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Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire Companions and Sidekicks

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[SMALL FRAME]

Due to your small size, you have +1 Agility but your limbs are more easily crippled (25% extra limb damage).

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Behind the Bathroom Mirror by tooth bradley (me), 2025, Blender 3D

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Thinking about gender roles or lack thereof in Rauatai again (with a side of thinking about gender roles or lack thereof in the Deadfire). Rambling and headcanons behind the readmore:

It only comes up a handful of times in Deadfire, but I’m so fascinated by the idea of Rauatai as a matriarchal-leaning society where “hard” power (military might, sailing ships, guns) is gendered feminine. The Biha quest in the Gullet hints at this - if you’re playing a female character, she thinks Sedūzo will take you more seriously. She also points out that pretty much all the highest-ranking Rauataian military officials are women, which seems to be borne out by the game. (Karū, Sedūzo, and the hazanui from Tekēhu’s story are the only people of that rank we see or hear mentioned, and they’re all women.) Atsura also has an incredible turn of phrase where he refers to something as “like a child picking up her mother’s pistol” [might be paraphrasing a bit].

So if “hard” military power is seen as feminine in Rauatai, does that mean “soft” political power is seen as masculine? Maybe! There’s the divide between Karū and Atsura as the most obvious example; she’s the head of the operation who gets to be very blunt and straightforward about her intentions, while Atsura is the power behind the throne influencing events much more subtly. The ranga nui himself is a man, though I don’t think the gender of a ruler holds much weight without knowing the genders of previous rulers. It’s 100% headcanon, but I’m imagining that high-ranking politicians skew male the same way high-ranking military officers skew female.

It’s worth noting that I don’t think Rauatai has strong gender roles; absolutely nothing about their society or the characters we meet suggests that. There are plenty of men in military careers (including among the higher-ups) and they don’t seem too concerned with gender as a whole. If this divide exists, it’s more like mild background radiation that influences the way people view themselves and each other. I do feel like it adds something to both Maia and Kana’s characters if this is yet another pressure they had to deal with growing up. Some of Maia’s bluntness and in-your-face approach to life is just personality, but another part is her trying to be a Proper Rauataian Lady! Kana has to be skilled at playing politics whether he likes it or not! He talks about his mother pushing his sisters hard to succeed aaaand all three of them ended up in a military/sailing career. There’s a lot going on there!

This led me to thinking about gender in Huana culture(s), because I’m also endlessly fascinated by the similarities and differences between them and Rauatai. Gender doesn’t seem to matter to the Huana at all, not even in a very minor sense; caste is the main determiner of your role in the community. Tekēhu refers to Ukaizo as the “land of [his] mothers”, which is a friendly little reminder that There Is No Patriarchy Here (no legal marriage, no nuclear family, no tracing the bloodlines of children or differentiating between “biological” vs “adopted” kids in a household, children aren’t seen as “belonging” to their parents…) but aside from that, very little is gendered. We do see more women in leadership than men (Ruānu is the only male ranga I can think of, and he’s quite easily displaced by Nairi), but the sample size is small enough that that’s probably a coincidence. I feel like this is what enables Ahimi to shrug off Durance’s misogyny - it does bother me that the Watcher can’t answer back, but in her case, I don’t think she even sees it as worth acknowledging. She’s never had to deal with any kind of shame around or restrictions based on gender/sexuality, so he’s just saying words. (This is a point of friction between her and Pallegina, whose experience of godlike-ness is inextricable from painful gender expectations.)

…this headcanon also makes a minor in-game sequence infinitely funnier to me. There’s a moment where Onekaza and the Watcher can get into this little political back-and-forth which Karū clearly has no patience for; she’ll eyeroll at them and be all “If we’re done comparing cocks…” I like to think Rauataians use this phrase when people are diplomatically faffing around, being overly subtle, or arguing verbally without accomplishing anything. Stop using your words and punch her in the nose like a WOMAN!

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Us?

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epic and awesome rymrgand fanart

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Suspicious Man

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Hello awesome ppl. I like outlast trials. Lotz.

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everyone deserves love

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chris's grandma thinks aliens are real

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Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire // Avowed

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GooseBarbi HCs (nsfw and toxic obvi, it's Outlast) below the cut... I don't ship them in a "they love & cherish each other" sorta way but in a "they're using one another for their own selfish satisfaction until oh no oh shoot they accidentally formed a fucked up sort of bond what the fuck" sorta way 🥴

Usually I wouldn't post questionable low-effort shit on main but these two won't leave me the fuck alone & this ship is basically nonexistent soooo ✌️😔

Mother Gooseberry

The Futterman part of her personality acts partially as her self-preservation instinct, and as such is very wary of everything Franco does

She often flips between coy schoolgirl, strict disciplinarian and gentle maternal figure seemingly at random, but her unpredictable behavior is calculated

Pretends to be more naïve/clueless than she really is

Both the Futterman and Gooseberry personalities want to hurt Franco, though for somewhat different reasons. To Gooseberry it's a "game" or a "punishment", and to Futterman it's just out of contempt and sadism

Mother Gooseberry seems to have an inconsistent sense of sexuality-- sometimes she acts scandalized at the mere suggestion of sexuality, and sometimes she's the one making lewd remarks. Depends on her mood & what's convenient.

