#HIS NAME IS CASSIUS !!!! BTW

[just1gnome]

sketches of my sillies

i cant take his jammies seriously guys i dyed astarions clothes purple and gave them to gale

they are so everything to me

[chthonicmoons]

girl help i made my bg3 character too hot and now i keep getting distracted during dialogue cutscenes bc im busy spamming f12

[whiterunguard]

i need to introduce my stormkids properly thyeyre so. yeah

[mhin-t]

being silly with my mc and leander ehe

this is first time drawing my mc with any of the cast and my first attempt at leander and ofc i had to make it meme-like i hate these two so much /aff

omfg wait this is also the first time i've ever drawn an oc and canon character together o_o wowza. btw his name is cassius and he's a living wet rag <3333 i need to finish his ref sheet still but i don't have the motivation so i made this instead <3333333

[alitgblog]

season 9 vol 8 thoughts: my hype has died down from last week, now Stefan is just another man, and I'm again critical of the choice to paywall everything and spend so much time focused on Kat

first of all before I post screenshots (of which there are few btw bc it wasn't super eventful imo) I did have a moment looking at my mc and was like damn get her some brown contacts so she looks different that's why. and I think I may have accidentally switched her skin tone too, point being, as a result, I take back what I said last week about not going for Cassius bc he looks like my mc's cousin

but the lunch with Uma, I have mixed feelings on the concept in general. Like for story it's interesting bc the other person could lie, but if I think about it like it would actually happen on love island, maybe the other person downplays some stuff, but straight up lying? nah. and then it would in theory get the girls to stick (just bc usually it's the guys that are being messy and flirting it up with the casa girls), but in my head the postcard/video always does the opposite. it's like a sneak preview into what the guys are doing so it encourages the girls to get angry or get back at them

In fact, lunch with casa girl to spill secrets usually happens AFTER casa so having it here is weird.

in execution though, no doubt, kinda lame. I mean I like the insights into casa, but you could get that info next week when everyone's together or in movie night or like a mean tweets challenge or whatever. You have to pay for info so it's already awful but also MC doesn't get the option to lie/be vague to Uma, so she just tells Uma everything we the audience already know and then Uma doesn't really tell us anything. Like we don't even get to know the names of the other two casa girls and we told her about everyone.

Speaking of Uma, they couldn't have fixed her hair this season????

Finn's being flirty, sure, and I might be kicked off his route now (I'm not sure if rejecting him by the pool did that), so I don't know if he acts any different if you're on his route bc he claims to have changed???

Hamish how dare you say you've changed then actually change this is why everyone's on his route 😂😂

Jude's a mess who gives a fuck but also that observation may be apparent to the audience, but I wouldn't picture a casa girl saying it. LIUSA S6 has a perfect example: it's not the casa girls saying "oh he sucks because he's been egging on the other guys" but them saying "oh he's the sweetest, because he's encouraging the other guys to explore connections" and then in game it would be letting the reader figure out what that means. it's in part them always having such surface level writing (tell not show) but it gives all their "villains" this weird gameplayer vibe. like I don't think Uma and Jude are genuine and they are acutely aware of the public, but I don't think they should be written like that, I think they should just be written to be assholes. Uma's a liar and Jude's a bully. Not saying we can't have gameplayer characters, just don't make it so obvious.

Anyway, coming back into the Villa and then for some reason you have to pay gems to tell the other girls information?? I don't like the paying gems to receive information but this is more confusing bc it's the opposite lol. Actually, Kat, if you want to know what happened on the date you're gonna have to give ME 17 gems.

there's a chat here MC has with Stefan about how he didn't know what he was expecting before coming back but once he saw MC it was clear he wanted her. And just to repeat what I said last week, Stefan should've started casa a little upset with MC (instead of having it be Lyle) and then ask her for forgiveness midway through the volume and here is where that chat can go where he's like yeah I tried but they weren't you.

and then I decided to give Cassius a fighting chance bc Stefan has that advantage of being her ex and i think MC should explore her options and im still mad at Marshall breaking things off with S6 MC. Cassius seems sweet and he so is during the date. It's just a shame I don't like doing the cutesy loyal casa boy route ever. If he was an OG though? Goodbye Chen and Henri

there's a part he asks about MC's job which I've been begging for someone to bring up and this chat was really cute

Ice cream thing only reminds me that I'm kinda put off the Natasha route now. If she wasn't the go to character to give exposition about Stefan and MC, then maybe. But now, I'm so stuck always having to not choose her and it's a shame. It also feels like with how much she talks about him and knowing that she brings him back if you don't, plus the Hamish stuff pre casa, it just feels like MC is second choice to these other guys. it's not as bad as Kelly, who straight up does say she's here for Finn, but it's irritating. I know Claudia kinda ends up doing that too towards the end of casa when she decides to work things out with Theo, but idk it feels different this time.

Kat screaming about going exclusive with Lyle during the date was so on brand for her to draw all attention on her I don't even know if I can be annoyed bc it made sense, I just wish the ratio of time spent talking about Kat was less. Like it doesn't need to get cut down, I just think we deserved a few more scenes where MC gets to talk with the guys.

the casa guys' day wear outfits are very good imo, very stylish, except Marshall.. it feels unnatural to see him in those colors idk

omg the wild night thing. first off, once again annoyed at texts cutting people off, like how many times can you stand doing that, fusebox writing team???? but uh sure, Marshall hears about this wild night between Stefan and Chen. and you hear about it in the game

Which side note, I hate the game and I also could've sworn we've already played it in casa this season. but I guess it's just to show once again that Kat and Lyle are having problems. Could've been a chat instead. Only useful piece of information was that Cassius likes nerds and I'm like damn once again, in another life, would be my pick. Pretty much everything else about the LI's was information we've already learned (even the info about Cassius I'm sure if I romanced him earlier in casa it would've been obvious).

Also just once again, taking a backseat in the game. it's like they think the player doesn't wanna be wrong so they settle for just sitting around but that's much more fun to have the chance to be wrong. also bc it would influence people to replay I think so they can get the right answers.

anyway, wild night thing, I did fork over the gems to find out and i know this happens every gem scene for info but it was especially annoying to me this time that MC pulls him aside and is like "tell me the story" and hes like "i dont know... do you really wanna hear the full story?" im like YES she pulled you aside for this. MC confronts Stefan and I saw what yall posted about bruno so I went ahead and asked about Claudia and she was dancing with her partner from her season, and for me that's Theo and what a shame. sorry I'm a jealous ex I don't even know if my S8 mc is happy with Jin.

