#alm x celica x faye

[merryfortune]

Picnic by Candlelight

Written for the Sweet and Spicy Bingo 2023

prompts provided by @sweetspicybingo

Prompt: Candlelight

Title: Picnic by Candlelight

Ship: Alm/Celica/Faye

Fandom: Fire Emblem Shadows of Valentia

Rating: T

Word Count: 1,036

Warnings: None

Tags: Polyamory, Established Relationship, Secret Relationship, Fluff

   The brisk evening with a sky full of violets speckled with stars was perfect for an al fresco outing.

   It was silly, perhaps even juvenile, but neither King Alm nor Queen Celica cared. Their servants had tried to convince them to have a banquet since their favourite guest was in their midsts but they knew her better. Far better. And so, a starlit picnic was decided upon. 

   They could only have these rural pleasures in fleeting splashes throughout the months and so, indulge they would. They wanted to make sweet and precious memories with their unconventional companion, no title given lest waves would be made and she didn’t particularly want to stand out.

   That companion being their dearest Faye.

   “Thank you, again, my dear for making the journey from Ram Village.” Celica said as she kissed Faye’s cheek.

   “I would go to the end of the world for Alm, and you, too, Celica, of course. For either of you, really,” Faye giggled, “it's truly my pleasure.”

   “Glad to hear it.” Alm replied.

   He shepherded both his lovers closer, it was the gentlemanly thing to do after all. Even if he was clumsy with how he divided his attention. It wasn’t a normal nor kingly thing to do, to take two wives. One in public and the other in secret. Though how secret it was remained to be seen given that the garden was adorned with guards, laced with servants, and plenty of eyes to see but they tried to keep it under wraps as best they could.

   Faye’s feelings… They could overcome even fate, separation, and wars. Her desire to be as close knit as she could to her beloved, it resonated and being a good friend of Celica, too, they found a way forward. All three of them. Some in ways which overlapped and other times, in ways that weaved all their relationships differently.

   But for now. There was a level of discretion necessary. Faye understood that and so, was included in whatever ways that she could. As far as the staff knew, she was just a friend visiting for vacation but she knew it would not be the guest suite that she would be retiring to after midnight. 

    Until then, Faye would simply have to wait as her heart burgeoned with anticipation of what was to come and enjoy the present as it, too, was a rare gift. She had all the faith in the world that Alm and Celica would welcome her warmly again later but for now. A certain decorum was necessary. Faye was a distinguished guest and only that, as far as anyone who needed to know could know.

  Their dates could only occur once a blue moon and Faye did not want to jeopardise her stays. It was such agonising sorrow to be parted from either Alm or Celica too long. So they had to behave themselves until the time to come undone, with festivity and excitement, was appropriate.

   So, on this calm and wondrous night, they set themselves down in the middle of the castle's gardens on a picnic blanket. It was a pale purple to match the dusky sky, it was laden with treats and a bottle of wine, candles were lit around to enhance the mood. The weather was mild, if a little cold, but it just made for an ever more perfect dusk for them to have to themselves on a date. 

   Here, amid the glimmering candlelights and atop this woollen picnic blanket in the dewy grass, politics fell to the wayside. As did nameplates and other stifling courtesies. When they were together like this, They became akin to how they were as children. A little jaded, yes, but free and innocent in the same breath. 

they could be themselves and each other’s lovers.

   “We have a fine selection of delicacies tonight, Faye.” Alm said. “Foods from far and wide, excellent wine. Please, help yourself.” He gestured over the spread laid upon the wooden plank of the charcuterie board.

   From one end of it to the other, Faye’s eyes followed the path that Alm’s hand laid out. She gazed over generous mounds of cheese and even chocolate, various fruits and dried meats, little savoury biscuits and more. Her mouth watered just looking.

   But here was the thing about Faye and she knew this humbleness so well it became a vice. It was difficult to spoil her, and right now even, she felt as though she ought to deny the generosity. She pined for the simple things - fresh peeled oranges, homegrown, sugar cookies fresh from the oven and chilled spring water - but she accepted. She glanced at Celica, following her lead to the grapes first.

   “They’re delicious, Alm.” Celica said. She popped another grape in her mouth for good measure.

   Faye agreed wordlessly with a smile after she finished swallowing. The grape was sweet and juicy, truly a bounty of an agricultural region formerly of Zofia but now of Valm. Her heart stammered in her chest as she glanced between her two lovers to affirm the private joke within her thoughts. It was nice that Zofia and Rigel were united as they were, just like Celica and Alm respectively then her in the middle: enjoying the best of both worlds. 

   She watched, fondly, as Alm and Celica leaned into one another. Alm moved his arm behind Celica, inviting her into an angular embrace and their lips met in the middle with a kiss. It was a kiss fitting of a wedding vow. Faye took it upon herself to reach for the wine - it promised notes of peaches and roses - and poured three glasses. 

   “Thank you, dear.” Celica told her when she finished kissing Alm. 

   Faye doled out the wine. First to Alm, who acknowledged her with a nod, and then to Celica whose delicate fingers brushed along her own when she accepted the glass by its slender stem. 

   “To us.” Faye said.

   “To us.” Alm affirmed.

   Faye initiated the gesture again. She held up her wine glass to the middle and the other two kissed her own upon its rim. She would have her turn soon, in more privacy than what this picnic by candlelight would offer.

[real-fire-emblem-takes]

Celica x Faye is way better than Alm x Faye and I refuse to compromise on that

!

[feshippingpolls]

Clair/Faye, AKA the "get drunk and messy at Alm and Celica's wedding then start to figure some things out the next morning" gals

FE: Should they kiss?

Clair x Faye

[frickingnerd]

alm with a younger sibling

pairing: alm x gn!reader

tags: seperated at birth!siblings, wholesome fluff, endgame sov spoilers (about alm & reader's family), hurt/comfort

both you and alm left rigel as babies, though a few years apart from each other

alm was born first and brought to ram village, with you arriving around two years later

by that time, alm was still too young to understand or question your family situation and the two of you grew up as normal siblings

you were both friends with gray, tobin, kliff and faye, with alm always making sure you got along well with everyone! 

both of you befriended celica as well when she got to ram village, though alm tended to spend more time with her than you did

fast forward a few years and alm takes on the position of the leader of the deliverance, to keep you and his friends safe! 

meanwhile you're always by his side, supporting your older brother wherever you could! 

during your travels, the two of you met a lot of new people, yet you two stayed as close as you always did, always supporting each other, especially in battle! 

even when you two found out about your family in rigel – about berkut and rudolf – you were there for each other, to support and comfort each other

alm worried that after killing your father, you'd grow to despise him for it, but you still remained by his side, comforting him

neither of you knew about rudolf being your father until it was already too late

for a short moment, your small family of two suddenly doubled in size, with the two of you learning about your cousin and father

only for both of them having to die soon after, by your own hands…

now, alm and you were by yourself again and while that had always been that way and you never minded just having each other, you two had now lost all of your family, except each other

like there was an empty space in your life, that wasn't there before and that wouldn't go away ever again…

[loregoddess]

Faye from FE for the ask game? :)

First impression: I didn't have any strong feelings for or against her, although I wasn't wildly keen on her writing for my first run, but in the "wow, the writers really messed up" kind of way and not like, "wow this character sucks" kind of way. I did like her as a unit though, she was pretty strong even though I eventually benched her bc I stopped using pegasus knights late-game (which was the class I had her in my first run).

Impression now: One of my favorite FE characters like, ever. Which started off as spite, I will admit, because she got a lot of hate from the fandom, but unlike so many other characters/games where fans criticize the writers, they just went straight for Faye as a character which was ??? bc like, what little writing she gets outside of her crush for Alm is Fine Actually, and again, she's a great unit in battle. So I decided that no actually I'm going to love this character, and then between critically reading her canon writing and coming up with my own headcanons and ideas for expanding her characterization, I ended up genuinely loving her a whole lot. Faye's great.

Favorite moment: This is hard bc again, *vaguely gestures at the game* she doesn't get a whole lot of screentime for anything, although I do appreciate that she comes to terms with her feelings towards Alm being unreciprocated, and is able to forge a friendship with Silque.

Idea for a story: Because I have this rarepair of Faye x Rinea (which was also born out of spite, I swear Echoes is actually tied for my top favorite FE game, I just also have a lot of spite in my heart I guess), I've been kicking around different ideas of how that could work in a mostly-canon but canon-divergent post-game story where Rinea is able to survive, and how Faye would help her along her healing journey while she also recovers from the war and comes to terms with her own feelings about Alm and stuff (and possibly have Faye help Sonya out with her witch recovery efforts in general), although I haven't gotten too far with any specific ideas to have a solid mental outline or anything.

A story exploring her life growing up with the other Ram kids would be pretty interesting too, although I'd probably get sucked into the research rabbit hole trying to learn about things like a complete history of farming and end up stressing about whether the fantasy farming village of Ram seemed like a legit farming community or not.

Unpopular opinion: I kind of feel like loving Faye is unpopular in and of itself, but yeah. Writing aside though, I do genuinely think Faye's a good character, like, from a visual design standpoint and also from a game mechanic standpoint, she's got a lot going for her. The writers did a poor job with her writing sure, but I think there's a lot of potential for her to be an interesting character in her own right.

Favorite relationship: Again, she doesn't get much, but I do like the friendship she has with Silque (and I don't mind the romantic ship of the two either even if it's not my first choice of ship for my own fleet), and I would have loved it if we got more insight into her relationships with the other Ram kids aside from Alm, bc I think there was a lot of missed potential there. Also, because Faye can be recruited to Celica's army instead, I would have loved if Faye had supports with at least Celica to explore what their relationship would have been like (I think they would have gotten along, even if Faye was a bit jealous of Celica at first). And well, of course my wild rarepair of Faye and Rinea.

Favorite headcanon: Hmm, I dunno if I have a favorite per se (since I mean, a lot of trying to expand Faye's characterization is just making stuff up that seems plausible), but I think since she was the only girl in a group of boys growing up that she's got sort of a rougher streak, like, she's willing and capable of throwing someone down in a fight, especially if they were picking on one of the other Ram kids (which could be reflected in her stats in the game, since she's pretty strong all things considered), and also due to Ram being a farming village she isn't really squeamish or icked out by things which some of the high born noble girls would have hated (bugs, dirt, mud, snakes, etc.). Like sure, Faye also enjoys wearing dresses and looking cute (she's very fashionable!) but she's also not really bothered by getting dirty and I'm very sure she probably picked up some critter out of Clair's tent one night with a slightly bored expression and released the poor thing outside. Hell, she'd even put some of the noble men to shame with her lack of fear of things that were normal everyday occurrences bc she grew up with a bunch of guys in a farming village (she's also definitely got some muscles as a result too). Also I think she makes all her own accessories by hand, and that she's overall very handy when it comes to sewing and crafts. I do think she's a bit of a picky eater though, not overly so, but just a bit.

