#byleth is usually so cool but here... she was so cute

[dubiousdisco]

genuinely like the byleth seteth s support so much for many reasons but byleth is so vulnerable for once, i was surprised she didn't say she already knew it like most of her other supports... it was really cute... also "where you go I follow" "promise?" that was so cute of her. she is so cute. ahhh~~

[umiarumi]

fucking three houses | prologue/claude von riegan

afab she/her reader, originally posted on my ao3, myukyu <3

Twirling my sword, an excited grin fell upon my face as I jogged alongside Dorte and Marianne. "Hah! Marie, ya think I can keep up your old steed's pace?" I asked excitedly, huffing slightly. The academy had really buffed your stamina, shit, enough to keep up with a damn horse.

"Oh, (Y/N)! I-um, don't strain yourself since we have nearly reached the monastery." She hesitantly called out, brow furrowing. I laughed it off, nodding as I slowed my pace to meet Raphael jogging, carrying a very unamused Lysithea.

"What's up, you two?" I asked, grinning. The behemoth of a man beamed back, motioning his head to the pouting smaller girl in his arms.

"Lysithea here was starting to struggle, so as a good big bro- I mean, uh, friend! As a good friend, I'm helping keep up!" He cheered, laughing.

"I'll remind you, you thoughtless fool, I am not a child! I am quite the opposite, now." Lysithea barked out at Raphael, folding her arms.

I chuckled, shaking my head. I missed these guys, and once we make it to the monastery... well, teach better have kept his promise and not died on us. ~~~~ ~~~~ PROLOGUE END ~~~~ ~~~~ "Ahh... now this one is gonna fill the spot, thanks, prof!" You cheered, excitedly flicking your eyes between your delicious meal of Beast Meat and your slightly concerned professor.

"That smell... it's amazing! My fav, in fact. Do you like it too?" Claude nodded with you, looking to Byleth out of curiousity. Easygoing, huh?

"I like it."

Usually, you'd laugh at your teacher's blunt speech, yet that meat was begging you to devour it and hey- who are you to deny its wishes? Being back at the monastery with your class and teacher as much as you'd loved being back in your home country, you had a soft spot for the Golden Deer. But five years had changed the lot of you, various glowups being noticed, by the way. Yet, Claude caught your attention the most. Which, being honest, wasn't out of the norm, hell, for anyone!

As you tore through your meat, you caught your former classmate stifling a chuckle at your pure ferocity.

"Oi! Got thomething to thay," You quickly swallowed. "What's so funny!?" You annoyedly accused, slamming a hand on the table. He let out a laugh, shaking his head.

"Easy tiger! You just looked awfully cute with your cheeks stuffed."

You felt your cheeks darken, clicking your tongue as you went back to your meal. "Smooth, dickhead..." You mumbled as your teacher let out a sigh at the two of youse antics. As you all continue to eat, a comfortable silence fell upon your trio.

"That aside, I am glad to see you also returning. I heard from Lorenz that you had disappeared for a while." Your teacher finally spoke, looking to you. Your eyebrows rose in surprise as you let a crooked grin creep up your face.

"Funny you say that. How about yourself, five years asleep! Did any lucky gal or guy come to give you that awakening kiss~" You cooed, switching the topic onto him. You had no idea what you could say without getting yourself and Claude in an unknown amount of trouble.

He raised a brow at your dodging of the question but ultimately let it go. "I did not get kissed, no."

Claude piped up from his suspicious silence, leaning in to pester teach. "Ya sure? You were pretty popular back at the academy!" You snickered after this comment, nodding to egg him on.

"I believe we've finished the meal. I shall see the two of you later." He promptly stood up with his plate and cutlery, returning them to the kitchen before strutting off in his usual stern demeanour.

"Aw, we scared him off!" You jokingly whined, leaning onto Claude. Teasing your no-nonsense teacher was great since he's as clueless as Seteth with three times the patience.

"How will we ever apologise?" Claude moaned alongside you, resting his head on yours melodramatically. You tittered together before recovering and bringing your dirty dishes to the kitchen. Leaving the dining hall, you two walked in silence.

You walked with no aim for a while until Claude stopped. You turned to him, intrigued. Tilting your head, you asked him a question.

"Something up?"

He smiled softly, shaking his head.

"Nah, but I would like to ask you some things." He said, and the lack of a comedic tone set off a minor alarm in your brain. You were no stranger to his inquisitive nature, having known him for a good portion of your life. Yet, you had a feeling this related to before. Even Claude wasn't aware of your whereabouts.

"Sure thing, here?" You asked, folding your arms defensively.

"No... let's go somewhere more private." He said, walking off. You jumped, quickly following him.

~~~~

Following Claude up the spiralling stairs of the Goddess tower was quick, that you could confirm. Nearly stumbling over your steps as he transcended so damn fast, you couldn't even call out for him to slow the hell down.

As you finally made it to the top, avoiding the rubble which had gathered after the battle at the monastery, you had leant against the wall, quickly regaining your breath. Yet as soon as you blinked, Claude seemed to have moved from the centre of the room to a few inches away from your face.

"C-Claude! What the hell...?" You jumped, backing fully up against the cold, stone wall. Feeling the cool stones against your back, you shivered as your former leader stared at you.

"Answer teach's question for me, friend? Where were you while we were stopping the whole damn alliance from being chipped away by the Empire?" He asked, frustrated. He took a step towards you.

You gulped, shaking your head as your eyes darted around the tower, looking everywhere but him.

"That's not the answer I was looking for, (Y/N)."

Your breath hitched as he grabbed your chin to look you in the eyes. His voice lowered, a conflicted emotion on his face. A crooked grin tugged at his lips and yet his brows were furrowed, annoyed.

||Translation: فاک - Fuck||

"I-I was in Almyra!" You yelped, quickly realising what you said as you cursed under your breath, "فاک..." You hissed, embarrassed.

"First, you avoid our questions..." Claude listed, cruelly running his thumb across your lip. Your heart skipped a beat, your eyes finally set on his figure.

"Second, you leave us... breaking our promise," He continued, striking your heart where it hurts.

You bit your lip, eyeing him as he let his hand drop to your shoulder. He pushed you further against the wall. You shivered, yet not from the freezing stone this time.

"I-I... even you said you had no attachment to Fodlan! I thought you wouldn't..." You trailed off, searching for an excuse.

"Everyone thought you died! I thought you died! And yet..." His voice rose, yet less out of anger. He finally brought his face to your extremely red own.

"Where was I? Oh yeah, finally..." You stiffened, knowing what he was going to bring up.

"Leaving me hanging."

Before you all reunited, you had made a short trip into Fodlan to grasp the situation. Yet, your undercover mission soon became an open one as a fateful night in Derdriu occurred.

~~~~

It was a warm evening the night you had made it into the lively streets of the city. Even after the effects of war, the city still seemed to bustle. Unassumedly passing by citizens happily talking, you looked for any Knights of Seiros stationed nearby or even members of the Leicester military. Noticing a particular armoured woman, you tapped her shoulder.

She turned, giving you a pleasant smile. "Do you need anything, ma'am?"

You nodded, playing with the sides of your bodice. "I live a while from the military posts, so could you please tell me... um, how is the war going?" Embarrassed, she laughed softly before explaining.

However, you were unaware of a keen eye watching you. The familiar bobbing of unruly hair, gleaning of sun-kissed skin tied in with a confident stance clued Claude onto just who it was he saw. He waited patiently behind market stalls, keeping an eye on you as you bid the woman goodbye. And oh-so luckily for him, you headed his way.

You passed by him, oblivious to the archer's presence. A sudden hand on your shoulder caused you to jolt, your hand reaching to the hilt of your sword. Whipping around, your eyes soon met the green ones of a certain Alliance leader.

"C-Claude!?" You shrieked, hand still cautiously resting on your sword, unsure if he would take well to your sudden appearance.

"So you decided to show up, huh?" He remarked, and if you knew him any less you'd think that easygoing smile meant he was happy. But that smile never reached his eyes.

Yet, despite his obvious inner conflict, you expelled a breath as he pulled you into a hug. You soon wrapped your arms around him. It had been four years since you left after Edelgard and her forces attacked. You felt his grip loosen as he rose a hand to your chin, that oh-so teasing thumb brushing against your lip.

"May I?" He muttered, and in response, you leant into him, lips locking. What started innocently quickly grew messy and needy, your lips growing red.

As you pulled back, you felt the hard pressure as your fronts brushed together. You blushed before turning your head away.

"I'm sorry Claude, I have to go." You muttered solemnly, pulling yourself together.

"Wait, what? Showing up randomly after four years and then blue-balling me?" He teased yet yearningly reached out his hand.

