"Why Not Use Your Powers for Real Evil?"

[sevendials]

An infrequent commenter to weiss_badfics (who happens to be an Aya fan) recently took issue with my repeated assertion that Aya was not Weiss's leader. The gist of her argument was that it was never stated in canon that he wasn't, so there was no reason for the fandom to assume that he wasn't. Certainly his team tolerate being giving orders by him - or, as I prefer to see it, they let him boss them around.

This comment made me think about my theory - had I perhaps been too sure of myself? After all, she's right: nobody actually outright says that Aya isn't the team leader.

Note that I never said it made me think for long.

No, nobody ever says in Kapitel that Aya isn't Weiss's leader. However, it might help to consider that the series never actually states that Youji and Asuka were lovers, either, or that Ken Hidaka is hopelessly naive and easily embarrassed. And this is because it doesn't bloody have to, because all three facts are made quite painfully apparent over the course of the series. Nobody ever says that Youji isn't Weiss's leader either and I've never seen anyone suggest that was a good enough reason for assuming he was.

If the best argument for any proposition is that nobody can prove it's not the case, its defenders don't have much of an argument. Nobody can categorically prove that it's not possible to be astrally married to Severus Snape either, but the sheer weight of evidence against the idea suggests that calling the theory 'bullshit' and its proponents misguided at best would not be an unreasonable verdict on the whole sorry situation.

The weight of canon evidence suggests not only that Aya isn't Weiss's leader, but that he was never intended to be viewed as Weiss's leader.


The Case for Leader!Aya:

• Aya is the main character and the events of the series concern him.
  
  
• Weiss largely accept being ordered around by Aya.
  
  
• Ken takes his name in vain during that scene in the landfill site and he is trusted by Persia to save the team's lives when they're in serious danger.
  
  
• Aya is pretty and his coat is really awesome.
  
  
• Nobody ever says Aya is not Weiss's leader.
  

The Case for Leader!Omi:

• Weiss was formed at least two years before Aya joined. They had a leader before he showed up: Omi.
  
  
• Aya joined last. No matter how awesome he may be, no agency in their right mind is going to allow a guy who's only just shown up to assume full control of an elite team whose operatives he doesn't know and whose practices he is entirely unfamiliar with, still less one working in a field he has very little experience of.
  
  
• Aya is obviously using Weiss to further his own agenda, and only remembers to give a shit what happens to his teammates when their predicament is shoved in his face. Would a leader really have to be reminded that his team were in a dangerous situation and needed his help?
  
  
• Aya has already proven himself somewhat unreliable as the junior member in a team situation. Why would any sensible employer decide the answer to his erratic behavior was to place him in a more dangerous situation and give him more responsibility - still less over three very valuable assets like Omi, Youji and Ken?
  
  
• Aya is erratic in the field. Anybody who has to be physically restrained by one Ken Hidaka on three separate occasions is clearly prone to acts of suicidal recklessness and can barely be trusted with his own life, never mind that of three other men.
  
  
• Aya walks out twice and the team not only continues to function, Omi, Youji and Ken aren't even surprised to see him go. When Omi walks out in Dramatic Precious, the remainder of the team are genuinely surprised and just as genuinely inconvenienced.
  
  
• Omi is the one who liaises with Kritiker and reports back on, amongst other things, Aya's behavior.
  
  
• When asking about Persia's agenda, Aya doesn't immediately go to Persia: he goes to Omi. If Aya, not Omi, is Weiss's leader, why would he bother involving Omi in his spats with Kritiker? Why doesn't he just go to Persia right away?
  
  
• Aya has no way of contacting Persia before Omi lets slip his real identity, and even then he's only able to get to speak to him by cornering him in an underground parking lot. Persia clears time in his schedule to see Omi face-to-glowing-silhouette when Omi feels the need to speak to him. It makes no sense that a subordinate should find it easier to contact and speak with his bosses than a leader would.
  
  
• Persia raised Omi and trusts his judgment. He clearly doesn't trust Aya's if he's asking Omi to report on how he's behaving.
  

And, perhaps most damningly:

• Kritiker won't fix what ain't broke. There is absolutely no reason aside from pure fangirl favoritism to explain why Aya would be allowed to take the place of the smarter, more experienced, far more committed Omi in the first place. Omi has been leading his team perfectly capably for two years, understands and is trusted by his teammates and doesn't actually need replacing.
  

... I would say that was pretty conclusive. Omi's the leader. Thank you. Goodnight.

Under the circumstances, I really have to wonder why the onus is on me to prove that Aya isn't Weiss's boss when it's goddamn obvious no agency in their right mind would let him take charge of a team. Most of the time when people make ridiculous claims it's their responsibility to try and back them up, not mine to point out the numerous holes in their decidedly wonky logic.

I guess fangirl favoritsm has a lot to answer for.