#it's long

Before even diving into his family, let's just get the obvious out of the way: Aventurine is, at least supposedly, blessed by a goddess. The very origin of his good fortune--be it actual blessing or curse--comes from the literal "mother goddess" who watches over him. This is one of the only instances in Star Rail where a god character is specifically given a gender, and Gaiathra is not ever ambiguous. She is the classic female fertility goddess with all the trappings of other famous triple goddess figures of the real world. Aventurine's personal belief in the goddess may be shaky, but he nevertheless continues to treasure his people's faith. Thus, at the core, we can say Aventurine is a character who is guarded by the most quintessential mother figure possible.

Now, with the most obvious out of the way:

We know that Aventurine's father died before Aventurine was even born, and therefore he would not have any memories of his father, leaving him to be raised by his mother and sister.

Both women clearly made an enormous and lasting impression on Aventurine; they haunt every single one of his memories of Sigonia and are the key elements of the family Aventurine longs to return to. While he flirts with the concept of death as a way to see his family members again, it was also his mother and sister who instilled in him any sense of self-worth and meaning to his existence, the only things keeping him from giving up on living. His mother believed him to be blessed; his sister insisted to his face that not even the only remaining remnant of their mother had any value in comparison to his life.

It is for his sister that Aventurine first begins expressing a self-sacrificial nature, and from his sister that this self-sacrifice is reinforced when she uses herself as a shield to help him escape massacre at the hands of the Katicans.

It is also from his sister that Aventurine learns many of the deeply meaningful actions he holds onto to the present day, despite having been so far removed from his own culture.

Conversely, every one of Aventurine's early negative experiences on screen appear to have been driven (at least primarily) by men.

Although the Katican tribe of course would have both men and women, the tribal societies on Sigonia appear to be on the fairly traditional side, with Aventurine's mother staying at the camp with her child while his father was the one to go out and hunt for offerings for Gaiathra. This is also supported by Aventurine asking Jade to take him to her "chief" later on. Therefore, it is likely (although of course not guaranteed) that a majority of the Katicans' army was male, and that Aventurine's early experiences with outsiders consisted almost entirely of indiscriminate pillaging and massacre at the hands of what the Avgin viewed as savage, invading warriors. In separate instances, Aventurine was traumatized by these warrior figures three times--first with the loss of his father, then his mother, and then finally his sister.

And even their hope, supposed to come in the form of the "men in black" from the IPC, completely abandoned them, leaving Aventurine once again betrayed by masculine figures that were supposed to be there to protect him. Led by Oswaldo Schneider, another cruel male authority figure, the Marketing Department of the IPC permitted the wholesale slaughter of Aventurine's people--something which we know Aventurine is now aware of.

Then, of course, the next piece of Aventurine's backstory we're given is his male slave master. I don't really need to say anything about this, do I? This man violated Aventurine's human dignity and bodily autonomy, and forced Aventurine's hand in a life or death battle for which Aventurine still punishes himself mentally, even years in the future.

In part to escape the difficulty of his situation and rise to a position where he would have enough resources to--he thought--help his people, Aventurine joins up with the IPC. But when he attempts to make contact with a powerful man in the organization, Diamond, he is instead met by a woman, Jade, who against Aventurine's own expectations determines that she will raise Aventurine up (or use him as a tool, depending on how you currently choose to interpret Jade's motivations), granting him wealth and status beyond his imagination.

(And this line in particular is interesting, because you can take it one of two ways: 1) Aventurine comes from a patriarchal planet that traditionally put men into positions of power [thereby making his own slavery an emasculating act, aligning him further with disenfranchised women]; thus, he is making the assumption that to get anywhere in this organization, he will need to work with a man; or 2) He actually was counting on Jade taking his bet and helping him right from the beginning, because Aventurine perceives women as inherently more likely to protect and aid him than men would be.)

In the end, Jade does exactly as she claims she will, launching Aventurine into a position of power while also closing golden handcuffs around his wrists. She positions herself not only as his supervisor, but as his advocate and ally. She entrusts him with her Cornerstone, a sign of significant faith in his abilities. She even seems to be keenly aware of his bias towards the mother figure, referring to him as "child" in their conversations.

Whether this is genuine or a manipulation tactic can certainly be debated (and I'm not inclined to think at this point that Jade is a genuinely good role model or selflessly supportive person in Aventurine's life), but whatever the case, women are the only people Aventurine even remotely considers to be "in his corner."

We see this even earlier, in Aventurine's call to Topaz. Like with the example of his mother and sister, Aventurine trusts in Topaz's ability implicitly, and considers her above anyone else when it comes to completing the mission in Penacony.

Although of course we don't know if Aventurine has any other friends or allies among the Strategic Investment Department, it seems very likely that Topaz, yet another woman, is the one he is closest with. At the very least, she is the only IPC character (so far) that Aventurine has a complimentary voice line for, one that shows his respect for her talent:

Over and over again, the story aligns Aventurine with female figures in positions of authority, and demonstrates that he is comfortable (although maybe not too comfortable, in the case of Jade) with relying on them and trusting their judgment, just as he did with his mother and sister.

And this pretty much goes off the charts in Penacony, where Aventurine has more involvement with the female cast than virtually any other non-female character (even the Trailblazer!). We set the pattern off right away, with Aventurine immediately being placed into a negotiation situation with Himeko, respecting her role as the Express's leader and working to get himself aligned with the Express by acquiescing to her request for support.

Then there's the fact that Aventurine is the one who finds Robin's body, an event which, although he didn't let it show too much, was almost certainly traumatic for him, given the violent death of his own sister.

Next, twice in Penacony's story, we see Aventurine seek out Sparkle for information. He may not personally like her and her comments may be both racist and dehumanizing, but Aventurine does rely on her--being the only character explicitly seeking her aid, which no one else in Penacony seems to want.

In 2.0...

And in 2.1.

Now, say it with me, guys: Aventurine built an entire portion of his grand plan around the idea that if he looked pathetic enough, a female character would absolutely come and help him. And sure enough, the women come through for him, always! Sparkle gives him the exact last clue he needs to confirm his belief that he could use "Death" to reach the true Penacony, sealing the deal for the rest of his plan.

His plan which also hinged significantly on Black Swan's involvement too, another woman that he views as, if not trustworthy, then at least intelligent and hyper-competent.

Contrast all this, of course, with the treatment Aventurine receives at the hands of Sunday, the lone opposing male character he faces in Penacony.

Sparkle implies that Sunday would humiliate Aventurine in an unmistakably sexual and degrading way, and Sunday himself professes this same desire to see Aventurine humiliated.

Then we're "treated" to the moment in which Sunday uses the Harmony's (or perhaps actually the Order's?) power against Aventurine, in a scene which is supposed to reflect an interrogation but is also, very clearly, another nonconsensual violation of Aventurine's bodily autonomy and dignity by a man. While ostensibly seeking confirmation of the Cornerstone ruse, Sunday instead subjects Aventurine to unnecessary questions about his past on Sigonia, which recall and force Aventurine to re-endure memories of his trauma.

Even if this is what Aventurine prepared himself for and planned to have happen, the pain he experiences is very real, and he suffers both the physical and emotional consequences of Sunday's assault all the way up to his "Death" and possibly even beyond.

(Also, Sunday fans please don't get too up in arms with me for this; I also like Sunday! It's okay for characters to be morally grey!)