[fayesdiary]

001 for Faye x Rinea and Celica X Faye, and character of your choice who you've been wanting to talk about for 002, for the ask game

Faye/Rinea

When I started shipping it

When I saw this art by @ grimoirering. They were so cute together and eventually I started genuinely thinking about them and realizing they actually work together really well and so... here we are.

My thoughts

I adore them. It's a rarepair that works better the more you think about it (such as noticing the various parallels or the spring/winter aesthetic) and can has huge potential for both fluff and angst.

I just delved into a bunch of fluff at the moment, but you bet I want to make something angsty with them one day.

Mainly involving Witch Rinea because I mean, come on. It's right there.

What makes me happy about them

These two are adorable.

They work so well from the village girl/noble lady and spring/winter dynamic, both of their lives revolving around a male lead meta-wise and not and being very unsure of their place in their group, so them finding love and support in each other is just *screams*

And something I realized when writing the latest chapter of Socially Distant and makes this pair even better is that Faye is still a bit clingy and obsessive with her loved ones because that's just how she is (though nowhere near to the unhealthy levels as she was with Alm), but for Rinea that's ironically a good thing since she constantly needs showings of affections to remind her that she is truly loved and not just a pretty thing to show around like she's been viewed as for most of her life.

Helps that neither of them like being at the center of attention, too.

What makes me sad about them

Faye and Rinea's view of themselves is very bad and they tend to struggle understanding what the other sees in them. Faye is scared of overstepping her boundaries and making Rinea feel uncomfortable, while Rinea keeps thinking people around her barely tolerate her and will abandon her if she doesn't act as this perfect lady and makes the slightest mistake.

It takes them a long while for them to have a better view of themselves and trusting the other not to leave them behind at the slightest mistake.

Things done in fanfic that annoys me

The fact that beside Socially Distant and a drabble collection where they feature in a really short story, there are no fanfics about these two and I'm starving for more content.

I really have to do everything around here, have I?😤

Things I look for in fanfic

As I said, right now I'm looking for fanfics of them period. Mainly with them as the main focus because them just being a really minor couple in the background wouldn't really count.

Who I'd be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other

For Faye I'd say Celica or Silque... although Chloé recently joined as another great rarepair option me and @zorua-adorable are obsessing over.

For Rinea, and I just thought of it but am already really into it... Clair would be a really fun partner for her!

My happily ever after for them

Living together and having the coziest, most peaceful life and where they're filled with love and care from both their friends and each other.

Who is the big spoon/little spoon

Faye's definitely the big spoon and Rinea just melts in her arms.

What's their favorite non-sexual activity

I just got the mental image of Faye resting on Rinea's lap while the latter is humming while the two are in a garden of flowers and that just works so well.

For Socially Distant in particular it's watching and talking about anime together, particularly magical girl ones. Weebs.

Faye/Celica

When I started shipping it

Many years ago, specifically thanks to this fic by @ pureauthor-blog. Which, ironically, is another Faye rarepair fic set in a modern setting, so I'm kinda picking up the torch with Socially Distant? Maybe? Hopefully?

Anyway, that's the fic that really got me into the pair and I haven't stopped shipping it ever since!

My thoughts

They are just the cutest!

This was the first Faye rarepair that I started shipping and it's still one of my favorites and most of it is just due to how saccharine these two are.

Another top-tier aesthetic, I adore the childhood friends and village girl/princess dynamic and these two just work so well with each other, you know?

Also, something I just realized is just how similar it feels to Faye/Rinea, which I am not complaining.

...so when Celica/Rinea?

What makes me happy about them

That this one has just a tiny hint in canon.

Well, not outright romantic, but the fact that when Celica returns to Ram Faye is super happy to see her which is so unlike what her archetype would have you think and just one that makes me spiral.

They were best friends. Faye welcomed Celica into Ram and taught her many things like sewing flowers. Faye is almost as devastated as Alm when Celica has to leave but unlike him she thinks she'll never see her again and even if she does she wouldn't remember her anyway.

But then Celica comes back, and remembers her. And the two just melt in each other's arms.

What makes me sad about them

That Faye and Celica could never be together in canon because Alm aside, they just belong to different worlds that can't reconcile.

Faye would be miserable living as a noble or outright a queen because it's just so alien to her entire life and what she cherishes, and while Celica would want so badly to just be a simple girl and live to Ram with her she has so many responsibilities to her kingdom she would never shy away from.

So there's this constant sense of distance and longing, and while maybe there are some ways they could work (like Faye secretly courting Celica and occasionally visiting her), they could never be anything more without jeopardizing who they are as people, no matter how badly they want to.

And while this makes for great angst, this is why I joke that I ship them in anywhere but canon.

Things done in fanfic that annoys me

Not enough fics to have found things that flat out annoy me, so no idea.

Things I look for in fanfic

Mainly for more fics.

And mostly fluff, although I would be intrigued by an angsty Faye/Celica fic.

Who I'd be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other

Well I already mentioned Faye, but for Celica it'd be Alm of course, Clair would be fun, Mae and Céline! And as I said before, I'm curious about how Celica and Rinea would be together :3

My happily ever after for them

Living in a cozy home together, surrounded by cats :3

Who is the big spoon/little spoon

They switch! Sometimes it's Faye and sometimes it's Celica :D

What's their favorite non-sexual activity

Gardening! I like to imagine they have a large garden filled with several flowers. And yes, they still sew them.

And for the character I choose Loptous! And straight out of the bag, I'm skipping all the romance options because he should not be with anyone.

How I feel about him

Holy shit, this guy is the most evil villain in all of FE and I sincerely doubt IntSys will ever even come close with his level of depravity ever again.

He is pure evil in the best way possible, from his obvious damage on a large scale (the Jugdral timeline at the start of FE4 is just a list of his atrocities) to even a smaller scale to make you hate his guts (Taking advantage of his possession of Julius to drive both Arvis and Ishtar to indirect suicide, and just his relationship with Ishtar is a huge bag of fucked up in the best way possible).

Unlike other evil dragons he doesn't even a tragic backstory. He just things humans are toys to break in so many ways and he turned himself into a cursed tome just to torment Jugdral forever. He doesn't have a tragic motive to hate humans like Medeus and Grima, he didn't degenerate like Duma.

He's sane and just unbelievably evil and sadistic, and that's what makes him terrifying.

Not to mention the grip he has over Julius. By the time of FE4 the two have pretty much become synonyms, and when you kill him you'd think Julius would die as himself for his last few moments like it happened with Lyon and Future Past Robin, right?

But no. Instead the opposite happens, where Julius is fully taken over by Loptous. It even extends to Heroes. For Lyon and Robin, their version where they're taken over by Fomortiis and Grima are relegated to Fallen Heroes, but for Julius?

That's his base form.

Loptous has taken over Julius so much that the latter almost doesn't exist anymore both in official material and in fanon. When people talk about Julius, they're usually actually talking about Loptous.

And that is, to me, an existential nightmare.

My non-romantic OTP for this character

Hilda. No, not that Hilda.

She's the only one who comes close to him in terms of depravity and that's an achievement in and of itself.

My unpopular opinion about him

Not sure if it's an unpopular opinion, but I think he's the best villain in the franchise, or at least the best "pure evil" one.

And I doubt IntSys will ever surpass him.

One thing I wish had happened with him in canon

I want to see the moment he starts to possess Julius so badly, I want it to be as fucked up as they can get away with. Can we see it for the FE4 remake please?🙏

A headcanon fact

This is an old one, but I like to think Loptous grew in a hate group of Earth Dragons who rather than just think they're better than humanity they do what... well, hate groups do. Let's just leave it at that. And then Loptous grows up and takes the hate to even more horrifying extremes in Jugdral.

[naoreco]

for the duo bingo: forsython, clive/fernand, faye/silque :)

THREE DUOS!!!! LOVE WINS!!!! OK OK sending these in order. you're getting streams of consciousness for this

forsython: this bingo is deceptive because it's quite basic but i have a lot to say. i really want to emphasize the comedic potential here because more than anything these two are so fucking funny. canon forsython is hilarious on its own (wa-pish!) but sechoes has some of my favorite additions (like when they visit alm and bring him food and get sidetracked talking about that time forsyth made clive some cupcakes with the little sprinkles on top PEAK COMEDY). and at the same time they feel quite cozy. my idea of the Narratives is forsyth dreaming for the both of them

clivenand: had i seen this ask mere hours ago i would not give the same answer. A polycule could(nt) have fixed them. the wasted potential is mostly directed towards canon sov because really i think fernand's behavior just makes so much more sense if he's in love with clive and mad that he's changing from the man he once loved (WHEN REALLY IT IS FERNAND WHO HAS CHANGED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!). i'm inconsolable. can we lock him in the bathroom so he can sniff mathilda through the door. i guess if you count sechoes as fanfic this is better in fanfic but i dont feel like marking it off bc i have yet to examine the Clive x Fernand ao3 tag and i dont trust the sov ao3 tag just in general

fayesilque: maybe because i couldnt stand faye in my first sov playthrough (as the average player doesnt i assume) but i went thru her support with silque and was like. Oh my god. she could fix her. She could fix her! And that opinion has stuck to the point where i'm defensive over this ship. monoship? for those two specifically. though there is wasted potential because i think their support chain in sov itself is kind of lacking. sechoes B and A supports- oh my god i only JUST realized faye was talking about celica in the A support.oh my god. its such a small world that's silque's friend from the priory. post cancelled i'm gonna be thinking about this forever.

[chibitorra]

So far FE15 has a fantastic story!! I kinda guessed out Celica’s role early on, but now the real mystery is figuring out who her supposedly dead half brother is bc as I see it, there’s three possibilities right now:

The most obvious, the masked man who saved her from the rock slide. If they wanna be cliche about it...

The creepier option where Alm is actually her half brother bc of the same markings they have. Unless they aren’t so... romantic... towards each other later than it’ll be okay.

And the last one, and here me out, Saber. My only inclination on this is when he told Celica about his “younger sister he hasn’t seen in a long time.” and how the rest of his family is dead. Liiike I know it’s highly unlikely but I’m just observing little things. 

Also, I’m just theorizing as I go along, please keep in mind that I know these may or may not be true, and pleeeeaaaase do not spoil me ty <3

[stargazer-balladeer]

Fire Emblem: Echoes Page

Characters List:

Alm, Gray, Tobin, Kliff, Faye, Lukas, Claire, Clive, Forsyth, Python, Luthier, Mathilda, Delthea, Tatiana, Zeke, Celica, Mae, Boey, Genny, Sonya, Conrad, Fernand, Mila, Rinea & Berkut.

