#who knew a family schism

[perpetualxfire]

.

[gallusrostromegalus]

So I may have been browsing through your AEIWAM tag and came across your writing of Komamura saying it's too hot in summer when you have a fur coat you can't take off. By that logic he's gonna always be sitting beside Hitsugaya in Captain meetings if he can swing it, especially in the early days, cause that boy is like a mini air conditioner next to him. XD

Wolves are winter creatures. The double coat, the snowshoe paws, the proclivity for cuddlepiles- if Sajin could move somewhere that never got above 40F he'd be in heaven. Alas, he lives in a major city that hits triple digits in the summer, so he keeps close track of the little pieces of winter he can find.

The first person to realize his little game was Unohana. She knew about the wolfman thing- Yamamoto trusts her as much as Sasakibe, and persuaded Sajin that, should a medical emergency arise, it should not also be a medical surprise.

She is of course, the pinnacle of Medical Confidentiality.

...but his name came up during one of the Shinigami Women's Association meetings/boozing sessions, and a distinct schism appeared.

On one side was Soi Fon, Nanao, and Herself, who all found Komamura to be very polite, professional and reliable if somewhat reticent and at times, aloof.

"I swear I can't get more than three words out of him!" Nanao despairs.

"I like him. He knows how to Shut Up." Soi Fon agrees.

"He's a very private man." Unohana nods.

Across the table, Isane and Rukia are baffled.

"Captain Komamura? Ten feet tall, bucket head? That Komamura?" Rukia the so-called Ice Princess asks, gesturing to indicate their height disparity. "What the fuck are you talking about? He's SUPER friendly and will hang around to talk FOREVER."

"Yeah, every time I go to the 7th he always asks me to stay for lunch and wants to know how everyone in my family is doing and swap horror stories from the ER for tales of crazy people in the intake queue." Agrees Isane, wielder of the ice cloud Itegumo. "It's embarrassing, but one time I was more than two hours late getting back because we get to talking!"

Everyone stares at everyone else, baffled.

"Did- did I do something to piss him off?" Wonders Nanao.

"Huh. Maybe he just picked up on how much I hate small talk on the job?" Soi Fon shrugs.

Unohana is silent, thinking.

"GUESS WHO BROUGHT TEQUILA!!" Matsumoto Rangiku announces as she kicks in the door, holding four bottles of liquor, only three of which were still full.

"We need you to settle a debate!" Rukia demands at once.

"Ooh! I love passing judgement on things that don't effect me!" Rangiku coos, sitting down, her chest making an odd 'clunk' sound on the table "- there's also salt and limes!"

"It kinda effects you." Soi Fon waved her hand noncommittally. "How would you describe Captain Komamura?"

"Tall, Heavily Armored and Mysterious?" Rangiku shrugs, pulling the box of kosher salt out of her cleavage.

"...more like his personality." Isane clarified.

"Oh! Uhh... You know what? He's one of the few people that's ever complimented me on streamlining like 80% of the paperwork we have to do." Rangiku nodded, fishing the limes out as well. "Always has stuff done waaaay before I expected and I feel like a bit of a jerk for not replying immediately, but never complains if my stuff comes in late."

"Does he hang around and talk, or is he just really businesslike?" Nanao asks, eyes narrowed behind her glasses.

"Hmm..." Fowns Rangiku. "Kinda varies by the day- Sometimes he's all business, other times he'll stay and chat. I always assumed he wants to talk but sometimes he's got work, you know?"

There is much confused muttering as the limes are cut, when Unohana raises a finger.

"...How is he with Lieutenant Hitsugaya?" She asks.

"Oh, he ADORES Toshiro!" Rangiku nods enthusiastically, salting her shot glass. "He actually does the majority of Toshiro's Bankai training now because The Old Man handed it off to him so he could focus on teaching Zaraki Everything But Kendo- which, bless him for doing that, Shiro-kin could literally freeze my tits off!- and he really does a good job listening to Toshiro's concerns and confusions- he's a sensitive boy, you know? And Koma-kun is so gentle with him and to be honest I always eavesdrop on his advice because I could use it too. Delightful man all around." She nodded, and moved to down her drink.

"...Why?" She asked, pausing her drink and glaring suspiciously at Unohana.

Unohana nods with the clarity of enlightenment. "Nothing serious, but everything makes sense now." She smiles, then cracks into a small giggle. "It's rather charming, actually."

"Care to elaborate?" Soi Fon grumbles.

"Yeah that answered NOTHING." Rangiku glares.

"We noticed an interesting disparity in his behavior." Unohana explains, pushing her own glass towards Rangiku to fill. "For me, Captain Fon, and Lieutenant Ise, Komamura-Taicho is very polite, but sticks to the matter at hand and will not volunteer any further conversation. For Lieutenant Koetetsu, Miss Kuchiki and apparently Lieutenant Hitsugaya, he has all the time in the world and is quite the chatterbox."

"...Weird." Rangiku frowns, intrigued by the puzzle. "For me it's like, half and half?"

"Not quite, I think." Unohana smirks. "What do Isane, Rukia and young Toshiro all have in common?"

The Resounding Silence of Thinking Very Hard around the table was a bit of a disappointment, but they were about three bottles into the evening already.

"Can't be Height." Nanao hummed. "Rukia and Shiro-Kun are shorter than a stack of pancakes but Isane's got legs that are too long for the cover of Vouge."

"Isane and Toshiro are both silver-haired, but not me, and he doesn't seem to be particularly close to Ukitake-Taicho and I think I've actually seen him run out of a room to avoid Gin." Rukia puzzled.

"What? RUDE." Rangiku protested.

"They're all under a century old, right?" Rangiku pondered.

"No, I'm almost two hundred!" Isane sighed. "Oh wait- we all graduated early from the Academy!"

"Ehhhh, I graduated because I got adopted, I'm not a genius like you and Shiro-kun." Rukia waved. "Also, how would HE know that?"

"You're all Lieutenants!" Rangiku perked up.

"Not yet I'm not!" Rukia protested.

"Pfsh- you run half the division anyway. Jushiro should promote you to Co-lieutenant with Kaien already!" Rangiku waved.

"Its- it's complicated." Rukia mumbled. "Also, Nanao-chan is a Lieutenant and he doesn't like her!"

"Does it have to do with how freakishly huge he is?" Soi Fon asked.

"...Yes, actually." Unohana decided. Sajin might not have so much trouble thermoregulating if he was the size of a regular wolf. She reasoned privately.

"Also, He likes Nanao-chan just fine as far as I know. I think it's less about how much he enjoys your company- which I think he does, he's not one for putting on facades- and more about how much he enjoys your Proximity." She clarified, taking her shot. "Oh, this is good, what is it?"

"Cabrito Blanco." Rangiku read off. "Huh. The Cabrito on the label sure ain't Blanco." She frowned at the brown goat.

"None of us have transferred out of the Division we started in, but again, how would he know? and that hasn't got anything to do with Proximity..." Isane frowned.

Rukia slammed her glass down. "WOW that's got a kick. Maybe uhhhh... None of us wear perfume, but Gin doesn't either. I hope. I don't want to get close enough to find out."

"He's really not that bad-" Rangiku sulked. "OH, 'Blanco' refers to the tequila and this is that goat's white tequila!" She realized.

"Sometimes I wish I could take a weekend vacation in your brain. Its machinations fascinate me." Soi Fon teased. "Hmmm... Lotta close but no Cigar, you're all young-ish, Isane and Toshiro have living relatives and Rukia has a large adopted family, but again, not exclusive or Proximal. You're also all S-rank duelists with- OH!"

"Shh, I'm enjoying the flailing." Retsu grinned.

"Pfff- okay, that is kinda cute and I don't blame him." Soi Fon giggled. "Sometimes I'm real glad my seat is right next to The Old Man for the same reason. Or opposite reason, I guess."

"Bwah?" Rangiku frowned.

"I do the same thing with You, Momo and The Old Man that He's doing with them." Soi Fon grinned. Rangiku frowned, peculiar machinations grinding slowly through the tequila, before she suddenly cackled, head thrown back so hard Unohana had to reach out and grab her by the scarf to keep her from tipping her chair over.

"OH NOOOOOOOO!!" She wailed, shoulders shaking. "Oh- that's cute but Toshiro can NEVER find out he'll be such a brat about it!"

"Sorry I'm late, I had to finish the latest report on the Rice Farm Subsidy Fraud Investigation!" Momo panted, jogging in late. "-What can't Toshiro find out about?"

"There is SOMETHING that You, ran-chan and Yamamoto-sama share, and it's the same thing but backwards as what Me, Hitsugaya, and Isane have in common that Komamura-taicho really likes it or something, and THEY know but won't TELL US and its MAKING ME CRAZY!" Rukia wailed.

Momo stood, expression blank for a few moments. "Wait. You didn't know?"

"KNOW WHAT?" Rukia wailed.

"That Komamura hangs around with people with Ic-Mmpf!" Momo started to reveal but was abruptly tackled and the rest of the sentence smothered in Rangiku's Cleavage.

"With WHAT?" Nanao demanded. "What do they have that I don't?"

"-Hang on." Isane frowned, the slowly turned to her captain, squinting. "Is. Is this a... Physics Issue?"

"That's one way to phrase it." Unohana smiled as Momo flailed for air.

"Oh my Gooooood..." Isane groaned. "Why doesn't he just ASK? I'd happily go over and give Itegumo some practice, I hate summertime too!"

"Huh?" Rukia glared, as Momo finally fought her way free and gasped for air.

"Itegumo? That's your- ohhhhhhh." Nanao realized. "That's. Okay yeah that's actually really cute." She giggled. "Poor guy. The armor can't help with that, can it?"

"That's what I keep telling him but it's-" Unohana waved her hands and grimaced with frustration. "-He wears the armor because he's facing the *stupidest* form of Political Persecution I've ever heard of." she sighed.

"Really?" Asked Momo. "Captain Tousen said Komamura told him it's because he's got a major disfigurement or something?"

Unohana sighed and rolled her eyes. "Komamura is FINE, he's just- It's complicated and medically private but trust me, the helmet is a reasonable precaution against an absurd problem."

"Oh." Momo winced. "Well, I'm glad he's medically alright at least!" "I'm so fucking confused." Rukia whimpered, deflating over the table in despair. "Is. Is hanging out with me making him less sick or something??"

"...Yes!" Unohana smiled. "Or at least, makes his condition more physically comfortable."

Rukia turned that over a few times. "...Talking with him is helping?"

"Yes, but only if you're in the same room with him. Doesn't work over the phone." Unohana nodded.

"Okay." Rukia said, reaching for the nearest bottle. "Lets talk about something else."

---

Years Later, after the Bedlam of her attempted execution and Subsequent Rescue, Rukia finally saw Komamura's face.

It was a bit awkward, walking into the hospital room in search of her brother to find a nine-and-a-half foot tall wolfman wearing the Seventh Division Captain's Haori visiting Momo. It took her a moment to realize who he was, and another as some neurons connected and she squawked indignantly, pointing at him.

"My apologies, Lieutenant Kuchiki, but-" He sighed, ears flattening back against his head with Chargin.

"AIR CONDITIONING?!?!" She bellowed.

Komamura scrunched back, chagrined. For a massive apex predator, he did an excellent Kicked Puppy face.

"Rukia!" Momo protested faintly from her hospital bed. "Keep your voice down, I don't want Toshiro to find out!"

"Find out what?" Hitsugaya grunted, stepping out from behind Rukia.

"Ah, Well-" Komamura started to explain.

Rukia rounded on Hitsugaya, pointing behind her at the captain. "THIS JACKASS HAS BEEN EXTRA NICE TO YOU, ME AND ISANE BECAUSE WE ALL HAVE ICE-TYPE ZANPAKUTO AND CHILL THE AIR AROUND US!"

"...Summer is very uncomfortable when you have a fur coat you can't take off." Komamura winced.

"Uh, duh?" Hitsugaya rolled his eyes, strolling into the room. "I didn't know you were chilling Koetetsu and Kuchiki here as well, but I kinda figured you enjoyed the cold when you stayed at my Bankai training like, five times longer than Gramps ever did."

"My apologies for the deception." Komamura bowed his head.

"It's no big deal." Hitsugaya shrugged, putting a hand up to indicate he wanted help up onto the hospital bed, and Komamura obliged.

"See? I use you being tall too." he smirked.

Komamura sighed fondly as the boy sat down between him and Momo. "Momo makes me chill all her juice too, but she never seems to warm up my tea." he handed her a juice box from the vending machine down the hall, covered in condensation.

"It would explode." Momo grumbled.

"Skill Issue." He shrugged and she affectionately swatted him on the leg. "Anyway, don't dogs cool off through their paws?"

