And the foxes probably think jabbing this ticking time bomb is a fun game. After all, it's not like they'll be the ones having to deal with the fallout.
At the risk of showing my hand/being held to the random shit that comes out of my mouth as 10:45 PM on a work night . . .
HalkO canon.
Sionach Sidhe are bar non the single STRONGEST Fae-kin species on an individual level. In HalkO-ALO they were balanced to by an encounter for a standard ALO party (7? players iirc). Due to their use as story characters/quest related mobs their magic is very powerful and cross disciplinary.
They are, for instance, true shape shifters, capable of voluntarily assuming a wide range of forms and they are prodigious natural casters.
There are stronger individual Fae. There are stronger individual mages.
But among the Fae, person for person, the people who can reliably beat a Sionnach 1 v 1 is . . .
Kirito - (Speed blitzing them)
Asuna - (Assuming she dedicates herself to improving her magic, but also speed blitz)
General Eugene - (with Gram to Neutrali their <<Phase Shift>>)
Shiori - (Sheer coordination and, like Kirito, speed blitz)
maybe Morgiana on a good day
The thing that balances this is. They are incredibly rare. They cannot fly, though they can move with immense uncanny speed. Bar none they are the fewest Fae-kin in number by a wide margin. And they are mercurial at the best of times.
Curious. Talented. Easily bored, but also easily amused.
A sionnach is rarely interested in actually fighting unless they are cornered or protecting something or someone to whom they have established a strong bond.
We did see that though, and in a form that felt horribly realistic.
Note that absolutely nobody felt the need to defend the commoners working for them after someone very casually implied that they were less worthy of washing themselves than their bosses.
I mean, I wasn't trying to be THAT topical. But I suspect that one is at least as much to do with it not even occurring to the better people in the crowds.
Which . . . I suppose is how ugly shit like this often doesn't get shut down.
Good hearted people don't always 'see' the Racism/Classism in front of them because they don't think about the unspoken consquence to less good hearted people. It requires a degree of social empathy and establishment of bonds with the people that are being hurt as people within your community.
-Rubs temples- I'm really hoping I don't get shit for 'being political' -rubs temples-
Meanwhile said commoner workers were pretty clearly bricking it at getting caught up in what was ultimately a fight between Nobles (authority, magic using, all the key markers are there) in a place that they may well not have felt they belonged. No wonder they end up eating outside.
There's ugly overtones of every unpleasant case of classism/racism in this subject because the script is the same every time. Different parts of the script get exagerated in each case. But it's the same script because it's the same ugly impulses being let loose.
Of course it's not all bad. We see that the police forces emerging amongst the Fae are acting about as well as can be hoped for with such institutions (arguably because the nature of policing the Fae makes it very hard to abuse that power without getting killed) and there is still clearly an overriding respect for the rule of law. A brawl breaking out is a long way off from Rika getting threatened with having her hands broken or being made an indentured servant.
Suguha starts off as Kazuto's loving and big hearted sister and Yui's cool aunt. She ends up as . . . Kazuto's loving and big hearted sister and Yui's cool aunt, but also Sam Vimes . . . if Sam Vimes had the body and heart of a reckless teenage girl.
The recusive fanfiction you didn't know you needed.
Sam Vimes, commander of the Arrun City Watch.
Kirigaya Leafa, commander of the Ankh-Morpork City Watch.
Better than the BBC series anyways . . .
Still, there was a pretty solid dose of reality underlying this one. I really like what you're doing with this side story
@Triggerhappy
Which is saddening since I was hoping for this to lead in a more tender direction by the end
