#I miss having the image of the duelist I was using bigger on the right

[astralhope]

I'm loving this

This is absolutely my favorite thing of the new UI

[tarashima]

Hiya :D I was hoping if I could ask you a question, if that's okay? Ever since episode 58 came out, I've seen a lot of debates about whether or not Yusaku has Stockholm syndrome towards Revolver. I've done a lot of research on the subject, and from what the series shows, Yusaku doesn’t seem to have the syndrome at all, towards Revolver, Dr. Kogami, or any of the Knights of Hanoi. But I’m seeing the term being misused a lot. So, I want to ask: What are your thoughts on the matter?

Thank you for asking this, anon, and I‘m sorry for the late reply. I feel like this response/post is a bit overdue since I know there a lot of fans out there concerned about the misuse and application of the term.

Because canonically, Yuusaku doesn’t, and has never, suffered from Stockholm syndrome.

To truly answer your question, anon, we’ll have to first analyze Yuusaku to see if he meets the criterion to develop the syndrome and then continue by figuring out if he displays the symptoms in the series.

Now, this is going to be pretty picture heavy and long, so bear with me. Also, this will contain spoilers.

All through season 1, Yuusaku is hunting for the truth behind the Lost Incident. He did at one point make the connection between it and the Knights of Hanoi, due to its other name, the Hanoi Project, hence why he hunts them as intensively as he does. He wants revenge and he won’t get it until the ones responsible pay for their crime.

Early on in the series, he states that the Knights of Hanoi are the only ones he hates. Does that mean he also hates Revolver?

Yes, he does. Revolver is just another piece to use in the search after the truth. However, Yuusaku never makes the guess that the leader of Hanoi is the same person as the mastermind of the Hanoi Project. Yuusaku is heavily driven by logic and never makes hasty assumptions but rather conclusions and only when he’s absolutely sure.

But we all know Yuusaku’s perspective shifted when he learned Revolver was his special person, as well as the one who made the anonymous report to uncover the incident. Shifted in the sense of learning where Ryouken came from, hence turning part of his mission into no longer being about crushing Revolver as a part of Hanoi but dragging him away from it. That’s important to remember.

Now, let’s move on to Stockholm syndrome.

The most common description of the term that most people uses, and the very basic one, is “a hostage developing sympathy for their captor”. Which isn’t entirely correct; it’s closer to the truth to instead say that the victims start to identify with their captors, especially when they to cope with the fact that they’re captured, feeling like their old life were empty and meaningless, or to sum it all up in one sentence; a psychological alliance as a survival strategy during captivity.

What everyone agrees on, however, is that it’s generally considered as a highly irrational condition, so no further argument is needed on that point. But just like any other psychological term, there is way more to it than just that.

And when it comes to Yuusaku, we don’t have to continue before it already falls apart.

Let’s go back to episode 58 that started this whole debate in the first place:

VRAINS tells us it was eight-year-old Ryouken. 

The show has so far not shown us how exactly the kidnapping happened, other than it was child Ryouken luring Yuusaku away, a method not uncommon to use when luring away others into captivity, and it’s clear that Dr. Kougami used it to his advantage.

Here’s the thing, though, and what most people may have missed or forgotten about; Ryouken luring Yuusaku away doesn’t make him the most responsible for Yuusaku’s captivity. The ones to blame entirely are the adults involved, and, most specifically, Dr. Kougami.

“But Ryouken is equally guilty since he was a part of it!”

Yes and no. Ryouken’s guilt complex has its origin from this since he did lure away Yuusaku (if he lured away the others is still unknown, but so far, it doesn’t seem like he lured away Spectre and/or Takeru). But Ryouken also confessed that he didn’t understand what was going on, which shouldn’t be too surprising due to being as young as he was. And putting such heavy blame solely on a child is questionable on too many levels. 

Yuusaku himself has stated himself as well that Ryouken was, indeed, too young to be blamed for the Lost Incident. 

In this specific case, the roles as kidnapper and captor aren’t shared by the same person, or even on equal grounds since that would mean Ryouken was just as involved in the project as Dr. Kougami himself, or even Vyra, Dr. Genome, and Faust. But he wasn’t due to his age, and it’s even implied that he was left in the dark, which would be more than understandable. 

It’s worth mentioning as well that Dr. Kougami did admit guilt over dragging Ryouken into the mix to begin with, implying even further that he wasn’t involved more than the show suggests.

