#case file: rambles

[dreamerfiles]

THE SEASON 3 ENDING HELLO???????

[colinprovolone]

mannnnn. remember riz investigating porter on fig’s request first ep of sophomore year. i wonder what would’ve happened if he had gotten like a 25 instead of a 16 on that investigation roll. “he takes a lot of trips to fantasy vitamin shop, a lot of protein powders, a lot of supplements” <- insane thing to be foreshadowing

[komero-otus]

same image

[ririban]

I really cannot fully explain just how much The Case Files of Jeweler Richard means to me. I will never not be grateful about having come across it when I did. Like, I’m from India, and India isn’t the best place to actually be exposed to what being queer means. For the longest time I didn’t even know that the acronym went beyond the letter T. The word aromantic meant nothing to me because it wasn’t a word I knew. All I knew was that when my friends were getting crushes and dating, I was desperately trying to find new excuses for why I didn’t have anyone I was interested in. Because “I don’t want to be in a relationship” was an answer that earned me strange looks.

I did eventually learn that something called aromanticism exists by the time I went to college, but I never really bothered to learn what that entailed. Then I met a friend who happened to be asexual, and she pointed out that based on what I told her, I might be aroace. And I thought about it for a while, but wasn’t really convinced. More importantly, the idea of sticking a label to myself kinda scared me because it felt like it was something irreversible.

And then Jeweler Richard happened. I really enjoyed the first episode, even shed a couple of tears. The inclusion of a canon lesbian character in the second episode was a pleasant surprise (I did not know about Tatsuki back then. Present day me is annoyed we never got to see her in the anime). But it went from an anime I simply enjoyed to a story I absolutely fell in love with in episode 8: The Angel's Aquamarine. This was the episode in which we first found out about Tanimoto’s views on romance, and I found myself understanding where she was coming from. Online people were discussing how she came off as aromantic, and that made me think again. But, again, “sticking” that label to me wasn’t something I was comfortable with.

That changed when I came across a certain passage in volume 6. For those of you who haven’t read the novel yet and are okay with spoilers, Tanimoto visits Étranger after being invited by Seigi. There she has a conversation with Richard, during which he tells her this:

“Humans are creatures that can only recognize the present moment as reality. But that present changes, moment by moment. For example, someone who was bisexual in their twenties might decide to identify as heterosexual in their thirties. Or someone who considered themself heterosexual at age seventeen might realize that they’re gay at age twenty-five. Someone who may have considered themself polyamorous and open to relationships with anyone might feel as though they’ve met their soulmate at age fifty-five and become monogamous. Of course, this isn’t true of everyone—but from a statistical perspective, changes of this nature aren’t at all unusual. It’s just like how, if left to their own devices, our hair and nails will continue to grow.”

The reason I was scared of declaring myself as aro was because I worried that it was something I’d never be able to take back. That becoming aro to the people around me wouldn’t allow me to one day say, “no, I don’t think I actually am aromantic”. I would’ve rather stayed in a state of being confused than make a decision I couldn’t undo. But then Richard told Tanimoto that it’s fine. It’s fine to change your mind later on. That a label isn’t fixed to you, and isn’t something you have to carry throughout your life if it’s something you no longer identify with. And idk if I can even begin to explain how important that was to me. Because those were the words I needed.

It’s okay that I’m not interested in being in a relationship. It’s okay if I call myself aro. It’s okay for me to no longer make up excuses because a simple “I’m not interested in dating” is enough. This is a comparison that only Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint fans will get, but The Case Files of Jeweler Richard is to me what Three Ways to Survive the Apocalypse is to Kim Dokja. JR did not save my life in the way that TWSA did for Kim Dokja, but it had a bigger impact on my life than any other story. I’d like to believe that the love I have for JR is similar to the love Dokja holds for TWSA.

