I was born in that summer when the sun didn't shine...

Tuesday, Wednesday tread through muck

Thursday maybe eat a duck

It’s Friday, Flat as Fuck

...granted, given that line Mirage spins, about offering money and power, and knowing how America is, it's quite possible that he and Nashala think that they can just throw enough Djinn-exclusive perks (and money, especially money) at the American government and they'll overlook their participation in the Ritual to make the Wyoming deal go in their favor. Is that ethical in an ambassadorial situation? Definitely not, but this is America they're dealing with, and while existing as nonwhite foreign nationals to boot. I don't actually blame Mirage and Nashala for playing dirty since their opponents almost certainly are as well (my theory is that the Wyoming deal will somehow inevitably fall through due to one issue or another).

('But Mirage says Nashala doesn't ask him to do dirty work.' Correct, but he absolutely has, he's willing to both die and kill for that woman (it's so hot), which means either she just hasn't asked him to do it *yet* but he's *willing* to do it if she does, or he doesn't see it as dirty work when she asks him to do it. And again, that's incredibly attractive.)

Plus I think most characters might not have thought through the consequences of their wish. Or what the rest of the world might look like with the Patron in it.

Like what if Holliday does find and enact vengeance on the Troubadour? What does that mean for her once it’s over? Is it worth it to have caught a serial killer if you’ve brought a god into the world who, idk, needs human sacrifice or drives thousands of people to some violent madness? The ritual already requires trafficking in souls. I don’t think it’s far fetched to assume this is Not Good and that anything that comes from it is equally Not Good.

This is why I contend that the ritual itself is fundamentally an evil act and every character, whether through greed or desperation, and whether they know it or not, and whether their motives are altruistic or not, has crossed a sort of moral event horizon just by being there.

And then there’s this!

Exactlyyyyy. Pocket’s wish isn’t to dismantle their father’s company but to become the Only Good Billionaire. I do think the only way they get out of this with their ideals and maybe their soul intact is if they walk away. Like please just go get therapy, babe. (Or don’t. I love how many things are wrong with Pocket, just kind of bubbling right under the surface. I love when they have a bad time. ❤️)