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fridaypls · 27 days

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Power, Possession, and Personal Autonomy:

Gif Analyzing Araj and Astarion's First Encounter

Jumping in; she's a bitch? For a Lolth-aligned drow from a matriarchal-and-value-based society, he's a male outsider already, as well as a spawn. Factor in her vampire fetish and nasty BetterThanYou attitude, their interaction was doomed from first glare.

She clocks what he is right away, commenting to Tav, "Please, you think someone in my line of work wouldn't recognize a vampire spawn when they see one?"

A moment for his "what the fuck, bitch?" face before we go on...

Alright back to Araj.

She circles right back around to Astarion as soon as she's finished getting what she wants out of Tav. "Although, perhaps there's one more thing we could discuss... you friend? He's a vampire, no? Or one of their spawn, at least."

Sorry, just a quick cut to Best Boy looking at her with such thinly veiled disgust. The little way he just barely purses his lips irritably at her - just a lovely extra touch on a scene already so well done.

He tolerated her talking about him in front of him once already in silence, letting you handle it; now she's referred to him outright and she clearly wants something from him. And she's referenced what he is twice now - for a man who seems to genuinely believe he's got his entire camp fooled early on, it's likely less than a fun experience to have that particular hidden facet of himself readily identified by a stranger.

He send her a ''I'm right here, you know” message in the form of a whole lotta face and a very polite, "Don't worry, we're all friends under the Absolute. I won't bite." that holds a lot more depth than the fairly calm words indicate in surface level.

Let's get a bit closer - as close as it's safe to get to an angry vampire under these circumstances.

First, the lean. When he wants to make a point, he leans in - he gives her that lean here, paired with some delightfully contemptuous side-eye. Whether that's trying to keep his nose averted or refusing to look at her head on for the disrespect, he's sending a very nice fuck you.

"...all friends under the Absolute..." while actively shaking his head no on the word friends. I love the subtle ways he makes his point.

Pulling straight out of the very polite smile-and-head-shake-no, he throws subtlety to the wind for a moment and gives her a face we know well. Gone is the faux courtesy, replaced with a beautifully angry sneer.

"...I won't bite." His words said one thing, but everything else delivers a beautifully poised threat.

...and she is entirely unfazed, firing back smoothing with "Oh, I'd prefer it if you did," before turning to Tav to ask "I assume he belongs to you?"

He sent a message; she's rejecting it.

"...friends under the Absolute..." vs "I assume he belongs to you?" Up to this point, we've seen a fair amount of deference granted to True Souls by Absolute worshipers. In her eyes, they are not equals under the absolute. He has no autonomy in her eyes, only purpose.

"...I won't bite." vs "I'd prefer if you did." and she immediately looks to Tav to arrange it. Defanging his threat with invitation and, what's more, active solicitation. Treating him like little more than a pet - it almost reminds me of how I saw someone unkind try to treat a barking lapdog once.

Tav: "He's his own person."

Astarion, understandably, is a bit busy reacting with very valid disgust and shock. "I'm sorry... you want to be bitten?"

Closer and slower; just the beautiful progression from surprise to disgust to shocked disdain to what the fuck is wrong with you?? on the "want to be bitten?" with his little head shake of lol bitch no and also ew and what the fuck??

Araj ignores that as well, commenting to Tav instead on how adorable it is that you believe "...he's his own person." It's deliberately degrading and derogatory before she attempts to buy his cooperation. Before we get into the rude-ass way she asks his name, spare a moment for this mean girls glance at someone else in the party??

Seriously, who did she fire that glare at?? Why??

Okay, I'm focused again. Back to rude Araj and her shit-covered olive-branch. First, she attempts to 'make nice' - watch her shift her face after she completes the sentence. Like an afterthought.

"Do you have a name, spawn?" Not 'what is your name' - but do you have a name, spawn?

While she smiles like she's extended an olive branch, it's covered in caca. He is a thing to her; things do not generally have names, but 'you seem to think you're more than a thing, so I'll play along.'

So how does Astarion respond?

He answers, immediately, and then puts up his hands in defense before changing his dominant hand into a wait just a second gesture as he recoils away from her. Without moving his feet, he gets as far away from her as he can get in the space without literally bending over backwards.

Let's watch again, slower. His response to being asked his name is so reflexive. We've seen it elsewhere, the charming smile, the little bow and graceful spread hands with a flourish. Two hundred years of muscle memory taking over for a split second, despite how fucking rude she's been to him.

Because he's used to it.

He is visibly repulsed and yet, she tries to buy his cooperation, sensing that manipulate or orders are not going to play well here.

Whether self-centered narcissism or plot exposition, Araj gives us a very creepy bit of dialogue about what she wants from him and why. In essence, she’s dreamt of being turned into a vampire since she was a little girl; daydreaming aloud of Astarion’s literal waking nightmare. Some more of her dialogue;

"To feel your life’s blood slipping away? To dance on the edge between life and death? Yes, I want it. I’ll even compensate you - a potion of legendary power that forever increases the strength of the one who consumes."