As a final point, this confidence in myself and my identity isn’t all that JR gave me. Another important thing that happened in my life thanks to it is that I made many lovely friends in the fandom 💕

[alien-from-planet-zog]

Jeweler Richard, the perfectly heterosexual book series that you are…

[thatrandombystander]

Australia's not even into the second month of Spring yet, the firies are way behind schedule on backburning cause of wet conditions having made it difficult, it's too unseasonably warm right now and a whole bunch of schools waaaay down the bottom of the NSW South Coast were shut down as a precaution because there's a Catastrophic level fire warning for the area there.....

Bruh this Summer is not gonna be good 😬😬😬

Edit:

Why is Auspol trending and why is this post right there. Is everyone just that concerned about the fires or what's going on.

[memory-lane-and-back-again]

Case File Compendium Thoughts

Alrighty, just begun reading

And this first thing that really strikes me is the biopsychology and psychology used in it.

He Yu’s initial dislike of Xie Qingcheng stems from smell. Now, smell is a surprisingly strong trigger for trauma (I believe, but it's been a while since I looked it up so could be misremembering) so his association of bad memories with Xqc is rather strong and something Xqc’s cold demeanour only really reinforces.

Learning theory suggest fear is learnt via association and maintained via reinforcement.

So, I think it is pretty cool that, upon seeing Xqc in person again, one of the first things He Yu considers is how he is no longer afraid of Xqc.

I don’t know whether to count anything else as spoilers, so I'm just going to stick anything else under the line

And then when we get Xqc’s perspective of his divorce. I find it so interesting that he calls love a response related to dopamine.

I believe dopamine is responsible for initially falling in love, and the high feeling of elation because it makes up part of the reward pathway in the mesolimbic (emotional) part of the brain. So it has kind of a euphoric feel.

However, oxytocin is also more associated with long lasting love. It is a hormone (and neurotransmitter, I believe) released during sex and also during childbirth and mother-infant bonding and involved in trust and romantic attraction. It is also an inhibitor of cortisol which is responsible for stresssss.

Anyway, I find it really interesting that Xqc’s idea of love, even in his very biologically reductionist model, is based on dopamine, a neurotransmitter associated with addiction

Like reducing anything down to biology is already very dehumanizing, but then to eject the consideration of an existing hormone (oxytocin) involved in long term romantic attraction in favour of dopamine takes what little romance there was even out of that. And he must know because he is a doctor, he must.

and then he proceeds to become addicted to smoking to cope with his divorce. It has a kind of almost poetic justice to it, that a relationship he has no care for outside of responsibility and duty drives him to addiction—the one thing he seems to conflate love with and avoid

I'm not really sure what I want to say about this, but I’m going to assume He Yu’s interpretation of humanity is much more holistic and romantic, like he quotes Tang Dynasty poetry 40 pages in, so I assume that counts for something.

And I'm also going to assume that Xqc’s interpretation of love comes back to bite him because he is just not going to realise how much he cares until he loses what he cares about.

The same with his stringently cold composure, at some point it is going to break. And it is going to happen when no one expects it to. Maybe something innocuous and seemingly simple that is just one step, one inch, one millimetre too far… I dont know I’m just speculating after 70 pages of book. Sooo…

Side note: He Yu’s behaviour towards Xie Xue is so going to cause him more problems with Xqc. It must!!! I wonder if Xqc will find out about how He Yu schemes and how he will react. Because it is very much not normal and also slightly horrifying if I’m honest.

[talesofsorrowandofruin]

Finally making a taglist for The Case Files of Seo Yo-han in general! (For... reasons. That absolutely don't have anything to do with new WIPs in the series.) Let me know in a reply or reblog if you want to be added!

Taglist: @akindofmagictoo, @sam-glade, @sarahlizziewrites, @oh-no-another-idea, @cljordan-imperium,

@mrbexwrites, @lightgriffinsect, @thescatteredscribbles, @the-inkwell-variable

Adding the taglists for the individual WIPs: @akindofmagictoo, @lightgriffinsect, @original-writing, @zeenimf, @oh-no-another-idea,

@verba-writing, @kittensartswriting, @sarahlizziewrites, @acertainmoshke, @author-a-holmes,

@sam-glade, @late-to-the-fandom, @cljordan-imperium

[zichqec]

Multiverse Sans Phone Event Fix

This is not my ghost and I am not offering to do any development work for him. But on several occasions, folks have entered our Discord server looking for help with a bug in one of MVSans's phone events that completely prevents progression. So, I decided to make a little patch for him to make this easier.

