#Please do not mention the errors I know his tattoo isn’t colored on the last panel and I spelled Macuahuitl wrong

[dokidokey]

by the moonlight

summary: As the future queen of your neighboring kingdom, Princess Y/N, in accordance to the queen’s dying wish to see her daughter be wed, is set to travel for the foreign lands of her betrothed where she meets her fate along the way.

pairings: kirishima eijirou x reader

prompt: “you promised me.” / kingdom au

genre: angst

warnings: mentions of blood, character death

word count: 2,680

note: this is my entry for the weekly sfw prompt from the @bnhabookclub discord server! it’s 11 AM here and I didn’t sleep at all so i’m so sorry if there are typos / grammatical errors. feel free to point them out so i can change it! i hope you like it!

Kirishima loves watching the way your hair catches the moonlight’s glow every night.

Though tonight there is a heavy. . . silence, or is it sadness, that hangs around your form, way heavier than the moon you are gazing upon. Your hands are folded atop the bridge’s wooden railings, your right pointer finger drumming a steady and soft rhythm on your hands.

You turn to him from behind and he does not miss the sparkle on the ivory petals of your kanzashi (hair stick). “The moon is lovely tonight, isn’t it?” You smile delicately at him, holding his gaze for a moment before dropping on the clear water of the lake reflecting the moon and stars.

It is indeed lovely. Almost full, and bright and glowing. Almost. . . like. . . you. Almost like you. The knight sees you in a very high and noble way that even the moon cannot compare. “It is, Your Majesty. I heard the full moon is tomorrow.”

He does not miss the way your eyebrow jumps subtly, lips parting as you breathe out an “oh?” and gaze back up at the moon.

“I. . .” You whisper and you hesitate, the weight of your words adding up to the pressure on your shoulders. “I won’t be able to look at the moon with you again,” you manage to voice out, as quiet as the wind that rustles the leaves of the sakura tree a few feet from where you stand.

Kirishima knows. He knows and his heart breaks at the thought. He’s been with you ever since you turned eighteen and the way his armored body had slammed against yours on that very first day is still fresh in his mind.

It was in late, rainy June when Kirishima had been let off by the Commander and the King, your father, after given the responsibility to escort you and be with you any time of the day. And Kirishima, upon given the heavy obligation to make sure the princess is safe, had sought after every corner of the royal palace just to be disappointed when he saw not even your shadow.

The rain that was once lightly falling when he started searching for you was now pouring down hard, his skin stinging as the raindrops made contact with it. Kirishima was drenched to the bone as he stood outside the gate of the palace. How he had gotten there looking for you, he did not know. One look to the  left then the right only to see no one, he turned back to make another round of searching for you.

That’s when an ordinarily dressed maiden slammed against his body so hard the woman ended up on the small puddle at his feet. Little did he know it was you until you pulled one dirty hand from the mud to wipe at your dress and rid your face of the salty rain.

“Oh! I’m so sorry!” You gasped, standing up only to fail and almost falling on your face.

“Your. . . Your Majes－?”

“Shh!” You’re quick to wave your hands on his face, almost slapping him in the process of your frantic state. “You didn’t see me! You don’t know me!”

The knight opened his mouth to say something, but shut it again as you fixed him with a pleasing stare. If that’s what the princess wants, who is he to deny her?

Like a normal townsfolk, Kirishima flashed you a smile, relaxing his stance, as if talking to an old friend he had not seen for years. He started the conversation about the news of the newly assigned knight of the princess, speaking to you normally, without an ounce of the frightening gap of your social statuses.

You’ve never liked your own personal royal knights before for they were too uptight. They made you feel like you were being held by the neck despite of your higher ranking than them. Kirishima was an exception though. You weren’t sure if your newly assigned protector was always that easy to sway or he was only giving you the pleasure of doing whatever you want because he respects your place as a princess.

A month after your quite unfortunate way of meeting Kirishima, the amount of your sneaking out into town had grown dramatically. At first you were skeptic of your knight’s easy hold on you but he had never failed to protect you from any harm, come what may. The sneaking into town turned into sleepless nights, an occasion often lived up to share quiet whispers and thoughts.

