(no subject)

[sythyry]

The Daukhrame Diplomatic Corps [23 Chirreb 4261]

Two very serious-looking Cani were waiting for me in the parlor when I got home: Jherrel and Crander, or something like that. I can't remember any of the rest of their names. Anoof was waiting with them, his tail between his legs.

They talked very quietly. They said they were Ilottat's friends, and as loyal to him as only Cani can be. They made several points. Sharp pointy points. It hurt a lot.

1. Daukhrame is the loyal ally and concedes affan in various matters to Vheshrame. This isn't about the relationship between the two cities, not a bit. (Which is an exceedingly scary way to start a conversation. I recommend it if you are ever trying to terrify forigners. Not that they were trying to scare me particularly.)
2. Still, Ilottat is, in some sense, a representative and to-be (or "hopefully to-be") ambassador of Daukrhame. I am, in some sense, a representative and even an ambassador of the Duke of Vheshrame.
3. And Ilottat and I are in a ... physical ... and emotional? (I nodded. I think it's true.) relationship.
4. Which may, understandably, make the lords of Daukrhame uncomfortable with their utter assurance in Ilottat's ... not his loyalty, which they are not questioning (and in any event there is no, absolutely no, conflict between Daukrhame and Vheshrame). But his singleness of purpose, his desire to promote the wishes and needs of Daukrhame (which in any case do not conflict with those of Vheshrame, but, perhaps, may be given an ever-so-slightly different emphasis).
5. And, under the circumstances, Ilottat's choice of perversion (Yes, they quite directly said that particular word, to me, about my love and about me, without twitching an ear) could be interpreted to indicate that he may, in the future, be swayed by other Zi Ri -- and, potentially, other Zi Ri who are not in the service of Daukrhame's good ally and elder brother Vheshrame.
6. Which is to say, if Ilottat continues being so obviously a transaffectionate Zi Ri fancier, his career as a diplomat and spy will be over before it is properly started.
7. So if I actually love him, I will do best by him to break up with him in so painful a way that he will never want to see a Zi Ri ever again.

And then they left. Anoof stayed, and held me while I writhed around as if my spine had been severed just below the neck.

(And he told me various other things, of course. Ilottat has been warned, several times, by various diplomatic folks including Jherrel and Crander. That is why he has been so fussy about being seen with me in my real form, or part of it ... not that it helps, as any Cani in the building can tell at a sniff what he and I have been doing. Not that concerned senior Daukrhame diplomats wouldn't think to check about such matters, considering Ilottat's history.)

Anoof didn't recommend any course of action to me. He was pretty distraught himself ... he blames himself for it. Not that he expected me to be appointed ambassador to a nendrai when he started being go-between.

I don't have any good ideas of what to do either.

And it hurts that he was right about needing to hide, too.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

It... it certainly explains a lot.

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

[Bard notes that this is not one of those romances in which everyone behaves irrationally for the sake of the plot. It hopes, at least. -bb]

[pyat.livejournal.com]

So noted. :)

(THat was me in the anonymous post, BTW)

[heavenscalyx.livejournal.com]

Well, it would have been nice if Illotat had been sufficiently mature to explain more of his fussiness and avoidance to you, rather than being inexplicable and hurtful.

And his "friends" require a nendrai to relocate some of their bones to other branches.

[terrycloth.livejournal.com]

It seems to me than an orren who can be swayed from his duties only by Zi Ri is somewhat less of a risk than the ordinary sort of orren who can be swayed from his duties by the ordinary sort of orren that you find in great number in every city in which he might be stationed. Most places won't have (m)any zi ri, and wouldn't most of them consider seducing an ambassador beneath their dignity?

Of course, their argument doesn't have to make sense, if they're repeating the beliefs of the people who have the power to make decisions regarding Ilottat.

I don't believe their motivations

[redbird]

The problem is, this doesn't make sense. Even if you broke up with Ilottat, he'd still be traff. A broken heart might make him not want to see you again--it probably wouldn't make him hate or avoid Zi Ri. As likely, it would make him hate or resent Vhesrhame, which would be at least as great a handicap for a diplomat of an allied city.

And while he might find a compatible Zi Ri--or one who doesn't love him but who he could pine over--at home if you and he broke up, he could equally likely get involved with someone who is from neither Vheshrame nor Daurkhame, but from a city whose interests conflict with Daurkhame, rather than one to which it concedes affan. Given Zi Ri longevity, if they have a diplomat in training who is drawn to Zi Ri, they're probably best off that he be involved with you.

Yes, cani are loyal--but do you have any evidence that these cani are loyal to Ilottat? It seems to me that a friend who is actually loyal to Ilottat might have used some of those arguments to urge you to pretend to break up with Ilottat, as publicly as possible, and hide the relationship.

