#ch33 spoiler ahead

[keyofsentience]

there is only one way i'll accept fu hua dying in canon

!! spoilers ahead !!

ever since fuhua challenged kevin to a fight, it made me wonder since when did she get reckless. even senti did not challenge kevin again bc she knew she would lose right away and it says a lot.

i'm confident that mhy will not kill her off esp when there are a lot of stakes right now. killing her off right as the plot is reaching its climax would not only destroy the momentum. it would also make it a senseless death.

my friend argued with me that mhy doesn't hesitate with senseless deaths. she cites the flamechaser sims and himeko for example. let's be honest 10/13 are already dead with one still unaccounted for in real life. don't get me started with himeko too. sometimes i wonder if we played the same game or if its the difference in our willingness to check out the mangas.

but back to the topic on hand, i'm not very willing to accept fuhua's death any time soon unless its an end fuhua choose for herself. she lived for 50k years already and if fuhua wants to rest, she deserves the right to go out in the way she wanted. she wants to live to actual old age? go ahead granny. she wants to go out in blazing glory on the moon? go... ahead... granny (reluctantly).

they actually had two chances to write her off. one in ch9 bc as a feather, she doesn't have much strength left and could have chosen to pass on. the other was during shattered samsara like @/domain-of-sentience said before. its too late to consider killing her now esp with her recent development.

fu hua is already nerfed to high hell and back. her active honkai reaction couldn't last three minutes against kevin. she got knocked out by sushang. but we also have to remember that she lasted long enough for senti to arrive to her location. she just exhausted herself fighting against sushang as an equal and blocked that giant mental sword to buy kiana time.

in ch33, she tells kevin she wants to show him that people in the new era are willing to sacrifice for what they believe in and made herself his enemy. if that doesn't tell you she found new reasons to live idk what will.

pretty lengthy rant for a death flag she just dodged.

[thedummysdummy]

In the Arms of Another

This scene takes place during the split routes of S1 CH33. If you haven’t read that yet, spoilers be ahead.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The screen lit up Victor's sharp features in the darkened cab of the car and his eyebrows narrowed yet again. 

“I'm sorry, but I've already accepted an invitation from someone else."

Even though he had read the words innumerable times in the preceding days, they still managed to dig into the unprotected place in his heart. Victor turned off the phone screen and leaned back in his seat, closing his eyes wearily. 

Goldman glanced over, a look of concern rippling in his eyes. "You alright, boss?"

Victor gave no reply and Goldman sighed inwardly. Having known the man next to him since their university days, it was obvious that something was wrong. Goldman suspected that Victor was taking the girl's rejection far harder than he let on, but he knew better than to bring it up. "We are here." 

The black car pulled up to the venue where reporters and journalists swarmed the area with cameras and recording devices. Victor pushed opened his eyes and straightened his tie before pushing the door open and unfolding himself onto the walkway. Camera flashes and shouted questions fell on deaf eyes and ears as the CEO strolled up the sidewalk and into the building. 

The tall form of Leto immediately stepped forward, hand extended. "Ah, Mr. Victor! Welcome, welcome. Good to see you. Might I interest you in a glass of wine while you wait for your dance partner to arrive?"

Victor accepted Leto's handshake with his usual cold and imposing aura firmly in place. "Leto," he simply uttered in greeting, his dark eyes focused intently on the commander's face. "I would like a glass of wine, yes." 

With wine in hand, Victor made his way to a quiet table in a corner out of the way and sat, legs crossed and glass balanced gently in his palm. Despite himself he began searching the crowd for that familiar form. His glacial eyes flickered back and forth as the wine glass raised casually to his lips, paused, and lowered. 

She was nowhere to be seen. A knot appeared in the pit of his stomach, though he couldn't quite decide if it related to disappointment or relief. Would she really have dishonestly turned down his invitation with an excuse, knowing he would be there anyway? And would that be better or worse than seeing her in someone else's arms? 

These thoughts didn't have very long to chase each other around his mind. The door opened and she entered, dressed in a lovely gown. Victor felt his heart simultaneously jump and freeze at her beauty. The bright lights reflected in rainbow rays from her glittering earrings and the fabric of her gown flowed like a river down her body. 

Victor nearly rose from his chair to meet her until the air outside exploded into shouts of joy and excitement. From his vantage point in the corner, he could see the curly golden locks of Loveland's favorite pop star bob through the crowd toward the girl. 

