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someobscurereference · 3 months

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ive been rereading your ffxv fic "im trying hard to take it back" for literally four years now. please end my suffering and tell me how gladio feels. please. PLEASE. (but only if u want ofc)

(fic) Short answer: Gladio feels insane guilt and spends a lot of his life trying to make this up to Prompto. In the process, they deepen their connection as friends and do begin a relationship probably around the one-year mark of endless darkness. <3

Longer answer: (implications of abuse/violence tw but no worse than in the fic itself; just what others assume to be true even if it's not in the context of this specific fic)

Gladio is a secret romantic at heart who has always envisioned meeting his soulmate, but he's also duty-bound and duty comes first. So even though he reads romance books (amongst other types of books too) and indulges in his head a bit as many people do, he's often put his duty to the crown first and foremost in his mind. He also didn't imagine his soulmate was anyone on this trip and thought perhaps the person he may have been fated to meet died in the assault of Insomnia. Even if they were a refugee, they can't be a priority to him at this moment. His priority has to be Noctis.

Prompto has obviously grown on him over the course of their road trip, but there are aspects of them that don't 100% mesh (as is true with every realistic relationship). That said, Gladio never in a hundred years would want this moment of (understandable but out of line) frustration and anger in the wake of Luna and Altissa to be a permanent mark on Prompto's face. He's genuinely horrified and disgusted with himself for a long time after this and spends most of his life trying to make it up. He feels like a dirtbag about it.

That said, Prompto runs away from him in this moment and they need time to calm down, just as the fic shows. Noctis goes after Prompto, just like in canon. Prompto falls off the train and has his Despair Arc just like in the DLC, now with the added despair of "well, in addition to being a clone, my soulmate hates me. And in addition to the mark of inhumanity on my wrist (barcode), I have a giant hand print of him literally Shoving Me Away on my face. Forever."

Aranea: Well, do you want to die about it. Or do you want to live.

Prompto, eventually like in canon: Live, I guess. But it will be excruciating.

Aranea: That's what living is. We do it anyway. Your friends love you. Get off the floor.

He fights his way through his issues and gets rescued like in canon. Gladio probably tries to talk to him when they all catch up again, trying to apologize, and Prompto tells him to hold off on that for later.

Then, of course, Noctis is eaten by the crystal and "later" becomes much, much later as they evacuate and try to survive in eternal darkness. (Though they also can't Not think about it because it's a giant hand print. On Prompto's face. And every person they meet has Something To Say about it, for better or worse, whether they knew Prompto before or not. Prompto cannot escape it, and when Gladio is not doing Crown Duties he feels he must do in Noct's absence, he's with Prompto, so he also Cannot Escape It either. Even when the person speaking is unaware that Gladio left that mark. It's almost worse when they don't know, but when they see it's Gladio, who is such a big guy who seemingly hit Prompto and left that permanent mark there, some of them get nasty to him and some back off out of fear. Both are horrible. The guilt is eating him alive.)

Eventually, enough time passes as the dust settles that they do Talk About It. Gladio apologizes sincerely, for the 500th time. Prompto's like, "Well. It's not like you could have known that this would be The One Time it happened." And then cracks a joke about their soulmate mark being a Prompto's hand print on Gladio's ass from a butt slap in another life, which does help the tension somewhat. (The more Gladio tries to apologize, the more Prompto grows sick of hearing it, so they just have to move on and keep going, as he's learned to do.)

They grow closer over time, especially because there's not a lot of people who have survived to this point and even less later on. They do get together romantically, both because they do like the idea of soulmates (for different reasons) and also because they're living out of each others pockets for years, so there's an affection and dependency that develops there. Also, teenage Prompto always thought Gladio was really handsome and teen Gladio thought Prompto was cute and sincere for a pipsqueak.

When they are out together on dates in normal settings surrounded by strangers after the light returns, Gladio will receive dirty looks for the rest of his life from strangers who see the hand print on Prompto's face and immediately (correctly) assumes it was out of anger rather than a funny accident or something. (Edit: Some people will assume there is a funny story attached. Gladio will not know what to say to this. Prompto will play along.) He will learn to live with this. Prompto is really grateful Gladio is with him despite everything.

