#a rheddig tanta being the one responsible for all this…

[claudiaeparvier]

I have so many forspoken thoughts idek where to begin honestly

[phoenixiancrystallist]

Hey, just finished the story of In Tanta We Trust. In my mind, Frey is still in regular contact with the four other Tantas of Anthia and has to explain to them the events of ITWT. As if that wasn't enough, then she'll have to tell them about what Rheddiah's Tanta told her(and the fact that Rheddiah even has Tantas in the first place) and that she has to go to that place to meet with her. That conversation isn't going to go over well, is it?

Tumblr is a perfectly functioning website with a perfectly functioning app and absolutely did not eat my response to this ask SIX GODDAMN TIMES (three before I got smart and wrote all this out in my notes app so I could just copy/paste until it stopped arguing with me).

I honestly don't think Frey would be the one who initiates those conversations. She grew up bouncing from foster home to foster home, aged out of the foster system, and essentially had no one but herself to rely on for her whole life. And then she gets dropped into Athia with no one but herself and Cuff to rely on, and it took her a long time to actually rely on him.

So, I don't think she has the instinct to seek out advice—and to make matters worse, she also sorta kinda murdered the Tantas a little bit. Yes, it was the right thing to do, and no, they're not mad or upset about it, but I'd imagine she's still carrying some guilt around because of it (guilt that Cuff would absolutely prey upon, too). That's not exactly the kind of thing you can just get over, you know? It takes a lot of therapy and there's not a whole lot of that to go around in Athia.

Besides, the moment she starts thinking "maybe I should ask my predecessors for advice," you know Cuff is going to pull some "oh yes, let's go talk to the women I drove insane and manipulated you into murdering. That'll go swell" bullshit, or otherwise try to talk her out of it. She might decide to go talk to them anyway out of spite, or she might think he has a point.

But it does happen, one way or another—either of Frey's own free will or because Cinta's Momma Senses are tingling and she finds a way to yoink Frey into Svargana from beyond the grave. Say Frey does ask their advice and tells them a Tanta of Rheddah showed her the Gloaming and asked to meet her. Well, what I wouldn't give to be a light jellyfish hanging in the air for that conversation!

Sila I can see being all for letting Frey go, but cautions Frey that talking may not get the results she hopes for, and that she had better be prepared for a battle to the death if things don't go well.

Prav would be tentatively amenable to the idea of Frey going to Rheddah to speak with the Rheddig Tantas. She'd emphasize a need for diplomacy and compromise. Her ideal outcome would be a peace treaty between the two nations, or some other formal agreement that Rheddah will no longer seek Athia's destruction.

Olas... could go either way. Of all of them, I think she would be the most familiar with the Tantas of Rheddah, if only through her studies of history. (I also think she's the most likely to have spies set up in Rheddah, but that's neither here nor there.) She'd know better than any of them if the Rheddig Tantas are likely to kill Frey the second she steps on shore, or if they'd try to manipulate her and turn her against Athia, or even if they're completely benevolent and trustworthy. Depending on what she knows of them, she could be all for Frey meeting with them, cautiously for it, cautiously against it, or vehemently against it.

Cinta would be against it. As Frey's mother, her instinct is to keep Frey safe. As Tanta, she cannot recommend any course of action that leaves Athia defenseless—and as it stands, Frey is Athia's only defense. She is the only one capable of protecting the citizens of Cipal from the Break, and she is the only one who has any hope of standing a chance against another Rheddig invasion. What if this is a diversion, meant to remove Athia's only protector so the Rheddig can finally complete their mission of eradicating Athia? She can't accept that risk.

Ultimately, after a lot of heated debate where Frey loses her temper at the pointless bickering at least twice, and Cuff is spiritually eating popcorn and doing a one-wrist-idiot Statler and Waldorf bit the whole time, the consensus they finally arrive to is the Tanta equivalent of "ho don't do it."

So, naturally, Frey does it. How else would we have a story for the sequel we're never going to get?

[cruelfeline]

This is such an interesting line because... well, the knee-jerk response is "yes, obviously." Cuff has cause an astronomical amount of damage. He has caused the madness and the fall of the Tantas. He has terrorized the people of Athia, both in ancient times, and now. So the obvious answer is: yes, defeating him will be justice served. If not entirely, then at least in large part.

So why even ask this question?

One aspect of Cuff that I find so intriguing is that he gives the impression of believing that what he is doing is appropriate. And not in the sort of classic, evil way of "I want to rule the world!" or "your land belongs to me!" But in this sort of odd way where something in his mindset is different than what you or I or, indeed, Frey can see. Like he's operating under some other sort of information that makes the wanton destruction of Athia seem like a good idea.

This is further complicated by the fact that Cuff is not actually being the Big Bad, so to speak. I mean, at this point in the story, he's the functional one, but he's not actually acting under his own will and power. He is acting under the Rheddig's will and power. They gave him his duty. They sent him. He says so himself, multiple times, very emphatically. So the actions that he views as an appropriate duty were decided by somebody else, for reasons we never learn.

And that's what I find intriguing! Why did the Rheddig send him (twice!)? What does he know and understand about the over-arching situation that makes him behave as if the absolute horror he's inflicting upon these people is proper? Why does he essentially taunt Frey for her sense of justice, or righteousness, when anyone would look at the current situation and side with her and the Athians in a heartbeat?

He acts as if she's not being just. As if her cause isn't a righteous one. Which sounds insane, because how can protecting innocent people from what is essentially a wisecracking weapon of mass destruction be anything but just and righteous? He's not stupid; certainly, he has to be able to see how absurd this sounds. So why say it with such apparent conviction?

A more... pure?... villain would simply embrace the fact that they were doing something hideous and evil for their own benefit, but the way Cuff acts... it's just strange. He doesn't act as if he's just enjoying carrying out the Rheddig's classically-evil plot. He acts as if he is carrying out a duty that he either feels compelled to fulfill, or one that has some sort of valid purpose to it. Or both.

After all... Susurrus is a demon of vengeance. Which begs the question: vengeance for what?