#amaurot's next top model

[elfyourmother]

"Your highness, you simply mustn't traipse about by your lonesome this way. What if you should encounter some dastardly ne'er-do-well intent upon ill deeds?" "Oh, like you, monsieur?" "Precisely."

[elfyourmother]

YES

That tail is batting away all those haters 🔥  

(via)

[elfyourmother]

[elfyourmother]

Inside is still very much a WIP but the outside of the new place is finally done.

“Cozy Posh” is pretty much Gisele’s design aesthetic and the chateau reflects that. There’s plenty of outdoor seating because the elfpile all enjoy outdoor time, but there’s some clever hidden hypocausts and the like that Stephanivien built to keep Gisele comfortable while she enjoys tea and a book with the others. Haurchefant enjoys the sauna, especially on low spoon days, because the heat is fantastic for pain relief. On nights when it’s not too cold out, they bring dinner out by the firepit. 

Gisele and Aymeric designed the garden together, and one of the ways she likes to get him to relax is going out there to tend it with him. The household staff employs a number of botanists though; as much as she loves tending plants there’s just too many and she’s just too busy to take care of all the landscaping on her own, much less Aymeric. Much like Disneyland though, it’ll probably never be completed. Both of them are perfectionists and constantly like to tweak things out there. 

But the most special part of the garden is the apple tree fountain in the gazebo: this is meant to be a nod to the vhenadahl in the Denerim alienage, where Gisele was born, and all six of them painted things on it at Gisele’s behest, to represent their bond. It’s specifically an apple tree because apples are sacred to Saint Shiva, because legend has it she met Hraesvelgr in an apple orchard--the choice of tree was deliberate on the part of Gisele and Aymeric, for Ysayle’s sake, and she likes to pray there in the gazebo. Hades actually popped over to the Seventh and took soil from where the Denerim vhenadahl is planted and gave it to Gisele for this tree. She couldn’t stop crying about it. (He knows how sentimental she is, and shares it.)

[ninja edit: I forgot to mention that when the lads keep Halone’s vigil on the winter solstice, it’s usually by that tree]

[elfyourmother]

[elfyourmother]

‘nocturne op. 9 no. 2’ by chopin but you’re in a hotel lobby avoiding the rain on a cold night in an unfamiliar city, captivated...

‘nocturne op. 9 no. 2’ by chopin but you’re in a hotel lobby avoiding the rain on a cold night in an unfamiliar city, captivated by the soft piano music that reminds you of home. (youtube)

[elfyourmother]

seen a post on the bird site talking abt older bottoms praising their younger tops w “good boy” while getting their brains fucked out and hades doing that w haurche is living rent free in my head it’s making me feral

i mean he would do it w aymeric and thancred too and i enjoy thinking of that as well but haurche

[elfyourmother]

ever since a talk on the bird site the other day I’m absolutely obsessed with Zenos’ ancient incarnation being Ares and the reason he’s had dreams of the Final Days his whole life is because of that.

Of course he and Aph were lovers and he joined her on adventures from time to time. Metamours with Hades and Hyth and Venat.

In terms of temperament, a boisterous but kindhearted sort, but hotheaded and bored quite easily. Hunting down rogue creations that posed a threat was his job in Amaurot and so he was well familiar with Elpis and often asked for Aph’s help, which is how they got acquainted and eventually became lovers.

I think Emet would have crammed a fragment of him into his own mortal family line as a contingency plan. He was always good in a fight and easily manipulated despite how smart he was, traits that would be useful to keep at close hand when your plan is to cause chaos, even if you couldn’t guarantee they’d carry over to a new incarnation. Ofc Emet couldn’t account for Varis being such a shitty father but well.

[elfyourmother]

been thinking about who Haurchefant’s Ancient incarnation would have been, since EW jossed my original idea (that he was a sundered fragment of Hythlodaeus)

at first I thought Adonis would be a great choice given the connection to Aphrodite and the dramatic irony given that in Gisele’s story Haurche survives. but I really think Hythlodaeus fits way better in the Adonis role despite his name being different. Because Hyth going to his death for the summoning of Zodiark drove Aph near mad with grief and was what drove the wedge between her and Hades such that she fled Amaurot never to return (she vowed to seek the source of “the sound” but she had no idea about Meteion bc she’d fallen out with Venat by then over the Hydaelyn plan). It also fits bc Adonis was worshiped as a dying and resurrecting god and well Hyth comes back for good in UT.

