Archive of Our Own ^beta

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Hey. You probably already know what this is. I’ll just cut right to the chase.

This has crossed my mind several times, but aside from the fact that Malleus is a dragon and dragons and elves have a negative history in Tolkien’s work, I could see Malleus and Legolas getting along. Like, Legolas is into trees more than gargoyles, but if Malleus is a Gargoyles stan and Legolas is a trees and nature stan, I could see them infodumping to each other with no trouble. I could see Legolas being a protective big brother to Malleus once he gets past the fact that he’s a dragon then being all “Touch him and you die.” to anyone who doubts Malleus or wants to harm him. Malleus is the same to anyone that wants to hurt Legolas, and he values him as a big brother and one of his only friends. Also, imagine the potential if they met as kids for them to be like the cute and protective childhood besties. Malleus and Legolas would be each other’s wingmen when it comes to dating whoever you ship them with, even each other if the thought of Malleus and Legolas as a romantic pairing interests you. Will add more to this later. It’s after 1:00 AM.

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Like, I think Legolas and Vil would be a super cute couple. My personal headcanon is that Legolas isn’t as tireless as you think he is and he’s secretly so sick of being perfect and my headcanon for Vil is that while he loves being an actor and model, he’s sick of trying to be the fairest and doesn’t actually hate Neige, but the corruption within the entertainment industry and the system and he projects onto Neige because Vil is constantly being compared to Neige he assumes he slacks and doesn’t work hard when that’s not true. Both are tired and screaming for a break and my personal headcanon is that they are both suicidal and I think Legolas would be a cute partner for Vil. After whoever you ship him with passes away, maybe he meets Vil in the modern day instead of passing from grief and they find solace in each other and rather than choosing mortality, Vil chooses the long lifespan of the elves so Legolas and him will always have each other and he promises Legolas that even if things don’t work out for that long and they part ways, they’ll always be friends first and lovers second so he’ll be by Legolas’s side even if they don’t work out as lovers.

Now, onto Rook Hunt. I get that he’s a walking red flag and I understand why people are put off by him, especially if they’ve been gaslighted and treated like that in real life. I myself have been gaslighted and treated like that, but I didn’t see that side of him until it was pointed out to me on tumblr on several posts, but even as I rewatched the clips of him acting like that, I never felt the way I did when I was being gaslighted and mistreated, so this is just my personal theory: Rook’s behavior is deliberate, but he’s not doing it to be malicious or creepy. Tying in with the “Rook Hunt is a spy” theory, he has no idea how to socialize and function outside of being a spy and he’s genuinely trying to help or ask the other students to play tag with him.

Rook isn’t phased by his own behavior as this was how he was raised, but his mom is also kind of like Marlin from Finding Nemo or Lois from Malcolm in The Middle. She has no intentions of letting Rook be a spy to protect him from harm but buffed him up and taught him to think and act like a spy to decrease his chances of getting hurt or dying. Rook is basically Yor Forger from Spy x Family. If you told Rook that his behavior is toxic, he’ll apologize and try his best to unlearn that behavior and stop, as you can gaslight someone or be toxic unintentionally.

Rook is also more sad and lonely than he lets on due to his dysfunctional family dynamic and not knowing how to act outside of espionage work. When he’s not being cheerful and sweet, he’s banging his head against the wall and tearing his hair out in distress while he talks to his family on the phone. His family is a sore spot for him and if you press him too much about his family, he’ll snap and raise his voice before apologizing and explaining what he’s comfortable telling you. Like, if you’re nice to him even once, he’ll become obsessed and he stays over at Vil’s place when his family is being horrible. He calls Erik Venue ‘Mr. Bonus Dad’ in French.

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I have a few personal headcanons about one of my favorite TWST characters, Vil Schoenheit.

-Erik Venue raised Vil to be a good person and to be kind, but Vil is still a little spoiled. He grew up with the best and therefore he expects the best despite being one of the kinder students at NRC.

-He expects to be spoiled with expensive gifts if you date him, but he won’t be mad if you get him a homemade gift or a gift that isn’t pricey nor will he dislike it or think of it as beneath him because he’ll still appreciate that you got him a gift at all, especially if it’s from your heart. If he actually doesn’t like it, he tell you so politely but he won’t give you his usual criticisms and he’ll keep it anyways and admit he still loves it because it’s from you. He’ll also give you expensive gifts in return, so it’s an equal give and take.

-Vil actually won’t criticize you at all if you date him because he trusts you. He might offer you advice and feedback because his critiques come from a place of love (he’s trying to help others reach their full potential and be their best selves), but he won’t force you, and only cares that you’re happy and healthy.

-Vil only offers a gentle hand to those he really loves and trusts. This later extends to Epel when he realizes Epel will only understand what he’s trying to teach him if he says it gently and he helps Epel with his internalized misogyny and toxic masculinity issues so he can become more manly and be comfortable with his masculinity while having a healthier mindset about it.

-Unfortunately, since Vil grew up with the best, he was also expected to be the best by the entertainment industry, which made him into a very insecure individual as well as a workaholic, overachieving perfectionist. He can’t handle being unable to handle something. He’ll have panic attacks over it because he’s hard on others and even harder on himself.

-Vil hides it well, but he has depression and extremely low self-esteem. It’s like he says in the star send-off: he does care about what other people think of him and he does not have a thick head or thick skin. He doesn’t like being unarmed and defenseless in public, so he tries to work on himself so he can be confident in front if others, but there’s more to it than that. He won’t freak out or cry over losing one follower, but he’ll start sobbing if he loses to Neige AGAIN. Leona is depressed too, but where he neglects himself, Vil overgrooms and works too hard to compensate for and mask his depression.

