Gilderguste is my favorite CotC ship
Gilderoy is my chosen. Auguste is an immediate fave. No, canon doesn’t exist. I write my own. And I will fix it. This is self indulgent. Mildly spicy. and after this? y’all will likely suffer more. :3
So Gilderoy works with nobility, this means that he has some knowledge of the arts, whether that’s actual art, poetry, novels, plays… the Arts (™).
It helps him connect with clients and keep their interest for longer. Which means more business! It’s a win win. So it’s not so much of a hobby as something he does for work. Still, he enjoys it.
He hears a lot about this one playwright. Everyone loves his works. Especially the people in the flatlands. So when he’s in Theateropolis, he hears about a play happening and decides to try and see it.
So Gilderoy gets to the theater, there’s no one guarding the doors so he kinda. Sneak in.
Gilderoy catches the end of the play, and when Auguste comes out to take a bow, the ring flashes, so he heads out to wait and see if he can grab a client or two, especially one of the actors/actresses. Maybe even some nobility. Either way, looking for business.
The audience start to leave, and a group of ladies gather round the door to try and catch a glimpse of the actors and actresses leaving, fawning all the while
And just their luck, Auguste comes out too! And they are fangirling so hard and he’s being so nice.
Anyways he spots Gilderoy off the side and immediately starts flirting with him and Gilderoy flirts back.
And Auguste leans in and they keep flirting (keep in mind everyone around them is watching) and the two of them agree to meet later at a room Auguste gives Gilderoy directions to.
And they absolutely go at it. And talk. And go at it again and talk. They're there for several hours. And Gilderoy actually makes a sale two Auguste. Two necklaces, one of which is a locket.
And Gilderoy leaves with a bruised and maybe bloody bite mark at the junction where his neck meets his shoulder.
And it spreads like wildfire in the rumor mill.
A noble lady comes at Gilderoy the next day, insisting he deliver the letter to Auguste (it’s a fan letter).
And honestly at this point Gilderoy is like “sure. I’ll deliver it. Maybe see him again ;)” because he had fun. He likes Auguste more than just a client. He’s fun to be around.
He gets to the theater, and it’s a slow day, no plays are happening, so he makes his way to the backstage area and again, there’s no one to stop him.
But then a man stops him and tells him it’s a bad idea to try and see Auguste.
This man’s name is Schwartz, and he is after revenge!
He tells Gilderoy that Auguste is a killer, and that he’s killed many of his fans and understudies and workers, and says that Auguste killed his wife, and that he has been seeking revenge for a very long time.
Gilderoy insists on going to see Auguste anyway, and Schwartz accompanies him because danger!!
Now, on screen, almost immediately, the player is shown Auguste killing an actress in front of other actors, who don’t react.
Gilderoy, however, doesn’t walk in until the lady is being carried out, eyes closed, between two actors who, again, aren’t acting like anyone’s dead.
And Schwartz is quick to point out it was murder, and that Auguste can get away with it because his workers worship him as a god. Because he’s so damnably famous.
But Gilderoy kind of. He didn’t see a body being carried out. He saw a lady who was out cold and saw no wounds on her.
By the time that conversation is done, Auguste has left the stage to his study.
So they chase him.
We get there first. And Schwartz starts rummaging thru the desk and papers
Auguste arrives soon after, covered in blood. Recognizes Schwartz and they talk and it turns out, Auguste kills for inspiration. It helps him get ideas and be able to write it down.
Auguste sics some guards on Schwartz and leaves, giving absolutely no glances towards Gilderoy.
But Gilderoy helps out in the fight because he was in the way and has no choice.
After, they can’t find Auguste anywhere, and they part ways, Schwartz still swearing revenge.
A few weeks/months pass, and Gilderoy has gone off to do other things and look for the other rings. He still can’t get Auguste out of his head tho. Because…. well. He has a ring. And murder is bad. And also… he’s handsome.
He stumbles upon Schwartz in a tavern in Valore getting food and drinks and talks to him.
Schwartz has found out where Auguste lives. It’s a big villa right outside the city, And asks if Gilderoy will join him.
