The worst thing is, Viconia would've fit perfectly in Shadowheart's storyline. From Viconia's (non-romanced) epilogue, we know this:
Viconia does found a cult of Shar in Waterdeep and she is betrayed by one of her followers. She is, not Shar. Shar, in fact, admonishes Viconia for this, showing she clearly never ordered that. And Viconia does not give a damn. This is the woman who left the cult of Lolth and went to the 'lighter' option that was Shar (compared to Lolth). She already deals with agents sent by Lolth, she's not going to let Shar tell her what to do.
The nature of the betrayal Viconia was the subject of is left entirely up to the player. With Viconia and Shadowheart's backstory being what they are, Shar's plot for a Selûnite child could've been perfectly inserted as the reason for Viconia's falling out with Shar.
Viconia left Lolth because of how children were treated, how she was treated herself. She did not turn to Shar to do the same thing. She would reject Shar's plot the moment the order came, and that would be the perfect trigger for one of her follower to turn of her. Shar's cult being what it is, I don't think taking down the whole lot is overkill to avoid further backstabbing. There aren't many who will pick their priestress over their goddess, especially not with how Sharran's faith emphasizes self-effacing. Can't make a decision for yourself when you don't think for yourself.
Shar's reprimends following what Viconia did further proves this wasn't what the goddess wanted. Complete that by adding she's incensed Viconia rejected her order and slaughtered her willing clerics, and you've got the perfect connection between Viconia and Shadowheart.
In BG 3, we could've met Viconia in Baldur's Gate, rather annoyed because she's been getting an influx of Sharran agents after her, and she's tracking the source to put an end to it. A Shar-aligned Shadowheart could've the mission to purge the cloister that failed to kill her, while a Selûne-aligned Shadowheart would work with her to put and end to the cloister, to give them both some peace and quiet.
Epilogue could've them both sharing tips on 'How to best kill an agent of faith sent after you'. They both have sharp tongues and a similar past, they could've had fantastic banter.
Instead we have this mess.
30 notes
·
View notes
When asked if Jinx views Vander as someone that betrayed Silco, Christian Linke replied, "I don't think that Jinx necessarily blamed Vander for what happened, though she does think (now) that Vander chose wrong".
Which is VERY interesting because for years Jinx's been hearing Silco's side of the story, and Silco's probably told it in a way to relate their experiences together. By the end, Jinx doesn't chastise the attempted murder but she recognized Vander had a choice between appeasing Piltover or keeping Silco around, and that's where she disagrees.
So for Jinx, violence is understandable, but abandonment is intolerable and that... mostly makes sense. Not just because Jinx herself lashes out violently under stress, but because on a smaller scale, she accepts the same dynamic.
The last time Jinx saw Vi until Act 2, Vi hit her and verbally confirmed Jinx's worst insecurities after Jinx REALLY messed up. Even after all that time, Jinx is ready and willing to have Vi back in her life even though Jinx is still afraid of being hurt (physically and emotionally) by Vi YEARS after the fact.
We literally see this play out in Silco and Vander's reunion. Silco's the one that brings Vander to him, that wants Vander back in his life despite the murder attempt and resulting disfigurement. Both Jinx and Silco are both communicating to their closest person, "Hate me, hurt me, but don't abandon me".
20 notes
·
View notes
You know what, I keep mulling this over and I think I'm just going to write it because I keep second guessing myself and I need to share.
SO. Back in my big, long Wolfwood post, I pointed out this scene below and how the pale eyes/use of Vash's name/etc shows actual concern here
The next shot is of Wolfwood's shoes running, and by the time we see these two again, they're at the hospital and have to overhear from the staff what happened to the hitman - which means that Wolfwood did not run after the shooter, he ran to get medical help. That's what I stated before.
But here's the thing: leaving Vash there while he runs to get help is... kind of stupid, because even though Wolfwood shot at the hitman, he's clearly still alive and still gunning for Vash. Wolfwood refers to him in present tense - "He is obviously a hit-man" not "he was".
Immediately after, Keele, who's moved up to the roof, says the following - "I need to get a clean shot in." On it's own, that's not a strange thing to say - he needs to finish this, quickly, before he's discovered. Except... it kind of is an odd thing to say, if Vash is still just lying there. Keele is on the roof, directly above his target - I would expect a clean shot to be fairly easy to take.
You might be thinking, "oh, but maybe there's a crowd around Vash now and he can't get a clean shot with all the people"... but this makes no sense, because Vash is only as injured as he is because Keele clearly doesn't care about collateral and fired on both Vash and the civilian woman in the car. Even if you argue that there's too many people to be "justifiably collateral" in Keele's eyes, he could still easily disperse them by firing more bullets - we don't see anyone who appears to be able to fire a gun here except Wolfwood, and he should be gone to get help at this point.