I think there's one other interesting example I would bring up here too, and that's Aventurine's conscious decision to weaponize his own masculinity against the Trailblazer. Through the 2.0 and 2.1 Trailblaze missions, Aventurine deliberately acts in an off-putting manner to the Astral Express crew, particularly the Trailblazer, in order to build up to the 2.1 climax where the Trailblazer is supposed to view him as an unrepentant villain and attack him without hesitation.

In order to achieve this uncomfortable, villainous effect, what does Aventurine do? Exactly what other men have done to him.

This is especially apparent if you're playing Stelle because of the ingrained societal taboo of a man entering a woman's personal space without consent, but even as Caelus, it is very clear that Aventurine is leveraging behaviors typically used to show dominance: In a complete 180 to all Aventurine's other body language in the game (normally quite withdrawn, frequently in defensive postures with his arms crossed or hand behind his back, almost always standing several feet away from other people), Aventurine violates the Trailblazer's personal bubble, looming over them (Caelus was sitting in this cutscene, lol), forcing eye contact, and commanding the space while informing them that they will have no choice.

For someone who was hunted, enslaved, had his movements restricted with chains, and due to his own slight stature has very likely been towered over by others who were intentionally asserting their power over him all his life, it is clear that Aventurine associates dominant, typically more masculine-coded physically-imposing behaviors with discomfort and even villainy.

Any girl who has ever had a man loom over her like this will realize very quickly: Aventurine wanted to make himself scary so he made himself act more like a bad man.

(Yes of course I know "not all men." I'm not saying every man behaves in this domineering way or that women cannot be domineering too, obviously, just that Aventurine had a very specific image in mind when constructing a "villainous persona," and the physically controlling tactics most typically used by aggressive men toward women was his immediate go-to.)

But where does that leave Dr. Ratio, the one male character actually on Aventurine's side?

Frankly, I don't want to derail my post about how intensely Hoyo chose to hammer on the message of "Women will protect you" in Aventurine's story with a discussion about a mlm ship, but the take-away here is going to lead in that direction anyway--so yes, Dr. Ratio is the exception.

What is interesting is that he does not come across as an exception at first, and in fact initially appears as another male character being rude and dismissive to Aventurine. Like, there are still people out there calling Ratio an unrepentant racist for this one.

Of course, it's later clarified that this is an act--likely even these insults were scripted specifically to give Sunday's spying ears the "insight" he needed to exploit Aventurine during the interrogation.

But even though it is an act, Aventurine still has noticeable trouble putting his faith in Ratio. He does genuinely doubt him a few times, despite knowing that they are working together to fool the Family.

Even his voice line about Ratio confirms that he doesn't think Ratio particularly cares for him; rather, he thinks Ratio simply tolerates him because he's slightly less unintelligent than those around them.

Ultimately, the entire act with Ratio ends up being a mirror of the real scenarios Aventurine has been experiencing with men his whole life (at least as far as we are shown his life). Men abandon him to fend for himself (unwillingly, like his father, or willingly, like Diamond leaving Aventurine to deal with Penacony alone on the inside). Ratio keeps leaving Aventurine completely alone. Men attempt to humiliate him and violate his boundaries (like Sunday and his slave master). Ratio insults Aventurine's appearance and intelligence repeatedly. Men betray him (like Oswaldo Schneider and his men leaving the Avgin to die). Ratio "betrays" him.

I'm not saying when Aventurine devised the plan for their act, he consciously drew up a list of all the ways men had hurt him in the past and had Ratio re-enact them one by one, but like... that's what happened, whether or not Aventurine intended it.

And okay, the shrinking scene in Dewlight Pavilion was just for fun and probably only slightly fetishy, the devs promise; yes, it was supposed to be a joke! ...But it's also not a mistake that this is yet another instance of a male character in a glaringly metaphorical position of power over Aventurine. Aventurine's tiny in this scene! He's completely vulnerable! He's in a dangerous position and the male character could very much hurt him in this moment.

But Ratio doesn't. (In fact, his line here is supposed to be sarcastic, very ha ha--but also, what is Ratio really saying? "I won't do anything to you without your express consent." What a good guy.)

Virtually everything negative that we see in 2.1 is Ratio doing these things as an act at Aventurine's own request. He doesn't actually disdain Aventurine; his own voiceline about Aventurine reinforces that he sees Aventurine as talented and intelligent.

Whatever you think he was apologizing for in their early scene, he's the only person we're ever shown in-game apologizing to Aventurine at all.

He worked hard to "betray" Aventurine but only as he was instructed to do, and immediately checks in on Aventurine's well-being afterward, even urging him to give up the plan if it becomes too much to handle.

And then, of course, there's the note: "Do stay alive. I wish you the best of luck."

After this point, it cannot be denied that Ratio is unequivocally on Aventurine's side, wants to help him, and is not doing so out of any sense of self-gain but largely because he is a good person who simply cares about Aventurine's fate. By the end of 2.1, it can no longer be doubted that Ratio is the exception to the "gender rule" of Aventurine's life, which--the story shows us again and again--was that guidance, protection, and care for Aventurine come from women, while men repeatedly represent dismissal, betrayal, or pain.

Ratio is, at least as far as Aventurine's story shows us, the proof that men can be good, that things are not as black and white in Aventurine's life as they might appear, and that--if you do choose to ship him with or see Aventurine as attracted to men--his attraction could be validated (and potentially reciprocated) by a male figure who would not bring additional harm to Aventurine's life. Aventurine makes the final decision to live after seeing Ratio's note--the exception to the rule ultimately proves to be the last piece needed to keep him alive.

But I promised I wasn't going to derail my own post about w o m e n, so let me get to the final point, and the one I really wanted to talk about: Although Ratio gets virtually all the credit for "saving" Aventurine in the fandom, Aventurine was actually saved by, you guessed it, another woman.

Not going to lie, the reason I started this post was specifically because I wanted to talk about how Acheron and Aventurine's dynamic was completely unexpected but actually fits flawlessly with the theme of feminine guidance in Aventurine's story.

Despite the fact that Aventurine made Acheron's life much harder and actively used her as a chip in his grand gamble, she doesn't blame or chastise him for those actions. Although she expresses some incredulity that Aventurine is actually that lucky, she then turns around and congratulations him for his ingenuity, immediately supporting him despite the fact that they don't even truly know each other.

Then it gets even more interesting. Acheron, who frequently hits her companions with deep and sometimes very emotionally fraught questions, asks Aventurine: "Have you never wavered?"

We as players know for a fact that Aventurine is constantly wavering, constantly doubting himself, his luck, and whether he'll even live--or even wants to live--to see tomorrow. But we also know that Aventurine is not forthcoming about those truths, refusing to express them to anyone, even himself. The only way we hear those dark truths is through his "future" self (who by the way, is once again another male figure cutting Aventurine down--of course it's himself but it's also, from the player's perspective, once again reinforcing the message that he isn't going to find safety or kindness in an adult male presence). Aventurine almost constantly deflects and diverts when his emotions or struggles are brought to the fore (unless he's divulging them for the specific purpose of allowing someone else to weaponize them). "I'm fine," he says, like a lying liar who lies.

But he doesn't lie to Acheron.

He chooses to be completely candid with her, to lance open the deepest wound of his life--that he can win and win and win and still have lost everything. The glitz and the glamour has all been stripped away here, at the end of everything, and Aventurine finally feels safe enough to admit that he fears he has absolutely nothing in his life worth living for.

And then, we get this direct parallel: Aventurine looks to Acheron, the woman now before him, for guidance, for explanation, exactly as he looked to his sister in the past.

