#{ ch: the schemer; the dreamer | claude }

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claude telling literally no one his real name (khalid) like confirms all my suspicions lmfaoooo we are forced to stan....

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i feel like almyra is in like the roughest more dire straits right now. like all their remaining allies? duscur, brigid, dagda? all fucked over by fodlan. how are they supposed to get the resources they need from fodlan? they arent even trying to conquer fodlan’s throat. theyre just throwing rocks at it and telling people to open the fuck up cuz they NEEEED SHIT. and yeah they proabably don’t like fodlan very much either because HELLO look what they DO to EVERYONE ELSE lol cyril probably makes claude’s heart break into itty bitty pieces

claude was never a spoiled prince. they were tough on him because they thought they had to be. they needed a warrior king. they got a schemer instead!!!! but there are a few parts of war that claude actually ‘likes.’ the stories, for one, he totally fanboys about history. and then the weapons. he’s so obsessed with weaponry. the fact that there’s no rock-paper-scissors in this game is a personal affront to claude’s sensibilities as a tactician. he loves weaponry and weapon maintenance so much he’s like obsessed with it imo lmao

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CLAUDE HC: mommy issues

claude has issues with his mother! she was not affectionate with him. his dad was SUPER AFFECTIONATE with him, always roughhousing with him and ruffling his hair and picking him up and parading him around the palace. i picture his dad as a west asian zeus from disney’s hercules. just big and bold and loud with his affections, kind of goofy and easily excitable, but always so loving, always so proud. when he got angry at claude---which he hardly ever did, he just got quiet. disappointed more than angry. when claude revealed his plan to collect his inheritance and solidify an alliance between fodlan nations and almyra----his father got very quiet. his dad pretty much always reacted with enthusiasm---but then, there was nothing. just. if that was what claude had to do to be at peace with himself, if he thought it would work. then that’s what he has to do. he believes in his son---but it goes against some of his core values and the values of their people.

almyrans believe in transparency. they went to ‘war’ with leicester because they had to, the alliance wasn’t responding to their attempts to communicate, and in truth, they were pretty mad about what fodlan had done to their actual allies, basically stamping them off the map and like. stealing their kids like rhea does and not teaching them how to read or write or communicate. (almyrans are also very big on education, not just in war, which is obviously important, but also in language&ethics&their culture and the culture of their allies (tho some of this information is very outdated as the war between fodlan and the almyrans has been going on so long most almyrans haven’t been to dagda brigid or duscur in like thirty years)&as well as animal husbandry and artisan crafts.)

his mother was more secretive and sly. she pushed him harder than his dad did, because she didn’t want him to be soft. almyrans are more accepting than fodlan people are. claude was a transmasc kid, claude was biracial, part of her always knew he’d end up going back to fodlan, and that he’d need to be tough on himself to survive them. she pushed him away sometimes when she shouldn’t have. the truth was she didn’t know how to express love because as someone from fodlan, she’s only ever known real love (and not expectations that come from being the alliance heiress and being expected to have crest babies) from his father. she felt inadequate in raising their child compared to claude’s father. she retreated from the task often. claude asked so many questions and was so emotionally intuitive even as a child. she knew how to speak best through violence and she would never be truly violent with him. it was hard for her. she had come to almyra with the expectation she would never have children---and it just, kind of happened regardless. she wasn’t a bad mother---but she definitely wasn’t a perfect mother, and she often gave the duties of maternal comfort to servants and trainers instead of claude. and she never quite knew how to feel about him because of it.

all this to say, claude grew up craving her affection more, but also wanting to push her away just as much. he wanted to understand her, but also he felt rejected by her, because in his mind, every time she pushed him away or wouldn’t answer his questions, he was rejected by her. it was difficult for him. it still is. and yet, she seemed proud of him, and worried for him when he came to fodlan. which confused him more!

this is probably a large part of why claude appreciates secrets so much. he felt like in a way he was always in a chess match with his mom, always trying to trick her into giving him information about her past. and its probably why he finds himself more attracted TO people with secrets, people with mysterious pasts, people who don’t accept themselves, and have trauma. and, if he’s being honest, a part of the reason why he wants to fix fodlan is beyond trade agreements and the safety of people like him and dagdans and people of duscur and people of brigid. he also wants to help women like his mom not end up so fucked up and kind of broken. so they can lead more fulfilling lives, and be more chill with their kids.

he’s got a lot of motivations! lmao

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CLAUDE HC: LET ME KNOW THAT I’VE DONE WRONG / WHEN I’VE KNOWN THIS ALL ALONG. / I GO AROUND A TIME OR TWO. / JUST TO WASTE MY TIME WITH YOU. / TELL ME ALL THAT YOU’VE THROWN AWAY. / FIND OUT GAMES YOU DON’T WANT TO PLAY. / YOU ARE, THE ONLY ONE WHO NEEDS TO KNOW.

