#so Leander likely won’t be a monster for the same reason

[n--n]

Kuras wants a redemption arc so bad but refuses to do the actual work so he’s just doing a corruption arc speed run without realizing he’s already completed it

[teakmiddleton]

- discord thread with @akbartheolder , @lostboyjamiebevans , and @teakmiddleton

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WHEN: February 26, 2021; mid-morning. WHERE: A stand of coconut trees near the Leander.

The fog was gross. That was all Teak could think when he saw it out of the porthole in their cabin on the Leander, the thought was reinforced when he and Jamie stepped out onto the deck of the ship, and it grew exponentially as they headed down the gangplank and onto the beach. "This isn't normal," Teak had said, as they listened to people moving around, barely visible. "This is messed up." He'd stooped, undoing the shoelaces from his sneakers (they didn't really need them; the laces were decorative, and not even really great at that), tying the strings together and then handing one end to Jamie. 

"Tie that through a belt loop," Teak instructed, doing the same on his own jeans. "We're gonna see what we can find and I don't want to lose you." A plan he congratulated himself on when they remained together long enough to join up with some people who were frenetically trying to get down some trees, for possible raft-building or something, and Teak only then turned Jamie loose with the order for him to sit in the sand and not move. He could do this. Whatever that light out on the ocean was, it could be the ticket home for the Bevans-Middleton boys, and Teak wasn't about to let that opportunity pass him by.

Jamie did as he was told when Teak offered up his shoelaces, tying them tight through a beltloop, the fog cold and cloying and more frightening than he'd ever thought fog might be - and it was comforting, doing what Teakettle said, handing over the reins of decision making to the brother that had always protected him in the past. When Teak set him free though, ordering him to sit in the sand and not move, Jamie felt himself want to balk. He didn't want to be free yet, not when people were taking down trees and Teak was determined to join them. Not when that tether had been keeping them both safe; keeping them a set, a unit. Jamie didn't want to let that go. 

But Teak was the elder brother, and what he said went, so Jamie sat in the damp sand and tried his best to see through the gloom to keep an eye on his Kettle. Helping in the way of all baby brothers before him, watching carefully and following orders. Keeping Teak in his misty sights so he could be sure that he was still there. That Jamie hadn't lost him in the thick white fog. Counting the minutes until they could be tethered again. Whatever they were going to do, they had to do it together. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. "I'll sit," Jamie said, "-but I don't like it." And then he parked himself like a statue, ready for Teak's next idea.

Emre kept losing his way back to the boat.  He maintained his calm demeanour, even if internally he was roiling with frustration and impatience.  The fog was unresponsive to water-magic, that Emre had figured out.  Not that he was any good at it himself, but because other more experienced water-magic users had failed. But he still toted supplies that could be useful for the accelerated boat-building, still hoping in vain to find his bearing and meet up with the rest of the volunteers.  Tamyra must be thrilled, knowing that she was right (maybe) and that so many people were now eager to jump on her 30-year mission. Emre wished at least that, like London fog, this fog would be enjoyable to stroll in.  But the sense of electric urgency and confusion in the air made Emre antsy as well.  Glancing around but trying to walk straight, eyes peeled for any sort of movement.

And he got it.  A flurry of people jogged past him, seemingly out of nowhere.  Emre froze - he'd found some boat-volunteers, but they were now talking about the ship getting closer (maybe) and voices on the water (maybe) and a life-raft (maybe).

"Oi," Emre said faintly to the last one running by, but they didn't hear him.  Instead, Emre kept walking, and made contact with something solid.  A person, sitting in the sand.  Emre couldn't quite make them out.  "Alright?" he asked, for lack of anything else to say.  "Know where the boat's being built, mate? Been trying to get back to it for ages."

"Ooof," Jamie wheezed, all the air knocked out of him at the sudden contact, and then a disembodied voice - a vaguely familiar voice - asked him if he were alright. "Yeah," Jamie said, realising that he was, "Yeah, mate, I'm fine. I'm the one sitting in the way, aren't I?" Jamie stood up for a moment, still staying rooted to his spot, just trying to see the man he was talking to, "The boat I'm not so sure of, but those people over there," he gestured at the noise of work, "are trying to get some trees down for a raft. I'm just meant to stay here and keep out of trouble. My brother will have my head, otherwise."

Helping to chop down the tree was taking a lot of concentration -- for some reason, the rest of the people making the attempt were sticking to their crappy little tools for doing it, and Teak was embroiled in trying to get them to let him use his firepower for it -- but he kept making time to check in on Jamie, periodically. Darting forward to look for the little teddybear-lump in the sand and make sure it was still there. "Won't be long," Teak called to him at one point, although that was a lie. These people were taking for-ever. 

