fictionfan
Please sir, may I have some Meows?
- Location
- Tempe, AZ
Thing is fish can fly and we are as bullshit as nemesis by all rights.
Green Flame Rising (Exalted vs Dresden Files)
- Thread starter DragonParadox
- Start date
- Crossover Fantasy
[X] As an financial agent, not that he has much experience in such matters, but 'not much' is still more than your none
-The White Court is a major Power. They were primarily responsible for breaking the power of the Black Court.
They have less in the way of overt military power man for man, because they prefer to concentrate on soft power, but less is not none. Lara Raith has the juice to get the US military to deploy medevac flights into Mexico at thirty minutes notice. Their staying out of the Vampire War despite the attempts of the Red Court to involve them is considered a very good thing by the White Council.
House Raith under Lara Raith is bent on staying out of the War. Thats good. We want that.
The other Houses canonically dont, whether due to actual antipathy for magical humans, opportunism, or just a convenient wedge issue they are using to try to overthrow House Raith as leaders of the White Court.
Weakening House Raith is contrary to our interests and that of most of Humanity.
-A White Court civil war will look very much like the cartel wars in Mexico and Colombia.
That is NOT a good thing for all the vanilla humans and minor supernaturals who live around all the places where the White Court has its holdings or have an interest.
And if a faction allies with, say, the Reds, or starts using Outsiders for an edge, things go to hell very quickly. Look at the current war between the White Council and the Red Court, where we've had chemical weapons use in African cities and orbital weapon strikes on enemy command posts.
Not to mention that attempting to engineer the fall of the White Court means we have to deal with empirebuilding pretenders attempting to fill the vacuum. The Fomor are out there, for example. We've seen what they are willing to do if there's a perceived power vacuum, in canon and in this quest. The Whites are by far the lesser evil.
-Furthermore, Nemesis and the Black Council have repeatedly tried to damage or destroy the White Court.
In Proven Guilty, the designated patsy for Splattercon was Madrigal Raith,nephew of the White King, and he barely survived. In White Night, the Black Council tried to ambush and wipe out their elders with superghouls in the Raith Deeps. In Turn Coat, the Black Council tried to frame them for murdering a Senior Council member. In Peace Talks, they tried to get them into a war with the svartalfar.
I'd rather not do Nemesis' work for it.
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- Location
- Germany
I'm not sure on the timelines, but I wouldn't expect things to boil over all that quickly.
Propably enough time for the Red Court to be a solved issue before it gets bad.
Second thing is to time this with us as a rising power taking over parts of the White Court and already having our own Hell for backup. That should minimize the power-vacuum.
As for Nemesis, just because they are his enemies doesn't make them our friends in any way.
The White Court is propably the weakest major power and the easist to destabilize with secrets like the White King's enthrallment.
If we want to change the world they are a good start.
fictionfan
Please sir, may I have some Meows?
- Location
- Tempe, AZ
As I said before we don't need to take much action for us to steadily take over the white Court. They like soft power and our charms make us better at that then they are.
If we popularize Mercy in Servitude we will very quickly have more white vampires working for us then do for the white Court. And more importantly more loyalty then the vampires at the white Court. At that point momentum alone should have us steadily absorbing the white Court, because the current Leader isn't actually able to react.
Add in VVE and False Hope Springs and it happens even faster.
Best part is we barely have to do anything. Once we get enough Wvamps under our banner they will see how the tide is moving and hurry things along. Lara might even come to us for the chance to get a higher position in the new structure.
If we popularize Mercy in Servitude we will very quickly have more white vampires working for us then do for the white Court. And more importantly more loyalty then the vampires at the white Court. At that point momentum alone should have us steadily absorbing the white Court, because the current Leader isn't actually able to react.
Add in VVE and False Hope Springs and it happens even faster.
Best part is we barely have to do anything. Once we get enough Wvamps under our banner they will see how the tide is moving and hurry things along. Lara might even come to us for the chance to get a higher position in the new structure.
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Yzarc
The Spark of Madness
Change it or burn it?
Because you are talking about the equivalent of the collapse of a Nuclear Nation.
-The Vampire War lasted a decade between Grave Peril, roughly October 2001, and Changes(October 2011).
