Sometimes I think about Urianger's role in and feelings on the Thancred-Ryne dynamic and I think watching it kills him a bit inside. For several reasons.
Like, to begin with there's the guilt he's been carrying with him since he ushered Minfilia to the first, how he effectively killed the person Thancred cared about the most in the world and who's "death" ended up causing Ryne's entire Situation. He looks at what's happening between them and can only think "I caused this" even though that's not really true. No one person is responsible for this outcome, it's a culmination of several circumstances and the consequences of them. Logically, Urianger knows this. But it doesn't matter, because his guilt is overpowering his logic.
And also, like. What Thancred is doing here, the way he's knowingly letting Ryne be and stay hurt because he literally cannot bring himself to tell her his feelings, is the exact same mistake Urianger made with Moenbryda. Of course, the circumstances are vastly different, and the potential consequences to Thancred telling Ryne the wrong things or her misinterperating it is far greater (being a matter of literal life or death), it's still the same sort of paralysis they are trapped in.
And he knows it. He sees it. But he can't say or do anything about it, he doesn't have the right to. He acknowledges the mistake, but he hasn't really improved upon it yet. He still doesn't voice his thoughts and feelings as he should. He's also non-confrontational by nature, he doesn't argue or try to change peoples minds, he probably doesn't think he has any place to.
So, he tries to help in what little ways he can. Because he doesn't want it to become Monebryda again, he doesn't want to know he stole not one but two people from Thancred. So he does what he can. He tells Ryne little tidbits about Thancred, things that help her understand him but are safe to share. Nothing too deep, nothing too personal. Just small things, things that are purely factual, because he can't afford to give her a false image of who Thancred is. He teacher her fun and interesting things, because Thancred isn't in the mindset to provide her with non-essential skills.
I like to think Urianger has brought it up with Thancred at least once, during one of his stays. But nothing would've come of it. Not really. Unlike Y'shtola, Urianger isn't pushy, he'll bring it up once or twice and when he sees this won't go anywhere, he gives up. He wants to help, but he knows that persistance only does do much, and he is not the person who has the resiliance needed to push and push until Thancred finally budges (because he won't budge, it won't help anything but to sour things further by adding aditional stress to an already strained dynamic).
And like. Urianger gets it. He gets it because he's been the same way- not saying what he should to someone he loves more than anything else because she was meant to figure her life out herself, and 'steering' her in any direction by telling her his feelings (regardless of if the 'steering' is intention or not) will go against that. He gets it. He gets it and it's all the more painful for it. He knows it can't just be fixed by acknowledging it or with encouragement, something needs to happen to break the stasis.
I think this is probably why he stayed behind while they went off to Nabaath Areng. This is the very last chance they have to say what they want to, and he can't afford to be the anchor anymore. This is about them, not him, he can't let their resolution be buffed by his presence, so he stays behind. Which was probably for the best. Ryne got nervous when Urianger said he's staying behind, probably not too excited about being alone with Thancred (well, not alone, but WoL doesn't count) so soon after she had ran away crying. But she needs to be nervous. For anything positive to come out of this Thancred and Ryne both can't afford to be too relaxed. As sad as it is, the stress is necessary for anything to happen. He knows it. Does he like it? Absolutely not, but nor does he like his other plots. At least no one dies this time if it goes right.
344 notes
·
View notes
Metal Sonic being voiceless and that being played for the horror, but less in the way of "he doesn't physically have a voice box" and more in the sense that he's voiceless metaphorically.
Not only does he not possess the voice box, but he doesn't have any tools to communicate. He's never offered pen and paper. Never given the opportunity to write digital reports except with only the briefest of words. Never taught even a scrap of sign language, as crude as such a communication would be due to his lack of facial features.
If you handed him a speech generating device, would he even know what to do with it?
811 notes
·
View notes
I love imagining a young Sarek meeting Amanda Grayson and instead of being like "oh I'm in love" he very logically decides "alright, now that I know this woman exists I will be wholly unberable if I do not have her in my life"
And you know what he's right
579 notes
·
View notes
i think it's super interesting how the perception of ned as a kind man hinges in part on the absence of theon, in regards to character, in agot. it'd be no surprise to anyone to say that theon's development in agot is. not there. We get all of ned in agot and it's only after ned's death when not only do we get theon's pov, but he becomes a character, not to mention one more pov who has.. complicated feelings towards ned. ned is across the sea from dany; theon was raised in the lair, so to speak. a neat contrast of umm constant anxiety & restlessness vs claustrophobia. i think. you're being chased vs you're trapped. also, the distance between the readers knowledge & the characters knowledge—we know ned wouldn't willingly hurt dany, but she doesn't, and that matters. we don't know if ned would've even killed theon, and even if he wouldn't have, theon doesn't know that, and that matters. anyways, back to the point i was making—it's almost this accidental commentary on theon. theon became a character after ned was out of the picture, theon came to life after ned died, so on and so forth, he wasn't a person when he held ned's longsword. if theon was even halfway realized in agot, what would ned seem like? his... indifference to theon suddenly made cold and cruel (just like how people see him!), and not just a result of the author, which it objectively is? something something ned left winterfell and never returned and theon, still alive, now haunts it. i like it a lot. accidental impact. the #theonlongcon
291 notes
·
View notes