#written by Caz

[akathecentimetre]

I FICCED AGAIN. But this definitely requires some explanation.

Simply put, I am a huge nerd. I'm in a huge phase of a) adoring the music of Handel and b) adoring the skill of countertenor Iestyn Davies, and so a while back I wrote a thing about the sweet triad of Rodelinda (queen), Bertarido (her king/husband, incorrectly thought dead) and Unolfo (Bertarido's still-loyal counsellor). Davies has played both Unolfo - in the 2011 Met production of Rodelinda that informed that first fic - and Bertarido, as I heard him do at Carnegie Hall just last week and in several other productions.

The images above are from him playing Bertarido in an English National Opera (ENO) production from 2014. If anyone out there happens to know if a video of this show exists, I will literally kill for it. And here is a little fangirl take on the sheer awfulness that exists at the heart of this opera, regardless of its happy ending. Massive thanks, as ever, to @agarthanguide for being my best enabler.

Unolfo’s blood is drying on his palm, tacky, heavy as mercury. Bertarido closes his fist, and the tide crashes in. Gundeberto had always been the soldier of the three of them. His brother the king, The Avaricious; the crude hacker of limbs, the bloodletter. Eduige, stern and straight-backed, was more suited to politics, the game of shadows and false appearances. Bertarido had always felt himself the one left over, the reluctant ruler, the Platonic striver after moderation. Gundeberto had died as he lived, gasping and cackling through the blood in his mouth, while Bertarido had been swept away from him on the battlefield and left for lost as the corpses rotted and stank. Passive. Weak. Concerned overmuch with virtue. These epithets have followed him all his life. I shall string their guts along my gates, he thinks, and the words become fire within him as he stares at his trembling hand. Unolfo, his dearest counsellor, his only loyal friend. He had been warm to Bertarido’s touch when the wayward knife slipped between his ribs, his blood quickened, Bertarido now knows, by the excited hope of saving his sovereign. His own name, splattered across Unolfo’s shoulders, has been tainted by the dark fears that had grown around Bertarido in his prison, in the filthy, festering dungeon of his enemies’ making. They have done this. Bertarido whispers it to himself as he stalks through the palace, striding from shadow to shadow, his vision narrowing and swimming at its edges. He has spent months railing against fate, against fortuna, against unshaped forces he has until now believed ruled his destiny as it was sadly cut short. He believes that no longer. Them. Grimoaldo, the tottering, frightened, pathetic usurper. Garibaldo, the true cruelty behind the false king, shorn of principles, delighting in misery. He puts names to previously blank faces. These men, these horrors, are real. It was not Fortuna who put a knife to the throat of Bertarido’s son, who oppressed his cabinet and ignored his people. Who has done God only knows what to his wife. Bertarido nearly stumbles, his breath caught in his throat. The pain rises, choking, and he clutches at a nearby doorframe as he lets out a dry retch, wracked into immobility for a brief moment of his rampage. They must die. The words swim through him so naturally that, were he not so overwhelmed, he would chastise himself. Mercy be damned. Until this moment, sweet, melancholy daydreams of what should have been have always risen to the forefront of his thoughts. Rodelinda, resplendent, smiling gently, maternal, catching his eye in a flash of passion as Flavio, dutiful and strong, nods to him. Unolfo hovering, immaculate as ever, promising and providing stability. His mind reaches, grasps – but it is gone, the peaceful world of his past shattered. Bertarido takes in a sharp breath, and something within him mocks all his hopes; mocks the very idea that it could ever have been thus again, what with everything that has happened in between. His bare, torn feet have somehow known where to take him. He stands back at the threshold of the dungeon, staring at the cooling pool of blood where Unolfo had so recently lain. Someone else has been here since – he can see other footprints on the grimy floor – but he cares not to speculate on who it might have been. Bertarido leans down; hefts the sword that was so recently pressed with glee against his own chest, the absurd weight of it. They will pay for what they have taken from me. His God is a forgiving one, he has been told. He turns away to seek his quarry, and sets out to put his reputation to rest.

[akathecentimetre]

😭🤩

For @akathecentimetre. I love "The League Twixt Them That Loyal Love Hath Bound"

Hope you will return to the fandom soon with more amazing fics :)

[pickleddandelions]

This took way longer to make than I expected and/or wanted it to.

