#1. literally filipino I understand the context and that real EJKs were mostly anti-poor unlike klint's shit in this fictional lawyer game

[whats-a-reading]

Okay, okay okay

more on the (barok) van zieks and stronghart roleswap

Except I somehow get rid of stronghart's bodycount entirely, and he ends up the figurehead, as, under his tenure there is "law and order" and "crime is reduced", which are the funnest dogwhistles for "jesus christ, extrajudicial killings [EJKs] are happening right there mr leader sir do you not give a shit" (no, he does not, he likes it while being vaguely concerned that the perpetrator of this shit would usurp him)

So... what exactly do I fix here versus my other setup? Well, no professor AU

And by that, I mean... the professor figure doesn't come to exist. Klint's sloppiness isn't caught by stronghart, hence no manipulation and obviously traceable murder spree. Instead, he's caught (either after the first or the second time) by his brother, who... honestly... he had his suspicions. I mean he fucking said "my brother couldn't be the professor, he wouldn't have killed someone he respects! (3rd guy)" as opposed to kazuma's more reasonable sounding "my father wouldn't have killed a man (periodt)" And all that says is van Zieks fully believed his brother was fully capable of murdering people he didn't like/respect... when you have that sort of opinion of someone, you'd probably walk on eggshells around them

Anyway, van Zieks's moral compass vs his love for his brother, FIGHT (honestly, I feel like it's a coin toss with the circumstances of him finding out about the murder being integral, but let's say in this verse it goes in favor of the latter). And so, he'd cover up his brother's crimes and attempt to prevent him getting caught. Ideologically, I doubt he'd be able to convince klint, so rip on that front. The Reaper that ends up emerging later would be a compromise. Something like "Okay brother, let's do it my way, the legal way. And if that fails, just stay out of the damn way and don't get your hands dirty." (translated to english from victorian english) I mentioned in my other post about this au how van Zieks wouldn't agree with his brother's ideology but he'd blame himself for simply... not being capable of understanding (especially if klint's still around to keep trying to convince him to "come around")

I'm not sure if the reaper would be directly tied to the cases he himself prosecutes here... on one hand, it'd be a 5d chess game to make himself an obvious scapegoat. On the other hand, it'd get him investigated... I guess a compromise is something like "the reaper kills criminals who get away from court" because I believe in my heart, despite the lack of proof, that there are other prosecutors in london

Why does he keep doing it the whole time? For 15-20 whole murders? Well, klint's moral compass is... very... It's very. van Zieks is damning himself by declaring himself partially responsible for his brother's well-being. Klint just really wants to see some sort of difference being made, some sort of tangible result. It's his need for quick and easy answers that's fed by desperation and the everyday of seeing the worst of humanity that ruined these two.

And so, van Zieks became the change his brother wants to see in the wo—