☆彡 - sfw

★彡 - nsfw

» Alm

» Gray

» Tobin

» Kliff

» Faye

» Lukas

» Claire

» Clive

» Forsyth

» Python

» Luthier

» Mathilda

» Delthea

» Tatiana

» Zeke

» Celica

» Mae

» Boey

» Genny

» Sonya

» Conrad

» Fernand

» Mila

» Rinea

» Berkut

» Alm

» Gray

» Tobin

» Kliff

» Faye

» Lukas

» Claire

» Clive

» Forsyth

» Python

» Luthier

» Mathilda

» Delthea

» Tatiana

» Zeke

» Celica

» Mae

» Boey

» Genny

» Sonya

» Conrad

» Fernand

» Mila

» Rinea

» Berkut

Currently none

[x] Back to Main Notebook

[kanda44]

Secret Confession - Alfonse x Reader

A/N: Unclear if you know the true meanings behind flowers Alfonse ends up giving you a small bouquet that represents his feelings. Only...you know exactly what this type of flower meant. Note: Forgive me if the characters that I have here are OOC...haven’t written too much for Fire Emblem nor have I ever played Fire Emblem Echoes so yeah...also if I got the meaning of this flower wrong then sorry!

“You sure this is gonna work?” Alfonse asked, cheeks tinted in a pink hue. “Of course! You two are close so I’m sure she’ll love them!” Sharena smiled. “Do you think she even knows the meaning of these flowers?” Anna asked. “I’m not sure...we rarely speak of flowers anyways so...” Alfonse replies.

Well, that was completely true, with the war going on it’s not like the two of you had the time to speak of such little things such as flowers...though he did wonder what your favourites were considered at one point in time he caught you crouched down near a small pond smiling as you talked about one of the lotus flowers that had bloomed.

“Wow! I’ve never seen a lotus flower before! It usually takes a thousand years for it to even bother to bloom...I’ve heard they sleep within the mud. We’re really lucky to see one Al!” You smiled.

Ahh...that memory was his favourite, your smile and the way your eyes shined. It might have been that very moment that Alfonse figured out he had fallen for you quite hard.

“Hello! Alfonse!” Anna shouts. “W-What?” Alfonse asked snapping out of his thoughts. “You were thinking of (Y/N) weren’t you?” Anna smirked. “Aww so cute! Don’t worry brother! We’ll help you two get together!” Sharena smiles.

Blushing away he coughed as he held out the package for Feh who took it then flew off to where you were...Alfonse wasn’t sure how much of this his heart could take so he stumbled over his words and walked off leaving the girls to giggle at his actions.

**With You**

Currently, as of this moment, you were busy training with both Alm and Celica, two new heroes who had been summoned together along with Conrad as well as Faye along with Emporer Rudolf.

Though Faye and Rudolf had gone elsewhere as the other three stayed, usually you’d get to know the new heroes first by training alongside them to get a good grasp on their fighting styles which would provide you with the task to easily place them in whichever area on the battlefield that would best benefit them.

“So do you have anyone special for the Day Of Devotion?” Celica asked. “Um well...” You laughed and blushed a bit. “Oh, you do!” Celica smiled. “Come on now Celica, don’t tease our summoner.” Alm chuckled. “Aww but I wanna know who it is!” Celica pouts.

And as if fate decided to step in and reveal the answer to the heroes who saw the feelings between the two Feh arrived with the package.

“(Y/N), you have a package from Alfonse!” Feh announces. “Thanks, Feh!” You smiled gently taking the package.

Not sure what it was you opened it and gasped at the sight, you were rather shocked since inside the package was some Gardenias flowers. These were rather rare and once you thought about it...your face flushed red at the meaning behind these flowers.

Purity and sweetness...they also indicate secret love. Not to mention it’s pretty much flowers from Alfonse telling you that he thought you were rather lovely.

Placing the basket they were in you then read the note that came along with it.

‘Dear, (Y/N). I hope you understand the meanings behind these flowers, I’m sorry if I’m being a coward to hide behind some flowers and a note. But I fear if I told you face to face that I’d stumble over my words and never get my feelings out to you at all...but here goes, I love you, not only have you been at my side since we met but you’ve never given up on any of us. Even when odds were stacked upon us you continued to find ways to push us forward. I’m internally grateful for all you’ve done and I hope we can continue to work together side by side not just as partners but also maybe as lovers?’ - Alfonse.

Your face was beet red, not only were your feelings mutual but you were given something rather sweet by Alfonse on the Day Of Devotion pretty much as a sign of being asked out. Smiling a bit you were cheering a hell of a lot in your head while you did try to remain calm on the outside but...Alm and Celica could tell you were over the moon about this.

“Oh, this is so cute!” Celica smiled. “Yeah...” You whispered with a smile. “Go on, go see the prince. We’ll catch up on getting to know each other again some other time!” Celica says pushing you out of the room. “Heh, alright alright.” You laughed as you held the gift given to you in your hands.

‘Thanks, Alfonse, you’ve managed to make this day feel so special...I’m glad my feelings are mutual...so hold on a minute I want to confess to you the right way as well.’ You thought.

[the-apocryphal-one]

holy shit Faye is psycho for Alm, ALL the base conversations I’ve seen from her reference him in some way. I don’t think even Camilla and Tharja do that.

[merryfortune]

The Swan Princess with Sunset-Coloured Hair

Written for the 100ships Challenge on Dreamwidth

Prompt: #70 Sunset

Ship: Alm/Celica/Faye

Fandom: Fire Emblem Shadows of Valentia

Word Count: 7,251

Rating: M

Warnings: No Warnings Apply

Tags: Alternate Universe - Swan Lake, Artistic License, Polygamy

   There was great merriment to have at the castle, it was the prince’s coming of age birthday, after all. Musicians played splendid and upbeat songs whilst guests danced to their melodies. There was good food to be eaten and even better wine to be drunk. The ballroom was most beautifully decorated and yet, the prince, the dashing bell of his own event, was nowhere to be seen.

   Inside, at least.

   Prince Alm and his cousin, Prince Berkut, had escaped outside of the revelries to engage once more in their friendly rivalry. This time, the wager of choice was bows and arrows. The fields were quiet and some ways out from where the party itself would be hosted, perfect for hooligan antics of youth.

   Prince Alm lined up to his target: body and weapon. His breathing was steady and his eyes were sharp as he studied his target. He wanted the bullseye and with just a dance of his nimble fingers on the bow, his arrow sailed through the air, whistling, quivering, and eating into the red paint at the very centre of the target.

   Prince Alm beamed as he heard that satisfying noise as the head of the arrow made its deep impact. He raised back, let his body soften, as he admired his own work. Beside him, Prince Berkut pat his back but there was something sardonic about his touch - and his praise.

   Prince Berkut made an impressed noise, “Well done, little prince,” he said and then touched his chin in thought, “but I bet you couldn’t go further.”

   “Oh yeah?” Prince Alm smirked, delighting in the challenge.

   He scanned their surrounds for something more daring than just a boring old archery target in the courtyard of the Castle grounds. His eyes went wide as he saw Faye out by the back of the kitchens, hauling in sacks of flour from the palettes. She must have noticed him because she stopped to wave.

   Prince Alm made a hand gesture and even at a far distance, even at over a hundred yards, Prince Alm could still determine Faye’s demeanour and expression and the same for her, she could read him just as easy. Hence, when Prince Alm told her stay put just by putting his hand out, Faye did that.

   “I’m going to hit that sack of flour Faye’s holding, without holding her.” Prince Alm said, not a boast to his voice.

   Prince Berkut rolled his eyes. Neither seemed very possible to him as he folded his arms, “By all means, though.” he grunted, dour.

   “I shall.” Prince Alm replied.

   Prince Alm locked his body once more. He selected another arrow from his quiver and aligned it with the shapely curves of his wooden bow. He took a calming breath and looked at Faye. Dear Faye, his childhood companion, daughter of the head cook and an aspiring manager of the kitchen, for now just a maid and kitchen hand. Despite being a commoner, Prince Alm harboured a great and deep fondness for the girl. He would never harm so much as a hair upon her head and with that assurance, he took his weapon against her.

   He released the arrow from where it was nocked.

   The feathers on the arrow’s tail quivered but the body of it remained rigid. Prince Berkut watched, slack jawed, as his expectations were more than exceeded. It was impossible and yet it was as though the arrow itself had melded with the cool, evening wind just to make that grand distance and find its target safely.

   Faye, holding the sack of flour in front of her womb, flinched. The arrow’s head buried into the fabric of the sack and flour leaked out from the wound but Faye, herself, was not touched despite her apprehensions. She hazarded a smile but the hesitation faded when she looked across the yard and saw the proud grin upon Prince Alm’s face: it was earned, not arrogant.

   “Impossible…” Prince Berkut mumbled to himself, astounded by Prince Alm’s prodigious talent with the bow and arrow.

   However, Prince Alm’s Mother - the Queen - had far more to say about this incident. She had come venturing out in search of her son and her nephew and when the head of the kitchen mentioned that his daughter had spirited away in the middle of a chore, the Queen had rightfully suspected that this was all connected. She was horrified to see how.

   She marched out the kitchen door and took Faye with her. Princes Alm and Berkut could only stiffen and await their punishment for fooling around. The Queen scowled at the two of them with each encroaching step and Faye wasn’t too far from escaping her ire, either.

   “The nerve,” she scolded them, “we host a perfectly good coming of age party for you, Alm, my dear and you squander the opportunity to fool around like this. You could have hurt poor Faye!”

   Faye simpered at the Queen’s side shyly. She held tightly onto the sack of flour, still pierced with an arrow and still bleeding flour.

   “I would never hurt Faye - and she knows that.” Prince Alm assured his mother.

   All whilst Prince Berkut flippantly offered the following to the conversation, “Honestly, Auntie, you should be praising your son for his skill. I have never seen a rarer display of archery than just now.”

   “And I have never seen a rarer display of eligible young women inside that you are ignoring. You could be charming them rather than maiming young ladies such as Faye. Even if she is the help, you cannot be mistreating her, Alm.” his Mother continued to scold him.

   “I’m fine, really.” Faye piped up to little avail.

   Prince Alm sighed through his nose. This whole conversation wasn’t even about Faye - not that she realised, the poor thing. It was about him and getting married. His expression grew mildly irritated.

   “I have already told you, Mother,” Prince Alm insisted, “I want to marry for love.”

   Faye smiled a small smile hearing that. She always did whenever she had to listen to the royals that she worked for row about marriage and all the political ramifications that such a thing had for the uncommon folk. She always found Prince Alm’s insistence to marry for love such a sweet and honourable thing: true to one’s own self rather than bowing to outside pressure. 

   Yes, Faye admired that muchly. In fact, it gave her hope as just as Prince Alm had deep feelings unto her - albeit platonic ones - the yearning that Faye had for him in return was, in her opinion, exactly that: true love. She could only hope that Prince Alm’s disobedience would one day give credence to her and her heart.

   However, Prince Alm’s Mother was not quite so romantic. She shook her head and glowered but realised that it was futile to argue further. Especially in front of the help and especially on an evening like this which was meant to be jubilant and vivacious. So, she backed down from Prince Alm and his stubbornness regarding his hand in marriage.

   “Just be warned, your youth is not eternal, my son,” she said, “sooner or later, you will have to settle down and if you cannot bring yourself to choose now, your Father and I will for you.”

   “I’m sure the girl I meant for is sooner than you think, Mother,” Prince Alm said, not at all noting how Faye’s face lit up in joy as he said that, “I just have to meet her and I know I will not meet her at one of these stifling matchmaking parties that you arrange for me without any of my input.”