I've collected some stray thoughts and ideas I had into what I've been calling Shape!Caz AU. The name might be subject to change because I'm terrible at naming things. To be honest I haven't completely fleshed out the AU yet and I have no idea what I'm gonna do with it.

The basic premise is that after destroying the Shape, Caz becomes the eldritch horror instead. He doesn't know about that part. What he knows is that all of the sudden he's back on an oil rig that should have been destroyed, surrounded by people who died horrible deaths at best but are suddenly alive and well and there's creepy shit happening around him that gets worse the more he panics.

It’s December 27th. None of the crew remember the 26th happening, but the people calling from the outside insist on that. They say the Beira D was completely unreachable for a whole day.

Caz just appeared at the derrick at some point. He didn’t walk in or anything, all of the sudden he just stood there, screaming. Gibbo was the first one to get to him, but then he started freaking out and yelling about not wanting to do something and ran away. It’s impossible to get him to stop crying for long enough to explain anything. It’s even harder to get any explanation from Caz. The guy just keeps rambling about people dying and monsters. Looking at him for too long hurts.

Apparently Rennick tried to fire Caz. No idea what made him change his mind, but his office has been destroyed and the guys from Administration say that he called some random guy just to threaten him. They also said that Caz is now banned from using any form of long-range communication. This was not elaborated on.One of the first things Caz did after getting to Accommodations was punching Addair. Nobody thought anything of it at the time but now Addair’s wandering around Engineering muttering something about the engine and calling his kids. He’s not responding to anyone trying to talk to him. It’s really bad for the crew’s morale.

There’s something big moving on the deck that you can only see when looking out of the windows. Some of the deckhands keep insisting that it’s Muir, but none of them have any idea how they know that. Muir himself is currently trapped in their cabin where Innes locked him in after Caz mentioned his name. Innes went missing a few hours ago. Muir is starting to get pissed. Caz seems really upset by this.

The hallways are alive when Caz is upset.

[glassandhamsandwich]

literally anything about cazsuzebilly yap if you want I. they are my brainworms they make me feel like a tub of acid in a /pos way I gotta. I gotta like. consume content about them.

You get ONE headcanon that I made about them that I like... you might have said something similar to this and I might have missed and I guess I'll never know.....

I think that they all got matching rings... not super expensive ones, but they're meaningful nonetheless.

And not like they got Billy a ring that matches Caz and Suze's wedding rings, because those rings are special for Caz and Suze, it's a whole new set of 3 rings.

Idk what the laws were in Scotland about Poly marriage and I'm not gonna bother looking it up, even if they COULD have all 3 gotten married, I don't think they would have. Just a soul feeling I have about them.

[zeondraws]

Wanted to sleep, but I could not because I remembered a thought I had

"In which Pontoon was O'Connor?"

And then I did a quick google just now

After dealing with Addair for the first time we go down Leg A then through the Forward Pontoon to Leg B

We find O'Conner just before entering Leg B.

And if you guys remember, later in the game Caz floods the Forward Pontoon in Marine Control-

Not only does Muir die because of it (I have written this in an earlier post), but if I am not going bonkers rn, O'Conner would've probably drowned shortly after it got flooded.

I, I didn't think of this before

God he was suffering down there for so long,

I go back to bed now

[kawareo]

How did the encounter with Cazador go with Strike in the party? Do you think it brought up any unwanted memories for him after everything he's heard from Astarion?

Well... Strike and Cazador did actually know eachother before the tadpoling, i've written about their first encounter in both Unsaved and in Familiarity. (I am going to continue with that fic btw, just gotta get in the mood to bully Cazador more!)

Essentially Strike reminded Caz of Vellioth and then proceeded to pay him to roleplay with him because being an evil vampire lord is lonely and sometimes you just need an evil drow to blow out your back while calling you his worthless spawn, yknow?