This is what we, the audience, get to know. But Yuusaku is aware of this as well, at least in a matter of it being a different person guilty for locking him away. In other words, Yuusaku never developed sympathy or psychological alliance with his captors; he makes a difference between captor and kidnapper just like the show portrays it. Furthermore, he thought for ten years that Ryouken was imprisoned as well:

Based on all this, it’s not too far-fetched to assume that Dr. Kougami took Yuusaku away when Ryouken wasn’t in the same vicinity. Otherwise, he should’ve known that Ryouken was in cahoots with Dr. Kougami.

All Yuusaku’s hatred towards Hanoi is because of them imprisoning him, something a hostage with Stockholm syndrome doesn’t feel since the lack of hatred and negative feelings is the main factor for the condition developing in the first place. Wikipedia uses a quote from the psychologist Thomas Strentz: “The victim’s need to survive is stronger than their impulse to hate the person who has created the dilemma.” Nothing we see in the show indicates that that was the case with Yuusaku. He was a tortured, starved child who just wanted it all to end so he could go home, never once showing any sympathy as a way of coping or attempts to lessen the experience.

Now that I’ve taken apart the basics of Stockholm syndrome that most people are used to, let’s move on to see if Yuusaku actually shows the symptoms or not:

“One criterion is how the victim refuses to cooperate with authorities and rather let their captor be left unpunished, and Yuusaku hasn’t reported Ryouken for the Lost Incident or any other crimes, despite knowing all the details.”

While that is true, it’s also obvious Yuusaku is in no position to do so. Not only because of reasons stated earlier but also:

Yuusaku has obtained all knowledge through illegal means (he is a hacker, after all), and while Yuusaku isn’t afraid of his identity being revealed, it doesn’t mean he’s willing to give it away. SOL knows that Playmaker has the information, and they’ll do all they can and even more to uncover the identity of the insufferable duelist that causes them so much trouble. And Yuusaku hasn’t shown any signs of allowing that to happen.

SOL Technologies covered up the Lost Incident, so the public, as well as the authorities, wouldn’t know about it. And they will most likely continue to do so in the future.  

Yuusaku hasn’t shown any hint of trust towards authorities in the first place; he’s taken matters into his own hands instead, as well as stated that he keeps to his own justice rather than anyone else’s. 

One can absolutely argue that the possibility of Yuusaku leaving an anonymous tip exists, but with all of these points stated, can he really? Would he really?

It’s not even about Ryouken specifically, because Ryouken isn’t the only person responsible. This is about the Lost Incident, SOL Technologies, and the Knights of Hanoi combined. A person with Stockholm syndrome refuses any sort of assistance from authorities, but that’s not the case here since no authorities have been actively involved from what we’ve seen in the show, not even after Vyra escaped.

“But he did report Vyra?”

He did, but because of the Another case and her being responsible for the computer virus, not because of her involvement in the Lost Incident, which he had no knowledge about at the time.

Also, it wasn’t as much as reporting the crime as it was calling an ambulance due to her unconsciousness/presumably death, and it’s doubtful he and Kusanagi actually stayed long enough to explain the situation, or even stayed at all until the ambulance arrived since that would’ve raised the question what they were doing there in the first place. The evidence of Vyra’s actions was right there in her apartment.

To be fair, though, the Knights do live on a boat at the moment, and while it hasn’t been outright stated, it’s easy to guess that it is probably to hide from authorities. The police, however, hasn’t shown signs of prioritizing catching them. 

The only ones that have indeed shown signs of catching the Knights of Hanoi so far, has been SOL Technologies, which isn’t too surprising with all the havoc they caused back in season 1, havoc that most people in the VRAINS-verse know about as well. So, if SOL is the only ones prioritizing catching Hanoi, and Yuusaku doesn’t have any reason to work with them because of the LI and their plans about the Ignis, is it really only about Ryouken personally then? Looking at the bigger picture, SOL is the bigger enemy here, especially from what we’ve seen so far in season 2.

“But Yuusaku is clearly projecting an image of young Ryouken that doesn’t exist anymore on present Ryouken.”

Actually, he doesn’t. Yuusaku is well aware of who Ryouken is in the present and what ten years did to his special person. If he wasn’t, he would’ve treated Ryouken as a saviour in every regard of the word and brush off his crimes without a second thought, but that’s not what he does. While he is reluctant about fighting Ryouken at the end of season 1, he also knows it has to be done and doesn’t hesitate when it’s clear there’s no other way. Like I mentioned earlier, Yuusaku is a logical thinker and he can put his feelings aside to do what must be done. That determination is obvious all through that final duel, a determination that wouldn’t exist if Yuusaku had been projecting.

