FFXII Fic: Knots, Ties and Tides, Chapter 10 (Larsa/Penelo, Ashe, Vayne)
There are certain fics that you want to write. There are certain fics that you’d love to write. And then there are those certain special fics that you need to write, lest the fact that you haven’t finished them up-- even during the special hell that is finals week-- drive you absolutely insane
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I love seeing spells used in outside of their usual combat roles, so when I realized what Penelo had done I was very, very happy. I don't know why I like it so much--I guess it just seems to add that extra little touch to the setting. (Plus: think how awesome it'd be in real life!)
...although I wonder if Larsa's going to start carrying Nethicite around Penelo. XD But really, I'd love to see his reaction when he first realizes what she did. He might, in the end, decide it was an ingenious trick he should learn, but in the meantime, I can just see him blowing his chocobo-fluff-covered top. XD
Okay, I'll get the little things I noticed out of the way right now:
in an effort to hide the stupid way they tremlbed.
"And after we were married, I will think of that even more." (Tense)
Penelo knew he still wasn’t looking her clearly. ("looking" could be "seeing". Alternatively, you could just add an "at" after looking, but, imho, I think "seeing" would be better.)
And moving on to the great stuff! ...omg, I can't believe Larsa started out by asking about her period. And then insinuating she was acting out of lust! (In fact, I wasn't even thinking of Penelo and lust being a possible combination at the moment, so when he said that I didn't get what he meant until Penelo's reaction.)
“Well, feel free to believe just that, darling. You broke it, you bought it, you own it, you got it. You wanted me and now I’m yours and yours alone.”
Seemingly despite himself, Larsa's cheeks pinked at that.
I didn't even catch Larsa's reaction to this until the third time I was reading through, but now that I have, that's uh. That's giving me a really odd idea of what Larsa will like in the bedroom in later years. XD
“Just as--” And he looked so goddamn upset-- “You would now have me relinquish you without even giving me room to speak?”
...is it a bad thing that I really really want to hit him for this line? (GRAH, Penelo's not yours to relinquish, Larsa!) Urge to beat the devilVayne outta Larsa rising. I mean, he does have good reasons, he just...argh. The "all my life" part is a little creepy, but at least he's being sincere? ...I really don't blame Penelo for using Stop on him.
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And I love the idea of people in the FFXII world using spells outside their normal contexts as well. Hell, if you were able to set things on fire with the force of your mind, would you seriously only use it when you're on the formal battle field? I wouldn't have that force of mind myself!
Oooh, and thank you for the corrections. I'm so awful at copy-editing myself. ♥
And moving on to the great stuff! ...omg, I can't believe Larsa started out by asking about her period. And then insinuating she was acting out of lust! (In fact, I wasn't even thinking of Penelo and lust being a possible combination at the moment, so when he said that I didn't get what he meant until Penelo's reaction.)
Heh. Poor Larsa. He thought he was being so suave when he was trying to console Penelo about her misbehaving uterus! He thought he was scoring brownie points when he nobly offered himself up for a kiss or a cuddle if she needed innocent affection to help her!
Oh Larsa. He's so young, so sweet, so manipulative and so very, very stupid when it comes to understanding women. He'll learn but until then, he should really invest in a good shield when it comes to interacting with Penelo.
I didn't even catch Larsa's reaction to this until the third time I was reading through, but now that I have, that's uh. That's giving me a really odd idea of what Larsa will like in the bedroom in later years. XD
I'm pretty sure I wrote that fic already, though it was for the Uses of Enchantment series. You know... the mutual pleasure one? ;)
And Larsa... certainly hasn't had the easiest life himself, though he hasn't suffered any of the physical or emotional (at least as of yet!) hardships Penelo has. He's been loved all his life but the people actually willing to directly express that love are very few and very far between. I don't blame him for wanting to have at least one person in his life that can love him as sweetly and openly as Penelo can... but yes, that creepy possessiveness isn't helping maters either!
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In Ivalice, everyone is a pyromaniac. :D (...actually, I'd be a bit scared to see that, but I can see the beginning mages just walking around, flaring things with their noggins.
...maybe THAT'S why they have licenses! So they can have a good psychiatrist go over all these people first although if that's the case how did Vayne ever get a hold of that sword?)
And Larsa... certainly hasn't had the easiest life himself, though he hasn't suffered any of the physical or emotional (at least as of yet!) hardships Penelo has. He's been loved all his life but the people actually willing to directly express that love are very few and very far between.
Yeah, I guess that's why he kind of makes me uncomfortable. I can feel sorry for him, but at the same time--man! Stop talking like that, Larsa. D:
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And augh, poor Larsa. If you think about it, he's stuck in some impossible situations right now. Currently, he's:
-Trying to restore freedom to a captured country who hates anything and everything to do with his own empire;
-Trying to do this even while knowing this will likely make him even more unpopular in his own realm;
-Trying to ensure he will eventually receive the throne of his father after his father's (to him, tragic) death, while also trying to find a way to "dispose" of his brother without killing him off, since Larsa still loves him dearly;
-And, on top of everything else, trying to marry a girl he's desperately in love with (or thinks he's in love with) but who wants nothing to do with him after the completely understandable (to his mind, anyway) manipulations he's had to pull.