Gilderoy realizes he still has the letter from the noble lady who harassed him ages ago, and he decides that yeah, he wants to come. He wants to try and talk with Auguste. He still remembers the last meeting in the study and how Auguste ignored him, after they’d clicked so well the day before. And he’s not stupid, something’s up.
And during his travels he learned that the rings also influence their holders. So maybe… maybe the ring had some sort of influence over Auguste. He wants to know more. To either put his mind at rest or…. Try something probably stupid. He wants to find out what’s what.
Especially since he has met with the lead actress before (Fransesca), while looking for the study, and she mentioned that Auguste isn’t interested in the fame his plays bring, yet he keeps working on them.
So he wants to try and talk. And the letter is as good an excuse as any.
They go to the villa and find Francesca outside with a kid.
Kid’s name is Mikhail! He’s a ray of sunshine—and he’s Francesca’s and Auguste’s kid!
Awkward moment ensues for Gilderoy in “I didn’t know he was married” but she replies with “he’s not” “oh.”
(The game is very unclear about whether they’re married or even together, tho art doodled by Mikhail shows at least a happy-ish family. So I’m going with together but it’s rocky af)
Fransesca locks them outside of the mansion, telling them to leave, and they don’t, because Schwartz is set on finding a key, and sees an abandoned house/shed near the villa and decides to search there.
Inside, they find the keys with a diary detailing a few killings Auguste has done.
Gilderoy finds this kind of sus, because while the building does belong to the villa, it’s 1) abandoned 2) there’s no blood anywhere 3) the rest of the journal is pretty empty and there’s just it and the keys there.
But they get the keys and go inside and they find Fransesca desperately searching for her son, who’s been told to avoid the “purple man”
Which Gilderoy finds contradictory while they’re looking for him. Because Auguste wears purple, a lot of it, and there’s drawings Mikhail did of him and Fransesca and Auguste as a family. And even some that are just him and Auguste, all in purple.
He doesn’t get to ask however. The three find the kid soon after, and he’s been poisoned by Auguste. And Auguste takes the rest of the poison. Turns out, Fransesca has a dose of the antidote on her, inside the locket necklace she was given a day prior… the one Gilderoy recognizes he sold Auguste.
… And she can only choose to save one of them.
Schwartz is stricken. Horrified. He begs her to save her son, but it just makes her indecision worse, and Gilderoy is trying to calm this lady down and make Schwartz shut up to no avail.
In the end, Francesca chooses Auguste, who, surprise! Has a second dose of the antidote. Which he takes. And then says he’s been inspired to finish his current work and leaves.
Schwartz tries to get Fransesca to give Mikhail the antidote after, as he’s still alive, but she snaps
And tries to outright kill her kid and the two men
And Gilderoy is forced to kill her to save her child. They do manage to save him, but Fransesca is dead and the kid was aware during all of what went down.
They take the kid to a healer, and once they’re sure he’s okay, Schwartz says he’ll use his contacts to find him a new home.
Gilderoy goes to the tavern, mostly to get drunk and maybe eat and process wtf has happened.
Because it was jarring, but so much of it didn’t make sense.
As Gilderoy sits there, drinking, Schwartz shows up and joins him.
They talk a bit about what happened, and it segues into Schwartz asking Gilderoy about why he was there at the theater to start with, and Gilderoy explains about the letter, then how he got the letter, and Schwartz is in such disbelief because you slept with that man?? and Gilderoy is just look he's hot and he flirted with me first okay
And it goes on a bit more and Schwartz is basically teasing him at this point and Gilderoy picks up on it and is embarrassed and kinda grumbles that Schwartz isn't as focused on his grief as he makes himself out to be.
Schwartz makes it very clear that he is still grieving but he is not blind and Gilderoy is good looking and tucks a strand of hair behind Gilderoy’s ear.
Gilderoy is speechless for all of ten seconds before he decides, yeah, okay, why not. Schwartz teases him about it, and they flirt a bit then go back to the inn to get a room.
And it's during their time being intimate in there that Gilderoy realizes that.... Schwartz and Auguste are... very similar, physically. Under the clothes, their body types, their skin color, their... everything, is very similar.