Yuusaku wants to save Ryouken, true, but that doesn’t mean he’s siding with him. They clash and argue constantly about the Ignis. Yuusaku wouldn’t be capable of doing that if he truly had Stockholm syndrome. Every time they’ve clashed, Yuusaku has tried to change Ryouken’s point of view, making him fail to fit the criterion of how the victim starts to side with their captor. While their current truce means they work for a shared goal, it doesn’t mean Yuusaku is willing to put their differences aside permanently.

It’s also worth remembering that Yuusaku has stated that he still isn’t saved from the Lost Incident.

Realising that Ryouken was his voice of hope didn’t change that. He wasn’t saved because he was given strength to continue endure those hellish days, all he knows/feels is that he can be saved, and that’s a huge difference.

Yuusaku also clearly doesn’t believe Ryouken is capable of saving him unless he walks away from the path towards self-destruction, but that doesn’t mean he’ll never be able to. Is it blind trust? Definitely not. It’s a belief in a brighter future for them both. Otherwise, Yuusaku wouldn’t spend so much energy on trying to talk sense into Ryouken over and over again.

Yuusaku wants to save his special person, but that doesn’t mean he’ll let Ryouken succeed with his goals. As much as Ryouken wants a rematch for the sake of pride as well as closure, Yuusaku wants to be the one to personally stop Ryouken just to make sure he won’t continue down the path towards self-destruction.

“It’s problematic that Yuusaku doesn’t view Ryouken as the threat he is!”

It would be if Yuusaku was, in fact, doing that, and he’s never really given any sign of seeing Ryouken as a threat towards himself. But just because Yuusaku doesn’t perceive Ryouken as a threat for him, it doesn’t mean he believes Ryouken doesn’t pose a threat overall. Yuusaku won’t accept Ryouken falling back into his old ways and will stop him if it comes to that. But as the show has progressed, it’s getting clearer and clearer that Ryouken’s improving (i.e. being less of a threat overall), an improvement that definitely comes from lack of influence from Dr. Kougami since Ryouken now operates differently from season 1. Again, it’s not blind trust from Yuusaku’s side, it’s a choice of believing in Ryouken’s improvement, which isn’t the same.

The only thing now that I haven’t dealt with that Wikipedia mentions is the criterion “no previous hostage-captor relationship”, but I won’t be doing that since it’s so self-explanatory that there’s no point. Yuusaku didn’t develop sympathy for Dr. Kougami or any member of the Knights of Hanoi, and he had already met Ryouken as a child and a voice before the shift in his perspective happened. It falls flat right away on its own.

So with all this said, it’s clear that Yuusaku fails to meet any of the criterions necessary for developing Stockholm syndrome and he doesn’t display any of the symptoms mentioned, making the label heavily misplaced.

If it hasn’t been clear, this is not meant as a criticism against headcanons; people are free to play around however they see fit. It’s the misuse and misapplication of the term that is problematic, as well as it being treated as canon rather than fanon/headcanon. Carelessly labelling anything as Stockholm syndrome without fully understanding what it is should be avoided, because such labelling could trivialize the experience of those who may have actually developed the syndrome. 

Thank you for staying with me to the end, I appreciate it :)

[dmcrossroads-blog]

Day 03! #MTGC17 Spoilers have Begun! Catmmander!

Ladies and Gentlemen! Welcome back to DMCrossroads, my little slice of the internet where I talk about Magic: the Gathering and my own thoughts and opinions on it. I have a few ideas for the next few posts that I was excited about… And then I realized it’s #MTGC17 spoiler week and I pushed EVERYTHING BACK to talk about NEW CARDS! It’s funny, I mentioned to the @PraetorMagic crew that it would be funny if the first day or two should just be WOTC officially spoiling all of the cards that were leaked a month ago or so. Just as a subtle “STAHP DOING THIS” message to the community. It SORT OF happened, as one of the cards that was spoiled today was a previously leaked card, but they also showed us many new awesome cards we haven’t seen or even expected before!

Normally, I’m the type of person that likes to build up to a big dramatic reveal. I’ll hint at something throughout my speaking or writing and then SURPRISE, throw some insane stuff on my audience that will leave them in shock and awe mode.

Today, though, I’m not going to do that. I’m going to show you the card that everyone is talking about the most, right up front and in your face. Ready for it? OH WELL, HERE IT IS!

