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yuri-is-online · 6 months

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Sometimes the Wallpaper is Just Yellow: A Heartslabyul Color Analysis

This research was inspired by this post by @mothman-files! I am so sorry for @ing you please let me know if you want me to remove it and I will do so ASAP. Thank you for sending my head into a tail spin, I've learned a lot of stuff.

After reading mothman's musings, you might be thinking to yourself like I did: "hey, there is something familiar about red, blue, yellow, and green color coding." And it is, as mothman correctly points out in the notes of their post it is an extremely common trope in anime. The reason was both exactly and not not at all what I expected after I resurfaced from this little detour I took from fic writing.

How well do you know the colors of your oni? Because that's more important than card suits for this particular trope, but to make it all make sense I am going to go through each of the Heartslabyul boys one by one saving Cater for last. With that being said, pack your bags and grab some beans we are going to learn some meditation techniques.

Setsubun and the Beaning of Life

No seriously. It all relates back to beans. As a refresher for those unaware, Setsubun is a Japanese festival celebrated at the start February, the day before spring starts on the Japanese Lunar calendar. It is typically part of Lunar New Year celebrations today, and if you know anything about it from anime you probably know that it's that holiday where the Japanese throw beans at demons to chase them away so they can start the new year without their evil influences. What kind of evil influences? Well according to Buddhist belief there are five main ones that are referred to as the five hindrances: sensory desire (i.e. greed), ill-will (i.e. anger), disquietude (i.e. anxiety), sloth (i.e. unable to make decisions), and doubt (i.e. self explanatory).

Now why is this all relevant? Well I saw it repeated again and again, on some articles about Setsuban that the oni who appear during the festival are COLOR CODED and fucking finally thanks to this beautiful, beautiful person called Matthew Meyer (the Yokai Guy) on Patreon of all places! I found out why. Because a professor of History named Yagi Tōru said so and I am inclined to believe as he is the president of the World Oni Study Society! Which is a thing! And he has written textbooks?!?! I get that this might be a tangent but it is important to me you understand I am not pulling this out of my ass, there is scholarship on this I am not lying to you. So what are those colors?

Red Oni (Greed) Blue Oni (Anger)

The only reason I even tried looking at this angle was because of these two. Everyone say thank you to Aduece. You might have heard "the Red Oni Who Cried" folktale in an anime or two (My Love Story is the first that comes to mind for me) and it is thought to have spawned a sort of character trope in anime. There's a hot headed red coded character and their intellectual blue bestie, or maybe they're twins (FFXIV and Tokyo Rev jump to mind), one of them jumps first and the other asks all sorts of questions, both now and later. When I first saw Aduece I thought they were a clever twist on that trope because they're both trying to fit those color molds but... aren't really making it.

Ace wants to portray himself as an easygoing guy who doesn't think too much about things, but we know that's not true. He is extremely smart, he just refuses to put in maximum effort unless forced. I don't think it's too much of a stretch to classify him as greedy either, but when you are sharing the stage with Azul it can be easy to forget that greed isn't always accompanied by a great work ethic. Ace cheats at cards, makes a deal for a study guide he doesn't need, and sucks up to his senpai's all to make things easier on himself. What he actually needs to do is work bitch and when he does that and only then will he realize his true potential.

Deuce, poor ex-delinquent Deuce. He does think about things before he does them and constantly lectures Ace for just doing whatever he wants without thinking, but he is far from naturally intelligent and prone to outbursts of anger. As soon as he looses his temper, he also looses his rational thought, but he accepts that about himself. That's what allows him to discover his unique magic, he knows he has his own sort of intelligence and is determined to work on what he does not.

Green Oni (Sloth)

I don't really think it is revolutionary to say Trey is a bit of a slacker when it comes to addressing interpersonal issues. He finds it easier to try and keep the peace or manage the fallout than directly address the problem at hand, and he is resistant to doing additional work not assigned by his housewarden. Or required by the school, just look at how "excited" he was to be a starsender. If he was any more unhinged he would have started throwing hands. Sloth as a sin isn't strictly just about being lazy. Apathy, a lack of reaction towards something like say, your friend's control freak tendencies that is clearly him acting out his own trauma can qualify as sloth.

I would like to add, though, that I don't really think it was Trey's responsibility to tell Riddle he was going overboard. That should have been Crowley's job, but that's another post. For now just take green as a sign of dodging emotions and let's go.

Yellow Oni (Disquietude)

As pointed out by mothman-files, Cater is supposed to be yellow, but he is more often portrayed with reds and oranges, pinks even, than yellow. Like them, I don't think it is a coincidence he is associated with orange when that's what happens when you mix red and yellow together. Cater is taking on what he perceives to be the identity of his dorm, and he is extremely dissatisfied, disquieted, and anxious because of that.

Something I think should be considered, NRC freshmen are sixteen years old. Cater is a third year, he's spent around two and a half years at NRC, two and a half years that were relatively stable compared to what he tells us about his previous schooling. I think that he has some genuine dissonance in him that is getting harder for him to ignore because he has played this role longer than the ones he has played previously. Cater the Heartslabyul student, the NRC mage, that is who he is now, and I wonder if he knows how he got to this point or if he feels like he just woke up in someone else's body someday and doesn't know if he likes it.

What's worse is I think he does like his friends, and he is suddenly confronted with how little they actually know about him, what could be more anxiety inducing than that.

Black Oni? (Press X to Doubt)

I don't think Riddle is meant to be the black oni, but I do think it's interesting that the color black is associated with doubt and loss of ones convictions when that is essentially both the cause and color of an overblot. Idia and S.T.Y.X. seem to be focused on emotion + extreme magic use to be what's causing the blot... but the more I roll chapter 7 and all the reading I did for this post around in my head it seems to me that overblots like the ones at NRC seem to be tied to a loss of identity and the shattering of one's perceived reality.

I would also like to mention that I have no idea if any of the cited folklore has anything to do with Yana Toboso's mindset when she created these characters. She seems to be someone who does a lot of research and thinks deeply about symbolism, but this color coding and its associated vices can be found in a lot of anime. She could have just picked up on it from that.

I hope you found this descent into madness informative, and if not at least entertaining. Thank you for your time, I am going to go eat a cookie.

Semi Unrelated Fun Facts:

A lot of this brainrot was inspired by Amnesia, as I stated in a post I already made, but I also was thinking about the song YELLOW by Yoh Kamiyama which I don't fully understand the meaning of, but think it is supposedly about being trapped in a false reality from some of the things I've read.

Back to Amnesia, the yellow diamond in that Visual Novel (I haven't watched the anime adaptation because they did my man Kieth dirty) is the yandere route. Which made me start to think about how often yellow is used as a color for characters with identity issues, like Sailor Venus from Sailor Moon and Amu from Sugo Chara! and led to... this mess

According to this thing I found while trying to look for the professor Yagi Tōru he has a son who is a male voice actor???? I don't have time to look this up someone else do it please.

Please check out the Yokai Guy. You can join his patreon for free, his art is lovely and he saved my sanity. I cannot read Japanese so I almost didn't bother saying anything about this because I knew I wouldn't be able to provide an academic source for it, and that's important to me as someone who has a love of history. Also he has a kick-starter up for an illustrated book of folklore, did I mention his art is lovely?

And lastly a lovely hello to @somany-fandoms-solittle-time who kindly asked to be tagged in this post (つ≧▽≦)つ I hope you liked it.

#twisted wonderland #twisted wonderland x reader #cater diamond #trey clover #ace trappola #deuce spade #riddle rosehearts

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jacksmusesdrv3 · 4 months

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Your twin theory stuff has been going on for quite some time, have you considered making a run down on it because it’s a bit hard to find all your points and information on it because of how long you’ve spent on it and I’m very curious but struggling to put it all together

(Alright, take two since I got stuck for a loooong while)

This is a basic explanation of the Ouma-Monokuma twin theory! I will do my best to condense the concepts down in a way that flows simply and is easily understandable, but it will be hard to cover everything while keeping to the most relevant information. So if this doesn't do the job, I might finish the much longer meta on ao3 at a later date, in which I will cover… everything I possibly can, no holds barred and without the blog links. Which will take considerably longer and need very careful execution. (Yeah, this is the short version…)

General disclaimer: this is a view informed by at least six years of trial and error, ruminating in canon for patterns and their meaning. Through all this, I recognise that it is still a theory, and it doesn't make others’ ideas less meaningful. All the same, I need you to understand that this theory and its analysis is fundamental to my view of Danganronpa as a whole, not just my feelings about Ouma. And in my opinion, the presence of bad writing in DRV3 does not negate that view, either. So if you believe that it does, I hope we can agree to differ on our reader responses instead, after all is said and done. Thank you.

Alright, with that out of the way, dropping this under a cut as it's lengthy. Though rather than a lot of detail on what this means for Ouma's character right now, I'm going to dig through the surface with the basis of reframing, roles, academy history, psychology, narrative style for the mastermind, and the broader consequences, with feelings from my perspective to wrap up. I hope that will help give a perspective of the theory world, so that any evidence I give should fit easier in the future.

⚠️ Reader discretion is advised- this content details abuse further on and will be marked like this! ⚠️

[‘Then this story's not over.’]

The way I see this situation is basically like a 3D sculpture with two different pictures- ‘the fiction’ and ‘the conspiracy’. That is to say- in the ‘fiction’, there are things that are effectively motifs or throwaway remarks (such as, Ouma's comment about having a brother in his FTE), but in the ‘conspiracy’, they become clues to a hidden interconnected situation. A puzzle in the meta, essentially.

To begin, I’ll outline components of this framing, as these are necessary to understand how this turnabout works.

Catbox world: the question hanging in the air, 'is HPA fiction, or is it real'? What would the consequences of the latter be for the game and outside world of DRV3? In order to begin answering this, I think this way:

Domino effect: 'when you learn a new fact, you learn something else along with it'. Ex: if HPA is real, a very large and clandestine organisation may also be real, since one was connected to HPA's library. With that possibility opened, there are… a lot more potential threads coming from it.

Unreliable narrator: is there something Shuichi is missing? In Ouma's lab, along with the complete history file there are monitors and a hatch, and in his dorm room there’s a whiteboard with pictures and notes scrawled on, the latter two Shuichi doesn't even notice. There are things he cannot verify too - such as Rantaro's odd memory of the forgotten Prologue - which is left up to us, the players.

Contextual reframe: with the new information, we can infer for example that record keepers of the past are made obsolete, and since the HPA history was in Ouma's lab, this could make him a viable record keeper. If TDR's agenda is with historical record, its identity may be the secret society involved in conspiracies. This can greatly affect some of Ouma's comments in hindsight- one relevant to this is his FTE remark about ‘tricking the entire world’.

With doubt already on the most basic aspect of the 'fiction' narrative (that is, ‘HPA is fiction’) we can apply this principle to the Flashback Lights and by extension, the idea that the cast must also be fiction, too.

Ex: Shuichi and Kiibo were made to see the Flashback Light panel in a way that was rigged up to be seen- it should not have been visible to multiple persons, so it's likely to have been tampered. We know Shuichi to be helpless with computers, so he would not be able to verify if anything else is amiss (ex. Kubs Pad and other options being withheld). What's more, with ‘fiction things’ - such as the Shukuchi method for Ryoma - being relevant in both the ‘weird backstory’ and in the main narrative, there's a possibility that some of the Lights are real memories or at least closely based on their real experiences.

[‘A liar like me knows their own kind.’]

When you reframe the context in an excessive manner like this, it can also affect known roles, even events and relationships. I reason it beginning like this:

Tsumugi becomes a patsy for Monokuma. Just like the fake Makoto in DR2 led the narrative to trap Hajime, Tsumugi misled others similarly, with incomplete knowledge of her own cospox. That is, her cospox being real in the sense of the effects on her person, doesn't necessarily mean that HPA is fiction, because it's about her perception

Kiibo becomes a patsy for Monokuma, someone whose true (military) nature was obfuscated to himself on a metaphysical level, via code-hijacking. This means that high-powered functions he has are strange to him, and he’s easily manipulated into believing lies about his function (such as ‘strength of a senior citizen’, and the ‘audience surveys’ that he cannot verify)

Ouma becomes Monokuma’s double, like Mukuro taking the identity of Junko, as the monitors and hatch are a direct parallel to Junko. This means that Ouma has a deeper relationship and notably intrinsic connection to Monokuma as well as less freedom from him, likely has extensive knowledge of everyone, and has his own memories. And from that, an incentive to guide people he considers his friends, to minimise himself and his own struggles while working against Monokuma subtly, even to manufacture his disappearance in ch5 to take the fight to Monokuma alone

Shuichi becomes the ‘shadow mastermind’, like Izuru- the ‘traitor protagonist’ who sealed and sabotaged the group’s will to live, while losing his memory of that. This is reflected by Chapter 1's case, wherein he had created the perfect setup for Kaede to enact her own plan to kill, and had conflict over his actions that he had tried to shut away. It also provides context for Ouma being especially wary of Shuichi, noting on the whiteboard to ‘be cautious’ of him, especially if he has a relationship with Monokuma as well.

These are the big four as far as the mastermind agenda is concerned, but another interesting role-reframe is the Monokubs. Remember that Shirokuma and Kurokuma were fragments of the mastermind, and Shirokuma’s role in UDG is to deceive the player? What if the Monokubs had such a situation, split up into comedic personality fragments? Were the melodramas telling some sort of story as well- the story of Monokuma?

If so, there may be some clues from them. But first…

[‘Designed like a school’]

As to the academy’s lost mystery, it’s possible it was originally an experiment. Rantaro’s hunch was that there was ‘someone behind Monokuma’, and in Salmon mode he points out that Monokuma could have ‘taken over the facility’. A bunch of files in Shuichi’s lab suggest that the culprits of the scenarios were noted for their ‘tricks’, likely pertaining to their Ultimate talent.

