#Aurelia and Ellara

[mistfallengw2]

Finally got around to taking screens of my OCs in the Homestead.

We desperately need a way to make characters emote or at least position them in more precise ways, but I made do with what I could (charr were the hardest to "fit together")

Mother and son, together at last ;;

First time homeowners~ [why must charr be so hard to pose together T_T]

Poly triangle goals~ [same issue with them sadly, doesn't make them any less perfect together]

When your older brother is just... so smol.

Excuse me while I implode over my own feelings. [I am not joking I literally was about to cry at multiple points and got too many screens]

TB is the best big boy and Nyx is the best primadonna.

Bunnie being annoying + asking the Commander to take of business for her when the other party is being unreasonable [that last screen is my fave, would be perfect if Aurelia could have /crossarms, but alas]

Flom 🤝 Nari Get yourself a (norn) partner whose legs are as tall as you are, if not more.

"Don't talk to me or my co-champion/bestie/mom ever again" collection

"Talking shit about you" extras

[queef-in-the-north]

POV: She's partaking in her favorite activity (making fun of her husband)

(Lovingly.......)

[queef-in-the-north]

Announcing my Game of Thrones OC's face claim as her <3

Lily Collins as Snow White in MIRROR MIRROR (2012) dir. Tarsem Singh

[mistfallengw2]

I've finished answering to the Commander Love Interest Ask Game (or something idk) because Aurelia and Ellara have been in my mind a lot recently, and I wanted to use these as a jumping point to ramble about them. [link to 5, 6 and 8]

1. Who are they and what's their dynamic with the commander?

Ellara is a veteran Lightbringer of the Order of Whispers, ex-Ash Legion spy and agent, Legionnaire of the Echo warband (until their deaths in Orr/the Battle of Lion's Arch). Other than her independent assistance to Dragon's Watch and her duties in the Order, she specifically works as a double agent for them and Malice Swordshadow, having accepted to be part of a deal of cooperation between the two organizations in spite of her bitter feelings towards the Legion.

The dynamic between her and the Commander was more or less stuck for 8 years as a devoted friendship with messy feelings involved: Ellara fell tail over horns for her quite quickly yet was content with being her friends after being rejected (during Orr campaign), while Aurelia did harbor some shy feelings for her yet for years the concept of romance was too painful to even consider it a possibility (mist-fuckery stuff made it a lot harder to move on from the death of her mate). They both cherished their friendship as it was the closest thing to a warband both of them had, and for two traumatized gladium "widows" in their 30s/40s with a lot going on in their lives and a world to save, it was enough (even though they both knew it would have been better if it was something more). After S4e3 things became a bit more flirty and tentative, but never went anywhere as it was mostly poking fun at each other for the possibility. In IBS (No Quarter), Aurelia finally felt ready and stable enough to give it a chance, much to Ellara's cautiousness and genuine surprise. After that, their relationship remains pretty much unchanged, just with less angst, more comfort and extra perks.

2. How does the rest of Dragon's Watch feel about the relationship?

Overall positive and supportive (more or less everyone knows that Aurelia has some issues with romance, so they only nudge instead of push), with a huge dose of "fucking finally!" when it finally happened. Taimi, Marjory and Canach were the ones who teased the most, Braham and Gorrik were the most oblivious, and for years Caithe thought they were just being secretive about it. And of course Adamas wanted his actual mother to be happy with his "mother figure".

3. What does/what would the general population of Tyria think of the relationship?

After nearly a decade of the Commander being in the spotlight without an apparent partner, people are pretty curious about this charr that entered in her graces, with some being quite jealous or mean about it. Due to the officialization being relatively recent and Ellara being a mesmer of the Order of Whispers, the average Tyrian isn't usually aware of who she is exactly.

4. What was their initial opinion of the commander? Has that changed at all?

"Dayum, that's a hottie" never left Ellara's mind and persists to this day. The only way it changed was from it being the wish for a one-night-stand kind of thing (she had a whole set of issues with commitment after losing her mate) to evolving into genuine feelings towards her.

