El hoy y el ahora
Por favor, deja de pensar que no puedo ver. Para mí es tan claro como para ti, que estamos viviendo entre basura. Basura que lleva a sus hijos a la escuela, que visita una vez por semana a su madre, que le quita muy bien las arrugas a los pantalones, que reza en la iglesia, que hace decente su tedioso trabajo. Sabes cómo yo que todos ellos, cumplen un montón de puntos en una lista interminable titulada "buenos ciudadanos" y que simulan con sonrisas sus infelices vidas, esas vidas que están perdiendo por tanto miedo. Si, yo creo que es miedo, miedo a que les quiten lo muy poco que tienen, miedo a que alguien como ellos los señale y les diga que son uno hipócritas, porque fuman, beben, golpean a sus hijos y les hacen sentir inútiles, porque más de una vez estropearon el trabajo del compañero para que esté no sobresaliera, porque todo el tiempo están mirando en lo que tiene el otro con esa envidia rapaz que grita en su mente tan pero tan fuerte -¡No es justo! ¡No lo merece! ¡Debería ser mío! ¡Me lo ha robado!-porque si, está basura se viste de buenos deseos y a tu espalda te escupe. ¿Crees que no lo noto? ¿Crees que vivo en un mundo de fantasmas donde los espectros son personas leales y felices? Pues no. Yo también veo lo que la gente se hace, lo que permite que se haga, y soy cruel participe de los comentarios de pasillo donde la gente jura estar asustada por las cosas terribles que ven en los noticiarios, para pasar como si nada a la elección del menú del dia, alegrandome porque no sea alguien que conozco, para seguir teniendo mi moral elevada, alegrandome porque sea un extraño, lejos de este círculo para seguir diciendo -es que ellos- para mantener la miseria alejada, según yo. Para seguir pensando que la basura está allá y no aquí donde la huelo.
Erán
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Court of Darkness Character Analysis - Lance Ira
Lance: The Prince of Ember and Flame
Sin: Wrath
Story Tropes Represented: Bad boy with a good heart; lone wolf; misunderstood loner; parent loss
Folks who might be interested? @aide-falls @abugwritesstuff @shinonometrash @sallylovessweets @jaysquid @voltagefandomproject @marsipanic
Book one Lance spoilers below. Also, this is just my interpretation/analysis for Lance. It may differ from yours—let me know your thoughts!
Any direct quotes from Lance’s book one or events are in italics.
…
Analysis: Lance is hot. Really hot.
Analysis complete.
OK, jokes aside…who is Lance—a lone wolf, a resentful prince, a truant who scares most people away?
At his core, Lance is man defined by loss—his mother, his best friend Lutz, the freedom to live the life he wants—and the accompanying anger that comes with it. Lance does not exhibit the classic physical signs of anger—flailing fists, face turning red, punching walls. He will not turn wild with rage in most circumstances. Lance would not want to give his father the pleasure of his anger manifesting like this. These overt signs of wrath are a reminder of Ira’s ancient magic that Lance despises so much. Instead, Lance’s wrath is internal, directed at himself.
When we first meet Lance in his book one, loss and grief consume him—he blames himself for not noticing his mother’s illness, for Lutz taking the fatal blow from the automata meant for him. This grief keeps him stuck, idling in frustration and resentment. The deaths of his mother and best friend burn like embers within the ashes of hate he has for Ira. Those embers smolder, burning just as bright as the fire that created them. When Lance encounters Lutz’s brother on Colde, he is confronted by the past he runs from. He says to himself: What have I done these many years? Why have I burned with such loathing and frustration? And for what? To what end?
Of the seven Saligian princes, Lance is the most resentful of his royal status. He describes that status, of [being] bound by the kingdom of your birth… [as] a heap of unicorn dung…shackled to a specific path. He was born a commoner, grew up in humble circumstances, unaware of his royal blood for years. His father, King Addis, is not in his life until his mother passes and Lance is old enough to be a useful tool. Lance has no patience for governmental intrigues, being a political pawn, or becoming a symbol of his country; he makes these thoughts painfully transparent to those around him. It is perhaps why Lance has the most modern sensibilities of all the princes. His value of individualism (for himself and others that seek it) is at odds with monarchy at large.
Lance is a fierce protector of freedom. Every prince but Lance has a familiar—an animal with a dependent bond with that prince, bound to him by servile magic. Lance has a wolf companion—Grushia—whom he is close with through a natural bond, one without magic. They are free to leave when they choose, but both remain close to the other. It is that freedom of choice that makes their bond strong.
