What a fantastic, gorgeous comment! You were such an impetus behind getting the next chapter up, I hope you realise. <3 I couldn't let a comment like this down!
I think that finding new motivation in the wake of Ragnarok is going to be such an interesting journey for her, because there's a lot to reckon with and a lot to heal, and I think in some ways Freya's in a similar position to Kratos: the person she was before is gone, and all that's left is the person she chooses to be now that she has the freedom to make that choice.
Yeah, with Freya, I think a lot about the idea that peace is when people really fall apart, if they're going to, and this entire rebuilding, peaceful alliances thing - that's tailor-made to tug on the insecurities and resentments of everyone involved and pull them apart into fears and grudges and misunderstandings and obligations. She has her freedom, but what does she want to do with it? She has her freedom, but how free is she really when she still has the internal trappings of, well, being trapped?
It's a really weird interesting dichotomy for her character because it's made very clear that Vanaheim has her heart and soul entirely, and yet she doesn't actually commit to anything about it in the wake of the game. Which I think is fascinating - all this love and devotion, and yet! But just as clear is the Freya-shaped hole she's left and the absolute reluctance of anyone around her to actually step up and fill it for her.
Like, it was Freyr's camp, Freyr's home resistance, but it's Freya who made the difference in Vanaheim, it's Freya who pulled together the Valkyries, it's Freya who acted as Kratos' second. No-one steps up to replace her as The Leader. The most Freyr gets is 'boss' from Lunda, and barely that; it's so clear that Vanaheim is reluctant to accept anyone else and it's the worst kind of limbo because that gap is so completely a creation of who she used to be. Vanaheim is not done with her, or she with it - and needs to acknowledge who she was to them, and act as that person, to be able to either reclaim it or cast it off or both. (Am I accidentally spoiling my own fic? Whoooops.)
I love your favourite lines so much, you're really drawing out all the lines I loved too! (Sindri does show up later, too, and I'm excited to write that.) I tend to think about Kratos and wisdom as like, he is the dude who has Been There Done That Is Not Wearing The Shirt, Have You Seen My Blades? he has been there and been through it and he's had centuries of exploring pretty much every grief/betrayal/cynicism/bitterness reaction under the sun. Sex? Done it. Drugs (booze)? Done it. Vengeance? Done it. Wallowing forever? Done it. Running away? Done it. Staying in the miserable aftermath of one of the worst things that was ever done to you*? Done it. And so on.
He is the guy who walked uphill in the snow to school both ways, is the point. But he's extremely restrained about it, and that restraint, the more he actually says, translates more and more into gentleness in itself. But also the fact that part of what makes his gentleness work AS gentleness is that he just does it and walks away without claiming favours. I think that's the part that really gets Freya thinking about him on a deeper level. He doesn't leverage anything over her and he keeps not using his leverage. Which, if you're used to being abused, and being literally passed back and forth as a trophy, and demanded as an object of awe but not so much respect: that's fucking wild. That's weird as fuck but also interesting, who IS this guy who walked uphill in the snow both ways and never brought it up again.
tl;dr Kratos is the guy who lays on his back cycling his legs in the air like it's no big deal and Freya is the baffled emu who comes over to see what the fuck he's doing.
ANYWAY, all of that is to say: thank you SO much for your comment - commentS, now, I'll get to your other one shortly! - and thank you so much for taking the time to write it and point out the parts you liked, I so appreciate that and you so much! Thank you thank you!
*for me this is actually the moment Athena raised him from the cliff and forced him into being a god with immortality, like how FUCKED is that a thing to do to someone, I remember seeing that scene and just being in absolute disbelief at the level of cruelty. And then in GOW2 she's like "you're not behaving!! you owe me!!!" and it's like, lady, he literally wanted the exact opposite, what do you EXPECT.
Comment on A better burden may no man bear for wanderings wide (than wisdom)
needful (Lindra) on Chapter 1 Wed 07 Dec 2022 08:26AM UTC
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