This is what the intro to the bugged event looks like:

If you've seen this text and clicking the "Click to continue" option does not work, then this patch will fix it for you.

Download the patch here

To install the patch, follow these steps:

Download the file above, it should be called mv_sans_phone_fix.nar.

Open MVSans.

Check in his settings to ensure that you're on the latest version. This patch was made for v1.4.2 Stable, and may cause other versions to break. (If you're not on the latest version, update or download a new copy of the latest version.)

While MVSans is running, drag and drop the mv_sans_phone_fix.nar onto him. He should appear to be installing something.

When he is done installing, he should appear to reload. He will not say anything about completing the installation, that's normal. The ghost is now patched. (If he does say something, it's likely an error. If so, please report it to me and I can try to help.)

If you had already seen the intro to this bugged event, then please close and reopen the ghost. This should bring up the intro again, and you should be able to proceed.

If you have any problems with this supplement file, please do tell me about it! But it's a pretty small fix, so as long as you use it with the correct version of the ghost, it should be fine.

If you have any other problems with this ghost, you can send an ask to the @ukagakadreamteam blog, or ask in our Discord server. There is also a page for him on our wiki which has some general information about him.

My knowledge of this ghost is very limited, as I haven't used this version very much. So, other people who have used it may be able to help you more.

[severevoiddragon]

File 019: Miss Cleo Zombie

Real Name: Cleo Zombie

Job: Head of Education PA to Mr. Goodtimes CEO

Note: Almost immediately after joining Aperture, Cleo was elected Head of Education - organising outreach events for younger possible test subjects or scientists. They have been working ever since on a concept for a "Bring Your Daughter to Work Day", although this concept has been pushed back for a good few years due to Public Safety Concerns.

More writing under the cut!

Additional Note 1: Cleo has resigned from her position as Head of Education, and been promoted to PA to Mr. Goodtimes. As PA, she will be in charge of the expenses, looking after Mr. Goodtimes' meetings, and relaying messages from Mr. Goodtimes.

Additional Note 2: After Mr. Goodtimes' untimely death, Miss Zombie has stepped up as CEO, as per Mr. Goodtimes' wishes. Aperture is still running smoothly, if not more so under Miss Zombie's command. The GLaDOS Project is moving ahead as proposed, and should be finished soon.

Additional Note 3: With the completion of the GLaDOS Project, Miss Zombie has been put into the computer, as per Mr. Goodtimes' wishes. Tomorrow, we shall finally have a Bring Your Daughter to Work Day, in honour of Miss Zombie, and the Operating System's turn on. We will report back with more information about how that goes.

<\End of File>

[dreamerfiles]

yeah this blog was inevitable

[max-headroomfiles]

YOU. GUYS. GHDDJFJFDJEKFKGHDJDKFGJFJEKDKKDJFJFKEDLDJDJFKD,DMDJFVJDISKEMDMCFHRGUDEOLWSXLOXDJGJMDCKCIHCFJDDKJDDHCIDKDJ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NO WORDS JUST FJSISIWMMFODIOSJMSWKLDODSJSKLSOSKSKSWMWMSKISJDKSKXOSSKSKSKKSJHDJESKOAOSOLLWKWKSOEWIKWPSOSJDLSKDJJDJWLSPSOWKDEKDKDKDJSSWLSPSSD!!!!!!! very excited for the new season for Mystery Files :]

[webvampzz]

just finished re7 and the whole serum thing was like really confusing in some aspects so i just really started thinking about it and

idk if everyone already knows this or if it was in something i missed but whatever

so when you cure mia, she is cured right? not really. in the boat/ship part, she still sees eveline and even hallucinates her still, which is only present in people still infected

it might have taken the control from her but she's still a little infected since the serum is only supposed to do that iirc.

