7.3's reveal about some of the sundered Ascians still being around is making me so anxious about my lore, it's lowkey hilarious.
Being part of a multi-WoL narrative with my brother and friend obviously meant two of us had to dodge our characters away from the Azem role. So I went with Altima for my character. Felt like a safe bet. Mask owned by Van Baelsar, meaning they got dispatched. Probably not permanently given the lack of Auracite, but I just figured that Altima and Deudalaphon's stories were supposed to just end there. Especially given EW was supposed to end the entire story arc of Hydaelyn and Zodiark and the Ascians, and DT at the start seemed insistent on getting away from previous lore as a sort of 'new start'.
But now with Calyx being in cahoots with the Ascians, and Electrope and the concept of Endless, I am so worried that there's a real possibility that Altima will just waltz on screen at some point and have my lovingly crafted backstory go up in flames...
I've seen several people on here and on other social media sites theorize about how art was seen in Ancient times, given Creation Magick was a thing. Based on Emet-Selch's love for theater and art, to the point where that even shone through in his role as Emperor Solus, I figured it couldn't be all too different from art on modern-day Etheirys. But now I see the very valid and interesting theories throw around about how the Seat of Altima might have been more about controlling and censoring art, about determining what was allowed to be called such and what wasn't.
And if that turns out to be the case, I'd hate it so much. I wouldn't wanna associate my character with such a stance. Hells, I lovingly butted heads with my Art History Prof in University several times over the distinguishing between Fine Arts and Layman/Amateur Art. Because the term of 'Amateur Art' alone sounds so discriminating. There is 'Amateur Art' out there that blows Fine Art out of the water in terms of skill and composition and all that. It's unfair to denounce one just because the person that made it hasn't spent years in art school. I say that as someone having both a Bachelor and Master in History with focus on Art History, and as someone who has written dozens of essays and papers on various pieces of art, layman things included. Only to repeatedly be met with upturned noses by professors, asking why I'd bother spending time on 'lesser' art.
My OC reflects my opinion on art. She's a rebel in terms of the system. Doesn't care how or why or by whom the piece of art was made. To her, it all has merit, because it captures human emotions and desire and effort and love. And she was willing to defend that against nay-Sayers. So if canonically Altima actually turns out to be a stuck-up elitist...
Oh heavens as happy as I am to get more Ascians, this is the one facet I dread so much and I just needed to get this off my chest lmao.