Series Timeline
TABLE OF CONTENTS Pre-Storm Front Timeline Storm Front and beyond Character Timelines Some Explanations While we know Storm Front takes place within a couple years of 2000, it’s impossible to…
www.jim-butcher.com
Turn Coat is Summer 2010. Changes happened canonicaly in October 2011, 4 years from now.
Thats the canon timeline. An Exalt running around is going to change things.
-Our Hell's primary power base will be in the NeverNever, not on Earth.
And frankly, I see no evidence that we have the stomach or the interest to move into or fight for the niches that the White Court occupies. Or to pay the costs to do so.
-Nemesis and its bosses want to destroy reality and everyone in it.
That turns pretty much everyone on this side of the Outer Gates that doesnt traffic with Outsiders to be bosom buddies by comparison.
Its not in our collective interests that any of Nemesis' plans succeed.
And yes, that includes overthrowing existing Powers.
-Dresden has known about the White King's enthrallment for two years, since the end of Blood Masks.
He was there when it happened. He engineered it, even.
You might consider all the various reasons why he and Thomas and Murphy have kept their mouths shut about it.
Exalted is not about whether we can, its about whether we should, and what the costs are.
There are human costs to grand ambitions.
The White Court enforces a degree of self-regulation upon itself and its members as things stand. A deregulated White Court stops doing that, and they have the resources of a major power. We'd be doing that thing where drug cops go after a cartel and arrest its bosses, and then a gang war breaks out as everyone being held in check by the capo sees license to act out or fight for power.
Or to pick another example, having the Soviet Union break up and its nuclear arsenal end up in the hands of half a score of nations.
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- Location
- Germany
A bit of both.
Can't be the Queen of the Apocalypse without a bit of apocalypse.
I honestly don't like any of the big institutions currently running the show in Dresden Files, there are only the really bad (like the Red Court) and the kinda less bad (like White Court and the Fey Courts) and the ones who might be okay under better circumstances (White Council).
Better to have the Sixth Age and a new start.
For the purposes of the crown? Yes, any Creature of Darkness does, that is very much and intended synergy.
fictionfan
Please sir, may I have some Meows?
- Location
- Tempe, AZ
Ok wasn't sure since cyberdevils don't seem to count.
-The de facto current leader of the White Court is Lara Raith.
And she is quite able to react.
-This is unlikely at best.
But the White Court is going to react to politics with politics. Not war.
-You are misunderstanding how MiS works.
Whamps with good control/harmony with their Hungers dont need it. Those who dont care who they hurt wont care.
Those who dont trust Molly wont want it. Those who believe in self-reliance wont want it.
Expect it to provide an alternative, but its not going to singlehandedly erode the White Court.
Its not like White Court members couldnt already go to the Fae.
No thanks. We're here to prevent the apocalypse, not to hurry it along.
Molly LIKES the world. Its where she keeps her stuff, where her family and friends live. She has no interest in burning it down.
Furthermore, you'll see that Enemy (Denarians) 2 rating on her character sheet.
Its not just there for show.
Its not a coincidence that we took an Enemy rating with the one group that has constantly been trying to bring about an apocalypse since the death of Christ.
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They do not as you bind them directly with a charm and an expenditure of Essene. If that did proc the crown the charm would have a long term cost of -1 Essence. By contrast making some kind of deal with another CoD does have some costs beside just spamming a charm, you need to find them, understand them, offer them something they want etc...
- Location
- Germany
Okay, apocalypse is a bit of a negative word.
But major changes to the status quo are definitly going to happen and I'd much rather try to work with them instead of trying to prevent them.
For example an upheaval in the White Court seems almost inevitable, with the big secret that their current ruler is a puppet.
Someone will find out eventually and people will challenge Lara over the matter.
That much is inevitable.
Using that to both expand our own power-base and weaken an organisation of predators is much more attractive than avoiding it for another few years or decades.
Edit: Other inevitable issues are the Red Court and White Council eventually finishing the other off for example, we should take a hand in that too if the chance comes up.
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- Location
- Who knows?