He was about to get back to it when he thought he heard Jamie start talking (the words were hard to make out, but the lilt of a London accent made it through)-- --and then realized it wasn't Jamie at all. It was Emre. Talking to his baby brother. Watch what you're doing! one of the other idiots squalled at him, and Teak tore his attention away from Jamie to slap his hands against the trunk and out of the way of the swinging axe that was as dull as the guy wielding it. Everyone else seemed to have run off somewhere, leaving only this one guy and him. "Yeah, yeah, if you just let me burn some of the trunk--" Teak began, but the guy wasn't listening, and he was. To see what Jamie and Emre were talking about.

Emre didn't need the other bloke to stand, but he figured it was only polite or whatever.  Especially in the fog, when at the moment it just looked like a pale shadow below him.  Emre could make out his face now - square and rounded at the same time, and rather familiar - but Emre wasn't in the mood to figure out from where, since really everyone around the island was 'vaguely familiar'; it was the nature of a small island and strangers. "They've all run off, innit.  Back to the beach I think," Emre said with a huff as he looked over in that direction (he guessed it was the right direction).  "Right, suppose I should follow them then.  The boat - raft, whatever - is on the beach like..." 

But Emre's decision was interrupted by an awful creaking noise - one loud enough to puncture even through the sound-muffling fog.  Without the ability to see what was bloody going on, Emre could only look in the direction, dropping his dragged supplies and bracing for...something.  A monster?  A jinn?  It could be anything. And it was.  At the last minute,  Emre realized the thing charging down towards them were the fronds of a tree - the coconut tree the other fellow just mentioned.

"Fuck--!" Emre yelped and shoved the other man forward, diving along with him.  The other was sturdy as hell but somehow Emre got him to move, as the tree crashed onto them.  Emre slid off the other man, face colliding so hard into the sand that stars spun, dazed.  He groaned, and tried to crawl up - but his leg felt pinned.  "Fucking hell..."

Before Jamie even knew what was happening he was being pushed forward, and though his body resisted at first - he went down with only the strongest of efforts - he heard the crack, and allowed himself to get shoved down into the sand again; this time under the stranger and the tree, once again the wind knocked out of him. But when he sat up - with a little extra effort than it might normally have taken - he shimmied out from under his saviour and tugged his arm free, only to realise that the other man didn't have the same luxury. He was pinned under the coconut tree. And if the tree had fallen- 

 "Ketts!" Jamie hollered, "Ketts, where are you?! There's a bloke over here trapped under the tree! He saved my life. KETTLE, I NEED YOU!! Come help me!" Jamie got down in the sand again, murmuring to himself, 'Oh god, please let Teak be alright. Please, I'll do anything,' before turning his attentions to Emre. "Are you hurt?" he asked, "Does your leg feel broken or just stuck? What can I do?" "KETTLE!" he shrieked again, "Kettle, come help!"

The other guy had been off like a shot once the tree started falling. Okay, not exactly then -- but when he saw the flash-bang of Teak's concentrated fire-pop, going off like a cherry bomb inside the wedge that the guy had cut into the trunk. "Hey, where are you going?" Teak called after him, insincerely. "Scared of a little success?" He didn't have much time to crow, though; the tree fell at an angle he didn’t expect, and Teak could only watch as shapes on its other end moved, scrambled, fell. And then his brother's voice, high and panicked, and Teak scrambled through the sand with one of his untied shoes coming half-off and making him almost faceplant. 

 "Jamie?" he shouted back. "Jamie, are you okay? You didn't get hurt, did you? If somebody hurt you--" But he collided with the compact, crouched-over form of his brother, and this time Teak did drop down onto one knee as his shoe flew off. And found himself with an eyeful of Emre Akbar, of course, and his brother's worried squalling in his ear. "You're fine, right?" Teak asked Jamie, first and foremost, before looking at Emre. "You're ... you trapped, or something?"

Jamie didn't care how it looked, or if it was an appropriate moment, he threw his arms around his brother and held on tight, thanking Maria that Teak was safe and sound beside him. "I'm fine," he managed in a wavery voice. "I wouldn't be, but I am, because this geezer threw me out of the way. I'm fine. Just shaken up is all. Are you alright? Because we need to get him out of here."

Emre was dazed enough not to register the names that the other man was hollering for, something about a kettle.  Was this the best time for tea?  Honestly, maybe it was.  Emre was afraid of the fact that he couldn't feel any pain in his leg; he couldn't really feel his leg at all, so yeah - best time to put the kettle on.

