bc i have been thinking about them ... how does gaia feel about goro and ji-hun, and even deng, and how does she perceive them? does she trust them? is she still uncertain? and could / would that change was that the case? and how do they fit into her lore / how does she fit into their lore in your opinion?
i am curious about your thoughts on these matters!! also if you wanna add a little bit about her and ren, i wouldn't mind hearing your thoughts on them too :'>> you def do not need to answer this if you don't want to, but i figured why not :'))
— 𝙪𝙣𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙙 | 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 ➥ @hehosts
i have been thinking about them a lot, too!! i think first & foremost when she thinks about them, especially of goro, she feels protected — something she hasn't felt ever. gaia never had anyone to rely on; she's a goddess. self-sufficient in everything that she does: from growing her own food to sewing her own clothes. an independent woman that doesn't even rely on modern society to live, yet she is never free. to be able to rely on someone else; to be able to feel even a smidge of freedom within modern society — it is like a breath of fresh air. it's the sigh you release after having been unable to truly breathe for so long.
with goro, she feels sort of eternally grateful to a point where she'd probably do anything for him. you could say: wow, that is crazy — they really don't know each other that well! and yes, that's a good point but honestly not something gaia really care about? time is an extremely fickle thing when it comes to creatures that have lived for eons & as such, does not play that big of a role in trust. it's more about what the other does & with goro agreeing & reassuring her that caspian would be taken care of? that's literally her biggest dream. does she care about the contract binding her eternally to him? a little bit. of course, she has her doubts (especially after her brief talks with ren) but there's this bigger part of her that just wants to do right for him. she wants to help him with whatever he's doing — giving herself to him in a way that proves her gratitude but also her own strength. however, she's always gonna yearn for some sweet words from him. her trust could definitely waver if he would not uphold his end of the deal or treat her akin to how chaos/caspian has treated her aka wanting to murder her & confine her to her own torment in an enclosed space.
ji-hun she views as quite trustworthy: i think having him by her side is extremely reassuring & just generally feels nice since she's a very social creature & has lived in isolation for so long. their talks make her curious about him & all of what is going on beyond the veil. she views him as someone she can confide him to a certain extent & is also quite grateful, too. i think she might grow a bit too comfortable around him at certain points where she'd view him more as a friend than a 'colleague' of some sort. it's a very complicated situation for gaia, so her feelings tend to go a little crazy, especially with how they've been treating her.
since she did not have any big interaction with deng yet, she does not have a lot of opinions on him. though, gaia definitely trusts him the least out of the people mentioned here solely for the fact that he was introduced to her as a 'problem-starter' & that she hasn't really conversed with him. i don't think she's scared of him but people that she can't quite predict (as goes for anyone on this list really) just intimidate her & that is amplified by the unknown aura surrounding him. i do think she'd be quite intrigued about his unhinged side? it would enable her to do the same or just let her 'dark urges' appear more frequently.
OKAY SO I THINK !! with ren it is the most complicated because while she does feel for him extremely & how he's certainly unhappy with his current situation — she cannot help but ask why that is? for her, even if it replaces one cruel master with another lesser evil, it is certainly better than anything that was before. she's just very wary but interested in him since her own understanding of the situation differs so much from his own. it's like they're sitting in the same boat but are looking at it from completely different perspectives. on one hand, she should believe him because he has been in this deal for longer than she has but on the other hand; her natural instinct is for gaia to just accept this as the best outcome of the situation. i really enjoy their talks tbh!!
i think they would fit extremely well into each other's lore: gaia's story, where it begins for us here, can be seen like a race of different entities. everyone wants to have the "power" & be the first to accomplish their goals, since one goal could cancel out another. with them becoming an active part of said race, i think many eyes would become fixated on them (cults, the hunter organization & other supernatural beings) which might even lead to coordinated attacks from said parties. with gaia on their team, a person who plays a vital role in the completion of many of those goals, they acquired (unknowingly or knowingly) more targets on their back. HOWEVER! they also acquired more power because, unbeknownst to gaia, she carries immense prowess within her that could be used to goro's advantage. i think each of them would gain but also loose something — so to speak? gaia could prove a giant asset for goro's plans & these could become more clear the more they spend time together. these assets could range from her voidborne powers to her being the mother of a whole bloodline of dragons. & additionally, he would acquire a loyal follower that would rip out a person's throat with her bare teeth if asked to do so.
