DEERLY BELOVED

❝ Yet we have the strength to scale the walls between us, to reach out our hands in friendship so we can open our true hearts to one another. That's how we win! ❞ affiliated claude von riegan from fire emblem: three houses

[aurulent]

CLAUDE VON RIEGAN ➴ FIRE EMBLEM: THREE HOUSES

                       ❝ I’m the grandson of the grandson of the...                           grandson of the ELITE RIEGAN! Now tell                           me who you are! ❞

heir to HOUSE RIEGAN of the Leicester Alliance. next in line to become duke after his uncle mysteriously passed away. aside from that, however, he’s the crown prince of ALMYRA. 

the child of an almyran man and a fodlan woman, claude has received some... trouble, from it. facing discrimination from both sides, claude does what he can to survive. which means being a schemer and becoming a master tactician. why not outsmart your enemies by being smarter than them.

despite the rough upbringing, claude is not one for unneeded bloodshed. he’d rather find a peaceful path to walk on, but that doesn’t mean he wants to leave the system as it is! 

aka rip to edelgard and dimitri but i’m different.

but like also he’ll use dirty tactics. potions that cause stomach aches? yeah, that’s definitely something he does.

an easygoing kind of guy.... but maybe you shouldn’t let your guard down around him. you know. maybe. you didn’t hear it from me though.

overall, he’s kind. despite everything he’s faced, he is kindhearted. he wants to make the world a better place, where background or beliefs don’t dictate what makes a person worthy. there shouldn’t be hate for who you are, and he wants to make his dream a reality.

‘haha what if rhea was dead. jk..... unless?’

anyway please care him i love him so much i’m literally crying over him rn

[unyieldingstar]

"So who was going to tell me they put a spoon and a fork together and gave it the name "Spork"?

[aurulent]

"Modern problems require modern solutions!"

"... Or something like that. Kind of amazing they decided to just do that, but I guess if you're in a rush, you might not have time to use a fork and a spoon."

[sanctummilitis]

If there was a silver lining to these seemingly-impromptu studies, it was the assurance that all would be restored to its proper state in a timely manner, even if the wait until such reset felt considerable.

"Indeed. if they were to recruit participants willingly, there is little doubt they would achieve a workable sample size. Thrill-seekers and those who lament the mundanity of the ordinary calm looking to spice things up would surely be willing candidates. And it would spare the rest of us the headache".

[aurulent]

That was probably the worst thing of it all. That Claude couldn't do anything about these things and had to wait until the experiment was done ( or whether the stars in charge of whatever experiments were going on got bored of tormenting their test subjects ). It bothered him, it made him itch a little.

"I agree. So many headaches would be solved if they were a little humanist about the whole thing! But I guess they just really like getting the most genuine of reactions." A sigh. "I mean, I'd be a little bit of a hypocrite because I like to spring surprises onto people." Master Tactician, and all. But something told him his little surprises would be seen as child's play to the stars.

[aurulent]

He's not really feeling in a festive mood himself after all that's happened, but...

"I think it's nice for people to be able to forget about their troubles for a little while." The ball certainly was a good way to ensure that. "Y'know, for a little bit anyway. I think we all deserve a break."

[sanctummilitis]

When her voice subtly split silence by inquiring if he be well, there had been some anticipation his stationary trance might be tethered to the ambience of... something amiss. A palm gestured the lack of necessity to apologise for a simple pause —rather his had been a wiser approach whilst reflecting than to stumble inattentively.

"Yes. There looms a sense of oddity, however, putting one's finger on what exactly the problem is seems to be a greater challenge than it should be. it would be safe to assume this is result of the Stars' running another test without announcement".

[aurulent]

"Ha, of course something like this would be their doing."

He can't say he's super surprised, the Stars always did something like this, but this time it feels like it's bugging him. Like something important is taken from him without a say from him. It irritates him so much.

"Hopefully things go back to normal soon... and quick! I'm not really feeling thiis new experiment they're putting out."

[aurulent]

"... Huh? Oh, sorry. I was a little lost in thought. I didn't mean to stand in your way."

"But, you know... Things have been pretty weird here, right? You've felt it too, haven't you?"

[aurulent]

eeeyyy event notes time. he's a list of thinks poor claude has forgor if u don't wanna read the drabble!

his classmates, super important to him and he can recall various little details, but their names, faces and everything else is long gone! he also doesn't really remember the other academy students and knows that he was one of three house leaders, but he can't remember the other two.

teach, literally everything about byleth is forgotten! aside from the fact he had a teacher that wasn't hanneman or manuela. imagine forgetting the one person that helped with ur character development

claude, as in his fodlan name! he can't seem to recall it and anyone who calls him that will be met with a curious look.

tl;dr he's kinda goin thru it but he's hiding it all with a smile

[aurulent]

There’s a gap in his memories.