"I promise, I will return and finish what I started!" You called out, running off into the night.

~~~~

Your face grew hot at the memory. Shuffling nervously, you looked into his eyes.

"Then, will you finish what we started, miss?" He asked, running a hand across your face.

Inhaling, you nodded and answered him. "Yes... please."

With your consent, he pushed himself against you, lips squishing as he brought you upon his own. He soon ran his tongue along your bottom lip, asking for permission.

You parted them quickly, his tongue invading your mouth as your tongue danced with his. He began to unclasp your armour as you shifted to help them come off easier.

Before you knew it, you had both shed to your undergarments, all knowledge of this being an open area quickly leaving your mind.

His hands reached behind your back to fiddle with your bra for a few moments, soon letting it fall to the cold, stone ground. His eyes fell to your breasts, your nipples perk from a mix of the cold air in the Goddess Tower and the heat of the situation.

Quickly, his hands began to fondle and grope your tits, your hand slapping on your mouth as to not alert any patrolling guards.

"These really are great. Your armour disguises you, a good thing that is since you'd probably take a few hits otherwise." He commented cheekily, observing your tightly shut eyes and fluttering breaths.

God, he'd tease you even now!?

One of the hands dropped from your breast, the other continuing to squeeze and roll it like wet clay. The forgotten breast soon regained heat as the scruffy head of the brunette quickly moved to suckle on your aching nipple, causing you to let out a quick yelp.

"How cute." He mumbled into your tit, the vibrations sending a delicious shiver up your spine. Whilst you were focused on the pleasure at your chest, your throbbing cunt soon found a welcoming hand cupping it through your underwear.

"Soaked! Were you wanting this all along? Hah! Pretty slutty for an Almyran warrior." He cooed, fingers running against your clothed slit.

"A-ah... fuck you!" You hissed, deciding on paying back the offer. Your free hand reached down to cup his hidden boner, hand rubbing slowly.

"Ffffuck... fine, you want to do it right here, against this wall sweetheart?" He asked, grinning.

You nodded brashly, slipping out of your drenched underwear. He too shed his remaining clothes and your lips locked in a short kiss before he pulled away.

Grabbing onto your thighs, he lifted you as you hooked your legs around him. Pushing you against the wall, he angled his dick at your pussy. Rubbing slowly, teasingly. The two of you groaned, as finally, he stuck his dick in your needy cunt.

You gasped, feeling it stretch you out, slowly, inch by inch. Bottoming out, the two of you stilled for a moment, catching your breaths. Once you adjusted, signalling him with a nod, he pulled out to the tip, before slamming back in. You moaned unabashedly, eyes fluttering open to see Claude's face scrunch up.

He looked up to you coyly, smirking. "Do you want all of the monastery to find us? Would you like them to see you like this?" Your breath hitched.

"Sweating, being fucked against a wall by your former leader? After five long years, you decide to help." He hissed, continuing to thrust as you gasped with each thrust.

The fulfilling feeling of Claude's dick rubbing against your inner walls gradually inched you to your orgasm, the added brushing of fronts stimulating your clit.

"I could get used to this, you'll really help the war efforts this way. Those poor, exhausted knights who you could've helped. A nice cocksleeve like you, you'll do more by getting fucked than you have the past years." He grunted, venting his frustrations.

Yet, despite all the guilt you should've felt, it only made the aching buzz of your clit all the more stronger.

Your cunt spasmed with each thrust, the routine rubbing and brushing working you towards your end as you felt Claude's dick shudder every time he bottomed out.

"Maybe you could motivate Ignatz? He'd be shy though, but a girl so open like you would be perfect for that." He mumbled, watching your face darken.

"Or Raphael? He could use you as training. You'd be spent by the time he was even finishing, yet a slut like you would be okay with that, right?"

His dick continued to twitch in your pussy, your walls clamping around his cock like a vice. Fluttering as you were so close to your end.

"Shit... even Lorenz... he could use you as practice for his- ngh, noble duties!" He choked out a laugh, breath stuttering.

"But I think I like you best as my little runaway slut, yeah? You fit so well on my cock!" He emphasised the last word with a sharp thrust, your walls clamping shut on his cock, your head hitting the wall as you moaned in ecstasy.

He quickly pulled out, dick spurting ropes of cum on your chest and stomach. As you both caught your breath, you caught Claude smiling at you.

"It's good to have you back, my friend."

[lananiscorner]

If you had to guess, why are Edelstans so desperate in trying to defend their waifu's honor despite her being a fictional character and therefore won't respond let alone appreciate their defense? I know parasocial relationships are one hell of a drug but you'd think they would stop trying to double down and fulfill a self fulfilling prophecy of thinking they are racists who justify imperialism and genocide.

Thanks for your ask, anon. Please keep in mind that everything below the cut is just my own personal interpretation of what's happening here, based on my time in this fandom. There's a fair chance I might be wrong about the conclusions I'm drawing, but anyway, here's my 2 cents:

I think the parasocial relationship aspect is definitely a big part of it, but at least as far as the western parts of her stan base are concerned, it also feels a lot like there's a lot of personal baggage attached. I mean, from what I have seen in my year in this fandom so far:

Most Edel/Byleth art/fic involves female Byleth. Male Byleth might as well not exist, even though picking male Byleth rather than female Byleth changes absolutely nothing about their support line or ending and I'm not even sure if it changes any of their explore/event dialogue, but I don't recall any instance where it did during my playthroughs.

Her other supports and paired endings with male characters exist in-game only, apparently. I've seen maybe like... 5 pieces of Edel/Hubert art in the fe3h tag over the course of this year and that's it.

Stanning for Edel usually is accompanied by relentless bashing of Rhea and the church.

"She's sapphic and cute and she wants to hold your hand while obliterating the oppressive church--what's not to love?" is how I've seen multiple of her stans describe their reasons for liking her in a nutshell.

One of the common claims from Edel stans against her critics is that we are homophobic, hating on her for being wlw... which... the only time I ever see Edel's sexuality brought up in Edel critic circles, is annoyance at stans trying to erase her canonical bisexuality.

Some of the animosity against the church is definitely a problem of the localization (which actively made Rhea and the church look more sus in several instances), but a lot of it to me reads like it was written by people who were hurt in RL by assholes who wield religion as an oppressive tool (which it doesn't have to be--affirming churches do exist!), and for whom Edel with all her church smashing and queerness is just the ultimate, cathartic, projecting power fantasy.

And here's the problem with projecting: when you project onto another person or a character, any attack on them feels like an attack on you, personally. It's the fallacy of "they called Edel a racist imperialist + I stan Edel for being an anti-religion queer queen = they called me a racist imperialist = they called me a sinner = they are just like the people who hate me for being queer and having beef with religion", which... is not a great feeling. I've been there myself (not with Edel, but with other characters in other franchises) and learning how to take a step back from that line of thinking and looking at what people are actually saying rather than what you are hearing is one of the most important life skills you can learn in any context. I don't think I've ever seen any Edel critic call her stans racist/imperialist for liking her, but rather for trying to justify her actions, which... yeah, if you're trying to justify racism/imperialism, that is bound to happen. You can like (even love) a character without trying to rationalize away their flaws.

Two examples: Hubert is the best character on CF imo, but that doesn't mean I'm gonna go around saying "well actually he had no choice but to kill and bribe people behind Edelgard's back and they were trying to uphold an abusive system so they probably deserved it anyway". Man straight up bribed and murdered people so his queen could succeed--cool motive, flawless execution, still murder. Likewise, Felix is my second-favorite character in all of Azure Moon, but there'll be a cold day in Aillel before you see me trying to excuse his misoginy or his dehumanizing language towards Dimitri and Dedue. I understand and sympathize with the cause for his behavior, but I do not condone it or try to justify it away as something necessary or good.

And sadly, I don't think this fallacy thinking of some (most?) of Edel's stans will change, unless:

the RL people making the arguments change, and/or

their RL experiences change, and/or

IntSys gives us some unproblematic, unapologetically gay/lesbian representation.

It is hard to self-reflect when you are hurting and clinging to what litle representation you can find. In an ideal world, the next original FE game release would include unmistakably queer characters of multiple orientations, who are not also racist imperialists, so every Edel stan who gets really reactionary about criticism of her can look and those and go "oh hey, people don't hate on me for stanning Sappho FE--maybe the beef they had with me really wasn't about me being a sinner, but Edel being someone who invaded and forcibly annexed two sovereign nations and did her best to eradicate an entire race of sentient beings".

Maybe that day will come. Maybe it won't. In the meantime, I will happily keep blocking those of her stans, who try to justify racism, imperialism, and ableism, so that I can have a pleasant fandom experience that won't leave me bitter and exhausted every time I check the tags.

[pwnyta]