He needs help, he needs answers, and he is continually seeking that help from the female figures in his life, whose support and kindness echo the lost care of his mother and sister.

"Go where you should be," Acheron tells Aventurine, guiding him across the river of death just as his sister insisted that he flee through the rain toward life.

Look guys, Acheron's even the one who reminds Aventurine to look at Ratio's note in the first place because apparently being an emanator of Nihility gives you x-ray vision, but my girl just gets no credit at all for being Aventurine's real savior, come on now!! Yes, Ratio's note was the final reminder Aventurine needed that someone would be waiting for him on the other side, but Aventurine would never have even gotten to the point of being willing to read that note if Acheron hadn't stepped in and provided him an answer to his question.

She feeds him back his own answer: "Why does life slumber? To rehearse the death for which we are not currently prepared." It is Acheron who reminds Aventurine that giving into the Nihility is pointless, and that rather than simply embracing a meaningless death, it is up to humanity itself to find and make meaning by living. It's this, not Ratio's note, that Aventurine gives as his reason for choosing to go on when asked by his own younger self. It's Acheron's words that finally give Aventurine an answer--why do we live just to die? Because there are people we can still make proud. Because when we go into death, we should do so with our heads held high, having achieved our own sense of purpose in this life.

Ratio gave Aventurine a promise: Someone is waiting for you to come back.

But Acheron gave Aventurine a reason: If life is inherently meaningless, doesn't that just mean you are free to give it meaning yourself?

She saved him, as women have been saving him all his life.

Anyway, this has already been horrendously long, but really what I wanted to say is that I think it is absolutely fascinating how consistent Aventurine's writing is when it comes to portraying where his support comes from and who he seeks guidance from. (Psst, just in case you still haven't figured it out, it's women!) In virtually every instance we are shown, we see the message reinforced that women are Aventurine's greatest allies and role models, while male figures are continually positioned to intentionally or unintentionally let him down and cause him distress.

"But women playing the supporting role to a male character is nothing new, Star, why are you so excited by this?"

Because the role women are playing in Aventurine's life is not the subservient supporter and emotional crutch role that female characters all too often play to male counterparts. None of the women in Penacony or Aventurine's past were there to do the emotional labor for him, to be a trophy or prize, or to cater to his needs. They don't exist solely to help him fulfill his character motivations; they aren't following him around waiting for his next request as their only role in the plot.

Instead, with Aventurine's story, we almost have an inversion of gender roles, where the male character eschews the stereotypical "men are leaders, fighters, and stoic heroes" archetype. Instead, no matter how hard he tries to hide it and keep a stiff upper lip, it is clear from 2.0-2.1's story that Aventurine is a deeply insecure, lonely, and explicitly traumatized survivor of genocide, slavery, and exploitation. Unlike most male characters, who are very rarely portrayed as genuine victims--because come on, shouldn't men be strong enough to fight back? Shouldn't men be able to shrug it off when they are hurt, emotionally or physically? (Of course I'm rolling my eyes here!)--Aventurine is belittled, humiliated, emasculated, and victimized on-screen, roles almost exclusively reserved for women, for whom surviving victimization in fiction is seen as noble.

Meanwhile, the women in Aventurine's life take on the roles traditionally given to male characters. They're both emotionally and physically his protectors. Aventurine's sister gave her life to guard his safety; Acheron ensured he could safely pass beyond the river of Nihility into the Primordial Dreamscape. They give him the tools necessary to succeed where he could not succeed on his own. His plan could never have gotten off the ground without Topaz and Jade entrusting their Cornerstones to him. The knowledge and capabilities of the women around him--not their "feminine charms"--are what allow them to help keep Aventurine on the right path even though he does waver. Even women who disrespect him, like Sparkle, still play a positive role in his life, able to provide him insight gained with their own intellect and talents.

When he has no one to rely on and doesn't know what to do, Aventurine is able to continually turn to the women around him, asking for and receiving not servitude or fawning, but their genuine wisdom and guidance.

tl;dr: If nobody else has him, Aventurine knows this random woman he met two minutes ago on the street will have him, because the women in his life literally never let him down.

He swipes his fingers through the slick Jack's leaking, been leaking since he ordered Robby to prove himself, and slips two fingers into Jack's mouth. Jack moans and sucks them eagerly. His head is a daze of please please alpha. He bares his throat for Robby to bite if he wants to. He's earned it.

Robby chuckles. "Just like that? You flatter me, honey." He pulls out of Jack in a rush of air and loss and Jack whines for him, but Robby's just flipping him onto his back.

To Jack's vindication, Robby is flushed red and breathing hard too, knot built between his legs. Jack's mouth waters. His legs spread. He's begging with his eyes.

"No one thought I could win you," Robby says, voice edging on a growl just now, shoving back in, setting a brutal pace to drive whines out of Jack, "and neither did you, but I know what you want. What you need. Knew exactly how to give it to you. All I had to do was put a hand on you, and the fight went right out of your needy little body. I put my hand on the back of your neck, Jack, and you melted right into my arms. Not very much of a challenge, was it?"

Jack moans, wrapping arms around him, needing him close. Robby growls into his ear, lips traveling down to wrap around his scent gland before the teeth come out: "So from now on, I'm gonna make you my bitch. I earned you, after all."

Jack has never wanted anything more. Finally, he found his match.

Oscar and Kieran’s bond is often played for comedy, but beneath the comic layer, I think they both reveal major facets of Tellius’ worldbuilding: care, honor, service, duty, loyalty, and what it means to protect others, how it builds the Self.

Kieran speaks the language of public knighthood. Honor, to him, is visible. It belongs to the battlefield, the King (and later the Queen, after King Ramon’s death) the country, the people, the name one earns, the praise one receives, and the service one performs before others.

In his FE9 A support with Oscar, he describes the knightly life in terms of glory, recognition, and public return:

«戦場で華々しく戦功を上げ、

人々の賞賛を得て凱旋を果たし、

そして主君にお褒めの言葉を賜る。»

“One wins brilliant merit on the battlefield, returns in triumph to the people’s praise, and receives words of honor from one’s lord.”

He continues:

«騎士として名をあげれば

皆に広くその名を知られ、

やがては領地を賜ることもできる。»

“If one makes a name as a knight, that name becomes widely known, and in time one may even receive land.”

But the heart of Kieran’s ideal exceeds vanity or ambition and embraces protection:

«なにより、愛すべきクリミアとその民を

この手で守ることができるのだ！！»

“Above all, one can protect beloved Crimea and its people with one’s own hands!”

So, Kieran’s honor is loud, theatrical, and often ridiculous (he is young) but it is not empty and not without care. For a character who overperforms masculinity, he is not written as cruel. He wants glory, yes, but he wants glory as proof that he has served something higher than himself. His axis is devotion and not dominance.

Knighthood is part of his identity, and he clings to it even in prison.

«[チャップ]

……なぁ…騎士さん。

わしらは、どうなるんでしょうなぁ？

何人もおった仲間は…

デイン兵に連れていかれたっきり、

１人も戻ってくりゃあせん……

……はぁぁ…

…おそろしいのぉ……

[ケビン]

……弱音を吐くな。

たとえ、どんな仕打ちを受けようとも

クリミア騎士としての誇りを捨てず、

耐えて耐えて耐え抜くんだ。»

Brom:

“…Say, Sir Knight. What’s going to happen to us? There were several of our comrades here… but once the Daein soldiers took them away, not a single one came back… it’s frightening…”

Kieran:

“…Do not speak of weakness. No matter what they do to us, we must not cast aside our pride as Crimean knights. We endure. Endure, endure, and endure until the end.”