   “You are just like your Father,” his Mother muttered, fond, if bitter, “fine, continue playing with your toys if that is what you prefer.”

   “Thank you.” Prince Alm replied and his eyes noticed something in the horizon: the flutter of movement. He watched as a flock of swans rose up into the sky from beyond the treeline, wings outstretched and necks long. He smiled and nudged his cousin, “How about we go hunting?”

   “I would like that muchly.” Prince Berkut replied.

   Prince Alm glanced at Faye, “Do you want to come, too?”

   “I would love to.” Faye enthusiastically replied, not because she enjoyed or was particularly good at hunting but because she thought it a good opportunity to perhaps capture Prince Alm’s heart.

   The Queen was not impressed by this turnabout but she knew it was useless to prevent them from going. Children, at any age, even as adults, were too often too rambunctious. So, she returned to the party and returned to her prior goal of finding a good wife for her son, even if he didn’t approve.

   The trio of Princes Alm and Berkut with Faye in tow adventured out to the forest. Prince Alm, naturally led the charge with Prince Berkut hot on his heels. Faye merely following along, still holding that sack of flour and making sure they had a route back home using the bleeding flour lest they get lost in the thick of the forest as the forest before them was tremendous.

   The forest before them looked nigh endless. Massive fir trees loomed ahead of the skyline, the tips of their branches raking through the sky as it slowly turned from day to night, scraping through the scant stars, shuffling slightly in the breeze. The floor of the forest was thick and dense with wild berry shrubs and bramble. Every step was treacherous despite the sweet birdsong so late at night. The trickles of creeks could be heard softly beneath every snap of twigs or grass underfoot.

   It would be all too easy to get lost in this undergrowth, on the hunt for game more enticing than squirrels or foxes, Prince Alm would know for somewhere in amongst the trees and bushes, on these animal paths, he separated from his cousin and Faye. He thought he saw something - a pure white winged bird flitting through the tree branches - and was enraptured. He thought he told Prince Berkut and Faye that he would split off from them but maybe he did. He could still feel the unsaid words in his throat as he left the path that flour dotted.

   Prince Alm traversed the forest. Where the birdsong grew louder and the undergrowth grew thicker. He was careful with his hands and boots as he navigated the thorns and branches, following after that illusory white flash. Until finally, he made it into a meadow which homed a chapel.

   Prince Alm had never heard of a place of worship in the middle of the forest but there it was in all its crumbling glory. The marble and its height gave it away as being a place of prayer but it was disused. Moss ridden and covered in vines and flowers, barely standing and yet so tranquil as though it were holding mass for the flora and fauna of the meadow and the forest.

   This place’s peacefulness surprised Prince Alm as he rose to his full height. He felt a cut on his cheek but wiping away the blood, it was thin and shallow. He looked around, his lips parted with soft wonder. It was beautiful here.

   There was a lake in the middle of this meadow. The surface of which was like a mirror: of an unknowable depth and yet reflected the beautiful sunset that Alm looked up at. The clouds, the stars, both the sun and the moon: it all graced the surface of this lake. The sand that encircled it was sugar white and the grass that, in turn, encircled the sand was a verdant green strewn with clover and other tiny wildflowers speckled yellow and orange.

   Prince Alm attempted to take a step forward but he saw them again. That flash of pure white, the flutter of deft wings. The flock of swans that he had chased into this forest, on a hunter’s whim, had returned to roost. And there, he saw the most miraculous, most peculiar thing.

   The swans were all but dancing as they skimmed the surface of the lake. Ripples were sent out and reflections distorted. The bodies of this waterfowl, in turn, distorted. Shimmered, sparkled. The swans swirled and swam upon the surface, throwing back their heads and singing with the sunset as they did not remain swans but became maidens.

   Prince Alm was astonished by the vision in which he saw. Birds becoming young ladies who stood up on the still water of the lake as though it were solid ground; all of them wearing beautiful tutus and leotards like dancers, linking arms with another and coming ashore. Their expressions wistful yet giggly, a certain remorse to them.

   Prince Alm was intrigued and so, he stepped further into the meadow, his back to the treeline. And with just that step, the graceful and melancholic socialisation of those young ladies ceased and they were spooked by him. The young lady in the middle - with sunset-coloured hair - protectively stuck out her arms against the breasts of the other maidens.

   “Who dares to trespass on my Mother’s domain?” she inquired, fierce.

   Prince Alm drew in closer. Wonder and bewilderment across his brow, his steps slow and cautious. He was suddenly acutely aware of the feeling of his quiver’s leather strap slung across him and the weight of the bow that he carried.

   “I do not mean offense - or harm.” Prince Alm replied.

   Her eyes were wary and of the same sparks of the last sunshine melding with the night as her hair. She was beautiful. She was freezing. The water of the lake was limpid at her slender ankles and yet she had such power imbued within that delicate frame.

   “I was adventuring, with my friends. It’s my birthday, you see, and my name is Alm. I promise you,” he said, removing his quiver from his body, crouching down to place it and his bow on the ground, “I was entranced by your beauty, nothing more. Never had I see such beauteous swans before, or maidens for that matter. Or, um, swans turning into maidens.”

   The young lady exchanged a glance with her friends and returned her arms to her side. She straightened up slightly and took a breath.

   “I feel you speak with truth and honour.” she replied. “It is good to make your acquaintance, Alm. My name is Celica, these are my ladies in waiting, Mae and Clair.”

   Celica gestured to her ladies in waiting. Mae was to her right and had hair the colour of plumeria flowers with a darker complexion to her blemishless skin whilst Clair was fair both in her hair and skin with eyes of steely blue. They both seemed distrustful of Prince Alm, leering at him with suspicion, but Prince Alm took no offence. He figured he would be equally alarmed as they if someone intruded upon his home with a weapon, even if it was done so dumbly and from curiosity.

   “Its a pleasure to make all your acquaintances.” Prince Alm empathetically told them.

   “Yes, charmed.” Clair replied through tight lips.

   “Yeah, veryyyy good to meet you, Alm… If that’s really your name.” Mae taunted him.

   Celica giggled, “I promise that is their way of getting along with you.” she explained.

   “Glad to hear it.” Prince Alm said quietly. He looked around again, he tried to discrete but he was rather unsubtle regardless of his intentions.

   “You're curious as to who or what we are, what this place is… aren’t you?” Celica asked.

   Prince Alm scratched the back of his head sheepishly, “A little… Its not something you see everyday, is it?” he replied.

   Mae and Clair held onto Celica’s hands either side of her as her expression became crestfallen, “It's a sad story to explain but I was once a Princess, believe it or not. However, my family’s powers were annexed by an evil sorcerer named Jeddah who demanded that he marry me. My Father relented, not wishing to see us diminish by his cruel magics and so, took me here. To this chapel but on the altar, I refused. I would not marry for power or convenience, I only wish to marry for love. This enraged Jeddah so he cursed me and my ladies in waiting who protected me. He turned us into swans and we can only return to our true selves after dusk. Once it is dawn again, we will be birds.”

   “I’m sorry.” Prince Alm replied softly, his heart resonating deeply with Celica’s grief. “I admire your conviction. We appear to be one and the same, though I’m not cursed… I was not forthright before-”

   “I knew it!” Mae interrupted, making a fist. “I knew your name couldn’t just be “Alm”, like what kinda name is “Alm”.”

   He chuckled good-naturedly at her tirade and smiled through it, “My full name is Prince Alm of Rigel.” he said. “And my mother wishes for me to marry for wealth or power but I want to marry for love as well. I can now only hope that I do not follow the same fate as you and your companions…”

   Clair and Mae exchanged a look. Their eyes wide and gawking in only the way ladies in waiting were permitted to be.

   “If it consoles you,” Celica said, “but there is a way to lift this curse.”

   “But it's entirely unlikely in this day and age…” Clair mumbled but her hopefulness betrayed her. Her body language was excited, on her tip-toes encased in ballet shoes.

   “The enchantment can be broken if someone who has never loved before promises themself to me.” Celica explained.

   Prince Alm blinked. He could feel his heart swell and he smiled, “Well, I hope that such a vow comes to fruition for you.”

   Mae groaned and she stomped over to Clair, making ripples in the water, she grabbed Clair and dragged her off, “We have swan-maidenly things to do. We’ll just leave you two lovebirds be. I’m sure you both have a lot in common being prince and princess and stuff. C’mon, Clair.”

   Clair attempted to protest but Mae was too forceful with her. Prince Alm chuckled again, awkward and nervous. Celica also seemed quite flustered, embarrassed by her friends’ antics. Even so, Prince Alm offered his hand to her.

   “I would love to get to know you more. I don’t mind staying out all night if we have to. Perhaps we can pray away the sun’s awakening.” Prince Alm offered her.

   “Perhaps we can.” Celica agreed and she accepted Alm’s hand.

   Prince Alm led her further ashore and Celica left the water and together, on the banks and in the meadow, they did spend all night together. They talked, they danced, and yes, they even prayed together for the sun to never rise lest it would cause them to part. For a blissful few hours, they did have all the time in the world and they watched the fireflies flit by.

   Clair and Mae observed from afar, keeping to themselves but their hope was palpable. Perhaps this nightmarish cycle of day and night, of bird and woman, would come to an end soon, after what had felt like a century of this undue magic. 

   Even Celica was hopeful. By the time the witching hour was upon them, she felt deep and truly connected to Prince Alm. His company was easy. Natural. She felt they had a knowing synergy that was fateful and universal. His hands were well worn by his practice training as a knight and yet the softness characteristic of male royalty. His dance, however, was unpolished but Celica didn’t mind as she showed him more and more the steps of gracefulness and not once did he ever tread on her toes.

   She didn’t want to force it but Celica was hoping dearly, that by the first rays of dawn, that Prince Alm would say those chosen words and set her free. Set herself and her friends free from this curse and Prince Alm wanted to but he felt an uncharacteristic unease. He was often scolded for rushing in, like a fool, for never taking the time to consider and yet, here he was, weighing his own life against those of the swan maidens he sorely wanted to save and yet found himself speechless before. He felt as though he were being watched and that brewed an ominous feeling in the very pit of him.

   In the grey of the morning, as the sun attempted to rise, Celica could begin to feel the curse once more. Stray feathers on her shoulder blades, on her legs but she held Prince Alm close regardless. Perhaps he needed both time, she wanted to give him some, but Celica had so long as a bird that perhaps she was desperate.

   Or perhaps Prince Alm was correct in not yet fumbling the breaking of the curse as its caster appeared before the tranquil lake and those who accompanied its waters.

   A great and hideous creature swooped down from the lightening skies, deftly maneuvering the treetops and came down to where Alm and the swan maidens lounged. His wings fluttered and stirred a gale that split the grass below, a flurry of dirt and twigs and feathers. Yet somehow, this owl-like form gave way to that of a small, hunch-backed man with an unnatural pallor.

   “Jeddah!” Celica cried out, ferocious, ready to protect her lake, her precious friends, and her budding love. She stepped out from behind Prince Alm who was dazed.

