I think that Dustin needs a much better top than Loki and that Loki should be demoted to sticking nails in his own cock for a while. But we shall see how all of that plays out.

Yeah, Jayson needs to have his head examined, not the least because he actually thinks that he’s doing well by his son. Josh is scared for his life with his own father and that’s pretty much a red flag no matter how you slice it.

As far as how well Jayson knows Cox, better than he knows his own children, I think. He’s more than a steward, he’s actually sort of family. (Marisol and Masen and Miguel, which I swear was not on purpose, are all cousins of a sort.) And Jayson looks at it as Cox can be trusted with in certain parameters, what’s wrong is what Jayson thinks the appropriate parameters are. (Annette, for instance, thinks the parameters for how much you should trust Masen are in the “how far can I throw this house” variety.)

In some bizarre way, it’s like Jayson doesn’t see his kids as kids or humans (or sims as the COA reference would go), he sees them as game pieces. As long as Cox doesn’t break ‘em, he’s safe enough. But you can’t mind-fuck a game token, game tokens have no minds to fuck. Jayson doesn’t care if Cox fucks up his kids psyches, because as far as Jayson is concerned, they either have no psyches or their psyches just don’t matter.

Very good points about what Philipa may be able to offer later and Josh’s possible promise as a lord. Hopefully we’ll get to see both.

I am very glad you guys like Elizabet, she is so much fun to write and exactly what this family needs. (I’m glad you like Annette too. :-D)

Thanks, Van!

Oh, but see, Jayson doesn’t know that Cox is gonna beat the shit out of Josh, really. He can scold Cox later, when he finds out, but he wasn’t there when it happened so how is he supposed to stop it. Jayson’s hands are clean. (I fully expect that if that convinced anyone, Josh and Elizabet would go all Lizzie Borden on their father.) However, Marisol truly does not know what Cox does to Josh. And she would be very pissed if she ever found out. But Jayson’s interaction with Josh has left Josh distrustful of going to his mother.

She may see that he’s beat up, she may even worry enough to talk with Jayson and Josh about it, but neither of them would give her a straight answer. Jayson plays it off as “boys being boys” and Josh basically does the same thing…

No, violence is not the best answer for how a lord should handle a city that has been through more wars and conflicts than generations in the past century. But Jayson’s father had a very firm hand with Jayson, so why shouldn’t Jayson have a firm hand with his own children? Except of course that Piers had more sanity than Jayson does and wouldn’t have played any of this out this way. (And if he were gonna belt Jayson in the mouth for getting in trouble, he’d have done it himself not let his steward beat Jayson unconscious…)

Hopefully there is still hope for Josh. He’s got several promising things going on and maybe they’ll be enough to combat the supreme not awesome that is Jayson.

But much as you’ve said yourself about Mordred, Jayson doesn’t do me any good dead. Besides, it’s too clean and clear cut a death. Jayson’s got stuffs to answer for. Let’s make him answer, then drop the damned anvil on him.

Thanks, Morgaine!

What’s up with Dustin and Loki? Like any kind of sex, there’s nothing wrong with D&S/S&M/bondage as long as all involved parties are consenting, but I don’t think Dustin is entirely okay with everything Loki does to him. Poor guy. I hope he can eventually rid himself of Loki and find himself another handsome monk to do fully consensual things in broom closets with.

I’m with Morgaine on Jayson’s preferred brand of discipline! I can understand wanting Josh to be strong and firm, but it doesn’t make for good diplomacy if a lord’s first problem-solving instinct is “beat it into submission”. How well does Jayson know Cox outside of his role as steward? Why on earth is he willing to leave Cox alone with his children if he knows him at all?

The way I see it, Josh’s willingness to help someone in need, at his own inconvenience, is a sign of a good lord. Yes, a lord would have to be first and foremost concerned with his people as a whole, but what is “his people” comprised of? Individuals, many of whom will need a hand up at some point, and many to whom Josh will be able to offer one. And a lord needs friends too. Who knows? Philipa may have something to offer Josh in the future, something no one else can provide.

Outside of Raven’s family, I think Elizabet may be my favourite character! Either her or Annette. She’s got so much awesome per cubic inch of her that it’s a miracle she’s not an exploding volcano of kick-ass.

This … well, I think what River Sulis needs is a therapist. Or preferably at least two, since the therapist is going to need therapy after working through Loki and Dustin’s issues. And that’s before s/he starts on the Carico family’s issues …

Also, CPS could come in handy in River Sulis. Hiring someone else to beat your kids into unconsciousness is generally seen as abuse. It’s not going to toughen them up. And I’ll bet my ass it won’t make them into “good lords.” It’ll just mess them up beyond belief. Or else it’ll teach them that the only way to solve problems is by beating someone, which, you know, given that this is a war-torn area … I’m not sure that someone whose only problem-solving technique is “violence” is the person you really want at the helm. :-S

Still, I guess there’s some hope for Joshua — he did get into all this trouble in the first place by helping and protecting someone else. Something tells me that Jayson wouldn’t have done that for somebody else, no matter how good a friend s/he was. And Elizabet … every time we see her, she’s radiating more awesome.

They must both get it from Marisol, because they sure as hell ain’t getting it from Jayson.

Still. Those poor kids … how about we trade, I’ll drop an anvil on Mordred if you drop one on Jayson?