#azem: aphrodite

[ishgard]

Thoughts been swirling around today about Kira/Aphrodite and her relationship with Lahabrea. (～￣▽￣)～

So I'm gonna slap 'em down to keep track of later or else they'll get lost in the brain sauce. Still a WIP though. (This is also an excuse to use my old OG Lahabrea face from ARR-era. - w -)

Gist is Aphrodite and Hephaestus go way back and were lovers for a time, until their duties as Lahabrea and Azem began to put more distance between them and then... well, Lahabrea met Athena.

I think even before that point they had a somewhat more open relationship, because Aphrodite also had an on-again, off-again, 'it's complicated' relationship with Ares (Zenos), I just haven't figured the exact time frame of it all yet and if any of it 'clashes'.

But regardless, he broke things off with her, much to his later regret, lol. I imagine she had some strong opinions about it/had a bad vibe from Athena, but couldn't say much or else she'd come across as the jealous ex. :''D (And in light of the Igeyorhm was his cousin thing, I chuckle to imagine her scolding him over something similar, too.)

As for how things might have panned out in post-Athena years, I'm less clear on yet. :|a

Fast forward to modern times though, and Kira is the adopted daughter of a Garlean noble (who he ultimately uses to spy, seduce, and get information from others with). She has no idea Emperor Solus is even aware of her existence, really, but he is very much aware of Azem's soul shard moving around close to him.

I'm not sure yet if he purposefully invited Lahabrea because he thought something along the lines of: 'Okay, this guy is burning the candle at both ends, maybe if he meets "Azem" it'll ground him a little' - or if it was less pointed than that. Or if it was just a pure happenstance meeting.

But either way they did meet, and proceeded to have a whirlwind Very Complicated romance (more on that later I think) that will lead to Very Complicated outcomes once she's WoLing it up. ^^;

[emetkoto]

What's up with Aphrodite and Emet-Selch bc somehow I know and understand more about Apollo's batshit time loop than their weird. Idk what to call it. It's not a situationship.

oh its absolutely NOT a situationship but it sure is. a situation. basically aphrodite/dionysus/emet/hyth were childhood friends and aphrodite/emet had that kinda "oh theyre definitely gonna end up together" thing going on where yknow everyone around them kinda expected it to happen eventually bc they happened to be a man and a woman who were good friends and known to not be strictly homosexual and while emet selch definitely had feelings for her and had also fallen into the "we'll surely end up together" trap aphrodite. had ZERO interest in him that way. he was just a good friend to her so once she started traveling with venat and met adonis/unsundered urianger she really didnt think much of emet or everyone elses expectations when they decided to start a relationship....and emet selch. uh. he didnt take it well? to say the least. to him adonis was just some nobody who wasnt even from amaurot like they were and thus not good enough for her like he definitely was so he kinda went off the rails a bit and it started to drive a wedge between them and slowly ruin their friendship (made even worse when hyth and dionysus got together when emet also thought that dionysus was a lame loser nobody freak not good enough for his dear friend hyth) but aphrodite kept him around bc idk. sunk cost fallacy. hope that he would get over it eventually and they could all go back to being friends like they were before. not wanting to deal with the fallout. take your pick theyre all partially correct!

tldr in emeverse hes the kinda guy who believes in the friendzone so when aphrodite, a woman who never showed romantic interest in him, got a boyfriend he lost it

[takethistoyourstardust]

also it's like. so fucked up that venat knew azem had to be sundered for the wol to exist and have a chance at stopping meteion.

[acathea]

'When the light is running low And the shadows start to grow And the places that you know Seem like fantasy There's a light inside your soul That's still shining in the cold With the truth The promise in our hearts Don't forget I'm with you in the dark'

Kiht belongs to @rnangopantsu

[enavant]

❥ @soulseeresque — soft starter call !!

      FINGERS ARE GENTLE yet diligent as they work through his hair, carefully && skilfully braiding in silken ribbons && small flowers throughout her strides; aphrodite's goal, a lovely pair of french braids. it had been some time since she'd been off on her duties, fully intending her time to be spent beside him in her return.

      ❝ you are so lovely, hythlodaeus, i do hope you know that. truly, i adore time spent with you, if you shall have me yet again until duty whisks me away. perhaps i shall steal you away with me one of these times. ❞

[rosieberry]

azem/aphrodite

[enavant]

      A DELIGHT IN HER DAUGHTER expressing a path in her own footsteps rings through her — arms wrapped lovingly around her in protective embrace as she holds her close && stable. she, however, can already hear the endless grumbling of emet-selch, once again playing villain to her darling daughter — oh, && the amusement it brings her.

      ❝ my, my darling, already becoming such a wonderful adventurer. ah, but you would never let it become bad, i have every faith in you, you know, my triumphant dear. ❞ fingers move, shifting her daughter's weight to her other arm, ruffling her hair gently. ❝ now, tell me your tales && describe this villain to me. was he terrible ? ferocious ? grumpy ? ❞

@enavant said:💗 aphrodite @ her dottir harmonia !!

