imagine being dr baran al hashimi, and it's your first day at a new place of work taking over for the new attending, and you walk into this. the current attending is having suicidal destructive thoughts and making it everyone's problem, two of the residents are fighting about one of them stealing drugs from the hospital and having to go to REHAB, another resident getting YELLED AT in front of everyone by said crash out, the only person excercising mental health is mainly on the NIGHT SHIFT SO NO HELP TO YOU, no internet, diverted trauma patients from two hospital, ICE FUCKING SHOWS UP, a nurse assaulted, an abandoned BABY, and it's literally, your first. damn. day.
A reason I like asshole/scary Shane is I like imagining that Ilya has no fucking clue what anyone means by that. Because Ilya's one of the only people on the planet who isn't intimidated by Shane's looks and hockey skill, since he also has both. And he's not put off by Shane's insane commuication style because he's also terminally avoidant, and also an asshole, and Slavic. And he doesn't see the full brunt of Shane's dismissiveness because Ilya Rozanov exists in the warmth of Shane's gaze
Idk there's just something so funny to me about everyone else being like, "Yeah man....that guy is scary as fuck. I once watched him watch tape for 15 minutes straight without blinking. I played on the Mets for three years and he only ever called me by my number" while Ilya is twirling his hair and doodling "Mr. Hollander ✨❤️" in his notebooks in gel pen and imagining Shane as a particularly strange and cute little animal that he can poke to see how it reacts
Everyone: Shane Hollander is so scary. Just ruthless. If you fuck up during practice he pulls you aside for “helpful tips” and it’s the meanest shit you’ve ever heard in your life interspersed with “but good job buddy, you’ll get it next time!” Grown men skate off the ice crying. Once I missed a pass and he sent me a detailed analysis of everything I could have done better, annotated, to my house, via courier. My wife opened it. I invited him to grab pizza and he asked if I felt my processed carbohydrate intake was having a positive impact on our cup chances.
Older woman who will not tell you her past. Shows open disdain for almost everything you do and say. Shares a bed with another man - the only one who calls her by a nickname. When said man tells you her traumatic backstory on the eve of your near-certain demise she grants you a courtesy fuck.
Educated young lady who you meet 2-3 times in a crisis situation. If you agree to not let her father rot in prison she grants you a courtesy fuck before making it clear you have no future.
Servant girl who grants you a shag in a meadow, possibly to distract you from your espionage. You hold her one night to prevent her nightmares. She dies the next day.
Widow who wink winks-nudge nudges you into a shag at a feast when you regale her with a tale of your bravery.
Knight who you possibly sparred with a few times. You have an implied night of passion after a subtle exchange. Next morning you discover he's working for the enemy and you can likely never see him again.
Prostitutes.
Your lord. Your master. Your raison d'ětre. The man who you swore to protect on pain of death. Your best friend, the "only person you have left." The one who has saved your life almost as many times as you've saved his. The one who saw you at your lowest, then saw you crawl up from the bottom of an impenetrable social hierarchy to become a fearsome knight who crosses blades and wits with the most powerful men in your land. He calls you his guardian angel, his champion, his brave and faithful companion, the Lancelot to his Galehaut. He will kill himself if you die because life will have no meaning to him. He mirrors you along every step of your hero's journey until he breaks down into confession on the eve your near-certain demise, defying class conventions, social stigma, his unwanted betrothal, and fear of damnation to hold you at least once before it's too late.
first twenty minutes of the game has play sword fighting, one of them mentions fighting with their cocks, the other says he’s good with his tongue, they both strip naked in front of each other, the horny one once again mentions cocks. this is the first twenty minutes of the game. the twenty minutes after that has them both risk their lives to save the other at least two times per person just within this timeframe
i think Warhorse should release a patch that allows you to kiss Hans whenever you want after finishing the main storyline btw. i mean like BG3 style animation. i think this would heal me as a person
I'm currently obsessed with this idea that Istvan and Erik bring out the worst in Henry, while Hans repeatedly brings out the best in him.
In my view, nowhere is Henry more hateful, cruel, and impulsive than when he is facing off against Istvan and Erik. Of course this makes a lot of sense - his experiences at Vranik and Talmberg would still be quite fresh for him. And, Istvan particularly loves goading Henry on. He taunts Henry with Radzig's/Martin's sword both the last time Henry sees him in KCD1 and the first time Henry comes face to face with him in KCD2. So, I'm not saying that it is surprising or even unearned that Istvan (and subsequently Erik) stir up these feelings in Henry, but I do think that this is part of a huge thematic aspect of both Henry's journey and his relationship with Hans.