As desperately as he wanted to look away, Victor found his eyes glued to the dazzling couple. They stood dangerously close to one another, having a conversation that Victor couldn't hear but could sense through the look in the girl's eyes. A sharp stabbing panged in his chest as she turned her liquid eyes on Kiro, their pools full of affection. 

Kiro took her hand and led her deeper into the room, consequentially leading her within hearing range. "Beautiful lady, can I have this dance?"

Her rapid heartbeat and focused eyes screamed in Victor's direction and he finally managed to tear his gaze away, fidgeting with his wine glass as she responded. "Yes! I need to warn you first...I haven't danced in a long time." 

Scenes of a ballroom, empty aside from a tall, dark figure and his slender partner filled Victor's mind and he smiled softly, allowing the memory to fill him with the same joy he had felt in the moment. So preoccupied with the past was he that he nearly missed Kiro's reply, "It's fine. Let's see how many times we step on each other's toes!" 

The blonde man took the woman in his arms and held her close, the pair of them circling the dance floor like butterflies. Victor felt heat rising in his chest, through his throat, and into his cheeks. A hot fire consumed him for a moment before turning immediately to sorrowful ice. He caught glimpses of the smile on the girl's face and the tenderness in her eyes as she danced by and he took a deep breath. 

"I know you won't step on anyone's toes this time," he whispered into his wine glass. "Because I taught you how to dance." 

With those words Victor finished the wine and placed the glass on the table, rose, and disappeared into the crowd without a backward glance. 

[rinharu-purple]

Hi Rinharu~

What are the hints between Gavin and MC for wedding plans?

Heyho nonny!

Thank you for your "straight to the point" question 😅💯🙋‍♀️

There has been a couple of posts about this in the past. I touched upon this topic here and Cheri had her take on this here. So I would love to give you a different perspective on this if I may.

Spoiler-free short answer is... There are too many hints both from Gavin and MCs side about their wedding plans, desire to be inseparated forever or to age together. But there are also many people who are blessing their love and wish them to tie the knot. And finally their story has a setting which showcases them as a couple on their way to become Mr. And Mrs. So I will try to bullet point through them and I hope I can do it justice and I am truly sorry for some asks which I won't be able to answer anymore (about the newest PV and the chapters) but I will write a post in general which will answer most of your questions I promise!

Spoilers ahead!👰🏻🤵🏻💖💙

💍Hints from Gavin

1) Brilliant Date "I won't let go of you... Not in this life". It is actually just an addition to Gavin's "I'll accompany you till the very end." saga. The fact that this is his character line is the biggest hint one can look for. But I decided not to include too many "I wanna stay with you forever" type of claims from both since the undertone of this is not exactly about marrying stereotypically.

2) Splendid Glimpse Date: The ritual of binding their hair with a red string and then improvising and proposing to her on stage. (Also the color red has been used by PG in Gavin and MC's Karmas more and more in the last few months, the red umbrella, the red ribbon, the red silk ball etc.)

3) 2 Become 1 Date... Pretty much everything in this date is a hint and I think it's about time I write an analysis on this. But to point out the biggest clue, Gavin bought a gem for this occasion. We can safely assume what he bought is actually an engagement ring since you don't just by a gem for such an occasion, but it's left for our imagination... For now ;)

But there is something else in this date which is my Headcanon and can be found here.

4) Call from Dreamers Date: "On my next birthday, I will use what I didn't have the chance to use last time" Meaning his birth register which is necessary for two bureaucratic actions... To change your nationality or to apply for marriage... Which one do you think Gavin's meaning here? 😉

Speaking of next birthday ...

5) Hometown Date, Gavin mentions of buying a piano for the house in the future and implies that MC would be living in there too. Here both of them decorate this future house together in their minds ^_^

6) ASMR Hairpin... Also during the "Right Beside You" section of his birthday, Gavin gives his maternal grandmother's hairpin to MC alongside with the accessory box it was in, he suggests they fill the box together and tells that he will have something to tell her once the box is full.

7) Phone Call "Halves"

"Whether it's the present or the future, I will always share half of my life with you"

Does anyone else get the Edward Elric proposal vibes here?

8) Dream Lake Call where he asks MC about her dream wedding and tells her that in case she wishes to have a high profile proposal he would just hoist her on his shoulders caveman style so that she can't back up (aaah the good old at-the-beginning-Gavin...😄) Which we know he really did...twice! This guy never jokes about such things lol.