claude LOVES secrets. he makes this very apparent, all the time, and makes his love of secrets no secret. since everything with claude is a long con, a deliberate chess match of moving pieces forward while being as snarky and condescending towards all of fodlan (under the guise of charming, rogueish jabs at his ‘friendly rivals’), his love of secrets, and his desire to make said love known---is an important chess piece, a tool for manipulation and the self-degradation towards a casual aura that claude is so well known for.

this hc has two parts. ONE why does claude make  people THINK he loves secrets? how is that useful if he actually wants to uncover their secrets? wouldn’t that make people push their guard up even further?  and TWO. why does claude love secrets. does he REALLY love them, or are they just a tool he uses?

to begin with. there are a few things we know about claude for certain. they are the things he does not let ‘slip’ so much as tell with pointed accuracy because it suits his aims and goals in shocking his friends. he gives these secrets not freely---but as an exchange. he tells you something about his self that might have traumatized him, and u feel bad for him, bad enough that u decide to relate to him and tell him UR trauma, or bad enough that you pity him and feel closer to him.

 the things he tells about himself are things he does not SEEM to mind, because he tells these things just as freely as he talks about poisoning people with non-lethal poisons that can only give u food poisoning. this tells me two things: he tells half the story, and only the part of the story that doesn’t make him feel bad personally and that make him appear Different and Odd but also harmlesss. and the deeper issues at play when he talks about his past (namely, the attempts on his life, his warrior mother being vicious, him being dragged on the ground as he learned how to use a bow, how he wanted to wield byleth’s mountain shattering relic) DO bother him. 

the side of the story he’s telling is as simple as a non-lethal poison he wants to test out on a fellow student. but if you know how to make non-lethal poisons, it stands to reason u have better, ACTUALLY lethal poisons in ur arsenal. its a lot easier to kill people than to temper ur arrow and hit just the arrow in ur mouth. but he does so, and he does so in spades, literally all the time, to the point that no one ever really questions him or his intentions in even GATHERING secrets. so instead of people taking claude seriously as a manipulator----people see claude as a secret hound, that will always be obvious when he is being sneaky.

the reason claude makes it known he loves secrets----when people get tired of having their guard up all the time, they let it down, they get sloppy, they start to underestimate him as a hound instead of a true threat. then claude can hit them with genuine authenticity, and they open up as a FRIEND, even tho they dont know anything about claude really at all, and now? he knows JUST ENOUGH about them to hold it over their heads, to manipulate them further, and tbh, he’s already god enough at manipulating people in general just bc he’s got a good judge of character (though he does underestimate people, often), and is a cynical, analytical mind when it comes to patterns of behavior in humanity. and then? then people don’t view it as him ‘tricking’ their secrets out of them. they view it as opening up, as a cemented allegiance, and that’s worth a lot more---especially when claude NEEDS that before he can ever honestly open up to them.

so that brings us to part two. claude is only 17 at the start of the game, and he’s already had attempts on his life. if that’s what he’s TELLING US, if that’s what he WANTS US TO KNOW, then how much more horrible must it really be? he’s only 17 when he tells us this. he’s so fucking young. when did they start? how does he know about them? does he know anything about the people that attacked him? and then there’s the classic biracial kid story. his mom doesn’t look like any of the other moms. she’s tough and she’s strong and she doesn’t take any shit---but why does she look like that? and why won’t she say?

claude loves secrets, because, lets be real, he’s a prince from a fairy tale esque kingdom. there were secrets that were kept from him, secrets that were kept for a very long time, about who he really is, and why everyone seems to hate him so much that they’d try to kill him---but love him so much he still has people keeping him safe. you can see how claude, a genius and a prodigy at seventeen (so probably at least some time before then as well), would have a curious mind as a child, and want to know more information.... and therefore decide that, hey, knowledge is power. secrets are what connect you to other people. information and relationships are a currency that keep you safe and can also get you in trouble.

keep your secrets safe to your chest. dole them out when needed, exchange them when you have to, for sympathy, for love, for kindness, for allegiances. but learn everything you can about other people----not to the point they rule over you, but enough that that person needs you more than you need them.

secrets are EVERYTHING to claude. THEY’RE the real chess pieces. not just in his games of manipulation---but to his dreams, to his complete self-knowledge, to forging platonic and romantic relationships with other people (if he’ll ever let himself do that).

and the best lies aren’t lies at all. they’re half-truths. claude loves playing the game, more than he likes interacting with people in general, especially fodlan people, who he knows might try to kill him at a moment’s notice just for daring to be of almyran birth (and who have in the past). and while he hates that this system makes every drop of affection and connection he has feel transactional and also completely conditional---it makes more sense to him this way, makes PEOPLE make more sense to him, and the world make more sense. which is hard for him, because when u’ve been through some really, really terrible shit---sometimes it feels like there’s no way to come to terms with the awful things people have done to you, except to learn to live logically, and believe in a system that relies on you believing and knowing the worst about everyone all the time.