Sorry, I just want to vent a little bit!, but all my friends are normies so here I am (lol). I just can’t stop thinking how much it sucks that when the game have an option to choose mc’s gender, the male counterpart is usually massively ignored by the fandom. I remember getting Fire emblem 3 houses and choosing to play m!Byleth (silent protagonist) and then going into the wild to find some mMC content and only stumbling into the fMC content... which is fine, but as I was already invested into mByleth I felt sad that there was practically no works with him (it’s a little better now). The same goes for Victor (mMC from the Pkmn Sw/Sh), several male protags from the other Fire emblem games, Gran from Granblue fantasy, Gudao and many more. Thankfully Aether from GI have a lot of fans, but I still remember at the very beginning that it was only possible to find Lumine art (which is fine, I like her, but then again, I’m more invested into mMC). I understand why it is the way it is, but it still sucks a lot. It’s even worse bc some of this male mcs have just super cool/pretty designs and it hurts me when people ignore them (I am looking at you, Corrin... both versions are cute, but only female ver is valid in fandoms opinion)

LMAO. This is what im here for.

Yeah its a little weird. Its usually the female protag to. Female players gravitate to her because its supposed to be a projection thing, male players gravitate to her because they think shes cute (my nephew included)... if someone doesnt care about those two reasons they go for which style is better and its usually female.

Especially in Pokemon, female protag gets far more customization options because 'acceptable' male fashion is fucking boring.

And so if you spend so much time with that character and 'bond' with her theres going to be more fanart of her and the male MC gets more shoved to the side.

Aether is treated pretty decently but Lumine still seems favored.

[lapinbunwrites]

Title: Mystery Date

Rating: G

Warnings: Zombie and Vampire Costume, Alcohol Mention

Relationship: Claude/Byleth

Additional Characters: Hilda

Word Count: 2,083

Ao3 Link

Claude placed his fingers on his temple and rubbed them. He didn’t know what he was going to do for Hilda’s Halloween party. He wasn’t dating anyone at the moment and he didn’t know how to tell her and his coworkers that he recently broke up with his partner. It was a massive dent in his Halloween plans. With the party soon approaching, he needed to find a date.

“Ugh,” Claude moned, slouching his body.

Byleth placed the tea in front of Claude, looking at him, puzzled. “What’s with the sigh?”

“I told a few coworkers that I would go to their party with a date,” he replied, taking a long sip of his tea.

Byleth let out a little snort. “Well-”

“Yeah, yeah,” Claude sighed, taking another sip of his tea. “If the stars were nice, you could pretend to be my date for that night,” he said softly.

“I’m more than willing to,” Byleth said, without hesitation.

Claude spit out his tea, starting to feel his face heat up. “A-Are you sure?”

“Yes,” Byleth smiled.

Claude jolted out of his chair to give him a tight hug. “You are a lifesaver!”

Byleth let out a laugh as he returned the hug. “You’re welcome! Is there anything I need to wear?”

Claude moved his hand to Byleth’s shoulder, shaking him a little. “Yes, wear a costume.”

“I might have one,” Byleth said as he took Claude’s arm off his shoulder. He walked to his room and shuffled through his closet and his dresser drawers. His eye twinkled when he found his costume from last year. Byleth put it on and walked back to show Claude. “Ta-dah!”

Claude laughed as the sheet fell to the ground. “Hahaha! That has to be one of the worst costumes I’ve ever seen!”

“It’s the only one I have,” Byleth sighed, picking up the sheet.

“If you have are free tomorrow, we can go to Fodlan’s Costumes,” Claude said in a sultry voice, trailing his fingers under Byleth’s chin.

Byleth placed his hand on his face, feeling his face heat up as he watched Claude walk to his room.

The next day, Claude and Byleth walked to Fodlan’s Costumes where there were rows upon rows of costumes in clear plastic bags. If you could imagine any costume you want, Fodlan’s Costumes most likely had it. They had anything from cat costumes to zombie costumes. As they moved rack to rack, Claude came across a unicorn head. He smirked when he noticed Byleth had his attention elsewhere. Claude rushed over to the unicorn head to put it on. He walked up and down the aisles, looking for Byleth. His smirk grew bigger as he walked up behind him.

Claude snickered as he placed his hands on Byleth’s shoulders. “Boo!”

“Ah!” Byleth screamed as his body stiffened up, clutching his costume tightly.

Claude laughed a little harder as he put his hands on his body. “I finally was able to scare you!”

Byleth steadied his breathing as he turned to Claude. As soon as he looked at what Claude was wearing, he felt a tickle in his throat. “Pffft ahaha, what is that?!”

“A unicorn head, hahahah,” Claude said, wiping the tears from his eyes.

Byleth breathed in and out, in and out. “It looks hideous! Ahahah.”

“Maybe it’s your costume for the party,” Claude jokingly suggested. He took the unicorn head and ran his hand through his hair.

“Oho,” Byleth scoffed. He lifted up his costume up, shaking it. “I’ve actually found one. A zombie costume.”

“Really now,” Claude laughed, turning Byleth around, pushing him towards the fitting rooms. “Why don’t you go try it on for me.”

While Byleth was changing, Claude messed with his phone. He placed it close to his face, sighing. He had so many missed texts from Hilda and they were all about his date. He had to reassure her a million times that he wasn’t going alone. He didn’t stop texting her until Byleth came back. Claude felt his face become red hot when he saw Byleth show off his costume.

“Is everything alright,” Byleth asked, concerned.

Claude placed one of his hands on his face. “Yeah. You just look like a sexy zombie.”

“It’ won’t be like that when I put on the make-up,” Byleth hummed lowly.

“No amount of make-up can make you look unsexy,” Claude laughed.

Byleth clutched his chest and let out a groan.

Claude watched Byleth wobble his way back to the fitting rooms. He let out a low hum as he quickly looked around the area, his heart beating fast. “Byleth is so damn cute in the zombie costume.”

When Byleth came returned, they walked up to the cashier, making their way out of the costume store. They walked around the strip mall, making their way to a store that specialized in theater and special effects make-up. Using what little knowledge Hilda taught Claude, he found some make-up that fit Byleth’s complexion. After they got home, they spent the next few hours looking at tutorials on how to make Byleth a zombie.

“We just smeared the green make-up everywhere,” Byleth sighed.

“Gasp! With all our hard work,” Claude teased.

Byleth started to peel off the latex. “The skin doesn’t even want to go on properly.”

“I don’t think we even stuck in on right,” Claude said, helping him peel it off. He thought for a couple of secs, thinking about the potential consequences of his next idea. Taking one big breath, he decided to go with it. “I do know someone who could help us with it.”

“Who,” Byleth asked, taking a towel to his face to rub off the make-up.

Claude, already texting them. “My friend Hilda. She is a special effects make-up artist.”

Byleth smiled as he rubbed the towel more harshly against his face.

It took Hilda less than an hour to get to their apartment building.

“Where is the star at,” Hilda laughed.

“In the bathroom,” Claude yelled, walking into the living room.

Hilda smirked as she rubbed her hands together. She carefully skipped-not to damage any of her precious supplies-as she followed Claude into the bathroom. “So this is the lucky guy,” she chuckled.

“Yes I am,” Byleth played along as he placed the towel onto the counter.

Claude crossed his arms, tapping his fingers.

Hilda scanned Byleth and their poor job. “Hmph. He’s still cute.

Byleth let out a sigh. "Please help.”

“That’s why I’m here,” Hilda said, placing the bag onto the counter.

She grabbed onto Claude, placing some make-up in his hand and some in Byleth’s. She took them step by step, and in great depth, on how to do zombie make-up. The two looked in awe at how realistic Byleth looked as a zombie, he kind of didn’t want to take it off.

“Claude,” Byleth said softly as he placed the make-up down.

Claude smirked. “Yes?”

Hilda glared at the two of them. “Don’t,” she sighed softly.

Byleth and Claude ignored her and left the apartment. Hilda rushed after them before they were able to scare anyone, scolding them when they were back at their place. She understood a little bit better why they were together. And as payment for their trouble, she stayed over, taking Byleth’s room. While she was asleep, and with Claude’s help, they carefully took off the make-up. After they were done, Byleth snuck into his room, grabbing his PJs, and quickly changed in Claude’s room. Claude looked at Byleth, bundled up under the blankets, and sighed. He smiled as she crawled under the sheets, cuddling with Byleth.

Halloween night came with cool, crisp air. Many were dressed, many were not. Most have not arrived at Hilda’s Halloween Bash, one such ‘couple’ was Byleth and Claude. Claude was helping Byleth get into costume. It’s nowhere near Hilda’s standards, but it’ll have to do for this spooky night.

Claude gave Byleth a kind smile. “Thank you so much for doing this. You’re truly a lifesaver.”

“I’m always happy to help my 'boyfriend,’” Byleth smiled back. He placed his thumb close to Claude’s mouth, moving it to touch his fang. “You fangs look so realistic.”

“Something Hilda taught me,” Claude said, lightly biting his thumb.

“Keep this up, you’ll be reaching for my neck,” Byleth teased.

“Oh, I don’t want to do that. Your neck is my dessert,” Claude smirked, taking his thumb out of his mouth. “We better get going.”

Byleth smiled as they walked out of the apartment building.

They arrived at the party fashionably late. Some treats have been handed out and some were tricked. As they walked around to talk to Claude’s coworkers, Byleth was trick with a fake peanut tube and was covered with the cobweb of shame. At all points in time, Claude was on his toes, foiling every chance someone was trying to prank him. He was also able to trick one of his coworkers by pretending there was a monster hiding somewhere and Claude was able to scare them. After his little trick, Claude took Byleth around to introduce him to his friends. They asked the usual annoying questions of likes and dislikes, where they had met.

“Where did you two meet,” Leonie beamed.

“Uh,” Byleth moaned. He looked around the room, laying his eyes on Claude. They couldn’t tell them that they had known each other for years. “Uh, a bar.”

A big smile swept across Claude’s face as he leaned on him. “Ah, yes! I saw him across the room, trying to convince his very tipsy dad to go home with him.”

Byleth let out a groan as he placed his head in his head. “I remember dragging him out of the bar and on my way out, I saw Claude.”

Claude’s smile grew as big as it could. “Do you remember what he said on the way out?”

“Yes,” Byleth sighed softly. “He clung to Claude and said, 'You’re cute, you should date my son.’ He then proceeded to give him my number.” After a few seconds of silence, Byleth held Claude’s hand, squeezing it tightly, and gave him a kind smile. “We’ve been together ever since.

