𖤣.𖥧 𝓕𝓵𝓮𝓾𝓻𝓲𝓹𝓱𝓪𝓷𝔂 𖡼.⚘

The Final Fight Part 1

f/o hands. f/o hand in your hand. f/o hand on your shoulder. f/o hand rubbing down your upper arm. f/o hand on your waist. f/o hand on your hip. f/o hand on your thigh. f/o hand on cheek. f/o hand in hair. f/o hand.........

"doesn't this charater under insane stress going through extremely traumatic events realize how inconvenient their irrational emotional reactions are to the people around them?" well, see, you're not gonna believe this, but the thing is,

Aaravos Aaravos Aaravos Aaravos Aaravos Aaravos Aaravos Aaravos Aaravos Aaravos Aaravos Aaravos Aaravos Aaravos Aaravos Aaravos Aaravos Aaravos Aaravos Aaravos Aaravos Aaravos Aaravos Aaravos Aaravos Aaravos Aaravos Aaravos Aaravos Aaravos Aaravos Aaravos Aaravos-

*takes a deep breath*

-AARAVOS

I was having a conversation with @herefortheclout19 yesterday and I started to wonder something about the Startouch Elves.

It all starts with this sentiment - the idea that the Startouch Elves might have genuinely created the Earth.

I'll get back to this.

Now let's take a look at the Startouch Elves. Or more specifically, their names.

Now we only officially have two of their names, but its plenty to work with for this theory.

First, we have "The Stern One".

Second, we have "The Merciful One."

What do both of these things have in common?

They are a single personality stereotype.

Now I don't believe they are simply one layered people, but they are given their name based on what their main ideology is. Having one simple emotion and trait allows them to govern "their world" with their lens of perfect ideals. Ruling with an iron fist is easier when you remove the majority of your emotions and ties to reality.

So what went wrong?

Aaravos and Leola didn't conform to their stereotypes.

Aaravos and Leola rejected their sentiment of being single layered stereotypes, allowing themselves to be open to the emotion of love.

Going back to the earlier statement of the Startouch Elves creating the world, I think about the idea that they did not in fact create the inhabitants, but rather its core. Life just so happened to emerge because the ecosystem could sustain it overtime just like in the real world.

The problem is, one type that evolved - the humans - did not connect with the Primal world that the Startouch Elves had created and therefore, they felt they did not deserve their time.

They did not conform to the perfect world they had created.

Whereas the Elves did connect to the Primal Sources and were therefore, worthy.

But what does that have to do with stereotypes?

The Startouch Elves see people as kind of like robots. A robot must be built with the perfect image of the creator in mind. But what happens when a robot isn't perfect? I's either scrapped or kept working on until it's considered "perfect".

Its the same sentiment.

While I don't believe the Startouch Elves were directly responsible for the creation of the Elves and the humans, they just so happened to begin existing on the earth they'd created and if such beings were to walk among their creation, they needed to conform to their level of perfection.

So the Elves did. They connected to the magic of the world.

The humans didn't and the Startouch Elves looked upon them with contempt because of it.

If they weren't good enough to be born with magic, why should they get help with it?

And so:

Aaravos and Leola - who didn't conform to the stereotypes of the Startouch Elves, who chose to be multilayered people - suffered at their hands because they showed love and compassion to those who didn't fit into their world of perfection.

I cannot stress enough how badly we need more Elarion content and lore! Not only would it be cool to learn more about Elarion and the first dark mages, as well as Xadia's treatment of humanity before the divide, but there is so much information that's important to the show and how we understand its characters. Specifically our main antagonist, Aaravos.

The reason I'm saying this is because not many people in this fandom fully acknowledge that Aaravos's descent into villainy was most likely a gradual change over time. It wouldn't have happened overnight.

With our other main antagonists, Viren and Claudia, we were watching their descent in real time. We got to see how they once were and the choices they've had to make that put them in the positions they're in now. Even Karim, who I extremely dislike, was faced with choices that explained how he turned out the way he did!

Every step these characters made, every hard choice they faced along with their response has shaped who they are(were) as people and it's so important that we were there to witness it!