[X] As an financial agent, not that he has much experience in such matters, but 'not much' is still more than your none
On Thomas: do we actually want to make him useful, or do we want him out of the way and receiving benefits for no risk and effort? Both are possible. If we want him to be useful, how about
[X] As a recruiter of sorts, and an expert on white court vampires. He'll look for people (white court included) who could be trusted to be recruited by you. Starting with those needed to establish an organization you could be in charge of. He'll also help you talk with deranged white court vampires in the Underground.
Basically, he's a Raith. He has family connections, even if he's a black sheep. He knows people. So, let's not waste his time by him doing our finances. Let's use him for what he's good for - finding people who would be good at finances and legal stuff, and also talking to other white court vampires.
[X] As a recruiter of sorts, and an expert on white court vampires. He'll look for people (white court included) who could be trusted to be recruited by you. Starting with those needed to establish an organization you could be in charge of. He'll also help you talk with deranged white court vampires in the Underground.
Basically, he's a Raith. He has family connections, even if he's a black sheep. He knows people. So, let's not waste his time by him doing our finances. Let's use him for what he's good for - finding people who would be good at finances and legal stuff, and also talking to other white court vampires.
Yzarc
The Spark of Madness
[X] As a recruiter of sorts, and an expert on white court vampires. He'll look for people (white court included) who could be trusted to be recruited by you. Starting with those needed to establish an organization you could be in charge of. He'll also help you talk with deranged white court vampires in the Underground.
- Pronouns
- She/Her
[x] Yog
Yeah, actually, that's a perfect idea. Use his connections and find people who would be willing to work for us. Grows our network pretty fast, too. At this rate, we should be ready to claim territory in a couple of months.
Yeah, actually, that's a perfect idea. Use his connections and find people who would be willing to work for us. Grows our network pretty fast, too. At this rate, we should be ready to claim territory in a couple of months.
-They know. The other Houses cant prove it, but they know Lara is essentially controlling the White King.
Lara gets reputation for doing it in a way that has no external fingerprints, because thats how the White Court works; they value subtlety and indirectness. Else she'd have just killed him two years ago at the end of Blood Masks and taken over openly.
-This is year 5 of the 10 year Vampire War.
It canonically ran for a decade, and was set to run for more before Dresden wiped them out.
He's literally been avoiding White Court politics all his life.
He's spent much of his life pretending to be an idiot in order to avoid supernatural politics, and keep his father from killing him as a threat. This basically throws him right into supernatural politics, in a way that other Whampires will be able to weaponize against him and his family.
He asked for a lowkey position.
You can be a lowkey financial manager/business partner.
You cant be a lowkey recruiter for Molly Carpenter, Demon Empress in Waiting. He might - might - be desperate enough to take the option as proferred, but it places him at unnecessary risk and guarantees Consequences.
Bad plan.
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- Location
- Germany
[X] As a spy, there are a lot of things you would like to find out about the White Court, many of which they would rather keep a secret, assuming that role should be more than enough to satisfy the requirements of true and loyal service
At least lay the groundwork for eventually going against the propably strongest faction of human-predating creatures in the USA.
Even if we don't use it for a few years.
At least lay the groundwork for eventually going against the propably strongest faction of human-predating creatures in the USA.
Even if we don't use it for a few years.
The issue is that he's not qualified to work as a financial manager. And this is also why I said "recruiter of sorts". There are two things in this proposal:
1) Looking for those Molly herself could then approach. This can be done lowkey
2) Going with Molly when she interacts with deranged whampires in the underground, and talking to at least some of those.
Yes, from the perspective of "keep Thomas away from any danger and just give him the benefits without him actually having to do something (because he's Harry's brother and we value him a lot)", this is a bad plan. From the perspective of "get Thomas to make something of himself, be useful and not put him into immediate mortal danger", I feel this is not a bad idea.
-Thomas shop, the Coiffure Cup, is a combination boutique, beauty saloon and coffee shop successful enough to rent business space in this skyscraper in Chicago's high end commercial district
Park Tower (Chicago) - Wikipedia
So, being as how I am a smart and sensitive guy who respects his brother's feelings, I was tailing him to find out what the hell he was trying so hard not to talk to me about. This way, I was sparing him all the effort and trouble of telling me about it by finding out all on my own. Like I said, I'm sensitive. And thoughtful. And maybe a little stubborn.
