𝐣𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐩𝐞𝐫 : how does your muse protect the people they love? 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐥𝐞 : what parts of your muse are considered hard to love, and how do they deal with that?
𝐣𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐩𝐞𝐫 : how does your muse protect the people they love?
elinor is quick to assume the blame. it's her fault, it was her idea, she's the one who did it ( only the seven know just how many times elinor took the fall for something eduardo did ), etc. people have a tendency to be sweeter on her, and no matter how she feels about it, she's not above using it to her advantage to help someone she loves. if she knows she'll get off easier for it, then she'll go down for whatever you did instead.
i also think she'd be willing to do the hard thing. as in, if you're hesitating, scared, or not strong enough to do something, she'll buck up and do it for you.
show her a little bit of loyalty and make her feel like a real person, and she’ll be your scapegoat and most willing sin - eater, the one who dirties her hands or sullies her name so you don’t have to. if she loves you, and i mean truly loves you, then she’ll damn herself to hell for you without question. what the gods failed to grant her in terms of physicality, she more than makes up for in heart and sheer determination. if she thinks she can save you any grief, guilt, or feelings of shame, the wretched ghosts that have haunted her since she was but a girl, then she’ll do it. whatever it is.
just do her a favor and politely ignore what that all might reveal about her self - worth.
𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐥𝐞 : what parts of your muse are considered hard to love, and how do they deal with that?
elinor is far more sensitive than she's willing to admit and it manifests in various ways.
anger, usually. it’s far more tolerable to be spitting mad and feeling bigger than you are than to be sobbing into your pillow and feeling small as a pebble. when she sees red, she tears the whole world down. what you told her in confidence, what she's observed from up close and afar — there's a non - zero % chance it'll be weaponized against you when at war. it’s hard for her to see any of the lines previously drawn when she’s in such a fury, and so she tends to trample all over them, saying things she’s not entirely sure she means, but hopes will hurt you just as much as you’ve hurt her. when she was younger, tantrums and meltdowns were a given; now, less so. there is much she could do to deal with this that she does not and will not do. sometimes, her anger is all she has. if she stamps that out, what will she have left? who else will pick up that fight if not her?
she remembers how you make her feel and she does not forget. kindness sits with her for a long time, but hurt sits even longer still. as such, she holds grudges even when she wishes she wouldn't. she may forgive you, but her fingers will inevitably drift back to that old wound and prod it open again. she tries to let things go in time, tries very hard to choose grace, but they cling to her, refusing to let her be.
elinor does not trust easily. she wants to believe people when they state what she means to them, but life experiences make her prone to wariness and skepticism. the thing about that, however, is that it’s not very nice when you think about it: to go around assuming everyone is a liar. it’s an unkind picture to paint of someone else, and it must be maddening, maybe even disheartening, to tell someone how you feel and see them doubt it, even after everything. many times, elinor must make the deliberate decision to silence her mind, fight her instinct to flee, and force herself to take them at their word.