ANYWAY for a split second I thought the "wild night" was alluding to Stefan and Chen hooking up? which, I think wouldve been a great option. and if fusebox is so scared of making all the LI's bi, then I would've voted Stefan is bi and then Chen/Henri/Lyle/Jude maybe aren't but like hey they gave it a shot. But alas, no...

Then Stefan says he was crushing on a DJ and I know in this instance it makes less sense for them to pick a real person bc they say that the DJ tried to hook up with Chen, but I do miss some like random info about the characters and their type. like, I just remember being surprised S2 Lucas's celebrity crush was teyana taylor and I want stuff like that again

so not wild but I guess Stefan was ashamed he screwed over Chen. Then he was like "isn't that so cool of Chen to give up a hookup for you?" and idk I don't care about DJs so I was glad MC to be like oh boohoo whatever

Lyle's speech to Kat was cringe but I'm giving him benefit of the doubt bc I would actually like him and Kat to be happy so Kat can stop bothering Finn and stop bothering MC.

And Kat of course goes to flirt with whoever you went on a date with, and I guess luckily, I happened to pick Cassius who I wasn't gonna bring back anyway. Then you get like five lines of dialogue each with Marshall and with Stefan (who's hanging out with Natasha) which could've and should've been longer for final chats.

you can match with Kelly now fyi

(I wish I had a picture of Kelly's partywear I swear it's nearly the same dress)

Then stick or twist just feels so tacked onto the end of the episode, but it should be like a huge thing. They stretch that shit out SO LONG in the show. Like in the three episodes this volume, the second one should end with cliffhanger announcing the girls are going back to casa that night. then the next episode starts with final chats and the map opens up and you can talk to Stefan but maybe Natasha interrupts, then Cassius saying he understands you gotta do what you gotta do, then Marshall who gives you one last plea he's changed (similar to the actual game again it should be longer). Add on Lyle talking about how he feels he fucked up with Kat here instead of right before the firepit. Honestly also a chat with Kat and Kelly wouldn't hurt either, with Kat contemplating her options and then seeing what Kelly's thinking about Finn, just to remind you about the guys back in the villa.

Then pep talk in the dressing room where it's revealed/implied what each girl is gonna do (Natasha can be vague since if you pick Stefan then she picks Marshall, so just have her say she's not sticking with Hamish for sure) AND THEN stick or twist. And I think each couple should be revealed in order. I don't think we need to give Kat too much time in the spotlight, so Kat goes first, picks Lyle, then walks into the Villa and the girls and casa boys are waiting outside but can hear them yelling (bc I just assume there's gonna be yelling around kat). And then MC picks, walks in with her guy or single, and then sees Uma and Chen together, then cliffhanger.

and that being said, despite what I wrote about the date with Uma, I like the idea that MC spilled who the casa guys are and then she made the decision to go for someone insecure and easy so she could stay and then couple with the casa guy she really wants later, and it just happens to be the guy she wanted was the one MC chose. Or alternatively, she did actually want the villa boy she picked (and also was lying during the date about him being close with Jessica). Very snakey and calculated for love but not too gameplayer-y for my distaste.

but for predictions, I think Hamish sticks bc he said he was gonna try to be loyal. I think Finn sticks bc if you're on his route, it would throw another wrench if he had a new girl. Chen/who you're with obviously twists. I could see Jude twisting, but he gives off the vibe that he sticks to try to win the show. In that case, there are two single islanders so which I'm fine with but fusebox likes to dump single islanders post casa even though it doesn't make sense to, but maybe they get the other islanders to choose to save Hamish (or I'm wrong and Hamish twists). I could also see them saying if MC is single then she chooses a boy to couple with, and can save Hamish since clearly a route (and if this is the case then I would heavily consider replaying the last chapter to keep Hamish in the game).

overall, like I said up top, kinda back to my normal level of enjoyment for this season. I was really hopeful after last week, but I was distracted by pretty faces. also I started playing perfect match and the Stefan thing reminded me of the whole neighbor thing going on in perfect match and in both it's really such a shame they send in someone from MC's past to use the second chance romance trope to distract me from a drop dead gorgeous woman named Natasha.

oh other thing, with the way my game has been going, everyone is in a mixed race couple except for Kelly and Finn, which I think is fun bc then I can pretend the audience is tweeting some version of "why is this season giving shondaland right now?"

anyway so thth3 new episode tomorrow woooooooo

[kald-dal-art]

I'm assuming your headcanons for Morphling will be covered inside of your fanfic, but you mentioned having a lot for her, would you make a list of them?

Sure I can, because most people don't have all the time in the world to read a super long fic.

I headcannon her name is Maureen Trevi. She won the 49th Annual Hunger Games when she was 18 years old.

(so In Catching Fire she is around 44 years old btw :) )

Before getting reaped she did paint jobs for different vehicles at the same factory as her dad.

She lives with her dad and younger sister and she has an estranged mother.

The last time anyone from D6 won was the same year she was born so she didn't have very high hopes for herself. At the same time she kind of knew moping too much wasn't going to let her win

Her District partner was a 13 year old boy named Dev that had essentially given up before the games even started. Even being the first causality of the game. One of the rare times that last place and first place were from the same District.

The arena for her games was an overgrown humid forest.

During her games she mostly hid with camouflage and used poison to get a upper hand on the other tributes.

She killed 4 tributes during her games, has a lot of crippling guilt around that. Always kind of seeing herself as a coward for how she killed the other tributes.

Had a brief alliance with another tribute because they bonded during training, he unfortunately dies (well yeah duh)

Added to that he was the son of a former victor, so added fun having to see his mom every year afterwards.

Has a low key friendship with Haymitch because of how close their Victory are, and they relate to each other when it comes to the substance abuse problems.

Usually wears long sleeves or long sleeved gloves because she is tired of hearing complaints from capitol audience that they can see needle marks on her arms.

11 years after her Victory, during the 60th game, she was the mentor of a 16 year old boy named Cassius and he ended up winning.

Mostly having a similar strategy as her and even getting her to share the strategies she used for her games because he thought that was the best chance he had to survive.

Unfortunately he ends up pretty quickly following her path with getting attached to drugs to cope with the games and his new life as a Victor.

They mostly bond after the games with art. Her mostly preferring to paint landscapes and him mostly preferring to draw with pen and pencil.

Most of the paintings she has done is usually around landscapes and rather abstract stuff. Usually any excuse to play around with colors.

Also like to think their friendship is WLW and MLM solidarity. Too many fics have the Morphlings as a romantic couple and I am tired of it. Nothing wrong with that interpretation, but it feels very "man and woman is considered a duo, they must be a couple" kind of.