"I'll even compensate you" - read: 'to you, a thing who does not deserve consideration in this matter, I will graciously offer a reward to entice you.'

She offers him a powerful potion that is "...not for sale, but yours if you bite me." The succession of expressions on her face are incredible. The way she tilts her head back and sneers almost meaningfully as she makes the offer. I don't know if she's returning his earlier sneer to sender or simply feels her trap has closed, but I don't like her face.

And we're so proud of our boy, he says no. "I will have to decline." He doesn't apologize, doesn't offer an excuse, he just says no.

Remember this later when you need to say no. Astarion says 'no' is a complete answer.

There will always be pricks like Araj, however, who disagree. "How disappointing." Scorn, distaste. A bit of have it your way, then. The way a mechanic looks at a stubborn bolt they're about to take a torch to because they don't technically need it to cooperate to get the job done.

It's the way one looks at a thing they're about to bend to their will.

Then, she turns to Tav with a demand. "Can't you talk some sense into your obstinate charge?"

Again, the denial of his autonomy, blatantly asking you to override his free will - let's remember, this is something that doesn't benefit her in any way, she's simply going to enjoy it. Because she's fetishized the experience from a young age.

Tav: "I’m surprised, Astarion, I thought you’d jump at a chance like this."

Astarion immediately perceives this as an order, simply a gentle way of phrasing one. He's used to his will being overridden - but he trusts you enough to push back.

"I'm sorry, but could you excuse us for a minute?"

That's a beautiful, "let me put you on hold" in perfect customer service voice. Flawless.

Further, he's not antagonizing her any further in case he's about to be ordered to bite her against his will.

HIS FACE AS HE TURNS. Singularly unimpressed.

Then he confronts you, both pleading and upset; "Are you serious? Are you actually asking me to do this? Trading me for some potion?"

He's been traded for plenty of things in the past and none of them by his own will or for his benefit. But that was Cazador and this is you - and you, he will push back against. It's a good thing.

Then, it shifts to anger that would absolutely be justified if you were actually asking him to do this - instead of Larian baiting you into a crucial character-arc-development misunderstanding with a vague prompt. We love them.

LOOK AT THE PLEADING SHIFT TO ANGER ^

I think it's important, the way he's willing to push back against you for his autonomy. That he knows that this is wrong to ask of him, even if he hasn’t realized Tav doesn’t know exactly what’s happening yet.

Next, Astarion offers us and Tav an insight into the situation. ”Because there’s something wrong with her blood! I can smell it from here and it’s - rank!”

That disgusted look back in her direction as he tells you "It's rank."

Tav: “What do you mean? What’s wrong with her blood?”

”I can’t say, it just smells wrong. Unnatural. Drinking it wouldn’t kill me, but it would not be pleasant.” please don't make me do this.

“I don’t have all day, True Soul.” Araj has all day, she's being pushy to claw a yes out of you, like a predatory sales person.

Tav: “Don’t do anything you don’t want to do.”

And Astarion's response is... surprised. A little confused. “Alright. Thank you.”

And then he turns back to Araj to deliver his final fuck off for this encounter. “It’s still a no, I’m afraid.”

“How very disappointing.” And Araj finally lets it go... for now. I don't have room in the gif count to show her face here, I'm sorry. But we CAN go back for Astarion's second, much more heartful thank you.

“Thank you… I appreciated that.”

Here it is with a side by side of the first thank you (left) and the second one (right)

The first thank you is surprised and a bit insincere in it's uncertainty, tainted by his surprise at the blase "don't do anything you don't want, bud," support of his autonomy. The second is beautifully genuine.

The whole interaction transcends mere defiance; it's a powerful act of liberation.

For Astarion, this moment is not just about saying no to a demand but about reclaiming his identity and freedom, underscored by Tav's steadfast support. It's a testament to their growing bond and a beacon of hope in a world that often seeks to diminish individual will.

Anyway, thanks for coming to my gif TED talk, this took at least 3 hours and I hope you found something new to enjoy in this scene!

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radiance1 · 6 months

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There was a day, a day where there was nothing that needed to be done, nobody to meet, not meetings to schedule, nothing to fight.

A rare, rare day for one Kevin the cat.

As the second in command of his Familia, who the Head delegates most of his responsibilities due to not wanting to do that at all, it is unusual that he no longer has much to do anymore.

With a pretty efficient system in place for each and every division to have an executive and their own second in commands who will soon take their place. It leaves Kevin with not as much to do anymore nowadays, most things being taken care of by other cats.

A meeting between the Familia Heads wouldn't be for the next few moons, and there isn't anyone around for him to fight.

So what does he do, exactly?

Snuggle up to gramps of course!

===

Danny doesn't mind Kevin invading his personal bed and personal space, as he has done it quite often and will most likely continue to do so for the rest of his immortal life most likely.

It seemed to be a pretty slow day, if his observations served anything. Nothing significant was happening, and the overall vibe was calm and slow.

A good day, a rare day, seeing the normal chaos that usually occupied this warehouse. Perhaps asking Selina to buy the surrounding ones proved effective.

Either way, it was a nice day.