Kirishima was not aware when his heart started stuttering, fluttering, pattering against his chest, tattooing your name inside him with intricate memories － like how your smile rivaled the sun during that one summer day or how the stars almost died when your eyes twinkled because a lone cherry blossom petal was caught in Kirishima’s hair.

You, oh you were not better yourself. Unlike him, you knew exactly when your heart started beating his name. It was spring, four years ago, on your birthday. It was late in the morning, once again wearing a normal dress to sneak into town, and he was late. But Kirishima was never late because he always goes on and on about how he needs to be chivalrous to be worthy of standing by your side; and chivalrous means not being late.

It was not until you felt a gentle tap on your shoulder and you turned around to see the knight in question, holding a bunch of freshly picked flowers.

“Happy birthday, Your Majesty,” he mumbled, eyes everywhere except yours and you took the flowers, pressing the colorful bunch on your face and to bystanders, it looked like a knight had just taken interest to a very fine lady.

You and him knew it was a lost cause. The stolen glances and the fleeting touches stayed as it was. Your love, although mutual, was something that can never be born because he was just a mere knight of a princess to be wedded to a king.

The news broke you and him. So much so that for days, there were no sleepless nights to stare at the moon but sleepless nights, away from each other, the same thoughts running on different minds.

And today is your last day of standing in the very grounds of your kingdom, two days away from being King Katsuki’s wife.

You’ve met him once on a royal gathering back when he was still a prince. To say the he was. . . polite would be a downright lie and rude too harsh. He was fine. Okay. Civil. After kissing your hand as a sign of respect － which looked like took a lot of toll on him － he didn’t acknowledge your presence for the rest of the night; except when he asked you to dance, which, if not for his father mentioning it, would not have happened.

The dance was all but awkward. Stiff. The opposite of everything you’ve shared with Kirishima. So when the dance was over, you snuck out again to gaze at the moon with Kirishima. You weren’t aware just how much the man was so captivated by you.

And up to now, as you take his hand to step inside the carriage that will forever take you away from him, he is as deep and as enamored as the first time on that rainy day.

You turn to him, a foot resting on the platform. “Tonight’s the full moon,” you smile at him. “You’ll watch it with me. . . right?”

You know he’ll say yes. You just want to prolong the lingering feel of his hands on yours.

“I’ll never miss it for the world, Your Majesty,” he responds quietly, shooting you a small smile as his heart aches.

“You promise?”

The aching in Kirishima’s heart intensifies. You and him are painfully aware that all it is is a broken promise. By tonight, you will be in the hands of another man Kirishima will never amount to. By tonight, you’re ought to forget his existence. He says it anyway.

“I promise.”

You finally step in, fingertips leaving a scar on his. As he closes the carriage door, he steals one last look of your face, something to remember you by before giving you off. Your eyes stared back at him as he closes the door.

There is a dozen knight divided in two lines in front of your carriage, another dozen with the same formation on the backside. Kirishima is on your right, the Commander on your left. The King and Queen will attend on the exact day of your marriage.

By the steady pace of your carriage, it seems you’ll reach the other kingdom by nighttime. After an hour or so, you’re asleep, head resting on the other side of the door. Kirishima sees this and suddenly it’s like Zeus himself brought down his lightning bolt straight to his heart as it thundered, seeing how peaceful and beautiful you are, eyelashes softly sitting on your cheeks.

You wake up to chaos and shouts and a certain knight frantically shaking you awake. You’re met with a panic-stricken Kirishima, taking your hand and pulling you out of the carriage, going straight to the woods. You don’t miss the body lying haphazardly near your carriage before you’re out of the scene.

There are screams of anguish in the distance and the sound of swords clanging fills the air. Kirishima has his hands on yours, the other holding his sword in front of him protectively.

“Kirishima!” You gasp, tripping on a lone branch on your way. “What－ what’s happening? Why－”

“We need to get you out of here,” he huffs, clearing an array of small branches with his arms to let you through. “We’ve been ambushed. And I’m certain they will go after you.”

Your heart is in your throat as you trudge along with him, hands painfully clutching each other. The thick foliage of the tall trees obscures your sight of the moon and it breaks your heart. It is true that you wanted to see the last full moon you’ll ever share with Kirishima. It is true, you know it in your heart. It is true but you don’t mean it like this; with both of your lives on the line.