9) Call with Mr. Keller here

Mr. Keller: I wonder when I will receive an invitation from both of you.

Gavin: Someday, you will.

There are many more instances with Gavin but I would like to count some from MC as well.

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💍Hints from MC

1) Amusement Park Date "My dream of an everlasting romance has finally come true." We need to understand one thing about MC. She loves fairytales, specifically the Cinderella story. Be it her midnight waltz with Gavin in S1 CH19 and S1 CH33, be it Gavin putting on crystal shoes for her, be it them contemplating about finding each other despite all odds in Three Lifetimes Date but also her asking him directly if the prince (he) would go for someone else had he not found Cinderella. Going along with this, both of their wedding themed pics are in front of a fairytale castle.

2) Late Autumn Date "The rest of my life is yours, The years that we’ve missed out on are also yours (whatever I have, I will give it to you. I will give everything to you, leaving nothing behind)"... I really have nothing to add to this to be honest. It speaks for itself LOUD AND CLEAR! 💖💖💖

3) 2 Become 1 Date "So this is how people felt when they found their Mr. Right." I will explain everything in more detail when I analyze this date I promise!

4) Beautiful Future Call: Gavin remembers that MC mentioned of moving to a Shangri-La where they can live, just the two of them, in a far away future.

5) Growing old together CH19

What shall I say about this? It's quite self-explanatory isn't it? ;) The complete Eternal Winter era has numerous points of MC expressing her wishes for an everlasting staying togetherness with Gavin. More to this can be found here.

6) Halloween AU Fullmoon Date where she directly proposes to him... Spoiler alert, Gavin refuses her because they've just met lol😂

7) When she tells him she wants to see him wearing a tuxedo in Slightly Drunken Date during her love confession "No more talking! Just listen to me! When I said that, I meant it. Not about the bass playing, but you. I like the gift you gave me, I like the bracelet you gave me. I also like that love letter that I never read. I want to see more sides of you...When you’re eating, when you’re sleeping, when you’re happy, when you’re sad, when you’re wearing a tuxedo (ehm...mask...ehm), or red in the face from drinking."

8) Not being able to refuse him. Both in the Assistance Date and S2 CH23, MC has recently repeated her inability to say "no" to Gavin. Which hints at the possibility or rather the impossibility of her saying "no" to him in case he proposes;) Come to think of it, she has never ever refused Gavin in any circumstance over the last 4 years. (Accept for sneezing into his fave twice while he was leaning in for a kiss and not listening to his cautious warnings of not getting in danger lol. For you @playheej :*) BTW there were other cases were she expressed her inability to refuse Gavin but the recent ones should draw the picture.

9) 2 Become 1 Date "No matter whether the wedding is real or fake, I ONLY want to be YOUR BRIDE" As a matter of fact, they both say this:

At this point I don't know if one needs any more hints than that. I mean it is written on black and white here, leaving no room for interpretation. At this point it is not even a hint if you ask me but a statement that makes it abundantly clear what these two plan with each other.

💒💒💒💒💒💒💒💒💒💒💒💒💒💒💒💒

💍Other people wishing them to just tie the knot

Will go bullet points here because you didn't originally ask for this dear nonny, but you get it anyway 😛

1) Susan from Splendid Glimpse Date

- Now let me fix your makeup. Soon your Gavin will have a beautiful bride at his side.

- What do you think, bridegroom?

2) As mentioned above Mr. Keller on his call asking for the date ^_^

3) MCs Aunt in Spring Festival Date "Actions speak louder than words. We're old and won't be around for her forever. I hope you can keep your word, stay with her, take good care of her and love(cherish) her."

4) Panda from Amusement Park Date "I want them to be my parents!"

5) Minor as the #1 GavinxMC supporter! #sis-in-law

6) The Whole STF #mrs. Commander. I thought of including CH37 here, but I wanted to mention in this posts the scenes that are about marriage overtly.

7) Anna during 2 Become 1 Date in front of Gavin: "I'm tearing up, seeing you getting married". Jeez chill your horses Anna, it's just a fake wedding🙈 (tell me more about it 😏)

8) The granny from Rainbow Date: "Looking at you reminds me of the time when my husband and I were young."

9) It is just a hint without giving out names, but there are these two moments with MC's dad and Gavin's mother here. Both Gavin and MC believe that they've found the person in each other of which their parents were telling them about and wishing for them. There is also a Freudian twist to this but it deserves a whole post for itself.

