#Eclair and Neuvillette.

[toasteaa]

I love how I'm playing around with this sovereign of the seas au/folklore au (though I still hesitate to call it a folklore au) and like, the majority of the thoughts are lore heavy or romantic or the entire story/au I'd like to write from beginning to end, but then its like

The hurried and messy bits of dialogue + action that pop up when I'm at my computer/near my phone:

[wanderingchocolateeclair]

neuvillette judging villain!au edgejeanist at the podium (your honour, we're in love...)

*slaps this on the desk* here you go! The gays <3

(I have never drawn neuvi before so this was interesting)

[exoticalmonde]

Neuvillette, my husband

WELCOME HOME AT THE 90TH WISH YOU ARE DEFINITELY SOMEONE WHO DOESNT DO HALFSIES THANK YOU FOR TELLING ME ABOUT INAZUMAN AND MONDSTADT WATERS YOU'RE WONDERFUL AND I WILL FOREVER LOVE YOU

HOLDING HIM IN MY GRASP LIKE AN ECLAIR

Props to @cilundi for being on my account and pulling for me, I love you too thank you. Can't wait until you have Wriothesley so we can go on girlfather dates.

[saintbarou]

ive avoided genshin impact like the plague because i know i am weak and have the back bone of a under baked over filled chocolate eclair cuz i struggled to not pull for lyney but guys. Guys. Good God. Neuvillette is SO interesting to the lore. YOU HAVW NO IDEA….

[toasteaa]

send u some niko voicelines abt eclair so u can read later (feel free to tell me if i got her character wrong qjdjsjd)

---

About Eclair: Walls have Ears 

"Seems like you're enjoying Fontaine so far, seeing how that little floating pixie of yours can't seem to get her eyes off of any plates of sweet she came across. But careful there, Traveler- you know how they often said 'the walls have ears' ? I could think of one person that fits the description... Who ? Hah, that'd spoil the fun, wouldn't it ? After all, I'm still under supervision from the same person... You know what ? How about we give her a little show ? I'm sure other folks wouldn't mind another... ‘show’.”

-

About Eclair: Justice 

"When you're a convicted criminal, any and all crimes directed at you are seen at face value- You committed embezzlement ? Guilty. You kidnap children ? Guilty. You attempted murder on thousands of lives ? Of course you're guilty. Everything that is  thrown at you is easy to accept to anyone because that's all you ever are to them- a criminal. As much as I complained about the old hag, she does do her job by her own standard, the titles of "hero" and "criminal" don't matter to her as much as the truth of the case. At least that's something I could give her credit for, I guess." 

-

About Eclair: Second Chance

"Oftentimes, those residing in The Fortress do not have the luxury of going to the surface, unless they manage to escape the security of The Fortress prevents any and all inmates from leaving the Duke's sight. Of course, I'm the exception to this rule as I'm currently standing on the ground now in case you haven't noticed yet, you can thank the old hag for that. You must have guessed it already but this... settlement was not made easily, even back when I was still charged with attempted murder, Eclair was dead set on letting me be under her supervision with permission for me to be above ground despite all the problems that would come with it, it was an intense conversation and I don't think I've ever seen the Iudex looking that agitated before. But in the end, she went through with her decision and even till this day, I still don't know why she would do all that for me... Don't you dare tell her that, she'll sprout some cheesy shit like 'cause I care about him !'... or something.”

NICK I'M CHEWING ON YOUR BRAIN BECAUSE HHHHHHGHGHNHGH EVEN READING ABOUT HER IN PASSING AND FROM NIKO'S POINT OF VIEW IS ACTUALLY AN EXTREMELY ACCURATE DEPICTION OF HER CHARACTER RAAAAAGH

I know I've got an awful habit of talking about her with my silly or hopeless romantic or angsty filters on and I feel like that always takes away from how present she is in Fontaine's judicial system. And how present she is in Fontaine as a whole. Like. I always mention it briefly but there are reasons you either want or don't want Eclair on your case/on a case involving you!!!

"As much as I complained about the old hag, she does do her job by her own standard, the titles of "hero" and "criminal" don't matter to her as much as the truth of the case."

