It's talking about ocs hours!
This evening, I bring you The Malefact Architect and her obsession with games!
The Merriam-Webster English Dictionary defines Game, noun, as:
1. a physical or mental competition conducted according to rules with the participants in direct opposition to each other
2. any activity undertaken or regarded as a contest involving rivalry, strategy, or struggle
3. a procedure or strategy for gaining an end
All of these definitions apply. For Rhys, games have often been the only available way for her to demonstrate agency or control, to have a real and visible effect on the world. And, when your socialization in your most formative years consists mainly of living with and learning from other children, your main mode and model of socializing is gameplay! Years of growing up with the Fisher-Kings solidified games as the primary appropriate way to interact with other people: you play with friends, you play with those you'd like to get to know better, you play to settle arguments, you play against rivals and enemies. Rhys can't conceive a relationship to other humans that does not include some level of competition or play.
This informs every major decision Rhys makes. She climbs the social ladder by winning a chess match. The first name she makes for herself as Ada is as a chessmaster. Ada studies architecture because it's a puzzle with rules and shapes and numbers and accepted methods. Rhys exercises her freedom by becoming a master thief--planning ways to best others' defenses, to develop strategies and methods to win a very old game indeed.
Then, she gets a lead on a game to steal the cow-sized diamond--only to find a brand new competition. A puzzle. A rival that presents a novel challenge and seems to play just as extensively and well as she could wish. She dies. She engages a chess match with the Boatman. She returns to life thirsting for the chance to play and win a new round at the Orphanage. She isn't holding onto the Light Fingers Ambition out of obligation or heroism. She's having fun.
Triumph is the goal, but the satisfaction lasts such a short time when a game is over. Rhys always has always had to find a new board, new players. But what if there was a game that doesn't end, a partner who will never leave?
After all, what is a marriage but the Long Game until at the river you must part?