7. What kind of dumb rumors pop up/would pop up about the relationship?

Before the relationship, most rumors used to be about the fact that the Commander must have someone in her life, and the someone in question switched depending on who people saw Aurelia interact with at the time. Ellara happened to be around Aurelia a lot during the Orr campaign, and the initial influx of gossip between soldiers caused some hurt on the mesmer's part and general awkwardness between them for a time, especially after the Commander rejected her not for disinterest but because she was still grieving. Luckily they got over it pretty soon after the Pact's victory, and overall just stopped paying attention when the rumors got dumber and dumber. There were some nasty rumors, but the truly worst one will never be about them, as nothing could ever beat the time a group of new Pact recruits implied that Adamas was Aurelia's mate after having seen them "hug and cuddle", with it being made even worse by the fact they were having a rough conversation about Aurelia's late mate at that moment.

After it's confirmed they're together, rumors turned into lame gossip that doesn't stick and mostly makes them laugh: "that spy is actually taking advantage of the Commander's position" (El "to do what, exactly?"), "Aurelia is being mind-controlled by her evil mesmer powers" (Au "why didn't you do that? it would have made things a bit easier"), "it's all a facade to keep the Commander's real relationship a secret" (El "when would you have even found the time?"), and so on.

Also, Canach miiight have had a hand in mudding the waters and diverting the attention by spreading rumors about being "the Commander's favorite sylvari" in no clear terms, mostly to further his own agenda, a tiny bit out of pity after seeing Aurelia's reaction to the topic. While at first Ellara confronted him about it in a bout of protectiveness, there have been quite a few occasions in which he interjected awkward situations by acting and presenting himself as Aurelia's "partner" and keeping it vague, and Aurelia actually learned to play along once he came clean about the "scheme". It ended up becoming a sort of inside joke between the three of them, and after Aurelia and Canach went on that triple date together for shits and giggles (encouraged by Ellara), they all had quite a fun evening catching up on the Canthan gossip going crazy about it.

9. How did they/how would they have reacted to the commander's death at Balthazar's hands?

Their groups had split roughly after Glint's Lair: Aurelia had gone with the others to do story stuff, while Ellara had promised her she'd look after Adamas and his group (Mae, Hel, etc) while they were helping refugees, and they were all searching for clues as well when news of Aurelia's death reached her. She initially didn't believe it to be true, then went numb until Adamas's even worse reaction to it managed to rouse her out of the shock. By the time she arrived at the Spire with Adamas and Mae, Aurelia was alive again, and Ellara stared at her from a distance for a bit as canon conversations and tearful interactions happened. When Aurelia approached her after noticing her, Ellara had just a teeny tiny bit of a breakdown that involved a bunch of touching to make sure she was actually alive and some hugging.

She had kept her feelings stashed away since Orr not to put pressure on Aurelia, kinda hoping they'd pass as well, but that moment had made it clear that they were there to stay and stronger than ever. She avoided bringing the topic up until much later in Kourna (had to go report back to base after the end of PoF and was busy with the Order for a bit), when she found her up at night looking at the fortress from the camp's building, and she confessed to her what she had felt that day and that her feelings for her weren't going to change no matter what happened. Aurelia only managed a "I know, and I'm trying [to get over my grief], but…" before Ellara replied with a "I know", bumped her head against Aurelia's shoulder and left.

10. Are there any events in the story that happen differently because of/to/involving them?

Nothing major really changed due to Ellara, at most she does things in Aurelia's stead with a similar outcome (first big case was helping her throughout "Forging the Pact", where she and her warband did a lot of the work in uncovering the fake Syska's plan).

The biggest "change" is that Ellara was tasked with keeping Aurelia away from Drizzlewood Coast until recalled, which ended up being a couple months of "vacation/honeymoon" and overall inactivity (from No Quarter until Jormag Rising). The official reason was that Ellara was just given a leave to recover from injuries sustained shortly before No Quarter, but in practice it was a task specifically assigned by Malice, as she and all other Imperators wanted to avoid another situation in which Smodur would do more questionable acts in the proximity of the Commander and make himself extremely (and rightfully) punchable once again.

11. What parts of the commander do they get to see that nobody else does?

Ellara is the only one (excluding Aurene later on) who has seen just how bad what happened in the Mists affected Aurelia, because she's the one who helped her during many moments of crisis.