Here are some of the headcannons for her.

[ella-the-fella]

Look at this mf.

He looks like he gonna steal my soul and consume my intestines/aff

(His name is Cassius btw)

[pansexualkiba]

new ocs

Cassius, a large, muscular man who fights by punching and grappling. a lot of grappling. he wears what's essentially a bearskin rug as a cape, as well. the bearskin is literally possessed, of course. it sometimes contributes to the fight by taking occasional paw swipes, but it mostly just spends its time feeling up Cassius. (Cassius always says, "Ursa, I love you, but not in public, please.")

Marlowe, a runaway royal and about... Thirteenth in line for the throne? Despite this, he's very proud and talkative and kind of a brat, tbh. He's also not a great fighter, only having access to a singular spell that repairs inorganic objects. Rather, he leaves it to the living armor he conscripted to be his bodyguard/father figure, Adamanthus, who, due to being living armor, does not speak but is extremely good at using a fuckoff-huge broadsword.

Dawson, a man who plays up his playboy aesthetic to gather information from his many "boyfriends". In reality, they're all shapeshifted crow familiars that he's uses as messengers and informants. And also boyfriends. Somehow, he can remember which ones they are. Aside from his dark magic abilities, he also has a knack for plant-based magic as well.

and, of course, an as-of-yet unnamed young man who they found having crashed to earth in a meteorite. He's, strangely enough, caring for some sort of ferrofluid creature like it's a pet dog. His given name is something akin to ♤£☆!, but he would like to be taken to their leader, the witch-king of the land (not related to Marlowe, btw). Perhaps he can send ♤£☆! home...

[kindlyanni]

It seems I can’t get anything finished so here are a couple of Cassius doodles because I just feel like drawing him a lot lately :’)

Cassius from my webcomic The Witch Door

[dragontrans]

literally no one will ever guess what fandom that oc is for

[brother-emperors]

Could you please recommend the books you've read about Cassius and Brutus? (don't need to do the list today and btw, loved your other answer)

you're in luck, anon! I was re organizing my hard drive today, so I came up with a......a starter kit, I guess you could call it, while trying to figure out folder names.

General Reading -The Last Generation of the Roman Republic, Erich S. Gruen -From the Gracchi to Nero, H.H. Scullard -The Noblest Roman: Marcus Brutus And His Reputation, M.L. Clarke -Philippi 42 BC: the Death of the Roman Republic, Si Sheppard

Biographies -Plutarch's Life of Brutus (bonus: Life of Crassus) -Brutus: the Noble Conspirator, Kathryn Tempest -Brutus: Caesar's Assassin, Kirsty Corrigan -Brutus, assassin par idéal, Anne Bernet

re: Shakespeare's Julius Caesar -RSC's 2012 and 2017 Julius Caesar productions -Fission-Fusion Cognition in Shakespearean Drama: The Case for Julius Caesar, Miranda Anderson -"Romans, countrymen, and lovers": Performing Politics, Sovereign Amity and Masculinity in Julius Caesar, Amy Scott -Cassius as a 'Great Observer,' John W. Velz -Oxymoronic Ethos: The Rhetoric of Honor and Its Performance in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, Xinyao Xiao -La mort de Cesar, Voltaire [a play, kind of]

Brutus and Cassius as One Person -Chaucer's 'Brutus Cassius' H Theodore Silverstein

Some fun texts on Cassius specifically -Cassius as a Great Observer, John W. Velz -Has Cassius Been Misinterpreted, David Klein Bonus Round with Crassus: -Dionysiac tragedy in Plutarch, 'Crassus,' David Braund

For Fun and Entertainment -The City War, Sam Starbuck -Cléopâtre: La Dernière Reine D'Egypte [2009 musical] -Rome at Dawn [Takarazuka Revue] -The Destiny of Rome [2011, ep1] -Cléopâtre: La reine fatale [Vol. 2] -HBO Rome

SPECIFIC EXCERPTS FROM ANCIENT [and less ancient] SOURCES

-[Dio. 47.20] Then, despairing of the republic and at the same time fearing him, they departed. The Athenians gave them a splendid reception; for, though they were honoured by nearly everybody else for what they had done, the inhabitants of this city voted them bronze images by the side of those of Harmodius and Aristogeiton, thus intimating that Brutus and Cassius had emulated their example.

[for information on Harmodius and Aristogeiton: the history of the peloponnesian war, thucydides]

-[Orosius 6.15-16] But the troops of Caesar in turn captured the camp of Cassius. Reduced to desperation, Brutus and Cassius both resolved to commit suicide before the battle came to an end. Cassius offered his head to the executioners whom they had summoned, while Brutus offered his side.

-[Florus 2.17.14] Brutus, having lost his second self by the death of Cassius, in order that he might not fail in carrying out every detail of their compact (for it had been agreed that neither of them should survive the battle), presented his side to one of his companions that he might plunge his sword into it.

[300iqprower]

Would you mind telling us more about pretender Brutus

Oh boy. @smiteblast442 you’ve really gone and done it now.

Cracks knuckles

SO

We all know this guy

Marcus Junius Brutus, of Shakespearean "Et tu?" fame, Roman politician and one of the leaders of the coup against Julius Caesar that took place on this site's favorite holiday. I really don't need to explain who he is or why he'd be a servant, but I'd love to see him in Fate as a way to hail in Rider Caesar or to at least finally give a serious story to Saber Caesar. This image in question is his denarius (basically a commemorative coin).

Except that's a lie. That was all a lie, in fact. That's not Brutus at all. Well, except, it is. But not Marcus Junius Brutus, nor his denarius. The famous denarius of Brutus would be THIS

The first coin in fact doesn't even have Brutus's head, it was that of a consul at the time who isn't remotely important to any of this. No, the first coin was minted by one Decimus Junius Brutus Albinus, the REAL leader of the coup against Caesar, and in many aspects the person many THINK Marcus was. Turns out, outside of Shakespeare Marcus wasn't that close to Caesar nor that important to the coup. Decimus, however, was both those things. There's this idea that Caesar saw Brutus as his own son, and that would be true...were it not people think that refers to Marcus. Caesar expressed both verbally and in writing on many occasions how he saw Decimus as his own son and possibly having formally adopted him. Caesar’s will even named Decimus as his second heir and guardian to any child of Caesar’s should he have left one behind. Not only did he know Decimus far longer than Shakespeare portrays Caesar and Marcus’s relationship, the real Caesar and Decimus were also even closer. What of the Shakespeare version IS accurate is that there were two key figures in the assassination of Caesar: Cassius, and [a] Brutus. In fact, it was Decimus who convinced Marcus to join the plot. And when Caesar had intended NOT to go to the forum due to his fear of the rumored conspiracy, who else but the man he saw as a son was arrived to put those fears at ease and convince him to attend that senate meeting? After the assassination, Marcus would in fact go on to be the one heralded as the usurper of Caesar, being a far better public speaker and quick to capitalize on a misconception that was present even at the time of the incident. But like in the rest of the story we all know, Brutus said a lot while doing nothing and achieved nothing of meaning as he trailed Cassius and both were eventually taken out of the picture by Antony (someone also particularly relevant to Fate Caesar btw...) meanwhile Decimus was made governor of Cisalpine Gaul but when he attempted to rendevouz with Marcus Brutus and Cassius as shit went down, he was intercepted by Gauls loyal to Antony and executed.

