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thunder-owlysa · 6 months ago

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Hey! I apologize if this question has been asked before since it seems like a pretty obvious one, but where do you think the idea of Aventurine being a sex slave came from? Other than the obvious factor of it being something fun for the fandom to mess around with, I mean.

It's something I kind of took for granted as being true before playing his quest, but after finishing it I realized there wasn't really any indication. The only thing I can really think of is his master's comments about him having a good body. Is there anything in his behavior you can think of that would lead to this conclusion if it wasn't a popular fan interpretation already/kind of just an easy conclusion to reach with a slave character?

(also kind of related but what do you think of the idea that he sleeps around/with his clients to make deals? he's obviously willing to sexualize himself with the boob window, but that doesn't necessarily mean he goes further.)

As far as I can tell, the idea that Aventurine was involved in sexual slavery comes from three (maybe four) places:

First, the comment from the master about Aventurine's appearance. People were holding this comment up as refutable proof that Aventurine was used in sexual slavery on top of being tossed into the Hunger Games; however, the response from other players on this interpretation, especially the Chinese side of the fandom, was very mixed, with a lot of people pointing out that the context in the game probably meant the slave master was talking about Aventurine's ability to attract attention from fans watching the literal Sigonian Hunger Games, rather than having a direct sexual-slavery connotation.

Second, the comment from Sparkle about stripping naked and getting on his knees for Sunday. This one has way more implication in English than I think it might for an Eastern audience, actually. In English, this pretty much sounds like Sparkle saying Aventurine trades sexual favors for success in his gambles. However, I suspect the original intention in Chinese was more about humiliation. Western audiences don't have as much history with honor-based prostration, i.e. accepting corporal humiliation as a form of reconciliation that Eastern audiences might be more familiar with. And in any case, Sparkle is Sparkle. She probably just went for the lowest blow she could think of here.

Third, the general assumption that if Sigonian slaves were being chained, branded, beaten, sent to death matches, etc., it seems logical that they would also be taken advantage of in other ways. I honestly think this is probably the fairest take--many, many real slaves around the world faced (and still face!) sexual abuse, so if slaves from Sigonia were treated so poorly you could make them fight to the death for entertainment, it stands to reason they were probably also not safe from other forms of assault. We also have no idea what happened to Kakavasha in any of the years between his being a tiny child fleeing the massacre and then being purchased as a slave as a late-teens-early-twenties person. That's a very long time for a child to have to survive on their own on an extremely hostile planet and not face risks of all kinds or end up needing to do unspeakable things to survive. So I think this is at least not that far-fetched, although it's important to say there's nothing in the game that directly confirms this.

And fourth: I read a tweet semi-recently that stated that one of the Chinese (or maybe it was Japanese) names for a quest Aventurine was involved in was actually a reference to a book about a teenage sexual assault survivor. However, when I tried to verify this myself, I couldn't find any quest Aventurine was in that was based on a book about sexual assault in either English, Chinese, or Japanese. It's possible I just missed something, but I'm taking this one with a bit of a grain of salt currently, since I can't confirm it personally.

Regarding your other question, about whether I think Aventurine sleeps around to make deals...

I definitely think he does not, for one major reason.

First, I will admit that Aventurine is definitely willing to use his appearance to his advantage. This is pretty obvious. He wears incredibly flashy clothes, baths himself in cologne, overloads on glittering golden jewels, and absolutely calls attention to his appearance when working with clients.

We see him actively doing this in his Moment Among the Stars video, where he is clearly using his looks as an equal tool (to his wealth), to daze his target.

It's not an accident that he says things like "Use me as you wish," with all the explicit connotations preserved. The implication is there. However, unless he was absolutely backed into a corner, I think that implication is all it will ever be.

The reason I think this is that the devs go out of their way to give Aventurine three fairly noticeable physical behaviors in his in-game scenes:

For one, he has some of the most closed off body language of any character in the game.

Aventurine's default conversation pose is arms crossed directly and tightly in front of himself. This is like "Defensive Body Language 101." By crossing your arms, you put a symbolic barrier between yourself and the person you're speaking to, and also ensure that your hands are up and available in case you actually need to physically defend yourself.

Virtually all of Aventurine's conversations take place from this stance, no matter who he is speaking to (from the Trailblazer all the way to Topaz). He deliberately closes his pose off and tightens up his silhouette, which just sends a glaring "Don't touch me" message.