Has Ilottat rivals for position/jobs, who might be trying to hurt him? A would-be diplomat who spends the next year moping in his rooms, or flees the city without saying a word to anyone, would not be doing his career any good.

[perlandria.livejournal.com]

Okay, either everyone knew anyway OR this is something that can be hidden. It can't be both. Since you can't fool a Cani's nose, he wasn't right about needing to hide. He is lying to himself, probably in a misguided attempt to be diplomatic. It is not your duty, to city or love, to break up with him. Like he can't be betrayed by a love to any other Prime? HA! At least with a Zi Ri fetish they have fewer potential problems to track because there aren't many of you and how many are Orren Fanciers? He is actually a lower risk because of his tastes.
Now to get them to get thier noses out of the stink and sniff that truth.

Re: I don't believe their motivations

[collie13.livejournal.com]

Oh, good -- I'm so glad I'm not the only one who was confused by the "logic" displayed by the "loyal" Cani. Regarding publicly breaking up but remaining privately close, that seems about right for what I've read of the morality of nobility in our world, too. It's not that everyone is terribly moral or immoral -- it's that one must scrupulously observe social norms in public, and keep one's personal preferences private.

[nixve.livejournal.com]

Well, it would have been nice if Illotat had been sufficiently mature to explain more of his fussiness and avoidance to you, rather than being inexplicable and hurtful.

Hear, hear. I always believe that relationships would be a lot better for the people involved if both people talked more about the things that affect the relationship.

[draconis.livejournal.com]

Hmf. Surely, given it's Ilottat we're talking about here, it'd be better for the interests of those with such vested if you two did stay together. At least then there's less chance of Ilottat running off with a less favourable (in their estimation) Zi Ri. Not to say that I'm aware of any unfavourable Zi Ri!

Re: I don't believe their motivations

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

I don't imagine that the Cani would lie about being loyal to him, not with Anoof in the room and all. But Cani are very good at balancing multiple conflicting loyalties. Ilottat would hardly be their most important one.

[nixve.livejournal.com]

Not to sound flippant but what are the chances of Vheshrame and Daukrhame getting into a situation in which they disagree? Especially since Vheshrame seems to have the greater power to influence their agreement, especially a couple powerful Zi-Ri and one Zi-Ri related to those who is an ambassador to a powerful nendrai. Maybe Daukrhame should be more concerned with cultivating good diplomatic relations with you! (and then Ilottat would be the perfect choice) :)

[melskunk.livejournal.com]

Hmm. Well, no doubt they THINK they're doing the right thing, but I rather doubt it.
Either way, I'm sorry to hear you got put so upon, little cave lizard.

[yotogi.livejournal.com]

So, unless I have misread this, it's your fault that Ilottat is transaffectionate, and it requires a pair of Cani to come up and tag-team a single (and by all accounts rather extremely less terrifying than, say, Glikkonnen or Hezimikkinen) Zi Ri into accepting the blame for that, and also into somehow taking it upon oneself to rectify the situation.

Uh... huh. I think I'd best stop here before I say something disparaging about Cani or about Daukhrame.

[mmsword.livejournal.com]

I now know why most sensible Zi Ri tend to live solitary lives being completely terrifying and mysterious rather then going to school. It cuts down on callers of the sort you had. WEll, I suppose it was because most were born before real schools were started, and they were just figuring out how to box spells, but it is a theory.

[gavinfox.livejournal.com]

I call foul on these Cani... their reasons for their suggestions, their actual suggestions, their professed primary loyalties and what their actions show their loalties to lie don't seem to correlate very well...

It sounds like their primary loyalty is to whatever political group that would gain the most from you two breaking up, with Illotat being a loyalty that is much lower down their list.

First of all, there is NOTHING you can do to change Illotat's preferences. Nothing. They are a part of who he is, and only he or maybe a strong mentador spell could change it.

Second, if they were really truly and primarily loyal to him, their methods of intimidating and brute-forcing you into this are a disgrace to that loyalty-- a more effective path would be to promote the channeling of his affections to someone safe and relatively harmless, which you are probably both. Like many others have said, the relative LACK of zi ri around means that there are relatively few people who can distract him from his duties.

Third, it seems like it is impossible to truly hide the fact that you are together (cani's noses, etc.). Everyone apparently knows that he is a Zi Ri fancier already, and there is no way to change that or hide this. So, given this, what is the best thing to happen as far as his diplomatic goals are? He needs to show that his choice of bedfellows will not affect his diplomatic ability. He also needs to prove that not just any zi ri can seduce him -- he needs to prove that he can maintain a committed, exclusive relationship and that enemies cant use his preference against him. Basically, it sounds like he needs to just do his job as a diplomat, and do it well. Unless, of course, his nation expects him to be a diplomat and also a cold, soulless, heartless bastard. Is that a prerequisite for being a diplomat? I thought that was a prerequisite for being an evil criminal mastermind...