Khalid likes to think he’s got a fairly good memory about things - he’s good at remembering little details about people ( something he used to use for his own advantage, now it’s a genuine remembrance, to show that he cares about the people in his life ). He can recall the faces of his parents, he can recall the faces he knows back home from Almyra, and he knows he traveled to Fodlan to achieve his budding dream, allowing his grandfather to name him as heir to the alliance and enrolling him into the Officers Academy.

... But who were his classmates?

He remembers the voice of a peppy but rather lazy girl who constantly tried to get him to do her work for her, he remembers a condescending noble who snooped around after him. The traits of his classmates are vague, little things that most people would brush off but clearly they were something important to him, but he remembers that that at the very least.

Yet, what did they look like? Why did their voices sound so far away and so muffled in his head, as though they were getting farther and farther away from him? The pain in his heart is sharp, as though he's forgetting something important.

Something important.

If he had classmates, which he surely did - he knows he attended the Officer's Academy, then he must have had a teacher, right? There's Hanneman, but he knows that he was the professor for the Blue Lions. Maybe it's Manuela who taught them, but no... He recalls the the Black Eagles' house leader ( her name... what was her name again? what was the other leader's name again, as well? ) mentioning that Manuela had taught them.

Then who taught him and his classmates? He can't recall anything about them - their name, their face, anything aside from the fact that they taught him and his classmates. Were they that forgettable to him? The pain in his heart stings, as though he's forgotten something important.

Something important.

"■■■■■■, there you are! Hey, don't run from me! You promised you'd help me with this!"

"You're slacking off again, aren't you ■■■■■■? At least have some respect for your grandfather and the Alliance he's helped govern!"

"■■■■■■, you don't have to be strong around us anymore."

-- There's a name they're saying. Is it his? It's the name he and his mother chose so that he could travel to Fodlan without much trouble. Why can't he recall it? Why does it feel like he's forgetting something important?

Something important.

"... Huh, this is a little troublesome, isn't it?"

There's almost a bitter laugh to his words. The tiny wyvern on his shoulder lets out a concerned noise. Even if he doesn't show it, Setareh knows that her rider is feeling some distress.

The feeling of grasping onto something that's so close, yet so out of reach to him. It distresses him. It makes him feel like he's back at square one with everything that's happened to him.

Something important was so lost to him. Like the stars that hang in the sky, he can't reach them.

[aurulent]

“International Women’s Day, huh? Has anyone apologized to women yet? I could think of a few people who should.”

All of Fodlan, actually.

[aurulent]

fellstcr​:

⚔️ // “so  goes  the  legend.”  she  said  ,  and  propped  her  head  upon  the  palm  of  her  hand.  the  tea  on  the  table  smelled  of  rich  spices  ,  and  perhaps  childishly  ,  she  felt  ought  to  blame  it  for  the  prickle  that  crawled  through  her  fingertips.  she  STILL  wasn’t  entirely  certain  how  sothis  would  have  granted  anyone's  wishes.  (  certainly  ,  she  didn’t  know  how  she  might  go  about  that  herself.  )

           "i  cannot  say  i  understand  it  all  that  well  ,  even  now.  'wishes  of  love’    are  never  described  consistently.“  she  admitted  after  some  pause.  "besides  …  mostly  ,  i  remember  dancing.”

“Nah, I didn’t really get it either, Teach.”

Well... Not entirely true. Claude got it, he understood it pretty well, but in reality the whole thing really wasn’t for him. His head was sort of in a different set of clouds, his own schemes and ideals keeping him away from really enjoying a normal school life. He supposes Edelgard would have thought the same thing.

“Still, it was fun watching certain couples try and plan out when they would go to the Goddess’ Tower.” He wonders how many of those couples still styed together when the war broke out... Ah, but that’s a little depressing to think about, isn’t it? “But yeah, I mostly enjoyed the dancing. You were a much better dancer than I thought you would be! Barely any toe stepping.”

[aurulent]

"claude, a moment of your time. i have something for you." lyra takes out a small canvas, a portrait of a most beloved figure: setareh, basking beneath the sunlight. "forgive me, i failed to ask if fódlan or almyra has such an occasion— but in eorzea, valentione's is a holiday celebrating love and friendship." a small smile. "... so, i wish you— and setareh, of course— a happy valentione's."

Oh, the gift is a surprise!

For the three years he spent here, he's never really celebrated Valentine's Day - or back home, where the tradition to give gifts to a loved one was mostly celebrated in Fodlan under a different name. Well, Hilda's always gotten him something but only because she usually wanted to butter him up to get out of something. Never worked, by the way.