Mirri, Weatherlight Duelist

That’s right, a new Mirri! This time, everyone’s favorite planeswalking-skyship-riding cat is two color instead of just mono-Green or Black and she is an awesome force of control. For starters, I want to talk about the fact that she’s a 3/2 body with First Strike for 3 mana. That alone is pretty efficient card building. Then you add the controlling parts of her attacking and being tapped, and well… She’s dangerous! I want to speculate now before anyone else says it: I could see Mirri also fitting into a GWx Vehicle deck where you use her to crew something, which leaves her tapped and as a defensive card. I know, you’ll miss out on the attack trigger, but I think it’ll be worth in the end.

Next, I want to talk about a few different cards all together. It looks like the GW Cat deck is going to strongly resemble the theme Wizards printed with Kemba, Kha Regent in the idea of Equipments matter. Why do I think that? Well, check out these nifty cards:

Nazahn, Revered Bladesmith

Hammer of Nazahm

Bloodforged Battle Axe

Balan, Wandering Knight

Apart, these are pretty awesome cards (well, maybe you really want Nazahn and his hammer together, given that one fetches the other) but together, you’re talking about some awesome synergy. I love the fact that the Hammer allows you to free-equip cards and I can see it being run in ANY Equipment-based Voltron Commander deck, ever (looking right at you, Sram!) Balan is a great target for Voltron and can bypass the pesky problem of needing lots of mana with lots of equipments, given that you can equip EVERYTHING to them with 1W!  The fact that they’re printing Bloodforged Battle Axe, an equipment that makes token copies of itself, in the deck with Green and White, the colors that own ALL the token doublers (Doubling Season, Parallel Lives, Primal Vigor and Anointed Procession) has not escaped me. And finally, the fact that Nazahm finds his legendary hammer AND offers some control by tapping down opponents’ creatures by attacking with Equipped creatures is awesome! My only criticism is the fact that they decided to call him a “Revered Bladesmith” and then gave him a Legendary Hammer instead of a Sword! But I think most of us will look past that little typo! 😉

I made a joke about Wizards only spoiling the leaked cards and that did happen with one card, shown below.

Arahbo, Roar of the World

Arahbo is the box card of the GW Cat tribe deck, meaning that they’re the one you’ll see when you buy the product. They’re also the card bearing the Eminence Mechanic, which most people will recognize as being similar to an effect that Oloro offers. Eminence is pretty simple; It’s an effect that you can take advantage of while the Legendary Creature sits in your Command Zone. Overall, though, Arahbo is very traditional GW. They look at tokens with their Eminence ability and when they are on the battlefield, they make big stuff bigger and stompier! Hello, new best friend with Pathbreaker Ibex!

Of course, Wizards can’t just print 12 new Legendary Creatures per deck (I mean… They could. And I wouldn’t complain. But they probably shouldn’t!) so there were some cats that were NOT Legendary, but they are pretty awesome!

Alms Collector

Alms Collector helps mono-white with the issue they have with never drawing enough cards. They also cut into an opponent trying to draw tons of cards. Imagine your opponent running mono-Blue, tapping a ton of mana into Blue Sun’s Zenith and you flash this in. “No, you’re not drawing 10 cards. But we can both have one!” This is a brilliant display of the White traits of justice and balance and I see this being run in a lot of mono-colored and two-colored decks.

Hungry Lynx

Hungry Lynx is probably one of the biggest flavor wins in today’s set. They give your Cats protection from Rats. And then you get +1/+1 counters when Rats die. BECAUSE YOUR CATS ARE EATING THE RATS! Oh, my goodness, this thing makes me swoon with how hilarious it can become. The fact that the card MAKES IT’S OWN PREY is also fantastic!

Seht’s Tiger

Seht’s Tiger has me turning my head to the side. I can see it saving people in a game where someone goes to deal lethal damage and you give yourself protection from their color and thus deny them the killing blow. But the card costs four mana, meaning you’re denying yourself that resource. I get that the late game plays will probably mean you’ll have excess mana, especially if you’re running White with Green for ramp, but then I can’t help but wonder why you don’t just run Fog instead? Or Druid’s Deliverance if you have token synergy? Or … Any of the other cheaper effects that have been printed over the years? (I know, I know. At least one person is going to read this and think “BUT IT’S A CAT VERSION IN CAT TRIBAL!” Let’s remember, just because something works in a tribe does NOT mean it’s good in a tribe…)

