#* character study: alleria windrunner / A BEING BORN OF LIGHT TURNED INSTEAD TO SHADOW.

[diguerra-moved]

Maintaining the Forsaken population through "recruitment" and physical preservation is a huge motivator for Sylvanas. What is Alleria's stance on maintaining the ren'dorei population, given that the defining feature of their group is wielding the void? Is she interested in recruiting more people? What would she do if the ren'dorei population declined, either through death, corruption, or relinquishing their identity? Does having the ren'dorei bear as much on Alleria's life as it does on Sylv's?

UNPROMPTED ASKS // always accepting.

I don’t think the ren'dorei are as much a driving motivation for Alleria as the Forsaken were for Sylvanas. While a parallel might be made between them as both being groups they themselves did not create but which they were fundamental in aiding and came to lead as a result, Sylvanas did it in a more purposeful manner and meant to lead from the start, since she meant to use them in having revenge against Arthas. Meanwhile, Alleria’s drive was to find out what happened to a group of her people that, like herself, were banished of their homeland for dabbing in the Void, and ultimately to save them when she finds out what happened to them and eventually finds Umbric and the rest of them in Telogrus Rift. Becoming their leader was never her purpose; even after they were saved, her purpose was to teach them how to defend themselves and do the most with their newly acquired connection with the Void, a connection that they don’t really have a choice of not keeping. Alleria wanted to help, because it’s always been one of her fundamental drives to protect and generally do all that she can to help her people — and they are her people even before they are ren’dorei. 

She never meant to have others follow the path she followed, either. While Alleria chose to study the Void to better fight it, this is connected to her own perspective of things and her mentality of understanding her prey and how it works to find its weaknesses and vulnerabilities. This isn’t something I think she’d see as a process everyone needs to go through to fight the Void, but that someone had to in order to provide them the necessary knowledge and strength to fight when the Void truly comes for Azeroth. So having others follow her same path isn’t necessary and probably quite counterproductive with how vulnerable their minds have to be, the connection not being one way, and the entire thing being a constant struggle. Teaching the ren’dorei is necessary, for their own safety and for the safety of their world and those around the Void Elves.

This is all to say I don’t think she’d ever encourage people to simply follow the path she did. It is a struggle, one that’s all too easy to lose, one that can have dire consequences for those who cannot keep the Void under control, and for those around them as well. Like I said, I don’t think she sees it as a necessary advantage to have, not for now; if she ever reached the conclusion an army of void touched soldiers would be the most effective against the Void Lords, for example, that would likely change, but as is that’s not the case, and the strengths the Void Elves have against the Void is much of a double-edged sword, considering all they struggle with to wield it. 

So while they are her people, I don’t see Alleria seeing it as a need to keep their numbers. Her purpose is to help those who became Void Elves, not to make more of them. If for some reason the ren’dorei population declined to the point of extinction, I don’t think she’d try to avoid it by seeking a way to make more of them, or encouraging people to seek the Void. She won’t. It’s not a path anyone can follow, and I think she’s more likely to discourage people seeking it than encourage them, because it’s not a decision to be made lightly, it’s something that will require long term compromise and that likely cannot be undone. Sure, losing them for whichever reason, be it death or corruption or something else, it would wound her, she would suffer their losses, and she’d feel extremely responsible and try to prevent whatever was harming them best she could, but she wouldn’t try to make up for the losses with new ren’dorei, like Sylvanas and the Forsaken.

The Void can be a weapon, but it has to be controlled, and control is not easy to maintain. Alleria knows that. In spite of her choices, she wouldn’t encourage anyone to follow her path. It is a constant struggle, with the Void trying to take away control from you the entire time. The Locus-Walker’s first lesson was about keeping her sanity, because it is the most important: not being able to keep her sanity, what she could do with that power wouldn’t matter in the long run. Void magic is dangerous, and Alleria is not oblivious to it, and she’s not overconfident on the control she and the ren’dorei have over it. Sometimes the needs outweigh the dangers, but If you have a choice, Alleria would encourage you not to use it.

I think she’d never encourage someone to follow that path, unless she saw it as necessary to fight the Void and save Azeroth. She might be willing to teach people who are willing, and who believe they can endure it and make the required sacrifices, but she’d never try to convince people to do it, much less force it upon them, even if it means the ren’dorei no longer existing. 

That isn’t to say they aren’t important to her – they are. Alleria leads them because she has the knowledge and strength they need, but also because she cares a lot; and because while having different origins, they all have a common identity based on their past as formerly quel/sin’dorei, their banishment from their homeland, their ties to the Void ofc, and being welcomed and embraced by the Alliance (it could even be argued their drive to act on behalf of their people, to help them find a better path, since that is what led Umbric to study the Void and others to follow him iirc). Out of any group/race, the ren’dorei are her people more than any other right now. She cares for them immensely, and does her best to lead them and teach them as well as she’s able. She’d do what she can to protect them too; they did end up becoming part of her drives, and while she didn’t mean to lead (Alleria never meant to become a leader) she still ended up leading, and while she’s still adapting to it, she does take them in consideration in her decisions and actions now. They matter to her a lot, but their path is not easy, and she wouldn’t have others following it if it could be avoided.

[diguerra-moved]

Allerias reaction to finding out Arator has died. For science.