A concerning matter is that the details of the Gopher Project’s plans were crossed out, with us unable to see why youngsters of Ultimate status were required. Doubly concerning is that Ouma himself appears to have amazing, even supernatural ability, demonstrated in ch5 with his scripting- a talent such as that is in line with Junko’s abilities.

Speaking of that, it must be said that Junko's true ability was left a mystery by the game's end. It was also a subject of much curiosity by HPA, so if Ouma is a supernaturally talented person, that could speak volumes as to his own position. His status as an 'invisible Ultimate’ alone raises questions as to why it has to be hidden, or rather, why he has to obscure it. It could be that he is oppressed by the talent system itself, and if that's the case, perhaps he is its guinea pig along with V3's Monokuma. But it's not just about Ouma's ability- if Monokuma too had a similarly strong supernatural talent and/or circumstance, that could explain not only his posing as a ‘god’, but Angie’s mysteriously intimate knowledge of others' personal ideals through such a ‘god’. That is, if she was possessed by someone with knowledge of the cast's ideals, and who was exploiting them in the Love Hotel.

Moreover, if Ouma and Monokuma were supernaturally gifted, there's a good possibility that if the vault clues were a layered clue symbolic of them- the ‘light’ and ‘dark’ Monokumas depicted on the ‘twins’ clue for the vault - then they were not only siblings, but twins- identical twins. This allows for another ‘report card misidentification’ a la Junko-Mukuro, while the Flashback Light panel refers to the ‘Gamemaster’ rather than ‘ringleader’ (meaning an identical double could interact with it), and from a lore perspective, twins were known in Danganronpa Kirigiri to be the subject of (highly unethical) research, and identical twins would be the most sought after for genetics reasons.

Such research could eventually wind up creating Ouma and his brother - seemingly the highest of any known talents - through a form of eugenics, not unlike Byakuya’s backstory. From there, there's no telling what could have happened…

[‘Eh…?’]

Now I can get to the psychology behind the bear. If a person behind Monokuma had such a past with this academy, traits can be speculated:

⚠️ Content: incest, child abuse, sexual abuse, psych torture/institutionalisation. ⚠️

Vengeful: in ch2, Monokuma suggests he may hate the cast for something, and tells them to ‘work for the answer’. Interestingly, Monotaro (leader persona) makes note of ‘red lies’ in the Salmon mode, and red lies are for revenge.

Extremely traumatised and mentally ill: if it is Ouma’s brother, and he’s wearing a straitjacket, this could imply institutional abuse. Monokuma’s behaviours in ch3 (a mental shutdown) and ch4 (depression) could denote severe mental damage, and having the academy cleared of bugs gives credence to him having an affliction with bugs like Ouma ( foaming at the mouth and passing out).

Depraved: in ch4, Ouma noted he would ‘strangle the one he loves’ to ‘keep his eyes on him’, and appears to play a similar threatening, possessive role in the Love Hotel. Implied in the Monokubs’ melodrama, Monokuma may have coerced his own sibling into having relations- though he may have forgotten his sibling entirely due to trauma.

People pleaser: Ouma says that he ‘lies to entertain people’ in his Salmon mode ending, which could reflect his persona (Monokuma)’s desires. It may be that his desire to ‘not be boring’ feeds into this persona, too, as it's something so serious to him that it was shown as basically a dying wish.

In this sense, the mastermind can be similar to Monaca- as she took control over the city (while Monokuma stated to have taken over the country), became mentally ill as a result of the abuse inflicted on her, lied (about an injury) in order to make her abusers nicer to her, and became depraved in a way childish and sadistic (in how she toys with Kotoko and Nagisa, for instance). There's also the narrative effect of obscuring her trauma with unreliable narrator, and even Monaca’s own warped sense of humour that obscures it in tandem.

[Twin with supernatural talent (Junko Enoshima), a result of experimentation (Izuru Kamukura), childishness complex (Monaca Towa) and all combined (Kokichi Ouma)]

For narrative styles, DRV3's Monokuma is a culmination of approaches to make the game’s mystery truly warped to its core. Taking the masterminds’ actions from the past games:

Junko selectively picked photographs to sow discord about the group’s reality

AI Junko (a plant by Izuru) tried to lead Hajime into making a choice without proper context

Monaca led Komaru through a growth journey to use her for impact at the end

These can be attributed to:

the Flashback Lights- some real, others ‘rotten apples’, but overall context is dubious

the ‘It is fiction’ declaration- may be a leading question, again with dubious context

Shuichi’s ‘confidence growth’- that makes him more credible to those watching outside

(As for ‘context being dubious’, it should be noted that the Twilight mystery has a similar vibe in terms of how it is chopped up and misrepresented on the first viewing. This is particularly interesting when you factor in the mixed Kubs Pads giving other characters information.)

Speaking of ‘using’, Monokuma talks about how someone could be used by expressions of gratitude. In parallel to this, Shuichi is talking about how he was happy to be ‘useful to others as a detective’, and regards their gratitude personally. But it’s concerning that Shuichi and his history is a topic for ‘Monokuma Theatre’, when you factor in what Monaca did in UDG.

The basic concept is: with Monokuma’s agenda towards the end being to throw out foreshadowing and mystery - to deny its purpose - he wants you to make the decision of ignoring the heart, discarding the mystery and the path to the answer. In this sort of vague and unnerving way, a ‘hidden mastermind’ is like a progression of Monaca’s style. Symbolically, Shuichi’s journey seems to be one where he is on the fringe of going astray the entire time, and in this reading, he ultimately does with the loss of the game's mystery.

What follows is the player's re-examination of the canon context and in this case, a ‘salvage effort’ of what was lost. And ultimately, in the quagmire of broken context, Ouma's mixed relationship with Shuichi is fuel for thought, because his cryptic behaviour - like the game he plays in his FTE - keeps you guessing on what he's been trying to say.

[Members… of what?]

So, factoring in earlier recontextualisation - of the large organisation likely spanning the world - is the idea brought up during Ouma's FTE, that I question like this: could Shuichi have joined a nefarious organisation after all, and following in Salmon mode: is there any indicator Ouma has concerns about Shuichi’s intentions in general (that is, regardless of whether or not his past self would have been capable of less-than-moral decisions)?

What about others in the cast- a Prime Minister who had run away from her post, a military robot, a super inventor, an assassin? An artist with odd brainwashing powers, a musician with the ability to connect to others’ hearts through music? Because given that the DR2 group had affected the world with their talents after being manipulated, it's possible that the V3 group’s talents had a similar part to play, too. For instance, Kaito’s FTE detailed the possibility of communicating with aliens, and trading technology with them- and as it happens, there is notably a very weird technology in the academy, capable of ridiculous feats. This kind of unknown in the narrative speaks of a whole world that we barely know, even now.

If this kind of world is what Ouma is burdened by, something beyond the protagonist's understanding, that too is a story waiting to be told. And his strange interactions with Shuichi could be at the heart of this story…

[‘Just hit the reset button on your feelings’]

As for the relationship with Shuichi, that is particularly difficult to give in evidence- partly given the culprit in his backstory, and how if Monokuma was that culprit - someone with a strong agenda against Shuichi - that might link to both twins. But due to the death of one of the siblings in that backstory, it warrants a supernatural idea such as resurrection, that has yet to be proven viable in-universe. If we remember Angie having a weird supernatural air about her though, and that she was implied to be in a cult, you could still infer that cults were involved in the supernatural. It’s entirely possible that a high-profile cult had come to the point of using resurrections, although that’s very much deeplore, as is the supernatural in general.

So while I can’t say too much about technical lore, like with the organisation, I can talk about the vibes I have with the theory, to focus on a sense of grounding in character instead:

“Ouma and Monokuma are both sidelined by the narrative. A not-insignificant part of that was caused by Shuichi in his past, even if he was led into the cause unwittingly, and the actions of Shuichi’s present self in missing memories. As a result, Ouma is in a nerfed position during the game despite his supernatural talent. Unable to say anything without surveillance, he is under a great deal of stress and pent up, ambivalent feelings - not least towards Shuichi and Monokuma - that he tries mostly to deflect. After all, it would not do to give too much away, and ruin his own plans.”

I have a detailed ‘song lyric analysis’ of sorts to tie to this, as a way of exploring feelings. Part of the reason I’d go this far, is Ouma as the designated ‘narrative scapegoat’ has always just fit well for me, given that the cast is shown to struggle with their treatment of him. Even leaving analysis aside, I feel it would be very satisfying (cathartic, even!) to explore an angle where he was suppressed, and that his position was legitimately the consequence of others actions right from the start, making the whole ‘pretending to be a villain’ situation even more painfully ironic.

Plus it would be a welcome change from the notion of ‘misguided morally-grey antagonist who needs to change’, in my opinion, as Ouma’s unchanging self is something I hold particularly strongly. So instead of the arc of drastic change, the thing to explore would be how he functions and struggles with others (in mundane as well as grand ways), and also gets them to change, to understand him. It would also be interesting to expand on the theme of talent abuse, to have a Monokuma who was a product of the corrupt talent system- rather like Izuru was, but this time fully present in the narrative, and in tandem with someone else connected to him.

Overall, I feel that a situation where the protagonist thinks he’s won, while a mysterious someone has been struggling in the sidelines to affect change, is a real goldmine for a mystery situation. Especially from replaying the game, and picking up odd signs that something may not have been what it seemed. There may not be much to go from there (as things stand right now, at least) but the palpable frustration means that through this perspective, I can - at times very viscerally - imagine Ouma’s frustration and powerlessness. That alone colours the game and the interactions in a whole new light for me.

I hope this helped clarify at least some of what the heck is going on- and why I would even see Ouma this way at all, if it’s so convoluted. I have struggled to put it into words all this time, but with the pieces flying in my face from every direction, it’s hard to not try putting them together. I usually don’t game on Hard Mode like this, but something about Ouma compels me- whatever Kodaka’s intentions, I believe him when he says Danganronpa V3 is without end.

Thank you for reading!

#drv3 #kokichi ouma #monokuma V3 #V3's Theory of Vengeance #king horse twins #long long long!!#SERIOUSLY FUCKING LONG #LONGER THAN THE 'HORSE TWINS' ONE #I'm really trying to run down on everything necessary #but I'm losing track myself honestly #so uh. I hope this helps!?!#dr psychology #other dr #talent oppression

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karniss-bg3 · 8 months

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Well since we’ve started speculatin’ already—- what do you think a good Kar’niss companion quest would be? Finding memories of who he used to be? Exacting revenge as well? Maybe just coming to accept himself and calm the eff down through FRANDSHIP. Maybe his whole quest is just slowly learning to trust tav more until completely aligning his goals with theirs (so if ur dark urging he will twitchily ask when it’s time to kill somethin; if you are not he wants to be a good nice boy).

There are lots of directions to take Kar'niss in. For the sake of time I'll focus more on the "good" paths as I think the bad are easier to predict.

-His top priority would be finding a way to undo his transformation. His drider shape is arguably very cool but it's not comfortable. Driders are in constant pain, not to mention it'd be hell on earth trying to fit into surface society looking as he does. What if Tav is a shorter lived race? Drow can live for up to 750 years and we have no idea how old Kar'niss is. If Tav dies and Kar'niss is still a drider, who will be left to protect him from dark entities that would use him for coin or other means? So I think from a storyline standpoint, that'd likely be Kar'niss' main goal.

-Another option is, as you mentioned, revenge. If Tav breaks him from the Absolute's hold and he realizes that he's been used he will become enraged and gung-ho to take them out.

-The third, which can run in conjunction with the other two, is healing his broken mind. I've mentioned this before but I don't believe Kar'niss can ever fully recover. It's simply not how trauma works. People may find ways to cope, to go on with their lives and maintain a speck of normalcy, but the damage is already done. He will have bad days, he may even continue to have psychotic breaks that Tav will have to find ways to work around. That doesn't mean his situation is hopeless of course. He'll still be grateful to have some sense of autonomy returned to him, to have someone close by that loves him for who he is, flaws and all. In return Tav gains someone who is incredibly loyal and affectionate, a protector and a confidant.

His is, like most of the companions, a sad case. I feel like BG3's main theme is about different kinds of trauma and how people cope. It's a nice narrative through-line and Kar'niss is primed to be included in the growing list of sad meow meows folks keep running into.

Thanks for the ask!

#baldur's gate 3 #kar'niss #drider #bg3 #karniss #baldurs gate 3 #answered #speculation #drow

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stedebonnit · 7 months

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Okay but what if Ed and Stede occasionally have guests at their little inn that are not safe to be openly gay around, and the first time this happens they convince themselves they can just pretend to be friends, that'll be easy!! But every time they look at each other they just can't stop themselves from getting all lovey or pushing each other into a closet to fuck. They get caught and threatened, so they just kill that guy, of course.

"But," Ed says, "thats no way to run a good business."

They can't make a habit of killing every rich guy who visits just because they don't like gay people. They'd never get any stuffy rich guests that way, and while they're certainly not the only rich people, they also don't want to limit their market that way.

So, the next time a rich fucker comes to visit they decide pretending to be friends doesn't work, so instead they'll just have to have one of them dress as a woman. Stede offers, saying Ed already had to learn the high society rules for men and this is a lot of information in a short time before their guest arrives, so it'll probably be easier if Stede does it, he'll know how to act like these people expect women to act. Ed agrees, of course, but the second he sees Stede in the pretty dress (and right after having sex with Stede about it because damn he looks good in that dress) Ed finds himself daydreaming about wearing it himself. He'd make a pretty lady, too, wouldnt he?

So once this guy leaves with a promise that he'll tell all his buddies to come and visit, too, Ed turns to Stede and goes "can I be the lady next time? I want to try to the dress."

Stede eagerly agrees, now that Ed has seen the way to be a fancy high society lady it should be easy for him to repeat the process, and besides, it means Stede (who has begun to make his own clothes) can make Ed a custom fit dress for the occassion that suits him even better, and Stede always loves to take on a fun new project!

