Comments | het_challenge: Fic, FFXII --Vayne/Ashe

mithrigil in het_challenge

Fic, FFXII --Vayne/Ashe

Oct 03, 2007 23:04

Title: Goodwill to the Soldier, the Widow, the Child
Author: mithrigil
Fandom: Final Fantasy XII
Characters: Ashe and Vayne, with appearances from Raminas, Drace, and Gramis
Rating: NC-17 twice over.
Wordcount: 5700.
Prompt: Forced marriage.
Warnings: AU-The prologue happened but not the Prelude. Rasler is dead, and Nabudis is fallen-but the losses ( Read more... )

final fantasy 12, mithrigil

Comments 29

misxmatch October 4 2007, 03:22:20 UTC

oh. my. god.

there... there just aren't words! Only high pitched squeaky noises.

mithrigil October 4 2007, 03:42:57 UTC

::bows:: I am glad someone out there is brought to joy by this. Oh yes.

And thank you.

tenshi_kain October 4 2007, 03:36:12 UTC

Bitchin'. There isn't a segment here I don't like, but I look with a special kind of fondness on Vayne and Gramis in the Orchard of the Conquered- just great little asides there, like Gramis' long periods of sickness, Zarg as somewhat of a Gramisexual (coined that), the Landis trees- and the last segment. Vayne makes that other aside about his affection for Ashe stemming from her ability to "undo" him, which is a double entendre that ran all the way into the sex and explained why he actually takes an interest in sex with her, besides the politics. But his response as to what he'd do to the child if it wasn't his was definitely my favorite part, because it tops the list of all the things you do to make this AU seem viscerally real and plausible. And that's no small list.

mithrigil October 4 2007, 03:45:41 UTC

I think half of my pleasure that comes from writing Vayne lies in the ability to say things like that. "I would kill you, and it, and probably your father--" all with that stable veneer that is too smooth to be blunt but still. Thank you for starting me on this damned train of thought in the first place.

laylah October 4 2007, 03:53:45 UTC

holy god, mith.

I was a little afraid to read this, because the pairing makes me so nervous -- I get so protective on Ashe's behalf -- but the beginning hooked me and I couldn't stop and. oh. man.

you write an amazing Ashe here, and her ways to power take my breath away.

such love.

mithrigil October 4 2007, 04:04:47 UTC

Thank you so much.

::blushes red::

I'm really glad the last section turned out the way it did, in that regard--either way, she wins. It's true.

who_shot_kr October 4 2007, 04:03:36 UTC

I'll be honest. I don't understand this pairing much (and it does squick me on principle of involving Vayne), but you've created a context in which I can see this happening and which not only does not squick me but is also pretty damn shiny too.

Vanye is a bastard, but Ashe is smart enough to put him in his place, and that really is what distinguishes this piece for me. Not only that, but the way how both Ashe and Vayne think, even. It's both as cerebral as Vayne and as wild as Ashe.

And, in a way, there's also a sort of cannibalization going on here too, if that makes sense. Shiny and full of A+++. Would read again (probably will) and god, do I suddenly wish I had the capacity to play Vayne. (It'd be fun to drive Ashe up the wall like this.)

mithrigil October 4 2007, 04:06:54 UTC

::smiles:: You know, comments to the effect of "I was supposed to hate this, damn it" really make my day?

who_shot_kr October 4 2007, 04:15:13 UTC

Bumbling victory, for the win?

But seriously, yes. My feelings exactly. But man, it's good. (And I wouldn't even had read it had it not been you that wrote it. I would not trust it in the hands of another. The back button on my browser weeps for it's lack of usage tonight.)

puella_nerdii October 4 2007, 04:17:48 UTC

Goddamn.

Everything in this. The terms of the marriage. Drace and the bathhouse. Vayne's acceptance of the fact that Ashe is going to cheat on him. The heat that runs through the entire piece, through Ashe's anger to the baths to the desert to Vayne gripping the lamp, even, though that might be me reading too much into things.

I've already praised your Ashe to high heaven, so I'll now do the same with Vayne. He's calculating, smooth, and utterly, utterly engaging. And his relationship with Ashe really is turbulent in the best way, with both of them presenting a challenge to the other and -- I mean, I kink on that hard enough as it is, and you do it SO WELL.

Just. Much love for you. *blows kisses*

mithrigil October 4 2007, 04:23:28 UTC

Ee, you caught it again, hot and cold are deliberate in this piece, as are darkness and race and bare skin.

Thank you for enjoying it, and I really do have fun with Vayne. He's a pleasure to write at this point, and I should stop feeling guilty about that.