Strike doesn't remember and Cazador doesn't recognize him during the encounter in bg3, so that isn't the issue - the bigger problem would be the fact that Astarion was never told about any of it, so if he does find out in the game, that might be a bit of a problem. Mostly though, the encounter is incredibly fast and urgent so they dont actually have time to think about much while its happening

[redcloaklynx]

I think it's insane that the two things we know about Vellioth are so contradictory and that contradiction makes him so compelling. Ok I can't explain this concisely.

...there we go.

[THAT INITIAL COMPELLING CONTRADICTION]

So Vellioth's epithet was "the Martinet" - meaning he was strict and enforced discipline, and yeah that makes sense. We learn of two punishments that Cazador suffered through, and "seeing your friend drained dry because you reached out to them" is pretty standard for what I expect a vampire to do, while the second, "getting impaled for 11 years for executing a failed plan, I don't even care that you were trying to rebel" is, I assume, the harshest punishment Vellioth meted out (Vellioth only lived 72 years! That was at least 1/7th of Cazador's spawnhood!).

On the other hand he was madly laughing when Cazador killed him, when he was melted to his bones and his soul was made into ink and trapped in the palace - how do you reconcile this behaviour with that of a 'strict disciplinarian'? Especially one who got everything to go the way he planned, which included his own very painful death? I can totally accept that his personality was not the stereotype I originally assumed (emotionless militaristic sergeant); that he was plenty expressive, that's awesome and I'm far more interested in his character now actually, but the other part?

If he is a meticulous and successful planner, why did he dedicate his life's work, as an immortal vampire, towards making a successor that carries his legacy but hates him?

Because I do believe Vellioth got everything he wanted, unlike Cazador. So that we're on the same page, here's an entire section to explain why.

[WHY I THINK VELLIOTH SUCCEEDED AT WHATEVER THE HELL HE WAS TRYING TO DO]

Mainly, my reasons are that Vellioth laughed and willingly gave his blood in the rite where he died, that Cazador follows Vellioth's lessons to the letter, and that Vellioth's presence leaves the palace when he feels like it.

For reference, here are Vellioth's lessons:

First lesson: "always to dominate. Allow none to be your equal." The example provided is of Vellioth draining a friend of Cazador dry, after Cazador reached out to them

Second lesson: "power comes from solitude. To share with others is to be weak, and to be weak is to fail... and die." And the juicy part, where Cazador was impaled for 11 years, not because he rebelled, but because he failed at the attempt

Third lesson: "to act not in haste. A near immortal has time to plan, time to act only when others will pay the price of action." Then, when Vellioth deemed Cazador learned his lessons, letting him become a true vampire in a rite where they both laughed

Notice that Cazador follows these better than Vellioth: he doesn't allow any of his spawn to be his equal - to become a true vampire, he's lonely, and he reigns for longer.

Also, in the game, once the player learns these lessons, "Vellioth is no more." After haunting the palace for two centuries. What.

Like in the same room there's a scroll that reads "For my sins, my soul was made ink and written onto this parchment, where its scrawl crawls sleeplessly for eternity - unless you free it." which implies Vellioth was trapped by Cazador, but I don't see why Cazador would make the freeing mechanism "tell some high-wisdom stranger about my past as a slave." That part felt like Vellioth giving one last middle finger to Caz, and choosing to ditch before he witnesses his spawn fail and die to the player. Which means Vellioth had chosen to stay "trapped" in the painful/humiliating display Cazador mounted entirely willingly.

Cazador objectively seems like the more successful vampire, reaching the Ascension that is every vampires' wet dream, but he ends up unhappy (I'm referencing that Detect Thoughts on Cazador in his coffin that reveals he thinks of himself as a monster that will not end, and eternal unlife as a curse). Vellioth, meanwhile; all signs point towards him executing his plans flawlessly, and without regrets. I can only conclude, for some reason, that this is the future he wanted.

[CONCLUSION]

What I'm saying is that Vellioth got what he wanted, but what he wanted doesn't makes any sense. His priorities are out of whack.

Why? Certainly the easy answer, in my opinion, is that he went mad, possibly through Cazador's machinations (how else do you get a vampire lord to willingly give you his blood?). I don't have a better answer - I don't really care about that question, actually. Rather, in conclusion, can I invite you to consider my attempt to compile canon-compliant Vellioth traits?