"I'm from a wolf clan, but yes." Komamura cocked his head with curiosity, then alarm when Toshiro casually grabbed his forearm and started tugging his Gauntlets off.

"I don't mind being a human ice pack, especially not when it's nintey-eight freakin' degrees out, but be efficient about it, yeah?" Toshiro grumbled, tossing the gauntlet aside and plopping Komamura's pawlike hand on top of his head.

"...Thank you." Komamura smiled gently, and ruffled his hair a bit.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Hitsugaya shrugged, playing the tough guy even as his ears turned red. "At least you're polite about it! Freakin' Zaraki literally just grabbed me- like, put his whole arm through the office window! and threw me over his shoulders once. Jerk."

"TOSHIRO!" Momo yelped, hand on her face. "You almost made juice come out of my nose!" She half-giggled while Rukia snort-laughed at the mental image.

"Hey Kuchiki!" Hitsugaya growled. "He's got two paws!"

"You can't boss me around! You don't outrank me anymore!" She grinned.

"I have seniority." he teased, and the bed started to shake as Komamura tried not to laugh.

"You really don't need to-" Komamura tried to diffuse the argument. His voice was rock-steady but the wide grin betrayed him.

"You gotta follow my orders though!" Ukitake said cheerfully, appearing in the door. "Hi Lieutenant Hinamori!"

"C-captain!" Rukia yelped, spinning around to Salute. "What are your orders, Sir?

"Shh, nothing's happening. But I did hear you squawking from two floors down, so what's happening?" Ukitake smiled down at her.

"Captain Komamura has APPARENTLY been hanging around me and the other Shinigami with Ice Zanpakuto and using us as Air Conditioners!" Rukia glared up at her commanding officer.

"...Rukia," Ukitake patted her head and smiled gently. "Do you remember where Lieutenant Kaien's desk was?"

"Second door on the left, right next to your office, Sir!" She nodded.

"Right! And where's your desk?" Ukitake asked, leaning in closer to her.

Rukia blinked, confused. "...It's immediately adjacent to your desk in your offi- GOD DAMMIT! NOT YOU TOO?"

"Yep!" Ukitake cheerfully patted her head and then palmed it to turn her around to face Komamura. "Hop to it!"

"Technically, I got the Idea from him, when I saw how he'd rearranged the furniture..." Komamura whispered as he helped her up onto the bed as well and Rukia groaned in defeat, settling next to Komamura where she could sulk at her captain from over the wolfman's broad shoulders.

"Oh, stop pouting!" Ukitake teased, sitting down on the chair beside Momo's bed and leaning back. "It'll be winter soon enough. Actually, Your friend Mr. Yasutora told me about a fascinating wintertime holiday in the Living World-"

[heykaya]

Mentions of Sydney's Other Parent

Extracted from the game’s code (30th October 2024)

During the English Play Rehearsal, when following Kylar back to his Manor with Sydney.

You eventually reach the manor. Sydney looks shocked when you and Kylar stop. "Don't tell me... you actually still live here, Kylar?"

Kylar looks down and nods. Sydney examines the manor from a distance, noticing the temple's symbol on a pillar by the entrance.

(If Kylar’s parents trust is more than 80)

"It was a mess for so long, but it's starting to look... lived in."

(If Kylar’s parents trust is more than 40)

"I thought someone else was getting ready to move in, it's been a mess for so long, but it looks like someone's been cleaning up."

(If Kylar’s parents trust is less than 40)

"It's all... run down, how do you..."

Without responding, Kylar starts walking the main path. He looks back at you one last time, before disappearing into the manor.

The emotion on Sydney's face is hard to read.

> Still?

"What do you mean 'still'?" you ask Sydney.

"Kylar and I, when we were younger, we..." he pauses for a moment. "Our parents knew each other. We... saw each other a lot. I used to come over, it was... nice."

He examines the temple symbol on the pillar again. "Eventually, I just wasn't allowed to come over anymore. My (sydneyOtherParent*) said... no, nevermind. That's not important."

*mother/father, depending on Sirrus’ gender. If Sirrus is a male then sydneyOtherParent will be a female, and vice versa.

Dialogue from the Temple

"A question with so many answers. To whom do you speak? I am not the only one before you." He chuckles to himself. "I am the bishop."

"Father."

"Holy one."

"These two are my hands."

"Right."

"Left."

"We are, all of us, confessors. You've seen us. We've seen you. We simply blend into the background. We handle matters too... ugly... for those of Jordan's flock."

"Ignorance."

"Bliss."

>”remember"

"Ahh, so you do remember our first meeting. I knew you were a person of interest as soon as I heard about you getting out of that manor."

"Destiny?"

"Providence?"

>”jordan"

The bishop laughs. Hard. He throws his head back, and wipes a tear from his face. "Get comfortable, sweet child." All the other dark-robed figures sit down.

"Jordan's flock is the face of our order. They take confessions. They give alms, and run the soup kitchen, and smite the creatures from the other side that creep through the holes. But they won't ever harm... us. Humans. They're powerless against humans who have fallen to corruption. This is why we're needed."

He delights in speaking. "Without us, the temple would have fallen long ago. In fact, it did, once. Jordan and his order can stir soup, and spar, and fight monsters of mist and sin, but ask yourself this:

(If you know about Kylar’s parents)

Could they ever exact justice on your girlfriend’s/boyfriend’s* parents? And leave their child behind?

*depending on Kylar’s gender.

(If you don’t know about Kylar’s parents)

Could they ever fight the human monsters? No, if Jordan knew what we were capable of, it would cause another schism. But make no mistake. Jordan is our brother. Family. Kin. We all work towards the same goal. We all seek to protect. We all seek to rid the world of the Dark Elk's taint."

He pauses, and frowns. "More than that, Jordan is strong. Stronger than all of us. Stronger than we could ever hope to be. His innocence makes him so. That innocence is a shield, one that the Children of Auriga can never pierce. Belief is real, more real than the Elk's vile spawn. It is vital that Jordan remains unaware of what we do, lest our shield splinter. The seal of confession must hold, or all the world will drown."

"Our greatest strength."

"Our greatest weakness."

(If Sydney is Pure:)

He sighs. "We've only one member that could hope to match Jordan's innocence."

(If Sydney is not pure:)

He sighs. "We only had one other member that could hope to match Jordan's innocence."

>”replacement"

He grins.

(If PC if promised to Sydney)

"You should know, child. It's your beloved. Sydney."

(If PC is romancing Sydney)

"You should know, child. You've had many relations with him. Our own little Sydney."

(Else)

"I believe you've met him. Our own little Sydney."

(If Sydney is Corrupt + promised to Sydney)

"Together, As One."

"Forever, As One."

(If Sydney is Corrupt)

"Withered."

"Bloomed."

"You went and spoilt him, did you not? His innocence is gone. You couldn't have known, child, and you've made it up to us by being here now.

He’s been in the flock for years, but has been stifled by the overprotective Jordan.

(If Sydney is a monk)

I understand you're to thank for him finally passing the trial of anguish. You have our thanks for that."

(If Sydney is not a monk)

The poor boy has never been able to pass the trial of anguish.

The bishop looks down and frowns. You think you see a hint of genuine sadness. "Sydney's (mother/father) was Jordan's predecessor. A good (man/woman). We've looked after Sydney ever since. If nothing else, we're paying back a debt."

When walking along the beach with Sydney (Random dialogue)

"My (mother/father) used to bring me to the beach when I was a lot younger. This is nice."

Also mentioned by the Ivory Wraith here.

Degrees of Lewdity - Text Based Masterpost

[danwhobrowses]

I've kept myself contained and (mostly) quiet as I consumed all of Downfall - knowing that each part would alter my previous perspectives and assumptions - but man, there is so much to discuss. Finally it's time to talk about it!

Spoilers for all 3 Parts of Downfall below

The TLDR of this essay is that it was awesome and it has both unraveled so much context while enshrouding so much more lore in mystery. The long answer is long so stock up on cake - but not Brennan's cake, he's very protective of it - or something to keep the energy up.

Let's start at the beginning: Tengar. What a start that was! The destruction of Tengar really does reframe the Gods from the get-go. They were lights, they were refugees, they watched the destruction of their home and the loss of their family just as mortals would in life, war, and Calamity - but in a place where those things had only just come into being. It poses many questions too; were they what the Luxon scattered themselves into? Is Dunamis the remnants of Tengar? Was Predathos - assuming that the 'fruit' was Predathos - a purposeful creation or one that got out of hand? We knew of two gods that it ate but there was more (Unless Predathos is Edun? It's definitely a theory). The prologue shows how the Gods ended up being forced into shape, how their traumas limited their possibility as they careened towards proto-Exandria. There's a parallel to be made with the Lights' response to escaping Tengar's destruction and several PCs', especially Bells Hells who are able or attempting to rise above their pre-defined traumas and unhealthy coping mechanisms, development and growth - compared to the gods who found themselves stuck in place: doomed to play the role and domain they became shaped into. It also makes me wonder about the Founding, Creation, and the Schism itself; did the Primes start creation in order to keep an essence of home (all the divine trees planted across Exandria could be parallel to the Orchard)? What are each Betrayer's views on mortals? Asmodeus and Lolth clearly have disdain for them, but Asmodeus hurts mortals with a 'jealously kicking down your siblings' legos' vibe whereas Lolth likes to make mortals look as ugly as she already sees them. In cooldowns it was mentioned that had Melora been willing to walk away from Exandria she might've been a Betrayer, so I wonder if all Betrayers are simply mortal-hating or some are just willing to just leave mortals behind? I remain super curious over what the Primordials' side of the story is too; asking Rau'shan and Ka'mort should be considered eventually, given how they have knowledge and experience with sealing Predathos, but how did they see the events leading to the Schism; was there a deal that was broken? Did the Primordials hate mortals? Were they aware of Tengar before the Founding? Did they aid the gods in adjusting to their fixed forms and domains? And did they treat them like children like the gods treat mortals? What in history is lies and what in history is lecture?

Then of course there's the mission itself, which commits to its title in many areas; the Downfall of a civilization and culture within Aeor, the Downfall of (more) Wizard hubris with the Factorum, the Downfall of splinter factions trying to end the war by thinking they're doing what the gods want, and the Downfall of the Primes' infallible reputation as their armies and followers felt abandoned by them, no longer willing to accept the 'I am the parent, you are the child' justification. In the end only the Betrayers succeeded because the city falls and mortals died, but they don't succeed enough because they didn't get the Factorum - and the Primes still cared enough for mortals to try and save them - and thus the Calamity resumes, which I suppose is another Downfall: they were once family and wanted to be family again, but the truce wasn't real. The Betrayers were planning to use the Factorum to win the war (perhaps the two who didn't show had a change of heart?), they wanted to go where the Primes would not because, at that moment, winning and being right was more important than family.

The characters to nobody's surprise are all fantastic; Ashley's Trist (Saranrae) and Noshir's Emissary (Proxy of Erathis) had my heart in a winch for all three episodes, reminding me of it every so often with a big squeeze of emotions. Laura's Emhira (Matron of Ravens), Taliesin's Asha (Wildmother), Abubakar's SILAHA (Corellon) and Nick's Ayden (Dawnfather) all flourished as their characters too, alongside Brennan's variety of NPCs both as mortal gods and Aeorians. I loved Trist's boundless compassion and her constant struggle with having to do something cruel to many for the sake of saving the people she loved, as well as being forced to choose between her mortal family and her infinite ones, I loved how Asha was prickly and cutthroat as Nature can be in desolation but also not without her own regrets, longings and her gradual softening towards the Emissary, I loved how Ayden was an embodiment of the Dawnfather's purest hope and desire to protect people - contained in the body of a teenage boy, I loved how SILAHA loved Aeor's culture and people so much that he couldn't even be angry at the archmages using their gift to build a weapon that could destroy them, I loved that Emhira played cold and detached in an effort to bond with her siblings but found that her connection to them shone greater in the more human moments, and I loved the Emissary's innocence, how with so few words you had an earnest encapsulation of what he was thinking or feeling, and how in death the deep bass became a childlike lightness when meeting the Matron in her domain. The short arcs each of these characters undergo was amazing to see and the combat the more they became divine was insane - like seriously Trist hit 500 damage from a Guiding Bolt! And Ayden's Sunburst killed 3 Dragons and more AT THE SAME TIME! And btw throughout all 3 parts the dialogue has been outstanding, good grief! You could make a small book of all the amazing, thought-provoking, and downright emotional quotes packed in these three episodes. These are true tour de force players, guided by Brennan painting a gallery of scenes as if he was speaking at the Globe Theatre.

