#the dom!maraz route does have the RT needing to be sadistic to others as well

[deputyrook]

Everything I’ve seen about rogue trader has been about the dom marazhai romance. I’m generally more into subbing, but im just not a big masochist personally.

But there’s another route???? You can brand the scary evil murder elf obsessed with torture and pain????? This changes things.

Yes! Something I find really interesting about Marazhai’s route is that he’s actually very clear that you’re playing roles. It’s one-hundred percent not a “I’m a drukhari so I’m superior to you” thing (unlike Yrliet, who’s romance is not physical because she can’t get past the fact that you’re human.) it’s why if you switch to dom answers after going the sub route (or vice versa) he’s like “woah, hey, this isn’t what we agreed.”

Whether he’s the dom or sub, what he likes is that you’re willing to descend with him into the drukhari world of extreme violence/pleasurepain. More than anything I’d describe it as a corruption arc- he explicitly just wants to make you worse.

Now if none of that appeals to you, there is another male romance who I also adore, Heinrix. He’s, uh, also a torturer (lol) and works for the Inquisition. But he’s a lonely, competent, traumatized, deeply repressed man- it really hits the “I can’t allow myself to want you- but I do. Oh god, how I do.” trope, if you like that kind of romance.

And now there’s Kibella, a death cult assassin also into pain. Oh, Owlcat