Claude could feel his cheeks start to heat up and his heart start to beat a little faster. In the moment, he gave Byleth a small kiss on his cheek.

"Awe, how cute,” Leonie chuckled.

“It was embarrassing,” Byleth paused to give Claude another smile. “But I wouldn’t change it.”

Claude leaned in closer to give him a kiss. To his surprise, Byleth returned it.

“You guys are so cute,” she added, taking a drink of her beverage.

The two locked eyes, becoming lost in each other’s thoughts. Leonia took a big gulp of her drink as she wobbled away after her attempts to have another conversation.

Near the night’s end, Hilda hosted her ever famous Couples Costume Contest. Her, along with Marianne and Ignatz, were the judges. One by one, people showed off their costumes. There were aliens, astronauts, cats, deer, and many others. When Byleth and Claude walked down the walkway, people were cheering and whispering, some questioned why they didn’t match. At the end of the walkway, the two looked at their scores. Ignatz gave them an eight, Marianne gave them a seven. They looked over to Hilda, the harshest judge of them all, gave them a five. If it weren’t for Claude’s spot on vampire costume, she would have given them a two for Byleth’s terrible makeup job. After everything, they looked at their fifth-place ribbon, not what they were hoping for.

At the end of the night, and after Lorenz’s and Lysithea’s prodding for more answers, Byleth and Claude finally said their goodbye’s to Hilda and headed back home.

“Man,” Byleth stretched, “that was fun!”

“Yeah,” Claude sighed, letting a smile appear on his face. “Thanks for your help. I owe you one.”

“Don’t sweat it,” Byleth yawned. “I’m happy to help. Whelp, I’m going to bed. Don’t stay up too late.” Before he went to bed, Byleth subconsciously gave Claude a peck on his cheek.

“You don’t have…” Claude trailed off as h placed his hand on his cheek, watching Byleth walk off.

He felt his face get warmer and his heart pound against his chest as a million thoughts went through his head. They didn’t stop as he climbed into bed. Instead of going to sleep, Claude stared at the ceiling, deciphering any emotion that he had until morning came.

———————————————

My gift to baeleths (on Twitter) for the Fodlan’s Fright Halloween Gift Exchange! One of the prompts was fake dating au and hit my straight in the heart. I had so much fun with this one, I hope I did it justice!

[sabineelectricheart]

A Mask’s Reckoning

Summary: As a teacher and a student have a forbidden encounter, Byleth wonders what lies behind Dimitri’s eyes.

Ratings: MA - Content is only suitable for mature adults. May contain explicit language and adult themes.

Explicit depiction of underage sex. Reader discretion is highly advised.

Words: 1500

Notes: Dimitri is, canonically, seventeen to eighteen in White Clouds. While I have not defined a given point in the narrative for this fic to be set, and so I could just be obtuse about the whole thing, it must be stated that Byleth wonders about his physical development, and it sounds... Dubious. You have been warned.

While she has very little experience with her fellow man outside of bloody battlefields, Byleth knew exactly what he wanted when she entered into his dorm room.

She briefly wonders how naïve, how ridiculously sheltered, the students of Garreg Mach Monastery were. Darkness loomed behind every eye, it is true, but it is all the more reason not to be fooled by the masks everyone wears. It might be reasonably easy not to be swayed by Edelgard’s soaring speeches or Claude’s cruel scheming, but Dimitri is unavoidable, and so on his trauma, she is forced to dwell.

In all honesty, it was not too difficult to gauge the prince’s intentions, and the Ashen Demon is not a fool. He had sent Sylvain out with a girl, likely a prostitute, to Remire, and Dedue had the difficult mission of finding a rare spice on the night market. Felix was awfully sleepy this afternoon, Flayn had a fish dinner to enjoy and the other Lions suddenly found themselves with chores to be undertaken.

Her memories of life before the Monastery, before Sothis awoke and began talking to her, are convoluted at best. She does not remember historical events such as the Insurrection of the Seven, the Tragedy of Duscur or the murder of Duke Godfrey’s son. For the time she spent in Adrestia, travelling from territory to territory, she knows she must have played her part on the turmoil, as well the bandits and monsters chased away from Gloucester were indicative of Riegan’s slaughtering. Yet, she hears and reacts to it all as if it was written on the pages of this morning’s Acta Archiepiscopae.

As for the next ruler of Faerghus… It is not as if he is an evildoer, he is just a scared child that wants to be held. He is full of sadness and rage, plagued by his own thoughts and consumed by an endeavour that will not bring him as much peace as he expects. Above all, he wants to be held and protected by someone stronger than him.

Sometimes, she wished that it meant Manuela instead. On the busty healer, lack of decorum was comic, almost cute. On Byleth, it was a moral failing, a sure sign she is not where she belongs, and she cannot help but wish to belong here.

Dimitri had a litany of candles lit on the outskirts of the room, their flowery aroma overtaking the cool air of the room. Flowers adorned every surface, and the blond prince was lazily strewn on the bed, trying to project the finer points of his boar persona, a nonchalance about the rules and thoughts of lesser men, the idea of strong masculinity someone must have told him women found endearing, but failing to hide his insecure thoughts miserably.

The two of them had not been alone together in nearly two weeks, an eternity for a relationship that new, amongst people that young. That time apart might explain why her paramour was sat on the edge of his bed, a cocky smirk gracing his face as his legs were lazily spread slightly wider than usual.

“Have you summoned me, Your Highness?” The instructor questions, politely.

Dimitri might usually refuse to be addressed by his courtesy title, especially amongst the academic contexts at the monastery. However, when it is just the two of them, alone, in those circumstances, he got a wicked pleasure out of lording it over her.

The former mercenary does not make it easy for him. He does not want it easy, he is testing her, and she is a prideful woman. So, she pretended not to notice the scene as she crossed your arms over your chest expectedly. Unfortunately. or fortunately, depending on how you looked at it, all that did was push her cleavage together, creating a nice view for the Blaiddyd heir to look at as his tongue darted out quickly to run along his bottom lip.

The tapestries depicting the many kings of Faerghus in the halls of the monastery showed them all the same, blond, tall and muscular men in martial poses. Looking at Dimitri and his fine, developing features, she could not see him in place of Loog at the Battle of Eagle and Lion. Perhaps someday, he might prove her wrong, as he so dearly wished.

“I did... Why do you not come sit in my lap, dear?” He drawled, leaning back on his hands.

Byleth sauntered over, swaying her wide hips a little more than usual, making Dimitri visibly gulp as she straddled his hips and rested her hands behind his neck.

“By all means, Your Highness.” She smirked wolfishly.

In seconds, he had leant forward to close the space between them, pressing his lips to hers like the boar Felix insisted he actually is and kissing her like it was the last thing he would ever do.

He traced his tongue across her bottom lip, gently nibbling and making her lips part ever so slightly, allowing him to push his tongue into your mouth. The former mercenary let out a soft moan, making the prince squeeze her waist as she began to slowly circle your hips down into his lap, feeling where his excitement was building.

Dimitri groaned, his own hips bucking into hers as the woman pulled away from the kiss to leave open mouth kisses down his jaw towards his neck.

Byleth slowly started to unbutton his undershirt, tracing the exposed skin with her tongue as she moved further down, through the valleys of his taut muscles and the soft, thin blond hairs of his treasure trail. He leant back a little, feeling indulgent and allowing his paramour more room to take his shirt off completely before she kneeled between his legs.

The professor started to unbuckle his belt, giving a gentle squeeze to the tent in his pants, already straining against the material. In a matter of seconds, Dimitri had gently pushed her back in order to remove both his trousers and smallclothes, leaving himself bare to her cold, precise eyes.

Byleth looked up at him through her eyelashes, making him groan before she closed the distance between her full lips and the tip of his cock, swiping her tongue around before slowly taking the end into her mouth. The monarch let out a shuddering breath, collecting her long and soft hair in his hands and holding it up in a makeshift ponytail.

The woman bobbed her head before suddenly taking as much of him as she possibly could. It was challenging, as the prince had a member resembling Areadbhar in length and width. She wonders whether, like the weapon he will one day wield and the physical strength he hopes to one day control, it had something to do with the Crest he bore.

The effort invested on her ministrations was rewarding, as she revelled in the throaty moan she received from her paramour. She swirled her tongue around his cock with more of an eager disposition, pumping the rest she could not quite fit in her mouth.

It was becoming more apparent that he was close, throbbing in her mouth and as Byleth looked up at him, she saw his icy eyes were screwed shut, a deep blush painting his cheeks as soft pants left his mouth. She moaned at the sight, causing vibrations to run through him and making him twitch in her mouth. One of her hands slowly trailed under her own waistline, reaching down into her underwear to tease at your clit. She, then, swallowed around him, sending him over the edge as he came into her mouth.

The warrior woman licked his sensitive tip clean before gracefully removing her hand from her underwear for just long enough to take off her top and skirt, standing in front of Dimitri in just her corset and lace stockings, making his pupils blow wide.

“Come here.” Dimitri growled, pulling her towards him.

Not a heartbeat passed with her on his arms before the prince carefully throwed her onto his bed, watching as her tits bounced above her bindings and making him almost lose his train of thought as he took in the sight of that seductive minx lying on her back in just her smallclothes.

Byleth took a deep breath and propped herself up on her elbows, beckoning him over with a nod of your head. His body was pressed against hers in a matter of seconds, his lips pulling the woman into a bruising kiss.