When the time rolls around and Ed is dressed up for their next guest (and after Stede has fucked Ed thoroughly about it because HE looks hot as hell in his dress), Stede starts fussing over the dress.

"It would look nicer if you tied it like this-"

"Fuck off, I like the way I tied it."

"I'm just saying you could-"

"I could, but I don't want to," Ed snips, smacking Stede's hands away with the fancy little fan he made for himself.

"Its just it would really look nice if-"

Ed frowns, then it dawns on him.

"You're just jealous that I get to be the pretty one this time!"

Stede blushes "Pft. No! Besides, you were plenty pretty last time, too."

"Yeah, but you miss wearing the dress and having all the fancy frills and extra lace."

"...maybe. Only a little bit."

"Well I'm the girl this time, you promised!"

"Yes, of course, I know! Thats fine, of course-"

"But maybe we can take turns? You know, both get an equal number of chances to be frilly and shit."

Stede grins.

"I'd like that."

And so every time they have one of those guests, and even sometimes when they don't, they switch up who gets to wear the pretty dresses, and Stede gets busy making plenty more options for them both. Ed, in the meantime, has taken up the hobby of making a variety of accessories. Fans, bows, hair pieces. They both get incredibly talented at various updos that work for each of their hair types.

One time, when a familiar face is visiting, one who doesn't mind seeing two men in love, they decide its the perfect time for them both to dress up for the weekend, and they have a truly lovely time both getting to be fancy and frilly together for a weekend in their fancy dresses. Their guests don't question it.

#ofmd #our flag means death #ofmd s2 spoilers #gentlebeard #blackbonnet #d speaks #mine #ofmd ficlet

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tieflingtareon · 7 months

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My love, are you the devil? (Oh, call me a devil)

Chapter 30 | Words: 7.3k

Summary: Astarion found himself often surprised by his heroic companion. He had one goal. To become the favoured companion of the group, to earn the Tieflings loyalty, to make Tar'eons strength his own. Yet Tar'eon isn't like the usual target of his manipulations. Despite his naivety, he does not seem gullible. There is something very wrong with their 'leader' to begin with. Astarion isn't sure if he wants to control it or eradicate the threat it posed. But can he really do either when Tar'eon himself seems so...unwaveringly kind?

AO3 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/50668558/chapters/127995079

“What the Hells was that?” Astarion grabbed Tar’eons sleeve as the tiefling continued to walk down the hall, seemingly in a trance. “Stop and talk to me, dammit!” He hissed.

Tar’eon turned to him and opened his lips, but nothing came out. He didn’t know what to say.

“How long were you there…? How much did you hear?”

“Enough.” Astarion scowled. “He had quite the coronation.” His skin still felt tight from the thunder wave the man had downed him with. He hadn’t been expecting it — he felt like a fool, being caught off guard so easily, and that burned more than any wound.

“How much did you hear, Astar?” Tar’eon begged for him to speak plainly and Astarion frowned.

“…You were taking too long. I came up the stairs around the same time he was being ordained. Hells, you even gave your blessing. I didn’t hear much before he was manhandling you.” Astarion gritted his teeth. “If you were so desperate for another lover you could have asked, darling, no need for secrets.” He drawled.

“It’s not like that.” Tar’eon sighed, rubbing between his brows. His headaches were only getting worse as time went on. He hated this. He needed to kill Orin and get this Urge sorted out. “It’s— I’ll explain everything tonight, okay?”

“You always say that! You always say you’ll explain later, and then it’s like pulling teeth from a feral animal, the way you refuse to tell me everything. I tell you almost everything, I let you know it all, and it’s like you don’t care to give me the same courtesy. We’re in this together, Tar’eon. Or should I call you ‘Tir’yal’?”

“Please don’t. You…you’re pronouncing it wrong anyway.” Tar’eon grimaced.

“Apologises, but it’s not every day that you learn your lover has another name they never bothered to tell you about. I haven’t exactly had time to practice it.” He glowered, crossing his arms.

“It’s — Look, that name is my infernal name. I was given it by my- my father, I think.” Had Bhaal ever bothered to name him? Or had he been raised outside of the temple until a certain age? Who took care of him when Father couldn’t? His butler? He couldn't remember anything of his childhood outside that young man, no older than twenty, with white and black hair, burns streaking across his face, black ink consuming half his features. The face the Emperor had stolen to gain his trust.

“Not all tiefling’s have infernal names — depending on where you’re from, a lot of parents will stick with more humanoid names for their children so they fit into society better. 'Tar’eon' is how I get by easier without people turning their noses up at the introduction of a foulblood.” He explained. “If you have both an infernal and a common name, it’s typical for only fellow tieflings or fiends to use it, and only those you’re close with for that matter.”

“From what I’ve seen of him, Lord Gortash doesn't have an ounce of devil blood in him, so why can he call you that, hm?” Astarion quirked a brow, looking unimpressed.

“Because…I don’t know. He knows the language, maybe, and my past self…let him call me that.”

“Yes, you were close in the past. I figured as much.” Astarion sneered.

“Don’t. Don’t judge me for things I can’t remember. For the person I don’t know.” Tar’eon narrowed his eyes. “You think this is easy for me? Karlach hates Enver for all the right fucking reasons and I’m the one stuck here, bargaining with him to benefit this team, knowing how upset she’ll be with me."

"You even call him Enver, Gods-"

"We need his Steel Watch with us, not against us. Not if we want to go through the city freely and find Orin. We can't get on his bad side."

“Orin this, Orin that — you’re so bloody obsessed with her! Why? Because she calls you her kin?”

“Because she’s the reason I remember none of it!” He snapped, hands fisted at his sides. “She’s the reason I’m here, she’s the reason I’m floundering through life, and she mocks me every step of the way! I have never felt more justified in killing someone before for the sake of myself, and I cannot wait to sink my knife into her back like she did to me.”

Astarion stared him, expression blank.

“…I understand. Betrayal - it twists something ugly inside you and it can only be sated by revenge. I won’t deny you the pleasure of your kill. But you’re keeping secrets from me, and I know it. I only hope you come clean sooner rather than later.” Astarion walked past him and Tar’eon deflated with a sigh.

“I promise you; everything. All of it. I will tell you all of it tonight.”

“I hope you keep that promise, for both of our sake's. I don't see the point in sharing myself with someone who shares nothing back.”

Tar’eon pursed his lips. Some things were best left unsaid…but he meant it. He would tell Astarion everything about where he came from tonight. He’d tell all of them.

****

Mizora's words rang in his ears as he made his way up the stairs to the office above. He may lack a stone, but he was willing to take his chances. This wasn't his life on the line - it was Wyll's fathers. He needed to remain one step ahead of the devil.

Casting invisibility on himself and leaving his party behind so suddenly would probably only anger them more, but he did not have the energy to fight them after Mizora's promise of a visit. He wanted to make this conversation quick and return as soon as possible.

He stood outside the office, heart in his throat as he hesitantly opened the door, surprised to find it without a lock, the wood giving the faintest creak. Stepping inside, if felt like stepping into a different life. Something that didn’t quite fit his skin anymore, but still it felt strangely like the nostalgia that came with a childhood home. It wasn't the room itself that was familiar, but the air. He looked around curiously and his eyes widened when he saw Enver.

He didn’t know what he was expecting. Perhaps an array of guards in a dingy office that lacked much natural light, but there was nothing. The room was far more spacious compared to the memory of before, brighter, but still as messy from what he saw on the table, piled in books and maps and empty ink pots, discarded broken quills scattered across the wood. Tar'eon walked further into the spacious area, looking around for Enver, only to find him tucked away at a desk in the corner of a room, partially hidden by a large bookshelf. The smaller space felt a lot more like home than the open area of grandeur.

Enver himself…wasn’t awake. He was sleeping, back to him. He was sitting in his office chair, a leather bound chair held together with cherry red wood, his head propped up against the knuckles of his fist, eyes closed. His other hand laid on the desk, a quill between his unarmoured fingers. He hadn’t considered it before, but the design was likely purposeful so he could still write comfortably. Being a Lord, and now an Archduke, he probably wrote a lot. There was a stack of papers beside him as evidence.

Slowly, he approached, taking in the small space caved out in the large office. It smelt like dust and parchment, and the air felt like static energy about to zap him. Tar’eon wouldn’t have noticed it if he hadn’t been hyper vigilant to magical barriers. Enver had warded himself against being surprised if seemed. A good choice, considering who he was. When he said he had many enemies, he wasn’t lying.

Tar’eon pushed past the barrier, waiting for the man to react, to wake, but he did not rouse. Slowly, he came to his side and laid a hand on his shoulder, shaking gently. He heard a click, and he was slammed into the desk before he could even react, caught off guard by the others quick reflexes. There was a clatter, a ghostly mage hand stealing his blade before he could even think to reach for it, the edge of the mahogany desk pressing uncomfortably into his back, his legs barely holding him up at the awkward angle. He grunted.

He felt something sharp against his throat and held his breath, seconds ticking by as Enver’s dark eyes pinned him down just as efficiently as his forearm against his chest. The clatter he heard had been his cane. He was gripping the golden handle, a dagger hidden within reach at all times. It wasn’t just for decoration or an old injury - it was a weapon. The perfect weapon for anyone attempting to sneak up on him. He should have been scared - but something about this scene felt strangely familiar, like deja vu.

“I tire of your games, Orin. Or are you one of her shifters?” Enver’s voice was cold, calculated, and it was far different from the warmth he had spoken to him with earlier.

“It’s me — I’m not one of her goons, I promise.”

“If it’s actually you, then I apologise.” Enver’s knee dug into his hip, grinding against bone as he pressed his elbow to his throat so he could pull up his sleeve. Tar’eon grunted, fighting against his hold, but the mage hand had a grip on his hair, keeping him in place.

A hot, sharp pain burned through his forearm as the blade sliced through flesh — it wasn’t a surface cut either. He felt it dig into muscle, and he clenched his teeth with a long, drawn out growl. Enver watched him closely for a long moment, blood spilling onto his desk alongside the ink pot Tar'eon knocked over, the cool ink staining his hair, neck and ear.

Then, he released him as quickly as he had pinned him, the mage hand disappearing. He wiped the dagger against his pant leg is a movement that reminded him of Astarion, slipping the blade back into the length of his cane, clicking it into place.

“You have no idea how many times her goons have used your likeness, Tir’yal. Thankfully, most of them cannot keep your form without much needed concentration, but I can break it to reveal beneath the mask. It can be a...bloody process, I'm afraid. So you’re either you, or Orin. Orin doesn’t react to pain the same way that you do though. She enjoys it too much — and put on the waterworks.” Enver sat back with a grunt, tired eyes on the tiefling who placed a hand over his wound to stifle the blood. "You've never been much of the tearful type when it comes to pain."

“What a friendly welcome.” Tar’eon bit out.

"Please, this is hardly the first time I've stabbed you. Wouldn't be the first time you've stabbed me either, if you're feeling daring."

"Why...did I stab you before?" Tar'eon frowned and Enver chuckled, pulling out his desk drawer and reaching into it, tossing a roll of bandages to him. Tar'eon barely caught it, grimacing at the blood he got on the white bandages.

"Plenty of reasons. You never tried to kill me though. I dare say you were the only person who didn't want to. We had a mutual respect for each others strengths."

"I'm rethinking not killing you." Tar'eon huffed and sat on the edge of the desk, wrapping his bloodied arm up with a shaky hand. It fucking hurt. Enver hadn't given him any mercy in his 'test', but Tar'eon refused to give him grief over it. "You need to work on your barriers. If I could get past it without you waking, I'm sure Orin could too."

"She can't." Enver assured.

"You didn't wake when I passed through it. Obviously, your warding needs improvement." He tightened the bandage and grimaced, tucking it into itself. He wiped his bloody hand off on his pants.

"You're the only one who can pass through." Enver looked at him like he was stupid. "I've used these wards for quite some time. My office is where I spend most days and nights. Only people with no 'ill intent' can pass through undetected. I've never had anyone but you pass that requirement. Though, it did take half a year before it stopped detecting you." He smirked.

"I..." Tar'eon frowned. He wasn't sure how to feel about that. "We...really were close, weren't we?"

Enver actually laughed.

"The closest." Enver smirked. "I knew your secrets, and you knew mine. Of course, we couldn't speak of certain things because it would be a betrayal to Bane or your Father, Bhaal, such as the temples location, but...when it came us," He gestured to himself and then Tar'eon. "We were well read books to each other."

Suddenly, his smile fell, expression impassive as he pursed his lips.

"Though, I notice you're lacking carnage, blood, and a stone. I have faith in your brutality, but not even Orin is that swift. It hasn't even been an hour from my guess." Enver did not seem pleased.

"This isn't about the stone. I..." He gritted his teeth. "I need a favour. Or, I'm making an offer. A negotiation. For the future of our alliance."

Enver sat further back in his chair, watching Tar'eon. Examining the tightness in his muscles, the stiff way he sat on the desk. He was anxious. Interesting. He slowly clinked each finger against the arm of his chair, sharp metallic nails a satisfying sound against pristine wood.

"After your fanged friend attacked me in my own home? After you barged into my office and disturbed my rest? Staining my new desk while you were at it." Tar'eon could feel how thin the man's patience was becoming. "You certainly have guts...I would think you stupid if I didn't know you were the opposite. I will allow this impertinence. But only once."

"You've been fairly honest with me, so I will be honest with you." He forced himself to meet his eyes, refusing to look away as he spoke. "I don't fear your Steel Watch. If I wanted to, I could kill Orin, and then you, and it would be no sweat off my back. I have a wizard prodigy, a githyanki warrior, a solider who served in the Hells for ten years, a rogue who can get anywhere and pick his way through any lock, a warlock apt in the blade, two clerics who don't mind a little blood, a high Harper, a fierce druid, and the child of a Goddess. I do not fear you. My agreement with you if because you're useful...and because it seems my past self cared for you quite a lot."

