evenly when she is given opportunity to speak to them. But I don't think that's intentional. Based on Dimitri's response to her, dismissing her as "forcing her ideals on the commonfolk" (when he himself does and will *also* do that as king). The fact that her ultimate fate is turning into a mindless monster and being killed. The fact that the last shot of the game is Dimitri turning to look at her body and Byleth placing a hand on his shoulder as if to say she isn't worth it (or, admittedly perhaps to say that he needs to move forward, but i think both can be true). The route ultimately presents Edelgard as an extremist. An extremist with motivations that are understandable, but still an extremist.

So the only roles for women in this narrative, to sum up, are villains, peanut gallery, or motivation for the male lead. Meanwhile men, almost solely, drive the plot forward and have the most input on what the ultimate fate of Fodlan is. It's extremely frustrating and to be clear I don't post this to say that people who find something valuable in Azure Moon are wrong, or sexist, but just... To put it out there. Maybe there are people like me who dislike AM and aren't sure why, and maybe this can bring some possible reasons to light. And i think it is always a good thing to be critical, especially of things we love.

Oh also Sylvain is there a lot and he's extremely gross about women in every possible way.

#fire emblem #fire emblem three houses #fe3h #three houses #three houses spoilers #azure moon #blue lion #fire emblem critical #three houses critical #fe16 #fe3h spoilers #azure moon spoilers

[theeeveetamer]

(1/2) The portrayal of Felix in so many fics is irritating to me. His aggressivness often gets turned up to eleven and you have to wonder why anyone puts up with him. Canon!Felix can be pretty mean, but he doesn't go off on everyone every second of his life. Plus the physical violence is just ?? In canon he never goes out of his way to physically harm anyone (outside training). It's especially noticeable when he tops, because a lot of people turn him into a very stereotypical bastard boyfriend.

(2/2) Like I am not saying you can't make him top, but do people have to have him be such a violent jerk about it? The thing with Felix is that he cares too freaking much about his loved ones and doesn't want to see them hurt. Like, even when their relationship is at it's worst, he still cares about Dimitri's well-being. I just don't see how this translates to the sadistic sex-fiend Felix gets so often portrayed as in fics.

Yeah it seems to be really common to pick a ship and, like, demonize their other ships? I haven’t seen these Felix fics but I’ve seen enough fics in other fandoms to be familiar with the tropes. People just make abusive/asshole boyfriends because? They need an antagonist? And it’s way easier to use a pre-existing character than to create a new one?

Felix, if you notice, is actually very kind to people. He’s very soft and sweet with Annette, Bernadetta, Flayn, and Lysithia. Maybe a little aggressive at times but never mean. He’s standoffish but not mean to Dorothea (and that’s mostly because she keeps bothering him) and Seteth. He’s downright pleasant (comparatively) with Leonie and he’s very grateful to Byleth. Ashe and Mercedes he’s very iffy with, but their supports directly speak to something extremely tragic and hurtful to him (being compared to his dead brother and having knighthood touted as this ideal).

Sooo, the only people he’s really aggressively mean to are Ingrid, Sylvain, Dedue, and Dimitri. Dimitri (and by extension Dedue) terrify him because he’s seen Dimitri’s bloodthirsty, sadistic side. Ingrid pisses him off because she acts like the death of his brother was honorable (and like it somehow meant more to her despite the fact that it’s his fucking brother), and Sylvain just has everyone mad at him all the time so it’s really nothing special that Felix is pissed with him.

And like. Felix is able to acknowledge when he goes to far. He’s really not cruel for the sake of cruelty, he (and literally all of his friends, seriously) are just emotionally stunted as fuck.

And oh my god Felix is such a sub it hurts me. But even if he does want to top, topping isn’t necessarily a violent or or cruel act? Idk man. This entire thing confuses me.

#idk #felix is a special bean #but definitely not abusive #Anonymous

[charismastaticarchive]

verse: GO TO HELL. ( i just got back. ) | “horror”/ monster verses for various muses [ part ONE of probably many ]

you can go ahead and give this post a like if any of these verses strike your fancy!