This closing off is also blatantly apparent when you compare it to the deliberately open poses he strikes while trying to make himself seem accessible to others (like tempting clients) or seem powerful (to intimidate):

Complementing this habit of closing himself off is a second noticeable aspect of his body language: He frequently avoids eye contact to the point that he even holds conversations while entirely facing away from the person he's speaking to.

I might be a bit lenient and say maybe he's doing this to on purpose to be mysterious, whoo~~ But... in all honestly, he just does this with everyone, even with Ratio while trying to talk about an actual important issue (wanting to look into Acheron's real identity). Hell, even the fake Aventurine does it to himself!

We can even say that wearing the rose-tinted glasses in the first place is another intentional barrier, one Aventurine deliberately removes in specific moments to give people the (false) impression that he's "letting them in" to his circle:

Now, this might be a bit more complicated in Aventurine's case, because eye contact has a whole extra meaning when eyes are the defining trait of your species and come with particularly challenging racial stereotypes. So it may be that Aventurine is simply used to conducting conversation while looking away to minimize racial prejudice against his eyes' unique appearance.

However, I'd also argue that the devs deliberately turned his entire model away in cutscene after cutscene to create a clear sense of being inaccessible, unapproachable, and unwilling to engage in the physical intimacy of standing closely, directly facing, and staring at his conversation partners.

While he faces away, he controls both the figurative and the literal direction of conversation, forcing people to keep their eyes on him while he is free to move as he pleases. Over and over again, it just says "I want to be the one in control. I'm not afraid to show my back to you, but you are not welcome to come near me."

And, in fact, that's a third aspect of his character's body language that I am sure the devs did not include accidentally: More so than other characters, many of Aventurine's conversations are conducted from weirdly far distances. Like, half the time he's talking, he's standing all the way on the opposite side of the room!

This habit of speaking from a-larger-than-normal distance is apparent in the first scene with Himeko...

And then in just about every other conversation too:

The bubble is twenty feet in every direction.

Like yes, he does approach and have conversations like a normal person... sometimes... But it is significantly more noticeable with Aventurine than with other characters that he often conducts whole conversations--even with his allies--from a distance. Just genuinely weirdly far apart.

Leaving space for Gaiathra, I guess.

And it's because these significant decisions were made with Aventurine's in-game body language that, when he deliberately alters his own behavior, it is instantaneously noticeable.

In 2.0, he closes the distance, the glasses come off, and he gets directly up in the Trailblazer's face.

It's uncomfortable not just because the player is suddenly being loomed over, but because this behavior has already been subconsciously established for the player as out of character for Aventurine.

The barriers the character himself was putting up are deliberately stripped away so that he can use physicality and demanding eye contact to intimidate his target. He has to reverse his own normal body language in order to come across as domineering (and, I guess if you're into that, appealing in a domineering manner).

And ummmm, just a tiny aside here because I can't resist:

This does mean that when the game goes out of its way to demonstrate Aventurine altering his own normal habit of distant and defensive body language, it is absolutely intentional.

Yes, this is a Ratiorine post in disguise. There literally isn't any other character in the game that Aventurine is shown being comfortable standing so close to and interacting with in this manner. This doesn't occur in every one of their scenes, but Ratio is the only character that this happens with repeatedly. It's not an accident that the devs literally added "They were walking side-by-side" as flavor text.

But look, I'll be fair: There's a great example of this in Aventurine's scene with Acheron too, where he closes the distance and attempts to make eye contact with her--seeking her guidance and closeness--and she is actually the one stepping away, speaking with her back turned, demonstrating her power and control (and issues with connection!) in that scene.

Anyway, this was a whole longggg tangent into analyzing Aventurine's body language, but my point is that, overall, the devs deliberately adjusted his model's actions in-game to give the impression of a person who clearly wants to be in control of every interaction he has with other people, who insists on distance over intimacy, and whose stances and habits suggest that he is significantly less accessible and open than his "Use me as you wish" motto might suggest.

Long story longer, I think that there is almost zero chance Aventurine is willingly ceding control over himself or the actions expected of him to anyone he isn't 100% comfortable with, and I think that using physical intimacy of any kind would be an absolute last resort for him. Frankly, he comes across as more likely to shoot himself in the foot than let someone he doesn't trust lay hands on him.

