#askindiga

I realized most of the Evangeline royal family is obscured behind makeup and headwear, so for the sake of having accurate references, I went ahead and scribbled this up.

Lazuline's self-conscious about her tiny eyebrows, so she overcompensates by drawing big caterpillars on her face lol.

Teal tries to copy her mom's hairstyle, but can't quiiiite get it right. Fitting for her character.

It's a shame Cerulea makes Teal and Cyana cover up their freckles with all that dumb clown makeup because I think they look so much cuter with them!

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Questions/Comments?

Lore Masterpost

As a political leader, Indiga hates that these boys even exist. She hates that her daughter married a foreigner and has been labeled a "traitor" by the Evangelite people. It's a source of embarrassment for her. The Evangelite people talk a lot of shit about Azura, Jelani, and their kids, and do not welcome any of them into the kingdom.

But as a grandmother, Indiga loves these boys regardless of who their father is or what her daughter did. She knows they're just innocent children, and she would love to have them in her life. Alas, it would reflect very poorly on her to maintain a relationship with them.

I imagine Indiga might arrange a private flight to transport Azura and her babies back to Evangeline Kingdom just to visit them. She could book a "vacation" somewhere and stay at a resort with them to reduce scrutiny. Azura would just use this as an opportunity to explain to her why her oppressive policies are trash, but Indiga wouldn't listen. She's too old, ignorant, and set in her ways.

She has already decided that she doesn't like Jelani and doesn't want to meet him, so he wouldn't be invited. Indiga has no legitimate reason for disliking him, other than he's Matuzan and she's a xenophobic old bitch lol. But the babies, yes, she wants to be a grandma to them even if she has to do so in secrecy. And maybe Azura would let her sisters meet them too (Except Marine and Teal because they can't keep their mouths shut about anything...)

Indiga would be a valuable resource to these boys as they grow up, depending on how long she lives. Her checkbook is always open to them, and she has enough political pull to get them out of serious trouble, even from across the border.

Publicly, Indiga forsakes these boys and talks about how shameful her daughter's choices are.

Privately, she's sending them toys and cookies (and Lindist scripture...) in the mail and telling them how much grandma loves them.

These poor little boys have no idea that some foreign kingdom sees them as villains and wants them dead. They will surely find out when they're older...

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Questions/Comments?

Lore Masterpost

-ay, como le digo esto...? Ehm, su majestad, le traigo noticias de la princesa azura

-*suspiro* dígame, que cuenta de ella

-bueno, esto no me lo creo ni yo. La princesa azura.....se caso con un rey de matuzu

-*recalculando* eh...que!?

-si, yo tampoco me lo creo

-ay, encima con un matuzano....*toma aire y repone su compostura* bueno, ¿Eso es todo?

-hay algo, más, tuvo hijos

-*respira Ondo* adivinare, otra niña

-eh.....de hecho.....fueron tres varones

-*aguantando* discúlpenme un momento *se retira a sus habitación* AAAAAAAHHAHAHHAHAH *grito de vieja al enterarse de esto*

Posdata:me gustaría ver la opinión del resto de la familia

(Translated via Google Translator)

(Note: In this case I did some of my own editing because Google did not do a very good job...Apologies if I messed anything up! Sometimes Google Translator spits out something incomprehensible so I have to guess.)

How I imagine Indiga's reaction when she found out about Azura's children: -Oh, how do I say this...? Ehm, your majesty, I bring you news of Princess Azura. -Indiga: -*sigh* tell me, what is it? -Well, I don't even believe this. Princess Azura...married a king of Matuzu. -Indiga: *recalculating* eh...what!? -Yes, I don't believe it either. -Indiga: Oh, on top of that with a matuzano...*takes a breath and regains her composure* well, is that all? -there is something, more, she had children. -Indiga: *breathes Ondo* I'll guess, another girl. -eh.....in fact.....there were three boys. -Indiga: *holding on* excuse me for a moment *retreats to her room* AAAAAAAHHAHAHHAHAH *old woman screams when she finds out about this* PS: I would like to see the opinion of the rest of the family

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Sounds about right to me! Indiga and Cerulea were both so irritated when they heard about Azura's marriage and children. I think Indiga was more disappointed, while Cerulea was probably angry and jealous.

Cerulea married an old misogynistic preacher who looks like a leather bag and treats her like an idiot...Azura married a rich hunky king who treats her like a queen.

Cerulea gave birth in a cold hospital with dark age "medicine" that probably did more harm than good...Azura gave birth on a sunny tropical beach, doped up on magic potions to take away her pain.

Cerulea begrudgingly endured sex with Rodrig's ugly old ass over and over, struggling for years to birth one son, and he may not even be a son at all...Azura happily jumps Jelani's bone and pops out 3 sons at once, first try.