Thomas wasn't being very careful. I would have expected him to move around the city like a long-tailed cat at a rocking chair convention, but he sort of trudged along, fashionable in his dark slacks and loose, deep crimson shirt, his hands in his pockets, his hair hiding his face most of the time.
Even so, he attracted more than a little feminine attention. He was like a walking, talking cologne commercial, except that even silent and standing he was making women look over their shoulders at him, while coyly rearranging their hair.
He finally stalked into the Park Tower, and went into a trendy little boutique-slash-coffee shop calling itself the Coiffure Cup. I checked a clock, and thought about following him in. I could see a few people inside, where a coffee bar backed up to the front window. A couple of fairly pretty girls were getting things set up behind the counter, but I couldn't see any more than that.
I found a spot where I could watch the door and loomed unobtrusively—which is easier than you'd think, even when you're as tall as I am. A couple of women whose hair and nails screamed "beautician" came in later. The boutique opened for business a few minutes after Thomas got there, and immediately began doing a brisk trade. A lot of evidently wealthy, terribly attractive, generally young women started coming and going.
It put me in a quandary. On the one hand, I didn't want anyone to get hurt because my brother had exerted himself so furiously on my behalf. On the other, I didn't particularly care to go in and find my brother lording it over a roomful of worshipful women like some dark god of lust and shadow.
I chewed on my lip for a while, and decided to go on in. If Thomas had… if he had become the kind of monster his family generally did, I owed it to him to try to talk some sense into him. Or pound it in. Whichever.
I pushed open the door to the Coiffure Cup and was immediately, pleasantly assaulted by the aroma of coffee. There was techno music playing, thumping bouncily and mindlessly positive. The front room contained the coffee bar, a few little tables, and a little podium next to a heavy curtain. Even as I came in, one of the young women behind the bar came out to me, gave me a bubbly, caf-feinated smile, and said, "Hi! Do you have an appointment?"
"No," I said, glancing back at the curtains.' "Um, I just need to talk to someone. One second."
"Sir," she said in protest, and tried to hurry into my path. My legs were longer. I gave her a smile and outdistanced her, pushing the curtain aside.
The techno music grew a little louder as I went through. The back room of the boutique smelled the way boutiques always do, of various tonsorial chemicals. A dozen styling stations, all in use, stood six on a side, marching up to a rather large and elaborate station on a little raised platform. At the base of the little platform was a pedicure station, and a young woman with a mud mask, and cucumber slices, and a body posture of blissful relaxation was lounging through a pedicure. On the other side, another young woman was under a dryer, reading a magazine, her expression heavy and relaxed with that postcoiffure glow. On the main chair on the platform, a deluxe number that leaned back to a custom shampoo sink, another young woman lay back with a blissful expression while having her hair washed.
By Thomas.
He was chatting with her amiably as he worked, and she was in the middle of a little laugh when I came in. He leaned down and said something in her ear, and though I couldn't hear the substance of it, it came across in an unmistakable just-us-girls kind of tone, and she laughed again, replying in a similar manner.
Thomas laughed and turned away, practically prancing over to a tray of… styling implements, I supposed. He came back with a towel and, I swear to God, a dozen bobby pins held in his lips. He rinsed her hair and started pinning.
"Sir!" protested the coffee girl, who had followed me into the room.
Everyone stopped and looked at me. Even the woman with the cucumbers over her eyes took one of them off and peered at me.
Thomas froze. His eyes widened to the size of hand mirrors. He swallowed, and the bobby pins fell out of his mouth.
All the women looked back and forth between us, and there was an immediate buzz of whispers and quiet talks.
"You have got to be kidding me," I said.
"O-oh," Thomas said. "Ah-ree."
One of the stylists glanced back and forth between us and said, "Thomas." (She pronounced it Toe-moss.) "Who is your friend?"
Friend. Oy vey. I rubbed at the bridge of my nose with one hand. I was never going to get away from this one. Not if I lived to be five hundred.
Thomas and I sat down at a table over cups of coffee.
