#sylvain needs more love

[muffypollz]

FIRE EMBLEM doodles :PPPPPP

[ladyniniane]

Felt like doing this tier list and here is the result!

[callmewishful]

Man this took a totally different turn than I planned. Gautier Family Week day 3: Duties (ish? lol)

(There is hunting and the stuff that goes with it in this, just as a fair warning. Nothing graphic though!)

.—.

Miklan watched from the side of the bed as his second mother gently brushed back a mess of flaming red hair. The baby had been born many hours ago, but this was the first time Miklan got to see him.

“What do you think, Miklan?” His mother asked. Miklan had already been forewarned that this was a trick question.

Truthfully, Miklan wasn’t sure what to think. The baby was a weird shade of red and kind of boring. That brought the little bundle in his mother’s arms into a negative light. He had been told that having a little sibling would be fun. If all this baby did was sleep, how could he be any fun?

Still, no matter Miklan’s true feelings, he had been informed that he should give positive responses only. His mother had gone through many hours of pain and the least Miklan could do for her was be polite. “I dunno. He’s quiet.”

Miklan did think the baby was polite to be so silent. Nieve had said that the baby would cry and be loud. But the baby gained a little of Miklan’s good feelings by proving Nieve a liar. Since Miklan had been in the room, it hadn’t cried once.

“He’s very sleepy.” She told him, looking far more tired than the little baby. Even more tired than after the night her and Miklan had stayed up because he had been sick. He decided then that he didn’t want a baby.

When Sylvain got even older, Miklan found he was good at listening and asking questions to understand things. That was probably Miklan’s favorite. He liked teaching a little brother and showing him cool things. He liked when Sylvain stared up at him with big wondrous eyes. Syl was super curious and asked so many questions of Miklan, just like Mik used to do to their father. He wondered if Sylvain thought Miklan knew everything, just like Miklan thought Father knew everything. That was a cool thought.

To make things even better, Sylvain was kinda fun. He followed Miklan around and did what Miklan asked him to and never complained about getting dirty or having to be quiet while they snuck around like some of the other kids did. In fact, Sylvain seemed to like just about anything as long as he got to hang around Miklan. Mother and Nieve had been right. It was fun to have someone to play with all the time.

Miklan and Sylvain’s favorite thing to do was play spy. They’d tiptoe around the manor and listen to gain information. Father didn’t like it when they played the game with him, so they played with manor staff and Mother instead. They usually didn’t play for long because most older people talked about boring stuff like Lady Fraldarius having a baby, King Lambert enacting some new law, or Galatea soil not producing any crops. But every now and then, they’d hear something really good like the cook was baking cookies for dessert or a wild beast was on the loose in the woods.

Sylvain tugged hard on Miklan’s arm. “We gotta investi-bate!” Sylvain was only four, so he didn’t say things so good sometimes. He had the right sentiment though.

“Of course we do! We gotta protect Gautier from the beasts! Come on, Syl! We gotta grab our weapons and armor!”

Both boys took off running towards the armory. Even though they were small, they got to keep their weapons with the big knights. It made them feel just as important.

Miklan helped tuck a blanket into the back of Sylvain’s jacket so it fluttered like a cape. Sylvain wasn’t big enough to have armor yet so blanket padding would have to do it. Armor really just absorbed the hits anyway. Blankets would probably do the same thing.

Miklan put his armor on and grabbed his axe and a lance. Father taught him that it was important to have a backup weapon in case your first one broke. He handed Sylvain two small lances as well, warning him to be careful because it was sharp. They couldn’t fight beasts without real weapons.

Sylvain was good at memorizing routes, so Miklan let him lead the way west while Mik strategized their plan. The beast was probably pretty big so they had to account for that because they were small, especially Sylvain. Maybe Sylvain could provide long-distant support like an archer. Miklan wore heavy armor to be able to take hits up front. He could distract the beast while Sylvain snuck up on it! Sylvain was little and quiet. It would work perfectly!

They walked for a long time through the snow, Miklan sharing his master plan with Sylvain. Both boys agreed it would work wonderfully, and Sylvain was excited to get to help even though he was small.

After wading through heavier and deeper snow, Sylvain stopped, eyes bright while he tapped Miklan’s arm. “Look!” He pointed to their left. Miklan grinned.

It was the beast.

The animal was big and tall, meaty and mighty. Light brown fur coated its back and legs, though it had a little scruff of white on its neck. Sharp pointy horns sat upon its head. They’d have to watch out for those when attacking.

It didn’t notice them yet, so Miklan took this opportunity to rediscuss the plan. As soon as he stepped closer to kneel by Sylvain, the beast’s head snapped up. They’d have to be extra quiet if they wanted to catch this.

Miklan placed his finger to his lips. He pulled out his lance and showed Sylvain how to position it to throw. They’d never be able to sneak up on it with the beast being this jumpy, which meant they’d both have to go for a long range attack. Miklan held up his left hand to count them off. One…two…three!

They both threw their lances as hard as they could. And they stuck! Both lances got the beast in the back leg; Miklan’s in the upper, Sylvain’s in the lower. The beast took off running, hobbling a bit with its injury.

“CHARGE!” Sylvain shouted, pointing after the beast. His little legs took off as fast as he could go, which wasn’t that quick. Miklan hoisted Syl up over his shoulder so they could go fast. He didn’t want to miss the monster!

With the beast’s slowness and the little trickle of blood to help them, the boys tracked the monster to its next stopping point. It was harder to keep quiet with his heavy breathing, but Miklan silently took Sylvain’s final lance to make one last attack. He knew that hearts were closer to the front of most beasts, so that’s exactly where he aimed.

Back on the ground, Sylvain’s little hands were gripped into tight fists, teeth clenched in anticipation of the strike. Miklan slowly brought the lance forward over his shoulder, practicing the throw before lunging it forward. Direct hit!

The mighty beast fell hard and Sylvain screamed a great cheer! They had done it!

Sylvain jumped up and down following behind Miklan to check out their triumphant victory. Miklan took out the lances and cleaned them against the wet snow while Sylvain admired the pointy horns of the animal.

“We did good.” He announced with an emphasizing nod. Miklan agreed.

Together, one boy on each set of horns, they pulled the mighty beast back to the manor. It was getting dark out, though thanks to Sylvain’s memory and Miklan’s directional skills, they were still able to find the right path home back home. As they got closer and closer, they could hear shouting but couldn’t make out what was being said.

“Another beastie!” Sylvain determined, dropping his half of the animal to run forward. His little blanket flapped behind him as he went, partially covered in red blood.

As he got closer, he realized that people weren’t shouting over a beast. They were shouting for him and Miklan. He listened closer and thought he could hear Mother and Father among the voices.