-> Vellioth doesn't fear death. He doesn't want to live forever. He never liked the benefits of vampirism (never thought of it as a gift), 70 years of unlife was long enough for him, or did Donnella ruin it for him?

-> Vellioth is selfless? Humble? Cautious? According to Astarion, vampires are power-hungry creatures who see all other vampires as competitors. Vellioth doesn't try to make himself known, doesn't try for world domination (as far as we know), and the legacy he leaves is purely in Cazador's name. He is, for some reason, not vain or power-hungry, at least not for himself. (I do doubt that a vampire can be selfless or humble though.)

-> Maybe he sees Cazador's accomplishments as an extension of his own? His lessons sure don't prime Cazador to perpetuate the cycle; he doesn't expect Cazador to have a successor. Maybe he thought Cazador was more likely to complete the Rite of Profane Ascension, and stuck around to see it happen?

okay thanks for reading please don't be too mean if I said something stupid. and a disclaimer: i do not care if your vellioth is not canon compliant. i love reading vellioths that do not at all follow what i have in mind. i analyze canon for fun, i am not trying to police anybody

[joliackermann]

Just a human

Hello :3 The Addair post I have been warning you all about is finally here. I have so much more to say, but I feel like this post would end up being much too long if I would add all that as well. Spoilers for the game! Have fun :3 And if you have anything to add, feel free to leave a comment! Also please tell me if there are any issues with the screenshots enqonkfmqf I hope everything works! The way the game decides to present Addair is quite interesting. Every step was thought through and with intention. Assuming the player walks around, looking at the different rooms, the first impression one is going to have about Addair is going to be quite a negative one. Like in any other videogame, most people just walk around, looking for things they can click on. The only thing that fits this criteria in Addairs room is this poster:

This instantly lets the player know that this person is not someone who is liked by the main protagonist, and thus probably not a person that should be liked by the player either. The game's intentions are clear. But what I found interesting is that this poster is not the main focus when you view it.

This is what it looks like when you click on it. As you can see, the poster, the thing Caz comments on, is not in the middle, not the sole main focus. Even though Caz doesn’t comment on it, and quite frankly, most people choose to ignore it, there are pictures of children up on the wall as well. The game even lets you get closer to them by putting them basically right in front of you. Like it’s telling you “Hey look, this man isn’t that bad, you just have to look for yourself” but in a really obvious way. Most people just don’t seem to look that far. While Caz only comments on the poster, the pictures are right there. This man is a father and he cares enough to hang his children up on the wall. 

This is a screenshot of his desk, With a letter written by his child, a cute little drawing of an oil rig and a card from someone, telling him to come home soon. This man has a family. They miss him. Reading the letter written by the child, the player learns that the little horse figure belongs to the child and Addair has it there to repair it, just like he did with the child's skates earlier. One of Addairs voice lines is "Think of the money, just think of the money." Working on an oil rig pays well. Going by his voice lines, and the fact that Addair would rather spend the time fixing his childrens toys than buying new ones, it is highly likely that his family has some issues when it comes to money. 

He has even more drawings hanging in his room:

This man has a family at home that misses him and, going by this note from Trots, also a child that something has happened to? It doesn’t really specify what happened, but the note says “Sorry to hear about your wee lad.” Which, btw, beautifully highlights the humanity of these characters. Trots and Addair have quite different ideologies and opinions, but that doesn’t stop Trots from adding this line to his note. He doesn’t have to. Addair would probably not care if it wasn’t there. But this is a beautiful example of how the game makes these characters feel like actual human beings. 

As the player continues his way through the game, most people will probably end up in the crew lounge by this point. There are two minor things I want to talk about here really quickly. The first thing is the darts tournament.

Addair didn’t even sign up, implying that he doesn’t really want to have anything to do with the others, or they with him. 

The next thing are the jukebox suggestions.

Addairs suggestion does not receive a single vote, implying that he is very much alone in his taste when it comes to music. 

Moving on to the canteen where the player talks for the first and the only time with Addair. The conversation is very much negative, with Addair and Caz provoking and insulting each other, Addair even threatening Caz with his butterknife at one point. Realistically speaking, the knife would probably not have done any real harm, but the symbolism speaks for itself. But look at the way Addair is sitting:

He is sitting on his own in the corner of this big room, facing the others. Why is he sitting alone?

