MSQ - what's next? [spoilers]

[Daralii]

Yeah, I noticed the discrepancies too; her story doesn't match up with the Echo vision on several points. Her caretaker is her aunt, who claims her mother is dead. We don't see a brother, just the cousin, who looks to be about Yotsuyu's age. I suppose it's possible she has a brother that we don't see. However, given that her aunt seems to make a distinction between her actual son, whom she clearly dotes on, and her adopted niece, it seems odd that he'd be in a position to arrange a marriage for her. Then there's the exchange between her aunt and the Imperial soldier. She tells him "Though…a thought occurs to me. Mayhap we can come to an understanding…" And the soldier--who seems to be ethnically Doman--looks thoughtful. Whoever he was, his words prior to the Echo thing suggest that he knew her pretty well.

I'm not sure that we should take her account of her childhood at face value. The fact that her caretaker was abusive--most likely because she didn't consider Yotsuyu her "real" daugter--and the fact that she worked in a brothel, which is confirmed by Gotsetsu, appear to be true. Everything else she said may have been true...or it may have been a sob story that she's practiced, used her to distract the party. Which it did.

I suspect that she was sold--not into marriage, but to the soldier. It's common in places under military occupation, especially places where an orphan girl is considered pretty much useless. It still makes sense that she would develop a hatred for Domans, but it's maybe not quite as straighforward as she wants us to believe.

I think we might have been intended to take her aunt's "offer" as her selling Yotsuyu as someone's wife, in exchange for her cousin's schooling. The soldier would probably have been an intermediary or retainer of some lord, and would have been in a position to see her abuse firsthand.

Her husband's death and later her status as a prostitute at the very least are most likely true, since Gosetsu references them when he's trying to egg her on during the torture scene.

[Rosenoire]

I think we might have been intended to take her aunt's "offer" as her selling Yotsuyu as someone's wife, in exchange for her cousin's schooling. The soldier would probably have been an intermediary or retainer of some lord, and would have been in a position to see her abuse firsthand.

Her husband's death and later her status as a prostitute at the very least are most likely true, since Gosetsu references them when he's trying to egg her on during the torture scene.

I'd missed Gosetsu referring to her husband by name, so yes, I'll add that to the "probably true" column.

The soldier was wearing Imperial-style armor, and suggesting her cousin might get to study in Garlemald, which wouldn't have happened were Doma not a Garlean province at that point. Also, for that scene to have taken place prior to the occupation, Yotsuyu would have to be much older than she appears--remember that the occupation was 25 years before Stormblood. Plus, he made the offer before he saw Yotsuyu.

For me, the discrepancies make her a lot more interesting. I like the idea that she told exactly the story that she knew would get her audience--people who like to think of themselves as honorable--to listen, instead of doing the smart thing and saying, "That's nice; now I'm going to kill you."

[Daralii]

I'd missed Gosetsu referring to her husband by name, so yes, I'll add that to the "probably true" column.

The soldier was wearing Imperial-style armor, and suggesting her cousin might get to study in Garlemald, which wouldn't have happened were Doma not a Garlean province at that point. Also, for that scene to have taken place prior to the occupation, Yotsuyu would have to be much older than she appears--remember that the occupation was 25 years before Stormblood. Plus, he made the offer before he saw Yotsuyu.

For me, the discrepancies make her a lot more interesting. I like the idea that she told exactly the story that she knew would get her audience--people who like to think of themselves as honorable--to listen, instead of doing the smart thing and saying, "That's nice; now I'm going to kill you."

I know that Doma was occupied, but I'm assuming that whatever system of provincial governors or nobility was maintained for a time to enforce the Empire's will across the nation while they worked to consolidate power under the Viceroy.