#FOUR YEARS that's so flattering adjklasjldkja;fsal; thank you for reading and for caring after all this time. it genuinely means a lot #if you were looking for a cuter/succinct answer i'm so sorry and can definitely give you one. this was just one of my more realistic aus #my text #asks #my fic #promptio #ffxv #for the record i don't think gladio and prompto are Rock Solid for the full 10 years in this au #i think they have periods in the darkness where they separate for a while. out of necessity. as many in the dark do.#whether due to feeling antsy or personality clashes or conflicting traumas of what they've had to deal with and Missing Noct and #Losing Faith and Regaining Faith and Obligations and The Horrors and so on #but I do think they cannot escape each other especially with gladio's hand print on prompto's face and so they can't Not think about #each other always. prompto in the mirror. gladio in his dreams.#so they are always drawn together and they do work things out and get used to each other #and end up relatively happy together in the end #they lean on each other a lot in the post-noct times #especially gladio who doesn't know what to do with himself without noctis always and ignis is equally lost #making themselves useful but running around the same ruts in the ground as always #and prompto is over here pulling himself up by his boostraps while pretending he's not crying in the caravan bathroom #like they all are #i do NOT mean for this to sound as depressing as it does. I think like years 1-2 post Hand Incident are really rough with moments of light #and then all the times after that are super solid <3 #they DO end up happy together it just takes a lot of hard work and they know each other better than anyone by the end #thank you again for sending this ask after 4 years it is so wonderful to read

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amethystina · 4 months

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Hi! Reading your fics, which are mainly post canon, I was wondering... do you ever imagine gahan getting married and talking about kids (besides Elijah, of course) or do you think they would just stick to each other's company and that would be enough?

Personally, I love the ideia of Yo Han being able to raise a child in a fully open loving way, without the restrictions he had to put on Elijah (we saw a few glimpses of how he used to be with her before the fire). After 10 year in anger and in chase for revenge, Yo Han deserves some peace, I wonder if he ever considerated a child as part of it (we can't forget his own childhood). Knowing how deep he can love someone, it feels such a loss not being able to have a person that only knows him for that, openly, without the mask he used to put on in front Ga On and Elijah (i don't know if you'll get what I mean lol).

I'd just love to know your personal's head canon for that 😅 Since, for me, you're so good in thinking as Yo Han.

I imagine that they will, yes — in most scenarios I can think of. I mean, granted, the marriage can obviously never happen in South Korea (and not only because Yo Han is officially dead) but I think they'd definitely end up building an even bigger family somewhere down the line.

As I've touched on in Who Holds the Devil, I think that Ga On 100% wants kids. And, let's face it, he'd be such a good dad. But, that said, he would never force Yo Han to want kids since... well, that's not very like Ga On, is it? He wouldn't want to do that to Yo Han or the kid/kids.

So, in the end, the decision on whether or not they end up getting kids lies with Yo Han. And, as with many of my theories, I think his answer depends on when he would be asked that question. Like, during canon? I think he'd say no, without a moment's hesitation. Or on pure reflex might be a better way of putting it. Because, at that point in his life? He wouldn't consider kids to be something for him. He's so defensive, so convinced of his own darkness, and also well aware of how poorly he treated Elijah.

He did his best — but that's also the problem. Even his best left the child in his care to become a bitter, isolated teenager with little to no social skills. He'd no doubt be convinced that he'd only fuck up again if he was ever in charge of raising another child. So why bother? Clearly, it's not for him. And not fair to the child, either.

But after he gets settled with Ga On? Especially a year or two down the line? After they've dealt with the majority of the guilt and trauma and gotten comfortable? And Yo Han has softened even more? And gets to have a stable, loving home environment for the first time in his life?

Then his opinion would most likely change, especially once he starts suspecting that Ga On wants kids. Because Yo Han, as we all know, can't deny Ga On anything. That's not to say that he would agree immediately, though.

Quite the opposite.

He'd have to think about it a lot before reaching a conclusion. Because I think he'd panic a bit at first. Like, when he first realises that Ga On wants kids? That's terrifying. Because, again, up until that point I think Yo Han has just decided that kids aren't for him. And his first instinct won't be to reevaluate if that decision has changed, but rather feel a kneejerk rush of: "That's not something I can give him. I'm going to have to crush his dream of having children. I'm going to make him miserable."

And Yo Han would feel terrible.

But then, thankfully, his rational side would kick in and try to straighten out what's actually going on. As in, Yo Han would ask himself if he might just have changed his mind about kids now that he has a stable partner — especially one who balances and complements him as well as Ga On does. Maybe kids aren't out of reach anymore?