I like that the Factorum Malleus is pretty blatantly an allegory to a Nuclear Warhead. With the problem being that dropping a nuke will only beget the sobering conclusion that it can be done again, by others too - much like the Ritual of Seeding: once you make god bleed, everyone will try to cut them. The Factorum should not exist just as Nuclear Weapons should not exist, and that plays a part in the horror of seeing Cassida present it to Trist as if it was a gift to win the war rather than a tool to kill her family, just as Oppenheimer saw the bomb as a means to end all wars until he realised after that it was just a new escalation to warfare.

We also found room for important non-God NPCs, mainly the tragic success and failure of two Aeorian Archmages: Selena Erenves and Cassida Previn. Both display acts of humanity which end tragically; Cassida fell into faith to save her son and was given the chance to try and erase the knowledge of the Factorum so that people could survive, but her good intentions was prey to Asmodeus' cruelty and she was tortured and killed for information that, had he maintained the Arcadia guise, would've been handed over willingly, then on the other side there's Selena, who accepted death and consequences before attempting to activate the Factorum while also successfully spreading the knowledge of its construction to every wizard in Aeor, effectively forcing the Primes into having to destroy the city, only to be embraced by Corellon, forgiven, spared, and left to live with her actions. It's ironic that Cassida was punished for her humility while Selena was spared for her hubris, and the only real reason for their fate is which god they were stood before at that moment. The celestials Garathran and Acastriel were solid obstacles for Brennan to flex his dialogue of embitterment and demonstrate humanity in characters deemed otherworldly but not so much human, Garathran's suicide was very visceral even if them killing themselves in front of the Death Goddess was dumb, and Emhira and Ayden both using themselves to shield a blow from Acastriel was great symbolism to pay off their arc of bonding as siblings. They and the Archmages also acted as a harsh reality for the gods that their 'children' don't want to be coddled anymore, they've grown enough to want to understand, and have at least a voice on the table. On the lighter side of NPCs, Slitch was a lot of fun, I hope he managed to survive - maybe ascending with the Matron since Emhira did willingly relinquish her mortal form rather than it being destroyed in the crash - and still serves the Matron somehow, he's just a funny lil' guy. Brennan playing as children is always gonna be heartwrenching too, but the Everchildren Haylie and Topher were both sweet and also so brave; they have their mother's courage, as well as her divine spark.

For the mortal god NPCs Brennan rightfully didn't have Arcadia (Ioun), Zaharzht (Torog), Umleta (Lolth) or Tishar (Grummsh) outshine the main cast, often guiding the story along or cracking wise with them, but that could not be helped when it came to Milo Cowst. Brennan's Asmodeus is spectacular, absolutely untouchable, and when I say that I mean every time he does something I want to punch his smirking shit-eating face so hard that my hand appears on the other side of his head, because fuck that guy! The continual torment he does not just to mortals but to his own family is just some absolute peak villainy; he conspired with the celestials to entrap Ioun and was willing to sacrifice her, his own sister, to get what he wants. He as Arcadia tried to convince Trist to go after her family, telling her 'I love you' just as Imri did before heading into the fire, knowing KNOWING that he was luring her away from Cassida - one of the few followers she had left - to try and run away with the knowledge of the Factorum, and then donning Trist's husband's shape while he revelled in getting Cassida to allegedly renounce her before eviscerating her at his feet for Trist to find, all this while he had already sent his forces to murder all the refugees in Hawk's Hill - targeting Trist's mortal family especially while this all happens - I hate him so much. As a side note, it's interesting how Brennan and Matt establish two different Major God villains in the world: Brennan's Asmodeus and Matt's Tharizdun. It's not a bad thing to have two godly villains, I shudder to think what would happen if they worked together (at least before the inevitable power struggle), especially since their villainy is in two different departments: Asmodeus is a villain to beings while Tharizdun is more a villain to the Material Plane, you could also relate that to Predathos who uses both of their methods in their own way. Since Tharizdun doesn't get as much in-person appearances atm Brennan's Asmodeus does truly feel like the absolute villain of everything right now, but Matt does have way more time than Brennan does to get his godly villain across.

The three episodes each had a unique flavour to them; Part 1 was very much about establishing the dynamics and setting the scene: Aeor in its militarized dystopian state and the characters as mortal avatars of a pantheon of siblings and lovers, refugee lights of Tengar, in a truce. Part 2 however flaunted the positives, negatives, and defiance of mortality; the Ars Elysia was wild as it was beautiful, SILAHA's monologue with Emhira was engrossing, and the episode excelled in showing the weight of knowing how many innocent, faithful and/or good people there were, paired with the horror of knowing how many lost faith in the Gods there also was, and the lengths both the devout and the undevout would go because of the Calamity's toll on them. And then Part 3 ramps up the tragedy to like 15: the dystopia dystopes again, the destruction destroys, and the disaster disasts, and we reach the boiling point of conflict for an episode that was a mammoth SIX AND A HALF HOURS! The visual of the gods slowly being forced to break from their mortal shells to keep fighting their creations, and each other, to different ends showed the physical and mental toll the mission had done to them, Ayden rapidly aging the more his divinity courses through him and Trist continually trying to hold onto mortality if but for a single second longer, and reaching a point of no return: a choice between sacrificing, at that point, one unknown god to potentially find a way to spare the rest of Aeor - as they had desired to do - or save their entrapped sibling - having already lost so many to Predathos and the Matron having replaced another - but doom all of its people by not stopping Selena's Wish, which she believed would be a victory rather than a damning of her city. Heartbreak after heartbreak, sacrifice after sacrifice, and betrayal after betrayal, but even in the dark and desperation there was still a faint measure of hope; a mother seeking to erase the scrolls to save not just her son but all families in her home, Primes seeking only to destroy a weapon and as the city falls offering acts of compassion where they could, and a Slingshot firing a Sending Stone across the sea like a shooting star so that a mother could protect her children one last time. It is the fact that the hope still existed that makes it a tragedy: it could have been prevented, but because of the way mortals are, and because of the way the gods are, it couldn't end that way. By Part 2 I was intrigued by the fact that the idea of the Divine Gate had started to take shape this early, the Calamity after all would last another century, but it was a greater surprise learning that by the end of Part 3 Aeor wasn't the start of the conversation but the conversation, the last straw. Everything leading up to the Divergence was the Primes attempting to corral their siblings - and the Chained Oblivion - so they could lock themselves away from their second home forever, for the sake what they had built, which was chronologically the final layer to the tragedy. The theme that will complete the trinity of tragedies would be the theme of sacrifice. The Emissary was Erathis' sacrificial lamb, how biblical it was that she sent her 'son' knowing that he would die because she was unable to defy her laws nor bear to watch her lover come to harm, just as biblical is how Pelor sent the best and most hopeful qualities of himself to try and help people, Asha sacrificed her mortal form to embrace Zaharzht even when he hooked and clawed her form away, SILAHA sacrificed saving Aeor like he wanted in order to save Ioun, and then all the Primes resolve to sacrifice their presence in order to protect what was left of what they made. The theme of sacrifice will be compared with the weight of whether it was worth it, but it's not something you can say was justified either way, Downfall doesn't feel like it should be about sides; it was always a Trolley Problem, it is a current fey-absorbing, war-criming, land-sundering elf mage who is trying to make it about sides.

On that note, we must wonder how Bells Hells feel about watching all this. I did like many others think about their reactions throughout; did Imogen think of her mother when watching Trist and Cassida? Did Orym relate to Asha given how stretched thin and pining for Erathis she was? Did Ashton perhaps relate to Trist a little having also felt broken and powerless, kept going by the support of their family? I know we joke about Braius probably having to be silenced for cheering and hollering for Asmodeus but did he really agree with all that? And will Fearne now worry about seeing Asmodeus' true nature, which she should (call them lawyers Dorian!), given how she has unwittingly (and I maintain that it was not said to be a pact, Fearne clearly didn't know it was one and Nanna Mori, who is versed in pacts, called it an 'invitation to trade') bound her soul to him for Dominox's dusty wikipedia page - which is more a redirect to a 2-line section in 'List of Demons Unaccounted for Since the Calamity' - that yielded less info than a Speak with the Dead spell with an Aeorian corpse did. Outside of individual thoughts, I wonder if the Hells collectively related to other events the Gods underwent; the loss and lack of a home, tension caused by one of them thinking they knew better, the constant attack of their sense of morality by others? Ayden's character may invoke an interesting pause - since the Dawnfather has been pretty cold and unkind to the Hells, mainly Team Trauma, and Deanna lately - I wonder if they acknowledge or soften towards this new light (pun not intended but welcomed)? I know he didn't show and wasn't gonna but I also wonder if the Hells kept looking to see if FCG was there, if only to get another glimpse of their fallen friend, or if any of them managed to spot FRIDA - who while we know is canonically present wasn't explicitly mentioned either.

I must admit though I'm in the camp of 'what does this achieve for Ludinus?' because Matt said in the Cooldown that there was parts that proved him right but honestly I don't see it. History knows that the Gods united to drop Aeor, but if anything the footage makes most of the Gods more sympathetic, even to the god-adverse Hells. Showing how they have been just as messed up, traumatized and conflicted as they are as they tried to limit the loss but in the end get put in a crossroads where they choose their family, without discarding or disavowing their creations because of it, isn't gonna endear them to Ludinus' already ill-thought plan. Honestly the only Prime Deity that seemed overly brutal was the Stormlord and like, why would you even try to use Control Weather in a storm made by a Weather God? In interviews Taliesin has mentioned that Ashton has conflicted thoughts on the humanizing of the Gods, though again I don't think it's in the way Ludinus expects - I anticipate that it's more of an 'it was easier to hate them when they were all-powerful, all-arrogant entities that ignored our prayers' kinda thing, having sympathy for someone they had grown accustomed to disliking - so I wonder if other members of the Hells have conflicted feelings and whether it smooths over their aversion or whether their resolve remains the same. I'm not saying they will, but imagine if the Hells decide to be more open to allying more with some of the gods because of this? Seeking the temple in Aeor to converse with them and get on the same page. They all seem pretty respectful towards the Matron already, but perhaps some focus on Corellon - if only to see if he rebuilt the Ars Elysia elsewhere for a post-Ruidus rager XD - and Ioun would be an interesting route; the Knowing Mistress would have answers for those seeking history and information, and the Arch Heart could have answers in curious and divine magics. In addition, imagine if the Everlight gains more followers through the Hells? She helped revive Laudna through Pike so the Hells shouldn't really have any negative feelings towards her, honestly I just think she deserves more followers after seeing all of this. Plus if they could get some of that Divine Prowess (Vitality and Potency at the least) for the final fight we could be in for some blockbuster and creative damage feats! Again, I don't see it as likely, but it's a thought. We could also entertain learning more about the non-god characters that survived; did the blood of the Everchildren continue to this day - there are theories they're tied to the Clay family? What did Selena do post-Aeor? Is Cassida's body still in a protective shield? These are questions fans would want answered that isn't 'was the silver dragon's name Bolo?'.

One has to wonder too if this presentation framed as validation for the atrocities he's committed just shows how divorced from reality Deludinus is. Was the point that 'they're family so they'll choose to save each other over entire cities'? Because many mortals would do the same in their position, the Hells themselves have inferred at times that they would prioritize each other over everyone else. You know what's not a way to avoid that dilemma? Unleashing a god-eating entity the gods even at the height of their power are afraid of! Because of this, Ludinus is painted as someone blind to the fact that it's his machinations that are trying to push the world into an even worse and bloodier Calamity than what he endured as a child, with him weakening the measures put in place to avoid such a thing rather than preventing it. Also he is almost like the Primes in that the people he's allied with secretly seek to remove him from the equation, though I think he's just arrogant enough to believe he can handle them. On the topic of whether Ludinus is Hallis Previn - spared by the Matron after having been healed by the Everlight - I'm not sure, it is possible but I don't think he needs to be Hallis, in fact it would probably be more interesting if he wasn't - since you'd have to jump through a fair amount of hoops to even begin explaining his motives and mindset.