In Lance’s book one, when he brings food and supplies to the boy Christop (instead of going to class), he remarks to himself:
There are more important things in this world than learning how to be a king. For now, I’d rather focus on protecting those bound by their circumstances in life.
Lance himself appears listless and reckless but is purposeful with his intentions for those he cares for. When watching over Christoph in his book one, Lance thinks—There’s no such thing as too careful when it comes to Chris; I don’t wish for him to become as I have. He ought to live as he likes, not be imprisoned because of how he came to be. He is someone who will defend those with limited choices who cannot defend themselves (Christop being pursued by Irithium), or those who do not have an advocate in their corner (Iran people living in the countryside). Academy lessons with Lou and political showboating with King Addis have little purpose to Lance—practical experience, meaningful connections with people, will show Lance the value of being a future king.
There are Saligian princes like Guy that are princes for their kingdom—for Guy, what is best for Avari is best for everyone; individuals can be sacrificed for the good of the country. Lance is a prince of the people—further, he is of the people. While princes like Roy and Rio make a conscious effort to listen to and understand their subjects, Lance has directly experienced the life of a commoner, having lived their everyday plight.
Lance will not be a king for the kingdom and the nobility running it. He scorns Iran politics for prioritizing military might over advancements in healing and helping Iran’s rural communities, resulting in the deaths of his loved ones. This hatred is so strong that it burns beyond recognition. In the Unbreakable event story, Lance describes his feelings towards Ira, and the entire military megalomaniac foundation upon which the country is built on, as so consuming that he’d burned himself to cinders out of concern for his country—all that is left is sympathy for the people that remain in Ira and the memories of those that he has lost. In his book one, Lance’s anger at Ira is equally powerful—One by one this kingdom called Ira has stolen everything important to me. What else must it take from me before it’s satisfied.
But, just as fire can burn and overwhelm, it can also provide warmth and light the way. The individuals who have been closest to Lance in his life—his mother, Lutz, Christop, MC, Zenu—he describes as sources of optimism and warmth. Lots of light imagery is used to describe these people within Lance’s book one and various event stories. The MC reminds Lance of his mother—a woman who’s smile is comforting like a nap taken beneath the dappled sunlight of a forest; in Lance’s Magic ending, he describes MC as ethereally beautiful and so, so bright; while alive, Lutz was like the sun in miniature.
Lance turned away from sources of light after his mother’s and Lutz’s deaths—to invite light was to invite heartbreak and darkness if that light were taken away. But, his relationship with the MC changes that perspective.
The MC is relentless in her spirit and optimism—tragedy, difficulties, failures do not stop her; they fuel her drive to succeed. This approach is fundamentally different to how Lance has, up until meeting her, approached life for many years. And given their shared background—the loss of a parent, being forced to remain on Colde—it gives Lance pause. Lance cannot easily dismiss the MC given their shared experiences.
When Lance is with the MC, his memories of his mother and Lutz become more positive. He describes their memories, in one event, as points of light, carrying hope that there is good left in his kingdom. While their memories still provoke anger, they also serve as fuel steeling Lance’s resolve, lighting his path, carrying him to conviction to change Ira for their sake.
The MC provides a balm to Lance’s soul, an energy that nurtures, encourages, and empowers. She guides Lance forward, a steady bright presence that urges him to think beyond his past and into the future. The MC and Lance have among the most egalitarian relationships in the game—they describe each other as accomplices, partners, compatriots. They seek one another’s company equally, being open and transparent about their feelings, whether good or bad. This equality happens, in part, because Lance gets to know MC as a person before he knows of her powers. More than any other consort path, Lance allows for MC to truly grieve for the loss of her parents—Lance understands that the death of a beloved parent is not something easily forgotten or dismissed; it lingers, festers, unless that grief is expressed.
When Lance is with the MC, a different fire consumes him. He describes his love her for as an ever growing thing, one where he melts at her smile, his heart burning for her, every part of him feeling as if on fire. In his magic ending, he says to love is to risk suffering; but to be loved is the great happiness there is. It is also one of the few consort book one endings (maybe the only one) where the MC is given something tangible to represent his love for her—a promise ring—perhaps an unconscious callback to the Iran quartz talisman his mother gave him as a child. Pretty words are not enough to show his love to those he cares for. He is someone who comes off as callous and cold, but probe deeper and you’ll find a man with layers of hidden kindness, a person dedicated to helping others, someone who, ultimately, becomes motivated by the memory of those he has lost.
He is Lance—the man of ember and flame.
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