#still thinking about...

3) In what ways are they good and bad for each other?

6) What made them become a couple? What keeps them together?

14) What's an opinion they'll never agree on? How do they deal with that?

19) What's something they can't stand about each other? - @emmettspace

YESSSS, you get me, Emmett! So funny hearing you describe them as "pseudo incest men" — that's so true, exactly what they are. LOL!!!! Ohh, goodness. Get ready for an essay.

1) I would say they really do. If you define love as a genuine affinity for someone's character or being, as an appreciation for who one is without conditional regard — they really do love each other in that sense. They always have and have loved each other through all labels and wishes, stages, and sacrifices.

But has that changed over time? Also absolutely. It's definitely got some extra strings tied to it now... and other factors. You could say at some point desperation, obsession, or need outweighs that initial love. And is... desecrated.

3) The ways they are good for each other:

Silver is not exactly the most structured or planned person around, but that is exactly what Ivan is and gives. He has a way of simplifying the most daunting tasks. Ivan also is very passionate, much more excitable when it comes to interests. It has a habit of motivating Silver, and of course, bringing back some perceived youth in his own life.

Ivan on the other hand, is not the most charismatic, even if he can communicate well with skill. He often is insecure despite his performance of anything — because he can be very perfectionistic to the point of paralysis. Silver is not the ruminating type though however, so he finds a way to reframe things and help him take initiative and confidence. Even during their college days, this is what he excelled with helping Ivan do most and it ended up pushing Ivan into leadership and other relevant roles.

The ways they are bad for each other:

They don't really see each other for who they are anymore. Silver wants to go back to the past and lament on their nostalgia, forgetting everything that happened between them + move forward. Ivan however, finds Silver's behavior to leer on juvenile on more than one occasion and it bothers him deeply. (The first thing he literally did when they saw each other again after seven years was flirt with him. Can you imagine??? Lmao.)

He was his mentor, but he is not the spitting image of one in practice. Even though, to Ivan... he was once upon a time. And he can't let go of that. Funnily enough, this is one of the reasons why they stopped talking all those years. He was more like the happy-go-lucky weird uncle than he was a father figure, something Ivan had wanted him so desperately to be for him. Oohhh, the grief...

6) SPOIIILEERSSS!!! So I won't say too much, you'll have to find out in game. Buuuut, I'll just say what keeps them together is veeerryyy psychologically torturous for them both! Yayyyy! I can't lie and tell you that sex and the sheer loneliness these two feel combined may or may not be a motivating factor also... chuckle.

14) How to teach their students. And they will argue about it for Days if they go in depth about it enough. They have very different teaching styles. They still try to find common ground, but are very different.

19) Silver is a HOARDER. Never throws anything away. He's gotten a bit better at it, but alas. Ivan hates it. Ivan on the other hand can be a bit of a micro-manager. He will just. Do things himself if others aren't without question; whether it's where they go out to eat or what's in their closets. Irritates Silver a lot.

I honestly wasn't expecting to expand further on Ivan and Silver the other day. A prompt in a magma is all that made me do it! They are still separate from the main story in The Flawless Defect, but now it has me thinking on how I could tie it in somehow. Either to the main story or just with a prequel or sequel of sorts, hmmm...