the serum might have worked on her because she wasn't too far gone, and she probably took precautions because she literally worked with all of that kind of stuff as seen in the boat part again

she was probably cured fully at the end of the game when she's was at the helicopter because they definitely had to have known about it, and these are the same guys that appear in the dlc with information on the serum

the serum didnt work on zoe because it wasn't the right serum for her. if you choose to cure her, she just calcifies. obviously you're supposed to cure mia and then play the end of zoe dlc which explains a little more about that

the serum in the base game uses d series parts, which wouldn't work on her because she has an e type/series infection. in the dlc, the serum is specifically made for the e-type

curing her wouldn't have ever worked because the serum wasn't ever made for her, but she did mention one of the serums being hers which kinda makes me wonder if she added something else to it? or maybe its just a line, because the serum that she gave you still calcified jack when you gave it to him, but he came back in the dlc

however thats probably because in the chainsaw fight he splits into two pieces and both of those fights were just different parts of him, so the serum still probably just made him immediately calcify anyway since it's not the right serum for his type of infection

tldr the serum wasnt the right serum because they have an e series infection and it uses d series parts to create it

[tsukiyadori]

wow.

... Just wow.

I've written about Kemutai Hanashi before a bit in my Anime-Planet List: Queerplatonic Vibes

And something imo essentially queerplatonic (if you know that word) is the entire series' hook and tagline:

Different to lovers, friends or family. Still, by your side is the right place.

The whole title is already a glorious metaphor. And this theme has been in and out recurringly from the beginning of the series.

But up until chapter 11, it was just vague impressions, their thoughts, discomfort, feeling a gap that can't be filled by words.

And then comes chapter 12.

Takeda gets invited by Hinako for a chat, for a drink (and some ice cream) and they do exactly that: Have a conversation.

And it doesn't take long until the inevitable question arises, once the conversation mentions Arita, who was going to be mentioned given Takeda and him have moved in together and they are part of each other's lives:

Do you really live together?

Hm?

Arita-kun, I've met him the other day in the shop. He was keeping watch over Alice.

Aah, right, he mentioned something like that.

It's going great, is it?

Great? Rather than great or so... it's just normal. We're just doing normal.

... I was surprised, you know. When I first heard about your living together.

Were you?

Of course. Even if you are former classmates it's not like you were close.

Just what is truly behind that turn of events?

'What'... We're just enjoying ourselves. Thought it would be nice being alongside each other. That's all there is to it.

Haaaa (sigh)

Eh? Is that somehow not ok?

No. I already thought as much from Arita's account, but… So, there's really nothing else between you?

Else?

Basically, something like romance or so

Me and Arita?

… Right. I get it. That's enough. (holds hand on head)

You were one like that.

Eh…?

(some ice parfait getting served by the waitress momentarily stalls the conversation and Hinako gets busy taking pics with her phone until Takeda resumes the conversation.)

Is it that strange?

… no well, it's not like such a way of living is completely impossible, Just…

Just

Right

It's just hard to imagine that you would go as far when you aren't lovers, I think

(she looks him in the face)

… Say. I've just mentioned that Arita hasn't been at his parent's home. [It was previously about how it's far away]

Yes?

You know. Isn't that because it's difficult for him to return?

Eh?

This is just a guess, but… Don't you think there is a chance that he finds it difficult to talk about you and him?

Eh? No.

But he did tell them he's living with me.

I don't mean that.

I mean, what relationship he has with you.

Or so

something like that.

Wouldn't he be asked about it after all?

Things like that

For example, if I was his parent, if I heard that my son, who lives away alone, suddenly starts living with a man, I wouldn't exactly blame him, but I think I would genuinely want to ask questions. What happened, or what are your plans for the future, or so. What the other person is to you. For example.

Takeda, are you able to explain it, when people ask you?

Explain.

(he thinks back on a previous encounter he had in a supermarket.)

… you know. I thought this before, but is this something you need to explain to people? I don't particularly…

… For me, it's things being explained with words is comfortable… or more like, smooth, I think.

Just as an example

If one was to see you and me together eating desserts, probably a lot of people would think "Those two, they're a couple".

Huh?

As I said, you wouldn't know the truth if you were those people who don't know you well.