SEND ME HEADCANON QUESTIONS // accepting.

She would be broken. I know I joke about how she would 100% open the way for the Void Lords themselves to come take Azeroth or just kill everyone, but while it is a joke, Arator dying would make her much more vulnerable to the Void, not only because her love for him is the main anchor she holds on to for her sanity, but because even if she didn’t, Alleria would be left in a terrible place. If we’re talking ‘Arator dies’ but like, two hundred years from now after having lived a good, if at times difficult, life, and he dies bc idk, age, it is much less likely she would lose it completely; although it would still leave her deeply hurt, with the kind of hurt she would never recover from completely, not really, much like Lirath’s death. It would still be hard for her to go on and keep living, but eventually she might. 

It’s something else if someone kills him, regardless of when; if he’s killed, there will be hell to pay and she’ll make sure she’ll have her revenge on whoever killed him and that she’ll make them suffer (and… she knows even then Arator would not condone it, but she’s not good, she never was, not like he was; he was light and they took him away, and there’s nothing but darkness, nothing but suffering, and she will see the one who did it suffer, it’s the least, the only thing there’s left). And she’d be bloody brutal about it too because… she has nothing to lose anymore, she can take her sweet time making them pay, and if they escape it doesn’t matter, they can’t hurt Arator anymore, she’ll only hunt them down and make them suffer more. Her reaction is turning to anger and rage and violence; and after she has revenge, it’s just overwhelming grief but at the same time emptiness she won’t know how to deal with. 

“Anger is better than tears, better than grief, better than guilt” is like, very much Alleria’s philosophy but once there’s nowhere to turn that anger to, it might just end up turned at herself, even if it doesn’t make sense. With Arator dying, regardless of how or when, I think she’d be at denial in a first moment but it would quickly be replaced by sorrow and despair because losing him hurts and she doesn’t know what to do or how to deal with the fact he’s gone. I don’t think she’d be able to even bother with trying to avoid the tears and grief, but it would be very raw hurt, hurt she doesn’t know how to deal with and it’s just too much and she just wants it to stop. Feeling nothing would be better than feeling this, Alleria is certain. She would be broken, and it would be immediate, because she wouldn’t be able to even try to hold herself together for as long as she did after Lirath died, not even pretending, not even bothering enough to pretend. She would be broken, in a worse way than ever before.

[diguerra-moved]

How tall is Alleria?

UNPROMPTED ASKS // always accepting.

She’s smol… 

Actually she’s not really smol, and is within what I think? is average? for a High/Blood Elf, being 5′8′’. Everyone else around her is very tall though, so she’s the shortest of the three Windrunner sisters.

[diguerra-moved]

How would Alleria react to seeing her actions in the Horrific Visions of Stormwind version?

I’m pretty sure she does see the Horrific Vision

Alleria Windrunner: The whispers did not end with his defeat. In fact, it seems new voices have joined the chorus. When I think of the nightmares he forced into my mind…High Exarch Turalyon: I witnessed them, too. But they didn’t shake my faith in you. Not for a moment.

While, yes, this could be about other things and probably isn’t exclusively about the Horrific Vision, I personally take it as being partially about it. 

I think Alleria would be pretty shaken by the Horrific Vision, because it is something that is possible — she is always extremely aware that falling to the Void is a possibility, all it would take is a slip on her part: remaining aware of the danger is part of how she fights it. And because it is such a real, tangible possibility to her, to see it come to pass would be more than simply unnerving… it would be terrifying. It is something she is deeply afraid of, specially with the implications of it causing her to harm those she loves. Alleria trained with the Locus-Walker within the Void and made a point of not returning before she knew she was ready because she didn’t want to be a threat to those she loves, and so she wouldn’t be near them until she was ready. The Horrific Vision is basically all that could go wrong going wrong, because it is her losing control, Azeroth losing the fight against the Void (and guaranteeing this doesn’t happen is why Alleria sought the Void in the first place), and her choices causing people she loves (and not any people, but the two she arguably loves the most) to be hurt by her own hand.

The bit with Turalyon is djnjkfasnfksjnf complicated. Live version of the visions doesn’t have as much dialogue between them as datamining had, from what I have seen when doing the visions in the least? But anyways, the point is: Alleria would never ever want to hurt him. In spite of all their problems (and of my personal issues with Turalyon and how their relationship is portrayed in game), Alleria loves him. Even if she knows they are fated to fall apart, she does love him, and she’d never take any sort of joy in hurting him or seeing him killed. That said: Alleria does regret the path he followed, and she does think it is one he follows blindly. She doesn’t think he is a coward, or that he is weak, like her corrupted version accuses him of being, but she does think he is blind and misguided (not that the Light is necessarily bad but? that no one should trust it 100% and Turalyon trusts it more than 100% aksndakjnsd); she doesn’t think he stands between her and the Void (for all his mistakes he never tried to stop her from doing anything unless he believed she was endangering herself), but Alleria does hold some resent that he seems to only trust her because he believes she’ll go back to the Light. So the corrupted version misses the point, but at the same time she hits just close enough that it would make Alleria more than a little uncomfortable about it. 

Which is honestly bad. I think it would get her to question some of what she thinks/feels about how he acted even though she’s very justified in those feelings.

