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https://ift.tt/2Q85rPycharlottedabookworm:
hamelin-born:
charlottedabookworm:
hamelin-born replied to your text post:
Ardyn promptly falls in love with Styx’s theses/essays as well. Ravus is horrified to learn that both he and the Chancellor have this in common, and even more disgusted to learn that he LIKES having spirited discussions with them with said man.
Ardyn does love them and Ravus is completely horrified because this is Ardyn but he also loves the spirited debates that they have every time a new paper is published.
He hates himself for it because this is Niflheim’s Chancellor but the man is really good at picking apart all of the arguments and theorising and it really is nice to talk to someone about it all instead of his sister just rolling her eyes at him
(It is also surprisingly easy to forget who Ardyn is when Ravus sees the man surrounded by papers with his sleeves rolled up and his eyes flashing in the middle of a debate. Ardyn looks almost human and it’s more surprising than it really should be)
Oooh, does Styx ever do an essay analyzing the figure of the ‘Accursed’? What does Ardyn think of it?
Styx is Galahdian, of course, she writes a paper on the Accursed and it is scathing in its opinions on the culture surrounding him and the Prophecy.
She probably starts with the definition of Accursed and the fact that, based on the language used, it likely meant ‘one under a curse’ rather than ‘someone we feel great anger towards’ and wow, doesn’t that just change the whole meaning of that shitfest of a prophecy.
The academic paper ends up being several dozen pages long because Styx keeps on pulling from the original sources, setting her own arguments and then castigating scholars and linguists from over the centuries for choosing the easiest interpretation over the more correct one.
Basically, the whole thing completely disregards the prophecy and posits that the so-called Accursed was likely just a man labouring under a curse - one that, purely based on the power required, likely would have been cast by the gods - outside of his control who has then been turned into the cult villain of a prophecy.
There are also a lot of unkind references to both Bahamut and Somnus, though Styx never actually outright states what all Galahdian’s know.
It ends up banned practically across all of Eos with weeks.
Ardyn loves it.
/snicker/ imagine REACTIONS to some of Styx’s annotated references consisting of direct interviews with Ramuh…
Oh, I pity the academic that tries to tell her that she can’t use those references because they can’t actually back them up.
Styx would just stare at them and go “I did not go to the effort of actually interviewing him for hours on end just so you can throw it all out” and then she just stares them the fuck down until they accept it
Lightning flashes in the background
#ravus is a giant nerd#and so is ardyn#they did not know this about each other before now#styx has died and come back to life - academics don’t scare her#also she’s in academia for the lols so fuck everyone else
@charlottedabookworm
Ardyn might just be inspired to start writing his own papers in response, or even writing to Styx directly, offering his praises, his commentary, and access to various documentations/records which further substantiate/disprove her arguments. (Styx is. Appreciative of the resources, even if she raises her eyebrows when she notices the sender - all of *Galahd* knows the Accursed’s story, and Styx *does* know his identity due to past-life shennanighans.)
Ardyn is really, really loving this. The defamation of the gods! The well-written arguments lambasting Somnus and organized religion in general! The - well, Styx is not exactly *defending* the Accursed, but she’s not condemning him as is; she’s laying out various cognizant arguments concerning his status, and she is *not* making any judgments. That’s - refreshing.
Ardyn is positively *gleeful*. And, of course, since it was banned, positively *everyone*’s read it. Or has to read it. Or has been meaning to read it. It’s the quickest way possible to get *everyone* to read said work. (Ardyn probably asks Styx to autograph his copy).
@hamelin-born
Ardyn totally does and he also isn’t particularly subtle in hiding who he is while contacting Styx to discuss things further and offer new sources and resources. Maybe nobody else would notice, but Styx is Galahdian and twice-born besides, and she knows who Ardyn Izunia is.
And yeah, this is the most fun that Ardyn has had in centuries and it’s from the academic circles that he’d honestly given up on years ago, despite keeping up to date with things because he was a healer at one point and one doesn’t unlearn those habits, because everything was painted with a very religious brush. It’s just, all of Styx’s papers are fairly written and well-researched and they still manage to completely castigate several things that Ardyn himself hates. And the neutral stance on the prophecy and the Accursed is something that Ardyn has never really experienced, especially since his own brother murdered him for it.
As for the autograph, well, Styx happens to be in Gralea because something’s gone wrong with one of her contacts or there’s some intel that she desperately needs and she’s in disguise but Ardyn manages to recognise her as she’s on her way out anyway.
Of course, Ardyn being Ardyn, he just smirks and pulls a copy of the book that Nyx had convinced her to publish and asks for an autograph.
Styx shrugs and signs the book, because why not?
Then, Ardyn tips his hat to her and she goes on her way.
@charlottedabookworm
*snicker* YES. Ardyn probably provides Styx with enough materials and inspiration to fuel more then a few articles, which he reads with growing anticipation and glee. Ardyn would start a book club featuring analysis and discussion of Styx’s articles/essays if he could.
Styx is. A bit nonplussed with meeting Ardyn Izunia, the literal Accursed. Nonplussed, and also - Styx would never think it of herself, but she has hat-envy. Just. The sheer flair with which Ardyn carries off that outfit. She’s a bit jealous.
Styx’s book, of course, was loudly decried and banned by three separate cults of the Draconian and the Glacian in the first week alone. This just made it have the Lure of the Forbidden, and it became a hot item positively snatched off the shelves - also, because of Freedom of the Press? They legally couldn’t forbid her publishing it.
Wes probably smiles quietly as he reads his daughter’s book. It’s an interesting read. Styx, meanwhile, cermoniously (and formally) sacrifices a copy to Ramuh, Titan, and Leviathan. The Old Man showed up to gleefully snatch his copy from her hands (he’s been looking forward to this!). Styx lays a copy as close to the Disc as she can manage, with a polite prayer to the Master of Rock and Stone. The last copy, she carefully wafts into the sea, using her most polite - and formal language - to express that this is a gift/sacrifice to the Hydrean, with her best wishes and compliments. (It goes blub as it sinks; she takes that as a good sign.)
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