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💍The Setting

Okay I left this for the latest because it is still a thing in the making. But the main story, company projects and dates have many instances for Gavin and MC that take place in a "wedding/newlyweds/fiancées" setting.

1) The Whole S1 CH15... You were wondering when I would make a CH15 reference weren't you? 🤣 Besides my gushing about this episode here and here, the most prominent thing about this was how MC and Gavin were taking care of Perry in a family portrait setting. Not to mention they were mistaken for his parents twice.

2) S2 Guardian Project.. . Gavin and MC visit a tausend year old marriage tree... On the Northern Mountain!

3) The Stories Project...Gavin and MC investigate a man who's lost his fiancée and committed suicide. This was the hardest story I've ever read in the MLQC universe and how this story resembled that of Gavin and MCs frightens me up to this day.

4) The whole series of Brangelina-style adoptions😂... Let's be honest, these two adopt anything and everything, regardless of whether they are living beings or mere objects. Their children's names are: Sparky, Pearly, Thorny, Greene, Little Blacky, Flyer, Jumpy, Perry*, Panda*. Sorry dear nonny I needed a relief after remembering the "Stories" Project :D

5) Role-playing "Mrs. Bai" on the Fragrant Traces Date and boy it was a delight 😍😍😍

6) I can swear that their kiss in S1 CH37 is on the 7th step of the 3rd floor stairs but can't prove it🙈. It is a Loveland High School legend that says the couples would have an everlasting love of they kiss there. It's just my Headcanon though so has to be enjoyed with a grain of salt ;)

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So there you go nonny, I hope I could have collected everything under this post, although I'm pretty sure that I've forgotten about many more hints because Gavin and MCs story has the most hints about being a couple on their way to making future plans, which suits to their "conventional love story" trope. Which makes their story highly suitable for such references and thus spoiling us with many sweet moments. So I'm certain that we will be given many more hints in the future, so we can look forward to them 💕💕💕

----—----—---—-----—

Masterlist

[queenofbaws]

Ooh how about “Am I your lockscreen?” “You weren’t supposed to see that.” for Chrashley? Maybe with a teasing Josh and Sam??? :P

((Quick lil’ author’s note: This sucker takes place post-Ch33 of The (Almost)s, so just know thar be spoilers ahead! ;P))

It was always Social Suicide. Like, always.

Leave it to Josh to invent something this awful, taking all the worst parts of truth or dare and mashing them together with the worst parts of being the first person to fall asleep at a slumber party and then, just for good measure, sprinkling on a fine dusting of the paranoia that came with someone swiping when you were trying to show them a picture on your phone’s camera roll…

“Wait,” Ashley said, her stomach plunging with the knowledge she’d said it a moment too late, “I take it back, I’ll do it, I’ll do it!” She grabbed for her phone and—

“Shoulda thought about that before, so now…” Chris paused after tapping her phone, his eyebrows bunching together in a moment of confusion. “Am…am I your lockscreen?”

Well crap.

She could feel Sam’s eyes burning a hole straight through her, but that was just too bad, because oh, this was…this was not the time. Dropping her face into her hands, Ashley let out a low groan. She hadn’t really meant for it to be an answer one way or another, more like the kind of noise a small mammal made when letting its fellows know it had gotten its leg caught in a snare.

“I-I-I’m not seeing things, right?” Chris asked, and damn it, he was laughing. They were nervous laughs, sure, but they were still laughs. Good, great, she hoped all of them were getting a real hoot out of this. “Like, this is me, isn’t it?”

“Sure looks like it,” Josh remarked, ninety percent of his face taken up by his usual shit-eating grin when Ashley finally found it in herself to lift her head again. “I mean, to be fair, it’s not really that special of a gesture…here, check it,” he grabbed his phone up from the pile on the table, swiping to wake it up. “You’re also my lockscreen, see, isn’t that cute?” Josh flashed her a quick glimpse of his phone and the (horrendous) selfie of the four of them showing on the screen. “Here’s the best part though, because of how everyone’s positioned, every time I get a notification, it cuts yours and Ash’s heads off.”

“Hilarious,” Sam said, voice perfectly flat despite the grin still curling the corners of her mouth. She rested her chin on one of her hands, and her eyes had never really left Ashley’s face, and though she was only seeing her out of her periphery, she had a good idea there was probably also some eyebrow movement going on.

Eyebrow movement that she was not about to acknowledge, thank you very much.