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starting to replay fire emblem: three houses. gonna play golden deer for the first time!

notes on hcs so far:

claude is very outwardly resentful and bitter and absolutely pretentious and better-than-thou. he just frames it like its a joke and like its so ridiculous he would talk to anyone like this that he couldn’t POSSIBLY be saying that the prince & princess are both naive dumbasses who wouldnt possibly be able to rule if they dont get gud. he’s just SUGGESTING it. he’s not SAYING IT. but he’s challenging them, always, in every single way he can.

in other words, he’s... extremely passive aggressive.

i don’t even think he was running away in the opening scene. i think he was just trying to get rid of the knights of seiros---so he could show edelgard&dimitri the power of almyran training is way more intense than whatever their countries put them through. 

edelgard---realizes it isn’t a joke, bc she doesnt think its very funny or doesnt realize it was supposed to be read as a joke in the first place

dimitri---doesn’t realize it’s not a joke, and is made extremely uncomfortable by these jokes about the future when he can’t see himself having a future at all

#fun things

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claude hc:

claude & fascade of civility ; claude & hilda

i don’t hc that claude had a rougher life than any other almyran child. i don’t think that he has a traumatic backstory on a PERSONAL level like edelgard&dimitri. yes, he experienced harsh war training that all the almyrans do. yes, his mother was a strict&brash woman, and yes his father roughhoused with him. but his trauma is generational & systematic, and no less important.

the almyrans are a people focused on war & strength, with no resources of their own save the precious jewels of their mines---but they have no one to trade it with, save their relations with dagda, duscur, and brigid---which are now ruled by an empire they can no longer get to. they focus on trying to ‘invade’ fodlan---to break down the barriers between them by fighting for the rights of their old allies---but they cannot get past fodlan’s throat, and the people that do---are captured, like cyril, their children not even told how to read and write as they are forcibly ‘adopted’ and not taught anything of their own culture.

their ‘invasion’ is one of justice for their people, and yes it is ruled by strength that can sometimes be brutal----but there ARE those among their ranks that believe in intellectualism despite the culture of strength. claude is one of those people---and he, along with some oc mentors, plotted for him to use his intellectualism and his birthright as part of the fodlan elite---to seek justice & equality in a foreign place that was just as much his home as almyra, if not, in claude’s head, (as a biracial child who was bullied for his femininity and his parentage) one more filled with potential as a home, a world he knew mostly from his fantasies and almost blank slate, where anything could happen and he could be ANYONE.

the ‘claude’ that we know is a carefully fabricated personality. he chooses to be humble (instead of self-conscious), he chooses to be silly (instead of self-righteous and justice-seeking), he chooses to be kind&friendly (instead of self-righteous and vengeful). he portrays a kind face, a friendly face, a humble face, and in the case of the most powerful characters in the game (dimitri, edelgard, byleth, and HILDA the most important), he is outright charming, harmlessly flirtatious in a boyish, innocent and silly way.

this is a ruse. it comes from a genuine place of love---claude has a deep love of all people, he thinks humanity is so funny and brilliant, so full of ideas and passion, and he especially loves seeing EXCEPTIONAL, passionate people, and bringing uniquness and love and passion out of them. but he has so many more complicated feelings than that. he’s not just a nice, popular, friendly guy. he has his own opinions that he knows that he has to dole out in small bits to educate the most elite of fodlan, in an attempt to change the system from within, by becoming everyone’s friends, and ruling the alliance in a way that benefits almyra.

but claude, in the beginning of the game. has every fucking reason to hate EVERYONE at this school besides petra, shamir, and dedue, and a part of him... really does. hilda especially. she never mentions almyra to him---but if she did, his blood would boil. it’s for this reason he carefully maintains the fascade, becomes her ‘dear old claude’ a person she can trust and rely on, be flirtatious with, even enter a relationship with. and slowly he comes to really care about her.

claude has felt, his whole life, that he had to pick facets of his personality to ‘show’ the world. he’s smart, and he’s well-read, and he knows there’s not really such ‘thing’ as one state of the self. we’re just what people think of us, we’re just what we do, our kindness, our love, the joy and the knowledge we spread.