To me, he reads very much as "You may look, but you may not touch."

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thunder-owlysa · 6 months ago

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commission with my fav boiii

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thunder-owlysa · 7 months ago

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Mine still isnt home it has been 142 pulls im clipping his wings

he came home so im giving his feathers back

i will also unblock the people who were flexing in my notes

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thunder-owlysa · 8 months ago

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Kaebedo Week 2023 Day 4 - Scars

“Can I take it off?”

The question makes Kaeya freeze. There’s no mistaking what Albedo means, not with the way his hand is cupping Kaeya’s cheek and his thumb grazing the edge of the eyepatch.

Albedo clearly takes up on Kaeya’s hesitation as well because he slightly tilts his head to the side.

“I know what’s underneath it. I know what and who you are. Surely there is no need to hide it any further. It’s just us here.”

“But someone could always come barging in now, couldn’t they?” Kaeya asks and tilts his head out of Albedo’s hand.

He sees how his fingers twitch at the loss of contact and while it does make Kaeya feel bad, he doesn’t feel like explaining what’s underneath the eyepatch.

It’s not just the eye that marks him for what he is; it’s also what Diluc left him with when they had their falling-out.

“Who do you expect to come up here? Klee?” Albedo asks and there’s a challenge in his voice.

“Jean could—”

“Jean knows better than to send someone for me if Mondstadt isn’t currently burning down. And she definitely knows better than to send someone for you here if Mondstadt isn’t burning down.”

Kaeya opens his mouth but he finds that he can’t even argue with Albedo on that one. He’s right, after all. And for once he did tell Jean that he would go visit Albedo, so the chances of someone barging in unannounced truly are slim.

“Kaeya, if you don’t want to take it off, that’s fine. Just say so. I can’t claim to understand, but I’m also not going to push you or do it against your will.”

That, Kaeya definitely knows. It’s the only reason he stayed still for so long with Albedo’s thumb so close to the scar he keeps hidden. If he wouldn’t trust Albedo, he would have moved away before his hand could have even made contact with his cheek. The intent Albedo had had been clear after all.

“I don’t want to,” Kaeya says promptly, and he can’t help the pouty tone of his voice. “And I don’t feel like explaining.”

“Then I’m not going to ask. It’s fine.” Albedo steps close and reaches for his hand, raising it to his lips to press a kiss to the back of it. “I didn’t mean to spoil the mood,” he then adds with a small smirk and Kaeya huffs out a breath.

Albedo likes to claim that human interaction is hard for him, that the finer intricacies of conversation and interpersonal relationships escape him but Kaeya has seen him skilfully navigate conversations before. And even this now is all done to put Kaeya at ease.

And he hates to admit it, but it’s working.

“You didn’t,” he sighs out and threads their fingers together. “There wasn’t anything to spoil anyway. You were working before I came to bother you.”

He distracted Albedo with kisses, until he almost shattered a vial, but Kaeya leaves that unsaid. Albedo knows anyway, going by the glint in his eyes.

“Then maybe we should go back to that,” Albedo says. He leans up, just as Kaeya is leaning down but right before their lips meet Albedo says “There is still so much work to be done.”

He’s gone before Kaeya can blink and by the time Kaeya has regained his composure enough to join Albedo at his workbench, he is already engrossed in his work. Kaeya thinks, it’s probably what he deserves after all of this, but it also lets him know that despite his words, Albedo is upset.

And Kaeya can’t even blame him. There have barely been secrets between them, not since Albedo came clean about his homunculus nature and Kaeya told him about the eye he’s hiding. It’s just—it’s not just the eye after all.

It’s also the scar. And Kaeya is not ready for Albedo to see it and might not ever be.

That night, Kaeya can’t sleep. Kaeya ghosts his fingers over the eyepatch which he keeps on, even now, wondering if he shouldn’t just tell Albedo, shouldn’t just show him. But when he turns his head to the right side, he’s met with an Albedo in all his glory—his skin fair and even, completely unblemished except for the one mark he wears so proudly on his neck for everyone to see. Apart from that his skin could be made out of porcelain for how absolutely perfect it is.

It’s the exact opposite of Kaeya’s skin and he knows that Albedo could never find him beautiful again should he know the full extent of imperfections marring his very being.

So no. Kaeya is not going to show him. It’s probably for the best if he hides that part of himself away for as long as humanly possible.

