a thing about vivi that is always like. heartbreaking to me. that i feel is often overlooked in the fandom. is like... when she is supporting the circle system and arguing for reform over rebellion, when she's arguably conservative... she's Not arguing from being like. just too insulated from normal mage life to know how bad the circle system can be and Is. she's not pulling up the ladder behind her or arguing that everyone should just get good like her. she's arguing from essentially abject terror for the mage children, mage Tranquil, mages with no abilities that can be used to protect themselves or fight back, mages who are not ready and able to run off, become rebels and arm themselves, when inevitably the response to the rebellion from the chantry hits the weakest, most vulnerable, most Currently Still Easily Accessible circle mages the hardest. she doesn't think that mages should be in the torture basement forever because they deserve to suffer and suffering is what's best for them— she believes that if the circles fall, the people (the chantry, the templars, the nobility of every country under the orlesian chantry who rely on mage labour, the ordinary soldiers and civilians who have been raised to be Terrified Of Magic) will turn on her people. and they'll turn on her, no matter how well-behaved she's been! and When they do, she won't be able to protect the most vulnerable mages! she is trying to protect other mages the best way She knows how here!
she's The exemplary circle mage taking a permitted avenue to create a position of influence and Make something of herself, and it still isn't enough, and she's still forced to rely on wealthy and powerful patrons who don't fully see her as an equal person to them and can retract their patronage whenever they want, because a mage can Never be enough. and she knows it! probably better than anyone! she Knows she's always on the verge of losing everything she's built for herself! so yknow. yeah she's afraid, of templars and kings and queens and the chantry, of the Backlash the rebellion will provoke, and she's absolutely certain that the mage rebellion Can't Win, and when they are inevitably crushed, it will only be Worse For Everyone. that's not someone saying mages are Correctly placed under the templars' boots, that's someone saying If You Cause Trouble, All Our Most Vulnerable Will Be Killed. she's not entitled or disconnected from Normal Mages, she's terrified! & i think that often goes like. unacknowledged because. ok partly bc dai is constantly asking you not to sympathise with her and to instead be as suspicious of her as you can. but also because so much of her character is putting on a front and refusing to allow anyone to see her fear because so much of her influence comes from being able to control the narrative around her. you are falling for her bit!
anyway i do think even though it's obviously a real highlight of da that the characters have like firm opinions and beliefs that won't bend just to please the player it's kind of a heinous crime against me specifically that vivienne's perspective isn't allowed to evolve At All through questlines & the way the inquisitor can materially impact the political landscape esp wrt mages. given her everything