This is going to be a long night. She wonders if, when all is said and done, she is a balm or just another ghost for him to exorcize. She wonders why she cares either way.

In any case, eventually the sun would shine through those windows, and they would once again become teacher and student. It was all temporary, and Byleth cannot help but hope with all her heart it would all go away painlessly.

It does not seem that likely.

*_*_*_*_*

Fire Emblem Masterlist

Three Houses Masterlist

[crackimagines]

Class VII Supports

TOCS AU Masterlist Here

—–

Class VII was greeted with open arms in the monastery, and the general opinion of them are high, mostly.

The most liked students are: Rean, Elliot, Gaius, Laura, Emma, Millium, and Towa.

The most students who seem to be at odds are: Crow, Machias, Angelica, and Alisa.

The universal supports for Class VII is each other, and Byleth.

Closest Friends: Byleth, Jeralt, Alois, Catherine, Manuela

Sara is noted to be one of the strangest out of the group. While she is more drunk than Manuela, she is by far the strongest of them. Those who have seen her in combat put her up with Jeralt and Byleth, if not more skilled. She gets along with all the students, even if she is more than a bit lazy. 

Sara is extremely suspicious of the church, but keeps these doubts only to herself and Class VII.

“That woman can go from completely plastered to absolute bastard in just a few seconds...”

Closest Friends: Dimitri, Leonie, Yuri, Annette, Mercedes, Byleth

Rean is said to be the unofficial leader of Class VII, and anyone who hangs around him long enough knows why. He is said to be a very trusting individual, and always seems to go out of his way to help others. He is also a very skilled swordsman, and is the most mysterious individual. With his Divine Knight, Valimar, and skilled fighters around Garreg Mach state that he seems to be holding back, people want to find the answer, but have been unable to. Rumors state he might be hiding something dark within him. 

Rean gets along with mostly everyone, but is suspicious of Rhea like Sara.

“He’s a really nice person, but by the Goddess he’s oblivious when someone’s hitting on him.”

Rest of Class VII under the cut!

Elliot

Supports - Golden Deer, Ashe, Annette, Caspar, Dorothea

Closest Friends: Ashe, Dorothea, Hilda, Caspar

Elliot is one of the most liked students of Class VII. His soft personality makes him very easy to befriend, but seems to be easily intimidated by the standoffish students. That being said, he is surprisingly brave, moving up to the frontlines with the rest of the class despite his less than ideal physique for a military academy. People constantly asks if he can play his violin for them, which he is more than happy to oblige. He can be found near the church, playing for the choir or with Dorothea.

“Elliot’s nice. Though, too much so for his own good.”

Machias

Supports - Golden Deer, Dedue, Ferdinand, Constance, Dorothea, Ashe, Edelgard

Closest Friends: Ignatz, Raphael, Dorothea, Ashe

Machias is hands down the most problematic student when it comes to relations. He hates Nobles with a passion for their “holier than thou attitude”, and is not afraid to state these sentiments to their face. He has the most hostile relationship with Ferdinand, Constance, and Lorenz. However to commoners, he seems to be far nicer and patient with them. Hatred for Nobles aside, he is quite gifted in both academics and combat.

“As long as you aren’t a noble, he’ll talk to you. Otherwise you’re better off talking to a wall. Plus you’re less likely to get shot at.”

Gaius

Supports - Golden Deer, Petra, Dedue, Cyril, Ashe, Flayn, Mercedes

Closest Friends: Petra, Dedue, Claude

Gaius is the most calm of the entire group, seemingly never letting anything get under his skin. He is a caring individual, and his homeland is a topic that fascinates everyone, seeing how different he is from the rest of Class VII. He doesn’t have any problems when it comes to talking to the people of Garreg Mach and is a reliable friend.

“Gaius is cool and everything, but sometimes I wish I understood what he was talking about. Especially about the winds.”

Emma

Supports - Golden Deer, Annette, Flayn, Mercedes, Constance, Sylvain,

Closest Friends: Claude, Lysithea, Marianne, Annette

Emma being the actual representative of Class VII, or in their terms Class President, she speaks with Rhea and the other house leaders the most, though she is joined by Machias and Rean. She doesn’t seem to be particularly noteworthy according to others, saying she is booksmart and fully capable in combat, but seems a bit off. Her magic seems to be far greater than what she uses, but it seems that’s kept under wraps.

“She seems nice enough, but it’s kinda hard to read her sometimes, ya know?”

Jusis

Supports - Black Eagles, Flayn, Felix, Lorenz, Constance, 

Closest Friends: Ferdinand, Hubert, Bernadetta, 

Jusis is the second quietest of Class VII, and seems very intimidating. However, he just doesn’t have much to say and has a bit of trouble saying what he truly thinks. While seeming rude and condescending, a lot of the time he does not mean for it to come off that way, and is acting a how he thinks a noble should. While he finds Ferdinand and Lorenz obnoxious with how much they boast, he shares the sentiment that it’s their duty to protect the common people. His fencing style is stated to be very elegant and deadly.

“Man, he’s so cool looking! I wonder what goes on through his head when people like Felix and Constance talk to him though...”

Crow

Supports - Black Eagles, Sylvain, Yuri, Claude, Shamir, Seteth, Rhea

Closest Friends: Edelgard, Sylvain, Yuri, Claude, Byleth 

Crow is referred to as “yet another Sylvain”, seemingly careless and always trying to hit on any pretty woman he can. He is shockingly very skilled in combat, and can hold his own and sometimes displays his responsible side, though that is very rare. This side comes out the most when he is with Towa and Angelica. He is notorious to be very bad with money as he constantly gambles and usually loses it.

“Never give him any money. Ever.”

Fie

Supports - Black Eagles, Annette, Mercedes, Lysithea, Ashe, Raphael, Shamir, Jeralt

Closest Friends: Dorothea, Bernadetta, Raphael, Hubert, Caspar, Byleth

Fie is the quietest of Class VII, and somehow outsleeps Linhardt. She has even less to say than Jusis and rarely engages conversations on her own. That being said, people love speaking to her due to how “cute” she is, much to her dismay. She is extremely skilled in combat, and agile to boot. She has been seen to jump around constantly during battle striking at precise enemy locations to disrupt them without breaking a sweat. The second deadliest of Class VII, right behind Sara, she has been known to be friendly with very few people.  

“Fie is adorable! But, man she scares me sometimes.”

Alisa

Supports - Black Eagles, Sylvain, Ignatz, Leonie, Mercedes, Ingrid

Closest Friends: Caspar, Mercedes, Leonie, Ignatz

Alisa is notorious for holding grudges for an insane amount of time, leaving people doing their best to avoid her. While no doubt gifted with a bow, people state she has a very quick temper, making her the second most disliked of Class VII. However those close to her would defend her, they have a hard time denying what people say. Despite her problems, she is fiercely loyal to anyone who sticks by her, and seems to be a reasonable person. Most of the time.

“She’s a bitch sometimes, but she’s a good person...I think.”

Laura

Supports - Blue Lions, Leonie, Raphael, Caspar, Balthus

Closest Friends: Annette, Ingrid, Ashe, Felix, Balthus, Dimitri

Laura is the most physically strong person in Class VII, as she is known to be using a greatsword that’s almost bigger than her. Aiming to become the strongest, she is constantly challenged by those of similar mindset in the Monastery, and can be found in the training hall for a majority of her freedays. Despite being so intimidating, she is friendly with those who approach her, even being friends with those weaker than her. Though, she is known for no knowing what to do when it comes to doing “girly’ things.

“I’d say that her sword is comically oversized if I hadn’t seen her cleave armored knights in half with it.”

Millium

Supports - Blue Lions, Bernadetta, Hubert, Lysithea, Flayn, Cyril, Alois

Closest Friends: Alois, Flayn, Bernadetta, Dedue

Millium is the youngest of Class VII and seems to act very childish. Underneath her youth lies a fiercely intelligent girl, having been trained in covert operations and intelligence divisions. However, despite this training she seems to blurt out insensitive, rude, and important details as if everyone else had figured them out already, shocking anyone around her. Rudeness aside, she is very friendly to those she deems she wants to be friends with. The person in question has no choice in the matter, and better like them, cause she is known to pester them to no end.

“Millium is so cute! She’s like a little sister! Though, she’s everything good and bad about a little sister...”

Angelica

Supports - Literally every female in Garreg Mach, Dimitri, Claude, Yuri

Closest Friends: Dorothea, Edelgard, Ingrid, Hilda, Byleth

Angelica is a terror among the females of Garreg Mach as she is constantly hitting on all of them, even moreso than Sylvain. Libido aside, she is friendly enough with all students, even the guys. What shocks people the most about her is her form of combat, which is purely hand to hand. For someone who is relatively small, her punches have killed, even though she’s hitting people in heavy armor. She is known to be the most friendly with Towa and Crow.

Towa

Supports - All Three Houses

Closest Friends: Dimitri, Edelgard, Annette, Yuri

Towa is the friendliest of Class VII. She is a workaholic to those who can see her, and the kindest girl anyone has ever known for those close. She cares for everyone in the monastery and takes the time out of her day to make sure everyone is okay and if she can help them with anything, acting as an unofficial school counselor. No one has been able to abuse her kindness for helping with work and get away with it, thanks to Angelica, Crow, Sara, and Rean.

“That poor girl needs a break, I’d buy her tea everyday if she would stop working herself nearly to death each night...”

[hippomanblog]

Three Houses Characters, Ranked On Their Likelihood To Dab: Part III: Golden Deer and Church

Everyone, I have done it.  They tried to hunt me down, planted explosives in my dab lab and bees in my car, but I escaped the bombs and befriended the bees and now I’m here, here to present you with the final installment in my magnum opus, a comprehensive ranking of how likely each playable character in FE3H is to perform The Dab. Perhaps you thought I would stop at the Leicester Alliance and its students, surely finishing on the upbeat note of lighthearted Claude and pals, but much like von Riegan himself, von Hippoman has a scheme.  Like a [SPOILER REDACTED] fired from [SPOILER REDACTED], I’m gonna blow your minds with all the Church of Seiros aligned characters too.  Because you deserve to know.  Let’s save Fodlan together.

