Omg so sorry to send in another ask, but do you have any thoughts on glück and denken’s relationship ? I was talking about it with my friend and we realized while they do seem close since glück took him in when he was orphaned and then later got even closer when he got married to lektüre, their relationship is maybe strained due to macht being there ? like, it’s said in the manga that macht is denken’s master and his enemy, but from his pov glück is also the man who’s putting everyone in weise danger just by having macht there. Idk if this is coherent and it could probably be phrased better, but just in general I think that denken has a weird relationship with glück, definitely grateful to him for raising him and I guess for asking macht to teach him magic, but other than that……. 🥲🥲
Omg dont be sorry at all!! It's great having more things to chew on >w<
I LOVE the question of Denken and Gluck's relationship!!! I think it's so easy to see current!denken's understanding of who Gluck is as a person and their most recent interactions - and assume it has been smooth sailing all along. My thoughts are in line with yours - I agree Denken's relationship with Gluck is probably some version of weird. Yes there would be gratitude of being taken in and provided a (superior) education, but at the same time, Denken would not fail to see Gluck is also benefiting from this arrangment.
Gluck now has a built in back up successor (since his only heir before Denken came along was Lekture who is frail and a girl - canonically we have not seen any heirs or current rulers who are women; I can only assume there's biases in canon that reflects historical ones) plus if Macht can train him into a superior mage, even if Denken doesn't end up ruling, he becomes a valuable military asset with a vested interest to fight for Weise/Lekture. Win-win!
I love Gluck and as much as I wish to write him as a sentimental dilf with a penchant for adopting strays, I see him as more of a man with the potential to view relationships as transactional. Giving Denken the best environment to activate his potential as a mage isn't just to give Denken a sense of direction in life; it’s to make Weise strong. (Hilariously enough it feels like Macht-I-kept-his-favorite-teaset is actually the more sentimental one here...)
Right now I prefer basing a lot of my hot takes on the manga: I don't see any scenes between Denken and Gluck alone spending quality time together. But Denken has tea scenes with Lekture. Training montages with Macht. So between Denken and Gluck IT’S FREE REAL ESTATE FOR ME!! >:D
Tbh I haven't written a lot of Denken and Gluck scenes yet, so I haven't thought of any specific scenes/situations where they might clash. You have me thinking hard about how Denken will percieve having Macht in the city (free reign) as a huge danger for everyone. He is still young - will he take it seriously? Or is he going to take one look at Gluck and Macht's interactions and be like "not my circus, not my clowns" and dive back into learning magic? Either way his relationship with Gluck is definitely not clear cut, and hopefully I'll do the complex nature of it justice!
