vrdantwind: (If I'm right here with you)
Claude von Riegan ([personal profile] vrdantwind) wrote2020-12-14 02:58 am

IC Inbox



"Hey, this is Claude! Pretty sure I'm doing this correctly. You can leave me a message here, and I'll get to it as soon as I can. Talk to you soon~."
woofdad: the entire history of magic (let me explain to you)

[personal profile] woofdad 2021-01-01 10:11 pm (UTC)(link)
[Oh dang should he have been more specific--

...Wait. That's a joke, apparently. But he'd still rather make sure the situation is clear.]


Okay, I get you're joking, but to make sure we're all clear: No, Chip is not a werewolf, it is just me. And, yes, that's why my teeth don't fit in my mouth right.

You are not at all wrong. It feels a little silly to tell someone in a position like yours about how much scrutiny I've gotten used to being put under, but, I'm sure you can imagine. Kind of changes even things like childhood scuffles when the other kid's parents' first thought is to demand to know if you might have BITTEN their kid and given them an incurable disease. So, I just try to avoid conflicts where I can.

The key point is that most curses don't self-modify. Nobody has made any intentional changes to the structure of lycanthropy in centuries as far as I know, but its effects have continued to drift; some have suggested that the fact that it's become complex enough to mutate on its own means that it's closer to a magic-based virus than to any other known curse. I'll grant that there's some merit to that line of thought, but, even if it's drifting, it's still structured like a curse.

Besides which, I could personally do without that particular shift in public perception. You're right that "curse" is a more loaded word in a lot of ways, but calling it a disease just means the people who would be avoiding us, or MAYBE trying to break that curse, will instead pretend to be sympathetic while insisting on trying to "cure" us. The only change that classification has brought about so far is a thin veneer of good intentions.
bestswordmaster: (blush)

[personal profile] bestswordmaster 2021-01-02 02:59 am (UTC)(link)
[Felix isn't sure why his face is faintly coloring over something so small.] I'll do the job regardless, I don't need buttering up.

[Wait a second, is Claude...? No, it's just the lighting or something. Right?] I can't tell whether you're mocking me or not. But yes. You and Dimitri both have the same ludicrously idealistic goals and the kinds of personalities that might just get you there. When the war ends, I suppose the two of you will split Adrestia between our two nations, or something of the sort?

[personal profile] rollstoseduce 2021-01-02 05:05 am (UTC)(link)
A riddle? I admit I didn't think of it like that - but I do enjoy a good riddle. What disappears as soon as you say its name?

[The rest of the text takes a moment to arrive. It's hard to get a read from Claude sometimes - Jaskier is realizing how the guy plans his every word, knows exactly how much to say and how much not to, the court life of a duke obvious in every aspect of this pseudo-political play. And through text? It's worse. No facial expression to guide him.

He does believe Claude is a good guy, and he does believe in his dream. The picture he's presenting of his childhood, however, is unclear at best. Jaskier isn't sure he's in the mood to try to figure it out now, though, being in the middle of shopping as he is - which is an excuse not to admit how jealous he is of the loved him well enough and I respect them parts. So rolling with it for now it is, he can reread it and overanalyze it later.]


I'm glad to hear you found love in your parents while your childhood suffered from the bigotry problems we've discussed - they sound like honorable people I'd love to meet. I'm also happy to hear you got to be a wild kid even while in the middle of said problems! That's the only type of kid to be.

Is this where we compare anecdotes? I once put gold ink in my bath water because I wanted to look like my namesake.
gautsome: (i wont hesitate)

[personal profile] gautsome 2021-01-02 08:21 am (UTC)(link)
hey i can take care of myself
usually
... most of the time.

look i'm getting better. way better than i was back at the academy!
and just so we're clear, you have your problems too.
i haven't figured them out yet, but they exist!
woofdad: (kid you're grounded)

[personal profile] woofdad 2021-01-02 08:57 am (UTC)(link)
[Oh yeah there is that detail. Honestly, he definitely can't blame anyone for not concluding the truth on their own; more than anything, it just doesn't tend to occur to him to mention it until it comes up.]

Oh, right - yeah, if I did have any biological children there'd be a pretty high risk of them picking it up. But Chip is adopted, so, no lycanthropy there.

Ha, I'm glad you think so. Honestly, between you and Sylvain, it's kind of odd hearing (or reading) people complimenting my teeth without it being just an incredibly loaded comment.

The cure thing is kind of complicated, honestly; I won't deny that it's a sensitive subject, but I can see why you'd ask. I can't really blame other werewolves who do want it removed from their systems, and a lot about it is pretty unpleasant. Being here and having my symptoms reduced so much has sort of put some things in perspective, actually - I mean, the one weekend where reality got all weird, my symptoms came back, and let me tell you: I did not enjoy having my sense of hearing back in full. Turns out everything is incredibly loud, all the time, and I'd just gotten used to it over the last 32 years. And that's without even going into full moons. But, on the other hand: Even if I don't enjoy stuff like my hearing being stronger than the average person's, having all that just be gone is VERY strange. It's been a part of my entire life, you know? This place has sort of blocked off a piece of myself, and even if it's one that's caused me a lot of problems, I can still tell it's missing.