It was only when he saw someone else racing forward - and bleary, Emre focused when the stout fellow flung his little arms around the new arrival like a child, only to have his brain belatedly fill in the details over a growing alarm.  Jamie, this one was called.  Kettle, he'd called to the other, only it had nothing to do with tea and had everything to do with --

"Teak?" Emre asked hoarsely, and grimaced at the sight. This was the brother - the one Madi mentioned.  English as you please, and clinging to Teak like a little big-eyed monkey.  'Are you alright', Jamie asked Teak, as if Emre wasn't the one pinned under the bloody tree after saving his bloody life.

"Tree's on me," Emre said, eyes flicking from one pale face to the other, so close together they became one.  "It were falling on your mate here first."

Teak rubbed Jamie's back, shushing at him instinctively as he kept an eye on Emre. Who really wasn't looking all that great, and a more petty part of Teak's mind was pleased about that. Not so full of yourself now, huh? None of that attitude when you're under a tree?

If it was just the two of them, Teak would've ditched. Left Emre there for somebody else to give a crap about. But Jamie was clinging to him, panicky and concerned, so Teak drew in a breath and redirected his attention at Emre. "I'm fine, Jamie," Teak said, taking in the pain-tightening around Emre's huge eyes. "The thing we need to concentrate on is moving this tree trunk. Without making it worse on the geezer."

He patted his brother's hip. "Go down to the other end of the tree and take a look so we know where it's pressing against him. I just need to ask Emre a few things." Teak looked at Jamie, giving him a reassuring smile before pushing him in the other direction. "That's my brother," Teak said to Emre, his voice so low it was almost pitched out of hearing range. "And my brother has a very special way of thinking about me. Nothing's gonna change his mind. You got that?"

"Right", Jamie said, half to himself and half to Teakettle, "Right. I'll go look at the other end and see how bad things are." He smiled shakily at the pat to his hip. "I'm so glad you're alright, Ketts. I was so fucking scared," before letting Teak push him away to make himself useful, heading for the other end of the tree and Emre's trapped leg.

The fog was still so thick that Jamie had to get back on his knees in the sand to really see what was happening, but when he realised, he called back to Teak. "He's pretty firmly stuck - do we lift the tree, or do I try to manipulate the earth to get him out?" Not that Jamie was terribly adept at that yet - but he had to offer. Emre had saved his life after all. The least he could do was try everything he had at his disposal. Jamie could still hear his brother talking to the trapped man, but he couldn't make out what was being said. "Teak?" he called again, "Teak what are you thinking?"

"What you mean, your brother," Emre hissed, words sibilant and sharp, with no intention of playing along with Teak's little game.  He mustered up a glare through his haze.  "Mandem's London, and you're American.  Can't imagine it really matters what he thinks of you as it's all a lie,  innit. Bloody wanker."

Emre could only vaguely hear Jamie's voice sing-songing behind him, through the fog.  He pushed himself up on his arms then, struggling to gain some ground and dignity.  The most he could manage was to balance on his arms, like a raised cobra.

"Need a lever, mate," Emre called back over his shoulder, towards Jamie.  "A long pole like, lift the tree off and I'll clip right out."  He looked back up at Teak, resenting how near he was.  "Magic don't work, yeah.  Dunno why. Fog maybe."

"I mean my brother! People are allowed to have brothers from other places, gosh." Teak glared back at Emre, almost wanting to grab the other man by his throat or his collar but loathe to get too close, having the unsettling feeling that Emre might snap those clean white teeth at his hand and snip a finger right off. "You better be calling me a wanker and not him. You better not be calling him anything."

They both held off in their spitting at each other when Jamie called back with his findings, which were, frankly, of concern. "Yeah, a lever," Teak appended onto Emre's comment, although he shouted louder over the tail end to say, "Don't go looking for one! You shouldn't wander off in the fog."

Teak spared a glare for Emre, saying, "Magic won't work on the fog. He might as well try his earth magic." He lifted his voice, still glaring at Emre, "Jamie! Try your earth magic, but be careful. You don't want the tree settling on him even heavier. Maybe if you could try to make a hump of sand further up the trunk to lift it? I'll look for a lever." He scrambled to his feet, and if he kicked some sand in Emre's face and even maybe connected with the guy's chin with the toe of his one still-sneakered foot, well. It was a fog! Nobody could blame him.

Jamie heard Teak's warning not to go astray in search of levers and he smiled to himself, happy to have Teak in charge again; his heart finally starting to beat at a reasonable pace once more, though he got a bit nervous when Teak told him to take a bash with his earth-magic, knowing he could very likely make things worse with the wrong sort of approach. But a hump of sand further up the tree he felt vaguely sure he could do; something in the low reverberations of the ground comforting and reassuring, and Jamie moved to a new vantage point to redistribute the tree's not inconsiderable weight, hopefully making the lever idea an easy task to accomplish.