“Momma!” He shouted, running ahead again. The thought of his mother and father being attacked pushed energy through him.

Phelan heard him coming, she always did, and he collapsed into her safe arms.

“Oh Goddess.” The woman inspected him, eyes wide. “Matthias! Matthias, bring a healer!”

Sylvain didn’t understand the urgency. He was fine. A little tired and heavily breathing from the running, but fine.

His father ran up to them, crouching down so he could inspect Sylvain for himself. He grabbed Syl from his mother’s grip and started taking his coat off. “Where are you hurt, Sylvain? Where’s Miklan?”

Phelan looked past their younger son then, trying to spot Miklan from where Sylvain had come from.

“M’not hurt.” Sylvain told them. “Miklan has the beast!”

Both parents stopped then, staring at Sylvain with frowns and worried expressions.

“The beast?” Matthias asked.

“It has horns!” Sylvain exclaimed excitedly. “But we got it. Miklan ran fast!”

The adults shared a confused look between them. Sylvain wasn’t sure why. Him and Miklan saw a beast and saved the town! What was hard about that?

“Where is Miklan?” Matthias asked again. He did this often when he couldn’t understand what Sylvain was saying. Miklan was better at explaining things because he knew more stuff.

“Back there with the beast.” Sylvain pointed in the direction he’d come from. His father told his mother to take Sylvain inside before running off in the direction Sylvain pointed in.

Phelan scooped up the little boy and started to bring him towards the manor. They had just met up with the healer when his father started shouting for his mother again. She shared a look Sylvain couldn’t read with the healer and turned back.

Breaking the clearing was his father and brother, Matthias holding the beast up with one hand by the horns. Sylvain marveled at his father’s strength. The beast had been heavy for Sylvain, even with Miklan’s help.

Phelan looked from Matthias to Sylvain, lips pressed together in a thin line. She looked like she wanted to say something, but wasn’t sure what. It took her until Matthias and Miklan were only a few feet away but she finally asked, “What the hell is going on?”

Matthias sighed, looking from the animal back to her again. “Apparently I need to take my sons hunting more often.”

[real-fire-emblem-takes]

do you want to hear my three houses college major takes of course you do let’s do this king

Edelgard is a political science major. I’m doing these based on more of a modern au fyi but I think polisci fits the bill with her no matter what. I’ve seen arguments for criminal justice but I tend to lean towards polisci thinking about career paths

Hubert is in biomedical engineering. I was going to say bio at first but with how much he worked with agarthan technology I thought putting him in some kind of engineering program would be interesting

Ferdinand is a criminology major trying to get into law school. Three hopes confirms he went to the officers academy to study and build a case against his father

Dorothea is in mass communications. She’d minor in music but I don’t think she’d spend all that money for a degree in it. Communications I thought would work because it’s like media in relation to society. I could see her as a film major too but that’s a bit of a stretch

Bernadetta is a creative writing major I don’t think I need to argue that one

Petra is a geography major. I was going to say international relations but in this sort of non noble modern au I think geography fits her personal interests. I know she hates math but geography lets her study so much stuff at the same time and it’s very Petra to me

Linhardt is a biochem major again I don’t think I need to argue that one

Caspar I honestly can’t imagine doing a four year program and I could not find anything that actually fit him. I could see him doing a two year certificate program or some kind of trade school in something like welding

Dimitri depends on how much we remove from the scenario. Kill his family and you have pissed off criminal justice major Dimitri. Don’t kill his family and you have forestry major Dimitri (based on that one convo he has with Dedue in hopes I just really love this concept)

Dedue is a horticulture major. I don’t know if this is exactly what he would choose to do, but it’s what I think he’d be happiest doing it’s just very lovely for him. I could also see him as a nutrition major

Felix is a kinesiology major. I don’t think he’d pick a major instantly, but I think he’d really click with kinesiology once that reason budding talent kicks in

Sylvain is a film studies major and I will die on that hill. It’s a communications adjacent major, which is what he’s consistently good at and he loves art and I think a lower level of urgency would let him get into it a little more. I could also see him in journalism

Ingrid I actually don’t know. She and Ashe both really leaned into the knight thing (Ashe at least had a very easy alternative for me to go with). I can see her as some kind of engineering major (I just don’t know what field) because it’s a very respectable career path and because Ingrid just has major woman in stem vibes

Annette is an education/mathematics double major ENOUGH SAID.

Mercedes I initially wanted to say nursing, but I think social work or child development fit her a lot better based on her ambitions. I’m leaning towards child development

Ashe is a classics major. If you’re going to look at me and tell me this guy would not lose his mind if you let him study ancient literature and civilization you are WRONG.

Claude I could see double majoring in anthropology and polisci. I think he’d throw in some sort of chemistry minor just for fun

HILDA IS A FUCKING MARKETING MAJOR. Fashion marketing of the school offers it but oh my god this woman screams marketing major I mean that as lovingly as I can. I know some schools have specific jewelry/metalsmithing programs but it’s not common enough for me to jump at it

On that same line of loving slander Lorenz is more than just a business major. He’s an entrepreneurship major. I honestly think he’d be really good at it though

Marianne is in pre-vet but we already knew that. She’s canonically helped a horse through labor

Lysithea is definitely a stem major but I have no idea which one. I could see her doing something insane like astrophysics. Actually yea Lysithea would fucking love physics. Or neuroscience

Ignatz definitely started off as a business major, crashed out, switched to art history so he could still feel “sophisticated” before finally committing to art

Raphael is a hospitality major and I need you to hear me out on this okay PLEASE. Most of what he’s interested in requires a large amount of math which this man does not care for at all and would die doing. His family runs an inn during three hopes, so hospitality is a very reasonable degree for him. He’d only go to college to help his family more anyway let’s be real

Leonie I think would like geology. I was between that and forestry because I think Leonie would be really concerned with environmental waste in a modern au. I ultimately chose geology because I think she’d eventually get bored out of her mind in forestry

Yuri is a sociology major. I was tempted to also throw polisci at him, but sociology I thought focused more on the things that he really cares about plus I think he’d die in a political science classroom

Constance is a biology major. I was going to say chemistry at first but then I thought about bioluminescence and thought yea. She’d like that. She’d like that a lot. I don’t actually know much about the specifics of stem majors so please correct me if I’m botching course material

Hapi I think would be a botony major. I just think she’d really thrive on figuring out all the different ways you can fuck around with a plant. Hapi I love you but I genuinely don’t know what the fuck she’d do if she went to college. I don’t think she would even want to go to college or she’d go in like her thirties

Balthus. I’m actually gonna need help with that one.

Anyways have fun bye

.

[rinadragomir]

First thoughts after quick reading, cause I'm absolutely rereading it like 10 times. 7/10

Good sides:

✅The plot🤌🤌🤌it's actually so entertaining, like seriously, it's worth your time!!!

