really fascinated by the Clovis AI vs Clovis-1 (later Banshee-44). I know this has probably been discussed before but. the AI is an exact replica of Clovis Bray I's consciousness put into a giant exo body (the head, anyway), while Clovis-1 was a normal exo meant to be Clovis reborn/given a second life. but being a typical exo his memories were reset so he's like. no longer an asshole lol. like this is one of the first interactions he has after waking up (speaking to Elsie and the Clovis AI):
[image ID: excerpt from the lorebook "Legacy's Lament" that says:
"Hold on there. You haven't gone through any initiation protocols. You're not ready," she says.
"If there are lives to be saved, that's where I need to be," the new guy replies. He's oddly determined.
"Where you need to be," the AI interjects, "is with your family. Me."
"Every instinct I have is telling me to reject you," the Exo retorts. Nice, new guy.
/End ID]
it's such an interesting contrast. here the original Clovis was hoping this exo was going to be an exact continuation of him. his life, his legacy, his research. that he'd continue to propagate the exos and make an army of them (if the Vex invasion + Collapse hadn't happened, anyway). Clovis is selfish and doesn't care if most of humanity dies because he just sees them as future exos. he wants everyone to be a product of his legacy. but Clovis-1 basically sacrifices himself 43 times to save people and help shut down the vex portal.
idk there isn't much of a point I'm trying to make here I just think it's an interesting study of how humanity isn't inherently evil and being untouched by the influence of the Darkness (and monopolistic capitalism lol), Clovis-1 is a good person. he even wished he could've kept his memory to help repair the broken relationship between him and his granddaughter, Elsie, but ofc after 43 resets he lost most of what made him Clovis (perhaps for the best).
references: Legacy's Lament lorebook, Clovis Bray's Logbook (missing pages)
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Granted I have the overall geographical and cultural knowledge of a 4th grader but from what I can tell the nuclear family model really does seem to be a white colonial invention
Different cultures have different approaches but I mainly hear about either large family units where multiple generations support each other and raise their children and grandchildren together or an "it takes a village" approach where children are raised somewhat communally
And I can't really speak on it much or claim that these families were free of abuse or that children aren't often an oppressed group basically everywhere I know of but the way ownership of your children is so engrained into white society is so bizarre
Like once you notice it you can't unnotice it even the most loving well meaning parents don't know what to do about it because everyone is so isolated from their own families and their own communities so you wind up with 1-2 parents who have full legal ownership of their child and are raised in a culture where you don't have personhood until you're 18 and all attempts at self actualization before them are seen as clueless rebellion. Like our culture is so divorced from the concept that a parent is someone who is helping mentor and care for their child so they can thrive as a fellow human being and it's actually so alarming
And ik this problem isn't unique to white and colonized people but it's honestly really soothing to hear about how other cultures approach and view parenting and community as a whole and to internalize it doesn't have to be this way
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I have a Trevelyan OC who doesn't get a ton of "screen time" even in my PSLs. (I do a lot of writing, just most of it is in RP with my wife and will never see the public light of day.) It's because Ramsay is my main Trevelyan's younger brother, and his job in the narrative is to be unjustly killed during the fall of Ostwick Circle so his sister has a Tragic Backstory. But almost all of my Trevelyan siblings have a continuity where they're Inquisitor, and I wrote one up for Ramsay last year just for fun, and he ended up as this kind of cool, anti-authoritarian mage who specializes in fire and rift magic. I imagine him having, like... will anyone know what I mean if I say Wolverine Energy? Gruff, emotionally guarded, has done and is capable of doing very violent things, but also prone to ending up in leadership roles despite being like "ugh, no, I'm not a role model", would function well with a young girl as a morality pet.
Anyway what I've got stuck in my craw right now is the idea of a Trevelyan/Hawke fic with Ramsay and my red/purple blood mage f!Hawke (a classic Spiky Lady Character named Marsali), probably starting around Hawke's introduction in Inquisition and through the end of Here Lies the Abyss. The Warden companion is Carver, and it's this big heartwrenching thing when they're in the Fade and someone has to stay behind.
(Stuck this behind a read more because I just rambled about mirrored narratives wheee)
Marsali and Ramsay are both naturally wary of each other, they're both these guarded sorts of people, slow to trust. But they're such good mirrors of each other, and if you know me, you know I'm a big sucker for mirrored narratives. Marsali is the daughter of an apostate father and a noble mother; Ramsay is the son of a noble father and a common-born mother. They're both very much like their fathers, much to their own dysfunctions, Marsali because they're alike in personality and intensely close to hers, Ramsay because he's the only one of his siblings with a strong physical resemblance to a man who refuses to acknowledge him.
Marsali tries to suppress a natural talent and inclination for blood magic, but actively chose to learn arcane and force magic - schools of magic that focus on buffs, shields, areas of effect that push people away or slow them down - and only employs her more truly violent and aggressive blood magic abilities when she's backed into a corner or loses control. Her father shares her talent for blood magic and kept her from learning to harness it until she was an adult (long, long after she'd developed bad habits and a complete distaste for it, too late to cultivate true control). Ramsay has a natural talent for destructive magic and instead pursued control of it, turning his gift for violent magic into a useful weapon under the mentorship of a similarly inclined father figure in the form of Ostwick's First Enchanter.
Marsali is a mage protective older sister to a non-mage younger brother (who only didn't join the Templars because fate forced him into the Wardens). Ramsay is a mage younger brother to a protective older sister who joined the Templars to look after him in the Circle. Marsali and Carver's relationship is loving, but it has walls up as she's been parentified, and is often quite contentious and full of bickering; despite effectively being his mother figure, Thayet is much more open with Ramsay, especially after escaping the Circle. They rarely fight. For both Marsali and Ramsay, their sibling is the only family they really have, Marsali because hers is all dead, Ramsay because Thayet is the only one who wants to acknowledge he exists.
Marsali consistently shirks and runs from responsibility to anything bigger than herself, only grudgingly taking up the fight against Corypheus because she feels personally responsible for it beginning - and because of the danger to Carver with the false calling. Ramsay grows into authority and takes well to the kind of big picture responsibilities that the Inquisition demands, and he chooses the life and actions of a hero because it instinctively feels like the right thing to do.
And yet, because of their other-side-of-the-coin sorts of differences, I think they would really understand each other. Like they're just the correct amount of distance from one another to have the best view. Marsali sees Ramsay and understands exactly what it takes to be that sort of person, because she tried to be that kind of person and buckled; Ramsay sees Marsali and knows exactly how much love she has for the people around her, because he knows how difficult it is to care for other people in a world that's constantly trying to tear you away from them, up to and including by killing them.
And, of course, because of how similar Marsali and Carver are to Ramsay and his sister... holy shit choosing between them would be torture. Does he let Marsali die protecting her little brother and force Carver to live with a survivor's guilt that Ramsay couldn't stomach himself? Or does he let Carver do what he would do, stay behind and be the protector for once, knowing exactly what that kind of loss would do to Marsali?
I have an idea of what I'd do, but it's still percolating. I think for this fic I'd do an even split in POV specifically to show the depth of their sibling relationships so that bit in the Fade with the Nightmare feels incredibly fraught and tense.
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