"This?" I asked him without preamble. "This is your mysterious job? This is the moneymaking scam?"
"It was cosmetology school first," Thomas said. He spoke in a French accent so thick that it barely qualified as English. "And night work as a security guard in a warehouse where no one else ever showed up, to pay for it."
I rubbed at my nose again. "And then… this ? Here I'm thinking you've created your own batch of personal thralls while running around as a hired killer or something, and… you're washing hair ?"
It was difficult to keep my voice quiet, but I made the effort. There were too many ears in that little place.
Thomas sighed. "Well. Yes. Washing, cutting, styling, dying. I do it all, baby."
"I'll bet." Then it hit me. "That's how you're feeding," I said. "I thought that took…"
"Sex?" Thomas asked. He shook his head. "Intimacy. Trust. And believe me, next to sex, washing and styling a woman's hair is about as intimate as you can get with her."
"You're still feeding on them," I said.
"It isn't the same, Harry. It isn't as dangerous—more like… sipping, I suppose, than taking bites. I can't take very much, or very quickly. But I'm here all day and it…" He shivered. "It adds up." He opened his eyes and met mine. "And there's no chance I'm going to lose control of myself. They're safe." He shrugged a shoulder. "They just enjoy it."
I watched the woman who'd been under the hair dryer come out, smile at Thomas, and pick up a cup of coffee on the way out. She looked… well, radiant, really. Confident. She looked like she felt sexy and beautiful, and it was quite pleasant to watch her move while she did.
Thomas watched her go with what I recognized as his look of quiet possession and pride. "They enjoy it a lot." He gave me one of his brief, swift grins. "I imagine there's a lot of husbands and boyfriends enjoying it, too."
"But they're addicted to it, I'd imagine."
He shrugged again. "Some, maybe. I try to spread myself around as much as I can. It isn't a perfect solution—"
"But it's the one you've got," I said. I frowned. "What happens when you try to wash somebody's hair and it turns out that they're in love? Protected?"
"True love isn't as common as you'd think," Thomas said. "Especially among people rich enough to afford me and superficial enough to think that it is money well spent."
"But when they do show?" I asked.
"That's why I've got all the hired help, man. I know what I'm doing."
I shook my head. "All this time and…" I snorted and sipped at some coffee. It was amazing. Smooth and rich and just sweet enough, and it probably cost more than a whole fast-food meal. "They all think I'm your lover, don't they."
"This is a trendy, upper-class boutique, Harry. No one expects a man with a place like this to be straight."
"Uh-huh. And the accent, Toe-moss?"
He smiled. "No one would pay that much money to an American stylist. Please." He shrugged. "It's superficial and silly, but true." He glanced around, suddenly self-conscious. His voice lowered, and his accent dropped. "Look. I know it's a lot to ask…"
It was an effort not to laugh at him, but I managed to give him a hard look, sigh, and say, "Your secret is safe with me."
He looked relieved. "Merci ."
Thomas wasn't being very careful. I would have expected him to move around the city like a long-tailed cat at a rocking chair convention, but he sort of trudged along, fashionable in his dark slacks and loose, deep crimson shirt, his hands in his pockets, his hair hiding his face most of the time.
Even so, he attracted more than a little feminine attention. He was like a walking, talking cologne commercial, except that even silent and standing he was making women look over their shoulders at him, while coyly rearranging their hair.
He finally stalked into the Park Tower, and went into a trendy little boutique-slash-coffee shop calling itself the Coiffure Cup. I checked a clock, and thought about following him in. I could see a few people inside, where a coffee bar backed up to the front window. A couple of fairly pretty girls were getting things set up behind the counter, but I couldn't see any more than that.
I found a spot where I could watch the door and loomed unobtrusively—which is easier than you'd think, even when you're as tall as I am. A couple of women whose hair and nails screamed "beautician" came in later. The boutique opened for business a few minutes after Thomas got there, and immediately began doing a brisk trade. A lot of evidently wealthy, terribly attractive, generally young women started coming and going.
It put me in a quandary. On the one hand, I didn't want anyone to get hurt because my brother had exerted himself so furiously on my behalf. On the other, I didn't particularly care to go in and find my brother lording it over a roomful of worshipful women like some dark god of lust and shadow.
