Trying to emulate OTT ye olde purple prose is always fun XD I researched obsolete English-words-of-French-origin 'specially to make it more purple.
You know, seeing as I plotted this fic so long ago, I don't even remember why I decided to use Descartes (who was the reason for the whole foray into French philosophy). I probably came across the info that he had been at La Rochelle and liked the idea of him and Aramis philosophising together one drunken night?
is a natural continuation of his tiny 3M self
This is very true, and I think the expression "tiny 3M self" is very apt! He was very deeply involved in intrigues in 3M, but thanks to Dumas' very skilful misdirection Aramis is never the centre of attention. He stays in the background, smiling mildly and looking like butter wouldn't melt in his mouth. What happened before 3M and 20YA was that he got more confident (not to say: cocky) and no longer cares if everybody knows what he's up to. I think he focuses all his emotions - especially painful ones - into rage. He definitely feels rage very strongly and knows how to channel it (namely by stabbing someone).
I think wee 3M Aramis liked being in the shadows; i think it helped him feel Important and Smug and like he was the one who was really in control, while the rest of the world was just foolishly ignorant. And I think like we said, it’s feeling powerless that he loathes the most, so this was a good antidote for that. But by 20YA his scheming has led him to a place where he doesn’t feel powerless anymore, so he doesn’t need the trappings of secrecy and intrigue anymore, because he can straight up deal in power plays and intrigue and that brings him more power and makes him both more secure and more gleeful.
Also I love that you researched old words for this! :) I really love Dumas’ style and I think you’re pulling it off beautifully.
I did not know before this that Descartes was at La Rochelle, and now that I do, I like to think that at least a fraction of Descarte’s philosophy was influenced by Aramis, even if their “discussions” led Descartes to espouse the exact opposite of what Aramis would have said! Like maybe this quote:
'Whenever enyone has offended me, I try to raise my soul so high that the offense cannot reach it.'
was pointedly aimed at Aramis after Aramis got murderously angry at a slight insult one day and Descartes is just like whoa, dude, chill out
Oh yes, absolutely. And I do admire how Dumas wrote him and his involvement in the key intrigue in 3M, because even though we know that he is involved, we don't really realise to which extent. He smiles mildly and excuses himself with treatises that he has to write for his friend the curate (in Latin), while running errands for Marie all around Paris. By the time he's established himself in his den in the Jesuit cloister, he feels secure enough to flaunt his plotting for everyone to see.
I like the idea of Descartes being influenced by Aramis. He was big on the duality of body and mind (or mind and matter), and duality is what Aramis is all about.
was pointedly aimed at Aramis after Aramis got murderously angry at a slight insult one day and Descartes is just like whoa, dude, chill out
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