Laying down, doing nothing except watching Tv and not really fighting the sleep when it came. He was drowsy, about to close his eyes and fall into a dream.

Then everything disappeared.

He snapped to awareness very quickly, feeling the familiar weight of magic in the air and what was most definitely the pull of summoning. Which is weird, because not many would summon him, most go for the King, which is Pariah Dark, and not the Prince, which is him.

Oh well, whoever summoned him is most likely some teens or adults who had nothing better to do than get together and try to summon paranormal entities and demons or such and such. He would take some of their food for summoning him, and be on his way.

Or at least that was what he thought.

Apparently, he was summoned by a genuine cult this time. He would take teens and adults with nothing better to do, as well as that one time he was summoned by wizards and got turned into a cat over being summoned by genuine cultists any day.

It's just, not for him really.

They did, however, do their research. Very powerful wards that was built to keep whatever was summoned in, that whenever he tapped on actually hurt him.

Drawn with the extract of blood blossoms for ghostly beings from the infinite realms.

A red mist flowed around the room, one that made Danny's lungs felt as if they were on fire and withering all at once.

A mist made from Blood Blossoms.

To top it all off, there were multiple Blood Blossoms scattered throughout the place, most of which were around the circle that summoned him. It felt like someone brought a hammer to his skull and kept pounding, his muscles felt taut and like jelly all at once, barely keeping him standing on his own paws as his eyes stung from the mist around the room and from the Blood Blossoms themselves.

Whoever this was, they knew their stuff, and whoever this was, decided that going overboard was far better than underboard.

He thinks he heard one of them speak, but he couldn't quite make out whatever was said from the ringing of his ears. Eventually, he had to fall, his eyes struggling to be kept open.

He should turn back into a living cat, get out of his ghost form. But he couldn't, the willpower necessary to do so slipping out of his grasp and instead being replaced by pain, pain, and even more pain. Even the very magic in the air was against him, whatever intent those who summoned him imprinted upon it was made to specifically weigh him down, as if gravity itself were his enemy, to go against him at every turn.

Weaken him.

If he could, he would laugh, but he's in far too much pain to do so. In all of his 150 years of existence, he never expected to encounter something like this. Something this strong.

He wondered, if in all of Pariah Dark's infinite power, if he would be able to stand up to something like this. Perhaps he would, infinite power would let him be able to stand up to something like.

Infinite power, while weakened, is still infinite.

But he, Danny, Prince of the Infinite Realms, did not have infinite power. With his title came a recognition of his raw power, of his ability, and given him political power almost unmatched as he was one of the few that reigned over infinity.

But that was mostly it, perhaps a bit of boost to his power, and maybe a distinct signature due to his newfound status. But not much else.

And is this what it granted him? An end, where he was stripped away from comfort, from his home, from his Familia, where each and every breath he took burned and withered. Where his limbs failed him, where his own power was useless due to his willpower being drained by overwhelming agony.

He would not die, no. For he is incapable of death.

Yet that makes it even worse.

Would he spend an eternity like this? Trapped with nothing but overwhelming pain for company, becoming intimate with it as it raked its hands through his fur, under his skin, between each strand of muscle and piercing his brain?

He doesn't know, and that scares him.

===

The Justice League, with help from a few members of Justice League Dark, appeared to prevent the summoning of the Ghost King, known as a tyrant who enslaves worlds and a being of infinite power.

What they found, however, was not the Ghost King. But instead, magicians surrounding a circle in a room of red mist, in the middle of the circle a passed out, glowing white cat floating via magic.

They saw it as preparation to summon the Ghost King, perhaps the cat was a sacrifice? Regardless, they went in, and fought. Eventually gaining the upper hand due to have far more powerful members than just magical practitioners.

The cat, without aid from magic, fell to the floor, and Zatanna was quick to dispel the summoning in case it was in the process of calling forth Pariah Dark from beyond the veil. They took the cat back with them, for surely it had some kind of importance if they were using it for their summoning.

Later on, Constantine would choke as he recognized the significance of the cat, a signature quite similar to that of the King of the infinite, yet different.

They weren't just offering any old cat to the Ghost King, no, they were offering him his Prince, and if the look of how they handled it was any indication, it was planned to use said Prince as a bargaining to get the King into their servitude of some sort.

===

Meanwhile, back at the Familia.

All hell has broken loose, what semblance of order there was broke, the head was gone, missing. Not even the second in command, who was with him the longest, had a clue where or what happened to him.

He was there one second, gone the next.

Not many stays calm about it, the ones who do mostly trying to calm down the kittens after the panic of so many other grown, adult cats.

Kevin, the second in command and de-facto leader whenever the Head isn't involved. Panicking does not help any of the other cats feel assured.