They even wrote “eejit” next to his name. 

Why is he facing the room? Maybe because he does not trust the others. Or maybe because, even though they don’t like him and he does not like them, he still wants to feel like he is a part of this group. Imagine being away from your family in the middle of the North fucking Sea, at a workplace where nobody likes you and disrespects you. At some point, you are starting to feel lonely. Especially when you constantly have to see how great everybody else gets along. 

And it’s not just that he is facing the room. He is sitting in the corner, where he can really just see about everything without really having to look around much.

Basically the game intentionally presents Addair in a negative way, encouraging through intentional game design decisions to manipulate the viewer into thinking that this must be a bad person before even ever meeting him. BUT the beauty of this game is that it doesn’t keep you from looking at things. Yes, it encourages you to look at some things more than others, but it doesn’t really keep you from looking at everything else.As already said earlier, that poster in Addairs room is the thing the game wants you to look at. But it never keeps you from looking at the photos of his family, the letter or the drawings his kids made. Even when the game doesn't shove all that information into your face, it’s still all there for the player to look at. 

The player doesn’t have to, but if they want to, all the resources are there to dive deeper into Addairs character. How troubled he is, what things in life are important to him and where he struggles. He is just like everybody else on this rig. Even though this is just a videogame and Addair is not the main protagonist, he feels authentic and complex. He is flawed and vulnerable. He has a family, interests, a hobby, certain skills. Sure, he may be a bit insecure or socially awkward or have a different political view as his colleagues, but at his core, Addair is very much just a human.  

[akathecentimetre]

TITLE : The Prince, No Different Except for the Gifts of Fortune Wordcount : 1,810 Pairing : Rodelinda / Bertarido / Unolfo Fandom : Georg Friedrich Handel's Rodelinda Summary : Once the usurper is sent packing, there is still much to be done. A tag ending for a weary king and his love(s). Excerpt : Such a constant thread here in this house, in this magnificent library, modeled on others in castles in Paris, at Admont, in Rome. Holy books, books of the saints, books of men; sometimes women too, and here is one, by the audacious and poetic Christine. An appropriate choice, and a much-loved one, in this house. The book of the shepherd, of the compassionate king, of tricky Romans and godly advisors who raise orphaned princes. What contrast between this and the dark designs of Garibaldo! A man of Machiavel, a man who thought he controlled Fortuna and yet (to previous merriment) had muttered angrily over his cards and signs, seeking out both swords and wild women for a key to power that always seemed to lead to violence. A man who Bertarido once trusted, and who in front of Bertarido’s eyes threatened to –

Sketch by the ineffable @agarthanguide, because she is a massive enabler. Gifset for background on these hopeless romantic fools is here.

This is genuinely one of the nerdiest things I've ever written - Machiavelli and Christine de Pizan are the intellectual core and it may be completely incomprehensible - but I think I do like it, and this triad is the first thing my brain has glommed onto in for-ev-er, so... I hope you like it too.

[thesleepyfable]

Poor Gibbo, just hearing him crying and wailing in the game. It broke my heart! Literal chills! I like how you wrote about Gibbo dreaming of his wife. Which character in your opinion is easier to write?

Muir might be the most iconic of the infected, but Gibbo's my favourite because of how much there is to him that we don't know about.

For example: 'I've seen lights, under the ocean.' Is he talking about his time on the ships, or is he seeing through The Shape as it continues to mess with his head?

Plus, he's a softie. Everyone was going to have a dream. I'd written Gibbo's first and half way through Rennick's I realised, Gibbo's stuck with me the most. They all would have been laid out the same. Believe they're in a paradise involving someone close to them before it delves into a nightmare where they get infected again.

Character easiest to write: Caz. It's a mix between he's my favourite character and that we're with him all the time, so knowing what he says in various circumstances is easy to tell.

[pickleddandelions]

You guys think I maybe overdid it with the veins?

I mentioned before that I made an AU where Caz basically becomes an SCP after destroying the Shape. I started to write something about it. No idea if I'll ever actually finish writing it or ever post it. Putting aside that I'm an anxious mess on a good day, I haven't written anything in years and never wrote a story in English before. I've also never made a fanfiction before.