Stalking Leonin

Stalking Leonin is one of those cards with a new-ish mechanic that you see and you don’t know how to evaluate. Any time you secretly name something, it can come back to bite you. What if I secretly name Lycoris in our Magic Online Command League and Duellona is the one that swings in for lethal? @CubeApril on Twitter mentioned that the card could just have Flash instead and I think that would make the card more effective. I stated on Twitter at the time that there is also the consideration of needing to leave up 3 mana, so you could apply the same argument I made for Seht’s Tiger here, so I guess it’s a battle of pros and cons that may need some testing to truly work out. Hmm, I wonder if we’ll see more “Secretly Choose an Opponent” Conspiracy-like cards in the other decks?

That’s it for the 10 Cat cards that were spoiled today. That is not, however, it for cards spoiled today. The last card I’m going to talk about is not based on Cats, but I can see it making a huge splash in Commander and maybe some other formats, too.

Traverse the Outlands

Traverse the Outlands is almost like Hour of Promise with the volume turned up about 10 notches. Let’s remember; Green likes ramp. Green also likes big creatures. This card works on both of those big strengths to bring you awesome value. Sure, Hour of Promise can fetch you two lands of any kind, not just basics, imagine having this and, let’s say, Nylea, God of the Hunt on the field, with the devotion to make her a creature. She came down turn 3 or 4 and you played this directly after. Well, looks like you just got 6 more lands! Rhonas the Indomitable is another great one to pair up to fetch 5 lands instead without needing the devotion to five.

There you have it. Eleven new cards for all of your Kitty Cat Commander ways! Awesome new cats. Awesome new weapons. Awesome new fetch spell. Overall, I’m pleasantly surprised at how happy I am with the new cards in this deck. I don’t think Wizards has revealed a decklist yet, so we don’t know what reprints will be included, but hopefully they’ll provide that either Friday or next Monday and we can look at what awesome Cat Commanders are making a return in the deck. I’m also curious if there will be any massively famous Tribal cards reprinted like Coat of Arms or even Cavern of Souls! That would be awesome.

Oh, one final note! Scroll back up and take a good look at the art on these awesome cards! Too often, I think we read the effects of the cards and don’t properly appreciate the art or those who create them. Take a minute to admire some amazing effort and love that was put into the images on the cards as well!

I hope you guys enjoyed my thoughts on today’s Kat-tastrophe spoilers (… I’m so sorry, these are the jokes���) and I hope you follow for more tomorrow! Follow me on Twitter @DM_Cross and don’t forget the entire Praetor Magic channel as well @PraetorMagic! If you want a chance to win a Blessed vs. Cursed Duel Deck, click the link below and #Subscribe to our YouTube channel and tweet out a link to your favorite Magic Online Commander League episode with #MOCL for a chance to win one! We’re sending one out when we reach 50 subscribers and a second one when we reach 100 subscribers! Get on your chance to win one! Until next time, that’s all I got for ya! Peace, love ya’ll!

The Praetor Magic YouTube Channel!

[pendulum-sonata]

Chapters: 3/? Fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Akaba Ray/Zarc Characters: Akaba Ray, Zarc, Akaba Leo Additional Tags: Fluff and Angst, Drama & Romance, ZarcRay Week, Experimental Style Summary:

This world revolves around two views on the same thing. In addition, it's about laughable miseries...

This is where I will post the prompt of the Zarcray Week.

‘I had always loved the word ‘fate’…’ For him it meant that everything in this world had a reason to be, every little encounter, every single happening was part of a greater plan, even a nameless, insignificant boy like him could hope about being part of something bigger.

Of course not everything were happy moments, there were lots and lots of painful memories and hurt – he should know about that one, particularly when he awoke with ghastly feeling of warm hands and sweet nothing that were no longer there – but that only makes the happy ones brighter and time heals everything, nothing in this world in pointless…

…Right?

.

.

.

Ever since he has memory of it, Zarc has been able to hear their voices, as a child he had thought everyone could too and that people simply choose to ignore those most of the time.

Or that he thought so until the caretakers on the orphanages started to avoid him when he was alone, just because he mentioned once that they liked their songs.

Heck he was not even sure who they were for he could not actually see them most of the time.

Only in his dreams he got to see and play with them.

And in exchange they would tell him their secrets.

.

.

.

Finding out about dueling has been like a shining beacon onto his life, ‘I knew it, I knew it!!’ After years of expecting for sign, a clue, anything that told him he was not just a freak or worse crazy.