And to be clear, from a practical standpoint, there are upsides too; we're usually stronger than the average human, so some werewolves can use that and their stronger senses for work, depending on their jobs. Like, my cousin has lycanthropy too and she's a bouncer, so it's really useful for her to be able to just kind of pick up a guy twice her weight if she has to. Personally, the most use I get out of that is usually moving boxes around.

That said, I absolutely think that finding ways to reduce the severity of the symptoms or weaken the curse on an individual basis should be something to aim for; after all, monthly transformations and the like can be outright dangerous for some, and they deserve to have the medical support to counter that.

However, for one thing, I have no doubt that the second a cure was made available, every werewolf on the planet would suddenly be under immense pressure to take it, regardless of their individual circumstances - because, for another, no, I don't trust most of the people invested in curing lycanthropy as far as THEY could throw ME. It's been made clear time and time again that for every hundred people making noise about "saving" us from this curse, ninety just don't want us to exist but think this is the respectable way to go about erasing us. Most of these same people suddenly can't comprehend shit if we try to talk to them about establishing symptom-based support for those who need it, about ensuring we have housing that will keep us safe on full moons, because they don't WANT us to be comfortable as we are, they want us scared and desperate so that we'll put up with whatever they do to us in the name of "helping" us.
gautsome: (that was legitness)

[personal profile] gautsome 2021-01-02 07:06 pm (UTC)(link)
claude its very rude for you to bring that up
my poor sensitive soul.

hmmm. yea i can believe that.
truly you are a gift to fodlan with all this perfection.
i dont know how to cope.
bestswordmaster: (postskip look away)

[personal profile] bestswordmaster 2021-01-02 08:31 pm (UTC)(link)
[Felix just sort of grunts in response. Claude is right, those things are true, and Felix has every intention of doing the best job he can regardless of how much he hates playing the game. He just...didn't expect Claude to say so.]

Hmph. It's not sweet. Just...an extrapolation of what I already know you're capable of, that's all. And I have no idea how to tell the difference between what you think and everything else.

[He glances over to Claude, nodding thoughtfully.] Hm. Makes sense, you and Dimitri must have discussed strategies for proceeding to Enbarr.

1/2

[personal profile] rollstoseduce 2021-01-02 08:49 pm (UTC)(link)
[...















What.]
woofdad: the entire history of magic (let me explain to you)

[personal profile] woofdad 2021-01-02 08:53 pm (UTC)(link)
Yeah, I'm... admittedly not looking forward to another of those coming around. I don't know how many people I'm going to be comfortable telling by then - we're up to three now, not including myself or Chip.

Actually, two, if we don't count the guy who called me on it when I was first trying to figure out what to do on the full moon, before finding out that nothing would happen. So it's just you and Dimitri that I've actually said it to.

Oh, thanks - I guess I hadn't really thought of it that way? I just got really interested in the way lycanthropy actually works as a teenager, and that led into a lot of research on the community as well. Admittedly, I was so twitchy about the idea of trying to cure it at the time, I remember getting sort of upset when other werewolves were just talking about looking for ways to treat the individual symptoms - fortunately I don't remember ever starting a fight over it, though. I just sort of fumed in silence until it sunk in that not everyone had the same experiences as me.

2/2

[personal profile] rollstoseduce 2021-01-02 08:58 pm (UTC)(link)
[The riddle and the compliment go unnoticed - Jaskier is too busy rereading that last bit over and over, as if doing so could make it change into something a bit less horrifying. He can't even feel smug about his guess of Claude's childhood being more than it looked being right, this goes beyond strict noble parents. Not even Jaskier's own parents would allow something like it, and these are the people that allowed his tutors to educate him with a cane.

What really gets him, though, is Claude's attitude about the whole deal. Asshole parents he's heard about before, but Claude tells the story as if he was telling Jaskier about some silly prank he pulled on the servants. What the fuck is going on?]


Claude, I beg you - please tell me I'm misreading the tone of your message and you don't actually think this is a funny story to share so carefreely.
gautsome: (i wont hesitate)

[personal profile] gautsome 2021-01-03 11:24 am (UTC)(link)
ugh don't compare me to lorenz
or use him as an example
ever.
how could you
gautsome: (so no head?)

[personal profile] gautsome 2021-01-03 11:33 am (UTC)(link)
hubert is superior 2 him.
it's just not saying much
bestswordmaster: (blush)

[personal profile] bestswordmaster 2021-01-03 01:14 pm (UTC)(link)
[It's not clear which thing Claude says gets Felix's face redder--the idea that Claude still thinks a normal, basic compliment from him is sweet, or the idea that Felix really did just compare Claude to Dimitri, or the fact that Claude just said--out loud! with his own mouth!--that Felix was 'deeply devoted' to Dimitri and he can't even argue with it. It all just sort of snowballs into tomato territory, and he turns away, shifting his gaze to the opposite side of the road to hide his face.]

Hmph. Think what you want.

[He startles a bit at the nudge. A rebuke comes to the tip of his tongue automatically, but he swallows it because...this doesn't actually trip his kneejerk dislike of being touched like he figured it would. Maybe it's because after you shove a man up against a wall and kiss him as the first time you ever touched him at all, casual touching is practically nothing. ...but anyway. He rolls his eyes.]

I'm not trying to solve your precious mystery early. I figured planning the rest of the war as allies was obvious.

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