Service top tendencies. Franco has eagerly requested for her to sit on his face, but she doesn't allow it

Master manipulator (whether she realizes it or not)

Thinks Franco's nasty dirty little suit is very cute/handsome

Franco Barbi

Thinks he's a real romantic, or at least aspires to be. He's just really socially inept & has no self control

Actually intimidated by Gooseberry; didn't take her seriously at first but after a few life-or-death close calls he knows to begrudgingly respect her limits

...or at least he's learned how far he can go to activate her "sexy punishment" mode vs. her "actually gonna skin you alive" mode

Probably still trusts/underestimates her a liiiittle too much

Gets frustrated by how little she respects him, but also finds it really hot

Genuinely smitten. Thinks they have something special, that she "gets" him

Likes to hunt reagents alongside her... it's like the closest they get to a date. The sheer violence gets him excited, but also when she brutalizes reagents part of him is like "god I wish that were me"

After a point Franco just starts addressing Doctor Futterman as his own separate entity. Possibly started just to play along/humor her but eventually drawn into her madness

That freaky shit

Some MDLB shit DUHHH (& you know they're not even aware of proper kink etiquette)

choking spanking general manhandlinggggg

Gooseberry flips between going absolutely travis the chimp on Franco and gently kissing and tickling and cuddling and who's a good little baby sorta shit

She is selectively disapproving of his perversions, will not tolerate him pawing at her, but is like... clearly very into dominating him

Doctor Futterman is there. Always. Watching.

At first Franco just tolerates Futterman as a necessary evil, but eventually his cruel and abusive commentary fulfills the humiliation fantasy of being judged by a disapproving fatherly figure

Forcible tooth brushing 🥰

Franco thinks he found someone who matches his freak but quickly finds out that she actually gives him a run for his money... she's just more covert about it. Introduces him to types of humiliation play he never even considered

Idk if they're allowed to interact outside of Bambino type events but even if they are you know they're still doing that freaky shit in the middle of a trial

Both surprisingly physically affectionate, which grosses everyone out. Head pets, hand kisses, massages... innocent in any other context but ghoulish considering it's these two

I want her to kill him in a sex game gone right your honor

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I just discovered remake William Birkin’s face model by accident??

David Marie:

Thanks Pinterest

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javier with the pretty hair :)

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send better assassins next time

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Mr. Curly Mouthwashing is such an interesting and tragic character to me. Not tragic in the way that Anya is- good God, not in the way that Anya is. But tragic in the way that he is a victim of himself, of his own naivety, of his own limited perspective and blind trust. A victim of his own actions and arrogance, and a victim of the direct consequences that stemmed from his poor decisions.

I see a lot of people reading Curly’s character in a way that I just personally didn’t. I could very well be wrong, and I’m certainly open to the possibility, but I actually prefer to think that I’m right, because it’s these layers and dimensions to his character that make him so interesting and complex.

He wasn’t a “bad” guy. Not in the way that Jimmy is, who had every opportunity to do the right thing just ONCE, and yet failed to, because that selfishness and cowardice is ingrained in his very core. Unlike Jimmy, Curly was just an ignorant guy. Not malicious by intent, but ignorant nonetheless. That doesn’t justify anything he did, or anything he failed to do, but it explains more about him than a simple write-off of his character does.

Curly was operating under an illusion of grandeur. His belief of his power transcended his position and extended into every facet of his life. His approach to confronting Jimmy wasn’t because he didn’t believe Anya, but because he viewed Jimmy as misunderstood just as much as Jimmy himself did. He inappropriately sought nuance in a situation that didn’t need it. On top of Curly and Jimmy’s history and camaraderie- as well as Jimmy’s raging victim-complex that so obviously influenced Curly’s perception of him- the fact that he was disillusioned by the extent of his control ultimately led him in failing to protect his crew. Anya especially.

In the very beginning of the game, we see him talk about how he knows he should have raised more of a concern about adding a fifth member of his crew without enough cryo-pods to accommodate Daisuke. It is this blatant dismissal of safety protocol that reveals just how shortsighted and ignorant Curly can be. And when Anya revealed her abuse to Curly, it’s this same ignorance that led him to confronting Jimmy.

Curly wasn’t trying to dismiss Anya, and he certainly wasn’t trying to betray her. He simply lacked her perspective. As a man, he couldn’t begin to fathom the feminine experience with the intrinsic evils of masculinity and the patriarchy. He has this almost childlike sense of optimism, thinking Jimmy would reveal himself to be a deeply flawed and misguided- but ultimately good- person, only to be confronted with the reality of Jimmy’s narcissism, insecurity, and apathy. By then, it was too late. He was an enabler. He had protected Jimmy. He had given him all the resources to hurt the very people he was entrusted to protect. It was a wake up call that came too late, a raising of red flags after Jimmy’s evil had already been revealed.

Curly should be held accountable for his failures and shortcomings- “take responsibility”- but I also believe he should be viewed sympathetically. It’s too easy to brush past the little details that make him so damn human in pursuit of a simple explanation. There are some people, like Jimmy, who have a full understanding of their privilege, and weaponize it as a means to control, coerce and abuse the people around them. Then there are others, like Curly, whose privilege has been so second-nature to them that it becomes entirely invisible. Had Curly realized this earlier, he very well could have prevented the fate of himself, of Anya, of Daisuke, and of Swansea. Even as a victim of Jimmy’s derangement himself, Curly ultimately was a perpetrator in his own right.

I don’t think Curly is a “bad” guy. I think he’s just a wrong guy. A guy who was arrogant, but not malicious. Ignorant, but not evil. He’s just as easy to blame as he is to mourn. He’s a walking paradox. He’s an absolutely brilliant character.