In light of all that, I’m thinking Eros fits much better for Haurchefant’s Ancient incarnation; the idea of Eros being Aphrodite’s son is actually a fairly late interpretation comparatively speaking and our modern notion of it owes more to the Romans and Venus than anything Greek tbh. But besides the obvious Eros was also associated w athleticism which also tracks for Haurche.

As for the others:

Anteros was Aymeric, Himeros was Ysayle, and Hephaistos was Stephanivien. I like to think the four of them comprised Aph’s regular adventuring crew. (Gaius/Loghain/Ran’jit aka Bad Sad Dad Soul was Ares, I think)

I’m torn though. I like the idea that Hades and Hyth aren’t Gisele’s only reincarnation romances. But part of me is worried it’s a bit too much hammering in on the reincarnation theme so hard, like Gisele has never met anyone new. And I would lose the contrast between Hades and Hyth representing her past loves as Aph and the Elfpile representing her present, which ties into the general theme of balance in her story.

[elfyourmother]

I suppose this world isn’t quite so terrible after all, heroine.

[elfyourmother]

If you're doing the two-part drabble meme, might I suggest one for Emet, with line 24? not too sure for situation, maybe 10 or 25? You can pick which one! if you want to, that is.

The mask of scarlet stared back at her, reflected in pristine crystal. It rested comfortably upon her wide, aquiline nose, framing the thick curve of full lips painted the selfsame shade of scarlet. It was taboo of course, this manner of adornment. Unseemly. An invitation for discord. What had that insufferable lecturer told her so many times?

No one cares for a tall poppy.

So small, this place was, for all its mundane wonders. Naught but a gilded cage, and she longed to stretch her wings and soar.

Still, the mask was hers, and all it entailed. The key to unlock the cage doors, if only a little—and mayhap it was their way of washing their hands of her, at long last.

“I believe congratulations are in order…Azem.”

She turned, shifting her body, to see him standing before her, his deep cowl lowered to reveal his glory. His silvery hair cascaded straight down his back, over his shoulders, to his waist, stark and bright against the sober black of his robe. Eyes of amber shone like jewels beneath his hooded brows, twinkling in the lamplight which softly illumined his sharply sculpted features. She drowned in them, openly and without shame, for that was her way.

Why must such beauty be hidden away, lest it shame others? She never understood it.

But as she gazed upon him, she could not help but give voice to her suspicions. “Tell me…was this your doing, Emet-Selch?” she asked, enunciating the title sharply, each syllable formed deliberately upon her tongue, though not with acid. Not this time.

Hades blinked slowly at her, the long curve of his thick lashes fluttering slightly as he did. “What if it was? Would you be wroth with me, were it so?”

She considered it a moment, pursing her lips--but only a moment. “No. Tis altogether fitting, mayhap. I have never belonged here,” she said, soft and matter-of-factly. It was never with self-pity that she said such things, not anymore. She had simply come to accept it.

“I never want you to feel like you’re not good enough,” he said, firmly. “You would not have been chosen if you were not. You possess all of the necessary traits, of course—born under the Sun, your restlessness, your hunger. And you are needed. Your voice is needed. We risk stagnation and entropy otherwise. They do not understand the inherent perils of conformity for conformity’s sake; mayhap Azem’s seat has stood vacant for far too long. But you understand, Mül. You always have, even if the dimmer among us have not.”

Müllenkamp nodded slowly. His arguments were sound, as always. He was right, as always—and her heart felt lighter then; she had not realized until that moment how tight her chest had become, and she closed her eyes, inhaling deeply, exhaling in the strangest manner of relief. She laughed suddenly, a spasm deep and rich from her rippling belly. “I think you just wanted an excuse to fix your gaze upon me,” she teased.

Hades raised his hands upon her slender shoulders, slipping them inside the satin fabric of her robes to splay his fingers against her bare skin, kneading it gently in his firm grasp. The faintest hint of a smile crept at the corners of his sensual mouth, the ever-present pout curving upward just a touch. “I want you. Is it so very queer a thing for so cold a creature to seek the warmth of the sun, your Radiance?”

A shiver of pleasure edged down her spine at the epithet, which spread warmth of its own through her cheeks, settling upon her very spirit as might a thick, woolen mantle. “You are not cold, Hades,” she countered—firmly.

“Pray continue to keep my counsel, love. I’ve a reputation to maintain,” he said, leaning in close, so close enough that she caught the scent of his favored pomegranate tea in all its tart sweetness upon the heat of his breath against her flushed, dark skin.