REAL AND TRUE - THIS IS GENUINELY HOW SHE GOES ABOUT CASES SHE'S ON!!!!! This is also why she isn't fond of interviews or those few crime novels that always seem to crop up after she's taken care of a major case - most observers (especially those on the outside of a case) do not see (or often do not care to see) the truth of a case. They would rather place the apparent "innocent" party and the apparent "guilty" party in groups based on preconceived notions. Appearances, origins, family tree, age, personality; all variables that can be manipulated and taken out of context to distort the truth beneath the veneer of presumptions. It's why, interestingly enough, she's never been the biggest fan of leaving half of verdict to the Oratrice. As impartial as it and Neuvillette can be, if fed enough prettied falsehoods and twist the identities of the "guilty" party just enough, even they can't tell the truth from a lie. But present enough evidence, no matter whose side it comes from, and see how quickly an "innocent" party's story unravels and how they scurry to backpedal their previously presented "truths".

It's made her both an appreciated and highly targeted member of Fontaine's law system. Luckily, no one's tried to take aim on any of those targets. Yet.

"Eclair was dead set on letting me be under her supervision with permission for me to be above ground despite all the problems that would come with it, it was an intense conversation and I don't think I've ever seen the Iudex looking that agitated before. But in the end, she went through with her decision and even till this day, I still don't know why she would do all that for me..."

Eclair refusing to let Niko be saddled with a false accusation of attempted murder when she knows for a fact that he wasn't the one to plant the bomb. The fact that she was willing to be thrown in prison herself in order to prove Niko's innocence in this case. All of his robberies? Fine; he did in fact do those and she has the evidence to back it up. He'll serve his sentence for that crime with no qualms from her. But attempted murder? Niko has never intentionally harmed or attempted to kill anyone before. It is not the Araignée Noire's style to do such a thing. Therefore, the charge should not be on an innocent boy's shoulders when the actual culprit is still out there. And, as you can imagine, several people were not happy to hear that.

There were arguments of course; accusations of Eclair playing favoritism as well as insults to her character. Anger from the crowd claiming that the new so called "Head Detective" was endangering more people by letting such a criminal continue to run free in Fontaine. But she'd said her piece already; all she needed was a confirmation or rejection of her plea.

Neuvillette wasn't angry, but he was severe. Called for order and grew silent. Stared down at Eclair with an intensity that would make anyone else apologize for such folly. Eclair only stared back at him and waited for his call. The resounding uproar after he allowed her investigation to continue still rings in Eclair's ears.

To this day, I don't know if he knows how badly her hands were shaking the entire time.

[toasteaa]

Last post about it because I know I'm getting annoying but I think both spirited away AND howl's moving castle both have had an extremely heavy influence on how much I think about dragons/other mystical brings having human forms and having their specific human that they love and care for. I know for a fact that's why I've fallen so head first into these thoughts and can't shut up about them as well LOL

[toasteaa]

ngl i was joking to myself last night about how niko and eclair is like the quote "like aunt like nephew" then i remember that lowkey they do share the same views in some situations and even their PARTNER is an immortal, blue cladded not-human who's acquaintances or is closely related to an archon and im like

shit they really are aunt and nephew

(dont mind me ive been thinking a lot of niko/eclair relationship these days SHDHDHDHDH)

SKJHGSJKGV send me all your Niko/Eclair thoughts because they're such fun snippets to think on and fit into the lore of, well, everything really!

She's adopted him at this point. Well. Adopted him in an "I'm your aunt and you will always have a place to call home as long as I'm around and I will actually fight anyone that tries to say otherwise" kind of way and I'm more than okay with that. I actively cannot see them outside of the lens of Lilo and Nani half of the time and I'm okay with that because it just fits. And their blue clad immortal partners that have never fully experienced or really witnessed relationships like that are somehow both intrigued and confused by the complexity of it all. But to Eclair and Niko, that's just how it is - nothing complex about it at all. That's his aunt and he's her nephew.

I love the idea that Neuvillette and Wanderer don't even question it anymore. Like they just go with it because it's easier to go with it that to think about how the most notorious former phantom thief got arrested and now the Duke of Meropide is his dad and the Head Detective of the Investigations Bureau is his aunt. Wanderer probably understands it a bit (or a lot) more than Neuvillette does LOL

[toasteaa]

How many of Eclair’s coworkers try to touch her hair on a daily and why is it too many of them -

[toasteaa]

i am running in ur mind rn give me morning eclairette crumbs pls 🙏🤲

GOOD MORNINGGGGG (I know it's afternoon now, ignore that. I was cooking all morning!)