So, what's with the clean shot thing? He's never seemed to care up until this point, he was just unloading all his bullets at the guy, and a grenade. The only thing I can think of is that he needs to ensure his aim is accurate. It's likely he's firing at a moving target.
Wolfwood's arm is stretched out over Vash in the second panel of the image above. Neither one of them knew what became of Keele until later at the hospital. Vash's entire body is bandaged - he was in no condition to move himself, and we only see one set of shoes in the running panel.
Tldr; "Wolfwood picks up Vash and carries him while booking it for the hospital" is not only a perfectly valid interpretation of this scene, but also, imo, one of the most rational ones. I rest my case.
...Actually I'm probably just losing my mind. Ignore me.
171 notes
·
View notes
Haruka clenched his fists. “Y-you would be surprised if you woke up and -- and -- and your cell was full of ice cream!
I was just thinking of this line from your last Mikoto drabble and wondered… Can you make this happen?
I certainly can >:3 I tried for a while to frame this as straight-up comedy, but it actually worked so much better as something sweet, with silly lines here and there :) Thank you so much for the request, it was so fun!! (Also, I wrote John using Mikoto's name for ease, but in my mind he's switching between first person pronouns.)
There was someone unexpected in cell 009.
No, no, it’s not like that. Everyone was very aware that there were two distinct residents of that cell. John himself was very aware of his position in that cell.
The thing was, someone else ended up in there, too.
John kept his eyes shut, feigning sleep. The other person was here on a mission. They’d slipped in without creaking the metal door. Their footsteps were nearly inaudible against the floor. He would have thought it was Kotoko, with skills like that, but she would have leapt to an attack. This person was busy doing… something.
He strained his ears. It was impossible to tell their goal. They were going in and out, moving things around. Was it a trap? There weren’t enough materials in the prison to set a trap. Were they stealing things from around the room? He had nothing of value. Plus, he was sure Mikoto would have given anything to anyone who asked. What, then?
Unable to come to any conclusion, he readied himself. He’d protect himself. He always did.
In one fluid motion, he rolled out of the bed and pinned the other to the ground. The perpetrator let out a high-pitched squeak. Impossibly wide and frightened eyes looked up at him.
“Haruka…?” That was the last person he was expecting. John squinted around the room. “What the --”
Ice cream. He didn’t know what it meant, but that’s what Haruka had been arranging. Dishes and dishes of ice cream. Everywhere. Plates stacked on the desk. Bowls strewn across the floor. All vanilla. There was a scattering of toppings; some with colorful sprinkles and others dripping with chocolate sauce. When he’d tackled the poor boy, he sent another dish of it clattering across the ground.
“I’m sorry! Ah, I-I, ah, I’m sorry!” Haruka squeezed his eyes shut. “It-it’s a, it was a surprise, for you! For M-m-mikoto…!”
“A surprise?”
“The other d-day he said, we were, we were talking ab-bout --”
“He asked for this?”
“Uh, no, but --”
“He didn’t know about it?” John’s eyes narrowed. “It’s some kinda prank?”
“NO! No, n-no I’m not being m-mean. It was f-fun. A fun surprise.” Haruka held his palms up, unable to make his smile anything but panicked. “...Surprise!”
John stared.
Despite how nonsensical the whole situation was, there didn’t seem to be any danger. He rose. Haruka scrambled to his feet.
John gestured to the extensive supply of sweets around them. “How did you get all this together, anyway?”
“O-oh!” Haruka wrung his hands. “I was, uh, planning it for a while. I requested ice cream three times in a row. And I n-never ate mine for dessert. I’ve been saving it. Es asked why, b-but they still let me keep it.”
“And why did you? Why do all this for Mikoto?”
“I t-told you, it was sup-supposed to be fun...”
John braced himself against the desk. He was just wondering how long it would take to take care of this mess. He mused, “it’s all going to melt.”
He might as well have thrown a punch, the way Haruka’s expression shifted. “I’m sorry! I’m -- I… I didn’t think of that…”
“Eh? You don’t need to apologize or anything. It’s fine.”
They fell into silence. Haruka shifted on his feet.
“Y-you… can have it, if you want. The ice cream. I didn’t let anyone else have it but-but, you can, I think. ”
“I don’t want the ice cream.” He wanted to be left alone. He wanted the cell clean so Mikoto didn't stress out about cleaning it. He wanted to avoid being bothered by bizarre ‘surprises’ first thing in the morning.
His stomach disagreed, apparently. It let out a loud grumble. Both prisoners looked over.
He muttered a curse. With a huff, he picked up one of the bowls.
“Alright. But even if I did eat this, or Mikoto did, there’s no way I could finish it all.” He shoved it into Haruka’s hands. “You made this mess, you’re gonna help me deal with it.”
The boy nodded frantically.
“Come on, you can sit here. Pass me that one, with the syrup. And hurry it up.”
57 notes
·
View notes