FFXII Fic: The Teeth of Serpents (Vayne, Gabranth, Larsa)

[mariagoner]

My first fanfic for the new year and as a new bride and of course it turns out to be hilariously morbid. ;) But in any case, this is for the exquisite and forever supportive lady_venn(I shall contrive a way to hear your voice yet!) and inspired by the wonderfully black-hearted-when-she-needs-to-be lindensphinx.This Vayne seems like the kind of creature she’d dream up

Comments

[serindrana]

This? This -rocked-. o.o It's perfectly dark and matter-of-fact and makes a lot of (twisted) sense. AKA, perfect Vayne~ I wish I had more to add, but it's late XD But! *sends love*

[mariagoner]

Dark and matter-of-fact and making a lot of (twisted) sense is pretty much Vayne's modus operandi, oh yes. ;) I'm glad I managed to capture a bit of that-- and thank you for the love, as always! ♥

A nice story...

[quastar]

If I say "it is a nice story indeed", will that be correct? I mean, it is dark and twisted in a sense... :P

Well, a beautifully-written dark story, it is. Thanks for this wonderful piece of art. :P

Re: A nice story...

[mariagoner]

I am always happy to please you! And yes... I don't know if 'nice' is the right way to put it but I'm glad you thought it was beautifully-written. I really should have spend some more time polishing up the language of the peace, given how poetic Vayne can be... but I ended up liking the finished product quite a bit anyway. ;)

[artemischan]

Oh wow. I find myself absolutely fascinated by the idea, that Vayne was trying to have a daughter as a playmate for Larsa, and instead can only sire sons. Wow. I really, really like this! It gets me thinking a bit, about the gender issues of royal lines. Well done, love.

PS-I'm still working on your gift-fic! It's just been put on hold with the packing and traveling and unpacking and packing again and moving back into my apartment. ^_^ Plus, still having computer issues that will hopefully be resovled soon.

[mariagoner]

Ooooh, you know I love me some gender issues of royal lines, don't you? Sadly, the Solidor seem to tend towards having an excessive number of sons. Why should Vayne be any different? ;)

And eeeeeee, I'm so looking forward to gift-fic! I love me some gift-fic rather madly and... yes, I don't care how long it takes (though I do wish you much luck with the packing!), I'm thrilled to wait for it.

[artemischan]

It's just fascinating, that's all. ^_~ As for the packing, well, we're moved back in, and as soon as my computer gets back up and running, I swear I'm going to finish the gift-fic. <3 Promise, I swear!

[mariagoner]

I soooooooo look forward to it. XD And I wish you luck with the moving in! I have to start packing soon, too, for the way back home to New York. And man am I not looking forward to it...

[kilraaj]

I liked it, but then when rereading I started wondering why the conquest of Dalmasca isn't mentioned anywhere, because it does seem like it would come up somehow, possibly in Vayne's judgment of whether it is safer to have one heir or two (I mean, he'd abhor the thought of Larsa dying, but...there would be a need for a replacement if he did) or somewhere else.

[mariagoner]

Ooooh, that's a good point. In my mind, this is actually taking place right after the conquest of Dalmasca (thus the reason why Vayne alluded to Noah's brother finally being "where he belongs"-- in chains) and as for why Vayne wanted only Larsa as his heir... well, Vayne already knows what happens when you have an excess of heirs in the Solidor line: they tend to rather bloodily kill each other. And since he's so sure Larsa would never turn against him and he would never raise his hand to Larsa, his only worry is that one of his own sons might challenge Larsa if they were allowed to live. And thus... they weren't. And Vayne, being the person that he is, didn't particularly mind that (especially since he was all too afraid that any son of his would end up being just as malevolent as him...)

And if Larsa had actually somehow died before getting the throne? Hoo boy, I would not want to be in blast radius if Vayne managed to get news of that...

[kilraaj]

...wow. I'm ashamed to admit that I missed that line both times somehow, and it does make things a little clearer. Thanks. ^_^

If Larsa had actually somehow died before getting the throne? Hoo boy, I would not want to be in blast radius if Vayne managed to get news of that...

TBH, though, he's not really planning on that in game, is he? I mean, he challenges Larsa to stand up to him, but he finally admits to Venat at the end that she need find another Dynast King, so...*has not played in too long, whoops*

[mariagoner]

The things that Vayne says and does by the end of the game area little ambiguous but my take on it is that:

a) Vayne challenges Larsa to stand up to him but it was more out of exasperation than anything else. Sort of like the classic big brother "you want me to do something? Make me" sort of deal than anything else. He never really expected that Larsa would betray him by going over to the "enemy's" side. He really did want Larsa to inherit the throne of Archadia... but not when the kid was only 12! I imagine Vayne thought he would rule for a good twenty or so years before he stepped aside

[lady_venn]

Excellent job on the first person POV, dear; it's a bitch. ^^

Also, well done on getting into Vayne's head, in a sense (o.O;;;). The language in here just reeks of him, as does the slightly twisted and DARK logic (especially how he is so quick to dispose of the girl in his head, once she's served his purpose).

Now, go write some fluff (or cuddle with your hubby, whichever works :P) and get this out of your system.

Oh, and wish me luck -- I've got a job interview on Thursday, so I might actually have moneys soon!

[mariagoner]

Hee, thank you so much! And I'm glad you though I was able to get into Vayne's head during this fic-- though truth be told, it wasn't as hard as it could have been, considering Vayne's gift for gab. ;) Trying to do this with a quieter character like Basch, however-- now that would have been a challenge! XD

And Vayne? So would not have any sympathy for any daughter of his. She's a female, after all. How in the world could she be properly ruthless as a Solidor, then?

And I wish you much, much, much, much luck! How was your job interview? Did you get a good vibe off of it? ;)

[lady_venn]

And now an AU needs to be written where he has a daughter and she out ruthless/cunnings him. xD

Well, he offered me a job then and there, so I'd say it went pretty damn well. ^^ I'll be starting next month, when the place opens up. :P

[mariagoner]

Yay! Congratulations to you! It's always nice to have moneys at hand. XD

Where will you be working as, btw? And as what?

And I could never write that AU-- it'd be all too easy to make Vayne's "daughter" a Mary Sue. All I'd need to do to complete the picture would be to give her color-changing eyes and have her hook up with Balthier later, hmm? ;)