...Is anything in this poor kid's life going well? He's doing the best he can under almost impossible conditions and I feel at least as bad for him as I do for Penelo.
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Well, I guess I am being a little too hard on him, considering how young he is. He probably needs a few more years to get better at the empathy thing (and seeing why on earth Penelo would find his "completely understandable" manipulations completely unacceptable).
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And to be fair, Penelo is far from blameless herself. After all, she went behind Larsa's back to trying to get Ashe to void the entire idea of the marriage. She's less politically adept than Larsa but she's not exactly shining with innocence either.
Honestly: I'm curious about what you think. Do you suppose Penelo's budding political skills could do well in Archades? Would she make a decent empress after all? ;)
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See, I guess that's where I differ from Larsa's (and I guess yours?) opinion on all of this--I can't bring myself to blame Penelo. (Which was another reason Larsa ticked me off this chapter, with the accusation at her.) Mostly because Larsa's scheming is forcing a major change on Penelo's life which she doesn't want; all she's trying to do is stop the change. I won't fault her on that because it's purely defensive. Might it have been more honest to go directly to Larsa with this? Well, yeah. But with Larsa being all sparkly-eyed and it being clear to her (I'm sure even before Ashe mentioned it) that she can't exactly just offend the son of an emperor, I think she was actually doing the right thing in going to Ashe instead. It didn't work, yeah, but that's life.
I guess, when you come right down to it, I value honesty because having full information is important to making decisions for yourself. Because the big question is Marriage, and Larsa's decision is already made, Larsa's dishonesty pisses me off because it was done to influence Penelo's decision about marrying (technically it was already made for her, but she COULD have decided to go running off in the dark in the night to avoid the crazy). Penelo's dishonesty doesn't bother me because she'd made the decision to avoid marriage, and once one of the parties says "no", it doesn't matter what the other party thinks--the wedding's off, bucko. So Larsa's decision is irrelevant at that point to me. She probably could have handled things better, but given the circumstances, I think she handled the insanity as best she could.
(...and I'm talking with two other people about love and relationships on my LJ, and overall I'm starting to think I just have a "loose" set of values. XD)
Penelo needs more some edumacation in political scheming, but I do think she might have a knack for it.
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And Larsa's accusation... wasn't necessarily wrong. He was saying it in the heat of the moment, where he was exceptionally angry at her, and he overstated his case quite a bit. I mean, I totally agree with you in that Penelo's moves with Ashe were purely defensive and that she really did have a right to do it, in order to help salvage her own life and make her own choices. But she was being hypocritical in being outraged at Larsa going behind her back to make decisions for her because she was doing the same with Larsa.
It really would have been best for Penelo to have sat down and firmly said "no" to Larsa about marriage. If she had... what could he have done but abandoned the marriage plan altogether, even if it was only reluctantly? But she dickering and wondering if maybe she really did want the cushy life he was offering and trying to have it both ways by leaving herself a choice and making the incredibly stupid decision to try and out-plot seasoned politicians and... yeah.
In this situation, Larsa was manipulative and deceitful, while Penelo was manipulative, deceitful and an emotional coward. Honestly, I think neither of them are totally in the right and the wrong, though I agree that Penelo has sinned less and is more sinned against here. But I really love having your view on the subject and frankly, I think it's the one Penelo would prefer to hold herself. Which is setting up some interesting bunnies in my head!
Penelo needs more some edumacation in political scheming, but I do think she might have a knack for it.
Heh. Heh. Heh. Heh!
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But she wasn't making a decision for him--she was only enforcing her own decision. (This goes back to the fact that it's marriage that's in question. If it was just about any other issue, I think I would agree that Penelo's behavior would be abhorrent. This being marriage, though, Penelo's "no" trumps Larsa's "yes"--certainly not in a negotiating sense, since he's got all the cards, but in terms of how desirable an outcome marriage would have for either of them. ...maybe I just have a hang-up there. XD)
But yes, they are both good kids. And I still like Larsa! I hope I'm not giving you the impression that I hate him now, because that's definitely not the case. Annoyed at him, yeah, but I like him. He's got good goals.
It really would have been best for Penelo to have sat down and firmly said "no" to Larsa about marriage. ... In this situation, Larsa was manipulative and deceitful, while Penelo was manipulative, deceitful and an emotional coward.
See, I never really got a sense of that. I mean, even if she had overcome any emotional qualms she had about seeing Larsa's Bambi eyes emerge the second she says "I like you, Larsa, but we can't..."
There's still the fact that he is the son of a freaking emperor. The son of an emperor who currently has control over Dalmasca, the brother of the guy who conquered Dalmasca. So...Larsa has a ton of ways to make Penelo's life and the lives of others around her miserable. And sure, he seems nice right now--he's trying to woo her. She couldn't know what to expect from him after he's been scorned.
(Perhaps I am being paranoid, or perhaps I have seen one too many plots where this does happen--the guy is Mr. Perfect right up until he is dumped and then he is the spawn of Satan. ...I've heard of this in real life, too, except that was usually with girls instead of guys.)
