hamsterwoman: (Dragaera -- no excuse for bad manners)
hamsterwoman ([personal profile] hamsterwoman) wrote in [personal profile] sholio 2024-04-12 02:43 pm (UTC)

inviting the Empress to a rinky-dink theatrical production as step 92 of his 200-step Xanatos gambit

LOL! That's a beautiful way to describe that, but yes! (Vlad imagining the poor sod seated behind Zerika trying to see around the Orb also struck me as hilarious)

I think it took me a while to notice this because I'm pretty sure he doesn't think the word Dragaeran or Easterner once during that final internal monologue (and Brust is a careful writer, I don't think this is an accident). He just thinks "people,"

Ooh, you are so right! I completely did not notice this, but I agree that it's huge and that it's got to be deliberate! (I do definitely think the Easterners on the world suffer second-order effects from the Cycle and resulting stagnation, as their powerful neighbors can't evolve past the cyclical wars and stuff, but I also don't for a minute think that Vlad's thinking goes past the "people are being jerked around by invisible strings" implication)

terrified of where it's going

saaame.

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