But now we have to ask a question: what do we do now? The mission was to take down Ludinus, and we could still achieve that given how it's 10v1; but Orym isn't in the best of shape health-wise, the Toothy Maw and Dominox fights did cause a lot of the group's slots to be used up and Ludinus only really used 2 spells (Gate and Counterspell) since being encountered, deluded he may be but weak he is not. Laudna's haunting will permanently track him anyway and if he shows this to the world it'll likely emit similar results we and the Hells are having; some faiths may be shaken sure but others may be more supportive of the Gods. Right now there's no real reason not to show this footage. I suppose we could kill him and show the footage anyway - I mean it doesn't need to be shown by him explicitly - before handing it to Vassalheim or the Cobalt Soul's archive, honestly I would live for it if the first thing Bells Hells did after seeing the footage was Orym or Ashton just calmly walking up to Ludinus and decking him in the face, but the encounter in Aeor does feel designed for either Ludinus or the group to escape rather than fight to the death. Between the two, it would favour more for the Hells to stay; Aeor still feels barely scraped for them and Essek, who hasn't given Ashton any tangible answers about Dunamancy that he couldn't have gotten from a book yet - plus wild magic is rife within Aeor heck a beacon could be here, won't have much reason to stick with the Hells if they leave. If they don't use Essek's 'emergency escape' measure he's hinted at there could be something devised to let the group linger here a bit more such as finding the temple, the Ars Elysia, or another special room simply to explore more of Aeor - freeing the Stasis bubbles may not be the smartest or merciful option right now, given that all wizards within know how to make the Factorum. In terms of Ludinus, it'd be good to kill him now from a mission standpoint because he's the head honcho and the Hells need a big, convincing W to kinda make up for Otohan (which was more Matt's fault for rolling so high), but if we eliminate too many Exandrian enemies like Ludinus, providing that Liliana won't 180 again with him gone...which is a possibility, the endgame battle can risk turning into a more ugly Exandria vs Ruidus conflict rather than Life vs Predathos. So perhaps Ludinus should simply escape this time and we'll save the next major enemy to kill for Zathuda or one of the Five Imperium leaders.

Overall, and this won't be the last time we'll have to say it because some people have short memories and impulsive reactions, this is a prime example towards why we need to let CR cook. Yes, C3 has been scattered a bit, but this plot is a worldwide threat, which means you must show that it affects the whole world: this is a convergence of storylines from all 3 campaigns AND spinoffs, everything has its place and while we can be irked about the timing of things what we get is still pretty awesome. Just like the CK intermission, Downfall was an incredibly intricate and well-performed piece of narrative important to the main plot which honestly, as much as I still miss the Hells, could've gone an episode longer. Where we go next becomes further interesting because we have a greater grasp on the lore and characters of the gods, and it opens the door for more lore - such as what Corellon's strand of hair he left behind is - and context to be discovered in later episodes in this and/or later campaigns.

[miirshroom]

Reading between the lines on a narrative (Realm of the Elderlings)

Speculating on some possibilities that are hinted at, but that don't get explored because FitzChivalry is not an omnipotent narrator and sometimes makes observations without grasping the meaning. Mostly involving the way that the magic system interacts with the psychology of various characters in the Farseer trilogy, and that there isn't really enough context for a reader to understand until after also reading the Tawny Man Trilogy. One example involving the Wit, and one involving the Skill.

1. Duke Brawndy of Bearns knew that Fitz was Witted (and saw that as a favourable trait)

Brawndy met Fitz only once and afterwards had a surprising interest in marrying him into the family. In the second trilogy it is discussed how the Wit is a secret kept in the nobility and implied that Brawndy's daughter Faith might be Witted herself. At the end of Royal Assassin Brawndy speaks on behalf of Fitz and has very specific terms: "Prove to us...that FitzChivalry is Witted, and that he used the Wit to kill King Shrewd, and we will let you put him to death as you see fit". And if Regal cannot prove that Fitz used the Wit to kill King Shrewd then Fitz shall have the stewardship of Buckkeep. Brawndy tacitly declared that Fitz having the Wit alone is not a dealbreaker. If Brawndy knows the Wit including its powers and limitations then he believes that he has set Regal an impossible task - a Wit Beast might kill a person but the Wit itself can't kill and leave no mark as was done with King Shrewd. There is also the implication that the Dukes are paying attention to the physical damage done to Fitz, thinking that should provide him a measure of protection.

But still Fitz is a pawn and though the most desirable outcome is that 1) Regal gets impatient and just goes away to Tradeford, which leaves FitzChivalry effectively the leader of the Coastal Duchies, it is more likely that 2) Regal kills Fitz against their wishes and the Dukes get what they wanted anyways - confirmation that Regal will not follow due process and is no true king to the coastal duchies. It's a win-win for the Coastal Dukes - the schism between the Coastal and Inland Duchies was an inevitability anyways. In that case, Brawndy's blindspot would be that he doesn't count on the 3rd option from Regal's use of the Skill. He doesn't know what Fitz knows - that Regal can and will use the Skill to make him speak lies naming Brawndy's own daughter a traitor and more. Brawndy sees Regal as a creature of the Inland Duchies and a coward. He doesn't understand Regal's special brand of selfish insanity that leads him to actively sabotage the Coastal Duchies chances for survival. If Brawndy is familiar with the ways of the Old Blood then he understands how a healthy predator might cede territory to a rival rather than waste the effort to hold onto it, but doesn't comprehend that Regal has more in common with the Forged Ones who are more like rabid beasts. And so Fitz's options are narrowed to requiring his death.

As for how Brawndy could know that Fitz was Witted, that is fairly straightforwards - it's a much more open secret than Fitz thinks that it is. Black Rolf explains to Fitz that he doesn't guard his thoughts to Nighteyes in the way that is taught among the Old Blood. It follows that Fitz has been doing this for all his life and so any Witted person in his proximity is picking up on signals that he doesn't even realize. Fitz recalls and records the ways that he screwed up in keeping his secret of having the Wit, such as when wolf tracks were found in places where he had been fighting Forged Ones with Nighteyes, the time when Nighteyes attacked Justin with the Skill through him, and the time when the girl in Neatbay saw him in the company of a wolf and believed him to have transformed. He can't record what he doesn't know, and the volatility of his status as a royal bastard could have been such that none of the Old Blood nobility were willing to make him aware of themselves in the way that they later would with Prince Dutiful.

2. Chade was Skill-imprinted with a command to be loyal to King Shrewd (and the hidden mechanics of skill-imprinting are one of the most understated drivers of conflict)

Skill imprinting a command seems to be such an intuitive use of the Skill that at least 3 characters have done it accidentally - Chivalry to Galen, Verity to Fitz, and Fitz to Dutiful. Fitz speculates that Galen's coterie must have been Skill-imprinted to serve Regal so completely as they do, in place of the true King Verity. It takes Fitz a long time to break Galen's imprinted command that he has no Skill ability and should kill himself. If he ever truely broke it - considering that he never describes a moment like Dutiful had where he found the command and deliberately severed it. And then Fitz himself incepts it into Regal's mind that he should be loyal to Kettricken and her heir, which seems to bookend the skill-imprinting sub-arc.

King Shrewd was once strong in the Skill, and the only fully trained Skill user in the narrative other than Kettle. Chade always laments not being trained in the Skill, but he does have the ability to learn it, and it is often shown that Skill users have the easiest time reaching the minds of other Skill users. There is nothing stopping Shrewd from long ago using the Skill to subtly command Chade to never even think of doing harm to Shrewd or his offspring. Creating a councillor and assassin with absolute loyalty to Shrewd - but only as long as he remains ignorant of the true power of the Skill. It could explain how Fitz has such a hard time getting his usually sharp mentor to pay attention to the threat presented by Regal. It's only after the death of Shrewd that Chade starts being a more active force in the world. It could be that such Skill commands quietly dissipate once the originator dies, but that echoes of them remain in mental pathways. And would persist unless directly confronted. There's a hint of this near the end of Fool's Fate where Chade is eager to carry out the command of the dragon and Fitz notes that it is normal of Chade to justify a reason for why he's not following an order but instead doing something that he wanted to do anyways. As if such thinking is a habit for him.

It would beg the question of why the Skill coterie would remain loyal to Regal past the death of Galen, if Galen did indeed command them to be loyal to Regal. Probably a few factors. Firstly - Verity burned out the ability of their leader, and then proceeded to hold the remains of Galen's coterie at a distance. Verity had not the time or the ability to undo what Galen had done to break them to his will, just as he and Chivalry hadn't known how to undo the skill command on Galen. Even if the coterie was imperfect, it was thought to be better to have any amount of far distance communication than to have none. Verity gave them reason to hate and fear him and then never made any attempt to reclaim their loyalty. Fitz was given the attention by Verity needed to work through the block created by Galen's Skill command, and it's the Skill link to Verity as much as the kindness that keeps his loyalty to Verity strong.

Secondly, Galen had time and opportunity to master the ability to imprint commands. He had no students for many years so he had little more to do than think about the command implanted in his mind by Chivalry. Consider from every angle how that kind of magic may work, and find ways to close or open loopholes. Fitz understands that skill imprinting can be used in obvious ways like Verity's "Come to me" or his own "Stop fighting me" to Dutiful, but he never seems to unpack that it could be done more subtly. Even Galen's hasty commands to Fitz were more subtle than either of those examples, and Galen could probably do much better if given time and a pliable subject. Extrapolating further, it may even be that failing all other methods Galen realized that Chivalry's death was the last element required to break his Skill command to Galen, and managed to convey to Queen Desire that her ambitions for Regal could proceed after Chivalry's assassination.

Lastly, by the time that the coterie was whittled down to Will, Burl and Carrod they despised Fitz for their own reasons that could only reinforce any prior imprinting by Galen. Fitz has attacked Justin and had killed Justin and Serene. Fitz is an enemy and Fitz is loyal to Verity (who they still hold a grudge towards), therefore they were right to stick with Regal. Regal feeds their hate of Fitz and in return they serve him despite all evidence that he is a cruel and abusive person. They make up their own logic to justify why Regal deserves to have their loyalty. Probably even on some level realizing that they crossed a moral line long ago, and fearing what Verity will visit upon them in retribution if he succeeds in rousing the Elderlings.

[bonezone44]

The Hollow, prologue (18+)

Dave York x afab!Reader

tags for the upcoming story: stalking, manipulation, panic attacks, anti-american military sentiments, pacifism vs. violence debates, the "assassin life", control issues, smut.

Reader Immersivity: No skin tone or hair is mentioned. Reader is able-bodied, can sit in Dave's lap, and has a big butt. Reader is recovering from narcissistic abuse.

A/N: Due to the current political climate, I thought 'why the hell not?' and decided to get this first little bit published.

-masterlist- -story masterlist-

+++++

“One day, you’re an asset. The next, you’re a fucking afterthought.”

Dave used to love his time in the Marines. It was birthed from naivety and camaraderie. Driven by hormones and hopeful ideals about what the troops were doing to rescue the world from self-annihilation. As if the United States was the father of the globe and all the other countries were his children. And the American armed forces were his right hand–beating the ungrateful ignorants into reverent compliance.

Dave had been honored to follow in the footsteps of the star-spangled patriarchy. He had been taught that war and discipline were his duties as an American and as a man. That all those who could, absolutely should. And the country’s naysayers and protestors were a nagging thorn in his side. ‘How can they be so ungrateful?’ He had wondered. ‘How can they spit in our faces when we’re out there sacrificing our lives so that they can live in peace?’

Even then, Dave knew his years in the Marines were temporary–he knew it was only a stepping stone towards something greater for himself. He climbed the ranks quickly and it wasn’t long before he was recruited for more specialized operations. 

Dave had eventually found a home in the Defense Clandestine Service. He had found purpose. He had found a family alongside his partner, Robert, and his teammates, Kovak, Ari, and Resnik. Their missions were dauntless and dangerous–and just as crucial to achieve. Every success gave Dave an invincible, god-like high and every failure, though rare, had his mind and body plummeting into anguish and disrepair. (High risk, high results and all that.) McCall had been there for all the good days and all the bad weeks and months. He had been a guiding hand for Dave. A trusted companion. A friend.

McCall's death had cleaved a cavern inside of Dave’s chest–something hollow, tender, and exposed. And three months later, when his team was disbanded, he blamed himself and split in two. A schism dividing him into what he was before and what he would become. 

He wanted to start from scratch. He wanted to reset his existence back to day one and leave his mother’s birth canal with wiser, shrewder eyes.  But there was no ‘scratch’. There was no way to blank his slate. He had spent too much of his childhood idolizing soldiers. He had had too many experiences in the military to completely rewrite his path. And once he was able to find perspective on his choices, he realized that some of those naysayers and protestors had been right all along. The thorn in his side had been a seed and instead of plucking it out, he watered it and let it grow.

For better or worse, Dave had acquired a particular set of skills. And without nationalistic ideology coloring his point-of-view, he created a personal philosophy to ease the ambivalence he suffered. 

‘There is no sin. There is no virtue. There are only actions and consequences.’

Dave left the world of government and went private. He earned his license and began working as an investigator at a prominent law firm in New York City. His life had lost much of its intensity, but he was determined to adapt to a softer existence. He was determined to experience this so-called ‘peace’ he had spent the first third of his life fighting to preserve. And he was finding it, in bits and pieces over time. And the taste was euphoric enough to keep him wanting more. He was no longer working towards some hypothetical greater good. He was simply out for himself and whatever satisfaction he could find.

Then you decided to show up.

----

[misstrashchan]

When it comes to predicting what happens with Carpenter and Faulkner in the last episode, I can't help but think back to S2 with Carpenter and the homesick corpse.