He does try to hammer morale into place through repetition. But interestingly, when Brom speaks of his family, Kieran does not mock him. He does not say, “Your family is irrelevant beside honor.” Instead, Kieran falls silent and says:

«くそっ…せめて武器があれば……»

“Damn it… if only we had weapons…”

Oscar answers with a different ethic, though his identity is also shaped by usefulness.

He does not mock knighthood: he was literally a knight. But after resigning to ensure his brothers’ survival, he discovers mercenary work through the very peculiar lens of Greil (another former knight). Oscar thus rejects the idea that honor must always be public, vertical, institutional, and rewarded. In the same FE9 support, he explains why he will not return to the Royal Knights:

«誰にも知られることなく死んでいく人々がいる。

国には救いきれない人々がいる。»

“There are people who die without anyone knowing. There are people the country cannot save.”

And then:

«だったら、それを助けるのは

自分たち野の人間だと思う。»

“If so, then I think it is people of the field like us who should help them.”

Oscar’s ethic is not anti-knightly. It is extra-institutional. He believes, because he has seen it, that official structures cannot reach everyone (he is well placed to know that...). Some people fall outside the state’s rescue, outside heroic records, outside public songs. Outside the reach of knights. His brothers lived precisely because he left knighthood.

He then states the deepest difference between himself and Kieran atp:

«それに、名誉などは私には不要だ。

傭兵団という私の家族が守れれば、

それで充分なんだ。»

“Besides, I do not need honor. If I can protect the mercenary company, my family, that is enough.”

This is huge, especially for a male character and former knight, since male characters are so often written as pursuing honor as a token of worth. It is not a full retreat from martial identity, though. Oscar remains disciplined, capable, tactically intelligent, and brave on the field. But for him, honor is secondary to survival and care. He will accept dishonor, loss of public status, and even Kieran’s disappointment if it means protecting the people in his charge.

This particular stance on care and honor also appears in Oscar’s support with Tanith. When speaking to one of Begnion’s highest-ranking commanders, Oscar argues for a “not losing” strategy: preserving individual strengths, withdrawing when wounded, and entrusting the fight to comrades even if one is accused of dishonor.

«たとえ不名誉の謗りを受けようと、

負傷した時にはすぐに離脱し、

他の仲間に任せる……»

“Even if one is accused of dishonor, when wounded one should withdraw immediately and entrust things to one’s comrades…”

Tanith, whose world is also institutional and military, resists this at first. Her response is restrained but not dismissive. It is also worth noting how Oscar absolutely knows how to make a point to an officer while managing that officer’s ego and pride. The man is smooth!!

«なるほど……

個人的にはいささか不満だが

有効であることは認めざるをえない。»

“I see… Personally, I am somewhat dissatisfied, but I must admit it is effective.”

Tanith’s reaction pattern is something like: institutional pride → resistance → tactical admission → professional trust.

Oscar's stance on honor vs care show in his exchange with Shinon in FE9 too. The conversation is small, but it sharpens Oscar’s whole character, especially his relationship to class, ambition, and knighthood.

The exchange:

[オスカー]

どうして、デインについたんです？

シノンほどの腕なら…

ベグニオンに仕官する道だって

当然、あったはずだ。

それを……なぜ？

Oscar:

“Why did you side with Daein? With skill like yours, Shinon… surely there must have been a path for you to serve in Begnion as well. So… why?”

Shinon answers:

[シノン]

ヘッ

あんな貴族社会でガッチガチの国に

仕えてどうするよ？

平民出のオレが、

どんなに戦功あげたところで

せいぜい、中隊長どまりってとこだろ。

Shinon:

“Heh. What would be the point of serving a country that rigid, with a society packed full of nobles? For a common-born man like me, no matter how many feats I achieved, I’d rise at best to company commander.”

Then:

デインは違う。

実力さえありゃあ、どこまでだって

登りつめていけるんだからな。

“Daein is different. As long as you have ability, you can climb as high as you want.”

Oscar asks:

出世が、そんなに大事ですか？

“Is advancement really that important to you?”

Shinon answers:

オレにとっちゃあ、全てだ。

“To me, it’s everything.”

This exchange is loaded because Oscar knows this problem from the inside.

Kieran says in FE9 that Oscar had the talent, manners, skill, and ambition to rise as a Crimean knight. In other words, Oscar was able to pass, socially and culturally, in a knightly institution despite not being noble-born or from a family of knights (and Tanith's support reinforces this idea).

But Oscar’s life takes the opposite route from Shinon’s. Shinon sees class limits and says, because he metabolizes grief into anger after Greil’s death, I will go where ambition can climb.

Oscar sees the world’s cruelty and says: I will go where I can protect the people I have chosen.

Shinon respects that. But still he fights him.

Kieran’s reaction pattern is different, because his bond with Oscar is much more personal.

When Oscar explains his mercenary ethic, Kieran does not sneer. He is overwhelmed, shattered:

«く……くそう！

貴様、なんだかまぶしいぞ！»

“Damn it…! You somehow seem dazzling!”

Then:

«なぜだ……またもや

貴様に負けた気がする……！»

“Why…? I feel like I’ve lost to you again!”

That reaction is huuuugely Kieranesque. He processes moral admiration as defeat because Oscar is the man by whom he measures his own worth (his “eternal rival”) and he craves equality with him. Being equal to such a worthy knight would, in turn, say something about Kieran himself. Oscar’s ethic does not make him dismiss Oscar; it makes him feel outshone.

Because, to Kieran, Oscar’s whole way of being is bound up with identity. That is why Kieran is so adamant that Oscar must return to a structure that can include them both. By the end, however, Kieran comes to understand that their bond exists outside knighthood too.

But Oscar immediately prevents humiliation and thus saves the bond (he IS smooth!). He does not let Kieran interpret this difference as inferiority (and he doesn't brag either! Very interesting male character I tell you). He tells him:

«そんなことはないだろう。

きみのような騎士の身でなければ、

成し得ないことも沢山ある。»

“That is not true. There are many things that could not be achieved unless one stood as a knight like you.”

And then:

«だから、お互いがんばろう。

立場は違っても、

目指す理想に変わりはないはずだ。»

“So let us both do our best. Even if our positions differ, the ideal we aim for should not be different.”

Oscar does not break Kieran’s honor-code. He widens it. Oscar’s experience of the world is broader than Kieran’s (Kieran is literally scripted for knighthood and its codes) and this allows Kieran to evolve.

This is one of the reasons their bond matters to me. Oscar does not need Kieran to stop being a knight. Kieran does not need Oscar to stop being "dazzling" (✨️🥺). The conflict is that each man’s moral grammar exposes the incompleteness of the other’s, but they grow from it.

This becomes especially visible in FE10 through the Imbue Scroll.

Oscar approaches Kieran while Kieran is training, because of course Kieran is training madly. Oscar has apparently been there for half an hour (😏), calling out, and Kieran has not noticed. The comedy is perfect because it returns us to Kieran’s old absurdity: his total self-immersion, his pride in focus, and his contradictions.

Then Oscar gives him the scroll. A rare scroll he has chosen, acquired, and brought specifically to Kieran.

Well.

«「治癒の書」だ。

「治癒」は、

いつも血まみれになってる

君こそが習得するべき技だ。»

“It is an Imbue Scroll. Imbue is a skill you, especially, should learn, since you are always covered in blood.”