Anyways. She hates it and would never do it, but there is something about the reasoning that just hits too close and it’s unsettling to her to say the least.

That said, I didn’t mention Arator yet because that’s where things turn a bit. Her sacrificing Arator is the worst part, but it is also the part that reassures her this can’t be real because she would never, not in this world nor in any other, not in any version of reality, hurt Arator in any way. Anyone can argue there is no guarantee of that, but this isn’t how she feels. This is the one certainty she feels in her life above everything else. She is incapable of hurting Arator. Even if it hurts her, even if it means her end, even if it causes everything else to be lost. For good or bad, Alleria is certain she can’t hurt him at all — so yeah, that is the worst part of the Vision, but it is also what makes her the most aware this is a nightmare that would never really happen (not like that, in the least). It could also be argued Alleria could act like that believing she was making what’s best for him but uh, I’m pretty sure his desperate screaming would convince her otherwise.

That said, although she’d be deeply affected by it, Alleria wouldn’t? React much really. She’d bury it for the most part, because that’s what she does; it would be nights without sleep, and being overly dedicated to war (fighting the black empire is definitely something she’d see as a war, and an actual important one), and being extra exhausted mentally because this on top of old gods lose and the black empire threatening to return, all of it definitely takes a heavy toll on her mind (emotionally too tbh). And even beyond all of that, and how it affects her deep and personally, she’d have to deal with the fact that other people saw it; people who might have been unconvinced of her ability to control the Void before, and who’d be less than reassured by seeing just how wrong it could go.

Basically, she’s probably at the worst she has been, emotionally/mentally/psychologically in a long while, but she is too busy making sure that’s not how she appears to others, and in fact would make an extra effort to seem even more strong and in control than the usual. People who are really really close to her and who she trusts might see her break though (and by people I mean like, Vereesa ieuhfuihsdiuhf).

[diguerra-moved]

lbr the real meta is Alleria meeting Rhonin

SEND ME META ASKS // accepting.

That depends on when it happens! I’ll try to do both the Alleria stayed and Rhonin lived versions of it.

If she had stayed, Alleria would try not to be judgmental (and yeah, it sounds real hypocritical of her when she’s like, frowning at the two of them while holding a half elf baby BUT LISTEN---) when Vereesa and Rhonin get together, it isn’t really that long after she had Arator, and Alleria.... Alleria doesn’t think relationships between humans and elves work. It is reason number one she refuses to let Turalyon become anything to her, even before all the tragedy and stuff; they’d have no future. 

And she’d be really really concerned about Vereesa falling in love with Rhonin for that very reason? Because no matter how great Rhonin might be, or how much they love each other, or them being happy now, he’s bound to live less than she will, and Vereesa will be left with a broken heart for the rest of her very long life because she loved him so much but his entire life is but a fraction of her own. She’d be a little hesitant about being direct about it with Vereesa, because she wouldn’t want to hurt her either. I think instead of being direct, that’d manifest a lot in antagonism towards Rhonin himself, even if the entire time she’s thinking he is a great guy, and that she can see he loves her sister, but it just won’t be enough because he’ll die and Vereesa will suffer and she doesn’t want her sister to suffer with a heartbreak that can’t be avoided.

Specially early on, it’d be difficult for her not to be like that, and I guess that might strain Vereesa’s and Alleria’s relationship, that might already be strained because Alleria is awful by then because she is pushing everyone away. She’s still angry and still hasn’t processed her grief, she hasn’t dealt with her feelings towards Turalyon (that aren’t love but? she has his child? there is obviously something there she’s refusing to acknowledge? she has his child and she’s pretending he doesn’t exist and leaving him on read whenever he tries to write to her again and aksdnkjasnf Alleria might be all the worse towards Rhonin and Vereesa because of what she’s ignoring in her own life aksnjfkajsdnf Alleria is so fucking messy I’m)

I don’t think she’d give Rhonin a chance because of all of that, not at first. Which is a shame because she would have appreciated his sass, and also how much he cares for her baby sister c’: She would eventually come around, though, but it would probably take a few years and reestablishing her own bond with Vereesa first.

If he was alive when she returned by Legion? Then Alleria would still be a little :/ because he’ll still die before Vereesa, but she’d focus more on them being happy in whichever time they have together, and she’d be very happy Vereesa wasn’t alone and had someone who loved her. Also he’d have cared for Arator alongside her, and Alleria is eternally grateful. Like, there really is no question whatsoever, she likes Rhonin from the start --- and his personality, and who he is and all he has done, and his love for Vereesa (and Arator!) only make her like him all the more. She sees him as family from the very start; which means a lot coming from Alleria, because family is what she prizes the most.

[diguerra-moved]

Arator brings home an orc friend, how does Alleria respond?

WELL THAT WOULD BE FUN

Except not really, not at all. Not for her, anyways. Alleria would be extremely uncomfortable, and definitely visibly tense the entire time. The thing is, the orc friend being Arator’s friend, I’m sure they’re not bad, and that they are Arator’s friend would be enough to make her show much more restraint than she would in a different situation. It isn’t even that she trusts Arator’s judgment no matter what, because quite honestly I think she would find it naive of him to make friends with orcs, but that she would do everything possible not to hurt him in any way, so treating his friend with due respect is of course included on this. Alleria would not be openly aggressive or rude towards his friend, but I think it’d be really easy to see through the politeness she’d offer, because it would be stiff, it would be only in the surface, and yet it would still demand a tremendous effort from her because her first instinct towards orcs might no longer be open aggression, but it’s still to see them as enemies. 