You don’t know how long you two have been running. Your dress is all but ripped and you have no idea how much you almost tripped if it weren’t for Kirishima’s hold on you.

You come to a clearing with a lake a few feet away, reflecting the light of the moon. You tug at Kirishima’s hand and he halts, looking at you in question.

“I don’t think someone is following us,” you breathe heavily, “can we stop for a moment?”

He looks hesitant as he scans your surroundings, eyes alight in panic, ears keen on any suspicious sound. He nods, much to his dismay, analyzing you as you immediately look up to the moon.

“Look,” you whisper, basking in the moonlight, “it’s the full moon, Kirishima.”

He turns to look but that’s when a swoosh zips past your ear, the sudden intake of breath of the man beside you startling you. You face him and there he is, hands shaking as it hovers over the wooden arrow impaled on his chest. Your hands fly to your mouth immediately, not believing what you’re seeing.

Kirishima looks up from the arrow to you and you see eyes so full of fear it scares you too. His mouth is agape and as a lone tear slowly cascades down his left cheek, another swoosh went and suddenly there are two arrows on his chest, blood slowly coloring his clothes in crimson.

He falls over and you catch him, a cry caught in your throat. “Kirishima!” You exclaim, horrified than you’ve ever been in your whole life as he clutches your arms, stuttering out what you cannot understand. “Oh God, we should have gone along, I’m so sorry,” you cry, gently lowering him down. “I’m so sorry, please please please, stay with me.”

“You need－” he coughs, “go away.” You shake your head through your tears, droplets dripping down Kirishima’s neck like the rain on the first day you met. “Go,” he chokes out, heaving in an inhale that stings so much he wishes he’s dead. You continue to just shake your head, the intricate swirls of your bun falling down like an avalanche on your shoulder.

Another swoosh cuts through the air.

The pain came late. You suppose your mind haven’t registered what had happened yet but it did not hurt. Not yet, at least － not until Kirishima gripped your hands so tight your knuckles almost cracked. It sings, it hurts. You feel so numb that it aches. A choked cry is ripped from your throat as you stare incredulously at the arrow piercing your chest, frighteningly identical to where the first arrow got Kirishima.

“No,” comes your stuttering breath, the searing pain on your chest intensifying, pulling out another cry of agony from you.

“Run,” your fallen hero croaks, letting go of your hand and trying to shove you away. “Get－ get help. You need to－ need to live.”

“I’m not leaving you.”

He chuckles, or more like gurgles, and there’s blood spilling from his mouth and coloring his cheek. “Always stubborn,” he manages to say, trembling hands reaching up to feel your hair. “Go on, Your Majesty,” he slurs, “run away.”

“No, no, you promised me,” you wheeze, pressing the back of his hands on your wet cheek. “Full moon－ with me.”

Kirishima gurgles out a sound short of a chuckle. “It’s so bright. . . Makes your hair shine.”

You sniffle, tears rushing down your cheeks like waterfalls. You clutch Kirishima’s hand tighter in yours when his eyes started to get drowsy, hoping your grip will keep him awake.

“Kirishima.” You whisper his name so softly, gently, delicately, and he knows this is the last time he will ever hear his name from your lips. The fear of you dying here, with him on your arms, saying his name like a prayer scares him to death so with the last of his energy, he tries to shove you away only to fail.

“Gotta live,” he mumbles, eyes rolling back that has you shrieking his name over and over. When he came into focus once again, everything was blurry.

The last of the zipping sound of an arrow pierces through the night and through your dress, blood immediately flowing down your lips and Kirishima’s heart breaks so bad he’s not crying from the pain anymore, but for you. His clothes become darker from the blood dripping out of your mouth. He hardly feels anything and he knows he’s got one foot on death but his hold on your hands never loosens nor his eyes ever left your face. The moon barely got his attention despite it’s gallant display.

And Kirishima － Kirishima loves watching the way your hair catches the moonlight. On his last breath, as everything around him darkens, you are the only thing he sees, along with the moonlight bouncing off your disheveled hair. Then there is nothing.

His eyes are unseeing as yours are blurry. You try shaking him awake, waiting for a cry of pain as his body jerks sloppily on your lap. His hands on yours are limp yet you don’t accept it. No. He’s not dead. He’s just. . .