This is Oscar’s love/care language in its purest practical form. He has observed a precise problem: Kieran fights and trains until he is soaked in blood. He has chosen a rare and useful object. He has acquired it. He has brought it to Kieran specifically.

But Kieran cannot accept care as care without recoding it in a language that feels safe for his identity --that is, Oscar’s equal.

«受け取れん！

おまえからの施しなど

受けんからなっ！！»

“I cannot accept it! I will not receive charity from you!”

He elaborates:

«オレとおまえは

対等な立場なのだっ！»

“You and I stand as equals!”

This is crucial. Kieran does not reject the scroll because he does not want Oscar’s attention. He rejects it because direct care threatens the horizontal dignity of rivalry. It feels like charity, and charity feels like being lowered.

Oscar, sly fox that he is (he IS smooth I tell you), then translates care into Kieran’s language:

«私の永遠の好敵手への

友情の証だったんだが。»

“It was meant as a token of friendship for my eternal rival.”

The moment care becomes a token of rivalry, Kieran can accept it.

Worse, when Oscar threatens to give it to someone else, Kieran panics:

«頂戴しようか！»

“I shall take it!”

And when Oscar asks whether a man may go back on his word, Kieran’s answer reveals everything:

«いや、だがしかし！

貴様の永遠の好敵手は

オレ以外であってはならんのだ。»

“No, but still! Your eternal rival must be no one other than me.”

This is the relationship in miniature.

Oscar turns care into rivalry so Kieran can receive it ➡️ Kieran turns attachment into rivalry so he can survive wanting Oscar’s singular attention.

Interestingly, the Imbue Scroll drama belongs to a larger Tellius grammar of protective gifts.

Geoffrey gives Kieran a Silver Axe. Here, Kieran receives it vertically, as a gift from a superior officer. His response is ecstatic:

«なんと見事な「銀の斧」っ！

こ、こ、これを……

自分に賜られると…っ！？»

“What a splendid Silver Axe! Y-you mean to bestow this upon me…!?”

He immediately wants to preserve it as an heirloom:

«この銀の斧は家宝とし

終生、大切に飾らせていただきます！»

“I shall make this Silver Axe a family treasure and display it carefully for the rest of my life!”

Geoffrey has to command him to use it to bring Kieran back to earth:

«命令だ。»

“That is an order.”

Kieran accepts because the relationship is vertical. Geoffrey can command use.

Oscar cannot. He has to find a way with words. Oscar’s gift must remain horizontal. If Geoffrey’s Silver Axe says, “Your commander recognizes you,” Oscar’s Imbue Scroll says, “Your rival has watched how you bleed and wants you alive.”

This gift logic also appears around Elincia. Elincia tends Geoffrey’s lance herself, and when he worries about gossip, she answers:

«言わせておけばいいのです。

私にはあなたのほうが

大切なのですから……»

“Let them say what they will. You are more important to me…”

The weapon becomes a place where love and political danger meet. Elincia knows that Geoffrey’s lance may be turned against Crimeans. She apologizes for the stain her cause places upon his knightly pride:

«あなたの騎士としての誇りに

私が傷をつけさせてしまう……

それがとても辛いのです。»

“I am making you wound your pride as a knight… That pains me deeply.”

Geoffrey answers that his pride is service to her:

«私の騎士としての誇りは

貴女に心よりお仕えすること。

何があろうとそれは揺るぎません。»

“My pride as a knight is to serve you from my heart. Whatever happens, that will not waver.”

The object is not decorative. It carries duty, love, shame, and chosen loyalty. It also shows that in Tellius, love and care can outshine duty or rather, integrate it.

👀

Likewise, Elincia secretly stitches a charm into Lucia’s collar:

«おまじないよ。

ルキノが無事…私のところに

戻ってきてくれるように。»

“A charm. So that Lucia will safely return to me.”

The protective object becomes a way to say what cannot be fully commanded: return to me, live, come back. I need you alive.

Oscar’s Imbue Scroll belongs in this family of gifts. It is practical, protective, intimate, and emotionally coded. It does not explicitly say “I love you.” It says: I know how you endanger yourself. I know you will not stop being who you are. I cannot command you. So I am giving you something that lets you remain yourself and survive.

It says: I know you. I respect what you are. I will ensure you remain.

Kieran’s other supports in FE9 confirm how this gesture of care belongs to a pattern that tells a lot about Kieran.

In his support with Rhys, Kieran trains so hard that he injures himself during mere practice, even forgetting that blood is running from his head. Rhys cannot persuade him by saying “be safe.” Kieran rejects that language:

«安全に？　はっはっは！

オレはそんな臆病者じゃないぞ！

騎士は何事も恐れん！　決してだ！»

“Safe? Hahaha! I am no coward! A knight fears nothing! Never!”

Rhys succeeds only when he translates caution into honor and usefulness:

«もし万が一のことがあったら、

ケビンさんの名誉にかかわりますよ？»

“If something were to happen, it would affect your honor.”

And then:

«ケビンさん、あなたを失ったら

僕たちが困ってしまいます！»

“Kieran, if we lost you, we would be in trouble!”

Kieran accepts restraint only when it preserves duty:

«我が軍の一大戦力であるオレが

無茶をするわけにはいかんな！»

“As one of our army’s great forces, I cannot afford to be reckless!”

This is exactly the logic Oscar uses later. Kieran’s body is the place where his ideals become excessive. Care must therefore be framed not as softness, but as the preservation of mission, honor, and equal standing.

During Marcia’s B support, Kieran’s horse becomes unwell, and Marcia treats it. Kieran does not respond with macho defensiveness or knightly superiority (he is perfect I tell you). He admits his ignorance plainly with no ego, no pouting:

«オレはクリミア国内でしか

戦った事がなかったから

そういう知識はなかったのだ。»

“I had only ever fought within Crimea, so I did not have that kind of knowledge.”

That is actually huge for Kieran, and really endearing for a loud character who is not above performing masculinity (see his “speak like a man” to Oscar, or his answer to Valtome mocking his armor). He can be absurdly proud, but when someone has practical expertise he lacks, especially concerning a comrade’s wellbeing, he recognizes it.

And his gratitude is sincere:

«本当に、心底礼を言う！»

“Truly, I thank you from the bottom of my heart!”

This is not a man who cannot respect others. It is a man who has to understand the frame. Marcia helped his horse. His horse is not a tool; his horse is a comrade. Therefore Marcia has rendered a real service, and Kieran receives that with full seriousness.

This also parallels Oscar. Oscar’s care becomes acceptable to Kieran when it is not framed as pity but as the concrete preservation of something Kieran values: his usefulness, his honor, his body as a fighting comrade, his role as eternal rival.

Marcia cares for his horse; Oscar gives him Imbue. Both are practical interventions into Kieran’s embodied recklessness. Both work because they preserve the fighting self rather than shame it.

And since we are speaking about honor, let’s delve deeper into Oscar’s view of the matter.

Oscar’s supports with Tanith and Janaff are revealing, and they show how multifaceted he is. He is much more than the mercenaries’ caring quartermaster.

With Tanith, Oscar becomes socially legible. He is courteous, tactical, useful, and impossible to dismiss. Tanith initially assumes mercenaries are crude and inferior, but Oscar’s manners and competence force her to revise that judgment. Their relationship remains vertical (almost paralleling Kieran and Geoffrey?) but it builds toward trust. Oscar even offers to support her in battle:

«では、私がその役をつとめます。»

“Then I will serve that role.”