If possible, she’d avoid the meeting happening at all. Alleria won’t prevent Arator from making friends wherever he thinks he can find them, but truth is she is not invested on letting go of her prejudices. She doesn’t want to make the effort. Orcs killed her family and invaded her homeland and her world, and while I think it would be possible, if extremely difficult, that she eventually let go of her antagonism towards them, Alleria doesn’t want to try — she sees no reason to. She thinks it is enough that she won’t attack them unprovoked; more than that would be too much. And people around her are surely free to do as they will, but she’ll always be doubtful when they choose to trust or befriend orcs, as she’s still unable to see them as worthy of trust and much less friendship, and does believe they will eventually show their true nature — which Alleria doesn’t believe to be about honor, as much as the orcs might like to claim it, but that it is about violence and destruction. 

‘But there are orcs that have actively tried to change that! They try to be honorable! Thrall worked to make a better Horde!’ someone might say. Well, none of that matters to her. For all Saurfang might have done right, there are a bunch of things she’d point out he did wrong; for all Thrall might have acted better and certainly actively acted to do what was better for Azeroth, she’d take issue with the fact he still saw Orgrim Doomhammer as a hero-like figure, someone worthy of tribute, someone they should name their capital after. For all the talk about the Horde being different, she’s been back on Azeroth for what? Two? Years? And since then they have committed attempted genocide against the kaldorei and open war against the Alliance; Saurfang switching sides does not change that, and that he challenged Sylvanas not when the honorless act happened, but only much later on, it truly doesn’t make her see him or his race with any more favorable eyes. In the end of the day, Alleria might have come a long way from her ‘all orcs have to die and I’ll kill every single one of them even the ones that cannot fight even the ones who are defeated children if I have to’ but she’s still deeply prejudiced against them, and her hatred hasn’t gone away completely, and that might never happen. 

So yeah, Alleria still hates orcs, plain and simple, and she is not making any effort to change that, because she sees no reason why she should. So if Arator brought home an orc friend, she wouldn’t be openly disrespectful or aggressive, but she’d be visibly uncomfortable and tense, and any politeness she offered would sound hollow and not meant because, well, that’s what it would be. I don’t think she’d actively see the orc as a threat, even if she’s always distrustful of them, which is why I think what she’s most likely to do is to try to leave as soon as she could without it being offensive/disrespectful — not because she cares for the feelings of his friend, because she really doesn’t, but because Alleria cares for Arator’s feelings. Avoiding them altogether is what she’d think is best for everyone, because she wouldn’t be able to keep the polite act; it’d either become ignoring them or acting antagonistic and she wouldn’t want to do that to someone Arator considers a friend, so she’d try to just. Not have to be there. 

[diguerra-moved]

how WOULD alleria deal with willa dying for her: corrupted and not corrupted. also would it change depending on who killed her.

UNPROMPTED ASKS // always accepting.

thanks she’d hate it

No, seriously, Alleria is not good with grief. She doesn’t know how to deal with the deaths of people close to her, and she blamed herself even for some she could not have prevented, like her brother’s death. With Willa literally dying for her, there would be no way she wouldn’t blame herself for it and be consumed by guilt on top of the unprocessed grief. Whoever killed Willa would be murdered immediately, but vengeance wouldn’t bring her back, and once it was done, Alleria would despair. Even if she still had Arator or her sisters, she would want to die too. Even if people actively kept her from doing something that would get her killed, I don’t see Alleria ever recovering from losing her love and the one person who did love her unconditionally, specially not when Willa died for her. She’d never seek to bring her back as undead; she has already taken more than she should ever have had by having Willa sacrifice herself for her. She’d try to follow her into death, not bring her back to life. I don’t think who killed her impacts on how Alleria deals (or not) with Willa dying for her, because 1. they die in a bloody and painful way regardless 2. Alleria largely blames it on herself. 

If she was corrupted, that depends on the corruption I guess. It’d be a more volatile reaction regardless, certainly one with a bigger lashing out that would result in more death well before she does chase the one who killed Willa — but she gets them no matter what, and she murders them too. I think that’s the main change tbh: if she was corrupted, her grief would turn to anger and destruction, regardless of who she blamed for it, and not really aimed at a single person or group, even if she would take revenge on the specific person/people who killed Willa. Meanwhile, not being corrupted her grief is more likely to turn her to a similar place to when Lirath died, and having her grow depressed and want to die too. 