as such, he’s able to work the system within. he doesn’t really know who he is---if he’s the almyran prince, or the riegen heir, and he only becomes both through his own route and being able to actually learn his own abilities and how far he can go when someone (that someone being byleth) genuinely supports and loves him as a friend, which he’s probably never had before in his life.

eventually, the golden deer do become the found family and friends he’s always wanted---that support him unconditionally, that love him as the almyran children just really didn’t through no fault of their own. (obviously it’s never okay to bully anyone, but after everything the alliance in particular had done to their families, how could they trust a prince that was half alliance-born?). but it’s not as easy as the game makes it appear. it’s very stressful for claude in addition to that. but the golden deer make it easier, they’re genuinely kind to him too, and they really prove to claude that humanity really is special despite borders and countries and nations. (hilda in particular, and her loyalty, grow on him immensely. and he really does think she is h*t as fuck lmfao)

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claude clears his throat. “first one to prank the catgirl ( @avosloved​ ) successfully gets the greatest secret stash of candy garreg mach has ever laid eyes on.”

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claude to edelgard during That cutscene: haha don’t kill me queen you’re so beautiful

claude to dimitri during That cutscene: you’re a soft hearted sucker. i bet you like sucking so hard.

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@valorwilled​​ : [ 🤗 Pull my muse into a hug (NON-VERBAL RP STARTERS) ] 🤗pai @ claude ( on non VW route maybe? :O )

claude is not like other boys. that doesn’t matter to his parents---because they would’ve raised him the same way regardless: weapons in his hands instead of toys; dragged through the scorching sands of the desert to be taught the bow he so treasured; a special ceremony at nine in which he would be left in the woods without food or water to survive all on his own, so that he could pick which dragon of the almyran royalty’s ancestral stock he would ride into battle one day (and how telling, that he would pick an alabaster wyvern, the same color as The Scholar King---who was also known for their greatest military defeats, though many instead chose to see it as him picking a wyvern with the same color of its scales as his unpopular, foreigner Mother’s pale skin).

almyra doesn’t care about what’s in your trousers, the gender or the name you call yourself; it cares about strength&passion, confidence&might. the same as their dragons, almyra wishes for all people to be free as a wyvern in the air, claws outstretched, far above the heat of the desert sun, clouds wet on your back. as it stands, almyra has many genders and names to call yourself, so many more than the church of seiros could even fathom, so many holy to them, warriors without genders, warriors between genders, people who lived and died to identify with the moon & the sun instead of manhood or womanhood at all.

it would make more sense then, to say that claude was instead not like other children, who worshipped almyra, who loved his father, who bent over backwards to uphold storied traditions of ‘might makes right’ & ‘justice means violence’ & who lived and dreamed to die for their country (and for their country’s allies, subjugated by the empire, faerghus, and even the alliance from which his mother hailed). it made sense that claude was bullied by other children, for being ‘soft’ and preferring books and bows to training and blood. but that did not bother claude so much, in truth---as he was just as ‘bullied’ by his warrior queen mother, and his boisterous father, always mid-laugh as he tussled claude’s hair too hard and punched his shoulders far too often ‘playfully.’

no. claude knows not being like other children wouldn’t have mattered in the end, that his people were not a monolith, that there were enclaves of intellectuals who still believed in a dragon’s freedom, secret societies that helped his father strategize and speak with vigor & wit he did not always seem to possess on his own.

the problem laid with fodlan---and his mother, and his heritage. half his birthright, the church, things almyran children were not allowed to know about except in secret libraries, hidden away to most. his mother thought he should at least learn about fodlan, learn why she had chosen almyra instead. thought it would make him understand.

after reading so much, spending night upon night with his eyes glued to parchment---claude could see, with certainty.... his mother would always choose to run away to almyra. she was better suited for this country than even claude, himself, and perhaps even his father. but claude? he had already made his mind up long ago. 

he would fix the problems of fodlan from within. he would use all his power and free his people---duscur, brigid, dagda---from tyranny. but also, in his heart of hearts, as every ‘outsider’ child does---who does not fit in in their home, or anywhere---he thought perhaps he could make a new world, where he would be accepted, where he could feel whole, and chosen, instead of settled for.

that was a long time ago. it feels like a lifetime ago---just since he picked up the name ‘claude von riegan’ since he found the golden deer and led them in battle, became friends with them, tried his best to ‘change fodlan’ from within.

but it wasn’t enough. and the worst part? it wasn’t like it almyra, where he wasn’t enough because he wasn’t strong enough, or tough enough, or almyran enough. no. no one in fodlan even knew he was half almyran, though he assumed some suspected, and that made his attempts at helping them even harder.