-Vil doesn’t actually hate Neige. He hates the corrupt entertainment industry and projects onto Neige because Neige represents that industry to him. If it wasn’t Neige, it would be someone else in his place, and Vil would project onto them instead.

-Vil’s mother isn’t in his life because she’s dead. Vil doesn’t know much about her nor does he want to because he’s content with what he does know.

-Vil is illegitimate. His mother was an alcoholic in a toxic marriage before she met Vil’s father Erik and slept with him.

-Vil has fetal alcohol syndrome because his mother struggled to sober up while pregnant with him. Vil also has truncus arteriosus, which is related to his fetal alcohol syndrome, and while he can keep up with the likes of Jack Howl and even Leona Kingscholar and Malleus Draconia, he does require heart surgery every now and again when he outgrows the valve in his heart and needs it replaced.

-Vil was also born prematurely. His mother gave birth to Vil when she was 7 months pregnant due to her alcohol issues, which also caused her to bleed to death after having complications from the early birth. She cradled Vil in her arms and said “I love you” to baby Vil before she passed away. She drew her last breaths to bring Vil into the world.

-You know how some people give off Golden Retriver energy? Vil gives off French Bulldog energy. Those funny little videos of Walter Geoffrey and Cashew being dramatic are Vil in a nutshell at times.

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So, adding onto Rook being a spy but not knowing how to function or socialize outside of that, he does have enough skills and knowledge on social norms to manage since he does need to know how to act outside of espionage work to cover for the fact that he’s a secret agent, but he only knows the bare minimum, or at least he did until Vil entered his life.

The reason Rook really doesn’t know is because his mom buffed him up and trained him to be a spy to keep him safe from harm, but didn’t really teach him anything outside that and has no intention of actually letting him become one. Rook won’t be happy if or when he finds this out as he wants to be a secret agent so badly.

Rook’s mom is named Valérie Hunt. She’s overprotective and a control freak, and Vil hates her with a passion and a vengeance. He actually labeled her contact in Rook’s phone as “Señora Psychopath: Do Not Engage” for Rook’s own sanity. As for her good points, she does legitimately love Rook and her family and she does show a rare soft side to them when she’s not being a crazy lady. She used to be different. She was still very overprotective and controlling in the past, but she was much sweeter and nurturing back then as well. The incident where Rook got lost in the jungle made her beside herself with worry. Shortly after this incident, she caught six-year-old Rook playing with matches and snapped, burning his favorite toy and declaring she wouldn’t let anything happen to him, even if she had to chain him to his bed to keep him safe. This event traumatized an already emotionally damaged Rook further and stunted his emotional growth and made it harder for him to express himself (something he already had trouble with). Now Valérie thinks if she doesn’t micromanage her kids and husband and meddle in their lives, the apocalypse will happen and they’ll end up living in a cardboard box in some dirty city alleyway or worse, dead in a ditch in the middle of nowhere. She’s inspired by Lois Wilkerson and Marlin from Malcolm in The Middle and Finding Nemo. Her upbringing and the trauma were similar to Lois’s and this was only furthered by Rook getting lost in the jungle, and her response to that event mirrors Marlin losing Nemo’s mom, Coral, in a way.

Rook’s father is named Victor Hunt and he’s just inept at everything. He can make decisions for himself outside that and he’s more capable than he gives himself credit for, he just doesn’t really apply himself even though he can. He’s similar to Hal Wilkerson in Malcolm in The Middle as they had a similar upbringing. He had a lot of problems and his own parents had no idea how to help, so they deflected and distracted him without ever trying to figure out how to address his problems and actually help, so Victor is lost without Valérie telling him what to do and making the decisions for him.

Then there’s Rook’s oldest brother Honoré Hunt. He’s twisted from The Spooky Forest that protected Snow White when she was forced to run away from home. He’s very in tune with nature and raised Rook in the absence of Valérie and Victor. He’s a rebel, but he’s also nurturing, protective, understanding, and warm. He’s everything an older brother, and dare I say, a father should be. Though he does have his faults: he has a foul temper, for one, and he’s there for his siblings because he had no one for him growing up, and he doesn’t want them to suffer as he has, but he’s paranoid, cynical, insecure to the point of diffidence, pessimistic, and a loner who refuses help or emotional comfort from others as a result of his trauma and not having anyone to be there for him. He became horrified when Valérie became more controlling and overprotective and did everything he could to protect his siblings, but in a much more healthy manner than Valérie, and Valérie has no idea Honoré is protecting Rook and his siblings from her and Victor.

Then we have Jambon Hunt, Rook’s older identical twin. He’s twisted from the pig/boar that the huntsman killed to obtain his heart to swap out for Snow White’s heart. Jambon…is a pig in every sense of the word. He’s slovenly, rude, destructive, and will eat just about anything without what you put in front of him (this includes the most disgusting things in existence, and even things that aren’t edible) but he’s also an outgoing and intelligent individual. Jambon and Rook hate each other despite being twins but no one knows why they do (but it may have started from a young age). They often get into fights and prank each other.

Rook has a younger brother and two younger sisters. Their names are Jacques, Louise, and Lianne. I’ll tell you more about them in the next chapter. Jacques is twisted from Snow White’s coffin and Louise and Lianne are twisted from the cursed bodice and poisoned comb that Snow White fell victim to.