By the end, Oscar teaches her cooking. This is striking: Tanith is positioned as the martial officer, Oscar as the cook, tactician, and caretaker. It subverts gender roles in a way that directly parallels Oscar giving Kieran the Imbue Scroll: Oscar is caring, but he is not dominating. He gives people what they need to improve themselves and be autonomous. Care is not weakness; it exists through competence and transmission.

With Janaff, however, Oscar loses the social frame, which reminds us that as socially adept as Oscar is, he is still only twenty-four years old and not infallible. He approaches because he believes allies should communicate, but he has no idea how to speak to a bird laguz:

«まいったな……

どう接すればいいんだろう……

これまで鳥翼族と関わったことなど

なかったからな……»

“This is awkward… How should I interact with him…? I’ve never had dealings with the bird tribes before…”

Oscar then naturally falls back on the role in which he feels safest because he is competent at it: big brother.

«私にもちょうど君くらいの弟がいるんだ。

だから、なんだか放っておけなくてね。»

“I have a younger brother about your age. So somehow I cannot leave you alone.”

This backfires spectacularly because Janaff is over a hundred years old. Oscar’s reaction is startled embarrassment, not defensiveness:

«え？１００年……？»

“Eh? A hundred years…?”

In the A support, the hierarchy reverses completely. Oscar apologizes formally for his ignorance, gives his age as twenty-four, and Janaff immediately calls him a child:

«２４！？２４って……おいおい、

まだ羽根も生えそろわない

子供じゃないか！»

“Twenty-four!? Hey, you are still a child whose feathers have not even fully grown!”

Oscar can only stammer, which is delicious:

«は…はあ……»

“Y-yes…”

Oscar is competent, composed, and parentified to the bone, but canon also reminds us that he is young. With Tanith, his competence is recognized. With Kieran, his ethic dazzles. With Janaff, his social strategy collapses, and he is treated as a child. He endures it with humility because he is capable of setting aside ego for harmony.

The FE10 brothers’ conversation deepens this.

When Rolf’s mother returns, Oscar does not forgive her for himself. He explicitly says:

«誤解しないでください。

私もあなたを許したわけじゃない。»

“Do not misunderstand. I have not forgiven you either.”

But he still insists that Rolf must decide:

«だけど、あなたが

ヨファを生んだ母親だということに

変わりはありません。

どうするかは……

本人が決めるべきですから。»

“But the fact remains that you are Rolf’s birth mother. What to do… should be decided by him.”

This is Oscar’s care at its most disciplined. He does not make Rolf perform forgiveness to soothe adult guilt, and he does not overwrite Rolf’s agency for his own protective comfort which, once again, is huge in the writing of a male character. He is a walking green flag.

Rolf chooses the family that stayed, though I do regret Rolf’s mother being discarded as irresponsible so blatantly. I would have liked writing for her character that also questioned their father, poverty, and mental breakdown after a life of strain. I do not excuse her, but nuance would have been cool, methinks.

«僕には大切な家族がいる。

オスカー兄さん、ボーレ……

それから傭兵団のみんながね。

他はいらない。»

“I have a precious family. You, Boyd… and everyone in the mercenary company. I don’t need anyone else.”

Oscar’s silence afterward matters. Rolf notices his face:

«やめてよ。どうして

兄さんがそんな顔をするの。

僕は平気なのに。»

“Stop it. Why are you making that face? I’m fine.”

Oscar can respect Rolf’s choice and still grieve what the choice means. He understands that an adolescent can say “I’m fine” while the long-term meaning is still forming. Yet he also understands that Rolf is no longer small enough to have his feelings overwritten for his own good. So he does not lecture him. He only says the practical final thing:

«じゃあ、あの人には

帰ってもらうからな。»

“Then I will have that person go home.”

(Being useful. Once again.)

Rolf answers:

«もう来ないでって言っといて。

……迷惑だから。»

“Tell her not to come again. She is a nuisance.

And Oscar accepts:

«…………分かった。»

“…All right.”

It is interesting to note his silence. He is not that relieved. He sees the whole complexity of the situation. It does not feel like a victory, he doesn't boast about being chosen here. Oscar’s care is never only about control. His instinct is protective, but at his best, he protects agency too even when he probably would have preferred harmony restored.

And on this point, Kieran is absolutely similar. He himself is capable of deep empathy.

In his support with Marcia, Kieran is washing his horse because:

«いつも苦労をかけているから

戦の合間には

できるだけいたわってやりたいのだ。»

“I make it work hard all the time, so between battles I want to care for it as much as I can.”

Kieran himself knows his caring attitude is not common among knights, and yet he chooses to embrace it anyway:

«騎士仲間には『所詮は乗り物』って

ヤツもいたが、オレはそうは思わん。»

“Some of my fellow knights said, ‘It is only a vehicle,’ but I do not think so.”

Marcia’s practical attitude lets Kieran accept care cleanly. It is horizontal, practical, and battlefield-based. No humiliation. No threat to equality. He just overreacts because he is Kieran and tries to repay her “with his life,” at which point Marcia has to swat the drama out of the air. So Marcia’s care works because it says: we are comrades with different knowledge.

And when she notices that his kind heart is more interesting than the loud facade, he immediately collapses into explanation: it is normal to care about one’s horse; it is other knights who fail to understand it.

Rhys’s care is medical, direct, and aimed at Kieran’s own body, so it is more delicate. Kieran initially rejects caution:

«安全に？ はっはっは！

オレはそんな臆病者じゃないぞ！»

“Safe? Hahaha! I am no coward!”

For Kieran, “be safe” sounds like “be prudent,” and apparently prudence means timidity in Kieran’s head. It violates his knightly self-image.

Rhys succeeds only when he changes the frame. He says Kieran’s reckless training death would damage his honor and become an embarrassing historical record:

«『騎士ケビン、訓練中に何故か大出血。謎の戦死を遂げる』»

“‘Knight Kieran, for unknown reasons, bleeds profusely during training and dies a mysterious death.’”

Then Rhys adds that the army needs him. That is the actual key. It works. We have already said it but :

«ケビンさん、あなたを失ったら僕たちが困ってしまいます！»

“Kieran, if we lost you, we would be in trouble!”

Kieran accepts because care has become a duty-preserving measure. He is not being treated as fragile. He is being told, by a healer, he is too important to waste. So Rhys’s care works because it says: your body belongs to your mission; do not squander it.

When Oscar gives Kieran the Imbue Scroll, Kieran asks the real question:

«そんなものを、なぜオレにくれるのだ！？»

“Why are you giving something like that to me?”

Oscar deflects:

«いや、だから…さっき理由を……»

“I mean… I already gave the reason…”

But he only explained why the scroll is useful. He did not explain why Kieran was chosen.

That is why Kieran panics and rejects it as charity. Direct care from Oscar threatens equality more than care from Rhys or Marcia, because Oscar is not “a healer” or “a fellow rider.” Oscar is the eternal rival, the man by whom Kieran measures himself for eternity. If Oscar becomes benefactor and Kieran becomes recipient, the bond tilts. And so, Kieran's identity is shattered.

Oscar solves this by translating care into the one language Kieran can accept from him:

«私の永遠の好敵手への友情の証だったんだが。»

“It was meant as a token of friendship for my eternal rival.

Now the gift is not charity. It is a rival-token. Horizontal. Singular. Almost ceremonial.

So Oscar’s care works because it says: I chose you, but I will phrase it so you can remain my equal.