KCD can be so unserious, funny, and lighthearted at times that it's easy to forget that the deep trauma and the events of the first game are still so fresh for Henry. I believe his shame of having run from Skalitz plants this seed of fear that he will give up his agency and his power if he turns away from his adversaries. In my eyes, this fear gets folded into his desire for revenge and can so quickly twist his focus and his motivations. But, at the same time, there is such a beautiful, blossoming foil to these tendencies in Henry: Hans.
In KCD2, you can, of course, immediately kill Istvan once you reach him in the tower in Trosky. But Istvan is so charismatic and compelling in a certain way that I, personally, couldn't pass up the chance to talk to him. If you choose to have a conversation with him, you can threaten Erik's life and intimidate Istvan into begging Henry to spare him. This is so interesting to me at this point in the story because it does feel like Erik, while not innocent by any means, is mostly collateral damage in this adversarial relationship that Henry and Istvan have. The option to threaten Erik, especially when you have Istvan cornered with really no hope of escape, feels like sheer hate, cruelty, and merely for the pleasure of watching Istvan grovel. If you kill him dishonorably at this point, his line "So what's it going to be? A fair fight? ...or are you finally going to learn?" hits SO hard - has Henry's hate and thirst for revenge twisted him into becoming not so unlike his adversaries?
As the story progresses, Erik becomes the recipient of this cruelty as he transforms into much more than "evil-by-association." At every opportunity, Henry reminds that he killed Istvan and that he would jump at the chance to do the same to Erik. I don't believe Henry would meet Erik for a duel if he wasn't intent on continuing to watch Erik suffer. Again, there are lots of reasons why this is the case, including the horrors of Erik's actions and choices in the latter part of the game. Additionally, I do know the duel is a fully optional confrontation (and Hans even tells Henry he wishes he wouldn't accept), but I feel the game and the narrative was designed to make you really want to accept, despite it being something that honestly feels like a very selfish and indulgent choice. Beforehand, Zizka advises Henry how helpful it can be to taunt your opponent to get them off balance, so it might be easy enough to write off these choices of Henry's as battle tactics, but, personally? I don't believe it's that simple. It truly feels like he wants to hurt Erik, he wants him to feel the pain of his grief and loss and remind him that it was Henry who caused it. He wants Erik to feel like he's nothing. Again, you don't have to choose these dialogue options. You could just jump into the fight, but once again, I feel like the narrative so easily guides you to engage in this way.
On the flip side of all this, I contend that never is Henry more focused, determined, and selfless than when it comes to Hans. Even in their divorce era, Henry is constantly asking folks all over Trosky if they've seen him. We've all experienced those bells tolling, counting down to Hans's planned execution while Henry is frantically trying to find a way to save Captain Thomas's life so he can prevent the execution. He later goes to great lengths to assist the Ruthards with collecting blackmail material on Ulrich Vavak just so he can rescue Hans while he is being told more than once that there's sort of no reason to do so. In both of these instances, he is helping not only Hans, but his actions save lives and/or assist his allies in not-insignificant ways.
And let's not forget the timing of the culmination of their romance storyline - the last thing that Henry does before heading into the Praguers camp is to say goodbye to Hans. At this point, his friendship with Hans has already become so centered in his life, that even if Hans didn't kiss him, it feels like Hans is this galvanizing force for Henry's drive to set off on what is essentially suicide mission. However, I feel like it's SO meaningful that after he and Hans finally make their feelings for one another clear (and act on them in such a powerful and beautiful way), finding and killing Markvart Von Aulitz becomes an optional part of the story. This is wild to me especially in light of the fact that getting revenge against Von Aulitz is a main quest for the ENTIRETY of KCD1. And, yes, I know most players probably still seek out Von Aulitz and then make choices from there about how he dies. But at that point, revenge transforms from Henry's primary motivation into an optional part of a quest undertaken for the greater good. And THAT is both beautiful game design and storytelling.
Istvan has so many iconic and memorable lines in KCD2, but one that stands out is "Revenge doesn't give a life meaning, it's just childish nonsense. It won't feed you. You can't fuck it." And, to me, this is one of the greatest and most poignant truths in the game. In my experience of Henry's story, it is ultimately Hans that gives him that meaning, motivation, and a reason to turn away from the darkest tendencies within himself.
as a severely mentally ill 14 year old, I remember thinking “the medical system would treat me better if I was physically ill and not mentally ill” and then I coincidentally developed multiple chronic illnesses and found out that actually they dgaf even when you’re essentially bedridden
