What If We Get More Rei And Adonis Lore

TRIP 08

obligatory adonis fiancée theory: it could be an arranged marriage, maybe even with a member of the Sakumas (i.e. some distant cousin of Rei) but I think it would be sweet and in-character if it was actually a beard engagement and Adonis had agreed to marry a lesbian friend from back home to shield her from judgement. akira has been interested in writing about queer NPCs’ struggles a lot lately (e.g. nobunaga-sensei from akatsuki climax and shu's grandpa) so it wouldn't be a shock!

Happy Birthday Adonis!

[TL] PYSCHOBREAK/Chapter 3

[ This post uses Ois~su ♪ ]

Rei: Umu. I did some research regarding it, and I found that no one in RhythmLink requested that we take part in the experiment.

Koga: Huh? W-whaddya mean!?

Rei: I asked and it seems that it was a machine we spoke with. No real person knows about the experiment— that is the story they are sticking with.

It is unusual for myself to put on a serious face, but this time I feigned total ignorance…

It was rather bold of me, to tell a lie.

Kaoru: Yup. The higher ups thought we were behaving recklessly and were all up in arms about it.

Adonis: Umu. We were flooded with messages asking what HELLSING was.

Koga: I-I’m startin’ to feel kinda scared…

Guess I’m speakin’ with hindsight but we was probably too hasty ‘bout gettin’ involved with a questionable experiment.

Rei: So it seems… We realised we were losing popularity and tried to regain as much control as we could as quickly as we could.

And it all snowballed from there. In reality, I am as much of a fool as I thought I was— I must reflect on this.

Kaoru: You can reflect later, but first we need to focus on the problem at hand.

Rei 2: Eh? Where’s the problem?

Ain’t this turnin’ into a good thing for you guys?

Kaoru: Okay? Fake Rei-kun, can you shut it? We’re having an important conversation right now, alright?

Rei 2: Haha, someone’s in a bad mood~! If your lack of sleep is gettin’ to ya, why dontcha sleep with me, Kaoru-cha~n ♪

Kaoru: Wa, nononono….You’re just being creepy and gross now. Adonis-kun, you deal with him.

Adonis: I’d rather not either. Please don’t pass him to me.

…Despite his appearance, the fake Sakuma-senpai is nothing like him.

As things are now, fake me probably has a different personality too.

Adonis 2: ...

Rei 2: Our recall ain’t perfect yet, ‘n we still got a long way t’go. But hey, we’re still collectin’ data from you as we speak—

Sooner or later​, we’re gonna be so similar to you that even your parents won’t be able t’tell the difference.

Adonis: Is that your purpose?

Rei 2: You oughta be usin’ keigo, kohai. Even though we’re brand new, you still gotta pay respect to us.

Rei: I actually feel rather lonely when someone speaks to me in keigo. It's distant.

Rei 2: You’ve gotten soft, real me.

Well whatever. Becomin’ ‘real’ is instinct, but not our purpose.

We don’t have a sense of purpose.

Like I said earlier, we’re machines, wooden dolls, puppets. We ain’t got a heart, jus’ programmin’.

To feel, to think, to desire—

And dreamin’ too, is an annoyin’ flaw unique to you humans.

Rei: I believe that is what makes humans so fantastic.

We should move on. Questioning these fakes is not worth our time. Let us leave these machines behind and begin exploring the inside of the facilities.

Though it seems they have already disposed of any evidence, perhaps we can locate some documents here and there. Then we can discover why this has taken place.

And before you ask, I have already reported what we know so far to ES and the RhythmLink higher ups, and have been given permission to search the facilities.

Adonis: As always, Sakuma-senpai is fast at covering all his bases.

Rei: That’s one of my strong points. Of course, we are far from experts, and I don’t expect to find much–

But what else can we do in this moment?

Rei 2: Whilst you’re doin’ that, we’ll carry on with idol activities in your place.

Koga: Haa? Get over yourselves, you ain’t real.

The fans are confused ‘cos of you. They don’t wanna see fakes that only look like us from the outside, you bastards.

Rei 2: Confused? But from what I saw, there were a lot of really happy fans?

It’s pretty funny once you realise but–

When fans saw what HELLSING was up to, they was so happy, cryin’ too, goin’ “The real UNDEAD are back!”

Can you guys even afford a detour by checkin’ out the facility?

Whilst you’re worryin’ ‘bout things that don’t matter, we’re replacin’ you ♪

Koga: ...

[ ☆ ]

Chapter 2

Women in big hats and sundresses on the Train to San Francisco to gaze longingly into the bay from the Presidio or maybe the top of a hill, Reblog if you agree

Hello UNDEAD. Thoughts on your climax event? Did you enjoy your AI clones?

Rei: ...Sometimes I can still hear their voice.

i'm still thinking about adonis' and rei's conversation in the graveyard. like, it turns our perception of rei/adonis and their emotional intelligence on its head. on the surface, rei is incredibly charismatic and emotionally intelligent, while adonis is awkward and frequently takes people too seriously, but when things get personal, rei backs off while adonis is open and honest about his feelings, which makes adonis excellent at understanding rei. on the other hand, rei makes a faux pas. (cw for brief discussions of racism below the cut)

adonis comments that rei seems down, and rei is surprised that adonis noticed

rei IMMEDIATELY discredits adonis' statement, saying that humans can say they care for and respect someone as much as they want, but they never make a true effort to understand them. when adonis says it's because he's known rei for a while, rei calls him cocky. he's clearly uncomfortable with being understood and tries to steer the conversation away from personal topics, keeping it to light banter

rei then accidentally triggers one of adonis' insecurities by calling him a "killjoy." it's not his fault, but the nickname triggers adonis' insecurities anyway because he hates being associated with violent words like "kill," and it shows that rei is not always aware of the impact his words have on adonis. this leads adonis to show a moment of vulnerability and talk openly about his struggles as an immigrant in japan because he feels as though everyone around him is wary of him and fails to make an effort to understand him, instead judging him as violent from a glance, which is such a deeply heartbreaking sentiment -- it's so clear how ingrained this internalized racism is such that being called a "killjoy" set him off. he talks about how he feels as though he tries to behave as a model minority and be perfect and quiet so no one misunderstands him, but they misunderstand him anyway (and isn't this what rei and his family is doing? trying to be perfect so that he is simply allowed to exist, so people don't see him as a monster?). here is adonis giving tangible proof that both he and rei are misunderstood by others, showing that he does actually understand what rei is going through on a personal level.

adonis tells rei that he was hurt by rei blaming him for being the leader of the vampires, too (it wasn't rei's fault, but adonis doesn't know that). rei replies with "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, okay? I love you" which is exactly what he said humans did in the very beginning -- you can love someone without making a real effort to understand them. rei (in this specific conversation) is refusing to understand adonis because doing so would mean having to acknowledge his own weaknesses

and adonis shows that he was listening to rei and says that it's not about loving or hating someone. it's about understanding someone.

i love the scene of adonis noticing that rei was depressed post-crossroads and all the discussions of adonis being particularly clever / observant throughout the story... it really hammers home the adonis and rei parallels. both emotionally intelligent people who feel othered and who are driven by their love for humans and desire to help even strangers to the point of self sacrifice. the major differences between them are caused by adonis' crippling self esteem (which is something he's slowly but surely learning to improve) and rei being treated like a god (something that's also changing as rei allows himself to be fallible)

Was having a rough week, and drawing Undead cheers me up, so here they are in dresses

tangerine snail 🍊