I chewed on my lip for a while, and decided to go on in. If Thomas had… if he had become the kind of monster his family generally did, I owed it to him to try to talk some sense into him. Or pound it in. Whichever.
I pushed open the door to the Coiffure Cup and was immediately, pleasantly assaulted by the aroma of coffee. There was techno music playing, thumping bouncily and mindlessly positive. The front room contained the coffee bar, a few little tables, and a little podium next to a heavy curtain. Even as I came in, one of the young women behind the bar came out to me, gave me a bubbly, caf-feinated smile, and said, "Hi! Do you have an appointment?"
"No," I said, glancing back at the curtains.' "Um, I just need to talk to someone. One second."
"Sir," she said in protest, and tried to hurry into my path. My legs were longer. I gave her a smile and outdistanced her, pushing the curtain aside.
The techno music grew a little louder as I went through. The back room of the boutique smelled the way boutiques always do, of various tonsorial chemicals. A dozen styling stations, all in use, stood six on a side, marching up to a rather large and elaborate station on a little raised platform. At the base of the little platform was a pedicure station, and a young woman with a mud mask, and cucumber slices, and a body posture of blissful relaxation was lounging through a pedicure. On the other side, another young woman was under a dryer, reading a magazine, her expression heavy and relaxed with that postcoiffure glow. On the main chair on the platform, a deluxe number that leaned back to a custom shampoo sink, another young woman lay back with a blissful expression while having her hair washed.
By Thomas.
He was chatting with her amiably as he worked, and she was in the middle of a little laugh when I came in. He leaned down and said something in her ear, and though I couldn't hear the substance of it, it came across in an unmistakable just-us-girls kind of tone, and she laughed again, replying in a similar manner.
Thomas laughed and turned away, practically prancing over to a tray of… styling implements, I supposed. He came back with a towel and, I swear to God, a dozen bobby pins held in his lips. He rinsed her hair and started pinning.
"Sir!" protested the coffee girl, who had followed me into the room.
Everyone stopped and looked at me. Even the woman with the cucumbers over her eyes took one of them off and peered at me.
Thomas froze. His eyes widened to the size of hand mirrors. He swallowed, and the bobby pins fell out of his mouth.
All the women looked back and forth between us, and there was an immediate buzz of whispers and quiet talks.
"You have got to be kidding me," I said.
"O-oh," Thomas said. "Ah-ree."
One of the stylists glanced back and forth between us and said, "Thomas." (She pronounced it Toe-moss.) "Who is your friend?"
Friend. Oy vey. I rubbed at the bridge of my nose with one hand. I was never going to get away from this one. Not if I lived to be five hundred.
Thomas and I sat down at a table over cups of coffee.
"This?" I asked him without preamble. "This is your mysterious job? This is the moneymaking scam?"
"It was cosmetology school first," Thomas said. He spoke in a French accent so thick that it barely qualified as English. "And night work as a security guard in a warehouse where no one else ever showed up, to pay for it."
I rubbed at my nose again. "And then… this ? Here I'm thinking you've created your own batch of personal thralls while running around as a hired killer or something, and… you're washing hair ?"
It was difficult to keep my voice quiet, but I made the effort. There were too many ears in that little place.
Thomas sighed. "Well. Yes. Washing, cutting, styling, dying. I do it all, baby."
"I'll bet." Then it hit me. "That's how you're feeding," I said. "I thought that took…"
"Sex?" Thomas asked. He shook his head. "Intimacy. Trust. And believe me, next to sex, washing and styling a woman's hair is about as intimate as you can get with her."
"You're still feeding on them," I said.
"It isn't the same, Harry. It isn't as dangerous—more like… sipping, I suppose, than taking bites. I can't take very much, or very quickly. But I'm here all day and it…" He shivered. "It adds up." He opened his eyes and met mine. "And there's no chance I'm going to lose control of myself. They're safe." He shrugged a shoulder. "They just enjoy it."
I watched the woman who'd been under the hair dryer come out, smile at Thomas, and pick up a cup of coffee on the way out. She looked… well, radiant, really. Confident. She looked like she felt sexy and beautiful, and it was quite pleasant to watch her move while she did.