   His eyes were wide. This was Jeddah? The monster who had cursed these poor maidens and driven them to isolation and despair, turning them into swans? He was expecting a more intimidating figure but honestly, the meagreness of this wizard’s appearance enticed him. For the first time in hours, he readied his weapon.

   “You fiend!” Prince Alm cried out. “I’ll kill you for what you’ve done, nothing less for a devil such as you!”

   Jeddah chuckled darkly. It was a horrible, avian screeching noise that made Prince Alm grit his teeth. Jeddah stared him down with slitted pupils, skeptical of the prince and his proclamation.

   “You, boy, you are a naive fool. My death would just assure that Celica and those girls are never returned from swanhood at all. The spell could never be broken with my head rolled.” Jeddah warned.

   “I told you, Alm,” Celica insisted, “the curse only breaks when love that is sole and true is promised to me.”

   Prince Alm grimaced and Jeddah noticed. He cackled some more. “Interesting,” he mused on the boughs of his horrible laughter, “very interesting. I was worried by this development but perhaps there is none at all.”

   Guilt immediately thudded on Prince Alm’s chest as what he heard from Jeddah’s mouth was awful. It made his skin crawl. Moreover, he felt studied by Jeddah’s eyes. Up until he vanished. A flurry of feathers, a disappearance in a whipping wind. He was helpless as the sun rose - full and true, shining like spun gold - came through the trees and the maidens surrounding him once more became swans. The guilt compounded and Alm, despite desiring to be Celica’s cursebreaker, found himself unable to utter those words. There was something stopping him.

   Something watching him. 

   No, someone watching him.

   Faye held her hand over her mouth. She was tired. She was muddy. She was quite certain that there were twigs in her hair. She had searched all night to find her Prince Alm and she found him alright. In the arms of another. They looked perfect together, she had to admit. Like the hero and heroine of a storybook, bound for a happy ending but every story needed a villain.

   Jeddah appeared before her. He placed a claw hand on her upper arm as she clutched onto a tree for coverage. She hardly registered him. All the mattered was her despair. Her broken heart, her limpid tears.

   “You truly love that boy, don’t you?” Jeddah asked, smarmy.

   Faye nodded her head but she was as inarticulate as a dolly made of straw and flour.

   “You would do anything at all to win his heart?” he asked.

   “Yes, of course.” Faye replied, thinking she was talking to herself and that her imagination had merely twisted like an old, petrified tree.

   “Then I may have just the spell for you.” Jeddah told her.

   Prince Alm desired to stay but his inaction and his foolishness caused Clair and Mae to spurn him. Celica thought it best, too, out of goodness that it was best if he retreated for now. People were likely looking for him, after all and to that, Prince Alm conceded.

   Flying on ahead, Celica showed Prince Alm to the edge of the forest. Prince Alm’s heart felt heavy with indecision and at the brink of it, where bramble and bushes of berries turned into a yonder field that would lead him back to his home, his castle, he exchanged a longing glance at Celica. Even as a bird, he could see the beautiful body and soul trapped inside. She was shy, urged him forward without a word.

   “Thank you.” Prince Alm managed.

   Celica nodded her slim head and then disappeared back into the forest. Prince Alm looked forward and began his trek to the castle. When he returned, the castle was a flurry of activity, like a beehive. They had been searching for him with his cousin leading the charge but the prodigal son had returned before he could even make a step back to the forest.

   Prince Berkut hugged Prince Alm firmly, “Cousin,” he gasped, “we were afraid we had lost you.”

   Prince Alm rolled his eyes. He knew Prince Berkut would love to ascend the throne himself but so goes the fate of being the son of the king’s younger brother. Still, he appreciated the affection and his cousin’s strong arms. Then, Prince Berkut pulled away.

   “But the most peculiar thing has happened in your absence, your mother will be looking for you.” Prince Berkut said.

   “I would hope so, I just went missing in a dense forest…” Prince Alm only half-lied.

   “No, no, you don’t understand…” Prince Berkut said and he was quick to elucidate Prince Alm moments away in the ballroom.

   The decorations from the night before remained hanging yet were oddly deflated. Sashes and ribbons pinned to the walls drooped. Devoid of music, these marble halls were lifeless and silent, without festivity and dance, the hallowedness was more akin to a church and as Prince Alm entered, perhaps that was more apt than he realised.

   Pure and blinding sunlight streamed in from the various and grand, arching windows that surrounded them upon the walls. Some were coloured with stained glass, others draped with curtains. All of it created an odd ambience that made his heart swell for in the centre of it, he saw his mother and he saw, no, he couldn’t believe it but it had to be, there was no other possibility. He saw Celica.

   They stood by, hands to themselves and yet glowing with the utmost pride. Prince Alm’s heart thudded in his chest and his eyes widened. His almost brutish steps of resistances, unfettered by his cousin’s assurance that he would like what he would see, became nimble as he crossed the dancefloor to meet these most important ladies.

   Celica stood, prim and human, fidgeting with her hands. Her smile was wondrous, shy but sparkling. His mother couldn’t look prouder standing beside her.

   “Alm,” she said, smothering and boisterous, “I believe I have found the perfect bride for you.”

 �� Alm could hardly muster a word but his overager smile expressed thousands in its place.

   “This is Princess Celica, she came here from a faraway country on the other side of the world, on holiday, of all things! Upon hearing there was an eligible bachelor in such a place, she just had to meet him and her Father has offered quite the dowry for her. I think this is the offer of a lifetime when it comes to your qualms with arranged marriage.” his Mother explained.

   “I think you might be right.” Alm managed to sputter out and his Mother was thrilled to see her son so starstruck. 

   And Faye felt blessed to have such a wonderful expression all to herself, because of her. 

   Prince Alm would have been right to doubt his eyes as the Celica before him was an illusion. A magic spell cast over none other than Faye, someone whose disappearance was only felt by her own father throughout all the Castle. Even Prince Alm, despite laying his very eyes on her, did not care for her but rather her guise of sunset-coloured hair and pale complexion like moonlight, unmarred by the hard work of common folk.

   “I shall leave you to be in this charming young woman’s company then.” his Mother said with quite a hearty chuckle. She patted her son’s shoulder and went on her merry way with many hopes.

   Ginger all of a sudden, despite the compatibility that he felt from the night before, Prince Alm was shy as he extended his hand to the Celica that he saw before him. Demurely, this Celica in front of him took his hand and allowed herself to be swept up in a wonderful dance. Oh, the two of them had the times of their lives together, though for vastly different reasons.

   Faye had stars in her eyes throughout. She was on the cusp of having all her dreams come true. Her heart broke for the real Celica, yes, she promises that it does but what of her own love? She had known Prince Alm for years, pining away no matter how silly or difficult, was her love not just as pure as a fateful connection under the stars? She wanted to believe that thought she was winning Prince Alm’s heart through misdeed that the sin of condemning another woman was worth it. Self preservation was an important instinct, Faye believed, no matter how self-centred or vain.

   Prince Alm, too, had his head in the heavens as he and the Celica in front of him danced. He had so many questions - how did Celica break her curse? Why did she decide to appear before him as an arranged marriage? Who was her Father - but he couldn’t bring himself to utter a single one. He didn’t want to spoil the moment. He wanted to let the imaginary music play on by all means as their dance took them in spirals and swirls around the ballroom as it was theirs and only theirs as of right now.

   And though Faye had nothing but the highest hopes for this dance, for her Prince Alm, that he would entwine the spells, breaking her free of her own love and sealing Celica to hers, her ears pricked on something. She heard the flutter of wings. She stole glances at the windows and saw shadows that harrowed her.

   “Is everything okay, Celica?” Prince Alm asked. “Are you getting dizzy from all this dancing?”

   Faye’s heart was fit to break. She wanted so badly to assure Prince Alm that she was fine but she had been warned by Jeddah. The enchantment upon her could fool the eyes but not the ears, her voice would be her own and therefore discordant to her image as Celica and Prince Alm would, therefore, realise the deception. And so, Faye swallowed her words but she could not suppress the glimmer of tears in her eyes.

   Prince Alm was alarmed by this Celica in front of him’s quietness and even more so by her tears but then he heard something. He squinted, thinking he was imagining it but the way this Celica in front of him reacted to his own reaction, he knew something was deeply wrong. He tried to look away from her, to let her hand slip from against hers, letting their once intertwined fingers run over each other as he tried to hear that noise more clearly but she grabbed him. Clutched onto him with a most frantic expression and she bit her lip.

   “Y-You’re not…” Prince Alm didn’t want to say it because he didn’t believe it but logic told him he ought to because nothing else made sense.

   Claws scratched and scrabbled against glass and by some miracle, even jimmied it open. A swan - a beautiful swan, Celica, the real Celica - swooped in and flew. She cried out, primal and yearning, heartbroken and Prince Alm ripped himself away from the imposter with disgust, completely and utterly unaware that she was Faye.

   “Who are you?” Prince Alm barked at her. He grasped at the air, wishing for his bow - or maybe a sword, anything to protect himself and his beloved.

   His fury was red hot and frightened Faye. She took timid steps back away from him but the noise had already piqued the interest of guards. She could hear their rushed and clattered footsteps on the tiling, they were fleeing to go and grab the Queen, as well as the man posing her as her ‘Father’: Jeddah. 

   “I’m so sorry, Celica,” Prince Alm plead with Celica as she swooped down towards him and allowed herself to be captured in his arms, he embraced her with the utmost love and affection, “I’m so sorry. If only I had said those words earlier.”

   “You can’t!” Faye screamed and the spell upon her was broken. She was robbed of her beautiful, princessly dress and put once more in her tunic of hard work. “You simply can’t, you mustn’t!” She was all but throwing a tantrum, yelling and crying.

   Prince Alm was astonished to see the imposter unmasked in a clamour of black swan feathers and for it to be none other than his cherished childhood friend. This was just as unbelievable as the very spell that had enchanted him and fooled him before, perhaps even more so.

   “Faye?” he murmured.

   “I love you, Alm.” Faye confessed with all her might, with all her heart. “I have loved you from the very beginning of our friendship and though you are above my station, I do not dream for your wealth, I dream for your companionship. You have always been my truest friend until… until…” Faye cast an accusatory glare at the swan in his arms. “Until she became known to you in all of what? One mere night? Is that not nothing compared to use and our bond of many years?”

   Celica was shocked by the admission but when she looked up at Prince Alm, she saw only enlightenment - realisation - in his face. It all made sense to him now. Not only Faye’s behaviour unto him, what an oblivious fool he had been, but his own. He knew now why he couldn’t say those words to Celica and break her curse.

   He was in love with another. So deeply in love that he had never realised it until now for it was as natural to him as drawing his next breath and inhaling it. Only becoming conscious of it did he realise all the machinations necessary to it. He loved Faye but he was certain that he loved Celica too, even if their time together was seemingly scant.

   Celica tried not appear crestfallen by the revelation. She dipped her head low and snuggled against Prince Alm’s breast. She trusted him to make the wisest decision in this impossible situation but the feeling of growing feathers from her skin, the shape of her beak, it all harrowed her to the soul. She wanted to love and be loved, to have her own body and celebrate it and those of her dearest friends and, if she was fortunate, then perhaps Prince Alm’s too.