✅Mathew's dreams, rip my heart, I don't need it anyway.

✅Writing in general

✅Humor

✅Dramatic moments between Matthew and Sylvain, it was tense and yummy and kept me focused!

✅Mathew's grief progression and the end of it was very beautifully done, I feel peace🌸

Bad sides:

✅Parallels are too obvious. Cassie needed to make Sylvain sth like a 'soulmate' for Matthew so she needed to add half of Mathew+James background but reversed to his backstory asap. This is why it feels a bit unnatural, as if she needed to convince me that he's "the one" as soon as possible.

✅Obviously it's too short so it doesn't feel like it's an endgame, more like one of those times when Magnus had other love interests in Bane's Chronicles during his travels. Which reminds me: Cassie wanted to make a series of short stories about Mathew's travels. And it'd be way better cause this novel feels more like a little part of sth bigger, but we won't have anything else. We need to 'use imagination'

✅The same issue. Because it's just one story she needed to add time skip and everything feels rushed as if he found a new love interest a week after Chain of Thrones even though it was actually like a whole year? Even more at this point. So you always need to keep in it mind.

[witchlingcirce]

My overall thoughts of a sea of change *SPOILERS AHEAD*

I think i kind of have a unanimous opinion as everyone else when it comes to this novella but overall I thoroughly enjoyed it and thought it was really good.

As a character arc for Matthew, it WAS SO GOOD! I think Cassie handled Matthew very well. (she doesn’t play about any of her Fairchild characters 🙏🏻) I think Matthew’s recovery and grief were both handled in interesting ways. I actually really like how she did the progression of the dreams. From going from nightmare ish to in general just being. I like that they didn’t go away, I think it’s a good representation of how grief progresses but doesn’t inherently go away (if that makes any sense).

Now Matthew and Sylvain, I thought they were actually really cute. Sylvain as a character actually really surprised me! For a character introduced in a 70 page, Cassie put the WORK in him. the story about him his losing his Parabatai was really touching to me. Also can we talk the parallels between Sylvain and Lucas with James and Matthew? When he was talking about how he didn’t like Lucas at first and thought him rude/obnoxious (I forgot what he said exactly) it reminded me of Matthew and James in there short story, how James wasn’t to fond of Matthew at first.

Him and Matthew’s relationship was also very sweet! Him calling Matthew Mathieu was also cute 😭. I think they met each other at the time where they both needed each other and I think that’s really nice. I’m kind of not as passionate about them as a lot of other people are but if they got another story again in the future I’d read.

My only critique isn’t really a critique and more of… a preference but I think this story could have been longer. I think I should preface this by saying that this story was made and works very well as a novella and that Cassie did confirm the number of pages ages ago (I actually forgot the number she said and thought it was gonna be shorter). BUT I just think this storyline would have worked really well as a longer story!! Especially when you have a story where you introducing a characters main love interest, yk? Like overall I think there was more to this story that could have told. And I’m not trying to say it has to be novel length, but think of the short stories in TFTSA or GOTSM- that length! But I also think some time in the future Cassie is gonna do a TLH anthology, sooo hopefully see them again in the future. And again, the story works well as a novella either way lol.

Overall a really cute and well written novella!!! I really hope we see a Sylvain flower card sometime in the future? I’m thinking that we might 🤞

[darcyolsson]

assorted thoughts on a sea change:

the long ass epigraphs (plural) and the endless shakespeare quotes.... one thing about cc she's making sure we're well-educated on the classics!!! even when she's literally just writing yaoi she's still putting some literary education in the middle of it like she's feeling a dog a pill by wrapping it in meat. never change miss clare

speaking of dogs, shoutout to mr oscar wilde for actually being a main character in this

will & jem parabatai bond mentioned 1000 killed 10000000 injured

sylvain having a faded parabatai mark in the exact same spot as will does, presumably bc sylvain also does not think he will ever get married, albeit for completely different reasons 10000000 more killed 1000000000000000 more injured, one thing about will he haunts every corner of tsc like it's his job!!!!!!!!

speaking of herondales, matthew falling in love with a guy who looks exactly like james is crazy work. matthew constantly explicitly saying that he reminds him of james is crazier work. sylvain having a nickname for matthew in his native language just like james does is the craziest work, i need to sit down

also him being a verlac is a great detail. Designated Gay Family 💛

i'm kind of obsessed with sylvain casually mentioning he likes men to this guy he has a crush on and matthew not replying with "me too" or something but instead with "i was a teenage alcoholic". never change king

i did think the queen of the night was going to be camille but then it wasnt booooo.... i miss you camille. come back

can't believe there was a vampire asking matthew if he wants to be one of them and matthew rejecting it... she's mocking us for the downworlder matthew theories 😭

and finally, i'm glad we got a story where the weight of kit's death was so well-explored, this healed something in me <3

[randomnameless]

Why do the FEH devs insist on ignoring Nabatean lore so much?

I recently had a surprisingly cordial discussion on redshit with someone about the "nabateans = colonisers" take, and one of the main points raised was that the game was purposedly foggy around Nabateans/Sothis/their story because it would obviously favor a certain narrative (and thus make another narrative look, uh, not that marketable anymore).

To be honest, we still ended up with a product that had a lead go "this race and its blood* is the reason why the world sucks" and yet that lead is still marketable enough to have raunchy cipher cards and 5 FEH alts, so I actually wonder if, while pissing on that lore had that purpose, it was ultimately pointless since Supreme Leader can still sell goodies despite her incarnation in FE16.

And not only Supreme Leader - but the entirety of WC where we basically have 70% of the cast crying/complaining about their "mixed blood" or lack of and basically adding their 10 cents to the "this race and its blood is the reason why the world sucks".

I mean, can you imagine Sylvain selling any goodies and alts if Flayn replied to his "wah wah people only are kind to me and want to fuck me because I have Nabatean blood :(" by some uncharacteristic "good for you, I have to hide my ears, had to dye my hair, have to lie about my family because if the truth is found out about my identity, I will be hunted and vivisected like an animal and harvested for parts by people who call my kin abominations - just like what happens in the game where the same people who call my kin "abominations" ally with a classmate who calls me a creature and pretends I am incapable of human feelings based on my race".

FE Fodlan's main selling point is its cast of students, for various reasons, but even if I tried to kid myself, Nopes and FEH made it clears : students are the main selling point.

If you spare more time and attention to the Nabatean plot/lore, the students either grow from "likeable" to "despicable" or worse, you won't gaf about them because yeah sure, Hilda might be upset because people expect things from her due to her crust, but it would feel like a "peanut" compared to Seteth's irrational (granted, it's not so irrational since GW exists) fear that Flayn's newest friends would dissect her if they learnt she was a Nabatean, and being conflicted by finally letting her have human friends and form bonds she crave, or protect her due to the trauma from the genocide of their species.