“Will you just give me my phone back?” Ashley groaned, reaching one of her hands out across the table towards Chris. She waggled her fingers, paused, then waggled them a bit more frantically, though—shock of shocks—he showed no sign of hanging it over. “I’ll do your stupid dare, just—”

“Well hey now,” Josh cut in, batting her hand away easily, “Let’s not be hasty. I know I, for one, would very much like to get to the bottom of this here mystery we’re presented with.”

“Myst—there’s no mystery, you meathead, it just…it…” Whoop, and there it was. The burning. Starting at her cheeks and spreading to her ears, her nose, her forehead, her neck, everywhere it could to make her embarrassment that much more obvious. After stuttering for another few seconds, she threw her hands to her sides, fingers flared, “It is what it is, okay?!”

“It is…what it is…” Josh repeated in that tone of his—that freaking tone!

“Oh shush!”

Sam hummed a quiet little noise before leaning over towards Chris’s side of the table, peeking over his shoulder. There was no question about the eyebrow movements just then. No, they were…they were moving, all right.

Fantastic. That was just what she needed: for Sam to start picking up on Josh’s habits.

From over Chris’s shoulder, Sam raised her shoulders in an innocent shrug, pursing her lips in an expression she was sure was supposed to be thoughtful. “You know…” she said slowly, sinking back into her seat only to pick her own phone up and absently spin it on one of its corners. “I actually have to agree with Josh here—” What a surprise. “—I do think there’s a mystery here. Not a big one, maybe, but a mystery nonetheless.”

She didn’t need to sit here and take this from her! Or from any of them!

So, face burning, she half-stood from her seat, stretching across the Washingtons’ kitchen island so she could grab at her phone more effectively. “There’s nothing mysterious about it, oh my God, what’s the big deal about a girl like…” she pressed her lips tight to her teeth as she weighed her options, and she must’ve had some kinda death wish, because she went and said it, despite knowing exactly what kind of fresh hell it would bring down on her head. “…having a picture of her boyfriend on her phone.”

Well that did it. It bought her enough of a distraction to successfully nab her phone out of Chris’s hand before squirreling it away in the pocket of her hoodie and plopping down into her chair again. Then, at least for a moment, she felt Sam’s and Josh’s attention shift to Chris instead of her, and okay, maybe she would’ve normally felt bad for doing something like that, dragging him under the bus with her, but hey, he’d been laughing about it too, so like…

Served him right.

Sam was the first to break the silence, deliberately chewing on every sound of the word “Boyfriend,” as she said it aloud, pronouncing it like some exotic breed of salamander.

“The mystery deepens,” Josh added, clearly trying to keep his voice a low drone but failing miserably as the laughter began to burble up to the surface.

“Hey, c’mon, it’s…hey.” She didn’t need to look his way to know just by the sound of his voice that someone’s giggle-fest had pulled a 180. Lo and behold, when she looked back up from jamming her phone into her pocket, Chris’s face was as red as hers. He held one of his hands up to block Josh from his view, not that it was doing much good, and the look he shot her was one that was trying very, very valiantly to be betrayal…but was a whole lot closer to the same dorky, doofy, stupid glee she’d felt when saying the b-word. “You guys are…assholes.”

Never one to be outdone, Josh reeled back. “We’re the assholes? Oh, we’re the assholes? You hearing this, Sammy? We’re the assholes.”

“I’m hearing it.”

“You two go from cha cha sliding every which way around each other for…how many years?”

With a sniff, Sam pretended to count on her fingers. “A lot.”

“Thank you—a lot of years, most of the years, if I may be so bold, and then one day out of the blue, you let us find out through a shitty party game that you’re suddenly using words like ‘boyfriend’ and ‘girlfriend’ to—”

Ashley pulled her lower lip into her mouth and bounced her teeth against it a time or two. Then she decided to tug him that much further under the bus after all. “To be fair,” she interrupted, raising a scholarly pointer finger, “There has been no usage of the word ‘girlfriend.’”

Again Sam and Josh both whirled on Chris, and again she watched his face flash colors never before known to man.

“Cochise,” Josh began reproachfully.

“Yet!” he stammered, actively shoving Josh’s chair farther from his. “I—th—yet! I didn’t realize this was a-a-a fucking timed exercise, I—”

Sam clucked her tongue and shook her head like a scornful parent, folding her arms across her chest. “Wow,” she sighed, “I expected so much better from you. If I’m being honest? I’m a little disappointed in you.”