   Prince Alm licked his lips and he chose his next words very carefully, “I - I cannot say I have never loved before Celica, but I have never loved Celica before and loving her is like starlight. It is beautiful and fills me with such wonder that I do not believe I will love like that again.” he said.

   Celica could not believe her ears - and nor could Faye. Where the swan craned her neck in the utmost hope, as she felt magic ruffle her feathers, the human lowered her head, her heart was slowly breaking piece by piece. And Prince Alm was all too gallantly aware of both of them and it was a burden but a burden he would bear upon his shoulders with gladness.

   “I have loved Faye, too, and I wish to keep loving her if she will have me still after such a declaration. She has been on every childhood adventure, I realise I am blind. I was searching far and wide for a treasure who had been beside me the whole time. Loving her is like sunlight, it is warm and fills me with comfort that I would crave if I was denied it, wanting it like a crop wants its sunshine.” Prince Alm confessed.

   Faye started crying again but this time it was through tears. Her heart was already looking to mend itself on hearing such words. Even Celica adored Prince Alm’s words unto Faye, her black swan. They were sweet and gentle, she could not be mad if they are the reason she remains a swan for all eternity because Faye’s love was pure. Just as pure as her own.

   Prince Alm’s hands began to shake as he continued his speech, “My love for Faye is its own unique love from loving Celica and my love for Celica is unique again from my past. And so, I beg of fate and magic, please, spare both these wonderful women from broken hearts and curses, strike me down in their place if you have to but they deserve their happiness.”

   Prince Alm exhaled, satisfied and waited a moment. Magic did not strike him down like he feared but it did exalt Celica. Prince Alm had to let go as her as magic rose her up and returned her to her true form as princess. She was, once more, herself, a human, a maiden with hair like a gorgeous and demure sunset. She couldn’t believe it, crying tears of joy and gratitude, sending up a prayer that Clair and Mae had been saved as well, she turned to Prince Alm and declared, empathetically, “Thank you.”

   Prince Alm was uncertain how to accept such unfettered gratitude so he got down on one knee, but he raised two hands, one to Celica and the other, of course, to Faye, “Now,” he said, he chuckled, wry and sheepish, “it is unorthodox but it would be the utmost privilege if I could have you both as my wives. I promise to love, respect, and honour you in equal measure. I simply cannot bare the cross of having to pick so indulge this selfishness, if you so wish.”

   But before either Celica or Faye could agree (or reject) to Prince Alm’s proposal, the moment was ruined. Confusion burgeoned. The doors to the ballroom slammed open with various guards leading the charge as the Queen bewilderedly tumbled in, with Jeddah in tow, no less.

   “What is going on?” the Queen demanded.

   “True love, Mother.” Prince Alm proclaimed and upon that cue, the decision was made and it was unanimous.

   Though sceptical of the other, confusion and fear were thorns to anyone’s hearts, they were more than willing to get along. And so, Faye and Celica both clasped onto Prince Alm’s extended hands and pulled him up. Together, they were a united front against Jeddah - and, to a lesser extent, the Queen.

   “That vile creature there is not Celica’s Father but rather a dark wizard who cast a spell on her. A spell I have now broken.” Prince Alm exclaimed.

   “It is true, for centuries, he had cursed me into a swan but now with Alm’s love, I have been set free.” Celica explained.

   “He used me by manipulating my love and insecurities and tried to use me as a pawn in his curse against Celica.” Faye added.

   The Queen was aghast but no more so than the guards who were quick to point their lances and halberds at Jeddah. He grit his teeth and the disguise upon himself fell away. His dark, owlish wings protruded and his pallor turned almost purple as he hunkered down, to the Queen’s disgusted gasping.

   With his hackles raised, Jeddah growled, “I never expected that Alm would see through my deceptions or that Celica’s curse could be broken at all.”

   “Our love is no match for your petty evil!” Celica proclaimed.

   Her voice carried power that Jeddah could not fathom. He had kept this girl under his thumb with a curse for all but eons and yet, she was using the very remnants of that magic and turning it around. Purifying herself, purifying the others. It swirled like white swan feathers on a gentle zephyr, the power fortified by the unity that she felt alongside the likes of the prince and the commoner. And the result was like acid unto Jeddah.

   The magic came to a crescendo and Jeddah refused to be touched by it. He swept himself up into his wings and transformed into an owl. The Queen screeched and screamed; the guards equally in a hullabaloo as they tried to hunt the owl as it made its escape. Jeddah, as the owl, disappeared within a flurry of brown-black feathers and was never seen again.

   Perhaps his fate was to be trapped in that body for all eternity, all the same as he had menaced Celica and her friends so wickedly. Perhaps he embraced the wisdom of not picking a further fight with Prince Alm and his Kingdom. Either way, his disappearance led to confusion which, in turn, led to understanding.

   The Queen thought that maybe she had bitten off more than she could chew in this scenario. In pressuring her dear son to pick one wife, he was now insisting to have two and lest it become zero again, the Queen allowed it and by the vernal equinox, they were married and Prince Alm ascended the throne as King with his allies Queen Celica and Princess Consort Faye by his side.

   The wedding drew many from near and far, a centuries lost princess was quite a spectacle and as was a polygamist King but it was theirs to share, and with Faye as well. Their resulting wedding was nothing less than the most enraptured splendour; Celica and Faye’s tastes in wedding decor aligned quite well, as it would turn out and Alm would never interfere and let them do as they pleased in their matching wedding dresses. And, of course, they had one bridesmaid each in the form of Mae and Clair who were thrilled to be returned to their human bodies and were given roles in the Castle equivalent to the ones they had left behind upon the curse.

  So, under a floral and white arch, shaded in the gorgeous lights of sunset and with the release of swans rather than doves, King Alm promised himself to his two lovely wives and they committed in equal. In the history to come, it was said that through their triad, a time of prosperity and peace ensued thanks to their rule. And that the three lived happily ever after in shared harmony.

[supergenial]

The Byleth Diatribe

clickbait title: if you thought Byleth was creepy, wait until you read this!

Intro

In the past couple months it's really gotten my attention the fact that some people cannot stand looking at images that depict the teacher character from fire emblem three houses (Byleth) with their students in a romantic manner. They arrive at this disgust due to the parallels it traces with real life teachers who take advantage of their students. While I don't share this sensibility, I do think it's an interesting topic to think of so I'd like to explore why these people are correct in their conclusion that Byleth is creepy, but entirely wrong in their logic-path to it.

1) Byleth is just not an actual character

To address the elephant in the room, Byleth is literally a non-character. In a game filled with wonderful dialogue that fully exposes character motivations for a massive cast, it's hard to think of this one silent teacher as a real character that normally exists in that world. Byleth's "character" is purely an afterthought to their role as the Player Avatar. Surely enough in previous installments of the series you had Robin, Corrin and Kris, but their situation was partly different.

Robin and Corrin were proper characters as much as every other character in their game. They held conversations with the other characters, they expressed themselves in regards to the events that happened to them, some would even dare to argue they were better written that some other characters in their respective games if only because their heightened importance to their respective plot lines inevitably helps them have more dialogue, and even a bad writer has to stumble into writing something good eventually which means in some scenes they’re able to overcome the barrier of being bland by design.

Byleth however has none of this. At best they're given 2 or 3 text choices at any given time, and any bipartisan conversation that involves them is more of a soliloquy by the other character, with the player input being largely irrelevant to the flow of the conversation aside from changing the very immediate reaction that follows that same input.

As such, the notion that Byleth is a creepy teacher who's grooming their students to be their personal sex slaves is misconstrued in the fact that Byleth simply has no real motivations, hence no intent. It is equally as valid to assume they could be a straight laced no-nonsense teacher or a deviant who preys on children, because no conjectures can be traced to their personality, as it doesn't exist. We can't deduce what is it that Byleth wants out of life because the avatar has no life and exists purely as a videogame terminal. We don't know what they enjoy outside of the very few things we the players are allowed to do as the character, which is why so much Byleth fanart involves fishing, cooking, or drinking tea, the few hobbies we indulged in while playing as them.

There is however something innately perverse about Byleth, it's just not the fact they're a teacher, but rather the fact they're the player.

2) Player avatars are inherently creepy, and so are dating sims

Fire Emblem is a fantasy game. In Fire Emblem games you will not only find unreal things like dragons and magic, but also straight up impossible things such as kind-hearted rulers that care about protecting and improving the lives of their constituents. The three real main characters in this game all have pure motivations and genuine desire to improve the world (yes... even Edelgard). As such, we can expect the same purity and lack of reality from a hypothetical Byleth that has a personality. It's fair to assume they'd be legitimate teachers with no creepy intentions who, through the vicissitudes of life, end up inadvertently falling in love with their students. In a fantasy land where every "good guy" is pure in nature there is no concern of Byleth grooming Dimitri, or of Edelgard forcing some ill intentioned quid-pro-quo with her right hand strategist whom she is obsessed with, because it's simply fantasy where everyone is nice and pure so things just magically always work out.

There is however an insidious factor lurking over this fantasy land, and that is the player. An omnipotent being who decides who lives, who dies, who gets married to who, and who stays alone because we just don't like them that much. The player can send Ashe to get the last hit on Lonato, just out of morbid curiosity to see what is the special dialogue that they have in that situation. The player can recruit Felix and then have Felix kill Rodrigue in the crimson route, just to see what hilarious quip will the son bark at the father. And of course, the player gets to decide who gets married to the lifeless slab of meat and bones with no emotion that is the Player Avatar. If anything breaks the idea that these characters are well written or realistic, it is the fact that they can all fall in love with someone who cannot communicate with them, all because of the emotions they magically choose to believe the avatar has, or rather, we choose to make them believe it.

In a "set" story like fire emblem echoes or path of radiance, the epilogues have little to no variety because the characters will just be themselves regardless of the player's input. No matter how much you want to see Celica's reaction to Faye getting together with Alm, that is simply not going to happen because their bond is set in stone, it cannot be altered, it is a "set" story. Likewise Nyna in new mystery of the emblem will never, ever fuck Sirius regardless of what she or the player wishes. Three Houses on the other hand is more like a playground than a book, the player will mess with the lives of these characters until they get bored of them, seeing every possible unlikely combination programmed into the game just out of curiosity to see what the characters will say, to squeeze out every last bit of "Content" that the game has until they get bored of it and move on to something else, effectively reducing the characters from "characters" to mere consumables. 

Hence why I can't help but laugh at the notion that Byleth is creepy by nature of being a teacher when they're so much more than a teacher and so much more creepy than a creepy teacher. They're an in-game god (hell, lore-wise they're also a god in every ending except crimson). Byleth can quite literally mind control other characters into loving them as long as they're given enough flowers and tea. Look at Sylvain's C support with Byleth and tell me if it's natural for a guy like him to fall in love like that after saying he wants to murder Byleth (surely enough, it's even creepier for players to fall in love with him because of that support, as Sylvain is an extremely interesting character but only in his other supports).