Back when they were getting to know each other in the midst of the Orr campaign, Ellara took advantage of all chances to hang out with her, considering them lowkey dates (Aurelia was oblivious to it). At one point, Aurelia lamented issues with her "foggy memories", and Ellara offered to try and use her chronomancer powers to help her clear her mind. Good news was that Aurelia was actually able to recover some of her memories, bad news was that she kinda fell apart afterwards. After the initial surprise (you try seeing such a big and strong charr crumble emotionally like that after you tried to help out), Ellara stuck with her through it and managed to calm her down, realizing at the same time that she actually cared about her as a friend and maybe something more already. The initial awkwardness after that first "session" soon became trust, as Ellara was nothing but genuinely supportive and Aurelia noticed improvements after having had the time to process her newly-rediscovered memories. The Commander didn't exactly share much about what happened in the Mists, and when she did it was mostly rambling since she barely understood it at times, but having someone who listened to her without being taken as crazy helped her connect the dots.

Even after getting awkwardly rejected some time later and being quite sore about it, Ellara understood her reasons and never retracted her help whenever Aurelia needed it. Once Aurene came around and things became easier for the Commander, Ellara's help became increasingly less needed, but Aurelia still sought it out from time to time, though mostly as an excuse to spend time with her and talk about anything.

12. What's a song you associate with the relationship?

Hard to pick just one, so here's a couple of the first ones that I threw in their playlists (both from Ellara's perspective) Autoheart - Hungover in the City of Dust & Mikey Wax - Bottle of Jack

13. In what ways does their personality compliment or contrast with the commander?

Their personalities are pretty different but not adverse, more like at the opposite edges of common ground, and they find comfort and balance in each other with little unnecessary contrast.

They both care, feel and hurt more than their world expected from them as soldiers, but while Ellara reacted to it by leaving and deciding to be sharp and cold like a blade in order to protect and preserve that part of herself for those who deserved it, Aurelia had everything taken from her and was stripped down to her vulnerable core by that unimaginable trauma in the Mists, forcing her to rebuild herself as she could once back in Tyria. She didn't do a terrible job at putting her pieces back together into a seemingly functional charr, though not as fierce, rough and sure of herself as before. In the beginning of their friendship, Aurelia subconsciously tried to emulate her self-assurance, seeing her as someone who had successfully taken control of her own life outside of charr society, and when Ellara noticed she was copying her well-kept facade, she was forced to admit some of her own deep vulnerabilities so that Aurelia could avoid becoming a mess like her, while also teaching her what she was looking for. Over time, Aurelia managed to seal her cracks and sharpen her dull edges by herself with her support, while Ellara softened and opened up more thanks to her, and now they're both as well-adjusted as they can be.

Constructive discussions from different points of view aside, their biggest point of "contrast" is the fact that Ellara can be a flirty mean thing when she wants to, and it used to(actually still kinda does) send Aurelia into absolute "brain.exe has stopped working from too many lesbian thoughts" panic. While she rarely did it (for obvious emotional reasons), there have been multiple times where Ellara took advantage of it in order to force the Commander to stop overthinking (read: completely scatter every single thought in her head) and breathe (read: lowkey hyperventilate after forgetting how to do it) for a damn second, and Aurelia can't deny it worked every time.

14. What is their favorite quality in the commander?

Her. Difficult choice, but probably her genuine altruism. It's clear as day that it's not performative, because she doesn't like the attention and she's awkward with thanks and compliments yet she does it anyway. The one time Ellara mentioned it, Aurelia only muttered something about it coming from the values of her late warband (in truth the Wing warband would have never been what it had been without her and the unknown promise Ardea had made to her).

It is also her most hated quality, because maybe Aurelia should think about herself for a couple minutes every once in a while. Just maybe.

15. What's the commander's favorite quality in them?

Her cool-headedness and quick mind, probably. It's not the same vibe of Ardea's, softer and sassier at the same time, but it grounds Aurelia just the same.

Aurelia used to be the muscle of the warband and was rarely involved in decision making, and as the Pact Commander she had huge issues with being the one who had to take any sort of decisions for others (especially after the whole fake Syska thing tanked her trust in herself nearly beyond repair), but that was Ellara's bread and butter as the mind of the warband and knew the weight of that role, so she slowly helped Aurelia gain confidence in leadership positions.