Enver remained quiet, but his eyes were burning with something. It wasn't anger though.

"Those are just the people who travel with me. I have even more allies all over this city. I could kill anyone who got in my way. But I don't want to kill you. That is the honest truth."

"I'm hurt, you said I'd make a pretty corpse once. That I'd be your final grand murder before the world turned to ash." Enver drawled. "I know you have no intention to kill me, not yet anyway, or you wouldn't have gotten past my wards. Get to the point before I decide to make mince meat of your camp."

"...I could killed anyone. Except Mizora." He admitted. "Her fate is linked to my companions. He was only seventeen when he made the deal, but he did it for the sake of his home. The very home you are now sworn to protect. He's a good man. Wyll Ravenguard."

Enver's eyes lit up, sitting up straighter.

"Oh. The son of Ulder Ravenguard. I see. You're making a deal on his behalf."

"I am." Tar'eon sighed. "I managed to convince Mizora to let Wyll free of his pact in six months time. She knows how much he loves his father, estranged or not. That man respects him so much, even when he sent him away from the home he protected while he was gone." He shook his head. "He was a kid, and his father made him out to be a monster, and then told him to leave the only home he'd ever known. The home he become a monster to save. I might not like him, but Wyll loves him."

Tar'eon couldn't understand how Wyll didn't resent him, but the man told him resentment was something he never wanted to hold onto as a person. It was a weight, and Wyll was not looking to be tied down to it. He grew up with Ulder, and he assured Tar'eon that being unable to tell him about the pact only made it seem like he was inviting the devil into his home. Something he couldn't allow as a Duke.

He chose being a Duke over being a father in Tar'eons eyes, but his opinion didn't matter. Wyll's did.

"I know you intend to get rid of him. He's a threat to your status. But by Gods, if you harm him, I will destroy your Watchers until it is metal scraps beneath my feet. I will turn the people against you. I will tell them everything, show them everything. Even if it means damning myself with you."

"You want me to keep a threat to my ruling around? Our ruling?" Enver barked a laugh. "You never did understand the intricacies of politics, my dearest."

"I won't ask you to free him of the tadpole's command. I know you'd never agree to that. All I ask is that you keep him in your fortress, unharmed, and far away from Mizora's hands or any prison you might think about letting him rot in."

"And what am I to get out of this deal?" Enver challenged, gesturing with one hand for Tar'eon to speak, to offer up something that would make any of it worthwhile.

"That's where we negotiate. Name your price for Ulder Ravenguard's life."

"Well, you've already agreed to get Orin's stone for me, so I'm not sure there's anything else I could want from you." Tar'eon was certain this man had been raised by devils, the way he spoke. Every word felt deliberate, yet suave, twisting it around on the desperate soul to get what they wanted.

"No enemies you want me to kill?"

"Unless you plan on going to the Hells yourself." Enver chuckled.

"I can see about it." Tar'eon offered. "We might have a couple common enemies, you and I. Name your devil, and I'll have them killed." Enver actually looked like he might be considering it, golden talons scratching along his jaw.

"...An old friend of mine. Nothing as formidable as Zariel or Mephistopheles, and not your lovely devil mistress, Mizora. His name is Raphael. If you manage to kill him, I'll consider keeping Ulder Ravenguard alive."

"You will. If I kill Raphael for you, you will keep him alive. No conditions. I kill him and he lives." Enver tutted and leaned back in his chair, watching Tar'eon closely. He beckoned him closer with two fingers, and Tar'eon hesitated before standing, stepping closer, the toe of his boot nudging Enver's. Enver reached up and grasped his either side of his jaw with one hand, tugging him down to meet his dark gaze.

"You know, I've missed you. It's almost fun, knowing you don't remember our time as partners in crime. I'd like nothing more than to show you how well he worked together." Tar'eon swallowed and Enver smirked. "Kill Raphael, and return to me with his horns in tow. I'd like to make them into paperweights. And don't forget Orin's stone, either. Once you have both of those...you will join me for dinner." Tar'eon pursed his lips.

"If you're asking me to spend the night with you, the answer is no. I have a lover. I'm not willing to ruin what I have with Astarion for a one night stand. Raphael's horns and Orin's stone, and that's it."

"And dinner." Enver smiled. "That's non-negotiable if you want Duke Ravenguard to get my utmost hospitality and sanctuary."

Tar'eon gritted his teeth, his heart skipping a beat as the hand on his jaw lowered to throat, holding it just as gently as he had in the memory. Like he was cradling his life in his hand, and enjoying it thoroughly.

"And maybe...you can play for me again." Tar'eon sucked in a sharp breath, berating his body for reacting to those words. He knew instinctive that playing for Enver was more than just music to them both.

"...Fine. Dinner, and maybe a song. Happy?"

"Very. You're quite good at this - negotiations. In future though, I think I'll take the lead." Enver smirked and released his throat. Tar'eon stood straighter, thankful for the mans human hearing compared to Astarion's vampiric hearing, or else his excitement would be far too noticeable for his liking. That cleared up one thing at least. Their previous relationship had definitely been sexual, if nothing else. His body remembered its own cues far too well. He couldn't tell if there had been any real love between them; perhaps it simply wasn't possible back then, living the lives they did. The only love they could truly have was for their Gods.

"Now go. I'm a busy man. If you return empty-handed again, consider our alliance mute." He warned and Tar'eon nodded sharply, making to leave the room as swiftly as possible, barely past the table when Enver spoke again, eyes focused on the papers in front of him, quill in hand. "Oh, and Tir'yal? If you happen upon a warlock by the name of Nubaldin in your journey...Give him a good kick for me, would you? Tell him it was under the orders of Archduke Enver Gortash."

Tar'eon raised a brow before nodding silently, making his way out of the room. When he joined his party back at the bridge to the Lower City, Astarion was gone. Jaheria looked rather unimpressed by his return, as well as Shadowheart.

"I can't believe you left like that without telling us. Where on Toril did you go?"

"I was securing Duke Ravenguard's safety. From the way Mizora spoke, I wasn't chancing wasting any time with a fight if the lot of us went back inside. It was easier to make myself invisible and try my hand alone."

"You could have gotten yourself killed." Jaheria scowled. "Do not act so rashly next time. If we are to work together, I expect some communication at the very least. A toddler could manage that."

"I'm sorry. Where's Astarion?"

"He left. Threw a fit at your disappearance and said he was going back to camp for the day." Shadowheart didn't seem to disagree with the vampires actions. She looked rather annoyed by his vanishing act too. "You managed to secure the Dukes safety, how?"

"I struck another bargain. I knew he wouldn't hand him over to us - but I managed to make him agree to leave the man unharmed in the Fortress. Away from Mizora, or any jail cell."

"And what exactly did you offer that slimeball of a politic?" Jaheria quirked a brow.

"...I told him I'd kill Raphael."

"You what?" Shadowheart's eyes widened. "You expect us to kill Raphael? He'd hardly allow it."

"The last we saw of him, he's in the brothel. Alone. It wouldn't be a hard feat if we put our muscle into it, I'm sure. He's not untouchable."

"We cannot expect to defeat a devil without leverage." Jaheria shook her head. "We must find his weakness before we decide to strike."

"She's right. If Gortash wanted him dead, and it was as easy as taking his head, he would have sent his Steel Watch to do so the moment Raphael came into the city." Shadowheart warned. Tar'eon frowned but considered her words.

"Fine...He'll keep his end of the bargain as long as I deliver the stone and Raphael's head in time. We won't strike today. Let's explore the city first, and hope we stumble upon something helpful. A weakness."

"You're out of your mind..." Shadowheart shook her head. "I'm not happy about your deal with Gortash. Not after everything he did to Karlach. But I see the benefits of it; I'll be hunted enough as it is by any Sharrans in the city. We don't need the Steel Watch drawing attention to us too."

"Sometimes you must walk amongst the filth in order to rise above it. I won't say I haven't played the long game before to my advantage. It is sometimes necessary to avoid battle until battle must be done." Jaheria crossed her arms. "Let us go. There is still plenty of daylight to guide us. We shall see to Mizora and her tricks this evening."

Tar'eon nodded sharply.

"Thank you...both of you. I know I've put you both in a position you're not comfortable with. I really am trying to do what's best for us though. We won't have to skulk around the city now; we can walk freely, and hopefully, find this Minsc you speak of and the victims."

"You are our leader. You've helped me through perilous fights and being by your side has given me the chance to live my own life. If it weren't for you, I might still be stuck in that pod, without the woman I've come to care deeply for. You're always trying to do the right thing. I trust you, even if I may not like some of the decisions you make." Shadowheart gave a small smile. "Come on. Jaheria is right. We've spent enough time chatting. We have to-be-victims to find. Preferably before they're dead."

"Agreed. Let's go." Tar'eon turned to his left, almost expecting Astarion to be there, but he knew he wouldn't be. He pursed his lips. He only hoped Astarion would forgive him once he explained everything properly. There was more pressing matters at hand right now.

He would find Bhaal's cultists, his temple, and he would spill carnage in the form of his dearest blood kin.

****

It was already dark when they made it back. They had managed to find a few victims - some deceased and some alive - but no direction to Orin just yet.

"Wyll!" Tar'eon called out as he jogged up to the warlock who was chatting with Gale, Yenna beside the wizard and petting her cat Grub as she listened intently to their conversation.

"Tar'eon?" Wyll looked up in surprise and smiled. "Your lot are back rather late; dinner will need to be heated, but nothing a little magic can't manage."

"Mizora, she's-" Before he could explain, a ring of fire fell before them, Gale snatching Yenna up quickly and shielding her behind him, Yenna's head peeking her head out from behind, Grub shivering in her arms and mewling in terror. Like he knew something was deeply wrong with the creature before him.

"What in the Hells?!" Gale glared at the woman as she spoke an incantation, more fiends coming to appearing from the Hells, dressed in similar attire. Gale sidestepped a ring of fire and shooed Yenna off towards Jaheria's tent, the Harper ushering her inside as she drew her blades, waiting for a fight.

"You always have to arrive in style, don't you, Mizora?" Astarion drawled, arms crossed over his chest, Karlach beside him, burning red hot at the sight of the devils, fingers gripping tighter around her greataxe. Shadowheart's hands glowed with the faintest light, a radiant beam of magic ready to be dispelled at any given moment, Aylin and Isobel at her back. Even Halsin looked on edge, Scratch and the Owlbear cub behind his large frame, Lae'zel watching idly from beside him.

"Meet my sisters," Mizora grinned. "Be my testament, sisters!" Tar'eons stomach churned as she spoke infernal and they repeated her words in agreement. To think the Sisters of Justice would join them this evening - Mizora was hear to bargain with Wyll once more, and he knew it.

"Holy hells..." Wyll breathed.

"Please, introduce me to your sisters." Tar'eon narrowed his eyes.

"Feena, Cirrus." Mizora gestured to each sister. "Arbiters for the Hells, exemplars of justice."

"Enough games, Mizora- ugh!" Wyll held his head as Tar'eons tadpole squirmed, the images of his father in the coronation and Mizora's words to him crashing into his own mind. "Shit. Where did Gortash send my father? How do I save him?" Tar'eon pinched the bridge of his nose. His headache had grown tenfold after the connection. Enough for Mizora to speak before him.

"Sisters." Mizora gestured the sisters chanted, allowing Mizora to present the contract before them all. "Your contract, Wyll. Signed in blood, forged in fire, bound in bone - but...not unbreakable."

"Then break it already." Tar'eon glared. "Wyll doesn't need to wait six months to regain his freedom when you already swore it."

"He'll want to hear this offer though." Mizora smirked. "I'm proposing a life for a life. No contract is ended without sacrifice. The cost must be paid." Wyll sneered at the devil at the sisters flames only grew brighter, ready to hear his answer to the contract and set it in stone. Tar'eon couldn't let this happen.

"Wyll Ravenguard. A choice is before you." It was hardly a choice, and she knew it. "Option one, I show you a way to your father. I guarantee him no harm except that from you and your allies. And you pledge your soul to me and the archdevil Zariel in a pact eternal."

"Don't listen to her, Wyll." Karlach interjected. "There's no use reasoning with devils."

"Option two," Mizora glared at the barbarian. "I break your pact, and you are freed from your duty. Your father dies by his enemy's hand, and Baldur's Gate loses its greatest champion." She grinned at Wyll, knowing she had made the choice near impossible for him. "Name your sacrifice."

"Mizora, you arsehole." Wyll looked angrier than Tar'eon had ever seen him before.

"Choose."

Gale stepped forward, cautiously looking upon the warlock who struggled to make a choice. How could he? To damn his father for his own sake? To damn himself to being a dog on a leash for the rest of his days? To serve the woman who made Karlach's life hell? It was impossible. He either forfeited the life of the father he loved or forfeited his own. By Gods, he did not want to live a life of torment under Mizora's boot any longer, but what choice did he have? It was his father, the man he respected above all else.

"Wyll..." Wyll looked at Gale, the wizard looking almost as lost as he felt. He shook his head softly at Wyll. "Don't do it. Don't give up your freedom for a man who abandoned you when you needed him most. I know you love your father, but his time has passed. The future - the city - it will be passed on to you. I cannot see anyone else doing a finer a job as you would in his stead. Let the past go, and look to the future."

He offered his hand to Wyll, who's eyes burned with the desire to cry. He hadn't felt so despicable since the night he was banished from the only home he ever knew. He wanted to live, dammit. But could he live with himself if he left his father to rot under Gortash's hand?

"I..."

"Break the pact, Wyll." Tar'eon spoke up and Wyll looked at him in surprise. Tar'eons eyes burned, begging the other man to trust him. "Break it. You deserve your freedom."

