#ferdie: my darling do you like my beard

[aethele]

A Simple and Most Humble Anthology of Brief Post-War Headcanons:

•   after reformation,   ferdinand downsizes the aegir estate quite a bit.    he turns the extravagant private garden into a public garden,   renovates a section of the stables into an equestrian school,   opens up the ballrooms for public use,   etc.   it is still,   of course,   as luxurious as ever.

•   he ends up in politics no matter what.   default CF he becomes prime minister,    and every other route he goes on to help govern fódlan at large.   in non-CF routes,   his position is similar to lorenz’s solo ending:   he serves as the representative for the lords and people of old adrestia. 

•   he is a classic workaholic.   he is extremely diligent in all things and will very often pick up the slack of his colleagues,   and on top of his government work he is still tending to his own territories’ affairs as well as the family stables.   he can be surprisingly stubborn about this,   and will sneakily weasel his way out of anyone’s concerns.   i.e.,   “   i promise i will go to bed as soon as i finish this letter,   ”   he will say,   while neglecting to mention that he is on page 3 of 30. 

•   that being said,   he is above all else a family man.   he will try his absolute hardest to never let his work get in the way of spending time with his family,   be his family just his spouse or a spouse with many children.   he would ride through the night from enbarr / capital city back home to see his child’s ballet recital / sparring tournament / what-have-you in a heartbeat,    or if his spouse was having a hard time without him.

•   he retires duke’s pride xxxix from everything strenuous  and uses him purely for leisure rides,   allowing him to live out his remaining years happily frolicking through the fields à la black beauty.   duke’s pride xxxix does go on to sire at least one foal,   duke’s pride xl,   which ferdinand gifts to his eldest child as per aegir tradition.  

•   he is a huge patron of the arts,   personally funding a variety of artistic endeavors,   most commonly operas.   he attends absolutely every opera about the war that features him as a character,   and though his attendance draws high publicity,   he is also their loudest critic.   he has several quibbles particularly,  exclusively,   with how he is played;   in the same breath,   he will praise that hubert,   who is portrayed just as if not more hyperbolically,   is fantastically accurate. 

•   he picks up blacksmithing as a hobby.   though he usually makes ornate arms and armors   ( often for display and artistry rather than practicality ),    he also loves to make trinkets,   baubles,   and jewelry for his spouse and children.   

•   he grows a beard.   it is a full,   sharp,   squared verdi beard and it is meticulously maintained.   there is never a hair out of place,   nor a crumb to be found.   however,   this is extremely verse dependent because if his spouse does not like it,   or is even simply impassive towards it,   he will shave it immediately.