I understand that Manuela’s character is 95% Horny Anime Joke but there’s just something about an older female character getting to be an unmitigated disaster while also being genuinely kind that makes her so appealing to me.
I just want nothing but good things for this messy vodka aunt who will patch you up, no questions asked, after you did something spectacularly dumb, but she will also complain the entire time about her hangover and how men just don’t appreciate her charm at all.
“Your courage… I will never forget it… Thank you…”
Set on the events after Flayn’s rescue, since we never got to see Seteth thanking Manuela, A cell commission done for twitter user @ dorosethea ! Thank you so much for your support (and for setethuela!) ;;
This following short is an excerpt of my Fire Emblem: Three Houses post-canon fic Rusalka (WIP 15 chapters, 64k+ words and counting). As this scene is a flashback to the events of Ch 7 of the game, this can be read on its own. (The Fire Emblem side of Tumblr is greatly lacking in Seteth/Manuela content.)
It was the first week of the Horsebow Moon, year 1180. A week had passed since Flayn was last seen.
On the one hand, Seteth wasn’t pestering Manuela nearly so often. But on the other hand, it grieved her to see him so worried sick. When he wasn’t pacing the halls near his office and her infirmary, he was in his and Flayn’s quarters, looking for any clue of where she might be.
That Sunday morning, Manuela made her way into Lady Rhea’s meeting chamber to look up an older lesson plan for ideas on how to teach a more advanced magic spell. A few students, especially Lysithea von Ordelia of the Leicester Alliance, were progressing much faster than she anticipated that month, and she wanted to bring herself up to speed so she could more adequately answer questions on the subject next class.
To her surprise, the office door was closed. Gently she rapped her knuckles on the oak door.
“You may enter.” Seteth’s hoarse voice answered back.
Manuela opened the door and let herself in.
Nothing has changed from the room’s usual appearance. Seteth, however, looked rather haggard. Dark circles formed under his eyes, in stark contrast to his pale face. His hair was disheveled, and the wrinkles that appeared when he frowned seemed to be permanent now. He looked almost pitiful, slumped at a desk in defeat from his attempt to focus on paperwork.
He said nothing when Manuela looked through a drawer, found what she was looking for, and grabbed the few sheets of parchment on the subject of Dark Spikes. She glanced back at Seteth, who hadn’t moved. She rested a hand on his wrist.
“Try not to worry.” She whispered in an attempt to console him.
But to no avail. Seteth scoffed. “You ask the impossible. Oh, Flayn… she would have never left the monastery on her own volition. Why is there not a trace of her to be found?”
“Seteth…” But there was not much else she could say or do to comfort him. And so she started away.
Already the knights were getting discouraged, and even Lady Rhea, who knew more of the monastery’s hidden passages than anyone else, said that she had looked everywhere. Although Manuela hadn’t the time to search herself, as she focused on teaching her classes, she made sure to keep an ear open for possible suspects of kidnappers.
It finally paid off when she ate breakfast in the dining hall. Some students speculated who Flayn’s kidnapper could be. Now most comments Manuela brushed aside; she didn’t think many suggested suspects had strong evidence supporting their accusers’ claims. But she made more of an effort to overhear when Felix Fraldarius of all students suggested Professor Jeritza von Hrym.
“There’s something about how he’s handling his blade lately.” He said. “It seems more… impulsive than usual.”
She remembered that Jeritza was going out more often at nights. That there finally marked him a suspect in her book.
Manuela felt even more suspicious about Jeritza, that is, until she spotted a white mask tucked away behind one of the practice dummies. Upon closer inspection, she recognized it as his mask. That surprised her. He never took it off. Some days she’d swear he slept with the thing on.
After she finished her food, Manuela made her way to the training grounds. Jeritza usually sparred in the training grounds at this time. She expected to just talk with him about what he thought happened with Flayn. But when she met with the holy knight Catherine on the grounds, she said she hadn’t seen him that day.
But if it was here instead… perhaps he had tried searching for Flayn as well? And was caught and taken by the enemy?
Or maybe he was just in his quarters, and had just forgotten the mask here.
No matter. She had time today to return it to him. Or at least leave it in his room if he was still out. Manuela picked up the mask, and walked past the Officers Academy and through the reception hall, then finally to the sleeping quarters east of the knights’ hall.
Manuela walked down the hallway to Jeritza’s quarters, and knocked on the door.
“Jeritza? You left your mask at the training grounds. Are you OK?”
No response. No one home.
She reached for the latch. The door was unlocked. She opened the door, and suddenly an eerie feeling loomed over her that caused her to shiver from goosebumps. Her arm hairs stood on end.
But there seemed to be nothing wrong when she looked in. After a deep breath, she walked in and set Jeritza’s mask down on his desk.
She heard the sound of heavy wooden furniture against a large stone wall, and a chill ran up her spine. When Manuela turned around, she saw a large creature in black armor, his helmet resembling a human skull, emerge from a hidden passageway behind a bookshelf.