There's more to both Brutus' lives of course but those are the bits relevant to his status as a Pretender. This is not Marcus Brutus, this is Decimus Brutus living the role of both the man who betrayed Caesar and was later executed as the cycle of tyranny continued, and the naïve usurper who would be cornered into taking their life as they lamented their own idealism.

So, in other words, as a fate character the short version of their split identities are are that when he calls himself Brutus he’s Marcus and simply Decimius for his real self. Brutus is this "Oh woe is me, alas my friend Caesar" blah blah blah type always on about his unforgivable sin and wallowing in it but in a very disingenuous “look how noble I am” sense that is dripping with narcissism and hypocrisy, whereas Decimus is truly dead inside from the trauma that has amassed as he is forced further and further to live with the knowledge of what he did to a man who, no matter how tyrannical, thought him as much a son as Caesarion, and unable to ever forget the look in Caesar's eyes that day. He truly believed the ideals that Marcus was so quick to spurn when it suited his own rise to power, and thus had to live with the psychological consequences Marcus so easily skirted. Decimus is a man whose self worth died long ago and is now living for that ideal alone, willing to do whatever it takes to ensure the freedom of choice, even if it means giving up his own; I imagine he and Kerry would have a lot to talk about....

[zazzander]

Pet Peeve regarding HoO & ToA

So, I know not everyone had a 10-year-long fascination with Roman history, which happen to coincide with the release years of HoO & ToA.

But, I just need to address this pet peeve of mine because it would literally takes ONE GOOGLE SEARCH to correct.

Names like "Octavian" "Cassius" "Julia" and "Aemilia" as all LAST NAMES. Especially with Nero's adoptive children, they would take Nero's family name (which I think is Claudius; the end part of the Julio-Claudian dynasty).

And Nero would know about praenomen. Octavian's family would know about praenomen. And since these kids have Romanesque names, how come they don't have actual first names?

The list is literally on Wikipedia. It takes two seconds find them.

But sometimes they DO have first names, in the case of the characters called "Lucius" and "Marcus". So it's not even consistent.

I literally wasn't sure if Octavian was his personal or surname - and since he's never given a last name, I had to wonder if he was just "Gaius" or something (it's the Latin equivelent of John btw) but every male legacy in New Rome is called "Gaius" so they all use their last names...

But it's still wrong. Because "Octavian" implies he got adopted at some point. Because the ian(us) ending is what Romans used to indict adoption.

Anyway. It's just... not correct. And it bothers me on occasion.

[jq37]

The Case File – Mice and Murder Ep 1

The Case of the The Pernicious Party  

Hello, hello, hello! It’s been a hot second but your resident D20 recapper is back to tackle the newest season: Mice and Murder! Y’all had to know I wasn’t gonna sit out the murder mystery, are you kidding me???

I might be playing around with the format a bit in the coming weeks to make sure I have the best possible system for keeping track of possible clues, suspects, and theories as we untangle whatever web Brennan weaves for us this season so don’t be surprised if things change a little. 

Anyway, without further ado, onto our mystery!

Summary

In case you missed it, this season takes place in an alternate, Zootopia/Wind in the Willows-esque universe where all the characters are animals but history seems to have happened in more or less the same way--for example there was still a King Charles but he was a King Charles Spaniel (cute Brennan). Our story specifically takes place in the English village of Tufting Meadows.  

We start with Katie’s character--Gangie Green (Weasel/Thief Rogue) in the graveyard of the Anglican Chapel (Our Lady of Prayerful Paws). Gangie, we learn, is an orphan who was kicked out of the orphanage at some point for thievery. Obviously, he’s not reformed of the habit because he is here to do some graverobbing. On a nat 20 (that Katie hilariously doesn’t notice even though her total is like a 29) Gangie can see through the window of the rectory that there is a weeping window inside--Catherine McCabbage who is being (dubiously) tended to by Raph’s character, Vicar Ian Prescott (Owl/Bard, College of Eloquence). 

Ian comes from a line of men of the cloth but he’s not exactly the best speaker despite his subclass. He’s doing his best though! The widow’s husband (Conor McCabbage) died at the local mill in what has been declared an accident but she suspects foul play. She’s been hearing his voice on the wind and wants Ian’s professional opinion on whether this could be a sign from God or if her husband might be speaking to her from beyond the grave or something like that. Ian gives a very muddled and not very comforting answer but seems pretty sure that something sketchy did in fact happen. Then, he sees a crack of lightning outside which illuminates the graveyard where he gets a glimpse of Gangie. 

He goes to check it out (and Gangie fully has an elderly goat he’s dug up slung over his shoulder) but “gravedigger” is his legit job so Ian decides to assume whatever’s going on is legit and not ask too many questions. He goes back to the widow (who, before she leaves, says that maybe sometimes people need to work on God’s behalf) while Gangie takes the body Loam Hall (a massive manor, built into a hill).

We cut to the next day and our next two characters! 

At 22B Hamsted Street in a pretty well appointed home are Ally and Grant’s characters. First up, we have Lars Vandenchomp (Huge ass Doberman/Battlemaster Fighter) who is so tough looking but also so Swedish sounding--it’s A Lot (so, incredibly on brand for Ally). Lars is security for Grant’s character Sylvester Cross (Fox/Inquisitive Rogue) who is a kinda (to use Grant’s word) “foppish” Sherlock Holmes type. He was hired by Squire William Thornwall Brockhollow to figure out what happened with Conor McCabbage (and clear him of negligence in running the mill) but he couldn’t find any evidence of any funny business, making this the only case he’s never cracked. He’s not as young or popular as he once was so this is, understandably, bumming him out. He’s even more bummed out when he realizes that William has invited him to his 60th birthday party that’s happening that night (as kind of a prop to show that he did his part in trying to solve the mystery) and Lars has already RSVP’d yes. He grudgingly agrees to go as it’s one of those asks that’s really more of a veiled demand but decides to pull the money he was paid from the bank first so he can return it and really stick it to the guy.