Müllenkamp’s retort was silenced by pouting lips pressing hard and fierce upon her own, parting her mouth with a hot and eager tongue. So cold a creature, indeed, she thought idly, helplessly melting into his kiss, drowning and drowning. Infuriating, intoxicating—but never cold, her Architect. They did not know him, as she did. His hands in all their wiry strength slid the ebon robe down over her shoulders, and his mouth followed, seeking the warmth of her skin in all its lush mahogany splendor, tracing with his tongue the shimmering, gilt ink she kept hidden away.

Always adorned in gold, she was, from the spiraling marques upon her skin to the delicate chains about her belly.

But for the mask of crimson. When she reached up for it, thinking to lift it from her dark eyes, his hands reached up with a quickness to snatch her wrists hard—hard enough that her breath hitched within her throat.

“Keep it on,” Hades whispered, a wicked grin etched upon his lips. “I would give you a proper initiation.”

And he did.

[elfyourmother]

Dear Gisele--when was the moment you fell for a particular Ascian, and what was it that led you to believe (correctly) that there was hope for him in spite of tempering etc.? How much weight does past-life memory hold, if any?

What might I say? I am a fool, as ever I have been, and I read too many romances, and I have lived my life with my head drifting in the clouds. I am a flighty creature, and I know this well. Mayhap that is why we are so well-matched, he and I. But I knew he was different, from the start. From the start, he was witty and urbane, quite unlike the rest of his kin...every Ascian I had the misfortune to encounter until yon Paragon of Cats was dreadfully tedious and utterly dire, altogether intoxicated by their own sense of self-import. Hades had a personality. He was brilliant, of course, and made me laugh. I have a well-known weakness for such things, as my long history of paramours can attest.

We spoke often, and at length, on that journey through Norvrandt. Betimes it was difficult to remember that we were foes, I must confess. And I enjoyed his company, even when he was insufferable--which was often! Oh, I was under no illusion that he had no ulterior motives in so befriending me. If he sought to subvert me, we both of us played our gambits with one another, for I sought to subvert him in turn. Always, I have sought to understand my foes, even were peace unattainable--I wed Ysayle Dangoulain, did I not? Twas in these conversations that I began to realize just how fundamentally he differed from his kin, however, beyond the jesting and the theatrics. Hades suffered like none other, because Hades alone among his Unsundered brethren carried the weight of his great loss. I was minded of the teachings of the Dark, often, with him--that unlike his brethren, what he did, he did for love’s sake. Amaurot was his flame in the abyss, the unspeakable grief for his lost people he carried these long millennia quite literally upon his bent shoulders.

I am Dalish, chérie. These things have meaning. And no one who is beyond hope loves so deeply, feels so deeply, as did Hades. This, I have learned well.

As you might expect, twas when he saved Shtola from the Lifestream that things changed between us. I came upon him slumbering in the wood not long after, and it was no gambit made me sink beside him upon the warm loam, brushing stray locks of silver from his brow. That was when I knew, and for certain, that it was no longer a game to me, this amiable contest of wills upon which the fate of two worlds entire rested. Of course, as I learned later on, it had never truly been a game to him.

As for our ancient bond...I remember naught of the life we once shared in Amaurot. It was trial enough to remember my life in Thedas. But of Hades and Aphrodite, I have only his words and recollections. Betimes I am...wistful...? Mayhap even guilty, I suppose, that I do not. Truthfully, I fear I may disappoint him, as such. But he assures me that it matters not to him, that it is myself, Gisele des Fortemps for whom he so yearns, and not the memory of who I once was. Hades is many things, but he does not dissemble, nor has he ever played me false, even when I named him an enemy and not a lover. And while he reminisces quite fondly and shares many tales, now that the scales of Zodiark have fallen from his eyes, they are ever fixed upon the future. I am grateful for it, and for him.

[elfyourmother]

If you are still taking questions, Gisele: since you voted Hades into the Scions, how has your time with him been?

Of course! I am terribly loquacious, after all.

Until recently, tis been...uncommonly quiet? He has slotted right into the Stones, as though he belonged there all along, truly; the outer circle are all terribly fond of him, even if Riol still does not trust him entirely. Ironically enough, he and G’raha have become thick as thieves, which was quite unexpected! But he accompanied us to Azys Lla at his own insistence, when we sought the cure for tempering, protecting us well in Thancred’s place, for Haurche was feeling unwell. I suspect he wished to test the limits of his power, as much as gallivanting about with me on an adventure. I do not know the extent of it, still, after his uncanny return to the realm of the living. But he is tremendously skilled with the Dark, as one might imagine, and has shared some small morsels of wisdom with me regarding technique. He invented the discipline, after all.