But as he looks at the painting of his wyvern, he can't help but grin ear to ear. Peering over his shoulder is said wyvern, and she chirps out in happiness. Needless to say, both of them are impressed.

"This is a surprise, but a very good one." Claude looks up at Lyra, the smile reaching his ears. "I'll have to hang this up in my room when I get the chance! Thank you, Lyra. And happy Valentione's Day to you, too!"

[sunsetquotes]

Sometimes you have to accept the fact that there are things that will never go back to how they used to be.

Unknown (via sunsetquotes)

[aurulent]

demoniomano​:

“I wish i have dust to buy and send chocolates to our people, except my killer Agarthan neighbor.”

“A little poison would probably be a good gift to her. But that’s just my opinion.”

Was that a joke? Who knows.

[fellstcr]

⚔️ //  “the  tales  and  practices  of  this  world’s  ….  heart’s  wake  reminds  me  of  a  legend  passed  around  garreg  mach  during  the  ethereal  moon.”

[aurulent]

“‘Should you and a loved one pray for the same thing on that very night, the goddess will grant them that very wish’. It was always kind of entertaining seeing everyone try and plan out when they were going to visit the Goddess Tower in order for their wishes of love to come true!”

He almost wants to ask who Teach ended up seeing at the Goddess Tower that night in her timeline, but he’s not that nosey... yet.

[aurulent]

“I feel like any time this holiday approaches, people get so worked up and worried about it. Why not just get your friends ‘friendship chocolates’ to show your appreciation to them?”

Maybe he’s missing something.

[elfcast]

@aurulent

♬ "Claude... and here I thought I would never see you again." Reunions could be bittersweet, but this was somewhere in between. According to what she recalled, they had managed to spare Claude, Hilda, and Lysithea in the end. That bloodshed would have been needless. She was just glad that Rhea hadn't gotten to them like they had Dimitri's faction.

"I suppose I don't sound too overjoyed, and I'm sorry. I've vaguely heard about the situation regarding everyone's memories... or I suppose the lives we led? I imagine what you remember of the war doesn't align with what I recall?"

[aurulent]

"Well, if it isn't Dorothea! I could say the same about you as well."

Only for Claude, the words were darker on his end. Dorothea had been a student that chose to fight - and die - for the Empire. Though, anyone could see that it wasn't the Empire that she was fighting for. Rather, it was the Emperor herself. Anyone could see how deeply the songstress had cared for Edelgard.

Claude could only hope that she didn't regret her choice, in her final moments. Of course, his true feeling are masked with a smile, empty if you really take a good look at him ( or if you're teach, who has now noticed every little thing about him ).

"You'd be right on that. In fact, judging from what I know, I'd say Teach taught the Black Eagles instead of the Golden Deer, am I right? Amazing how one mercenary who didn't even know what a 'Seiros' was could change the whole future just by choosing which class of misfits they want to deal with!"

[aurulent]

starcall​:

❝ a power? ❞ she blinks. it seemed there was more to claude than she had originally learned. it seems they have much more to discuss, now.

❝ the stars are often vague with their guidance, as i have found. ❞ an honest reflection, from the diviner. ❝ they are privy to a great many matters. try as we might to shelter our secrets in daylight, or tuck our thoughts at night … the stars always keep watch, and i imagine they know more than they let on. ❞  what they are willing to share, however, is another matter entirely.

❝ there are a number of ways to interpret their advice — ah, but you need not heed them, if there is any doubt on your mind. ❞ the look in her eyes is sincere. ❝ if it is of any consolation, i think it is admirable to be honest and outspoken. speaking with you has felt rather candid. ❞

     “Oh, right. It’s a little strange, but... My mother’s bloodline has something      called a Crest infused with our blood. They tend to have different side      effects with them. Mine is healing, though I can only heal myself and      not others. It also lets us use these powerful weapons. Anyone without      a Crest... Well, let’s just say if they try to use these relics, it ends pretty      badly for them.”

Crests had always been something strange to him, but Claude wasn’t going to deny a power that could help him achieve his goal. Of course, he wasn’t exactly a fan of how Fodlan viewed people without Crests, but if he went on about that, poor Lyra would be here for ages.

     “Vague is a funny way to describe it. I like to make my own path      and not truly heed the warnings of Gods or higher powers - because      there’s really no fun in that! But... I think I could probably heed a      warning or two from nature. Nature tends to know what’s going on      most of the time.”

At her words, the king of Almyra can’t help but smile a little.

     “I’m glad to hear that. I like chatting with you a lot too, Lyra. You’re      pretty bright yourself, almost like a star in the sky! Pretty fitting, if I      say so myself.”