~*~*~

Kaeya has been covering up the scar on his chest for longer than he cares to remember but the one perk that brings is that he by now can do it even half asleep. Given that he has to get up even earlier to get it done, it’s the least he gets in return.

On days like this he wonders if it wouldn’t just be easier to change his damn outfit but his outfit is as much a part of the act he puts on as everything else, so that is out of the question. Besides, it does help to get information from tipsy and drunk people at the tavern.

Sometimes it seems as if they find it easier to talk to Kaeya’s chest than to his face and it’s an advantage he can hardly give up.

Kaeya is reaching for the next pot with make-up in line, fumbling his way through his routine more than half asleep when suddenly the front door opens.

That certainly is enough to wake him up completely.

“Kaeya?” Albedo calls out and who else would it be but him. It’s not as if Kaeya goes around handing out keys to his place to just everyone.

Kaeya briefly debates if pretending to not be here will make Albedo leave, but by now he’ll have noticed Kaeya’s shoes and his sword by the front door and Kaeya never leaves the house without them.

No, pretending is not going to help here. Kaeya strains his ears and just like he dreaded he hears Albedo take off his shoes before he makes his way over to the kitchen.

He’s here to stay then.

“Fuck,” Kaeya mutters under his breath, rushing through his routine in case Albeo decides to come looking for him. He can absolutely not find Kaeya with his scar on full display like this.

The faint smell of coffee reaches Kaeya in the bathroom and he can just imagine Albedo puttering around in his kitchen as if he belongs there, feeling completely at home. It almost aches with how desperately Kaeya wants to keep this but he knows that life is a fickle thing and affection is just as easily snatched away as it’s given. Kaeya already learned that the hard way and he is not keen to have a repetition of that.

Sure, Albedo can look past the fact who and what Kaeya is, due to the fact that Albedo himself isn’t quite human but the scars are a different matter. His looks are one of the very few things Kaeya has going for him and if Albedo realizes just how marred he really is, he’ll surely turn away.

And Kaeya can’t lose Albedo.

Kaeya takes his time to put the finishing touches on his chest, making absolutely sure that the scar will be completely hidden once he slips his shirt on and only then does he step out of the bathroom.

He finds Albedo slumped over the kitchen table, his mug of coffee clutched in one hand and Kaeya can’t help himself. The picture Albedo makes in his kitchen is simply too enticing so Kaeya goes over and drops a kiss to his head.

“I didn’t know you were going to come by,” Kaeya says when Albedo only hums and as soon as the words leave his mouth he knows he fucked up.

He sounds way too defensive and there’s no way Albedo hasn’t picked up on it.

“I–thought it’s okay. You gave me a key, after all,” Albedo gives back, noticeably more awake now and Kaeya pulls away.

“Yeah, sure, I just would have–” Kaeya works his jaw and crosses his arms defensively in front of his chest. “A little warning would have been nice, is all.”

“Kaeya,” Albedo says with a sigh and it immediately puts Kaeya on edge. “Is this about the scars?”

And just like that Kaeya freezes up completely. He wants to say something, wants to deny whatever conclusion Albedo has come to but he can’t even manage to form words. It feels a little bit as if his life is crumbling around him and he wonders just how long it will take until Albedo gets up to leave. Until he walks out and never comes back.

“How?” he finally croaks out and almost wilts under the look Albedo gives him.

“Please do remember that I am the Captain of the Investigation Team. I am neither stupid nor blind and some of your scars are raised enough that they can be felt even through the clothes. So far I didn’t say anything because clearly you’re being weird about it but I think it’s enough now. What is going on?”

“Why would you think something is going on?” Kaeya shoots back, falling back on his usual tactics of extracting information instead of giving anything away himself.

“Because you’re acting weird. You have been acting weird for a while now. You know I’m not that into the sexual aspect of the relationship so I thought you were holding back on my account and that’s why I haven’t said anything before but it’s not actually that, right? You’re content to keep me at a distance because you’re hung up about something and it’s that, correct? Your scars? I just don’t understand why.”

“What’s there to understand?” Kaeya deflects because he knows where this is going and it’s kind of cruel of Albedo to drag this out. “You know where the door is.”

Albedo narrows his eyes at him but doesn’t actually move otherwise.

“You think your scars are going to change the fact that I love you?”