Finally, we cut to our last set of PCs who are on their way to Tufting Meadows via a very luxurious train. Inside are Sam and Rekha’s characters! Sam is Buckster $ Boyd (Peccary which is like a small boar/Mastermind Rouge) a Texan Oil Tycoon who acts exactly how you’d expect a Texan Oil Pig to act. Yes, you pronounce the dollar sign as “dollar sign” (even though as we find out later his middle name is Cassius so it’s like Cash which I think is super cool). With him is Rekha’s character, Daisy D'umpstaire (Raccoon/Assassin (???) Rogue another American (from South Carolina) though it seems she’s My Fair Lady’d herself into an upper class socialite (her last name was previously Dumpster). They’re traveling with their accountant, an Armadillo named Armond who seems kinda skittish and concerned about their travel expenses but Buck tells him that to make money you gotta spend money and they’re gonna make a *ton* of money on this trip. They’re also so so mean to him for absolutely no reason. 

When the train stops, they’re greeted by Templeton Padhop (a frog, natch) who is the chauffeur of Loan Hall, sent to fetch them. A wheel on his car is broken so he joins in on the Armond abuse immediately and has Armond roll into an Armadillo ball and replace it. Poor guy. When they show up they're greeted by a footman--a pug in a bowler hat named Milo Snout.

Meanwhile, Lars and Sly (Oh, Sly fox, I see what you did there Grant) are similarly greeted by another footman--a lizard named Basil Baskins. On a 23 perception check, Lars sees that Jeremy “Jez” Brockhollow is inside (the son of William who is a badger btw) and also clocks Gangie (who they know as a career criminal who disappeared like a year ago). Gangie doesn’t notice Lars though. 

Ian, who is also invited, shows up at about the same time as Sly but very quickly, the conversation is taken over by Lucretia “Lucy” Brockhollow, William’s older, eccentric sister who immediately gets into it with Lars about astrology and the occult (she thinks bad stuff is happening because of a curse let loose when Sly’s old rival--a rabbit named Fletcher Cottonbottom who is the son of his former employer--opened an Egyptian tomb). They’re thick as thieves right away because Ally is a nonsense magnet. And not like a regular magnet, one of those big electromagnets. 

Daisy and Buck spot William’s kids--the aforementioned Jez and his older sister Constance--along with their husbands Dr. Corbin Magpie (Constance’s and obv a magpie and a doctor) and Osmond Sheffield (Jez’s who is a Ram and a lawyer). Daisy is too stuck in her conversation with a truly unhinged squirrel (Lady Eugenia Bristlebrush who clearly does not know she’s in a murder mystery because she just keeps talking about how much she hates and wants to kill everyone) to hear what’s going on but she indicates the conversation to Buck who is able to eavesdrop and hear that they’re lamenting that Catherine--the widow--RSVP’d no which is gonna look really bad, like they didn’t invite her (bad PR). 

Buck, introducing himself as a business partner of William, eases into a conversation with the husbands which their respective spouses also join into and we learn that Buck's dad was British and a friend of Willian’s. Buck bonds with Jez (who is a bit of a dilettante) really quickly since Buck is ready to go drinks-wise immediately (and there’s a stellar pun about the “American [Drinking] Constitution''). Through the window, Buck notices Gangie outside getting his attention. 

At the same time, Ian is going from party guest to party guest, giving out the penances he forgot to earlier at church (as one does). We see him talking to the Lord and Lady Bramble (a cow and hedgehog, respectively) and while she wants to pray her way out of situations without doing any legwork, he wants to buy his way out and gives Ian 250 pounds. A frustrating but financially lucrative conversation.  

Buck goes outside to talk to Gangie who has a list of names of the bodies he’s been collecting. We’re not told what Buck is doing but it seems that this list is extremely valuable to him in some way. Gangie (who Buck keeps calling Gangly, to his annoyance) pays him handsomely (like, with a 50% tip) for the list (and Gangie gives him the real list, despite Brennan saying he didn’t have to). We also learn that Gangie has allegedly been getting the orders from someone in Loa Hall and they flow from William himself.

Matilda Molesly (a mole and the head maid) invites Gangie to come in from the rain--she’s the only person who’s been consistently nice to him and he agrees to come in for tea and scones. 

Everyone is ushered together by the butler (because of course there’s a butler--he’s quite literally a fancy rat named Thomas Gilfoyle) and William gives a speech where he wishes Conor well and kinda highlights that he did hire Sly to solve the case in a “Hey, I did my bit don’t blame me” kind of way. He also makes a 150k pound donation to the church (and Ian thought 250 was good) and tells his daughter not to read the praise he got for it from the cardinal when she mentions it (I wonder if that was choreographed). Sly interrupts the speech to “magnanimously” give his money back, to William’s annoyance. Buck notices that Lawrence Longfoot (a nouveau rich, rabbit photographer) takes a pic of the scene but with Sly in the foreground and William in the background. 

Then, a few things happen at once (in a very cinematic way):

As the camera flashes, Mrs. Molesly drops her tray, eyes hurt by the light. Lady Calliope Fawnbrooke (Deer, Matron of the Arts) helps her up.

In the moment of dark, after the flash goes away, the butler disappears. 

Buck thinks he sees a shape through the window, out in the rain. 

A cheer goes up for Sly for returning the money but all Sly can focus on is one figure he recognizes in the back of the room. Daisy, who is downing her drink and not cheering for him. He downs his as well, and looks at her until she breaks the stare and leaves the room. 

And this episode doesn’t end with a dead body like I thought, but with a flashback to a younger Sylvester, 12 years ago when he first met Daisy.

PC INTERPERSONAL DRAMA Y’ALL!!! Get HYPED! 

Case Notes

Here is a compilation of all the characters (PCs and NPCs introduced in this episode). 

Sly mentions that Ignatius Cottonbottom faked his own death as a part of some scheme which seems like a backstory point that might come back later--we now know that there exists a way to convincingly fake your own death in this world. 

Sly walks with a walking stick because of some “mysterious accident” but we’re jumping into a flashback next week so it looks like we might find out about it pretty soon. 

Sly also mentions he used to be the personal physician to the elder Cottonbottom so those are skills he has. I wonder if that’ll be useful to this healer-less party. I wonder if cleric was even an option in this world which seems to be low to no magic. It would explain by Ian is a bad and not a cleric. 