[mistfallengw2]

Stuff from 2020! After almost two years of not touching Aurelia (I had badly neglected personal art until the pandemic kicked in), I attempted to pick her up again by exploring different shapes, specifically a pointier downward muzzle, more similar to how she was in-game, but...

I did NOT vibe with it. [I wanted to leave this out, but pointy!Aurelia doesn't exist anymore and she can't hurt you even if you laugh dw]

So I ended up studying her again [not pictured] and made a few more expressive doodles [collected my faves].

Aurelia can be patient as she had to deal with her fair share of chain of command bs, but one does struggle with keeping a poker face when made of war-ready pointy bits. At least she's learned to be unimpressed. Despite being a total mess in romantic endeavors even by charr standards, it never really came up because her relationship with Ardea felt as natural as breathing for her. Of course it all came back to bite her in the tail when Ellara, her new newly-formed Pact friend, turned out to be into her and flirted from time to time for years to come (not that it wasn't appreciated, but... messy emotions be messy).

[mistfallengw2]

5, 6, and 8 for Aurelia and Ellara! @ratasum

Commander Love Interest Ask Game (or something idk)

Under cut because oh no I rambled in spite of my best efforts to keep things short

5. How do they feel about their LI being the commander? Are they concerned? Proud? Is it a "keep work stuff at work" kind of thing?

Given that they met at the Retaking of Claw Island, Ellara has never really known Aurelia as anything but "the Commander" (and Adamas's thought-dead dam), and since then she has always been one of her greatest supporters and confidants, as well as her best friend[*1]. She is of course proud of her achievements, and concern just comes with the job, no matter how much she knows that Aurelia can deal with things on her own. Admittedly, Ellara's concern has quite the trauma backing it (she's lost her very-competent mate in a mission, back when she was still in the Ash Legion), but her fairly effective way of dealing with that anxiety is to make Aurelia's life a bit easier, be it by being at her side when needed or by proactively aiding her (doing spy stuff that the Commander/Dragon's Watch can't do, gathering info through her Whispers contacts, etc).

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6. Does/would being the commander's LI affect how they're treated?

Overall, not really. Since becoming close friends with Aurelia (and technically her "healer") shortly after meeting each other, Ellara was often seen around her, but due to being a Lightbringer it never seemed strange to most. Biggest impact was that at times people tried to get into the graces of the Commander by going through the seemingly-more-easily-approachable Ellara (spoiler: never ended well), and Malice did express more interest in information about Aurelia[*2], but nothing of consequence. The occasional inquiry or rumor about the nature of their relationship was not rare, but it was mostly quiet and petty gossip between soldiers.

Even after actually becoming an item there was little to no difference, given that the only indicator of change was the occasional PDA. There's a big personal positive however: family and friends have stopped quietly teasing them :v

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8. What does Aurene think about them, and vice versa?

Aurene was always firmly in the "ffs date already so I can have a second mom" base together with Adamas, while Ellara thinks she's her second best step-child (Adamas is first, not sorry) yet the most adorable/beautiful one.

Jokes aside, their relationship was always positive, but it used to be a bit more complex than necessary up to IBS due to Ellara's feelings for Aurelia, which led to keeping herself at a respectful distance from the dragonling because she didn't want to intrude on their bond (she felt like she did that with Adamas, even though they met before Aurelia was in the picture). Still, she didn't escape the occasional interactions initiated by Aurene, and she did spoil her with a few toys one time (gave them to Adamas first, so it'd be indirect).

Meanwhile, Aurene always had an intrinsic understanding of the terrible weight Aurelia carried within her and how it affected her emotionally, but it was also clear how Ellara made her Champion feel and even as a hatchling she wished for that positive effect to be "more and permanent". Additionally, she internalized the underlying affection in the way both Aurelia and Adamas[*3] spoke about Ellara. It was not enough for her to properly consider Ellara a "mother" like she thought of Aurelia, but more than enough for her to be included in her "family".