But, the night he accompanied Haurche, Aymeric, and I to the Palais Dzemael operahouse for a command performance of The Dream Oath, and the fete which followed at Fortemps Manor, he managed to set tongues to wagging. Flirting outrageously with the Lord Speaker at a fete will do that. I warned him to be circumspect, and keep his nonsense to a respectable minimum for the sake of decorum, but Hades is Hades and shall never be told what to do...ever. Emm is still putting out the brush fires he set, but daily we receive missives from any number of suitors, ladies and lords alike, by the Fury.

More seriously, and recently, he volunteered to scout the Garlean tower at Pagl’than, swearing to watch over Arenvald. He still recalls naught of Fandaniel, but if anyone might recognize such designs, t’would be a Paragon himself. But, disaster struck, quite naturally. Hades blames himself for it, though we none of us do...except Tsuyu. She trusts him even less than Riol in his accounting of what transpired, but she is terribly fond of Arenvald, and mothers him incessantly, and I suspect she merely takes her anxieties for the lad’s well being out on Hades. They quarreled mightily upon our return to the Stones, but he has been a comfort to Alphinaud, and that has helped, I think. It means a great deal to us all.

[elfyourmother]

What is Aymeric and Hades' relationship like?

...odd. XD

Very few people outside of the Scion inner circle know who Hades actually is. Everyone thinks he’s a just a Garlean aristocrat who defected after his family was slaughtered by pro-Zenos forces during all the current turmoil in Garlemald. If there’s a mild resemblance, it’s chalked up to this dead family being a distant branch line of House Galvus. The very first thing they decided after they agreed to let him join the Scions was this cover story and that none of the Alliance leaders would be told his real identity unless they absolutely had no choice.

Aymeric is the exception, and it was a real sticking point tbh--the very type of situation that Thancred warned Gisele about, before she married him: how would she handle it if the Scions’ interests and Ishgard’s were ever at odds, that as far as Scion business went she absolutely couldn’t favor Aymeric over the other Alliance leaders or else jeopardize the political neutrality that was essential to their work. They actually fought about it, Gisele and Thancred. He shouldn’t be privy to the order’s secrets just because he’s her husband, he’s still ultimately Ishgard’s figurehead in the Alliance and a political creature like Aymeric would surely seek to use it to his advantage etc etc

(Thancred likes Aymeric well enough, but Thancred is incredibly pragmatic and has to consider all angles, even if Gisele doesn’t want to hear it at times for as calculating and clever as she can be herself)

The thing is, Aymeric knows very well and for all his cunning he would never seek to use Gisele’s position as Antecedent for his own political gain. He absolutely has lines he won’t cross and that’s one of them. But he also keeps his own counsel quite well--he feigned ignorance when questioned about the missing Eye to protect Estinien when he ran off with it, and much later on hid Ysayle in the Congregation’s infirmary during most of Dragonsong, risking the wrath of the Vault and his reputation on protecting her from the Inquisition, ultimately releasing her into the custody of the Scions. Aymeric can and does very well keep secrets for the greater good.

That Gisele is romantically involved with Hades is the real reason she told Aymeric who he was, though. There’s really no way she could have avoided it, given who she once was. So Aymeric is the only one outside the Scions who knows “Hades d’Amaurot” is actually Emperor Solus aka Emet-Selch the Ascian Paragon.

It’s weird though. Hades greatly admires Aymeric for his cunning and has been almost going overboard to ingratiate himself with him because he’s Gisele’s husband first and foremost, but also because he (correctly) thinks winning Aymeric over is much easier than the rest of the Alliance leaders given the lady they share in common.

He rather enthusiastically dove into the restoration project because it’s exactly the kind of large scale project he can sink his teeth into. “The Architect” wasn’t a show title. And even though he’s very much sucking up to Aymeric and Haurchefant in doing so (because Francel is leading the whole effort), Hades genuinely enjoys working in the Firmament. Oh he’ll never get his hands dirty, of course--his depression-induced lethargy isn’t totally gone, and that’s really what it was instead of “laziness”--but he lends his considerable expertise to the planners and builders and crafters, passing on ancient construction techniques that have been long forgotten, helping them tweak designs, telling them when they’re terrible and need to be scrapped. Urban planning was a big part of Hades’ job in ancient Amaurot, he was responsible for much of the city’s design and layout. The Firmament having green spaces and fountains and all of that are things he very much insisted on.