Wyll looked between the two men, to the companions around him, and he knew his answer before he spoke it. It felt like a knife ripping through him, stomach to sternum, the weight of his decision unbearably heavy as he took Gale's hand and squeezed hard.

"You damned wretch. Father..." He prayed that he would forgive him. In the end, he was the monster who would end his reign over the city, just like he'd always feared. But he would make things right. He would stand in his place and lead the city to glory one day, and make it up to the man, even if he never forgave him.

"Do it. Break the pact."

"Fiat ita." The sisters chanted the same, and in a flash, the contract was burned away to nothing, the Sisters of Justice leaving the mortal plane. "Didn't think you had it in you. Seem's my boy's all grown up. And don't go fussing about your father. You made your choice, you knew the terms...You know what? I think I'll stick around. Not for the greater good, you understand. Just for the entertainment."

She vanished into flames but Tar'eon knew she would linger somewhere nearby. His stomach was hot with anger, but there was relief too. Wyll bowed his head in shame, eyes closed as Gale drew him into his shoulder. The warlock grasped at him like a lifeline. He was free. But at the cost of his father's life. The camp was quiet, a shared mourning between them all for Wyll's sake, even as some companions moved away to give him some privacy.

Tar'eon rested a hand on his shoulder and Gale looked at him with sad eyes, Wyll pulling away with a bitter twist of his lips.

"I spent seven years choked by Mizora's leash. I spent seven years hoping to break free. I never knew freedom could taste so bittersweet."

"You are your own man now, Wyll. It's better this way." Gale insisted, squeezing his shoulder. Wyll sighed.

"I have to believe that. I'm not the Hells' puppet in life, nor its warrior in death. The Blade will be guiding his own hand." He made to stand taller, but his shoulders were quick to fall again. "But freedom will be paid in my father's blood. Tomorrow, I celebrate my gain. Today...I mourn my loss." There's a moment of silence between them all, Gale's hand travelling up Wyll's back and gently squeeze the nape of his neck, a reassurance that he was not alone.

"The Ravenguard name now lives solely with me. I will make it count for something."

"You will make a great Duke. You will carry the same name, but the legacy will be even more grand once we eradicate the Absolute and the brain." Wyll spared Gale a small smile at his attempt at comfort, his horn bumping gently against the man's temple.

"Check on Yenna. She must have been frightened."

"We will speak later, okay? You're not alone."

"I know. I know that all too well." Wyll pressed a gentle kiss to the wizards cheek before Gale left his side. He sighed. "Thank you. For helping me steel my resolve. Even if the weight of my decision lays heavy on me tonight."

"You trusted my opinion on what was best for you. That in itself is a great honour, Wyll." Tar'eon fiddled with the bandage peeking out from beneath his armour, tucking it away. "But this isn't the end for your father. Mizora likes to talk of reading the fine print, but I'm afraid I was one step ahead of her this time." He smiled.

"What do you mean?"

"Your father is still at the Fortress. Under strict orders to be unharmed. I...struck a deal with En- Gortash."

"You bargained with Gortash?" Wyll's eyes widened.

"You bargained with Gortash?!" Tar'eon turned around to look at Karlach, her expression shattered by the betrayal, anger quickly morphing onto her face. "You better explain yourself, solider, or the next devil on my kill list will be you."

"Now, now, no need to get violent, Karlach." Astarion smoothly stepped between her and Tar'eon, casting a glare to the male tiefling. "He will be explaining many things tonight."

"I'm sorry, Karlach." Tar'eons heart seized at the hurt in her eyes. "But I did it for us. All of us."

"Bullshit! What could he have offered to make dealing with that slimy arsehole worth it?"

"His Steel Watch is all over the city. Unless we can find a way to shut them down, we won't get far. He's offered us a pass, free reign around the city, and the Duke's safety. I made a vow - we do no harm to him, he does no harm to us. For now, he's our ally."

"So that's it?" Karlach laughed, not with humour but with irony of it all. "I can't even fight you on it. Free reign, and Wyll's father kept alive? It'd be cruel of me to deny you your family, or our friends safety." Karlach looked at Wyll and shook her head, turning away from Tar'eon. "I'm never the priority anyway. Not unless I'm smashing skulls."

"Karlach, that's not true. You're so much more, and if I saw any other way, I would have discard the deal instantly. But we need to find Orin, get her Netherstone, and stabilise the brain, or we'll all be turned into illithids. You'll be a slave to a new master, we all will. The whole Coast."

"Promise me, the moment we don't need his 'protection' anymore...we'll kill him. He deserves to die after everything he's done to me."

"I..." Tar'eons mouth went dry. He always kept his promises, or at least, he tried. "He knows where the brain is. We won't be able to find it without him. When the dust clears, and the brain is no more...You can do as please." He bit the inside of his cheeks. Astarion was watching him, gaze scrutinising.

"How noble. Choosing your new friend over an old flame." Astarion mused and Tar'eons heart stuttered, eyes widening.

"You- what?" Karlach turned to Tar'eon in shock. "What is talking about?"

"I...Astar." Tar'eon narrowed his eyes at the vampire. "That wasn't your right to tell."

"Someone has to be spilling your secrets, or you never will." Astarion glared right back. "I think it's about time we gather around the fire and have a long talk about whatever you're hiding from us." Tar'eons tail wrapped around his ankle, his giveaway. Astarion glanced down at the action and Tar'eon cursed himself. This whole time, Astarion had known when he was omitting the truth, all because of his subconscious habit. The vampire leaned in close and took in a deep breath, closing his eyes.

"I can smell him on you. Your blood, the lingering magic on your skin, and the ink that stains it is unlike any common brand - it all lingers under the blood of shapeshifters. I'm not stupid."

"He attacked me in his office when I made the deal for the Duke's life - he thought I was Orin." Tar'eon insisted. "He's my past, he's not present or my future, Astar. Let it go. You know how much I love you." Was Astarion really that jealous?

"You- you and Gortash knew each other?" Karlach looked like she had been punched in the solar plexus. "Why didn't you tell me? I- I trusted you when I told you about him. Everything he did to me - did you even care?"

"Of course I did! I didn't bring you to the coronation because I didn't want you to be forced into a room with him again. I understand your anger, Karlach, I do, I feel it every time I see Orin, see the woman who scrambled my brain and ruined me, betrayed her own brother, stripped me of my memories, of all the truths I deserved!" Tar'eons chest rose and fell rapidly, panting through the intensity of his emotions. His eyes burned, the confessions tumbling from his lips regardless of his previous resistance to admitting his secrets.

He didn't care if they could all hear him.

"You have no idea what I'm going through right now. You have no idea about every time I'd held myself back from splitting skulls and choking the life out of all of you! You're my friends, the people who trust me to lead you into battle and come out unscathed, and every day I had to live in disgust and contempt with myself because no matter how much I love you all, I want to bathe the camp in a river of blood!" Karlach stumbled back in shock, Wyll's own eyes wide. He heard the unsheathing of blades behind him, but he couldn't stop. Even Astarion looked shocked.

"I have denied my Urges for every step of this journey, taking the role of a leader because nobody else wanted to be. I thought I hated myself before when I was simply trying not to kill you all, but I damned all of us! Everyone in the Coast. It's all my fault. The Absolute, it's all my fault!" Tears slipped down his cheeks and he covered his eyes, his chin wobbling as he dug his teeth into his bottom lip.

"All I wanted was a family to come back to after all of this, to find a home and restart my life...but my family is Bhaal! Is Orin the Red! I am his. His spawn. There will be no reunion for me, no home, no life after this. I will continue to deny my Father, mark my words, but even I know there will be consequence in doing so. I have damned us all in a life I don't even remember. I enslaved the brain with Enver, and yes, he is the only thing of my past that doesn't invoke anger or loneliness. The only thing that feels something like home. Sue me for being unable to deny him a useful pact. He offered me the chance to rule Baldur's Gate beside him, and if I were a lesser man, I would have taken it in a heartbeat. If only to belong somewhere."

"Tar'eon-" Astarion placed a hand on his arm and Tar'eon shook him off, dropping his hand from his face with a glare.

"Are you happy? There's my secrets, laid bare before you. I let you come to me. Why couldn't you do the same?" Tar'eon closed his eyes and shook his head, shouldering past Wyll. He needed away. He needed quiet. His mind was screaming, aching, trying to turn his skull inside out.

"You- Tar'eon! Where are you going?" Karlach yelled after him.

"You can't leave after saying all that!" Gale shouted.

"Did you know, Astarion?" Shadowheart asked the vampire, and Astarion pursed his lips.

"I knew of his urges. I didn't know he was Bhaalspawn."

Tar'eon held his pounding head, the ground beneath his feet rumbling. He heard his companions shouts of surprise, all trying to steady themselves. He allowed the tremors of the earth to guide him down its slope, disappearing into the thickets of bushes and casting invisibility as he went.

"TAR'EON!" Astarion called out into the wilderness, but there was nothing but silence. He cursed and hauled a stone in his anger, fangs bared as he berated himself. He'd pushed the man over the edge, and now, he was off somewhere he couldn't find him. He didn't even know if he'd be back when the morning came. Astarion ran a hand through his hair, ruining it's perfection in his frustration. He'd been counting the hours until it would come to an end...something told him his hours were up.

Tar'eon didn't realise that this was their home. It was his. His family was here. Astarion had shoved him one last time towards the door of their fragile home, and now he had walked right out and disappeared. He looked to the others who were conversing together, expressions all troubled and worried, a few disguising it better than the others. Jaheria stood at her tent, her swords sheathed, but gaze distrustful as she stood there, arms crossed. Thinking.

Astarion didn't sleep that night. He was too busy watching, waiting, for Tar'eon to come home.

#astarion x dark urge #bg3 fanfiction #astarion x tav #bg3 astarion #astarion x male tav #astarion x mc #bg3 tav #astarion bg3 #astarion #baldurs gate tav #past durgetash

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carrottheluvmachine · 5 months

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2023 writing round up

I was tagged by the lovely @bambirex who is a brilliant writer and a darling friend. Please check her out if you can!

This year I've written more than I ever have before. I have 12 fics in total and most of them were only made possible thanks to the help of my friends at the Witcher Chub Club. I'm ridiculously proud of all of them and of myself.

March

A Perfect Fit (geraskier, E, 2.9k) Jaskier has gained a substantial amount of weight lately. So why did Geralt find clothes that are clearly several sizes too small in his pack?

May

How To Serve Mankind (geraskier, E, 7.8k) Geralt and Jaskier part ways for the winter and Jaskier finds himself captured by a pair of trolls who intend on feeding him up so that they could eat him. In captivity, Jaskier loses hope and himself. Will Geralt be able to save him? Can he escape? And even if he does will he be able to come to terms with the major changes in his body?

June

A Bard's Glamour (geraskier, M, 5.3k) When Jaskier was young, he was given a special ring that hid his real self behind a perfectly slim image, one that would be more successful in society. Over the years he learned to depend on this fake image because facing reality was simply too difficult. It was much easier to pretend to be skinny rather than getting the world to accept the fat bard that he actually was.

July

Growing For You (geraskier, M, 3.6k) Geralt likes Jaskier soft, he said so himself. Jaskier loses weight over a winter they spend apart and worries what Geralt will think once they're reunited in the spring again.

Somewhere Beyond the Sea (geraskier, E, 7.3k) As a newly retired Witcher, Geralt is living by the coast when he discovers a seal under attack by a drowner. He rescues it and bonds with it and may be getting in a little over his head when he discovers that it’s much more than just an ordinary seal.

September

This Little Piggy (geraskier, E, 5.6k) Jaskier tags along with Geralt on a contract to kill a witch who lives on a suspicious pig farm but things aren't quite what they seem. Perhaps they should have realized sooner that the pigs roaming the land had previously been men.

Just A Couple of Pounds (geraskier, T, 3.1k) Jaskier responded by reaching up and pulling Geralt down close enough to crush their lips together in a searing kiss. He had been waiting for this moment for far too long. He couldn’t believe it was actually happening and all because he had eaten a bit too much at a banquet.

Life's Little Pleasures (geraskier, E, 4.9k) “Geralt of Rivia,” Jaskier scolded, raising his head and glaring purposely at the Witcher. “You are going to let me shower your cute little belly with kisses and you are going to like it!”

“Jaskier–”

“I could leave,” Jaskier threatened. “I could put my clothes on and waltz right out of here. Could just leave you hard and alone, wanking into your hand for the night. But I suspect you don’t want that, now do you? Hmm, Geralt?”

Geralt paused for a beat before shaking his head.

October

Bring Your Hunger (geraskier, E, 14.4k) Nilfgaard needs Jaskier alive to tell them where Geralt and the princess are, but only barely. The witcher’s bard subsists on stale bread and water over the winter, protecting his family with his silence, and as his hunger grows his body shrinks away.

When Geralt finally rescues his beloved bard, he’s horrified to find mere skin and bone. Together they recover.

November

A Heart Is a Heavy Burden (geraskier, M, 8.2k) Yennefer laughed, carding her fingers through his hair. “Oh? So you weren’t the one who had wished that the bard wouldn’t be able to follow you anymore so you could get some peace? That wasn’t you?”

It was him. He had wished that. He had yelled that right before Jaskier had made his wish to not be hungry anymore. The djinn had taken his words, twisted them, and made it so it was physically impossible for Jaskier to follow him across the Continent anymore by making him so heavy that he was nearly immobile.

The bottom fell out of Geralt’s stomach and he felt like he might throw up. He had caused this. It was his fault.

Four Years (geraskier, E, 4.8k) Jaskier and Geralt both think the other dead after they get separated during an ambush by the Nilfgaardian army. Jaskier manages to escape and returns to teaching at Oxenfurt while Geralt continues to keep Ciri safe. Four years pass and everything changes and yet remains exactly the same when they're reunited.