[diguerra-moved]

alleria was with the army of the light and turalyon for 500 years

Alleria and Turalyon had lived through more than five hundred years in the Twisting Nether. For Azeroth, it had been about twenty since the end of the Second War, barely a single generation. Its champions were facing another critical war. 

then she spent 500 years on her own

Being captured had not exactly been part of her plan, but circumstances had required some improvisation. If nothing else, it had brought her close to her prize. Five hundred years of searching had passed. Now her goal was within reach.

and after that (which is all assumptions from now on because there’s no defined timeline)

she spend a couple months in niskara. I’m assuming it wasn’t just days/weeks because she says the demons already grow frustrated with her not telling them anything ("Good." Alleria had kept watch on the Legion's interrogators. Over the past few days, they had grown visibly frustrated that her will had not been broken. Time was short.)

she goes with the locus-walker to the void, where he trains her. I have no idea how time passes in the void (is time even something that applies there?), but considering it was time enough for her to be trained and do everything to master it except the very last part of her giving herself to the void which she does later with l’ura and etc, I’d say it was the equivalent to a couple centuries at least. Maybe around 300-400?

she’s warned her training is going too fast, and ends up getting the vision of the demon ripping off turalyon’s soul, and goes back to the xenedar to save him

xe’ra locks her up. it isn’t clear for how long, as the first mention we have of it is dialogue between lothraxion and turalyon that merely states she had still been imprisoned when the xenedar crashed. when alleria speaks of it, there’s no indication of time either (Alleria Windrunner says: And what then? I was locked in a cell for delving into the Void against her wishes. Will she make me a prisoner again? Or worse?). For my interpretation, I choose to have it as being at least a couple centuries too, though less than the time she spent with the locus-walker in the void. Between 100-200 years, perhaps.

Other relevant things:

it took her two years to wield the light as a weapon so well that she no longer needed her bow and used it just because she wanted to (Within two years—from Alleria and Turalyon's perspective—her arrows were wreathed in the power of the Light. She could have forgone her bow and arrows altogether, but it pleased her to bring Thas'dorah, the legacy of her family, into battle against the forces of evil.)

when the sunwell is destroyed, she’s with the army of the light still.

by the time of tbc, she and turalyon go to argus for the first time. it is then that they get separated, and she leaves to look for the locus-walker. she leaves before the sunwell is restored.

[diguerra-moved]

topic for alleria: favorite sounds

SEND ME A TOPIC TO WRITE A META ABOUT MY MUSE ON // accepting.

Alleria is very fond of music, though particularly that of her homeland; it is something that was always part of her life, and that she always enjoyed. Even more particularly, she enjoys thalassian flutes, a liking particularly tied to her brother, who used to play it.

Thalassian itself; she spent a thousand years away from Azeroth, and with people who did not speak Thalassian. Even if she taught someone, it would have felt like a poor substitute to having her mother tongue spoken around her. Even if it’s not spoken to her necessarily, she definitely enjoys hearing it, be it in songs or conversation; being surrounded by it would be one of the things that would most make her feel at home.

Last but not least, ambient sounds mostly tied to forests/woods, but also nature ambient sounds in general. Wind blowing and rustling leaves, branches creaking, the flowing water of a river, bird wings and chirping, even the sounds made by small animals and insects. Void Elf or not, she’s still very connected to nature, but as a ranger from Quel’thalas, her special connection is to the woods, and her favorite sounds are tied to it too. 

Rain, too. There wasn’t a lot of rain going on in worlds conquered by the Legion or in the Void, and it’s something she came to appreciate a lot more upon returning, but that she would have been pretty indifferent towards before. She enjoys it specially when it’s pouring, but isn’t really a storm.

Her favorites are all tied to things that mattered to her for some particular reason, be it good memories and the connection to people she loved, or how their tied to places she loves and where she felt she belonged, and overall just, things that are dear to her and that she missed deeply in her time away from Azeroth.

[diguerra-moved]

E, L, V, E, S (the other E can be for........ how endearing others find them/how they endear others to them idk) for Alleria!

*     VALENTINE’S DAY ALPHABET   !    // accepting.

E   :   EMBRACE.   does your muse like hugs? what are their hugs like?

She loves hugs tbh. She won’t initiate them unless it’s someone she’s close to and knows is okay with hugs, but Alleria is a big fan of hugs and will often hug people she cares about. Her hugs are really nice, too! Strong, but far from the point of hurting, and also very soft and soothing. It’s the sort of hug that’s full of caring and are very nice and comforting.

L   :   LOVE.   who does your muse love?

Answered here but did I mention she loves Arator? Because she loves her son most of all and she demands I say it again.

V   :   VALENTINE.   how does your muse feel about valentine’s day?

Alleria doesn’t care much. She’s all for people enjoying it if they like it, and definitely would like seeing people she cares for happier because of it, but she doesn’t care. I feel like she’d forget about it completely more often than not, until something reminded her somehow asiudfjaksdn 

If her partner cares, though, she’d make an effort for them and try to get them something, go out on a date, idk.

E : ENDEAR. how endearing is your muse? how do they endear others to them?

She doesn’t do it purposefully tbh kasjndkfjnaf Alleria never tries, and if she did what might endear her to others likely wouldn’t work out the same way. I don’t know, but I think what captivates people most about her are some of her best qualities: how upfront she is about things, how passionate she is about things she cares about, her honesty, her strength. I feel like those would be the traits that would more often make it to tales about her, so it is somewhat tied to what makes people see her in a more heroic light, as well. Alleria isn’t sweet, she’s not gentle; but she’s caring, and she’s passionate, and she’ll stand for what she thinks is right no matter what, and I feel like those are the traits that would captivate people the most about her.

S   :   SWEETHEART.   did your muse have a childhood sweetheart?