But even once Yo Han realises that, yeah, he might actually want kids after all — at least if it's with Ga On — he'd also have to overcome the fear that he'll fuck them up as much as he accidentally ruined Elijah. But, again, it helps to know that Ga On would be there, making sure that Yo Han doesn't go overboard with the protectiveness. Ga On wouldn't let Yo Han hurt another child like he hurt Elijah.

Yo Han would also have to figure out how a child would change his relationship with Ga On, their relationship with Elijah, and their existence overall. And he'd have to overcome that quiet, simmering fear at the back of his mind that he might turn out to be like his father.

Yo Han is good at thinking on his feet and can obviously be spontaneous and unpredictable when needed, but I think he'd approach "Do I want kids?" like it's one of his schemes. He'd collect data, meticulously structure his thoughts, weigh pros and cons, plot and plan, and, finally, reach a conclusion.

Because having a child — starting a family — would be huge for Yo Han.

I mean, he obviously already has a family, but it's one that Yo Han didn't have all that much input in? Miss Ji is there because his father hired her. Yo Han became Elijah's guardian due to incredibly tragic circumstances and because there was no one else who could take her. Ga On came into his life because of Jung Sun Ah's machinations, and was intended to be a weapon against him.

But having a child? Choosing to have a child? And build a bigger family with Ga On? That's no small thing.

And, for the best result, I think Yo Han should probably be left alone with that thought for literal months to have time to work through his own thoughts and feelings on the matter before he and Ga On ever broach the subject. If they do it too soon, Yo Han could get defensive and start deflecting without meaning to, which would no doubt make Ga On backtrack and just... resign himself to the idea that Yo Han clearly doesn't want kids. Because Ga On, too, knows that Yo Han can't deny him anything and he'd be afraid that if he pushes too hard — or shows how much he wants kids — Yo Han might feel forced to agree. So Ga On would rather pull back and drop the subject instead of feeling like he's making too many demands.

But once Yo Han has thought it through? And realises that, yes, he wants kids?

Then he's all-in in that way only Kang Yo Han can be.

He'd still be terrified from time to time, of course — because he did grow up thinking he was a monster and that will resurface when he's got tiny humans to take care of — but oh man he'd love those kids with every fibre of his being. And I totally agree that it would be so, so wonderful to see him do that, without having to hold back or be afraid of being seen as soft or weak (as he no doubt did with Elijah).

All he has to do is love them.

My personal headcanon (i.e. this is something I'm choosing to believe because I want to, since I'm not sure what Yo Han would actually think) is that Yo Han wouldn't want those kids to be his biological ones, though. I think that, somewhere deep down, he'd be scared they'd turn out like him. That whatever it is that makes him so vicious and different would be hereditary. So he'd prefer the kids to be adopted or, even better, Ga On's.

Like, just imagine how much Yo Han would love to have miniature Ga Ons running around?

He'd practically combust from happiness.

(but he would obviously love the kids either way — Yo Han, if anyone, knows that chosen family is more important than blood relations)

So yeah! I totally agree that they'll get a kid/kids sometime in the future. It just feels like the kind of family that both Ga On and Yo Han would want considering their childhoods and how lonely and isolated they've both been. Ga On is the one who expresses a longing for family the most, but it's clear that Yo Han wants that, too. And I think there's something very beautiful in it being their choice to start that family? Something they're creating together because they want to?

They deserve that love and peace.

But it would take a while for them to reach that point, since it's such a big decision and there would be a lot of heightened emotions involved. And they would also have to spend a lot of time preparing Elijah for it, to make sure she doesn't feel neglected or replaced. But, hopefully, she's had enough therapy and matured enough by that point that she'll eventually come around. She'd of course be wary at first and perhaps a little snappish from time to time, until she realises that, sure, there are more kids in the house now, but her relationship with both Yo Han and Ga On is still unique and they're not abandoning her.

And once they reach that stage?

It'll turn into a full-time job to keep Elijah from a) spoiling the kids rotten, b) undermining all of the hard work they (but mostly Ga On) put into teaching the kids about rules and responsibility, and c) kidnapping the kids and holding them for ransom whenever Yo Han makes her angry and she wants to punish him. Complete with a hostage-like exchange once he caves and eventually apologises — which sometimes requires Ga On's intervention because he would like his kids back now, thank you very much, so suck it up and just apologise, Mr. Abyss.

They'd be a wonderful little family and deliriously happy, in other words.