Morning Eclairette crumbs, hmmmm...oh, I've got one! Neuvillette doesn't dream. Not often anyway. And when he does, the dreams are always relatively...unpleasant. He knows this is not a normal experience for humans (dreams and nightmares are common, yes, but the absence of dreams is not) but there's no one he can really talk to about this phenomenon, so he doesn't.

However, Neuvillette always wakes up before Eclair. And, once they've actually started sharing a bed, he takes a bit longer in bed just to watch her while she sleeps. Run his thumb along her lips, feel her soft and even breaths, and wonder what she dreams about. He enjoys when they're pleasant; when she mumbles incoherently and occasionally responds if he says something to her. It's amusing enough to get him to come join her in bed sometimes, especially if she's fallen asleep on the chaise and he has to carry her there himself.

Exhausted mumbling about work she needs to do and how she's not sleeping yet. Meanwhile he gives a little hum in agreement but keeps carrying her to the room anyway because she WILL be asleep again the second he puts her down.

Sighs...I love them...

[toasteaa]

THAT POST WAS INSANE TOAST

do u think that happened before they officially get together, like its sorta lowkey neuvi's way of getting close to her without being seemingly too obvious and this action became so common between them that it transcend even when they get together and it's like an instinct like how eclair would fix his cravat

no im not insane ok

AS MUCH AS I WISH THAT DID HAPPEN THAT WAY, IT UNFORTUNATELY DID NOT HAPPEN UNTIL THEY WERE TOGETHER 😭

I think them reading each other became more of a subtle instinct shift before anything else actually -

Like...Neuvillette's touches were usually much more subtle than Eclair's before they got together. Noticeable, especially for someone that isn't often physical with others, but still subtle. But he's also extremely observant person - both in and out of the courts. One of his ways of getting closer to her was through those observation, me thinks. But it was (and still is) always like he has one intention in mind when he goes to act on an observation and then gets hit with the "oh...that's an odd feeling" the second he's actually in the act.

Like the time he helped her with her migraine (He didn't intentionally mean to hold her face in his hands for that long and study her features) or noticed that it had been awhile since she had gotten her hair cut (he didn't mean to let her loose curls coil around his fingers after he mentioned her hair was getting a little long).

IDKKK I JUST THINK IT'S CUTE THAT THEY CARED FOR EACH OTHER LIKE THAT BEFORE THEY WERE EVEN TOGETHER AKJFBHAJFV

[toasteaa]

I think it's funny that Neuvillette keeps almost calling Eclair his mate. It's like he can't stop saying "there goes my wife I mean my coworker"

Oh, it's even WORSE than that.

If Neuvillette were to keep tripping over his thoughts and keep thinking of Eclair as his wife, that implies a bond that can be temporary. Marriages, while often done out of love, are little more than legally binding contracts in the eyes of dragons. These bonds should last as long as each party lives - but that's not always how humans work. Neuvillette recognizes this.

However, mating is a completely different story. For dragons, mating is a permanent bond, not just a symbolic union. It's a deeply intimate ritual that binds the very souls of two dragons (or a dragon and their chosen partner) for eternity. If one of them dies, they don't "re-mate" another. They wait for the soul of their mate to return - whether that takes 5 years or 500 years. To be a dragon's mate is to prove yourself (and be recognized as) their equal; which is why it's rather unheard of for humans to be the mates of dragons. Temporary partners perhaps, maybe even a consort, but rarely a dragon's mate.

Which means that, in his mind, Neuvillette has not only accepted Eclair as a suitable mate, he's actively trying to deny it. She does not know he's a dragon. He should not be entertaining fanciful thoughts of bonding with her in such a way. He should not be considering eternity with her.

Especially when he can't seem to court her properly as a human.

[toasteaa]

Thinking about that sovereign of the seas au again...

Nothing super substantial, I don't think. Just Neuvillette getting distracted while trying to find a way to break the curse and finding himself fascinated by the intricacies of human life. How his previous prejudices turn into genuine interest in the way humans interact with the world around them. How they live and grow and work and change in the slightest ways. How their cultures and customs are long lived and influential (as are his own) but each individual human has their own way of going about each daily ritual.

If he's to find a way to break this wretched curse without being caught or his true identity being suspected, then he needs to blend in as well as he possibly can. At least...that's what he told himself. But then he starts asking questions about humans with a little glimmer of interest and curiosity in his eyes. Mimics their rhythms and rituals even if he does not understand them completely. Finds that need to break the curse just a hint less pressing than it had been when he was first forced to take this form.

