bravely . i think aveline and isabela should primarily be fighting over who gets to do violence and against whom. and what actually counts as violence . instead of what being good at woman is like
like. aveline becomes captain of the guard after having previously been a soldier married to a templar. her Life essentially is defined by sanctioned, culturally noble and respected violence against those perceived as Other, Deserving by the state she serves. child bride to pirate pipeline isabela (who is on the run because she took on her powerful boss to free slaves he would have profited from the sale of) has been the Other against whom it is Acceptable To Commit Violence (but who is not legally or morally permitted to retaliate) her whole life, and i think this has made her incredibly protective of her right to engage in violence of her own. to me this has always kind of been the heart of their conflict— ideas about who is respectable, who is Allowed, who gets to define what that even means. especially with the context that As captain of the guard, aveline quite actively reinforces her institution’s right to enact violence & the Taboo against the disenfranchised returning it; her guardsman sexually assaults an elven girl, and she not only protects him, but literally (accidentally.) starts a war over her right to prosecute the girl’s brothers for killing him in retaliation when She failed to deliver appropriate justice. ISABELA WAS SOLD AS A CHILD BRIDE. it’s such a gimme. that’s like the main thing that differentiates them and the main difference in their interests. literally how is this not the main thing they’re clashing about?