He decides he is not sober enough to process this and to enjoy it instead.
After, he and Schwartz talk. First it’s a little bit of flirting, then it gets serious. Schwartz wants to go back and make sure Fransesca’s body is buried. And see if there’s anyone else dead and bury them. Gilderoy agrees to help.
So the next day, they go back to the villa. And Fransesca’s body is as it is. They also find the maid who died of poisoning, still where she is. So they work on burying both. It’s a silent, sad affair. They work quietly, though Schwartz looks like he’s about to cry more than once. Gilderoy sits with him and they hold hands a few times and it seems to help Schwartz. And when he gives Gilderoy a grateful smile… well. Gilderoy gives him one back while actively trying not to blush.
They go back to Valore, after, get drinks, kiss, and wind up in bed together again.
Gilderoy again notes the similarities and decided not to pay any attention to them and stay in the moment instead.
Next day, Schwartz tells Gilderoy he's heading back to the theater to try and find a way to get to Auguste. He'd be very hard to get close to, right now, buried in work. But the premiere of the new play has a date set already, a date he gives to Gilderoy and says to meet him there.
Gilderoy in the meantime starts to really think things through, because a lot of what he saw contradicted so much?
and he... finds himself in the worst situation ever.
For starters, he finds himself pining.
Which freaks him tf out at first because he does not fall in love?? hello??
And it sucks. He doesn’t like the longing. And he’s longing for a murderer. Except he’s still not sure. Because the murder he saw doesn’t match with the murders he read about. And the lady’s reaction and fear over her child being lost in his own home makes no sense.
There’s too much that doesn’t make sense, and he’s not sure how to put it together.
And then there’s Schwartz. The man after revenge. The man he’s also longing for. And their similarities!
It’s driving him crazy.
So he does something crazy.
He goes back to Auguste’s villa.
It’s weeks later, now, and the villa has been abandoned for almost that entire time. Monsters are starting to take over, but there’s human activity too.
Gilderoy walks around aimlessly. It’s a sunny afternoon and he’s wandering and not sure what he’s looking for. He just wants answers. And finds himself in Fransesca’s and Mikhail’s room, looking at the drawings.
He takes one down, a hand drawn family portrait, carefully folds it and pockets it.
Maybe… maybe he can give it to Auguste later. Or Schwartz. Or maybe even Mikhail himself.
The sun sinks low on the horizon when he decides he’s not going to find answers and goes to leave. But he decides to stop by Auguste’s office, because maybe he’ll find something. He remembers a lot of papers there. So he heads there and—
—There's someone there. The silhouette is familiar. And his heart goes to his throat. It’s Auguste.
And he’s both really happy and really terrified. Because did he find the man he charmed or the monster Schwartz showed him?
And something about that thought makes him blink. That’s right, all the bad things he’s seen were when Schwartz was around…
But he decides to ignore that for now and instead approaches the man.
There’s a somber mood about him. A haunted look in his eyes. He’s soft spoken and charming and Gilderoy is not afraid.
He moves closer. They talk. Or well, he tries to. Auguste isn’t very willing to discuss anything. So he’s not surprised when the playwright kisses him.
He goes along with it. Because he wants it so badly. Because pining sucks and his heart hurts and this is so much easier.
He goes along with Auguste pushing him into a bed and goes along with everything after, until they’re both spent and it’s dark out and it’s dark inside and it’s silent, just them breathing in the darkness.
Gilderoy pulls Auguste close and Auguste presses his face over his heart and it’s everything Gilderoy has wanted for the last few weeks.
They’re falling asleep when Gilderoy decides to ask, in a whisper, what happened with Mikhail. Auguste answers. It’s an answer that Schwartz would know, not Auguste. And Auguste seems to catch himself and tenses. But Gilderoy whispers that they’re already asleep and it’s okay and he knows Auguste doesn’t believe him but the walls come down for a while and they talk naturally. But they’re both sleepy and fall asleep.
The next morning, Gilderoy wakes up alone. And he’s back to pining.
It sucks.