But, just like that with just looking a bit, they can match things to concepts they know and be with it, as long as it's nothing unnatural.

By doing so, they don't have to ask "why?"

With human relationships, as long as you are alive, I think it's more convenient to be able to explain something.

All the more, if it's a strange one.

People will want to investigate the things they don't understand.

Is it not ok… to not be able to explain? To just not understand?

Who knows… Maybe it's really fine with just that.

Just

There are people who are in distress when you come upon something they don't understand.

And opposite of them

there are people who feel pain when they aren't understood.

All the more, when it's someone you know well. For example, like family.

Things of unknown nature are scary.

Being thought of as something of unknown nature is scary.

More than anything

you yourself not knowing what you yourself are

is scary.

Are you like that as well, Hinako-san?

Something that's fine for you, Takeda,

doesn't have to be fine for anyone else.

(The phone rings)

[The conversation wraps up there, as Arita messaged Takeda asking him to run an errand. They walk away from the café together a bit and chit chat random small talk.]

Takeda

Hm?

I said all that, but you moved in together after thinking it though properly, did you.

Yeah

I see… then it's fine.

I'm sorry.

Even I think it's a bad habit of mine. Thinking about what I'd think myself and getting stuck on it.

I was being meddlesome.

No. I've always liked that bit about you since forever.

…

Ouch! Hey, you didn't have to hit me

Shut up! Go home already!

This series was already excellent with how it treads onto their relationship in delicate, subtle manners. But there was always something in there: It's not like they aren't thinking about it. But they are very much dodging it. Arita, of more introspective nature, is further down the lane with his admitting to himself that it's not that he isn't hiding it or ashamed of it or anything, but there's just this gap in words that he doesn't know how to fill, because he is well aware that what he and Takeda hold is different from what people usually think about "friends". (Chapter 3)

Takeda meanwhile feels discomfort, but can't exactly put a finger on it. And he does not actually want to label it. And as he repeatedly asks. Is that not okay? Basically: Is that wrong? Is that not allowed?

This conversation is absolutely excellent. Because Hinako does not answer this question in a simple yes/no way. At first, it may seem dodgy, but she eventually does add her actual own conclusion to it, that it's completely fine if they had thought things through and came to the decision. But the focus for the conversation prior is more at pointing things out to Takeda - almost warning him - as she knows since childhood, and to her he is a bit of a simpleton who doesn't think too complicated about these matters (to the point she almost gets headaches). And it's just such a beautifully concise way of outlining why words - labels - are useful, and moreover how the lack of it may be dangerous.

So, first thing I thought about this chapter:

Wow. Just wow.

Second thing: Damn, I needed this a few years earlier. It would have saved me some 2-3 weeks of brooding over the subject. (Which probably is still relatively little time wasted comparatively) I was right there asking those same questions Takeda is asking here. After years long of not wanting - or not knowing the words - to label anything and being fine with that myself with not explaining things or explaining things in my own words that didn't match common understanding of the words (much like Takeda again) it gradually ceased working. Because, no. You actually are not allowed to not explain yourself before the vast majority of people, if you actually want to interact with them. I was (am) also right there being angry about not understanding and getting explanations for things 'normal', especially as I am always pressed to explain myself.

Also look at those visuals, so simple, but powerfully subtle with all the facial expressions, sentences chopped up with little pauses displayed by the bubbles where Hinako is trying to find the tactful words and especially those pointed uses of black there: Hinako's drink. That panel with the smoke and her talking about "scary". (One meaning of kemutai from the title is smokey.) That lingering discomfort to fear that is oozing over to Takeda. That smartphone that displays his connection with Arita is black right after for a moment. The entire sky in that last page. Takeda's having his back to it, but now he's walking right into it. This conversation with Hinako may as well be the starting line for him and by extention Arita that they realize, they can't run from talking about it forever.

