#there are options!! ones that don't involve bringing in infantilization!! I promise!!

[butwhatifidothis]

As I read your analyses, the parts where Byleth is likened to a child always stand out to me. This seems like kind of an... ableist writing choice by Cap'n? Like the way he describes her sounds really off. Also it's creepy because By is the love interest (when Ingrid isn't around) and infantilizing your love interest is always a bad move.

Like, I think I get what he was going for? Cuz, like, sometimes a person's innocent mannerisms can be endearing and part of why a love interest could love them: think someone like Annette, for example. And you as the writer want to show off that this is part of this character's... well, character lol, when writing them.

Innocence - or, at least, actions and behaviors that can be likened to innocence - can be a tricky trait to write well without coming off as infantilizing, due to the very nature of the word and the connotations surrounding it. One way to get around this is to simply not call it innocence - describing the mannerisms in question like "bubbly," "cheerful," "energetic," "carefree," "free-thinking," or even "curious," "inquisitive," "honest," "mischievous;" words like that that can encompass the general feel of the character that can relate back to innocence (if you want to go in that direction; note how all of those words can also not being describing someone who's "innocent") without the baggage. Plus they're usually better anyway even without worrying about connotations and implied readings, since they more accurately describe just how the character is actually acting; "innocent" is fairly vague on its own, with that probably being part of why it's so readily associated with "being a child/childlike" as that's a more concrete idea for a reader to conceptualize.

Another way to not infantilize Ficleth - and hold on to your hats for this one - is to... not directly liken her to a child. Over and over. In multiple chapters. Like, all of this:

"I’ve never told anyone no before, not even Papa,” said [Fic]leth sheepishly. “Ever since Remire, it’s like I’m… waking up to the person I am. Rhea has been so kind to me, but when I said that, she became so angry. She screamed at me.” [Fic]leth’s voice was childlike and wounded.

The mercenary again tilted her head, as if straining to hear an unseen speaker. Out of [Fic]leth’s many quirks, this was the one that [Woobie]gard was most taken by. She looked like a child patiently listening to her mother for guidance.

[Fic]leth nodded with childlike simplicity. "We should all try to get along."

“A scar over my heart...” said [Fic]leth calmly. “Just like yours.” She gave [Woobiegard]gard a teasing smile. “Why do you think I wear that medallion over my chest?” She looked away, like a child telling a forbidden secret.

As she thought of [Fic]leth’s words to her students, the words of a lost child surrounded by violence, the Flame Emperor had found her answer.

“You don’t seem happy when you talk like that. You always seem like you’re… evaluating people.” [Ficleth's] words were said with a child-like simplicity — one that cut through the immense weight of [Woobie]gard’s rationalizations and schemes.

Byleth, clad in the snow-white outfit of the Enlightened One, began to rock back and forth like a child caught stealing teacakes from the Enbarr kitchens.

Just, uh. Get rid of it all lmao. Like, look at these slight changes:

Ficleth's voice was betrayed and wounded,

Ficleth again tilted her head, her eyes narrowed as though trying to focus. Out of Ficleth's many quirks, this was the one that Woobiegard was most taken by; it was as if the mercenary was straining to hear an unseen speaker,

Ficleth nodded with a welcome simplicity. "We should all try to get along,"

She looked away, as though reaffirming that the two of them were alone,

the words of a lone woman surrounded by violence,

Ficleth's words were said with a startling simplicity,

Ficleth ... began to bite at her nails.

(that last one's intonation is deliberately changed because of the surrounding context of that line; Woobiegard's looks at Ficleth rockin' back and forth out of what is clearly guilt-ridden nerves and Woobiegard's barely holding back laughter, which is uh. Fucked.)

You start to see that all of the comparisons to being a child is like... extremely unnecessary and outright off-putting. It's fuckin' weird that Woobiegard keeps thinking of this grown ass woman who's spent the overwhelming majority of her life literally killing people for money as a child. And like, don't get me wrong, fuckin' everybody - well, mostly the women, but rarely a man too - gets called a child at some point or another. But it's especially unsettling because, like. This is the romantic love interest. The one that Woobiegard has romantic feelings for. And she sees Ficleth as a child? ...Welp, guess that just means the feelings mutual (this is in Chapter 36):

Poor Ficleth, discovering that the person she killed was the uh. The. Uh. The tiny girl of her memories. C-Cool