This is why you see people saying that Felix and Annette are a great couple, or that Marianne and Dimitri are made for each other, but you don’t really see people saying that Byleth’s pairing with x is cute. When two proper characters interact all the way to their A support and fall in love that way, you’ve actually seen their story develop, you can feel happy for them. Pairing Byleth with a proper character fulfills your desire to monopolize that character and get a neat special artwork of them, but has it really been a good story and feel like this is a good conclusion for them? No. (I’d be willing to say Byleth and Dimitri do make a somewhat good couple though, but that point would be much easier to defend if Byleth could actually communicate properly)

It wouldn't matter if Byleth was a 15 year old teacher, or a 17 year old student that's a peer to the classmates, or if all of the classmates were older than Byleth AND teachers instead while Byleth is a student. By the mere nature of the player input and Byleth's lack of character, the pairing is screwed up to begin with. 

What I'm getting at is that pairing Byleth with Catherine or Shamir is equally as fucked up as pairing Byleth with Dimitri (I would argue moreso because come on... Shamir and Catherine are totally girlfriends and you're just squeezing yourself in, have some respect).

In other words Byleth is only creepy because you are creepy. You're playing a game where you can date people who cannot possibly refuse you. Even if you remove that factor, you'd still be playing at making children fuck each other in whatever way you see fit. Something is wrong with you. You're the only impure factor affecting this game.

3) Fire Emblem will always suck

This is my favorite series of games but come on guys, you know fire emblem will always suck if you care about this kinda thing. In fire emblem fates Corrin has a wide variety of about 9 flavors of incest to choose from. In fire emblem awakening Robin can marry an amnesiac woman with head trauma who can't even speak complete sentences and is entirely dependent on him to subsist. The fanbase has grown so twisted they actively wanted Byleth to get married to Alois, a married man with children, and were disappointed when they didn't fuck in that paired ending (though I understand getting upset about the lack of gay supports, but hey that's just yet another way in which fire emblem chooses to suck).

Hell this is the fanbase that considers Berkut and Rinea to be a cute couple, what the actual hell guys. Go ahead and criticize the games but as long as the shipping simulator is included in the series, the games will always be creepy in their very nature, and guess what: the shipping simulator happens to be one of the most popular features and the one that people say it's the best written part of every game, so go figure if they're going to remove that.

ps: if you want a fire emblem with no paired endings, path of radiance has your back, it is my favorite! and if you want to avoid supports altogether, try Radiant Dawn, that's some good stuff.

4) Just for fun: the actual most fucked up ships in the game

-Lysithea with Linhardt, Byleth or Hanneman, or anyone.

When I recruited Lysithea in my first playthrough I didn't know she was a strong unit, instead I simply did it because I saw this sassy lost child wandering the halls and just really didn't want to kill her. I wanted her to live on and see her have a happy epilogue. Imagine my surprise when I reached the epilogues and it turns out she just simply dies shortly after the story if you don't pair her up with anyone. The exact one thing I wanted to avert was having her meet an early death, yet the game simply has her die anyway.

At the end of my deer playthrough I was all set to click on Hilda when I realized, wait a minute, Lysithea is going to die if I do this, right? And that is in fact the case. She can only live by supporting Hanneman, Lindhart or Byleth, and I had not recruited those two. So I click on Lysithea but it's kind of a tainted click isn't it? Not that I dislike her or anything, but once you throw in that additional motivation the scales have been irreversibly tipped in an unpleasant manner. I have effectively been guilted into picking her.

On to a third playthrough. I see Felix has really cute supports with Lysithea, but I can't have them supporting each other because I know she still meets an early death with him. And Lindhart, well his supports aren't bad and he's a great guy but they're certainly not as fun supports as Felix's. Hanneman fortunately doesn't seem interested in that way when you pair him up with Lysithea (not that he has any restraints when it comes to his supports with Dorothea...) so you can still have that as effectively a "solo" end for her in which she lives, but it's still kind of messed up. By giving her the Hanneman ending I'm condemning her to miss out on love for the rest of her life so that she can live on, but isn't love the reason we live on to begin with? Overall, I'd say Lysithea x Lindhart or Byleth is certainly a creepy support in the very nature that you have to do it or else you're a murderer, because you had the power to prevent this death and chose not to.

-Flayn with literally anyone

Imagine if a grown adult man could disguise himself as a high schooler, infiltrated a school and got married to a girl less than half his age. People would hate it, people would riot, Intelligent Systems would be over. But that is Flayn everyone! Fire Emblem is no stranger to the stupid trope of "little girl who's actually hundreds of years old", but I'll argue that Flayn is markedly different from Nowi. Nowi is most definitely a cartoonish fantasy character, who still acts like a little girl despite being hundreds of years old. She's literally bait for pedophile nerds with a flimsy shield in her supposed age, which she and her fans openly flaunt as if it really meant anything when the intent of her character is so transparent.

Flayn on the other hand is a legitimately mature character (as far as maturity goes in this game...) who is pretending to be a high schooler to get hitched with a student, all while hiding her real age entirely on purpose. An actual wolf in sheep's clothing (or dragon in sheep's clothing in this case...). And she can s-support literally every single male student except for Hubert (for story reasons) and Sylvain (for Sylvain reasons). Not only that but she doesn’t support any females other than Manuela, her fellow cougar, and she doesn’t support any of the older men like Hanneman showing she’s only interested in young blood.

But hey everyone! Flayn is just the little meme fish girl trapped in the mcdonalds playplace so we all give her a pass right. Overall though I'd say her creep factor is still significantly lower than Nowi's if only because her design isn't a chore to look at.

-Rhea x Byleth

This is some galaxy brain 5D chess grandmaster type of shit I tell you. Capitalizing on the sickening mommy fetish that's been rising up recently internet the crackhead team of geniuses at intelligent systems decided to pull Joker's Trick on people who are into that kind of thing. First they have her be the oldest non-wrinkled character, then they give her Kikuko Inoue as a seiyuu (famously known for often playing mom roles), then they give players that one scene where Byleth rests on her lap like their kid, and then? Then the game tells you Rhea is the daughter of Byleth. Wait a minute, what the hell? I can't even begin to think this one out because at this point my brain has turned to tofu and I am forever perplexed by this turnaround, hats off to intelligent systems for their ultimate jest.

After fates and this I positively cannot wait to see what new incestcoaster they'll turn my guts inside out with in the next entry of the series, Fire Emblem is truly the finest series of horror games disguised as jrpgs.

Obviously, this post was written in jest. I don’t actually believe you’re an inherently creepy person for playing fire emblem, nor do I think Flayn is a predator deviant (hell I don’t even think Nowi is that bad). I just found it truly interesting how people’s sensitivities can activate in these fictional settings (and do think those sensitivities should be respected) but when I try to activate those neurons my mind ends up in a whole different place. So yeah, just having some fun.

Also check out the rest of this trilogy with Three Houses sucks actually and Three Houses is good actually. I seriously hope I never feel like writing anything about this game ever again.

[ncfan-1]

Putting this under a cut since there’s a fair amount of shipping-related negativity regarding some of the canonical ships of Fire Emblem Echoes, and I’d rather avoid causing unnecessary drama in the tag. (Seriously, the only canonical ships where both characters survive past the game I can say I have positive feelings towards are Mathilda x Clive and Zeke x Tatiana. Maybe give this a skip if you don’t want to see negativity directed towards your ship.)

Does… does anyone else come away from those character endings feeling really frustrated?

In general, it’s just… It’s hard to put in words. There’s a sense with the Valentian female characters that for most of them, the only happy ending possible was through marriage, like they couldn’t possibly have found self-actualization elsewhere (Though I’ll point out that marriage sure doesn’t sound like it was a happy ending for one of them). Silque found fulfillment through healing the wounded of Valentia, but the rest of them all got married, with the exception of Sonya, who is remarked to have been rumored to have become a witch.

And also in general, with a lot of the characters who are stated or implied to have gotten married, it’s all really unnecessary? Except as a desperate waving of a flag reading “Oh, yeah, these guys were definitely straight. Definitely, definitely straight.” Like Genny’s mystery husband (which just got a blank “…what” from me, because the fact that she wouldn’t let anyone meet the hubby was baffling and a bit of a red flag), and Saber getting married, and Kliff’s completely unnecessary kid, and Delthea getting married to an unnamed noble husband, which wouldn’t be so bad if it wasn’t in the context of nearly all the other female characters defaulting to “and, of course, she got married, because that’s what a woman does.” (And also her sealing away her magic powers. Just… why. Whhhyyyy. Yeah, I know she made noises about having expectations put on her by her magic being annoying, but she seemed to be really stoked about being “awesome” with magic, and you know if she was a male character the summation of her arc would have been her coming to terms with the responsibility that comes with her abilities, not “Welp, I’m going to dodge all of that by nerfing myself so I don’t ever have to accept the responsibility that comes with my heritage.”)

And yeah, you could make the argument that this doesn’t necessarily signal that they were meant to be canonically straight, but you know that’s what the writers meant by this. Like, for the established couples, like Alm and Celica, Mathilda and Clive, Zeke and Tatiana, mentioning marriage and a happy life together makes sense, but they couldn’t have kept things open-ended for the rest? Couldn’t have talked about their lives in the future without slotting them into neat little heterosexual boxes?

Beyond that, there’s just the fact that some of the canonical ships and some of the things related to them just give me a bad feeling inside.

Alm x Celica… The best I can say about it is that it’s blandly okay. It did absolutely nothing for me and was thoroughly unconvincing, but they’re cute together? I guess? It irritates me that like with Azura in Revelation, the fact that Celica might have a legitimate claim to the throne of Valentia is completely ignored and, at best, she rules as Queen Consort, rather than as Queen Regnant.

Mae x Boey… Oof, that trope of “oh, this couple is constantly arguing with each other and this is a sign of True Love, not that they have serious issues in their relationship and/or they’re just not compatible with one another on a basic level” grates on me so much.

I like Mathilda x Clive, but I like considerably less the idea that she just hung up her armor after marrying him and became a happy homemaker. That. Makes. No. Sense. For. Her. Character. And you know Clive wouldn’t try to force her to, and even if it was society’s expectation of her, if Mathilda had the support of her beloved husband, her reaction is basically going to be “Fuck society. I’ll continue being a warrior if I want.”

Everything about Gray and Clair’s interactions and the post-game details of their “relationship” left such a vile taste in my mouth. First, the charming starting point of Gray implying that if they rescue Clair, she’ll be so grateful she’ll practically throw herself into the arms of one of her rescuers and be his prize, which, as a certain Disney princess once reminded us, is really not okay.

Then, there’s the fact that Clair had Gray completely dead to rights about every last bit of his behavior towards her in the B support, only for all of that to be completely discounted in the A support because her tone was a bit snippy?! And then for her to do a complete 180 and be basically “Oh, forget my legitimate complaints about your jerkish, slightly creepy behavior; I only said those things because I was annoyed over something else and I was just taking it out on you; I actually kind of like your never, ever leaving me alone, no matter how many times I tell you to?” Excuse me?!