December

From Bard to Bait (geraskier, E, 7.8k) When Jaskier arrives in a town famous for their food festivals and finds Geralt stuffing his face, he isn't shy to question why the Witcher has such an impressive appetite suddenly. Geralt explains that a lik'ichiri has been feeding off the towns people, plucking the fattest one it can find and eating them. In order to save the town, Geralt is determined to make himself bait for the monster, but his Witcher metabolism just won't cut it.

Jaskier steps up to the task after a little help from Yennefer who makes it so his body will gain more weight more quickly. He and Geralt have a week to help him gain 200 pounds so he could be the perfect bait for the lik'ichiri. The thing is, Jaskier didn't expect to enjoy it as much as he does. He didn't expect Geralt to either.

#colie writes #the witcher #geraskier #chubby!jaskier #chubskier #weight gain #stuffing

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mysteriouslybluepirate · 1 year

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Criminal Justice (2007)- Episodes 1-5. Watching Con O'Neill's old stuff cause it's fun. Day #? RALPH STONE!

Warnings: Murder. Blood. Drug Use. Needle Use/Injection is shown on the scene. Drunk driving. Accused/discussed sexual assault. Abusive parents, grief, and general bullshit in the justice system.

Should you watch this if you haven't: YES! Five episodes, each being an hour, but if you don't have any issues with the warning, it should be a fun time. I was on the edge of my seat for most of this show and Con is a very important character! He is on screen more than most of his other tv parts and is having a great time. It's a story about one defendant and the shit that goes down as he's tried for the crime.

Special thanks to:

@dianetastesmetal who I chatted with around midway through about the show! (For me it was ~2 in the morning, so it was a whole lot of fun!)

The Usual Suspects! I would love to hear your thoughts about this show down alone! I want to thank all of you for following me and giving me love. Y'all are enabling my current fixation, and I thank you all! If you haven't seen it, just ignore me <3

@sphealybojeely @thedowneyheart @kimpreg @gydima @ivegotnonameidea @treesofgreen @tummy-stab-wounds @mossiestpiglet @sidewalk-scrawls @crybabyclover @

Criminal Justice- EP 1 (Guest starring my brother)

Why does that kid look like Benedict Cumberbatch?

He just needs a haircut. That hair looks awful.

This takes place in 2008 right?

Why didn't the dad knock?

He's going to go have sex, huh, he's not going to his friend's house.

Is he going to abuse his position here? Pretend he's a cab driver?

I feel like cab drivers are trained to drop a rando with no destination to a hospital or a police station.

Also, a situation that's only playful because it's a young woman. If this were a homeless person? This shit isn't flying.

DON'T SHARE YOUR FUCKING DRINKS WITH A STRANGER??!?!?!

I got to inform my brother that in England they call soft-served ice cream 'whippies' after the popular brand 'Mr. Whippy', to which he just said 'it's a clown land'

DRUGS! Here we go!

This is suspicious as fuck. Don't take her booze! She's a chick you just met!

WHY IS THIS HAPPENING

NOOOO! NO. NO. NO. KNIFE GAME IS TAPPING, NOT FUCKING STABBING! WTF!

Society would be a lot further on if we just stopped caring about peer pressure.

WHAT? HE STABBED HER!?!?!?!?!? WHY ARE THEY FUCKING?

We have seen so much of this man's ass, why?

We are 12 minutes in?

Oh. She's dead. She's so dead.

OH SHIT. Yep thats a stabbing

Brother guesses it was the parent, I say ex lover.

God, he's just bad at this

BRO WENT BACK AND NOW HAS A WITNESS?????

This is an actual ACE ATTORNEY CASE WTF

JESUS FUCKING CHRIST. HE THEN CRASHES THE CAR? ACE ATTORNEY LEVELS OF DUMB!

Bro, is this your first break in?

Ohhh he's fucked.

Ohhhhh, this is the cops best day of his life

Oh, good luck defense attorney Con. You better get Phoenix Wright levels of bullshit.

Oh my god, don't fucking fight the cops.

Bro, take a nap. It's been a long night.

OH MY GOD IT'S HIM.

Hello Con! Lovely to see you. Love the rat man fit. I know it's on purpose, but damn. He looks wet.

This is where my brother bullies the shit out of Con.

OH I LOVE HIM-He's actually giving good legal advice! The cops are going to do whatever they can to get a false conviction.

'No comment man'- Hard nose solicitor I FUCKING LOVE IT

RALPH STONE! TROLLIN'. I love it. GOD I LOVE IT.

It's so much easier to be quiet when you're nervous.

Lessons to be learned from this tv show: Don't random desperate women, don't fall to peer pressure, don't say shit to the police.

They wouldn't have left her body there. They would have taken photos then taken the body out of the house asap. It's weird they've waited so long to investigate.

Solicitation of evidence. It's illegal to receive testimony from a private source without giving the evidence to opposing council.

Nice that she packed him a sandwich.

Why is the shitty cops boss so much taller? That's funny.

Whelp. RIP Ralph, you did all you could. Having the guy almost assault a police officer isn't fun.

OHHHHH!!!!!! RALPH I LOVE IT- GOOD GOD IS HE FUN

Oh this whole detective thing feels illegal. Without his attorney to represent him.

Yeah. Sure. Don't get buddy-buddy with the guy who wants to put you away for years.

IS THIS DETECTIVE A VILLAIN? Oh, he likes you? FUN.

They're in a public spot, there is no expectation for privacy and this can be recorded, HAHAHAHAHHAHA. GOOD, HE DIDN'T SAY SHIT.

It's 2007, a bit of weird transphobia was to expected.

UHHHHH….. I SWEAR TO GOD. DON'T SWAP ATTORNIES!

CLASSIST BRITISH PEOPLE AHHHHH-

OH I'D BE PISSED!!!!!! RALPH IS SO GOOD!!!!!

Oh good, Ralph corrected himself about his client's name and pronouns, nice.

Ralph at the end of ep 1-'I looked into his eyes, and we vibed. He can't be innocent'

AWWW RALPH STILL WANTS TO HELP HIM EVEN AFTER HE GOT SCREWED OVER BY HIS POSH LAWYERS! God, I love him.

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EPISODE 2: This is where my brother dipped out, but I summarized as much as I could for him.

I'm going to be honest I skipped through this ep a ton. I generally got the gyst. I'm here for my guy, you know.

I watched a bit, but this just establishes our protagonist's life in jail.

I skipped Ralph's scene/ the trial. Seriously the preview in ep 1 gives you the gist. Read a summary. Etc. His roomie is great.

AHHH RALPHS SMILE. "I don't care what you'd do as a lawyer, just as a human being" AHHH.

GOD HIS CELLMATE IS SO GOOD.

HAHHHAHHAHAHAHHAH! WTF?!?!?!??! Oh, poor ralph. You guy just blowing up in court.

At this point, if I was Ralph Stone, I wouldn't really believe him, but that's what that whole grin was for. He just knew our guy was innocent!

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Episode 3

Oh good. Protag was able to deep throat the drugs.

Ralph! AHHH!! God, he has great outfits in this show.

WHY DOES RALPH HAVE A FOOT THING? I noticed it earlier, but why are we drawing attention to it.

Oh good, Ralph doesn't want to senselessly tarnish a dead girl's name. Nice.

THAT FACE! Uh, the reluctant face! Chewing on the lip!

Ralph! AHHH!! God, he has great outfits in this show.

WHY DOES RALPH HAVE A FOOT THING? I noticed it earlier, but why are we drawing attention to it.

Oh good, Ralph doesn't want to senselessly tarnish a dead girl's name. Nice.

THAT FACE! Uh, the reluctant face! Chewing on the lip! Love it.

Ohhh, god. Ralph's a good actor. That's cute.

OHH THE DETECTIVE ALSO BEING THERE! SHIT. RALPH RUN!

GOD HIM BEING VAGUE AS SHIT TO A WITNESS! I love it.

'With alpha brain?' What the fuck?

AHHH! I LOVE RALPH.

HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA. I got to see his chest :)

Oh, Ralph doesn't like this at all. But shit. Not much he can do.

Oh no. It's really not ethical. And this yonger lady is going to mess it up.

AHAHHAHAAAHAHAAA. THE WIGS!

Is this inadvertently informing the audience of how fucked the courts can be. Which is both good and bad. People deserve to know exactly what our lawyers know.

RALPH BEING THE FUCKING SAD DOG MIDDLEMAN THAT NEEDS TO RUN BETWEEN THE TWO OF THEM IS SO FUNNY.

Ralph with glasses gives me life.

OH SHIT THE FRIEND SHOWED UP?

Okay, this is fun. But maybe let's not make jokes in a murder trial?

I love the one juror struggling to stay awake. Showing that even with all these verbal chess, they still need to convince the jury.

Hey, babe. If you really fucking hate prison, maybe don't give a shit about how your mom reacts here!

Good on Ralph. Trying to speak up for her.

(Seeing Ralphs…ex? For the first time) Oh I love them. WHAT ARE THEY ON?

OH SHE MOVED ON, GOD HIS ACTING. A SECOND TO SEE THAT FULL FUCKING FACE JOURNEY!

Oh good. We can really hate the cops now. I mean, I already did. BUT.

OHHH DO THEY HAVE FOOTAGE.

OH, HE COMPLIMENTS RALPH WHEN IT LOOKS GOOD IN FRONT OF THE JURY.

God I hate her(lead defense lady), but this scene is fun.

RALPH IS HAVING SUCH A GOOD TIME. He's watching the divorced parents fight and he loves it. He should be allowed to smile.

Ha, she's sowing seeds of guilt but that's really not how the law works.

Ralph-'I told you not to talk two episodes ago, and you do it fucking now?!?!??!?!'

Is Ralph being kinda shitty? Yes. Is there any other option right now? Nope.

Them showing how mentally I'll people in prison are severely punished without being able to seek help is cool.

Back to court- OHHHH! SHIT. Yeah, digging at how the medical examiner is only going on prosecution for the state is suspicious as fuck.

FUCK. ASSHOLE DON'T SAY SHIT! DONT CONTRADICT THE DEFENSE!!!!!

SHIT

Ralph, mentally deciding if now is a good place to just call it a day when his client is just begging to go to jail.

OH ANOTHER FUCKING CON CHARACTER WHO FELL IN LOVE THE WRONG WAY!!?!?!?!??!?!!? Well, that fills out my bingo card. This makes maybe 20 characters. I swear to god, if he ends up sad and alone I will make a Con O'Neill drinking game.

"Are you calling me a hypocrite?" *Slight head tilt* -ME rolling on the floor laughing

Good on Ralph for staying with him though.

AWWW. Ralph's an asshole but this is one of the few cases that's gotten to him! I love it. :)

Aww, they are sweet as a couple, but he needs to reorient himself. Find his own center and work on not 'always looking for doubt' before moving on.

OH GOD! Don't fucking smile Con. It's mean. To me. Personally.

AHHH! HIS TICKS WHEN HE'S LYING! Okay, that's funny as shit. I love him.

It's good that the main defense younger lady and the defendant trust each other. AND CON'S GRIN!

Say what you will, this man loves his job

OH SO YOU'LL LET THE SENIOR DEFENSE CHAT AND BE EXTRA BUT NOT THE JUNIOR! RUDE!

OHHHH SHIT THEY GAVE HIM BACK (the inhaler) EVIDENCE

AHHHHHHH!H!H!H!H!HH!H!HH HE TOOK EVIDENCE BITCH! It proves that he stayed in her bed

RALPH SMILING AHHHH!H!H!H!H!H!HH!

Oh they're getting him addicted to drugs to keep him loyal. Whelp. That's going to ruin him.

EPISODE 4:

Why is Ralph going into his clients home?

Ralph(I'm paraphrasing)- Look, I'm a hard ass. I'm a dick who usually has guilty clients and does what he can to abuse loopholes and police mistakes to get them free. If I have a gut feeling, that really fucking matters. So I'm going to do what I can.

Yeah, the neighbor did it

OHHHH! SHE PULLED RANK ON RALPH AHAHAHAHAHHAHA

Stone is pissed, and doesn't want to freak out in court. OR HE'S GOING TO EXAMINE A WITNESS?

What act is he playing here? I love it. He's being a clever cheeky bastard. Knowing how people want to treat court like they're the important heros that can save the day! AHAHHAH! I love it.

"Are you the kind of person-"- SHUT THE FUCK UP-He's just trying to establish his character before crushing it.

OHHH THEY ARE ABUSING THE SHIT OUT OF HIS COYNESS AND NERVOUSNESS WHEN TALKING ABOUT SEX.

AND HE'S HIDING EVIDENCE

Ralph, I love you. Babe. This is the kind of trust in the justice system I need.

Another court scene goes by without note. But Ralph shows up? Oh boy, I'm typing.

OOOOHHHH RALPH GETS TO BE A DETECTIVE!

SCENE SKIP

WHY ARE THE CLIENT AND YONGER LADY DEFENSE ATTORNEY SMOOCHIN? EXCUSE ME? ISN'T THAT AGE GAP WEIRD??!?!?!??!?

Oh good. Ralph.

OH MY GOD HIM FUCKING SITTING ON THE TABLE? Me Moment. Queer? Coded. I'm assigning it to him. I'm giving him an honorary badge even though this is probably one of his straightest roles.

Ralph- "I like getting my clients off." YEAH so does she! *Ba Dumb Tisk*. See, Ralph is smart. Get entangled with others in the arm of the law, not your fucking client.

Scene passes without note. But a few prison scenes go by.

GLASSES!!!!!! Look at them! THE EXAMINER GENUINELY HELPED. I'd also be smiling at him like that.

Aww, Ralph's trying to ask without asking to hang out with a friend.

Skipped a bit. Back in court.

AWW Ralph and the yonger female defense attorney leaning together to chat.

BRO HE IS SO WHIPPED FOR THE EXAMINER! I LOVE THIS!!!!!

THAT FUCKING SMILE. GOOD FOR HIM! GOOD FOR HELLEN! I love that they're immediately like, yeah, this might be a conflict of witness BUT. She still has a point.