FF MUSES

aerith: the corpse bride. after her death at the hands of an arranged spouse-to-be, aerith becomes a myth & a legend that lives in graveyards & bride-to-be’s dreams, sending them messages of love & lust from beyond the grave, and always searching for a new bethrothed in her tattered wedding gown. it is said that if you fall for her---you’ll be dragged to the underworld, and will never return.

fang: everlasting, true love, i am yours. based on rule of rose, as a child orphan, fang is sent to an orphanage in which she is abused/bullied by the other children who form creepy rituals to prove their worth to their own ‘secret society’ they all use to cope with their abuse at the hands of adults.

ardyn: spirited away. ardyn is the bathhouse master, and he does as he likes. only a fool would try to disobey him.

gladio: feathers&claws. based on howl’s moving castle. gladio is turning into a monster to stop a war far beyond his control. only finding his heart and returning it to him can stop him from losing his humanity completely.

FE3H MUSES

manuela: that’s showbiz, baby. at the height of the silent film age, manuela gives up her voice for eternal youth & beauty... only for sound to enter the scene. she is pushed from the spotlight by her own mutism, and to continue to keep up youthful & beautiful appearances, she must drink drink blood.

dorothea: think of me. based on phantom of the opera, dorothea is groomed to stardom by the phantom himself. unfortunately for her---the phantom is an actual phantom, and it happens to be draining her life force from her the more she sings and performs for him. and yet she cannot stop, she knows nothing else, and feels unloved by all but him.

sylvain, dima & dedue: reocurring nightmares. this is basically a verse based on ‘it’ in which the blue lions are forced to take down pennywise. can be modern verse or period-typical.

edelgard: final girl. edelgard lives in the midwest, where the scariest thing around is the sound of the coyotes at night, and the bigoted sermonizing of the local megachurch her father forces her to attend. her uncle offers her a way out---a family commune on her mother’s land where her and her siblings are supposedly free to be themselves. a massacre, many years and many scars later---she thought she was free of them and their experiments&abuse; that none of them were left, that she was free to come back to her hometown for her father’s funeral with a group of friends that could protect her emotionally from her own trauma---but it turns out the supernatural element of the cult was not as fictional as it seemed.

dedue: beauty & the beast. dedue wanted desperately to avenge his people from the monsters---he climbed to the highest mountain in the deepest tundra to do it, with nothing but the clothes on his back and a dagger in his hands. such a plan did not go well, and dedue was brought before the king of beasts---who offered to protect him, in exchange for his services&friendship.

enki: spirit medium. enki can talk to ghosts---and they want to talk to you, really, real bad, and it’s not good when they get angry, so you should probably listen.

dima&edelgard: edelgard is a vampire hunter, queen of the humans. dimitri is the vampire king. the DRAMA UNFOLDS as they GO TO AGAINST EACH OTHER IN WAR, both sides quickly turning monstrous.

#{ verse: GO TO HELL ( i just got back. ) | horror / monster verses } #cults tw #{ ooc: verses }

[bienaimee]

SYLVAIN JOSÉ GAUTIER’S        VERY WEIRD NO-GOOD TERRIBLE PLOTTING CALL

TL;DR -- i am looking to get sylvain some exes. i am looking for relationships that ended, went bad, or never even started. i am looking for plotting that will never result in endgame shipping, ever, but could provide a lot of interesting and fun relationship types otherwise. these can be fun, these can be angsty, these can be hateful or friendly, but the most important thing is that anyone who enters into this knows exactly what they are getting, and will not be hurt ooc by what sylvain does ic.

more info below the cut on specifics. if you this interests you, like this post and i will come along to your IMs and discuss if it’s a possibility! sorry it’s so long, i promise it’s for good reason.

OVERALL GUIDELINES FOR ELIGIBILITY:

gender requirement: none. sylvain is bisexual, usually prefers women. trans/nb-friendly!

age requirement: 20-30 in actual or apparent age. there’s some wiggle room on the upper end. ‘i’m actually immortal / way older than i look’ is fine, unless your apparent age is that of a teen / child. if your character has no age listed and appears to me as too young for sylvain’s taste, i diagnose you as baby.

ooc requirement: mun must be 18+. i will not be writing any sexual scenes etc. for this, but we can definitely discuss some details ooc if it’s relevant to plotting!

seriously: please be excited for the chance at negative or neutral-at-best relationships! i really really don’t want to hurt someone ooc by following through with plotting! sylvain can be extremely charming and convincing, that’s why he’s such a successful piece of shit! in return, you can treat sylvain however you want, so long as, again, it’s good vibes between the muns!

