#I think Elwin should be allowed to go a little feral as a treat

[phoenix-flamed]

Headcanon time, as I'm talking about plot wishlists with Phoenix.

Elwin has a few fatal flaws, so to speak -- the most obvious one being his stubbornness. There is actually another, much more prevalent one, and it's something that has been an issue for my Elwin ever since the day he first accompanied his father to Oriflamme as a child.

Two words: righteous indignation.

From a young age, Elwin has had a very strong sense of justice with regards to fairness and equality, especially when it comes to Bearers. As he grew, his outspokenness on the subject, and his quickness to jump in and defend those who are being mistreated, have only grown along with him -- often prompting him during his teenage years to get into physical altercations over unfair treatment of others(much to the unending dismay of his parents).

Once his father passed away and he took the throne, the young man seemed to "settle down" with regards to his behavior, but this wasn't because his opinions changed; rather, it was because he recognized that he was now in a position of power, and thus could use that power to enact the changes he'd always been an advocate for.

The word "firebrand" honestly describes him incredibly well, and it always has.

But doubling back to the purpose of this post --

This strong sense of justice can sometimes blind him to logic and reason and make him reckless in his actions, which is why the counsel of people like Rodney and Hanna and Byron for example are so vital to keeping him in check, especially in his younger years. Now, under ordinary circumstances, Elwin is not a vindictive person. He really isn't. He doesn't believe in revenge, he tries not to hold onto grudges, he believes in things like second chances and redemption. Where this tends to go out the window is when it comes to one pivotal plot point: Anabella's, and to a lesser extent Sylvestre's, betrayal.

The grudge he bears towards Anabella has potential to, if either left to fester or if enabled, be the stuff of legends. His fury towards her is akin to a wildfire -- it's fast, violent, uncontrolled, and all-consuming. It holds no distinction between friend and foe, nor any regard for its bearer. It, quite simply, burns.

In the Embers and Ashes AU verse, as well as to a lesser extent the From the Fire AU verse, Elwin -- or Miles, rather -- bides his time over the years, amassing as much information as he can regarding the Sanbrequian royal family(particularly Anabella) and their state, as well as keeping abreast on the goings-on across Valisthea as a whole(especially Rosaria).

What he eventually chooses to do with all of this information, or what he had intended to do with it, isn't necessarily clarified, so I assume it'd be thread-dependent if it ever did happen to come up.

Now, the problem with "Miles" is that generally speaking he still harbors all of this anger, specifically towards Anabella -- at least until her death. He takes fault for so much of what happened to Rosaria, but he will not take the blame for Anabella's cruelty towards their people, or for the countless deaths by her direct order throughout the years of her rule. Her heartlessness is her own doing, her own choice.

So, about that "righteous indignation".

Elwin is no stranger to making decisions he regrets or disagrees with or that contradict his personal moral compass or feelings for the "greater good". Under normal circumstances, again, he is not a vindictive person, and he would never go to war with another nation over something like revenge. But Anabella is a special case. A unique situation in that this man, who is usually very level-headed and diplomatic when it comes to relations with other territories, if pushed far enough or enabled to would burn a nation to ashes if it meant getting his hands on Anabella Lesage.

The reason he would be able to do this, and the reason why he would delude himself into believing it's justified to cause the deaths of so many innocent people during this course, is because of that righteous indignation and the fact that it would pacify his guilt with the (wrong) belief that the destruction and death is a justified means to an ultimate end, with that "end" being taking Anabella down(and likely going down along with her).

It is important to note, however, that this isn't something that is scripted to happen in any of my AU verses -- it's more of a hypothetical "Bad End" scenario that I absolutely do not have on my mental wishlist of plots I would love to explore at some point.

#Headcanons #I think Elwin should be allowed to go a little feral as a treat