#ame nclntmk

[medievalpeasant]

wbn stuff please do not spoil yerself it’s a great pod i encourage you to listen

sorry. gonna have to be an Ame stan on this one. Let’s look at what’s happening to her. She is:

1. 20.

2. neurodivergent (the coding is pretty obvious)

3. Has just inherited one of the most important position in the setting. The fate of the world is literally on her shoulders.

4. Has just woken up from a month long coma where she regained *numerous* important memories. All at once she begins to see the danger she is in.

5. Has woken up in one of the two hearts of an enormous imperial machine (let’s be clear: the citadel is a tool of the militaristic Kehmsarazan Empire. its goals are the empires goals, that’s where they get their funding). This empire is occupying her home land.

6. This is an incredibly dangerous place for herself, and her friend Eursalon. We see this from the Cassov collection, from the artificer’s factory, from Steels undermining and delay of her attempts to leave. Eursalon also understands this.

7. Her friend Suvi does not understand this. This is not Suvi’s fault, there are so many factors that make it very difficult for her to learn the truth (one of the main icons of this militarism, steel, is literally her adoptive mother) but it is still true that Suvi seems unaware (I want to state for the record that I really like Suvi. I think she’s an excellent character played excellently).

8. Steel. Steel is very scary. She’s the sword of the citadel, the head of its armies. She has probably the most important role in the entirety of the city. She has brought her legion back, is searching for vaguely designed “traitors” and “spies”, and is using the threat and reality of police and military violence to get her way. let’s be very clear. this is a coup. Even if it’s not, how could someone in Ame’s position be anything but frightened by this?

9. A friend of grandmother Wren’s and talented diviner, Sly, has told her that it is very important she leave, and soon, and that while her best friend Suvi *must* accompany her on pain of death, Suvi will not receive permission to accompany her.

10. All of this is merely the preamble to what may be the most important few days of her life, the summit at the north pole. The meeting will determine the fate of magic, the safety of every human in the world, and whether the job Ame has been training for since she was like 8 will even continue to exist.

With all of that in mind, it seems pretty obvious what Ame is (quite reasonably) thinking.

“Here i am in incredible danger. Not only is this the worst place in the world for me to be, but i desperately need to be a different place doing different things. Oh no! Leaving is difficult, and getting out relies on my friend Suvi unlearning her indoctrination over the course of a couple hours. Fuck! Let’s bounce.”

That this is a reasonable position is not only reenforced by everything I just said, but by the fact that Eursalon completely agrees! When presented with the same information (plus a little more, since he’s people smart in a way the other two aren’t), he comes to exactly the same conclusion. Let’s bounce!

My point isn’t that Suvi is evil, or that people should be shitty to Aabria Iyengar (she’s mentioned that ppl have been. if that’s you, fuck off!). It’s just that Ame is not the villain here either. She’s making decisions that I can only imagine I would also make in her position.

Plus, why are people only shit talking Ame? When Eursalon is doing the same shit? and is in fact more responsible for violence against citadel solders (see:the end of the previous arc) (which i don’t begrudge him either, for reasons i would get into if i wasn’t so tired)? It’s just obvious sexism. (tho i also wouldnt be surprised if people were trashing Eursalon abt this and I just haven’t seen it. still, the degree to which the hate is Ame focused is telling)

Anyway, I’m talking too much and no one will read this. I’m just saying, keep in mind the pressures mounting on Ame before accusing her of quest fever.