Shipping Wall

Ironically, the thing that made me first ship these two was seeing the first crack in their relationship. There's just something about Ix's desperation to relieve Kocis's pain, barely stopping to consider the solution Gefion proposed, contrasted with Kocis's betrayal at finding out what Ix did to save him (because he'd rather be in pain with their link fully intact).

In general I think their fight was really well done... They're both like this so it had to be this way. But it's BECAUSE they love each other that it worked out this way! So many of the things Ix did that hurt Kocis were because he loved him, and I don't think Kocis would've been quite as hurt if Ix wasn't someone he loved and trusted. (And it's not like it was just that he was upset with Ix either!). Everything about their respective moping while they were apart too...

The start of their reconciliation was actually what made them go from just something I shipped to my OTP though... I'm a really sucker for sentiments like "I won't let anyone say you shouldn't exist!", but I also just really love that Ix's counter argument to the idea that Kocis shouldn't exist is that he wants and needs Kocis. The whole scene is just sooo sweet...

I really love how hard their relationship is to define, and also how they both talk about it in entirely different ways, lol. Kocis's "Master is my Master" energy vs Ix's long speeches about what Kocis means to him... I love that they have that familial element of unconditional love, but that there's so many other ways they love each other too.

I also think their bickering is really super cute! They're very good at not actually hurting each other, and so many of their jabs are super fond. I really like how towards the end Kocis keeps being unable to not smile when he calls Ix lame lol.

For once I actually really like that they AREN'T co-dependent. They're perfectly fine on their own, neither of them are clingy per se. But they WANT to be around each other! And I think that lack of co-dependency makes the amount of time they spend together feel that much more deliberate. I think Kocis's desire to be detached at the end of the story plays into this really well too... The idea of no longer being literally bound together, but still choosing to spend the rest of their lives together...

I love life debts, and leader x second in command a lot lol. So it's in retrospect very obvious I ended up adoring these two!! But! It's not just that!

I love how cute their one-on-one interactions are... I love them both worrying about each other so much. Even though they've only known each other properly for like 5 years there's this like. vibe that they've known each other longer... It's painful but I also really like the contrast of how Elnath seems to mostly think of herself as Haze's admirer, but Haze clearly cares so much about her...

Also hot take but: I really like the weird veneer of mother&daughter energy they have... Not adoption, not kink, but a secret third thing (whatever the hell these two are doing). There's something about the complete sincerity combined with how completely non-factual it is that I think is really. Fun? Cute...? It's the usual metaphor Haze applies to most of her relationships, and yet it feels more real even though it absolutely Is Not.

I also think it's really interesting how Elnath actually outright tried to get approval from Haze for her Very Stupid Plan. She went through with it even after gettig a no, but. She didn't have to ask, and it would've made Haze less suspicious to just. Not! Just go do it, alone, before they can go investigate. But she clearly wanted to say her goodbyes to Haze even without directly saying "goodbye", and make absolutely sure Haze knew how much their first meeting meant to her. And even with her plan in mind she waited it out until the very last possible moment...

Haze's side of things during that stretch too... I can joke about the whole "If you're worried about me, just let me see you regularly, okay?" thing being right out of a ship comic but. I feel like Haze had really caught on and was trying to express to Elnath how needed and loved and wanted she is.. --Okay looking back Right Now I feel like it's not entirely that LMAO but like. I think it was probably on her mind.

And after that!! I love all of Haze's commentary about Elnath while they're apart... And the confrontation scene, where Elnath immediately gives up her disguise when she sees Haze, & Haze saying she won't give up on saving not just the world but Elnath too..., the way Elnath was definitely this close to giving in there!! She DEFINITELY wanted to, but when her plan in her own mind was about saving everyone she loved (Haze included!! Haze especially probably!!) she couldn't, not without there being an actual plan.

In short, I want to scream at Elnath for making Haze sad & thinking she could get away with sacrificing herself without making Haze even sadder.

Oh also it's really cute that Haze seems to like. Take every excuse she gets to go check in on Elnath. & "Every time I think of you I get worried :(" if it's happened enough times to be "every time", then don't you think about her a lot then?!

My former OTP of 10+ years... Sory guys, you were bound to be dethroned eventually...

Hello and welcome to innumerable-wounds.com, a site which isn't actually about Velphi!!!

Nah but... these two... It took me so long to warm up to them but they're soooo good.