She knew who it was immediately from the descriptions other students gave. This was the infamous Death Knight.
“Jeritza, is that you?” She asked firmly. “What have you done with Flayn?”
The Death Knight didn’t answer. Angry at the lack of response, Manuela charged up to him. “You better have–”
The Death Knight pulled a knife out of her body. Without thinking, she brought a hand to her chest to locate the pain in her ribcage, and immediately felt blood. She was stabbed. The dastard stabbed her! And the Death Knight was already retreating to the hidden passageway. She tried to step forward, but instead dropped to her knees, then collapsed on the floor.
A good explanation for this, she was going to say. But a sharp pain penetrated her chest, and she shrieked. Loudly.
So this is how it ends, she thought, bleeding out because the dastard wouldn’t finish the job. A potential life flashed before her eyes, a future involving settling down with a man she loved… but it’s too late for all that now. So much for being able to fend for herself like she thought she could.
Through the fog of shock and passing out from blood loss, Manuela remembered that he could have been the one to have kidnapped Flayn. Was she already down there in that secret passageway?
Manuela was lying down, preparing to die. The last thing she could do while she could move was point in the direction of the secret passageway. Hopefully it would be enough for whoever found her to find Flayn as well.
…
Ugh…
Slowly, Manuela stirred, and she recognized pain. It took her a minute to realize that this wasn’t her usual hangover pain; for once, her head didn’t feel incessant knocking against her skull. She then realized the pain was instead coming from her chest, and slowly, the memories started flooding back.
The white mask she found… returning it to Professor Jeritza’s quarters, encountering the Death Knight… Manuela moved her hand to touch where the pain in her chest originated, and her weak arm barely made it. Her wound was covered in bandages, fresh enough to have been changed recently. Thankfully, she sustained no other injuries, and she was alive. Someone must have heard her and found her before it was too late.
As her eyes fluttered open, she found herself in the infirmary. To her surprise, Seteth was there. He sat at her bedside and watched her wake.
“Manuela.” He said.
“Seteth.” She said weakly. “I’m surprised to see you here.”
Seteth simply glanced over the other way. Manuela turned her head, just enough to see Flayn resting on another bed. Of course. He was here for his sister.
“Ah.” She breathed. “I’m glad to see she’s found.”
“It was because of you that Flayn has returned.” Seteth finally said.
What… oh. “She was in that hidden passageway in Jeritza’s quarters, wasn’t she?”
He nodded. “Some students heard you scream. While Professor Hanneman brought you to the infirmary, Professor Byleth and her class went down the passageway. They confronted the Death Knight, but he escaped. They returned with Flayn and Monica von Ochs.”
“Monica…” The name was familiar, but it took her a second to remember. “The Black Eagle student who disappeared six months ago?” Monica had vanished just before her class’s graduation. Word had it that she packed up and left for home, fearful that she wouldn’t pass her final tests, but her father, Baron Ochs, never saw her return. Thankfully he did not blame the Church for her disappearance.
“The same.”
Thank the Goddess. The corners of Manuela’s mouth pulled up into a relieved smile. It seems more have been saved and found than what had been lost. And it was in part because of her.
She would have to make sure that the Death Knight, or anyone else for that matter, would not be able to take her down so quickly again. Next time, there would be no escape for him.
But for now she’d have to bide her time and wait for that sorry attacker to appear again. When she recovered, she would have to refocus on her classes and writing a letter to Baron Ochs about his daughter’s return.
What had happened to her in the last six months? And how much did it change her?
“Are they awake?” Manuela asked Seteth.
“Not yet.”
Only time will tell, she supposed. “And who took care of my wounds?”
“Professor Hanneman and the house lords brought you to the infirmary, but it was mainly Hanneman and myself who tended to your injuries while Professor Byleth and her students recovered Flayn and Monica.”
“Thank you, Seteth.” She tried to sound as sincere as possible; perhaps she had been too hard on him in the past. “I thought I was done for.”
“It was the least I could do.”
“The least? Are you holding out on me, dear Seteth?”
Seteth grunted that usual frustrated grunt. For some reason this time, it made her laugh.
“I only tease.” She said through a smile. “I am glad to hear Flayn is well. And Monica too. This is all very good news.”
“And it wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t confronted the Death Knight. From the bottom of my heart, I can’t thank you enough for bringing Flayn back.”
Manuela smiled weakly. With nothing else to concern herself with, she eased more comfortably in her bed. “I did it for you, you know.”
Seteth froze in place, like a statue. “What?” he said, barely above a whisper.
“You looked so worried. So much more than usual. There’s your usual fretting over keeping order in the monastery, but this was different. Like a father grieving over a lost child. No one deserves that kind of pain. And so when I finally heard a good clue on who could have done this… I followed it. And it led me to Professor Jeritza.”
Manuela instinctively touched her stab wound. “Ow…”
“You should rest a little longer.” Seteth encouraged.
“Hmm… alright.” Manuela relaxed herself, slowing her breathing, and closed her eyes.