So he sank back down to his knees and buried his hands in the sand, concentrating for all he was worth, visualising the sand raising the felled coconut tree and freeing Emre's leg; and for a frustrating moment there was nothing, no movement, no shift, no anything at all. So Jamie redoubled his efforts, eyes squeezed shut, until suddenly the sand began to shake around them, skimming and redistributing itself until it had made a hill, a fulcrum, and Jamie opened his eyes again, startled at his accomplishment. "Ketts," he called excitedly, "I did it! Have you found that lever yet? Emre, are you doing alright?"

Emre still didn't understand the nature of Teak and Jamie's fraternity, but it annoyed him nonetheless.  Particularly when Teak - fucking Teak - had the nerve to act protective about his brother.  Emre kissed his teeth.  "Leave it out, you muppet, bruv's what? Twenty-seven? Thirty then?  He's not some youth.  You're easy to exploit my little bruvver innit, you nasty fuck.  I'll call him what I like and he'll thank me for it."

It was grotesque, to Emre, to watch Teak pretend to care about that poor little man.  All he could see was the way Jamie clung to his older brother with such neediness, such fear that Teak might be hurt.  Emre had a hard time believing Teak cared about anything beyond his own well-tanned hands.

Teak booted sand up and Emre snarled, watching him scamper off into the fog.  He remained silent, mulling over Madi's words.  Jamie, Teak's brother, who knew an 'Emre' the drug-dealer.  Fucking hell.  It was likely, now that he heard the accent and knew it wasn't put on.  This little man might've actually been one of Emre's old clientele, from years back.  Jamie wouldn't remember his face though.  He couldn't.

He felt a sudden easing of pressure off his calf, and it filled with pins and needles, making Emre wince.  But then the pressure returned and Emre was almost glad for it.  "I'm all sunshine, sunshine.  Alright?  No panicking, yeah?  Your bruv's gone off to find the lever, he'll be back soon."  Emre hoped.  "You and Teak, you grew up together then?"

"No, no panicking," Jamie answered, closer to Emre's head now than he had been, keeping a weather eye on his little masterpiece made of sand, pleased to have finally done something useful. "As soon as Teak finds the right kind of lever, we'll have you out of there, yeah? And I'll be able to thank you properly for what you did for me. I mean, you saved my life, mate. I'll never be able to repay you for that."

"But no, Teak and I didn't grow up together." Jamie laughed then, slightly high pitched and jangling, "But I suppose the accents rather give that away, don't they? We've the same dad but different mums, right? I grew up in London and Teak in New York. We didn't even meet until I was ten and he was fifteen. We're close though. We made sure to be."

Emre dipped into a moment of absolute surreal.  His brain first reminding him that he was on an island where people didn't age and had magic.  Then afterwards, that they were caught in a mysterious fog that cast everything in muted noise and sight, quiet, ominous and serene.  And finally, that one more 'coincidence' (kismet? punishment?) might've cropped up on the island, in the form of little Jamie, Teaks' Londonist brother and once-purchaser of Emre's gear.

He stayed silent for a long moment, but honed in on a specific fascination: the brotherly connection between Jamie and Teak.  Emre yearned to hear it, yet resented knowing it as well;  thinking jealously and bitterly of Teak and Iyaz on New Years, in flagrante.  Teak, basking in the love and reverence of his own younger brother, but eager to take Emre's little brother as well.

Because of course he did.  Boys like Teak felt entitled to it all, and inevitably got it all their way in the end, after all.  He got Jamie's adoration, he got Iyaz seduced.

"Remarkable, how you managed to be so close, living so far apart.  Seems he's everything to you, innit mate," Emre said, voice hoarse and throaty.  "Where'd you grow up in London then? My ends were Forest Gate, yeah.  Moved about when I got older, though."

"We made an effort to be. Visits, hols, I saw Teak as often as I could, and fortunately our grandfather had enough money to make that happen. And he is actually, yeah," Jamie went on, "Ever since I got here, I'd have been lost without Kettle. I mean, he's my big brother. Looks after me, doesn't he?"

"Try not to move," Jamie said sympathetically, the rawness of Emre's voice something of a cause for concern, "Teak'll be back soon, I promise. We'll get you out of there."

Going back to Emre's questions, Jamie grinned a little when he heard Emre hailed from Forest Gate. "I had a mate, lived over there. Me though, I grew up in Hackney. Shoreditch, if you want to be specific. Still do, I suppose. Or my mum does, anyway." Jamie chuckled to himself. "Did you want to hear something funny?" he asked, "I had a drug dealer once called Emre. What are the odds of that, eh?"