But with Aaravos we didn't really get to see the choices, the struggles, the in-between. We just got to see what he once was and what he is now, the before and the after. Sure we saw a glimpse during Leola's trial but we need more than that. He didn't go from loving father to grief driven anarchist with psychopathic tendencies overnight. It wasn't just one event that changed his life. It was a series of events, probably trauma, that molded him into the person he is now.

We have gotten to see more of his backstory and have gotten to understand his main motives in arc 2, I'm not denying that. My point though is that we don't have the entire story. These breadcrumbs, big as they may be, are still breadcrumbs. We still need the full loaf.

After making this post, I noticed that there's another moment where Aaravos soothes Leola's dissociation/hand flapping.

It's before the Trial even starts! It was very blink and miss. I even had to watch at half speed her just to see everything he does. The first several times I watched this scene, I wondered why he had to walk around the disk to see her, and then I realized it was because she was dissociating already! She doesn't respond to his arrival, even though she's aware - she's just frozen. (Shout to his very visible shock and worry)

And just like I mentioned in the first post, he gets down to her level and touches her shoulder.

and in this case, runs his hand own her arm, and gently squeezes her hand once with two fingers, and when he knows she's alert, he puts his hand on her shoulder again. (I love his expression in these frames too)

He has this down to an art. He has done this enough that it works even in this one exceptionally frightening situation for her.

Something very, very interesting is that Aaravos doesn't speak to her in this moment (they don't even talk until the execution), because he knows his daughter well enough that not going to be able to answer him in this moment.

Ok yes, we're all very excited about the Autism rep with Leola's hand stimming, but I also want to talk about Aaravos' Autism Dad King interaction with it.

The other thing I notice is that she seems to have dissociated a little bit - and it seems like Aaravos noticed before he got on the ground with her.

She stops when he holds her shoulders, bringing her back to focus.

And then guides her when she's the one that pulls in to cuddle. Not just as an emotional comfort, but for sensory pressure....and on Aaravos' end, demonstrating his affection before the court as he had been the whole time, with the certainty that it may be one of his last chances. (Additionally, reinforcing my theory of Startouch cultural practice that parents wear the center of their bodies open. Leola might have just needed it longer/didn't like the feeling of fabric against her face)

And he holds her until she's grounded enough to break off on her own terms and return to the ear-covering/rocking stim (where she seemed less dissociated)

At which point he helps her hide behind him as she had been before the dissociation, shielding her from whatever Star Councilor is talking before them at moment.

And that's just one significant example of how he addresses her combination sensory/comfort needs during the trial. All while pleading for her life and speaking on her behalf since she's nonverbal in this moment. There are a few smaller moments too, but this is the one that stuck out to me.

(And then he couldn't even verbally console her until they were alone when they only had moments left!!!)

Imagine Aaravos comforting Leola whenever, if ever, she was having a meltdown (maybe some kid was being too loud or mean). I can just picture him cooing and humming/singing as he rocked her back and forth in his arms UGH 😭💓

I do it constantly 😩

But a big thing I noticed is that this moment:

Is probably his tried and true method of calming her when she's as frozen up as she was.

I went into detail about it a while ago, but it's a fascinating little gesture that I love so much (and it goes so fast that you miss it if you blink)

OMG thank you for pointing this out to me!! This whole time I thought he was just checking if she was hurt or anything, but I just rewatched it closely and you can see her hands flapping before stopping once he did that OH MY HEART IS AGH- 💓💖💞💗

I actually have two!

And both of them focus on how he calms her while she's flapping. (It's seeming like she does well being soothed by compression)

Imagine Aaravos comforting Leola whenever, if ever, she was having a meltdown (maybe some kid was being too loud or mean). I can just picture him cooing and humming/singing as he rocked her back and forth in his arms UGH 😭💓

I do it constantly 😩

But a big thing I noticed is that this moment:

Is probably his tried and true method of calming her when she's as frozen up as she was.

I went into detail about it a while ago, but it's a fascinating little gesture that I love so much (and it goes so fast that you miss it if you blink)

OMG thank you for pointing this out to me!! This whole time I thought he was just checking if she was hurt or anything, but I just rewatched it closely and you can see her hands flapping before stopping once he did that OH MY HEART IS AGH- 💓💖💞💗