Cerulea's kids constantly annoy and disappoint her, and she resents them for not meeting her strict expectations...Meanwhile Azura loves her kids unconditionally and is proud of their individuality, imperfections and all.

I imagine Cerulea is fuming over all this. It chaps her ass every single day. She feels like she did everything "right" by obeying her mother and living by the holy Lindist doctrine...yet her heathen sister's life is still leagues better than hers, and Cerulea is too narrow-minded to understand why.

When she heard about the birth of her three nephews, she probably faked a polite smile and acted reserved as ever. "Hm. It's a shame their father is a foreigner, isn't it? If only my little sister cared about our kingdom the way I do. Excuse me for a moment..." then she retreats to her bedroom, softly closes the door, and just...angry-white-woman.gif

Rodrig uses the news as an opportunity to push his agenda. He writes a sermon about how Matuzans don't respect Lindist values and their whole culture is backwards. Deep down I think he is truly, deeply jealous of King Jelani, with his hot young wife, triplet male heirs, and free culture. He expresses this jealousy by writing scathing sermons about him.

When Lazuline heard the news of her triplet cousins' births, she just felt sad that she couldn't spend time with them. She desperately wishes her family would put aside their differences and get along.

Saphirra has the big horny for Jelani, but can't admit it because she knows her parents will disapprove of her thirsting over a foreign noble, especially one that is already married, and who they personally hate. But Saphirra's crush is as subtle as an atomic bomb, so they already know. Everyone knows. And they are disappointed in her--but not even slightly surprised.

Teal just parrots all the scathing things her mother says about Azura without having any opinions of her own, because she's not intelligent enough to think critically about anything. Danus simply agrees with his wife because it's easier than listening to her bitch at him. He really doesn't care about any of this drama. Frankly neither does Teal, but she has to pretend she does to please Mommy.

Cyana is fascinated by her aunt Azura, but is also forbidden from talking to her without her mother's supervision. Cerulea knows Azura will fill her head with "lies". I think Cyana would be very motivated to break the rules and contact Azura anyway.

Marine wants to meet the triplets and be "the best cousin ever". Cerulea tells her she is not allowed to interact with babies because she's too clumsy and she'd injure them somehow. Marine tantrums over this and accidentally breaks her own arm doing so. Point proven.

Skylie is too young to care about any of this family drama, she's off in her own little dream-world. I think she will care more when she's older and she realizes her auntie Azura may be her ticket to a better life.

Cobalt doesn't care about this either. The poor kid already has so much to worry about! I bet Cerulea and Indiga try not to talk about Azura around him at all. She's just "that bad lady who makes Mommy and Gramma mad". He may not even know he has cousins.

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Questions/Comments?

Lore Masterpost

She is definitely suffering a stifling and frustrating childhood, but I don't think she's necessarily doomed. Her culture does not appreciate women or creatives--and especially not women creatives--but you know what culture does? Matuzu Kingdom, the land of romance and art!

Skylie's auntie Azura just happens to be a Matuzan queen. She's got connections in high places, and I think there is a decent chance Azura could hire mercenaries to smuggle Skylie out of blue country and into orange country, where her creative talents will be celebrated.

Before then though, yes, I imagine Skylie will have some rough teenage and young adult years as her parents force her to "act normal", stifle her hobbies, and marry her off to some shitty Evangelite noble or whatever. Skylie might reach out to her auntie for help, and there is nothing in this world Azura hates more than women being suppressed. She would do everything in her power to help her little niece, even if she has to break some laws and some necks in the process.

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Questions/Comments?

Lore Masterpost

I've never heard of this, but it sounds hilarious and it's perfect for Sapphira!

Legally, Evangelite citizens aren't allowed to publicly criticize their royalty. But you just know it happens in private...and I could easily imagine foreign kingdoms putting on a production like this, especially in Folkvar Kingdom!

I always feel bad for the kids in these shitty royal families. They are innocent, they don't deserve all this dysfunction. Skylie, Cobalt, and Marine have no malice in their hearts now, but I'm sure Indiga and Cerulea didn't either when they were kids. Growing up in such an environment can make monsters of people.

I think there is still hope for them though. Look at Azura! Despite all the propaganda around her, she was free-spirited enough to see through it all, and brave enough to take action against it. Maybe the other royal Evangeline kids will follow in her footsteps.

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Questions/Comments?

Lore Masterpost

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Cyana can wear her hair a lot of ways! A tactical braid would look cute on her.

I agree, Cerulea is quite pretty in my opinion. Her traditional Evangelite clown-makeup really does her a disservice...I laughed when you said she and Rodrig look like teachers because you're SO RIGHT! They look like mean, strict teachers in particular. Rodrig looks like he'll give you detention if you so much as fart in his class.

Teal having Down syndrome is an interesting thought I never considered! Unfortunately I don't think it would fit in to the existing lore, because Evangelite culture is not very friendly to those with obvious disabilities. Since her family has money, they would likely send her to live in a nursing facility and she would not be permitted to marry, as they would fear a man "taking advantage" of her condition.