At that Kaeya flinches. Albedo has never actually said that before; sure, they are exclusive and Kaeya is reasonably sure that Albedo cares for him but to hear it so plainly? It’s throwing Kaeya off.

“Is that–also a problem?” Albedo asks and now suddenly he sounds guarded as if he’s the one bracing for rejection.

“It’s–surprising, that’s all,” Kaeya admits and finally sits down opposite of Albedo, who doesn’t seem too pleased, still.

“It seems we’ve both been lacking in that department,” he gives back and Kaeya hears it for the reprimand it is.

It’s not as if he has said it before, either.

“I do, though,” he whispers, unable to meet Albedo’s eyes as he says it. “I love you, too. That’s why I’m so hesitant.”

“Scared,” Albedo corrects him and Kaeya can’t even refute that so he simply shrugs. “Of what? Help me understand, so I can put your worries to rest.”

“You won’t understand.” Kaeya shakes his head. “You can’t.”

“Because I don’t have scars.”

“Because you’re perfect.” He lets out a harsh breath. “Because you were made to be literally perfect.”

“And yet my master still found fault with me,” Albedo mutters. “But you’re right. I don’t have scars. I can’t get scars.”

“Lucky you,” Kaeya bitterly mutters and even though he is the cryo user in the room it still feels as if the temperature suddenly noticeably drops.

“I find it rather–troublesome,” Albedo finally says and it’s surprising enough that Kaeya finally lifts his head to look at him.

“What are you talking about? You are perfect in every way, nothing will ever be able to mar you, and you’re dissatisfied with that?”

“Is that how you see yourself?” Albedo tilts his head in thought and Kaeya does not like the feeling of being pinned under his gaze. He feels like one of Albedo’s more puzzling experiments. “Is that what you think of scars? That they are disfiguring?”

At that Kaeya scoffs.

“Of course they are. What else would they be? Beautiful?” He almost sneers the last word but Albedo’s gaze meets his as evenly as before.

“I find them fascinating, actually. Wonderful, in a way, because they allow you to recount your life through them. Each scar makes up a story about your life, neither good nor bad, simply preserving what you went through. I am–lacking, in that way.”

Kaeya brow furrows at that but before he can put his confusion into words, Albedo goes on.

“The day before you came to visit, a wild boar attacked me. I was speared clean through, right here,” he points to his left side, “but it all healed up. There’s no trace of it to be seen.”

“Albedo! Why didn’t you say?”

“Like I said, it’s all gone now. Every reminder of that vanished. And soon, even the memory will disappear. Sometimes there’s this ache in my shoulder; a previous injury, no doubt but I don’t remember. I don’t know what caused it and I never will. It feels as if I’m an empty canvas; nothing ever sticks to me. I could be born yesterday and people would believe it with the lack of a life my skin tells them.”

Kaeya opens his mouth but he’s not actually sure what he wants to say and before he can figure that out Albedo beats him to it.

“I tried to make them stick once, you know,” he whispers and Kaeya watches with a sick feeling in his gut how he traces a line up his arm. “Nothing I tried worked. And now it’s barely even a memory anymore.”

There’s a faraway look in Albedo’s eyes, one that makes Kaeya’s heart beat fast in worry and he slams a hand on the table.

“Stop that,” he hisses out and he almost feels bad when he sees how Albedo flinches. “You don’t understand how it is to be marked like that, the kind of looks it gets you. You understand nothing.”

“I don’t,” Albedo agrees. “But not for a lack of trying. I don’t know how it is for you to be marked like that. But you don’t understand how it is to not be marked by anything. Tell me, Kaeya, how often have you bonded with your fellow soldiers over scars? How often have you shared stories and drinks over late-night talks?”

There’s a ferocity in his voice that Kaeya only ever rarely hears from him and he isn’t sure how to handle this. And if he’s being completely honest then he has to admit that Albedo is right. Scars do bring up a kind of comradery with Kaeya’s fellow knights.

He has made up more than one story about how he ‘lost his eye’ all in the name of getting information out of someone; it’s a tool Kaeya uses quite often. It doesn’t change the fact that he would rather not have them, though.

“That doesn’t change anything.”

“Because you’re a stubborn bastard,” Albedo almost immediately agrees but then he shrugs. “I’m not saying it changes anything. I’m just saying I don’t understand why you’re so adamant on not letting me see your scars. Clearly I don’t have the same hang-ups about them as you clearly do.”

