#the absolute balls on ryunosuke for him to steal a sip out of barok's chalice would be commendable

[aceredshirt13]

I really wanna know what Van Zieks' wine tastes like. I'm not a huge fan of wine in general, but back then if surely tasted differently? Plus with the shit you go through in those games, I wouldn't be too surprised if on some point Ryunosuke just went "nah, I have to be drunk to deal with this, this is too much!!!!" But now I can't help but wonder how Barok would react if someone, perhaps even a Nipponese, were to take just a little innocent sippy from his hallowed chalice 🤔

I have probably only drunk more than a sip of alcohol on four or five occasions in my entire life (picky eater, don't like the taste most of the time), so I fear am definitely not the person to ask about the history of wine flavor. However, I'm told people have some seriously old vintages that are still drinkable, so it might depend on that? And I'm sure some wineries have been trying to make their wine the same for centuries. Without the ability to travel into anime Victorian England, I fear we may never know...

(Ryunosuke definitely needs a drink, though. I'm curious if drunk Ryunosuke would have his Dance of Deduction drama and confidence 100% of the time, which would honestly be incredible.)

I now have an image of Barok coming back to his office and opening the door to find the Masked Apprentice sitting there drinking straight out of one of his vintages while silently making eye contact with him. Kazuma can’t remember who he is yet, but he’s still getting the vibes that he should fuck with Barok.

(I sense from how meticulously Barok organizes and reorganizes his wine barrels that the man is very protective of his wine, so I don't imagine he would be terribly pleased if people took a sip from it - though I imagine he'd be most upset at Herlock and Kazuma for stealing it from him. Not sure what the attitudes toward kids consuming alcohol was back then, but while I suspect he would be less mad at Iris for sneaking one, he would still be rather opposed given that she's a literal child. But ultimately, I imagine everyone in the main cast (and Albert, of course!) has probably shared a drink with Barok at some point post-game - because it's too late. He's been absorbed into the found family. He can no longer run away.)