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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I’ve always loved the fallen knight trope, but Malenia isn’t a fallen knight. She never had risen. Throughout her life she was just barely getting by, barely fighting off the rot. The only reason she had survived this long was because of her brother. She was never recognized as her own person. She had always relied on her brother. So much so that she changed her title to include his name, and dedicated her life to protecting him. Her mind is so rotted away that she has to remind her self out loud who she is.
Even when she does get the chance to show who she is in her second phase, it isn’t even really her. Her lines of dialogue change to show this. You aren’t fighting her during the second phase. You are fighting the Goddess of Rot. Any chance of her rising into her full power is taken away by the rot. Her own boss rememberance isn’t even hers it’s the Rot Goddess’.
Despite all of this she still fights. Fights for her brother.
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Astarion/Lae'zel and the inherent eroticism of two predators that are ideologically and diametrically opposed, sizing each other up to see what they have to offer. a runaway slave and a failed servant to her queen. one who's all false honeyed words and shiny performance and one who has trouble with metaphors and only knows how to be herself. it's finding honesty in killing and meeting someone who embraces you for it. it's kissing after ravaging a small village and leaving absolutely no survivors. it's recognizing yourself in the other's monstrousness, and basking in both the peace and chaos you bring out in one another.
it's hating that you let yourself get close to someone who will inevitably leave you, someone destined for something greater than you. it's hating those moments he made you want to live for yourself and abandon your duty to your people, because you know you'd never forgive yourself if you do.
it's two ageless beings just drifting in and out of each other's lives over the centuries, never managing to stay in the same place for too long, always moving toward something else. it's to carry the burden of eternal life and to remember the mark you once left on the other—always there, and never quite gone.
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Not me dropping vil crumbs after being afk for god knows how long. anyways i love vil thanks. also yes this is for the demon fox au sometimes i just want to write about pretty boys. also i cant stop thinking about this scene with vil and kumiko sending him fan letters of encouragement after neige appears. bby i love you.
Vil Schoenheit was a prince. An elven prince. He was renowned for his immense beauty and grace, both of which he inherited from his rather famous father who dabbled in theater acting and his mother who was the noble lady many referred to as "the most beautiful".
Even Vil's adoptive brother was incredibly beautiful, even if he was a human...
Vil hated Niege Leblanche. Or rather, since his mother brought him home, it would be Neige Leblanche Schoenheit.
That was the beginning of Neige stealing everything from him. First his name... then his mother... then the people of his country... and then even the title handed to him on a silver platter.
"The fairest of them all."
He used to be- he was the product of two of the most attractive people on the continent arguably. Admittedly he himself stole that title from his mother, but she never cared for it as much as Vil did.
That was his title. His.
It seemed that the only thing that Neige wasn't able to take from Vil was his father. Thank goodness to that, too. Vil may have gone mad if that were the case as well. Vil simmered in his hate for Neige for less than a month, though, before receiving a letter.
The letter went as such:
"To the fairest of them all, Vil Schoenheit,
I hope this letter finds you well, though I doubt it. I've heard your mother recently took in a human boy... Now, I don't quite hate humans. They're rather amazing, resilient things, however... my heart does go out to you... it's completely ridiculous- the things that I've been hearing of. I've spoken to your father about such things and he as well expresses his sadness. Firstly, your mother's blatant neglect since taking in that human kid. Secondly, the fact that your servants as well will forget about you the second Neige walks in. And even thirdly, that people dare speak of Neige being better for the throne than you."
The letter wasn't finished. But Vil took a moment to stop and calm himself a bit. He knew well all of those things. Especially that last one. An elf's ears are especially keen- but Vil exceeds that. He's always had an ear for gossip.
"In regards to those things, I want to say... well they're dumb. Completely dumb and ridiculous. I've never been more drivin' up the wall than with all of this nonsense. I'm on your side Vil. I'm declaring myself your #1 fan. Don't let their words get to you, and don't give in to the hate either.
It's all well and good to hate them, but if you begin to let it get to you too much you'll lose your beauty for sure. Hate makes all things ugly. I know that too well. Neige has stolen a lot from you, unjustly, but its not his fault entirely as well. His blame lies in the side that is terribly ignorant and unbothered by the suffering of those around him. For him to claim so blatantly that you two are brothers and that he loves you- all the while blind to the very pain you feel. That is his problem. He may be as sweet as he wants, never harming even a fly, but that ignorance of him makes him just as bad.
Like I said though, it's not just him. The people to flock to him, disregarding their respect for you over a pretty new toy- those people are in the wrong too.
I know you're angry. One day even, that anger might consume you despite my words. But I hope that, instead of holding that anger in till the point it bubbles over into an incurable poison, you might instead confide in me- your number one fan.
I'll always be on your side. As will the people who truly love you, like your father. It would bring me great joy if we started to exchange letters just like this. Of course, you don't have to if you don't want to, but the offer will always be there.
Love,
Your #1 Fan, Kurama
P.S. That is not my real name, I just made it up, just thought I should let you know.
P.P.S. Neige isn't even that cute I literally do not get why everyone thinks he's prettier than you it's unreal. Do these people not have eyes?????"
The letter thusly ended, and for the first time in a long time, Vil laughed as though all of his worries melted away.
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Rewatching House is the worst, actually
In fuckin,,, season 2 episode 2, he's talking to this little girl with cancer and making sure she wants to do his insane treatment, as you do. And she says that at least it could give her another year to which HOUSE RESPONDS:
"A year of this. A lot of people wouldn't want that. A lot of people would... just want it to be over."
And it's tragic and he tells her that she can't just stay for her mom but she does anyway because she loves her mom. And this is Wilson's fucking patient and this is the exact same conversation he has with House later in the show! But the positions are switched!!
And it just goes to show that when we get there, when we get to season 8, when we get to Wilson's cancer, House knows. He understands Wilson's argument, he has operated on the very same logic Wilson is using, that he shouldn't have to suffer, that he shouldn't stay alive just for someone else but House asks him to anyway. Because he loves Wilson. Because shouldn't that be enough?
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