Except though she was exhausted, resting her eyes seemed a chore. Instead she looked over to Seteth, who had returned to Flayn’s bedside, and held her small hand.
“Oh, Flayn…” he finally whispered, many minutes later. “I should have never allowed this to happen in the first place.” Another long, heavy pause. “I can only hope that you’ll forgive me when we leave again.”
Manuela didn’t quite comprehend what else Seteth said to Flayn, as her eyes now felt heavy, and she drifted to sleep. When she woke up, Seteth was gone, but she noticed Flayn beginning to stir.
“Flayn.” Manuela whispered.
Flayn slowly fluttered her eyes open. “Hmm?”
“Flayn, you’re safe now.”
Flayn took in her surroundings, recognized Manuela, and sighed deeply in relief. “At last! Thank you…” Flayn squinted at Manuela. “Manuela.”
She glanced around the room again. “I would have thought my brother would be here.”
“He was.” Manuela reassured.
“He was? What did he say?”
That took a minute for Manuela to think about and then summarize. “He caught me up on what happened after I found the Death Knight. Professor Byleth and her class found you. He’s so relieved you’re safe. He said something about you two possibly leaving…”
“What?!” Flayn shrieked. “No. No no no…”
Mustering up her strength, Flayn stood up from her bed, and left for the door. “I cannot let him do this to me. Not again.”
It amazed Manuela how quickly Flayn got up and left. What was so urgent, she wondered. Whatever happened, Flayn must have persuaded him to stay, and somehow managed to enroll in the Officers Academy as a part of their agreement.
I found this format through @pandirpus and liked it enough to give it a go (and include some stuff from my earlier years before I’ve done reviews like this.) Any writer friends that want to try it out are welcome!
Published word count for the year: 196,288 total. From 2019: 41,165. From 2020: 77,945. From this year, 2021: 77,179. (Dang, I wrote and published more than I thought this year compared to the last. Go me!)
Written word count for the year: About 278,963 all time. (Too many Google Docs to attempt to get an accurate amount from each year.)
Number of stories posted to AO3: 25 total, 14 just this year. Of the all time total, 17 are from Stardew Valley and 6 from Fire Emblem: Three Houses.
Fandoms I wrote for: Stardew Valley, Fire Emblem: Three Houses, and a brief stint into Loki (TV Show). (In 2020 I also added my very first fanfic for Darkwing Duck that is now ten years old.)
Pairings written for: Of the pairs I actively made (or am making) their stories focus on the romance…
Most popular story:Always. For All Time. wins by total kudos. That’s what I get for writing for a very populated Marvel fanbase lol
Story I’m most proud of: For Stardew Valley, HomeandOur Friend Linus. (But really, anything from this collection was fun to write.) For FE3H, my long-fic Rusalka. I’m thirteen chapters (54k words) into it, and I feel like I might actually finish something novel-length with this one.
Kinkiest/Flirtiest: I don’t do smut. The most flirty I get is probably between Alex and Sara the end of Dinner Date for Stardew Valley and a couple Seteth and Manuela interactions in Rusalka for FE3H.
Saddest: From 2021, Stardew Valley’s Evelyn. From 2020, FE3H’s Haunted.
Least popular:Clear Sky, my novelization of the prologue of Fire Emblem: Three Houses, suffered most from initial “advertising” (accidentally misleading plot summary) upon release. also, no ships
Most cringe-worthy: Probably my first publication, a diary/journal of a generic farmer’s first three seasons in Stardew Valley. I had written it intending to end at about Summer Year 2 and splitting off into a bunch of different farmers’ stories with each bachelor or bachelorette. The farmers (and what I want to write) evolved drastically since.
Favorite opening lines: “Willy stepped outside of his fishing shop and home and inhaled a great, satisfying waft of sea-salty air. A pleasantly cool rain drizzled on his face, and his lips curled into a smile. It will be a mighty fine day for catching red snappers, he thought.” ~ Rain, Smoke, and Fish
Favorite closing lines: ““Good kid,” Marlon said. “Bummed I missed the lesson. It’s been, what, fifteen years since your last one?” “Be here tomorrow, practice dummy,” Gil said. “I’ll put you to work.” Marlon laughed. “You’ve been saying that for forty-one years, Gil. And I still don’t believe you.” Gil shrugged as he rocked his chair, a sly smile creeping onto his face.” ~ A New Apprentice
Top scenes from anywhere you would choose to have illustrated™: For Stardew Valley, Elliott/Nicole looking at the Moonlight Jellies, whether from the dock or a rowboat. For FE3H, Ferdithea during a yet-to-be published scene of them dancing at a ball together.
Story I haven’t written yet, but intend to: For Stardew Valley, maybe a couple of short stories. The bigger goal is to write about Harvey and his relationship with an OC psychiatrist named Kim. For FE3H, I’ve had for over a year a thirteen-chapter WIP of meetings between that many pairs in the Goddess Tower.
Fic-writing goal for 2022: Publish at least ten more chapters of the long-fic Rusalka before 2023.