' i went on an adventure today. ' her soft sing - song voice sounds verily pleased with herself ; clearly a little inspired by her mother's own endeavors. one day, when she's brave enough, she'll insist to follow along on a real one. for now she's clinging to aphrodite, one hand around her shoulder and the other playing mindlessly with her hair. ' i stopped a villain and saved a whole city. it was almost bad ! '

[caerbannogs]

killhare's azem did WHAT? D:

Wait have I never talked about this before??? Omg okay buckle up y’all!

Right before the Sundering, Aphrodite (Killhare’s Azem) got into combat with Emet-Selch at the top of the Convocation building. The two broke through the windows, and Emet-Selch accidentally pushed Aphrodite off the building. She had time to contemplate the burning skies as she fell. Before Aphrodite actually died and returned to the star, Venat completed the Sundering, and Aphrodite, no longer in the right location with the other soon-to-be-Ascians, was caught up in it.

Aphrodite was never meant to be Sundered. Venat thought she could save her like she did Elidibus, Emet-Selch, and Lahabrea, and change the future. She could not.

[picaroroboto]

random rambly crossover thoughts under the cut

I talk a lot about the thematic overlap and coincidental lore similarities between FGO and FFXIV, but what I really really like to think about, and need to write sometime, is interactions between Guda and the WoL, because they are so similar: Guda has this strong yet simple kindness, they're a traveler, they've got a reputation for chaos and wierdness but everyone loves them so much that their defining skill is summoning a bunch of guys, they would be another Shard of Azem's soul except for the fact that they're from a completely different universe. Guda and the WoL have a lot of the same problems on the deeper level - the pressure of being the only one who can save the world in this way, the burden of being loved and idolized and put on a pedestal while also being reduced to just your title and your role. And of course the myriad traumas of a life of high-stakes battle and the struggle to put on a brave face for other despite all of this, because so many people are counting on you and a smile better suits a hero.

Oh, and they're both sort-of psychic, with the WoL's Echo visions and Guda's shared Servant dreams so probably not long after meeting they'd be thrown headlong into each other's worst memories: the WoL watching Guda's toughest battles in Camelot and Babylonia and the Temple of Time, the destruction of Chaldea at the start of Part 2, maybe flashes of Aphrodite's song and the Garden of Lost Will; while Guda picks up on scenes like the Bloody Banquet, Haurchefant's sacrifice, the battle with Ardbert in Soul Surrender - "One life for one world - you of all people should understand!"

(the WoL doesn't tell much of their past because they're enjoying the feeling of being somewhere where nobody knows their name, while Guda doesn't give much specifics of the Lostbelts because it would be hard to reveal to a hero from another world that saving your world involves destroying others)

So the WoL, summoned to Chaldea or some Singularity, does understand what Guda is going through and wants to help, but - Guda's not so different from an Ascian. The WoL knows what it's like to fight to protect your broken world, they've fought against and killed those who would return their world to it's proper course. Maybe they'd be allies for a while, good friends as well, but still oppose Guda at some point - not really a betrayal, maybe more of a trial, or just a sort of inevitability, because just like they can't not help Guda they also can't ignore the fact that Guda has defeated many heroes just like them, just like Ardbert and his party, like any Warriors of Light of the rejoined Reflections.

Leading to super sugoi summoning versus summoning battle, overlapping chants of "My will creates your body, your sword creates my destiny..." "Let expanse contract, eon become instant..."

[finalrespite]

re the ancient names for wols/ocs question: Of course anyones decided Ancient identities are extremely valid and in particular anyone whose Azem is Prometheus are big-brained. I think my choosing of Aphrodite for Eji's is one of my favorite decisions.

Like I said it was heavily influenced by Hades' Aphrodite, who I saw and thought 1. Oh she's hot, and 2. Oh she's very Eji-coded. But I think this description of her is what did it for me the most:

...Because wow that's so profound and poignant to me. The WoL is strong alone - brutally so even, as was Azem no doubt, but what is more defining of their life and career than moving the world with the power of love?

[duskmother]

Meant to respond to this sooner! It was sitting in my drafts for a little bit because I had yet to gpose with me and @ferin-the-fern 's shared Azem. Now that I have her all set up, please allow me to formally introduce Hestia of the Fourteenth Seat! I'm probably going to go into more detail surrounding her relationships with the Ancients in a later post, but in the meantime, let me share some information about Hestia, the Goddess from Greek mythology and how it relates to our Azem:

Hestia is one of the eldest in the Olympian pantheon, presiding over hearth, home, and family. Despite this, she elected to never marry, instead choosing to forever tend to the eternal hearth of Olympus. It is said that Aphrodite herself had no sway over Hestia ( we stan an ace spectrum queen ). Something that stood out to me about Hestia, though, was that she is also the goddess of sacred, sacrificial fire and as such, the first sacrificial offering in any household was to be offered to Hestia.