Don't get me wrong, I love peanuts, I mean, not everyone can have a tragik of loaded backstory!

And yet, given how this verse's DNA is "can you fight against the red emperor who uwus about you", they had to add copious amounts of Earl Grey to their games so there's no clear-cut factions :

The "Your alien blood and its influence on the world corrupted it, so I want to reform it under my command" vs "I don't want to die and you oppose me due to my race and side with the people who genocided my kin"

is turned to :

"Your alien blood Crests and its your church's influence on the world corrupted it, so I want to reform it under my command"

"I don't want to die and you oppose me due to my race and side with the people who genocided my kin"

Sprinkle with the cast's hammering here and there that the "reforms" might be needed - but never develop on what they are - and add a few baseless and groundless takes as a toping (basically everything Claude says about tolerance and the general "isolationism/foreign policy" stuff) and you get FE Fodlan where the Red Emperor's war isn't seen as the catastrophe it is in the other entries from the series!

Now, for FEH...

FWIW, the F!F!Billy's trailer had them try to explain that Sothis was a bit pissed about her slaughtered/massacred children when Nopes never gave any reason about why she was pissed - maybe on Billy's behalf bcs Jerry's dead, but come on, she would indeed deserve the medal of the worst parent in the franchise if that was the case, since Billy can murder her daughter without Sothis taking over ! - but given that they cannot write/go against the source game those characters are from.

They tried a bit, with B!Supreme Leader and Hegemongard's FB, but then it stopped (because she had no "new unit" released since then lol) and I can understand why : Hegemongard came out before the Supreme Emblem, and Hegemongard hates dragons who are seen/perceived as gods by some of their human followers. Come FE17, and now Supreme Emblem accepts Alear because they are "one of the good ones". We can come up with HCs and details and talk about what are emblems or if Hegemongard's views were only hers at the end of AM all day long... But imo, Doylist wise, it still feels it's a retcon because the devs from the main games tried to scrap and remove the most "controversial" traits she had.

For the other characters... Well, you see what Marianne is in FEH (but even in her base games), she's one of the few characters who reacts - in a way - to the partial history about relics and demonic beasts and all... only to give sad uwus to Maurice.

FE16 (and Nopes) refused to have any "student" character react to the Nabatean lore/reveal, about what are relics and all. There are no lines, Claude shared some knowledge in the explore section of VW's last chapter, but we don't have anyone muse or think or even talk about what are relics, what are crests, and what kind of fuckery their ancestors or the ancient humans of Fodlan did.

With that in mind, FEH can't do much : either they write Marianne in a retcon-y way like what happened for Hegemongard (and they're not afraid to piss on characterisation, look at Lyon!), or they flanderise her "character" and develop her around 3 lines she had in the game in her paralogue, and continue to give sad uwus about Momo when he was at best a guy who slaughtered and murdered so much that he abused the Nabatean turned into a relic to the point where he turned in a demonic beast even if he had a matching crest, or at worst, had been part of Nemesis's piñata party in Zanado and was something of a genocider.

Tldr :

Why FE Fodlan never gaf about Nabateans : earl grey + the marketable cast has to stay marketable and you can't sell peanuts at the same price you'd sell swordfish

Why FEH dgaf about Nabatean lore : they can't afford to retcon characters + they have to sell peanut alts with the same seasoning they had in their base game.

For what it's worth though, I think FEH is more daring than the base game(s) given how they gave more lines and screentime to Rhea - through her different alts - than GW. And they even designed her Halloween!alt's lines to piss on some of Claude's assertions, while the various FB involving members of the church also - indirectly - reply to some accusations thrown their way in FE16 when, FE16, never gave them an opportunity or lines to explain that those takes were full of dung.

*"but random, maybe she doesn't know that the crests she often decries is "dragon blood"!"

It's highly debatable, especially given what she and Hubert throw to Billy in CF - but even if she doesn't, Doylist wise we still have a character who, knowingly or not, says "this race and its blood* is the reason why the world sucks" and who is never called out on her prejudice. That's more of an issue regarding the general writing though, she has to be a red emperor and took pages from Ashnard's book, and yet, the player must still feel bad and want to romance her, so her mindest/goal cannot be looked at too closely, because, I guess, even the devs thought it would be difficult to romance her (thus sell goodies!) if more light was shed on the "blood from this race corrupts our people" schtick -> which in turn would also make characters whose backstory and gimmick rely on "crying about crests" be way less likeable, thus marketable and able to sell goodies.

[slankyyy-revs-the-world]

ngl its kind of a relief to be a sylvix monoshipper because if i had to not only bear the respective curses of miklan being Blorbo™, being a toxic matthias raoul gautier stan and enjoying a sylvain pairing that has 30 fics on ao3 - i honest to god would've exploded

[faerghusfucker]

New Heacanon Ask Game - 24, 33, and 34 for Sylvain

NEW ASK GAME NEW ASK GAME

24- best memory

now i’m gonna be evil for a second. i’m gonna be really really fucked up and bad and i’m gonna say that pre-academy, the last time sylvain was truly happy was while dimitri and glenn and all of them were in duscur. before the tragedy, like just while they were traveling. i think because glenn was probably like the big brother figure for all three of the younger kiddos, sylvain might’ve felt left out when they would all hang out together, and he was usually the second option for his younger friends because glenn was a knight and older and cooler. while glenn was gone, felix and ingrid probably sought him out more than ever, and so just for a little bit he felt like the coolest guy ever before they got fed up with his Antics.

33- redeeming qualities

HE HAS SO MANY REDEEMING QUALITIES I LOVE SYLVAIN. firstly he’s INSANELY smart when it comes to politics and strategy and just general interpersonal stuff. there’s obviously him knowing all the answers to annette’s homework, and him predicting the truth of the tragedy of duscur, but also (and if you know me you know what i’m about to say next) the fact that in his solo ending he ends crests WITH ORATION ALONE. he didn’t need war or conquest to do that!!!! sylvain jose gautier got on his soapbox and YAPPED and that’s all it took to get rid of crests. he’s also an art lover and this literally doesn’t come up anywhere except in three hopes in his supports with ignatz. it’s such a fun bit of variation when everyone else in his house is very focused on things like weapons and training and knighthood when like. bro just wants to go to the opera and look at art lol.

34- feelings about themself

shocker shocker big surprise but i don’t think sylvain likes himself very much!! growing up being bullied, doted on, put on a pedestal, and devalued simultaneously for something that he can’t control is a good way to make sure he can never have a healthy relationship ever again. he also has a very self-sacrificial attitude and throws himself into danger for his friends a lot, which is a very Faerghus thing to do and also just points to this idea that he believes his value comes from what he can do for/ give to people.