“Kirishima,” you whisper one last time, to try to see if he will respond but your words are carried by the wind, mingling with the rustle of leaves. Your head spins and your breathe hitches. You close your eyes in disbelief as you lean your body against his, uncaring of the way the arrows dig deeper in your chest, thinking about how sure you were this morning that the promise you two made was as empty as the lines of colorful ceramics in your room but here you are, living up that very promise on the brink of death, and the other already gone.

[feckyeslife]

we now return to a dramatic critique of “Four” picking up where we left off. Having just finished The Initiate, I needed to take a long break before coming back to this... writing.

(side note, I somehow skipped the Son and had to go back to read that about 10 pages into the Traitor)

THE SON

- Four waxes a bit poetic about how he’s not Abnegation anymore and it kind of amuses me because he’s not really Dauntless, either. 

- Max comes in to ask/encourage Four into picking Leader. The smoothness of the process makes me feel a lot better about my own Leadership training fic scenes, though the fact that it takes over a year gives me pause because it’s implied in the next section that Eric had given Four orders on how to lead training in that interrum year. So... either trainee-Eric was given some power or he finished it quicker than a year. Or continuity doesn’t matter in this collection of short stories -.- Also he TAKES the role? Whaaaat.

Putting the rest under a cut to save all y’all’s dashboards. But there’s more. So much more.

- Zeke volunteers Four to be on a double date with him and it was the perfect moment to question if Four might have possibly been not-straight, but alas. 

- Alright I know I was a bit tipsy by the end of the last read-through but how have these people already forgotten / not realized that Four came from Abnegation? It feels awkward and forced in this moment bc this is literally like... not even a week after Initiation. Not enough time to have legitimately forgotten to consider that maybe he was an Abnie. 

- The banter about hand-holding is lame and awkward. No 16 year old boys banter about hand-holding, I’m SORRY. 

- Also Shauna’s interest in Zeke is just *yawn* like I don’t care that she’s jealous of this double date.

- Someone was in Four’s apartment and broke a drinking glass. I facepalm and wonder why a single apartment would have its own kitted out kitchen when they have a MESS HALL

- Four’s internal thoughts about Dauntless wisdom of living life without fear are actually very nice. This is the side of him as a protag that would have been interesting because it’s less self-righteous as the rest of his actions and comments in the other books.

(for those just joining us, VRoth stated that originally the series was about Four as a protag and honestly it makes way more sense. And would have allowed Tris to be a very solid side character and *gasp* even a failed love interest to show that the world isn’t always perfect and you don’t always actually work with the girl you ~have love at first sight~ with)

- The training program includes tests to see how quickly they learn and Four - and the narrative - once again one-dimensionally claims that this is an Erudite quality and therefore odd. How freaking hard is it to acknowledge that intelligence is something that the military Leadership would need? Very hard, apparently.

- Max passes out info sheets for them to fill out and it’s like My First Fascism spelled out. Very dystopian and, again, a better cue for the reader than how very straightforward the tension was with Tris’ initiation. A little heavy handed but not terribly so. 

- OKAY HERE AGAIN with the inconsistencies. Earlier I made the comment about him hiding his heritage and it was flavored with OH NO THEY CAN”T KNOW I’M ABNEGATION. Here during the double date, there’s a moment where Four is asked how he met Zeke and if he was a transfer. Four thinks that he doesn’t want people to think he’s uptight and also doesn’t want to cue in about his parentage. But the feeling is so different from earlier. Naturally this means that he just straight up lies and claims to be DB. /sigh

- Nicole is conventionally attractive and as flat as a pancake, character wise. She gets pissed that Four is being a shitty date - he is - but has to walk about because he doesn’t call her pretty. 

VROTH THIS IS NOT HOW TEENAGERS TALK. I’M SORRY BUT WHAT THE FUCK. 

“Personality is much more important that-”

“Than my unsatisfactory looks?”

- Shauna once again is upset that Zeke’s mackin’ on a girl that isn’t her. I’m yawning and bored that this is as dramatic as VRoth thinks the background relationships can get.

- I might actually vomit the next time we’re introduced to a side character whose entire description is just LOOK HOW COLORFUL THEIR HAIR IS AND ALSO SO MANY PIERCINGS!!!!! Sidenote, this was actually Lauren being re-introduced. 

