Comments | het_challenge: FFXII: Larsa/Penelo, Walls

lindenleaves in het_challenge

FFXII: Larsa/Penelo, Walls

Aug 24, 2007 02:35

The Emperor, she is told, has retired to his chambers. He fell victim to a particularly nasty Syphon spell while sparring with his guards that afternoon and, waving away ethers and elixirs, requested only a bottle of wine, and privacy.

“I see,” Penelo says. “Where shall I wait for him?”

“His Excellency’ll want you to go up, miss,” Judge Dyrim ( Read more... )

final fantasy 12, lindenleaves

Comments 10

rabbitprint August 24 2007, 14:06:22 UTC

Briefly, but:

He is young yet, but she doubts he will make Magister. I loved this line! Something about it really stuck the image of Penelo in my head, not elitist enough to be looking down on the poor man, but at the same time judging and aware of what Magister takes. It really drew the line for me of Penelo being the 'pauper visiting', through the sense that she's really in another social realm, and can make those kinds of observations freely without cruelty or loftiness involved. Not really matter-of-fact either; it's hard to describe. I'm not sure of how it exactly worked to do it, but I really did get such a strong vibe of her being apart from it all without measuring herself against the luxuries of Archadia ( ... )

lindenleaves August 24 2007, 16:10:43 UTC

her being apart from it all without measuring herself against the luxuries of Archadia

To me, this is exactly what Penelo's trying to hard to defend in this piece. Her ability to move from Vaan's world to Larsa's and back again only works if she doesn't let herself become tied down to either. I can't very well imagine that, free spirit that she is, she'd ever really envy anything an Archadian could own.

Glad you enjoyed it!

threewalls August 30 2007, 06:46:24 UTC

I'm very pleased to see a story with tension between Penelo's fondness for Larsa as a person and her unwillingness to drop the sky pirating life-- her freedom-- when he asks (and that he asks, because how could Larsa resist trying to persuade her to stay?).

lindenleaves September 2 2007, 01:43:00 UTC

Glad you liked it! (I seem to enjoy making the two of them suffer, eh?)

biases October 13 2007, 15:46:43 UTC

Here by way of ff_press

Oh, this is wonderful. While I adore the idea of Larsa and Penelo, due to their excellent interaction in-game, the political ramifications of such a relationship are really quite dire and you've handled that marvellously. A brilliant fic that captures the pain of both parties.

Memming. :)

lindenleaves October 13 2007, 23:44:11 UTC

Thank you! I do believe it's hypothetically possible for that relationship to work out, despite Archades' being what it is, that just... wasn't the direction the fic went, haha.

mariagoner February 13 2008, 08:06:10 UTC

Mmmm, this was a really lovely and unexpected treat. You really write older Larsa well and convincingly-- my heart really does go out to him and the cage he's trapped in by tradition and heritage, even though I can understand all too well why Penelo doesn't want to enter it willingly. I think this passage explains it best:

Penelo crosses to him, strokes the dark locks from his forehead. “You will." With Vaan there are no ties-they do as they please and laugh afterwards, without confessions, without promises. Yet this is a man who dreams of possession-the very walls of his city whisper of it; his people, confined by petticoats and starched collars, feel its weight, a lash that drives their cunning. And Penelo knows to fear the lofty walls of Archades.Not only is this beautiful, it also perfectly explains what Archades is and why Penelo and Larsa could never work within this context ( ... )

lindenleaves February 13 2008, 17:29:19 UTC

With the "web" line she was trying to imitate Archadian dialect, yes, but for the rest of it you're completely right. If I had to write it again I'd change a lot of things.

And sure, link away! Thanks for the rec :)

intradependency February 15 2008, 14:49:25 UTC

Followed from mariagoner's rec...

Greatly enjoyed this one, and such a well-thought response to the prompt. I did wonder though, if it's Vaan and Larsa as A and B, or Larsa and Penelo? It works both ways, if on a different level. Maybe both at once?

Also, the paragraph maria quoted is such a defining one, it hammers everything home. And in such a neat little package.

Thanks for writing. :)

lindenleaves February 15 2008, 17:04:43 UTC

When I wrote it I thought of Larsa and Penelo as A and B, if only because I figured "A and B" meant the two halves of the pairing. But I definitely wanted some compare/contrast with Larsa and Vaan to sneak its way in, so I'm very happy that multiple levels came across there. Thank you :)