#someone who doesnt need the blade of frontiers

[pinnithin]

yknow i didn't necessarily start my wyll origin run with the intent of romancing astarion in mind but the more i play the more i find their similarities amusing when it comes to like, the surface level personality they present to strangers in act 1.

wyll is a compulsive flirt. you see it in dialogue with shadowheart and lae'zel - he just tosses out a couple lines that clearly aren't supposed to go anywhere (asking lae'zel if she believes in love at first sight, blatantly reusing the same flirtation attempts with shadowheart) and i see this as part of his Blade of Frontiers persona. obviously a traveling vigilante would have no time for romance or relationships, but he's socially aware enough to have learned that people respond well to a certain level of rogueish charm. especially if his reputation precedes him. he can safely and positively engage in surface level flirtations with the people he interacts with because the person doing the flirting isn't real - at least not to him. he often says the Blade is his best self, but to him its an ideal he strives to achieve, not the person he really is. and i imagine that includes the ability to give discouraged people positive attention in a nonthreatening way. its safe. its superficial. he doesn't have to follow through.

this is overshadowed somewhat by astarion's tendency to flirt with anything that has a pulse, but the perspective they both have on it is pretty similar. theyre both coming from a place of not actually being interested in the recipient of their attention - whether that be through astarion's ulterior motives or wyll's lack of capacity for a relationship - but they both still put on this front because it's habitual. it's worked for them and it's gotten them through the varying degrees of social contracts they find themselves in. so they wind up trading lines easily because they've studied from the same script.

anyway what im getting at is bumping these two personalities against each other can definitely result in wyll and astarion committing to the bit so hard they accidentally wind up in a relationship. like, you're safe, you know the rules, you're speaking in a language i'm familiar with but we both understand that neither of us expect anything back on an emotional level. wait when did we start confiding our deepest secrets with one another. what do you mean you trust me.

#wyll waking up with holes in his neck like..... arent i supposed to be a monster hunter.... why did i let him do that #astarion wandering around in the woods like why tf did i bite the vigilante that was so stupid hes gonna straight up murder me #both of them return to the safety of the Meaningless Flirtation Script but something has changed #anyway i think theres a lot to explore here wrt the comedy of being mutually oblivious #crossing line after line past the superficial without really acknowledging or being aware of it #and really when you think about it wyll needs someone who doesnt... need him if you get what i mean #at least #someone who doesnt need the blade of frontiers #astarion doesnt need saving or rescuing hes a man of personal agency capable of defending and making decisions for himself and #i think being with someone like that would take the pressure off of wyll a little bit #i dont need you to protect me like so many others #i just need someone to stand by my side #idk ive just been thinking about it a lot #long post #bg3 #wyll ravengard #astarion ancunin #i never know the ship names for these #wyll x astarion

[limpfisted]

but wyll does leave you as a squid. he tells you he can't be with you anymore and the solution he comes up with is basically one wherein he treats you like a pet, or worse, a dirty secret that he hides away in the bowels of baldur's gate because he still cares more about being the blade of frontiers than he does you. i love wyll but the way larian wrote that ending feels both ooc for him and a touch cruel toward the pc.

the way canon portrays a character cannot be ooc. you can disagree with it, you can change it, but thats why fanfiction is called “transformative work.” the text is the text. your interpretation of the text is subjective, the events of the game are not subjective. they are facts that happen on ur computer screen. wyll asks you if you want to be his basement squid lover. you can say no. he doesnt force that on you.

it is cruel. it is a bad thing to do. wyll should not do it. it is obviously a bad thing for both you AND him

but hes NOT the blade of frontiers in this ending. hes the grand duke of baldurs gate.

if hes the blade of frontiers—he dumps you bc he wants to go be an adventurer and that is the goal n oath he literally sold his soul for once, n the reason he lives his life. u cant be an adventurer with him. ull scare people, theyll try to kill you. he relies on his relationship with the people of the sword coast, they orotect him n give him their kindness shelter n hospitality in order for him to protect them. he cannot do this if u are a mindflayer.

if hes a grand duke, he NEEDS you. he wants you so desperately hes WILLING to do something awful to you BC he has so many fucked up feelings for you

wyll was 17 years old when he left bg, he stopped studying law, he never led an army, every patriar has been killed, 2 dukes are dead, the city is in ruins. he has no idea what hes doing. he no longer has any agency over his own life, he does not have his freedom, n he WANTS you

i believe the feeling of love and the action of love are different. he feels in that moment a desperation to have you and hold you, the normalcy, the fairy tale promised. he clings to something he cannot have in u just as he can no longer have his freedom to be a hero, to be the man he would choose to be on his own. he is in awe of you. you are the champion of his city—the city he is now shackled to, that fits like a wet kitchen glove.

wyll has so very little agency in this game. i see this ending as part of his “bad end.” but it is also an interesting one.

is ascended astarion “ooc.” is dark justiciar shar? no person is just one thing and there is no inherent good or evil inside anyone. we are the decisions we make, goid or bad, every single day, and the reasons we make them. you make decisions, you live with them, and who you choose to be in every second is who you are. we are not fixed states. good isnt a thing you are—its a thing you have to work to do every day, and something you can and SHOULD work to do every day. but people slip up. theyre messy, confused, traumatized, they have big feelings, that make them want things that hurt other people. everyone makes mistakes, even people as noble as wyll.

you can prefer one decision line of a character over another. obviously i would prefer to be with wyll in avernus kicking zariel’s ass.

but if you deny someone the mere notion that they could do something hurtful or evil even to the people they love—you are denying their humanity n the full complexity of their soul. n u are denying the effort it takes to BE so goid like wyll is so good,

wyll is not some perfect well-adjusted good boy that goes around with a soul full of sunshine. everyone had dark thoughts and impulses and violence in them. everyone is equally capable of hurting people.

it is HARD to be good.

wyll is not performing the act of love—love is healthy n consensual n nutritional. but he feels a desperate pull of love towards you. you have been his light in all this. you have kept him sane and kept him going. you made every major decision in this journey for him. you are his leader, his lover. he is about to have the hardest possible job in the world with no understanding of how this job works. he hasnt been here for ten fucking years. he wants you. he wishes you could fix it, like you fixed everyone else.

its a weakness and a flaw.

wyll has flaws.

why would you want wyll to be perfect no matter what decisions u make? if you don’t like it—pick different decisions in the game and “earn” your happy ending, bc it DOES exist.

this is one of wyll’s most interesting narrative beats and us a fascinating thing to discuss and analyze. its part of a larger narrative, it serves a purpose in the story n to wyll’s story.

it IS cruel. thats the point. the story could not be going “this is fucked up” any more if it tried

you can transform the work any way u want, thats what fanfic n rp r for, but like

be uncomfortable! its supposed to make you uncomfortable! not every story is supposed to make you happy! some are meant to challenge your perception of a character n what you thought a character was possible of!

rant over, have a good night anon

#ooc