Emre had to admit: he did feel a strange sense of comfort, hearing someone who spoke his language.  Sure, Americans did English too, but their sort of English.  This, this Jamie, was familiar.  That East End sound of him, glorious.

"Shoreditch, what.  You one of them artisanal art-house gastro-pub coffeehouse types then?" Emre couldn't help teasing, reveling in the shared locality.

But Emre knew he couldn't afford to indulge himself.  Not when this little bloke was Teak's brother, and not when Jamie cheerfully confirmed his own 'Emre the dealer'.  He shut his eyes and exhaled, glad to solidify this confirmation, made homesick by Jamie's cadences, but wishing none of this was happening.

"You what?" Emre said, forcing amusement into his tone.  He kissed his teeth.  "Nah man, I worked a Tesco's innit." A reliable lie.  One he'd used with Piper.  "Most drugs I ever sold were vitamins.  Sure could do with some weed right now though, can't I." Emre paused, suddenly feeling wildly cocky and slightly masochistic as he then asked,  "So what ever happened to your Emre then?"

“I am now," Jamie laughed, "It wasn't that way when I was growing up. But yeah, I sell designer trainers at one of those little boutiquey shops where everything costs 10 times what it's worth, so I suppose I might better lean into the Shoreditch of it all."

When Emre went on to ask about Emre the long lost drug dealer though, assuring Jamie that he worked at Tesco's, the familiarity of his voice just seemed to increase tenfold, until Jamie almost had to laugh at himself for even entertaining the idea that this Emre and his hard man Emre might be one and the same. Tesco's was a far cry from what Jamie had heard his Emre was capable of, and besides, even here, really what were the odds?

"My Emre?" Jamie asked, "Well, I suppose we just drifted apart. I was a good customer for about three years or so - just party drugs, nothing to worry over - and then a mate of mine wound up in hospital, courtesy of Emre, and I gave up the drugs after that. I mean a bit of fun is a bit of fun, but when people end up with breaks and fractures, it's time to admit that the fun is over, yeah? I haven't even touched a spliff in years."

"Oi, which shop then?" Emre asked, almost a little too eagerly.  The craving pinged hard and fast the moment Jamie mentioned the magic words 'trainers' and 'boutique'.  What Emre wouldn't give, for a good pair of designer trainers.  No that he'd wear them in this place, of course.  Just keep them, safe and precious, just to....look at.  And clean, from time to time.

He doubted it was any shop he'd frequented though, given what Jamie told him next, about what happened to 'his Emre'.  Right...that was right.  Vague memories drifted into Emre's mind now, sloshing and lapping in waves that made Emre feel almost drunk.  It was all so far away, so far back, soft and hazy like a dream.  A dream about drugs dealing, the street hustle, the roadmen and rudeboys, the clientele and parties, the fights and blood flying in the alleyways.  So Jamie had been tied up in that scene once, and Emre had supplied him.

He wished he could get a better look at Jamie's face, but he was also glad for the fog, for now. Because if there was even a chance of Emre recognizing Jamie, there was also a chance of Jamie recognizing his face too.

"Right yeah mate,"  Emre agreed with a whole-hearted good-lad tone.  "Best to get out of that life before it's too late innit.  Too many...too many mates I know never made it past their twenties innit.  Sure you know the same."

There was no doubt, this Jamie knew the same.  This Jamie, who did not grow up posh  and entitled, like his older brother.  This Jamie who was nothing like Teak, yet retained the deepest loyalty to him.  Fucking hell.   Despite how much Emre felt desperate to connect with a slice of home, he would have to be careful.  Fucking Teak.

Scouting around for a proper branch to use as a lever was proving harder than he'd anticipated; out here on the beach coconut trees were the main ones, and they just had the big long trunk, no branches. And Teak had wanted to stay close by to keep an ear on the conversation, keep an eye on his brother, and even more than that to keep an eye on Emre. Which might have seemed like overkill, given that Emre was currently caught like a mean-faced mouse in a trap, but Teak didn't think it was prudent to underestimate the man. Not after that cut that Emre had left high on Teak's cheekbone when he'd swung at him.

But the lack of branches forced Teak to venture a little further afield, to the supply tent that he'd so scorned earlier when he was getting clothes for Jamie. At least there he was able to collect a long, sturdy branch that some thoughtful person had thoughtfully stocked, and bore it back to the felled tree as fast as he could.

At least his brother seemed fine. Crouched down chatting away with Emre, in fact, and since Jamie wasn't the sort who could conceal his feelings, Teak was relieved to hear that his voice sounded normal, interested, the only tenseness in it from the current situation. "I found something," Teak called, and moved along the length of the trunk until he located a built-up hump of sand. "You did this, Jamie?" he said. "Wow. That's really good. I guess being able to use our powers excellently right out the gate must run in our family, huh? Bevans-Middleton brothers for the win, awwwright!"