he was known his whole life, despite his ‘faults,’ for being smart, for having the answers, for playing mind games and politics. hell, he had even written a few of his father’s choicest speeches, giving him much needed military advice, when he could.

he wasn’t good enough for fodlan, and he wasn’t, because he wasn’t good enough at being himself. his only strengths weren’t enough. he wasn’t enough. he could never have done this. fodlan was too much for any one person to change alone.

and now he would have to give up his dream of creating a place where everyone could be completely themself, after realizing he wasn’t enough as a human being to do so---to one of the most irritating people he had ever met in his life.

all he could do as he handed over his birthright---the symbol of his dreams, the same alabaster bone as his wyvern’s horns---was look at his teacher with a kicked puppydog expression. he could never really lie to paimonia. they had always seen right through the fascade of friendliness and humility. that’s why they picked dimitri, right? because claude wasn’t good enough? 

as always, paimonia... surprises him. and wraps their arms around him, tight, and full, and yet still so cold, as if all their blood is caught in their throat.

he pulls up his hands. balls them into fists---a show of strength. hand to hand combat was so important to his father and mother, and they would never concede defeat---and then his expression softens even further as his brow bends and warps like the thread of a child’s bow. he holds paimonia to his chest, perhaps too long for any of fodlan, definitely too long for the soft-hearted, awkward dimitri to stare at as he does.

but almyrans believe in passion, and they believe in love, affection dealt out just as brutally as pain. and he has never needed to be held so much than in this moment. he does not know when he will let someone hug him like this in the near future, so close is he to tears, eyes wet as the sea salt air behind them. he pulls away, and thanks them both.

this isn’t goodbye forever, he reminds himself. his people will see to it, if he is still made their king after such a defeat. he’ll be called the second coming of the scholar king, but if they accept him---he’ll be back again some day, with an army at his shoulders, and no plan on his mind except to do as his people will with this unforgiving continent, that does at it will with dreams & the outsiders that bear them ever closer to their chest. as claude turns his back, he feels it burn beneath his clothes, as if he is once again being dragged away in the coarse, scorching sand. the shame stings and aches, like a blister. when he gets home he’ll pop it and let it infect with guilt&anger at himself, a wound so blank and white he’ll be able to salt&burn the fodlan soil.

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claude hc:

fodlan/birthright/other routes

when claude comes to fodlan, it is half a matter of pride. his mother is heir to house reigen, the leader of the leicester alliance. but she gave up that life. she didn’t want it. she wanted to be a fierce warrior queen alongside her husband, the almyran king---and while claude was given an seiros name that she was always fond of, the same way many asian children have names from their own culture and then an ‘american’/christian name---she lived her life according to almyran traditions, and did not make waves. it seemed often, in fact, that his mother fit into the life of almyra better than claude himself did, despite being born there. he never felt like he fit in.

when he hatched a plan to overtake the leicester alliance using his birthright---it was partially a test. of fodlan, for one thing. he wanted to see if they were really as bigoted and awful as everyone in his country always spoke of. but also, he wanted to see if this was the place he really belonged. a place he could change---unlike what every almyran ever told him. if this was place he could make his true home (EVERYONE’S home, if his plan worked) after all the bullying that he had experienced in his homeland.

claude says often u can choose to drop the burden off your back and not let it affect you. characters with similar views on this (lindhart) are told they are really running away from the real problem. but i don’t think claude really does let his perception of himself be entirely untouched by the people he’s known. he’s not as confident with himself as he lets on. he constantly thinks people are making fun of him, and he’s not confident in himself, always prepared to be insulted and play the fool because of it (so that people will underestimate him and open up to him).

and because he is not entirely unaffected by people, and always looking for that place where he belongs, i think that when he is defeated by the empire, especially in blue lions route, where the emperor never takes him on directly, it’s a blow to his self esteem. he feels like he was wrong to come here. that this was never a place he could call home. that he wasn’t good enough to hack it---as a tactician, as a leader, or as a person.

the truth is, claude goes with the flow rather easily. people talk about how smart he is, and he is, but he gets bogged down by public perception and backdoor politics, especially in the blue lions route, so much that he cannot be an effective leader. claude would never have declared war on the rest of fodlan on his own---but the harsh reality is, for any social change in fodlan to happen, claude needs a war like edelgard’s to take place so the power dynamic in fodlan can shift and make room for him. he needs edelgard, and her violent methods---just like he needs dimitri, and his soft heart.

but if he leaves fodlan, he is essentially giving up on finding a place where he belongs. and he’s giving up on his friends too, and everyone who ever complimented him ‘falsely’---and their belief in him. his dream dies in the process lol.

