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besiegedhunter · 4 months

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Provence, Gaul and Mr Grape Speculation.

Aka despite the trickling of Gaulish Operators since Phantom and the Crimson Solitaire, she has not been confirmed as being Gaulish despite her name and as such, I want to talk about things relating to it.

And because I really want an excuse to talk about her. Without further ado though:

So first thing's first: Why theorize that Provence could be Gaulish?

The reason for that lies in her name because Provence is the name of a region in France, known for it's wine and lavender fields.

I'll keep my lips sealed about the wine for now, but in regards to the lavender fields it's what inspired her purple fur. She fits in nicely with Texas and Lappland who themselves are named after places outside of Italy, in their case because of the wolves they're based off.

And just for note: Provence was a Roman province, their first beyond the Alps but since they left in at the end of the fifth century, Provence has not been a part of Italy, instead being a part of France since 1468.

We'll get onto the wolf she's inspired by in a bit but first, while the above can be used to elaborate on her Siracusan roots, how does her inspiration compare to confirmed Gaulish operators?

For instance, these are the Gaulish Operators who were released before Phantom and the Crimson Solitaire (if I'm right):

Aciddrop

Astesia

Mousse

Phantom

Aciddrop and Astesia I am not aware of anything connecting them to Gaul before their module and Astgenne's files dropped respectively.

Mousse and Phantom on the other hand are quite obvious. Mousse is a French dessert and Phantom's whole character references the Phantom of the Opera, a French novel set in Paris. Provence is similar to them in regards to name and inspiration but there is something that separates them and it's the fact that they have voice lines furthering their connection.

From Mousse and Phantom respectively:

The Avenue des Champs-Élysées is a real avenue in Paris, whereas Gaspard de la Nuit is French, meaning "treasurer of the night" if I'm correct and is also a suite of piano pieces by a French composer.

Provence doesn't make any remarks about her home or anything in French or referencing anything from France, which isn't a huge deal. Aciddrop and Astesia had less (or more subtle) and were confirmed to be Gaulish so Provence's chances don't seem worse for it.

The Fall of Gaul.

This is an interesting part of this and one I can't see being too long.

But a thing of note is that the War of the Four Emperors occurring in 1053 and the Chernobog incident happens at the end of 1096. A lot of characters saw this unfold without being as old as Hellagur. Aciddrop and Astesia's families are mentioned and likely experienced it, whether as a child or an adult.

And on them, a lot of Gallians immigrated to Columbia whereas a lot of others remained where they were and watched as the territory ended up in the hands of Victoria, Leithania or Ursus. The latter two of those btw we do not see btw. We have only seen Gaulish characters from Victoria or Columbia, with only one exception being Clément Dubois from Hortus de Escapismo, as confirmed by the recent Twitter post/Terra Historicus, who is an Iberian that's descended from Gaul.

Which is to say that there's proof that Gallian refugees have gone as far as Iberia, although that's redundant because of the IS2 relic Wrath of Siracusans of all things. The "Super Siracusans" monthly squad expands upon it's lore as such:

So Provence's family immigrating from Gaul to Siracusa is more than plausible because the reverse has happened before and perhaps is emblematic of some sort of relationship the two countries has, this one conundrum aside.

But even if there isn't, Kal'tsit took Crownslayer to Siracusa, seemingly not because she had family there but because she is a Lupo/passes enough for one by Red. Provence's family may have fled to Siracusa simply for that reason.

Wine

Remember how I mentioned Provence was known for it's wine? Well here's that. See, Provence is known specifically for it's rosé wine.

I suggest reading into it yourself because it's genuinely really fascinating. But France is the leading country for rose wines, with Provence being the leading wine region for rose in the world. Around eighty percent of all wines made in Provence are rosé and I saw something that said it was the only wine region in the world who drink pink wine over red or white.

Which makes me think about Mr Grape, the wolf that appears in her E2 and who exists in canon:

And I mention all of this because I do think that wine is synonymous with Gaul because of the significance it holds within Phantom and the Crimson Solitaire. Both because of the Troupe Master, or being known as Tragodia, is so connected to it (such as having two wine relics associated with him) but because the description of Royal Liqueur:

And so with the region of Provence's relationship with on rosé wine, the significance placed on wine by Phantom and the Crimson Solitaire and Mr Grape being named such by Provence, I think her connection to Gaul is pushed even further.