“Yeah, I heard you, Albedo, you think my scars make me beautiful. Can you fuck off with that now?”

“You’re not listening,” Albedo says with a shake of his head and he’s almost eerily calm. “They don’t make you beautiful. But they also don’t make you ugly, like you so clearly seem to think. They don’t make you anything. They just are. And I don’t care for you more or less, knowing that you have scars. They are not the reason I fell in love with you and they won’t be the reason I will fall out of love with you. Your prickly personality, though, that might do the trick.”

It’s a cheap trick and Kaeya knows it for what it is but it doesn’t change the fact that it makes him smile, no matter how hard he tries to hide it.

“That’s better. Listen, Kaeya, I’m not going to force you to show me your scars but it feels as if you’re forcing yourself away from me because of them and that I cannot accept. I am right here and I’m not going anywhere, with knowledge of your scars or without so don’t make our relationship hinge on that, that’s all I’m saying.” With that Albedo gets up and shoots Kaeya a small smile. “Now, I realize I might not be entirely welcome here today, so I’ll just go home. Come find me if you want, alright?”

It seems as if Albedo is hell-bent on making good on his word because he starts to walk and it doesn’t seem as if he’s going to stop any time soon and Kaeya finds that he can’t have that. Just as Albedo walks past him, he reaches out, circling his arm around Albedo’s middle and pulling him on his lap.

“Don’t go,” Kaeya whispers, hiding his face away in his neck. “I can’t–show you, not today, but don’t go.”

“You don’t have to show me,” Albedo soothes him, pushing his fingers through Kaeya’s hair as he properly straddles his lap. “But don’t pull away from me either.”

“Fair,” Kaeya allows and presses a kiss to Albedo’s neck, close to the only mark that does stick to him.

“One question, though,” Albedo suddenly says and he’s tense in Kaeya’s arms in a way that tells Kaeya he won’t like it.

“You can try.”

“They are so raised–don’t you ever go to see a healer?” Albedo wants to know and ghosts his fingers over one of the scars on Kaeya’s side.

It makes him freeze–force of habit more than anything–but Kaeya takes a deep breath and consciously relaxes.

“Barbara hasn’t met a secret she can keep yet, not when it comes to Jean or Rosaria.”

“Ah, meddling friends. I get it.”

“I usually–” Kaeya freezes up, wonders if he’s really going to do this, if he’s really going to talk about this, but then Albedo scratches his scalp, not demanding anything and Kaeya melts into his touch. “I usually freeze the wounds until I can deal with them at home. A lot of them have burn marks because of that.”

Albedo forces his head up at that, forces Kaeya to look at him even though he wants to do nothing more than hide.

“If my home is closer, you go there. If my workshop is closer, then you go there. I’ll stock up on first-aid supplies. Do not force yourself to endure this for longer than you have to, if there are other options.”

He could have scolded Kaeya. He could have called him crazy and he could have been mad as well. And instead Albedo shows him nothing but care and love.

“I love you,” Kaeya whispers, trying his damn hardest to ignore the burning of his eye but going by the look on Albedo’s face he knows exactly what’s going on.

“I love you,” he gives right back, and when he leans in to first press a kiss to Kaeya’s eyepatch before he moves on to his mouth, Kaeya doesn’t even flinch.

He’s certain now that Albedo is going to wait until he’s ready and that he’s not going to judge him by his scars whenever that happens.

And that is all Kaeya can ask for at the moment.

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thunder-owlysa · 8 months ago

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what beautiful plumage

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thunder-owlysa · 8 months ago

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in anabaseios, i am the truth, the divine

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thunder-owlysa · 8 months ago

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Ratiorine Fics I Want to Read

1) Modern AU: When Veritas Ratio discovers a beautiful businessman poised to jump from the roof of his apartment building, he does something he's never done half as seriously before: makes a bet. One month--in just one month, he will find this "Aventurine" a reason to keep living. The terms: 30 days, anything goes, whatever it takes to make some kind of meaning out of a miserable existence. If Ratio loses, a brilliant-eyed gambler will disappear from the world forever. If Aventurine loses... well, let's not get ahead of ourselves. (Of course, neither of them anticipated that Ratio would end up becoming Aventurine's reason to live--but there's something to be said for non-zero-sum games.)

