character notes;

Nov 24, 2009 00:30

[She has more CR than this--these are just the characters whose connection to her is fairly ingrained.]


CHARACTER NOTES;

» ACHILLES & PATROCLUS: There's Greek and then there's Greek, and while Achilles and Patroclus actually fall under both the positive and the negative categories due to the murder of her family and the destruction of her city at the beginning of the war, they were all she had when her mindset eventually shifted from complete devastation to something resembling an attempt at recovery. It's fairly easy to assume that her attachment to Achilles stems from a rather large helping of Stockholm Syndrome, but since neither men were ever actually cruel to her (murder of family aside), that particular maladjustment required for survival was never necessary. She may not have even spoken their language initially, but Achilles was kind to her when she needed it the most and given her perpetual need for safety and security, he may as well have been magnetised and she did grow to love him--throw in Patroclus and they became her surrogate family. Being a war prize, Briseis still views herself as such, regardless of the ring that happens to be on her finger. Once upon a time she was a queen, but not any more, and even as Achilles' wife, she is still very much below him in status. All of this adds to her current situation a rather definite feeling of belonging--she might as well come with an 'if found, please return to...' label. Knowing her place/where she stands is extremely important to Briseis, but that is difficult to ascertain around Achilles, since he seems to never stop moving. Patroclus, however, is by far the most stable of the three, and provides an odd sort of equilibrium when Briseis and Achilles have thrown themselves (or even each other) out of kilter. Her own changes in mood don't help much: she occasionally tires of being (what she perceives as) someone's property and will lash out/clam up/react in a manner that would otherwise seem uncharacteristic. Add to that what she believes are her attempts at defending/protecting Achilles and/or Patroclus (and anyone else she cares about) from the actions or intentions of Agamemnon... And she cannot protect and be protected at the same time. Or vice versa. Any exchanges she may have had with people Achilles or Patroclus disapprove of, or any actions she takes that she knows they would never condone leave Briseis feeling immensely guilty for what she sees as an act of betrayal against someone she owes a huge amount to. So her efforts to keep them from Agamemnon's sights trigger a massive guilt complex, as well as anxieties involving the possibility that she might fail. They are, in effect, and with the pun unintended, Briseis' Achilles' heel.

» AGAMEMNON: To begin with, he's a man--given that she still operates around the gender roles of antiquity as much as one can in this setting, it is understandable that she still views herself as below Agamemnon in every aspect. True, at some point both of them were royalty, but she also managed to make it to slave status as her country was ravaged by his soldiers, which places her even further below him regarding social status. As long as he is around, she will always know her 'place' in the complex. As belittling and possibly cruel as that is (though through little fault of either party), it is something she needs to function. Briseis craves stability and Agamemnon's stubborn refusal to really change--at least in his behaviour towards her and others in her position--provides that, while Achilles seems more inclined to go with the newly modernised flow. He was at the top of the Graecian hierarchy that caused the fall of Troy. To quote her application--"he's the man who had her taken from the 'safety' of Achilles' tent and left her to flounder in his own. With Agamemnon comes a fairly established feeling of helplessness - the polar opposite of Achilles". Oh, and he terrifies her. The moment he makes any noticeable move to communicate with her, Briseis cowers and effectively becomes just another marionette. She can't help it, it's a knee-jerk reaction, a method of survival--and though she can be pushed too far, the end result isn't really anything more than fairly commonplace insolence/defiance. Hardly fighting back against the system. At the same time, she is willing to approach him on her own terms (those terms generally being from behind the safety of her monitor), though it still causes a reasonable level of anxiety. It is not something she would ever admit (or even possible realise on a conscious level), but part of Briseis almost actively seeks Agamemnon's approval--as if gaining it would somehow make him less frightening or make him less inclined to torment her.

!ooc

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