[cattitude.livejournal.com]

It sounds like someone's trying to cause a diplomatic incident amongst Vheshrame, Daukrhame, and possibly Vae. I wonder whose interests Jherrel and Crander were representing.

Would that nifty little magic recorder your family gave you show if they those Cani were under the influence of Mentador from some fourth party that stood to benefit from such discord?

[niss-the-ai.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately, probably not. It'd be like poor Sythyry saying, "Won't that 'Google' enchantment of yours tell you which cave that bad guy you're hunting has hidden in?" This calls less for magic than for Ilottat showing off that diplomatic skill of his.

[terrycloth.livejournal.com]

He also needs to prove that not just any zi ri can seduce him

But is that *true*? I suppose it would be useful to prove it either way. }:)

Cheers for Sythyry

[gavinfox.livejournal.com]

Good luck, everyone's favorite zi-ri!

*waves a flag that says "Go Sythyry!" and wears a shirt that says, "The best lizards are small blue cave lizards!"*

*goes off to start a Sythyry fan club*

[vernononfm.livejournal.com]

I agree. It was very unkind of him to keep this secret. Had he told you, maybe you could have worked something out before you had cani shoving the matter into your face uncaringly, as presumably Illotat would have done it differently.

[brennabat.livejournal.com]

It seems to me these men are concerned with a sort of sexual supply and demand. Ilottat requires a rare resource. A hostile Zi Ri might be able to manipulate Ilottat via seduction much more easily because the Zi Ri's offer is correspondingly more, for lack of a better term, valuable. On the other hand, if Ilottat were attracted to the much more common Orren, agents may have a more difficult time with seduction. His standing ought to allow him to, ah, boink an Orren quite easily. Access to Zi Ri appears to be much more difficult for him. And, clearly, he is risking much just to be with someone who wants him just as badly.

Hm, I also can't help but wonder if these men are of the line of thinking that Ilottat can be shocked out of transaffection. In a similar fashion, there are some people on my world that feel homosexuality can be "cured" in a similar fashion.

I would be curious to know if people, and Primes in this case, with hard to satisfy sexual orientations are, on average, more likely to display poor judgment in the pursuit of their attractions.

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

I think I understand the first part, and I think you are right. Ilottat was willing to go to extravagant lengths (a private room at Darranden's! *swoon*) for me. There aren't many of us.

You're right on the second point: they said as much themselves.

I don't know about poor judgement... obscure sexual orientations are prima facia evidence of poor judgement already, are they not?

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

Well ... an Orren who seeks Orren doesn't generally have to go to extreme measures to get one. An Orren who seeks Zi Ri might ... and Ilottat's approach to me was pretty extreme. Effective, too.

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

I don't know exactly how good Cani noses are, nor where they were. Well, yes, they're on the ends of the Cani snouts. But were they sniffing the bedclothes? That would reveal everything. Or sniffing the door from the outside? Not so obvious. Do they know every occasion? Or just the couple we were careless? Not so obvious.

Yes, he's lying to himself.

No, I don't know what my duty is here.

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

Oh, I imagine there'll be some serious disagreement every dozen years.

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

Feel free to say something disparaging about Cani or about Daukrhame!

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

None of the other ones nearby have shown any interest in trying.

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

It's not that good, but *checks* nothing it could see.

[brennabat.livejournal.com]

It seems to me Ilottat must make a hard decision and soon: does he put his desire first or his career. I do wonder, what with your connection to him and others, if you couldn't use your clout to supply Ilottat with career possibilities. It would send a good message to those who are in the know: you take extra care of your lovers.

Changing sexual orientation may be possible on your world. On mine, it appears to be very difficult and fraught with trauma. Vae might be able to do it: she exhibits powerful mind magic. I think, though, that Illotat would run screaming from the idea. I wouldn't blame him.

Perhaps an obscure sexual orientation does represent poor judgment. I think, this depends on the origin of the sexual orientation. If it is decided by a external factors (deity, magic, brain washing, ect), then the outside factor made the decision for you -- your judgment only factors in later, when you pursue or deny the orientation. If orientation comes from a personal choice then it might indeed indicate poor judgment, or at least eccentricity. I, however, have never met anyone who claimed to have personally chosen their sexual orientation.

If you take a Prime class on sexual supply and demand, be sure to not mention a monster taught you. Considering your connections it may raise a few eyebrows.

[brennabat.livejournal.com]

Hrrm, it seems to me that I should not write comments at such an early hour. I end up repeating my first line, as if I were a robot. Clearly, I am not a robot. I am a nendrai. Wait, error!

Error! Unacceptable parameter! Comedy not found! Brenna.bat interaction program terminated: code WTH0M6.