2) "I'm real sorry to bother you, mister, but I think I'm lost?" Aventurine is pretty sure he's dreaming. Pretty sure he's been pulled back to the hellscape known as Penacony. Pretty sure the Lady Emanator might need to come back and take another swing at him, to burn out the last hold of the Harmony for real this time. Because those are the only logical explanations for why Aventurine is currently locking eyes with his own younger self, standing very confused in the middle of his trussed up Pier Point condo, far from the Family's shadow. (Or: That one where a blessing from Gaiathra temporarily sends the young Kakavasha out of harm's way--straight into the care of his future self. Aventurine isn't the ideal person to care for a child, but hells if he's going to let his younger self experience anything less than the safest and most wonderful weeks of his short, miserable life. The only real problem is, well, how is he possibly going to explain this to Ratio?)

3) A super soft, small fic of Ratio reflecting on all the ways his life has changed since Aventurine came into it--there's noise in his apartment now, and a photo on his desk in the office; there's troublesome snacks to pet sit and someone keeps sneaking inappropriate jokes into his lecture transcripts. There's a sounding board to test his lesson topics on, and a peacock on his cellphone lock screen because he's developed a newfound fondness for the color. There's a go-between nowadays when the ravenous investors come sniffing after the results of his research, and unlabeled packages containing exotic bath salts from star systems even Ratio has never heard of... But most beloved of all: the sense of soundness and symmetry, of something unexpected settling perfectly into his hold, at last.

4) Bodyswap AU: Ratio and Aventurine end up on a mission that goes wrong in every sense of the word (aeons, it's always aeons). They're separated with probably half the known universe between them, stranded on unrecorded planets without credits or technology, and--most bizarrely have all--have definitely swapped bodies. Cool. Cool. What the fuck. Aventurine is honestly tempted to say he might be coming out ahead in this whole drama--he's ripped and tall now--until he discovers that in Ratio's body, he doesn't have his luck. Meanwhile, Ratio is discovering just how much harder life is for Signonians, and coming to truly appreciate how strong of a person Aventurine really is. Somehow, they've got to make it back from half way across the universe, accomplish their mission, and get their own bodies back. Please?

5) A collection of complaint logs very important internal IPC records:

Complaints received on the dangerous behavior of new Stoneheart "Aventurine of Stratagems"

Complaints received on the hostile work environment created by Intelligentsia Guild Consultant Dr. Veritas Ratio

Request for transfer

Proposal (Joking) to assign Stoneheart Aventurine to joint mission with Intelligentsia Guild Consultant Dr. V. R.

Request for transfer

Proposal (No Longer Joking) to assign Stoneheart Aventurine to joint mission with IG Consultant Dr. V. R.

Joint Mission Report, Status: Complete, three days before projected date, Casualties: 0, Complaints: 0

Note from Clerk #157B to Clerk #162S, on digital post-it: "Are you seeing this shit?"

Mission Report, Status: Complete, two days behind schedule, Complaints: 1 - "Please don't subject me to the drivel of untrained imbeciles again. If you're going to send someone from outside the Technology Department, at least provide a competent strategist. The same one from last time, preferably."

Mission Report, Status: Complete, Casualties: 1, Complaints: 1 - "Just send Ratio next time, okay?"

Joint Mission Report, Status: Complete

Complaint received on the questionable conduct of Stoneheart Aventurine: "Why did my boss send me to buy bath bombs? Who are these for?"

Joint Mission Report, Status: Complete

Complaint received on the biased behavior of IG Consultant Dr. V. R.: "Why does boss get called 'dear gambler' while the rest of us are 'fool'?"

Penacony Joint Mission Report, Status: Complete

Notice of Hiatus from Intelligentsia Guild Activities and Sabbatical from Lecturing, Reason Given: None

Request for Paid Leave, to: Diamond, cc: Jade, bcc: Topaz, Reason Given: Elopement 💖

6) Maybe it's not a sensitive thing to ask. Maybe some stories are better left in the past. But Veritas Ratio has never been able to curb his desire to know--nor his desire to right the wrongs the world with that knowledge. Laid bare, pale against the lip of the tub, with nothing but the rippling of the bathwater to accompany him, Aventurine tells the story of each of his scars. Some marks cannot be washed away. But some--with time, with touch--can heal.

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