I Am SO Sorry To Anon - Tumblr Posts

it’s 5:24 am and I haven’t been able to get any sleep because i've been thinking about the anon on the chnt confessions account yesterday, the post about elijah.

ELIJAH VOLKOV IS NOT A "PURE EVIL VILLIAN." I AM PREPARED TO DIE ON MITKSI’S HILL FOR THIS.

in fact, i'd say he's quite the opposite! he's not some kind of irredeemable, vile monster of a human(?). he is a mentally disturbed man with an unhealthy pious obsession with an idealized version of somebody he does not know.

is he an "evil" character? he fits the textbook definition well enough and he plays an antagonistic role in the story, so yes, i suppose he is.

referring to elijah as a "pure evil villian" might as well be the same thing as calling jedidiah one. both characters and the way they treat sydney are two sides of the same coin. elijah is more stereotypically manipulative than jedidiah, sure, but they still both damage sydney in their own ways.

elijah did do arguably worse things than jedidiah did, for example, stalking, brainwashing children and trying to bury jedidiah alive(through the bodies of people he was also brainwashing). not a great look. but he isn't little jack horner from the newest puss in boots movie, he has real motivations and believes wholeheartedly that he is doing the right thing for all parties involved. his intention wasn't to kill sydney, and i personally don't believe it was his intention to manipulate sydney either. with how divine he views sydney, it just feels out of character for him to do that intentionally. unlike jedidiah, who is self aware enough to realize his flaws and how he harms sydneys mental well being. jedidiah, who(i'm pretty sure) has been aware of how his behavior effects sydney for YEARS, and has still done nothing to change. meanwhile, elijah, who was seemingly unaware of how he negatively impacts sydney, is made aware suddenly, and we see no aftermath of that. presumeably he still views sydney in the same way, but still, who knows?

i guess the main issue i personally have with this take is how it neglects to mention how jedidiah is just as bad. i'm just a jedidiah hater though, so this is probably extremely biased.