Kieran’s FE10 battle conversations are also interesting because they show his morality under stress. And he is absolutely not cruel or simple.

With Sothe, he is loud and officious, but he offers him escape:

«だが…逃げるならいまのうちだ！»

“But… if you flee, now is your chance!”

That is kind and more compassionate than you would think Kieran at first sight. He gives an old acquaintance, a child he once traveled with, a chance. He puts life over his honor as a knight here. Growth ✨️🥺.

(The best part is that Sothe does not even remember Kieran’s name properly. He remembers the Oscar connection first.

[サザ]

あぁ、出世したのか。

……オスカーと関わりのある…▼

[ケビン]

永遠の好敵手！▼

More literally:

Sothe:

“Ah, so you were promoted. …The one connected to Oscar…”

Kieran:

“His eternal rival!”

Sothe does not even finish the category. He just goes, “Oscar-related…” ...)

With Jill, he is genuinely confused and distressed. He cannot understand why someone who once chose “justice” would return to Daein. He says:

«辛いのならこちら側へ来い！

騎士の顔は輝いていなければならん！»

“If it pains you, come to this side! A knight’s face must shine!”

It is naïve, but not cruel. Jill’s reply (she envies his unwavering knightly pride and loyalty) frames Kieran as someone whose simplicity is painful precisely because it is enviable. He has a coherent self (he tries to at least) in a world where others are split.

Oscar knows that. In FE9, after freeing Kieran from Castle Canteus, he states:

«騒々しさに

磨きがかかったようだな。

あれがなければ、いい騎士なのに…»

“His noisiness seems to have been polished even further. If not for that, he would be a good knight…”

Even there, the recognition is present. Oscar sees the good knight underneath the noise.

By FE10, the joke has ripened into tenderness.

The Japanese line is:

«その単純さが、君の長所だな。»

Literally:

“That simplicity of yours is your strong point.”

Or:

“That straightforwardness is one of your good qualities.”

Oscar immediately clarifies when Kieran snaps:

«オレを愚弄するのか！？»

“Are you mocking me!?”

Oscar answers:

«褒めてるんだよ。»

“I’m praising you.”

And Kieran says:

«ならば、よし！»

“Then good!”

So Oscar means it fondly. Dryly, I think, but not cruelly. What Oscar is identifying is Kieran’s directness of heart, just as he did in FE9.

Kieran is objectively easy to manipulate. Oscar knows exactly which emotional door to open (and, interestingly, he does use manipulation to get to his ends). But he does not despise Kieran for it. He likes it. He finds Kieran’s emotional logic transparent, sincere, and strangely honorable.

It also connects to Kieran’s broader canon. Rhys can persuade him to stop reckless training only by framing survival as honor and usefulness to the army. Geoffrey can make him use the Silver Axe only by making it an order. Marcia can soothe his gratitude by framing help as mutual battlefield reciprocity. Kieran is not random. He is governed by strong, clean categories: duty, honor, order, rivalry, comradeship.

Oscar himself is not simple. Oscar deflects. Oscar hides. Oscar teases (most notably with Boyd lmao).

Oscar answers emotional questions with practical ones. Oscar can give Kieran a rare scroll and pretend he has already explained why, when he has only explained why it is useful, not why Kieran was chosen. Oscar’s care has layers.

Kieran asks a very direct emotional question:

«そんなものを、

なぜオレにくれるのだ！？»

“Why are you giving something like that to me?”

Oscar answers:

«いや、だから…

さっき理由を……»

“I mean… I already gave the reason…”

But he has not answered that question.

What Oscar has said is:

«「治癒の書」だ。

「治癒」は、

いつも血まみれになってる

君こそが習得するべき技だ。»

“It’s an Imbue Scroll. Imbue is a skill you, especially, should learn, since you’re always covered in blood.”

He explains why the scroll is appropriate for Kieran. He does not explain why Oscar went out of his way to get it for him.

Kieran is asking: Why me? Why are you giving me a rare thing? Why did you choose me as the recipient of your attention?

Oscar answers the question as: Why is this object useful?

Kieran’s feelings, by contrast, are armored but not labyrinthine. Once he accepts a truth, he accepts it wholly.

That is what Oscar likes. I also interpret it (very personal headcanon) as a little bit of envy. Kieran can be absurd, but he can also live in a straight line. Oscar cannot. Oscar’s life is made of compromises. He was a knight and became a mercenary. He is a brother, but also a young man, as the Janaff support reminds us. He is a mercenary, but he does not look the part, as Tanith’s support shows. Kieran’s “simplicity” is partly the gift of being able to become entirely one thing at a time. He is a knight, and by Kieran’s book that means he has to be brave, caring with his comrades, devoted to duty, and able to afford a rival as his axis and North Star.

On this point, though Kieran still says “eternal rival,” if you choose their support in FE10, the emotional grammar changes.

In their optional endgame support, Kieran says:

«オレは嬉しいぞ！

こうして共に在るのだ。

これからも共に在りたい、

……他にはなにも望まん。»

“I am happy! We are together like this. I want to remain together from now on… I wish for nothing else.”

Oscar answers:

«約束する。

いつまでも共に……»

“I promise. Together, always…”

In another version, Oscar says:

«私は戦いを恐れていない。

ただ…君を失うことが怖い。

どうか………無事で。»

“I do not fear battle. I only… fear losing you. Please… be safe.”

Kieran responds in the only way Kieran can:

«余計な心配は無用だ！

オレは殺しても死なんと

よく言われるのだ。

“There is no need for needless worry! People often say I would not die even if killed.”

It is comical, but the confession is not. Oscar says plainly that losing Kieran frightens him.

Their endings continue to braid them together without merging them. Oscar returns to the Royal Knights at Elincia’s request, but still takes mercenary work on the side. Kieran serves the royal family with almost fanatical verve, his voice heard anywhere in the castle.

Oscar does not become simply a knight again. Kieran does not stop being Kieran. Their paths bend toward one another without erasing the tension that made them themselves and that made the other evolve.

This is why their bond is so compelling to me.

Kieran’s masculinity is not merely loudness, command, or public glory. It is also loyalty, sincerity, tenderness toward comrades, and the desperate need to be recognized by the person whose judgment matters most.

Oscar’s masculinity is not conquest or domination. It is care, competence, restraint, cooking, tactics, and the ability to choose survival over ego. But he is not passive. His care acts. His care gives scrolls, teaches commanders, protects children, feeds armies, and tells wounded fighters to withdraw even if dishonor follows.

Neither man is diminished by care, receptiveness, vulnerability, or devotion. Rather, the narrow grammar of masculinity is exposed as insufficient. Kieran has to learn to receive care without becoming lesser once Oscar learns to speak in the language of rivalry, though, of course, he ultimately accepts the scroll when Oscar threatens to direct that care to someone else.

Their rivalry is therefore not just a joke. It is the symbolic form their intimacy takes before it can safely become anything else (friendship or romance, depending on your taste).

Oscar and Kieran are not opposites because one is strong and the other soft. They are opposites because they answer the same question differently:

What does it mean to serve?

Kieran answers: to stand visibly, proudly, and publicly for Crimea and its people.

Oscar answers: to keep alive the people whom the world would otherwise fail to save.

Their bond begins when each man sees the other’s answer and cannot quite dismiss it. It deepens when each learns to protect the other’s answer without abandoning his own.

And by the end, “eternal rival” has become something very close to a vow.