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claude hc:

claude’s favorite seasonal flavor is spiced apple cider. he will drink it and drink it and drink it until his stomach hurts. NO fall feast is complete without it!!!

in general, claude is a very seasonal guy. he loves holidays and celebrations even if he doesn’t celebrate them himself, and the coming of new seasons is very exciting for him always. because of this, he dresses for the calender and not the weather just to have FUN with it. scarves come out october 1st even if its 80 degrees (f) out (he’s used to hot weather anyway), and the shorts and sandals come out march 1st even if its only 50 degrees (f) out. he wears seasonal perfumes he makes himself---peppermint and pine in winter, pumpkin spice and apple in fall, lavender and green tea in spring, marshmellow and campfire in summer.

he likes planning all kinds of seasonal events for his friends---from haunted houses and costume contest to summer campouts/cookouts, to applepicking and pumpkin carving, to stargazing on various cosmologically significant dates. all his scheming is put to good use, and people from other houses are always invited to the party, a great chance for the borders of fodlan to fall and people to just have fun together!

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claude hc

almyra rambling

almyra’s got four main ideals. JUSTICE. FREEDOM. STRENGTH. AND PASSION. wyverns are sort of the ideals in which they live their life to. in communication, they mostly believe in HONESTY&being upfront about ur feelings and ideals. they are actually proponents of like, never lying about ur intentions or ur strategy, ESPECIALLY in war because they believe it to be unethical, and they REALLY care about justice. (they’re similar to edelgard in this respect and that’s part of the reason that claude really admires her, in additon to her being an exceptional person and claude really liking Exceptional People with secrets.)

they are mostly communist and function on a bartering for what is needed (or getting it from the the royal family that controls their army and resources).

the climate is mostly desert with their major cities surrounding large oasises where they are able to produce the vegetables & grains they need. they have access to mines with lots of gold and jewels---but as they are communist, they have only ever really used these things for artisinal purposes, and to trade with other countries.

almyra has always hated the church of seiros, as it constricts freedom, and they are Not About The Crest System at all, as they have like. complete and total gender equality (including trans genders, which they have many of, and most are assumed holy in their own religion). they love strong women and have had many queens (lgbt and otherwise) that are admired in their history.

interestingly enough, however, the almyrans religion of believing wyverns are holy guardians of mankind&the almyran ideals parallels sothis/etc being dragons lol. they actually do believe that dragons created the world as well but they believe the wyverns and humankind are their children lol.

the almyran royalty are seen as The Voice of the wyverns, which is why they’re most fit to rule. they have many traditions surrounding wyverns, most children get a wyvern when they come of age, but claude as a crown prince had to go through a ceremony when he was 11 in which he was left in the desert naked without food or water and had to find a dragon in the desert. he found his alabaster wyvern and the rest is history. (the almyran royalty can also sort of kind of talk to/hear wyverns also. why is this? WE JUST DON’T KNOW.)

alabaster dragons are very special in their history. one upon a time, there was a king called ‘the scholar king’ who tried to change the way almyra was ruled. he had a white wyvern and tried to go against tradition/war, but obviously that didn’t work out for him. while he made great progress in diplomacy/trade with the nations of duscur, brigid, and dagda, he was reviled by the empire, and that was when fodlan’s throat locked on him. but he had many followers becoming kind of a cultlike figure? so there’s now a secret society of scholars called the alabaster wyverns. these people actually approached claude when he found his own wyvern with albinism and he’s been in contact with them ever since & they’ve helped him learn strategy and about fodlan and the like tho he’s done much of it on his own. they are also the main supporters of him coming to fodlan, it’s actually a big scandal within the rest of almyra lol (because it’s not super ethical in their eyes to be lying like this!!!! that’s a WAR CRIME don’t be as BAD AS THEY ARE CLAUDE - the almyrans probably).

in addition to to the secret society, there are other sects of almyran culture divided into functionality. the most powerful sect of almyran culture is obviously the warriors, but the artisinal sector is also very respected because almyrans are really romantics&strongly family/friend-prone at heart. 

almyrans really care about giving gifts to each other, and obviously when there are jewels like everywhere nobody wants to just give each other a jewel. they like finding very special things for each other in markets. 

in fact, the artisinal class started because a king wanted to give his husband a special gift. he held a special contest for the miners to see who could create the most lovely gift for his husband---and no one was able to meet the king’s expectations of what was lovely enough for his husband for seventy years. when the the king finally saw a perfect, tiny earring, made of a wyvern’s horn----he immediately granted that miner a boon, and the miner had fallen so in love with creating lovely things, that he said that he just wanted their people to continue making things for the king&his consort forever. the king granted his request & created the artisan class as like, a real job with a government subsidy (so that these people would no longer have to work in the mines), and he gave the earring to his king consort. ever since lgbt almyrans would wear just one earring in the spirit of their love.