[genshingorlsrevengeance]

Edelgard, Dimitri, and Mercedes with a s/o who is always tried thought the day, either half asleep or taking a nap somewhere.

Doesn't help that when it's 3am s/o is doing literally anything but sleeping.

(FE3H) Edelgard, Dimitri, and Mercedes with a perpetually tired S/O

just like me fr

Oh lovely, now there was another person who is eternally sleepy in the Black Eagles.

But, at least this time they weren't skipping out on lectures.

Edelgard at first tries not to be overbearing and just gently nudge them in the right direction of trying to get more sleep in the night.

Of course, that does not last very long.

(Edelgard) "I somehow knew you would be in the library, S/O."

(S/O) yawn "Edelgard? Oh, hey. Has the lecture already started?"

Edelgard sighs as her expression softens a little, gently putting a hand on their shoulder.

(Edelgard) "It's nearly time for bed. If you are going to rest, you can at the very least do so in your own room."

She doesn't want to sound like a nag, but she can't help but fret over S/O, at least in private.

Sometimes, she knocks on their door when she suspects they're still not asleep on the nights she can't either.

Those sleepless nights usually result in the two having a heart to heart, and being extremely tired come morning.

But Edelgard would not trade those moments with them for anything in the world.

Dimitri can't help but chuckle at seeing S/O yawn in the morning. The sight was honestly quite cute to him.

If not a little worrying. This was the fourth day in a row they looked ready to drop dead.

(Dimitri) "If I didn't know better, I'd think you were a ghost with how ghastly you look."

(S/O) "Ugh, I feel like one..."

(Dimitri) "Then perhaps you'd like something to wake you up? I could ask Mercedes to bake you something, or have Sylvain annoy you to awakening."

(S/O) "Goddess, please don't. It is way too early to be dealing with him...I might take you up on asking Mercedes, though."

He usually brings coffee or some kind of tea to help keep S/O up, or something to let them sleep late at night.

Dimitri trusts them enough to be responsible enough to know when it was time to sleep or not, but he has on occasion found them still awake at midnight.

(Dimitri) "S/O? What is that racket!?"

(S/O) "I needed to clean my room up, it's a little too messy in here."

(Dimitri) "In the dead of night?"

(S/O) "...It's not that late is it?"

(Dimitri) "Late enough that someone else other than me might come and make a noise complaint..."

(S/O) "Well, while you're here, can you lift my bed real quick? I need to grab something, and then I promise to sleep."

S/O was still full of energy, that was either a lie, or they'd sleep during lecture after trying and failing.

(Dimitri) sigh "Alright, please move aside."

Mercedes is probably the best solution for S/O's sleepy tendencies.

That, or she might accidentally make it worse.

Due to her usually calming demanour, S/O feels ten times as sleepy whenever they're together.

Mercedes doesn't particularly mind, since Annette feels the same way too.

In the morning, Mercedes has some sweets that she baked for them to help wake them up.

And if they needed to sleep? She'd happily let them rest their head on her lap.

(Mercedes) "Oh, I know! What if I tell you some of the ghost stories I know to keep you up?"

(S/O) "I-I think I'll pass on that one. The last story you told me, I couldn't keep my eyes closed for hours..."

(Mercedes) "Hm...Well, I'm glad I do such a good job of telling them at least! But I wish that didn't come at a cost of your sleep schedule."

(S/O) "I mean, it wasn't exactly great to begin with."

(Mercedes) "And it's too late to bake any sweets...Oh, I could make you something spicy!"

(S/O) "...Y-You mean you're going to cook?"

(Mercedes) "I'm still trying to learn from Ashe, but I think I could make something great for the both of us!"

Suddenly, S/O became far more alert.

(S/O) "I-I think I'm full for right now, Mercedes! And I'm feeling really awake talking to you too!"

Mercedes looked slightly disappointed before S/O sighed internally.

(S/O) The things I do for love... "...But I wouldn't mind trying at least little!"

Her expression brightened at their response.

(Mercedes) "Really? Okay, let's head to the mess hall!"

(S/O) Goddess be with me...

[edwin-paynes-bowtie]

A Sea Change: My Thoughts After 2 Readthroughs

I'm not really active in the TSC fandom anymore (for reasons completely unrelated to the books, which are my life and still constitute a great deal of my brain space.)

However, Matthew is a character who's uniquely important to me.

I felt a sense of Understanding when I first saw his portrait as early as 2014, and when Nothing But Shadows came out in 2015, I had an epiphany: this kid is my mirror image. Through the years, Matthew and I have lived together. His mental health mirrored mine for the longest time; we ended unhealthy patterns and started to travel at the same time; as of A Sea Change, we've both found love in its best form. We're both blonde bisexuals with unhinged, impulsive tendencies. We have a similar sense of humor and say all the same things. (This actually happened in ChoT; the first time I was reading it, I said 'shouldn't accept that invitation' when Tatiana asked the Institute residents to come out meet their fate. A couple pages later, Matthew said the same thing.) We share a love of literature and plays, of jokes and wordplay.

I love him desperately. I have for over a decade.

So, I have to talk about A Sea Change.

I trusted Cassie to deliver a great story for Matthew. In my opinion, she handled his arc flawlessly from beginning to end. She clearly loves him as much as I do, and it's lovely that he's one of her clear favourites. There is genuinely literally nothing I would change in Matthew's storylines within any of his short stories or TLH. I am happy that my high expectations for A Sea Change were met and that she handled his arc perfectly. My only complaint is that I wanted MORE WHERE THIS CAME FROM!

Anyway:

I don't care what others are calling them, I'm calling Matthew/Sylvain 'Fairlac.' I just am.

I will definitely be writing fics for Matthew/Sylvain in the future, so keep an eye out for them. I don't know when this will happen because I have like a million Dead Boy Detectives fics I'm working on and/or want to write imminently, but they will happen. The first Fairlac fic will probably be a short extension of a scene from ASC so I can get a feel for Sylvain's character (costume room), and the second will probably be an extension of the story where they meet James and Cordelia. At that point I should have a better feel of Sylvain and be able to create and write other new stories about him and Matthew. <3

I loved how grief was handled in this story in a unique way. I liked how it was handled in TLH, too, but it's an interesting progression. We get to see how Matthew's grief looks while actively in battle and fighting for his life right after Kit dies. We get to see how it looks now in A Sea Change. And the new dream at the end was so hopeful.

NOW, THOUGHTS!

THERE ARE SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT. BE MINDFUL OF THE SPOILERS, WHICH ARE UNDER THE CUT.

