#g.ladio loves her a lot! and she loves him too!!!!

[silverselfshippingchaos]

hi, ash! i'd love to hear about your ffxv s/i and your ship with gladio! also, what does iris think about your s/i? :O

YAY!! I love talking about this kind of stuff!!!

(Some talk of death, injury, drowning, a bit of blood + spoilers for the game)

F.FXV Ash was born in the Crown City to two members of the Crownsguard (eventually the Kingsglaive). Ever since she was young, Ash was always fed this idea that her kingdom was amazing. She loved her home so much and she wanted to grow up there forever with her parents and her sister. It all changed when she was 16. She parents were killed in combat.

(In Episode A.rdyn, there's a boss fight against two soldiers... Those were her parents.)

Ash stayed in the city long enough to graduate high-school, but after that, she just couldn't keep going. She felt hollow and empty inside. The murder of her parents shattered her in every single way possible, wrecked her faith and her love to kingdom, ruined her life. She's messed up.

And so, Ash leaves. She makes a name for herself as a monster hunter, drifting from town to town and protecting the people. She comes to be known as Eos' Rose. Beautiful, but with thorns too. She didn't choose to be called The Rose, it's just that part of her outfit is a long, red coat. I still need to work out the details of her outfit and all that, but she has a red coat and quite a few earrings. She has a chain threader going through two lobe piercings on one ear, and a dangling rose earring on the other. Both silver.

(Whenever she was about 20, she met a lonely chocobo chick. This chocobo stays with Ash for a long time. She is a green chocobo named Sage. Sage is Ash's companion and best friend. Sage is very friendly to everybody, but she has a distaste for Gladio and has tried to bite him on multiple occasions. She succeeded once, but more on that later.

Again, Sage is naturally green. Prompto asks about this once.

"Hey, Ash! Why is your chocobo green?"

"Well, I dunno, Prompto. Why are you blond?"

It gets a good chuckle out of everyone.)

Anyways, early into the game, the Chocobros run into Ash! She actually draws her sword on Noct at first and then she realizes "holy shit, you're the prince. Oh my god, I tried to kill the prince. Oh no, oh no, oh no-"

It's a bit of a funny moment, but she ends up allying with the bros and she gets especially close with Gladio. They get along really well, both protectors of people and absolutely dorks too.

Ash is a gamer, so she gets along well with Prompto and Noct. They actually all played Kings Knight together online! So it's a bit of a "WAIT WE'RE KINGS KNIGHT MOOTS?!" whenever they finally meet. She gets along really well with Ignis too! Ash is very close with all of the gang. It's not long before her and Gladio are falling in love, kissing and sharing Cup Noodles under the stars.

And as for Iris, Iris ADORES Ash! Looks up to her as the big sister she never had. Iris thinks Ash is so cool and strong! And she tells Gladdy that if he breaks her heart, she'll kick his ass! Ash really loves Iris too. She was always the youngest in her family too, so it means a lot to her to be able to be an older sister figure to someone. Ash teaches Iris a bit about how to use a sword too.

Anywho, back to the plot.

Ash accompanies the bros whenever they go onto the boat to Altissia. Her and Gladio have a sweet, romantic date there. But that happiness doesn't last. It's been a bit of a running joke that Ash doesn't know how to swim.

The last thing Gladio expected was to lose her.

As Altissia falls, Ash sacrifices herself to save Gladio and Prompto. They both have to watch as Ash falls from a bridge and into the water. They watch as Ash dies. But there's not enough time to save her. Prompto sobs, Gladio screams in horror. Ash is content. She's going to die protecting the people she loves, right? It's not that cute and her almost drowning to death was the scariest moment of her life. She's choking and gasping for air, trying to grab any rubble she can just to stay alive.

Ash isn't seen again for a while. It's part of the reason why Gladio lashes out on the train—he's mourning his girlfriend's death. Whenever he's sitting there across the table from Ignis, you can hear him crying.

However, a few chapters later... Guess who comes back. She's injured, has scars on her face, and her coat is in tatters. Gladio hugs her and cries, Ash tells him to loosen up a bit since she has a few cracked ribs.

"What's the matter? Not a fan of ghosts?"

Gladio tells her that this isn't the time to crack jokes, but he hugs her so tight. She was alive. She was okay.

(However, during this time, Gladio actually found Sage and told her that Ash was dead. Sage bit him hard that day.)

But... How exactly did Ash survive..?

That gets explained in Episode Ignis. I won't talk about Ash's involvement in every DLC just to not make this to lengthy, but in Iggy's... Ravus sees her drowning. He grabs her out of the water and onto land. He's not gentle about it, and the impact of being thrown against rubble isn't great for Ash's bones, but she's alive. Ash is nursed back to health by the survivors of the town. There's a lot more detail there, but that's the gist of what happens.