I WOULD BE SWAYED BY HIS CHARM! I HAVE BEEN SWAYED BY HIS CHARM.

DAMN. Good on the friend/witness.

Oh wow, the cellmate is just as shitty and corrupt as everyone else? I'm shocked.

I love Ralph trying his best here.

"You're 46 years old, what do you know about justice?" :0. WOW.

OH SHIT THIS MIGHT FUCK THIS ALL UP. CALLING IN THE DAD IF HE HAS AN ALIBI

OHHHH FUCK. RALPH IS A SECOND FROM STEPPING IN.

OHHHH FUCK. GOOD ON HER. CALL THE DAD OUT FOR BEING ABUSIVE.

FUCK if they pull her in the case is fucked.

YEP RALPH SEES IT! SHIT!!!!!!

EP 5:

JURY CONSIDERING VERDICT!

HI RALPH! LOVE YOU BABE!

Hour and a half deliberation is good!

Yeah, I should have seen that coming.

WHELP. SHIT.

He's going to kill himself within a year. Calling it now.

That moment when you work the same job as our prisoner protagonist 😐. Hey, don't dis a dishwashing job, protag. It's nice and easy.

HI CON!

"'Self-deprecating jokes get you out of hard questions'- avoids the question by shoving toast in his mouth"-me. God, I was messaging @dianetastesmetal during this bit. Who pointed out how loving these characters is a form of self-love, and I will partially embrace it. Maybe I just want to see a man with a nice chest and a nice smile huh! ;)

Oh good, the protagonist is doing more drugs. Love that

GLASSES! I AM BACK ON MY WHORE SHIT.

The hugging of the book! THE GRINNING! AHH!

This is why Ralph is emotionally distant, 'cause he's lost good cases before. HAHAHAHHA HE CAN'T LET IT GO.

AHHHHH!H!H!H!HH!!H THE TUFTED-UP HAIR ENTERING THE PRISON!

OH SHIT! RALPH INVESTIGATING THEIR RELATIONSHIP! He's asking the protagonist to sell out his legal advisor!

No, RALPH IS SO RIGHT! She abused her station and got too close.

Oh good. Another arm of the law is weird around police reports and evidence. Great.

AHHH! Her sewing that little tidbit in the cop's head! She's onto him!

Yeah, good on our protag to stand up for himself.

Cellmate is going to get killed cause he knew too much, huh.

Hey, good on the cop for looking into it a bit more. Still a jackass. But you know.

Skipped a few scenes without note.

OHHH SHIT HE FILED THE SUIT!!!!!!! GOOD ON RALPH! We love a man who cares about giving justice to his client.

'Frances- out for blood after Ralph is about to ruin her career'

'Ralph-Half passed out on a couch with a rag over his eyes, already done with this conversation. Ready to throw every insult she directed to him back into his face.'

Ralph knew to get romantically entangled with a medical examiner and not a fucking witness.

GET IT RALPH! God, good for him. SHE ABUSED HER POSITION! She took everything they worked for and threw it all away. She didn't let their client find justice.

Yeah, cellmate's about to die, huh.

OHHHH SHIT! GET IT!!!!!! Good on him! Yeah, he's going to get murdered, but good on him. MURDER THAT BASTARD!

OHHH SHIT. THE ASSHOLE COP HELPED THE MOB!

GOOD ON THE CHIEF FOR CALLING HIM OUT! DAMN!

Oh, wow. Ben's life is ruined. He's hooked on drugs, and he thinks he has no prospects in life.

Now he can't fall asleep without listening to the radio.

Hi Ralph. Why are we talking about your feet?

Frances is fucked essentially.

Yeah, going in for a mistrial was the right option.

Yeah, no. Nothing would have changed if Ben told Ralph the truth the moment they met. Good on Ralph! Giving our protag a bit of closure on this whole thing. Telling that none of this was really his fault.

Yep. He had his last few free years of youth ripped from him.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Final thoughts:

I think the fact that this was a mob member being the real murder and that it was covered up was the real thing here. The entire point and moral the audience was meant to learn. It didn't matter if Ben had the best case, the entire Crown was against him. Ralph and his team could have been the best defense lawyers in the world and it still would have gotten buried. I'm happy the final evidence came out, obviously, but Ben was fucked over in so many ways. Now what life does he have? He lost his friends, his trust in his family, and is now destined to fall back into the system he knows. It's a shame.

Con: 11+/10. Long hair AND glasses AND he's Exhausted! Perfect role. I want him. I want to be him. He's divorced, and sad, and I love it.

Ralph saved this series for me personally. He was so much fun. I will be updating the Con list here soon to include bit TV roles. Ralph is going to be high on my ranking. We are given a Con character who has REAL impact on the story, introduces the audience to the rules of this world, AND GETS A HAPPY ENDING! It's brilliant. Obviously, there are moral issues to him being such a good defense attorney to allow criminals to get away, but this whole story was about giving Ralph a different perspective. He's a slime-ball but he's not totally against change. Willing to look at other perspectives. He started to genuinely care about his client, and didn't treat it as some weird game of chess. Him genuinely helping the younger defense attorney was nice, especially because he rarely blew up at her for her choices. He did his best to help where he could and didn't take things personally when shit blew up.

Con's acting here is so fun and fluid! I hate being a person that ties OFMD into everything, but this is kind of what I want Izzy to become. Con's allowed to be fun! He's allowed to be mad, suspicious, have doubt etc. There are a few scenes that got me chuckling just by his face! He feels really confident and comfortable in this role. He talks with his hands! He's a dick, a total slime-ball, but he really cares about getting things done right! I love it.

Everyone else: 8/10. Nothing really stood out besides our protagonist, and after a quick google, he won an award for this role. Which is deserved. He does great. I liked the characters the show wanted me to like, and vice versa.

Story 7/10: Intriguing. I had fun, but this show sits more in the turn off your brain and gets swept along by the bullshit, vs trying to solve it yourself.

Overall. 9/10: I highly recommend it if the tags don't worry you. Con is in this enough to justify a Con watch. I have a thing for Professor esk Con. I will not be ashamed about that. His whole speech about how he was perceived was nice. Now, this is about five hours of commitment, but If you need something longer I'd recommend it.

#ralph stone #criminal justice (2008)#con oneill #con o'neill #ralphposting #criminal justice #I want his gender.#Con's Conography

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marshmallowprotection · 8 months

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Hello! Your posts are always so *chef kiss*

May i request V (with whoever else you may like) reacting to a really strong and built female MC? Like, she could most likely physically pick up any of RFA members if she really wanted to LMFAO

And maybe even throw in some angst of her feeling sad for not being as docile and cute as many other girls are?

Thank you, and have a good day/night!

V has never put a lot of thought into what he finds pleasing in a romantic partner.

It's not that he has no idea what he's interested in, it's more that he's open to the possibility of truly falling in love over time with the right person. He doesn't want to trap himself in a bubble. He would rather fall in love with somebody's heart than anything else. Give him time and a half to get to know you.

He isn't the kind of person who looks at face value! He's searching for substantial context... deeper meanings that nobody else might find... to him, love is like a puzzle. It's so much easier to figure out a puzzle with somebody by your side. But, the fun part is getting to discover all of the pieces that create the larger picture.

If somebody is capable of seeing the good in him, and they're willing to stand by him despite how much work he knows he needs to put in himself, he knows he can always have faith in that person as much as he hopes they'll always have faith in him.

The only thing that matters to him at the end of the day is that you have a beautiful heart, and that heart shines through your soul. That's the same way you saw him, right? You saw the good underneath all the filth he thought he was buried under… and he learned how to love himself again thanks to your kindness. So, right off the bat, if you are in the line of thinking that he's thought once about you in a way that might make you feel insecure?

Don't.

He probably spent much more time focusing on all of his insecurities and faults than he could ever find in any other person.

After all, he always looks to himself when it comes to his flaws and insecurities, he never looks to another person in that way. That's one of those things he's trying to unlearn in the present, but it took him a long time to get to that point.

Remember that it is your heart that allowed him the opportunity to properly look in the mirror and decide that he didn't like the person he was looking at, because that person was denying himself the opportunity to be who he wanted to be.

The one thing he admires about you the most is that you are the kind of person who doesn't hesitate to be compassionate. Sure, maybe the rest of the world looks at you and thinks that you don't have the capacity to be a sweet, kind, and gentle person.

But, that just means the world is a prejudiced place. It's a place that's denying you the opportunity to be yourself. You are allowed to live any way you want to live, and for anybody to tell you that you have to fit into a box to be a certain way deserves to be smacked.

Just because you're strong physically does not mean you are not allowed to be gentle emotionally. You can have jacked muscles for days but also love to wear bright, frilly, and pink things. Nobody can tell you that you can't do something that makes you happy.

If it makes you happy to scoop up your friends and giggle, do it. Jihyun will look at you in awe because you are so wonderful. You are authentic to who you are and he never wants you to change. He never wants you to hold back because you're the person that taught him he should never hold back.

If it makes you feel good to sweep him off his feet, go ahead and do it because he's not going to be the one to stop you. He's going to smile and lean into your embrace because who cares about filling any role that society expects out of you? No way! Don't even bother trying to be someone you aren't! None of that bullshit ideology matters when you're happy together.

"My dearest darling, you are perfect just the way you are. You don't need to be docile... quiet... or even meek to be precious. I'd rather you be yourself... strong, compassionate, and unwavering. You are cute... no matter what any says. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and in my eyes, you are sweet, precious, and confident. Be yourself when you're with me... because I'm myself with you. Just because you're not "small or docile" all the time doesn't mean you can't be feminine. Femininity is a spectrum. You're wonderful, and I promise you anyone who thinks that you aren't doesn't deserve to know you."

#mod kait #mystic messenger #ask #anon #mysme #mysticmessenger #mm #jihyun kim #kim jihyun #v jihyun kim #v mm #v mysme #v mystic messenger #drabble

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valenshawke · 12 days

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Considering your favourites: Claymore and Arcane, which characters do you think would fit in the other’s universe. Also, who are most alike?

This very much depends on how they end up in each others’ place or universe.

And I have to put this under “Read More” cause this is far longer than I had planned.

Resurrecting my old idea that three of my favorite fandoms taking place on the same planet is interesting with Arcane. Could Ambessa Medarda be convinced to join whichever side of the war raging on the mainland continent of the unknown and unnamed planet Claymore takes place? That's an interesting idea, but given the technological and… magical advancements in Arcane, that require a lot of explanation. Also, as someone that knows virtually nothing about actual League lore… Are there dragons? Would a government go all-in on human experimentation? We're not talking about whatever it is Singed does. We're talking about trying to create supersoldiers with xenotransplantation.

Now, the easier way would be Jinx/Viktor/Jayce messed around and found out with Hextech by managing to rip a hole into the multiverse.

Arcane going to Claymore.

I'm assuming this takes place post-finale for Claymore and I'm drawing slightly on my post-canon storyline.

My first thought is Vi would be both incredibly sad and incredibly angry. While the warriors are now treated as humans and equals, the Yoma are still around as are some Awakened Beings. She would sympathize with the oppression everyone suffered under the Organization and be horrified learning about how the warriors became warriors.

Caitlyn… I think back to a couple of scenes where she shows her naivety. On an abstract level, she knows evil exists and horrible things happen. But, for good or for bad, her parents tried to protect her. Her time with Vi opened her up to the realization that evil exists and horrible things are, sometimes, hiding in plain sight. I also think back to the scene where Caitlyn asks about Vi having parents and not realizing the possibility that Vi is an orphan (twice). Again, in a purely textbook and factual way, she knows orphans exist. Practically? She's now faced with all the trauma that comes with it.

Now apply that to her ending up on the island/continent. I think the first question she'd ask is where WERE the parents and being told that some were sold, some were abducted, some being orphans, and some being abducted. The look of horror on her face would be something. And Vi would explain to her, alone perhaps, as to why (economically) it'd make sense to sell the girls, no matter how evil it is.

She'd also have to question her sense of justice and how to fix things. In Piltover, she believed in the institutions and going through channels, why wouldn't she? Until that last meeting with the council. Here, there are no institutions except maybe a Church and whatever this newly freed society comes up with. But she'd struggle with the whole notion that the Organization and their overlords would never be punished. She'd probably look at Vi and understand why Vi goes straight for fists. But even here, fists are useless.

Viktor, already an expert on fucking with human transmutation (imagine Viktor and Edward Elric meeting) and modifying one's body, would have a conflicted response. He would see warriors possibly free of any physical ailments, which would interest him, but also being told the process and why the first generation was the only generation of males would leave him questioning and wondering about how science can be perverted. Perhaps he'd think of Heimerdinger.

Jayce. The god damn himbo wouldn't have a clue what to say or do and just look wide-eyed.

Jinx… So vorkera_x once drew Jinx as a warrior. I always put Jinx with Rippling Ophelia. But since she’s dead, I don’t know what Jinx would do. Maybe look for Awakened Beings to hang out with them?

Claymore going to Arcane

Okay, so we’re just going to skip the whole wide-eyed shock and awe of such a technologically advanced society versus what Clare, Miria, et al. live in. I think Miria would be equally as outraged seeing the status of Zaun and possibly more so that there is no unifying force to oppose Piltover. And while I could see her helping organize a rebellion and maybe even trying to restrain Vi’s immediate urge to go to fists (cause Miria’s A LOT of experience with a certain warrior going off and doing shit on her own). Miria and the warriors would also be an interesting counter to Hextech for an organized rebellion. I could also see Miria trying to mentor Caitlyn, since it’s implied Miria went through her own process of disillusionment with the Organization and realizing that, sometimes, institutional means (however loose that was in the on the Island/Continent). But she’d also have a hard time selling this to the citizens at-large. They’ve already failed once under Vander.