#dc x dp #dp x dc #dp x dc crossover #dpxdc #dcxdp #dc x dp crossover #Danny got summoned and overwhelmed with blood blossoms #Just so he could be used as a bargaining chip to get the ghost king in the service of cultists #I won't lie #I kinda wanted it to be Kevin who saved him somehow but didn't really have anything #I was playing around with a few idea tbh #With Kevin being an Aspect of Death #Another being an Aspect of Life #One of them was even an Aspect of Apocalypse #Specifically where he was the embodiment of Calamity lmao #But since you're reading this I didn't go through with it lmao #So I suppose Kevin is still just a normal immortal cat #XD

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aurorawest · 3 months

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Bargain of Blood and Gold by Kristin Jacques - 3.75/5 stars

Reminiscent of Jordan L Hawk's Widdershins series, but with vampires and werewolves. Also takes place in Maine, which isn't a very common setting. Unwittingly, I bought the second book in the series months ago, and I realized as it got to the top of my TBR that I didn't have the first book! I had to scramble to order it and I was happy I enjoyed it since, obviously, I already have the second book.

Ander & Santi Were Here by Jonny Garza Villa - DNF at pg 2

Captive Prince by CS Pacat (reread) - 5/5 stars

Prince's Gambit by CS Pacat (reread) - 5/5 stars

Kings Rising by CS Pacat - 5/5 stars

I think I loved these books even more on my reread.

Gravity by Tal Bauer - 4.25/5 stars

Probably my favorite hockey romance that I've read.

The Modern Mythos Anomaly by Juniper Lake Fitzgerald - DNF at pg 132

I actually liked the story, the characters, and the writing in general, but this book just needed another few edits to slim it down a bit.

Lose You to Find Me by Erik J Brown - 4.5/5 stars

Leeward by Katie Daysh - 4.5/5 stars

The blurbs on this book are hilarious, because they're all like, tall ships people, and then Mackenzi Lee, hailing it as a lovely queer historical romance. This was a really lovely book and I'm excited for the sequel. Also hoping for more kissing in the sequel since this was a serious slow burn.

Riley Weaver Needs a Date to the Gaybutante Ball by Jason June - 3.75/5 stars

Starseer by Katya Hernández - 4/5 stars

Be Dazzled by Ryan La Sala - 5/5 stars

I loved this book so much!! Oh my god. Super funny, very romantic. It revolves around cosplay which is of course a special interest of mine.

Northranger by Rey Terciero and Bre Indigo - 4.5/5 stars

Flying Without a Net by EM Ben Shaul - 2.75/5 stars

The Watchmaker of Filigree Street by Natasha Pulley (reread) - 5/5 stars

Striking Distance by Sarah Rees Brennan - 4.75/5 stars

I didn't expect to like this as much as I did. The graphic novels were good but changing to a novel format allowed for much deeper characters. Surprisingly devastating and also really funny.

The Old Haunts by Allan Radcliffe - 4/5 stars

The Gay Best Friend by Nicholas DiDomizio - 5/5 stars

Main character is the best friend of both the bride and the groom, and everything surrounding the wedding becomes a train wreck beginning on the weekend of the bachelor party, when the bride asks the MC, Dom, to keep tabs on the groom for her. As someone who is extremely conflict avoidant with friends but not family and romantic partners, I heavily related to Dom. There's also a romance that I really loved.

Romance Languages by AJ Truman - 4.25/5 stars

I think this was my favorite of the South Rock series. It deals with some more difficult topics—Julian's self-loathing over his body image is heartbreaking (and relatable), and Seamus's guilt over the way his gambling addiction hurt his ex was very well done. I'm a sucker for stories where a character learns to ask for help, not to mention difficult parent-child relationships, and this had both. I also appreciated Julian's arc re: sex and virginity.

Darkhearts by James L Sutter - 5/5 stars

Another bandmates-in-love treasure, with a twist—the main character, David, left the band right before they got famous. He ends up falling for one of his ex-friends/bandmates after they reconnect. The author is a musician himself, and it definitely shows (in a good way). I'm really a sucker for The Burdens of Fame, which this book definitely had, but there's actually a really good arc for David and how he deals with his jealousy and resentment over being left behind. Plus he wants to be a carpenter rather than go to college, which was cool.

Brute by Kim Fielding - 4.25/5 stars

We Could Be So Good by Cat Sebastian - 5/5 stars

What can I say about this book? Why was it so lovely? Why did it make me feel so much? Why can I not rate things higher than 5 stars? It's a million stars in my heart. Aside from just being a gorgeous mid-century America m/m romance (my favorite), this one features an Italian-American main character. The stuff with Nick's family was spot-on. I just loved this book. I felt like I was wrapping myself in a big, comfy, historical gay romance blanket.

Drowned Country by Emily Tesh - 5/5 stars

The sequel to Silver in the Wood. Had a very mythic and sort of folk horror vibe. This one is from Henry Silver's POV instead of Tobias Finch's and takes place two years after Silver in the Wood, which is time that Henry has mostly spent sulking in Greenhollow Hall, sans Tobias. Really highly recommend this duology. Emily Tesh is a treasure.

The Alchemy of Moonlight by David Ferraro - DNF at pg 11

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wordsandrobots · 2 months

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IBO reference notes on . . . deals with the devil

As @gremoria411 rightly commented, I skipped over Isurugi in my essay on character parallels in Iron-Blooded Orphans, even though he's part of a fourth 'leader/follower' dynamic, after Orga and Mika, Gaelio and Ein, and Rustal and Julieta.