Minor Spoilers For Post-Timeskip Will Follow!

The list, as always, is Canon.  Thank you.

Claude: 14/10: The Master Tactician, the Golden Deer, the Schemer, the Dabmaster.  There are many challengers to the throne, but Claude von Riegan sits comfortably upon it, arm bent, face in elbow, unleashing the one and only God-Shattering Dab.

(gravityemblem314 suggested a ranking of 69/10 for Claude, but please, this is science,not NICE science.  @camelpimp​ mentioned that Claude likely instituted a mandatory pre-battle dab for the Golden Deer, that’s also canon.)

Alois: 12/10: The kids...they love to dab.  Alois wants to be hip and cool with the kids, and if his jokes aren’t enough to do it, surely his sweet dabs will do it!  Especially if he mixes them together.  He can frequently be seen in the dining hall, asking for some extra sauce on his meals.  When the students ask how much, he replies “Oh, just a...DAB” and he JUST FUCKIN’ LETS LOOSE.

Hilda: 10/10: Claude’s faithful (if not dependable) sidekick and friend shares in his affinity for the dab, but not quite to the same degree.  Claude’s sick dabs require a level of effort frankly beyond the Goneril scion, so she’s more into casual usage.  That said, it’s A LOT of usage. Raphael: 9/10: The big man of the Golden Deer loves to dab.  He’s absolutely jacked, so the sheer power contained in those moves could shatter stone, and once did, resulting in a renovation of Raph’s dorm room and a migraine for Seteth.  Despite his enthusiasm, he’s very, very bad at them, but nobody wants to point it out.  He’s just so happy.

Flayn: 8/10: Flayn is absolutely in for this.  She is totally, 100%, definitely a Young Human after all and this is what Young Humans do, they dab. Flayn does it all the time, often in a big circle with Annette, Caspar, and Claude.  Seteth is yearning for the sweet embrace of death.

Catherine: 7/10: She’s usually pretty jazzed about something, and all that excess energy has to go somewhere.  One time she impaled a man with Thunderbrand mid-dab but she doesn’t like to talk about it.

Manuela: 7/10: Manuela is at a crossroads.  On one hand, it’s not the classiest thing in the world, and she’s a pretty classy lady with some standards, you know?  But on the other hand, the students love it and they do say it makes her look younger.  The debate is meaningless because when she gets drunk she just lets loose anyway.

Leonie: 6/10: High energy Leonie is always ready for a challenge, and this counts.  She’d never seen a “dab” before coming to Garreg Mach, but it’s so much more fun than the usual high society shit people try to foist on her so hey, why not?  Plus, she heard from Byleth that Jeralt knows how to hit the dab too.  He was just covering a cough, though.  He can’t convince her of that.

(thanks to kokorikopi for assisting in this fascinating Eisner Family Trivia)

Ignatz: 5/10: Sure, Ignatz never really had any interest in dabbing.  It seemed sorta silly to him.  But Raphael kept begging him to try it, and he wasn’t going to turn down such a pleasant request.  So he did, and wait a minute.  You could do something artsy with this, right?  Ignatz is in search of a dab that is truly effervescent, an aesthetically pleasing pose to delight the senses and advance the culture of Fodlan through its grace.  Godspeed, you young visionary.

(Raphael and Ignatz ideas contributed by gardenvarietyfox!)

Seteth: 5/10: Seteth got caught sneezing by Caspar once and he started chanting “DAB SETETH DAB”.  It became a monastery meme for a while and Seteth could not leave his office without being hounded to perform the accursed dance.  Flayn likes it, though, so he doesn’t mind.  Too much.  Okay he minds a lot.

Lorenz: 4/10: At first Lorenz Hellman Gloucester would rather have been eviscerated by a weedwhacker than do something so base as dab.  However, through his experiences with his classmates, he came to realize that the dab is a powerful diplomatic tool.  It speaks much with little effort and helps to connect with commoners across Fodlan.  He still sucks at it but he’s trying.

Cyril: 4/10: Cyril wasn’t born in Fodlan, and frankly he finds their trends weird and doesn’t really care for them.  But they’ll usually start cheering and get out of his way to let him get to cleaning if he does it, so hey, when in Rome...

Lysithea: 3/10: Lysithea is already extremely short, meaning her arms have little dab power.  Whenever she dabs, someone calls it “cute” and it absolutely infuriates her.  So dabbing is for fools, obviously.  That said...after defeating a certain mounted masked marauder...she may have let herself indulge a little bit.  Don’t tell anyone.

Hanneman: 2/10: Ain’t no Crest of Dabbylad now is there?

Marianne: 2/10: Oh, poor Marianne.  She’s having a bad day, and a bad week, and a pretty crummy year.  She doesn’t feel like she has anything to dab about, and if she does, everyone will probably just laugh at her and point their fingers at the bad dabber.  Thankfully, the other Deer are there for her, and they gave her time.  Eventually, slowly and carefully, she did it.  It was terrible, but only one person told her that.  Hilda Goneril was later seen tossing a mysterious sack into the Garreg Mach pond.

Shamir: 1/10: Catherine won’t stop doing it.  She just will not stop doing it, and she’s so absolutely sick of it.  She’s this close to shooting an arrow through one of her partner’s arms the next time she does it.  Seiros hasn’t done anything about it yet and that’s why Shamir is an atheist.

Gilbert: 1/10: Dab?  What is that?  Does my daughter do that?  Hmm.  Didn’t get it from me.  I ABANDONED HER. And so we reach the end.  Through a comprehensive knowledge of the cast’s dabability, surely they can find a way to put aside their differences and work together to make a brighter future for Fodlan. By reading these posts, you have unlocked the Golden Ending.  I had it all along.  Thank you and goodnight.

[aonorunic]

Daydreaming, Chapter 3: Edelgard, A Fire Emblem Fic

Summary:  Edelgard’s late night wanderings take her to a place she never before allowed herself to dream of.

Notes: Inspired by an ongoing conversation over at @pokemagines. The next requested character, and I am so excited for this because jokes, Hubert. Feel free to continue asking for other characters you would like to see.

Read of AO3.

Chapter 1 Chapter 2

“Edelgard?”

Edelgard stopped and sucked in a deep breath, the night air cool in her lungs. “Professor? What are you doing out so late?”

Byleth’s head tilted as she regarded Edelgard, but did not say a word. “Ah, yes, I guess I shouldn’t be making such inquiries when I am out and about myself.”

Edelgard turned to the side, the grip of her nightmare still clawing at her mind as it tried to reclaim her. She was aware of the footfalls coming toward her, but did not pay them any mind until a fluffy white towel was shoved in her face. “Professor?” she heard herself question for a second time.

“Come on,” Byleth said. She reached out for Edelgard’s hand, pulling the princess along behind her.

Edelgard offered no resistance. She felt the heat in her cheeks rise, unable to draw her eyes away from where their hands were connected. Occasionally when the Professor had lectured for the Black Eagles, switching for the day with Manuela, Edelgard had daydreamed about holding her hand. It was always simple things, like walking through the market or strolling through gardens, but always with the Professor at her side, their fingers intertwined. 

When Byleth let go of her hand Edelgard finally looked up and realized where Byleth had taken her. She was certain her entire body was covered in a blush as she recognized the door to the baths.

“Professor?” She had not realized her voice could go that high.

Byleth placed the hand that had just been holding Edelgard’s on the door handle, that warm and steady hand Edelgard had dreamed of so many times before. “The water will help you relax.” She opened the door and paused. “You do not have to come in if you do not wish, but I think it will do you good to allow yourself a moment of rest.” And with that Byleth left Edelgard standing outside.

The baths were a series of large pools, filled from hot springs underneath the monastery. Byleth had entered the one reserved for women, but there was a smaller one for nobles that would be unoccupied at this time of night. Edelgard could very easily go there instead. She could just go back to her room.

And yet, she wanted it. She wanted to do as Byleth had suggested and relax, and if she wasn’t alone there was less of a chance of the nightmare tearing at her mind again. Shaking off the fog that she felt she was previous moving through, Edelgard followed Byleth into the baths.

The room was warm, steam rising from the water. Byleth was already neck deep in the bath. Edelgard felt the heat come back to her skin, silently grateful that the heat now gave her an excuse for why her skin was turning a brilliant shade of pink. 

Byleth kept her eyes closed as Edelgard disrobed and placed her clothes on one of the shelves provided along the wall. She took a deep breath and stepped into the water, sighing as a new warmth enveloped her. Edelgard sank deeper, just allowing the water to surround her, the tension eased out of her muscles. It was a wonderful feeling. The feeling of weightlessness actually seemed to be helping.

The sound of water being displaced snapped open Edelgard’s eyes. She had actually forgotten Byleth was with her. The Professor had stood, the water lapping at her waist. Edelgard forgot to breathe. The steam did not give her a clear view, but she still saw quite a bit. And then Byleth lifted herself out of the bath.

Edelgard shoved a hand against her mouth to stifle the very unladylike squeal that escaped her. Byleth did not seem to care at all that she was naked in front of another person. She grabbed her own towel and began to dry off, Edelgard following every movement of those warm hands. All too soon Byleth was dressed again, her soaking wet hair dampening the cloth of her top of making it cling to her in an absolutely delicious way. (And now Edelgard realized why she had brought two towels in the first place.)

“Would you like me to stay?” she asked.

Edelgard shook her head without even thinking about it. “No, I’ll be fine. Thank you, Professor.”

Byleth nodded, seemingly satisfied. “Don’t fall asleep before you get out.”

And with that, Edelgard was alone.

Alone with her mind filled with thoughts of the woman who had just left. Edelgard had never allowed herself to fantasize anything more than holding Byleth’s hand, but after what she had just seen, she found herself too weak to deny her desires.

