In which I babble about countries again

[scarletmorning]

Why is coordinating character ages and meeting years and getting to know years so haaaaaaaaaard D8

Anyway.

I've heard something interesting in a lecture today; something that I already knew before but of course forgot 8D And I noticed how prefectly it could fit Magvel. I mean, we all noticed that the "all countries are friends" thing is pretty strange and unrealistic. But. If we assume that "friend" is not used as meaning "a person we like and like to spend time with", but in the sense of "amicitia" then it makes sense.

Since there is no wiki page in English fo "amicitia" let me quickly summarise it. "Amicitia" is a Roman concept which means that the Romans made a "friendship contract" with another country which elevates the country from a subordinated partner to an equal partner, i.e. they are on the same level. It's a "friendship" that is based on a contract; the signees are obligated to be friendly, support the partner, be fair and they have equal rights in commerce. It has nothing to do with personal emotions; you can totally hate your partner, but if you signed the contract, you're obligated to act friendly and supportive.

And that is what I see between the Magvel countries. They all have such contracts. In case of Renais and Grado, I believe that there are also mutual friendly feelings between the Royal families. The fact that the twins and Lyon know each other well is a sign that they had much contact and spend a considerable amount of time with each other. Also, Fado´s reaction in the beginning indicates, for me at least, that he is disappointed on an emotional level. Also, it's pretty obvious - for the same reasons - that Frelia and Renais are friends in the normal sense as well. See Tana and Eirika, and Ephraim and Innes.

In case of Frelia and Grado, I believe there are no really deeply friendly feelings. There are no negative feelings, but personal headcanon dictates that there are tensions between the countries (or at least the after-effect of earlier conflicts). I always found it strange that Innes doesn't seem to know Lyon. Or at least he didn't spend much time with him. Maybe that's because Innes didn't like Lyon, though it honestly doesn't sound like that in game. So I conclude that Frelia and Grado are not as close as Grado and Renais. Hayden and Viggy like each other well enough, but a deep friendship, no. Personal headcanon also dictates that they first met when they were 17/19, while Hayden and Fado met at age 9/9, and Fado and Viggy at 12/14. It mostly has to do with their fathers and a move that Frelia hasn't forgiven Grado at that point of time.

Neither royalty from Frelia and Renais recognized L'Arachel or Joshua so they haven't ever met. I conclude that Jehanna has a strictly "amicitia" relationship with everyone.

Rausten is a bit tricky, but I think they're a bit similar to Jehanna. L'Arachel might have met any royal child before, but then they would've been so young that they don't remember each other.

And now for something completely different:

Turisas is the perfect soundtrack for pirate sheningans.

Comments

[raphiael]

The fact that the twins and Lyon know each other well is a sign that they had much contact and spend a considerable amount of time with each other.

The pitfall with this is that canonically, the first meeting Ephraim and Eirika have with Lyon is either 2 or 3 years (I can't recall which) before the game, and after that, they don't see him again or keep in touch. I'm assuming it's an extended visit, but yeah, they're only in touch with him once. Which makes the whole FRIENDS FOREVER routine a little. . . strange.

[crimsonmorgan.livejournal.com]

Not really. They met him first those years ago and then in Serafew as well. Which was another visit. And the fact that they study together there implies that it's not just a week or so. And do we have any information about any keeping in contact? And in contrast it doesn't seem like Innes ever spend time with Lyon. Of course it's not THE BESTEST FRIENDSHIP EVAR, but they seem to know each other quite well. Also, I think they can grow close quite quickly if it really clicks.

[raphiael]

I'm pretty sure that end-game flashback, the introduction, is 3 years ago. And then Ephraim says they hadn't seen him in 2 years, at one point, right? So I think definitely, they're close, but it's not like a huge, longstanding thing, you know?

[crimsonmorgan.livejournal.com]

Did I imply that they have an epic friendship? I more meant that they have several generations of friends, i.e. Fado and Viggy, Twins and Lyon, maybe even before. If that caused any confusion?
Does "haven't seen him in 2 years" imply that there was also no letters? (I really don't know.)
Yeah, it's no a longstanding thing for the twins and Lyon. For Fado and Viggy it's a bit different. But it would be boring if everything is always the same :3 (Also, while Fado and Hayden met more or less regularly because I always had the impression that it doesn't take long to travel from Renais Castle to Frelia Castle, Fado and Viggy only met every 2 or 3 years.)

[raphiael]

Ahhh, I see what you mean now. It seemed like you were saying the royal families remained really close, and that doesn't fit. Renais and Frelia seem quite close, but yeah, there's more distance between Grado and the others. And it is pretty stated that they hadn't heard at all from Lyon, because they had no sign of the changes or anything. I feel like the previous generation (brokings~) was closer than the in-game one, at least where Grado is concerned, perhaps because of Viggy's craptastic health?

[crimsonmorgan.livejournal.com]

Oops. Naw, the bros were closer than the bro spawn. I can see Viggy being against too many visits because of his health.
Ah, that's true. Lyon might have avoided contact with the twins, because of his father and his research and maybe even because of early influence of DK.