- please please please dont make me read through VRoth trying to describe code. i’ll do anything. no? I have to? fine.

A) Lauren explains shit too fast, for too long, and doesn’t give people paper to even make notes. that’s not teaching that’s torture

B) Eric’s a smug jackwad about already knowing it all and I love him for it even though it’s a dick move. Remember, the last time he and Four interacted was when Four beat the shit out of him after he conceded.

C) Why the fuck would Dauntless be writing their own code to do stuff? I get that you might need to tinker with settings or whatnot, but are we honestly jumping to a world where the program to call up a security feed is something that you have to hand write or piece together to get working?

D) the punctuation that VRoth has Four paying attention to are periods (fine) quotation marks (alright) and backslashes (nope). Not a semicolon? REALLY? What language is she assuming they’re using? 65% of all my code errors ever were misplaced semi-colons or improperly nested loops.

E) apparently the only errors they’re looking for are like Baby’s First Code issues because there’s not a mention of BASIC shit like loops, defining variables, or even having to decipher the logic of any of the programs which is, you know, how you do code review. 

- Ah the intruder has to do with his mother. Alright then. But why the fuck did they knock a drinking glass down? Unless they’re two unrelated break ins. 

- Cameras are everywhere in the world yeah yeah but what about when Edward gets stabbed? Ah yes, getting Peter caught then would have broken the plot so clearly they weren’t in the initiate dorms.

- So here’s where there’s basically confirmation that Eric’s been an Erudite pawn all along. I don’t have to like it, so I won’t. 

- Four waxes on about acknowledging that he’s his father’s son and once again it’s slightly grounding as a character and further drives the knife into my metaphorical back that he’s such an ass in Insurgent.

- Evelyn is totally Jewish in heritage. Curly haired, hooked nose. Mmm. Part of me wants to extrapolate about the outright Christian nature of Abnegation versus the other persecuted people - the Factionless - but I’ll hold off because I’m too tired to do it well.

- Evelyn pulls the same crap about the city changing and people needing to pick a side. It’s classic dystopian YA lit and makes sense if only because we’ve all already read Insurgent and seen the city make those choices. But two years before that all boiled over, its a bit... meh. The dialogue once again is very heavy on crap like “Jeanine Matthews frequents Dauntless headquarters” and other crap that people don’t actually say unless they’re writing something down or making a speech. 

- SINCE WHEN ARE TATTOOS ABOUT DAUNTLESS SUPREMACY? Where is this jump in LOGIC? Ugh ugh ugh the whole Divergents-are-better-than-everyone-bc-we-know-how-to-be-multifacited narrative is horrible and lame. Suddenly there’s active call-outs that people are faction traitors and concerns that even situated Dauntless feel like they need to prove themselves. Where is any of this? It’s all tell and no show beyond the special people like Amar and Four and Tris who have already been made special by the narrative paying attention to them. If we saw someone like Lauren concerning about being “dauntless enough” I would take it with less complaint, but instead it comes off as just WE GOTTA RAMP UP THE TENSION.

- There’s talk again about “if we believe that Dauntless truly is the superior faction” then blah blah blah, Eric’s ideas for training (which on their own make sense to me). Four gets on about the actual idea of choosing values over supremacy like a normal human being. There’s also this assumption that people getting kicked out wouldn’t kind of deserve it - again, it’s a military so freaking AL should not be in it, I’m not sorry. Four makes the assumption that the “small, smart, brave” wouldn’t be able to succeed which really shows that either people aren’t being trained to use their skills - christina did fine as a small, smart, brave girl in fights - or we just needed the casual reminder that Tris and people like Tris are the special ones who manage to survive and shouldn’t have. If I were Four, I would counter Eric’s arguments against the bs supremacy ideas and also support giving proper training and evaluation so that “qualified” doesn’t only mean big and beefy. But, hey, that argument’s tough to make. His arguments hinge on the whole idealism crap and doesn’t touch real goals beyond “take out the knife throwing” which of course isn’t going to impress. 

- Max has Eric leave and actually is a bit... mature in the conversation with Four? He doesn’t talk down to him and it’s rather jarring compared to the earlier conversation. Four still thinks Max just wants someone to control which doesn’t mesh with this conversation or even really with the earliest one of the section. He seemed to genuinely think that Four had solid qualities but dealing with others in power clearly isn’t one of them. Or really, dealing with Eric. 

