Eddis, Attolia, Sounis

Good question. I wondered, too, why his siblings didn't visit him in QoA when he was so sick and depressed. I know he wanted to be alone, but still...

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cabin-boy.livejournal.com

With all the enemies he was racking up in KoA, it probably would have been dangerous for any relatives to visit him. And like Estarria said, if he ran off to Eddis, he would look weak(...er)- but also, it would make the Attolians trust him even less. Most of them already assumed he was placed there just as a puppet of Eddis (so few believed they could really be in love), and regular visits would only be viewed as check-ins for an Eddisian spy posing as their king. He needed to pronounce his independence from Eddis- and new loyalites to Attolia- by cutting ties a little. One of the many sacrifices he made, I guess.

I wondered about his siblings not coming to visit him while he was injured in QoA, too, though. They talked about his cousins often enough. >.o

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cabin-boy.livejournal.com

I totally missed the last two sentences you wrote (I don't know how x.x)- but I'm still kinda thinking any visiting relatives could have been kidnapped and used against him, especially so early into his reign. >.>

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jade-sabre-301.livejournal.com

Based on everyone else's comments, I'm beginning to wonder if his siblings are still in the capital. I mean, it's entirely probable that Temeneus (the brother that broke Eddis's nose) is in the army, though that doesn't really explain where Stenides would be. I'd assume the oldest son (whoever that is) would be sticking around to inherit whatever the MoW has lying around, though that kind of goes back to the question of what, exactly, they do have to inherit. I wonder if his sisters didn't get married off and go live in the country--they are housewives, after all.

*muses*

Still, a really good question! ~~Triply important, as it deals directly with the question of Why Don't We Get to See Grown-Up Stenides?~~

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Hey, that comment about his sisters being 'mostly honest' housewives totally refers to Breia and the Disney Adventures story. In hindsight...but I've only just noticed that. wow.

~~yes, do you want him in your Zen garden too?~~

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jade-sabre-301.livejournal.com

...does it? *confused*

I would usually jump up and down, but I get the feeling Costis might protest. Even if he was wearing clothes. *sighs* *huggles Costis*

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In the Disney Adventures story, Gen steals his sister Breia's earrings (Note: Gen is ten, Breia 13) because she insulted their parents and Eddis. Breia is described as being a 'whey-faced little shrew'. Okay, this is partly speculation but they sort of fits with her being not totally honest.

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No, no, no. Breia is Cleon's sister, not Gen's. It says she insulted her cousin's (Gen's) family. Go reread, missy.

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GAH. apologies. This is what happens when I misplace my glasses. Darn. Pass the idiot icon, Checkers.

*idiot*

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*passes icon AGAIN*

From: (Anonymous)

I think Breia is Cleon's sister, and so one of the many cousins. Breia has insulted her uncle and his wife. And now Cleon will have to explain the whole thing to Breia and his father, who is probably another brother of the Minister of War and the ailing King.

-ELM-

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That makes WAY more sense. I blame revision shoving stuff out of my brain. ~~I don't care if this excuse is wearing thin. :P~~

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dawnbluewings.livejournal.com

I think (I may be wrong) that the "Never being able to go home" thing is more "Never being able to go back and live in the mountains" than "Never being able to visit". Again, I could be wrong, but that was my interpretation if it.

As to the family thing... Well, my brain spat out that "Maybe one of his brohters did come to see him and we just didn't realise it..." But then, I'm crazy, so....

That is all.

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emmaco.livejournal.com

I interpreted the never going home thing in the same way.

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philia-fan.livejournal.com

I've always been intrigued by Gen's statement that his sisters are "mostly honest" housewives. I'd really love to see them.

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Probably, considering Gen's comments in the Thief, and his own personality which might have been a bit of an inheritance (though made his own)...

His sibs might not have been much for court life either. Gen was a bit of a loiterer, because he doesn't have his own family until KoAttolia, and also...there's some nice stuff kicking around the palace, right? And his mostly honest sisters sound to have some neat skills but maybe to practice on a housewively level, only serving the shrew who's been badmouthing them at the bakery, or something.

All right, who's game for a little fan-fic involving little Gen-nieces with fingers like stretched gum? When you're done with it, I'll be waiting to read it...

And his watchmaker brother pretty explicitly backs my cause. Not much for the royalty thing, them.

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willow-41z.livejournal.com

All right, who's game for a little fan-fic involving little Gen-nieces with fingers like stretched gum?

*fends off plot bunnies with a spatula*

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I know, I know...

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*feeds them carrots*

mwhahahahaha

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Wouldn't it explain why his father was so mad Gen wasn't a soldier, if he was the youngest, the only one with the talent, and still not joining his forces? His sons not following in his footsteps when all his nephews were. Ouch.

What I meant by the inheriting mention, by the way, is that we have a mother in the equation who's a bit of a loose cannon. Being in the Thief line surely didn't affect only Gen! So, while he's the obvious outsider, his siblings might just be more subtle uncourtly figures.

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QoA does say that the cousins idolized the Minister of War...

