#the only thing I do know is that Cas gets to take time on Marazhai's ship and boss his people around for however much time Acts 4 and 5 are

[mathlann]

It's always so hard thinking of post-game stuff for my OCs because I'm always like "well what if she just took a fucking nap? Like a really big one?"

[mathlann]

Semi-Connected Cas Thoughts

Casimira is extremely harsh with disciplining her nobles, and dealing with them is usually where she can be considered her most "Dogmatic". An incompetent serf isn't that big a deal (they'll be punished, but not necessarily killed), but an incompetent noble affects the whole planet and it makes it more likely she'll have to get involved in the cleanup. Unfortunately, as the old guard quickly learned, Cas doesn't hold much esteem for pedigree or tradition so she's not shy about the occasional bout of (lethal) discipline when she deems it necessary. The only family of Theodora's nobles to make it out unscathed were the Werserians for a reason, and any post-game nobles that rise after the old learn quickly to keep a close eye on their holdings.

Insofar as other bits of Court Conduct, Cas also runs on Rule of Annoying, where essentially: if made to deal with a situation or person that's otherwise unpleasant but not actively dangerous, if she can take a course of action that can selectively piss off someone around her that she dislikes without being too obvious, she'll try and do it. She would say it's to test limits, but in reality, she can nearly match Marazhai for being an emotional terror to others when she wants to be. She ends up surprisingly adept at the subtleties of court life because "managing to fuck over or provoke someone else without the matter being obviously readable to outsiders or turning violent" was a big part of why she was chosen for her pre-Rogue Trader course of work. On the other end of the spectrum from the above, one of the few instances where she will insist on following tradition or the courtly way of doing things to the letter is with nobles she doesn't like. Both sides know she doesn't care, but the right slip up can reveal a lot.

Also post-game musing but under the cut because I may change my mind about it later

So as to "how much of Cas' personal life is public knowledge" irt Marazhai, while I know the epilogue says their Feasts and stuff are pretty legendary, I don't think your average Joe on the street would be able to factually tell you "Rogue Trader von Valancius has a Drukhari consort." This run we are going for peace with the Eldar so on that front her fondness for Xenos is pretty public. But insofar as specifics, while she'd never deny him, I think their relationship is pretty "their business" in the sense that there's no point in explicitly showing out about it. The exception being the above, RoA, in which case "implying something going on to the right person for the kick of it" is fine (ie, Winterscale/Chorda/Kharael), especially because the person being provoked probably already doesn't like her and can be discredited anyways? But I mean, neither one of them is big on emotion or being especially lovey, and post-game they live apart so, idk I think it's entirely possible they can sit in the same room together for hours and unless someone observing knows them nothing would be especially amiss? I see it as essentially, most of their time together isn't planetside, so word of what goes on there doesn't reach the wider populace for the most part? Like at most, Her Ladyship has a fondness for Xenos, has a favorite Xenos mercenary (what odd Rogue Trader doesn't?), and perhaps some disgruntled nobles or former officers may allege improper relations but its hard to prove, y'know?

[mathlann]

🕯️🍄🪲!!

From this ask game.

🕯️ ⇢ on a scale from 1 to 10, how much do you enjoy editing? why is that?

Ooh. 8.5! I love editing! I'm a very visual person, reading and writing (its the art history girlie in me), and so my first step doing anything is like, "getting the image out" if that makes sense? Which is the hardest part of writing because I'm moving from "image in my head" to "words" to "connected narrative thing" but also it's what makes the editing so fun. Like, once I have what I'm trying to say down and it makes some kind of sense, I can just focus on the details and making it "look right," move this sentence here, try this word there, etc etc and that's always super exciting to me. The -1.5 is off because sometimes editing too soon or too much and then it stalls my progress because I can't stop prodding at the words lol.

🍄 ⇢ share a head canon for one of your favourite ships or pairings

Cas and Marazhai are very similar in that they're both "I will be vulnerable about this, once" type people. However, Cas' list of "ew no" emotions isn't as large as Marazhai's, which, combined with the fact he is usually the one coming to her about stuff, means she has a lot easier time needling him than vice versa. However, that also means the few times she's the one in the hot seat, oh it makes her sick. Not because she necessarily thinks he'd react negatively towards her, but because he gets so few chances to truly, genuinely, irritate her and they both know he's going to take it, even if its not in the moment. It's a vicious cycle.

🪲 ⇢ add 50 words to your current wip and share the paragraph here

The sense of wrongness about the planet was aided by the length of its day-night cycle: only 20 Terran hours. Not a significant difference from the cycle of Holy Terra, but one that was close enough to make offworlders feel a sense of harried unease at never having quite enough time to do anything.

[mathlann]

Thinking/Rambling about Heinrix's Merciful/Radical turn post-game because its messy

So, I like the idea that exposure to Cas eventually makes Heinrix more merciful, less judgemental (to humans), but not really enough for her to fully trust him. The Emelina decision still kinda fucks me up because it is better than what the Inquisition would've given her, but a mercy kill is still a kill y'know? And so it's kind of a two steps forward, one step back, for Cas in that he will maybe understand her point of view on things more and he wouldn't want her harmed if it came down to it, but she doesn't fully trust his decision-making on when she's "gone too far" because her particular flavor of heresy is also deeply entwined with the thing Heinrix shows an unrelenting and virulent hatred for. At most, I think a Radical Heinrix probably moves ideologically closer to Jae, in that humanity can be better, but xenos are still tools to be kept at arms length should you need them for something. And that's the Heinrix that ends up becoming Lord-Inquisitor and Warden of the Expanse after they kill Calcazar. Which leads into

Can of Worms 1.

