#i split your ask in two btw jdhdhfj i’ll answer the other half later i’m bad and being concise enough to fit two topics in one post

[beneathsilverstars]

Hello, there! So, in the secret passage, we learn that Odile had a “hate-crush,” so how do you think it went? (I am an aro Odile believer—)

Hii anon let me introduce you to my OC, Rei (she/he/it)

Rei and Odile met in queer circles while in university. They're both trans activists, but with very different strategies. Odile is all about getting her hands dirty, breaking unjust laws to keep her peers safe and happy. Meanwhile Rei is planning to rise through the ranks of the government so she can change the laws that are causing the harm and unhappiness, which requires a clean record.

So they're CONSTANTLY fighting. Trying to plan a protest? Rei says to bring catchy signs and Odile says to bring self-defense weapons. Trying to physically transition? Rei says he knows a legal source of low-dose estrogen and Odile says she can start body crafting you right now in the basement, just say the word. Stressed about getting misgendered at school because your paperwork says the wrong thing? Rei offers to help you draft letters to your teachers explaining that adopting masculine pronouns isn't an attempt to alchemize the self but rather a form of artistic self-expression and Odile offers to forge you new paperwork.

Odile thinks Rei's plans are never going to pan out; Rei thinks of course they won't if people like Odile don't stop giving the community a bad rep as dangerous law-breakers. Rei thinks Odile is ruining her own chances at a happy, stable life because if anyone finds out her current body is the result of body craft it'll all be over; Odile thinks Rei is making itself miserable staying in the closet for no reason and if it transitioned it would be able to actually start living life.

They're both so passionate and motivated. And they both think they know exactly what the other person should change to fix all their problems and finally live up to their potential. And they're both not above sabotaging the other if they think their plans are gonna cause damage. And they both think the other is really, really hot, especially when they're being infuriating.

At first it's just genuine arguments that occasionally end in sloppy makeouts, oops. But eventually they both kinda lose sight of their goals in favor of trying to one-up the other? Refusing to compromise with each other on principle. Trying to ruin plans in a way that will prove the plan was shitty all along instead of just quietly preventing it from coming to fruition, because maybe if there are consequences they'll finally understand how wrong they are. Interfering with aspects of each other's lives that have nothing to do with the activism. Doing things that will irritate or even hurt the other purely for the sake of foreplay. Etc!

Rei always liked Odile a bit more. He's nicer and more vicious both, better at social manipulation, better at shrugging off insults. He's more willing to turn around after an argument and have a friendly conversation, but he's also quicker to start the arguments in the first place. He takes some things very seriously, but others are just a bit of a game. He would call Odile a friend!

Odile takes it all more personally. She's more worried about Rei, more hurt by her, more angry at her, more desperate to best her and succeed. She thinks Rei could be someone she could be friends with, but she hates the person Rei chooses to be instead. She doesn't like how she acts around her but she can't stop herself from rising to the bait, either.

And then! One evening! Odile was lying in Rei's bed and realized that she didn't want to get up and leave. She wanted to stay the night. She wanted to give up on being reasonable and let Rei escalate their fights as much as it wanted. She wanted to torch its reputation so thoroughly that it had to give up on politics and skip town and start over with a fake identity that was more true than its life now. She wanted to drop her own plans because she hadn’t actually cared about them in ages. She wanted to stop fucking around and win once and for all. She wanted to wake up in the morning and argue about how to cook eggs.

And that’s when she realized that she had to stop seeing Rei IMMEDIATELY or else they’d make each other worse to the point of blazing ruin. ^^

tfw you find the one person you ~like that way~ and it’s the worst thing that ever happened to you <3