So, I dunno. Some emotional cowardice, sure, but I also see the indirectness as a way of self-preservation. Let him think the break-up is for his own good (in terms of her argument to Ashe) so there's no one to blame, rather than having him think it was because she couldn't stand the thought of being married to him.
Oooh, what kind of bunnies?
..."edumacation" was deliberate, but the "more some" was completely accidental. How did I manage to do that? o.O;;;
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Hmmm... I've never thought of that before but I think you've swayed me. ;) Penelo's "no" really should trump everyone else's "yes"... but then, again, we run into the whole conundrum of the political marriage from the very beginning. It's not about whether Penelo wants it but about whether Penelo's country needs her to agree to it. So again... another impossible situation another good person is stuck in. I haven't even thought of it before but that's like the running theme of this entire fic!
But yes, they are both good kids. And I still like Larsa! I hope I'm not giving you the impression that I hate him now, because that's definitely not the case. Annoyed at him, yeah, but I like him. He's got good goals.
In this way, Larsa is incredibly like his brother. After all, Vayne had (mostly) laudable and heroic goals as well. His way of fulfilling them, however...
There's still the fact that he is the son of a freaking emperor. The son of an emperor who currently has control over Dalmasca, the brother of the guy who conquered Dalmasca. So...Larsa has a ton of ways to make Penelo's life and the lives of others around her miserable. And sure, he seems nice right now--he's trying to woo her. She couldn't know what to expect from him after he's been scorned.
OH SNAP. This is an amazing idea! I haven't even thought about it until now though... ack! I wish I had! Larsa honestly wouldn't have taken out his hurt at being rejected on Rabanastre-- though the ears of his judges at home would have been aching for a while-- but how could Penelo have possibly know that? And that worry would have added even more texture to the previous chapters. As it is, it might come off as incredibly odd if I just introduced it out of nowhere. Oh darling, I should have tapped you as a beta much sooner. ::sigh::
So, I dunno. Some emotional cowardice, sure, but I also see the indirectness as a way of self-preservation. Let him think the break-up is for his own good (in terms of her argument to Ashe) so there's no one to blame, rather than having him think it was because she couldn't stand the thought of being married to him.
And yeah, I pretty much saw this as well. ♥ Penelo was an emotional coward because she didn't want to go through the difficult process of actually emotionally rejecting Larsa and seeing him be all teary eyed and hurt because of it because it would have stirred up some... demons from her own past. She's had too much experience with rejection already-- she doesn't want to deal out any herself. And... that really wasn't the best decision to have made here.
And as for bunnies... erm. Can you go on AIM now? I'm Marringthemoment there!
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It's not about whether Penelo wants it but about whether Penelo's country needs her to agree to it. So again... another impossible situation another good person is stuck in.
Yeah, that is true. I mean, it would have been really selfish for her to just say "no" right off the bat and offend Larsa (because while it probably wouldn't have any negative repercussions for Dalmasca, it would somewhat alienate an ally), but I liked her method of trying to make sure she does right by her country even while trying to get out of the marriage--trying to stir Larsa's sympathy for Rabanastrans and trying to get the marriage canceled in a way that doesn't belittle either party. (She was doing so well right up until he got on the bed with her!) She could have just gone along with the marriage, too, and that would be understandable, but then where would the plot be? XD
In this way, Larsa is incredibly like his brother. After all, Vayne had (mostly) laudable and heroic goals as well. His way of fulfilling them, however...
...Penelo needs to stock up on some holy water. Just in case he starts channeling Vayne. >.>
As it is, it might come off as incredibly odd if I just introduced it out of nowhere.
Yeah, that's probably true. I think it's funny sometimes how different readers can see different things in a fic. I mean, to me that was always a concern for Penelo, so if you had mentioned it in the next chapter I probably wouldn't have even realized it'd never been mentioned in a previous chapter. But yeah, others would probably be like "Bwuh? Why's she worrying about that now?"
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I'm glad you like her method because this means you liked my plot over-all! XD And yeah-- again, Penelo does her best even the most impossible situations. She might be out-manned and out-gunned and out-plotted time and time again but she'll be damned if she lets something as inconsequential as the plottiest little bastard this side of Ivalice stop her completely. She's still got a few things up her sleeves for the next chatper as well.
Yeah, that's probably true. I think it's funny sometimes how different readers can see different things in a fic. I mean, to me that was always a concern for Penelo, so if you had mentioned it in the next chapter I probably wouldn't have even realized it'd never been mentioned in a previous chapter. But yeah, others would probably be like "Bwuh? Why's she worrying about that now?"
Heh. At this point, I'm pretty sure my readers might accept anything I tell them happened previously because this whole fic is so damn long and intricate and stuffed to the brim with difficult-to-understand politics and entangling motives and emotions. Hell, I have trouble keeping the plot straight-- and I'm the writer! I'd truly be surprised and impressed if anyone could actually give me a straightforward plot summary of this fic's full twists and turns. XD
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Yes, I will totally fall for that :P No worry because I do not mind a bit, after all I am here to read a great story, and it is a great story whatever stuff you put in (I guess...). ;D
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