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I would
And I bet the next generation, Gen will have quite a following himself. I mean, his cousins are coming round, but there's something about the older guys, you know...

Hey, I'd be Mr. Gen'sDaddy's second wife, no question. {Do I see new icons in my future? Heh. Toss up between Magus&Minister o'War}

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I am partial to the MoW myself and have said he got a bit of a bad rap in QoA. The poor guy never even acquired a name, although we really only see him from Gen's point of view (then a little from Irene's). He seems, at first, cold though it's obvious to me that he loves his son.

Tell us why you like him, and would be Mrs. MoW. Isn't he a bit stogy and emotionless? Or is that smexy?

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tiloo.livejournal.com

I think that Gen could only make a visit to Eddis if it was on a matter of state. Also he said in KoA that He could get Eddis to hide Costis but he would be embaressed, it would be considerably more embaressing if he came just because he was home sick.

"Well, this early on in his reign, Gen probably would have seemed even more weak and unkingly to the Attolians than he already did if he'd run home to visit his family. Also, since he was doing covert domestic work, he may have needed to be in Attolia 24/7 to keep an eye on the family Erondites. At least, that seems plausible to me..." yup I agree I said sorta the same thing :P

From: (Anonymous)

In Thief Gen seems to refer to all of his sisters as mostly honest housewives, so it seems they would all be married and occupied with their lives.

And Gen seems to have alienated alot of people, which might be why the siblings don't visit when he is recovering, but it does seem like an omission when the cousins are mentioned so much.

In QoA, when discussing how Eugenidies has been incapacited, someone says that the title is hereditary, but it could perhaps pass to one of his sister's son (so maybe the stories have to be about a sticky-fingered boy).

Somehow I definately though Temeneus (sp?) was the eldest brother and had gone into the military, but maybe I assumed. And although QoA is pretty clear that nobody but Eddis and his father visit Gen while he is recovering, there is an indication that he has been in pretty close contact with Stenides by the time they set off with the wooden cannons. Xenophon sees Eugenidies keeping time on a pocket watch and asks if it is one of his brother's. Gen replies that his brother had made it for him, and I assumed that meant Stenides had made it to keep careful track of time as they marched down the river bed.

And, for a pie-in-the-sky idea, how about having a young niece come to the Attolian court to be an attendant to the future heir(s)? She could come in an official role so the kids would have an Eddisian influence, they would need to know about Eddis if the countries were closely allied or joined. And if she should happen to have inherited a bit of the family's wild side, she could show them a few other things....

-ELM-

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ex-drashizu726.livejournal.com

I believe in QoA Attolia remarked that the title of Thief could go to one of his sister's "children", so I don't think it necessarily has to be a male child. Certainly I received the impression that Gen's mother would have been the Thief if she hadn't died before her father did.

I really like the idea that Gen's relatives might have inherited the same... "unconventional"... streak that he has. I always wondered about his sisters, the "mostly honest" ones, in Thief but stopped thinking about them while reading the second and third books. I guess I sort of took it for granted that the siblings didn't fit Megan's agenda and so wouldn't be making any appearances unless/until she had a use for them, just as the minister of war played no part in KoA only because the author had no reason for him to do so.

When I read the passage with Xenophon about the watch having been made for Gen by Stenides, I interpreted it as being a gift from him, perhaps one that held a great deal of sentimental value for Gen, not necessarily something that was made for the purpose of traveling down the watercourse but which Eugenides might have owned for years. (It might even have been a birthday present some years back... We still don't know when Gen's birthday is.)

It's nice to think that, however much Gen might love/hate his cousins or other relatives (the love/hate passage after the dinner scene was one of my favorites in KoA), he could still have a caring, loving relationship with the members of his family, especially and including his siblings. From the way Gen talks about him, it certainly seems as if he and Stenides were close... and in the Thief! short story, it was Stenides, was it not, who saved Gen from the cousins?

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peggy-2.livejournal.com

Being cut off from relatives may be Gen's choice. He does not like witnesses to any weakness on his part. I think if he was feeling miserable and depressed, and later miserable and injured, he would not any family members around to witness his condition.

I thought the "not returning to Eddis" was along the lines of "you can never go home again", as in permanently. He will not return as anything other than a visitor (visiting Monarch, in fact).

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philia-fan.livejournal.com

So true. Remember in Thief when Sophos asked him where he;d be if he could be anywhere? And he described the library. He can't go back and live in that library any more.

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awwwwww....I bet Sophos will remember this when he comes to Eddis. Eddis will say: "so, where do you want to live now we're married?" and he'll remember the view of the mountains and awwww....*fends off plot bunnies with zucchini and duct tape*

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netslefj.livejournal.com

This line of conversation is getting so wishful! We forget that Gen's world, being fictional, is not as complete as our own, though MWT does make it seamless! I would like to have met his brothers and sisters during QoA, but the mood was the important theme during his convalescence, not the every-day.

As to KoA, it's real easy to forget how short a time it takes place in - 90 days, I believe, to destroy the Erondites family? just married, then convalescing in the midst of self-inflicted intrigue... probably not visiting time yet.

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