- Eric gloats, fully in the evil villain role. I’m unimpressed. He works best as Four’s antagonist, though, rather than Tris & Co’s. Another reminder that the direction of the story has always been on Four and his struggles, not Tris’.

- We get acknowledgement that of COURSE Four’s going to be a good teacher because he taught Shauna that one time (because he’s a boy and she’s a girl nevermind the fact that she’s grown up here)

- The section ends with him leaving a message for Evelyn that one day he’ll support her but not yet. After he just had this section rambling about how he chooses the middle path to be himself and find moments of rebellion against the people trying to control him INCLUDING Evelyn. Doesn’t seem very rebellious to yield to the woman who doesn’t care about you as a person, just as a weapon or a tool.

THE TRAITOR

- .”Beatrice. That name is so wrong for her.” I’m like 80% sure that this is the only time i’m gonna agree with him. But also, I feel like i remember him calling her Beatrice in Insurgent sooooo

- Tris was fragile-looking when she first entered Dauntless. Not a great descriptor but not the worst.

- Two years later and he’s still broody mc brooderson. His supervisor in the Control Room reminds him it’s alright to have fun and he literally grumbles under his breath. 

- He get’s Max’s password from the security feed because Max is bad at typing. I almost want to sin that just because even if you suck at typing, you can usually do your password (esp one that’s just numbers) entirely by instinct. But maybe - just maybe - Dauntless rotates passwords and Max just sucks. Either way, meh. 

- Lauren’s part of the technical staff. An interesting (re)discovery [I had read this before realizing I skipped the other part]. She helps him to get a program to mirror Max’s computer under the pretext of a prank on Zeke. I’m a bit befuddled simply because... How would Four ever prank Zeke with a mirroring program? Like, they just watch security feeds and maybe write reports? I also feel like it reflects even more poorly on Dauntless that they’re cool with pranks like that. But, then again, Dauntless is a bunch of morons according to VRoth’s POV so, I guess I can’t be too surprised. 

- The conversation /chewing out by Gus is SO stilted and awkward. We already got the info dump about taking feeds out of rotation but here we get literally the same explanation as Four’s defense. A good edit would have eliminated the awkwardness. Also, Four getting called out for being shitty at his job amuses me because from Tris’s POV in the other books, he can do no wrong. 

- Four gets Edward and Will mixed up in his head. These are his kids for the past x weeks and he doesn’t know who the “blonde erudite” is? Sideyeing so hard.

- Max and Four duke it out verbally over the stabbing as Four insists that it’s Eric’s fault bc the kids are so wound up. And Max gets some niiice jabs in about how Four could have a better leg to stand on if a) he stopped insulting every superior officer in his path and b) didn’t back down on the leadership role. Also a jab that, hey, you know who’s 100% at fault? The person who STABBED EDWARD!

- Ugghhh Tris is Dauntless but the faction “isn’t really Dauntless anymore.” Dude you’ve been here 2 years. You refuse to work with the current system to help it to teach the real values. Like here, where you refuse to call Tris out for insubordination - or at least WARN her that she’s getting away with it - and earlier complained about how you got bitched out for stopping last year’s fights. Figure out how to teach real lessons Mr. “Great Teacher” while following the letter of the writing. 

- He also pulls the “i’m hard on Tris because she can take it” line and I’m unamused. He had the time here to actually say what he wanted to say or at least a version of it that isn’t tempered by being a dick like he claimed ten seconds ago he wasn’t with her because he “respects her.” The amount of flip-flopping could fill a beach.

- he touches her back and it addles his mind. Either his balls are that blue or VRoth is laying on the one-sided attraction a bit thick. 

- I don’t remember this scene being this long in Divergent, but at least Tris is getting credit for being perceptive about things. Even if that perception is just to put Four on a pedestal of “so much better than Eric/Dauntless.” There’s also more detail about how training had ACTUALLY changed to previously include padding and not bare-knuckle boxing. Six years ago. I’m 200 pages into this short story and this is the FIRST empirical evidence that Dauntless had changed before Four got there beyond early Fear Landscaping.

- Tris calls Eric jealous and Four spends a hot second considering that Eric might actually have motives and emotions beyond cocky. It’s the best I’ll get and I’ll take it.