or at least that’s how the story goes! but claude loves that story and holds it close to his chest as like. an example of how his people don’t JUST care about war, they care about CREATIVITY and uniqueness and LOVE. claude really believes in love tbh lol

[charismastaticarchive]

@goldensonshine​ [ affection meme ( claude & raphael ) ] :  ✬ It's cold outside... time for a nice steaming mug of cocoa! ((Your choice of muse :3c ))

Claude is always the first of the group to start wearing seasonal clothing. When the first flowers of spring sprout, he’s ready with a pair of shades and shorts. When the first leaf of autumn falls---he’s already sporting scarves and sweaters. But winter? Winter is hard to make both fashionable AND comfortable. Especially so near Faerghus and away from his homeland, where its so cold and totally unlike the scorching sun he’s used to.

Raphael places a mug in front of him, and Claude lights up for his friend, smile not quite reaching his eyes, but face brightening all the same, until he remembers it probably doesn’t have the spices in it he’s used to. Still, it’s warm and forthy and the cup feels so good on his palms and fingers, he can’t help but let out a satisifed sigh just holding the thing.

“Ah. Raphael? Have I ever told you you’re my absolute FAVORITE person in the world? And that I would absolutely die in a blizzard without you and your big, huge muscles to dig me out of the snow? Because it’s true. And I should tell you every day.” Facetious flirting and compliments are how Claude says thank you, in his own silly, disarming way.

[charismastaticarchive]

@hilda-hearts [ hilda & claude ( speak of the devil verse ) ] this ain’t a party, get off the dance floor. you want to get down? here comes the encore.

Garreg Mach University is one of the top acredited schools in the Nation. This Is Where Future Leaders Are Born, Your Future Starts Now, as the Pamphlet passed out at Freshman Orientation says. And while Claude isn’t as naive as to think believe the banner that This Is The First Day Of The Rest Of His Life when posited above a photograph of the only ‘ diverse ‘ students the school’s PR team could actually find (especially ironic considering the tasteful blue border between)---and above the expertly manufactured photograph of the board of trustee’s rich, wrinkled well-shaken hands. But he’s also not so jaded as to believe that this storied, storybook world doesn’t have power over the poor and downtrodden. If anything, his cynicism towards the whole system is why he’s here to claim his birthright. To make a change in the world---and in his grandpa’s company---for the better.

It’s just a lot slower and harder than the pamphlets would have you believe.

And the longer he stays here---cameras and smartphones clicking and chugging in his vision near constantly---the more he sees illuminated by the flash. He knew he’d uncover something dark and decrepit here---the isms that haunt America, that he wants to end broadcasting on his half-family’s television network---but the more he looks behind him to watch his tracks---the more he sees in the corner of his vision. Shadows, conspiracies---Claude’s starting to feel like a nutjob, like he’s hallucinating all the secrets he keeps seeing hinted at in plain sight, and the creepy fascade of the catholicism covering it all. But there are so many things restricted to him in this country---more than library sections and offices, that are starting to seem restricted because of more than because of his ethnicity and the country he comes from.

It’s gotta be something more, right? But it can’t be.

Halloween hits, and he doesn’t want to be alone. It’s hard to make friends here---the cooler, more liberal and artsy students hate him because of a family that hates him too. And who the fuck wants to make friends with a Young Republican? That’s not Claude’s crowd, hard pass. But his good looks aren’t for Nothing--and he did manage to flirt with a Sorority girl hard enough to get an invitation to their Annual Halloween Party. God, what Claude wouldn’t do for the distraction from politics and conspiracies of pretty girls smiling at him, having fun in silly ‘slutty nurse’ costumes.

To say the place is decked out is something of an understatement. The frat next door is holding a haunted house, but The Sorority---which Claude doesn’t honestly remember the name of---is holding a costume contest in their Front Yard, with judges and people lined up and crowded around the stage. A sexy bumblebee, a sexy devil, a sexy kitten and a sexy nurse (yes!) seem to be judging. Most of the costumes lined up are parodies or jokes, none too clever, some outright offensive---nobody wants you here Guy Dressed Up As A Handmaid. Claude quickly sidesteps the crowd to get into the Sorority house, making a beeline (ha) for booze.

Claude’s come dressed as Poe Dameron (his Force Awakens costume, as he was highly disappointed with the sequel), but while his costume makes him look good---it’s not necessarily accurate or easily recognizable. Besides that, he’s not looking for the spotlight tonight, just a crowd of people to drown out the noise in his head.