This thing was just something that popped into my head and I thought would be fun. Just Caz doing his best while everything goes horribly wrong around him again.

[radi0gh4stxd]

SWTD AS UNDERTALE/DELTARUNE OST’s

This is technically my first official post for this game so bear with me. First post and it’s about my three favourite games lol.

Some of these might make sense, others might not. But to me, they made some sense, while some I just thought fit the vibe of that character. So, without further ado- let’s go!

CAZ-Pre Shape

•015-Sans

This OST is cool. Very chill, laid back yet also upbeat and I think that fits Caz very well, with how he acts before the shape, I could imagine this being like, background music for him, whenever he enters somewhere it plays lol. Also, the image of Caz as Sans just makes me laugh a little

During Shape/Main part of the game

•028-Premonition

•065-CORE

Now, technically, these two can be about the main part of the game all round and in general, but I did write these with Caz in mind so I put them with him.

Premonition is cold. Lonely yet also not. Caz is alone yet he also isn’t. Roy, Finlay and Brodie are here, still alive, around the rig somewhere and possibly a few others. But he doesn’t know for sure, and for how much longer?? Are they even still alive? What if they’re not?? What if they’ve been infected or been killed or died somewhere on this rig?? Caz wouldn’t know. Because Caz is alone.

CORE starts ‘slow’, with little backing, its building tension, and I think that must be how Caz feels whenever he has to make some dangerous jump or quick decision or whenever he’s being chased by the infected. This OST is fast, jumpy and filled with a load of adrenaline, much like how Caz has to be to survive.

The end

•070-Long Elevator

•094-Respite

Long Elevator might be a weird choice be hear me out. It’s the walk there. Finlay’s dead, everyone is dead, Caz is alone, Caz is alive, lighter in hand. He has to do this. He must end this. He’s the only who can. Also, this OST makes me feel almost dissociated from everything, like I’ve been disconnected from the real world which I’m sure is how Caz felt when he was walking towards the shape, towards his end.

Respite is the end. It’s Caz’s final respite. The lighter has been lit and thrown down into the abyss. Everything goes white and Caz is home. He’s home and Suze is in bed, asleep. This is it. All Caz can do is smile and turn to the door. “Kiss the weens for me?” He opens the door and the credits roll, with Suze’s letter being heard in the background, forever left un-heard and un-read. Its a bittersweet end to it all, but it’s an end that will keep his family safe.

The Shape

•079-Your best nightmare

•Deltarune-05-The Door

•Deltarune-032-The Circus

Yep, the shape gets to have its own OST’s too because I said so.

Your best nightmare. Need I explain why I gave this one to The Shape. No? Good. Onto the next one!

The Door OST is eerie. The Shape is there, it’s everywhere, on and in the rig, in the crew members, everywhere. It’s growing, it’s watching, and it’ll continue to grow and expand. Sooner than later, you’ll also be a part of it too. It’s just a matter of time is all.

I don’t really have a reason for this OST, I just thought it fit The Shape quite well to be honest.

And there we go, I do have more written out, Finlay and Brodie to be specific, but I think this post has gotten long enough lol. I’ll probably post those two later this week, or tomorrow. So yeah. If anyone has any ideas for what would fit the others, I’d be happy to hear it!

[nocryptographer]

Writer's year 2024

Since you artists are doing your (amazing) art summaries, and I can't do that since I can't draw... I'm going to do an excerpt summary. This was my first year in fanfic writing, and oh, what a joyride it was! Here we go, my tasting menu of the year:

January

"It was one of those winters that never really began. A moist combination of snow and water kept falling from the sky, but never turned into fluffy, white flakes that would have made Enfield look magical and cozy."

(From We're Not In Enfield Anymore)

February

She closed her eyes, and Astarion knew everything had been said. He lay on the bed next to her and pulled her into his embrace. And there they stayed, until her heart stopped beating.

(From All The Roads We Never Took)

March

“With a woman? But I’m not… I like men”, she said.