And of course, there is still that very present and urgent need to return to the sea properly. To be amongst the waves with fins and scales and to hear the water speak to him as it has for the past 500 years - and longer still in terms of his kind. But...now there is another desire inside of him as well. To touch and feel and know this world that he's been thrust into with hands that he'd never believed he would have but...he always secretly desired he did have.

A double edged sword of a curse; robbed of that he has always known - the power that he already had to fight to keep for his kin - and yet it has given him the freedom to walk amongst humans as though he were one of them. See the peace that followed the horrors of war centuries ago. Feel the warmth of the sun on human skin instead of a dragon's scales. The solidness of the earth beneath his feet instead of the security of water that surrounded him on all sides.

...The softness of a human's lips - their soft, even breaths - when he steals a moment to run his thumb over them while they sleep.

A step too far perhaps - one that finds him holed up back in the room that same human had so graciously given him. A step that he has to convince himself was made out of curiosity and only curiosity...and not from these new, human emotions blooming within him. Another reminder that he is not human. That this is not his world. That this curse - this wretched, awful curse - was made to weaken him and force him to submit to that witch of an Archon. He needs to break it. He has to.

Before he completely forgets himself in the longing he's long held for this world.

[toasteaa]

i hope you get better soon toastie! 🥺 mm, if you feel like it hehe, would you mind sharing how neuvillette acts when he notices eclair starting to act a bit sick? maybe her voice has gone a bit hoarse, or she looks unwell, or she’s not as smiley as she usually is? does he have mother henning tendencies towards her? 💞

Coco beloved!!! Thank you for the sweet words yesterday, I'm so sorry I wasn't completely awake and able to say anything back! Luckily I was able to sit in the living room and get a nice amount of sunshine and fresh air and I think that really helped get most of those gross feelings out of my system!

I do feel like sharing what Neuvillette is like when Eclair starts getting sick because it can be anywhere from being mildly concerned (because he trusts that she'll be responsible enough to go home and take care of herself when she gets sick) to carrying her home himself (because he trusted that she would be responsible enough to go home and take care of herself when she gets sick).

He gets it; stepping away from your work when you feel like you're the only one able to do correctly because of a little illness is frustrating. He himself has tried to work through illness and oncoming ruts - so he's aware how much strain it puts on one's system. Unfortunately, humans are much more fragile than dragons and he's heard tales of sweeping plagues taking out entire populations. Not that a common cold is anywhere near a plague and a few days to a week of sneezes and fevers and headaches will not kill Eclair as much as mildly inconvenience her - but he's not exactly willing to take any risks regarding it.

However, he keeps himself in check; he knows he cannot hover and make sure Eclair is taking care of herself when he knows she's starting to get sick. He attempts to keep the scrutinizing concern out of his expression when her general tone and demeanor is much more subdued than normal. He reminds himself of Sigewinne's words: "humans are fragile but they are also incredibly hardy and exceptionally resilient".

It doesn't completely shut off the part of his brain that keeps repeating, "my love is sick, she's in pain, I should be taking care of her, she should be home, in a nest that I built for her, and recovering", but it quells him enough that he won't do anything impulsive. For now.

[toasteaa]

There is little to no relation between Zelda and Eclair in my brain but the irreparable damage Zelda's Lullaby has struck on my psyche has latched itself onto Eclair and I'm not strong enough (or really willing) to separate it from her.

[toasteaa]

idk abt u toast but when i see neuvilette or roll and get neuvilette my automatic response is "oh, toast's husband is here/came home"

it's like my brain is on autopilot and anything neuvi = you AJJDSJDJDB

WWJSJWJDSJ I have become the Neuvi Mutual, my goal has been achieved LMAOOOOO

Any time a friend or a mutual pulls Neuvillette, another version of him manifests in my brain. That one picture of Sonic surrounded by Amys but it's eclairette WJSJWJSJSJ

[toasteaa]

I know it's silly but one of things that motivates me to cook a lot of times is thinking of how my faves or my ocs would do it. Are they good at it? Bad at it? Do they enjoy cooking for others? Do others enjoy their cooking? Do they allow others in the kitchen with them while they cook or do they kick everyone out?

Idk, I like envisioning them in the kitchen when I'm cooking and like to think about them in domestic and comfortable settings like this. It makes it more fun if I'm being honest - like a little movie in my brain where I get to watch them in less expected areas of their lives.