Lars has a military background which I wanted to mention in case it becomes relevant later. 

And Dr. Magpie grew up poor and still acts it a bit even though he married a very rich woman. Brennan uses the very good line, “He forces his body into the shape of an apology”

This might be a really deep cut reference but did anyone else here was the old Britcom “Keeping Up Appearances”? Cause I was getting serious Bouquet/Bucket energy from Daisy. 

This is an all College Humor season and it shows. The energy of 6 (7 if you count Brennan) top notch comedians sparking off of each other, trying to one up each other is off the charts. Some of the best bits this episode:

“When God closes every door but one, you go through the door that is open.” followed by “I’m an owl by the way.”

“Time is money, here’s both” from Buck re his inscribed gold pocket watch--everyone at the table loved that so much and they’re right. 

Armond going from being a third to a fourth wheel. 

And the names--I already shouted out a ton on the main recap but also a rat butler (like Rhett Butler) and naming the mouse Cat(therine). Can’t forget Gangie Green/gangrene from Katie. Also points to Ally for the data stealing Eel Musk which broke Brennan a little. 

I know we just went through this with Crown of Candy but what are these animals eating? Like, in Zootopia there were only mammals so we can assume the carnivores are eating like birds and fish but there are sentient birds here. I know this isn’t important. I’m not trying to do a CinemaSins gotcha. I just wonder, you know?

Y’all were waiting for all the lights to go out during that speech and then come back on and there’d be a body too, right?

If Brennan makes the bad guy a chicken or a duck or something so he can make a “fowl play” joke, he is cordially invited to catch these hands. 

I have been waiting for Raph and Katie to do D20 forever. Their specific brand of nonsense on Rank Room was always amazing. 

I love love love that Grant and Rekha are the PCs that have ~a past~ because they are so funny together. If you haven’t seen their episode of Game Changers, you absolutely must (it’s also a murder mystery actually!). 

[mjvnivsbrvtvs]

hi! so we have established at this point that you have A Lot Of thoughts about antony and brutus. but how does caesar (julius, not the little bitch octavian) play into that? bc like. my knowledge and impression of them is very limited and mainly constructed from watching hbo rome and idk. i think it'd be fun to throw caesar in the mix. love all the art and writing on your blog btw! have a nice day.

Hey, okay! So this used to be over 30 pages long (Machiavelli and Caligula got involved and that's when things got out of hand), but through the power of friendship and two late night writing dates fueled by coffee, I’ve cut it way down to under 10. Many thanks to the people who listened to me ramble about it at length, and also to a dear friend for helping me cut this down to under ten pages!

Also, thank you! I'm glad you enjoy the stuff I make! It makes me very happy to hear that!

And quickly, a Disclaimer: I’m not an academic, I’m not a classicist, I’m not a historian, and I spend a lot of time very stressed out that I’ve tricked people into thinking I’m someone who has any kind of merit in this area. It's probably best to treat this as an abstract character analysis!

On the other hand, I love talking about dead men, so, with enthusiasm, here we go!

For this, I’m going to cut Shakespeare and HBO Rome out of the framework and focus more on a historical spin.

Caesar is a combination of a manipulator and a catalyst. A Bad Omen. The remaining wound that’s poisoning Rome.

Cassius gets a lot of the blame for Brutus’ turn to assassination, but it overlooks that Brutus was already inclined towards political ambition, as were most men involved in the political landscape of the time.

Furthermore, although Sulla had actually raised the number of praetorships available from six to eight, there were still only two consulships available. There was always the chance that death or disgrace might remove some of the competition and hence ease the bottleneck. But, otherwise, it was at the top of the ladder that the competition was particularly fierce: whereas in previous years one in three praetors would have gone on to become consul, from the 80s BC onwards the chances were one in four. For the senators who had made it this far, it mattered that they should try to achieve their consulship in the earliest year allowed to them by law. To fail in this goal once was humiliating; to fail at the polls twice would be deemed a signal disgrace for a man like Brutus.

Kathryn Tempest, Brutus the Noble Conspirator

The way Caesar offered Brutus political power the way that he did, and Brutus accepting it, locked them into the assassination outcome.

Here is a man who’s built his entire image around honor and liberty and virtu, around being a staunch defender of morals and the republic

In these heated circumstances, Brutus composed a bitter tract On the Dictatorship of Pompey (De Dictatura Pompei), in which he staunchly opposed the idea of giving Pompey such a position of power. ‘It is better to rule no one than to be another man’s slave’, runs one of the only snippets of this composition to survive today: ‘for one can live honourably without power’, Brutus explained, ‘but to live as a slave is impossible’. In other words, Brutus believed it would be better for the Senate to have no imperial power at all than to have imperium and be subject to Pompey’s whim.

Kathryn Tempest, Brutus the Noble Conspirator

and you give him political advancement, but without the honor needed for this advancement to mean anything?

At the same time, however, Brutus had gained his position via extremely un-republican means: appointment by a dictator rather than election by the people. As the name of the famous career path, the cursus honorum, suggests, political office was perceived as an honour at Rome. But it was one which had to be bestowed by the populus Romanus in recognition of a man’s dignitas.69 In other words, a man’s ‘worth’ or ‘standing’ was only really demonstrated by his prior services to the state and his moral qualities, and that was what was needed to gain public recognition. Brutus had got it wrong. As Cicero not too subtly reminded him in the treatise he dedicated to Brutus: ‘Honour is the reward for virtue in the considered opinion of the citizenry.’ But the man who gains power (imperium) by some other circumstance, or even against the will of the people, he continues, ‘has laid his hands only on the title of honour, but it is not real honour’.70

Brutus may have secured political office, then, but he had not done so honourably; nor had he acted in a manner that would earn him a reputation for virtue or everlasting fame.

Kathryn Tempest, Brutus the Noble Conspirator

Brutus in the image that he fashioned for himself was not compatible with the way Caesar was setting him up to be a political successor, and there was really never going to be any other outcome than the one that happened.

The Brutus of Shakespeare and Plutarch’s greatest tragedy was that he was pushed into something he wouldn’t have done otherwise. The Brutus of history’s greatest tragedy was accepting Caesar’s forgiveness after the Caesar-Pompey conflict, and then selling out for political ambition, because Caesar's forgiveness is not benevolent.

Rather than have his enemies killed, he offered them mercy or clemency -- clementia in Latin. As Caesar wrote to his advisors, “Let this be our new method of conquering -- to fortify ourselves by mercy and generosity.” Caesar pardoned most of his enemies and forbore confiscating their property. He even promoted some of them to high public office.

