i love nifara still calling vali things like "my love" and now "my wife" even when vali herself only uses them either mockingly or unwittingly (and corrects herself immediately after). nifara wants to trap her in a terrible relationship sooooo bad
vali's name meaning "love" and nifara taking away others' ability to say her name but also repeatedly calling her "my love", then vali also mentioning in the latest chapter that nifara's love was like unwanted possession. "my love" then isn't just an endearment, it's nifara exerting her control over vali. "my love" as in not letting vali have a life of her own, not letting vali reveal her true self, nifara forcing vali to only be known in the way nifara "loved" her and lets her memory go on. the imposition of the titles "mother of grey" and "ash empress" only adding to vali's dehumanization and nifara's control of vali's narrative. obsessed with them
Jumping off the previous ask, I’d also love to hear your thoughts of Valax as a product of Valifara and that family unit
Valax is a product, much like how Nia and the other servants of Light are also a product. Weaponised at birth, they're bred to serve one cause of furthering the values of their makers. It is interesting to note how a matriarchal society like the Old Gods tends to bleed into what the Gods themselves expect from their children.
Valax could have easily been a boy, a mother's boy, a weapon - the ideal warrior and a successor to the Ashen Kingdom and the destroyer of Light.
But the family structure, despite being progressive in face value, still in a way thinks of daughters as ideal and obedient. The matriarchal structure in Blades prefers girls, not to fill a boy's shoes, rather let her mother - or generally, her maker - assume her body. The Light can itself be thought of as an extension of Nifara, possessing Nia and gifting her with magic - deeply powerful magic at such a young age.
There's a certain need that those conferred upon the title of a “mother” in the series, (or can be thought of a matriarchal figure), have that consists of them possessing their daughters’ bodies. It is congruent to how the Party is nearly possessed by her and the rest of the Pantheon in order to return to the mortal realm - their bodies and souls belonging to the Mother, for they’re made of Light. The way the younger Gods and the rest of the realm are all her children ripe to be possessed by her, giving up their own bodily autonomy to their Mother.
The Mothers, plural, Nifara and Vali have varying interpretations as to what their creations owe them. Vali accepts her creations, even going as far as to give the Elven populace their long lives - sacrificing herself, meanwhile Nifara expects a degree of loyalty for she blessed the Elves with the gift of Light. Of course, the lore tablets are, if not, a product of Bakshi’s writing- meant to be looked at through Nifara’s lens, on the whole. The womb of the Mothers is sacred, for motherhood takes different forms between Nifara’s and Vali’s. Nifara dons robes of purple and gold while Vali, of grey skin, wears dark purple.
Nifara exudes purity from her neck till her stomach, beyond which her legs are obscured in robes of ashen purple - as if to imply the very act of enwombing is pure, as long as she does not give birth from in between her legs. It explains why her creations are usually the ones she “made” and “gifted” as opposed to giving birth to them; largely likened to the concept of ‘impurity after childbirth’. Vali follows suit, having termed as “another aspect of Nifara” in a Lore Tablet, Book 2, Chapter 8 - which can either be interpreted as Vali being Nifara’s own child, her womb’s creation or revered as a Nifara-like figure in the Shadow Realm.
Shortly after her rebellion, Vali is banished to the newly-created Shadow Realm - which can also be read as Nifara’s Possession of Vali, the way the Realm was born out of Nifara’s own desire to protect the sanctity of Light - and thus, a product of her womb and exiling her wife to the confines of her creation can be read as Nifara enwombing dissent itself; largely echoing how abusive mothers tend to say, “I made you. I can also unmake you.” the children at the mercy of their makers. Valax grows up with this generational trauma, inherited from her Mother of Grey who is willing to “make” and “unmake” her as she grows up in Nifara’s womb - possessed by the Shadow whilst seeking refuge from the Light. Vali, of grey skin, wearing the purple robes of sin, colours Valax’s skin a similar hue - as if to possess her as her own, to never let her forget herself.
We tend to see this theme of identity largely echoed in Blades - specifically maternal identity. We see Sarenya raise Tyril as her own, despite never giving birth to him. We see Nia claim Nifara as her mother. One’s maternal identity seems sacred, as is the act of motherhood - especially a mother who is deemed a virgin, a Madonna-figure.
We also see the likes of Valax, being “created” by her mother - wear her impure mother’s wounds despite not being born of her womb, but born of Nifara’s womb in the Realm of Shadow. We see Aurinae give birth to Aerin, die when he was a child as if the mere act of giving birth is rendered sinful and we see Aerin deal with the wounds she left in him. We see Tyril and Adrina are not told of their dinma’s identity as the act of sexual intercourse and sexuality is kept a secret, never to be known or spoken of.
The Family in Blades is largely built on the idea of female sexuality and a mother’s purity. We see this tendency to bleed into the Party’s treatment of its female characters : the MC is an exception for their gender and sexuality are determinant and their faith is left ambiguous as an adventurer from Riverbend, a town that does not follow the Light closely. Nia, deified and revered as a protector, a nurturer and a carer - qualities of a virgin mother. We see Valax being regarded as someone with only one purpose to fulfill, that of their mother’s and when we see her join the Party, she is regarded as “pure” in the sense, she has not been “corrupted” of the “sin” of perversion. Imtura is given “masculine” traits to wear when discussing her sexuality and since Orcish culture revolves around individuality, the way both Orc men and women get pregnant and their child only ever belongs to one parent, her sexuality when discussed is still obscured, in the Lore Tablets, by an ambiguous Joining of One - where orcs “bind” their souls together regardless of the nature of their relationship - familial or romantic.
This can be interpreted as a way to subvert the conversation of sexuality itself.