Childish and petty to champion his brother and himself in front of the man whose brother Teak had aggressively made out with? Maybe. But Emre the mean-face was in no position to object. "I'm gonna get this lever in and lift the trunk," Teak said. "Jamie, you be ready to pull him out when it lifts, okay? Emre, you get ready to crawl fast."

Jamie was just in the midst of replying that he'd worked at Mr. Sneaker on Bethnal Green Road, and agreeing that it was best to get out of that life before it took more from you than you were willing to part with, when Teak arrived back with a substantial sized branch and some words of praise for Jamie's little built up sand hill, and Jamie grinned with pride, proud of his own achievement and even prouder that Teak was impressed too.

Kettle explained what he was about to do, told Jamie and Emre to be ready, and Jamie nodded, more than prepared to tug Emre free if he had to. "Alright, Emre?" he asked. "Count of three, yeah?"

Mollified whilst chatting with Jamie, the moment Teak showed up in all his tanned glory raised Emre's ire from zero to eighty the moment he heard Teak say 'Wow'.  He even went as far - for Emre's audience, he was sure of it - to holler about how great him and his little brother were.  Emre steamed internally; and there was that small, nagging part of Emre that couldn't help thinking: wasn't Teak right?  Despite people who were wary of Teak, there were always going to be others charmed by him - like Emre's own brother.  And it would be even moreso now that Teak paraded  around his own cute little mascot baby brother.

This was just the way of the world.  And isolated as the island was, the people on it were not all inured to the way the world worked, for boys like Teak Middleton.    They always got their way, in the end.

A rush of tension and mild defeat  washed over Emre's previous glee, and he nodded at Jamie.  "On three, yeah," he said softly.  The moment the brothers worked in tandem and pried the coconut tree up and Emre scrambled free, wincing at the rush of pins and needles again.  He rolled into sitting up, inspecting his calf first, then smacking feeling back into it.  "I'm alright.  I'm fine.  Thank you."

"Well, if you're sure you're fine," Teak said ungenerously, dropping the branch now that it was no longer needed. He turned his attention back to Jamie while taking off his single shoe, annoyed that he'd misplaced the other. "Do you still have those shoelaces, Jamie? We should get going and you need to tether yourself to me again. This fog looks even thicker than it was to start with."

Moving a little closer to Jamie, Teak said in a lower voice as if Emre would jump onto this plan, "--those other people ran off but I think we should check out where they might be building some rafts. And see if we can get on one of those to head out to the rescue ship. Just you and me, maybe, if we can get one for ourselves."

"Kettle!" Jamie scolded, "Give the poor lad a minute. Jesus." He turned to Emre, "You're sure you're not hurt?", then refocused back on his brother, hurriedly pulling Teak's shoelaces back out of his pockets.

"I've still got them, yeah." He got to his feet and began tying himself to his older brother once again. "Right," he murmured, "I think the fog is thicker now. And rafts sound like a good idea - but shouldn't we bring Emre too? He was looking for the boat builders when he nearly got crushed saving my life."

Emre remained in the sand, unwilling to try and stand-up yet because he didn't want to stumble in front of Teak. He just stared, trying to hide his incredulity, as Jamie literally tied himself to Teak.  If Emre ever suggested something like that to Iyaz, he'd get nothing but grief from his little brother.  Rightfully so, really. Every demonstration of blind adoration that Jamie demonstrated towards Teak, only made things more painfully obvious (and a bit horrifying) to Emre.

He hated to agree with anything Teak said, but he called out to Jamie anyway,  "Nah mate, don't fret over me.  I'll find my way to Tamyra's boat, you help your brother, yeah."

Maybe they'd make some bollocks raft, and then drown out at sea together, inshallah.

"And maybe find out who tried to drop a tree on you, yeah? Nearly offed you, didn't it?  Accident or no."

[lostlegacyuniverse]

NNK2 Thoughts

So with Ni No Kuni 2 having been out for a year now, as well as having the free adventure DLC that just went live, I can finally sit down and talk about the sequel to the amazing first game.

This is long and there will be spoilers ahead, you have been warned.