Thomas watched her go with what I recognized as his look of quiet possession and pride. "They enjoy it a lot." He gave me one of his brief, swift grins. "I imagine there's a lot of husbands and boyfriends enjoying it, too."
"But they're addicted to it, I'd imagine."
He shrugged again. "Some, maybe. I try to spread myself around as much as I can. It isn't a perfect solution—"
"But it's the one you've got," I said. I frowned. "What happens when you try to wash somebody's hair and it turns out that they're in love? Protected?"
"True love isn't as common as you'd think," Thomas said. "Especially among people rich enough to afford me and superficial enough to think that it is money well spent."
"But when they do show?" I asked.
"That's why I've got all the hired help, man. I know what I'm doing."
I shook my head. "All this time and…" I snorted and sipped at some coffee. It was amazing. Smooth and rich and just sweet enough, and it probably cost more than a whole fast-food meal. "They all think I'm your lover, don't they."
"This is a trendy, upper-class boutique, Harry. No one expects a man with a place like this to be straight."
"Uh-huh. And the accent, Toe-moss?"
He smiled. "No one would pay that much money to an American stylist. Please." He shrugged. "It's superficial and silly, but true." He glanced around, suddenly self-conscious. His voice lowered, and his accent dropped. "Look. I know it's a lot to ask…"
It was an effort not to laugh at him, but I managed to give him a hard look, sigh, and say, "Your secret is safe with me."
He looked relieved. "Merci ."
Dude went from security guard to an owner-operator in a little under two years, while living at Dresden's place; he only moved out during Proven Guilty. That demonstrates drive, the people and financial skills to run a small business and the ability to learn fast.
I submit that he has demonstrated all the skills to be a financial manager, and the drive and connections to improve if he needs to.
-No it cannot be done lowkey.
The White Court is neither dumb nor incompetent, at least not while Lara Raith has been running it.
Lara is his centuries older elder sister who babysat him as a kid, and is the person who literally raised Thomas to adulthood after his mother fled their father when he was five.
She is also, in addition to being de facto family head, his boss, recruiter and handler in the True Venatori as they fight the Oblivion War. He is at a distinct disadvantage when trying to keep anything from her.
-Thomas does not need our help to make something of himself.
He survived the Wild Hunt in Dead Beat. He went to Arctis Tor with Dresden in Proven Guilty. He intervened to save the lives of women being murdered in White Night. He's a soldier in the Oblivion War.
He does just fine in canon. We have no need to save him, just make his life a little easier while improving ours.
-Thomas Raith is, to Molly's knowledge:
i)One of the four people who saved her life in Arctis Tor
ii)Worked with/helped save her father's life back in Grave Peril, 5 years ago
She owes him. She doesnt have to know he's Dresden's brother to be careful about his wellbeing.
-Its not just the perspective.
There are real world implications and consequences to conscripting the child of the head of a rival political nation publicly. There will be public relations assumptions and questions about relations between Molly and the White Court, questions about his loyalties, as well as private pressure brought on him to make him a double or triple agent.
To use a real world analogy?
Consider a scenario where Xi of China employed Hunter Biden now to build them an organization and recruit members now while Biden is POTUS. Or if Putin of Russia employed Prince Andrew to recruit people. Now add the fact that Hunter/Andrew has previously refused to work for the US/UK. Consider how that turns out.
The real world at least pays lip service to a rules based order.
The supernatural world does not, besides what Mab has forced them to respect.
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- Location
- Russia
- Pronouns
- He/Him
"at the edge"?
[X] As an financial agent, not that he has much experience in such matters, but 'not much' is still more than your none
- Pronouns
- She/Her
[X] As an financial agent, not that he has much experience in such matters, but 'not much' is still more than your none
Welp the vote seems pretty settled, business agent incubus is a thing.
You know considering the Exalted it is not even that strange
You know considering the Exalted it is not even that strange
Fish can jump good, but it isn't the same. How bullshit we are doesn't really factor into things in the fashion as far as I can see.
Not sure how DP will rule, but for my part this seems our of scope for the charm. It isn't a consequence of power use or a curse, it's closer to something like a vampire's bane.