#<- absolutely not a fresh new observation or anything btw this is a collaborative effort

[unionizedwizard]

actually artoirel is one of the funniest and most tragic characters in heavensward like. man. imagine being the first trueborn son of one of the highest noble houses in a country where primogeniture is the word of law, having spent your entire life doing your damndest to fulfill your ordained role in life & gaining you father's approval, only to be the second-favorite son because your father likes his illegitimate son better than you—and you can't even truly blame him because yeah, your half-brother is just that lovable; having almost none of the privileges that your birth allowed you, he's still proud and happy and takes everything in stride; he's pretty much the embodiment of the chivalric ideal you both are meant to uphold; his men love and respect him because he's both a capable leader and a really good person; he is the ultimate faithful and virtuous knight and he's so good that he doesnt even begrudge you the place and privileges that he should be allowed, which makes you definitely ashamed of being jealous of him: he plainly likes and respects YOU!; he shows up one day begging your father for a huge favor (which he usually never does, as he doesn't like to use his connections for his own ends, thus lending a special weight to the request) i.e housing and protecting his "friend" of whom he speaks like they're the embodiment of hope and a new avatar of the Fury herself and YOUR FATHER ACTUALLY CONSENTS, much to your dismay, and THEN when said ""friend"" shows up (with their own retinue)—a complete stranger, a so-called "hero", more like a fraud in your opinion, but it's not like you were allowed to give your opinion in this matter anyway—you're half-secretly praying that they're just overrated and will fail but they actually are just that cool—dishonor upon dishonor: your father assigns them your own mission (the shame!!) and THEN you send them to what is most likely their own death in the field (cowardly and despicable move that should definitely strip you of your honor in the eyes of men and the gods both) but, against all odds, they actually survive AND succeed (and don't even blame you?? therefore proving their own moral superiority—JUST like your brother), so you have no choice but to actually agree with your brother here, and oh no you watch your father start actually loving them, and THEN your brother literally dies the single most heroic and righteous death a knight could ever wish for, and YOU, INSTEAD OF MECHANICALLY BECOMING THE NEW FAVORITE, even as you are named the new Count as your father steps down from the role—you realize with growing horror that you will never, ever be the first in his heart because now your dead brother has become a literal cult object, a genuine holy martyr, no less, and he tells the new similarly-virtuous-embodiment-of-chivalric-virtues illegitimate-born knight-leader that he sees your glorified dead brother in him in front of you and witnesses, including the stranger your brother died to protect, and it's only ever going to be that way. forever. and you always did what you were asked. and all you did was seeking to gain your father's approval by playing by the rules. ah well. luckily your younger brother is such a fuckup you can vent your frustrations on him and scorn him like the rest of the world does, at the very least,