Combat! The combat of the second game is wonderful and fluid. Blocking, dodging, being able to even attack with ranged weapons like guns and wands at will. It’s really well done and easy to get into the rhythm of combat. I especially like the idea of recharging your mana by hitting enemies with melee attacks, and then using that mana on an empowered weapon for a massive hit in kind. Putting a pause on combat when using items was a nice feature to have as well. And the party AI! Oh, goodness it’s nice. Sure they do silly things on occasion, but they don’t come close the the AI teammates of Ni No Kuni 1. No Esther running into an enemy attack, no Oliver eating every ounce of mana he can as fast as he can. They’re smart! They build charge, they are cautious with spells, they run into healing zones, they back off when on low hp, THEY DODGE ATTACKS. It’s a wonderfully drastic improvement. However, having a limit on each helpful item type per battle was seriously annoying, especially against one of the Tainted dragon mini bosses which, -even with me being a full 10 levels ahead of him- made the battle draw out for far, far longer than it needed to. It wasn’t fun to get smacked for half my hp for the 40th time, and then realizing that I had no more ways to recover hp through items. This is an RPG, not Dark Souls. I have 99 4 Leafed Soreaways, let me use them, dammit. The only thing I really disliked about the combat was the inability to force the enemy AI to target a specific character on my team with a taunt or spotlight or what have you. Which led to awkward situations where- for example- a Tainted monster would suddenly turn on me -mid attack- after having focused an ally for the entire battle.

Aside from combat and story, I really disliked how damn tedious building my kingdom was. It felt like a glorified mobile game. There was even a point where I had to wait for a specific research to finish, so I could move on. This wasn’t one of those “Oh I want more xp before I keep going” kind of things, I had to actually put down my controller for 30 minutes, and WAIT for this research to finish to PROGRESS THE PLOT OF THE GAME, because the game would not allow me to continue until I had done so. Honestly, that’s one of the reasons I probably won’t be replaying this game from scratch. And it’s not due to lazyness. I’ve replayed the first Ni No Kuni dozens of times, hell I’ve even replayed Persona 5 TWICE, which is a 100 hour run each. I’d have no problem replaying Ni No Kuni 2, it’s just the way you progress the story, and all of the shit it’s locked behind is a complete turn off for starting a new game run.

Story wise, the game was... okay. Nothing terrible, but nothing fantastic either. There were a lot of plot points that were either never really answered, or were done so in a way that felt just unsatisfying and copped out. For example how quickly Evan forgave Mausinger for what he had done not only to his father and him, but to the entire kingdom (who then equally forgave him just as quickly).

I was admittedly thrown for a loop and shocked when it was revealed that Roland and Doloran were “soul mates” (a term from the first game that was CRITICAL TO THE PLOT, that meant that two people from different worlds shared the same soul. What happens to one, happens to the other, death or brokenheartedness for example.) Doloran just monologues for a bit about how they “were the same” and “wanted the same thing” (to resurrect a loved one), and ends up asking Roland to join him, but again, as crucial as a point it was supposed to be, it felt very sudden and copped out. Long story short, Doloran had supposedly been trying to manipulate Roland to do things. What exactly? I don’t know, it’s not explained, let alone important in any way. Did he use him to try and sabotage Evan’s kingdom? No. Did he use him to help him steal the Kingsbonds of other kingdoms? No. Did he use Roland to accomplish his goals at all? No, he didn’t need him for any real reason. There was this sudden pressure of “THIS IS IMPORTANT” but it held no actual merit.

Soul Mates weren’t mentioned at all during the entirety of the story, and the developers themselves said you didn’t need to play the first one to understand the second. So to have this “VERY IMPORTANT PLOT POINT”- seriously I can't stress this enough- just suddenly pop up at literally the final boss in the final chapter, with no prior warning or discussion felt downright lazy. It certainly made no sense to anyone that had never played the first game. What significance was it supposed to hold for them? It’s not like this was a cute little easter egg like the Trial of Kings was, what with the Ni No Kuni 1 crew being there, this was supposed to be a BIG IMPORTANT REVEAL. But knowing about the bond changed absolutely nothing about the fight or the story that followed. There was no danger to Roland, no dramatic fight to the death followed by self sacrifice. Doloran just got thowmped, did his evil hocus pocus anyways, and we flew off into the 9th dimension to go fight Bahamut. The only reason the bond between them exists, is so that Roland had a way into Evan’s world, and later a way back, and that’s about it. Sadly there wasn’t even retribution for Doloran for how many lives he’d taken to fuel his Horned One monster (regardless of the fact they were returned after it was killed), nor the damage he’d caused by taking the Kingsbonds (which weren’t returned, by the way). His love blinded ass even created a death dimension dragon that BROKE THE LITERAL SKY, and all he got was a pat on the shoulder and a talk about how sad it was to lose a loved one, and that he would enjoy this new world if he tried.