And I was thinking about that and why exactly I left him out of the previous essay (beyond tripartite symmetry) when I got to contemplating an aspect of the show of which he's an excellent illustration. So let's get Faustian and unpick the devil's bargains made throughout IBO. Spoilers, as ever, ahoy, and this was also partly inspired by a post from @ember-amber, so cheers for that!

An arm and a leg

I should start with the obvious. Mikazuki's 'deal' with Barbatos, unleashing the Gundam's full power in exchange for the loss of his motor functions, first in his right arm, then down his whole right side, is the bluntest example of a character bargaining for greater power. Indeed, we might press the point and say it's not just his body Mika gives up for the sake of victory but his soul, tying himself ever closer to his mobile suit to the exclusion of the things he once sought beyond the battlefield. He resigns himself to always being what Barbatos allows him to be: the gun Orga fires to destroy obstacles. The hints of livelier, more well-rounded person are subsumed by unrelenting warfare. A boy who cannot stop, even when there is nobody left to order him into the fray, bound to a mechanical nightmare.

Yet to single this out is to overlook that Barbatos isn't the first devil's bargain Mika and the rest of Tekkadan have made in their short lives. Employment as a child at the CGS is predicated on Alaya-Vijnana surgery, after all, and even if that doesn't cripple them, their elevation from the gutter is marked by exchanging one uncaring environment for another. The Third Group are mistreated by adults who see them as disposable and draw scant distinction between volunteers, like Orga, Mikazuki and Takaki, and Human Debris, indentured workers on whom the surgery is actively imposed.

There is an extent to which the distinct is scant in any case. A choice may still be an active one when it is coerced but there are reasons we consider coercion a factor in making moral judgements. Can people be held responsible for decisions made under duress? We generally agree responsibility is lessened or even mitigated in such cases. And what is more coercive than facing a choice between slow starvation and the offer of being fed and paid, albeit at the cost of risking a much quicker end?

Well. Except we also – socially speaking – judge harshly those who trade acts of violence for money. Even when circumstances are considered to mitigate some of the blame, are we ever prepared to excuse fighting and killing on the basis those responsible would otherwise have suffered in poverty?

I don't raise simply as a vague 'makes you think' point. Iron-Blooded Orphans does not overly concern itself with the morality of killing (I'd go so far as to say it actively dismisses the question as meaningless). It is, however, rooted in a world where killing is an ugly necessity, not just for the sake of various causes, but as an act of survival. That is what Tekkadan becomes, for the CGS Third Group. A means of surviving in the face of forces that really would crush them if they did not take a stand. Through their bargain with the adult mercenaries who augmented them, they entered a life of fight or be killed. A struggle for dominance at the bottom of the heap. And they are damned for it.

In the eyes of their society, they are monstrous aberrations. It does not matter that they are in many respects typical, reflecting the exploitation on which the world runs. Their brief stint as heroes is overshadowed by contempt and disgust, by the social taboos they break simply by existing, and by their status as scapegoats, sinking the entirety of the blame for the violence they were a party to. Isn't that the ultimate cost of the deal they made? Their innocence as perceived by others, tarnished such that they can never again be the children they were when they signed on the dotted line.

It is interesting to consider the implications this has regarding the Calamity War and the origin of the Gundam frames. We know, of course, that Gjallarhorn actively demonised (hur hur) the very technology that staved off humanity's extermination by the mobile armours. This appears to have been an act of self-interest, ensuring those advancements remained solely in their control, though the details are vague at best – as always, McGillis must be considered an unreliable source. Nevertheless, their efforts were only partially successful, with a cruder version of the Alaya-Vijnana becoming prevalent in the outer-spheres of Mars and Jupiter (and indeed the inner-sphere of Venus; basically everywhere outside Earth and the near-Earth colonies). They managed to make the thing taboo at home while failing to suppress its use abroad. Stop me if you've heard this one before.

And yet the fact remains: the Alaya-Vijnana and the Gundam frames ended the War. We get to see exactly what a fully-unleashed Gundam is capable of and if we are to parallel the deal Mikazuki makes with Barbatos to those Tekkadan as a whole made on entering their life as soldiers, what then can we say about the original Gundam pilots? They must have been under immense pressure to achieve victory, with the fate of the species on the line. Said victory depended on releasing limiters placed inside their mobile suits to protect them from the strain maximum power would put on their bodies. How many, therefore, willingly ended up in the same state as Mika – or worse?

We don't know. But I don't think it an irrelevant detail that Gjallarhorn's prominence as a military organisation is rooted in this possibility, especially since there are more direct parallels with Tekkadan. Ein opts to side with those who oppress his mother's home planet on behalf of a distant imperial centre and he too trades something for security with that decision, though what we call it may depend on well-disposed we feel towards him. Self-respect? Loyalty to his fellow Martians? Whatever the case, his fanatical tendencies were likely not mellowed by the weight of his choice.