Byleth rose from the water, allowing Edelgard’s gaze to sweep over her. Only now the other woman did not move to leave the pool. She just stood there, stood there until Edelgard herself moved forward. Byleth’s hands rose ever so slightly toward her, but Edelgard was too fast, pulling Byleth into her arms as soon as she was close to the other woman.

Byleth moaned happily as Edelgard kissed her, their bodies flush against one another. The feel of Byleth’s skin against her own was nearly overwhelming. Edelgard allowed her hands to move over Byleth, exploring every curve she could reach, testing and teasing before moving on, greedy for more. One of Byleth’s own hands came up to tangle in Edelgard’s hair, trying to push their faces closer. 

Edelgard moved them back, breaking their kiss only long enough to breathe before diving back in, sitting back down on the ledge that ran the edge of the pool and pulling Byleth into her lap. Her hands moved to Byleth’s breasts, marveling at how they filled her hands so completely.

“Edelgard,” Byleth moaned as she threw her head back, bucking her hips forward, silently begging for more. 

Edelgard wished to tease her, wanted to make Byleth beg for her touch, but someone could easily walk in on them if they also decided on a midnight bath, and Edelgard did not want anyone else to see Byleth like this. No, this was for her and her alone. 

One hand moved down, the other continuing to tease Byleth’s breast, until it rested just under Byleth’s belly button. She was so close to everything she wanted from the other woman. “Do you want this, Byleth?” She had to be sure.

Despite the heat, Byleth shivered when Edelgard said her name. “Yes,” she hissed, trying to buck against Edelgard’s hand.

“Ah, ah, ah,” Edelgard chastised. She pinched Byleth’s nipple, smiling at the yelp that came out of the usually stoic woman. “Just relax, Byleth. Let me take care of you.”

Byleth whined and wrapped her arms around Edelgard’s neck, those wonderful hands clinging to her. She was Byleth’s world right now, and those hands anchored them together. “Please.”

Edelgard’s hand continued down, relishing the gasp Byleth gave when her fingers gave the lightest of touches over the other woman. She felt Byleth’s hips move again, but dropped her other hand to Byleth’s waist and pressed down. The way Byleth bit her lip to hold back her moan was absolutely adorable.

There would be other times when Edelgard could take her time with the Professor; other times when the world ceased except for the two of them. Right now, Edelgard had a goal to accomplish before she was interrupted.

A finger teased its way inside Byleth. Edelgard smirked against the skin of Byleth’s shoulder, pausing her kisses long enough to tease, “My, you’re already so slick down here.”

“Edelgard, please don’t tease me.” 

She was just too damn cute.

“All right.” Edelgard’s lips moved to Byleth’s chin, peppering kisses along her lover’s jaw as she added another finger. And then another. She worked Byleth, letting the other woman ride her hand and chase her release. Edelgard shifted her hand, drawing a cry from Byleth, so she could use her thumb to tease Byleth’s clit. She had never known Byleth could be so loud. She continued to pump her fingers in and out of Byleth’s body, determined to draw out every little moan and gasp. 

Fingers pulled at Edelgard’s hair and shoulder. “El!” Byleth tightened around Edelgard’s hand, her body shaking as she came. 

It was over too soon, and yet, Edelgard felt a joy in her chest her had not known before as Byleth curled up against her, sighing contentedly against Edelgard’s shoulder. “Don’t make me move for awhile,” Byleth requested.

“You can stay in my arms as long as you want.”

Edelgard allowed herself to imagine she was holding Byleth a moment longer before letting the fantasy go. She removed her fingers from her body as her breathing began to even out. With a deep sigh, Edelgard rose from the pool and toweled herself off before pulling her clothes back on. 

The entire way back to her room she curled and uncurled the hand Byleth had held, imaging the other woman leading her forward. 

/

End Notes:  This is the first time I've written for Edelgard's pov. I feel like her actual scene was shorter than the other two, but it just seemed to fit while I was writing it. I hope her chapter measures up to the other two.

[letters-from-the-three-houses]

Hello hello! I'd just like to say that I'm really glad I found your blog, it's super fun to see the hype and ideas circulating throughout it, it's helping with the hype, and it's mega fun reading your wonderful writing, keep up the fantastic work my friend! But if it's okay ask, may I get your stance on the idea of demon Byleth? Anything would be lovely, from personal preferences to actual likelihood of this outcome, or how it could affect the church, plot, characters, or Byleth themselves?

thanks, friend! it’s more than okay to ask! i’m super hyped so i’m happy to share my excitement with everyone. we’ll get through the countdown together :)

so as a bit of a background to those who don’t know/need a refresher, byleth (beleth) is the name of a fallen angel in hell who commands legions of demons. they’re sometimes depicted as a trumpet-playing cat, but they’re usually shown as a scary, stubborn, and intimidating man who will hold contempt towards the caster if they show fear/disrespect. there’s also a female persona who is thought to be a “small, frail, doe-eyed young girl”, as well as beleth’s true form. once they lend the summoner their power, the summoner will be able to cause any man or woman to love them until their desires are fulfilled. also, beleth is knowledgeable in math

(here are some more posts about demon!byleth that i build upon in my response: [1], [2], [3], [4], [reddit])

under the cut bc i wrote too much

disclaimer: i’m not an expert of demonology, so i might get some information wrong. there are also spoilers to other games in the series!

i personally think it’d be a cool spin. i love the idea of a demon protagonist, and the context is a good setup for a morally ambiguous, grey role. whether IS chooses to play around with it to create a more somber/complicated tone or not is anyone’s guess. knowing them, it’ll probably be straightforward, like revelation!fates, but the two aren’t mutually exclusive

as for likelihood, i think they’re called ‘byleth’ for a reason. it doesn’t necessarily mean that they’ll be a demon, but the name does hold some importance. for one, byleth is pretty niche. they’re only mentioned in two texts: 1) pseudomonarchia daemonum (johann weyer), and 2) ars goetia, which was based off of weyer’s work. even then, they’re more commonly adapted as ‘beleth’ or ‘bileth’. japan likes referencing the ars goetia for whatever reason, but when they do, they use the more popular names like amon, astaroth, baal, etc. (a.k.a demons who have been referenced in other texts). in fact, the only other byleth/beleth character i could find is beleth from floraverse (a decidedly not japanese webcomic), who’s portrayed as a cute toy cat demon

to be honest, IS has a good track record on meaningful names. they’ve been doing it for years now; a lot of references have some sort of influence or connection to their source material. sigurd is a hero descended from a god who forgets his wife due to a magic drink before being murdered, similar to his and deirdre’s fates in genealogy. eirika and ephraim’s prf weapons, sieglinde and siegmund, are twins in norse mythology. the goetia itself is the strongest dark tome in awakening, a nice nod to the fact that you use it to summon demons

the more recent avatars also have some parallels, especially their japanese names. reflet means reflection in french, which makes sense since they’re the representation of the player. kamui (kamuy) are a group of divine beings that live in the heavens, associated with different natural aspects (e.g. the hearth, sea, thunder, agriculture, etc.). this could signify kamui’s vallite heritage and dragon blood. both names (reflet + kamui) are also androgynous, and can be used for males or females

it might be a long stretch, but what really solidifies my opinion on the intentionality is the fact that there are different default names for each of the byleths. ベレト (bereto) by itself could have been a coincidence, but ベレ��� (beresu) is an alternative form of ベレト or bereto (much like byleth is to beleth). again, it could be by chance, but more support for it means it’s more likely that IS chose the name for a reason

also, you get to choose your ‘form’ when picking between f!byleth and m!byleth. iirc, the japanese version has the same connotation, so it’s not some awkward translation on the localization’s part

“but does that matter? what if they chose it because it sounds cool?” i don’t deny the possibility! after all, a lot of media use random names just because they sound sinister and evil. sometimes, there’s not a big connection between said character and the source material. but notwithstanding which demon they used, they still chose to name them after one. naming a character after a demon is a pretty big deal

so what does it mean? to be honest, it could mean anything. there’s a chance that the reference isn’t prominent (maybe they have a dark side to them or they become evil à la robin). if, however, ‘beleth’ ends up shaping the dynamics of the entire game, then a couple of plot points can be gleaned from it

it’s important to note that some aspects of beleth could be mixed and matched with different characters. just like sigurd + deirdre, it’s possible that they’re combined with the relationships that byleth has, meaning the characteristics don’t solely apply to byleth. for example, byleth might canonically play the bugle horn, and whenever they head into battle, they use it to communicate and relay orders to the other units (which would be pretty cool, actually; IS make it happen)

we know that byleth starts off unaffiliated with any of the three nations, and that there’s a catalyst that throws fódlan into war. it’s possible that byleth joining one of the houses parallels the ‘summoning’—the caster being the respective lord—and byleth lends them their power in order to do xyz. in the case of the original text, that means making everyone love them (implied to be the, um, physical kind), but it might just translate to a power shift in favour of said house

what’s really interesting, in my opinion, is that the ars goetia states: “For thou art conjured by the name of the LIVING and TRUE GOD…fulfil thou my commands…according unto mine interest…” in other words, you have to invoke the power of god in order to summon demons to do your bidding. while it seems odd that god would allow you to summon them in the first place, it does mean that the authority of god compels them to obey you. maybe the church of seiros will somehow control byleth using the goddess’s powers (a.k.a the crests)? that doesn’t mean the goddess has something against byleth (she could be a sideline character whose powers are being abused by the caster—or in this case, the church), but the fact that beleth is a fallen angel could signify some sort of relationship between them