I love Sylvain and Matthew's relationship. I expected it to be rushed solely because of the novella's length, but it had a depth that surprised me. They bonded over the theatrical performance and demonstrated shared interests over the costuming. Sylvain laughs at Matthew's jokes from the get-go. They're both vulnerable with each other about grief (for both Lucas and Christopher), and they were able to provide one another with peace. Of course, they had a lot of passion and physical chemistry, but I was very happy that that wasn't all they had.

Sylvain is really funny. "Bitten by a donkey in Mykanos" cracked me up. I think that's when I really started loving him.

(Also, I need to see this man meet Alastair Carstairs. It will be hilarious. They will be a comedy duo.)

Matthew thinking that butchering Shakespeare should violate the Accords.... so on-brand. New Classic Matthew line.

I also think it was really on-brand for Matthew to use some Fancy Cosmetic Powder to cover his Voyance rune while Sylvain used a bandage like a normal person

Sylvain being a Verlac is fun to me. Like, I want to see people play a little bit with this since Ash Morgenstern is descended from Sebastian Morgenstern. They're related to Matthew. And Sebastian sourced his name from... Sebastian Verlac. I don't know why I think that's funny.

If you don't think Matthew cared about Christopher dying even after this story.... I don't know what to tell you, sorry. You're stupid

I SO badly want to see (or, more likely, write) a scene where Oscar and Flambeau play. For science.

It was extremely funny that Matthew referred to him as "celibate" before ripping Sylvain's clothes off not 20 pages later. Again, on-brand. I love that Cassie let the Matthew of it all shine through.

Slight intermission from my unhinged Matthew thoughts because it's time for UNHINGED HERONDAISY THOUGHTS. We got some crumbs in this story, guys. Lowkey we ATE with James becoming fluent in Persian within one year for Cordelia??? He loves her so much it's insane. Was talking to @angeldaisies about this today and I have been ready to bite people like a feral animal once I realized how much work he must have put into it.

(I bet Thomas is fluent now too. Matthew and Sylvain are now the only members of the core TMT+Partners friend group not to know Persian. Will they all abuse this privilege? Vote now)

I also loved the allusions to Matthew's friendships with both James and Cordelia. Cordelia telling Matthew about jewelry names made me inordinately happy, and I loved the way Matthew thought about how how felt immortal when he was with James. GOD I need to see Sylvain meet Herondaisy. They're so important.

I love the story about Sylvain and Lucas, it completely pulled on the heartstrings in all the right ways. He was really layered??? For a 70something word story. Like, damn, Cassie ate here.

Obligatory Jem Carstairs mention was indeed present, but I found this one more funny than anything. Of course we're talking about Jem! This is Cassandra Clare! But it was relevant to the storyline and didn't pop out of nowhere, so it didn't bother me.

WE GOT SOME REALLY AMAZING WILL HERONDALE CRUMBS. Him touching his parabatai rune? The quotes he said to Matthew about grief? I LOVE YOU WILL

I like how the story wove the vampires not to be the bad guys. I also like how Matthew and Sylvain vowed not to cause harm to come to the vampires after hearing Melody's story. It really drives the point home that Sylvain shares a lot of Matthew's values even if he's less flashy about it.

Also, speaking of Melody! TWP CAMEO???? PLEASE?

I love when Sylvain calls Matthew beautiful, because that's what Matthew held onto Cordelia saying to him in TLH as a sort of talisman. Like, yes, get called beautiful!!!! But not by your parabatai's obvious soulmate!!!!

And, my last thought I want to put on this list: "I like my life." This made me cry last night when I read it for the first time, and I was very moved by it the second time around, too. I love him so much. He has come so far.

[yanderehsr]

What's up doc? 🥕. For this time may I reguest with something suprise? Basically, you can choose any four fem characters that would be the most unsettling, creepy, and controlling yandere for their yandere. Plus, which Ines would most likely break their darling?

Aight then, Hope you'll enjoy😁

Trigger Warning: Yandere, Obsessive behaviour, Possessive behaviour, Murder

Ruan Mei: She is increadibly controlling and she can be real creepy as well, before you get kidnapped by her she kinda just stares at you... all of the time, she doesn't even look away when you catch her in the act.

It is Ruan Mei's way to study you, what if you do something when she isn't looking, she could miss important details about you, detail she can use to control you better. I would rank her 3rd on this list most likely to break her darling, she actually will try to make sure you stay sane.

"I think you need to calm down, do so before I lose my patience as well, If you just do as I tell you we could skip all this"

Edelgard: She isn't the most controlling of yanderes but she's pretty high up there, but it would be rather unsettling to have her as your yandere, she tends to force herself into any conversation you have with others and isolates you from everyone else, she also tends to be rather touchy even if you aren't in a relationship, not like you can stop the future empress from doing what she wants.

Edelgard's controlling side is that she chooses who you can hang out with, she gets really mad if you ignore her commands, Hubert is fine but people like Hilda or Sylvain... yeah no, if they ever get near you their heads will be detached from their bodies, I will rank her as the 4th on how likely she is to break her darling, it's more likely for you to get stockholm syndrome with her than to break.

"It feels nice spending moments alone with you like this... I just have to ask, did I see you speak with Sylvain earlier, I hope not, that would be... tragic"

Junko Enoshima: Unsettling and Creepy to the max, she isn't very controlling tho if at all, she will openly talk with you about murder, torture and any subject you might find horrible, hell she might even kill someone in front of you to see your reaction, she loves seeing you squirm and look afraid. She makes sure you will never feel comfortable with her all so she can see your delicious despair.

Junko isn't afraid either of you telling others anout what she does, why would they believe you over her, it's almost laughable how easy it is to keep you around even with how abusive she is. Very much the most likely to break you, she might even kill you just so she herself can feel despair.

"Did you really try to rat me out, it's almost adorable, tho if you do that again I might just need to kill some of your friends, don't make me too mad darling"

Cocolia: Yup, controlling as all hell, you would also have this unsettling fear every time she looks at you, like you are a possession rather than a human, like you are hers. The sad part is that no one can deny it, you are hers and no one can help you.

Cocolia isn't afraid to get physical with you if you step out of line, she can't have you breaking her rules thats she sets for you, and in her opinion pain is the best way to learn, she doesn't really care if you break as well, if she can't get an obedient lover she would rather have a broken one. Second to most likely to break her darling due to all the physical abuse and uncare towards your feelings

"You are really testing my nerves here you know. It shouldn't be that hard to listen yet you always defy me, such stupidity needs to be punished"

[duchaisruin]

BREAKING MY SILENCE...

@cielenruine || @crevassier

Miklan shifted around on the barrel, trying to find a spot that could be tolerable to sit. At least enough to get through this. Running a hand through clumps of matted hair, he took a breath in. "Alright. Listen up," Fiddling with his legs, he kicked away some rotting apple peels (Seiros they really needed to clean the place), downing a breath of musty air "I'm Miklan Anschutz—a former member of House Gautier."