Moreover, what the boys in Tekkadan materially are is at most an extreme version of what your average Gjallarhorn solider is: somebody selling their capacity for violence for the means to survive. For all that the show focuses on the likes of Ein, Julieta, and the other extra-loyal elite forces, we still get plenty of cutaways to troops just doing their jobs. The captain of the Sleipnir, grudgingly setting sail on his daughter's birthday. The CO on the bridge at Edmonton, refusing to waste his men's effort doing more than holding the line. The men deployed during the final episode, frightened and scrambling to survive Mikazuki's ferocity.

They all signed up to do violence. They must have had some idea about what they were getting into, likely more so than anyone who joined the CGS as a pre-teen. Again, this is their job. It could get them killed, or at least maimed, and will certainly lead to them killing others. But in the end, it beats poverty.

These characters exist on a spectrum of bodily sacrifice in exchange for material gains. From Human Debris (fight or die), through Tekkadan (fight to have basic human necessities), on to Gjallarhorn (fight or have less power within society) and to the original Gundam pilots (fight or watch the entire species die), the divisions are by degree rather than kind.

Even Gaelio, the most privileged and 'righteous' character (in the sense of being driven by moral indignation, not practical concerns), expends his body and personal beliefs to get what he's after. Though ending the series in a state comparable to Mikazuki is a personal decision rather than a direct consequence of his Gundam claiming a price for its power, it still stems from an embrace of the taboo.

A soldier is, definitionally, a paid gun. States and businesses exchange money with those willing to kill others – something otherwise generally agreed to be an act punishable by society's rules. This is, for better and worse, the transaction that defines our cast.

Dealing with the devious

In this context, the Gundams are admirably frank. As machines, they cannot dress up what they offer or will take for it. It is left to human characters to play the part of the deceitful tempter.

Via Hush's flashbacks to a cheery Builth heading off to join the CGS, we can form the impression that Arkay Maruba's men did not initially present themselves as the harsh taskmasters they proved to be for anyone who receive a successful implant. This may seem trivial compared to other lies witnessed throughout the show, but I don't know that the rest are much deeper. Honeyed words covering a brutal reality is par for the course when the world is brutal realities all the way down.

In this regard, there is a distinction to be drawn between those offering things at a terrible cost and those who do so dishonestly. Consider Teiwaz: their wealth is underpinned by cold, ruthless calculation and cold, ruthless violence. The conglomerate is staffed by perfectly nice people like Merribit Stapleton, but run by the likes of McMurdo Barriston and Jasley Donomikols, who will kill those who get in their way. McMurdo displays many endearing traits and an indulgent generosity. He also uses Tekkadan to remove a threat to his power, then cuts them off so this act cannot cause infighting between his other lieutenants. His breaking of the sakazuki cup Orga returns to him is a canny move, as by doing so he washes his hands of culpability in Tekkadan's actions. Given the structure of Teiwaz, the other subsidiary leaders would likely have felt threatened if he'd overtly squashed Jasley. This way, he gets that same outcome while also dispelling any notion he plays favourites, because he instantly expels those punk kids everyone was worried about, despite his proven soft-spot for them. Order and peace are restored; business can continue as usual.

Which is appalling and hardly counterbalanced by the aid he gives to Orga afterwards (although, to be clear, I don't think you can dismiss said aid either: he is taking a risk by helping Tekkadan out of the hole he shoved them into; he's just also the one who shoved them into it in the first place).

But we're told who McMurdo is from the word go. And so are Tekkadan. Naze makes very clear the Old Man is driven primarily by seeking profit. This has an upside in that he is not concerned with how said profits are made or who he has to deal with to get them. It also has a major downside for those exact same reasons. I don't believe he ever misrepresents himself. He is frighteningly blunt with Orga by the end. His actions, ultimately, are in line with everything anybody ever says about him (except Jasley, who makes the mistake of assuming McMurdo growing old represents weakness, not outliving challengers). The grandfatherly persona, the cannoli and the bonsai trees – these aren't affectations concealing monstrous depths. McMurdo Barriston simply happens to be a gentleman getting on in years, who enjoys good food and gardening, who will absolutely crush anyone who obstructs his interests.

No, for the real devious bastards we have to look elsewhere. Let's start with the Moustache Man. Todo Micronen is introduced in all his pot-bellied glory slacking off on beating Takaki, Danji and Ride over being too slow at their mine-laying practice. For a brief, shining moment, he gets to look semi-decent in comparison to the real bruisers of the CGS First Group.

Then he sells the newly-formed Tekkadan out to Gjallarhon.

Todo makes a show of being on Orga's side, ingratiating himself to the new leadership with his connections and greater life-experience. That experience, however, is predicated on looking out for number one. In the face of the space police stomping them all to get hold of Kudelia, Todo makes a deal to save his own skin. Unfortunately for him, he isn't what we might call good at appearing trustworthy. Orga and Biscuit twig he's up to something and Tekkadan escape the trap, leaving a beaten-up Todo for McGillis to find. This nicely demonstrates that our heroes aren't complete suckers: Orga follows Todo's suggestions because he's not in a position refuse the assistance if it's genuine, but he's smart enough to plan for the alternative.

