#{/i went off here oops dsghdfkjhfdj}

[blindedguilt]

🧑‍🤝‍🧑💜💧🤝⛔🌈☀️👔☕🩹💀💬🤫(either)😨(also either)❌🚫 |[I'd have sent some others but...]|

🧑‍🤝‍🧑 - Family by choice/Found Family 💜 - Friendship 💧 - Friends Due to Traumatic Experiences 🤝 - Coworkers ⛔ - Reluctant Friends 🌈 - Developing Friendship ☀️ - Friends of Circumstance 

👔 - Strangers Working Together ☕ - One Muse Works in Service to the Other 🩹 - Friends Forced to Work Against Each Other 💀 - Enemies 💬 - Enemies Because of Conflicting Ideologies 🤫(either) - One Muse is Secretly an Enemy/Traitor to the Other 😨(also either) - One Muse is Using the Other for Their Benefit ❌ - Guilty by Association 🚫 - Friends to Enemies 

//BUT WHAT?

//Show me. Show me now. Now. Now. Now. Now. Now. No-

//OKAY BUT YESSSSSSSSSSSSSS honestly like //I bless 1.3 everyday for the chance to explore a solid enemy dynamic between these two because *deadass*,,, they've had it all there? Both closely or equally matched in strength, having conflicting ideologies and DEFINITELY having their moments where that divide could have resulted in a spat if leonard wasn't such a fuckin coward shaking in his boots during the garrison, but the fact OF Leonard's cowardice and guilt resulting in that and Caim not,,, being completely batshit insane, not to mention that the stakes are high enough (The end of the world) that they're really mostly just forced to get along till that's over at worst and develop some kinda small bond of comradery and/or friendship??? over it at best is great, I'll def get into that later but then 1.3 kinda comes along and asks

//What if they DIDN'T have those things holding them back? Leonard isn't made a coward by a wish to die and his extreme sense of guilt. Whatever sense that kept Caim from going COMPLETELY batshit resulted in him losing all sense completely (albeit, gradually). That, AND not only is the world no longer faced with a threat that affects both of them in the sense they need to come together, but challenges their ideologies and philosophies on life (Particularly the Pacifism vs. Warmongering aspects of it) that causes them to split completely. Set that up with the fact that (Later), they both become similarly/equally matched at a completely insane level virtue of dragon's blood, and (maybe throwing arioch into the mix as an assist trophy, though she deserves FAR more) we have ourselves literally the most metal fucking enemies ever

//... Which forever makes me sad we didn't get to see a showdown with them in 1.3. Granted, the Arioch shit was fan-fucking-tastic, I couldn't have asked for a better alternative way for him to go out, but... *Sigh* ... That's where we come in though!! We gotta write either an alternative take where they can actually showdown or like a small thing before then where they can spat briefly (? But is there even really stopping them? XD) again and match each other's strength where they're both cracked up on that blood because damn......

//That said, at the same time I really do wonder what that proper enemy dynamic would look like between them in DOD1, but that begs the question - Sure, if it comes down to a fight we all know that Caim is the last one to back down, but that begs the question - What's there to overcome Leonard's grief and cowardice and uh,,, the concept of the entire world ending to get him properly mad at Caim?

//.... Iunno. Probably Seere. XD

//Circling back, their opposite contrasting natures ALSO makes their friendship bond extremely sweet and heartwarming in a sense, both in the vein of Caim's "Guess I care about this slow dumb sack of shit now, STOP ADMIRING THE FLOWERS AND HURRY IT UP ASSHOLE" and Leonard's "He's like an angry little brother if he was sent from hell. calm down please, where the hell are you even getting all that energy? my back hurts, i want to go home"

//Of course, they have their own multitude of reasons why they wouldn't dare actively show anything that could tip off the small part that's kinda warmed up to them, though they both show it in the smallest and most subtle of ways that I feel neither would really notice in most cases, though if it had stopped happening for one reason or another they may just sit and realise how unnatural or otherwise unecessary that kind action really was, in a sense

//I like to think it's a small part of their contrasting natures they both secretly find comforting or,,,, "enjoyable"??? but not quite or even have slight envy for about the other, Caim's "I do what I want and bet you my left nut I won't care about the consequences" attitude contrasting Leonard's repression and perhaps Leonard's peaceful, somewhat hopelessly optimistic "I wish we just lived in the kind of world we didn't have to fight and deal with all this death and misery" maybe bringing Caim back to that simpler time when the broad, general view of the world really was just that for him

//Of course, it's the main thing they hate about each other, especially at it's worst - Caim's willingness and eagerness to kill and harm a bunch of children who, in one sense are innocent, but in the other provoke a certain desire in the both of them, is as shocking and infuriating to Leonard as Leonard's terror and repulsion at the same thought is to Caim which is why Leonard's Regret is literally one of the most PERFECT ally chapters in showcasing their different characters still, as far as that kind of "brother-in-arms affection" runs between the both of them, I like to think they have a certain vicarious envy in regard to those same facets.