as an umbrella rule, full-blown ‘dating two people at once in secret’ type cheating will not be involved in these plotlines ( though heavy flirting outside the relationship most definitely will ). sylvain has gotten a lot better about that particular bad habit by his canon point, and there are dozens of other reasons to break up with him / for him to break up. trust me, he’s very good at breaking up. if your character would have a different take on any of the plotlines than what i wrote out, i’m all ears!! i love interesting character dynamics, so long as, again, we know that these are not endgame shipping.

content warning: obviously mentions of bad relationship practices will be involved in the plotlines. sylvain is not abusive or dangerous or a creep, but he is emotionally destructive. please take care of yourself! don’t participate if these things will make you uncomfortable!!

SYLVAIN:

cis male, 25yo, bi, like 6′ 2″ and fit in a ‘glamour muscles but can also swing an axe real fuckin good’ way

has a ton of experience in everything, he’s probably had more girlfriends than you’ve had people you know the name of.

he used to date entirely out of spiteful hatred for people using him for his status. now, he dates to self-destruct! he will be self-destructing!

highly empathetic and charming, will make you feel like the world revolves around you right until he doesn’t

on an unrelated note, he will drop you and everything else in an instant if he gets a text from his ki-- some dude named alex bc friends > flings

ACTUAL PLOTLINES OPEN:

WHAT DO YOU MEAN WE’RE DATING: he gave the impression the two of you were together, but when confronted about it regarding his behavior with others, he got defensive-- he just wanted something casual, okay?? now you’re ‘broken up’ but he maintains with a somewhat vicious attitude that you were never dating to begin with.

DON’T WORRY, I KNOW YOUR TYPE: you two were dating for a couple weeks, and really seemed to be enjoying yourselves, but after your first fight he broke it off immediately. petty enough on its own, but he then claimed you were just after [whatever] from him and offered to find you another guy who would suit you better. people who genuinely are the type to use others fully welcome too, he’s not always wrong about this shit.

CASUAL IS JUST BETTER: currently friends with benefits! you want something casual, he wants something casual, and it’s actually working out. if you catch feelings that’s your own problem, though, because he has made it abundantly clear he doesn’t care. he’s great to be around, the casual affection is infectious, but stick with casual.

SOMETIMES TRUE LOVE STRIKES TWICE: you were his, hook line and sinker, and you were all set to go home with him when you turned around and heard him use the same damn line on someone else. consider a bullet dodged-- unless you just went along with it and held a grudge anyway.

A TASTE OF HIS OWN MEDICINE: whether it was intentional or accidental, you pulled a sylvain. he thought it was going well, and you broke up with him. whether it was for petty or real reasons.. he’s supposed to be the one who breaks up with people first. forgive him some moping.

IF WE’RE BOTH LYING IT’S COOL, RIGHT?: fake dating trope fake dating trope fake dating trope!!! no matter how you feel about him normally, sylvain is damn useful for keeping [someone] off your back, and he can definitely play the part without letting emotions get involved!

#uhhhh no idea how to tag this #★★ REFERENCE!

[suchasquonk]

Magnus means a lot to me and so does Malec (TW : ABUSE, RAPE) (Something I plan on sending/giving to Harry and Matt)

Hello. My name is Chloe, I’m 15 years old as i’m writing this and i’m French.

Magnus Bane is the character i relate to the most, ever. In 10+ years of reading and watching movies and in 5+ years of watching tv shows, never have i related to a character this much.

Magnus’ childhood trauma and mine are similar. No my mom didn’t kill herself and i didn’t kill my stepfather. But my mom was in depression thanks to my emotionally and mentally abusive father. He convinced her she couldn’t raise me on her own. Before they broke up, i remember the tears and the screams and the begging of my mother. I remember one specific time, where i tried so hard to ignore the tears. He came looking for me in my room, brought me in the living room, where i saw my mom, broken, crying, shaking for the first time of my life. He wrote a name on a piece of paper. He told me to spit on it. “SPIT. SPIT. SPIT.” I can still hear it. And my mom was begging him “Sylvain please stop please just don’t do that to her”. After that, i know i spit, he sent me to bed, he broke something then he took his car and left until the morning. I tried not to think about my mom that night. I was only 7 years old.