At first, Kudelia's dealings with Nobliss Gordon lack this awareness. Where Todo gives strong used-car salesman vibes, Nobliss is more competent at wrapping other people around his little finger. Additionally, rather than trusting solely to gullibility, he positions Fumitan as a watchdog on Kudelia's actions, so that whatever he says, he'll always have final control of the outcome. And it seems he really would say anything, to anyone, to get what he's after. He deals with virtually every major faction in the show, assisting them by turns, the proverbial arms-dealer who will sell to both sides, willing to set in moment immense amounts of bloodshed if it increases his revenue.

Notably, when Kudelia eventually discovers his true nature, her reaction differs from Orga's jettisoning of Todo. Rather than breaking from Nobliss, she seeks to reverse their relative positions so that she is using him. Thereafter, she continues to take his money in spite of recognising his motives. If he wants her to be the face of a revolutionary movement creating profitable instabilities, he must keep giving her the resources to pursue her goals. It's a tenuous, strained relationship that ultimately proves a hindrance to saving the people she cares for. But it too is an demonstration, of how sometimes one cannot simply extract oneself from bargains that provide material advantages. For the sake of inching the world forward, it can be necessary to make deals you know benefit those whose aims run contrary to your own.

Which brings us to McGillis.

With McGillis, the lines between deceiver and deceived blur. It's hard to claim he's honest in his dealings with Tekkadan. There is a lopsidedness to the arrangement, whereby he exploits their combat ability for his own ends while offering little more than pie in the sky in return. His grand promises amount to nothing and for all the munitions he funnels their way, he never gives them anything that doesn't ultimately serve his goals alone. He simply provides the means to fight more effectively: the thing he needs from them, not what they require to prosper.

On the other hand, did he believe he would be able to fulfil those promises, eventually? McGillis spends the entire series working towards a dream of absolute control over Gjallarhorn, a position from which he would have the means to dispense boons to his supporters. Whether he'd have followed through on doing so is an open question. But his admiration for Tekkadan appears sincere, so he might well have tried, as poor an idea as it is to give planet-ruling power to a bunch of violent children and, by extension, their mafia benefactors.

We don't know for sure, because ultimately the person McGillis fooled most was himself. He sold his soul to an ideal taken from an old book and willingly embraced the cost, taking an active role in tearing apart everything good in his life. He is at once devil and bargainer, spinning fairytales from his own self-deception and becoming a Pied Piper, leading others inexorably to the same doom that awaits him.

Any star in the dark

Knowing what you're getting into is a vital component of Faustian pacts. Some people do, and work frantically to ameliorate the negative consequences. Some do not, and are struck down when things do not work out the way they imagined. Getting out of the bargain, or trying to, is usually the meat of stories that feature this device so it follows that it matters whether entering them is done with knowledge or ignorance.

I've discussed Kudelia, who starts out naïve and learns better, and Orga, who makes some bargains with full understanding (Todo, Teiwaz, Makanai too) and some with a mistaken belief in their worth (McGillis). Of these two, I would categorise Kudelia as a pragmatist who recognises the world is such that a successful path forward is built on compromise, and Orga as a gambler, always seeking the quickest route to the highest reward. I won't dwell here too much on stuff I've discussed elsewhere about what drives Orga to act this way except to say that it is as much about the desperation of his circumstances as the desire to possess greater riches.

This is a pattern throughout the show, with characters committing to long odds and risky activities to escape miserable situations. And it repeats once more with Isurugi Camice, McGillis' stalwart aide-de-camp, introduced at the start of Season 2.

It is clear from the word go that he is as loyal a supporter of McGillis' intentions to reform Gjallarhorn as you could hope to find. Furthermore, McGillis trusts him to an exceptional degree. Isurugi is party to all the technical details of the coup, serving as the means by which the moving parts are organised, representing McGillis when it is no longer possible for 'The General' to leave Earth unnoticed, and acting as his wingman in battle. Eventually, this dogged support proves Isurugi's undoing. He is fatally injured while intercepting a killing blow Gaelio meant for McGillis.

At this point, we learn what lies behind his loyalty: like Ein, he is a colony-born member of Gjallarhorn and without a well-placed patron, he would have no prospects. With McGillis' help, he was able to achieve a higher rank and consequently, as he puts it, in McGillis' presence he was able to dream of a better future. Even if it meant the bloodshed that comes of trying to overthrow the Seven Stars' historical control of the organisation – including his own blood, shed on Gaelio's knee-mounted drill bit – he believed it worthwhile to throw in his lot with his General.

Predictably, Gaelio reacts by declaring this a delusion perpetrated by McGillis, with no real possibility of coming true. And while he is broadly correct about the second part of that conclusion, it's worth stressing that Gaelio is textually Always Wrong™ about McGillis right up to their final scene together. He thoroughly misunderstands his ex-friend's motivations and fails to recognise where McGillis' priorities lie at key moments (see the business with the mobile armour; Gaelio takes a fully cynical view of it, not realising McGillis is about the only person to genuinely comprehend the threat Hashmal poses ahead of time).