“Labels, labels, labels… my dear, didn’t you just yesterday think you would never want to warm anyone’s bed but Lord Edmund’s? And yet, I bet people from here to Rivington heard you enjoying the company of Wyll Ravengard…”

“Shut up!” Gloriana shushed and turned bright red.

(From Maid In Faerûn)

April

“You’re knocking? That’s a first”, Gloriana said. “What happened to just bursting into my bedroom and destroying some furniture in the process?”

“You look lovely”, Ominoth said, ignoring her.

“I assume you’re about to tell me the details of trial number six?” Gloriana said.

(From Maid In Faerûn)

May

Cazador laughed maniacally. He loved this. He felt shivers all through his body. The power of this magic was unquestionable. It was dangerous, yet he couldn’t get enough of it.

“Sounds like you enjoyed it”, Sheena said and smiled, which now irritated Cazador noticeably less than just a couple of minutes ago.

“What is this? I need to learn this”, he said, still in awe.

“That was Metallica and Master of Puppets. One of the greatest jams ever written.”

(From Strange Highways)

June

“How do we know it’s… working?” Cazador asked.

“What do you mean?”

“The music.”

“Oh we’ll know. If people start moshing, then it’s totally working”, Randy grinned.

“What is moshing?” Cazador asked.

Randy shook his head and smiled. It was time for another lesson.

(From Strange Highways)

July

Cazador gave one last look to Astarion and his friends. Then he turned away. Goodbye, Astarion . At least I don’t have to look at that smug face of yours ever again. He knew what was coming. He had feared it ever since Mephistopheles had emerged from the chasm. In the face of the inevitable he felt surprisingly calm. He tried to memorize Sheena’s face, every detail of it, so he could always bring it back with his mind in the darkness that awaited. He formed the words with his lips: It’s going to be okay .

“Tempting”, he said to Mephistopheles. “But my answer is no.”

(From Strange Highways)

August

“I love you, Caz”, she said from the verge of falling asleep.

She drifted into a peaceful dream, the warmth of her words still lingering in the air. Cazador stared at the ceiling, contemplating tonight and all nights to come, and came to the conclusion - once absurd, but now undeniable - that life was the most wonderful thing.

(From Down To The Paradise City)

September

“Because I was failing!” Petras shouted. “I can’t do this! I tried my best but it went wrong from the start. No one respects me. There’s no one in the palace because I haven’t turned a single soul. I don’t know how you did it. It’s so stressful and how am I supposed to even… am I supposed to ask them? What if they say no? I can’t just go around biting people and… I thought if I ascended, things would be different, I would be powerful… that I would be like…”

Petras didn’t finish his sentence. Cazador hid his head in his hands and counted slowly to ten to avoid resorting to his old, violent ways.

“You reckless idiot! I curse the day I turned you! Because of your delusions we’re all fucked!” He exclaimed.

(From Objects In The Rear View Mirror)

October

On mornings like this Astarion would roam the halls, searching for nothing in particular. Using the last moments before sunrise, he briefly stepped on the balcony, smelling the morning air. If he closed his eyes, he could almost sense the tender warmth of the sun and forget it would burn him to ashes if he stayed any longer. This had become a little routine of his. Toying with death gave him a satisfying sense of control.

(From And Blessed Are The Broken)

November

I walked away but here I stand

Their blood forever in my hands

A twisted mirror, who is he

Smash reflection, kill the beast

(From Objects In The Rear View Mirror)

December

“Yes, I remember”, Cazador said, his face muscles aching from trying to force a smile. “I know what I put my name on, but now that you mention it, we could perhaps revisit the terms…”

“That’s out of the question, Szarr.”

“Sure. I understand.”

11:18 StarBoy85 joined the meeting

“Splendid morning to my favourite client!” Astarion said, his face appearing on the right corner of the screen. His hair was messy in a deliberate-looking, boyishly charming way. “What a pleasure to see you, mister Mephistopheles. Worry not, I’m here to rescue you from the miserable company of these two killjoys. I’m kidding, of course! We’re all one big, happy family here at Crimson Technologies, aren’t we, Caz?”

(From Off The Clock)

[jinkieswouldyoulookatthis]

Y'all, I know it's old and we'll never agree, I know this, but I don't understand the diehard defense of pronouncing J2 as J-squared instead of J-two. Yes, I know that J-squared is what fandom of old originally coined, but what I don't understand is why.