Carpenter's final talk with the homesick corpse is much more relevant to her character than I think people give credit for

The homesick corpse died because someone in the parish of tide and flesh, a sibling, turned on him, and he was hunted down, just like Faulkner turning on Carpenter and how she's been hunted by the people of the faith she once belonged to.

HOMESICK CORPSE:

I never learnt who turned me in. I knew it must have been a sibling of the faith, one of the families I had most frequently visited or one of the hidden pilgrims who offered food and shelter along the roadside. Someone who would have known who I was and where I was going next.

I spent many of my final days turning the names over in my head, trying to guess - who might I have offended, who might have wished me dead, amongst my friends along the road?

In the end, I stopped wondering. I wished to die with love in my heart: not doubt, not enmity.

Carpenter was reeling from Faulkner's betrayal and turning it over in her head, why did he do it, how could he, hating him, loving him. Also the dying in enmity bit. Emnity means to oppose or be hostile, to die in emnity is to die spitefully in opposition of something or someone in your final moments. Paige's god is defined by dying to spite and oppose their oppresors. Faulkner's schism of the Trawler-Man is defining themselves by their struggle against those same oppresors and those in higher power with more authority, including those in their own faith like the inner council of the high katabasian, hence why he snapped at the idea of their god being legalised and killed Mason.

Silence. CARPENTER digs.

CARPENTER:

(More roughly)

What do you regret?

THE HOMESICK CORPSE:

That I did not speak my love out loud often enough.

I had so much love in my life - it was offered to me as freely as rain. 

I felt it so deeply, but I did not speak of it. I knew it only through ritual, through shared meals and the chanting of crowds, through the oration of new words to old friends and the applause that followed.

I should have told them all how much I loved them.

CARPENTER chokes, a little, because she recognises the sentiment.

Then there's Carpenter and the Cairn Maiden, and the homesick corpse, speaking to her of dying with love in their heart instead of emnity. If Carpenter does die this season, I think that will be what's in her heart in her final moments. Though, I think it's much more likely Faulkner will die, who instead of sacrificing his siblings to the Trawler-Man or killing them for his own sake, he'll sacrifice himself to protect Carpenter from the remaining Parish of Tide and Flesh's wrath.

Speaking your love aloud more often and struggling because you only know how to do so through ritual clearly resonates with Carpenter, her faith in the trawlerman was how she stayed connected to her loved ones, even after they died, and that's why she decides to go back and tell Faulkner, her brother, that she loves him in the S2 finale. She never gets the chance to, but despite everything done against her, I think the love is still there. What Faulkner did to her wouldn't hurt so much if it wasn't. And still she hasn't spoken of that love aloud, at least not to him.

The Cairn Maiden also speaks to Paige of how they will bury the beasts (the gods that starve and die) with more comfort and kindness than they deserve, which I think will be what Carpenter does for Faulkner if he does die, whether that's him dying to protect Carpenter, or her putting him out of his misery, or him committing suicide. She'll bury him with more comfort and kindness than he deserves.

CARPENTER picks up the withered body and lays it down in the dirt.

Then she shovels the earth over it, in silence.

As she shovels, she begins to pray. It’s different, this time - the words come jolting out of her, they come strong and hard and she feels their weight.

She chokes, and she sobs, but she keeps on speaking them all the same.

CARPENTER:

This is the place. 

This has always been the place.

You were always walking towards this moment.

There’s nothing left to hold on to.

There’s nowhere left to go.

There’s no need to worry any more.

Her voice breaks on the final line

She breathes hard, struggling not to sob.

There is also that one hopeful part of me that wants to believe Faulkner would want so badly for Carpenter to kill him, to offer up his life to her for atonement, and her to be furious at the very idea that he thinks he can escape the weight of what he's done by dying, by putting that blood on her hands. For her to convince him to live with what he's done and move forward instead. Which personally I think would end up tying into the theme of finding the opposite of a sacrifice, of trying to break the cycle, but, *shrugs* who knows what could happen?

Ultimately whatever way it ends for them the one thing I am certain of is that I will be a crying mess on the floor.

[corallapis]

The Time Lords entered, moving clockwise around the colonnade that marked the perimeter of the room until they found their place and shuffled out onto the floor of the Camber. […] Everyone already knew precisely which part of the amphitheatre they should be standing in. They clustered in the usual groups determined by elaborate equations of seniority, office, family ties, college allegiance and personal acquaintance.

She knew the names of everyone standing around the President: the Magistrate and the other Ministers, the Castellan, the Co-ordinator of the Maxtrix, half a dozen Cardinals and a couple of cowled representatives from the religious orders. Larna found it difficult to believe that now she was a cog in the same intricate clockwork as these people, that she was beginning to acquire titles and duties of her own.

Each generation felt this way, each thought that they would usher in an age of revolution and a better way of doing things. Somehow, somewhere along the way, the dust and cobwebs and routines got into the blood, the desire always cooled. What had been energetic had always become ossified. Worse still, those who retained their fervour into adult life had become tyrants, intent on power whatever the cost.

A phalanx of the Chancellery Watch was practising the drill for the morning. They were in full ceremonial uniform, crimson, striped fur, breastplates and cloaks. They’d formed a neat square, and were marching up and down, boots clacking against the marble floor as regular as the tick of a clock. They’d done these drills for thousands of years — literally in the case of many of the soldiers. Long ago they must have exhausted every creative possibility there. That was the point, wasn’t it? They weren’t thinking, they were doing something that came as naturally and easily to them as breathing.

Gallifrey’s nameless sun rose over the Capitol Dome, as it had done since the first days of the universe. No sunlight penetrated the Dome itself, but the Oldharbour Clock that stood in the Eastern parts of the Capitol marked the occasion by chiming Nine Bells. On the ledge beneath the vast clock face, an intricate mechanical ballet began, as life-sized animated figures emerged from their positions and set about their daily routine. They were gaily painted and beautifully dressed, certainly symbolic of something, although even the few Gallifreyans that had noticed them couldn’t agree what it might be. One of the problems was that the clock had never been built. Not in this timeline, anyway. It was a paradoxical survivor from the Time Wars, probably the only vestige of its parallel Gallifrey still in existence. It had just appeared one day, no one remembered when. The analogue Time Lords that had built the Tower had imbued the clockwork figurines with a degree of sentience and the capacity for self-development. Now, unknown to anyone, the clock people were the most intelligent beings on Gallifrey. Their social interactions were complex, if perfectly regulated, and they had developed a complex framework of philosophy and etiquette to explain their world and their actions. It would be some time yet before they realised that they were just characters on a long forgotten clock face, but the discovery would come. When it did there would be dissension, schism and war. But still they would circle each other in perfect orbits, moving their limbs in perfect arcs.

Life in the Citadel normally ran like clockwork, everything in harmony, the same every day.

The chimes of the Clock Tower rang out over the hexangles of the Eastern side of the Citadel. The Time Lords and Technicians began to emerge from their quarters and glide smoothly to their work and their leisure. Lord Henspring and Lady Genhammer passed each other by the living fountain, three members of the Watch marched past, on their way to lay a wreath at the Monument to Lost Explorers. A small group of students stood around discussing the cultivation of roses and chess endgames. Deep within the Citadel, the TARDISes sat in their cradles, surrounded by humming machinery, as they had done for hundreds of thousands of years.

Nothing had changed, because nothing ever changed on Gallifrey except over geological timescales. Nothing was better, nothing was worse.

��� The Infinity Doctors

[melmedardasworld]

I read your metas and loved them! What is your opinion about the Traveller's storyline? I really thought that we would get more Bennett history since it was revealed that Qetsiyah is one, but it was mostly focused on the Parker family, really.

First off, thank you for your kind words and taking the time to read my thoughts! The Traveler storyline certainly had a lot of potential, especially in relation to Bonnie’s rich family history. It was a shame how they wrapped it up so quick and just made a mess out of it. It didn’t help that we got the love triangle being dragged and forced once more to come to the conclusion that true love doesn’t exist; it was just a spell to break a 1500+ year old curse. I know TVD is a romance show, but come on…. It was corny to me.

While the show introduced significant lore surrounding the Travelers and the witch community, through Qetsiyah and Silas, it did more to explore the Parkers than the already established Bennetts. No surprise it was around the same time JP had plans to kill of Bonnie for good but Kat convinced her that there was more to tell, we would have gotten Liv as the go to witch for the MFG. Considering that the Bennetts are a prominent witch family with a deep-rooted history in magic and set the TVD lore of the universe for us, it was a missed opportunity not to delve into their family's connections with the Travelers.

Qetsiyah and her descendants: Qetsiyah stands out as one of the most powerful witches in the universe. If her storyline had been more entwined with her descendants, too, we could have expanded on how her actions created ripples throughout supernatural history. Her creation of the Immortality Spell led to significant schisms for magic, the impact of which could have been explored through Bonnie’s bloodline. This could have included infighting among offshoots of her bloodline or even other Traveler branch clans (like the Parkers or Silas’s family, for example) who either supported or rejected Qetsiyah’s actions. It’s what we the show so often popularized as the Balance of Nature aka the Spirits. I believe this relationship dynamic could have been enriched by introducing Bonnie to (distant) family members who did adhere to the strict ideals to not use magic without rules (the Spirits / Spirit Magic) or those betrayed by their forebears for cursing them. Also, her having zero interactions with Bonnie?? Nah that’s some bs.

Potential for Infighting: I also think this would introduce a narrative where the Bennetts’ bloodline suffers from centuries infighting due to differing ideologies about magic and the use of their powers. The show could have introduced family members who either aligned in favor of Qetsiyah’s actions (replacing Markos and his group) or fiercely opposed them (we already had the Spirits and we only saw the Bennetts at the forefront of it), providing more depth to Bonnie’s character development and the complexity of magic and it’s lore.

The Travelers Curse

The origin and implications of the Travelers’ curse were also somewhat convoluted to me when it was revealed tied to Stelena and true love not actually being true love or destiny. As I said, we also got a whole new witch family introduced when the Bennetts were right there. Onto my thoughts about how the plot could've gone.

Historical Context: When Qetsiyah created the immortality spell, it caused a schism within the Traveler community. Many of the branch family’s (Parkers and Silas’s) already feared the power of Qetsiyah and her family. They knew they were powerful, and Qetsiyah was a step above that too. But with her true immortality spell and defying Nature itself for love, they believed that this family's seemingly unlimited power was a threat to them. Keeping the Balance was just an excuse they could use to strengthen those fears and cripple her and her family. So even after Qetsiyah’s brother killed her to redeem his family, the other Traveller covend insisted on further measures—leading to what is known as the Traveller’s Curse placed upon Qetsiyah’s descendants. Again, this introduces some intrigue and infighting in one of the earliest witch covens.

The Curse’s Mechanism: To prevent future disruptions by his family, Qetsiyah’s brother promised the other Traveler families to limit the power his bloodline, forcing it to scatter whenever they attempted to congregate as large coven. If they did, this resulted in disasters and plagues or their death, effectively suppressing the extraordinary abilities and potential of Qetsiyah's descendants. The Bennett witches today may be known but remain unaware of their full history—their curse hidden and forgotten even from them.

Living Bennett Witches: Contrary to the show’s narrative, which suggests very few Bennetts are left, I feel it’s important for the story to recognize that their bloodline is significant and widespread. Even on an individual level we get so much of their feats, inventions and spells. This concept would open the door for multiple lines of the Bennett family, allowing Bonnie to discover relatives with diverse views on magic, some aligned with tradition and others breaking away from it.

Thematic Depth and Character Development

The motivations behind magic use in TVD could have been explored more deeply. The recurring theme in the TVD universe was witches maintaining the balance of Nature often felt hypocritical and biased and even bitter. Yet the Bennetts frequently disrupted it with their feats.

Nature’s Perspective: The concept around Nature as an entity that puts things back into balance is intriguing. Rather than being strict overseers, the witches could have been portrayed as part of a wider supernatural ecosystem, where even supernatural beings like vampires, hybrids, and werewolves might eventually be normalized instead of abominations and whatnot.

Potential for Conflict: By aligning the story with Bonnie's journey, we could have seen infighting not just among the Travelers, but also among witch factions within the Bennett line—those adhering to Nature's rules versus those who pursue Qetsiyah's radical legacy, even if that wasn't her intention at all. Such tensions could have elevated Bonnie’s journey as she navigates her identity, her ancestry and power.

I know you said you’ve read my metas but below some links on my theories and the travelers / Qetsiyah and the Bennetts specifically.

My Love-Hate Relationship with the Travelers

Qetsiyah's Legacy

Modern Bennetts and Nature

[myths-tournaments]

Awful Characters Round 3 (8/8)

Propaganda under the cut!

