listen. i love el and i think she's a fascinating character. we all know this. i am very clear about this. but like. it really is SO crazy how she really came in and, like... fucked will's life up so fucking bad lmao. i know that it wasn't her fault, and i'm not saying it is, but that's just... such an excruciating writing choice.
it was a choice to have her be the one that opened the gate & essentially sliced will's life into an ugly before and after. it was a choice to have her replace him as mike's number one as soon as she came back into their lives. it was a choice to make her the party's mage and then "change" will from being their wizard to their cleric. it was a choice to make her his sister. it was a choice to purposely have her wear his clothes and have the same bangs. it was a choice to have her ignore him on mike's first day in lenora, despite the fact that he was mike's friend, too, and first. it was a choice to make her oblivious to his feelings.
it was a choice to make them love and genuinely care about each other. it was a choice to make her feel like a monster for everything that'd happened and kept happening. it was a choice to make will not resent her. it was a choice to make him support her enough that he's willing to uphold her lies to mike (!!!) of all people with his inaction.
it was a choice to have him spill his heart out to mike and gift him his painting all in her name. to have him be the one to unknowingly make mike finally say "i love you" to her in response to his confession. to have him realize too late that he's been needlessly pushing mike towards her this whole time.
it was a choice to place will right beside mike, his first ever friend and keeper of his heart, when he told el that his life started just as will's ended.
it was... a bold fucking choice to replace will with el in mike's eyes due to outside influence. it throws them into chaos and disarray because el and will are not interchangeable, and it shows in how...
mike seeks from el everything that will already gives him.
mike readily gives will everything that el begs him for.
el cannot read or understand mike in the innate, wordless, and familiar way that will does.
mike cannot be vulnerable with el, but he opens up to will without even needing to be asked.
mike always heeds, trusts, and listens to will, even when they're arguing or going through a rough patch.
mike always knows just how to mend things with will, because he knows exactly what he needs and he doesn't ever hesitate to do and give it. nor does he need anyone to help him with their conflicts either. he just knows.
el is always left waiting for him to do things for her that he's currently doing for will.
will visibly hates and feels uncomfortable lying to mike, but el can do it consistently with ease.
will is the one that loves mike how he truly wants (and needs) to be loved.
will hasn't been able to move on in full, because he was cast out of his own story and demoted to a supporting role behind the new lead.
el hasn't been able to find out who she really is, because she's been thrust into roles that were never meant for her to begin with. she has always been contorted into the shape of whatever others need or want her to be, but they don't fit because they aren't her.
and, like... there are so many things in this story, which is to say the show as a whole, that would not have happened had the men in el's life not done that. had they allowed her to just be, it's highly likely that the dominoes would've never fallen the way they have.
thankfully, the narrative is set up in such a way that it appears this disorder will rectify itself, but it's still so... upsetting to think about lol.
it all boils down to choices: who gets to make them, what choices they have, why they made those choices, and what happens after. that's all the show is: a series of choices, or a lack thereof, and their consequences with some monster mumbo-jumbo sprinkled on top.
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my parents gave me a box of chocolates for Christmas and I still have like a handful left and I just shared some w/ my sister + mom and they commented on how it's surprising that I didn't eat them all in like less than a week AND that I'm willingly sharing w/ them.
and yknow what yeah it IS surprising cause I used to hate sharing any of my snacks and also got extremely restless when I knew I had snacks like, available, to the point I'd eat them really quickly by myself.
and it's kinda scary 2 me cause I've always had that weird anxiety & protectiveness (?) over my food & not having it 24/7 anymore is like. STRANGE. like something's not adding up ykwim ??
but obviously it's fully a good thing cause I used to feel so so anxious and restless and then when I ate everything in one sitting I'd regret it cause I wouldn't have any for later BUT I also felt like a lot of shame in an angry way when my family would comment on it like "you always eat EVERYTHING" "why can't you just leave some for later ???" "we're giving you a portion and putting the rest away so you don't eat it all at once" . and there's the like general shame that comes w/ being even slightly aligned with being a girl cause I'm literally an entire Man but years & years of being treated like a girl and having those expectations forced on me has put a lot of trash in my brain. like people's expectations of women (whether they are just perceived as women or Actually women)(AKA trans afab people or cis + trans women)(hate that I even have to put a disclaimer) are fucking absuuuurd
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okay also while im on this topic (american centric rant incoming sorry. i can’t speak for other countries but this is what it’s like here)
a) adults rewarding kids for like being on the football team in high school is dumb as fuck and causes 50% of my problems at school. we all know this thougu like it’s stupid as fuck. but also
b) adults rewarding kids for taking AP classes and doing a million extracurricular things hoping for scholarships causes the other 50%. Normalize telling kids “hey sometimes colleges won’t even take your AP credits, half the class focuses on passing a test which you might not and also have to pay money to take, also this class might destroy your livelihood.” also normalize telling kids hey man it’s literally fine if you don’t wanna go straight to a four year college? like there’s community/junior college which in some states is FREE FOR TWO YEARS. and if it’s not free is INFINITELY CHEAPER. and then you can usually get GUARANTEED SCHOLARSHIPS into really good schools to do your major. & you dont even need to bust your ass getting into college and destroy your mental health so you go into college hella depressed. also this means you have more time to work in your teenage years while you don’t have to pay the bills and save money for things like yknow. groceries and down payments on cars and apartments. and it’s not a failure to do that??? like im saving at least 20k dollars doing that plus my own mental health. Like um if you really wanna go ahead but im pretty happy with the money and emotional distress im saving i feel pretty fucking smart for doing that 💀 also stop being assholes to kids who cant afford 4 year college realistically (even though there’s “scholarships.” ever talked to anyone fucking ever?? those are so competetive it’s SO UNREALISTIC to bank on those im sorry to say.)
also there’s nothing wrong w trade school? Or literally anything else? take a gap year and live at home? you’re slaying. take a gap whatever years and live at home?? UR SO FUCKING COOL. stop acting like college is the only path for people my fucking GODDDD
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