#bc he successfully prevented the detonation of a nuclear weapon a few years earlier so he’s sort of the only thing standing between

[meat-loving-meat]

I want to write a Vanyel/Stefen modern-with-magic AU soooo bad but I don’t know Valdemar lore like at all. There are six books standing between me and feeling comfortable enough in the lore to imagine what Valdemar might look like with the internet and planes

#anyway I have unhinged ideas about what modern Valdemar #like. I’m imagining Valdemar as a prosperous #happy country with a high level of social development and technology #public transit everywhere. universal basic income/free high quality healthcare/etc #like. not utopian. not by a long shot. #but overall doing well (at least in comparison to some of the other countries on Velgarth) #HOWEVER they are having this really divisive cultural moment about Heralds and the King #bc they’re basically appointed by a completely unaccountable higher power? and they have so much direct influence and control over #the life of an average person??? why should that be allowed? #so there’s a movement for direct democracy which is very successful at a local level #and is slowly making its way into higher levels of the government #and there’s suddenly intense scrutiny on the heralds. so when Vanyel gets caught up in a series of scandals it does a LOT of damage to #the institution of the heralds. but Vanyel is very very important to the security of the world #bc he successfully prevented the detonation of a nuclear weapon a few years earlier so he’s sort of the only thing standing between #the world and nuclear war #anyway I think that setting is way too dramatic for a weird gay fanfiction. so I’m workshopping it #vanyel ashkevron #last herald mage #gay herald in a squirrel suit