MAKIMA

The number of times I've seen people call others 'groomer apologists' or questioning if they actually like Makima for 'proper reasons' and aren't just sexualizing her are astronomical. She's truly a diabolical and fascinating antagonist. And yeah she's hot too. Who gives a shit if I like her character And her unsettling cryptic mommy energy? I have eyes. I have needs. I have love for Makima and I am not ashamed to say it.

ZHOU ZISHU

He's got that "villain of another story" swag, he's dating a fellow villain, and their clown shenanigans and body count have captivated me. That said, he's done some shit, though which of his crimes are The Worst is something me and the ppl-who'd-call-you-bad-person-for-liking-him disagree on. I personally think that creating an above-the-law organization that does assassination and spying for the government is objectively the worst, like if this was real world this would impact generations of people, and this setup just asks for abuse of power - basically, this is 100 times worse than any harm he's ever done to individual people. But thankfully he's fictional and thats why I can be like 'secret police assassin man hot' without a problem. (cw rape, sexual slavery, drugging for the next paragraph) The twitter-brained population however likes to forgo this in favor of focusing on that one time he kidnapped a teenager, drugged him, and sold him into sexual slavery - all to implicate a political opponent (who was the one buying teenage sex slaves, tbc). Which I mean for sure is bad but like, this harmed several individuals, not created an instrument of oppression that would harm countless people for years to come. And if you are rolling with the second thing because hes fictional, why do you draw the line on the other, objectively less impactful atrocity?.. He also has other crimes like war crimes (organized public execution of foreign diplomats during war time), and that time he murdered a 4yo kid he previously not only knew but like looked after and played with, along with her whole family, which got slightly less oomph compared to previous two but I'm adding them for completion's sake. As for ppl calling u bad person for liking the character: so this novel has gotten a live-action series adaptation a couple years ago, which heavily edited the worst of Zhou Zishu's crimes (and also replaced his whole personality, and made him be somehow both less of an asshole AND more awful to his bf). And then some people went to read the novel(s) and found out about The Crimes and u can imagine how it went. Someone tried to make a whole hashtag #NotMyAXu (A-Xu is his nickname) about how they rejected the novel version! So yeah this is one of the reasons for a schism between novel fans and show fans in this fandom. They cant handle our awful fictional bastard.

[aladaylessecondblog]

Red Mountain Waffle House pt. 16

DAGOTH FAMILY SCHISM! BRUTAL PUNISHMENT FOR UNKNOWN INSULT!

Sources close to the Dagoth Family state that Dagoth Gilvoth has fallen out of favor with the rest of his kin. When asked why, one source said, 'He thought he spoke for Lord Dagoth, and he pays the consequences. Not permanently - this House does not dispose of useful members - but retribution comes regardless.'

One has to wonder what grave sin could prompt such a thing considering the general state of the Sixth House, but more than that the source refused to say.

-----------------------

Helseth was a man prone to paranoia. Anyone who had the foolishness to count him a friend knew to walk slowly when beside him, for he always had an ear out to hear little sounds of expected assassins or eavesdroppers. Or to listen out for things that might be useful to himself...

...every unknown factor was potentially useful or potentially deadly for him. He had made his rise this way, and so, he imagined, he might avoid his fall.

So it was rather galling, he thought, when he saw his mother's retinue approaching with a stranger in tow. He looked over her with no small amount of consternation, glared even, but she didn't seem fazed by it. Perhaps a bit tired. The woman lowered her gaze and gave a slight bow, and that was all.

Helseth greeted his mother, "Your journey was delayed, I was beginning to worry."

"A rough blight storm struck while we were sailing back, and we had to take shelter for a time. This young woman--"

"You aren't taking in urchins again, are you, mother?" Helseth grumbled, "You know that can be dangerous."

"I am not an urchin!" the new woman protested, and then realizing her rudeness, added, "Your grace."

"Really...what are you then?"

"Only another Hlaalu--" Her voice choked slightly there, "--taking a job offered to me by the Queen Mother, your grace."

"I see. Well, expect your background investigated, as with any job. This is the palace, not some backwater--"

Barenziah gave the woman a look. The latter nodded, and kept her gaze downward.

Then his mother looked back at him.

"I can spare you the time and the trouble. This is Sadara, the missing woman whom the papers have made such a fuss over."

"The Dagoth bride?" Then Helseth looked harshly back. "Why are you here?"

"Avoiding those who do not wish to see me, your grace," Sadara went on. "The family made it clear I am unsuitable and all I want is to be left in peace, until the annulment goes through."

"...I see. You may go - but my people will be keeping an eye on you."

His gaze lingered on her as she walked along with Barenziah down the hall. The Dagoth bride, clearly so dear to the House itself, seemed to be under the impression she was unwanted. The schism within the House...and Nerevar, being now alive, clearly looking for her...she was dear to at least some of them. To keep her there in Mournhold could be handy, to ensure House Dagoth cooperated.

If Lord Vivec could not find a way to keep the Dagoths on a leash, then it was up to him.

Helseth decided he would welcome the woman.

-----------------------------

VIVEC CAUGHT CHEATING! ALMALEXIA HUMILIATED - SEE SECRET PHOTOS INSIDE!

[The picture is taken from a distance, from the back. Vivec is leaning into a kiss with someone inside the building, grasping a boxy necklace of theirs to pull them into it. Nothing of the person's face can be seen except a Dwemer-fashion beard.]

Almalexia was many things, looking at that picture. Furious foremost among them - but humiliated? No. No, she was never that, that was for lesser women. Women like HER did not slow their schemes long enough to be petty things like humiliated.

No. She would not be cast down like this, she would find a way to take vengeance. What did it matter if Vivec had thrown her over for that atrocious first love of his? What did it matter that Neht had done the same?

She was so consumed with the headline she didn't hear the footsteps that approached the newsstand she was standing near. She did hear the voice that followed.

"I'm here for the Queen Mother's order."

Almalexia whipped around--

Sadara? What was THAT woman doing HERE? She'd thought the woman wouldn't be leaving Red Mountain - the headlines said she was missing, but those hadn't been paid much attention.

"The Queen Mother can't resist Black Marsh cigars, can she?" the clerk laughed, and once Sadara produced her identification and the paper detailing Barenziah's order, in turn produced a fancy looking box with a Black Marsh seal on the top. "She's paid ahead of time, so no need for extra now."

"Thank you, serjo," Sadara said. She bought a pack of gum, turned--and paled when she saw Almalexia. "L-Lady Almalexia."

"And WHAT--" Almalexia's tone went and stayed sharp, "--are you doing HERE, exactly? Do the Dagoths give you nothing, and force you to make a living on your own?"

"Why should they be giving me anything?" Sadara asked. The woman was shaking. "I don't want any trouble, my lady, I'm simply trying to stay out of everyone's way. The Dagoths don't want me there because they've got Nerevar, so I've got to make a living somehow."

"Don't want you there? But they're l--"

Almalexia paused suddenly, and then let a falsely genial smile spread across her face. On a septim she turned.

"The Dagoths are a rather brutish house, aren't they? They dangle the promise of love in front of you and snatch it away the moment you think you have found your place. Come, I bear you no ill will--we can start afresh, you and I."

Oh, this will be EASY, Almalexia thought to herself.

[teecupangel]

saw the Joker!Desmond idea & the tags about the LoA & a bunny emerged! so here u go for the bunnyvault: Desmond reborn as Talia Al Ghul's twin brother. it would be a little nightmarish with the Leader of Assassin Group Father (with extra crazy) in a death cult, but there would be room for funny bits. like Desmond just Judging Talia's taste in men. *gestures to ALL of Bruce's everything* WHY? R U into this man? doting on/teaching damian the Creed in secret. accidentally leading a schism in the League. * over 200 yrs & what have we actually accomplished "Dad"?* bullying his sorta brother in law. idk

The ask that inspired this one about Joker!Desmond AU which had these tags:

#ngl #the idea of desmond being the leader of the league of assassins #would be a fun idea #especially if we set this before cassandra runs away #so we can have a mentally unstable desmond #try to raise a socially awkward cassandra #it would be both funny #and also a bit tragic

So… Desmond went from one fucked up family to another fucked up family. XD

I think it could be debated on who is a worse father, Ra’s Al Ghul or William Miles lol.

Anyway, he would have a strained relationship with his family, not just with his new father. For one, he and Talia would have grown up being pitted against one another and their competition would be ‘nourished’ by their own father. Talia would probably respect him and care for him as her twin brother but loathe him as her rival because he was a prodigy in the eyes of the League.

Desmond, for his part, would try to be the nice brother (relying heavily on Ezio’s Bleed for help) but Talia can be quite a handful when she feels like it so there’s a bit of annoyed older brother vibe to how Desmond deal with Talia sometimes.

Which would be funnier if Desmond is actually the younger of the twins XD

Also, let’s not forget that the Lazarus Pit is used to ensure that they do get to live that long so… Desmond’s mental state post-Bleeding Effect? It definitely takes a hit every time he uses the Lazarus Pit.

The first time it happens, Desmond didn’t know the extent of the Lazarus’ Pit powers. He had grown up in an isolated ‘community’ (again) and in an unknown world (let’s say that Desmond’s world doesn’t have DC in it) so he just figured it’s one of those long honored tradition.

Then he emerged from the Lazarus Pit and… he sees Altaïr in the crowd of league members…

He doesn’t go to the pit regularly. Not as much as their father but…

He sees them… walking around, always near but too far at the same time.

Then an accident happened and Desmond was dunked into the Pit once more. He was too valuable to let die after all (and maybe… Ra’s Al Ghul did care for him in his own twisted way but, then again, so did William Miles).

When he emerges from the Lazarus Pit, he could hear them.

They talk to him now.

They support him, give him tips and suggestions…

They make him feel… warm.

A warmth that he rarely felt in this place. A warmth that he had only felt maybe once or twice from his father, more times with his twin but they would be so short they felt like they were already fleeting by the time Desmond felt it.

He knew then and there that the Lazarus Pit was dangerous.

Because he also knew… his body had grown stronger.

He had become more.

But the worst part? Desmond didn’t realize that he and the whispers he hears… they were being stripped of their moral compass little by little by the Lazarus Pit.

Desmond does his best not to go to the Pit. But, at the same time, he hears its call. He starts to wonder if the next time he goes to the Pit, he would be able to feel them. To touch them.

Then…

Bruce Wayne came to the League and asked to be trained.

He was… an interesting fellow, to say the least.

He could feel the sexual tension in the room whenever he and Talia were together.

And Desmond tried to keep his distance, more because Talia hates it when Desmond takes her ‘things’ even if Desmond didn’t intend to do it or didn’t even know they were her things from the very beginning.

None of that mattered.

But Bruce saw him.

And among the best of the Leagues, Bruce knew he was the one most challenging of all. His movements were erratic and random but they always strike true. It was like fighting multiple opponents at the same time, weaving in and out of different stances and fighting techniques like flowing water.

And Desmond was, by far, the most normal of the Leagues. As long as Bruce ignored how it always seem like Desmond is looking elsewhere as if someone who wasn’t there was talking to him or how he sometimes nods or makes noises that signify he was listening even though no one was speaking.

Then…

It all came crashing down.

Bruce became Batman and became a thorn in the side of the League.

And Gotham City becomes a beacon to the Leagues.

It’s not all bad though.

Desmond is more or less amicable to helping Batman if it interests him or benefits him in any way. Among the Leagues, he’s the one who Batman could trust the most. Batman knows Desmond has plans of his own for Gotham City and he has no qualms killing those he perceive as evil but Desmond could be reason with… to an extent.

Then… Jason Todd died…

Talia took his body and revived him in the Pit.

And Desmond watched as Jason tries to control himself as he stayed in the League. He was Talia’s though and Talia hates to share so…

He goes to him in secret. Only when they are alone and Desmond is sure Talia would not know of it later on. He tries to teach him how to channel his rage and that primal urge that seemed to come from being revived by the Pit. He teaches him the Creed and what it means to be an Assassin. Not one of the League’s assassin but an Assassin.

When Jason leaves the League, he bears a burn in his left ring finger and Desmond realized…

There was no need to continue to stay in the shadow, quietly and swiftly undermining the plans of the Leagues he didn’t agree with.

He just… needs to take matter on his own hands.

That’s when Desmond starts growing his own faction in the League itself. His moral compass skewered enough that he believes he can ‘fix’ the League and turn it into a real Assassin Brotherhood. He takes in Lady Shiva and his sister. Becomes Cassandra Cain’s guardian later on after the tragedy that pushes Cassandra Cain’s life was unraveled by Desmond himself.

Then Damien was born and Desmond couldn’t help himself. He sees himself a lot in Damien and he knows his sister enough to know she would fuck him up. He does not, however, realize that he wasn’t any better after all. He’s better in hiding it but… the Pit has affected him as well.