Given what we know about events leading up to the Sundering and the mass sacrifice that bore Zodiark, Hestia was a little too perfect of a choice for me to make given she (like the canon Azem) was staunchly against the decision, but it came to pass regardless, leaving her with survivor's guilt that would haunt her until her end-- which is another story for another time! Thanks for reading if you're still here! Happy to finally get some of this down for everyone to see!

hm? oh is it wol question time?

who is your wol/oc's ancient?

is it Azem, or someone else? what's their name? what was their relationship to the ancients we know (Venat, Emet Selch, Hythodeus, etc.)? do you have a picture of them?

[selchwife]

IM STILL WORKING ON MY OC... shes not a wol because! she is not azem, and rather is an important scion that usually accompanies friends wols. shes gonna be a fem hrothgar prooobabaly? when they release, and her unsundered self is named adonis (after the myth of adonis and aphrodite/venus) also shes a war / mnk main :D

OH FUCK YES FEM HROTHGAR

i'm really excited to see her when fem hrothgar drop in the character creator!!! :DD adonis is such a win name choice too

[emetkoto]

I need to talk about my ancients here more do the Tumblr hoes even know K'otos azem has the gift of prophecy and has been manipulating the timeline since he was born up until the moment emet selch survived the dying gasp specifically to make that happen a la 4d chess with interdimentional time travel. Do they even know about the tragedy of Aphrodite and Dionysus. Harmonia also exists. Barely. I'm working on that one but Apollo and the doomed siblings are so insanely fleshed out these days it's a problem

[takethistoyourstardust]

this will make no sense to anyone but carley and maybe guro.

why the fuck was pete’s outfit tonight just what my azem wears in a college au.

there is an image of aphrodite college au out there i just gotta find it but You see the vision right.

ART BY GUROSINNER. FOUND IT!!!!!

[senetaf]

“Come with me, no time to explain!” @ charon from aphrodite !!

As Kharon reached up to remove the mask that had long concealed his face, he could not help but feel a sense of detachment from the chaos that was unfolding around him. For though he could not see the Star as others did, with his singular functioning golden eye, he was able to perceive something far more profound – the hues of people's souls. And what he saw now was a Star in turmoil, beset by hopelessness and despair, a world in which the very fabric of reality seemed to be unraveling at the seams. And yet, even as he felt the weight of that despair pressing down upon him, he knew that he could not abandon his duty, his eons of service to the underworld.

For The Ferryman was ever a creature of the shadows, a being who had dwelt in the darkness for as long as he could remember, and who had watched the passing of the ages with a sense of detachment that bordered on indifference. And yet, for all his power and his knowledge, he was still a creature of flesh and blood, subject to the same frailties and doubts as any other. And so it was that, he found himself wondering why she even hoped that he could be salvaged, that he might choose to leave this realm of shadow and despair behind. For though she might see him as a creature in need of her grace, he knew that his fate was bound to the long path to the Aetherial Sea, to the eternal darkness that lay beyond.

When he pondered these things in silence, he could not help but feel a slight gratitude towards her, a wonder at the light that seemed to flourish from within her. While their perception of the Star isn't the same, her presence, in this moment, was a balm to his soul, a reminder that even in the darkest of times, there was still hope to be found. As one would expect from the person holding the Seat of Azem.

"Are you... trying to save me?" He hoped she isn't. It'll be... a futile endeavor.

[enavant]

━━ ❥❥❥ @ichoric : 💋 kos AND harmonia ok c: SEND 💋 FOR A KISS ━━ accepting !!

      OH, HOW SHE MISSES THEM whensoever she is off on her travels — how she longs to take the both of them with her, though she knows there are greater dangers && to subject their daughter to it would be both foolish && serve to break her own heart. yet the overwhelming joy that bursts forth from within her upon her return is pay back enough sometimes for missing them.

      arms stretch open, aphrodite half kneeling in order to catch her daughter as she sprints up, wrapping her limbs around her in a warm embrace, one to attempt to make up for all the ones lost in her absence. && she stands again, lifting her && pressing a gentle kiss to her forehead, close to her hairline before approaching kos && moving to lean against his side.

      ❝ oh, my two most precious loves, how i have missed you both. i hope all has been well in my absence. i have every faith the pair of you have kept evil at bay here — a very important task. ❞

      affectionate smile is cast up to kos, shifting their daughter to rest along her hip in her arm as her now free hand moves to cup his cheek, lifting on her toes to press her lips to his as if she'd been long cursed with thirst && he was her water. how beautiful her seat was, yet this, well this was where she truly felt home — so long as they were by her side.