In retrospect, it shows that Kieran’s “eternal rival” language is not just a gag. It's identity bound. In FE9 he says:

貴様とオレは永遠の好敵手と定められた

“You and I were destined to be eternal rivals.”

He frames their bond as destiny, not as convenience, not even as a game. And he is wounded that Oscar left without telling him. His complaint is not purely “a knight left the order,” because he does not treat Marcia’s departure from Begnion with the same personal outrage. He doesn't even mention it. With Oscar, the departure is experienced as a rupture in the world. His world.

It deepens in FE10 when rivalry is not just something Kieran uses to get Oscar back to knighthood, but something Oscar uses to get past Kieran’s defences. Kieran immediately accepts because the gift when it becomes proof of exclusive mutual recognition:

貴様の永遠の好敵手はオレ以外であってはならんのだ。

“Your eternal rival must be no one but me.”

That is grammatically absolute. Not “I would prefer it.” Not “I hope.” It must not be otherwise.

Then Oscar says:

まったく…飽きないよ。君と居ると。

“Honestly… I never tire of it, being with you.”

The final phrase 君と居ると matters. It is about presence, not battle, not duty, not institutional service. Oscar, who usually relates through function, says Kieran’s presence itself is inexhaustible to him. It literally gives his life, which revolves around caring for other people, texture.

(And Kieran's cipher cards say :

永遠の好敵手？

Eien no kōtekishu?

“Eternal rival?” / “Lifelong rival?”

The question mark is the kill shot. Not to mention that they basically add: if this unit is supported by Oscar, Kieran gets stronger. Emotional dependency has stats.

Sophia Laforteza (leader)

Partner: Yoonchae

Emblem: Anchor ⚓

Aura: Purple

Semblance: Belts (Canary Cry)

Weapon: ???

Lara Raj

Partner: Megan

Emblem: Key 🗝️

Aura: Green

Semblance: Melodic (Hypnotize)

Weapon: ???

Jeong Yoonchae

Partner: Sophia

Emblem: Shell 🐚

Aura: Pink

Semblance: ???

Weapon: ???

Megan Skiendiel

Partner: Lara

Emblem: Cherry 🍒

Aura: Peach

Semblance: Daze (Blur Senses)

Weapon: ???

Manon Bannerman

Partner: Daniela

Emblem: Tiara 👑

Aura: Yellow

Semblance: Encore (Regenerate Aura)

Weapon: ???

Daniela Avanzini

Partner: Manon

Emblem: Shield 🛡️

Aura: Blue

Semblance: Breeze (Air Walking?)

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Weapon: Gauntlet Claws

Problem: Age, Different Year/Grade in School

Ignore for now. Very much info later for that.

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As Faunus (based on their Monsters)

It has been said that Faunus can only have a single physical trait in common with their animal

Megan - Fox Ears

Yoonchae - Tiger tail

Manon - Scales (Somewhere) and Gills

Daniela - Wolf Ears

Sophia - Bat Ears (pointy ears) and Fangs

Lara - Horns

My pick, Megan and Yoonchae would be Faunus. The others are just Human.

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Kingdoms born in:

Atlas: Sophia, Yoonchae

Vale: Daniela

Mistral: Manon

Vacuo: Lara

- (not a kingdom)

Menagerie: Megan

All moved to Vale, in their own unique ways.

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Primary combat schools

Atlas Academy (Atlas): Sophia

Sanctum Academy (Mistral): Manon

Signal Academy (Vale): Daniela Megan & Yoonchae

Oscuro Academy (Vacuo): Lara

Yoonchae and Megan didn't/couldn't attend. Attend later.

Huntsmen Academies

Beacon Academy (Vale):

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Problem from before: Age, Different Year/Grade in School

Solution: Split

New Team (no better name found)

SABL or SLAB (Sable or Slab) (Avanzini & Bannerman)

SABL attends school.

Second Year

DaNon still Partners

SoLarz now Partners

Meichae or MY (May) or YM (Yam)

Attends school later

First year

Meichae as Partners

(RWBY teams are usually 4 people but they didn't get another duo for teammates)

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Backstories:

Sophia rebels and wants to attend Beacon Academy, instead of staying in Atlas. She kidnaps (somehow, yet also easily convinces) Yoonchae, to go with her and they leave for Vale. Sophia attends Beacon after a year of leaving Atlas.

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Manon, very popular in her school, talented but distracted, has no real friends/toxic friends, leaves for Beacon to escape them and focus better. (Repeated a year)

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Daniela, very talented, combat skills on top, quick, steady, as if she were dancing. ;) Popular put doesn't have friends, focused on her training and studies. Already in Vale. Attends Beacon after Signal. Skipped a year.

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Vacuo is a wasteland outside of Vacuo City, Lara needs to leave, she feels restricted, since she is limitless 🗝️ (badum tch 🥁) .So she leaves. It's as simple as that (Uh-huh). Lara is so very talented and skipped two years. (Manipulation? Semblance? What? Nooo.) (She actually would have only skipped one year but she couldn't take it anymore and 'convinced' hypnotized the headmaster to let her skip two. So now she can attend Beacon)

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So...

Manon and Sophia (02), same age. Both attend one year later than usual.

Daniela (04), skipped one year. Attends earlier.

Lara (05), skipped two years, Attends earlier.

Just for me to feel satisfied, I will clarify

Lets say it's school year 2015/16 Manon and Sophia would normally attend. But didn't/couldn't.

Then it's school year 2016/17 Maphinz attends.

Daniela would normally attend year 2017/18 but she skipped a year so she joined year. 2016/17

Same with Lara, normally year 2018/19, skipped two years. Attends year 2016/17

So they are all in the school year 2016/17

This was for me. Sorry.

Back to Backstories:

Yoonchae and Sophia know each other. Not yet friends. Yoonchae acts cold while Sophia is protective of Yoonchae. (Since Faunus are being discriminated against, even more so in Atlas).

Yoonchae is scared but hides it under annoyed and cold stares. She didn't attend any school, but she watched Sophia training and also unwillingly helped with studying.

While Sophia waited a year to join Beacon, Yoonchae attended one year in Signal and as Yoonchae grew more open also sparred with Sophia, and somehow got into Beacon the next year. (Even tho Signal is like.. 4 years?).

Yoonchae may have also hid her tail? Idk how. Just take it.

Update/Edit: Just realized, Sophia didn't attend Beacon when Yoonchae was in Signal, so Yoonchae was in Signal Year 2 when Sophia was in Beacon Year 1. So she skipped 2 years (like Ruby lol)

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Megan grew up in Menagerie, basically the Island of the Faunus. She is very passionate and wants Equal rights for Faunus. She joined the White Fang (a peaceful organization fighting for Equal rights) The members trained and sparred defence. Megan is very skillful, very slick, very sly. However Megan was deceived by the White Fang, well the White Fang was peaceful at first, but slowly it started to get less peaceful and more violent. And Megan just went with the flow, until she realized this isn't for peace and equality, this is revenge and anger. And Megan cannot support that. So she leaves.

Wanting to get better at fighting she attends Signal Academy. She was one year above Yoonchae. They weren't friends, but Megan always noticed Yoonchae. Even if Yoonchae was hiding it.

Megan also somehow got early into Beacon.

Update/Edit: Megan was one Year above Yoonchae, so she was in Year 3 when Sophia joined Year 1 in Beacon. She skipped one year.

So Yoonchae and Megan are Year One in Beacon

While Team SABL is Year Two in Beacon

Ok. That's it. I've been writing this for at least 1-2 hours.