The Gods Can Bite Me (jesse's stalemate writing thread)

in fact i have just now decided that his default familiars are 4 crows, a raven named moose, and a ghost named crow

 

i've been thinking about how casimir met zuzu and how they got together. it's all very vague to me still. i've been focusing so much on his relationship with gareth, because that's when the plot really kicks off, but he was with zuzu for years before that, and zuzu is in fact an extremely plot relevant character even though they're not endgame romance. the breakup frees them to go off and be a roaming plot nexus that shows up when needed. and of course their friendship is forever.

i don't even know what zuzu looks like -- but to be fair, neither does zuzu.

 

yeah, they're like loki -- they don't naturally have a gender really, they're nonbinary and switch from day to day, and also can change their appearance almost effortlessly. the farther from human they look the harder it is, so while they can shapeshift to like orc or merfolk with a bit of sweat, turning into a bird is something that's not worth doing bc it's so exhausting it'd be better to use a spell.

 

Spoiler: zuzu is...

... secretly the trickster god. they have deliberately forgotten this, not in an amnesia way but in a way where it comes back sometimes and they're like "oh, i was going to not have that in mind lest i give myself away" and shove it back down.

 

i think the reason they fell for casimir is bc he can always identify them no matter how their appearance changes. and he doesn't treat their shapeshifting as dishonesty or sneakiness, more like a cool puzzle that's fun to solve. he's always so delighted when he realizes it's zuzu he's been talking to. like zuzu is a surprise party just for him.

 

the kings admiring each other's magical philosophy

casimir: most people, when they start looking at the big questions, life and death, why we exist, how big the universe is, they start feeling insignificant, and it freaks them out. they start thinking in corkscrews trying to stay important. but you don't think like that, do you, in terms of important? just interesting.
gareth: exactly! you DO understand!
casimir: yeah, i get it. it's not where i am but i see how you got there.
gareth: no, you learned you weren't important and felt relieved, didn't you.
casimir: yeah, pretty much.
gareth: everything dies and that's great, right?
casimir: now you're making me sound like an edgy teenager.
gareth: it's not much work.
casimir: (fondly shoves him off his chair)

 

is the glass half empty or half full?

gareth: "yes."
casimir: "no."

 

which is to say...

gareth: the glass contains 50% of its capacity
casimir: that's not relevant to its being a glass, glasses are always emptying and filling, that's what they're for

 

zuzu: "it was, but i drank it. refill pls!"

 

galley: "did you spit in this?"
helen: *sticks her finger in to test* "yeah, that's about right"

 

the duchess: *graciously accepts glass, sets it aside without drinking, changes the subject*

 

svetlana at 12: *throws glass at servant* "how DARE you give me a glass someone else has drunk from!"
svetlana at 16: *pours contents on floor* "ask a smartass question, get a smartass answer."
svetlana at 21: *innocently* "i'm more interested to know what YOU think about it."

 

viktor: *ignoring the glass, takes the bottle*

 

tomb lord revenant: *crushes glass in his beringed fist while making ominous eye contact*
gareth's dad, who still needs a name that's not arthur: "is this all that's left? well, then we each get one sip. pass it around!"

 

viktor is casimir's dad, and svetlana is his foster daughter. clearly it's a family thing. :D