They were here, with him, with everyone, just like in his dreams.

Sure people could still not talk to them but by dueling alongside them he could play it off as his gimmick.

He always knew fate would smile at him, that the cards life handed down to him would made him a winner.

.

.

.

‘It was a mistake! An accident! Please believe me, please don’t look at me like that!’

*Clap*

What… then more claps, along some cheers and whistles.

Then they were chanting his name.

“Zarc! Zarc! Zarc!”

It was fine, everything would be fine.

.

.

.

‘It hurts! Please stop! I want to stop!’

At first it was the monster’s plight he kept hearing on his head, their cried, some of them even teared up.

He doesn’t know when they started to mix up with his own.

Doesn’t know if they ever were.

.

.

.

In retrospective he should have realized that before, he was special, he had always been able to hear them, and they told him things – true things, not the filthy lies humans told for their entertainment’s sake –and he knew now why he was put into this world, he was a chosen one.

And so he awoke one morning …realizing that he hated this world.

This world was rotten, filthy, and it had to disappear, remade into a happy world where everyone would smile!

But it had a price, it always had, Zarc would take all of that within himself and destroy it all, he always knew fate had a plan for everyone, him included.

His, their sacrifice would end it all

¤

‘I always hated the word ‘fate’…’

After all, if everything was set up from the beginning, the gods – or whoever was up there – were incredibly unjust and cruel beings, even if Ray was aware that all things considering she had little to complain about – She had a loving father, went to school, never missed a meal, managed to build a successful career as a Pro Duelist – sometimes her mind wandered to weird places.

If someone else had made that life that she considered hers happen, then what was the point of even being born? What about people who were born in the middle of war or poverty?

Because that would mean that ever since our birth, none of us would ever amount to anything.

.

.

.

There they were again.

Those… things, those …creatures, Ray didn’t know what to call them much less what in the world they were supposed to be, but ever since she can remember – Sometimes she thinks she has vague memories of their inhuman eyes looking down at her from atop her crib – she’s always been able to see them, to feel when they are close by, no matter if they hide between bushes or under the bed, she always knows.

“Dad? Are monsters real?” she asked one day while having breakfast, trying all too hard not to stare at the little goblin-like creature under the table.

“Um?” He looked over from the newspaper and smiled at her. “Sure, in your imagination, anything can be real!”

Oh, that clears things up.

.

.

.

Ray’s first instinct when a classmate first showed her the cards was scream, which luckily she passed as excitement rather than terror.

The second had been curiosity, after all, someone and made those cards right, then didn’t that meant that somewhere in the world someone could see them too?

The third and last one was relief, if they are real even as card game, then that means Ray has nothing to be scared about, much less when she, little children, everyone can use them for their entertainment.

She even found herself encouraging her father’s research, the more real the better.

Ray was in control of her life for the first time.

.

.

.

She has never been a heavy sleeper.

A soft, lullaby-like sound on her alarm was all she needed to wake up, but tonight she slept in.

No more like she couldn’t wake up, she’s not sure what prompts that thought but there is a weight to it that make her consider it true nonetheless, her dreams had been the most vivid ones she’d had since childhood, and for the first time they talked.

No, those weren’t voices talking, they were beast-like growls and cries of bloodlust and she had been there, trying to make sense of them, to find and exit in among all the black and red around her, but she all of them conducted to dead ends.

After a moment of sheer terror, Ray smirks, to herself, to the shadows on the corner of her room, cowering from her, because they know, she knows.

She did it, she defied fate.

¤

When their paths finally crossed, they were happy.

Thoughts swirling around their heads – ‘There’s another one?’ ‘Why?’ – Because they realized for the first time that they were not a lonely in the world, there was someone else who could see the same scenery as they, hear the same melodies hidden from the rest of the world.

All the voices, the images, they could see them all.

Both could hear them calling for them: ‘Save me!’ ‘Help!’

They were the chosen ones, the only ones who saw the optimal path of the world, well, at least each one of them saw a part of it, if they had gotten together and joined each other’s missing halves of the scenery before them, then maybe, just maybe things would have been different…

‘I was so happy to meet her..’

‘I never felt at peace with anything until his eyes crossed with mine..’

‘…But she refused to side with me…’

‘…But he refused to side with me…’

‘…The only person who could see the same world I did…’

Yes, they both felt indescribable joy, but they were also saddened, because it was at that moment that they also realized that they were never meant to be.

Sacrifices are never meant to last after all.