Childhood sweetheart, per say, I don’t think so, regardless of verse. Alleria was probably too busy getting into all sorts of trouble and being a chaotic kid to really have that. Other than that, though, while they were not children, Willa and Alleria were teenagers when they met, and Alleria had a crush from the very start.

[diguerra-moved]

w i l l a (for alleria)

*     VALENTINE’S DAY ALPHABET   !    // accepting.

W  :   WEDDING.   would your muse get married? why / why not?

She would get married but also she’d be difficult about it on most circumstances because, I don’t know, saying she loves someone and being committed to the point she’d give her life for them is fine but getting married? No thanks. Alleria can be like that for no apparent reason. If she and Willa had worked things out before she was ever romantically involved with him, I don’t think she’d have as much of a problem with it, as she wouldn’t have for example if things had worked out between her and someone else before the Second War.

I have a headcanon somewhere that is not at all a shitpost because it’s true where I said Turalyon probably asked her to marry him after they were together, and Alleria repeatedly said no even though she had every intention to stay with him (and I think they still haven’t officially married because of that). By that point, it was less about their divergences in terms of culture, religion etc, and more about Alleria not wanting to say yes for some reason she can’t explain herself.

Even after she’s no longer with him, and she and Willa are together again and this time for good, Alleria would be, uh, slippery about marriage. There isn’t a clear reason for that tbh; she doesn’t care much for formalities and making things official like that, and that they’re willing to be together and have a life together is more than enough for her? But other than that? No real reason. Willa can mark her and she’d let her and she’d want that, while still not really want a wedding. She would accept it if it meant a lot for Willa, but it would take some poking until she finally said yes. 

I    :   I LOVE YOU.   does your muse find ‘i love you’ easy or hard to say?

Alleria has a very hard time saying it, even after she’s sure she loves someone and that someone loves her back. She isn’t good putting her feelings into words, and a lot of that comes from the fact opening up about how she feels, even when they are obvious feelings she will demonstrate in other ways, is incredibly hard for her. Even after she’s said it the first time, Alleria won’t say it often; she will, of course, say it back to her partner, and will say it from time to time, but it’s not something she says a lot. 

I feel like once she is not with Turalyon and is certain she wants to be with Willa seriously this time, she’d say it sooner than it would usually take her, both because Willa has already said it, because she’s had feelings for Willa for a long time, and because it is so difficult for her to say it, so it isn’t something she’d be saying lightly, and not at all if she didn’t mean for them to be forever this time.

L   :   LOVE.   who does your muse love?

Where platonic love is concerned, she loves her sisters (yes, Sylvanas too) and her brother and her father and her mother and Arator and her nephews too. She also loves her friends, even the ones who aren’t really close friends anymore, but that once were and meant a lot for her, so Verana, and Lothraxion, and Halduron too.

AND I FORGOT BUT: the sons of lothar. Danath, Khadgar and Kurdran, though Khadgar more than the other two kasndfkjansdfn

L   :   LOVE.   who does your muse love?

Romantically, she loves her wife (◡‿◡ ✿) 

But I’ll sour this one for you saying she did love Turalyon too aksdnjfaksjdnfan

A   :   AFFECTION.   how does your muse show affection?

Alleria is very physical when it comes to showing affection. She’ll touch your shoulder in a comforting way to signal she’s there instead of saying it, she’ll hug if she thinks you need it or if she’s feeling affectionate, she’ll wipe your tears or touch your cheek or give you kisses, she’ll hold hands and run her fingers through your hair, anything and everything. Most of all, she’ll always try to be physically close to people she loves, and will often try to maintain some sort of contact with her partner, even if it’s just something as simple as brushing her fingers against theirs from time to time. So, yeah, she’s all about touching and physical closeness when it comes to affection.

Other than that, Alleria will sometimes give gifts to people she cares about just because they reminded her of them somehow. She is very protective and very willing to give up her own life to protect people she loves, but the usual, day to day caring sort of things also apply. She’ll love to hear about your day, or just hear you talk about anything your passionate about; she’ll worry about your well being, she’ll take note and remember things you might forget, idk, little things like that. Good humored banter is also definitely a display of affection when it comes to her; if she teases you it’s because she loves you okay.

[diguerra-moved]

How would Alleria feel if Arator wasn't with Vereesa and grew uo a nameless orphan?

UNPROMPTED ASKS // always accepting.

He wouldn’t? Unless all Windrunners literally died. And Alleria knows this, because if she ever expected him not to have people who would look after him, she’d never have agreed with staying with the Army of the Light. Yes, she was absent for most of his life, but she never abandoned him. Alleria loves him more than anything, and she’d never leave if there was a risk he’d have no one to take care of him.

Even if, idk, Vereesa and Sylvanas both died, you have several other people who were friends with either Alleria or Turalyon or both, people who might not be as close to Arator in canon, but that in a situation in which he had no family alive and in Azeroth to take care of him, certainly wouldn’t leave him without support — and who knew who his parents are, and who’d make sure he knew, too. And if none of them cared for Arator, the paladins of the Silver Hand still likely would.