Ash's relationship with Ravus is fascinating. They bond quite a bit and have a chat under the stars much later, right before Ash reunites with Gladio. I had to dig through like two years worth of discord messages for this but it went something like this

Oh and you know that level that's just Gladio and Ignis? Yeah, Ash is there too. She cusses out Ardyn actually. Although I really like Ardyn, my S/I doesn't. He makes a comment that she's quite grown up now. You know how he gets those flashbacks of peoples' memories after he kills people in his DLC? He saw an image of a little girl with red glasses. And here she was, a grown woman.

She breaks off from the group before the Ravus fight. I don't want her to see him like that.

Anyways, then timeskip rolls around. Whenever Noct arrives at Hammerhead is met with a familiar "kweh-kweh!". Sage greets Noct after ten long years, and then Ash runs over. They have a cute hug scene.

However, Ash's outfit is different. Not only is her hair curly (pre-ts Ash had it straightened), but she's wearing... Kingsglaive armor?! Her outfit is vaguely inspired by Crowe from Kingsglaive, but Ash had become a soldier. Not just to follow in her parents' footsteps, but because she had spent her whole life feeling lost and she had finally found a purpose. Traveling with Noct and Co had made her realize that her life had a purpose. She wanted to spend her life protecting her kingdom.

After her parents died, she didn't know what to do with herself. Noct was both her best friend and her king. Noct says that the Kingsglaive outfit looks good on her. It makes her smile. Ash had finally come home to Insomnia, and she had finally found what she was meant to do.

Before the gang leaves, she gives Noct a long hug and tells him to come back alive. She gives Gladio a kiss too.

And that's basically it!

[silverselfshippingchaos]

his birthday means that we are g.ladio posting like hell today

[silverselfshippingchaos]

Band-aid 🩹, Thoughts 💭 & Smile ☺️ ~ rebeccaselfships

hello friend!

Band-aid 🩹 - If there was one thing about your f/o that you'd want people to understand, what would it be?

I'm gonna answer this one for G.ladio!

(he's so handsome!!!)

I feel like G.ladio is really often mischaracterized. He has a lot of scenes throughout the game where he can say some things that come off as very harsh, and that leads a lot of people not really liking him.

Part of this is due to the fact that, as a character, he's simply not developed as much as the other guys. He just doesn't have the screentime and his DLC isn't as character focused as, say, P.rompto's.

(This is not a dig at the other guys. I love all three of them with all my heart and they're all my besties!)

G.ladio takes his duty as Shield seriously. He's very honest, to the point where it comes off as him being mean. He always puts the best interest of his king before everything else. He's so loyal, and that's part of the reason why I love him so much. He's like the rock of the group.

He's not as harsh in the Japanese version of the game either, but my point is that G.ladio isn't a dick. I've seen so many bad takes and they always piss me off. He's a really good guy that loves his friends and his family so much to the point where he'll do anything for them. He's a real sweetheart!

... When he's not going off about how much he loves Cup Noodles, that is.

Thoughts 💭 - What do you think your f/o thinks about you when you're not around?

I'm gonna answer this one for M.atthew!

(He's so cute!!!)

For a long time, Ash and Matt are traveling companions. As a result, his side feels pretty empty whenever he's adventuring and Ash isn't there. He's always making mental noyes of the things he wants to tell her all about! Like a giant monster he fought or a really awesome looking tree!

Ash tends to make a lot of puns and jokes (when she's not lightheartedly poking fun at him, that is), so Matt also thinks about the comments she'd make if she was there.

But also, he knows first-hand the effect that the fall of the City had on everyone, especially Ash. His childhood best friend (eventually girlfriend) has been through a lot and he really admires her strength. He always finds himself thinking about how much he looks up to her. To be able to go through so much, and still be able to crack a smile... That's something he always tries to do, too.

Smile ☺️ - What about your f/o makes you smile every single time? Furthermore, what's something you do that makes your f/o smile every time?

I think I'm gonna answer this one for A.qua, my dearest wife! It's cheesy, but what makes me smile is when she smiles.

She has a very soft and comforting presence. She may this super badass and strong warrior, but she's so gentle with the people that she loves. Her smile is so warm and it makes me feel so safe.

Also, she's just adorable!

A.qua has, quite literally, been to hell and back. She has lived a nightmare and for her to still be able to smile at the end of it? I love that about her. I always try to make her smile too hehe!

As for Ash, I think it always makes A.qua smile whenever she cracks jokes. It feels like home to her. The two of them have been best friends since they were very little children. A.qua was always the serious one and Ash was the goofy one. A.qua went ten whole years stuck in the Realm of Darkness, and the one thing she never forgot was how bright Ash's laugh was.

There's a lot of mutual comfort between these two, having grown up together and all that. Their bond goes beyond just being, you know, married. This is a very K.ingdom H.earts thing to say, but their very hearts are connected. To be with each other always makes them both smile.