Damien would remember his kindness and would be the least inclined to go against Desmond even when he dons the cape of Robin and makes it his own. Desmond would always be the kind uncle who smiled at him and patted his head. The one who thought him how to kill men five times larger than him and how to care for eagles so they would be loyal to him. Desmond gave him a childhood that seemed both normal and strange. Damien would see how easy it was for Bruce Wayne and his family to care for him and feel a pang in his chest because that was the kind of love he felt from his uncle. And yet… his uncle stayed in the League and still continue to smile at him and tell him he’s doing well even when they’re on different side. Damien knows the League is wrong and that he’s doing the right thing but, at the same time… his uncle made him think that maybe… just maybe… No. Damien can’t think that. His father would be disappointed in him if he did.

Damien does not know that Bruce harbors the same ‘maybe’ in his mind. Every time he sees Desmond, he wonders if the League is beyond saving. But, unlike Damien, he does not hold Desmond with rose-tinted glasses. He knows how dangerous Desmond is.

So when Batman and his allies hear that a civil war has erupted in the League, one faction led by Desmond and another faction led by Ra’s… Batman can’t help but question if a League led by Desmond would be a good thing. A better alternative to Ra’s? For who? The League? The world? Himself?

Talia stays with their father, of course, she does. She does it not out of loyalty for their father but because she will always stand against her brother. That was how they were raised.

The Batfamily tries to stay away from all this. But some of them do tend to lean towards Desmond’s faction more. Mainly because Desmond is the ‘nice one’.

It would be Dick who reminds everyone that just because Desmond is nice to them doesn’t mean that they should lower their guard.

They must always remember.

Desmond… is an Assassin.

.

Unorganized Notes (this is gonna be short):

Red Hood would keep his connection to Desmond a secret. All Bruce knows is that Jason was with the League for a while but Bruce also knows that Talia thinks of Jason as hers because he’s Bruce’s and Bruce was hers.

Among the Batfamily, Red Hood and Robin would definitely be the ones to easily team up with Desmond’s Brotherhood.

Cassandra Cain doesn’t become Batgirl or Black Bat in this one (or, if you want her to be part of the Batfamily, not yet). She’s raised by Desmond and has a better childhood this time around although… okay, it’s a better childhood compared to canon but it’s still an Assassin childhood. She’s loyal to Desmond and sees him as her father figure. Although, she’d also grow close to the Batfamily as they team up some times.

Among the Batfamily, it would be Tim Drake who would be more willing to go along the more ‘violent’ plans that Desmond’s Brotherhood may do. Tim Drake is also the one who advocates that it’s better for Desmond to lead the League.

Dick is the one totally against it and some would say that he has no plank to stand on considering he became a Robin to get revenge but Dick is past that entire thing. He doesn’t support Ra’s faction as well and he’s more on the side of, whichever wins, the world would take the fall. The others (Babs, Stephanie, Kate and Duke) are on the fence about this and are waiting on what Batman would do.

Desmond is quite amicable to a few of Batman’s Rogue gallery. Poison Ivy is one of his staunch supporters as their end goal tend to align most of the time. Because of this, Harley Quin likes to call him their ‘bestie from another screwed up family’. She also knows that something is ‘wrong’ with Desmond but she doesn’t pry because ‘that’s not what friends do!’

Desmond likes to loudly say that Catwoman is a better match for Batman just to annoy Talia. He does not necessarily ship Batman with either his sister or anybody else because of Batman’s (gestures to ALL of Bruce’s everything) but annoying Talia is a favorite past time of his.

I absolutely did not include non-Batman characters because then I’d be writing this for far too long than I should but he hates Lexcorp. It reminds him too much of Abstergo XD

[milf-lover42]

I've been thinking about Georgina Orwell an alarming amount this past week but I think I've exhausted all the good fan content out there 💔, tumblr posts, fanfics, hell even whatever pinterest gave me has run dry. I'm sad, I'm contentless, and I'm shamefully in love with Georgina Orwell.

That was longer than I thought itd be but basically the point is that if you have any advice for where to look next then I will take it, and if not then I am humbly asking you for any headcanons or anything you have 🙏

THANK YOUUU SORRY THIS WAS SO LONG!! YOU HAVE WONDERFUL TASTE IN WOMEN!!!

Dear anon I am so so unbelievably sorry for the time it has taken to get to you. I, an Esmé kinner, and my partner, a Georgina kinner, think about this ask every day and have been dying to answer you. Life has just been all over the place.

I would say that these headcanons are just that, and if you disagree then that’s fine, but truthfully I think of what we have come up with over the years as the real and actual truth and canon of the series. With that in mind! Here you go, I hope you enjoy!

Lore headcanons

First and foremost!

No matter the version, book, show, or continuation of the movie that never happened… Georgina survived her “death” at the Mill. In show canon, obviously there’s just an escape chute in the furnace, easy peasy, everyone has said this.

In book canon… yeah okay sure she tripped and was sawed in half at the mill. However, that woman has surely seen an Alice Cooper concert and knows how to fake a gory death live. She probably taught him how to do it to be honest.

So. She lives through Miserable Mill no matter the version. That woman is unkillable.

Georgina’s family is Old VFD. Like the Orwells were founding members type shit. Maybe it was her parents, maybe her grandparents or further, but either way, she was raised knowing everything. She was one of few members capable of learning about VFD and its inner workings from her own family - long before they died. She is the last keeper of every secret. She knows more things about the history of the organization than most of the sugarbowl gen can even begin to piece together. If VFD had nuclear weapons, Georgina Orwell would be the only one left who knew the codes, and that includes the Sinister Duo. Because of this, she’s very disconnected from the other members that we know of because they just don’t know about the truly dark information that VFD has kept secret from itself. She is technically still VFD, and in her earlier life was a dedicated member in some capacity, but she has no strong allegiance to it aside from her secret keeping (though that is more familial allegiance) when the SBG undergoes their schism.

Characteristic headcanons

BOTH of her knees are bad, that’s why she carries a cane. She doesn’t always need it (see: how often she simply holds it instead of actually placing it on the ground in the show), the pain flares up at different intervals and usually only in one leg at a time, but she always carries one A) because it is her sword and B) because that way no one can ever tell if it’s a good or bad day for her as far as knee pain goes.

She takes her coffee with no creamer, but does use sugar. It just varies in quantity per day. NEVER creamer or milk. Also is totally someone that’s a “don’t talk to me before my morning coffee” person. She doesn’t ever say this, she doesn’t have a nonsense mug that says it. However, if you try to speak to her before her coffee she will simply ignore you. She doesn’t get mad or glare or anything. She just… does not care until she’s had coffee. So it’s best to just wait because you won’t get anything out of her until then.

Tea she takes plain, nothing in it, no milk, no sugar, no lemon, nothing. Just. Tea. She isn’t a tea snob by any means, she will drink any tea she is given. If it’s bad tea she’ll just think that it wasn’t great, could be improved, but will take NO steps to improve it herself. She doesn’t even look at what type she is buying and she has no favorites. She likes tea enough to buy and make it but she literally does not care enough to select one. She just picks one at random every single time. She has had some truly horrible teas in her time without complaining or changing her habits once.

If you ask her what matcha is she will have NO idea what the fuck you are talking about.

Thank you so much for the ask, I love talking about my wife. I have so many more headcanons but pretty much all of them revolve around the idea that she and Esmé are together pre and post series (I am writing a fic slowly but surely to better explain this dynamic) and that they adopt Carmelita after the hotel. In the case that you are not an Eswell shipper I am keeping them to myself for the time being, but should you want that specific Georgina content I am more than happy to oblige! Just shoot me another ask and I will begin to compile it for you.

[afterthegreatunknown]

a long, complicated denouement headcanon, featuring the sbg

Despite their ‘100%’ identical appearance in TPP/the ASOUE period, the Denouement triplets weren’t 100% identical. Dewey, Ernest, and Frank did not like being mistaken for one another when they were children, partly because the adults thought it ‘cute’ they dress identical. By their pre-teen years, they begun to differentiate from one another, and by the time they became young adults, were 100% no longer identical. Did that stop anyone from mistaking them for the wrong brother? Nope. But they (reluctantly) accepted it as it is.

(It’s ‘100%’ identical because there is one [1] thing that prevents them from truly being 100% identical.)

After an incident that had Dewey almost dying by a fire-starter, the Denouements realize that to keep their family and the newly built Hotel Denouement safe, they had to be identical once again. Fearing also for Dewey’s life, they hatched a plan that they didn’t want to do, but knew was necessary to allow them to be secretly neutral a la Olivia Caliban under the Madame Lulu persona at Caligari Carnival (the organization didn’t grant them permission to be neutral).

The Denouements ended up faking Dewey’s death in an unrelated VFD accident, and have Ernest and Frank fake their own family schism. Ernest ‘joins’ the fire-starters, while Frank remaining ‘loyal’ to the fire-fighters. With the two brothers now on opposite sides yet still running the Hotel Denouement together, both sides end up treading carefully with their actions. As such, the Denouement triplets achieve the goal of neutrality underneath almost everyone’s noses (some are in on the ruse).

So, by ASOUE, they’re ‘100%’ identical. But in the past, they weren’t, yet sometimes still got mistaken for one another despite making it easy. What were those attempts? Who are those that can 100% tell the brothers apart, mostly pre-canon? Who can’t 100% tell the brothers apart, pre-canon (and maybe during canon itself)?

100% can tell the Denouement triplets apart:

Raymond ‘Q’ Quagmire: As their [adopted] cousin, Raymond discovered a speaking quirk the Denouements triplets individually have. Dewey speaks in a steady pace that isn’t too polite or formal; it’s in between. Ernest speaks slightly faster on the casual/friendly side. Frank speaks slightly slower, more directly + formal, and is the sole Denouement to throw in a cuss word in conversation if given the chance/angry (sometimes minor, sometimes major).

(This speaking quirk is the one [1] thing that prevents them from being 100% identical by the ASOUE period.)

Joan Quagmire, nee Morstan, and her triplet sisters Alex and Lindsey: The sisters picked up the speaking quirk after their first meeting with the Denouements. The sisters also discovered how each Denouement triplet -at least Ernest and Frank- use a different dominate hand. Ernest is right-handed, while Frank is left-handed. Dewey while ambidextrous, is more likely to use his right hand than left. So if Joan, Alex, or Lindsey are interacting with either Dewey and/or Ernest but don’t know who it exactly and they’re using their right hand for something, the speaking quirk is their guide.

(By the ASOUE period, Ernest and Frank successfully taught themselves to use their other hand. Frank had the harder time though.)

The Snicket Siblings: The Snicket siblings, not long after picking up on the speaking quirk, discovered the Denouement style their three (3) hairstyles differently. Their first style -short hair with bangs- has Dewey leaving his bangs alone, Ernest sweeps his bangs more towards the right, and Frank sweeps his bangs more to the left. Their second style - hair down to their neck nickname ‘the Mane’- their ends are all different; one of Dewey’s ends goes down  while the other ends flips upward, both of Ernest’s ends flip up, while both of Frank’s ends goes down. Their third style is the ‘growing out’ stage between hairstyle one and two; Dewey never tucks and runs a hand through his hair, Ernest tucks and runs a hand via his right hand, and Frank tucks and runs a hand via his left hand.

(By the ASOUE period, it was agreed via Dewey’s insistence that they rotate one another in a cycle, to keep it lively. During the period of TPP, all three brothers were in their ‘Mane’ phrase, copying Ernest’s style.)

Bertrand: After picking up on the speaking quirk, Bertrand discovered the Denouements react differently regarding hugs and handshakes. Dewey accepts and gives them out with glee. Ernest is always shock when receiving them and ends them quick; he also rarely initiates them but when he does, he does it in a friendly/casual matter. Frank reluctantly accepts and gives them out. Frank is also the sole Denouement willing to tackle/throw someone to the ground if they’re very suspicious, VFD member or not.

(By the ASOUE period, Ernest and Frank managed to act like Dewey regarding hugs and handshakes. Frank also managed to stop tackling/throwing people to the ground, making others do it in his place, like the waitress in TPP who threw that man on the floor after he asked for sugar.)

Beatrice: After picking up on the speaking quirk and hair quirk, Beatrice discovered the Denouements wear different colors socks, even if they’re all dress identically for reasons. Dewey wears blue socks, Ernest wears green socks, and Frank wears red socks. Beatrice also learned another 100% sure way to tell them apart if all three are in a matching suit and tie (they don’t wear bowties) with matching socks; Dewey always has his tie properly on, Ernest’s tie is slightly loosen, and Frank for whatever reason is missing a cuff link, or has one unbuttoned cuff.

(By the ASOUE period, the Denouements decided to wear white socks only. Ernest and Frank also decided to copy Dewey’s dressing habit. Ernest constantly fights the urge to loosen up his tie. Frank quickly adapted to wearing both cuff links/have buttoned cuffs.)

