Amaurotine relationships, any word?

[SpiralMask]

We know children and parents are a thing, and that the concept of love isn't alien to them, but with the ancients' society so deeply centered on homogenaeity and service to the star to the point that showing almost any manner of individuality is frowned upon after reaching adulthood, an activity like showing affection or appreciation for a specific person's good points (like a lot of conventional romance) would run a bit counter to that I think.

Do they date? Marry?
Emet-selch mentions taking part is stuff like that to play at mortal life during his ascian time, but he talks as if it were some base or disdainful activity (though it could also have been regarding doing so with the sundered peoples)

Are there any mentions in side convos or the lore books about stuff regarding relationships in amaurot?

[Anonymoose]

After doing every sidequest in Elpis, I'm convinced Amaurotines were almost exactly like the rest of the world with a more communal society and anything Emet-Selch said can be taken with a rock of salt because 12,000 years elevated his biases to radical Ancient supremacy in every regard, not just spiritual and magical aptitude. There is little, if any, difference between the priorities, behaviors, concerns, and grievances of the average occupant of Elpis and the occupant of any other zone (process-wise; content obviously varies, lol). Some of them are even caught up in the same petty dramas as the people of Gridania or Limsa or Sharlayan.

[RicaRuin]

I have yet to do many side quests, but am aether current quests in (5th zone)

in Elpis has two students of the Akademia gossip about the relationship between Loghrif and Mitron, the latter even tasking the students to bring him flowers to gift Loghrif. The students seemed rather excited about it, not acting like relationships or gifts like that are frowned upon.

[sidurgu-12]

I have yet to do many side quests, but am aether current quests in (5th zone)

in Elpis has two students of the Akademia gossip about the relationship between Loghrif and Mitron, the latter even tasking the students to bring him flowers to gift Loghrif. The students seemed rather excited about it, not acting like relationships or gifts like that are frowned upon.

thats adorable lol.

makes what happened in eden even sadder.

[Cleretic]

I have yet to do many side quests, but am aether current quests in (5th zone)

in Elpis has two students of the Akademia gossip about the relationship between Loghrif and Mitron, the latter even tasking the students to bring him flowers to gift Loghrif. The students seemed rather excited about it, not acting like relationships or gifts like that are frowned upon.

This is also ultimately expounded on details from the Eden storyline in Shadowbringers, which really confirms that... well, it's that Emet-Selch was the weirdo. It's not that the Ancients think relationships are gross, it's that he does.

...in fairness, if what we see in the Eden story is any indication of what he had to deal with on a regular basis, I can understand why he might've been averse to it.

[Iscah]

This is also ultimately expounded on details from the Eden storyline in Shadowbringers, which really confirms that... well, it's that Emet-Selch was the weirdo. It's not that the Ancients think relationships are gross, it's that he does.

I don't recall any sign that he dislikes relationships, other than his general grumpy attitude, but when he tells us about how wonderful the ancient world was he touches on having friends and loved ones.

His apparent disgust at it when he talks about living with mortals seems to be entirely about his disgust for mortals in general, and how (to his perception) all his attempts to connect with them are found wanting.

[AnaviAnael]

I don't recall any sign that he dislikes relationships, other than his general grumpy attitude, but when he tells us about how wonderful the ancient world was he touches on having friends and loved ones.

His apparent disgust at it when he talks about living with mortals seems to be entirely about his disgust for mortals in general, and how (to his perception) all his attempts to connect with them are found wanting.

I'm going to second this.

[Garnetiferous]

I've done a few more of the sidequests beyond just the aether current ones and yeah they date and marry just like the modern sundered people and it's not seen as weird. There's one quest where a guy created a flower for his beloved and asks you to ask the people in the town what they think of it. And there was also that guy during the MSQ who says his girlfriend/wife saw Hermes with a whole bunch of Meteions. The impression I get after doing sidequests in Elpis is that they're pretty much exactly like the sundered people just larger and with more power. Also, I'm not too sure Emet-Selch looks down on relationships, he says to the Scions in ShBs something like "Rest assured if your heart can be broken so can mine!" and in another scene, he says that they had friends and loves. And in EW and the short stories, we can see that he clearly loves his friends Azem and Hythlodaeus. In fact, his love for Azem explains much of his behavior in ShB. He just seems to be a bit of a grumpy loner in general.

[vormela]

From MSQ Witness to the Spectacle:
-----
I'm afraid I cannot tell you exactly when Meteion appeared. Only that she now spends much of her time at Chief Hermes's side.
Although... I do recall an interesting tale my dearest Galene shared with me...

...Ah. Galene is my partner, and a fellow researcher here in Elpis.

She was returning late one night when she caught sight of Chief Hermes sending Meteion heavensward. A host of them.

For several days, she would speak of that scene with wonder, describing it as one of the most beautiful spectacles she had ever witnessed.
-----
She was a partner AND fellow researcher.

Also, what is this nonsense about Emet-Selch not being loving. This is the only one who has canonically "sired children" and brags about it before he dies. I jest of course but you do have some weird preoccupations with how evil he is.

I read Utopia (the egalitarian nature of their society in Amaurot and their governmental structure seems to be roughly based on that) and they have a weird society where divorce is just fine, they don't really court people (if I remember right they present themselves naked in front of the other person so that they basically know what they're getting beforehand). They were also practical about women and childcare.

The adults explaining the "creation process" to the young Amaurotine I interpreted as him asking "how are babies made" because of their response but I forget what they said now. I don't know if anyone else got that impression. That might just be English team being funny. It could also be that Emet-Selch put the kid in there to show someone our size being curious and asking the right questions of their elders. Either way, I think it is cute. His representation of their conversations and style was pretty accurate otherwise according to the way the Elpis people act so starstruck by the 14.

Because this thread is more worldbuilding... I think at work where they were around these dangerous critters they got to take off their hoods and be more casual, even though the setting was supposed to be lab conditions, where things were more strict and controlled. If you have ever had or seen a workplace romance then you know what it is like to be torn between those two requirements. I think it is why a lot of them might have enjoyed their time in Elpis so much. This could be projection and probably is, but I have fond memories of lab work during my studies and people who stayed behind to work side by side, maybe on their own things, but there. A weird companionship.

[Fenral]

Some of Emet's comments require a bit of cultural context as well. "Having kids is the true meaning of life," is a very common message in anime, seinen manga, etc., and his speech on the unmeaning of mortal life is him pretty much taking a blowtorch to that cliche, among others.

What he was saying was not so much boasting as it was criticizing the notion that having done so would have given him some sort of transcendent sense of purpose in the world and perfect contentment with a mortal lifespan. It's not that the act can't have value, or didn't happen at all in the unsundered world, but that people in his time could decide the value of their life on their own terms without clinging to platitudes.