“Don’t y—ugh.” There was a low thud as Chris put his head down onto the table, clamping his arms protectively over it. “Hate you guys. Oh my God I hate you guys.”

She couldn’t help it, Ashley had to laugh. Her face was still burning up seven ways from Sunday, but that didn’t stop her from giggling, all of her insides having felt full of butterflies and soda bubbles since the party had broken up last night. “I think…” she said, once the worst of the laughing had passed, “…that maybe we should just agree once and for all that this is a stupid, dumb, pointless game that we should never, ever play again…”

“Oh come on!”

“Because it’s stupid. And dumb. And also pointless. Did I mention that already?”

“My house, my game. Now please, while we’re all gathered here today, dearly beloved…” Josh took a moment to swipe his arm across the table, sending the other phones (namely his and Chris’s) both clattering to the floor so that he had more room to obnoxiously lean himself towards her. “Someone had better start talking about what in the world you two were getting up to on my couch that necessitates a title change from ‘friend’ to ‘boyfriend’ post-fucking-haste.”

That was when Chris found it in himself to lift his head up. “Know what? No, actually, I think maybe we should revisit why in the fuck you made your lockscreen a picture that only cuts off mine and Ash’s heads when someone texts you. I think that’s what we need to like, really dive into, because honestly man, that’s—”

Josh set one of his hands on the back of Chris’s head and gently—oh so gently—pushed it back down onto the table again. With his other hand he pointed to Ashley, raised an eyebrow, and simply said, “Explain.”

And partially because she hated Josh’s stupid (dumb, pointless) game, partially because it was what he and Sam both deserved for always poking fun at them, Ashley smiled, leaned over the table closer to Josh, and smiling sweetly as could be, said the one thing she knew would frustrate him the most. “Aw man, I would, but like…it’s not your turn, is it?”

[dxmichelle]

🔬 and 🎢 for "Of Lost Swords and Shadow Magic" for the Writing Asks, please.

🎢- Were there any scenes you were nervous about? For audience reception or otherwise? Honestly, I am nervous writing anything where Seto and Hermione interact with each other. Is this too forward? Is it too shippy for this point in the narrative? Are they “in character” still? 

I have never written a ship properly in my life before tackling this fic, and I’m trying to build this relationship as naturally as possible for these characters...with also no real life experiences in romance to go off of. So it’s great.

Also, I tend to blend HP movie and book canon together, but it’s been a while since I’ve read the books, and the movies tend to be...problematic. Usually scenes with Harry and Ron (or just Harry and Ron) tend to be hard too because I’m much more familiar with the YGO cast and their voices. Most of my memories of Ron come from the films and his character was destroyed in them. 

🔬- Was there one scene you were building up to/knew you had to get just right? It’s not exactly one scene, but Chapter 38 as a whole. The entire arc it belongs to (Ch33 and going) needed to bring back a ton of small plot points that may have gone forgotten from the earlier chapters, reveal a lot and pave the way for the rest of the story. 

The more specific answer is under the cut, for those who have read that far ahead and...don’t need to worry about spoils. Or for those who don’t care about them! *shrug*

But also because I can talk about Ch38 all dang day. 😊

Okay. The spoiler version, and this also ties back to the other question in this ask post!

Both Voldemort and the Shadow Magus had been working in the background for a long while, and we as readers only knew so much: 

-The YGO trio was at Hogwarts so Voldemort couldn’t get the Millennium Items, but what was he really doing in the meantime?  -Okay, so the Shadow Magus is a thing too. How did he get stuck in that sword? What the heck does he want? And what’s the connection to Seto and Set?  -Why is Umbridge really at Hogwarts?  -And after the close of Ch34, if all he wanted was the Millennium Items, what more would Voldemort want with Seto? 

Chapter 38 brought a lot of that together. Why did Umbridge and Dumbledore seem to show so much interest in Seto’s phone working? On the surface, eh. Don’t think about it too much. But now? Oh, snap! Why was the Shadow Magus running rampant through Seto’s mind and no one else’s? OH SNAP - that’s why. 

But it also had to be believable. Seto is in a lair guarded by people who completely outsmart him in a magical fight. He’s a prodigy but he doesn’t know everything, and it would be completely unrealistic that his six-ish months of magical education would stand up to years of practicing the Dark Arts. Especially since he has maybe...three or so defensive spells under his belt. (thanks, Umbridge). 

And Voldemort did warn him that things would go south for him if he attempted out. And they went south fast.