This policy won him praise from no less a figure than Marcus Tullius Cicero, who described him in a letter to Aulus Caecina as “mild and merciful by nature.” But Caecina knew a thing or two about dictators, since he’d had to publish a flattering book about Caesar in order to win his pardon after having opposed him in the civil war. Caecina and other beneficiaries of Caesar’s unusual clemency took it in a far more ambivalent way. To begin with, most of them were, like Caesar, Roman nobles. Theirs was a culture of honor and status; asking a peer for a pardon was a serious humiliation. So Caesar’s “very power of granting favors weighed heavily on free people,” as Florus, a historian and panegyrist of Rome, wrote about two centuries after the dictator’s death. One prominent noble, in fact, ostentatiously refused Caesar’s clemency. Marcius Porcius Cato, also known as Cato the Younger, was a determined opponent of populist politics and Caesar’s most bitter foe. They had clashed years earlier over Caesar’s desire to show mercy to the Catiline conspirators; Cato argued vigorously for capital punishment and convinced the Senate to execute them. Now he preferred death to Caesar’s pardon. “I am unwilling to be under obligations to the tyrant for his illegal acts,” Cato said; he told his son, "I, who have been brought up in freedom, with the right of free speech, cannot in my old age change and learn slavery instead.

-Barry Strauss, Caesar and the Dangers of Forgiveness

something else that's a fun adjacent to the topic that's fun to think about:

The link between ‘sparing’ and ‘handing over’ is common in the ancient world.763 Paul also uses παραδίδωμι again, denoting ‘hand over, give up a person’ (Bauer et al. 2000:762).764 The verb παραδίδωμι especially occurs in connection with war (Eschner 2010b:197; Gaventa 2011:272).765 However, in Romans 8:32, Paul uses παραδίδωμι to focus on a court image (Eschner 2010b:201).766 Christina Eschner (2010b:197) convincingly argues that Paul’s use of παραδίδωμι refers to the ‘Hingabeformulierungen’ as the combination of the personal object of the handing over of a person in the violence of another person, especially the handing over of a person to an enemy.767 Moreover, Eschner (2009:676) convincingly argues that Isaiah 53 is not the pre-tradition for Romans 8:32.

Annette Potgieter, Contested Body: Metaphors of dominion in Romans 5-8

Along with the internal conflict of Pompey, the murderer of Brutus’ father, and Caesar, the figurehead for everything that goes against what Brutus stands for, Brutus accepting Caesar’s forgiveness isn’t an act of benevolence, regardless of Caesar’s intentions.

On wards, Caesar owns Brutus. Caesar benefits from having Brutus as his own, he inherits Brutus’ reputation, he inherits a better PR image in the eyes of the Roman people. On wards, nothing Brutus does is without the ugly stain of Caesar. His career is no longer his own, his life is no longer fully his own, his legacy is no longer entirely his. Brutus becomes a man divided.

And it’s not like it was an internal struggle, it was an entire spectacle. Hypocrisy is theatrical. Call yourself a man of honor and then you sell out? The people of Rome will remember that, and they’re going to make sure you know it.

After this certain men at the elections proposed for consuls the tribunes previously mentioned, and they not only privately approached Marcus Brutus and such other persons as were proud-spirited and attempted to persuade them, but also tried to incite them to action publicly. 12 1 Making the most of his having the same name as the great Brutus who overthrew the Tarquins, they scattered broadcast many pamphlets, declaring that he was not truly that man's descendant; for the older Brutus had put to death both his sons, the only ones he had, when they were mere lads, and left no offspring whatever. 2 Nevertheless, the majority pretended to accept such a relationship, in order that Brutus, as a kinsman of that famous man, might be induced to perform deeds as great. They kept continually calling upon him, shouting out "Brutus, Brutus!" and adding further "We need a Brutus." 3 Finally on the statue of the early Brutus they wrote "Would that thou wert living!" and upon the tribunal of the living Brutus (for he was praetor at the time and this is the name given to the seat on which the praetor sits in judgment) "Brutus, thou sleepest," and "Thou art not Brutus."

Cassius Dio

Brutus knew. Cassius knew. Caesar knew. You can’t escape your legacy when you’re the one who stamped it on coins.

Caesar turned Brutus into the dagger that would cut, and Brutus himself isn’t free from this injury. It’s a mutual betrayal, a mutual dooming.

By this time Caesar found himself being attacked from every side, and as he glanced around to see if he could force a way through his attackers, he saw Brutus closing in upon him with his dagger drawn. At this he let go of Casca’s hand which he had seized, muffled up his head in his robe, and yielded up his body to his murderers’ blows. Then the conspirators flung themselves upon him with such a frenzy of violence, as they hacked away with their daggers, that they even wounded one another. Brutus received a stab in the hand as he tried to play his part in the slaughter, and every one of them was drenched in blood.

Plutarch

For Antony, Caesar is a bad sign.

Brutus and Antony are fucked over by the generation they were born in, etc etc the cannibalization of Rome on itself, the Third Servile War was the match to the gasoline already on the streets of Rome, the last generation of Romans etc etc etc. They are counterparts to each other, displaced representatives of a time already gone by the time they were alive.

Rome spends its years in a state of civil war after civil war, political upheaval, and death. Neither Brutus or Antony will ever really know stability, as instability is hallmark of the times. Both of them are at something of a disadvantage, although Brutus has what Antony does not, and what Brutus has is what let’s him create his own career. Until Caesar, Brutus is owned by no one.

This is not the case for Antony.

You can track Antony’s life by who he’s attached to. Very rarely is he ever truly a man unto himself, there is always someone nearby.

In his youth, it is said, Antony gave promise of a brilliant future, but then he became a close friend of Curio and this association seems to have fallen like a blight upon his career. Curio was a man who had become wholly enslaved to the demands of pleasure, and in order to make Antony more pliable to his will, he plunged him into a life of drinking bouts, love-affairs, and reckless spending. The consequence was that Antony quickly ran up debts of an enormous size for so young a man, the sum involved being two hundred and fifty talents. Curio provided security for the whole of this amount, but his father heard of it and forbade Antony his house. Antony then attached himself for a short while to Clodius, the most notorious of all the demagogues of his time for his lawlessness and loose-living, and took part in the campaigns of violence which at that time were throwing political affairs at Rome into chaos.

Plutarch

(although, in contrast to Brutus, we rarely lose sight of Antony. As a person, we can see him with a kind of clarity, if one looks a little bit past the Augustan propaganda. He is, at all times, human.)

