Rafael cuts the cards and shuffles them, almost absentmindedly - almost fondly - before tucking them gently into an inner pocket. "Well, I'd best be going if I want to catch your friend at his sleep. It was a pleasure to meet you, Peter - and thank you for introducing us, Lukas." They smile at the others. "I hope that whenever we next meet, we'll have kinder topics to discuss."

The doctor beams and gets to his feet. "Always a pleasure, my friend." He meanders over to a large object draped in a heavy, dark cloth. "And travel safely."

He tugs the cloth free, revealing an ornate antique standing mirror, as tall and as wide as a door.

the struggle of playing an aroace character with no desire for marriage in Fallen London, but there are so many interesting NPCs who I want to read the romance/marriage storybits for

(I owe my life to the people who have been echoing them into their journals)

I imagine the good doctor has had a fling or two in the past, simply because that was The Expected Thing To Do and he was genuinely curious. he decided that it wasn't for him - people kept being upset that he didn't feel the same ways as they did and it was ultimately kind of tedious and boring overall. this may or may not be a reflection of how it feels to progress the persuasive branch of MYN on him

(meanwhile, another FL character of mine would be a massive slut if they could. but thanks to Duty, they feel like they can't. ever.)

been sketching out a profile for the good doctor, to make into a fancy character sheet or even a Toyhou.se profile, and this is what I have so far:

an important thing about each immortality-seeking variant of Lucent is that attaining immortality is not the end of his problems, and in many cases just serves as a jumping-off point for him to have more problems

for Dr. Ashveil in particular, drinking Hesperidean Cider indirectly fucked him up in multiple ways. there's the whole survivor's guilt deal with his best friend's permanent death, obviously. but even without that, I feel like he would find that true* immortality makes it easier to justify working himself to death (sometimes literally). it makes it easier for him to justify doing things that cause quite a lot of pain and harm to himself. it makes it easier for him to justify holding himself at a distance from everyone else. it makes it easier for him to devalue his time, his body, and his mental wellbeing.

sure, he can go back to the Surface now, but why would he when his work is in the Neath, and his work never ends? what pleasure could he take in walking beneath the sun again, when sunlight itself has become hateful to him? when he knows how wrong, wrong, wrong the universe actually is?

I don't think immortality itself has to suck. I think he's someone who is capable of embracing both the joy of meeting and the sweet sorrow of parting, of forever finding new things to delight in. but "capable of" doesn't mean he's currently doing that. it's something he has to learn, especially as a revolutionary.

*as true as the immortality given by cider can be, anyway. we know from Sunless Skies that it's not so simple. but for the good doctor's purposes, it might as well be