He technically outranks Casimira, and now has to deal with the fact that she's created a Xenos-friendly, "human rights"-having pocket of space in direct violation of Imperial dogma. And she is also the only Rogue Trader of note really left standing. On the one hand, the part of Heinrix that is maybe more understanding of human vices and circumstances would know she's definitely not the worst ruler the Expanse could have. Notable extracurricular activities aside, she has proven herself reasonable when it comes to dealing with common folk, and for all her faults, she is anti-Chaos enough that that particular flavor of heresy won't find purchase under her watch. But on the other hand, Heinrix never shakes off his hatred of Xenos and so that's where most of his reprimands of her would approach from, even if he ultimately doesn't do anything to punish her in specific. And I would think perhaps his colleagues in the Inquisition might view him with suspicion due to his former ties to Casimira, romantic and not. So being lenient with her might give rise to internal dissent amongst the Puritanical factions in the Ordo, but at the same time, cracking down on a popular Rogue Trader so soon after a major disruption would also massively increase the instability of the region. Especially with the whole, "Alaitoc will hit our space in about 50 years to wreck shit" hanging over everyone's heads, letting her be and perhaps waiting for the eventual invasion hit might do its job for them. (It will not, thanks Muaran and Marazhai.) But also that process gets interrupted by

Can of Worms 2

Any power Heinrix can wield over Casimira is ultimately short-lived because the Imperium has no control over the Expanse after a couple decades or so, after Casimira and NOMOS cut off their access. As for where Heinrix sits on that decision, I'm not sure! Again it's all very give and take with Cas and her version of the Expanse does have a higher quality of life than what the Imperium would allow, which Heinrix approves of, but also if he didn't join her against the Imperium, her victory is a failure of his job.

For purposes of story, I'd think the Ordo Xenos probably has to make a similar choice to the Navy, in that they can keep their station and function if they can adapt to the new way of things, or they disband/try their chances against NOMOS. Which then creates another conflict because while the Ordo Xenos still definitely has its uses (like the war with Alaitoc coming up in a few years), 60% of its former functionality goes out the window once non-hostile Aeldari are allowed to cohabitate with humanity, the Cold Trade is pretty much legalized, and Dargonus has a giant Librarium of Xenos Knowledge you don't need a fancy Inquisition badge to use.

Which, the emotional messiness of Cas and Heinrix constantly being at odds about her reckless heresy and his devotion to his job to the point where they have a nasty breakup over it, him having his entire self kinda stripped down by the whole Calcazar affair, and then he finally achieves Peak Job™ only for Cas to use her C'Tan Shard baby to make his promotion functionally useless without her continued allowance. And she would still support him keeping his station and doing the work he was doing (a few exceptions notwithstanding) because she knows him and his competencies. But also I don't think she would fully grasp how bone-deep frustrating the whole situation would be for Heinrix to still be tied to her the way he is. With so much of their conflict being about rank and authority, her winning that with some finality is kind of a cruel joke imo, no matter how much she publicly acknowledges his authority.

Can of Worms 3

So when the Alaitoc War does hit, I think that might be Heinrix's time to shine? Because routing Xenos and protecting humanity is pretty much what his organization is on paper supposed to do. Alaitoc strikes fast and quickly so the Inquisition's information would be invaluable. But he'd still be working closely with Casimira which is fine, because she is reliable in granting access to her resources. But also it's not, because she refuses to let them touch Janus, and is generally protective of her own Aeldari which would probably drudge up old grudges because none of this might have happened if she hadn't punted Yrliet when he told her to. As is cutting them off from Imperium resources that would also maybe be able to help. And sure her spot comes out mostly fine because her pet xenos helped out, but his domain is the whole Expanse and he has so much more to clean up than her. But again, barring maybe Evayne Winterscale, who has his own messes to handle, angrily fussing at her is the best he can do without losing much-needed support. And he knows that, and she knows that, and the universe stays as it does, but at least the Aeldari are eventually routed and they can go back to not interfering with each other.

Bonus: Can of Worms 4

All that to say as well Heinrix is absolutely alive and still in power when Ezhan is born and he remains the most complicated former companion to fit into that future. Because its not just weighing his relationship with Casimira (complicated), its his relationship with Marazhai (it's on-sight), and his job (precarious). Like, he knows her well enough and he is of rank enough that in the name of openness and honesty and avoiding future trouble, Cas isn't going to lie to him or hide anything (although "talking to Heinrix" is probably the second-most nervous/actively scared she's been in awhile—how much does that mercy hold and does it still apply to her?). But then at the same time, her being honest with him presents a no-win situation because if he goes along and let's things slide, and word gets out (or if Ezhan hadn't gotten so lucky with genetics), that's trouble internally and more weight on the scales of "being forced out by his Puritan colleagues and students" or if he doesn't let it slide, that's trouble externally from Cas and company and how far would she be willing to take things? (Could she be persuaded to not make her xenos baby her heir? Probably not. Will she keep her xenos away? Absolutely not.) There's also no reality where Heinrix doesn't keep tabs on him so Cas supervising how much access the Inquisition has to her/her son is probably the best compromise? It'd be an adversarial relationship for sure and there are some things Heinrix and Co will not get to know but keep it anonymous as possible and it's knowledge that could prove useful for the future. Idk lot to think about there.