If anyone has an intellectual disability, I would say it's most likely Danus. It may not be obvious enough to get him institutionalized, but his peers definitely suspect something is slightly "off" about him upstairs. I imagine he has some kind of mild, unspecified developmental delay. Teal doesn't have a delay, she's just intellectually lazy. She doesn't like to think too hard about anything, she'd rather be told exactly what to think and do. I think her face just looks odd here because 1) I drew it very quickly, and 2) her face is at a slightly downward angle, so her features look more "squashed" than they would if she was looking straight-on.

Cyana does look a lot younger without her makeup! She has a baby face, but she'll probably grow out of it as she gets older. We'll say she's a late-bloomer. She looks sad and tired here because she IS sad and tired, her life in Evangeline Kingdom sucks! But one day she will find happiness, one way or another. I'm determined to give her story a happy ending!

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Questions/Comments?

Lore Masterpost

I'll take your experienced word for it! I declare autistic Skylie canon!

---> READ DARKWINGPHOENIX'S FANFIC ON AO3 <---

I just read your fanfiction, and I'm so impressed with the way you utilized the lore! You also characterized Indiga's family very well, they're all behaving pretty much the way I imagined. That little interaction between Cyana and Marine was perfect! I also like the way Cyana and Lazuline confide in eachother. Cyana trusts Lazuline like the mother she wishes she had. Even though they have their sisterly squabbles from time to time, they do share a common enemy: their overbearing parents. This is something they bond over, as they are both hiding secrets from them.

I realize this is only the first chapter but it's already so good, you've got me eager for more!

Here are some relevant lore tidbits that may or may not be useful to you:

-In addition to hand-copying Traditional Lindist texts, Lazuline also recruits the help of literate slaves to do it for her. The work is tedious, but the slaves are eager to do it because these texts are anti-slavery in nature, and spreading them to the public may help guide Evangelite culture in that direction one day. These texts also support women's rights and magic use for non-commoners, which are all things that Modern Lindism opposes.

-At some point, Lazuline's slaves learned to carve stamps out of wood or other scrap materials to make copying the texts faster. Each stamp contains one page of text. Obviously Lazuline must keep these stamps hidden when not in use.

-There are many illiterate people (especially slaves) in Evangeline Kingdom. So, Lazuline also spreads the texts by mouth. She does this by reading Traditional scriptures to groups of goblin slaves, then selling those slaves to masters all over the kingdom. Since goblins never forget anything they learn, they can recite these scriptures to other slaves they encounter while they work.

-Evangelites believe homosexuality is a literal disease that is spread by sexual activity between the same sexes. They believe victims cannot be cured, so they must be executed to contain the spread. However, exceptions are made for minors (in Evangelite culture this means under 16 years of age for humans), who are instead sent to special clinics to "treat" their disease (essentially conversion therapy). Evangelites believe there is a chance to cure the disease while the victim is still young, but once they are adults, it is too late.

Practically, this is meant to serve as a lesson to young gay Evangelites to shape up and pretend to conform, or else. It also offers mercy to children who contracted the disease through no fault of their own, such as in cases of sexual abuse. Less mercy is shown for adult victims, who are expected to "know better" and "protect themselves". Yes, victim-blaming is a rampant issue in this culture...

-Wealthy adults can also wiggle their way out of the death penalty by buying their way into special adult institutions, marketed as "quarantine centers" to keep the homosexual "disease" from spreading. The price is steep and they can never leave, but it does spare them from death. The royal family would certainly take this route with Cyana, and though these institutions offer cushy accommodations fit for the wealthy, the thought of being confined to them forever horrifies Cyana. These places are basically golden cages. Residents are closely monitored and all sexual activity is forbidden. Visitors are allowed, but they are watched the whole time to make sure there is no disease spread going on.

I imagine if Cyana's parents found out she was a lesbian, they would go on a rampage trying to find out who gave her the disease, and a lot of innocent slaves, castle staff, and townsfolk (especially the women Cyana hangs out with) would be executed without trial. I mean, just look at how they treated Saphirra's husbands: all imprisoned for life based on nothing but their daughter's accusations!

This fact alone scares the hell out of Cyana, so she is very careful not to get caught. She knows any woman she dates is in danger just by associating with her, and it plagues her with fear and guilt. This is why she dreams of just fleeing her kingdom entirely one day.

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Questions/Comments?

Lore Masterpost

Queen Indiga's current family tree. Full art coming when I finish the text for the new article.

Jarek used to be the name of Cerulea's husband, but I changed some things around so she is no longer rules Queenswater, and her husband is a Lindist archpriest rather than a king. I recycled the name Jarek for Indiga's husband instead, who was High King.

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Questions/Comments?

Lore Masterpost