Can 100% tell apart the Denouement triplets. HOWEVER...

R: R learned the Denouement triplets dressing quirk of different color socks, taking weeks to figure out which color each triplet associated with. However, when it comes to a matching suit and tie with matching socks, R for some reason, thinks Dewey is missing the cuff link/has the one unbuttoned cuff, Ernest has the tie properly on, and Frank has the slightly loosen time. R discovers she got this particular quirk wrong post-canon, after an accidental meeting with the sole Denouement triplet survivor.

Monty: Monty learned of the Denouement triplets hair quirks for hairstyle one and two after several rapid conversations with each brother in under an hour. However, Monty never did figure out the quirk for their third hairstyle, and so he keeps quiet on who he thinks he’s talking too to avoid trouble. In Monty’s defense, he rarely interacts with the Denouements when they’re growing out their hair; Monty has the odd luck of interacting with them with either short hair with bangs or with ‘the Mane’.

Widdershins: Widdershins picked up on the Denouements’ speaking quirk after a few years of interactions. However, Widdershins can be trick into thinking he’s talking to the wrong brother. The only Denouements who does the tricking is Ernest, but that’s only in the month of April. Widdershins is mainly trick by his associates who also can 100% tell the brothers apart due to them wanting to prank the Denouements, or are angry at the Denouements and are using Widdershins as their stand-in.

Can 100% tell apart Ernest and Frank, but throw in Dewey...

Gregor and Hector + Josephine: The three discovered that Ernest is right-handed and Frank is left-handed. Because Dewey is ambidextrous with a leaning of using his right-handed, they will make the mistake of thinking Dewey is Ernest, and vice versa until correct, which in that case, they’ll apologize to both. At least Hector and Josephine. Gregor will apologize to Dewey, but not Ernest. Ernest has no idea why he never gets the apology.

Miranda and Olivia: The two Calibans discovered together that Ernest is a bit of a motor-mouth, and Frank is a bit of a slow talker. Dewey’s steady, polite pace has him getting mistaken as Frank by the two. In their defense, they don’t interact much with the Denouements, so they will apologize when corrected. Olivia does it more so, especially to Dewey.

Can 100% tell apart Dewey and Ernest, but throw in Frank...

N (Nestor) Caliban: Like his sisters, N. discovered that Ernest is a bit of a motor mouth. However, his discovery was made when Ernest was with Dewey. As such, Frank’s slightly slow speaking matter is mistaken at times by N. as Dewey trying to get his point across. N. usually realizes he’s wrong after thirty seconds, apologize, and continue on with the conservation.

Haruki: Haruki, because of all the coffee drinks Ernest partakes in with him and Larry, knows the man’s quirks. But Haruki doesn’t know the quirks of Dewey and Frank, for Haruki rarely visits the Hotel Denouement. As such, whenever Haruki runs into Dewey or Frank at a party or meeting, he avoids saying their name or says ‘Denouement’ when talking to one of them.

Can 100% tell apart Dewey and Frank, but throw in Ernest...

The Sebald Siblings: The reason why Sally and Gustav can’t tell Ernest apart from Dewey and Frank is because they interact with Ernest the least. Every quirk known for Dewey and Frank, the Sebalds know. It’s just Ernest’s quirks they lacking knowledge of. They’re as such, apologizing constantly.

Can 100% tell Ernest and Frank apart, but they don’t think Dewey exists (because they got the luck of never interacting with Dewey properly):

Ike: Ike discovered the sock quirk by accident, and the dominate hand quirk after observations. One of the two SBG fire-fighter members to think Dewey as non-existent, sort of. Ike thinks Dewey was a brother to Frank and Ernest (in that order because Ike assumes Frank is older due to his demeanor), but died after choking on an avocado pit. Attempts to tell Ike the truth about Dewey never happen due to Ernest finding it hilarious to stop anyone from telling Ike (this is why Gregor never apologizes to Ernest).

Larry: Larry is the other SBG fire-fighter members to think Dewey as non-existent, sort of. He too, thinks Dewey was a brother who died after choking on an avocado pit, and also not told the truth due to Ernest finding it hilarious to stop anyone from telling Larry. Larry learned on his own very quickly Ernest and Frank have different hairstyles after accidentally getting coffee with Frank once. Larry does learn Dewey is, or was, real, post-canon, and promptly punches the sole surviving Denouement triplet in the stomach for making him [Larry] thinking Dewey died by other means.

Olaf: After interacting with Ernest and Frank after so many years, especially Ernest, Olaf picked up on their hair quirk. Regarding Dewey, Olaf thinks of him as their dead brother who didn’t survive childbirth that comes to ‘life’ every April Fool’s Day. Attempts to tell Olaf the truth are always interrupted by outsiders, before attempts just stop happening.

Esme: Esme picked up on their hair quirk after an accidental night out with Frank (best night Esme ever had). Regarding Dewey, Esme thinks that Dewey was their brother who died as a child in the same fire that also killed their parents, and goes with the ‘joke’ every April Fool’s Day that brings Dewey back to ‘life’. Attempts to tell Esme the truth never happened.

[Regarding the matter of Dewey faking their death and his funeral, which would reveal to the four that Dewey is a real person, they were all conveniently out of the City and Land of Districts at the time of it happening. On the matter of Ernest ‘joining’ the fire-starters while Frank ‘stays’ loyal to the fire-fighters, their return had them learning of a family schism that drove the brothers apart, and weren’t given more information about it.]

100% can’t tell Ernest and Frank apart, and has no idea Dewey exists.

Jerome: Not part of the SBG or VFD, but his association with Beatrice and the Snickets (mainly Jacques) puts him on the list. Jerome, try as he might with Beatrice’s help, he just can’t tell Ernest and Frank apart. Jerome managed it twice, but they were lucky guesses due to Frank swearing. Jerome didn’t get better even after learning of VFD during the ASOUE period.

Charles: Not officially part of VFD, but because he offer his services and has knowledge of VFD and its working, he gets put on the list. Charles, to avoid embarrassment on being wrong, refers to Ernest and Frank as ‘Denouement’, even in less formal settings. This actually works to Charles’ favor, for either one will always say, “Please, call me [X].”

Fernald: Not part of the SBG, but he is a lump member. Fernald legit can’t tell Ernest and Frank apart, even with help from his stepfather (before he became a stepfather). And Fernald didn’t get better after joining the fire-starters. Fernald as such, keeps quiet and hopes others like Olaf or Esme, will recognize they’re talking to Ernest, before jumping into the conversation himself.

100% can’t tell the Denouement triplets apart and doesn’t bother to make the attempt to learn their quirks:

Georgina Orwell: Because Georgina doesn’t see herself as part of the SBG and never makes the attempt to associate/interact with them as if she is, this is chalked up to rare interactions between them. The Denouements rarely are in need her services, and Georgina rarely goes to their hotel (she prefers the Preludio). When they do interact (usually in a meeting or party), Georgina takes the polite route and calls them ‘Denouement’.

Bonus: A lump OSG member who 100% can tell the Denouement triplets apart, but pretends otherwise:

Adeline Montgomery, Monty’s older sister: Adeline is four years older than Monty. When the schism broke out, Adeline being ten and Monty being six pushed her into being lump with the OSG. Adeline can tell the Denouement triplets apart by their hair quirk. The reason she pretends not to is because she feels bad that Monty, who also uses the hair quirk, still makes mistakes, so she makes herself worse in comparison.

[dontcallmethuperboy]

CR’s Raven Queen & the old god of death: A History & Theories Part 2

“So what does all this mean for CR Downfall” you ask.

Well it tells us a lot about the gods, and in particular the Raven Queen. Here are the theories:

Theory 1: RQ was the “paper doll” being fought over in the initial schism

This theory only works if the Raven Queen was actually either an elf or a human whose lifespan was somehow extended so she could have been present during the Schism (which isn’t out of the realm of possibility for a wizard, specifically from Avalir which we know already was funneling magic to the top brass for prolonged lifespans) AND was insignificant enough during the Schism that the Betrayers didn’t take note of her name (hence Asmodeus not knowing it).

If we run with this theory, then maybe the Betrayers and the Empyrean took umbrage with the old god of death purely for defending mortals against his siblings. 

Now the question here is did the Betrayers know the old god of death was defending mortaldom as a Prime Deity because of his new mortal side piece whose name they didn’t care to learn (because c’mon man, who cares about her when there are other siblings gods to love on and if we scrap the whole project and you’ll have your pick of the litter of this next batch of mortals) OR was the old god of death keeping her secret. Did they just believe that the old god of death was too wrapped up in the consequences of losing his domain, cause like who needs death if there aren’t mortals to die amirite?

This theory still ends with too many questions: why did RQ ascend if the god of death went so hard for her and her kind? Maybe the relationship changed-after all we know the old god of death didn’t share everything with her. Would she have known about the Empyrean, would she even know that she caused the schism? And still why hasn’t any other god picked up the poor Empyrean from detention post EXU Calamity??? Which leads to theory 2

Theory 2: The old god of death just was too curious/too depressed to carry on and RQ was the only one they trusted to pull the trigger, but the old god still didn’t have the will to tell her everything before biting the bullet.

This theory works even if the old god of death and RQ weren’t romantic partners. We do not know if “partners" in the Critical Role Universe means romantic OR business. Unlike Melora and Erathis in the source books, RQ and the old god of death’s relationship has never been outright romantically defined. 

I REALLY like Nick Marini/the Dawnfather’s theory that the old god of death truly did in fact wish to die or experience death, and chose RQ as his conduit. Maybe he’d already given up based on  family, his previous devastating relationship (death or break up related), the Calamity, and left only with a child who rebels against him. In this one the old god of death is just a depressed tyrant  dad who finally gives up and hands the reins over to his best business partner. Plus death is such a crazy domain, why fret over giving it to the betrayer gods (who’d use it potentially to punish mortaldom) or the prime deities (who might exercise loopholes for their followers). Who better to take the place than a mortal who understands its purpose as a true neutral across both sides of the Schism? Even if RQ didn’t get the full portfolio, she’d at least have control over the one that matters. And why tell your siblings the plan if you knew they might scheme against you, or worse, talk you out of it? No, better to trust your loyalist follower and have her deal with the fallout (no need to tell her about Tengar, she’ll figure it out when she ascends).

This theory still leaves the question: why not tell RQ about the Empyrean? Was the god of death worried about his son challenging her post ascension? Some one pick up this boy from daycare!!! Which leads us to theory 3.

Theory 3: Oh no the god of death had a mid-life crisis!

This theory basically posits that after a break-up/death of this last partner during or before the Calamity (hence the Empyrean’s existence), the old god of death spiraled without his god-partner and got his freak on with RQ. RQ shows up as like a weird step aunt who’s A LOT younger than your recently remarried uncle and half the family (the Prime Deities) is like “well it is really weird that your new wife is young but she’s not all bad so we’re not gonna take it out on her for being young. Still this is just…not healthy.”

RQ then ascends either via theory #2 (divorced dad energy only goes so far, and mortal side piece is sympathetic/already used to the weird look s the rest of the family gives her), or as part of her grand plan to attain godhood OR, if she and the old god of death broke up on bad terms, the most insane version of keying someone's car I’ve ever seen

Then when the other Betrayers come out of their hole they’re basically like “yikes what an age divide! She must have been a golddigger (but for godhood) that’s creepy as hell and also she sucks cause she is nothing like og aunt!”

This one actually kind checks out and I’d be lying if I didn’t say I’d crack open a white claw with a grin if it was confirmed in Downfall Parts 2&3.

[beatricebidelaire]

what if jerome's family was also ..... not exactly a vfd family, but involved with vfd in some way. a financial backer. in the background. they're rich and powerful enough to get a way that their kids don't have to actually do volunteering work. don't have to join the training. like there's some, unspoken understanding, or even stated outright. a pact. maybe some family members do join vfd as active volunteers and get trained, but not all of them. and jerome's parents didn't want jerome to be trained as a volunteer - either bc the schism is worsening around that time, or they just don't think he's fit for that life, or whatever. but he still is fairly close with the volunteers - possibly knowing they're all involved in vfd heavily, possibly his parents kept everything away from him and didn't tell him about vfd. maybe he still grew up with the vfd volunteers but unaware what they're going through, or possibly he was banned from interacting with them but somehow jacques and him got close in their teenage years anyway.

if jerome never knew about 'vfd' - or at least, knew that his friends were in vfd - did beatrice know about jerome's family involvement with vfd, and when she left, did she want to model after this, use her money as leverage to ensure her kids would not be involved with vfd, did she negotiate with them, agreed to finance them if the kids were left alone, did that explain b&b's dealings with poe, a pawn of vfd's / one of peripherally vfd people who managed their finances