You can't square something and end up with two of that thing, that's not how squaring works in math. 1 squared = 1, 2 squared = 4, 3 squared = 9, etc. Because when you square a number you are actually multiplying it by itself and there is no whole number that can be multiplied by itself and give you two. So if J = one of the boys, and we square him (multiply him by himself) we still just have him, a singular J. In order to get two J's we have to multiply J by 2, which can be written as simply J2 <- pronounced, "Jay Two."

But, all that said, I am also a diehard defender of Castiel's nickname being written as Cas instead of Cass because there is no reason for adding a second S onto a name that we are shortening. And while folks who think it should be spelled Cass will say that it's because "Cas" should be pronounced "Caz" because of phonetics or whatever, phonetics need not apply to proper nouns. His full name isn't Caztiel, so simply chopping off the "tiel" doesn't need to change the remaining pronunciation.

So I get that there is flexibility in how we choose to pronounce names, which J2 is. I just get stuck on using math terminology for something where the math just doesn't work in the first place.

[jusdurgethings]

Vaelic’s leather bound journal laid on top of the nightstand in his ‘home’ in Waterdeep. Written in the newest pages read this

“My beloved Astarion,

I’ve written this letter hundreds of times over these last few years, but I don’t have any of the correct words to justify sending it off.. Not that I would even know where to find you, anyway.

I won’t drag this out, nor will I lie. I miss you. Gale is wonderful.. He was there for me when I left. Helped me cure myself of you and the “gift” you gave me.. But I tried to find your humor in his wittiness, your vulnerability in his heroism, your touch in his palms.. He could never be you, and I fear I’ll never be over you. You thought you were nothing before everything that happened with Caz, but you were everything I’d ever hoped for..

But I couldn’t watch you destroy everything you used to Love, including me. Had I known this is what’d become of you, I’d have tried so much harder to stop you in that crypt..

So why do I only think about searching the entirety of the Sword Coast to come find you? Is it some sick, obsessive control you still have over me? Or, is it that my heart could never hold as much space for anyone else as it did for you..”

The ink that composed the words trailed off abruptly, as if their author was shielding them from another person as he stopped writing.

(Non-Canon event in my campaign but I had to hurt my own feelings 🫠🫠 I edited this to be kind of an alternate universe where Astarion & Vaelic’s relationship didn’t make it past the end game events due to Astarion losing his mind and becoming Caz Jr after Ascending.)

[zeondraws]

HIII!! could we have some screenshots of Trots and perhaps a clearing on his official name?🥹

Hi there!

I made a few screenshots and a video recently for Trots, I can happily share those. Oh and his name is very difficult...

First of all, his room has the nametag "Campbell" on it. It's his room judging by the letter from Archie for example and the piece of paper you can inspect, where Caz mentions Trots.

"I. Campbell" is written on the letter on the right hand side. Also I found this image inside the gamefiles:

This one also mentions someone named Ian Campbell (also someone on the deck wrote Muir's name incorrectly- wait he's a safety representative...? Fucking MUI-). But then we have another thing that suggests otherwise...

At first you'd think ah "Jonathan M." is another person, but then you see the one with Addair that clearly says "Addair T." (which shows that Addair is his first name!). That basically makes me wonder "Is Trots name Jonathan?"

Maybe this is something someone should ask the devs about. Because I am a bit confused, maybe Campbell is another character on the deck (Also judging by the fact the helmet tags both have Trots and "Cambell"). Overall.. I am too confused to give a proper conclusion here.

Here are some closeup screenshots I've made (including some where??? Trots is A-Posing behind the door where he mutated, when I asked the Art Director some time ago he didn't know why he was there too).

I find it neat tho, can take some good images from him here.

Also I have this dumb screenshot.

I didn't make a proper screenshot that shows his entire body. Maybe in the future.

Textures a bit broken in my FModel, so they ain't accurate.

And last but not least my Trots video, this guy murdered me through the door I'm-

At one point he also wouldn't stop going into the room.

Also random fun fact, did you guys ever wonder what name is shown on Roy's room?