It's a bit funny to read this now, because I happened over that word, queerplatonic, which is looking pretty much like that word they are struggling to find, and it makes me feel like wanting to just throw over so they have something. But I also only know about this word for 2 years at best as of now, which is not long at all. And it's fuzzy and vague as hell (which is kinda its point I guess) and it took me a good while to get my head around it, even just a bit. On top of it it's anything but spread, so its usefulness is very limited, so much that I haven't even once used it in the flesh and blood IRL, where I'm not able to immediately throw google results over so that the links do the explaining for me.

The quintessential theme of this series hits home a lot, but also, just like The Case Files of Jeweler Richard which comes along and has the protagonist say that even after years and learning multiple languages he is unable to encapsulate what he's feeling in any words - their gaze is moving a bit backwards, retrospective. They have already met, they have something (even if it's maybe still developing) and then struggle to put it into words.

And that makes it all an explanation, as this chapter calls it. But more than anything, I think, it's actually a justification.

And while it's utterly precious that there are works now talking about this in such a beautiful and concise way, capturing all the confusion about being lost, I just find myself like.

I have come to see the need of ways to talk about this. I'm there to collect words and examples as much as I can find. But somehow I don't really want to justify myself. Or explain myself after the fact. But talk about it before it. (I do get it easier to spin a narrative over something that actually is and can be actively show than it is to make a plot out of the difficultiy of searching something you can't properly grasp in the first place. And even the former is already such a tall task that it has very very little amounts of attempts at undertaking.)

And this quote:

More than anything you yourself not knowing what you yourself are is scary.

... is thankfully, something I was spared of more than not, quite similar to Takeda. But just as Hinako points out, because I was fine with that it means naught for anyone else. And if you want a connections and relationships out of all things, it goes beyond just yourself. If someone like me, in all the idiosyncratic ways that be, wants to connect to people, I think understanding and acceptance is paramount. Like how I'm also aroace, among other things, but I'm not actually against having a relationship - it will however have to look very different from the common idea of one. If I ever wanted to begin something, I think I'd need to be able to explain myself and my expectations before it happens.

Not as a justification, but only an explanation, a feeble chance for getting to the starting line.

I think Hinako did that wonderfully. Without even having to outright answer Takeda's question of "Are you like that as well?"

Note: The series has no official nor fantranslation in English. It did get nominated for the Tsugi ni Kuru Manga Award 2022's web category and freshly licensed in France.

[0rchidm4ntis]

pssssst. come add me on artfight !!

[ashflamethewaffleangel]

I've been browsing the WoJ website, as one does, and realized just how excited Mr. Author seems to write Mirror Mirror Marcone, and now I'm very excited for that book too.

Do you have any theories about how that will go? Will Marcone be a good guy? 👀 Omg what if he went from the army to law enforcement. Imagine what that man could do in SI. ⚰️

YOU HONOR ME WITH THIS QUESTION HOLY SHIT (so very genuine; you are my beloved Dresden Files mutual) but bear with me because this is gonna be a long post. I have toooo many thoughts. God I'm sorry. /jov

BUT GOD. YOU HAVE HIT THE QUESTION I REPEATEDLY THEORIZE WITH MY PARTNERS. OUUUGH. There are SO many ways this could go I am gonna be SO very real and I love every single one of them bc it keeps my brain shoomvin'!

But considering WOJ has mentioned that this particular universe is ours but gone to shit MUCH quicker due to one of Harry's earlier decisions "Mirror universe Harry is different by one choice. One. And everything else just follows after that." WHICH MEANS. WHICH MEANS EVERYTHING STAYS THE SAME. UP TO THAT CHOICE. (I can't remember how early, so it could be a pre-books decision, or it could be a in-canon alternate decision) so Marcone depending on how early in the canon it is, I see a couple different options!!

NOW OBVIOUUUSLY. There are an ABSURDDDD Number of choices Harry coulda done EXTREEEEMELY DIFFERENT!!!! However. one that comes to mind-- at least if he's talking early series!! and from the sounds of it, he is, because he says everything goes to shit a lot fucking faster than our timeline-- is in Fool Moon.

Marcone gives Harry a choice in the Fool Moon garage; sign on and become an employee of his, or die by the people he's trying to protect Harry from. Marcone ALSO gives Harry the choice to stay off the case in Book 1.