The Beast of Gévaudan

Now, as for what sort of wolf Provence is based on, I believe that there's never been any proof towards it like there is for Texas, Lappland and Quartz. Any guess as to what it may be based on the appearance of her E2 is also very difficult because:

Yeah it's not an ordinary wolf but it's also not one that you could easily distinguish as something else however. It's just a large purple wolf with lighter fur here and there as well as body armour for some reason.

The trail ends there.

Or does it. Because if you take into account the inspiration Provence takes in France and begin your search there you'll quickly learn of a beast that stalked the ancient region of Gévaudan. Described as a wolf but not a wolf, it went on a killing spree and was quite the mythical creature while it existed.

I place quite a lot of stock into this idea of Provence's inspiration and Mr Grape's identity, not only because it's unique and really it looks unlikely they could be mundane but for some aspects of Mr Grape.

The Beast of Gévaudan was described as being larger than an ordinary wolf up to the size of a horse, with a broad chest, a snout like a greyhound, a white underbelly and what I find the most defining: a long thin tail, normally described with a tuft at it's end.

If you look at various depictions of the beast you'll notice a lot of these features between all of them so I think it's fine to use as a baseline.

So how does Mr Grape compare to that description?

Sizewise if you take these as ordinary wolves:

(Lunacub's are but with Emperor are Signore dei Lupi)

Then I think that he would count as larger than ordinary wolves. I also think that Mr Grape is larger than the wolves present in Projekt Red, Penance and Vigil's E2 art and compared to some, by a large margin.

He also has the white underbelly and as I stated to be the most defining: a long thin tail. One noticeably so when compared to Provence, almost purposefully contrasting. Cause you'd imagine, as a reflection of her that his tail would be just as big and fluffy but it's the opposite:

It's thin and long and only tapers out towards the end despite it's already bizarre thinness. Compare that to Provence's in the same image:

You can find more art from her artist Nian that depicts her and other character's tails and Mr Grape's tail is a stark difference.

Here is Provence's Vitafield skin:

And again Mr Grape's tail is depicted the same. I think it's purposeful.

Also as compared to his appearance in her E2, it appears like his snout is more elongated like the description as well as the white underbelly being more visible and how broad his chest is.

One last thing on his appearance is that a lot of stories of the Beast of Gévaudan is how resilient it is, taking musket shots and being stabbed but shrugging it off with being scared off at most. Maybe this is why he's wearing so much body armour, as to hint at how resilient it's inspiration is.

Now onto the last pieces because there's one notable story to come out of the Beast of Gévaudan's various attacks that I want to bring up and that's the story of the Maid of Gévaudan, or of Marie-Jeanne Vallet.

She was one of the several people attacked by the Beast of Gévaudan but at the time she was armed with a makeshift spear so when it attacked her, she was able to stab it in the chest, saving her own life as well as that of anyone with her. For the action she was called the Maid of Gévaudan.

Here's a statue of the event:

Now whether or not Provence would be based off of her or not I can't say. She resembles Mr Grape so much and as he's an extension of her and a reflection if you will, she's sort of the Beast of Gévaudan herself but it may be a combination like Projekt Red being Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf.

That said, in the voiceline mentioning Mr Grape she implies that they met under curious circumstances, likely unintentional so who knows what the story there is and whether it could mirror this one:

But to wrap this up, Provence is almost definitely Gaulish and maybe it's because most of her oprecs came out prior to Phantom and the Crimson Solitiare, she hasn't been confirmed as such yet. But here's hoping!

Because two skins, two oprecs, a dormitory theme heavily featuring her, a decently large presence in an event and another character being romantically interested in her isn't enough for me. I want more for her and who knows, maybe there's a treasure trove of upcoming reveals for her.

One can only hope.

#arknights #provence #woo!#finally talked about provence!#I am hoping for those reveals #an event would be nice #but not holding my breath on that #just #one more oprec to explain it all?#oh #read her oprecs btw #they're my personal favourites

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