And then there’s the postgame details that all but outright states that the only reason Clair married Gray was because he wouldn’t stop pestering her until she said yes. How romantic. What a truly moving love story.

But as bad as the Gray x Clair ending is, it cannot surpass Faye’s ending for pure, concentrated Do Not Want.

Just. What the hell.

I didn’t expect a 100% happy ending for Faye, since she’s in love with someone who categorically does not return her feelings, and she’s strongly implied to have developed PTSD in a society where mental health care most likely amounts to nil. But I had expected that there would be at least the slightest ray of hope in her ending. Faye’s ending of returning to Ram Village alone, never, ever getting over Alm, marrying someone she doesn’t love out of what sounds like sheer loneliness, and then regularly disappearing for days at a time with no explanation, worrying her family, does not provide even the dimmest ray of hope.

You could have had Faye joining the One Kingdom’s knighthood and, even if she doesn’t ever get over Alm, at least find fulfillment in her work and being with her friends. You could have had a Cleric Faye do like Silque and go traveling the continent healing the wounded, and finding fulfillment in that. You could have had her canonical ending, except changing it to her eventually getting over Alm and her new husband trying to support her through her untreated PTSD. There are so many other things the writers could have done with Faye.

But they gave us this instead. They gave us a Faye whose destiny was to be left in the dust by all of her friends, to be the only one who doesn’t move on to bigger and better things, to be left by the wayside by a story that has left her behind. And while that may be something that happens often enough in real life, this is a story. And yeah, while someone being left in the dust by their friends might be realistic, so too is dying of dysentery or smallpox in a medieval setting such as this one, and yet we generally don’t regard such things as effective storytelling.

Faye deserved better than to be consigned to the fate of being the one left in the dust, without so much as the dimmest ray of hope that maybe things will get better for her in the future. Faye deserved better than this.

[ladyduomaxwell]

Ship you find disgusting (poop emoji here)

If it's Fire Emblem, I can give you some pairings I absolutely cannot stand. I am not apologizing if I don't like these pairings.

Any character x Thraja - Obvious reasons. Stalking is NOT hot.

Alm x Faye - Celica x Alm is already perfect and Faye is just really petty.

Erikia x Valter - Again. Stalking is NOT hot.

Ephraim x Erikia - I am just not into incest at all.

Raven x Pricillia - Same reason as above.

Just a side note in case anyone is curious why I don't like stalking. I grew up with watching numerous true crime shows in the 90s and early 2000s and cases about stalking always end up being one of the creepiest. Not to mention a lot of them ended with tragic endings for the victims and their families. So no, I don't find it cute and funny. I will not apologize for that.

[loregoddess]

Sorry to hear that, I hope you can rest at the very least! Anyway, Faye, Rinea and a character of your choice for the ask game!

Ah, thank you--I am trying to rest so that I can finish out the work week at the very least. Anyhow, Faye and Rinea, my beloveds...(and Charlotte!)

Under the cut bc this got out of hand:

Faye:

First impression: *me, having gone to middle and high school w/ a girl who had a crush on the same guy for the entire time* Wow the writers have never spoken to a girl w/ a lifelong crush have they. Damned if she isn't a sturdy unit in battle though.

Impression now: I still think her writing is bad (even if, according to an interview with the writers, it was intentional, but intentional does not equal strong or good writing), but there was just, so much fandom hate for her that unfortunately made it onto my dash a few years ago and I just, like, I dunno. Like, mechanically she's one of the best characters in the game, you can stick her in more or less any class and she performs amazingly (also she helped get me through Thabes and I only dragged my best units into that proto-risen nightmare), and also her writing's not so bad that I can't ignore it and replace it with my own headcanons. I dunno if it's because she's a girl or what, because I've seen characters with much worse writing that fandom loves wildly, but she didn't deserve all the hate she got after the game released, and seeing it all just made me love her out of spite, and now I love her unironically.

Favorite moment: Her supports with Silque, but specifically Faye's disinterest in any gossip, which Silque is apparently really interested in. I know the writers wanted it to be a "haha, girl's so obsessed with Alm that she doesn't have time for love gossip", but we've established the my city now rule in regards to her writing so I like to think that Faye really just, isn't a gossip. It's also interesting to see, at the end of their support chain, how Faye's actually probably really lonely, what with all her childhood friends fitting in with the rest of the army just fine (I get the sense that Faye never really wanted to fight, she just followed along bc Alm and her other friends went), and so it's nice to see the blossoming friendship between her and Silque who is, despite being used to a more rugged lifestyle, also kinda out of place in the army.

Idea for a story: *solid snake voice* Hrrrgnh...I really like Faye x Rinea as a couple, and I've had a story idea bouncing around my head for a few years about how that would work out, like. If Celica can be un-witched, it's entirely possible that Rinea, who was also sacrificed unwillingly and was only a witch for what, maybe a few hours? can be un-witched as well, but the recovery process would be rough (both from being a witch and from being betrayed by the one she loved), so something about how Faye helps out with the recovery, but she is also recovering from the entire "just fought a war and realized I was running from 99% of my life's issues by following my childhood crush into the army" and so it ends up being a mutual helping each other heal and eventually flourish and thrive type story. Whether this gets written or not is a story unto itself, but that’s neither here nor there.

Unpopular opinion: I love Faye, and that in itself seems to be unpopular.

Favorite relationship: Obviously my wild out-of-left-field Faye x Rinea ship, but also I really like her relationship with Silque, either platonically or romantically. I also like to think about how she’d get along with Celica and the pilgrimage side of the story since, I mean, you can recruit her to Celica’s side but there’s more or less no written content for how that plays out. It doesn’t make sense gameplay-wise, since again, she’s one of the best units for Alm’s potential army, but it’s interesting to think about from a potential narrative perspective.

Favorite headcanon: So Faye’s supports with Silque reveal Silque to be a gossip, and Pyhton’s DLC supports with Lukas reveal that Python is also an insufferable gossip, which means that Forsyth has to put up w/ Python’s gossipy habits, and I’d like to think that eventually Python and Silque find out they can be insufferable gossips together, leading to an unlikely friendship between Faye and Forsyth as the "oh gods, my best friend and potential crush is at it again, send help" duo.

Rinea:

First impression: Wow that sure is a side character.

Impression now: The more I thought and stewed on the writing of Echoes, and specifically Rinea, the more I realized how she’d been shafted badly by the writers. Her writing is, in my opinion, just as weak as Faye’s (which isn’t surprising considering Berkut was supposed to be a mirror/foil to Alm, so it makes sense that his lady love would be a mirror/foil to either Celica or Faye, and given how Rinea kinda just follows Berkut around for most of the story, I tend to think she was meant to be a Faye mirror/foil rather than a Celica mirror/foil), but unlike Faye who was needlessly hated for being devoted to Alm, Rinea is...loved for being devoted to Berkut? I don’t get it and I’m not going to pretend like I ever will. But she’s mostly used as a prop for Berkut’s story and could have been replaced by like, a really nice sword or a prized horse and nothing would have changed, and because of that terrible writing I was like, no you’re coming with me, I’m going to give you all the personality and individuality that the writers could never hope to give you. Basically, like Faye, I started liking Rinea out of spite for her terrible writing, and partly out of spite for the way fandom treated her as well.

Favorite moment:  :|<  This girl gets no agency in what little of a story she gets, so I can’t say I like any of the moments since they’re all for the benefit of Berkut’s character arc rather than Rinea’s nonexistent character arc.

Idea for a story: See above for my main story idea, but also it might be interesting to write a story about like, her life. Growing up in Rigel, the expectations placed on noble women, the fear of being sacrificed as a witch by the Duma Faithful, like, just anything to give an idea of who Rinea is as an individual and what goes on in her mind.

Unpopular opinion: Her relationship with Berkut does not float my goats, and my goats are drowning anytime IntSys tries to prop them up as this nice, lovey-dovey couple.

Favorite relationship: Faye x Rinea, I’m also no averse to the idea of Rinea x Faye x Silque either.

Favorite headcanon: In the Rinea Lives AU that exists rent-free in my head, Rinea also gets to know the rest of the Echoes cast, and becomes friends in particular with Celica, Sonya, and Genny, all for varying reasons. Also I’d like to think she’d have a sisterly friendship with Mathilda.

And for my own choice...Charlotte from Fates:

First impression: I followed all the pre- and post-release Fates stuff from when it was first released in Japan, so all of my impressions of the Fates cast is based mostly on the fan translations of the Japanese text, but when Charlotte was first revealed in one of the Japanese gaming magazines, I was not interested in her at all. Like, her design alone made me wary and the small bit of text we got as an intro was just “she’s a gold-digger” and I was like okay, can’t expect anything good here.

Impression now: I was so wrong. After the game was released in Japan, while haunting forums looking for translated supports, I came across someone saying the Laslow x Charlotte supports were good, with a link to the translation, and like, yeah they were decent but something about Charlotte’s character stood out to me, so I naturally went and hunted down every single one of her supports that had been translated and lo and behold, despite the trainwreck outfit, she actually had so much depth and personality and a character far beyond “haha, poor girl is a gold-digger to get rich” shtick I thought the writers would pull. I hope this girl gets everything she wants in life.

Favorite moment: There’s a lot, but I really like that a lot of her supports end with whomever finding out that she’s not this girly, delicate, helpless woman she pretends to be, and is actually a badass who could swear a sailor under the table and also rip apart monsters w/ her bare hands, and people finding out that’s her true self is one of Charlotte’s biggest fears but inevitably that’s why whomever ends up falling in love with her, for who she really is and not who she pretends to be.

Idea for a story: Nothing too wild, although there’s some support chains that I think would be interesting to flesh out beyond the little snippets we get. Anything post-war would be interesting too, becuase there really aren’t enough stories about how people rebuild and move foward after the game events.

Unpopular opinion: I don’t think her outfit needed to look like that to convey the “but I’m just a poor, helpless girl” façade.

Favorite relationship: Hmmm, probably her supports with Xander. The localized version is more or less the same as the fan-translation of their supports that I read, but near the end there’s a few extra lines where, instead of just running to the window and screaming in joy, Charlotte first ask Xander if it’s alright if she goes and shouts for joy, and he’s like “yeah go for it” which just sets up this really nice little basis for healthy communication which I think would make the two work really well as a couple. (Also the idea of Xander falling in love bc she tore apart a faceless to save him is *chef kiss* gold, especially considering how out-going Charlotte is and how shy Xander actually is despite needing to put up this front as the crown prince, there’s just...so much potential for the dynamics between the two). I also really like her supports with Benny since, again, I have a soft spot for people loving each other for who they are and not the mask they have to wear to get by.

Favorite headcanon: If Charlotte marries into royalty or nobility, she does surprisingly well at court life because of her experience putting up a false façade. On the one hand she can act the part that’s expected of her, but on the other she’s smart enough to also be able to figure out when people are lying and keep a track of all the power-dynamics so she can navigate them to her and her spouse’s benefit.