What if Harry chose EITHER of these options? What if he stayed off the Victor Sells case? The entire series spiraled from there--- THAT'S THE REASON MARCONE CAME TO HIM FOR HELP IN BOOK 2!!! MARCONE, UPON NOT BEING ABLE TO GET HARRY'S HELP, RESORTED TO FBI AGENTS WHO BETRAY HIM AND TRIED TO FEED HIM TO A LOUP-GAROU. AND THEY WOULD'VE GOTTEN AWAY WITH IT IF IT WEREN'T FOR EVERYONE ELSE (including Harry) STUCK IN THE PIT BELOW WITH HIM.

Now Jim has said he's very excited to write Marcone; so I imagine he's not fucking dead but. What if this series of events leads him to Nicodemus instead of Monoc? What if he becomes a knight of the Denarius THAT FUCKIN EARLY so he could better protect Chicago?; ESPCIALLY SINCE HARRY HASN'T KINDA LED HIM THROUGH TRIAL BY FIRE AND SAVED HIS ASS ON MULTIPLE OCCASIONS (as does Marcone vice versa).

But if Fool Moon has the changing point, then we've got a different route; Harry working for Marcone. That now begs the question of-- Would that have made everything gone to shit that much faster??????? Maybe !! As a consultant for Marcone? And telling him all the BULLSHIT that the White Council does? That the Red Court is doing? In his city?? Our evil Harry might be Marcone's enforcer-- as Mister Jimothy mentions, "If [Harry] was Lawful Evil I’m pretty sure he’d be Marcone’s enforcer."

Or might have been, at one point, in this particular universe. Either way, a very DELIGHTFUL choice of thought, but probably not where Mister Butcher is gonna take it.

Option 2; Marcone is FBI/Special Investigations -- LAW ENFORCEMENT TIME BABYYYYY!!! LAWFUL EVIL MAN STILL ON HIS LAWFUL ACT BUT THIS TIME IN THE MORE LITERAL SENSE! (/very jovial) I see this one happening if it's a complete Star Trek Mirror Mirror moment; he's still a powerhouse, he's still an ice-cold mf, but he's more of a deadly serious Fox Mulder, especially if the same event took place that made Marcone-- well-- Marcone! I'd see him being the same type of character, but more on the ground this time around; like he was in White Knight type beat; manpower and in-the-know folks taking down monsters to protect the citizens. Maybe he'll be giving our Harry a helping hand!! Especially if Harry is being framed for, you know, MURDER, as it's being told to us. Maybe we'll be having a soul-gaze, and because (I PRESUME) this universe's duo has already shared a soul-gaze it's a "Oh. Yeah no you're not lying. What. The fuck. Okay." OR, he's one of our main obstacles! BOTH ! AND!!!! Considering that Mister Butcher mentioned that we'll maybe be seeing something related to Marcone's capital n Name in this book... Definitely a possibility.

Option 3; He's literally just a guy! -- Less likely of the options? Yes. Still an interesting thought experiment? Also yes! This is ALSO based on this specific WOJ;

Q: I read the short story from Marcone’s point of view, “Even Hand,” and I noticed that John Marcone is not his real name. Is that going to be significant? Sure is if somebody tries to cast a spell at him using the name “John Marcone”! That’ll be a big deal. But we’ll have to see how that works out. Actually, the character that’s really interesting is the Mirror Mirror universe Marcone, and we’ll get to him in a few books.

Maybe! He's not John Marcone! Or, more accurately, he's the Marcone we see in Helen Beckitt's vision! Maybe he's still that charming motorcyclist who works for the mob! Probably VERY aware of word on the streets about Harry, and in Mirror Mirror, we'll see him go "huh. what the fuck." about our Harry! because THAT'S not the guy everyone dreads! This is a fucking goober! Powerful goober-- but tall, lanky ass, goober! Built his own paranet perhaps, due to the fact that Harry is not a "good" man in this universe.

I very honestly don't know, there's so many variations of these, ever so slight changes, and I am CHOMPING on my theorizing bit.