Another interesting aspect is what the effect Shimmer would have on the warriors. We know as a result of the procedure, the warriors can metabolize alcohol to have the level of effect they want. Would the same work for Shimmer? Or would they be affected? I kinda lean towards it having the same effect as alcohol. It only affects them as much as they want it to.

Clare… Clare is the hardest to figure out what she’d think or even do. Likely, she’d be with Miria and perhaps keeping quiet while observing what to do. She’d be sympathetic to the orphans in Zaun, especially those that were killed by Enforcers.

Anyways, so this kinda got away from me, but in terms of which characters are similar

Caitlyn and Jean are probably most similar and Clare and Vi are definitely similar. Though I think there’s a bit of Miria in Caitlyn.

Out of left field but I think Ekko from Arcane and Deneve from Claymore are rather similar insofar as they both characters that have tremendous insight that the other characters don’t usually see. Ekko to Heimerdinger and Deneve to Miria, Clare, Dietrich, etc.

#ValensHawke gets asked #ValensHawke answers #meilirima

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elliepassmore · 21 days

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The Familiar review

5/5 stars Recommended if you like: historical fantasy, magic, scheming, fantasy Spain

I was kind of on the fence about reading this but I'm glad I did, this book was so good! Bardugo weaves a rich tale of magic and luxury and longing, and all of the characters (as usual) are complex and well rounded. I also really liked getting a chance to see historic fantasy Spain since I feel like that's not a setting we see a lot in fantasy (at least in the US). The setting is very rich and I liked the descriptions of the different places, foods, and clothes Luzia and the other characters come across.

The book opens with us getting to know Valentina and Luzia. Valentina is the wife in the shabby house on a shabby street and what she wants is love and to belong. Luzia is the scullion with magic, but we also learn about her family life, her hidden Jewish heritage, and see her and her secret aunt (or perhaps she is the secret niece, lol) interact with one another. What Luzia wants is to raise up in the world and not have to be a scullion for the rest of her life.

This book focuses a lot on wants and ambition, and it is the characters' wants and ambitions that help drive the story. Luzia doesn't want to be a scullion forever, so she uses her magic to help make her life easier. Valentina wants to belong, so when she discovers her scullion has magic, she uses it to bring society to her door. Both women want so strongly and have the ambition to pursue those wants, and that drives them both to make the decisions that cascade to Pérez and the torneo. The other characters' wants and ambitions also help propel the story forward and I loved seeing how everyone's desires fit together to create the catalyst for the story and everything that happens. It was interesting too to see how the characters' desires changed and thus at times began to compete with one another's.

I really liked Luzia and found her a compelling character to read. She lost both of her parents young, and despite having an aunt who'd worked her way up to the level of a powerful Don's mistress, ends up working as a scullion from the time she's a girl. She hides herself behind the mask of a dimwitted maid when in reality she can read and write and is competent in multiple languages. She has a vast intellect and is quick-witted, and I liked getting to see that come out. Luzia longs for a better life, and once that chance is in her grasp, she's willing to go to great lengths to keep it, despite the danger she faces in doing so. But she's also kind. She feels for Valentina at times despite her mistreatment, and she empathizes with Santángel's plight. During the torneo she also gets to know the Holy Child, Teoda, and befriends her as well. I enjoyed getting to see Luzia become more than what she was, even with the consequences it brings.

Santángel is Victor de Paredes' familiar and has been tied to the de Paredes for who-knows-how-long. He can be cold and cruel, but at the same time he doesn't derive pleasure from the work he does for Victor. In fact, he hates the man, and while sometimes his work aligns with what he wants (i.e., protecting Luzia), he still despites the situation and his master. Santángel is clearly conflicted as the novel progresses and finds himself wanting things that directly conflict with one another. I liked Santángel quite a bit and found him to be a compelling character.

I did enjoy the romance in the book and think Luzia and Santángel are good together. While the book itself isn't too long, it does take place over a span of time, and so the two have a chance to get to know each other. The two grow to like and respect one another as they practice magic, and Santángel gains quite the protective streak in regards to her, even willing to risk pain to protect her.

Valentina is Luzia's employer and for a good portion of the book isn't a particularly sympathetic character. She can be cruel and doesn't think twice about raising her hand to her servants. But as the novel progressed I found myself liking her more and more. She ends up being a good person and I liked seeing her development as she comes to terms with the reality of things and realizes how her choices helped influence where all the characters ended up.

Hualit is Luzia's aunt and is an interesting character in and of herself. At her core she looks out for herself and everyone else, including Luzia, second. She does love her niece though and wants to try and protect her, but sometimes that protection means forcing her into the lion's den. Hualit, like Luzia, hides her Jewish heritage but she also hides her faith. This book is set during the Spanish Inquisition, and if it came out that Hualit was still practicing Judaism, it would get her sent to the Inquisitor. But Hualit also hides behind the carefully constructed mask of Catherine, a widow who became Victor de Paredes' mistress some time ago. These two identities are different from one another and the same, and it's interesting to see them overlap.

The torneo was interesting to read about and I liked seeing everyone's talents and tricks. There's a lot of planning and scheming going on behind the scenes of the torneo and the introduction of new characters introduces new desires and new dangers. The Holy Child, Teoda, is really the only contestant I like, so I was glad she and Luzia connected. There's a lot at play in the torneo and it provides an interesting backdrop for political and religious scheming.

This is set during the Spanish Inquisition, so religious topics and miracles vs. witchcraft do come up quite a bit in this book. Luzia and Hualit are both conversos, i.e., Baptized Jews, who strive to hide their background lest they draw attention to themselves. But Hualit is not exactly converted and Luzia remembers her parents' faith and some Hebrew as well. Compounded on that, Hualit is Victor's mistress and his standing protects them both, but she could easily be denounced to the Inquisition as a fornicator. Likewise, Luzia's milagritos could very quickly change from miracles to witchcraft, and she must walk a fine line over the course of the novel to prove her religiosity. The torneo also provides ample opportunity for shows of witchcraft and trickery, making it a perilous place to be, even before anti-Spanish and anti-Catholic sentiments are made known.

I greatly enjoyed this book and found the setting to be rich. The characters were all interesting and well rounded, and I enjoyed seeing how their desires aided or clashed with one anothers'. I liked Luzia a lot and thought her romance subplot was good. I also really liked reading about the torneo and the politicking that went on during it.

#book #book review #books #book recommendations #fantasy #bookstagram #booklr #bookblr #bookaholic #bookish #the familiar #leigh bardugo #historical fantasy #adult fantasy #fantasy novel #fantasy books #historic Spain #the inquisition #fantasy Spain

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if-you-fan-a-fire · 3 months

Text

The jail, like the reformatory, is a stepping stone to the penitentiary. The American people are too prone to see their fellow citizens locked up in jail. The thought uppermost in the minds of most law enforcement officers, justices and policemen, seems to be to get the largest possible number of people behind prison walls. Their efficiency seems to depend only on the number of arrests made and convictions secured. An officer should be promoted for the number of people he succeeded in keeping out of jail instead of the number he puts in, by the number he has kept from crime instead of the number caught in crime. The thing to do is to prevent people from becoming criminals. The chief duty of the policeman, and all law officers, should be to prevent crime. When once the stigma of the prison is upon a man or a woman, self-respect begins to wane and it becomes easier for them to travel the broad highway to crime and to the penitentiary. The first time in jail is the real turning point to many a life of crime. Every possible effort should be made to keep people out of jail instead of putting them in. You can never get rid of the flies by swatting them. To exterminate them it is necessary to get rid of the breeding places.

Everything that could possibly be said about the disreputable conditions of penitentiaries and their mismanagement can also be truthfully said about the average city and county jail. The crooks on the inside are not any worse than the grafters on the outside. Why the ancient practice of allowing a jailor sixty cents a day for feeding prisoners, and then permitting him to supply them with twenty cents worth of grub, and pocket the difference, is tolerated, is hard to explain. This species of graft is a worse offense than the crime committed by the average prisoner.

The laying of traps, and the placing of temptations in order to entice susceptible or potential law-breakers, should be absolutely abolished. The unlawful enforcement of law is never justified. The shop-keeper who displays a tempting bait to induce a youngster to snitch it, and then have him arrested and thrown in jail, is not any better than the speedcop or the public officers who set speed-traps on the public highway, tempt the unsuspecting motorist to “step on it,” and then pinch him for speeding.

...

There has been a great deal of criticism on account of lax discipline in prisons. I have no sympathy with the practice of babying or coddling prisoners. A convict, in a normal physical and mental state, resents mushing and petting. It does him no good. He should be treated like a grown-up human being, provided with a decent, sanitary place to live, plenty of wholesome food, useful work that he is capable of doing, or can learn to do, paid a small wage to support dependents, and taught to be a self-reliant, useful citizen, and then restored to his family and to society. Long imprisonment is useless. The worst punishment, the greatest suffering, the deepest humiliation, comes right in the beginning. In some cases a few months imprisonment would serve the same purpose as a few years.

The primary object of imprisonment should be the reformation of the wrong-doer. The duration of the imprisonment should depend more on the prisoner than on the offense. Punishment should be for the offender rather than for the offense. No judge or jury is capable of determining in advance the length of the sentence that is necessary and proper in all cases. Neither is a judge thoroughly fitted to understand the men whom he sentences to the penitentiary or to the gallows unless he leaves the bench and goes down into the laboratory and studies physchology and biology like Chief Justice Olson of Chicago did. The microscope, the chemical test tube, the x-ray, and the psychoanalytical chart will reveal much that the prosecutor and the law books will not disclose. The proper training and experience of the officials is very important. No judge should be permitted to sit on the bench of a criminal court, and pass judgment on his fellow citizens, without having spent a term in the penitentiary himself, or so familiarized himself with penal institutions and convicts as to grasp the point of view of the prisoner. This applies also to the prosecuting attorneys. There should be a public defender as well as a public prosecutor in order to protect and safeguard the poor, the innocent, and the victim of circumstances. It should not be forgotten that there are two classes of people, those who sin, and those who are sinned against. If either class is to be envied it is the first rather than the second. Ought not society to be as much concerned about protecting the innocent and keeping them out of jail, as about punishing the guilty and placing them behind prison walls? Competent prison authorities and parole boards should make a careful personal study of each individual accused of crime or sentenced. After a prisoner has served a minimum term, not to exceed one year, he should be eligible for parole. As a rule no imprisonment for more than two years serves any good purpose. When the parole board is satisfied from his previous life and record, his character, his chemical, physical and mental make-up, and his prison record, that a parole is justified, it should be granted, regardless of the length of the sentence. These matters should be in the hands of technologists who have wisdom, and not in the hands of politicians who have power and pull. The good of the public deserves first consideration, the welfare of the individual second. If the prisoner is a menace to society, a danger to the community or to himself, unable to control himself, and beyond a cure, his imprisonment should be continued indefinitely. There are cases, of course, where the heinousness of the offense, or the viciousness of the individual, might justify life imprisonment. It all depends on the individual case. No rule of thumb can be adopted or followed.

In a number of the larger cities, and in the better penitentiaries, psychopathic laboratories have been established for the scientific mental examination of the subjects. This is absolutely essential. A psychopathic laboratory, and also a chemical laboratory, should be established in every prison of the country. The effective cooperation of the psychiatrist, the chemist, and the physician should determine the physical and mental state of the prisoner. The abnormal prisoners should be treated accordingly, whether the abnormality be mental or physical. A thorough examination will reveal the fact that many convicts committed offenses because they were afflicted by physical or mental diseases. Many are cured by proper chemical and mental readjustments. When cured a long step will have been taken in restoring them not only to normalcy, but to good citizenship. The legal concept of punishment will give way to the medical conception of treatment. Many will be found with arrested mentality. They may have the body of an adult, but the mind of a six or eight-year-old child. We tolerate and pamper the innocent idiot in the community, but we are quick to condemn those on the border-line of mental deficiency the moment they become law-breakers. Many mental defectives are experts in crime. By correcting the chemistry of their blood, and their inhibitions and complexes, many of them can be rescued from a life of crime. If this is not possible their place is in the asylum and not in the penitentiary. There is no criminal class except in so far as criminal misconduct has become habitual with certain individuals. Most criminals are selected by force of circumstances from the community at large. If the reader believes in the Lombroso “criminal type,” and has in his mind the features of some “Jack-the-Ripper,” with a shifty, sinister look, a scowl on his face, a cruel glint in his eyes, with a low brow, and a heavy, resolute jaw, or any other description of the supposed criminal, let him carefully observe his neighbor, or the crowd in the court room, or look in the mirror; then perhaps he will change his mind.

If the inmates of a prison could be turned loose in a court room full of curious people, gathered to listen to the sordid details of a murder trial, and all intermingle with the spectators, the court officials, the lawyers, and the expert witnesses, I would defy anyone to pick out the convicts from the rest of the gang. They are unfortunate human beings the same as you and I—not much better, not much worse—and deserve humane treatment and a chance to make good if they have the will and the capacity to do so.

After a prisoner is released, whether by parole or by having served his time, there should be a careful and rational follow-up system; not for the purpose of hounding him, but to help him to earn an honest living. In this the police department should give active and friendly cooperation. We find that at least 92 out of every hundred paroled men make good. With proper assistance the percentage could be made higher. I have seen, as other men have seen, so much of the haphazard system that has been practiced of arresting people, throwing them in jail, humiliating, punishing, and then releasing them, and then arresting them, and repeating this same process, without any good results, that it seems to me the time has come when we should try the noble experiment as outlined by the Wickersham commission, and as herein suggested.

While lack of proper home training and surroundings is the greatest cause of the increase in crime committed by the younger generation, it is by no means the only one. Ignorance, poverty and disease are responsible for much of it.

- Earl Ellicott Dudding, The Trail of the Dead Years. Edited by William Winfred Smith. Huntington, West Virginia: Prisoners Relief Society, 1932. p. 264-270.

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