It’s difficult to answer because I really don’t see it happening. I feel if there was a real risk of that being the case, Alleria just wouldn’t go, and yet she’d sooner go and take him with her than leave him behind. Family is at the core of things that are most important to her. She tries to reconnect with Sylvanas in spite of everyone saying she’s not Sylvanas anymore, even when Sylvanas was the Warchief – and Alleria still hates the Horde. Arator is who is most important for her, the one person she wants to protect more than anyone else, who she loves the most, too, and her resistance to the Void is anchored in that. When her brother Lirath died, and yes, most of her family died then, but a lot of it was about Lirath and to an extent Lireesa, Alleria was nearly consumed by rage and hatred towards the entire race she blamed for their deaths, and who she actively hunted from then on, as well as fell into a state of depression and guilt so severe she tried to throw her life away. Family is really really important to her, and I don’t think she’d ever leave Arator if there was a chance he wouldn’t grow up having one, or a semblance of it.

For that very reason, if it still happened somehow, it would break her bad. She’d be devastated to know he grew up like that, and she’d feel immensely guilty about it, because purposeful or not, he did grow up abandoned. I think she’d want to see him and make sure he is well, or well as he would be in that scenario, but I doubt she’d try to be close to him unless she thought it could make things better for him somehow. 

[diguerra-moved]

someone is openly flirting with willa in front of alleria, her thoughts go:

Alleria isn’t usually the jealous/possessive sort, but having people flirt with Willa in front of her would make her uncomfortable, and while she’d try to hold back from reacting because those are not feelings she usually has and they are uncomfortable, I think it’d be noticeable how sulky that would make her, even if she’s there doing her best NOT to be. 

She is not the sort of person who would intervene or say something though. In any relationship, it is important to her that the person is with her because they want to be with her, but with everything Willa and her have been through in particular, it is extra important that this is what Willa wants, and that if it isn’t she’s free to go no matter how that makes Alleria feel, so showing interest (which is not the case, nor does Alleria believe it would ever be) or cutting them off is on Willa, not on her. She’s the one who has to stop them because she’s in a relationship she’s interested in continuing in, not Alleria — that’s how she sees it. 

So she wouldn’t act on it, and she’d actively try to keep her feelings in check but it would be something that visibly bothers her, and clearly makes her moody. Which is something that would always have been the case, although I think before they really are together together,  it’d be much worse because back then she felt no certainty Willa wouldn’t be interested in someone else, but at the same they were never really in a relationship back then so it would just leave her in a very sour mood. She still wouldn’t act though, because they aren’t even in a relationship and she wouldn’t think it is her place to do anything, regardless of how bothered by it she is. So yeah, I don’t think she’d ever act and try to stop whoever was flirting with Willa because that is something Willa has to do not her, but it would make her uncomfortable with how possessive it’d make her feel. 

If they are in a relationship and it is common knowledge, she’ll also be like ??? excuse you that’s very rude because it is, stop hitting on her wife or she will end up kicking your ass.

[diguerra-moved]

Did Alleria ever read any of his letters? What did they say? Are you ever going to stop hurting me?

UNPROMPTED ASKS // always accepting.

She never read them. 

When the first letter arrived, Alleria didn’t know whether she was furious at his persistence, sad for breaking his heart, or glad that he cared so even after all her attempts to push him away. She settles for anger, of course; it’s the default emotion by then, and Arator has yet to be born and dissuade some of it. Between Sylvanas’ intrigued glances and Vereesa’s curious inquiries, Alleria chose to toss it into the fire before ever opening it.

The second one took a while to arrive. He expected a reply, of course, but she never sent one; and it was only after giving up on it ever arriving that Turalyon wrote again (maybe the letter had been lost, maybe she had never received it at all; maybe she was still purposefully avoiding him, but I doubt he wanted to believe this to be the reason for it). By then, I expect she’d be well into her pregnancy, and when it arrives she feels guilty for the first time — guilty of never reading the first letter, guilty of never writing to let him know of the baby if nothing else. This letter she keeps in her hands for so long the paper starts bearing the light marks of fingertips long pressed against it. 

She never opens it, though, can never bring herself to. He is human, and their lives are short, and their loves shorter; surely he will recover from his heartbreak soon enough. What use would be writing him? All it would do would be give him hopes for things she had no intention to go through with. Alleria would be fine with her baby in Quel’thalas, and he would be fine in his human kingdom, perhaps even have a family of his own. She didn’t want him near. There was no future for them anyways.

But this letter she never manages to destroy.

The ones that follow cause mixed reactions. Sometimes the sight of them make her enraged (why won’t he give up? isn’t it clear she has no intention to write back?), sometimes they hurt her in a way she doesn’t understand (and ignores and buries because there is no room in her for hurt anymore, and she refuses to even acknowledge it at all). Sometimes the guilt comes back, specially when one arrived when she had Arator in her arms, and his tiny hands tried to reach for the words a father he would not meet wrote to a mother who refused them. Sometimes she looks at them, stashed away amidst her personal things, secret even though it was no secret she had received them, never opened and never to be — and sometimes she would want to, almost do it before giving up, almost throwing them away before returning them to the same place and leaving them there, until rediscovering them by chance after forgetting they were there at all, or  uncovering them to add a new one to the pile. 

They never stop coming, but she stops receiving them. It is hatred that overwhelms her then, hatred for the world, for her family’s murderers, for herself. For him, too, unearned as it is. And hatred drives her further away from home and last of things she loves, last of people she loves, and there is no place in her life anymore for letters, even those she will never open.

