#conrade

"Thou shouldst rather ask if it were possible

any villainy should be so rich.  For when rich

villains have need of poor ones, poor ones may

make what price they will"

Borachio, Act 3. sc 2, lines 111-114

When explaining to Conrade his deal with Don John, Borachio says that he was paid well by Don John to participate in his trick. He then makes this comment about villainy and the relationship between rich and poor villains.

This comment made me think about how we view rich villains vs poor villains. When we see a rich villain, who is either a villain in order to gain more money or just because they can be, we often don't have sympathy for them. They are simply there to play opposite the "hero" and perhaps send a message about greed. However, when we see a poor villain, especially one who is paid a large sum of money to do villainous deeds, we are more likely to understand their actions or have some sympathy for them. They may not choose the life of a villain for fun, but necessity. Particularly if we use the old definition of a villain, then this quote by Borachio can also mean that rich evil people would go to the low-born folk who have nothing to lose to do their dirty work for them in exchange for money so they can eat or find shelter. Those are some of the villains we might root for. Especially in this economy, who wouldn't do a little villainy to make rent or feed their family? (Legally, this is a joke.)

Roses are red

This job is my hell

Mitochondria is

Borachio: bathroom

Some more self-indulgent art, this one is of a long-running OC you’ve probably seen around on here before, Conrade. He was mainly fleshed out in my first ever dnd campaign and in summary is generally a huge bastard of vague fantasy rome nationality from an obscenely wealthy and underhanded lineage and is generally fond of being a general debauchee and avoiding his family’s responsibilities and judgement. Sneaking around with other men after dark is also a bonus.

Second pic from a certain point in time and features his elder brothers & himself. His brothers are often semi-violently vying for favour to inherit the family business, fortune & status, and as third in line, Conrade was very much the spare. After that is Conrade's father, mother & uncle. His father has lots of affairs, is very argumentative & ruthless, and his mother is from the 2nd marriage - Conrade takes the most after her looks-wise, though she's very distant from him. His uncle is his father's younger brother and was probably the nicest adult in Conrade’s life, until he went missing.