- Two years into Dauntless as Four “tries a Dauntless expression” to tell Tris that she doesn’t look like she’s been crying. Two years. What a friggen outsider. Again, makes sense with the previous storyline but not really in the actual story because, gee, if he’s such a good Dauntless why is he an outsider? (well because Dauntless - even the non-Erics or Maxes - is horrible, don’t’cha know UGH)

- He discovers the plans for the attack on Abnegation and claims how this makes sense because of how much Max and Jeanine hate the Abnegation. Far as we’ve seen, Max doesn’t give a single shit about Abnegation, but hey, it wouldn’t do to have a villain who didn’t hate where the protag came from. 

- Please lets note how even in these scenes, Tris has displayed no actual return affection towards Four’s tiny attempts at connecting with her. It’s all about Four.

- He goes to mommy dearest about the danger of Max and Jeanine’s plans. It’s regrettably the only logical thing to do. And mommy doesn’t care. The only interesting thing about this is that this is the only scene that doesn’t present the attack on Abnegation as an attack on the poor innocent Christians. They’re shown as liars and backstabbers, supporting Marcus rather than good hearted folks helping the Divergent. It explains Four’s desire to back his mother in Insurgent rather than the rest of the city. 

- We hit one moment of Tris actually responding to Four’s kindness which I feel like I need to emphasize is the only time that he’s actually said nice shit without being a tool before or after it. Weird how girls don’t like that.

- Earlier Four couldn’t remember who the Blone Erudite transfer was but he can tell from the shape of a hooded figure that Al’s the third attacker. Mmmkay.

- UGH he hates the fights but he doesn’t resent how Tris beat Molly into a pulp and beyond because she’s got tits and Eric doesn’t. It’s as simple as that. Sorry, not sorry.

- Four’s internal dialogue: I need to find someone I can trust. This girl is cute and she also beats people into a pulp when she’s upset but this will never happen again and any further rage from her will result in me telling her to stop and be a better person but this is what connects us right now so it’s okay. 

- Four makes a pathetic attempt to consider reporting the assault to Eric who uses it to rightly call out Four’s inability to control his kids. Then Eric goes over the villain line again and says it’s a way to tell who the strong and the weak are. Yawn.

- Holy balls, Shauna and Zeke get brought in to be Four’s muscle and scare Peter. I get why we never saw this through Tris’ POV but you THINK it could have maybe been mentioned? Also we get a tiny glimpse into Dauntless culture as they threaten to ruin Peter’s reputation forever, etc etc. Not that any of this really matters because all Dauntless are dumb, remember? Only the special main characters matter. 

- Zeke also makes a vague insinuation about Al falling into the chasm and I’m suddenly a bit astounded as the next scene is, well, Al’s body being dragged up. Four realizes he’s been a shitty instructor and a choir of angels sing “of course, you idiot”

- There’s the scene of Tris and Four after Al’s death where he attempts again to give her half answers and sideways comments that only serve to frustrate her and me. And the stupid line about pushing her until she breaks because he thinks how it doesn’t mean he wants to hurt her but it’s so CLEARLY not his actual goal in literally any of their interactions, even from his POV! Where does this line come from? His imagination?

- We flip-flop again, this time about how most of Abnegation IS actually good don’tchaknow

- There’s the re-do of the fear landscape where we go back to other-book canon where jumping off the side is all well and good because you don’t need to have a perfectly logical reaction to the landscape. Mmm. Tris is also like 80 times better than him, still. Just sayin’

- I’m again reminded of how quickly they go from one sided to barely flirting in the fear sim to touching casually and him kissing her forehead. All those subtle intimacies are just way too sudden. Ugh.

- His decision to go to Marcus is driven by the desire to protect her and I’m once again a bit nauseated by the idea that Tris has to be protected by someone. It makes sense for his character and as much as I’m nitpicking this story, it’s a better, clearer story arc than Tris’. I love Tris to death, but the story of the trilogy is not hers. It’s her dealing with the fall of Abnegation and then tumbling into Four’s family drama. Everything works WAY better from his POV (with tweaking and with her breaking up with him because I say yet again HE IS SUCH A DICK IN INSURGENT)

anywho i’m skipping the last three “bonus scenes” because I need to take a break and also not kill myself.