#which made Augus *very* defensive

[not-poignant]

Pia, hi! I'm again at the 34 chapter of GT, and I still can't understand the motivation behind Augus basically telling Ash that he manipulated Gwyn into giving him stuff, implying that there's nothing genuine between him and Gwyn, etc. Like, just some chapters ago Augus was telling Gwyn completely opposite things and he was honest, so why this, ah, misdirection? What was there to gain? This is Ash, why would Augus have a need to come up with some story? Also, did Augus know Gwyn's listening?

I wrote about this a bit like five years ago but who’s gonna search those asks? *All of us refuse to raise our hands because no one is* So I’m gonna give you the shorthanded version:

* Seeing Ash again, reawoke Augus’ anger and protectiveness re: everything that had not only happened to him, but to Ash. It’s not even misdirection. He is genuinely pissed off, and i do think he has a moment here of rethinking his bond with Gwyn. Seeing Ash again, learning specifically about the part where Gwyn betrayed Ash - Augus never knew that, he never processed it, and it pissed him off. I’m pretty sure he raises it with Gwyn afterwards too in the same chapter (one of the reasons it’s called Brother in the first place is more than just ‘we’re seeing Ash again’ it’s also ‘observe how Augus’ character changes when Ash is in the picture’ and it’s also ‘Augus finds out how Gwyn betrayed his brother’), which was the key to deciphering Augus’ main motive here in why his attitude shifts and he becomes particularly cruel.

Here, this is the key line that explains the motive shift:

“‘You betrayed my brother,’ he whispered, ‘and didn’t tell me? Probably wise. But I know now. Did you not tell me because you knew how I’d react?”

“‘Gwyn, I’m not sure what you expect from me. Mercy? He is the most innocent out of all of us! And you-’“

Never underestimate Augus’ ability to tear someone a new one when he’s feeling protective (and at this point, were you to make Augus choose between Gwyn and his brother, he would choose his brother - this plainly shifts in COFT, but at this earlier stage, Augus is still freshly hurt on his brother’s behalf and thinks he is the bastion of innocence). We see it in The Court of Five Thrones when he becomes verbally vicious towards Mikkel for making Gwyn upset. It’s a pretty key part of his character, but I didn’t want it to be super obvious at this point, because I wanted Gwyn to be super confused by what was happening and be certain that Augus had been lying to him the entire time.

* So on a more minor level though, Augus wasn’t really in a rush to be like: ‘heyyyyy, Ashhhh, yeah so my captor and rapist and I are sort of...a thing now??? Yeahhhhh. So.....’ Lol. That may have been an influencing factor additionally re: why Augus didn’t y’know, talk about how romantic things were between he and Gwyn. I’m not sure many people would be in a rush to reveal a relationship like this.

Augus has always been in the position of protective older brother, and as far as he’s concerned, protective older brothers don’t like...form meaningful relationships with the people who betrayed their vulnerable, innocent younger brother. (Also Augus is a little embarrassed, lol - and he’s also not wrong to be? As soon as he reveals it, he has to spend the next year defending his relationship with Gwyn, to Ash, until Ash incites a mutiny and Gwyn is like...really harmed. So like, I sort of forgive Augus for all of that because there was definitely an element of ‘I already have a lot of shit to deal with I don’t want to deal with that too’).

(And he was mad at Gwyn. Augus will say all kinds of shit when he’s truly angry. He’s always had an ability to become like...a verbal form of flensing when he’s mad).

***

Why did I say this would be the shortform version why do I say that when it never is. *stops rambling*

(I could keep talking about this though, especially re: Augus’ anger at Gwyn regarding finding out about that betrayal. He has an instant, visible ‘you are on my fucking shit list’ personality change from the moment he finds out, so if you go back to the beginning of the section, you can literally see the moment Augus goes from trepidation and ‘what the hell’s going on’ to ‘fuck you and the horse you rode in on, Gwyn. How dare you.’

[not-poignant]

I love the Evolutions in Ice Plague and I’m curious if you think a Ash/Mosk hook up would work on any level? I loved the was Mosk was reacted to the glamour and him asking Ash to kill him.. Like Ash has that dark side that makes him a monster’s monster, so I wonder how the two would play together? (Even if it ends up being supes unhealthy)

I’ve been thinking about this since you asked!

I think like, if it was outside of the canon, it would probably work, actually? Like, I used to be really firm about not shipping Eran and Mosk with anyone other than each other (partly because I was still establishing their relationship and love at the time, but that’s pretty well established now and it feels a lot easier to think about).

I think if it happened in the canon, it would just become very awkward for Mosk, and there wasn’t much Ash could do about that, even if he would be consummately respectful, Ash wouldn’t let Mosk not feel anything, or hide in dissociation, and that would be distressing for Mosk, and probably distressing for Ash by association (he can tell a rape victim from a mile off, tbh, if he’s making out with them).

But in general, I actually think they could work. Like if it was an AU or something? I don’t think Ash would be that interested in being like, super predatory around him. It would probably end up really soft. Certainly softer than how Ash is in Quid Pro Quo. I think partly because Gwyn in Quid Pro Quo holds so much more power, on every level, so Ash is constantly proving his own power against him (which is a very Unseelie thing to do in general). They are semi-antagonistic even though Ash wants to take care of him, Gwyn doesn’t make it easy, so Ash has to push and the way he does with Gwyn is to match his machismo with his own (because Ash also knows instinctively that being ‘really soft’ with Gwyn will drive him away in ten seconds, you can actually see the points in this story he realises this).

But Mosk doesn’t push in the same way. He is so obviously a defensive, lonely, sad person when he pushes back. That’s why no one ever takes his pushing seriously (er, until lately, when he got super powerful). I think Ash would see it more as a red flag, that says ‘I am scared and hurt and prickly and self destructive’ and be very careful how he responded to that.

I really want to show more of Mosk and Ash together in book 3 in particular, but I’m not sure I’ll get to. Mosk loves Ash’s glamour, but he doesn’t actually love Ash. He loves how Ash made him felt. But I actually think they would get along? Mosk is actually a pretty good, engaged conversationalist when he wants to be. And he is pretty good at getting the truth out of people (consider that Mosk knows about: Mafydd and how he died and the manner in which that happened, some of Eran’s darkest secrets, and the Raven Prince’s torture). (Part of it is that Mosk doesn’t try very hard to get the truth about people, he presents himself as a kind of...neutral witness. Ash does the same thing.)

ANYWAY, look, I could ramble about this for a long time, but tl;dr I think for the most part, Ash would be as soft as he could with Mosk, and generally not take anything hurtful he said personally, and sort of understand where that was coming from. But based on different variables, things might change, and also like, I think Ash would feel pained about it too, because depending on when they met or hooked up, Mosk interprets so much love and comfort as pain himself.

Ahhhhhh so many thoughts. Tbh idk how it would play out ultimately, since I tend to alter things scenario by scenario anyway? And obviously whatever your imagining would work too, or whatever anyone imagines re: them.

It’s fun to think about though, partly because I’ve never really allowed myself before. Out of all of our main trio - Gwyn, Augus and Ash, I think Mosk is probably most compatible with Ash! Which...I’m not sure I would’ve said that a year ago. Which probably means my answer will change in like (a hot second) a few months!