She regrets not reading them once they are together again, conversations done and feelings bared and forgiveness received. She thinks she might, once they go back home, even if he says he could tell her about each letter he had ever written her. That will never come to be, of course; she would never get the chance, returning to a home long destroyed and a land who shuns her. 

They are not love letters; not all of them, at least. They are as varied as her reactions to them, some offers of friendship and comfort and sympathy for the pain he knew her to be in, some a baring of his own feelings, some yet nothing more than attempt at conversation, trivial matters, something that reminded him of her like the feather he sent alongside the letter (she so enjoyed wearing them), or the sunflowers growing near the still-in-construction cathedral. He doesn’t know if she reads them, of course, having only silence meet him time and again; but he hopes she does, writes even if she doesn’t. Even as years pass, she is never far from her thoughts, always inspiring yet another letter to be written; yet another letter to be left unopened. 

EXCUSE YOU YOU BREAK MY HEART ALL THE TIME THEN ASK WHEN I WILL STOP? rude

[diguerra-moved]

but also this is a good time for a friendly reminder that alleria would not consider herself quel’dorei. she’s not only teaching the ren’dorei -- she is one of them

[diguerra-moved]

I feel like you've already given headcanons regarding this subject before but can we get some headcanons about Alleria and Illidans friendship and perhaps Alleria becoming a Demon Hunter plz and ty

HEADCANON QUESTIONS // pls.

I THINK I HAVEN’T ACTUALLY

I’ve talked about it here, in regards to what Illidan would think of her, and I say they’d have been bffs every five minutes, but I think that was it asdnfjkand

Basically, I think Alleria would be 100% chill in regards to his demonlike aspects (Lothraxion is a demon, even if a Lightforged one, and he’s also a close friend after all), and that is important considering Illidan is so used to be judged by his appearance (thanks Malfurion) but even more than that, he’s used to be judged by his choices, and she wouldn’t do that either. I think there’d be some sympathy before they were actually really friends and that’s saying a lot specially where Illidan is concerned because he usually doesn’t care for anyone much aksdnjfakj 

But like I said in the linked post, I think there is a sense of kinship they’d find in using questionable forces to fight the Legion (it is what brought Alleria to the Void after all, at least initially), and being judged and imprisoned because of their choices, even if their intent was good. Of course, this isn’t the sort of topic either of them would be open to discussing, but neither is it secret on either part so it’s just - they both heard about the other’s story, and they are sympathetic but they never talked about it themselves. 

Fighting demons together happens to be a GREAT bonding activity though, so that’s how I see them getting to be friends. They have somewhat resembling paths, and some similarities in personality too; Illidan seems more extreme because he is often insisting on mistakes and going about things wrong (rip) but tbh Alleria is very much like him in that if she thinks something is right she WILL go through with it even if she has to disrespect people and fight everyone to do it. They’re passionate and stubborn and it might be a problem that they can be so intense, but I think they’d mostly think alike so it actually works super well that there is someone as invested on achieving something as the other is.

It would have been a rather short time they’d have spent together, considering they meet in Legion and Illidan is gone (fridged) by the end of it, but it would have been enough for them to become friends, and for Alleria to be a little sad about him staying behind to kick Sargeras’ ass forever, even if she would have seen it coming (and been like ‘good for him’ that he finally gets what he fought so long for). If he had stayed I can see them continuing to be friends, though, and the kind that would really have each other’s back, and it would be fun to have them be supportive and try to help each other considering they’d both suffer to adapt to being back to Azeroth and everything being so different (rip sons of lothar but alleria has a new bff). 

@fatesblades

(I haven’t actually done the DH AU yet so there’s a lot of ifs and not many headcanons but aksjdfnkasndf)

It’s different in an AU in which Alleria becomes a Demon Hunter, though. She’d have to not have left Azeroth after the Second War to go with Kael’thas to Outland (and think Sylvanas is dead-dead, and Arator would have to not exist, sorry Arator), or be in Outland already (which is a possibility? if she had been stuck there after the destruction of the Dark Portal) and join them later. The things she and Illidan went through that marked them the most would be very different, though, and the immediate sense of kinship that opens the way for friendliness in a canon-based situation isn’t here. They might still end up getting along somewhat well, but only somewhat; sure, Alleria is as willing as he is to sacrifice everything to save the world from the Legion, but she’s not exactly a well behaved follower. She would question him if she thought questioning should be done (which probably wouldn’t make her wildly popular with other DHs kajsndfkajdf) although I don’t think she’d abandon him and judge him misguided like Altruis.

I feel the actual structure of the base would be much the same of her canon path: considerable loss leaves her in a state in which she feels there’s nothing left to lose or people would be better without her, so she goes to Outland but eventually learns of the Legion and the extent of a threat that they are, and decides to devote everything she can to defeating the Legion because there is still something worth of protecting. I feel like she wouldn’t go to Outland if she had Arator, though, so he would have to either not exist at all or c: have died during the Fall c: Which could easily be the reason why she left everything behind, first in going to Outland and then in joining Illidan (and which? makes her considerably bitter and angery murder elf again, which seems to fit well with the DH trend too since they’re all I HAVE SACRIFICED EVERYTHING. WHAT HAVE YOU GIVEN? and etc).