#MMMMM I LOVE THIS DYNAMIC IM GOING TO BE CHEWING ON THIS TONIGHT

[llondonfog]

i may just have a very different view of lilia as a whole, so this really is just tossing ideas at a wall, but the non-smut introspection i have for gen vanrouge is not that he would see who he's become and act out of anger, hatred, or frustration, but fear.

even now, lilia is a force to be reckoned with. he's capable, cunning, and strong.

worst of all—he's playful.

he commands respect and showcases his physical prowess while covered in frills and glitter. he smiles and jokes while establishing his authority. he's wholly unreadable to someone still so rigid in their anger.

i think gen vanrouge would recognize that lilia, as a foe, would be toying with him above all. and that would terrify him, to see someone with his face who is still so capable yet so horrifically casual. it's beyond difficult to read those you cannot understand.

...but again. a singular opinion. i feel like my twst opinions usually differ anyway.

NO BECAUSE THIS IS THE BEST INTERPRETATION OF THEIR DYNAMICS THAT I'VE SEEN YET????

it's the fear of looking in a mirror at someone who so easily intimidates you by the sheer ease of their self control and self confidence alone, the kind of self mastery that general vanrouge at his age does not possess the wisdom nor life experience to understand. that this is you at your fullest potential, and it's nothing like you've ever dreamed it would be, quite the opposite in fact, and yet more self assured than you've been at any point in your life.

this lilia doesn't have to fight for his place to belong, to be respected among the rest- he's accepted and beloved for who he is, and that's a sense of belonging that the general sadly won't know for several hundred years.