After they broke up, his passive agressive comments and insults disguised as advices were directed toward me. And still towards my mom a bit (hate texts, refusing to talk to her…). After they broke up, he blamed me (and her) for everything. Drunk as fuck. Yelling, abuse, forgot to pick me up after school so he came 2 hours later, encouraging me to take drugs, to kill myself, etc.. I have no doubts that if i had magic, and i wasn’t in control of it (even if i had a bit of control), i would have killed him. I would have. And sometimes i wonder what it would be like if i did. The first time i tried to kill myself because of him, i was 13 years old, my birthday had been 2 month prior.

I can also relate to Magnus because of Camille. I had 1. A sexually abusive boyfriend [I have a headcanon (to be honest I’m 99% sure it’s canon but untold) that Camille raped Magnus, used his love against him and made him believe he wanted it. She was totally capable of that. + what she did to Simon] 2.A controlling abusive best friend whom i slept with and i had feelings for for the first year and a half of our friendship.

I also relate to him because I, too, use makeup and fashion to maintain my appearance and show how “fine” i am. Real coping mechanism skills here. During the few weeks it happened (the sexual abuse), i subsconsiously did my makeup more, dressed better, etc… because i wanted people to think i was the happiest person alive, not that i was crying myself to sleep every night and started self harming again. After i realised what it was, i bought so many makeup stuff. Started wearing highlighter, contour, eyeshadow, etc…and spent all my money on clothes and makeup.

I relate to Alec too. I relate to Alec because i, too, have to be the adult. Not to take care of my siblings, i don’t have siblings, but to take care of my parents. My father (i hate calling him my father to be honest) knows how to cook eggs and make milkshake and that’s it, My mom is a mess 99% of the time (i’m glad my step dad is here to be honest. He takes more care of me than my own father). My father doesn’t know healthy lifestyle and can’t cope on his own. Before, he didn’t even know how to take care of a cat (and we wonder why my oldest cats, the ones we had when he was still here, are afraid of people and don’t like touch except from me).

I relate to Alec because my parents (and whole family) lied to me a lot. I recently learned about my father’s addiction to heroin when he was younger, about him blackmailing my grandma, about his car accidents, about everything. My mom hides things from me too, but i guess it’s more to protect me since she hides our financial situation. My grandparents lied about my aunt’s cancer too. They (my father’s family) lie about money and debts too.

I relate to Alec because I always put my family (the people i consider my family, not my blood relatives) first. Once i consider someone my family, i will always put them and their happiness first, no matter what. I also have no idea how to relationship. I’ve dated before but i don’t know how to date H E A L T H Y L Y.

Now, Magnus and Alec’s relationship means a lot to me, especially because, as an abuse survivor, i never thought i could have a healthy relationship, that someone could fall for me despite everything. Because Alec seeing the “ugly” parts of Magnus didn’t scare him away, that he stayed, that he was patient. It gives me hope. It makes me start loving myself a bit. And the fact that they’re healthy, that they talk about problems, that they communicate, is so so great for me.

I think it’s very important for abuse survivors to see Alec and Magnus’ relationship because we often think we’re not worth it, that no one is gonna love us (+if we’re not loving ourselves first i swear this quote is bullshit), that we don’t deserve kindness and happiness, that we will never form healthy relationships, that we’re dirty and unworthy.

So thank you, thank you so much, Harry and Matt, and the writers of shadowhunters as well, because I, and other people as well i’m sure, really needed to see that on tv, to see that we’re deserving of love and kindness and healthy relationships. To see that we’re not alone. That we can form healthy relationships and be happy. That we will be happy. That we are not dirty and unworthy because of our abuse and our past. It means the world to me and I wish one day when i’ll get out of my poor financial situation i can tell you those words in person (a shorter version obviously) and give you this letter. Thank you so much, you have no idea how much it means to me, even after what i wrote.

Side note : you two are also my 2 favorite actors ever you’re awesome and your acting is so great. To be honest i think you have a really bright acting future ahead of you (okay that was cliché but still). You also both motivated me a lot to restart acting and stick to my primary goal in life : becoming an actress. And Harry you were really awesome in glee by the way and you motivated me to start dancing thanks a lot🌻

- Chloe, A girl from France you’ll probably never remember but it’s okay i love you.

#shadowhunters #malec #magnus bane #alec lightwood #magnus x alec #matthew daddario #harry shum jr #tw : abuse #tw : rape