Even as short as he is, he has to duck his head to get past fake cobwebs, and sidestep jack-o-lanterns and skeletons. It’s cute and tacky and fun and not trying to be anything more than that. It smells like pumpkin pie and apple cider here, the yummiest possible scents of fall. Claude likes that, and he hopes he can check out even more people getting scared by the Frat Boy painted all in gold in the corner, who keeps pretending to be a statue only to surprise people when they touch him. He could talk to somebody---but there are so many people here, and the music is so loud (it’s hip hop, though it can’t help but make Claude wonder what the girls’ parents would think of their daughters gyrating and grinding to it), that there’s no point in trying to talk over the crowd and make conversation. He likes that, too.

He’s nursing his beer---illegally, a voice in his brain tells him, though it absolutely isn’t where he comes from, so who cares---when across the room, he spots, perhaps the prettiest girl he’s ever seen. Pale, rose-colored hair, pink lips, and an hourglass figure that makes his mouth run dry, even with alcohol still fuzzy on his tongue. It doesn’t hurt that she’s showing some clevage---but as she slips out the back door, alone, he sees the scariest man in the scariest costume he’s ever seen following her out right behind her.

The costume is dripping blood and black ink on the carpet--Jeez, dude---and he’s pointing at her with some kind of skeletal prop from his dark cloak that looks painfully, scarily real. The bones still have meat on them---chunks of flesh, as if the rest has been ripped off or chewed off. Claude can’t see his face---but he’s sure this guy is going to try to scare her. Fuck, Claude would be scared too! Deciding to be chivalrous---and maybe give this guy, who absolutely popped up out of nowhere, a stern talking to about his treatment of other’s people’s floors. Like, seriously dude. Claude gets that it’s Halloween and all, but this is just too fucking much....

But when Claude gets out there---there’s nobody there except the most beautiful girl he’s ever seen, looking even more beautiful up close, soft skin, soft lips, just the right amount of perfume---and him, staring at the ink and blood stains on the floor like some kinda idiot. He couldn’t have just disappeared, right? All that’s in front of them is the darkness of the woods. Did he go in there? Jeez. Doesn’t he know people have been disappearing back there? Unless...

“Uhhhhh, hey,” he says, drawing her attention with an awkward half-smile. “Did you see where that guy went?”

[charismastaticarchive]

wishlist ( claude x dimitri post-blue lions route ) / claude hc ( blue lions verse ) : i hope you’ll go easy on me.

okay so i haven’t finished this route yet but i would love. love. a war between almyra and fodlan to start in the years following the blue lions route.

claude isn’t after dimitri, or any particular territory (that’s a lie, he secretly wishes to have control over the leicester alliance out of bitterness and regret for not being able to change things within the system as he wanted to). he’s after changing fodlan from the outside. he still wants to break open fodlan’s throat. he wants independence for brigid, duscur, and dagda. he doesn’t plan to unify the kingdom---but destabilize it with his shrewd schemes on sure bets and not gambles, using the strengths he can count on from his own country and within himself.

in this verse, claude is angry. at himself, mostly, but also at fodlan. it chewed him up and spit him out and slapped his ass on the way out.

claude is a classic biracial narrative----trying to find which of your people you most connect to. he feels rejected by fodlan. and hurt. he now fully embraces his almyran side, and his people finally accept him---and have always wanted war (canonically they have been attacking fodlan’s throat for centuries).

claude is finally inclined to give it to them.

also i am aware this is WAY OUTSIDE HIS CHARACTERIZATION IN-GAME. THIS IS DEFINITELY LIKE A ‘WHAT-IF’. also claude isn’t evil in this au, he’s not torturing people or killing people unnecessarily. it’s smarter and shrewder than that. it’s taking over fortresses non-lethally, trade agreements,  the will of the common people, the poor and the oppressed. it’s spywork and trickery and using the fearmongering people have always used against his country---and the diplomacy and good relations that his years at garreg mach gave him.

idk i just think it would be like. interesting and cunty tbh lmfao

[charismastaticarchive]

saviorkiing replied to your post: persoluslvpus replied to your post: ...

Dimitri: Prince Charming? Haha, reaaally funny Claude :/

“Simply stating the truth, your Highness. Look at you. All of you.” Claude, in true ‘manlet’ fashion, has to look up to meet his deep blue eyes, and he does so with great abandon, rolling his neck up to crane it. He’s clearly joking, and his smirk doesn’t reach his eyes (it never does)---but all the same, his words are excessively flirtatious just to get under Dimitri’s skin. “All tall and blue-eyed and blond. Strong arms, face just as pretty as Edie’s. However do the Blue Lions focus on their lessons with such a Charming Prince around?”