I.. what? What? Course you could argue that Shadar and Cassiopia from the first game received similar treatment. However, Shadar and Cass fell into a deep despair (from their respective actions, defying orders and saving Alicia, and using the Manna) that consumed them to the point of wanting to inflict that despair on others. Shadar payed for his actions by separating his soul from Oliver’s so that the boy could keep living while he drifted into Limbo / The Afterlife. He didn’t even see himself as being forgiven for his actions. Cassiopia redeemed herself when she helped fight against the Zodiarchs, the abomination created from her despair, grief, and magic that had utterly consumed her for thousands of years. Doloran? Doloran killed thousands of people and threw the world out of balance to get his beloved back, when in fact she was WAY beyond saving, and then did nothing to help defeat the monster he had unleashed. But it’s okay guys, he was in love, he gets a free pass.  I thought this game was supposed to be “more mature” and ‘more geared towards adults” than the first one. So how is it that the first game handles these messages and themes better than the one that was designed to does?

Don’t even get me started on the lame assed bonus ending of “Oh well Evan only united 4 of the kingdoms, you missed all the smaller ones, so your KID went ahead and took care of that in the future and offscreen, and he’s the one that ACTUALLY united the world. He’s the real hero, not you.” Don't invalidate the efforts of the player like that. Don’t.

Aside from the remarkably disappointing ending, there were a few other gripes I had.

So your Kingmaker is Lofty (who doesn’t compare on any level to Drippy’s character, don’t get me started on that rabbit hole) and he’s supposed to impose this weak and downright worthless appearance compared to Longfang, Oakenheart, Brineskimmer, and Bastion. He’s not supposed to be this majestic, powerful dragon like the other 4. Until of course it’s revealed that he IS, he just can’t transform because his bond isn’t strong enough. Cool idea right?

NOT WHEN THE TWIST IS SPELLED OUT ON THE VERY FIRST CUTSECENE WITH THE DECLARATION.  HE’S LITERALLY AT THE TOP OF THE DOCUMENT. IN FULL EASTERN DRAGON FORM. BEFORE YOU EVEN GET TO THE FIRST KINGDOM.

Not to mention the fact that he’s even on the COVER OF THE GAME. Who did this? Who decided this was a good idea? Who ruins their own twist like that?*coughDisneyandTreasurePlanet,no,I’mnotstillsaltyaboutthat,shutup*

And the characters, ohhhh the characters.

Evan felt surprisingly out of place in his own story. I understand that he’s a young king and his character should reflect that, but his growth felt dry and fake. He didn’t really expand as a character, he didn’t overcome his flaws, or grow in any meaningful way. The people around him did that for him. By the end, I cared more about Leander, Bracken, hell, even the other Kingdom leaders than I did about Evan. Evan stayed this cringey child character that didn’t seem to understand very critical concepts about running a kingdom, and the rest of the supporting party was happy to stand back and let the world tick down to literal annihilation as he figured it out on his own. It definitely felt more like Roland should have been the main character of the game. He had more drive and interesting traits right from the start than Evan had all game to develop. Which is incredibly disappointing. I wanted to hear more about Roland’s backstory of being bullied, how he became President, how the literal atomic BOMB going off moments before he was yanked away to Evan’s world damaged his psyche. I will admit the traitor arc was very interesting and had a lot of promise. I only wish it had lasted longer, or had a larger impact on the other protagonists.

Batu and Tani lost a lot of value throughout the game, which is a damn shame considering they were these rough, authority defying Sky Pirates. About the time Goldpaw ran around (which is very early on, mind you) they started to fade into the background, and they were almost forgotten until Roland’s traitor arc, which is CHAPTER 8. OF 9. Let that sink in.

Leander and Braken had a similar problem of being shoved to the side in favor of Evan, but however stayed relevant throughout the remaining story. Although I would have loved to hear more about Hydropolis before the eruption and subsequent daily magic resets. Or more about Broadleaf as a whole, like for example the GIANT FLYING SUBMARINE THE SIZE OF A CONTINENT SITTING JUST 2 MILES NORTH STUCK IN THE ICE? OR THE GIANT CRACKS IN THE SEA THAT GO INTO THE VOID? NO? WE’RE NOT GONNA TALK ABOUT THAT? Okay.

There was just all this amazing backstory and lore that could have been expanded on, like connections to the first game, places and ideas that changed over time. Where did the Higgledies come from? What happened to the familiars? To Wizards? To Nazcaa? To Cassiopia? The other kingdoms? Anything? At all?

Honestly, this game could have come out as completely unrelated to Ni No Kuni 1, and I would not have noticed a single difference. Not that Ni No Kuni 2 is a bad game, it’s far from it. But if you’re looking for an engaging story and have to choose between the 2, pick the first game. No amount of improved combat can redeem a story so desperate to jump the shark, that it falls in and gets eaten.