"With the newly appointed Emperor exposing the Archbishop and the Church for corruption and the Crest System, I'm going to tell you lot about the real House Gautier that Faerghus doesn't want people knowing about."

Ever since the Empire declared war on the Church, commoners and nobles alike were scrambling to figure out their loyalties. To nobody's shock, Mach flopped over and turned their backs on the Kingdom (that bunch were indecisive fence hoppers from the start). Miklan wasn't fond of Adrestia; but if the spoiled brat turned emperor is able see how Crestless, such as himself, were forced out of their noble houses and kicked to the streets because the Crest system. Hell, if she really was going to uproot the rotten Crest system…

… Well, he wanted to make his stance clear.

"First off, everything you heard about Faerghus about Crests is true. The Kingdom is obsessed with Crests, they don't give a rats ass about talent, or honour, or any of that garbage they love to preach. No, at the end of the day, it's always about those damn Crests."

"A close ally of House Gautier was the late King. The late King's elder brother, Regent Rufus, was overlooked in favour for the King. All because he didn't had a Crest. Regent Rufus is a talented man, I spoke to him personally—an expert in politics, understood what was best for our country, he was more than capable of being king."

"That didn't matter though, because his younger brother had a Crest. Regent Rufus was forced to govern Itha as grand duke, hidden away from Fhirdiad in favour of the late King." Furrowing his brow, he slammed a fist into his knee. Damn the Crested for leaving commoners like him to live in a broken shithole of a country. "King Lamber died in Duscur, leaving the Kingdom in ruin and forcing Regent Rufus to govern a broken country. His future was stolen from him—not just by his brother—but by the Crests. Regent Rufus' case is one of the many noble children of Faerghus who lack Crests."

"The Crested nobles of Faerghus flock together, they steal the futures of Crestless folks, chaining them away without anything to their name. The worst part? Those rotten bunch cover for each other."

"Margrave Gautier, my father…" Blowing out a sigh, Miklan made sure to blink twice as he lowered his shoulders. "When I was born and I didn't manifest the Crest of Gautier, his intention was to replace me as soon as possible. Margrave Gautier acts like he cares about talent and getting the job done, but that man's obsessed with Crests. Don't believe me? The late Margravine was expecting his second child before she died. That was his intention from the start."

His hands twisted the fabric of his pants as familiar rage burned deep through his veins. "When Sylvain, the current heir of Gautier, was born—everyone in house Gautier left me to fend for myself—I had to survive in that nightmare of a house treated less than dirt, while Sylvain was allowed to take everything from me. They didn't just allow him, but he was encouraged to take whatever he wanted because he was born with a Crest."

"I had all of the skills to become Margrave: I could lead our men well in battle, I understood the aims of our enemy. It didn't matter how skilled I was, the position of Margrave is not dictated by skill, but by Crest." Lowering his voice, the brigand dropped his head. "Eventually, I was disowned for being Crestless. I was forced out on the streets, forced to become a brigand and freeze during the winter. All because I didn't had the Crest of Gautier."

"Even though Gautier's stationed a hostile border, the crest bearing fool spends all of his skipping classes, shirking training, just to go chase skirts. Tell me, what kind of Margrave would turn a blind eye when his son is running around trying to bed everyones daughters, and toss em' out like rotting fruit? Margrave Gautier turned his head away when the degenerate was relentlessly pursuing Lord Gwendol's daughter."

Rubbing his eyes with a hand, Miklan huffed. "House Gautier will tell you that I tried murdering their heir, they'll lie and say I left him to freeze to death or stuffed him down a wall. But they're scared in their boots that a Crestless commoner is revealing the truth about their house. That's what Crested nobles do, they spread lies and slander about the Crestless who fight back against their bullshit."

"Emperor Edelgard, if you're watching this—do what you will with this information. I'm staying out of your war."

[zooophagous]

It was colder here than it ever was in Germany. At least as it ever was in the time Strauss had lived there, and he had a very, very lengthy memory. He had a very short memory when it came to modern amenities such as automobiles and their climate control systems, but nonetheless he was already very impatient with the few cold minutes it took for the heat to permeate the van and make it tolerable to be outside.

He huffed in his seat with his hands stuffed into his armpits, as if that would help- his own body nigh incapable of generating its own heat anymore. But reflexes do not die even when their host does. He swore that as he huffed, he saw his breath linger in the air as steam, as if the bitter chill of the air around him was even colder than the chill of the dead.

“Van Helsing. How many stops are on our list?”

“Just four. Those were the four people on the registry that haven’t checked in with their parole officers in a while. With any luck one of them is Sylvain’s blood bag.” Artemis mumbled in reply as she fought her seat belt with cold hands.

“And after that, we find a feed for me?”

“We’ll try to. Auntie is busy negotiating with a few clinics, but I can’t promise you anything Strauss. Blood is an expensive supply to get ahold of. I’m sorry.”

“Save your apologies. I only hope my mood remains agreeable until a solution is found.” He stared out the window with a sullen expression. His stomach was empty. Had been too, now, for some nights.

“Maybe if we find Sylvain’s blood bag we can convince them to donate to the cause as a token of appreciation for being freed from her.” Artemis rolled her eyes and set the van in motion slowly down the icy street in its back alley hiding place. “Not like they’d be a stranger to the notion.”

“Assuming we are correct and this mystery party even exists.” Strauss replied flatly. “I miss my mice. They were much more substantial than the ones in the safe house.”

“What mice? Strauss, have you been eating wild mice?”

“I am very curious what you think my alternative is. I am hungry, Van Helsing. Very, very hungry. If I did not sup on the mice I may be tempted to sup on you.”

Artemis sighed and rested her head on the steering wheel. “Why didn’t you say anything sooner?”

“That is really what you want to hear when your life is already crashing down around your ears, isn’t it? That your mate also wishes to maul you like a wild animal. No. My problems are my own. I did not need to further burden you by adding another to your pile.”

“Is it supposed to make me feel better to have my loved ones eating vermin?”

“Better the vermin than nothing at all. Better the vermin than you.”

Artemis paused and put the van back in park. “Is it?”

“Is what?”

“Is eating vermin better than eating from me? I mean, it’s hardly the first time I’ve bled for you.” She began to roll up her sleeve.

“You know very well that offering me your vein is a foolish, dangerous act.”

“Just because we don’t have sterile supplies doesn’t mean you have to latch directly on either. Just make a little cut and collect it in a cup or…”

“So now I am reduced to slicing you up, as if that is not harm?”