my ideal would be that the byleths (+ sothis, who references isis/anubis) are anti-heroes, the church isn’t outright evil/corrupt, and the political tension between the three nations is what drives the conflict (with the crests as a macguffin). i’d love it if this time around, the choices we make influence the direction of the story! that said, i won’t mind if it’s the usual ‘defeat the evil dragon to save the world’ story. the worldbuilding gives a lot of freedom and creativity for what-ifs, so someone’s bound to make a demon!au if byleth isn’t one

the real question though is why jeralt named his kid ‘byleth’. unless byleth isn’t actually his kid. then that brings up a whole slew of questions about the mother

[asks are open!]

[sabineelectricheart]

Guest-House [Pt. 7]

Summary: Dimitri has another nightmare and Byleth cannot help herself.

Rating: T - Suitable for teens, 13 years and older, with some violence, minor coarse language, and minor suggestive adult themes.

Words: 1833

Notes: This week we have a Guest-House chapter, but next week we’ll have an one-shot. I hope this has been worth your wait!

Two hours after the boys had dinner, as the house falls back into a complete quietness, Byleth walks down to the kitchen. She does not want to talk to anyone, neither does she want to be asked why she is ignoring His Highness, and so is avoiding her tenants the best she can without leaving them without their rightful board.

As a result of her stealthing, she could not have dinner, so she is sneaking downstairs of her own home to find herself some food. As the landlady reaches the ground floor, she hears weird sounds from the living room and she hopes no one sees she. In the kitchen, she quickly grabs some food and then she run back up to her room again.

Byleth feels alone. Alone and worthless as a person. Goddess, feeling sorry for herself never was her thing, but it certainly comes naturally. She can understand he does not want to tell her what is wrong, and she told him so. It might be painful to relive such traumatic moments of his life, and even if he opens himself to her, the tools she has to help him are very limited. However, this is a cultured, erudite, college-educated man. He must be keenly aware that he has to open up to someone, or else whatever is bothering him is going to eat him alive.

A soft knock on her door interrupts her thoughts. The green-haired woman refuses to respond. She does not care who it is; she is not in the mood for company and conversation. The person behind the door walks away after a minute and she is left all alone again.

Absent-minded, Byleth spent the rest of the night going through her phone for news of her parents in Enbarr, leisurely reading a book for the first time in many Moons and listening to music. She does hear the sounds from downstairs, steps and light conversation, but they do not bother her. Nothing does.

She does not even realise how late it is until she closes her book and look at the alarm clock on the bedside table. It is past one in the morning. The house is already silent and the tenants must have gone to bed. She wants to follow suit, but just like last night, the haunting sounds from Room 10 keep her awake.

With her mint-green eyes wide open, she lays in bed, staring at the beams on the roof and contemplating whether she should get up or just forget about it and buy a rug first thing on Monday. She does not want to help him, and he certainly does not deserve any sympathy from her, but she knows he needs her.

While Byleth is contemplating whether to help Dimitri out or not, the sounds from downstairs get progressively worse. The man is moaning and mumbling feverishly once again. Sighing, she gives up on whatever little dignity she managed to preserve in her years as a glorified hotel maid and waitress. The woman gets up from her single bed and walks to Room 10.

As the door opens, the landlady freezes with the scene unfolding in front of her eyes. It is the exact setting as last night. She opens the window and sit at the edge of the bed.

“Dimitri, calm down.” Byleth begins the routine with a soothing voice, but it is as if he does not hear her.

The woman tries to get him more comfortable and folds the sheets on his waist, letting the cool wind run through his upper body. She sighs when she sees that Dimitri is wearing that damn pyjama set again. A little blessing it is, but at least his arms are limp along his body tonight and taking the shirt off is not as hard.

“Dimitri, I’m here. Can you hear me?” Byleth whispers once more. “No one is hurting you. You are safe here.”

As the hours go by and her usual metier of strategies run out once again, the woman starts to consider drastic measures. No matter how many times she brushes her hands on his cheek, no matter what sweet nothing she whispers, no matter how much she fans his feverish skin, the stupid man keeps squirming and moaning. She really does not want to sleep in his bed again, and neither does he. He obviously did not like it when she attempted doing it last night.

Alas, she does not see any other option, and unpleasant as the fallout might have been, it has worked swimmingly. A bit frustrated and more than rather humiliated, the green-haired woman climbs over the sleeping man and lies next to him. His body follows her movements and, as soon as her body touches the mattress, his strong hands grasp her waist and pull she closer. She feels his unsteady breath on her cheek and his heartbeat on her chest.

“Byleth…” He mumbles and she freezes. “Byleth… ‘m sorry… So sorry…”

“I know you are.” The woman whispers back and stroke back the man’s blond curls that have fallen in his face. His forehead is sweaty and warm.

“‘m sorry… Byleth… Please…” The panicked feeling makes his body tense up momentarily, as the words become more mumbled and desperate, clawing their way out on a closing throat. “Byleth… Hurt you… Sorry… Dream…”

His mumbling gets unintelligible after this point and his heartbeat slows down again. His mouth is still moving, trying to articulate words, and she cannot help but find the sight of his soft lips opening and closing rather humorous. It is also with a great deal of relief that she notes that he looks calm now, holding a vulnerable look on his face that made him look rather cute.

Byleth lets her hands wander up and down the tenant’s broad back leisurely, tracing the scars with her fingers. Then, a mumble breaks her sleepy daze.

I love you, Byleth.

Dimitri speaks the words so clearly, like he is awake. In shock, she looks at him, trying to figure out whether he sleeps or not. His eyes are still closed and now his mouth is closed, too. If this is all a prank, he is quite committed to his bit, and he is not that good of a liar.

As the words settle in her mind and things gain new meanings, distress settle into her heart. Suddenly, the landlady gets very aware about every touch on her body, about their entangled legs and their hands resting in scandalous sections of their skins. She hears all the sounds in the house and yet she hears nothing.

This declaration of love comes as a surprise, of course. Dimitri has never told her he loves her. He had mentioned once or twice that he cared for her wellbeing and valued her opinion, and even managed a ‘you’re the best!’-type of thing on occasion, but never something so momentous as love. Not even close.

The man is notoriously stingy with the word, she notes. Annette is, in many aspects, just like a sister to him. He knows Ingrid, Sylvain and Felix for many, many years. He sees Lord Fraldarius as a father and is very close to Jeralt and Sitri. He has some sort of weird camaraderie with Dedue. Yet, in all those four years they lived under the same roof, never has she ever saw him saying ‘I love you’ to anyone. Not as a joke, not as a gesture, not when forced. Not even when he is drunk.

When it comes to love, at least the fraternal sort, Dimitri has his own ways of showing it to the object of his feelings. He is fond of buying trinkets on his way home from college and giving it to whomever he thought about that day, he often offers his help on chores or studies, and he often sits next to someone who is feeling down or angry at dinner and just stands there, as a soothing and silent presence. It all shows the blond does love his friends, but he never tells them, and he never did any of that for her. So, she always believed anything she would ever nurture for this man would be forever one-sided.

If Byleth was ever asked directly whether she loved Dimitri, she would say that she did. She would not have meant a romantic sort of love, strictly saying, but rather a deep fondness and a desire to protect from ill. Now, she is a straight woman and she has eyes, the Blaiddyd is very handsome, but she never felt comfortable cultivating anything other than platonic, due to that pesky glass wall of his.

Considering that Dimitri was being sincere on his mumbling, even if he did not mean to tell her, did this information change anything? Byleth does not know yet why she is kept on arm’s length. She does not know why he has been remiss in confessing his feelings for her. Not to mention that, in love or not, he had been rather violent with her last morning, and this should be taken in consideration, too.

All this reasoning feeds back to the first question. Does she love him back? In a romantic inception of the word, that is. Should it be so, is her heart so flighty to take the first man who will have her? Or, rather, has she also been remiss in assessing her feelings properly?

Byleth sits up and the man’s hands slide from her waist to her hips. He does not move at all. He finally sleeps peacefully, but now she wants him to wake up. She wants to talk to him, to drill him for answers for every question that plagues her rational mind. However, as not to waste hours of labour, she does nothing of the sort and lets him sleep.

He does look very peaceful with his pouting lips and his eyes a little squeezed, but as she looks at Dimitri, his nasty words echo through her head.

I don't need help. I don’t need your help.

The tone, his face and the words. He certainly means what he said. He does not want any help or meddling from her, and how can it be? How can she care for a person who does not want her to care? How does she love a person who does not want to be loved?

It is best to let sleeping dogs lay, and on this note, it is best if the aristocrat does not catch her on his bed once again.

Careful not to wake him up, Byleth leaves his bed as stealthily as she laid on it in the first place. Dimitri is far off in the land of Morpheus. On the tip of her toes, she climbs the stairs back to her room.

The woman lets herself fall in her bed and closes her eyes. Despite being back in her room, alone, she cannot help but smile.

*_*_*_*_*

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