Their sweetest moment and turning point was at the end of Shadow in the Ice: Ellara was pretty busy with the Legions' mess (doing lots of spywork and going back and forth between Malice and the Whispers) when she heard of Aurelia nearly dying because of Bangar, and she rushed to EotN to see her. She had to leave asap because she still had time-sensitive work to do, but at that point Aurelia was still unconscious in the waters of the Scrying Pool and Ellara started stressing out about it big time (their last interaction had been unintentionally rough, and all she wanted was to know she was okay and that she was sorry). Then Aurene spoke (startling her a bit, because she had only watched her since she had entered the chamber, making her lowkey doubt she could still talk), comforting and reassuring her that Aurelia would be fine soon, and then confessed to her that she could feel that Aurelia held nothing but love for her in spite of the guilt she felt for their altercation.

Ellara was even busier from that point onward, but Aurene helped Aurelia get closure through the Scrying Pool by showing her a certain memory she "casually stumbled upon" (she did not, but no one needs to know). After No Quarter, during which they became officially a thing, Aurelia and Ellara spent lots of time together in EotN. Aurene did feel quietly triumphant about it, and she enjoyed the long, casual chats she had with Ellara (with the boon of Aurelia relaxing as she mostly listened).

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Context notes: *1 [It took eight years before anything romantic actually happened, because Aurelia had a LOT of "magically-complex" grief to process before being ready to engage with that area of feelings again. While it stung not to be readily requited, Ellara was always genuinely there for her without letting her own feelings get in the way, and in fact she's the one who helped her "heal" and recover some memories by using her magic.] *2 [Ellara works as a double agent for the Order of Whispers and Ash Legion, as a deal of cooperation between the two organizations.] *3 [Adamas spent a lot of time with Aurene as a hatchling, on par if not more than Aurelia, and that leads to Aurene calling him "brother" later on.]

[queef-in-the-north]

Lady Aurelia Ellara would be not only the fashion icon of the North, but also the fashion icon of Westeros. Debating whether or not to give her an obnoxiously long title like Dany because it's funny but also kinda cunt.

SAI BENNETT as Mary Tudor, Princess of England

↳ The Spanish Princess, Part Two Episode One - Camelot

[mistfallengw2]

PoV: your gorgeous mate asks you to come back to bed. What do you do? >Accept >Look away respectfully >Panic

Follow-up of this drawing

[queef-in-the-north]

Aurelia and her ladies getting ready for her wedding to Jon. Literally her dress and hair are STUNNING

AMELIA GETHING AS THE SPANISH PRINCESS’ URSULA POLE

Part 9 of ?

You are allowed to edit these gifs if you link back to @viscardiac on your post.

[queef-in-the-north]

Aurelia's outfits!!

Home in Winterfell.....

[queef-in-the-north]

This is Aurelia's dad

[queef-in-the-north]

Your honor, she's too pretty

[mistfallengw2]

Charr warband ask game

Which Legion does the warband belong to?

How and when was the warband formed?

Why did they pick that particular name?

What's the warband's specialization?

What is the warband known for?

What are their usual assignments?

What's their motto, goal or motivation?

Who is the Legionnaire and how did they become it?

Is anyone else aiming for the position of Legionnaire?

How many members are in the warband?

Is anyone in the warband an ex-gladium?

Did they lose anyone?

Would the warband accept new entries?

Did any member of the warband join an external organization (Orders, Pact, etc)?

How has the warband changed over the years?

Do all members follow orders exactly or are they a bunch of loose cannons?

Have they ever gotten in big trouble with superiors?

For warbands that are no longer a thing (broke up or mostly dead): how did it happen?

What's the overall social dynamic in the warband like? (chill and friendly, harsh and hierarchical, like family, etc)

Is there drama between members or are they tight-knit?

Did any relationship bloom between members of the warband?

What do they like about themselves as a warband?

What do they dislike/would change about themselves as a warband?

What's the warband's opinion on humans and the treaty?

What's the warband's opinion on the Flame Legion?

What's the warband's opinion on other races?

What's the warband's opinion on their Imperator?

What's the warband's opinion on the Legions?

What's the warband's opinion on the Pact and the Pact Commander?

Did the warband follow Bangar into Dominion and Frost Legion, or did they stay with the United Legions?

How did the warband take the civil war?

What's the warband up to, currently?

Bonus question: trivia time!

[queef-in-the-north]

Red is her color. These are outfits she'd wear

[queef-in-the-north]

This is Aurelia's mother's face claim. The woman who haunts her narrative quite literally.

[queef-in-the-north]

An updated aesthetic board for Aurelia which is closet to her updated lore