r e c l a m a t i o n

Title: as stars to a sky: the heartbeat of stars [or read on ao3]

Fandom: Final Fantasy XIV

Pairing: Hades/Hythlodaeus

Rating: Teen

Warning: None

Tags: Pre-Canon, Canon Compliant, Pre-Sundering, Non-Chronological, Bureau of the architect, Established Relationship, Worldbuilding, Ceremonies and Rituals, amaurotine masks, the third seat of the convocation, Kissing, Holding Hands, Getting Together, Dating, Seat of Emet-Selch

Author’s Note: “as stars to a sky” is a series of nonchronological and loosely related stories about Etheirys before the Sundering. The primary focus will be on Hythlodaeus and Hades. Each chapter is meant to be read as a separate, complete story.

I owe the series title to cosmodynes.

And, as usual, thanks to my partner for editing this and making it far better than it otherwise would have been.

Summary:

Vignettes about the Ancients and their world. Some serious—and some less so.

Title: the lottery [or read on Ao3]

Fandom: Final Fantasy XIV

Pairing: Hades/Hythlodaeus

Rating: Gen

Warning: None

Tags: Canon Compliant, Pre-Canon, bureaucracy is the true horror, the Zodiark sacrifice, Horror

Summary:

Despite the visibly encroaching Final Days, panic has not yet fully taken hold of Amaurot. Most of its citizens do their best to go about daily life, telling anyone who will listen that the Convocation—the best minds they have—will find a solution.

And indeed, they had found a solution.

『Or, Hythlodaeus finds that even this sacrifice can be a very civilized affair.』

Title: we make our own meaning [or read on Ao3]

Fandom: Final Fantasy XIV

Pairing: Hades/Hythlodaeus

Rating: Gen

Warning: None

Tags: The Final Days, apologies to the poet Richard Siken, Canon Compliant, Pre-Canon, the Zodiark sacrifice

Author’s Note: The line “this is how you make the meaning, you take two things and try to define the space between them” is taken from Richard Siken’s poem “You Are Jeff.” But everything here is also heavily inspired by that poem—as well as the rest of Crush.

Also as a side note, I am in love with the forward by Louise Glück: “This is a book about panic. The word is never mentioned. Nor is the condition analyzed or described, the speaker is never outside it long enough to differentiate panic from other states. In the world of Crush, panic is a synonym for being…”

I also snuck in an Anne Carson reference.

This was written for the ever-wonderful aegisunmerge, who requested something Siken-inspired.

Summary:

There are two choices before Hythlodaeus. They might not feel like choices, but they are. Most people would say there is one option: sacrifice yourself, save the star. But there is the alternative, unvoiced and whispering seductively: act selfishly, and let others serve instead. Meanwhile, Hades assures him there is still time. The Convocation is looking for solutions, blasphemies have not yet been reported within Amaurot, the rotted aether might still be restored and the course of their star righted. But the suggestion has already been made. One sacrifice, great though it might be, and Etheirys might be restored. Hythlodaeus has not yet made his choice.

『Or, facing the final days, Hythlodaeus considers what it means to make a selfless choice.』

Title: shifting in a second light [or read on Ao3]

Fandom: Final Fantasy XIV

Pairing: Hades/Hythlodaeus

Rating: Gen

Warning: None

Tags: Miqo'te Warrior of Light, Male Warrior of Light, Minor Azem/Emet-Selch/Hythlodaeus, The Shade of Hythlodaeus, Canon Compliant, Missing Scene

Summary:

Hades could have chosen any time in the history of Amaurot.

He could have remade the days when Hythlodaeus and he went to class together. Or the time that followed shortly after in which they learned how to love each other for the first time. Or the easy years that followed when Azem had joined them and their largest concerns were diverting the Convocation’s attention from his well-intentioned schemes.

Instead, Hades erected a constant reminder of duty. A perpetual indictment against his perceived past failures.

『Or, Emet-Selch visits the shade of Hythlodaeus in his conjured Amaurot.』