Note: Hey there! Just wanted to say that this is a collection of short chapters (they should all be less than 1000 words...I'm trying to limit how much I ramble, here.) that will include all the playable characters in Three Houses (which I love to death, it's by far my favorite Fire Emblem game). The important thing to note is that most of these will be pre-timeskip, and there aren't lots of spoilers. In fact, I try to make things as spoiler free as possible, but there will be some info that is spoiler territory, especially concerning character backstory and what not.

I really did make a fanfiction just so I could have character studies done by the fishing pond. Like, that's all this is. So that being said, please know that I'm only on the Golden Deer route right now. I don't know too much in-depth details about other routes, so hopefully that doesn't show too much with these studies. This is an ongoing series, and I'll update it whenever I feel like it, or whenever I learn more about certain characters and supports that I feel comfy for writing them.

Now, before this gets longer than the actual fic itself, I want to say thank you for reading anything I write, and I appreciate all of you for your support. Enjoy!

She wasn't hurt by the fact that Byleth chose another house over hers. She wasn't even stung by the fact that Byleth explicitly chose Claude's house over hers. Of course, Claude was a capable man, skillful and cunning in ways that no one else could be. Although his tendency to scheme and keep secrets was questionable at best, not to mention that his seemingly laidback nature was off-putting, for someone in a position as powerful as his.

Or maybe he didn't have power at all. Because Edelgard knew what it was like to have power, and she knew how to act because of the power that weighed heavily on her shoulders. And, if she was lucky enough to make it past this year, the weight would transfer to her head, as the Adrestian Crown would soon sit.

But Edelgard didn't like leaving things to luck—one of the few things she had in common with Claude.

So if that was the case, why was she at the fishing docks, standing alone at the pond with nothing but the moonlight over her?

It was because of that Byleth, damn them. They were stoic and deadpan when they needed to be, but on more than one occasion, they bit back with a sense of sarcasm and humor that was finely layered beneath that unbreakable visage of theirs. Edelgard witnessed this herself the first night she tried to fish.

"You know you don't have to go to such lengths," Byleth said. "Fishing isn't the monastery's main focus."

"I know that," she sternly replied. "I'm aware. As the future leader of the Adrestian Empire, it's imperative that I am more than just capable of leading my nation. I have to be exceptional."

"Oh," they said. "And so you're telling me that when it comes to being exceptional...fishing is the first thing that comes to mind?"

At the time, Byleth's face was even and set, as it always was. But Edelgard caught a hint of something—a tiny movement in the corners of their lips that was unavoidably, unmistakably, a smile.

She didn't like the way that it caused her own chest to ache, like she had been missing something as innocuous and sweet as a smile her whole life. Yet, she wasn't about to be outdone. Although she couldn't best the professor in combat even if she tried (and she did try), there were other aspects of life where she could shine just as bright, if not brighter than the cheeky mercenary hire.

"I'll show you," Edelgard affirmed to herself. "Me? Bested by some fish? I think not!" Her fishing line was top-notch, sleek, and silvery as it moved through her fingers. Expertly, she loaded it into her fishing rod, aligned it with the proper loops and fastenings, and made sure that nothing was snagged in the end.

Then she took a deep breath, inhaled the fresh air, and gazed upon the sparkling water.

She cast her line.