Aymeric doesn’t know what to make of him, tbqh. Initially, he absolutely does not trust him, except to the extent that Haurchefant and Estinien and Ysayle have vouched for him. It’s not that Aymeric doesn’t trust Gisele’s word or judgment, but he knows she doesn’t always see clearly when she’s in love with someone. And like the others, he gave him the “if you break her heart, I’ll break your face” speech except since it was Aymeric it was obviously very eloquent and the threats were much more veiled. XD But it came from a deep place of concern, even deeper than the others. Fear, even. His father sought to treat with Ascians too, and knows very well how that turned out.

But remember that Aymeric is also very much someone for whom deeds matter as much or more than just pretty words, and he’s been getting steady reports out of the Firmament. He deeply appreciates everything Hades has been doing there even if he’s not nearly naive enough to believe it’s not without ulterior motives. Still, he can’t fault him for those motives either--and most importantly, he makes Gisele ridiculously happy. He protected her and saved her life. As a result, Aymeric very much wants to believe that he’s turned over a new leaf and genuinely wants to start anew, so why not give him a chance to prove himself worthy of it? So far, he has. And Aymeric does come to genuinely like the man, he’s witty and urbane.

[elfyourmother]

What are Hien and Emet's takes on the tiddy armor

They are both thirsty af but Emet’s more subtle about it most of the time

Hien, while extremely Concerned, simultaneously has no idea how she manages to fight so well in some of her getups and is like “head empty tiddy soft”

Emet just thinks the more outrageous the better, but he’s not one to care about tiddy just being out. That’s boring and crass to him. It has to be Fashion. where is the drama??? is the tiddy being Served????? thing is, everything is Fashion on Gisele, and it’s one of the reasons he loves her so much

[elfyourmother]

[this is from the post 5.3 fic I started a few weeks ago.]

“What on earth is there to consider? I can’t believe we’re even having this conversation! What’s the matter with everyone? Have you all lost the bloody plot?” Alisaie cried, pushing off the wall—with her brother’s prudent, cautioning hand upon her shoulder. To her credit, she did not take a single step further toward Hades, though her hands had balled into fists. “This, this…monster tried to kill us! He has spent thousands of years plotting, scheming, leaving a trail of blood across worlds beyond measure. All because we are little more than insects to his ancient, eldritch eyes. What honestly makes you believe this isn’t just another scheme? That he isn’t manipulating us to his own ends, even now? We would be fools to suffer him to live, much less join us!”

“Killing him won’t bring your grandfather back, girl.”

Estinien’s voice was quiet, and characteristically brusque, when he spoke at last, and all eyes in the room fell upon him when he did; he was leaned back against the bar not far from where Thancred stood, resting back upon his hands. Alisaie’s eyes narrowed, glaring daggers at him.

“Choose your next words carefully, Estinien,” she said coldly.

Estinien chuckled lightly under his breath at her implied threat, shaking his head. It was no mockery, thus; Gisele, well familiar with his quirks, knew it for a manner of self-deprecation. More than once, in private conversation, he confided that he saw much of his younger self in the headstrong young mage, and mayhap that was why he’d taken such an interest in mentoring her, beyond his well noted affection for her brother.

But the brief expression of irony which danced across his sharp features faded, and in its place was one uncommonly gentle, empathetic. “All my life I hungered for vengeance, only to discover how a bitter fruit it is, once tasted,” Estinien said solemnly. “As bitter as the lies upon which we supped all unwitting for a thousand years. It all turned to ash upon my tongue, for Nidhogg’s demise did not return my family to me. I spilled the blood of enough dragons to drown Coerthas and Dravania both, seven times over, and what did it avail me? Ysayle was right to call me a butcher, and I cared not, not until it was too late.”

“You did these things in defense of your people,” Alisaie objected.

“By his own words, did he not?” Estinien asked, with a shrug, jerking his head slightly in Hades’ direction. “I once viewed dragonkind much the same way as he saw mortals: little more than feral, unconscionable beasts, monsters worthy of aught but steel. And it was that very hatred which left me vulnerable to Nidhogg’s possession. Let anger be your strength, aye, but have a care that it not consume you, nor blind you to the possibilities before you. It consumed me too long, and were it not for my comrades, it still might.”