And he still doesn’t understand everything, or how to connect it together.
So he goes back to working on getting the rings and gathering information and trying to do his job as a jewelry merchant, until the date of the premiere comes, and he goes to meet up with Schwartz and realizes he's still crushing on Schwartz and since when did he crush on people? ever?
but they sneak in through the theater's back door, and the play is starting, and they need to stop the man before he kills again. Schwartz seems especially desperate, probably because he's so close to his goal of revenge.
But Gilderoy grabs his hand and tells him that he won't help unless he promises him something. Schwartz asks what, and Gilderoy says he wants the opportunity to talk to Auguste. Even if they wind up having to kill him, he wants to be able to talk to him first.
Schwartz reluctantly agrees, and off they go.
They can hear the play going on as they make their way through the back to the theater to the study. They find him there, in his chair. Gilderoy tries to talk to him, but he's ignored. So Schwartz attempts to taunt the man before he attacks him
Only for the body to hit the floor. It's not the real Auguste, but the theater manager dressed up as him.
And it all falls in place for Gilderoy.
He figures it out.
But before he can say a word to Schwartz, the man has already rushed out. They can hear "Auguste"' voice from the stage, and they decide to make their way there.
They arrive at the finale, right as the lead actor "Auguste" is asking if a hateful blade would kill him.
Schwartz gives Gilderoy no chance to talk and attacks the man. A fight ensues on stage, until the actor is stabbed fatally. He stays a few more lines then collapses, dead... and the audience claps, thinking it's all part of the play, and the curtains fall.
Gilderoy takes a deep breath, then, to calm himself. Turns to Schwartz and asks him if he's content now, that his play has ended.
Schwartz's eyes widen, a pleased look comes onto his face, and he asks when he figured it out.
Gilderoy explains all the indiscrepancies he found, and how it all came together just a bit ago, and follows it with asking if they can talk now.
They talk, and Gilderoy is right, he can see beyond just what the ring is, and the person inside isn't what he's seeing, but the only way to free that person is to take the ring away, which isn't going to happen in a peaceful way.
So he talks to the entity instead, the thing that's acting in the human's place, and hears its woes and its need for blood for inspiration, and Gilderoy knows that inspiration comes in many forms, and one such form can easily be travel.
He points out that Auguste has rarely left the region, and never far, that there's so much beyond that, and he's willing to stake his life on finding a new source of inspiration for the playwright.
Enticed by the option of murdering Gilderoy, they talk more of it and make a deal, if Auguste doesn't find three new stories within a year on the road, he can kill Gilderoy and return to write that play.
So it's arranged. He takes a haitus and goes undercover to travel with the merchant, dressing down in more sensible colors for leather, and losing all of the makeup. And within weeks, he's already found a new story. He writes lots, goes through lots of paper, and gets along well with Gilderoy.
And Gilderoy keeps looking past the entity and to the human, to where the human learns to accept the demon that's inside of him. It's an extreme of his emotions, things that he had shamed himself for, and he comes to terms with it, which is something he's never done had before.
To the point that, when Gilderoy gets the other two rings, and Sazantos comes to Gilderoy asking for the three rings to seal them, the entity possessing the human willingly gives the ring up.
This essentially kills the entity, or at least lays it dormant, and for the first time in a very, very long time, the human is free.
But the possession did leave its mark on him. He's not as unhinged as the entity was, and he doesn't have the same amount of bloodlust, but he is definitely more stabby than your average person.
He’s a stepford smiler who Gilderoy learns to read, definitely thinks of murder as the first solution to most problems, and he's still an excellent playwright and actor.
He's also very clingy and overly affectionate to Gilderoy, who finds that he really, really likes it.
Gilderoy finds that he likes having his affections returned and likes the excess hugging and hand holding and even kissing in public, which--scandalous!
But he loves Auguste, even though he skirts around it and deflects the topic if/when asked directly.
And Auguste… he’s not sure if Auguste feels the same way. But he has his affections, so he’s happy.
And after that I've essentially gone with "this feral, semi-violent, stepford smiler version of Auguste joins the party in trying to get the rings back!"