“It’s more harmful to me to see any more of my loved ones suffering.” She snapped. “I can’t fix auntie’s burnt leg. I can’t un-lose Troy. I can’t bring Gregor White back from the dead. But one thing I know I can do, Strauss. I can handle a damn vampire.”

She looked down at her arm with a silent, resolute resolve. “Just… a small cut right there by that big vein in the wrist. I can cover it with a bandage and a long sleeve. Auntie doesn’t have to know.”

Strauss looked wearily at her and down at her exposed hand and wrist. “Do not tempt me. Please. I am in no shape to resist.”

Even as he protested, he took her hand in his, eyeing the pale blue vein in her wrist with intensity. He rotated her hand in his till it faced upward in a supplicating gesture. With his free hand, he took the claw of his pointer finger and traced the line of her veins. Artemis braced herself and looked away. Gently, with all the care of a surgeon, Strauss drew his claw and gradually increased pressure until the sharp appendage split the skin.

Artemis let out a soft grunt of discomfort, but soon steadied herself by focusing on deep, metered breathing. The cut had been made, that was the hard part. Strauss pushed hard against her skin with his thumbs, bidding a bead of dark blood to rise to the surface and begin to run down her arm and into her palm, where it began to pool.

He took her hand to his lips and raked his cold tongue across it. It made her stomach twitch. She tried very hard not to gag. It was hardly the most intimate place that tongue had been. But this was different. Somehow more wrong, even if born out of necessity.

Strauss was shaking slightly as he took his feed. Mainly under the herculean effort not to use his teeth on her. He wanted to. Desperately. One had to focus though, on needs, and as in the past, focus on never taking more than those needs required. He had never demanded much from her, in feeds past. He would demand even less from her now.

He licked her hand clean, and then up her wrist to the point of entry, pressing his lips to it in a greedy kiss that sucked a few more precious drops from her. He paused to lick his lips, then stopped, stock still, staring at the wound he’d created.

“Don’t tell me you’re about to flip out and eat me.” Artemis chided sarcastically.

“Van Helsing. When you chased me, before, that time I had escaped into the wild and ran amok- how was it again that you came to find me?”

“It was Troy’s idea, actually. He knew you had a very particular safe food and that you’d be looking for it. Why?”

Strauss sat up in his seat and rolled his head back to stare at the van’s ceiling. He draped his claw over his face in exasperation. “God dammit. Van Helsing. I have been so incredibly stupid.”

“Can you be more specific?” She asked, shoving a napkin from the glove box against her cut to staunch the flow.

“Troy is a vegan. Troy does not cook. There are very few vegan restaurants in this city. If Troy lives, one of those restaurants has seen him.”

“Wait- you think he’s in town?”

“Why not? He has made it no secret that he harbors no love for the lycan lifestyle. I have no reason to believe he has changed his mind now. I remember he enjoys that curry from the Nepalese restaurant. It is nearby. We should try there first, yes?”

“Well, shit.” Artemis mumbled, apparently impressed. “You sound more sure about this than I do about any of our other leads. It’s not a bad place to look. Let’s go.”

“Yes. If this works he will no doubt be quite impressed. I got him back with his own trick.” Strauss sounded almost excited, the fresh feed had invigorated him. “I cannot wait to rub his nose in it.”

“Here’s hoping you get to.” The van was off once again, heading a different direction.

[couldawouldashoulda50]

Does loren go to any of the playoff games? (:

Oh, yes, she's absolutely there. It's a funny thing between them—that she often forgets the “who” that William is: the rather famous, long-tenured player on the Toronto Maple Leafs. And he, in turn, forgets the “what” that Loren is: a longtime fan of the team.

That duality enhances and alters how they move around each other, especially this time of year. He’s a touch more controlled—not in a cold way, but focused. Locked in. She gets it. She’s busy enough herself that he has the space if he needs more of it—but most of the time, she’s getting a sweet little text. Almost a sext, really. Just a casual “you coming back tonight?” with his usual heart-on-fire emoji that makes her smile in the middle of whatever she’s doing.

With this being her first playoff series as his significant other, the main topic (outside of either team and all the scenarios of possible outcomes) are the WAG jackets. She nearly collapsed with absolute giddiness when hers first arrived - and when she modeled it for herself, she swore the past year plus flashed before her eyes. She had to centre herself again - her cheeks burning with sheer awe of seeing herself in that jacket as she giggled and covered her face with her hands.

Jesus Christ, Loren....really....what the fuck she thought as she chuckled at herself.

When William asked to see it on her, she was legitimately beyond fucking nervous. She stepped out of the closet - just a pair of jeans, a light t-shirt and the jacket with his name on it.

With her neck all hot and blotchy from her nerves, William's smile bloomed across his face. He never even had to say how she looked in it - she felt it, the way he looked at her, brought her in close against him and kissed all the hot spots on her throat.

The jacket was a big deal to both of them. So much so that Loren asked if she could forego wearing it in public and keep it strictly for his eyes only.

William didn’t even hesitate. He just smiled and kissed her lips softly. He understood what she meant and he appreciated the spirit of what she was saying.

To her, some things weren’t meant to be seen by everyone.

Instead, she dabbed on his cologne right where the pendant he gave her rested—a small white gold 88 from when they clinched the Atlantic Division, with a floating sapphire in the top of each eight and a diamond at the bottom. She kissed it softly as he stepped out for warmups for Game One. It became her little ritual during the moments where she hoped he'd feel the energy and the vibes from the entire fanbase circling around him and the team.

The first game of the series, she sat in the upper reds with her parents. Her mom nearly pulled her arm off with the first goal. Loren thought for sure her mom was going to pass out with Mitch's breakaway goal. Her mom screamed until she was almost hoarse after JT's goal, assisted by William.

Then seconds after a face-off, Loren and her mother grasped onto each other as William quickly shot it on net and scored, making it 4-1.

Sylvain simply beamed. But when he saw William in the midst of a scrum, while watching his wife go feral and his daughter's expression a mix of lustful admiration tinged with worry, he felt a deep pride for William for sticking up for his teammate.

Game Two was just as exciting—maybe even more so, as her date was none other than Gary. She had secured the accessible ticket long ago and surprised him one evening when she stopped in on her way home from William’s. Her shifts had become more sporadic, and Gary had definitely felt the effects of the long, dark, snow-heavy winter - all without seeing his favourite worker as frequently.

Gary certainly would have been disappointed had the Leafs not won in OT, but he had loved every moment of the game, impressing Loren with a barrage of new chirps for Brady Tkachuk and his team.

It wasn't long after dropping Gary off safe and sound that Loren received a sweet little text from William asking if she could come back to his that night, despite the time, while promising to let her sleep in if she did.

She smiled - how could she not go back.

It's William fucking Nylander.

She could sleep when she's dead.