Antony being figuratively or literally attached to a person starts early, and continues politically. While Brutus has enough privilege to brute force his way into politics despite Cicero’s lamentation of a promising life being thrown off course, Antony will instead follow a different career path that echoes in his personal life and defines his relationships.

Whereas some young men often attached or indebted themselves to a patron or a military leader at the beginning of their political lives,

Kathryn Tempest, Brutus the Noble Conspirator

+

3. During his stay in Greece he was invited by Gabinius, a man of consular rank, to accompany the Roman force which was about to sail for Syria. Antony declined to join him in a private capacity, but when he was offered the command of the cavalry he agreed to serve in the campaign.

Plutarch

To take it a step further, it even defines how he’s perceived today looking back: it’s never just Antony, it’s always Antony and---

It can be read as someone being taken advantage of, in places, survival in others, especially in Antony's early life. Other times, it appears like Antony himself is the one who manipulates things to his favor, casting aside people and realigning himself back to an advantage.

or when he saw an opportunity for faster advancement, he was willing to place the blame on a convenient scapegoat or to disregard previous loyalties, however important they had been. His desertion of Fulvia's memory in 40, and, much later, of Lepidus, Sextus Pompey, and Octavia, produced significant political gains. This characteristic, which Caesar discovered to his cost in 47, gives the sharp edge to Antony's personality which Syme's portrait lacks, especially when he attributes Antony's actions to a 'sentiment of loyalty' or describes him as a 'frank and chivalrous soldier'. In this context, one wonders what became of Fadia.19

Kathryn E Welch , Antony, Fulvia, and the Ghost of Clodius in 47 B.C.

Caesar inherits Antony, and like Brutus, locks him in for a doomed ending.

The way Caesar writes about Antony smacks of someone viewing another person as something more akin to a dog, and it carries over until it’s bitter conclusion.

Caesar benefits from Antony immensely. The people love Antony, the military loves Antony. He’s charming, he’s self aware, he’s good at what he does. Above all of that, he has political ambitions of a similar passion as Brutus.

Antony drew some political benefit from his genial personality. Even Cicero, who from at least 49 did not like him,15 was prepared to regard some of his earlier misdemeanours as harmless.16 Bluff good humour, moderate intelligence, at least a passing interest in literature, and an ability to be the life and soul of a social gathering all contributed to make him a charming companion and to bind many important people to him. He had a lieutenant's ability to follow orders and a willingness to listen to advice, even (one might say especially) from intelligent women.17 These attributes made Antony able to handle some situations very well."1

There was a more important side to his personality, however, which contributed to his political survival. Antony was ruthless in his quest for pre-eminence

Kathryn E Welch , Antony, Fulvia, and the Ghost of Clodius in 477 B.C.

None of this matters, because after all Antony does for Caesar

Plutarch's comment that Curio brought Antony into Caesar's camp is surely mistaken.59 Anthony had been serving as Caesar's officer from perhaps as early as 53, after his return from Syria.60 He is described as legatus in late 52,61 and was later well known as Caesar's quaestor.62 It is more likely that the reverse of the statement is true, that Antony assisted in bringing Curio over to Caesar. If this were so, then he performed a signal service for Caesar, for gaining Curio meant attaching Fulvia, who provided direct access to the Clodian clientela in the city. Such valuable political connections served to increase Antony's standing with Caesar, and to set him apart from other officers in his army.63

Kathryn E Welch , Antony, Fulvia, and the Ghost of Clodius in 477 B.C.

Caesar still, for whatever reasons, fucks over Antony spectacularly with the will. Loyalty is repaid with dismissal, and it will bury the Republic for good.

It’s not enough for Caesar to screw him over just once, it becomes generational and ugly. Caesar lives on through Octavian: it becomes Octavian’s brand, his motif, propaganda wielded like a knife. Octavian, thanks to Caesar, will bring Antony to his bitter conclusion

And for my "bitter" conclusion, I’ll sign off by saying that there are actual scholars on Antony who are more well versed than I am who can go into depth about the Caesar-Octavian-Antony dynamic (and how it played out with Caligula) better than I can, and scholarship on Brutus consists mostly of looking at an outline of a man and trying to guess what the inside was like.

At the end of the day, Caesar was the instigator, active manipulator, and catalyst for the final act of the Republic.

I hope that this was at least entertaining to read!

[porta-decumana]

🔪 …someone my muse hurt in the past & 👑 …someone my muse is jealous of for Cassius. And also a lil kiss for him. Pls.

For the first prompt - Physically or emotionally or does it even matter lmaoooo

I'm sure Cassius has broken his fair share of hearts over the years. However, the knife emoji makes me think it's a physical hurt the prompt wants so let's go with physical. Now, fortunately(?), Cass is not the biggest fan of violence. He fights-- and kills-- only out of necessity which might be kind of ironic given his canonverse job shifts to Reaper. It's hard to name an exact NPC who he's done a violence to and the first one that comes to mind is Valens van Varro because Cassius absolutely throttled the man at least once during his time in the VIIth. He was court martialed for it, probably lucky to still be alive if I'm honest. But I think what kept him from getting executed was Valens enjoying watching Cassius slowly suffer under the realization that he was powerless to stop the Weapon Project. Valens strikes me as the type to torture for a long time before killing and well, Cassius was under his thumb and prime for tormenting.

As far as emotional hurt goes, I mean... I'd say it was more of Gaius emotionally hurting Cass than vice versa but Cass zinged Gaius a few times after they reunited. Stepping on the Black Wolf's feelings out of his own hurt, basically.

For the second prompt - Midas nan Garlond. This came up in a oneshot I wrote a while back. During the first round of his relationship with Gaius, Cassius was actually unaware that Gaius and Midas had been a thing. But he found out a bit after and he immediately panicked. Midas was, of course, more than a minor celebrity in Garlemald, having been a pioneer in all things magitek. He had been wealthy and a very respectable man... and Cassius felt he was an inadequate replacement. He had already been struggling to come to terms with Gaius picking him as a partner but knowing that he was effectively a rebound after Midas and Gaius had broken up made him question his worth more than a handful of times. He also questioned the validity of Gaius's feelings towards him-- was he just a temporary fling until Gaius was done mourning? Did Gaius actually have feelings for him?

Cassius never asked. He never wanted the answer. He was too scared of what it might have been. All he knew was that Midas was far better of a choice than he could have ever been. And the only reason Gaius was in his arms now was because Midas was dead. He felt... undeserving. And part of him still does.

He accepts your kiss gladly btw.