Moreover, as Isurugi tells him during a dying monologue, Gaelio lacks first-hand experience of what it's like to have no future worth a damn. For all Ein taught Gaelio to look beyond his privileged life, he never has to live long-term with the knowledge that things cannot get better. Isurugi did. And when given the option, he chose a path offering a chance of improvement, however far-fetched and however costly.

Now, we are talking about another character who voluntarily joined the colonial police to improve his lot. Isurugi is presented more sympathetically than Ein but their similarities extend to partaking in the same moral compromise. Becoming a solider, specifically one tasked with enforcing imperial rule, is a way out of being just another oppressed citizen, sure, but the fact that oppression extends to the inside is perhaps not a sob-story stirring too much sympathy. At the same time, the structure of the dilemma echoes those faced by the members of Tekkadan or the people of the Dorts: when the stakes are (or are perceived to be) extreme, extreme responses become understandable.

Indeed, the Dort arc is a useful point of comparison, since it represents an opposing pole of reaction. Rather than seeking to escape via collaboration with the authorities, the workers aim to match strength with them, forcing conditions on the colonies to be recognised and resolved. Consequently, Mr Navona's union makes a deal with Nobliss Gordon, under the misassumption that he is a benefactor to their cause. In this way, they are set up to take a fall Gjallarhorn wipes out those who wanted merely to strongarm the Dort Company to the negotiation table and allows those in favour of more immediately violent solutions to run riot as an excuse for further executions.

Notable here is that the union commits to the threat of violence when they march on the Company HQ. There are no pacifists in this scenario, only a debate about the most effective use of the available weaponry. Everyone gambles that fighting the system head-on will bring a reward.

And the system slaughters them, because it has a far greater capacity for violence than they could hope to possess. It is only through the last-minute tying of Gjallarhorn's hands that anything good comes out of the uprising (and even this is tainted, both by the bargain Kudelia makes with Nobliss, binding herself closer to the devil she knows, and by the long-term consequences of Gjallarhorn's escalating action against colonial liberation movements come Season 2).

Perhaps having seen this kind of thing happen, it isn't any wonder Isurugi would look to someone within the system for hope. To him, McGillis is a bright spark of possibility, worth chasing because at least then he can believe there might be a better world than the one he currently finds himself in. McGillis has institutional power, he is charismatic and clever, and he wants to sweep aside those who administer an unjust structure without complaint. These are alluring qualities even when it is clear the endeavour will to lead to loss, violence and death.

There is no gain without cost. And sometimes, the cost is worth the prospect of the gain.

The final bargain

To an extent, Iron-Blooded Orphans is a story about how this is a fool's logic. In the end, even Mikazuki's honest bargain with Barbatos is a trap, stripping him of the capacity to be anything more than an instrument of violence. 'When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail' is not quite the phrase we want here, but Tekkadan are certainly a group of people who, via the deals they have made, lack opportunities to learn how to use other tools. In many ways, Kudelia, Ein, Isurugi, Naze, Savarin etc. are no different. So many people driven into arrangements that come around to harm them, because that is the nature of things. However pure or understandable or sympathetic the reasons behind the choice, there are always consequences.

And yet, in a world built from pacts between devils and fools, everyone is subject to the same traps. The figures we can identify as playing Satan to our many Fausts are each themselves someone else's supplicant. Todo becomes McGillis' cat's-paw. Nobliss is cowed by McMurdo's greater power, while McMurdo has to tread carefully around Gjallarhorn, as embodied in Rustal Elion. And Elion himself has to make his own deals. As he admits to Julieta, he is not some bastion of integrity but just another shady adult, doing what's necessary even when it conflicts with his stated principles.

At the end, Supreme Commander Elion, the one person we can confidently say came out of this whole business with his goals achieved, sits across from Kudelia Aina Bernstein, chairperson of a free Mars. The man who stood for a modified status quo, freed of disruptive influences, alongside the Maiden of Revolution, who has gotten a measure of what she sought despite everything he took from her.

Two pragmatists, making their compromises, for the sake of moving forward.

I don't mean to position Elion as 'just as much a victim' as the rest. He clearly isn't. What I'm seeking to highlight is a consistent thread whereby everyone has to make arrangements with forces that could destroy them. Which is a lesson worth taking with us to the real world. Compromise is often the death of good intentions, yes, but absent a socialist paradise dropping from the sky, the steps towards building a better world for the people living in it involves working around those who'd stand in the way. Bringing the beneficiaries of the system to the point where they have to make deals with you is a long, hard process involving a great many costs – including that of accepting it is going to be long, that things won't change at single stroke, and anyone promising such a speedy outcome probably can't or won't deliver the goods.

At the very least, I find something worth grappling with here, viewing the series through this lens. Iron-Blooded Orphans is uncompromising in its depiction of violence carrying horrific consequences. It places the callousness of the boardroom and the cabinet meeting on par with the casual brutality of a police baton or a pirate's gun. There is no 'good' fighting in this show and no untainted cause. Mythic heroes occupy a space defined by child-soldiers who know no reaction beyond 'kill the other guy first'. The result is a frank admission that it's rarely a question of if someone is going to sell their soul.

It's a matter of when, and to whom, and how far they can get before the price comes due.